September 5, 2026 • 52 mins
Dan talks to Michigan HC Kyle Whittingham about their rivalry with Ohio State and the prospect of allowing players to return to college sports after playing in NFL preseason games. Newly inducted Pro Football Hall of Fame LB Luke Kuechly stops by to chop it up with DP. Big Ten commissioner Tony Petetti joins Dan and talks about the growth of the conference and how they navigate the contemporary age of college football, and the possibility of a big SEC-Big Ten challenge as the two conferences continue to stand above everyone else. And investigative reporter Pablo Torre of “Pablo Torre Finds Out” joins Dan to talk about the punishment handed down to the Clippers stemming from his detective work. Torre defends himself and his reporting and explains how the NBA found this evidence.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
You are listening to the Dan Patrick show on Fox
sports radio.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
The head coach at Michigan, Kyle Winningham still sounds strange
to say that coach after all those years at Utah,
do you have any Utah gear left over?
Speaker 3 (00:14):
Uh, there's probably some back in Utah somewhere in my
house back there, but I would take me a minute
to locate it. All right.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
So how prepared are you for this moment?
Speaker 3 (00:24):
Uh, well, shoot as prepared as we could possibly be.
I mean, we got, uh, Three more days of practice.
We certainly need every one of them. But we've had
a really good fall camp, made a ton of progress,
and eager to play somebody else. We've been beating on
ourselves for eight months now, and so it's going to
be good to find out what we got on Saturday.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
But the expectation level. Now, Utah wanted you to win.
Michigan wants you to win. Do you feel any different
with the expectations from the fans of what they're hoping for?
Speaker 3 (00:56):
No, I don't believe so. I mean, you know, in
both places you're hoping for conference championships and then whatever
you can accomplish beyond that. But, you know, I've said
it before, it doesn't matter what level you're coaching at,
high school, college, NFL. I mean, wherever you are, you're
all in. And if you're all in and you've given
it everything you got, then you have the same burning
(01:19):
desire to win as anybody else.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
Why did you feel the need to clarify your comments
about Ohio State?
Speaker 3 (01:26):
Well, I didn't feel the need to clarify. They were
asked about it. People ask about it, and I just
answer questions.
Speaker 4 (01:33):
That's what I do. Okay.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
So from the first comments to the second, like people
want to hear you say you hate Ohio State, right?
Speaker 3 (01:45):
I guess that's what they want. I don't know. I
want to beat them as bad as anybody, probably worse.
How about this? I guess we could hate them all
one day a year. How about that?
Speaker 2 (01:57):
Yeah, but, you know, I said, and I grew up
in Ohio, I said, give him a break. Like, you know,
you can know about this rivalry. It'd be like if
somebody went and said, oh, you're at Utah, you got
to hate BYU. And you just came there. You're like,
all right, let me live this first a little bit here.
So I don't know if there's a tutorial on how
to strongly dislike a team.
Speaker 3 (02:20):
Yeah, to me, it's got to happen organically. And, you know,
it's tough to manufacture that. And so. But just the
competitive nature of the game. I mean, it's the rivalry
game in the, you know, the premier rivalry game in
the country. And it, you know, that's, you know, everybody
knows that. I'm fully aware of that. And by no
means was I trying to downplay the game. And the
(02:41):
game is huge. I mean, it's a huge game year
in and year out.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
All you got to do is win. You can hate them.
And if you don't beat them, nobody's going to give
you credit for it. Well, at least you hate them, coach.
Speaker 3 (02:52):
Exactly. Good point. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
Help me understand where you stood with NFL players coming
back to college. I know that, you know, all the
conferences are kind of in sync on this, but did
you ever think we'd get to a situation like this
where somebody leaves college, goes to the pros, puts on
a uniform or two, and then comes back?
Speaker 3 (03:14):
Did not foresee that at all. And that's something that, but,
but any, you know, in this day and age, anything
that happens in college football shouldn't come as a surprise.
I mean, we're so all over the, we're so all
over the place with everything that, that I guess anything's possible.
Speaker 2 (03:27):
Okay. How did we get here with just no, there's
no singular voice. There's no lifeguard on duty in the
deep end here, coach.
Speaker 3 (03:36):
Right. Exactly. And that's, that's the problem. I mean, you
look at the NFL, which is in my opinion, the
best-run sports organization in the world, and you've got a
great structure and a commissioner that lays down the law.
And if you cross that line, you pay severe penalties.
And I think that's what we've got to get to
(03:58):
in college football. We've got to get to some sort
of NFL minor league model. I've said that many, many times.
But why wouldn't you pattern yourself after the best to
ever do it?
Speaker 2 (04:09):
Kyle Whittingham, Michigan, head football coach, beginning the season this Saturday,
Western Michigan. Next Saturday, you welcome in Oklahoma to Ann Arbor.
There was a story in the Salt Lake Tribune a
couple of days ago. Some former players accused you and
your staff of mishandling injuries. I want to give you
a chance to address this.
Speaker 3 (04:28):
Never in my career have I ever tried to sway, influence,
whatever the word is, our medical staff, wherever I've been,
we listen to the medical staff. If they say a
player's available, we go with that. And if they say
he's not available, we go with that. So I'm not
sure where this came from or just how it ever materialized,
(04:53):
but never in my career have we ever crossed the
line of trying to override a medical decision by our
medical staff.
Speaker 2 (05:01):
Could you have stayed at Utah if you wanted to?
Speaker 3 (05:05):
I believe that's probably would have been in the cards.
I think, I think if it really pushed came to
shove and, you know, I had two years left on
my contract and, and, uh, but, uh, you know, I've
always been the type of guy don't wear out your welcome.
And I felt like that, that was starting to happen. And, and, uh,
you know, overstaying your, your welcome is something that, uh,
(05:28):
I had made a, uh, you know, a conscious decision
not to do several years ago. And when I, You know,
and you just don't want to stay somewhere too long.
Maybe I did stay too long as it was.
Speaker 4 (05:38):
I don't know.
Speaker 3 (05:38):
But I'm grateful for the situation I'm in now and
couldn't be happier with what's going on here in Michigan.
Speaker 2 (05:46):
Felt like mutual parting. Is that fair to say?
Speaker 3 (05:51):
It's probably on some people's part back there. Yeah, I'd say,
you know, depending who you talk to.
Speaker 2 (05:57):
How good, do you know how good your team can
be right now?
Speaker 3 (06:02):
That's a good question. I don't know if anyone in
the country knows how good their team can be because even,
you know, you're playing against each other. And if you
struggle moving the ball, is it because you're lousy on
offense or is it because your defense is outstanding and
vice versa? And so you never really get a good
gauge completely until you line up and play somebody, but
you can certainly see talent and positions that really are,
(06:24):
you know, special. And so I think you gotta, you
got somewhat of an idea, but you don't know for
sure until you line up and get a, get someone
to play against and get a barometer to measure yourself against.
Speaker 2 (06:34):
What's the coolest thing in your office?
Speaker 3 (06:38):
Coolest thing in my office. A lot of pictures of
my grandkids are around here somewhere, but I thought, Oh,
somebody gave me this. Oh, I can't show it to you.
There's a really cool M that lights up. That's got
like lightning bolts throughout it. And, uh, really cool. It's,
it's pretty, you know, good size and you can change
the colors and all that stuff.
Speaker 4 (06:56):
So, Yeah.
Speaker 2 (06:57):
Anything mean you want to say?
Speaker 3 (06:59):
Not as cool stuff as you got.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
I do have some great stuff in here. I think
the one– do I have a Michigan helmet in here?
I got all kinds of helmets in here. Do I–
we don't have one. I don't think I have a
Michigan helmet.
Speaker 3 (07:11):
Let's get you one. We'll get you one.
Speaker 5 (07:12):
Oh, no, no, no. No, no. Hold on. Hold on.
Speaker 2 (07:15):
Hold on.
Speaker 4 (07:15):
Just want to let you know.
Speaker 2 (07:17):
Coach, we just keep each other company.
Speaker 3 (07:19):
Yeah, okay.
Speaker 5 (07:22):
Yes.
Speaker 3 (07:23):
There you go, Dan.
Speaker 5 (07:24):
There you go.
Speaker 6 (07:25):
Yep.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
I don't have an Ohio State helmet in here.
Speaker 3 (07:28):
No, that's good news.
Speaker 2 (07:29):
I'd like to hear that.
Speaker 3 (07:31):
I'd like to hear that.
Speaker 2 (07:32):
And I think this came from, who was the wide
receiver who played for the Giants?
Speaker 4 (07:39):
Imani Toomer?
Speaker 7 (07:40):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (07:41):
I think Imani Toomer gave me his helmet here, Coach.
That's a keeper. Yeah, it's autographed here somewhere.
Speaker 3 (07:47):
That's the old school bike helmet.
Speaker 4 (07:49):
Yeah.
Speaker 8 (07:49):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (07:50):
And then you got the stickers here.
Speaker 3 (07:52):
Uh-huh. Yeah. We still have that tradition.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
What did the, uh, stickers mean?
Speaker 3 (07:56):
If I, uh, all different things, you know, somehow the
area code of the player, uh, or he's from, uh,
big wins, uh, Big plays in games. I mean, it's
got all kinds of different things on those stickers.
Speaker 2 (08:08):
What if I go to class? Do I get a sticker?
Like little things like that? That used to matter back
in our day.
Speaker 3 (08:15):
Well, it still matters.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (08:18):
That matters to me anyways. And, you know, graduating players
is number one on the list and winning games is
number two. And that's how I've always functioned.
Speaker 2 (08:25):
Do you want to say anything mean about Ryan Day
before we say goodbye?
Speaker 3 (08:29):
Say anything mean?
Speaker 4 (08:30):
No.
Speaker 3 (08:30):
We'll see him in the last game of the season.
How about that?
Speaker 2 (08:34):
Wow, that's bulletin board material right there.
Speaker 3 (08:37):
Don't bait me.
Speaker 2 (08:41):
Good to talk to you. Good luck this weekend.
Speaker 3 (08:43):
Okay, Dan. Thank you.
Speaker 2 (08:44):
Thank you, Kyle. That's Kyle Whittingham.
Speaker 1 (08:46):
Be sure to catch the live edition of the Dan
Patrick Show weekdays at 9 a.m. Eastern, 6 a.m. Pacific
on Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 9 (08:56):
Hey, it's Covino and Rich from Fox Sports Radio. Now,
in addition to hearing us live weekdays from 5 to
7 p.m. Eastern, 2 to 4 Pacific on Fox Sports Radio,
we're excited to announce a brand new YouTube channel for
the show.
Speaker 2 (09:08):
Yup, that's right.
Speaker 9 (09:09):
You can now watch Covino and Rich live on YouTube
every day. All you gotta do, search Covino and Rich
FSR on YouTube. Again, Go to YouTube, search Covino &
Rich FSR. Check us out on YouTube, subscribe, hit that
thumbs up icon, and comment away.
Speaker 2 (09:26):
I like The Clash. I'm just, I thought the Ramones
were kind of a novelty band. That's all. Doesn't make
me a bad guy because I don't, you know, like
punk rock. The Beatles created punk rock with Helder Skelter.
Go back and listen to that. Tell me about punk rock, knucklehead.
Speaker 1 (09:45):
I'll give The Clash more credit in the punk rock
department than The Beatles.
Speaker 2 (09:49):
The Beatles helped create it. Go back and listen to
Helter Skelter. Sure, I understand what you're saying. And they
did that in the.
Speaker 4 (10:00):
in the 60s.
Speaker 2 (10:02):
Oh, my God. What, Marvin? Sorry, DP. Chad GPT said,
in 2009, U2 reinforced their status as the biggest rock
band in the world through their launch of their massive
YouTube 360 tour.
Speaker 4 (10:13):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (10:13):
Was that before or after they downloaded that terrible album?
Hall of Famer, Netflix lead game analyst. I don't know
if you want any part of this. We're fired up here, Luke.
I'm ready to play a game. You know, getting kind
of feisty in here. Do you miss hitting people?
Speaker 4 (10:30):
I miss being in a locker room. I don't miss
hitting people. I think being on the game, on the
field in four games the past couple of years, you
see guys run by and you decide you don't want
anything to do with those guys, the running backs, the
offensive linemen. Even the receivers feel like they've gotten bigger
and bigger.
Speaker 2 (10:48):
I tell people if you want to see a football game,
if you can watch it from the sidelines, you'll have
a whole different appreciation for what that game sounds like
and how fast it is. I don't know if you
had that feeling, you're welcome to the NFL moment. What
was that like?
Speaker 4 (11:05):
Well, you know what's interesting? You talk about watching it
from the field. You don't ever listen to the game
or hear the game or feel the game when you're playing.
But during 2020, that was my first year when I
was done playing. I worked with the Panthers in the
front offices, and I was on the field playing. for
some of those games and there was no one in
the stands to start the year. So you could hear everything,
(11:27):
every hit, every sound, every time a guy puts his
foot in the ground and makes a cut and you
start to realize like, how did I, how did I
play out here during this game for that long? Because
guys are, it's, it's fast, it's physical. Um, and, uh,
I'm glad that, that I was on the sideline at
that point.
Speaker 8 (11:46):
Do you have that welcome to the NFL moment? Yeah,
it was Michael Robinson. So my rookie year, we played
Seattle at home. It was my first game playing at
inside backer. And Russell Wilson escapes from the pocket. I'm
in zone coverage.
Speaker 4 (12:02):
I drop. He starts running towards the line of scrimmage.
And I feel like I have a clean shot on him.
I've got a great angle. I'm running right at him.
I think I'm going to make a big hit. And
at the last second, he cuts me. to my left,
I turned my head and Mike Robinson, number 26 is
running full speed at me. And Russ, Russ had kind
of set me up. I didn't see Mike Robinson and
(12:24):
he smacked me. And the first thing I remember is
being on the ground. And I remember looking up at
him and he had a big smile on his face.
And it was, it was early on. I was probably,
I think that was probably week three or week four.
And you realize the game happens a lot faster than
it used to in college. And When I see Mike
to this day, there's still that little smirk that he's
(12:46):
got on his face because he knows that he got
me pretty daggone good.
Speaker 2 (12:49):
If you didn't go to BC, where were you going?
Speaker 3 (12:53):
You know what?
Speaker 4 (12:53):
Stanford, Duke, and Virginia were the schools, in addition to
Boston College, that I looked really hard at. Stanford was probably...
you know, right up there. That was Harbaugh and Andrew
Luck and that whole crew. And then Coach Cutcliffe at Duke.
I really liked him. He was a great man, a
(13:15):
great football coach. But BC was always home for me.
But I think Stanford with Harbaugh and Duke with Cutcliffe
were two places that would have been good options for me.
Speaker 2 (13:25):
But growing up, you know, in Cincinnati, Ohio State recruit you?
Speaker 4 (13:30):
Not really. You know, when I was being recruited, I was–
I was small. I was skinny. I wasn't very big.
And quite frankly, if I was recruiting people out of Cincinnati,
I probably wouldn't have recruited me if I was Ohio
State either.
Speaker 5 (13:45):
Really?
Speaker 4 (13:47):
No, I was a little, I was a 200-pound linebacker
that was taking biology class and chemistry.
Speaker 2 (13:55):
Class, carried a lunchbox around.
Speaker 4 (13:57):
So I don't really blame anybody for not recruiting me.
Speaker 2 (14:01):
Wait, you had a lunchbox?
Speaker 4 (14:03):
Oh, yeah. Every day.
Speaker 2 (14:06):
Was it a themed lunchbox?
Speaker 4 (14:08):
It was.
Speaker 3 (14:09):
You know what?
Speaker 4 (14:09):
I was fortunate that when I went to school, I
have two brothers and my mom would wake up and
make breakfast and make lunch lunches for us every day.
And it was a very well-balanced lunchbox. She did a
great job. So, yes, I don't know if the lunchbox
itself was themed, but what was inside of it was
very much themed. All right.
Speaker 2 (14:30):
So Luke and Netflix game day kicks off with the
game down under in Melbourne. It'll be shouldn't you be
leaving for Australia now?
Speaker 4 (14:42):
Yeah, we're leaving. We leave we leave us on Sunday.
So I've been trying to wrap my head around it.
We leave on a Sunday and I think we get
there on a Tuesday because they're they're ahead of us.
Plus the time change in the flight. It took me
a second to kind of wrap my head around. how
all that works. But yeah, we're leaving soon. We leave
on Sunday of this week. Okay.
Speaker 2 (15:02):
So that'll be coverage starting at 6.30 Eastern kickoff at
8.30 Eastern next week. Are you expecting Aaron Donald to
be in Australia?
Speaker 4 (15:15):
That would certainly make it more exciting. Honestly, I think
it would be really cool if he played. I think
what I think about with this whole thing is, you know,
running's great. Agility is great. You watch all the videos
of him and him training. He looks phenomenal. I think
the one question that I would ask myself is what
happens when people start leaning on you? I think that's
(15:37):
probably the biggest thing. If I were to go back
and play after not playing for two years, how were
you able to brace for impact? How are you able
to mimic contact to the speed at which it's going
to happen in the game? So I think for the
game sake, I would love for him to play. I
think it adds a tremendous amount of storylines and him
(15:57):
and Miles Garrett and how the rest of the defense
line benefits from him being in the game. But I
think if you're the Rams, you got to figure out
what's the best long-term approach for having him part of
that team, you know, when they make a push in December, January.
Speaker 2 (16:11):
How does Aaron Donald impact the linebackers on the Rams
with him back?
Speaker 5 (16:15):
All right.
Speaker 4 (16:16):
Good luck getting up to him. You know, I think
if you're Nate Landman and That crew right there, you're
running clean to the football. Let's be honest. It's Aaron Donald.
It's Miles Garrett, Kobe Turner. And then the one guy
that's going to benefit the most from this is Byron Young.
You've got to block those big– and Braden Fisk. You've
got to block those big guys up front before you
(16:38):
get to the second level. So if you're those Rams linebackers,
you're just sitting there smiling, knowing that, hey, they've got
to block these monsters before they get up to us.
Speaker 2 (16:47):
You sacked Stafford before?
Speaker 4 (16:50):
I didn't even get near him. Nope, not anywhere close
to them. My pass rushing skills were very minimal.
Speaker 2 (16:59):
How many sacks did you have in your career?
Speaker 4 (17:02):
Man, I think I had 12. And two or three
or four of them were clean to the football. So
that requires zero pass rush ability.
Speaker 2 (17:14):
Who did you get that you go, I can tell
my grandkids?
Speaker 4 (17:18):
Man, well, In the Super Bowl, Sean McDermott caught a
great blitz, and I got Peyton Manning. And that required, again,
zero skill. The biggest thing you have to do is
you make sure you get him on the ground. I
was clean right up the middle to Peyton Manning, and
the hardest thing is to not miss him. So that'd
(17:38):
be my most memorable quarterback sag.
Speaker 2 (17:42):
You know, we look at those teams that lose the
Super Bowl and we used to label like you were
a disappointment, like the Buffalo Bills went to four consecutive
Super Bowls. I said, why are we celebrating that you
got to the Super Bowl? I know you guys got embarrassed,
but what's it like in that game that everybody's watching
you and everybody's going to have some kind of opinion
(18:06):
about you or your team after something like that?
Speaker 4 (18:10):
I think everybody's going to have an opinion regardless if win, lose, draw,
how the season went. But I don't think that that season,
when you look back on it and you get perspective
and the further away that team gets from that game,
I think we realize how special that year was, how
fun the OTAs were, the off-season training camp, the journey
(18:34):
through that season into the playoffs, two playoff games at home,
the energy in the city, in the Carolinas, and have
the opportunity to play in a Super Bowl, I think
was super special. Obviously, you want to win that game,
and that's the ultimate goal playing football, but I think
the memories and the opportunities we had that season and
(18:58):
the players that we put on that team that the
front office did a great job is what made that
season special. I don't think it's defined by one game
or you know, the disappointment of not winning the Super Bowl.
I think for us, it was more how special that
team was, how fun that team was, how special that
group was together. And I think when you look back
on it, that's the positive that really came from it.
Speaker 2 (19:20):
You think Cam Newton will be a Hall of Famer?
Speaker 4 (19:23):
I think he should be just, and I get to
see it on a daily basis, but I don't think
for that stretch there that Cam had, I don't think
there was a more dominant player When you walked out
on the field in camp, and I think, you know,
his ability to affect the game throwing and obviously running
(19:44):
the ball short yardage goal line in walking out for
coin tosses for teams. that we didn't play a whole
lot and watching those guys walk out and look at
cam it's like it's like they had no idea he
was that big and it looked like he got 10
times bigger when he when he's in when he's in
(20:05):
his uniform because he had the rib pads and the
shin pads and the and the hair and the wristbands,
and he just got bigger and bigger as game day approached.
Speaker 2 (20:15):
Because that following year, didn't you open up with Denver
in Denver?
Speaker 4 (20:19):
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (20:20):
And I remember the Broncos beat the hell out of
Cam in that game. They were lining him up and
pounding him. And I just kept remembering, being on the
field and seeing how big he was, and realizing what
these defensive players were doing to him. That is, they,
(20:41):
they pounded him that night and, uh, you know, kept
getting back up, but you know, after a while, those
hits take their toll.
Speaker 3 (20:49):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (20:49):
He's, he's, we always joked that he was made of concrete, that,
that you, he was like a pillar out there. You
just hit him and hit him and he just keeps,
he keeps getting back up. But I think it's a
testament to number one, his toughness and, Number two is
competitive drive and who he is as a person. And
(21:11):
a lot of stuff that Cam did, we kind of,
you know, it's just Cam being Cam. And then when
you think about it, you start to realize how special
what he did for that team was.
Speaker 2 (21:23):
Calling a game now. It's one thing to watch when
you're at home with your buddies. But, you know, you're
going to be there with Noah Eagle. You got to
get in and get out. Get in, get out. Like,
do you have a finite amount of time that you go,
I got 15 seconds here, or I got 12 seconds here?
How do you work mentally of being an analyst?
Speaker 4 (21:45):
Well, I think you start to just understand that, hey,
I have a job and I have a teammate, Noah's
your teammate. And you start to realize that I have
to do my job in a way that allows Noah
to do his job. So I think Quick, in and out, concise,
get your point across, make it digestible and understandable, and
then get out and allow Noah to do his job
(22:08):
as well. He's phenomenal. He's so easy to work with.
He sets you up great. And then it's my job,
like you said, to get in, get my point across,
get my point articulated, and then allow Noah to set
the play up and do what he does best as well.
So I think that's what makes it fun is the
teamwork aspect. aspect of that booth.
Speaker 5 (22:27):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (22:27):
But is this any different than what you did defensively
where get in, get out of the huddle or make
your call? Then there's the play now regroup, get in,
get out, get ready for the next play.
Speaker 4 (22:38):
I think to a sense to, in a sense, yes. Um, the, uh,
the procedure I think is a little bit different because
in the game, I think you're digesting. I get a
play call in my ear. And then I've got to
relay it to the guys in the field. And then I,
(22:58):
like you said, I got to break the huddle and
turn around and digest what's going on. So you're kind
of thinking all the way up to the snap as
far as, as a player versus I think in the booth,
you're it's more of reactionary. And then, Hey, based on
what happened on the field, what can I give the
viewers to help educate them, give them further context versus
(23:20):
while you're playing, it's like, all right, Hey, What do
I like out of our menu on third and sixth?
What did I watch during practice and during tape that
allows me to have success? Maybe what do I need
to tell the guy next to me? Maybe Thomas is
telling me something different. So I think it's more of
a living organism while you're playing because there's 10 other
(23:41):
guys that you're working with versus in the booth. I
think it's, you know, it's one of my first times
doing it. So I'm still trying to figure it out
a little bit as well, but it's more of a,
what I saw, let me give somebody something quick that
they can chew on, get in and get out, and
then let Noah do his job as well.
Speaker 3 (24:00):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (24:01):
Wait till like three years, two years, and you listen
back to this and then you'll go, oh my gosh,
because we all do it. I went back to my,
like my early sports center days. I'm going, oh my God,
so bad. But you know, it's part of the evolution,
the progress, the process of it. So And you've got
a great person to set you up. The key is
(24:23):
with play-by-play, they can make or break you. And you've
got Noah who learned from his dad. He's going to
put you in a position to succeed. And, you know,
that'll help you instead of you scrambling to go, I
got nine seconds here. I can't say anything. Noah will
be very good at being brief with his comments to
give you, you know, that room for opportunity. And so
(24:46):
it'll be fun for you. At least I hope it
will be. And don't read social media. Okay.
Speaker 4 (24:52):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (24:53):
Stay off.
Speaker 2 (24:53):
I told JJ Watt that I said, dude, don't, don't
be on. He goes, no, why not?
Speaker 4 (24:58):
I go, okay.
Speaker 2 (24:59):
He goes, I can take it. I said, all right, well,
you're tougher than I can. I don't want to know
what social media is going to say. They're never happy
about anything, Luke.
Speaker 7 (25:08):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (25:08):
I think, you know, you kind of learn it as
a player. You can always find whatever you want on
social media.
Speaker 7 (25:14):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (25:15):
If you think you're the greatest thing, you can find
somebody that says you're the greatest thing. If you want
to find somebody that says you stink, if you look
hard enough, you can find that too. If so, it's
one of those things, whatever you want social media to say,
you can find it and filter it and figure it out.
So like you said, I think I'm lucky to have
(25:35):
Noah in there because he's so good and he has fun.
He's got a great personality and he's quick and, um,
I'm certainly looking forward to it. I think it's going
to be a lot of fun.
Speaker 2 (25:47):
Good to talk to you. Again, congratulations on the Hall
of Fame, Luke.
Speaker 4 (25:51):
Thank you.
Speaker 3 (25:51):
Appreciate it.
Speaker 4 (25:52):
All right.
Speaker 2 (25:52):
Luke Keekly, Hall of Famer.
Speaker 1 (25:54):
Be sure to catch the live edition of the Dan
Patrick Show weekdays at 9 a.m. Eastern, 6 a.m. Pacific
on Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 2 (26:04):
Hey, it's Covino and Rich from Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 9 (26:07):
Now, in addition to hearing us live weekdays from 5
to 7 p.m. Eastern, 2 to 4 Pacific on Fox
Sports Radio, we're excited to announce a brand new YouTube
channel for the show.
Speaker 2 (26:17):
Yup, that's right.
Speaker 9 (26:18):
You can now watch Covino and Rich live on YouTube
every day. All you gotta do, search Covino and Rich
FSR on YouTube. Again, go to YouTube, search Covino and
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Speaker 2 (26:34):
He is the Big Ten Commissioner, Tony Petitti, joining us
on the program. What kind of year do you think
you had, if you were going to sum it up, Tony?
Speaker 7 (26:44):
The year ahead, I would say we feel, well, if
you're asking me what the year was this past year,
that's an interesting question.
Speaker 5 (26:52):
I mean, on the field, Dan, it couldn't have been
any better.
Speaker 7 (26:54):
You know, winning the football championship and both basketballs and
a total of 13 national championships across everything we play.
I think it was probably the most successful year in
the history of the Big Ten on the field. I
think for our student athletes, it was there was nothing better.
You know, obviously, you know, college athletics deals with all
kinds of challenges every day around, you know, legal cases. And,
(27:15):
you know, this seems to be a new idea, a
new challenge, you know, coming every time you come to
the office. So that part has been difficult. But I
would say the main thing is. And we're really fortunate
in terms of attendance and viewership. Those things are still
just remarkably good for us. And so that's the core
of what we do. So thank God that's still going
as good as you could possibly hope.
Speaker 2 (27:36):
Why do you feel so strongly about the rostered NFL
players not being able to return to college football?
Speaker 5 (27:43):
There's a bunch of reasons.
Speaker 7 (27:44):
I think, look, this is supposed to be the system
was always about you come, you play your time here,
and then you kind of give way to the next
group coming up. You know, I think people sort of
forget that when kids come back, there are kids that
have been practicing since the spring. They're trying to win jobs,
trying to be starters, trying to be the first backup.
And then that goes on all summer. They're working really hard.
I think, no, we sort of forget about that piece
(28:06):
of this when we talk about kids coming back. So
the system is built on that kind of movement. It
was meant to be a place where you have your time,
you compete. If you can go on and play professionally
in any of the sports we play, that's great. That's
part of the journey. But you go on to do
other amazing things in your life with all the benefits
you've had of being in the Big Ten. So I
think that's the core of what this is supposed to be.
And I think we shouldn't be disrupting them.
Speaker 2 (28:27):
But Tony, I've been saying for a while now, a
couple of years, that you have professional players playing in Europe, basketball,
and then able to come to the United States. Why
do we allow professionals in basketball to be able to
come and take roster spots in the United States?
Speaker 7 (28:44):
I mean, you're raising a really good question about what
happens pre-enrollment, right?
Speaker 5 (28:47):
Football is unique. It doesn't have that pre-enrollment problem, Dan, right?
Speaker 7 (28:50):
You're not coming out of high school playing professional football,
so there's no pre-enrollment issue.
Speaker 5 (28:54):
But in college basketball, there is.
Speaker 7 (28:56):
And I think you'd get a lot of coaches who
agree 100% with what you're talking about. I think we
have to get into a sense of we've been in
this kind of waiver environment where some kids get to
have that exception based on what you actually did when
in Europe. And as you know, like not every kid
is exactly the same when they play over there and
then when they come here. So I think what you're
pointing to is something that's just an absolute necessity.
Speaker 5 (29:17):
We just have to get clarity.
Speaker 7 (29:18):
We have to get into having rules and not having
exceptions and waivers everywhere. That make it really hard because
then kids are going to think, well, I look like
that student athlete who got that. Why don't I get
the same waiver this kid got?
Speaker 5 (29:29):
And that's when you end up in court every other day.
So I totally agree with you.
Speaker 7 (29:32):
We've got to have more bright lines, more simple rules
and make a decision about what we want post-enrollment.
Speaker 5 (29:38):
And what we are willing to allow pre. and be consistent.
Speaker 2 (29:41):
Why can't we have a commissioner for college, let's say
college football, a commissioner for college basketball?
Speaker 5 (29:47):
I mean, look, there's been a lot of talk about that.
Speaker 7 (29:51):
And I think when you see some of the things
about that happen to happen, look, the tradition has always
been this way. The conference system is the way this
has been built. You know, as you know, uh, you know,
for many years, the NCAA really controlled the way football
was operated in this country back into the eighties.
Speaker 5 (30:02):
And then it became a conference system, you know, in
the nineties. And that's, what's really survived.
Speaker 7 (30:07):
And over the last 30 years, when I was at
ABC sports, you know, we, we, we sort of went
from having like the CFA college football association that broke apart.
And that gave way, gave rise to this whole structure of,
you know, conference media deals. Um, Look, I think the
CFP is a good place for us to start to
do more of what you're suggesting, which is to come
together and use the structure of the college football playoff
(30:27):
to come together and use that to make rules, how
we manage the game, competition committees, at least start with
empowering that organization because we all compete for the championship
in that organization. To use that to do more, I
think would be a great start.
Speaker 2 (30:40):
He's the Big Ten commissioner, Tony Petitti. How is Big
Ten football different from SEC football?
Speaker 7 (30:48):
I don't really usually try to compare what we're doing,
Big Ten, SEC. I think what we've got is great programs.
We have really good coaching across everything. We're attracting great
student-athletes to play. I'm really excited about the returning quarterback
play we have this year. I think 10 of our
18 are returning their starting quarterback this season.
Speaker 5 (31:07):
So we have great depth.
Speaker 7 (31:08):
I think the way I look at it is that
we're blessed to have this rivalry. I think anything you
want in sports is you want competition. You want your
fans to deeply care about something. So not only do
we have rivalries inside the league, but this sort of
competition with the SEC, I think is a great thing
for college football and all the other sports we play.
So we kind of lean into that. But at the
same time, like every season is different. Every week tends
(31:29):
to be a little bit different. But I would just
say we have great depth and strength. You know, we've
been super successful the last three years.
Speaker 5 (31:36):
We know that.
Speaker 7 (31:36):
We've played in 14 of the 22 CFP games the
last two seasons.
Speaker 2 (31:41):
The 2014 playoff feels like the SEC might be warming
to this. You would know better than me. I'm only
going by a source saying that, you know, the SEC is,
you got to convince them. So what role can you
play in convincing Greg Sankey and the SEC to warm
up to 24 teams?
Speaker 1 (32:02):
Yeah.
Speaker 7 (32:02):
When we work together on this, you know, not an
everyday basis, but very frequently about the future of the
playoff and what the format should be, the way it's
structured is the two leagues have control of any of
the changes to the format. So we've got to come together.
I think there's been an evolution across these ideas. I
think there's a lot more momentum for 24. It's definitely,
there's definitely, you know, people warming up. I think a
lot of coaches and ADs across all conferences really support
(32:24):
the idea of 24. I think, look, we've got more
than a hundred teams playing, trying to compete. It's not
a high percentage of, I typically go to practices and
camps in the summer. I'll go see five or six
schools every summer. You want all those teams to be
playing for something meaningful. Once you went to a 12-team playoff,
you basically said, this is it. This is where you
(32:45):
need to be to be successful. We just got to
increase the opportunities for student-athletes, for our programs. The other
piece of it, the investments that are being made, it
justifies having more access. Access is really key. I don't
think Greg disputes any of that. I think his league
feels the same way. We just got to work through
the details of how we actually would do it. But
I feel good about the evolution over the last six
(33:05):
months about how people are sort of directionally realizing the benefits.
I actually think it would drastically change regular season scheduling.
Speaker 2 (33:12):
How close do you think we're to a model like
the Premier League or maybe the NFL where you have divisions, conferences,
the same thing, and maybe you've got– 35, 40 teams,
maybe less than that. How far off is that model
in your opinion?
Speaker 5 (33:31):
I mean, we don't talk about that. We're happy with
the 18 members that we have.
Speaker 7 (33:35):
We feel the structure that we have to compete and
schedule works well. I think what we're focused on is
I think there's a lot on the table that we
can still do inside college football. I think in the
Big Ten, we can really improve our schedule. I think
fans want us to. We can play more of these games.
I think we've got to solve the postseason access issue.
Once we do that, we can sort of solve the
(33:55):
other issue, which is to have more impactful matchups in
the beginning of the season. I think everybody's pointing to that.
There's a lot being written about this year and what's
scheduled next year. We can make that better. It's right
in front of us, and we don't need to change
our structure to do that. We just got to solve
the access to the postseason, get coaches comfortable that an
early season loss isn't going to wreck your season.
Speaker 2 (34:14):
I love the rivalry, though, with the SEC. I like
when you jab a little bit, and Greg Sankey's got
a sense of humor. Do Will you have a sense
of humor if he's jabbing you back if the SEC
wins the national title?
Speaker 5 (34:27):
Yeah, I mean, look, that's part of it. We have
some fun.
Speaker 7 (34:30):
Our social media teams like to lean into it and
pick some fights and have our fans pick up on it.
Speaker 5 (34:35):
There's lots of memes that get sent to me every day.
I'm sure he gets them as well.
Speaker 7 (34:37):
That's the beauty of it. You couldn't write a better storyline.
If you're trying to script this, you would want this, right?
You'd want this rivalry between the leagues about who's better
and when and who's deeper and who's better at the top.
Speaker 5 (34:49):
Like, yeah, go have at it.
Speaker 7 (34:50):
Let's go play on the field. And I think that's
why we should play more in the regular season. If
we did that, it would just inspire more of it.
It's just like I said, it's an easy thing to accomplish.
We know it works. You know, look, Texas and Ohio
State in just a couple of weeks, like we know
the impact that game is going to have. We saw
it last year. You know, that'll just be a great
event for college football. We just need to do more
(35:10):
of that. We got Oklahoma going to Michigan. So there's
some there's some opportunities there. And we know when we
play those games, we get tremendous audiences, lots of buzz.
Speaker 5 (35:18):
And it makes the whole game and the sport better.
Speaker 2 (35:20):
Could you do a week where it's the SEC Big
Ten like we have in basketball? I know there's more games,
but could you do that based off last year's record or,
you know, this team is going to play this team and,
you know, all the way down to, you know, I
don't want Rutgers, you know, playing LSU. I want somebody
who maybe is kind of commensurate to their talent level.
(35:43):
But can we do that for a week?
Speaker 7 (35:45):
You're raising a really interesting scheduling thing, not only for
the way you schedule like non-conference, but also you schedule
the NFL does a really good job. The reason why,
you know, you saw the Brady Patriots and the Manning
Colts play so often is because they were playing because
of where they finished in their division standings.
Speaker 5 (35:59):
Right.
Speaker 7 (36:00):
And there's something to learn from that. You know, I
think it would take time to get there, but you
could do what you're talking about is exactly the conversations
we have here. We model all those things out. We
have to have you know, we have to come together
to do that. But I think all of those things
are in play. Like you don't necessarily have to schedule
home and homes. Like you can say one year you're
playing this SEC team and the next year you're on
the road, but you're going someplace different.
Speaker 5 (36:19):
Those are all great ideas that I think fans will
lead into.
Speaker 7 (36:23):
You know, and there's also something like we have some
really historic stadiums in both of our conferences, especially on
the Big Ten stadiums. And having fans have an opportunity
to travel and see those stadiums go play at some
of these places would be great. I think it would
inspire a lot of road trips in both directions.
Speaker 2 (36:37):
No matter how many teams, if you add new schools
to the Big Ten, it's always going to be the
Big Ten. We're not going to actually have the exact number.
That'll never happen. Not the Big 18.
Speaker 5 (36:49):
I don't think so.
Speaker 7 (36:49):
I think everybody sort of likes the Big Ten, and
we've got a logo that sort of allows us to
sort of not highlight the one that's right behind my
head here with the B1G.
Speaker 5 (36:58):
I give Jim Delaney credit for that.
Speaker 2 (37:00):
Thanks for joining us, Tony. Have fun this season.
Speaker 5 (37:04):
Thanks so much, Dan.
Speaker 1 (37:05):
That's Tony Petitti, Big Ten Commissioner. Fox Sports Radio has
the best sports talk lineup in the nation. Catch all
of our shows at foxsportsradio.com. And within the iHeartRadio app,
search FSR to listen live.
Speaker 2 (37:19):
Pablo Torre, journalist, podcaster, host of Pablo Torre Finds Out
with Metal Ark Media. Well, you did find out, but
I'm curious through all of this, any doubts along the
way of your reporting? After ESPN comes out with an
article recently, hearing from the Clippers, hearing from other people,
(37:41):
any doubts, any conversations with the wife at night of, uh-oh?
Speaker 10 (37:46):
The doubts were, hey, we're still going to be married
at the end of this, right? Because you're on the
phone talking to sources all of the time that you
say are very important. And we're at the beach with
our daughter on your quote-unquote vacation. That was the doubt.
But in truth, those sources were right the whole time, Dan.
The thing that was interesting yesterday, and many things were
(38:08):
interesting yesterday, was just what the NBA would do about it.
And that's what we found out, is what does the
internal politics of league governance look like when you have
a scope that leads to a rabbit hole that has
four separate companies in it, manufactured paper trails, fake jobs,
not just for Kawhi Leonard, but for the companies, like
(38:28):
fake consulting jobs for the companies that funneled money to
Kawhi Leonard through the Clippers.
Speaker 6 (38:35):
As well as those companies.
Speaker 10 (38:37):
And you have now, as of yesterday, an SEC, Securities
and Exchange Commission, not Southeastern Conference, SEC investigation into the
scoreboard company that, according to the NBA, got the deal
to build the Halo board in Intuitome because they were
willing to funnel money to Kawhi Leonard. That's what the
(38:58):
NBA could not deny. What did you make of the punishments?
I thought that it could have been more. And I
think that it is two things. The biggest punishment for
an owner that we've ever seen in American sports, I think,
when you account for the fact that it is Steve
Ballmer banned from the building for a year, his head
(39:19):
of business banned from the building for a year, his
head of basketball banned from the building for six months
because Lawrence Frank, that basketball ops president, participated in and
provided contemporaneous notes to the NBA, by the way, a
whole other rabbit hole of like, why was Lawrence Frank
taking notes during the cap circumvention meetings in which he
(39:39):
is quoting the thanks to the NBA's investigators, Steve Ballmer
talking about how he's going to service Dennis Robertson and
Kawhi Leonard to circumvent the cap.
Speaker 6 (39:51):
Why was that there? Interesting.
Speaker 10 (39:53):
$ 30 million is change to a guy with $ 145 billion,
depending on Microsoft stock. But the thing about The scope
and the vastness of it, the five first-rounders, I mean,
I just, I think it was unprecedented in that regard,
but also because it was narrow in scope. There are
names in this report that we have been talking about
(40:15):
for a year that did not show up. There is
a line that Wachtell Lipton, the law firm, put in.
Their investigation is ongoing. They are still receiving tips. As
recently as Just weeks ago, they are still investigating. It's
only the beginning somehow, which is kind of the through
line of the whole thing.
Speaker 2 (40:35):
Okay. Can you give me best guess of what you
think could be next involving the Clippers?
Speaker 10 (40:41):
Well, let's just take Steve Ballmer at his word. He
has written a letter via his very expensive attorneys to
Adam Silver blaming Clippers. this podcaster for getting the NBA
to do a prejudiced investigation. And at first, after the
ruling came out, he threatened arbitration. But this is something
that's very interesting that I don't know if people appreciate
(41:02):
about what the NBA did. When the NBA tried to
settle with Steve Ballmer and they said, hey, we have
a narrow scope. We have undeniable evidence. We want to
just make sure that you have the opportunity to take
your punishment, admit wrongdoing and let us all move on.
Steve Ballmer, according to everything that we've seen now play
out in public after that ESPN story two weeks ago,
(41:22):
decided to fight, decided to mount his own campaign. And
the NBA said, well, in that case, we're going to
do something that perhaps caught Steve Ballmer by surprise. They
found a way to settle with Kawhi Leonard and the
Players Union. Why is that important? When Kawhi gets a
slap on the wrist, that's where the slap on the
wrist was, Dan, by the way. $ 700, 000.
Speaker 6 (41:43):
For Kawhi Leonard. Again, historically, that's quite a bit.
Speaker 10 (41:46):
But in terms of the role he had in the
whole story, that's a slap on the wrist. He can
now go on to Toronto and the betting lines can
adjust based on that. If Toronto wants to go through
with this, not knowing what else is in the box.
Speaker 6 (41:59):
I digress. They got Kawhi to settle.
Speaker 10 (42:03):
And in the NBA, what Adam Silver knows better than
Steve Ballmer and his lawyers know apparently is that arbitration
can only be activated by the union. And so arbitration,
because of that settlement, is off the table. Can't go
to arbitration. What can Steve Ballmer do? He can literally
sue the NBA. He can sue Adam Silver. He can
(42:24):
sue me. He can sue Wachtell Lipton. He can sue you.
He can sue everybody. And that opens the door to,
spoiler alert, more discovery of documents.
Speaker 2 (42:37):
Could he have mitigated, like how much damage could he
have mitigated by just saying to the commissioner, I'm so sorry,
I fall on my sword?
Speaker 10 (42:51):
Something that was really interesting in this Wachtell report was
how much the NBA leaned on the interview he did
with ESPN and Ramona Shelburne the day after part one
of my story came out. When Steve Ballmer went on air,
and it is so interesting, if you guys have some
free time, if you want to, you know, threaten your
own marriages, go rewatch that game film sometime. Take time
(43:13):
out of your day to rewatch what Steve Ballmer did
after knowing what he actually did. And you will see
that he is lying repeatedly. And once he does that,
and he's on the record lying in public about what
happened here, the NBA now has the ability to fact check,
as I did, as I have been doing this whole time.
And because he decided to fight from day one, as
(43:34):
opposed to what you suggest, which is say, I am
horrified by what I tried to do. I love basketball
too much. I wanted the thing that I know I
can't have, even though I'm the richest owner in sports.
And I am so humiliated by this. And I want
to put this behind me and move on. I don't
think we're here. I don't have a 15-part series. I
(43:56):
may not have a Pulitzer Prize. The NBA might not
have a 35-page legal report. Steve Ballmer may not pay
$ 50 million, as he has now said, for the legal
investigation into him, which is what has happened.
Speaker 6 (44:10):
It's crazy. That was the fork in the road, and
he chose, I would say, to not tell the truth.
Speaker 2 (44:15):
We're talking to Pablo Torre, the journalist, podcaster, host of
Pablo Torre Finds Out with Metal Ark Media. This isn't
the first time that this has happened with an owner.
It won't be the last. But I'm just surprised it
hasn't come up before. Now, I know that Ballmer tried
to do this with DeAndre Jordan, which doesn't help his
(44:36):
case in this situation. But how prevalent do you think
this has been? And is there anything that you're interested
in that might be going on akin to this of
circumventing the salary cap?
Speaker 10 (44:52):
You got me to do it one time, and I said,
what about a certain player who plays in a city
where I may be living right now? And I said that,
and I've been trying to manage the expectations ever since.
Speaker 6 (45:05):
Stan, I see what you're doing. You're a clever interviewer.
Speaker 2 (45:07):
But are you looking into the Knicks and Jalen Brunson?
I am not focusing on the.
Speaker 10 (45:14):
What do they say when you're an ESPN employee and
you're trying to break... Graphics without breaking graphics. You say,
I am not currently targeting. I am not currently looking into.
I'm not currently circling Jalen Brunson and the Knicks. I
have had all sorts of calls about so many teams.
I've talked to people on the Knicks about all of this,
and they're just not the focus because we have other
(45:36):
things that are, by the way, coming very soon that
are in the vein of what are billionaires who run
sports trying to get away with using your money. And
I will leave it there just for now, because I
think we got to button some stuff up, but that's, there's,
let me say this.
Speaker 6 (45:51):
Soon on the show, we will start a new series.
Speaker 10 (45:55):
And that new series will speak to a lot of
the themes and even more, I think, even greater complications
for what the everyday person in America should be worried about.
Speaker 6 (46:07):
And so what did Balmer do here? What makes this
one special?
Speaker 10 (46:12):
He had the ambition to, of creating a scheme that
is beyond what other owners have attempted that much. I'm
very comfortable saying this is the furthest point in the
spectrum of attempted salary cap circumvention.
Speaker 6 (46:29):
People do it by degree. No one did it by
this order of magnitude.
Speaker 10 (46:33):
And that's why the NBA, which wanted to make everybody
stop talking about this.
Speaker 6 (46:38):
That's why they had to do the thing we saw yesterday.
Speaker 2 (46:42):
How does ESPN go with the story with their finest
investigative reporters that basically exonerated the Clippers and Steve Ballmer?
Speaker 10 (46:50):
I mean, I, for 15 parts a year, did, of course,
the other thing. I found sources, whistleblowers, documents who were
willing to tell the truth. What was left open, if
you think of all of this as sports, right, what's
left available as territory for us to claim?
Speaker 6 (47:11):
What ESPN apparently saw was the Clippers side of the story.
Speaker 10 (47:15):
And the NBA immediately within an hour refutes it vociferously
with Mike Bass's name attached, Dan, and you know how
rare that is, for there to be a byline on
a statement that says significant and numerous inaccuracies. And what
ESPN had done, according to my reporting, is they were
fed a story by the Clippers that the Clippers may
(47:37):
have known was not true.
Speaker 2 (47:40):
And why do you do that?
Speaker 10 (47:41):
Well, perhaps it's because that's the available territory that you have,
having been beaten on the other part of this landscape.
Perhaps you really believed it because the Clippers looked you
in the eye and for months, for a year, said
to you, we're telling the truth. That annoying, clout-chasing podcaster
is lying to you. And at a certain point, it's
a test. Do you choose to believe the evidence, the sources,
(48:05):
the journalism, or do you try to get a win
even when the game's already over?
Speaker 2 (48:12):
Do you care? Have you received an apology from ESPN?
Speaker 6 (48:16):
You know what's interesting?
Speaker 10 (48:17):
I submitted, I was told after the story published, hey,
if you want to have a comment here because this
is effectively refuting your whole deal here, we'll include.
Speaker 6 (48:29):
A statement from you.
Speaker 10 (48:30):
And so I submitted a statement and I'll just paraphrase it.
It was, we stand by our reporting and we look
forward to the NBA's ruling. Our investigation continues. For whatever reason,
ESPN did not include it. And so I don't expect
an apology. I don't expect anything.
Speaker 6 (48:49):
Nor do I think I even need or deserve one, right?
Speaker 10 (48:52):
Like, I'm a big boy, as they say. I just
wonder why it happened like this. Because in this story,
a story of no alternate rational explanations, it sure seems
to me, based on my reporting... that they got fed
a story by the people who were lying to everybody
(49:12):
this whole time, and I got implicated as a result
of it.
Speaker 2 (49:16):
How much money did Kawhi Leonard make off the books,
in your opinion?
Speaker 10 (49:20):
So I'll tell you factually what I know and what
I don't. So Aspiration has a total value of $ 48 million.
Now let's bring in the other companies, right? Boingo Wireless
is Of course. Which is just funny because, of course,
the wireless provider of the Intuit dome is giving Kawhi
Leonard payments off the books.
Speaker 6 (49:42):
Of course, Daktronics, the scoreboard operator, is. Of course, Lockton.
Speaker 10 (49:46):
Insurance, the insurance company on the construction of the dome,
is doing the same thing, Dan. Those three companies, according
to the NBA's investigation through 2021, guaranteed $ 18 million to
Kawhi Leonard.
Speaker 6 (49:58):
So doing the math, that's $ 66 million. Only through, let's
call it 2022.
Speaker 10 (50:04):
He re-signs with the Clippers, as I've said before on
my show, in January of 24 for a discount.
Speaker 6 (50:13):
A discount. Less than the max. Why and what happened there?
Speaker 10 (50:19):
And so you're at 66 million plus. I've told the story,
the beginning of it, around the Rhode Island Football Club.
Started in LLC, in which he got secret undisclosed equity
the week before he signed the extension. And I ask,
as always, what else was there? And I have a feeling,
as always, that there is more.
Speaker 2 (50:41):
Congrats. It's been a long process there. And at least
you get a trophy. You get something the Clippers don't have.
You get a trophy.
Speaker 6 (50:51):
You know, I wasn't going to make the joke, but
I'm glad you did.
Speaker 4 (50:58):
Thank you, Dan.
Speaker 2 (50:58):
Thank you, Pablo. Pablo Torre. He won a Pulitzer Prize.
I think it's a trophy.
Speaker 4 (51:04):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (51:05):
I haven't even seen a Pulitzer. Is it a statue?
Is it a plaque? Maybe some of my best people
could get on that right now. A ribbon? Wait, Pablo.
Speaker 6 (51:18):
Okay what i.
Speaker 10 (51:19):
Hope i don't i don't admittedly i've become known now
for my investigations i don't know what this looks like
either which is perhaps embarrassing but my hope is that
it's a karate trophy oh i want a big karate
trophy with a karate man on the top because i
only was a white belt and i've been chasing that
high ever since so that'd be nice.
Speaker 2 (51:39):
You might need that white belt You're going to need
a black belt.
Speaker 6 (51:46):
You know what?
Speaker 10 (51:46):
The more questions you ask about Jalen Brunson, the more
martial arts training.
Speaker 2 (51:50):
I'm going to need in New York City, Dan. You
brought up Jalen Brunson again.
Speaker 6 (51:55):
You pesky journalist with your questions.
Speaker 3 (51:58):
Yeah, all right.
Speaker 2 (51:59):
I'm not winning a Pulitzer. All right. That's Pablo Torre.
You are listening to the Dan Patrick show on Fox
sports radio.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
The head coach at Michigan, Kyle Winningham still sounds strange
to say that coach after all those years at Utah,
do you have any Utah gear left over?
Speaker 3 (00:14):
Uh, there's probably some back in Utah somewhere in my
house back there, but I would take me a minute
to locate it. All right.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
So how prepared are you for this moment?
Speaker 3 (00:24):
Uh, well, shoot as prepared as we could possibly be.
I mean, we got, uh, Three more days of practice.
We certainly need every one of them. But we've had
a really good fall camp, made a ton of progress,
and eager to play somebody else. We've been beating on
ourselves for eight months now, and so it's going to
be good to find out what we got on Saturday.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
But the expectation level. Now, Utah wanted you to win.
Michigan wants you to win. Do you feel any different
with the expectations from the fans of what they're hoping for?
Speaker 3 (00:56):
No, I don't believe so. I mean, you know, in
both places you're hoping for conference championships and then whatever
you can accomplish beyond that. But, you know, I've said
it before, it doesn't matter what level you're coaching at,
high school, college, NFL. I mean, wherever you are, you're
all in. And if you're all in and you've given
it everything you got, then you have the same burning
(01:19):
desire to win as anybody else.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
Why did you feel the need to clarify your comments
about Ohio State?
Speaker 3 (01:26):
Well, I didn't feel the need to clarify. They were
asked about it. People ask about it, and I just
answer questions.
Speaker 4 (01:33):
That's what I do. Okay.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
So from the first comments to the second, like people
want to hear you say you hate Ohio State, right?
Speaker 3 (01:45):
I guess that's what they want. I don't know. I
want to beat them as bad as anybody, probably worse.
How about this? I guess we could hate them all
one day a year. How about that?
Speaker 2 (01:57):
Yeah, but, you know, I said, and I grew up
in Ohio, I said, give him a break. Like, you know,
you can know about this rivalry. It'd be like if
somebody went and said, oh, you're at Utah, you got
to hate BYU. And you just came there. You're like,
all right, let me live this first a little bit here.
So I don't know if there's a tutorial on how
to strongly dislike a team.
Speaker 3 (02:20):
Yeah, to me, it's got to happen organically. And, you know,
it's tough to manufacture that. And so. But just the
competitive nature of the game. I mean, it's the rivalry
game in the, you know, the premier rivalry game in
the country. And it, you know, that's, you know, everybody
knows that. I'm fully aware of that. And by no
means was I trying to downplay the game. And the
(02:41):
game is huge. I mean, it's a huge game year
in and year out.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
All you got to do is win. You can hate them.
And if you don't beat them, nobody's going to give
you credit for it. Well, at least you hate them, coach.
Speaker 3 (02:52):
Exactly. Good point. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
Help me understand where you stood with NFL players coming
back to college. I know that, you know, all the
conferences are kind of in sync on this, but did
you ever think we'd get to a situation like this
where somebody leaves college, goes to the pros, puts on
a uniform or two, and then comes back?
Speaker 3 (03:14):
Did not foresee that at all. And that's something that, but,
but any, you know, in this day and age, anything
that happens in college football shouldn't come as a surprise.
I mean, we're so all over the, we're so all
over the place with everything that, that I guess anything's possible.
Speaker 2 (03:27):
Okay. How did we get here with just no, there's
no singular voice. There's no lifeguard on duty in the
deep end here, coach.
Speaker 3 (03:36):
Right. Exactly. And that's, that's the problem. I mean, you
look at the NFL, which is in my opinion, the
best-run sports organization in the world, and you've got a
great structure and a commissioner that lays down the law.
And if you cross that line, you pay severe penalties.
And I think that's what we've got to get to
(03:58):
in college football. We've got to get to some sort
of NFL minor league model. I've said that many, many times.
But why wouldn't you pattern yourself after the best to
ever do it?
Speaker 2 (04:09):
Kyle Whittingham, Michigan, head football coach, beginning the season this Saturday,
Western Michigan. Next Saturday, you welcome in Oklahoma to Ann Arbor.
There was a story in the Salt Lake Tribune a
couple of days ago. Some former players accused you and
your staff of mishandling injuries. I want to give you
a chance to address this.
Speaker 3 (04:28):
Never in my career have I ever tried to sway, influence,
whatever the word is, our medical staff, wherever I've been,
we listen to the medical staff. If they say a
player's available, we go with that. And if they say
he's not available, we go with that. So I'm not
sure where this came from or just how it ever materialized,
(04:53):
but never in my career have we ever crossed the
line of trying to override a medical decision by our
medical staff.
Speaker 2 (05:01):
Could you have stayed at Utah if you wanted to?
Speaker 3 (05:05):
I believe that's probably would have been in the cards.
I think, I think if it really pushed came to
shove and, you know, I had two years left on
my contract and, and, uh, but, uh, you know, I've
always been the type of guy don't wear out your welcome.
And I felt like that, that was starting to happen. And, and, uh,
you know, overstaying your, your welcome is something that, uh,
(05:28):
I had made a, uh, you know, a conscious decision
not to do several years ago. And when I, You know,
and you just don't want to stay somewhere too long.
Maybe I did stay too long as it was.
Speaker 4 (05:38):
I don't know.
Speaker 3 (05:38):
But I'm grateful for the situation I'm in now and
couldn't be happier with what's going on here in Michigan.
Speaker 2 (05:46):
Felt like mutual parting. Is that fair to say?
Speaker 3 (05:51):
It's probably on some people's part back there. Yeah, I'd say,
you know, depending who you talk to.
Speaker 2 (05:57):
How good, do you know how good your team can
be right now?
Speaker 3 (06:02):
That's a good question. I don't know if anyone in
the country knows how good their team can be because even,
you know, you're playing against each other. And if you
struggle moving the ball, is it because you're lousy on
offense or is it because your defense is outstanding and
vice versa? And so you never really get a good
gauge completely until you line up and play somebody, but
you can certainly see talent and positions that really are,
(06:24):
you know, special. And so I think you gotta, you
got somewhat of an idea, but you don't know for
sure until you line up and get a, get someone
to play against and get a barometer to measure yourself against.
Speaker 2 (06:34):
What's the coolest thing in your office?
Speaker 3 (06:38):
Coolest thing in my office. A lot of pictures of
my grandkids are around here somewhere, but I thought, Oh,
somebody gave me this. Oh, I can't show it to you.
There's a really cool M that lights up. That's got
like lightning bolts throughout it. And, uh, really cool. It's,
it's pretty, you know, good size and you can change
the colors and all that stuff.
Speaker 4 (06:56):
So, Yeah.
Speaker 2 (06:57):
Anything mean you want to say?
Speaker 3 (06:59):
Not as cool stuff as you got.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
I do have some great stuff in here. I think
the one– do I have a Michigan helmet in here?
I got all kinds of helmets in here. Do I–
we don't have one. I don't think I have a
Michigan helmet.
Speaker 3 (07:11):
Let's get you one. We'll get you one.
Speaker 5 (07:12):
Oh, no, no, no. No, no. Hold on. Hold on.
Speaker 2 (07:15):
Hold on.
Speaker 4 (07:15):
Just want to let you know.
Speaker 2 (07:17):
Coach, we just keep each other company.
Speaker 3 (07:19):
Yeah, okay.
Speaker 5 (07:22):
Yes.
Speaker 3 (07:23):
There you go, Dan.
Speaker 5 (07:24):
There you go.
Speaker 6 (07:25):
Yep.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
I don't have an Ohio State helmet in here.
Speaker 3 (07:28):
No, that's good news.
Speaker 2 (07:29):
I'd like to hear that.
Speaker 3 (07:31):
I'd like to hear that.
Speaker 2 (07:32):
And I think this came from, who was the wide
receiver who played for the Giants?
Speaker 4 (07:39):
Imani Toomer?
Speaker 7 (07:40):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (07:41):
I think Imani Toomer gave me his helmet here, Coach.
That's a keeper. Yeah, it's autographed here somewhere.
Speaker 3 (07:47):
That's the old school bike helmet.
Speaker 4 (07:49):
Yeah.
Speaker 8 (07:49):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (07:50):
And then you got the stickers here.
Speaker 3 (07:52):
Uh-huh. Yeah. We still have that tradition.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
What did the, uh, stickers mean?
Speaker 3 (07:56):
If I, uh, all different things, you know, somehow the
area code of the player, uh, or he's from, uh,
big wins, uh, Big plays in games. I mean, it's
got all kinds of different things on those stickers.
Speaker 2 (08:08):
What if I go to class? Do I get a sticker?
Like little things like that? That used to matter back
in our day.
Speaker 3 (08:15):
Well, it still matters.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (08:18):
That matters to me anyways. And, you know, graduating players
is number one on the list and winning games is
number two. And that's how I've always functioned.
Speaker 2 (08:25):
Do you want to say anything mean about Ryan Day
before we say goodbye?
Speaker 3 (08:29):
Say anything mean?
Speaker 4 (08:30):
No.
Speaker 3 (08:30):
We'll see him in the last game of the season.
How about that?
Speaker 2 (08:34):
Wow, that's bulletin board material right there.
Speaker 3 (08:37):
Don't bait me.
Speaker 2 (08:41):
Good to talk to you. Good luck this weekend.
Speaker 3 (08:43):
Okay, Dan. Thank you.
Speaker 2 (08:44):
Thank you, Kyle. That's Kyle Whittingham.
Speaker 1 (08:46):
Be sure to catch the live edition of the Dan
Patrick Show weekdays at 9 a.m. Eastern, 6 a.m. Pacific
on Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 9 (08:56):
Hey, it's Covino and Rich from Fox Sports Radio. Now,
in addition to hearing us live weekdays from 5 to
7 p.m. Eastern, 2 to 4 Pacific on Fox Sports Radio,
we're excited to announce a brand new YouTube channel for
the show.
Speaker 2 (09:08):
Yup, that's right.
Speaker 9 (09:09):
You can now watch Covino and Rich live on YouTube
every day. All you gotta do, search Covino and Rich
FSR on YouTube. Again, Go to YouTube, search Covino &
Rich FSR. Check us out on YouTube, subscribe, hit that
thumbs up icon, and comment away.
Speaker 2 (09:26):
I like The Clash. I'm just, I thought the Ramones
were kind of a novelty band. That's all. Doesn't make
me a bad guy because I don't, you know, like
punk rock. The Beatles created punk rock with Helder Skelter.
Go back and listen to that. Tell me about punk rock, knucklehead.
Speaker 1 (09:45):
I'll give The Clash more credit in the punk rock
department than The Beatles.
Speaker 2 (09:49):
The Beatles helped create it. Go back and listen to
Helter Skelter. Sure, I understand what you're saying. And they
did that in the.
Speaker 4 (10:00):
in the 60s.
Speaker 2 (10:02):
Oh, my God. What, Marvin? Sorry, DP. Chad GPT said,
in 2009, U2 reinforced their status as the biggest rock
band in the world through their launch of their massive
YouTube 360 tour.
Speaker 4 (10:13):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (10:13):
Was that before or after they downloaded that terrible album?
Hall of Famer, Netflix lead game analyst. I don't know
if you want any part of this. We're fired up here, Luke.
I'm ready to play a game. You know, getting kind
of feisty in here. Do you miss hitting people?
Speaker 4 (10:30):
I miss being in a locker room. I don't miss
hitting people. I think being on the game, on the
field in four games the past couple of years, you
see guys run by and you decide you don't want
anything to do with those guys, the running backs, the
offensive linemen. Even the receivers feel like they've gotten bigger
and bigger.
Speaker 2 (10:48):
I tell people if you want to see a football game,
if you can watch it from the sidelines, you'll have
a whole different appreciation for what that game sounds like
and how fast it is. I don't know if you
had that feeling, you're welcome to the NFL moment. What
was that like?
Speaker 4 (11:05):
Well, you know what's interesting? You talk about watching it
from the field. You don't ever listen to the game
or hear the game or feel the game when you're playing.
But during 2020, that was my first year when I
was done playing. I worked with the Panthers in the
front offices, and I was on the field playing. for
some of those games and there was no one in
the stands to start the year. So you could hear everything,
(11:27):
every hit, every sound, every time a guy puts his
foot in the ground and makes a cut and you
start to realize like, how did I, how did I
play out here during this game for that long? Because
guys are, it's, it's fast, it's physical. Um, and, uh,
I'm glad that, that I was on the sideline at
that point.
Speaker 8 (11:46):
Do you have that welcome to the NFL moment? Yeah,
it was Michael Robinson. So my rookie year, we played
Seattle at home. It was my first game playing at
inside backer. And Russell Wilson escapes from the pocket. I'm
in zone coverage.
Speaker 4 (12:02):
I drop. He starts running towards the line of scrimmage.
And I feel like I have a clean shot on him.
I've got a great angle. I'm running right at him.
I think I'm going to make a big hit. And
at the last second, he cuts me. to my left,
I turned my head and Mike Robinson, number 26 is
running full speed at me. And Russ, Russ had kind
of set me up. I didn't see Mike Robinson and
(12:24):
he smacked me. And the first thing I remember is
being on the ground. And I remember looking up at
him and he had a big smile on his face.
And it was, it was early on. I was probably,
I think that was probably week three or week four.
And you realize the game happens a lot faster than
it used to in college. And When I see Mike
to this day, there's still that little smirk that he's
(12:46):
got on his face because he knows that he got
me pretty daggone good.
Speaker 2 (12:49):
If you didn't go to BC, where were you going?
Speaker 3 (12:53):
You know what?
Speaker 4 (12:53):
Stanford, Duke, and Virginia were the schools, in addition to
Boston College, that I looked really hard at. Stanford was probably...
you know, right up there. That was Harbaugh and Andrew
Luck and that whole crew. And then Coach Cutcliffe at Duke.
I really liked him. He was a great man, a
(13:15):
great football coach. But BC was always home for me.
But I think Stanford with Harbaugh and Duke with Cutcliffe
were two places that would have been good options for me.
Speaker 2 (13:25):
But growing up, you know, in Cincinnati, Ohio State recruit you?
Speaker 4 (13:30):
Not really. You know, when I was being recruited, I was–
I was small. I was skinny. I wasn't very big.
And quite frankly, if I was recruiting people out of Cincinnati,
I probably wouldn't have recruited me if I was Ohio
State either.
Speaker 5 (13:45):
Really?
Speaker 4 (13:47):
No, I was a little, I was a 200-pound linebacker
that was taking biology class and chemistry.
Speaker 2 (13:55):
Class, carried a lunchbox around.
Speaker 4 (13:57):
So I don't really blame anybody for not recruiting me.
Speaker 2 (14:01):
Wait, you had a lunchbox?
Speaker 4 (14:03):
Oh, yeah. Every day.
Speaker 2 (14:06):
Was it a themed lunchbox?
Speaker 4 (14:08):
It was.
Speaker 3 (14:09):
You know what?
Speaker 4 (14:09):
I was fortunate that when I went to school, I
have two brothers and my mom would wake up and
make breakfast and make lunch lunches for us every day.
And it was a very well-balanced lunchbox. She did a
great job. So, yes, I don't know if the lunchbox
itself was themed, but what was inside of it was
very much themed. All right.
Speaker 2 (14:30):
So Luke and Netflix game day kicks off with the
game down under in Melbourne. It'll be shouldn't you be
leaving for Australia now?
Speaker 4 (14:42):
Yeah, we're leaving. We leave we leave us on Sunday.
So I've been trying to wrap my head around it.
We leave on a Sunday and I think we get
there on a Tuesday because they're they're ahead of us.
Plus the time change in the flight. It took me
a second to kind of wrap my head around. how
all that works. But yeah, we're leaving soon. We leave
on Sunday of this week. Okay.
Speaker 2 (15:02):
So that'll be coverage starting at 6.30 Eastern kickoff at
8.30 Eastern next week. Are you expecting Aaron Donald to
be in Australia?
Speaker 4 (15:15):
That would certainly make it more exciting. Honestly, I think
it would be really cool if he played. I think
what I think about with this whole thing is, you know,
running's great. Agility is great. You watch all the videos
of him and him training. He looks phenomenal. I think
the one question that I would ask myself is what
happens when people start leaning on you? I think that's
(15:37):
probably the biggest thing. If I were to go back
and play after not playing for two years, how were
you able to brace for impact? How are you able
to mimic contact to the speed at which it's going
to happen in the game? So I think for the
game sake, I would love for him to play. I
think it adds a tremendous amount of storylines and him
(15:57):
and Miles Garrett and how the rest of the defense
line benefits from him being in the game. But I
think if you're the Rams, you got to figure out
what's the best long-term approach for having him part of
that team, you know, when they make a push in December, January.
Speaker 2 (16:11):
How does Aaron Donald impact the linebackers on the Rams
with him back?
Speaker 5 (16:15):
All right.
Speaker 4 (16:16):
Good luck getting up to him. You know, I think
if you're Nate Landman and That crew right there, you're
running clean to the football. Let's be honest. It's Aaron Donald.
It's Miles Garrett, Kobe Turner. And then the one guy
that's going to benefit the most from this is Byron Young.
You've got to block those big– and Braden Fisk. You've
got to block those big guys up front before you
(16:38):
get to the second level. So if you're those Rams linebackers,
you're just sitting there smiling, knowing that, hey, they've got
to block these monsters before they get up to us.
Speaker 2 (16:47):
You sacked Stafford before?
Speaker 4 (16:50):
I didn't even get near him. Nope, not anywhere close
to them. My pass rushing skills were very minimal.
Speaker 2 (16:59):
How many sacks did you have in your career?
Speaker 4 (17:02):
Man, I think I had 12. And two or three
or four of them were clean to the football. So
that requires zero pass rush ability.
Speaker 2 (17:14):
Who did you get that you go, I can tell
my grandkids?
Speaker 4 (17:18):
Man, well, In the Super Bowl, Sean McDermott caught a
great blitz, and I got Peyton Manning. And that required, again,
zero skill. The biggest thing you have to do is
you make sure you get him on the ground. I
was clean right up the middle to Peyton Manning, and
the hardest thing is to not miss him. So that'd
(17:38):
be my most memorable quarterback sag.
Speaker 2 (17:42):
You know, we look at those teams that lose the
Super Bowl and we used to label like you were
a disappointment, like the Buffalo Bills went to four consecutive
Super Bowls. I said, why are we celebrating that you
got to the Super Bowl? I know you guys got embarrassed,
but what's it like in that game that everybody's watching
you and everybody's going to have some kind of opinion
(18:06):
about you or your team after something like that?
Speaker 4 (18:10):
I think everybody's going to have an opinion regardless if win, lose, draw,
how the season went. But I don't think that that season,
when you look back on it and you get perspective
and the further away that team gets from that game,
I think we realize how special that year was, how
fun the OTAs were, the off-season training camp, the journey
(18:34):
through that season into the playoffs, two playoff games at home,
the energy in the city, in the Carolinas, and have
the opportunity to play in a Super Bowl, I think
was super special. Obviously, you want to win that game,
and that's the ultimate goal playing football, but I think
the memories and the opportunities we had that season and
(18:58):
the players that we put on that team that the
front office did a great job is what made that
season special. I don't think it's defined by one game
or you know, the disappointment of not winning the Super Bowl.
I think for us, it was more how special that
team was, how fun that team was, how special that
group was together. And I think when you look back
on it, that's the positive that really came from it.
Speaker 2 (19:20):
You think Cam Newton will be a Hall of Famer?
Speaker 4 (19:23):
I think he should be just, and I get to
see it on a daily basis, but I don't think
for that stretch there that Cam had, I don't think
there was a more dominant player When you walked out
on the field in camp, and I think, you know,
his ability to affect the game throwing and obviously running
(19:44):
the ball short yardage goal line in walking out for
coin tosses for teams. that we didn't play a whole
lot and watching those guys walk out and look at
cam it's like it's like they had no idea he
was that big and it looked like he got 10
times bigger when he when he's in when he's in
(20:05):
his uniform because he had the rib pads and the
shin pads and the and the hair and the wristbands,
and he just got bigger and bigger as game day approached.
Speaker 2 (20:15):
Because that following year, didn't you open up with Denver
in Denver?
Speaker 4 (20:19):
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (20:20):
And I remember the Broncos beat the hell out of
Cam in that game. They were lining him up and
pounding him. And I just kept remembering, being on the
field and seeing how big he was, and realizing what
these defensive players were doing to him. That is, they,
(20:41):
they pounded him that night and, uh, you know, kept
getting back up, but you know, after a while, those
hits take their toll.
Speaker 3 (20:49):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (20:49):
He's, he's, we always joked that he was made of concrete, that,
that you, he was like a pillar out there. You
just hit him and hit him and he just keeps,
he keeps getting back up. But I think it's a
testament to number one, his toughness and, Number two is
competitive drive and who he is as a person. And
(21:11):
a lot of stuff that Cam did, we kind of,
you know, it's just Cam being Cam. And then when
you think about it, you start to realize how special
what he did for that team was.
Speaker 2 (21:23):
Calling a game now. It's one thing to watch when
you're at home with your buddies. But, you know, you're
going to be there with Noah Eagle. You got to
get in and get out. Get in, get out. Like,
do you have a finite amount of time that you go,
I got 15 seconds here, or I got 12 seconds here?
How do you work mentally of being an analyst?
Speaker 4 (21:45):
Well, I think you start to just understand that, hey,
I have a job and I have a teammate, Noah's
your teammate. And you start to realize that I have
to do my job in a way that allows Noah
to do his job. So I think Quick, in and out, concise,
get your point across, make it digestible and understandable, and
then get out and allow Noah to do his job
(22:08):
as well. He's phenomenal. He's so easy to work with.
He sets you up great. And then it's my job,
like you said, to get in, get my point across,
get my point articulated, and then allow Noah to set
the play up and do what he does best as well.
So I think that's what makes it fun is the
teamwork aspect. aspect of that booth.
Speaker 5 (22:27):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (22:27):
But is this any different than what you did defensively
where get in, get out of the huddle or make
your call? Then there's the play now regroup, get in,
get out, get ready for the next play.
Speaker 4 (22:38):
I think to a sense to, in a sense, yes. Um, the, uh,
the procedure I think is a little bit different because
in the game, I think you're digesting. I get a
play call in my ear. And then I've got to
relay it to the guys in the field. And then I,
(22:58):
like you said, I got to break the huddle and
turn around and digest what's going on. So you're kind
of thinking all the way up to the snap as
far as, as a player versus I think in the booth,
you're it's more of reactionary. And then, Hey, based on
what happened on the field, what can I give the
viewers to help educate them, give them further context versus
(23:20):
while you're playing, it's like, all right, Hey, What do
I like out of our menu on third and sixth?
What did I watch during practice and during tape that
allows me to have success? Maybe what do I need
to tell the guy next to me? Maybe Thomas is
telling me something different. So I think it's more of
a living organism while you're playing because there's 10 other
(23:41):
guys that you're working with versus in the booth. I
think it's, you know, it's one of my first times
doing it. So I'm still trying to figure it out
a little bit as well, but it's more of a,
what I saw, let me give somebody something quick that
they can chew on, get in and get out, and
then let Noah do his job as well.
Speaker 3 (24:00):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (24:01):
Wait till like three years, two years, and you listen
back to this and then you'll go, oh my gosh,
because we all do it. I went back to my,
like my early sports center days. I'm going, oh my God,
so bad. But you know, it's part of the evolution,
the progress, the process of it. So And you've got
a great person to set you up. The key is
(24:23):
with play-by-play, they can make or break you. And you've
got Noah who learned from his dad. He's going to
put you in a position to succeed. And, you know,
that'll help you instead of you scrambling to go, I
got nine seconds here. I can't say anything. Noah will
be very good at being brief with his comments to
give you, you know, that room for opportunity. And so
(24:46):
it'll be fun for you. At least I hope it
will be. And don't read social media. Okay.
Speaker 4 (24:52):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (24:53):
Stay off.
Speaker 2 (24:53):
I told JJ Watt that I said, dude, don't, don't
be on. He goes, no, why not?
Speaker 4 (24:58):
I go, okay.
Speaker 2 (24:59):
He goes, I can take it. I said, all right, well,
you're tougher than I can. I don't want to know
what social media is going to say. They're never happy
about anything, Luke.
Speaker 7 (25:08):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (25:08):
I think, you know, you kind of learn it as
a player. You can always find whatever you want on
social media.
Speaker 7 (25:14):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (25:15):
If you think you're the greatest thing, you can find
somebody that says you're the greatest thing. If you want
to find somebody that says you stink, if you look
hard enough, you can find that too. If so, it's
one of those things, whatever you want social media to say,
you can find it and filter it and figure it out.
So like you said, I think I'm lucky to have
(25:35):
Noah in there because he's so good and he has fun.
He's got a great personality and he's quick and, um,
I'm certainly looking forward to it. I think it's going
to be a lot of fun.
Speaker 2 (25:47):
Good to talk to you. Again, congratulations on the Hall
of Fame, Luke.
Speaker 4 (25:51):
Thank you.
Speaker 3 (25:51):
Appreciate it.
Speaker 4 (25:52):
All right.
Speaker 2 (25:52):
Luke Keekly, Hall of Famer.
Speaker 1 (25:54):
Be sure to catch the live edition of the Dan
Patrick Show weekdays at 9 a.m. Eastern, 6 a.m. Pacific
on Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 2 (26:04):
Hey, it's Covino and Rich from Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 9 (26:07):
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Sports Radio, we're excited to announce a brand new YouTube
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Speaker 2 (26:17):
Yup, that's right.
Speaker 9 (26:18):
You can now watch Covino and Rich live on YouTube
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Speaker 2 (26:34):
He is the Big Ten Commissioner, Tony Petitti, joining us
on the program. What kind of year do you think
you had, if you were going to sum it up, Tony?
Speaker 7 (26:44):
The year ahead, I would say we feel, well, if
you're asking me what the year was this past year,
that's an interesting question.
Speaker 5 (26:52):
I mean, on the field, Dan, it couldn't have been
any better.
Speaker 7 (26:54):
You know, winning the football championship and both basketballs and
a total of 13 national championships across everything we play.
I think it was probably the most successful year in
the history of the Big Ten on the field. I
think for our student athletes, it was there was nothing better.
You know, obviously, you know, college athletics deals with all
kinds of challenges every day around, you know, legal cases. And,
(27:15):
you know, this seems to be a new idea, a
new challenge, you know, coming every time you come to
the office. So that part has been difficult. But I
would say the main thing is. And we're really fortunate
in terms of attendance and viewership. Those things are still
just remarkably good for us. And so that's the core
of what we do. So thank God that's still going
as good as you could possibly hope.
Speaker 2 (27:36):
Why do you feel so strongly about the rostered NFL
players not being able to return to college football?
Speaker 5 (27:43):
There's a bunch of reasons.
Speaker 7 (27:44):
I think, look, this is supposed to be the system
was always about you come, you play your time here,
and then you kind of give way to the next
group coming up. You know, I think people sort of
forget that when kids come back, there are kids that
have been practicing since the spring. They're trying to win jobs,
trying to be starters, trying to be the first backup.
And then that goes on all summer. They're working really hard.
I think, no, we sort of forget about that piece
(28:06):
of this when we talk about kids coming back. So
the system is built on that kind of movement. It
was meant to be a place where you have your time,
you compete. If you can go on and play professionally
in any of the sports we play, that's great. That's
part of the journey. But you go on to do
other amazing things in your life with all the benefits
you've had of being in the Big Ten. So I
think that's the core of what this is supposed to be.
And I think we shouldn't be disrupting them.
Speaker 2 (28:27):
But Tony, I've been saying for a while now, a
couple of years, that you have professional players playing in Europe, basketball,
and then able to come to the United States. Why
do we allow professionals in basketball to be able to
come and take roster spots in the United States?
Speaker 7 (28:44):
I mean, you're raising a really good question about what
happens pre-enrollment, right?
Speaker 5 (28:47):
Football is unique. It doesn't have that pre-enrollment problem, Dan, right?
Speaker 7 (28:50):
You're not coming out of high school playing professional football,
so there's no pre-enrollment issue.
Speaker 5 (28:54):
But in college basketball, there is.
Speaker 7 (28:56):
And I think you'd get a lot of coaches who
agree 100% with what you're talking about. I think we
have to get into a sense of we've been in
this kind of waiver environment where some kids get to
have that exception based on what you actually did when
in Europe. And as you know, like not every kid
is exactly the same when they play over there and
then when they come here. So I think what you're
pointing to is something that's just an absolute necessity.
Speaker 5 (29:17):
We just have to get clarity.
Speaker 7 (29:18):
We have to get into having rules and not having
exceptions and waivers everywhere. That make it really hard because
then kids are going to think, well, I look like
that student athlete who got that. Why don't I get
the same waiver this kid got?
Speaker 5 (29:29):
And that's when you end up in court every other day.
So I totally agree with you.
Speaker 7 (29:32):
We've got to have more bright lines, more simple rules
and make a decision about what we want post-enrollment.
Speaker 5 (29:38):
And what we are willing to allow pre. and be consistent.
Speaker 2 (29:41):
Why can't we have a commissioner for college, let's say
college football, a commissioner for college basketball?
Speaker 5 (29:47):
I mean, look, there's been a lot of talk about that.
Speaker 7 (29:51):
And I think when you see some of the things
about that happen to happen, look, the tradition has always
been this way. The conference system is the way this
has been built. You know, as you know, uh, you know,
for many years, the NCAA really controlled the way football
was operated in this country back into the eighties.
Speaker 5 (30:02):
And then it became a conference system, you know, in
the nineties. And that's, what's really survived.
Speaker 7 (30:07):
And over the last 30 years, when I was at
ABC sports, you know, we, we, we sort of went
from having like the CFA college football association that broke apart.
And that gave way, gave rise to this whole structure of,
you know, conference media deals. Um, Look, I think the
CFP is a good place for us to start to
do more of what you're suggesting, which is to come
together and use the structure of the college football playoff
(30:27):
to come together and use that to make rules, how
we manage the game, competition committees, at least start with
empowering that organization because we all compete for the championship
in that organization. To use that to do more, I
think would be a great start.
Speaker 2 (30:40):
He's the Big Ten commissioner, Tony Petitti. How is Big
Ten football different from SEC football?
Speaker 7 (30:48):
I don't really usually try to compare what we're doing,
Big Ten, SEC. I think what we've got is great programs.
We have really good coaching across everything. We're attracting great
student-athletes to play. I'm really excited about the returning quarterback
play we have this year. I think 10 of our
18 are returning their starting quarterback this season.
Speaker 5 (31:07):
So we have great depth.
Speaker 7 (31:08):
I think the way I look at it is that
we're blessed to have this rivalry. I think anything you
want in sports is you want competition. You want your
fans to deeply care about something. So not only do
we have rivalries inside the league, but this sort of
competition with the SEC, I think is a great thing
for college football and all the other sports we play.
So we kind of lean into that. But at the
same time, like every season is different. Every week tends
(31:29):
to be a little bit different. But I would just
say we have great depth and strength. You know, we've
been super successful the last three years.
Speaker 5 (31:36):
We know that.
Speaker 7 (31:36):
We've played in 14 of the 22 CFP games the
last two seasons.
Speaker 2 (31:41):
The 2014 playoff feels like the SEC might be warming
to this. You would know better than me. I'm only
going by a source saying that, you know, the SEC is,
you got to convince them. So what role can you
play in convincing Greg Sankey and the SEC to warm
up to 24 teams?
Speaker 1 (32:02):
Yeah.
Speaker 7 (32:02):
When we work together on this, you know, not an
everyday basis, but very frequently about the future of the
playoff and what the format should be, the way it's
structured is the two leagues have control of any of
the changes to the format. So we've got to come together.
I think there's been an evolution across these ideas. I
think there's a lot more momentum for 24. It's definitely,
there's definitely, you know, people warming up. I think a
lot of coaches and ADs across all conferences really support
(32:24):
the idea of 24. I think, look, we've got more
than a hundred teams playing, trying to compete. It's not
a high percentage of, I typically go to practices and
camps in the summer. I'll go see five or six
schools every summer. You want all those teams to be
playing for something meaningful. Once you went to a 12-team playoff,
you basically said, this is it. This is where you
(32:45):
need to be to be successful. We just got to
increase the opportunities for student-athletes, for our programs. The other
piece of it, the investments that are being made, it
justifies having more access. Access is really key. I don't
think Greg disputes any of that. I think his league
feels the same way. We just got to work through
the details of how we actually would do it. But
I feel good about the evolution over the last six
(33:05):
months about how people are sort of directionally realizing the benefits.
I actually think it would drastically change regular season scheduling.
Speaker 2 (33:12):
How close do you think we're to a model like
the Premier League or maybe the NFL where you have divisions, conferences,
the same thing, and maybe you've got– 35, 40 teams,
maybe less than that. How far off is that model
in your opinion?
Speaker 5 (33:31):
I mean, we don't talk about that. We're happy with
the 18 members that we have.
Speaker 7 (33:35):
We feel the structure that we have to compete and
schedule works well. I think what we're focused on is
I think there's a lot on the table that we
can still do inside college football. I think in the
Big Ten, we can really improve our schedule. I think
fans want us to. We can play more of these games.
I think we've got to solve the postseason access issue.
Once we do that, we can sort of solve the
(33:55):
other issue, which is to have more impactful matchups in
the beginning of the season. I think everybody's pointing to that.
There's a lot being written about this year and what's
scheduled next year. We can make that better. It's right
in front of us, and we don't need to change
our structure to do that. We just got to solve
the access to the postseason, get coaches comfortable that an
early season loss isn't going to wreck your season.
Speaker 2 (34:14):
I love the rivalry, though, with the SEC. I like
when you jab a little bit, and Greg Sankey's got
a sense of humor. Do Will you have a sense
of humor if he's jabbing you back if the SEC
wins the national title?
Speaker 5 (34:27):
Yeah, I mean, look, that's part of it. We have
some fun.
Speaker 7 (34:30):
Our social media teams like to lean into it and
pick some fights and have our fans pick up on it.
Speaker 5 (34:35):
There's lots of memes that get sent to me every day.
I'm sure he gets them as well.
Speaker 7 (34:37):
That's the beauty of it. You couldn't write a better storyline.
If you're trying to script this, you would want this, right?
You'd want this rivalry between the leagues about who's better
and when and who's deeper and who's better at the top.
Speaker 5 (34:49):
Like, yeah, go have at it.
Speaker 7 (34:50):
Let's go play on the field. And I think that's
why we should play more in the regular season. If
we did that, it would just inspire more of it.
It's just like I said, it's an easy thing to accomplish.
We know it works. You know, look, Texas and Ohio
State in just a couple of weeks, like we know
the impact that game is going to have. We saw
it last year. You know, that'll just be a great
event for college football. We just need to do more
(35:10):
of that. We got Oklahoma going to Michigan. So there's
some there's some opportunities there. And we know when we
play those games, we get tremendous audiences, lots of buzz.
Speaker 5 (35:18):
And it makes the whole game and the sport better.
Speaker 2 (35:20):
Could you do a week where it's the SEC Big
Ten like we have in basketball? I know there's more games,
but could you do that based off last year's record or,
you know, this team is going to play this team and,
you know, all the way down to, you know, I
don't want Rutgers, you know, playing LSU. I want somebody
who maybe is kind of commensurate to their talent level.
(35:43):
But can we do that for a week?
Speaker 7 (35:45):
You're raising a really interesting scheduling thing, not only for
the way you schedule like non-conference, but also you schedule
the NFL does a really good job. The reason why,
you know, you saw the Brady Patriots and the Manning
Colts play so often is because they were playing because
of where they finished in their division standings.
Speaker 5 (35:59):
Right.
Speaker 7 (36:00):
And there's something to learn from that. You know, I
think it would take time to get there, but you
could do what you're talking about is exactly the conversations
we have here. We model all those things out. We
have to have you know, we have to come together
to do that. But I think all of those things
are in play. Like you don't necessarily have to schedule
home and homes. Like you can say one year you're
playing this SEC team and the next year you're on
the road, but you're going someplace different.
Speaker 5 (36:19):
Those are all great ideas that I think fans will
lead into.
Speaker 7 (36:23):
You know, and there's also something like we have some
really historic stadiums in both of our conferences, especially on
the Big Ten stadiums. And having fans have an opportunity
to travel and see those stadiums go play at some
of these places would be great. I think it would
inspire a lot of road trips in both directions.
Speaker 2 (36:37):
No matter how many teams, if you add new schools
to the Big Ten, it's always going to be the
Big Ten. We're not going to actually have the exact number.
That'll never happen. Not the Big 18.
Speaker 5 (36:49):
I don't think so.
Speaker 7 (36:49):
I think everybody sort of likes the Big Ten, and
we've got a logo that sort of allows us to
sort of not highlight the one that's right behind my
head here with the B1G.
Speaker 5 (36:58):
I give Jim Delaney credit for that.
Speaker 2 (37:00):
Thanks for joining us, Tony. Have fun this season.
Speaker 5 (37:04):
Thanks so much, Dan.
Speaker 1 (37:05):
That's Tony Petitti, Big Ten Commissioner. Fox Sports Radio has
the best sports talk lineup in the nation. Catch all
of our shows at foxsportsradio.com. And within the iHeartRadio app,
search FSR to listen live.
Speaker 2 (37:19):
Pablo Torre, journalist, podcaster, host of Pablo Torre Finds Out
with Metal Ark Media. Well, you did find out, but
I'm curious through all of this, any doubts along the
way of your reporting? After ESPN comes out with an
article recently, hearing from the Clippers, hearing from other people,
(37:41):
any doubts, any conversations with the wife at night of, uh-oh?
Speaker 10 (37:46):
The doubts were, hey, we're still going to be married
at the end of this, right? Because you're on the
phone talking to sources all of the time that you
say are very important. And we're at the beach with
our daughter on your quote-unquote vacation. That was the doubt.
But in truth, those sources were right the whole time, Dan.
The thing that was interesting yesterday, and many things were
(38:08):
interesting yesterday, was just what the NBA would do about it.
And that's what we found out, is what does the
internal politics of league governance look like when you have
a scope that leads to a rabbit hole that has
four separate companies in it, manufactured paper trails, fake jobs,
not just for Kawhi Leonard, but for the companies, like
(38:28):
fake consulting jobs for the companies that funneled money to
Kawhi Leonard through the Clippers.
Speaker 6 (38:35):
As well as those companies.
Speaker 10 (38:37):
And you have now, as of yesterday, an SEC, Securities
and Exchange Commission, not Southeastern Conference, SEC investigation into the
scoreboard company that, according to the NBA, got the deal
to build the Halo board in Intuitome because they were
willing to funnel money to Kawhi Leonard. That's what the
(38:58):
NBA could not deny. What did you make of the punishments?
I thought that it could have been more. And I
think that it is two things. The biggest punishment for
an owner that we've ever seen in American sports, I think,
when you account for the fact that it is Steve
Ballmer banned from the building for a year, his head
(39:19):
of business banned from the building for a year, his
head of basketball banned from the building for six months
because Lawrence Frank, that basketball ops president, participated in and
provided contemporaneous notes to the NBA, by the way, a
whole other rabbit hole of like, why was Lawrence Frank
taking notes during the cap circumvention meetings in which he
(39:39):
is quoting the thanks to the NBA's investigators, Steve Ballmer
talking about how he's going to service Dennis Robertson and
Kawhi Leonard to circumvent the cap.
Speaker 6 (39:51):
Why was that there? Interesting.
Speaker 10 (39:53):
$ 30 million is change to a guy with $ 145 billion,
depending on Microsoft stock. But the thing about The scope
and the vastness of it, the five first-rounders, I mean,
I just, I think it was unprecedented in that regard,
but also because it was narrow in scope. There are
names in this report that we have been talking about
(40:15):
for a year that did not show up. There is
a line that Wachtell Lipton, the law firm, put in.
Their investigation is ongoing. They are still receiving tips. As
recently as Just weeks ago, they are still investigating. It's
only the beginning somehow, which is kind of the through
line of the whole thing.
Speaker 2 (40:35):
Okay. Can you give me best guess of what you
think could be next involving the Clippers?
Speaker 10 (40:41):
Well, let's just take Steve Ballmer at his word. He
has written a letter via his very expensive attorneys to
Adam Silver blaming Clippers. this podcaster for getting the NBA
to do a prejudiced investigation. And at first, after the
ruling came out, he threatened arbitration. But this is something
that's very interesting that I don't know if people appreciate
(41:02):
about what the NBA did. When the NBA tried to
settle with Steve Ballmer and they said, hey, we have
a narrow scope. We have undeniable evidence. We want to
just make sure that you have the opportunity to take
your punishment, admit wrongdoing and let us all move on.
Steve Ballmer, according to everything that we've seen now play
out in public after that ESPN story two weeks ago,
(41:22):
decided to fight, decided to mount his own campaign. And
the NBA said, well, in that case, we're going to
do something that perhaps caught Steve Ballmer by surprise. They
found a way to settle with Kawhi Leonard and the
Players Union. Why is that important? When Kawhi gets a
slap on the wrist, that's where the slap on the
wrist was, Dan, by the way. $ 700, 000.
Speaker 6 (41:43):
For Kawhi Leonard. Again, historically, that's quite a bit.
Speaker 10 (41:46):
But in terms of the role he had in the
whole story, that's a slap on the wrist. He can
now go on to Toronto and the betting lines can
adjust based on that. If Toronto wants to go through
with this, not knowing what else is in the box.
Speaker 6 (41:59):
I digress. They got Kawhi to settle.
Speaker 10 (42:03):
And in the NBA, what Adam Silver knows better than
Steve Ballmer and his lawyers know apparently is that arbitration
can only be activated by the union. And so arbitration,
because of that settlement, is off the table. Can't go
to arbitration. What can Steve Ballmer do? He can literally
sue the NBA. He can sue Adam Silver. He can
(42:24):
sue me. He can sue Wachtell Lipton. He can sue you.
He can sue everybody. And that opens the door to,
spoiler alert, more discovery of documents.
Speaker 2 (42:37):
Could he have mitigated, like how much damage could he
have mitigated by just saying to the commissioner, I'm so sorry,
I fall on my sword?
Speaker 10 (42:51):
Something that was really interesting in this Wachtell report was
how much the NBA leaned on the interview he did
with ESPN and Ramona Shelburne the day after part one
of my story came out. When Steve Ballmer went on air,
and it is so interesting, if you guys have some
free time, if you want to, you know, threaten your
own marriages, go rewatch that game film sometime. Take time
(43:13):
out of your day to rewatch what Steve Ballmer did
after knowing what he actually did. And you will see
that he is lying repeatedly. And once he does that,
and he's on the record lying in public about what
happened here, the NBA now has the ability to fact check,
as I did, as I have been doing this whole time.
And because he decided to fight from day one, as
(43:34):
opposed to what you suggest, which is say, I am
horrified by what I tried to do. I love basketball
too much. I wanted the thing that I know I
can't have, even though I'm the richest owner in sports.
And I am so humiliated by this. And I want
to put this behind me and move on. I don't
think we're here. I don't have a 15-part series. I
(43:56):
may not have a Pulitzer Prize. The NBA might not
have a 35-page legal report. Steve Ballmer may not pay
$ 50 million, as he has now said, for the legal
investigation into him, which is what has happened.
Speaker 6 (44:10):
It's crazy. That was the fork in the road, and
he chose, I would say, to not tell the truth.
Speaker 2 (44:15):
We're talking to Pablo Torre, the journalist, podcaster, host of
Pablo Torre Finds Out with Metal Ark Media. This isn't
the first time that this has happened with an owner.
It won't be the last. But I'm just surprised it
hasn't come up before. Now, I know that Ballmer tried
to do this with DeAndre Jordan, which doesn't help his
(44:36):
case in this situation. But how prevalent do you think
this has been? And is there anything that you're interested
in that might be going on akin to this of
circumventing the salary cap?
Speaker 10 (44:52):
You got me to do it one time, and I said,
what about a certain player who plays in a city
where I may be living right now? And I said that,
and I've been trying to manage the expectations ever since.
Speaker 6 (45:05):
Stan, I see what you're doing. You're a clever interviewer.
Speaker 2 (45:07):
But are you looking into the Knicks and Jalen Brunson?
I am not focusing on the.
Speaker 10 (45:14):
What do they say when you're an ESPN employee and
you're trying to break... Graphics without breaking graphics. You say,
I am not currently targeting. I am not currently looking into.
I'm not currently circling Jalen Brunson and the Knicks. I
have had all sorts of calls about so many teams.
I've talked to people on the Knicks about all of this,
and they're just not the focus because we have other
(45:36):
things that are, by the way, coming very soon that
are in the vein of what are billionaires who run
sports trying to get away with using your money. And
I will leave it there just for now, because I
think we got to button some stuff up, but that's, there's,
let me say this.
Speaker 6 (45:51):
Soon on the show, we will start a new series.
Speaker 10 (45:55):
And that new series will speak to a lot of
the themes and even more, I think, even greater complications
for what the everyday person in America should be worried about.
Speaker 6 (46:07):
And so what did Balmer do here? What makes this
one special?
Speaker 10 (46:12):
He had the ambition to, of creating a scheme that
is beyond what other owners have attempted that much. I'm
very comfortable saying this is the furthest point in the
spectrum of attempted salary cap circumvention.
Speaker 6 (46:29):
People do it by degree. No one did it by
this order of magnitude.
Speaker 10 (46:33):
And that's why the NBA, which wanted to make everybody
stop talking about this.
Speaker 6 (46:38):
That's why they had to do the thing we saw yesterday.
Speaker 2 (46:42):
How does ESPN go with the story with their finest
investigative reporters that basically exonerated the Clippers and Steve Ballmer?
Speaker 10 (46:50):
I mean, I, for 15 parts a year, did, of course,
the other thing. I found sources, whistleblowers, documents who were
willing to tell the truth. What was left open, if
you think of all of this as sports, right, what's
left available as territory for us to claim?
Speaker 6 (47:11):
What ESPN apparently saw was the Clippers side of the story.
Speaker 10 (47:15):
And the NBA immediately within an hour refutes it vociferously
with Mike Bass's name attached, Dan, and you know how
rare that is, for there to be a byline on
a statement that says significant and numerous inaccuracies. And what
ESPN had done, according to my reporting, is they were
fed a story by the Clippers that the Clippers may
(47:37):
have known was not true.
Speaker 2 (47:40):
And why do you do that?
Speaker 10 (47:41):
Well, perhaps it's because that's the available territory that you have,
having been beaten on the other part of this landscape.
Perhaps you really believed it because the Clippers looked you
in the eye and for months, for a year, said
to you, we're telling the truth. That annoying, clout-chasing podcaster
is lying to you. And at a certain point, it's
a test. Do you choose to believe the evidence, the sources,
(48:05):
the journalism, or do you try to get a win
even when the game's already over?
Speaker 2 (48:12):
Do you care? Have you received an apology from ESPN?
Speaker 6 (48:16):
You know what's interesting?
Speaker 10 (48:17):
I submitted, I was told after the story published, hey,
if you want to have a comment here because this
is effectively refuting your whole deal here, we'll include.
Speaker 6 (48:29):
A statement from you.
Speaker 10 (48:30):
And so I submitted a statement and I'll just paraphrase it.
It was, we stand by our reporting and we look
forward to the NBA's ruling. Our investigation continues. For whatever reason,
ESPN did not include it. And so I don't expect
an apology. I don't expect anything.
Speaker 6 (48:49):
Nor do I think I even need or deserve one, right?
Speaker 10 (48:52):
Like, I'm a big boy, as they say. I just
wonder why it happened like this. Because in this story,
a story of no alternate rational explanations, it sure seems
to me, based on my reporting... that they got fed
a story by the people who were lying to everybody
(49:12):
this whole time, and I got implicated as a result
of it.
Speaker 2 (49:16):
How much money did Kawhi Leonard make off the books,
in your opinion?
Speaker 10 (49:20):
So I'll tell you factually what I know and what
I don't. So Aspiration has a total value of $ 48 million.
Now let's bring in the other companies, right? Boingo Wireless
is Of course. Which is just funny because, of course,
the wireless provider of the Intuit dome is giving Kawhi
Leonard payments off the books.
Speaker 6 (49:42):
Of course, Daktronics, the scoreboard operator, is. Of course, Lockton.
Speaker 10 (49:46):
Insurance, the insurance company on the construction of the dome,
is doing the same thing, Dan. Those three companies, according
to the NBA's investigation through 2021, guaranteed $ 18 million to
Kawhi Leonard.
Speaker 6 (49:58):
So doing the math, that's $ 66 million. Only through, let's
call it 2022.
Speaker 10 (50:04):
He re-signs with the Clippers, as I've said before on
my show, in January of 24 for a discount.
Speaker 6 (50:13):
A discount. Less than the max. Why and what happened there?
Speaker 10 (50:19):
And so you're at 66 million plus. I've told the story,
the beginning of it, around the Rhode Island Football Club.
Started in LLC, in which he got secret undisclosed equity
the week before he signed the extension. And I ask,
as always, what else was there? And I have a feeling,
as always, that there is more.
Speaker 2 (50:41):
Congrats. It's been a long process there. And at least
you get a trophy. You get something the Clippers don't have.
You get a trophy.
Speaker 6 (50:51):
You know, I wasn't going to make the joke, but
I'm glad you did.
Speaker 4 (50:58):
Thank you, Dan.
Speaker 2 (50:58):
Thank you, Pablo. Pablo Torre. He won a Pulitzer Prize.
I think it's a trophy.
Speaker 4 (51:04):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (51:05):
I haven't even seen a Pulitzer. Is it a statue?
Is it a plaque? Maybe some of my best people
could get on that right now. A ribbon? Wait, Pablo.
Speaker 6 (51:18):
Okay what i.
Speaker 10 (51:19):
Hope i don't i don't admittedly i've become known now
for my investigations i don't know what this looks like
either which is perhaps embarrassing but my hope is that
it's a karate trophy oh i want a big karate
trophy with a karate man on the top because i
only was a white belt and i've been chasing that
high ever since so that'd be nice.
Speaker 2 (51:39):
You might need that white belt You're going to need
a black belt.
Speaker 6 (51:46):
You know what?
Speaker 10 (51:46):
The more questions you ask about Jalen Brunson, the more
martial arts training.
Speaker 2 (51:50):
I'm going to need in New York City, Dan. You
brought up Jalen Brunson again.
Speaker 6 (51:55):
You pesky journalist with your questions.
Speaker 3 (51:58):
Yeah, all right.
Speaker 2 (51:59):
I'm not winning a Pulitzer. All right. That's Pablo Torre.
Hosts And Creators
Todd "Fritzy" Fritz
Dan Patrick
Patrick "Seton" O'Connor
Paul Pabst
Marvin Prince
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