Rahimi, Harris & Grote Show - Herm Edwards talks Caleb Williams & we reflect on Derrick Rose's jersey retirement (Hour 2)

Episode Date: January 26, 2026

In the second hour, Leila Rahimi and Marshall Harris were joined by former NFL head coach and current ESPN analyst Herm Edwards to discuss the Patriots and Seahawks advancing to the Super Bowl and to reflect on Bears quarterback Caleb Williams’ progress in the 2025 season. After that, Rahimi and Harris shared their favorite moments from Bulls icon Derrick Rose getting his No. 1 jersey retired Saturday at the United Center.

This hour is sponsored by almost free teeth.com, affordable implants, life-changing smiles. May with his hands under center, drops to his knee, and that's it. The New England Patriots are back in the Super Bowl. The Patriots win the AFC championship, beating the Denver Broncos 10 to 7. Desperation for Stafford. Eight seconds left. Blown up near side. Nicole is he out of bounds? Oh, my God. Three seconds. That's Westwood 1 on the call.

This is Rahimi Harrison Grotie on 670 The Score, and there's no better guest to bring into this type of music now that we know our Super Bowl matchup. Then the coach, joining us on the Circus Sports Illinois hotline. Download the Circa app today is Herm Edwards. Herm, thank you so much for joining us today. Thank you for allowing me to be on your show. Trust me, Herm, this is our pleasure.

We get to learn knowledge from you. right now. Well, I don't know about that. I don't know how much knowledge I have, but we'll try to talk and figure it out and see what's what. As we try to figure this out, tell me, Herm, in your view, how did we get here? A Seahawks versus Patriots Super Bowl, Sam Darnel was a cast-off not too long ago and now look at him. And then you've got, of course, Drake May in season number two leading a Patriots team, even though he didn't throw for 100 yards in the AFC championship game. Well, I think when you think about the Seattle situation, Sam Donald, it's going to be a great story. I think it capsulates just the ability to never give up on yourself and to continue to bet on yourself.

I can remember saying that when I was very, when I was a father, I told my kids, my daughter, I said, you always got to have enough gumption to bet on yourself regardless what other people may say. and he's been able to do that. And now he finds itself in the Super Bowl with Seattle, obviously. And you look at the other situation with the Patriots, everyone during the season was saying, well, they got an easy schedule, and their schedule is their schedule.

But at the end of the day, their schedule, they won all those games to get where they're at. And they started a young quarterback that basically ran them to the Super Bowl. He didn't pass his way to the Super Bowl. He actually ran them. to the Super Bowl and good for them as well. And Herm, I think there were so many decisions where as a coach, you're probably not just analyzing the quality of the play out of these four teams that we just saw.

But there were some pivotal decisions, whether playing a factor in the AFC championship game, for example, Sean Payton being asked about his decisions in the second quarter, you don't think that's your best chance for points. You know, what did you think of some of the decisions that stood out to you in these games? Well, I mean, you know, being a coach and being a player, I mean, those are the things that happen in games. And I think they're obviously more magnified when you play in a game of this stature. You know, you're playing a championship game or a playoff game. And when the outcome is not what you like, people are going to look back not only on the play of the players,

but decisions that maybe some coaches made. And in retrospect, I think we can always second-guess coaches. I know when you're in the moment, that's when you try to make. the decision. I've always said this. With analytics being a real part of this now, all of a sudden that kind of blurs things, right? All the fans have the analytic information, and you have analytics as a coach. I just believe in the old-fashioned way, you know, when I was a coach and had the great responsibility of being a head coach and a decision-maker. The one thing I've always learned is I just listen to my eyes. And I don't worry about

analytics. I listen to my eyes. I look at the field and says, This is what's happening. Here's a situation. And this is what I'm about to do. And so that's all you can do. And sometimes you're right, sometimes you're wrong. And when you're wrong and you lose, that's the big talking point, right? Especially the day after the game.

Talking about listening to your eyes as we talk to Herm Edwards, long-time coach, former NFL player, now an analyst. I got to ask you, Herm, based on your eyes, fourth and one from the New England 14 in the second quarter, you can get a chip shot and go up by two scores, they decide to go for it. What would you have done in that situation? And obviously, they didn't score again in that game. Well, the momentum of the game tells me at that point I'm going to rely, and I learn this being a coach when you get in that situation,

fourth and one, the first thing I'm doing is I'm going to go for it, but I'm going to run the ball. I'm going to put it on the big fellas. You know, it's almost one of those deals when you get in situations like that. And I'm not saying whatever he decided was wrong, but I do know this. The big guys that really determine the game, offensively and defensively, the guys that put their hands in the dirt, when you're a coach and a fourth and one and you throw a pass,

you've got to deal with those big guys when it don't work now. That's looking at the same coach. You mean to tell me that you don't think we can knock these guys off the ball for a yard? I learned that as a head coach with the Jets. Kevin my wife can remember Kevin Wye. Coach, when it's fourth and one, if you decide to go, coach, it got to be a run. I had Curtis Martin. I said, you're exactly right.

And I didn't care if the other team knew it. We're going for it. We're running the ball. We're going to throw a pass. We're going to run the ball. And, coach, I think what stands out to me in that decision is not only doesn't motivate your players, at least how I see it, is that you can know it's coming. But then it's still the other team's job to try to stop it.

Correct. And I think if you stress that you're a tough football team, that's toughness on either side of the ball. Now, defensively, you know what? You're a tough team. Stop them. This is why you do those drills at the end of practice. You say, the ball's on the three-yard line, and we're going to run the ball. Stop us, defense.

And the offense says he ain't stopping us. And that's why you do all those drills. I mean, that's what all that off-season training and all those drills are about. You know, and the team huddles around and everybody's watching. And they go, okay. Let's see who can move the line of scrimmage. You got two weeks to figure this out before the Super Bowl. Super Bowl 60 takes place. Coach, I'm very curious.

Who do you like in this game and why? Well, I think I like Seattle in this stance. I'm a defensive-minded guy. I just like the way they play defense. They can rush the quarterback. They can cover the wide receivers. And they've got some talented players of their own. I think it's a great story for Sam Darnel,

not taking anything away from anyone else, obviously. But I just, I like their story. It's a nice story to have. And if they win, can you imagine the platform Sam Darnel will be put on? I think that's a platform where a lot of people can look and say, you know what, this is what tenacity, this is what betting on yourself can do when you have the ability to do that. And so that's why I like that story, obviously.

And New England, obviously, is the story of their coach Grable coming in and taking a team that no one anticipated those guys to even be here, no less win as many games as they did during the season. And now they find theirself in the Super Bowl with a young quarterback that, as I said before, basically ran him into the Super Bowl. He didn't pass him into the Super Bowl. He used his legs and just ran him into the Super Bowl. he had more rushing yards than anybody on the field. Yeah, the yards were at a premium in that game, that's for sure, Herm. We were talking to Herm Edwards, the ESPN analyst, and of course the longtime NFL and college head coach here,

Rahimi Harrison Grotie on 670 the score. And you've mentioned Sam Darnold a couple times. Of course, we're drawn to him because not only was his time in the division in the NFC North when he was with the Viking so pivotal, but also just the redemption that he's had. And to do it twice, you know, know, to come into Minnesota and have the year he had with Kevin O'Connell and then to not get paid by Minnesota, even though he could have earned a lot of money, then to do it again in Seattle.

You know, what stands out about what he's done, even to you as a former head coach, he's seen so many things, about how he's been able to succeed once and then again like this. He has great character, and you could hear that from his teammates when he had some bad games. when you know like look Sam Donald still has he still has a problem turn the ball over he did it this year

he did it he did it in big games and you know when you have a defense like they have that's what see that's what people don't realize something about when you play good defense defense

is like when you're playing socially with your buddies playing golf and you hit one out of bounds and everybody says you get a mulligan that's what defense does for you when you turn the ball over they say don't worry about

it, we'll stop them, they won't get any points. That's what good defense does. Because when you don't have a good defense, you turn the ball over, people score points. The defense gives the quarterback a mulligan. It gives all those offensive players a mulligan. You fumble the ball, you throw in reception, something bad happens. We always used to say on defense, when that happens, put the fire out, boys, go put the fire out, and stop them.

And so when you're able to do that, that motivates you. You know, and it motivates the defense. And when you think about this defense, those defensive players talk about him when you turned the ball over a couple times. And they said, hey, he saw a quarterback. We're going to ride with him. And they've ridden all the way to the Super Bowl. Can't wait to see what happens in that particular contest. Herm, I've got to ask you about your former occupation as a head coach.

This coaching carousel is something that we have never seen the likes of. When you talk about the number of legendary and winning coaches who have stepped aside, been fired, however you want to put it, what is your take on where we are with how coaching works in the NFL? Are these coaches being given enough time? Has the industry changed that much since you were an NFL head coach? I think the owners look at it different now when you see some of these coaches like Grable all of a sudden. He takes a program first year and gives him to Super Bowl. Well, your owner, you go, well, he did it. Why can't my coach do that? That's the problem. That's the problem. People just think it's simple. That's the problem. They go, well, that guy got in the

playoffs this first year. Why can't we go? Okay. So they get another coach. That's what they do. You know, and beside the coaching, I mean, you think about coaches with nine coaches will let go. That's 200 jobs. Because they have assisted coaches, too. There's about 20 on the staff. That's about 200 jobs. There's 200 NFL jobs out there. Now, they'd feel some of the positions. But at that one point, there was 200 jobs. I mean, I sat there and went, I looked at my wife, I said, that's 200 jobs. She looked at him as well as well. I said, you know, all the assistant coaches, they go with these guys.

But that's the occupation. You know what? You signed on to do it. You just, you know, you hope that you can win enough and stay in a place. And if not, you know, you never unpack your suitcase fully when you're a coach. You know, it's half unpacked. One of the interesting things that's already happened, Diana is senior reporting that Bears' offensive coordinator,

Declan Doyle, has withdrawn. his name from consideration for the Eagles' offensive coordinator vacancy. Now, this is interesting because he's not the first guy to be in the running for a job and pull back and says, I'm just going to go back to where I was. We've seen that with former head coaches, whether it's Mike McDaniel, down in with the Dolphins, who's now looking to be the Chargers offensive coordinator as opposed to being a potential head coach in other spots. What do you make of the timing of this all here in Chicago?

We know Ben Johnson was the Detroit Lions offensive coordinator and said, I'll run it back and then, of course, waited for this job to become open. Well, I think when you're a good coordinator, you just bet on yourself, knowing that there's always going to be jobs available. That's the NFL. Kidding me? There's always going to be jobs. We know that.

Historically, I've been in the league what coaching and playing 30 plus years. That doesn't change. It's always going to be a job. And that's coach is knowing, you know what, I'm going to bet on myself. I'm going to be fine. I like my team. I like this situation. I think we can get further in the playoffs.

I'm going to continue to be a good coach and I'm going to get a job. And that's, they're betting on yourself. Nothing wrong with that. We're talking to Herm Edwards, the longtime NFL coach, the ESPN analyst, kind enough to join us on Rahimi Harrison Grotie on 670 to score. And it's funny, coach, because you bring up the timeline that we've seen the Patriots and Mike Vrable have. but then he's beating a team coached by Sean Payton, who unfortunately lost Bo Nix due to a broken bone in his ankle in that last game,

which was an incredible game in and of itself. Coming down to luck, but I think to even do what Sean Payton has done, a guy known for his offensive mind, got far and away one of the best defenses in the league, too. You know, what do you make of just the timeline you're talking about when it comes to Peyton coming back to the Broncos? And then what that team did this past year? Oh, they were fabulous, you know, to get them to that, that. position, obviously, and then competitive enough to play with a quarterback that he chose instead of him. And I think he showed everyone why he chose the guy because Stittam, I mean,

he didn't lose the game. I mean, basically, they got beat by a quarterback that ran the ball for 68 yards. If you look at the game, I mean, the quarterback didn't throw it to beat him. He just kept running up the middle when it was voided. He went back to throw. He had no intention to go half the time. He just took off and he ran. He made first downs. That was a game that, you know, it wasn't a high, it wasn't going to be a high scoring game. You knew that as soon as his weather change, you're going to, here we go, boys. This is, this is field position. This is kicking game. This is protect the ball. Don't turn the ball over. The first one that blinks is going to lose. And he just, he made some runs on the defense that put him in position to, you know, and the big fumble, obviously, we stood him at. You know, that. But other than that, it was a game of Chit's field position and, you know, who's going to make a player or two. And the quarterback basically made the plays for him. He ran. Herm, what do you think about the Bears season this past year and their potential for next year?

fabulous. I think it, I think hopefully all the naysayers about who their quarterback was last year, obviously have to be quiet right now. Because I can remember all the noise that was coming out of Chicago. when Caleb Williams, his rookie season came in there with Jaden Daniels, and Jaden Daniels had a phenomenal year, and everyone was saying, well, we picked the wrong guy. Well, not so fast. I think this year that noise got quieted. I think coaching matters.

Ben Johnson came in there and established an offense, put him under center, said, this is what you're going to do. He took heed to that. He's a talented guy. I can remember playing against him when I had Jaden. at Arizona State when we used to play us. I saw him in college. I said, this dude, boy, he's really good.

And then this year, he just showed off. If you're a bear fan, just think about it. You can go to bed every night on their office and say, we got a quarterback for the next decade. We got a quarterback. And they're going to get better. A team's going to get better. There's no doubt about that.

We just threw up our hands in elation here in the studio, Coach. That was good news for us. And I feel like Marshall has been saying almost the exact same phrasing. Yeah, for the next decade. They got their franchise quarterback, right, Irm? They do. And I think at the end of the day, look, it's just good for football. When you got a quarterback, no matter what town you're in, what team you've root for, you've got a chance.

It gives you a chance. It just like people used to always get mad at Green Bay because they always had a quarterback. Oh, Green Bay always got the quarterback. We got to get a quarterback. Well, you got a quarterback. Green Bay has a quarterback. Detroit has a quarterback. All of a sudden, you know, Minnesota,

hopefully that young kid gets, well, they got a quarterback. And so that's going to be a very, very interesting conference all of a sudden. Herm, Edwards, this has been a lot of fun. As usual, we love talking football with you. Thank you for joining us. Thank you, coach. Thank you for having. That is Herm Edwards, the longtime NFL,

and yes, college and Pac-12 coach, talking to us about not just the Bears, but the AFC and NITFC title games and a lot more. I would have loved to play any sport for Herm Radhors. I just don't point that out. Well, and the way he, you can tell, man, like Sam Dernal, just believing in people. That's what they do. That's what coaches do.

Coming up next year on Rahimi Harrison Grotie on 670, the score, I want to remind you again that if you missed our first hour, we had a lot of calls, and Mitch Rosen came in to talk about Terry Boers. We are having a celebration of life to honor his tomorrow, starting at noon, goes until 7 o'clock. Matt Spiegel is hosting. So we want to bring back some classic audio for you coming up in our halftime segment. But next, there was a monumental evening that took place at the United Center on Saturday. Our takeaways in some of what we heard from Derek Rose's Jersey retirement. That's next. The Rahimi Harrison Grody Show, Middays 10 to 2 on Chicago Sports

Radio 670 the score. Tiles, Tiles, get me crunk. Tars, get me crunk. Tars, get me crunk. man. Chicago. What's up? We put my boy in a rafters. Tage is from Brooklyn. And if you needed any indication, that New York accent was strong on Saturday night.

He did a nice job as the hype, man. This is Rahimi Harrison Grotie on 670 to score. And that was former Bulltage Gibson as part of the festivities and the ceremony. The honor, Derek Rose, retiring after 16 years in the NBA, and getting his number one hung up in the rafters at the United Center on Saturday night. Not ideal weather conditions.

It was a late one, but I think the quality of the game kept people energized to get to that moment. You know why we're here, the people who made their way to the United Center. Yeah, they get the 114, 111 went over the Celtics, and that's just a precursor to what happened next, which is one of the nights that I don't think the city of Chicago is ever going to forget. No, and I'm pretty sure Kevin,

Herder after the three that he shot did the, he emulated D. Rose when he did the stone face lean back. His teammates weren't, nobody grabbed him. No, but he still did it. He still did the stone face lean back. And for that, Kevin Herder, I salute you because somebody paid attention and someone, in the words of Stacey King, got the memo. And that was Kevin Herder, nicely done on the tribute. And that's what this was. This has been, I feel like a, uh, since he announced his retirement overall, it's

It's been a year-long celebration of Derek Rose going back to the night that he was originally honored at the United Center for his career. That was 1-425. The reason it's easy to remember is those are the numbers he used to wear. There were a lot of Simeon jerseys and Simeon gear in the crowd at the United Center. And that's where this sits with me. The Bulls retiring Derek Rose is number one. Isn't just about his time with the Bulls. It was about what he meant to the city of Chicago.

And the Bulls bear Chicago's name. They play in this city. So for him to be honored in that way, this is a, if you respect his career and you understand what he meant to this city and how he brought his play to Chicago in his professional career, that's a moment that deserves not just to be honored, but to be respected for the entirety of what he has done. To even be drafted by the Bulls was.

somewhat of a miracle. Depends on if you believe in the frozen envelope theory. But that's kind of the point. Are you a conspiracy theorist? I'm an NBA conspiracy theorist, but that one isn't as big for me as some others. I do think, though, that this is a celebration of his basketball career, what he meant to the city. You know, when you hear guys like Anthony Davis call Chicago basketball mecca, what that means to them, to be able to honor the career that represents Chicago.

like Derek Rose has. That's what made this, I think, extra special. The fact that he was only a bull for eight years and roughly half his time, and of course, he's the rookie of the year. He's a multiple-time all-star. He's ultimately the MVP and did it younger than anyone has done in the history of the NBA.

And I had a lot of people asking me, because, like, I do social videos and everything else. And, like, well, you know, he didn't win anything. I was like, he won that MVP, did he not? He was, are we going to really make a list of all of the talent in the NBA who played during the time of LeBron James in his peak? LeBron's in town tonight, by the way. We don't necessarily know if this is his last time in town. That's the segment we're doing later in our show.

But this, it doesn't have to necessarily do with what his team won. Yes, he was the league's youngest MVP, and that's a good point. And Jordan, however, are we going to discredit every number that's been retired by another team during the time of Michael Jordan? Scotty Pippin did the intro. Michael Jordan actually had a message of congratulations, which is rare for Michael to even speak about these things. For this city and for his former team, he did the message for the Ring of Honor. It's good to see him on that videotron, right? Like to see his face represented at United Center, like recently as opposed to just the statue that sits,

in the atrium. Well, I mean, I joke that we're going to see the Pope before we see Michael Jordan at a Bears game. Let's listen to MJ's message since we've got it. Derek, congratulations on the retirement of New Jersey. Very happy for you. You had an unbelievable career. You really represented the city of Chicago,

Chicago Bulls, your family, and yourself very, very well. So I'm very proud of you. Very happy for your special night. Looking forward to coming to the United Center and see you. Jersey hanging up there with my jersey. Congratulations and enjoy you. It's about what he represented,

starting in high school for Chicago basketball. I don't know why that's so hard for people to understand, but then again, I don't think it's about understanding for them. It's about sticking to one topic and purposefully discrediting the others. That happens every day. But Derek Rose had every reason to have that night, and I loved what his mom's,

said in the video to begin with too. And she was understandably emotional. But when she said, you gave the NBA 16 years, it's time for you to rest. Listen, he gave those pre-injury years in such a way, in such a, I guess violent manner is the best way to describe his physical activity, if you will. He left it all on the court. The motor, the everything. I mean, my favorite part of his speech, by the way, he went 20 plus minutes,

22 minutes, I believe in total, is him talking about Tibbs who was there. And he was like, yeah, you know physics. I showed you physics. Yeah, that was good. And I was really impressed with just how he handled the moment, you know, it was emotional. It was authentic. And it really let you into like what he was feeling I felt like in the moment.

Remember, this is a guy who had actually seen the banner the day before. And he got emotional even talking about it before the actual ceremony. And still, when it was time, when the horn went final on the Celtics game, and it was time for him to do his thing, he and his former teammates, I think Casey Johnson said 25 of them showed up. That's a lot of love. Yeah, the picture of all of them together on the court took up two tiles on Instagram. They had to spread it out over two posts, so that way it looks coherent on the grid.

And that's how many people were there. And we did hear special names, as I mentioned. You know, Scotty Pippen was part of the intro. Michael Jordan had a message of congratulations. Tom Thibito was in a suit. He was in a suit and he was at the ceremony. Luw Aldang spoke and Derek Rose's family. And that was my biggest takeaway was hearing him speak to his brother in a way that I don't think

gets platformed enough. Everybody in this pick, Redd, love the way that you're protecting me, love the way that you took me everywhere, bro. Love the way you sacrifice being on the road, New Orleans days, being there talking, me

being afraid, and you being there, I appreciate you for that. They don't go and know this. Greedy. You always be in there. ESCO get killed. You go and go into the streets.

You come home and you tell me, stay away from the streets while you're doing nefarious things. Why are you being a rough one? You're telling me and stay away from it while you're doing it. I appreciate that. That's something that I

never look over because I could have been used when Stefan died. I wasn't able to go there's filming. I could have being mad when my told me I couldn't go. She said that she was going to represent us and that made me feel like I had a chance and not could separate

myself and be different than the path that you went down because of that. So thank you, Mom. My big bro my big bro that people don't talk about. I got the best big brother in the world.

In the world. My big bro don't cheat. My big bro was where his family the whole life. My big brother, whenever I needed something, he was there. My big brother, if Mama needed something, he was there. My big brother, if Mama needs something right now, he's there. My, blame. You set the example, bro, as being the big brother, man. That's something as a husband. Now, that's something I thrive to be like you, bro. So thank you. I appreciate that. I had already had tears the day before after learning about the news about Terry.

but to anybody who has a sibling to have to say that in front of so many people at the United Center and the way he did and his his brother was visibly moved and had every right to be but that was about in that moment that was about him and his family and I just thought it was you don't get to hear that like spoken like that in a place like that very often it was moving I found it to be highly appropriate that on a night in which a man whose last name is rose was set to get his flowers, he ended up giving out some bouquets with his time on the mic. And that's when it became clear how he got here, you know? Like how this rose was able to grow in such a manner through some thorny times, it sounds like.

The way he framed it, pictured it, getting to not only becoming a national star, Semyon, Memphis, and then, of course, back home with the Bulls. It's a fairy tale. You know, and when he said, take a teammate with you, and what that meant to his team,

what it meant to his teammates, you don't think the family inspired that first? And when you hear that, and his kids were crying. that brought tears to my eyes too. It felt like a whole lot of people were crying watching that. Absolutely. And I want to listen to Lualding,

and I know we're up against it timewise here. But this is why I think it's important to celebrate. It's not just about the record. Listen to Luwolding and how he spoke about Derek Rose. I know your name is D. Rose and we carry the rose. But the sign was always there from God that you're going to rise from this. city for this city see what you did to accomplish this right took minutes it took

hours it took days it took weeks it took months years but this thing this thing is forever man this thing right here when people talk when people talk about all the minutes, all the injuries, everything we went through, that's our trophy. It's our trophy, man. I'm so thankful, not because of basketball. A kid from Africa from South Sudan. I'm just so thankful that I'm a part of this city. I'm so thankful that I'm a part of this legacy because of you, because of you. Never forget us, man. I love you, boy. Coming up next, it's halftime. We're going to decided. We got to bring back some old fun score audio for you. So again, thank you to Luall Dang. Congratulations to Derek Rose. And to those who appreciate it, not everybody has to

understand. What time is it? This is halftime here on Rahimi Harris and Grotie on 670 the score. Mitch Rosen was on with us at 10 o'clock and announced that tomorrow we are honoring Terry by having a Celebration of Life from noon until 7. Matt Spiegel is hosting and score personalities from past score shows are going to be on. Did you see what I said there? That doesn't even make any sense. Point being, you should listen. And thank you to everybody who called in to remember him as well. We wanted to keep it going. This is a clip from the day Terry Boers announced that after 25 years, He was retiring here at 670 the score. I'm going to keep this fairly simple, and I want to emphasize that this decision was made a long time ago.

Decision was actually made before my illness, which has certainly hastened in some ways a decision. It's made it a very, very difficult year for me. And any time I have to be away from as much work as I've been from, as I've had to do this year, it makes me sad. makes me feel bad. It has done so since mid-June, and I still feel the same way today, and a lot of us swirls around work, and you're probably saying,

what's wrong with you? Well, I don't know. But anyway, I want to emphasize that the way this year is gone for me, which is horribly, has nothing to do with this decision, which is a decision to retire, which will happen at the end of this year.

My last show will be January 5th. So I do this, wanting you to understand, it's been a very difficult year and it wasn't a difficult decision to make, but I want you to understand that I'm not being driven from the business. I'm not being as disappointing as all this has been to me because I'm a guy who's worked for 50 years, and I would have happily worked the last six months of this as well every damn day. It hasn't turned out that way, and I don't know that it ever will again.

I mean, I couldn't, even if I wanted to say myself, well, hold off a while. I can't because I don't know what the future holds. I really don't. And I know that if I retire, which I was going to do, I wanted to make it 25 years. You wonder what, 25 years started on January 2nd, 1991 at the score, or 1992, and this would be 25 years on January 2nd of this year. I wanted to make it to 25 years. And you say, what's wrong?

I don't know why. I just did. it'd be 20 years of writing for a living and 25 years of doing this for a living and I can promise you that these last 25 years have been a hell of a lot better than the first 20 and it's meant the world to me and it continues to do so it continues to do so even as I faced the last stages of it so um you know I I do it what column experiences are better than I can probably at this point but in now you're doing fine I think there's a um reach a breaking point and I had I'd reach a breaking point and I'd reach it a while ago, just in general. And then when this other breaking point hit me, as hard as it hit me, I had a lot of time to reflect, a lot of time to think about it, because nothing was ever announced, nothing was ever said publicly or anything about it. So I could have changed my mind at any point.

And I don't think at this point I can rely on it. I can't do it. I can't possibly face this again because missing what I missed this year, including the Cubs, although I was there for a week, wasn't I, the World Series opener? I just it was tough on me in every way possible, not only physically but mentally. And I hate to be away. I just hate to miss what we missed, what I missed. And I thank Dan and everybody who filled in.

But I don't ever want to face that again. So we will gradually, I have plenty to do in this last month or so here. I have doctor appointments and everything else that continues to go on. It will go on for a while. And I will continue to miss it. some time, but I'm not on, not like I did last time. I will be here most days. At least I will try because you never know what's going to happen. You never know what's going to bring, and especially with this thing, you can never predict. You just don't know how you're going to feel from one day

the next. You don't know how you're going to feel from one minute to the next. So all of that combined with what I knew before this that I wanted to make it to 25 years. I'm going to make it 25 years, damn it. That much I've done. I don't know about what else I can do at this point, but January 5th, I promise you, will be a last show and a very special one. For me, anyway, I don't know if I'll be for others, but we're sort of planning it right now, and it's getting done. And I think everybody here, who's been so patient with me over all these years, and particularly this year, and Dan in particular, for putting up with what I know is difficult to do. Stop it. And Matt and Chris and everybody else, Mitch.

I mean, you really start to find out who your real friends are. And believe me, I found out the hard way. I should have known. I should have known all along. But anyway, so I bow out. And I don't know what's going to happen here. I don't know if you do. I don't know what's going to happen.

We'll see. But whatever it is, it'll be fine because Dan is great at what he does. But I will be here as much as I possibly can. And I don't see anything standing on my way if I'm surviving the way I feel these days is, you know, better than I did the first time around when I came back probably too early. But I'm going to try Lawrence to hang in there as long as I can. And I'm really looking forward to the last show because I think it's going to touch home with a lot of people who've listened to this station forever. That was in 2017.

That was Terry's retirement show. And he did make it to 25 years. And he would join the score intermittently when he could, like for the 30th anniversary special. That was the party we had a real-time sports. and he would appear on this show very often with Dan Bernstein. And even there, you can tell he was more humble than he should have ever been. And just, again, this has been such an emotional time for all of us here at the score. And you hear it even in him announcing his retirement because just getting through that,

you could tell how much this meant to him. you heard about his goal of 25 years and now with his passing Terry Boers I mean just the outpouring that we've received since we've been on the air today for less than two hours and in true score fashion I don't think we I don't think it should all be us being sad

we've had some requests for some classic audio we had to narrow it down because we didn't have a lot of time in our halftime segment So without further ado From the Chicago Wolf's Update Studio, I'm Chris Ranji. In regard to the Bears' offensive line, something has to change.

And coordinator Mike Tice knows that, but says the changing personnel really is not an option. We have other guys on the roster, other guy on the roster. It's not like at this point of the season, you could take a James Brown, who I'm very high on. Of course, I know.

All the players, just it works with her. And say, okay, you're the guy now. Yeah, you. I did not see that coming at all. That was great. You can hear Dan and Terry in the background laughing. Nice work out of Jason Goff on the ones and twos there. Timing is everything, right?

Oh, that's a legendary one. There's a lot of classic audio that will be playing. I know we had a request for Mike in Milwaukee, but unfortunately the only cut that we found was eight minutes long, so we can't do that right now. And a good two and a half minutes was Mike trying to orient himself to time and space, I'm pretty sure. But there will be a celebration of a lot of the fun times as well.

That is coming up, if you miss the news, 12 to 7 tomorrow. That's right, 12 to 7 honoring an original Terry Boar's Celebration of Life, which will include former co-workers as well as current and former score personalities. The show will be hosted by Matt Spiegel. It is a true celebration of Terry's life. That's tomorrow starting at noon on The Score and the Odyssey app. Our five on its segment on Rahimi Harrison Grotie is next.