The Best of The Week of Stugotz and Company Live!

On this edition of The Best of the Week of Stugotz and Company LIVE!: Stu and the fellas welcome ESPN NBA Analyst Tim Legler onto the show to get his takes on the NBA playoffs to this point. US Men's National team Icon Landon Donovan joins Stugotz and company to preview the World Cup. Stu and the guys welcome former NFL player and current NFL analyst Kyle Long onto the show to discuss all of the major headlines around the NFL and to discuss something Kyle is doing to get the word out about Men's mental health.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thanks for listening to the best of Steve Gotson Company
Live podcast. Find your local station for Stuc Gotson Company
Live at Foxsports Radio dot com, or stream us live
every day on the iHeartRadio app by searching FSR.

Speaker 2 (00:14):
This is the best of Stu Gotson Company Live on
Fox Sports Radio.

Speaker 1 (00:20):
The great and very busy Tim Legler is with us
here ESPN Cavs Pistons tonight. He is on the call
of the game Legs. Do you like calling the games?
I know you've been doing it for two years now.
Do you enjoy the calling of the games? Because you
seem busier than ever right now?

Speaker 3 (00:35):
Love it? Absolutely, love it?

Speaker 4 (00:36):
Man.

Speaker 5 (00:37):
There's just you know, look, I've always approached my job,
whether I was doing studio or calling games as like,
you know, the ability to teach, Like that's what I
love to do, is teach, like hopefully in some way
make the viewer just smarter, like the next time they
watch a game, or find something interesting in the game,
maybe that you didn't even realize was interesting. So studio
work is different because it's either like pregame so you

(00:59):
have a chance like really think about it and then
do this pre produced piece or whatever, like you put
a lot of.

Speaker 3 (01:03):
Thought into or after the game. It's like, what just happened,
let's talk about it.

Speaker 5 (01:08):
Doing it in real time and being able to teach
why it's happening is the greatest challenge in the industry.
So the adrenaline that comes with that and the energy
in the building, there's nothing like it, man. So yes,
this has been incredible. Last couple of seasons. Being like
a full time game analyst has been great.

Speaker 6 (01:25):
Well legged, You're very good at it, and as somebody
like I stopped doing my sidelines I think in twenty three,
and I'm super jealous because I wanted to overlap with you.
I wanted because you're one of my favorite analysts of
all time, and so it's just like, man, when you
do color, it's very good. So just wanted to drop
that compliment in your lap with shit.

Speaker 3 (01:41):
Man very much. That's nice to say.

Speaker 4 (01:44):
Is there a yes? Go for it too? I was
gonna say, is there a question in there? But go ahead?

Speaker 3 (01:48):
Is he no?

Speaker 6 (01:49):
I was going to follow up with you did game
four right of Nicks and yes six or flows out game?
What are your thoughts on the knicks? And they're sort
of odd to say this in the playoffs.

Speaker 5 (02:00):
Evolving offense, well yeah, it's gone from evolving to peak
level in a very short period of time. Like that,
to me is what's incredible about the story. They tweak
their offense during the season and then a bigger tweak
in the middle of the Atlanta series and they're down
to one and you know the pressure cooker that New
York represents, and like what that team was facing, what

(02:22):
Mike Brown was facing, and basically they made the determination
that Karl Anthony Towns he's a power player, but he
wants to play at the elmost top of the key
a lot.

Speaker 3 (02:31):
That's where he's comfortable.

Speaker 5 (02:33):
So rather than call set stuff, which Mike Brown does
not want to and trying to get him touches in
areas of the floor that he's comfortable because it's just
not what Mike Brown wants to do. He wants to
play organically in the flow. Well, then how about we
create some options offensively that take advantage of where he
likes to catch it and his size and really skill

(02:54):
as a passer that was not really appreciated, valued, or
utilized to that point.

Speaker 3 (02:59):
And that's what they did in the middle of the
Atlanta series.

Speaker 5 (03:02):
It opened up their offense Brunson as a screener on
the baseline and then coming out to get the basketball.
It's like a total wrinkle they put in that Atlanta
could not solve. It completely flipped the series on its head.
It continued into the Philadelphia series, and now what you
ended up was a team to down to one verge of.

Speaker 3 (03:22):
Like just catastrophe to This team's never played better, no
matter of six games.

Speaker 5 (03:29):
But literally, that's what we're talking and that really is
what we're looking at. This is the best the Knicks
offense has looked since the day they got Jalen Bronson.
And what that does is it energizes your defense even more.
When you're having that kind of success and everybody's included
offensively the way they are now, your defense is actually
now playing at its highest level. So you have this

(03:50):
team that right now is an absolute buzz saw. Certainly
they have been for the teams that they played, and
that's that's basically what played out at the.

Speaker 3 (03:56):
End of the Philly series.

Speaker 5 (03:57):
They were limited, had some injuries coming off the Boston
seven gamer. They ran into this team that is just
playing with so much force, confidence in rhythm. That's what
it looks like when you get those two things collideles.

Speaker 7 (04:10):
How important is og Ananobi coming back for the Knicks
and him being that potential X factor whether it's the
Pistons or the Cavs in that series.

Speaker 5 (04:20):
Critical because you know right now, like this is probably
the best I've ever seen o Janaobi play. His defensive
impact always been there. The offense he's been really good.
He's been good since he got to New York, his
role expanded leaving Toronto, and he's like, wow, he's a
better offensive player than your thought. But like what he's
been doing lately, and like the consistency with which he's produced,

(04:40):
he's never done that.

Speaker 3 (04:41):
So yes, it's a massive loss.

Speaker 5 (04:44):
I do think they avoided a real problem, Like everybody
kind of was waiting holding their breath that next morning
to see what was the result going to be fro
Jenn But it sounds like it's a lot less than
it could have been day to day. They certainly weren't
going to play him in game for the Phillies or
he didn't need him. They might not even have played
him in game five if they needed a Game five

(05:04):
back at home. Just rest them as long as you
can We're all gonna wait and see what this looks
like at the start of the series.

Speaker 3 (05:10):
But he is. He is a force man. He can
guard anybody on the floor.

Speaker 5 (05:14):
And now you combine it with this guy that's getting
a twenty plus every night, shooting at the way he
is from the three point line, you have like, this
is what an All Star player looks like. You know,
an All League caliber player looks like what he's doing
right now. Now, I will say this, some of his
loss has been tempered by the fact that m cal
Bridges found his offense towards the end of the Atlanta
series that carried over into the Philly series and he's

(05:37):
on a heater of all heaters right now. What that
guy is shooting over the past five games is mind
blowing and it has helped offset in the short term
missing ogn Nanobi. But long term, when the East win
a title, you're going to need og an Anobi out there.

Speaker 3 (05:53):
Playing the way that he was.

Speaker 1 (05:56):
Legs, where are you on rest versus russ Because the
Knicks are playing so well offensive, I know they get
to wait around for the winner of the of the
Pistons and the Cavs series, which is a great position
to be in. But that team is playing so well
when the sixer series was over, I wanted them to
play the next day.

Speaker 4 (06:11):
I don't like them waiting around here for seven to
ten days. Yes, yes, exactly. Well, I'm I'm.

Speaker 5 (06:18):
Always going to lean on the on the side of
rest always. And if you want to like the most
conclusive argument to that, take a look at what Oklahoma
City does to people in game one of the next round,
when they typically make short work of the of the
previous round and they're sitting there waiting. It looks a
lot like if you threw like a whole tuna into

(06:40):
a Piranha tank. That's what it looks like with the
Oklahoma City So like, to me, that's the greatest example
of like what here's.

Speaker 3 (06:47):
Here's the thing.

Speaker 5 (06:48):
There is no substitute for fresh legs. There just isn't
because rhythm, rhythm will come back pretty quickly to a
team that's been sitting around for a while. You cannot
find fresh legs if you never get an opportunity to
recharge them.

Speaker 3 (07:06):
So for me, it's always about rest.

Speaker 5 (07:08):
It's always makes you better and more energize, even if
the shot making isn't great at the start.

Speaker 3 (07:13):
Of the next round.

Speaker 1 (07:14):
I smiled when he said fresh legs, So did is he?
I have no idea why I smile.

Speaker 4 (07:18):
Just had to be names, right, yeah, pros, and then
we got press legs.

Speaker 5 (07:24):
It's such an easy thing to work into any basketball segment,
is it?

Speaker 1 (07:27):
Like, it's just so easy you No, Timm, hold on,
I understand what he's saying.

Speaker 4 (07:32):
Here is he but what legs?

Speaker 1 (07:33):
When he played, when he was on fire, like legs
wanted to stay in the gym, He didn't want to
leave the gym and get rest. He wanted to shoot more.
And I guess that's all I'm saying on the Knicks.
I want them to play.

Speaker 5 (07:42):
Here's what here's real quick, here's what I'm going to
say to you, like you're talking about a different category
player role players.

Speaker 3 (07:48):
Absolutely, man, let's keep playing.

Speaker 5 (07:49):
If I got it going, please let me play tomorrow
and I'll play every k If I'm playing twenty twenty
four minutes a game, the guys that have to play
thirty to forty minutes a game have a lot more
on their plate.

Speaker 3 (08:01):
Brilly, on both ends. No, your team is going to
be a hell of a.

Speaker 5 (08:04):
Lot better if those guys feel a little recharged legs.

Speaker 8 (08:08):
Am I wrong?

Speaker 4 (08:09):
I've got you as a Philly guy?

Speaker 9 (08:09):
Are you a Philly guy?

Speaker 5 (08:11):
I'm well, I get called that all the time because
I went to college in Philly, but I grew up
in the Baltimore like DMV area, DC, Richmond.

Speaker 3 (08:19):
Like I played high school basketball in Richmond.

Speaker 5 (08:21):
I went to Philly to go to college and then
just basically established roots there forever, and so yes.

Speaker 3 (08:27):
It's always Philly guy, Philly guy.

Speaker 5 (08:28):
I Philly got Until people realize when football comes up
and how much I loath the Eagles and how much
I love the Commanders, That's when it starts to hit
home for people. I'm not a Philly guy, I guess,
but I love the city man. All of my closest
friends are up there, and my children are raised up there.

Speaker 3 (08:44):
So yeah.

Speaker 6 (08:45):
The reason I asked is because I was thinking, like
Tobias Harris has not looked like this since like maybe
five six years ago with Philly in the postseason. I
didn't think he was capable of being a reliable number
two score for the Pistons. Is he enough for them
to get past this round the next round even or
is this kind of exactly what we feared? If Tobias
Harris is your second leading scorer or sound.

Speaker 9 (09:07):
An incredible option.

Speaker 5 (09:08):
Yeah, Asie, it's kind of incredible to think what this
guy has done in the postseason because, by the way,
let's go back to Philly and he had he did
have one postseason with Philly. That was the only only
year that surpassed the numbers he's putting up now. But
for the most part, when the season would end, or
even a game within a series, the first place that

(09:29):
everybody would go on sports talk radio in Philly, or
the media or the fan base was Tobias Harris. Let's
just go in on Tobias Harris, right, because he had
that big contract, they thought automatically that's supposed to lead
to X numbers every night and at Yeah, he's a
consummate pro. If you really look at his career postseason numbers,
sixteen points, eight boards, just under fifty percent from the field,

(09:54):
forty percent is from the three or a little bit
like pretty damn good numbers. But he had moments in
series that was so important to two series. Game five,
here comes a one for eleven. Let's go in on
Tobias Harris, right, So for him to do this eight
straight twenty point games. He had a thirty point game seven.

(10:15):
If he doesn't play the way he's playing with Jalen
Duran going through these offensive struggles, if he doesn't pick
up the slackshity extent he did, I got news for you.
A sixty win one seed would have lost to an
eight seed. Tobias Harris Ky Cunningham was spectacular, but they
still don't win this series if you don't get the
offense from somewhere on an offensively limited team. Jalen Duran's

(10:39):
production has been cut in half in the postseason.

Speaker 3 (10:42):
Where's it going to come from? There's your answer.

Speaker 5 (10:44):
Tobas Harris hasn't missed a turn around jumper in this postseason.

Speaker 3 (10:46):
It feels like, so I just give the guy all
the credit in the world.

Speaker 5 (10:51):
It's incredible, like the way this guy has played, and
he may need he may need a couple more of
those to survive this round.

Speaker 3 (10:57):
With the calves that it's now two.

Speaker 5 (10:59):
To two and you know, game fives to night's going
to be just incredibly dramatic to see what happens. Ken
Cleveland finally win a road game in the postseason their
own five six and oh at home. I don't know,
Ken Ken, Detroit get another one of those games out
of Tobias, because if they don't, they might lose Game five,
go get closed out on the road in game six.

Speaker 3 (11:15):
That's what's on the line tonight. I think in Detroit.

Speaker 1 (11:20):
Legs, what team should Nick fans be rooting for to
face in the Eastern Conference Finals?

Speaker 4 (11:25):
Meaning which team do they match up better with the
Pistons to the cap?

Speaker 3 (11:28):
Well, clearly Cleveland for two reasons. One, if it's the Calves,
the Knicks have home court, So that's a bit. That's
a big deal. That's big, you know, just.

Speaker 5 (11:37):
Like just like in the last series, Like you're sitting
there watching the Philly Boston and you're going, well, if
Boston wins that series, the Knicks go on the road
to start the series. Instead Philly wins game seven. Oh,
you're sitting there watching the game. If you're a Nick
and you're that coaching staff, all of a sudden, you
go from going on the road to play Boston game
one to we're hosting now to Philadelphia seventy six ers
in game one. Like that's what's at stake in this series,

(11:59):
is well Cleveland wins, New York hosts the Eastern Conference Finals,
and that's one reason.

Speaker 3 (12:05):
The other reason is that Detroit Pistons.

Speaker 5 (12:06):
Just absolutely physically dominated the next in the regular season.
And so that to me, look, and they're going to
always say, you're always gonna sy, oh, we don't care
who we play, but just look at to me, those
two reasons alone, even if and even if you the
bisiness didn't do that to you, the fact that you'd
get home court will be enough to kind of secretly
root for the Cavaliers to pull this out.

Speaker 6 (12:29):
Speaking of the Calves, I'm sure you've had plenty of
opportunity to have the James Harden discussion over the last
few weeks, just wondering where you land because it Chris
cracks me up to him where people are just like, oh,
he had a good game, now, everybody shut up. Now
he had four terrible games. And it's just one of
those deals where it's like, hey, what is James Harden
right now? Is he this guy who's still you know,

(12:51):
all star level type of player or is the guy
that maybe you shouldn't have give that much.

Speaker 8 (12:55):
Responsibility to because he's lost his step. Where do you
stand on James?

Speaker 5 (13:00):
I think that look, I go back to the trade
they made. I said at the time, and I believe it,
the risk was worth it, you know. Over Darius Garland.
Darius got is a really good player. He's been an
All Star in this league. He's a different type of player.
James Harden can do things physically to a defense that
Darius Garland could not. He can make plays for other people. Yeah,
his size, strength, the velocity that he could put on

(13:22):
the ball to shooters on the weak side, the lob
threat that he represents to their bigs like, that's not
Darius Garland's game. And so for me to add that
other element to their team offensively, I said, you know,
it's worth it to make that trade when they made it.
Now with that, you have to understand there are going
to be some playoff moments where you're just you need

(13:45):
more out of James Harden and he's already had some
of those for Cleveland in this postseason. But and he's
had him throughout his career, and he's gotten beaten up
for it when he's had those Knights, and he's had
he had him in Houston, he had him in Philadelphia,
had him in Brooklyn. It was hurt more often than
Brooklyn and I, but I look at Philly and Houston
more than any he had those moments. We're like, man,
we really needed more out of him tonight to win

(14:06):
this game. Having said that, if he gets it done,
then we need to pat this guy on the back.
In the last two games, he came through late in
Game three. They lose that game if he doesn't have
eight critical points in the fourth quarter of that game
and now they're down three, Oh.

Speaker 3 (14:20):
They're not winning the series. They win the game.

Speaker 5 (14:22):
Then he goes back with twenty four and eleven in
Game four, and then obviously Mitchell was the story thirty
nine points in the second half. He went off at
the same time. But they're not sitting here too too
without James Harden the way he's played the last two games.
So it's really at the point is he where you
kind of go? I don't know which version we get tonight.
Here's how I've always described James Harden for me, for

(14:43):
a superstar talent, which he absolutely is, his floor to
ceiling variance is too great. In other words, you might
get a great player that's a twenty point scorer, he'll
get to twenty, but he took twenty four shots on
a given.

Speaker 3 (14:59):
Night, and like go he had a bad night, he
still got to twenty.

Speaker 5 (15:02):
Like Harden would have nights in Philly Ords Houston, Philly particular,
where you know three for ten.

Speaker 3 (15:08):
He's not even the same player. He's not aggressive.

Speaker 5 (15:10):
He with six turnovers, like his floor was so bad
it didn't give you a chance to win. That's how
I've seen him throughout his career. But I'm going to
give him all the credit in the world because he
always carries that going into every playoff game. People just
waiting to jump on James Harden to not play well.
So when he does like he did the last two games,
we need to pass this guy in the back man
and give him credit because they're not sitting here at

(15:31):
to two with a chance to win this series potentially
and get to the Conerence Final without what he did
in the last two games.

Speaker 6 (15:37):
Now I've got in these vaulted ceilings, yes, yeah.

Speaker 1 (15:41):
Well no, And the problem with padding him on the
back is you know the floors right around the corner.

Speaker 4 (15:45):
I mean that's right, that's the problem, right, I.

Speaker 5 (15:47):
Mean yeah, look again, you don't know from night to night.
Now where I've always where I've always liked James Harden
the most is in this lane, which is, yes, it'd
be great if he plays well because it can make
them almost unbeatable if he and Mitchell both play well. Right,
But the fact that he's got Mitchell, he doesn't have

(16:08):
to necessarily play great, right, biggest spots because you've got
this other guy that's going to get a lot more descruity.
Look a Mitchell is going to go from you know,
nineteen twenty shots in the regular season to twenty four
to twenty five in playoff games. One thing about Don
and Mitchell, He's not going to disappear in terms of
his aggressiveness. He might have a bad shooting night, he's
going to actually up his aggressiveness because that's what's required
of who he is. So for Harden to be in

(16:30):
this lane, I like him better here where he can
have moments that really matter, but he doesn't necessarily have
to go get thirty and ten the way that I
felt he did in Philly or Houston.

Speaker 7 (16:43):
Like switching to another Mitchell in the postseason. Aj Mitchell's
emergence in OKC, where you're looking at some of the
thunder contracts coming up, dort Hart and Stein have club
options this offseason. Is any part of you thinking that
the Thunder should explore trade for for Jalen Williams before
you have to pay his super Max.

Speaker 5 (17:04):
I think that all that's on the table for that
team is you just can't pay everybody.

Speaker 3 (17:08):
You can't pay everybody.

Speaker 5 (17:09):
And when they give those three their three best players,
got you know, something close toal billion dollars guaranteed. You
know all the money that they gave those three guys
and their age, and they're the fact that they win.
They're great guys, high character guys. It all fits great,
Let's do it. That means you're not gonna pay everybody else,
so they're gonna have some tough decisions to make. There's
no doubt in my mind that Aj Mitchell going forward

(17:31):
at some point will be a starting point guard on
a team that is a legit solid playoff team to
upwards maybe have a contending team.

Speaker 4 (17:41):
He's that good.

Speaker 5 (17:42):
Dylan Harper's going to be in this boat down the road.
You unless you keep Dylan Harper and win me together
for ten years and that could be an incredible combination.

Speaker 3 (17:49):
But you've got Fox there, You've got Castle.

Speaker 5 (17:51):
There already, these guys that are like coming off the bench,
these young guards that are so good. At some point
the opportunity has to change for them. And that means
really that won't be for Harper. Harper's gonna be a superstar.
AJ Mitchell is definitely going to be a starting point
card on a really good team. When that happens, I
don't know, but it means tough decisions on their current

(18:12):
starters or on Mitchell going forward for that organization. There's
other guys too, Caruso, Hartenstein, Dort like all those guys,
there's gonna be decisions made on.

Speaker 4 (18:21):
Legs.

Speaker 1 (18:21):
Is every other team playing for second place? It seems
like Oklahoma City is just gonna run away with the
NBA Finals?

Speaker 4 (18:26):
Here? Is Are we all playing for second place? Here?

Speaker 5 (18:28):
I mean, I do think they deserve the respect to
say that they're definitely on a different tier.

Speaker 3 (18:32):
You have to give them that.

Speaker 5 (18:33):
Man, They're not only defending champs, they're they're they're unbeaten,
they haven't been super chest tested. You get a Phoenix
team in the first round, you know you're supposed to
do that to them. You get a Lakers team about Luca,
you should do this to them. So their big test
is coming and San Antonio clearly, you know, assuming they
win this series, but they got work to do. I'm
not going to rule out Minnesota, but it looks like

(18:54):
San Antonio, Oklahoma City is sort of it headed for
this collision. Course if you get that, that's gonna be
their biggest test to this point, and then you're gonna
have to obviously win the NBA Finals there are they
deserve to be given the credit because of how clean
they play, how good they are in both ends their
depth for me, that and you know how exceptionally well
coached they are that you have to give them the
respect that say they should be looked at as the favorite.

Speaker 3 (19:17):
The road is going to get tougher for them from
this point on.

Speaker 6 (19:20):
Obviously, Like there's so much talk about Wemby when it
comes to the Spurs. Obviously he's transformational, But you just
mentioned Daron Fox, and even that name kind of gets
lost in my head because.

Speaker 8 (19:30):
I'm like, man Stefan Castle, Man Harper is really good.

Speaker 6 (19:33):
They've got so many good players, and it just makes
me wonder, like do you think that they're that they're
ready now? Even if Wemby himself might not be ready.
The team as a whole is ready now to start
their championship run.

Speaker 5 (19:44):
Perhaps, Yeah, to be honest with you, I see I'm
more likely to give them like the just even the
benefit of the doubt that they could win it this
year because of the rest of the team, right, not
even about Wemby for me, as great as he is
and what is he's going to do to this league
for the next ten to fifteen years.

Speaker 3 (20:04):
We all know what that looks like, the fact that
they're this good around them, but this is this.

Speaker 5 (20:10):
I mean, you find a better trio of guards in
the NBA than what they have Darren Fox. People remember
Dear Fox average twenty five points a game multiple times
in Sacramento, Okay, didn't have a lot of playoff experience
because he was on a team that couldn't compete. This
is a guy that has sacrificed offensively until you get
to this point in the year and he can do things.

(20:30):
What he needs to within the game is to find
castle rookie of the year. One of the best physical
specimens I've seen come into this league at the guard
spot in a long time, just physically dominant on both ends.
And then you have Harper, who I've already described as
a budding superstar. It's and it's Vassal, It's it's Kelden
Johnson six Man of the Year and the toughness he brings.
It's they went out and picked up Lou Cornette, such

(20:51):
a great addition as a backup to women like I
just love the depth of their team, how complete They
already beat you on.

Speaker 3 (20:57):
Both ends of the floor.

Speaker 5 (20:58):
And it's more for me about the supporting cast than
it even is about Wemby. Honestly, if they didn't have
those guys, I'm not sure Wemby would be ready right
now to take this across the finish line. That that
supporting cast means maybe maybe they are ready already, which
is scary for the league.

Speaker 1 (21:15):
Uh do you think do you think the referees are
having difficulties officiating Wemby because they've never seen anything like Wemby.

Speaker 4 (21:22):
Definitely what the black shots calls.

Speaker 5 (21:24):
Yes, well, look, he's I think that he's so long
that like you have guys now that are big players
that like their top of their head is hitting him
right in the middle of his chest, and so like
they're where their center of gravity is is like just different,
like they're used to putting a forearm into another big
to hold them off on a box out or or

(21:45):
post them up, and they're putting that North used to
putting that elbow right into somebody's chest, they're putting their
elbow like into his waist and it's and even even
boxing them out like, so it's different where he's absorbing
the contact. It's different to officiate a guy like this.
And I just think in general, like the playoffs are
so difficult to officiate in general because which is what

(22:10):
we all want. What you allow just becomes so much
greater because that's what that's what fans want to see.
They don't want to see a parade to the foul line.
They want to see guys play through contact. But I'm
telling you right now, like there are literally multiple fouls
being committed on every trip up the floor that aren't
that would.

Speaker 3 (22:29):
Be called definitely in the regular season.

Speaker 5 (22:31):
And so now you add into the component this guy
at seven foot five and you know, a couple hundred pounds,
and it's like this looks different. I don't know, it's
just like with Shaq used to play because he was
a unique one of one, right, and you're like you're
like this guy's getting hammered, but it doesn't seem to
be knocking them off.

Speaker 3 (22:46):
Balance, so maybe we shouldn't call that.

Speaker 5 (22:48):
Then, I like, yes, it was Lemby, It's it's it's
kind of like the same thing, like he could maybe
really get displaced with a little bit of contact, And
you're like, I was, you know, was that enough or
is it just because of how little he weighs. So
it's a challenge, man, There's no doubt. He's an incredible

(23:08):
force man, incredibly entertaining and is so unique to watch the.

Speaker 1 (23:12):
NBA Finals that Tim Legler thinks would be the most
competitive is Blanke.

Speaker 5 (23:17):
Oh man, Look, I think I think it's gonna be
right now, the way that the Knicks are playing, I
just think that that is the team that's the closest
to the best version of themselves. And they've got an
incredibly talented starting lineup. So whoever would come out of
the West and you know, whether that's okayc or if
you think it's gonna be okay Ce san Antonio, Like,

(23:39):
it's going to require that to give us the best
version of an NBA Finals against whoever comes out of
the Western Conference. So right now, that would be the Knicks.
I just think the Knicks are playing as well as
anybody in this league. And I think there was a
time when I thought, you know, earlier in the season,
I thought it's a forgone conclusion. Whoever represents the East

(24:00):
can't beat whoever wins the West. Right, that's kind of
how And I actually at the time I was putting
Denver into that category as well, with Oklahoma City in
San Antonio. And I think the Knicks have kind of
changed that narrative the way they're playing, the way that
they finished these last two series.

Speaker 3 (24:14):
Man, it's like, wow, Like, how do you slow that down?
The rhythm they have?

Speaker 9 (24:18):
Right.

Speaker 1 (24:19):
I don't want to put words in his mouth, Tailor,
but it seems like Tim Legler feels like the Knicks
match up very well with Oklahoma City.

Speaker 4 (24:24):
I mean, how about that.

Speaker 8 (24:25):
It's hard to tell, Tim, but Taylor's never been more excited.

Speaker 4 (24:28):
Yeah, I also don't want to get ahead of myself.
They have another series to play, but this is exciting.

Speaker 5 (24:33):
Well, look, you think about you think about this and
whether it's whether it's Cleveland Detroit or obviously Nicks are
already in the Commerce Finals, so whether it's Cleveland Detroit
with Kate Cunningham, Donovan Mitchell, Slash, James Harden or Jalen Brunson.
You know, and if it's Oklahoma City that ended up
being the finals against shag Kil's is Alexander. I mean,
you know, it's like the best of the best at

(24:55):
that position. Yes, you know, it's it's it's just like
you know, in the way that those guys control everything
for their teams. But look, I'm not getting ahead of myself, man,
you know, and calling games because you're it's You're a
lot less likely to get ahead of yourself.

Speaker 3 (25:09):
You're in studio.

Speaker 5 (25:10):
You can say whatever, and then tomorrow I'll say whatever else,
and the next day I'll.

Speaker 3 (25:13):
Say something different.

Speaker 5 (25:14):
Yes, yes, calling games is a little bit different because
you go into them giving teams a benefit of the doubt, right,
and you want to you don't know how it's about
to go. And we have we have the Knicks already
sitting there. I don't know who's gonna win this Detroit
Cleveland series. I don't know who's gonna win San Antonio
and Minnesota either.

Speaker 10 (25:29):
Man.

Speaker 5 (25:30):
There's work to be done for San Antonio to even
get the the the good fortune of playing Oklahoma City
and then obviously tonight is tonight is I think is
like the pivotal game.

Speaker 3 (25:42):
Obviously in this series with Detroit Cleveland, the game to.

Speaker 1 (25:47):
Game two, to me is the second most important game
of the series. Like, what do you think, Well, we
all know, we all know Game two. I mean, you
know everyone, how many champions.

Speaker 3 (25:55):
In history did not win Game two?

Speaker 1 (25:57):
Yes, yes, I mean it's a game that can really
dictate the rest of the series. You're down one oh,
and that Game two becomes, you know, vastly important.

Speaker 9 (26:05):
You know.

Speaker 1 (26:05):
That's why Game two there's so much effences and if
you're up one oh, you can end the series on
a game two.

Speaker 4 (26:10):
How about that.

Speaker 5 (26:10):
I think if you went and really charted all of
this the second inning in baseball, like game two of
a hockey series, the second round in boxing. Yeah right,
it's all of these things are very determinate, and who
ends up ultimately winning. I think Game two in the
NBA at the top of the list of important must have.

Speaker 1 (26:29):
Well, thank you, Legs, I appreciate that. Keep your eye
on the second hole of the PGA Championship this weekend, guys,
it's a big hole.

Speaker 4 (26:34):
I'm telling you exactly what's going to do all of this.

Speaker 1 (26:37):
Yeah, Taylor, we get legs out of here.

Speaker 4 (26:42):
Just a second. Taylor is a quick boy. Go ahead, Taylor.

Speaker 7 (26:43):
Yeah, I was just going to clarify. I haven't been
this excited about the Knicks to since they won the
NBA Cup, right.

Speaker 3 (26:54):
Yes, listen, do you think you think about it?

Speaker 9 (26:56):
Man?

Speaker 5 (26:56):
You got you know a team that this this at
a city that loves basketball this much, franchise like the
Knicks fifty three years.

Speaker 3 (27:06):
I mean, that's what we're talking about.

Speaker 5 (27:07):
Yes, I think since those glory days went four straight
Eastern Conference Finals, I think from seventy one to seventy
four two finals appearances. Since then, I think this is
their seventh conference finals appearance. They've been to the finals
a couple times, have not been able to get across
the finish line. I think the way this team is
playing right now, I think all nick fans feel exactly

(27:30):
the same way. They feel like this could be the
end of this drought.

Speaker 6 (27:35):
I don't know what I would do if the Dolphins
won a Super Bowl, but I imagine it's close to
what Taylor feels like right now, because this is close
as he's ever been.

Speaker 5 (27:42):
Well, think about this guy was the year. The Commanders
are my squad. As everybody knows, it's been Ben since
ninety one. So you're talking about thirty five years and
guess what you got to tackle on eighteen more to
get to the Knicks.

Speaker 8 (27:55):
I mean, so this.

Speaker 3 (27:58):
Is how long this is?

Speaker 1 (28:00):
Yes, yes, yes, we're starting fork go ahead is we've
been talking a lot of playoffs.

Speaker 6 (28:05):
So I was looking because I was like, man, you
were in a playoff series that I loved. And then
I realized that's your only playoff series in your career.

Speaker 5 (28:11):
Not you was man like, not your fan. No, And look,
it's honestly that the course of my career changed when
I you know, at the height of my career, when
I was twenty nine and I thought I was the
best shooter in the league, and I blew my knee
up man badly and I just never really recovered from that.

Speaker 3 (28:26):
I retired at a younger age or else.

Speaker 5 (28:28):
You know, you never know where your career would lead you,
what team you could go to later in your career
and compete for a championship.

Speaker 3 (28:33):
It wasn't able to happen for me. But it's it's
it's okay, So it's too.

Speaker 6 (28:37):
I don't know if you remember this series, this was
Chris Webber, Juwan Howard, cal Shaney, Rod Strickland on that
team against of course the Bulls of ninety three.

Speaker 3 (28:48):
Ninety ninety six, seven ninety seven, and it.

Speaker 6 (28:51):
Was three games, so it was a sweet yeh man,
all amazing. What was your favorite memory of that and
why was it? Michael Jordan dropping fifty.

Speaker 3 (28:58):
Five fifty five in game one? I believe it was.

Speaker 5 (29:01):
That was certainly memorable, but it was for me it
was it was going into the arena at home when
the series shifted.

Speaker 3 (29:08):
First first two were in Chicago.

Speaker 5 (29:10):
We go to Washington and we go into the arena
and just like like played there for four years, I
never felt anything like the electricity getting eaten to the
arena that night, Like it was like the Bulls were
in town and for a playoff series, that was the
best home environment that particular night I ever experienced when
I was playing in Washington and we took them right

(29:31):
to the wire. I think Scotty Pippen had a three
point play and inside of a minute to go that
gave them the lead and they were able to.

Speaker 3 (29:38):
Hold on it beat us three straight.

Speaker 5 (29:40):
But after the game, Michael Jordan famously said the Bullets
are the next team to look out for in the
Eastern Conference because of all of the young, big talent
we had.

Speaker 3 (29:50):
And then we proceeded to trade it all away after that.
So I watched.

Speaker 5 (29:58):
Yeah, Yeah, we traded web, We traded we had already
traded Rashid at that point after one year. We traded
Ben Wallace away, we traded Weber. Everybody left.

Speaker 1 (30:08):
Man, wait till Leron gets there. Wait, listen, well hold on,
we'll get to that in a second. When Jordan says
you're close, what you do is you trade away all
your best players. That's what you do. We'll let Tim
get out of here. At just as second. Taylor has
a theory here. The only way that Lebron can catch
Jordan is if he go if he does something that
Jordan couldn't do, go to Washington and win an NBA title.

Speaker 4 (30:29):
How do you feel about that if he were to
pull that off.

Speaker 5 (30:31):
I think everybody would probably put him there if he
pulls that off. I mean, that's just looking at where
they are right now. They've already had a bunch of
lottery picks. They just added the number one pick in
the draft. But they're so young. They seem so far away.
If Lebron are able to go there in one year
and do that pairing up with Ad again, yeah, I
think a lot of people would put Lebron there.

Speaker 8 (30:51):
It looks like they got a hole in the small
forward spot. I think it's perfect for him.

Speaker 1 (30:56):
They got a hold the power forward. He's always injured anyway. Listen,
it's the right thing to say. Just say yes, because
he knows Lebron's not going to do it, meaning go
to Washington.

Speaker 4 (31:06):
That's somewhere he's going.

Speaker 1 (31:07):
All right, Yes, Game five tonight, Calves and Pistons. Tim
Legler is on the call. He is excellent. He knows
more basketball than any person I know, by a lot,
except for Israel Goody. Era's close second. Tim, Thanks for
the time. We appreciate. Were you nervous before that game too?
In the playoffs?

Speaker 4 (31:23):
Were you nervous the game?

Speaker 11 (31:24):
You know?

Speaker 3 (31:25):
Always?

Speaker 4 (31:25):
Game two?

Speaker 9 (31:27):
You know that? All right.

Speaker 4 (31:30):
We appreciate the time during a busy time. Thank you
for doing this, man, you got.

Speaker 3 (31:34):
It anytime, guys, all right, thank you.

Speaker 2 (31:36):
B Be sure to catch live editions of Stu Godson
Company Live Weekday, said three pm Eastern, twelve pm Pacific.

Speaker 1 (31:44):
Or very exciting. Landon Donovan is with us. He was
asking us Nicks questions right before we got started. Here
he is with us on behalf of Next Cafe Espresso Keg,
what are you doing with them?

Speaker 4 (31:55):
Landing before we get to the Knicks and maybe some soccer.

Speaker 11 (31:58):
Well, I grew up with My mom had it in
the home growing up, so it's nostalgic for me. But
as we get to the Knicks, imagine the Knicks playing
four times a day, every day.

Speaker 12 (32:09):
For thirty nine days.

Speaker 11 (32:11):
Just what the World Cup's going to be this summer
and we have an ability to talk about soccer twenty
four to seven, And I think the best way to
do it is with Nest Cafe and connecting before the game,
after the game, continuing to talk about this sport that
I love so much.

Speaker 4 (32:27):
How many espressed espressos does land and Donovan.

Speaker 11 (32:30):
Have in a day, Well, when I'm working the World Cup,
it's going to be like two or three. It's as
you know, when you're working sporting events like that, it's
a grind.

Speaker 4 (32:41):
So I have the.

Speaker 11 (32:44):
Amazing opportunity to call the games, but it's a lot
of work, and Next Cafe helps me stay energized throughout.

Speaker 6 (32:50):
It Land, and I got a bunch of World Cup questions.
But I really want to ask you a next question,
because you're asking about the next excited level of fandom.
How excited are you with them?

Speaker 11 (33:01):
Well, I'm just I like to see teams that have
perpetually suffered do well in some cases. I've gotten to
know Jerry Ferrara, who was turntle On Entourage, pretty well
and he's a diehard Knicks fan. So we were at
an event last month together and he has so much
anxiety around this, So to see them doing well makes

(33:21):
me happy for him and happy for Knicks fans Landon.

Speaker 7 (33:24):
We're running into a problem where we would love to
sit court side at a Knicks playoff game, but we
don't really have an in. You could stroll into Madison
Square Garden tomorrow and they'll put you right there.

Speaker 4 (33:34):
That's right.

Speaker 7 (33:35):
Could we come to the game with you potentially?

Speaker 4 (33:36):
Maybe? What do you think I mean we think we
need Yeah.

Speaker 12 (33:39):
You need to call Jerry. I think we can get you.

Speaker 9 (33:42):
Wait, you turtle call.

Speaker 4 (33:44):
You've never sat court side for the next game? No, sir, really,
I would love to.

Speaker 11 (33:49):
Yeah, you know what, I would actually prefer to do
at MSG is go to a Billy Joel concert.

Speaker 4 (33:54):
Really, can you help me do that?

Speaker 1 (33:56):
Listen, you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours. I'll get
you to Billy Joel. You get me courtside for a
next game, and we're good.

Speaker 4 (34:02):
I'll take preseason landed.

Speaker 1 (34:06):
Have you been frustrated because I've been railing against US
men's soccer And I'm sorry to do that, Okay, but
I'm gonna be honest with you and tell you because
I've been hearing since the nineteen eighties that this is it,
this is the soccer splurg that we're finally going to
see the explosion of men's soccer in the United States,
and yet it's never happened, and I'm wondering why it
hasn't happened. And if you're frustrated over the fact that

(34:29):
it hasn't happened yet, well.

Speaker 12 (34:32):
I view it a little bit differently.

Speaker 11 (34:34):
And this is not believe me, not drinking the kool aid,
because I'm as critical as anybody. But we want things
in society to happen right away. And the reality is,
if you look at Bajor League Baseball, the NFL, the
NBA in the early days they weren't what they are now, right.

Speaker 12 (34:48):
So this takes time to build.

Speaker 11 (34:51):
My frustration is in two thousand and two I played
in a World Cup in South Korea. We got to
the quarterfinals and that is still the furthest we've ever got.
And so my frustration is not about off the field
and the growth. I think the growth of soccer in
this country has been amazing. It's more on the field.
Why we haven't eclipsed that. And there was a study

(35:11):
just came out recently. They asked, I think it's a
thousand Americans what their favorite sport was. NFL was number one,
is predictable, NBA was number two. Soccer was number three
for the first time, ahead of baseball and hockey. And
so the sport is growing off the field, But my
frustration sometimes lies with why haven't we achieved more on

(35:31):
the field.

Speaker 4 (35:32):
Why haven't we.

Speaker 12 (35:35):
I'm going to stay off my soapbox here, but I'll
keep this brief.

Speaker 11 (35:40):
The reality is is you have to develop players that
are capable of playing at a world class level, and
we just haven't done that. We had more world class
players twenty years ago than we do today. And the
youth soccer and youth development in this country needs some work,
so we have to do a better job of that,

(36:00):
and that's how you get players that can succeed at
this level.

Speaker 7 (36:03):
Landon, what do you think are realistic expectations for the
US entering this World Cup? Because every time I hear
Poach talk about this team, he's not really getting me excited.
When he's like, we don't have any top one hundred players,
he's lower expectations.

Speaker 12 (36:19):
You don't have to have top level talent to succeed,
like look at the Knicks.

Speaker 9 (36:25):
No, I'm just kidding.

Speaker 12 (36:28):
If you have, especially in.

Speaker 11 (36:30):
Soccer, if you have eleven men or women who play
well together, if they have enough quality.

Speaker 12 (36:36):
You can succeed. Our two thousand and two team was
a great example of that.

Speaker 11 (36:40):
We didn't have any top fifty players in the world
on that team, but we were successful because we were
a good team. This team has better players than any
team we've ever had on the men's side, and so
if they're able to get that part right, continuity and
playing well together, they can do very very well. They
have a very favorable group. We should get out of

(37:02):
our group no problem, and we should probably win our group,
and from there that sets you on a path that
gives you a really good chance to go deep into
the tournament.

Speaker 6 (37:09):
That kind of scares me, to be honest, to say
that a US team should get out of the group
or should win the group.

Speaker 1 (37:15):
Like I don't know, I don't know what nobody's saying it,
but I think you're saying soccer fans could take some
solace in this team is good enough and they're set
up correctly for them to have a good World Cup.

Speaker 12 (37:24):
Yeah, and they look, you have to perform right that.

Speaker 11 (37:27):
The reality with soccer, not just similar from the Olympics,
is every four years you have the ability to do
something really special that grows the sport more than anything
in the prior four years could do. So they have
an opportunity this summer, especially with it being on home soil,
to really push the sport forward.

Speaker 6 (37:47):
Landon obviously played in World Cups, attended other World Cups,
and it is such you know, it is the world
sporting event, right, But it feels like, and correct me
if I'm wrong here, it feels like it's getting some
bad pr here in North America just from some of
the whether it be the cost situation, ticket prices, transportation,
what have you for somebody who has the perspective of
understanding how massive these events are. Are we getting prematurely upset?

(38:12):
Will it live up to, you know, expectations of this
event that we love here in our country or in
this continent, or is it you know, is some of
the things that are approaching as its tournament approach is
really questioning or questionable.

Speaker 11 (38:25):
Rather, Yes, we're going to have the level of excitement
and it's going to meet and exceed the expectations. Every
World Cup I've been a part of since I can remember,
there's this quiet period about a month or two before
the World Cup where there's no qualifiers, the rosters haven't
been announced yet, the teams have already been drawn into

(38:45):
the groups, and so there's really nothing to talk about, right,
and so you start to hear blurbs of disappointment or
this or every World Cup I've been a part of
has been spectacular. There's been no issues, and I fully
anticipate the exact same aim to happen this summer. Once
we get into June, all of this will dissipate and
and people be really excited to connect around this beautiful Gamelandon.

Speaker 7 (39:09):
You had a loan spell at Everton. I'm a Liverpool guys,
but we'll save that. Could you explain to people in
the US that maybe aren't following the Premier League that
closely the disaster that would be Tottenham getting relegated and
going down.

Speaker 12 (39:30):
Yeah, I mean, I'll equate it to your neck of
the woods.

Speaker 11 (39:33):
It would like it would be like the Yankees finishing
in last place and playing in Triple A next year
because of that. And so in the soccer world, if
you finish in the bottom three of the English Premier League,
you move down to the division lower. And so can
you imagine the Yankees playing the you know, Hot Tucket
Red Sox every game or during the year next year,

(39:57):
and and some other team coming up that is that
is the equivalent of it.

Speaker 12 (40:01):
And so there's a.

Speaker 11 (40:01):
Massive story going on in England that Tottenham, one of
the historically best teams, may end up getting relegated to
a division below Landin.

Speaker 1 (40:11):
We'll get to Taylor's soccer roles that he wants to
apply to US sports in just a second. I am
wondering if you could explain to the audience here the difference,
at least from your perspective of playing in a World
Cup soccer game as opposed to any other soccer match.

Speaker 12 (40:27):
Yeah. Again, I'll use sports analogy.

Speaker 11 (40:29):
So Yankees, Red Sox or Knick Nets or Nick Sixers
or you have that pride and that passion for your
city and your team, and we have that with regular
soccer matches with our club teams. The difference in a
World Cup is you're putting national pride on top of that.
So when you think about the greatest college football rivalries

(40:51):
and the intensity and how the fans feel, now add
national pride to that. And so if you get a
chance to go to a game, I would absolutely recommend
people it because it is unlike any sporting event you'll
ever see in your life.

Speaker 4 (41:03):
Landon.

Speaker 7 (41:04):
The one that I really want to bring over is
players going on loan where teams like the Marlins need money. Yeah,
so they could just take like, you know, twenty million
dollars to loan out some of their best players. Of
the Yankees, you think that could work in Americans?

Speaker 12 (41:16):
Actually, I actually love that. I guess I love it
in all sports.

Speaker 11 (41:19):
Or it's it's more like if the Yankees have a
really good prospect, but he's you know, sitting behind Aaron
Judge and he's not going to play for two, three, four?
Can you loan him to a team that has less
money that you know and needs him and let him
play there for the year.

Speaker 12 (41:36):
I think it's a great idea.

Speaker 4 (41:37):
Who's not a threat? Like, you know, who's not a
threat to you?

Speaker 12 (41:40):
Right?

Speaker 11 (41:40):
You want to maybe to the other conference or the
other the national league or you know.

Speaker 4 (41:45):
Yeah, last quick thing landed?

Speaker 7 (41:46):
Is there?

Speaker 6 (41:46):
If there's a guy on the team who would be
more of a household name by the end of this
World Cup on the US team, who would that be?

Speaker 11 (41:53):
Well, there's a few who some people will know are
people who fall soccer. Christian Polisic for sure. I think
Weston McKenny, who plays in Italy as well for Juventus.
He's playing literally the best soccer of his life right
now heading into the tournament. He's also charismatic, very like
good on camera, fun to be around. I think if

(42:14):
he performs well, he could absolutely be the breakout star
for our team this.

Speaker 1 (42:18):
World Cudright, final question, We'll get you out of here
and promote Nest Cafe one more time we play a
game around here, PK for your life.

Speaker 4 (42:24):
Okay, you have to choose a guy to take a.

Speaker 1 (42:26):
Penalty kick and your life depends on it, all right,
Messi or Ronaldo?

Speaker 9 (42:30):
Right?

Speaker 4 (42:31):
Which one? Messi? Ronaldo PK for your life. It's a
tough one.

Speaker 12 (42:35):
Yes, I take either.

Speaker 8 (42:37):
But he's feeling pretty good about your life.

Speaker 11 (42:40):
I'll say Messi because he's won a World Cup, so
he can handle the pressure, and he's had so much
pressure on him his whole career.

Speaker 4 (42:45):
All right, Lenn, we appreciate the time.

Speaker 1 (42:46):
One more time on the way out, if you don't mind,
please promote what it is you're doing with nest cafet.

Speaker 9 (42:52):
You.

Speaker 11 (42:52):
We're encouraging people to connect through the game that I
really love, and there are going to be four games
a day for most is, so wake up, have a
coffee in between the games. Connect you have you know,
both of the haves, and think of this as your
third half where you're talking about the game and connecting
with people you love, using this cafe to help feel you.

Speaker 4 (43:14):
All right, man, we appreciate it. You're great.

Speaker 1 (43:17):
I'll be in touch with you about Billy Joel work
on the Nick floor seats for America.

Speaker 6 (43:21):
Yes, American sports hero should always get tickets to whatever
MSGIV I.

Speaker 1 (43:25):
Think Landon doesn't realize he can walk into the Mecca
today and sit court side.

Speaker 4 (43:29):
He doesn't realize what a hero he is. He does it.
Thank you, Landon.

Speaker 12 (43:32):
Thanks, I hope you're right all right.

Speaker 3 (43:34):
Thank you.

Speaker 2 (43:35):
Be sure to catch live editions of Stu Gotson Company
live weekdays at three pm Eastern twelve pm Pacific on
Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio app.

Speaker 4 (43:47):
Very excited about this.

Speaker 1 (43:48):
His brother has become a friend of mine, a friend
of the show, Chris Long. Kyle Long is with us though,
and I'm very excited he's with us to promote Generation five.
We have a game for him at the end. He
loves games, which I very excited about. Tell us about
what you're doing with Generation Fine, Kyle.

Speaker 9 (44:04):
All right, So I partner with Johnson and Johnson on
the Generation Fine movement, which is really having an attention
to the fact that we all deal with mental health.
You know, we all have it's a spectrum, so we've
all got a different thing going on. But one thing
we can all have a unifying conversation over is the
fact that talking about this stuff is good. And when

(44:25):
I played, everybody would always text me during the season.
You know, nobody sees you during the season, but they
text you, how you doing, I'm fine, I'm good. That
doesn't have to be the benchmark, right Like, we should
be striving for better than that. And in order to
do that, you're gonna have to have some tough conversations.
Look yourself in the mirror. And a great place to
start if you feel like you're somebody that's dealing with

(44:46):
this is generation dash fine dot com. There's tools, resources, information.
But being in a football family, I know how important
mental health is. It doesn't affect just me, but my wife,
my the people I work with, and it goes for players, coaches, scouts,
support staff, trainers in the NFL, and I would imagine

(45:08):
it permeates everywhere on earth. People have to deal with
mental health. So this is a good starting point. I
want to destigmatize that conversation.

Speaker 4 (45:18):
I was going to ask, why is this a personal
thing for you? Why is this so important to you?

Speaker 9 (45:22):
Well, when I was playing, I started to notice that
there were some days that were harder than others to
get out of bed. I mean even when I was
an All Pro, and it wasn't because I was sore.
It was because I had something going on between the
six inches between my ears and I had to take accountability,
take ownership, and realize that, Like if I sprain my ankle,
I'm going to go and take care of that and

(45:43):
I'm going to do the treatment that I need. Why
wouldn't I do the same thing if I'm dealing with
depression or anxiety or anything along those lines. There's a
lot of us that do. And I promise you we've
all got a little bit of poundage that's sitting on
our shoulders and on our chest because of things that
we didn't say, conversations we haven't had, regrets we may have.

(46:04):
So I would urge you guys to step up. And
you know, I want to say, you know, be a man,
and I want to rebrand that too. I mean, being
a man's looking out for yourself and the people that
love you and you love. What better way to do
that than to have these conversations.

Speaker 8 (46:23):
Hey, Kyle, I'm curious, hello, by the way, are you doing?
What do you suggest when somebody doesn't know?

Speaker 9 (46:28):
Like?

Speaker 8 (46:30):
What does that feel like?

Speaker 6 (46:31):
What if I don't know if having a bad day
actually just means anything, if it's weighing on me, isn't
that the conversations that they have to have, right.

Speaker 9 (46:39):
I would say that you learn about yourself in comparing
and contrasting with others. And while you and I may
not have the same things, I'm sure that in a
five to two minute conversation you and I can find
something that's like common ground this ven diagram, And if
you talk to enough people, or if you have enough

(47:00):
conversations with that person, you should be able to identify
some of the things that maybe you know, what I
thought I was doing great, but this I can tweak
the margins on this, I can be even better than great.
You know. It's it's applicable for anybody on this spectrum.

Speaker 1 (47:15):
Kyle, I'm wondering you and your brother do such great
work off the field, Like who instilled that into you guys?

Speaker 4 (47:21):
Was that from your parents? Was that dad who told you, hey,
use the platform, use it for good, for good.

Speaker 9 (47:26):
Use Well, my dad's obviously always been, you know, a
model citizen. But it's it's my mom, Diane, who is
just on you know, she's on dozens of boards for
nonprofits and charitable organizations. I think that using your platform
and helping other people is something that we got from

(47:46):
our dad, but we definitely got from our mom. Diane
and she's an all star. And you can see it
with Chris. I mean, he's been a man on a
mission for a long time.

Speaker 4 (47:55):
Kyle.

Speaker 7 (47:55):
I saw a funny story about you and Matt Naggie's
first day with the Bears.

Speaker 8 (48:04):
Could you tell these guys about that story.

Speaker 4 (48:06):
He's rubbing his heads, I'll do his face. What is
going on on?

Speaker 9 (48:10):
Good research, by the way, good research. So I had
just moved into a new house in Lake Forest, Illinois.
Beautiful house, beautiful house, and I knew that the first
day was this was like a Sunday night. I go
to bed, I plug my phone in, I set my alarm.
I'm an early guy. I'm their way early. I bring
like a sixty degree wedge and I'm out there hitting it.

(48:32):
You know, you got to tell me to get out
of the building. Well, I plugged my phone into a
dead outlet and I used white noise and white noise
on Spotify. It drains your battery unless you're plugged in.
I woke up peacefully at about seven thirty am, which
was about an hour and a half after my alarm
was supposed to go off. And I'm I'm like one

(48:54):
of the guys on this team. And we have a
brand new coach. Well, I slept through that meeting and
the first meeting, and in the video in the presentation
was like we need guys that are accountable and do things.
And it's like I'm all over the presentation. I'm like
the guy and I'm nowhere to be found. I just

(49:18):
remember the head of security, John Tarpy, called me. I'm
in my kitchen like scrambling to get out the door,
and Tarpy called me. He's like, you missed the first meeting.
And I'm like, this is not what it looks like.
It wasn't a contract situation or anything. It was just
a dead outlet and here I am talking about it

(49:38):
nine years later. I'll never forget that, so I always
make sure my stuff is charging.

Speaker 1 (49:43):
You're scarred by that. I mean it's like that was
painful for you. I mean, yeah, you need that though,
you kind.

Speaker 9 (49:49):
Of need that, like fear right, if you're going to
be in the National Football League.

Speaker 1 (49:53):
Would you be surprised if I told you during Super
Bowl Week your brother invited me out on a lawn
to take ushrooms and just stare at the Golden Gate Bridge.

Speaker 9 (50:02):
This is like the least surprising thing I've ever heard.
You know, Chris is always on his journey of discovery,
and I think that did you take him up on
that invitation?

Speaker 4 (50:14):
Also not surprising Stu, No, no, no, Chris did not.
Chris Taylor told the story Chris never showed up to
the lawn. I think he took him. He was too
paranoid to leave the house, something like.

Speaker 9 (50:25):
You know what, it sounds like an overwhelming evening. And
I'm you know, me and Chris are so we're so alike,
but we're so different. I mean, I'm so happy to
know him. Man, he exposes me to so many crazy things.
I'm just I'm just happy. He's a nice guy, is he?

Speaker 1 (50:41):
We're gonna play a game here of Chris or Kyle,
and then we'll have Chris on to get his answers
and we'll match him up against Kyle's answers.

Speaker 4 (50:47):
How does that sound you like games? You said, right?

Speaker 9 (50:51):
Love games? Big game guy.

Speaker 4 (50:53):
Okay, Mom's favorite, Chris my favorite.

Speaker 9 (50:58):
Yeah, I'm gonna take Kyle.

Speaker 4 (51:02):
Huh really why?

Speaker 10 (51:06):
I just I don't know.

Speaker 9 (51:07):
I got a gut feeling here.

Speaker 2 (51:10):
Here's the deal.

Speaker 9 (51:11):
So my mom and I have a lot of overlap,
Like obviously people look at me and they're like, Oh,
that's how he's kid. He's huge, he's a football player.
My mom was like musical theater. I did that in
junior high drama club. I was into that. There's a
lot of the things that my mom that makes up
her personality that I find in me. Chris and my
dad are very similar in terms of just like type

(51:34):
a squarehead, great hair.

Speaker 8 (51:38):
Kyle, I could tell you from somebody who is absolutely
not the favorite.

Speaker 7 (51:42):
If you're the favorite, you know, in my house there
were more pictures of my brother with his lacrosse coach
than there were of me.

Speaker 9 (51:48):
That's unbelievable. The lacrosse coach gets more.

Speaker 8 (51:53):
The lacrosse coach had more walls.

Speaker 9 (51:55):
Chris would be the first guy to say that I'm
the favorite, Like, like, Kyle's definitely the favorite, and I'm like,
I have to think about it.

Speaker 4 (52:03):
Yeah, But Chris says that knowing that everyone else knows
that Kyle is the favorite, right, I feel like, Yeah,
he's too serious.

Speaker 1 (52:10):
Right, Chris or Kyle dad's favorite. Me didn't even hesitate
that one.

Speaker 9 (52:17):
He didn't hesitate, Okay.

Speaker 4 (52:20):
Chris or Kyle best gift giver?

Speaker 9 (52:22):
H Chris is probably a really gift good gift giver
because he's pre CBA so he can give big gifts,
huge gifts. Yes, what kind of gifts do you like?

Speaker 4 (52:34):
Just go pick one out right, go to Uncle Chris,
like all my gifts.

Speaker 9 (52:40):
I put him on Layaway.

Speaker 4 (52:45):
Oh my god, best singing voice Chris or Kyle Uh.

Speaker 9 (52:49):
I like to sing. I like to sing. And it
goes back to that musical background stuff. I really do
enjoy singing anything.

Speaker 4 (52:56):
Okay, what's your go to? Like, what's the song you'll
sing out loud in the shower?

Speaker 9 (52:59):
Well, right now, it's a lot of the Disney princess stuff. So,
but you know, with these Disney movies. By the way,
watched Tarzan yesterday, Yeah, the original Phil Collins. Collins have
a day. Hats off to Phil Collins. Unbelievable. And my
kids aren't big like movie buffs. They listened to all
the music. But yesterday was like thunder and lightning and

(53:22):
South Forest. So we put the kids on the couch,
we put Tarzan on. I've never seen more locked in
people than watching Tarzan. And then when Phil Collins come
come on, this is nothing better.

Speaker 4 (53:33):
Yeah, Hall of Famer, go ahead, Mikey I.

Speaker 9 (53:35):
Got a two parter here, who is the funniest and
who thinks they're the funniest.

Speaker 4 (53:39):
That's good.

Speaker 9 (53:40):
Chris is probably the funniest. I definitely think I'm the.

Speaker 4 (53:43):
Funniest, but you know you're not funny, Like that's what
makes it funny.

Speaker 9 (53:48):
It's like I will swing the bat, I will swing hard.
I will swing hard. One time, so I was I'm
friends with like Will Compton and those guys, and I
ran into Will outside of a super Bowl party one
night and we had all had a couple of pops.
I think Drake was playing. It was a very cool venue.
We weren't supposed to be there, and we walk outside
and you know, you see the light of like the

(54:10):
Ubers and everything when you leave. And I saw Will
with Shane Gillis, who I'm a huge fan of Shane Gillis,
and I walked up and I cracked the joke. I
cracked the joke to Will Compton, like making fun of him,
and Shane looks at me and he goes, good joke, idiot,
Like it was a terrible joke, and he called me
on it. But that's an example of like, but I'm
not afraid if I'm coming again with it.

Speaker 8 (54:32):
But for a comedian, that also wasn't a great retort
by Shane.

Speaker 9 (54:35):
He looked at me like, good joke. Oh that killed
me for a couple of days.

Speaker 4 (54:43):
Most likely to attempt to pay for dinner Chris or Kyle.

Speaker 9 (54:47):
Most likely to attempt to play for pay for dinner.
That would be Chris. So he could leave as soon
as he's done eating.

Speaker 1 (54:54):
Wait what does he do soone the second he's done chewing,
he gets up, pays for the meal and leaves.

Speaker 4 (55:00):
Yes, well, you know what.

Speaker 9 (55:01):
I just think he's a homebody and if you don't,
if you're not grilling at his house, he is in
a track meet to the door to try to get home.
He's one of those guys.

Speaker 1 (55:10):
All right, final one here, Taylor has a question, and
then we'll promote what you're doing one more time on
the way out. We appreciate the time. I want to
do this more. I want to have you with Chris. Yeah,
I want to have you and Chris saw it together.
The guy who gives the biggest tips Chris.

Speaker 9 (55:25):
Or Kyle biggest tips. Yeah, yeah, I think I tip
pretty well because most of the time when I tip,
it's hit the golf course.

Speaker 4 (55:35):
Right.

Speaker 9 (55:35):
And for example, there's a public course down here in
South Florida called Osprey Point. It's like the best public
course in the state.

Speaker 4 (55:43):
And I played it a number of times.

Speaker 9 (55:44):
It's fantastic, fantastic, right, throw the starter a couple bones.
Make sure you take care of the people that clean
your clubs in your car, because when you show up
on a random day and you say, man, maybe i'd
go out and play eighteen, those are the same people
that make the decision. Now, I'm not saying treat people
well so you can get things, but if you want

(56:04):
to be a good tipper, it pays to do it
at the golf course that people take care of you.

Speaker 4 (56:10):
All Right, how about me and you around at Osbrey Point.

Speaker 13 (56:13):
How does that sounds a handicap?

Speaker 4 (56:17):
My handicap's like a fifteen fifteen.

Speaker 9 (56:19):
We'd have a hell of a day.

Speaker 4 (56:20):
Okay, let's do it.

Speaker 1 (56:21):
Yes, But I tend to h I tend to dabble
on some of Chris's things more so than yours.

Speaker 9 (56:27):
Just so yeah, that free zone, Okay, I can't.

Speaker 4 (56:35):
Dabble right the third hole, every hole, Taylor, go ahead, Kyle.

Speaker 7 (56:39):
So, I played football at UNC and I once dropped
a pass, and on my way back to the sideline, my.

Speaker 4 (56:44):
Coach said, don't worry.

Speaker 9 (56:46):
The world needs average people too.

Speaker 7 (56:48):
And I'm wondering, from your experience in locker rooms and
around coaches, what's the meanest thing a coach has ever
said to you?

Speaker 9 (56:56):
The meanest thing a coach ever said to me? So
flashback to the Matt Naggi first year. Okay, and I
finally got to the building and we started doing our practices.
We did our first practice and again I met with
Naggi after the missing the meeting, and I'm back in
the good graces as one of the guys. Vic Fangio

(57:17):
is our defensive coordinator. I love Vic Fangio. Him and
my dad are type. They text a lot. It was
just strange, but I love victory it is. So we
break down at the end of practice. They bring all
the guys into a little like nucleus and they say,
break them down. Seventy five you got them, that's me.
I'm seventy five. So I go up there and I say,
you know, one, two, three bears, I'm not giving speeches

(57:38):
them one two, three bears and I walk away and
then I get grabbed on my arm. When I'm leaving
the huddle, it's Vic Fangio. He looks me right in
the eyes. He said, you didn't fucking deserve that.

Speaker 13 (57:49):
Classic fangs I mean, And you know what, it's the
same guy that when a Keem Hicks would play sixty
plays and tap his helmet to get a breather at
three hundred and fifty pounds, Vic Fangio would remind him.

Speaker 9 (58:05):
I remember hearing these conversations like my dad would. On
a Monday or Thursday game, my dad could be there,
so he'd be in the tunnel after the game, and
me and a Keem are super tight, and we'd walk
out of the locker room together, but we bash each
other's faces in all week. But on Sundays we were
going at somebody else and we're leaving the locker room
at the same time, and me and a Keen walk

(58:27):
out and Vic and my dad are talking. And Vic
loves my dad because he's old school. He never came out,
he played all he played all the positions, he two gaps,
he never bitched.

Speaker 10 (58:38):
I remember he Vic goes, hey, King, come here, I
want you to talk to Howie for a second. And
he goes, Howie, how many times did you leave the
field when you played? And I remember my dad knew
what a kee or what Vic was trying to do
to a keem, and he was like, I'm I'm not
doing this here. And it just made me realize these
coaches are just trying to crawl up under your skin

(59:00):
and live inside of your brain and get inside of
your heart and make you feel less than. But that's
what it takes, okay, because who else is going to
motivate a six six, three hundred and fifty pound monster
savage to go do stuff because the rest of it's.

Speaker 9 (59:14):
Easy for him. You need somebody to push you over
the edge. That was Vic Fangio for me, and Aaron
Cromer was the guy that really dug his nails into me.

Speaker 4 (59:24):
All Right, we'll get you out of here in a second.
Chris Simms is a friend of the show.

Speaker 1 (59:27):
He's always telling me that his dad, Phil Simms, who
won two Super Bowls, is always reminding him, Hey, I'm
the one who has the rings in the family. I
know all you guys have some rings, but Howie Long,
how often does it remind the kids, Hey, dad's.

Speaker 4 (59:40):
A Hall of Fame fucking football player. I'm better than
both of you.

Speaker 9 (59:43):
You know what, It's funny. It makes it easy. It
makes it easy because he wasn't just a guy that
played and I didn't have to like measure up to him,
and he doesn't have to deal with how close are
my kids? It is obvious that he is the north Star.
I'm just trying to spacexit a little bit. Okay, I'm

(01:00:03):
just trying to get out of the lower Earth orbit
a little bit and navigate those potholes. He did a
great job of putting street lamps at every corner for
one hundred miles, and there will not be a crossroad
that I meet that hasn't been traveled by him. And
that gives me incredible peace. And I'm thankful for him.

Speaker 1 (01:00:24):
Do you write poetry because that was great? No, thank you, though, yes,
it was really good. We are thankful for you in
your times. We appreciate it.

Speaker 4 (01:00:32):
Tell us one more time on the way out here again.
What you're doing. It's great. It's great work you guys
are doing with Generation Fine.

Speaker 9 (01:00:39):
Yeah, Johnson and Johnson and I have partnered on Generation Fine.
It's a fabulous movement that allows for guys like myself
and all the people on this call today to reach out,
to have somebody to talk to. Visit generation dash fine
dot com for resources, tools and information. Look, we're all
affected by it, so let's hold hands about it, talk

(01:00:59):
about it a little bit, all.

Speaker 4 (01:01:01):
Right, man, keep up the good work. I look forward
to around the golf me and you soon.

Speaker 9 (01:01:05):
Thanks guys, all right for you soon