Rahimi, Harris & Grote Show - Mike Florio talks Drew Dalman's retirement, latest NFL headlines (Hour 2)

Episode Date: March 4, 2026

In the second hour, Leila Rahimi and Mark Grote were joined by Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk to discuss Bears center Drew Dalman's surprising retirement from the NFL at 27 years old. Florio also discussed the latest NFL news and rumors, with a focus on the Vikings' quarterback situation and where Raiders star Maxx Crosby could be traded. After that, Rahimi and Grote discussed why Dalman chose to retire now. Later, they held the Halftime segment.

This hour is brought to you by Jule Osco. Ladies and gentlemen, joining us now is a man who's got a massive brain. Mike Florio. He used to be a lawyer, then he decided to take his talents to the internet. NBC Sports. I'm sorry, I'm late. I was talking to Robert Kraft. That is at the time for an airing of grievances.

Pro football talk. I got a lot of problems with you, people. No, you're going to hear about it. On Chicago Sports Radio, 1043, The Score. I want to keep talking Legos. Yeah, we want to keep talking Legos too, except there's been massive Bears news that we have to get to. So we will discuss it with our guest.

He joins us on our hotline. He is the creator, editor-in-chief of Pro Football Talk. It is Mike Florio at Pro Football Talk on X. And he's on Twitch. Twitch.tv slash The Score Chicago. Mike, how are you? Doing great. How are you today?

Good. Oh, you got the fireworks. That's nice. Yeah, we enjoyed your conference. with a Chicago guy, Carnell Tate, by the way, about Legos. That was fantastic. That was a lot of fun. And one of the things about having access to the prospects at Indianapolis, number one, it gives them some camera time. It's different than the stressful nature of everything else they do. And it gives us a chance to get to know a little bit more about them. So we ask

them about their families. We ask them about their hobbies. And I'm a fan of anyone who enjoys a good Lego set. And that's exactly what Carnell Tate told us. He's working on the Titanic. He has been. He's got a five-foot Eiffel Tower. And he's going to move on to the Star Wars collection next. So it's good to see someone willing to open up about hobbies that some might wonder, is that really a hobby? For those of us who enjoy Lego, as you can tell by the Ghostbuster Firehouse that is back there somewhere, yes, it's fun. I love that. And when you said, working on the Titanic, I wanted to say, aren't we all? Just my dual attitude, Mike.

Hey, we got a, I guess you could say we kind of have a Titanic situation here in Chicago. It's been all Drew Dalman all the time, Mike. What do you think about your reaction to Drew Dalman playing in the first year of a three-year, $42 million deal for the Bears? And Dalman dropped a whopper on the world. the 27-year-old has retired. What is your reaction? Well, the way it works under the collective bargaining agreement,

the signing bonus that a player would get on a three-year deal of $6 million, the bears could, if they choose to do so, recover $4 million from Dolman. So in addition to anything, he's giving up by not playing, he could have to give back the $4 million. And my thought last night, when you consider the timeline, this happens right after Indianapolis, is it possible that Dolman and his agent look,

at his performance last year, took every snap, every snap in the regular season, started 17 games and two postseason games, had his first Pro Bowl birth, arguably outplayed his contract. Is it possible this is part of a dance aimed at getting him a raise? The Bears say, no, he's the final, just retire. I'm told that that's not the case. He's just done. And I'm a big believer in any player. Once they decide they're done, then be done. Then be done. Don't play if you don't want to play. The game's hard enough if you're all in. If you're anything less than all in, you shouldn't play.

I remember when Vante Davis retired during a game, and Sims and I argued about it on PFT Live. My point is, whenever that thought enters your brain that you're done, you shouldn't play. It's not in your best interest to play. You have to fully want it and desire it and be willing to do it in order to keep doing it. So that's his privilege, that's his right. he's entitled to walk away, but he may get a $4 million bill at some point that will go into the

General Stadium Construction Fund. Well, yeah, that's it, is that it really does put the onus on the teams. And I guess that is the true idea behind a signing bonus. That is one way that it is actually true to the concept, is that it's up to the teams if they want to recoup the money. That could get awkward. Well, and on the surface, the signing bonus is a payment now in anticipation of services later. It's in advance on what you're going to do in the future, but it's also a salary cap accounting

tool. But this goes all the way back to Barry Sanders. Barry Sanders had to pay back money to the Detroit Lions when he retired abruptly in July of 1999. And it's a given that if a player retires, especially in the early years of a contract where there's bonus money that is yet to be allocated as to the ongoing years of the deal, it's a way for the teams to get some money back, to get some caps base back. And it's just business at that. point. And if a player makes a business decision to stop playing before his contractual commitment has ended, the team makes a business decision to collect money that had been paid under the assumption that the player was going to stay. We're talking to Mike Floreau of pro football talk

here on Rahimi Harrison Grotie on 104.3, the score. Well, and of course, this sort of shifted our attention just for like a minute away from Max Crosby because of everything that is going on with Drew Dalman. What are you hearing right now? about Max Crosby and where he might end up, where he might stay, all of that kind of stuff. And is it a possibility for the Bears? We were told last week, the scouting combine, two first round picks and a player is what the Raiders are looking for to trade in, which means they've not just entertained the possibility. They're engaging in conversations about what it will take.

Now, I think their best move, because I've seen nothing to erase Jay Glazer's reporting from four weeks ago that Crosby is done with the Raiders. and Glazer has a pipeline to Crosby. If Glazer says it, Crosby believes it. And that hasn't been rescinded or retracted over the last four weeks. And I think what the Raiders need to do, it's kind of like what the Texans did

four years ago with Deshawn Watson. Identify multiple teams, bring them to the table, basically pre-approved them as a trade partner, and then let Max Crosby pick his destination. That's the right way for the Raiders to handle it if you can get multiple teams to the table. They can drop the facade of we want to keep them once they know that they can get three or four teams. The question is,

are they going to take less than what they supposedly want in order to get a deal done? Or will they be stubborn and say to Max Crosby, hey, we didn't get what we wanted. You play for us or you play for no one. Mike, Diana Rucini reiterated today that the asking price is still two first rounders and a player. You know, what do you think of just that return for Max Crosby? I think it's a good return. It's what the Cowboys got from Michael Parker. And they were trading Michael Parsons at a time when there weren't many suitors. No one in the AFC by the time we got to late August wanted Michael Parsons because it's a combination of giving up the draft picks and signing him to an acceptable contract. By then, plenty of teams' budgets have

been obliterated. They've spent all their money that was allocated by the front office and ownership to the acquisition of players that year. You do it now. You get a better chance of getting more teams at the table. But there's another factor here because I've heard the argument, well, hey, two ones and a player, that's a good deal because Max Crosby's got a favorable contract. Well, that assumes he's not going to want a new contract. A player of that stature, if he's traded for that kind of compensation, he's going to want an adjustment because he got his current contract last year before Miles Garrett, before T.J. Watt, before Michael Parsons. So you've got Crosby at around 35-36, top of the market's now 47, he's going to want a new deal. So that's going to be part of

this too. And there's also a big difference between the first 10 picks of the round and the last 10 picks of the round. And that's why Tampa Bay is a team I'm keeping an eye on because they could give the 15th overall pick, which means more than the bear's 25th overall pick. And maybe they could throw in less come 2027 if they're giving a higher pick in round one in order to get Max Crosby. Yeah, the payment part is, that's very smart because we all remember around here with Kalil Mack giving up what they gave up, which was two first rounders, a third round pick, a sixth rounder, you know, future sixth rounder at the time. And then they had to pay Kalil Mack all the money too. So that that is a smart thought on that. Going to be interesting to see what happens.

Another report that Layla just gave right before we went to the break and wanted to ask you about this Mike Florio, this from at least Ian Rappaport and maybe others as well. Sheffter, yeah, Adam Sheffer, too. Okay, okay. Yeah, it's citing sources that the chiefs are deep in talks on the trade of star cornerback, Trent McDuffie to the Rams for pick number 29 and conditional compensation. Your reaction? Well, I think it's since been finalized, and we know what happens by now. Here's how the sausage gets made.

When the deal's close, an agent will text four or five different people. They'll all tweet it within 30 seconds of each other. that's how the word is out there before it's official. Apparently it's now official. The Rams just said yesterday through GM less need, they're looking to acquire a Pro Bowl level talent in their secondary, and Trent McDuffie, I think last year was the first team all pro slot corner. So this is a guy who has shown he has ability,

and it comes down to how do you allocate your resources, how much are you going to pay a guy, what can you get in return for him, and the chief's making a very clear-eyed decision at a time when they've got plenty of needs that they need to address. They've got guys they need to sign. They've got guys they need to resolve their futures. They need to know what Travis Kelsey is going to do. They got a lot of needs. They got no running backs right now. They could use another weapon at receiver. Their front seven needs to be bolstered. They've got some things to do while they try to improve this team on the fly.

And as Patrick Mahomes recovers from a torn ACL. So it tells me that whatever McDuffey wants contractually, the chief said we just can't do it. Let's go ahead and trade. And much like they did four years ago with Tyree Hill. Also, what about Trey Hendrickson, Mike? You know, the Bengals declined to franchise tag him. That seems like that was the most peaceful departure and breakup for both parties.

But I have a feeling, number one, that he may have made a business decision last year when it came to his injury status. And then number two, that there's going to be a team that's going to want his services. I thought of Tampa there too. Well, it got very ugly between Hendrickson and the Bengals in the last couple of years.

He signed a contract, grossly outperformed it, and the Bengals are one of the teams that is cheap and highly unlikely to say, we'll rip up your contract. Even though the teams have the ability to rip up the contract of a player who underperforms, some teams don't like to fix a contract that is out of whack based upon the player

exceeding expectations. And it didn't make sense to continue the relationship, but I thought there was a chance the Bengals were sufficiently dysfunctional to apply the franchise tag just as a power play. Just to remind the players, specifically Hendrickson, but more broadly, everyone else who plays for the team now and will play for them in the future of who's in charge. And we have a device available under the CBA and we're going to use it. They decided not to do it.

And I think that's the right decision for the team. They can reallocate the resources to someone who wants to be there. And now Hendrickson is going to be one of the top players available and we know how important pass rusher is. the most important position's quarterback. The second most important position is player who affects the opposing quarterback. Right here in our backyard, when I say that, I mean in the division, things going on with the Minnesota Vikings, that they are reportedly going to release Aaron Jones and Javon Hargrave and now Jonathan Granard's name has come up.

What do you think about everything that's going on in Minnesota right now? Well, and with Jones and Hargrave, it's just a matter of the Vikings are looking at their contracts and saying we can't justify. this expenditure in light of being millions over the salary cap of 301.2 million. With Hardrave, he wants his contract to be adjusted. The Vikings can't do it, so they're looking to possibly trade him to a team that can. But this is the direct result of going all in last year and being ready to go with a potential Super Bowl team at every position except one quarterback. And now they're in a mess.

And now they got a slash and burn the payroll. They got to create cap dollars. And as relates to the quarterback position, it makes Kyler Murray extremely attractive to the Vikings because, number one, I was told last year during the season, he'd like to play for the Vikings or the Raiders. At the time they had Chip Kelly as offensive coordinator. That's obviously gone now.

So the Vikings are a team that Murray would be interested in. And because the Cardinals owe him $36.8 million fully guaranteed for this year, he could go to Minnesota on a one-year $1.3 million deal, make the balance of that between 1.3 and 368 directly from the Cardinals and stay in Minnesota for a year and see how it goes. And that would give the Vikings a very, very cheap option for someone who could come in, compete with J.J. McCarthy, or be the number two quarterback and play inevitably when McCarthy gets injured again. Well, and that's part of it, too, is we were wondering what was going to happen to Kyler Murray, Mike. And then, We get the news that he's going to be released from Arizona. And of course, you know what I thought about was all the conversations surrounding Tyson Bejant that the Bears had at the Combine. Ben Johnson with a glowing discussion of who he is and what he's meant to the team.

That hasn't changed, I think, from anybody in the front office. Does his market increase because of this possible movement that has been created by Kyler Murray? I think of anything, it hurts the market because someone would have to trade for Beijan. And I saw last week during the nonstop activity at the scouting combine that the Bears may be looking for as much as a second round pick for Bejan. Why am I going to do that if I'm a team? Why am I going to do that when I can get one of these guys who's already available in free agency or is going to be cut? Kyler Murray is going to be joined by Tuataka-ailoa, Gino Smith most likely, Justin Fields.

Kirk Cousins is definitely getting cut. So when you have guys you could pursue and not have to give up a draft pick, whether it's a two, a three, or a four, have to give up nothing to get these guys. I think that makes it harder for the bears to get what they want and to make them willing to move Tyson Baygent. But he's an interesting wrinkle in all of this because he's young. He's shown potential and he's got a favorable contract for the next two years. I want to go back to JJ McCarthy really quick if I can. And just to ask, what did we all miss with JJ McCarthy? What did all the GMs at the Combine? What is this?

What's happening? What did they all miss? You have a pop-up ad. Is it you or it's me? It's not you with me. You know what happens on YouTube? Like if you have, if you're watching a video and then when it ends, it spills over into another one. And then when that one, it spills over into an ad.

That's what happened. Sorry about that. Oh, that's okay. I remember two, it's been, it's only been two years ago, which feels like forever. I does. He was coming into the draft. I didn't know where he actually fit. in the pecking order with all those great quarterbacks. And then all of a sudden, Jim Harbaugh starts

hyping the guy up. And we all knew why he was doing it. He was the national champion quarterback in Michigan. But it seems to me like once Harbaugh really started banging the drum for McCarthy, then all of a sudden McCarthy is rising up the draft board. And the Vikings could have picked him or Bo Nix. They were trying to trade up to get Drake May. I don't know if they would have taken Michael Pennix Jr. if he had been there at 10. But they rolled the dice on McCarthy. He got injured in his preseason opener in 24 and then last year, you know, the guy didn't throw enough passes in college. And one of the knocks on McCarthy, aside from the mechanics, he's got one pitch, it's a fastball. And when you look at a team like the Vikings that does so much of its passing game

across the middle where you have to layer the ball in over the hands of a defensive back, you can't throw a speed ball, as Bruce Springsteen would say, right through a defensive back. You've got to be able to have different pitches. You've got to be able to put some arc on the ball. And look, maybe they've ironed some of that out. The weird thing is they won five games to end the season. Do they see something in McCarthy based upon the end of the season that makes them reluctant to go out and get a guy who would supplant him?

This next move by the Vikings is going to be very revealing. Is it going to be somebody who's there to be a high-end backup? Is it going to be somebody who's there to truly compete with him, like Daniel Jones and Anthony Richardson last year, or is it going to be somebody who, when he walks through the door based on the contract or whatever they have to give up to get him if they trade, is he going to be the starter?

That's going to tell us what they think of J.J. McCarthy more than anything else. Whoever that next quarterback is, we will know what they think of J.J. McCarthy. Mike Florio, thanks as always for joining us on Twitch. Thanks for the Lego Talk, and thanks for all the latest news and notes. Thanks, have a great week. That is Mike Floreo,

creator and editor-in-chief of Pro Football Talk, joining us on Rahimi Harrison Grotie on The Score. And coming up next, the biggest question I think all of us had is not only why for Drew Dalman, but why now? Carmen Vitale, friend of the score, Bears Reporter, works on Marquis as well. She offered some big perspective that I think is worth a listen. Next. Rahimi Harrison Grody, Midday's tidal two on Chicago Sports Radio,

1243, the score. I call Drew Dalman the Hulk. He's the brains and all of it. But, you know, when he gets out there, you know, on the field, he's, you know, he's strong as can be, you know, fast and, you know, the right guy for the job, you know, for us and my future and our future here. That was Caleb Williams talking about Drew Dalman. And he also reacted to the reported news about Dalman's retirement yesterday. Tweeting Hulk with a sad emoji. Sad Caleb. Sad Caleb. But he's still got the two of the other guys, the one-arm guy or something. Wasn't there?

The one-arm guy? What are you talking about? Are you the Avengers? I thought in Tyler's open, I heard Caleb describing somebody with one arm. Or maybe I'm just so sensitive to, maybe I'm projecting. Projecting on one arm? Do you think, Mark Grady, that you're walking around, like, in your mind, like you have one arm? You're listening.

to an odyssey through Mark Grady's mind on 1043 the score. It's quite the Odyssey. Exactly. I thought maybe I heard wrong. Not A-U-D-A-C-Y. Ozzy is, obviously, he's not really an Avengers, but Wolverine. I have Dr. Strange as Left Guard with Joe. I have obviously Hulk as Center.

I have the Red Hulk as Jonah. And then I have Darnel's Bucky, because he has the one. arm. That's it. That's it. See, I am very sensitive to one-arm guys. I put this together and I didn't even hear the one-arm thing. See? All right, you're Bucky, Grotty. Now it's you. But the one-arm player on family guy. Based on how you hear lyrics, this is actually a big win. I guess you're right. And Dowell Wright did basically play the entire season with one functioning

arm. Don't mess with me on one-arm guys. You know, you guys are right over me on a lot of stuff. But one-arm guys, look at me. Okay. Grody, who's on your Mount Rushmore of one-arm guys? Name them right now. Sykes. Bucky? Bucky Leroux, but that's a no-arm guy. That's a no-arm.

But Bucky the Avenger. Oh, yeah, Bucky the Avenger. So you got one more. I got nothing for you. Who's my other one-arm guy? I'm trying to think. What about the other one-arm guy? 3-1-2-4-64-67.

Who's Grody's fourth one-arm guy? We have a selection here from the text line from A-4-7. and Winter Soldier has one mechanical arm. There you go. I have no idea, guys. My Marvel and that universe knowledge is terrible. I'm not great at it either, but I know a one-arm guy when I see him. It's probably insulting to Lawrence that I called it that universe.

See, if Marshall were here today, he would be able to help out with this conversation. That's true. That's true. Get Marshall. Do we have a way to get Marshall on the show? He's downstate. He's working on high school basketball. Oh, is he in Bloom Norm? Is he in Bloomington Normal right now?

Is that where he is? Is he in my own? Well, all of Central Illinois. I have been in all of the... You're claiming all of it? Well, I've worked in Lincoln. I've worked in Peoria. I worked in Springfield.

I worked in Bloomington Normal. I have a... Yeah, I got some anchors in Central Illinois. Shout out to all our one-armed guys. Yeah, shout out of one-armed guys downstate, yo. 630 has the right answer. Drummer from Def Leopard. Oh, that's it.

That's it. The one-arm guy from Def Leopard. Oh, A-47 says, Winter Soldier is Bucky. I'm so sorry, guys. My Marvel universe is really bad. With all the two-armed players that have existed in baseball, you put a, why, why, why would you put a no-arm guy at second base?

Why? Why? That's from Family Guy. I know let's get the name wrong. Is it Bucky Leroux? Let's hope so. It's some form of that. There's a family guy for everything.

There really is a family guy for everything. but I think it's Bucky Leroux, but we'll figure that out. No arms, nothing. How do you file stuff? Well, I guess per... Mentally. Like, how does that happen? So you're asking me to tell you how my brain works?

A little bit. I mean, I don't know. You would probably be better at telling me how, as a radio partner, like, understanding my isms and the way I comport myself and things that come out of my mouth. I don't know. know the, I don't know my own psychological profile. That's up to other people. It's Bucky LaGrange. Buckie LaGrange.

For family guy. Bucky LaGrage. Thank you, team. Thank you. Who is Bucky LaRue? Bucky. Come on. I wasn't that far off. And he's back. As bad as I am at remembering lyrics and names and things like that, I wasn't

like, I'll take close for me at this point. He had the soundbite correct. Caleb Leaves did mention it. Yeah, see, and nobody else knew. That's right. I was right. You were. Anyhow. I know.

There's no good way to segue out of that. You want me to segue? You want me to do it? No. Okay. Well, I mean, you can. I got us into this mess. Okay.

So I can get us out of this mess. I can tell everybody here on Rahimi Harrison Grotie that Drew Dalman retired yesterday. And one of the voices of reason on the score yesterday on the afternoon show of Spiegel and Holmes was our good friend, Carmen Vitale, as you teach. She joined the show and gave some of her insight as close to kind of maybe knowing what was going on as anybody. So here's Carmen Vitale. How was that? Was that good? Everything that I talked about with some people around the combine, I kind of became privy to this a few days ago,

but without knowing if it was actually going to go through because the Chicago Bears were trying to kind of steer Drew Dolman in another direction. They obviously did not want him to retire. This was not something that they inherently saw coming either. You know, he's at the height of his career. He's 27 years old. He just signed a contract last year and was, for all intents and purposes, a part of one of the best units in the entire league last year. But the notion that I got from people kind of close to the situation,

close to Drew, was that, listen, his dad was a player. His dad was a coach. He has seen what this game can do to you. in your life after football. And for better or worse, this man is a Stanford man, and he's very, very smart. And he knows, you know,

what, like, what that toll can be. And he's seen it firsthand. And I don't think there's any kind of substitute for seeing that and being faced with that reality every single day when it's a parent of yours. I mean, that's how you have to think of this. He's seen the effects and he sees them every single day. And he has to constantly weigh whether or not

it's worth it for him to end up like that and how much longer he wanted to push it. And the answer was, I guess, not past this past season. Very good information from Carmen Vitale. And she also posted a tweet that got a massive amount of views talking about just that perspective itself. Drew's dad was a player and a coach. He's seen firsthand life after football and the effects the game can have. If anyone is going to make an informed decision on when it's a child,

time to hang him up, it's true. Happy for him and sad for the bears. And I feel like that echoed a lot of people. He's lucky enough to be able to make this decision for himself. Absolutely. Absolutely. And the only thing I would say about this, and again, disclaimers needed, we don't know what's going on. We don't, if it's a health reason, and that is totally understandable why he would step away from it, from hearing what Carmen said, and it's all very reasonable. His dad played, he understands, and he was an office alignment for the 49ers. He played in the league. His dad coached in the league.

She made a point, Carmen did, of saying the Stanford part. And we all just assume you go to Stanford, you're pretty smart, you're a pretty capable human being. He's not just pretty smart. His major at Stanford? Mechanical engineering. Okay. More fuel for what I'm about to say here is if you are that informed, especially as a father, who played, who coached, who understands, who reads, and a son who was going to be a mechanical engineer.

If it's health, in 27, you're worried about, why did he allow his son to play football in the first place, or encourage his son to play football in the first place? Why, with all of those smarts, with all of that going on for you, with all of the knowledge, why then would you have played in the National Football League to begin with? That's the part. He clearly could have gone enough. You just said he could have been a mechanical engineer. He could have gone different directions with all those smarts,

with all that knowledge, with all that Stanfordness, with all that coaching, why did you play football then? I think it's kind of like us, for example, minus the money. Bad job by us, choosing jobs with money. You know, I don't know about you, but I started out full-time on-air at a salary of $18,000 a year, no overtime, even though I worked about 60 hours a week. $25,000 a year in Lincoln, Illinois. Well, that's better. So I say that to say, we joke about this not being a real job, right?

Like, we pursue these jobs. There's a million people who want them. This is something that we decide we want to do until perhaps the business tells us when it's time to leave. Doesn't that sound similar to playing football? Like you may have a backup plan. You may know what you want to do. Yeah, if he got hurt, if he is hurt, then yeah, absolutely. Step away, take all your money and go and have a quality of life.

But to have had all of this information before, and I'm like, I'm not mad at anybody, but just listening to hearing it in real time yesterday, what Carmen said, hearing it again right there. Yeah, it's, yeah, that's a well-informed. family, yet they still went the route of football. And if it's all about the money, then, like, that doesn't seem very smart to me. I don't necessarily know if it's all about the money, but I know that that's a very quick way to make it. And even when you're a successful engineer, you might not make that much money that fast for sure. Oh, I agree with that. So that's part of it. Joe Thomas said that too. You know, he said, these guys make a lot of money quick, and it would

take us like 10, 12 years to make that kind of money that they can make in five. And that matters in this. Also, like he grew up in the game. You know, just like Carmen said, he did grow up in the game. And if you look at his Stanford bio, it talks about all the other ways he was an athlete. You know, he was also, he competed in track. He was in National Arts Society as mentioned. He was a three-year starter, you know, when he was at his high school team. This is something that he grew up with. So I don't fault anybody for wanting to do something that you know might not be the best for your career ultimately like long term you know like you and I for example in this job might not be like the most sound job or the you participate knowing the risks of what it can bring my brain

clearly is fried already but you know what I'm saying like like I you know I've lived in a bunch of different places I've been married and divorced like I work nights and weekends you know like that's part of the job we know that going in the risk of injury the risk of knowing what it can do to your body. That's part of the risk you take going in. But we don't make that kind of money. We can't actually retire at 27 years old. Well, yeah, but I, and I,

but you can still love something and know it's bad for you. Yeah, I just think that if all things are equal, if we're talking about a situation where you got a three-year contract and you're 27 years old and radio, like walking away from it, like that and having all of that, knowledge of what the business is, that it could bring you down, that this business that we're in broadcasting and media is nuts. Like you'd kind of, you should know that going into it. But there's so much we don't know still. I also think of like Earl Campbell and having had

conversations with Earl. And he would talk about how he was at peace with it, but he had to come to peace with a lot of things. And he talked about just understanding what it did to him and how he wanted, he wanted to play anyway. Old Earl. Old Earl. He was a 34, right? Wasn't Earl Campbell? He was the 34, right? A number 34?

And just, you know, also like his, I remember talking to him, and I think at the time he was seated in a wheelchair talking to me about it. Oh, wow. Because, you know, it was hard for Earl to walk. He played like a mother bleeper, though. He was a physical running back. That's the point. And Earl has always maintained.

He knew what he was getting into and he loved it anyway. Now, that's Earl. Everybody's different. But that's why I mean, I guess, the bigger overriding point for me, me is that this player obviously had other options in his life. I get it with some players who are like football, football, football. Education was not important to them. And I understand that.

And football is the passion. That is their whole life. It just felt like they had so much information in this family with Chris Dahlman. And then Drew Dahlman as well that there could have been maybe better avenues. But hey, man, you can make money fast. I guess that's the way to go. I'm sorry. It just, it's, it's, the problem, you know how it is.

There's just no way to wrap this up. Like there's no way to put a bow on it because it's not our decision to make. It's not. And that's, you know, that's why all of this is difficult because we don't know the, I don't even know if we're entitled. I'm sure the bears are entitled to why to some degree, like why he's doing this or why he's stepping away. But we're not entitled to it.

No, I just, it would be cool to be at that point in my, career to be able to have that option. I envy him, like to be 27 and have all the money and to be able to spend your life with your family, like pretty cool. But also having that education does afford you other opportunities. Exactly. That's true. So that happens.

And I'm a believer of we don't, what you do is not necessarily who you are. And he's allowed that to. A hundred percent. But the quintessential question of why play football at all? well, we all know the risks too, and we brought that up with Joe Thomas. You know, that's a bigger question, too. So, I don't know. It gets me into a wider universe of thought.

And I don't know that we have time for that. So I won't ask you if you had a son, if you would allow him to play football. My brother wanted to play for a minute. We all kind of laughed at him about it because he just didn't have the traits. So does that count? Sure. He eventually chose his own path out of football. Also did end up working for Stanford at one point.

Oh, really? Yeah. Okay. All right. Your bro's got some smarts too. He did. But we were like, why? You football?

Really? He must have felt really good. You? And it's your sisters too, right? So you're emasculating this poor guy. One sister and another brother. So yeah, we were all like, you want to do what? You?

Look at you. I mean, okay, like corner, wide receiver? You got no traits. You can't be close to the ball. You, my brother. you have no traits. So does that count? Sure, sure.

You asked an answer. Would you let Dave the cat play football? Absolutely not. Your large furry son? My mom gently pushed us away from five, two brothers, we're all two years apart. Luckily, none of us went the football route, but she, you know, gently discouraged us when the idea came up. Gene. Jean.

Power of suggestion. Oh, yeah. Well, I would suggest that maybe try something else. from your siblings like we did. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I was never told by my mom that I was traitless. You don't have any trades. Just play baseball.

It's better for you. He's tall and he's slender, but just that's why I'm like, what are your hops, man? Okay, we can't do this. He's doing well. That's what you need to know. Get Rahimi's brother on the line now. I want to make sure he's okay. He's also a Rahimi.

I want to make sure he's okay. Oh, he's fine. He's working right now, making a ton of money at a hospital somewhere. He's got no traits. going through life without traits. I feel bad. It's like the one-arm guy. It's missing an arm.

It's not good. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Okay. I know that's your favorite sound bite of the season. Coming up next, it's halftime. And wouldn't you know, emotional crime doesn't pay?

What time is it? It's halftime. It's halftime, and we spend a lot of time just going over the now career of Drew Dolvin and what it means for the Bears. We got to talk to Joe Thomas, the Hall of Fame, Offensive. Leibman from the Browns. He offered, old Joe Thomas offered us a lot of perspective and showed us a really impressive

taxidermy in his house. There's some incredible fish. I think I saw sturgeon. So, you know, we had that going for us as well. But just really good conversation. I think we've had all show. We also talked to Mike Fuller about some of the latest news from the NFL. And yeah, you're right, Mark. The Vikings were $43 million over the cap. And I didn't even think that was a real number. I had to like triple check it because I was like, wait, there what? Without a quarterback contract that's like a second contract, how? So we'll try to figure that out as well. Well, wouldn't you know, when you're bold and when you're overconfident and you think that you can go about your business,

sometimes you get taken down a peg when you're doing something wrong the whole time. Ashley Madison, if you'll recall, there was quite the data breach that the Ashley Madison users went through back in 2015. And that's what I call vigilante justice. First of all, let people know what is Ashley Madison. Oh, yeah, because you shouldn't know what I'm talking about. That's right. But you do.

Didn't they even buy a Super Bowl ad? This is what I'm talking about. That's when you went too far. Ashley Madison is a website for dating for people who are married or in long-term or significant relationships. It's for cheating. It's for cheating. And they got to bowl.

They got too bold with their cheating. They had Super Bowl ads and all this and that. And then the Impact team took them down. And that, my friends, is what you call revenge. That's how you get it. Impact. Well, it turns out that after that when people realize that giving a website their information when they were doing something nefarious or at least a social taboo,

you know, they didn't want it out there. Wait, you guys were supposed to protect that. No honor among thieves, friends. No honor among thieves. they decided to rebrand. Are you surprised by this, Mark? No. As we said here, single.

So Ashley Madison is rebranding from affairs to discrete dating. It's like going from diet to wellness. Do you think it's going to work? Discrete dating? I mean, probably. Let's listen to the crew who perhaps talks. about these things the best. The WGN team talk about this concept. The world's most famous cheating website, Ashley Madison is doing a bit of a rebrand. The company's old tagline read,

Life is Short, have an affair. That was before the infamous data link scandal. The CEO announced last week the platform is officially moving away from married dating. It will now embrace the world of discreet dating. The company says the idea is to keep their clients dating life out of the public eye. Ashley Madison's new official statement, says, whether they are single, separated, divorced, or non-monogamous, our community is united by a desire to keep their private lives exactly that. Private. In other words, they're still accepting cheaters.

Just being more careful about it. Somebody should hack them again. Just for kicks. I would suggest do your cheating in the wild. Don't do it on. Be honest about it is what you're saying? Be honest about your cheating. Do your cheating naturally.

and organically. I shouldn't tell this story, but I'm gonna. Do it. So I have a group of friends in a city that is not here that I used to hang out with. And they had a buddy who was clearly the side dude of a woman who was married. And the joke was, hey, so-and-so bringing his wife to the party. No, he's bringing a wife to the party. So cheating in the wild doesn't go well either.

That's true. Or you could just not. cheat. So I brought this up to you. Relieve yourself of some stress. There's other ways. There's other ways. Have some stones. Be them internal like me or external like others. Don't be one of those guys. Bad. I was telling you.

I just told you about the wife or a wife. There's a, I just got done watching something on Netflix called Love and Death. Called Not the Other Guys, Mark. Oh, man. Hey, I just hung in my head in shame for not having watched the rest of it. And Marshall's listening right now. He's doing the same. It's a 2023 biographical crime drama about Candy Montgomery, a Texas housewife,

who had an affair with her neighbor leading to the brutal axe murder of the neighbor's wife, Betty Gore. Does that ring a bell to you at all? No, and I'm kind of surprised because of the axe murder. Yeah. Yes, I just got done watching that seven episodes. series, to your point, that cheating in the wild does not go particularly well either when it comes down to an axe. I just love that.

I just love the concept of, whoa, we want to do this. But whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, you were supposed to keep our information private. Yeah, right. Something told in confidence is never told in confidence. Especially by people who are, as your word, nefarious, that they're cheating, that this is, and they usually are together for a while, and then one of them gets cheated on again. Oh, really? And that's different from like whatever agreement two people have entered into among themselves.

I'm not here to yuck people's yams. Oh yeah. Do you? But what did you expect? When I did this nefarious thing, I thought they would have a code. You? What? You and she and you.

So you expected integrity out of the place where you didn't want to have it? Interesting. And no, nobody I know has been on Ashley Madison. That you know of. How would you know? No, you think people are going to tell you that they're on Ashley Madison? Sometimes people tell me things they shouldn't. Okay.

I think that one they might even keep from you. I'm just saying. No, but I just laugh at the concept of, I don't want to have integrity, but I expected this website to keep it for me. Interesting. Interesting how you actually wanted integrity out of a party you entered into an agreement with. Perhaps that should be the study here. But you are right.

Yeah, there's an agreement and everybody's cool with it. go have fun. Yeah, I'm not here to hate on that because that I don't understand. That is not my business. But if we could just give one lesson, don't cheat on your partner. Don't do it.

It is very, very, very bad and uncool and unnecessary. Yeah. And you're a bad person if you do it. Mark told you. That's right. I just told you. That's it. For other questions in our lives,

five on it is next.