Fox Sports Radio's Countdown Presented by BetMGM!

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Mh.

Speaker 2 (00:27):
This is Fox Sports Countdown. We're setting you up for
the sports weekend and covering all the action from the
stadiums to the arenas. This is This is Fox Sports Countdown,
brought to you my bet MG naked Legendary. The Countdown

(00:48):
starts nine live from the Fox Sports Radio studios. Here's
Brian no, Rich Hornberger and Jared Smith.

Speaker 1 (00:59):
What is going on?

Speaker 3 (00:59):
Well, come in happy Saturday to you. Hope all is fantastic.

Speaker 4 (01:05):
All is fantastic over here because ball is back, at
least preseason ball is back. We'll get to the Hall
of Fame game, and I gotta break down the Hall
of Fame game. But exciting, ending and maybe some meaningful
observations like ball, Yeah, that's right when it comes to
real football not that far away. Good morning, Rich, Good
morning Jared. Everything good with you, guys.

Speaker 1 (01:25):
Everything is wonderful on this end of the world. We
have had our first Thursday of football since Lord knows when.
And the beautiful thing about it is for the rest
of the year. We have football on Thursday for the
rest of the year. I mean, just think about that.
To be able to say that there won't be a

(01:46):
single Thursday without football. I feel great. I feel great, boys, gentlemen,
We've arrived on the doorstep of the greatest season of
the year, and that is the football season. Let's roll.

Speaker 5 (01:58):
Yeah that I was very I don't want to say engaged,
but I was definitely happy for Carson Beck this week.
I mean, he really put on a show in that
Hall of Fame game and just watching football, like, obviously
the result is irrelevant, but it was just nice to
see the see the boys out there bumping around, running around, throwing, running, catching,

(02:21):
and yeah, we got.

Speaker 6 (02:21):
A lot more of that coming up.

Speaker 3 (02:23):
Well, how about the exciting ending.

Speaker 4 (02:25):
So this was especially from a betting perspective, this swung
everything right. So there are two seconds left, Carolina was
down by a field goal. We're not going for the
tie over here, right, We're going for the win. Haines
King on NBC getting it done. Here's how it sounded.
Oh boy, another rook rookie mistake over here? By no,
already out of the gate slowly, My goodness, what is

(02:47):
going on over you guys should like do the old
Game of Throne shame thing at me.

Speaker 3 (02:52):
You know, we got.

Speaker 4 (02:52):
Elijah cutting up our videos. Elijah's like we got one
hitting the cutting room floor already here.

Speaker 3 (02:59):
No, we're gould got it. We got Haines King on NBC.

Speaker 7 (03:02):
Here you go game on the line card, he's gonna
stump up.

Speaker 1 (03:08):
Yes when.

Speaker 3 (03:12):
King with part of time and chantile I love the
end with collins Worth part time and can't in Ohio.

Speaker 1 (03:22):
That's great.

Speaker 4 (03:23):
But Haines King played really well and he had the
walk off touchdown literally two seconds left and he finds
his way into the end zone live. I wondered if
his knee was down initially, but uh no, he was
in legit score and they walk it off. It's a
man from a betting perspective that swung everything. If you
were on the Panthers money line, you had to have

(03:43):
that last second touchdown. If you're on Arizona money line
or plus the points that did you in, so you
know you're either off to a good start preseason wise betting.

Speaker 3 (03:53):
Or you're off to a slow start.

Speaker 4 (03:54):
And that's a that's a tough way to lose one
with a walk off touchdown if you're on Arizona in
that one.

Speaker 1 (04:00):
Yeah, and and there there are some angles, uh with
preseason football, Like we've talked many times to uh to
to our good friend Seamus McGee with bet mgm uh,
you you really can find some some moments where you
can capitalize in the preseason. So I would say, whether
you wagered on this game or not, one of the

(04:21):
things you didn't expect, uh, was how competitive of a
game it was. And that's that's fairly a typical of
a preseason game. Early in the preseason, offenses usually don't
look that polished that soon. It's a really good sign

(04:42):
for both Carolina and Arizona. Defenses typically have an easier
time in the early weeks of the your your camp
or your preseason, whatever you want to refer this this
timeline too. But it's because it's read and react. It's
just go go oh, let's just chase the ball, seaball,
get ball. That's a little bit easier than when you're

(05:05):
trying to install an entire offense where you need literally
eleven players all to act in concert for a play
to go well. Meanwhile, in defense, one guy on any
given play can be an individual wrecker and that's how
you take down that snap. And if one player does
that each snap, well, you've got eleven bad plays offensively

(05:26):
for your opponent. And man, you're all of a sudden
talking about ruining a quarter or ruining a half of
football for an offense, So the reality is defense usually
comes first. The fact that both of these offenses looked
as proficient as they did in the Hall of Fame game,
and there was some pretty unique stuff going on, some

(05:47):
advanced motions that we saw, some double moves. Offensively, it
means that both of these teams got pretty deep into
their install in OTAs, so credit to the offensive coordinators
on both sides.

Speaker 5 (06:00):
And honestly too, I would say other than Kenny Pickett,
both quarterbacks that we really saw the most from Beck
and Kin's King. You just saw that highlight in the end.
Those are rookies, so I'm always intrigued. The best way
to find out how good a player is, or I
guess how quickly they're able to make the transition from

(06:22):
college to the pros is what the coordinators are willing
to call and how much freedom those quarterbacks have at
the line of scrimmage. I didn't watch as much of
King as I did of Beck in the first half.
The kid gloves were off. He had I don't want
to say full autonomy because I don't actually know what
he was being given, but it appeared he was given

(06:44):
a lot of freedom at the line of scrimmage to
get into and out of things and also be able
to adjust what he was doing compared to what the
defense was giving him on earlier drives. Like he came
out and said that the pump and go that had
the big the big play.

Speaker 6 (06:59):
I think it is in the second quarter.

Speaker 5 (07:01):
The reason they went to that is because on an
earlier drive, Beck identified that the defense was giving him
a certain look where that pump and go would be effective.
So that is a high level of quarterbacking for your
first ever game in the NFL, and the preseason game,
no less. So that was really impressive, I thought. And
I don't think Carson Beck's going to be the starter

(07:21):
at any point this year, barring a disaster in Arizona.
But my take on him coming into the draft was
he is the most pro ready of the non Fernando
Mendoza quarterbacks in this class because of his experience and
his mechanics, and he put that on full display, full
display long Way Togo. Obviously just the Hall of Fame game,

(07:42):
but I think Carson Beck has a chance at some.

Speaker 6 (07:46):
Point in the NFL to be a starter I do.

Speaker 5 (07:48):
I don't know where, I don't know how the situation
will come up, but the traits are there and he
certainly has handled the transition very well well.

Speaker 4 (07:58):
That was one of the questions after the game was like,
should Carson Beck start Week one?

Speaker 6 (08:04):
I like the breaks.

Speaker 3 (08:05):
No, let's not do that.

Speaker 4 (08:06):
Right the way I look at it, I would start
Jacoby Brissette. If we're the Arizona Cardinals, you would start
Brissett because it changes how everything lands from that point.
If you started let's just say the Arizona Cardinals, they
see Carson Beck in that first half.

Speaker 3 (08:22):
Mike Lafleur is like, let's go.

Speaker 4 (08:23):
You know, we're probably gonna lose a bunch of games,
or roster has a ton of holes.

Speaker 3 (08:27):
Let's just start Carson Beck week one.

Speaker 4 (08:29):
Why not? Is Brissett the quarterback of the future. No,
but everything lands differently. If you start Carson Beck week one,
you're gonna lose a bunch of games because the roster
has a ton of holes. And then all of a sudden,
you're gonna be tempted to be like, well, we paid
Jacoby Brissett in the offseason, maybe we should play him
Like the first four games have been a disaster with

(08:51):
Carson Beck. I would just start Jacoby Brissett. You're gonna
take your lumps, You're gonna lose a bunch of games,
and then you pivot to Carson Beck and things land
completely differently because you don't want to start Beck and
be tempted to bench him, and then all of a sudden,
you're gonna stunt his growth. Right, So I would start
percent If you look at their their schedule is rough,

(09:12):
I mean until like the final four games of the season.
But if you just look at how the Cardinals start off,
there are a lot of losses in this road.

Speaker 3 (09:20):
Okay, you're starting off with.

Speaker 4 (09:22):
The Chargers, Seahawks, at the Niners, at the Giants, Lions
at the Rams, then you host the Broncos. There are
a lot of ls in those first seven games right there.
So if you pivot to Beck, let's say, I don't know,
Week eight, we were targeting this area for Fernando Mendoza
with the Raiders. If you pivoted to Carson Beck, may
maybe midway through the season Week eight at the Cowboys,

(09:44):
they had a lot of trouble with their defense last season.
Maybe that's a good spot and you would pivot and
get get a lot of a film on them, get
a lot of reps because Arizona's thinking about what they're
doing going forward. Right, Are we in the quarterback market?
Are we picking high end the draft? Are we looking
at whoever is coming out?

Speaker 1 (10:03):
Right?

Speaker 3 (10:04):
Is it you know? Is it Manning? Is it Arch Manning?

Speaker 1 (10:07):
Or you know?

Speaker 3 (10:08):
But you have to have information on Carson Beck.

Speaker 4 (10:11):
If he is going to be a starter at some
point in his NFL career, you don't want it to
be somewhere else, right, if you're the Arizona Cardinals and
he flourishes elsewhere, so you want to get him under center.
I believe some point this season I just wouldn't do
it Week one. That would be one of my meaningful
takeaways in terms of real football.

Speaker 1 (10:30):
Yeah, I would agree with that. I would say that overall,
when you're dealing with a rookie, and we've had this
conversation just recently with Kirk Cousins and Fernando Mendoza with
the Raiders, when you have a rookie, you've got to
cherish the novelty of a first time impression for them too,

(10:51):
because first time, because first impressions are lasting, you know.
And so it's not only the public's impression of the player.
It's not only the coaching staff's impression of the player.
It's not only the the the personnel director and his
general manager and you know, the team owners perception of

(11:12):
the player. It's also the player's impression of the league
and his talent and his ability to play in this league.
That that's lasting and important as well. Think about how
many great quarterbacks now who when they started their career
really had a confidence tumble A Baker Mayfield. Uh, you know,

(11:35):
Andy Dalton, Sam Darnold, that Sam Darnald. The the the
list is long, The list is long. It happens. It's
it's hard to play in this league. And when you're
a young quarterback and you go through some some early perils,
you know, and and listen, it's it's a learning curve
that everybody's on. And it's a quicker curve for some

(11:58):
and it's a it's a steeper curve for others. And
if you stunt a player's growth because his first impression is, man,
I'm not very good or geez, I can't hack it.
And that's before he even knows whether or not that
statement's true or not. That can rock confidence. So I
completely agree with you. You paid Prisset. He forced you

(12:20):
to pay him. You know you paid him more than
you were comfortable paying him. So get him out there.
He's your starter, groom Beck, make that hard decision later
on in the season and give him a real shot
to compete for the title of franchise quarterback if he's
so fortunate to be able to.

Speaker 5 (12:41):
And the funny part about this is we haven't even
mentioned the guy who's drafted third overall, who I know
Brian's really excited about. We have n't mentioned Jeremia Love's name.
You know, where does he fit into all this equation.
I think it'll be fun to see if Love can
kind of get off to a good start and if
that kind of eases the Cardinals a little bit, because

(13:01):
there were a lot of chatter like should Arizona be
drafting a running back? It's kind of the cherry on
top to a roster that is like melted ice cream
right now. So I just I don't know. I don't
know how they are going to utilize him early. All
accounts are they're going to ease him into the workload
as well, and I think that also goes hand in

(13:22):
hand with Beck, Like when you look at their schedule,
the first three games are brutal Charger, Seahawks Niners. I mean,
it's obviously gonna probably gonna be out with three start
unless you know something crazy happens in that Chargers game.

Speaker 6 (13:33):
I would say it's the only one that maybe has
a chance.

Speaker 5 (13:35):
And then it's Giants Lions Rams, Like, it doesn't get
any easier you do have that game against the Giants, Like,
I don't know if there's a soft landing spot for
either Back or Jeremiah Love throughout this season. I think
I don't think Arizona's going to be as bad as
everyone thinks. We thought the same thing about the Saints
last year, and they ended up going over their win

(13:57):
total rather easily and eating some buzz heading into this year,
I don't know if it's gonna be that type of
bad year. It still still a bad year for New
Orleans right under five hundred didn't when.

Speaker 6 (14:07):
The division didn't go to the playoffs.

Speaker 5 (14:09):
But I don't know if it's going to be an
above average, above expectation.

Speaker 1 (14:14):
Season for Arizona.

Speaker 5 (14:16):
But I don't think like the highlights, I'm seeing, and
social media has a way of twisting the truth. The
highlights I'm seeing, it's like they're gonna be the Keystone
Cops out there. I don't think they're going to be
that bad. I have a lot of confidence in Michael Foak.

Speaker 1 (14:29):
Yep.

Speaker 6 (14:31):
I do believe that there are some.

Speaker 5 (14:33):
Piecessle McBride and Harrison.

Speaker 6 (14:36):
I mean, they got some guys who can play.

Speaker 5 (14:38):
It's just can they come together and briset fault go
to back, Because let's be honest, I do think.

Speaker 6 (14:46):
You need to at least give becks this season.

Speaker 5 (14:49):
I haven't watched training camp, but just based on what
I saw in the pre in the Hall of Fame game,
he's definitely earned at least a few looks. He looks
like a guy that in the third round you got
a look value for him. He could play in this league,
I think, and it'll be interesting to see that dynamic.
And also, of course the Jeremiah Love situation, because I
think they've got two guys in the rookie class Brian

(15:09):
who at some point this year can't contribute.

Speaker 4 (15:12):
Why would be all systems go with Jeremiah Love come
week one? That guy's a special playmaker. I wouldn't have
training wheels on him at all. It would be get
him the ball early often, lets freaking go. And I
think it works out better for Jeremiah Love to have
a veteran in there in Jacoby Brissett initially, right, I
think that helps ease him in there, but I think

(15:33):
he gets the lion's share of the workload from the
get go. But I wouldn't do that with Carson Beck.
I would bring him along slowly, Like I said, start
with Brissette, pivot to Carson Beck at some point in
the season. Like Gardner Minshew is not your quarterback of
the future either, right, But get Beck in there, like
he's shown that he's worthy of getting some legitimate reps,

(15:53):
some legitimate starts. This season, it's a lost season. They're
gonna win a handful of games. You could probably count
on one hand the amount of win that the Arizona
Cardinals are gonna have. So in a season like that,
you got to look toward the future and you got
to get some starts for Carson Beck and see if
he has maybe a chance to compete to be a
quarterback of your future. Because you got to figure it out.

(16:15):
It's go time in terms of the twenty twenty six
or twenty twenty seven NFL draft, Right, you've got to
figure out who your quarterback of the future might possibly be.
So we'll see how they navigate that. But I would
imagine Mike cliff Flores probably thinking a long similar lines
would be my guess, But I know this, there's no
guess about this. We're often running. We've got Rich Hornberger,

(16:37):
We've got Jared Smith FSR betting analyst.

Speaker 3 (16:39):
I'm Brian No.

Speaker 4 (16:40):
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(17:03):
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(18:27):
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Speaker 3 (18:28):
Bet MGM. Make it legendary, all right, So we.

Speaker 4 (18:32):
Had a couple of contract extensions this week running back
market wise that caught attention. Here the two at the
top of the class. Right, We've got Bijon Robinson with
the Falcons, Jamiir Gibbs stud running back with the Lions.

Speaker 3 (18:45):
Funny how the money broke down.

Speaker 4 (18:47):
So Bijon Robinson he initially got his big contract extension
early in the week, three years, seventy five million dollars,
fifty one million dollars guaranteed. All right, then you Gibbs
with the Lions. He comes along, three years seventy five
point seventy five million dollar extension and the guaranteed money

(19:08):
fifty one point five So it says just a little
bit better, a little bit more for Jamiir Gibbs here,
which begs the question here, if you're in these guys are.

Speaker 3 (19:18):
Both studs, awesome players.

Speaker 4 (19:21):
If you're starting a team from scratch this season, would
you rather have Bjeon Robinson or Jamiir Gibbs as your back?

Speaker 3 (19:29):
Rich We'll start with you. Who do you got Who's
your guy?

Speaker 1 (19:32):
So my guy would be Bijon Robinson. I think that
it's easier to say Jamir Gibbs because he's been part
of a more successful franchise over the past handful of years.
But Bijon Robinson to me is one of those players
where if he's playing with the right quarterback, in the
right system and and has the full gamut of playmakers

(19:57):
around him, he he would he would shine like no other.
I really honestly think he's the most talented running back
in the NFL today. I do. I just think that
we don't talk about him because he's buried in the
NFC South. He's buried on the roster that he shares with,
you know, kind of a laundry list of guys at

(20:22):
the quarterback position. They're trying to get it to go now.
They made an investment last season with a first round
draft pick at quarterback. We'll see if that pans out
for the franchise. But b Jon Robinson to me, for
my money, if he was playing for the likes of
an Andy Reid, if he had some playmakers around him,
he would be the He would be the player that

(20:42):
we're talking about heading into the NFL season that's truly
an X factor, that's truly like a world beat Offensively,
he really reminds me because of his versatility of like
almost like a Oh Carolina Panthers went on to the
San Francisco forty nine ers.

Speaker 3 (21:04):
Christian McCaffrey.

Speaker 1 (21:05):
Thank you McCaffrey. He has some of those traits out
of the backfield as a receiving weapon too, but he
is a stud with the ball in his hands no
matter how you get it to him.

Speaker 5 (21:16):
Yeah, I mean they're both very similar. It's kind of
like six to one half dozen the other. I think
the teams they play for matter, right. Atlanta's got a
quarterback situation right now that we just don't We just
don't know. We think it's going to be to it
might be, could be. Pennix Detroit situation is much more solid,
and their offensive line is much more solid. I think

(21:37):
the numbers are I would say slight edge to Beijon
and the numbers, especially with the receiving numbers, I think
he's a little bit more I don't want to say dangerous.
I think both guys are very dangerous. I think more
utilized in the receiving game. Based on the numbers I'm
looking at, It's got a little bit more receiving yards,
a little bit more yards perception, but Gibbs's score more

(22:00):
touchdowns Gibbs looks to be I don't want to say
as sending as like the best running back in the
NFL in terms of fantasy value, but I've seen a
lot of RB ones for him. I've seen a lot
of RB ones for Bijon two.

Speaker 6 (22:13):
I think it's.

Speaker 5 (22:14):
Interesting, Brian to compare it to the Jonathan Taylor deal,
which was a year less, a little bit less base value,
similar guaranteed money. It is interesting to see the running
back market get set right now. I mean, how often
do you see all three guys get deals in the
same offseason. I mean, these are the top three backs
in the league, right Gibbs, Robinson and Taylor. I how

(22:35):
often you all three guys get deals in the offseason.
That I think is intriguing because it's a market that
we've discussed a lot in terms of losing some value.
But I think Derrick Henry and McCaffrey, as you mentioned like,
I think those guys have kind of injected some life
back into the running back position over the last three
or four years. Saquon Barkley's on that list as well. Obviously,

(22:58):
these are guys that have had major impacts on their team.
So this adage that yeah, running back, you don't really
need one. I don't know if that's as true anymore.
I'm noticing some trends in the NFL where it's just
everything's just changing the way that the defenses are playing.
They're playing more back, there's more cover two, there's more

(23:19):
dang tackling happening, which means there's more you know, guys
coming back from the second and third levels to create
those tackles, which means there's lighter boxes. That's the impact
of the Mahomes situation, you know, his burst and the
Tyreek Hill year that they had in defense's pendulum shifted,
and now it's shifting back where these running backs are
starting to have major impacts on the games. And if

(23:39):
you can run into light boxes, you can have a
ton of success. So I would say Robinson slightly, but
the situation is definitely better in Detroit.

Speaker 3 (23:48):
Yeah, no doubt.

Speaker 4 (23:48):
There's a much better situation for Jamir in Detroit, just
you know, stability with the quarterback position, at least in
the regular season with Jared Goff right, that's world's better
production wise than what Bijon Robinson has had with the
Falcons and projects to be similar this season. As well
with the who's the guy? Is it Pennox Junior? Is
it Tua?

Speaker 1 (24:08):
You know?

Speaker 3 (24:08):
And I don't know that.

Speaker 4 (24:09):
You're setting the world on fire with either guy, but
I think it'll be interesting with both Bijon and Jamiir Gibbs.
Where if you look at Jamir Gibbs, no more David Robinson, right,
he's over there with the Houston Texans now, So Jamiir
is even more of the premier guy. He's got Isaiah
Pacheco as the backup, so it's gonna be a heavy
dose of Jamir Gibbs this season. And Bijon Robinson. He

(24:32):
doesn't have Tyler Algier anymore. Tyler Algira is gone. He's
gonna be one of the twenty seven running backs the
Arizona Cardinals have, right, So Jon Robinson he's gonna have
a lot more of those goal line carries and score
more of those touchdowns that you were talking about, Jared,
I would go with Bijon, And it's not by leaps
and bounds. But if you compare Bijon and Jamiir Gibbs,

(24:52):
Bijeon has everything right. And it's not saying Jamiir doesn't,
but what Bijeon brings to the running back position, and
he's got the best blend you could possibly have of
power and speed, like the power game and the quickness
and Jamiir he's more of the home run guy, more
of the quick guy. I'm not saying he doesn't have power,

(25:14):
he just doesn't have the same power that Bijon Robinson has.

Speaker 3 (25:17):
B Jon Robinson's probably my favorite football.

Speaker 4 (25:19):
Player in the NFL right now. He's dynamic, He's still
absolutely everything. Yeah, I was thinking about this. I would
go probably Bjon Robinson, Jayden Daniels. I love Jayden Daniels
with the Commanders. I think he's in for a monster season.
I think people forgot about him because he got injured
last season, but he was dynamic as a rookie going
to the NFC title game. And defensively, I'm a big

(25:41):
Drwin James guy. Love Derwin James with the Chargers, dynamic safety.
But I'd probably say Bjeon's my favorite player in the NFL.
It's like Rich said, it's just he's kind of wasting
away on an NFC South team that's sub five hundred,
and you know, like he gets props, but not the
same type of props mentioned Christian McCaffrey, Rich, can you

(26:02):
imagine if Bijon was on the Niners in that Kyle
Shanahan offense with talent around him and they're making deep
playoff runs. We'd be celebrating him like crazy, way more
than we already do right now.

Speaker 1 (26:14):
Oh, there's no doubt in my mind. I mean even
if he was on like an offense that just had
a talented quarterback and a subpar offensive line like oh,
he actually just mentioned Derwin James's team, the Chargers. Like,
imagine if Bjon Robinson was working with Harbaugh Andert and

(26:35):
some of what you know they do in their running game,
and also a little bit more profile because you're playing
with a stud at quarterback who the league understands, knows
and respects to be a real commodity at the at
the position, you would feel so differently about Bijon Robinson.

(26:57):
But he's not. I mean, if he was with an
elite play or like a Shanahan like Reid, it would
be unlocked. It would be like you know how in
video games you hit up down, left, right, abab start,
all of a sudden you're in god mode. I feel
like John Robinson if you yeah, I believe that was
contra But the point is, guys, if you if you

(27:19):
give him the the you know, the keys to the kingdom.
I think that he has all of the skills and
capabilities to be one of those players that makes a
major impact, but that's not how the NFL works. He's
still making an impact, but is he making waves? Not really,
because again you're kind of shackled to your situation and

(27:40):
to your roster. And also, let's be honest with each other,
this is a rough game. So all of a sudden,
you rush for or you're responsible for something nearing fifteen
hundred yards this season through your first contract in the NFL,
and you were expected to be a stud and you
are a stud, and the team that you're playing for

(28:00):
wants to build around your capabilities, and you don't want
to test free agency because you're taking a massive risk
by playing out a season without some guarantees awarded to
you for all of the efforts that you put in
so far. I mean, we'll never know what Bjon Robinson
in his prime looks like on a different team unless

(28:22):
he gets traded. You know that he's gonna be with
the Falcons through the majority, if not all of his
prime years in the NFL. Now that can make you sad. Sure,
or the Falcons could get smart, build the right type
of talent around him and truly unlock his capabilities. We'll see.
But I agree with you, Brian. I think he's one

(28:43):
of the most exciting players in the NFL, and I
think that we would be talking a lot more about
him and we'd be a lot more pleasantly surprised by
him if he was playing for a more renowned team
that was in better shape to fully utilize his talents.

Speaker 6 (29:00):
He hasn't missed a game in three years either.

Speaker 1 (29:02):
Wow.

Speaker 5 (29:02):
Yeah, pretty damn impressive for a running back. Seventeen games
three straight years. I mean that, and there's a few
other guys on the list that have done that. Actually,
Gibs miss two games his freshman year, his rookie year,
and he's been seventeen games in back to back years.
It's funny when you look at the top of the
running back charts and it's James Cook and you know

(29:25):
it's it's it's Derrick Henry. I mean, these guys don't
miss games. I think that is the biggest thing about
the running back position that is the most impressive to me, right,
I daring offensive drills, they're getting hammered every single play,

(29:48):
and then you go into you know, the game and
on play action they're getting hammered, you know, on the
play action and they're not even getting the ball, but
they're getting tackled by some three hundred pounds lineman. To
be able to play and be available every game for
your team is an incredible accomplishment in today's NFL. So

(30:09):
absolutely kudos to Bijan. Three years in the league, hasn't
missed a game. That's pretty damn impressive.

Speaker 4 (30:14):
Okay, So I'm gonna say something he might disagree with.
I thought the most interesting deal of the whole week,
and we had a lot of contract extensions, we mentioned
all the running back extensions and all that, I thought
it was the Washington Commanders giving a one year deal
to Stefan Diggs. So Stefan Diggs, he comes over from

(30:34):
the Patriots, he gets a one year, twelve million dollar
contract with the Commanders, Like, why would I say that's
the most interesting because of who they didn't sign, which
would be Brandon ayyuk Or. I guess they'd probably have
to trade for the guy. He's still technically with the
forty nine ers, but the Brandon Ayyuk saga continues because
the wide receiver is doing everything he can to LeVar

(30:58):
ball this thing. Right, he's trying to speaking into existence
that he's going to be a member of the Washington Commanders.
The problem with that was he was doing way too
much speaking and making all of these videos, YouTube, ig,
you name it, and he was just acting crazy this offseason.
I think it cost him a chance to land with
the Washington Commanders, the team he had his eye on.

(31:20):
He was a college teammate with Jaden Daniels at Arizona State,
so it seemed to make a lot of sense. But
if you missed some of the Iyuk greatest hits tour
this offseason, we've got some for you over here. Now
this is the first I love this first uh, this
first cut from Brandon Ayuk.

Speaker 3 (31:37):
Let's start it off with a bang right here.

Speaker 1 (31:39):
You thought I was done.

Speaker 4 (31:40):
Right, We're coming back with a vengeance over this to
me if you kind of like maybe got a little
creative and did like a kind of like a rap intro,
maybe like DMX style. I love DMX the late great
right there, let's do a little mash up with AYUK
and DMX.

Speaker 3 (31:55):
See what we get here.

Speaker 1 (31:56):
Shan No, gang, you thought I was done well, right.

Speaker 3 (32:02):
I think we got something right there.

Speaker 1 (32:03):
I think that.

Speaker 4 (32:04):
So he started off like that, and then we get
we start calling. We're calling everybody out here. First off,
John Lynch GM of the Niners. Here's what you had
to say about.

Speaker 1 (32:13):
Him, Big old white boy, right.

Speaker 3 (32:15):
Big old white boy is John Lynch?

Speaker 1 (32:17):
A right?

Speaker 4 (32:17):
Let's call out Kyle Shanahan and the Niners head coach.
Let's do that while we're at it.

Speaker 7 (32:21):
Because the head coach got a temperament of a toddler
and was speaking out the side of his mouth to me.

Speaker 1 (32:27):
But you feel me, don't respec me. I'm gonna get
on brouh.

Speaker 4 (32:31):
Okay, So we got Kyle Shannon. It's like to kill
Bill List. We're just checking him off one by what.
Let's call out the Niners while we're at it.

Speaker 3 (32:37):
Shall we let's do this.

Speaker 1 (32:39):
The story is I don't put them and I never will.

Speaker 4 (32:42):
All right, we're not haughing with those ends anymore. Right,
it's over. No more Niners. Wow, at least that's what
he says. Now he's trying to get to the commanders.
How about we call out Jaden Daniels. It's like, wait,
what the quarterback that he hopes to join, he's calling
him out. Yeah, he's calling out Jaden Daniels. Here's a
part of that, the first of a couple of calling

(33:04):
out sessions.

Speaker 3 (33:05):
If you will, fine, don't take me talking about some
you on my team.

Speaker 1 (33:09):
Now you follow my rules. Boy, I'm a grown ass man.

Speaker 7 (33:14):
Boy, you're gonna have to stop running behind your mama
and I might believe what you're talking about.

Speaker 1 (33:18):
Let it until then.

Speaker 3 (33:20):
Mm hmm.

Speaker 1 (33:21):
That's not it.

Speaker 3 (33:22):
He's not done there.

Speaker 4 (33:23):
No one got in his ear, like, hey, hey, Brandon,
maybe not call out the quarterback you hope to link
up with over it. Maybe don't know he does it more.
There's more for my yuke calling out Jayden Daniels.

Speaker 2 (33:34):
He said, I don't do that, Internet bro, hit my
phone if you got to talk to me, Mary.

Speaker 1 (33:39):
He got my number and I called it.

Speaker 3 (33:41):
He don't answer, what are we doing right now?

Speaker 4 (33:44):
And he made Stefane Diggs look like a stable option
right Like that's what happened with.

Speaker 3 (33:50):
The Brandon I huk.

Speaker 4 (33:52):
It's like, here's the thing man to take away for
any player in the NFL if you're putting videos out there,
especially in a situation that a Yuk finds himself in, right, Like,
it's not just for your friends and your fans.

Speaker 1 (34:07):
It's for the world.

Speaker 4 (34:09):
And you can't tell me that the commanders and some
other NFL teams didn't hear about these videos, watch these
videos and say this guy seems like a gigantic headache
right now, No, thank you. It's like you wouldn't go
into a job interview with no shoes, no shirt on
and say I'm gonna hit the beach after this thing.

Speaker 3 (34:29):
So I'm just kind of you know, two birds, one stone.

Speaker 4 (34:32):
It's a bad impression, right, This was an off season
of bad impressions for Brandon Brandon Nayyuk trying to get
out of San Francisco and get to the Washington Commanders.
He could not have played it worse and that's why
he's in the situation he's in.

Speaker 1 (34:47):
Yeah, don't burn bridges on your way out of a
city because you don't need you don't know if you're
gonna need to retrace your steps. And also remember whatever
you did on your way out of a city, the
next city's watching. You know, it's you can't do this.
You can't do this as a professional. When that's the
part of this story that I think certain guys lose

(35:11):
the script on. You are an athlete, but you're a
professional athlete. A professional doesn't act that way in any capacity.
If you want to keep your job, you've got to
be productive.

Speaker 8 (35:23):
Shore.

Speaker 1 (35:24):
You got to be talented, sure, that helps. You got
to have high effort. Absolutely, you got to work well
with your teammates. Absolutely, there's got to be a million
and one checked boxes that you know, push you over
in the direction of a worthy candidate for a job
or a talented team member. When you're a part of
a franchise or an organization, whether you're playing football as

(35:47):
a professional or you're an accountant and you're working on
a team with a team of other accountants, it doesn't
really matter. But if you're a professional, what you do
to your last employer, your next employer watching. So if
I'm a head coach with the Commanders and I'm seeing
what he's doing on social media to the last group
he worked with, I'm going, yeah, no thanks, no thanks.

(36:09):
And by the way, the deal they just done with
Stefan Diggs. We saw this before and it was a
successful contract with the Houston Texans where they just incentivized
him heavily on a one year deal and said, hey,
produce for us. We'll dangle the carrot. Maybe there's a
big old contract extension before you at the end of
the season because you were such a headache in Buffalo.

(36:31):
We'll see how it goes. And guess what he produced.
And then Houston went, thanks bye, and he went up
to New England and now it's happening all over again.
So good on the Washington Commanders sidestepping the yuk fiasco
and going for Stefan Diggs instead.

Speaker 5 (36:49):
Yeah, I don't need to add much. You guys crushed it.
I mean the maturity level is clearly needs work. And
with Diggs now in Washington, I mean, I'll be honest,
the roster on offense looks pretty, looks.

Speaker 6 (37:01):
Pretty dark good.

Speaker 5 (37:02):
Yeah, you know, he's basically wide receiver too, maybe even
two and a half. I really like Antonio Williams and
obviously Scary Terry is fantastic. I like Burkes, I like
Donny Brown, I like the McCaffrey kid, and we love
the running back situation. We love Daniels. I mean it
kind of feels like with the new OC in place.
To be fair, it might take a transition there, but
it kind of feels like Brian if they can get

(37:24):
all these pieces to congeal in camp, I mean this
is this has the makings of an offense that can move.

Speaker 3 (37:29):
Yeah, yeah, you got Bill you know, run the rock
over there and Chicka kon Quo. I think that's a
big pickup for them.

Speaker 4 (37:35):
I think you could do some games in the passing game,
athletic tight end. So excited to see Jaden Daniels back there,
and he won't be linking up with Brandon Ayuk.

Speaker 3 (37:43):
It looks like that right now.

Speaker 4 (37:44):
But in any event, we've got rich oorn Berger, Penn
State All American, Jared Smith FSR, betting analyst. I'm probably
you know all right, coming up next to parlay platter,
which have one selection for you. We pull it together
for a greater payout. We'll compare notes next, get you
some picks. It is Fox Sports Radios Countdown presented by
bet MGM.

Speaker 2 (38:06):
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio.

Speaker 4 (38:11):
It is Fox Sports Radios Countdown presented by bet MGM.
Be sure to check out the new looking features in
the BETMGM app it's fast and easy access to the
sports you love. It's the fastest BETMGM app Ever, it's
a more personalized experience with popular picks tailored to you
and a new rewards hub with all of your personalized
rewards and new players can receive up to fifteen hundred

(38:31):
dollars back in bonus bets with bonus code countdown if
they don't win their first bet. That's code countdown in
the bet MGM app. All right, let's do this.

Speaker 2 (38:41):
Check this out far late letter.

Speaker 4 (38:44):
Okay, the platter which have one selection for you, we'd
pull it together for a greater payout.

Speaker 5 (38:50):
Jared, we start with you, what do you like? Well,
I'm gonna do something that I haven't done in a while.
We'll just give you an outs prop over. I've been
obsessed with outs Under for the last couple months. I
see the tie turning a little bit in that market.
I think the odds have cut up, and I just
think in general, it's more a pick your spot situation.

(39:11):
So let's pick our spot today with Brandon Fott, who
has been unbelievable over his last three starts. Coming off
a really good outing against the Padres, pitch into the seventh.
He went seven against the Pirates, he went six against
the Cardinals. Those are all really good lineups, especially San
Diego and Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh's lineup has been unbelievable this year.
Has not given up an earned run in his last
two stars. So he's been very efficient, good with the

(39:33):
pitch count, and he's facing a Dodgers lineup tonight, guys,
that is I don't know what's going on with the
Dodgers lately, but they are in the cellar and they've
been losing a bunch of games and they haven't been
as productive.

Speaker 1 (39:45):
So we're gonna go.

Speaker 5 (39:46):
Brandon fought over sixteen and a half outs minus a
dollar fifteen at bet MGM first leg of the platter.
I think Fought goes at least with the six innings
against the Dodgers lineup that has been slumping of legos.

Speaker 1 (39:59):
Uh give me the the Yankees, who are dogs on
the money line today at home, they got coal on
the mound. This is a sixty four and fifty one
baseball club. You know you're not taking a long shot
moneyline bed on some dog against you know, a conqueror.
This is a team with a legit shot playing at home.

(40:19):
So I like the number. I think it's hovering around
plus one eighteen right now, bet at gym, So yeah,
add that to the platter.

Speaker 6 (40:27):
I like it all right.

Speaker 4 (40:28):
I'm taking along the same lines here and Jared, I'm
not sure we can even parlay these things. So we'll
find out, right, Jorge order be a little bit daring.
Garrett Cole on the mound for the Yankees, who's pitched
well this season, especially as of late, but a lot
of lefty bats in that Braves lineup. I think it's
gonna be really tough for the Yankees, especially in the
first five innings. I'm actually looking at the Braves minus

(40:52):
a half run, meaning they would have to have the
lead when the first five innings are complete. You've got
you got coal on the mound, all right, you got
your ace going here for the Bravos and as Sales
going so I think Sale has his way. I think
the Braves have the lead after the first five innings.

Speaker 3 (41:12):
I don't know if we can parlay those things. Can
we can it be?

Speaker 5 (41:14):
No, not only can we parlay it. Okay, this is
one of those reverse correlated plays. Braves first five run line,
Yankees money line.

Speaker 6 (41:25):
Fought over outs.

Speaker 5 (41:26):
It's eighteen to one, man, let's go Obviously it's the
reverse correlation that's getting them odds up so high.

Speaker 6 (41:37):
I mean, listen, guys, I.

Speaker 4 (41:38):
Why not it happened last night the Yankees rallied, they
were down to nothing. There's a miracle wins for them.
So we'll see if that happens here today as well.
Fingers crossed, what it's going on? Happy Saturday to you.
Hope all is well? Man, We're gonna get to another
shady deal, at least reportedly in just a minute here.
But I can't get over our uncorrelated parlay here.

Speaker 3 (42:02):
Huh what was it again?

Speaker 1 (42:03):
Jared?

Speaker 3 (42:03):
Plus it was over.

Speaker 5 (42:04):
Eighteen to seventeen sixty nine, seventeen almost eight, and we've
got a twenty five percent odds boost to bet MGM
today got that sucker to twenty two to one. I'm
gonna put a small peanut on twenty two to one.
I mean, listen, the odds are telling you it's probably
not going to hit, but might as well throw a
throw a dart here on a Saturday.

Speaker 3 (42:27):
You know, I think the odds are telling us this
is the ultimate walk off moment.

Speaker 1 (42:31):
Yeah, yeah, really does.

Speaker 4 (42:34):
Rich what's the last time we had a twenty two
to one parlay platter here on this show?

Speaker 5 (42:38):
We all underdogs. The first year we did the show,
it was it was the cherry platter.

Speaker 3 (42:45):
Was you were crazy?

Speaker 5 (42:46):
Very I was not very democratic with it. No, but
we used to give out the the culturable underdogs. We
had a few fifty sixty to one. They never hit.
We've hit a few. Listen, we've hit a few of
these over the last couple of year. Oh yeah, we
hit one a few weeks ago that was like nine
to one.

Speaker 6 (43:03):
I think.

Speaker 5 (43:03):
So we've had some moments. This would be a moment.
This would be a moment.

Speaker 4 (43:08):
First year, Jared was like, I'm gonna take Akron against
Georgia outright, and it's like, buddy, the party pay right there. Yeah, yeah,
I do think it's thinks though, do you not In
this Yankees Braves game, where think of the first five
innings minus a half run for the Braves, it's minus

(43:31):
one fifteen. Yankees plus a half run is also minus
one fifteen. Like, when you're it's pretty much even on
either side, you would think, oh, give me the plus.
You know, it could just be tied and we're good.
The Braves have to have the lead in the first
five innings. That's what the line is basically telling you,
like tapping you on the shoulder, like the Braves are

(43:53):
probably gonna have the lead in.

Speaker 3 (43:54):
The first five innings. At least, that's what it says
to me. It stinks to me.

Speaker 4 (43:58):
So that's why I've got the Braves in the first
five behind Chris Saale. But Rich, you might be right
here with the Yankees winning this thing. That was a
huge win for them yesterday. To just stay a half
game ahead of the Red Sox. The Red Sox are
on fun unbelievable right now.

Speaker 6 (44:15):
Yeah, it's it's unbelievable.

Speaker 5 (44:17):
I don't know if it can. I don't know if
it has staying power. That's the thing. I feel like
they're peaking in August, and that's not where you want
to be peeking, whereas the Dodgers are the opposite the dot.
I actually, if you're a Dodgers fan right now, and
I don't know, I've a lot of people in La listening,
I think it's a good thing that you're going through
this swamp. Now, go through it now, don't go through
it in October.

Speaker 1 (44:36):
Yeah, I completely agree. With you, and realistically, when we're
talking about the parlay platter, it's fun to win parlays,
it's more fun to build parlays, you know what I mean?
Like and yeah, you could go really off the wall
and put some long odds out there, smash them together.
And you know, everybody loves the stories of the five

(44:57):
dollars bet making hundreds of thousands of But I really
honestly think, are you know two uh pick leg of
this reverse correlated on the Yankees trailing early but coming
back and winning makes sense if A you believe in
the starter of the opponent better you know, sale obviously

(45:19):
has been good. And then b you think about the bullpins.
You know what's gonna happen when you get through the
starter and you get to the pen. So if you
have less belief in the middle relievers, and you also
believe that the Yankees have the bats to come back,
that this is a this is a fun little bet
for you and and you get some nice long hots.

(45:40):
So I I when when you at first said I'm
not even sure we're gonna be able to bundle this,
I'm like, oh, man, Like that means Brian does not
like my bet. But you're you're you're making it makes sense.
So I'm excited to see the outcome of that game,
but the outcome of the parlay overall, I would.

Speaker 5 (45:57):
This is a very popular strategy really quick, Brian, Yeah,
more so in the totals area. I see a lot
of really sharp betters. Reverse correlation is a way to
extract value from the sportsbook if you have an angle.
The way I see it done at the pro level,
like professional gamblers who are partaking in these sometimes is
they will go over or under in a half and

(46:20):
then the full game the opposite like I saw. I
see this in the preseason a lot too, like first
half under, second half over or verse time. Excuse me,
first half under, full game over, like we think it's
gonna start slow, and then the defenses down the stretch.
The third stringers four stringers stink and I actually really
like this third string quarterback. So I think there's value

(46:42):
on the full game, maybe to sneak over, but the
first half I don't really think there's much value. So
we see this a lot in the totals area, not
as much in the sides because you really do have
to thread the needle. But that reverse correlation. It's like
you're going through one of those boosters on Mario Kart, right.
It's just accelerates the odds so much that it is

(47:02):
attractive to some people when you are able to thread
that needle.

Speaker 4 (47:06):
I would love for us to thread the collective needle
to be tremendous. All right, let's pivot over here to
Kawhi Leonard because we got another report over here. Pablo Torre,
the Pablo Tory finds Out podcast the Thursday edition. He
dropped a bombshell here that apparently Kawhi Leonard had another
undisclosed sponsorship deal, this one with Daktronics. So of course

(47:31):
it begs for the DJ Khalid drop right here another one. Yes,
we might have another undisclosed sponsorship deal where Kawhi Leonard
is getting paid under the table.

Speaker 3 (47:41):
By the Clippers.

Speaker 4 (47:42):
The second one with Daktronics is allegedly worth millions of dollars.
So Torre interviewed someone identified as an anonymous high level
source under contract with Intuit Dome, and this person alleges
that the sponsorship deal was one thousand percent away to
circumvent the salary cap end quote. It was funneling money

(48:03):
from the Clippers through Daktronics back to Kawhi. That's what
this anonymous source says. Now, there is another anonymous former
Clippers official who said they knew that Kawhi had a
sponsorship deal with Daktronics, So we might have another situation
here where he's getting paid twice under the table. I

(48:24):
say this to you guys and everybody listening. If this
is true, the Clippers and Kawhi Leonard should be punished severely.
I look at Kawhi, he should be suspended the entire season.
He shouldn't play the season at all. Because it goes
back to Goodfellas. I know you guys loved the movie Goodfellas, right,
it's a top five mine as well, definitely top five

(48:45):
in my personal you know movie rollodeckx here. I love
this line from Goodfellas.

Speaker 6 (48:49):
Come on, you don't know if you don't give me
a babe in a Woods routine.

Speaker 3 (48:52):
That applies to Kawhi Leonard.

Speaker 8 (48:53):
Right.

Speaker 4 (48:53):
They're gonna be like, oh, well, we didn't, we didn't know,
and we we didn't you know, we didn't.

Speaker 3 (48:57):
We weren't pushing.

Speaker 4 (48:58):
First off, it was widely known that Kawhi Leonard and
his uncle Dennis were pushing for extra perks, pushing for extra.

Speaker 3 (49:07):
Hey, what can we get? Can we get a little
bit more?

Speaker 4 (49:10):
Even if they weren't doing that, let's live in a
world where they weren't doing any of that, and the
Clippers just said, hey, you look in the mailbox. There
might be a couple extra million, maybe thirty million in
there plus, and right, they didn't push for that. Kawhi
Leonard knows he can't do that. You can't take money
under the table. He knows he's breaking NBA rules. So

(49:32):
even if let's live in a world where he's not
pushing or angling for these extra payments, he still did
something completely wrong and should be hammered for it. And
then we get to Steve Balmer here. Steve Balmer should
be crushed for this thing because if true, according to
populatory and all of these things, there's more enough reason
to believe this is true. Steve Balmer shouldn't get punished

(49:54):
just for blatantly lying, not just for blatantly lying through
his teeth about cheating. Right, he's cheating. He's lying about
the cheating. It's most importantly because of the precedent, Right,
you can't allow a team an owner a player to
all conspire together where the player gets paid under the table.

(50:15):
We live in the second apron now, right, and I
won't bore you with all that stuff. But if you're
well into the luxury tax and you get to the
second apron, all of a sudden, your team gets hammered.
There are a lot of restrictions. There are a lot
of penalties. When you're that deep into the luxury tax.
You basically can't be the Dodgers.

Speaker 3 (50:33):
In the NBA. If you are, you get hammered for it.

Speaker 4 (50:37):
All these teams would love to pay star players under
the table. Stay under the second apron. All is kosher,
and we're challenging for championships.

Speaker 3 (50:47):
You can't allow that to happen.

Speaker 4 (50:48):
It completely defeats the purpose of what the NBA structure
is now. So if this is true, Kawhi, Steve Balmer,
the Clippers, they should all get hammered for this. And
I'm very interested to see where this plays out or
how this plays out. Hopefully we'll get answers before twenty
twenty nine. Who are going on almost a year now
that the NBA is investigating this thing. It's unbelievable how

(51:10):
long it's taken. But when they find out what Pablo
Torre is eventual as reportedly found out, there are a
lot of parties that should get hammered for this.

Speaker 1 (51:21):
Yeah, the fact that Pablo Tory is quicker to the information.
Then the NBA goes to show you how badly the
NBA just wants this to go away. They want everybody
to look away. They want everybody to move on and
talk about Lebron with the Sixers and talk about the

(51:41):
upcoming NFL season, so they can hide in the dark
for a little while until everybody starts paying attention to
them during Christmas time again, like please, please don't look
over here. We're just trying to make this go away. Meanwhile,
Pablo Tory comes out with another banger and look, one
unusual spot answorship can be maybe explained away, maybe, like

(52:05):
you know, I could see a world where the NBA goes, hey, Aspiration,
nothing to see here, marketing deal gone wrong, Okay, bad
business practices by Aspiration, dust their hands off and move along.
But a second and two separate sponsorships involving companies financially

(52:26):
connected to the Clippers. That's not only shady, but where
there's this much smoke, there's often fire. Here's the problem.
Daktronics is arguably more problematic than Aspiration because it was
a Clippers vendor. So there is specific CBA language that

(52:48):
avoids these things from happening, and it's happened. So if
this has proven to be true, again, we're in the
world of allegations for now, so allegedly there's in some
mouthfeasons here, but if this is true, you could have
real repercussions for the Clippers and potentially for Kawhi. There
is language that forbids this sort of transaction from taking place,

(53:13):
because it's fairness in sports. It's partially the same reason
why you're not allowed to bet on your sport if
you play it, because they don't want all of a
sudden having these weird oddities where a player just takes
himself out in the fourth quarter, because there's rules that,
even though this all happens outside of the field of

(53:35):
play or the court that you perform your sport on,
you need to follow and this falls right in line
with those. It's important for the fairness of the game.
And if you don't have fairness of the game, what
do you have? You have professional wrestling? Yeah, you know
what I mean, And there's no there there's a much
less interesting product than you would have if you had

(53:57):
competitive fairness.

Speaker 6 (53:59):
Yeah, this is this is a bad look.

Speaker 5 (54:02):
So I think I owe the NBA and that I'm
silver an apology. I think I don't know. I think
the reason that the investigation has been delayed so much
is because they keep finding new things and they have
to investigate more. Like we thought it was just aspiration,
but apparently it's not. And if Pablo Torre is finding
this out pun intended, then there's obviously a lot of

(54:24):
other documentation out there that I'm sure other legal people
are looking into. And I'm assuming why this is the
reason that the NBA has not announced the findings of
their investigation just yet, because it is still an ongoing investigation.
Shot it is surprising that it's taking this long to
find out this stuff, but I guess they keep peeling

(54:47):
back layers of the onion, and right when they think
they get to the center of the Tutsi, pop there's
another lick. So I I'm assuming that this is the
reason why. Now the better question, or I guess the
more intriguing question that I have. This can't be the
only person and organization that's doing this right, If the
Clippers figured it out, I'm sure there's other teams that

(55:11):
are trying or have tried to do something like this
in the past. I would be surprised if this was
Kawhi was the only person and the Clippers were the
only organization that we're trying to cut corners and get
an edge with the salary cap, considering how difficult it
is to manage the second apron in today's NBA. Again,
that is just the way my brain works. I typically

(55:35):
think that things can be a little bit worse, they
always can be better, and they always can be worse
than they appear. And it does feel like it's getting
worse for Kawhi. I I kind of agree with you, Brian.
I think at this point, how far this has gone
and how deep this rabbit hole goes. I think you
have to sideline Kawhi for the year and figure out

(55:55):
what the heck really went on here, because you can't
you can't have them play with this hanging over head,
and you can't let that trade go through because there's
obviously contract stipulations and transitions happening with the trade itself.
So it's a week. This is a weird one. I
feel like it's an unprecedented situation for the league, because

(56:15):
we have so much information about different scandals. Like it's
one thing for this to happen in an isolated, one
time thing, but now that there are multiple avenues for
this revenue to be funneled, it's clear that there's a
pattern here.

Speaker 6 (56:30):
And I wouldn't be shocked if there are other teams
trying to do this.

Speaker 4 (56:32):
Well yeah, but that's where my mind would go. There
there are other variations of this happening, or similarities of
this happening. And it's like if you're the cop and
all of a sudden, everybody on the highway is going
one hundred and a seventy mile per hour zone.

Speaker 3 (56:50):
You don't just say, well, everybody's speeding, so.

Speaker 1 (56:52):
Who am I?

Speaker 4 (56:52):
You start pulling guys over, like you start giving tickets.
You can't punish everybody, but you start hammering the wrongdoers,
and that's the way to slow down the wrongdoing.

Speaker 1 (57:02):
Right.

Speaker 4 (57:03):
So that's where I'm at with this Kawhi thing. I'm
not living in a world where I think this is
the only isolated incident. I think there are more similarities
to this Gary Trent junior with the Bucks comes to mind,
like the NBA is looking into him. So if you
missed the Gary Trent junior, he signed two very modest
deals with the Bucks. He's been there for two years,

(57:23):
and all of a sudden, off a terrible shooting season,
he cashed in. He cashed it inside a big deal
in this offseason. So it's like, how did that? So
it seems like he was promised a contract down the
road if he signed these very modest deals initially.

Speaker 3 (57:38):
So they're shady things that happen all.

Speaker 4 (57:40):
The time, but this, this Kawhi thing goes well beyond
some of the other shady things that have happened. And
that's why you gotta. You gotta hammer Kawhi and Steve Balmer,
the Clippers organization.

Speaker 3 (57:53):
All as a whole.

Speaker 4 (57:53):
You've got more than enough to hammer them right now.
And to Rich's point, it's like the NBA is just like, oh,
but we don't wanna, we don't.

Speaker 3 (58:02):
It's like you should be racing to do this.

Speaker 4 (58:05):
This is what you need to do to protect your
CBA and to have a The defact the second apron
acts as a de facto hard salary cap, right yeah.
And if you're paying players under the table, all of
a sudden that's gone. There's no de facto salary cap.
There's no you know, real salary, there's no second ape,

(58:27):
none of it exists. None of it exists at all.
If you're paying players under the table, you can't have that.
Last thing I'll say is this. I hear this all
the time. This is Steve Balmer's defense. He invested sixty
million dollars into Aspiration, and he's like, I was flagrantly defrauded. Okay,
the company, the co founder, Joseph Sandberg, he was defrauding

(58:50):
investors in lenders out of two hundred and forty eight
million dollars. He's like, I was a victim over here?
Can it both be true? Where Balmer got screw out
of his money and Kawhi also got paid under the table, Like,
how is it that just Steve Balmer?

Speaker 3 (59:07):
I didn't know they've stole my money? How am I
gonna pay?

Speaker 4 (59:10):
Couldn't both things be true right here? So I think
the Clippers are guilty of sin. I think Kawhi Leonard
is guilty of sin. And I think they all deserve
to be hammered for this and I don't know why
the NBA is waiting so long to do so.

Speaker 1 (59:23):
I think it's I think it's murky. I think it's murky.
I also think that Look, I believe in, you know,
due process. I believe in everyone has their day in court,
and I believe that the court of public opinion is
oftentimes wrong. And I've seen it with friends. I've had
guys accused of horrible things and later exonerated, and guess what,

(59:49):
just accusation alone ruined their life for a time or
changed the course of their life altogether, just based on accusations.
And so it's a real thing. It's a real thing, folks.
When people start lobbing things out there and making bold
accusations and alleging things that aren't true but look fishy

(01:00:11):
or sound true but are one hundred percent false, all
of a sudden, things change. The temperature changes. So I
do want to see the evidence. I want to see
the evidence. I want to know that Kawhi Leonard didn't
deliver on promisesm before I adjudicate against Kawhi Leonard or
the Clippers. For that reason, you know, it seems like

(01:00:33):
this aspiration thing. There were autographed signings that were supposed
to be merited and reviewed, and there's you know, all
sorts of things that may or may not have occurred
in Kawi's defense, and he has all the right in
the world to defend himself in this situation, whether he
wants to do that privately between he and the league

(01:00:54):
and this investigation, or he wants to publicly state it.
Here's some key imps. Horton's timing is everything. So Daktronics
publicly announced an enormous into a dome contract and project
in twenty two. Leonard's Aspiration contract was also signed in
April of twenty two. But here you go. ESPN reports

(01:01:15):
that it remains unclear when the alleged Dactronic sponsorship began,
so if it was negotiated alongside the arena contract or
Leonard's clippers agreements, all of a sudden, this story gets
a lot fishier. But again, just because things are correlated
does improve causation. Just because something looks fishy doesn't mean

(01:01:37):
it is. It's going to be a little bit longer
for them to sort all these details out. But like
I said before, when there's this much smoke, oftentimes there's fire. However,
I'm going to remain as neutral as I possibly can
until we have further information or a smoking gun, because,

(01:01:57):
like I said, there have been times where guys I
know have been who've looked so guilty, who even I
had a hard time believing the defendant so to speak,
in the court of public opinion where it came out
and they were completely one hundred percent guilt free. And
that's that's a scary world to live in when you're

(01:02:20):
the accused. So I'm very curious to see what happens here.
I'm very very curious to see how Kawhi speaks on
it when the NBA season arrives, which is arriving soon.

Speaker 5 (01:02:30):
Yeah, that I agree, and evidence matters it does we
do now? I do think Pablo is presenting some of
that evidence, which is helping. But I definitely think we
need to hear official word from the NBA before we
cast full judgment on this. I think Rich is very
keen in not doing that, because I think we we're

(01:02:51):
very quick to jump to conclusions in today's society. We
live in this like you know, modern day Roman Empire,
where we just want, you know, the thumb down on
the emperor on every everything. Let's let it play out,
but it is taking a long freaking time to play out.
Our pages is running thin.

Speaker 4 (01:03:07):
I'll be honest, I'll be quick. You guys sound like
mini Adam Silver's right now. You know where that's my
big beef with him. Like, let's think, let's not act,
Let's think. Let's measure, like, what is it measured twice?
Cut once? Adam Silver's motto is measure eighty five times
and think about cutting once.

Speaker 3 (01:03:25):
Like, these guys are guilty as sin, and I totally
understand what you're saying, Rich and what you're saying.

Speaker 4 (01:03:32):
Jared, guilty as sin. They should be hammered for this.
I could not be more certain of this being the case.
See what the NBA finally gets it done over here,
if they do at all, We've got Rich ron Berger,
Penn State All American, Jared Smith FSR betting analyst.

Speaker 3 (01:03:50):
I'm Brian No.

Speaker 4 (01:03:51):
Be sure to subscribe to the Fox Sports Radio YouTube channel.
Just search Fox Sports Radio on YouTube and you'll see
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takes you don't like. Just search Fox Sports Radio on
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Seamus McGee from BETMGM gets you all set for a

(01:04:11):
big weekend of betting and beyond it'll have a shame
of special as well. It is Fox Sports Radios Countdown
presented by BETMGM. It is Fox Sports Radios Countdown presented
by bet MGM. Every time and make a wager at BETMGM,

(01:04:32):
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Speaker 3 (01:04:48):
Alright, let's do.

Speaker 1 (01:04:49):
This, follow the money real, good one.

Speaker 3 (01:04:52):
Please welcome in our Maine man, Seamus McGee, team lead
of Sports.

Speaker 4 (01:04:55):
Trading at BETMGM. Good morning to you, Seamus. Okay, these
right socks are playing out of their minds right now.

Speaker 3 (01:05:02):
Listen to this. These numbers right here.

Speaker 4 (01:05:04):
The Red Sox were thirty two and forty six in
late June. Since then they've gone thirty two and five.
They've got thirty two and five over the last thirty seven.
So the question is, how do you play this? Are
you looking to back the Red Sox today? The money
lines minus two seventy five? Do you look run line?

(01:05:25):
Do you look team totals? Do you look for them
to win the Al East?

Speaker 1 (01:05:29):
Like?

Speaker 3 (01:05:30):
How are you playing the Red Sox right now? If
at all?

Speaker 8 (01:05:34):
Man, you guys sure know how to make a Yankee
fan feel welcome on the air. These Red Sox. Huh,
it's crazy. This is one of the craziest runs I
think I've ever seen my own life. Was like thirty
four and three the last thirty seven. It's it's ridiculous.
I think I saw their batting average on balls and

(01:05:54):
play during this streak. It's like five to forty six.
That is outraged, other worldly. So I they come back
down to Earth, I think. But it's yeah, a hard
time saying that this team can't win the American League
like it's they've been back to in baseball the past
two months. So I definitely think there's a root for

(01:06:17):
them to get to the World Series. I don't think
they're better than the Dodgers. I still am not even
sure if they're better than the Razor. The Yankees. Well,
the Yankees depends on whether Judge and Bellinger come back.
But I think right now, I think you're looking at
stuff like the American League. I think you can still
get a pretty good plice on the American League East,
if I'm being honest. So there's a bunch of as

(01:06:37):
you play it. I think I'd hold off on just
like betting the Red Sox every day, because I think
that at some point regression is going to you know,
hit for this team. So I'd be looking at futures.

Speaker 5 (01:06:48):
Yeah, I'll be honest. And we just discussed this briefly, shamous.
There's something to be said about peaking too soon, and
it's kind of the opposite of what the Dodgers are
doing right now, where they're slumping at the right time.
And so baseball such a long season. We're such prisoners
of the moment. Like right now, Boston's the hottest team
in baseball and everyone thinks they're the best thing since
sliced bread. Well, let's wait a month and see what

(01:07:10):
happens in September. And oh, by the way, that's still
a month away from the playoffs. So is there something
to be said about maybe the opposite effect for La
where we have an opportunity now I think they've lost
seven in a row to buy low on the Dodgers.
Or is that number just there's so much exposure and
there's so much liability that number is not going to
move down enough for us to maybe get a good opportunity.

Speaker 8 (01:07:31):
I don't know when you're ever going to see this
Dodgers number move the other way. Just the narrative around there,
the way books, no teams, people are going to be
betting the Dodgers. The liability is mainly the liability on
Dodger stuff is coming from you know, parlays on future
that we have for the Dodgers. Really because the number
is just so short that the liability isn't really that

(01:07:52):
big if it's looking at just single be's. But this
team still gets snell back at some point this season.
I mean, they're gonna have glass no they have glass
no backs. If they need to trade for Boobitch at
the deadline, he's a pretty reliable starting He's gonna come
out of a bullpen for this team. So, I mean
the pitching is just really really good. I don't think

(01:08:14):
you'll see this number really move backwards if I'm being
honest unless people get hurt.

Speaker 1 (01:08:21):
Hey, Jamis, I want to switch gears to preseason in
the NFL or even early season in college football. As
many betters are starting to do their homework, the market
pricing has enormous uncertainty this time of year. QB rotations,
transfer portal, snap counts, coaching intent. What's one piece of

(01:08:44):
information your trading team reacts to the fastest and you
know what? Actually, conversely, what information would you say betters
consistently overweight?

Speaker 8 (01:08:58):
I'd say for our team looking the most at who's
going to be behind center for you know x amount
of snaps? I think that's the thing you'll see move
the price most and just you know straight up what
starters or in what starters are out. It's all about
who gets to the number first, the trading team or
the betters. As far as what you know, the public

(01:09:21):
overweights too much going into preseason betting. It's a tricky
one because I I a lot of it just comes
down to you know who, you know, who's playing who's not.
I'd say, just like your idea of a team like, oh,
you know, the Bills have a really high win total,
So I'm just gonna bet them. I think that's a
silly way to bet preseason. I think a lot of

(01:09:41):
people don't bet that way. But I think that's just
an example.

Speaker 4 (01:09:45):
You know, Seamus, I want to crawl into your betting
mind over here. I love talking philosophy. Uh we'll start
with the Red Sox and broaden it, okay, because I'll
hear this from time to time where you mentioned them
to win the al right, they're basically a little less
than five to one, and you'll hear pro sometimes saying well,
I mean it's too short now, you could have got

(01:10:06):
them at.

Speaker 3 (01:10:07):
Twenty five to one.

Speaker 4 (01:10:08):
I'm just curious what your philosophy is on that, where
if you love it five to one, don't you just
fire away instead of thinking, well I could have had
it at twenty five to one, Like, for instance, if
you gave me a five to one pick today that hit,
I wouldn't come back to you and be like, thanks, Seamus,
but can you make it twenty five to one next time?

Speaker 3 (01:10:28):
You know what I mean?

Speaker 4 (01:10:29):
If you think it's still a good line and it's
still a good price and has a great chance to win,
don't you fire away?

Speaker 3 (01:10:35):
How do you approach that whole thing to answer the question.

Speaker 8 (01:10:38):
For me, it's exactly that if you think the number
is not what it should be, then it's a good
vet and there's plenty ways to do it now. I
do like bread Sox is a bag sail because I
do think if you're looking at bread socks or you've
missed the boat, I mean, the value is pretty much
gone torpedo, because right now I think they should probably
be arguably a little longer what they are right now.

(01:11:00):
But yeah, it just goes down to your risk appetite
and your projections. You know, what you think the odds
should be. If the red Socks is hitting five to
one and you think that's crap, they should be three
to one, that's a bet and there's nothing wrong with that.
I mean, yeah, no one. I haven't been in this
business long enough to you know, sumb my nose up

(01:11:20):
at five to one. Ops, you know what I'm saying.

Speaker 5 (01:11:23):
It's so funny because preseason, and to get the conversation
back to preseason. I love I love Rich's question because
I think those are two things that we don't think
about enough the preseason. I see this take all the time, like, oh,
they don't care about the games, and you know it's
there's no value in the preseason. I just that could
not be more wrong. First of all, it's like the

(01:11:44):
ninetieth guy on the roster that's playing. You don't think
he cares about what's happening on the field, especially with
new teams or excuse me, with new coaching staff that
are trying to get up to speed. Like I think
there is if you are willing to do the work
and do a little bit of extra research. I think
there's a ton of value in the It's just about
what your risk appetite is. Have you seen the preseason
handle increase in the last few years since you know,

(01:12:08):
gambling has really become a mainstay in America over you
know this time since passpor was repealed, or is the
preseason still kind of like a people stick their nose
about it.

Speaker 8 (01:12:18):
It gets bigger every year, and it just comes down
that we this country, we love our football. As soon
as it's back. We you know, ignore anyone saying if
you bet preseason football, call the number. It's it is ridiculous.
At this point. There is so much value on preseason games.
It's if you can find an edge anywhere, you should
be betting it. It doesn't matter what sport it is.

(01:12:40):
So I think it's getting better every It's get the
handle getting bigger every year, and I think people are realizing,
you know, the more preseason they watch, the more they
kind of figure out how they can bet the game.
You know, it's a smaller offering than a regular season
game what you're betting on. But at the same time,
there are angles everywhere for everyone to see out.

Speaker 1 (01:13:00):
No doubt what market is more difficult for your traders
to price correctly? Is it August NFL preseason or is
it early season college football?

Speaker 8 (01:13:13):
I go preseason total. Preseason aren't really hard. Like we
had a bad day Thursday and it was mainly because
the game just went over, like way over. So I
take definitely preseason because it's harder to figure out, you know,
how long is you know, Josh Allen going to play
this preseason game. How long are the starters on defense
playing for New England right now? So I take definitely

(01:13:36):
the preseason NFL. But college is tricking, especially totals early
in the season for the college because you've got to
figure out how fast a lot of teams are playing.
If they're playing slow you know, the portal era. There's
a lot of new faces on a lot of these teams,
so you know, we got to work. We have to
be more on top of our game to you know,
catch up to what the market's doing.

Speaker 4 (01:13:56):
All right, Seamus, it's the best for last right here,
the shame of special What do you have for us today?

Speaker 8 (01:14:02):
You know, if anyone's sitting at home, they got a
racing day in America day on Fox Sports one. You know,
the Whitney is going on in sarah Sauga. But we're
not going to the Whitney. We're going to Race four
eight Yonkers fellas the two horse nine Hunter currently going
off twelve to one. That's the pick today.

Speaker 3 (01:14:20):
Two horse, what was it? Nine Hunter? How do you
say it?

Speaker 8 (01:14:24):
Mind Hunter? Like the fantastic Netflix show.

Speaker 3 (01:14:27):
Okay, mine Hunter? Okay, two horse and Yonkers? Race four?

Speaker 1 (01:14:31):
Got it?

Speaker 3 (01:14:32):
Awesome stuff, Seamus.

Speaker 1 (01:14:33):
I love it so much.

Speaker 4 (01:14:35):
We have to say, you know, it's interesting you picked
the four the fourth race because after our four years
partnership with bet MGM, you guys have been tremendous to us.
It does end tomorrow. You know, these things happen. Stadiums
get renamed. It's the way it goes. But we just
wanted to say, Seamus, you've been amazing. You've been a treat.

(01:14:56):
I've loved interviewing you. I know that guys have two
every week, love you sharing your betting knowledge, and uh,
we just wanted to personally thank you man. It's been
awesome these last four years with you.

Speaker 8 (01:15:07):
Bittersweet fellas, this has been a highlight of my week
every time I come on here. I love chatting and
talking gambling with you guys.

Speaker 3 (01:15:13):
Absolutely shamous.

Speaker 4 (01:15:14):
Well, hey man, best to you, and hopefully our past
will cross much sooner than later.

Speaker 3 (01:15:19):
Man, I hope you have a great day.

Speaker 8 (01:15:21):
Have a good one, guys, enjoy the weekend you too.

Speaker 4 (01:15:23):
There he is Seamus McGee, team lead of Sports Trading
at bet MGM. And just so you guys know, countdown
will continue. Maybe we need to hit up Kawhi and
get that aspiration and as that's right by the way,

(01:15:45):
Chris Chris Purfett shout out to him. He was talking
to me off the air and uh, Dan Bayer had
a great line. I don't want to steal it from him,
but it's like, what would what would Kawhi Leonard? How
would he help a company like Daktronics with I can't
take video boards. Why would you need a spokesman for
the who's he catering?

Speaker 3 (01:16:05):
Who was he selling that to?

Speaker 1 (01:16:07):
Right? Like, I'll tell you who. I'll tell you who.
And I'm sorry to jump all over it, but there
there's a weird thing that happens now. I don't know
if Daktronics is at this level, but I've seen this
before in circles I used to run in. There's a
weird thing that happens with athletes when they're when you

(01:16:29):
have the right person at the head of a company.
And I'm talking about an enormous sports fan. I'm talking
about somebody who wants to live out you know, childhood
fantasies of being a football player or a basketball player
or a baseball player. There are certain guys and girls,

(01:16:50):
I'm sure who can't get over it. And so if
they can somehow use the influence or the money that
they have to kind of cozy up next to those
athletes that they wish they could play with as kids
and call them their friends and invite them to their parties.
I mean, think about it. If you're making I don't

(01:17:10):
know what that Daktronics makes. But if it's a billion
dollar valuation on a company who knows if it is,
and you have a CEO or an executive board, and
you've got two guys who really really love the Clippers
Billy want to be close to, I could see them
parting with twenty million dollars on a quote unquote sponsorship

(01:17:32):
deal so that they could tell everybody, Yeah, Kawhi's are buddy,
you know what I mean? I could see it. Now.
Is that likely what happened? No, but I could see it.

Speaker 3 (01:17:44):
I love the Aspiration deal. That's my personal favorite.

Speaker 4 (01:17:47):
Twenty eight million dollars for Kawhi to do nothing, no autographs,
no no commercials, no photo shoots, just just be Kawhi
and we'll pay you twenty eight million dollars. That sounds legitimate.
I know a lot of businesses that operate like that.
Unbelievab All right, we've got Rich Orenberger, Penn State, All American,
Jared Smith FSR betting analyst. I'm Brian No coming up next.

(01:18:07):
Prop it up the prop betting market. We could look today.
We could look at an NFL season total prop bet.
I don't know, Maybe I have.

Speaker 3 (01:18:15):
One in the chamber for you will we'll compare notes next.

Speaker 4 (01:18:18):
It is Fox Sports Radios Countdown presented by BETMGM. It
is Fox Sports Radios Countdown presented by bet MGM. Every
time you make a wager at BETMGM, you earn BETMGM
rewards points that could be redeemed for things like bonus
bets or converted to MGM rewards points that could be

(01:18:40):
used towards dining shows and hotel rooms at over twenty
MGM resorts. And be sure to follow BETMGM across all
socials at BETMGM.

Speaker 3 (01:18:48):
Alright, let's do this.

Speaker 2 (01:18:52):
Prop it up player plays all right?

Speaker 3 (01:18:56):
The prop betting market Sjared. We start with you with
something you like.

Speaker 5 (01:19:00):
All right, I'll give you something again off the beaten path.
But I love finding these little I don't wanna call
him miss price. I think it's miss priced, but angles
that are intriguing. Jackson Joe under fourteen and a half
outs today minus a dollar thirty five at vet MGM.
Who is Jackson Joe Tiger's pitcher. They're at the Giants tonight.
He's making his first start since June twenty twenty five.

(01:19:21):
He's been rehabbing Tommy John for the last fourteen months,
he only made five rehab starts in the minors, none
of them above the Double A level. He was planning
on making one start at Triple A Toledo last week,
it got rained out, so instead had to make that
final rehab start at Single A. He hasn't gone longer
than sixty nine pitches in any of the rehab starts
from what we're hearing from AJ Hinch responsibly stretching him out.

Speaker 6 (01:19:43):
That was the quote.

Speaker 5 (01:19:44):
So I don't think we're gonna see more than seventy
five to eighty pitches today, Max as Jackson Joe returns
to the BIGS for the first time in over a year,
So I do not think he's gonna make it through
five innings under fourteen.

Speaker 6 (01:19:55):
And a half outs.

Speaker 5 (01:19:56):
The market doesn't really know what he is yet because
he hasn't pitched in fourteen months. So we'll go under
on the outsprop today for Jackson Joe.

Speaker 1 (01:20:03):
Okay, we all love the Herr stat in baseball hits runs,
RBIs and I got sho Hey O'tani locked in at
three plus on those hits runs and RIVS at minus
one oh five. They're on the road against the Diamondbacks.
Show Hey has been a producer all season long. I've

(01:20:24):
won on props with show Hey, I would say the
majority of the time. I've bet on him this season,
and this one feels like a must, so I'm going
for it. Three plus show a tani Herr.

Speaker 3 (01:20:39):
Okay, I'm going to look to a NFL season long
prop over here. I'm targeting Bears tight end.

Speaker 4 (01:20:45):
Colston Lovelin over seven to ninety nine and a half
in terms.

Speaker 3 (01:20:50):
Of his receiving yards. A few reasons here. He got
off to a very slow start last season, just drowning
in Ben Johnson's offense. You look at his first.

Speaker 4 (01:20:58):
Six games, he had catches for a buck sixteen, and
then the next week against the Bengals, six catches for.

Speaker 3 (01:21:05):
A buck eighteen.

Speaker 4 (01:21:06):
He had more production in one game against the hideous
Bengals defense than he did the first six weeks of
his season.

Speaker 3 (01:21:14):
And then you saw it take off from there.

Speaker 4 (01:21:16):
Right he had down the stretch ninety four yards against
the Niners, ninety one against the Lions playoffs, a buck
thirty seven against the Packers, fifty six against the Rams.
They're gonna run these three tight end sets a lot
of the time with Chicago similar to what the Rams
have done. You're gonna see Loveland on linebackers, slot corners.
It's gonna be a matchup nightmare. I think the light

(01:21:37):
bulb started to go off, and I think the Bears
are gonna target him a lot this season. I love
over seven to ninety nine and a half for Coleston
Loveland's season prop total.

Speaker 3 (01:21:48):
All right, coming up next, the smart guy write.

Speaker 4 (01:21:50):
Something really dumb. Oh what is going on? Welcome in
Happy Saturday too? You hope all is well? All right,
so I think all three of us turned colors and
our heads started spinning around like Linda Blair.

Speaker 8 (01:22:06):
You know.

Speaker 4 (01:22:07):
And in a very famous movie years ago when Patrick
Mahomes was number two on the ESPN quarterback list and
Josh Allen the Bills was number one. Right, I've got
something way worse for you, Okay, way worse. This is
Bill Barnwell, who writes for ESPN, who does a tremendous job,

(01:22:28):
by the way, very smart guy. But every now and then,
smart people, it's kind of like Tony Larusa. Do you
remember the MLB All Star Game years and years and
years ago where Tony Larusa bright baseball mind baseball manager
won numerous World Series. He just got ahead of himself,
and he's thinking about scenario fifty eight, fifty nine to sixty,

(01:22:50):
and it's like surface level, like just hit pool Hooles,
just to have pooh holes hit, you know, like it's
pretty obvious. Sometimes smart people can think way too deeply
about something and it and it's just surface level, and
it's just you know, you don't have to do any
sort of you know, gypsy thinking to figure this one out.
So Bill Barnwell, he came out with the column on Thursday,

(01:23:10):
and it's just entitled twenty twenty six NFL Season Future
Hall of Famers from all thirty two teams. Right He
just writes, today, I'm going through each of the league's
thirty two teams and attempting to identify the players who
are either on track or have a realistic hope of
earning gold jackets one day. Okay, So then he gets
to Josh Allen and the Bills. He just while he's saying,

(01:23:34):
like Josh Allen would be a Hall of Famer right now,
which is debatable, by the way, put that to the side,
he just starts off his opening line, Allen would be
the quarterback on the All Decade First Team if it
were to be released tomorrow, although there would be at
least some debate about instead awarding it to Lamar Jackson

(01:23:56):
or Patrick Mahomes.

Speaker 3 (01:23:57):
Is what he said.

Speaker 4 (01:23:59):
It's like, oh my gosh, we've gone from the ESPN thing,
which was right here right now. Who are the top
quarterbacks in the league going into twenty twenty six?

Speaker 3 (01:24:08):
Who's number one?

Speaker 4 (01:24:10):
And they came up and they voted Josh Allen, which
we disagreed with. This is worse to say the quarterback
of the twenty twenties, the first team guy is Josh
Allen over Mahomes.

Speaker 3 (01:24:23):
What are we doing right? Mahomes says, numerous Super Bowl wins,
numerous Super.

Speaker 4 (01:24:28):
Bowl MVPs, just in the twenty twenties, right, Josh Allen
hasn't even been to a Super Bowl. He's zero to
four in the playoffs against the Chiefs led by Mahomes.
How can you even begin to make an argument that
Josh Allen is the quarterback of the twenty twenties more
so than Mahomes. This defies any sort of explanation, Like

(01:24:50):
what do you point to besides some regular season numbers?
The postseason is where you make your name for yourself.
And the last thing we saw from Josh Allen, he
was wetting himself against the Broncos. You can't begin to
make an argument that Josh Allen has been better in
the twenty twenties than Mahomes.

Speaker 3 (01:25:07):
This is insanity.

Speaker 4 (01:25:08):
I don't know if you guys can talk me off
the ledge or jump with me, but the floora's years here.

Speaker 1 (01:25:13):
Rich Hornberger, Yeah, you know, I just pulled up the article.
And Bill's a buddy. I've had him on my radio
shows many times, interviewed him over the years many times,
and I think he's a really really smart, very analytically
driven sportswriter who dives so so deep into the numbers

(01:25:35):
and has really strong opinions. And by the way, if
you were sitting with us, he would he would defend
those opinions extremely well. He doesn't a lot leave a
lot of oxygen for debate because he's so well studied
on his side. However, there are times where I've taken
him to task for his opinions and we've agreed to
disagree because you know, I think I think, like all people,

(01:26:00):
when you realize that your subjectivity sometimes is getting in
the way and it's just the way you see it
through your purview. You have to make room to respect
that some people are going to disagree with you, and
this is one of those times. This is one of
those times. I mean, Patrick Mahomes for whatever reasons you

(01:26:20):
want to say, are demerits for his individual accomplishments. Because
let's remember, the Pro Football Hall of Fame is a
measurement of your individual greatness. How do you demerit him?
What because of great fortune being on a great team?
Do you demerit him for you know, being with a

(01:26:41):
great coach and a great signal caller? Do you demerit
him because he played in a weaker division, which I
would say is highly debatable than the Bills have over
the course of the time that Josh Allen has been
in the AFCs versus the time that Patrick Mmes has
been in the AFC West, I would argue that Josh

(01:27:03):
Allen's had a harder, more difficult path. But that's just me, Like,
you know, so, where are the demerits that are knocking
Mahomes down? I just don't really get it. And now again,
this isn't just Mahomes against Alan, but it becomes that
way when you put Alan over Mahomes, because it's the

(01:27:23):
strongest argument against Alan being the guy of the twenty twenties.

Speaker 5 (01:27:29):
Yeah, there's no there's no argument. I don't understand how
there's ever even a debate about it. So Mahomes has
a ridiculous stat. He started more conference championship games in
super Bowls than he has division playoff games in wildcard games.

Speaker 6 (01:27:45):
It's an obscene stat.

Speaker 5 (01:27:47):
I think it's like twelve to nine, like and you
have to think about, like, how is that possible. It's
because they've been in first place so many times that
he hasn't had to play in the wildcard round. Like
they've been that good that they've just skipped on through
the wildcard game and continue like a lot of times.
And we see this a lot. It happened with the
Titans few years ago. That number one seed isn't a

(01:28:08):
lock to win the divisional round.

Speaker 6 (01:28:10):
They're not.

Speaker 5 (01:28:10):
We've seen that number one seed get the buy lose
in the division round multiple times.

Speaker 6 (01:28:17):
He hasn't done that.

Speaker 5 (01:28:18):
If he makes it to the divisional round, he's probably
gonna make it to the conference championship game. He makes
it to the conference championship game, He's probably gonna make
it to the super Bowl. Cannot say that for Josh Allen.
It's actually the opposite. So I think there has to
be some value placed on big game hunting. The stats
are the stats, the analytics or the analytics, I get it.

(01:28:40):
I can't argue with numbers. I can't argue with the vibe.
And if you are gonna ask me today, and I
bet if you asked every single executive and general manager
in the league, I am willing.

Speaker 6 (01:28:54):
To bet that they would agree with this statement.

Speaker 5 (01:28:58):
If you had to start one quarterback one game for
your life that's active today, obviously not pass quarterbacks, because
I think Brady would throw his name into the mix,
maybe a couple other guys today. The game's being played today,
you can only pick one quarterback.

Speaker 6 (01:29:16):
If you lose the game, that's it, your life ends.
Who are you picking?

Speaker 5 (01:29:21):
I would obviously take Mahomes with all guys healthy right
in a vacuum. I don't think anyone would disagree with that.
Who is at the executive level, in my personal opinion,
I would be surprised. I would love to hear an
NFL executive, a scout, a general manager, someone at the
highest level. Look me in the eyes and say, for

(01:29:42):
my life, if I had to start one quarterback today
to win one game, I would start anybody but Patrick Mahomes.
I just cannot fathom anyone would deviate from that route.

Speaker 6 (01:29:55):
What do you guys think about that statement.

Speaker 4 (01:29:57):
Well, it's like, just look at the record. Look at
the track record here Mahomes in the playoffs, his record
is seventeen and four. That's the second most playoff wins
in NFL history. Only Tom Brady has more. Seventeen and
four is insanity already. And in the playoffs forty six
touchdown passes, ten interceptions. Those are off the charts regular

(01:30:21):
season numbers. That's what he's doing in the postseason, you
know what, like all the chips at the middle of
the table, getting everybody's best shot. Forty six touchdown passes,
ten interceptions, that's what he's done in the playoffs. What
is the argument for Josh Allen. I don't want to
make him sound like he's you know, stale roast b

(01:30:41):
for something. You know, he's a really good quarterback, but
better than Mahomes in the twenty twenties. That's lunacy, Like
we're officially in Looney Tune's territory with Bill Barnwell here,
Josh Allen's playoff record is eight and seven. Like, when,
what is the playoff game that Mahomes has had that
Josh just had last against the Broncos. He had four turnovers,

(01:31:04):
He had a terrible fumble right before halftime that gifted
the Broncos three points. He had a horrible overthrow Dawson
Knox is wide open in the middle of the field,
might have been a walk.

Speaker 3 (01:31:15):
Off touchdown, just sailed it.

Speaker 4 (01:31:17):
What's the playoff appearance that Mahomes has had That's just
like that.

Speaker 3 (01:31:21):
He hasn't had one.

Speaker 4 (01:31:23):
He's had stellar performances in the playoffs, So it just
it boggles my mind. I don't know how you even
begin to make an argument. And it's just a throwaway line.
It's just like Alan would be a quarterback on the
All Decade first team if it were released tomorrow. I mean,
maybe there's some debate about Lamar or this guy named Mahomes.

(01:31:43):
I guess it was just like what, I can't I
can't believe someone that smart just threw that out there.
It just it boggles my mind that he arrived at
that conclusion somehow, some way.

Speaker 1 (01:31:55):
Yeah, again, just from knowing Bill and speaking to him,
like I can hear his voice in my head defending
his side, and it would be analytically driven. It would
be one hundred percent analytically driven. He really dives deep
into these numbers and you can get lost in that sauce.
And I think we've all fallen prey to this in

(01:32:17):
the past. Look as sports betters, you know, Look, Brian,
you you'll forget more about sports betting knowledge than I'll
ever attain. And Jared, you know, we've had tons of
conversations where you've educated me from the analytical eye you
view on sports betting. But but you guys admit this

(01:32:38):
freely that sometimes you'll look at you'll you'll overanalyze something.
You look at one data point or a couple of
data points and convince yourself you're right, and then all
of a sudden, the game's played and you're like, oh,
I missed the bigger picture. That makes sense. I should
have taken the over It was so simple, and here's why,

(01:33:01):
you know, And like all of those dot dot dot
or ellipses where you fill in that blank after you
say the first part of that sentence, I think is
a place where Bill Barnwell could get to at some
point if he backs away from the numbers and he
really looks at the substance of the conversation. Patrick Mahomes

(01:33:24):
is a winner, and I know that seems like such
a cheap cop out, like easy reach, like almost like expendable.
It's like dumping ketchup on your spaghetti. You know, it's
just like, ah, yeah, that makes it better. He's a winner.
And like a good, good dumb take from the jock
on the show, No, winning is the most fleeting, unbelievable.

(01:33:50):
It's like trying to collect water with your bare hands,
you know, kind of cut your hands together, and you're like, oh,
come on, I got I gotta walk one hundred feet
with this handful of water. Am I gonna make it there?
It's trying to evade you. It's dripping through your fingers,
it's trying to make it impossible. But when you got
to Tom Brady in the huddle, and I've been in

(01:34:10):
the huddle with Tom Brady and you're looking at the
scoreboard and realizing we've got enough time to score twice
and win this game. When there's six minutes left, in
the fourth quarter. That's a feeling that cannot be replicated
by just anybody, and certainly and unfortunately so not for
Josh Allen and his teammates. That's the reality of the situation.

(01:34:35):
And else This is bros Exactly right. When you're in
those situations, feelings matter. I'm telling you they matter. Look,
I've been in the huddle and I hate doing this
because I love this man so much, but I've been
in the huddle with Tom Brady and I've been in
the huddle with Philip Rivers. Philip Rivers in my mind,
is the Josh Allen in this conversation. Okay, Tom Brady

(01:34:58):
to me is the Patch Mahomes in this conversation. When
I was in the huddle with Tom Brady, I felt
like we could win any situation we were in. It
did not feel that way with Philip. And it's not
because he wasn't great. It's not because he wasn't an
amazing talent or didn't have a head on his shoulders
that could figure out any situation. It's because he wasn't

(01:35:21):
the closer that Tom Brady was. Big moments, Patrick Mahomes
is That's what divides greatness we're splitting hairs. We're splitting hairs.
We're talking about two of the most exceptional football players
who ever walked the planet Earth. But one's better and
it's obvious, and it's Patrick Mahomes.

Speaker 5 (01:35:42):
Yeah, the numbers only get you so far. I think
analytics is an elite tool to be able to use
in certain situations and if guys are close, I think
it can be used as a tiebreaker, but it should
not be used as the tiebreaker, because every position, in

(01:36:02):
my opinion, holds a different value. I don't care as
much about your offensive lineman being a winner. It matters.
I care about that person being physically strong and being
mentally strong, of course, but it doesn't matter as much
as the quarterback position does. Because everyone looks to the quarterback.

Speaker 6 (01:36:21):
When you're in the huddle.

Speaker 1 (01:36:23):
All ten other guys are.

Speaker 5 (01:36:24):
Looking at the quarterback to deliver the play and to
lead the team. So the value of the intangibles matters
more for a quarterback than it does for a receiver
or an offensive lineman or a defensive back. It just
does because that's the nature of the position. Not every
position in the NFL is created equally. If a quarterback

(01:36:46):
misses a game, the spread moves considerably. If the left
guard misses a game, the spread doesn't move at all.
What does that say about who has a greater impact
on the outcome of the game. So the small things
that a quarterback does matter more if their value against
the spread is increased, every little thing that that quarterback

(01:37:07):
does better than the average quarterback is magnified. And I
don't care what planet you're on and what numbers you're using.
Wins is a stat you cannot argue with. And there
is no debate on who is the more successful quarterback
between Mahomes and Josh Allen. Zero debate. You can't even
bring it to the table. You want to say Josh

(01:37:29):
Allen's EPA is better, he has more success on certain plays,
running certain fine, I can't argue with that. But there
is one item on the sports agenda that is never
up for debate, championships and wins, and that is where
there is again no debate between these two guys.

Speaker 4 (01:37:49):
Hey, amen, last thing I'll add is analytics aren't everything,
and analytics are more than nothing. Right Like, we have
to live in a world where it's somewhat in between
because one extreme or the other Neither of those makes sense.
If it's the Charles Barkley analytics are for idiots, that
doesn't make sense. Analytics is just more information. Sometimes information

(01:38:11):
is very helpful. But Bill Barnwell, this argument is completely
analytically driven. There's no other way you could even begin
to make an argument if not for analytics. And it's like,
analytics aren't everything to what you guys have laid out
very well, right, it's not everything. And that's basically what
this argument is. Is to say that Josh Allen has been
the quarterback of the decades, the twenty twenties. When Mahomes

(01:38:34):
says multiple rings, multiple MVPs in just this decade alone,
it's crazy. It makes no sense whatsoever. I think we
need to live in a world where we're somewhere in between.
We consider analytics, we lean on analytics at times, we're
not beholdened to them. We're not like this is making
my mind up for me every single time. That's crazy.
And I also think the opposite is true as well,

(01:38:55):
where it's like I just go by feel, I don't
go by anything analytically driven, and like that's just for idiots.
That doesn't make any sense either. It's somewhere in between
the two. But I see these two very different extremes
just clashing, Like it's Braveheart and it's the you know,
the Scottish against the English, and it's like, what we
can't we come together and like meet in the middle

(01:39:16):
somewhere here, but we often don't.

Speaker 3 (01:39:19):
That's just the way it plays out.

Speaker 7 (01:39:20):
All right.

Speaker 4 (01:39:21):
We've got Rich Hornberger, Penn State All American, Jared Smith
FSR betting analyst.

Speaker 3 (01:39:25):
I'm Brian No.

Speaker 4 (01:39:27):
Be sure to check out the new look and features
in the BETMGM app. It's fast and easy access to
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if they don't win their first bet. That's code countdown

(01:39:48):
in the BETMGM app. All right, coming up next, man,
I've got.

Speaker 3 (01:39:52):
Some opinions for you guys. Huh, I've got one here.

Speaker 4 (01:39:54):
I think this is one of the most remarkable careers
in NFL history. And I don't think it's often recognized
as such. I'll throw that out to you. Coming up,
it's Fox Sports Radios Countdown presented by bet MGM. It
is Fox Sports Radios Countdown presented by bet MGM. With

(01:40:15):
the iHeartRadio app, you can stream us wherever you happen
to be. Catch us in all of our Fox Sports
Radio shows live twenty four to seven in the new
and improved iHeartRadio app. Just search Fox Sports Radio in
the app to stream us live all day, every day,
and be sure to select Fox Sports Radio is one
of your presets in the iHeart app, so it'll always
pop up at the top of your screen. All right,
So we've got Hall and Fame enshrinement ceremonies here today, right,

(01:40:40):
five Hall of famers going in. Larry Fitzgerald, Cardinals Wide
Receiver one of the five, and I would like to
make an argument with you guys.

Speaker 3 (01:40:47):
Feel free. It's like the old Ron Burgundy, you know,
Anchorman thing. If you like what I'm saying. I don't
know how he says that, you know, you know, throw
back at me, take it in. If you don't like it,
just throw it right back, you know.

Speaker 4 (01:40:59):
I think Larryry Fitzgerald had one of the most remarkable
careers in NFL history, and I don't think he gets
recognized for having as great of a career as he had.
One of the main reasons is he made it to
the playoffs only five times in his seventeen seasons. It
wasn't his fault. The roster was not very good most
of the time he was there. This was not like

(01:41:20):
the forty nine ers of the two thousands when Larry
Fitzgerald was over there. And that's what to me makes
his career that much more extraordinary. Is you look at
his numbers. He had over seventeen thousand yards receiving over
fourteen hundred catches. Both of those stats are second only
to Jerry Rice all time. He had the sixth most

(01:41:41):
touchdown catches of all time. And I think if you
just start having a debate like who are the best
receivers of all time, it's like, Okay, Jerry Rice and
Randy Moss get mentioned immediately, and then if you expanded,
it's like, well, you know, Terrell Owens put up numbers,
Chris Carter put up numbers. If someone just said, hey,
what about Larry Fitzgerald, I feel like most conversations would

(01:42:03):
be like, yeah, he was pretty good. It's almost like
a shoulder shrug. Yeah, guess that's not too bad. If
you look at the quarterbacks he's had in seventeen seasons.

Speaker 3 (01:42:12):
Twenty two different quarterbacks.

Speaker 4 (01:42:15):
Some of these guys, it's just like, oh my gosh,
these were the leading passers for the Arizona Cardinals in
certain years. These are guys like Josh McCown, Matt Liiner.
We got other ones here. Derek Anderson led him in passing,
Kevin Cobb led him in passing a couple of years,
Drew Stanton, Josh Rosen, these are leading passers in certain

(01:42:38):
seasons for the Arizona Cardinals. To put up those type
of numbers that are second in some categories only to
Jerry Rice, who played his career with guys like Joe Montana,
Steve Young. It's extraordinary what Larry Fitzgerald was able to do.
And I just don't think that he gets the level
of props he truly deserves.

Speaker 3 (01:42:58):
What do you guys think about that?

Speaker 1 (01:43:01):
Agree? Larry was a teammate of mine for a single
season when I played for the Arizona Cardinals, and you're
talking about one of the ultimate prosh the first guy
who introduces himself to you in the locker room, electric smile,
awesome personality. He has it all, right, He has it

(01:43:24):
all except for exceptional quarterbacks throwing the football to him.
Over the course of his entire career, he had a
couple of obviously passing moments with some greatness at that position,
but they couldn't hold onto it long enough to really
truly capitalize and unlock his greatness. But even having said that,

(01:43:44):
he still was insanely productive. Okay, So I found a
couple of the most mind blowing stats about Larry Fitzgerald
to share to sort of support your argument while you're
talking here, Brian, because I knew there were mind blowing stats,
and I'll save the best for last seventeen seasons. He
missed nine games. That's two hundred and seventy two games.

(01:44:07):
He missed nine regular season games of two hundred seventy
two that's mind blowing. Reliable hands. He maintained a drop
rate of under two percent for his entire career catching
passes from a rotating cast, as you mentioned, of twenty
different quarterbacks twenty plus over the course of his career.

(01:44:27):
During the two thousand and eight two thousand and nine postseason. Okay,
this is a four game stretch in the postseason where
the cream of the top is elevated. In the NFL.
You're facing the most fiercest defenses in the NFL. Presumably,
he recorded five hundred and forty six receiving yards and
seven touchdowns in four games during the playoffs, single franchise record.

(01:44:56):
He stands alone at the top of the NFL hill.
This fourteen hundred and thirty two catches with the Cardinals,
he stands as an all time record holder for receptions
with a single team. He finished second in the NFL
in the in receptions with fourteen hundred thirty two seventeen thousand,
four hundred ninety two receiving yards, only trailing Jerry. And

(01:45:20):
then this is the most mind blowing statistic. I think
I found his tackles verse drop catches. Okay, he recorded
forty one career tackles. He never played on special teams.
Mind you, forty one career tackles. That means he made
tackles on interception returns. Forty one career tackles and he

(01:45:41):
only had thirty five dropped passes. Yeah, he'd played with
a lot of bad quarterbacks too, But he only dropped
thirty five passes over the course of his career, which
means that he had more tackles having never played special
teams or defense, than he did drop pass is over
the course of his seventeen year career.

Speaker 3 (01:46:05):
It's wild.

Speaker 6 (01:46:07):
I don't even know how to reply to that.

Speaker 5 (01:46:09):
I mean, that's like one of those statistics where you
think it's Ai right when you first watched the video,
You're like, that's gotta be AI, and you're like, oh wow,
it's real.

Speaker 1 (01:46:17):
WHOA.

Speaker 5 (01:46:19):
There's a certain level of professionalism that comes with obviously
playing a professional sport. The I don't think there and
I had obviously Rich has significantly more contacts having actually
played with him. But from the outsider perspective, I don't
think I've seen a player in the NFL operate with
a higher level of class and continuity throughout his career.

(01:46:41):
I mean, the dude was just he was always available,
he was always productive, he was always positive despite his
situation obviously being less than ideal in Arizona for a
number of years, and he was incredibly loyal. I mean,
that is a to play your entire career with one team.
How rare is that in today's sporting world. That's why

(01:47:03):
I always, you know, people knock Cheater for his shortcomings
in certain areas, and I'm like, I don't know, man, Like,
the guy's a winner and he stayed with one team
his whole career. Like that is so rare in sports today.
It should be celebrated. And despite Larry not having the
team success that I'm sure he and his other teammates
would have hoped, I think there is something to be

(01:47:25):
said about that level of loyalty that, you know, I
would be willing to bet that there are very few
people in the NFL that have had his level of
success that have not bounced around from team to team.
Even Tom Brady, you know, even Drew Brees, who also
is going to get in trying today, obviously had the
more successful part of his career with his second team
in New Orleans. So I think all of these things

(01:47:47):
put together, really make Brian's argument hard to argue against. Obviously,
Jerry Rice, I do think it is still the greatest
receiver of all time, but there is a really strong
case to be made because of some of these intangibles
that we're talking.

Speaker 6 (01:48:01):
About that really puts Larry at the top of the list.

Speaker 4 (01:48:03):
Just imagine what Larry's numbers would have been if he
had a Joe Montana.

Speaker 3 (01:48:07):
Type quarterback during his career, you know, like that's insane
to think about.

Speaker 4 (01:48:12):
Like the good guys he played with Kyler Murray for
two years, you know, like think about that his first
two seasons in the NFL.

Speaker 3 (01:48:18):
Not a polished quarterback.

Speaker 4 (01:48:20):
He had Carson Palmer, who had some good seasons but
again like a reclamation project. And Kurt Warner, who was
at the tail end of his career. Those were the
good quarterbacks that he played with. And it was the
laundry list of dudes that I mentioned. But he had
twenty two different quarterbacks in seventeen seasons.

Speaker 3 (01:48:37):
Think about that.

Speaker 4 (01:48:38):
Think about some of these guys that had iron men quarterbacks.

Speaker 3 (01:48:42):
Think about you know, like.

Speaker 4 (01:48:43):
Tom Brady in New England. Like how many quarterbacks were
throwing Gronk the ball?

Speaker 3 (01:48:48):
Not many, you know what I mean.

Speaker 4 (01:48:49):
Like, so for Larry Fitzgerald to have twenty two different
quarterbacks in seventeen seasons is crazy. And just to put
it in perspective what Rich is talking about with drops,
I had the number even lower. So maybe Rich your
number includes the postseason. I'm not sure, but forty one
career tackles, twenty nine dropped passes.

Speaker 3 (01:49:06):
I'm and Ross Saint.

Speaker 4 (01:49:07):
Brown, who is unbelievable with the Lions, he had ten
drops last season alone. Larry Fitzgerald had, you know, he
had twenty nine his whole career.

Speaker 3 (01:49:17):
It's it's insane.

Speaker 4 (01:49:18):
So yeah, hats off to him, you know, deserves to
be enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. And
I will say this last point is unfortunately, I hate
that you mentioned it. Jared one of the best, you know,
team guys, just a great just like a good dude.
You know, he wasn't going Brandon Aiyuk and posting videos

(01:49:39):
call it out quarterbacks that he might link up with
and be teammates with not doing that. He was a
lunch payol guy. And unfortunately, sometimes the lunch payol guys
don't get the attention that they truly deserve. You know,
a guy like t O who's doing sit ups in
his driveway. We pay attention to those guys. You know,
AJ Brown who sometimes is e or there because he's

(01:50:00):
not getting enough targets or receptions, like we pay attention
to him Larry Fitzgerald was like Julio Jones before Julio, Like,
those are lunch payal guys. They don't bring a lot
of attention onto themselves. They go about their business, their
total pros. And what's unfortunate is depending on the team
you play for, like fits with the Cardinals, a lot

(01:50:21):
of times your great accomplishments go unnoticed.

Speaker 3 (01:50:24):
And I hate that.

Speaker 4 (01:50:25):
It's the true calamity of lunch payl guys is there
are times we should pay attention to them and we
just don't, not to the degree that they should be
paid attention to. And I think he fits that to
a tee unfortunately.

Speaker 1 (01:50:39):
Yeah, yeah, I know you're you're really pretty pretty well encapsulated.
The guy I met, the guy I know, Larry Fitzgerald
was just a hard working guy who didn't want to
say much. Look, he was a good talker and I
had wonderful conversations with him, and he had wonderful full

(01:51:00):
conversations with his coaches and with his teammates and the media.
I thought that he was fairly expressive with the media,
but it was always it was always really polite and affable.
It was never brash, it was never Newsworthy from the
standpoint of oh, Larry is really stomping his feet. No,

(01:51:21):
it was. It was what professionalism is supposed to look
like in this class in the Hall of Fame. I
really think nailed it for two of their inductees with
Larry Fitzgerald and Luke Keighley, because they both embodied even
though didn't have a tremendous amount of team wide success
during their NFL careers with their given franchises, the Arizona

(01:51:41):
Cardinals and the Carolina Panthers, respectively, Larry Fitzgeneral and Luke Keighley,
they embody exactly what you hope to enshrine when you
have a Hall of Fame. You cannot write the history
of the sport of football without them, and so they
need to be included and to have their bust emblazoned

(01:52:02):
in the Hall the same year the same induction class
seems apt and it seems fitting because they both, even
though one had a much longer career, they both walked
very similar paths during their careers.

Speaker 5 (01:52:16):
I will say this on a more lighter note, I
do feel old with all of these players that I
grew up watching now getting inducted into the Hall of Fame.
I mean we're at we're at that point now, man,
where it's Larry Fitzgerald, Like I remember watching him and
he's in the Hall of Fame. Yeah, oh, man, Jared.

Speaker 1 (01:52:36):
We're at that it's your teammates. When it's your teammates older,
because like, it really does feel like there goes my
old time. But he's wearing the gold jacket. I mean,
I feel like we should all be in a retirement home.
It's really weird, man, It's really strange.

Speaker 5 (01:52:54):
Well, because sometimes they induct older people, right, Like, you know,
you get the older veterans that you know, it takes
a long time to get them into the Hall because
of the procedural stuff. And then you get the first
ballot guys like Larry, like Drew Brees, right, and those
are the guys that are you know right away they're
getting in and where you are in your life determines
how you view each guy. Whereas like there's players that

(01:53:17):
I don't remember watching that get inducted. It feels okay,
that feels like a normal Hall of Fame situation. But
then it's like, yeah, the guy that I grew up
watching is now you know, on that on that back nine,
finishing up eighteen, shaking hands and going to the clubhouse
for a drink. Then it makes me it just it
slaps a little bit differently when the guys getting inducted,
when pretty much the entire Hall of Fame class are

(01:53:38):
guys that I grew up watching totally.

Speaker 4 (01:53:40):
I remember when I was a kid and these Hall
of Famers would go in and I'm like, I didn't
see one play yep, you know, and then you know,
you get a little bit older. I've seen maybe like
ten percent of their career. And now to your point, Jared,
I not only saw Larry Fitzgerald's whole career, I saw
his whole college career at.

Speaker 5 (01:53:56):
Pitt Absolutely yeah. I think it was on the cover
of NCAA College Football that year.

Speaker 6 (01:54:01):
Did he win the Hem?

Speaker 7 (01:54:03):
No?

Speaker 3 (01:54:04):
But and his kid is playing at Notre Dame. Like
it's kids playing football and Notre Dame. It's like, holy cow, man,
what Yeah, we're old.

Speaker 1 (01:54:11):
We're old. Now.

Speaker 3 (01:54:13):
The long and short of this whole segment is we're old.
So yeah, that's good.

Speaker 6 (01:54:19):
He was the runner up for the Heisman. He was
the runner up for that. He lost Jason. He was
on the podium two thousand three amazing. I was a
senior in high school.

Speaker 3 (01:54:28):
Jason White was undrafted, right, Like.

Speaker 5 (01:54:32):
Talk about two guys that took very different careers after
the Heisman, Podio.

Speaker 1 (01:54:36):
I won a New York state award. That's so funny.
You just mentioned Jason Wright really quick. I won a
New York state award in high school called the High
School Heim Heisman, and it was done over you know,
at the Heisman Club downtown in Manhattan, and uh, and
Jason White was the speaker because he had just won
that year, and so it was so crazy. I was like,

(01:54:59):
I didn't even watch called football at this point. I'm like,
who is this guy? My Dad's like, you should probably
just shut up and just enjoy what's happening right now.

Speaker 3 (01:55:08):
That's very nice. Well, yeah, from the.

Speaker 4 (01:55:11):
Heisman too, you know the way it went from there,
like number three overall pick compared to undrafted pro football
Hall of Famer. I hate to do it side by side,
but you know that's sometimes like.

Speaker 3 (01:55:22):
The quarterback on the best team maybe shouldn't be the
Heisman winner, you know, just food for thought.

Speaker 1 (01:55:28):
Well, the way that thing.

Speaker 5 (01:55:29):
Turned out, right, they should have voted for Larry that year.
I think in hindsight, I think you're right.

Speaker 4 (01:55:35):
You can't like puff your chest out like I had
Jason White that you're like, there's no there's no peacock
syndrome the way it turned out, no doubt about that.
We've got rich Orenberger, Penn State All American, Jared Smith FSR,
betting analyst, I'm probably no. Coming up next Rapid Fire.
We'll each have a bushel of picks for you. We'll
throw them to you frisbee style, hopefully get you some winners.

(01:55:56):
We'll compare notes.

Speaker 5 (01:55:56):
Coming up.

Speaker 4 (01:55:57):
It's Fox Sports Radios Countdown presented by Bet MGM. It
is Fox Sports Radios Countdown presented by Bett MGM. If
you missed any of today's show, you'll want to catch
the podcast. Just search Fox Sports Radio wherever you get
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Be sure to follow it, rate it five stars, and

(01:56:18):
you can even provide a review. Again, Just search Fox
Sports Radio wherever you get your podcasts, and you'll find
today's full show posted right after we get off the air.
Props to the crew. Our producer today, mister Mike Gonzalez.

Speaker 3 (01:56:31):
I regret making the comments last week about Trek Scooball
the Dodgers are zero to seven since since then, so
I regret those comments fully.

Speaker 4 (01:56:41):
The curse of uh yeah, the curse of Scooble so far,
at least for a week. Our technical producer, extraordinary, mister
Chris Purfett.

Speaker 9 (01:56:48):
Should have say a tiger anyway, No, I did want to.
I've stung with Jared. I do want to give out
some picks for the Whitney coming up here. I am
a big horse racing fan. I hate to go one,
two three in the gate, but Magnitude looks awesome. He
has security Teddy Bear up there, and Nitrogen is a
mayor who races with the boys and still has a
lot of energy. And I actually like Antiquarian tend to

(01:57:10):
one longer odds, but his jockey has been on fire
at Saratoga and as a Pledgure trained horse.

Speaker 3 (01:57:16):
Okay, all right, appreciate the pony break.

Speaker 6 (01:57:19):
Yeah me too, good stuff, Chris.

Speaker 4 (01:57:21):
Shout out to our guy Elijah today on digital posting
our clips does an amazing job. Give Fox Sports ready
will follow on X see your smiling faces, get our
picks all that good stuff. Also special shout out to
our guy Saga nobly normally in here on the weekends,
but off this week and we appreciate his hard work
as well. And the ultimate shout out to bet MGM.

(01:57:43):
BETMGM has been our partner for four years. Comes to
an end tomorrow unfortunately on the edition of Countdown on Sunday,
but Countdown will continue. Just our partnership ended, but BETMGM amazing.
The first two years it was just for the football
season was down to kickoff. It morphed into Countdown because
they sponsored us for the last two years fully like

(01:58:06):
the full year round. Last two years, it's been amazing,
has been really fun talking to Seamus McGee, Christian Sippolini.
So we really appreciate our partnership with bet MGM. I'm
sure you guys echoed those same sentiments, right, Yeah.

Speaker 1 (01:58:19):
There's no question about it. Bet MGM has been a
wonderful partner as we've continued not only to cover sports,
but obviously give you the best advice available. And I
think that in many ways we've done that with that
wonderful partnership we enjoyed and so yeah, hats off to
them for taking a bet on us. It's been a

(01:58:42):
fun ride.

Speaker 5 (01:58:43):
Well said, change can be scary, but it also can
be exciting. I think the future of this show is bright.
I think everything that we've built over the last four
years is awesome. The chemistry of everyone that works here
on the staff and behind the scenes is fantastic.

Speaker 6 (01:58:59):
And this is just the beginning.

Speaker 1 (01:59:02):
There you go.

Speaker 4 (01:59:03):
I like, I don't know if bet MGM taking a
bet on us was like our parlay platter today, like eight,
probably one, I don't know, but hopefully.

Speaker 3 (01:59:10):
They cashed in on that thing. Right, Yeah, we got
some bicks to make. Let's do it rapid fire, all right, Rich,
we start with you.

Speaker 1 (01:59:22):
What do you like?

Speaker 3 (01:59:23):
I'm sorry, I did it again, Jared, I.

Speaker 8 (01:59:26):
Do it.

Speaker 5 (01:59:28):
I'll lead off. I like, no, I'm just kidding. I'll
give you three first inning bets. That's been my bag,
you know, the the nerfy R Fee King Orioles Rangers. Yes,
run first inning. This is plus money plus one ten
Jacob de Grom, Kyle Bradish good pitching matchup, that's why
you're getting plus money. But the Gram has not been
good in the first inning, and Bratish has also been
hit or miss, so we'll get a first run there.

(01:59:49):
Yes run first inning, Rockies, Cardinals. This is minus a
dollar ten, Matthew Libertor, Kyle Freelan. Both of those guys
have been total gas cans in the first inning this year,
so hopefully one of the lineups and Colorado's some better
than expected, especially at the top and then one no
run first inning a nerfy Reds Nationals, Chase Burns Andrew
Alvarez looked really good for the Nats, and that Nats lineup,

(02:00:09):
which was hot early in the year, has cooled off lately.
They've traded away some stars. So Red's Nats no run
first any minus dollar twenty five.

Speaker 1 (02:00:16):
All right, I'm taking the Yankees as home dogs. Garrett
Cole has started to look much more like Garrett Cole again.
Chris Sale has been out standing on the mound for Atlanta,
but getting Cole and the Yankees at Yankee Stadium plus money,
it's enough value for me. Moving on to Cleveland at
minus one twenty five. Gavin Williams comes in at eleven

(02:00:36):
and six record with a three five six ERA. He's
going against Anthony Kay. Cleveland also just hung up eight
runs against the White Sox last night. I'm getting starting
pitching advantage without paying a premium, so I'll put that
down as a favorite. My other plus money play is
Tampa Bay. I'll take the Rays. They've won thirteen of

(02:00:59):
their last seventeen. They took the opener in Seattle to one,
so I love it today.

Speaker 4 (02:01:05):
Okay, I like it rich. We're doubling down on our
parlay platter picks. I'm gonna go with the Braves in
the first five.

Speaker 3 (02:01:10):
Give me Atlanta minus a half run against the Yankees,
so they have to be leading after the first five innings.
Garrett Cole is aariety.

Speaker 4 (02:01:17):
We've got a lot of lefty bats in that Braves lineup,
and Chris sail on the bump for the Braves. I
like the Braves to have a lead in the first
five innings. Give me the WNBA over here. Give me
the Links minus five and a half today against the Aces.
Links finally had their ten game winning streaks winning streak snapped.

Speaker 3 (02:01:35):
I think they're gonna be a handful for the Aces.

Speaker 4 (02:01:37):
Aces have a back to back tomorrow, A little longer
in the tooth. I like the Links to cover and
I'll take it over here. Give me fever Sky little
nervous time that the point total was down for the
fever last time. Give me over one eighty nine and
a half full teams playing well

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