Best of Tuesday 8/19: Colts QB decision incoming? + injuries aplenty & more!

00:00 – 22:19 – More likely the Colts make the AFC Championship game or the opening day starting QB starts all 17 games?, new Colt Xavien Howard has a checkered past, Juju Brents and Jaylon Jones status, we got to the text line, Dan Orlovsky weighs in on the Colts QB competition, what is Shane Steichen wanting: high ceiling or most reliable?

22:20 – 35:33 - – PGA Tour Radio’s Will Haskett join us to recap LIV Golf being in town this past weekend, why it seemed like a great event for families, where would he like to see a pro golf tournament in and around town, Scottie Scheffler’s insane year, could we get pro golf at the IMS in the near future

35:34 – 59:24 - Zak Keefer of The Athletic joins us and discusses his sit-down interview with Andrew Luck, the most surprising answer he got from Luck, any regrets from his decision to retire?, falling back in love with football and returning to Stanford

Support the show: https://1075thefan.com/the-wake-up-call-1075-the-fan/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
You're listening to the best of the Fan Morning Show
on ninety three five and one oh seven five the Fan.

Speaker 2 (00:07):
Good Morning, Happy Tuesday. Welcome into the Fan Morning Show,
KBJB Jeff Fan Mark taikedon, I guess we'd call you doctor,
right MD? Anybody ever pay that one by?

Speaker 3 (00:16):
He'd like to sure there's no degree on my door.
You want some medical advice, though, doctor of nonsense? I
like that and say put some dirt on it. Get
back out there.

Speaker 2 (00:25):
Yeah. Uh. Text line is open at two three nine,
ten seventy and the Fan text Line. Mark got in
early this morning and Kevin, he said, regardless of who's
name the starting quarterback, by week.

Speaker 4 (00:35):
Three or four, everyone's gonna want the other guy.

Speaker 2 (00:38):
With the starter when it turns out to be, uh,
not so great. That's how it's always been, just his
two cents. Probably not the all, but off the Mark,
I would imagine.

Speaker 4 (00:46):
Better chance the Colts make the AFC title game or
the week one starter starts all seventeen games for the Colts.

Speaker 5 (01:00):
The ladder. Yeah, I think this is the latter.

Speaker 2 (01:05):
You're saying no chance is what you're saying.

Speaker 6 (01:07):
Yeah, they have no chance to make the AMFC Championship,
So I would go with like little to no chance
over zero chance. You're positive this so if you're able
to win the No, no, no, we're not doing that. Nah,
I'm not nothing to a positive? Have you seen those quarterbacks?
If you're able to win they have you seen this team?
They made the playoffs and four? You also think they

(01:28):
go to the AFC Championship? No zero chance.

Speaker 4 (01:31):
How many starters even started all seventeen games last year
in the NFL? Do you think half?

Speaker 7 (01:35):
Well?

Speaker 6 (01:36):
Yeah, it was though it was a unique year. A
lot of guys got dinged up and missed some time.

Speaker 4 (01:42):
You would probably go with the AFC title game, right?
Or would you go with the ladder there you think?
I think there's Jones or Anthony Richardson will start each
and every football game the Colts play this season.

Speaker 2 (01:53):
I think there's zero chance that happens, which is why,
given the choice of those two, I'd probably the AFC
Championship game. But again to James point, I'm just reversing,
and there's little to no chance of one and zero chances.

Speaker 4 (02:05):
Just got to win two playoff games?

Speaker 7 (02:07):
Right?

Speaker 2 (02:07):
Oh yeah, that's all you gotta do.

Speaker 3 (02:08):
How long has that been it's the getting to the
playoffs that's been the issue.

Speaker 4 (02:11):
Coach, Well, you're in the AFC South. Isn't that a
gift that keeps on giving?

Speaker 3 (02:15):
Not for the cold Rock Osweiler?

Speaker 7 (02:19):
Maybe?

Speaker 2 (02:20):
And if C J.

Speaker 4 (02:20):
Stroud gets hurt Davis Mills time, baby, Davis Mills, does.

Speaker 2 (02:27):
That mean we're going to be a Bean at quarterback
at some point this year?

Speaker 7 (02:30):
Maybe?

Speaker 4 (02:30):
I do not think Jason Dean will get undertded.

Speaker 3 (02:33):
I'm gonna look and see what like if you put
if you picked the Colts to represent the AFC in
the in the championship game, like, what what odds are
we looking at here?

Speaker 2 (02:42):
But go ahead, I bet it's somewhere around I'm gonna
say probably like twelve plus twelve hundred, fourteen hundred something
like that. Ten million might be higher than that. We
were talking about the fact that during the checkdown a
moment ago, James Boyd the zab and Howard has been
signed by Chris Ballard. And not only do you have
an injury of sorts last year he's thirty two years old,

(03:03):
but he also had a lot of off the field
stuff to deal with, including the fact that he sent
a picture of a very graphic nature of him and
a woman to the woman's son. Because he was in
a dispute with the woman, he sent that picture to
the woman's teenage son of he and the woman in
a very interesting situation.

Speaker 6 (03:22):
Let's put Yeah, this is all allegedly according to court documents,
and now the I guess the update there is that
the son has This is according to earlier this year
in February of court filing. And I'll just read what's
in our story, my story. The voy quote voluntarily dismissed
with prejudice the claims he has heard against Howard. So

(03:44):
I mean dismissed with prejudice means it can't come back
to court and he can't be tried for that again.
But the plaintiff's lawsuit is still pending, so I believe
this isn't resolved fully just yet.

Speaker 5 (03:55):
But it's certainly some point, right I'm sorry, what.

Speaker 2 (03:58):
So it's reports of that happen happening at this point right.

Speaker 6 (04:02):
Well, it's all in court document, so's I guess it's
more valid than a report like this is all in
you know, the public domain, and he had to go
to court for it or had to you know, be a.

Speaker 5 (04:16):
To a certain degree. They had to go through a
lawsuit because of it.

Speaker 6 (04:18):
So anyways, yeah, I reached out to the Colts because
I was like, this is going to go on my story.

Speaker 5 (04:24):
It has to go in the story. And here's what
Chris Ballard said.

Speaker 6 (04:27):
And keep in mind, this is someone who said, you know,
they try to keep people with high character and you know,
obviously they want them to be good members of the
community and society. And he said, we understand the discussion
regarding Xavian. We've done our research on this situation. We
talked thoroughly with him. We expect Xaviing to be professional
on and off the field. He understands the opportunity he
has here. A significant part of this signing is trust,

(04:50):
and we expect him to build, build on and honor
that trust. So that is the latest on that. There
are some other stuff in his past as well. I
want us to get into those things, because both of
those cases were actually dismissed. But nevertheless, it is certainly
something to you know, ask about.

Speaker 5 (05:05):
And I think, you know.

Speaker 6 (05:07):
Regardless of what happens with the quarterback situation, at some point,
it is still worth asking Shane Steichen or asking Xavion
Howard himself, like, what is the latest and you know,
what can you really say about this matter?

Speaker 2 (05:18):
Yeah, I file that one under the file of there's
some guys and whether it's the NFL, NBA, Major League Baseball, hockey, whatever,
there are alreadys, just some guys that there's just always
something going on. It seems like there's every year or
every year and a half, there's something bubbling up, there's
something going on that's just doesn't need to be there,

(05:41):
and even though they don't, maybe those things get dismissed
or whatever happens to him. It just feels like there
are guys that put themselves continually in situations that are
not the most ideal of situations.

Speaker 4 (05:51):
Yeah, he does seem like one that's popped up on
the old ESPN ticker quite a bit here over the
last couple of years. You know, it sounded like judging
by what lou Ann Room said yesterday. Again, for those
that are unfamiliar with Howard's full background, he began with
the Dolphins, that is where Loui ana Arumo was prior
to Cincinnati. So you know, Howard has been in the
league for so long that his first two years in

(06:12):
the league Louis an Rumo was his position coach there
in Miami. You really flourished, you know, probably kind of
right at the end of and Rumo's time there, especially,
you know, right around twenty nineteen, twenty twenty. But like
it is, you know, this would be quite the resurrection project,
Exaving Howard coming here and being whatever top flight corner

(06:34):
for you. I mean, when James rattled off some of
those stats a little bit earlier of his interceptions and
it's all pro.

Speaker 6 (06:39):
Nature twenty twenty led leading the interceptions, how long ago
was that?

Speaker 4 (06:42):
And in corner years, that's like dog USh, Yeah, you
know it's the Colts are really banking on something I'd
say rather unprecedented. When you look at their three corners,
assuming Xaving Howard is going to be one of the starters.
I mean him and Kenny Moore and Shavarious Ward, they
all have nearly one hundreds arts in the league. That's
a lot. And you know, I think last year in

(07:03):
the league you only had one corner age thirty or
older start every game. That was Jalen Ramsey. So you know,
I don't want to act like maybe it's like a
running back where you get to like twenty eight, twenty nine,
the red flag starts to get waived. But it's kind
of like that at corner, and again, Xavier Howard didn't
play in the league last year. Now, lou Anrimo kind
of flipped that on the other side of saying, well,
you know, that means he's you know, maybe could have

(07:24):
some fresh legs, So we'll see. They worked him out.
They clearly were good with it, but James Boyd judging.
But by what Loui Anarumo said yesterday, I don't see
this as a Hey, we'll see where he's at and
maybe he'll make the team next Tuesday. I got the
impression that when they play the Miami Dolphins, his old team, ironically,
two weeks from Sunday, Xaming Howard's going to be playing

(07:46):
a lot of snaps.

Speaker 6 (07:47):
Yeah, I honestly think that he could be in the
running to start that game. Considering the injury they've had
to that secondary and assuming Cannymore is able to come back,
I would think he's in a slot Javerious Wards on
the other outside spot. And those are your three cornerbacks, yep.

Speaker 2 (08:00):
Talk to me about the injuries to the other two guys.
At this point, in time. Are we talking about lengthy absences?
Are we talking what are we talking about? Do we know?

Speaker 5 (08:07):
No, we don't know.

Speaker 6 (08:08):
I mean, I can give it to you straight at
this Jeff, it's been a lengthy absence for Juju, Brentson,
Jalen Jones because they just haven't played, and I don't
know Kevin has been at least two or three.

Speaker 5 (08:18):
Weeks, if no longer at this point.

Speaker 7 (08:20):
Problem.

Speaker 6 (08:20):
Yeah, So from that standpoint, that is my own official
update or unofficial update. But as far as the coaching staff, no,
we haven't heard anything from Shane Styken beyond their progressing
and that's all he's really offered. And honestly, that's usually
the case with Shane. I mean, I don't know if
that's a and I guess most coaches kind of stay
away from the medical updates and things like that, but

(08:41):
he's one who he very He offers very little, to
be honest with you, And so yeah, I will ask
again today, perhaps, you know, assuming I'll be honest with
those listening, if there's a quarterback decision today, every question
for the twenty minutes that Shane Stychen is up there
will be about the quarterbacks, and then everything else will
be put on the back burnt until later. But I
believe at some point this week we'll be able to

(09:02):
follow up and ask about some of these injuries and
see where guys are, because it is getting a bit
to that point where you wonder, Okay, where's Jalen Jones
and his recovery, where is Juju Brentson his recovery? And
can these guys be available come week one or be
close to being available come week one?

Speaker 4 (09:17):
Yeah, for example, we talked about it earlier. I posted
a fifty three men roster projection up on our website. Again,
roster cuts a week from today. I kept seven corners.
There's no way I've ever done this sexercise before and
kept seven cornerbacks, but I kept seven because of injury insurance.
Jones and Brent's being two of the guys that you
would think about with that. So again, clarity the Colts internally,

(09:42):
they're gonna need some clarity on some of these injured guys.
And again, when we're out of practice today, do any
of these guys get back to work. Nick Cross has
missed about a week plus, Quity Pay has missed a
week plus. Jalen Carlis was in a boot last week
during the joint practice of the Packers. You know, Josh
Downs's hand, Alec Pierce's groin. You only get seven and

(10:03):
actives on game day, so some of these do start
to add up for you. So again, as James pointed out,
I thought, pretty well right there. You know, yes, the
quarterback conversation will certainly dominate many of the new cycle today,
but internally the Colts will have some injury questions to
deal with with the old roster mechanics when it comes

(10:24):
to cutting down a rosters of fifty three players.

Speaker 2 (10:26):
It's the Fan Morning Show in ninety three five one
oh seveny five of the Fan. We'll go to the
fan text line right now at two three nine ten seventy,
AJ says, talking about Chris Ballard, this is the guy
that would brag endlessly on his amazing locker room. My
point being, guys like Howard are just fine for Ballard. Uh.
He was not impressed with Ballard's response. He also says,
thank you for reporting on this, and there are a

(10:47):
lot of guys that'll hold general managers to them saying, hey,
we want high careck nothing but high character guys coming
in here all the time.

Speaker 6 (10:54):
Yeah, I mean, I think a lot of them preached that.
I think, you know, Ballard tries to carry that out
to a degree. But I'm not somebody who's going to
see here and be like this idealist where I expect
every team to sign nothing but guys who are on
the up and up or don't have a past. And
I have to understand or at least try to respect

(11:15):
the fact that they probably have more information on this
on the matter than I do. But at the end
of the day, this is the NFL, and in professional
sports we've seen at time and time again, if you
can play, or if someone things you can play, whatever
you've done in the past gets put on the back burner.

Speaker 5 (11:28):
And that's just the reality of the business in my opinion.

Speaker 4 (11:30):
Yeah, I think the Colts losing on Sundays are far
more frustrating Colts fans and then losing community Tuesdays.

Speaker 2 (11:36):
Yeah, this is very true. This is from Adam in Wykestown.
Let's be honest, we all want Tyler Warren to be
the starting quarterback.

Speaker 4 (11:45):
A former high school quarterback. Correct, he can do anything
through some lefty pass. Let's put it take on this
guy at Penn State. I say Tyler Warren will throw.

Speaker 2 (11:52):
Pass this here, that would be outstanding.

Speaker 6 (11:54):
Yeah, I honestly think would be funny if he threw
the first passing touch down of the year. Did you
imagine all in red zone red zone five yards in
they drew, they do the old t bow where it's like, yeah,
the jump past. That would be pretty hilarious if you
did that.

Speaker 4 (12:08):
But I'm saying it's not very healthy that I'm peeing
multiple times during the night. Should I be worried about that?
Some people will give me some prostate advice, which thank
you for that.

Speaker 3 (12:15):
Start talk yesterday not prostate.

Speaker 4 (12:20):
Oh had an update on the porter potty. Yeah, we
get Thank you to listener Mike for reaching out here.
Mike said that, Uh, I want to make sure I
get this exactly correct. I don't want to misconstrue any
words here, He goes, I get the reason for you
going into the porter potty for the sunglasses. When I
went to ball State, I was in a bar called
the Chug, very very legendary spot there in Muncie, I

(12:43):
must add, Uh, Mike says, I chewed at the time.
I dropped my chew can in the toilet, snatched.

Speaker 2 (12:52):
It right out oh God, no, thank you.

Speaker 4 (12:56):
So how about that Mike and I Porter Potty snatch
brothers here? I expect a statement and a little long
cut grizz that Mike found the need to dive in
there for. Can you imagine that was correct? Can you
imagine what the chug toilet right look like?

Speaker 3 (13:15):
I can't imagine the flavor changed much.

Speaker 7 (13:18):
Man, Mike?

Speaker 4 (13:20):
What happens in months?

Speaker 7 (13:21):
Days?

Speaker 5 (13:22):
And yeah, God bless him.

Speaker 2 (13:23):
A lot of people starting to offer up.

Speaker 4 (13:25):
Prostate correct, yes advice? So needs a doctor when you
have it?

Speaker 2 (13:29):
Got the text line?

Speaker 4 (13:29):
Well, it's an audience that that we have out here.

Speaker 2 (13:32):
Let's go get him US two nine, ten seventy. We'll
check the text line throughout the show and we'll read
some of them back as we get going. As far
as quarterback is concerned, we're thinking about a little over
three hours from now, maybe we find out who quarterback
one is going into the start of the twenty twenty
five season.

Speaker 7 (13:50):
Uh.

Speaker 2 (13:50):
Last night on ESPN, Dan Orlovski was asked about that
quarterback battle and who he thinks the quarterback one should
be between Anthony Richardson and Daniel Jones.

Speaker 8 (14:02):
I would lean Anthony Richardson just because he has to
play and you took him forth. The challenge for the
Colts are is one, who do you trust at.

Speaker 4 (14:10):
That position the most?

Speaker 8 (14:11):
And then to which quarterback do you truly believe can
get all of.

Speaker 4 (14:15):
Your playmakers to football.

Speaker 8 (14:17):
Tyler Warren, their first round draft pick, needs touches really
good player. Michael Pittman Jr. Needs to get the ball
in his hands. They've got a ton of talented perimeter players.
Josh Downs is going to become one of the better
slot receivers in the NFL. A d Mitchell, another big
time playmaker.

Speaker 4 (14:33):
Alec Pearson.

Speaker 8 (14:34):
So the quarterback isn't necessarily the guy that has to
put on this cape and carry this offense. There's a
ton of really talented players on the perimeter, and so
if you're Shane Steichen, their head coach, it's like, what
quarterback do you trust not only to just run your offense,
but to just play point guard? And that makes me
lean Daniel Jones. My reservation is this, if you go

(14:55):
Daniel Jones, are you then saying Anthony Richardson is done?
Because you're going with Daniel Jones to sit there and
go win his football games. And if that's the case,
and he does that. Anthony Richardson once again does not
get on the field and get reps, which is the
number one thing he needs. So I think it's a
very difficult situation because you're choosing the now or you're

(15:16):
choosing the future, and both of them are separate.

Speaker 2 (15:21):
That is one interesting facet of all this. Maybe Shane
Stikeen just wants a guy that he can depend on.
Just get his playmakers the ball. Give the ball to
Josh Downs in the slot. Give the ball to jt
make that throw to Tyler Warren. Make sure that Michael
Pittman when he posts up for a third and seven,
gets to the sticks. The ball is delivered correctly and

(15:44):
on time. That might be a bigger decision than we think.

Speaker 6 (15:48):
Yeah, certainly, And honestly, I feel like I appreciate uh
Dani Rolowski's inside. Obviously he's a former NFL quarterback, but
he ain't staying something that isn't the obvious.

Speaker 5 (15:57):
You got to give him the ball.

Speaker 6 (15:59):
And the lesson is for Anthony, like it always has been,
is can you make enough of the regular throws to
justify putting you out there, because we know you can
make all the other spectacular throws. And then for Daniel Jones,
it's you know, is the floor is you not rocking
the boat more valuable than perhaps having the explosive you

(16:19):
know thunder plays that kind of flipped the field. And
so I think a lot of that conversation is what
Shane Stichen has to go back and forth with in
his mind Kevin and really whatever decision he makes, I'm
very curious to know what he says to the other
guy in that moment. I would imagine it's those three
at some point, you know, just man, the man you

(16:40):
probably wanted to sit down and say, hey, face to face,
here's who I'm going with. But what is that conversation
like adjacent to the quarterback who you choose as a starter?
Are you telling him to stay ready? Are you telling
m it's not the end?

Speaker 2 (16:50):
Like?

Speaker 6 (16:51):
What's that balance like when you pick a guy? But
we all know this isn't necessarily a QB kind petition
that is over as soon as they announced who the
starter is for week one.

Speaker 4 (17:03):
Yeah, I mean all you guys laughed when I said
the chance on one of these guys plays seventeen games
or starts all seventeen.

Speaker 5 (17:10):
No, but the situation you put me in was also tough.
The AFC champion.

Speaker 6 (17:15):
If you told me NFC Championship, I could kind of
see it. Look, this is a I'm a Bears fan
at least when I was a kid and I saw
Rex Grossman, you know, get to the Super Bowl.

Speaker 5 (17:23):
So yeah, I know, I know it was painful.

Speaker 6 (17:26):
I thought it was destiny when Devon has to ran
it back and then Peyton Manny kind of woke up
a little bit there.

Speaker 4 (17:31):
But you go back to our Lobski's comments right there
at the start, he really lays out the two questions.
So let's boil it down to those two questions and
Shane Stikeen's world. Should we start Anthony Richardson because he
was the fourth overall pick or should I pick my
starting quarterback on who I trust more? Which question do

(17:51):
you think matters more to Shane Stikeen.

Speaker 5 (17:53):
The ladder, It has to be the latter if you're.

Speaker 4 (17:55):
The coach, you know, so my open right now, like,
if that is the answer, or that's the question, I
should say, James, then the trust factor is probably with
Daniel Jones more than Anthony Richardson, is it not.

Speaker 2 (18:14):
But again I agree the logical part of my brain
says you're right. But the other part getting back to
the fact that you do have this high draft pick
that was homegrown, you've tried to develop, and if there
really hasn't been any difference between them in camp, why
would you not go with the guy that you've developed.

Speaker 5 (18:33):
That's kind of where I'm at too.

Speaker 6 (18:34):
It's not like I've read a tweet I want to
say this is one of been yesterday. It's like no
one has benefitted more from not playing football a lot
over the last year than Daniel Jones, because I do
think to a certain degree it's kind of been like
overcorrected and people kind of forget what he was as
a quarterback, and you know, some of the erratic decisions
he made and some of the reason why he isn't

(18:56):
the starter anymore in New York.

Speaker 7 (18:57):
Now.

Speaker 6 (18:57):
You can say it's infrastructure, you say it's coaching. Can
also say it's on the quarterback and the guy who
didn't play well. So if you look at some of
his career numbers, I think it's seventy touchdowns forty seven interceptions.
That isn't like some ringing endorsement of a guy who
makes the greatest decisions and take care of the football.
And obviously his last season with the Giants was so
bad they just benched him and told him, you know,
good luck and good riddance. So I don't want to

(19:19):
sit here and act like this is a guy who
is like this really cerebral quarterback who makes all the
throws and makes all the best decisions. Not really, No,
I mean this is the lesser of two either. Yeah,
and there's a reason he was on the street. And
then to the but to the point about Anthony and
Shane Stikeen, my question to him would be, and honestly,

(19:43):
if he makes his decision or not to start Anthony
or not, I still think it's the question worth asking
is what role do you play Because you advocated for
them to draft him.

Speaker 5 (19:53):
This is on the.

Speaker 4 (19:54):
Resort, it's the same draft.

Speaker 5 (19:56):
Yeah, so like this, this isn't in this situation where.

Speaker 6 (20:00):
And this wasn't Jim Mersey saying, oh this is my guy.
No matter what you say, you advocated for that. You
went to Chris Ballard and Jim Mersay and said when
they you know a broached the topic, you said, I
believe I can make this guy into an NFL quarterback
and into a winner, and we haven't seen that. So
I understand the subpreservation kicks in you want to win games,

(20:22):
but I think it would be a bit you know,
I don't think this ingenious is the right word, but
it would be a bit you know, not real in
my opinion, if you sit up there and say, oh, well,
this guy gets the best chance to win, you are
the reason Anthony was is here in the first place,
A big reason why.

Speaker 4 (20:38):
Yeah, you are part of the misvaluation, misdevelopment.

Speaker 6 (20:41):
Yeah, we've talked about it. Whitially Anthony got drafted. We
all were saying, does he even end up here if
Shane isn't the coach, And at the time I was
thinking no, no, because at the time, Shane was youed
as this guy who could develop quarterbacks or help quarterbacks grow.
I know he's worked with Jealen Hurts obviously most recently
before Anthony, and then it before that.

Speaker 5 (21:00):
I think it was justin Herbert.

Speaker 4 (21:01):
So that's the conversation I think he has to have, Like,
just to boil it down to the preseason, we've seen
these two guys play in Colt's uniforms. The worst play
from Richardson was a sack that could have been a
strip sack knocked him out of the game. Ten guys
on offense were all in the same page he was not.
The worst play for Jones is probably what the Tyler
Warren miss on Saturday, Probably where the guys open and

(21:26):
he misses. In the coach's eyes, what's more egregious?

Speaker 2 (21:31):
Yeah, probably certainly the missing your own assignment to the
answer I think Jackson's where this is.

Speaker 4 (21:37):
Yes, there are so many signs to Danie Lotski's point
that yes, you commit to this guy fourth overall pick,
and yes, again I think they should go with Richardson.
But these head coaches live in a much different bubble
of Hey, who can I trust? Who is a little
bit more controllable? It's less or two evils, let me
be very clear. But if that is the predominant question

(21:59):
in Shane steiken'syey, and I think Daniel Jones is a
lot realer.

Speaker 2 (22:03):
We may find out later on today when Shane Styken
meets with the media around eleven o'clock or so. Coming
up next, we'll check in on a big event that
happened over the weekend here in Indianapolis, what it means
for the future, and also we've got the Tour Championship
coming up. We'll talk a little bit about that as
we continue next on ninety three five and one O
seven five Russian headlong Endo. The middle of the week,

(22:23):
It's Tuesday here at ninety three five one or something
by the fan Tuesday everywhere as a matter of fact,
And uh, Kevin Bowen on my left, James Boyd to
my right. Across the way, it's Mark Dyton and on
the Payless Liquers hotline right now. One of our favorites,
Indiana's own Indianapolis has owned Will Haskett, who is a
broadcast or an author. He focuses on golf. He focuses

(22:44):
on lots of sports as well. And good morning, Well,
happy Tuesday.

Speaker 7 (22:49):
It's not a major's week, and I'm a guest on
the show.

Speaker 1 (22:51):
Something good must have happened. Well, well, how are we happy?
Happy Quarterback Decision Day. I don't know what the book
makers have on it, but I know it's gonna make
for good sports talk radio.

Speaker 2 (23:01):
So who do you like?

Speaker 1 (23:03):
It depends on what role I'm in. If I'm a
coach and my job is on the line, Daniel Jones,
if I'm trying to make the best potential franchise move
moving forward. It's Richardson, but let's be honest, it's it's
just kind of a a turd burger, right, Like you're
just going to sort of stuck with whatever you're going
to have the rest of.

Speaker 7 (23:20):
The year burger.

Speaker 4 (23:21):
I think I've almost had one of those of the
sausage fest the other night when I reached into the old
toilet there.

Speaker 2 (23:25):
Oh that was well said by well he must do
this for let me work that into the next column there.

Speaker 4 (23:30):
Well, I know you are a busy man this morning
doing some great things that I'm jealous of, so.

Speaker 2 (23:34):
We won't keep you long.

Speaker 4 (23:36):
But you were an attendee on Sunday at the Live
Golf tournament up there at the Chatham Hills in Westfield,
and I thought you painted a really first off, but
that was a very accurate picture of the good the bad.
So if you don't mind for an audience that maybe
did not attend it, what did you like about it
and what did you not necessarily like about it?

Speaker 1 (23:58):
Yeah, I mean, let me preface it with how many
people saw me there and they were like, oh my gosh,
you're an enemy territory, Like what are you doing purist, Like,
why are you here a sort of purist? Yeah, all
sort of tongue in cheek with everything. Obviously, you know,
most of my weeks out on the PGA tour. You know,
I think we've arrived at a place where moving forward.

Speaker 4 (24:22):
Uh try again, go back where you were at the
start of this interview.

Speaker 2 (24:25):
Yeah, we're reaching a point where I.

Speaker 4 (24:28):
Don't know if the Saudis have your phone, of the
PGA tour has your phone, but your phone.

Speaker 1 (24:32):
Yeah, we're just reaching a point where I think there's
just so much you know, apathy to the fact that
there's not any progress moving forward, that everything is just
sort of existing. And and I'll preface this too, like
we know that Indianapolis and Central Indiana the sporting events better.

Speaker 7 (24:44):
Than anywhere else.

Speaker 1 (24:45):
So whatever is going to happen, I mean, it could
be an international cricket tournament. We're going to turn out
and it's going to be phenomenal. And so from an
event standpoint, you know, I met my expectations.

Speaker 7 (24:56):
I knew it was going to be an event.

Speaker 1 (24:57):
I knew it was going to be loud, I knew
it was going to be a party, And that's exactly
what you got when you went there, and I think
that everybody that attended from essentially Indiana standpoint.

Speaker 7 (25:06):
Was thrilled with the activity level. It was great for kids.

Speaker 1 (25:11):
I know that all the organizers, the city of Westfield
has rolled out the red carpet and they deserve a
ton of kudos for the sacrifices.

Speaker 7 (25:17):
Made and the work done behind the scenes.

Speaker 9 (25:19):
Everybody there just.

Speaker 7 (25:20):
You know, did everything that they could, and I think.

Speaker 1 (25:22):
They blew the expectations out of the water of Live
coming here because I think LIVE has really struggled in
a lot of other places of having sort of the
backbone and the support and the strength of an organizing
group like we have here in central Indiana, and so
I think that showed in the turnout.

Speaker 7 (25:41):
It showed in the end.

Speaker 2 (25:42):
But ah, we've got a bad cell phone today. He's
going to reset on that. But yeah, I think Kevin,
you would be the perfect guy to talk about this.
Are we get to the point where the differences between
Live and PGA for a lot of fans like they're
just apathetic towards the whole thing.

Speaker 4 (26:01):
Well, I think Will was pointing out there pretty accurately.
I don't think anyone pays attention to Live unless it
shows up in your own market, and then we love
sports and people that attended it I think largely had
Will's I guess is in agreement with what Will said
about being very fan friendly and catering to younger kids.
But I mean, I am a sports fan. I or

(26:23):
a sports fan, and Friday was the first time I've
ever watched a live golf hole and I don't think
I'm like in the minority necessarily on that. I think
a lot of sports fans a struggle to find it
and be have ever thought about necessarily watching it, And
when you are watching it, I don't know if it
just doesn't come across in my opinion in the same
way I think team golf at times can just be

(26:45):
hair forced as well. Will, thank you for calling us back, continued,
because you were in a beautiful train of thought.

Speaker 7 (26:53):
Yeah. No, I think I don't know where I cut out.

Speaker 1 (26:55):
But again, the event was fantastic, and I think that
just from my standpoint of attending a lot of different
golf tournaments. Obviously each and every week the golf felt
secondary until the very end of the actual day.

Speaker 7 (27:07):
And if you're there to.

Speaker 1 (27:08):
Take your kids and you want to go to the
fan experience and you don't care.

Speaker 7 (27:11):
About seeing a golf shot. And that was great. It
was a really good event.

Speaker 1 (27:14):
It could have been any sporting event, I think surrounding
the entire property, and from an event standpoint, I think
it went off really well. They crammed a ton of
people in there. They set a domestic record for most
attendees at a United States Live event, and just like
the success they've had that Live has had in a
place like Australia, when you take something like this to
a place that's starved for a professional golf tournament, you're

(27:37):
going to have a lot of people show up.

Speaker 7 (27:39):
And again, it was a really good hang.

Speaker 1 (27:44):
The hang also, I realized that I could go forty
five minutes without seeing a golf shot, and then even
when I was around sort of the golf, it felt
like no one was really paying attention to the golf
at many places on the.

Speaker 7 (27:55):
Actual golf course. And that's fine.

Speaker 1 (27:56):
I mean, there are plenty of PGA Tour events where
thousands of people up every day and they have no
intention of actually paying attention to the golf. I think
the difference though, between the two of them is the
fact that it's they want you to be a part
of the golf tournament at some of those places, and
then a lot of the spots that I was around,
I thought on Sunday in the final round, until it
came down to the final hole and the final couple
of groups.

Speaker 7 (28:17):
I don't think it really. I don't think anybody cared
if you were.

Speaker 1 (28:19):
Paying attention to an actual golf tournament that's taking place,
and that just felt kind of odds to me.

Speaker 6 (28:24):
Well, to follow up on that, you mentioned how you
know fun it was, I guess for children or people
with kids.

Speaker 5 (28:31):
Can you elaborate that, elaborate on that a bit more?
Was it kind of like the cold.

Speaker 6 (28:34):
City vibes we get out in Westfield for the cold
training camp was like a state fair? I guess what
things did you see that you thought, Okay, if you
got some young ones, this would be a nice activity
day for you.

Speaker 1 (28:44):
Yeah, James, I mean, I think the first and foremost
is there's just there's more noise, there's more energy, right,
so if your kids are running around and they're being
you know, they're running up and down a hill, it's
not like some weeks where you know you got to
try and you know, hone your children in and keep
them a little bit quiet because you had a golf
t it and then the fan village experience where they
had all of the team branded stuff, and that's a

(29:05):
separate conversation. I don't really know how the team thing
is going to last. Like getting this whole idea of
team concept up the ground, there's a business model behind it.
I understand what liv is trying to accomplish. I don't
really know. I from a golf standpoint, it was there
was really nothing to track the team event outside of
a little thing on the leaderboard. It is really hard.
They are forcing this team thing I think a little

(29:27):
bit strong. But from a brand standpoint, when you went
to the fan experience, you had all of these really cool,
colorful areas where you could hit a flop shot over
you know, a cutout of Phil Mickelson or a petti
goat from the Range Goats, which I gets watching travels
with actual goats that are in there. And I saw
so many families that they could just spend an hour
in there, and certain weeks in the PGA too are

(29:48):
They're a great fan build out and experiences and stuff
for kids, But this one to me really like it
just felt really fun, you know, and you could do
some things. So again, it was no different than going
to State Fair. Right like you got there's a petting zoo,
there were games, there were concessions with fried food for
your children. It just happened to be that this State
Fair experience was at a professional golf tournament instead of

(30:10):
down off of thirty eighth Street. So again I was
especially for a town like Westfield, for a suburb that
is just you know, full of families, I thought it
was great. And you know, we're back again next year
here in the city of Minneapolis hosting that event at
Chatham Hills.

Speaker 7 (30:27):
Will they have.

Speaker 1 (30:27):
Twenty thousand again every day next year? I think they
probably could, because again, if it was a novelty, if
it was let's show up and see what this actually was,
and you happen to take your kids out, then maybe
you'll go again next year because you had a good time,
and maybe it's not ninety five degrees outside like it was,
because I mean a lot of people suffered through a
really hot weekend for a couple of days to be
able to see the golf. But yeah, I thought it

(30:48):
was really really cool for families to be able to
experience that it makes it I think more of a cell,
especially there locally, because you have so many families that
are nearby.

Speaker 4 (30:57):
Well, I want to leave you with this, thank you
for laying all that out there, and I know again
you've got far more important golf related items to do
on this Tuesday morning. Let's go here from a central
Indiana standpoint and take cricket stick out of it. We've
seen cricket Stick obviously hold some of the most marquee
events that you can hold live, obviously pumped a large

(31:18):
sum of money into Old Chatham to try and whatever
instill a championship vibe on a course that I think
to be fair, probably was not built to necessarily host
these sorts of events. It's you know, whatever Bridgewater two
point zero if you want to look at it from
a northern suburbs standpoint, If you could have some money
funded into a local course, let's just call whatever Indianapolis

(31:41):
and surrounding counties to host a championship type of tournament
pro golf. I guess to keep it broader, what courses
would come to mind again, not cricket Stick division, Yeah.

Speaker 1 (31:53):
And I mean cricket Stick is I think hoping that
a BMW Championship returns there in the near future, that
you've got a US Senior Open coming up, so that,
i'll be is kind of the main hub when it
comes to prestigious I would say, even more legitimate type
of golf competition type places. And so that obviously being
off the table, you know, Sagamore was I think in
the running to almost have that live event. I think

(32:15):
that that from a country club standpoint, maybe offers a
little bit more of a challenge. And look, it's been
a challenging summer from a turf management standpoint for everybody
in central Indiana. You know, all the rain and all
the heat is really hard to make grass grow. The
good grass, I should say, the weed grass has no
problem with it, but the good grass. And you could
see how tax Chatham was over the course of the week.
There was a lot of white paint out there for

(32:36):
some ground under repair, which was too bad, and I
think it forced them to sort of set up the
course a little bit differently as well, because they had
to deal with so many of those stressed areas. But
the answer your actual question, I mean, I mean, there
are so many places that if you give me an
unlimited budget. Like I'm always very loyal to a place
where I played for a long time, over at the
Fort on the East Side. I think if you pumped
a ton of money into that place and got it

(32:57):
in the shape that it could be that it's just
a world class piece of property. I don't know how
big of a test it would be from professional golf.
I think you'd see scoring about the same way.

Speaker 7 (33:05):
But I like the routing it.

Speaker 1 (33:06):
But I like the potential from an event hosting standpoint
out there look from a party standpoint this past week.
I kept saying to myself, I kept saying it last
week and again, kudos to the City of Westfield. They're
the ones that really took the you know, took the
bull by the horns here and said we're going to
run this thing. And I don't know the politics of
you know, I know sportscre was involved in some way
and all these other sorts of things. But if you
truly want to make this a blow out event, and

(33:28):
you think that you can get more than twenty thousand
people there, which you can't do next year because they
were capped, you can't have more than twenty thousand people
around Chenne mills. There's just not space for them. This
was a perfect event for the Brickyard. And I think
that the Brickyard has you know, has certainly shown that
it can host big golf events. But if it's truly
about the event, if live is the F one of golf,

(33:49):
then go to where you've had.

Speaker 7 (33:50):
An F one race.

Speaker 1 (33:51):
Go where you can fit you know, fifty thousand people
if you're going to blow this sort of thing out.
So from a live golf standpoint, I think that would
be the no brainer. That's where you're looking to do
at an event like that, because it is more about
the event than it is about the golf. But yeah,
there are so many cool play I mean, I would
love to see those guys stretch this seventy seven hundred
at Purgatory if you put a little bit of money
into that golf course to make it ready for a championship.

(34:13):
But there's so many things that go into that logistics.

Speaker 7 (34:15):
How to get people.

Speaker 1 (34:15):
There, where you're going to put hospitality, the footprint has
to be absolutely right. And I just keep thinking, if
this is more about the event than it is about
the golf, then there's no reason why you shouldn't have
it at the track.

Speaker 2 (34:25):
I would love to see an event there will last
thing before I go Tour Championship this weekend at east
Lake in Atlanta. Is there any stopping Scottie Shuffler from
anything at this point?

Speaker 7 (34:36):
Yeah? Fatigue.

Speaker 1 (34:37):
I mean he's had to play high leverage golf now
for two weeks in a row in both Memphis and.

Speaker 7 (34:41):
A steamy Baltimore.

Speaker 1 (34:43):
I'll be on the call shout out on FJA to
a radio starting on Thursday. I think it's the only
thing that can get in his way. If he's had
to play so much, and the fact that they've adjusted
this year and everybody start at the same score, there's
no more adjusted strokes. He has no benefit whatsoever having
been the dominant player through the playoffs through this season.
So I think the one thing that could stop him
is just fatigue.

Speaker 7 (35:04):
You know.

Speaker 1 (35:05):
I'm sure he's not doing a heavy wood load right
now of lead up to it and working out and practicing.
He's probably managing his energy as.

Speaker 7 (35:12):
Best he can.

Speaker 1 (35:13):
But Rory took the first playoff event off and plays
really well at east Lake, and he hasn't had to
play high leverage golf the last couple of weeks, like
Scotty has and a few other players I think would
fit into that mold as well. So can somebody beat
him this week? Absolutely? If he's a favorite for a reason. Absolutely.
We haven't seen anybody play golf like this since Tiger Woods.

Speaker 2 (35:29):
Always good to talk to you and hear your voice. Man,
you're the best.

Speaker 7 (35:32):
Will thanks, guys.

Speaker 2 (35:34):
We've been talking about the Cults in their quarterback situation
all morning long. There's a possibility, maybe a strong possibility,
Kevin Bowen, that we get an answer on Anthony Richardson
or Daniel Jones later on today about eleven o'clock. I suppose,
and when we know, you guys will know as well.
There was an interesting unidentified text or question just a
moment ago, and Kevin, I think you answered it online.

(35:56):
But who makes the biggest jump this year for the Pacers?
Andrew Nemhart, Benedict Mathrin, Where Johnny Furfey you said Matherin baby,
And that kind of echoes back to the last time
last week had a chance to talk to Rick Carlyle.

Speaker 4 (36:09):
Does it not Well, I'm heavily biased and that so
I'm probably not the one to be an answering that.

Speaker 5 (36:13):
Yeses you fan club leader.

Speaker 4 (36:15):
You Furfee, I am fascinated by. You know, Rick did
bring him up in an answer about Jarris Walker just
out of the blue. Really he went to Furfee, and
you know, again, what do those minutes look like with
the second unit? And does Jaris Walker send more of
the lead guy with the second unit? And obviously Nemhard
is going to be asked to do a ton and
as Rick said to us, you know, there's a level

(36:36):
of protecting Andrew Nemhard that they're gonna have to walk
kind of a fine balance with. You know, when you
played Atlanta last year, when you played Memphis last year,
when you played the Knicks last year, you said to
Andrew Emhard, go guard Jalen Brunson, go guard Job Morant,
go guard Trey Young. You can't say that to him
with handling point guard duties. I mean, they're way too
much long, yeah, on his plate to do that. So

(36:58):
I think the balance for will be will be difficult.

Speaker 2 (37:03):
That was Jake, by the way. He texted back and
said that Jenny Ferviata, you know, it's obviously not regular season,
but I thought he had a really strong summer league
as well, and a guy.

Speaker 6 (37:15):
That was gonna say, Dunk of the Year in Summer League,
and I actually think that that could be in the
running for Dunk of the year. That was amazing. He's
somebody that's intriguing. Obviously, when you have size like that
shooting ability, those are the guys who make a lot
of money in the NBA and can be very good role.

Speaker 5 (37:32):
Players for you.

Speaker 6 (37:33):
So we'll see if an opportunity arises for him to
kind of crack into that rotation and get some more reps.
But I think that he's training in the right direction
for sure.

Speaker 2 (37:40):
It's gonna be a lot of fun to watch and
we'll be interesting to see how all those guard minutes
are are appropriated and who gets what and how long
you see them hart Is he going to be the
full time point guard? Did they in the fourth quarter?
Did they switch him over to the other team's best
offensive player? What do they do? Is as the game
goes along?

Speaker 4 (37:57):
And what a time to be alive here in our
state with college football. Do you guys see yes, fay
Ohio State nam their starter. I did see this arch
Manning Julian saying trans from Bama. That's week one, so
week from Saturday one versus two that's what we're going
to get. And here in our state mentioned this earlier.
Indiana football has a quarterback that has the potential projected

(38:21):
how everyone to look at it to go in round
one of the NFL draft Produce quarterback started for them,
transferred to North Carolina and now was back in West
Lafayette as the lead quarterback. Which welcome to college football
twenty twenty five. And Notre Dame has a quarterback battle
that it's currently playing out with two dudes that have

(38:43):
played four snaps in their entire careers. It seems so
backward to me that like that is how the three
universities big universities in our state have their quarterback battles.
Indiana Football's got the NFL draft prospect, Purdue, the cradle
of quarterback, has got the one that was there then
transferred now he's back. And Notre Dame. In today's world,

(39:05):
how many quarterback battles do you have in college football
at a prominent place like Notre Dame playing out with
no transfer portal guy Notre Dame Don Riley Leonard was done.
Jack comes because they were Sam Hartman, who didn't look
very good last night, by the way, like Notre Dame
has done.

Speaker 5 (39:19):
A lot of these, You mean, like on the field wise.

Speaker 2 (39:22):
No, no, he did not look good.

Speaker 4 (39:23):
He's got great hair, he's very handsome man. Yeah, but no,
he did not look very good. But yeah, you know
it's bad when the only snaps those Notre Dame quarterbacks
have played CJ. Carr and Kenny Minchi is against Perdue.
And we watched Perdue play football last year. They would
have lost to Attica.

Speaker 2 (39:36):
Maybe we'll have minsche Mania this.

Speaker 4 (39:37):
Year, Kenny Minchi or CJ.

Speaker 2 (39:39):
Carr.

Speaker 7 (39:40):
The debate.

Speaker 4 (39:40):
There so very interesting season here in our state when
it comes to college football in regards to these three teams.

Speaker 2 (39:48):
So I said, we could have gone a couple of
years ago from minshew Mania to minche Mania.

Speaker 4 (39:52):
You ready, it was all this hype about CJ. Carr
in South Bend, the grandson of Lloyd Carr for those
curious things. Uh and yeah, Bernando Mendez has got his
little brother backing them up in Bloomington, right.

Speaker 6 (40:05):
Yeah, And I think you gotta tell a little brother
You're never getting this job as long as I'm here, Sorry.

Speaker 4 (40:11):
James, your guy. Dan Brugler on Fernando Mendoza, the IU
quarterback though he starts the season as my quarterback four,
he isn't far behind the players in front of him.
He gives off Jared Goff vibes, and the first round
is a realistic goal.

Speaker 5 (40:29):
So what you're asking me is could he be coming
to the Colts?

Speaker 4 (40:34):
Yes, and I'm not laughing at that right wep, as
you thought about it a minute, it certainly is what
I talk about it because there's a lot of other
college quarterbacks you have to think about. But if you
are the fourth rank quarterback in next year's draft class
and you have the potential to move up that list, yes,
when you watch Indiana football this year, I'm gonna say
also need to be watching.

Speaker 7 (40:53):
Yeah.

Speaker 6 (40:54):
There will certainly be an element, at least inside of
myself where I'll be watching collg football this year anytime
I hear about a first round quarterback, and depending on
where the Colts are in the standings, and obviously I
don't want to get on tankathon dot com too early
in the season, but if it gets to that point
six seven games in, yeah, I'll be looking to see
is there a possibility for a new QB to be

(41:16):
coming a town, Because I do think that's a conversation
you could have depending on things go south with Daniel
Jones or Anthony Richardson.

Speaker 2 (41:21):
Well, I was gonna say, if Daniel Jones ends up
being your starter for most of the year, aren't you
right back in the quarterback market? In the draft?

Speaker 3 (41:28):
Next year you're in the quarterback market, I think, regardless
of who starts a quarterback.

Speaker 5 (41:31):
Quite honestly, it's.

Speaker 7 (41:35):
A turd burger, right, Yes, well.

Speaker 6 (41:36):
It is gonna say. Mark is spoken like a true.

Speaker 4 (41:41):
If Daniel Jones, you will owe Daniel Jones more money
than you would owe Anthony Richardson at the end of
the season if we want to play that game out.
Daniel Jones is the true free agent. So if he
has a whatever, good year, then you're gonna have to
give him whatever two three years on the open market.
Whereas Anthony Richardson, if he has a good year, he's

(42:03):
still in her contract already for.

Speaker 7 (42:04):
Twenty twenty six.

Speaker 4 (42:06):
You have a decision make on its fifth year option
for twenty twenty seven.

Speaker 2 (42:09):
Yeah, but nothing.

Speaker 4 (42:10):
You don't have to give him the mega extension.

Speaker 3 (42:13):
I think even if he plays bat you're still keeping
him next year because of that rookie contract. You're gonna
not pick up his fifth year option, but you'll keep
him because he's on a rookie deal.

Speaker 4 (42:21):
Yeah, I don't think it's that far fetch you might get,
you know, whatever trade to you Trey Lanson's.

Speaker 6 (42:25):
Way say, for I would probably keep him at that point,
and then I know I'm getting way down line into
the future. But if I don't pick up the fifth
year option, Mark, I'm looking to trade at that point
because you're not in my quarterback in the future and
I had you have something in return.

Speaker 2 (42:37):
That's why we're hoping to get to some nod in
one direction or another later today from the Cults. When
Chase Stichen speaks to the media at about eleven o'clock
this morning, all right, coming up in just a moment,
we turned back to the Colts, and one of your
compatriots over there at the Athletic wrote a terrific piece
this week that everybody in India is talking about James.
We'll discuss that next at ninety three five and one

(42:58):
oh seven five of the Fames and through Tuesday morning,
hopefully on our way to having a starting quarterback name
for the Indianapolis Colts. A little bit later on today
and maybe we're all just hopeful, James. Maybe we're just
all hoping against hope we get an answer today. We'll
have to wait and find out, and we'll talk more
about that in a minute. In fact, we can talk
about it right now with our next guest. Zach Kiefer
writes for The Athletic. He has covered the Colts for

(43:20):
a long time, but now covers the entire National Football
League and also just a terrific writer that does some
great in depth pieces. Uh and they're always incredibly interesting
to read, and he joins us now in the payless
Liquers hotline. How's that for an intro, Zach Kiefer.

Speaker 9 (43:34):
I don't think I can live up to that, but
thank you for the kind He ain't now, you know,
he's okay games eventually.

Speaker 6 (43:43):
Oh wait a second, I gotta see this guy at
some point this year, and I gotta, you know, you know,
give him a little grief.

Speaker 5 (43:48):
But it is good to hear from you. I do
want to start here, Kevin.

Speaker 6 (43:52):
Obviously, the Andrew love piece we we've found out, I
think I found it pretty fascinading. I knew kind of
behind the scenes you had told me for a while
you were working on it, you know, made it out
there to California to talk to Andrew Luck. And I
know this isn't the biggest takeaway from the story, but
one of the funniest takeaways it had me thinking, you know,
was the Jacoby Brissett reference. He needed a you apply

(44:13):
for the job over at Stanford, and he put down
Jacoby Brissett as one of his references.

Speaker 2 (44:18):
And what was your.

Speaker 5 (44:19):
Reaction to that?

Speaker 6 (44:20):
And perhaps, you know, in all seriousness, that bomb that
you still had with so many guys that he left
in a way, if that makes.

Speaker 9 (44:27):
Sense, Yeah, I think it kind of steaks to a
bigger thing. Right, So this guy was kind of in
a fog for a couple of years. Andrew Luck was
he didn't know what was next in his life. And look,
these are first world problems, right, You have all the
money in the world and you don't know what to
do with the rest of your life. So I don't
really want to throw a pity party for him, but
I think the little moments like you referenced, James, like

(44:49):
those things helped him remind him how much football was
a part of him. Like he's applying for the first
real job of his life, now, that's what he said.
And I was like, hey, you were an NFL quarterback
for seven years, that's a real But he's like, no, like,
my first real world job was this Stanford general mayor
manager position. And he said, you know, like when he
had to list three references, the first three names that

(45:10):
came to mind, Chris Ballard, Frank Reich, and of course
his good friend and former backup Jacobe Brissett Zach.

Speaker 4 (45:17):
Great work man, no surprise whatsoever, but outstanding job on
the Andrew Luck piece. You've obviously had several long conversations
with him prior with this one. Which one made you say,
holy bleep? Which one made you say, wow, I didn't
expect that from you.

Speaker 9 (45:38):
Well, it's the first quote in the story, and I
cannot repeat my reaction on the air right now. But
I had asked him this question years ago, like two
or three years ago, and he said I was going
to play until I was forty, and I kind of
like brushed it off. We were off the record, I
couldn't report it. And then I went back to it
this time and I asked him and he said I
was going to play till forty or forty five, and

(45:59):
then he explained it to me, and my reaction KB
was what in the world, Like, do.

Speaker 7 (46:05):
You know who you are?

Speaker 9 (46:06):
Like you're saying this like you're going to break Indianapolis's
heart all over again. But and you know this KB
from covering him like he was. He was like everything
he had to get to Sunday, like he would the injuries, everything,
Like there was a loyalty, there was a discipline, There
was an obligation that he felt for the city, for

(46:27):
the team, for the franchise as the quarterback, to get
to the field on Sunday. And I think when it
was over, I think he was lost for a little while.
I think he was in a fog. That's what I wrote.
And I felt that when I had those conversations with
him a couple of years ago, and the coolest thing
for me was that that's over.

Speaker 7 (46:45):
He is.

Speaker 9 (46:46):
He sounds happy, he looks happy, he's reinvigorated, he's comfortable
with everything. Like I felt like he hit out for
a while, and he disputes that. I disagree, but like
he was nowhere to be found for two or three years,
and now he's out there and he's doing everything and
the people closest to him are surprised by how much
he's embracing quote unquote the spotlight. So, I mean, I

(47:09):
heard this in his voice, and I haven't heard that
in his voice since twenty eighteen when they were rolling
win in nine of ten games going to the playoffs
with Frank Reich. Like, I heard that Andrew luck happiness again,
and for me as a reporter, that was just really cool.
It was really cool because I feel like I'm chronicled
half of his life at this point.

Speaker 7 (47:29):
Zach.

Speaker 4 (47:29):
I did think that quote that stood out to me,
and I was hoping you could could expand on it
was him explaining the guilt. You know, I've always had
guilt about how it ended. You know, I let my
teammates down. Do you think that guilt is rooted in
any way, shape or form and the timing of it,
Like I mean, here we are about ready to approach

(47:50):
whatever the six year anniversary of it. Is there any
guilt in it? Happened in late August versus Hey, it
wouldn't have been maybe as guilty of it if I
did it in February of March.

Speaker 9 (48:03):
Yeah, one hundred percent. I do think that weighs on him.
It's interesting because there's this dichotomy with him and how
it ended, and this is not something he thinks about
daily or anything anymore. But he doesn't regret his decision.
It was the right decision. And he told me this,
He said, when I made the decision.

Speaker 7 (48:20):
I made it.

Speaker 9 (48:21):
And he's never looked back and thought he should have
made a different decision. And you know Andrew well enough
to know, like we can believe that, Like I know,
when an athlete's lying to me, I really think he's
telling me the truth. All that being said, I think
he hates the timing of it. I think he hates
that it was fifteen days before the season opener, and
he hates that he had to walk out in the
locker room. You know, when he came back to Stanford

(48:42):
before his senior year and he would have gone number
one on the.

Speaker 7 (48:45):
Draft and all that.

Speaker 9 (48:46):
All he told his coach David Shaw, was I got
to finish with my guys, Like that was always what
drove this guy was the locker room. And he quit
on the locker room. And he's used that word. He's
used the word quit. It's a cold word, but it's
the reality. He walked out on this team fifteen days
before the season opener in which they could have made
a Super Bowl run that year. So I think he

(49:08):
wrestled with that for a long time. Just because it
was the right decision doesn't mean he made it at
the right time. And I think he wrestled with that,
and that was a really really hard thing to get over,
and I'm not sure he's entirely over it now, Zach.

Speaker 6 (49:21):
Has he ever really explained that part of it, just
the why the timing was what it was.

Speaker 9 (49:29):
I think he didn't see a way forward. And it
goes back to this promise he made himself. I mean,
twenty seventeen was a really really dark year for him,
really dark. Things were not good with his student to
be wife, he hated football, he was a miserable person
to be around. These are his words, and he told himself,
if I'm ever going down this path again, I'm done.

(49:51):
I don't want to do this to my life. That's
what hit him in August of twenty nineteen, and I
think he was starting to really realize is that there's
not going to be a way out. If he gets
this thing fixed, then something else is going to happen.
But it's just surreal to think about, like, think about
a starting quarterback anywhere in the league right now retiring

(50:14):
like right now with the season so close. It just
defies the leaf, even now having lived it, having covered it.
But I just think he made that promise to himself,
and he's a man of conviction, and it had to
be the hardest thing he's ever done in his life,
and he said it was. But he kept that promise
to himself, and that meant walking away if it got

(50:34):
bad again, and it did, and boy, the timing was
really bad for everybody involved.

Speaker 2 (50:40):
Zach Obviously, the physical discomfort that he was in played
a huge overwhelming part in all of that. Do you
get the sense that he is still dealing with pain
issues today or is his body grown away from that?

Speaker 7 (50:54):
No, he's good.

Speaker 9 (50:56):
I asked him about that. And he likes to go surfing,
and like Andrew luck is skinny, Like he's got these
little wiry glasses, and like, I'm like, dude, what happened?
Like do you even lift anymore? And he's like no, man,
He's like, I'm lucky if I get a twenty minute
surf in every day. And I'm like, oh, that's that's
not an issue. We have in Indianapolis, like to sneak
in a quick surf. But it's it's he's so busy.

(51:21):
You know, he's got two young kids and he works
long hours. Like the other thing that hit me and
the GM position for college football teams is different for
every team. This guy is not a celebrity GM in
any way like he is all he needs to be
because but he is he is. He's not the big,
strapping goliath that he used to be.

Speaker 4 (51:41):
Yeah, I thought it was interesting in Zach's piece you
mentioned Andrew visited Brad Stevens called Sam Presti and you know,
trying to learn a little bit more about what it's
like being a GM. Granted, the college GM probably holds
a little bit more of a you know, raising money
sort of being a presence within the university than professional GM. Zach,

(52:02):
I guess a question that I have that you know,
I don't know people occasionally asked me, but maybe it's
more of just like the random sports fan that doesn't
pay attention to the NFL, of like why did Andrew
Luck retire? Like if you were on an elevator ride
and someone asked you that, I feel like my answer
would be something to the degree of the injury. Pain

(52:23):
in the rehab started to impact the other relationships in
his life, and he felt like that was too much
to overcome. Is that the right elevator pitch? Am I
missing anything? If you had to answer that question in
a very sync manner, you.

Speaker 9 (52:38):
Know, it's funny, KB. I could answer it in the
most extinct manner you can imagine, because I asked Andrew
that question and it was well into our conversation and
he answered it with five words, and it just kind
of hit me how easy it was in his mind
at that time. I fell out of love. That's what
he said. Sentence, he said, I fell out of love.

(53:02):
And for him it was that simple. It was like,
I didn't enjoy doing this anymore. This was pain, This
was miserable. He was a miserable person. And he's like,
I had to remove football from my life. And I
get asked that question all the time, even after the
podcast came out, and I'm like, if you want to
know why he quit, you need to watch the retirement

(53:23):
press conference. He spills his entire soul on that stage.
He does, I mean, it's all right there, it's all
right there in front of you, and I get him
a lot of credit for doing that, because remember, the
press conference was going to be a day later, and
his family was going to be there, and it was
going to be much more organized and professional. And instead
he's up there with his ankle taped in a Colt
T shirt, fighting through tears after he was booed off

(53:46):
his home field fifteen minutes earlier. That could not have
been an easy situation. But you know this big question
that we've all had, that the NFL's had for years,
Andrew Luck answered it in five words. I fell out
of love And I said it was that simple, and
he's like, well, no, it was never that simple. But
for him, in his mind, he didn't enjoy football at

(54:08):
that point. And the strange thing for me was I
never thought he would be back in football at all.
Me and Holder talked about this forever, my colleague Stephen Holder,
and we never thought we'd see him back in football.
And that's what I had to answer with this story.
Why is he back at Stanford fighting another uphill battle
back in football? And the interesting thing is he was

(54:29):
mad at football for a while. He couldn't watch games,
he'd have dreams about it, he'd walk around the house
and say, I cannot be thirty years old and retired.
This is ridiculous. And then slowly, but surely, the game
that had beaten the crap out of him began to
pull him back in and he started to fall in
love just like he had as a teenager. Now he's
not playing it. But it's just interesting. The guy that

(54:52):
could do anything in the world. I thought he would
go spend time in Europe and design buildings and all
that stuff was voluntar. Hearing to coach high school football
in Palo Alto and is now facing one of the
toughest jobs in college football that I did not see.

Speaker 5 (55:06):
Tommy last one from me, Zach.

Speaker 6 (55:10):
When I look at this picture of Andrew Luck, which
is the lead photo for your story, he's got the
gray hairs come out of his beard, and you would
think to the guys like forty and I believe he's
what thirty five, thirty six.

Speaker 10 (55:20):
And so it's but how have you seen him sort
of reinvent himself in this new chapter, because as you said,
he mentioned falling out of love with the game, and
it's not the.

Speaker 5 (55:32):
Same type of love because you're not playing.

Speaker 6 (55:33):
But how have you seen him embrace sort of like
the academic student athlete, you know, oversee your role because
as you know, he loves education, probably just as much
as not more than he loves football.

Speaker 5 (55:46):
He loves learning and just things of that nature.

Speaker 9 (55:50):
Yeah, nice plug there, KB. He that's a good question, James.
The most surprising thing that I heard from people around
him to be the pretcher who lost his job to
Andrew as a quarterback at Stanford and has remained close
to him and Frank Reich as well. They were, like Zach,
we didn't think he was getting all in with the

(56:10):
fundraising MC selling stuff, right, Like we all know that
guy that's not Andrew, and he loves that like Frank's
Like Zach, I saw him MC this event last night
and I had to like make sure it was him.
Like he's out there, And that's the surprising part because
he was hidden, you know, he was he was like

(56:31):
bigfoot around here for so long after he retired, and
now he's out there every day. He's talking with reporters Like, KYB,
you're gonna get a kick out of this. Like when
I walked into his office, he hugged me like Andrew Lock,
who would hide from reporters for half of his NFL
career in Indianapolis. I was like, Oh, we're doing that now,
like it's now in fairness, In fairness, we've been through

(56:52):
a lot. But he's really happy. I think he's really
happy that he's back in something like and this is
this is what it went back through for me when
I was talking to him, like he needed to be
back in it, He needed to be back in a
locker room, he needed to be back on a field.
He feels reinvigorated. He has a challenge, Like David Shaw
says in the story, like Andrew was never a back

(57:13):
of the room guy. You don't become one of the
best college football quarterbacks ever if you're a back of
the room guy in the NFL. And the way it
ended kind of made him go into hiding. I don't
think that fits his personality. I think this job fits
it way more. But it's studying to see how out
there he is, how much he's embracing all the things
that he didn't like as an NFL player. He didn't

(57:36):
like it when we would crowd around his locker. He
didn't like all the press conferences. He didn't like all
the celebrity aspects. That came with being a star quarterback,
and it seems like he's embracing all those aspects as
the Stanford GM.

Speaker 7 (57:49):
One.

Speaker 9 (57:49):
He needs to he needs to raise money, he needs
to shake hands and kiss babies and all that stuff.
But two, I think he welcomes a challenge. I think
he wants the challenge again. He knows he might fail.
But like he said in the story, I'm a quarterback.
I know what pressure feels like, and I think a
lot of him missed that when he was away from
the game.

Speaker 2 (58:09):
Zach, good stuff as always, great job of enterprising that
and getting it together. I know you don't cover the
cults every day, but I also know you pay attention.
Jones or Richardson, yes.

Speaker 7 (58:21):
Today today, can we get Ane?

Speaker 2 (58:23):
We hope, we hope, we're looking for it.

Speaker 9 (58:26):
I mentioned this today JMV.

Speaker 7 (58:29):
Yesterday.

Speaker 9 (58:29):
I think it's going to be Richardson. I wanted to
be Richardson. I don't feel like Jones has taken the
job from him. But I go back to two things
that give me pause with that. One is when I
talked to Daniel Jones at training camp, and the first
thing he said about what Shane told them about how
the job would be decided was who the coaches trust
that has stayed with me. And then secondly, I think

(58:51):
James asked Shane on Saturday after the preseason loss, you know,
how are you going to decide this? And the first
thing he said was who's going to run the appera.
Those are the only things that give me pause. I mean,
Richardson couldn't even make it a series in the preseason
without screwing something up and getting hurt. But I don't
think Jones has done enough to win the job away

(59:12):
from the incumbent. But we'll see because those two things
make me think it could be Daniel Jones.

Speaker 2 (59:18):
All right, buddy, we'll look for an answer, maybe later today.
We'll talk to you soon.

Speaker 9 (59:21):
Great word, Zach, Thanks guys, as always,