Andy Furman and Bucky Brooks React to Round 1 of the CFP, NFL Saves the Day & More!

Andy Furman & Bucky Brooks open the show debating how to fix the College Football Playoff. The Bears pull off a miraculous comeback vs the Packers. Teams that are now in the driver’s seat vs teams that are desperate. Plus, the biggest storylines for NFL Week 16 and new editions of Ask Bucky and the Blame Game! 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
You're listening no Fox Sports Radio, we go no Irish,
no problem, that's coming right out.

Speaker 2 (00:07):
Good morning, everybody. This is Fox Football Sunday. He's Bucky
Brooks at Mandy Ferman. And by the way, we're broadcasting
live from the Fox Sports Radio studios. And by the way,
Bucky Brooks is here. So we're gonna have the s
Bucky segment at the end of this hour. So if
you have any questions for Bucky, tweet him at Bucky
Brooks and or eight seven seven ninety nine on Fox
with Togere of that and you know, we talk about

(00:28):
the college football playoffs right now. Great news for you,
little extra Christmas money for next Christmas maybe right Fitting
off the success of our college basketball bracket challenge every March,
we decided here a Fox Sports ready to do a
bracket challenge for the college football playoff. That's right now,
that there are eight teams left standing, it's bracket Challenge time. Yes,

(00:48):
compete against the Fox Sports Radio hosts and against fellow
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Play for your chance to win get this one thousand bucks. Yes,
visits Foxsports Radio i Heart dot com to register, get rules,
and fill out your bracket.

Speaker 3 (01:03):
By the way.

Speaker 2 (01:04):
Entry will be open until just before kickoffs seven thirty
pm Eastern on New Year's Eve. Again, fill out your
bracket at Foxport Radio dot iHeart dot com for your chance.

Speaker 3 (01:13):
To win one thousand dollars. And here he is.

Speaker 2 (01:16):
I got a couple of things to say to lay
it out here right now. I'm talking about the games yesterday.
There was two NFL games, three college games that meant something.
I thought, I'm gonna say this right out good my chest.
It was embarrassing, it was wrong, it was shameful, it
was a sham, and really, to some extent, it was
a waste of time watching those college football games. I

(01:36):
don't get it. I don't get it. I really don't.
And first let's start with the team that was not invited,
no Ja Dame, right right now, and Bucky, how are you?

Speaker 3 (01:45):
How's everything okay? Everything good?

Speaker 4 (01:47):
You said, all right?

Speaker 3 (01:51):
I watched it. I know you watched the games yesterday.

Speaker 2 (01:53):
I think maybe now we need to bring no Ja
Day to the forefront, because I would have loved to
see no Ja Dame play yesterday.

Speaker 3 (01:58):
They did not have a better resume than Alabama or Miami.
We knew that. Okay, I remember that Miami beat the
Irish in Week one.

Speaker 2 (02:05):
If the committee claimed that No, Jed Dame was the
better team week after week after week, Okay, I get it.
And then they snubbed the bowl season. They said, you know,
we're taking the ball.

Speaker 3 (02:13):
We'll go home. That thought that was a week move.

Speaker 2 (02:15):
But after what I watched yesterday, After I watched Oregon
playing yesterday against James Madison, Bucky, I'm telling you I'm
not an athlete by any stretch of the imagination. I'm
telling you now, if I went to James Madison University,
I could have made the varsity. I'm telling you that really.
I mean, the score was thirty four to six at halftime.
It was disgusting. James Madison, Tulane. Get your own league,

(02:39):
get your own division, get your own playoff. It was
embarrassing to watch that game yesterday. I'm telling you, I
don't know how you felt about that, but I think
it was a waste of time. He's getting his thoughts together.
I do think it was a waste of time. The
Ducks right now, I mean it was a twenty one
point favorite there, Oregon was They raced out to that
thirty four to six halftime lead, and by the way,
the second half, you know positive, but Oregon five hundred

(03:02):
and fourteen yards of total offense. I mean, come on,
they even block the field goal, they blocked the punt.
I mean their quarterback Dante Moore was nineteen for twenty seven,
three hundred and thirteen yards, four touchdowns. I mean, really,
is this what we're waiting for?

Speaker 3 (03:17):
Is this what they.

Speaker 2 (03:17):
Played all full long to see this kind of a game?
Fifty one to thirty four was at the final score?
I think it was fifty one to thirty four. I mean,
it's a waste of time. It's a joke. I mean,
you know what, I think it even hurt the Gamblers.
I mean it was a twenty one point spread. So
I just think that this whole situation has to be revamped.

Speaker 3 (03:38):
It really does, this whole playoff situation.

Speaker 2 (03:40):
And right now, after watching the games yesterday, I more
than ever would have liked to have seen Notre Dame
and Vanderbilt playing rather than James Madison and Oregon's opponent.
Did James Madison in Tulane? I mean, really, it just
didn't make any sense. I don't know, I would. Okay, Buck,
I let that off my chance. I want you to

(04:01):
really and truly soak that in a little bit and
tell me what you have to think about those games.

Speaker 3 (04:05):
Yes, I thought it was a waste of time.

Speaker 5 (04:07):
To some extent, it was a waste of time.

Speaker 4 (04:09):
But there's no way that you would have made jam
You would have made jam Us team. I'm just telling you,
no matter how bad it no matter how bad it is.

Speaker 5 (04:17):
You would not have made Jmu's team.

Speaker 4 (04:19):
So I understand your point, and I know you're trying
to put a little extra on it, but you would
not have made that team that played.

Speaker 2 (04:24):
Let me just say one thing, Okay, I got two
good things going with me.

Speaker 5 (04:28):
Speed.

Speaker 2 (04:29):
I used to have speed. Now I got two fake hips.
I ran too much all my life. That's why I
got two fake hips. I had speed and good hands.
Other than that, not much football knowledge. But I think
you could get away with speed and good hands.

Speaker 4 (04:43):
Yeah, but outside of that, your point is on the mark.
It was a waste of time. But we all knew
it was gonna be a waste of time, right, How
many of us really thought that when we saw the
bracket that JAMU and two lane We're gonna make very
competitive games. Nobody signed up for that. No one thought that.
Even the committee couldn't have thought that they were just
doing what they're obligated to do based on the bylaws

(05:04):
of the thing. You had to include the group of
five teams. So we included them, and we saw that
there's a decided mismatch between those those teams. There's powerful
in group of five, and group of five should have
its own playoff, just like Power four should have its
own playoff. Because you couldn't tell me that Texas and
Notre Dame would have been more compelling matchups than what

(05:26):
we saw yesterday.

Speaker 2 (05:28):
Right, And you know what, it's funny because all those
people that were yelling and screaming and crying about Notre
Dame not getting in, those are the ones that just
come forth today. I'm not so certain that after playing
a game yesterday that would prove to the the committee
or anybody else that Notre Dame should have been in.
But at least the games would have been a little
more competitive, and that's what we want to see. You know,

(05:48):
I don't really have a rooting interest, but I want
to sit down and watch a game that means something.
When I see Old Miss rolling over two Lane forty
one to ten, and honestly, Buck, maybe I went out
a better chance making Tulane than JMU.

Speaker 3 (05:59):
I don't know. You know, it's a toss up between
you know.

Speaker 2 (06:02):
I think if you put Tulane and JMU together as
an all star team, they still couldn't beat any of
those teams.

Speaker 3 (06:08):
How's that?

Speaker 5 (06:11):
I mean?

Speaker 4 (06:11):
I may I may agree with you there, And the
fact that it's not only the fact that they weren't
good enough, but both of their coaches were gone, so
like I'm not saying that they were checked out. They
didn't do their due diligence to get their teams ready,
but they had other jobs, you know what I'm saying.
So it just wasn't the right environment, wasn't the right situation.
It just fell off from the jump, And it was

(06:34):
so weird to have the best game, the most competitive game,
being the first game of the day, while the other games,
as we were engine closer to prime time, were duds.

Speaker 3 (06:44):
Well, I agree with you there.

Speaker 2 (06:45):
And you took about the Old Miss game, Old Miss
winning forty one to ten over Tulane, I understand now,
and I reach some reports that Lane Kiffin still got
a bonus for All Miss winning in that game. I mean,
what kind of a I like to get a whold
of his agent? What kind of a contract was that?
How the hell does he get a bonus? I mean,
he wasn't even coaching the game. He's gone. He bolted
for them. They wouldn't let him coach in that game.

(07:07):
But I guess you know it was in his contract
that should they move on in the playoffs, he gets bonuses.
So if they go to the next round, they get
to another check.

Speaker 3 (07:15):
Is that it? I don't get it.

Speaker 4 (07:17):
I mean somebody was baked into the I mean the equation.
I mean, it's just what it is. When you're an
agent for coach, that's what you're trying to do. You're
trying to negotiate all the things in there. And even
though Lane Kiffin isn't currently coaching Ole Miss, he's the
beneficiar building a team that is a playoff team, a
team that is capable of maybe running it, running the
table and going to show. So he's still benefits even

(07:39):
though he's not there.

Speaker 2 (07:41):
Okay, let's let's talk about probably the best game of
the day, and then maybe the biggest surprise as well.
Miami over Texas A and M ten to three.

Speaker 3 (07:48):
And you you.

Speaker 2 (07:49):
Called that, I believe to some extent give you credit.
I think you said watch out for Miami. We didn't
know from week to week what kind of team that
Miami team was, and they came to play. Now was
it a great defensive game or just a poor offensive game?
But watching the game a sort of halftime stats, I
think Miami had sort like sixty nine total offensive yards
at the half. So is that a bad offense or

(08:11):
the defense was that strong?

Speaker 3 (08:12):
I can't figure it out. I don't know.

Speaker 5 (08:15):
I thought builth defenses coming into the game.

Speaker 4 (08:17):
Both defenses were viewed as strong parts of their respective teams.
Miami might have been a bit of a surprise just
based on how their defensive line dominated the offensive line
of A and M. In these games, typically when you're
trying to determine which team is going to be the
winner is which team can dominate the line of scrimmage.

(08:37):
Because if you can dominate the line of scrimmage, you
can control the game. And Miami controlled the game, particularly
on defense. It wasn't necessarily that Texas in them played bad.
Marcel Reid had turnovers in those things, but they could
not protect the quarterback. And so with the four man
rush Ruben Bay and company being able to dominate at
the line of scrimmage, the Aggies had no y and

(09:01):
Mike Elko said as much in his postgame Presserent.

Speaker 3 (09:04):
You know, it's funny you mentioned Ruby Bain.

Speaker 2 (09:06):
That guy finished something like with five tackles, four for
a lost, three sacks, he blocked the field goal. I mean,
that guy was all over the place, he really was.
And you talk about the Miami defense, and their defense
obviously was tremendous. Seven sacks against Texas A and M
and they think that tied for the most by a
Miami defensive unit in the past six years. So right
now Miami is moving on. And let's take a look

(09:28):
at the practice here for a second, right now, because
he got a Oregon playing Texas deck, which isn't a
bad one. That's January first, that's the Orange Bowl. Got
Alabama going against Indiana, and I hope Indiana takes care.

Speaker 3 (09:38):
Of business there. That's again on New Year's Day.

Speaker 2 (09:40):
That's that would be the Rose Bowl, right they go
to the Rose Bowl, Old Miss Georgia. That's another rematch,
and that's again I don't go for the rematches again.
And you got Miami playing Ohio State, so that's a
good eat.

Speaker 3 (09:53):
So the rematches thing.

Speaker 2 (09:54):
Your take on that, I don't like these guys playing
for a second time in the playoffs.

Speaker 3 (09:58):
I think it's crazy.

Speaker 2 (09:59):
I really they got you know, I don't think it's
that difficult to revamp this playoff system. You know, you
don't have to be a freaking genius to revamp this system.
And I don't know why they're going to put the
group of fives in there again. I'm sure they will.
I'm sure it's part of the deal. But it's not good.
It's not a good look. Really, it's really not a
good look. You know, when they had and I think

(10:20):
when you played college ball, it was like this. Didn't
they have the ap They picked the team of the year,
that the national champion was picked by the Associated Press.
They didn't even play. That's what they did back then.
So it was probably fairer then than what they're doing
right now on the field.

Speaker 4 (10:36):
No, Like, I think some of the things that you
might complain about, like a rematch in the playoffs, I
think that's common. I think if we go all the
way back and keep playoffs to a basic level. Even
in high school. You'll see some rematches in the first
or second round of the playoffs. That's inevitable if you're
trying to put the best teams in there. Don't I
don't mind those things at all. But what I do
mind is having a group of five team that looks

(10:59):
like a team competing against the varsity team. And that's
not being disrespectful to the group of five, but the
playing field is in level for a group of five
and power four teams. It's just not when it comes
to the money that's thrown around, access resources, all those
other things, it just makes it where it's not a
fair fight. Yeah, but yeah, I won't complain about the playoff.

(11:20):
I would just say there's a way to make it better.
The first way to make it better is to make
sure that you got the best teams in there. If
it's twelve teams, it's fourteen, if it's sixteen, just make
sure you have the best teams in there so we
can have an competitive environment. Never do I anticipate a
one losing to a sixteen. But what we want to
see is every team challenge and push as they have

(11:40):
to go through because Ultimately, the champion should have to
go through a.

Speaker 5 (11:44):
Gauntlet of heavyweights to show that they're worthy of being
a champion. That's what we want to see from a
playoff situation.

Speaker 2 (11:51):
I'm glad you mentioned that because I'm not too thrilled
about the fact that they may be moving into sixteen
teams and here's the deal, and maybe on way off
base on this, but I think the committee right now
is trying to mirror what they do in the college
basketball situation. They think there's going to be a cinderella.
There's not going to be a cinderella in football. It's
a different animal. You know, when Saint Peter's beat Kentucky
and they still talk about that in the Great Commonwealth
of Kentucky several years ago in the first round of

(12:13):
the NCAA. Those things can happen, and they do happen,
and theyll probably happen again. It's not going to happen
in football. It's just a different sport. It's a different animal,
and you're not going to have a cinderella team in
the college football playoffs as you're doing basketball. And I
think that's what they're hoping for.

Speaker 4 (12:29):
Maybe, but maybe they're just hoping to make it very
similar to like it is in the other levels. When
you look at FCS and the Division two, Division three,
they all have brackets sixteen twenty four have or many
they put in there, and no one complains about those.
I just wanted to mirror what they're doing at the
lower levels because if they can do that, we still

(12:50):
can determine a champion. But here's what needs to take place.
Get rid of the bowl games because the bowl games
are noose to the TV watch and I know they
bring a number and they draw money whatever, but there's
no real point for bowls.

Speaker 3 (13:06):
I gotta correct you there.

Speaker 2 (13:07):
You know what for It's for the gamblers and if
you can't take it away from succeedons or go nuts. Really,
I mean, I'm not a gambler, but I just know
that these guys will better on conckerroall races.

Speaker 3 (13:18):
That's what they do. I mean.

Speaker 4 (13:21):
But they're not even they're not even watchable. Like Memphis
shows up. The coach practices.

Speaker 5 (13:28):
All week with the guys, and then on the day
of the.

Speaker 4 (13:30):
Game half the team opts out, so they play against
n C State with with no competitive players. It's not
worth it's not worth a watch. It's it's it's a
it's a thing. Even if you have a toilet toilet
Bowl tournament where you take all the bowl teams and
you can't participate in the Big Boy Playoff, we're gonna

(13:51):
give you like a little tanker truck for competing and
we'll let you guys play. At least you get the
people to participate or whatever. But this is I mean,
this is stupid. Please tell me name eight name three
bowl games that you've watched, that you've invested in watched, right,
it's pointless.

Speaker 2 (14:09):
Watched the January Second Bowl. I don't even know the
name of it. With the Navy's playing University of Cincinnati.
That's a local game.

Speaker 3 (14:16):
Young. It's just look like, but you know what.

Speaker 2 (14:18):
Their quarterback just already opt out in the portal for Cincinnati.
I don't know, so it's ridiculously really, I don't know
who's in a quarterback the team. They don't have a quarterback.
So it's crazy. You know, you talk about these teams
opting out of bowl games. I may be mistaken, but
I think Christian McCaffrey was the first player in recent
times years ago when he decided not to play in

(14:38):
the ball game for fear of getting injured and not
being able to play.

Speaker 3 (14:41):
In the NFL.

Speaker 2 (14:42):
And he's always injured in the NFL anyway, But still
I think that was the deal. Like Notre Dame right now,
I would have loved to see them play in the
playoffs or even play in a Bowl game. But now
this star running back is going to the NFL. He's
opted out. I don't want to see Notre Dame not
at full strength.

Speaker 3 (14:57):
That's the deal.

Speaker 4 (14:59):
Yeah, I mean, like with all these teams, and we
can't ultimately control what players are gonna do when it
comes to opting in and opting out. But as players
view uh, these games as meaningless, particularly as they're contemplating
their futures, which used to just be about the NFL,
but now it's about the transfer portal and those things.
It's just different, and I love it. Like, look, I
went to two Bowl games as a player. It was

(15:21):
a big deal for us at the time, but that
was a different time where you didn't have playoffs, you
didn't have those things, Like all you were playing for
was an opportunity to play in a ball Now it's different.

Speaker 5 (15:32):
These are afterthoughts.

Speaker 4 (15:33):
When it comes to how players view them, and even
to a lesser degree, how coaches are viewing them spring
ball practices and those things.

Speaker 5 (15:40):
It's just not it's just not the same.

Speaker 2 (15:43):
You know, you like going to the ball game because
they gave out the goodies, like the headphones and everything
else and the yeah, the swag play.

Speaker 3 (15:53):
Players are getting played now they don't need that.

Speaker 5 (15:56):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (15:56):
Bowl games, oh yeah, we got we got. We got
rings and watches and sweats and whatever little sponsor was.
I went to a Peach Bowl and a Gata Bowl.
I can't remember who the respective sponsors were, but I'm
sure it was nice. At the time, we were excited
about it.

Speaker 3 (16:13):
You know what, it's great. You busted your ear end
for the Orlett swag.

Speaker 2 (16:16):
What I do I just write letters to the coaches
and they send me to hoodies and everything, so it's okay. Really,
I mean, you know, it's funny because when I started
doing that stuff when I was in high school in
the college, you know, I get a lot of stuff
in the mail. Then I think they got smart and
now they got like the NFL store, which they never
had before, and they got these commercials on TV. You know,

(16:38):
ten percent off if you do it before Christmas. You know,
everybody's getting the swag and they're buying it. I used
to go that stuff free, you know, and they kind
of stopped now, I mean, you know, they just maybe
they got my name on file or something. I'm not
getting much anymore in the mail I used to. But
you know, Iowa, Sam, I sent something one of our
producers here at Fox. When Matt Campbell got the job

(16:59):
at Iowa, I got an Iowa State football hoodie. You know,
I know he's a big Iowa State fan, So I
mailed him the hoodie. So but now I sent them
a letter over there at Penn State. But we'll see
what happens over there.

Speaker 3 (17:09):
I don't know. Anyway, here's a question for you. What
do you think Kylen de Boor.

Speaker 2 (17:14):
Is doing right now as we speak? Besides maybe sleep,
I's not sleeping.

Speaker 3 (17:18):
What do you think he's doing.

Speaker 4 (17:20):
He's probably he's probably beginning to prep for his next
opponent's kill.

Speaker 2 (17:25):
No, you're wrong, he's he's in he's in church, thanking
the Lord that they want and beat Oklahoma. That's why
he's there because they would have hung him from a
tree if they would have lost Oklahoma. I mean, he's
one of the lucky guys. Really, I mean the pressure
there to win. I think Alabama's worst than Ohio State.
And they beat up on Oklahoma. And again that was
a rematch game, thirty four to twenty four, and Oklahoma

(17:46):
had that game in hand.

Speaker 3 (17:48):
It was like two teams switching, switching styles at halftime.

Speaker 2 (17:52):
Seventeen nothing Oklahoma at the half and they lose thirty
four to twenty four on Friday. That to me was
a joke, really was. And I was rooting for Oklahoma
because I want them to see how Kling.

Speaker 3 (18:01):
The Boor's going to handle the heat. And he would
have got some heat.

Speaker 5 (18:06):
Uh yeah, No, he was gonna get some heat.

Speaker 4 (18:07):
And I'm gonna say this, credit Alabama for doing what
they needed to do to win. The team that should
be kicking themselves is Oklahoma. Oklahoma dominated, They dominated the game.
They were up seventeen to oh and they left the
door crack for Alabama to come back. Their own miscues
led to their demas drop punt picked six, two miss

(18:28):
field goals, countless areas in the second half, and some
would say Alabama for some of those, but if you
watch the game, not really, But credit Kailing the boy
and this team for hanging in there and moving forward,
and now they get a chance to take on a
very very tough and gritty Indian HOO'SIA.

Speaker 3 (18:44):
Team, No doubt about that. All right, he's Bucket Brooks.

Speaker 2 (18:47):
Get him on X at Bucket Brooks had andy from
an fso I bet he had phone calls and you
can say a little lead to lot today at eight
seven seven ninety nine on Fox. That translates to eight
seven seven nine nine six sixty three sixty nine. As mentioned,
we got to ask Bucket of this hour the blame
game and our number two.

Speaker 3 (19:02):
But right now the reward. You want to know what
the reward was? Easy? A spot in the playoffs will
tell you all about that.

Speaker 5 (19:08):
Next.

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Speaker 2 (19:51):
Disciponent was a get well time. I We'll explain it
in a minute. You know, I'm hearing the Christmas music
and I'm listening to Fox Sports Radio all week long.
I have yet to hear the Adam Sandler Honkah song.
I mean, there's only one day left for Hannakhah. Do
you still have Mark Ramsey magic?

Speaker 3 (20:07):
Mark? Can you do that before we sign off today?
Because I just love that song?

Speaker 2 (20:11):
All right, make effort, will you know? I don't ask
for much. I really don't.

Speaker 3 (20:16):
You know. He's Bucky Brooks.

Speaker 2 (20:17):
I'm Andy Fermana's bucking in about twelve minutes from now,
So get your exes in, get your tweets in right down.
We're broadcasting live from the Fox Sports Radio studios. By
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Speaker 3 (20:30):
Catch us an a level.

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Speaker 3 (20:47):
All right.

Speaker 2 (20:47):
The NFL, thank goodness, they saved the day. You know,
there was a normal game to watch. And this game
was a goodie, not for the Green Bay package, but
for the Chicago Bears and Bears fans. Twenty two to
sixteen was the final and Buckie Brooks, I gotta ask
you this. With the Bears winning the game that that
game yesterday, whoever won got into the playoffs. So the
Bears are in the playoffs right now. They got to
go one and a half game lead in the division.

(21:09):
They went down by ten with about five minutes to
go in that ball game. I don't get it. I
just don't understand how teams could choke like that. It's
it's amazing. I'm seeing bad snaps. I'm seeing you know, guys,
you know kicking What's It's just too many things when
on site kicks. These things shouldn't happen in games like that,

(21:32):
meaningful games.

Speaker 4 (21:34):
I mean they shouldn't happen, but they do happen. That's
why we played the game. Wow, what we're seeing from
the Green Bay Packers, I would just say it's just
the toll of the attrition with the injuries and those things.
Every look, every NFL team is like a boat and
they can take on some water for a while, but
at some point it overwhelms them.

Speaker 5 (21:55):
Micah Parson's being out.

Speaker 4 (21:57):
You just think about the number of guys being now,
Jordan Love knocked out last game, Christian Watson in and
out the lineup, you lose Tucker Kraft, you have offensive
linemen that have gone off the lineup, Elton Jenkins and others.
At some point, it has an effect on the product
on the field, and people will talk about next man
up mentality in those things, but everybody's not the same,

(22:19):
and the backups can total line so for so long.
But ultimately, it is a player's game. You got to
have the players to be able to get it done.
And what we saw when the Packers needed their players
to come through, they just they couldn't get it done.
I mean Josh Jacobs fumbling going in, Romi Dads fielding
to get the OSAC kick Malik Wills is a backup quarterback.

(22:40):
You can't necessarily count on him to be able to
orchestrate these late game drives to win it. But yet
they were up ten. They got to find a way
to finish the game right.

Speaker 2 (22:49):
And I'll say this, you know you played the game,
and you know the game, and you got the eye
of the game. You know, no, Michael Parson's got the
Achilles deal. What was the difference in the defensive scheme
for the Green Bay Packers without Michael Parson?

Speaker 3 (23:01):
I wouldn't know. I couldn't tell me.

Speaker 2 (23:03):
What difference does it make him not being in the
lineup for Green Bay?

Speaker 4 (23:07):
I mean, you talk about a four time All Pro
pass rusher, a guy who had accounted for maybe two
times the amount of quarterback pressures as anybody else on
that team.

Speaker 5 (23:17):
Losing him is everything, and they acknowledge that.

Speaker 4 (23:20):
You know, you lose a great player of someone who
can take over the game, tilt the field in your direction.

Speaker 5 (23:26):
It's hard to overcome that.

Speaker 4 (23:27):
And they look like a team that are struggling to
overcome the injuries in those things that said they were up,
they had the game in hand, They're up ten, fourth quarter,
it's a party, and there's no better party than to
be on the Packers. Being able to have your weight
with your division rival. Man, that's a gut point. I
mean that one's gonna leave scars for the pack It's

(23:50):
going to impact them not only next week but going forward.
And we already talked about, like quietly, there's been conversation
around the league about Matt Lafleur and those those guys
being on.

Speaker 5 (24:00):
The hot seat.

Speaker 4 (24:01):
If they're not able to get it done, it's slave warm.
It's the warm up in lambo right now.

Speaker 2 (24:07):
I like to see players come back and say they
were wrong when they say stupid things.

Speaker 3 (24:13):
All right.

Speaker 2 (24:14):
I remember back this past summer Caleb Williams, I think
he had a book, and he said that Chicago is
the place where quarterback's gonna die. Remember he said that,
I would hope after going nineteen for thirty four years
today and pass he at two fifty to two touchdowns,
he would say, I take it back. I didn't mean it,
and Ben Johnson has made me a better quarterback. I'd

(24:34):
love to see it. It probably won't happen. And I'll
tell you what else I don't like. I think he
threw that forty six yard game when he touched down
past the DJ Moore when the game started, there was
a cheap shot in DJ Moore. I thought he was hurt.
He just laid on the field for a while and
then he walked off on his own speed. But it
was just a bad shot. He wasn't even involved in
the play. Some guy in Green Bay just gave him
a real rap. I think it was in his chest

(24:56):
or his back. I didn't remember that, but it was.
It was a cheap shot, there's no doubt my mind.

Speaker 5 (25:01):
I mean, some of those things happen in rivalry games.

Speaker 4 (25:03):
Sometimes you get an inavertent, you know, little little contact,
little tasty cake. Given the fact that the stakes are
high in this game and there's a lot of conversation.
We saw the very short, terse handshake or exchange between
Matt Lafloor and Ben Johnson because Ben Johnson took the
job and directly called out Matt Lafleur and the packers

(25:24):
that talked about how much he enjoyed whipping on them
during his time in Detroit. Yeah, I mean, look, it's contentious.
I don't worry about those things. Like those things are minor,
Like that's kind of a part of what you're going
to get when you have a rivalry game.

Speaker 2 (25:37):
Right, So now the Bears control their own destiny. I
guess I look at this schedule. Now, they got to
play the forty nine ers, which is not easy. They
have ten win team right there. And then they go
back to Chicago they host the Detroit Lions.

Speaker 3 (25:49):
Of the Detroit Lions.

Speaker 2 (25:50):
They lose today, they're out of the playoffs, but that's
gonna be a tough game. Okay, next week the package
they're going to lambeau Field, their home against the Baltimore Ravens.
That's not easy as well, close the season in Minnesota
against the Vikings. So the NFL did a good thing
as far as making the schedule kind of tough down
the stretch for all these teams. In years past, if
you clinched the playoffs spot, they rest these players the

(26:12):
last two weeks.

Speaker 3 (26:13):
Can't do that anymore, and that's good. I like that.

Speaker 5 (26:16):
No, you can't do it anymore.

Speaker 4 (26:17):
And they have tried to put these matchups down the
stretch to have compelling TV viewing, to make it around
the clock. You notice they haven't even published what times
people are playing in Week eighteen. Because they like to
create this march madness whip around effect where your scoreboard
watching you don't know if your team is gonna get in,

(26:38):
and the ramifications behind each game to add a little drama,
little spice to life. Chicago has to finish it out.
But look, man, I'm worried with the Green Bay Packers
and the Lions, and the Lions having to win out.
They're up against it. A team that we were celebrating
as a heavyweight for most of the year's gonna be

(26:58):
on the outside looking in when it comes down to
the tournament.

Speaker 2 (27:01):
Yeah, but they've been killed with injuries. I mean, the
defensive backfield is ridiculous. I mean, it's amazing what they've
done right now. But you know they're not going to
say that. They won't use that as an excuse because
everybody says it's part of the game. They're going to
say the fact that they lost Ben Johnson that's the
reason why the Lions won't be in the playoffs. And
speaking of Ben Johnson, with what he's done thus far,
he's got to be Coach of the Year, right normal.

Speaker 4 (27:22):
Whoa, whoa, whoa, Calm down, he's a candidate. But coaching
year candidates would be him, Mike Rabel, Liam Korn, all
those first time guys have done a great job getting
their teams over ten wins. You just can't be a
prisoner of the moment because last night you were eating
skyline chilling, you saw the miracle in the midway and

(27:43):
be like, oh, yeah, let's give him the trophy. Yeah,
I mean, he's worthy of being in the conversation. Let's
see how it finish this out.

Speaker 2 (27:50):
Rabel didn't help himself with that lost to Buffalo last week.
That was that's another disappointment. But he's done done a
great job though he really has.

Speaker 7 (28:00):
Can I tell you right now?

Speaker 10 (28:00):
Coach of the Year odds on DraftKings Mike Rabel plus
one fifty, Mike McDonald plus two fifty, and Ben Johnson
third place plus three fifty ahead of.

Speaker 5 (28:11):
Oh Mike Mike McDonald from Seattle.

Speaker 2 (28:14):
I would say his name doesn't even come up in
conversations most of the time.

Speaker 4 (28:18):
Really, nah, see you know why because they would say
they're disrespected because they're tucked away into Pacific Northwest No
one season. You got a chance to see him on
Thursday night on Prime but yeah, that's it. And Lee
brought up probably the guy who has done his best
coaching job, and I would say Kyle Shanahan with all
the injuries that they've had to endure, no Nick VOTs
and no Fred Warner CMC in and out the lineup.

(28:40):
I mean, if he was my fantasy guy, I would
never know whether I could plan him or not because
it's always you know.

Speaker 5 (28:46):
It seems a game, game time decision.

Speaker 4 (28:48):
But Kyle Shanahan has been able to navigate that on
top of having to play two quarterbacks Brock Peride and
Mac Jones. Give him credit. He'll get votes. He won't
win the award, but he's definitely should get some votes.

Speaker 3 (28:58):
Yeah, good, cool, good cool, Lee. Thanks.

Speaker 2 (29:00):
You know, it's funny that that was a great game
Thursday night as well. And the funny thing is to
take after that ball game, no one talked about the game.
You know what they were talking about, and I couldn't
stand it. I had to turn the radio off talk
about al Michaels saying al Michaels has lost it, He's
not get off his back. You wish you could be
half as good as al Michaels. Al Michaels is the greatest. Well,
he's too old. Stop it with the age already. I mean,

(29:22):
you know what, I think some of the greatest announcers
in sports are greater when they're older.

Speaker 3 (29:26):
I look locally other than the Cincinnati market.

Speaker 2 (29:29):
Marty Brenneman, tremendous Hall of Fame announcer, Vince Scully older,
Marv Albert was older.

Speaker 3 (29:33):
Al Michael's older. These guys are great.

Speaker 2 (29:36):
Age doesn't have anything to do with it, because you
could be young and bad. You can, all right. Al
Michaels has been dealt many a bad game on a
Thursday night. That Thursday night schedule was horrendous. It was
a great game Thursday. He called the game good, all right?
Did he get excited?

Speaker 4 (29:51):
No?

Speaker 3 (29:51):
Did he go nust? Did he let his pants know?
All right?

Speaker 2 (29:53):
You don't have to. He's a great announcer. Get off
his back. That's all I got to say on that.

Speaker 5 (29:58):
I mean, he is a great announcer. He's also a
guy who doesn't like the veggies. I mean, I know,
if you won those guys, like.

Speaker 4 (30:05):
If you're trying to get your kids to make sure
they get their quarter veggies, make sure they don't watch
al Rikaels because he doesn't believe anything.

Speaker 5 (30:12):
But he's had a great and story career, and.

Speaker 4 (30:15):
I mean it's not the first time that an older
announcer has kind of you know, had some moments in
those things.

Speaker 5 (30:21):
But he's still great at what he does.

Speaker 4 (30:23):
I don't know if we need to move them away,
but yeah, the criticism, the critiques were loud, loud about albnucles.

Speaker 3 (30:29):
I love them, I really do.

Speaker 2 (30:30):
Let me just touch on this Philadelphia Washington game from yesterday.
The Eagles went twenty nine to eighteen and Jalen Hurts
was twenty two to thirty for one to eighty five
two touchdowns. Sae Kwon Barker finally runs for one hundred
yllars around one thirty two, and they won the you know,
the nfca's first time and win a team wins at
back to bats is four. My question is this, They
talk about franchise quarterbacks. I in my heart of heart,

(30:53):
so I don't think Jalen Hurts is a franchise quarterback.

Speaker 3 (30:55):
But hold the horses right here.

Speaker 2 (30:57):
I don't think you have to be a franchise quarterback
on a team for a team to win. Just don't
make mistakes, do mechanical things that are correct, and you
can win with a good surrounding cast, and everybody talks
about franchise quarterback. Hey, the Cincinnati Bengals have a potential
franchise quarterback when healthy and Joe Burrow they can't get
into the playoffs. You don't need a franchise quarterback to

(31:17):
be successful, period.

Speaker 3 (31:18):
Agreed.

Speaker 4 (31:20):
I disagree, And the reason why I disagree is because
the tournament is all about quarterback play.

Speaker 5 (31:27):
And you know, Jalen.

Speaker 4 (31:29):
Hurts catches the ire of a lot of people just
because I really don't.

Speaker 5 (31:33):
Know why he catches so much heat.

Speaker 4 (31:35):
You look at his winning percentage, you look at what
he's done, You look at two Super Bowl appearances where
he outplayed Pat Mahomes in both of those, I think
you'd be hard pressed to say he's not a franchise quarterback.
I think stylistically, the way they play isn't necessarily the
way that most people want their football teams to do it.
Like they are teams that are a run team. They

(31:57):
better when they're running through say or him or doing
those things. Everyone wants to see the ball fly through
the air. But I will say his style works for him,
and it works for that offense, and when that team
operates the right way outside the end, feeding AJ.

Speaker 5 (32:12):
Brown on the passing game or whatever.

Speaker 4 (32:14):
They're very difficult team to beat and did the defending champs.

Speaker 5 (32:19):
So all the outrage about the defending champs and.

Speaker 4 (32:21):
Their quarterback play, to me, is silly, especially when he
is coming off a season which he was the Super
Bowl MVP when they won their first trophy with him
at the hill.

Speaker 2 (32:31):
Right last, but not least, as mentioned with Sakwon, Barkley
ran twenty one times with one point thirty two. It
was only the third time he had one hundred plus
yard rushing game this year. And believe me, there's a
correlation between the amount of games they win and the
amount of times he rushes for one hundred yards. There's
no doubt in my mind. And they don't give them
the ball. I mean, I don't know why. Team's key
on him for sure, but they were going for the

(32:51):
passing game because of the AJ Browns of the world
who are whining and crying that they weren't getting a
ball enough.

Speaker 3 (32:57):
Right, wasn't that the deal?

Speaker 5 (32:59):
I mean, it was deal.

Speaker 4 (33:00):
But you know what of late when he's gotten the ball,
they've been more efficient on offense, particularly against zone he
is a premier wide receiver. He does have the ability
to take over the game and make the game easy
for everybody else.

Speaker 5 (33:13):
But it's a.

Speaker 4 (33:14):
Delicate balance of making sure he gets his touches while
staying committed to the running game, which is true to
the quarterback and how he best plays. There are a
lot of things to go and that's why Nick heirean
he had to become a little more involved in the
offense to manage all of the things that are required
to get this offense humming at a high level.

Speaker 3 (33:33):
All right, there we go. We're live from the Fox
Bust Radio studios. He's Bucky Brooks.

Speaker 2 (33:37):
I'm Andy Furman, and we call him the answer man.
You call him Bucky. Why ask Bucky? A's next listen?

Speaker 1 (33:44):
Fox Sports?

Speaker 3 (33:46):
Oh yeah, there it is Adam Sandler.

Speaker 2 (33:49):
I love it, thank you, thank you very much. All right,
it's Bucky coming on right up. He's Bucky Brooks. I'm
Andy Furman, and we'll live from the Fox Bus Radio studios.
And it's that time. It's time for ask Bucky and Mark.
Thank you so much, Faddy, Adam Sandler, because it's the
last night of Hanukkah, and I know you have a
question for Bucky.

Speaker 11 (34:08):
So my question is, Bucky, what potentially has to happen
to change the date of when basketball starts, because that's
been a topic almost every year of when basketball starts.
So it get end at a certain time and have
its place in sports time.

Speaker 4 (34:25):
Well, I mean, to be honest, like they should start
right around Christmas time because no one tunes into the
NBA into Christmas. But then they got to figure out
how to rush to be done at the beginning of June.
It's too long now, I mean, it's stretched out too long.
You can't keep up with it. It's boring once you
get to the playoffs and those things. So they got
to make it quick. They got to find a way
to make it fun. Right now, it's not a lot

(34:46):
of fun to watch.

Speaker 3 (34:47):
No doubt about that. Anything else, Mark, You're good.

Speaker 7 (34:50):
That's pretty much it. Could they do double headers in
the day? Would that make it a thing.

Speaker 5 (34:57):
The team played twice? Yes, like the Cups two. Yeah.
I mean that that would be.

Speaker 4 (35:03):
Great, great if they could do it, but that I
think that'd be a little difficult to pull off.

Speaker 11 (35:06):
Right, beautiful game, There you go, I got one for you, Buck.

Speaker 3 (35:11):
Toukanakua to receive it.

Speaker 2 (35:12):
For the Rams, he made an anti semitic gesture the
other day, was on social media. He said he didn't
know it was an offensive gesture. Now in the workplace,
I know it's a different animal. But in the workplace,
one will be terminated immediately for this. He didn't even
get a suspension in the NFL, not even a fine.
Why why is there a difference?

Speaker 4 (35:33):
Hold on, they haven't even announced the fines for the
week yet, so he may be fined at some point,
like just TBD when it comes to it.

Speaker 5 (35:41):
Uh, there's not a difference.

Speaker 4 (35:42):
They're really trying to clean up a lot of this
stuff when it comes to NFL workplace and right behavior.
And I think some of the immediate reaction that you
saw is the league and the RAMS and the teams
trying to be on the front end of that stuff
as opposed to being reactionary.

Speaker 3 (35:55):
You know, I will tell you this story.

Speaker 2 (35:57):
I think a lot of it has to do from the top,
from the missioner, you know, and the commission when when
David Stern, may he rest in peace. When he was
a commissioner, he was tough. He was tough on the
dress code of NBA players and I remember at one
point in time, I think when one player from the
seventies sixes, I forget who it may have been, didn't
stand for the national anthem, he went nuts, he went crazy.
I mean, you know, there's a difference when you have

(36:19):
a tough guy at the top and a guy who's
just like a money hungry guy looking to get money
for people and making the owners happy. And I think
that's what it is in the National Football League, I
really do.

Speaker 3 (36:29):
Who knows.

Speaker 5 (36:30):
I mean, there's there's there's some of that. There's there's
some truth to.

Speaker 3 (36:33):
That, Thank you very much.

Speaker 2 (36:36):
Now, speaking of the NBA, the New York Knicks just
won the NBA Cup, big woops, right, but they would
not recognize it with a banner hanging in Madison Square Garden.

Speaker 3 (36:45):
Your comments on that, I loved it. I love that well.

Speaker 4 (36:49):
I mean, no one recognizes it because a lot of
the fans won't take it seriously and it won't be
treated on par with an NBA title. So it's a
nice accomplishment, But I don't know if you can hang
a banner for that, that'd.

Speaker 2 (36:59):
Be I agree with you there, it's like a banner
of people don't even know what they're talking about.

Speaker 3 (37:05):
They really don't participation ban, that's what it is.

Speaker 2 (37:08):
Okay, with the late season injuries like Patrick Maholmes and
Michael Parsons to name a few, and the league is
talking now to move to eighteen games. What does the
NFLPA think about this?

Speaker 4 (37:20):
I mean, they certainly won't like it when it comes
to a health situation, But I know what everyone likes
is more dollars, and if you move to an eighteen game,
there's gonna be more dollars in the pockets of players
and everyone else. So you're here some bitching and morning,
but they'll figure out a way to get it done.

Speaker 5 (37:34):
You may see two by weeks from teams.

Speaker 4 (37:37):
You will see a different level of approach when it
comes to training camp, more modifications with the practice schedules
in those things.

Speaker 5 (37:43):
But please believe they're gonna get the eighteen games.

Speaker 2 (37:47):
It's just too lucrative, right, and I think they need
to even it out because seventeens is an odd number
and sometimes you have, you know, a different amount of
home games with various people who buy the season tickets.

Speaker 3 (37:58):
It's crazy, all right.

Speaker 2 (37:59):
Anthony Richardson, the quarterback for the Indianapolis Colts. He got
clearance to play tomorrow night, yet Philip Rivers will start
in the Monday night against the forty nine Ers. Philip
Rivers obviously is not the future of the Colts. Why
would they have Philip Rivers play and not Anthony Richardson.

Speaker 4 (38:16):
Because he's a better player than Anthony Richardson has ever
even thought of being. That's why Philip Rivers, five years
removed from playing, gave the Colts a chance to win.

Speaker 5 (38:26):
Anthony Richardson is not gonna be able to do that.

Speaker 4 (38:28):
And in spite of his draft status as the fourth
overall pick.

Speaker 5 (38:33):
All the allure over, what is he going to be? Like?

Speaker 4 (38:36):
Nah, you, Shane Styke and your jobs on the high seat.
Play the person that you trust the most, and that's
gonna be Philip Rivers.

Speaker 3 (38:42):
Okay.

Speaker 2 (38:42):
On Thursday night, the Seattle Seahawks now twelve and three,
they overtook the Rams the first place in the division
thanks to that thirty eight thirty seven overtime win the
Los Angeles Rams and fired this special teams coordinator, Chase Blackburn,
like immediately after the game, I believe it was.

Speaker 3 (38:59):
Is that normal?

Speaker 2 (38:59):
I mean, really, one game you're gonna fire the defensive
coordinated because of the special teams.

Speaker 3 (39:04):
I don't get it.

Speaker 5 (39:06):
Nah.

Speaker 4 (39:06):
They had a series of miscues, blockfield goals, punts, things
that it hindered them and they had to get it right.
And if you are the Rams, the one way to
get it right, to get their attention, you got to
remove the coordinator. It's not something that you ideally like
to do. But if you're Sean McVay, he didn't look.
He didn't take lightly to a this move and the

(39:28):
magnitude of it. He did it because he feels like
it's gonna make the team better.

Speaker 2 (39:32):
In a situation like that, do players go to the
head coach and said, we got to get rid of
this guy, gets someone new?

Speaker 3 (39:38):
Does that ever happen? Is it like a rebellion at times?

Speaker 5 (39:42):
Uh? No?

Speaker 4 (39:43):
I mean that situation there, it won't even get that far.
Like Sean McVay knew what was going on. He saw
the lack of output and how it cost his team.
It cost his team a game and it's cost his
team other games and they're trying to build their team
for the playoffs.

Speaker 5 (39:57):
So you got to make these moves. Now there we go.

Speaker 2 (40:00):
Okay, one team is closing in on NFL history, that
and so much more. Where right here Fox Football Sunday next.

Speaker 1 (40:07):
Don't listen, hey no, Fox Sports Radio.

Speaker 2 (40:10):
All right, this team is now in the driver's seat.
That's right around the corner. Good morning, everybody, It's a
football Sunday and this is Fox Football Sunday on Fox
Sports Radio.

Speaker 3 (40:18):
He's Bucky Brooks and Andy Fermanent.

Speaker 2 (40:19):
We're broadcasting live from the Fox Sports Radio studios as
opposed to broadcasting dead. Okay, and be sure to subscribe
to the Fox Sports Radio YouTube channel. Just search Fox
Sports Radio on YouTube and you'll see our best videos
from all of our shows. And don't stop there. Hit
that thumbs up icond of comment the way. Let us
know whose takes that you like and even those you

(40:40):
don't like. Just search Fox Sports Radio on YouTube and
subscribing here. He is the man himself. We call him
Mister Football. His name is Bucky Brooks. Hell, Bucky, how
are you?

Speaker 5 (40:50):
Life is good and he can't complain.

Speaker 2 (40:52):
You're in Denver today. Your Jaguars are playing the Broncos.
The Broncos undefeated at home. I'll tell you what we
talked about. Potential Coach of the Year candidates. Your guy
could be up there as well.

Speaker 5 (41:03):
Oh yeah, I mean like this is a big one.

Speaker 4 (41:06):
This is a big one just in terms of just
maybe commanding a little national respect right now. It's been
a story that has fallen under the radar or that
has been flying under the radar. The Jaguars getting the
ten wins and those things I went against the Broncos
today will maybe bring some legitimacy to the team in
terms of like how the perception is on them and

(41:28):
what they potentially could do in the tournament.

Speaker 3 (41:30):
All right, okay, we'll get into that in so much more.

Speaker 2 (41:32):
But there's a couple of odds and Enzi, I want
to clean up with you because you have missed a
common sense. I'm sometimes the man who plays the fool,
and I talk about a guy who's a fool. This
guy Tim Soorn is to play by play guy for
the Philadelphia Flyers. He had a hot mic. Do you
not know that the microphone is on? But the point
is he's lucky he's got a job. You know, he
got a two game suspension. I remember there was a

(41:53):
hot mic when Marty Breneman's son Tom Brenneman, who at
one point in time worked for Fox.

Speaker 3 (41:58):
He was doing a Cincinnati Reds baseball game.

Speaker 2 (42:00):
The hot mic said something, and they got rid of
him at the Reds, and they got rid of him
at Fox Football. I mean, so this guy gets away
easily when only a two game suspension.

Speaker 3 (42:09):
But how stupid can you be?

Speaker 5 (42:11):
Really?

Speaker 2 (42:12):
I mean really, you're supposedly a pro and the things
that he was saying, so he had that hot mic
in Philadelphia. I mean, you know, you see things like
that happen all the time. I guess it never fails.
There's always some clown that will do something like that
and doesn't realize the name of the game is if
there's a microphone, assume that it's on.

Speaker 3 (42:32):
At old times, right, that's what you got to do.

Speaker 4 (42:35):
Yeah, I mean, I think in today's age, you get
assumed that everything is going to be recorded, either professionally
or even casually, meaning as long as you're around people
who have phones, that conversation that you're having with them
and with others can be recorded.

Speaker 5 (42:49):
So you have to always be on your guard.

Speaker 4 (42:52):
And at a time when there used to be a code,
particularly when it came to like media and players and
coaches and those things like now, it used to be
andy if you and I if I played for the
sin Standy Bingles and you saw me out at an establishment,
a watering hole or whatever whatever you saw me participating in,
you didn't report that to the public. Like there was

(43:13):
a level of respect where you're like, Okay, he's on
his off time, Like I'll let him do whatever he does.
But now we no longer have those boundaries because everybody
with a phone is a quote unquote journalist, and so
it has changed the way that we have to operate
and move Like we laugh, but it's become that because
think about it. Anybody who has a few dollars to

(43:36):
buy MIC can plug it in and pop on their computer.
They can host a podcast, they can levy their opinions,
they can go to x and put their opinions out there.
You have guys who can do all these things that
make film breakdowns or whatever. So right now in our world,
everybody's a journalist, and so you have to move differently
knowing that the rules of engagement are so different.

Speaker 2 (43:58):
Yeah, and I heard rules over the year years that
if you work for Coca Cola and you're caught buying
a pepsi, you get fired. And right now, I would
think that They've been people right now following Coca Cola
trucks and the drivers to see if, in fact they
both bought a pepsi from a machine of any machine,
and I have their phone out there to take a
picture of them. I mean, that's that's what people do.

(44:19):
It's the world that we know of now is called
the got you world. I got you, and I'll tell
you one step further. You got to be a fool,
not only to talk with an open mic, you got
to be a bigger fool to be a crook. Because
everybody's got cameras all over the place. I mean they
talk about these porch pirates now for the Christmas season,
stealing gifts of people's porches right now from Amazon Amazon Delivery.

(44:40):
You've gotta be a fool.

Speaker 3 (44:42):
Cameras.

Speaker 4 (44:43):
Yeah, I've been victimized on that. In fact, it happened Friday.
Somebody took some stuff right out my mailbox. I just
happened to have it on camera. I haven't got them yet,
but I'm gonna get them. Yeah, but those things happen.

Speaker 3 (44:54):
I love it.

Speaker 5 (44:55):
Yeah, like with cameras and all.

Speaker 4 (44:56):
That other stuff, like you have to you have to
do those things or whatever. But it's yeah, it's a
crazy time right now. Yeah, but Porche Pyrus and all
this other stuff.

Speaker 3 (45:06):
It's been stupid and I hate to be it down
in here.

Speaker 2 (45:09):
But that terrible story that we heard the other day
from Brown University. The students were killed and they caught
the guy. I mean, I saw a video again. I mean,
everything you do is being monitored.

Speaker 7 (45:22):
Really.

Speaker 2 (45:23):
You know, if you go on on social media or
maybe Facebook, if you will, and you look at various
items to purchase, two minutes later, you're going to get
stuff on your Facebook social account from that product. They're
monitoring you everything you do, everything you say. So really,
I mean think twice, you know, a word to the wise.

Speaker 3 (45:43):
Really?

Speaker 2 (45:43):
And Tim Saunders, You're lucky you still got a job
play by play with the Philadelphia Flyers.

Speaker 3 (45:48):
I'm going to move on.

Speaker 2 (45:49):
I was a little upset, well actually very upset that
schools I JMU and Tulane were participating in the college
football playoffs. All right, I asked you, Bucky Brooks, because
you have the if of football, You played the game,
you know the talent level. And I'm going back now
to September seventh, nineteen ninety one when Penn State came
to Cincinnati and played the University of Cincinnati and beat

(46:12):
them eighty one.

Speaker 3 (46:13):
Nothing all right.

Speaker 2 (46:14):
I went to the game and I talked to coach
Joe Paturno after the game.

Speaker 3 (46:19):
I said, Coach, why did you run it up?

Speaker 2 (46:21):
He said, I had my third team in there early on,
he said, And the problem is a when you're on
a roll, you keep on rolling a number two. These
guys that are on the second and thirteen don't play often,
and they want to show what they could do and
what they could give us. So it's very difficult to
put the brakes on and tell them not to play hard.
So I'm asking you the difference between the Oregans of

(46:45):
the world, the Texas a and M's and Miami's and
Alabama's and the jmus in Tulanes. Is it talent or
is it perhaps, like the second and third team guys,
the death factor that makes them not as strong as
the other schools.

Speaker 4 (47:00):
I mean, it's the depth Factor's a major part of it.
You just don't have the depth of some of these people.

Speaker 2 (47:08):
Have.

Speaker 4 (47:09):
It makes it, It makes it challenging. That's the main thing.
You just don't have the level of talent from top
to bottom. That some of these schools have, and that
just prevents you from building a team that can be
competitive against the big boys after year after year after year,
or week after.

Speaker 5 (47:24):
Week after week.

Speaker 2 (47:25):
Okay, and we talk about the lack of talent, Now
will they ever be able to get that talent because
of nil?

Speaker 3 (47:31):
Like I say, can't pay it? Right?

Speaker 4 (47:34):
No?

Speaker 5 (47:34):
I mean no, you just you just can't. You don't
have enough.

Speaker 4 (47:37):
You don't have enough money in the coffers to be
able to pay everybody like you would if you're those teams.
So you have to kind of figure out how to
pick and choose. Yeah, but it puts you at a disadvantage.

Speaker 3 (47:48):
I guess.

Speaker 2 (47:48):
I mean, and that's why they should be playing. You know,
you should be playing in that league. That's just the
way it is. I mean, it's like apples and oranges,
you know, stay in your own league, Stay in your lane.

Speaker 3 (47:59):
That's basically what you need to do.

Speaker 2 (48:00):
All right now, I'm moving to the NFL, which is
your specialty. Okay, one team and the National Football League
is closing in on history. You have any guesses which
team that's closing in on history right now?

Speaker 3 (48:10):
And they could do it.

Speaker 4 (48:11):
Today, Let's see, because you're in Cincinnati. Let's say the Browns.
There's something from a futility standpoint that the Browns are
closing in on. What.

Speaker 3 (48:21):
No, this is a good record. Actually I'm not that name.

Speaker 5 (48:24):
Oh okay, good right, okay, okay.

Speaker 2 (48:27):
This is the Pittsburgh Steelers. They're one win away from
breaking a record the most consecutive non losing seasons in
league history. They share the record with the Dallas Cowboys,
and today the Steelers eight and six play the eight
and six Detroit Lions, and the Steelers and Cowboys twenty
one seasons without a losing record. People want Mike Tomlin fired,
they want him gone. He's a win away from his

(48:49):
nineteenth consecutive non losing season and now with tying with
Bill Belichick's second old time behind Tom Landry. I don't
understand why you have a guy like Mike Tomlin one
went away from recording his nineteenth consecutive i'm losing season,
and the people right there, I know fans are crazy.
They want playoffs, they want super Bowls, but this guy,

(49:10):
all he does is win. He is a first ballot
Hall of Fame when he retires. Period.

Speaker 3 (49:15):
And the story, yeah.

Speaker 4 (49:17):
I mean, they are all those things that you talk
about are knife, the accolades and those things. But fans
fan assure for fanatics, fans will point to the fact
that he hasn't won a playoff game since twenty sixteen.
And in Pittsburgh where they talk about the standard being
the standard, the standard, are those Lombardi trophies. You remember,
this is a team that in the seventies won for
Super Bowl titles and you talk about that setting the

(49:40):
stage for the dominance and the expectation in those things.
So despite all of the participation trophies and certificates you
got for perfect attendance or whatever, did you make the
honor roll? If you didn't make the honor roll is pointless.
And I mean so your perfect attendant trophies, you're a
good conduct and behavior and sportsmanship certificates matters less. If

(50:03):
you don't have honor roll on your accolades or accomplishment
at the end of the year.

Speaker 2 (50:08):
You know, you make a great point because it's kind
of like no one knows who finishes second in Kentucky Derby.
And let's go back to academics for a second. Everybody
knows the valedatorian of the class. They don't know the
guy with a saladatorian whatever it's called it. And no
guy than them who run a up deal they don't
know that guy. They know the Valatorian. That's basically, you're right.
If you don't win, forget it, you might you might
as well be a loser if you don't win.

Speaker 3 (50:30):
That's what it is.

Speaker 4 (50:32):
Yeah, So I mean pretty much, that's that's how they
treat everything. And so you have to win. You have
to win at a high level and right now because
all the voices or whatever like is loud, and you
have to beat people think that you can compete for a.

Speaker 5 (50:46):
Title year after year after year after.

Speaker 4 (50:49):
Year, regardless of how realistic those expectations are.

Speaker 5 (50:53):
Those are the expectations of the fan base.

Speaker 4 (50:55):
And you know what, you're gonna have to hear about
it until you're able to pull some those things are.

Speaker 2 (51:01):
Well, if they're winning right now, the Seals eight and six,
they got a one game lead over the Ravens AFC
North and it could be it could very well be
the first division title since twenty twenty. All right, However, however,
the Lions need a win to keep their playoff hopes alive,
and honestly, Aaron Rodgers looked pretty good last week, he
really did. And the Lions right now have a pretty

(51:21):
banged up secondary, so I'm looking to see DK Metcalf
have a pretty decent game today.

Speaker 3 (51:27):
I think they'll be passing the ball.

Speaker 2 (51:28):
They'll be flinging it around a little bit because the
win won't be af fector they're playing indoors. They're playing
in Detroit, so I think they'll be passing it and
flinging it around.

Speaker 3 (51:36):
DK Metcalf have a big game today.

Speaker 4 (51:39):
I think there's some signs of promise, Like a big
win on Monday n against Miami, you started passing the game,
all the central figures getting involved. If they're able to
put it off against Detroit, now only did you get
the winning, you have an opportunity to get the ten
wins against the Baltimore Ravens. And you know, if you
think about the tournament and the hot teams in the tournament,
you could begin to build a case for this team

(52:01):
being the hottest team heading into the tournament if they're
able to kind of complete it right.

Speaker 2 (52:06):
All right, the Lions right now a little bit of
a disappointment, how much, And we kind of touched on
this early on in the first segment, first our Ben Johnson.
His loss that big of a deal, really, I don't know,
you think.

Speaker 4 (52:22):
Yeah, well, I mean I think it has a big
part of it. Yeah, it certainly contributes to it. You
just can't keep losing good people and things that you
can maintain it. Yeah, that's a big part of it.

Speaker 2 (52:33):
Well, I mean they talk about losing coaches they use
as an excuse. I'll going back to the college level.
Oregon lost their both coordinators and they rolled yesterday. So
does it make that much of a difference.

Speaker 4 (52:42):
I don't know, but they still were there. Ben Johnson
isn't there for them. So it's a thing like when
you lose enough coaches, and they lost not only did coordinates,
but they lost a lot of assistant coaches.

Speaker 5 (52:56):
The messaging changes. No matter what.

Speaker 4 (53:01):
You and I can take the same recipe. Let's just
make Grandma's cookies, right, Grandma's given us the same recipe
and we're both in our respective kitchens. My cookies are
gonna taste different than yours. No matter what the recipe is.
We all just put our own little flavor and spin
to it. So it's gonna be a different thing. So
when they brought new coaches in. Everyone adds their own

(53:22):
little flair. That's why those teams can't remain the same,
because you don't have the same people in those leadership positions.

Speaker 2 (53:29):
I hear what you're saying. I agree with you there, okay,
And we talked about one team that you.

Speaker 4 (53:35):
Agree with me, but that my cookies will taste better
than yours or what about that?

Speaker 3 (53:39):
Probably?

Speaker 2 (53:40):
Okay, because I want cookies, I go to the store
and buy cookies. I'm not wasting my time.

Speaker 5 (53:45):
You don't know how to you know, you don't know
how to make cookies. What I don't make?

Speaker 4 (53:50):
Life skills like, come on, we gotta have you gotta
be able to find for your own.

Speaker 2 (53:57):
I get in the car and go to McDonald's. That's
till I do I sent on my own. I mean, look,
I don't need any dish. If I went to live alone,
maybe a couple of paper plates, that's all I would need. Really,
you know, I could live in the YMCA. M McDonald's
is my You know, if Ocho Cinco is the number
one McDonald's guy, I'm the second guy.

Speaker 3 (54:18):
I'm right behind them.

Speaker 4 (54:19):
Okay, really, all right, okay, all right to Cho Cinco
it's my guy.

Speaker 5 (54:24):
There we go.

Speaker 2 (54:25):
All right, Now we talked about this team in the
driver's seat, I'm talking about the San Francisco forty nine ers.

Speaker 3 (54:30):
What do I mean by that?

Speaker 2 (54:31):
The battle to the NFC West two horse race really
between the Rams and Seahawks, and that was like really
for most of the season. Now, all of a sudden,
the San Francisco Finals are alive. And well why because
the Thursday night's game and they win in Seattle. All right,
that's what happened. The forty nine has got a big
time help from the Seahawks. Seahawks beat the Rams, as
we mentioned, thirty eight thirty seven and that wild overtime

(54:51):
shoot up. By the way, what do you think of
that call? I thought it was a perfect call, right.
It was a pass that went for the two point
conversion and it was not over scrimmage whose sideways?

Speaker 5 (55:02):
Really?

Speaker 4 (55:04):
Yeah, look, I think the call was correct. I think
they got it correct. I think the procedures were a
little odd because no one knew that it was under
review like that, But I mean.

Speaker 5 (55:16):
Give them credit. The rules are the rules, and if
it was a.

Speaker 4 (55:19):
Backward pass and it bounced around and ricochet like that,
it should be recoverable and give Zack Charmonaute credit for
touching the rock and picking it up.

Speaker 3 (55:29):
It was great.

Speaker 5 (55:30):
There we go.

Speaker 2 (55:30):
Now, thanks to that win sin Seattle's win on Thursday night,
the forty nine Ers now have full control over their
road to winning the NFC West and maybe clinching the
number one overall seed in the NFC. Okay, the Seahawks
win kicked the door wide open for the forty nine
ers to come in and get the top spot, which
is unbelievable really. So the forty nine ers, if they

(55:51):
win their final three games, that will let them clinch
the NFC West and the top seed in the NFC.

Speaker 3 (55:58):
But it's not going to be easy.

Speaker 2 (55:59):
Okay, Today at the Colts, Next week Bears at home
following week Seahawks. It's going to be tough, it really is.
So now let's see what they got going on today.
They got forty nine is ten and four at the
Colts and that's well Monday night, I'm sorry, eight and six.
So let's talk about that game a little bit right now,
because the Colts all of a sudden have kind of

(56:21):
hit the skids. I understand, you know, they got some
injuries and whatever, it might be, but what happened to
the Colts was it, you know, fool's gold over there
in Indianapolis. I mean we thought they were good. I
didn't think they four like this eight and six. I
mean now they're clinging.

Speaker 5 (56:37):
A little bit.

Speaker 4 (56:40):
Yeah, they're clinging because you have losing streaks and you
have injuries to your quarterback Daniel Jones. That changes some
of the rhythm of the offense. Philip Rivers can do
a good job of getting him in the right calls,
but he's still not Daniel Jones in terms of having
the full set of skills and those things. And when
you're losing, you lose a little bit of your confidence.

(57:01):
And as you talk about them, really they're reeling as
they're playing the toughest part of their schedule because now
they're playing the really, really good teams. It's still not
over for them yet, but it's bleak is bleak. The
light is flickering because they go from playing the Niners
to the Jaguars to I forgive you they finish up
with maybe they finish up with the Texans, but yeah, yeah,

(57:23):
it's a tough, tough slate of games for them.

Speaker 2 (57:25):
Yeah, and they talk about MVPs, and I haven't heard
this fella's name mentioned as a potential MVP guy. And
I'll talk about the running back of the forty nine ers,
Christian McCaffrey. This guy's got more than eight hundred yards
rushing and receiving, and he's got fourteen total touchdowns this year. Really,
I mean, I don't. I mean, he's really carried that

(57:46):
team to some extent on his back. And we don't
hear much about Christian McCaffrey, maybe because we always hear
about Christian McCaffrey, if you know what I mean. But
you know they talk about Jonathan Taylor. He'll probably win it.
But Christian McCaffrey's got to get some votes. I don't
think he's going to win it. We got to get
some votes. Ten and four to forty nine ers.

Speaker 4 (58:04):
He may get a handful of votes, but as we know,
like the Heisman Trophy, this is a quarterback award, this
goes to the quarterback, so the high quarterback will get it.

Speaker 3 (58:16):
So you don't think there's a.

Speaker 4 (58:17):
Chance, not at all. And I love what he's doing.
I love the fact that Roger Craig is tearful on
the sideline looking at what he's been able to do.
A guy that can do it. He's done this before though, Andy,
He's done the one thousand and one thousand things. He's
done one thousand rushing yards, one hundred receiver receptions. He
has all that in his bag. He's one of the

(58:38):
best multipurpose backs that we've ever seen. Legendary. But I
don't think this will move the needle enough in terms
of his accomplishment unless the nine is just real office series.

Speaker 5 (58:51):
You win and they kind of get to the number
one seat.

Speaker 2 (58:54):
Okay, before I step aside here, I gotta ask you
a bit quote. As a matter of fact, I'm gonna
hold it. I'm gonna tease that there's a big question
that must be asked to Bucky Brooks. I'm putting you
on the spot. Don't be nervous. I don't want you
to start switzing right now, don't. It's an easy question.
It's a yes or no. But I want to know
if the thought process has gone through your brain from

(59:15):
ear to ear. It's a big ease. So we'll do
that when we come up and we can get Bucky
Brooks on X at Bucket, Brooks at Andy Furman FSR
eight seven, seven ninety nine on Fox eight seven, seven,
nine nine.

Speaker 3 (59:25):
Six sixty three sixty nine. And of course we've got the.

Speaker 2 (59:27):
Playing game at the end of this hour, and these
two quarterbacks may be switching jerseys sooner than later.

Speaker 3 (59:34):
That's next.

Speaker 6 (59:35):
Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in
the nation. Catch all of our shows at foxsports Radio
dot com and within the iHeartRadio app search FSR to
listen live. All right, Desperate is the word for these
two teams. That's right around the corner. He's Bucky Brooks.
He's not desperate.

Speaker 2 (59:54):
I'm Andy Furman, and we are Fox Football Sunday at
Fox Sports Radio, and we're live. We are broadcasting live
from the Fox Sports Radio studios. And by the way,
for the best pregame show every single weekend, be sure
to tune at the Fox Sports Radios. Countdown to Kickoff
presented by bet MGM. Every Saturday and Sunday morning, We'll
count you down to all of the biggest games for
three hours right up until kickoff. For all of the

(01:00:15):
best plays and up to date and up to the
second injury news tuned. The Countdown to Kickoff presented by
BETMGM every Saturday and Sunday morning right here on Fox
Sports Radio, and of course there wonderful iHeart app Now,
I promise to ask you a big question. Are you nervous?
Are you nervous, Bucky Brooks?

Speaker 5 (01:00:33):
Yes, very very nervous. I bet you chattering knees, knocking
it very nervous.

Speaker 3 (01:00:37):
I bet you.

Speaker 2 (01:00:37):
All all right, So last week we talk about the
Indianapolis Colts. They lost the Seattle eighteen sixteen. They or
up sixteen fifteen with forty seven seconds.

Speaker 3 (01:00:47):
Left in the ball game. All right, I watched the.

Speaker 2 (01:00:49):
Game simply because Philip Rivers is a grandpa and he's
forty four years of age. He finished eighteenth for twenty
seven for one hundred and twenty yards with one touchdown
and an I int Now, he wasn't spittaged, but he
was not terrible.

Speaker 3 (01:01:02):
That's for sure.

Speaker 2 (01:01:03):
He played, I mean, not playing in five years of
coming out pretty damn good. Really, So I asked you,
Bucky Brooks, at forty four years of age, Philip Rivers
came back.

Speaker 3 (01:01:12):
Was there any of the thought process in your mind?

Speaker 2 (01:01:15):
Maybe I could have played another year, Maybe I could
come back. Maybe after sitting out a year or two,
I could do what Philip Rivers did. Have you ever
thought about anything like that?

Speaker 5 (01:01:25):
Ooh man, not in a long time. And I feel
the way I feel.

Speaker 4 (01:01:29):
But I'm envious that Philip Rivers for being able to
chase that dream, because everyone should play until the wheels
completely fall off.

Speaker 5 (01:01:36):
Now this week, the wills may fall off for Philip Rivers.

Speaker 4 (01:01:39):
But if you're one who believes in chasing dreams, man,
you chase it all the way to fulfillment. And even
though I can't do it, Philip Rivers represents all the
old people, all the ones who want to go out
and try and do it one more time.

Speaker 2 (01:01:53):
Okay, I want to know, what was it like that
first year when you retired and you watch the games
on TV and you were looking and said, maybe maybe
I could could have still done it. I mean, well,
how is that first year sitting out?

Speaker 4 (01:02:06):
Well, it's hard then, because like I legitimately felt like
I still could play. It was the end of my
like my six training camp. I was six years in.
That means they had to be close twenty eight twenty nine,
so physically I still felt like I was up to snuff.
It wasn't like being thirty five trying to come back
and oh I can do this. I'd been away from
five or six years. It's a different thing, and it

(01:02:28):
takes a while for that to leave you. It never
really leaves. You just kind of learn how to compartmentalize
it and try and find other pursuits that bring you
close to that joy.

Speaker 5 (01:02:36):
But now it's hard.

Speaker 3 (01:02:38):
I bet, I bet it is.

Speaker 2 (01:02:39):
All right, you wrote again, and I always mention this
because you do such a great job at the NFL
dot Com.

Speaker 3 (01:02:44):
You're right there. You're writ for Fox Sports as well.

Speaker 2 (01:02:46):
But this week, and I'm not going to go through
all of them, but I want to know just about
one player in particular, early winners. You say, twenty twenty
six NFL free agency, all right, and George Pickens right there.
He is the guy a little bit. I think I
call him a clown. I mean, I think he's a
great talent, but I think he's difficult to corral, he's
difficult to coach. He's his own guy, and he does

(01:03:08):
what he wants to do. He does what he pleases.
Now he's with the Dallas Cowboys. He was dealt to
the Cowboys before his final year of his rookie contract expired.
So now you're saying hebe be one of the top
three agents. Is he that wanted? I mean because of
what he is, what he does I mean is cookiness
off the field and maybe not being able to fall

(01:03:30):
in line as you will with the rest of the
players or coaching staff. He'll still be wanted on that
free agent block.

Speaker 4 (01:03:38):
Yeah, I mean, like you fall in line. Because here's
what's undeniable. His talent. Talent begets tolerance. For most players
in the league, the more talented you are, the more
you tolerate some of the other stuff. His talent is
through the roof, and he's shown it this year, having
an opportunity to be a legitimate number one receiver, to

(01:04:00):
play with a high end quarterback, to be able to
show his full arsenal of skills. Yeah, he's in line
for a payday. And I know, people to talk about
what's going on off the field. Can he manage it?
Can he handle it? He handled it this year, So
you have to bank on him handling it going forward

(01:04:20):
while still trying to protect yourself if he does go
off the rails.

Speaker 2 (01:04:24):
And these players that do go off the rail a
little bit, I'm talking like the Pookahs of the world
and George Pickens. Don't they have agents that would sit
down down and say, hey, you know, can you just
calm down, reel it in a little bit. Do the
agents have any say so at all and how the
guy should act, what they should say?

Speaker 4 (01:04:42):
I mean, they're professionals, but ultimately the agent works for
the player. The player doesn't work for the agent. So
if the agent wants to continue to get paid, they
also fall in line too.

Speaker 3 (01:04:53):
Just do the contract, keep your mouth shut.

Speaker 5 (01:04:56):
Stay out the way what you would like.

Speaker 4 (01:04:58):
You like strong mentors around Pickens to be able to
advise him and counsel him and give him the right
words of wisdom so he moves correctly in his position.
Sometimes it happens, sometimes it doesn't. And I'll say this,
and I am not one to be the old man
on the lawn to talk about this generation being different.
But when I ask players and people around the league

(01:05:19):
about the young guys coming up, they say they're hard
because they are maybe more talented than they've ever been,
but they're more sensitive and they don't handle criticism or feedback.
Will any criticism or feedback must be delivered the right
way or they believe, man, you're quote unquote hating, and

(01:05:39):
it's not that the person is hating on you, he's
trying to help you get better. But this generation has
a hard time being able to separate what hate is
and what constructive criticism is.

Speaker 2 (01:05:51):
I'm glad you brought that up because I think a
lot of that problem comes from coaches.

Speaker 3 (01:05:55):
Coaches.

Speaker 2 (01:05:56):
I remember when coaches at postgame news conferences will call
out players. Happens anymore because the coaches are afraid. They're
afraid and they're fred buggers. Media is going to say
they quote lost the team in the locker room. But
back in the day, there were coaches that could care.
They couldn't go after anybody. They would go at a
news conference after a game and say, well, Bucket Brooks

(01:06:17):
dropped that pass. That's why we lost. If he would
have held out there, we would have to win it.
Today they don't do that anymore. I mean, coaches go
in there. I saw sack Taylor. I take full responsibility.
It's my fault.

Speaker 3 (01:06:27):
Let me come on, really, I mean, you don't play
the game.

Speaker 2 (01:06:30):
You call it play. If it doesn't work, you're playing
on a player. They don't do that. Why is that?
Why has coaches become soft.

Speaker 4 (01:06:37):
Well, I mean, as they become softer, you have to
be willing to deal with confrontation. And depending on the
league that you're talking about, the sport that you're talking
do you have enough weight behind your title to be
able to hold people accountable to the degree.

Speaker 5 (01:06:52):
That you need to. If you don't, and you know,
ownership is always going to side with the.

Speaker 4 (01:06:56):
Player, your commentary, your complaints, criticism can be viewed in
a different light. Everyone has to be on the same page.
My experience, when players know that the coach cares about them,
coach can go at them as hard as he wants
because there's a belief there, there's a trust there. The

(01:07:17):
same level of respect and trust doesn't exist in every
locker room, which is why you can't. You can't call
players out like that because they won't react favorably to it.

Speaker 2 (01:07:27):
And you know what, in my mind, there's only a
handful of coaches that can call players out and get
away with it. Ben Johnson's one of them. During twenty
camp this past July, he threw them off the field
of bears. He's a come on, get out, get off.
I mean, I mean, you don't see that anymore. That's
what a high school coach does got Ben Johnson, Dan Campbell.

Speaker 3 (01:07:43):
He's from the same school I say, Sean McVay, perhaps,
right McDermott Buffos.

Speaker 5 (01:07:49):
He does the best.

Speaker 4 (01:07:51):
The best coaches do that because that's the only way
to be able to get it done. You have to
be able to tell them the truth, good, bad, or
you have to be able to shoot a straight tell
them exactly what you expect, what you demand, what you
want from them. And when it's good, you praise them.
When it's bad, you tell them.

Speaker 3 (01:08:11):
And you don't have to do with cussing and screaming
and yelling.

Speaker 2 (01:08:14):
Because I'll go back and look at Marv Levy, who's
had a lot of success when he coached Buffalo, right,
I know he was a gentleman.

Speaker 4 (01:08:21):
No, you don't have to curse that the players though
I'm accountable, you know, that's not necessary. But you can
you can coach them hard, you know. And what we
mean by coach them hard, that means we can have
high standards, high demands, but you have to be able
to love on them, you know, and so it needs
to be even the way you kind of balance that out,

(01:08:42):
you know, if they're doing great things, man praise the
behaviors and the efforts that you want to see.

Speaker 5 (01:08:47):
If they're not doing those things, then you got to
call them out do something.

Speaker 2 (01:08:51):
And you know what, Though I love Jamar Chase, I
think he's great. He may be the best receiver in
the National Football League. When he spit on that Pittsburgh
Steeler player, I mean, is the most disgusting thing in life?
Really to do that. Zach Taylor almost defended him. I
mean in the news conference, I mean any other I mean,
what would Dan Campbell say? He would have said, It's

(01:09:12):
the most disgusting thing I've ever seen. I won't tolerate that.
That's what Zach should have done. I think maybe I'm wrong,
and you can't change a coach's personality. The way he's
made up his DNA, that's the way he is. Zack's
a good guy and he's not going to do that.
But to me, a coach normally who has a backburn,
who has a pair of handing downs, would say that

(01:09:32):
will not be tolerated on my staff.

Speaker 3 (01:09:35):
And it didn't happen.

Speaker 2 (01:09:36):
I was shocked and I was shot that DeMar Chase
even did it. I have I didn't think he would
do something like that.

Speaker 4 (01:09:44):
I am surprised too that he did it, because it's
not something that I would say is becoming of a
player to conduct yourself like that, and to be like that,
it's actually gross, you know. But he did, and they
tried to come to grips with it and figured out

(01:10:05):
in those things now to chase his credit. While he
was away, someone I obviously counseled him and talked about
how bad of a look it was. Yeah, but Zach Taylor,
those guys coaches, and you gotta hold your players accountable,
and it's going to be uncomfortable and whatever, but you
have to.

Speaker 5 (01:10:23):
That's the only way your team is going to maximize
who they are.

Speaker 2 (01:10:25):
Right And today, two teams that are out of the
playoffs playing in Miami. One of was the Bengals out
of the Dolphins. Bengals four and ten, Dolphins six and eight.
They meet this afternoon. Both teams out of the playoffs
has mansioned, but there's some storylines over here. Bengals quarterback
Joe Burrow addresses a possible breakup with the Bengals, maybe
maybe retirement.

Speaker 3 (01:10:43):
I don't know. His contract is through twenty twenty nine.
He'll be thirty four.

Speaker 2 (01:10:46):
Let's hear what Joe Burrow had to say earlier this
week about his feelings of playing football.

Speaker 1 (01:10:52):
In your mind when you're.

Speaker 3 (01:10:53):
Not the quarterback with the Bengals next year.

Speaker 5 (01:10:56):
I couldn't. I can't see that.

Speaker 6 (01:10:57):
No, it didn't get thought about the possibility of not
being the quarterback here during your career, or.

Speaker 12 (01:11:05):
You think about a lot of things. A lot of
crazy things happen every year. Michael Parsons got traded right
before right before the season. I think this year something
I hadn't seen in a long time.

Speaker 5 (01:11:18):
In the NFL.

Speaker 12 (01:11:19):
So crazy things gonna happen, all right.

Speaker 2 (01:11:22):
What happened to Joe Burrow, It's a very simple thing.
He is what we call in Cincinnati bengalized. He's become bengalized. Really,
it's like someone who's paralyzed. No, he's bengalized. Carson Palmer
was bengalized. It's like you go out week after week,
get your head bashed in and you can't handle it anymore.
Matthew Stafford he had that. He was lionized, right, and

(01:11:43):
he left because the Lions were losing. And he's got
a Super Bowl ringing. We got another one this year.
Now with his injury and his season of history of
injuries and all that stuff.

Speaker 3 (01:11:53):
Should he be resting these last three games?

Speaker 2 (01:11:55):
I don't think. So that's a question. What do you
think about, you know, the future for Joe Burrow. I mean,
I think he's gonna play, will playing Cincinnati.

Speaker 4 (01:12:04):
I think the future is right there. There's no way.
It's too hard to get a quarterback. To allow a
franchise quarterback to bounce. They did it once for Carson Palmer,
which was foolish. It took them a minute to bounce
back from that. They stumbled into Andy Dalton. He became
more than what I think they thought he would be
as a second round pick. But even then, Andy Dalton

(01:12:24):
on his best day wasn't what Carson Palmer was as
a franchise quarterback.

Speaker 5 (01:12:29):
There's different I would.

Speaker 3 (01:12:30):
Take Philip Rivers now all over Andy Dalton.

Speaker 4 (01:12:33):
Right, So it's just different differently, And that's not being disrespectful.
Andy Dalton had a nice career in Cincinnati. I'm just
saying the level of talent, the pedigree, all that is different.
If you're Cincinnati, man, you make sure that you keep
Joe Burrow in the fold as QB one and you
find a way to get everything right around him without
making him different than everybody else on the team.

Speaker 2 (01:12:58):
Right now, Miami two is out and the rookie Quinn
you is just going to play. What's happening is is
Tua finished? Is his deal finished in Miami?

Speaker 3 (01:13:06):
Now?

Speaker 4 (01:13:08):
You know he could be, but there'd be a lot
of money they would have to eat. I think it
would be ninety nine million dollars in dead cap space.
But what you have to do is, and I've heard
coaches talk about this, and I do believe it's right.

Speaker 5 (01:13:18):
Whatever the money is, the money is.

Speaker 4 (01:13:20):
But you can't make your decisions based on the money.
Whatever the contract was is the cost of doing business.
But if you keep good players around because you don't
want I mean you keep soso players around because you
don't want to pay them to buy out or whatever.

Speaker 5 (01:13:35):
The team looks at you differently. If they don't.

Speaker 4 (01:13:37):
Believe in the locker room the two can get it done,
there's no coming back from it.

Speaker 2 (01:13:42):
There you go, and last, but not least, I'll talk
about you, Jacksonville Jaguars Trevor Lawrence. Last week, did he
have five tds in passed for three thirty and that
forty eight twenty went over the Jets. Maybe he's coming
of age. Is that possible, Trevor Lawrence?

Speaker 5 (01:13:55):
Right now, Yeah, it's very possible.

Speaker 4 (01:13:57):
Last three games he's had a passer ray over one hundred.

Speaker 5 (01:14:01):
He has ten touchdowns, no giveaways.

Speaker 4 (01:14:03):
He's playing really good ball. And I would say that
people look at the numbers, The numbers don't really validate
what he's doing, but I'll say the field is there.
He's more confident and more decisive. He has some of
that swag that he entered the league with and right
now it's paying off.

Speaker 5 (01:14:18):
Look, he's being rewarded for his efforts.

Speaker 2 (01:14:21):
That's great, and of course he's got to do it
against that great defensive Denver. But right now we're live
from the Fox Sports Radio studios, and if you missed
any of today's show, you want to catch the podcast,
just search Fox Pochradio wherever you get your podcast. Right
after the show, today's podcast will be posted. Be sure
to follow the podcast rated five stars please, and you
can even provide a review.

Speaker 3 (01:14:39):
Again.

Speaker 2 (01:14:39):
Just search Fox Sports Ready wherever you get your podcasts,
and you'll find today's show Fox Football Sunday. Post it
right after we get off the end. Now point your finger,
it's that time.

Speaker 3 (01:14:49):
What is it?

Speaker 2 (01:14:50):
The blame game is freaking next?

Speaker 1 (01:14:54):
Don't listening to Fox Sports Radio Radio.

Speaker 2 (01:14:58):
All right, the blame game coming right up. This is
Fox Football Sunday in Fox Sports Radio. He's Bucky Brooks
and Andy Furman and we're protesting live from the Fox
Sports Radio studios. And before I throw it to our
executive producer, Lead de Lap, I want to thank him
for a great yeoman's job he did today. And by
the way, at the top of the hour, eight am
Eastern time, Mike Harmon will join gret Co Sell right

(01:15:18):
here on Fox Sports Radio.

Speaker 3 (01:15:20):
But right now it's time for the blame game. You
ruin me.

Speaker 1 (01:15:24):
It's all your fault. No, it's your fault.

Speaker 3 (01:15:27):
What it is all your fault?

Speaker 1 (01:15:32):
Maybe it's everyone's faults.

Speaker 6 (01:15:35):
The liar.

Speaker 1 (01:15:35):
That's why there's the blame game, the blame game. Let's
figure out who to blame. He's a liar.

Speaker 3 (01:15:41):
Lead de Lap, are you ready? Let's roll big ball?

Speaker 7 (01:15:43):
Already guys.

Speaker 10 (01:15:44):
Well, as we all know, Sharon Moore did recently get
the acts as the U of Michigan football coach. Yet
we have seen many problems in that athletic department a
basketball coach, smack, an omposing assistant coach, and even one
of his own.

Speaker 7 (01:15:58):
The department is a mess. Who is to blame for that?

Speaker 3 (01:16:02):
Bucky, go ahead, Buck lead it off.

Speaker 4 (01:16:05):
Ultimately, leadership bears the responsibility of that. So from the
ad all the way up, you're responsible for it. Like
there's a thing that is see in business, what you permit,
you promote, and so if you have those things going on,
ultimately you're permitting it and promoting it.

Speaker 5 (01:16:20):
So you're responsible for it.

Speaker 2 (01:16:22):
The failure to monitor and I'm gonna name names, athletic threat,
the Ward Manual.

Speaker 3 (01:16:28):
You need to get fired.

Speaker 2 (01:16:29):
You created this mess at the University of Michigan, and
I cannot believe the alumps have not stood up and
said we want them gone. I'm not condoning what the
coach did football coach more, but the point is that
a lot of garbage has been going on in that
department anyway, and it comes from the top.

Speaker 3 (01:16:46):
Ward.

Speaker 2 (01:16:47):
Pack your bags, get out, okay, next very horsh All.

Speaker 10 (01:16:54):
Right, guys, check out these college basketball scores. Men's Colorado
State one O four, Northern New Mexico fifty four, Youngstown
State one O three, fel fifty two, Florida one O two,
Saint Francis PA. Sixty one and Women's Furman one ten,
Mars Hill thirty six, West Virginia one sixteen, Westland College

(01:17:15):
twenty one.

Speaker 7 (01:17:17):
For these outlandish scores, who do you blame?

Speaker 2 (01:17:21):
I blame the coaches because they're so weak that they
need this confidence builder, so they play these schools.

Speaker 3 (01:17:28):
They just roll over them. I don't understand why they
do that.

Speaker 2 (01:17:31):
You know what, if I'm a coach of a school
like Mars Hill or maybe Saint Francis PA, I would
refuse to pay to play these schools. But I assume
there's a big paycheck there. When Florida's playing Saint Francis PA.
I'm sure Saint Francis PA and Little Loretto Pennsylvania is
getting a paycheck.

Speaker 3 (01:17:48):
It's sad.

Speaker 2 (01:17:49):
It doesn't build any character, any sportsmanship whatsoever.

Speaker 3 (01:17:53):
It stinks. There's no winner whatsoever in that.

Speaker 5 (01:17:56):
Yeah. I mean, you gotta learn how to lose in life.

Speaker 4 (01:17:58):
So this is just an early advanced lesson to learn
how to lose, how to handle it with grace, and
how to bounce back. If you own little Johnny and
little back and you go through life without experiencing any
hardships than sports are not for them. But sometimes you
get you get your nose rubbed in and you got
to feel the band pappering you. You need to get
picked on a little bit by the opposing fans. Yeah,

(01:18:20):
this is part of it. It's going to help you
down the line.

Speaker 10 (01:18:23):
Guysio, Ohio University cites extramarital affairs and firing their football
coach Brian Smith. Since when is that a fireable offense?
Other faculty members have probably done the same. Who do
you blame, Bucky?

Speaker 4 (01:18:38):
Uh? This was layered though, because it wasn't just that,
like in reading the reports in Ohio, he was separated
and divorcing his wife, and some parents called him coming
in or out of the hotel with the lady. So
one of the ladies was a forty one year old,
but they said he also has some consensual relations with

(01:18:58):
an undergrad. When you're in that position, it just doesn't
look favorably on the university if your coach is engaging
in those kinds of things, and they're also with some
alcohol allegations to go with it.

Speaker 5 (01:19:13):
So a lot, it's a lot to process. I don't
know if it's viable, but it certainly didn't look good
for them.

Speaker 3 (01:19:19):
It didn't look good. And I'll tell you what I
blame this.

Speaker 2 (01:19:23):
I blame contracts because obviously, if you fire the guy,
you know for cause, and they're going to do it
for cause over here, they don't have to pay him anything.
So they weren't happy with him. They weren't happy with
his look. Maybe whatever it was. The team wasn't as
strong as it was in the past, so they want
to get rid of the guy. So you built up
a case. I would promise you, Bucky Brooks and lead

(01:19:43):
the lab and mark that you could go down the
entire faculty list and see faculty members in history, philosophy, mathematics,
whatever it may be, having extra mari little fairs and
they're not getting fired.

Speaker 6 (01:19:56):
How do you like that?

Speaker 2 (01:19:57):
They want to get rid of him because they didn't
want to pay his contract. That's why they could be
a bump too.

Speaker 10 (01:20:02):
I don't know, alright, And last one, chiefsmissed the playoffs.
Who do you blame you, guys?

Speaker 5 (01:20:07):
I think old age, Yeah, yeah, everybody, Andy Reid, Redfeach.

Speaker 4 (01:20:12):
They didn't build a good enough team like pad Mahomes
has been good. But they can't continue to do it
with him.

Speaker 3 (01:20:17):
All right, Merry Christmas.

Speaker 2 (01:20:18):
Everybody will see you next Sunday, right here on Fox
Sports Radio.

Speaker 6 (01:20:22):
Hanging there,