August 6, 2025 • 30 mins
College football reporter Andy Staples digs into the new QB shuffle among title contenders and even accepts a “pie to the face” bet over Notre Dame having an undefeated regular season. NFL insider Mike Florio breaks down the NFL Network-ESPN deal and discusses the conundrum the Browns will face when Deshaun Watson returns. And senior sports media reporter Michael McCarthy gives his take on ESPN's deal with the NFL and shares what the future of RedZone could look like.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
You are listening to the Dan Patrick Show on Fox
Sports Radio.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
We had a caller who wanted to have a pie
to the face bet with any of the Dan Nets.
He said that Notre Dame is going undefeated and winning
the national championship. Well, all four DNTs held up their hand.
They're going to go against that bet that Notre Dame
will not go undefeated and win the national championship. We
start there with Andy Staples, one of the great college
(00:26):
football reporters in America. He works for on three Sports.
Let's look at Notre Dame schedule. Paully, give me the
schedule here with Notre Dame.
Speaker 3 (00:35):
It's a saucy Miami. They are at for Notre Dame.
Speaker 4 (00:38):
They're at Miami host text A and m host Purdue
at Arkansas to start.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
Okay, do you think Notre Dame can go undefeated?
Speaker 5 (00:48):
And Polly strikes me as a as a blueberry guy,
maybe one of those latticework apple pie guys. I mean,
I really, you guys do need to start thinking about
the pie that you would like to get in the face.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
Wow, I think yeah, okay, this as possible.
Speaker 6 (01:07):
It is possible.
Speaker 5 (01:08):
They can go twelve and zero winning the national title
is a bit harder because you've got to get through
that entire tournament, but hell, it got to the national
title game last year.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
Wait, Andy, are you willing to take a pie to
the face if Notre Dame doesn't go undefeated?
Speaker 5 (01:24):
Yeah, I'll take a pile of the face before we go.
Speaker 3 (01:29):
You let me know when I need to do it.
Speaker 5 (01:31):
Just look, a Northern Illinois game can happen to you,
and they could go to Miami and lose Week one.
But this is one of those seasons that just feels
like we don't know anything, but Notre Dame feels like
one of the surer things, which is interesting because they
are breaking in a new starting quarterback and we don't
really know how that's gonna look, but we do know
(01:51):
they're gonna have one of the best offensive lines in
college football. Jeremiah Love is probably the best back in
college football, and I think the receivers, you're going to
see them a Jane Greathhouse you so toward the end
of the playoff, like, really step up. So I do
think you're gonna see a more dynamic version of a
Dame offense, even though you've got a new quarterback.
Speaker 6 (02:09):
Probably C. J.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
Carr. You point out that six of the eight betting
favorites to win the national Championship are going to break
in new starting quarterbacks. Texas is technically breaking in a
new quarterback, but it's a well known quarterback handicapped. You know,
these teams, who are you know and the new quarterbacks
(02:31):
we should be aware of.
Speaker 5 (02:33):
So the new of the new guys, Arch Manning is
the one probably who has the most experienced so of
those six teams, So that's that's Texas, Ohio State, Georgia,
Notre Dame, Oregon, Alabama.
Speaker 6 (02:46):
Arch has quite a bit of experience.
Speaker 5 (02:47):
Oregon's starting quarterback Dante Moore had some experience as UCLA
started a couple of years ago, but Arch probably has
been the most ready for this. And it's interesting because
if Arch comes in and they're signficantly more dynamic offensively
than they were last year, you're gonna get those retroactive.
Speaker 6 (03:04):
Questions of C.
Speaker 5 (03:05):
Sarkisian why didn't you start Arch over quinn yours earlier?
But I'm fascinated to see what he looks like because
I think people who just see the last name, they're thinking, oh,
this guy is gonna look like Peyton or Eli.
Speaker 3 (03:18):
He is not.
Speaker 6 (03:19):
Arch is a dual threat quarterback.
Speaker 5 (03:21):
His dad, Cooper, was a wide receiver who would have
been a good wide receiver Ole Miss had he not
had a neck injury. So this is a This is
an athlete who actually has a very good arm. And
so Arch's threat to run makes Texas a very different
team to defend than quinn Ewers Texas from last year.
And we'll get a good good look at it week
(03:43):
one against Ohio State because Ohio State's gonna be breaking
in nine.
Speaker 6 (03:46):
New defensive starters.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
The other quarterbacks though Ohio State introd do they know
who their quarterback is?
Speaker 5 (03:53):
It's probably Julian Sayan, who is a guy who originally
signed with Alabama's from California. When Nick Saban retired, Julian
Saying hopping in the transfer portal and wound up at
Ohio State. He was the understudy last year to Will Howard.
So the thought is that it's going to be him.
And really, if you're throwing to Jeremiah Smith and Carnell
(04:14):
Tate and Brandon ns it's probably going to go pretty well.
And Jeremiah Smith is just a freak of nature. He's
the best player in college football this year. I don't
know if he's going to win the Heisman Trophy, but
he is the best player he could enter the If
there was a supplemental draft tomorrow, every team in the
NFL would give up everything it could get him.
Speaker 2 (04:34):
If I gave you the top three teams in the
initial rankings or everybody else to win the national championship,
everybody else.
Speaker 5 (04:44):
Yeah, there's more variability this year. I feel like the
quarterback things a big reason for it. I look at
the coaches poll and I've noticed this. So the coaches
poll came out this week. We had my colleague Brett
mc murphy on who has an AP vote, and he
build his AP pole ballot. I've done some way too early.
Speaker 6 (05:02):
Top twenty five.
Speaker 5 (05:03):
Everybody's top eight feels like it's the same, and everybody says, well,
I think any of these teams can win the.
Speaker 6 (05:09):
National title, and I would agree.
Speaker 5 (05:11):
I like Texas, Ohio State, Penn State, Georgia, Notre Dame, Clemson, Oregon, Alabama,
in whatever order you want. You could make a very
compelling case to me right now that those could be
the national champs. I have a hard time with anybody else,
but I also know we saw Indiana last year. I
don't know that anybody who predicted Notre Dame going as
(05:33):
far as they did last year.
Speaker 6 (05:34):
There's gonna be a couple others that pop up.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
Talking and Andy Staples covers college football for on three sports.
Is there an SMU Arizona State Indiana? Maybe we would
consider overachiever who could be in the national title picture
or the playoffs.
Speaker 5 (05:53):
Well, the Indiana thing's interesting because usually when a team
has a big turnaround, has a huge season, and they're
not typically a successful program, they just sort of go back.
Indiana didn't lose anybody but the quarterback Curtis Rourke, and
then they went out and got Fernando Mendoza from Cal
who's a guy that Georgia wanted, and a bunch of
other you know, big time programs wanted to get as
(06:15):
a transfer. So Indiana could still be just as good
as it was last year. Now, the schedule is probably
going to be harder than it was last year, but
you've also got Illinois that won ten games last year.
Speaker 6 (06:25):
Brought a ton of guys back in the Big twelve.
Speaker 5 (06:28):
Arizona State, you know we predicted them last last year
they won the thing. They've got Sam Levitt back at QB,
so everybody's expecting big things from them. But I say
watch Utah in the Big twelve. They had a terrible
season last year because of quarterback issues. They went out
and got a guy named Devin dan Pierre from New
Mexico who's a more.
Speaker 6 (06:46):
Of a runner than a thrower.
Speaker 5 (06:48):
But when you have an offensive line like Utah's, that's
just fine.
Speaker 2 (06:52):
Give me the coaches that are under more pressure than
anybody else.
Speaker 5 (06:57):
It's a crazy situation in the SEC because you have
Billion Apier at Florida, Hugh Freeze at Auburn, Brent Vinnables
at Oklahoma. All of them should have better teams than
they had last year. All of them probably have rosters
capable of competing for playoff berths. But the Oklahoma and
Florida situations, the schedules are so hard that if things
(07:20):
go wrong, they could wind up six and six and
you could see the whole staff get fired.
Speaker 6 (07:24):
For Auburn, they have the roster.
Speaker 5 (07:27):
They just didn't have the quarterback play last year like
they were bad last year because they had essentially this
groundhog Day thing where they'd have a crippling interception late
in the game, and Hugh Freeze didn't manage his quarterbacks
very well.
Speaker 6 (07:40):
He's throwing them under the bus publicly.
Speaker 5 (07:42):
If they get even average quarterback play, that's a team
that compete for a playoff berth. But if this roster
goes six and six, you're making a change. Probably what
about USC? It's a great question, Dan. When you hear
Lincoln Riley talk, it sounds like he is pointing towards
twenty twenty six. They have this massive recruiting class coming
(08:03):
in twenty twenty six, and I think if you ask
USC fans when Lincoln Riley got hired, if in year four,
they'd be pointing toward the following year. It's not what
they wanted, but that they They don't seem particularly excited
about their chances in the Big Ten this year. I
do think they're very excited about who's on Long Street,
their freshman quarterback, But I don't know that Lincoln Riley's
(08:23):
ready to throw him into the fire yet.
Speaker 6 (08:25):
It sounds like they're gonna still go with Jade Mayava.
Speaker 5 (08:27):
So this is a team that you know it, just
it's not been built up in the trenches the way
it should have been since Lincoln Riley got there. It
seems like in recruiting they are trying to do that now.
But I just don't know that that's it's not ready
for this season yet, and so I think they're probably
looking at a you know, average to above average season
(08:50):
in the Big Ten, which is not what you're paying
ten million bucks a year for.
Speaker 2 (08:53):
Yeah, man, they're patient, far more paid. We're patient, But
it's because of that contract. I'm guessing that's a big reason.
Speaker 5 (09:02):
There's a lot of too expensive to fire coaches right now.
You know that under pressure list could have been a
lot longer. But Luke Fickel at Wisconsin, Mark Stoops at Kentucky,
Lincoln Riley at USC you're not firing them.
Speaker 6 (09:17):
You are not.
Speaker 5 (09:18):
Raising that much money and firing them. It's just not
worth it.
Speaker 2 (09:21):
Great to talk to you as always, Andy, Thank you
for joining us.
Speaker 6 (09:24):
Thank you, Dan appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (09:25):
Andy Staples covers college football for on three Sports.
Speaker 1 (09:30):
Be sure to catch the live edition of The Dan
Patrick Show weekdays at nine am Eastern six am Pacific
on Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio WAPP.
Speaker 2 (09:39):
Springing Mike Florio, Pro Football Talk Live co host his
new book Big Shield comes out August nineteenth. That's about
the intersection of gambling, the mob, and pro football. You
can pre order the ebook for just ninety nine cents
on Amazon. What does this deal mean? Let's start with
the consumer. Why would they care about this merger?
Speaker 4 (10:03):
Well, I don't know that the consumer was at the
front of the mind for.
Speaker 3 (10:07):
Either of the parties involved in this.
Speaker 4 (10:09):
Frankly, the NFL has had essentially a struggling media property
in NFL Network. It's never become what they thought it
was going to be. They created Thursday Night Football as
a way to prop up NFL Network. It debuted in
two thousand and six as a back half of the
season Thursday Night package to give NFL Network something that
(10:30):
would make cable providers want it.
Speaker 3 (10:32):
It still never.
Speaker 4 (10:33):
Really took off, and they've been trying for years to
unload it.
Speaker 2 (10:38):
Dan, I mean like ten.
Speaker 4 (10:39):
Years they've been trying to get rid of this, and
they've tied it different things. NBC was in the conversation
at one point, and now they get ten percent equity
in ESPN for these failing properties. And yeah, I don't
know that the consumer was the main reason for this.
And now the question becomes, how do we make this
(11:00):
seamless for the consumer. You know, for example, ESPN did
a deal as part of this to continue to televise
the draft for the next five years. Well, when you
turn on NFL network for the draft, are you going
to see Rich Eisen Now?
Speaker 3 (11:11):
Are you gonna see Mike Greenberg? Who's it going to be?
Speaker 4 (11:14):
And I think it's important for them to keep things
normal from the perspective of the consumer, because I think
most people are afraid number one, things are going to
change and number two, we're gonna get screwed. I just
think that's the natural reaction to this news that these
two behemoths.
Speaker 3 (11:31):
Have come together.
Speaker 2 (11:33):
One of the first things that came to mind is
what if Fox has a problem with their deal or
the NFL says to Fox, here, take it, take it
or leave it. We'll have some like I don't know
if there's going to be Well, the NFL is in
bed with ESPN, and what's that mean for the other
TV partners?
Speaker 4 (11:54):
We will see and look, you give the league ten
percent equity in your company and maybe the value isn't
there to support it, But you know what's not gonna happen.
You're not gonna lose Monday Night Football. You're not gonna
lose your spot in the Super Bowl rotation. You are
now a permanent partner of the NFL at a time
(12:14):
when all the tech companies are hovering and the TV
deals are up after twenty twenty nine technically twenty thirty three,
but the league has the ability to pull the plug,
and obviously they will. ESPN doesn't have to worry about
being left out in the cold and Dan the other
thing this does, and this really needs to be fleshed
out by the union. Instead of taking money for these properties,
(12:38):
taking equity. That may screw the players because the players
don't share equity with the league.
Speaker 3 (12:43):
The players share money with the league.
Speaker 4 (12:45):
So you're offloading more games to ESPN, and they're not
paying X one hundred million for them.
Speaker 3 (12:52):
They're giving you equity.
Speaker 4 (12:53):
All under the CBA that equity may be exclusive to ownership,
and until so equity turns into money, players don't get
a penny. That's something the new interim executive director of
the Union had better put at the top of his
to do list to figure out, how are we possibly
getting screwed by this.
Speaker 2 (13:11):
You might be the first person, maybe the only person
who pointed this out, But Jerry Jones talking to Micah
Parsons without representation in there is not allowable. But Jerry
wants the conversation to be allowable, and that they had
a deal back in March. So what is the rule
of an owner talking directly to a player about a contract.
Speaker 3 (13:35):
You know, you really couldn't make this up.
Speaker 4 (13:38):
The Jerry Jones and Chris Simms made this point earlier
day on PFT Live. Certain owners will invoke any and
all rules that help them. Well, that's the rule, hey,
the rules of the rules Contracts Contracts CBA says we
can do this. But as to the stuff that gets
in the way of what we're trying to do, forget
about the rules. And it's clear in the CBA, if
there is a verbal agreement that is real between a
(14:00):
player and a team, it must be reduced to writing
as soon as practical, the idea that they did a
handshake deal back in March. And I think you know,
if there was a flow chart, Dan, step one would
be will Micah accept the deal that he supposedly agreed
to in March, which surely is far less than whatever
he wants now? And if he won't, I think what
(14:20):
Jerry's trying to do is get Micah to play for
twenty four million this year and they're kick it all
the next year. But you're right under the CBA, you
can't do this. You can't negotiate directly with the players.
The agent is the exclusive representative certified by the union
to act as the union in the dealings between player
and team, and the NFL hasn't done anything about it.
(14:42):
The union hasn't done anything about it. So hey, if
I'm Jerry Jones and they're not gonna tell me I
can't do it, what the hell I'll keep doing it.
Speaker 2 (14:51):
How's this play out?
Speaker 4 (14:54):
I really do think that Jerry wants Micah to either
take the deal that they had a handshake on in
March or play for twenty four million this year and
kick it to next year. Because the key is this
dam The longer the team can keep the injury risk
on the player, the more the team is protected against
something happening to the player that would keep him from
(15:16):
ever playing again or playing as well as he used to.
Career ending or career limiting. The risk is on the player,
not on us, and for the team that's dealing with
a bunch of different players. The more times you can
keep that risk on the players, the better off you
are over the long haul. And we've seen that they
kicked the can with Dak Prescott. You know, they kicked
the can until somebody says enough. That's why I still
(15:39):
think he should.
Speaker 3 (15:39):
Have held out.
Speaker 4 (15:40):
If he'd have held out, they would eventually have caved,
like they did for Ceedee Lamb last year, like they
did for Ezekiel.
Speaker 3 (15:46):
Elliott in twenty nineteen.
Speaker 4 (15:47):
They're going to try to I think, if he won't
take the deal that he supposedly agreed to in March,
they're going to try to kick this to next year.
Speaker 3 (15:54):
And I know twenty four million sounds like.
Speaker 4 (15:56):
A lot of money, but when the market's forty one
and Mike is should be getting forty five, Yeah, you
don't want to play this year for twenty.
Speaker 2 (16:04):
Four Why doesn't somebody say to Jerry Jones, you know, Jerry,
you can't negotiate a contract with a player.
Speaker 4 (16:11):
And well, because for whatever reason, nobody is willing to
tell Jerry Jones he can't do it, and the union
hasn't filed a grievance, it would be very easy to
do if this new interim executive director wants to make
a splash.
Speaker 3 (16:24):
What he could do, What David White could do, immediately
file ag.
Speaker 4 (16:27):
Grievance against the Cowboys and Jerry Jones for dealing directly
with players when they should be.
Speaker 3 (16:31):
Dealing with the agent.
Speaker 4 (16:31):
You want, you want to try to balance out the
relationship a little bit, stand up and fight for your players.
Speaker 2 (16:36):
Talking to Mike Florio, Pro Football Talk Live, co host
the show that preceeds hours on Peacock. In his next book,
Big Shield, comes out August nineteenth. It's the intersection of gambling,
the mob, and pro football. You can pre order the
e book for just ninety nine cents on Amazon. Out
of nowhere, the NFL comes out with no more smelling salts?
(16:58):
Where's this been?
Speaker 3 (16:59):
Or you know what took so long?
Speaker 4 (17:04):
It's been sixteen years since they had the concussion epiphany.
The first time I ever became aware of smelling salts,
it was in a movie or a TV show where
a boxer gott knocked senseless and they stuck it under
his nose to wake him up. And now they're finally like, oh,
it could mask the symptoms of a concussion. Yeah, of
course he can. That's why they use them, and how
many years have we seen like the images of a
guy on the sidelines, not because he's taken a blow
(17:27):
to the head, but just it kind of gets them going.
Speaker 3 (17:30):
Like it's always been a weird.
Speaker 4 (17:32):
Look for the NFL, And now all of a sudden
they realize probably not a good idea to supply these,
and they haven't banned them. You can bring your own,
I assume, bring your own smelling salts, stick them in
your sock, and if you need a little kick before
the game, so be it. But it's always been a
strange thing to me, the huffing of ammonia at a
time when they're ultrasensitive to concussions, where the smelling salts
(17:55):
are always the thing that they use to wake a
guy up who's taken a blow the head.
Speaker 2 (18:00):
Okay, so they're taking the liability away from the teams.
Now it's on you. If you want to use smelling salts,
you can. We just we're not taking any ownership.
Speaker 3 (18:10):
We're not supplying them.
Speaker 4 (18:11):
Now they'd have to negotiate with the union. See that's
the thing, and this gets back to collective bargaining. The
league never wants to have to give anything up just
because currently the players are allowed to bring their own
smelling salts, they're not banned from using them. So they
have to sit down and give up a little of this,
give up a little of that, Maybe do a handshake
deal with Jerry Jones in the room, and the next
thing you know, the players are banned from using them
at all. But yes, this is a liability thing, Dan,
(18:34):
We can't get sued.
Speaker 3 (18:35):
We can't get in trouble for.
Speaker 4 (18:36):
Supplying these to somebody who has a concussion and they
take the hit of it, and they go back in
and play and they get a second concussion, they have
a serious injury as a result of it.
Speaker 2 (18:47):
If I'm a Rams fan and I'm listening watching concerned
about Matthew Stafford, what would you tell the Rams fan
today about this situation.
Speaker 4 (18:58):
I would say that for now you should not be concerned.
I believe, and I'm told he'll be back on the
field later this week. Now, I don't know where that
means he's going to be fully participating in practice. Would
be working out on the field of a month to
get ready for week one. And Matthew Stafford, I said
this early day. If he wrote an autobiography, the chapter
on all the injuries that he's had in his career
(19:18):
would be the longest chapter in any book that's ever
been written. He's had injuries we know about, He's had
injuries we don't know about.
Speaker 3 (19:25):
He just sucks it up and he keeps going.
Speaker 4 (19:27):
I think they have deliberately given him time to let
the back settle down. Anybody that's ever had a back
problem knows it operates on its own timetable and it
needs a certain period of time to get back to normal,
and they wanted to, I believe, let it get to
normal and give it even more time before they put
him out there, because they don't want this to keep
coming up throughout the course to the season. Troy Aikman
(19:50):
has said, Hey, people think I retired because of concussions.
Speaker 3 (19:52):
I retired because of back problems.
Speaker 4 (19:54):
And you think of the way that quarterbacks move and
the twisting and the torking.
Speaker 3 (19:58):
They're just giving him extra time. I think he'll be
good to go.
Speaker 2 (20:01):
Are the Browns trying to win this year?
Speaker 4 (20:03):
I think that they're trying to do Dan It's a
twist on the plot of Major League Their fans are
upset that they're moving out of downtown Cleveland, right so
if they are really, really bad, the fans won't be
as upset that they're moving to suburban brook Park when
(20:23):
they build their new stadium. It really is ridiculous to me,
and this is what happens when you prioritize strategizing and
analytics over building.
Speaker 3 (20:31):
A football team.
Speaker 4 (20:32):
You don't draft Shude or Sanders in round five, when
you've taken Dylan Gabriel in round three, you don't obviously
give up three first round picks plus and a two
hundred and thirty million dollars fully guaranteed contract in Shaan Watson.
Speaker 3 (20:45):
It's like every decision.
Speaker 4 (20:46):
Point the Browns have in front of them over the
past ten years, they've gone the wrong way and here's
where they are. So, yeah, this is going to be
It just feels like it's going to be a disaster
for the Browns and I feel bad for Browns fans.
They deserve so much better than what they've gotten. And
it all goes back to ownership. It all starts there,
and what they've gotten under Jimmy Haslam has been unacceptable.
Speaker 2 (21:08):
What does Deshaun Watson do every day?
Speaker 4 (21:11):
Well, he is working his way back dan to full health,
and that is where this messy quarterback situation gets even
worse when he shows up with the piece of paper
that says you're good to go.
Speaker 3 (21:27):
They got a decision to make.
Speaker 4 (21:28):
They either got to put him on the fifty three
man roster with however many other quarterbacks they're going to
carry into the season, or they have to release him
and Dan, if they release him, they take a one
hundred and thirty million dollars cap charge next year for
his contract. If they release him right now, so he
may be on the roster, we may have a fight
(21:48):
under the CBA where the player says I'm healthy and
the team says, no, you're not, and they have a
grievance where the doctors fight it out to prove whether
or not Deshaun Watson's health health and if he wins,
they've either got to put him on the roster or
they have to cut him.
Speaker 3 (22:04):
That's it.
Speaker 4 (22:05):
And they're not going to cut him because they're not
going to take that one hundred and thirty one million
dollar cap charge next year.
Speaker 2 (22:10):
Does Deshaun Watson want to play football again?
Speaker 4 (22:13):
I think he looked Dan, you know, I think where
the worm may have turned for him, because you know,
between the rustiness and the injuries and the off field issues.
I think it really did affect him as a human being.
How could it not all those different things? And look,
I'm not excusing it direct result of his own alleged misbehavior,
But when the owner of the team comes out and says,
(22:35):
in March Man, we really took a swing and a
miss on that one, that's kind of a middle finger
to Deshaun Watson. So now he's got a purpose, he's
got a reason, he's got he's got an apollo creed
for his Rocky bow ball to try to make this
a comeback story. And I'm sure he'd love to stick
it to Jimmy Haslam and put the Browns in the
(22:56):
position where they've got to activate him and put him
back on the roster. I think the guy fully intends
to get healthy and come back and try to be
the guy that he was that made the Browns.
Speaker 3 (23:07):
Give up all that stuff to get him.
Speaker 2 (23:09):
Can Justin Tucker play again, Well he's.
Speaker 3 (23:13):
Gonna have to serve the ten game suspension.
Speaker 4 (23:15):
But you know, Dan, the reality is this, he dipped
last year from a performance standpoint. Now if he can
convince a team that he can show up and kick
like he used to.
Speaker 3 (23:27):
Then you get into the question.
Speaker 4 (23:28):
Of do we want to take and this look, I
hate to be the cynical about this is the way
it works. What's the pr hit. What kind of criticism
are we going to take if we bring in Justin Tucker?
How much better is he going to make us? Are
we better off just getting a guy no one knows
to be our kicker.
Speaker 3 (23:42):
That's the analysis of team's going to have to make.
Speaker 2 (23:45):
Good to talk to you. Thank you again, Mike, I
get in see you. It's Mike Florio. Fox Sports Radio
has the best sports talk lineup in the nation. Catch
all of our shows at Foxsports Radio dot com and
within the iHeartRadio app. Search FSR to listen live.
Speaker 7 (24:01):
Hey, this is Jason McIntyre. Join me every weekday morning
on my podcast, Straight Fire with Jason McIntyre. This isn't
your typical sports pod pushing the same tired narratives down.
Speaker 3 (24:12):
Your throat every day.
Speaker 7 (24:13):
Straight Fire gives you honest opinions on all the biggest
sports headlines, accurate stats to help you win big at
the sportsbook.
Speaker 1 (24:20):
And all the best guests.
Speaker 7 (24:22):
Do yourself a favor and listen to Straight Fire with
Jason McIntyre on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever
you get your podcasts.
Speaker 2 (24:33):
Mike McCarthy, Front office sports senior media reporter and Tuned
In columnists, joining us on the program. Mike, thanks for
joining us. What did ESPN buy from NFL Network?
Speaker 8 (24:46):
I think they've bought themselves an insurance policy, Dan. I
think when you look at the future and you see
streamers like Apple coming in, it's going to be a
lot harder for NFL to get rid of ESPN or
take away their Monday Night package if they're actual equity
partners together. So I think that's one thing. I think
number two, they bought a huge selling point for their
(25:07):
new direct to consumer platform, red Zone, NFL Network, NFL programming,
This is the beachfront property that we all want. So
I think those are the two big things.
Speaker 2 (25:18):
Anybody else consider this move buying NFL network.
Speaker 8 (25:23):
Yeah, they talked to a lot of people, and only ESPN,
you know, came up and stepped up to the table.
And I think there's going to be a lot of
grousing Dan, amongst the other media partners. Is ESPN going
to get Favorite Nation treatment? Are they going to get
a better game schedule. Are they going to get more
Super Bowls? But you know, I think the NFL's answer
(25:44):
to that will be tough. You had your chance, and
just like the NFL TV partners passed on Thursday Night
Football and it ended up on Amazon, they had their
chance and they didn't go for it.
Speaker 2 (25:56):
Does Fox have a gripe about this? Does NBC have
a gripe? Will they? As you said, it feels like
the NFL is going to give preferential treatment to ESPN,
and you know, as a result of this deal.
Speaker 8 (26:10):
I think they will have a gripe. I think there's
going to be grumbling. I think there's gonna be some
you know, working of the referees as it were Dan,
you know, to try to make sure everybody gets favorite
Nation status. But in the end of the NFL doesn't care.
The NFL makes up the rules and they played by
their own rules, and you know, if they don't like it,
they can go pound sand.
Speaker 2 (26:30):
So in three years from now, Stephen A. Smith is
handing out the Lombardi Trophy.
Speaker 8 (26:35):
Well, actually I was hoping you would do it then.
Speaker 2 (26:37):
I'm not going back to the Mothership. But you know,
maybe rich Eisen can because they it would be awesome
if Chris Berman got to hand out a Super Bowl trophy.
Speaker 8 (26:49):
And that was one of my favorite stories recently, was
ESPN extending Boomer through his fiftieth year at the Mothership
and making sure he's much of the super Bowl. You know,
as you know Dan, you know, ESPN has wanted the
Super Bowl since it's founding. They've got a countdown clock
there on Bristol, you know, ticking away the time until
(27:11):
twenty twenty seven. So it's gonna be big for that.
Speaker 2 (27:15):
I remember when I was up there, what was at
the forty fifth anniversary, and I was talking to Jimmy Pataro,
and I said, don't let Chris Berman disappear. Don't let
him disappear the network owes him. Make sure you keep
him on primetime. And you know what he did. He said,
(27:36):
you know, I really appreciate you telling me that. I said,
this is what Chris lives for. This is important to him,
and I truly mean that. You know what he's meant.
He's the most important person in the history of ESPN
because of what he's done for that place and continues
to do it. So if he got a chance to
hand out the Super Bowl trophy. The only problem is
(27:57):
they would have to tell Chris you got to eat
up though you can't be you know, spending a lot
of time. You know, time is money, get the trophy,
do your interviews, and then send it back up to
the booth.
Speaker 8 (28:09):
That's right, that's right. He's got to get it. He's
got to get it together to do it fast. But
I mean, you're right. I mean NFL Prime Time was
so influential back in the day, you know, for the
Internet and all the rest of it. That's how we
got our highlights, you know, that's how we check that
our fantasy football players. And we lived and died by
that show.
Speaker 2 (28:27):
Talking to Mike McCarthy, it's front office sports senior media reporter,
I brought up the conflict of interest with the Mothership
and the NFL. I don't know if it matters. You know,
they own ten percent of ESPN. Now, you know, ESPN
has been a partner with NFL forever. Anyway, I mean,
(28:47):
this is now just becomes official. Is there any thought
to that from ESPN side of this, of the optics
of how this looks?
Speaker 3 (28:56):
You know, I was.
Speaker 8 (28:57):
Asking them about it today and they don't seed as
a problem. I mean, ESPN is already paying two point
seven billion dollars a year for Monday Night football rights,
which is far more than any other media reporter. You
know as a journalist. Does it concern me? Yes, But
I think these issues are come under the heading of
the horses out of the barn. You know, we're not
(29:18):
going back to the days where ESPN is going to
do playmakers or do something that's going to tick off
Paul Tagliabu or Roger Goodell. They know that the NFL
is where it's at and they want to stay on
the good side of the NFL.
Speaker 2 (29:32):
The future of Red Zone is future of Red Zone
is not going to change, thank you. Scott Hansen will
continue to host The Red Zone, they will continue to
produce the show NFL Network. However, here's the real wrinkle
in this, Dan is ESPN gets the rights to the
Red Zone brand, so they will in the future be
(29:54):
able to do future red zones for other league partners. Now,
if I'm an ESPN and I'm going to the NBA
right now and saying i want to do a red
Zone for the NBA, especially with Amazon and NBC breathing
down my neck, this ball, hm, well, they would have
the licensing for red zone.
Speaker 9 (30:15):
You're saying that's right, and they would be able to
create a red zone for the NBA, a red zone
for the NHL, possibly a red zone for college football,
and ESPN would own those new rights going forward.
Speaker 2 (30:30):
Great work, keep it up, Mike. Great to talk to
you again, Thank you for joining us.
Speaker 8 (30:34):
Thank you, Dan.
Speaker 2 (30:35):
That's Michael McCarthy
You are listening to the Dan Patrick Show on Fox
Sports Radio.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
We had a caller who wanted to have a pie
to the face bet with any of the Dan Nets.
He said that Notre Dame is going undefeated and winning
the national championship. Well, all four DNTs held up their hand.
They're going to go against that bet that Notre Dame
will not go undefeated and win the national championship. We
start there with Andy Staples, one of the great college
(00:26):
football reporters in America. He works for on three Sports.
Let's look at Notre Dame schedule. Paully, give me the
schedule here with Notre Dame.
Speaker 3 (00:35):
It's a saucy Miami. They are at for Notre Dame.
Speaker 4 (00:38):
They're at Miami host text A and m host Purdue
at Arkansas to start.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
Okay, do you think Notre Dame can go undefeated?
Speaker 5 (00:48):
And Polly strikes me as a as a blueberry guy,
maybe one of those latticework apple pie guys. I mean,
I really, you guys do need to start thinking about
the pie that you would like to get in the face.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
Wow, I think yeah, okay, this as possible.
Speaker 6 (01:07):
It is possible.
Speaker 5 (01:08):
They can go twelve and zero winning the national title
is a bit harder because you've got to get through
that entire tournament, but hell, it got to the national
title game last year.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
Wait, Andy, are you willing to take a pie to
the face if Notre Dame doesn't go undefeated?
Speaker 5 (01:24):
Yeah, I'll take a pile of the face before we go.
Speaker 3 (01:29):
You let me know when I need to do it.
Speaker 5 (01:31):
Just look, a Northern Illinois game can happen to you,
and they could go to Miami and lose Week one.
But this is one of those seasons that just feels
like we don't know anything, but Notre Dame feels like
one of the surer things, which is interesting because they
are breaking in a new starting quarterback and we don't
really know how that's gonna look, but we do know
(01:51):
they're gonna have one of the best offensive lines in
college football. Jeremiah Love is probably the best back in
college football, and I think the receivers, you're going to
see them a Jane Greathhouse you so toward the end
of the playoff, like, really step up. So I do
think you're gonna see a more dynamic version of a
Dame offense, even though you've got a new quarterback.
Speaker 6 (02:09):
Probably C. J.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
Carr. You point out that six of the eight betting
favorites to win the national Championship are going to break
in new starting quarterbacks. Texas is technically breaking in a
new quarterback, but it's a well known quarterback handicapped. You know,
these teams, who are you know and the new quarterbacks
(02:31):
we should be aware of.
Speaker 5 (02:33):
So the new of the new guys, Arch Manning is
the one probably who has the most experienced so of
those six teams, So that's that's Texas, Ohio State, Georgia,
Notre Dame, Oregon, Alabama.
Speaker 6 (02:46):
Arch has quite a bit of experience.
Speaker 5 (02:47):
Oregon's starting quarterback Dante Moore had some experience as UCLA
started a couple of years ago, but Arch probably has
been the most ready for this. And it's interesting because
if Arch comes in and they're signficantly more dynamic offensively
than they were last year, you're gonna get those retroactive.
Speaker 6 (03:04):
Questions of C.
Speaker 5 (03:05):
Sarkisian why didn't you start Arch over quinn yours earlier?
But I'm fascinated to see what he looks like because
I think people who just see the last name, they're thinking, oh,
this guy is gonna look like Peyton or Eli.
Speaker 3 (03:18):
He is not.
Speaker 6 (03:19):
Arch is a dual threat quarterback.
Speaker 5 (03:21):
His dad, Cooper, was a wide receiver who would have
been a good wide receiver Ole Miss had he not
had a neck injury. So this is a This is
an athlete who actually has a very good arm. And
so Arch's threat to run makes Texas a very different
team to defend than quinn Ewers Texas from last year.
And we'll get a good good look at it week
(03:43):
one against Ohio State because Ohio State's gonna be breaking
in nine.
Speaker 6 (03:46):
New defensive starters.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
The other quarterbacks though Ohio State introd do they know
who their quarterback is?
Speaker 5 (03:53):
It's probably Julian Sayan, who is a guy who originally
signed with Alabama's from California. When Nick Saban retired, Julian
Saying hopping in the transfer portal and wound up at
Ohio State. He was the understudy last year to Will Howard.
So the thought is that it's going to be him.
And really, if you're throwing to Jeremiah Smith and Carnell
(04:14):
Tate and Brandon ns it's probably going to go pretty well.
And Jeremiah Smith is just a freak of nature. He's
the best player in college football this year. I don't
know if he's going to win the Heisman Trophy, but
he is the best player he could enter the If
there was a supplemental draft tomorrow, every team in the
NFL would give up everything it could get him.
Speaker 2 (04:34):
If I gave you the top three teams in the
initial rankings or everybody else to win the national championship,
everybody else.
Speaker 5 (04:44):
Yeah, there's more variability this year. I feel like the
quarterback things a big reason for it. I look at
the coaches poll and I've noticed this. So the coaches
poll came out this week. We had my colleague Brett
mc murphy on who has an AP vote, and he
build his AP pole ballot. I've done some way too early.
Speaker 6 (05:02):
Top twenty five.
Speaker 5 (05:03):
Everybody's top eight feels like it's the same, and everybody says, well,
I think any of these teams can win the.
Speaker 6 (05:09):
National title, and I would agree.
Speaker 5 (05:11):
I like Texas, Ohio State, Penn State, Georgia, Notre Dame, Clemson, Oregon, Alabama,
in whatever order you want. You could make a very
compelling case to me right now that those could be
the national champs. I have a hard time with anybody else,
but I also know we saw Indiana last year. I
don't know that anybody who predicted Notre Dame going as
(05:33):
far as they did last year.
Speaker 6 (05:34):
There's gonna be a couple others that pop up.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
Talking and Andy Staples covers college football for on three sports.
Is there an SMU Arizona State Indiana? Maybe we would
consider overachiever who could be in the national title picture
or the playoffs.
Speaker 5 (05:53):
Well, the Indiana thing's interesting because usually when a team
has a big turnaround, has a huge season, and they're
not typically a successful program, they just sort of go back.
Indiana didn't lose anybody but the quarterback Curtis Rourke, and
then they went out and got Fernando Mendoza from Cal
who's a guy that Georgia wanted, and a bunch of
other you know, big time programs wanted to get as
(06:15):
a transfer. So Indiana could still be just as good
as it was last year. Now, the schedule is probably
going to be harder than it was last year, but
you've also got Illinois that won ten games last year.
Speaker 6 (06:25):
Brought a ton of guys back in the Big twelve.
Speaker 5 (06:28):
Arizona State, you know we predicted them last last year
they won the thing. They've got Sam Levitt back at QB,
so everybody's expecting big things from them. But I say
watch Utah in the Big twelve. They had a terrible
season last year because of quarterback issues. They went out
and got a guy named Devin dan Pierre from New
Mexico who's a more.
Speaker 6 (06:46):
Of a runner than a thrower.
Speaker 5 (06:48):
But when you have an offensive line like Utah's, that's
just fine.
Speaker 2 (06:52):
Give me the coaches that are under more pressure than
anybody else.
Speaker 5 (06:57):
It's a crazy situation in the SEC because you have
Billion Apier at Florida, Hugh Freeze at Auburn, Brent Vinnables
at Oklahoma. All of them should have better teams than
they had last year. All of them probably have rosters
capable of competing for playoff berths. But the Oklahoma and
Florida situations, the schedules are so hard that if things
(07:20):
go wrong, they could wind up six and six and
you could see the whole staff get fired.
Speaker 6 (07:24):
For Auburn, they have the roster.
Speaker 5 (07:27):
They just didn't have the quarterback play last year like
they were bad last year because they had essentially this
groundhog Day thing where they'd have a crippling interception late
in the game, and Hugh Freeze didn't manage his quarterbacks
very well.
Speaker 6 (07:40):
He's throwing them under the bus publicly.
Speaker 5 (07:42):
If they get even average quarterback play, that's a team
that compete for a playoff berth. But if this roster
goes six and six, you're making a change. Probably what
about USC? It's a great question, Dan. When you hear
Lincoln Riley talk, it sounds like he is pointing towards
twenty twenty six. They have this massive recruiting class coming
(08:03):
in twenty twenty six, and I think if you ask
USC fans when Lincoln Riley got hired, if in year four,
they'd be pointing toward the following year. It's not what
they wanted, but that they They don't seem particularly excited
about their chances in the Big Ten this year. I
do think they're very excited about who's on Long Street,
their freshman quarterback, But I don't know that Lincoln Riley's
(08:23):
ready to throw him into the fire yet.
Speaker 6 (08:25):
It sounds like they're gonna still go with Jade Mayava.
Speaker 5 (08:27):
So this is a team that you know it, just
it's not been built up in the trenches the way
it should have been since Lincoln Riley got there. It
seems like in recruiting they are trying to do that now.
But I just don't know that that's it's not ready
for this season yet, and so I think they're probably
looking at a you know, average to above average season
(08:50):
in the Big Ten, which is not what you're paying
ten million bucks a year for.
Speaker 2 (08:53):
Yeah, man, they're patient, far more paid. We're patient, But
it's because of that contract. I'm guessing that's a big reason.
Speaker 5 (09:02):
There's a lot of too expensive to fire coaches right now.
You know that under pressure list could have been a
lot longer. But Luke Fickel at Wisconsin, Mark Stoops at Kentucky,
Lincoln Riley at USC you're not firing them.
Speaker 6 (09:17):
You are not.
Speaker 5 (09:18):
Raising that much money and firing them. It's just not
worth it.
Speaker 2 (09:21):
Great to talk to you as always, Andy, Thank you
for joining us.
Speaker 6 (09:24):
Thank you, Dan appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (09:25):
Andy Staples covers college football for on three Sports.
Speaker 1 (09:30):
Be sure to catch the live edition of The Dan
Patrick Show weekdays at nine am Eastern six am Pacific
on Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio WAPP.
Speaker 2 (09:39):
Springing Mike Florio, Pro Football Talk Live co host his
new book Big Shield comes out August nineteenth. That's about
the intersection of gambling, the mob, and pro football. You
can pre order the ebook for just ninety nine cents
on Amazon. What does this deal mean? Let's start with
the consumer. Why would they care about this merger?
Speaker 4 (10:03):
Well, I don't know that the consumer was at the
front of the mind for.
Speaker 3 (10:07):
Either of the parties involved in this.
Speaker 4 (10:09):
Frankly, the NFL has had essentially a struggling media property
in NFL Network. It's never become what they thought it
was going to be. They created Thursday Night Football as
a way to prop up NFL Network. It debuted in
two thousand and six as a back half of the
season Thursday Night package to give NFL Network something that
(10:30):
would make cable providers want it.
Speaker 3 (10:32):
It still never.
Speaker 4 (10:33):
Really took off, and they've been trying for years to
unload it.
Speaker 2 (10:38):
Dan, I mean like ten.
Speaker 4 (10:39):
Years they've been trying to get rid of this, and
they've tied it different things. NBC was in the conversation
at one point, and now they get ten percent equity
in ESPN for these failing properties. And yeah, I don't
know that the consumer was the main reason for this.
And now the question becomes, how do we make this
(11:00):
seamless for the consumer. You know, for example, ESPN did
a deal as part of this to continue to televise
the draft for the next five years. Well, when you
turn on NFL network for the draft, are you going
to see Rich Eisen Now?
Speaker 3 (11:11):
Are you gonna see Mike Greenberg? Who's it going to be?
Speaker 4 (11:14):
And I think it's important for them to keep things
normal from the perspective of the consumer, because I think
most people are afraid number one, things are going to
change and number two, we're gonna get screwed. I just
think that's the natural reaction to this news that these
two behemoths.
Speaker 3 (11:31):
Have come together.
Speaker 2 (11:33):
One of the first things that came to mind is
what if Fox has a problem with their deal or
the NFL says to Fox, here, take it, take it
or leave it. We'll have some like I don't know
if there's going to be Well, the NFL is in
bed with ESPN, and what's that mean for the other
TV partners?
Speaker 4 (11:54):
We will see and look, you give the league ten
percent equity in your company and maybe the value isn't
there to support it, But you know what's not gonna happen.
You're not gonna lose Monday Night Football. You're not gonna
lose your spot in the Super Bowl rotation. You are
now a permanent partner of the NFL at a time
(12:14):
when all the tech companies are hovering and the TV
deals are up after twenty twenty nine technically twenty thirty three,
but the league has the ability to pull the plug,
and obviously they will. ESPN doesn't have to worry about
being left out in the cold and Dan the other
thing this does, and this really needs to be fleshed
out by the union. Instead of taking money for these properties,
(12:38):
taking equity. That may screw the players because the players
don't share equity with the league.
Speaker 3 (12:43):
The players share money with the league.
Speaker 4 (12:45):
So you're offloading more games to ESPN, and they're not
paying X one hundred million for them.
Speaker 3 (12:52):
They're giving you equity.
Speaker 4 (12:53):
All under the CBA that equity may be exclusive to ownership,
and until so equity turns into money, players don't get
a penny. That's something the new interim executive director of
the Union had better put at the top of his
to do list to figure out, how are we possibly
getting screwed by this.
Speaker 2 (13:11):
You might be the first person, maybe the only person
who pointed this out, But Jerry Jones talking to Micah
Parsons without representation in there is not allowable. But Jerry
wants the conversation to be allowable, and that they had
a deal back in March. So what is the rule
of an owner talking directly to a player about a contract.
Speaker 3 (13:35):
You know, you really couldn't make this up.
Speaker 4 (13:38):
The Jerry Jones and Chris Simms made this point earlier
day on PFT Live. Certain owners will invoke any and
all rules that help them. Well, that's the rule, hey,
the rules of the rules Contracts Contracts CBA says we
can do this. But as to the stuff that gets
in the way of what we're trying to do, forget
about the rules. And it's clear in the CBA, if
there is a verbal agreement that is real between a
(14:00):
player and a team, it must be reduced to writing
as soon as practical, the idea that they did a
handshake deal back in March. And I think you know,
if there was a flow chart, Dan, step one would
be will Micah accept the deal that he supposedly agreed
to in March, which surely is far less than whatever
he wants now? And if he won't, I think what
(14:20):
Jerry's trying to do is get Micah to play for
twenty four million this year and they're kick it all
the next year. But you're right under the CBA, you
can't do this. You can't negotiate directly with the players.
The agent is the exclusive representative certified by the union
to act as the union in the dealings between player
and team, and the NFL hasn't done anything about it.
(14:42):
The union hasn't done anything about it. So hey, if
I'm Jerry Jones and they're not gonna tell me I
can't do it, what the hell I'll keep doing it.
Speaker 2 (14:51):
How's this play out?
Speaker 4 (14:54):
I really do think that Jerry wants Micah to either
take the deal that they had a handshake on in
March or play for twenty four million this year and
kick it to next year. Because the key is this
dam The longer the team can keep the injury risk
on the player, the more the team is protected against
something happening to the player that would keep him from
(15:16):
ever playing again or playing as well as he used to.
Career ending or career limiting. The risk is on the player,
not on us, and for the team that's dealing with
a bunch of different players. The more times you can
keep that risk on the players, the better off you
are over the long haul. And we've seen that they
kicked the can with Dak Prescott. You know, they kicked
the can until somebody says enough. That's why I still
(15:39):
think he should.
Speaker 3 (15:39):
Have held out.
Speaker 4 (15:40):
If he'd have held out, they would eventually have caved,
like they did for Ceedee Lamb last year, like they
did for Ezekiel.
Speaker 3 (15:46):
Elliott in twenty nineteen.
Speaker 4 (15:47):
They're going to try to I think, if he won't
take the deal that he supposedly agreed to in March,
they're going to try to kick this to next year.
Speaker 3 (15:54):
And I know twenty four million sounds like.
Speaker 4 (15:56):
A lot of money, but when the market's forty one
and Mike is should be getting forty five, Yeah, you
don't want to play this year for twenty.
Speaker 2 (16:04):
Four Why doesn't somebody say to Jerry Jones, you know, Jerry,
you can't negotiate a contract with a player.
Speaker 4 (16:11):
And well, because for whatever reason, nobody is willing to
tell Jerry Jones he can't do it, and the union
hasn't filed a grievance, it would be very easy to
do if this new interim executive director wants to make
a splash.
Speaker 3 (16:24):
What he could do, What David White could do, immediately
file ag.
Speaker 4 (16:27):
Grievance against the Cowboys and Jerry Jones for dealing directly
with players when they should be.
Speaker 3 (16:31):
Dealing with the agent.
Speaker 4 (16:31):
You want, you want to try to balance out the
relationship a little bit, stand up and fight for your players.
Speaker 2 (16:36):
Talking to Mike Florio, Pro Football Talk Live, co host
the show that preceeds hours on Peacock. In his next book,
Big Shield, comes out August nineteenth. It's the intersection of gambling,
the mob, and pro football. You can pre order the
e book for just ninety nine cents on Amazon. Out
of nowhere, the NFL comes out with no more smelling salts?
(16:58):
Where's this been?
Speaker 3 (16:59):
Or you know what took so long?
Speaker 4 (17:04):
It's been sixteen years since they had the concussion epiphany.
The first time I ever became aware of smelling salts,
it was in a movie or a TV show where
a boxer gott knocked senseless and they stuck it under
his nose to wake him up. And now they're finally like, oh,
it could mask the symptoms of a concussion. Yeah, of
course he can. That's why they use them, and how
many years have we seen like the images of a
guy on the sidelines, not because he's taken a blow
(17:27):
to the head, but just it kind of gets them going.
Speaker 3 (17:30):
Like it's always been a weird.
Speaker 4 (17:32):
Look for the NFL, And now all of a sudden
they realize probably not a good idea to supply these,
and they haven't banned them. You can bring your own,
I assume, bring your own smelling salts, stick them in
your sock, and if you need a little kick before
the game, so be it. But it's always been a
strange thing to me, the huffing of ammonia at a
time when they're ultrasensitive to concussions, where the smelling salts
(17:55):
are always the thing that they use to wake a
guy up who's taken a blow the head.
Speaker 2 (18:00):
Okay, so they're taking the liability away from the teams.
Now it's on you. If you want to use smelling salts,
you can. We just we're not taking any ownership.
Speaker 3 (18:10):
We're not supplying them.
Speaker 4 (18:11):
Now they'd have to negotiate with the union. See that's
the thing, and this gets back to collective bargaining. The
league never wants to have to give anything up just
because currently the players are allowed to bring their own
smelling salts, they're not banned from using them. So they
have to sit down and give up a little of this,
give up a little of that, Maybe do a handshake
deal with Jerry Jones in the room, and the next
thing you know, the players are banned from using them
at all. But yes, this is a liability thing, Dan,
(18:34):
We can't get sued.
Speaker 3 (18:35):
We can't get in trouble for.
Speaker 4 (18:36):
Supplying these to somebody who has a concussion and they
take the hit of it, and they go back in
and play and they get a second concussion, they have
a serious injury as a result of it.
Speaker 2 (18:47):
If I'm a Rams fan and I'm listening watching concerned
about Matthew Stafford, what would you tell the Rams fan
today about this situation.
Speaker 4 (18:58):
I would say that for now you should not be concerned.
I believe, and I'm told he'll be back on the
field later this week. Now, I don't know where that
means he's going to be fully participating in practice. Would
be working out on the field of a month to
get ready for week one. And Matthew Stafford, I said
this early day. If he wrote an autobiography, the chapter
on all the injuries that he's had in his career
(19:18):
would be the longest chapter in any book that's ever
been written. He's had injuries we know about, He's had
injuries we don't know about.
Speaker 3 (19:25):
He just sucks it up and he keeps going.
Speaker 4 (19:27):
I think they have deliberately given him time to let
the back settle down. Anybody that's ever had a back
problem knows it operates on its own timetable and it
needs a certain period of time to get back to normal,
and they wanted to, I believe, let it get to
normal and give it even more time before they put
him out there, because they don't want this to keep
coming up throughout the course to the season. Troy Aikman
(19:50):
has said, Hey, people think I retired because of concussions.
Speaker 3 (19:52):
I retired because of back problems.
Speaker 4 (19:54):
And you think of the way that quarterbacks move and
the twisting and the torking.
Speaker 3 (19:58):
They're just giving him extra time. I think he'll be
good to go.
Speaker 2 (20:01):
Are the Browns trying to win this year?
Speaker 4 (20:03):
I think that they're trying to do Dan It's a
twist on the plot of Major League Their fans are
upset that they're moving out of downtown Cleveland, right so
if they are really, really bad, the fans won't be
as upset that they're moving to suburban brook Park when
(20:23):
they build their new stadium. It really is ridiculous to me,
and this is what happens when you prioritize strategizing and
analytics over building.
Speaker 3 (20:31):
A football team.
Speaker 4 (20:32):
You don't draft Shude or Sanders in round five, when
you've taken Dylan Gabriel in round three, you don't obviously
give up three first round picks plus and a two
hundred and thirty million dollars fully guaranteed contract in Shaan Watson.
Speaker 3 (20:45):
It's like every decision.
Speaker 4 (20:46):
Point the Browns have in front of them over the
past ten years, they've gone the wrong way and here's
where they are. So, yeah, this is going to be
It just feels like it's going to be a disaster
for the Browns and I feel bad for Browns fans.
They deserve so much better than what they've gotten. And
it all goes back to ownership. It all starts there,
and what they've gotten under Jimmy Haslam has been unacceptable.
Speaker 2 (21:08):
What does Deshaun Watson do every day?
Speaker 4 (21:11):
Well, he is working his way back dan to full health,
and that is where this messy quarterback situation gets even
worse when he shows up with the piece of paper
that says you're good to go.
Speaker 3 (21:27):
They got a decision to make.
Speaker 4 (21:28):
They either got to put him on the fifty three
man roster with however many other quarterbacks they're going to
carry into the season, or they have to release him
and Dan, if they release him, they take a one
hundred and thirty million dollars cap charge next year for
his contract. If they release him right now, so he
may be on the roster, we may have a fight
(21:48):
under the CBA where the player says I'm healthy and
the team says, no, you're not, and they have a
grievance where the doctors fight it out to prove whether
or not Deshaun Watson's health health and if he wins,
they've either got to put him on the roster or
they have to cut him.
Speaker 3 (22:04):
That's it.
Speaker 4 (22:05):
And they're not going to cut him because they're not
going to take that one hundred and thirty one million
dollar cap charge next year.
Speaker 2 (22:10):
Does Deshaun Watson want to play football again?
Speaker 4 (22:13):
I think he looked Dan, you know, I think where
the worm may have turned for him, because you know,
between the rustiness and the injuries and the off field issues.
I think it really did affect him as a human being.
How could it not all those different things? And look,
I'm not excusing it direct result of his own alleged misbehavior,
But when the owner of the team comes out and says,
(22:35):
in March Man, we really took a swing and a
miss on that one, that's kind of a middle finger
to Deshaun Watson. So now he's got a purpose, he's
got a reason, he's got he's got an apollo creed
for his Rocky bow ball to try to make this
a comeback story. And I'm sure he'd love to stick
it to Jimmy Haslam and put the Browns in the
(22:56):
position where they've got to activate him and put him
back on the roster. I think the guy fully intends
to get healthy and come back and try to be
the guy that he was that made the Browns.
Speaker 3 (23:07):
Give up all that stuff to get him.
Speaker 2 (23:09):
Can Justin Tucker play again, Well he's.
Speaker 3 (23:13):
Gonna have to serve the ten game suspension.
Speaker 4 (23:15):
But you know, Dan, the reality is this, he dipped
last year from a performance standpoint. Now if he can
convince a team that he can show up and kick
like he used to.
Speaker 3 (23:27):
Then you get into the question.
Speaker 4 (23:28):
Of do we want to take and this look, I
hate to be the cynical about this is the way
it works. What's the pr hit. What kind of criticism
are we going to take if we bring in Justin Tucker?
How much better is he going to make us? Are
we better off just getting a guy no one knows
to be our kicker.
Speaker 3 (23:42):
That's the analysis of team's going to have to make.
Speaker 2 (23:45):
Good to talk to you. Thank you again, Mike, I
get in see you. It's Mike Florio. Fox Sports Radio
has the best sports talk lineup in the nation. Catch
all of our shows at Foxsports Radio dot com and
within the iHeartRadio app. Search FSR to listen live.
Speaker 7 (24:01):
Hey, this is Jason McIntyre. Join me every weekday morning
on my podcast, Straight Fire with Jason McIntyre. This isn't
your typical sports pod pushing the same tired narratives down.
Speaker 3 (24:12):
Your throat every day.
Speaker 7 (24:13):
Straight Fire gives you honest opinions on all the biggest
sports headlines, accurate stats to help you win big at
the sportsbook.
Speaker 1 (24:20):
And all the best guests.
Speaker 7 (24:22):
Do yourself a favor and listen to Straight Fire with
Jason McIntyre on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever
you get your podcasts.
Speaker 2 (24:33):
Mike McCarthy, Front office sports senior media reporter and Tuned
In columnists, joining us on the program. Mike, thanks for
joining us. What did ESPN buy from NFL Network?
Speaker 8 (24:46):
I think they've bought themselves an insurance policy, Dan. I
think when you look at the future and you see
streamers like Apple coming in, it's going to be a
lot harder for NFL to get rid of ESPN or
take away their Monday Night package if they're actual equity
partners together. So I think that's one thing. I think
number two, they bought a huge selling point for their
(25:07):
new direct to consumer platform, red Zone, NFL Network, NFL programming,
This is the beachfront property that we all want. So
I think those are the two big things.
Speaker 2 (25:18):
Anybody else consider this move buying NFL network.
Speaker 8 (25:23):
Yeah, they talked to a lot of people, and only ESPN,
you know, came up and stepped up to the table.
And I think there's going to be a lot of
grousing Dan, amongst the other media partners. Is ESPN going
to get Favorite Nation treatment? Are they going to get
a better game schedule. Are they going to get more
Super Bowls? But you know, I think the NFL's answer
(25:44):
to that will be tough. You had your chance, and
just like the NFL TV partners passed on Thursday Night
Football and it ended up on Amazon, they had their
chance and they didn't go for it.
Speaker 2 (25:56):
Does Fox have a gripe about this? Does NBC have
a gripe? Will they? As you said, it feels like
the NFL is going to give preferential treatment to ESPN,
and you know, as a result of this deal.
Speaker 8 (26:10):
I think they will have a gripe. I think there's
going to be grumbling. I think there's gonna be some
you know, working of the referees as it were Dan,
you know, to try to make sure everybody gets favorite
Nation status. But in the end of the NFL doesn't care.
The NFL makes up the rules and they played by
their own rules, and you know, if they don't like it,
they can go pound sand.
Speaker 2 (26:30):
So in three years from now, Stephen A. Smith is
handing out the Lombardi Trophy.
Speaker 8 (26:35):
Well, actually I was hoping you would do it then.
Speaker 2 (26:37):
I'm not going back to the Mothership. But you know,
maybe rich Eisen can because they it would be awesome
if Chris Berman got to hand out a Super Bowl trophy.
Speaker 8 (26:49):
And that was one of my favorite stories recently, was
ESPN extending Boomer through his fiftieth year at the Mothership
and making sure he's much of the super Bowl. You know,
as you know Dan, you know, ESPN has wanted the
Super Bowl since it's founding. They've got a countdown clock
there on Bristol, you know, ticking away the time until
(27:11):
twenty twenty seven. So it's gonna be big for that.
Speaker 2 (27:15):
I remember when I was up there, what was at
the forty fifth anniversary, and I was talking to Jimmy Pataro,
and I said, don't let Chris Berman disappear. Don't let
him disappear the network owes him. Make sure you keep
him on primetime. And you know what he did. He said,
(27:36):
you know, I really appreciate you telling me that. I said,
this is what Chris lives for. This is important to him,
and I truly mean that. You know what he's meant.
He's the most important person in the history of ESPN
because of what he's done for that place and continues
to do it. So if he got a chance to
hand out the Super Bowl trophy. The only problem is
(27:57):
they would have to tell Chris you got to eat
up though you can't be you know, spending a lot
of time. You know, time is money, get the trophy,
do your interviews, and then send it back up to
the booth.
Speaker 8 (28:09):
That's right, that's right. He's got to get it. He's
got to get it together to do it fast. But
I mean, you're right. I mean NFL Prime Time was
so influential back in the day, you know, for the
Internet and all the rest of it. That's how we
got our highlights, you know, that's how we check that
our fantasy football players. And we lived and died by
that show.
Speaker 2 (28:27):
Talking to Mike McCarthy, it's front office sports senior media reporter,
I brought up the conflict of interest with the Mothership
and the NFL. I don't know if it matters. You know,
they own ten percent of ESPN. Now, you know, ESPN
has been a partner with NFL forever. Anyway, I mean,
(28:47):
this is now just becomes official. Is there any thought
to that from ESPN side of this, of the optics
of how this looks?
Speaker 3 (28:56):
You know, I was.
Speaker 8 (28:57):
Asking them about it today and they don't seed as
a problem. I mean, ESPN is already paying two point
seven billion dollars a year for Monday Night football rights,
which is far more than any other media reporter. You
know as a journalist. Does it concern me? Yes, But
I think these issues are come under the heading of
the horses out of the barn. You know, we're not
(29:18):
going back to the days where ESPN is going to
do playmakers or do something that's going to tick off
Paul Tagliabu or Roger Goodell. They know that the NFL
is where it's at and they want to stay on
the good side of the NFL.
Speaker 2 (29:32):
The future of Red Zone is future of Red Zone
is not going to change, thank you. Scott Hansen will
continue to host The Red Zone, they will continue to
produce the show NFL Network. However, here's the real wrinkle
in this, Dan is ESPN gets the rights to the
Red Zone brand, so they will in the future be
(29:54):
able to do future red zones for other league partners. Now,
if I'm an ESPN and I'm going to the NBA
right now and saying i want to do a red
Zone for the NBA, especially with Amazon and NBC breathing
down my neck, this ball, hm, well, they would have
the licensing for red zone.
Speaker 9 (30:15):
You're saying that's right, and they would be able to
create a red zone for the NBA, a red zone
for the NHL, possibly a red zone for college football,
and ESPN would own those new rights going forward.
Speaker 2 (30:30):
Great work, keep it up, Mike. Great to talk to
you again, Thank you for joining us.
Speaker 8 (30:34):
Thank you, Dan.
Speaker 2 (30:35):
That's Michael McCarthy
Hosts And Creators
Todd "Fritzy" Fritz
Dan Patrick
Patrick "Seton" O'Connor
Paul Pabst
Marvin Prince
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Special Summer Offer: Exclusively on Apple Podcasts, try our Dateline Premium subscription completely free for one month! With Dateline Premium, you get every episode ad-free plus exclusive bonus content.
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.