05-19-25 Hour 1 of Broncos Country Tonight

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome into it. Broncos Country Tonight Short Show edition post
Rockies addition Benjamin Albright here with you got a lot
to get to today. Obviously disappointing weekend here in Denver,
as the Denver Nuggets were ousted in Game seven rather

(00:21):
unceremoniously by the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Colorado Rockies lost
last night to the Arizona Diamondbacks, although we did have
a nice outing the other night from palm Quist that
was certainly fascinating to watch. As they the guy called up,
I thought, did, all right, we'll get a chance to

(00:41):
get into some of that stuff here in just a
just a few The Rockies, as I said, they actually
won and had an explosive output on Saturday night, winning
fourteen twelve at Arizona, then turn around it one nothing
loss to the die in Backs to close out that
series last night. Chase Dollander, now two and five, allowed

(01:07):
one run one earned run in four point two innings
six strikeouts in that span. And Dollander appears to have
a little something. The record doesn't exactly reflect it right now,
but he's a guy that that looks like he might
have a little something. And you know, the kind of hoping.
I think that next year he sort of grows into

(01:29):
that role of potentially being the ace on this staff.
And so one nothing again, one nothing lost. There no
fault of his as he pitched remarkably well in that one,
the worst pitching performance of the stretch against the Diamondbacks
from mon Marquez three innings, seven runs, five of mirned,

(01:53):
only one strikeout. Jake Byrd continues to play pretty well.
He actually got the win in that one. Continues to
pitch well and be the one pitcher I think that
the that the Rockies can can sort of rely on
in relief thus far. And then it was a Friday,
I think it was that they had the uh uh,

(02:14):
the eight nothing lost. Carson Bonk was started at four innings,
five runs, five earned, you know, as as they brought
him up and and of course they couldn't get any
run support for him. But he's somebody that that they
like next year as well, maybe not the ace on
the staff, but somebody they they believe can can play well.
And so whatever innings he gets this year is kind
of gravy. I think in that one that that was

(02:36):
just a poor offensive performance. I mean, eight nothing is
he's not going to get it done. Allowing eight runs.
But they couldn't get anything going with the bats either.
They hit two hits for the game. Its toll Varne Goodman,
and I believe they walked four times if I remember correctly.
Goodman walked once, Beck walk once. Uh, totally. Who's the
other one? Amador? Ideal amador? So four walks? Now, they

(02:58):
couldn't You couldn't get on base, couldn't do anything on Friday.
But you know at offensive explosion on Saturday, and then
the runs evaporated again on Sundays as they lost one nothing.
For those curious, the the Rockies had five home runs
on Saturday. Beck had a two home run performance. Tovar, Goodman,

(03:18):
Farmer Ole got in on the home run action against.
Most of those come against Zach Gallon for the d Backs.
Multi hit games five of six for Tovar, three of
six for Goodman, three of five for Beck, just uh,

(03:41):
you know, a a an all around slug fest, four
r d I s for Kyle Farmer. Tollia even got
in on the action, didn't get a home run, but
did go one of two. Pinch hitting for Martini, got
to score two runs, got the base on a walk.
It was Saturday, you were, you were loving everything, and
then you turn around, you go by Sunday again and

(04:01):
one nothing pitcher's duel after an offensive output on Saturday,
and again, like I said, that one nothing. I mean,
it hurts, you know, but at the same time you're
kind of encouraged by the fact that Dolander came in
there and played well. Ryan Rollinson two point one innings,
only allowed one hit, no walks, and Tyler Kinley got
another inning in there where where he didn't allow you

(04:22):
runs either. So overall, not bad, I think, as as
Rocky's pitching was all right, but they just think again,
the bats couldn't get going. You had after after thirteen
runs the night before, you got three hits, you know,
the next night one by Back, one by Farmer and
again one by by Hunter Goodman. McMahon walk twice. So
he's at least getting on base, but you know, he

(04:45):
just it's just is his struggles with consistency getting on
base and being able to project those things to to
be able to get in there. As far as the uh,
the Denver Nuggets, their season came to an unceremonious close.
Aaron Gordon was supposed to be out the hamstring, but
delected to play anyway, pushing all his chips, and he
had only eight points in twenty four and a half
minutes of playtime. Did get eleven rebounds, though in fact

(05:08):
I believe he tied for the game high in rebounds
with chet Holmgren did turn the ball over four times,
though Porter continued to struggle, couldn't hit a three point
zero for four from Downtown, six points on the game
and only contributed three boards. Jolkic twenty points, nine boards,
seven assists in that one, turned the ball over five times.
Christian Brown continued his hot streak, doing everything he could

(05:29):
to keep it going, nineteen points on seven to fourteen,
shooting two of eight from Downtown, chipped in four boards
three assists as well. Jamal Murray thirteen points, two assists
in that one. The bench largely non factors. Strawthor, who'd
had the big game before, six points over two from Downtown,
three boards, Peyton Watson four points over three from Downtown

(05:52):
four boards, Russell Westbrook came on two of five from
Downtown five boards but four turnovers as well, and then
Zeke Dodgy, Jalen Pickett and Hunter Tyson all came on
and got some some late minutes in that way, late
last nine minutes as the the OKC Thunder bounce. The
Nuggets won twenty five to ninety three on a shellacking

(06:15):
that you know. The Nuggets led after the first quarter
twenty six to twenty one, but in the second quarter
started to go cold. The Thunder ramped up their their
shooting alscored them thirty nine to twenty in the second
quarter and never looked back through outscoring the Nuggets thirty
seven twenty six in the third quarter. At twenty eight
twenty one in the fourth quarter, when the Nuggets had

(06:36):
largely conceded, you know, for the Thunder, it was largely
on shy guild of Alexander twelve nineteen from the floor,
three or four from downtown and Jaylen Williams twenty four
points two of five from downtown. Wiggins came on chipped
in eight points. Caruso had had eleven points and played
some defensive minutes against the Okhlo continued to, you know,

(07:00):
continue to kind of foul a lot and not get called.
And I get it, you know, Nuggets fans want those calls.
They probably deserve some of those calls, but you know,
the league just continues to officiate and shi Gildos, Alexander
and Nakoliogic in two wildly different ways. Jokis just does
not get a lot of those calls, and you see

(07:21):
him trying to resort to the flopping and the whining
and all the stuff that you hate you see everybody
else do, just because he doesn't get those calls that
that everybody else gets. So you know, I think, you know,
end of the day, I think you're hoping that you're
hoping that that it gets better. You're hoping that next

(07:41):
year you get you know, and I on the fact
that one of the greatest big men in the game
maybe ever can't seem to get officiated or foul calls
in the same manner that other big men are sort
of accustomed to. So it'll be, uh, it'll be interesting

(08:06):
to see if any of that happens next year. But
you know, we'll we'll we'll see, we'll see. I want
to get into a couple of different things going on
in the NFL, you know. Uh, Pat Bostic of the

(08:29):
Panthers Insider Show got a chance to talk to Aaron Donald,
a little over a year ago, Aaron Donald elected to retire,
and he will absolutely be a first ballot Hall of
Famer when number comes up. Donald is currently thirty three,
will and we'll be inducted into the Pitt Pittsburgh Panthers
Hall of Fame and was joined on ninety three point
seven The Fan over the weekend for an interview about it.

(08:52):
And while quarterbacks across the league, I'm guaranteeing you certainly
don't miss Aaron Donald terrorizing the backfields. He also isn't
exactly longing to lace up the cleats. Donald told Bostik
as far as playing football, I don't miss it. I
don't even have the passion or excitement to want to
play football. I always love football, but once you lose

(09:12):
the passion, it was time to walk away and quote.
What Donald does miss, however's being in the locker room
with his teammates. He has several business ventures and is
trying to break into acting, although he wouldn't reveal details
of any potential roles. As far as being inducted into
the pitt Hall of Fame, Donald said the school means
the world to him, saying, quote, I worked my ass

(09:32):
off to put myself in the position today to do
things like this now, it truly is special. It's emotional.
I get to share these moments with my family and
my kids. I always set goals for myself to do
so many special things, but just putting the body of
work in and really putting the time in, really working
my behind off, I surprise surpassed anything that I thought
was possible by getting the body of work in that

(09:53):
I did. Donald of course obviously going to be a
first ballot Hall of Famer, and certainly I think the
NFC West doesn't miss him out there terrorizing quarterbacks the
way that he used to. But yeah, it's interesting to
see him say that he just doesn't have a passion
for it, like he just once the passion was gone,
it was time to time to go. And can't argue

(10:13):
with that too too much. If you're not passionate about something,
find something that you are passionate about. And Aaron Donald
trying to get into acting. Now, the Baltimore Ravens paid
Derrick Henry new deal. We've got the breakdown of that
contract here. It's a three year deal which was officially

(10:34):
signed earlier this morning, although you know it leaked out prior.
The terms of the new deal include a signing bonus
of eleven point seven four five million dollars, ninety man
roster bonus of a million fully guaranteed, twenty twenty five
base salary of one point twenty five to five million
fully guaranteed, a twenty twenty six option bonus of nine
point seven million fully guaranteed, twenty twenty six base salary

(10:56):
of one point three million fully guaranteed, a twenty twenty
seven ninety man roster bonus of a million, not guaranteed,
and a twenty twenty seven base salary of eleven million,
also not guaranteed. So essentially it's a two year thirty
million dollar extension and a three year thirty seven million
dollar deal of that amount, twenty five million fully guaranteed,

(11:17):
its signing, and it's probably all the money out of it.
He'll see there's no way in twenty twenty seven they're
going to pay him twelve million dollars one guaranteed money.
They'll either re you know, extend that a different way
and go from there, but there's no way that's that'll
be the contract at that point where he'll be he
turns thirty four on January fourth, twenty twenty seven, still
goes strong beyond his thirtieth birthday, which for a lot

(11:39):
of people is the running back cutoff age. Didn't show
any signs to slow it down last year. The Ravens
were willing to replace the eight million he was due
to make in twenty twenty five with that two year,
twenty five million dollar commitment, and as every penny fully guaranteed,
so obviously his season was good enough for Baltimore to

(12:01):
know to re up that and take on those hits.
North Carolina saying Bill Belichick's good for business via axios
dot com. North Carolina Athletic director Bubba Cunningham recently said
the tar Heels have sold out their allotment of twenty
thousand season tickets. Program failed to do that in twenty
twenty four. He sellout happened despite a twenty five percent

(12:23):
increase in season ticket costs. Cuttingham said the school received
no pushback on the price hike and up tick in
primetime games. The program expects to make significantly more money
in the first year of the Belichick era. These developments
have given Belichick more leverage as it relates to the
power struggle flowing from Belichick's recent pr debacle. As of
June first, he could walk away by paying back a

(12:46):
million dollars of the prorated ten million dollars annual salary
he's already received. Without Belichick, obviously, I think the tar
Heels would have a lotless sizzle. That's the important point
to remember, as the buy out plunges from ten million
to one million just thirteen days from now. It was
never about North Carolina firing Belichick and owing him the balance.
It was never about Belichick jumping back to the NFL,

(13:09):
primarily since there's no opening for him at the moment.
What it really would cost Belichick to pack up his
moth ridden navy gear with holes in it retreat to
Nantucket as of June first, his leverage comes from the
ability to write himself a right to excuse me, the
university a million dollar check and just abandoned ship, which
would leave North Carolina high and dry when it comes

(13:31):
to justifying its enhanced revenue streams. And if you think
someone is strategic and calculating, as Belichick isn't acutely aware
of the power, he's soon about to acquire the broader
push and pull with the university. You probably don't know
that much about him. We'll see. I believe he'll coach
the year out, although I know well it remains to
be seen. This is probably a year to year proposition

(13:52):
for Bill Belichick. New Orleans Saint It's been almost two
weeks since Derek Carr announced his retirement, and the Saints
search for the next quarterback continues to be a topic
of interest in their off season workouts. The team has
moved into the third phase of these workouts and are
doing on field work, which head coach Kellen Moore called
a nice little step for Spencer Rattler, Jake Hayner, Tyler
Shug and Hunter Decker's more caution that it will still

(14:15):
be a lot on the process unless on the results
as we go through this phase because the team won't
be holding full practices in deult training camp, but added
it'll be good to see the team go from the
classroom to the field. Moore was asked about the possibility
of bringing in a more experienced quarterback and said, quote,
We'll give these guys a bunch of opportunities before making
any coals about outside help, saying quote, certainly there's times

(14:39):
if the opportunity presents itself, you feel like it's a
really good fit, you'd love to do it. We feel
like we have some good guys here that can certainly
mentor each other at the same time going through this process.
We'll see how this thing progresses. The roster is a moving,
dynamic thing throughout the off season process. End quote. More
said having offensive coordator Doug nus Meyer, quarterbacks coach Scott Tol's,

(15:00):
and senior offensive assistant Scott Linehan on the staff with
him makes him more comfortable with the relatively inexperienced quarterback room.
But there's ample time for the Saints to switch gears
if they don't think the current quartet can handle the job.
That's going to be a fascinating thing to keep your
eye on as well. Obviously, with Derek Carr retired and
what the Saints really do end up doing there, I

(15:21):
suspect it'd be Spencer Rattler, but they did spend you know,
a fairly decent pick on Tyler Shugdare. We talked about
Dereck Henry's extension. Nick Sirianni got a multi year extension
from the Eagles. Hired in twenty twenty one, after the
firing of Doug Peterson, who won the franchise's first ever
Super Bowl just three years prior. Sirianni delivered a Super

(15:43):
Bowl berth in just his second season in twenty twenty three.
There was a collapse down the stretch, capped by an
embarrassing road blowout loss to the Bucks in the opening
round of the playoffs, prompted speculation as to where whether
Sirianni might be fired for Bill Belichick. Instead, the Eagles
fire both coordinators, retooled claim the spot atop the NFC,

(16:03):
and the twenty twenty four season ended with a blowout
of the Chiefs in the Super Bowl. Stale was Vikings
coach Kevin O'Connell and not Sirianni, who sparks speculation of
a possible trade, even though both were entering the final
seasons of their first contracts. Sirianni probably hasn't gotten much
credit as he probably should have, but he finished tied
for eleventh Coach of the Year voting, but he finished

(16:25):
first where a mattered most, and the Eagles got their
Super Bowl. Sirianni is one of seven head coaches to
win a Super Bowl that are current. The others are Tomlin,
Sean Payton, John Harball, Pete Carroll, Andy Reid, and Sean McVeigh. Uh.
Broncos Country Tonight. Got more NFL news and notes to
get to when we come back. It was in Nebroncos

(16:46):
Country Tonight right here on KOA. It's eight fifty ninety
four ONFM News Talk Sports. Welcome back to it, Broncos
Country Tonight. Benjamin Albright here with you. Short Show Post
Rockies Edition. Gonna be like that most of the week.
We have a live show on Thursday. It'll be myself
and Orlando Franklin actually filling in for Nick Nicks. I

(17:08):
got some other stuff going on, but Orlando Franklin will
be in with me Thursday nights. You guys programming note there.
But the rest of the week it's gonna be short Show,
Post Rockies Edition, So set your calendars appropriately. I appreciate
you guys listening as always and listening on the podcast
the way you guys do Broacos Country Tonight, dot Com,

(17:29):
slash podcast or wherever get your podcast. Always appreciate you
guys listening to the show. Ownership gonna have to vote.
There's some voting this week on a couple of different things.
They've got that stupid playoff rule that I hate, and
we'll get to that in a minute. But they're also

(17:49):
going to be voting on the toach push, which was
something that they had with all due respect to the
pun that I'm about to get pushed off until now early.
If you guys remember, in the fourth quarter of the
NFC Championship game between Philadelphia and Washington, the Commanders and
linebacker Frankieluvu was flagged three consecutive times for encroachment as

(18:13):
he attempted to stop the Eagle's notorious play at the
goal line. Luvu's repeated fowls induced referee Sean Hockeyly to
announce that officials would award a touchdown if the fowls continued.
The linebacker said afterward he was just trying to time
his jump and to take a shot at defending the play.
The owners are expected to discuss potentially banning the play

(18:35):
at the spring meetings in Minnesota this week. So what
would Luv like to see happen? He did an interview
with Good Morning Football this morning and said, my personal opinion,
I think they should ban it, but I know the
argument's going to be about Hey, you guys have to
stop it. Don't get us in short yardage and whatnot.
But it's kind of like a cheap o play. There's

(18:55):
pretty much a scrum and rugby and that's how I
kind of look at it. And we've got to have
a scrum on the other side the scrum as we
have a cadence where we all go at once. It's
not like you hard count and this and that where
you're gonna get us or myself jumping over the pile
thinking you to snap the ball. That's just my personal opinion.
I'm gonna leave it at that. We'll see if owners
elect to ban the play or if it sticks around

(19:16):
for another season after this week. My personal opinion is
I am not for banning the play, but I am
for banning the concept, meaning that I don't believe you
should be able to push or pull offensive players for
a gain. So if we're going to ban anything, that
is what we should ban, and then we'll worry about

(19:37):
the rest, you know, kind of from there. As I
don't think that I'm never for banning a play just
outright right, because what you're doing is you're suggesting, hey,
we can't stop this, so we got eliminate it. That's wrong.
But I don't like the concept of pushing or pulling
a ball carrier outside of their own propulsion in an

(19:57):
effort to, you know, gain yardage. I think it, you know,
you have to much like with you know, guys who
get knocked back and and you know we've got the uh,
you know, the line of game that they get to.
I just I don't for a progress. Sorry, I don't
believe that. I just don't believe that we should be
doing that. And so like for me, if you ban

(20:19):
the concepts that takes care of the play because they
can't do the way they've been doing it, they'd have
to come up with something new. But I so and
I get that some people call that fence sitting. Again,
I don't like the concept of pushing or pulling people
for yardage. But at the same time, if it's legal,
I don't think that you can ban the play. And
so that's really where I come down on it overall,

(20:43):
you know, with this argument, I don't, I just don't.
I just don't think you can ban a play because
somebody is good at it. You conceptually, it either has
to be legal or not. And then you go from
there some some draft news. The Patriots obviously liked Ohio
State running back travy On Henderson enough they draft him
at thirty eight. When they did, they turned down trade

(21:05):
offers from two other teams. The first episode of the
Patriots Forged in Foxborough video series at cameras inside the
draft room and shows the offers the Patriots were getting
while on the clock. At thirty eight. The Bears, who
owned the thirty ninth pick, offered a seventh round pick
for the Patriots to move down one spot, basically swap

(21:26):
them picks. The Patriots, who believe the Bears were going
to take Henderson themselves that they made the trade, decline
the offer. The Bears wound up taking Luther Burton. The
Texans tried to get to the thirty eighth pick, offering
the Patriots a package of three picks, getting fifty eight
and seventy nine in this draft, as well as a
third rounder in twenty twenty six. Patriots again declined on

(21:49):
that both those are solid offers, but the Patriots turned
down and showed how much they liked Henderson see them
having a big role in the offense, They're willing to
turn down the extra picks to ensure they got him.
The Bears, I am told, were trying to move up
to get Trevon Henderson. They wound up settling for Burden,
but they were trying to get Trevion Henderson in there
to sort of be the Jimier Gibbs in that offense

(22:09):
for Ben Johnson there in Chicago. Much was made of
Mike Rabel's past when he was hired as the head
coach of the Patriots in January. He's not looking backward
as he moves toward his first season on the sideline
in New England. Rabel played for the Patriots won Super
Bowls during his time with the team, so it's natural
to see his hiring as an attempt to recapture the

(22:32):
success that eluded the franchise and Bill Belichick's waning years
and during the Gerrodmeo four and thirteen campaign in twenty
twenty four. Rabel does not believe that the path back
to winning should include spending much time trying to figure
out why the team fell so far down the standings.
In a meeting with players, which was shared as part
of the aforementioned team produced video series, Vrabel said that

(22:55):
the team is building our identity this year, and that
process will be centered on doing things right in the present,
rather than even worrying about anything from the past, saying, quote,
somebody asked me or you worried about what went wrong
last year? Why the bleep would I care what happened
last year. I'm worried about what's going to go right
today and tomorrow and the next day. We're not worried
what went wrong. We're focused on what's going to go right.

(23:17):
And I want you to understand that. And to quote,
the Patriots signed a slew of free agents before adding
the likes of tackle Will Campbell, running back Travon Henderson
wide receiver Kyle Williams in the early rounds of the draft,
and those new faces, along with Rabel's new coaching staff,
make it easier to avoid looking back as part of
the setting the stage for a brighter future for the
new England Patriots. Baker Mayfield's contract keeps looking better and

(23:40):
better for Tampa Bucks. Quarterback Baker Mayfield was in the
second year of a three year, one hundred million dollar contract,
is now underpaid relative to other veterans starting quarterbacks, makes
it a very good deal for the Bucks, who are
paying thirty three point three million per year for a
top ten quarterback. This year, may Field's cap number is

(24:00):
a very affordable twenty three point eight seventy five million.
An extension of arrays becomes likely next year. That's when
Mayfield's cap number spikes to nearly fifty million, which is
fueled by a salary at forty million. But however it
plays out, Mayfield continues to play better than most quarterbacks,
and it's amazing in hindsight that he's available to anyone

(24:21):
who wanted to sign him in twenty twenty four. No
one who needed a starting quarterback after twenty twenty three.
The Patriots, Steelers, Titans, Raiders, Commanders, Giants, Vikings, Bears, Falcons,
or even the Broncos seem to give Mayfield serious consideration
as an alternative to other free agents or the incoming
draft class. As the list of quarterback contracts goes, Mayfield's

(24:41):
currently at the bottom of the top twenty. He's the
lowest paid starting quarterback not on a rookie deal other
than Jets' quarterback Justin Fields, and that's if he wins
the starting job and Giants quarterback Russell Wilson again same
caveat applies whether or not he wins the starting job.
To his credit, Mayfield's given no indication that he's unhappy

(25:03):
with his contract anything. He's happy that after crawling to
threedom through five hundred yards of bleep smelling foulness. I
can't even imagine he finally found a long term NFL home.
It's good for Mayfield's good for the Bucks, and you know,
by next year he'll likely get a new deal that
pushes them significantly higher on the list of paid highest
paid NFL quarterbacks, which is as it should. Speaking of

(25:28):
the Jets, Joe Douglas reportedly returning to the Eagles. Douglas
was the VP of player Personnel in Philadelphia from twenty
sixteen until he was hired as the Jets general manager
in twenty nineteen. Douglas tenure with the Jets ended when
he was fired during the twenty twenty four season, and
Jeff McLain of the Philadelphia Inquirer reports that he will
be back with the Eagles. For the report, Douglas will

(25:50):
have a senior scouting role with the raigning Super Bowl champs.
Douglas worked for the Ravens from twenty to twenty fourteen,
had a brief stint with the Bears before moving on
to the Eagles. Helped build the franchise his first Super
Bowl champion, but the Jets were thirty two and sixty
eight during his time in New York. Back with the Eagles,

(26:10):
see if he can reignite his career. Cardinals wide receiver
Marrison Marvin Harrison Junior had a solid rookie season in
twenty twenty four. Quote sixty two passes eight hundred fifty
five yards led the team to the touchdowns. But the
greatest receiver in franchise history expects more from Harrison this year.
Larry Fitzgerald, via Theo Macki of the Arizona Republic, said quote,

(26:32):
I saw a guy who made a lot of plays,
did a really good job when the ball came to him,
made his plays. He's only going to continue to get better,
and I'm excited to see your two. Fitzgerald said he's
available to mentor Harrison, but noted that a player with
a father who's a Hall of Fame wide receiver probably
doesn't need a lot of mentoring, saying quote, if he
ever needs anything, I told him, I'm always available for
him anyway. I can be helpful. Fortunately, as a father

(26:52):
was a heck of a lot better than I was,
so he can tap into him wherever he likes. Whether
Martin Harrison's senior was actually better than Fitzgerald's open to debate,
but what's clear is that Harrison Junior has the talent
to be mentioned alongside either of them, and the Cardinals
hope to see him begin his journey toward getting into
that conversation in twenty twenty five. Interesting report over the weekend,

(27:17):
and I don't want to get too political here, but
we'll get into this story at a time when some
of the most powerful people have made DEI into a
four letter word. The NFL claims it's standing firm and
its commitment to DEI. Recent developments made it fair to
ask whether the NFL is truly committed, whether the NFL
simply tried to thread a needle it seems to be

(27:37):
getting smaller. The latest news came from the league's cancelation
of the twenty twenty five version of the Accelerator program,
which puts minority candidates in front of owners during May meetings.
The NFL issued a statement last week that attempted to
create a nothing to see here vibe, while explaining that
the program was stopped for a year in an effort
to make it better next year. Jarrett Bell of USA

(27:59):
Today a closer look at the league's mixed signals and
on subject where the league tries to say all the
right things, the actions don't exactly mesh. Steelers' owner Art
Rooney told Bell, quote, I realized that people are going
to look at the cancelation and say, these people are
backing off. That's not going to happen. There's nothing I
can really do about that perception except to say we're

(28:20):
not satisfied with where we are, and we recognize that
we still have work to do. So both the perception
and the reality when it comes to the league's hiring
practices for key positions like coach and general manager, been
frankly bad over the years. Not long before former Dolphins
coach Brian Flores put his career on the line by
firing a landmark racial discrimination case against the NFL and

(28:42):
multiple teams, NFL Executive VP of Football Operations Troy Vincent
provided a damnic admission that was highlighted in Flora's civil complaint.
Vincent said, quote, there is a double standard and we've
seen that. You talk about the appetite for what's acceptable.
Let's go back to Coach Dungee was let go in
Tampa after a winning season. Coach Wilkes just a few
years prior as let go after one year. Coach Caldwell

(29:04):
fired after a winning season in Detroit. It's part of
a larger challenge that we have. But when you just
look over time, it's over indexed for men of color.
These men have been fired after a winning season. How
do you explain that there's a double standard. And I
don't think that that is something that we should shy
away from, but that is all part of some of
the things that we need to fix in the system.

(29:25):
We want to hold everyone to white as one, let's say,
get the benefit of the doubt to be able to
build or take bumps and bruises in the process of
getting a franchise turned around, while others are not afforded
that latitude. We've seen that in the history of the
professional level. End quote. Since Flora has filed a suit
in twenty twenty two, the NFL has said that it's

(29:45):
trying to change its ways. The problem as of twenty
twenty five is that a full throated commitment to DEI
can result in rambling, nonsensical all caps social media assaults
and Cowboys owner Jerry Joe has provided some quotes to
Bell regarded the impact of the political assault on the concept, saying, quote,
I don't want to I think it just makes us

(30:07):
all aware, the emphasis the president puts on it just
makes us all aware and thinking about it, which might
be its own rambling, nonsensical comment. I don't know what
there is to think about this. Whether you remain committed
to it or not. You can tiptoe round it or
you can just do it. It doesn't really make much sense

(30:28):
to me. Jones continued with Belle, saying, I know you're saying,
was there a reaction to that and the tying of it?
Regarding the cancelation of the accelerator program quote, I don't believe,
and have seen nothing from talking to anybody that this
is a reaction to that. I think you'd be naive
if you didn't think the Supreme Court decisions have impacted
decisions all over the country. The issue of technically how

(30:50):
and what you're doing. I think that's a lot more
influenced than anything our president is talking about. The overall
direction the Supreme Court took that whole area would be
a bigger impact and quote Jones was referring to the
Supreme Court's ruling from twenty twenty three limiting race conscious
admissions practices for college and universities, which is one of

(31:12):
the most unsurprising outcomes of Supreme Court that been there
for a while. The challenge for the NFL NFL right
now is to create a pr strategy that pushes the
idea that they're trying to increase and promote diversity while
sort of discreetly waging legal battles aimed at minimizing liability.
One of the reasons why the league always tries to

(31:33):
pull any civil action against it from the true independence
of the court system into the arbitration systems that seems
sort of rigged in kangaroo courtish, where the commissioner is
the one who hands out rulings. The NFL's stance on
this right now seems to sort of be say one
thing and that they're going to do another, although we

(31:55):
really don't know at this point as they push that
on into next year in terms of what it is
they want to do. That approach works generally until it doesn't.
They'll get pushed back on that. With the topics of
the executive branch meaning Troy Vincent currently going scorched earth,

(32:17):
the tent poles of the pr effort are kind of
knocked down beyond the decision to abandon the accelerator program
or the guys of making it better next year. The
NFL didn't conduct the twenty twenty five annual Meeting, which
a media briefing for the Diversity Committee, which Rudy chairs.
That reason would seem obvious. Anything the NFL would have

(32:39):
said during the briefing to pet itself on the back
for its efforts would evan could have been used against
it as soon as you say you're scrapping it. So
something to keep your eye on there if you're looking
at those kind of things. Last story, I wanted to
get to former Raiders corner David Arnette. Plenty of players
in the UFL have spent plenty of time I'm in

(33:00):
the NFL. I would like to get back in the league.
A few of them squadered that opportunity, like Damon Arnett did.
Arnett was a Raiders first round pick in twenty twenty
was released in November twenty twenty one when a video
of him making threats while carrying around firearms. Service. Signed
with the Chiefs in January twenty twenty two, but was
released a week later after being arrested for chargers that
included assault with the deadly weapon. Further league legal issues

(33:23):
have cropped up over the last couple of years. Arnett
was out of football until he signed with the UFL's
Houston Roughnecks ahead of the twenty twenty five season. He
has eighteen tackles, a sack, and a fifty one yard
interception term for a touchdown. His plays led some NFL
teams to reach out to the Roughnecks to gather information
about him. Barnett says that the good play as a
result of the growing up that he's done over the
last few years, saying, quote with coaches, I feel like

(33:45):
I've proved a complete turnaround via Aaron Wilson of k PRC.
All the coaches that have been with me right now
feel their words are more valuable because I've said a
lot of things in the past. What I would say
is they see on film that's me being out of
commission for three years. I'm a dog on the field,
but now I'm more of a professional than I ever
was before. I wasn't a professional before. I found professionalism

(34:07):
a calm state of mind. If you like, I'm the
best version of myself that I've ever been. The if
L season is winding down and we'll see if Arnett
finds a spot on a ninety man roster heading into
the summer. If he does, he could be an unlikely
comeback story for the twenty twenty five NFL season. Always
love a good comeback story, and I'm hoping that Damon
Arnette did turn his life around. And I know all

(34:27):
that just just one bad decision after another, and it
wound up costing him in the NFL career. But a
guy who stuck with it, stuck with the you know,
the UFL, worked through his issues and hopefully all that
stuff's behind him remains to be seen. It's Nebroncos Country
tonight right here on KOA. It's a fifty AM ninety
four WHATFM News Talk Sports,