June 2, 2025 • 39 mins
LeBron brings attention to burnout on youth athletes thanks to year-round schedules. Stakes are high for Mike Tomlin in Pittsburgh, which may be causing him to second guess himself. Plus, Lee’s Leftovers.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey, thanks for listening to the Two Pros and a
Cup of Joe Podcast with LaVar Arrington, Brady Quinn, and
myself Jonas Knox. Make sure you catch us live weekdays
six to nine am Eastern Time three to six am
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(00:22):
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Speaker 2 (00:32):
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 1 (00:38):
It is two going man, You got issues, man, you
(01:00):
need help, bro. It is two Pros and a Cup
of Joe here on Fox Sports Radio. My apologies, really unbelievable.
It is Lebar Arrington, Jonas Knox with you here. No
Brady Quinn, he is not on the show here today,
so it'll be Sticks and I taking you all the
way up until nine am Eastern time, six o'clock Pacific.
(01:20):
You can find us on the iHeartRadio app and on
hundreds of affiliates all across the country. We open up
the show talking about the NBA Finals being set. The
Indiana Pacers take care of business over the weekend in
six They rid us of whatever you call the.
Speaker 3 (01:38):
New York Knicks and that fan base. They are gone.
Speaker 1 (01:41):
Now you've got the Pacers and you've got the Thunder
in the NBA Finals, and so we get to wait
for that series to start on Thursday, and there you
go Indiana.
Speaker 3 (01:53):
Ok see.
Speaker 1 (01:55):
And then somehow, some way, you know that Lebron James
will find his way into the news.
Speaker 3 (02:01):
But this time it's a little bit different.
Speaker 1 (02:04):
He was recently on his Mind the Game podcast that
he does with Steve Nash and Lebar You probably have
some knowledge on how this whole world works, but he
talked about the youth sports programs. He talked about the
coaches who trained some of these athletes and also talked
about the effects that it could have on younger athletes
(02:26):
moving forward.
Speaker 3 (02:27):
Track and field as well.
Speaker 4 (02:28):
And we were like super duper young, you know, we
played football all the way American football all the way
through high school. We didn't just cap it at one
thing and just did one thing all year round. And
I think a lot of kids burned.
Speaker 3 (02:40):
They burned out.
Speaker 4 (02:42):
Do you just tell him, dude, just okay, I'm gonna
just do this one all year round. I'm just played basketball,
or just play volleyball, or just play soccer.
Speaker 3 (02:49):
All year round.
Speaker 4 (02:50):
You burn out, you know at twenty two, twenty three,
twenty four, you know, because you've just been doing it young.
Our younger team see City starts, you know they God,
I don't even want to play no more. I think
I think a lot of the problem is, you know,
with now, with social media and everything that a lot
of are a lot of people like and I can
(03:12):
only speak for America because I grew up here and
I live here. A lot of the skills coaches and
trainers and stuff over that that that's involved in a
lot of these kids lives. They actually want to be
more famous than actual kid. They think they're more important
than actual kid that they're training, and their motive is
not here like they want to be on on in
(03:34):
the camera. They want to be recognized, They want to
talk to the media, say, for instance, I trained loops
with people like that's not objective.
Speaker 1 (03:44):
So that's from Lebron James talking with Steve Nash about
the the youth sports development early going on.
Speaker 5 (03:53):
I mean, I think there's going to be differing beliefs
connected to how things are done. It's certainly a constant evolution.
Jonas and I've been a part of youth athletics and
athletics all the way up to the pro level. From
a mentor's perspective, for over twenty years, I have seen
(04:16):
the evolution take place. I have seen culture shifts and
culture changes and different approaches, and I've seen a lot.
I've seen the personal trainers, as he mentioned, become more prominent.
It became prominent with with quarterbacks, quarterback coaches. It became
(04:37):
prominent with different positions. It became prominent in different sports,
whether it be basketball, whether it be baseball.
Speaker 3 (04:45):
It became a very, very.
Speaker 5 (04:48):
The biggest, I would say, the biggest cultural shift across
all sports through the years that I've been actively mentoring
young men and guiding and helping people and helping families
and being a part of training and developmental camps and
different things like.
Speaker 3 (05:06):
That, I'd say the biggest.
Speaker 5 (05:09):
The biggest evolution was the specialization, the specialization wave, meaning,
like he said, like you're playing your sport all year round.
You're not doing other things, You're not playing other sports.
(05:30):
You are literally playing your sport and training for your
sport all year round. I didn't grow up that way.
It wasn't like that. In the early two thousands, you know,
maybe even heading into maybe you know, like I don't know,
(05:51):
maybe early early on, maybe the two thousands part is
where it started to take hold. But now now the
evolution is brand building, and so it's like specialization of
what you're doing within your sport, but it's also the
idea of specializing in your brand buildout because building your
(06:12):
brand along with building your talent now leads to making
money before you go to the pros. You could almost
make enough money to set yourself up for a very
very comfortable life if you're willing to live a certain
type of lifestyle and not even have to play one
down in the professional professional level. So there's a lot
(06:36):
more at stake now as it applies to development. There's
also had to be the adaptation of coaches and how
they manage and how they run their teams because times
are changing. We live in a reclassifying and a negotiation
(06:57):
driven culture.
Speaker 3 (06:59):
Now.
Speaker 5 (07:00):
They will transfer in a heartbeat, and that's at the
high school level. It even starts at the youth league.
They'll go to a different AAU travel basketball team, They'll
go to a different youth organization to play football. There
is a point in time like there are parents now,
and I'm one of them. Even in chair my daughter
(07:22):
changed chair teams because the one she was on was
not elite enough and wasn't developing her enough to be
able to get to where she was ultimately trying to go.
The best one that she could have been a part
of was over an hour away and they were practicing
every day, and she wasn't driving. I was driving over
(07:44):
an hour every day to take her just to go
be at this place and train and learn. There's parents
driving from different states, like literally driving from from like
Portland or a driving crazy amounts of time just to
bring their kids to a certain you football organization to
(08:09):
practice so that their kid would get the type of
exposure that they were getting with not only their play
but with their brand buildouts. It's the way this landscape
is set up now is so crazy and so talking
about burning out, I thought burning out was you just
(08:31):
don't get a break.
Speaker 3 (08:32):
Like all right, I played.
Speaker 5 (08:33):
Football, boom, went out of football into basketball, went out
of basketball into track, track, went in to the summer.
Then I was traveling with the basketball team playing basketball.
Then that led back into getting ready and preparing coming
straight out of summer basketball and travel basketball back into football,
and then that cycle was the cycle from my eighth
(08:55):
grade year till I graduated for college.
Speaker 3 (08:59):
That to me is burning out.
Speaker 1 (09:02):
I remember a guy who played football with who he
went from football to wrestling to baseball, and we're.
Speaker 3 (09:11):
Talking me like when do you have any time? Yeah?
Speaker 5 (09:14):
Man, like what do you like? You don't have time?
And between that, so think about this. I called myself
because I was super super into Mike Tyson back then.
Where I was into Mike Tyson, I was in the
Rocky I was in the Rocky movies. So I was
always on some I'm going out work everybody. So in
between all of the stuff that I had to do
school wise and athletics wise, I was running. I was
(09:39):
running and I was working out. I was working out
before school and I was running before school. I was
working out after practices and running after practices like I
was working so I was up early as hell before
I had to clean my room up and all that stuff.
I go for a run in the dark, like hearing
(10:00):
deer and stuff like that, move around like creepy noises whatever.
Running hells like running, so you could get burnt out.
You can get burnt out and I think the burnout
comes when you have trophy trophy helicopter parents. That's where
(10:23):
I think, like the whole the whole thing takes a
whole another Like, if you're motivated and you have support
from the people around you, whether now it's a personal
you know, assistant coach, like your coach is helping develop you,
or your parents are are helping you and and and
just supportive of you, that's one thing. But when you
(10:45):
have the ones that are waking you up, and they're
the ones you gotta drink this, this, this protein shake,
you gotta do this, you gotta do that, you gotta
do this, you gotta do that, And it's over and
over and over again, from the time that they're in
youth athletics by the time they're getting up to the
high school level and they're looking in the mirror like, hey, look,
(11:06):
I'm five foot seven and I might have some decent speed,
and I got some decent skills and this that and
the other, and I'll probably be pretty good at this
high school that I'm going to, but I'm not going
any further than this. Can y'all stop coming at me
like we're going to the league, Like we're going to
(11:28):
the NBA. We're going to the National Football League. And
I think there's more often than not the parents that
are all in their kids like like like really really
like trying to make their dream, their kids dream. I
think those are the people that are burning these kids out.
Speaker 1 (11:47):
I didn't know that there was like because there's also
a buck to be made, and I hadn't. I didn't
realize the world. So I worked at a at a
recruiting company. I don't want to name the name of
the company, but it's like a well known recruiting company
as far as recruiting athletes for sports programs and clinics
(12:10):
and seven on sevens and things like that. And so
you would call these people up and you'd have you know,
all the specs, you know, the.
Speaker 3 (12:18):
Tail of the tape on all these kids or whatever.
Speaker 1 (12:20):
And some of these kids like to your pointer five six,
five seven, run a forty at five three, yet are
pursuing this, and you don't know if it's because they
want it or if it's their parents who want it
more than they do. And you'll start asking questions to
the like, have you been any camps all? I went
(12:42):
to the the Adidas camp or whatever, it was, and
then you start to ask more detail questions. And I
didn't realize that there were two different things that were
happening at these camps. That you've got the invites to
the camp where you paid to go to the camp,
and then there's the other group at the camp.
Speaker 3 (12:59):
And it was like, all right, are you with this
group or are you with the other group?
Speaker 1 (13:03):
And if they tell you know, I was just with
this general group, it's like, oh, okay, it's sort of
we'll take your money.
Speaker 3 (13:09):
We know you're not going to go anywhere, so we'll
play along.
Speaker 5 (13:12):
The crazy thing about what you're talking about is those
pay those parents pay those those they they pay those
tax those fees because they want their kid to be
next to the elite. Yes, they want they want them
to be seen. They want to be able to get
the film. And say, Jonas Knox was there. My son
was at the same camp as Jonas Knox, right, So
it's like, okay, he's over there throwing he's already going
(13:34):
to get MVP. Jonas is already going to get MVP
just because he showed up. He's not paying for the camp.
They want him there, and he's going to get MVP.
With a lightweight workout. There's going to be somebody there
that outperforms the kid, probably better than the kid, but
because he doesn't have the name recognition, he's not going
to get the MVP of that of that camp.
Speaker 2 (13:55):
Man.
Speaker 5 (13:56):
So that kid that got invited, that's like a three star,
four star, five star kid. If he shows up, he's
automatically going to be the MVP of that camp. But
you can get good film. There are going to be
people there that are watching, so you could possibly make
a name for yourself. So you are paying for the
opportunity to possibly get exposure that could lead towards you
(14:18):
being able to move in that direction. But again, if
you're doing all of that in camps and seven on
sevens and a lot of those things are a lot
more prevalent now than what it's ever been, and so
you are positioning these kids to possibly if they're not motivated,
if it's not something that they really want to do,
(14:41):
they're going to burn out. Like I give you a
great example, Marley, my oldest daughter that plays volleyball. She
chose she switched because our mom, Trish, was a basketball player.
Do you want basketball player? She didn't like basketball, so
she was like, know, somebody told her, you should try volleyball,
(15:02):
Go check it out. Do dat. She ends up loving volleyball.
She plays volleyball and ramped up to where she was
playing with with an elite, an elite volleyball travel squad,
and that became really what she did. She didn't even
really play school ball. She was she was a club
a club girl. So she was working out developing skill
(15:25):
with a private trainer and would play, would play clubs.
She got the Division one playing club not even really
doing it. And in high school man man man Man.
On the other hand, he's playing football, plays no other sports,
plays no other sports, doesn't whop. He's a lefty, could
(15:46):
have played baseball, is a baseball good baseball school he
went to. He just wanted to focus in on football.
That's just that's what all of them came to their
own conclusions. It wasn't like we were like forcing them
to do what they were going to do, even to
play the sport to begin with. Layla doesn't play volleyball,
doesn't do any of those things.
Speaker 1 (16:07):
You were the first person to tell me, Like, because
I'm like, my son's four years old and he loves baseball,
but he loves it, like he wants to, like all
wake up and he's already got you know, his his batting.
Speaker 3 (16:21):
Helmet on and his gloves like he's ready to go.
Like he loves it. He's obsessed and he's playing t ball.
But you're the ones. You're the one who told me.
Speaker 1 (16:28):
You're like, hey, bro, just see you know, if your
kid keeps playing sports, especially baseball, your vacations are going to.
Speaker 3 (16:37):
Be where he's got a travel turn. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (16:40):
No, you don't literally non stop this NonStop and every holiday,
every everything.
Speaker 3 (16:47):
And you're happy.
Speaker 5 (16:48):
You're it gets on your nerves and it's a lot
of money, but you're happy about supporting your kids. And
one thing that I hope you take away from the
conversations we have about Drew as well is just be
as big. Just support them all. Don't be the person
that's like, you know, like your dream is their dream.
So it's like you're forcing them to do something that
(17:10):
they don't necessarily want to do. You guide them, like
and I feel like that's what Lebron's talking about. Once
once you get away from the guidance of it, and
it's more so like ego driven, like like I'm going
to be the person that is the reason why my
kid makes it to the bigs and this, that and
(17:32):
the other, and they're like, not even happy. You're not
even paying attention to if your kid is happy. I
just want my kids to be healthy, happy and productive.
Like if you're being those things, I don't really care
what you're doing, and I don't really care how far
you make it right. You don't have to make it
to the pros to be a success. All you got
(17:54):
to do is put your best foot forward. Know that
you worked as hard as you possibly can and and
you didn't cut corners. You were a good teammate, you
put the work in and and you got your results done.
Speaker 1 (18:07):
I do want it because you know Lebron's saying this,
you know, talking about the youth coaching and you know,
kids getting burned out and all that stuff. I have wondered,
and I think we talked about this at the time,
how much of the push for Bronnie James was Bronnie
James himself a fan.
Speaker 5 (18:25):
Yeah, I don't know. I don't know, because they but
they look like they're happy kids. I don't feel like
they don't look like they're happy.
Speaker 1 (18:32):
They I just wonder if he was uncomfortable with the
conversations from a standpoint of I mean, I didn't ask
for all this attention, like I didn't because I've never
heard anybody say anything bad about Bronnie James.
Speaker 3 (18:45):
Like I've never heard anybody say, well, the kid's got
a bad.
Speaker 5 (18:47):
Asstimes say, you've heard him say anything bad. I don't
hear him talking all yeah, better to be saying didn't
be hurt right, Like he has really done an excellent
job of naving. If you asked me of navigating being
Bronnie James, an excellent job. You can't sit there and
be like, hey, Lee, pull up the sound bite off.
(19:08):
I'm sitting here saying, yeah, you know, if you ain't
trying to win, if you don't want to be.
Speaker 3 (19:16):
A winning organization, then don't draft me.
Speaker 1 (19:19):
I swear to get you played a Bronnie James cliff.
I wouldn't know it was him.
Speaker 3 (19:23):
I don't know. I don't know what he sounds like.
I swear to God, do we have any Bronnie James?
Do you have any bride?
Speaker 5 (19:30):
Because while I'm thinking about it, I agree with you.
Speaker 3 (19:33):
I don't even know that I know sounds like what
what does Bronnie James sound like it was a surreal moment.
Speaker 4 (19:41):
I really don't know how to describe it, but I
feel like I feel like pick up back when I
was ten years old just playing with him.
Speaker 3 (19:49):
So it was it was it was crazy.
Speaker 5 (19:54):
I mean, I'm I know he's come under a lot
of intense scrutiny over the last year.
Speaker 3 (19:59):
That could have been a shortstop in the in the
Blue Jays organism. We don't even know.
Speaker 5 (20:04):
I just I think I think in those types of situations,
I would be willing to bet the bank that they
want to be just like their dad. Like there's those
kids that want to be just like their dad, or
somebody that's in their family, or somebody that they watch
on television, whatever.
Speaker 3 (20:22):
It may be.
Speaker 5 (20:24):
I think I think the way lebron James like like
him or hate them, I think the way lebron James is,
I think he's a dope dad. From what I could see,
I think he's a really really dope dad. He's fun,
he he doesn't take himself too seriously as it applies
to his family. I mean, I think there's a lot
(20:45):
of things people could learn about how to kind of
approach parenting your kid you know from a Lebron James
that I really believe that, and I don't believe that
he put them in situations where he forced them to
be what they are right now, force them to be
basketball players, force them to do this, force them to
(21:08):
work out. I honestly believe if you're the type of
parent like a Lebron James, you're gonna motivate, You're gonna
inspire them to be more. And that's ultimately what you
want your kids to do is find their way on
their own. You guide them, you give them assistance, you
give them feedback and wisdom, and sometimes you got to
(21:31):
tell them what to do because they don't know. But
with that, it's just be their biggest fans, support them
and let them know that anything is possible. But don't
make your dream their dream. Allow for them to figure
out what their dream is and then you go from there.
And to me, I feel like that's the best way
to avoid burning a kid out, because even if you
(21:53):
love what you're doing, you and I both know this,
and anybody out there knows this, you can get burnt
out loving what you do. Sometimes it happens. Sometimes you
get fatigued, Sometimes you get tired. So it's just one
of those things. But if you love what you're doing,
you're going to reset. You're going to get that time,
and then you're gonna come back and you're gonna keep
doing what you're doing.
Speaker 3 (22:14):
So I feel like that's the best approach to it.
Speaker 1 (22:16):
It's Two Pros and a Cup of Joe here on
Fox Sports Radio, LaVar Arrington, Jonas Knox with you here.
Speaker 3 (22:21):
Coming up next.
Speaker 1 (22:21):
Though, apparently something that happened last year made a decision
for one team this year in the NFL.
Speaker 3 (22:31):
We'll get into that for you right here on FSR.
Speaker 2 (22:33):
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 (22:48):
It is Two Pros and a Cup of Joe, Fox
Sports Radio, LaVar Arrington, Jonas Knox with you here. Coming
up in about fifteen minutes from now, we are going
to have another edition of Lee's Leftovers that'll be yours
right here on FSR. There was an interesting little tidbit
that was posted and sent out that I saw from
Albert Breer, and there was some thought that, hey, you
(23:13):
know now that you know should Or Sanders is in
Cleveland and he's battling it out, and we're going to
get to see how that plays out when training camp
opens and they've got all that stuff happening. There was
a thought about one of the teams that potentially could
have drafted shad Or Sanders, and that was the Pittsburgh Steelers.
And Albert Breer was on Bill Simmons podcast and he
had kind of mentioned a little bit of this with
(23:36):
us that the reason Russell Wilson was the starter all
the way through, even towards the end of the year
when maybe there was a little bit of a struggle,
was because of Mike Tomlin. That Mike Tomlin was the
guy who was making the call on Russell Wilson, even
though there were people in the building who wanted Mike
Tomlin to switch to justin fields. Apparently Arthur Smith and
(24:00):
Russell Wilson did not see eye to eye. Their relationship
was not great. The offensive coordinator there with the Steelers,
and there were other people who felt like later in
the year they should make the move to justin fields.
They need a spark. They need something. And as you
saw the Steelers tour on you know, the final month
of the season really went into a tailspin, and it
(24:22):
was just wasn't the same team that it was when
they were looking like a legitimate, you know, contender in
the AFC. And so the thought was, according to Breer,
that part of the reason why the Steelers may have
passed on Shador Sanders is because Mike Tomlin liked Shador
Sanders but didn't want to press his luck so to speak,
(24:44):
when it came to making the decision on Shador if
he liked him more than others in the organization based
on how things went with Russell Wilson.
Speaker 5 (24:53):
I don't understand that at all. I mean, please help,
Can you make it make sense to him? So the
thought is passed up on him? What you two black quarterbacks? No,
this was a third and pressure luck on ill bringing
in a third black quarterback.
Speaker 3 (25:07):
Can you clear it up for him again?
Speaker 1 (25:08):
We make sure we're like guys, we've we've reached our
black quota at the court.
Speaker 3 (25:12):
Hit the quota, all right, Listen. It didn't work with two.
Speaker 5 (25:16):
Enough's enough because you got you got Mason Rudolph as
your starter enough, you got Mason Rudolph as your starter.
Speaker 3 (25:25):
What do you mean pressure, you need a QB.
Speaker 1 (25:27):
So Brears point was that maybe Mike Tomlin was a
little bit gun shy on wanting to make a call
on Shod Or Sanders. If the organization wasn't all in
unison in agreement, that he is the guy because he
kind of did that with Russell Wilson. He went against
(25:48):
the wishes of other people in the organization to keep
Russell Wilson in the lineup and it didn't work out,
and so you kind of burned a.
Speaker 3 (25:56):
Bridge with Justin Field's.
Speaker 1 (25:59):
Clearly they wanted part of Russ being brought back again,
even though Russ is saying, oh, look, I love New
York and Malik Neighbors is part of the reason I
signed here. Well, no, you signed with the Giants because
the Steelers don't want you anymore like that, that's also
part of it. But if that's if that's true, and
I don't think Breer's making this up, and Mike Tomlin
looks at it and says, hey, man, I don't want
(26:20):
to pull the trigger on shit or Sanders based on
how things went the last time I made the decision
and a difficult one at quarterback. Doesn't that tell you
that Mike Tomlin kind of knows this is a huge
year for the Steelers, Like this is a huge, huge
year to where if this goes poorly and even with
(26:44):
Rogers or if Mason Rudolphe guy, however this whole thing
plays out, if this goes poorly, you've kind of run
out of.
Speaker 3 (26:54):
I've been hello, I've been saying this.
Speaker 5 (26:56):
I mean, you just referenced Albert Breert a whole first
part to say, I've been saying this every time we
bring up the Steelers conversation.
Speaker 3 (27:04):
If it further proves your thought on it.
Speaker 5 (27:07):
That, if that sakes are really high, man, and if
you're breaking, if you're basing excuse me, not breaking, if
you're basing your your your future of what takes place
in such a pivotal year for Mike Tomlin and this
organization of the Pittsburgh Steelers, and you're basing that off
(27:30):
of what you hope and believe that Aaron Rodgers is
going to bring to the table. It's a very very
I mean it's a very very risky play.
Speaker 1 (27:40):
I mean, if you're the head coach of that team
and you're second guessing your ability to pick a quarterback now,
like your ability to identify a quarterback for your team,
and you're the head coach of the team.
Speaker 5 (27:54):
Who's to say that they woultn't have been better with
Russell Wilson going into his second season. That to me
the issue I kind of run into with that logic
of second guessing yourself after Russell Wilson was Russ did
have a couple good moments, but you're also looking at
it from the standpoint of Russ. I mean, it looks
(28:15):
as though his better his best years are behind him
at this point. I don't know you saw that video
I showed you earlier. Looks like they're in front of him. Well,
that's off the field. That's off, that's off the football field.
I'm not mad at him, bro, I mean, listen, Russ
is playing with house money. That's one hundred percent. That's
(28:35):
that's that. My friend is not up for debate. He
is one hundred percent winning in life. But I think
his best football years may be behind him. Oh yeah, Now,
unless you saw something amazing and Will Campbell, because looking
at Mason Rudolph, he's already been there. He's already been
(28:56):
a starter for you, you already know what those results
are possibly going to be, potentially going to be off
of his body of work. So if you're going into
this season with Mason Rudolph as your starter, who by
the way, didn't get it done the first time he
was there, but now is back okay, and then you
have will Will Campbell not Will Campbell? What's what's Will?
Speaker 3 (29:20):
What?
Speaker 5 (29:20):
What's What's what? The quarterback out of out of Ohio state?
Why am I blanking on his name right now?
Speaker 3 (29:27):
Will Howard? Will Howard? Will Howard?
Speaker 5 (29:29):
Uh? You have Will Howard backing him up? I think
he's intriguing. He's a PA kid as well. It's intriguing,
But it's It's the same thing that I say to
you about Cleveland is the same thing I'll say about
Pittsburgh is is that you have two head coaches that are,
in my opinion, all intensive purposes. They're on the hot seat.
(29:52):
You're on the hot seat, and I'm in the AFC North.
Why am I going to bring Will Howard in as
the starter for this team in the AFC North? Why
am I going to do that? Am I going to
be able to keep pace with a rookie quarterback in
the AFC North. That conversation is for Cleveland and for Pittsburgh.
(30:15):
This is not a Joe Burrow situation, like that's a
very very unique situation. This is not a Lamar Jackson situation.
That's a very unique situation. Those guys can come in
and have immediate success that it's there. Do I see
that in these guys?
Speaker 3 (30:33):
You know?
Speaker 1 (30:33):
Let me ask you this presently, currently present day, right now,
this morning, June second, today, who's got a better quarterback situation?
Speaker 5 (30:43):
The Browns are the Steelers. I think it's easily the Browns.
It's easily the Browns. You got four options. One has
won a super Bowl in the division. One has won
a Super Bowl. One has played successful with the team
they're on. And that's the same person recently recently. Then
(31:05):
you're talking about the idea of like I don't even
I'll skip over Kenny Pickett, Damn I will, and I'll
say the potential of what you could possibly have whatever
it is you decide to do with Gabrielle or Sanders
have you still have two unknown commodities that could possibly
(31:29):
be wins for your team.
Speaker 3 (31:33):
You look at Pittsburgh, it's like Will Howard.
Speaker 5 (31:37):
Just came off of winning a national championship, played some
inspired football, played some good football. Can he be a
franchise guy for a Pittsburgh Steelers team that is trying
to figure out what their identity is going to be
As an offense, They've been trying to figure out what
(31:59):
they're are identity is since they've lost Ben Roethlisberger. This
has always been a run first team, throw the ball,
but has always had a signature receiver connected to their team.
Have always added a signature receiver or two and a
(32:22):
tremendous offensive front with a running game. Do you have
a running game this year? I don't know. Nase Harris
isn't there, and Nause could have been better as a
as a player for the Pittsburgh Steelers during his tenure there.
I don't know what their running game is going to
look like, so how much how much pressure will that
(32:44):
alleviate from the quarterback?
Speaker 3 (32:47):
I don't know.
Speaker 5 (32:48):
If Aaron Rodgers comes in, is he going to play
at a high enough level where he rights all wrongs?
I doubt it. I seriously doubt it. Is there a
potential could be good, sure, but does he right all
of the wrongs. I doubt he's got that in him
with that team.
Speaker 1 (33:06):
Yeah, it feels like this is a like it's a
pivotal year, and I get this weird feeling. Man, it's
not gonna go well for Tomlin and Pittsburgh this year.
I just does not seem like everything's in a great spot.
And you know, if you believe the report from Albert
(33:27):
Brier or the speculation, you know, Mike Tomlin feeling the
heat a little bit there when it comes to making
decisions at the cornerback spot.
Speaker 5 (33:35):
I mean, that's going to dictate a lot. It's going
to dictate a lot for this team. And it's like
you said, it's a very big year for them, and
a lot of these decisions are very very critical and
crucial and if you make the wrong one, I just
don't see after having the year that they had with
Justin Fields and with Russell Wilson, which by the way,
both of them will be starting in the same market,
(33:57):
which is interesting. So if they both both are doing well,
depending on how these guys do and their upcoming seasons,
that puts even more pressure on the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Speaker 1 (34:08):
Yeah, and this could be that year and then what
if Kenny Pickett starts for the Browns and starts lightning up.
Speaker 3 (34:13):
Ah Lee, it's a bad, bad look.
Speaker 2 (34:16):
It is uh.
Speaker 1 (34:16):
Two Pros and on Radio, brought to you by Express Pros.
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Speaker 3 (34:38):
Here on FSR.
Speaker 2 (34:40):
Be sure to catch live editions of Two Pros and
a Cup of Joe with Brady Quinn, LeVar Arrington and
Jonas Knox weekdays at six am Eastern, three am Pacific.
Speaker 3 (34:51):
You just you got issues?
Speaker 5 (34:54):
Man?
Speaker 3 (34:56):
No I don't you get some help? No, I don't.
Speaker 1 (35:00):
Two Pros and a Cup of Joe Fox Sports Radio,
LeVar Arrington, Jonas Knox with you here. We won't be
back on the air coming up tomorrow, six am Eastern time,
three o'clock Spacific, same time, same place. Pete Prisco stop by,
So we're gonna need a little bit of our weekly
red ass from Pete. If you've missed any of today's show, though,
you can check out the podcast just search two Pros
(35:21):
Wherever you get your podcast, be sure to follow and
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at the best of version posted right after we get
off the air.
Speaker 2 (35:33):
These might smell a little funk. That sounds incredible, but
they're still good. Time to find out what's left. It's
Lee's left jobs, all right, Dalap, what do we got?
Speaker 3 (35:44):
You know?
Speaker 6 (35:44):
What shouldn't smell funky? Is that that new Mike condom
I got you there, Vara.
Speaker 5 (35:49):
Say what clarify that for the listeners. I enjoyed my
condom today. By the way, yeah, the mic cover, continuing
to use it over and over and over again.
Speaker 6 (35:58):
Yeah, lest it was a little stinchy, thinks to uh
our good friend Tom.
Speaker 3 (36:03):
I would never know. I just never used it after that.
Speaker 5 (36:06):
Hey, but by the way, I've I've really missed being
comfortably resting my face on my mic and now I
can do it. Like I like resting my face on
my microphone when I'm talking. It's crazy, and like I
feel like a new person today, Like I'm very happy,
very very excited about this, Thank you, Thank you very much.
Speaker 3 (36:26):
It only took you three years.
Speaker 1 (36:27):
By the way, the condom that is being referred to
is the cover for the mic. Yes, we call it
a mic condom.
Speaker 3 (36:35):
Yeah, yes, the mic cover. Yeah, it gives you a
little extra protection. Yeah you know, yeah, let Todd use.
Speaker 5 (36:45):
These are bluetoo mics around here too, by the way,
nice and strong microphones. By the way, you got to
put a good, good cover on it.
Speaker 1 (36:54):
Where is that yellow mike condom that Todd used that
one time?
Speaker 3 (36:57):
I guarantee you Hall of fame.
Speaker 1 (36:59):
I guarantee if you gave that my cover a breathalyzer,
you'd get a d U. I guaranteed that might cover
even two years later, would blow a point h nine.
Speaker 3 (37:11):
H no popping peace with my cover?
Speaker 6 (37:14):
All right you guys, uh yeah, back from Vancouver.
Speaker 3 (37:16):
What else we got here? Oh?
Speaker 6 (37:17):
Did you see this tender as a new height filter
which is sparking debate?
Speaker 3 (37:21):
No, kidd, Yeah, whether or not ladies and or men
should be allowed to have.
Speaker 6 (37:26):
A height preference. Makes you wonder what else you could
put a preference in there? I think other dating whites?
Oh wow, size, Hey.
Speaker 1 (37:34):
Why couldn't you Why couldn't you have a hype preference,
Like why can't you what's the problem with discriminating?
Speaker 5 (37:42):
So what you're allowed to discriminate on the dating side.
Speaker 3 (37:46):
It's all about.
Speaker 6 (37:47):
Discrimin So you're weeding out sure guys, you know, got
no chance if you if you're gonna put the hype preference.
Speaker 3 (37:53):
Girl, every girl wants like she's gonna say in person
and be like you're too short. It's wasted your time,
t LeVar.
Speaker 1 (38:00):
Point, isn't that the whole idea? Yes, is to weed
out you know, pretenders and and like you know, point
to the contenders and be like, hey, that that's that's
a possibility.
Speaker 3 (38:12):
There, that's the whole point. It's the whole point, man.
Speaker 1 (38:15):
I mean some people, like I've told you, I had
a buddy who was on he was on so many
dating apps and it was and I was like, what's
your age range? Twenty three to death? Because he did
not matter. It did not matter, he didn't care. It's
a very wide spectrum. Like he would literally he would
just sit on his phone and just swipe. He didn't
(38:36):
even wasn't even looking. He'd be talking to me and
just swiping, swiping. Right, do you know what you're swiping out,
it doesn't matter swiping right, But if you swipe left,
what happens?
Speaker 3 (38:46):
You don't want to like, you're getting rid of him, like,
but if you like him, you just keep swiping right. Yeah.
So he didn't even look at the screen. He was
just swiping right.
Speaker 7 (38:53):
On everything, just taking them all, man, just looking for
a match. So you used to do right ly. Yeah,
you just keep swiping. See what happens at the end
of the day.
Speaker 3 (39:04):
Are you on dating apps Lorena? No, No, I'm not there.
Are you still on dating apps? Lee? Nope? Oh y'all
both are off the market now.
Speaker 1 (39:13):
Huh sure.
Speaker 6 (39:16):
I think every once in a while I bust what
open diff just for fun at the bar entertainment purposes,
like it's a slot.
Speaker 5 (39:23):
The Vancouver's huh yeah, interesting cat's hair. Yeah, I have
a good one.
Hey, thanks for listening to the Two Pros and a
Cup of Joe Podcast with LaVar Arrington, Brady Quinn, and
myself Jonas Knox. Make sure you catch us live weekdays
six to nine am Eastern Time three to six am
Pacific on Fox Sports Radio. You can find your local
station for the Two Pros and a Cup of Joe
show over at Foxsports Radio dot com, or stream us
(00:22):
live every day on the iHeartRadio app by searching FSR.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 1 (00:38):
It is two going man, You got issues, man, you
(01:00):
need help, bro. It is two Pros and a Cup
of Joe here on Fox Sports Radio. My apologies, really unbelievable.
It is Lebar Arrington, Jonas Knox with you here. No
Brady Quinn, he is not on the show here today,
so it'll be Sticks and I taking you all the
way up until nine am Eastern time, six o'clock Pacific.
(01:20):
You can find us on the iHeartRadio app and on
hundreds of affiliates all across the country. We open up
the show talking about the NBA Finals being set. The
Indiana Pacers take care of business over the weekend in
six They rid us of whatever you call the.
Speaker 3 (01:38):
New York Knicks and that fan base. They are gone.
Speaker 1 (01:41):
Now you've got the Pacers and you've got the Thunder
in the NBA Finals, and so we get to wait
for that series to start on Thursday, and there you
go Indiana.
Speaker 3 (01:53):
Ok see.
Speaker 1 (01:55):
And then somehow, some way, you know that Lebron James
will find his way into the news.
Speaker 3 (02:01):
But this time it's a little bit different.
Speaker 1 (02:04):
He was recently on his Mind the Game podcast that
he does with Steve Nash and Lebar You probably have
some knowledge on how this whole world works, but he
talked about the youth sports programs. He talked about the
coaches who trained some of these athletes and also talked
about the effects that it could have on younger athletes
(02:26):
moving forward.
Speaker 3 (02:27):
Track and field as well.
Speaker 4 (02:28):
And we were like super duper young, you know, we
played football all the way American football all the way
through high school. We didn't just cap it at one
thing and just did one thing all year round. And
I think a lot of kids burned.
Speaker 3 (02:40):
They burned out.
Speaker 4 (02:42):
Do you just tell him, dude, just okay, I'm gonna
just do this one all year round. I'm just played basketball,
or just play volleyball, or just play soccer.
Speaker 3 (02:49):
All year round.
Speaker 4 (02:50):
You burn out, you know at twenty two, twenty three,
twenty four, you know, because you've just been doing it young.
Our younger team see City starts, you know they God,
I don't even want to play no more. I think
I think a lot of the problem is, you know,
with now, with social media and everything that a lot
of are a lot of people like and I can
(03:12):
only speak for America because I grew up here and
I live here. A lot of the skills coaches and
trainers and stuff over that that that's involved in a
lot of these kids lives. They actually want to be
more famous than actual kid. They think they're more important
than actual kid that they're training, and their motive is
not here like they want to be on on in
(03:34):
the camera. They want to be recognized, They want to
talk to the media, say, for instance, I trained loops
with people like that's not objective.
Speaker 1 (03:44):
So that's from Lebron James talking with Steve Nash about
the the youth sports development early going on.
Speaker 5 (03:53):
I mean, I think there's going to be differing beliefs
connected to how things are done. It's certainly a constant evolution.
Jonas and I've been a part of youth athletics and
athletics all the way up to the pro level. From
a mentor's perspective, for over twenty years, I have seen
(04:16):
the evolution take place. I have seen culture shifts and
culture changes and different approaches, and I've seen a lot.
I've seen the personal trainers, as he mentioned, become more prominent.
It became prominent with with quarterbacks, quarterback coaches. It became
(04:37):
prominent with different positions. It became prominent in different sports,
whether it be basketball, whether it be baseball.
Speaker 3 (04:45):
It became a very, very.
Speaker 5 (04:48):
The biggest, I would say, the biggest cultural shift across
all sports through the years that I've been actively mentoring
young men and guiding and helping people and helping families
and being a part of training and developmental camps and
different things like.
Speaker 3 (05:06):
That, I'd say the biggest.
Speaker 5 (05:09):
The biggest evolution was the specialization, the specialization wave, meaning,
like he said, like you're playing your sport all year round.
You're not doing other things, You're not playing other sports.
(05:30):
You are literally playing your sport and training for your
sport all year round. I didn't grow up that way.
It wasn't like that. In the early two thousands, you know,
maybe even heading into maybe you know, like I don't know,
(05:51):
maybe early early on, maybe the two thousands part is
where it started to take hold. But now now the
evolution is brand building, and so it's like specialization of
what you're doing within your sport, but it's also the
idea of specializing in your brand buildout because building your
(06:12):
brand along with building your talent now leads to making
money before you go to the pros. You could almost
make enough money to set yourself up for a very
very comfortable life if you're willing to live a certain
type of lifestyle and not even have to play one
down in the professional professional level. So there's a lot
(06:36):
more at stake now as it applies to development. There's
also had to be the adaptation of coaches and how
they manage and how they run their teams because times
are changing. We live in a reclassifying and a negotiation
(06:57):
driven culture.
Speaker 3 (06:59):
Now.
Speaker 5 (07:00):
They will transfer in a heartbeat, and that's at the
high school level. It even starts at the youth league.
They'll go to a different AAU travel basketball team, They'll
go to a different youth organization to play football. There
is a point in time like there are parents now,
and I'm one of them. Even in chair my daughter
(07:22):
changed chair teams because the one she was on was
not elite enough and wasn't developing her enough to be
able to get to where she was ultimately trying to go.
The best one that she could have been a part
of was over an hour away and they were practicing
every day, and she wasn't driving. I was driving over
(07:44):
an hour every day to take her just to go
be at this place and train and learn. There's parents
driving from different states, like literally driving from from like
Portland or a driving crazy amounts of time just to
bring their kids to a certain you football organization to
(08:09):
practice so that their kid would get the type of
exposure that they were getting with not only their play
but with their brand buildouts. It's the way this landscape
is set up now is so crazy and so talking
about burning out, I thought burning out was you just
(08:31):
don't get a break.
Speaker 3 (08:32):
Like all right, I played.
Speaker 5 (08:33):
Football, boom, went out of football into basketball, went out
of basketball into track, track, went in to the summer.
Then I was traveling with the basketball team playing basketball.
Then that led back into getting ready and preparing coming
straight out of summer basketball and travel basketball back into football,
and then that cycle was the cycle from my eighth
(08:55):
grade year till I graduated for college.
Speaker 3 (08:59):
That to me is burning out.
Speaker 1 (09:02):
I remember a guy who played football with who he
went from football to wrestling to baseball, and we're.
Speaker 3 (09:11):
Talking me like when do you have any time? Yeah?
Speaker 5 (09:14):
Man, like what do you like? You don't have time?
And between that, so think about this. I called myself
because I was super super into Mike Tyson back then.
Where I was into Mike Tyson, I was in the
Rocky I was in the Rocky movies. So I was
always on some I'm going out work everybody. So in
between all of the stuff that I had to do
school wise and athletics wise, I was running. I was
(09:39):
running and I was working out. I was working out
before school and I was running before school. I was
working out after practices and running after practices like I
was working so I was up early as hell before
I had to clean my room up and all that stuff.
I go for a run in the dark, like hearing
(10:00):
deer and stuff like that, move around like creepy noises whatever.
Running hells like running, so you could get burnt out.
You can get burnt out and I think the burnout
comes when you have trophy trophy helicopter parents. That's where
(10:23):
I think, like the whole the whole thing takes a
whole another Like, if you're motivated and you have support
from the people around you, whether now it's a personal
you know, assistant coach, like your coach is helping develop you,
or your parents are are helping you and and and
just supportive of you, that's one thing. But when you
(10:45):
have the ones that are waking you up, and they're
the ones you gotta drink this, this, this protein shake,
you gotta do this, you gotta do that, you gotta
do this, you gotta do that, And it's over and
over and over again, from the time that they're in
youth athletics by the time they're getting up to the
high school level and they're looking in the mirror like, hey, look,
(11:06):
I'm five foot seven and I might have some decent speed,
and I got some decent skills and this that and
the other, and I'll probably be pretty good at this
high school that I'm going to, but I'm not going
any further than this. Can y'all stop coming at me
like we're going to the league, Like we're going to
(11:28):
the NBA. We're going to the National Football League. And
I think there's more often than not the parents that
are all in their kids like like like really really
like trying to make their dream, their kids dream. I
think those are the people that are burning these kids out.
Speaker 1 (11:47):
I didn't know that there was like because there's also
a buck to be made, and I hadn't. I didn't
realize the world. So I worked at a at a
recruiting company. I don't want to name the name of
the company, but it's like a well known recruiting company
as far as recruiting athletes for sports programs and clinics
(12:10):
and seven on sevens and things like that. And so
you would call these people up and you'd have you know,
all the specs, you know, the.
Speaker 3 (12:18):
Tail of the tape on all these kids or whatever.
Speaker 1 (12:20):
And some of these kids like to your pointer five six,
five seven, run a forty at five three, yet are
pursuing this, and you don't know if it's because they
want it or if it's their parents who want it
more than they do. And you'll start asking questions to
the like, have you been any camps all? I went
(12:42):
to the the Adidas camp or whatever, it was, and
then you start to ask more detail questions. And I
didn't realize that there were two different things that were
happening at these camps. That you've got the invites to
the camp where you paid to go to the camp,
and then there's the other group at the camp.
Speaker 3 (12:59):
And it was like, all right, are you with this
group or are you with the other group?
Speaker 1 (13:03):
And if they tell you know, I was just with
this general group, it's like, oh, okay, it's sort of
we'll take your money.
Speaker 3 (13:09):
We know you're not going to go anywhere, so we'll
play along.
Speaker 5 (13:12):
The crazy thing about what you're talking about is those
pay those parents pay those those they they pay those
tax those fees because they want their kid to be
next to the elite. Yes, they want they want them
to be seen. They want to be able to get
the film. And say, Jonas Knox was there. My son
was at the same camp as Jonas Knox, right, So
it's like, okay, he's over there throwing he's already going
(13:34):
to get MVP. Jonas is already going to get MVP
just because he showed up. He's not paying for the camp.
They want him there, and he's going to get MVP.
With a lightweight workout. There's going to be somebody there
that outperforms the kid, probably better than the kid, but
because he doesn't have the name recognition, he's not going
to get the MVP of that of that camp.
Speaker 2 (13:55):
Man.
Speaker 5 (13:56):
So that kid that got invited, that's like a three star,
four star, five star kid. If he shows up, he's
automatically going to be the MVP of that camp. But
you can get good film. There are going to be
people there that are watching, so you could possibly make
a name for yourself. So you are paying for the
opportunity to possibly get exposure that could lead towards you
(14:18):
being able to move in that direction. But again, if
you're doing all of that in camps and seven on
sevens and a lot of those things are a lot
more prevalent now than what it's ever been, and so
you are positioning these kids to possibly if they're not motivated,
if it's not something that they really want to do,
(14:41):
they're going to burn out. Like I give you a
great example, Marley, my oldest daughter that plays volleyball. She
chose she switched because our mom, Trish, was a basketball player.
Do you want basketball player? She didn't like basketball, so
she was like, know, somebody told her, you should try volleyball,
(15:02):
Go check it out. Do dat. She ends up loving volleyball.
She plays volleyball and ramped up to where she was
playing with with an elite, an elite volleyball travel squad,
and that became really what she did. She didn't even
really play school ball. She was she was a club
a club girl. So she was working out developing skill
(15:25):
with a private trainer and would play, would play clubs.
She got the Division one playing club not even really
doing it. And in high school man man man Man.
On the other hand, he's playing football, plays no other sports,
plays no other sports, doesn't whop. He's a lefty, could
(15:46):
have played baseball, is a baseball good baseball school he
went to. He just wanted to focus in on football.
That's just that's what all of them came to their
own conclusions. It wasn't like we were like forcing them
to do what they were going to do, even to
play the sport to begin with. Layla doesn't play volleyball,
doesn't do any of those things.
Speaker 1 (16:07):
You were the first person to tell me, Like, because
I'm like, my son's four years old and he loves baseball,
but he loves it, like he wants to, like all
wake up and he's already got you know, his his batting.
Speaker 3 (16:21):
Helmet on and his gloves like he's ready to go.
Like he loves it. He's obsessed and he's playing t ball.
But you're the ones. You're the one who told me.
Speaker 1 (16:28):
You're like, hey, bro, just see you know, if your
kid keeps playing sports, especially baseball, your vacations are going to.
Speaker 3 (16:37):
Be where he's got a travel turn. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (16:40):
No, you don't literally non stop this NonStop and every holiday,
every everything.
Speaker 3 (16:47):
And you're happy.
Speaker 5 (16:48):
You're it gets on your nerves and it's a lot
of money, but you're happy about supporting your kids. And
one thing that I hope you take away from the
conversations we have about Drew as well is just be
as big. Just support them all. Don't be the person
that's like, you know, like your dream is their dream.
So it's like you're forcing them to do something that
(17:10):
they don't necessarily want to do. You guide them, like
and I feel like that's what Lebron's talking about. Once
once you get away from the guidance of it, and
it's more so like ego driven, like like I'm going
to be the person that is the reason why my
kid makes it to the bigs and this, that and
(17:32):
the other, and they're like, not even happy. You're not
even paying attention to if your kid is happy. I
just want my kids to be healthy, happy and productive.
Like if you're being those things, I don't really care
what you're doing, and I don't really care how far
you make it right. You don't have to make it
to the pros to be a success. All you got
(17:54):
to do is put your best foot forward. Know that
you worked as hard as you possibly can and and
you didn't cut corners. You were a good teammate, you
put the work in and and you got your results done.
Speaker 1 (18:07):
I do want it because you know Lebron's saying this,
you know, talking about the youth coaching and you know,
kids getting burned out and all that stuff. I have wondered,
and I think we talked about this at the time,
how much of the push for Bronnie James was Bronnie
James himself a fan.
Speaker 5 (18:25):
Yeah, I don't know. I don't know, because they but
they look like they're happy kids. I don't feel like
they don't look like they're happy.
Speaker 1 (18:32):
They I just wonder if he was uncomfortable with the
conversations from a standpoint of I mean, I didn't ask
for all this attention, like I didn't because I've never
heard anybody say anything bad about Bronnie James.
Speaker 3 (18:45):
Like I've never heard anybody say, well, the kid's got
a bad.
Speaker 5 (18:47):
Asstimes say, you've heard him say anything bad. I don't
hear him talking all yeah, better to be saying didn't
be hurt right, Like he has really done an excellent
job of naving. If you asked me of navigating being
Bronnie James, an excellent job. You can't sit there and
be like, hey, Lee, pull up the sound bite off.
(19:08):
I'm sitting here saying, yeah, you know, if you ain't
trying to win, if you don't want to be.
Speaker 3 (19:16):
A winning organization, then don't draft me.
Speaker 1 (19:19):
I swear to get you played a Bronnie James cliff.
I wouldn't know it was him.
Speaker 3 (19:23):
I don't know. I don't know what he sounds like.
I swear to God, do we have any Bronnie James?
Do you have any bride?
Speaker 5 (19:30):
Because while I'm thinking about it, I agree with you.
Speaker 3 (19:33):
I don't even know that I know sounds like what
what does Bronnie James sound like it was a surreal moment.
Speaker 4 (19:41):
I really don't know how to describe it, but I
feel like I feel like pick up back when I
was ten years old just playing with him.
Speaker 3 (19:49):
So it was it was it was crazy.
Speaker 5 (19:54):
I mean, I'm I know he's come under a lot
of intense scrutiny over the last year.
Speaker 3 (19:59):
That could have been a shortstop in the in the
Blue Jays organism. We don't even know.
Speaker 5 (20:04):
I just I think I think in those types of situations,
I would be willing to bet the bank that they
want to be just like their dad. Like there's those
kids that want to be just like their dad, or
somebody that's in their family, or somebody that they watch
on television, whatever.
Speaker 3 (20:22):
It may be.
Speaker 5 (20:24):
I think I think the way lebron James like like
him or hate them, I think the way lebron James is,
I think he's a dope dad. From what I could see,
I think he's a really really dope dad. He's fun,
he he doesn't take himself too seriously as it applies
to his family. I mean, I think there's a lot
(20:45):
of things people could learn about how to kind of
approach parenting your kid you know from a Lebron James
that I really believe that, and I don't believe that
he put them in situations where he forced them to
be what they are right now, force them to be
basketball players, force them to do this, force them to
(21:08):
work out. I honestly believe if you're the type of
parent like a Lebron James, you're gonna motivate, You're gonna
inspire them to be more. And that's ultimately what you
want your kids to do is find their way on
their own. You guide them, you give them assistance, you
give them feedback and wisdom, and sometimes you got to
(21:31):
tell them what to do because they don't know. But
with that, it's just be their biggest fans, support them
and let them know that anything is possible. But don't
make your dream their dream. Allow for them to figure
out what their dream is and then you go from there.
And to me, I feel like that's the best way
to avoid burning a kid out, because even if you
(21:53):
love what you're doing, you and I both know this,
and anybody out there knows this, you can get burnt
out loving what you do. Sometimes it happens. Sometimes you
get fatigued, Sometimes you get tired. So it's just one
of those things. But if you love what you're doing,
you're going to reset. You're going to get that time,
and then you're gonna come back and you're gonna keep
doing what you're doing.
Speaker 3 (22:14):
So I feel like that's the best approach to it.
Speaker 1 (22:16):
It's Two Pros and a Cup of Joe here on
Fox Sports Radio, LaVar Arrington, Jonas Knox with you here.
Speaker 3 (22:21):
Coming up next.
Speaker 1 (22:21):
Though, apparently something that happened last year made a decision
for one team this year in the NFL.
Speaker 3 (22:31):
We'll get into that for you right here on FSR.
Speaker 2 (22:33):
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 (22:48):
It is Two Pros and a Cup of Joe, Fox
Sports Radio, LaVar Arrington, Jonas Knox with you here. Coming
up in about fifteen minutes from now, we are going
to have another edition of Lee's Leftovers that'll be yours
right here on FSR. There was an interesting little tidbit
that was posted and sent out that I saw from
Albert Breer, and there was some thought that, hey, you
(23:13):
know now that you know should Or Sanders is in
Cleveland and he's battling it out, and we're going to
get to see how that plays out when training camp
opens and they've got all that stuff happening. There was
a thought about one of the teams that potentially could
have drafted shad Or Sanders, and that was the Pittsburgh Steelers.
And Albert Breer was on Bill Simmons podcast and he
had kind of mentioned a little bit of this with
(23:36):
us that the reason Russell Wilson was the starter all
the way through, even towards the end of the year
when maybe there was a little bit of a struggle,
was because of Mike Tomlin. That Mike Tomlin was the
guy who was making the call on Russell Wilson, even
though there were people in the building who wanted Mike
Tomlin to switch to justin fields. Apparently Arthur Smith and
(24:00):
Russell Wilson did not see eye to eye. Their relationship
was not great. The offensive coordinator there with the Steelers,
and there were other people who felt like later in
the year they should make the move to justin fields.
They need a spark. They need something. And as you
saw the Steelers tour on you know, the final month
of the season really went into a tailspin, and it
(24:22):
was just wasn't the same team that it was when
they were looking like a legitimate, you know, contender in
the AFC. And so the thought was, according to Breer,
that part of the reason why the Steelers may have
passed on Shador Sanders is because Mike Tomlin liked Shador
Sanders but didn't want to press his luck so to speak,
(24:44):
when it came to making the decision on Shador if
he liked him more than others in the organization based
on how things went with Russell Wilson.
Speaker 5 (24:53):
I don't understand that at all. I mean, please help,
Can you make it make sense to him? So the
thought is passed up on him? What you two black quarterbacks? No,
this was a third and pressure luck on ill bringing
in a third black quarterback.
Speaker 3 (25:07):
Can you clear it up for him again?
Speaker 1 (25:08):
We make sure we're like guys, we've we've reached our
black quota at the court.
Speaker 3 (25:12):
Hit the quota, all right, Listen. It didn't work with two.
Speaker 5 (25:16):
Enough's enough because you got you got Mason Rudolph as
your starter enough, you got Mason Rudolph as your starter.
Speaker 3 (25:25):
What do you mean pressure, you need a QB.
Speaker 1 (25:27):
So Brears point was that maybe Mike Tomlin was a
little bit gun shy on wanting to make a call
on Shod Or Sanders. If the organization wasn't all in
unison in agreement, that he is the guy because he
kind of did that with Russell Wilson. He went against
(25:48):
the wishes of other people in the organization to keep
Russell Wilson in the lineup and it didn't work out,
and so you kind of burned a.
Speaker 3 (25:56):
Bridge with Justin Field's.
Speaker 1 (25:59):
Clearly they wanted part of Russ being brought back again,
even though Russ is saying, oh, look, I love New
York and Malik Neighbors is part of the reason I
signed here. Well, no, you signed with the Giants because
the Steelers don't want you anymore like that, that's also
part of it. But if that's if that's true, and
I don't think Breer's making this up, and Mike Tomlin
looks at it and says, hey, man, I don't want
(26:20):
to pull the trigger on shit or Sanders based on
how things went the last time I made the decision
and a difficult one at quarterback. Doesn't that tell you
that Mike Tomlin kind of knows this is a huge
year for the Steelers, Like this is a huge, huge
year to where if this goes poorly and even with
(26:44):
Rogers or if Mason Rudolphe guy, however this whole thing
plays out, if this goes poorly, you've kind of run
out of.
Speaker 3 (26:54):
I've been hello, I've been saying this.
Speaker 5 (26:56):
I mean, you just referenced Albert Breert a whole first
part to say, I've been saying this every time we
bring up the Steelers conversation.
Speaker 3 (27:04):
If it further proves your thought on it.
Speaker 5 (27:07):
That, if that sakes are really high, man, and if
you're breaking, if you're basing excuse me, not breaking, if
you're basing your your your future of what takes place
in such a pivotal year for Mike Tomlin and this
organization of the Pittsburgh Steelers, and you're basing that off
(27:30):
of what you hope and believe that Aaron Rodgers is
going to bring to the table. It's a very very
I mean it's a very very risky play.
Speaker 1 (27:40):
I mean, if you're the head coach of that team
and you're second guessing your ability to pick a quarterback now,
like your ability to identify a quarterback for your team,
and you're the head coach of the team.
Speaker 5 (27:54):
Who's to say that they woultn't have been better with
Russell Wilson going into his second season. That to me
the issue I kind of run into with that logic
of second guessing yourself after Russell Wilson was Russ did
have a couple good moments, but you're also looking at
it from the standpoint of Russ. I mean, it looks
(28:15):
as though his better his best years are behind him
at this point. I don't know you saw that video
I showed you earlier. Looks like they're in front of him. Well,
that's off the field. That's off, that's off the football field.
I'm not mad at him, bro, I mean, listen, Russ
is playing with house money. That's one hundred percent. That's
(28:35):
that's that. My friend is not up for debate. He
is one hundred percent winning in life. But I think
his best football years may be behind him. Oh yeah, Now,
unless you saw something amazing and Will Campbell, because looking
at Mason Rudolph, he's already been there. He's already been
(28:56):
a starter for you, you already know what those results
are possibly going to be, potentially going to be off
of his body of work. So if you're going into
this season with Mason Rudolph as your starter, who by
the way, didn't get it done the first time he
was there, but now is back okay, and then you
have will Will Campbell not Will Campbell? What's what's Will?
Speaker 3 (29:20):
What?
Speaker 5 (29:20):
What's What's what? The quarterback out of out of Ohio state?
Why am I blanking on his name right now?
Speaker 3 (29:27):
Will Howard? Will Howard? Will Howard?
Speaker 5 (29:29):
Uh? You have Will Howard backing him up? I think
he's intriguing. He's a PA kid as well. It's intriguing,
But it's It's the same thing that I say to
you about Cleveland is the same thing I'll say about
Pittsburgh is is that you have two head coaches that are,
in my opinion, all intensive purposes. They're on the hot seat.
(29:52):
You're on the hot seat, and I'm in the AFC North.
Why am I going to bring Will Howard in as
the starter for this team in the AFC North? Why
am I going to do that? Am I going to
be able to keep pace with a rookie quarterback in
the AFC North. That conversation is for Cleveland and for Pittsburgh.
(30:15):
This is not a Joe Burrow situation, like that's a
very very unique situation. This is not a Lamar Jackson situation.
That's a very unique situation. Those guys can come in
and have immediate success that it's there. Do I see
that in these guys?
Speaker 3 (30:33):
You know?
Speaker 1 (30:33):
Let me ask you this presently, currently present day, right now,
this morning, June second, today, who's got a better quarterback situation?
Speaker 5 (30:43):
The Browns are the Steelers. I think it's easily the Browns.
It's easily the Browns. You got four options. One has
won a super Bowl in the division. One has won
a Super Bowl. One has played successful with the team
they're on. And that's the same person recently recently. Then
(31:05):
you're talking about the idea of like I don't even
I'll skip over Kenny Pickett, Damn I will, and I'll
say the potential of what you could possibly have whatever
it is you decide to do with Gabrielle or Sanders
have you still have two unknown commodities that could possibly
(31:29):
be wins for your team.
Speaker 3 (31:33):
You look at Pittsburgh, it's like Will Howard.
Speaker 5 (31:37):
Just came off of winning a national championship, played some
inspired football, played some good football. Can he be a
franchise guy for a Pittsburgh Steelers team that is trying
to figure out what their identity is going to be
As an offense, They've been trying to figure out what
(31:59):
they're are identity is since they've lost Ben Roethlisberger. This
has always been a run first team, throw the ball,
but has always had a signature receiver connected to their team.
Have always added a signature receiver or two and a
(32:22):
tremendous offensive front with a running game. Do you have
a running game this year? I don't know. Nase Harris
isn't there, and Nause could have been better as a
as a player for the Pittsburgh Steelers during his tenure there.
I don't know what their running game is going to
look like, so how much how much pressure will that
(32:44):
alleviate from the quarterback?
Speaker 3 (32:47):
I don't know.
Speaker 5 (32:48):
If Aaron Rodgers comes in, is he going to play
at a high enough level where he rights all wrongs?
I doubt it. I seriously doubt it. Is there a
potential could be good, sure, but does he right all
of the wrongs. I doubt he's got that in him
with that team.
Speaker 1 (33:06):
Yeah, it feels like this is a like it's a
pivotal year, and I get this weird feeling. Man, it's
not gonna go well for Tomlin and Pittsburgh this year.
I just does not seem like everything's in a great spot.
And you know, if you believe the report from Albert
(33:27):
Brier or the speculation, you know, Mike Tomlin feeling the
heat a little bit there when it comes to making
decisions at the cornerback spot.
Speaker 5 (33:35):
I mean, that's going to dictate a lot. It's going
to dictate a lot for this team. And it's like
you said, it's a very big year for them, and
a lot of these decisions are very very critical and
crucial and if you make the wrong one, I just
don't see after having the year that they had with
Justin Fields and with Russell Wilson, which by the way,
both of them will be starting in the same market,
(33:57):
which is interesting. So if they both both are doing well,
depending on how these guys do and their upcoming seasons,
that puts even more pressure on the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Speaker 1 (34:08):
Yeah, and this could be that year and then what
if Kenny Pickett starts for the Browns and starts lightning up.
Speaker 3 (34:13):
Ah Lee, it's a bad, bad look.
Speaker 2 (34:16):
It is uh.
Speaker 1 (34:16):
Two Pros and on Radio, brought to you by Express Pros.
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with another edition of Lee's Leftovers.
Speaker 3 (34:38):
Here on FSR.
Speaker 2 (34:40):
Be sure to catch live editions of Two Pros and
a Cup of Joe with Brady Quinn, LeVar Arrington and
Jonas Knox weekdays at six am Eastern, three am Pacific.
Speaker 3 (34:51):
You just you got issues?
Speaker 5 (34:54):
Man?
Speaker 3 (34:56):
No I don't you get some help? No, I don't.
Speaker 1 (35:00):
Two Pros and a Cup of Joe Fox Sports Radio,
LeVar Arrington, Jonas Knox with you here. We won't be
back on the air coming up tomorrow, six am Eastern time,
three o'clock Spacific, same time, same place. Pete Prisco stop by,
So we're gonna need a little bit of our weekly
red ass from Pete. If you've missed any of today's show, though,
you can check out the podcast just search two Pros
(35:21):
Wherever you get your podcast, be sure to follow and
review the podcast and rated five stars. Again, just search
two Pros ever get your podcast, you'll find today's show
at the best of version posted right after we get
off the air.
Speaker 2 (35:33):
These might smell a little funk. That sounds incredible, but
they're still good. Time to find out what's left. It's
Lee's left jobs, all right, Dalap, what do we got?
Speaker 3 (35:44):
You know?
Speaker 6 (35:44):
What shouldn't smell funky? Is that that new Mike condom
I got you there, Vara.
Speaker 5 (35:49):
Say what clarify that for the listeners. I enjoyed my
condom today. By the way, yeah, the mic cover, continuing
to use it over and over and over again.
Speaker 6 (35:58):
Yeah, lest it was a little stinchy, thinks to uh
our good friend Tom.
Speaker 3 (36:03):
I would never know. I just never used it after that.
Speaker 5 (36:06):
Hey, but by the way, I've I've really missed being
comfortably resting my face on my mic and now I
can do it. Like I like resting my face on
my microphone when I'm talking. It's crazy, and like I
feel like a new person today, Like I'm very happy,
very very excited about this, Thank you, Thank you very much.
Speaker 3 (36:26):
It only took you three years.
Speaker 1 (36:27):
By the way, the condom that is being referred to
is the cover for the mic. Yes, we call it
a mic condom.
Speaker 3 (36:35):
Yeah, yes, the mic cover. Yeah, it gives you a
little extra protection. Yeah you know, yeah, let Todd use.
Speaker 5 (36:45):
These are bluetoo mics around here too, by the way,
nice and strong microphones. By the way, you got to
put a good, good cover on it.
Speaker 1 (36:54):
Where is that yellow mike condom that Todd used that
one time?
Speaker 3 (36:57):
I guarantee you Hall of fame.
Speaker 1 (36:59):
I guarantee if you gave that my cover a breathalyzer,
you'd get a d U. I guaranteed that might cover
even two years later, would blow a point h nine.
Speaker 3 (37:11):
H no popping peace with my cover?
Speaker 6 (37:14):
All right you guys, uh yeah, back from Vancouver.
Speaker 3 (37:16):
What else we got here? Oh?
Speaker 6 (37:17):
Did you see this tender as a new height filter
which is sparking debate?
Speaker 3 (37:21):
No, kidd, Yeah, whether or not ladies and or men
should be allowed to have.
Speaker 6 (37:26):
A height preference. Makes you wonder what else you could
put a preference in there? I think other dating whites?
Oh wow, size, Hey.
Speaker 1 (37:34):
Why couldn't you Why couldn't you have a hype preference,
Like why can't you what's the problem with discriminating?
Speaker 5 (37:42):
So what you're allowed to discriminate on the dating side.
Speaker 3 (37:46):
It's all about.
Speaker 6 (37:47):
Discrimin So you're weeding out sure guys, you know, got
no chance if you if you're gonna put the hype preference.
Speaker 3 (37:53):
Girl, every girl wants like she's gonna say in person
and be like you're too short. It's wasted your time,
t LeVar.
Speaker 1 (38:00):
Point, isn't that the whole idea? Yes, is to weed
out you know, pretenders and and like you know, point
to the contenders and be like, hey, that that's that's
a possibility.
Speaker 3 (38:12):
There, that's the whole point. It's the whole point, man.
Speaker 1 (38:15):
I mean some people, like I've told you, I had
a buddy who was on he was on so many
dating apps and it was and I was like, what's
your age range? Twenty three to death? Because he did
not matter. It did not matter, he didn't care. It's
a very wide spectrum. Like he would literally he would
just sit on his phone and just swipe. He didn't
(38:36):
even wasn't even looking. He'd be talking to me and
just swiping, swiping. Right, do you know what you're swiping out,
it doesn't matter swiping right, But if you swipe left,
what happens?
Speaker 3 (38:46):
You don't want to like, you're getting rid of him, like,
but if you like him, you just keep swiping right. Yeah.
So he didn't even look at the screen. He was
just swiping right.
Speaker 7 (38:53):
On everything, just taking them all, man, just looking for
a match. So you used to do right ly. Yeah,
you just keep swiping. See what happens at the end
of the day.
Speaker 3 (39:04):
Are you on dating apps Lorena? No, No, I'm not there.
Are you still on dating apps? Lee? Nope? Oh y'all
both are off the market now.
Speaker 1 (39:13):
Huh sure.
Speaker 6 (39:16):
I think every once in a while I bust what
open diff just for fun at the bar entertainment purposes,
like it's a slot.
Speaker 5 (39:23):
The Vancouver's huh yeah, interesting cat's hair. Yeah, I have
a good one.
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Brady Quinn
LaVar Arrington
Jonas Knox
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