September 10, 2026 • 31 mins
Rob and Kelvin tell us why Drake Maye’s nightmare performance against the Seattle Seahawks on Opening Night was indicative of a bigger problem for the New England Patriots quarterback, debate whether 2026 will be a legacy defining season for Matthew Stafford, and argue whether the Los Angeles Clippers screwed up by giving away Chris Paul’s #3 jersey to Bradley Beal.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
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Speaker 2 (00:19):
You're listening to the Best of the Odd Couple.
Speaker 3 (00:25):
Yeah, it was a tough scene if you are a
New England fan because even after Sam Donald went down after, what,
five snaps with a hip injury, missed the rest of
the game, Drew Locke comes in, puts the cape on.
New England found a way to trick away a game
they had in their hand. They were up 10 points late,
and Drake May finds a way to turn the ball over,
(00:46):
not once, not twice, but three times in the fourth
quarter alone. Shorthanded Seattle comes back, steals the win, and
even then, Drake May had a chance to force overtime
there in the final seconds through the game-sealing interception in
the end zone. After the game, he blamed himself, said
he got impatient, and he took the brunt of the blame.
Speaker 4 (01:05):
On his own shoulders. And he should have.
Speaker 5 (01:07):
And I'm just going to, Kelvin, you could jump in
whenever you want, but this is for you. As usual,
I'm trying to tell you, yesterday before we got started
with the NFL season, there's a reason I didn't believe
in Drake May, and he answered all those questions for us.
Three unforced errors, just terrible. The last one with a
chance to tie the game with a field goal. You
(01:27):
don't throw up a 50-50 ball. You got to make
sure you either complete it or you throw it out
of bounds. There's no way you could give up the
football in that situation. And they blew a golden opportunity
to win a game on the road to set the
standard for the season.
Speaker 4 (01:42):
Sam Darnold goes out. You've got to beat a backup quarterback.
Speaker 5 (01:46):
It's pretty easy to jump in on that and try
to make it happen, but he can't. And his numbers
are awful. His last five games, his numbers are worse
than Shador Sanders. And this guy, people are talking about
they'd rather have him than Caleb Williams. There's nobody who
watched that game yesterday who thought, oh, yeah, this guy
(02:07):
is it.
Speaker 4 (02:08):
He's going places.
Speaker 5 (02:10):
It was a terrible choke job, a bad performance that
this dude had eight interceptions last year and three in
game one in a game that mattered. They have a really,
really tough schedule to start the NFL season. Now I'm
convinced they can go 0-4, 1-5, somewhere like that. And
(02:33):
Drake made these are the issues. Go look at in
his last five games, he has 11 turnovers, seven interceptions.
Speaker 4 (02:43):
And four fumbles lost.
Speaker 5 (02:46):
That's the guy everybody's clamoring about? I'll tell you one thing,
it cheapens Matthew Stafford's MVP that that guy only lost
to him by one.
Speaker 4 (02:55):
By one vote?
Speaker 6 (02:57):
Why Matthew got to get in it?
Speaker 2 (02:59):
There you go.
Speaker 1 (02:59):
I was with you. Listen, I was with you. You
said it yesterday.
Speaker 6 (03:04):
He didn't play. Well, prior to the game, obviously. You know,
some of that was Fugazi.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
And even last year during the later part of the
regular season and, of course, during the postseason, you and
I talked about it. And we said, obviously, that he
and the team as a whole was taking advantage of
of the bad teams they had to play or the
bad schedule in front of them. Now, we always also say,
I can't make my schedule. I got to beat who's
in front of me. And he did not look great
in the postseason. And last night was horrible for multiple reasons, Rob.
(03:33):
And this is what disappointed me. And I would imagine
if you were a Patriot fan or even his coach
and his team, like Drake May, I'm watching it. I'm
thinking Drake May suck or Drake May suck. Not be
as good as the numbers looked last year and as
the MVP votes as you just alluded to.
Speaker 6 (03:50):
Because here's the thing, Rob.
Speaker 1 (03:52):
Part of being a good quarterback at times is you
do have a bad half or you have a bad moment,
and it's okay. It was right there for him to
win and to say, look, game one against an obviously
top defense in the NFL.
Speaker 6 (04:05):
They're going crazy. They're great. They're at home. They're fired up.
They're reigning champs. They feel disrespected because nobody's picking them
to win.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
And yet we got a chance to go down here
and win it. And walk away and say, hey, it
wasn't great. We got a win on the road. We'll
take it. Let's keep moving. We're on to week two. Instead,
he throws up as if it was fourth down. Like
he had to throw that. And that's what's disappointing is, dude,
you can have a bad situation, a bad game. But look,
you take that play. You take the sack or you
(04:32):
throw it away. You kick a field goal. You go
to overtime.
Speaker 6 (04:35):
You win it. And like I said, you wipe your hand.
You go, all right, it wasn't great.
Speaker 1 (04:39):
But we got to win, and you keep moving on,
and you say, hey, we got to win against a
team that people probably figured we were going to lose to,
against a team that has incredible defense, and you say, hey,
we got an ugly one on the road, but we
got it and we'll take it. And then you try
to improve, obviously week two. But instead, you cost your team.
You look like C.J. Stroud, who we've talked about on
(05:00):
this show plenty of times. You did that, and it
wasn't even, Rob, it wasn't spread out. Meaning he didn't
throw a first quarter one ante. Maybe the receiver and
him were a little off sync because it's, you know,
first game of the year.
Speaker 6 (05:10):
You threw them in.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
The fourth quarter and that was horrible for you. And
so Drake May, including himself, is going to have to
beat the idea. And you mentioned it. We talked about
it last year. Are you really good? Are you really,
really good? Or are you good against bad teams and
you're taking advantage of them? And again, I was willing
to give him some break in a sense that, all right,
(05:32):
obviously I didn't design the schedule, meaning him or the Patriots,
and I'm beating who's in front of me. And you
know you've heard me say this plenty of times. Like,
for instance, in football or in the NBA especially, don't
just barely beat a bad team.
Speaker 6 (05:46):
Beat them good. You know what I mean? Beat the team.
Speaker 1 (05:48):
That's because, hey, I got to beat this bad team
in front of me. Might as well beat them up
to really show how dominant we are. That's what you're
supposed to do. And they did it at times last year.
But they look bad. He specifically looked bad. He cost
him team. He cost the team in clutch time. And
to your point, Caleb Williams might have been bad for
(06:09):
a large portion of the game.
Speaker 6 (06:11):
But Caleb Williams would.
Speaker 1 (06:12):
Have found a way to win or at least not
cost the team, and I will give him that credit.
Drake may have had a chance to say, through it all,
we still found a way to win, and he didn't,
and I was very disappointed. Obviously, he's disappointed because he's
come out and said, that he can't be the reason
it cost the team. And he said, to be specific,
he said he got impatient. And therefore, because you're playing
(06:32):
against a defense that's good, sometimes you've got to de-conduct,
sometimes you've got to take field goals.
Speaker 6 (06:36):
He finally got impatient in the fourth quarter, and it
cost his team.
Speaker 1 (06:39):
And Drake May looked more like, against that Seattle team,
Drake going up against Kendrick in a beef a couple
summers ago.
Speaker 6 (06:46):
That's what he looked like, Rob. He looked horrible.
Speaker 5 (06:49):
I think he looked like Fake May is what he
looked like because he ain't the guy that people thought
he was. Once again, this is what we do now.
We crown people prematurely. We try to convince us that
he's got the it. Everybody doesn't have the it factor.
Everybody's not going to be a great young quarterback for
the next 12 years.
Speaker 4 (07:10):
Can we stop it? We did it. C.J. Stroud. C.J. Stroud. Yeah,
he was crowned.
Speaker 5 (07:15):
There were people who were like, oh, yeah, well, that's
why the executives said they'd rather take him.
Speaker 4 (07:20):
Like, I get it. He went to the Super Bowl
last year, right? I get it.
Speaker 6 (07:25):
He went to the Super Bowl.
Speaker 5 (07:26):
But I'm talking about doing your due diligence to look
at the numbers. Before the three interceptions in the last
four games were not good. And now this is the
one that really makes you take a look and go,
11 turnovers?
Speaker 4 (07:39):
In the last five games?
Speaker 6 (07:41):
I agree.
Speaker 5 (07:42):
That's a good sample size to say something's not here.
And what is the common denominator in these five games?
You're playing the better competition. You're playing better teams. You're
not playing the also-rans. You're not eating off of Tom
Brady's AFC least, you know, where you're able to win
(08:04):
those games.
Speaker 4 (08:05):
We got it. We used to say it all the time,
even with Tom Brady.
Speaker 5 (08:08):
Tom Brady was able to put Feast and get his
team in position every year with those wins and take
advantage of them.
Speaker 1 (08:16):
Here's what's going to be interesting, Rob. if you, let's
say you're in his locker room, I'm Vrabel, right? I
got to pump my guy up. And even obviously, if
you're him himself, you say, the last three games, four
games or so, you've played the Texans, arguably the best defense,
(08:36):
one of the top two or three, the Broncos, top one,
two or three, and then the Seahawks, top one, two
or three.
Speaker 6 (08:40):
So you played the three best defenses in the last
four games.
Speaker 1 (08:44):
So, Is it the luck of the draw that we
just went up against an absurdity of defensive teams, and
we're not as bad as it looked, or specifically him,
because obviously they got to the Super Bowl, or... Is
it something about just good teams, period? And that's what
I think is going to be interesting moving forward for him.
The Steelers made the playoffs last year. Obviously, it's a
(09:05):
new year. Mike McCarthy's here. We don't know what they
are right now. But that'll be another solid to good
team because he's 2-7 against 500 teams, Rob. And you
try to stall him out, like I said, because of
the postseason. You're playing against the Broncos, the Houston Texans,
and now the Seattle Seahawks twice. But if he looks
even just meh against the Steelers, then that's very problematic.
Speaker 2 (09:28):
Be sure to catch live editions of the odd couple
with Rob Parker and Kelvin Washington weekdays at 7.
Speaker 4 (09:34):
PM.
Speaker 2 (09:34):
Eastern 4.
Speaker 3 (09:35):
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Speaker 2 (09:36):
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Fox sports radio is taking over YouTube and you can
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(09:58):
couple with rob parker and 30 minutes away from kickoff.
Niners and the Rams down under. Week one game between
these two teams and.
Speaker 3 (10:18):
One of the big talking points coming into this game
outside of the travel situation is, man, these Los Angeles
Rams are like the dream team of football.
Speaker 4 (10:27):
Aaron Donald's not even playing tonight. Miles Garrett.
Speaker 3 (10:30):
Headlined by the guy you're seeing on your television right now,
reigning and defending NFL MVP.
Speaker 4 (10:35):
Who beat out Drake May.
Speaker 3 (10:37):
Matthew freaking Stafford.
Speaker 4 (10:40):
Now, we already had.
Speaker 3 (10:42):
Dan Orlovsky on ESPN say about a week and a
half ago that if he gets the job done this
season as expected he's a top 10 player in NFL
history I don't know about all that but this is
a big season for Matthew Stafford you think about his
career and his longevity and his legacy wouldn't you agree
Kelvin Washington it.
Speaker 1 (10:59):
Is Matthew Stafford has a chance to in my opinion
have a case to be in the Hall of Fame
if he wins an MVP and a Super Bowl, but
it's desperately one or the other. So if he wins
the MVP, obviously makes a deep playoff run, but even
if they lose, but he's two-time MVP, he's a Super
Bowl champ, you can absolutely make a case for him.
Speaker 6 (11:21):
I don't think he gets in without it. I don't
think he is. And I don't think.
Speaker 1 (11:26):
Matthew Stafford's the top 10 quarterback of all time. I
think we're getting a little carried away And this is
coming from, you know, obviously a Lions fan. I think
we're putting a little extra sauce on it right now
because he has been fantastic with the Rams. They have
a Super Bowl. He is now the MVP currently as
we sit here today, Rob. But again, if we just
stopped it, for whatever reasons he said.
Speaker 6 (11:45):
I'm done today. I'm quitting. I'm done. I had enough.
Speaker 1 (11:49):
I don't think he's a Hall of Famer, and I
think that's perfectly fine. Just like I don't think Eli
is right now. I know he'll get in one day.
You know my reasons why. And just like I think
Phillip Rivers had an amazing career, but Phillip Rivers is
not a Hall of Famer, and that's okay. I think
we have this weird new thing where everybody has to
be a Hall of Famer. Don't even get on the NBA.
I know it's the basketball Hall of Famer. You know
(12:09):
we've talked about that. He's not there yet. Now, Matthew
Stafford goes out and repeats what he did last year. Again,
blows the hinges off with 40-something touchdowns, 4,500 yards. They
win a bunch of games. He's an MVP again. That
can do it. He wins a Super Bowl.
Speaker 4 (12:25):
He's in.
Speaker 1 (12:26):
Because then you start to look at, obviously, a couple
Super Bowl titles, an MVP, obviously all the arm talent,
and he'll have all the stats in the world just
because he's been throwing the ball around his whole career.
Speaker 6 (12:38):
So to me, Rob.
Speaker 1 (12:39):
This season is a season that can get Matthew Stafford
separated from currently Eli Manning.
Speaker 6 (12:46):
Currently. Currently. Eli's not in yet.
Speaker 1 (12:48):
Phillip Rivers, who is not going to make it in
my opinion as well. And some guys like that. And
it'll put him in the realms of a Russell Wilson,
of a Kurt Warner. Guys like that were okay. MVP, obviously,
and Kurt Warner. and obviously he got Super Bowl titles
and Super Bowl appearances, that is going to be imperative
for him to get in. If he just is good
(13:09):
this year, Rob, and really good, and was MVP candidate,
and they're out in the first, second round, I don't
think that's enough. I think he would have had a
really good career, but that's not enough. Matthew Stafford still
has work to do, people. to get into the Hall
of Fame. I don't know why everybody's kind of anointing him.
He's a top-ten quarterback yet. And this is coming from
a Detroit Lions fan. Off the bat, you already got,
(13:31):
you know, the Patons and the Aarons and the Tom
Brady's and the, you know, the Ben Roethlisberger who I
would have.
Speaker 6 (13:38):
And that's the Elways. I mean, Marinos. Like, there are
guys quickly. That's off the top.
Speaker 1 (13:44):
And so I'm always blown away when I hear people,
he's a top-ten quarterback. He's in the Hall of Fame already.
Hall of Famer Matthew Stafford. Pump the brakes. Might even
need an anti-lock break. Pull that lever up a little bit.
Back in the 80s and the 90s, the little lever.
Pull that up because he's not there yet, Rob. Rob,
I need to be talking to you.
Speaker 6 (14:00):
When we're in L.A.
Speaker 1 (14:02):
In February, down at, I'm sure, Convention Center, doing our
Radio Row stuff, and if he's in the Super Bowl,
or at that point, like we did the last two years,
we announce on the show who the MVP is because
it usually happens during our show.
Speaker 6 (14:15):
Then we can have that conversation.
Speaker 1 (14:16):
But right now, he's not in, and this season can
get him in, but I'm blown away how many people
have already put him in top 10, top 8 quarterback
of all time, Hall of Fame quarterback.
Speaker 6 (14:25):
He ain't there yet.
Speaker 4 (14:28):
Yeah, I just think it's people trying to.
Speaker 5 (14:32):
Rewrite history, and most of Matthew Stafford's numbers that you're
talking about were all in games that didn't matter. And
I covered him from his very first game on and
watched most of his career in And oftentimes his team
was down 21-0 when he started throwing the ball around
the yard.
Speaker 4 (14:49):
I could not.
Speaker 5 (14:52):
A guy who you're talking about a Hall of Famer
who's a three-time pro bowler, three times in 15 years?
Speaker 4 (15:00):
That doesn't make any sense.
Speaker 5 (15:03):
What he's able to do and why people are banging
some of these people is because his friend, Dan Orlovsky,
is not objective. They were quarterbacks with the Lions. He's
a good friend of Matthew Stafford. He has a great
big platform on ESPN.
Speaker 4 (15:20):
Go back. Dan Orlovsky said it after he won the
first Super Bowl. And guess what?
Speaker 5 (15:25):
The next couple years didn't go that well, so he
kind of got off. He had to get off of that.
He said it after the first one that he was
a Hall of Famer, which was ridiculous. And so when
you hear people say this, always got to figure out
where is this coming from? Who's making these cases? Is
this I don't know. Are they best friends? Really close friends?
Do they go on vacation together? That's what I hear
(15:48):
from Dan Orlovsky. So you mean to tell me even Matthews,
the Super Bowl he won? Was he the MVP? Oh,
he wasn't the MVP. Remember a couple years ago there
in Philadelphia at the 20-something yard line? Had four downs
to beat the Eagles in Philadelphia. Remember that? That didn't happen.
Last year they had a great team. Everybody thought they
(16:09):
were going to Super Bowl last year.
Speaker 4 (16:11):
What happened?
Speaker 5 (16:12):
It's a terrible game in Atlanta, three interceptions. They lose
that game, lose home field, and they lose to Seattle,
who went on to win.
Speaker 4 (16:20):
The Super Bowl. I thought that was last year. So
I know. I've seen it.
Speaker 5 (16:27):
He threw a game-winning touchdown in the Super Bowl that
the Rams won.
Speaker 4 (16:31):
Kelman, he won the MVP.
Speaker 5 (16:32):
A quarterback throws a game-winning touchdown? In the Super Bowl?
And he's not the MVP? Why would that be? Oh,
did he have two or three interceptions in that game?
Speaker 4 (16:47):
Oh, probably.
Speaker 5 (16:48):
I'd have to look at the stats. I think it's
a revisionist history. Matthew Stafford, 90% of his stats was
the reason he has the nickname Stafford. 90% of his stats.
When he came to L.A.? The Rams had already gone
(17:09):
to the Super Bowl without Matthew Stafford.
Speaker 4 (17:11):
He didn't lift up an organization. He wasn't Joe Burrow
who showed up.
Speaker 5 (17:19):
Joe Burrow showed up to a team that couldn't win
a playoff game and took them to the Super Bowl.
Speaker 4 (17:23):
If Matthew Stafford had, after.
Speaker 5 (17:24):
Years, gotten the Lions to where they are now, then
you could give him credit and say, wow, look at
what he turned into from where he started. He had
a ready-made team. Why are you doing this? They go
out and they load up and all this other stuff.
So you're going to tell me, are you going to
hold it against Matthew Stafford when they don't win the
(17:47):
Super Bowl this year?
Speaker 4 (17:48):
Oh, no, it won't be his fault.
Speaker 5 (17:50):
But when they win, it's his fault, even though they
have Myles Garrett and Aaron Donald, right?
Speaker 4 (17:56):
So it's Stafford did it.
Speaker 5 (17:59):
If they win, but if they lose, it'll be some
other reason why the Rams lost.
Speaker 4 (18:03):
Come on, man. It's phony baloney. And you know what?
Speaker 5 (18:10):
History's against them because teams that have that big of
odds to win the Super Bowl are 0-20. Even the
16-0 Patriots didn't win the Super Bowl. You remember what
Tom Brady did with Randy Moss?
Speaker 6 (18:24):
Yeah, they put up crazy numbers.
Speaker 4 (18:25):
They put up crazy numbers.
Speaker 1 (18:27):
You said a lot, and I hear you on quite
a bit, but where I will push back, I do
think you overstate.
Speaker 6 (18:37):
What he was doing in Detroit. I think you make
it as if everything was a block. I covered every game.
Speaker 4 (18:41):
I was there.
Speaker 2 (18:41):
No, I know.
Speaker 4 (18:42):
I covered every game. I was there every game, home
and road.
Speaker 1 (18:46):
But my point is, I look at a guy that
came to an 0-16 team.
Speaker 6 (18:51):
That's why they got him. And a horrible franchise. So
much so, I was in Detroit. And you wrote stuff.
Speaker 1 (18:58):
And you were on TV talking about how bad they
were in the Matt Miller era and this, that, and
the other.
Speaker 6 (19:02):
And it was a terribly ran organization.
Speaker 1 (19:04):
So I give him credit that he didn't pull a,
I ain't going to Detroit like an Eli. I refuse
and all that. He said, I want to be there.
I want to be a part of the turnaround. And
I give him credit that he was able to go there.
And get to the.
Speaker 5 (19:17):
Postseason three times. No, but there were games and situations
that he could have. The Cowboys, they're the fifth best defense.
Speaker 4 (19:23):
No, I agree.
Speaker 6 (19:24):
Rob G knows.
Speaker 4 (19:25):
Now listen.
Speaker 5 (19:25):
There are situations, if you go look in Detroit. Where
they could have won the division. They had to beat
the Packers at home the last game of the year.
Speaker 4 (19:33):
Do you remember that?
Speaker 6 (19:36):
And they didn't win.
Speaker 4 (19:38):
And there were games that he could have.
Speaker 6 (19:40):
Changed the fortunes of the line. Jim Caldwell was.
Speaker 5 (19:43):
The coach as well. He took the Indianapolis Colts to
the Super Bowl. He had Jim Caldwell there.
Speaker 6 (19:50):
So, Rob, I told Rob G.
Speaker 1 (19:52):
Today, I said, Matthew Stafford, I'll give him a lot
of credit that he went in there and made them
a viable team for a large portion of his time there, right?
He was able to go there, get to the postseason, 2011, 2014, 2016,
and make that team a real team, make them fun
to watch. A lot of people, you know, they were
a viable team, and they had not been for eons.
(20:12):
You know that you were there. And so I give
him credit. I told Rob G the same thing, that
there were some throws.
That would drive you crazy because, dude, just throw it
normally and it's there. But sometimes he himself fell into
his arm, loving with his arm talent like a lot
of people do because he can throw it sideways, he
can flick the wrist, he can do all that. And
there were some throws where it was bad, where like, man,
if you just threw it a nice, normal, tight pass,
(20:36):
that could have been the third and sixth pickup and
now maybe we iced the game. So I told Rob
G that on the call, so I'm with you on that,
but I still give him a lot of credit for
coming into a terrible situation And making them a real team,
at least a viable team, a team you had to
beat for a matter of eight to nine years. And again,
getting in the postseason three times. So I will give
him favor in that you're a little more critical of
(20:56):
that run than I am. And then I think just
to your earlier point, if I trade and swap out
for you, Jared Goff, who got to a Super Bowl,
and I bring you in, you better get me there
and win it.
Speaker 6 (21:08):
Because that was the whole point, right?
Speaker 1 (21:09):
I got a young guy who I could build within
Jared Goff, who has had a nice career in Detroit,
but instead they went with Matthew Stafford. So I'll give
him credit that he came in, he got the job done,
got them there, they went to the Super Bowl, and
then obviously they've been good the last few years as well.
Speaker 5 (21:23):
That's where we disagree. Because if he went... and balled
out and was a Super Bowl MVP, then I could
buy into that.
Speaker 4 (21:31):
He just wasn't.
Speaker 1 (21:32):
But that doesn't happen all the time. Tom Brady wasn't
the MVP in all seven of his rings.
Speaker 5 (21:37):
No, but I'm saying in that case, that's what I
needed to be able to give him props. And if
you watch that whole Super Bowl run that year, Stafford
had interceptions and situations that easily could have turned him.
We wouldn't even be having this conversation. if the 49ers
(21:58):
could hold on to the football. That's all I'm saying.
It wasn't like it was clean and he didn't throw
picks or whatever.
Speaker 4 (22:04):
It wasn't that.
Speaker 6 (22:05):
He has a chance.
Speaker 1 (22:07):
My last point, again, he has got himself in the
fringe category. Right around it, some people you can entertain
that conversation. If he has another MVP season or he
gets to the Super Bowl again.
Speaker 5 (22:19):
Well, is everybody hurt again? Are all the quarterbacks hurt?
How's he going to have an MVP? The reason he
even won last year is all the good quarterbacks were
hurt last year.
Speaker 6 (22:28):
I mean, while they were hurt, that's a fact.
Speaker 4 (22:30):
No, I'm just saying. I'm just saying when you look
at it, that's what opened the door for him. That's
all I'm saying.
Speaker 1 (22:36):
Well, Patrick Mahomes got hurt at the end. He wasn't great.
Lamar was– Yeah, he was good. He wasn't Lamar Lamar.
And obviously Joe Burrow's out.
Speaker 4 (22:45):
Drake May, he beat Drake May by one. Well, that's crazy.
Speaker 6 (22:49):
I think the voters are going to look back and
be crazy on that.
Speaker 5 (22:51):
No, because they looked at it and they weren't that
impressed with Stafford despite his number.
Speaker 4 (22:55):
That's what that says.
Speaker 6 (22:57):
No, I think you're forgetting. No, they knew that. They
were worst to first.
Speaker 4 (23:02):
No, but they also knew who they played. I mean,
that's the other.
Speaker 6 (23:06):
Part of it.
Speaker 1 (23:07):
Not a lot of people were screaming that like we
were about that. A lot of people were saying, wow,
look at what Drake made, turned him around. That's why
he was getting MVP love.
Speaker 2 (23:14):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Odd Couple
with Rob Parker and Kelvin Washington. Weekdays at 7 p.m. Eastern,
4 p.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 3 (23:27):
Big news, though, in the NBA involving the team of
the summer, none other than the Los Angeles Clippers. I'm
not talking about the cap circumvention. I'm not even talking
about the Department of Justice getting involved in Kawhi Leonard's finances.
What I'm talking about is in the overnight hours, Wednesday
into Thursday, the Clippers team website decided that they would
(23:51):
start selling unbeknownst to the rest of us Bradley Beal
jerseys with the number three on them. In case you
didn't know, the only Clippers player worth talking about that's
worn number three is one Chris Paul. And according to
Chris Paul, they told him, even after things ended badly
there a few months ago at the start of the.
Speaker 4 (24:12):
Season, no one's ever going to wear that number again.
Speaker 3 (24:16):
We are going to retire your number, Chris Paul. And
not even a year later, Bradley Beal, who showed up there,
had a cup of coffee and a sweet roll.
Speaker 4 (24:24):
Is the new number three in Clipperdom. Rob Parker.
Speaker 5 (24:29):
I have no issues with it. The Clippers can do that.
Chris Paul, like, can you win? If you want a championship,
I'll buy that. That guy's number should be retired.
Speaker 4 (24:44):
Chris Paul had.
Speaker 5 (24:47):
To rub the organization so bad that they took a
flight at night to come to him to tell him
that he was off the team and get your stuff
and you're done. There's a lot of issues when it
comes to Chris Paul, the way he talked about the
organization and whatnot. If you don't win, like seriously, a
(25:08):
championship and you're derogatory or bad.
Speaker 4 (25:13):
Mouth the organization, I just don't see what you're expecting.
Speaker 5 (25:18):
If you want a championship, you cement yourself there, and
then hopefully you can work with that player and decide
you want to do something special for him. I just
can't believe they said to him, oh, nobody will ever
wear that number again. Kelvin, the way that he was dispatched, dumped,
(25:41):
like in the middle of the night? Like, you got
to get out of here. They said, Chris Paul, you're
a cancer. And he said, no, I'm a Capricorn. I
was born in January. But you get my point. Like
that's what they said to him. No, we're not going
to wait until the end of the season. We're not
(26:02):
going to give you an exit video. We're not going
to shower you with gifts. Can you pack your stuff
and get out? That's the guy you're holding a jersey
for so that you can have a– ceremony and, and
Jersey retirement. I'm not saying they can't make up down
the road and they, you know, they figure it out
(26:24):
or something, but I'm sorry. I just can't, uh, I
don't have an issue with them.
Speaker 4 (26:30):
Uh, given that number up.
Speaker 6 (26:32):
I'm glad you said that last part. Cause that's actually
my starting point.
Speaker 1 (26:35):
Sometimes Rob, you got to have foresight and you already
know you're going to make up with Chris Paul and,
There's going to be some redemption tour and, you know,
bygones be bygones.
Speaker 6 (26:45):
He was just competitive. We were competitive. We were just
trying to win.
Speaker 1 (26:48):
So to me, sometimes as an organization, you got to
have some foresight to say, look, we're not an organization
that's beloved. We don't have this great history of amazing players.
He's arguably your best player you've ever had. I mean,
Elgin Baylor's up in there. Blake was obviously up there.
But in my opinion, it's Chris Paul. Kawhi was as
far as talent, but not really anything to really, you know,
(27:10):
hang your hat on. as far as his tenure. So
to me, it's Chris Paul. And I look at it as, look,
we got a chance to start to build on something, right?
Speaker 6 (27:19):
We got a new place. We got our new home.
Speaker 1 (27:22):
And obviously, we're going through investigations. Obviously, our former owner
was terrible in Donald Sterling. Obviously, nobody really wanted us
in Staples Center all those years. So now, to me,
I'm looking at it as a chance to build something new.
Chris Paul, you're going to be the first number up there.
You know, and into a dome. I understand we had some,
we're not necessarily seeing eye to eye. However, you played
(27:43):
your heart out. We had some good times with you. We,
there was a little bit left to be desired for sure,
but you were great. You were an MVP candidate and
all stars and all that good stuff with us when
you were there. Let's start with him. Let's build a foundation.
Let's make being a Clipper mean something, right? If you're
a Laker, once a Laker, always a Laker. If you're
(28:04):
the Knicks, you've got Knicks who barely, like you don't
even think of them as a Knick. They're going to
every dang old postseason game because once a Knick, always
a Knick. Welcome back, except Charles Oakley, and all that
good stuff. And so to me, I would want to
build that. Let's start having it where being a Clipper
means something. Being a part of this organization means something.
Speaker 6 (28:23):
And who better to start with than our captain, our leader,
and our guy?
Speaker 1 (28:27):
Again, I'm not saying everything was hunky-dory and we saw
eye to eye, but Chris Paul was our guy. And
to me, that's an obvious way to say, let's build
upon something so that I can start creating a Clipper
culture and being happy that you were part of this franchise.
And to me, just honoring your best player over the
last 20 years.
Speaker 5 (28:43):
I don't think you know anything about his reputation in
the NBA. I really don't think you know anything about
Chris Paul's reputation.
Speaker 4 (28:51):
I do. And we talked about it.
Speaker 1 (28:52):
And we actually agreed that he rubs guys the wrong way.
Speaker 4 (28:55):
It's not good. And the idea, the way that they
even asked him to get lost, Tells you a lot. Seriously.
Speaker 5 (29:04):
If you are going to retire a guy's number, he's
a part of your franchise, and you might be saying
the time has come, you need to retire. There's a
way of doing it without it being in the middle
of the night and you come to tell a guy, okay, dude,
pack your stuff up. You got to get out of
here now.
Speaker 4 (29:19):
I mean, seriously.
Speaker 6 (29:21):
But that ain't the most well-run organization either.
Speaker 5 (29:23):
Ain't like he's some pristine organization that is trying to
say we don't like Chris Paul. But you're acting like
Chris Paul hasn't done anything in this.
Speaker 4 (29:31):
I'm just saying.
Speaker 1 (29:32):
Listen, we talked about it then when the whole thing
happened to go to tell him. I said, we both said,
Chris Paul's been called dirty. He has had dirty plays.
I would sit here and agree. Chris Paul, plenty of
people have spoken out about how he rubbed it. Most recently,
Big Baby Davis is out of jail, out of prison, whatever.
And he's been doing all the pods, all the rounds.
(29:53):
And one of the things he talked about was, He
said Chris was our guy and he was the leader
of the team, but he said he never was able
to really put his arm around DeAndre and Blake and say, hey,
young guys, this is how you do it.
Speaker 6 (30:08):
Come on, tighten up. Let's do this. He said he.
Speaker 1 (30:11):
Just didn't galvanize the team. So I'm with you. That's
why I said I'm not saying everything was hunky-dory and
peachy perfect, but If you're going to start with somebody,
that's the guy to start with to say, hey, we
want to start some type of legacy where being a
Clipper means something, being a part of this organization means something,
and there's some type of lasting legacy.
Speaker 4 (30:31):
Let it be a Pelican. Let the Pelicans do it.
Speaker 6 (30:35):
Well, yeah. Well, dang. Pelican, Hornet, what would he be?
Speaker 4 (30:37):
Hornet, whatever it is. Let them do it.
Speaker 6 (30:40):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (30:41):
He's been on a million teams. That's an interesting one.
Speaker 6 (30:42):
Actually, would he go to the Hornets? Which I know
they're the Pelicans now. I don't know how that would work.
Speaker 5 (30:46):
I mean, just the idea of a guy who's potentially
going to be in the Hall of Fame and for
you to come in the middle of the night to
tell him to get lost. I just think that there's
something there that's more than just the Clippers doing something wrong.
Speaker 4 (30:59):
You know what I mean?
Speaker 6 (31:01):
I'm agreeing that it might have been water and vinegar
or vinegar.
Speaker 1 (31:05):
They weren't going hand in hand. But To me, I'm
looking at, as a business person, I'm looking at Forsythe. Like,
all right, look, our.
Speaker 6 (31:13):
Fan base loved him. He's arguably our most beloved, famous
guy that we had. You know, maybe with him, Blake,
wherever you want to look at it.
Speaker 1 (31:20):
And I will be looking at it, Rob, as I
want to get him, Blake, DeAndre, Jamal Crawford, kind of
that core group.
Speaker 4 (31:27):
They didn't win anything there. I mean, like you retired one.
Speaker 1 (31:31):
It's almost like when you see college football and you
see guys who formerly played, even if they didn't win
a national championship, that was there. They're back on the sideline.
They're a part of the organization now. They're helping out.
They're showing up. They're doing some speeches. I would look
at it like that. There's no Clipper culture at all,
and I would eventually want to start to build it.
That's all I'm saying, Rob. I'm not saying he was
(31:53):
Joe Dumars of a guy, if you will, around the organization,
but I'm just saying.
Thanks for listening to the Best of the Odd Couple Podcast.
Be sure to check us out live every weekday from
4 to 7 p.m. Pacific, 7 to 10 p.m. Eastern
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Odd Couple on foxsportsradio.com or stream us every day on
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Speaker 2 (00:19):
You're listening to the Best of the Odd Couple.
Speaker 3 (00:25):
Yeah, it was a tough scene if you are a
New England fan because even after Sam Donald went down after, what,
five snaps with a hip injury, missed the rest of
the game, Drew Locke comes in, puts the cape on.
New England found a way to trick away a game
they had in their hand. They were up 10 points late,
and Drake May finds a way to turn the ball over,
(00:46):
not once, not twice, but three times in the fourth
quarter alone. Shorthanded Seattle comes back, steals the win, and
even then, Drake May had a chance to force overtime
there in the final seconds through the game-sealing interception in
the end zone. After the game, he blamed himself, said
he got impatient, and he took the brunt of the blame.
Speaker 4 (01:05):
On his own shoulders. And he should have.
Speaker 5 (01:07):
And I'm just going to, Kelvin, you could jump in
whenever you want, but this is for you. As usual,
I'm trying to tell you, yesterday before we got started
with the NFL season, there's a reason I didn't believe
in Drake May, and he answered all those questions for us.
Three unforced errors, just terrible. The last one with a
chance to tie the game with a field goal. You
(01:27):
don't throw up a 50-50 ball. You got to make
sure you either complete it or you throw it out
of bounds. There's no way you could give up the
football in that situation. And they blew a golden opportunity
to win a game on the road to set the
standard for the season.
Speaker 4 (01:42):
Sam Darnold goes out. You've got to beat a backup quarterback.
Speaker 5 (01:46):
It's pretty easy to jump in on that and try
to make it happen, but he can't. And his numbers
are awful. His last five games, his numbers are worse
than Shador Sanders. And this guy, people are talking about
they'd rather have him than Caleb Williams. There's nobody who
watched that game yesterday who thought, oh, yeah, this guy
(02:07):
is it.
Speaker 4 (02:08):
He's going places.
Speaker 5 (02:10):
It was a terrible choke job, a bad performance that
this dude had eight interceptions last year and three in
game one in a game that mattered. They have a really,
really tough schedule to start the NFL season. Now I'm
convinced they can go 0-4, 1-5, somewhere like that. And
(02:33):
Drake made these are the issues. Go look at in
his last five games, he has 11 turnovers, seven interceptions.
Speaker 4 (02:43):
And four fumbles lost.
Speaker 5 (02:46):
That's the guy everybody's clamoring about? I'll tell you one thing,
it cheapens Matthew Stafford's MVP that that guy only lost
to him by one.
Speaker 4 (02:55):
By one vote?
Speaker 6 (02:57):
Why Matthew got to get in it?
Speaker 2 (02:59):
There you go.
Speaker 1 (02:59):
I was with you. Listen, I was with you. You
said it yesterday.
Speaker 6 (03:04):
He didn't play. Well, prior to the game, obviously. You know,
some of that was Fugazi.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
And even last year during the later part of the
regular season and, of course, during the postseason, you and
I talked about it. And we said, obviously, that he
and the team as a whole was taking advantage of
of the bad teams they had to play or the
bad schedule in front of them. Now, we always also say,
I can't make my schedule. I got to beat who's
in front of me. And he did not look great
in the postseason. And last night was horrible for multiple reasons, Rob.
(03:33):
And this is what disappointed me. And I would imagine
if you were a Patriot fan or even his coach
and his team, like Drake May, I'm watching it. I'm
thinking Drake May suck or Drake May suck. Not be
as good as the numbers looked last year and as
the MVP votes as you just alluded to.
Speaker 6 (03:50):
Because here's the thing, Rob.
Speaker 1 (03:52):
Part of being a good quarterback at times is you
do have a bad half or you have a bad moment,
and it's okay. It was right there for him to
win and to say, look, game one against an obviously
top defense in the NFL.
Speaker 6 (04:05):
They're going crazy. They're great. They're at home. They're fired up.
They're reigning champs. They feel disrespected because nobody's picking them
to win.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
And yet we got a chance to go down here
and win it. And walk away and say, hey, it
wasn't great. We got a win on the road. We'll
take it. Let's keep moving. We're on to week two. Instead,
he throws up as if it was fourth down. Like
he had to throw that. And that's what's disappointing is, dude,
you can have a bad situation, a bad game. But look,
you take that play. You take the sack or you
(04:32):
throw it away. You kick a field goal. You go
to overtime.
Speaker 6 (04:35):
You win it. And like I said, you wipe your hand.
You go, all right, it wasn't great.
Speaker 1 (04:39):
But we got to win, and you keep moving on,
and you say, hey, we got to win against a
team that people probably figured we were going to lose to,
against a team that has incredible defense, and you say, hey,
we got an ugly one on the road, but we
got it and we'll take it. And then you try
to improve, obviously week two. But instead, you cost your team.
You look like C.J. Stroud, who we've talked about on
(05:00):
this show plenty of times. You did that, and it
wasn't even, Rob, it wasn't spread out. Meaning he didn't
throw a first quarter one ante. Maybe the receiver and
him were a little off sync because it's, you know,
first game of the year.
Speaker 6 (05:10):
You threw them in.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
The fourth quarter and that was horrible for you. And
so Drake May, including himself, is going to have to
beat the idea. And you mentioned it. We talked about
it last year. Are you really good? Are you really,
really good? Or are you good against bad teams and
you're taking advantage of them? And again, I was willing
to give him some break in a sense that, all right,
(05:32):
obviously I didn't design the schedule, meaning him or the Patriots,
and I'm beating who's in front of me. And you
know you've heard me say this plenty of times. Like,
for instance, in football or in the NBA especially, don't
just barely beat a bad team.
Speaker 6 (05:46):
Beat them good. You know what I mean? Beat the team.
Speaker 1 (05:48):
That's because, hey, I got to beat this bad team
in front of me. Might as well beat them up
to really show how dominant we are. That's what you're
supposed to do. And they did it at times last year.
But they look bad. He specifically looked bad. He cost
him team. He cost the team in clutch time. And
to your point, Caleb Williams might have been bad for
(06:09):
a large portion of the game.
Speaker 6 (06:11):
But Caleb Williams would.
Speaker 1 (06:12):
Have found a way to win or at least not
cost the team, and I will give him that credit.
Drake may have had a chance to say, through it all,
we still found a way to win, and he didn't,
and I was very disappointed. Obviously, he's disappointed because he's
come out and said, that he can't be the reason
it cost the team. And he said, to be specific,
he said he got impatient. And therefore, because you're playing
(06:32):
against a defense that's good, sometimes you've got to de-conduct,
sometimes you've got to take field goals.
Speaker 6 (06:36):
He finally got impatient in the fourth quarter, and it
cost his team.
Speaker 1 (06:39):
And Drake May looked more like, against that Seattle team,
Drake going up against Kendrick in a beef a couple
summers ago.
Speaker 6 (06:46):
That's what he looked like, Rob. He looked horrible.
Speaker 5 (06:49):
I think he looked like Fake May is what he
looked like because he ain't the guy that people thought
he was. Once again, this is what we do now.
We crown people prematurely. We try to convince us that
he's got the it. Everybody doesn't have the it factor.
Everybody's not going to be a great young quarterback for
the next 12 years.
Speaker 4 (07:10):
Can we stop it? We did it. C.J. Stroud. C.J. Stroud. Yeah,
he was crowned.
Speaker 5 (07:15):
There were people who were like, oh, yeah, well, that's
why the executives said they'd rather take him.
Speaker 4 (07:20):
Like, I get it. He went to the Super Bowl
last year, right? I get it.
Speaker 6 (07:25):
He went to the Super Bowl.
Speaker 5 (07:26):
But I'm talking about doing your due diligence to look
at the numbers. Before the three interceptions in the last
four games were not good. And now this is the
one that really makes you take a look and go,
11 turnovers?
Speaker 4 (07:39):
In the last five games?
Speaker 6 (07:41):
I agree.
Speaker 5 (07:42):
That's a good sample size to say something's not here.
And what is the common denominator in these five games?
You're playing the better competition. You're playing better teams. You're
not playing the also-rans. You're not eating off of Tom
Brady's AFC least, you know, where you're able to win
(08:04):
those games.
Speaker 4 (08:05):
We got it. We used to say it all the time,
even with Tom Brady.
Speaker 5 (08:08):
Tom Brady was able to put Feast and get his
team in position every year with those wins and take
advantage of them.
Speaker 1 (08:16):
Here's what's going to be interesting, Rob. if you, let's
say you're in his locker room, I'm Vrabel, right? I
got to pump my guy up. And even obviously, if
you're him himself, you say, the last three games, four
games or so, you've played the Texans, arguably the best defense,
(08:36):
one of the top two or three, the Broncos, top one,
two or three, and then the Seahawks, top one, two
or three.
Speaker 6 (08:40):
So you played the three best defenses in the last
four games.
Speaker 1 (08:44):
So, Is it the luck of the draw that we
just went up against an absurdity of defensive teams, and
we're not as bad as it looked, or specifically him,
because obviously they got to the Super Bowl, or... Is
it something about just good teams, period? And that's what
I think is going to be interesting moving forward for him.
The Steelers made the playoffs last year. Obviously, it's a
(09:05):
new year. Mike McCarthy's here. We don't know what they
are right now. But that'll be another solid to good
team because he's 2-7 against 500 teams, Rob. And you
try to stall him out, like I said, because of
the postseason. You're playing against the Broncos, the Houston Texans,
and now the Seattle Seahawks twice. But if he looks
even just meh against the Steelers, then that's very problematic.
Speaker 2 (09:28):
Be sure to catch live editions of the odd couple
with Rob Parker and Kelvin Washington weekdays at 7.
Speaker 4 (09:34):
PM.
Speaker 2 (09:34):
Eastern 4.
Speaker 3 (09:35):
PM.
Speaker 2 (09:36):
Pacific on Fox sports radio and the I heart radio app.
Fox sports radio is taking over YouTube and you can
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favorite shows to pro and a cup of joe dan
patrick colin coward doug gottlieb cavino and rich the odd
(09:58):
couple with rob parker and 30 minutes away from kickoff.
Niners and the Rams down under. Week one game between
these two teams and.
Speaker 3 (10:18):
One of the big talking points coming into this game
outside of the travel situation is, man, these Los Angeles
Rams are like the dream team of football.
Speaker 4 (10:27):
Aaron Donald's not even playing tonight. Miles Garrett.
Speaker 3 (10:30):
Headlined by the guy you're seeing on your television right now,
reigning and defending NFL MVP.
Speaker 4 (10:35):
Who beat out Drake May.
Speaker 3 (10:37):
Matthew freaking Stafford.
Speaker 4 (10:40):
Now, we already had.
Speaker 3 (10:42):
Dan Orlovsky on ESPN say about a week and a
half ago that if he gets the job done this
season as expected he's a top 10 player in NFL
history I don't know about all that but this is
a big season for Matthew Stafford you think about his
career and his longevity and his legacy wouldn't you agree
Kelvin Washington it.
Speaker 1 (10:59):
Is Matthew Stafford has a chance to in my opinion
have a case to be in the Hall of Fame
if he wins an MVP and a Super Bowl, but
it's desperately one or the other. So if he wins
the MVP, obviously makes a deep playoff run, but even
if they lose, but he's two-time MVP, he's a Super
Bowl champ, you can absolutely make a case for him.
Speaker 6 (11:21):
I don't think he gets in without it. I don't
think he is. And I don't think.
Speaker 1 (11:26):
Matthew Stafford's the top 10 quarterback of all time. I
think we're getting a little carried away And this is
coming from, you know, obviously a Lions fan. I think
we're putting a little extra sauce on it right now
because he has been fantastic with the Rams. They have
a Super Bowl. He is now the MVP currently as
we sit here today, Rob. But again, if we just
stopped it, for whatever reasons he said.
Speaker 6 (11:45):
I'm done today. I'm quitting. I'm done. I had enough.
Speaker 1 (11:49):
I don't think he's a Hall of Famer, and I
think that's perfectly fine. Just like I don't think Eli
is right now. I know he'll get in one day.
You know my reasons why. And just like I think
Phillip Rivers had an amazing career, but Phillip Rivers is
not a Hall of Famer, and that's okay. I think
we have this weird new thing where everybody has to
be a Hall of Famer. Don't even get on the NBA.
I know it's the basketball Hall of Famer. You know
(12:09):
we've talked about that. He's not there yet. Now, Matthew
Stafford goes out and repeats what he did last year. Again,
blows the hinges off with 40-something touchdowns, 4,500 yards. They
win a bunch of games. He's an MVP again. That
can do it. He wins a Super Bowl.
Speaker 4 (12:25):
He's in.
Speaker 1 (12:26):
Because then you start to look at, obviously, a couple
Super Bowl titles, an MVP, obviously all the arm talent,
and he'll have all the stats in the world just
because he's been throwing the ball around his whole career.
Speaker 6 (12:38):
So to me, Rob.
Speaker 1 (12:39):
This season is a season that can get Matthew Stafford
separated from currently Eli Manning.
Speaker 6 (12:46):
Currently. Currently. Eli's not in yet.
Speaker 1 (12:48):
Phillip Rivers, who is not going to make it in
my opinion as well. And some guys like that. And
it'll put him in the realms of a Russell Wilson,
of a Kurt Warner. Guys like that were okay. MVP, obviously,
and Kurt Warner. and obviously he got Super Bowl titles
and Super Bowl appearances, that is going to be imperative
for him to get in. If he just is good
(13:09):
this year, Rob, and really good, and was MVP candidate,
and they're out in the first, second round, I don't
think that's enough. I think he would have had a
really good career, but that's not enough. Matthew Stafford still
has work to do, people. to get into the Hall
of Fame. I don't know why everybody's kind of anointing him.
He's a top-ten quarterback yet. And this is coming from
a Detroit Lions fan. Off the bat, you already got,
(13:31):
you know, the Patons and the Aarons and the Tom
Brady's and the, you know, the Ben Roethlisberger who I
would have.
Speaker 6 (13:38):
And that's the Elways. I mean, Marinos. Like, there are
guys quickly. That's off the top.
Speaker 1 (13:44):
And so I'm always blown away when I hear people,
he's a top-ten quarterback. He's in the Hall of Fame already.
Hall of Famer Matthew Stafford. Pump the brakes. Might even
need an anti-lock break. Pull that lever up a little bit.
Back in the 80s and the 90s, the little lever.
Pull that up because he's not there yet, Rob. Rob,
I need to be talking to you.
Speaker 6 (14:00):
When we're in L.A.
Speaker 1 (14:02):
In February, down at, I'm sure, Convention Center, doing our
Radio Row stuff, and if he's in the Super Bowl,
or at that point, like we did the last two years,
we announce on the show who the MVP is because
it usually happens during our show.
Speaker 6 (14:15):
Then we can have that conversation.
Speaker 1 (14:16):
But right now, he's not in, and this season can
get him in, but I'm blown away how many people
have already put him in top 10, top 8 quarterback
of all time, Hall of Fame quarterback.
Speaker 6 (14:25):
He ain't there yet.
Speaker 4 (14:28):
Yeah, I just think it's people trying to.
Speaker 5 (14:32):
Rewrite history, and most of Matthew Stafford's numbers that you're
talking about were all in games that didn't matter. And
I covered him from his very first game on and
watched most of his career in And oftentimes his team
was down 21-0 when he started throwing the ball around
the yard.
Speaker 4 (14:49):
I could not.
Speaker 5 (14:52):
A guy who you're talking about a Hall of Famer
who's a three-time pro bowler, three times in 15 years?
Speaker 4 (15:00):
That doesn't make any sense.
Speaker 5 (15:03):
What he's able to do and why people are banging
some of these people is because his friend, Dan Orlovsky,
is not objective. They were quarterbacks with the Lions. He's
a good friend of Matthew Stafford. He has a great
big platform on ESPN.
Speaker 4 (15:20):
Go back. Dan Orlovsky said it after he won the
first Super Bowl. And guess what?
Speaker 5 (15:25):
The next couple years didn't go that well, so he
kind of got off. He had to get off of that.
He said it after the first one that he was
a Hall of Famer, which was ridiculous. And so when
you hear people say this, always got to figure out
where is this coming from? Who's making these cases? Is
this I don't know. Are they best friends? Really close friends?
Do they go on vacation together? That's what I hear
(15:48):
from Dan Orlovsky. So you mean to tell me even Matthews,
the Super Bowl he won? Was he the MVP? Oh,
he wasn't the MVP. Remember a couple years ago there
in Philadelphia at the 20-something yard line? Had four downs
to beat the Eagles in Philadelphia. Remember that? That didn't happen.
Last year they had a great team. Everybody thought they
(16:09):
were going to Super Bowl last year.
Speaker 4 (16:11):
What happened?
Speaker 5 (16:12):
It's a terrible game in Atlanta, three interceptions. They lose
that game, lose home field, and they lose to Seattle,
who went on to win.
Speaker 4 (16:20):
The Super Bowl. I thought that was last year. So
I know. I've seen it.
Speaker 5 (16:27):
He threw a game-winning touchdown in the Super Bowl that
the Rams won.
Speaker 4 (16:31):
Kelman, he won the MVP.
Speaker 5 (16:32):
A quarterback throws a game-winning touchdown? In the Super Bowl?
And he's not the MVP? Why would that be? Oh,
did he have two or three interceptions in that game?
Speaker 4 (16:47):
Oh, probably.
Speaker 5 (16:48):
I'd have to look at the stats. I think it's
a revisionist history. Matthew Stafford, 90% of his stats was
the reason he has the nickname Stafford. 90% of his stats.
When he came to L.A.? The Rams had already gone
(17:09):
to the Super Bowl without Matthew Stafford.
Speaker 4 (17:11):
He didn't lift up an organization. He wasn't Joe Burrow
who showed up.
Speaker 5 (17:19):
Joe Burrow showed up to a team that couldn't win
a playoff game and took them to the Super Bowl.
Speaker 4 (17:23):
If Matthew Stafford had, after.
Speaker 5 (17:24):
Years, gotten the Lions to where they are now, then
you could give him credit and say, wow, look at
what he turned into from where he started. He had
a ready-made team. Why are you doing this? They go
out and they load up and all this other stuff.
So you're going to tell me, are you going to
hold it against Matthew Stafford when they don't win the
(17:47):
Super Bowl this year?
Speaker 4 (17:48):
Oh, no, it won't be his fault.
Speaker 5 (17:50):
But when they win, it's his fault, even though they
have Myles Garrett and Aaron Donald, right?
Speaker 4 (17:56):
So it's Stafford did it.
Speaker 5 (17:59):
If they win, but if they lose, it'll be some
other reason why the Rams lost.
Speaker 4 (18:03):
Come on, man. It's phony baloney. And you know what?
Speaker 5 (18:10):
History's against them because teams that have that big of
odds to win the Super Bowl are 0-20. Even the
16-0 Patriots didn't win the Super Bowl. You remember what
Tom Brady did with Randy Moss?
Speaker 6 (18:24):
Yeah, they put up crazy numbers.
Speaker 4 (18:25):
They put up crazy numbers.
Speaker 1 (18:27):
You said a lot, and I hear you on quite
a bit, but where I will push back, I do
think you overstate.
Speaker 6 (18:37):
What he was doing in Detroit. I think you make
it as if everything was a block. I covered every game.
Speaker 4 (18:41):
I was there.
Speaker 2 (18:41):
No, I know.
Speaker 4 (18:42):
I covered every game. I was there every game, home
and road.
Speaker 1 (18:46):
But my point is, I look at a guy that
came to an 0-16 team.
Speaker 6 (18:51):
That's why they got him. And a horrible franchise. So
much so, I was in Detroit. And you wrote stuff.
Speaker 1 (18:58):
And you were on TV talking about how bad they
were in the Matt Miller era and this, that, and
the other.
Speaker 6 (19:02):
And it was a terribly ran organization.
Speaker 1 (19:04):
So I give him credit that he didn't pull a,
I ain't going to Detroit like an Eli. I refuse
and all that. He said, I want to be there.
I want to be a part of the turnaround. And
I give him credit that he was able to go there.
And get to the.
Speaker 5 (19:17):
Postseason three times. No, but there were games and situations
that he could have. The Cowboys, they're the fifth best defense.
Speaker 4 (19:23):
No, I agree.
Speaker 6 (19:24):
Rob G knows.
Speaker 4 (19:25):
Now listen.
Speaker 5 (19:25):
There are situations, if you go look in Detroit. Where
they could have won the division. They had to beat
the Packers at home the last game of the year.
Speaker 4 (19:33):
Do you remember that?
Speaker 6 (19:36):
And they didn't win.
Speaker 4 (19:38):
And there were games that he could have.
Speaker 6 (19:40):
Changed the fortunes of the line. Jim Caldwell was.
Speaker 5 (19:43):
The coach as well. He took the Indianapolis Colts to
the Super Bowl. He had Jim Caldwell there.
Speaker 6 (19:50):
So, Rob, I told Rob G.
Speaker 1 (19:52):
Today, I said, Matthew Stafford, I'll give him a lot
of credit that he went in there and made them
a viable team for a large portion of his time there, right?
He was able to go there, get to the postseason, 2011, 2014, 2016,
and make that team a real team, make them fun
to watch. A lot of people, you know, they were
a viable team, and they had not been for eons.
(20:12):
You know that you were there. And so I give
him credit. I told Rob G the same thing, that
there were some throws.
That would drive you crazy because, dude, just throw it
normally and it's there. But sometimes he himself fell into
his arm, loving with his arm talent like a lot
of people do because he can throw it sideways, he
can flick the wrist, he can do all that. And
there were some throws where it was bad, where like, man,
if you just threw it a nice, normal, tight pass,
(20:36):
that could have been the third and sixth pickup and
now maybe we iced the game. So I told Rob
G that on the call, so I'm with you on that,
but I still give him a lot of credit for
coming into a terrible situation And making them a real team,
at least a viable team, a team you had to
beat for a matter of eight to nine years. And again,
getting in the postseason three times. So I will give
him favor in that you're a little more critical of
(20:56):
that run than I am. And then I think just
to your earlier point, if I trade and swap out
for you, Jared Goff, who got to a Super Bowl,
and I bring you in, you better get me there
and win it.
Speaker 6 (21:08):
Because that was the whole point, right?
Speaker 1 (21:09):
I got a young guy who I could build within
Jared Goff, who has had a nice career in Detroit,
but instead they went with Matthew Stafford. So I'll give
him credit that he came in, he got the job done,
got them there, they went to the Super Bowl, and
then obviously they've been good the last few years as well.
Speaker 5 (21:23):
That's where we disagree. Because if he went... and balled
out and was a Super Bowl MVP, then I could
buy into that.
Speaker 4 (21:31):
He just wasn't.
Speaker 1 (21:32):
But that doesn't happen all the time. Tom Brady wasn't
the MVP in all seven of his rings.
Speaker 5 (21:37):
No, but I'm saying in that case, that's what I
needed to be able to give him props. And if
you watch that whole Super Bowl run that year, Stafford
had interceptions and situations that easily could have turned him.
We wouldn't even be having this conversation. if the 49ers
(21:58):
could hold on to the football. That's all I'm saying.
It wasn't like it was clean and he didn't throw
picks or whatever.
Speaker 4 (22:04):
It wasn't that.
Speaker 6 (22:05):
He has a chance.
Speaker 1 (22:07):
My last point, again, he has got himself in the
fringe category. Right around it, some people you can entertain
that conversation. If he has another MVP season or he
gets to the Super Bowl again.
Speaker 5 (22:19):
Well, is everybody hurt again? Are all the quarterbacks hurt?
How's he going to have an MVP? The reason he
even won last year is all the good quarterbacks were
hurt last year.
Speaker 6 (22:28):
I mean, while they were hurt, that's a fact.
Speaker 4 (22:30):
No, I'm just saying. I'm just saying when you look
at it, that's what opened the door for him. That's
all I'm saying.
Speaker 1 (22:36):
Well, Patrick Mahomes got hurt at the end. He wasn't great.
Lamar was– Yeah, he was good. He wasn't Lamar Lamar.
And obviously Joe Burrow's out.
Speaker 4 (22:45):
Drake May, he beat Drake May by one. Well, that's crazy.
Speaker 6 (22:49):
I think the voters are going to look back and
be crazy on that.
Speaker 5 (22:51):
No, because they looked at it and they weren't that
impressed with Stafford despite his number.
Speaker 4 (22:55):
That's what that says.
Speaker 6 (22:57):
No, I think you're forgetting. No, they knew that. They
were worst to first.
Speaker 4 (23:02):
No, but they also knew who they played. I mean,
that's the other.
Speaker 6 (23:06):
Part of it.
Speaker 1 (23:07):
Not a lot of people were screaming that like we
were about that. A lot of people were saying, wow,
look at what Drake made, turned him around. That's why
he was getting MVP love.
Speaker 2 (23:14):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Odd Couple
with Rob Parker and Kelvin Washington. Weekdays at 7 p.m. Eastern,
4 p.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 3 (23:27):
Big news, though, in the NBA involving the team of
the summer, none other than the Los Angeles Clippers. I'm
not talking about the cap circumvention. I'm not even talking
about the Department of Justice getting involved in Kawhi Leonard's finances.
What I'm talking about is in the overnight hours, Wednesday
into Thursday, the Clippers team website decided that they would
(23:51):
start selling unbeknownst to the rest of us Bradley Beal
jerseys with the number three on them. In case you
didn't know, the only Clippers player worth talking about that's
worn number three is one Chris Paul. And according to
Chris Paul, they told him, even after things ended badly
there a few months ago at the start of the.
Speaker 4 (24:12):
Season, no one's ever going to wear that number again.
Speaker 3 (24:16):
We are going to retire your number, Chris Paul. And
not even a year later, Bradley Beal, who showed up there,
had a cup of coffee and a sweet roll.
Speaker 4 (24:24):
Is the new number three in Clipperdom. Rob Parker.
Speaker 5 (24:29):
I have no issues with it. The Clippers can do that.
Chris Paul, like, can you win? If you want a championship,
I'll buy that. That guy's number should be retired.
Speaker 4 (24:44):
Chris Paul had.
Speaker 5 (24:47):
To rub the organization so bad that they took a
flight at night to come to him to tell him
that he was off the team and get your stuff
and you're done. There's a lot of issues when it
comes to Chris Paul, the way he talked about the
organization and whatnot. If you don't win, like seriously, a
(25:08):
championship and you're derogatory or bad.
Speaker 4 (25:13):
Mouth the organization, I just don't see what you're expecting.
Speaker 5 (25:18):
If you want a championship, you cement yourself there, and
then hopefully you can work with that player and decide
you want to do something special for him. I just
can't believe they said to him, oh, nobody will ever
wear that number again. Kelvin, the way that he was dispatched, dumped,
(25:41):
like in the middle of the night? Like, you got
to get out of here. They said, Chris Paul, you're
a cancer. And he said, no, I'm a Capricorn. I
was born in January. But you get my point. Like
that's what they said to him. No, we're not going
to wait until the end of the season. We're not
(26:02):
going to give you an exit video. We're not going
to shower you with gifts. Can you pack your stuff
and get out? That's the guy you're holding a jersey
for so that you can have a– ceremony and, and
Jersey retirement. I'm not saying they can't make up down
the road and they, you know, they figure it out
(26:24):
or something, but I'm sorry. I just can't, uh, I
don't have an issue with them.
Speaker 4 (26:30):
Uh, given that number up.
Speaker 6 (26:32):
I'm glad you said that last part. Cause that's actually
my starting point.
Speaker 1 (26:35):
Sometimes Rob, you got to have foresight and you already
know you're going to make up with Chris Paul and,
There's going to be some redemption tour and, you know,
bygones be bygones.
Speaker 6 (26:45):
He was just competitive. We were competitive. We were just
trying to win.
Speaker 1 (26:48):
So to me, sometimes as an organization, you got to
have some foresight to say, look, we're not an organization
that's beloved. We don't have this great history of amazing players.
He's arguably your best player you've ever had. I mean,
Elgin Baylor's up in there. Blake was obviously up there.
But in my opinion, it's Chris Paul. Kawhi was as
far as talent, but not really anything to really, you know,
(27:10):
hang your hat on. as far as his tenure. So
to me, it's Chris Paul. And I look at it as, look,
we got a chance to start to build on something, right?
Speaker 6 (27:19):
We got a new place. We got our new home.
Speaker 1 (27:22):
And obviously, we're going through investigations. Obviously, our former owner
was terrible in Donald Sterling. Obviously, nobody really wanted us
in Staples Center all those years. So now, to me,
I'm looking at it as a chance to build something new.
Chris Paul, you're going to be the first number up there.
You know, and into a dome. I understand we had some,
we're not necessarily seeing eye to eye. However, you played
(27:43):
your heart out. We had some good times with you. We,
there was a little bit left to be desired for sure,
but you were great. You were an MVP candidate and
all stars and all that good stuff with us when
you were there. Let's start with him. Let's build a foundation.
Let's make being a Clipper mean something, right? If you're
a Laker, once a Laker, always a Laker. If you're
(28:04):
the Knicks, you've got Knicks who barely, like you don't
even think of them as a Knick. They're going to
every dang old postseason game because once a Knick, always
a Knick. Welcome back, except Charles Oakley, and all that
good stuff. And so to me, I would want to
build that. Let's start having it where being a Clipper
means something. Being a part of this organization means something.
Speaker 6 (28:23):
And who better to start with than our captain, our leader,
and our guy?
Speaker 1 (28:27):
Again, I'm not saying everything was hunky-dory and we saw
eye to eye, but Chris Paul was our guy. And
to me, that's an obvious way to say, let's build
upon something so that I can start creating a Clipper
culture and being happy that you were part of this franchise.
And to me, just honoring your best player over the
last 20 years.
Speaker 5 (28:43):
I don't think you know anything about his reputation in
the NBA. I really don't think you know anything about
Chris Paul's reputation.
Speaker 4 (28:51):
I do. And we talked about it.
Speaker 1 (28:52):
And we actually agreed that he rubs guys the wrong way.
Speaker 4 (28:55):
It's not good. And the idea, the way that they
even asked him to get lost, Tells you a lot. Seriously.
Speaker 5 (29:04):
If you are going to retire a guy's number, he's
a part of your franchise, and you might be saying
the time has come, you need to retire. There's a
way of doing it without it being in the middle
of the night and you come to tell a guy, okay, dude,
pack your stuff up. You got to get out of
here now.
Speaker 4 (29:19):
I mean, seriously.
Speaker 6 (29:21):
But that ain't the most well-run organization either.
Speaker 5 (29:23):
Ain't like he's some pristine organization that is trying to
say we don't like Chris Paul. But you're acting like
Chris Paul hasn't done anything in this.
Speaker 4 (29:31):
I'm just saying.
Speaker 1 (29:32):
Listen, we talked about it then when the whole thing
happened to go to tell him. I said, we both said,
Chris Paul's been called dirty. He has had dirty plays.
I would sit here and agree. Chris Paul, plenty of
people have spoken out about how he rubbed it. Most recently,
Big Baby Davis is out of jail, out of prison, whatever.
And he's been doing all the pods, all the rounds.
(29:53):
And one of the things he talked about was, He
said Chris was our guy and he was the leader
of the team, but he said he never was able
to really put his arm around DeAndre and Blake and say, hey,
young guys, this is how you do it.
Speaker 6 (30:08):
Come on, tighten up. Let's do this. He said he.
Speaker 1 (30:11):
Just didn't galvanize the team. So I'm with you. That's
why I said I'm not saying everything was hunky-dory and
peachy perfect, but If you're going to start with somebody,
that's the guy to start with to say, hey, we
want to start some type of legacy where being a
Clipper means something, being a part of this organization means something,
and there's some type of lasting legacy.
Speaker 4 (30:31):
Let it be a Pelican. Let the Pelicans do it.
Speaker 6 (30:35):
Well, yeah. Well, dang. Pelican, Hornet, what would he be?
Speaker 4 (30:37):
Hornet, whatever it is. Let them do it.
Speaker 6 (30:40):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (30:41):
He's been on a million teams. That's an interesting one.
Speaker 6 (30:42):
Actually, would he go to the Hornets? Which I know
they're the Pelicans now. I don't know how that would work.
Speaker 5 (30:46):
I mean, just the idea of a guy who's potentially
going to be in the Hall of Fame and for
you to come in the middle of the night to
tell him to get lost. I just think that there's
something there that's more than just the Clippers doing something wrong.
Speaker 4 (30:59):
You know what I mean?
Speaker 6 (31:01):
I'm agreeing that it might have been water and vinegar
or vinegar.
Speaker 1 (31:05):
They weren't going hand in hand. But To me, I'm
looking at, as a business person, I'm looking at Forsythe. Like,
all right, look, our.
Speaker 6 (31:13):
Fan base loved him. He's arguably our most beloved, famous
guy that we had. You know, maybe with him, Blake,
wherever you want to look at it.
Speaker 1 (31:20):
And I will be looking at it, Rob, as I
want to get him, Blake, DeAndre, Jamal Crawford, kind of
that core group.
Speaker 4 (31:27):
They didn't win anything there. I mean, like you retired one.
Speaker 1 (31:31):
It's almost like when you see college football and you
see guys who formerly played, even if they didn't win
a national championship, that was there. They're back on the sideline.
They're a part of the organization now. They're helping out.
They're showing up. They're doing some speeches. I would look
at it like that. There's no Clipper culture at all,
and I would eventually want to start to build it.
That's all I'm saying, Rob. I'm not saying he was
(31:53):
Joe Dumars of a guy, if you will, around the organization,
but I'm just saying.
Hosts And Creators
kelvin washington
Rob Parker
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