September 15, 2020 • 38 mins
Clay Travis is joined by his Outkick.com partner, Jason Whitlock for some fun breaking down Week 1 of the NFL and tackle a couple of serious topics, where social justice, police and the sports world meet. They also talk Aaron Rodgers, Lamar Jackson and preview Gm 7 of the Clippers/Nuggets series!
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Outkicked the Coverage with Clay Travis Live every weekday morning
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(00:23):
Sports Radio. We are having a good run through all
of the games that have been going on. We're talking
with Jason Whitlock and uh much to discuss, of course,
But what's really fascinating. I think if you look at
the Monday night football games, Titans find a way to
(00:44):
win even though they missed three field goals in an
extra point. Ben Roethlisberger looks back to Ben Roethlisberger like
status a lot to be excited about. I think if
you're the Steelers and you still have that defense and
now you're mixing in everything from Ben Roethlisberger, I think
you're fired up at about Vic Fangio's decision making down
the stretch. Drew Lock showed flashes there, but the Titans
(01:05):
found a way to win even with all those mishaps
in the kicking game. All of that going on but
we bring in now Jason Whitlock, just resetting the table
there for everybody on Monday Night football. And I just
teased as we went to break that I was going
to ask you about the Dallas Cowboys, which is a
big topic of discussion, and it felt to me as
a guy who've watched the Dallas Cowboys a lot over
(01:28):
the the last twenty five years or thirty years, or
whatever the heck it is the last several years. Every
time the Cowboys lose, people come out and they say
Jason Garrett is the reason why the Cowboys lost. He
was a convenient scapegoat. He was the perpetual blame factory
for why the Dallas Cowboys lost. But I gotta tell you,
(01:48):
I watched them play against the Rams, and I think
the Rams deserve a lot of credit. They were physical,
Sean mcveigh's team was well prepared. I thought they were
the better coached and the better prepared and the better
team on the field for much of Sunday night. But
the Cowboys were one in six last year in one
score games. They got the ball back with two and
(02:10):
a half minutes to play. They were perfectly poised to
be able to make a play come down the field,
and we can argue about the past interference call or not.
But the bigger issue to me, Whitlock was the defensive
line of the Rams was dominating the offensive line on
that final series. If you went back and charted almost
(02:31):
every play, you'd give a w to the Rams, with
the exception of the one play which we can argue
about whether or not the past interference should have been
called the offensive pass interference call. Did you think to yourself,
this is the same old Cowboys. Maybe, just possibly, Jason
Garrett wasn't the biggest issue that they had. No, Jason
(02:51):
Garrett was a major issue, and in Week one, Mike
McCarthy was a major issue. Mick McCarthy should have early
in the fourth quarter kicked the field goal and tied
the game up. Period. It's fourth and three, not fourth
and three inches, fourth in three yards, Kick the damn
field goal. Now you got eleven minutes to figure out
(03:14):
who the better team is. The idiot went for it.
And and by the way, Jason Garrett would have kicked
the field goal there probably yeah. And you know, rookie
wide receiver ran a rookie route short of the sticks.
Uh Dak probably made the wrong throw, but and and Clay,
I'm just sorry. That was not offensive past interference. Dak
(03:36):
Prescott and Michael Gallup made a huge play. The one
thing everybody was talking about how good the quality of
play was in the NFL yesterday, and there is some
truth to that, but the only truth to it is
the referees had clearly been given directive stay out of this,
don't don't turn this into a penalty flag fest, and
(03:59):
that the quality of play look really good, and that
because that's what fans want to see. The players decided
not the referees. And so here we get to Sunday
night football and time to put an exclamation point on
Week one, or the first Sunday of Week one, and
the damn ref injects himself to the end of the
game calling that offensive past interference. It's a joke. It
(04:22):
cost Dak a great moment, it cost the Cowboys the game.
But I blame Mike McCarthy. I I was halfway impressed.
I thought Zekiel Elliott looked good. I thought that played
relatively well. I I thought their defense played pretty well.
I was kind of impressed with the Cowboys. Mike McCarthy
(04:43):
did something really stupid. It cost him a game. Uh,
the Cowboys themselves may have the benefit of being again
in a not very good division. Um you know, I mean,
I think that's probably true with the NFC East. But
as uh as you you started the pregame, you let
me go back to the past interference called Jalen Ramsey
just signed a seventy one million dollar deal I think
(05:05):
guaranteed money as the highest paid corner in the league.
If that's not Jalen Ramsey and it's your average corner
in the league, did he get the Does he get
the benefit of that call? I I think Jalen Ramsey
the reason they paid him seventy one million not just
because of his coverage skills, but the little way he
(05:25):
kicked his head back and kind of exaggerated that push
he drew. He drew a foul basically, that's how that's
why you pay a guy that kind of money. So
hats off to Jalen Ramsey. Great play by him. Refs
shouldn't have gone forward in terms of injecting yourself at
that point. That foul needed to be really bad and
and so, but hats off to Jalen Ramsey. I thought
(05:47):
he baited the refs in the calling something, and they
did all right. We usually don't want to give a
ton of attention to the one guy who's doing something different.
I actually was impressed with the number of players, especially
top players, who decided did to stand for the national anthem.
After all the pressure. We've seen MLS players neild, NBA
players obviously, even a lot of Major League Baseball players kneeled.
(06:10):
One player kneeled for the Dallas Cowboys. I think that's
the first time that anybody from the Dallas Cowboys has
not stood for the national anthem. Don Terry Poe, if
I'm not mistaken, what did you think about his decision?
What did you think about the logic that he used
to justify his decision. It's why I just think we
(06:30):
can't take these athletes this seriously on any of these issues,
because I think he said, this is this is how
I'm fighting racism, basically, this is how I'm doing I've
got his quote if you want me to read it
and read it. Yeah, it's up in Jason Whitlock's Monday
Morning column, which I would encourage you just to be
(06:50):
following Jason Whitlock at Whitlock Jason on Twitter, uh and
he said he was asked why he decided to kneel,
and he said, and I'm reading his quote, it's just
bringing more awareness to what's going on in this world,
to the racial injustices that's going on. It's not something
that's going to be solved in a day. People keep
asking me what is he doing. It's bringing more awareness.
(07:14):
This is letting people know, and this is my way
of fighting it. It's the beginning of it. We might
not see change in my lifetime. I do want to
start doing the simple things such as kneeling, to let
people know that I feel this way. Your thoughts that
this is when you're counting on athletes for leadership and
(07:35):
in their spare time, their spare job playing professional football
is Donal Terry Pole's real job. So he's come up
with a very simple way to improve the life of
black people national anthem. I'm gonna take these three minutes
and Neil boom and again, that's nothing that won't impact anything.
(07:56):
He's not bringing awareness to anything. He's just doing some
thing simple, a gesture that accomplishes nothing but makes him
feel and creates the appearance that, oh, he's really concerned
if athletes need to simplify their message, and they won't
because you know it calls on them to actually do something.
(08:19):
But there's a real simple solution to a lot of this.
If you want to lessen the impact of racism, it's
it's too easy steps and athletes need to be promoting it.
Commit to a family that's one, where a condom that's two.
(08:39):
You do those two things, create a family and commit
to it, and wear a condom. You would be shocked
at how hard it is for racism to limit your opportunities.
I want to build on that because I actually uh
tell my kids a version of this uh, and I
(08:59):
think gets the most important thing that we should be
telling kids. And I would love to see athletes pick
this up because this is statistically proven. And I don't
know if we've had this conversation before, Jason Whitlock, but
it kind of builds on what you just said it.
I can't prove. I can't guarantee to anybody out there
listening to me right now that you're gonna grow up
and be rich, right, can't do it. Lots of variables
(09:22):
in play there. Everybody starts at a different place. You
might get the right job. You might not, but I
can virtually guarantee you that there is a zero percent
chance you will be poor, which is a pretty big deal, right,
if you can just avoid being poor. Can't guarantee you're
gonna be rich, but I can guarantee that you're that
you're not gonna be poor. All right, here's what you
(09:44):
have to do. This is statistically proven. Race doesn't matter,
where you start, doesn't matter, none of that. Every single
kid out there, number one, graduate from high school, not
telling you to go to college, not telling you to
get into advance graduate. Agree, those are good things. I'd
encourage everybody to be able to do them. But I'm
saying right now, baseline, graduate from high school, get married,
(10:09):
get married at some point in time. Do not have
a child before you are twenty five years old. If
you do those three things, there is a virtual zero
percent chance that you will be poor in your life,
no matter where you are starting. And I feel a
lot of times like imagine how much more impactful it
(10:31):
would be if every athlete started drilling this idea into
the entire nation's core. Right, all these young kids who
look up to athletes three steps, graduate high school, get married,
wait until you're twenty five years old to have a kid.
Your poverty rate is virtually zero. Now, whenever I say that,
(10:52):
somebody's like, well, I didn't graduate from high school and
I ended up being a millionaire. Or I got married
when I was eighteen and I had four kids by
the time I was twenty and I'm doing fine. Okay,
All that's fine. You are the exception to an overall rule.
Those three things. Graduate from high school, get married, don't
have a kid. So you're twenty five, you won't be poor.
(11:12):
That is something that I feel like everybody can grasp
and understand, and I feel like it should be shared
way more widely. Those things also will probably prevent you
from ever going to prison or jail, and so and again,
when you look at people, I guarantee if they did
(11:35):
a statistic or analysis of people killed by the police
and you just said, uh, did they do they have
kids out of wedlock? Did they come from a two
parent structure? I get those two things. If you just
looked at I guarantee it's virtually none of them killed
(11:55):
by the police. They didn't come from two parent families
or they had kids out of wedlock. It just creates
all kinds of complications, all kinds. Again, if you go
look at Jacob Blake, I think he's arguing with a
woman he had a kid with. In that part, I
know he had three chiefs. She called nine one one
on him. I'm not sure about whether one of the
(12:15):
kids was were or multiple kids were his or not.
She called nine one one on him and accused him
of sexual assault. But it's clear he wasn't married to
her right and it's clear that that that they didn't
have an ongoing relationship in some way. He had a
trespass uh restriction out against him and a and a
sexual assault felony charge out against him according to her
(12:37):
as the alleged as the alleged victim. So yeah, look,
I mean there there was no sort of larger family
structure there and and honestly we talked about this before.
I think Marcellus Wiley did a really good job and
has been arguing this pretty vociferously that the reason he
doesn't support Black Lives Matter is because they're opposed, at
(12:58):
least theoretically in their mission statement to the idea of
a two parent household and one of the best advantages
you can give your kids is to be raised by
two parents. Now again, just because if you happen to
be a single parent, and you're listening to me right now,
it doesn't mean that your kids are not going to
grow up and be successful. But I I've got three kids.
(13:18):
I got a twelve year old, and nine year old
and five year old. There's zero doubt that those kids
are healthier and happier with my wife and I both
raising them than they would be if my wife had
him by herself or if I had them by her
by myself. And there's nobody out there that's ever been
a parent that can argue in any way that being
a single parent is easier than having a two parent household.
(13:41):
So uh, the data is pretty clear on that. Yet
Black Lives Matter as part of their mission statement is like,
oh no, no, that's a you know, antiquated idea. No no, no,
it should be the aspirational ideal. It's not perfect for everybody,
doesn't end up working out perfectly, but every person out
there who wants to have children should want to do
it as part of a two parent household. I'm not married,
(14:02):
I haven't been married, don't have kids, but but just versity,
you make better decisions when you're married, because that nagging spouse,
whether male or female whatever. I'm not gonna say nagging wife,
just that nagging spouse in the back of your head
causes you to make better decisions. It when you have
(14:27):
when you're connected to someone else and your life isn't
just about you, you tend to make more mature decisions.
And when you're a committed parent and the welfare of
your kid you recognize that the welfare of your kids
resides with you, you make better decisions. And so when
(14:48):
the police draw their guns and say stop what you're doing,
when you have a wife and kids, or a husband
and kids, you tend to make better decisions because you're like, man,
I gotta my wife would be very mad at me
if I allow this policeman to shoot me. Uh and so.
And I'm sorry that it sounds like I'm belittling, but
(15:11):
I'm just keeping it real. All these people that think
that the real improvement if we could just get white
people to love us more, that'll fix things. No, if
you love yourself more and make better decisions, that's an
easier path than waiting on someone else to correct themselves.
(15:33):
Control what you can control. That's what they teach you
in sports as what coaches preach all the time. All
of this kneeling and begging of other people to control
their behavior is upside down. Control yours. That is the
key to success question for you. Building on this, uh,
(15:57):
we're talking about the police and the and the alleged uh,
you know, the people that they are attempting to arrest
or the relationship between the two, and that obviously has
been a focal point in the world of sports. We
had a video that I'm sure you saw of two
l A cops being shot. Than the subsequent reactions to it,
appears the cops are gonna be okay, But they were ambushed.
(16:20):
They were sitting in a police cruiser. They weren't doing
anything at all. Guy walks up and shoots them. The
world of sports buy in largs. I won't say everybody,
but the most people in sports in sports media have
had absolutely nothing to say about the shooting of those
two police officers. Lebron James, the minute any video goes
(16:41):
viral of a Jacob Blake like situation, even the fifteen
or twenty seconds that he sees, he immediately goes out.
I think he said I don't think. I know he said, Hey,
black people are being hunted. That was Amard Arebury, that
was the mod Aarbury situation. But he said black people
are being hunted when go outside of our house, houses
and everything else. I don't believe he said anything about
(17:03):
these l A police officers being shot or the reaction
to it. Should athletes have something to say here given
the precedent that they've set for other viral videos or not,
in your mind, they have certainly set a standard that
they're experts on the criminal justice system in any police
involved shootings that they have. Certainly they're the leaders. They
(17:25):
they're they're wearing on the NBA, they're wearing jerseys that
say listen to us. That which means which tends to
think they have something to say about all these issues.
And so yes, they have said a standard. Look. Lebron
James is based in Los Angeles. Now, having said all
of that, I just want to be specific here as
(17:46):
a because I've looked into what's going on in Los
Angeles and with that Sheriff's Department, and I think seven
or eight citizens have been shot are killed by the
l A County Sheriff's Department. Since the George Floyd shooting,
and so what's going on with that l A County
(18:06):
Sheriff's Department and the gang community in l A is
very complicated that there seems to be an unstated war
going on between the Sheriff's department and gang members in
in l A. I saw a video where some of
the people that were protesting at the hospital and trying
(18:29):
to block entry into the emergency service where they were
shouting the name of de Jen Kizzi, who is the
last black apparently looked gay. I don't know him so,
but he looked like he was gang connected, and I
heard gang members shouting his name like what they did
(18:51):
was payback for De Shaun Kizzy, who was gunned down
by police by the l A County Sheriff's after they
said he had dropped his happened. That was one of
the weirdest stories I like, with damn sounding like they
just executed this dude. And here we come back a
week or two later and and someone apparently I'm speculating,
(19:12):
but someone from Compton and the game community fires it
to l A County Sheriff's deputies or whatever, and surely,
to me, these athletes should have something to say, it's
a tragedy. I'm not in any of this gun violence
and particularly directed at law enforcement is repulsive. And the
(19:32):
stats on the likelihood of a black man killing a
cop versus a cop killing a black man, Uh, you're
a cops more likely to be killed by a black
man than the cops are to kill a a black man.
And so there would be justification. And so if people
want to and this is what's driven me crazy about
(19:52):
Black Lives Matter and the demonization of all policemen, if
people want to take that video and other videos or
other examples of violence against police and paint with a
broad brush. Oh my god, I live in fear every
day that a black man is gonna kill me because
Lebron James and every all the athletes have said, oh
(20:15):
I live in fear the police are gonna kill my
son or whatever. That's exaggerated, garbage. It's an anecdote being
used to uh define a pandemic that just doesn't exist.
And that's why you know, Russell Wilson is graz as
he played, and I like Russell Wilson, but he said
something stupid this weekend. It pissed me off. You know
(20:35):
he wore Brianna Taylor's name on his helmet and said
that he was doing it because he's got a three
year old daughter and he doesn't want her to die
like Brianna Terror. I'm like, well, hold on, man, is
your daughter gonna grow up in data drug dealer, a
longtime drug dealer. Is she gonna rent a drug dealer
or a car where someone gets murdered in that car.
Is her boyfriend gonna hop out of bed and fire
(20:57):
a gun first and hit a police officer first. That's
just crazy. And if Russell Wilson generally has concern about
the health of his three year old daughter dying to
gun violence, he's looking at the wrong potential killers. It's
not the police. Again. I did a video last week
(21:19):
pointing I think there have been fifty four black and
brown kids in fifty four between the ages of one
and twelve who have been murdered, shot down, gunned down
in their communities by gang violence. Fifty four. No Russell
(21:39):
Wilson talking about a twenty six year old Brianna Taylor
and all my three year old daughter, And I just
worry fifty four black and brown kids between the ages
of one and twelve killed in by random gun vines,
but he's afraid of the police. Stop a Russell stop it.
(22:00):
It is interesting the degree to which some stories become
viral and others did not. I would encourage you to
go watch and read that read that piece from Jason Witlock.
Watched that video of all of those young kids, almost
none of whom become household names, clearly all of whom
(22:20):
had nothing to do, right like Brianna Taylor case when
you actually look at it, as you just mentioned, is
actually very complicated in terms of how do you respond
to it, because, as you said, one of the police
officers was shot, they returned fire serving the warrant, and
so this idea that she was, you know, a hundred
(22:41):
percent without blame in the same way that those young
kids are who have absolutely no choice about the decisions
that were made that led to them being victims, and
by the way, oftentimes being victims with no one caught
or prosecuted for their their crimes, and yet their deaths
effectively are occurring in vain with almost no attention. Uh.
(23:04):
It is really really disappointing sometimes to see what goes
viral and what does not. Uh. Jason wentlock. We'll have
more with Jason Whitlock and we come back. If you
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Sports Radio. This is Outkicked the coverage with Clay Travis.
(24:13):
We're talking with Jason Whitlock. We're gonna try to have
Jason Whitlock every Tuesday now as opposed to Monday for
regular listeners of the OutKick program. Alright, uh Whitlock, Let's
dive into, uh some more of the NFL games. Aaron
Rodgers seemed like he was revitalized. They drafted Jordan's Love.
The idea is he's on his way out. I continue
(24:36):
to believe there are two quarterbacks in this league that
make throws that you watch them and you think, my goodness,
I don't know that anybody else could make those throws.
Russell Wilson and Aaron Rodgers are those two quarterbacks. It's
like every single game they play. They may not do
it the whole time. Patrick Mahomes also could potentially be
(24:58):
in that list. All Right, I know you're a big
Chiefs fan, no, but I'm just like, as good as
amazing of a of a playmaker is. Maybe Patrick Mahomes
needs to be in that list, but he's been doing
it a lot shorter amount of time so far than
than Russell Wilson and Aaron Rodgers and I will find
myself watching throws and maybe I should put Patrick Mahomes
(25:18):
in that mix too, But those are the kind of
throws that I feel like other NFL quarterbacks see and think,
my god, you know, like even the elite of the elite,
the most skilled people out there in the world of football,
see throws that Aaron Rodgers and Russell Wilson, and I'll
give you Patrick Mahomes in that mix as well, that
they make and think nobody else can make that throw.
(25:41):
And to me, I still think Aaron Rodgers and Russell
Wilson are above Mahomes in terms of their ability. Right now,
you may consider that to be laughable. But the one
that was the most surprising of those three, I would
say was Aaron Rodgers. Maybe what shouldn't have been surprising,
but he he played against the Vikings like he had
(26:01):
a major statement to make. Uh he I'm calling him
the incredible Hulk. And you know you wouldn't You wouldn't
like Aaron Rodgers when he's angry. He completely and I
think that's probably gonna go on all season. And there
(26:22):
to me, opening weekend, there were three quarterbacks who were
fascinating the Seattle Seahawks finally turned Russell Wilson all the
way loose. They let him throw the ball all over
the field even though they had a lead most of
the game. Uh. Lamar Jackson was fascinating, But Aaron Rodgers
to me, was the most impressive player over the weekend.
(26:44):
He was incredible And and I think Drafting Jordan's love,
even if he never plays for the Packers, even if
he doesn't unseen Aaron Rodgers, it could have been the
smartest thing the Packers have ever done. They've put some
pressure on Aaron Rodgers to step up, and I think
he's gonna step up. You know, total a hundred and
(27:05):
thousand percent speculation on my part, But Aaron Rodgers probably
done with Danica Patrick because he's like, you know what,
I gotta go all in on football right now. These
guys have just disrespected me and I gotta show everybody
that I'm still Aaron Rodgers. So Danica, it's been nice,
but I'm out. And that's what we saw. Yet and look,
(27:27):
I thought, what Russell Wilson did four TV performance. He's
playing in the Atlanta Falcons and you know, uh, what
Lamar Jackson did this week yet awesome look just like
his m v P sell he's playing at Cleveland Browns.
Aaron Rodgers put it on the Minnesota Vikings. The Vikings
give up nineteen points a game last year. What did
Aaron to put it on? Like forty three? Forty three points?
(27:50):
It was. That was a tremendous performance that I think
is an indication of how motivated and locked in and focused.
Aaron Rodgers is you grew up in Indianapolis. What did
you think about the Colts performance? They lost as the
biggest favorite of the week against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Their coach,
Frank Reich took a need to become, you know, the
(28:13):
first NFL coach to ever do that, and then he
proceeded to go out and lose with his team the
biggest favorite of Week one. A lot of you listening
to us right now, you're like, man, that killed my
survivor pool. You know Indianapolis pretty well. How do you
think that plays? I think it plays poorly. The out
that he's going to have potentially is, hey, Chris Ballard
(28:34):
signed Philip Rivers. Yeah, Philip Rivers is the other He's
in Indianapolis in hospice, except you know he's not even
in hospice. Philip Rivers died last year with those twenty interceptions.
He was baby Jamis Winston last year for the charges.
And why the Colts would go out and sign a
guy that through twenty three t t s and twenty
interceptions last year when they're trying to win a Super
(28:55):
Bowl this year, that is crazy. Philip Rivers is old,
he's done. He can't help a team win big games.
He threw two interceptions yesterday. Uh So Frank Wright's gonna
get a little bit of a break because people indianapos
are gonna be like, who the hell is it? Why
do we get Frank Wright? I mean, uh, Philip Rivers
at quarterback. We've been better off with Jacobe Brissette and
(29:18):
drafting a guy. So I think Frank Right is gonna
catch a break because Phil Rivers was so bad. Um
all right, Lamar Jackson, you mentioned that he played really well.
It seems to me like the Browns are still the Browns.
And by the way, the Bengals found a way to
lose the Lions. I can't even imagine if I had
that game, oh that drop that they had in the game,
(29:40):
with that what should have been a Matthew Stafford touchdown
pass too, who was a DeAndre Swift Ricky running back
out of Georgia. The Georgia to Georgia connection. They Georgia
the end of that game. What did you think of
Lamar's performance? What did you think to close out this
segment with the decision to uh stand for the Black
national anthem neil for the United States national anthem? A
(30:00):
little surprise that Lamar did that. Uh, you know, I'm
not gonna overap. We'll see what he does. Week two,
Lamar Jackson played really well though, and I know it
was against the Browns, but he picked up right where
he left off. I think he had the highest passer
rating and you know ESPN has that's that QBR. He
(30:23):
had the highest QBR as well, Uh statistically. So, yes,
he's playing the Browns and we knew they'd beat him up.
But Lamar came out of the out of the gate
smoking like he wants to back up his m v P.
Now he may turn in to be that. He may
be the Jana Santa Ta Kumpo of the NFL. Great
regular season player who strolls in the postseason. Maybe that's
(30:45):
who Lamar is. But he got off to an incredible start.
I was happy to see it. Uh. The Lamar Show continues.
UH as we roll into UH Week two of the NFL,
I feel like one story has kind have escaped significant attention.
And that story, ironically enough, is in the NBA, where
(31:05):
Doc Rivers and the l A Clippers are playing tonight.
In Game seven, they were up three one. I feel
like a lot of people just totally forgot about that.
When we come back, I'm gonna ask Jason Whitlock what
he thinks the impact of the Clippers potentially uh losing
this game would be if they don't set up the
Battle of l A and what it could mean going forward.
(31:27):
We'll get to that in a minute. This is Outkicked
the coverage with Clay Traffic. Appreciate all of you hanging
out with us after what was for many of you
a late night with the two Monday night football games
going on. We're hanging out here in the Gey go
out Kick Studios, maybe another bit of a late night,
(31:48):
although it's not as late. There's only one game going
on that has major impact in the NBA, and I
think it kind of snuck up on a lot of people.
You were living out in l A. When this season began,
which seems like a very long time ago, back in
late October, with the expectation that it would be Lakers
Clippers in the Western Conference Finals. The Lakers are there waiting.
(32:08):
The Clippers looked like they were going to be punching
their ticket early as well. Instead, they've lost two straight
and now the Denver Nuggets are trying to win their
second straight series coming back from a three one series deficit.
What do you think happens tonight, Jason Whitlock and if
the Clippers lose, what is the impact in your mind?
(32:29):
Kind of looking forward for the future of the franchise.
It's gonna be fascinating. They've blown huge double digit leads
as well that Clippers in those last two games. And
if if this were to happen to any other coach,
if they somehow lose tonight, UH, there would be definite
calls for the coach's job. Doc Rivers won a title
(32:52):
years ago with the Boston Celtics when they had a
Big three, and I am a huge Doc Rivers fan.
I started out the year UH completely on the Clippers bandwagon,
completely on Doc Rivers bandwagon, hoping that the Clippers were
gonna start a dynasty, and Doc Rivers are gonna get
a lot of credit for that, because I do want
(33:13):
to see black coaches do well, and Doc Rivers is
a high profile African American coach, and if he were
to have success, I think it creates opportunities for other
African American coaches. But all of the complaining and Black
Lives Matter, protesting, We're gonna end racism by wearing slogans
(33:36):
and and and I just keep going back to what
I said about John Thompson at Georgetown. You create opportunities
and you lessen the impact of racism by having tremendous
success when presented the opportunity. Doc Rivers has been presented
the opportunity to have tremendous success. He has the best
(33:58):
roster in the NBA, A one to ten. Maybe it's
two or three players too many because Montrese Harrold isn't
the same player as plus minus. You know, one of
the best six men in the NBA isn't the same
player with all in terms of plus minus, in terms
of what what we had seen from them. And I
(34:21):
don't think everybody is happy with their role and playoff
p isn't really a playoff performer. The Clippers have kind
of messed this up because even if they win tonight,
I think most people have very little confidence that they're
going to actually beat the Los Angeles Lakers and make
it to the NBA Finals. And if they lose to
(34:43):
the Lakers in the next round, that will be a
disappointing uh ending for the Clippers. But certainly if they
lose tonight and don't even make it to the Western
Conference Finals, people would justify it. We'll be calling for
DC Rivers head, But I'm not sure in this current
racial environment that people can do that. That that people
(35:05):
will just have to sit here and pretend light and
come up with a bunch of excuses. Maybe Paul George
will be the fall guy and it was all his fault.
But and again, I like respect. I think DC Rivers
is tremendous, but at some point you got to produce,
and he has been given a great team this year
(35:26):
and losing to the Nuggets unacceptable. If the uh, I'm
kind of fascinating, But I think a lot of people
aren't even aware that Game seven is happening. I think
people were listening to us right now and they're like, oh,
because this series seemed like it was over and then
football kind of exploded into the American consciousness. And so
(35:46):
the fact that suddenly Game seven is happening, I think
there are people out there like, what you know, Like
I'm reacting to Monday night football on the show, and
they're thinking, Hey, they're gonna take a breather. There's not
a lot going on, and then they suddenly realized that
this Game seven is going on. How do you think
the NBA in general is going to do now? Competing
with college football and with the NFL. Usually the NBA
(36:09):
has its own stage right in May and June, there's
nothing else going on, which is a big reason why
he gets talked about a lot. I think the NBA
in general, even with Lebron involved, is going to absolutely
disappear in the mind of many American sports fans, even
as we move into the Western Conference Finals and potentially
the NBA Finals. I think that when you look at
(36:32):
the early returns on NFL ratings from this Sunday, they've
taken a hit over this Black Lives Matter stuff, and
just think in comparison to the NBA, in comparison to
the NFL, isn't that woke in terms of in comparison
to the NFL, I mean into the NBA. And so
(36:54):
I just think that the return of football and just
the slow Hagan's on jerseys, the black Lives matter written
in big black letters on the court, the commercials that
that was the other thing. The NFL, they ran a
few little social justice commercials, but the NBA just seems
(37:14):
overwhelmed by it. Everything about the NBA seems like it's
a protest. And so yeah, I think that the NBA,
now that football has really kicked off, uh, could become
a real afterthought. And that's why if the again that
the Clippers losing would be another tragedy. The battle for
(37:35):
l A the Lebron versus a great Clippers team is
a pretty good story them against the Nuggets and and
who is it Boston in the Miami heat in the East. Uh.
And I love the NBA and I'm gonna watch. I
can't wait for the night to watch. But if I
got football to, you know, take care of my gambling needs,
(37:58):
I can you know, I can see. I can wait
till the NBA for next year. We're talking to Jason Whitlock.
He's been fantastic. Go follow him at whitlock Jason Go.
Subscribe to the OutKick v I P at OutKick dot com.
We come back diving back into the Monday night football
games and our big takeaways from both those games last night,
plus Petro's papadaka schedule. To join us. This is OutKick
on Fox Sports Radio. Fox Sports Radio has the best
(38:21):
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Radio app by searching fs are you're listening to Fox
(00:23):
Sports Radio. We are having a good run through all
of the games that have been going on. We're talking
with Jason Whitlock and uh much to discuss, of course,
But what's really fascinating. I think if you look at
the Monday night football games, Titans find a way to
(00:44):
win even though they missed three field goals in an
extra point. Ben Roethlisberger looks back to Ben Roethlisberger like
status a lot to be excited about. I think if
you're the Steelers and you still have that defense and
now you're mixing in everything from Ben Roethlisberger, I think
you're fired up at about Vic Fangio's decision making down
the stretch. Drew Lock showed flashes there, but the Titans
(01:05):
found a way to win even with all those mishaps
in the kicking game. All of that going on but
we bring in now Jason Whitlock, just resetting the table
there for everybody on Monday Night football. And I just
teased as we went to break that I was going
to ask you about the Dallas Cowboys, which is a
big topic of discussion, and it felt to me as
a guy who've watched the Dallas Cowboys a lot over
(01:28):
the the last twenty five years or thirty years, or
whatever the heck it is the last several years. Every
time the Cowboys lose, people come out and they say
Jason Garrett is the reason why the Cowboys lost. He
was a convenient scapegoat. He was the perpetual blame factory
for why the Dallas Cowboys lost. But I gotta tell you,
(01:48):
I watched them play against the Rams, and I think
the Rams deserve a lot of credit. They were physical,
Sean mcveigh's team was well prepared. I thought they were
the better coached and the better prepared and the better
team on the field for much of Sunday night. But
the Cowboys were one in six last year in one
score games. They got the ball back with two and
(02:10):
a half minutes to play. They were perfectly poised to
be able to make a play come down the field,
and we can argue about the past interference call or not.
But the bigger issue to me, Whitlock was the defensive
line of the Rams was dominating the offensive line on
that final series. If you went back and charted almost
(02:31):
every play, you'd give a w to the Rams, with
the exception of the one play which we can argue
about whether or not the past interference should have been
called the offensive pass interference call. Did you think to yourself,
this is the same old Cowboys. Maybe, just possibly, Jason
Garrett wasn't the biggest issue that they had. No, Jason
(02:51):
Garrett was a major issue, and in Week one, Mike
McCarthy was a major issue. Mick McCarthy should have early
in the fourth quarter kicked the field goal and tied
the game up. Period. It's fourth and three, not fourth
and three inches, fourth in three yards, Kick the damn
field goal. Now you got eleven minutes to figure out
(03:14):
who the better team is. The idiot went for it.
And and by the way, Jason Garrett would have kicked
the field goal there probably yeah. And you know, rookie
wide receiver ran a rookie route short of the sticks.
Uh Dak probably made the wrong throw, but and and Clay,
I'm just sorry. That was not offensive past interference. Dak
(03:36):
Prescott and Michael Gallup made a huge play. The one
thing everybody was talking about how good the quality of
play was in the NFL yesterday, and there is some
truth to that, but the only truth to it is
the referees had clearly been given directive stay out of this,
don't don't turn this into a penalty flag fest, and
(03:59):
that the quality of play look really good, and that
because that's what fans want to see. The players decided
not the referees. And so here we get to Sunday
night football and time to put an exclamation point on
Week one, or the first Sunday of Week one, and
the damn ref injects himself to the end of the
game calling that offensive past interference. It's a joke. It
(04:22):
cost Dak a great moment, it cost the Cowboys the game.
But I blame Mike McCarthy. I I was halfway impressed.
I thought Zekiel Elliott looked good. I thought that played
relatively well. I I thought their defense played pretty well.
I was kind of impressed with the Cowboys. Mike McCarthy
(04:43):
did something really stupid. It cost him a game. Uh,
the Cowboys themselves may have the benefit of being again
in a not very good division. Um you know, I mean,
I think that's probably true with the NFC East. But
as uh as you you started the pregame, you let
me go back to the past interference called Jalen Ramsey
just signed a seventy one million dollar deal I think
(05:05):
guaranteed money as the highest paid corner in the league.
If that's not Jalen Ramsey and it's your average corner
in the league, did he get the Does he get
the benefit of that call? I I think Jalen Ramsey
the reason they paid him seventy one million not just
because of his coverage skills, but the little way he
(05:25):
kicked his head back and kind of exaggerated that push
he drew. He drew a foul basically, that's how that's
why you pay a guy that kind of money. So
hats off to Jalen Ramsey. Great play by him. Refs
shouldn't have gone forward in terms of injecting yourself at
that point. That foul needed to be really bad and
and so, but hats off to Jalen Ramsey. I thought
(05:47):
he baited the refs in the calling something, and they
did all right. We usually don't want to give a
ton of attention to the one guy who's doing something different.
I actually was impressed with the number of players, especially
top players, who decided did to stand for the national anthem.
After all the pressure. We've seen MLS players neild, NBA
players obviously, even a lot of Major League Baseball players kneeled.
(06:10):
One player kneeled for the Dallas Cowboys. I think that's
the first time that anybody from the Dallas Cowboys has
not stood for the national anthem. Don Terry Poe, if
I'm not mistaken, what did you think about his decision?
What did you think about the logic that he used
to justify his decision. It's why I just think we
(06:30):
can't take these athletes this seriously on any of these issues,
because I think he said, this is this is how
I'm fighting racism, basically, this is how I'm doing I've
got his quote if you want me to read it
and read it. Yeah, it's up in Jason Whitlock's Monday
Morning column, which I would encourage you just to be
(06:50):
following Jason Whitlock at Whitlock Jason on Twitter, uh and
he said he was asked why he decided to kneel,
and he said, and I'm reading his quote, it's just
bringing more awareness to what's going on in this world,
to the racial injustices that's going on. It's not something
that's going to be solved in a day. People keep
asking me what is he doing. It's bringing more awareness.
(07:14):
This is letting people know, and this is my way
of fighting it. It's the beginning of it. We might
not see change in my lifetime. I do want to
start doing the simple things such as kneeling, to let
people know that I feel this way. Your thoughts that
this is when you're counting on athletes for leadership and
(07:35):
in their spare time, their spare job playing professional football
is Donal Terry Pole's real job. So he's come up
with a very simple way to improve the life of
black people national anthem. I'm gonna take these three minutes
and Neil boom and again, that's nothing that won't impact anything.
(07:56):
He's not bringing awareness to anything. He's just doing some
thing simple, a gesture that accomplishes nothing but makes him
feel and creates the appearance that, oh, he's really concerned
if athletes need to simplify their message, and they won't
because you know it calls on them to actually do something.
(08:19):
But there's a real simple solution to a lot of this.
If you want to lessen the impact of racism, it's
it's too easy steps and athletes need to be promoting it.
Commit to a family that's one, where a condom that's two.
(08:39):
You do those two things, create a family and commit
to it, and wear a condom. You would be shocked
at how hard it is for racism to limit your opportunities.
I want to build on that because I actually uh
tell my kids a version of this uh, and I
(08:59):
think gets the most important thing that we should be
telling kids. And I would love to see athletes pick
this up because this is statistically proven. And I don't
know if we've had this conversation before, Jason Whitlock, but
it kind of builds on what you just said it.
I can't prove. I can't guarantee to anybody out there
listening to me right now that you're gonna grow up
and be rich, right, can't do it. Lots of variables
(09:22):
in play there. Everybody starts at a different place. You
might get the right job. You might not, but I
can virtually guarantee you that there is a zero percent
chance you will be poor, which is a pretty big deal, right,
if you can just avoid being poor. Can't guarantee you're
gonna be rich, but I can guarantee that you're that
you're not gonna be poor. All right, here's what you
(09:44):
have to do. This is statistically proven. Race doesn't matter,
where you start, doesn't matter, none of that. Every single
kid out there, number one, graduate from high school, not
telling you to go to college, not telling you to
get into advance graduate. Agree, those are good things. I'd
encourage everybody to be able to do them. But I'm
saying right now, baseline, graduate from high school, get married,
(10:09):
get married at some point in time. Do not have
a child before you are twenty five years old. If
you do those three things, there is a virtual zero
percent chance that you will be poor in your life,
no matter where you are starting. And I feel a
lot of times like imagine how much more impactful it
(10:31):
would be if every athlete started drilling this idea into
the entire nation's core. Right, all these young kids who
look up to athletes three steps, graduate high school, get married,
wait until you're twenty five years old to have a kid.
Your poverty rate is virtually zero. Now, whenever I say that,
(10:52):
somebody's like, well, I didn't graduate from high school and
I ended up being a millionaire. Or I got married
when I was eighteen and I had four kids by
the time I was twenty and I'm doing fine. Okay,
All that's fine. You are the exception to an overall rule.
Those three things. Graduate from high school, get married, don't
have a kid. So you're twenty five, you won't be poor.
(11:12):
That is something that I feel like everybody can grasp
and understand, and I feel like it should be shared
way more widely. Those things also will probably prevent you
from ever going to prison or jail, and so and again,
when you look at people, I guarantee if they did
(11:35):
a statistic or analysis of people killed by the police
and you just said, uh, did they do they have
kids out of wedlock? Did they come from a two
parent structure? I get those two things. If you just
looked at I guarantee it's virtually none of them killed
(11:55):
by the police. They didn't come from two parent families
or they had kids out of wedlock. It just creates
all kinds of complications, all kinds. Again, if you go
look at Jacob Blake, I think he's arguing with a
woman he had a kid with. In that part, I
know he had three chiefs. She called nine one one
on him. I'm not sure about whether one of the
(12:15):
kids was were or multiple kids were his or not.
She called nine one one on him and accused him
of sexual assault. But it's clear he wasn't married to
her right and it's clear that that that they didn't
have an ongoing relationship in some way. He had a
trespass uh restriction out against him and a and a
sexual assault felony charge out against him according to her
(12:37):
as the alleged as the alleged victim. So yeah, look,
I mean there there was no sort of larger family
structure there and and honestly we talked about this before.
I think Marcellus Wiley did a really good job and
has been arguing this pretty vociferously that the reason he
doesn't support Black Lives Matter is because they're opposed, at
(12:58):
least theoretically in their mission statement to the idea of
a two parent household and one of the best advantages
you can give your kids is to be raised by
two parents. Now again, just because if you happen to
be a single parent, and you're listening to me right now,
it doesn't mean that your kids are not going to
grow up and be successful. But I I've got three kids.
(13:18):
I got a twelve year old, and nine year old
and five year old. There's zero doubt that those kids
are healthier and happier with my wife and I both
raising them than they would be if my wife had
him by herself or if I had them by her
by myself. And there's nobody out there that's ever been
a parent that can argue in any way that being
a single parent is easier than having a two parent household.
(13:41):
So uh, the data is pretty clear on that. Yet
Black Lives Matter as part of their mission statement is like,
oh no, no, that's a you know, antiquated idea. No no, no,
it should be the aspirational ideal. It's not perfect for everybody,
doesn't end up working out perfectly, but every person out
there who wants to have children should want to do
it as part of a two parent household. I'm not married,
(14:02):
I haven't been married, don't have kids, but but just versity,
you make better decisions when you're married, because that nagging spouse,
whether male or female whatever. I'm not gonna say nagging wife,
just that nagging spouse in the back of your head
causes you to make better decisions. It when you have
(14:27):
when you're connected to someone else and your life isn't
just about you, you tend to make more mature decisions.
And when you're a committed parent and the welfare of
your kid you recognize that the welfare of your kids
resides with you, you make better decisions. And so when
(14:48):
the police draw their guns and say stop what you're doing,
when you have a wife and kids, or a husband
and kids, you tend to make better decisions because you're like, man,
I gotta my wife would be very mad at me
if I allow this policeman to shoot me. Uh and so.
And I'm sorry that it sounds like I'm belittling, but
(15:11):
I'm just keeping it real. All these people that think
that the real improvement if we could just get white
people to love us more, that'll fix things. No, if
you love yourself more and make better decisions, that's an
easier path than waiting on someone else to correct themselves.
(15:33):
Control what you can control. That's what they teach you
in sports as what coaches preach all the time. All
of this kneeling and begging of other people to control
their behavior is upside down. Control yours. That is the
key to success question for you. Building on this, uh,
(15:57):
we're talking about the police and the and the alleged uh,
you know, the people that they are attempting to arrest
or the relationship between the two, and that obviously has
been a focal point in the world of sports. We
had a video that I'm sure you saw of two
l A cops being shot. Than the subsequent reactions to it,
appears the cops are gonna be okay, But they were ambushed.
(16:20):
They were sitting in a police cruiser. They weren't doing
anything at all. Guy walks up and shoots them. The
world of sports buy in largs. I won't say everybody,
but the most people in sports in sports media have
had absolutely nothing to say about the shooting of those
two police officers. Lebron James, the minute any video goes
(16:41):
viral of a Jacob Blake like situation, even the fifteen
or twenty seconds that he sees, he immediately goes out.
I think he said I don't think. I know he said, Hey,
black people are being hunted. That was Amard Arebury, that
was the mod Aarbury situation. But he said black people
are being hunted when go outside of our house, houses
and everything else. I don't believe he said anything about
(17:03):
these l A police officers being shot or the reaction
to it. Should athletes have something to say here given
the precedent that they've set for other viral videos or not,
in your mind, they have certainly set a standard that
they're experts on the criminal justice system in any police
involved shootings that they have. Certainly they're the leaders. They
(17:25):
they're they're wearing on the NBA, they're wearing jerseys that
say listen to us. That which means which tends to
think they have something to say about all these issues.
And so yes, they have said a standard. Look. Lebron
James is based in Los Angeles. Now, having said all
of that, I just want to be specific here as
(17:46):
a because I've looked into what's going on in Los
Angeles and with that Sheriff's Department, and I think seven
or eight citizens have been shot are killed by the
l A County Sheriff's Department. Since the George Floyd shooting,
and so what's going on with that l A County
(18:06):
Sheriff's Department and the gang community in l A is
very complicated that there seems to be an unstated war
going on between the Sheriff's department and gang members in
in l A. I saw a video where some of
the people that were protesting at the hospital and trying
(18:29):
to block entry into the emergency service where they were
shouting the name of de Jen Kizzi, who is the
last black apparently looked gay. I don't know him so,
but he looked like he was gang connected, and I
heard gang members shouting his name like what they did
(18:51):
was payback for De Shaun Kizzy, who was gunned down
by police by the l A County Sheriff's after they
said he had dropped his happened. That was one of
the weirdest stories I like, with damn sounding like they
just executed this dude. And here we come back a
week or two later and and someone apparently I'm speculating,
(19:12):
but someone from Compton and the game community fires it
to l A County Sheriff's deputies or whatever, and surely,
to me, these athletes should have something to say, it's
a tragedy. I'm not in any of this gun violence
and particularly directed at law enforcement is repulsive. And the
(19:32):
stats on the likelihood of a black man killing a
cop versus a cop killing a black man, Uh, you're
a cops more likely to be killed by a black
man than the cops are to kill a a black man.
And so there would be justification. And so if people
want to and this is what's driven me crazy about
(19:52):
Black Lives Matter and the demonization of all policemen, if
people want to take that video and other videos or
other examples of violence against police and paint with a
broad brush. Oh my god, I live in fear every
day that a black man is gonna kill me because
Lebron James and every all the athletes have said, oh
(20:15):
I live in fear the police are gonna kill my
son or whatever. That's exaggerated, garbage. It's an anecdote being
used to uh define a pandemic that just doesn't exist.
And that's why you know, Russell Wilson is graz as
he played, and I like Russell Wilson, but he said
something stupid this weekend. It pissed me off. You know
(20:35):
he wore Brianna Taylor's name on his helmet and said
that he was doing it because he's got a three
year old daughter and he doesn't want her to die
like Brianna Terror. I'm like, well, hold on, man, is
your daughter gonna grow up in data drug dealer, a
longtime drug dealer. Is she gonna rent a drug dealer
or a car where someone gets murdered in that car.
Is her boyfriend gonna hop out of bed and fire
(20:57):
a gun first and hit a police officer first. That's
just crazy. And if Russell Wilson generally has concern about
the health of his three year old daughter dying to
gun violence, he's looking at the wrong potential killers. It's
not the police. Again. I did a video last week
(21:19):
pointing I think there have been fifty four black and
brown kids in fifty four between the ages of one
and twelve who have been murdered, shot down, gunned down
in their communities by gang violence. Fifty four. No Russell
(21:39):
Wilson talking about a twenty six year old Brianna Taylor
and all my three year old daughter, And I just
worry fifty four black and brown kids between the ages
of one and twelve killed in by random gun vines,
but he's afraid of the police. Stop a Russell stop it.
(22:00):
It is interesting the degree to which some stories become
viral and others did not. I would encourage you to
go watch and read that read that piece from Jason Witlock.
Watched that video of all of those young kids, almost
none of whom become household names, clearly all of whom
(22:20):
had nothing to do, right like Brianna Taylor case when
you actually look at it, as you just mentioned, is
actually very complicated in terms of how do you respond
to it, because, as you said, one of the police
officers was shot, they returned fire serving the warrant, and
so this idea that she was, you know, a hundred
(22:41):
percent without blame in the same way that those young
kids are who have absolutely no choice about the decisions
that were made that led to them being victims, and
by the way, oftentimes being victims with no one caught
or prosecuted for their their crimes, and yet their deaths
effectively are occurring in vain with almost no attention. Uh.
(23:04):
It is really really disappointing sometimes to see what goes
viral and what does not. Uh. Jason wentlock. We'll have
more with Jason Whitlock and we come back. If you
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(23:27):
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the v I P. When we come back, more discussions
with Jason Whitlock. This is Outkicked. The coverage on Fox
Sports Radio. This is Outkicked the coverage with Clay Travis.
(24:13):
We're talking with Jason Whitlock. We're gonna try to have
Jason Whitlock every Tuesday now as opposed to Monday for
regular listeners of the OutKick program. Alright, uh Whitlock, Let's
dive into, uh some more of the NFL games. Aaron
Rodgers seemed like he was revitalized. They drafted Jordan's Love.
The idea is he's on his way out. I continue
(24:36):
to believe there are two quarterbacks in this league that
make throws that you watch them and you think, my goodness,
I don't know that anybody else could make those throws.
Russell Wilson and Aaron Rodgers are those two quarterbacks. It's
like every single game they play. They may not do
it the whole time. Patrick Mahomes also could potentially be
(24:58):
in that list. All Right, I know you're a big
Chiefs fan, no, but I'm just like, as good as
amazing of a of a playmaker is. Maybe Patrick Mahomes
needs to be in that list, but he's been doing
it a lot shorter amount of time so far than
than Russell Wilson and Aaron Rodgers and I will find
myself watching throws and maybe I should put Patrick Mahomes
(25:18):
in that mix too, But those are the kind of
throws that I feel like other NFL quarterbacks see and think,
my god, you know, like even the elite of the elite,
the most skilled people out there in the world of football,
see throws that Aaron Rodgers and Russell Wilson, and I'll
give you Patrick Mahomes in that mix as well, that
they make and think nobody else can make that throw.
(25:41):
And to me, I still think Aaron Rodgers and Russell
Wilson are above Mahomes in terms of their ability. Right now,
you may consider that to be laughable. But the one
that was the most surprising of those three, I would
say was Aaron Rodgers. Maybe what shouldn't have been surprising,
but he he played against the Vikings like he had
(26:01):
a major statement to make. Uh he I'm calling him
the incredible Hulk. And you know you wouldn't You wouldn't
like Aaron Rodgers when he's angry. He completely and I
think that's probably gonna go on all season. And there
(26:22):
to me, opening weekend, there were three quarterbacks who were
fascinating the Seattle Seahawks finally turned Russell Wilson all the
way loose. They let him throw the ball all over
the field even though they had a lead most of
the game. Uh. Lamar Jackson was fascinating, But Aaron Rodgers
to me, was the most impressive player over the weekend.
(26:44):
He was incredible And and I think Drafting Jordan's love,
even if he never plays for the Packers, even if
he doesn't unseen Aaron Rodgers, it could have been the
smartest thing the Packers have ever done. They've put some
pressure on Aaron Rodgers to step up, and I think
he's gonna step up. You know, total a hundred and
(27:05):
thousand percent speculation on my part, But Aaron Rodgers probably
done with Danica Patrick because he's like, you know what,
I gotta go all in on football right now. These
guys have just disrespected me and I gotta show everybody
that I'm still Aaron Rodgers. So Danica, it's been nice,
but I'm out. And that's what we saw. Yet and look,
(27:27):
I thought, what Russell Wilson did four TV performance. He's
playing in the Atlanta Falcons and you know, uh, what
Lamar Jackson did this week yet awesome look just like
his m v P sell he's playing at Cleveland Browns.
Aaron Rodgers put it on the Minnesota Vikings. The Vikings
give up nineteen points a game last year. What did
Aaron to put it on? Like forty three? Forty three points?
(27:50):
It was. That was a tremendous performance that I think
is an indication of how motivated and locked in and focused.
Aaron Rodgers is you grew up in Indianapolis. What did
you think about the Colts performance? They lost as the
biggest favorite of the week against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Their coach,
Frank Reich took a need to become, you know, the
(28:13):
first NFL coach to ever do that, and then he
proceeded to go out and lose with his team the
biggest favorite of Week one. A lot of you listening
to us right now, you're like, man, that killed my
survivor pool. You know Indianapolis pretty well. How do you
think that plays? I think it plays poorly. The out
that he's going to have potentially is, hey, Chris Ballard
(28:34):
signed Philip Rivers. Yeah, Philip Rivers is the other He's
in Indianapolis in hospice, except you know he's not even
in hospice. Philip Rivers died last year with those twenty interceptions.
He was baby Jamis Winston last year for the charges.
And why the Colts would go out and sign a
guy that through twenty three t t s and twenty
interceptions last year when they're trying to win a Super
(28:55):
Bowl this year, that is crazy. Philip Rivers is old,
he's done. He can't help a team win big games.
He threw two interceptions yesterday. Uh So Frank Wright's gonna
get a little bit of a break because people indianapos
are gonna be like, who the hell is it? Why
do we get Frank Wright? I mean, uh, Philip Rivers
at quarterback. We've been better off with Jacobe Brissette and
(29:18):
drafting a guy. So I think Frank Right is gonna
catch a break because Phil Rivers was so bad. Um
all right, Lamar Jackson, you mentioned that he played really well.
It seems to me like the Browns are still the Browns.
And by the way, the Bengals found a way to
lose the Lions. I can't even imagine if I had
that game, oh that drop that they had in the game,
(29:40):
with that what should have been a Matthew Stafford touchdown
pass too, who was a DeAndre Swift Ricky running back
out of Georgia. The Georgia to Georgia connection. They Georgia
the end of that game. What did you think of
Lamar's performance? What did you think to close out this
segment with the decision to uh stand for the Black
national anthem neil for the United States national anthem? A
(30:00):
little surprise that Lamar did that. Uh, you know, I'm
not gonna overap. We'll see what he does. Week two,
Lamar Jackson played really well though, and I know it
was against the Browns, but he picked up right where
he left off. I think he had the highest passer
rating and you know ESPN has that's that QBR. He
(30:23):
had the highest QBR as well, Uh statistically. So, yes,
he's playing the Browns and we knew they'd beat him up.
But Lamar came out of the out of the gate
smoking like he wants to back up his m v P.
Now he may turn in to be that. He may
be the Jana Santa Ta Kumpo of the NFL. Great
regular season player who strolls in the postseason. Maybe that's
(30:45):
who Lamar is. But he got off to an incredible start.
I was happy to see it. Uh. The Lamar Show continues.
UH as we roll into UH Week two of the NFL,
I feel like one story has kind have escaped significant attention.
And that story, ironically enough, is in the NBA, where
(31:05):
Doc Rivers and the l A Clippers are playing tonight.
In Game seven, they were up three one. I feel
like a lot of people just totally forgot about that.
When we come back, I'm gonna ask Jason Whitlock what
he thinks the impact of the Clippers potentially uh losing
this game would be if they don't set up the
Battle of l A and what it could mean going forward.
(31:27):
We'll get to that in a minute. This is Outkicked
the coverage with Clay Traffic. Appreciate all of you hanging
out with us after what was for many of you
a late night with the two Monday night football games
going on. We're hanging out here in the Gey go
out Kick Studios, maybe another bit of a late night,
(31:48):
although it's not as late. There's only one game going
on that has major impact in the NBA, and I
think it kind of snuck up on a lot of people.
You were living out in l A. When this season began,
which seems like a very long time ago, back in
late October, with the expectation that it would be Lakers
Clippers in the Western Conference Finals. The Lakers are there waiting.
(32:08):
The Clippers looked like they were going to be punching
their ticket early as well. Instead, they've lost two straight
and now the Denver Nuggets are trying to win their
second straight series coming back from a three one series deficit.
What do you think happens tonight, Jason Whitlock and if
the Clippers lose, what is the impact in your mind?
(32:29):
Kind of looking forward for the future of the franchise.
It's gonna be fascinating. They've blown huge double digit leads
as well that Clippers in those last two games. And
if if this were to happen to any other coach,
if they somehow lose tonight, UH, there would be definite
calls for the coach's job. Doc Rivers won a title
(32:52):
years ago with the Boston Celtics when they had a
Big three, and I am a huge Doc Rivers fan.
I started out the year UH completely on the Clippers bandwagon,
completely on Doc Rivers bandwagon, hoping that the Clippers were
gonna start a dynasty, and Doc Rivers are gonna get
a lot of credit for that, because I do want
(33:13):
to see black coaches do well, and Doc Rivers is
a high profile African American coach, and if he were
to have success, I think it creates opportunities for other
African American coaches. But all of the complaining and Black
Lives Matter, protesting, We're gonna end racism by wearing slogans
(33:36):
and and and I just keep going back to what
I said about John Thompson at Georgetown. You create opportunities
and you lessen the impact of racism by having tremendous
success when presented the opportunity. Doc Rivers has been presented
the opportunity to have tremendous success. He has the best
(33:58):
roster in the NBA, A one to ten. Maybe it's
two or three players too many because Montrese Harrold isn't
the same player as plus minus. You know, one of
the best six men in the NBA isn't the same
player with all in terms of plus minus, in terms
of what what we had seen from them. And I
(34:21):
don't think everybody is happy with their role and playoff
p isn't really a playoff performer. The Clippers have kind
of messed this up because even if they win tonight,
I think most people have very little confidence that they're
going to actually beat the Los Angeles Lakers and make
it to the NBA Finals. And if they lose to
(34:43):
the Lakers in the next round, that will be a
disappointing uh ending for the Clippers. But certainly if they
lose tonight and don't even make it to the Western
Conference Finals, people would justify it. We'll be calling for
DC Rivers head, But I'm not sure in this current
racial environment that people can do that. That that people
(35:05):
will just have to sit here and pretend light and
come up with a bunch of excuses. Maybe Paul George
will be the fall guy and it was all his fault.
But and again, I like respect. I think DC Rivers
is tremendous, but at some point you got to produce,
and he has been given a great team this year
(35:26):
and losing to the Nuggets unacceptable. If the uh, I'm
kind of fascinating, But I think a lot of people
aren't even aware that Game seven is happening. I think
people were listening to us right now and they're like, oh,
because this series seemed like it was over and then
football kind of exploded into the American consciousness. And so
(35:46):
the fact that suddenly Game seven is happening, I think
there are people out there like, what you know, Like
I'm reacting to Monday night football on the show, and
they're thinking, Hey, they're gonna take a breather. There's not
a lot going on, and then they suddenly realized that
this Game seven is going on. How do you think
the NBA in general is going to do now? Competing
with college football and with the NFL. Usually the NBA
(36:09):
has its own stage right in May and June, there's
nothing else going on, which is a big reason why
he gets talked about a lot. I think the NBA
in general, even with Lebron involved, is going to absolutely
disappear in the mind of many American sports fans, even
as we move into the Western Conference Finals and potentially
the NBA Finals. I think that when you look at
(36:32):
the early returns on NFL ratings from this Sunday, they've
taken a hit over this Black Lives Matter stuff, and
just think in comparison to the NBA, in comparison to
the NFL, isn't that woke in terms of in comparison
to the NFL, I mean into the NBA. And so
(36:54):
I just think that the return of football and just
the slow Hagan's on jerseys, the black Lives matter written
in big black letters on the court, the commercials that
that was the other thing. The NFL, they ran a
few little social justice commercials, but the NBA just seems
(37:14):
overwhelmed by it. Everything about the NBA seems like it's
a protest. And so yeah, I think that the NBA,
now that football has really kicked off, uh, could become
a real afterthought. And that's why if the again that
the Clippers losing would be another tragedy. The battle for
(37:35):
l A the Lebron versus a great Clippers team is
a pretty good story them against the Nuggets and and
who is it Boston in the Miami heat in the East. Uh.
And I love the NBA and I'm gonna watch. I
can't wait for the night to watch. But if I
got football to, you know, take care of my gambling needs,
(37:58):
I can you know, I can see. I can wait
till the NBA for next year. We're talking to Jason Whitlock.
He's been fantastic. Go follow him at whitlock Jason Go.
Subscribe to the OutKick v I P at OutKick dot com.
We come back diving back into the Monday night football
games and our big takeaways from both those games last night,
plus Petro's papadaka schedule. To join us. This is OutKick
on Fox Sports Radio. Fox Sports Radio has the best
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