SEC Media Days Kick Off, MLB Draft Recap, Longhorns in Spotlight, and LeBron’s Lakers Frustration

Today, the guys will discuss the start of SEC Media Days and Pro Football Focus's 50 College Football players to watch this year. The Major League Baseball Draft began, and who was the #1 pick? Where did the Longhorn players land? LeBron doesn't feel appreciated by the Lakers. SEC Odds for wins, what are the expectations for the Longhorns? The Athletic gives their opinion on the best pick for each team in the NFL for next season, and some Lifetime Longhorn stars are listed. CJ Stroud had a great offseason. The MLB Home Run Derby is tomorrow, and what to expect is that it's Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani's league right now. Plus, "The World's Strongest Take" and a "Hardge Knocks Life!" You can hear it all here on "The Morning Kickoff Show!"

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
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Radio AM thirteen hundred The Zone. Good Morning, Austin, K Town, Flugerville, Htown, Paarland,
l Passout, San Antonio, and Seals Me Texas.

Speaker 3 (00:38):
Or wherever you may be listening.

Speaker 1 (00:40):
This is a Longhorns Monday edition of The Morning Kickoff
right here on Sports Radio AM thirteen hundred The Zone.
Football season is closer and closer. SEC media days start today.

Speaker 3 (00:54):
It just means more. Pro Football Focus has its watch.

Speaker 1 (00:59):
List for twenty twenty five college football and MLB Draft
Home run derby in All Star Game is all here.
I am your host, Mike Harballharts. My co host is
a WWE Hall of Famer and recognize as the world's
strongest man.

Speaker 3 (01:17):
He is dep Mark Henry Good morning Austin, and.

Speaker 1 (01:21):
Of course we got Marcus behind the boards. And if
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(01:43):
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word of the day, or you can just leave us,
I said Jenn. If it's good enough, you might even
hear it on air. SCC, SCC, it just means more. Well,

(02:09):
it starts today. We're getting closer and closer to the
twenty twenty five football season, but it all starts with
Media Days. As we are headed to the ATL Well, Mark,
well you already there, Mark, you already in the atl
But right now it is time to talk about Media

(02:30):
Days as it kicks off this morning with Greg Sank
given the state of the union, and I cannot wait
to get to Atlanta.

Speaker 2 (02:39):
Man, well, I'll tell you what hards. I'm like you said,
I'm already here. I've had the pleasure of talking to
Joe Tessitore and a couple of other high level guys
as that you know we're in the industry with, and
everybody's exciting. Man like Coach Sarka is gonna have a

(02:59):
lot of questions because that's all we talked about yesterday.

Speaker 1 (03:05):
Yeah, well, here's the deal. It starts today first thing
this morning. Everybody's all excited, is already getting ready to go.
Greg Sanki is talking to the media as we speak
right now. He will be followed by LSU obviously Brian
Kelly and LSU has a lot to be broken down,
followed by South Carolina and then Old Miss and Vanderbilt

(03:29):
will close out today. Tomorrow is the Texas Longhorns day
to participate. It will start off tomorrow with Auburn and Georgia,
followed by Tennessee and Texas. And there's a lot to
get into. So when you look at what LSU is
bringing to the table, they're bringing their quarterback, Grant Newsmier,

(03:50):
they're bringing their top wide receiver, Chris Hilton junior, and
they're bringing their linebacker and it's not Harold Perkins's weeks,
which I'm kind of surprised that they're not bringing Perkins
after he's coming back off of his injured knee and
now getting a chance to play. South Carolina is doing

(04:11):
their thing. They're bringing their quarterback, Leonora Sellers. They're bringing
d Q. Smith, a defensive back, and Nick Barrett a
defensive tackle. Ole miss Lane Kiffin is all you need
to know about. Lane Kiffin will be in the house.
He's bringing his quarterback, Austin Simmons. He's bringing Katon Lee

(04:32):
wide receiver in DJ excuse me, TJ.

Speaker 3 (04:36):
Daughtry, their starting linebacker.

Speaker 1 (04:39):
And as for Vanderbilt, they're bringing Diego Pavia, the man,
the myth, the legend, the guy that has found a
way to not use his junior college days as a
time for him to use his eligibility and he will
address the media. So tomorrow for Auburn, well you know

(04:59):
what's going on on there. They're bringing Jackson Arnold, who
was at media days last year but he was the
quarterback for Oklahoma. They're also bringing Keldrick Falk and Connor
Low a defensive lineman and an offensive lineman. The Georgia Bulldogs,
who Kirby Smart is gonna hold court, you know that

(05:21):
for a fact. They're bringing linebacker CJ. Allen, They're bringing
defensive back Dalon Everett, and they're bringing their quarterback, Gunner Stockton.
For Tennessee, well, they're bringing not their quarterback, which is
kind of shocking because you know there would have been
all about Nico, I'm gonna leave you, but Nico, Lefia, Nico.

Speaker 3 (05:43):
Then Lefya.

Speaker 1 (05:44):
And they're bringing Arion Carter linebacker, Miles Keltzman tight end,
and Bryson Eason the defensive tackle, followed by the Texas
Longhorns Anthony Hill Jr. Arch Man and Michael taff You
think there's gonna be some court being held during that time.

Speaker 3 (06:05):
When the Texas Longhorns get there. Yeah, he's gonna have
it all.

Speaker 1 (06:10):
On Wednesday, it'll be Alabama, Mississippi State, Florida, and Oklahoma.
For Alabama, they're not bringing a quarterback either. They're bringing
a defensive lineman, Tim Keenan the third, Dante Lawson linebacker,
and Caden Proctor a offensive lineman for Mississippi State, which

(06:34):
I'm interested to see what Mississippi State is going to do.
They're bringing in Blake Shaping, he was a quarterback at
Baylor back in the day. They're bringing Isaac Smith, and
they're bringing here's the name from the past, Texas Longhorn
fans Brennan Thompson, wide receiver that has been from Texas

(06:58):
to Oklahoma and now he's at Mississippi State.

Speaker 3 (07:03):
So Oklahoma is.

Speaker 1 (07:04):
Bringing John Mader the new quarterback, Robert Springs Jennings or
excuse me, Robert Spears Jennings a defensive back, and r
Mason Thomas, a defensive lineman.

Speaker 3 (07:18):
Missouri is bringing Dalen.

Speaker 1 (07:20):
Carnell, a safety, Connor Tolison a center, and Zion Young
a defensive in and that pretty much covers oh and
Kentucky will be there too. They're bringing their quarterback, Jordan
love It. No, they're defensive back Jordan love It, Alex
Afari Junior, a linebacker, and Josh catoose tight end. Texas

(07:45):
A and M is bringing that's for Thursday. Thursday, Texas
A and M will have their guy, will Lee Junior,
Amajic Reid Adams offensive lineman, and Torreon, York, which I'm
kind of shock they're not bringing Marcel Reid to SEC
media days as he is the starting quarterback for the

(08:08):
Texas A and M fighting Naggies.

Speaker 2 (08:12):
Why would you try to decide whether or not what
a M is doing because they're never gonna do the
right thing.

Speaker 4 (08:19):
That's why those Jaggie jokes.

Speaker 3 (08:25):
Nothing but contentment hearing. I'm hearing, oh many, hey, hey, hey, hey,
hey hey.

Speaker 1 (08:38):
And I forgot to talk about the Florida Gators. They're
bringing Caleb Banks defensive lineman, offensive lineman, Jake Slaughter and
and DJ Lagway is making an appearance.

Speaker 3 (08:50):
That's why it's kind of funny. And Arkansas is bringing.

Speaker 1 (08:53):
Camball, Taylor Green and Xavion Sory Junior. Everybody's bringing their
quarterbacks except for Aliba and Kentuck.

Speaker 3 (09:02):
Like what is going on here in Tennessee.

Speaker 4 (09:06):
They're trying to play the let's keep them guessing game,
but don't.

Speaker 3 (09:11):
I don't.

Speaker 1 (09:11):
I've never understood that. I've never ever understood. I'm make
them prepare for two quarterbacks. I'm gonna see what they
can do. I'm gonna see what they can do.

Speaker 5 (09:23):
What especially because you don't play until later on in
the season. You're not playing playing these teams early in
the conference games. It's just ridiculous when you think about it,
but it is.

Speaker 3 (09:33):
What it is, and I'm just excited about it because
you know as well as I do. Mark, you start.

Speaker 1 (09:38):
Looking at these media days, just like we did last week.
We started looking at what was going on with the
Big Twelve, and you're like, Okay, here we go. Now
we're ready to go. We're getting closer and closer to football.
Teams are gonna start reporting. It's gonna be a fun, fun.

Speaker 3 (09:56):
Time, and I'm just I'm.

Speaker 1 (09:58):
Just ready because we've gone through most of the offseason.
We've we've talked about baseball, we've talked about all these
different things, and we got basketball in the G League
and not G League, but the Summer league's going on.

Speaker 3 (10:11):
So we've had our fun with that.

Speaker 1 (10:13):
But now it's time to get to the brass taxes
of college football and the NFL as well. And with
Arch Manning being the new face of college football, the
guy that everybody's gonna want to talk to, how big
of a scrum do you think it's gonna be for
people trying to get to Arch, to try to get

(10:34):
some questions in.

Speaker 4 (10:36):
I think that this is gonna be one of those
hards that we're gonna talk about.

Speaker 2 (10:40):
For a long time, that the press conference where people
got in a fight over the fact that they wanted.

Speaker 4 (10:47):
To ask a question and they knew it was their
time and I didn't get my time.

Speaker 3 (10:52):
YadA, YadA, ya YadA.

Speaker 4 (10:55):
I think we're gonna get some of that.

Speaker 1 (10:57):
Yeah, it's gonna be It's gonna be interesting because of
the fact as us being the local media when it
comes to this type of situation, we're gonna get our
opportunity to do so at some point because throughout the
year he's gonna be one of those guys that's gonna
be at the.

Speaker 2 (11:13):
Press conference, Davis stand next to me. I'm gonna get
some questions answer.

Speaker 1 (11:19):
Oh lordy, this is gonna be interesting with the big fellow.
We're just getting started on a Longhorn Monday edition of
The Morning Kickoff right here on Sports Radio, Pro Football
Focus release his top fifty players to watch in college football. No, yeah,
there's some Longhorns on there.

Speaker 3 (11:39):
We'll talk about it right here on the Morning Kickoff
on Sports Radio and thirteen hundred The Zone. Welcome back
to the Morning kickoff right here.

Speaker 1 (11:46):
On Sports Radio AM thirteen hundred The Zone, Mike Harball,
Horror's World Strongest Man, w W Hall of Famer de
Mark Henry, and of course we've got our guy in markets,
Marcus holding it down behind the boards. Coming up in
the next segment will have the Hard Knox Life as
I will talk MLB Draft and what the Texas Longhorns
did and what they might be losing in this draft.

(12:10):
Will also be talking a little bit more about college
football right now. But Mark, before we get into this,
I just saw a report that came across and said
that Uno has now been added as a table game
in Las Vegas.

Speaker 2 (12:29):
What Yeah, Hey, listen, I'm gonna tell you right now,
COVID almost got me divorced because it forced me to
play with my wife. She is the worst winner of
all time. And they you know, they put new cards
into it out y'all. Oh yeah, there's a card now

(12:53):
where you have to put if you if you pull
the car.

Speaker 4 (12:57):
Everybody got to throw their cards back into power and
reach out. I took the citizens to it. I took
the cens to the car.

Speaker 2 (13:07):
I'm just saying right now, the next time he's ever
played if I ever decide to play again, which I
kind of vowed not to play with them because you know,
it was such a divide in the family.

Speaker 4 (13:20):
Uh, that car would be missing.

Speaker 1 (13:23):
So the funny thing is Marcus and I were just
talking about this a little while ago, you know, to
talk about Uno.

Speaker 3 (13:29):
What if they try to play spades, like you can't.

Speaker 1 (13:33):
Do that, Like You're not gonna be able to do that.
It's not gonna happen like that. So but Uno is
now a table game in Las Vegas. I'm just gonna
try to figure out how much security is gonna be
there to try to make sure that these foods don't
lose their mind.

Speaker 4 (13:51):
I'll tell you what, baby, baby, and nothing. Nothing. We're
going to Vegas High.

Speaker 3 (14:02):
I can't wait.

Speaker 1 (14:03):
We'll see what happens because I'll be out in Vegas
again at the end of the month for basketball. So
I'm gonna try to find that table and just see
what degenerates are around that table playing.

Speaker 3 (14:14):
Who know, trying to No doubt you're gonna look like Reunion,
no doubt, no doubt.

Speaker 1 (14:22):
Let's get into this because Pro Football Focus has done
a really good job of breaking down the college players
in trying to figure out who is what right like,
who is your top twenty five top fifty players to
pay attention to? UH before we get into the Texas Longhorns.

(14:43):
The number one player on the list by Pro Football
Focus is Jeremiah Smith.

Speaker 3 (14:49):
So let me let me put this out here first.
They use exclusive data.

Speaker 1 (14:53):
By grading, they have identified the most dominantant and valuable
players in the country, not on hype, but proven production
and projection. Whether it's a future first round quarterback or
a breakout edge rusher primed for a monster year. These
are the fifty names that they are gonna go by.

(15:14):
So I just wanted y'all to understand. And Mark can
tell you I haven't always been a fan of Pro
Football Focus, but when they have some decent things out
there to talk about, I'm gonna bring it to light.
So as I said, Jeremiah Smith, from Ohio State, which
Texas will be facing at the very beginning of the year,

(15:35):
is number one on the list. There's no reason for
him not to be. He was an absolute monster. We
saw it firsthand. He's a special, special player. But it's funny, Mark,
because number one and number two are both from Ohio State.
Number two just happens to wear number two. He's free
safety Caleb Downs. He started his career at Alabama, transfer

(16:00):
over to Ohio State, and it's been nothing but spectacular.

Speaker 2 (16:05):
Well, I think he saw the writing on the wall
when Sabman left. He was like, Hey, I'm not gonna
be a part of this. You take your stuff. I'm
take my steps. I'm gonna take my stuff. Tough Ohio.

Speaker 4 (16:18):
Yeah. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (16:19):
And so now he has looked at as the number
two player by Pro Football Focus, coming in at number six.
Leonard Moore Round Rock our guy, Leonard Moore, Notre Dame
defensive back.

Speaker 3 (16:31):
Unbelievable. He played, He put up.

Speaker 1 (16:34):
Numbers just like Johday and Travis Hunter, and he was
a big time performer for them. He was He was
a three star recruit when he came to Notre Dame
and now he's probably gonna be a number one first
round pick coming up when he's eligible next season, not
this season.

Speaker 2 (16:54):
Listen man, doctor Moore. He came on our show and
talked to us and told us how good a young
man and his son was over the player that he
that he is, no doubt and that's the thing that
I love the most about, you know, somebody like him
that he is safe.

Speaker 3 (17:11):
Yeah, yeah, he is.

Speaker 2 (17:13):
You know when you draft him, he's gonna be a
pill in the community. He's gonna be a guy that's
gonna be good for the locker room. He's gonna be
the guy that's gonna gonna kind of put guys to
the fire and say, I'm not gonna talk a lot,
but let's work together. Let's work the same way like leadership,
and that's you know, you need that on everything.

Speaker 3 (17:35):
Yeah, no doubt, no doubt.

Speaker 1 (17:36):
Coming in at number seven, you have kay Klubnick from Clemson,
another guy that fans were kind.

Speaker 3 (17:43):
Of skeptical on.

Speaker 1 (17:44):
We knew how good kay Clubnick was gonna be and
he continued to show it. Kay Klubnick coming in at
number seven. Coming in at number eight, Colin Simmons. Colin
Simmons is all that and a bag of chips. He
is somebody that is going to be an absolute problem.
They compare him to von Miller.

Speaker 4 (18:05):
Why number one, because I'm the one.

Speaker 3 (18:10):
Facts facts Coming in at number fourteen, you argue with it. No,
not at all.

Speaker 1 (18:17):
I'm hey, look, I'm telling you right now, when I
first saw that kid, when he was at Duncanville. I said,
is this dude a freshman for real? Like he just
had that look about him, like I am that guy
and I'm about to show y'all that I am that guy.

Speaker 3 (18:36):
He looked like one of those created players.

Speaker 2 (18:38):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (18:39):
Yeah, he's like somebody you would create on Madden, I
mean on uh all ninety nine across the board. So
excited for him. He comes in at number eight, number fourteen,
or no, excuse me, number twelve. Ryan Williams, Now he's
the He's the wide receiver at Alabama. How was he

(19:02):
at number twelve?

Speaker 4 (19:06):
Like he was everything last year that you he looked
like a creative player.

Speaker 2 (19:14):
Yes on the video, Yes, I mean just just as
a freshman. He was doing stuff that you just don't
see freshmen do.

Speaker 4 (19:21):
Agreed.

Speaker 1 (19:22):
Agreed, And I can say gonna be like this year.
And I can say the same thing about number fourteen.
How is Anthony Hill, junior from the University of Texas
that low?

Speaker 3 (19:33):
At this time?

Speaker 2 (19:36):
This is all speculation, and you know we'll see you
when the season is overwhel and people's uh seasons have
played out. Anthony Hill is gonna be buying for who's
got the most tackles in the SEC and.

Speaker 5 (19:51):
As it comes to Ryan Williams, who's his quarterback, is
probably the reason why he's number twelve.

Speaker 1 (19:56):
Yeah, well we're gonna find all of that out here
pretty soon. But the athletic ability is ridiculous, so I
don't see how that should be able to stop him
from being recognized as a player to definitely watch. But
then you also have to look at where they have
arch Manning arch or excuse me, Michael Taff comes in

(20:17):
at number twenty six. Michael Taff on the back end
going to be a superstar as well. He and Caleb
Downs are the two returning safeties. You look at the
number forty six position number you have Malik Muhammad, who
I believe is going to be a first round pick.

Speaker 3 (20:36):
I stand on that. I just think he's that talented.

Speaker 1 (20:39):
I thought he was that talented coming out of high
school and coming in at.

Speaker 3 (20:42):
Number fifty is arch Manning.

Speaker 1 (20:45):
Arch Manning, although he hadn't had a lot of tape
utsa Louisiana, Monroe and Mississippi State, now he has a
chance to be a special, special type of player.

Speaker 2 (20:59):
Well, I'm looking forward to seeing what Arch is gonna do,
just like everybody else. But I'm tempering my expectations because
hard I just I really feel like cous Sark is
gonna protect him.

Speaker 3 (21:12):
Yeah, well, yeah, I agree with that.

Speaker 4 (21:14):
They're gonna run the.

Speaker 2 (21:15):
Ball, They're gonna they're gonna strike at people at times,
because that's start throws at the ball on first play.
That just you know, he forces you to respect them,
no doubt. But he's not gonna do it. He's not
gonna do it, Air Ray. He's gonna not gonna be
David Klingler or Andre ware back when the in the

(21:37):
in the early nineties, late eighties.

Speaker 4 (21:39):
He's not gonna throw the ball like that with Arch Now,
I would hope not.

Speaker 3 (21:43):
I would hope not.

Speaker 1 (21:45):
But we'll get a chance to talk to three of
those five players as Anthony Hill Junior, Michael Taff and
of course of course quarterback Arch Manning will all be
at SEC media days. Make sure you tune into the
Craig Way Show this afternoon, as Craig is already in
Atlanta and Mark is already in Atlanta. But I'm headed

(22:07):
to Atlanta after the show and we'll be live tomorrow.
Coming up next, we got to talk major League Baseball,
the draft happened, and some of the guys from Texas. Well,
one for sure is gone gone right here on the
morning kickoff on sports Radio and thirteen hundred the Zone.

(22:27):
As we talked about, we're gonna be in Atlanta and
that is where everything is going down when it comes
to Major League Baseball.

Speaker 3 (22:35):
Yes, we will be there for SEC media days and
it has already started.

Speaker 6 (22:39):
It is that time.

Speaker 1 (22:41):
But right now I want to talk major League Baseball
as somebody that was drafted thirty five years ago.

Speaker 3 (22:49):
Dang just sounds oh, Mark, that just sounds real old.
Thirty five years ago, you're selfie.

Speaker 1 (22:56):
There was a lot that was going on totally different time.
I saw a picture of greg'swindelle the other day or
yesterday before the draft, and he was sitting with one
of them long phones, like it was a regular phone,
but you know how you had that cord that you
could walk around your house.

Speaker 3 (23:15):
That's how long the cord was.

Speaker 1 (23:17):
He was sitting on his couch and I was like, man,
I was at the barber shop and then I went
to the pool and they couldn't find me because I
didn't know what time.

Speaker 3 (23:27):
The draft was actually starting. So I was out getting
a haircutting. INN went to go see my girlfriend at
the time at the pool because she was working as
a white guy to get faded. Oh yeah, I had to.

Speaker 1 (23:38):
Get cleaned up because I didn't know what was going
to happen. I didn't know when I was getting a call.
I didn't know if I was going in the first
round or the last round. I just didn't want to
sit around and be waiting. But yesterday some drives were
changed and it started with the number one pick. My
guess who the Washington Nationals that used to be the
Montreal exposed.

Speaker 7 (23:59):
With the first pick of the twenty twenty five MLB Draft,
the Washington Nationals select Eli Willitts, a shortstop from Fort
Cobb Broxton High School in Fort.

Speaker 8 (24:12):
Cobb, Oklahoma, ah This is breaking news. Eli Willitts is
the number one overall pick. He's the youngest number one
overall pick in MLB draft.

Speaker 3 (24:28):
History, seventeen years old.

Speaker 8 (24:31):
Originally says the top player the twenty twenty sixth class reclassified,
and he won six state Class B championships in three
years at Fort cop Roxton High School, three in the fall,
three in the spring. He was committed to Oklahoma as
Sooner days are never going to happen. The number one
overall pick is Eli Willitts.

Speaker 3 (24:50):
Eli Willitts was the number one overall pick.

Speaker 1 (24:53):
The number four pick in the draft went to the
Colorado Rockies and they took Ethan Holiday. He's the shortstop,
third baseman. If that name sounds familiar. His dad is
Matt Holliday and his brother is the shortstop or excuse me,
the second basement in the big leagues right now for

(25:14):
the Baltimore Orioles. They becoming a good old man on
the Manning family. You're right, you're right, and they have
now become that team, that family that has gotten a
lot of love. Tennessee had four guys drafted in the
first round. Texas had some guys that were supposed to

(25:37):
be coming to the University of Texas. We talked about him,
Gavin Fine, third basement out of California. He was drafted
number twelve overall by the Texas Rangers. The number fifteen
or excuse me, the number eighteen pick was case In
Cunningham out of San Antonio. He's another guy that was

(26:00):
committed to the University of Texas. And then of course
our guy Max Blue was drafted by the Colorado Rockies
as well.

Speaker 3 (26:10):
But here's the interesting part about this draft. Mark, before
I'll get right to you.

Speaker 1 (26:16):
Max Ballou was somebody that could have been a first
rounder and he got hurt and so everything kind of
changed for him, and the draft process is a little
bit different. A lot of it has to do with
agreeing to money early and all the things that happened
within that.

Speaker 3 (26:37):
But I want you to listen to this.

Speaker 1 (26:41):
Dan O'Dell, whose son Jack O'Dell played at the University
of Texas. Dan O'Dell used to be in the Colorado's
front office and not only did they get a holiday,
they got a ballue.

Speaker 9 (26:54):
Just to compare a contrastees, guys, real quick.

Speaker 3 (26:56):
Bell U is a power over hit guy.

Speaker 9 (26:58):
I got about Blue alright, but struggling here. It's been
a long night. Blue his power over hit. Cabout is
hit over power. The reason they lasted this long. They're
both very intriguing college hitters. He's a you know, they're
not high in the defensive spectrum.

Speaker 6 (27:14):
Man, I disagree with you so much on Blue here.
I just can't keep my mouth. I saw it play
for three straight years. Do you think he's a plus
right fielder with a plus arm. He's got a field
to hit with power. He tore a ligament in his
in his uh wrist this year, which totally eliminated his
entire year. And this guy is a stud athlete powered
all ballparks, can stay on a good fastball and hit

(27:36):
it the other way. And I mean he doesn't have
great instinction right field, but he can play it. And
he has got a rocket for an arm and he
does have a good arm. All right, So a nice
night for the Colorado Rockies. Well done, Dan O'Dowd.

Speaker 3 (27:46):
See hey, Dent O'Dell was not having the nonsense.

Speaker 4 (27:49):
And the.

Speaker 1 (27:53):
First off, get the name rights, get his name right,
respect young name.

Speaker 4 (28:01):
Yeah, and then he told them, he said, listen, I
can't listen to this. You been missing.

Speaker 1 (28:13):
Dude said, I'm struggling. It's been a long life. He's like,
I don't care what's going on. I'm not talk about
a kid that I've been watching for years. I'm gonna
give you all the smoke when it comes to that. So, yeah, man,
Texas has got some things that they got to try
to figure out because they knew a lot of these
kids were gonna get their name called early in this draft.

(28:36):
And it was interesting to me because there was a
ton a ton of shortstops that were drafted in the
first round. You start looking at the top ten picks,
a lot of them were shortstops coming right out right
at the very beginning, because most of the time in
those situations they will move some kids around and make

(28:58):
them play some other positions. But congratulations to those guys.
These are life changing moments for the families for these players,
and now the work really starts.

Speaker 3 (29:08):
Actually, you got to get signed first.

Speaker 1 (29:10):
But a friend of both of ours, Dmitri Young, his nephew,
was drafted fifty fourth overall, Quinton Young. He too is
a shortstop. He's the nephew of Dmitri and Delman Young.
Both guys played in the big leagues and played a
long time. You know, demeat hook I played against Dmitri

(29:31):
all the way up. Great family, great kid, and this
kid is going to be in the big leagues.

Speaker 3 (29:37):
Before you know it as well.

Speaker 4 (29:38):
Wow, that it's awesome.

Speaker 2 (29:41):
Man. Now, hopefully let's call him tonight you get together,
because I really did love that guy and respect him.

Speaker 4 (29:49):
He was a good man and just a better human being.
Like he just was so much fun. I missed that
we got to hit him up tonight and congrat Yeah,
we definitely do that.

Speaker 1 (30:03):
Kayden Kent, shortstop from Texas A and M. He was
drafted one to three from the New York Yankees. That's
a third round pick. His father, Jeff Kent, All Star,
was in the big leagues for quite some time.

Speaker 3 (30:15):
He was a teammate of Barry Bonds. Hour number one.

Speaker 1 (30:20):
No, we still got another segment. Where are we talking
about Harje got another segment coming up coming up. In
the next segment, we're gonna talk about Lebron James.

Speaker 3 (30:29):
Is it true? Is it true, Lebron you.

Speaker 1 (30:32):
Had your feelings hurt. We'll talk about it right here
on the Morning Kickoff on Sports Radio AM thirteen hundred
The Zone. Welcome back to the Morning Kickoff right here
on Sports Radio AM thirteen hundred The Zone. It is
a Longhorns Monday edition of the Morning Kickoff right here
on Sports Radio AM thirteen hundred The Zone. And we

(30:54):
also want to make sure that we give you a
chance to win a pair of tickets to go see
Alice Cooper and Judas Priest October to twenty fifth at
the Germania Insurance Amphitheater. All you got to do is
get over to Am thirteen hundred the zone on the
always Free iHeartRadio app. Tap that Red Michael PHONK and

(31:16):
leave the keyword of the day, which is Alice. Alice
is your key word of the day to win a
pair of tickets to go see Alice Cooper and Judas
Priest October to twenty fifth at the Germania Insurance AMPI Theater.
Make sure you're listening to the Craigway Show this afternoon
from the atl Yes, Craig is in Atlanta already. I'm

(31:40):
headed there so as Mark. Mark is already in Atlanta,
and you'll be able to hear the show. Craigway is
officially back, folks, and he's going to give you a
chance to win a pair of tickets. Craig Way the
voice of the Texas Longhorns and a Hall of Famer
at that. All right, speaking of Hall of Famer, Mark,
I want to get into this conversation because Lebron James

(32:01):
entering year twenty three, year twenty three, and obviously the
conversation has been about him accepting the what fifty two
million dollar contract, opting in making sure he got his money.
But now reports are starting to come out that Lebron
James is feeling underappreciated when it comes to the fact

(32:25):
that this team is now transferring all of their energy
and effort to one Luca doncis now Lebron.

Speaker 3 (32:35):
We know what he is in history. He is that guy.
He's done amazing things.

Speaker 1 (32:40):
But I just told you he's in year twenty three,
and don't you think it's time for them to start
focusing on somebody else?

Speaker 2 (32:50):
All right?

Speaker 4 (32:51):
Yes, but this is I told you.

Speaker 2 (32:58):
I told you this is just two weeks ago. I said,
all right, Lebron James is feeling some kind of way.
He's actvert and you what you tell me?

Speaker 4 (33:09):
You jump back on me. You was like, Mark, it
doesn't matter.

Speaker 2 (33:12):
That should be way trending towards doing what they need
to do for Luca, and we agreed. But he took
the money. And usually when you take the money, you
have like power over the team. They like, I don't
care how much money we.

Speaker 4 (33:34):
Skimming you. You are not dictating what are we gonna do?
And that's only one thing to do. It's only one
thing to do.

Speaker 3 (33:43):
You're talking about buying them out.

Speaker 4 (33:44):
It's only one thing to do. You have to buy
him out. Fifty two million dollars.

Speaker 1 (33:54):
You don't think you don't think he's gonna take a
shorter not a shorter, but a smaller amount and just say, Okay,
we bought we opted it for the fifty two million,
but my buyo, I'll go for fifty.

Speaker 4 (34:10):
Listen, I don't know if he would do that.

Speaker 2 (34:15):
I think that the best thing to do is, like
I told you last week or two weeks ago, he's
gonna have to break that contract up into three more years,
break that fifty two million up in the three years
and give them a ken Folk deal so they can
go out next season and build towards Luca. We'll bring

(34:38):
on something Lebron can play twenty five minutes a game
for the next three years. I think his body will
hold up if he wants to do that. But in
order for that to happen, and they're gonna have to
make a decision. Are we gonna honor this fifty two

(34:59):
million and do the buyout, do the Dame Lillard philosophy
or outright trading. And there's four teams that have already
asked the Lakers, Yeah, are they really truly interested in

(35:19):
dealing Lebron James and we talked about it, and you
told me, no, man, they're not gonna trade him. They
are entertaining those four people.

Speaker 1 (35:28):
But here, and I don't disagree with that. But the
thing that I disagree with, and this is the principle
of it all. You're gonna blow up your team for
Lebron James. And I'm not trying to disrespect Lebron. Obviously
we know exactly what he is. He's the poly your thing.
I went and watch Superman this past weekend. That dude
has been around the game for a minute, can be

(35:50):
battered than bruised, but still go out and like you said,
give you those minutes, give you those points, and be
that guy.

Speaker 3 (35:57):
But I am in the thought problem of not putting
myself in that situation.

Speaker 4 (36:05):
With Lebron James.

Speaker 3 (36:06):
Every time Lebron James comes in, there's always some carnage
on the back end. Your organization doesn't get better. What
has Miami done after Lebron left? Nothing took a while.
Took a while for that, And I'm not disrespecting Miami.
It's just the fact of the matter that there's so

(36:29):
much that is asked for you to give up to
get Lebron, that your organization is not going to be
the same because you don't have the pigs to build
your organization back. You can't trade everybody.

Speaker 1 (36:43):
There's just so much that is in there that you
start to understand that, hey, this isn't year sixteen, Lebron.

Speaker 3 (36:52):
This is year twenty three, year twenty three.

Speaker 1 (36:56):
And if you're gonna make a play for Lebron, is
it for you to get the sea covered or is
it for you to actually win a championship. I'm gonna
put it like this, I don't want to see Lebron
go somewhere and end up like Michael Jordan. When Michael
Jordan went to the Wizards. It was not a good look, man,

(37:16):
It just wasn't. And I don't want to see Lebron
be a mercenary and go somewhere that he's at the
last stages of his career. Doesn't he want to be
for a contender?

Speaker 3 (37:27):
And what contender is going to give up that much
for a one year deal that you're not guaranteed to win.

Speaker 2 (37:35):
Bing go. That's why I said that they're gonna have
to do a deal like a signing trade, like get
him to stretch his money out over a serious I mean, I.

Speaker 4 (37:46):
Mean, look at it.

Speaker 2 (37:47):
Look at it.

Speaker 4 (37:48):
You take you stretch out fifty two million or fifty three.

Speaker 2 (37:51):
Million over three years. Yeah, still gonna get the NFL
minimum wherever you go. Yeah, the veterans, he's still gonna
get it. So that's going to add you another six
million dollars to whatever. It shouldn't be about the money
at this point. The dude's a billionaire.

Speaker 1 (38:09):
I agree with you, but you know, when he opted in,
we both said that. Dude said, run me my money
because I'm putting the pressure on y'all.

Speaker 3 (38:17):
So we'll sitney. Yeah, we're gonna end up seeing what
happens next.

Speaker 1 (38:21):
But man oh man, this is gonna be an interesting
offseason when it comes to the NBA. NBA trying to
take the headlines from football Ain't happening, Player, Ain't happening?

Speaker 3 (38:32):
When we come back.

Speaker 1 (38:33):
Will be our number two of a Long Horns Monday
edition of the Morning Kickoff. We got a lot to get.

Speaker 3 (38:41):
Into SCC media days have started, and we will talk
all about that.

Speaker 1 (38:47):
We'll also get into the NFL right here on a
Long Horns Monday edition of the Morning Kickoff on Sports
Radio AM thirteen hundred desgone.

Speaker 3 (38:57):
Welcome back to our number two of the Law Longhorns.

Speaker 1 (39:00):
Monday edition of the Morning kickoff right here on Sports
Radio AM thirteen hundred the Zone. In our number one,
we talked about SEC Media Days and they start today
in the atl Marc.

Speaker 3 (39:13):
Is already there.

Speaker 1 (39:14):
I'm headed there today and we will bring you all
the info as Craig Way, who is already there the
voice of the Longhorns, and where you can hear the
Voice of the Longhorns every day Monday through Friday, two
to five pm. We'll be kicking his show off from
Atlanta today. We also talked about PFF's top fifty players

(39:35):
to watch in Texas and Bama have five each MLB draft.
We have Max Belou and of course we talked about
Lebron James. In the next segment, we'll talk about the
Athletic has given an evaluation of the best picks of
each team in the NFL Draft, and our guy, Matthew
Golden has made the list. But right now, I want

(39:58):
to get into the odds of the SEC Mark Circus Sports.
I was at CIRCA when I was in Vegas a
couple a week ago. They have their odds of most
wins per season this season. Coming up the highest odds
are Alabama, Georgia, and Texas each are sitting at nine

(40:22):
and a half wins, LSU is at eight and a half,
O will miss with Lane Kiffin eight and a half,
Tennessee eight and a half, or Auburn and Texas A
and M are both sitting at eight and the Texas
A and M one is pretty interesting to me.

Speaker 3 (40:39):
It will come back to that in a second. But
you look at Oklahoma.

Speaker 1 (40:44):
Oklahoma is a team that has really got to turn
it around, if you think about it, because this was
a team coming into the SEC that we were unsure of.
And obviously, Mark you've got a closer connection than anybody
with this Oklahoma football team because of your son Jacob
being part of that team. But you start to look

(41:05):
at how people are viewing each of these squads. The
expectations of Texas, you see it, you hear it. Georgia
is always in the mix. They're looking at a big
bounce back year from Alabama, a team that you know
you had to wait until you got that Nick Saban

(41:27):
juice off of you, because now Caitlin de Boor is
now putting his print imprint on all of these players.
But you start to look and you say, Okay, what's
next for this football team, what's next for Alabama? What's
next for Georgia. And of course we've talked that we're
the Longhorns. We talked about the Arch manning, we talked

(41:49):
about what's going on with them. I was talking to
some people this weekend and they brought up the fact
that Texas is defense. It's gonna be something that deserves
more credit than what we were talking about with the offense.
Mark this is this defense has some dogs on it
to the point now where you're like, we might need

(42:13):
to rely on this defense a little bit more than
we do the offense until Arch can get some games
under his belt.

Speaker 2 (42:19):
Well, I'm gonna tell you right now hard Like I've
talked to Joe tessitour yesterday and he'll be at Media
Days with us. So he was just saying how it's
a consensus with all the sports writers, all the analysts
that Texas defense could be a historically great defense, like

(42:42):
the Georgia defense, like the Texas defense from two years ago.

Speaker 4 (42:47):
Like so when you have I told you there's no
more him on the bandwagon. It's cool. Everybody is picking Texas.

Speaker 2 (42:57):
Everybody's saying how good and how deep this Texas team is,
and they're not talking about the offense. The only thing
about the offense everybody's talking about is arms. Yep, So
all the rest of the guys on this offensive unit
are not the guys that they're not a phenomenal offensive

(43:22):
unit where everybody's proven, right, like, this offense has to
prove itself.

Speaker 4 (43:29):
But the defense is scaring the hell.

Speaker 1 (43:33):
Out of the sec well and the other part, yeah,
the other part about it is mark. The only reason
I firmly believe that the defense isn't getting the respect
I mean, the offense isn't getting the respect that it
deserves is solely on the fact that the offensive line

(43:54):
is the only question mark that they have. If the
offensive line was last years offensive line and we had
the exact same scenario, the exact same scenario, I think
that this team would be a no doubt number one
ranked team coming into the season.

Speaker 2 (44:13):
Now.

Speaker 1 (44:14):
I know that they are getting to love that we're
looking at right now, but you start to understand who
these guys are and what this opportunity is going to
be for them, and I think that they're looking at it.
If you look at Colin Simmons and what he's become
Anthony Hill. Like, we're going to get into pro football

(44:36):
focus in just a little bit, but there's so many
different things that is happening with this team that you
actually actually talked about it. We talked about it in
the first hour. We talked about how the defense is
the answer. With the top five players that are on there,
you got Colin Simmons, you got Michael Taff, you got

(44:58):
Anthony John, Anthony Hill Jr. In Malik Muhammad. Four of
the five from Texas is defensive.

Speaker 4 (45:06):
Right.

Speaker 2 (45:07):
That's beautiful. My point you preaching to the choir. I'm
on your side. Oh I know, but I'm saying that
we don't have the Jeremiah Smith. We don't have the
guy that everybody goes, oh, you got him. The only
thing that they're talking about is Arch. When we know

(45:27):
that Texas offensive running back room was decimated last year.
They were really saying, you know what, Baxter is going
to be a guy that's going to be a number one,
number two running back.

Speaker 4 (45:41):
But did it happen no that he was gone, he
was injured.

Speaker 2 (45:47):
You know, Texas had a phenomenal wire receivers group last year.

Speaker 4 (45:55):
They're gone.

Speaker 2 (45:56):
Now you have to have the guys that are next
up come in and prove themselves. Tight end gone, he
was outstanding. Now you bring in injuries is a question
mark that he never he didn't play for Texas, right right, Well,
like everything about Texas's offense is what are they gonna do?

(46:19):
How's that gonna play out? I think within the first
two games we're gonna know everything we need to know
about this offense because all the pressure is not on Arch, right.
People think that it is, but it's not. Arch can
play the managing the game quarterback and coach Sark is

(46:40):
a master chess player of football, so it's not like he's.

Speaker 4 (46:45):
Gonna put Arch in Harn's way.

Speaker 2 (46:48):
What did I tell you? We could go running seven
yards of the slide? Marts can do that all day long.
You can play that game. So that there's so much
that they can do offensively that they they haven't done
it yet, so nobody knows. That's why you don't have
the same talk that you have as the defense.

Speaker 5 (47:08):
Well, logically, it just makes more sense early in the
season to just rely on that running game, and it
gives not only the running backs confidence, but it also
would give that young offensive line confidence that by time
you get to the SEC games, you have a strong
running game and you have the safeties played up in

(47:29):
the box against Arch.

Speaker 4 (47:31):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (47:32):
But here's the biggest thing for me. I mean, yeah,
you're right about the SEC game and being ready for that,
because the only thing that matters is if you win
the SEC.

Speaker 1 (47:40):
But that big game, that first game of the year,
that is a statement game. This is a team neither
neither team is the exact same except.

Speaker 3 (47:49):
For the names.

Speaker 5 (47:51):
But that's why it makes so much sense to rely
on that running game. Punch them in the face. Yeah,
they're gonna have to.

Speaker 4 (47:56):
At the end of the day, harge.

Speaker 2 (47:58):
In the last sixteen in college football, Ohio State and
Texas are both going to be in that final sick yep, yeah, and.

Speaker 4 (48:08):
A lost coach sark is Basically.

Speaker 2 (48:13):
He's tempering expectation, saying that, oh, no team is going
to go undefeated.

Speaker 4 (48:18):
No, everybody expect Texas to go undefeated. That's the expectation.
I'm like, expectation. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 3 (48:26):
Sometimes they call that fantasy island too, since I say
not that fantasy because you know, you know, because you know.

Speaker 1 (48:36):
The challenges that are there each each week, our guy
and late great Shawn Adams used to always say, we
don't know who broke up with their girlfriends. We don't
know what's happening on the home front. These are college
students that one day may come out there and they
might need to they might have a moment emotionally. You know,

(48:57):
we never know what's going to happen. But I do
with the fact of relying on the running game early
in the season. But I also believe that the Texas
defense is going to be the calling card for this season,
just because of not only Anthony Hill, not only Michael Taff,
not only Colin Simmons, and not Malik Muhammad.

Speaker 3 (49:20):
That's a lot of not only but you gotta look
at Ethan Burke. You got to look at some of
those other guys that they brought in foul at linebackers,
some guys that have a lot of experience. And the
X factor to me is Jelani McDonald and what is
he going to go and what is he going to
be able to do in this defense? So, yeah, I'm

(49:41):
with you on all of this, but nine.

Speaker 1 (49:44):
And a half wins, obviously you're gonna need to have
quite a few of those to get into this playoff,
but especially.

Speaker 3 (49:51):
With all these different teams that are involved in it now.

Speaker 1 (49:54):
But I think Texas is in the right spot at
the right time, with the right people, and of course
they've been building it the right way. We'll be continue
to talk about it because Texas comes to SEC Media
Days tomorrow along with some other teams and we'll get
into that conversation as well. But coming up next on

(50:16):
a long Horns Monday edition of The Morning Kickoff, the
Athletic gave an evaluation on the best picks for each
team in the NFL Draft, and we've got a couple
of Longhorns that definitely need to be talked about right
here on the Morning Kickoff on Sports Radio and thirteen
hundred The Zone. As we continue these conversations right here

(50:37):
on the Morning Kickoff on Sports Radio AM thirteen hundred The.

Speaker 3 (50:41):
Zone, make sure you get over to.

Speaker 1 (50:43):
Our podcast page or wherever you've missed our podcast because
there we've had some great interviews. This week was going
to be filled with interviews because of the fact that
we're going to be.

Speaker 3 (50:53):
At SEC Media Days bringing it all to you. But
right now we want to go to the NFL. We're
getting closer and closer to game day. We're getting closer
and closer to camps starting. I believe some of them
start this week, and I know for sure a lot
of them start next week. But I wanted to go
back and look at some of these draft picks.

Speaker 1 (51:14):
That have happened in the NFL, and the athletic who's
done a great, great job has talked about the best
value pick for every team this past draft, and obviously,
you know, Matthew Golden is going to be part of
that conversation, but there were some other names that were
there that kind of slid under the radar.

Speaker 3 (51:37):
And I don't think we've talked enough about them.

Speaker 1 (51:40):
Obviously, one of the names that they thought was a
great value pick was Shador Sanders. Shador Sanders the fifth rounder,
number one, forty four. A lot of people, you know,
we talked about it. We thought he was going to
go in the first or second round. He obviously drops
because of off the field stuff with his father and
everything else, allegedly, but you start to look and.

Speaker 3 (52:04):
Say, all right, is he gonna make this team.

Speaker 1 (52:07):
The driving situation hasn't helped him with all the tickets,
but we all know that he's a talented, talented guy.

Speaker 3 (52:16):
So that's one name that was out there.

Speaker 1 (52:19):
But here's another name that I wanted to throw out
there that we did not talk about. Tas Brooks from
Texas Tech. Now, this is a kid from Manor, Texas
that has done some really good things at Texas Tech
University and he is going to be a guy that
can actually help that room in Cincinnati. They still have

(52:43):
samajp ron Flugaville Hendrickson shout out, Chase Brown did a
great job last year, and Zach Moss is a guy
that he slimmed down a little.

Speaker 3 (52:53):
Bit so he looks a lot better.

Speaker 1 (52:55):
But I'll take Taj Brooks, who was drafted in the
sixth round as one of the value picks.

Speaker 2 (53:00):
Mark Wow, I mean that's big. When you see a
pick in the sixth round, seventh round, get that kind
of love. I wanted to know, why do you feel
that way?

Speaker 1 (53:15):
Well, if you've watched his tape and you watched the
way he's gone about his career, his productivity is through
the roof.

Speaker 3 (53:22):
He is one of the leaders in rushing for Texas Tech.

Speaker 1 (53:27):
And go back and think about what Texas Tech had
Byron Hands Part Bam Morris Ricky Williams, the little Ricky Williams.
I mean, they had guys Sammy Moores, they had guys
that were really really good running backs, and he outperformed
all of them. Yes, it's a different day and age,
but you also look at who he is as a back.

(53:47):
He can catch the ball out of the backfield, and
I think he's a guy that could be a pro
for quite some time with the talent that he has.
But you also look at some of the other intangibles.
Leaders is one of them. Look at how long Sama
jp Ron has been in the league. Man, Wow, he's
been in the league for a long time. And I

(54:08):
know he was physical and his productivity at Oklahoma was
top notch. But if you would have told me that
he was going to be in the league this long,
I would have been like, come on, man, the league
changes so much, and we talk about the running back
value and.

Speaker 4 (54:22):
You feel like he is a kind of a second
version of fran.

Speaker 1 (54:30):
Absolutely, and I think he's going to learn a lot
from samaj as well.

Speaker 3 (54:34):
So we'll see what happens there.

Speaker 1 (54:37):
Another pick that you may not have thought about is
Oroande Gaston, the second tight end.

Speaker 3 (54:43):
He was at Syracuse. He was a fifth round pick,
but he played wide receiver at Syracuse.

Speaker 1 (54:51):
Now he's coming in. He obviously he's got the lineage.
His daddy was in the league for a long time.
He is a physical, big bodied tight end now and
let's just say this. He was drafted in the fifth round.
And he got more talk during this mini camp than

(55:12):
anybody else in their mini camp. He got interviewed during
mini camp. He was at the top of Hardball's list
every time he went to the podium. So he is
definitely a name to pay attention to. And of course
his mom is from Colleen, So you know, I how
to throw that in.

Speaker 3 (55:32):
You know what, I sometimes two five, one hundred percent
if mama mama went to K Town, he K Town.

Speaker 1 (55:45):
So we're gonna figure out that right there. But of
course I want to get into what Matthew Golden has
brought to the table. Obviously running that that four to
two eight, being able to I mean at four two
nine in the forty, being able to fall to number twelve.
Thought he was going to the Cowboys. We were hopeful

(56:05):
that he was going to the Cowboys. But he falls
to number twenty three, goes to Green Bay. Obviously, with
Jordan Love at quarterback. He's gonna get a lot of
opportunities he can. He's fast, but he has good hens.
How many times we talk about somebody being fast but
they can't catch the ball. He has definitely made a

(56:25):
name for himself because of the fact that he got
that speed. But you see him go up and make
contested catches. We had no clue that he was that fast, No, none,
And we saw him every day, not at all.

Speaker 2 (56:40):
We talked about how unbelievable separation he gets out of
his routes, out of his route running. We talked about
how tough he is, how the dude don't mind going
into the middle of the field against the linebackers covering
him and bumping him and so forth. We talked about
how he destroyed Texas last year when he played for Houston.

Speaker 4 (57:05):
He had like fifty eight catches and five twitch down
against Texas. That dude, it was. It was a one.
He was like Jerry Rice on Madden and in ninety eight.
He was a monster.

Speaker 2 (57:21):
But nobody ever talked about his wide open speed. Never
when did you hear it?

Speaker 3 (57:27):
We never talked to you, didn't We never talked about it.

Speaker 5 (57:30):
Well, it kind of makes sense why he has that
breakaway speed if he's like for what he's for two
nine for nine forty and it's a it's surprises everyone
because he does all the other things well. But but
that separation, that speed is a part of that separation skills.

Speaker 2 (57:51):
It didn't, it didn't. It never looked like it to me.
It never looked like, oh, he's a exavier worthy quick twitch. Yeah,
that's not what he looks like to me.

Speaker 4 (58:03):
He looks like a very polished acting guy, and he digs.

Speaker 2 (58:07):
In the ground and comes out of his breaks so
well that sometimes there's nobody else.

Speaker 4 (58:13):
In the picture.

Speaker 5 (58:14):
But could that be Could that also be because we
didn't see him on a consistent basis running a deep,
deep route.

Speaker 1 (58:22):
Well, it's because that's not what he was asked to
do when he was at it. When he was at Houston,
that's what he did. He turned kickoffs and he had
good numbers on that, he had good numbers on punt returns.
But we never he was never that chosen one to
run those types of writs for the universe.

Speaker 5 (58:39):
That more of a reflection of what Texas was doing
offensively that they couldn't realize it.

Speaker 1 (58:45):
No, it wasn't that they didn't. Yeah, the Texas system
is not that type of system.

Speaker 3 (58:50):
Yes, now it.

Speaker 1 (58:51):
Will be because Arch can throw the deep ball better
than what Quinn was doing because he Quinn.

Speaker 3 (58:59):
Was missing on the d ball. That's kind of what
I was hitting at what I said.

Speaker 1 (59:02):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, Well, I mean sometimes you got to
just say you ain't got to beat around the bush, don't.

Speaker 4 (59:12):
Because you think you.

Speaker 1 (59:14):
Get Yeah, yeah, you can still get the heat, but
sometimes that's what happens. But yeah, I mean, I just
think it's going to be an interesting look for what
he's going to be able to do in Green Bay
as opposed to what it was here. But I'm telling
you this, he went to the school of Chris Jackson too.
God gives some love to Chris Jackson when he came here. Obviously,

(59:35):
Matthew Golden got better for him to be able to
get drafted number what twenty three in the first round.

Speaker 3 (59:42):
And being able to beat that guy.

Speaker 1 (59:43):
So you look at how you develop, and that's something
that Texas has been able to do. When you go
out and get guys in the transfer portal and they
come in and they show out and they improve their
stole along with helping your team win, that's an outstanding thing.
So that that's good stuff for them. But also the
Cowboys had a big play too. They got Leavell from

(01:00:04):
East Carolina. If he can stay healthy, he's going to
be that breakout performer for them. Ashton Genty is a
no brainer for the texting for the Texans, it was
Jalen Noel, the Iowa state wide receiver which was taken
in the third round. He's a little slight five ten
one ninety four, but he's going to be able to

(01:00:25):
make some plays for c J.

Speaker 3 (01:00:28):
Stroud.

Speaker 1 (01:00:28):
Speaking of CJ Stroud, you don't want to miss the
World's Strongest Take, brought to you by the World's Strongest
Man coming up in the next segment, as he's got
some inside info about somebody with CJ Stroud and how
CJ has kind of changed his view on things. Right
here on the morning kickoff on Sports Radio AM thirteen

(01:00:51):
hundred the Zign you heard that beat drop. That can
only mean one thing. WWE Hall of Famer in the
world Strongest Mande Mark Henry brings you his World's Strongest Take.

Speaker 3 (01:01:05):
Take it away, big fellow.

Speaker 4 (01:01:07):
Arge, what's up in you know what I'm tying what
Thomas it.

Speaker 2 (01:01:11):
It's time for the world's strongest take about the world's
strongest man. My guess back then they didn't know no men.
Now I'm Atlanta, they all on me. Guys, I gotta listen.
I know we're down the street from Houston, and my

(01:01:33):
take today is about CJ.

Speaker 4 (01:01:36):
Stroud right down the street. CJ.

Speaker 2 (01:01:40):
Stroud has said he's tired of being pushed around.

Speaker 4 (01:01:47):
He's tired of.

Speaker 2 (01:01:47):
Going to the ground if he's not gonna be able
to rely on his offensive line.

Speaker 4 (01:01:53):
He said that he had to strengthen his body to
be able to endure.

Speaker 2 (01:02:00):
All of the ontakers of the NFL season, that he
was tired of feeling like he couldn't get Let's say
he thought that his rookie season he was stronger than
he was in the last years.

Speaker 4 (01:02:19):
So I would.

Speaker 2 (01:02:23):
I would really like to give you this right off
the back. Clinton Martin is the strength coach for the Texans.
Clint Martin's claim to fame is not just being a
really of depth at the kinesiology, at the conditioning phases,
but he is a old school builder of strength, powerlifting,

(01:02:48):
explosive training philosophy. Strength coach c J. Stroud said that
he was gonna work with him the entire offseason. This
entire off seasons, CJ. Stroud has gained twelve pounds. I'm
gonna tell you right now, as somebody that understands the

(01:03:09):
strength world and the coaches that are in it, gaining
twelve pounds in one season is damn in present, especially
for a guy that's normally right around two hundred pounds
he walks around. He has to gain weight every season

(01:03:31):
to help his body with the rigors of what the
NFL brings. For him to gain twelve pounds in one year,
it wouldn't just Clint didn't just work on his body.
He worked on his gut health. He worked on how
much food that he was in taking and getting his
body to exub all that protein like he got.

Speaker 4 (01:03:53):
On a They didn't talk about it, but I know
for a fact because.

Speaker 2 (01:03:59):
Of my spertis in my experience sense that he had
to consume a very consistent amount of protein with the
training that he was doing, so he had to get
a nutritionist. There's a lot that CJ. Stroud did this
off season that was not football. We talk about it

(01:04:19):
with Lebron James all the time. To do this spending
a million dollars a year on his body.

Speaker 4 (01:04:26):
So CJ.

Speaker 2 (01:04:27):
Stroud has adopted that. We already considered CJ. Stroud a
top fifteen quarterback in the NFL. They came out with
the new list. We talked about that first list they
came out with and we thought it was garbage, right.
We thought that there were people on that list that
shouldn't have been on that list and the order was off.
Of course, Now unrelated, Baker Bayfield is now number ten

(01:04:51):
on that U Lift, which I really love and think
that he deserved to be on that top ten.

Speaker 3 (01:04:55):
Holla.

Speaker 4 (01:04:56):
But CJ.

Speaker 2 (01:04:58):
Stroud is a guy that is trying to make a
way for himself to be one of those elite top five,
top six quarterbacks. They don't have him bed right now,
but I'm willing. My take is that CJ. Stroud is
gonna have that bounce back year like his rookie year

(01:05:20):
he threw twenty seven or he threw fourteen interceptions. His
first year he threw seven interceptions. He said he wants
to get back to where he can throw the ball
at a more consistent.

Speaker 4 (01:05:34):
Rate, but a lot of that was because he was
on the ground.

Speaker 2 (01:05:38):
He said, he wants to make it tougher for people
to get get him on the ground hard.

Speaker 4 (01:05:44):
We saved well.

Speaker 1 (01:05:46):
As we talked about before, and again, I'm gonna say
it with my chest, I'm a huge, huge fan of
one CJ.

Speaker 3 (01:05:54):
Stroud. I think CJ.

Speaker 1 (01:05:55):
Stroud has the ability one of the best quarterbacks in
the league.

Speaker 3 (01:06:01):
I think he's proven that from time to time.

Speaker 1 (01:06:04):
I know that a lot of people were questioning what
he did last year, and I'm like, there's no way
you could question what he did last year because you
brought up the fact they had to get a whole
new line because of how bad that offensive line was.
I think bringing in Nick Chubb, we talked about it
earlier with the Texas Longhorns. You get a running game

(01:06:26):
to establish its force and its dominance, then you could
stretch the field. You know, Marcus brought up the fact
of bringing people up close. People aren't coming up close
when CJ. Stroud is that quarterback because they already know.
His film tells you he'll stretch the field on you.
His film tell you that this is one of the

(01:06:48):
accurate quarterbacks in the NFL. And you bringing up the
fact of his strength now and what he's been able
to achieve just by working out and changing his diet.
There's there's certain things that you're inevitable to get better,
and well.

Speaker 2 (01:07:06):
Yeah that's that dude lived at the facility.

Speaker 1 (01:07:09):
Well you think about it, though, Mark, and you know
as well as I do. He he had a culture
shocked last year. His body was getting hit. He was like, yo, man,
I'm not built for this, so let me go in
here and put the work in so I can't absorb
something hard.

Speaker 4 (01:07:25):
If he was smart, he would have took his offensive
lines in the gym with me. If I'm doing.

Speaker 3 (01:07:35):
Exactly, tighten up, tighten up. But yeah, so I'm I'm
I'm a.

Speaker 1 (01:07:39):
Big fan of the Texans and what they're trying to do.
As I've talked about numerous times. I think Demiko is
a leader of men, and he got his quarterback to
be a leader of men as well. So now we'll
see what happens next. But I'm all for for what
CJ is doing. I can't wait to see how much

(01:08:01):
they've progressed. And again, if they can keep him upright
and he's not running for his life, I think that
he's expected to have a huge, huge year once again.

Speaker 5 (01:08:11):
And I can see them moving him around out of
the pocket more this year. I think they settle for
him in the pocket, trying to stretch the feel in
the pocket, relying on the office line way too much
more last year, in which this year I can see
them rolling them out, especially with the running backs that
they have now and the thread of the running games.

Speaker 3 (01:08:31):
It's a different monster this year.

Speaker 1 (01:08:33):
Well, it's a totally different monster because they got a
new offensive coordinator too, so everything is kind of changed.

Speaker 4 (01:08:38):
Waiting, Yeah, said Mark.

Speaker 1 (01:08:41):
We ain't crowning them, men, good lord, we ain't trying
to crown them. I'm just saying, you know, another great
take by the.

Speaker 3 (01:08:48):
World's strongest man.

Speaker 1 (01:08:50):
Make sure you get over to our podcast page where
you can find that if you missed any parts of it.

Speaker 3 (01:08:55):
We're gonna close out the show and send you.

Speaker 1 (01:08:57):
To Damn Patrick, but we're also gonna talk MLB. It's
All Star week, baby, and we gotta look at some
of these numbers right here on the Morning Kickoff on
Sports Radio and thirteen hundred the Zone.

Speaker 3 (01:09:12):
What a great way to kick off the.

Speaker 1 (01:09:13):
Week right here on a Longhorns Monday edition of The
Morning Kickoff on Sports Radio and thirteen hundred The Zone
and if you miss any parts of the show, get
over to the podcast page and check out all of
our past interviews. Obviously, we're gonna be at SEC Media Day,
so you're gonna get a lot of conversation about the SEC.

(01:09:35):
Will have different guests throughout the week, so you do
not want to miss any of it. And if you
do you have to miss some of it, you can
always find it on the iHeartRadio app because it's free,
and of course on our podcast page. Mark The MLB
All Star Game is tomorrow. Home Run Derby is tonight.

(01:09:57):
I'll get you the list of participants in that in
just a moment. But there were some amazing first half feats.
If you sit back and you think about it, you
look at your guy, Aaron Judge and what he's been
able to do this season. Thirty yeah, thirty five home

(01:10:18):
runs at the All Star break, thirty five home runs
at the All Star Break and batting three fifty five,
playing a good maybe a gold glove type of right
field as well, taking his walks, doing what he can
at the play, looking a lot more efficient at the play.

(01:10:42):
Show hal Tani doing things that no one has been
able to do. Only player to have sixty RBIs and
ninety one run scored in the first half of the
season while hitting thirty.

Speaker 3 (01:10:58):
Two home runs.

Speaker 1 (01:11:01):
Excuse me, Cayl Rayley, the catcher for the Seattle Mariners
who will be in the home run Derby, is leading
the major leagues with thirty eight home runs in eighty
two RBIs in the first half. Oh yeah, as a
catcher switch hitting catcher at that point ten stolen bases

(01:11:22):
already too. Come on, man, come on now. I mean
you're seeing some big time numbers from a lot of people.
And I knew that you were gonna be excited when
I told you that Aaron Judge was doing what he's doing.

Speaker 4 (01:11:36):
Yeah, man, I mean, I'm gonna tell you right now hard.

Speaker 2 (01:11:41):
When you mentioned my guy, I get excited because I
know that he's gonna be a he's gonna entertain. But
baseball overall is just better when the Yankees are better,
just like just like the Dodgers, And when the Dodgers
are doing well, baseball is better.

Speaker 9 (01:11:59):
And I.

Speaker 4 (01:12:01):
I really do feel like.

Speaker 2 (01:12:02):
Aaron Judge is one of those guys that he's an
error guy. We had the Sammy Sosa era, we had
the Mark McGuire era. We had the Barry Bonds there.
This is the Judge era, so like it's just making
baseball better.

Speaker 1 (01:12:17):
I do agree with you on that that Aaron Judge
and what show Hey O Tani is like Barry Bonds
and Sammy Sosa and Mark McGuire and all those guys
that were there because of what they.

Speaker 3 (01:12:29):
Bring, chick steel, dig the long ball.

Speaker 1 (01:12:32):
We're excited when we get a chance to watch these
guys perform at this level. We're excited when you can
watch and see a guy hit the ball out of
the ballpark. But we also like the flare of it
all because now these guys are bigger, stronger, faster than
they've ever been. The technique in which they work is

(01:12:53):
something that has been pretty exciting. And just like tonight
with the home run derby, you start to look the
people don't care how many home runs these guys hit.
They want to see a bunch of home runs, but
what they want to see is the distance. How far
is this ball going to go? I got the list
of participants, and I'm gonna give you the distance of

(01:13:14):
their farthest.

Speaker 3 (01:13:16):
Home runs, their longest home runs.

Speaker 1 (01:13:18):
Matt Olsen has now replaced Ronald Acunya Junior.

Speaker 3 (01:13:23):
Ronald Cunyr Jr.

Speaker 1 (01:13:24):
Is gonna miss the home run derby, so they added
Matt Golson a I mean Matt Olsen, a Atlanta brave.
He has seventeen home runs on the season and as
farthest home run was four hundred and thirty four feet.
They have Cal Rayley Riley, excuse me, the Seattle Mariners
catcher thirty eight home runs. Now his longest is four

(01:13:47):
hundred and forty feet. James Wood four hundred and fifty
one feet for the Big Man from the Washington Nationals.

Speaker 3 (01:13:58):
Byron Buxton. I'm excited to see.

Speaker 1 (01:14:01):
Four hundred and seventy nine feet on a home run.
O'Neil Cruz, the phenom for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Four hundred
and sixty three feet. Junior Caminaro from the Tampa Bay
Rays four hundred and twenty five feet. Brett Rutger, Brent Rutger,

(01:14:25):
excuse me, four hundred and forty feet from the Oakland
A's or not Oakland anymore. From the athletics, and that's
what they're going by. Jazz Chisholm Junior. Now, this is
a dude that's got a lot of flair five to eleven,
one eighty four. He's got seventeen home runs on the season,
but his furthest home run is four hundred and forty

(01:14:48):
two feet. Now, the question is I'm not gonna even
ask you who you think is gonna win the home
run derby.

Speaker 3 (01:14:55):
That's not even important.

Speaker 1 (01:14:57):
But the question that I do have is the fact
that are you disappointed that show? Hey An Aaron Judge
isn't in this.

Speaker 4 (01:15:06):
I am.

Speaker 2 (01:15:07):
I feel like, you know, it's like having a three
point shooting contest and Steph Curry don't play.

Speaker 3 (01:15:14):
Say it again.

Speaker 4 (01:15:14):
What I'm just saying.

Speaker 2 (01:15:16):
It's like, you know, you you're you're gonna have a
dunk contest and all the guys that can really soar
don't decide to do it.

Speaker 4 (01:15:26):
It's the same thing, you know.

Speaker 2 (01:15:28):
It's just that now this is the baseball equivalent of it.
I think that they should honey, they should honey up
the pot and you know, put more money into it one,
but also make some kind of prestige about you know,
you can't you know, give give a you know, golf

(01:15:49):
has the mulligan add something to baseball. They always talk
about baseball is boring and you want to make it
more fun and stuff. Let let the world know so
that you can do something different. Give a bonus if
you walk, if you if you win the long ball,
the home run derby, you're not allowed to be You're

(01:16:12):
not allowed to be walked.

Speaker 4 (01:16:14):
You have to make sure you have to force somebody
to pitch you across.

Speaker 2 (01:16:20):
I like that.

Speaker 3 (01:16:21):
I like that.

Speaker 4 (01:16:22):
Do something.

Speaker 2 (01:16:23):
If you give something to a player, think about all
the guys. Oh man, they can't walk me. They have
to throw them to me.

Speaker 4 (01:16:32):
I'm going to win it.

Speaker 3 (01:16:33):
If you walk them, they get two bases instead of one.
Y'all crazy, man, That is funny though, that is that
is man.

Speaker 2 (01:16:43):
You gotta give give something. But what you want people
to do it give them, give them something, then all
the best.

Speaker 4 (01:16:50):
Players to do it.

Speaker 2 (01:16:52):
I thought that they should have made it mandatory that
whoever wins the NBA Dunk Contest gets five million dollars.

Speaker 3 (01:16:59):
You tek.

Speaker 4 (01:17:01):
They can afford it.

Speaker 2 (01:17:03):
Yeah, I agree. And when you add money to it,
then them guys go, oh man, five million, Yeah, and
I get to be I get the trophy and the
commercials they come with it. And that man, the league,
they don't really want to put the money in.

Speaker 4 (01:17:21):
Yeah, the All Star Games in order for it to
get done.

Speaker 3 (01:17:25):
I agree with you.

Speaker 1 (01:17:26):
I agree with you on that, and I think too
you start to understand what it's all about, and you say,
all right, this is for the fans, this is why
the fans want to come to this. But it's nothing
like an All Star Game. There's nothing like a home
run derby. And we just happened to be in Atlanta
during that time where we might get a chance to

(01:17:47):
see both of those. Last year, I got a chance
to watch the All Star Game in Arlington during SEC
Media Days, and now we get a chance to be
in Atlanta for the All Star Game.

Speaker 3 (01:17:59):
For SEC Days. I can't wait.

Speaker 1 (01:18:02):
We'll be live from Atlanta to at AL shouty. We'll
be live from Atlanta tomorrow. Craig Way will be live
from Atlanta today And as always, thank y'all for tuning in.
For Mark Henry, for Marcus, I'm harball hard and just
remember this, folks, don't believe everything you see, because even
salt looks like sugar.

Speaker 4 (01:18:21):
Peace,