PTI - Rodgers FINALLY Signs With the Steelers

Episode Date: June 5, 2025

Tony Kornheiser and Pablo Torre discuss Aaron Rodgers, the NBA Finals, and the Stanley Cup. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey, sports fans, the ESPN app has all of ESPN all in one place. The ESPN app is your home to thousands of live events, ESPN shows, and originals across every ESPN network and service. And now you can check if you already have ESPN Unlimited as part of your TV package for no additional calls. Visit activate.esPN.com to learn how to access your account or sign up, then start streaming in the ESPN app. It's all of ESPN all in one place. Sign up or activate now. Pardon the interruption, but I'm Pablo Torre. And it is great to host with you today, Tony. I'm Tony Kornheiser.

Hosting is fine. Just don't investigate me. You've been in the news lately. People are talking about you. I have a rep. Simmons says I have a rep, apparently. You know, Bill? Remember Bill?

Just don't investigate me. You know what I've done? I mean, I've covered up, you know, my ring thing at the front of the house. Welcome to PTI. Hi, boys and girls. Will Bonner's the day off. I am joined by our great friend, the host of the podcast, Pablo Tori, finds out Mr. Pablo Torre. That's nice. And we begin today with a long-awaited and expected report that Aaron Rogers plans to sign with the Steelers. The 41-year-old Rogers has timed his decision to come after this week's voluntary OTAs, but prior to next week's mandatory

minicamp. Pablo, what is your reaction to this news? My reaction is that 2024 Pablo would have loved, loved to get an alert on his cell phone saying Aaron Rogers signs with an NFL team. Just doesn't hit the same, Tony. And I understand that the Steelers, they're trying to do a thing that in sports nerd conferences, they refer to as high variance. Aaron Rogers has a very high ceiling. He could be the greatest quarterback in the league. The floor, though, gets everybody fired.

And so it's just funny. It's funny that the Steelers are in a place where all the breadcrumbs lead to Aaron Rogers, we knew it was coming, and yet the risk is as stated. Yeah, I'm not going to disagree with that, although I'm going to say that the best place for Aaron Rogers is a team coached by Mike Tomlin, who has watched him for an awful lot of years, and I think they will come to a behavioral daint very soon. I'm one of those guys who thinks that Aaron Rogers can still throw it. I watched them with the Jets.

I mean, I think this is the best spot form, and there were two things that I'm. I would say. First of all, right now, three of the starting quarterbacks in that division are Joe Burrow, Aaron Rogers, and Lamar Jackson. There's no division like that. There's no division like that. And the second thing is, I want to know who's going to be the first person who goes to Aaron Rogers locker and hands him bark to chew on. That's when you know Aaron Rogers is okay with that squad when that happens. Tony, I just like how we have to speak in the language of detents as if Aaron Rogers is, you know, on the road to Yalta. Like, that's part of his story, though, is that it's always diplomacy.

Who's going to be in charge? Who's not? And look, when you say that he might be, well, he certainly is a guy who can still throw it? The question to me also is like, well, who's he throwing to? The Steelers have that all figured out yet? I mean, they have D.K. Meckheff, that's good. Pat Freerbuth, you know? Okay.

What happens now? What happens now? Like, you're right. The AFC North is really, really tough when it comes to the quarterbacks. It's loaded. It's loaded. I just haven't seen Aaron Rogers be anywhere close to the guy that can hang with the caliber of names that you mentioned. And I understand that. And he's brought that upon himself in the last couple of years.

And the behavior has made him the object of derision. I'm just telling you that if you stand there and you don't know it's Aaron Rogers and you see him throw it, you go, wow, he can still throw it. That's what I feel. We move now to the NBA finals, which start tonight in Oklahoma City between the 68-win Thunder and the 50-win Indiana Pacers. Oklahoma City is a substantial favorite, having led the league in regular season victories, including both games they played against Indiana. Pablo, are you giving the Pacers a big chance, a little chance, or no chance at all? I'm giving them a little chance, and I say that because the way they play on offense has been impressive. Watching that whole Knicks series, they are organized chaos.

And they're really stylistically fun to watch. Now, the problem with all of this is that the Thunder are as good defensively as any team I think we've ever seen by the metrics. That's right. So they are equipped uniquely to stop the Pacers. But top to bottom, they're deep, they run, they are young, and I enjoy watching them. I expect this to be a longer series. I don't think this is going to be a sweep. I think this is going to be a six-game sort of operation.

Hmm. Okay. So let me first divest myself of my prejudices here. I covered Rick Carlisle when he played in college at Virginia. And I have followed his coaching career with admiration and affection. You know, I find myself rooting for him. But I do believe that in this particular case, he is the decided underdog. I mean, Indiana is a fast break, run up and down the court team. And as you're saying, Oklahoma City has the best defense in the league. Like in every single category, they've got the best defense in the league. And so if they figure out Indiana early on, I don't know where Indiana goes. I mean, if you're asking me to pick Indiana, I would do it in seven games. If you allowed me, I'd pick it in nine games. But on the other hand, I'm looking at Oklahoma City as a team that is really good, really good. And I would pick them in four or five. And without any compunction about that, I mean,

I believe this game tonight is worth watching for these reasons. It's a game about Indiana. What does Indiana have up its sleeves tonight? How close can they hang with Oklahoma City? Because, Pablo, Oklahoma City is a juggernaut at home. They're 43 and 7 at home counting the playoffs. You know, what do you do with that? I just like how you say with no compunction,

all your arguments so far have been compunctions. If Aaron Rogers was not actually Aaron Rogers, If this seven-game series was a nine-game series, you'd give the Pacers a shot. I don't agree that a little compunction is in the room with us right now. But I want to move to game one of the Stanley Cup final because the Florida Panthers jumped out to a 3-1 lead early in the second period in Edmonton.

But the Oilers came back to tie the game in regulation. And then Leon Drysidl won it in overtime. And so what did the last night's results say to you, Tony, about this year's rematch? It's an enormous boost for Edmonton. I mean, you know, Florida was up two to one in the first period. Florida was up three to one early in the second period. They beat a Florida team.

This is a great statistic that the Florida Panthers have been 18 and O in road playoff games under Paul Maurice when they took a lead out of the second period. You don't catch them and pass them, and that is what happened last night. I don't think this is tragic for Florida. This is Florida's third straight trip to the finals. You know, they know who they are. They can lose a game. It doesn't matter. It's not their first rodeo.

But on the other hand, had Edmonton lost this game at home, people would immediately have started to say, oh, here we go again. The fact that they won it at home and that McDavid and Drysidl were the biggest part of it is very important. There's air underneath their skates now. Drysiddle did not score any goal. in the seven-game Stanley Cup final last year. He opened the scoring with a goal, and he closed the scoring with a goal.

All these signs are very good for Edmonton. Yeah, this was clearly bigger for Edmonton than it was damaging for Florida. And it's just funny when the biggest criticism of the Florida Panthers is they have won so much been to so many consecutive finals that they might be tired now. I like that as the Achilles heel.

I like that two series. ago, the Maple Leafs were up 2-0, and the Panthers came back. I like that the Panthers are actually right now eight and three on the road. I like that they have every bit of experience that makes them very bizarrely for me, yes, the veteran incumbent in this, I mean, it's, Tony, I just think there's so much better than a game one loss should cause us to be worried about. Let us move to the French Open, Pablo. I know you're a tennis fan. Last night, Novak Djokovic and 38 years old, made the semifinals by beating Alexander's Varev in four sets, winning the last three in a row. This will be Djokovic's 54th major semifinal, the most ever. Today, Arena

Sabalinka, the number one seed, beat three-time defending French Open Champion, Igor Shviantec, and Cocoa Gough, and I watched this, needed only 70 minutes to beat French sensation Louise Boussaint. How'd I do in that pronunciation, Pablo? That's pretty good. Pablo, what's the bigger deal? What Djokovic did yesterday or what happened today? certain jeanasse qua, if I may extend the Francophilia here. Good job. To Cocoa golf. I've watched her at the U.S. Open when she was even younger than she is now and was

impressed, and now we see this flower in bloom. I want to say Cocoa Gough for that reason. I want to tip my cap to her for that reason, but I cannot shake the idea that Novak Djokovic, arguably the greatest player of all time, and I'm sure you have arguments about that might be entering his last dance mode. And if we're going to get Sinner and Jokovic in the semifinal tomorrow, Tony, we're going to get that. And it's four and four. It's split, but Sinner has won the last three. Like, Djokovic in winter, to me, that is the headline here. Yeah. So if Bwassan had won, I would say what happened today was most important because she's ranked

361st in the world and nobody had even heard of her three days ago and then she beat a couple of... She would have beaten Cocoa Gough today. Okay, and she's French, but it didn't happen. Now, I can still make the case that what happened today is more important because we have a final.

Djokovic is in the semifinals. And if Sitter blows his doors off, then what are we talking about? And Sinter, I believe, has won his last 19 matches in majors, including a final. at the U.S. Open and a final at the Australian Open. But as, you know, as they say in the plays, attention must be paid. This guy, yeah, I don't like Jokovic.

And I watched the end of that. I got off my couch and I stood up and I applauded. At 38 years old, everybody was writing his obituary for this tournament. And now everybody is busy deleting that. Pablo, if he wins this thing, he's going to have to go through Zverev. He's going to have to go through Sinner and Liky. likely go through Alcaraz. They are...

Alcaraz and Sinner are 15 years younger than him. Zverev is 10 years younger than him. I think it would be one of the great runs in tennis system. Agreed. Absolutely. Come on. 38? Come on. Let's take a break. Coming up, where do the Pacers have the advantage over the Thunder? If indeed they do, we will ask

Kendrick Perkins. And we will also ask him what he'd tell this young Thunder team about playing in the NBA finals. Four stories in the A's, Pablo. Fly. I just realized that as a 39-year-old, I might be in winter now. This is all a bit existential. Pardon the interruption is brought to you by UFC 316.

Saturday. By now at ESPNplus.com slash PPV. Let's dig back into the NBA finals with a man who's in the arena from NBA today. In NBA countdown, our great friend Kendrick Perkins. We're going to start with this. won a title with the Celtics. You made it back to the NBA finals a few years later with the Thunder.

What would you tell this Thunder team about playing in the NBA finals, which they have not done? Well, the first thing I would tell them to do is cherish this moment. But with that being said, Tony, I got to tell them, have no regrets, limit distractions, and keep the main thing, the main

thing, and the main thing is playing basketball between these lines, because the finals, your first time here could be overwhelming, right? You could get caught up everything, the media. You got family members flying in, tickets. All this is going about the interviews. And you forget that you're here to play basketball. And all of a sudden, you get punched in the mouth or you let one slip away from you. If I had a message to the Oklahoma City Thunder, this young team, this young group, I would tell them, make sure you keep the main

thing, the main thing. Limit the restrictions. And most importantly, no regrets whatsoever. You don't want to look down five, six, ten years down the line and say, man, I wish we would have done this in this NBA finals. And not got to do that. got the job done. Well, Perk, in terms of the main attractions, we're looking at Halliburton, we're looking at SGA. Who would you rather have of those two guys? This is an easy one for me, and there's no disrespect to Tyrese Halliburton, but I'm going with SGA all day.

He's the best perimeter player in basketball, knocking at the door, becoming the best player in basketball. Do you see his numbers right now? Not only did he win the conference MVP and MVP and had the best record in the league, title, scoring title, but he's sitting at different tables right now with all-time greats from AI to Shaq to Jordan

and when you start entering those conversations, that means you're doing something special on the floor. And the great thing about SGA is he has no flaws, right, offensively. He don't live by the three and die by the three. He's mastered the mid-range game, which reminds me a lot of MJ

and Kobe, because it's so efficient when it comes down to the comparison of Jordan in the mid-range game, and now he's making others around him better. It's one thing for you to go out there and get 30 or 40, but it's another thing when guys like Jalen Williams and Chet, Homegrid, is still able to get off as well. But if you turn the camera on the Pacers for a second year perk, directly on them, are there any areas where you think the Indiana Pacers have an advantage over the Thunder? I think, I would say no to that, but I will say this.

To me, Miles Turner is the X-factor and most important player for the Pacers if they're trying to win this series. I think he has to be dominant on both ends. We need to see the Miles Turner that we saw in the first series and the second series of this postseason. And that's a player that creates mismatches on the low block because it's his ability to set good screens and roll to the basket. Also a guy that could stretch the floor defensively, they're going to need him now more than that. whenever when you comes down to him being the best shot blocker in the postseason, that needs to show up if they want to have a chance of winning and beating this Oklahoma City team and bringing home a championship.

All right, we will get you out of here on this. You have publicly said that you believe Oklahoma City will win and win in six. Would that prediction change and would have changed drastically if Indiana were to win game one on the road? Well, Tony, if if was a fifth, we would. all be drunk. All right? Let me say that to you. Okay. If was a field, we'll all be drunk. They're not winning. They're not winning in this arena. This is a dangerous place to play in. And shout out to the Oklahoma City Thunder. They made this a dangerous territory. Here's the thing, right? I do believe that if the paces do stand a chance at winning this series, the slight chance

that I give them, they would have, this is a must win, game one. Because by the time this Thunder team defensively figure you out, and game two is going to be too late. So you might want to try to catch them slipping after a long break, and hopefully they get caught up in being in the NBA finals, and you could come in here and steal one. But if you don't get game one, I said in six, it might be in five. Yeah, yeah, I understand that. Thank you, Perk, as always. You look good, by the way.

I know it does. You look good. I appreciate it, tone. It is good. Appreciate it, Tony. Bobblo, appreciate you. NBA countdown begins tonight at 8 p.m. Eastern on ABC, directly followed by game one at 8.30. Let's take one last break, but still to come a setback for Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson.

And Rick Petino, Tony, he weighs in on his interest in the Knicks job, which is, you know. I can't wait. Happy time, people. Happy 28th birthday, Sam Darnold. Darnold was a bust with the Jets after coming out of USC as the third overall pick in 2018. team. By 2021, Darnal was in Carolina where it didn't go much better. Then he backed up Brock Purdy in San Francisco, but Darnold found great success in Minnesota last season, throwing 35 touchdowns with a rating of 102.5. Darnal was riding 14 and 2 as a starter, but had a bad final

regular season game against Detroit, and then a bad playoff game against the Rams, casting doubt about his future. Donald signed a three-year, $100 million deal with Seattle. And just the other day Seattle coach Mike McDonald said, quote, Sam is our starting quarterback. We love him, unquote. Tony, the win is that you just did a whole thing on Sam Darnold and didn't even quote the whole I'm Seeing Ghosts thing. Just a remarkable turnaround. I'm not even being sarcastic about this. The fact that that guy was so good in Minnesota and has another second, third act. It's just a remarkable thing for a guy who had ridden off because he was caught on a live bike saying that he was hallucinating, only to then prove to us, that maybe we were seeing him incorrectly the whole time. Happy anniversary Pat Vendiddy.

On this day, 10 years ago, the Oakland Day's reliever became the first ambidextrous pitcher in the modern era, tossing two scoreless innings against the Red Sox. A rule was created colloquially known as the Pat Vendiddy rule, requiring an ambidextrous pitcher to declare which hand he will use to pitch to a batter before the at-bat starts,

and then to throw with that hand throughout the at-bat. This feels totally unnecessary to me. Let him pitch with whatever hand he wants if he can. Then did he pitch for six different teams through 2020 with a career record of 2 and 2 and a 473 ERA? I find it amazing you can be ambidextrous as a pitcher. Yes, look, I worship at the altar of Otani, but this specific thing, yeah, there should be a rule

that you can't make a rule named after a guy when that's the only guy who does this. It's like, what are you guarding a guy? guest. Who? Who else does this? Stop it. Stop it. Happy Trails, Texas Tech. The Red Raiders fell in memorable fashion in last night's game one of the women's college world series finals. Tech's reigning college player of the year, Nysia Kennedy, was pitching a shutout in the bottom of the sixth when the call came to intentionally walk Texas All-American Reese Atwood, made sense as Atwood is hitting 398, and there were two out and two on with first base

open. But Kennedy hadn't walked anyone intentionally all season, and it showed. She left what would have been ball for out over the plate, and Adwood smacked at the left, giving Texas a two to one lead, which is how it ended. It's a remarkable video we just saw, Tony. Kennedy, by the way, she got a million dollars to leave Stanford, went to Texas Tech, back on the mound tonight for game two. Got to even it up to Best of Three series. But that she's so good that she didn't know how to do an intentional walk is also just funny to me. got to go to the umpire and say just just let her go to first like they do it in the bigs you know not have to throw the ball let's go to the big finish if we could Derek car quote quote front office sports he retired because he didn't want to have surgery quote and just sit there and take the saints money unquote do you find that admirable

i suppose so but all the credit he's going to get is me saying yes i suppose on an episode of ptia so rick petino meanwhile says he is quote absolutely not interested in coaching the nix that? No, I'm not. And what makes him think they're interested in him? I mean, I didn't see that going on at all. I didn't. Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson is dealing with a shoulder injury, will not participate in minicam next week. Is that a big deal? Of course, he is polling terribly in Indianapolis, apparently. Of course, Daniel Jones, fighting him for the starting job. But Jerry Rinesdorf has an agreement with billionaire Justin Ishbia that could see Ishbia eventually own the White Sox. Your thoughts? My thoughts are how many billionaires are there in that family?

His brother owns the Phoenix Sons. And so far everything he's done hasn't worked out at all. Last one, Liberty at Mystics tonight. Will the Liberty move to 8-0? Yes, my New York Liberty are going to defeat your Washington Mystics, Tony. That's right. 8-0. Eat that.

We're out of time. We're trying to do better the next time. I'm Tony Corrinaj. And I'm Pablo Torre. The host of Pablo Tori finds out, a podcast that Tony apparently listens to.