February 19, 2025 • 23 mins
Dan Beyer and Rich Ohrnberger fill in for Covino & Rich in this episode, diving into a hot topic surrounding NFL quarterback Aaron Rodgers. They make the case for why Rodgers should consider taking the season off, discussing the impact on his future and the team. Plus, the duo explores the potential changes coming to the College Football Playoff, breaking down what these adjustments could mean for the sport moving forward.
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Hey, thanks for listening to the Best of Cabino and
Rich podcast. Be sure to catch us live every day
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Speaker 2 (00:16):
On the iHeartRadio app by searching FSR.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
Some of the teams that have been linked Darren Rodgers
either you know, presumably kicking the tires on him, or
potentially where he and that franchise would be a match
like the Pittsburgh Steelers or the Las Vegas Raiders, et cetera,
et cetera.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
You start going through the list and you.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
Start thinking about, man, I get it, he has not
played well in New York. He really wasn't particularly playing
well when he made his exit from Green Bay. But
I kind of feel like going to the Steelers, especially
in the shape they're currently in and the way they
use quarterbacks, is that really where Aaron Rodgers wants to go,
(01:03):
you know, to go to the Las Vegas Raiders, who
you know, are pretty much outside of their tight end
position and slot receiver position offensively kind of bereft of
all talent from a skilled position standpoint, not really strong
at offensive line either. Is that really where you want
to play if you're Aaron Rodgers.
Speaker 3 (01:21):
Yeah, doesn't seem too tasty.
Speaker 1 (01:23):
It just sort of feels to me like Aaron he
should maybe put his feet up on the ottoman.
Speaker 3 (01:31):
I agree with that.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
Turn the television quit well, no, hang on, Really, I'm saying,
play the long game. So the short game is, Okay,
I'm gonna sign with one of these teams who's interested
in me, and blah blah blah and this and that,
and maybe I can have some personnel decision making. I'm saying.
I'm saying, don't answer the phone during the offseason. I'm saying,
(01:55):
don't sign with anybody during the offseason. Pull Joe Flacco
here now. Joe Flacco, it was not by his own
decision making that he wasn't on a roster in twenty
twenty three until the Browns called him off of his
lazy boy recliner. And then he went out onto the
field in Cleveland and lit it up for about half
a season or a little bit less than half a season,
(02:16):
and even won them a game.
Speaker 2 (02:17):
In the postseason.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
But I'm saying, you make that choice yourself.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
Tell everybody like, hey.
Speaker 1 (02:25):
You know, and don't get me wrong, field the calls,
field the calls. Don't put everybody on warning that you're
not even interested or entertaining the idea of signing. But
don't sign. Wait to be somebody's hero. A good team
somewhere out there is going to lose their starting quarterback
this year. It's gonna either be early, around the midpoint,
or late in the season. It happens every single year.
(02:48):
And if there is an an Aaron Rodgers, somebody who's
that veteran and that talented, who's kept in shape and
interested in making a return available somewhere at home, you're
telling me that a team wouldn't jump at the opportunity
to sign him. They would and it would completely rekickstart
his career, just like it did for Joe Flacco.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
He was the toast of the town in the NFL
down the stretch of the twenty twenty three regular season.
Speaker 3 (03:14):
That's an I thought Russell Wilson should have done that,
And then in a way it happened with the Steelers,
and in a way it actually transpired like that. But
in the end we found out that Russell Wilson wasn't
good enough, wasn't able to save the day like Joe
Flacco was, and now we're going to have a tough
time finding Russell Wilson a job. That's the part that
(03:35):
I questioned about Aaron Rodgers, and that's why you and
I split on the freeway. I took the exit and
you kept going to play again. Yeah, I don't know
if he can save another team. I know that there
was there were some flashes this past year, but there
were also flashes of injury. I don't think it was
just the Achilles issue. I just think it's him being
(03:55):
forty one years old trying to come back from the
Achilles injury, you know issue. I maybe in spots to
your point of playing three, four or five games at
the end of the season, maybe trying to lead them in.
I just have serious questions on whether he can even
do it at this level anymore.
Speaker 1 (04:12):
I think a lot of people share those concerns, and
I think a lot of people in front offices of
the teams that even the teams that may be more
desperate for help at quarterback feel that way. So if
you sort of take your game piece off the board
and you do it quietly, like you know, and you
do it in a little bit more of a subversive way.
(04:33):
You're you're not making a statement, you're not putting out
a press release.
Speaker 2 (04:39):
But when teams call, you say, hey, we don't agree
to those terms, Well what's it gonna take?
Speaker 1 (04:43):
And you give them a contract that you know they're
not gonna sign with you, and they move on. And
you do that maybe once or twice, or who knows,
maybe three times this offseason. You get yourself to one
hundred percent physically, you get yourself to one hundred percent mentally.
And then if you do come back in the situation
I just painted where a team loses a starting quarterback
(05:04):
who has a real chance to take a run this
season and you stink, well, at least you have the
excuse on your side that, hey, you know they sign
him off the couch. You know he's forty something, he's
got the Achilles, he's still recovering from.
Speaker 2 (05:20):
You have a bunch of excuses going your way.
Speaker 1 (05:23):
If you sign with a team now, like the Raiders
the Steelers, all of a sudden, there's expectations. All of
a sudden, you're being asked questions and in Aaron Rodgers' case,
he can't help himself except to answer questions honestly. And
so the news cycle catches on and he's making headlines
every two weeks, and it's not good for anybody involved.
(05:45):
But if all of a sudden he puts on a
cape and he hops off of his sofa and he
throws a couple of touchdown passes in the first.
Speaker 2 (05:53):
Game back with you know, you name it, whoever.
Speaker 1 (05:57):
All of a sudden, he kind of he goes from
you know, this guy who was supposed to save the
New York Jets franchise and failed to this this sort
of I don't know, reignited superhero that may have one
last good run in him.
Speaker 3 (06:15):
There there are, you are speaking some truths because Joe Flacco,
aside from is Joe Flacco elite and him being a
super Bowl champion, the other thing we other talked about
him previously was Joe Flacco bet out himself and it
paid off. That's right, And now there's a whole new narrative.
In fact, it's so new that people don't even realize
(06:36):
that Joe Flacco actually played bad games in his comeback.
He was picked off in that playoff game against the Texans.
There were two picks sixes. Yep, he was benched this
past year as well. But we don't even we don't
even remember that stuff. We still just think of remember
when he lit it up for the Browns in that
end of the regular season and throwing for three hundred yards.
(06:56):
So yeah, that could change the narrative. I I I
think he's done. But to your point, if somebody wanted
to try to bring him in, that would be the
way to do it.
Speaker 2 (07:07):
And also Dan, and you know this as well as
I do.
Speaker 1 (07:11):
What you're talking about the difference between Joe Flacco when
he was on the tail end of his career in
Baltimore where Lamar replaced.
Speaker 2 (07:20):
Him was the expectations.
Speaker 1 (07:22):
The expectations for him at that time, with a good
defense and quality offensive players around that Baltimore offense, was
for him to be serviceable enough for the Baltimore Ravens
to win, and they weren't, and Lamar Jackson came in
with lower expectations and probably overplayed those low expectations. With
Aaron Rodgers in New York, there were immense expectations. He
(07:44):
met none of them.
Speaker 4 (07:46):
Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in
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Speaker 3 (07:58):
Happy, I'm day glad that you're spending yeah with us
here on Fox Sports Radio. More changes could be coming
to the college football Playoff as we are broadcasting live
from the tierrack dot com studios tierraq dot com. We'll
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Speaker 2 (08:20):
He is Rich Hornberger. I'm Dan Byer, and in.
Speaker 3 (08:22):
About twenty minutes or so, you and I will be
a team Rich in our Battle of the Sexes against
Moncey Belangos and Brianna Muro, the female team. In fact,
right now they are hovering up in Monsey Studio pregaming,
getting ready for our contest.
Speaker 2 (08:42):
They're scheming.
Speaker 5 (08:43):
I can look at through the scheming against you guys.
Speaker 3 (08:46):
This is gonna be fun. Iowa Sam is hosting. He
is he is hosting, he is handling all the audio,
he is judging. He's gonna do a lot of the
heavy lifting coming up in twenty minutes.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
Yeah, I believe it. I believe it. Yeah, he's uh,
he's been doing.
Speaker 1 (09:00):
His stretches, calisthenics, his warm ups. If you have to
break up a fight that breaks out in the Fox
Sports radio studio, he's ready for that as well. He's
wearing a striped shirt. He will be officiating this event. Yeah,
I'm excited. I uh, I've never been more ready for
a battle in my entire life.
Speaker 3 (09:17):
That comes up in twenty minutes or so. I have
no idea what the questions are even about. Are they
even about sports? Iowa, Sam? Can you at least tell
us you can see could you say some.
Speaker 5 (09:29):
Okay, if you want to need to make questions about
men women in sport, that's like a that's like a
triple Van diagram. That's pretty tough. This is just a
men versus women. Okay, So no trivia, that's no sports.
Totally fine, no sports, but it should be a doozy.
I just was curious, very good now this man.
Speaker 2 (09:46):
Yeah, and you know what it actually?
Speaker 1 (09:47):
It tracks because Sam, Iowa, Sam, he's a He's a
wild card.
Speaker 2 (09:51):
He's like the joker in the deck, you know he is.
I'm ready. I'm pumped.
Speaker 3 (09:56):
Yeah, we are looking forward. That comes up in twenty
minutes here on Fox Sports Radio. We encourage you to
stick with us because there's some developing news happening in
college football. Ross Dellinger, who covers this sport in a
magnificent way for Yahoo Sports, reported a few days ago
that officials from the Big Ten and the SEC are
holding meetings in New Orleans today to kind of develop
(10:18):
a plan for how they feel the future of the
college football playoffs should look. They have been given the
authority by the other parties, but obviously Notre Dame and
the other conference commissioners and presidents from some of the
leagues will be able to have a say. It's just
the framework of what the new college football playoff could
look like is likely being developed by the SEC in
(10:39):
the Big Ten, and it is likely going to benefit
the SEC in the Big Ten the most. And I
actually have no problem with it. I think you're the
perfect guest person to talk about nothing that you're our guest,
you're a host. But if we're talking about this topic
and we were to bring someone on, I would want
somebody with their foot in in the Power five, and
I would like their foot into the opposite way. You
(11:00):
played for a Power five school that made the College
Football Playoffs semi finals. You're you're in a lum of
Penn State, and that's what I'm trying to say. And
you also the analyst for the San Diego State Aztec's
radio network, so you know life in the Mountain West.
When you hear that the Big ten in the SEC
are getting together to kind of form the future of
(11:22):
the playoff, how does that shake out to you?
Speaker 1 (11:25):
Well, yeah, like you said it and perfectly you know,
mashed it up right there. I do have the perspective
from both sides, and I can tell you from the
perspective of a former Big Ten player and a former
Nitney lion. Does it make sense to me that these
two power conferences are going to have as much say
(11:47):
and sway when it comes to negotiating will what will
end up be college football playoff expansion. And I think
we could all have seen that coming a mile away,
especially after how how this year's playoffs shook out and
how many complaints about specifically the bracket and the number
of buy teams with buys there were. It was a
(12:10):
little clunky, it didn't seem right, it wasn't quite quite there.
It felt half baked, and so expanding beyond twelve teams.
Speaker 2 (12:20):
Feels like a given. Yeah, So does it make sense
on its face? Yeah?
Speaker 1 (12:26):
Do I think that there are going to be many
programs on the outside looking in as you know, more
and more of the responsibility for the future of college
football is designated to those in charge of these two
super conferences.
Speaker 2 (12:40):
Now, yeah, I do.
Speaker 1 (12:42):
I think it's going to get harder and harder for
programs like San Diego State or many others frankly, who
are on the outside looking in. But do I think
that's going to be the case for forever. Maybe not,
because with expansion of the playoffs, I could also see
further expansion of these conferences. So I do think at
(13:02):
some point will probably be down to four conferences. I
could see all of these Division one teams are higher
level Division one teams being gobbled up by one of
the four major conferences left when this whole thing shakes
out and college football playoff expansion, as we just discussed, Dan,
I mean, it was a shoe in, especially after the
(13:24):
interest in the college football playoffs this season, But also
with that interest came a lot of criticism.
Speaker 3 (13:30):
Yeah, there was, and listen, and I'm not saying this
as a fan of the school that won the national championship.
I understand that people didn't like the blowouts, that it
loved the seating, that it liked the way that the
bracket all fair, all, but I felt that it was
such progress from the four team yeah, and for them
to do it so quickly that I was willing to
(13:51):
overlook all of that. I thought that the committee maybe
could have done a better job in putting teams in
a certain spot, but it wasn't the worst scenario where
you had, say, in Indiana and Penn State from the
same conference, even though they didn't play in the regular season,
of them playing each other. I liked the SEC schools
going to the Big Ten, or you're alma mater Penn
(14:12):
State hosting an SMU team from the ACC, seeing Clemson
go to see Clemson ended up going to Texas as
part of that. Like that was neat to see. There
were a lot of positives to take from it. But
the other thing that you actually have to look at
is realistically, and I know it's not just one season,
(14:32):
but I think it's fair to say, is how many
SEC and Big Ten teams were in this bracket of
twelve and there were seven, and realistically, as we look
how things shaped out this year in the bracket in
saying all right, does the ACC deserve two schools? Probably not.
(14:53):
I think in more years than not, the SEC would
probably get another school. So as these SEC and Big
Ten leaders are talking today about a deal that could
give them four automatic bids to the bracket, I know
people think it's blasphemy and it would be the SEC
and the Big Ten dominating it, but they're likely to
dominate it anyway. And if you're the Big twelve, when
(15:14):
you only had one school get in to the bracket
this year, and that was Arizona State, when you only
had them getting in, if you could be assured of
two automatic bids, I think you have to take that
and run. Because this format of automatic bids going to
certain conferences was discussed before this playoff and people thought, well,
(15:36):
why should the Big ten and the SEC, Why should
they get such favor The conferences wanted first round buys
for their top two schools. Why should they get that?
And the reason they should get that is because they're
given the Big twelve two automatic spots in the bracket.
There could be seasons rich where we see the Big
ten putting five schools in, or the SEC putting five
(15:56):
schools in. You have to at least allow the Big
ten well in the SEC, those leagues have to recognize
on how they could be the odd person out. If
you don't accept what the SEC and the Big ten want,
give them their four automatic bids, because in turn, you're
gonna get too. Otherwise, if you try to be greedy
or try to be quote unquote fair, it's probably not
gonna work out well for you, because the SEC and
(16:18):
the Big Ten could have seasons where they put five
or maybe even six teams in the bracket.
Speaker 1 (16:21):
Yeah, that's that's a really great point that I think
a lot of people aren't focused on.
Speaker 2 (16:25):
And also, let's be honest.
Speaker 1 (16:27):
Okay, so say you expand and it's not perfect at first,
does that mean it's always.
Speaker 2 (16:32):
Going to be that way. No?
Speaker 1 (16:34):
No, I mean allow college football to expand, and don't
get me wrong, I'm sure there's gonna be some foot
stamping along the way, and maybe some of those gripes.
Speaker 2 (16:44):
Will be.
Speaker 1 (16:46):
Elevated to conversations had in this room between the SEC
and the Big ten, whether it be amongst schools in
the group of five or more likely the acc you
know you'll have. You'll have some commissioners, make enough noised
athletic directors, school presidents, head coaches that some of these
(17:07):
complaints will be considered. Some of them will fall on
deaf ears, no doubt. But look, you think about college football,
it has to expand there's so much money in college football,
and some of it now finally is being funneled to
the players. I view it overall as a good thing.
I know a lot of people disagree with that. But
(17:28):
when you're fishing, say and you drop a net and
it's a small net next to a boat, maybe you'll
consistently catch twenty five fish. But there's a whole ocean
out there, and so if you throw a bigger net, yeah,
maybe you'll only scoop up half of those twenty five
fish near the boat, and so you're only averaging twelve
(17:49):
or fourteen of the fish that were closest to the boat.
But you're getting an ocean full of fish or a
lot more fish in the bigger net. Well, aren't you
accomplishing the goal of sports, which is to be more
consumable for more people. I think that's better for the
broader audience. And so I like this idea of expansion,
(18:09):
even if it feels exclusive at first, because I think
it could become more inclusive as time rolls on.
Speaker 2 (18:17):
If things change.
Speaker 1 (18:19):
You know, if all of a sudden, the ACC is
pumping out schools with valid arguments where autobids don't work
for certain conferences anymore, well, then guess what things may change. Yeah,
sometimes you have to prove it a little bit, you know,
And maybe that's going to be the case for some
of these conferences or some of these schools. Frankly, we'll
see what happens. But right now, I don't think getting
(18:42):
in the way of progress is the side of history.
Speaker 3 (18:44):
You want to be on the point that you made
of maybe down the road SEC in the Big ten
expand I think is realistic, and it is a fear
of many, and I think that fear is interfering with
this discussion here, but it's almost I feel like, if
you at least go along with this plan, maybe you're
(19:04):
delaying the inevitable. If they don't, then if you don't
allow those automatic bids to go to the ACC, you
are those two automatic bids to the ACC and the
Big twelve, and have the four and the Big ten
in the SEC if there is the five bid or
six bid year, if they were.
Speaker 2 (19:22):
Like, Okay, we'll just do it.
Speaker 3 (19:23):
We'll do it this way and see how you guys
like it, that would then make the likes of those
Clemson in Florida States and North Carolina is more more
willing to then wanting to leave knowing that there is
no guarantee even of being in that league that you
could get your opportunity. So I think that would just
expedite it. The other thing the SEC and the Big
Ten are talking about are scheduling stuff where they would
(19:44):
have a scheduling deal throughout the league, which would then
allow us to have good preseason matchups. Texas and Ohio
State will open the season in the first week of
the college football season. I don't think anybody's mad about that.
But the fear is of why would we want to
s schedule in a difficult way. If we're now having
(20:05):
these sort of parameters set up for a college football playoff,
good preseason games or good early season games, they should
say we're thought to be at risk that could go
away with this agreement. They're also figuring out a way
or trying to figure out a way to do something
different maybe with conference championship games, because there didn't seem
to really be a lot of incentive for teams to
(20:27):
play in that championship game just for the fear of
losing in what it would have done and your you know,
Penn State squad ended up losing. And I don't think
the committee to Oregon and that big Dent tunitle game,
they didn't want to penalize Penn State, nor should they have,
you know, for that game. And I think there's a
way that they're looking at reimagining it, maybe putting bubble
teams from the conference or different ways and trying to
(20:49):
make it work.
Speaker 2 (20:49):
But all stuff that's being discussed.
Speaker 3 (20:51):
Today at meetings in New Orleans and what could end
up changing the future of college football.
Speaker 2 (20:55):
You know.
Speaker 1 (20:56):
Look, the NFL has the best mouse track because they
have a limited supply of regular season games, which induces urgency,
which is really important for the sports fan and viewer. Also,
the playoff bracket is seemingly perfect. When you have seven
teams vying on each side of the conference lines and
(21:17):
only one team gets a bye, you have a lot
of teams still vying hard and pushing hard at the
end of the season to battle for seeding and rankings
within their own conference before the playoffs starts.
Speaker 2 (21:28):
But college football is different.
Speaker 1 (21:31):
You know, the toothpaste is already out of the tube,
so you can't make it resemble the NFL. So what's
the next best thing? What's the next best postseason in sports?
In my opinion, and I'm sure you share this opinion, Dan,
it's college basketball. It's college basketball. It's March Madness, and
so you have it right there in front of your face.
You can make that happen. And I understand. We get
(21:53):
into the weeds for maybe more of the flyover sports
fan who doesn't care about college basketball before March Madness begins,
and they can print out their bracket or sign up
on Yahoo or ESPN or whatever app you use for
your for your bracket. Like, you know, the thing is this,
Like you get into the space where there's quality losses,
(22:14):
you know, where you know it's it's a win, but
it's against a bad team and you didn't beat them
good enough for it to be considered a good win,
you know. I mean, we're gonna get into that space
with college football, and I know that nausea certain people,
But that's that's the best you can do at this point.
So I think college football playoff expansion is coming. I
(22:36):
think at some point it will either perfectly resemble or
more resemble college basketball's postseason, which I've.
Speaker 2 (22:44):
Always been a fan of.
Speaker 1 (22:45):
You know, I've said in the past, I mean, shoot,
anything's better than four. If you expanded college football's postseason
to include sixty four teams, I'd be more of a
fan of that than having four.
Speaker 2 (22:56):
Having four teams in.
Speaker 1 (22:57):
A postseason, because at least it feels it's more like
a post He's a Dan, but you know, I think
sixteen is probably a good number. Seven I think you
could get away with, or excuse me, seven, fourteen you
probably could get away with.
Speaker 2 (23:10):
But expansion is needed.
Speaker 3 (23:12):
I thought the first weekend, even though the games weren't
really competitive, there was a buzz about it, and I
hope that would continue. You're not always gonna get blowouts.
You're gonna get competitive games at some point, just like
we saw in the semi finals, and I think that's
gonna end up being the future of the college football
play If it wasn't perfect by any means, no, but
it was better from what they had previously. He's rich
oren Berger. I'm Dan Byer in for Cavino and rich
(23:34):
Here on Fox Sports Radios. We're a live for They
Tell yourec dot Com Studios
Hey, thanks for listening to the Best of Cabino and
Rich podcast. Be sure to catch us live every day
from five to seven pm to eastern two to four
pacifics on Fox Sports Radio. Find your local station for
Covino and Rich at Fox Sports Radio dot com, or
stream us live every day.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
On the iHeartRadio app by searching FSR.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
Some of the teams that have been linked Darren Rodgers
either you know, presumably kicking the tires on him, or
potentially where he and that franchise would be a match
like the Pittsburgh Steelers or the Las Vegas Raiders, et cetera,
et cetera.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
You start going through the list and you.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
Start thinking about, man, I get it, he has not
played well in New York. He really wasn't particularly playing
well when he made his exit from Green Bay. But
I kind of feel like going to the Steelers, especially
in the shape they're currently in and the way they
use quarterbacks, is that really where Aaron Rodgers wants to go,
(01:03):
you know, to go to the Las Vegas Raiders, who
you know, are pretty much outside of their tight end
position and slot receiver position offensively kind of bereft of
all talent from a skilled position standpoint, not really strong
at offensive line either. Is that really where you want
to play if you're Aaron Rodgers.
Speaker 3 (01:21):
Yeah, doesn't seem too tasty.
Speaker 1 (01:23):
It just sort of feels to me like Aaron he
should maybe put his feet up on the ottoman.
Speaker 3 (01:31):
I agree with that.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
Turn the television quit well, no, hang on, Really, I'm saying,
play the long game. So the short game is, Okay,
I'm gonna sign with one of these teams who's interested
in me, and blah blah blah and this and that,
and maybe I can have some personnel decision making. I'm saying.
I'm saying, don't answer the phone during the offseason. I'm saying,
(01:55):
don't sign with anybody during the offseason. Pull Joe Flacco
here now. Joe Flacco, it was not by his own
decision making that he wasn't on a roster in twenty
twenty three until the Browns called him off of his
lazy boy recliner. And then he went out onto the
field in Cleveland and lit it up for about half
a season or a little bit less than half a season,
(02:16):
and even won them a game.
Speaker 2 (02:17):
In the postseason.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
But I'm saying, you make that choice yourself.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
Tell everybody like, hey.
Speaker 1 (02:25):
You know, and don't get me wrong, field the calls,
field the calls. Don't put everybody on warning that you're
not even interested or entertaining the idea of signing. But
don't sign. Wait to be somebody's hero. A good team
somewhere out there is going to lose their starting quarterback
this year. It's gonna either be early, around the midpoint,
or late in the season. It happens every single year.
(02:48):
And if there is an an Aaron Rodgers, somebody who's
that veteran and that talented, who's kept in shape and
interested in making a return available somewhere at home, you're
telling me that a team wouldn't jump at the opportunity
to sign him. They would and it would completely rekickstart
his career, just like it did for Joe Flacco.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
He was the toast of the town in the NFL
down the stretch of the twenty twenty three regular season.
Speaker 3 (03:14):
That's an I thought Russell Wilson should have done that,
And then in a way it happened with the Steelers,
and in a way it actually transpired like that. But
in the end we found out that Russell Wilson wasn't
good enough, wasn't able to save the day like Joe
Flacco was, and now we're going to have a tough
time finding Russell Wilson a job. That's the part that
(03:35):
I questioned about Aaron Rodgers, and that's why you and
I split on the freeway. I took the exit and
you kept going to play again. Yeah, I don't know
if he can save another team. I know that there
was there were some flashes this past year, but there
were also flashes of injury. I don't think it was
just the Achilles issue. I just think it's him being
(03:55):
forty one years old trying to come back from the
Achilles injury, you know issue. I maybe in spots to
your point of playing three, four or five games at
the end of the season, maybe trying to lead them in.
I just have serious questions on whether he can even
do it at this level anymore.
Speaker 1 (04:12):
I think a lot of people share those concerns, and
I think a lot of people in front offices of
the teams that even the teams that may be more
desperate for help at quarterback feel that way. So if
you sort of take your game piece off the board
and you do it quietly, like you know, and you
do it in a little bit more of a subversive way.
(04:33):
You're you're not making a statement, you're not putting out
a press release.
Speaker 2 (04:39):
But when teams call, you say, hey, we don't agree
to those terms, Well what's it gonna take?
Speaker 1 (04:43):
And you give them a contract that you know they're
not gonna sign with you, and they move on. And
you do that maybe once or twice, or who knows,
maybe three times this offseason. You get yourself to one
hundred percent physically, you get yourself to one hundred percent mentally.
And then if you do come back in the situation
I just painted where a team loses a starting quarterback
(05:04):
who has a real chance to take a run this
season and you stink, well, at least you have the
excuse on your side that, hey, you know they sign
him off the couch. You know he's forty something, he's
got the Achilles, he's still recovering from.
Speaker 2 (05:20):
You have a bunch of excuses going your way.
Speaker 1 (05:23):
If you sign with a team now, like the Raiders
the Steelers, all of a sudden, there's expectations. All of
a sudden, you're being asked questions and in Aaron Rodgers' case,
he can't help himself except to answer questions honestly. And
so the news cycle catches on and he's making headlines
every two weeks, and it's not good for anybody involved.
(05:45):
But if all of a sudden he puts on a
cape and he hops off of his sofa and he
throws a couple of touchdown passes in the first.
Speaker 2 (05:53):
Game back with you know, you name it, whoever.
Speaker 1 (05:57):
All of a sudden, he kind of he goes from
you know, this guy who was supposed to save the
New York Jets franchise and failed to this this sort
of I don't know, reignited superhero that may have one
last good run in him.
Speaker 3 (06:15):
There there are, you are speaking some truths because Joe Flacco,
aside from is Joe Flacco elite and him being a
super Bowl champion, the other thing we other talked about
him previously was Joe Flacco bet out himself and it
paid off. That's right, And now there's a whole new narrative.
In fact, it's so new that people don't even realize
(06:36):
that Joe Flacco actually played bad games in his comeback.
He was picked off in that playoff game against the Texans.
There were two picks sixes. Yep, he was benched this
past year as well. But we don't even we don't
even remember that stuff. We still just think of remember
when he lit it up for the Browns in that
end of the regular season and throwing for three hundred yards.
(06:56):
So yeah, that could change the narrative. I I I
think he's done. But to your point, if somebody wanted
to try to bring him in, that would be the
way to do it.
Speaker 2 (07:07):
And also Dan, and you know this as well as
I do.
Speaker 1 (07:11):
What you're talking about the difference between Joe Flacco when
he was on the tail end of his career in
Baltimore where Lamar replaced.
Speaker 2 (07:20):
Him was the expectations.
Speaker 1 (07:22):
The expectations for him at that time, with a good
defense and quality offensive players around that Baltimore offense, was
for him to be serviceable enough for the Baltimore Ravens
to win, and they weren't, and Lamar Jackson came in
with lower expectations and probably overplayed those low expectations. With
Aaron Rodgers in New York, there were immense expectations. He
(07:44):
met none of them.
Speaker 4 (07:46):
Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in
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Speaker 3 (07:58):
Happy, I'm day glad that you're spending yeah with us
here on Fox Sports Radio. More changes could be coming
to the college football Playoff as we are broadcasting live
from the tierrack dot com studios tierraq dot com. We'll
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Speaker 2 (08:20):
He is Rich Hornberger. I'm Dan Byer, and in.
Speaker 3 (08:22):
About twenty minutes or so, you and I will be
a team Rich in our Battle of the Sexes against
Moncey Belangos and Brianna Muro, the female team. In fact,
right now they are hovering up in Monsey Studio pregaming,
getting ready for our contest.
Speaker 2 (08:42):
They're scheming.
Speaker 5 (08:43):
I can look at through the scheming against you guys.
Speaker 3 (08:46):
This is gonna be fun. Iowa Sam is hosting. He
is he is hosting, he is handling all the audio,
he is judging. He's gonna do a lot of the
heavy lifting coming up in twenty minutes.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
Yeah, I believe it. I believe it. Yeah, he's uh,
he's been doing.
Speaker 1 (09:00):
His stretches, calisthenics, his warm ups. If you have to
break up a fight that breaks out in the Fox
Sports radio studio, he's ready for that as well. He's
wearing a striped shirt. He will be officiating this event. Yeah,
I'm excited. I uh, I've never been more ready for
a battle in my entire life.
Speaker 3 (09:17):
That comes up in twenty minutes or so. I have
no idea what the questions are even about. Are they
even about sports? Iowa, Sam? Can you at least tell
us you can see could you say some.
Speaker 5 (09:29):
Okay, if you want to need to make questions about
men women in sport, that's like a that's like a
triple Van diagram. That's pretty tough. This is just a
men versus women. Okay, So no trivia, that's no sports.
Totally fine, no sports, but it should be a doozy.
I just was curious, very good now this man.
Speaker 2 (09:46):
Yeah, and you know what it actually?
Speaker 1 (09:47):
It tracks because Sam, Iowa, Sam, he's a He's a
wild card.
Speaker 2 (09:51):
He's like the joker in the deck, you know he is.
I'm ready. I'm pumped.
Speaker 3 (09:56):
Yeah, we are looking forward. That comes up in twenty
minutes here on Fox Sports Radio. We encourage you to
stick with us because there's some developing news happening in
college football. Ross Dellinger, who covers this sport in a
magnificent way for Yahoo Sports, reported a few days ago
that officials from the Big Ten and the SEC are
holding meetings in New Orleans today to kind of develop
(10:18):
a plan for how they feel the future of the
college football playoffs should look. They have been given the
authority by the other parties, but obviously Notre Dame and
the other conference commissioners and presidents from some of the
leagues will be able to have a say. It's just
the framework of what the new college football playoff could
look like is likely being developed by the SEC in
(10:39):
the Big Ten, and it is likely going to benefit
the SEC in the Big Ten the most. And I
actually have no problem with it. I think you're the
perfect guest person to talk about nothing that you're our guest,
you're a host. But if we're talking about this topic
and we were to bring someone on, I would want
somebody with their foot in in the Power five, and
I would like their foot into the opposite way. You
(11:00):
played for a Power five school that made the College
Football Playoffs semi finals. You're you're in a lum of
Penn State, and that's what I'm trying to say. And
you also the analyst for the San Diego State Aztec's
radio network, so you know life in the Mountain West.
When you hear that the Big ten in the SEC
are getting together to kind of form the future of
(11:22):
the playoff, how does that shake out to you?
Speaker 1 (11:25):
Well, yeah, like you said it and perfectly you know,
mashed it up right there. I do have the perspective
from both sides, and I can tell you from the
perspective of a former Big Ten player and a former
Nitney lion. Does it make sense to me that these
two power conferences are going to have as much say
(11:47):
and sway when it comes to negotiating will what will
end up be college football playoff expansion. And I think
we could all have seen that coming a mile away,
especially after how how this year's playoffs shook out and
how many complaints about specifically the bracket and the number
of buy teams with buys there were. It was a
(12:10):
little clunky, it didn't seem right, it wasn't quite quite there.
It felt half baked, and so expanding beyond twelve teams.
Speaker 2 (12:20):
Feels like a given. Yeah, So does it make sense
on its face? Yeah?
Speaker 1 (12:26):
Do I think that there are going to be many
programs on the outside looking in as you know, more
and more of the responsibility for the future of college
football is designated to those in charge of these two
super conferences.
Speaker 2 (12:40):
Now, yeah, I do.
Speaker 1 (12:42):
I think it's going to get harder and harder for
programs like San Diego State or many others frankly, who
are on the outside looking in. But do I think
that's going to be the case for forever. Maybe not,
because with expansion of the playoffs, I could also see
further expansion of these conferences. So I do think at
(13:02):
some point will probably be down to four conferences. I
could see all of these Division one teams are higher
level Division one teams being gobbled up by one of
the four major conferences left when this whole thing shakes
out and college football playoff expansion, as we just discussed, Dan,
I mean, it was a shoe in, especially after the
(13:24):
interest in the college football playoffs this season, But also
with that interest came a lot of criticism.
Speaker 3 (13:30):
Yeah, there was, and listen, and I'm not saying this
as a fan of the school that won the national championship.
I understand that people didn't like the blowouts, that it
loved the seating, that it liked the way that the
bracket all fair, all, but I felt that it was
such progress from the four team yeah, and for them
to do it so quickly that I was willing to
(13:51):
overlook all of that. I thought that the committee maybe
could have done a better job in putting teams in
a certain spot, but it wasn't the worst scenario where
you had, say, in Indiana and Penn State from the
same conference, even though they didn't play in the regular season,
of them playing each other. I liked the SEC schools
going to the Big Ten, or you're alma mater Penn
(14:12):
State hosting an SMU team from the ACC, seeing Clemson
go to see Clemson ended up going to Texas as
part of that. Like that was neat to see. There
were a lot of positives to take from it. But
the other thing that you actually have to look at
is realistically, and I know it's not just one season,
(14:32):
but I think it's fair to say, is how many
SEC and Big Ten teams were in this bracket of
twelve and there were seven, and realistically, as we look
how things shaped out this year in the bracket in
saying all right, does the ACC deserve two schools? Probably not.
(14:53):
I think in more years than not, the SEC would
probably get another school. So as these SEC and Big
Ten leaders are talking today about a deal that could
give them four automatic bids to the bracket, I know
people think it's blasphemy and it would be the SEC
and the Big Ten dominating it, but they're likely to
dominate it anyway. And if you're the Big twelve, when
(15:14):
you only had one school get in to the bracket
this year, and that was Arizona State, when you only
had them getting in, if you could be assured of
two automatic bids, I think you have to take that
and run. Because this format of automatic bids going to
certain conferences was discussed before this playoff and people thought, well,
(15:36):
why should the Big ten and the SEC, Why should
they get such favor The conferences wanted first round buys
for their top two schools. Why should they get that?
And the reason they should get that is because they're
given the Big twelve two automatic spots in the bracket.
There could be seasons rich where we see the Big
ten putting five schools in, or the SEC putting five
(15:56):
schools in. You have to at least allow the Big
ten well in the SEC, those leagues have to recognize
on how they could be the odd person out. If
you don't accept what the SEC and the Big ten want,
give them their four automatic bids, because in turn, you're
gonna get too. Otherwise, if you try to be greedy
or try to be quote unquote fair, it's probably not
gonna work out well for you, because the SEC and
(16:18):
the Big Ten could have seasons where they put five
or maybe even six teams in the bracket.
Speaker 1 (16:21):
Yeah, that's that's a really great point that I think
a lot of people aren't focused on.
Speaker 2 (16:25):
And also, let's be honest.
Speaker 1 (16:27):
Okay, so say you expand and it's not perfect at first,
does that mean it's always.
Speaker 2 (16:32):
Going to be that way. No?
Speaker 1 (16:34):
No, I mean allow college football to expand, and don't
get me wrong, I'm sure there's gonna be some foot
stamping along the way, and maybe some of those gripes.
Speaker 2 (16:44):
Will be.
Speaker 1 (16:46):
Elevated to conversations had in this room between the SEC
and the Big ten, whether it be amongst schools in
the group of five or more likely the acc you
know you'll have. You'll have some commissioners, make enough noised
athletic directors, school presidents, head coaches that some of these
(17:07):
complaints will be considered. Some of them will fall on
deaf ears, no doubt. But look, you think about college football,
it has to expand there's so much money in college football,
and some of it now finally is being funneled to
the players. I view it overall as a good thing.
I know a lot of people disagree with that. But
(17:28):
when you're fishing, say and you drop a net and
it's a small net next to a boat, maybe you'll
consistently catch twenty five fish. But there's a whole ocean
out there, and so if you throw a bigger net, yeah,
maybe you'll only scoop up half of those twenty five
fish near the boat, and so you're only averaging twelve
(17:49):
or fourteen of the fish that were closest to the boat.
But you're getting an ocean full of fish or a
lot more fish in the bigger net. Well, aren't you
accomplishing the goal of sports, which is to be more
consumable for more people. I think that's better for the
broader audience. And so I like this idea of expansion,
(18:09):
even if it feels exclusive at first, because I think
it could become more inclusive as time rolls on.
Speaker 2 (18:17):
If things change.
Speaker 1 (18:19):
You know, if all of a sudden, the ACC is
pumping out schools with valid arguments where autobids don't work
for certain conferences anymore, well, then guess what things may change. Yeah,
sometimes you have to prove it a little bit, you know,
And maybe that's going to be the case for some
of these conferences or some of these schools. Frankly, we'll
see what happens. But right now, I don't think getting
(18:42):
in the way of progress is the side of history.
Speaker 3 (18:44):
You want to be on the point that you made
of maybe down the road SEC in the Big ten
expand I think is realistic, and it is a fear
of many, and I think that fear is interfering with
this discussion here, but it's almost I feel like, if
you at least go along with this plan, maybe you're
(19:04):
delaying the inevitable. If they don't, then if you don't
allow those automatic bids to go to the ACC, you
are those two automatic bids to the ACC and the
Big twelve, and have the four and the Big ten
in the SEC if there is the five bid or
six bid year, if they were.
Speaker 2 (19:22):
Like, Okay, we'll just do it.
Speaker 3 (19:23):
We'll do it this way and see how you guys
like it, that would then make the likes of those
Clemson in Florida States and North Carolina is more more
willing to then wanting to leave knowing that there is
no guarantee even of being in that league that you
could get your opportunity. So I think that would just
expedite it. The other thing the SEC and the Big
Ten are talking about are scheduling stuff where they would
(19:44):
have a scheduling deal throughout the league, which would then
allow us to have good preseason matchups. Texas and Ohio
State will open the season in the first week of
the college football season. I don't think anybody's mad about that.
But the fear is of why would we want to
s schedule in a difficult way. If we're now having
(20:05):
these sort of parameters set up for a college football playoff,
good preseason games or good early season games, they should
say we're thought to be at risk that could go
away with this agreement. They're also figuring out a way
or trying to figure out a way to do something
different maybe with conference championship games, because there didn't seem
to really be a lot of incentive for teams to
(20:27):
play in that championship game just for the fear of
losing in what it would have done and your you know,
Penn State squad ended up losing. And I don't think
the committee to Oregon and that big Dent tunitle game,
they didn't want to penalize Penn State, nor should they have,
you know, for that game. And I think there's a
way that they're looking at reimagining it, maybe putting bubble
teams from the conference or different ways and trying to
(20:49):
make it work.
Speaker 2 (20:49):
But all stuff that's being discussed.
Speaker 3 (20:51):
Today at meetings in New Orleans and what could end
up changing the future of college football.
Speaker 2 (20:55):
You know.
Speaker 1 (20:56):
Look, the NFL has the best mouse track because they
have a limited supply of regular season games, which induces urgency,
which is really important for the sports fan and viewer. Also,
the playoff bracket is seemingly perfect. When you have seven
teams vying on each side of the conference lines and
(21:17):
only one team gets a bye, you have a lot
of teams still vying hard and pushing hard at the
end of the season to battle for seeding and rankings
within their own conference before the playoffs starts.
Speaker 2 (21:28):
But college football is different.
Speaker 1 (21:31):
You know, the toothpaste is already out of the tube,
so you can't make it resemble the NFL. So what's
the next best thing? What's the next best postseason in sports?
In my opinion, and I'm sure you share this opinion, Dan,
it's college basketball. It's college basketball. It's March Madness, and
so you have it right there in front of your face.
You can make that happen. And I understand. We get
(21:53):
into the weeds for maybe more of the flyover sports
fan who doesn't care about college basketball before March Madness begins,
and they can print out their bracket or sign up
on Yahoo or ESPN or whatever app you use for
your for your bracket. Like, you know, the thing is this,
Like you get into the space where there's quality losses,
(22:14):
you know, where you know it's it's a win, but
it's against a bad team and you didn't beat them
good enough for it to be considered a good win,
you know. I mean, we're gonna get into that space
with college football, and I know that nausea certain people,
But that's that's the best you can do at this point.
So I think college football playoff expansion is coming. I
(22:36):
think at some point it will either perfectly resemble or
more resemble college basketball's postseason, which I've.
Speaker 2 (22:44):
Always been a fan of.
Speaker 1 (22:45):
You know, I've said in the past, I mean, shoot,
anything's better than four. If you expanded college football's postseason
to include sixty four teams, I'd be more of a
fan of that than having four.
Speaker 2 (22:56):
Having four teams in.
Speaker 1 (22:57):
A postseason, because at least it feels it's more like
a post He's a Dan, but you know, I think
sixteen is probably a good number. Seven I think you
could get away with, or excuse me, seven, fourteen you
probably could get away with.
Speaker 2 (23:10):
But expansion is needed.
Speaker 3 (23:12):
I thought the first weekend, even though the games weren't
really competitive, there was a buzz about it, and I
hope that would continue. You're not always gonna get blowouts.
You're gonna get competitive games at some point, just like
we saw in the semi finals, and I think that's
gonna end up being the future of the college football
play If it wasn't perfect by any means, no, but
it was better from what they had previously. He's rich
oren Berger. I'm Dan Byer in for Cavino and rich
(23:34):
Here on Fox Sports Radios. We're a live for They
Tell yourec dot Com Studios
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Rich Davis
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