July 15, 2019 • 33 mins
It's the Best of the Odd Couple with Chris Broussard and Rob Parker! Jason McIntyre is in for Rob, and Jason and Chris explain why they think Dallas Cowboys star Ezekiel Elliott is absolutely worth the big contract he's seeking, and why the NFL's push for an 18-game season is hypocritical. Plus, former NBA Slam Dunk champion Desmond Mason swings by to explain why he thinks the Russell Westbrook-James Harden pairing could backfire for the Houston Rockets.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thanks for listening to the Best of the Odd Couple podcast.
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(00:21):
s R. You're listening to the Best of the Odd
Couple with Chris Bruce and Rob Harker. But there was
a report in Pro Football Talk Talk dot com that
could be a bombshell, and that is that Ezekiel Elliott
(00:42):
from my money, the best running back running back, okay,
running the ball in the NFL. We know he wants
a contract extension. So does Dak Prescott Cooper act I
got an extension. I know you won't want to, Bruce.
We all want tensions, Yeah, we all, we all, we
all deserve it contract extensions. But anyway, Zeke is talking
(01:06):
about holding out, or at least privately. The report is
that he's privately talked about holding out, So basically it's
on the table now. There have been a couple of
reports since then they said no decision has been made,
is just something that's on the table. McIntyre, What are
your thoughts on this? I mean, this could be huge
if indeed Ezekiel Elliott goes through with a holdout so
(01:29):
he's on his rookie deal. He's currently the tenth highest
paid running back in the NFL. Obviously because the rookie
deal can't do nothing about that. But I will say this,
Chris Boussard, there is no doubt in my mind, Ezekiel
Elliott matters more to the Cowboys than Dak Prescott does.
I'm sorry. I know Dak wants like thirty million dollars
a year and quarterbacks are always more important, but Ezekiel
(01:51):
Elliott is a special case. Here turns twenty four later
this month. Chris let the league in touches last year,
let the league in rushes yards. Guy is a machine.
I am of the belief Dak Prescott is a good quarterback,
probably in the fifteen to twenty range in the NFL. Right,
Ezekiel Elliott his top three at his position, no questions asked.
(02:12):
Since he came to this team, they have instantly been
a massive contender. Now. I know people are gonna say,
Jason Pump the Brakes running backs don't matter. Look at
Melvin Gordon. He wants he's talking hold out. Melvin Gordon's
asking for the world. The Chargers without Melvin Gordon last
year went four and ozer and average twenty seven points
a game. So how much do running backs matter? But
(02:35):
Zeke is different, Chris. You know that he is such
a threat out of the backfield. He had ninety five
targets last year seventy seven receptions. He is so instrumental
as a three down back. You could argue he's the
best blocking running back in the NFL. I think that
Cowboys have to pay Ezekiel Eli. Yeah, I'm with you,
(02:55):
And look for those who are wondering. Ezekiel's going into
his fourth year, so he's not It's not urgent, like
he's got two years left on his rookie deal. But
his thought is looked. I led the league in rushes,
not just rushing rushing yardage, but rushes two of the
last three years. He wants to get that money locked
(03:18):
up before he gets broken down. And he may get
broken down. His running style, Yeah, he can be elusive
at times, but he prefers to just run you over.
And I mean, how long is he gonna last? I look,
I see it from both sides. I see it. If
I'm an owner of an NFL team, I understand running
(03:38):
back is not some It's not that important of a position.
I hate to say it. These guys aren't irreplaceable. Okay,
Melvin Gordon, there's a number I'd be willing to give him,
but I am not breaking the bank for him. And
I'm sorry, Melvin Gordon, You're not getting tied Gurley money.
Look at that, Girly might be damn goods for the
(04:00):
rest of this contract. David Johnson, that was a mistake.
He played one game after signing that contract, you know,
or that one season and then last year average fewer
than four yards of carry. You don't forget DeVonta Freeman
of the Falcons got paid. He was one of the
highest paid running backs in the NFL, currently fourth with
the Falcons. He basically got hurt in the first game
(04:22):
last year and was irrelevant. That's the problem. Chris was
paying the running backs. Now, I will say, well, not
only that Jay Mack, though, look at the top ten
in rushing in fifth last year, Chris Carson Seattle, a
seventh round draft pick. Nice was Philip Lindsay, who averaged
five and a half yards of carry. He's undrafted, drafted rookie.
(04:42):
I mean, James Connor came in and produced, and I
don't think he's better than let Yon Bell, but his
numbers were better. Like I can get Kareem Hunt, Alvin Kamara.
These guys were third round picks. I can get a
productive running back late in the draft and he may
not even be drafted. And the other thing with Zeke
(05:04):
is he's six foot two thirty and he's a rocked
up two thirty. Chris, you said he likes contact. I
mean he initiates it and has basically been injury free
so throughout his career so far. He did have the
suspension obviously, But I will say this about Melvin Gordon.
Fifteen pounds lighter, and he's had a lot of little
knicks and injuries there, and I do think he's more replaceable,
(05:28):
not as good as his receiving running back Bustin Eckler
was as productive, if not more productive. I know he's
gotten more limited, you know, usage, but he's average basically
five and a half yards a carry. Yeah, Chris, and
Gordon averaged five over five yards last year, but he's
only averaging four exactly for his career. When you think
(05:48):
think about it, Like the listeners out there, they're at
their job right and you know you have your responsibilities.
But what about the guy Chris who can do multiple things.
He can help you on the tech side, he can
help you on them a little marketing, at a little writing.
Ezekiel Elliott is that guy. He's gonna block. He's gonna
be a three down back. He's gonna block, receive and carry.
(06:10):
Melvin Gordon is not a three down back. And listen,
I do believe right now the running backs out there
who can be three down backs, those are the guys
that you pay, and there aren't a lot of them.
I think sae Quon Barkley he's gonna be one of
those guys that you pay, right, great blocker, explosive out
of the backfield, and of course a great rusher. And
Todd Gurley was the other and now we hear about
(06:31):
his arthritic knee. Other than those three, Chris, I'm sorry,
like I like Alvin Kamara a lot. Christian McCaffrey was
in my neighborhood the other day at a football camp,
and everybody spoke glowingly about him. He's a great human being,
very talented. Guy, Chris, I don't know if he's a
between the tackles guy. I don't think he's a twenty
five Carrie Bell cow He's not the way definite Zeke is.
(06:52):
So these running backs, what do they say, Mama, don't
let your kids grow up to be running backs? Well,
they say that now. I come from the day when
running back was the glamour position in the NFL, right there,
along with quarterback. But it's not the case anymore. I'm
with you, though. You you know this is odd because
usually you and I disagree. Well, it feels nice. We
(07:15):
will get to some angst. There will be some some anger,
and by the way, we will go at it later
in the show, but for now we do agree. Look,
Ezekiel Elliott, I would pay. He is that rare running back.
I would pay because you're right. The Dallas Cowboys are
not the same without him. Dak Prescott is not the
(07:38):
same without him. Omari Cooper won't be the same without him.
This is a team that should enter next season thinking
of winning a Super Bowl. If there's a problem with
Zach or Zeke, then you're not winning the Super Bowl.
You can you can forget those hopes, and if you
let him sit out too long, you might not even
make the playoffs. So he's a guy you gotta pay.
(07:59):
And I'm gonna say this too. I know some people
are like Well's, he doesn't have leverage because of the
off the field stuff. I don't like the off the
field stuff. People know what I'm about, They know what
I stand for. I don't like him pulling on the
girl's blouse. I don't like him, you know, looks like
he was buzzing or drunk or whatever it was in
Vegas recently. Okay, well, I don't like the mary being
(08:19):
seen at the marijuana dispensary. However, the one really serious
in today's society, the one really serious infraction for which
he was suspended for six games that took leaves the
domestic violence that took place in college before he played
a game in the NFL, and so he has not
(08:41):
had something like that since he's joined the Cowways. This
other stuff is frat boy, you know, hanging out, partying out.
You like him to tone it down, but that's not
the type of stuff that's necessarily gonna keep me from
signing a game changer like him. I think it's fair
to question some of the decision making Zeke is doing
(09:02):
off the field. And again, I'm not coming down hard
on the guy. Again, he's a young twenty four year
old Chris. I was a young twenty four year old
playboy in New York City trying to you know, trying
to be cool. Well, that's on a newspaper salary. I
was broke and I was running up debt when I
was twenty four years old, but I had a good time. Listen,
I can understand twenty four year old guys want to
(09:22):
party and have fun. But if I'm the cowboys, you
know how We've heard stories about teams where they have
a superstar who makes questionable decisions. He has like a handler,
someone who's always with him to avoid confrontation and bad decisions.
I'm not gonna a Jerry Jones. You're a billionaire. Why
don't you get Zeke a handler. I'm not saying somebody
to hold his hand. Well, what's just somebody to hang huards.
(09:45):
But he's the thing, Chris, you know, the mentality is, man,
I don't need no bodyguard. I'm one of the toughest
running back to the NFL. The toughest sport in this country.
I don't need no bodyguard. But he's making bad he
needs to understand. Yeah, it's not even about you not
being able to protect yourself. Yeah, he is a guy
that's recognized. He's one of the rare NFL guys. It's recognizable.
(10:06):
You know. You don't only know, oh, that guy's big.
He looks like he plays football, but you know Ezekiel Elliott,
the hair, the beard, you know what he looks like.
And so he is going to have people maybe test him,
people try to get him in trouble. He's a target.
So he needs a bodyguard and bodyguards for as you said,
to help him make better decisions, but to also keep
(10:29):
people away from him. I agree with you. And let's
not act like I mean the Cowboys glory days in
the early nineties, I mean Michael Irvin, Primetime, Dion Sanders.
It was a lot of mess going on. So let's
not act like these guys are expected necessarily to be
choir boys. I'd love to see him in the choir
the hotel room with mounds of powder, according to some
(10:53):
books and some reports back then. Yeah, but again, no
social media back in the nineties, right, with Irvin and
those characters. Yeah, listen, note, as you said, Zeke is
basically a target anywhere he goes. Right now, you can't
act like you want to act at twenty four when
you are on the Dallas Cowboys, who you know undisputed.
Every show at FS one, every radio show nationally is
(11:15):
going to talk about the Cowboys practically every day. Be
sure to catch live editions of The Odd Couple with
Chris Broussard and Rob Parker week days at seven pm Eastern,
four pm Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and the iHeart
Radio app. You may remember him flying above the rim
and throwing it down with grace and beauty and power.
(11:35):
He wanted to slam dunk contests during his day. Desmond Mason, Desmond,
what's happening man? How you doing? Man? I have everything going.
We are great man. It's great to have you on.
We thank you for joining the I Couple, and let's
get right into it. Look, you played with Russell Westbrook
and Kevin Durant in Westbrooks rookie year. What were your
(11:57):
thoughts when you saw the trade of him from Oklahoma
City to Houston. Man, Obviously I knew that Sam had
to do something. Russell's kind of came out and had
leaked out. I guess that he was a little vocal
about wanting to find a way to move around. Not
happy with the situation that has happened over the last
(12:17):
I would say four years of actually since Sam, since
Sam Prescy fired Scott Brooks and then also Kevin Durant
going to go to the State and then Paul George
Leeves as well, three straight years of first round exit.
He was unhappy. And so when I heard about it, initially,
I said, you know myself, you know what, Russell is
one of those guys that he's going to force his
hand whenever he can. But I didn't know what happened
(12:39):
so quick, and I immediately text him and wished him
the best of luck. But I knew that Sam had
a long past to had one rebooting this team and
taking a lot of criticism with losing not only three
MVP players and future Hall of Famers, but losing another
one in Carmelo Anthony, who I think is a future
Hall of Famer, trading him to Houston, and then Paul
(13:00):
George walking Away who was definitely potential Hall of Famer,
and Sergibaka probably one of the best defenders in the
paint to ever play it. So it's it's gonna be
a struggle for a while. Hey, what's up, Desmond. Jason
McIntyre here, I got a quick question for you. When
you look at the stat time of possession, the amount
of time a player has the ball in its possession,
(13:22):
James Harden led the league last year nine point three seconds. Okay,
Russell West permitted third in seven point seven. Desmon, please
explain to me how on earth this is gonna work
when essentially you have the two biggest ballhogs in the
NBA on the same team. I think you've got to
find a way that if the league will allowed to
(13:43):
put another basketball on the floor, I think, and I
agree with that. I thought where Chris Paul? I really thought.
I played with Chris when he was a rookie when
the team got moved from New Orleans after Hurricane Katine
in Oklahoma City, and he was just a great young
player year. I mean, he was a very very talented guy,
very humble guy. And I think we all can see
(14:05):
and we all have seen that. You know, time, success
and finances can change people. Chris Paul is now being
labeled as a really hard teammate, a hard guy to
play with. That's not the guy I remember from Oklahoma City.
But I thought they would work with him and James Harden,
and obviously that wasn't the case. Chris is a past
first guy. We all know. James Harden is a very
ISO oriented guy, and I don't have an issue with
(14:26):
that because he's probably be best, if not one of
the top few best ISO players in the game. But
Russell Westbrook needs the ball, and if he doesn't have
the ball, he's a little upset about not having the ball.
So even though they played together in Oklahoma City, these
are two different guys. Now you got two MVPs now
that have led teams. They have been the man on
their teams. Kevin Durant really left because he couldn't co
(14:50):
exist with Russell Westbrook along with some other things. And
and now James Harden's got himself another Chris Ball. But
Chris Paul was just more aggressive than my personal thing DESI,
which guy Charles Barkley came out and said Westbrook needs
to be off the ball and not play point guard.
I actually think Harden is the one who has to
adjust more because I think he's more capable, Like he
(15:12):
can shoot, like Westbrook can't shoot, and so he's going
to it's gonna be hard for him to be off
the ball. Who do you think needs to make the
biggest adjustment. Honestly, this is the same scenario I felt
in Oklahoma City for quite a while. I remember watching
it when Russell was young and watching him play off
the ball with Eric Maynor, watching him play off the
ball with James Harden at Dallas series where Scott Brooks
(15:35):
has pretty much benched him, watching him play off the
ball a little bit with Kevin Durant. He's gotten accustomed
to playing with the ball now and that's kind of
what he likes and wants to do. Be a guy
that kind of leads and creates. He's just an aggressive guy.
But with James Harden, I think James Harden is better
with the ball as opposed to off the ball because
his shots, the shot that he's comfortable with, they come
(15:57):
in a scenario where he's kind of stepping back, he's
in his dribble, he's making his moves. I don't have
an issue with Russell Westbrook catching the ball on a
kind of a quick penetrate and pitch to the wing,
and he has a live dribble of guys closing out
on him. You're gonna even though he's not a great shooter,
people still gonna close out on Russell Westbrook, Right, So
I like Russell with the ball with a live dribble
(16:18):
as opposed to James Harden with the ball with a
live drooble. Yeah, Desert, and I do have to go
back to what you said about Chris Paul. Chris Paul
could actually make three pointers, okay for his career thirty
seven percent. I know last year he wasn't great, only
thirty five, but prior to that, you know, thirty eight percent,
forty one percent. Russell Westbrook is one of the worst
three point shooting print cards in the league. I mean
you saw him up close. You know this. Four out
(16:40):
of the last five years under thirty percent. So now
you're gonna tell Russ who's had the ball in his hands.
What since Kevin Durant left, Hey, go stand in the
corner and spot up and make some threes. I can't
do that. I don't know, Desert. I'm telling you this.
And remember last note, Mike D'antoni's in charge of all this.
He's a lame duck coach and all of assistance just
(17:01):
got fired by the owner. Yeah, he's to what was
going through quite of a struggle to the summer. I mean,
I think we've all we're all watched it from a
far going. Okay, here we go. They're gonna umplode. It's
about the all fall apart. They got rid of some
defensive players, they fired a bunch of coaches. With Russell
Westbrook and again having him playing off the ball, he's
(17:23):
not gonna be happy. I never thought after this trade.
I never thought this trade would happen. One because I
didn't think it would work. Two I still don't think
it's gonna work. But with Russell, I still like him.
I liked him off the ball. And the only issue
with Russell Westbrook and three pointers is Russell doesn't know
timely three pointers in how to shoot his three. He
(17:45):
just feels like he could pull up behind the screen,
which is not his game. But if you let him
get his feet said, he can make some shots. I mean,
I'm not saying he gonna make a ton of him,
but he can make some shots. But he gets down
and he takes things personal and Steph Kurry makes the three.
He wants to shoot a three. Damian Litle makes the three.
He wants foot three if too personal for him as
opposed to playing basketball. And Russell Westbrook. You know, last
statement about Russ Russell Westbrook is he wants to win,
(18:10):
but he has zero idea how to win, because winning
comes in sacrificing and that means understanding who you are
as a player and making the right plays. And it's
all about him, And I think that's gonna be the
bigger issue is it's Jane Harden City, it's Jane Harden's team,
but it's all about Russell Westbrook when he steps in
ninety four feet, it's the Ikapa joined by former Slam
(18:32):
Dunk champion Desmond Mason. Along that those lines, Desmond, I've
heard a lot of people say, well, they're friends, they
wanted each other, they talked about playing together, and you know,
they talked to each other on the phone before this happened.
How much of a factor, if any, do you think
that will be the fact that they really like each
other and are friendly. I think that's gonna you know,
(18:57):
I think they're gonna have a decent season this year.
I don't see him having a fast season this year.
I think they're gonna, you know, shock some people. I
think they're gonna be really hard to guard with those
two guys on the floor. I've already came out and
I said, I remember when I played, you know, between
two thousand and two and ten, especially in the early
part of my career. Houston is getting Katino Mobili and
Steve Frances all over again. Like two is so guys
(19:21):
that are going to just be a nightmare to guard
from an individual standpoint, But they're never gonna do anything
because it's gonna really be about those two guys and
they're gonna be friends. But until it all falls apart.
Russell Westbrook and James Harden, I'm sorry, Russell Westbrook and
Paul George, they didn't have an issue with each other.
Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant early didn't have an issue
(19:41):
with each other. When things go haywire, Russ, it's very,
very aggressive, and that's where the issue is gonna happen.
Who's taking the last shot, you know, who's taking most
of the shots? Are we passing it one time in
a half quarter? Are we're just coming down and shooting it.
That's gonna be an issue that's been We know too
that outside of bathsketball, you're a very talented artist. Can
(20:02):
you kind of tell us, you know, what's been going
on with your art and stuff. Man, it's been a
since I retired in in twenty ten. It's been a
great ride. I've been creating art in painting since I
was eleven years old. Now we're at well over thirty
solo shows globally with a great list of collectors now.
(20:22):
And some of the stuff I've been getting into in
the last five years is really apparel design, graphic design.
So we've been doing stuff with Adidas, flu Clico, Louis Vatan,
a new company at of Oklahoma City called Flirty Golf,
which is a female golf line short part four, which
is a similar golf line where male golf line and
now they have a female sector as well, where you know,
(20:45):
you basically ordered monthly and you have a subscription and
you get apparel through them. But you know, it's all
about creating this really cool vibe and then now I
get to do it in the golf world as opposed
to doing it in the basketball world on the floor.
But it's it's been a great ride, man. I've been
able to do some great stuff. And the only way
I'm keeping connected is with basketball is really doing my
radio show here talking to you guys and being on
(21:08):
you guys show, which is a blessing as well. And
now we're also in Oklahoma City putting together a facility
that's going to facilitate pre draft NBA camps, also with
pre combined football camps. Obviously in our area, we got
great football players and basketball players and pushing towards baseball
with a buddy of mine named Blaine Dyer here in
(21:29):
Oklahoma City. So we're just trying to continue to stay
connected to athletics, but also the art world has been
part of my life since I was a youth, and
continue to push. Man. That's all we're doing. Man, that's
great to hear. Is great that you you know, a
lot of guys don't find something they're really passionate about
after they retire, so it's great that you found that.
(21:49):
And it sounds like you're doing great stuff, all right.
Desmond Mason joining the Odd Couple. Be sure to catch
live editions of The Odd Couple with Chris Broussard and
Rob Parker Weekdays at seven Pacific. I have talked about
this before, but it keeps coming up, and I will
keep bashing the idea as long as the NFL owners
(22:11):
continue to push it. There was a story in the
Wall Street Journal today that said that the owners are
still pushing for an eighteen game regular season, and some
of the owners are thinking, maybe we can make it
a sixteen plus two. They want to get rid of
two preseason games, have eighteen regular season games, and then say,
(22:36):
but players only have to play in sixteen games, So
there would be two regular season games where your stars,
everybody didn't you know, didn't play. So what's the point
to me? That's just putting two preseason games on the
eighteen on the regular season schedule. Yeah, it's pure grade.
(22:58):
What are the pagers gonna be without Tom Brady? I
don't want to know, right, thank you. It's just pure
greed from the billionaires. Chris. It's really sad because you know,
sometimes in life you gotta take a step back and
then you can take two steps forward. Right, Sometimes you
take a step back. Maybe you take a lesser role,
lesser position in a different company, and that'll help you
(23:18):
get to where you want to be. But these NFL
owners don't want to understand that might be the move.
Just cut the preseason games, let the NFL flow. Okay,
you get healthier players, right, you don't have to worry
about any injuries. I know, if it's healthier, I mean
because obviously guys aren't playing that much in the preseason.
But you can't get hurt. Yeah, it's certain, but you know,
(23:39):
you look back at twenty seventeen when the NFL ratings
were down and some people said, oh, it's all Kapernick. No,
it wasn't Kaprinick. It was the It was the quarterback
injuries were mounting and there's just not enough. There aren't
what is their thirty l thirty two teams? There are
not thirty good quarterbacks in the NFL. Okay, there Andrew
l thirty good quarterback. Not that you great quarterbacks, not
(24:04):
that you want to watch on a Thursday night or
Sunday night. I mean there, they're decent. Andrew Luck was
out the cultural unwatchable. Deshaun Watson was lights out as
a rookie. He goes down, no thank you, Tom Savage.
Aaron Rodgers goes out, and the kid they had from
Notre Dame. Whoever they had a quarterback, Packers were a shell. Now,
Carson Wentz is the exception. He was like the MVP
(24:25):
that year. He gets hurt against the Rams out here
in LA and Nick Foles leads him to the Super Bowl. Right,
So that's the one exception. But Carson Palmer broke his arm.
Tannehill acl Chris. If quarterbacks go down, the league's in trouble.
I do everything in my power to protect quarterbacks. And
if that means two preseason games off the books for me,
that's fine. I think the owners are making a big,
(24:46):
big mistake here. Well, I don't think the players are
gonna go along with it. The Morris Smith, the NFLPA president,
has said that it's not in the best interest of
the players. Now, we just had TJ. Houshmanzada who said
he loved the eight team game season and he thinks
the players should fight for medical insurance as a you know,
(25:07):
to get it. And I get it, like, if the
players could get medical insurance, maybe guaranteed contracts out of this. Maybe.
But my thing is this, it is hypocritical of the
owners to push for eighteen games. It's just pure hypocrisy.
And they could say, because here's here's why I say that,
because you're acting like you care about the health of
(25:29):
the players, you're acting like you care about safety. You're
taking away hitting in practice for the most part, and
that's I think that's actually putting the players in danger too.
Because you're gonna hit in the games. You need to
get used to hitting. You know how to you need
to know how to brace for a hit, how to
move and roll with a hit, and be used to
(25:51):
just hitting your bodies hitting each other. And so if
you go into games without being used to it, it
couldn't put more guys in danger. But beyond that, if
you really care about the player's safety, why in the
world are you pushing for two more games. It just
doesn't make They used to play like twelve games. Yeah,
they're fourteen. Now sixteen. That's plenty. It is agreed, played
(26:15):
by a bunch of billionaires. They don't need it. The product,
the NFL product right now is incredible. Chris. I saw
somebody posted on social media the ten most watch sporting
events from last from this calendar year or whatever. All
ten were NFL games. This idea, because the NBA is
such a huge deal on social media. NBA does not
(26:36):
have the urgency in the regular season when there's eighty
two games. I'm sorry, I don't really care what happens
if they cut it, as they're talking about to sixty
sixty five games. The NBA needs to do that. There's
urgency in the NFL. I'm telling you, Chris, out here
in La, I never knew how good it was when
you can wake up on Sunday morning, okay, and then
(26:56):
the games start at ten am and you're in front
of the TV. There's not like that, you know, on
the East Coast. You wake up, maybe you go to
church with the family, and then you gotta wait around
till one o'clock. Out here at ten am, let's go
and I just sit there with my two TVs, my computer,
and I just take it all in. I'm doing the gambling.
I got the fantasy. I love the NFL. I don't
(27:17):
think they need two more games. You don't tinker with greatness.
It's great right now, having played in again, not at
the obviously the very high level, but playing through high
school football. Football is brutal, and when you see it.
I've been I've stood on the field for games, and
it really is brutal when you're standing down on the field.
(27:38):
The players are so fast, so big, and they are
hitting so hard. I mean, it's a brutal sport and
they don't need if. If you are concerned about players safety,
the last thing you should be thinking about is adding
two more regular season games. And that gives players more
of an opportunity to get hurt. And what if somebody
(28:01):
you hate it when a star player is out for
the playoffs and that could happen. That's a there's a
greater chance of that happening if you go to eighteen games.
I rather And you brought up the greed, and that's
where the sixteen plus two that's about greed. You're absolutely right,
because who want who in the world we talk about
(28:21):
it in the NBA with low management. I'm sorry. If
I go to a Laker game and Anthony Davis and
Lebron James aren't playing, I'm upset. And if I go
to an NFL game and the Stars aren't gonna be playing,
I'm going to be upset. So that's where the greed
comes in. I would rather as much as I hate
watching the four preseason games, especially when the starters don't play.
(28:45):
I'd say just keep it as it is. If the
owners are so concerned about the money, and they can
make at least a little bit of money on the
preseason game, they're just keep four keep four preseason games,
and just keep sixteen regular season games. I would rather
that then go to eighteen regular season games, because I
don't think it's good for the place. You know what's
gonna happen, of course, is teams are gonna stagger when
(29:08):
they sit their stars. Most would wait until the end
of the season. You know, if they've got the playoffs
you don't want to get you'd have to be Then
what do the TV networks do when you've got a
Sunday night football game or a big Monday night football
game and all of a sudden you got two backup quarterbacks.
I mean, yes, people will gamble. Maybe there's like a
fantasy angle, but by and large, I don't think it's
(29:28):
must see TV when you got two backup quarterbacks in there.
It's not there's in the networks wouldn't be happy they're
all the money they're playing in the NFL. They'd have
they'd want some guarantee that for for national television games
your stars will play. Now, Chris, if you remember a
lot of the listening audience I'm here, I'm sure doesn't
remember what the NFL was like in the eighties. It
(29:51):
was not the top sport in this country. Baseball was
on top in the eighties. I mean I remember watching
these yeah seventies. Uh, you know, I was only born
in the late seventies, but I know in the eighties
the NFL was big, but it wasn't. It wasn't what
it is now. Baseball dominated American sports nineties with Michael Jordan.
I mean, football was still popping. It was. It was
(30:11):
definitely bigger than basketball. Yes, football certainly was basket basketball
has been third and now NFL. NFL has been on
top what for fifteen years, maybe twenty, probably twenty. I
mean basically the Tom Brady reign of terror over the NFL,
Brady and Belichick dominating, and well, fantasy football helped a
lot of and Chris, you and I know this. We
(30:31):
in at FS one. Gambling is not only here to stay,
but it's going to be growing immeasurably here in the
coming years. If you're not on board for the gambling stuff,
you know, you're missing the boat. They're calling this the
gambling gold rush, and it's very very real, and that's
only going to help the NFL more than any other sport.
Well that's what some of the players. Dak Prescotts brought
(30:52):
that up. He's like, look, the salary CAP's gonna keep rising,
so pay me what I'm worth, and I can if
you can, if you can maneuver, well, yeah, but paying
what the market gives him, if you can maneuver the
salary cap as these owners can, whether it's giving large bonuses, incentives,
(31:15):
things like that, and pay guys what there was. Because
you know, we've heard ex players say that you know,
all this tough about the salary cap and you just
can't afford, say Amari Cooper, Dak Prescott, and Zekiel Ellett.
A lot of these guys are saying that's false because
you can maneuver it with certain things. If that's the case,
(31:35):
then if I'm a player, I'd go go go for
broke because I've always been like, look, if i'm Dak
Prescott and I can, you know, I'll take a little
less to make sure we can keep our guys. But
if the owners can actually pay all of us with
certain moves, you know, certain incentives, bonus type contracts, things
(31:57):
like that. Then oh, go for your money, because Zak
has been Dak has been underpaid for these first three years.
He was a middle round draft pick. But he's he's
making some money off the field. And I don't I
can't hate on Dak. Hey, get get what you want.
But if I'm the Dallas Cowboys front office or the
Cowboys brain trust, I am tinkering around and saying, listen, hey,
we had a defense, um, we had an offense. In
(32:20):
the Minnesota Vikings got to the NFC Championship a couple
of years ago with Case Keenom Man, Well, Dak is
a Case Keendom who's better, a better version of Face
King And the Vikings kicked him to the curb in
a heartbeat. And then he went to Denver and oh,
look he doesn't have Adam feeling and to fund Diggs
and we're the Broncos. There's no better you're gonna tell
me Dak Prescott is not a better version of Zach.
(32:43):
I think he's significantly better than Case. But I'm My
point is he's a player manager. He's a game manager
with playmaking skills, he's a big playmaker, and he's a winner,
and he's a leader. I agree with hush on that
he is a winner. He is a leader. He's proven
that he's Pat Mahomes or anybody like that, Aaron Rodgers,
but he's a winner. He's not quite Russell Wilson either,
(33:06):
but he's got a lot of Russell Wilson tendons. Who
would you rather? Who would you rather have going forward?
Sam Darnold my guy with the Jets, well, from what
I've seen right now, Dak Prescott saying what does Sam
Donald show mean? I know he was a rookie and
I like Darnald. Don't get me wrong, I like Darnald,
but Dak Prescott has been a good If I named
the Jets skill positioned players from last year, you gay.
(33:31):
The Jets receivers, tight end and running backs last year
were basically guys you'd be like, is that an XFL player,
a w NBA player or an NFL player? I got
you'll bad the Jets rust holding last season against you. Yeah,
but I'm also saying as and I like him again,
I thought the Giants screwed up by not drafting him.
Thanks for listening to the Best of the Odd Couple podcast.
Be sure to catch us live every weekday from seven
pm to ten pm Eastern four to seven Pacific on
Fox Sports Radio. Find your local station for The Odd
Couple at Fox Sports Radio dot com, or stream us
live every day on the iHeartRadio app by searching f
(00:21):
s R. You're listening to the Best of the Odd
Couple with Chris Bruce and Rob Harker. But there was
a report in Pro Football Talk Talk dot com that
could be a bombshell, and that is that Ezekiel Elliott
(00:42):
from my money, the best running back running back, okay,
running the ball in the NFL. We know he wants
a contract extension. So does Dak Prescott Cooper act I
got an extension. I know you won't want to, Bruce.
We all want tensions, Yeah, we all, we all, we
all deserve it contract extensions. But anyway, Zeke is talking
(01:06):
about holding out, or at least privately. The report is
that he's privately talked about holding out, So basically it's
on the table now. There have been a couple of
reports since then they said no decision has been made,
is just something that's on the table. McIntyre, What are
your thoughts on this? I mean, this could be huge
if indeed Ezekiel Elliott goes through with a holdout so
(01:29):
he's on his rookie deal. He's currently the tenth highest
paid running back in the NFL. Obviously because the rookie
deal can't do nothing about that. But I will say this,
Chris Boussard, there is no doubt in my mind, Ezekiel
Elliott matters more to the Cowboys than Dak Prescott does.
I'm sorry. I know Dak wants like thirty million dollars
a year and quarterbacks are always more important, but Ezekiel
(01:51):
Elliott is a special case. Here turns twenty four later
this month. Chris let the league in touches last year,
let the league in rushes yards. Guy is a machine.
I am of the belief Dak Prescott is a good quarterback,
probably in the fifteen to twenty range in the NFL. Right,
Ezekiel Elliott his top three at his position, no questions asked.
(02:12):
Since he came to this team, they have instantly been
a massive contender. Now. I know people are gonna say,
Jason Pump the Brakes running backs don't matter. Look at
Melvin Gordon. He wants he's talking hold out. Melvin Gordon's
asking for the world. The Chargers without Melvin Gordon last
year went four and ozer and average twenty seven points
a game. So how much do running backs matter? But
(02:35):
Zeke is different, Chris. You know that he is such
a threat out of the backfield. He had ninety five
targets last year seventy seven receptions. He is so instrumental
as a three down back. You could argue he's the
best blocking running back in the NFL. I think that
Cowboys have to pay Ezekiel Eli. Yeah, I'm with you,
(02:55):
And look for those who are wondering. Ezekiel's going into
his fourth year, so he's not It's not urgent, like
he's got two years left on his rookie deal. But
his thought is looked. I led the league in rushes,
not just rushing rushing yardage, but rushes two of the
last three years. He wants to get that money locked
(03:18):
up before he gets broken down. And he may get
broken down. His running style, Yeah, he can be elusive
at times, but he prefers to just run you over.
And I mean, how long is he gonna last? I look,
I see it from both sides. I see it. If
I'm an owner of an NFL team, I understand running
(03:38):
back is not some It's not that important of a position.
I hate to say it. These guys aren't irreplaceable. Okay,
Melvin Gordon, there's a number I'd be willing to give him,
but I am not breaking the bank for him. And
I'm sorry, Melvin Gordon, You're not getting tied Gurley money.
Look at that, Girly might be damn goods for the
(04:00):
rest of this contract. David Johnson, that was a mistake.
He played one game after signing that contract, you know,
or that one season and then last year average fewer
than four yards of carry. You don't forget DeVonta Freeman
of the Falcons got paid. He was one of the
highest paid running backs in the NFL, currently fourth with
the Falcons. He basically got hurt in the first game
(04:22):
last year and was irrelevant. That's the problem. Chris was
paying the running backs. Now, I will say, well, not
only that Jay Mack, though, look at the top ten
in rushing in fifth last year, Chris Carson Seattle, a
seventh round draft pick. Nice was Philip Lindsay, who averaged
five and a half yards of carry. He's undrafted, drafted rookie.
(04:42):
I mean, James Connor came in and produced, and I
don't think he's better than let Yon Bell, but his
numbers were better. Like I can get Kareem Hunt, Alvin Kamara.
These guys were third round picks. I can get a
productive running back late in the draft and he may
not even be drafted. And the other thing with Zeke
(05:04):
is he's six foot two thirty and he's a rocked
up two thirty. Chris, you said he likes contact. I
mean he initiates it and has basically been injury free
so throughout his career so far. He did have the
suspension obviously, But I will say this about Melvin Gordon.
Fifteen pounds lighter, and he's had a lot of little
knicks and injuries there, and I do think he's more replaceable,
(05:28):
not as good as his receiving running back Bustin Eckler
was as productive, if not more productive. I know he's
gotten more limited, you know, usage, but he's average basically
five and a half yards a carry. Yeah, Chris, and
Gordon averaged five over five yards last year, but he's
only averaging four exactly for his career. When you think
(05:48):
think about it, Like the listeners out there, they're at
their job right and you know you have your responsibilities.
But what about the guy Chris who can do multiple things.
He can help you on the tech side, he can
help you on them a little marketing, at a little writing.
Ezekiel Elliott is that guy. He's gonna block. He's gonna
be a three down back. He's gonna block, receive and carry.
(06:10):
Melvin Gordon is not a three down back. And listen,
I do believe right now the running backs out there
who can be three down backs, those are the guys
that you pay, and there aren't a lot of them.
I think sae Quon Barkley he's gonna be one of
those guys that you pay, right, great blocker, explosive out
of the backfield, and of course a great rusher. And
Todd Gurley was the other and now we hear about
(06:31):
his arthritic knee. Other than those three, Chris, I'm sorry,
like I like Alvin Kamara a lot. Christian McCaffrey was
in my neighborhood the other day at a football camp,
and everybody spoke glowingly about him. He's a great human being,
very talented. Guy, Chris, I don't know if he's a
between the tackles guy. I don't think he's a twenty
five Carrie Bell cow He's not the way definite Zeke is.
(06:52):
So these running backs, what do they say, Mama, don't
let your kids grow up to be running backs? Well,
they say that now. I come from the day when
running back was the glamour position in the NFL, right there,
along with quarterback. But it's not the case anymore. I'm
with you, though. You you know this is odd because
usually you and I disagree. Well, it feels nice. We
(07:15):
will get to some angst. There will be some some anger,
and by the way, we will go at it later
in the show, but for now we do agree. Look,
Ezekiel Elliott, I would pay. He is that rare running back.
I would pay because you're right. The Dallas Cowboys are
not the same without him. Dak Prescott is not the
(07:38):
same without him. Omari Cooper won't be the same without him.
This is a team that should enter next season thinking
of winning a Super Bowl. If there's a problem with
Zach or Zeke, then you're not winning the Super Bowl.
You can you can forget those hopes, and if you
let him sit out too long, you might not even
make the playoffs. So he's a guy you gotta pay.
(07:59):
And I'm gonna say this too. I know some people
are like Well's, he doesn't have leverage because of the
off the field stuff. I don't like the off the
field stuff. People know what I'm about, They know what
I stand for. I don't like him pulling on the
girl's blouse. I don't like him, you know, looks like
he was buzzing or drunk or whatever it was in
Vegas recently. Okay, well, I don't like the mary being
(08:19):
seen at the marijuana dispensary. However, the one really serious
in today's society, the one really serious infraction for which
he was suspended for six games that took leaves the
domestic violence that took place in college before he played
a game in the NFL, and so he has not
(08:41):
had something like that since he's joined the Cowways. This
other stuff is frat boy, you know, hanging out, partying out.
You like him to tone it down, but that's not
the type of stuff that's necessarily gonna keep me from
signing a game changer like him. I think it's fair
to question some of the decision making Zeke is doing
(09:02):
off the field. And again, I'm not coming down hard
on the guy. Again, he's a young twenty four year
old Chris. I was a young twenty four year old
playboy in New York City trying to you know, trying
to be cool. Well, that's on a newspaper salary. I
was broke and I was running up debt when I
was twenty four years old, but I had a good time. Listen,
I can understand twenty four year old guys want to
(09:22):
party and have fun. But if I'm the cowboys, you
know how We've heard stories about teams where they have
a superstar who makes questionable decisions. He has like a handler,
someone who's always with him to avoid confrontation and bad decisions.
I'm not gonna a Jerry Jones. You're a billionaire. Why
don't you get Zeke a handler. I'm not saying somebody
to hold his hand. Well, what's just somebody to hang huards.
(09:45):
But he's the thing, Chris, you know, the mentality is, man,
I don't need no bodyguard. I'm one of the toughest
running back to the NFL. The toughest sport in this country.
I don't need no bodyguard. But he's making bad he
needs to understand. Yeah, it's not even about you not
being able to protect yourself. Yeah, he is a guy
that's recognized. He's one of the rare NFL guys. It's recognizable.
(10:06):
You know. You don't only know, oh, that guy's big.
He looks like he plays football, but you know Ezekiel Elliott,
the hair, the beard, you know what he looks like.
And so he is going to have people maybe test him,
people try to get him in trouble. He's a target.
So he needs a bodyguard and bodyguards for as you said,
to help him make better decisions, but to also keep
(10:29):
people away from him. I agree with you. And let's
not act like I mean the Cowboys glory days in
the early nineties, I mean Michael Irvin, Primetime, Dion Sanders.
It was a lot of mess going on. So let's
not act like these guys are expected necessarily to be
choir boys. I'd love to see him in the choir
the hotel room with mounds of powder, according to some
(10:53):
books and some reports back then. Yeah, but again, no
social media back in the nineties, right, with Irvin and
those characters. Yeah, listen, note, as you said, Zeke is
basically a target anywhere he goes. Right now, you can't
act like you want to act at twenty four when
you are on the Dallas Cowboys, who you know undisputed.
Every show at FS one, every radio show nationally is
(11:15):
going to talk about the Cowboys practically every day. Be
sure to catch live editions of The Odd Couple with
Chris Broussard and Rob Parker week days at seven pm Eastern,
four pm Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and the iHeart
Radio app. You may remember him flying above the rim
and throwing it down with grace and beauty and power.
(11:35):
He wanted to slam dunk contests during his day. Desmond Mason, Desmond,
what's happening man? How you doing? Man? I have everything going.
We are great man. It's great to have you on.
We thank you for joining the I Couple, and let's
get right into it. Look, you played with Russell Westbrook
and Kevin Durant in Westbrooks rookie year. What were your
(11:57):
thoughts when you saw the trade of him from Oklahoma
City to Houston. Man, Obviously I knew that Sam had
to do something. Russell's kind of came out and had
leaked out. I guess that he was a little vocal
about wanting to find a way to move around. Not
happy with the situation that has happened over the last
(12:17):
I would say four years of actually since Sam, since
Sam Prescy fired Scott Brooks and then also Kevin Durant
going to go to the State and then Paul George
Leeves as well, three straight years of first round exit.
He was unhappy. And so when I heard about it, initially,
I said, you know myself, you know what, Russell is
one of those guys that he's going to force his
hand whenever he can. But I didn't know what happened
(12:39):
so quick, and I immediately text him and wished him
the best of luck. But I knew that Sam had
a long past to had one rebooting this team and
taking a lot of criticism with losing not only three
MVP players and future Hall of Famers, but losing another
one in Carmelo Anthony, who I think is a future
Hall of Famer, trading him to Houston, and then Paul
(13:00):
George walking Away who was definitely potential Hall of Famer,
and Sergibaka probably one of the best defenders in the
paint to ever play it. So it's it's gonna be
a struggle for a while. Hey, what's up, Desmond. Jason
McIntyre here, I got a quick question for you. When
you look at the stat time of possession, the amount
of time a player has the ball in its possession,
(13:22):
James Harden led the league last year nine point three seconds. Okay,
Russell West permitted third in seven point seven. Desmon, please
explain to me how on earth this is gonna work
when essentially you have the two biggest ballhogs in the
NBA on the same team. I think you've got to
find a way that if the league will allowed to
(13:43):
put another basketball on the floor, I think, and I
agree with that. I thought where Chris Paul? I really thought.
I played with Chris when he was a rookie when
the team got moved from New Orleans after Hurricane Katine
in Oklahoma City, and he was just a great young
player year. I mean, he was a very very talented guy,
very humble guy. And I think we all can see
(14:05):
and we all have seen that. You know, time, success
and finances can change people. Chris Paul is now being
labeled as a really hard teammate, a hard guy to
play with. That's not the guy I remember from Oklahoma City.
But I thought they would work with him and James Harden,
and obviously that wasn't the case. Chris is a past
first guy. We all know. James Harden is a very
ISO oriented guy, and I don't have an issue with
(14:26):
that because he's probably be best, if not one of
the top few best ISO players in the game. But
Russell Westbrook needs the ball, and if he doesn't have
the ball, he's a little upset about not having the ball.
So even though they played together in Oklahoma City, these
are two different guys. Now you got two MVPs now
that have led teams. They have been the man on
their teams. Kevin Durant really left because he couldn't co
(14:50):
exist with Russell Westbrook along with some other things. And
and now James Harden's got himself another Chris Ball. But
Chris Paul was just more aggressive than my personal thing DESI,
which guy Charles Barkley came out and said Westbrook needs
to be off the ball and not play point guard.
I actually think Harden is the one who has to
adjust more because I think he's more capable, Like he
(15:12):
can shoot, like Westbrook can't shoot, and so he's going
to it's gonna be hard for him to be off
the ball. Who do you think needs to make the
biggest adjustment. Honestly, this is the same scenario I felt
in Oklahoma City for quite a while. I remember watching
it when Russell was young and watching him play off
the ball with Eric Maynor, watching him play off the
ball with James Harden at Dallas series where Scott Brooks
(15:35):
has pretty much benched him, watching him play off the
ball a little bit with Kevin Durant. He's gotten accustomed
to playing with the ball now and that's kind of
what he likes and wants to do. Be a guy
that kind of leads and creates. He's just an aggressive guy.
But with James Harden, I think James Harden is better
with the ball as opposed to off the ball because
his shots, the shot that he's comfortable with, they come
(15:57):
in a scenario where he's kind of stepping back, he's
in his dribble, he's making his moves. I don't have
an issue with Russell Westbrook catching the ball on a
kind of a quick penetrate and pitch to the wing,
and he has a live dribble of guys closing out
on him. You're gonna even though he's not a great shooter,
people still gonna close out on Russell Westbrook, Right, So
I like Russell with the ball with a live dribble
(16:18):
as opposed to James Harden with the ball with a
live drooble. Yeah, Desert, and I do have to go
back to what you said about Chris Paul. Chris Paul
could actually make three pointers, okay for his career thirty
seven percent. I know last year he wasn't great, only
thirty five, but prior to that, you know, thirty eight percent,
forty one percent. Russell Westbrook is one of the worst
three point shooting print cards in the league. I mean
you saw him up close. You know this. Four out
(16:40):
of the last five years under thirty percent. So now
you're gonna tell Russ who's had the ball in his hands.
What since Kevin Durant left, Hey, go stand in the
corner and spot up and make some threes. I can't
do that. I don't know, Desert. I'm telling you this.
And remember last note, Mike D'antoni's in charge of all this.
He's a lame duck coach and all of assistance just
(17:01):
got fired by the owner. Yeah, he's to what was
going through quite of a struggle to the summer. I mean,
I think we've all we're all watched it from a
far going. Okay, here we go. They're gonna umplode. It's
about the all fall apart. They got rid of some
defensive players, they fired a bunch of coaches. With Russell
Westbrook and again having him playing off the ball, he's
(17:23):
not gonna be happy. I never thought after this trade.
I never thought this trade would happen. One because I
didn't think it would work. Two I still don't think
it's gonna work. But with Russell, I still like him.
I liked him off the ball. And the only issue
with Russell Westbrook and three pointers is Russell doesn't know
timely three pointers in how to shoot his three. He
(17:45):
just feels like he could pull up behind the screen,
which is not his game. But if you let him
get his feet said, he can make some shots. I mean,
I'm not saying he gonna make a ton of him,
but he can make some shots. But he gets down
and he takes things personal and Steph Kurry makes the three.
He wants to shoot a three. Damian Litle makes the three.
He wants foot three if too personal for him as
opposed to playing basketball. And Russell Westbrook. You know, last
statement about Russ Russell Westbrook is he wants to win,
(18:10):
but he has zero idea how to win, because winning
comes in sacrificing and that means understanding who you are
as a player and making the right plays. And it's
all about him, And I think that's gonna be the
bigger issue is it's Jane Harden City, it's Jane Harden's team,
but it's all about Russell Westbrook when he steps in
ninety four feet, it's the Ikapa joined by former Slam
(18:32):
Dunk champion Desmond Mason. Along that those lines, Desmond, I've
heard a lot of people say, well, they're friends, they
wanted each other, they talked about playing together, and you know,
they talked to each other on the phone before this happened.
How much of a factor, if any, do you think
that will be the fact that they really like each
other and are friendly. I think that's gonna you know,
(18:57):
I think they're gonna have a decent season this year.
I don't see him having a fast season this year.
I think they're gonna, you know, shock some people. I
think they're gonna be really hard to guard with those
two guys on the floor. I've already came out and
I said, I remember when I played, you know, between
two thousand and two and ten, especially in the early
part of my career. Houston is getting Katino Mobili and
Steve Frances all over again. Like two is so guys
(19:21):
that are going to just be a nightmare to guard
from an individual standpoint, But they're never gonna do anything
because it's gonna really be about those two guys and
they're gonna be friends. But until it all falls apart.
Russell Westbrook and James Harden, I'm sorry, Russell Westbrook and
Paul George, they didn't have an issue with each other.
Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant early didn't have an issue
(19:41):
with each other. When things go haywire, Russ, it's very,
very aggressive, and that's where the issue is gonna happen.
Who's taking the last shot, you know, who's taking most
of the shots? Are we passing it one time in
a half quarter? Are we're just coming down and shooting it.
That's gonna be an issue that's been We know too
that outside of bathsketball, you're a very talented artist. Can
(20:02):
you kind of tell us, you know, what's been going
on with your art and stuff. Man, it's been a
since I retired in in twenty ten. It's been a
great ride. I've been creating art in painting since I
was eleven years old. Now we're at well over thirty
solo shows globally with a great list of collectors now.
(20:22):
And some of the stuff I've been getting into in
the last five years is really apparel design, graphic design.
So we've been doing stuff with Adidas, flu Clico, Louis Vatan,
a new company at of Oklahoma City called Flirty Golf,
which is a female golf line short part four, which
is a similar golf line where male golf line and
now they have a female sector as well, where you know,
(20:45):
you basically ordered monthly and you have a subscription and
you get apparel through them. But you know, it's all
about creating this really cool vibe and then now I
get to do it in the golf world as opposed
to doing it in the basketball world on the floor.
But it's it's been a great ride, man. I've been
able to do some great stuff. And the only way
I'm keeping connected is with basketball is really doing my
radio show here talking to you guys and being on
(21:08):
you guys show, which is a blessing as well. And
now we're also in Oklahoma City putting together a facility
that's going to facilitate pre draft NBA camps, also with
pre combined football camps. Obviously in our area, we got
great football players and basketball players and pushing towards baseball
with a buddy of mine named Blaine Dyer here in
(21:29):
Oklahoma City. So we're just trying to continue to stay
connected to athletics, but also the art world has been
part of my life since I was a youth, and
continue to push. Man. That's all we're doing. Man, that's
great to hear. Is great that you you know, a
lot of guys don't find something they're really passionate about
after they retire, so it's great that you found that.
(21:49):
And it sounds like you're doing great stuff, all right.
Desmond Mason joining the Odd Couple. Be sure to catch
live editions of The Odd Couple with Chris Broussard and
Rob Parker Weekdays at seven Pacific. I have talked about
this before, but it keeps coming up, and I will
keep bashing the idea as long as the NFL owners
(22:11):
continue to push it. There was a story in the
Wall Street Journal today that said that the owners are
still pushing for an eighteen game regular season, and some
of the owners are thinking, maybe we can make it
a sixteen plus two. They want to get rid of
two preseason games, have eighteen regular season games, and then say,
(22:36):
but players only have to play in sixteen games, So
there would be two regular season games where your stars,
everybody didn't you know, didn't play. So what's the point
to me? That's just putting two preseason games on the
eighteen on the regular season schedule. Yeah, it's pure grade.
(22:58):
What are the pagers gonna be without Tom Brady? I
don't want to know, right, thank you. It's just pure
greed from the billionaires. Chris. It's really sad because you know,
sometimes in life you gotta take a step back and
then you can take two steps forward. Right, Sometimes you
take a step back. Maybe you take a lesser role,
lesser position in a different company, and that'll help you
(23:18):
get to where you want to be. But these NFL
owners don't want to understand that might be the move.
Just cut the preseason games, let the NFL flow. Okay,
you get healthier players, right, you don't have to worry
about any injuries. I know, if it's healthier, I mean
because obviously guys aren't playing that much in the preseason.
But you can't get hurt. Yeah, it's certain, but you know,
(23:39):
you look back at twenty seventeen when the NFL ratings
were down and some people said, oh, it's all Kapernick. No,
it wasn't Kaprinick. It was the It was the quarterback
injuries were mounting and there's just not enough. There aren't
what is their thirty l thirty two teams? There are
not thirty good quarterbacks in the NFL. Okay, there Andrew
l thirty good quarterback. Not that you great quarterbacks, not
(24:04):
that you want to watch on a Thursday night or
Sunday night. I mean there, they're decent. Andrew Luck was
out the cultural unwatchable. Deshaun Watson was lights out as
a rookie. He goes down, no thank you, Tom Savage.
Aaron Rodgers goes out, and the kid they had from
Notre Dame. Whoever they had a quarterback, Packers were a shell. Now,
Carson Wentz is the exception. He was like the MVP
(24:25):
that year. He gets hurt against the Rams out here
in LA and Nick Foles leads him to the Super Bowl. Right,
So that's the one exception. But Carson Palmer broke his arm.
Tannehill acl Chris. If quarterbacks go down, the league's in trouble.
I do everything in my power to protect quarterbacks. And
if that means two preseason games off the books for me,
that's fine. I think the owners are making a big,
(24:46):
big mistake here. Well, I don't think the players are
gonna go along with it. The Morris Smith, the NFLPA president,
has said that it's not in the best interest of
the players. Now, we just had TJ. Houshmanzada who said
he loved the eight team game season and he thinks
the players should fight for medical insurance as a you know,
(25:07):
to get it. And I get it, like, if the
players could get medical insurance, maybe guaranteed contracts out of this. Maybe.
But my thing is this, it is hypocritical of the
owners to push for eighteen games. It's just pure hypocrisy.
And they could say, because here's here's why I say that,
because you're acting like you care about the health of
(25:29):
the players, you're acting like you care about safety. You're
taking away hitting in practice for the most part, and
that's I think that's actually putting the players in danger too.
Because you're gonna hit in the games. You need to
get used to hitting. You know how to you need
to know how to brace for a hit, how to
move and roll with a hit, and be used to
(25:51):
just hitting your bodies hitting each other. And so if
you go into games without being used to it, it
couldn't put more guys in danger. But beyond that, if
you really care about the player's safety, why in the
world are you pushing for two more games. It just
doesn't make They used to play like twelve games. Yeah,
they're fourteen. Now sixteen. That's plenty. It is agreed, played
(26:15):
by a bunch of billionaires. They don't need it. The product,
the NFL product right now is incredible. Chris. I saw
somebody posted on social media the ten most watch sporting
events from last from this calendar year or whatever. All
ten were NFL games. This idea, because the NBA is
such a huge deal on social media. NBA does not
(26:36):
have the urgency in the regular season when there's eighty
two games. I'm sorry, I don't really care what happens
if they cut it, as they're talking about to sixty
sixty five games. The NBA needs to do that. There's
urgency in the NFL. I'm telling you, Chris, out here
in La, I never knew how good it was when
you can wake up on Sunday morning, okay, and then
(26:56):
the games start at ten am and you're in front
of the TV. There's not like that, you know, on
the East Coast. You wake up, maybe you go to
church with the family, and then you gotta wait around
till one o'clock. Out here at ten am, let's go
and I just sit there with my two TVs, my computer,
and I just take it all in. I'm doing the gambling.
I got the fantasy. I love the NFL. I don't
(27:17):
think they need two more games. You don't tinker with greatness.
It's great right now, having played in again, not at
the obviously the very high level, but playing through high
school football. Football is brutal, and when you see it.
I've been I've stood on the field for games, and
it really is brutal when you're standing down on the field.
(27:38):
The players are so fast, so big, and they are
hitting so hard. I mean, it's a brutal sport and
they don't need if. If you are concerned about players safety,
the last thing you should be thinking about is adding
two more regular season games. And that gives players more
of an opportunity to get hurt. And what if somebody
(28:01):
you hate it when a star player is out for
the playoffs and that could happen. That's a there's a
greater chance of that happening if you go to eighteen games.
I rather And you brought up the greed, and that's
where the sixteen plus two that's about greed. You're absolutely right,
because who want who in the world we talk about
(28:21):
it in the NBA with low management. I'm sorry. If
I go to a Laker game and Anthony Davis and
Lebron James aren't playing, I'm upset. And if I go
to an NFL game and the Stars aren't gonna be playing,
I'm going to be upset. So that's where the greed
comes in. I would rather as much as I hate
watching the four preseason games, especially when the starters don't play.
(28:45):
I'd say just keep it as it is. If the
owners are so concerned about the money, and they can
make at least a little bit of money on the
preseason game, they're just keep four keep four preseason games,
and just keep sixteen regular season games. I would rather
that then go to eighteen regular season games, because I
don't think it's good for the place. You know what's
gonna happen, of course, is teams are gonna stagger when
(29:08):
they sit their stars. Most would wait until the end
of the season. You know, if they've got the playoffs
you don't want to get you'd have to be Then
what do the TV networks do when you've got a
Sunday night football game or a big Monday night football
game and all of a sudden you got two backup quarterbacks.
I mean, yes, people will gamble. Maybe there's like a
fantasy angle, but by and large, I don't think it's
(29:28):
must see TV when you got two backup quarterbacks in there.
It's not there's in the networks wouldn't be happy they're
all the money they're playing in the NFL. They'd have
they'd want some guarantee that for for national television games
your stars will play. Now, Chris, if you remember a
lot of the listening audience I'm here, I'm sure doesn't
remember what the NFL was like in the eighties. It
(29:51):
was not the top sport in this country. Baseball was
on top in the eighties. I mean I remember watching
these yeah seventies. Uh, you know, I was only born
in the late seventies, but I know in the eighties
the NFL was big, but it wasn't. It wasn't what
it is now. Baseball dominated American sports nineties with Michael Jordan.
I mean, football was still popping. It was. It was
(30:11):
definitely bigger than basketball. Yes, football certainly was basket basketball
has been third and now NFL. NFL has been on
top what for fifteen years, maybe twenty, probably twenty. I
mean basically the Tom Brady reign of terror over the NFL,
Brady and Belichick dominating, and well, fantasy football helped a
lot of and Chris, you and I know this. We
(30:31):
in at FS one. Gambling is not only here to stay,
but it's going to be growing immeasurably here in the
coming years. If you're not on board for the gambling stuff,
you know, you're missing the boat. They're calling this the
gambling gold rush, and it's very very real, and that's
only going to help the NFL more than any other sport.
Well that's what some of the players. Dak Prescotts brought
(30:52):
that up. He's like, look, the salary CAP's gonna keep rising,
so pay me what I'm worth, and I can if
you can, if you can maneuver, well, yeah, but paying
what the market gives him, if you can maneuver the
salary cap as these owners can, whether it's giving large bonuses, incentives,
(31:15):
things like that, and pay guys what there was. Because
you know, we've heard ex players say that you know,
all this tough about the salary cap and you just
can't afford, say Amari Cooper, Dak Prescott, and Zekiel Ellett.
A lot of these guys are saying that's false because
you can maneuver it with certain things. If that's the case,
(31:35):
then if I'm a player, I'd go go go for
broke because I've always been like, look, if i'm Dak
Prescott and I can, you know, I'll take a little
less to make sure we can keep our guys. But
if the owners can actually pay all of us with
certain moves, you know, certain incentives, bonus type contracts, things
(31:57):
like that. Then oh, go for your money, because Zak
has been Dak has been underpaid for these first three years.
He was a middle round draft pick. But he's he's
making some money off the field. And I don't I
can't hate on Dak. Hey, get get what you want.
But if I'm the Dallas Cowboys front office or the
Cowboys brain trust, I am tinkering around and saying, listen, hey,
we had a defense, um, we had an offense. In
(32:20):
the Minnesota Vikings got to the NFC Championship a couple
of years ago with Case Keenom Man, Well, Dak is
a Case Keendom who's better, a better version of Face
King And the Vikings kicked him to the curb in
a heartbeat. And then he went to Denver and oh,
look he doesn't have Adam feeling and to fund Diggs
and we're the Broncos. There's no better you're gonna tell
me Dak Prescott is not a better version of Zach.
(32:43):
I think he's significantly better than Case. But I'm My
point is he's a player manager. He's a game manager
with playmaking skills, he's a big playmaker, and he's a winner,
and he's a leader. I agree with hush on that
he is a winner. He is a leader. He's proven
that he's Pat Mahomes or anybody like that, Aaron Rodgers,
but he's a winner. He's not quite Russell Wilson either,
(33:06):
but he's got a lot of Russell Wilson tendons. Who
would you rather? Who would you rather have going forward?
Sam Darnold my guy with the Jets, well, from what
I've seen right now, Dak Prescott saying what does Sam
Donald show mean? I know he was a rookie and
I like Darnald. Don't get me wrong, I like Darnald,
but Dak Prescott has been a good If I named
the Jets skill positioned players from last year, you gay.
(33:31):
The Jets receivers, tight end and running backs last year
were basically guys you'd be like, is that an XFL player,
a w NBA player or an NFL player? I got
you'll bad the Jets rust holding last season against you. Yeah,
but I'm also saying as and I like him again,
I thought the Giants screwed up by not drafting him.
Hosts And Creators
kelvin washington
Rob Parker
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