The Kevin Sheehan Show - Is Aiyuk Juice Worth It?

Episode Date: June 26, 2026

Kevin and Thom today reacting to the latest videos from Brandon Aiyuk. Is the juice worth the squeeze? More Wizards' draft talk, the Nats, and Caitlin Clark part of today's show.   For all your football betting needs: DCRELOAD at MyBookie for a 50% Deposit Match   Chime is not just smarter banking, it is the most rewarding way to bank. Head to www.Chime.com/SHEEHAN. It only takes a few minutes to sign up.   Ready to do your own spring reset? Join Thrive Market with my link www.ThriveMarket.com/SHEEHAN for $20 off your first three orders plus you’ll get a FREE $60 gift.   So if you are looking to make Mother’s Day perfect, or just want to impress your friends and family with an epic meal next time you host, go to www.GOLDBELLY.com and get free shipping and 20% off your first order with promo code sheehan.   Search Whatnot—W H A T N O T—in the App Store, download, and you can start selling right away. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

You don't want it. You don't need it, but you're going to get it anyway. The Kevin Sheehan Show. He is Kevin. And if I'm crazy or if I'm Kevin, some boys cut me today. And I'll sign up to command of us tomorrow. We'll see him.

Brandon Ayuk's video from last evening, he's already put out another one today. The show's presenting sponsor is always Windo Nation, 86690 Nation Window Nation.com if you need new windows. Tommy's here. I am here and we will start with Brandon Ayuk and when I saw that

video last night I actually didn't know that it was the second of two videos that he put out yesterday. The first one there was no sound to but he was holding an NFL football that had a commander's logo and a graphic on the video said

the best sport in the world, the best league in the world, and the best team in the world. And then he said, and I almost forgot the best wide receiver in the world. And then came the next video where he said, I'll sign with the commanders tomorrow.

If I'm crazy or if I'm cappin, Tommy, do you know what? If I'm cappin means? No, I don't. It means if I'm lying, if I'm exaggerating, you know. Okay. young kids these days.

Yeah, I know. Lying is too short a word, so let's expand it to capping. So then today, as in Thursday, June 25th, he put out a video where he walks backwards and what appears to be a pair of pajamas into an empty closet, except that there is a backpack on the ledge in the closet. He opens it up.

and he starts pulling out cash, lots of cash, and just throwing it on the floor. And the actual description of this is get ready with me

chrome to the dome. Get ready with me, chrome to the dome. I'm, my producer on radio Max suggested that this was some sort of of reference to the brand of clothing that he was wearing. It's the name of the brand is chrome.

So I don't, I'm not familiar with it, but this video is actually kind of funny. The video's kind of funny with him just looking as goofy as possible. And then he puts the backpack on and walks out of the closet. Empty, of course. But I took the reference of throwing money on the ground. of money he left behind in San Francisco. Yeah, or that, you know, it's not about money or whatever, sure. Yeah.

So the video yesterday, I don't know what made me, why it struck me so much. I mean, there are probably plenty of reasons. But it's the first time that I just thought to myself, yeah, this juice ain't going to be worth to squeeze. This is, you know, a person who, is unprofessional, immature, probably a little bit nuts, not very serious. And look, like I tweeted out last night, immaturity and being crazy are not disqualifiers for NFL players. I mean, you know, players who commit felonies, plural, you know,

those aren't necessarily disqualifiers for players around the league. And this guy's never done that. But I think it hit me because it came after I'd watched this video from Richard Sherman on his podcast where Richard Sherman spent 10 minutes talking about Brandon Ayyuk. And Richard Sherman, you know, somewhat close, I would think, to the 49ers situation. And he talked about the root cause of the fracture of the relationship between the 49ers and Iyuk as being the Super Bowl against the chiefs that they, the one that they lost in overtime when Kyle took the ball instead of deferring because he was unfamiliar with the new overtime playoff rules. Crazy, but I think true.

And he wasn't targeted enough. And he essentially from that moment on had a major problem with the organization. And that led to the very contentious, you know, contract negotiations and the possibility that they We were going to trade him to Pittsburgh that summer until apparently Kyle came in and nixed the trade. But all of it just added up with the last couple of weeks of these videos. And, you know, I've said over and over again, you know, this is somebody who needs to be sat down with and told that there is a path for you to be available. But you've got to have the stones to face them. you've got to show up for OTAs.

You've got to force their hand. And doing it this way, A, doesn't seem to be working. And B, if you know anything about Shanahan and Lynch, if anything, they're digging their heels in, because you're calling them names. And, you know, at the same time, you're revealing that the deal that they gave you was stupid on their part, too, because you're not worth it. I just It just hit me last night where it's like

Let's go get Diggs Diggs is posting videos of himself working out at the University of Maryland with Malik Washington the Terps quarterback promising quarterback He's ready to play football He's in shape

He played well last year He's played recently Now I'm going to tell you I was in love with Brandon IEuk in 22 and 23 I took the calls when I said I think he's better than Terry. I think he's going to get a massive deal. I think he's a he's a he's a he's a he's an elite receiver and he's ascending and I would and I still if if Adam Peters decides you know we're all in

on him, I'm going to trust them. I'm going to trust that they're doing something that they're not going to be embarrassed about down the road. But this guy is not serious about doing what he claims he wants to do, which is playing Washington. He's not done anything to help his cause, which speaks to him, A, potentially not being very bright. B, being a coward, because he won't face his employer and do what's necessary to get the ball rolling on this. And three, does not appear really to be all there. Like the marbles are scrambled or scrambled, excuse me. Scrabbled, scrambled.

The marbles appear to be scrambled. at this point. And I don't, you know, even though it won't cost him anything, there won't be any risk, it just seems like Diggs is a safer bet right now. But I'm telling you, Iyuk's upside is much bigger than Diggs's upside. I'm talking about what he could do to influence and impact the team in 26. But I think I might be done with it at this point. I just can't see him fitting in in a Dan Quinn Lock team. I just can't see him fitting in,

especially, you know, after this last mini-camp and all the talk about the seriousness, the sense of urgency, and then you bring this clown into that, I can't see that. I just don't see it happening. and Adam Peters may know this guy, but I don't think he's the same guy that Adam Peters knew. I've thought all along that this was going to happen. And I thought all along that if it does happen, they have done the proper due diligence.

They know that medically he's fine. They know that psychologically he's fine. And they're going to enter into a deal that does not put them at great risk. and there's big upside if you get Brandon Ayuk from 2023. And I thought all along this was going to happen. And I think part of it is something you and I have talked about recently was something that Ben mentioned to me a few weeks ago. If they weren't going to do this,

or if they weren't interested in at least kicking the tires on this, we'd probably know by now. They would have leaked it to an Adam Schefter or to Araport. Shefter, you know, came out pretty strongly. against IUC yesterday and talking to people around the league and they're shaking their heads with the behavior. I mean, a lot worse behavior, you know, has been tolerated for talent in this league. I know. But I don't see, I don't see Josh Harris allowing this to happen either.

I don't know that Josh Harris, of course he would have a vote, but I don't know if Josh Harris inserts himself into this. if Adam Peters says, look, this guy's just... Brandon Ayuk has become the biggest thing in this town, and he's not from here, he doesn't play here, he can grow up here, but yet, save for the draft night for the Wizards, the biggest story in this town is the guy who's never played for this team. No, it's a big story.

I mean... Yes. I'm exhausted by... it and I have people that tell me all the time, please, no Brandon I you today. But you can't, you can't ignore it. Josh Harris is very, very aware of it and why it's such a big story. Okay. But if Adam Peters sits down with Josh Harris and says, look, I've known this kid since we drafted him, he's goofy, but you go back to when he was, you know, with us during that rookie contract. Great kid,

good teammate. Because by the way, Tommy, before the summer of 2024, that's how everybody described him. And a great player who will really impact winning for us.

If Adam Peters has that conversation face-to-face with the owner and he's wrong, then that's a lot of damage. Yeah, well, you can't you know. Those two. What, it's interesting. I think there are two things with this latest, you know, the video last night. All of the commanders talk really should stop, you know, on his part, but he's, I don't think he's bright enough to figure it out.

Because implying that once you get released, Washington, you know, Washington's going to sign you is, you know, implying that you've had conversations with them and they've told you that. That's tampering. I don't think that that's happened. I don't. But, you know, you can't keep. putting it out there that it's a foregone conclusion that I'm going to be a Washington commander once you know you stop you stop your cap and you start you cut me and and and like this guy's clearly not brilliant I mean but that doesn't matter a lot of the league isn't brilliant and a lot of league is nuts so you know somebody let me find this where is it Look, Tom Brady brought Antonio Brown into his house. Right.

To live. Yeah, but it was a mistake. It was a mistake. Yes. It turned out to be a mistake. But no one in Washington is Tom Brady. Right. So I think, number one, he's got to be careful.

I don't think they're going to get investigated or anything, but, you know, he is essentially saying, I got a deal with Washington once you cut me loose. And, you know, the other thing with this is I do think that this was a strong lean that he was going to end up playing here. But to your point, the more he does this, the more he puts Adam Peters at big risk and, you know, putting his ass on the line even more so with his owner by signing him, which could put him. Adam Peters off of him. I mean, if the guy just went to the 49ers at the beginning of OTAs, and the first time we heard from him was him trying to be reinstated,

ready to play football, excited to play football again, I'm healthy, I'm ready to go, then they cut him, that's a different conversation with your owner than the one you've got to have with your owner after all of these social media videos, where it appears that you're bringing on a lunatic. You're bringing on an unsurious person. I wanted to read this from Devon because Devon was listening to the radio show today and he said, Kevin, you know what Coach Thompson would be saying about fool and corpse? Never forget that.

And one of the often repeated Coach Thompson'sisms over the years is when he would say about some crazy, you know, player, I'd rather have to tame a fool than resurrect a corpse. And I think it's one of my all-time favorite Coach Thompson sayings, because I think there's truth in that. I don't, but I think there is truth to that. However, that's not the range of choices. I agree, especially in this circumstances. Or it's not crazy.

Yeah. Right. Like with Ayuk in this situation, there is a fool there, but there's also a guy that's not proving in his actions, and it's really because of his inaction, that he really wants to play. I mean, if he really wanted to play, there'd be more action, and there's been inaction from him. And that would be the concern. That's been the concern for me, is that he hasn't been focused on. getting back to football and finding a way to get released. Instead, he's been slamming his past employer,

telling him telling the world how stupid they are, how he fleece them for $50 million, leaving out the part, I guess, until this past video, about having $30 million of it voided, which has never happened in the history of the league. And here's the other thing that's adding up. Nobody's really supporting him. You know, Kittle kind of had this comment, you know, kind of beware.

Like, he's really good. This kid can really play, but be careful, you know, what you wish for. Good luck with him. We had Dante Wittner a few months back on the show. He was ripping into him. You know, Richard Sherman, you know, took shots at him. A lot of former players, Hushman Zada, who was his coach and mentor, has basically said, be careful, beware, there's been a lot of warnings from people who are much closer to the situation.

And those that would say, man, this is a reflection on bad judgment for Jaden Daniels. How do we know what Jaden Daniels really thinks of Brandon Ayyuk? I mean, we don't know. That's not even a consideration. Not for me. He wouldn't slam them publicly. He would never do that. I mean, I'm wondering if they were absolutely going to kick the tires and there was a strong lean to sign them.

But perhaps Ayuk is turning people off right now to the point where I think you make a great point. It's like there would have been really very little risk, you know, a month ago. But now he's become such a spectacle and made such a spectacle of himself. now the signing comes, if it happens, with so much more scrutiny from ownership. That's an excellent point. Excellent point. He's the biggest thing in training camp. He, yeah.

And there's much more of sticking your neck out for Brandon Ayuk on Adam Peters part than there would have been had he kept his mouth shut, applied for reinstatement, showed up for OTAs, and gotten cut. We still would have questioned what the hell happened and how was it that the league was able, the 49ers were able to void all of that money, all that guaranteed money without even a fight, without any union support whatsoever, but we wouldn't have the images of the last, what, two weeks now. Right. Go get Diggs. Go get Diggs.

I'd be fine with that, yeah. I mean, it's so funny because Diggs, in comparison to this dude, now, it looks like an angel, and he's far from it. I know. Just go get Diggs. On the sideline fight with teammates. Yeah, I mean, good God. I mean, he is, I mean, Diggs is a true divvy. He's part of that wide receiver diva group.

But he's also a player and a badass competitor on game days and wants to win. And, you know, I would imagine Diggs would have gone in and tried to beat the shit out of Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch to get himself cut versus doing it this way. And that's part of what, you know, tame a full resurrecter corpse. I totally buy into what Coach Thompson used to say. But part of the full part was you had a guy that was volatile on game day that you had to calm down. This guy hasn't given any indication that football is top of mind right now for him. And that would bother me. Of course, nothing's going on.

And if they end up signing him, I will be, I'll take it. And I'll be like, okay, you must know that he's going to be fine. But he's already proven that he's going to go scorched earth on his next employer at some point. At some point, it won't go well. And he's going to do this to you too. But hopefully you can get two years of 90 plus catches, 1,400 plus yards, and double-digit touchdowns from him before it happens. All right. Tommy wrote a really funny column about A.J. DeBanza and the team that he will be doing.

joining. We'll do some of that next. We've got other things on the show. We'll get to all of them after these words from a few of our sponsors. All right, listen up. America is turning 250 this July 4th, an epic milestone that deserves an epic party and Goldbelly has you covered. Goldbelly is the official food marketplace of America's 250th. Amazing food is Goldbelly's DNA. Think about it. Every city's got that one legendary place people wait in line for. The spot locals are obsessed with. The place that's been feeding people for generations. Well, I've been telling you about Goldbelly for two plus years now. They've put together all of those iconic spots across the country that represent the best food America has to offer and they'll ship it to you for your next

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your window purchase. The product is great. The customer service is phenomenal. 96% customer satisfaction rating with over 45,000 five-star reviews on social media. And the offer right now is hard to beat. 86690 Nation, windonation.com. The Wizards drafted A.J. DeBonsa, as we know, on Tuesday night. And then last night, they had two second rounders at number 51 and number 60 overall. And they traded those to the Orlando Magic to select Felix, Akpara. He's a 610 big that played at Tennessee for Rick Barnes this past season.

His reach in terms of reaching up as high as he can reach is 9 foot 4 inches. So he is just 8 inches away from having his fingertips touch the rim standing still. I remember this player very well because I had Tennessee a couple of times in the tournament. and he was a force defensively. He's Nigerian soccer was a sport. He hasn't played basketball for a long period of time. He is super raw offensively. He's a lob threat because of his long arms and because of his size and he dunks on people.

He certainly goes after offensive rebounds and can put it back offensively. But the drafting of him is his defensive presence as a shot blocker and as a rebounder. They needed front court depth, and I think they got it. I like the pick, and I think the Wizards, as far as you can know, about, you know, a draft at this point, they did pretty well with their two additions. Tommy wrote about the addition of A.J. DeBanza, I'll let you tell everybody what your thoughts were on the player we both thought would get drafted. Yeah, and again, I bow to you, since I don't watch that much college basketball, that this guy is a good pick, the right pick,

a guy who could potentially be a franchise-changing player, right? Yep. Okay. Could be. Yeah. So that's good. And he's off the charts when it comes to the off-the-court intangibles, from what I've read.

And as I understand it, they've had their eye on this young man since maybe he was a young teenager you know and Will Dawkins had a relationship with him for as long as that but I point out my column, my hook to my column

was that he's you know this is the third number one number one for the wizard's this century you know there was Kwame Brown in 2001 and John Wong 2010 This kid's going to have a much easier time than those two guys did. This kid is entering a much better atmosphere.

You know, Tommy Brown entered the atmosphere of the Michael Jordan era, where Michael Jordan picked him, and then wound up playing with him and just absolutely bullied and tortured him all the time in practice. you know, they're like put them in a no-win situation. John Wall came in in the aftermath of the Gilbert Aretis-Jvars-Kritton-gun situation, you know? Yeah. And Gilbert was still with the team. And there was talk initially of Gilbert kind of like being a mentor to him.

And when that clearly wasn't going to work, they shipped Gilbert out. Uh, and John Wall basically on the team that John Wall was on. I don't know. I think they won 17 or 18 games that year. So that was a rough entry for both of those guys. Right. You know, this kid's coming in where it's not a roster with any boys, any bizarre teammates that we know of, and they've got the losing out of the way already.

He did the losing for three years. He's not the guy. they didn't get him two years ago, and then they had to endure more losing. His teammates got the losing out of the way for him. So he is entering a much more comfortable place to succeed than the other two had. Yeah. The way you laid it out, though, in typical Tommy fashion, some of the things that he said about his interactions with the wizards you commented on,

you mentioned that, you know, playing defense for 94 feet was one of the things that they talked to him about. We're going to play defense here. And Tommy wrote, playing defense for 94 feet would be about 93 feet longer than his teammates did. The team finished 28th in the league two years ago in defense and dropped to 29th this past season. I'm not sure where this defensive pressure is going to come from. I doubt returning coach Brian Keefe named the least important. impressive coach in the NBA in an anonymous player survey conducted by the athletic is a defensive guru who's just been waiting for DeBanza to arrive to impart his wisdom. But what about the

veterans Washington traded for last season? They'll bring their years of experience to the court and play defense for 94 feet, right? And then he gets into the kind of defender that Tray Young has been. Now, I will say Anthony Davis, one of the best defensive players of his generation. But my point in my column is, and I see people doing it. And I think, are you delusional? You can't include him. Yes, you have to. You have to.

You can't. You can't include him in any plans because I don't think he'll be on the roster when they open the season. Oh, I think you will be. I don't think so. Well, let me just say this. I'm not sure of it. I'm not sure of it, but here's, like, if you think that they are going to trade him before this season begins, and they're going to get anything meaningful back for him, when he hasn't played since he last got traded, in which everybody said the wizards hardly gave up anything for him.

If anything, if you told me you think he's going to play and they're going to hope he plays well, and then they're going to try to trade him at the deadline next year. year, that's different. But there's no, there's not anywhere near the value for an Anthony Davis right now that there could be if he played 30 games and played well. That's a big if. I understand that. Tommy, I want Anthony Davis so badly to be into this thing. And I want them to be into him. Now, Dawkins did say, he was asked about, in the DeBonsa Press Conference, asked about Anthony Davis today and he said, he wants to be here and we want him to be here. And the next opportunity for an extension comes in August in terms of conversation.

Right. But I don't want to... I don't think he does want to be there. Okay. I think he'll have better options. There are teams who will want him. Well, I mean... That are better options for him.

Then why didn't they trade him to a team that he would have preferred to have gone to? I mean, there wasn't a big market for Anthony Davis. You know, the Wizards pounced on that. But circumstances have changed for some teams. Yeah. Okay. Look, here's my, this is what I'm thinking about right now as it relates to the Wizards. I think there's more buzz about them right now than there's been in a long time, a long time.

I agree. And I don't, and I think they have to pounce on this buzz, meaning they're, they're going to try to start winning. We know that. And by the way, there's no sense in trying to tank anymore because of the new anti-tanking lottery rules that are in place. You're actually penalized for tanking and finishing in the bottom three now. But I want this year to be a year in which Anthony Dave, they give it a go with Anthony Davis. The only way this team makes a big jump from 17 wins to 42, 434 wins and the playoffs is if Anthony Davis plays 65-70-plus games. It's not going to be because Anthony Davis isn't on the team or he's hurt and Trey Young and

AJ DeBonsa led the way. That's not happening. A.J. DeBonsa may be rookie of the year, but he's not leading them to the playoffs as a rookie. Cooper Flagg was the rookie of the year. Dallas won 26 games. It doesn't happen that way in the NBA. You know, if the Wizards are going to make a big turnaround from terrible 196 losses over three years to a competitive top five, top six Eastern Conference team, it's because of Anthony Davis. Anything else you're dreaming, you're delusional.

I agree. I agree with that. Yeah, this group of young players that they have with Trey Young and A.J. DeBonsa added to it doesn't equal 47. wins in the playoffs. Anthony Davis playing 70 games with Trey Young and with the Young Nucleus and maybe with A.J. DeBanza having a rookie of the year campaign, they wouldn't even need it. That could equal 40-something wins in the playoffs. I want that. And I think it's important for the organization that after the buzz of DeBanza and the number one pick, that it doesn't go away because he's developing because it does.

Sometimes, you know, all of a sudden it's like they're in the midst of another 25 win year and it's like, oh, that was fun there for a moment, even though he may be on the right track to becoming Cade Cunningham in three or four years or to becoming, you know, whatever Cooper flag is going to turn into. But it'll take so much more time and they're going to lose everybody's focus again. and I just think that Anthony Davis and Trey Young and A.J. DeBotson, everything else they have, could come together and extend the buzz and keep the buzz in place. If he winds up staying in Washington, I don't think he will, because he wants to Max Steel.

I know. I don't think he'll say. But there's also, I mean, the obvious risk of him staying healthy, do you think he's still the same player that he was the last time you saw him on the court on a regular basis? I have no idea. I have no idea. I mean, it's not like he's 40. I mean, he's 33.

I know. That's what I'm saying. I mean, 33 is not, you know, it's hardly, you know, so old that you start worrying about that. If he's healthy. I don't you think his body is older than 33? Yeah, I mean, we've gone through the list of injuries. The guy's basically, you know, a walking medical report. I mean, and that's the problem with Davis,

and then the problem with Trey Young is he doesn't guard anybody. But I actually see the two of them actually looking interesting to me together, playing together. But I don't know. Would I bet on Anthony Davis being healthy enough to really have a great season? No, but it's their only hope of having a great season. I know. The winters are far more interesting today. and they were a few weeks ago a year ago.

They are interesting. I'll grant you that. They're interesting. And they, I think they're going to be good. I think that they have built a nucleus. Plus, they have, they seem, I mean, I give them credit. They've got a lot of draft assets in the future, you know, available to them to help continue to build this team. and I think that they are going to be a pretty strong franchise.

Again, the line of demarcation for me is, will they be strong enough to make an Eastern Conference final? Yeah, I mean, I don't know how it'll play out. I just feel much better about where they are as a franchise, and I think they've done a good job over the last three years to put themselves into a position where good things can happen. But you still have to end up with a great player out of this, like a truly great player. And, you know, there's just a lot of things.

You end up, you've got to find the right coach if it's not Keefe. I wanted to mention something. I saw this, you know, Stephen A. and Jay Williams and a few others have taken big-time shots at the Wizards over the two draft nights. Stephen A. Smith said, quote, I already told the Washington Wizards this. I have no faith. Zero.

They've been a basketball purgatory an abomination, closed quote. Like, this is like my Jaden Daniels thing. Like, is anybody paying attention? Like, Jaden Daniels didn't play football last year. Stop talking about his stepback season. You got to pay attention.

Like, he didn't play. That's why the numbers weren't. weren't what they were the year before. It wasn't because he regressed and had a stepback season. And in this, it's the same thing. It's like, are you guys paying attention? I don't think it's the same thing. Do you know what they've been doing over the last?

I know what they've been doing. No, it's the same. It's the same thing because the reputation is what's winning out. The reputation of the Snyder era wins out even now. the reputation of the wizards. But you have to acknowledge you don't have the same, you have a completely different front office, and they've attacked this way in a way that the organizations never attacked it,

and they've attacked it the same way that has worked recently for teams that have won a lot of games in the NBA. But until they have results to show for it, they carry that reputation. That's what I'm saying. I don't think it's unfair. But, well, I mean, to just assume and have no faith zero because they've been, what they've been isn't what they are now. I'm not saying that the results are going to change because we don't know that yet, but they aren't what they've been. They're completely different now. And I just would expect the guys that really cover the league and talk about the league to at least acknowledge, look, you know what?

You know what he should say? I don't have any faith in an organization owned by Ted Leonis because that's the only thing that's the same. And if that's true and if that's what he's saying, he should say it that way because they're operating completely differently than they have in the past. Yes, they are. So again, it doesn't mean it'll actually pan out.

Anything else on this? Yeah. All right. I wanted to talk about another brutal loss for the Nats last night. And a little bit of Caitlin Clark as well. We'll get to that and more after these words from a few of our sponsors. Hey guys, I've been telling you about Chime for over a year now. Chime has become America's number one choice for banking. They've changed the way people bank offering the most rewarding fee-free banking. They're not like traditional old banks that charge. you overdraft in monthly fees. They've got thousands of fee-free ATMs.

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I have a feeling many of you are familiar with What Not. What Not is the largest dedicated live shopping platform where sellers are building real thriving businesses. It really doesn't matter what the product is. It can be beauty, collectibles, electronics, luxury fashion, even cookies. Anybody can sell whether your business is big, small, or yet to exist. People selling on whatnot sell 10 times more than on any other major marketplaces. That's because you're not just listing products. You're building real connections with buyers. Across whatnot, the number of sellers making over a million dollars a year has doubled. Consistency pays off.

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You know, every Tuesday, Thursday when I'm on the podcast, I always try to describe the glory of Shelly's backroom. And I think I do a pretty good job. I think you do. Shelly's back room at 1331 F Street Northwest. But today, I'm going to give AI. a chance to describe Shelly's. And let's see how they do.

Quote, Shelly's back room is a cigar-friendly bar and restaurant in Washington, D.C., known for its club-like atmosphere with soft lighting, couches, and TVs, featuring a state-of-the-art ventilation system for smokers and non-smokers. It offers a menu of American fare like steak and wings and sandwiches, along with a large selection of cigar,

whiskeys and other drinks. And it's a popular spot for both casual and business gathering. Okay. Now I think it's a pretty good job there. Yeah. Except I don't see how if you're intelligent, you can leave out custom blend beef. That's true. That's that.

I should have picked up on that missing from the description. Otherwise, pretty good accurate description there. and that's not just me talking. That's the people who are all going to be owned by someday talking. Shelley's Backroom.com. Yeah. Shelly's back room will be hopping next April 29th through May 1st, Tommy, because the NFL officially announced the dates for the NFL draft in D.C.

Oh, baby. April 29th through May 1st next year, where, you know, apparently more than a million over three days are expected. That is going to be an incredible event. I know I've said this or asked this with you before or of you before, and I don't think you had the answer, and I don't have the answer either. I am curious as to whether or not this NFL draft generates more revenue for a city than a Super Bowl does because of the number of people that come to the city.

That's a good question. I mean, you can only get 80,000, 75,000 into the stadium for game day. I know that that's not the complete, you know, total of people that come into town for Super Bowl Week and Super Bowl weekend, et cetera. But it's just so far away from the number that the NFL draft, you know, gets to. But I think in the NFL draft, you're making money a dollar at a time. Maybe. I think with the Super Bowl, you're making money. at enormous amounts of...

Oh, there's big corporate money for the NFL draft, too. The one thing that I would say, let's just say it's a million, you know, 330-something thousand a day. I wonder how many of those people are repeats on day two and day three. A lot of them is the answer.

But I also think a significant percentage, half are from outside of the area. That's my guess. I don't know. I'd like to, I'm going to look into that. at some point before. I'll get to that before next year's draft. Because it is interesting to me,

and I'm telling you, I think I've said this to you before, the person that came up with this idea in the NFL office better have senior VP at minimum next to their job description or job title. Because that's one of the great all-time ideas the NFL's ever had. And they've had a lot of really good ones. But putting the draft into these, NFL cities live over three days. I mean, home run. Speaking of home run, man, the Nats last night, and I was watching this as it happened. They, another gut-wrenching ninth inning loss.

They were down to the last strike the Phillies were last night when Derek Hill put one over the right field fence for a two-run shot to give the Phillies a five-four lead and they ended up winning five to four. This was off of a love lady, Richard Love Lady who came in and gave it up. Painful loss. The Nats have reached officially the halfway mark. You know, 81 games

at 41 and 40, but the last two have been painful losses because they could be on the verge of sweeping the Phillies. Yes, I know. I think they have like, an unbelievable amount of blown saves this year. Oh. Well, there was that San Francisco game where it was the 11 to 10 game. That one. Okay. Here's, they have 23 blown saves so far this year.

Wow. No other team in a major has blown more than 16. Hmm. Well, let's fix the bullpen at the trade deadline if they're still hovering a, you know, a few games over 500. interesting is the last couple days because I'm watching these standings every day, the wild card race, they went from being entrenched as the third wild card team to now being two and a half games out because everybody in front of them is on a win streak as they lost two in a row. But still, basically there are nine teams that are very, you know, within three games of each other for all

three of the spots, all three of the wild cards. If you're within five games of a wild card or division title at the trading deadline, you better be active. Don't you think there's a difference between five games out from winning the division and five games out of the last wild card spot? Yes. Okay. But that would be my number. Okay.

I would think it would need to be tighter in terms of the wild card. First of all, they're likely not going to be five games behind the Braves, more likely than not. although the Braves have lost like four or five in a row, something like that. So maybe they're coming back to Earth a bit. But you'd want to be at the trade deadline in that wild card spot, in at least that third spot or no more than a game, game and a half, two games out. Five games out with five, six teams in the mix.

You're kind of in long shot. You've got two more months for the play. I know, but it's the number of teams that would be in the mix for that. I know, but as long as you win, you'll get there. Yeah. Do you follow what happened to Caitlin Clark last night? No. Okay.

It's a pretty big story, Mr. Sportsman. She was playing in a game last night against the Phoenix Mercury, Tommy. I could not, I swear to you, I swear to you, I swear. swear on my kids, I could not have named the Phoenix WNBA nickname. But it's the Mercury. I certainly know that Indiana is the fever. And you know why I know that? Because Caitlin Clark plays for the Indiana fever.

And everybody knows the Indiana fever because Caitlin Clark is the face of the WNBA, which, by the way, didn't even have a face three years ago. So last night she drives the lane, she stumbles, she falls in the paint. This is in the second quarter. And Alyssa Thomas for Phoenix falls on top of her and then shoves her fist into Caitlin Clark's neck. I wouldn't call it a full-blown punch, but it was clearly intentional to try to hurt Caitlin Clark. There was also another egregious attempt to hurt Caitlin Clark during this game. where she shot a three and somebody landed clearly, put her feet in the landing area like

Wembe did to Brunson in the finals and it didn't get called there. This one also not called. Nothing called. The coach Stephanie White went off in the post game saying, here's the face of our league, and we're not going to call these things? Tommy, in all of my years of watching sports and following sports, I've never seen a a league, a sports entity, try harder than the WNBA has tried to make less money than more money. Let me ask you a question.

Is it better for a sports league to make more money or less money? Well, I know things are changing, and I'm kind of like old school, but I still think more money is the answer. Caitlin Clark, you're familiar with Caitlin Clark, right? A little bit. Yes, I am. A little bit. You're not quite as into the WNBA as you are the World Cup. It's close, though.

Right. It's close. It's close. Tommy, this was... I do like watching Caitlin Clark. And if she's on a TV screen, somewhere I am, I'll watch that. Literally, this was a league that needed 27 years of the NBA bailing it out, year and year out, for it to remain an entity, for it to remain solvent.

This was literally a business that lost money, hand over fist, year and year out. And then here's this gift from the cornfields of Iowa that shows up and TV ratings. I mean, look what she did to college, women's college basketball when she was in at those final two years. TV ratings go through the roof compared to what they've been. She's playing to sold out crowds in much bigger arenas than the WNBA even played. Remember, when they came to Washington, they played her games at Capital One, and they were sellouts. And what happened? TV deal.

Uh-oh, they got one. They got a real TV deal. Not one just tagged on to the NBA deal, but they actually were factored into the equation, into the math. And all of a sudden, they're getting two, three, four, five X the salary. They're flying private, something they demanded during all those years when they were losing money. And now they're flying privately. And they have, since she's entered the league, they have consistently taken this gift, this golden goose, and tried to mingle her. And everybody's in on it.

The referees, the players, whatever the reason is, even if she's an insufferable human being, I don't know that she is. because she does whine and bitch and complain about calls. Maybe she's a dirty player too. Who cares? She's the only reason we're alive and we're thriving. Let's protect her. But no, that's not what they've done. It's amazing to me.

I don't understand it. I don't understand how they could just say, no, she's not good enough to be on the Olympic team. Who cares if she's good enough to be on the Olympic team? Who cares if she's good enough to be on the Olympic team? You're going to generate $75 to $100 million in her Olympic jersey being sold. When you're a business that isn't making it and you find an answer and all the sudden this, oh, this product's selling. You know what you do?

You prop it up and you try to sell as much of it as you can. You are such a piece of work. So much passion for women's basketball. I like her. I do like her. And I followed this, you know, not closely. I don't know what the backstory was to this Alyssa Thomas incident, the whole thing. I'm not paying attention that closely.

You know, I had Christine on last year after she wrote that book about Caitlin Clark, Christine Brennan. And Christine's covered women's sports more than anybody that we know. And she said, this is the dumbest, league that she's ever covered. They are absolutely the worst. And it's pettiness, it's jealousy, it's, I'm sure there are a lot of other reasons, but it's, it's mind-boggling that you would literally take your lifeline and try to break it in half, night in and night out. All right, well, that's it. That's all I have on that. Do you have anything else for today's show? You, you've, you've

a significant contribution, I think, to the show today until we got to women's basketball. If I've fallen down on women's basketball, I'll live with that failure. Well, there are other failures. I've got a list. This one's on it, and I used to be on the same list with you, and I probably still am. All right. By the way, like soccer people, I'll probably get people that will tweet and email. You know what? You probably should. You probably shouldn't talk about the WNBA. You're not sophisticated enough to really understand it. I understand this.

They sucked for 27 years, and then all of the sudden, they were relevant. And I think I know why. All right. I'll talk to you next week. Okay, boss. I'll be back tomorrow, everybody.