Rahimi, Harris & Grote Show - Interviews of the Week on 670 The Score: Jan. 19-23

Episode Date: January 24, 2026

In Interviews of the Week on 670 The Score, Bulls legend Derrick Rose joined the Mully & Haugh Show to reflect on his career ahead of the organization being set to retire his No. 1 jersey Saturday night at the United Center; Arlington Heights mayor Jim Tinaglia joined the Mully & Haugh Show to discuss the Bears' pursuit of a new stadium to and to share why he believes it's in the best interest of "everybody" for the organization to play in his village; and FS1 host Danny Parkins joined the Rahimi, Harris & Grote Show to reflect on the Bears' successful 2025 season.

Derek Rose time. With the first kick in the 2008 NBA draft, the Chicago Bulls select Derek Rose from the University of Memphis. I'm a Hoover, man. We can't. Roe! I'm good for the. Gun leaving. Looking.

Finds Rose. Rose trying to get open. Fires away. I know I'm great. You are the youngest MVP in NBA history. It is my pleasure to award to you the Kia NBA 2010-11 MVP trophy. Even this weekend, next year, when we retire your number in that Raptors, it's going to be more about you than the fan. Mully and Haw, delighted to welcome in Derek Rose himself.

He joins us on the Plummer's 911 hotline, plumbing emergency, cold one. 1833 Plum 911. Local 130 plumbers get the job done right the first time. We love the local guys made good. And think of the list. Maybe one of the men atop it is here with us now, Derek Rose. Derek, how are you this morning? Hey, what's up, guys? Thanks for having them. I'm doing pretty good. Well, you know, we're excited for you because that's got to be a thrill knowing that your jersey is going to be up in the rafters. and everyone's going to be able to look up and see your name on the back of it. What does it mean to you to get your jersey retired?

You know, it's surreal. Still, London, it's surreal, but at the same time, knowing that I put in the work and listen to the OGs, all the teammates, my old coaches, everybody that gave me knowledge. I made a way to implement that into my game, and I took advantage of it. So thank you. It's for all of us. So you found out a year ago, and we remember the surprise at the time, and you were moved emotionally. So you've had about a year to process all of those emotions, and frankly, to put your own career in perspective, we have seen you grow up in Chicago, and everyone has appreciated the journey.

But as you put that into perspective, how would you articulate what you have accomplished and what this represents? I think whenever I look at a player that did like retire or got their jerseys in the Rathters or even won championships, they feel like they gave they all and people respected that and I feel like it's very similar to this where we didn't win a championship. But man, I have no regrets. I feel like I get my all. I feel like I squeezed or maxed out on my body when I was on the court. And I did all I could do.

You know, I'm just curious, Derek. In retrospect now, as you look back on your career, famously, there was all these guys gathering together. We know what happened in Miami. And people were like, Derek needs to recruit someone to come to Chicago. We need another star. And it was almost like you were blamed for not recruiting. Did you consider that part of your job?

or did you laugh at that idea? I kind of laughed at it, but in a way, maybe it was towards the end of my career with the Bulls, but I feel like I adapted or I made an attempt. I forgot what the attempt was, but I did recruit the way, not like how everybody else was at the time, but I felt like I was cool with my guys

and showing loyalty to my teammates. If they would have heard me each year say that we needed somebody different, who was going to mess with me the team or like it was a fake relationship and that's something I never wanted with my teammates and that's why we're like family to this day outside of basketball. Youngest MVP ever, we saw what you accomplished on the court and with those Bulls teams you're referencing and then you came back and your second act was impressive because it was you had the longevity and I think a lot of people might have been surprised Derek now that you have got your

Jersey retired, and you just look ahead. Is the Basketball Hall of Fame a goal of yours? Can you look at it that way? And do you think that your career was Hall of Fame worthy? I think it was, but once again, it's not up to me to the side that it's up to the committee. And, yeah, it's up to them to the side. But I would love to be in the Hall of Fame. Who wouldn't want to be in the Hall of Fame?

And like I said, I'm not doing it for me, or I didn't. play this way solely for me. It's the Chicago way of playing. Like, that's the way that I play. That's the way that every time I step on the floor, I always try to show a Chicago toughness or Chicago aggressiveness in some fashion.

And for that, not to be in a Hall of Fame. It will hurt in the way, but at the same time, this moment right here is kind of like my Hall of Fame if I don't get in. You know, Derek, I'm old enough to have covered and seen games with Benji Wilson playing when he was a junior in high school.

So that ages me. He was, you know, it's one of the great tragic stories in the history of this town. But he became, you know, immortalized through Simeon basketball, everyone wearing number 25, that kind of thing. When you think about what a jersey represents and no one else wearing that. number what it represents does does your mind go to benji do you ever you know kind of think about on a smaller scale what happened at simeon where everyone then wore that jersey to keep it alive did we lose derrick hold on a second we connect with there we got him we got him back hey there sorry i i uh i was just asking you about the meaning of a jersey yeah what about it

I was saying I'm old enough to have watched Benji Wilson, and we saw how that jersey was kind of immortalized at the program at Zimian, which you were obviously a big part of. And I'm wondering if that ever passed through your head when you think about what's happened here with you and your jersey. You know, it's crazy. I didn't think about that or think about the parallels to it. It's kind of crazy been in this position.

I still didn't even think about my speech yet. I'm still formally all that right now. Like, it's been so much, man. I know I'm going to kill it, but it's been so much that I'm taking in each day. We just dropped a flower business for my family, so it's been a lot going on. You are very busy, and you seem to be everywhere. You've got the Rose's flower shop. I love the commercials.

You've got also, I saw yesterday over at the United Center working at CHSN, you've got a Derek Rose collection, 20 items, including a hoodie, a Letterman Jack, get several shirts all going to be available starting January 24th at the United Center. You've got other global businesses involved. How would you describe Derek Rose, the businessman, and how he's different than Derek Rose, the point guard? I mean, I'm busy.

I mean, as a point guard, it's totally different. In this lifestyle, it's no, hitting steel or being stagnant because I'm always moving with basketball course. You go taking that before the game. You can do other things Which is for the game But here, it's worked all the time Being a business,

adapting, minding and how to convey myself In these meetings, listening for the most part, and asking the right questions, you know, so with this flower business, this something that we've been thinking about

for, I think, a year and a half right now, and we just implemented it. We only got a brick and mortar right now, but it's all online. And the reasons why we thought about it was our, I thought about it with my business partners was that having a family business, your family can have a safe haven and go work.

And like the three pillars that we're working on right now is the growth being authentic and the legacy part. With those three, we should be able to build something special. That's great, Derek. I'm curious when you think about people getting their jersey retired, who's next? Who from the Bulls deserves that honor in your opinion? that's a great question to be totally honest with you

I don't know I was surprised that I was up next I was completely honest with you I thought no championship no no rapist no banner no nothing so for me to go up there I can only imagine who's next

you know as you get older Derek now you're in the role of being a sports parent and watching your son play PJ basketball. Just wonder what that experience is like for you and how are you at those games? Are you one of the, stay in the background, kind of quiet dad, are you the one giving directions? You know, it's a beautiful experience. Each moment I have with him or every chance I get to see him play. It seems like he's always progressing in the right direction, knows the game,

plays the game the right way, kind of tall for his age, so he's playing a four and five right now. but a big point guard, but at the same time he knows the game. And then he listens, so that's half the battle right there. And it is, it's half a battle. And what was the other part of the question you got? Just how that is to see your son playing basketball in front of you and probably all the things going through your head and also respecting and appreciating maybe the pressure he feels

in being Derek Rhodes's son playing hoops? Oh, yeah. I mean, it's no pressure for him. I think when he plays because he chose the sport three or four years ago before we really started taking it serious. I asked him what did he want to do, and he said he wanted to hoot. And I told him, we talked about everything that comes along with it, and he still agreed that he wanted to hoot.

So it's my job to make sure that he's obsessed with it. I just love it, but find a way to be obsessed so that I know you've been hearing me for these few days I've been talking about the three tiers of being obsessed. loving it, then you fall off of not caring. So right now, he loves it, but we got to give him to be obsessed so that when he do go through adversity or whatever it is, he fall off to the second period, and that's just loving it. Derek, I wonder what you think of the current Bulls.

I mean, we got a couple of local guys. It's an interesting team, but the Bulls are kind of stuck in this middling. You know, I don't know why, but it's sort of play. fever every year. They have the same first half, the same second half, and they've got to play Miami when you get some play-ins. It's

repeat and rinse and wash and keep going. It's crazy. Yeah, I haven't watched the whole game, but for what I've seen and what I've seen so far is that, like, there's no knuckle for, like, the guys on the team, and I'm not trying to say this in a crass way, but

you need, like, a start. You need a superstar to come change certain things. I don't know where you get that. I don't know if you drive for that. I don't know if you trade for that. But whenever you have a team like this and it's like they're stagnant and like they're trying to figure out who is going to take the lead and they're trying to find an identity,

normally a star fixes, fix those problems. How are your knees feeling? Maybe. Derek, back to what you're doing now. really touching last week I believe that you you really fulfilled the dreams and did something for a young man Delvin McGee a teenager from Simeon that you brought to the practice facility he's dealing with stage two lymphoma take us back to that day how you got involved with the family and what that meant to you you know shout out

the 10th flowers his the kid with the Simeon and the story is even deeper I actually played against the boy, the album, I played against his uncle when we were younger. I lived on 72nd. His uncle and lived on 64, 66 in Damon. And we were like the two best players

growing up. He was a husky, big kid. And of course, I'm a small, skinny guard, but when we were like in 6 or 7 grade, we played a little bit together, then he broke off and did his own thing. But when I met him, I didn't know that his uncle passed.

So, like, I met the kid, then they told me who his uncle was, and how close we lived to one another, and they told me about the situation, and how he was traveling with the team. Everything just came full circle, and I was just happy that Simeon was a part of it, and they, like, made me a part of it, so it was cool. Hey, Derek, thanks a ton. Great catching up with you. I hope we can talk to you again soon. Really appreciate your time. Enjoy Saturday night. Man, thanks for having me. Thanks for having me, guys. All right, that is Derek Rose, man. That's Chicago history. That's an amazing story, local kid. Great accomplishment.

We're delighted to introduce the man himself. He is the mayor of Arlington Heights. Jim Sinalia is here with us right now. Mr. Mayor, I always wanted to say Mr. Mayor. I feel like I can be like Walter Jacobson. Is that right, Mr. Mayor? Yes. Welcome to the program. Thanks so much for coming in. We appreciate it. Thanks for being here. Molly, thank you very much for having me here. This is going to be quite a pleasure. Well, let's get into it a little bit.

Sure. Because, you know, we understand, at least it is my understanding, that the hold-up on this project in Arlington Heights has been for quite some time the bear's desire to get some sort of understanding about the tax issue that they will face moving forward once the stadium is built. And there has been hesitation on the part of the legislature and the part of the governor to get the so-called the mega project bill through, which would then allow you to have a conversation with the bears so you guys could figure out this long-term issue. That is exactly it, correct, all the way through. People have said

many different things like the we're not willing to help them build the stadium, sponsor the stadium, pay for the stadium, own the stadium, that's never been a part of the equation. The issue is exactly as you explained it, Mully, they, the bears, are just looking for some certainty on what the yearly tax bill will be. That's it in a nutshell. And it is, by some people's estimation or measure, an exorbitant fee, which is up to as many as 12 to 15 times higher than comparable tax bills for stadium projects in other municipalities in other cities and other states.

Downtown. How would you describe why that disparity exists and why there seems to be such a difference in tax certainty that the bears can't achieve whether other franchises have been able to? Well, it's interesting. I can tell you that the next closest, highest paid. newest stadium being so-fi in California is $8.8 million a year. And that's a, you know, a stadium that is going to be, I would say our new stadium will be very similar in many ways. It's going to be Super Bowl ready. It's going to be final four ready. It's going to be in a

situation where people can go and enjoy it for a long, long time. But the property tax bill that the bears are fearing, it could be very easily. by calculations that we're already seeing in the hundreds of millions per year. And so the only issue I could say with real certainty is that the bears need to have some control or understanding of what that number will be. And so far it's been really difficult to get to. But it's possible, Molly, it's possible that maybe the needle is moving just a little bit. Well, I mean, I got to ask because this needle looked like it was locked in, and then all of a sudden this thing in Indiana comes up, and all of a sudden Indiana is talking about building the stadium for the bears.

Now, they wouldn't own it, and that seems like a big part of what would be the holdup at least if I were in charge of anything. you can't be, you can't have your own Jerry World unless you're, you're owning not only the cowboys but your own stadium. If the Bears want value for their franchise, it will be raised significantly by owning and being able to build your own stadium. Now, apparently the Indiana idea is a rent-to-own type of thing. But again, that's putting off when you would own the state. you're also putting off when you would have to pay any tax because you are not the owner of the property. So you wouldn't be hit with the property tax. Having said that, do you think that that threat has changed the rhetoric within the state,

particularly from the governor? It seems like it's softened it. Well, I would bet it has. I would bet that that's a real concern. It's a concern. It should be a concern for everyone. You know, the big difference between Soldier Field as it is and what the Bears are hoping to do is this is a privately owned opportunity, as you just explained, right? Whereas Soldier Field is a publicly owned facility.

It pays zero taxes to Cook County and all the schools and so on. Guaranteed rate or rate field. Same thing. These are properties that no one is benefiting from outside of the individual municipal. holder. Arlington Heights will be privately owned and they're going to pay. The bears have said it to me and to everyone else that they talk to. They want to pay a fair amount of tax.

They want to be in the game. They want to do what's right. And I take them at their word. I know Kevin and George well enough now that these are good men in a great organization that want to do the right thing. If I'm in Indiana, if I'm the governor of Indiana, I'm doing everything I can to these guys to come. I'm building stadiums. I'm making tax

situations, you know, strong in their favor. I'm doing all that I can. And I think he's an intelligent governor and mayor in the Gary area. So I take it very seriously. And they are looking at what happened in the state of Kansas with

Kansas City Chiefs and they see a precedent that exists for an iconic franchise in a great stadium that wasn't afraid to move across state lines because of the incentive. The way I see it, there are two big hurdles that need to be cleared here politically and economically. The first is, obviously, you look at the tax certainty issue and the legislation with the mega bill, where that stands.

Can you address where that stands in terms of the state legislature and where is the opposition coming from? Are the Chicago area lawmakers typically who don't want to lose the bears to the city? And then secondly, the issue, when you talk about the, the, the, you. when you look at what the incentive is in terms of the bears leaving Chicago and having the debt at Soldier Field still unpaid, is that part of the conversation because of $500 million is a lot of money? Yeah, no, I think both of those are very important factors to weigh in on this whole dialogue, this whole discussion at the end of the day, what the decision will be. I believe, and you've got to believe in your heart of hearts, the folks in Chicago are concerned. and about, you know, losing this franchise and moving out.

But the reality behind is that we're still in Cook County. Everything that gets paid, which is zero right now, as I just explained, there's no property tax in Chicago at the stadium now. In Cook County out in Arlington nights, it is going to be paid, you know, whatever the number is that gets negotiated. And what was the second part of your question? In terms of the debt, retiring the debt at Soldier Field. I am not in at the table with all of these contractual negotiations, but from what I understand, the bears paid their half of that debt.

It is a construction loan that the Park District or whomever from the city took on half of the debt. The bears took the other half. The bears in a fairly quick manner paid their half. I'm not so sure that it was handled in the same manner on the municipal side. So that debt is going to remain. Now, the bears have always said they're going to keep paying their rent until 2033. So the third piece of that financial puzzle, you've got two halves on the construction debt from the original rebuild. And then you've got the rental agreement that they said, we're paying.

Everything we owe, we have either already paid and we will continue to pay. He's Jim Tenalia. He is the mayor of Arlington Heights, and he's kind enough to come into the studio. and help us go through this. You know, the unspoken part, and I keep wondering about how George feels, about potentially, you know, George was raised by his mother

to believe that the bears are a legacy from their grandfather, that they need to protect, and the idea of the bears leaving the state of Illinois, that would have to hit him a little bit. And whether he likes it or not, do you want to be the most?

man that led the bears to leave Illinois. I mean, that would mean you have to drop that song. You can't be the pride and joy of Indiana. It's right. And I don't know what rhymes with region. And I know you can't answer this question, but this is just me as I look at it, like all of a sudden you're art model. All of a sudden you're the guy that, you know, took moving trucks in the middle to the night to go to, I just think that's a big deal. And I thought the fact that they had a news conference yesterday and Kevin Warren resisted going forward and pushing any of this stuff. Everybody's kind of sitting back to see what happens. It feels like there is the need for a moment here where Illinois can sort of get its act

together to the point where that tax thing can be clarified to the bears as opposed to what they already have clarified from Indiana and then they can have an honest discussion. and understanding within their own group as to whether they're actually going to leave or they're moving to Arlington Heights. I think you said it really well, Molly. I wouldn't want to be in a situation if I was in the family there where the team left under my reign. And I know, I know in my heart of hearts, George is very, very enthusiastic and excited about the idea of coming to Arlington Heights. His family has wanted to come to Arlington Heights for 40 years. That's not a secret.

And when Virginia passed away, there was talk about them maybe selling the team, so on. There were people who asked that question. And if you saw his interview, he welled up. He is no way interested in harming this franchise in any way. And I appreciate that from him. Likewise, I don't think I'd want to be the governor of Illinois when and if the bears were to decide to leave the state altogether. coming to a different part of Cook County, no harm, no foul. Everybody wins.

Everybody in Illinois, everyone in Cook County wins. Going to Indiana, that's going to be something that, or would be something that I would imagine could be considered a black guy. So I know Governor Pritzker is going to work really hard to keep this, to make this happen. Well, let's be honest, and you can't speak to this necessarily, but especially with the political ramifications for somebody who has presidential election aspirations. It's one of those things that would be held against him.

You're not talking about just any ordinary business leaving state. You're talking about the Chicago Bears, an $8 billion enterprise leaving and crossing state lines. And that's why I wonder, we appreciate you coming here to explain this. We know last Friday as well there was an event in Arlington Heights to be open and explain things to people who were there in the news media, to you. to fans, to residents. Has the Indiana overture accelerated or intensified the public relations campaign surrounding this project? I'm sure it has.

I'm sure it woke up some people. You can't imagine ignoring it. That would be deftifying, I think, for the whole program. So I'm confident that, and that's why we did what we did. We talked about that and planned that arrangement for two weeks. And the day we had it on last Friday, I think it was really, really well attended. I think we had one main talking point. The whole thing was really focused on educating the residents, educating the legislators, educating everyone who was interested in this,

that this is a bears, this is not just a bears bill. This is a megastructures bill that any big enterprise can use to stay in or come to Illinois. But it's not about a handout. No one is asking for money. And I tried really hard to make that clear in all the words that I use that nobody's offering the bearers money to build their stadium. They have said they're going to do it with their own financial backers and so on. So that it's a win-win. It really is. So I'm hoping that that carries that ball. This also has been now, I don't want to say reframed, but the emphasis has been on economic development and job creation. What are the numbers associated with both those thoughts. Well, they're big. They're big. You know, there's no fence around this property.

This is 326 acres of land that they're going to use immediately maybe 100 of, you know, to build the stadium that can handle the Super Bowl and everything else with security around it. That's one of the issues, as I understand it, that is forcing them to, you know, kind of steer away from Chicago because there's not enough land in those areas to handle these requirements from the NFL and so on. What will happen to all? Ultimately, is this thing will sprawl onto the whole 326 acres. More development will happen there. And then beyond the boundaries, because there is no fence around it, you'll see more building, more construction, more activity.

And all that means is economic impact. It's an engine that once it gets started, you're going to have to work really hard to shut it down and it won't happen. Well, I mean, as someone that has spent far too much of his life at Arlington Park over the years, I was lucky enough to get a tour to see. I mean, what an unbelievable facility that was and how deep it ran. And good God, you wonder like, you must go crazy. You just blink and you think what could that be. I mean, there could be.

There's already a hotel right there from when the park was there. I don't know what, haven't been up there in a while because racing's dead. But it just, you know, it could be an entire entertainment district. There could be new housing. It could be, I mean, it is a massive undertaking that could go on for generations. And it will. It will. This is something that is not going to happen in three years.

They're saying that a stadium like this probably will take three years to build, but there's probably a 15-20-year project all in by the time the other buildings are all built there. And it will be, as you just said, this is going to be an entertainment destination complex where you can go and enjoy what happens there all day, every day, and then on games and on concert days and different events like that. imagine flying into Chicago, into O'Hare for the weekend or whatever, and you come downtown to Chicago and you go to the museums and you do all the great things on the lakefront, do all the things that everyone does anyway. And then you jump on a train. And in 35 minutes, no cars, no hassles of parking. You open the doors at Arlington Park and you're staring at this new Bears facility.

You don't have to worry about anything. and get off the train, enjoy the day, get back on the train, head back down to Chicago, and finish your weekend. Sounds great. And then get on the plane and head out on that deal. We used to go out to Santory Sundays at the track. I mean, you just jump on the train. It's right there.

You literally get off it. You're at the track. You're back on the train home. It's fabulous. Yeah. You've just been elected in the past year. Congratulations, by the way. But how far back does your bearer fandom?

go. Grow up a Bears fan. Sure. Who was your favorite player? Walter Payton, of course. I've been, I, my family moved to Arlingtonites

in my fourth grade. So that was in 1971. So I've been there all my life, basically, other than I went away to Iowa State. A lot of bad quarterbacks. Oh, my gosh. Have we not seen it for you?

You know, and I won't say they're bad. It's just that they haven't been as good as somebody on the north side. Oh, boy. We've been having our challenges, but my, my, my, do we have something going on now? Ben Johnson and Caleb and everyone else. It's so exciting. It's so exciting.

We're all bare fans now for all good reasons, and it's fabulous. Great stuff. Jim, thank you so much for coming in. We appreciate getting a chance to chat with you. I hope you won't mind that we're going to call you all the time now. Thanks for being here. I'm glad to be here, guys. I'll join you anytime.

I can do Stephen A's job, guys. It's not that far. Denny Parkins. QB1 party! All are invited. Host of Fox Sports Wans, first thing first. It's a heartbreaking ending to the most enjoyable Bears season of my life. I'm born in 86, so I'm not there for 85.

They went to the Super Bowl in 06, NFC championship game in 2010, but in terms of you have the coach, you have the quarterback, and they're going to be there for a decade. This was so unbelievably exciting. The Bears, plenty of reason to doubt them. Caleb Williams, No. Former host of 670 The Score before he abandoned us. That's the Caleb Williams Custom, baby.

Jersey number one is going to the Raptors. You guys made it seem like at Chicago Bears fans. We had our guy. Danny Parkins, all these guys. Danny Parkins on 670 The Score. Wait. Danny Parkins hosts on First Things First on Fox Sports One. Check out the newly expanded edition of the show from 4 to 5 p.m. He is at Danny Parkins on X.

He also joins us via our Circa Resort and Casino Hotline, circle Las Vegas.com, and he's on Twitch. Twitch.tv.tv.tv.tv.tv. TV slash Chicago 670 the score. Danny, I guess we have to start with picking up where you left off. Number one, it crossed my mind that you should have come back for the Bears game to watch it against the Rams because you reverse mush to the mush against the Packers. Your thoughts?

You don't have a mush anymore, am I? Huh? Now you all want me there. Interesting. Very interesting. Turnabout's fair play. Not so fun when the rabbit has the gun in his base day. Yeah, I get it. Do you have the gun? Is that how you're saying? Everybody had to do the same thing last week that they were supposed to do this week and it didn't happen. Well, listen, I, you know, with great power comes great responsibility. And my responsibility was to be here with my son Owen as he turned six on Saturday. So never even crossed my mind to, fly in for that game. Parenting comes first. That's what we call a man with priorities right there. Little Owen is six. That's right. No, he's not. Oh, man. That, that. That kills me inside because that means we've all gotten older and I don't want to admit to that. What were your thoughts on the game?

We talked a lot about the last play. What was your vantage point? What stood out to you? I mean, you know, it felt like they had them. It felt like they outplayed them. I think that if you would have told me going into that game that the Bears score a touchdown to go down one with 18 seconds left chances that Ben Johnson goes for two, I would have put it at like 95%. But in the moment, I said you clearly kick the extra point because of how the game unfolded, because their defense was outplaying them, because the weather was having an impact, because their short yardage was bad because Loveland did get hurt. I thought that Ben Johnson made the correct decision and I thought so on the front end of it. And then it was justified because you got

the stop in overtime and you just couldn't execute down the stretch. So, you know, I thought it was a very frustrating game because I actually think the Bears outplayed the Rams in that spot. Miscommunication or not, it's obviously an ugly interception. You know, three of Caleb's interceptions came on fourth down in these playoffs, a couple of them gained field position for you. I thought Caleb was great again. I thought he rose to the moment. I thought he was very impressive. And it was not terribly difficult for me to turn the page because of how exciting and wonderful the season was and how they feel at a schedule. Yet I can acknowledge that there's no guarantee that you'll ever get back.

Like Bengals fans thought they would have been back by now. That hasn't happened. Josh Allen hasn't made it. Lamar hasn't made it. So, you know, these things are fleeting and every opportunity is precious, but it felt like Chapter 1 in a long book. We heard from General Manager Ryan Poles a day. We heard from head coach Ben Johnson, their end of year press conferences.

The things that stood out to me, well, one of the things anyway that stood out to me, was a point of emphasis this offseason. is that we're going to work on catching the football. It's a good idea. And yeah, and I want to know what your level of, I don't know of disappointment, but maybe just your overall feeling on

maybe the lack of step forward that Roma Dunezay took this season, I mean, as a guy who's a number nine overall pick. Yeah, I noticed his dad wasn't chirping as much on social media recently. Listen, Rome, I was very excited for the pick. that was well documented on the score.

I thought that he did not improve as much this year as I would have thought that he did. And I can still think that Luther Burden, Colston Loveland, and Roma Dunzee is a really good trio to grow with Caleb Williams for the next three, four, five seasons. And it's a really exciting young offensive nucleus. But if I had to, it's crazy. I had to bet today who was going to be the better NFL player, Luther Burden or Rome with Dunzee, I'd bet on Luther Burden. And that's crazy, given where they were drafted and what some of the like intangible between the ears type stuff was said about each player.

But I do think that Rome kind of flatlined this year and Burden just showed such undeniable burst and upside that I'd give the slight edge there to burden over Rome going forward, but I still think Rome's going to be a very good productive player in the league for a long time. Yeah, Danny, we were talking about it a bit more yesterday, and you can even tell in the play calling how much they trusted Luther Verdon.

You know, he would get the ball, even with the line of scrimmage on like a third and ten screen. And the expectation there was, do your thing, go get the yards after catch that we know you're supposed to get. To have that kind of responsibility as a rookie, that stood out to me. Yeah, he,

you know, I remember coming on the score after the draft and saying that, you know, I had talked to someone around the Missouri football program because I used to cover them when I lived and worked in Kansas City, who said that he was the most talented football player that Missouri had ever gotten. And I was like, wait, what? You guys had Jeremy Macklin, you know, Doriel Green Beckham's one of the biggest recruits in like the last 15 years in college football, Alden Smith, Chase Daniel. Like, they were like, no, no, no, Luther Burden, most talented football player to ever wear a

tiger uniform. But, you know, they had multiple quarterbacks his last. last year. They had early season losses. Their big aspirations kind of got dampened. And there was definitely some question of like, was he a 100, like, was his effort going to be consistent? Like, it wasn't ever a question about his talent. It was more of an effort thing and an inconsistency thing that dropped him into the second round. But if Antoine Randallel and Caleb Williams and Ben Johnson have gotten Luther Burden to play with, you know, locked in focus and what you're talking about there, Lela, like trust.

He would have been a first round pick if all of that stuff would have been buttoned up in college. So, you know, when Ben Johnson talks today about his A-plus coaching staff and how people, you know, are going to try to poach guys. I think that's a successor. I saw Ryan Poles talked about, like, player development. Like, they got first round production

out of Luther Burden for a second round pick, and that's the name of the game, is maximizing value. So I do think that he's got a very, very high ceiling in this league. Danny Parkins, join us as he does at this time each week on Rahimi Harris and Grody. You can check Danny out on the newly expanded First Things First OT from 4 to 5 p.m. on FS1. You mentioned all those guys that could see Caleb growing with. I noticed DJ Moore was not one of those guys. I don't expect him to be back next season.

Share your thoughts on what you think will happen with DJ Moore. Yeah, I tend to lean with you. They were very positive about him in the end-of-season pressers today, you know, which, you know, talk is cheap and DJ Moore is not cheap for next year. One person with the team told me that it was not an effort issue on the last play, that it was also not quite a miscommunication, but like confusion, that it was a newer route concept that they had put in, and they were a little surprised by the coverage,

and he kind of slowed down out of confusion of exactly where he was supposed to take that route, which I think speaks a little bit to why Ben Johnson put it on him today. put it on himself today, also because Ben Johnson is a great leader and has accountability. So, you know, obviously not a great moment for DJ Moore. I also don't love that he skipped out on the media both right after the game and the next day. Like, he would be nice for DJ Moore to give his version of events on the play that ended the season, given what he gets paid and given his veteran status on the team. So my gut tells me, Marshall, that he plays for a new team.

Next year, I'm with you. Their words today gave me a little bit of pause on that, but Adunzei, Burden, and Loveland is a very, very good core that it's not that he's become expendable. It's just that the money probably can be used elsewhere. And there are cheaper veteran receivers who you could bring in to be like the number three receiver on a team, but still the number one, like adult veteran in the room, as opposed to the $28 million veteran piece in the room. So my gut tells me he plays elsewhere. And Danny, you know, we were looking at the cap numbers earlier. Just to reiterate, DJ Moore is the highest paid Bears player via the structure of the cap. Set to make $28.5 million next season.

That's good for 9.4% of the Bears' salary cap that according to SpotRack. So how do you see that playing out? You know, every time we bring up Max Crosby's name that, of course, gets everybody going. It's like some sort of command where everybody starts training and talking about it. But I bring that up knowing that it has been brought up by O. other people in the league, you know, those who report. You know, how do you see that playing out if he's not here next year? What do you think happens?

Yeah, I don't know. It's like the Crosby is a, he is a bigger need than DJ Moore, obviously, and it would be very exciting if they got him. And he does feel like he would be a perfect bear. And so I would celebrate the move. I don't really know why the Raiders, like, if the Raiders did a straight Crosby for DJ Moore trade, like, okay, so it helps Mendoza to have. a veteran receiver there that that that I would buy on some level you'd need to give up more

and you would be giving max crosbie an extension and max crosbie was injured and I was also in his late 20 right 29 I think for crosbie at this point so you know neat I think that DJ Moore does not have nearly the trade value that bears fans want him to have is what is what I would say so I think that you know be prepared to be disappointed if you're like, well, why can't we just trade DJ Moore for another, like, you know, star caliber player who makes a ton of money? Like, you'd be talking about attaching the 25th pick in the draft and then some, I think, in addition to DJ Moore.

And maybe, Danny, this is my hate for the Patriots. And I don't hate them in the traditional, like, I hate the Patriots. But given what happened with Bo Nix breaking his ankle in the last game and given where we are, I think the NFC champion is coming away with the Super Bowl this year. Do you concur? I do. Yeah. Listen, I, but I would feel that way even if Bo Nix was playing, to be clear. Like, I do the exercise we've talked about it, like, because people were giving me crap about where I had the Bears over the course of the year. But like I rank the teams in the NFL every Tuesday on the show, the top 10.

And I probably take it way more seriously than I should. But I had my guy Troy, my researcher out here, just kind of like do like a self-audit. I had Seattle or the Rams as the top two teams for seven consecutive weeks leading into the postseason. So like I think these are clearly the two best teams in the NFL. I think they have clearly been the two best teams in the NFL. I said on the Thursday before that Thursday night game in Week 16 that I expected it to be the game of the year. And it was, that was the 38, 37 game. So like I've been on this all year.

I think the Seattle and the Rams are the two best teams. I'm thrilled that I think we're playing a clip on the show today. Like I said, if the Bears aren't in the NFC championship game, I want it to be a rematch of this game because I just, I think they're very clear. The coaches, the stories, the quarterbacks, the proximity, the chess match between McVeigh and McDonald. It's the Pooka Nakua and Jackson Smith and Jigba,

you know, arguably the two best receivers this year in the league. Like I just, I think that they are the two best teams. And then, you know, the Patriots. are a great story, but they're a little bit ahead of schedule, I think. And I don't think their roster stacks up as well compared to those two teams in the NFC. And then, as you mentioned, it's very hard for me to imagine Jared Stittum winning two playoff games here. Danny, I also want to ask you, you mentioned your experience in Kansas City as we talked to Danny Parkins, who is now on Fox Sports 1 on First things first here on Rahimi Harrison Grotie on the score.

And Danny, it immediately got me thinking about the news that had come out yesterday. You know, multiple reports saying that Eric B. Enemy is set to become the new offensive coordinator or returning offensive coordinator, I should say, for Kansas City. Matt Nagy's contract is up. What do you make of that entire situation? I didn't know if maybe there's a chance they bring Negi back if he didn't get hired as a head coach. But this is a definitive decision, both for BNami to come back. And I feel like he's been through a lot in his career and then for the Chiefs to make that decision. Yeah, Andy Reed loves his guys. Andy Reid, I don't know if Matt Nagy is going to be like the guy who played musical chairs

and then was left without a chair and lost his job in the first place. But Andy Reid loves Matt Nagy. That's undeniable. And Matt Nagy's a smart guy who is well liked in the NFL and has a good agent. I still think Matt Nagy's going to get a head coaching job this cycle because I don't think Andy Reid would do that to him. I don't think he would let his contract expire, have him take these interviews, hire his replacement from under him, and then have Matt Nagy kind of look like a fool out there.

So I don't think it's going to be a good job. He might end up to coach the Cardinals or the Browns or something. But my gut tells me that Matt Nagy knows that he's going to get a head coaching job this cycle. And then, you know, the offensive coordinator for Andy Reid's a weird job because you get to coach Mahomes and you get to coach with Andy Reid. And at times they let you think that you're the play caller, but you're really not. and it's a, you know, for the chief's sake, I thought it would have been better if they would have gone outside of the circle to try to like inject some new life into that offense because Andy Reid's just very loyal to his guys. Bienemy is a culture guy. Bienemy is a coach star player's hard guy. Beenemy is a hold guys accountable. Like Travis Kelsey loves Eric Bienemy. But Eric Bienemy doesn't really coach Travis Kelsey.

He just loves him because he'll like coach him hard and yell at him and like, you know, have them accountable. So B. Enemy's a very good coach. Some of the things that I think make him a great assistant probably limit his ability to ever really get considered for the head coaching job. But, you know, I'm never going to be surprised when Andy Reid is loyal to one of his lieutenants because he's done it. I mean, he did it for Doug Peterson. He did it from Madaghy. He did it for Eric B. Enemy. If you're on the Andy Reed tree, you kind of, you're always there. Since we have you. Yeah. I'm just curious. What will it take you to watch a Bulls game?

Well, I bought tickets. I bought tickets to Derek Rose Night, but then I bought them immediately, planned to come in, but then because I came in for Bears Packers, and I didn't fully realize that it was championship Sunday weekend, and Andrew Philiponi is coming in New York. to celebrate his 40th birthday with me and Nick. So we're doing a big New York weekend this weekend. So I'm not going to be at the D. Rose Night, which is very upsetting, given that I was the first to put his jersey in the Raptors or Rafters. So that would, I would have been there for that if it wasn't championship Sunday weekend.

You know, I got to say, it's cool that the Blackhawks have been darned, the Cubs have PCA, and the Bears have Pays have P. And I'm waiting for the Bulls to get someone who can realistically hang out with him. Like, I like Mattis. This is the Janus skit, isn't it? In your mind?

I know he kind of hangs out with the crew, but he's kind of like Turtle. Like he's the guy that he's like the guy who you'd like have to give like to like, hey, it was it was Modis's weed. You know, like, oh, he's driving the car. He's staying sober tonight. Well, the rest of the guys go out. Well, he's only 20. So yes. Hey, Jerry Ferrer got along with everybody on that show.

Listen, I loved Turtle. There was a point in my life where I thought I was going to be the Turtle to Nick Wright. Some would say that I still am. But, yeah, it's the type. So it's not a bad gig, but, like, the Bulls need a, they need someone to join the big three of PCA, Bedard, and Caleb. And they don't have him. I think Modis will get there, but he's not there yet. He's not there yet.

No, again, like I like him. I like him, but I never, you know, I paid for, I have league pass. Like, I have the ability to watch the Bull. I do occasionally have them on the second screen. I want them on the first screen, Danny. I want to know when are they going to be on your first screen. I want to know why nobody's Ari in this scenario. I have a lot of questions.

They're not anywhere close to the first screen, Marshall, to answer you. They're not close. I just really wanted to know. Thank you for entertaining me. the answer to that question. Is it Danny? Wait, Danny, isn't Nick Ari in this scenario? Like, who? In, like, in my crew? No, I'm just in the dynamic. She's saying if you're using the entourage analog, who is the Arii? Well, no, I mean, Nick is Vinnie Chase. Like, Nick is the superstar. Nick is the number one pick in the sports media draft. He's the most talented person in our industry

right now, period. Like, he's the best. I was thinking of, like, King Maker. Like, Ari, I don't no. I hear what you're saying, but like, I'm talking about like in the crew. Like, and so yeah, like I think I've risen up from the turtle ranks. So like I'm maybe now more Johnny Drama or or E. Don't get those calf implants. Yeah, I'm not doing the calf implants. But like, no, like, you know, we've ridden, we've ridden his wake. It's, it's an illustrious wake. I'm proud. I'm proud of it. It's not even a, it's not even a problem. Like trying to keep up with the person who's the best, all of a sudden you look

around and you're like, damn, I'm in a pretty good spot. Gratitude. We love to see it. Well, happy. I'm just, it's just, it's just honest. Like, I'm one of the best. He's the best. It's okay. It's okay. You guys are all pretty neat to me. And happy birthday to Owen. Oh, thanks. I will pass that along. We don't, we, we don't have anywhere to air our football picks anymore. So we just, we just do them, we just do them in, in the house. That's fair. I don't have, I don't have the, I don't have the, I don't have the, I don't have the radio outlet for Parkins versus Parkinson's versus Spiegel. Maybe one of my more polarizing radio bits. People, people would either say that was their favorite segment on the show,

or it was the thing that in the comments, we're like, this is the worst thing in the history of radio. And I got to be honest, those people were wrong. They connected, right? It's a one or zero. It was an incredible segment. Are you kidding? Now, did it somewhat promote problematic gambling behavior? Maybe. Like, that's an argument.

You know, we had a 12-year-old and a 5-year-old picking games against the spread, but it was adorable. More concerned about nepo baby behavior, but hey, that's just me. Well, I'm not, listen, I'm not giving him a show. He's not. Oh, listen. Marshall, you don't have kids. Here's the thing about nepotism. It's not good, but I would do it for my job.

kid. That's how everybody operates. We just got a text from 815. I miss P versus P versus S versus S so much. So there you go. Of course. Of course. It was great. I think you guys are better than an entourage, by the way. We can come up with a new show. Well, here's a, yeah, listen, it's just an easy comp.

The first few seasons of entourage were great. Go got real bad late. The movie was a money grab. But, you know, what do you want for me? 847 just texted it. I lost my house to those picks, you heathen. All right. So before it gets any more polarizing, we got to let you go.

We got to bail. Me and Owen both love Seattle minus two this weekend. So you can get your house back. A unified house. Seattle minus two. Danny Perkins, thanks so much for joining us. Of course, you can catch Danny on first things first. Thanks, Danny.

Coming up next, I think there's a couple other nuggets. We'll stick with the chicken theme. there's a couple other nuggets from this Bears Day that I think you and I need to parse through. Not bone in. Boneless for me. Yes, I know. Marshall, I just, they're just easier. They're easier to eat.

If you say so. If you say so. I have no skills. Next. Jersey number one is going to the Raptors.