December 21, 2020 • 26 mins
Former Pro Bowl wide receiver and FOX Sports Radio weekend host TJ Houshmandzadeh is in for Chris, and he and Rob explain why they're not mad at Carson Wentz for being upset about getting benched - even if his poor play is the reason he got benched in the first place, tell us why they can't blame the current New York Jets players for getting the win yesterday and knocking them out of the Trevor Lawrence Sweepstakes, and debate if Randy Moss was out of line for saying that Jerry Rice isn't the Greatest Wide Receiver in NFL history.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thanks for listening to the Best of the Odd Couple podcasts.
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(00:21):
s R. You're listening to the Best of the Odd
Couple with Chris Brusso and Rock Harker. The latest from Philadelphia.
The Eagles lost to the Arizona Cardinals. Right, they lost
and did not cover the spread, So I'm just not
that happy about it. Okay, So I'm not I picked
(00:42):
the Cardinals. By the way, there was a push, right,
it was six and a half. What I did is
that what you got? I got seven and it was half. Man,
you unbelievable. I didn't get that, so of course I
got squeezed. But anyway, uh, you know, word comes down
ESPM reporting that Carson Wentz isn't happy about being a
(01:04):
you know, a backup and t J there's two schools.
Number One, nobody wants to be a backup when you
make it to the NFL. And that guy, let's not forget,
was two games away from being the MVP of the
league when he got hurt, and now he's a backup.
But the problem is you should probably keep that to yourself, right,
(01:26):
Nobody wants to be a backup on any level, whether
it's the NFL, it's college, it's high school. Everybody should
have aspirations of being a starter. But the thing with
Carson Wentz is, had he played better, he wouldn't be
a backup, right, And people, oh, he doesn't have enough weapons,
he doesn't have help. Then why is Jalen Hurts playing
(01:47):
as well as he's playing as a rookie. Why they're
not winning? Of course, but he's playing a lot better
than Carson Wentz. People need the media, they need to
start calling Carson Wentz out because if this was any
other their position player, they would say, oh, he's not
being a team guy. Oh he's selfish. Like but quarterbacks
do this and they get a pass. They get a
(02:11):
pass for saying, oh, I don't want to be a backup.
You shouldn't want to be a backup. They didn't want
to make you a backup. They were forced to make
you a backup. And so that's where had he played
just a little better, they'd probably be winning the division.
And so I thought they were gonna win the division.
I really did. And I know the offensive line, and
(02:32):
I'm not making excuses TJ. I know there's a lot
of things, but there's no doubt that he didn't play
well enough even with all the injuries. Right, even with
Jalen Hurtz is playing with the same deck of cards
that Carson Wentz was playing with the team, he's playing
much better. He's giving them life, he's giving them some juice.
And again they lost, but they played a good team
(02:55):
in the Cardinals, and then when they upset the Saints,
everybody was like, WHOA, just be a good teammate, and Carson,
he should be looking at it from this perspective. I
want there's only one team he should want to go to,
and it's the Coats. Not and you can say it's
for Frank, right, but the Coats have a great offensive line,
(03:15):
they have a young defense that's ranked in the top
five or six in the League's perfect spot for him.
Here's my question to you if you're Philadelphia, though, I
mean like, is that is that not your worst nightmare?
Or do you just accept it because it didn't work? Out.
And what I mean is they send him the Frank Reich,
you know, because in Indianapolis at any turns into Andrew
(03:38):
Luck or something. That's fine, you have. Those are things
you have to live with. There's no way if Jalen
Hurts these last two games plays like he played in
the first two games, there's no way possible you can
be the Philadelphia Eagles and go back to Carson Wentz.
It's not a competition. There's no way possible you can
do that. And so so here's my take. What you
can get. He doesn't play that well in the final
two games, just say that that he struggles. Now, what
(04:02):
if you're the Eagles, you have a little bit more
to think about. But I don't see that happening because
he went against the Saints defense. That's a tough defense.
They're they're not We talked about this earlier. That defense
at the Saints plays and they present they present problems.
It's not an easy thing. And so Jalen Hurts has
(04:22):
been impressive being a rookie, and I truly believe they
tried to set him up for failure starting at first
game against the Saints. It was like, okay, y'all call
it for Jalen Hurts. You're starting against the New Orleans Saints,
and I surprised him. Fox Sports Radio has the best
sports talk lineup in the nation. Catch all of our
shows at Fox Sports Radio dot com and within the
(04:45):
iHeart Radio app. Search f SR to listen live. There's
some team that needs something for Christmas. H TJ. The
New York Meetropolitans, the Jets right started the year oh
and thirteen. They come all the way across country to
play the Rams in that beautiful new stadium here in
(05:05):
Los Angeles, and the Rams lose to the Jets. First
of all, your reaction to how shocked when you were
that the Rams lost to the Jets, That is very shocking.
I didn't. Honestly, when I looked at it, I said,
I don't know how the Jets are gonna get a playoff.
Aaron Donald was gonna wreck them. I really didn't see
(05:28):
them being able to score more than seven or ten points.
And the way the Rams had been playing offensively, I said,
oh man, they're gonna You gotta be really disciplined when
when you go against this Rams offense. You can't peek
in the backfield. You gotta read your keys and play
discipline football, and so I just assumed, like everyone else,
like the Rams gonna this is gonna get ugly because
(05:50):
I remember the spread with seven seventeen. I took the
seventeen because I was like, the Rams will win, but
the Jets might score some meaningless touchdown late, you know
what I mean. Tj the wreck a seventeen point spread.
So I was just I didn't feel comfortable with even
an NFL team. Wasn't that too many points or no?
(06:11):
It seems like now, but when you look look at
Baltimore beat Jacksonville forty to fourteen sixteen, I believe it was.
But if you if you look at these scores, sometimes
it's like this is the NFL and these teams were
getting blown out. But the Raums have shown that their
high powered offense, they were putting up points on everybody
(06:32):
and the Jets aren't a good team. But the players
from the Jets were like, listen, I know y'all want
to go in sixteen to draft Trevor Lawrence, but we
are not trying to go on sixteen. We don't care
about Trevor Lawrence. And that could possibly change the facing
direction of that organization. But I will say this, I'll
be one hundred percent transparent. Sam Darnold is a good quarterback.
(06:55):
It's crazy how people give up on players so easily.
The Jets have the worst team in the league, and
and they got the worst coach, and Adam Gates as well,
who couldn't get anything out of You know a number
of players Tannehill couldn't have played for him. You look,
just look look at their skill guys. Can you name
(07:17):
they're starting skill players? You can't do it. And so
Darnald doesn't have the guys around him that You look
at his draft class of quarterbacks. You look what Baker has,
then compare that to Darnaldo. Baker has two big time
running backs, receivers and tight ends. Oh and he has
(07:39):
the best old line in the game. And then you
look at what Josh Allen has. Josh Allen has more
than Baker. You look at what Lamar has, Lamar has.
All these dudes have so much more surrounding them. Sam
doesn't have that help. And so you can't really get
a proper true evaluation of Sam Donald until he's play
(08:00):
with players that can give him help. And this is
no shot at what he's playing with, but they're not
starting on those teams that I just named. I totally agree.
I think that it's I remember Jared golf his first
when he was with Jeff Fisher. You remember Lewis Rams, Yeah,
he was awful. I thought he was a bust the
first year. I said, this, dude is terrible. But let
(08:21):
me say this to you, Okay, The Jets yesterday became
the first team in NFL history to be winless and
beat a nine plus win team on the road, and
just the third team all time to be all in
thirteen or worse and defeat a team with a winning record.
So it doesn't happen. And because of the strength of schedule,
here's the kicker, TJ the tiebreaker. The Jaguars, who are
(08:46):
tied with New York at one and thirteen, now slide
into the top spot. The Jaguars will still have to
play the Bears, who are seven and seven, and the
Colts who are ten and four. The Jets played a
Brown ten and four and the Patriots six and eight,
so you know, they still could change, you know what
(09:08):
I mean, And the Jets could somehow still get it
maybe get it back. But as a player, I know
from from a fan standpoint, it's like, if you're gonna
be terrible, you might as well be terrible all the
way and get a chance at a top pick. Okay,
And I know you as a former player and players
(09:29):
in general, you're playing for your job, your gig. You
don't care about who's coming in next year and all
that stuff. And my right, players want to win. Yeah,
you don't care about it. You don't want to go
for sure on in sixteen. You don't want to be
a part of that. That's a side of history that
you want no parts of. And so, and you know,
I covered the Lions when they were the first team.
(09:49):
I went sixteen, so I saw it up front, and
you're right, it's not something you want to be a
part of. They the players wanted to win. I guarantee
when they got in that locker room, they got on
that bus, and they got on that plane, you would
have thought they won a playoff game. I guarantee it
was that type of energy. Because you work so hard
(10:11):
and then you just lose. It's deflating, man. It demoralizes you.
And so to get that when guarantee they got on
that plane, and that's a long plane, right, back, they
felt like they won a playoff game. It was like
that relief, like like I can breathe, I can relax.
You don't want to be that team. But if I'm
Trevor Lawrence, do I pull a power? Like do I
(10:35):
want to go play in Jacksonville? Like going to New
York although they're bad, you'll go to New York. Do
you really want to go play in Jacksonville? And so
he has a lot to think about. I'm glad you
brought that up because there was talk that and there
was one the former the former Jets general manager kind
of you know, like rub the Jets face in it
like he could do. It was Mike Tannenbaum. What was saying, like,
(10:58):
you know, ay uh, he has leverage. He doesn't have
to go play for the Jets. It doesn't matter. And
now I'm like, when you're the first overall pick, guess what,
You're normally going to the worst team in the league. Yeah,
so pick your I mean, it ain't like if you
don't go there, you're going to Green Bay or you're
going you know what I mean, to a good team,
(11:19):
you're going to Kansas City because you won't get on
the field. But My point is, if you had the pick,
I think I would pick the Jets over to Jacksonville
any day, wouldn't you just just the media market and
you're you're playing in New York. The Jacksonville is just
(11:42):
that they had that one good year when they should
have beat the Patriots. They should have beat them. They
were up twenty to ten in the fourth quarter. You
hear me, Yeah, and they've been downhill. But just from
a overall getting the recognition um playing in a big mark,
you would by far prefer to play in New York
(12:04):
then Jacksonville. And I guarantee, as people are sitting down saying,
let's hope Jacksonville wins another game, and the people in
Jacksonville are saying, we better not win another game, this
is gonna get very interesting because this can determine what
type of career he has. You go to a team
an organization that's dysfunctional. I don't care how good you are,
(12:25):
You're not gonna change the fate of an organization if
they're not a line top to bottom. And I didn't
think that was the case when I played. I'm like,
I don't care what they do up top. We're good,
We're gonna win and we didn't win. And when you
get done playing and you really examine things and how
they win and how they were going your Oh, that's why.
And so it's no secret the teams that win and
(12:48):
organizations that win, they're all aligned. And you have to
feel like in Cincinnati, like why didn't we win? Like
did you like, after your career was over, did you
go like, how in the world do we not win
a playoff game? Y'all had good players, y'all had good teams.
We had, in my opinion, we had a great team
across the board. Our offensive line was fantastic. I mean,
(13:11):
we're doing seven step drops with no chip and anybody
that knows football nobody does that today, but we were
doing that. Wow, and we You just look at certain
things that occurred. At least I do, because I know
what happened, and I know what wasn't reported and what
the team hid from the media. Who juicy this? You
(13:33):
mean you didn't give it to the Cincinnati Enquired where
I used to work. No, I don't do none of that.
I'm not a saboteur. You know, I'm not gonna do that.
But I know things that happened and occurred that never
got out. And I don't know if other organizations were
doing the same thing, but when you start to cover
things up for guys, you enable them, and they're going
(13:56):
to continue to do it, and it's gonna get worse
and worse. And then the other players that aren't at
that level, when they get at that level, if that's
in them, they're gonna do it. So the cycle just
kind of repeats itself. And so I have a hard
time believing that the better organizations they do these type
of things. I just don't see it in And that's
why certain teams and organizations habitual losers and others aren't.
(14:21):
I agree with you because I saw it firsthand in
Detroit with the Lions. They had players there, TJ. You
know that, right, they had players. Yea, they couldn't win.
They got one playoff win since nineteen fifty seven. How
is that possible in the National Football League? I mean
it's something like when I just look at the teams,
the players we had, Carson is a quarterback, me and
(14:45):
Chad at receivers, Willie Anderson Whitworth, Levi Jones offensive line.
I mean, we had a really good team. Are running
we ran running backs running for fifteen hundred yards a
year and we just couldn't win. And that's what Trevor
Lawrence could possibly face when you go to an organization
(15:07):
that's dysfunctional, and it will hurt his career obviously. And
so it's gonna be very interesting these next five months
how this plays out. Fox Sports Radio has the best
sports talk lineup in the nation. Catch all of our
shows at foxsports Radio dot com and within the iHeartRadio
(15:27):
app search f SR to listen live. All right, here's
something that I'm glad you're on today, filling in TJ
for real, because you're a former NFL wide receiver. You
had success, You're a pro bowler the whole nine yards.
You know the game, you know the position. I just
(15:48):
cover it. Okay, you've been out there. I used to
watch Randy Moss because I covered the Lions. I covered
every Lions game for essentially twenty years, TJ. So I
saw Randy Moss play TWI right every year when he
was in Many, Minnesota, and I thought he was an
unbelievable receiver. I saw TiO play another tremendous receiver, two
(16:12):
of the best that I've ever seen. But I also
old enough that I saw Jerry Rice play, not watching YouTube,
but I saw him in cover games he played in
and I think Jerry Rice is the greatest receiver who's
ever played football. He has all the statistics, he was
on championship teams, he won MVPs, all everything, and yet
(16:35):
Randy Moss came out and said that he is the
best receiver. To is second and Jerry Rice is third
or fourth. Let's listen first to Randy Moss. You're talking
to him already, Okay, So I put I put myself first,
I'll put t o second, and I would put I
(16:57):
think Jerry Jerry's probably third or fourth. Talking about dominating
the game and changing the game of football. I don't
live on statistics, because if you live on statistics and
live on championships, that's all political. You've seen guys released
or cut from a team just by a couple of
words in the media. You've seen guys given contracts or
(17:18):
you've seen guys not given contract just because the color
of their skin. So I think that you got you
gotta throw politics out of the game of football and
look at the look at the impact of what each
individual was able to make in the game of football.
All right, So TJ, before you jump in, because I
(17:39):
can't wait to hear your take. Jerry Rice responded, it
was not about me being a goal I don't care
if I'm that won the second or the third receiver.
It was all about me winning Super Bowls for the
city of San Francisco, my teammates and my family. I
was able to win three Civil Bowls, I was an MVP.
(18:01):
I pretty much hold every record right now. And you know,
he continues to say it's political or whatever. But if
Randy wants to be number one, that's fine. There are
so many ghosts. If Po wants to be number two,
that's fine. But my main main thing is it was
all about the rings, the championships, and that's why we
(18:24):
played the game. TJ. Your take, I mean, I like
Jerry Rice's response. I mean, it's tough because Moss he
should feel that way. And if I'm not mistaken, it
was on Tio's podcast, and so that's why he said
TiO was second. But those three guys are the top
(18:45):
three receivers that ever play, and however you want to
rank them, you rank them. But Moss should feel that
he's the best now the political stuff. I don't. I
don't know how playing football and putting up stats gets political,
thank you. I don't get that. But I also anybody
that's played football knows where you're drafted determines how you
(19:06):
go down in history. Jerry Rice was lucky enough to
be drafted to the forty nine ers that they're gonna
win Super Bowls, and they did win Super Bowls. And
you play with Joe Montana and Steve Young to Hall
of Fame. How many guys could say during the prime
of their careers that they played with those two US quarterbacks.
And so you can take your pick if you if
(19:28):
you asked me, Randy Moss was more talented, but Jerry
Rice was a better overall receiver just because he did
it longer and mentally he was engaged his entire career,
whereas Moss admitted, I play when I want to play.
You remember with the Raiders he stopped playing, Yeah, but
(19:50):
he was frustrated because they were losing, And so being
physically being a good player physically plays a part, but
you gotta be a good player mentally as well, and
so Jerry Rice was that all the time. And that's
why to me, it's Jerry Rice. But Moss is by
far and away the most talented guy to play because
(20:11):
he could stretch the field. He was so tall and
he could run and he and guys were afraid of
him right off top because you didn't want him to
run by you, and he still ran by you. And
so but the political comment, I'm lost on that when
I don't know how that comes into to the game
at art or even to the discussion, because the coach
(20:31):
is gonna try to get Moss the ball all the time,
as they were with Jerry Rice Antio. See, I'm with you.
I think that's where he loses me to say that
if you're into statistics or if you're into super Bowls
or whatever, like, what what do you mean? If you're
into it, that is why we play, right, that's but
it's it's but the political point of it, I don't get.
(20:54):
But Jerry Rice had he he was lucky enough to
be drafted to the forty nine ers and they were
going to win Super Bowls and the Minnesota Vikings they
were not. And that's just what it is. But they
were fifteen in one. No, it's not automatical, right, No,
But right, but and who was the kicker who made
every kick that year except for the one You remember that, teach.
(21:15):
I remember that I was younger, but I do remember
that that was the one kick he missed all year
and it cost him. But my point is, just because
Jerry Rice went to the forty nine, it didn't mean
that he automatically was gonna win. Because TiO played for
the forty nine is he never won. He played for
the Cowboys, he never won, So so you can't just say, oh, well,
(21:36):
they played for a better organization, so they were gonna win.
And then the other part is Jerry Rice's longevity and
the numbers. He leads in every category, and he's gonna
lead because of what you just said, the longevity, amount
of years he played. Nobody's catching him. The closest would
(21:56):
be probably Larry Fitzgerald and he's not gonna catch him. No,
he's not. Rice played forever that I don't see that
record ever being broken at all. Ever. See when I
when I look at all of the things put together,
and I'm talking about winning, like like whenever I argue
about Joe Montana, here's another part, and I'm just going
(22:16):
off to a side to explain what I'm saying when
people talk about Joe Montana, they always say the same thing, wow, yeah, yeah,
Jerry Rice. Wow. Of course you know he was four
and on the Super Bowl. But Joe Montana, when you
look at his resume and and TJ it's as complete
a resume as you can have, four and on the
Super Bowls, eleven touchdowns, no picks. He won two Super
(22:42):
Bowls with Jerry Rice. He won two Super Bowls without
Jerry Rice. He also won three mbps and two of
the four Super Bowls he had to throw a touchdown
to win the game, not set up a field goal,
you know where you have to get a touchdown. So
I don't like when I look at him, But when
I look at Jerry Rice, it's the same thing. Where
(23:05):
is the blemish or the weakness in his resume? Because
it's one thing to play a long time, and it's
another thing to be productive for a long time, which
Jerry Rice was and he won. To me, he's the
best receiver. And that's not a knock on to and
that's not a knock on Randy Moss. It isn't. And
the one year that Randy Moss was on that great team,
(23:30):
the eighteen and old Patriots. What happened TJ? They lost that?
They did lose, Yes, so right, they lost. It was
one of those things where everybody expected him to win.
They didn't win, and that was Moss's best and last
opportunity to get that Super Bowl. But again, if I'm
(23:53):
Jerry Rice, I think I'm the best. If I'm Randy Moss,
I think I'm the best. If I TiO, I think
I'm TJ. And I think I'm the best, And so
you should feel that way. Those guys have genuinely let
me stop you. You think you're the best. And I
get that as a player, everybody should. I don't care,
but has Moss has like a legit claim to really
(24:17):
feel that way. He like, you don't feel good, but
you don't. You feel like you're the best, but you don't.
You know you're not the best receiver I ever played
in the NFL. Yeah, yeah, I feel like if I
was putting different situations, come into the league a different way,
that you might have. Yeah. Yes, and that's just how
(24:37):
I feel. But Moss genuinely, when you say who's the
best receiver to ever play? Oh, his name is gonna
be brought up like he was that talented. But Jerry
Rice not only did it physically, he did it mentally.
But but here's the other thing. He pooh pools Jerry
Rice's career. Let's be honest, TJ. He says, well, he
(24:58):
might a lot of people A many people fourth or fifth?
What did he say? Third or fourth? Fourth? Now? Come now,
really he's third or fourth? You buy that? No, but
a lot of people tried to Jerry Rice played with
Joe Montana and Steve Young. That that's the argument that
they that they come with. And I played with this guy. Yeah,
(25:24):
and so Randall Cunningham. They were fifteen and one. Do
you remember that was Black America's team. Dennis Green was
the coach. They had a Black UH quarterback and Randall Cunningham.
They had Randy Mass Chris Carter. You remember that team?
Do you remember that team? I do. They were one
of the better offensive teams and kind of like what
(25:45):
happened when in New England they came up short. They
didn't even get to the Super Bowl. No, they ran
into the Falcons, right, isn't that what it was? Yeah?
I just I don't know. I think it's it just
rubbed me the wrong way I'm not saying I love
watching Randy Moss. I just told you I watched him
all the time, and he's a great player. I used
(26:06):
to see him make plays. I couldn't even believe he
used to kill the lions, as you can imagine when
I watched him
Thanks for listening to the Best of the Odd Couple podcasts.
Be sure to catch us live every weekday from seven
pm to ten pm Eastern four to seven Pacific on
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(00:21):
s R. You're listening to the Best of the Odd
Couple with Chris Brusso and Rock Harker. The latest from Philadelphia.
The Eagles lost to the Arizona Cardinals. Right, they lost
and did not cover the spread, So I'm just not
that happy about it. Okay, So I'm not I picked
(00:42):
the Cardinals. By the way, there was a push, right,
it was six and a half. What I did is
that what you got? I got seven and it was half. Man,
you unbelievable. I didn't get that, so of course I
got squeezed. But anyway, uh, you know, word comes down
ESPM reporting that Carson Wentz isn't happy about being a
(01:04):
you know, a backup and t J there's two schools.
Number One, nobody wants to be a backup when you
make it to the NFL. And that guy, let's not forget,
was two games away from being the MVP of the
league when he got hurt, and now he's a backup.
But the problem is you should probably keep that to yourself, right,
(01:26):
Nobody wants to be a backup on any level, whether
it's the NFL, it's college, it's high school. Everybody should
have aspirations of being a starter. But the thing with
Carson Wentz is, had he played better, he wouldn't be
a backup, right, And people, oh, he doesn't have enough weapons,
he doesn't have help. Then why is Jalen Hurts playing
(01:47):
as well as he's playing as a rookie. Why they're
not winning? Of course, but he's playing a lot better
than Carson Wentz. People need the media, they need to
start calling Carson Wentz out because if this was any
other their position player, they would say, oh, he's not
being a team guy. Oh he's selfish. Like but quarterbacks
do this and they get a pass. They get a
(02:11):
pass for saying, oh, I don't want to be a backup.
You shouldn't want to be a backup. They didn't want
to make you a backup. They were forced to make
you a backup. And so that's where had he played
just a little better, they'd probably be winning the division.
And so I thought they were gonna win the division.
I really did. And I know the offensive line, and
(02:32):
I'm not making excuses TJ. I know there's a lot
of things, but there's no doubt that he didn't play
well enough even with all the injuries. Right, even with
Jalen Hurtz is playing with the same deck of cards
that Carson Wentz was playing with the team, he's playing
much better. He's giving them life, he's giving them some juice.
And again they lost, but they played a good team
(02:55):
in the Cardinals, and then when they upset the Saints,
everybody was like, WHOA, just be a good teammate, and Carson,
he should be looking at it from this perspective. I
want there's only one team he should want to go to,
and it's the Coats. Not and you can say it's
for Frank, right, but the Coats have a great offensive line,
(03:15):
they have a young defense that's ranked in the top
five or six in the League's perfect spot for him.
Here's my question to you if you're Philadelphia, though, I
mean like, is that is that not your worst nightmare?
Or do you just accept it because it didn't work? Out.
And what I mean is they send him the Frank Reich,
you know, because in Indianapolis at any turns into Andrew
(03:38):
Luck or something. That's fine, you have. Those are things
you have to live with. There's no way if Jalen
Hurts these last two games plays like he played in
the first two games, there's no way possible you can
be the Philadelphia Eagles and go back to Carson Wentz.
It's not a competition. There's no way possible you can
do that. And so so here's my take. What you
can get. He doesn't play that well in the final
two games, just say that that he struggles. Now, what
(04:02):
if you're the Eagles, you have a little bit more
to think about. But I don't see that happening because
he went against the Saints defense. That's a tough defense.
They're they're not We talked about this earlier. That defense
at the Saints plays and they present they present problems.
It's not an easy thing. And so Jalen Hurts has
(04:22):
been impressive being a rookie, and I truly believe they
tried to set him up for failure starting at first
game against the Saints. It was like, okay, y'all call
it for Jalen Hurts. You're starting against the New Orleans Saints,
and I surprised him. Fox Sports Radio has the best
sports talk lineup in the nation. Catch all of our
shows at Fox Sports Radio dot com and within the
(04:45):
iHeart Radio app. Search f SR to listen live. There's
some team that needs something for Christmas. H TJ. The
New York Meetropolitans, the Jets right started the year oh
and thirteen. They come all the way across country to
play the Rams in that beautiful new stadium here in
(05:05):
Los Angeles, and the Rams lose to the Jets. First
of all, your reaction to how shocked when you were
that the Rams lost to the Jets, That is very shocking.
I didn't. Honestly, when I looked at it, I said,
I don't know how the Jets are gonna get a playoff.
Aaron Donald was gonna wreck them. I really didn't see
(05:28):
them being able to score more than seven or ten points.
And the way the Rams had been playing offensively, I said,
oh man, they're gonna You gotta be really disciplined when
when you go against this Rams offense. You can't peek
in the backfield. You gotta read your keys and play
discipline football, and so I just assumed, like everyone else,
like the Rams gonna this is gonna get ugly because
(05:50):
I remember the spread with seven seventeen. I took the
seventeen because I was like, the Rams will win, but
the Jets might score some meaningless touchdown late, you know
what I mean. Tj the wreck a seventeen point spread.
So I was just I didn't feel comfortable with even
an NFL team. Wasn't that too many points or no?
(06:11):
It seems like now, but when you look look at
Baltimore beat Jacksonville forty to fourteen sixteen, I believe it was.
But if you if you look at these scores, sometimes
it's like this is the NFL and these teams were
getting blown out. But the Raums have shown that their
high powered offense, they were putting up points on everybody
(06:32):
and the Jets aren't a good team. But the players
from the Jets were like, listen, I know y'all want
to go in sixteen to draft Trevor Lawrence, but we
are not trying to go on sixteen. We don't care
about Trevor Lawrence. And that could possibly change the facing
direction of that organization. But I will say this, I'll
be one hundred percent transparent. Sam Darnold is a good quarterback.
(06:55):
It's crazy how people give up on players so easily.
The Jets have the worst team in the league, and
and they got the worst coach, and Adam Gates as well,
who couldn't get anything out of You know a number
of players Tannehill couldn't have played for him. You look,
just look look at their skill guys. Can you name
(07:17):
they're starting skill players? You can't do it. And so
Darnald doesn't have the guys around him that You look
at his draft class of quarterbacks. You look what Baker has,
then compare that to Darnaldo. Baker has two big time
running backs, receivers and tight ends. Oh and he has
(07:39):
the best old line in the game. And then you
look at what Josh Allen has. Josh Allen has more
than Baker. You look at what Lamar has, Lamar has.
All these dudes have so much more surrounding them. Sam
doesn't have that help. And so you can't really get
a proper true evaluation of Sam Donald until he's play
(08:00):
with players that can give him help. And this is
no shot at what he's playing with, but they're not
starting on those teams that I just named. I totally agree.
I think that it's I remember Jared golf his first
when he was with Jeff Fisher. You remember Lewis Rams, Yeah,
he was awful. I thought he was a bust the
first year. I said, this, dude is terrible. But let
(08:21):
me say this to you, Okay, The Jets yesterday became
the first team in NFL history to be winless and
beat a nine plus win team on the road, and
just the third team all time to be all in
thirteen or worse and defeat a team with a winning record.
So it doesn't happen. And because of the strength of schedule,
here's the kicker, TJ the tiebreaker. The Jaguars, who are
(08:46):
tied with New York at one and thirteen, now slide
into the top spot. The Jaguars will still have to
play the Bears, who are seven and seven, and the
Colts who are ten and four. The Jets played a
Brown ten and four and the Patriots six and eight,
so you know, they still could change, you know what
(09:08):
I mean, And the Jets could somehow still get it
maybe get it back. But as a player, I know
from from a fan standpoint, it's like, if you're gonna
be terrible, you might as well be terrible all the
way and get a chance at a top pick. Okay,
And I know you as a former player and players
(09:29):
in general, you're playing for your job, your gig. You
don't care about who's coming in next year and all
that stuff. And my right, players want to win. Yeah,
you don't care about it. You don't want to go
for sure on in sixteen. You don't want to be
a part of that. That's a side of history that
you want no parts of. And so, and you know,
I covered the Lions when they were the first team.
(09:49):
I went sixteen, so I saw it up front, and
you're right, it's not something you want to be a
part of. They the players wanted to win. I guarantee
when they got in that locker room, they got on
that bus, and they got on that plane, you would
have thought they won a playoff game. I guarantee it
was that type of energy. Because you work so hard
(10:11):
and then you just lose. It's deflating, man. It demoralizes you.
And so to get that when guarantee they got on
that plane, and that's a long plane, right, back, they
felt like they won a playoff game. It was like
that relief, like like I can breathe, I can relax.
You don't want to be that team. But if I'm
Trevor Lawrence, do I pull a power? Like do I
(10:35):
want to go play in Jacksonville? Like going to New
York although they're bad, you'll go to New York. Do
you really want to go play in Jacksonville? And so
he has a lot to think about. I'm glad you
brought that up because there was talk that and there
was one the former the former Jets general manager kind
of you know, like rub the Jets face in it
like he could do. It was Mike Tannenbaum. What was saying, like,
(10:58):
you know, ay uh, he has leverage. He doesn't have
to go play for the Jets. It doesn't matter. And
now I'm like, when you're the first overall pick, guess what,
You're normally going to the worst team in the league. Yeah,
so pick your I mean, it ain't like if you
don't go there, you're going to Green Bay or you're
going you know what I mean, to a good team,
(11:19):
you're going to Kansas City because you won't get on
the field. But My point is, if you had the pick,
I think I would pick the Jets over to Jacksonville
any day, wouldn't you just just the media market and
you're you're playing in New York. The Jacksonville is just
(11:42):
that they had that one good year when they should
have beat the Patriots. They should have beat them. They
were up twenty to ten in the fourth quarter. You
hear me, Yeah, and they've been downhill. But just from
a overall getting the recognition um playing in a big mark,
you would by far prefer to play in New York
(12:04):
then Jacksonville. And I guarantee, as people are sitting down saying,
let's hope Jacksonville wins another game, and the people in
Jacksonville are saying, we better not win another game, this
is gonna get very interesting because this can determine what
type of career he has. You go to a team
an organization that's dysfunctional. I don't care how good you are,
(12:25):
You're not gonna change the fate of an organization if
they're not a line top to bottom. And I didn't
think that was the case when I played. I'm like,
I don't care what they do up top. We're good,
We're gonna win and we didn't win. And when you
get done playing and you really examine things and how
they win and how they were going your Oh, that's why.
And so it's no secret the teams that win and
(12:48):
organizations that win, they're all aligned. And you have to
feel like in Cincinnati, like why didn't we win? Like
did you like, after your career was over, did you
go like, how in the world do we not win
a playoff game? Y'all had good players, y'all had good teams.
We had, in my opinion, we had a great team
across the board. Our offensive line was fantastic. I mean,
(13:11):
we're doing seven step drops with no chip and anybody
that knows football nobody does that today, but we were
doing that. Wow, and we You just look at certain
things that occurred. At least I do, because I know
what happened, and I know what wasn't reported and what
the team hid from the media. Who juicy this? You
(13:33):
mean you didn't give it to the Cincinnati Enquired where
I used to work. No, I don't do none of that.
I'm not a saboteur. You know, I'm not gonna do that.
But I know things that happened and occurred that never
got out. And I don't know if other organizations were
doing the same thing, but when you start to cover
things up for guys, you enable them, and they're going
(13:56):
to continue to do it, and it's gonna get worse
and worse. And then the other players that aren't at
that level, when they get at that level, if that's
in them, they're gonna do it. So the cycle just
kind of repeats itself. And so I have a hard
time believing that the better organizations they do these type
of things. I just don't see it in And that's
why certain teams and organizations habitual losers and others aren't.
(14:21):
I agree with you because I saw it firsthand in
Detroit with the Lions. They had players there, TJ. You
know that, right, they had players. Yea, they couldn't win.
They got one playoff win since nineteen fifty seven. How
is that possible in the National Football League? I mean
it's something like when I just look at the teams,
the players we had, Carson is a quarterback, me and
(14:45):
Chad at receivers, Willie Anderson Whitworth, Levi Jones offensive line.
I mean, we had a really good team. Are running
we ran running backs running for fifteen hundred yards a
year and we just couldn't win. And that's what Trevor
Lawrence could possibly face when you go to an organization
(15:07):
that's dysfunctional, and it will hurt his career obviously. And
so it's gonna be very interesting these next five months
how this plays out. Fox Sports Radio has the best
sports talk lineup in the nation. Catch all of our
shows at foxsports Radio dot com and within the iHeartRadio
(15:27):
app search f SR to listen live. All right, here's
something that I'm glad you're on today, filling in TJ
for real, because you're a former NFL wide receiver. You
had success, You're a pro bowler the whole nine yards.
You know the game, you know the position. I just
(15:48):
cover it. Okay, you've been out there. I used to
watch Randy Moss because I covered the Lions. I covered
every Lions game for essentially twenty years, TJ. So I
saw Randy Moss play TWI right every year when he
was in Many, Minnesota, and I thought he was an
unbelievable receiver. I saw TiO play another tremendous receiver, two
(16:12):
of the best that I've ever seen. But I also
old enough that I saw Jerry Rice play, not watching YouTube,
but I saw him in cover games he played in
and I think Jerry Rice is the greatest receiver who's
ever played football. He has all the statistics, he was
on championship teams, he won MVPs, all everything, and yet
(16:35):
Randy Moss came out and said that he is the
best receiver. To is second and Jerry Rice is third
or fourth. Let's listen first to Randy Moss. You're talking
to him already, Okay, So I put I put myself first,
I'll put t o second, and I would put I
(16:57):
think Jerry Jerry's probably third or fourth. Talking about dominating
the game and changing the game of football. I don't
live on statistics, because if you live on statistics and
live on championships, that's all political. You've seen guys released
or cut from a team just by a couple of
words in the media. You've seen guys given contracts or
(17:18):
you've seen guys not given contract just because the color
of their skin. So I think that you got you
gotta throw politics out of the game of football and
look at the look at the impact of what each
individual was able to make in the game of football.
All right, So TJ, before you jump in, because I
(17:39):
can't wait to hear your take. Jerry Rice responded, it
was not about me being a goal I don't care
if I'm that won the second or the third receiver.
It was all about me winning Super Bowls for the
city of San Francisco, my teammates and my family. I
was able to win three Civil Bowls, I was an MVP.
(18:01):
I pretty much hold every record right now. And you know,
he continues to say it's political or whatever. But if
Randy wants to be number one, that's fine. There are
so many ghosts. If Po wants to be number two,
that's fine. But my main main thing is it was
all about the rings, the championships, and that's why we
(18:24):
played the game. TJ. Your take, I mean, I like
Jerry Rice's response. I mean, it's tough because Moss he
should feel that way. And if I'm not mistaken, it
was on Tio's podcast, and so that's why he said
TiO was second. But those three guys are the top
(18:45):
three receivers that ever play, and however you want to
rank them, you rank them. But Moss should feel that
he's the best now the political stuff. I don't. I
don't know how playing football and putting up stats gets political,
thank you. I don't get that. But I also anybody
that's played football knows where you're drafted determines how you
(19:06):
go down in history. Jerry Rice was lucky enough to
be drafted to the forty nine ers that they're gonna
win Super Bowls, and they did win Super Bowls. And
you play with Joe Montana and Steve Young to Hall
of Fame. How many guys could say during the prime
of their careers that they played with those two US quarterbacks.
And so you can take your pick if you if
(19:28):
you asked me, Randy Moss was more talented, but Jerry
Rice was a better overall receiver just because he did
it longer and mentally he was engaged his entire career,
whereas Moss admitted, I play when I want to play.
You remember with the Raiders he stopped playing, Yeah, but
(19:50):
he was frustrated because they were losing, And so being
physically being a good player physically plays a part, but
you gotta be a good player mentally as well, and
so Jerry Rice was that all the time. And that's
why to me, it's Jerry Rice. But Moss is by
far and away the most talented guy to play because
(20:11):
he could stretch the field. He was so tall and
he could run and he and guys were afraid of
him right off top because you didn't want him to
run by you, and he still ran by you. And
so but the political comment, I'm lost on that when
I don't know how that comes into to the game
at art or even to the discussion, because the coach
(20:31):
is gonna try to get Moss the ball all the time,
as they were with Jerry Rice Antio. See, I'm with you.
I think that's where he loses me to say that
if you're into statistics or if you're into super Bowls
or whatever, like, what what do you mean? If you're
into it, that is why we play, right, that's but
it's it's but the political point of it, I don't get.
(20:54):
But Jerry Rice had he he was lucky enough to
be drafted to the forty nine ers and they were
going to win Super Bowls and the Minnesota Vikings they
were not. And that's just what it is. But they
were fifteen in one. No, it's not automatical, right, No,
But right, but and who was the kicker who made
every kick that year except for the one You remember that, teach.
(21:15):
I remember that I was younger, but I do remember
that that was the one kick he missed all year
and it cost him. But my point is, just because
Jerry Rice went to the forty nine, it didn't mean
that he automatically was gonna win. Because TiO played for
the forty nine is he never won. He played for
the Cowboys, he never won, So so you can't just say, oh, well,
(21:36):
they played for a better organization, so they were gonna win.
And then the other part is Jerry Rice's longevity and
the numbers. He leads in every category, and he's gonna
lead because of what you just said, the longevity, amount
of years he played. Nobody's catching him. The closest would
(21:56):
be probably Larry Fitzgerald and he's not gonna catch him. No,
he's not. Rice played forever that I don't see that
record ever being broken at all. Ever. See when I
when I look at all of the things put together,
and I'm talking about winning, like like whenever I argue
about Joe Montana, here's another part, and I'm just going
(22:16):
off to a side to explain what I'm saying when
people talk about Joe Montana, they always say the same thing, wow, yeah, yeah,
Jerry Rice. Wow. Of course you know he was four
and on the Super Bowl. But Joe Montana, when you
look at his resume and and TJ it's as complete
a resume as you can have, four and on the
Super Bowls, eleven touchdowns, no picks. He won two Super
(22:42):
Bowls with Jerry Rice. He won two Super Bowls without
Jerry Rice. He also won three mbps and two of
the four Super Bowls he had to throw a touchdown
to win the game, not set up a field goal,
you know where you have to get a touchdown. So
I don't like when I look at him, But when
I look at Jerry Rice, it's the same thing. Where
(23:05):
is the blemish or the weakness in his resume? Because
it's one thing to play a long time, and it's
another thing to be productive for a long time, which
Jerry Rice was and he won. To me, he's the
best receiver. And that's not a knock on to and
that's not a knock on Randy Moss. It isn't. And
the one year that Randy Moss was on that great team,
(23:30):
the eighteen and old Patriots. What happened TJ? They lost that?
They did lose, Yes, so right, they lost. It was
one of those things where everybody expected him to win.
They didn't win, and that was Moss's best and last
opportunity to get that Super Bowl. But again, if I'm
(23:53):
Jerry Rice, I think I'm the best. If I'm Randy Moss,
I think I'm the best. If I TiO, I think
I'm TJ. And I think I'm the best, And so
you should feel that way. Those guys have genuinely let
me stop you. You think you're the best. And I
get that as a player, everybody should. I don't care,
but has Moss has like a legit claim to really
(24:17):
feel that way. He like, you don't feel good, but
you don't. You feel like you're the best, but you don't.
You know you're not the best receiver I ever played
in the NFL. Yeah, yeah, I feel like if I
was putting different situations, come into the league a different way,
that you might have. Yeah. Yes, and that's just how
(24:37):
I feel. But Moss genuinely, when you say who's the
best receiver to ever play? Oh, his name is gonna
be brought up like he was that talented. But Jerry
Rice not only did it physically, he did it mentally.
But but here's the other thing. He pooh pools Jerry
Rice's career. Let's be honest, TJ. He says, well, he
(24:58):
might a lot of people A many people fourth or fifth?
What did he say? Third or fourth? Fourth? Now? Come now,
really he's third or fourth? You buy that? No, but
a lot of people tried to Jerry Rice played with
Joe Montana and Steve Young. That that's the argument that
they that they come with. And I played with this guy. Yeah,
(25:24):
and so Randall Cunningham. They were fifteen and one. Do
you remember that was Black America's team. Dennis Green was
the coach. They had a Black UH quarterback and Randall Cunningham.
They had Randy Mass Chris Carter. You remember that team?
Do you remember that team? I do. They were one
of the better offensive teams and kind of like what
(25:45):
happened when in New England they came up short. They
didn't even get to the Super Bowl. No, they ran
into the Falcons, right, isn't that what it was? Yeah?
I just I don't know. I think it's it just
rubbed me the wrong way I'm not saying I love
watching Randy Moss. I just told you I watched him
all the time, and he's a great player. I used
(26:06):
to see him make plays. I couldn't even believe he
used to kill the lions, as you can imagine when
I watched him
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