September 11, 2020 • 34 mins
Clay Travis recaps the NFL opener, searches for Joel Klatt, and discusses the Miami Dolphins video about staying inside during the national anthem. Clay has highlights of the Chiefs win and talks with the crew about the Texans missing DeAndre Hopkins. Clay has the very latest on what he's hearing about the Big 10 and gets a Knoxville Tiger update from Danny G.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
I'll kick the Coverage with Clay Travis live every weekday
morning from six tonn a m. E. Stern three to
six am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio. Find your local
station for OutKick the coverage at Fox Sports Radio dot com,
or stream us live every morning on the I Heart
Radio app by searching fs are you're listening to Fox
(00:23):
Sports Radio. Our long national nightmare is over. Sports are
officially back, and they are back in a big way.
The Corona Bros. Have taken a big, fat l on
this one. Last night, NFL returns in Kansas City with
fans present. I thought it went really well. I'll unpack
(00:46):
that for you a lot as we finish off the
final hour of the week. Also, as if that were
not enough, how about the Miami Hurricanes playing in front
of crowds down in Miami. Sports crowds, yes, but crowd
present in Miami for the Hurricanes. Big five sorry, Power
five conference football officially back last night. I feel like
(01:09):
many people missed the Miami Hurricanes returning because of all
the overwhelming attention that was out there for the Texans
at the Chiefs. Several different things that I thought stood
out on the field. UH Clyde Edwards Hilaire incredible asset
to uh the Chiefs. He's going to make what was
already the best offense even better. Youngest running back ever
(01:32):
to go for a hundred and thirty plus yards and
a touchdown in his debut twenty one years old and
about half of a year into his twenty second year.
A big time performance by Clyde Edwards Hilaire last night.
The Texans, they look like they are going to miss
DeAndre Hopkins a great deal. They did not look like
(01:53):
a team with very much explosiveness. They did not look
like a team that had much of a down filled
passing game. Deshaun Watson remember his entire career he's had
DeAndre Hopkins to throw to. How much different is he
going to look without that top wide receiver target. We
will now find out. And the Texans, I believe, are
(02:13):
potentially in a really tough spot. As you look at
their first seven games of the season, there's a decent chance.
I think if you're a Texans fan, where you sit
and look at the schedule and think to yourself, oh,
we may end up losing a lot of games this year.
I'm not sure exactly how it's all gonna shake out,
but it's probably not gonna be very good. I wouldn't
(02:35):
imagine for the Houston Texans as you look at the
early part of their schedule. They lost this game, and
then you start to think, Okay, well can they bounce back?
Will they get the Ravens? Good luck with that. That's
a tough game at home for their opener. Then they
have the Steelers on the road. They then get the
Vikings down in Houston, which isn't an easy game. They
(02:55):
get the Jags, which hopefully might be their first win
because I think there's a decent chance they start off
oh and four. Then they go on the road against
the Titans that will not be an easy game. Then
they get the Packers. There's a decent chance that they
could start one and seven or two and six in
their first several games. And so if that ends up happening,
(03:19):
this is a This is a tough spot for the
Texans to find themselves. Now, schedule gets a lot easier
in the second half. So if they could find a
way to pull off an upset over the Ravens, if
they could beat the Steelers, if they could beat the Vikings,
they could win a couple of those games they can
fight their way through. Obviously, the Titans in a big
division game and find themselves in a somewhat decent spot
(03:39):
at the halfway point. But I think you have to
be decently nervous about this overall as you as you
look forward. What about the off the field related discussions.
I thought this went about as well for the NFL
as it possibly could it. UH did not feel like
the NFL went full woke and follow the lead of
(04:01):
the NBA. The names on the back of the helmets
and the statements on the back of the helmets are
almost not visible in the end zones. The messages that
are written there are not very noticeable. Uh. The whole
Chiefs team, with the exception of one player, stood for
the national anthem. The Texans didn't come out for the
national anthem. But that process actually managed to create less attention.
(04:25):
If you are out there and you're my listening audience,
and you're a football fan, but you're like, man, I
don't want to watch the NFL because they're going super woke. Well,
in Week two, I've been told that CBS, NBC, Fox, UH,
and the ESPN are not going to cover the protests
at all, and so the national anthem, what teams do
(04:48):
They're gonna start the game after that has already occurred,
and all you're gonna see is what happens as people
run out onto the field to begin the game. And
so I think that is very good for the NFL.
If I am Roger Goodell, I am sitting back and
saying this couldn't have gone any better. It sounded normal.
I know, we had some fun with Andy Reid's big
(05:09):
face shield that started to fog up on him, uh
during the course of the game. That in and of
itself is pretty funny, but that is Uh. This is
certainly something worth following as as we move forward. Is
that I believe the NBA is going to find itself
on a woke island. And what I mean by that
(05:31):
is the NBA is going way overboard in terms of
its woke nous, and nobody else is actually following that lead,
uh anywhere. I think this for the NFL felt a
little bit like to me the opening for Major League Baseball,
where Baseball made a bunch of statements about about politics
and social justice and everything else in their opener and
(05:54):
then it's basically vanished. Now it's just baseball and with
fans pre and I thought Chiefs fans did a good
job of making their voices heard during the game. It
sounded and felt almost completely like a normal game, which
is a huge win for the NFL. I believe as
(06:16):
we prepare for their opening weekend now there will be
some attention given to the Chiefs fans who booed to me,
it's not a big story. The Chiefs were booing most
of their fans the Texans because the Texans didn't come
out for the national anthem, and so that booing to
me felt completely connected to that. Also, fans have a
(06:37):
right to voice their opinion. If you're going to argue, hey,
NFL players, are NBA players, are Major League Baseball players,
or whoever it is, are going to make political statements,
then fans have a right to say, hey, we don't
agree with this. That's what fandom is. Your voice can
be heard in both directions. I think a lot of
(06:58):
times people forget it that the First Amendment is a
two way street. You have the right to your opinion
and you can share it widely, but everybody else has
the right to respond to your opinion as well. But
I think the big takeaway here was that the NFL
in their opener, had about of as good of a
debut as they possibly could. So I wanted to see
(07:22):
whether or not my audience agreed with me, and so
I asked you, guys, what letter grade would you give
the NFL for last night's season opener between the Texans
and the Chiefs. Forty one person while being just run
through an order, Twenty percent of you gave them an A,
forty one percent of you gave them a B, eighteen
(07:46):
percent of you gave them a C. So eighty five
percent of my audience, with over twenty thousand votes in
gave the NFL opener and a A B or C
percent it gave it a D or in F. I
only have four options, so D and F is together.
(08:06):
And I think if you're the NFL and you're looking
at these results of my poll, uh, you are gonna
be pretty ecstatic about that. Because I really anticipated that
the number one story coming out of the opening Thursday
night game was going to be politics, social justice on
field behavior that had nothing to do with the game itself,
(08:29):
and that was what everybody was going to talk about. Instead,
I feel like the NFL managed to dodge a major
disaster there, and as a result, um this has turned
into a really pretty intriguing open for the NFL where
I think they're gonna dodge the worst of the disaster
(08:50):
that has befallen the NBA, where their ratings have completely
collapsed as they have embraced woke social justice politics on
the core, on the jerseys and during the anthem. Uh. Also,
I think it's intriguing. I want to play this. Do
we have the audio ready, Danny g of what the
Dolphins said right as kickoff happened last night? Yeah, heads up,
(09:12):
It's two minutes long, but we do have it ready.
All right. I want to listen to this, and I
want you guys to listen to this. Jason Whitlock and
I did a live show last night, and thanks for
everybody who watched at least a part of that, and
we had a live reaction to what happened in the pregame.
Jason Whitlock lived and worked in Kansas City for a
long time and he is a big Chief fan, uh,
(09:34):
and so he was excited to watch this game. And
as you sort of look and think about going forward,
what Whitlock and I were talking about in relation to
this Miami Dolphins video is in general, it's it's like
they're calling out the rest of the NFL over the
empty gestures of kneeling for the anthem or whatever else
(09:56):
that has sort of befallen the world of sports over
the fast the past year, and effectively, what it seems
like to me they are saying is the time for
you know, sort of empty gestures and social justice faue
wokesm is past. Make your own decisions in your own life.
The Dolphins, by the way, you have said they're not
(10:16):
gonna come out for the Black national anthem. They're not
gonna come out for the United States anthem. They're just
gonna stay in the locker room. They don't want to
be a part of all of this show. But I
thought the statement the video that they put out right
as kickoff happened last night was interesting. Here was that
Is it authentic, that's the mystery or is it just
another symbolic victory. Now there's two anthems? Do we kneel?
(10:40):
Do we stand? If we could just right our wrongs,
we wouldn't need two songs. We don't need another publicity parade.
So we'll just stay inside until it's time to play
the game. Whatever happened to the funds that were promised?
All of a sudden we got a class pocket. The
bottom line should not be in that profit. You can't
open your heart when it's controlled by your wallet. Decals
(11:02):
and patches, fireworks and trumpets. We're not puppets. Don't publicize
false budgets, asked de pundits, and we shouldn't have a say.
If you speak up a change, then not shut up
and play. If we remain silent, that would just be selfish.
Since they don't have a voice. We're speaking up for
the helpless. It's not enough to act like you care
for the troops. Millions for pregame patriotism, you get paid
(11:24):
the salute, lift every voice insane. It's just a way
to save face. Lose the mask and stop hiding the
real game face. So if my dad was a soldier
but the cops killed my brother, do I stand for
one anthem and then kneel for the other. This attempt
to unify only creates more divide. So well skipped this
song and dance and as a team will stay inside.
(11:45):
We need changed hearts, not just a response. Depression enough,
no more, fluff and empty gestures. We need owners with
influence and pockets bigger than ours to call up officials.
Inflicts political power when education is not determined by where
we reside, and we have the means to purchase with
the doctor prescribed, and you fight for prison reform in
(12:07):
innocent lives, and you repair the communities that were tossed
to the side, and you admit you gain from it,
and you swallow your pride, and when greed is not
the compass, but love is the guide. And when, of course,
don't punish skin color, but punish the crime. Until then,
we'll just skip the long production and stay inside. For
centuries we've been trying to make you aware. Either you're
(12:28):
in denial or just simply don't really care. It's not
a black white thing or a left right thing. Let's
clean the whole bird and stop arguing about which wing
the dolphins. And look, I understand some of you're gonna
be like that, they're idiots. I disagree with that. Whatever.
To me, the most interesting part here is they're acknowledging
(12:49):
that all of this social justice warrior dumb is by
and large a sham. Right. I mean, oh, I'm not
gonna kneel. Oh, I'm gonna change the world by not
standing for the national anthem. No, you're not right. You're
creating more divisiveness in my opinion. But even if you think, oh,
this is changing the world, first of all, the data
doesn't reflect that it is. But secondly, it's just a
(13:11):
big show, right. It's just a big production. That's all
that's going on here. There's nothing substantive or substantial associated
with it. And so I think a lot of teams
are just going to decide not to come out for
the national anthem. And if that, in fact is what
they are deciding to do, then I think this story
(13:34):
is basically just gonna vanish because that's the truth, right
is that? Uh? For many people, especially without fans present,
this is gonna look even more ridiculous. Like that's my
thing about the n B. A kneeling for the national
anthem in the NBA when there are no fans present
is entirely a television production design. It isn't about changing anything.
(13:59):
It's a about trying to get social media likes and
have people on Instagram happy and everything. It's a total lunacy, right.
Nine of sports fans look to sports as an escape
from reality. And I understand that athletes, because it's their job.
They're like, this isn't an escape from reality, this is
my reality. I understand that perspective, but that's not why
(14:22):
you get paid millions of dollars. You get paid millions
of dollars because you provide an escape from reality for
the vast majority of sports fans who have no interest
whatsoever in your politics. That's the truth. Most people don't care.
I mean, athletes may not like this, but most people
don't care about an athlete's life other than for the
(14:45):
three hours that they are providing entertainment and football or
basketball or whatever else it is. And I'm saying that
for all entertainment, right. I don't think most people care
what Robert Downey Jr. Is doing in his life other
than when he's performing as Iron Man. I don't think
most people cared back in the day about Toby McGuire's
(15:09):
life other than when he's being Spider Man. Right. Most
people who are entertainers, whether you're a singer, songwriter or
whatever you do, most people don't really care about a
singer's life. By and large, diehards do. But most people
care about a singer's new album. They care about a
singer at a concert. They don't care about anything else
(15:29):
other than the question of are they or are they
not entertained. I sound like Maximus back in back in
the Gladiator days when he walked around saying are you
not entertained inside of the Colosseum when he killed people
too fast. But the truth of the matter is sports figures,
whether they want to be or not make their money
because they're entertainers. And as soon as you stop entertaining,
(15:52):
then the number of people who are gonna watch it
is gonna go down. I mean, this isn't rocket science,
and so I think the Dolphins there are basically calling
out what all of this is, which is a sham. Now.
I give credit to the Kansas City Chiefs for standing.
I think some teams will decide to stand. I think
the number of teams that will decide to kneel will
be low. I think there will be fan reactions when
(16:15):
the fans see that teams are kneeling for the national anthem,
because I think there's a big divide between players and
fans over that importance. But I think if players are
staying in the locker room by and large for a
lot of this because uh, there is a major issue
associated with this, and maybe you give the NFL credit
for playing the you know, quote unquote black national anthem.
(16:38):
I think players have recognized, wait a minute, if we
kneel for the black national anthem, uh, and sorry, if
we kneel for the United United States national anthem and
we stand for the black national anthem, that's gonna make
us look really bad. If we kneel for both, what's
the point? And so I think this story is basically over.
I really do, I think, But I could be wrong,
(17:01):
but I think by week two, when the NFL stops
covering all the protests, I think most people are gonna
be like, yeah, I'm over this. There's so much sports
going on. They're gonna watch the sports that they like.
They're not gonna watch the other sports. If you choose
not to watch because of politics, I respect that. That's
how marketplaces work. You can choose what to consume with
(17:23):
your entertainment dollars. And I always say that no matter what, Like,
if I watch a television show and it stops being entertaining,
I don't watch it anymore. And the NFL is a
television show. It's an entertainment product. Uh, it's a reality
television show. Sports are the best reality television programming that
there's ever been. And so if you don't like a
(17:44):
reality show, don't watch it. Same thing I would always say.
But we Uh we had the first game played. I
think it went well for the NFL. When we come back,
we will theoretically be joined by Joel Klatten. We may
be waking him up. I don't know. Uh, we gotta
he's not responding to my text messages. He told me
he was good to go. I hope he's okay. I
hope he's in a good hotel. Hell, he's ready for
(18:05):
the college football season. We'll see if we can get
him in the next segment. Be sure to catch live
editions about Kicked the Coverage with Clay Travis week days
at six am Eastern, three am Pacific. How about DeAndre
Hopkins last night? First of all, his absence seemed to
me very clearly noted from the Houston Texans. And what
I am intrigued to see is how much different is
(18:29):
Deshaun Watson's game going to be without having one of
the five best wide receivers to throw to now and
not only that, how much different it is the other
Houston Texans offensive weapons going to look like without DeAndre
Hopkins people having to worry about covering him because the
Will Fullers of the world when they have been healthy
(18:50):
and the Kenny Stills of the world, guys like that
that are second and third tier receivers become a lot
better when you have to worry about covering DeAndre Hopkins
all the time. Without him on the field, this Houston
Texans offense looked very pedestrian. Now Deshaun Watson wasn't accurate.
Obviously there's some rust first game back, no preseason, but
(19:13):
it didn't feel to me like the Houston Texan receivers
were getting a lot of separation. And DeAndre Hopkins tweeted
as soon as the game ended last night grateful and
that obviously has gotten a lot of attention DeAndre Hopkins,
of course, if you haven't been paying attention now with
the Arizona Cardinals, and I think he's gonna make a
(19:33):
big difference for Kyler Murray. It's one reason my sort
of under the radar or wild prediction was I think
the Cardinals are gonna be a playoff caliber team. I
picked him to win what I think is the toughest
division in all of sports, the NFC West. It's probably
early for that prediction. That's why it's a wild and
wacky prediction that we were giving out. But I think
DeAndre Hopkins is gonna be a revelation for Kyler Murray,
(19:56):
and I believe he's gonna make that Cardinal offense, which
was already pretty explosive last year, really fun to watch
in year two with Cliff Kingsbury sort of manning the
joystick and then Kyler Murray potentially taking a big step
in season two in terms of what he's capable of.
I think DeAndre Hopkins is gonna make a monster difference.
(20:17):
And again, that Houston Texans schedule is so tough in
the first seven that we're going to get an early
verdict on what the impact of DeAndre Hopkins might have been,
and I think it's gonna be found out to be
pretty substantial. Is that the biggest takeaway you would have
on the Houston Texans side of the ball, Danny g
is that their offense just looked fairly pedestrian without DeAndre Hopkins,
(20:39):
and maybe it's just that they didn't play very well
in Week one. Maybe they're gonna be a lot better
going forward, maybe even as soon as next Sunday against
the Baltimore Ravens. But if I'm a Texans fan, I'm
nervous about how this offense looked like, how this offense
looked without DeAndre Hopkins. That and the front four of
the Kansas City Chiefs, I mean not a ton of pressure. Yeah,
(20:59):
they were all over Watson. He was running for his
life most of the game, and that's been a problem
in the past. Hopefully that old line can improve as
the season goes along. You're right about the wide receivers,
and I was paying closer attention than usual because Will
Fuller is my third wide receiver and fantasy I know
you love hearing about our fantasy football teams. He was
(21:19):
eight for one twelve, which was good. Some of the
catches were garbage time catches, no t d s, and
they can't stretch the field right now. A couple of
times Watson was trying to throw way down the field,
he had a defender already bringing him to the ground.
That's how the interception happened. Yeah, yeah, look, I mean
doub would you say as a guy, first of all,
(21:40):
For the gamblers out there, how Doug, did you have
the over the under in this game? I actually didn't
have either. I had the Chiefs and a teaser pair
with the Colts. This week, I couldn't I could decide
on either of the sides or total last night, so
I had the over and the Chiefs basically shot through
the over for most people. Some places ended up with
(22:01):
the game at fifty four and a half, so if
you had the under, you would still cash there at
fifty four and a half because the total ended up
being fifty four. But for those of us who are gamblers,
that final couple of a minute stretch where the Chiefs
are trying to you know, knock the touchdown in and
then finally set on fourth down, screw it, let's go
ahead and kick a field goal. That is uh, that
(22:22):
is pretty impressive the way that it ended up almost
directly on the line. Splitting things from a from a
gambling perspective, By the way, what what bet do you
like the most going into the weekend? You love the gamble?
What what bet is your favorite for the weekend? Um?
Right now, I got I mean that Teasers obviously was
my biggest bet of the week was Kansas City minus
(22:45):
two and a half pair with the Colts minus one,
So that was my my biggest play the week. Other games,
I like the Falcons this week at home getting a
couple of points against Seattle, and I also like the
Vikings minus two and a half. Those are my three
plays that I have so far as far as the
NFL is concerned. Earned if you were a Texans fan,
would you be super nervous about what you saw on
the from the offense in Week one? Yeah? I would
(23:06):
be because they came out of the gates looking good.
But you know, it seems to me like once they
got off script, after their first fifteen or twenties scripted
plays were over with, I mean, they really couldn't do anything.
That middle stretch where the Chiefs had thirty one unanswered points,
the Chiefs defense looked like the Bears. I mean they
were getting pressure all over the place. The Texans couldn't
move the ball. So that would be my biggest concern
(23:27):
there is once that first initial driver too is over with,
how are we going to move the ball if we're
the Texans? Yeah, I think that's a legit. What about you, uh, Eddie,
what would you say, your biggest takeaway on field was
are you talking about for the Texans? Yeah? Either side.
I mean, you know, I think the biggest takeaway for
the Chiefs is pretty easy. It's flyd Edwards to I mean,
(23:48):
you know, a hundred and thirty touchdown, a hundred thirty
yards touchdown. As good of a debut as we've seen
for a rookie running back in a very long time.
He was as advertised. I mean, when they made that pick,
I think a lot of us thought, Wow, what a
great pick up for that team. Yeah. In fact, that's
what we said. The next day. I was like, I
think this dude is gonna be a revolution revolutionary in
terms of what he provides out of the backfield, because
(24:10):
ever since they had to release Kareem Hunt, the Chiefs
have basically had a running back by committee. And the
analogy that I made earlier in the show, which I
think is accurate, is I think that Clyde Edgewards Hilaire
for Patrick Mahomes can be on some level what Marshall
falk and Edgar and James were for Peyton Manning, a
big time difference making running back that allows the down
(24:35):
filled passing game to be even more dangerous and creates
more difficulties for the defense. Yeah, and I agree with you.
For for Houston, Uh, it definitely looked looked like they
missed DeAndre Hopkins. Now, maybe the chief secondary is exceptional
and that's why the receivers weren't able to get open.
We'll see as the season goes on. But but yeah,
it's hard not to be concerned. I think if you're
a Texans fan with the Lawson David Johnson looked good
(24:57):
early on, but I think in today's NFL running backs
are more of a luxury or complementary piece. You've got
to have the guys who can stretch the field and
get open for the passing game. Yeah. Look, and David
Johnson's got a big contract. Thing's obviously had a couple
of successful years prior to that with the Arizona Cardinals,
and he got paid as a result of it. But
I don't like the trend lines that I'm seeing from
(25:18):
the Houston Texans, and I think this is going to
be a whale of an interesting season for them as
they try to deal with with DeAndre Hopkins being gone.
All Right, when we come back, latest on the big ten,
the return of major college football. The Miami Hurricanes played
uh and we'll take you into the weekend in the
world of sports. I'm fascinated to see and hear what
(25:38):
you guys are watching. I'll also give you the final
update on my question for you, which you can go
vote in our poll if you would like. Twenty five
thousand of you have voted so far in the first
hour that that poll has been up. What letter grade
would you give the NFL for last night's game? And A, B,
A C, or I only have four options, D or F.
(26:00):
You can go voting that right now. I'll give you
the final results for the program. Fox Sports Radio has
the best sports talk lineup in the nation. Catch all
of our shows at Fox sports Radio dot com and
within the I Heart Radio app. Search f s R
to listen live. Welcome back in Montel Jordan's bringing us back.
(26:21):
Appreciate all of you for hanging out with us. Much
to get to as we roll through the program. Last night,
Ryan Day yesterday afternoon, I guess maybe more accurately put
out a statement that I thought was pretty interesting in
terms of what his thoughts were on the NFL. And
(26:42):
I'm going to read that for you right now, Ryan
Day said, and I quote, While I understand the Big
Ten Conferences decision to postpone the football season because of
health and safety considerations, the communication of information from the
Big Ten following the decision has been disappointing and often unclear. However,
we still have an opportunity to give our young men
(27:04):
what they have worked so hard for, a chance to
safely compete for a national championship this fall. I couldn't
possibly be prouder of how this team, our medical personnel,
athletic director, and president have stayed together and managed through
this extremely difficult time with so many unanswered questions. The
Big Ten Medical Subcommittee has done an excellent job of
crafting a safe pathway toward returning to play in mid October.
(27:28):
Big statement there. These young men and their parents have
asked so many questions that I don't have an answer to.
But the one that hurts the most is why can
these other teams and players play and we can't. Duke
is playing Notre Dame and Clemson is playing Wake Forest
this weekend. Our players want to know why can't they play?
(27:50):
And uh? And that is I think a question that
a lot of people are asking out there not just
at Ohio State. I saw a video of a big
rally that's going on in the state of Etiquette and
UH and for high school football, and look, the reality
is this. And I've been on beating this drum for
as long as I can. With the return of the NFL,
with the return of the University of Miami and Power
(28:11):
five Conference football, and so many different high schools out
there playing for the past month, there's no doubt you
can play sports safely zeroed out. No one can remotely
argue the other side right now. And what I believe
is going to happen with the Big Ten is they're
gonna put out some information later today involving the lawsuit
(28:31):
with Nebraska, I believe, and then I think we're gonna
roll UH into a weekend where there is a lot
of debate and discussion about coming back. And I think
early next week, based on the conversations that I've been having,
early next week Monday or Tuesday, we're likely to have
a revote of the Big Ten presidents and chancellors to
(28:54):
see if there is enough support to UH to change
the the decision that was made to cancel the season,
and I believe there is a very good chance that
the Big Ten is going to find a way to
play by October. That's what I believe right now. Now.
There are a lot of moving parts. There's a lot
of fluctuation involved here. There is a lot that can
(29:15):
go on between now and Monday or Tuesday when we're
back on the radio with you. But I believe there
are very good trend lines for the Big Ten to
potentially be able to play this fall, based on the
conversations that I'm having. UH, And so if that ends
up happening, it would be an incredible victory for Ohio
State fans, players, parents, UH, coaches, administrators, everybody out there,
(29:41):
because a month ago, the Big Ten was left for
dead and everybody said the college football season was gonna
get canceled. Instead, college football is playing, not only playing
with fans present. Uh. The Miami Hurricanes last night played
with fans present. Kansas City Chiefs obviously played with fans present. UH.
This is a big win for college football and NFL
(30:04):
fans out there, for fans of sports in general. So
I'm excited. UH. The latest update from you guys, I said, hey,
what was your verdict on last night's game? Uh? Last
night's game. We got tons of you who are voting
in our poll question. You can continue to vote throughout
the day, but I think our numbers are pretty consistent.
Nearly thirty thousand of you have voted in the first hour.
(30:28):
And I said, what letter grade would you give the
NFL for last night's season opener between the Texans and
the Chiefs. Percent of you gave the NFL and A,
forty one percent of you gave the NFL A B,
eighteen percent of you gave the NFL A C, sixteen
percent of you gave the NFL A D, R n F.
(30:51):
If I'm in the NFL right now, and I'm looking
at this poll result, and I bet some of them will.
If I get eighty four percent A, B, or C,
I take it and consider it to be a monster win,
an absolute monster win. Eighty four percent positive with thirty percent,
thirty thousand votes in. Now, there are certainly people who
(31:15):
are not happy about the NFL going political. I thought,
given expectations, the NFL was not very political at all. Again,
eight four percent of you would give them an A, A, B,
or C. And I think that is a monster win
for the NFL. Alright, I want to leave you with
some fun as we roll into the weekend. Danny G.
(31:35):
There have been reports that a tiger is loose in
uh the city of Knoxville or surrounding communities in Knox County, Tennessee.
What is the latest animal Thunderdome update on the missing tiger. Yeah,
we were all over this on the Thunderdome yesterday. This
is a different kind of tiger tracker. Yuh, still on
(31:56):
the loose, And I got to thank our listener Justin
who's been sending me NonStop updates all morning. They have
not found it yet, and I want to mention that
Brittany Tarwater, who's a TV reporter in that area for
w v LT, reported that now they're thinking that it
could have been a bobcat that people saw. That's a
big difference. Yeah, I know right, I mean it was
(32:18):
at night that these people reported seeing a tiger. But
I'm sorry, if bett tiger, I'm with you. I don't
see how you can get those two mixed up. Well,
I mean, I see how somebody who's a little bit
uh scared could but drunk. Yeah, there's no doubt or drunk. Yeah,
and certainly it's East Tennessee so that could certainly be
at play as well, especially at night. Uh, they're still
(32:39):
looking for moonshine stills there. So Uh the latest is,
we don't know now even whether it was actually a tiger.
It might have been a bobcat yea. So now a
TV station there is saying that it is in question
whether or not this is a tiger, but there are
people arguing that it is, so they're going back and forth.
There's a lot of controversy surrounding this Knoxville tiger, who
(33:00):
by the way, has his own Twitter account. Now, oh,
of course he is Knoxville Tiger with two rs. We'll
have to wait and see what exactly is going to
end up happening there. As we roll into the weekend.
Couple of other things for you to think about. One,
coronavirus numbers are rapidly declining. I hope you enjoy for
most of you all over this country, your high school
(33:21):
football games, your college football games, your NFL games getting
back to normalcy. If you're an NBA fan, NHL fan,
MLB fan, MLS, NASCAR, tennis, whatever, golf, you are a
fan of, all of it is going on this weekend.
We've got one of the busiest weekends in the history
of the American sports calendar. So I hope you enjoy it. Also,
(33:43):
I hope you keep in mind today is the nineteenth
anniversary of September eleven. Very somber moment, very sober moment
for many people across this country as we all reflect
upon what happened nearly a generation ago. I would encourage
you if you want to relive exactly what that day
was like. Ari Fleischer, who was working with President Bush
(34:08):
at the time, the White House Press Secretary, tweets out
an entire day's worth of events for what it was
like to be with the President of the United States
on that day when the attack happened. It is a
eye opening reveal for for him to be able to
see all of those details that happened throughout the course
(34:29):
of the day. Encourage you to go check out his
timeline if you get a chance. Thanks all to all
of you, go download the podcast. We appreciate you spending
your Friday morning with us. I'm Clay Travis. This has
been OutKick on Fox Sports Radio. This is Outkicked the
coverage with Clay Travis
I'll kick the Coverage with Clay Travis live every weekday
morning from six tonn a m. E. Stern three to
six am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio. Find your local
station for OutKick the coverage at Fox Sports Radio dot com,
or stream us live every morning on the I Heart
Radio app by searching fs are you're listening to Fox
(00:23):
Sports Radio. Our long national nightmare is over. Sports are
officially back, and they are back in a big way.
The Corona Bros. Have taken a big, fat l on
this one. Last night, NFL returns in Kansas City with
fans present. I thought it went really well. I'll unpack
(00:46):
that for you a lot as we finish off the
final hour of the week. Also, as if that were
not enough, how about the Miami Hurricanes playing in front
of crowds down in Miami. Sports crowds, yes, but crowd
present in Miami for the Hurricanes. Big five sorry, Power
five conference football officially back last night. I feel like
(01:09):
many people missed the Miami Hurricanes returning because of all
the overwhelming attention that was out there for the Texans
at the Chiefs. Several different things that I thought stood
out on the field. UH Clyde Edwards Hilaire incredible asset
to uh the Chiefs. He's going to make what was
already the best offense even better. Youngest running back ever
(01:32):
to go for a hundred and thirty plus yards and
a touchdown in his debut twenty one years old and
about half of a year into his twenty second year.
A big time performance by Clyde Edwards Hilaire last night.
The Texans, they look like they are going to miss
DeAndre Hopkins a great deal. They did not look like
(01:53):
a team with very much explosiveness. They did not look
like a team that had much of a down filled
passing game. Deshaun Watson remember his entire career he's had
DeAndre Hopkins to throw to. How much different is he
going to look without that top wide receiver target. We
will now find out. And the Texans, I believe, are
(02:13):
potentially in a really tough spot. As you look at
their first seven games of the season, there's a decent chance.
I think if you're a Texans fan, where you sit
and look at the schedule and think to yourself, oh,
we may end up losing a lot of games this year.
I'm not sure exactly how it's all gonna shake out,
but it's probably not gonna be very good. I wouldn't
(02:35):
imagine for the Houston Texans as you look at the
early part of their schedule. They lost this game, and
then you start to think, Okay, well can they bounce back?
Will they get the Ravens? Good luck with that. That's
a tough game at home for their opener. Then they
have the Steelers on the road. They then get the
Vikings down in Houston, which isn't an easy game. They
(02:55):
get the Jags, which hopefully might be their first win
because I think there's a decent chance they start off
oh and four. Then they go on the road against
the Titans that will not be an easy game. Then
they get the Packers. There's a decent chance that they
could start one and seven or two and six in
their first several games. And so if that ends up happening,
(03:19):
this is a This is a tough spot for the
Texans to find themselves. Now, schedule gets a lot easier
in the second half. So if they could find a
way to pull off an upset over the Ravens, if
they could beat the Steelers, if they could beat the Vikings,
they could win a couple of those games they can
fight their way through. Obviously, the Titans in a big
division game and find themselves in a somewhat decent spot
(03:39):
at the halfway point. But I think you have to
be decently nervous about this overall as you as you
look forward. What about the off the field related discussions.
I thought this went about as well for the NFL
as it possibly could it. UH did not feel like
the NFL went full woke and follow the lead of
(04:01):
the NBA. The names on the back of the helmets
and the statements on the back of the helmets are
almost not visible in the end zones. The messages that
are written there are not very noticeable. Uh. The whole
Chiefs team, with the exception of one player, stood for
the national anthem. The Texans didn't come out for the
national anthem. But that process actually managed to create less attention.
(04:25):
If you are out there and you're my listening audience,
and you're a football fan, but you're like, man, I
don't want to watch the NFL because they're going super woke. Well,
in Week two, I've been told that CBS, NBC, Fox, UH,
and the ESPN are not going to cover the protests
at all, and so the national anthem, what teams do
(04:48):
They're gonna start the game after that has already occurred,
and all you're gonna see is what happens as people
run out onto the field to begin the game. And
so I think that is very good for the NFL.
If I am Roger Goodell, I am sitting back and
saying this couldn't have gone any better. It sounded normal.
I know, we had some fun with Andy Reid's big
(05:09):
face shield that started to fog up on him, uh
during the course of the game. That in and of
itself is pretty funny, but that is Uh. This is
certainly something worth following as as we move forward. Is
that I believe the NBA is going to find itself
on a woke island. And what I mean by that
(05:31):
is the NBA is going way overboard in terms of
its woke nous, and nobody else is actually following that lead,
uh anywhere. I think this for the NFL felt a
little bit like to me the opening for Major League Baseball,
where Baseball made a bunch of statements about about politics
and social justice and everything else in their opener and
(05:54):
then it's basically vanished. Now it's just baseball and with
fans pre and I thought Chiefs fans did a good
job of making their voices heard during the game. It
sounded and felt almost completely like a normal game, which
is a huge win for the NFL. I believe as
(06:16):
we prepare for their opening weekend now there will be
some attention given to the Chiefs fans who booed to me,
it's not a big story. The Chiefs were booing most
of their fans the Texans because the Texans didn't come
out for the national anthem, and so that booing to
me felt completely connected to that. Also, fans have a
(06:37):
right to voice their opinion. If you're going to argue, hey,
NFL players, are NBA players, are Major League Baseball players,
or whoever it is, are going to make political statements,
then fans have a right to say, hey, we don't
agree with this. That's what fandom is. Your voice can
be heard in both directions. I think a lot of
(06:58):
times people forget it that the First Amendment is a
two way street. You have the right to your opinion
and you can share it widely, but everybody else has
the right to respond to your opinion as well. But
I think the big takeaway here was that the NFL
in their opener, had about of as good of a
debut as they possibly could. So I wanted to see
(07:22):
whether or not my audience agreed with me, and so
I asked you, guys, what letter grade would you give
the NFL for last night's season opener between the Texans
and the Chiefs. Forty one person while being just run
through an order, Twenty percent of you gave them an A,
forty one percent of you gave them a B, eighteen
(07:46):
percent of you gave them a C. So eighty five
percent of my audience, with over twenty thousand votes in
gave the NFL opener and a A B or C
percent it gave it a D or in F. I
only have four options, so D and F is together.
(08:06):
And I think if you're the NFL and you're looking
at these results of my poll, uh, you are gonna
be pretty ecstatic about that. Because I really anticipated that
the number one story coming out of the opening Thursday
night game was going to be politics, social justice on
field behavior that had nothing to do with the game itself,
(08:29):
and that was what everybody was going to talk about. Instead,
I feel like the NFL managed to dodge a major
disaster there, and as a result, um this has turned
into a really pretty intriguing open for the NFL where
I think they're gonna dodge the worst of the disaster
(08:50):
that has befallen the NBA, where their ratings have completely
collapsed as they have embraced woke social justice politics on
the core, on the jerseys and during the anthem. Uh. Also,
I think it's intriguing. I want to play this. Do
we have the audio ready, Danny g of what the
Dolphins said right as kickoff happened last night? Yeah, heads up,
(09:12):
It's two minutes long, but we do have it ready.
All right. I want to listen to this, and I
want you guys to listen to this. Jason Whitlock and
I did a live show last night, and thanks for
everybody who watched at least a part of that, and
we had a live reaction to what happened in the pregame.
Jason Whitlock lived and worked in Kansas City for a
long time and he is a big Chief fan, uh,
(09:34):
and so he was excited to watch this game. And
as you sort of look and think about going forward,
what Whitlock and I were talking about in relation to
this Miami Dolphins video is in general, it's it's like
they're calling out the rest of the NFL over the
empty gestures of kneeling for the anthem or whatever else
(09:56):
that has sort of befallen the world of sports over
the fast the past year, and effectively, what it seems
like to me they are saying is the time for
you know, sort of empty gestures and social justice faue
wokesm is past. Make your own decisions in your own life.
The Dolphins, by the way, you have said they're not
(10:16):
gonna come out for the Black national anthem. They're not
gonna come out for the United States anthem. They're just
gonna stay in the locker room. They don't want to
be a part of all of this show. But I
thought the statement the video that they put out right
as kickoff happened last night was interesting. Here was that
Is it authentic, that's the mystery or is it just
another symbolic victory. Now there's two anthems? Do we kneel?
(10:40):
Do we stand? If we could just right our wrongs,
we wouldn't need two songs. We don't need another publicity parade.
So we'll just stay inside until it's time to play
the game. Whatever happened to the funds that were promised?
All of a sudden we got a class pocket. The
bottom line should not be in that profit. You can't
open your heart when it's controlled by your wallet. Decals
(11:02):
and patches, fireworks and trumpets. We're not puppets. Don't publicize
false budgets, asked de pundits, and we shouldn't have a say.
If you speak up a change, then not shut up
and play. If we remain silent, that would just be selfish.
Since they don't have a voice. We're speaking up for
the helpless. It's not enough to act like you care
for the troops. Millions for pregame patriotism, you get paid
(11:24):
the salute, lift every voice insane. It's just a way
to save face. Lose the mask and stop hiding the
real game face. So if my dad was a soldier
but the cops killed my brother, do I stand for
one anthem and then kneel for the other. This attempt
to unify only creates more divide. So well skipped this
song and dance and as a team will stay inside.
(11:45):
We need changed hearts, not just a response. Depression enough,
no more, fluff and empty gestures. We need owners with
influence and pockets bigger than ours to call up officials.
Inflicts political power when education is not determined by where
we reside, and we have the means to purchase with
the doctor prescribed, and you fight for prison reform in
(12:07):
innocent lives, and you repair the communities that were tossed
to the side, and you admit you gain from it,
and you swallow your pride, and when greed is not
the compass, but love is the guide. And when, of course,
don't punish skin color, but punish the crime. Until then,
we'll just skip the long production and stay inside. For
centuries we've been trying to make you aware. Either you're
(12:28):
in denial or just simply don't really care. It's not
a black white thing or a left right thing. Let's
clean the whole bird and stop arguing about which wing
the dolphins. And look, I understand some of you're gonna
be like that, they're idiots. I disagree with that. Whatever.
To me, the most interesting part here is they're acknowledging
(12:49):
that all of this social justice warrior dumb is by
and large a sham. Right. I mean, oh, I'm not
gonna kneel. Oh, I'm gonna change the world by not
standing for the national anthem. No, you're not right. You're
creating more divisiveness in my opinion. But even if you think, oh,
this is changing the world, first of all, the data
doesn't reflect that it is. But secondly, it's just a
(13:11):
big show, right. It's just a big production. That's all
that's going on here. There's nothing substantive or substantial associated
with it. And so I think a lot of teams
are just going to decide not to come out for
the national anthem. And if that, in fact is what
they are deciding to do, then I think this story
(13:34):
is basically just gonna vanish because that's the truth, right
is that? Uh? For many people, especially without fans present,
this is gonna look even more ridiculous. Like that's my
thing about the n B. A kneeling for the national
anthem in the NBA when there are no fans present
is entirely a television production design. It isn't about changing anything.
(13:59):
It's a about trying to get social media likes and
have people on Instagram happy and everything. It's a total lunacy, right.
Nine of sports fans look to sports as an escape
from reality. And I understand that athletes, because it's their job.
They're like, this isn't an escape from reality, this is
my reality. I understand that perspective, but that's not why
(14:22):
you get paid millions of dollars. You get paid millions
of dollars because you provide an escape from reality for
the vast majority of sports fans who have no interest
whatsoever in your politics. That's the truth. Most people don't care.
I mean, athletes may not like this, but most people
don't care about an athlete's life other than for the
(14:45):
three hours that they are providing entertainment and football or
basketball or whatever else it is. And I'm saying that
for all entertainment, right. I don't think most people care
what Robert Downey Jr. Is doing in his life other
than when he's performing as Iron Man. I don't think
most people cared back in the day about Toby McGuire's
(15:09):
life other than when he's being Spider Man. Right. Most
people who are entertainers, whether you're a singer, songwriter or
whatever you do, most people don't really care about a
singer's life. By and large, diehards do. But most people
care about a singer's new album. They care about a
singer at a concert. They don't care about anything else
(15:29):
other than the question of are they or are they
not entertained. I sound like Maximus back in back in
the Gladiator days when he walked around saying are you
not entertained inside of the Colosseum when he killed people
too fast. But the truth of the matter is sports figures,
whether they want to be or not make their money
because they're entertainers. And as soon as you stop entertaining,
(15:52):
then the number of people who are gonna watch it
is gonna go down. I mean, this isn't rocket science,
and so I think the Dolphins there are basically calling
out what all of this is, which is a sham. Now.
I give credit to the Kansas City Chiefs for standing.
I think some teams will decide to stand. I think
the number of teams that will decide to kneel will
be low. I think there will be fan reactions when
(16:15):
the fans see that teams are kneeling for the national anthem,
because I think there's a big divide between players and
fans over that importance. But I think if players are
staying in the locker room by and large for a
lot of this because uh, there is a major issue
associated with this, and maybe you give the NFL credit
for playing the you know, quote unquote black national anthem.
(16:38):
I think players have recognized, wait a minute, if we
kneel for the black national anthem, uh, and sorry, if
we kneel for the United United States national anthem and
we stand for the black national anthem, that's gonna make
us look really bad. If we kneel for both, what's
the point? And so I think this story is basically over.
I really do, I think, But I could be wrong,
(17:01):
but I think by week two, when the NFL stops
covering all the protests, I think most people are gonna
be like, yeah, I'm over this. There's so much sports
going on. They're gonna watch the sports that they like.
They're not gonna watch the other sports. If you choose
not to watch because of politics, I respect that. That's
how marketplaces work. You can choose what to consume with
(17:23):
your entertainment dollars. And I always say that no matter what, Like,
if I watch a television show and it stops being entertaining,
I don't watch it anymore. And the NFL is a
television show. It's an entertainment product. Uh, it's a reality
television show. Sports are the best reality television programming that
there's ever been. And so if you don't like a
(17:44):
reality show, don't watch it. Same thing I would always say.
But we Uh we had the first game played. I
think it went well for the NFL. When we come back,
we will theoretically be joined by Joel Klatten. We may
be waking him up. I don't know. Uh, we gotta
he's not responding to my text messages. He told me
he was good to go. I hope he's okay. I
hope he's in a good hotel. Hell, he's ready for
(18:05):
the college football season. We'll see if we can get
him in the next segment. Be sure to catch live
editions about Kicked the Coverage with Clay Travis week days
at six am Eastern, three am Pacific. How about DeAndre
Hopkins last night? First of all, his absence seemed to
me very clearly noted from the Houston Texans. And what
I am intrigued to see is how much different is
(18:29):
Deshaun Watson's game going to be without having one of
the five best wide receivers to throw to now and
not only that, how much different it is the other
Houston Texans offensive weapons going to look like without DeAndre
Hopkins people having to worry about covering him because the
Will Fullers of the world when they have been healthy
(18:50):
and the Kenny Stills of the world, guys like that
that are second and third tier receivers become a lot
better when you have to worry about covering DeAndre Hopkins
all the time. Without him on the field, this Houston
Texans offense looked very pedestrian. Now Deshaun Watson wasn't accurate.
Obviously there's some rust first game back, no preseason, but
(19:13):
it didn't feel to me like the Houston Texan receivers
were getting a lot of separation. And DeAndre Hopkins tweeted
as soon as the game ended last night grateful and
that obviously has gotten a lot of attention DeAndre Hopkins,
of course, if you haven't been paying attention now with
the Arizona Cardinals, and I think he's gonna make a
(19:33):
big difference for Kyler Murray. It's one reason my sort
of under the radar or wild prediction was I think
the Cardinals are gonna be a playoff caliber team. I
picked him to win what I think is the toughest
division in all of sports, the NFC West. It's probably
early for that prediction. That's why it's a wild and
wacky prediction that we were giving out. But I think
DeAndre Hopkins is gonna be a revelation for Kyler Murray,
(19:56):
and I believe he's gonna make that Cardinal offense, which
was already pretty explosive last year, really fun to watch
in year two with Cliff Kingsbury sort of manning the
joystick and then Kyler Murray potentially taking a big step
in season two in terms of what he's capable of.
I think DeAndre Hopkins is gonna make a monster difference.
(20:17):
And again, that Houston Texans schedule is so tough in
the first seven that we're going to get an early
verdict on what the impact of DeAndre Hopkins might have been,
and I think it's gonna be found out to be
pretty substantial. Is that the biggest takeaway you would have
on the Houston Texans side of the ball, Danny g
is that their offense just looked fairly pedestrian without DeAndre Hopkins,
(20:39):
and maybe it's just that they didn't play very well
in Week one. Maybe they're gonna be a lot better
going forward, maybe even as soon as next Sunday against
the Baltimore Ravens. But if I'm a Texans fan, I'm
nervous about how this offense looked like, how this offense
looked without DeAndre Hopkins. That and the front four of
the Kansas City Chiefs, I mean not a ton of pressure. Yeah,
(20:59):
they were all over Watson. He was running for his
life most of the game, and that's been a problem
in the past. Hopefully that old line can improve as
the season goes along. You're right about the wide receivers,
and I was paying closer attention than usual because Will
Fuller is my third wide receiver and fantasy I know
you love hearing about our fantasy football teams. He was
(21:19):
eight for one twelve, which was good. Some of the
catches were garbage time catches, no t d s, and
they can't stretch the field right now. A couple of
times Watson was trying to throw way down the field,
he had a defender already bringing him to the ground.
That's how the interception happened. Yeah, yeah, look, I mean
doub would you say as a guy, first of all,
(21:40):
For the gamblers out there, how Doug, did you have
the over the under in this game? I actually didn't
have either. I had the Chiefs and a teaser pair
with the Colts. This week, I couldn't I could decide
on either of the sides or total last night, so
I had the over and the Chiefs basically shot through
the over for most people. Some places ended up with
(22:01):
the game at fifty four and a half, so if
you had the under, you would still cash there at
fifty four and a half because the total ended up
being fifty four. But for those of us who are gamblers,
that final couple of a minute stretch where the Chiefs
are trying to you know, knock the touchdown in and
then finally set on fourth down, screw it, let's go
ahead and kick a field goal. That is uh, that
(22:22):
is pretty impressive the way that it ended up almost
directly on the line. Splitting things from a from a
gambling perspective, By the way, what what bet do you
like the most going into the weekend? You love the gamble?
What what bet is your favorite for the weekend? Um?
Right now, I got I mean that Teasers obviously was
my biggest bet of the week was Kansas City minus
(22:45):
two and a half pair with the Colts minus one,
So that was my my biggest play the week. Other games,
I like the Falcons this week at home getting a
couple of points against Seattle, and I also like the
Vikings minus two and a half. Those are my three
plays that I have so far as far as the
NFL is concerned. Earned if you were a Texans fan,
would you be super nervous about what you saw on
the from the offense in Week one? Yeah? I would
(23:06):
be because they came out of the gates looking good.
But you know, it seems to me like once they
got off script, after their first fifteen or twenties scripted
plays were over with, I mean, they really couldn't do anything.
That middle stretch where the Chiefs had thirty one unanswered points,
the Chiefs defense looked like the Bears. I mean they
were getting pressure all over the place. The Texans couldn't
move the ball. So that would be my biggest concern
(23:27):
there is once that first initial driver too is over with,
how are we going to move the ball if we're
the Texans? Yeah, I think that's a legit. What about you, uh, Eddie,
what would you say, your biggest takeaway on field was
are you talking about for the Texans? Yeah? Either side.
I mean, you know, I think the biggest takeaway for
the Chiefs is pretty easy. It's flyd Edwards to I mean,
(23:48):
you know, a hundred and thirty touchdown, a hundred thirty
yards touchdown. As good of a debut as we've seen
for a rookie running back in a very long time.
He was as advertised. I mean, when they made that pick,
I think a lot of us thought, Wow, what a
great pick up for that team. Yeah. In fact, that's
what we said. The next day. I was like, I
think this dude is gonna be a revolution revolutionary in
terms of what he provides out of the backfield, because
(24:10):
ever since they had to release Kareem Hunt, the Chiefs
have basically had a running back by committee. And the
analogy that I made earlier in the show, which I
think is accurate, is I think that Clyde Edgewards Hilaire
for Patrick Mahomes can be on some level what Marshall
falk and Edgar and James were for Peyton Manning, a
big time difference making running back that allows the down
(24:35):
filled passing game to be even more dangerous and creates
more difficulties for the defense. Yeah, and I agree with you.
For for Houston, Uh, it definitely looked looked like they
missed DeAndre Hopkins. Now, maybe the chief secondary is exceptional
and that's why the receivers weren't able to get open.
We'll see as the season goes on. But but yeah,
it's hard not to be concerned. I think if you're
a Texans fan with the Lawson David Johnson looked good
(24:57):
early on, but I think in today's NFL running backs
are more of a luxury or complementary piece. You've got
to have the guys who can stretch the field and
get open for the passing game. Yeah. Look, and David
Johnson's got a big contract. Thing's obviously had a couple
of successful years prior to that with the Arizona Cardinals,
and he got paid as a result of it. But
I don't like the trend lines that I'm seeing from
(25:18):
the Houston Texans, and I think this is going to
be a whale of an interesting season for them as
they try to deal with with DeAndre Hopkins being gone.
All Right, when we come back, latest on the big ten,
the return of major college football. The Miami Hurricanes played
uh and we'll take you into the weekend in the
world of sports. I'm fascinated to see and hear what
(25:38):
you guys are watching. I'll also give you the final
update on my question for you, which you can go
vote in our poll if you would like. Twenty five
thousand of you have voted so far in the first
hour that that poll has been up. What letter grade
would you give the NFL for last night's game? And A, B,
A C, or I only have four options, D or F.
(26:00):
You can go voting that right now. I'll give you
the final results for the program. Fox Sports Radio has
the best sports talk lineup in the nation. Catch all
of our shows at Fox sports Radio dot com and
within the I Heart Radio app. Search f s R
to listen live. Welcome back in Montel Jordan's bringing us back.
(26:21):
Appreciate all of you for hanging out with us. Much
to get to as we roll through the program. Last night,
Ryan Day yesterday afternoon, I guess maybe more accurately put
out a statement that I thought was pretty interesting in
terms of what his thoughts were on the NFL. And
(26:42):
I'm going to read that for you right now, Ryan
Day said, and I quote, While I understand the Big
Ten Conferences decision to postpone the football season because of
health and safety considerations, the communication of information from the
Big Ten following the decision has been disappointing and often unclear. However,
we still have an opportunity to give our young men
(27:04):
what they have worked so hard for, a chance to
safely compete for a national championship this fall. I couldn't
possibly be prouder of how this team, our medical personnel,
athletic director, and president have stayed together and managed through
this extremely difficult time with so many unanswered questions. The
Big Ten Medical Subcommittee has done an excellent job of
crafting a safe pathway toward returning to play in mid October.
(27:28):
Big statement there. These young men and their parents have
asked so many questions that I don't have an answer to.
But the one that hurts the most is why can
these other teams and players play and we can't. Duke
is playing Notre Dame and Clemson is playing Wake Forest
this weekend. Our players want to know why can't they play?
(27:50):
And uh? And that is I think a question that
a lot of people are asking out there not just
at Ohio State. I saw a video of a big
rally that's going on in the state of Etiquette and
UH and for high school football, and look, the reality
is this. And I've been on beating this drum for
as long as I can. With the return of the NFL,
with the return of the University of Miami and Power
(28:11):
five Conference football, and so many different high schools out
there playing for the past month, there's no doubt you
can play sports safely zeroed out. No one can remotely
argue the other side right now. And what I believe
is going to happen with the Big Ten is they're
gonna put out some information later today involving the lawsuit
(28:31):
with Nebraska, I believe, and then I think we're gonna
roll UH into a weekend where there is a lot
of debate and discussion about coming back. And I think
early next week, based on the conversations that I've been having,
early next week Monday or Tuesday, we're likely to have
a revote of the Big Ten presidents and chancellors to
(28:54):
see if there is enough support to UH to change
the the decision that was made to cancel the season,
and I believe there is a very good chance that
the Big Ten is going to find a way to
play by October. That's what I believe right now. Now.
There are a lot of moving parts. There's a lot
of fluctuation involved here. There is a lot that can
(29:15):
go on between now and Monday or Tuesday when we're
back on the radio with you. But I believe there
are very good trend lines for the Big Ten to
potentially be able to play this fall, based on the
conversations that I'm having. UH, And so if that ends
up happening, it would be an incredible victory for Ohio
State fans, players, parents, UH, coaches, administrators, everybody out there,
(29:41):
because a month ago, the Big Ten was left for
dead and everybody said the college football season was gonna
get canceled. Instead, college football is playing, not only playing
with fans present. Uh. The Miami Hurricanes last night played
with fans present. Kansas City Chiefs obviously played with fans present. UH.
This is a big win for college football and NFL
(30:04):
fans out there, for fans of sports in general. So
I'm excited. UH. The latest update from you guys, I said, hey,
what was your verdict on last night's game? Uh? Last
night's game. We got tons of you who are voting
in our poll question. You can continue to vote throughout
the day, but I think our numbers are pretty consistent.
Nearly thirty thousand of you have voted in the first hour.
(30:28):
And I said, what letter grade would you give the
NFL for last night's season opener between the Texans and
the Chiefs. Percent of you gave the NFL and A,
forty one percent of you gave the NFL A B,
eighteen percent of you gave the NFL A C, sixteen
percent of you gave the NFL A D, R n F.
(30:51):
If I'm in the NFL right now, and I'm looking
at this poll result, and I bet some of them will.
If I get eighty four percent A, B, or C,
I take it and consider it to be a monster win,
an absolute monster win. Eighty four percent positive with thirty percent,
thirty thousand votes in. Now, there are certainly people who
(31:15):
are not happy about the NFL going political. I thought,
given expectations, the NFL was not very political at all. Again,
eight four percent of you would give them an A, A, B,
or C. And I think that is a monster win
for the NFL. Alright, I want to leave you with
some fun as we roll into the weekend. Danny G.
(31:35):
There have been reports that a tiger is loose in
uh the city of Knoxville or surrounding communities in Knox County, Tennessee.
What is the latest animal Thunderdome update on the missing tiger. Yeah,
we were all over this on the Thunderdome yesterday. This
is a different kind of tiger tracker. Yuh, still on
(31:56):
the loose, And I got to thank our listener Justin
who's been sending me NonStop updates all morning. They have
not found it yet, and I want to mention that
Brittany Tarwater, who's a TV reporter in that area for
w v LT, reported that now they're thinking that it
could have been a bobcat that people saw. That's a
big difference. Yeah, I know right, I mean it was
(32:18):
at night that these people reported seeing a tiger. But
I'm sorry, if bett tiger, I'm with you. I don't
see how you can get those two mixed up. Well,
I mean, I see how somebody who's a little bit
uh scared could but drunk. Yeah, there's no doubt or drunk. Yeah,
and certainly it's East Tennessee so that could certainly be
at play as well, especially at night. Uh, they're still
(32:39):
looking for moonshine stills there. So Uh the latest is,
we don't know now even whether it was actually a tiger.
It might have been a bobcat yea. So now a
TV station there is saying that it is in question
whether or not this is a tiger, but there are
people arguing that it is, so they're going back and forth.
There's a lot of controversy surrounding this Knoxville tiger, who
(33:00):
by the way, has his own Twitter account. Now, oh,
of course he is Knoxville Tiger with two rs. We'll
have to wait and see what exactly is going to
end up happening there. As we roll into the weekend.
Couple of other things for you to think about. One,
coronavirus numbers are rapidly declining. I hope you enjoy for
most of you all over this country, your high school
(33:21):
football games, your college football games, your NFL games getting
back to normalcy. If you're an NBA fan, NHL fan,
MLB fan, MLS, NASCAR, tennis, whatever, golf, you are a
fan of, all of it is going on this weekend.
We've got one of the busiest weekends in the history
of the American sports calendar. So I hope you enjoy it. Also,
(33:43):
I hope you keep in mind today is the nineteenth
anniversary of September eleven. Very somber moment, very sober moment
for many people across this country as we all reflect
upon what happened nearly a generation ago. I would encourage
you if you want to relive exactly what that day
was like. Ari Fleischer, who was working with President Bush
(34:08):
at the time, the White House Press Secretary, tweets out
an entire day's worth of events for what it was
like to be with the President of the United States
on that day when the attack happened. It is a
eye opening reveal for for him to be able to
see all of those details that happened throughout the course
(34:29):
of the day. Encourage you to go check out his
timeline if you get a chance. Thanks all to all
of you, go download the podcast. We appreciate you spending
your Friday morning with us. I'm Clay Travis. This has
been OutKick on Fox Sports Radio. This is Outkicked the
coverage with Clay Travis
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