The Bill Simmons Podcast - Notes on LeBron’s Big Night, Plus Peter Schrager on the Best Chiefs-Eagles Storylines

Episode Date: February 8, 2023

The Ringer’s Bill Simmons discusses being in Crypto.com Arena to see LeBron James break the scoring title, a look back on LeBron's career, legacy, and more (1:45). Then Bill is joined by Peter Schrager of NFL Network and Fox Sports to talk about the 3 biggest storylines of Super Bowl 57, the Eagles’ path to the Super Bowl, Sean Payton heading to the Broncos, Lamar Jackson’s future, and more (33:18). Host: Bill Simmons Guest: Peter Schrager Producer: Kyle Crichton Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Cooldown is making climate topics actually interesting to learn about. They give you easy tips on hacks to waste less and save money. They have awesome product recommendations, and they can show you the coolest tech that's going to make our lives way better in the future. All you have to do is go to thecooldown.com to sign up for their newsletter. You can also follow them on Instagram. This is a topic that's going to dominate the next decade plus, and it's a good time to get smart on it.

This episode is brought to you by Prime Video. You know me, I can't go a day without sports. I really can't. And now Monday nights are all about hockey. That's right. There's a new exclusive home for streaming Monday night NHL hockey, and it's on Prime. All season long, watch Prime Monday night hockey deliver unreal plays, the biggest goals, can't miss moments. Matthews, McDavid, Crosby, the NHL's best. They're all on Prime. Prime Monday Night Hockey. It's on Monday. It's on Prime. It's the Bill Simmons podcast presented by FanDuel. Football is in full action. FanDuel's highest rated sports book is the best place to bet it all. We've been doing

pretty well on million dollar picks this year. I love the first month of the season because you have to go into the season thinking, I think Pittsburgh's going to be good. I think the chargers are going to be good. I think Seattle's going to be good. And then trying to back what you think in those first few weeks, and then zag the other way. If you were wrong, you could bet on new and fun markets on FanDuel, like to catch your pass, same game parlays, highest scoring game across the Sunday slate, offensive TDs in the next drive. They have so much stuff. It's crazy. The app is safe and secure and easy to use. And when you win, you'll get paid instantly. Plus, look out for FanDuel Squares this season. Here's what you

have to do. Visit FanDuel.com slash BS to download America's number one sports book. The Ringer is committed to responsible gaming. Please visit rg-help.com to learn more about the resources and helplines available and listen to the end of the episode for additional details. You must be 21 plus and present in select states. Gambling problem called

Win 100 Gambler or visit rg-help.com. We're also brought to you by The Ringer Podcast Network. Put up a new Rewatchables on Monday night. We did The Vanishing, a movie that was poorly reviewed and did not do well in the box office. And yet, Chris Ryan and I, we love it very much. It was on cable basically for 10 straight years,

starting in 1993. And just the definition of a rewatchable. Drink the coffee, Jeff. If you want to experience exactly what Diane experienced, you must drink the coffee. That was my bad Jeff Bridges imitation. Coming up on this podcast, we are going to talk about LeBron James

and the scoring record. I went to the Laker game tonight. I'm going to give you my full report and a bunch of additional thoughts. And then after that, Peter Schrager comes on to talk about Chiefs, Eagles, and a bunch of the NFL storylines from this week. And that's it for the pod. We had a double parter on Sunday night. And then on Thursday, we're going to do a big deadline extravaganza for the NBA trade deadline. So stay tuned for that. Let's bring in our friends Pearl Jam. All right, taping this, it is a little after 10.15 Pacific time.

Tuesday night, just came back from the Lakers game. LeBron broke the scoring record. It was a surprisingly awesome fan experience and basketball game and memorable and one of the strangest fun. I guess that's a new category, the strange fun basketball games. It was incredibly fun. It was hard not to think about 20 years of LeBron while you're watching it.

The number one thing, I don't know, I've heard other people say this and I've probably even said it, but I was just thinking nobody has done a better job delivering on the hype from an early age than this guy. Really, like if you just said when he was 18, he's going to win four rings and four MVPs, he's going to make 13 first team OVAs and he's going to break the scoring record. I think we would have thought that was ambitious, even for the amount of chosen one stuff that was happening. And it was hard not to think about that tonight.

He's 38 years old. He had his wife and his three kids there. And Jay-Z's there and Denzel's there. And that's when I didn't think he was going to break it tonight. I thought he was going to stretch it out this week and take it to Thursday. Got there super early, walked around. And the more you talk to people and you're like,

oh, this is happening tonight. He wore all black coming in. Everybody was there. And I think he just wanted to get it over with. And there was a vibe from the moment, uh, the first time he didn't score for the first couple of minutes. And then when he hit his first shot, everybody just lost their mind. And it was like watching somebody try to score 60, like in the, with four minutes left in the fourth quarter. Only the whole game felt like that. There was this energy of just like, just give the ball to LeBron, just give it to him. And every time he got the ball, people were just standing up and, um, the energy was awesome. And then Westbrook would come in and he would freeze

LeBron out and drive into three guys and people would get so frustrated. They just wanted LeBron to have it. But back to that hype thing, this just turned out as well as I think it ever could have. I've talked before about how you almost have to think about LeBron like a child actor or a child celebrity because by the time he was famous, he was 15, 16

and had just a ton of obstacles growing up as a kid. Just all the ways you can get screwed up when you join the league and you have that much pressure on you, all the people that want something from you. And he just was able to insulate himself with his family and these friends and some chosen business people. And just the biggest mistake he ever made was the decision. Was that, in retrospect, was that even that big of a deal?

Took care of his body, set a good example for everybody, and it all led to this night. And they had this T-shirt that they handed out to the people that went to the game after, some Nike T-shirt, but it said on the top, broke the record, but that was never the goal. And you could feel that during the game because he didn't play like LeBron in this game. He was kind of ball hoggy because he wanted to break the record and we wanted to break the record. So you think like the normal LeBron game, I always thought this should be like its own stat. Like

we've tripled doubles and a 27, seven and seven is like a LeBron game. That's like his career average. It's a typical LeBron game. If you go to any LeBron game, he's going to get 27, 7, and 7 at least. It's just going to happen. And he always lets the game come to him. I remember I wrote in 2014, I wrote a piece about whether he was a genius, which I decided that he was. And they, it's actually one of my favorite basketball pieces I've written. One of the things I loved about him, especially at his absolute peak was he would solve whatever was going on in the game. And I always thought like he was like a queen of the chessboard type of thing where it's like, Oh, what does this game need? I'll do this. And a lot of that hinged on, you know, the quality of his teammates,

which is why the piece I wrote in 2014, I was like, look, this Cleveland going back to Cleveland story, that sounds great. Makes for a great narrative, but he's going back to Cleveland because it gives us a better chance to win. He wants better teammates. He wants to win multiple titles and Cleveland is a better chance. But what he really wanted was like toys to play with. And he's had that in various ways over the years never really got there the first cleveland time in the miami run there were moments like the 27 game winning streak um some of the stuff that happened in the 2013 finals especially when the spurs really took them to the limits and the heat had to go up a level and lebron had to go up a

level um and then in cleveland like in 2016-17 offensively he figured out some stuff and he kept him to the limits and the heat had to go up a level and LeBron had to go up a level. And then in Cleveland, like in 2016, 17, offensively, he figured out some stuff and he kept kind of adding things, but, you know, he really was a team guy. And that's what, what I think like the basketball nerds like myself really loved about him. Like he always made the right decision almost to the point early in his career, you know shit because he'd pass up a game-winning shot because somebody in the team had a better shot. So watching him tonight just kind of go for the record, it was so atypical of him that I thought it threw the Lakers off.

The Lakers ended up losing to OKC. There's other reasons they lost, but he was playing an atypical LeBron game and it, in a weird way, made you realize that he was out of character because he had been in character for 20 years, which made it so probable that he broke this record in the first place.

He was never a go-for-the-points guy. And I think there's been games, and he had some great ones over the years when he really had to go for it. He had to score 40 points or he had to really, over and over again, try to get to the line or whatever. And he could get to 39 for it. He had to score 40 points or he had to really over and over again try to get to the line or whatever. And he could get to 39, 40, 41.

But it was always because it was probably the best way for them to win. I don't think he ever really wanted to play that way. I think his ideal line was like 29, 10, and 12. So tonight he couldn't play that way. The Lakers aren't that good. He wanted to get the record over with. Um, there was some really weird stuff.

I'll get back to LeBron in a second, but just really weird stuff that I'm going to remember from this game. Westbrook was like unhinged. Westbrook, the whole team's wearing yellow warmup shoots in the beginning in the layup line. He's wearing, the only one is not wearing a shirt. He goes, he leaves right after the game's about to start, goes in the locker room, comes back out when he's about to play, not really interacting with anybody, not really interacting with LeBron, comes in and it's just kind of like he's, he, he, to me looked, and I was with my

friend Noah and we both agreed, looked like he was just kind of pissed like that. They tried to trade him a couple of days ago that LeBron had that tweet or, or whatever the interview where he said that, you know, he admitted he was bummed out that they didn't make the Kyrie Irving trade. There's only one way to make the Kyrie Irving trade. Russell Westbrook had to be in it. So this has been eight months of Westbrook getting yanked around and the best guy in the team and one of the best players of all time.

And the guy is about to break the scoring record is basically like, man, I wish we had traded Russell Westbrook. And he just had a certain energy to him. There was a moment in the first quarter when LeBron was wide open and Westbrook just had a chance to throw it ahead to him for a layup. And he just threw it out of bounds. And we were like, that looked intentional. What was happening on that? So they didn't really interact. Even when LeBron broke the scoring record, Westbrook, like it was no, he just kind of stayed away from it. And, you know, LeBron had the whole thing. The game stopped. He had the whole thing in the middle of the court with the family. And then he went over to the teammates and Westbrook was standing at midcourt. It was very strange. It really, if it's not Westbrook's last game for the Lakers, I would be shocked. So that was weird and then Davis who I made a joke I tweeted during the game it was an honor to be there with two retired Laker legends

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Anthony Davis he was like a zombie I don't know what happened to him I thought he was healthy or relatively healthy OKC's doesn't even really have size and I know it's weird LeBron's going for the record Maybe it's hard to figure out how to fit in, but he was a step, two steps slow the whole game.

Wasn't protecting the rim. OKC was a layup line over and over again. They're beating people back door and the Lakers aren't getting 50-50 balls. Davis wasn't getting 50-50 balls. He was bad. I watched that game thinking, man, maybe the move is to trade Davis

like if they want to make the playoffs maybe try to get two guys for him I know they're not going to do that but it was just bizarre in that it's kind of the way he's played since he came back he's had some strange things which leads me to like the bigger piece they lose this game

to OKC they're now 25 and 30. Their third worst for points allowed per game. I think it's like 118.6, which is like, you're almost like an expansion team at that point. You're giving up that many points. I don't know how Kyrie was going to help this.

Watching tonight, that team is so bad defensively. They are so disorganized. They have so many below average defensive players. They have no ability to switch. They're playing like this half-assed zone at a couple of different points. And you just think like Kyrie was saving this. This is Kyrie was the missing piece. Kyrie doesn't guard anyone either. So you could say, oh, they would have outscored anybody, everybody. And maybe that was the goal if they got Kyrie was the missing piece. Kyrie doesn't guard anyone either. So you could say, oh, they would have outscored everybody. Maybe that was the goal

if they got Kyrie, Davis, and LeBron. But the way Davis was playing tonight, LeBron, 38 years old, I don't know if he has the ability to be the lead guy in a title team at this point. Seems mildly unrealistic when you're talking about guys at their peak athletic powers

like Giannis and Tatum and Jokic and Luka. I just don't know where this team goes. And back to the teammates thing and back to 20 years of LeBron, like he's always kind of ebbed and flowed with his teammates. And I think one of the big reasons he left Cleveland was he realized he wanted to play with better people. The same reason he left Miami. And eventually I reasons he left Cleveland was he realized he wanted to play with better people. The same reason he left Miami.

And eventually, I think he left Cleveland because he wanted to live in LA, but also that team was kind of coming to a dead end road too. This is now one of the most bleak supporting cast that he's had. OKC, at least if you just watch this game, I know this isn't the case big picture, but if you just watch this game, it looked like OK't the case, big picture, but if you just watch this game, it looked like OKC had three of the four best guys in the game. Giddy, Jalen Williams,

the wing, who's absolutely incredible. It was incredible. I was so psyched that I saw him in person. And then SGA, who was just a walking bucket and was getting mauled by Patrick Beverly the whole game. And the refs weren't calling it. Didn't matter.

SGA still got to his 30. I don't know where they go. I don't know what they do. Does Bradley Beal make this better? Like Noah and I were driving home. We're saying like, if they traded, they traded Davis to Chicago for Vucevic and Levine, is that going to ultimately change anything? They traded Westbrook and the two picks to Chicago for just Levine. Does he make any difference? Or Bradley Beal? They trade one pick for Bogdanovich.

Is that going to change what I saw tonight? Is it going to help the defense? They're so deficient on the wings for defense and for just, you watch them against a young, hungry team, like, okay, see you tonight. And it's just, it's bleak. So on the one hand, an amazing moment for LeBron, but on the other hand, I left the game thinking that team's fucked. I don't know what the move is. So, you know, could they get Durant? Could they put Davis and one of those picks and something else

did Durant? Maybe it's almost like they need to think higher than like that Beal Levine level. And could they take a bigger swing or just do nothing? And LeBron broke the record. I think the big thing for him tonight was this weirdly was the moment that he became a Laker. As strange as that sounds, he won a title for this team, but it was a bubble title. There were no fans there. There was no parade. There was not a lot of fun moments

the last couple of years other than that one bubble season. They looked like one of the best teams in the league heading into March. All of a sudden the season stops. It comes back. Now there's no fans. And in general,

he felt like a guy that was passing through town in a lot of ways. And tonight was the night, like this was an awesome moment. Um, I think the vibe with the, with the fans was like, I'm so excited to be here tonight. This is great. I'm here for history and LeBron's a piece of that. LeBron delivered that. So in a weird way, kind of became a Laker tonight. I know he brought them a final. I get it. I get it. But, you know, with Magic and Kareem there,

there was a little torch pass thing. And it was an amazing record. They had some stuff where they had some tributes from his family. And then they had a tribute from his mom. And then Joe Biden, which was greeted by laughs and boos. And the guys behind us were like, Joe Biden was like, congratulations, Kareem on breaking the scoring record. It was really funny. That was probably the comedy highlight of the night. But for the most part, pretty emotional night, pretty cool night, great basketball moment. I'm so glad I was there.

And it's always weird to go to a game where they're stopping it, in this case, in the third quarter because somebody broke a record. Also, there's 200 people on the court and everybody's got their phones out and it just felt like real history. It felt like a finals game, which is why I showed up early because I wanted to walk around, talk to different people. And it was like, it felt like June. So that unfortunately might be the highlight of the Lakers season. I think we might be headed that way. I said, I wrote in that column I mentioned in 2014, I wrote, Magic and Bird were done before I graduated college. Jordan came and went before I turned 30. Duncan, Kobe, Hakeem, and Shaq never quite got there. All of them were great,

but they were never all caps great. Durant might be a magnificent scorer and an even better teammate, but it's hard to imagine him getting to that last level. After him, you're looking at Anthony Davis, someone with an infinitely better chance to become the next Duncan than a basketball genius. And there's nobody on the immediate horizon.

This might be it for a while. And I said, I was there for Larry. I was there for Magic. I was there for Michael. And I was there for LeBron James. And then the calm ended a little bit after that. But I still feel that way. Those are the four best guys I ever saw.

I saw Kareem, you know, when he was really at his all-time peak in the 70s. I don't really remember it. I remember more 80s Lakers Kareem, who's still incredible, but was not at the same kind of level. And other than that, like, you know, you think of the current guys,

Giannis, to me, looks like he's going to be in that Duncan, kind of Kobe, Hakeem, Shaq level, but not that last, last level. Luka, I think definitely has a chance. Jokic, not sure yet. I don't want to rule it out because offensively he's such a genius, but the thing, like I was thinking about LeBron's career

and all the different little checkpoints he hit, right? Where I wrote in my basketball book, there were four Jordans, right? 1.02,.03,.04,.04 was like the last Bulls Jordan. The 96, 97, 98 Jordan. Where it's like not the same athletic ability, but the smarts and the know-how and just the experience. And he was just an absolute murderer at that point.

There's three versions of LeBron. I think the 1.0 was 03 to 11, probably ending in that terrible Dallas series. Then the 2.0 version was 2012 to 2018. He just started to figure it out and add stuff. And I'll get into that in a second. And then this 3.0 version was this 2018 to 23 version where athletically he's not the same guy, but the smarts. And he's like that older guy in the pickup game who just knows everything to

do, all the right places to be. He could just get any shot he wants. And in a weird way, like he's averaging more points the last two years than I think he's ever averaged. But athletically, he's not, I don't think, the same guy. He's stronger. He's more physical. He's figured out some bully ball stuff. But I was thinking about some of the checkpoints for him. The most important moments that kind of propped him

with the peak being 2018 game one, 2018 game one finals, which is the best game I've ever seen anyone play in person. But the checkpoints to me, and I might've missed a couple, but this is just from a basketball standpoint. He lost the jump ball in game seven with like a minute left against the Celtics.

There was a jump ball and him and Pierce went for it and Pierce was just stronger and tougher and got the ball. And you can go back and you can watch it on YouTube. And LeBron came back the next year just stronger. Like that was never happening again. I felt like that was really an important moment for him that he didn't get the ball. Pierce got it. Pierce was stronger. Like that was never happening again. I felt like that was weirdly an important moment for him that, um, he didn't get the ball.

Pierce got it. Pierce was stronger. He was older. He was tougher. He had a little more know-how and he just wanted it more. And LeBron just wasn't strong enough. Came back. He was strong.

Went two straight MVPs. Maybe that would have happened anyway, but I do think that jump ball is important. 2011, the finals, how Dallas defended him and how they exposed some of the holes in his game. Because the rule was like, let LeBron shoot from 20. He's not really going to post up. And Dallas took it to a whole other level and the Jedi mind tricked them. They were putting smaller people on him, famously JJ Barea. They're putting kid on him.

They're just throwing off. Marion was on him a lot in that series, which I think people forget. But they just threw all these different looks at him, and his brain kind of broke. They just, they broke him. Comes back the next year, it all leads to that game six in Boston,

which I wrote about, when Boston's up 3-2, and they just break him. But they didn't. If anything, it flips the other way. And LeBron has one of the great games of his career. And that was when it's like, all right, now we know you can't break this guy anymore.

So now how is he going to elevate as an offensive player? 2013 Finals. That was when the Spurs, they tried to Jedi mind fuck them again. They, they were like, we're going to give you the 20 footer. We dare you give you the three.

You can take it. You're just not getting in the basket. And Zach Lowe wrote a piece of it. He did a really good piece on his pin this week. And he talked to LeBron actually about it a little bit, but he, he mentioned a specific shot. And I remember this cause I covered that finals and we did TV for it.

When near the end of the comeback, or near the end of the game where they came back, like a minute left, LeBron was driving right. And the guy five years later would have just pulled up and taken a 17 footer. But this LeBron like didn't want to take the shot and ended up passing off in his bad play and then didn't score.

Miracle comeback, they win. In game seven, he's taken that shot. And it's like he just kind of willed himself. Yeah, I think he had 37 that last game. The evolution of him from game six and game seven. Game six, he played nine of the best minutes I've ever seen him play. You're just talking about a stretch. There's nine minutes there. And I think

I wrote about it at the time, um, where he just did everything where it wasn't just the offense. Like he was doing anything we wanted on offense, but then defensively, he was like Scotty Pippen in 1992. Like it was just unbelievable to watch. He was such an amazing athlete back then. Not that he's not now, but you know what I mean? He was just like, there was just nobody like him. He was like Jordan Cross with Pippen. But that somewhere along that series, he just kind of willed himself to start making those shots. So that was a checkpoint. Then I think 2016, those last three Golden State games where he really was starting to match the IQ stuff with the body, Not that he wasn't a genius already, but he was just solving the Warriors.

And there was that, I've talked to Steve Kerr about this, that when he got the two threes in a row over Azeale, and he just, as soon as he just got him in a switch twice in a row, the first time, Azeale didn't jump out enough. And then the second time he baited Azili into jumping into him. I think that was the sequence. It was one of the times he baited him to jump in. The other time he didn't.

He just was yo-yoing Azili. And it was like watching a masterclass. So you have that. And then the last one, I think, was the best game I ever saw him play. The game one of the finals when he's just bully balling. It's Golden State. And from a scorer standpoint,

that game, that 2018 game one, he had 51. He had 51, 8, and 8. He was 19 for 32, made three threes, and 10 for 11 from the line. But when you think of the difference between him in 2011, the way Dallas was defending him versus all the stuff he added all the strength he added

and he was just like this now he was almost like watching Derrick Henry running through the line you know he could just anytime he wanted bully himself to the basket and he really bullied the Warriors in that game they couldn't stop him

that was you know the 2017 is the best team I've ever seen. Them or the 86 Celtics. The 18 team was still 95% of that team and it was basically them versus LeBron. And he was kicking their ass and then J.R. Smith fucked it up. But going backwards,

when you just talk about him as a scorer, because I don't, hey, this has been an error this week, but nobody thinks of him like a scorer, even though he's a scorer. But you think of like the scorers like Bernard King, Kevin Durant, you know, just the people that you just knew them for the buckets. And you got a ton of buckets. As we found out today, he broke the record. But man, you go back through some of his great games. In the 08 game, seven against Boston, that jump ball game I mentioned, he had 45. He's 14 for 29, 14 for 19 for the free throw line. And then it starts to dip a little like

2010 game five against Boston. This is before he started really adding the weapons. He was three for 14, 2011 game four against Dallas. This was the famous true stink bomb from him. Six points, nine rebounds, seven assists, three for 11 from the field. stink bomb from him. Six points, nine rebounds, seven assists, three for 11 from the field, 0 for 3, three points. Now you go a year later, that game six against Boston, 45-15-5, 19 for 26, only made two threes.

And only five free throws. It was just anything you wanted, jump shots, layups, it was getting it. I mentioned that 2013 game seven against San Antonio. That was 37-12-4. 12 for 23, 8 for 8 from the line. And then you just start going through some of those Warriors games. 2015 game four, which was a must win.

They ended up losing, but he threw everything at them. 40-14-11. 15 for 34, field goal. Little like tonight, where it was like, I'm getting the record. That night, it was like, we have nothing else. I got to keep shooting. 2016 game five, when they flipped the series

after Draymond got suspended. 41, 16, and seven. 16 for 30, field goal. 2017 game three against the Warriors, which was an awesome, awesome, awesome game. People kind of had thrown away that series,

Golden State one and five. Game three was incredible. Durant hits the big shot to win it. LeBron was 39-11-9, 15 for 27. And then Nistusum, he hit these two games in a row.

2018 game seven, Boston, plays 48 minutes. 35-15-9. 12 for 24, and paced the game in a way that I don't ever really remember seeing before because he knew he had to play every minute. Team wasn't good. He was on the road and just the game, he's just picking his spots. It's a little similar to the flu game, not the flu game, the game where Jordan made the

shot against Utah in 98. And then that 2018 game won 51-8. He goes 19 for 32 and 10 for 11 for the line. So he evolves from that 2008 game when he had 45 against Boston, mostly jump shots and free throws, to now he's adding. He's got the bully ball. I'm just getting to the basket. You're not stopping me. He's got the little turnaround. Um, he's got that 20 footer down and he's just got an arsenal. And you know, I really think he was a great scorer. I know that's

like, Oh wow, really Simmons, that's your take. He was a great scorer. But you know, I always think like Durant is a great scorer. I think Durant's the best scoring forward I've ever seen. But I feel like I haven't given LeBron enough credit for what an awesome scorer he was. I mean, 40,000 points is in play now. The scoring record, it's a weird record because, like, with baseball,

I knew what the hits record, it's a weird record because like with baseball, I knew what the hits record was, right? It's like, oh, Pete Rose needs to get 4,192. I knew what the Lou Gehrig record was. You go on, like, you know what the 33-game Laker winning streak was. You know the numbers. And this number, it's like Kareem has a record. It's 38,000-something.

And yet, if he gets 40,000, I'm almost more impressed by that than the Kareem thing, because that opens the door for him to have 40,000, 10,000 assists, 10,000 rebounds, which I don't think anyone will ever do again. At least while I'm alive, 40,000, 40, 10, 10 club, probably not happening. The thing with Kareem, Kareem really gets boned by having the four years in college. He finished, like his first three years as an NBA player,

he scored almost 7,800 points. He figured if he has, if he just skips college, which was not the rule back then, he's probably got an extra like 7,000. I wonder, it would be funny if Kareem was just, if he was like hot take guy,

like, you know, I would have, if we didn't have the rules, we're different. I would have had 46. The other thing with LeBron, he's got 7,631 playoff points. So the 50K combined is in play.

And the durability just has to be mentioned. Like usually centers are the only ones that are this durable. LeBron, you think like all the guys in my pyramid, you go on down the line and all of them had some sort of injury, right? I guess Russell didn't

and LeBron, but Jordan, like Jordan broke his foot. He went to play baseball for a couple years. Bird had the back stuff. Magic disappeared for a few years, obviously. Going down the line, Wilt missed, I think, the 1970, most of the 1970 season.

West had a bunch of injuries. Oscar's body broke down pretty fast. Go through each guy. Shaq missed a lot of different time with a lot of stuff. And LeBron just, it's like, what was LeBron's worst injury? I don't remember. I think he hurt his knee in 2019. LeBron just, it's like, what was LeBron's worst injury? I don't remember. Like he, he heard, I think he hurt his knee in 2019, 2015. He was, his back was bothering him or his leg. I don't remember, but he just never had a major one. So the durability. And then the last thing with him

that was the thing we talked about a few years ago. And then we forgot as we talked about the goat argument, I think it's him and Kareem now for greatest career of all time. And LeBron probably That was the thing we talked about a few years ago and then we forgot is we talked about the GOAT argument. I think it's him and Kareem now for greatest career of all time. And LeBron probably has a slight edge. But you forget Kareem has more MVPs and he won more titles. So it's those two in that conversation. And the GOAT conversation is,

I still feel like it's Jordan and LeBron and Russell and Kareem. I think the four of them have to at least be discussed. You have to ask what you want. The one conversation that I think LeBron might have won is that if you had five of the same guy and you just had a team of one guy and it was a bracket

and it was that team of one guy against that team of one guy and it was a bracket and it was that team of one guy against that team another guys you have five lebrons five jordans five kareems going down the line five birds five magics which five would win the bracket it's probably lebron and then if you made it so that it's the five versions of a guy. So with LeBron, maybe you go like 2008, 2010, 2012, 2016, 2018, something like that. You actually would have a really good team. The 2018 LeBron could probably play center. But the five LeBron's theory is one of my favorite. If you're going to make the case for the GOAT, and as I've said, Jordan is my guy. Jordan's going to be my GOAT. That was one of the big theses in my basketball book.

But the five LeBron's thing is pretty tough. The people arguing the LeBron GOAT stuff, you have a lot of shit to argue. You have, he's got the points record. He's third in minutes. He's eighth the points record. He's third in minutes. He's eighth in threes. He's fourth in assists. This is all time.

35th in rebounds, 11th in games. Fifth in points per game, 27.2. He's third in PER, second in win shares. Then you go to the playoffs. He's first in games, first in minutes, first in points, sixth in points per game, third in threes. He's had 18 All-NBAs, 13 firsts, three seconds.

That's the most. He's had 174 playoff wins. That's the most, and it's still going. And I think the shame of this, whether you hate the Lakers or not, is that LeBron's team kind of sucks. And it sucked for a couple years, and this was not the most awesome way for this to end. Had he not signed the extension,

I think he would have probably pushed for a trade this week even though his son is about to be in the playoffs for Sierra Canyon. I think the rings are going to really matter to him as this keeps going because he's going to have all the other stuff. But from a GOAT standpoint, people are still going to point to all the Russell rings.

They're going to point to all the Jordan rings. They're going to point to the Kareem MVP and all the rings he has that's just both or more than LeBron. And he can win the greatest career thing, but he's going to need to be in the mix. It's just going to be so sad if you love basketball that you're just going to waste this guy's talents

on mediocre teams for the rest of the way. And that's how this might play out. And it's because they traded all that stuff for Davis. They traded all that stuff for Westbrook. And they don't really have a lot left. So there's a lot of pressure on these next two days. We'll see how it plays out. My guess is they made a deal with him

that they would make a trade when he signed the extension. Should they do that? Should they give up those picks? Do you give up your entire 2020s to try to win him a 38-year-old LeBron James and Anthony Davis, who seems like he's 38, at least tonight? I don't know. But regardless, it was an amazing game to go to. It really was. I really had a good time. I didn't even mind that I was it was an amazing game to go to. It really was. I really had a good time. I didn't even mind that I was surrounded by 20,000 Laker fans. Usually I have mine. Tonight, I didn't mind.

Pretty good sporting event. When we come back, we're going to talk to Peter Schrager. Let's take a break. Football fans, Fandle is the perfect way for everyone to get in on the Super Bowl 57 action with a no-swe sweat seam game parlay. That means everyone gets bonus bets back if your Super Bowl SGP doesn't hit. Doesn't matter if you're new to Fando,

if you already have an account. Same game parlays let you combine all your favorite bets for a much bigger payday. Start building your own or just bet a popular SGP already made for you in America's number one sportsbook.

Stay tuned for the Bill Simmons podcast on Thursday. We'll be making up crazy bets like you do an adjusted Eagles plus seven and a half Chiefs plus seven and a half and bet Isaiah Pacheco to score two touchdowns. That'll get you some. That'll get you some juice. Isaiah Pacheco right now plus 650 to score two touchdowns. Throw those other two, and now we're in the 10 to one, 11 to one range. Yeah, that's what happens when you do SGPs.

If you're new to FanDuel, send a promo code BS when you download the app. Either way, you'll get bonus bets back if you're no sweats. Same game parlay doesn't hit. Make every moment more with FanDuel, official sportsbook partner of the NFL and a big friend of the ringer.

Must be 21 plus in select states, three plus legs, minimum $1 bet required. Refund issues, non-restorable bonus bets, which expire seven days after receipt. Max bonus $5 unless otherwise specified restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. This episode is brought to you by my old friend, Miller Lite. I've been a big fan of Miller Lite, man, since college days when I was allowed to have beer. I think nephew Kyle is a fan too. Miller Lite keeps it simple for us.

Undebatable quality, great taste. Picture this, it's game day, all the gang's here. You're tailgating outside the stadium. It's a great time for beer. Or how about when you're standing at the grill and the smell of sizzling burgers is in the air? Moments like that. Or when you want a light beer that tastes like beer, that's delicious.

You don't want to load up on those heavier beers and then you only have two of them. Then you feel tired. Your stomach feels full. Miller Lite, it's your friend. It just accompanies whatever else you're doing. You're super happy with it. Opening an ice cold Miller Lite can signal the beginning of Miller Time. Miller Lite is the light beer with all the great beer tastes we like. 90 calories per 355

mil can. So why not grab some Miller Lites today? Your game time tastes like Miller Time. Must be legal drinking age. This episode is brought to you by Movember. The mustache is back with a vengeance. Look at Travis Kelsey. Before he rocked that Super Bowl ring, he rocked that super soup strainer. Grow a mustache for Movember. You'll do great things too. You won't win the Super Bowl, but your fundraising will support mental health, suicide prevention, and prostate and testicular cancer research. And if you don't want to grow a mustache, you could still walk or run 60 kilometers, host an event, or set your own goal and mow your own way. Do great things this November. Sign up now. Just search Movember. All right, Peter Schrager is here. The Super Bowl is coming this weekend. It is a Fox

event. You're working the Super Bowl, correct? Hell yeah, dude. I'm fired up. Pre-game Sunday, I'm assigned to the Chiefs, meaning I'm the guy who's like, I'm at the team bus. I'm in the bus. They're getting off the bus. So I'm fired up, man. It's going to be awesome. Peter, how did Mahomes look leaving the bus? Was he limping? It's crazy. Spags was telling me as he was walking on that the defense is going to try to stop the run.

Yeah, I'm going to bring all the gems. Truth of the matter is I'm fired up. We got good morning football from Arizona Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and then Sunday I'm in pregame, and then I'll be on the postgame show interviewing all the guys so fired up but you know

it's like there's different parties that I'm like sort of excited for sort of dreading and you know the whole deal it's bad because post COVID we haven't had it like this in a while you sounded I thought you were going to do a Collinsworth for a second like you know so many parties

you just gotta behave yourself. You can't get divorced. This guy can't get divorced. So you had to do content all week with no games, which means you have to go into the storylines and the narratives. There's a lot of narrative talk. So much narrative. A lot of putting people in perspective, legacies.

So what was it? It was Mahomes was like the number one thing what give us the top three let's go top two narratives top three andy reed okay oh little andy reed is he is he as good as belichick maybe kind of a little bit of that hey 14 years with the eagles ended a little weird. They thought they were parting ways and that he would take a year off after some tragedy in his life. And three days after they showed him the door, he signed on with Kansas City and just rebuilt this franchise. Andy against the Eagles. And when Andy got the job in Kansas City over the course of time, brought over his GM, Brett Veach, brought over Steve Spagnuolo, brought over Matt Nagy, brought over Greg Lewis, brought over all these different executives. Mark Donovan, the president, joins Kansas City from Philadelphia.

So this is sort of like a Philadelphia group in Kansas City going up against the Eagles. That would be one. Number two, I think is something that is- Wait, can I piggyback on that one for a second? Get in. Yeah. It's weird because it does feel like the Reed versus Philly thing is like kind of a natural Super Bowl angle. So maybe that'll get going this week where it's like, wait, what really

happened there? And my memory is, and I'm just doing this off the top of my head, but he was awesome in the 2000s. They had a great run. And then he kind of got the quarterback thing wrong and never really corrected it. And it seems like that's the thing that it doesn't matter how great of a coach you are, the moment you don't have an awesome quarterback or a good quarterback or even an above-average quarterback,

it doesn't matter. Here's what happened. You're going to go 8've done, I've done all the work on it. And obviously I was covering it at the time and it was the dream team Eagles. And there was all this excitement in 2011 and they had a couple other years and they went four and 12. And in the summer, his son tragically passed away. And it was like, all right, four and 12, you know, Michael Vick was the quarterback after, you know, Kevin Cobb got injured and after McNabb was already traded to Washington. And it was like, I think Jeffrey Lurie brought, you know, Andy Rudin. And I think the assumption was we both know it's probably best for you to take some time and this has run its

course. It's 14 years. And the story goes, and I forgot who wrote it, Paul, um, Dom, Domatovich, who was like the local Philly guy, who wrote it paul um damatavich who was like the local philly guy he wrote it and at the time and it was you know when andy was was let go it was like they brought him to the cafeteria in philadelphia and basically every employee was down there waiting with like tears and like wanted to hug the big guy goodbye and like just and he was you know like no i'm not taking a year off. I'm not like three, three days later, it takes the chiefs job and takes them from the number one pick all the way to the playoffs.

And they've gone nine out of 10 times. So there is this kind of deal where it's like, ah, no, I like to coach football and here we are. So that was how Andy's time. And then he finally gets the quarterback thing. Right.

Even though McNabb was really good in the two thousands, but I think we felt like there was this extra level that he just never got to. And now he's actually become underrated. And then from that point on, he's scrambling to find the next guy. And it feels like he gets it with Vic, but it doesn't.

And then it was like, oh, there's Kevin Cobb. What's going on here? Then it was like, oh man, Alex Smith. He's rejuvenated this guy's and yeah not really um and it all leads to mahomes it does and and he and mahomes have been fantastic the uh the second storyline that's been beat to shit but it's kind of interesting if you ask me still is the kelsey brothers thing and this is a gimmick it's fun it. But I don't know. We know the Manning brothers are out there. They were both quarterbacks, never played in a Super Bowl. We know that we've had

the Barber brothers. Now I deal with one of the McCourty brothers. You can go right down the list. There's a million football siblings, the Diggs brothers. I think these guys both might be Hall of Famers and they're playing against each other in a Super Bowl. And they are on different teams. They are both playing in the same position, but they're both going for number two. And each one of their stories is really interesting. I had a chance to speak with Jeffrey Lurie, the owner of the Eagles,

and I said, you know, the Yankees in the 90s had their core four, you know? And it was Posada and Bernie. And as you know, it was Jeter and Mariano. And those were the core four. They were the guys. The Eagles, whether it's Brandon Graham, it's Fletcher Cox, it's Lane Johnson, and it's Jason Kelsey front and center from that last Super Bowl team that are kind of the lead guys on this team. So I identify, if you're telling me who's the face of the Eagles, it's

Jalen Hurts. But who's the heart and soul of the Eagles? It's Jason Kelsey. And if you say, who's the face of the Chiefs? It's Patrick Mahomes. Who's the heart and soul of the Chiefs? Who's been there through it all? It's Travis Kelsey. So I think it's still cool. I know people are over it.

And like Kyle Brandt and I are having fun. He's like, wait, you're telling me they're actually blood brothers? No, dude, they're really, wait, the mom, the mom, they're really like, it's going to get to that point. And, you know, they've got a podcast that's doing well. Like they're really... Wait. The mom... They're really like, it's going to get to that point. And they've got a podcast that's doing well. They're hitting their apex, both of them right now

at the same time. And I think it is a cool story. They're both facing each other in the Super Bowl. I don't know if Super Bowl, like all the storyline hype stuff matters as much as it once did because there's just so much more content

in day-to-day stuff now. It's fair. That just 20 years ago, it really felt like we were grasping for straws. I remember... did because there's just so much more content in day-to-day stuff now. It's fair. Just 20 years ago, it really felt like we were grasping for straws. I remember I went to a bunch of media days. Dude, you took a photo. I remember you took camera shots. You tried mixing it up. I remember you took all the photos. I did running. That was in Miami?

Rams Paths. I did a running diary where I just jotted down timestamp jokes and ran back and just typed them all out and eventually became a photo thing. But now I feel like it gets, I feel like the trade deadline has moved in a little bit on it this week, especially, but just in general, it just seems like there's more content. You know, those media days and they're having one Monday night. I'll never forget. Like I, I used to go as a credentialed reporter and I was a junior guy and I would be

like, this is a chance for me to A, try to get a story out of this that no one else has. B, build sources. I'll go up to the assistant offensive line coach and try to talk him up and try to build that. But C, that was the opportunity to meet a Bill Simmons, to meet a Peter King. Now it's like, I don't even know if that's even a thing anymore. It's just it's at night. The guys are on podiums. I don't know. It's way too self-aware. When I wrote my first thing about it in 01,

I really hadn't read anybody writing about what the hell is going on here. I was so excited to write the column. I see this on SportsCenter or the local TV, but I don't really understand it. So what happens? And by around 2005, it did feel like it started to get self-aware and now at the podiums and stuff, it's a whole other animal. Plus the gambling piece, I think has really changed some of the Superbowl hype because back in the day, it was just like,

who's going to win? Well, if there was like Sal and I talked about on Sunday, there was probably 50 props, something like that. But in general, it was who's going to cover was maybe a small thing. Now the gambling feels like it's one of the biggest storylines leading up to the week. What's going to happen? Who do you like? What about this bet? How's the line moving over here?

Yeah. And that's become part of the dialogue, which is weird. All right. What's the line moving over here yeah yeah and that's become part of the dialogue which is weird all right what's the number three story the number three story i think is this chief's team and what they can put their stamp on i kind of hit on it when we did it before the afc championship game but yeah there's been a lot of teams that have won one super bowl there's a lot of teams who have been to multiple super bowls and won one and i think of the rams for example the seahawks for example but like you go through the decades and i've've said it, the 50s were the Browns, 60s were the Packers, 70s were the Steelers, 80s were the Niners, 90s were the Cowboys.

Two decades in the 2000s were the Patriots. Chiefs win this one, you're talking two Super Bowl wins in five years, three appearances. The other two years, they were in the AFC Championship game. And they're the team of this generation. Your son is what, 16 right now? Like when he looks back at his childhood, 15, Ben's going to say, oh, the Chiefs were the team, you know, just like. I've absolutely hit him with a belt. It's true though. It's true though. That'll be the team if they can get another one here.

And I think the way they've rebuilt on the fly, I thought it was a very bold decision to trade Tyreek Hill, but I'll go through the numbers with you, Bill. They have from last year's AFC championship team. They have 24 different players on their roster. That's out of 53. That's more than 40%, 24 different guys. Tyreek Hill is making $30 million for the dolphins.

And I don't think the dolphins regret that he was a finalist for NFL offensive player of the year. It made sense. Their wide receivers room totals $15 million this season, and they have hit on the draft. It's cool to watch these teams in a salary cap era rebuild

on the fly, and yes, they gave all the money, and Sean Payton calls it. You kind of have to do that if you're paying Mahomes $50 million. You can't not. That's what killed the Patriots ultimately was they missed a couple drafts. Absolutely, sean and patriots didn't even have brady you know making the big money sean payton calls this the super max deal which is an nba term obviously but you get to that point where you're talking like the bills you know josh allen i think is making close to you know something

like 40 million dollars next year and okay where are you gonna get better next year. Are you going to get better next year? You can't miss. You have to hit it. That's what happened the last couple Brady Pats years when they missed a couple drafts and all of a sudden, it's like basketball. It's like what's happened to the Lakers now with LeBron and Davis and Russ.

You basically have to get lucky with Lonnie Walker and Austin Reeves. They did seven of those in a row just to compete. So the Chiefs, it's like they don't, they pay Kelsey, they pay Chris Jones, they pay the quarterback. And then, you know, Juju's on a one year, I think, you know, $10 million deal. You look at Marquez Valdez-Scantling is on a three year, $30 million deal. These are all, you know, economically sound, fiscally sound deals, and they're getting

the most out of all of those rookies who are making nothing. I mean, Pacheco's a seventh round pick. Jalen Watson's a seventh round pick. So I think the construction of the team- The Pacheco ones, that's ridiculous. 17 running backs were taken before him this year. You just shouldn't be able to get a seventh rounder to contribute. And we saw two of the final four teams struck oil in the seventh round. That never fucking happens ever. would say, well, we're paying this quarterback as much. Woe is me. Well, no. You just have to draft really well, and you've got to coach him up, and you've got to get going. Philly's construction's cool, too. In short,

you know, Hasan Reddick, three-year deal that no one was considering him as one of the top guys. He's one of the top sack guys. They got him in March. And when everyone else sits on their hands, what do the Eagles do? They go and they trade for A.J. Brown. They go and they sign Ndamukong Su. They trade for Chauncey Gardner-Johnson. They sign Bradbury. There's something to that to, hey, we're pretty

good. Let's be great. Let's be aggressive. So I like both these front office stories also. The one thing with Philly I would add is they once became kind of a semi-sunk cost and they acted quickly versus kind of keeping their fingers crossed that it might turn around. And I think in general, football and other sports, you just don't see teams admit early. They always admit late, right? There's always that extra year before you kind of admit defeat. Like the Nets with Kyrie this year.

They should have gotten out of that last year. So now they get 60 cents on the dollar. They get Dinwiddie and Finney Smith. And it's like, well, if we did it last year before all this, who knows what we would have gotten out of that last year. So now they get 60 cents on the dollar. They get Dinwiddie and, you know, Finney Smith. And it's like, well, if we did it last year before all this, who knows what we would have gotten. Or you reconstruct the roster. But just to think like, no, this will be the year it works out with them. I think they got out of that Wentz thing not only early,

but they were able to get a pick from it. Got a first round pick from the Colts. And they also fired Peterson when he was two years removed from the Superts. And then the Hurts pick. They also fired Peterson when he was two years removed from the Super Bowl and people were like, what are you doing? And they brought in Sirianni

who had never called a play in an NFL career and it was just, it was what they needed. It was a culture change and it was, they hit it. The Hurts pick too

when you already have Wentz. Not popular at the time. You already spent a lot of capital on a QB with a, what was he, first or second?

I can't remember. He was second, right? Jalen Hurd or Wentz was the second overall pick. Yeah. So then you spend a high second on this other quarterback. People are like, what are you doing? And now they have somebody in Ricky QB. The team construction's good.

I think there's some Mahomes stuff that I'm sure will get momentum as the next couple days go. He's on pace to have. I get it. Yeah, it's early. It's early. But Brady obviously is in a league of his own, but stats-wise, Mahomes is doing everything that Manning did in war.

So there is something to it if he gets two rings at this pace. Not that he's going to get seven, but all right. There's that level and you do the pyramids all the time. Is Mahomes knocking on the top of that pyramid if he gets a second ring by 27? So we picked the Chiefs before the year. We both did. I think we were the we had to have been two of the only ones, right?

I think so. I think the Tyreek thing was looming so large and we were just like, screw it. They're pissed off. I'm really proud of myself. I'm going to take a big turn off. I'm really proud of myself. I'm going to take a big turn to that. I'm really proud of myself. I had some good zags. Buffalo was another one. Everybody was just going absolutely insane about Buffalo.

I was like, wait, what? They blew a playoff game with 13 seconds left off a kickoff. Why are we so excited about this team? But I feel good about that. On the other hand, I abandoned it and I thought it was going to be Cincinnati, San Francisco heading into the playoffs.

So I don't even know if I get credit for the Chiefs thing anymore. But we talked about it two weeks ago, Chiefs-Bengals. Chiefs end up winning. Every day I get away from that game and I don't really care. I didn't lose money on it. I teased the Bengals.

So it's not like I'm like, oh man, it's not one of those. I still feel like the Bengals have to be sitting there thinking they left that game on the table. They had the ball twice in the last eight minutes, right? With an awesome QB. They knew what to do, move the ball. And all they had to do was just go down the field and they're in the Super Bowl again. And then we're having a totally different conversation about is Burrow now the guy? The Spangles? Could this be a potential half-decade, mini-little,

not dynasty, but run here? And they just blew it. And the Chiefs, I think Jacksonville, I think they kind of blew that game. I know Mahomes got hurt, but that's my question as I look ahead. How lucky were the Chiefs to I think Jacksonville, I think they kind of blew that game. I know Mahomes got hurt, but that's my question as I look ahead. How lucky were the Chiefs to be here versus how good is this team? That's the balance.

That's fair. They earned that number one seed. I think they did. People would say, well, the Bills got screwed because of the game. Well, they earned the number one seed, and then they took care of business. And the Eagles, there's a lot of talk this week, and I think people are reaching for things a little bit, but there's a lot of talk about, hey, look at the quarterbacks the Eagles have beaten this season.

They only played two excellent quarterbacks, and it was Dak Prescott, who might not even be considered excellent, and Aaron Rodgers in the last two months, and they both, you know, one put up 33, one put up 40. You know, they beat Daniel Jones and Josh Johnson in the playoffs. But my thing with that one is they knocked Purdy out of the game. Hassan Reddick blew past George Kittle and knocked their quarterback out of the game. That is not a freak injury. That is part of football. So to me, I, by the way, this is Jeff Chow, who, uh, who's been with me at the ringer for seven. This is what he said. He's been with me at the Ringer for seven years.

This is what he said. He was like, save me the boo-hoo about your injured quarterback. We knocked that dude out of the game because you couldn't block. Because you had a backup tight end blocking Hassan Redick. Absolutely. That's what happens. They didn't protect him. I think it's fair.

As for the Chiefs in the Bengals game, I've had a lot of time to talk to people around the league about the officiating because I think there was outrage over that. And yeah, it was. It was questionable. And obviously, a lot of those calls went in the Chiefs' favor. The question is, what do we do with this? And I actually informally polled a few coaches. And right now, there's some questions as to how these playoff officials are determined. As you know, they're all-star crews, which basically means they're graded by the league. And they say, okay, the best referee gets to do the Super Bowl, the second best referee gets to do the AFC Championship game, the third, and the best

line judges. It's kind of an all-star team and they're really going at it more or less on the fly. Well, I spoke to one coach who is very vocal about officiating and he said this, and I'd like to think your thoughts on this. He said this, and I'd like to think your thoughts on this. He said, the ones who are going to bitch the most are the coaches. The fans are second. The coaches are the ones who are always going to be the ones to say, what the hell? Why don't you pull at the end of the regular season, the coaches and say, rank your top 16 crews. The coaches know the crews inside and out. Rank them one to 16. It doesn't have to be public. Keep it anonymous. And then the coaches are the ones who are on the hook when, hey, you get Carl Cheffers in the Super Bowl and you don't like Carl Cheffers' style of calling. Well, you guys voted on it. Or Sean Hockley's calling a big game and you're not a Sean Hockley fan. Well, the coaches voted on it. I thought it was pretty interesting. We'll see how it's handled. But between not having full-time officials and this all-star crew type deal where they're picked by the league and a lot of different coaches. I've never understood the all-star crew because I would think there would be a cohesiveness that

develops over 18 weeks. And now you're just kind of throwing people together like it's an all-star game. At the very least, it would seem like, I don't know enough about an NFL officiate to know who the three most important refs out of the crew is, but at the very least, it seems like it should be, whether it's three or four or whatever, it should be those guys travel and then you kind of fill in the rest maybe.

But yeah, look, you know my theory and I've had this theory dating back to when I was at Grantland that I think the league likes complaints about the officials. Go on. I think they feel like people are talking. This isn't a bad thing.

People are used to this. I had a thought like Monday morning after that Chiefs-Spangles game, we had this production meeting for Good Morning Football, and I'll take you behind the curtain. You know how these studio shows go, and they start off and they're like, all right, let's talk about Mahomes' heroic play. And I said, guys, the conversation is the officiating. Should we start the show with referee radio

is what me and Kyle call it. Like, you know, just call sports radio, complain about the... Like, do we want to start it that way or do you want to start about Mahomes? And the audience, 99% of them, after we talked about the Chiefs to start the show, were like, this is bullshit.

Quit covering up for the league. Like, talk about the officials. So people do crave it. That's what they want. They want their blood. They want their juice. And we did get to the officials. It's tough because the NBA was in this spot in 06.

And I remember I wrote a really long piece about it because it was really like, it felt like a crisis where you had the officiating and Miami, the Miami Heat that year was Shaq and Wade. For whatever reason, they were just a really hard team to officiate. Wade was driving the basket all the time. Shaq is the hardest guy to officiate in the last 30 years.

And how they succeeded or failed seemed to depend on whether they're getting calls or not. And you could feel it headed toward a certain way in the finals. And then the finals became one of the big officiating travesties we've ever had. And everybody was talking about it, not just externally, but internally. And it felt like something was going to change. And something did. That was when they really tried to revamp stuff.

When did the Suns and Spurs have the fight on the sideline? When was that? Was that around that time? That was 07. That one was crazy. All of this stuff changes over the course of three years. We get a guy in fight on the sideline. When was that? Was that around that time? That was 07. All of this stuff changes over the course of three years. We get a guy in charge of the referees. Now

we get the stuff where they give you the report in the last two minutes. I can't see Goodell ever saying, we're going to fix this. I think they think it's fine. Their version of fixing it was adding the challenges and things like that.

But for the most part, I just think they're going to assume there's going to be human error. Yeah. And guess what? That's how it's going to be. We're 13 days, whatever, removed from that game. And no one's talking about Ron Torbert anymore. We're on to the next. We're on to, you know, you said, hey, every day that removes, you think they had a chance and all that.

But you said it yourself. Cincinnati had opportunities in the end. And usually in these games, there's a couple bad calls. The one that and he is he's still hot on it. The nickel, the nickel Roby Coleman with the Saints and the Rams and the pass interference. Yeah, that's still like Sean Payton's like, I will wake up in a cold sweat in the middle of the night and think it's not real, but it was real. And like he's like that is like the Minneapolis miracle.

I can handle that. You know, Kirk Cousins coming down and Alex Smith beating us. Like that one was tough because that game we had, but I said to him and I, you know, I try to bust chops, but also seriously,

like you're up 13, nothing at home against Jared golf in the playoffs. Like you should probably win that game anyway. You know? So it's, it's always going to be, that was always, that was one of my counter arguments.

Cause it was a terrible call, but they also choked. And they got the ball first in overtime. Yeah. And Drew Brees threw a pick. And you're like, all right. So I don't know what to tell you. There is no worse loss than the bad call loss though because the first terrible Patriots loss of my life

was the Sugar Bear Hamilton game. And you still have his day. He had third and 17. We got to stop. He nails Stabler as he's still in his day. He had third and 17. We got to stop. He nails Stabler as he's throwing it. It's it. They're going to have to punt. We get the ball back. We can run out the clock.

We had an unbelievable running game that year. And then the late flag comes in and all of a sudden we're losing and I'm like six and I'm like, just I'm not having a freaking meltdown. I don't understand. What's that called? They only have like the one replay too back then.

Now they have 40 replays that you could drive yourself crazy on. Those Patriots teams, you know, it's right before my time, but I don't want to keep talking about it. I talked to Jeffrey Lurie for a while, doing a piece on the way the Eagles are running all that. And he was a diehard Patriots fan. Was he really? Grew up, he was the guy, like, you know, you hear the stories.

Would listen to the transistor radio before bed, listening to the Boston Patriots, listening to the Boston Red Sox, of course. But like, diehard Patriots fan. And we got going, you got to talk to him. We are going on like 70s Patriots. And it's, you know, I try, it was before my time, but I know enough. But like, I'm talking about, and he's rattling off names. And I'm, you know, I try. It was before my time, but I know enough.

But like I'm talking about, and he's rattling off names. And I'm like, uh-huh, uh-huh. But like, Bill, like that is right up your alley. You would love talking to him about it. Yeah, it was. I coincidentally was on YouTube today watching, zooming through

a Broncos Patriots playoff game from 1986. Trying to remember how we ended up giving a safety with two minutes left and I ended up watching zooming through the last 10 minutes and just getting mad at Tony Eason

all over the place. Just at a random day. I'm like, why am I doubting this rabbit hole? So 85, I love this and I think your listeners,

you probably think they're annoyed by this but I love this shit. They go Eason to start the Super Bowl. Grogan comes in. What happens in 86? They start Easton as a first round pick.

Like this is our guy. Grogan comes in and helps us get to the Super Bowl. That was that year. And then what happens the next year? Then the next year Easton gets a job and Easton's really good. He is. And then he completely falls apart in the Denver game

and it all goes to shit. And he's one of the most reviled Boston athletes we have. When you ride transit, please be safe. Yeah, be safe. Because what you do, others will do too. Others will do it too. So don't take shortcuts across tracks. Don't do that.

In fact, just don't walk on tracks at all. Not at all. Trains move quietly, so you won't hear them coming. You won't hear them coming. See? Safe riding sets an example. Yeah, an example for me. Because safety is learned. It's learned.

Okay, give it up. Give what up? Really? Really, really. This message is brought to you by Metrolinks. After decades of shaky hands caused by debilitating tremors, Sunnybrook was the only hospital in Canada who could provide Andy with something special. Three neurosurgeons, two scientists, one movement disorders coordinator,

58 answered questions, two focused ultrasound procedures, one specially developed helmet, thousands of high-intensity focused ultrasound waves, zero incisions, and that very same day, two steady hands. From innovation to action, Sunnybrook is special. Learn more at sunnybrook.ca slash special. What's the feeling on this game? The line hasn't really moved. I want to talk, we got to talk about Sean Payton and a couple other things, but just quickly in the game, I'm going to do my million dollar pick on Thursday. Okay.

Leaning toward Philly, but not, have not come close to locking it down. Um, I don't understand why the lines not like Philly by two and a half, or maybe even Philly by three. There seems to be a Mahomes tax with the line and people just being afraid to go against Mahomes. People looking at it. Like, I can't believe I bet on Jalen Hurts and went against Mahomes. People looking at it like, I can't believe I bet on Jalen Hurts and went against Mahomes. What did I do?

Like that kind of stuff. What, from the people you've talked to, is there a zag? Is it just split 50-50? What do you think? I'll give it to you the way I can kind of compare it to recent years. 2018, the Patriots play the Rams. Rams are red hot off that way with the Saints. McVay is the 33-year-old hotshot. Belichick, 66 years old.

Belichick has all these veterans who have been there, done that. McVay, though, is the... And when the game happened, it was the experience, the veteran coaching, and the been there, done that, eventually was just too much for the Rams to overcome. They didn't adjust at halftime the way they should have, and golf wasn't good enough to get them over the top and bring them all the way back. This might not be that kind of game, but I think if there's anything going into this, it is such an advantage that Andy Reid and that coaching staff has been there, done that, has been in all these big games, And as good as Nick Sirianni's been,

and as good as Shane Steichen has been on offense, and we love Jonathan Gannon's defensive front and what they're doing on the back end. These coaches, they just have not had those big game experiences. Their offensive line coach has. A couple other coaches have. But for the most part, you've got those core four guys. You've got a few other guys on the roster.

They've been there. But when you're talking, okay, we're going to the Super Bowl. We've done this. We've been there. Those coaches, they've all been there and they know it inside and out. And that's what I think might be the difference. And then yes, Mahomes and Hurts, the gap in big game experience and Hurts still to this day, not having to win the game. Maybe that's just the way they win games and that's fine, but not having to be the guy in the fourth quarter to put together back-to-back drives and lead his team 80 yards. Yeah.

I'm thinking about narratives. So there's obviously the, Oh my God, why did we go against my home's narrative? And Jesus, come on this silly who they played. And we, all stuff we would say retroactively,

if the chiefs beat the Eagles. If the Eagles beat the Chiefs, then the narratives become like, oh, why did we know? You always bet on the dominant lines. They had such a line advantage. What were we thinking? That's always going to win and they're skill guys

and all the signs are right there. Why did we get thrown off by they clinched in November? Why did we get thrown off by, they clinched in November. Why did we get thrown off by the last two months? We talked ourselves out of this team. That was clearly better. I think that would be the narrative. They've lost one game where Jalen Hurts has started.

They've got the best offensive line in football, the best defensive line in football, and they've beaten their two playoff opponents a combined score of 69 to 14. They have rolled since day one they had one blip with the washington game other than that not many close games they blow teams out they embarrass them and they they beat you and then they celebrate and they enjoy talking trash while they do it like they are a bunch of bullies and if you want to pick up we think there's gonna be we think there's

gonna be eagles fans more eagle fans in this game too, by a long shot, right? I don't know. I honestly don't know. Chiefs fans travel really well. And if anything, it's the, hey, I did the Super Bowl a couple years ago, or I've done that experience. Eagles fans have been there too.

I think I'd be surprised if it's all green. I feel like a lot of Chiefs fans, they travel really well and they fill buildings also. I think that's a wash. I think it's going to be more Eagle fans. You think that's a wash? I think it's a wash. I think they're both cold weather teams and we're in a post-COVID world where neither team has been to the Super Bowl since the COVID stuff.

I don't know. I feel like that Tampa Super Bowl didn't really exist for Kansas City fans. This is their first time back. Yeah, they could say that. It's COVID Super Bowl. Look, they travel say that. It's COVID Super Bowl. Yeah. I think, look, they travel. What's fun is to see the trash talk between the two teams

because right now everything's being respectful, but they get on the field. Both those teams like to talk a little bit. So I think this is a good one. The Eagles, their coach rubs a lot of people wrong. I love it. He's such a fucking Philly dude it's so good

it's like a WWE heel in a lot of ways he's really stepped into it the last eight weeks he loves it they have a couple real advantages in this game Philly I think their defensive line you know that Chiefs O-line which is I said this the other day

was one of the reasons I thought they were my Super Bowl pick was like oh he's finally got an O they're fine but it feels like you can rush the passer on them and you can get to Mahomes and I do feel like they have an advantage over the Chiefs offensive line but I think their

secondary against these Chiefs receivers I think they're going to be able to shut them down. That was the biggest reason the Giants were so bad in that playoff game. Their receivers couldn't get open because they had bad receivers. The Chiefs have, I would say, mediocre to slightly better receivers,

but they're certainly not good. And Kelsey is the only guy, and they have two weeks to think about how to stop them. So those seem like two really good advantages. Then the flip side is, what if Hurts just sucks or isn't that good? He hasn't had that game yet though. He hasn't peed down his leg yet in the big spot. And you talk to people like, gosh, he comes in as the 53rd overall pick and immediately people in the locker room were like, all right, Carson's there,

but they're kind of gravitating towards him. Like he doesn't have that, you know, the moment's too big deal. Like that's just not in his makeup and he's always had to overcome. And you know the story from Alabama to Oklahoma, we've done that a million times, but like, I don't know, walks into Oklahoma,

is captain day one and the alpha dog of a, you know, a very big program filling in for Kyler Murray the very next year and takes his team right back where they were. So look, I don't think there's any thought that he's going to – It's like you at Fox. Come right in.

Go explain. Take that pregame show over. Let's roll. Let's go. I'm upset we're losing Peyton, man. I got to tell you that. That guy – Oh, yeah, wait.

Hold on. I want to talk about that in one second. Yeah. One last Mahomes thing. Yeah. Because I want to Kyle to maybe turn on the TikTok camera for a second. Oh, let's go. I'll smile.

So if it goes on Twitter, I can be ready for it. All right. This makes me nervous taking the Eagles. Go on. The Mahomes piece of, has he had a signature game yet? Does he have the game yet? Would you say it's the 13 seconds game? No, I'm saying like the game that you go to and you're just like, that was the you say it's the 13 seconds game? No, I'm saying like the game that you go to

and you're just like, that was the game. Is it the 13 seconds game? Yes. Because I feel like that game was so weird. It almost overshadowed how good Mahomes was in the game. Does he have like his Elway the drive type of game? He's got two. Because he almost had it against the Patriots.

And then we came back and we got some third downs on their fucking ass and we beat them. Dee Ford went offside. That's why you won that game. Dee Ford went offside. That helped, too. He's had the 24 to nothing there down to the Texans and Bill O'Brien and Deshaun Watson in the playoffs. Oh, come on. Some fucking Texans. 51-31.

Not accepting that one. Super Bowl down 10 in the fourth quarter. Third and 15. He looks to the enemy and says, should we run it? Sure, run it. They run the wasp play. He hits Tyreek Hill.

They don't lose. They come right back, roaring back in the fourth quarter, win by double digits. That was pretty good. But he wasn't awesome in that game, though. No, he threw two picks. It was not his best game. That's not the game either.

And honestly, I remember that game more for Jimmy G missing somebody by a floor. Emmanuel Sanders. The Niners would have won the touchdown, right? Yep, he had them. So then you would say, oh, the 13-second game, because that was amazing. But the legacy that came to me is how did the Bills even allow that?

The game's over. It was so stupid. And the most obvious play is like, guess what we're going to do? We're going to throw to Kelsey right over the middle and call a timeout. Bills are like, whoa! Didn't know that was coming. So that's what worries me is like, I do feel like Philly has a better

team. What about this Bengals? What about the AFC championship game? Playing on one ankle with no Juju and no Hardman and no Kadarius Tony and no Willie Gay. He missed a few throws in that game though. He wasn't a goody performance.

He was really good but he wasn't like I'm not going to be telling my grandkids about it. You think about somebody like Elway through the helicopter. Even Marino who never won a title

but like he won that Monday Night Football game against the 85 Bears and it was like incredible. It was one of the great random Monday sporting event.

Like I think it's the best Monday night football game of all time. Other than maybe Pat's Ravens. You had the undefeated dolphins on the sideline cheering him on. It was crazy. That was, Oh yeah. That game was amazing. It's on YouTube by the way,

for people, but I don't, I don't think Mahomes has the game yet. So that's what made me think like, I wonder if this is going to be it. It's you like this theory. I love this theory that's a bill that's a i mean to say that mahomes hasn't had the game yet is like almost he hasn't

you just gave me you gave me fucking houston they're down 24 nothing in a playoff game oh oh my god i can't wait to tell my son's children about that one oh he beat Bill O'Brien. He beat Kenny Stills in a playoff game. He was the coordinator in 2023. Now, to me, Brady never really had the game either. Okay, go on. He had Seattle, the Super Bowl, but then that kind of also became the Malcolm Butler game

and that overshadowed that, right? So it was like Brady, incredible. Two touchdown drives against this amazing defense, backs to the wall, just going So it was like, Brady, incredible. Like, he had two touchdown drives against this amazing defense, like, backs to the wall, just going to Edelman over and over again. But then,

there's no going to lose if Butler doesn't make the play, so it becomes Butler combined with everything. But then he has the Falcons game. That's it. That's the one. Not only was that the game,

that was like the game. That's the game anyone's had. And it was like, that's done, and people slammed the mic, and it was like, this is over, he's the GOAT. And I wonder if this is the game anyone's had. And it was like, that's done. And people slammed the mic. It was like, this is over. He's the GOAT.

And I wonder if this is the game for Mahomes. Yeah. It's awesome that it's even a conversation piece. It's funny. But he also has 10 years, 12 years left to have the game. It doesn't have to be this year. Last week, they win the game. And Mahomes never talks shit.

He never gloats. Oh, I know. There was this great like like just like a little edge to him and you know kelsey's calling the cincinnati mayor a jabroni but patrick mahomes tells tracy wolfson like quietly in his own way and he's like you know they're gonna they're we're gonna go celebrate we don't smoke cigars here like that was his little shot at burrow and right after the game he like, you know, I think the media, I think 5% of the media picked us.

And I'm like, you guys were favored. No, but he leaned into it. He thought 5% of the media picked them to win. I'm like, no, but okay. But he is starting to feel like, wait a second. You want to crown Allen? You want to crown Burrow? Mother effer, I'm here.

I'm the dude. And maybe this is the game he silences it all forever in this whole generation of guys, because since he's won the MVP, Lamar was the guy, and then Allen was the guy, then Burrow was the guy, even Watson for a while was putting... No, it's always been me. I'm the guy. I'm the best in this generation. You had two real challengers, Allen and Burrow, and then probably Herbert next year. All right, let's go. I know you're going to lean Chiefs. I'm not even going to ask you. I think so.

You're always like, prove to me I shouldn't pick the Chiefs. That's kind of your mentality. I don't think I feel comfortable picking against them. It's worked out pretty well. I wouldn't pick against them. I know the Eagles have had this incredible run, and if they win, I will not be at all surprised or upset. I'm not rooting for the Chiefs. I just, until I'm not picking against Mahomes, I just think he's that good. And I think he finds a way. I'm leaning Eagles right now, but I also have not run the

manifesto rules yet. And there's a couple of quarterback rules. And I also like, I don't have a feel yet for the nobody believes in us or any of the factors. All yet. There's a couple quarterback rules. I also don't have a feel yet for the nobody believes in us or any of the factors. All right, let's do a speed round before we go. Some football stuff. Let's go. Fire them at me. Your guy Sean Payton is going to the Broncos for boatloads of money

and is now going to become the Russell Wilson rejuvenator. I guess it's going to be his job. They have no picks. It seems like a dumb move. Like if he was my buddy, I'd be like, dude, I know that's a lot of money. I know Denver's cool, but you have no picks and you have a quarterback who looked like shit last year.

What are you doing? Why do you want to be in the Mahomes Herbert division? What are you doing? Pick another team. So why did he pick the team? I had a long talk with him the Sunday before he decided over the weekend. And there was a lot of reports out there that there was no seats at the table for him and that it was going to be next year. And he goes on Fox and he's wearing an orange tie. And he like, is talking to me like, should I wear the orange tie? Cause he knew it was I'm like yes coach where are the like this is the shit he cares he's gonna make 18 19 million dollars a year but like should I wear the orange

tie yes wear the orange tie yes go ahead wear the orange tie and his whole thing was not about like oh I need to coach Russ like he's authentic he you know he doesn't know Russ that well that his relationship with Russ dates back to a Pro Bowl where he had a really good interaction with him. And Drew Brees and him both live in San Diego and he's tight with Brees and Brees vouches for him. So he watched all their stuff and he's like, I think there's still good football there. But it was really about a few factors. One of them, of course, you could say the money. That's real. That's legit money that they they're paying him and yes that that's enough to lure him back into the consideration but he missed it he missed a lot and he he loves that broncos tradition you know this isn't an expansion team this isn't some franchise that's been like they've got lombardi's they've got history they've got a fan base that's starving signature franchise with great generations of fans yeah Yeah. They've also got a two-time returning MVP in the NBA in their city. And they've gotten Stanley Cup champion team in their city. And those fans care more about the Broncos than both of those teams.

They've legalized gambling. They have Fandle in their city. They're fired up. They've got it all. So that and then the new owners, he really got along with. And Penner is from the walton family and they all hit it off but he actually said like condoleezza rice was awesome the former secretary of state like they met they had a really good interaction so he was like look

i went so they paid him a lot of money and it's a cool city that's those are the reasons sure that's about it um like the owners like the owners ready to get back in He was itching. He was itching to go and like, all right. I would have waited for the chargers. Wait for the chargers job. Just wait a year. I don't know. I don't know.

Yeah. That would have been my advice. Just wait one year. Chargers job will be open. You would have liked him in a lot of ways on TV when you were on, you know, ESPN. What was it?

ESPN. What do they call it? Countdown when you were there. Yeah. You would have liked it because he's competitive as shit about like the things that you and me are competitive about like he would check like ESPN's ratings the next morning like the Nielsen ratings he's like he's like I think we beat him in the first hour but then in the second hour they came back strong that's hilarious he's like so he's like he needed the scoreboard so he's like you know we finish a

segment and it's a goofy Fox pregame segment where there's like jokes and afterwards he'll pull me aside and he's like so did you think I made a good point I'm like coach it was a throwaway segment but like he was that guy

like meticulous so he'll be charged he'll be ready to go that's such a fun division we'll see what happens with the Vegas QBs Lamar the reports are

100 million apart the reports are all over the place Bill I think this is I thought this was a wrap for weeks. How does it play out? If you had to predict one thing, you only have one prediction. Yeah.

And I'm saying, if you're predicting stay, predict these stays. If you're predicting he gets traded, predict stay. I think stay, but I think franchise tag, and then we're in this holding pattern, is what I would say in early February. I don't want to read that, listen to it, follow it.

That's the worst case scenario. They are obviously looking to keep him at this point, but it ended ugly, and I think the fan base is kind of, it's a little bit curious to see how this is going to play out, but I think... Tyler Huntley's a pro bowler. I mean, got to factor that in.

You got a pro bowler right there. He's a pro bowler. Four games in the pro bowl. He's a pro bowler, Bill. So you think he stays? Rodgers to the Jets? I think Rodgers to the Raiders picked up a lot of heat this week.

But then like, you look at the Packers side of it, that's a $40 million cap hit if they trade Rodgers before June 1st. And it's like, why should we be left holding the bag? You signed a three-year, $105 million deal with us last year. You're going to fulfill your contract. So this isn't coming from the Packers. I like this.

It's coming from Rodgers. And he's on the golf course. And he's giving those winks to the Raiders fans. And he's engaging. And he's talking with them. And the CBS golf reporter asked him, she, you know, straight up was like, you know, is there a certain color? He's like, well, the Raiders fans are saying it. And I told Devante, he should buy me a house. Like, well, yeah, you can do all that, but the Packers own your rights. And if, if you're talking

like that, they don't, you know, they don't need to trade you out of the goodwill of their heart. Like they could keep you under contract. I'm really starting to become old man on the couch with some of this stuff. Talk about it because I am too. Even like LeBron when just going publicly about how disappointed he was. Not getting Kyrie. The Kyrie trade didn't happen. It's like listen, if you're trading for Kyrie

we all know who's in the trade from your end. You have to fucking play with that guy. But it's just I don't know. Maybe you get to a certain level of superstard But it's just, I don't know, maybe you get to a certain level of superstardom in sports where you just don't think of yourself as part of a team structure in some ways anymore, but that's the whole point of sports.

So Rodgers says that stuff about the Raiders and he's got 52 other guys on his team. They're looking at that going, who the fuck is this guy? We didn't even play well last year. Well, that's the thing. Now he's like ready to move to Vegas? Fuck you. Go to Vegas. Leave.

I'll say this. I think the Packers would love to have him back. I think the Jets would love to have him. And I think the Raiders would probably be very interested in bringing him, especially with the Devontae Adams. I think the Jets, to me, the Jets have not put out any, I mean, you and I said it two weeks ago, and everyone immediately posts it.

And you better believe I was coming in there informed and you're coming in informed that the Jets were not going to extinguish that thought. They still haven't. They haven't put any... They haven't tried to wet that flame at all because I think it is a legitimate option and they've got a great setup for it. It's going to happen.

I think Hackett is a really, really intriguing pull. That said, the Raiders thing with Devontae and staying on the West Coast and going that route, that could make sense too. That's such a lame move by him because that team has no chance to compete for a title. Just because of the division? The division, the cap situation for them,

the position Gruden left them in, even the Chandler Jones contract last year. He was one of the worst free agent signings of the year. They just don't have enough good players. We just go to the Jets, especially if Brees Hall comes back in time. Really young, really good, and an offensive coordinator who speaks his language.

I think the Jets make a ton of sense. The Jets might be like a 13-4 team. You could go through their schedule and think like the bad luck that they had with the quarterback position, which was self-inflicted, but still. Totally. But talent-wise,

and then the injuries and stuff, but I fully expect them to be good. Yeah, I think they're going to be good next year. Yeah, the Rodgers thing you're talking about, like all that with the players and the trades and all that stuff, it does hit a little differently this year when you come off a season where your team missed the playoffs in a down NFC. So even the McAfee stuff that he goes on once a week, he says things, but it doesn't feel like it's the same, whoa, blowback media reaction the last two years and i'm interested to see like is what is the trade compensation for aaron rogers because we set a first i set a first round pick on your podcast couple weeks ago from the jets and people were like is it even a first round pick i'm like i would think so yeah second yeah

so i think it's a first and it's probably a couple you know a second or a third as well and it might be a couple players um but i would think there's gonna be a lot of phone calls but they still have to eat a lot of that salary and dead money, which is not great for the Packers. Well, also they don't have an owner, which is the other bizarre wrinkle of this. They don't have the Joe sigh,

just coming in and be like, all right, enough with this guy. Fucking trade him by Sunday. He's out. Get him out. Packers don't have that guy. So they could kind of limp along and do nothing.

And then it just turns into this little, I feel like the Lamar, if they don't have that guy. So they could kind of limp along and do nothing. And then it just turns into this little, I feel like the Lamar, if they don't trade Rogers, the Lamar story and the Rogers story are going to be like, just mute that out of my life. I don't, I don't want to know. Just tell me where they end up. Did you appreciate Brady doing this on a, on a Tuesday, a Superbowl week of bi-week and it's like getting that out of the way and not dragging this on for three months. Cause I thought that was pretty solid and well my question is is fox paying him and if they are paying him something did they tell him like like greg olsen turned out to be pretty good a real success story for them brian curtis heard about him for the ringer this week he got better as

year go long went along there's no question i thought he was on the collinsworth level by the end of the year and i don't think they wanted the brady thing hanging over this whole broadcast lead it wins brady where's brady is this going to be greg olson what are they gonna do i think they just wanted to put a pin in it out of out of fair and i don't think brady knows what he's doing two days from now i really don't either i think his whole life is in complete flux. I agree. I think the family stuff is real. I think the season was brutal. Talking to a lot of my sources close to Brady and also in Tampa Bay, it was a tough year for him in a lot of ways. And I think him going on Coward, which is not Jim Gray on the Let's Go podcast. It's Colin Coward, where it's not like they have this long relationship. He went on with him on Monday as part of the Fox relationship, I'm sure, and came out and said, I will not be

in that booth next season. I will not do it until 2024. I think that was a fair thing to do and a really cool thing to do because Olsen and Burkhart are about to get started with their week of media and you don't want this whole week to be about, oh, is this your last? It was cool of Brady to do that. It was also strategic in a way where, all right, let's punt this one year. Let me figure out what I want to do because I don't know if he's ever going to be doing 17 weeks on the road calling Jaguars Titans.

I don't know if that's his thing, but let's see in a year. Let's see what you want to do. And Tom Brady, if you want to be in the booth, I think people would be very happy to hear what his thoughts are on football. I would say it's 50-50. We see him.

50-50? At all? As an announcer person. Can't you see him doing some studio stuff and being an ambassador? I feel like if Brady's on television, I'm watching. I know that. We'll see. I don't think he has any idea what he's doing.

Literally with anything. I don't think he has any clue. Do you think he's definitely retired? No. Yeah. That's a common thought. It's not a thought. I don't think he's retired. I just don't think he found a team that he wanted to play for. And I think he's keeping his options open because he's Tom Brady. You don't turn that switch off until everybody tells you there's no team left for you to play for. Peyton Manning would have freaking played. He said it.

He would have played that year after the Super Bowl. He couldn't even throw like a 20-yard pass anymore. He would have kept playing. Do you know Brady led the league in pass attempts this year? His arm still looked good at the end. Yeah. And he saved his body because he knew that team was dog shit. So he tried to get through without taking a big hit.

All right. So Arizona, you're going. And we'll talk to you at some point this spring after the Super Bowl. But when you're in Glendale, there's a statue now of my dad and I hastily, sadly skulking out of the stadium right after the Tyree catch. As the giant fans are going nuts. You can see it. There's a statue of us just hightailing it out of there. So say hi to the statue. I will. You're a foodie. Everyone talks about your buddy Bianco and his pizza. What's the one restaurant I've got to get to in the Phoenix, Scottsdale area? You've been there a million times. It's buddy Bianco and his pizza what's the one restaurant I've got to get to in the Phoenix

Scottsdale area you've been there a million times it's the Bianco one I've never been I live in Brooklyn New York it's that good

that I need to get to pizza in Phoenix Arizona you got to like pull all your celebrity cards try to get in Schrags

good to see you great season for us great season we'll see what happens with million dollar picks, but fun talking football with you all year. Sad everybody in Arizona. You're the best. Good luck, man.

Enjoy your pick and I will be listening for sure. All right, that's it for the podcast. Thanks to Schrags. Thanks to Kyle Creighton for producing as always. Don't forget, we have a big deadline podcast for the NBA trade deadline on Thursday it's going to be multiple parts, might start putting them up right before the deadline

I don't know what's going to happen who knows what kind of trades are going to happen we'll be ready get your earlobes ready, get your ears ready get your headphones ready we'll be there on Thursday. See you then.