Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
You are listening to the Dan Patrick Show on Fox
Sports Radio.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
Well, well, well we made it to a Friday. It's
a meet Friday. Morale is high because we're celebrating Thanksgiving today.
Every day should be Thanksgiving. We got turkey, we got
mashed potatoes and gravy stuffing and green bean castle.
Speaker 3 (00:20):
Role.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Who is it better than we do? No body?
Speaker 4 (00:24):
Yep.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
I figured we just do a rehearsal run and we're
gonna have Thanksgiving today with one another. So morale is high.
The calendars autograph and non autograph calendars available at Danpatrick
dot com. Plus check out the Tailgate store to see
how you can get an autograph calendar with select Tailgate purchases.
While supplies last, calendars were a lot of fun to do.
(00:47):
I hope you enjoy them, and they should be shipped
by the end of next week so you'll have them
in time for the holidays if you want a stocking
stuff or you just want to keep it for yourself.
Stat of the Day brought to you by Penine America,
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(01:08):
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Tire act dot Com. The way tire buying should be
recency bias. But guess who is the leading candidate for
MVP in the NFL. Yes, if you said Drake May,
you would be correct. Standalone game and everybody's got an
(01:31):
opinion about the Patriots and the Jets. But for the Patriots,
Drake made it look really easy. Now, yes, are we
going to factor in? They're playing the Jets. But the
Jets had won back to back games, and I thought
that first drive, I'm like, okay, all right, point spreads
twelve and a half, and then all of a sudden
(01:52):
it ended up thirteen point point spread there margin.
Speaker 1 (01:57):
Man.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
I'm always watching those things just because the number of
times when they just nail it, when it's like, okay,
the points met is twelve and a half and they
win by thirteen. Dylan, congratulations, you had the Jets and
the money line, didn't you?
Speaker 3 (02:13):
I did, Dan, And that first drive was, dare I say, inspiring?
And then it was very very quickly uninspiring.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
And I'm watching Justin Fields, and it made me, it
dawned on me last night as I'm watching him of
how easy college can be for certain quarterbacks at certain programs,
like being the quarterback at Ohio State where receivers were
wide open. Justin Fields was a really good quarterback at
(02:42):
Ohio State. Like he was athletic, he could throw the
football at an unbelievable game against Georgia. And now you
realize the difference between college and the pros because he's
not a starting quarterback in the NFL. If your game
plan is basically just spread every buddy out and let
him run, then he could be your quarterback. But watching
(03:03):
last night, it's just not there. Meanwhile, Drake May made
it look very easy if you would have had him
wear number twelve last night. Now, granted, he's more athletic
than Tom Brady, but if he was wearing number twelve
last night and you saw him in the pocket, you'd go, oh,
they're showing old clips of Brady. Now, granted, the throwback uniforms,
(03:24):
I kind of like the look of them. I was
okay with it. Like at first I thought somebody's in trouble.
Whoever did the laundry is in trouble. Those are faded,
and then I was like, okay, it kind of had
a Civil War Union blue to it, like Yarmouth blue. Yes,
so I was I'm curious how the Patriots would react
(03:48):
as being a big favorite in a game you're supposed
to win. But for Drake May, Patriots handled the Jets
twenty seven to fourteen. New England's now nine and two,
and I know some nine and twos aren't the same
as other nine and twos, but they could end up
with home field advantage throughout the entire AFC playoffs. Chiefs
(04:10):
aren't going to get home field advantage. You know, still
can factor in. You know, Buffalo can win the division.
But the Patriots schedule is not that difficult second half
of the season, and the West they're beaten up on
each other. You got Denver and Kansas City coming up.
But watching the Patriots, they're in great shape. I don't
(04:31):
think the AFC is great. I think the NFC is
top heavy better. But if you're the Patriots and a
Patriot fan, you're like, Okay, we can make a run
at this. And I think it's probably the first time
you watched a Patriot game all the way through and
you're probably going, I don't know who some of these
(04:52):
guys are except for Stefan Diggs. And he had nine
catches for one hundred yards. So that's the thirty ninth
one hundred yard hard game in his career. The only
active player with more is DeVante Adams with forty five
stat of.
Speaker 3 (05:08):
The Day, stat of the Day, that past stat of
the day, stat of the day.
Speaker 2 (05:14):
Here comes that what stat of the day? Thank you,
Ron Burgundy. Stat of the Day brought to you by
Penini America, the official trading cards of the Dan Patrick Show.
By the way, Will Farrow is doing a golfing series
or it's a series where he's the main character, and
I don't know the name of it. But he got
(05:35):
injured and then they said they had to stop shooting.
So I reached out to him yesterday and I said,
I turned my back one time, and look what happens.
You get hurt. He goes, I don't know how this
became a big story, But thoughts and prayers to Will
Ferrell for whatever his injury is. But he says that
he will start filming again soon.
Speaker 5 (05:53):
Yes, Paul, is he on the IR four weeks?
Speaker 2 (05:55):
I don't I don't know. I don't know if to
pick up if Hollywood has like an injury list, because
you know, sometimes you'll see these actors they get hurt,
like somebody will break a hand or something or a
knee injury, and then they have to shut down for
a while.
Speaker 5 (06:11):
Yeah, Paul, if you remember the Entourage movie, our friend
Kevin Connolly, when they were getting ready for the scene
outside they were throwing the ball around with Russell Wilson
and different players, he broke his leg, like, broke his leg.
They had to medicate him and finished the scenes because
they had tons of extras and so he was all
medicated in a few different scenes.
Speaker 2 (06:30):
They had to medicate me. To watch that movie. A
lot of cameos, Yeah, yeah, too many. Trayveon Henderson had
three touchdowns and he is the Okay, how many rookie
rookies have scored three touchdowns this year? Three touchdowns in
a season? If you said five, you'd be correct Henderson, Quinn,
(06:54):
Shawn Judkins, Cam Skattaboo, Ashton Genty, and RJ. Harvey. There
were zero rookies with three touchdown games last season. The
last time you had five rookies with three touchdown games.
In the same season back in twenty tenow.
Speaker 1 (07:15):
Stand of a pick Stanta day. Stella a day, Stanta Day.
Speaker 2 (07:22):
This is the stele of the day. Patriots have their quarterback.
They got a running back, Stefan Diggs is on a
team friendly deal. He's got two more years. They got
more cap room than anybody their set. They're set now.
(07:44):
They had to quote settle for the third pick, the
third quarterback in the draft, and they end up getting
Mike Vrabel, who somehow was made available by Tennessee. The
Jets were interested in Vrabel. Patriots swooped in and got
Mike Brabel, and just like that, the Patriots are back.
(08:05):
And if you look at the division, the Jets are
in a rebuild. Buffalo is kind of not as formidable
as they've been before, and the Dolphins, who knows, feels
like they're in kind of no man's land as well.
But the Patriots had won eight in a row, longest
winning streak since twenty nineteen, which happened to be Tom
(08:27):
Brady's last season in New England. All right, Rob Gronkowski
speaking of the Patriots, which join us a little bit
later on your phone calls, always welcome eight seven to
seven three DP Show email address Dpadanpatrick dot com, Twitter
handle at DP show. Good morning. If you're watching on Peacock,
thank you for downloading the app. On Monday, the show
will also be available on NBC Sports Network got a
(08:51):
big relaunch with that this show, Mike Florio, Pro Football
Talk Live, and also Dan Levittard Show. Speaking of Mike Florio,
Mike Caught My Attention and his latest column at Pro
Football Talk, Mike Florio said the Giants could be interested
in Bill Belichick. Now, he says, the challenge is they
(09:19):
want Belichick, but they don't want his girlfriend, and they
don't want Mike Lombardi. That's his I don't know what
Mike Lombardi's official job is is he's the GM at
North Carolina. But according to Florio, at Mike Lombardi and
(09:41):
Jordan Hudson wouldn't be part of the deal. Well, Jordan
Hudson's part of the deal because that's his girlfriend, maybe fiance.
Mike Lombardi, Okay, if you have to kick him to
the curb, but that's this is the one condition, according
to Florio, this is the one condition is if you
bring in Bell, you can't have any of the ancillary
(10:03):
characters here. Okay, all right, sure, yes, Todd.
Speaker 6 (10:09):
Yeah, the way I read it's the floors this way.
Speaker 3 (10:11):
If they're even to consider the idea of Bill Belichick
coming to their next head coach, those things would those
people would have to not be involved.
Speaker 2 (10:19):
Yeah. If I'm the Giants, I don't do that. If
I'm the Giants, find somebody that you're comfortable with, who's
comfortable with Jackson Dart as his quarterback and Cam Scataboo
Elik neighbors. I mean, they have some nice building blocks there.
But I not bringing in Bill Belichick, No, not at all.
(10:42):
All right, come up with the pole question, got a
play of the day, stat of the day, all of
that forthcoming. You got a busy weekend. College and Pro
will do the most must win game of the weekend.
Who had the best week in sports? Seaton will join
us from the road coming up next hour, and let
me see anything else that Well, it is a meat Friday,
it's a Thanksgiving Friday. The calendars available, tailgates available, We're
(11:07):
ready to go. What poll question are you looking at?
First hour there, Dylan?
Speaker 3 (11:13):
All right, we got a couple options.
Speaker 6 (11:14):
Then this one's from PAULI.
Speaker 3 (11:16):
The NFL team that's in the best shape for the next.
Speaker 2 (11:19):
Five years, five years.
Speaker 3 (11:22):
Commanders, Lions, Patriots, and then we can decide on a
fourth team.
Speaker 2 (11:27):
Okay, Paul, you got a couple more to sprinkling.
Speaker 5 (11:30):
Well, I would say those teams because the Lions are
good and everyone's under contract. I'm gonna Ross, Saint Brown,
Pine Sewel Golf's contract is somewhat friendly.
Speaker 2 (11:39):
Aiden Hutchinson, Hutchinson's SAR Gibbs.
Speaker 5 (11:41):
Yeah, okay, Drake May's on a rookie deal, lots of
cap space. As you said, with the Patriots, a coach
under contract that seems like an alpha dog. And then
the Commanders, even though it's an off year, Jane Daniels,
everyone loves him or loved him, rookie deals, still good coach.
(12:03):
It just feels like it's set for the next few years.
I don't know if there's a fourth team.
Speaker 2 (12:11):
Broncos. Yeah, man, we cooled off on BOONEX, didn't we.
That didn't take long.
Speaker 5 (12:19):
Like, I wouldn't put the Rams in there because in
two years we don't know what the Rams quarterback situational. Yeah,
that's the only reason the Rams are in great shape today.
Speaker 2 (12:27):
Yes, I would put Denver in there because I have
to believe in Sean Payton and kind of getting Boonix
back to where he was last year. That defense, I
think they have forty six sacks so far. It's been
I think twenty years since a team maybe thirty years
since the team had that many sacks this deep end
(12:47):
of the season. So you have a great defense. Seattle
seems like they're in pretty good shape. Maybe we're not
all in because we want to see what Sam Darnold
does in a playoff game, but this is a big
game coming up this weekend. You can make an argument
that the team that wins the Seattle LA game is
(13:08):
the best team in the NFC, And that's saying a lot,
but I would put Seattle in there. Sam Darnold's on
a team friendly deal. Smith Jigba is their best player.
I don't know what his deal is, but other than that,
I don't know if you're spending that much money. The
(13:28):
Colts situation seems pretty good, but you got to sign
up Danny Dimes. So it went from well that's a
great story to man, that's fifty million dollars there.
Speaker 5 (13:40):
Yeah, Pauline, what if I threw in the Cincinnati Bengals,
even though they're not good today. Joe Burrow in a
contract for a long time, Chase and Higgins under contract
for a long time.
Speaker 2 (13:50):
No, no, because they have no defense. I can't trust Burrow.
He's you know, he gets injured too much. I got
two great receivers, but other than that, I got a
coach who may lose his job. So no, I wouldn't
look at that stability. Yes, Dylan, I.
Speaker 3 (14:07):
Think you've mentioned it before, but the Bengals are really
feeling like that may have been their one Super Bowl
shot with Burrow.
Speaker 2 (14:14):
Yeah. Yeah, And I'm sure people said after they lost
to the Rams eight they'll be back. There's no guarantee.
And can we say that, oh, yeah, they're gonna get
back like the Blue Jays. Are you going to say, yeah,
they're going to get back. I looked at the odds.
They're way down the list to get back to the
World Series. You know. I think when we looked at
the odds after the Super Bowl or after the World Series,
(14:36):
it was like ninth or tenth best odds to get
back to the World Series.
Speaker 1 (14:40):
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Speaker 2 (15:20):
Rob Gronkowski four time Super Bowl champ. He's a contributor
to Fox NFL Sunday in New England, retiring as a Patriot,
and uh second year with the T Mobile Friday Night
five G Lights competition. We talked about it last year.
We'll talk about that coming up. Great to see you again.
What do you see when you see Drake May?
Speaker 7 (15:44):
Yeah, I kind of see a little clone of the
great Tom Brady in ways. I mean the way that
he's able to read a defense, the way he's able
to float the ball over coverage and hit his receivers
or hit his tight end the way he's been able
to get it to the guy that's open. Like say,
instead of forcing the ball, he'll check it down to
(16:04):
the running back and get five yards instead of you know,
instead of tossing it deep and having a possible interception,
he'll hit the He'll hit the guy that's going underneath,
and there will be an eight yard play and then
they'll just keep the chains moving from there. So Drake May,
he's a smart and intelligent football player, just like Tom Brady.
Speaker 4 (16:22):
I see a lot of similarities big time.
Speaker 2 (16:25):
Now. The one thing that would stand out is Drake
May's athleticism. Like he can he can run a little bit.
I mean, was Tom ever athletic fast?
Speaker 4 (16:38):
Well, Tom is very athletic.
Speaker 7 (16:40):
For not being athletic, I mean he was drafted out
of high school as a catcher, you know, as a
baseball player, which is shocking.
Speaker 4 (16:48):
You're like, oh my gosh, you're a baseball player too.
Speaker 7 (16:51):
I mean, for not not being able to run super fast,
he still has great running for him, you know, not
to be able to run around in the pocket and
move out to the left and right, he's able to.
He makes up for it, and he's able to read
a defense better than.
Speaker 4 (17:05):
Any other quarterback.
Speaker 7 (17:07):
Tom knows his strengths, he knows his weaknesses, and he
focused on his strength so much that they became so
dominant that it didn't matter. He didn't that he didn't
have the ability to run the ball for a first
down because he didn't need that. And that's what made
Tom so special and that's why he is the greatest,
you know, player of all time to play as well.
Speaker 2 (17:28):
Did you sign a one day contract with the Patriot?
Speaker 4 (17:30):
Yes? I did, Yes, I did.
Speaker 7 (17:32):
I signed it on Wednesday at twelve fifteen, so I
wasn't eligible to play in the game Thursday night because
he fired twelve fifteen on Thursday afternoon. That's why RKK
wanted me to do a two day contract, but I said, hey,
you're gonna have to give me a signing bonus.
Speaker 4 (17:48):
So he didn't like that idea, so he only made
me bet contract.
Speaker 2 (17:53):
Could you play at all?
Speaker 7 (17:56):
I feel like if I lined up, you know, if
it's you know, second in goal on the five yard line,
I could definitely give a fade route full speed and
probably complete it, you know, probably go up and make
the play. I would just say the stamina want to
be there, you know, the athleticism and put the mind
in the place where it needs to be for that
fifteen seconds. Yes, I can do that for a short
(18:19):
stint of time.
Speaker 4 (18:20):
But that's all.
Speaker 2 (18:21):
How competitive are you with your place in history among
tight ends.
Speaker 4 (18:27):
As of now?
Speaker 7 (18:28):
You know, not at all, because it's all over, you know,
it's over with. I can't really, you know, change the
outcome anymore. It's all set where it is now. But
when I was playing, there's no doubt to be one
of the greatest to play the game, you know, And
that probably came, you know, in year two, year three,
year four, when I was like, all right, I can
(18:49):
make my place in history. At the beginning of my career,
it wasn't even a thought. I just wanted to be
on an NFL roster. I just wanted to be able
to contribute to the team and put myself, as you know,
in the category of greatest.
Speaker 4 (19:03):
You know, that.
Speaker 7 (19:04):
Wontn't possibly come to my mind until at least halfway
through my career. And then I was like, man, you know,
if I keep being you know, great on the football field,
that can possibly be.
Speaker 4 (19:13):
In that category.
Speaker 7 (19:14):
You know, I wantn't really talk about it much because
you know, you just got to focus on what you
got to focus on and win games and be the best,
you know, teammate that you can be, and then everything
else would take care of itself.
Speaker 2 (19:25):
But you look at Kelsey Gates. I don't know who
else you would put in there, but uh, guns Allis
I guess he put up his numbers too, which are
crazy and pretty pretty good grouping to be in. But
do you if somebody says, oh, Kelsey's better than you,
would you argue back that you're better than Kelsey?
Speaker 7 (19:48):
Well, in many ways, Travis Kelcey is better than myself,
and then in many ways I would say I'm better
than Travis Kelcey. There's so many variables and tangibles that
go into it because we're kind of different players, but
we play the.
Speaker 4 (20:03):
Same position still. I mean, Shannon Sharp said the best.
Speaker 7 (20:06):
I mean, I'm not sure exactly how he put it,
but he said, like I'm mistake and like he's sushi.
Speaker 4 (20:11):
I mean, it's just what you want that night for dinner.
Speaker 7 (20:15):
And they're both great, but they're both totally different, and
they both taste different, and they're both different on your palette.
So it's all about what type of offense you're in,
how you're getting used. And we're different players. Like if
we play together, that would be the ultimate combo. But
if I'm in a package where it's an old school offense,
you know, it's about running the ball, it's about just
(20:35):
play action. You know, it's about you know, being in
the trenches and beating down the other team that I
would take myself. But this day and era, with the
offense that Travis Kelsey is in, I feel like he
fits way better in his offense that you know that
he's in. And I don't think I would be able
to contribute like.
Speaker 4 (20:51):
The way that he does.
Speaker 7 (20:52):
So it's all different tangibles and variables like I said,
that go into it. And I love what Travis Kelsey's
doing and what's remarkable as well as you know, to
be in that category of the greatest, you gotta have
longevity too, and that's why Tony Gonzalez is in. And
I mean the guy played till thirty seven years old.
I'm thirty six. I couldn't imagine me playing right now
(21:13):
still thirty seven years old. I really wish I could
big time. Travis Kelsey's thirty six. He's still playing right now,
So it's impressive what they're doing. But also I would
say I was a little bit more crazier and reckless
through my twenties.
Speaker 4 (21:28):
I paid the price a little bit, Dan, that's for sure.
Speaker 2 (21:31):
Couldn't you have played differently, though, Gronk, No.
Speaker 4 (21:34):
I could have not played differently. That's just a style
that was in me. That's just how I.
Speaker 7 (21:39):
Was born to play. I wouldn't change anything. Hey, hey, groc,
if you play a little less savagey.
Speaker 4 (21:45):
You know you're gonna have two or four years left
in your career.
Speaker 7 (21:48):
I would be like, you know, I'll just stick to
the eleven years that I played. I don't need thirteen
because I'm all about just going full out. And that's
just how I rolled my whole life. And that's kind
of who made That's kind of what made me Dan
fake time.
Speaker 2 (22:02):
You know, I go back to when you were first
in the league first couple of years, and they're like, oh,
they better worry about Gronk. He's doing Keg stands like,
if that's the worst thing that you were doing, I'm like,
you weren't a trouble maker. You played hard, you played hurt,
But I remember somebody was critical of you. Of man,
he's getting crazy, he's doing keg stands.
Speaker 7 (22:24):
Yeah, I remember those days, and now we look at it.
It was so harmless. Everyone's like laughing about it, like
with so much other things going on in this world
and what else is going on in communities? Like people
were worried that I was a trouble maker because I
was doing tech stands.
Speaker 2 (22:40):
Are you retired from keg stands?
Speaker 4 (22:43):
Yeah, I am.
Speaker 7 (22:44):
It's been a long long time, that's for sure. Bound
I was doing all that craziness was kind of, like
I said, made the made me the player that I
was because I was doing everything full speed.
Speaker 4 (22:55):
I was doing everything full speed on the field and
off the field. That was my mindset.
Speaker 7 (22:58):
And then, like I said, I want to have changed
it because, yeah, eleven years it got me to play.
But if I coulk be full speed and I would
have lasted thirteen years. I want to have done that
because it doesn't make me who I am.
Speaker 2 (23:09):
Then better beer drinker, you are, Brady.
Speaker 7 (23:12):
Tom actually is Tom Can pound beer is faster than
anyone that I've ever seen.
Speaker 4 (23:16):
And beer drinking is really tough. I do.
Speaker 7 (23:18):
I drink two beers now and I'm like, I'm super
full and bloated and I'm pretty tifty now and that's
all I need. I do social drinking now, I don't
go harrd like I used to. Social drinker. Now one
or two get me feeling good, you know, it gets
me to strike up a conversation and enjoy it.
Speaker 2 (23:34):
All Right, you're back with the Friday Night five g
lights and what you're doing with high schools. Tell everybody
about that.
Speaker 7 (23:42):
Yeah, So this is the second year doing the tea
mobile Friday Night five g Lights campaign. The first year
was a big success, but this year we went bigger
and badder.
Speaker 4 (23:50):
We gave out.
Speaker 7 (23:51):
Five thousand dollars to four hundred and fifty schools, twenty
five thousand dollars the twenty five schools this year. And
now I am literally sitting right now in the gym gymnasium,
you know, green room here at Derek's in Derek's, Arkansas,
at Derek's High School, because they are the grand prize
winner of this campaign and they get a million dollars,
(24:11):
you know, to renovate their high school football field, and
on top of it, they get a renovation of their
weight room by Gronkfitness, my family's company, So it's going
to be all brand new Gronk Fitness. You know, equipment
that they can work out with, tickets to the SEC
Championship game, and a tailgate party.
Speaker 4 (24:29):
So I'm going to surprise them in about thirty minutes.
Speaker 2 (24:31):
If they don't know that you're going to give them
this a million dollars.
Speaker 4 (24:35):
They already know that they're getting the million dollars.
Speaker 7 (24:37):
They already know that they're the grand prize winner, but
they don't know I'm here right now. We're about to
have a rally in the gym, and I'm going to
surprise the whole entire time.
Speaker 2 (24:47):
That's great, that's great. Good For more information, visit Friday
Night five g Lights dot com. Great to talk to you, Gronk,
have fun.
Speaker 4 (24:58):
He always a pleasure. Dan, Thanks for me.
Speaker 1 (25:00):
On Rob Gronkowski. Fox Sports Radio has the best sports
talk lineup in the nation. Catch all of our shows
at foxsports Radio dot com and within the iHeartRadio app
search FSR to listen live.
Speaker 2 (25:14):
Pat Benson sneaker reporter for Sports Illustrated, and he wrote
an article today and had to do with Steph Curry
and under Armour have broken up. Kind of surprising. This
lateness career. Pat joins us now on the program. If
you were, let's say, going into whatever sport and you
could pick a shoe company right now, who would you pick?
Speaker 6 (25:35):
Hey, Dan, thanks for having me. It would depend on
the sport. Honestly, I think the easy answer would be
Nike because they're top dog in America, But it would
certainly depend on the sport.
Speaker 2 (25:45):
Okay, explain what happened here with Steph Curry that the
timing is kind of odd. I guess from the standpoint
of later in his career, you're not going to be
wired to wire here or close to it with under Armour.
Speaker 6 (25:58):
How come timing incredibly odd? Just two years ago Under
Armour launched Kurt I'm Sorry. Five years ago under Armour
launched Curry Brand, and then in twenty twenty three they
signed a long term deal which had the potential to
be a lifetime contract. So we're two years into what
could have been a lifetime contract. But under Armour's undergoing
(26:19):
major restructuring and the included spin off Curry Brand, so
Curry Brand is independent. Stephen Curry and his sneaker company
are now sneaker free agents. They'll be looking for a
new home.
Speaker 2 (26:33):
I don't even know what they look like, and I
don't know if under Armour has basketball other basketball shoes.
Did his shoes catch on.
Speaker 6 (26:44):
Mixed results? Mixed results. So this is the latest shoe
he's wearing right now, Curry Series seven. We're still waiting
on the Curry thirteen, which will be his final signature
shoe as part of a collaboration with under Armour. You know,
I think they started off strong, but I don't know
if they ever really recovered from a viral moment during
the twenty sixteen NBA Finals, his brother Seth wore these
(27:05):
low talk Curry two lows and it was one of
the first real moments, I want to say, on Twitter
where it was like a sneaker viral moment. And I'm
not sure if they ever recovered it. But the signature
line certainly had its highlight moments and solid performance technology,
and it's honestly a little sad to see it come
to an end like this.
Speaker 2 (27:25):
Can we clear up the whole Nike you know situation
where he has the meeting with Nike and I don't
know what year it was. I did ask Steph about
this and did somebody mispronounce his name? And was that
enough for him to decide to go elsewhere? What is fact?
What is fiction?
Speaker 6 (27:41):
Here? Pat I think we're only going to know from
the people in that room. But Stephan started his career
with Nike, played his first four seasons, and then his
first contract came to an end in twenty thirteen. And
first pitch was with Niko Harrison, who was at the
time a executive for Nike, with Kobe Bryant and all
these other big shots in the NBA, And apparently the
(28:05):
meeting went terribly. Somebody mispronounced Stephan's name as Stephan. Nico
denied that. However, there was also a power point which
they copy and pasted Kevin Durant's information directly into Stephen's presentation,
and Nico he's only spoken about this like once, I believe.
In a twenty twenty two podcasts he didn't address the
(28:28):
PowerPoint situation, but he did deny mispronouncing Stephan's name.
Speaker 2 (28:32):
But in retrospect, did Steph Curry make a mistake not
staying with Nike.
Speaker 6 (28:38):
It's hard to say that because it was a perfect
one to two punts. She had the failed Nike meeting
and then under Armour came in and offered way more money.
Under Armour offered four million to Nikes two and a
half million plus a signature shoe deal. Keep in mind,
Stephan Curry wasn't Stephan Curry at that time. There were
no major awards, no championships, and he was battling ankle injuries.
(29:01):
So it was a major investment, a major gamble by
under Armour, and it paid off in the short term.
But here we are more than a decade later, and
maybe it didn't pay off in the long term.
Speaker 2 (29:11):
How attractive is Steph Curry on the open market at
this stage of his career.
Speaker 6 (29:16):
Incredibly attractive because it doesn't even matter his NBA career
could and tomorrow, there's still going to be brands that
want to sign him. We've seen this with other athletes,
with Roger Federer leaving Nike for and you know, starting
his own business with or investing heavily and on. So
even if Leon Sanders went from Nike under armoured Nike,
so even after Stephan's done playing basketball, he's going to
(29:38):
be one of the biggest names in the footwear industry.
So he could take Curry brand, he could find some investors.
You know he's in San Francisco. I'm sure there's plenty
of tech money out there that can invest in his company.
Or he could partner with an existing brand. I think
it's too late for us to see the Nike Curry
One or the Adidas Curry One, but they're certainly Chinese
(30:01):
brands that would immediately turn around a signature shoe for
Curry in no time.
Speaker 2 (30:07):
Give me the most popular basketball shoes.
Speaker 6 (30:09):
Now, Kobe Bryant's retro Nike basketball shoes.
Speaker 2 (30:14):
That's number one.
Speaker 6 (30:15):
That's number one. It's not even close. For current active players,
It's an exciting season. There are three real big players
you need to watch. Anthony Edwards with Adidas Shake Gil
Just Alexander with Converse, John Morant with Nike. Those are
the three that you really want to watch this season.
They're really battling out and with the holiday season shaping up,
lots of jockeying, lots of marketing. It's really been fun
(30:38):
to watch for US sneaker nerds.
Speaker 2 (30:40):
But you got Sabrina Iyronesque. Her shoe model was very popular.
Is Caitlin Clark in that stratosphere.
Speaker 6 (30:49):
Sabrina has been an absolute Trailblazer. Her shoe has transhimitted
women's basketball, and it's the first women's shoe that has
been popular for men to wear, and that led to
Asia Wilson's first signature shoe being a smash hit. Kaitlyn
Clark's first signature shoe does not come out until twenty
twenty six. In the meantime, she's getting player exclusive color
(31:10):
ways from Kobe Bryant's Nike line, which in itself is
a high honor. But yeah, next year, the Kaitlyn Clark's
first signature Nike basketball shoe is going to be massive.
So that's that's gonna be something I'm really exciting to
follow in twenty twenty six.
Speaker 2 (31:23):
Does Michael Jordan's estate get paid when Michael Jordan's gone?
Speaker 6 (31:29):
Yes?
Speaker 2 (31:29):
Absolutely, so forever.
Speaker 6 (31:33):
Uh yeah, I mean I'm not entirely sure with like
the intricacies of his contract, but absolutely, Like there are
royalties and Jordan brand is deeply tied to Nikes, So yeah,
that's going to go on forever as long as the
sign can continues to rise. Each day, Jordan's will sell
and the Michael Jordan's the state will make money.
Speaker 2 (31:54):
What's the worst shoe? Uh, what's the worst shoe, like
the biggest failure?
Speaker 6 (32:01):
Oh goodness, Well, you know what, Instead of naming an
active player, let's look back at Kobe Bryant's third signature
shoe with Adidas that was never released. Following the two
thousand and two NBA Finals, Kobe Bryant traveled to Germany
and had an acrimonious breakup with the company, bought his
way out of the company and said, you know what,
y'all keep that third shoe and I'm gonna just be
a sneaker free agent for the following season. And I
(32:23):
think he wore over one hundred different shoes, flirted with
Rebock Jordan brand, but at the end of the day,
it was Nike and that turned out to make history.
Speaker 2 (32:31):
Do you have that shoe?
Speaker 6 (32:34):
No, I don't have the Kobe three. It never released. However,
there are collectors that have the prototype, and Adidas has
since re released Kobe's old shoes rebranded, which is something
to watch because circling back to under Armour and Curry Brand.
Under Armour Earn owns Curry brand logo and I'm guessing
(32:55):
the footwear catalog as well, so I'm not sure how
the legal breakup went and maybe Curry gets that in
the divorce, but that's going to be something I'm sure
they've negotiated, and that'll be something to follow up. Who
gets the Curry logo? Who gets the twelve thirteen signature shoes?
So that's gonna be something really really interesting to follow
(33:15):
over the next year. I'm sure we'll find out more.
Speaker 2 (33:19):
And New Balances spent a lot of money here with
some big name athletes. Is it paying off?
Speaker 6 (33:26):
Yeah? I think so. They have Cooper Flag in the NBA,
They've got Cameron Brink in the WNBA, They've got Josh
Allen in the NFL, Hey Shohey O'tani in Major League Baseball.
So yeah, they've got it going on. They've really got
a very talented roster Cocoa golf in tennis, so and
when they want to, they can market at a very
(33:46):
high level. I think they missed an opportunity with Otani
in the World Series, but just last night they dropped
some some gear for his MVP Awards. So New Balance
is fun. They're exciting, and they've gotten an incredibly talented roster.
Speaker 2 (34:00):
Pat thanks for joining us, We appreciate it.
Speaker 6 (34:02):
Yes, sir, thank you for having me.
Speaker 2 (34:03):
That's Pat Benson, sneaker reporter for Sports Illustrated's Kicks on
SI