Steve Hartman and Andy Furman talk Kyrie Irving and Deshaun Watson!

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Don't listening to Fox Sports. You go living Ray once
again on a fabulous Saturday. This is Fox Sports Saturday.
Hartman and Furman with you in our Fox Sports Radio studios. Andy,
it is always great to be reunited with you. Well,
one thing always remember about Annie and I. We were
in Indianapolis for the Super Bowl. I remember our we

(00:23):
Ronnie Vood I believe at St Elmo's. Yes we did,
uh super Bowl? I was can you believe? Ten years ago? Andy?
And that was a long time ago. Every time we
get Andy Ferman on this show, it's it's great for
me because Annie Andie and I are from the same generation.
We've seen a lot Andy over the years, a lot,
you know. In fact, I was kidding our boss there,

(00:47):
Scott Shapiro, when he said, you know Hartman and he's
going to do the show, and I said, hey, you know, combined,
we got like a hundred years of sports talk radio.
Oh my word, it seems like a long time. By
the way, Dollar shape Up six blade razor brings noticeably
smooth shades of six standless steel blades for swift harrow moval,
and a lubricating strip that keeps things smooth. Dollar shaved

(01:08):
Club razors are sold at dollar Shaved club dot com
or in stories. All right, we got a lot of
things going on, but right now we're in the midst
of a no hitter at Yankee Stadium. Right now, we
have ninth inning, bottom of the ninth right actually on
the top of the ninth inning. Right now, the Yankees
have been no hit. But Annie, this gets back to

(01:29):
old school. So Christian Navier started picture for the Astros,
had a no hitter, going through seventiens, thirteen strikeouts, just
one walk, dominating, and Dusty Baker yanks him from the
game with a no hitter. I can't stand that. I'm
gonna give you a stats. So he eats through a

(01:49):
hundred fifteen pitches when he got yanks. I'm gonna go
back to a game on June nineteen, so people like
Annie and I can remember back then Nolan Ryan, who
by the way, was still pitching nineteen years later, in
still throwing ninety five plus at that point. But on
June fourteen, nineteen seventy four, Nolan Ryan in one game

(02:13):
through two hundred and thirty five pitches. In one game,
two hundred and thirty five pitch It was a fifteen
inning game, he got a no decision and he threw
two hundred and thirty five pitches. Now, nowadays you'd be
arrested for that right, two five pitches. And yet that
Nolan Ryan, who threw two hundred and thirty five pitches

(02:36):
in a game of June of nineteen seventy four, was
still throwing heat nineteen years later. Andy, I mean the
idea to pull this kid out of an opportunity for
a once in a lifetime to throw a no hitter
a Yankee Stadium. No less, I think that people in

(02:59):
the public meet and media people are too the saying, well,
they need to conserve the arm because these players make
so much money. Look, we talked about how medicine and
the medical industry has really from seventy four, as you
mentioned till now, has really upgraded itself where these guys
could come back from injuries from m injury. So it's
not the body so much as the money. It's the

(03:21):
money fact that they are afraid of something may happen
to these guys that have been such an expense. So
once again, the money factor has ruined the game. Don't
you think people sitting in Yankee Stadium today even though,
their Yankee fans who want to be involved in a
no hitter, and they could say to their friends down
the road, I saw that game, I saw a no hitter. Well,

(03:42):
here's the thing. If if there was some kind of
evidence that you're prolonging the career and the health of
the arms of these pictures by pitching them less, I'd say, okay,
But that's not the case. It seems like all these
guys are getting multiple Tommy John surgeries. Again, I'm coming
out old school on this alright. So ninth teen, eight nine, Andy,
the Baseball All Star Game was in Anaheim. So it

(04:05):
was my first year in radio after I left my
pr job of the Raiders, and they had an old
timers game still in those days before the All Star Game.
So I'm in this locker room with all these Hall
of famers, and there was Warren's Spawn, the winnings left
hander in the history of baseball, sitting there. And already
in the late eighties, guys aren't throwing as many complete games, right,
and so I wanted to sit next to him. So

(04:26):
in nineteen sixty three, get this, Warren Spawn was forty
two years old. He was twenty three and seven that year,
but more impressive, he had twenty two complete games at
age forty two. In fact, he had a game that
year against the Giants against another Hall of Fame pitcher,
one Marshall, who was only twenty five years of age.
The game won sixteen innings. They were both pitching in

(04:49):
the end, and I would argue with you, saying it
has been a talent than then now right, well, the
athletes are better than everything else. I asked him, I said,
how is it possible at that age you were able
to throw his man the energy as he did, And
he said, the problem now is he goes the more
I threw, the stronger I get, not the other way around.
It wasn't armed fatigue, he goes, I used to do

(05:11):
long toss in between starts. I'm strengthening my arm as
the season progresses. And if you look at what he says,
you go way back in the day. The great pictures
were usually at their best late in the season, even
after they've logged two hundred fifty sometimes three hundred innings.
They were getting stronger. So this whole way they're handling

(05:32):
pictures nowadays. I don't know. Again, so many things, but
if there was some kind of evidence to show that
they're protecting, their arms, are prolonging, their careers are prolonging.
They're fine, I'll go along with it. But that's not
the case. It's expensive merchandise. That's why they do it.
I'll tell you what. In a game that is so
so suffocated with statistics like launch angle, velocity of things

(05:53):
like that, the one statistic that really and truly should
be at the forefront, and it's not is CG complete games.
It's completely evaporated. I have you have teams now, teams
that go an entire season without a single complete game,
not one, zero zero complete games. Uh, the days of
Bob Gifts and twenty eight complete games and thirty four starts.

(06:15):
He was never lifted for a pinch under the entire season,
that's or taken out of a game during ending the
entire season. And somehow he was still striking out seventeen
in Game one of the World Series after completing twenty
eight games in the regular season. Oh how was he
after then? Oh? I don't know. Two years later one
another cy Young Award. Anyway, don't get me started. Keep Andy.

(06:40):
That's why I love having you on, because you there's
a certain reference, right, and look at I'm not against change.
There are certain things baseball, especially because you know, for
you and I, Andy, we remember the day when baseball
ruled the sports world. It wasn't the NFL. You know,
the NBA was a niche sport at best. Um baseball

(07:00):
ruled the sports work. So what happened? I do remember,
and I loved it, and it was the only thing
when my universe was baseball. Baseball cards was my life.
That wasn't right. So what happened? What went wrong? Was
it the evaporation of the seasons overlapping? Maybe that's a
problem in now football is almost year round. The best
we go to the NHL. I think I'd be playing

(07:21):
close to July four. Really, if there's a seventh game,
it's crazy. I'll tell you what happened, Okay, Now, I'll
never forget this. So when I was doing the National
Show and my dear friend Chris Myers, right, Chris, you
know it has been covering the NFL for years, and
I was making the argument to Chris that the ascension
of the NFL had to do with gambling. Gambling, the

(07:45):
proliferation of gambling really is what set the NFL on
fire because it's a very beatable sport. Let's put it
that way, right, fantasy football, which is well, that was
eventually that was that became part of it. But the
initial run for the NFL because you know, you know,
for years I worked with the late grade Chet forty,

(08:07):
who was the original producer director of Money and a
Football and it was think about this. This just shows
you how challenge to change. So when the NFL, nobody
wanted this package. Nobody, I mean, the idea of putting
NFL on a prime time game, are you kidding? May
No one's gonna do that. But ABC was desperate. They
weren't CBS, they weren't NBC, and they're looking for somehow

(08:29):
to get into the NFL or something to show. Can't
you why world of sports all day long? And and
so they decided. But what they were told from the
beginning ruin our religion chat and everybody can't look anything else.
They really sold as a prime time show march less
a football game. But gambling is a big part of
why the NFL has gotten to where it is. And

(08:50):
you know this as well as I do. And when
you talk about the NFL, and I maybe I'm maybe
I'm exaggerating the number, but I don't think I am.
I would say that half half people that identify themselves
as NFL fans have a far greater rooting interest in

(09:10):
their fantasy team than they have in any actual team. Steve,
I'll go to a game. I'll go to a Sit
Sunny Bengals game, and there are people in the stands
rooting for people on the other team because they have
those players in the fantasy league. They don't have an
allegiance to a team other than the team that's current
team the team And again I'm not saying it's wrong,

(09:31):
and just talked about the evolution of where we have
come in the sports world and how much money we
have in the sports world and everything else. All right,
on the other side of when you got Jack Peterson
and Tommy fam talking about fantasy football during the baseball season,
what does that safe of Major League Baseball? Well, what
is it safe for the NFL that they allow NFL
players to participate in fantasy football leagues? Right? All right, Wait,

(09:56):
wait a second here. So I'm a quarterback, right and
I'm in a fan Tennessee football league. I'm the quarterback
of the team and I got guys on my own team,
they're on my fantasy team, and I could choose to
throw it to him he's on my fantasy team or him.
How is this possible? They just have spended a player
for an entire year for betting fifteen hundreds on on

(10:19):
his team to win a game when he wasn't actually playing,
and yet you prepare you permit NFL players from participating
in fantasy football. I like to see the stakes. I'd
like to see the stakes in that fantasy, like what's
going on here right all right? On the other side,
I want to get into some of the finances. Got
a lot, a lot of things are gonna be covering today,
and again we'll keep her eye on this team. Now.

(10:40):
Would be a combined no hitter. We are in the
top of the ninth inning. Astro is a leading the
Yankees three to nothing, so it was ahead in the
night by the thought Yankees havn't been no hit uh
in about nineteen years, so this would be a huge
story if they got no especially at home team with
the best record in baseball. But on the other side,
money finances and how it affects the sports world. We

(11:01):
got many examples of what to do and what's not
to do coming up next. 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 I Heart Radio app search f s R to
listen live. Hey, I'm Doug Gottlieb. The podcast is called

(11:22):
All Ball. We usually talk all basketball all the time,
but it's more about the stories about what made these
people love their sport and all the interesting interactions along
the way. We talked to coaches, we talked to players,
We tell you stories. You download it, you listen to it.
I think you like it. Listen to All Ball with
Doug Gottlieb on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcast,

(11:46):
orherever you get your podcast. Steve Hartman, Andy Furman, this
is Fox Sports Saturday, All right updating what's going on
at Yankee Stadium. Right now, we are two outs away
from a no hitter Ryan Pressley. Now Andy is in
the pitch for the Astros. Uh he is the third pitcher,
so this would go in as a combine no hit

(12:06):
or but two outs away. Yankees haven't been no hits
since two thousand three. Of course, Yankees by far the
best record in all the Major League Baseball right now.
So I don't know when when you think about a
combine no hitter, does that do anything for you? Andy? No? No,
I mean is that a new stat I don't know.
There's been a few of these in recent years now, cno,
cno new stat. Right. The Daughters had a game against

(12:28):
the Padres. They had like five pitchers combined for a
no hitter. Um and I'm like, no, no, no, no,
you know how it is. You want you we have
a no hitter, it comes down the last out and
they get the last out. Everyone jumps all over the picture. Dude,
you gotta know hit or like, I don't know what.
We'll see what happens if they's the thing. I mean, really,
I don't think the no hitter pitching you no hitter

(12:51):
it is what it once was because we haven't seen
them what I mean by that. When the pitcher was
removed today by Dusty, there was no flare up on
the mountains. Okay, I'm out. And when Clayton Kershaw had
something going on earlier this year, it was like, oh
it was okay, no, no big whoop. I mean, I
don't think they care. Well, that's the difference The Angels
had a no hitter earlier this year by a guy

(13:11):
named Reid debt Meer's who got sent down to the miners.
That's right, just a few starts after throwing a no hitter,
couldn't get anybody out. Since, all right, we're one out
away from a no hitter right now, as I was
leading this game three nothing, we're into the bottom of
the ninth inning. All right, Um, we're talking some finances
right now. Let me ask you this, Andy, when you

(13:32):
have a contract, right, and the idea that I have
a contract, I signed a contract with you, right, and
multiple years on these contracts. But if I'm not happy,
I'm gonna force you to trade me. Force you to
trade me. And the reason I bring this up right
now is we have a potential situation with the Brooklyn

(13:54):
Nets involving Kevin Durant, and he apparently wants the Nets
to get a deal done with Kyrie Irving. And there's
a lot of layers to this, Andy, because you already
acquired Ben Simmons, who, by the way, just for the record,
he collected over thirty million dollars last year without playing
a single game. Life is beautiful, not a single game

(14:18):
let me see what was his exact Yeah, last year,
let's see his exact salary. Ben Simmons collected thirty three
million dollars last year and did not play a single game.
All right, So you're the Nets and you make this deal,
you get rid of Hard and you're bringing Ben Simmons.
You've got this Kyrie situation. But I go back to

(14:40):
Joe Side, the guy that bought the Brooklyn Nets, paying
event record figure so far as an NBA team is concerned.
And then he didn't just spend it on buying the team.
He spent it on bringing in stars. Okay, So if
you're a Nets fan, here it is the final play
of the game, no hitter. We have a no hitter
at Yankee State him combined three pitchers for the Astros.

(15:03):
It is officially in the books. The Yankees have been
no hit for the first time in nineteen years. There
you go, they're celebrating. But I don't know it's a celebrations.
They beat the Yankees. Maybe, I mean, yeah, exactly, they
beat the Yankees. So combine no hitter for the Astros today,
big Wolves. All right, there we go. Um, but Kevin Durant,

(15:26):
So you're you're Joe Sigh and he's spent all this
three point three billion dollars to buy the Brooklyn Nets,
and you want to win a championship. So you get
Kevin Durant, right, you sign him to a long term deal,
and then you get a Kyrie Irving, and then you
get a James Harden. Make the deal to get Ben Simmons. Now,
Durant is basically indicating that if they don't get Kyrie

(15:49):
under contract long term and he's got a player option
sitting there for him, that Durant wants out. And if
I'm Joe sim like, excuse me, Kevin, we have you
signed for forty four million in million, fifty one million
and fifty four million dollars per season for the next
four years. You're not going anywhere. Here's the problem. Kevin

(16:11):
Durant is gonna be the villain. Kevin Durant was the
villain when he left Golden State. He helped him win
two titles, almost one the third. But he heard that
Achilles Tendon in that last series. Okay, but he's the
guy that's gonna be the mean guy, the villain. People
are gonna throw oranges and on tomatoes at him. The
problem is this, Kyrie was the one who said I'm
never leaving my brother Kevin Durant. This is the same

(16:32):
lunatic that said the Earth was flat. Okay. This is
the same guy that played just twenty nine games this
year and refused to get a vaccination under the New
York City rules. And all of a sudden, now Kevin
Durant the bad guy. I get it with the contract,
but you know what, contracts are only good for the
guys that signed them. They have to control they do.
That's the way it is. Okay, So this this gets
back to player control as opposed to team control. Now.

(16:55):
I know there's this argument about but here's the here's
the thing. Nobody put a gun to the head of
Kevin Durant to sign a contract of this magnitude, right,
I mean nobody did. The reason that the team offered
him is that, a he's a superstar player and we
want to build a team around you, Kevin Durant. So
we're gonna try to figure out James Harden didn't work,

(17:16):
maybe Ben Simmons is gonna work. As far as Kyrie
Irving is concerned. Because now Kyrie threw out a wish
list two of the teams that he has on his
wish lists are in l A, the Lakers and the Clippers.
And this is something I was talking about in l
A TV last night. If you're the Lakers, seriously you
want to sign on with Kyrie Irving? Do you trust

(17:37):
that Kyrie Irving is going to be out there playing
all the games necessary and doing you know, things you
have to do to sacrifice as an individual for the
team good in order for them to win a championship.
Are you gonna buy into Kyrie Irving? Is that guy
that you can count on to get you in the

(18:00):
championship level? Because in the Lakers case, Laker seasons are
divided into two categories. Win a championship or not. Yeah,
finals and nothing counts other than winning a champion I
don't know any would you would you have any trust
in Kyrie Irving makes some elaborate deal to get Kyrie
Irving in to take you to that next level. Kyrie
Irving is a hell of a ballplayer, tremendous skill level

(18:22):
and things like that. The problem is his mission is
about Kyrie Irving. There are certain players that have the
internal mission to win no matter what I'll give you
a shortlist mate. I think Draymond Green has it. I
think Steph Curry has it. I think lay Thompson has it.
Their goal is to win, that's their mission. I think
to some extent Chris Paul has it. That it can't win,
but I think he has it. M J had it
with the Chicago Bulls. Now, if you go back in time,

(18:44):
the old guys like you and me, remember those great
self the teams had it, sacrificing yourself to win. I
don't think Kyrie Irving has it. I agree with you.
I I just I don't trust Kyrie Irving because everything
he has done, he always wants to remind everyone in
his mind. He's the smartest guy in the room. He
knows the world's flat. He knows that about the vaccines

(19:05):
and everything else. I mean, just can you imagine having
a teammate that refused to do something and it jeopardized
your team. Now you can you can talk about, well,
he has individual rights, and look, I'm not making a
decision on that. I agree he should have his own
individual rights. But when you work in a in a
team situation and it has an effect on your team,

(19:30):
then there's nothing There's no other way to label it
than being selfish. You don't have to play in the
n b A. You can live your life as you
so choose. But if you sign on for an insane
amount of money to play in a team sport, then
it's gonna have to be about the team. That's why.
But the name comes to mind who basically, and I

(19:51):
don't even know if he was selfish, but I'm thinking
of Dennis Rodman who took off like two weeks one
time when he went to Vegas. You know, he's a
team guy. I think he was a value remember of
that Chicago Bulls team, but again, you know, I think
there were so many great players on that team, and
and the glue was Michael Jordan's. They kind of permitted
him to kind of like, oh hey, well for two weeks,
but they did. But I'll tell you what, on the court,

(20:13):
he was a team guy. And I'm not saying Kyrie.
Look at Kyrie Irving is an insanely talented basketball player.
I mean, honestly, in terms of just his ability to
play the game. He's one of my favorite players in
the NBA. I love his game. But you know him
your team. Well. Again, first of all, here's one thing,
I don't know if you you acquired Ben Simmons. Last
time I checked Ben Simmons as a pure point guard.

(20:35):
We know he's not a shooting guard. So where's Kyrie's
role in this team? Is he the off guard? How?
How would that dynamic word assuming, of course, to Ben
Simmons will actually ever play. By the way, he has
three more years guaranteed on his contract, the two in
a thirty five million, thirty eight million, and forty million
over the next three years. Uh oh, the days, remember

(20:56):
I remember this way back in the day, Will Chamberlain
became the first NBA play here to make a hundred
thousand dollars and Red are back countered by making Bill
Russell the highest paid player in the league. You know what,
he got a hundred thousand and one and one, So
he made one more dollar, uh than Will cham a
much different days. All right, we have much more to

(21:16):
get to here. We'll talk more about this whole dynamic
and we're sort of getting into the finances and how
it affects all of sports. Right now, let's find out
what it is trending as our here, her friend Brian
is in here, Brian finning, what's going on, Brian, how
are you, Steve and Andy? It is always good to
talk to both of you knuckle heads. Yes, you got
that right, yea doing doing good. Good to see that

(21:38):
your Red's actually won a game the other day. They
would have lost last night to San Francisco would have
been the worst thought after seven the game since nineteen
thirty four. And we're talking about a no hitter today.
In every game, it probably feels as a Reds fan
that your team is going to get no hit. Yeah.
On that note, the Houston Astros did throw a combined

(22:01):
no hitter against the Yankees, as Steven and they were
talking about. In a three to nothing wins. Houston used
three pitchers. Christian Javier was pulled after seven innings, so
Dusty Baker decided, even with the no hitter still in tech,
to yank him. Thirteen strike owns, one hundred fifteen pitches,
New York going hit list for the first time since
two thousand three, and when it happened the last time,

(22:23):
it was against the Astros. But the combined no hitter,
so history repeating itself in this situation and it goes
down at Yankee Stadium. We got some news about Kevin Durant,
We're gonna touch on in just a moment, But as
far as what else is happening in Major League Baseball,
Brendan Donovan has driven in two runs for the Cardinals
and they're up three to one against the Cubs in
the top of the seventh inning. The Orioles and the

(22:45):
White Socks are all square at one top of the
fourth there there was a weather delay of more than
an hour, but they have gotten able to to get
the play going up again. And the Mets and Marlins
have just gotten started here top of the second and
the Mets have actually just scored as I've been talking here.
So in the middle of this update, as far as

(23:05):
what just went down on social media with Kevin Durant,
look into this, think about this for a moment. Damian
Lillard on his Instagram posted a story and the picture
in that story was of himself and Kevin Durant both
here's the catch wearing Portland Trailblazers uniforms and it could

(23:26):
be could be. And then to add on to this,
Steve and Andy Yusef Nurkicch. Of course, he is a
key cog to the Portland Trailblazers as a member of
their team. He shows his advocacy for this by retweeting
that picture on his social media. So there's that as well.

(23:46):
I will leave you with this guy's The Travelers Championship
is happening right now PG twur stop in Connecticut. Sander
Shafley is holding onto a two shot lead minus sixteen
for the week and a two shot lead of Yeah,
just two shots minus two for the day through eleven holes.
With that, let's get it back to Steve Hartman, and

(24:07):
Steve your your co worker here on the show, Andy Firman,
did you know this that his thought was the next
NBA team would be in Louisville. He is on record
and saying this, Steve, I just wanted you to know.
Let me get this straight. Brian Family is telling me
right now that any Firman says that in Louisville, Kentucky,
we're gonna have an NBA and he is this if

(24:28):
when the NBA's experience, I do believe Seattle is going
to get a team. I think Seattle about San Diego, California,
which is the you had the Conquista doors. That's enough.
Fold on a second, San Diego, California, is the seventh
large eight largest city in the United States in terms
of I don't think market size means anything anymore. I
really don't why Louisville. I think that Louisville is a

(24:50):
basketball hot bed. I think that it could attract people
from them. So you want to bring back the Kentucky
Colonels from back in the day. They did droll well.
And I think there's a group involved now in Louisville
kind of sniffing around the chart to get ones. And
I have a great, great venue to second, why not
Cincinnati no place to play? There's really no venue in
Cincinnati that's big enough, a good enough really to play

(25:13):
A plus, I think we'll be like the only show
in town in Louisville with Cincinnati of NFL, Major League Baseball,
Major League Soccer, plus two top notch college basketball team
and Andy. Let me let me stop you for a
second here. Okay, Now you heard the story that Lebron
James once a team in Vegas, right, And I'm thinking

(25:34):
to myself, Okay, we have thirty teams currently in the NBA.
You know what we have in this league watered down talent.
We don't have enough talent for thirty teams. You want
to expand more teams. I mean the idea that the
NBA is going to expand right now, we need to
take a little step back with the NBA for a
second here. I'm not saying they're going to expand tomorrow,

(25:56):
but I do think they're going to expand. Let me
tell you why. Where there's a stood up on anything
in life, what is it? Go back to money the
green Backs. Wait a second, how how is that? How
is that sustainable? I'll tell you what. Because these owners
lost boo koo money during the pandemic. If in fact,
a new team comes in, one or two new teams
come in, they get all that expansion money, plush the

(26:18):
new teams for a year or so. We'll not reap
the benefits of the broadcasting rights, just as the way
it is, so they recap or recoup the money that
they lost during the pandemic by expansion teams coming in.
Let me ask you this. You know we we boo
who the old days, like when Bill Russell and the
Celtics were dominating the NBA and there were only eight teams,

(26:39):
nine teams in the league at the time, and it's like,
come on, only nine teams. Imagine the current NBA. If
we had ten teams instead of thirty, how good would
the talent be on these teams? If we had a
ten team league instead of a thirty team league, you
know what you would have. You would have ten really

(27:02):
good teams. You wouldn't have a battle the riff raff.
Right now, this is the thing that I don't I mean,
I get the expansion thing, and like you said, it's
all about money, Andy, but it creates an inferior product.
The reason we have so many unwatchable NBA games during
the regular season is that there's just not enough talent
to go around, especially when you think about it, how

(27:24):
many real franchise players are there in the NBA ten Right?
But the point maybe it seems that a multiple franchise players,
you can make the same thing and say the same
thing for the Major League Baseball, right, you can cut
out a couple of teams Basketball, basketball, more than any
other sport, Andy, one guy can make a difference. I

(27:45):
mean in baseball, no football, I mean, not even quarterbacks.
You've got to have more than that. But in basketball,
the history of basketball has been littered by teams that
have literally gone from nothing to something with the addition
of one single player, no doubt. Look, you mentioned the
fact that they had eight teams. When I was a
kid that had eight teams, okay, and I lived in

(28:07):
New York City. I loved the Knicks. I still root
for the Knicks. And when Will Chamberlin said, why don't
we play eighty two games to eliminate the Knicks, That's
what they did because three out of the four teams
in the Eastern Division got into the playoffs and then
Knicks never got in exactly. I mean, Richie Garren was
not enough to carry your team. I mean Richie tried,
and Johnny Green jumping Johnny Green. They they they just

(28:27):
didn't have enough back in the day. So yeah, the
finance of the game. But getting back to Joe Sigh
and his sole situation as the owner of the Brooklyn
Nats and this, you know threat, I mean we're just hearing.
First of all, how is it possible Damian Lillard is
posting a picture of Kevin Durant in the Portland uniform
with Adam Silver. I mean, with Adam Silvers, they could
get it off there. You can't do that. He's under

(28:48):
a contract for four more years with the Nets. If
I'm Joe's side, because you know, you know what happened
in Houston with James Harden. He put his foot down,
he got chubby, he wasn't playing, going through the motions,
forcing the rocket retired ist Jersey in the arena. The
ownership retired is Jersey? What's going on? But really, MAT's
if I'm Joe Sigh and I put out three point

(29:10):
three billion dollars to buy this franchise, You're not going anywhere? No, No,
you sign a contract for more years you don't want
to play them? Fine, I don't have to pay you
for that here, I'm not trading you. Am I gonna
get my my money's worth out of it? Kevin? Who
am I gonna get in in a deal to compensate

(29:31):
or offset for Kevin Durrett? I mean, just look at
the Portland Trailblazers. The only person I want from them
is Damian Lillard. Who else would I want on that team?
Eric Bledsoe, I mean, who who I asked you this question?
How does this just happen? Who tells Kevin Durant to
tell the ownership that I'm not gonna play here? Even
though he's got a contract, because he's seen other guys

(29:52):
do it. Once. Once the president has been set andy,
then everybody else thinks they can do the exact same thing.
Look this, you know, let's get back to Lebron. Okay,
so Lebron sort of people said, well, he started this
whole thing, but did he really? Here's here's what Lebron did.
Instead of signing long term super max deals, he went

(30:13):
for shorter term deals. And by the way, Lebron has
never at any point in his career been the highest
paid player in the NBA. So he structured deals where
when his deal was over, like it was in Miami,
he could opt out and go elsewhere. He did the
same thing in Cleveland, he opted out and went to
l a shorter term deals. Essentially, that's what Durant did

(30:34):
to get out of Golden State and end up with
the Nets. But you got four years left on your contract, Kevin.
You you're the one that signed this deal. So no,
I'm sorry if i'm if I'm ownership of the Nets,
whether we decide to invest in Kyrie Irving long term
and pay him what fifty million dollars a year for
Kyrie Irving the guy that sat out all of our

(30:57):
home games this past season, and I'm gonna hand him
that kind of no way, no way, I hear you.
You're preaching to the choir. But all I know is this,
all media reports are writing and talking and yapping in
the talking heads is saying, well, he's gotta he wants
to leave. Wait a second, You're the only one in
the media that I've heard that I have heard that say,

(31:19):
wait a minute, You're got a four year deal. Where
are you going? Where are you going? Really well, and
think and think back to the NFL. Remember we were
talking about the Aaron Rodgers situation, right and there was
all they said, Well, he's played his last game for
the Green Bay Packers. I was in the same seat,
and I'm like, he's not going anywhere. He's under contract.

(31:40):
That called his bluff. I'm sorry. Has he worn any
uniform other than that of the Green Bay Packers? No,
because he was still a value of the franchise and
he was under contract and they weren't gonna trade him.
But the villain in this situation is not k D.
It's Kyrie Irving. Because he's doing this today. He's not

(32:01):
gonna leave Kevin, but he does an option. See the
problem he can that's the difference. Kyrie has a player
option and he doesn't have to sign that player option.
All right, Let's one last thing. Kyrie has come out
with a list of like six teams he wants. That's
great for him. I don't think there are six teams
out there that wanted. Well. On the other side, there's

(32:21):
another guy who also has a player option that he
hasn't signed yet, and that's what's the Westbrook. All right,
So let's let's figure this whole dynamic out. On the
other side, Andy, you got the Lakers with Russell Westbrook,
he got the Nets with Kyrie irvinge Swapping those guys?
Does it make any sense for either one of those teams?

(32:42):
Will break it down, coming up next, Steve Harman, Andy Furman,
Fox Sports Saturday. All right, I want to bring on
our producer Bob Benson right now, Andy, because he's got
more information here. Uh, because he's always watching what's happening
circulating out there. All right, what do we know bout
right now about potential deals for Kyrie Irving? I mean,

(33:03):
is this is he gone? Are we of the mindset
that he is for sure going to end up somewhere
other than Brooklyn. Uh, personally, I think so, but I
won't let you hold me to that because it's Kyrie
Irving and he's incredibly, incredibly unpredictable as we all know.
But I mean, uh, if reports are to believed in

(33:24):
the Lakers are the team that is the most interested
in Kyrie, and then I do think there is a
deal out there. Yeah, okay, So here's the DEALB for
Russell west It would have to be because all right,
here's the situation. Both of them have player options that
they have yet to sign on. I mean, think about
Russell Westbreak. His player option is forty seven million dollars.

(33:45):
Imagine Andy, all you have to do is sign this
piece of paper and you're guaranteed forty seven million dollars.
And he's like, yeah, I'm not so sure. So the
bottom line is it would have to be a sign
in trade on both sides. So what are we looking at?
Bow you sort of broke this down so potentially because
obviously the option on Westbrook is more than that on Kyrie.

(34:08):
I think there's about a thirteen million dollar difference. So
what kind of deal with the Nets and Lakers? Have
to do. So, I would think that it would be
something like Westbrook and Kyrie both opt in, and then
you have something like Westbrook in the first and then
Kyrie and someone like Seth Curry or Patty Mills going
back to the Lakers, and then the Nets wouldn't necessarily
have to keep Westbrook if they didn't want to. They

(34:29):
couldn't go ahead and do one of those salary dump
trades that you know people have been thinking about for
the Lakers with Westbrook, because I don't think that Westbrook's
untreadable in the first place. People are kind of overlooking
the fact that a forty seven million dollar expiring contract
is unheard of in the NBA's It's another it's another option.
What is Westbrook's uh coming to Brooklyn due to Kevin Durant,

(34:51):
Remember they would go back to Oklahoma City. I don't
think there was a great love there after Durant left
the Golden State and Westbrook state in Oklahoma City. I
don't think so either. I I I think there's just
this is such an interesting situation because to have Damian
Lillard and use of nurkic post photoshop picture like that
out of the blue on a on a Saturday afternoon.

(35:12):
Is uh, it's it's it's worth talking about and thinking
about how that affects this overall picture. All right, let's
get back to the Lakers for a second here. All right,
So you have Lebron James going into his twentieth season,
by the way, coming off a season even though he
missed what twenty four games, he still averaged thirty points
a game. Lebron is ridiculous. I mean, it really is.

(35:33):
I mean there's I mean again, when we we get
in the conversation of goats and everything else, if you're
going by just pure resume, Lebron laps the field. I'm sorry.
I mean, whether you're fan of Lebron or not, the
numbers don't lie. Nobody in the history of the NBA,
nobody has come close to doing what Lebron is doing

(35:57):
at this stage of his career, very few. When he
hangs it up, they'll be the old time leading score
of passing Kareem right. In fact, this is the year
he will probably do so on the all time list,
on top of everything else he's done. But you're trying
to figure out the right mix, Well, here here's the thing.
Whether it's Russell Westbrook or Kyrie Irving, that's not the
problem for Lebron James. What the problem is. They need

(36:19):
a healthy Anthony Davis. They have to have a healthy
Anthony Davis for them to do anything. So it's not
Kyrie and it's not Russ. It's about healthy Anthony Davis.
If the Lakers are going to get back into the
mix again. This is the league Andy where when we
talk about all these rumors about guys wanting out or

(36:43):
trades being made, more often than not, it happens the
president has been sent with Houston doing that to James
Harden he wanted out and then let him go exactly,
so I I tend to believe. Indeed, if if Kyrie,
now the question is, does Kyrie one is stay in Brooklyn?

(37:06):
Because money is not an option here. Okay, the Nets
ownership has already made it clear, we'll pay the price.
Why would he not want to stay with Kevin Durant.
Isn't that what he's signed on? Well, if he said
he would, then then there should be no argument right now.
But I will tell you this much, if he does
stay in Brooklyn, I don't think they win. I don't

(37:27):
think Kyrie Irving has it in his in his makeup
and his genetic basketball makeup that he's a winner. I
really you know, he did win shot, right, But again
I think that he wanted to be the man, but
it was Lebron. There was Lebron's team, not his team.
And now it's Kevin Durant's team, right, I agree, And

(37:50):
I think that he guess what if he goes and
rejoins the Lebron James, guess whose team it is? It's
Lebron's team, right. So I'm not sure where Kyrie wants
to go with this. He wants to be the man,
but you know, and he's even a minute. Even though
it was there was some backlash in his time in
Cleveland with Lebron that maybe he was young and didn't
really appreciate what he had with Lebron. I mean, he's

(38:12):
saying these things right now with the thoughts what about
the Clippers? What about Kyrie with the Clippers? Well, there's
another team that's got to get their stars on the court.
Kawai Leonard's another guy that took a year off. Now
he had an injury, but he didn't play a set.
Another guy collected thirty million without playing a game. John Wall,
Ben Simmons and Kawhi Leonard. They made a hundred million

(38:35):
dollars without playing a game this past year. Hundred million dollars. Wonderful.
What do you sign every gig like that? Right? But
I mean, if if they did get Kauai and PG
and they got them back on track, I don't know,
adding Kyrie might be a pretty good thing for that team.
I mean, what what does Kyrie ultimately want to do here?
Does he want to go to a team where he's

(38:57):
the guy or does he want to go to a
team tam where he has a good chance to win
NBA championships? That's the question. That's the question. And I
think that he'd rather be the guy to win a championship.
I really believe that. I see that's his his makeup
is that it's all about Kyrie. Everything's about him. The
attention is always on him, the spotlight's always on him.
When he said the world was flat, when he didn't
want to play him with vaccinated in New York City?

(39:18):
Come on, why why wouldn't you get vaccinated? You know,
even if you're against a vaccination, if you're on a team,
you know that every teammate of yours is vaccinated. He
didn't play in Brooklyn because of the New York City
vaccination laws. Yeah, they did have those lost, didn't they.
Yeah they were negadoes. You remember remember how they were
n neged him right before the start of the baseball

(39:38):
season with the Yankees, right when the baseball season and
the Yankee season was about to begin. Because we never
actually got word on how many of those Yankee players
are not vaccinated, but it was amazing how they had
a reversal of fortune on that. So anyway, uh where
where this all goes. Something's gonna happen here, Okay, and

(40:00):
it's just too much with Kyrie having not picked up
his player options, same thing with Russell Westbrook. Something is
definitely in the works, all right. Coming up on the
other side, Andy Furman is a co inhabitant of a
city that has a guy named Joe Burrow. Would you
start a franchise with Joe Burrow over any other quarterback
in the NFL? Talk about that coming up next. Yeah,

(40:21):
rolling along here on this beautiful Saturday, a Fox Sports Saturday,
Steve Harman and Andy Furman with you in the Fox
Sports Radio studios. By the way, Dollar Shave Club six
Blade razors bring noticeably smooth shades of six stainless deal
blades for swift hair removal and a lubricating strip that
keeps things smooth. Dollar Shave Club raisers are sold at

(40:42):
Dollar shaved Club dot com or in stores. So back
in February, Andy, uh, the day before the Super Bowl,
Jeff Schwartz and I were doing our show. We had
a huge Fox Sports radio set there in the Santa
Monica Promenade. It was about ninety degrees that day, and
as we were sitting up on this stage, this guy

(41:03):
who was a full blown Bengals fan. He had a
T shirt on. Okay, like a Bengals T shirt blow hard. Yeah,
he was a big Bengals fan, right, And so he's
yelling at us, you know, we're in a commercial. So
I walk over and engage nice guy, and I said, so,
what do you think of the weather, And he goes, well,
this is the first time ever, I go, you ever
been to southern California. Never he goes, this is the

(41:25):
first time. And I would say this guy was in
his forties, maybe maybe fifties. He said, this is the
first time I've ever been outside wearing a T shirt
in the month of February in my entire life. Wow,
I mean in my entire life, have I ever been
walking around in a T shirt like with beads a
sweat on my forehead the T shirt? And come on

(41:49):
right to do that? I don't know. What's the weather
like in Cincinnati in February. It's usually cold, but it's
not bitterly cold. It's cold. It's chili if I Cincinnati
standards well obviously, And by the way, those of my friends,
I didn't get anywhere near the Super Bowl. I mean
I was there for the radio row and all that
stuff of the game itself. I having been a SOFI

(42:11):
stadium once, it's big, let's put it that way. Anyway,
everyone that I know that was there said Bengals fans
outnumbered Rams fans five to one, at least five when
some people said it was ten to one Bengals fans
over Rams fans, even though the Rams are actually playing
in their home stadium. Why would that be? And I

(42:33):
heard that too, why would that be? Well, that's because
the Rams, even with their Super Bowl victory, are still
not of the stature of the Lakers or the Dodgers
in Los Angeles. They're not. I mean, they're doing all
the right things to get there eventually, but it takes
a generation. Andy, you know what I'm talking about. It
sort of has to go through a generation. You know.

(42:56):
If the Rams can continue their success over the next
ten to fifteen years where they're relevant, yeah, then then
you're gonna have a really, you know, established fan base.
There's a lot of Johnny Kome late Lays, a lot
of Bandwagon guys, you know, and you can throw all
that out the window when you talk about the Cincinnati
Bengal fans because they have been in the indulgence for years.

(43:17):
So they had their moment in the sun and everything
had to go right for the Bengals in order to
achieve what they did and by the way, almost winning
the Super Bowl. So um so this this brings up
again Joe Burrow became I wouldn't say an overnight sensation
when obviously won a Heisman Trophy. Here the number one
overall pick in the draft, but all of a sudden
he was in the conversation as the next thing leading

(43:40):
into the Super Bowl. Now, they came up short and
there are deficiencies in this Bengals team. But let me
ask you this because I saw this on on TV
the other day. They had this panel of three you know,
insiders in the NFL and they're asked a question, if
you had to start a franchise right now, who would
you choose as your quarterback? And all three of them

(44:04):
chose Joe Burrow. Now, I'm not saying it's wrong, obviously,
because Joe Burrow in a very short amount of time
went from Heisman Trophy winner, the first overall pick, had
taken a team that hadn't been in the Super Bowl
and forever back to the super Bowl. But let me
I'm gonna ask you, because you're near and dear to
the situation, you've seen a lot more than we have.

(44:25):
So if I were to ask you that question where
you could choose any quarterback currently in the league to
start your franchise with, would it be Joe Burrow? Probably not.
And I don't do that to say it because you
said Joe Burrow. And let me tell you what first,
let me clip the here on this. The Cincinnati area
media right now is on a war path. They're on

(44:47):
the war path saying that the national media is dumping
on the Cincinnati Bengals. They don't believe in them, they'll
trust in him. And I shake my head every time
I hear that on local talk radio, because let's face it,
no one anywhere expected to be Engles to go as
farther than the players. And I'll tell you what. Some
of it is lucked. And I hate to use the
term luck, but sometimes you make your own. Look what

(45:07):
I mean by that, they did not get hit by
the injury factor. The season started on a lucky note
when they beat through this sort of Vikings. I thought
the Vikings had to play there. That was a bad
call and the Vikings should have won that game, and
they went on to win. But the fact that they
didn't have any injuries that to me more than anything else.
Health the Bengals. Yeah, that's a great place and they
played great football. Will I come back again? Well, the

(45:29):
the the consensus of the people living in Greatest Cincinnati
is going to be a dynasty. They don't realize how
tough it is to repeat and go back again. Believe me,
schedule is gonna be tougher this year. That's the reward
you get for winning or division. Um. They took advantage
of an easier schedule that that whole division, The FC
North right now is a hodgepodge of who knows. I mean,

(45:52):
the Steelers are consistently winners. How that team got to
the playoffs last year as a miracle. Mike Tomlin has
never had a losing se Sason is the head coach
in the NFL, not one, and he's a pretty good coach.
In fact, he's a Hall of Fame coach Bill Cowers
in the Hall of Fame. He has a better resume
than Cower has. All Right, so you have the Steelers,
we still don't know. The quarterback situation will be trebisky.

(46:13):
We'll find out who their quarterback is going to be.
The Browns situation completely up in the air. Will get
to that a little bit later on with a Deshaun
Watson situation. And then you have the Ravens. You know,
the Ravens. You know, they just completely collapsed. They were
sitting at eight and three and they lose their last
six games in a row, which is not characteristic of

(46:34):
a John Harbaugh coach team. See, you gotta feel like
the Ravens are a bounce back team. Um so I
will be I will be very interested. Here's what I
say about the quarterback situation. Personally for me, if I
were to say which quarterback would I choose to start
my franchise, And maybe it's because I have seen a
little more. I'll tell you life, go ahead, Well, go ahead.

(46:56):
I would take just At Herbert, And I tell you
what I think. A head to head, he passed the
more you artist than Borrow did a year ago. But
why I would take just a his size number one,
but number two, the injury factor scares me. With Borrow
with that knee. I mean, at any point in time,
with that weak offensive line the Bengals have had, he
could go down. That's just scares me. I think just

(47:16):
At herbotism was stable than Joe Borrow. Well, it's funny.
I was talking to uh my buddy rich Hornburger, and
I asked him the same question. He goes, Tom Brady said, well,
you're getting start your franchise of the forty four year
old quarterback. He goes, I don't care. He's gonna win
a Super Bowl. And I'm like, all right, back up
a little bit here. I don't think you're we're even

(47:37):
talking the same language here. Look, when you look at
all the young quarterbacks in this league, there's a lot
of good ones. I mean, you could make an argument
for Josh Allen. See I've asked that question. I've gotten
fireback with a lot of Josh Allen's which is amazing
to me because I don't think anybody thought this guy
was going to be the quarterback he's become in Buffalo,
coming out of college where he completed lesson six of

(47:58):
his passes his business. I mean, that just doesn't happen.
A guy that's a career fifty seven percent passer in
college doesn't suddenly complete sixty seven seas fast than the NFL.
But Josh Allen did that. Um, I agree with you
on Herbert. The only hesitation. This is gonna be an
interesting year for Justin Herbert with the Chargers this year

(48:20):
because even going back to his days at Oregon, he
had this influx all these new coaches, new offensive coordinators,
same thing its first two years in the NFL. This
is the first time in like five years this guy's
had the same offense, same coordinator in consecutive seasons. So
can he take his game to the next level. The

(48:44):
one thing I love about Joe Burrow is his swagger.
You know, you gotta have that, you know, when you
watch great quarterbacks, especially it's the one position in sports
and you know all this, it just stands out, you're
the guy and you gotta have that swagger. And Joe

(49:06):
Burrow as it in abundance. So he's got this insane
belief in himself. It certainly helped when he got re
reunited with Jamar Chase, guy that he was very comfortable
with in college and showed it again this past season.
So yeah, I I I agree with you on Herbert.
I think there's and I tell you why because I
think I think Borrow had a bit of a surrounding

(49:28):
cast on the offensive side of the ball, not the line,
but he didn't line. That's the whole point. But he's
still he's still passed for over the four thousand he
likety yards. But at Ti Higgins, Tyler Boyd, you know,
Jamar Chase. I mean, I think that in itself and
that's a better combination than just as Herbert had in California. However,
he did pass for over five thousand yards. All right,

(49:50):
coming up, I want to get to the quarterback situation.
Put it this way. In the NFL, if you're lucky
enough to have a franchise quarterback, and I'm not saying
Hall a faint quarterback. I'm talking about franchise quarterback. I mean,
would you even say half the teams in the link
have what we would call a franchise quarterback, a guy
that you can say is ten years and beyond to

(50:12):
be the guy. If you're lucky enough to have one
of those guys, why wouldn't you do everything in your
power to keep them? That's the question for the Ravens,
that's the question for the Cardinals. What are they gonna do.
We're gonna tell you coming up next. Oh yeah, well
it done. There we go. Mm hmmm mm hmmm. Steve Iroman,

(50:39):
Andy Furman, Fox Sports Saturday. How do you run a
successful business? You know you if you there's a formula
for success in the NFL, Andy, everybody is in search
of one thing, and one thing alone, a franchise quarterback.

(51:00):
You don't have anything until you have a franchise quarterback.
That's why teams are constantly in search of franchise quarterbacks.
You could have a great offensive line, you could have
a nice running back, you can have a great defense,
you can have good special teams. You're not gonna win
anything unless you have a franchise quarterback, so that is
priority one. So when I'm looking at the Ravens situation

(51:24):
with Lamar Jackson, find a year of his rookie contract,
and the Cardinal situation with Kyler Murray, who still has
another year before we get to the end of his contract.
But if you have an opportunity to lock in your
franchise quarterback, why are you hesitant? Now I know the
argument is, well, Lamar, what are they ever one? Right? Like, well,

(51:47):
Lamar Jackson were coming off a season in which they
were eight nine, is it gonna get any better? And
Kyler Murray look at the collapse the last couple of
years or there is on the Cardinals. Of course, could
be having You know, DeAndre Hopkins went down with an injury.
That could be part of it. But the and and
and then everyone always talks about, well, if you invest
too much money in the quarterback, you don't have enough

(52:08):
money for everyone else. You know a team that has
completely disproved that is the Los Angeles Rams. They're paying
their quarterbacks, they're paying they're paying Matthew Stafford top dollar
and yet they just signed Aaron Donald thirty million dollars
a year. They gave Cooper Cup a huge extension. How
do they do that? They gave Jalen Ramsey a big deal.

(52:29):
You know, they even got burned on that Todd Gurley
contract back in the day. How do they do it? Well,
there's a lot of ways. There are ways to manipulate
the cap. There's ways to defer money and still keep
the ball rolling. But I don't know about you, Andy.
I mean, if you're the Ravens with Lamar Jackson, if
you're the Cardinals with Kyler Murray, why are you why

(52:52):
he The answer to the question is this, what's my
option If I don't sign Lamar, who I have Tyler Huntley,
a Just Johnson, or get Colton McCoy in Arizona. What's
my option? I mean, he has me over a battle. Now. Look,
I'm gonna look at the Lamar Jackson. I love him.
I love his style of play. Watchington play University of Louisville.
But the point there's this, he's like one hit away

(53:13):
because his game, his game is just along the ground.
That he completed two three D two passes undred yards,
his passing percentage, his passing line was almost on the
same line. Has Big Ben Roethlisberger last year, which wasn't
really good. And I guess the knock on him is
when he gets on the big stage, they can't win.
But again, I'll come back and say, what's your other option?

(53:34):
What's your option? He's your guy, He is your guy,
And you're right. I mean, the numbers obviously fell a lot,
but at the same time, okay, he was the leadu's
m VP just a couple of years ago. He brought
up the kind of passing numbers that you never thought
Lamar Jackson could do. Is it Lamar Jackson just got
worse or maybe the scheme, maybe the supporting cast. I

(53:57):
don't know. But if you're like, well, if we signed
them R Jackson tot million dollars a year, we're not
gonna be able to get a good safety, Well why safety?
What are you talking about us? Safety? You have a
franchise quarterback. The same thing with Kyler Murray. Let me
stay with little more for a second. Guy has sixt
days but thirteen and t s. But the guy was

(54:19):
sacked a career highlast year thirty eight times, which isn't
good for a running quarterback, which basically what he is. Well,
and again, you need a little more help in the
running game. Your quarterbacks should not be your leading rusher
every year. And yeah, that's exactly little Lamar Jackson is
not a couple of years ago. Remember they had mark Ingram,
they had some they had some running support on that

(54:39):
Ravens team, Davante Freeman, Latavius Murray. Sorry, they're just not
getting the job done. But that's really about scheme. That's
really about putting in your quarterback in the best position
to win. Um. So, I I just I don't understand
the dynamics sometimes you know this, this this the idea
of investing money in a team. I mean, this has

(55:03):
always been a question about the Bengals organization, right, I mean,
you got Mike Brown running the show out there. They
have these numbers that don't lie. They have by far
the smallest scouting department in the NFL. Like, they literally
have less than half the number of scouts as the
second fewest scouts in the NFL. So this is a

(55:26):
notorious cheap operation. Let me ask you down the road
with Joe Burrow. By the time Joe Burrow gets the
end of his deal, we're talking about fifty fifty five
million a year for a quarterback. The Bengal is gonna
pay that. That's a great question, that's the fifty million
dollar question. I mean, you would hope they would. I

(55:48):
think that the fan pressure, media pressure may get to them.
But I think the Bengals are gonna wait. They're gonna
wait it out and see what happens. And you know, again,
this pressure on this team right now to repeat, I mean,
it was almost a luxury when this team under Marvin
Lewis made the playoffs. Who was like, oh, we made
the playoffs. It's a great season. Now it's the playoffs
and deepen the playoffs. And that's pressure, it really is.

(56:10):
And let's see if they could sustain that pressure in
that division that they're in, because it's a pretty tough
division and that a f C overall is pretty tough.
As a fan. You and I are fans, right with
fans that make our living talking about it. That's what
we are. We're not former athletes or none of that.
You know, I'm a stat geek from the valley and

(56:30):
I you know, what what do you do with that?
You and I basically sat there staring at our baseball
cards when we were kids, right, what exactly do you
do with that? I have zero skills other than my
infatuation with sports. A lot of numbers. Wow, I mean,
I mean it's reality. I mean, do you learn how
to become a sports talk guy? Sure you do. I
mean you learn how to do the mechanics of it

(56:53):
and every same thing when I do TV and everything else,
but the bottle I've never changed. In other words, my
perspective on sports is that of a fan, and and
here the same way. And if anything, it's it's why
we keep going all these years because our fanship never changes.
You know, athletes go through two deaths, right They at
the end of their football or their athletic career and

(57:14):
then their natural life expectancy. So but if as a fan,
my perspective has always been this, I would hope that
the team that I root for, that the management the
ownership of that team has the same level of passion
to win that I, as a fan do. And this
is what separates certain franchises from others. I mean, for instance,

(57:39):
you look at the Golden State Warriors, right, So the
Warriors had the highest payroll in the n b A,
and because of that, they are so far over the
cap that they essentially had to pay double their payroll
this year to keep that team together. But that sends
a message out to the fan base like we got
ownership that wants to win and we love that. This

(58:00):
is a franchise that two years ago paid out about
seventy million dollars to Steph Curry and Clay Tops in
the combined they played six games and they had the
worst record in the league, and they had just moved
into their new arena. I mean, it was a nightmare,
but it wasn't just about a year. It's a long
term investment. And two years later they're back on top

(58:21):
of the NBA world. So this is this is something
we always talk about in money Nobody's for you were
mentioned earlier and he like, you know, during the pandemic,
these NBA owners lost money and everything else. Really you
really think they lost money? I know they report I
would say this, they didn't make as much as they
expected to make. Okay, they now see, now you got it, Addie.

(58:44):
In other words, when they say they lost money, it's
that they lost money they potentially could have made. They
didn't lose money, they just didn't make as much money.
But their mindset is that's losing money. Well, you didn't
lose money. Uh you know, I I know. I cite
the San Diego Padres as an example, but I'm not
the only one. A lot of people look at the
pod Raise as a team that completely changed the dynamic

(59:07):
of Major League Baseball. They were always a small market
team that you know, if they ended up with any
talent that they would get rid of him. The exception
was Tony Gwynn, who always took the hometown discount because
he was completely committed to staying in San Diego. That
was his choice. He could have obviously made a lot
more money elsewhere, he chose to stay in San Diego.

(59:29):
I'm glad you turned the baseball because they have that
problem right now, very serious problem with Cincinnati. They're upset.
They traded former old star Sunny Gray and the love
season Jesse Winker, Hey Neel Suarez took a barn heart
to catch up. I mean, now they're all gone, right,
they're gone. And the now Louis Luis Castill the picture
that the rumor took to the New York Mets. So

(59:49):
when I mean, look at since he's got a rich
tradition obviously in baseball, right, legendary players, Um, they got
to be beside them and the excuse side, well, we
just can't afford these guys. That's a lie. That's just
a flat out lie. Everything you can't afford it. Well,
if they can't afford it, you shouldn't be in the

(01:00:10):
business in San Diego that that's what they told the
Pottery fans for years, we just can't afford these guys.
And then new ownership came in and they got tired
of losing, and the next thing you know, they signed
Eric Cosmer to one million dollar contract. You're like, what
happened here? And then the next thing, you know, Manny
Machado three and or a million, What the hell is

(01:00:32):
going where's all this money coming from? And then they
get Fernando Tatis Jr. A three hundred and forty million
dollar contract extension. Suddenly the Potters are a top five
payroll in baseball? What is going on here? You can't
afford this? You're a small market team. It's like, no,
there's no such thing as as it is, and it's

(01:00:53):
a lie. So if you're one of those fans, you
know in a so called small markets, Minnesota wins. There
were smallall Kansas City is one of the times they
were a small market. Well, some teams do a hell
of a job of their organization. Look at the right,
I mean the Rates and Oakland for years, same way,
they continue to win despite discarding talent as soon as
they become too expensive. But the fact is Tampa, Oakland, Cincinnati,

(01:01:19):
any one of these teams could spend the money if
they so choose, They just don't want it spend the money.
All right, let's find out what's trending right went Now
we'll turn it right back to Mr Brian Finley And
what Brian? Uh? You know the frustration you know when
you're when you have a team you root for and
there doesn't seem to be the same commitment you have

(01:01:40):
to the team that management and ownership have. There's nothing
more frustrating, you know. I don't know if I'm one
that just seeks out pleasure from pain, but I'm a
Clippers fan. And yeah you would know because you know,
you're sort of like my dad. But what is the
connection here, Brian, with you? And and I mean, how
we have this? I'm looking at the family tree. I

(01:02:01):
don't He's never shown up on Thanksgiving for dinner. I've
never seen him there really well, first of all, as
you know, Brian's was a protege of Dick Emberg. Well
he's he was a family friend. I just you were
someone that I grew up idolized seeing the great Dick.
But he was, he was, he was a family friend.
He took the time with you, did he not, Brian,

(01:02:23):
he molded you, Yeah he did, and he said an example,
one of the greatest sportscasters ever. There are the classiest
men out there. And one last thing before you attacked me,
but and he's the next best things right before you
attacked me. That a tweet from Justin from Cincinnati. We
were talking about what team you would start a quarterback
with who you picked and I said, just an Urban.

(01:02:45):
He said, I should have picked Julian Edelman so you
could continue in that story because Brady. When Brady left
New England, I said, well, maybe they'll put Julian under
center because he played quarterback at Kent State. And I
can't live this down. I can't live it down. Wow. See,
they never forget to the Andy get big. They'll still
commented about things I said twenty five years ago. It
happens all the time. There's always that one guy that

(01:03:06):
I'll never let you forget ever. Yeah, the fact that
you thought that Julian Edelman was gonna be Tom Brady's
successor at quarterback and the Patriots, We're never going to
forget that. One of your greatest lines of all time. So, yeah,
you're very welcome. So as you can see, our our
dialogue goes. But let's let's talk some baseball, and not

(01:03:27):
Andy Furman's Reds because they've been struggling. But the Houston
Astros they throw a combined no hitter today against the
Yankees and a three nothing win. So Houston used three
pictures in this one. Christian Javier was yanked. He got
the hook after seven innings, thirteen strikeouts for him one
hundred fifteen pitches. New York faces their first no hitter
since two thousand three, and it was against the Astros

(01:03:49):
back then, and it was also a combined no no.
So some repeat history here. Elsewhere in Major League Baseball,
a few games are still in progress, some of the
notable ones. The Cardinals jumped out to a five to
three lead into the ninth against the Cubs. Two runs
in the bottom of the eighth force saying St. Louis
has put them in front. Also the Mets of a

(01:04:11):
three to two edge against the Marlins. Now on the
top of the fifth, Pete Alonso slugging his twenty one
home run of the season. The Brewers are blanking the
Blue Jays five to nothing, as Milwaukee has scored at
least one run and each of the innings so far played.
ESPN notes Brown's quarterback Deshaun Watson will have his disciplinary
hearing on Tuesday in front of the League and Players Association. Watson,

(01:04:35):
of course, has settled on twenty of those twenty four
civil lawsuits that have called him out for sexual assault
during massages. And finally, guys social media Instagram story, if
you go to Damian Lillard, of course, the star for
the Portland Trailblazers, he has a picture out there with
himself Deckton a Trailblazers uniform with Kevin Durant. Yes, those

(01:04:58):
two wearing Trail Blazers uniforms. So much attention this has
already gotten since this was posted today use of ner
kits of the Blazers seemingly giving two thumbs up to
the idea of this happening. That he has retweeted this
on his social media accounts so something to keep an
eye on. Potentially tampering. Potentially tampering, what do you call it?

(01:05:23):
You're you're a guy who's an active player in the
league and All star putting up a picture of somebody
has four years or MANI on a contract with another
team in your uniform. That's that is that is the
ultimate in tampering with that. Let's get it back to
Steve Hartman and motor home enthusiast Andy Ferman. Wow, you
know everything about Andy. Yes, I don't know what he's

(01:05:43):
talking about. By the way, Stephen, you're talking about small one.
You forgot Milwaukee. I mean, look what they do in baseball.
And in the same token on the other start of
the coin, what does the Chicago comps. What's happened to them?
They got the money, they who whoa, whoa. Don't you
remember their owners screaming poverty? Remember that. Oh he was
one of the most outspoken owners after the pandemic, that
we are broke. I'm like these guys, lie, lie, lie,

(01:06:07):
that's all these guys do. I'm glad we've cleared up
the situation. City owners losing money though they're not making
as much as they program. That is exactly their definition
and losing money. I could have made more money, I
made less, so I'm losing money. They're not losing money.
Believe me. I haven't had a chance any to ask
you about you're standing on the Deshaun Watson situation. So

(01:06:28):
if you're the Cleveland Browns right now, here are your options.
First of all, you're waiting word from the NFL. So
they settled twenty of the twenty four cases. At least
one woman is absolutely proceeding store the other three Apparently
you're the NFL right now. Um, again, the way they
structured this two or thirty million dollar contract with DeShawn Watson,

(01:06:50):
he's only getting a base salary of a million. He's
already collected a huge signing bonus, so it's not like
he's worried about his next meal. So it seems like
the Browns prepared them els for a suspension right now.
I don't even know what the NFL is hesitating because
here's what I know. These cases are not going to
be resolved before the season begins. So I if I

(01:07:10):
were the NFL right now, I would just say Deshaun,
we'll see you in three, which, by the means by
the way. We mean, he would miss two full seasons
before he gets back in still a young quarterback. But
that being said, but what what what have you? What
has been your overall thought about this whole ridiculous Deshaun
cool experts talking about the Deshaun Watson situation. I hear

(01:07:32):
this all the time. Oh, the Cleveland Browns. Didn't they
do their homework? Didn't they do their background check on
this guy? And I say, you know what, the Cleveland
Browns were genius. And I'll tell you why. A the
contract structure for a million is nothing because they probably
realized he'll be suspended either partially or the entire season.
So losing a million, there's nothing. And number two, as

(01:07:54):
we've been hounding people for the last half hour or so,
you can't win in that league without a franchise quarter
it back and he certainly is. So what they did, Yes,
they planned for the future, That's what they did. They
figured this season will be a wash, so to speak.
If in fact, they plays maybe four or six eight games,
that's a bonus. But if he doesn't, it's a wash.
And we're planning for the future because we need a

(01:08:15):
franchise quarterback. So yeah, they did do that due diligence.
They did do their homework. But as far as Deshaun
Watson playing, look there's no tape, it's my word against
your word. There's sixty six women according to the New
York Times, and more than that, some of these women
were paid off, and some of the women came back
for seconds and thirds. So I don't know, you know
what happened. It was behavior though, and I mean sixty

(01:08:37):
six women in seventeen months. That's a different woman every week.
That's a different woman every week. We know what he
was doing. He was trying to hook up with these women.
He swung and missed with several of them others. You know,
he need talented only seriously. So this is a pattern
of behavior. The question is what is the NFL going
to do with it? Because if they if they don't

(01:08:57):
suspend it for the if they don't, I might guess
look at you saw what happened to Trevor Bauer, right,
So the Major League Baseball despite the fact that he
was facing no criminal charges, and we weren't talking about
sixties six women. We're talking about you know, two or
three women, two year suspension, no pay I mean you
know how much money that is under his current deal.
That's like, you know, seventy million dollars um. He's still

(01:09:21):
on the appeal process. By the way, I don't know
what's the latest on that, but I don't think it's
fair to compare to Trevor Bauer situation with DeShawn. It
was a physical situation. With Trevor bout All, he come whoa.
He has never denied the physical nature. He said it
was consensual, right, she said, He said that, she enjoyed

(01:09:42):
that she wanted and even she said that, but then
he took it too far and he's like after you know,
but Major League Baseball made a bigger pr statement than
anything else with this two year suspension, Like we take
this serious about you know, domestic abused and everything else.

(01:10:02):
So we're gonna, you know, there's an appeal process. I
don't think the NFL has any choice but to suspend
Deshaun Watson for at least a year. Now. There will
be a grievance in the players union and everything else.
This is unprecedented, Well, it's not exactly imprecedented, because you
just suspended a player for a year who bet fifteen
hundred dollars on his own team to win a game. Again,

(01:10:25):
that's apples and oranges, because that changes the aspect of
the well in the minds of some perceptionally. You know
how many players bet on games, but with those plays
we don't know about. It's in the club. Look, I
know stories covering the NFL rose on the line again
and right. But I've heard stories that there have been

(01:10:46):
a pot of money in the locker room for those
guys that would knock got out a quarterback during the game.
They throw money in the pot, and who have who
have knocked the quarterback got gets that money. I've heard that.
They've told me, the players have told me that when
I've when I've talked to them and since then. So
these things go on, but it doesn't go out of
the locker room. Names will not mention. Let me ask
you this. You have Charles Barkley. You know, Barkley was

(01:11:11):
on the Gulf Network right before the US Open and
they were talking about his friendship with Phil Mickelson. He
was asked about Phil's gambling addiction and Charles, you know, said, look,
I'm a gambling attic and I have absolutely no intention
of changing. You think Charles Barkley only started gambling on
NBA games after he retired, of course not. Of course,

(01:11:32):
we know that Jordan's controlled the ball in the fourth
quarter more than anyone in the history of the NBA.
It wasn't a matter of tossing games. He obviously wants
to win, but how much do you win? By Tim
Doneghie right when he was that rogue official, he wasn't
betting one team against another. What he was betting was
the over. And I controlled so easily the gambling situation.

(01:11:58):
To me, if it gets out to me, that's worse
than what the Shawn Watson did. I don't condone what
he did, but I'm talking about for the game itself,
for protecting the shield. That's what roglois has got to
protect the shield. But there is a pr aspect to this.
I mean, seriously, when you have women to go on
real sports and give graphic detail of what was going on,

(01:12:19):
all these women were lying. Look, they threw the book
at Bill Cosby, they threw the book at Harvey weinstein Stein.
They threw the book at these guys with exactly the
same situation as to Shawn Watson. A lot of women
with a lot of accusations. By the way, those were
older accusations years and years ago. This is fresh. This
is all within the last couple of years. And then

(01:12:40):
we find out, See, I don't believe the Texans were
conscious of exactly what he was doing, but they give
him a hotel room. That was part of his deal, right,
so he had access to this hotel for his own
whatever pleasure. Yeah, Well, as it turned out, I don't
believe the Texans, but I mean, they could become playing
with all this. So there there's a long way to go.

(01:13:03):
By the way, on the other side, I want to
get to this whole hilarious dynamic of Commissioner Roger Goodell
admitting in Congress that I have no power I have
I have literally no power as the commissioner of the NFL.
I'll tell you all about it. Coming up next, Steve

(01:13:23):
Irman and Andy Furman here on Fox Sports Saturday. By
the way, Don Brown playing a little thin Lizzie's right there.
I actually saw them in concert. That's right, my aging
myself there any with that a little bit. I'm not
going to comment. Yeah, that's okay, that's all right. Yeah, yeah,

(01:13:45):
their lead singer passed away. Let's see what here, what
you're doing with you? That was the six he passed away.
So yeah, anyway, that's back in the day. Did you
got a lot of concerts Andy, back in the day?
You bring up a source subject here, because back in
the day I used to listen, you know, the sixties music. Whatever.
Frankie Valley in the Fourth Seasons. Okay, Frankie Valley is

(01:14:07):
on tour still. He's coming to Cincinnati in August or September.
I think it is. My wife refuses to go with me,
so yeah, I know. Well now she's telling me he's
lip singing. Really she she checked it out on TikTok,
says he's not even singing it anymore. He's like eighty
six years old. He's out there with the Four Seasons still.
But I enjoyed his music back in the day, and

(01:14:27):
I'd like to see him in person, But it's gonna
be a family squaggle here. By the way, speaking of
the last time I want with my uh my parents,
who both have since passed to the movies. The three
of us want to see Jersey Boys. Did you see
that movie he got to play to the show. Yeah,
it was you know, it was Clint Eastwood directed this movie.

(01:14:51):
My parents loved that movie was great. It was I was.
I enjoyed it. Ver him the music is amazing, absolutely
all Right. So this week was a strange week where
the Commissioner of the NFL, Roger Goodell, was on a
conference call with members of Congress to talk about the
situation involving the Washington Commanders and their owner Dan Snyder.

(01:15:14):
And it was a reminder again how precarious a situation
we have when it comes to the team sports. As
we know that when we're talking about Major League Baseball,
the NHL, the n b a UH, the NFL, n
c a A. They're protective from the antitrust lost. They
have this exemption from anti trust last and people, what
does that actually mean? What it means is is they're

(01:15:37):
able to basically conduct business without any interference from the government.
I mean, when you think about the draft is as
illegal an operation as can be. Where else do you
have what are the businesses? Do we have a draft?
Can you imagine, Andy, if if you were coming out
of school and you wanted to become a broadcaster, right

(01:15:58):
and they had a draft and you got drafted by
you know, I don't know, I mean, I don't know.
Maybe you love anywhere. But let's say you got drafted
an Anchorage and and and the only place you could
work as Anchorage. And you're like, wait, what what what?
I don't want to work in Anchorage. Well, if you
want to broadcast, that's the only place you can go, Anchorage.

(01:16:22):
No knock on Anchorage. I'm sure we have a lot
of fans up in Alaska. I've been up there is beautiful. Anyway.
My point is is that we're watching these members of Congress,
this uh congresswoman to leave right in Michigan, and she's
all over Goodell about this whole fiasco with Dan Snyder.
She probably has zero understanding of how clu but she's like,

(01:16:43):
you gotta fire this guy. And you know, Gooddell just
deadpan it right, Um, I actually can't do that. And
he kept his answers very short. She has no idea
basically what he was trying to say to her. Maybe
you don't understand that he does him worked for me.
I worked for him. He's my boss. It's not the

(01:17:07):
other way around. She doesn't understand that a commissioner's job
is to be the punching bag for the owners. That's
why Goodell gets paid forty to fifty million dollars a year.
He's there to take the punches for the rest of
the owners. The fact is is there's nothing the league
can do about Dan Snyder. You cannot force a guy

(01:17:28):
to sell a team. Now, there might be pressure from
other owners, but he's not really gonna happen. He's gonna
be able to weather the storm. He's gonna be able
to hang onto the franchise. Remember they were talking about
he was supposed to be out of the day to
day operations that his sister was in charge, and then
it came out Now he's still calling the shots from
behind the scenes. Of course he is. But the funny,

(01:17:49):
the funniest thing was that the hearings that I read
this the other day, it was a clown show. Why
they had Snyder not even they had to testify. And
the greatest line that I read earlier in the week,
I think was in the USA today is Snyder not
being there was like putting on Hamlet without Hamlet. That's
basically who was there, Roger All That was the point.
In other word, Snyder's like, look, I don't want to

(01:18:10):
do this is reding you go there. I'm paying you, Okay,
That's that's why I'm paying you along with the other
owners to be the commissioner, all right, so you you
they'll find he find them ten million dollars last year.
That was a freaking joke. Like the money he puts
in his yacht for gas that come only a ten
million dollars. It just people just don't know. But I

(01:18:31):
will say this seriously, um, all of these professional sports ladies,
and I'm lumping the n c A in this as well,
they got to be careful and you know, you know
where this could turn, you know, if we anytime we
get controversy. One of the reasons you mentioned the NFL,
you know, uh, suspending a player a year for a

(01:18:51):
rather benign bat on a game is gambling can change
the dynamic. Now the gambling is legalized in that you know,
around the country, and more and more states are putting
to sponsor the league exactly. But this is where the
officiating part of it comes in. If there's some questions
about games that are being I don't know, affected by

(01:19:12):
bad officiating, this is and then you've got these gambly
establishments screaming they come into Washington saying, hey, we need
some regulation in this. This is this is their biggest
fear because they've been operating without any outside interference. And
I know they want to keep it that way. But
I just laughed at this congressman and she's like, you
need a fire Snyder. He goes, I can't actually do that.

(01:19:35):
That's not under my jurisdiction. All right, we got much
more NFL news and plenty more on the future of
the NBA coming up next. Are we rolling along right now?
Oh my god, I just I get all combat. I
was in conversation Andy. Yeah, here we are once again
Fox Sports Saturday, Andy Firman joining us on this beautiful Saturday. Here.

(01:19:58):
I was talking to Bow and Don and we all
at all in conversation Andy about how as the older
you get time, there's a different perspective on time, Andy.
I don't know about you, but it's as I've gotten older,
you know, like like he used to think, like five
years seems like a long time, or ten years seems
like a long time. As you as you get along
in time, perspective of time changes dramatically. U Bo Bo

(01:20:24):
is a new dad, Okay, And so when congratulations have
always got a beautiful little girl, and uh, I was
showing my daughter, uh pictures of her as I'm holding
her as a baby, kissing her, and then I get
an updated photo of my twenty one year old daughter
dramatically different. You know, I was always told Oral hirsh eyes.
I tell this story often, so when Oral hersh sizzer.

(01:20:47):
I knew Oral when he was pitching for the Dodgers
covering the Dodgers, he was at the end of his career.
This was pitching with the Mets. He had nothing, He
had literally nothing on the ball. Piazza was still catching
for the Mets at the time. I was asking, how
does this guy get anybody out? He goes. I have
no clue he goes. There are times when he throws
garbage up there and somebody misses and he goes. I'm literally,

(01:21:09):
how did you miss that? Anyway, So we got into
this conversation. My boys, my my two oldest. My two
boys were young. They were like, you know, two and
a half and one born about nineteen months apart, and
we just got an earl's Earl and I are the
same age, but he had his kids were a little
bit older, and he said something he always stuck with me.
He says, when you have kids, the days are long,

(01:21:31):
but the years are short when you become When you
become a parent, there's no off time. It's from the
opening bell to the closing bell. And suddenly days like
I had. My my second son was born the month
before my forty birthday. I remember I celebrated my forty
birthday and it seemed like my next birthday was number fifty.

(01:21:51):
Like that decade, with three little kids and everything, it
just it just flew by. I mean, we sit here
and have perspective on sports back in the day, right,
And you know when when you're caught up into it
as a young guy, as we were, Andy, and you're
consumed with your baseball cards and living and breathing sports
every day, you know, listening to the games on the radio,

(01:22:13):
you know. I mean, I don't. I remember when I
got my first transistor radio, right, And this was big
from I was eleven years old and I got a
transistor radio. Now the little earpiece, and and you know,
I remember listening to the nineteen sixty nine World Series,
amazing Mets. And I was in my sixth grade class
and I had my earpiece and during the class. I

(01:22:34):
thought it was being really uh, you know, discreet about it.
And then my teacher, my sixth grade teacher, said, uh,
could you pull the airpiece out so we can hear
the Stephen pull the airpiece out? Please? Yeah, please do.
And that's when all the World Series games were day
games by the way, no night game baseball. But when
you think about the evolution of sports, Andy, I'll go
one stuff further. You know you talked about transistor radio.

(01:22:56):
I used to sleep with the radio one of my pillow.
There was something special about being in Brooklyn, New York,
and at night I could pick up the Kansas City
Athletics play on the radio. Now I got I got
serious x in now and I could pick up any
game I wanted with the local announcers. But to me,
it's not the same, it's not the magic when I
would spend that dial and and get like, uh the
Fort Wayne Commics hockey team and Fort Wayne, Indiana. Okay,

(01:23:20):
le was more all right? So growing up in l A.
So here, I'm in a big city, Los Angeles growing up,
and I grew up a Dodgers fan, of Lakers fan,
of Rams fan, the original l A rams Um and
my father went to USC my mother went to u
C l A. I mean, I was like, you know,
fully l A sports, right, and I'm growing up on
Vince Scully and Chick Hearn and Dick Emberg and all

(01:23:42):
these legendary voices, and I'm listening to them all day long.
But television wise, yeah, none of it. The only games
you had on TV were the Dodger road games against
the Giants. That's it. They would they would telecast those games.
And then of course you remember we have the NBC
Game of the Week. You know, the same thing. We
had so few games on TV. Let me ask you,

(01:24:05):
because I always think about all the changes, and people
talk about the money and everything else. I don't know
about that. I think I remember the reason that they
didn't broadcast You never saw a game from Dodgers. Same like,
the idea that they would ever broadcast the game in
l A from Dodgers Stadium seemed like ridiculous. Listens more,

(01:24:26):
I think that the money has overtaken the reasoning that
they don't care about the audience. Remember the reason. I
remember when the n c A A. You know, remember
ABC used to have the Game of the Week and
there was only a food schools that we saw. You'd
see a USC or a Notre Dame, or UH at
Texas or at Alabama, Veris. Few schools have State Michigan

(01:24:47):
stuff like that. But the fear was I remember the
Michigan Athletic director when they were talking about breaking this
contract from ABC and basically, you know, the wile while
West as far as TV deals, well were we got
a hundred thousand f ends in ann Arbor. If we're
on TV, no one's gonna show up. It was just
the opposite, right. He became more popular than ever the NFL.

(01:25:09):
The NFL had the blackout rule for the longest time,
where ever, I remember I live in New York City.
Friends of mine would drive to New Haven, Connecticut to
watch the New York Football Giants on TV because it
wasn't blacked out Piston ninety amoles of Connecticut. So when
we're sitting here in two and he's still talking about
these sports after all these years, do you ever take, uh,

(01:25:30):
just sort of a step back and like, is this
for real? I mean, we're we're I just mentioned that
Kevin Durant Steph Curry in the last year, he has
four years left on his deal. His last year of
his contract. Is gonna pay him for one year fifty
five million dollars. Fifty five million dollars. You and I
remember when free agency hit in the mid seventies and baseball.

(01:25:51):
I remember, you know, it was interesting in baseball. You thought,
all right, the stars get paid. That's the way he
used to be back in the day, right when we
were you know, Willie Mays got paid, Hank and got paid.
You know, the stars got paid. Everyone else got nothing.
Remember the one stuff disiploy your mind. Okay. I have
a dear friend who lived in Dayton, Ohio. We passed
away about ten twelve years ago. He owned businesses left

(01:26:12):
and right. Tremendous basketball fan. His name is Milt cant
kay An big money. He wanted about it Detroit Pistons
in nineteen sixty seven. Take a guess how much they
wanted for the Pistons that he turned them down. And
he hated himself since, uh, fifteen million, nine million, nine
nine millions about it, Detroit Pistons in nineteen sixty seven.

(01:26:33):
You know what do you get for nine million? Now?
You can't even get a rack up basketballs? It really
is incredible, but it's it's amazing that sports has elevated,
because again, when you and I were following sports, it
was niche. It was a mainstream. I mean, there were
certain names that would jump off the page that people knew,

(01:26:53):
Like literally before I really started even collecting baseball cards,
as like a seven year old growing up in l A,
I knew four names called Facts Drysdale. I knew William Mays,
I knew Mickey Mantle, like those are the only players
I've ever even heard of, right, um, and and then
then we but now we're talking with the NFL the
number one programming on every major network, number one four

(01:27:21):
major networks. Say, I think I read this recently. I
think the TV guy put this out of the top
fifty shows on television last year. I think the NFL
was like the top twelve that in fifty, top twelve,
NFL Sunday Night Football, Thursday Night whatever. Maybe I remember
when the NFL, Street and Smith used to put out

(01:27:42):
a football publication, not a separate NFL. It was all
college football, and the last ten pages was an update
on the NFL. That was it. I mean, it's just
it's amazing, and I just it was hot to follow
the NFL back then, it really was down well again
because I remember my first I went to a game
and my dad actually took me. I was twelve years old.

(01:28:04):
It was the day that Tom Dempsey kicked the sixty
three yard field goal for the Saints. I remember because
I was sitting there. I was at this awful game
between the Rams and the Falcons. Roman Gabriel so the
quarterback for the Rams, and they made an announcement that
this Tom Dempsey kicked a sixty three yard field I go,
sixty three yard field goal. That's when the goal lines
were the goal posts was still at the goal line.
He kicked it from his own thirty seven yard So

(01:28:27):
these are it's just for those of us that have
followed sports as long as we have, Andy I, I
just it is mind blowing where we are. It really
his football game. I went to the New York Jets,
who are playing on a Saturday night a Shafe stadium.
At the time, I had no idea who he was playing,
but I don't remember. The quarterback was Dick Wood Dick

(01:28:47):
it was a quarterback and uh wow, I don't remember
what they played. But that was my first So that
was the year before they drafted Nameth. Yes, so sixty
four was the opening of SHA Stadium, right, that was
the yearly opened Chase at m and uh. That was
the year before they got Joe named Dick would wow
n um Don was Mike? I just pissed away a

(01:29:09):
couple of months ago. Too great team. You know, he
was overlooked by the Hall of Fame for years and
finally got into the Hall of Fame. I never understood that. Um.
I like to see more of those old ANFL players
get to look. You know, I don't know if you've
heard this. They're gonna expand the number of senior candidates
over the next several years instead of an a senior
candidate that I hope they still dig into the archives

(01:29:32):
of the old American Football League because that lead changed
a lot for professional football in general. Let's face it,
if there hadn't been the AFL, we might not even
see the NFL we have nowadays, because they did things
to try to get eyeballs on that new league that
they weren't doing in a very conservative you know, Vince
Lombardi dominated NFL during the nineteen sixties, so they deserve

(01:29:54):
a lot of credit, all right. On the other side.
We'll talk about NFL today, what's happening around the league.
Adam Caplan, our Fox Sports Radio NFL Insider will join us.
Coming up next Steve Harman, Andy Furman here on Fox
Sports Saturday. We'll joining us right now. We love talking
him every single week our Fox Sports Radio NFL Insider,

(01:30:16):
the great Adam Caplan is joining us once again, and
Adam U Annie and I had quite a laugh looking
at uh with members of Congress not understanding, uh, the
lack of power the commission of the NFL AD. I
mean when that, you know, to leave the congresswoman out
of Michigan basically tell him you gotta fire the Snyder guy.

(01:30:39):
And you know he didn't say, but basically what he's saying.
I don't think you understand that I work for him.
He doesn't work for me. Um by the way, I
mean the fact that Snyder was not there that you know,
this is why we pay you, Roger Goodell, go out
there and handle this whole thing. I mean, what, what
is anything gonna come with this? It's a good question.

(01:30:59):
It's what many people are around the country, believe you know,
who were observers of the NFL. What will really happen.
Just so you know, um yeah, not only could the
commissioner not do anything about kicking the owner out, it
that the other owners would have to vote and through
the by laws, they'd have to find language that they
think would violate and then they have to have a
majority rule to get him out. It's uh, it's really

(01:31:22):
remarkable because some you know, fans are saying, well, what
will it take, particularly Washington fans, is there anything you know?
At what point do you say enough is enough to
force him to sell a team? And uh, as we've
been talking about on Fox Sports Radio now, there was
the accusation of withholding withholding uh season ticket holding money

(01:31:42):
and money that should go to the other owners, and
that would that's different. It's something where the other owners
were not giving money. There's just to be getting that
would be a problem. Adam, how you doing again? I
don't have the field question. When is the hamma drop
into Shawn Watson? And by the way, what would be
the punishment? You think? Yeah, well, we've talked about for
nine months. There's absolutely no way to know what the

(01:32:03):
punishment will be because it's the procedure. Guys have changed
since on the new CB A the both sides agreed
to not have the commissioner and be the one who
would decide anymore on discipline through that channel with the
recommendations from people who UH work with him and for him.
It goes through Sir Robinson, who's the disciplinary officer and

(01:32:24):
in this case who's a retired federal judge, and she
will make a recommendation by training camp. UH. The problem
is nobody has anything She's never done anything like this before.
That's why no one knows what it will be. UH.
From the league standpoint, they're gonna want heavy discipline, UH
starting at six games. Now here's where here's the key
part here. The commissioner has the ability to increase the penalty.

(01:32:50):
As long as Robinson UH gives a a punishment of
least six games. He could increase it or actually decrease it.
But it cannot be down as yuarro. UM. So the
question here is what will she do? What will she do?
And and that if Goodell is not happy, which if
it's not at least eight games, I'd be absolutely stunned. UM.

(01:33:12):
The league is known about this, they did their own investigation.
She's gonna have those materials when the hearing. I think
the ESPN first reported it, uh is gonna be next week.
For this to be less than eight games would be
just be shocking because as we know, guys, you do
not have to be charged with a crime which he
has not been to be suspended. And the other part
about this, and just when I worked at ESPN, I

(01:33:33):
could just tell you talking to league privately, they care
so much about optics, and the optics the optics of
the situation are so ugly. It's just hard to imagine
he won't get at least eight games. All right, But
if I'm the NFL p A, I'm like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Um,
let's talk about punishment for m violation of the Personal

(01:33:54):
Conduct Policy as a pertains to Daniel Snyder or Robert
Kraft or Jerry Jones. You know, if I'm the p
A the players associates, what I'm saying, You know, those
guys got little of any kind of pushback on their behavior,
and now you're gonna level or drop the hammer on
on a player. I would imagine there's gonna that that

(01:34:16):
is a little bit of isn't it not a little
bit of a predicament? If you're the league office. Well, okay,
first of all, the the NFL p A will challenge.
They will peel anything and within the rights, they will
peel any kind of punishment because whether they believe Watson
or not as irrelevant. It's their job to support their players.
They have to. And then the question would be what
is Goodell going to do? Uh? But yeah, no question.

(01:34:39):
And look, you've got the one alleged incident with Robert Kraft.
That's that's a record. So we know about that one.
We won't go into that. We all know what that
is or was that's been alleged somewhere in Florida, very
public records in a strip mall. No less, Yeah, we
we no cop no comment there is and this list

(01:35:00):
with your but that's only that's the only one incident
the opposed to, not only you talking about over twenty
four the New York Times piece, Uh there in their information,
Watson contacted sixty six women. So it's just it's highly irregular.
I've talked to coaches who I'm pretty tight with who

(01:35:21):
they have had. Um, they've got massages before, but you
only do it with one or two people. Even when
you travel. You you want to feel comfortable with that person.
This is highly irregular, and no one that I've talked
to has had massages before thinks this is legitimate. But
we'll see what Sir Robinson thinks. All right, Adam, I'd
like to go on the football playing field if I can.

(01:35:42):
For a secondary. I want to who is the bigger
quarterback problem? Seattle, Little Pittsburgh, Oh, Seattle. They don't have
a starter. It'll be if they don't get into um
the Baker Mayfield sweep sticks. They have some interest, but
I don't believe they make a trade for him. They
have not really been involved. Now if he gets released.
As a from story, the Browns are saying they've told
people they're not going to release him. But to say

(01:36:04):
that now, Uh Seattle, it's going to be Geno Smith
for now, but by week one if they have not
added a quarterback, which I think is highly dubious. But
if they had a quarterback, guys, that guy will probably
want up starting. But if they just go with Jeno
Smith and Drew Lock, it will be Drew Lock. Drew
Lock was very highly touted by this UH front office
in Pete Carroll for the nineteen draft. Now he hasn't

(01:36:25):
played very well. That's why Denver moved him, made the
trade for ironicalley Russell Wilson and former Seahawks quarterback. But yeah,
it Seattle's got the worst situation a quarterback in the
league by far. Nothing compares to it. All Right, Jimmy Garoppolo,
apparently he's gonna be throwing soon. Um does that even
change anything? I mean, it actually does. So, I mean
you've been you've been maintaining at him. There hasn't really

(01:36:46):
been much of a market in terms of m Yeah,
here's what I know. So the team's involved. And by
the way, the Panthers are certainly interested in Garoppolo. They've
done their homework I'm told on him breach only. They've
gathered information so all the teams interested, of tall or tall,
that he'll be thrown by training camps when they open
at the at the end of the next month. So

(01:37:07):
you've got a proximate four weeks and he's got to
get clear for contact. Now what that means is, yes,
you can't hit the quarterback in practice, but he's got
to be able to be hit in a real game.
So they have to know exactly where that right shoulder is.
In fact, Uh, there might be a situation where if
it gets to this, where the Niners will do anything

(01:37:27):
to move him because two million is not palatable to
any team. If it if one of these teams could say, hey, listen,
well let's work this out. We want to see him,
we want our scans, we want updated scans, and you
also want to talk to him in person. And it's
not imprecedent. The Niners would have to to agree to that,
but that's something that some of the teams have talked

(01:37:49):
to would have interested in. Um but more more likely,
more than likely, he'll be released. Is is kind of
the the end game for him at a million, unless
unless he's willing to take a significant uh unless the
night as we want to pick up a significant chunk
of the money. I just don't see how he's gonna
get moved. All right, let me let me leave you

(01:38:10):
with you stuff. They kind of adam, how big a
void does uh Gronkowski's retirement create the Tampa Bay huge?
Absolutely huge, And don't forget Chris Godwin and their star
slot receivers come back intourn A. Cl know he got
his contract extending, but it's big right now They've got
Cameron Brad will start for him and two rookies, and

(01:38:30):
then you've got the Godwin injury. Guys. I mean, it's
it hurts their look. Brady's incredible. He's shown he could
work with not a lot of talent with New England
over the years. At some points when they didn't, they
weren't great. And also remember he worked with Gronk and
Gronk wasn't healthy. Uh, it's a big deal. Now I'm
not rolling out Gronk coming back. He's already done it once.
Let's not forget. So maybe he rests that bad back

(01:38:51):
he's had, you know he had, He's had bad problems.
Isn't his tire football playing career. So I keep an
eye on that. I wouldn't roll it out, But uh,
it's a problem. It's a it's a it's it's to me,
it's a real storyline for the Bucks in the NFL.
Is the impact of Gronk retiring and we don't know,
by the way, when Chris Godwin's going to be back.
That's that's a that's a big injury. Terrific football player

(01:39:14):
who had a major injury. He had h c L reconstruction,
and there are questions whether he'll be ready for the
start of the regular season, although Drew Rosenaus did say,
you know, you know, if if need be later in
the season, and he said for the last time, said
the same thing, and he was ready. Now obviously he
wants he would like to make money. Well, I I

(01:39:35):
look at I look at grons Got. His body has
taken so much punishment over the years. I mean, the
guy really has. But you know, if the Tampa Bays
in the mix and they just need that one little
extra piece late in the season. All right, final thing
for you here, Adam uh and Andy Or and I
were talking about this. This is a question I saw
throwing out this week. I'll get your answer. If you
were to start a franchise right now and you could

(01:39:55):
choose any quarterback in this league, who would you choose?
Josh Allen? No question about Josh by the way, because
these three NFL insiders I were watching all said Joe Burrow.
I mean, look, I love him. He's finally gonna have
an offensive line. He got sacked twenty times during the playoffs.
But Joe Burke cannot make throws a Josh Allen. Cannet's again,

(01:40:18):
no shot at Joe Burrow. If we ranked the top
five quarterbacks for the future, Burrows probably number two. But
Josh Allen is is a super freak. Now the one
issue now that Josh Allen has his Ken Dorsey, the
quarterbacks coach now is the OC and Brian Dayball, who
did an amazing job with him, is now the head
coach of the Giants, And that's that's another storyline. And
to watch how the play call is gonna call him, well,

(01:40:40):
Allen b is good. Absolutely, Where would he was just three?
He would be three now I'm excluding Rogers, the older guys,
excluding Mahomes. You know he's in there here. See it's funny.
I think the loss of tyreek Kill is going to
be massive. You can't replace him. So I don't have
Jeff Short screaming at you right now. I know, I

(01:41:00):
know he and he's in on the Chiefs. You have
to understand because play Mitchell played their absolutely So I
get it. I get it. Yeah, I get it. But
don't be don't be down. You know you feel the
wrath of Schwartz if you're downplaying Patrick and and Stafford's
got to be in my top five top seven. Wow,
Well look how he was incredible. Lessie. He was like,

(01:41:23):
I want a super Bowl. You gotta give it to
the guy better. Adam. We always appreciate the time. We'll
talk to next week. Sounds good. That's our sports radio
NFL insider Adam Kaplan. All right, let's find out what's
trending right now. Brian Fenley is back. Hey he's got
no no music necessary, Brian, you know, no, man, Well

(01:41:44):
there it is. It's like it's a low roar. Am.
I talking to Steve and future Anchorage radio story Andy Ferman. Yeah,
I want that sit with you, Brian. If you know
you're coming out of school and it's like the NFL.
You know, there's a draft. Okay, and right with our
first round pick, we select Brian Finly and you know

(01:42:06):
it's Anchorage. We're like, that's where I'm broadcasting from. Well
and again, like you said, we we love Alaska. I've
been there as a kid. It's wonderful. It's a little
bit isolated, so we have to include that into the equation.
I go, now, well, it's a see. The thing about
it is would be a smaller market, right, you know,
so the smaller markets get the first choices. It's like

(01:42:30):
the teams with the worst record get the first choices.
Think about this question. How many potential Hall of Fame
careers in the NFL have been derailed because the guy
ended up on the wrong team. How do you even
engage that. I mean, I'll go back old school Archie Manning.
In fact, on the other side, I want to get

(01:42:51):
into his grandson a little bit here. But what's out there, Brian. Yeah,
other than any firm and covering I did around races
in Alaska, we do have a Major League Baseball taking
place right now. The Houston Astros throwing a combined no
hitter against the Inkies in a three nothing when this
involved three Houston pitchers, Christian Javier he was yanked after

(01:43:12):
seven innings. Dusty Baker decided to to go to heck
with him and took him out after thirteen strikeouts in
one hundred fifteen pitches. This was the first time in
nineteen years, as Steve pointed out, that New York has
gone hit list in a game, and the last time
it was against the Astros as well, and it was
also a combined Yeah, that's amazing. Yeah. And then there

(01:43:33):
was a report as well that there have been two
no hitters for the Yankees, and both of them prior
to today. We're against Houston, so not just the one
in two thousand three, but there was one back in
the twentieth century as well, came against the Astros, so
they definitely have their number Houston to New York. As

(01:43:53):
far as some of the other games happening right now,
speaking of another team in New York, the Mets and Marlins,
this one is being played in Miami. It's three three.
They just finished up the seventh inning, so Pete Alonso,
by the way, has hit a home run in that one,
his twenty one on the season. The Brewers are clamping
down on the Blue Jays five to two. This one
is now up to the seventh and the Red Sox

(01:44:14):
and Guardians just underwin in the bottom of the second
no score. There we mentioned the no hitter for the
Astros against the Yankees. The Rays also finished the job
against the Pirates six to five thanks to fourteen hits
from Tampa, and the Cardinals got it done against the
Cubs five to three, as St. Louis had ten hits

(01:44:35):
in that one. Espnis are reporting Brown's quarterback de Shaun
Watson will have his disciplinary hearing on Tuesday in front
of the NFL and Players Association. Watson has settled in
twenty of those twenty four civil lawsuits that accuse him
of sexual assault. And I'll leave you with this guy's
we're talking about this earlier and how much do we
look into this? But Damian Lillard on his Instagram account

(01:44:58):
up on his story, one of his I guess you
would say pictures is of himself and Kevin Durant, both
wearing Trailblazer's uniforms. So just when you thought that Portland's
was deserted and they were sort of trying to figure
out what's nest and maybe rebuilding, could we see Andy

(01:45:19):
and Steve Kevin Durant making his way to Portland. I
will say this, why would he go to Portland's. They
don't have anything in Portland's right now. It's like going
to Anchorage for radio. I was gonna say I was Portland's.
I was gonna say, Andy, when you start and you
move up to Alaska, it'll be easy for you to
to catch the train to go down to port You know, well,

(01:45:43):
mat Or you'll be jumping on a salmon fish boat
and get down there. Kyrie Irving is on the move.
Kevin Durant's not going anywhere. He can't. He's under contract
for four more years. They're not believe me, Joe's side,
the owner of the team is not gonna let go
of Kevin Durant, period exclamation point. Lose a lot of

(01:46:04):
respect for him if he if he let him break
the contract, I really would be. They're not gonna do that.
What are you gonna get in return? No, No, not
not happening, Brian, great job has always appreciate your input
out there. Um, all right, we're just talking. I just
threw out that question about how many potential Hall of
Fame careers have been derailed in the NFL from the

(01:46:26):
get go because the guy ended up on the wrong team.
Back in the day, there was a guy named Archie Manning,
superstar at old Miss, unbelievable athlete at the quarterback position,
and he ended up with a miserable team in the
New Orleans Saints. He almost got killed back in the
day when they had almost zero protection for quarterbacks. They
took the wrath. He had a very solid NFL career,

(01:46:47):
but any shot at the NFL Hall of Fame Pro
Football Hall of fame was derailed by the team he
was on. By the way, this is a little thing.
So arch Manning his grandson, who, by the way, is
the son of Cooper man Mean, here's one thing. Well
this is interesting. So Cooper is the oldest of the
three brothers. He and Peyton were a year apart in school,

(01:47:10):
and then Eli was five years later. He was much
younger than his two older brothers. Cooper Manning was by
far the best athlete of the three boys. It wasn't
even close. Cooper played wide receiver. He was a superstar
wide receiver in high school. In fact, his senior year,
his brother Peyton was the quarterback, but Cooper Manning was
by far. He had his he had his father's athletic jeans.

(01:47:32):
Archie Manny could run. I mean, he could do a
lot of different things. He was one of those kype
at quarterbacks well ahead of his time. So it's ironic.
The reason that Cooper's career ended was that when he
went to Old miss as a wide receiver, he had
some kind of spinal situation and it ended his football career.
He never got to play college football and that was it.
And so his younger brothers, who were nearly as good

(01:47:55):
of athletes. You know, Peyton Manning and Eli obviously are
legendary quarterbacks, but from an athletics standpoint, they're not what
their father was or even their brother Cooper. But now
you watch film of Arch Manning, who by the way,
still has another year of high school, number one high
school player in the country. He just signed on with Texas.
He will you watch film of Arch Manning? He looks

(01:48:16):
just like his grandfather. He's an athlete. What about the
sports change in that family? They let a Sela They've
sent him out to stud like a horse. Really well,
let me ask you this, what do you think? Okay
with this N I, L and I you know we're
gonna get Now, guys, this is gonna be good news
if you're a college sports fan, because guys are gonna
stay in school longer. Why not if you're getting paid

(01:48:38):
millions of dollars. Believe me, the University of Texas to
get the number one high school quarterback in the country
is paying heavily to get Arch Manning to come to
the University of Texas. All right, um, how do you
feel about that? Andy? That now that now that these
college athletes are going to get their share of the money,

(01:48:59):
and it's only going up. There's no limitation on this.
In fact, Jeff Schwartz and I were kidding last week,
we were talking about how the Saudis are pouring all
this money into the live golf tour, right and stealing
all these big names by just offering them obscene amounts
of money. There's nothing to prevent them from, you know,
giving a call to let's say Nick Saban and say Nick,

(01:49:20):
and we heard you the other day, so you know,
maybe tongue in cheeks saying, you know, Texas A and
M and Jimbo Fisher outbid us for some of those players,
maybe calling out his Alabama boosters to step up with
the money. And you know, the Saudis say, hey, we
can make you deal with you never have to worry
about money again. He'll sign up tomorrow. What he not?

(01:49:40):
How do you feel about all this money pouring into Finally,
for years we talked about these guys getting paid. Now
we're talking millions. Okay. We realized from day one that
college athletics is a business, and moreover than not, it's
more of a big business today than that has been before.
And who puts on the show who the people that
really come out to see them play with the athletes.
So and I always felt that these kids should get paid.

(01:50:02):
But the problem with the n i L is a
situation is that you would think a great athlete who's
recruited from a school would use his skill set as
well as his name recognition to go to a local
car dealer or wherever it may be, and they would
give him X amount of dollars to make some appearances,
maybe during the off season or on a Saturday when
they're not playing, whatever it may be. And that's what

(01:50:23):
the n i L is all about. It's not working
out that way. This is what the n L has become,
and it's really really gone the wrong direction. Well, about
two weeks ago, Ryan Day, the head football coach in
Ohio State, had a meeting with the big business people
in Columbus, Ohio, and he's telling these people, hey, look,
if we're gonna compete, if we want to compete in football,
we got to pony up and got some money. He says,

(01:50:44):
this is X amount of money we need for a
call team million is the number team million, just to
hold our team together, right, And he's talking to the
business so That's not not exactly what the nl was
set up to do, but that's what it happened. Because
there's no regulation in the n c A said you
wanted it here it is. They're stepping out of the way.

(01:51:04):
It is the wild wild West. There are no rules.
That's why I say, if the Saudis decide, I mean,
we're all curious, like, what is the Saudis endgame here?
Why why golf? I mean golf? I mean, no one's
why would you Why would you pay two hundred million
dollars up from for Phil Mickelson. I mean, I understand
offering a billion dollars to Tiger, but a hundred fifty

(01:51:25):
million to Dustin Johnson? And why why? No one's gonna
You're not gonna get your return on the dollar. Unless
this is just the beginning. Maybe they're just trying to
take over the sports world. I don't know. And now
you've got an opening with the n i L and
college football. There's no regulations they could they could say,
what do you need, here's the money, we'll get you.

(01:51:46):
What it basically is is made cheating legal. That's what then, Okay,
so there's there's always been money under the table you
know that right now, But this is what's going to happen.
So hey, well it's a pretty good time right now
to be a five star recruiting football. I mean you
just sit down. It's like, well, you know, we're gonna

(01:52:07):
give your son a great education. Now let's get to
the chase. How much money can my son make? Give
me the number? By the way, remember last year Bryce
Young at Alabama who hadn't even started a game yet. Uh,
Salman was saying, yeah, I got a quarterback asn't played
a game yet, He's already gonna get seven figures now
he won the Heisman Trophy. How much money you think
Bryce Young? Because by the way, Bryce Young could he

(01:52:28):
and c J. Stratt at Ohio State, right these two
superstar quarterbacks not eligible for the NFL Draft. Both of
those guys could have entered the transfer portal like the
pit receiver did after winning the Blooder cuff Ward. Now
is that usc What do you think prevented those two
guys from entering the portal? You know that Ohio State
in Alabama ponied up big time. Got how much Donny

(01:52:53):
get to go to Texas belief? And by the way,
there is no Richer Athletic Department, then the University of
Texas there in Austin, Texas five and seven. What's interesting
Here's so Sarkes He's still a year away. Sarkeesan is
still gonna have another It's gonna still be the guy.

(01:53:15):
When Arch Manning shows up, I mean they have another
losing year. He might be in trouble. They may be
looking for another coach. Al right. On the other side,
we've been having some fun with some of the money
aspects and sports. I want to hear some bold predictions
from many Ferman. I I the man knows it from
top to bottom. I want I want Andy on the
other side, to make a bold prediction about anything that's

(01:53:36):
on your mind. Out of the box. And you think
we're gonna be talking about a week from now, a
month and now in sports from Andy Ferman coming up next, No, no, no,
we don't want to go anywhere. I want to keep
it right here on Fox Sports Saturday, Steve Harman and
Andy Firm want to thank the crew to day. I
mean some faces that I know and I see, but

(01:53:58):
not on a regular basis. The real Don Brown is there. Don.
It's good to see. I'm meant to see you again tomorrow.
Right there it is, Don is always great to see.
How about Brian Finley today? I mean, a man that
basically refers to you as a father figure. Did we
ever get the full story of that? I mean, I
don't know stuff. I'd like to know myself. I think

(01:54:18):
it needs to raise his standards. I really do so
the things of you as a father figure. And then
we got Bo Bo Benson over there, the new dad. Wow,
how's that working? Bow? Now we've got a little baby
at home, and I know you've got crazy hours here
at Fox Sports. How you sleep hours? Sleeps? Okay, we're
making it work. We we are making it work. Yeah. Yes,

(01:54:39):
my wife and I she's she's doing very well. She's
doing very well. And you're working a lot. Yeah. I
remember those days. None of my kids, I don't know, Andy,
My kids did not. None of my kids were great
sleepers at night. They always seem to be up. It
just seemed like to be a constant. You know, you
have those sleepless nights and then you're on the radio
at like nine o'clock in the more. And I remember

(01:55:01):
I would go on the air like in a fog.
But you know, you know how it is, Andy, The
light goes on your on right and whatever energy you
got and you've used it all. And I would get
off at like twelve or one o'clock in the middle
of the day and then I get in the car
to drive home and suddenly it would hit me like
I haven't slept in like twenty four hours. I passed

(01:55:21):
out of the wheel just about christ. I didn't have
that problem. You know, my wife and I went to
Bulgarian adopted two brothers and they were five and four.
I didn't have that problem, none of that problem out there.
So all right, so I I put it on you Andy.
You know, we had a lot of things going on
right now. Obviously we got the baseball season went and
didn't talk a lot of baseball. Today we have the

(01:55:41):
no hitter, but you know we're you know, we're June, right,
you know, well, you have a lot little more baseball.
I got the All Star break coming up next month,
and we get to the trade deadline, and then later
on baseball gets a little more interesting. We're now into
the off season. We got mini camps gone in the NFL,
so it's one of those, you know, in the NBA,
seasons ended. We're still waiting for the end of the
NHL playoffs. You know, it's just a little bit of

(01:56:04):
the summer haze right now. So when you look at
the landscape a week from now, month from now, please
tell me what I'm gonna be talking about, Like, give
me something that's gonna break that you think we're gonna
be buzzing about. Obviously to stun Watson situation. Tuesday, it's
gonna be a big deal with the meeting, Okay. I
would think that right after that meeting and when the

(01:56:24):
hammer comes down to Sean, I think the NFL owner
is going to look to replace Roger Goodell. I really do,
because I think he's making a fool out of himself.
He looks like a fool of these met he really does. Uh.
I think we know that Jerry Jones would love to
get rid of him. Oh yeah, I think that his
time has come. I really do. Really this is these

(01:56:45):
these meetings are not helping him either in the public eye.
But I mean again, he's there representating like he doesn't
say anything. I mean that's he's really good at that.
I know there's a lot of frustration on Capitol Hill
by the way, why are they even involved in this?
Then we have other pressing matters right now for our
members of Congress to be addressing than the status of

(01:57:06):
Dan Snyder with the Washington Commanders. Yeah, it really is.
It's diversions. I mean, that's what life is all about.
When there's a bit problem, look for the version. That's
what they do. And they do what the sports too.
But I mean, come on, it really the Washington Commanders
that's the priority here. I don't think Yes, go ahead now,
I will I will say this, and I don't want

(01:57:27):
to say this because it upsets me. But we're gonna
see more streaming of sports lists over the air TV.
A lot of I don't get watching a baseball game
like eleven o'clock in the morning on a Sunday morning.
I just don't get that. And they have the NFL
game instead of coming on earlier two on South the
Eastern time, like nine thirty in the morning. See more streaming.
That's gonna happen. That's happening now. By the way. You know,

(01:57:48):
in the NBA Finals did not put up great numbers,
nowhere near what they thought they were going to do. Obviously,
the last couple of years were down, but they didn't
even return to the numbers they have when the Warriors
played the Raptors. And remember those those ratings were deceiving
because you had a team in Canada at one of
the two teams in the finals. But you're saying, I mean,
do you believe the NBA, because this is something I

(01:58:10):
wanted to get into. We got a little time here
at the end. Do you think the NBA is on
solid footing right now? We know that Adam Silver has
expressed concerned about the load management situation, starts sitting out
as many games as they do. All these movement or
players are demanding trades and everything else, and there weren't
as many eyeballs as I thought they were gonna be
with a marquee matcher like the Warriors and the Celtics.

(01:58:33):
You know, I think the season is too long. I
think that people realize that nothing really counts unto the
playoffs stunt and it's a different brand of the basketball
thirty years ago. Seasons the same length as as options.
Because the public has more options, I'll do other things
that the leisure time and money is tight, money is tied,
and those tickets are pretty high. Do you think we'll
see baseball. Where are we gonna see baseball five years

(01:58:55):
from now? Better baseball is still a pretty good bargain
and that's why people go. And it's under the sun,
so people love it. Still have those baseball cards, Andy, Yeah,
I do. I have some of them. Do hang on
to those keeping here on Fox Sports Radio

All Episodes

Episode Transcript

Fox Sports Radio News

Host

Jonas Knox

Popular Podcasts

Stuff You Should Know

Dateline NBC

On Purpose with Jay Shetty

.css-15opob5{left:0;position:absolute;top:0.8rem;} All Episodes

.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}Steve Hartman and Andy Furman talk Kyrie Irving and Deshaun Watson!