The Herd with Colin Cowherd - What's Wright - NFL Preseason Reaction: Watson STARTING for Browns, Raiders & Falcons QB BATTLES + 49ers SCANDAL

Episode Date: August 26, 2026

Damon Bruce and Ty Butler weigh in on the drama surrounding the San Francisco 49ers, both on and off the field. Then, Damon and Ty recap the latest headlines out of NFL preseason, including Deshaun Watson winning the starting job with the Cleveland Browns, the Atlanta Falcons QB battle, and Fernando Mendoza’s push to be the starter for the Las Vegas Raiders. Later, Damon and Ty discuss NFL players returning to play college football, and share the one thing they would change in sports. Finally, Damon and Ty answer your questions. #VolumeSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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These are the Survivor Files. Every week, I'm with survivors who live through the unthinkable, abducted, stalked, controlled, and nearly silenced. These are stories about what it takes to make it out alive. Listen to The Survivor Files with Elizabeth Smart on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Hoda Kotteby, host of the podcast, Joy 101 with Hoda Kotvey. You know, I'm always searching for inspiration and useful tools to make. maximize joy. Like when my friend Henry Winkler offered advice to aspiring actors and really anybody hoping to stand out. You're not hired just to fill time and space. You're hired to fill

the space with you. Listen to Joy 101 with Hoda Kotby on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Our hometown is not a test tube. 90 miles northeast of Nashville, a battle for the future of America, plays out in one small town. Developers with right wing ties have purchased hundreds of acres of land. We need cities on a shining hill. This is Our Town, a podcast about what happens when a small town becomes the site of a social experiment and fights back. Guess you didn't move in on a bunch of dumb hillbillies now, did you? Listen to Our Town on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Wherever you are, no matter how you're watching, welcome to What's Right with Nick Wright,

and no, I am not Nick Wright, and neither is my co-host. I'm Damon Bruce. He is Ty Butler, and we are thrilled to be back with you for another week here. It is episode number 494, brought to you by Boost Mobile. Ty, we didn't break the show last week. Let's try not to break it this week either. How are you, man? Well, speaking of which, I have to get in front of the story

because there is a case to be made, Damon, that I should not have been invited back to a co-host this show with you this week because of something that was very troubling that took place this weekend and no not at a trailer park for your boy okay good but I did participate in a charity softball game with ESP in New York shout out to Don le Greco for putting it on every year and your boy Ty Butler and a slow pitch softball game somehow struck out how is that happen? How am I allowed to break down the NFL to talk about college football? How am I allowed to do that with you today three days off of

striking out in a slow pit softball game? Which gives credence to all of the athletes who are like you never played to what the hell are you talking about. People showed up and that's what I did man. I'm embarrassed and I'm sorry on behalf of my family who I embarrassed this weekend. Was the

pitch at least on the black. I mean, were you, were you looking to actually, like, draw a walk in a slow pitch softball game? No. So I, I popped out in my first at bat. And now I'm feeling like, because, you know, I got the guns showing. I'm like, I want to go yard. We've seen a couple home runs hit. I fit a little fomo. And so I'm swinging like I'm Aaron Judge, strike one, strike two. And then the reality sets in, oh, which is. it's very possible you might strike out. And instead of like shortening the swing, you know, gripping the bat a different, well, gripping the bat a different way, swung for the fences.

And no, I did not catch defenses. I got sit back to the dugout with the strike three. And it's, it's awful, man. Well, you know, it's like you're just say you're doing an Aaron judge in the postseason impression, I guess. You could go with that, right? Well, he had 500 in the postseason last year. So that joke doesn't work right now. Historically, it works.

I'll just say this. My dad used to say it takes a real man to walk a poodle. It takes a real man to admit that he struck out in his slow-pitched softball game. So I will salute the honesty and I will mock the clear lack of athleticism. And I feel that we can move on. I'm glad you think that it might be a disqualifying act. But luckily, we're just here to talk about sports, not play sports. And you're pretty good at that.

So I think we'll be able to get through this one. What we will not be talking about, though, today, straight to voicemail. Oh, my goodness, we got a Norwegian getting a haircut. Seriously, is this still, like, is it World Cup? We have to follow this guy in his. I mean, he's picking up taxidermied raccoons and he's getting haircuts. It's over. Like, the rowboat thing was cool.

Congratulations. I feel his 15 minutes are up, right? I think the haircut actually looks terrible, if I'm being honest. And so with all due respect to him, I think he should have stayed with the long hair. You just entered the world stage. Don't remove one of your defining features the minute that you get here for goodness sake. Anthony Davis shaving his unibrow. It would be ridiculous to do that.

It's your calling card. Straight to voicemail, brought to you by Boost Mobile. And how about the booty? By the way, booty is definitely an NFL story from over the weekend, but not this one. This is the good booty story. There's a bad booty story that we'll get into. But the Patriots making a move to the Houston Texans, I always find it weird when a contender makes a trade with another team

that I think fancies itself a contender. What do you think of that? But they've got two receivers now, A.J. Brown and Romeo Dobbs. And the Texans, obviously, desperate after the Higgins ACL. But more booty down in Houston. You've got to love it. Harrison Butker kicks a 69-yard fee-ful in a preseason. game and all I can tell you is at some point Nick Wright walking down a street in Spain probably

started grabbing just innocent people on the street to tell them about it. Do you know how far a preseason field goal was just kicked by Harrison Butker? How many people in Spain did Nick Wright annoy with the 69 yard field goal? Well, I already know what the take is from Nick. It's like, hey, for all of the folks, because this is not even a Butker take, it's a much. It's a much. Mahomes take for all the folks who were concerned about his knee injury could he be limited not only did I predict and I'm Nick that he was going to be dancing at Travis Kelsey's wedding but did you all see how exuberant he was hopping up and down in that celebration testing the knee out Patrick Mahomes is as dangerous as

ever as ever and also for the chiefs we've cited our concerns about them that bad offense the last three years hasn't shown up well if all they need to do is get the ball to midfield then man they're in pretty good shape like does it force defenses to play them differently so we know the galaxy brain takes that nick's going to come with uh so we're all of a sudden we're putting so much stock into what happens in the preseason we know that's coming i totally forgot in nick's mind all roads lead to mahomes you're right this this harrison her field goal is a chance to analyze Patrick Mahomes. You're totally right about that. That is exactly what happened in Spain in some alleyway this past weekend. Anyways, it is great to have everyone here.

Like and subscribe, obviously, to not just Nick's channel, but how about subscribing to our channels? I saw it. Nick has got like over 200,000 subs. You and I have a little catching up to do in that regard, if you don't mind me saying, please go to Damon Bruce Plus. We are on YouTube. We are on TikTok. You can follow me on Twitter, too, at Damon Bruce and Ty. Let the people know where they can follow your slow pitch striking out styles. Listen, appropriate I'm wearing a Yankee hat as I'm hanging out here in New York City. Hit me up at Ty D. Butler. That's Twitter. That's Instagram. Subscribe to the YouTube show, the Thai Butler show that we give you all every single day. And so I do appreciate Nick giving us this platform as we try to catch up to him, man.

We've got a long ways to go. Maybe some takes over the next 50 minutes or so can help that. But yeah, make sure you guys subscribe to the Ty Butler Show on YouTube. Hit up the email to What's Right Mailbag at gmail.com. Leave your comments. And at the end of the chat, we will get into some of the things that you have to say, whether they be complimentary things or otherwise we're big boys. We've got thin skin or thick skin.

Don't have thin. Go up to see I already said too much right there. the thick skin will be enacted should it need be. It is great to have everyone here. Like, subscribe, and I guess we can officially start the clock. And boy, oh boy, in a story that honestly, if you sat me in a corner, you put me like under some, you know, electric Kool-Aid acid test and said, well, come up with the weirdest story that you possibly could to send the 49ers off to Australia with.

I don't think I would have come up with this one. We're not talking about how Dejean stripling looks like he could be a rookie of the year candidate. We're not talking about load management of Christian McCaffrey in the preseason. We're not talking about an exciting and very important fifth year for Brock Purdy. No, we are talking about Jed York being arrested on charges that were downgraded from what really happened. He was soliciting a prostitute in an Ohio trailer park, which is, not usually where the billionaire class go to get their rocks off. This is a very, very embarrassing story for the San Francisco 49ers. And needless to say, the mugshot is out. That is going to follow

Jed for the rest of his career. The jokes are all over the place. And I don't know how the internet will ever let go of those. We know what the internet is. And I tell you, there's a part of me, Ty, that makes me think about, you know, just how the world works. And I think the 49ers are going to be a contender this year. I think they are going to be a very good to be heard from football team, even with all their aging issues and substation issues. But it is also very difficult for me to think that in the same year that begins with a Jed York mugshot, the year ends with Roger Goodell handing him a Lombardi trophy.

It just doesn't feel like that's a movie we are about to see. And this is an incredibly embarrassing story that I just, I cannot fathom what was going through Jed York's mind when he was doing this. Anytime you are a multi-billionaire and you are scrolling and scouring the internet and you allegedly, we have to say, come across a prostitution ad. You just got to click it, man, that you just have to have to. And look, on a serious note, is it shocking that a rich guy has shown, allegedly shown interest in prostitutes? No, not even a little bit. But it is so wild how you now become reduced to coming across an ad that was put out by undercovers to arrange a meetup and a trailer park. and for a $140, like it checks all the boxes of being one of the most embarrassing stories you'll see all season. And by the way, the last couple of months, we're hearing about way too many owners being involved in stories.

You've got one owner in the NBA who's got cap circumvention issues. You've got another owner in that same city who had to flip the team because he's dealing with some legal issues. And so too many owner stories, but it does kind of re-emphasize a known cliche. You could have all the money in the world, Damon, and still be broke. Protect the shield. Protecting the shield is something that every player is asked to do, every coach is asked to do. And it feels like owners get way too much of a pass on that at times. Like it's been famously said, you cannot fire the owner.

and what real repercussions will come of this. You know, obviously we have history with Robert Kraft. You know, we've got NFL owners whose names have appeared in the Epstein files. So what will be the real repercussion other than embarrassment? I don't know. But I do know that this is so reckless. I mean, owners do need to be questioning that. I don't think any owner is looking sideways at another owner for maybe straying outside their marriage or, you know, eating the forbidden fruit.

or anything like that, the problem is the risk associated with it. Now, without, you know, earmuffs kids, earmuffs, without seeming too gross, let's just be honest about the world we're living in. Men with money and access and power have access to dalliances that normal people might have to go to an Ohio trailer park for. Is it safe to say that Jed York was the only billionaire? in America on the property of any trailer park in America this past weekend? You know, I mean, it just, it's such a fish out of water.

The risk and reward math that clearly was not done by him is something that I think has to be a little concerning to other NFL owners. And again, Jed is going to be around an awfully long time. He's younger than me. He is a young owner who's on an awful lot of committees. He is growing in power in NFL circles. and this just is such an embarrassing story to have attached to him. And this is like first paragraph stuff in the obituary.

We now learn that his marriage is over. He is getting a divorce, which again, maybe that's why he was on the hunt. You know, I'm just telling you, it is, there's been a lot of reasons to criticize Jed York. There's been a lot of reasons to say he might not be good at this because the word reckless, his never been attached to him until now. This is staggeringly reckless from a guy who went to Notre Dame and has to be very aware of how modern media and social media works. And for him to be caught up in this due to his own actions, it's just something that I could not have predicted. And it just, it isn't going to help the team. I know that. How it hurts the team, I do not know. But look,

they're about to land on another continent. The 49ers are about to be the NFL's diplomat. in Australia. Is Jet even going on the trip now? Ironically, they wrap up their preseason in Las Vegas. Couldn't he have gotten some of this handled in Las Vegas? Nah, man, that's too, that's too, it's too hot. It's too hot boy to do it in Vegas. You got to find somewhere a little bit more low key if you're trying to get it off.

But the thing is in Las Vegas, it's that the world exists for this to happen discreetly. And if there's one thing I do know about rich people and rich men and NFL owners, some discretion is valued among them. And it seems like that judges through all the concept of discreet right out the window to do this. And we're still in the very early endings of all of this as we start getting body cam footage, as we start learning her identity. If we ever identify the woman involved in this, my God, imagine if it's not a woman involved in this. you know, I mean, again, I don't know where this goes, but it is, it is, nobody is cloaked in glory on this one. And it is, it's, it's an embarrassing story that I could have never, ever, ever imagined the 49ers or Jed York would put himself in. So, allegedly.

Here's what's interesting, Damon, because you're out there covering this team. I, in prepping for the NFL season, hit up one of my. my friends who is a fan of the Niners and asked him like what's the tenor, you know, of the fan based. How do you guys feel? And this is my boy RJ. And he says to me, very optimistic because we're flying under the radar. Well, it's safe to say they are no longer flying under the radar. And so what you have so far this offseason is your owner is jailed. He spends a night in jail. allegedly for engaging in prostitution. Your head coach is involved in some mysterious car crash that we learned about weeks later. Now to his credit, he was accountable for it, but the story

still doesn't pass to make sense test. All of that leading into what is a massive season for the Niners who have a bevy of question marks. And this is a team that, look, I wouldn't be surprised if they finished 6 and 11. I wouldn't be surprised if they finished 11 and 6. Six and 11, how we get to the doomsday worst case scenario is owner is in a scandal. Head coach had some headlines pop off during the off season. Your quarterback was hurt. What do you play nine games last year? And the last time he was great was in 2023.

That's three years ago. Two of your best offensive weapons in CMAQ and Kiddle, they're battling injuries as they're getting older. Once again, you have a new defensive coordinator. And so all of this, none of this is ideal for San Francisco. Obviously, like, what happened with York is bigger than football. And, you know, it's egregious and nefarious. And you hope that that gets sorted out. But just if you're a Niners fan, it's like, man, like the hits just keep on coming because it's not injuries.

It's just negative headline, negative storyline after negative storyline. So it's just a bummer. If there's any good news that come out of this, we just talked about the Niners for a good four or five minutes and we didn't use the word substation. So maybe that's going away. Maybe this is an interesting way to bury that headline, Jed, but at least you've accomplished something, I guess. Meanwhile, like you said, Christian McCaffrey, it feels like it could go either way. And he's trying to calm everybody down saying, hey, just because you're not practicing doesn't mean you're holding in, holding out. Everyone tries to read too much into anything. Well, yeah, after you've had so much tread run off your tires last season, everyone's trying to figure out who you're about to be this season and a lack of participation in the preseason, which is maybe good, bubble wrap the guy. He doesn't need much practice.

There are concerns all over the San Francisco 49ers, and I agree with you. Nine and eight or eight and nine doesn't feel like it's out there. It's either going to be a 12-win season or a six-win season. There's nothing just right down the middle. of the road. It feels like it's going to go really well or really bad. And we will get into it with the first Thursday night game of the year in Australia against the Rams. Will George Kiddle be playing? Will Jed York even be attending? So it's going to be fascinating to watch.

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What happens when a quiet Tennessee town becomes the front line in a battle over the future of America? Developers with right-wing ties have purchased hundreds of acres of land in the area. The first thing you see when it pops up is pioneers in Appalachia. But they weren't just planning houses. We need cities on a shining hill that exemplify and embody the Christian way of life. Stop right there. Is that normal? A podcast about what happens when a small town becomes the site of a social experiment. God need men to rule. Great.

And decides to fight back. Do not use my hard work to sell your bull-h-h-h-hob. They're not just opposing what's being planned for here. Our hometown is not a test tube. They feel like they're standing in opposition to an entire administration. Guess you didn't move in on a bunch of dumb hillbillies now, did you? Listen to our town on the I-heart. radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Hey, this is Hayes Davenport. And Sean Clements. We host the podcast Hollywood Handbook on the Big Money Players Network. Our show is extremely accessible to first-time listeners. Each week, we talk to someone in show business, aka the biz, and try to help them with their careers and see what they have to offer us. Everyone has a good time, and no one gets mad at their publicists for letting them do do our show.

We've had a lot of great guests like Sarah Sherman, not that great. Actually, can you help me shape this? How about we flip it on his head, right? How about we flip this script? Okay. What is the surprise woman? Actually, you think is the straight man is actually the one who's acting weird. Adam Scott, this entire time you've been expecting Adam Sandler to come to visit the show.

I would never expect. I would never set expectations for something like that to happen. If the universe allows for something like that to happen, I'm open to it. I'm always going to accept. You know, Danny McBride, fine. Yeah, it's all this fragile masculinity exuding. I could smell it walking down the hallway, to be honest with you. I was like, is that weed?

Nope, it's fragile masculinity. Ben Stiller, no. Because a lot of times, out of context, people don't get it or even know what a circle is. You know what I mean? They're like, oh, what's a state. Everyone's. And fake. Right, fake and also not interested or just like, oh, I've got my life.

I don't care about your life. And a lot of other big shots that wouldn't be where they are without us. Oh, and by the way, Will Ferrell told us personally he loves the show and he wants to be a guest on every episode, but he's just so busy. Listen to Hollywood Handbook on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hit him, Damon. Ty, I don't know what you feel about the Cleveland Brown quarterback situation. situation, but I do know that when given the chance to screw something up, Cleveland pretty much always does. You know, I sort of feel bad for Chodor Sanders, who's a little bit of a lightning rod guy himself, but he has been put in his situation that I don't think there's any level of play that he could have elevated himself to QB1 because the Browns are committed to making the wrong choice in a way that very few franchises commit themselves to any direction. Deshawn Watson being booed.

by his own fans with a clear off ramp finally being presented to the Cleveland Browns. Of course, they get on the Deshawn Watson Highway and said, we're going to ride this guy to week one as our starter. Now, maybe they're just setting them up to fail on the road and by week three, everything has changed. But another year feeling like it's dead on arrival. And the quarterback situation that never ends in Cleveland

is what defines this franchise now. So look, before Watson's press conference, this weekend and i think i said it on this show i thought should be the start of this year because at least you're investing in someone who could be your backup next year worst case scenario and of the guys on the team with dylan gabriel uh and deshaun he shouldor is most likely the guy that is going forward going to be part of your future so i obviously felt stronger about that as we heard what watson had to say and you could make the case Damon that there is no player on any roster in any sport more hated by their fan base than

Deshawn Watson between the trade itself, the ensuing contract. This is the worst transaction of all time. And in his latest audition for QB1, he was awful. And so you would think him having what I thought was a disqualifying press conference. it would all but settle the quarterback competition, but here we are. And I got to listen to folks tell me, well, it could make sense because for the Browns, their first two games are on the road, and it means that if he struggles, you come, guys, if you're benching your starting quarterback after the first two games, it means he should have never been the starter to begin with.

You name the wrong guy you should start a quarterback. It means he never should have been the starter. And secondly, I just. don't believe that he's worth the headache. And if you're trying to at this point still talk yourself into Deshaun Watson becoming the guy he was, one, two, three, four, six years ago, then I think you're performing this exercise wrong. And so obviously it is a comically bad decision by Cleveland. Two things, Damon, that I'll hit you with.

One, it was so mind-boggling, like how tone-deaf Deshaun was. it felt like he was trying to tank himself off the team. Like the Browns were never going to release him because of the cap ramifications. But it felt like he was just trying to, you know, NBA style, get, you know, request a trade, like get me out of here. Second thing is I can't believe this is Todd Monkin's decision. Like, I would have to believe that this is coming from above him. I would agree with both of those because it is, who is Brown's PR? How is Brown's PR not in his ear?

saying, look, I know you didn't play particularly great, you're going to go out there and face some rough questions, whatever you do. Just don't say anything negative about the fans, man. You can't win. That is it, that you can't win that. Had you been reasonably paid, have you, if you were liked

by everyone and you crap on the fans, they're going to turn on you. So just don't do that whatever you go up there and say. Like, they set him up to fail ridiculously often. It started with the trade for him. There's no one who can really live up to that trade.

The Cleveland Browns in one Deshawn Watson have executed the worst trade in NFL history and then compounded it with the worst contract in NFL history and are now getting one of the worst returns on investment in football history. The best time to get out of a bad investment is today. That is true no matter what the business is, no matter what the hit might be. And you know what? one of the greatest tricks the devil ever pulled was convincing as he didn't exist. But the second greatest trick was fans are now worried about dead cap space.

NFL teams aren't even worried about dead cap space. You can survive dead cap space. And I would argue that whatever the dead cap space penalties or ramifications are to the Browns, it would be easier to survive that than the never-ending parade of bad PR and play that you're getting out of Deshawn Watson in the first place. Ty, do you even remember what the deal with? Six picks? Yeah. Three first rounders, a third and two-fourths,

as if one-fourth couldn't have got. You needed two-fourths to get this deal done. And five years, 230-mill, all fully guaranteed. You guys are out of your minds. Like, you deserve everything you get, Cleveland. I was going to say it's actually pretty hilarious how, because of how awful the contract is, like we rarely hear.

about what they gave up to get him. Like, that's how bad the $230 million contract is. And I just want to say this about his comments, which I know he came back and apologized yesterday. He said that, you know, he felt like the booing, it was personal. Yeah. And so what I would say to Deshaun is,

I would love for that to be the case. If fans were booing him because of his, heinous, abhorrent behavior that we saw end in settlements, that would actually be a sign that as a society, we progressed. Unfortunately, what we know about sports is tolerance goes so far as how you perform on the field. And so I actually think it's less to do about what, you know, he was accused of and what he went to court for. And more about, man, since we traded for you, you have been one of if not the worst starting quarterbacks in football you've been you tore your Achilles retore it and then every time we've seen you on the field you stunk and so i would love

for us to have some moral compass when it comes to athletes and and how we judge them that's not the case i think browns fans if he were good if he were good would have been cheering for him would have 100 because we've seen that so it's not personal when it comes to all of the off-to-field issues, it's just that you've been a terrible quarterback. And that's what this comes down to. If you had won, I'm not saying all is forgiven, but all is ignored, all is forgotten. And it's just that simple. Winning is the ultimate deodorant.

No matter what stink lines you've got coming off of you, if you win and you play well, fans will swallow hard and say, keys with us. But the performance has never been there, so you better drop the attitude. And before we move on, let me just say this. Shador, here's some advice from Uncle Damon. Don't say a word. Just sit there and wait. Just be patient.

Be quiet. Wear beige and blend in. This is eventually going to get to you. So just be calm. Be patient. And it's going to happen for you, Shador. And I don't know if you were going to be successful once you get in there. But you will be QB1 before this year is over.

Just be patient. I feel like the Browns have set up Deshawn Watson not to succeed as QB1, but to fail one final time so they can then make the move. And I agree, like you said, Ty, if you're setting up a guy to be yanked as fast as possible, he shouldn't be the guy you put in there in the first place. 100%. 100%. And look, I'm rooting for Shador and an odd way.

some of this is like really good for him because it takes some of the limelight off of him. But I just wonder if you're in that Brown's locker room and you're watching this unfold. And you see Watson get named QB. Like how does that sit in the locker room? Well, that's a thing. I really wonder, are the players behind Deshaun? Are they rallying around this guy in ways privately in that locker room that we don't know? Is there a reason why they're not?

rallying around Chador Sanders. By the way, what if Dylan Gabriel's the best quarterback in the room? Right. He's just a forgotten guy in this conversation. But it is weird. It also tells you it was never really a quarterback competition. It feels like it. Well, I also would say neither guy particularly won it. Yeah, but at least Chador this past weekend was better than Deshaun.

And so like they're, if this is how we landed. I think it informs us there was never really a quarterback competition. That's what they were just selling to the media and to their fans. But it wasn't ever really the case. Moving on to the Las Vegas Raiders. Now, I don't know if there's a legitimate quarterback competition there either. I don't know if Kubiak and Tom Brady have already made the executive decision that we're going to go with the vet before we just throw the rookie into the fire.

Now, there are two different schools, throw them in the fire, let them, develop. Tom Brady is from the Let him develop school. So I do think that that is probably what is going to happen. I don't think you bring in Kirk Cousins to just carry Mendoza's clipboard. But it has been already

an offseason of which way are the Raiders going to go. Ashton Genty looks like he dodged a major bullet over the weekend. Ty, I've got connections within the Raiders organization and I was texting everyone immediately. Is this an ACL? And they

there was a lot of fear that this was a season-ending injury for Gentie. Now, how that ACL just turned into a knee, why players were, you know, basically laying hands on him and praying for him when it's just an ankle sprain. Well, that's good. I'm very happy that it's not nearly as serious, how serious it is, though, we will learn. Will he miss the beginning of the regular season?

But I'm telling you, the Raiders who I do think are starting to point themselves in the right direction, have really slow start. written all over them to the point where they could be trading Max Crosby before the deadline. And if that is who you are, I think it's the wrong time to ask Mendoza to step in and start to save your process. Well, keep Damon on the screen here because he just did something very sly. At no point in his introduction to the Raiders conversation, did he mention at all that his guy, Fernando Mendoza, threw a pick six.

And I'll tell you this, as I'm watching the game, you were the first guy I thought of because I'm like, man, I hope Damon's on birth control because that's not the site you want when you're signing up to have this guy's baby. Didn't mention the pick six at all. So I signed up for the baby delivery after Indiana won the championship. Pick six is again, that's price of business. And this is the learning curve. That's all right. He's allowed to throw pick sixes in the preseason as he's learning. I will also say that his receiver kept drifting when he should have just sat down in the spot.

But, you know, Mendoza, look, it wasn't a great debut. It was not a great debut, but it wasn't bad either. He did some other good things. But, yeah, I mean, birth control is probably the right thing to do. I talked to my wife about it. She said, no new kids. So I'm not allowed to have Mendoza's baby. I was going to say, how is that sitting in the house?

I don't want to get into, you know, people's bedrooms, but how is that sitting with the wifey? She's listening to you talk about you having other people's baby. Because that blew up on so. But shout out to the social media team. That, that clip blew up last week. When I was thinking of, geez, what highlights might they actually feature? I didn't think that was going to be among them. So thank you, everyone, at the volume in Blue Doc.

Thank you very much. Yeah, it blew up on the decision for Mendoza. So I'd actually be surprised if he started week one, based on what Kubiak said in May, signing Kirk Cousins and then what you mentioned about Brady wanting to exude some patience. I guess the case for him being your week one start would be that if you take a look at their schedule,

two of their first three games, Miami and the Saints. So if you're trying to ease him into it, soft spot landing wise, that would be where you go. But I maintain, and I said this last week, my prediction, unfortunately, just to kind of put some salt on the wound,

is that he comes in week eight against my New York Jets and just carves them up. Now, the schedule does get tougher for the Raiders after that because after the jet game, it's San Francisco, Seattle, and Denver. But I would imagine if he's not starting the regular season week one, which is my prediction, I think it'll be week eight. You do think they're going with him week one? No, no, no, no. I think Kirk Cousins is going to be their week one start.

Okay. Yeah, I do too. I was just to clarify, what I was saying was the case would be two of your first three games are kind of winnable, but I don't think that that's where they're going. I maintain week eight is where he'll have his

debut against the Jets. You know, this is an impossible thing to sell in an NFL locker room, but everything that the Raiders do, everything that the Raiders do should be pointed towards the 2027 NFL season. The 28 NFL season. So not a single veteran in that locker room wants to hear that this is a year just a practice.

This is a dress rehearsal for better days to come. But that's how you start building culture. That's how you start building a winner. It just isn't going to flip a switch and happen overnight. There's a lot of growing pains that the Raiders have been going through for what feels like 25 years in a row. But this is going to be another season of growing pains. I would just wait to throw Mendoza into the list of growing pains. and I will hold off on my labor pangs for a while anyways.

There is always quarterback battles going on in the NFL preseason. We have one in Atlanta as well for many reasons. It kind of feels like this Falcon season is going to be a little dead on arrival. Having said that, Pennix is back, and Tua has hardly done anything to lay down. This is my job until you're all the way back. What do you think is about to happen in Atlanta between Pennix and Tua? Well, first of all, congratulations to Tua and his wife. I don't know if you saw they announced they are expecting their third child.

Oh, I did a Mazel Toff. That's wonderful. I had no idea. Secondly, if the plane was, hey, we're going to start the season with Tua and then it'll allow for panics to kind of come in later and not rushing back. But that plan then gets interrupted because you haven't liked what you've seen from Tua so far during the preseason in training camp. I think that that's a bad plan. I don't think the answer is a guy who's had three ACL surgeries,

who just started practicing this week as we hit the finish line in training camp. The answer is, let's just throw him out there in week one, especially when you've got so much invested in him that he still, two years ago was the eighth pick in the first round in your draft. And so obviously there is still, despite some inconsistencies and injury, there is still a hope and belief that he could maintain his position as your franchise quarterback. And so while you might be turned off and alarmed from what we've seen from Tua, I don't think that that plan should be upended, especially when he's coming off of another major injury. Penix is. And, you know, it feels like rushing him back is just rushing him into the next time he's going to get hurt again.

And unfortunately for Pennix's body's been betraying him since he was in Bloomington with my Hoosiers tearing two ACLs. He then transfers to Washington and has a healthy enough year to where, you know, they're in the national championship game against Michigan. He had to overcome injuries to get himself there. I'm a big Pennix guy. I really wanted to work for him. And I just feel that Tua is always one hit away from being out of the league. I think the minute that they can go to Pennix, it's the right thing to do. I think that a Tua investment is, it's a tough, tough thing to invest in.

But it's not like Pennix is some sure thing either. It's not like either of these guys' greatest asset is the ability to stay in a game. So I, how about this? For the Falcons, it's none of the above. I don't think either Pennix nor Tua is the long-term answer at quarterback. It's sort of like the Cleveland Brown situation. I mean, I don't think Watson nor should door is necessarily. a long-term answer at quarterback.

So it's like you're sort of punting on a year before it even begins. And with all the injuries that have happened in Atlanta, if I were them, I'd be trading Jesse Bates. I would be, I would be looking, again, two, three years down the road. You've got a new coach. People got time. And I know no Falcon fan wants to hear that. But Bejohn is about to see the prime years of his career wasted on a seven-win football team. So maybe, maybe, Damon, you're right that neither of these guys are the answer going forward.

But it's at least still up for grabs. Like, it's at least on the table. Pinnix goes out there and with the weapons he has with Pitts, Bejohn, London, that he has a, they have a phenomenal season. And then you're buying back stock with Pinnock. So I don't love the Browns analogy, but I'm with you as far as like, rushing him back does not feel smart for this organization. There has to be a glimmer of hope.

Like maybe we can keep him healthy for a season with all these weapons. He can put it together. And I just don't think that as we sit here on August 25th, and he just returned to practice, like it's a smart idea to go do that. And so, look, I haven't totally given up on Pinnix. I still think he is a very talented quarterback. And I want to see him in this system with those weapons, stay healthy for an entire year, what he can become. But obviously, none of us would be shocked if next draft or the draft after they're getting their next quarterback.

Like, that's obviously, I would say, the likeliest of scenarios. If you don't believe the hype, there's no reason to buy them. buy into it. What hype are you believing in in terms of NFL teams as we start the year and whose hype are you not buying? Which NFL team? That was probably a playoff team last year or maybe close. Are you already saying, I don't think it's going to happen? Who is the overrated team in the NFL picture right now? Man, this might ruffle some feathers. So can I start with with that. This might ruffle some feathers.

And I promise you, it's not me trolling. It's not me going for clicks. And it's also not a team that made the playoffs last year. But it's one near and dear to the hearts of many listeners, viewers

of this program, because the guy who runs the operation, who is tremendous at his job, has convinced you that his beloved hometown team, the Kansas City Chiefs, going basically pick up right where they left off a couple years ago when they were going for a three-pe. And my thinking is simple. It's not that hard to arrive at.

I don't think Kansas City is winning the Super Bowl. I don't think they're winning the AFC. Their offense hasn't been good in four years. The person in charge of leading that offense is coming off of tearing his ACL and I saw him jumping up and down on the Bucker 69 yard field goal. So it looks like, you know, he's getting closer to healthy. But that's still a reality that exists. And I think losing your two starting corners and McDuffian Watson sounds significant to me.

Risholns just had a knee procedure. Chris Jones, he's getting up during age. Now, he was an all-pro two years ago. So it's not like we're writing him off and he's the future All-o Famer, but he's still getting older. And you won, most importantly, you won six games last year. And so I'm not buying the hype that exists on this very program that Kansas City is the team to beat. Because I think they come into this year clearly worse than Buffalo, New England, Denver, the Chargers. And then you have teams like Houston and Jacksonville that their cases, look, we played you head to head and beat you.

And we also went to the playoffs. And so to quote, full force, ain't my type of hype when it comes to the Kansas City Chiefs. I don't know how much hype they're actually getting, but to me, Baltimore is moving in the wrong direction. I just think that Baltimore didn't do enough to put the right receivers around Lamar, which feels like a story that they never really get out of, to have any belief that the Ravens are about to be a playoff team. you're basically saying, yeah, pencil and Derek Henry for 1,800 yards right now. Eventually, even the king is going to have to slow down a little bit. I think it is a much different defense.

Again, how Derek Henry is going to rush for all those yards and how Lamar is going to stay upright with one of the best centers in football, no longer playing in front of either of them. Again, it is what, Rashad Bateman, Zay Flowers is your, your one, two, and your receivers. I just, I am not buying Baltimore. With all due respect to Jesse Minter, I think it could be a rough first year for him in a very competitive AFC. You know, I think the Bengals, again, the Cincinnati Bengals,

I'm a doubting Thomas on them at all times. You've got to show me a good season before I believe the Bengals are about to have a good season. But they're about to have a very motivated borough in an offense that's for real, and improve defense. I'll have to see it with my own eyes, but I think Cincinnati is better than Baltimore right now. I think that there is an outside shot Pittsburgh could just cobble enough respectability together to be a thorn in Baltimore's side. We always know that that's a good game, no matter which direction either franchise is pointed in. There's just some old-fashioned, we don't like you football out on that field, and that's good for the sport. But I think Baltimore is a team that is officially starting to move in the wrong direction at this,

They've always been respectable. They've always been a good outfit. But I just think John Harbaugh is going to be missed in Baltimore this year. Can I give you a bonus team? Yes. How about the Green Bay Packers? Because a couple of weeks ago, I was on Twitter. By the way, at Tidy Butler, debating someone I know who is a diehard Packers fan about Jordan Love and his positioning amongst the NFL quarterback hierarchy.

and I stated, which I thought wasn't all that controversial, Jordan Love might be slightly overrated. And he sends me this guy that I'm debating, a YouTube montage of Jordan Love highlights, which unintentionally made my point. Because my question to him was then, tell me the NFL quarterback, who by now is considered like veteran-ish, who going into year four with these expectations that the Packers have,

who in defending said quarterback, you've got to send me a YouTube clip of his highlights. That to me makes my point. And so last I saw Jordan Love, that man was blowing an 18-point lead in a playoff game to Caleb Williams. You played no defense that day. I'll defend Jordan that much.

He played no defense that. I knew that was coming, which is why I was ready for it. The reason why Chicago was still in position to have their offense explode and Kayla to make all those throws is because to start the second half, what did they go? Punts, punt, punt. Four straight possession of punting the football away to start the second half. You had a chance to put the game away. You had a chance to put them into submission.

And you failed to do that. And so while I like Jordan Love, I think he's a nice quarterback. I also think that he's slightly overrated. And I would like to see him post-Rookie season when a playoff game before I'm anointing him as some, you know, top seven guy best in the NFC. That's all I'm saying. I think that that's fair. I think that this whole like, oh, he's about to be the next Aaron Rogers.

I don't know about that. I mean, NFL franchises usually don't go from Hall of Fame quarterback to Hall of Fame quarterback to Hall of Fame quarterback and have any expectation of that is sort of of Fool's Gold. I will say Jordan Love is pretty good. I got him officially on top of the pretty good mountain and he is talented enough to absolutely play himself to the very good hill. You know, I mean, he's he's a good, good, good football player. That defense is going to be the difference. How that division functions and stays healthy around the Packers is going to go a long way into whatever the Packers are or are not.

You know, they are not a, just roll the football out there. We'll show you what a team of destiny looks like. They're going to need the Lions to not do well. They're going to need the Vikings with Kyler Murray to maybe upset the Bears in a game that they didn't think. There's, there's a big division moving around the Packers that'll have an awful lot to say about the Packers season, as much as the Packers have to say about the Packers season. By the way, don't be afraid to fade those Chicago Bears either. Regression feels like they are, they're signed up to regress from who they were and what they did last year as well.

I like that take. The turnover differential was like just so enormous and all of the fourth quarter magic. So there is the element of regression to the mean. But I guess the counterpoint to that is Ben Johnson says they're going to be the highest scoring office of all time. And so if they just decide they're not going to hit snooze, on the first three and a half quarters, then maybe they are a much better team that doesn't need to pull wins out of there. You know what? But I'm with you on Chicago. Like if it happens, you can see how it does. You want to talk about changing sports landscape. The Chicago

Bears talking about leading the NFL in offense. I mean, not that's these these things historically have not happened. Remember, the only team in football historically without a 4,000 yard passer. Yes. your Chicago Bears. Get Bell Pure Fiber Internet with Crave, Netflix, and Disney Plus from $94 a month. Price guaranteed for two years on Internet with a two-year term and auto pay credit.

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How about we flip it on his head, right? How about we flip this script? What is the surprise woman? But actually you think is the straight man is actually the one who's acting weird. Adam Scott, this entire time you've been expecting Adam Sandler to come to visit the show. I would never expect. I have. I would never set expectations for something like that to happen.

If the universe allows for something like that to happen, I'm open to it. I'm always going to accept. You know, Danny McBride, fine. Yeah, it's all this fragile masculinity exuding. I could smell it walking down the hallway, to be honest with you. I was like, is that weed? Nope, it's fragile masculinity. Ben Stiller, no.

Because a lot of times out of context, people don't get it, or even know what a circle is. You know what I mean? They're like, oh, what's a state. Everyone's so dumb except for you. And fake. Right, fake and also not interested or just like, oh, I've got my life, I don't care about your life.

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So look, the world of football obviously is changing dramatically at the collegiate level. And if not for those dramatic changes, my Indiana Hoosiers would not have been able to do the equivalent of walking on water, something that is a miracle. I mean, they, they, they had an undefeated national championship

season at Indiana. And it's just, it's unfathomable. It's unthinkable. And without a brand new rulebook, none of that is able to happen. If tradition were not flushed for modern new thinking, it doesn't happen. But modern new thinking is officially gone too far. You know, I do believe in players rights. I do believe you should be able to transfer a time or two without penalty. It shouldn't be some, I can transfer four times in four years and I'm a free agent every year. I think that NIL absolutely needs to be controlled. It is way too much of a wild, wild west out there. Smart people in football are saying out loud, this is unsustainable.

We need to get our hands around this before the beast is too big to control ever again. Well, in good news for the beast that is too big to control, I guess, one of the single worst decisions that has ever been allowed in college athletics apparently is about to be allowed where a kid who was on an NFL team in an NFL training camp would be able to reenlist back in college because he is now eligible for a fifth year. I do believe there is a class in college that should get its fifth year eligibility restored, but if you have already become a professional, you have eliminated yourself from that. Everyone, Ty, let me be perfectly clear as we talk about NFL players may be going back to college. Everyone involved in this decision needs to be

shot into the sun to never be heard from again. You're disqualifying yourself as an important voice in college athletics if you think, oh yeah, this should happen, this is normal, this is the new normal, this is abnormal. And even the SEC is saying, yeah, we probably shouldn't do this. we all know that the SEC would do anything to gain an edge on anyone. And even they are saying, yeah, this is a bridge too far. Yeah. Look, totally agree with you, obviously. I do find that this story is so perfect because if I had told you five years ago, there would be rule changes that would allow players cut in the NFL to then go back to college, which coach would school? him up, your number one overall pick would be Lane Kiffin.

Number one, number one with a bullet. I mean, there's no, there is no other, there is no one else going first overall in that draft but Lane. So that's why this perfect story is the perfect story. And I guess like in his defense, as presently constructed, he's not breaking any rules. He's not doing anything quote unquote wrong. Sports, as we know aren't about this like moral compass. about gaining some type of competitive advantage as best you can and signing someone who was just in the

NFL is you doing just that. So you push the envelope, you test the waters, you find the loopholes, and you do whatever you can to put your best team out there because look, there's a tremendous amount of pressure on him at LSU. But obviously, this is so maddening and ridiculous. this, I don't know a single person, maybe outside of like LSU employees or the fans who, when watching this story unfold, they say, yeah, that's a good idea or are celebrating this. Like, I still find it hard to believe it's going to hold up. But I also think that at times, you do need, in order to incite change, you do need something tremendously dramatic to happen.

And that's what we have here. Like something so ridiculous that it shakes the block and it sounds alarms. Because Damon, there are really good NFL players who get cut all the time. And you mean to tell me if they've got eligibility and it fits in that five-year window, they can just go play college football against these kids? Like what happens if early in your career, you end up with some legal issues that forces a team to cut you? We see that all the time. If you've got eligibility, you could just go back to college.

So it's an insane story. The fact that we're talking about this, I guess shouldn't be that shocking because this is where we are with college football. But it is crazy, man. Absolutely crazy. You know, just because you're getting cut money to play, it doesn't mean that you've turned pro in college. In order to turn pro, you got to turn pro. You're dressing in an NFL locker room. You're going out to an NFL practice field. There's a part of me that even says, all right, NFL practice field. It's not quite a game, maybe, but then no. It's just like Pandora's box is already cracked

open enough. We don't have to throw the lid so far open than it can never be closed again. Eventually, an adult in the room has to draw a line in the sand, and this has to be that line. It has to be. So hopefully cooler heads prevail and an adult in the room. Let me just tell you, the NCAA is one of the most feckless, powerless, always seeding important decisions to other governing bodies. And the whole thing, the whole thing needs to be run by a sports czar. The whole thing needs to be run by someone with extreme conviction, with real ability like a pope or a king to have just up. This is my paper. decree and so be it and everyone must follow my rules. I like I like the transition there you and on that note I would like to congratulate you Ty. Ty you have been promoted not to fill in host

on what's right with Nick Wright you have been promoted to sports czar you are sports pope and with the wave of your magic wand and your all powerful hand you can enact a new rule that whatever sport you want to enact it in has to adopt it today immediately. What would your rule and decision be, Mr. Tsar? All right. So I've got a couple that I've toyed with. One is we talked about my pathetic softball performance this past weekend. So I think that we should allow four strikes in slow pit softball so that people like me don't strike out.

Clearly not enough strikes being offered. MLB All-Star games. I'm just give you a couple before I get to the one that I really care about. I do miss the MLB All-Star game mattering. And so I know that it sounds kind of ridiculous, but maybe go back to AL versus NL, the size home field advantage in the World Series. Again, it's unpopular.

I just miss it mattering. I hate the possession arrow in college basketball. The NFL fumbling the ball through your own end zone leads to a safety and that other team getting the ball it's just mind-boggling to me but where I land is with the NBA because we're trying to find ways

to encourage teams and this is like the fact that we got incentivized team to take the regular season more seriously is a joke but in trying to find ways to give teams more reason to play their stars

and to take these games seriously how about the top four seeds in the NBA, you get five home games, five home games, because owners, they're not throwing away extra money, the gate at the fifth home game. So if you land as a top four seed in the NBA,

you get the extra home game, obviously a lot of incentive, and you also, as a top four seed, in order of your seed, get to pick your first round opponent. And now this is, you know, televised. It's breezy talk between players and teams. You feel disrespected.

So you get an extra home game and you get to pick your first round opponent. That's how we fix the NBA regular season. That's how we make the first round of the playoffs more interesting. And that's what the sports are. Ty Butler would do if he was at himself. I like the picking your opponent angle. I think more than the extra home game angle on that. that because oh dude that would just oh fans would be all over it teams would feel disrespected

how dare you select us as the beatable team that you think you can take out it would make things spicy that would be good i i would i you know what not that i had a choice sports are we have to live in the world as you create it but i do i think i like that angle here's what i'm doing i appreciate here's what i'm doing and i am going to help fix football i am going to help fix football i'm going to help your franchise have something that is the rarest commodity in sports these days, the ability to stay on the same page because you've got guys on the same team for a while. What I need to do is expand NFL rosters from 53 to 60 men and you get to keep an 80-man NFL roster in a practice squad. You can't be asking for more games and wanting, you know,

the same continuity, if you have to go off the street shopping in the middle of an NFL season for a street free agent who's now going to play a very important role in your organization going forward. I want to see the NFL. First of all, if you play a snap in the NFL, you should get lifetime health care coverage. Maybe not necessarily for your entire family, but you, you get lifetime coverage. I want better player protection. I want better injury. I just think it would be safer for everyone and to have more. I've been here training for this moment backups on an NFL roster will make the game better when guys start getting hurt.

And guys getting hurt is as common as breakfast, lunch, and dinner in any NFL day. So more guys for more games under your team's tent. Just make the entire league better. It makes it more watchable. It makes it more entertaining. There's more guys to track. And it's an infinitesimal cost for the league. You know, four or five more roster spots, seven more roster spots.

This is not big money. This is easy to do. And I don't know why the NFL makes it easier on itself to stay healthy and to have more continuity. Well, here's what I love about this take. It means fewer guys getting cut that can then go play college football. There you go. Here you go. Everyone wins.

So college football even wins. I love it. I did enjoy that one. You know, and I guess the other thing, if I had like, okay, so that's your one thing. The other thing, I'm going to stay in football. And I would just tell all the powers that be in college football, a 25-year memoratorium on conference jumping,

conference-lee realignment, drastic changes in the rule books. Like, let's get the NIL era under a tent, make it less of the circus, and then just agree, this is what we're going to do now for a quarter century. This is the rule book, because there's just too many moving parts,

too many moving players, Too many moving conferences at all times. It's, I don't want to say hard for people to follow, but it's just annoying for people to follow. Yeah, I guess the flaw in that when it comes to like the NIL would be because everyone's looking for regulation. And so how do you hard cap the amount of money these athletes can make over the course of a 25 year period when there is infinite growth from. a financial standpoint for the sport. And so that, I guess, would feel unfair and that's something you got to figure it out.

Can I give you one more? Go ahead. It's time to grow the basketball court. The basketball court needs to get a little bit bigger. The lane needs to get a little bit bigger. I need more room on the baseline to work underneath the bucket. Players have gotten so big. Everything about basketball is grown. Maybe the court

needs to just expand by like a foot in every direction. You want to keep that three point line all the way down, to the corner three, again, move it back. Just a little bit more room for an incredibly larger than it used to be league, I think would help the game. So here's why I push back on that. I think there are many reasons, and I'm not a scientist obviously, but there are many reasons why we have seen in what feels like an increase in injuries.

One of those reasons is, you know, basketball has never been harder to play. And part of that is the three-point shot has created this issue for defenses where you now have to guard full court and move laterally in ways that you haven't had to before. And so if we're making the court bigger, we're only adding to that issue. And so now we might see an uptick in injuries. Well, at least everyone has compensated millions and millions and millions of dollars to play basketball, right? No, but us fans don't care about that. We want to see the best. And then that might lead to more load management.

Hey, the court is so big. And now and of a sudden the games are longer. Nah, man. So I would disagree with that one. So we were asked by the studio to go to listener questions around the five-minute mark of overtime. And if we want to be back on Thursday, we should probably listen to what the studio says to do. Are you ready to hit some listener questions? Let's do it, baby.

Let's go to questions here. Person 21 has a question for the both of us, saying, My question is how did each of you get into sports journalism? Okay. You want to go first? So I'm old enough to where I was in college and I went to the library to see the internet. Like, let's see what this internet thing is about. It was being invented while I was in college and I still chose a career in radio.

I just wanted to be a broadcaster. You know, I was I was enamored with WFAN. in New York City growing up. We could get that in upstate New York. You know, I was enamored with Bob Costas, the sports reporters on ESPN, Dick Schap. I just loved real sports conversation. And that's what I wanted to get into. I always knew that any sort of like cubicle or fluorescent overhead lighting would kind

to be the death of me if it weren't in a radio studio. So I just wanted to go into broadcasting, into radio, and then literally, like sports talk radio is being invented in my lifetime. And as soon as I saw that, I said to myself, all right, that's kind of what I really want to do. And that's what I am. Now, am I, I would never say that I am a sports journalist capital J journalist. I'm a lowercase J journalist, you know, just a scotch of integrity in the things that I say. But that's kind of how I got into it.

I knew that I would absolutely be useless to society doing anything other than talking about sports. and my actual usefulness to society is still still being debated. So I don't consider myself a journalist. I'm a sports talk show host. I did go to school for journalism. Prior to going to Syracuse, I went to Oneonta. Halfway through Oneonta, because I thought I was going to be a music producer. I'm a big hip-hop fan, so I thought I was going to be the next Swiss beats.

But halfway through, I hit that like fork in a road moment. And I'm thinking, is this what I really want to do? And then it kind of hit me. You want to be actually a play-by-play announcer because, David, when I was a kid, like six, seven years old and like my mom would buy me like the wrestling act. I was a huge wrestling fan. She would caught me the action figures. I would actually put on my own pay-per-views where I would like write out what the card was. This fight is going up against this fighter.

And like Jim Ross, like I would call the fight as I'm doing it. And so that led me to think, you know, maybe you want to do play by play. I get to Cuse. I get into sports talk radio. I did not grow up listening to the fan, though I did watch Mike and the Mad Dog on the Yes Network because I'm a Yankees fan and their show was simulcast. I grew up listening to ESPN radio. Cowherd quickly became one of my idols.

So between him and the show that preceded him, Mike and Mike, that, you know, kind of sparked a fire in me. I was like, yo, this is what I want to do. So let's do it. And that's the thing. Like, you know, I don't want to grow up. I'm a Toys R Us kid. And I wanted to work in the Toy Department of Life. And that's what sports is.

Sports is the Toy Department of Life. You know, we get into some serious stuff every now and then. But it's always couched on this is sports. None of it really matters. this is the fun stuff that distracts us. And that's sort of where I wanted to be. And I guess that's where we both are right now. Again, thanks to Nick and everybody for asking us to come back to his toy department

to watch it while he's away on vacation. Starbelly asks, there's going to be a lot riding on the quarterback class in the 2027 draft. Who do you think is going to be the number one overall pick? I guess this is really a question about how much do you want a manning? Arch Manning is there. And I don't know what kind of a season Arch Manning would have to produce or what kind of a season any other quarterback collegiately would have to produce to have more NFL interest than a Manning. Like this family's DNA is proven to have worked in the NFL from the grandfather to the father to the father to the the uncle to now the kid.

We all know that the NFL is a copycat league. And drafting a Manning has equaled Super Bowls for two of the three drafted Manning quarterbacks. Yes. So there you go. I think it's an investment in that Manning name and taking your chances on what Arch was groomed to be, not necessarily what he is coming out of this year in Texas.

Yeah, it's the privilege of the last name that obviously is going to give you, instant credibility if you're a quarterback. And even if there is some regression, I think these organizations atop the draft board because he is a manning and because of what we've seen from him so far are going to convince themselves, that's our guy. He's the most marketable. He projects to be the best.

And of course, the last name is going to be what ultimately brings it over the hump. And so, yeah, I think it's Arch Manning. And look, Damon, hopefully if my football team ends up with the number one overall pick, the next time we are filling in for Nick Wright during the summer, because we know Nick's too good to break down preseason action, we can be talking about Arch Manning on the New York Chets. It could happen. Be careful what you wish for, Arch.

Being number one overall might not be the best thing for you for sure. Can I just give you one more name, though? Because the impossible has already happened in Bloomington. maybe lightning does strike twice. Josh Hoover is coming in to be coached by Signetti with more accolades than Curtis Rourke had, then Fernando Mendoza had. So if there is someone who maybe could threaten, threaten the concept of a manning going number one overall, it just, it'll never feel normal to say, Ty, but watch Indiana.

They could be significant in college football again this year. It could happen. unbelievable that opinion is not biased at all it's hey you know every single time i start talking about indiana i feel like i need to defend what happened but people seem to get it people seem to get it it's not just me saying look out everybody this is real so i don't feel like a total homer kind of douche nozzle when i say that i feel like there's some truth to it so anyways man the truth to this is I completely enjoy working with you. Let me tell you, whether we're asked to fill in for Nick ever again or not,

you and I need to start collaborating across our YouTube channels, man. It's an awful lot of fun. We want to thank everybody here with the volume for asking us back for another week. Again, thanks so much to Nick, who, you know, there's a lot of people with opinions about Nick Wright, because he's got a lot of opinions. And let me just tell you, Nick Wright is good people, man. He looks out for his own. He really, really does.

And we thank him very, very much. much everyone back in the studio and to Boost Mobile. We thank you so very much. We encourage everyone to like, rate, subscribe, all those good things. Check out Damon Bruce Plus. I would love to just click over and be like, oh, all 200,000 of Nick subscribers have decided to subscribe to Damon Bruce Plus and what you are doing too, Ty. Tell them where they can find you and wrap us up. Take us out, brother. That would be awesome, man. If we can have these. These people stay with Nick, you know, watch him on his TV show that he does a wonderful job, him Wiles and Brew every single day. They're back next week.

And also obviously doing this show twice a week. If we can have them kind of migrate over to us and appear on our channels in our comments where you can find me at Ty D. Butler on Twitter and Instagram, the Thai Butler show, that would be marvelous. That would be fun. And so, you know, we poke, we take our jabs, you know, and to me it's a way of displaying affection and signs of endearment at Nick. But I do got to give a big shout out to him because he is just an amazing person. I know he's not a sentimental guy. But Nick, man, all the love in the world to you for allowing us to do this. We will be back on Thursday.

So we've got one more shot, Damon, at screwing this thing up. But yeah, it's been a load of fun. Check us out on Thursday beginning at 10.30. We got some fun stuff we're going to do. An NFL game we want to play with you guys. So make sure you continue to like, share, and subscribe. It's the What's Right show with Nick Wright. Ty Butler and Damon Bruce saying, peace out.

HALight your boys. I survived nine months in captivity. And I've spent my life exploring how other people survive what should have destroyed them. I'm Elizabeth Smart. And these are the survival. Files. Every week, I'm with survivors who live through the unthinkable, abducted, stalked, controlled, and nearly silenced. These are stories about what it takes to make it out alive. Listen to the Survivor Files with Elizabeth Smart on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your

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