The Ryen Russillo Podcast - Matt Leinart on Clemson-LSU, Title Games, and Gym Stories. Plus, Trading Ben Simmons | The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Episode Date: January 10, 2020

Russillo is joined by 2004 Heisman-winning QB Matt Leinart to discuss the CFP national championship matchup between Clemson and LSU, Leinart's time at USC, a ruling on a gym altercation, and more (4:08). Then Russillo talks NBA trade exceptions, trade rumors, and the market for Ben Simmons (43:15). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

today's episode of the ryan rossillo show on the ringer podcast network is brought to you by state farm just like basketball the game of life is unpredictable talk to a state farm agent and get a teammate who can help you navigate the unexpected unpredictable NBA outcomes let's see uh the Celtics are getting it handed to them lately and that's a bit surprising but they've had inconsistent lineup stuff so maybe that's catching up to them maybe it's a tougher part of the schedule again Spurs haven't been good you wouldn't say they're one of the better teams and they were up 22 to 3 I believe uh this week and then the Wizards lost I wouldn't say the Jazz having this run because if you dig through the Jazz opponents like every team is

under 500 except for the Clippers win so they're on fire but they're playing bad teams so hopefully they get Mike Conley back at some point and we'll see how good the Jazz can be because they could get a teammate or get a teammate how about this this? Who can help you navigate the unexpected? Talk to a State Farm agent today. That was kind of cheesy. Matt Leinart, USC guy. Two National Championship games. We know the win against Oklahoma, against Texas. His thoughts on Joe Burrow, on Trevor Lawrence, his

matchup, his pick for Clemson and LSU coach O. And then I'm going to get a gym ruling on this because he had a little incident at the gym, or maybe I crossed over a line. I expect most people that chime in on this are, it's going to be split, etiquette, one of those deals, but Matt and I work out at the same Equinox. So I'm going to share that. I'm going to share that story with him. I'm going to share it

with you too and open up to everybody. And then I'll do a little NBA stuff on one of the trade rumors at the very end of today's podcast. But before we get to Matt, I'm picking LSU. I know that's not a huge shock. Going into the Oklahoma game, and there's text documentation of this. Hey, what do you think? I think LSU rolls against Georgia. Hey, I think LSU rolls.

Going to Tuscaloosa, I don't know that anybody, I don't care who you are as an LSU fan, that was one of the most confident LSU teams I've seen going into that game. But I've also seen them confident when they were at home against Alabama and didn't score. So it's at Alabama. It's the history. They hadn't beat them since 2011 in that incredible 9-6 game

that I was lucky enough to be at. And I thought they were going to win, but then I changed my mind and thought they were going to win, and then they win, and they were the better team. Clemson feels more like that than it does the Georgia and Oklahoma matchup. It would be absolutely disrespectful to Clemson for me to sit here and go, well, you know, I think LSU is going to roll them over. Now, I don't think you're going to hold LSU to under 24, 28 points. I just don't. And I think Clemson is the kind of team that can

get some plays to the outside or ETN with big runs. And even we saw from Lawrence running against Ohio State. I think LSU would rather play at Ohio State. I do. I do believe that. And, you know, I'm not going to get into the Ohio State thing. Call went against them, but you did have a lead and Clemson came back because Clemson's really good and so was Ohio State. But I don't know that I would sit here and be like, well, I feel like it'd be hyped up a little bit more if it were Ohio State and to the percentage of Ohio State Buckeyes fans that are absolutely insufferable. Trust me, ESPN would rather Ohio State be in this title game. It's not debatable. They would rather that happen.

So there's zero world where there's a conspiracy to keep them out because of ESPN. And I don't work for ESPN anymore. So if I really wanted to be that kind of guy, I would say, oh, you know, ESPN. Now that I'm gone, here's what really happens. I'm telling you. Uh, and honestly, I think most of you guys out there realize that there's just a portion of very upset vocal Ohio state fans that are going to get over that game, but a bad call is a bad call. It's not because somebody at ESPN is like, all right, yeah, that review. Yeah. We're going to go ahead and say that's a fumble and not a touchdown. So that's who I'm picking. I'm headed to all right, yeah, that review. We're going to go ahead and say that's a fumble and not a touchdown.

That's who I'm picking. I'm headed to New Orleans Friday, so that's later today. We'll be down there doing a podcast. Chris Long is actually going to be in town. I think guys are getting there a little bit later than I am. We have a bunch of cool podcast things planned. We do not have a live show. We're just going to be taping it where we're staying.

Then I think there'll be some kind of Tuesday recap, and I should be back on the West Coast. So there you go. That's my pick. Okay, we got USC legend Matt Leinart with us. And I'm glad we were able to finally put this together. So let's talk title game. But I want to go back first to the Peach Bowl and the Fiesta.

Maybe we'll start with the Fiesta. All year long, we knew how good Ohio State was. I mean, I still look at them and go, hey, that's a really good team. Clemson, you give them the benefit of the doubt because of who they've been despite the schedule. After that game, what things were kind of confirmed or perhaps even changed your mind about who Clemson was? You know, it's interesting. When you watch that game, it's crazy. I still think Ohio state probably, you know, top to bottom in that roster is probably the more talented team. And then Clemson's really talented, but they're probably more talented team and, um, really had opportunities to win that game. And, you know, there are a couple of questionable calls and all that, but, um, I think what I saw from Clemson is,

is really, I've kind of defended them. You know, we don't cover, we don't from Clemson is really, I've kind of defended them. We don't cover Clemson, we don't cover the ACC, but when you watch them play, I've kind of defended them all year saying, like, I get the ACC, it was just bad this year, it was just really terrible. And you can't control that if you're Clemson, but I always said, like, this man, that championship-caliber team, I play on those teams.

I know how hard it is just to, you just want to win. You just want to win in advance next week. And I kept saying that all year long. Like, the people would say, you know, they haven't been tested. And what's going to happen if they get hit in the mouth? I'm just like, like, this team has been there. They got a quarterback who won a championship as a freshman. They got a coaching staff who's, you know's maybe the best coaching staff in college football.

And I actually picked them to beat Ohio State. That doesn't mean anything. But I just thought that championship pedigree, that quarterback in Trevor Lawrence, you just know when the game's online, he's just going to deliver. He did that all season long last year. He's done it this year, and he did it again in that, in the Fiesta Bowl. And so, so in that regard, I just, I just don't think you can underestimate a champion, you know, teams that have been there before. I will say this though, I thought they got exposed and you know, this isn't the same Clemson team from last year.

It's not the same Clemson team when they had Deshaun Watson. You know, this is a team that it really took, you know, it took a couple of plays here and there, you know, officiating and all that, but it also took just a Herculean effort from, from their quarterback. And, um, you know, this isn't the same as good as this defense is. It isn't the same D line from last year and um you know they they struggled stopping the run in that game um but like i said that coaching staff the adjustments and just the championship mindset ryan is just something that you can't teach and um that's what's going to be interesting and just i mean gosh just how how they how they try and defend Burrow in that offense and, you know, in the game. But, again, I was impressed, man.

Like, we covered Ohio State all week long. Ohio State's great. And I think they actually match up better with LSU, to be honest with you. But Clemson found a way to win, and that's what champions do. Okay, so then the Peach Bowl, I didn't have a doubt in my mind that lsu was going to win that game um going into this you know and i've tried to say this like i can pick lsu but if clemson isn't winning the national championship and i'm not going to sit there on monday night going how the hell did that happen i mean it's just that they're so dismissive of them uh that would have happened

if oklahoma beat lsu did you see anything from that that game? We already know what the offense is, but what would you say about an LSU defense that statistically had a lot of people poking holes in them, despite the thing I was always bringing up, is that they're giving up points when they're up huge numbers, other than the Auburn and Florida games. Those numbers are skewed a little bit, it's your point. Grant Delpit was dealing with an injury. Their Grant Delpit was dealing with an injury. They're really talented safeties dealing with an injury throughout the season.

This is a defense that has gotten better as the season's gone along. You look at the stats, they gave up 300 yards passing. Well, to your point, they were up by 30 points. They're going to give up mop-up points and mop-up yards at the end but um the defense is

really good and listen you could talk about oklahoma but oklahoma offensively is outstanding i mean that that's an offense that we saw you know put up points on on georgia a couple years ago the playoff they put up a bunch of points in Alabama last year. So, you know, that, that's an offense with Jalen Hurts and company that can score and they just shut that down. And again, when you get, when you dig yourself a hole against LSU, it's really hard and kind of get out of your offensive mindset and your game plan. It's really hard to chase points against them because you have to be perfect.

And, um, you know, I think they, they, they held Jake from, and the FCC championship game to like 46, 47% completion percentage did the same thing with Jalen hurts. And, um, they're really good now. Look, I think, uh, you know, there's some holes. I think they're, they're a little big, uh, upfront meaning that, you know, you can probably wear them down. But that secondary was Stingley and Delpit. This is as good as a group as Clemson will have seen. Clemson got tested last week. Ohio State's a great defense. They're going to have the same test this week.

I think we know about their offense. We know what they do. It's just a machine but defensively with exception to one or two games this season they've been pretty lights out when I was reading about you know some of the preview stuff and the joke down on campus at Baton Rouge is that there's no point in us watching any tape because everybody we play does something different how soon will you notice what Clemson is trying to do? I imagine as a quarterback, you notice it pretty quickly, but we know Venables. We know that he's as good as anybody. I thought one of the great things about that Ohio State game was just,

and I'm not saying I'm even close to like you guys that played, but certain things were like Day called the perfect play against a spot where it was like, you know, Venables, we know his back, he's going to bring pressure here. And they called a great play to the right side. It was a nice gainer. And I was like, man, these two dudes are just dueling right now. How soon will you know kind of what you think Clemson's approach is going to be having to deal with an LSU offense

that basically is four wide the entire game and depending on what they do with Clyde? Yeah, I mean, exactly. Pretty soon. And I think you mentioned Clyde Edwards-Alaire. And I think, first of all, just he's an X factor. We talk about these receivers and they're going to be in three wide sets. They'll be in four. They have Moss at the tight end. That's just what they do. And they make you defend five guys almost every time if they're not running the football.

It's going to, to me, just really know, how long it'll take. I think, I think a key is Isaiah Simmons, a really talented player for Clemson who does everything for them. You know, are they going, how are they going to use him? Because listen, if you blitz LSU, you're going to get gashed. If you sit back and play coverage and you can't get pressure on Burrow, he's going to gash you as well. So it's kind of

it is that chess match. Pick your spots of win. I think we may see Isaiah Simmons probably spy Clyde Edward Dallaire because he's so good out of the backfield catching the football. I think that could be an interesting wrinkle.

That's something that I'll be watching early in the game, kind of how they use him. And again, look, I think when you watch Oklahoma, Oklahoma is clearly not the defense Clemson is, but it's, you know, can you get to Burrow with four guys and try and play coverage on the back end and just, and just make it difficult. You know, you're not going to, you're not going to stop them, but you just make them have to be, you know, have to get six, seven yards a time, not 25, not 40. And if you can do that, the hope is, Hey, maybe Joe pro is going to give us one or, or, Hey, you know, we have a pretty good front four. It's not the same as last year, but Hey,

we, you know, we, we rattled Justin Fields pretty good there in the second half. We got after him pretty good. We didn't allow him to run around and make some plays because Burrow is, Burrow's not an elite runner, but Burrow's damn good at getting outside the pocket, making plays. And that's something that, that really has impressed me with him. So I think to answer your question, I think it'll, it'll be interesting.

It'll, it'll take a couple of series to kind of get a feel of, Hey, are they going to be, are they going to be in man to man, which is dangerous against them? Are they going to play, you know, are they going to zone blitz? Are they going to drop a, drop a D lineman to maybe spy for Owen and, and, you know, or, and have eight guys in coverage. But I think the biggest thing that Venables does is adjusting, and he is great, and he's had two weeks to prepare for this game.

If you look at Ohio State, and Ohio State's offense is not LSU, but the two halves, I mean, it was a tale of two halves and what Clemson's defense did. And that's going to be something, too, as you watch in-game, just depending on where the score is and how they're moving the football, the second-half adjustments that Venables makes. But, you know, this offense, man, it's so good. And Burrow is so good at just knowing where the ball is.

You can't, if you pressure them, you know, there's built-in side adjusts, there's built-in hot routes. If you play zone coverage, there's always just someone to be open. If you play man-to-man, you have really talented wide receivers that can be one-on-one coverage. And then you have a running back who can just beat you, being a physical runner up between the tackles outside or how valuable he is just catching the ball in the backfield.

We like to kind of say, we've talked about Burrow a lot on our shows, that the answers to the test are given to him before he even walks up to the huddle, meaning no matter what defense he goes up and sees, he knows, and this is, this is credit to him, but he knows where the ball needs to go. And it could be, you know, in the flat for two yards, or it could be hitting Jamar chase down the sideline. So, um, that's, that's the cat and mouse game you'll see, uh, between LSU and Joe Brady, the passing in quarter and Venables.

And I think it's fascinating because I think Clemson, you know, again, they have athletes, they've been there before, and can they do just enough just to slow down this offense? For as much as you can rave about any of the Borough numbers, and it maybe feels a little bit more real because of the competition, but if Clemson were new to this, I'd go, well, I don't know what the numbers mean because the SEC was so bad, but I'm not going to do that because etn is insane eight yards per carry at

any moment he can get loose and whenever i've watched you know clemson and you see obviously ross and t higgins running around all over the place you're like these guys are crazy matchups what are you looking then for those two guys who they're going to want to keep on the outside against the fulton stingleytingley pairing that, you know, Fulton's supposed to be the guy and now Stingley is. Right. And so we know the secondary for LSU is better than their defensive line. What would you expect out of Clemson?

And, you know, Dabo's not exactly a guy that's going to hang back. He's a really aggressive dude. But what are you going to be looking for there? Because, I mean, there's an argument, despite Burrow's numbers, that Trevor's still the better quarterback. Well, I Well, yeah. I think you have the number one pick in the draft this year and you have the number one pick in the draft next year.

Yeah, look, I think the way Clemson is going to have to – I mean, it's just hard. I think the best piece of success is they've got to run the ball, first and foremost. You have to. That's what I thought. I thought Ohio State exposed them a little bit offensively because they had Okuda and they had Wade before he got knocked out of the game or suspended from the game.

They had a really talented secondary that can just kind of match up and play man and just make it more difficult on Ross and Higgins. It really wasn't until the end of the fourth quarter where Lawrence started making just some plays through the year. LSU, same situation. Steenle is a stud. Delpit, he's not

great. They have athletes back there. They're going to play some man-to-man coverage. I do think you have to take shots. You still have two dudes on the outside who are 6'4", who can just go up and get the ball. You have Trevor Lawrence who, like you said, Burrow has been great. Probably the top two quarterbacks in college football this year.

I think that's easy to say. But the differences in what we saw against Ohio State was Lawrence's athleticism and the ability to run the football. He's fast. He can move, and he showed that. And I think that is partly what their game plan has to be is, hey, we're going to have to run our quarterback a little bit more.

And some of it's design runs, and that's what – I talked to Urban Meyer about this, and Urban said they were caught off guard by some of the quarterback counters and the cute draw runs where they just didn't have an answer for him. And again, LSU's going to watch the tape and understand that that's going to be part of the game plan, but you've still got to go out and defend it. And then now if you see on Lawrence,

and that's, like you said, Travis Eakin, who's as explosive and he's a violent runner and he's fast. And he's a light Clyde Edwards, a layer of a sense that he does a lot out of the backfield as well. So this Clemson offense is really talented. They're really good. And they got a quarterback who just, I mean, he hasn't lost a game. Like he's a stud.

So I think as much as they do have to take shots downfield and you have to attack this secondary, um, he's got to run the ball and he's got to run the ball often and, and they got to get TN going. If they take away that, um, then I just don't see Clemson matching score for score with LSU.

Yeah. That's kind of what it feels like. At least where I go, I don't know how LSU scoring less than 28SU. Yeah, that's kind of what it feels like, at least where I go. I don't know how LSU's scoring less than 28 points, but Clemson at any moment can match them. Absolutely. Anybody say, oh, Clemson's defense

and they're going to shut this LSU team down. I've just never really seen anything where, when you look at Burrow's completion percentage, normally you go, okay, you're running some weird kind of like mini-spread thing where you're running some weird kind of like mini spread thing where you're going out to the flash. You're like, no, he's actually throwing the ball downfield

as much as anybody in the country. And he's been better than everybody down the field. And it's one-on-ones, and he's just making the right throw all the time. And it's like, it's really, again, seeing it live, I've seen him four, this will be four times where I go, like, it's crazy, man. It's really, yeah, they're not dinking and dunking.

Like, this isn't the air raid offense where, you know, you're completing 80% of your throws. You know, you're throwing about 85 times a game. You know, he is so efficient, but he's so accurate down the field. He's so accurate at the intermediate throws, at the screen game, all of those. And that, to me, like, I think,, I think you can go back to Kyler Murray, and you can go back to some of these seasons.

Johnny Manziel, some of the greatest quarterback seasons we've seen in college. And I think it is the greatest quarterback especially if he wins season we've seen and it's because of what you just said. He doesn't have the rushing numbers and all that yet he moves well. But to complete 80% of your throws

in the SEC when not every SEC team is great but against those athletes and some of the top defenses. And if you look at his just every game in the box score, I mean, he didn't have one bad game. And to me, it's a credit to the coaches, but it's a credit to him and just the work that he's put in.

And I'm telling you what, if he gets like he's, you know, he's, you know, if he gets drafted by Cincinnati or whatever, like, like he's a stud. Like I was before the season and then he started, he was going on this run four or five games. It was like, gosh, I just don't know. And then the more you watch this thing, like he's operating this, I mean, he's operating an NFL system right now. He's got NFL dudes around them.

Um, he's smart. He's right now. He's got NFL dudes around him. He's smart. He's a competitor. He's tough as hell. And he just gets it, man. And he's been so impressive. To do this week in and week out, we haven't seen it before. His feet in the pocket are the thing. I always kind of joke about some of the stuff I've given up on

and trying to figure out who's going to be good in the pros or quarterback. And I think mobility in the pocket is up there with anything, and he's terrific. But then again, I look at Trevor's throw to the back of the end zone against Ohio State, and I don't care what your numbers are. I don't care what your efficiency is. Can you be flushed out of the pocket, go in the wrong direction, and throw a dart in the back of the end zone?

So I hope any Clemson fan that's listening to this knowing my own bias and traveling down and watching a bunch of LSU games over the last decade, there's no part of me that's not, if you're an LSU fan, you should be scared to death that guy because he's as capable as any. He might be the only other quarterback in the country that's capable of matching Burrow play for play. That's just how special he is. Yeah, he's the whole package.

It's funny, man. You look at these quarterbacks and Brady. I worked out with Brady back in the day, and he's a surgeon. He's so precise in his work. And Brees is the same way. Some of these guys, that's how they are. You know, the kind of Tom House guys, you know, and just the mechanics.

And they just do it every single day. And then you have, you know, guys like Mahomes and Aaron Rodgers and just kind of the guys who just can throw from any platform. They can throw from any arm angle. And they're just as accurate, and it's just the way they are. And Burrow proved that this year where, you know, he's got, he's great mechanics, but he's great outside the pocket. He's great when there's pressure in his face.

He can throw from different platforms. He doesn't have to have a great base every time he throws. And Trevor Lawrence is that way as well. I mean, I think, I mean, again, I'll tell you, like the two top picks on the draft the next two years. I mean, it's just, it's remarkable.

And both of them are, I mean, Joe Burrow was an all state basketball player. He's a great, and he's a great athlete. Trevor Lawrence. I think, I think he opened people's eyes last,

last weekend against Ohio state when he had that, what, 60, 70 yard run. And we're like, he's running away from guys who run like 4-4-4-5. I mean, you just saw, they're just special. And this is a really just incredible matchup to watch.

Just from me being a quarterback, just watching these two kids play, both winners, both outstanding students of the game, and humble guys, great teammates, but just ultimate competitors, man. And, yeah, I mean, Trevor Lawrence makes some throws, too. I'm just like, wow. Like, that shouldn't happen. We have more with Matt Leiner here in a second,

including I need a ruling on a gym altercation that happened the other day. And we'll get back with Matt here in a second. The second week of the playoffs is upon us. The bad news is that there's only a few more weeks left in football season. But the good news is you can still get your fantasy fix with DraftKings, the leader in one-day fantasy football. And if you've never played before, there's even more to celebrate.

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And you can get a deposit bonus up to $500 only at DraftKings. Minimum $5 deposit required. Deposit bonus requires a 25-time playthrough. Eligibility restrictions apply. See DraftKings.com for details. You're still out in Los Angeles, and it's been cool getting to know you a little bit, living in the same town, running into each other and everything. And you, to me, are still USC, you know, honored at the Rose Bowl. I feel like every, every few months

you're being honored and you deserve it because you guys had an unbelievable run. So don't give me the humble thing, which I know you would do because you're a really good guy. But do you think I got to talk to Coach O, so maybe I should phrase it this way. I was down in Baton Rouge when Coach O, you know, gets the LSU gig. There was a lot of like, great, he's one of us, but what's really going to happen here? Maybe the Ole Miss thing is still stuck in their head, but he got everybody to play for him at USC. But knowing that school and knowing how everybody's supposed to kind of be a cultural fit to the place they're in, that LA is just wired a little differently and it had felt like the pro program here before the other two teams showed up.

Do you think anyone at USC regrets not giving him a better chance and having more of an open mind, which even at the time, I think most people were like, yeah, it makes sense. Like, Coach O is not going to be the head coach of USC. Yeah, I think so. I mean, obviously, hindsight 2020, I think you go back, gosh gosh yeah i mean i think now it's like god i wish we had coach o but um i think in that time you know there were a handful of questionable decisions that clearly you know didn't work out in usc's favor and it's the reason why they're still trying they're just looking up um but you know i think that was was never, there was never a doubt that coach

show and I love coach. So we're still really tight and I'm so happy for him, but there was never a doubt that he could get a team to play for him, you know, cause he is just an emotional guy. He is, he's a great recruiter. He just, he, you just want to run through a brick wall for him. And that was, that was never a doubt. I just think maybe with the Ole Miss stuff and then just, you know, I don't think people were really sure if he could be a head coach again.

I don't know. You know, obviously they just screwed up. Yeah, I mean, I think when you look back, they were so cognizant of just the Pete Carroll and the tree. And this is what we need to bring back. And coach O Hey, he's a little different. You know, he speaks a little different. He's from the South, like not your, he's not your traditional LA USC guy in that regard. And that probably worked against them at the time which um you know it is what it is i say this about coach oh i i was um i was with coach oh four out of the five years i was there

um and he was a hell of a great d-line coach we had some of the best units in the country he just he got us ready to play in the role that he had and And this at LSU, and I'm not on the bandwagon here, it does not surprise me the success he's having because he learned from his own mistakes. He learned how to adapt, bringing in Joe Brady and just changing this offense. And, you know, hiring Dave Aranda is a great defense coordinator. And I'll tell you what, man, like he's one of the best.

And, you know, we actually talked the other day. We still joke. And he used to call me Gator Bait, man. He used to run around practice and say, Gator Bait, Gator Bait. And he's just, these guys are coming for me, you know. But I'm pumped for him, man. I used to run around practice and say, go to bait, go to bait. These guys are coming for me. I'm pumped for him, man. I'm happy for him. He deserves this. He's

such a great dude. He's a great coach. He's a great leader. That's why this team plays the way they do. They got the same personality. They're confident. They're aggressive. They know they're really good, but they work their ass off, and it shows up on game day.

So let's go back to your first title game. And you hadn't lost a game, obviously. You had that close one with UCLA at the end of the year up at the Rose Bowl. You're taking on number two Oklahoma, 55-19 final score. I think when I'm young, I don't think about it. And now that I'm older, I think about it more. I mean, like, you know, to have this attention paid upon you and go in and actually title, but you got to walk around for a few weeks.

Were you nervous at all? Because I don't even know what the answer, like the easy answer would be like, well, yeah, of course, I'm in the national championship. But then the other part of me is like, you guys were so good, or maybe you saw something on film against Oklahoma. Let's go back and think about a liner USC kid getting ready to play in his first title game. You know, it's funny, man.

Like, I never, like, we were, it's going to sound bad, but like, we just, like, every game was the same, and we were rolling so well that, yeah yeah the title game is a different feel but you just I mean like when when the whistle blew is this another game you know and and I know that's kind of cliche but it really felt that way I think um you know 03 04 we had a chance to play in the Rose Bowl against Michigan so you know to me that was I remember that was a game that I was nervous because it was like that was my first year starting um that was our you know, to me, that was, I remember that was a game that I was nervous because it was like, that was my first year starting. That was our, you know, the year before we went to the orange bowl was beat Iowa and Carson Palmer

when the Heisman that year. And that was kind of the first year we were back. And then now I'm filling those shoes and, you know, the expectations were so great. So the Rose Bowl against Michigan, I was, you know, I was more nervous. I think, you know, then we were rolling and playing Oklahoma. And to be honest, I'll never forget. So that's the year I won the Heisman. And Adrian Peterson is a true freshman, finished second.

I think Jason White might have finished third, who had won it the year before. And then, you know, Reggie was there and Alex Smith. And, you know, we had a good year obviously. And then I remember when we're, we're in, uh, Miami for all the orange ball activities and seeing them and they were looking at me, you know, and, and, and listen, you see me at the gym, you know, I'm tall. I don't, I don't, you know, I never was, I wasn't blessed with a lot of muscle, but they were like, this kid won the Heisman.

Like, oh my God. Like they were, they were like talking back right to my face and and uh i'll never forget and i was just like all right guys like you know like i had a lot of confidence like all right and uh and then you know we just put a whooping to them so um did you say anything anybody no not really come on my teammates you know my i was i've always kind of been the same i was always just you know like know, like, like, you know, I, I led when I need, I mean, I was vocal when I needed to be, but I just, you know, coach Carol was always, Hey, don't give them bullets and board material. We'll just go, we'll, we'll go kick their ass on the field.

And that's what we did. So, but you know, I, I'm the, the other game and maybe you're going to ask me that, but I'll just get into it, the Rose Bowl game against Vince Young in Texas, that was different. And the reason why that was different for a few reasons. One, you know, I'd come back from my senior year, and there was a lot of expectations on us as a team, you know, going for a three-peat, you know, just the bullseye on our back. And, you know, that's why I always give credit team, you know, going for a three-peat, you know, just the bullseye on our back.

And, you know, that's why I always give credit to, you know, even teams like New England and the NFL and Clemson and Alabama. Like, you know, it is hard to stay on top for a long period of time. It's just – it weighs on you, man. It's just taking everybody's best shot. And that season was so emotionally draining for us. So that game and knowing like on the sideline, Vince Young, who I had the utmost respect for, I followed his career as I was playing

in college. I just knew it was, I was just like, this is going to be a tough one. You know, this kid is special. And that game felt different. One, it was my, it was the senior of my last game. And two, like no one had won three titles in a row. You know, we were trying to make history. And so the butterflies, the nerves, kind of the pressure of that game, I think weighed on me a little bit. Now, once you look at the game, it's a game and you play and you're in the heat of the moment.

You're not thinking about all that stuff. But leading up to that game was a lot different than the other ones just because there was just more pressure on us. And it's still maybe the greatest game I've ever seen. I still think it is. When you really like, when you, and now, I mean, all these rosters, you know, you're at Clemson and Bama

and these rosters, and they're all riddled with NFL guys and that's the way it is now. But backters, you know, you look at Clemson and Bama, and these rosters, and they're all riddled with NFL guys, and that's the way it is now. But back then, you know, you look at – it's funny when I've, you know, I always get asked about that game, but you forget, like, Jamal Charles was their running back who was probably a Hall of Famer in the NFL, maybe. You go, you know, their whole secondary was, like, first-round picks.

And, you know, Brian Arakpo, who was a great NFL player, was a backup linebacker. And, granted, we were stacked, too, but I'm just thinking, like, all the players on that team. And then how about this? Our backup linebackers in that game were, you know, Brian Cushing actually started in that game, but he was a backup most of the season. Ray Maluga was a backup.

Kaika Maiva was a backup who ended up playing for Oakland and Cleveland for a handful of years. It was just like that game just had so many freaking talented players. And then the game itself, just the back and forth and all that. So I'm a little biased biased and I know we lost, but I still think that's the greatest college football game of all time. I think I agree with you on that one. I'd have to go back and really dig into it.

But I know when I was on some sort of video thing that we did before, I was at ESPN. I was like, I don't really know what else to pick. Like I was after the game, you know, I was just at my house. I was living in Boston still. And I was just on the cat. And it's funny because I was on this Boston Daily Talk show, and we never talked college football.

We didn't talk college football the day of the national title game. We didn't talk it the day after. And I remember being like, can we not do Red Sox offseason? Can we talk a little bit about what just happened last night? And they were like, no, no one's going to care. No one's going to call in. I've always said, I've met him once. Do you think Brian Cushing and I would be good friends if we knew each other?

I mean, are you just because you guys guys are swollen you like to do bench press is that what you're asking me no but when i watched the when i watched the the uh the hard knocks when he was with the texans i know he's the strength guy there now i just was like i can't tell if i would hate him or if i would because he reminded me of a friend that I had when I was growing up who we were all like close. He was our best friend, but we all secretly like hated him because he kind of was a dick to all of us all the time too. So I kind of love that about Cushing. Cush is still one of my good buddies. We talk, uh, we talk often, you know, we'll, we'll, we'll text each other random stuff, but he's an all-timer, man. Like, he's got a very different sense of humor.

And I remember the Hard Knocks, too, because he was, you know, he was kind of highlighted in that. He's funny. He's kind of an ass. But, like, he's a great, like, you would love him. Like, he's the guy that, like, you want to be in the trenches with. Like, he's got your back if he's your boy, always. And the dude is just crazy, man. He's just not all there upstairs, and that's just why I love him.

He's a great teammate. Okay, so that's a good way to segue into here. Also, hey, can I get a pic from you in the national title game? It sounds like you're leaning LSU. Well, no. We just taped a show of Fox for the title game preview. And I actually took Clemson. So I kind of had to go against the grain because everybody else took LSU. And look, I mean, I think kind of what we talked about, like, I think LSU, it's going to be hard to beat them. But I think if there's a team that can beat them, it's Clemson. You know, Clemson is a, they've been there, they got the quarterback. Um, and it just, it just, it just wouldn't surprise me if they made enough plays to win. So I actually picked, I picked Clemson earlier, so I can't go against

that. Okay, perfect. All right. Here's the ruling. So we're both at the same gym in town. Um, I don't know if I go to talk to you probably more than you talk to me because you have a trainer and Dwayne's our guy. But then sometimes when I talk about something, I'll have somebody be like, hey, were you talking about me in the podcast? I'll mention like a story every now and then. And I feel like, oh, no, that's right. Maybe I shouldn't do that. But I'm going to do it here. And hopefully this doesn't get back to me.

I don't really care, though. So it's right after New Year's Eve. We know that that's the rush, that's right. Maybe I shouldn't do that, but I'm going to do it here. And hopefully this doesn't get back to me. I don't really care though. So it's right after New Year's Eve. We know that that's the rush, that mad rush of, of, you know, I never knock anybody. Hey, you're in there. You do, you're putting in the time. I'm not going to give you a hard time, but we had, I was trying to figure, finish up on the shoulder press machine, kind of like just, you know, rapid fire at the end, just the plate machine. And the guy on the phone, he was on the phone for a few minutes. I was waiting and I wasn't going to say anything. Cause you know, you never know. You never know. And

then he left the plates on, he left his towel on the chair and then he went over to the treadmill and I was like, you gotta be kidding me. So that's bad gym etiquette, man. Right. So I walked over cause I was, I was like, all right, man. And I was like, are you done over there? He's like, yeah, it's all you. And then I did do a, are you fucking kidding me? And I turned around and he was like, what? Excuse me. So he didn't like, cause a lot of successful guys in that gym. And I don't care what size you are. You don't want someone giving you that. And I shouldn't have sworn. And he came over and was like, look, man. And he explained it. I was like, okay, I got it. But I was like, but I'm waiting. And you're on the phone. Like, I feel like he kind of broke three different things there, but you know what?

I should not have sworn. It's a little pent up from after the New Year's Eve and a lot of guys in here. And you know what? I know you're in here all the time. So I'm going to go ahead and apologize for that part of it. But you know, and he's like, no, I got it. But he wasn't loving it. So I need a ruling from you on that one.

So what you should, that you shouldn't have, or you should have gone up to him? Yeah, I don't know. I don't know if it's worth it. I certainly don't think it's worth it for me. Cause now if the person would ever see or know who I was. Are you going to tell me, do you know who the person is? No, no. I've seen him in there a few times. He seems nice enough. And you know, I think we kind of worked it out.

Listen, I'm not, I'm not the guy like the other day I'm in there and I'm doing, I'm doing a, like a little circuit you know like a little bi and tri circuit and i'm literally doing like tricep pushdowns and i go to my next one and then all of a sudden this dude this younger kid who's in there all the time comes in and just takes off the handle and just switches i'm like and i'm i'm the guy who never says anything i'm just like are you kidding me, really? Then I just go do another version of the tricep pushdown. But I like the one thing that bothers me is the phone. That bothers the hell out of me.

And then you leave your towel and the weights, and then you go to the treadmill. So, yeah, I'm not mad at you, man. I'm not mad at you. But I'm not also trying to pick fights in the gym either. i wasn't but i definitely i don't think i should have sworn especially if you're somebody that's going to be recognized you know that that's your you know you're you're you're a south bay guy now that's your home you know you don't want to piss anybody off in there i do think that there's like this thing where you go okay well i have two options here i can stew about it and not say anything.

And you don't really want to be that guy. But then it's also like, what's it really worth? Now, if that guy knows who I am, he's going to tell everybody like, hey, you know who's the word? Russo is an asshole. And there's going to be a version of it that he tells. And you never know what that phone call is. Like, what if that phone call is about a kid and a parenting issue? And it just had, you had to pick it up.

And I would, I'd be like, you know what? Well, then, then I, then I think you're kind of an asshole, dude, and you shouldn't have done that. Yeah, we don't know. We don't, we'll never know. But you know, you know what's funny? I'm thinking like, there's gotta be a, like, like how great would it be to have like a reality show or like a hidden camera? Something about the gym, because it's like the things that go on in a gym and the people watching and just that type of stuff like to me it's it's it's awesome like i like

getting on the on the uh the elliptical not because i burn calories because it doesn't do anything for me but just like you just you just kind of people watch you just it's hilarious and that would have been a good example of the people watch just brian or still just get pissed off at the dude yeah and i'm i'm putting myself out there i'm expecting some criticism on it but i do think enough things had happened there in succession where i was like you know what you're probably right man i'm not i'm not against i think you might have just did the right thing you're in la you've got a name out here i can get you in a meeting we pitched that and it would be instead like, I know they've already done gym rescue,

but just instead of like Vanderpump rules, just have it be at a gym. You can get Jackson. How great is it? Are you a Vanderpump rules guy? Let me just say I'm aware of what's going on, but I'm not locked in. Oh,

let me do your, I'm a below deck guy. I'm a big below deck. Oh, I like that too. Actually do yourself a favor and just, just, just get season one of Vanderpump Rules.

Give it a couple, and then you'll be at season eight by no time. All right. Okay. Wow. It sounds like I'd have to get a girlfriend for that, though, and I don't know if I can make that kind of commitment to a DVD or that. All right, man. It's always great visiting with you, seriously,

and I really appreciate it and enjoy the national championship game. I'll talk to you soon, all right? All right, buddy. Good to talk to you, man. I'll see you at the gym, man. It's always great visiting with you, seriously, and I really appreciate it and enjoy the national championship game. I'll talk to you soon, all right? All right, buddy. Good to talk to you, man. I'll see you at the gym, bud. A couple NBA things that I want to do before we say goodbye. Today's podcast is sponsored by ADT Commercial for Business. ADT Commercial serves businesses ranging from midsize organizations to large-scale enterprises. organizations to large-scale enterprises. Think of them as a special team who has one focus, your business security. They provide a comprehensive line of security, fire, life safety, and risk management solutions, professional-grade systems for commercial-grade businesses. With ADT Commercial, every day is game day. Fortune 1000 companies rely on ADT Commercial for highly complex, scalable, integrated solutions that help solve their

unique business challenges. And if you're looking for a partner to upgrade or take over the monitoring and servicing of your current system, ADT Commercial can help to painlessly install and maintain large-scale and multi-site businesses. They make it easy to switch providers. Their onboarding is predictable, dependable, and painless. Schedule a no-obligation security review with ADT Commercial for Business. No pain. That's good in sports and good in business security. Visit ADT.com forward slash game day to learn more. That's ADT.com forward slash game day. This is the rumor time of the year where things get cranked up a little bit.

There's a lot of stuff that happens in the NBA transaction world that gets talked about, like December 15th. Oh, everybody's available to be traded. Guess what? Nobody gets traded. Cool. That's kind of like this fake hype date. It's not as fake as the hype around trade exceptions. I mean, the amount of teams over the years are like, oh, we have this $12 million trade exception. Okay, so let's just, let's say it's, let's make it even bigger.

Hey, we have a $20 million trade exception. Cool. You guys never use them. You want to know why you never use them? Because any team that would be willing to trade into a trade exception for maybe just a couple picks, that player at $20 million is either so overpriced nobody else wants him or is bad enough that they want him on the team. And then you go, okay, wait a minute.

Why am I doing this then? Why am I sending out no salary with the straight exception to then take on a player that actually is the market is so bad for him that I would want him on my team. I mean, it's actually pretty easy when you say it that way. But front offices love selling you on the idea that the trade exceptions, now it allows you some flexibility if a trade were to come along. I'm not saying none of them are used, but I'm telling you that it's very overrated. Now, as we're into January, and this is how the trade one-on-one stuff happens, there are people that you should trust. Woj is clearly at the top of the list. I was at that Lakers-Knicks game the other night and walking around talking to a couple different guys,

and we were just talking about Woj. We're like, his batting average is off the charts. I wouldn't put anyone in any other sport, maybe Glazer. Um, but you know, Glazer like just hammers you with a huge story, like a couple of times a year where Woj is like, okay, this is, this is what's up. But as Woj has taught me whenever I've been on his podcast or the other way around, he's like, you know, I don't like to, if Woj says like, oh, there could be something like this, then it turns into a huge thing. And you don't even have to be Woj to have that happen to you. But this is the part that I think is kind of unfair about how all the information comes out. Now, there's always been this thing where people will say, well, you know, anonymous sources are

terrible. If you didn't get anonymous sources, you would never hear about anything. Okay. If you had to put your name on anything, or let me say it this way. If a front office person had to put their name on every piece of information that came out to us, then this whole thing would be way less fun, okay? It would be a lot less fun, and you wouldn't have anything coming out until it actually happened. And that would not be,

it'd be an improvement for players, coaches, and the people doing these deals. It would not be more fun for you, the consumer. So whenever a fan says, oh, you know, these anonymous sources, and it's always great too when players are like, oh, these anonymous sources, when it's like, dude,

you guys are anonymous sources half the time too, because you can't put your name on it when you're dogging a guy that's on your team. So let's just put that one out of the way and say, let's not get all bent out of shape about anonymous sources. Number two, I remember a GM pulling me aside. He goes, you know what I think is really funny about the business, but I would never say it publicly because I don't care and I'm not fighting for media rights here. It's that you guys are more vicious to each other than ever before and that you don't care who you're burning or who you're contradicting, but the viciousness with how the information is put out there and the irresponsibility, because it's not like you're, hey, I'm a reporter covering a team and if I'm irresponsible about something, then I could totally ruin my relationship with this team

that I'm covering. And then I might be useless to my media outlet because now this team has shut me out. That's a real thing. But media to media, you know, these places on Instagram, they don't give a shit. Like, all right, content, boom. I don't care if this is right or not. And I'm going to spin it a certain way. And I think it's funny that teams have noticed it because they're like, we read these things and be like, what is going on? And then again, a GM is not going to go, hey, by the way, while I'm here, you websites need to take it easy on each other. They don't care. They don't care, but it was a cool observation. So as I'm setting all this up, look at the Carl Anthony Towns thing.

Carl Anthony Towns reported Ethan Strauss, who we had on the podcast, and Ethan's really good. He knows the Warriors as well as anyone. He said, you know, Carl Anthony Towns is somebody that the Warriors are paying attention to. What does that really mean? I mean, were they not paying attention to him before? But clearly somebody told Ethan that. It's really good stuff.

Like, that's interesting. It makes it a little bit more real. But somebody else could call the Warriors and be like, hey, what's going on with Carl Anthony Towns? And off of that report, the initial kind of like the humor reaction is to go, well, wait a minute, you know, like, yeah, we know who he is, but you know, we're not calling every day to ask for him. So that's something that happens where it's a team can tell a reporter something and then another reporter can go to

that team after it kind of became a story. And then maybe that team wants it to die down a little bit, or sometimes the team doesn't want it to die down. Sometimes teams say stuff to you because they want you to say it. So it messes with the other team, but it's very simple. It happens constantly. National guy says something, local guy asks the team that was talked about, about that. Then local guy just shoots it down because somebody, and you'd be talking to four or five different people with the team and people within the team could disagree about it. So it's just something to remind yourself of when you see this stuff is like, I got an interview request the other day. I was like, Hey, do you think, you know, I'm not going to say which team it was like, do you think that, you know, we could trade potentially for Carly in town? I was like, I don't know. Yeah. You know, like what? I don't, I don't know. And I wouldn't, I wouldn't tell you in a text if I knew anyway. And it's like, well, you know, there's a lot of stuff going around. And then you go and look at it and be like, what is it? All it is is the Warriors are monitoring Carl Anthony Towns

to then every single basketball blog of every single fan base being like, what could we do for Carl Anthony Towns? You want to know why? Because it's fun. Because it's fun to do that. It's fun to sit around with your buddies and go, is there any possible way? Like, what would you do?

Now, something that Bill has pointed out, which I think is smart and it's true, is that some of the contracts are so out of whack. And I don't mean it as like guys are making too much money. They should be making this much money. But the jumps in salary have made it very hard to trade for some of these guys because the let's say upper class, right? You can say upper and middle and lower, and then you could do the five classes if you want to go upper, middle, lower, middle,

and that kind of stuff. But the upper class makes so much money, and the lower class probably makes less than ever before that it's just hard to add up enough guys to make those kinds of trades. So Carl Anthony Towns would have to go absolutely nuclear, Jimmy Butler style, and it would be pretty unprecedented

considering he's in year one of his extension, which is going to happen at some point. So when Bobby Marks, I like, one of his extension, which is going to happen at some point. So when Bobby Marks, I like, he goes, yeah, this is going to happen. It's only one year into the extension. Maybe year three, I believe that he was going to force his way out. A guy will sign a max contract and he will want out. I mean, Kevin Love is now year two of his extension. Good for him for getting it.

Stupid for Cleveland for signing him to it because cleveland was trying to do hey everybody we have good news even though lebron left we just signed kevin love to a deal that doesn't make a lot of sense but we just want good pr for a day and that's really what that was and i don't know what's going to happen with love because i think last summer the rumors were cleveland looked at it as and i've said this before cleveland looked at his deal and his ability as, hey, you have to trade for this. And other teams are trying to argue, no, no, no, we will trade to take that off your hands and you need to give us something to take that deal off.

So the town stuff in general, I'm not, I wouldn't go, oh, it's only year one of the extension. That's wrong. We may think it's wrong to do that, but it doesn't mean a player isn't going to do that at some point. A player will do that. and maybe it's Towns. Maybe it's Towns later this year. As far as the Warriors, why wouldn't the Warriors be interested in anybody that's really good? And just because D'Angelo Russell at one point was linked with the Timberwolves, they're going to have to do better than D'Angelo Russell to move out of Towns, even if Towns is mad. But we'll see. The Ben Simmons thing is, you know, this is just rumor mill stuff, not, Hey, you know, teams think Ben Simmons is available. I'm not saying that at all. Ben Simmons market, if you were a hundred percent available. And I think if Philly has an early bounce, they're

going to, they would really have to go, Hey, with three years of these two guys and beating Simmons and we're, we've really underperformed. Um, and I, I would say they underperformed going up against the Boston team two years ago that they lost against in a bad East because they had the two best players and they lost to the Celtics. They shouldn't have and they did and then last year they lost to a good Toronto team, took them to game seven.

That's fine, but I'm telling you, unless they get Boston the first round, which we still have a half a season to go here. Philadelphia, if they were to have an early exit, I think it'd be weird if the front office ownership didn't ask the question of what could we get for simmons uh the market for him would be all over the place and the one thing that is i was going through the same stuff you guys go through too like this isn't based on any any call but forget carl anthony towns for a second. I actually think Ben Simmons on the

Warriors would be the best version of Ben Simmons. The more I started thinking about it the last couple of days, I was like, wait, wait. Now, I don't think you'd have Draymond and Simmons. And again, this stuff's been talked about. I think there may have even been a Warrior source that was cited like, hey, we're not interested or we couldn't have he and Draymond. And then the fact that Simmons extension kicks in, but who cares? I mean, you just gave D'Angelo Russell all this money. Why wouldn't you pay Ben Simmons that? Even if you feel like Simmons is more of a, look, he's an erratic production guy. But as much as the Simmons correction has happened around the league, because there's some teams that just go, I don't know, man.

I just don't know what that guy. If he were back with a healthy Golden State, I've talked myself it i have i'm not the biggest simmons guy but in that version of it where he would be allowed to run with those dudes and you can say wait a minute they need shooting you know the sneaky thing about golden state is they actually haven't had enough shooting the last couple years they haven't and if you replaced Draymond, and Draymond, by the way, is balling. It's not just numbers. That guy's still engaged when a lot of guys aren't. I've been so impressed with him watching the Warriors a little bit more the last couple of weeks as the things have gotten better since that Christmas game. But they, I think, would unlock a version of Simmons where then Simmons could

defend. I mean, his defense is great. That's the crazy thing. Simmons looks like he's totally passive at times, but then you look at some of the deflection numbers and how good his defensive numbers are, and you're like, no, he's an engaged guy. He could run free. He wouldn't have to shoot. He could handle to all his guys. That's it. I'm making it official. If it were to happen, I would be a huge fan for Golden State, despite the fact I don't think Simmons is a great fit for a lot of teams out there because he's just such a different kind of player. Enjoy the weekend. We will be back on Monday after another round of the NFL playoffs with Chris Long live from New Orleans and then

getting you ready for the title game. And then we'll do a little recap and see how this thing goes. Excited to be back to a place, a city in New Orleans and a state in Louisiana. You guys all know how much I love. So you can follow me at Ryan A. Rosillo. And please continue to subscribe to the podcast and spread the word, rate and review. And like I said, have a great weekend. Thank you. you