The Bobby Bones Show - 25W: Our Favorite Sports Villains of All Time + Kevin's Quest to Break 90 Begins Next Week + Adam Breneman on NIL Deals Changing the Landscape of College Sports + Rob Parker talking New MLB Rules and Why They're Good for the Game + Eddie Makes an Appearance... twice

Episode Date: April 20, 2023

In honor of Draymond Green getting suspended for all the wrong reasons again, Bobby gives his favorite sports villains of all time. Plus, Kevin gets some surprising news from Bobby and is set to start a new digital series where he tries to break 90 on the golf course. Co-Owner of Mercury Media and former Penn State TE Adam Breneman joins Bobby to discuss how much college sports have changed since NIL and where he thinks the future is headed. Plus, MLB Network Analyst Rob Parker joins Bobby to talk about the success of the new rules. And Eddie makes a surprise visit... twice.  Download the DraftKings Sportsbook App today: https://dkng.co/bobbysports If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, crisis counseling and referral services can be accessed by calling 1-800-GAMBLER (1-800-426-2537) (IL/IN/MI/NJ/PA/WV/WY), 1-800-NEXT STEP (AZ), 1-800-522-4700 (CO/NH), 888-789-7777/visit http://ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-BETS OFF (IA), 1-877-770-STOP (7867) (LA), 877-8-HOPENY/text HOPENY (467369) (NY), visit OPGR.org (OR), call/text TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN), or 1-888-532-3500 (VA). 21+ (18+ WY). Physically present in AZ/CO/CT/IL/IN/IA/LA/MI/NJ/ NY/PA/TN/VA/WV/WY only. N/A in NH/OR/ON. New customers only. Valid 1 per new customer. Min. $5 deposit. Min $5 wager. $200 issued as eight (8) $25 free bets. Ends 9/19/22. See http://draftkings.com/sportsbook for details.       Follow the Show: @25Whistles   Follow the Crew: @MrBobbyBones @KickoffKevin @MikeDeestro @ReidYarberrySee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. The 2026 NFL draft is here, and the NFL Daily podcast has it covered from all angles. Join me, Greg Rosenthal, and Jordan Roderig after night one on Thursday. Nick Shook joins me night two Friday and then Sunday to recap everything that went down over the three days in Pittsburgh.

We'll tell you who won the draft and which players were my favorite picks. Listen to NFL Daily with Greg Rosenthal on the free. Heart Radio app. Open the app, search NFL daily, and listen now. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me, Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media. Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Cliver Show. This is a place for raw, unfills of conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. So let's

get to it. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok's podcast network on TikTok. I'm Daniel Alarcon, and this is my friend. He's much more famous than I am. I wouldn't go that far, but I'm John Green, co-host of the podcast The Away End with my old friend Daniel. On our podcast, The Away End, we'll share with you the magic of international football, all leading up to the 2026 World Cup. Together, we'll find out why, of all the unimportant things, football, soccer, is the most important. Listen to the away end with Daniel Auerkone and John Green on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome.

The show presented by Draft Kings. Draft King Sportsbook and official sports betting partner of the NBA. Download the draft king's app. Use the code Bobby Sports. Get in on the action. We got two great interviews. The first one, we'll talk NILs. the second one. We'll talk baseball and basketball. But I want to start with Tiger Woods,

which by the way, we do this show in the studio. We do the radio show. But Eddie's still working in here. And Eddie joins us later as well accidentally. Because I'm in and out. Yeah. You know? Yeah. But I guess before I get to Tiger, I want to ask you a question because I got a DM from somebody and I want to know how you feel about it. Okay. Yeah. I heard on 25 whistles today that your golf course is closed. My club is closed because they're like literally tearing the course. up building a new one. I'm the food and beverage director and executive chef at should I say where it doesn't matter. Nashville, I'll just say it, Nashville golf and athletic club. We are down the road and we'd love to have you and Eddie out for golf and lunch. I will pull some

strings to get y'all out. It would be an honor for me. You've been listening to you guys since I started my chef career in Vegas back in 2010. Hit me up for a tea time. And then she says there are some other, I say other. There are actual famous people that play there too. come on out coming to the clubhouse want to make you and Eddie some good grub let's go

dang dude let's do it well the question is do we I always am weird about calling people and taking them up on stuff sure so am I

but it's golf though I mean I think I'm like that with a lot of things but when it comes to golf absolutely I'm in and food but again they're a chef and then do we know

that they could get us is this something that you would like to be a I don't like telling people yes I'd like your free stuff I have real issues with that, just from obviously childhood trauma.

But if you think this is something we should pursue and it won't be awkward, is that something you want to do? You know what? I've never played that course. I've never eaten at that course. I've never eaten at that restaurant. I would love to see what it's all about over there. What do you think?

Well, then I think I will send you. Oh, you want me to do the talking? I'm not doing the talking. You want you to be the yes man. Can I get one of my kids to do the talking? I would just go. oh, thank you, but I don't want to bother you, put you out. Oh, okay.

That would be my, and I just wouldn't. I did respond. So I have the message here, and so I will send it to you, and I have the number and everything. Wait, so you've already responded. What did you say? Did you say, like, do you think about it? Yes. I said, if I know Eddie, he'll want to take you up on that.

And you do know me. Ding, ding. And then she said, I left my cell on a 25 whistles message board. And I said, there's a message board. Wait, where is that? She said, I messaged the 25 whistles page. I was trying to catch your attention. Left it there.

But I have her number here. Do you want to call her? Like me personally? No, yes, you. Of course you. I mean, why am I doing this? She messaged you. Yes, but she said you as well.

And she went hit 25 whistles and I don't feel comfortable doing it. Should we go middle school and do a three-way? Nope. Okay. No, no, no, no, no, no. Kevin, you don't understand. No, stop. Don't call.

No, no. You're too young to know what that means. No, it's not what you think it means. It means you just get on the phone, like, three of us and talk. I know you have to go. Uh-huh. So should we do that?

No, I have, no. I will feel awkward. You can be the point person if you feel like we should go. If not, I'm cool, not going. I just feel like I'm putting somebody out. Dude, free golf, free lunch. We have to take her up on this. I just sent you the number.

Okay. Go call or no. Right now? If you want to. He doesn't want to do any. No, he doesn't know. I don't like you. I don't like doing this stuff at all.

Do I like free golf? Absolutely. Do I like doing all that setup stuff? No, I hate it. Check it out. I'll get someone else to do it. But it's not about somebody else. I think either you or I should do it or we shouldn't do it and I don't want to do it.

Oh no. It's free golf and it's one phone call. Then you do it, Kevin? I didn't get invited. And I'm a wimp. I just feel weird. But I would do it if you're running it, I'll be happy to do it. But I would not make the call because I don't want to put anybody out.

Yeah, I know. I know. And also it's like, hey, we like to come. Can we get a tea time? Well, we can only play it? only have certain amounts of times we can play. All right. Let me call her up, feel it out, and see how it goes.

Okay. Let us know. Okay. All right. Talking about golf, I wanted to start with this. Earlier today, this was not today, but Tiger wrote this as a statement. Earlier today, Tiger Woods underwent a sub-tallor fusion procedure to address his post-traumatic arthritis from his previous talus fracture.

A lot of words, I don't know what they mean. I figure they're all bones and parts of foot. Tallow something, rather. It was performed by Dr. Martin O'Malley. at HSS Sports Medicine Institute in New York City. He has determined the surgery to be successful. Tiger is currently recovering. It looks forward to beginning his rehabilitation.

So I just wanted to start with, I'm now starting to feel like Tiger won't set the record and beat Jack Nicholas. I always felt like he had it in him. I always felt like Tiger could scrape one or two together. I mean, Phil has won in his 50s. You know, there are guys who, every once in a while an old-timer comes and sneaks through one of the majors.

If the course plays just right, they hit just right, the conditions are good. always felt like Tiger could kind of grind out two or three. I don't feel that way anymore, though, because of all of the physical, especially from the car wreck. I think that was what did it. He's not going to be the same, won't be the same. It's one thing after another. Once a year, it almost seems like he's recovering from this, surgery from this.

Makes me sad. Very. Makes me sad because Tiger is, I think, the best golf for up all time. And we're not going to get to see him break a record. He probably would have easily broken. Well, he was getting on with a lot. He had some other deals going that caused a bunch of this too. Yeah.

You know, he's doing it with a bunch of chicks. But so much has happened since then. You almost forget about that's what the first thing was. Yeah, the first thing we heard about it was his wife comes out and bust the back glass, him trying to drive away in the SUV. Yeah. And we're like, wait, what? And you forget that like six months of media was all about,

yeah, I used to work at Perkins and Iabang Tyler or Tiger. whatever his name is, yeah. And one after another, these women were coming out like crazy. And in a weird, the story that came out recently for the woman that's suing him, that she's suing up for a whole crazy amount of money. But it was, she wouldn't leave his house. This is what we heard. We heard. That's what we hear if it's true or not. She wouldn't leave his house. So he told her that we were going on a vacation. So the car took her to the airport and there's dropped off and they locked up the door so she couldn't get back in. That's hardcore. That's hardcore. Because if she wouldn't leave, that's, that's, that's, that. That's, that. That's, that. That's pretty strategic. And I can't imagine.

I wouldn't want to leave. If I had the lifestyle. And I remember seeing her with Tiger, though, when they were together. She was, like, at tournaments with them. She'd be walking around. On the course? Yeah. But apparently she was everywhere with them.

You never know what's going on behind the doors. Off the course. They had to go. Hey, Tiger really wants to take you on a vacation. So get in the car. Get all your bags. No, get all your stuff. But I don't need all my stuff.

I'm just going for two weeks. Nah, go ahead and get it all. Seriously, everything. Yeah, get everything. Who knows how long you'll be in Istanbul or wherever they're going. Grab your bed too. And like they're taking to the airport, but I don't think they took... Well, this way is not the way to the airport.

No, it's another way. It's another way. It's a private one. Private airport. Yeah, it's Tiger. Obviously, you're going to a different terminal. He's a tiger's own hanger. Come on.

No, but I've been to that hangar. Oh, it's a new one. It's a new one. It's a tiger. And they lock all the doors in case she comes back. That's awesome. In case she comes back, though, that's the crazy thing. Again, we just heard the story.

It's not, they just got her out of there and said, okay, you're not allowed to come back. Or we will press charges or trespassing. They got her out of there and then physically lock the doors. I need to see like a ring camera of this if she came back. She's dressed like a pizza man, turned to trick her way back in. Domino's? We didn't order pizza. Yes, you did.

I'm sad because I did feel like Tiger could do it. I think we got to watch the greatest golfer of all time in our generation. We have a few athletes that are that are that are him, that are her. You can put them on a hand. You got Jordan, although you didn't get to watch Jordan that much, did you? Yeah, no. I didn't. So, so upset about that.

I was young, I did. So I got to watch Jordan, got to watch Tiger, got to watch Serena. Who else would you put in that group? Oh, come on. You know who we're missing. Tom Brady, obviously, yeah. I got to watch him. Yeah, a lot.

Yeah. But then there's borderline. Like, borderline are people like, LeBron. Kobe, Shaq, and those three aren't even the same. But, I mean, probably LeBron and Kobe would be there. LeBron more than Kobe. I'm going to put LeBron in that as my fifth. If we're doing athletes that are generational,

that change the way a sport is played, I think you have to put those five from our sports. I don't know anything about hockey. Steph's right there, too, just because he changed the game. I don't think Steph, though, is a pop culture phenomenon. outside of being big in sports. He's doing some. He's out there a little bit.

But I don't think he's that to the level of a LeBron who changed. LeBron might have been the first high school player that was showing his games on ESPN. He was on the Front Sports Illustrated as a high school kid. So as of now, I'm going to sit with that because in just a second, we're going to get to the tittle tattle. But let's see, I'm going to go, LeBron, Jordan, basketball, football, Tom Brady.

I think like a Peyton Manning and a shack and Kobe are like the same. They're just right there close, but they ain't. exactly that. What puts Tom Brady there is the list of championship years he has, right? Yeah. So, LeBron, Tom Brady, Serena Williams, obviously. Michael Jordan. Baseball-wise?

I know, I'm trying to think of, like, Mike Trouten, though. I mean, as great as he is, no. I know that nobody really doesn't baseball. He plays for the Angels, they don't win, he's just not relevant when it really matters, and then you've got to think maybe Jeter, I guess. Big winner, but I don't know that is that, like, change the game. That's who we're settling with today. Those five. I already forgot them, so I told you how big they are.

LeBron. Let's do basketball first. So just so I can remember. LeBron and Jordan and basketball. In football, Tom Brady. In tennis, Serena Williams. There are a lot of tennis guys, though, that are pretty equal-ish,

but they're great, the greatest ever. But they've all been, like, trading places. Djokovic, probably now. Federer. Federer. At all. Yeah. Is this four?

I just do four? Or forget one. Kobe? I don't know. Well, somebody got eliminated. That's it. That's Joe-Biz, baby. About soccer.

I don't know enough about it. I can only do the sports that I know about. David Beckham? I don't think, no, I think he was a really good looking guy and he's a really good player on the biggest team. Popple's your icon, though. But later, though. Gretzky?

Gretzky, probably in hockey. But I don't know about soccer, Mike. I would say more than Beckham would be if I were just guessing like a Ronaldo or a Messi, but I don't have the context to know that next level because I don't watch enough. Anyway, enough about that. It's time for the tito-tattle.

It's time for... In honor of Draymond Green stomping this week, who is your favorite sports villain of all time? By the way, Draymond Green got screwed. That should have just been a flagrant. His foot was held.

We've seen it a thousand times. His history got him. He got bit by the history bug. Justice for Draymond Green. I also like Draymond Green. So that's probably why, but man, it did look brutal, didn't it? Like when it happened, it looked brutal.

It looked like he was stepping on his heart. He was trying to stomp his heart out. Oh, yeah. But then you see, his foot was grabbed. Listen, did he probably do it? Yes, yes. He went harder than he had to. Absolutely.

But he didn't just see him on the ground and go stomped on his chest. That's all I want to say. You didn't ask me that question, but I feel like I need to say that. Clarification. Yeah, so best sports villains of all time. Number one to me is the Houston Astros, those cheating suckers, beating on trash cans. They cheated.

They cheated. And then they didn't even have to serve the consequences. They didn't even have to do jail time because COVID hit, and they got to play to empty stadiums where people weren't booing them the whole time. the Astros. Hate them. I still hold it against them. It's not even the same team.

What were you going to say? I was going to say, it didn't even help that they won the World Series last year without all that? Not the same team. There were a couple players. But the Astros, to me,

during that time, I hated them. I still feel not positive about them, but I also realized it's not the same. But yeah, the Astros for me, that's a bad one. Next up, I put Duke, Duke basketball. And I'm going full organizations here first before I get to a few players.

Here's why, people don't like Duke. One, we hate them because we ain't them. They won. They won. They freaking won. And they're a rich school and they presented themselves mostly. They always had like a guy that you didn't like. They always had like a bad guy on the bad guy team. So you already had a reason not to like them. They felt a little luck up. You knew they were kind of rich and they won. And all that didn't, but then when you would add somebody like, um, great, Jason. Alan.

Yeah. It's like you just want to punch him in the face. And if he played for you, you loved him and played against you,

you hated him. So Duke pops in my list at number two. When it comes to villains, Arod, hate him. There just doesn't

seem to be a quality about him as a person that you like and he got busted for the juice. He did get busted, right? Yeah.

Okay, making sure. We knew we knew we did. Arod, big villain. T.O. ended up being a pretty big, big villain.

for a while. He was a hero too for a while. I actually liked him. You live long enough as a hero. Eventually you'll be a villain. Floyd Mayweather. Anybody that takes some money and puts it out and is like, this is my million dollars

in a suitcase. Look at it on Instagram. They just become someone that isn't like because, and they know it. And they're like, they're encouraging it to happen. But I would say those are the big villains when that comes to mine. What about you? Mine would be that I like, though,

kind of flipping this, would be a Randy Moss. He comes to mine. Yeah, I like Randy Moss. I mean, he pulled his pants down. Oh, my God, but they weren't real pants. They were air pants. Yeah, and he was always like... He moved everybody with air.

Exactly. Yes. And he was fun to watch. Yeah, Randy Moss was awesome. Alan Iverson? Yeah, I liked AI too. Yeah, cool. He rubbed people the wrong way a little bit, and then this one you're really not going to like.

But Brooks Kebka. I don't like Brooks Kebka. Yeah. He's a villain to me, like in my general life. I watch them on, I don't know. I watch him on Netflix. I never had a feeling about him. really, except he'd win.

He'd be like, oh, look at the muscular guy. He's kind of like the football player jock who now wins it golf. And you just go, I'm jealous because I ain't that. But then you watch him on full swing, and you're like, no, I don't like him as well. So yeah. And then he's joined Liv.

I mean, it all just kind of matched up with Bruce Kevka. But yes, great villains all. All right, next. Go to the next one. Jalen Hertz just got a $255 million contract. If you were to get that contract, what's the first thing you would buy? Well, $250.

million, so he's not going to get all that, obviously. He's going to get a lot. Don't get me wrong. But if I were doing the quick math here, so he's going to get about probably like $110 million once all his agent fees, once the taxes are taken out. So let's say, let's say $115 million. I buy a jet.

That's really what I would buy. I buy a jet. You could get, they're expensive to have and to keep in a hangar and to fund and pile. But if I got $115 million from that deal, and I'm getting other money coming in too, from other places as well, I get a jet for like 20 million. How big of a jet? What kind of 20 million? How big? You can get a good eight cedar, eight to ten cedar.

Immediately. That would be my big thing. I would go and I would get a jet. That'd be so sick. Oh, yeah. That's it. That's the only answer I have because I'd give me a hundred million right now. First thing I'm going to do, give all you guys nothing and get me a jet. Can we go on the jet? Yes. Yeah, you can go on the jet. All right. Next up. That works. With the major rule changes going on in the MLB, what is one more rule change? You would like to see any sport have. I've mentioned this before. I think it is bizarre that in the NBA, I make a great pass, and you go up and you get fouled after I made that great pass,

and then you make your free throws that I don't get an assist. You don't even get to the line. You wouldn't even got to the line if I wanted to give any of that great pass, or got the shot, and you probably would have made it otherwise, if I make a great pass, if I'm John Stockton, and I see Caram alone cutting, boom, back door, nail him, he goes up, boom, foul. and he goes and makes us free throws, I should get an assist. I set all that out. I assisted those points.

I think it is just bizarre. There is no assist given at that time. I don't even think that one's that crazy. I don't even know if that one's ever been discussed. And if it hasn't, why hasn't it been? Because that's amazing. I like that one.

The other one would be in college basketball. When they do the playing games, they should only be teams that are at large bids. You know, they have the 64, then they have 68, and then they play into the 64. and they have those terrible games early in the week that nobody wants to play.

Then you're tired by the time. You have to go play the one seat anyway. If you win your conference and you get into the tournament, you should be able to get into the tournament. Like you won your conference, you should have a spot to play in the NCAA tournament. The only teams that should play the play-in games

are at-large teams. If you want to make them the two 11 seeds, and they do. The 11s are usually... All those play-ins need to be people playing in because they were given a free ticket to get in because they didn't win their ticket outright. I feel that would be fair

because you hate for like a Colgate or a Nabisco U or whoever else to win their tournament. Be so excited. By the way, you're playing Tuesday. You don't even get to play in the, there's a chance you don't even get to play in the real tournament.

That sucks. That's stupid. So I would change that as well. We talked about Tiger a little bit ago and he just had surgery, so I'm wondering what your worst surgery is that you've ever had or worse injury. Both are the same. but I was a kid kid.

I fell off a house under my stomach, rupture my spleen, didn't know what it was, like almost drowned it internally in my own blood is a whole situation. I was in the hospital for a long time as a kid. But I was like five. I was like six.

So to me, I remember it, but I don't really have like memories of going, my whole life has been interrupted because of an injury or a surgery. Also, I didn't really know what surgery. You know, I was scared when you don't know enough to be scared. Mm-hmm.

I broke a couple ribs, and that wasn't a surgery, but just broken crap, maybe hurt worse than anything that's ever happened to me because it was constant. You know how you have a headache? And there's nothing you can do when you have a headache to make that headache go away. There's nothing you can do it except get rid of the headache. And sometimes you just sit there with a freaking migraine. You can't walk. You can't. The ribs, very similar that you can't breathe.

And you have to breathe all the time. So then you're thinking about your breath all the time. The ribs brutal. broke two playing high school football. I have three broken fingers and they hurt but they hurt more now than they did then because every time the air pressure changes

which means new weather's coming in, new front, they start aching. They've always ached since they've been broken. So I have a shoulder, when I tore my shoulder on dancing with the stars and didn't have a surgery, they said I should probably go in if I wanted to have surgery unless I could just deal with the pain

and I still deal with it. I had a friend who played in the NFL was like, do not get shoulder. surgery. He was like, if you can do it, just keep going. Don't even go after the show's over. Like, just do rehab because shoulder surgery messes you up for a long time. So, but the shoulder thing bothers me constantly now, but I'm lucky that I haven't had a bad one as an adult, but the ribs hurt, my finger still hurt. My shoulder kills me a lot. If I had to go to a lot of rehab for it. But nothing like about Tiger. I mean, Tiger got messed him all up. All right, go ahead.

Tua talked about mulling retirement earlier this week. Who are some athletes that you wish retired sooner than they did. Emmett Smith comes to mind because I hated seeing him play with the Cardinals. I didn't like the Cowboys, but it just felt weird watching him put that Cardinals helmet on

and play for the Cardinals that year. Aren't even if it was a year or two years? I don't know. Probably won. It sucked. I didn't like it. And I say no. I've spent some time with Emmett.

I probably could message him and he'd be like, hey, what up? So I've been a couple times of Emmett. So I love Emmett, but I don't like him as a Cardinal. I didn't know him at all then. And then Shaq was on so many weird teams at the end, even playing for the Celtics at the end. Yeah, I agree.

Even as a fan. Yeah, I was just like, I don't like what's happening here. Shaq, you should never be sitting on the bench. It doesn't look good. It's not right. You're the man. Go away the man. But we don't know what's happening with money.

True. You know, we don't know why he's playing. His love. If he has love and they want to put him on the roster, great, good deal. But Emmett Smith and Shaq, to me, what about you? For me, it'd be probably Peyton Manning. I know he won when he went out. He won a Super Bowl.

I know, but he looked so awful, so hard to watch him. Why? He won a Super Bowl! Then here, I'll go with another great Michael Jordan on the Wizards. Listen, Peyton, man, if that's your answer, that's fine, you're dumby, but still it's your answer, you know? Because Michael Jordan, I only, I remember more vividly on the Wizards, which hurts my brain. That's weird. Yeah, I guess you really didn't see a lot of the...

Wow, you're right. You're right, we talked about that. You didn't see a lot of early Michael Jordan. For me, also, Randy Moss playing for the Seahawks. I think he did that for a minute. You digging deep in your brain? Because I don't have any sort of reference on that, and maybe he didn't. but I think Randy Moss played for the Seahawks for just a second.

The Titans, remember one, Titan? He played for the Titans? Yeah. Randy Moss did? For like half a year? Yeah. Exactly. I remember all that.

All right, there you go. That is the tittle tattle. Thank you. A reminder that 25 whistles is brought to you by Draft King Sportsbook. Download the draft Kings app. Use to code Bobby Sports. Get in on the action. These NBA games, first of all, I missed hard on the Warriors.

I just thought the Warriors wouldn't lose another game. They are because they're at home. five and a half point favorite as of right now, as I'm doing this, that could change. But they've been terrible on the road all year. They've been great at home. So I think the Warriors are going to roll. So I would take the Warriors minus five and a half tonight.

Just because I can't believe how bad they are on the road. I can't believe how they just aren't winning on the, like what is the big difference with Golden State on the road? Yeah, and it's transitioned. Everyone kind of forgot about that. And then you get there like, oh yeah, they're really bad on the road all year. I just expected them to win.

game two for sure. Because it's the Warriors. Even though it was in sack. Yeah. So the Sixers minus four and a half at the Nets. I just feel like the Sixers are probably going to roll this too. It doesn't matter. The Sun's minus two and a half at the Clippers. That series, I don't have my finger on quite yet. So you guys check it out. The one I would go with those Warriors minus five and a half. Take the 25 whistles. I want to say challenge. Maybe it's a challenge to bet with me if it's NFL or NBA. Take the challenge and ride with me. College football I feel good about. College basketball I feel good about. But man, these pro games are

tough for me. Draft King Sportsbook, get it. New users. Use the code Bobby Sports when you download the app. 21 and up in most eligible states, but age varies by jurisdiction. Eligibility restrictions apply. Gambling problem. 1-800 gambler in New York 8778, Hope N.W. Or text Hope Nye 467369. See show notes for full details. A win is a win. A win. A win is a win. I don't care which I'll say it. Yep, that's me. Cliver Taylor the fourth. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way,

this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment,

and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show, isn't just a podcast. It's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So if you've ever supported me or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right what you need to be. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok.

The 26 NFL Draft is here and the NFL Daily podcast has it covered from all join me, Greg Rosenthal, and Jordan Roderig after night one on Thursday. Nick Shook joins me night two Friday and then Sunday to recap everything that went down over the three days in Pittsburgh. We'll tell you who won the draft and which players were my favorite picks. Listen to NFL Daily with Greg Rosenthal on the free IHeart Radio app. Open the app, search NFL Daily, and listen now. I'm John Green.

You may know me as the author of The Fault and Our Stars, and now I guess also as the co-host of The Away End, a brand new world soccer podcast. I'm Daniel Alarcon, a writer and journalist, and John and I have known each other since we were kids. My first World Cup was Mexico 86. I was nine years old. I watched every game, and I fell in love. On our new podcast, The Away End, we'll share with you the magic of international football,

all leading up to the 2026 World Cup. For us, soccer, football, is a story we've shared for over 30 years since Daniel was the star player on our high school soccer team. very debatable. And I was there most loyal and sometimes only fan. I love this game. I love its history, its hope, its heartbreak, and above all, it's beauty. Together, we'll find out why, of all the unimportant things, football, soccer is the most important. Listen to the away end with Daniel Alarcon and John Green on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. We'll do a great interview here. We're going to talk with former five-star recruits.

and Penn State tied in, Adam Brennaman, that's old school. We're on mostly because we're going to talk about his media company called Mercury, where he helps athletes monetize their NIL worth, personalized brand building, I think learning about NILs and people just throw it out all the time. Portal NIL. We'll get them by pay NIL. Don them in the portal. But let's actually talk about what that means.

And he also coached with Herm Edwards. He has a Penn State record. Follow Adam on TikTok and Twitter at Adam Brennaman 81. And we'll talk more about a show and everything else in this. So here is Adam Brennaman. Adam, what's up, man? So I have a lot of questions because especially with what you're doing and what you specialize in with Team Mercury.

But just to give people just a background on who you are, a five-star recruit, you play tied-in, you went to Penn State, you obviously have a college football career that, I mean, you have the longest touchdown reception by a tied-in of Penn State history. How long was that reception, by the way? It was 68 yards, man. I'm going to hold on to that one forever.

I've been telling people every time. Everywhere I go, I tell people about that record. You don't think someone's going to hit a 70, 80 yarder? You don't think that would be broken? No, you know those records that are like longest touchdown by a freshman who was under 6'2? So Adam has this like a great playing career, but then Team Mercury is, will you explain that to our listeners before I kind of get into some questions about it? Yeah, so Mercury is a sports media company at its core. We have a variety of shows, podcasts, talent.

You know, you can kind of think of it as a barstool sports that specializes in just college sports. And we actually partner with colleges and universities, some of which Kentucky, Kansas, Oklahoma, Clemson, Villanova, UCF, some premier colleges and college athletics to partner with them to create these fan experiences, these fan platforms and then also do NIL deals with their players, which allows us access that really no one else has. And we have a few shows that student athletes actually host. So it's a pretty cool concept, pretty unique. At its core, we're a sports media company.

So the NIL is what I'm super curious about and your thoughts on it. And just to give you my background, I think I've done NIL deals with about 12 or 13 players at the University of Arkansas from football players, women's basketball, cheerleading, etc. so I try to support those guys, meaning guys, women, both. And so let's just talk about it. And how do you feel the NIL is affecting college sports

and in good way, bad way? Like what are the pros and cons so far? I mean, it has. It's changed the game completely. I mean, as, as you know, Bobby, it's, we're still kind of in the phase of figuring it all out, right? It's, it's, you know, what are the implications? What's it mean long term?

how are universities involved? You know, when this came down, it obviously came down from a court ruling, but still there's been state laws that are different across states. I mean, for a long time, you look at Penn State versus Ohio State. Ohio State coaches were allowed to be involved in NIL deals based on their state law while Pennsylvania coaches weren't. You know, so it's been this kind of uneven playing field. No one really knows what's going on.

I think at its core, NIL is a great thing. I mean, I remember being back in high school and college and like right. essay papers about why student athletes should be able to get paid and make money off their name, image, and likeness. Now, the issue with NIL is that when NIL came down and the court ruling happened and it was intended to be, you know, the starting quarterback doing an NIL deal with his local car dealership, right? The stuff you're doing, Bobby, you know, that's what NIL is intended to be, allowing student

athletes do that. What is not intended to be is collectives raising a bunch of money and paying. a player to transfer to their school, paying a player to come to their school. And that's where the discrepancy is. In the NFL, you know, you have marketing deals, you have players able to do that. There's a salary cap. In college football, you have this thing called recruiting. And recruiting determines who wins the national championship every single year. It's not about the X's and nodes. It's a jimmies and Joe's. It's a long time saying around college football, it's all about recruiting. And when you tie an NIL with recruiting, obviously pay for play happens a little bit. You got people

trying to use NIL in recruiting to pay players to come to their school. That's where the issue is. But I really think at the end of the day, at its core, it's a great thing for the sport. I think it's a great thing for the student athletes. But obviously, there's still a lot that needs to get figured out. And I think at some point we'll probably see some federal legislation come down. That governs the entire thing because I think the NCAA is shown they can't really handle it. Or really anything consistently.

Anything. Yeah. Not just the NIL. I feel like we're aligned in a lot of. ways because I advocated, even lobbied to lawmakers if I felt it needed it to where, if you're 18 years old in this country, you can vote and you can X, Y, and Z, and somebody in a classroom that's in a college classroom can be an influencer and they can make, but an athlete's actually being punished because he wasn't able to just do equally what everybody else was doing, right?

So it wasn't that you're giving the athlete any sort of just, we're giving you free money, Like if they were strong enough, good enough, known enough to actually get a deal for social media or podcasting, that's what everybody's able to do. Why should they be punished? So we're very aligned on that because this is a country too where you're 18, you're an adult, you should be able to make some money at the same time. Very old school, archaic rules in college sports. And so, like I was totally all in. I'm still all in and I love it. But at times, as you mentioned, it does feel very chaotic.

and you hear about some of these deals, and I hear about some of these deals through people that I work with, and there are no rules. It is the Wild West. So what is going to need to happen? Because usually it takes something really bad or crazy to happen to actually create

some sort of force for good. What's going to have to happen to have some rules here? Yeah, I get asked that question a lot. And I really don't have a great answer for how you fix it. I think the problem comes from this one area. that I believe is like the main thing that drives the frustration.

It's that, you know, back up, I mentioned the NFL players. And I'm sure you know a bunch of guys too that complain about this, I'm sure. The amount of friends I have in the NFL who complain about not making any money on marketing deals is exponential. I mean, the amount of guys that are starters in the NFL who complain and are like, man, I only make a hundred grand in marketing deals, which is a lot of money. But a lot of time you think these guys make more money. So that's because that's the real market value that they bring to a brand. If you're starting tight end in the NFL, you're not making $5 million a year in marketing deals.

You may make some money here and there. So I say that to say that the reason the value is so high in college football in NIL deals, which are supposed to be marketing deals, is because of the recruiting and this one thing called the transfer portal, right? The transfer portal changed the game completely. you got a guy for an example as one of my friends Kenny Pickett right first round draft pick number one quarterback in the country

at Pitt the guy made $100,000 his senior year at Pitt and he was a Heisman candidate number one pick in the NFL draft right only made $100,000 his market value would have gone up probably 50x if he just entered the transfer portal

right if he entered the transfer portal he's now worth $3 million to a school. But because he stayed at pit, he's not worth any. He's worth, you know, what's he worth in money to pit business, right? Like, what are they going to pay them to do a car dealership commercial? So these guys are incentivized to enter the portal because they're worth more money on the open market. They get more NIL money. The schools use it to bribe them or get them to come to their school.

So the combination of NIL and the transfer portal, I think is really, you know, you combine everything at this at the same time. has changed more in the last five years and it changed in the last 100. At the same time, you combine NIL so players can get paid. You combine the transfer portal with an unlimited transfer, or I'm sorry, a first time transfer waiver without having to sit out. And then you also combine recruiting being at the most competitive level it's ever been. It's a bad combination. And that the portal and the NIL together is where you hear the bad things happening, right? And you hear the frustration. You hear the Jordan Addison story of leaving Pitt to go to USC last year. I'm sure you remember that story on a massive NIL deal. You hear the stories about

Jada and Rashada, the quarterback who commits the Florida, they promised them $12 million or whatever it was and they don't have the money to pay them. It's those combinations that cause issues. So I think if you see anything happen soon, I think it could be some kind of legislation around the transfer waiver or not allowing guys to actually transfer right away after one year, maybe making them wait two years or three years to transfer, something around there. I don't have an exact answer, but I think that's where the problem really stems from. And you bring up a great point when coaches have to keep recruiting their kids to stay, not just recruiting their kids to come to the program.

And what's happening is they say, okay, the coach has got to convince the kid they want to stay, but it's almost like you've got to convince the kid and pay him more. It's almost like a contract negotiation just so they don't decide to leave. And again, if I were a 19-year-old kid and I didn't come. come from money and I needed money. I'd probably jump too if I could get three, four, five hundred thousand bucks. I mean, yeah, it's life changing money. Even, you know, and one of the reasons I like NIL and it sounds like you're in the same

mindset is you got the kid. It's not always the guys making three million bucks, right? It's the starting offensive lineman who was able to make 25 grand his senior year and that completely changes the trajectory of his life, right? You leave college football. Maybe you don't play the NFL. But if you leave college football and you have, and you go to the real world and you have 30 grand in the bank because you did NIL deals, I mean, talk about the advantage you have on the rest of the workforce on the rest of the people out there. It's little things like that. Maybe it's 10 grand. Maybe it's the kid that can, I mean, I remember teammates of mine who would get the Pell Grant checks, right? The checks for the for low income families for student athletes that would get their checks for, you know, a couple thousand bucks a semester and send it directly home to their families. And that always broke my heart. I'm like,

Like, man, like, where's your money? What are you doing? Well, my family needs. So, you know, to tell those kids that they can't go make a thousand bucks to do an autograph signing, like, that's ridiculous to me. At the same time, there needs to be, you know, there needs to be some kind of structure with NIO. And we can jump off this in a second, but something that I found while setting up these deals with different attorneys and people at the university to make sure that we met all the requirements and everything was above board. I needed to make it above board for me as well, being a public figure, that what I learned is you can basically go, all right, I'm gonna, I didn't do this.

Like my first one was ever was Jalen Williams, who now plays basketball at Oklahoma City, but he's the Arkansas guy. I gave him $15,000 over a series to promote one of my TV shows. And so I had them working. You could see them working. We had it all out in public.

It wasn't like a million dollar deal, but I felt like it was enough where he really felt valued. He did the work. And where you come in, especially with your business now, it sounds like you're getting some of these athletes to actually do the work

where you, I could literally, how I felt while doing these deals. I could say, hey, I'd like you to come knock on my door, say hi, and I'm going to get you a million bucks. And it's not having to be reported. There's no maximum or minimum of work you have to do. It's just, we've agreed for this, and I can pay you this.

And that felt like wildly just so open ended that you could pay anybody any amount to really do nothing, where you guys are actually doing shows with athletes. You make a great point. you know, NIL, for an NIL deal to be allowed, there has to be some kind of transaction there, right? You can't just pay a guy. It has to be, like you said, it has to be, you know, there has to be an exchange of services. You know, they have to promote something or some kind of marketing deal. But really, I think the NCAA legislation says something like it has to be fair market value.

But like, who decides what fair market value is? You know, a collective may tell a quarterback, we're going to pay you a million dollars to come to our school. in exchange, you have to post on social media three times, right? Like, that's not actually fair market value, but who can tell them that's not, right? Who can tell a business that's not worth it for them? So that's where another huge issue comes in. But yeah, I mean, at Mercury, the cool, you know, we're not, we, I have no interest in paying an athlete without, without getting something to return, right?

There's nothing in that game for me. There's nothing in it for you and your business either. So, you know, for us, it's all about nowadays, as we're seeing, athletes want to do their own content. When I was playing football, it was almost, you know, not even long ago, it was almost frowned upon to do your own media. You know, it was almost like, oh, we're football players, we don't talk to the media.

We're media is the bad guys. Nowadays, you see guys, and it started with Pat McAfee, Draymond Green doing his own show, JJ Redek doing it. You see these guys that are now athletes want to host their own shows, want to do their own media, and they can go right to the source. They can end a game and do a podcast and explain what happened and not have to go do, not have to explain it to a press conference of 30 reporters staring at them.

So that we've capitalized on that and just found these guys. I mean, we get reached out to, I literally reach out to almost every day of Division I, Power 5 football players that want to start their own show. And for us, it's like where can we put our resources? What makes sense? You know, what can we actually produce? But it's exciting. It's a fun time to be a student athlete.

And that's another way that NIL, I really think NIL is a part of that is not directly. But NIL has changed the game in the mindset where athletes now. want to build their brand. They're not afraid to be public. They're not afraid to talk to the media and do their own media. It's really commercialized college sports. And I think it's pretty cool to see athletes, you know, building their brand and taking advantage.

Because a lot of them also want to be a media when they're done playing. Do you feel like you missed out on a bunch of money? Because you're a five-star recruit. And that's got to be, I mean, you've got to be the bell of the ball, everywhere you go, especially when it comes to your senior year. I mean, as a five-star recruit, just think of the cash you could have made if this was the deal back then. It's funny.

I was one of my best friends is a guy named Christian Hakenberg. Remember him? It was a five-star recruit. Went to Penn State with me and played for the Jets for a while. We were just, he was on my show the other day and we were talking just about like we would have made some money, especially at Penn State. You know, Penn State's a,

that's an intense community around the football program. And the time we went there too. I mean, we went to Penn State in the middle of, you know, the Penn State. scandal when the fans were trying to rally around each other. It would have been completely different. It would have been nice. I'd have probably have a few more bucks than I have right now if I would have had NIL. Tell me about your show. You mentioned it. Next up with Adam. What are you guys talking about over there? We're doing a sit-down podcast style conversations. You know, I'd like to call it

a conversation, not an interview. And just talk about life, you know, players, careers. You know, we've had guys on a bunch of big names in sports and college football, NFL, Jared Gough, Kenny Pickett, and I mentioned, you know, a bunch of different media personalities and stuff. Really just, you know, a lot of times I'm going to these guys and bringing a video crew and where if it's a big enough guest, you know, go into them and sit down in their living room and just talking about their story and life, you know, which I really enjoy. I think for a lot of guys, you get so, as an athlete, you get brought up in this culture of like being afraid of what you're saying in public and being afraid of the media and being

afraid of, you know, making sure you don't say anything wrong. What we try to do is just take that down. and make them, you know, have them almost forget that they're on a podcast and just open up and talk. And then, you know, I always tell the guys, if you say anything you don't want in there, we can always take it out. But let's just be open and have some fun with the conversation. What about coaching for you? You spent two years at Arizona State under Herm Edwards, right? Like, why?

And I think I saw that you were the youngest position coach at a Power 5 school. Like, one, did you like coaching? Two, what was Herm like? And three, would you go back? Herm's the man. I mean, Herm is exactly what you see on TV. is, you know, the guy with the energy, you know, you see the playoffs, the playoffs rant. Like, that's her.

Every day, you walk in the office and that's the energy. I mean, he was a great, really a good, he was coaching his coaches really well. And he taught us a lot about leadership, how to treat people, how to get people to believe in yourself, you know, how to, his big thing, he always said that, you know, if you're a coach and you got these players or a leader of any kind, you have to give people hope. That's what he always said and always remind you. us of it. I still have, you know, Herm wasn't a big textor, not a big email guy. So every day I would, you know, three, four days a week, I'd walk into my office at Arizona State. And when I was a tight end's coach, I'd have a, I'd have a printed out piece of paper with a message of the day from Herm, right? He would get in there early at 4 a.m. And I'd walk in and on my desk was a piece of paper. I still got tons of them with a quote, with a piece of advice, a words of wisdom, words of encouragement. He would actually type it out. and give it to the coaches, which was really cool.

You know, it's a funny thing, though, thinking of like, you could just text me that, right? But it definitely brought, you know, a different level to it when it's printed out. But Herm's a man, and he was really fun to work with. You know, I loved coaching. There's very few, especially with being how young I was, there's very few jobs or roles where you can have as much of an impact on people as you can as a coach. I mean, you're literally changing people's lives and you're building people up.

and changing or giving young men opportunities. The thing that's changed about coaching and you're seeing a lot of guys get out of coaching or try to get to the NFL is what we just talked about, man. I mean, you got as a college coach, number one, it's all about recruiting. It's maybe 80% talent acquisition and 20% talent development.

I mean, it is all about recruiting. And NIL has changed that completely. I mean, you mentioned it, Bobby. You're recruiting your own roster over and over and over again. And constantly these guys are getting hit up by their agent, by other people saying, if you go in the portal, you'll make this amount of money. You can go here for this and IL deal. So it's a tough time to be a college coach.

I mean, there's a lot of guys that don't want to do it. For me, I always had this passion for media and wanting to get into it. So it felt like an easy transition, especially when, you know, everyone at Herm left ASU. And, you know, but it was a fun time, man. I mean, I think will I ever get back into it? I think, I think, you know, it's definitely possible. It's a, you know, like I said, there's a few things you can make as much of an impact, but I'm definitely enjoying what I, what I'm doing now.

Final question for you when it comes to the NFL draft, you know, it's always been Bryce Young. And then quickly for a while, it was C.J. Stroud when the Panthers traded up to number one, even the odds flipped heavily. But now it's back to Bryce Young. Where do you see this falling with Bryce, C.J. Strout? Just the quarterbacks, and I'm assuming that that number three picks probably going to get traded out. So another one of those quarterbacks and grabbed up by those teams. Like how do you see those, let's say those top four quarterbacks falling?

I've been back and forth on this for a while. I'll be honest. My original, I did a take on this like three months ago. My original order was Will Levis going first overall, which that's obviously not going to happen anymore. And then I had Bryce Young, then Stroud, then Richardson. I'm still super high on Willis. I think Will Levis reminds a lot of GMs. And I think the media, draft media,

doesn't, isn't as high on Levis as I believe that the GMs and the NFL front offices are. From people I've talked to from just what I know about the game and the league, Will Levis reminds everyone of Josh Allen. And if there's one quarterback in the league that a lot of teams are trying to emulate or say, we need to get this guy for our team. It's Josh Allen or maybe, you know, Mahomes, you possibly hurts. But, you know, teams are trying to find the next Josh Allen. And Will Levis remind everyone physically, mentally, emotionally,

of Josh Allen. So I think Levis, I still think there's a chances of run on quarterbacks and you go four in a row. But I think that Bryce should be the first pick. I think that's kind of seems to be the consensus now. It's going to be Bryce, CJ, Will, and then Richardson is what I believe is going to happen now. And I think that's mostly the consensus. But you never know how these things could fall, man. I think Richardson's turned some heads, but I don't think he's quite ready. Stroud's shown to be just more polished and you know CJ Stroud's a guy

I was just taught I just did a show on on the quarterbacks a couple days ago and you know I feel like we're forgetting that C.J. Stroud you know the kind of career he had that he's the most decorated pastor in Ohio State history that he's incredibly accurate which is probably the most important trait in the

NFL if I was a GM I think right now I would take Stroud first overall now again they know a lot more than we do but I believe it's going to be Bryce Young man you're awesome I really appreciate you Adam coming on I want everybody to check out next up with Adam. If you think he's awesome here,

you ought to hear him there. Also, good luck with Team Mercury and Mercury and follow Adam at Adam Brennam. We really appreciate the time. This has been excellent for me, and I think our audience learned a whole lot. So thank you for being so generous, Adam. Appreciate it, man. Appreciate having me.

All right, see you, buddy. Hey, thanks to Adam for coming on and check out his podcast too. I enjoyed that. I enjoy talking about NIO because I feel like, again, people just throw that around, like they know all about it.

When I don't know all about it, and I've been in it, doing deals with players, working with attorneys. And even then I'm like, really? You just do that? So to me, that was super cool. It's NBA playoffs time. That means big hoops action with Draft King Sportsbook, an official sports betting partner of the NBA.

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A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care which I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Clifford Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football,

or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations

with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast.

It's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So if you've ever supported me or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. The 2026 NFL draft is here and the NFL Daily podcast has it covered from all angles. Join me, Greg Rosenthal and Jordan Roderig after night one on Thursday. Nick Shook joins me night two Friday

and then Sunday to recap everything that went down over the three days in Pittsburgh. We'll tell you who won the draft and which players were my favorite picks. Listen to NFL Daily with Greg Rosenthal on the free IHeart Radio app. Open the app, search NFL Daily, and listen now. I'm John Green. You may know me as the author of The Fultonar Stars, and now I guess also as the co-host of the Away End, a brand new world soccer podcast.

I'm Daniel Alarcon, a writer and journalist, and John and I have known each other since we were kids. My first World Cup was Mexico 86. I was nine years old. I watched every game and I fell in love. On our new podcast, The Away End, we'll share with you the magic of international football, all leading up to the 2026 World Cup.

For us, soccer, football, is a story we've shared for over 30 years since Daniel was the star player on our high school soccer team. Very debatable. And I was their most loyal and sometimes only fan. I love this game. I love its history, its hope, its heartbreak, and above all, its beauty.

Together, we'll find out why, of all the unimportant things, football, soccer, is the most important. Listen to the away end with Daniel Auer Kohn and John Green on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. So, like who's in studio while we're doing our show. Usually just Kevin and I. It's like a tease? What's going on here? I was trying to be chill. You don't work for us anymore.

I know, but I had to get some from my computer. You don't work here. Hey, when you're talking about that pick, though, I'm like, ooh, good, I want to say something. I want to say something. You did not take the Warriors minus five and a half? No. Do the Warriors?

I don't know what their deal is. On the road, they don't win. They're at home now. Okay. So don't matter. It does seem like a lot of these home teams are winning, but. Just mark this. He made an appearance and then the guy who, if he bets it, I'm like,

thank God I didn't bet that way. That's how I feel mostly. So you should be feeling good that I feel that way. It makes you feel better. Well, since you hear, do you want to hear about a little announcement that I'm making air? I do. Get comfy. Hold on. I put my headphones on. He didn't about him. Hey, do I need my whistle?

No, you're not part of us anymore. You still have your whistle? We should bring him on as a guest sometime I interview him. What are you doing anyway? I'm getting videos off my computer. Got it. So, we're going to start a couple of digital series video, digital. Question is for you, Kevin, when you

play golf, what do you shoot? What's your score? Remember what Reed was talking about the other day? Yeah. Yeah, I Let's say I'm around there. Like 100. Yeah. So here we go. Around 100. Give or take.

What we're going to do is we will be doing a six-part video series called Breaking 90 with Kevin. What? And so, and one of the sponsors of it will be Cobra because they're going to hook you up with all the clubs. We actually have a, we actually have a fitting next Thursday. Shut up. So it'll be Kevin trying to break 90. But again, you're going to get all the clubs. They're hooking you up.

You're going to go get whatever tall, muscular, skinny, whatever you are. It's a whole process. What? But I told you. Are you serious? I know. I didn't want to ask though. You know, it's been a little, like, a few weeks.

And I'm like, I don't. I just need time. I just need time. So next Thursday, it looks like from noon until two, we, I think that's the frame that we're going to go to this place. We'll go together. I'm going to do something with them as well. But so we were going to do your series first, called break in 90.

and it'll be a six-part series of you trying to literally break 90. I love it. Now, no, bones. If he doesn't break 90 at the end of the six. He has to give the clubs back. That's nice. I love it. Oh, we're breaking 90. Yeah.

Eddie, Eddie, no. You better with those clubs. We're going to break 80. We're getting all the way down. Cobra, they've been awesome for me. They've been great to me. I actually love my clubs. And so they're going to hook you up with the clubs.

Oh, my. They're going to be one of our main sponsors. Actually, they're our only sponsor. We didn't ask anybody else. I'm a Puma Cobra guy myself. Yeah, we weren't even like, hey, give us any money. And I was just like, hey, we're going to do this. Can you hook up a club for Kevin?

And they were like, yeah, no problem. I love cobra. Love Puma. Yeah, you do. There's a best. Yeah. If you're listening to this, go get some Cobra, Puma, everything. All right, just let out.

Okay, okay. Now it doesn't seem real, dude. You're going to a little too hard. So Kevin's going to do break in 90, and then I'm going to do break in 80. Ooh. Eventually, if not at the same time. We only have one read. That's the problem.

One video guy. So, Eddie, just think, if you were here, Wow, wow. Mine would be breaking 70. No, it wouldn't. No, it wouldn't be breaking 70. Okay, okay. So that's the announcement.

So next Thursday, you got to free your afternoon because we're going to go get it all done. Love it. Thank you. With the fitter from Cobra. Thank you. All right, this is very exciting. We're going to talk to Rob Parker,

who's one of my favorite sports radio guys. I listen to him on Fox Sports Radio. He's the host of Inside the Rob Parker. It's a podcast on the Colin Cowhart Podcast Network. He's an MLB analyst. He's a founder and editor of MLBbro.com. He's a Hall of Fame voter. Follow him on Instagram, Rob Parker, FSR.

Here he is, Rob Parker. Hey, Rob, how's it going? I'm good, Bobby. How are you? Hey, I appreciate you. Hey, big fan as well. You and Chris, you guys kill it over there. So I appreciate you coming on.

I got a lot of questions for you. I've been saving them. I've been waiting for this moment, especially to talk about baseball, because I want to know, because I have thoughts. I think generally the pitch clock is warmly welcomed by fans.

How did you feel about it when they announced it versus how it feels now? Definitely, wasn't a fan of it. I just thought it was catering to non-baseball fans that people who don't like the game who wanted to be over before it even starts. But I have to admit that it has, I thought it would shave five or ten minutes off the game,

but 26 to 30 minutes is significant. And I think that it's, It hasn't altered the game to where I'm like, well, what is this? This is like not baseball. It actually is still the same game just at a better pace. And I think, too, if they never told me there was a pitch clock and I was just watching the game, I don't know that I would know anything was different just if I'm watching. It would just feel like a game that was moving pretty good.

I don't know that I would be like, something's fishy here. Do you feel like you would know it if they didn't tell us? Yeah, I agree. It just seems like the pace is faster. I mean, I wasn't that happy when we had early on back-to-back days where Manny Machado was kicked out for, you know, for giving the umpire lip and then the next day, Tim Anderson. Now, if we're throwing stars out of the game over the pitch clock,

then I'm not happy about it. That's not good for the game. And I think the umpires should work with these veteran players, you know, so that they can adjust to it. Younger players have used it in the minor league so they're more used to it. I just don't want to see stars throwing out of the game over the pitch clock. When you talk about stars, I start thinking about kind of the mountain rush more of the big stars right now. And Otani is probably, I mean, in my mind, the best player in the major league right now.

What's the gap between him and number two? Or do you think, or do you even think he's number one? Well, he's a unicorn. So, yeah, he's going to be considered number one because of that he's able to. to do two things. Pitch at a high level and obviously slug and hit at a high level. I mean, you know, ultimately,

you know, is he going to win the Cy Young and the MVP both? Then I think we can really look at it and say he's the greatest player who ever played, period, and end of debate or conversation. We're not there yet. But I will push back on the people who think that Otani should be the MVP

every year regardless. I don't believe that. I think there has to be a context to someone's season. Yes, he's doing something that's incredible. But there was no doubt in my mind that Aaron George was the American League MVP. He played in

a meaningful game all year long. The Angel season was over in May. And I'm not saying that Otani is still, you know, not facing competition or doing what he did. But there's a big difference when you're 20 games out and playing for the division in September.

There's just a big difference in how you approach your abats in the game. and, you know, the pressure level that's involved. Do you feel like he goes, once he hits free agency, do you feel like he goes back to the Angels? Like, have you heard, if he's happy, not happy? And do you feel like he could be the first half-billion-dollar guy? I think that half-billion is the starting point.

It could be even more than that. And you've got to remember, it's not just what he does for the team in the United States. I mean, he's an international guy. when the WBC, when Japan played in the finals, 100 million people in Japan watched the game. Now, what is that worth for jersey sales, all kinds of other things that are going to happen?

When people take vacations, wherever he's playing, he's on their itinerary. When I saw it in New York, when I worked at Newsday, and Matsui played for the Yankees, you know, you saw all the Japanese, signs on the stadium walls all over Yankee Stadium. And, you know, when people came on vacation in New York, going to Yankee Stadium was on the itinerary, like going to the Empire State Building and all that kind of stuff.

So he generates so much money. I say that's a minimum bid of $500 million. It might be $600. That's a, wow. Golly. And does it matter to a guy like Otani that California is closer to Japan? than say Milwaukee or even in New York, because it's another four, five hours flight.

Does that factor in at all? I mean, he wanted to come California from Jump Street, but I don't know if that's changed. Maybe he says, and the people talk to him, say, wearing the pinstripes like Matsui wore and, you know, all the great baseball players and your star would be even bigger in New York or Los Angeles. You know, I think it's going to be between the bigger markets,

New York, Los Angeles. It could be the Mets, could be the Yankees, could be the Dodgers. Maybe Chicago, but I don't see it. I think those are really the three teams other than the angels that have the inside track. Let's talk about the Hall of Fame, as you were a Hall of Fame voter, and Bonds, McGuire, Sosa, those three guys specifically, all because of PEDs during that conversation, but they were the greatest in their day.

Do you feel like they should be in the Hall of Fame? Absolutely. I voted for them every year. on the ballot. I just, I have a harder time. First of all, no, none of those guys you mentioned ever were suspended for PEDs. I'm not saying that they didn't use it. I'm not naive, Bobby, okay?

I'm not naive. It was well used during that era by a lot of players, some who got caught. Remember, there's a Mitchell report out there of 150 missing names, hidden names that we don't know. I think some of those guys are in the Hall of Fame. And I can't sit here and say, Pudge was under suspicion, Jeff Bagro was under suspicion,

Mike Piazza was under suspicion, and they were all in the Hall of Fame. So what are we doing here? Either everybody's out or you put people in. Now, if you got busted by baseball, once they changed the rules, like a Mani Ramirez or a Raphael Palmero, those guys got busted.

Those guys, I understand if a writer doesn't want to vote them in. But the other guys, you can't tell me, Bonds won three MVP before he even went to San Francisco and started with experimenting with the juice. Same thing, Roger Clemens. Go watch the videotape when he was in Boston and won three-side Youngs and he was skinny as a rail. Mark McGuire got screwed as well. Mark McGuire hit 49 home runs his rookie year. Go watch the tape, Bobby.

Go look and see how big he was. This guy was a home run hitter at USC when he was in college. He didn't take the juice and become a home run. hitter overnight. So I think people who think that it's just that and that's what made these guys great are missing the boat. And the other part is we seem to want to punish

the hitters more than anybody. But Bobby, do your research. More pitchers have been busted on juice than hitters, which tells you that Bonds was probably facing a lot of guys on juice when he did his thing. Pete Rose, different, but the same. What do you got?

No way, no how. Pete Rose, it's a different era. You can't go back. Back then, gambling was no, was, was, was, was, was, was, Prasada non-grata. The biggest sign in the clubhouse all over America was if you gamble, you're going to be banned from the game. Pete lied about it for 14 years. I think if Pete would have been honest from day one, asked for, apologize, asked for forgiveness. He would be in the Hall of Fame, but he lied for 14 years. They had all the goods on them. And then when they, you know, tried to, you know, get up back in their game, Then he wrote a book saying that he did it to try to make money.

I think Pete Rose, he sabotages his way back in the hall. Baseball would love to have him in the Baseball Hall of Fame. But Pete's his own worst enemy. So I don't see Pete getting it. What about after he dies? No, I don't. He's already in the Hall of Fame. Have you been to Cooperstown?

Pete Rose is everywhere. He's all over Cooperstown. But I don't think he'll have a plot. Let's switch it up to the NBA playoffs. The Lakers ceiling. What do you think it is? Second round. I think they, you know, I mean, game one was a great start.

When you get 29 points from a bench player and you shoot 54% from the field and 45% from three on a road playoff game, you're going to win that. And now John Moran, you know, is he heard? Is he not going to play or how effective will he be? So they have a chance there. But I just think the other teams, I think everybody has discounted. counted the Denver chicken nuggets. Everybody thinks that they're no good and what they did all year. I think people are now surprised about the Sacramento Kings,

and they've played well all year, and people thought that the Golden State Warriors, who were terrible on the road, were just going to flip a switch and start winning like there's nobody's business, and that hasn't happened. So obviously Phoenix lost game one to the Clippers. They're formidable, and the Clippers have been. beating the Lakers like 11 straight times and 35 out of the last 40, some ridiculous number

could they match up well against the Lakers. So if they were to meet, I would take the clippers. So I don't think they're going to get past the second round. You don't think Reeves and Hetchamara are going to be consistently awesome all playoffs? No, I'm not buying that. They played unbelievable. You know that. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I know. Listen, I bought them. I bought them. I'm going to admit it. I bought him. I'm still buying them. I want to talk about Kevin Durant, though. If he wins another championship, what do you think that, or does that take him any higher in the all-time grades? I do. If you can move, you know, move on and win a championship. Remember, the sons went without Kevin Durant. They weren't able to win. He would be the Mr. Fixer Upper. Like,

when the Warriors choked down that 3-to-1 lead to the Cavs on LeBron, Kevin Durant went there. They won two straight championships. You know, they lost the next one where he was hurt and didn't play. So he got a lot of credit for that. And he would get a lot of credit for this if he was able to get there. I don't know if they've had enough time together to gel and make it work. They might not have enough on the bench to beat the Clippers. I like the Clippers a lot. I think they're 10-deep. I think Ty Lou is a fantastic coach living in L.A. I've gotten to watch him more and more. I think he's tremendous. Final question, just kind of about your home. The Lions, what Campbell's doing up there. Do you feel?

feel more bullish than you ever have? No. You know what? I need to see this year. One year is not enough. We've seen in the NFL. I mean, everybody's celebrating in Detroit. They were nine and seven, right?

Nine and eight. And they didn't make the playoffs. So let's see if you could take that to the next year and actually improve and make the playoffs. If they do that, then they have something going. If they fall back and it's back to the same old, Lions football. I mean, this is a franchise that has one playoff win since 1957, and that was 1991. It's been a long time in coming, so they got to put together more than a random one season

where things, you know, were better than they normally are. We need to see two or three of them, and then I believe they're on the right track. As I mentioned earlier, he has the site MLBbro.com. He's a founder and editor. He's an MLB network analyst. Inside the Rob Parker is a podcast on Calhirts Podcast Network inside the Rob Parker. But where I hear him is the odd couple of Chris Bussar. You're everywhere. You're right here. I appreciate you.

Big fan, Rob. And hopefully we'll talk to you soon. All right, Bobby. Thank you so much. We'll talk again. See you, buddy. A win is a win. A win is a win.

I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me. Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger.

than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment,

and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast. It's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So if you've ever supported me or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you

get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. The 26 NFL draft is here and the NFL Daily podcast has it covered from all angles. Join me, Greg Rosenthal, and Jordan Rodriguez after night one on Thursday. Nick Shook joins me night two Friday and then Sunday to recap everything that went down over the three days in Pittsburgh. We'll tell you who won the draft and which players were my favorite picks. Listen to NFL Daily with Greg Rosenthal on the free IHeart Radio app. Open the app, search NFL Daily, and listen now. I'm John Green.

You may know me as the author of The Fultonar Stars, and now I guess also is the co-host of the Away End, a brand new world soccer podcast. I'm Daniel Alarcon, a writer in Journal. and John and I have known each other since we were kids. My first World Cup was Mexico 86. I was nine years old. I watched every game and I fell in love. On our new podcast, The Away End,

we'll share with you the magic of international football, all leading up to the 2026 World Cup. For us, soccer, football, is a story we've shared for over 30 years since Daniel was the star player on our high school soccer team. Very debatable. And I was their most loyal and sometimes only fan.

I love this game. I love its history, its hope, its heartbreak, and above all, its beauty. Together, we'll find out why, of all the unimportant things, football, soccer, is the most important. Listen to the away end with Daniel Auer Kohn and John Green on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, thanks to Rob for coming on, and let's get over to our final thoughts. First of all the stories, the grids beat the Lakers last night, 103. 93. I was an idiot. I was like, there's no way that Lakers are going to run. without jaw.

Yeah. You know, we talked about villains earlier. Man, you know, there's a kind of a relationship I have with people that annoy me in sports. And it goes from, they're annoying. Shut up. Nobody cares too. I don't think I like them to, I hate them. To, okay, that's funny.

To, you know what? I like them. And I've done this. I mean, Dylan Brooks is that guy right now. Hilarious. Like, just going at LeBron. He's like, I don't care. He's like, he's old.

I mean, he talks crap to everybody, and I'm starting to go positive with Dylan Brooks. I didn't. I didn't like him at all. I'm starting to be, but I love Pat Bev. I love Draymond Green. Dylan Brooks is good in there. Like, he just, I guess I like it

because he's consistent with it. I agree. As long as you're consistent, and you're not just a fair weather trash talker when times are good, if you're just going to go and that's just you, I'm okay with that. I'm down.

I love Dylan. Dylan Brooks is good. It's entertaining for me. So, you know, him and LeBron went at it, and I want to play this for you. this is Dylan Brooks, and they were talking about the game afterward. Here we go.

I don't care. He's old. You know what I mean? I was waiting for that. I was expecting him to do that. Game 4, game 5. He wanted to say something when I got my 4th file.

And then he wanted to say he won't respect LeBron until he scores 40 against him. I poke bears. I don't respect no one until they come and give me 40. He's got the white glasses on. He got the DB chain on.

I mean, he's so it. that I'm into it now. Yeah. So I'm not rooting for the grades. I'm still rooting for the Lakers. I kind of love that. You got three games tonight. Sixers and Nets.

Kings and Warriors. Sacramento's up 2-0, but they are going back to Golden State. Phoenix and the Clippers, and that is at one-to-one. All right. Final thoughts, final thoughts of the show. We had a good one, though, today.

Thanks to our guests for stopping by. It's a really good one. Kevin. Mine is a shout-out and a good luck, actually, to Mike D this week. running that marathon and everybody else out here in Nashville running the marathon. I've done the half a couple of times

and that is brutal. So Mike, good luck and kudos to you, man. Thanks, I'm ready. It's like a Sunday at 3 p.m. And Mike's like, just did a run. And you look at his, he doesn't talk about his, they're going to call him breaks. Splits.

Yeah. Splits. And it's like 18 miles at 8.08. I'm like, you're on 8 minute miles for that long. It's crazy the runner Mike is. Just quietly too, but everything he does is quiet. Yeah. But I did meet a guy and he's like, I'm running the marathon this weekend.

I was like, I've been trying so hard for it. But it was actually the half marathon, and I feel like you have to say the word half if you're running the half. Oh, yeah, you got to say half. Makes a difference. Absolutely. Yeah. And he kept talking about how he was going to run. He was doing the marathon.

And I think maybe by him going doing it, he was doing the marathon. He was doing the marathon. But I knew he was doing the half. You have to put that word half in there. Even if you try to get around it by saying doing the marathon. If you're running the half, say the half. And that's a big deal. Most of it runs 10 miles of time.

I've never done a half marathon. But otherwise, I'm going to think you're running over 20. Yeah. So you have to say half. And I wanted to say something to him about it, and I didn't care that much. But yeah, might kill it, buddy. My final thought is for Reid, who's here and runs our cameras. And I gave Reed a little crap because I saw I shot 30 over the other day.

But Reed also played high school golf. I've seen him play pretty good before, and he shot 30 over. Eddie and I went to play the Vanderbilt course yesterday. and I shot like 20 over and I was like I deserved to have crap talked about me just like I did read. It was the first time I got to play a full round

in months because the last few times I've played it's rained on us every time four in a row. We went four times in a row and it rained us out every time. Really? Jordan Davis and I tried to go play

we played two holes and rained us out. We went for my birthday to Chattanooga we played a few holes it rained, you had to get in the truck. Played a few holes, it rained, had to get in the truck.

I had to go center. So it was the first time we had to play. that's an excuse. Absolutely. I'm just going to let everybody know. That's an excuse. I'm with it. But yeah, over 20.

I talked about golf earlier with Kevin and Eddie, but I shot 20 overreed. So that's worse than bogey golf. And I don't apologize for what I said to you, but I just want you to know, I also play terrible. So we're in that same boat together. It's okay.

It's okay. That's my thought. All right, thank you guys. We really appreciate it. We got Dane Brugler coming up on Monday who's basically built the biggest NFL draft guide that the world's ever seen. And we'll talk to the NFL draft.

on Monday or Tuesday whenever we do the show next week. And then the draft is next week as well. So thank you guys. Follow us at 25 whistles and we'll see you soon. Bye everybody. Theme song written by Bobby Bones and performed by Brandon Ray. Follow Brandon on socials at Brandon Ray Music. Thanks to our crew, segment producer at Kickoff Kevin, video producer at Reed Yarberry, and executive producer at Mike Deistro. Most importantly, thank you for listening. I'm Bobby Bones. We'll talk to you next week. and the NFL Daily podcast has it covered from all angles. Join me, Greg Rosenthal, and Jordan Roderig after night one on Thursday. Nick Shook joins me night two Friday and then Sunday to recap everything that went down over the three days in Pittsburgh. We'll tell you who won the draft and which players were my favorite picks. Listen to NFL Daily with Greg Rosenthal on the free IHeart Radio app.

Open the app, search NFL Daily and listen now. A win is a win. A win. A win is a win. I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me, Cliford Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media. Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Cliford Show.

This is a place for raw, unfilled conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. So let's get to it. Listen to The Cliford Show on the IHeard Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifference. and at TikTok podcast network on TikTok. I'm Daniel Alarcon, and this is my friend is much more famous than I am.

I wouldn't go that far, but I'm John Green, co-host of the podcast The Away End with my old friend Daniel. On our podcast, The Away End, we'll share with you the magic of international football, all leading up to the 2026 World Cup. Together, we'll find out why, of all the unimportant things, football, soccer, is the most important. Listen to The Away End with Daniel Alarcon and John Green

on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.