Throwbacks with Matt Leinart & Jerry Ferrara - Barry Sanders on Retired Numbers, The Detroit Lions, Favorite Running Backs and the Greatest Sports What Ifs

Episode Date: March 19, 2026

The GOAT Barry Sanders joins and talks his legendary career and whether he’d ever consider letting anybody at Oklahoma State or with the Detroit Lions wear his retired numbers. Plus the Hall of Famer picks his favorite running backs, discusses his sudden retirement and if he had any regrets and how the heart attack he suffered in 2024 led to a new mission in life for himself.   Matt also recaps the drama caused by his comments last week, revealing that USC asked him to unretire his number a few times for new recruits. Finally, the guys make their picks for the greatest what ifs in sports history.   New episodes of Throwbacks drop every Thursday. Make sure you’re subscribed on YouTube and following on all podcast platforms. Also, make sure you’re locked in on social @ThrowbacksShow on all platforms for highlight moments, bonus content, and to engage with the guys & the Throwbacks community. (http://throwbacksshow.com/)      Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You know, after a certain number of years of playing, you know, I kind of knew or understood it in my mind that I wouldn't necessarily be a 15-year career guy. And I, you know, I don't really have any regrets as far as it. I think just that drive and all those things you know you need to do on a daily basis to continue playing. You know, a lot of that just wasn't there anymore for me. Welcome to another episode of Throwbacks. Jerry Ferrarra, Matt Liner. Maddie Viral Liner. Ace Ace, in the house, number 11, baby.

Number 11 for life. I mean, can we just move on? I mean, can we move on? Everyone needs to move on from that. But it was a hell of a story for a week. We'll talk more about Matt's viral week. And if you haven't checked out last week's episode, go check that out on YouTube.

And don't forget to like and subscribe on YouTube. We appreciate that. audio person, put us in your ears, just take us with you, and throwback at throwback show on all social platforms. Maddie, two weeks ago, we had Michael Vick, right? And obviously, we got in depth with one of my favorite players to watch. But I didn't think it could be topped, but it was top this week. We have The Goat. In my opinion, the goat running back of all

time. You can argue with yourself. I don't care. Barry Fricking Sanders. I keep saying that all. week. My wife thinks I'm crazy. Barry Sanders joining us on throwbacks today. Is that pretty awesome? Be like, dude, we got Barry Sanders coming on the show next week. And got Barry Sanders coming on the show. He's, in my opinion, the greatest running back of all time. One of the biggest kind of like, oh, God, what ifs, right? What if he would have kept playing? But obviously, he retired for his own reasons. But he's coming on, man. I can't wait to chop it up with him. And he's just one of those few guys as a former athletes, just like, it's like,

It's like Christmas morning for me, man. Get a chance to talk to a legend. I've gotten to know him through all the Hysman stuff over the years. He's a great guy. And, man, just fired up to have him on the show. You know, I know he's awesome because I ask my 17-year-old nephew, I always tell him guys I have on. And some of the older players, he's like, I don't know who that is.

But I said Barry Sanders, he went, whoa. So as a 17-year-old kid heard Barry Sanders' name and went, whoa. Do you think the Detroit Lions are going to ask him if he would ever unretire his number? I wonder that. Should we ask Barry what he would say? You know what? I'm going to start.

We'll start with that, Matt. We'll start with that question. The answer is no. The answer is no. Also, crazy, before we bring him on to, only two times has ever been co-MvPs. And unfortunately, Barry split it with Brett Farb on like his 2000 rushing yard season.

That's something we should go back and we had no disrespect to Brett Farv. Barry should have had that MVP award all to himself. We're not going to ask him about that. The other time was Steve McNair and Peyton Manning, if you were one, doing in 02. But I think without further do, Matt, should we bring on Barry?

By the way, no nickname. Isn't that cool about his, he's so cool and it was so popular. He didn't even need a nickname. It's just Barry Sanders is the nickname. Yep, Barry Sanders on throwbacks. Here we go. Okay, joining us now, we've been talking about him for quite a bit. Barry Sanders

on the show, Barry, before we get started, we have so many things we want to talk to you about. But really quickly, you are of the unique way because you have two retired numbers, right? Obviously, in college, and the Lions. I don't know if you've seen this week. Our guy, Matt Liner, went a little viral, talking about a story where over the years, USC's come to him and said, hey, you know, we have this

big recruit. Would you consider unretiring your number? And Matt very strongly said, heck no. So we just wanted to get a quick, quick, you already know the answer. Yes. So if anyone ever came to you and said, hey, Mr. Sanders, I mean, first of the Lions did it, that would be, if anyone did it, But how quick would you even take the call? I mean, if they came to me, I would at least, I would take the call, yes. I would, I would take the call. That would be a tough conversation, though. That would be a tough conversation.

All I said was, all I said was if one of my boys, and you had, you know, boys who played college football, if one of them ever ended up going to USC and wanted to wear Daddy's number, absolutely, man, you could wear it. But until that, I just said, you know what? No, I'm going to keep it unretired. But, yeah, people have been making this a story. So number 20, your numbers stay retired forever, man, as they should. I think the number is safe for now, you know, but you never know.

You never know what could happen in a few years. So there's some good players out there. But it would definitely be a tough conversation, absolutely. Well, we like to throw it back and go back in the day on this show. I want to throw it back for you. When did you have the realization in your life as a young kid or man? Like, wow, I'm damn good at this football thing. I know for me, I always had that chip on my shoulder as that I was always more thinking I was that kid who didn't get recruited, right?

By a lot of big schools. And there were all these preconceived notions about was I big enough, was I fast enough? that kind of thing. So for me, it would have been later on. It would have been in college. It would have been second, you know, maybe the end of my first year, second year in college when I'm,

some of the guys you're practicing against are being drafted. They're not maybe big names, but there's guys that are making NFL teams that you're practicing against and that you feel like you're, you know, you're stacking up pretty good against them, you know, just stuff like that. So it would have been, it would have been well into college.

Well, you just talked about college and, you know, you played with, obviously, Thurman Thomas, who's one of the greats. And you just mentioned your recruiting story. I'd be curious to, do you have any fun or unique recruiting stories, you know, going with Oklahoma State? You mentioned there weren't a lot of teams after you, but, you know, nowadays it's so different with NIL and, I mean, it's completely different. Was there a fun or interesting story in your recruiting process for them? Oh yeah well the guy the guy who showed me around on my visit was Thurman Thomas's sweetmate

and so I remember as a high school senior and Thurman had a monster year that year right I think that would have been his sophomore year and so I remember the guy's name was Kevin Kevin took me to meet Thurman

in his, and Thurman's apartment. And we, you know, we had a good, like, 10 or 15-minute conversation. And I was excited to meet Thurman. But it's funny because Thurman, Thurman, like, he never remembers that conversation ever happened. But I was a high school kid. And obviously, he was in the middle of, you know, a Heisman trophy type season. But I was really geek to meet him.

I didn't, I don't think I knew at that point that I was going Oklahoma State. I didn't have a lot of offers. Oklahoma State was my best offer. And for me, just the fact that Thurman was there, then I was excited to be able to go and play and, you know, and play running back, and sit in a runback room with someone like him. You know, and so that's one of the biggest things I remember from my recruiting ship to Oklahoma State. Yeah, I was thinking, Jerry and I were talking about this when we knew you're going to come on. It's like some of the greatest backfields of all time and whether it's collegiate or pro. And I mentioned like Marcus and Charlie White over at USC.

I think Marcus was like Charlie White's fullback, which is kind of crazy back then in the 70s. No, I watched that. I watched that. Did you watch that? USC, yeah, yeah. You know, Charles White, Anthony Davis. I mean, those guys.

Oh, AD, yeah. I mean, yeah. So I watched all those guys as a kid. And, you know, and so, and like when Marcus, you know, I remember him a little bit as when he was a freshman or whatever, playing fullback for Charles White. But his senior year, dude, that's one of my favorite years of watching football. You know, like, they could do nothing with the guy.

You know, and obviously you ran for 2,000 yards. And so I remember that year like it was yesterday. So anyways. Yeah, no, they were great. Marcus is awesome. You mentioned the Heisman. And before, you know, we want to get into the NFL and stuff. But the Heisman year, you know, you rushed for almost 3,000 yards, 1998.

I've gotten to know you through the years because of being a part of the Heisman club. I just just go back. to that year and that night and it's so different now because I remember my Heisman year, we're out in New York and we would go out and they give you a key to the city. Obviously, this is prior to that. So I would love

to know what the day was like when you found out you won the Heisman trophy. Were you in New York? Or how did they do it back then in the late 80s? Well, I wasn't in New York because I had a game in Tokyo, right? That night against

They did this thing for maybe a window of like four years. It's called the Tokyo Bowl. So two college teams from the U.S. would go play in Japan. And so we had scheduled that game for December 3rd of 1988, right? I mean, you know, so you know, all schedules are. They're made several years or at least a few, you know, a year or so in advance. So they weren't, you know, Oklahoma State wasn't thinking they'd have a high school trophy winner or a candidate.

Right. So I was in Japan, but, um, but in, in, in, you know, um, speaking of USC, you know, that one of the favorites to win the hyphen trope that year was Rodney Pete, um, USC quarterback. And Troy Eggman, UCLA quarterback. But, uh, and so I happen to be in in Japan when I, when, um, I received the award and, and I was, uh, I was, you know, kind of patched in, um, to the ceremonies, um, you know, and it was, it was all this stuff going on because Japan is like, I don't know, 13 hours ahead. Right. I don't know. It was some ungodly hour of the night when I was, uh, without, that's wild doing this ceremony. Um, and, um, and, you know,

it was, but it was one of those things where, you know, I, um, it was so much going on. I was so nervous and excited and all this sort of media stuff was very new to me, you know, because I sort of came on late, or at least as far as a conversation for a Heisman, I came on late that year as far as being included in all that, you know, discussion and to end up winning it and being in, you know, in a foreign country, obviously in the Japanese, you know, they had no idea what was going on, right? You know, what's the Heisman, right? But, but, um, It was a special time. You know, I play with some great teammates who went along on the ride with me.

You know, it was just a magical year. When you look at the numbers, I was able to put up and being able to go beyond what Marcus did, you know, and running for 2,000 yards. You know, it was just a really special, dynamic, magical year. So you mentioned some names there. And obviously, I know so much about your career. I always love when we have a guest coming on to look at their draft year, right? Your draft year, first of all, you were at the draft, right, New York City, but I started to look, I mean, take us through that night because I look at the four of the first five picks. It was yourself, Troy Aikman, Derek Thomas, Dionne Sanders.

Then you mentioned Rodney Pete later round picks Steve Atwater, just Dave Megget. These names, right, are to me, like some of the names I grew up watching. That to me is one of the best draft. I can't think I could find at least a better first round. That draft was unbelievable to players that came out in 89. Absolutely. And some people may remember this, but Troy, he had signed with the Cowboys before the draft. Right.

I don't even know how that worked back then, right? I think Jerry Jones was doing whatever he wanted back there. But he had signed with the Cowboys before the draft. I actually wasn't in New York. I was at home in Kansas. and the funny thing is, you know, this was before the days of cell phones, right? So I'm at the home that I grew up in, and we have a home phone, but we have to tell people, hey, look, don't call because we're expecting,

you know, this is draft day, you know, and we're expecting to go to Detroit or somewhere, but we don't want the phone lines being taken up, you know, so, so yeah, don't call the house between these hours, whatever, you know, but it was just a crazy thing, man. You know, it was, you know, the town, my family, you know, we were all excited about it. But that was probably a few years before they started doing the go to New York thing. Hey, Barry, you know, I want to ask you this because, again, like I said, you know, a big part of your story is obviously the retirement and a lot of people say you were in your prime and you're, in my opinion, I've probably told you this, but I think you're the greatest running back to ever play

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both in-store and online, though some may vary. You know, I know you've talked about it, but just curious of like going back when you retired and now, you know, all these years later, looking back, would you change anything? And also, how do you want like this next generation? of players to kind of view your legacy and what you were able to accomplish. And also just like, because the story's like, oh gosh, he could have played more years and you had broke this record and that record. How do you want to be remembered

in that way? Oh, well, I mean, I'm, I think in my old age, you know, I'm careful. You're not that old there. You're not that old. I'm careful about saying like what I would have done different. I think, you know, I think that it was one of those things where after, you know,

after a certain number of years of playing, you know, I kind of knew or understood in my mind that I wouldn't necessarily be a 15-year career guy, you know, and everyone's different as far as that, you know, and, and, but in understanding, too, that, you know, I mean, 10, 10 years, I mean, that's, that's still a pretty good stretch. Right. But I just felt like at that, for me, at sort of at the year eight or nine, I just had that understanding that, you know, I don't know that, you know, and obviously all those things depend on what's going

on with the team. And I, you know, I don't really have any regrets as far as it. I think, I think just that drive and all those things you know you need to do on a daily basis to continue playing. You know, a lot of that just wasn't there anymore for me. Got it. Yeah. And I had played the game all my life and I knew that that fire and determination and, you know, that, you know, that element that had to be there to line up all the time. You know, I knew that wasn't there at that point, you know, and so, and so as far as a legacy, you know, I think, I don't know, I think it's, you know, I mean, that's something that I always sort of have trouble explaining because it is something that you, you, it's viewed in

other people's eyes. I know for me, I attacked the game in a certain way. I loved, um, being a player. It has such a great impression on me from a very early age. So the 10 years that I played in the NFL and then playing in college, I mean, you know, those things were extremely, extremely special. Excuse me, special and unique. Like I said before, you know, I as a kid, man, watching those USC running backs, you know,

and Marcus Allen and Charles White and Anthony Davis and those. those guys and me living in Kansas. USC was always on TV, right? So I was always watching him, but I was always a fan of running backs, whether you're talking about USC running backs or were you talking about, you know, Hershey Walker at Georgia or Billy Sims at Oklahoma or Tony, Tony Dorset at the University of Pittsburgh. I mean, I just always love running backs and the list can go on and on and on.

So it was great to be, you know, a part of that legacy of those type of players. you know, who had an impression on me. You know, so, so I, you know, I can't complain with how, you know, how things worked out with me and really proud to be in that, in that group. Yeah, no, I, I mean, you're just one of my favorite players ever. And I just know, and it's fun, too, because a lot of this generation, I have a son who's 19 and just like, Barry, they're still watching Barry Sanders highlights and all that. So your legacy lives on.

So you just mentioned a bunch of running backs. Every week we do a segment called Throwback 3. And we wanted to ask you your three favorite running backs growing up, whether it was when you were a kid. You mentioned Marcus, mentioned a couple of I see guys, but whether it was when you're in a high school or college, who were your top three running backs that you love watching growing up? I mean, the first one to really, I mean, I was always a fan of running backs, right? So I, you know, I know we don't, we don't mention his name very often, but O.J. was probably, you know, in his prime. Yeah, he was one of the past.

You know, he was, yeah. So, and then for in that second on that list, I have to put 20 Dorset, you know, his junior and senior year at University of Pittsburgh. those were the years that I was just starting to play organized football. And I understood that, you know, you know how things were different back then, right? You couldn't always tell. If they said a guy was 6-1, he may be like 5-11, you know, or something like that. But one thing I knew that, you know, Tony Dorset was a small guy. I didn't know what his size was, but I, you know, and so I just kind of identify with that as a kid.

Like, okay, here's a guy. he's the smallest guy on the field but the most dominant guy, right? And so then, so anyway, answer your question, Tony Dorset. And then number three, I mean, it's Marcus Allen. Yeah. Right?

Marcus Allen. I mean, like I said before, his years at USC and his Heisman trophy year, you know, of watching that as a fan, you know, just inspired me. And I was inspired when he went to the Raiders. He was, I think, the rookie of the year or Super Bowl MVP. Yep.

And just, you know, watching that Super Bowl against the Raiders, Redskins. I still replay the Marcus Allen run in my head just because, you know, I was just a Raiders fan and a Marcus Allen fan and a fan of running backs, right? So anyway, so yes, those are my three. OJT.D. and Marcus Allen. We were debating on. We didn't know who you would pick. So that's a great three right there. It's tough for me to pick.

I always loved all those guys. And there's a long list. I mean, you know, Jim Brown. My dad always talked about Jim Brown, you know, and how none of these new running backs have anything on Jim Brown, you know, and all that thing. So, but that's anyway, yeah. So, Barry, one of the things, too, since, I guess, you know,

recently you've spoken. out so much about health stuff. And I know you, you know, suffered a heart attack at 2024 and you've decided to be pretty public about your journey and your recovery. And you even appeared in the documentary, the making of a heart attack. You know, what, obviously something like that is so, you know, such a big part of someone's life. What made you decide to be pretty public and open about what you went through? Well, what made me decide to be public, to go public, It's just I just believed it was an important conversation to have

And it's important Important story tale You mentioned the making of a heart attack I was able to partner with This company Amgen On that documentary And share my story Share the story of several other individuals

Who suffered heart attack and stroke And really just kind of get the word out You know because so many people are impacted by heart attack and stroke, but there's so many misconceptions about it as well. And so just being able to inform people and

make sure that they have those conversations with their doctor, that that's really the only way to find out about where your bad cholesterol is or LDLC. And so there's a website you can go to the making of a, excuse me,

at tack heart disease.com slash documentary, you can find out testing options and things like that. But to answer your question, though, yeah, it was just an important message to tell. And also because so many of us interact with the fans through our platform, our given platforms, it was just, you know, it was really just updating people on what had happened with me. And it's obviously, it has also opened up a new kind of conversation with a lot of fans. as well, right? Because some people, you know, some people have their own journeys in battles with heart disease. And so it's done that also. Hey, Barry, I will appreciate and glad you're doing well,

man. Before we let you go, if you could play in any offense in today's NFL, because it's definitely changed a lot, as you know, and we see even with your old team, right, Jamir Gibbs at Detroit, has got a lot of kind of what you were able to do. But if you could turn back time and play in an NFL offense in 2026, which offense would you choose or coach? And I think it would be awesome to see you back in one of these offenses. Well, I love what we've been able to do in Detroit. They've assembled just great talent there.

If I had to pick one, I'm going to go with the Niners. I feel like, if you think back over the last 10 years, even, even, you know, no offense, Matt, if you, you know, all the, well, all the conversation about passing and quarterback and all of that over the last 10 years, the Niners are one of those few teams that, they always been able to run the ball, right? Yeah. They always have a scheme. I mean, Christian McCaffrey, obviously he's taking it to a new level. but think back to Matt Berea right or

Rahim Moster I mean Frank Gore yeah you know all those guys you know whoever you put in the back field

Shannon handed he's figured out how to run the football right and he's committed to it you know and that's always been a part of their offense

you know George Kittle he's going to catch his passes and Debo when he was there he caught his passes whatever there just seemed to be enough balls to go around for all their skill players, but they,

but they've always been able to run the football in this past, happy, um, NFL, yeah, that we see today, you know, so, so yeah, I, I think, you know, I think that would, if I had to choose one, then that would be it. How about Jerry? You might have led the league in passing and rushing yards in one season with Channa. You might have led, he might have won the different triple crowd, passing yard, receiving yards and rushing yards. Well, Barry, I can't thank you enough.

for taking the time. You know, you got to go. Obviously, huge fans over here. And we'd love to talk to you again in the future. But we also, we follow you even well after your NFL career. So all the best, continued success. And just thank you. Thank you for coming on.

Hey, guys. Great to be here. Let's do it again sometime. And also, also been fun to watch all your kids, man, and all the success they've had in sports and all the stuff they're doing. It's been really fun to watch you kind of be a dad and a parent, all of them too, man. So appreciate you coming on, dude. Now, hey, thanks for having me, guys.

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Find your advisor at IG Private Wealth.com. All right, Matt. You know, I don't know when it's going to stop for me because Bree's ass, but literally for the whole week I've just been walking around going, Barry fucking Sanders, man. So we just, Barry fucking Sanders. Honestly, like,

I'm a kid in a candy star. There's only a handful of, like, I love every guest that comes on and it's so cool to talk to people. But Barry Sanders is like, is my goat of goats. It's like Tom Brady, but just Barry Sanders is the most fun.

And one of the best players to ever grace this earth, man. And to have him on. And again, and my Heisman brother, which is so cool. I've gotten a no Barry over the years, and he's just a great guy. And, man, how pumped, man, to be on throwbacks. That's pretty sad.

And also, like, maybe one of the most humble... Oh, yeah. You know, I don't want to call him a superstar, you know, otherworldly player and the most humble guy. He is, like, he's a one-of-one player, even in today's world. Like, you just, you can't, like, emulate what he did or simulate what he did. He's, he's like, he's a Steph Curry, right?

He's one of those guys that just, they come around once in a lifetime at that size and the ability and the cuts and the vision and all that. There's just, and doing it like in the 90s, right? It's just, man, what a treat. Well, it makes you think, right? And we didn't really go there fully with him, but he is one of the biggest, if not the biggest sports what ifs?

What if Barry Sanders didn't retire? You know, what would have happened? What do you have messed? Emmett Smith went, you know, 11,000 yards straight seasons. Barry always had a thousand yards. like how many thousand yard seasons in a row, how many 2,000 yard seasons more would Barry have had? So to me, he's one of the biggest what-ifs,

but it does beg the question, Matt, and then we're going to talk about this right now on the way out. Your sports, what-ifs, whether it's retired young like Barry Sanders and even like a Luke Keeckley, so to speak, had a great career or injury, off-the-field stuff, all that in play. Who are some of your biggest sports what-ifs?

Yeah, this is interesting because, like you said, I think Barry's got to be right up there, number one, if not two. I think the biggest one for me is Bo Jackson. And I think you go back and Bo Jackson was one of my favorite athletes of all time. You know, I have obviously like Kobe's my favorite athlete. Like Bo Jackson, because I was a baseball player growing up too. So I always like root him for the, when he was in the Royals. And I collected cards.

And we had the bow nose when he had like the bat and the shoulder pads on his most famous. Yeah, it's the most iconic, one of the most iconic cards of all time. I still have it. And, you know, he had that devastating the hip injury, 91. I think it was a playoff game. He was out and he never returned. And at the time, I mean, his trajectory, Jerry, he was going to be the greatest dual sport athlete we've ever seen.

Like he was, he's still in today's world. Like, you think Bo Jackson, he's one of the greatest athletes of all time. He was, he had track speed. He was, you know, a Pro Bowl running back. He probably would have won MVP's. He was an all-star baseball player. And I think more just like the impact that he had from like an iconic standpoint. I truly believe this.

If he would have played a normal career, you're looking at him like the Muhammad Ali's, the Michael Jordans, the Bo Jackson's. And just unfortunately, that injury just crushed him. You know what I do every now and then when I want to remember, obviously, the football stuff? But just if you're bored out there, go take a YouTube tour of Bo Jackson gunning people out on the fly from center and right field with the white. He has a throw. I don't think this, this throw might still be going on the fly, just gunning people out. Never the picture, the one where he catches it and he runs up the wall? Like, there's like the most, like, he's just, he's a freak.

You like, he's, you can't play, like, baseball and football. I mean, obviously, Dion Sanders did it. He's probably the last great one, too. But, like, Bo Jackson is out of this world, man. And, uh, yeah, I mean. And Bo Jackson hitting home runs into the water fountain thing in Kansas City that they had in center field. I mean, dude, those baseball pants, like, just wrapped around his thighs that were,

like, 50 inches wide. So I got a few to throw at you. I'll throw two at you. And then if you want to come back with one with me, uh, I'm going to stick with football. And it's a quarterback. So I'm curious to hear you weigh in. I think we have to acknowledge, even though it might not be the physical specimen like

a Bo Jackson was, but a physical specimen in the fact that he was a giant, Andrew luck, man, seven seasons. Yep. I think, like, he's, to me, those Colts teams were okay. I feel like he dragged them a little bit. I think his best receiver was T.Y. Hilton, you know, I think he dragged some of those teams. Got to imagine if Andrew Luck stuck around, he would have made a few Super Bowls and won a league MVP at some point. He, yeah, he retired at 29, which is crazy.

Seven seasons, yeah. We always say this. It was like, there's, there's always been two or three, like, you can count on one hand when you're recruiting and evaluating college players. coming out. Like, who's a surefire number one pick? Very few happen. The consensus, and we're in 2026, and the consensus has always been, he's the most surefire pick since Andrew Luck.

Andrew Luck is, was, the no doubter. The no doubt you're going to, and he was going to the Colts who were terrible. And I think they might have got to the playoffs year one or year two. Like, like, there's very few quarterbacks can literally can take a franchise that's dying and resurrect them solely by him. himself and he was able to do that we just don't see it very often so yeah i mean he was on that trajectory of you know the patent mannings and like what he was even what he was able to do in the seven years like and now like the longevity of these players like he's still be playing right now

in year 13 or 14 and he's probably you know you probably say like oh he's going to be top two or three of all time and if he does play what happens you know what happens to mohomes does mahomes ever get those Super Bowls. Does, you know, like, there's always the big what-ifs if he plays. How does that affect and impact the other quarterbacks that were kind of in that era, you know? So, yeah, he's a big what-if. You have another one? I'm going to throw one. This one's a deeper cut. Okay. It might not be as iconic as a Barry Sanders or Bo Jackson. But if you are of the early 2000s era like we are here at throwbacks, anyone familiar with Brandon Roy? So Brandon Roy, Now I know he had unfortunately degenerative knees.

Like he, there was no chance he would have been able to go any longer. Played six seasons. I always wonder, like, would he have been a Hall of Famer? Who knows? Kobe Bryant famously has called him the toughest cover and said that that Brandon Roy has no weaknesses in his game. And if Kobe Bryant, who is a true student of the game, is saying that about his player, you youngsters, if you're listening, go do another YouTube tour, Brandon Roy. he had the full bag.

I think that term, oh, he has a bag was created for Brandon Roy because he had everything. Dude, he was, I remember him in college and then, yeah, he was like 6-6, right?

Something like that. He played up in Portland. Right? Yeah. And I was just like, I was like, this dude is good. And you always heard,

you always hear, and Kobe had the famous quote, but you have always heard these old head guys, right, talk about. They're like, dude, Brandon Roy would have been

one of the best to ever do it. He was legit. Yeah, he just, I think, Stain, I have one more and then I have an honorable

mention. Okay. Derek Rose is saying in the NBA, I think, is one of the biggest ones up there with Bo Jackson. He was, like, he won, I think he was the youngest MVP ever in the NBA and was just carrying the Chicago Bulls. And I always wonder if he doesn't get hurt because he had the knee and then it just, it just was a snowball, right?

He never got back to form. But it was like, that was kind of like LeBron's era. I just wonder if, if, if he would have stayed healthy. you know, in the East and all that going up against LeBron. Like, you always just wonder, like, would a LeBron be LeBron to this day? Obviously, LeBron's great. But it was some great Eastern Conference finals battle. Like Chicago, I mean, it was Jordan.

And then it's Derek Rose. And then, God, and I remember feeling gutted, man. Like, every time he got hurt, I just remember, it's like, you know, he just always looked like he was like going to cry, all that stuff. And I'm like, I just felt so bad for him because that guy was so funny. He was the face of the NBA. He would have been the face of the NBA right next to LeBron for a decade. you know, and just wonder how many championships he would have won

or how many of those Eastern Conference finals between he and Cleveland, you know, I think he would have got there because I also remember, you know, later in his career he came to the Knicks, obviously, and he was still very productive, obviously not the all-star caliber he once was, but to see how productive he was with probably, I don't know what, 60% of his athleticism that he had maybe four or five years before, You know, you have to think that if that athleticism kept up with his brain and the way he knew how to play, it would have led to so many great things.

And also one of the best two-foot jumpers, meaning like jumping off the two feet. Donovan Mitchell kind of does it now. Like once Donovan Mitchell plants with two feet, he's throwing it on someone. But when Derek Rose planted on two feet in transition, you had to look the fuck out. Oh, I'm a two-foot jumper too, Jerry. Just letting you know. I figure, well, I have a two-foot jumper. He's kind of the first, like, like Russell Westbrook.

You kind of look at like Russell Westbrook. You look at John Wall, right, where they were just so fast-paced and all that. But, like, Derek Rose was, I mean, he was kind of the first to do that where you just, he just, he was unguardedable. Like, you could not guard him and he would take off from the free throw line. And he would, I mean, he was just a freakish talent and athlete. And still, like, I mean, yeah, just what if, right? What if he would have continued to play for them and remain healthy? My one honorable mention real quick is Ken Griffey.

And I just. think, you know, he missed a lot of time, man, in his prime with injuries. And if he would have stayed relatively healthy, one, he did it the right way, right? I mean, the best swing of all time in baseball, he's everybody's favorite player growing up. I think he would have shattered the home run record if he just, if he stayed healthy. He just missed a bunch of those years in his prime, right, where then he just started trying to catch up and catch up. But people don't know this, man. Ken Griffey is, I mean, I put him in the Mount Rushmore baseball. He's a top five player of all time. Yeah, he would have broke that record, man.

So two sad ones. I mean, they're all sad because of injuries. Obviously, we don't know what would happen with Len Byas. Just to think about the number two pick of the draft passing away before he even plays a game. If that were to happen today, God forbid, and I hope it never happens again, social media would be a blade. It would be crazy. And I was a big Reggie Lewis fan, even though I'm not a Celtics fan. Reggie Lewis was one of my favorite players as a kid. But I had, last one is I'm not saying this is a what if, but I'm posing a case for you because I like what you did with Griffey there. You took someone whose numbers were amazing and you're thinking what would have happened without injury. What would have happened if Mike Tyson were a different kind

of dude and didn't, with all the physical gifts, but didn't kind of go down some of the paths you went and then going to jail and all that? What if Mike Tyson was like a Bernard Hopkins or just wired a little differently where it's just like, I box, I go home, I go to sleep, I wake up, I fight again. What if he was just that? I mean, his run was pretty spectacular. I mean, I still look at

Tyson as the greatest fighter of all time. That's tough. Yeah, I know. I know. I know. And again, I'm not, I just, I think he's the most physically intimidating, dominant fighter of all time. And again, I'm not, you know, I'm not in the boxing world. That's just my opinion. But yeah, I think, yeah, I mean, if he's not

eating ears and doing all sorts of shit. I leave that to the crowd. Is Mike Tyson, I'll look right for social media, look right at the camera. Is Mike Tyson one of these sports? What ifs? I don't know. Debate amongst yourself. The whole, I mean, we can get into another segment, so whole Wally Pip stuff, right? If I was looking at like, what ifs? What if Drew Bledsoe never got hurt? I still remember that sideline hit. Was it, was it Mo Lewis who hit him on the sideline? I don't know. But what it? What if Drew Bledso doesn't get hurt? How crazy is that? Drew Bledso was great for the Patriots. They're he was really good.

And like, Brady literally went in that year and they won the Super Bowl and he never, I mean, it's just what if he doesn't get hurt? It's the craziest thing. Like, what happens to Tom Brady? He backs up for three, like, he just, it's crazy. You never know. Four Jets. They were responsible for the hit that put Drew Bledso out and sprung Tom Brady's career.

So, Matt, let's just do a little housekeeping, you know, I'm sure you've talked about this at nauseam as this is air. We did a very fun segment last week. If you haven't listened to that show, go back and listen to it. We talked a lot of expansion teams, great time. But then we talked about the Mike Evans. He's going to San Fran, the number. You FaceTime Larry Fitz.

All worked out. And that story, you talked about being asked here or there over the years from SC, like, hey, how about we, can we unretire that you're? I mean, talk about viral. I can't go on my phone without seeing that story talked about somewhere else. What's life been like since going viral in that throwback story? Well, you know, just like and subscribe to throwbacks. and you'll get a lot of great stories from us.

Yes, sir. Dude, it's hilarious, man. Like, I'm on a ski trip, you know, earlier in the week, and I'm getting blown up on my phone, like, all this stuff. And, like, again, again, it must have been a slow news cycle because it's not a hot take. I mean, I think pretty much, I think over, I mean, I think about, like 90% of people have agreed, like,

what's the 10% saying? Oh, they're just the haters that hate me and just talk shit about how I sucked in the NFL and that kind of stuff. Like, which is whatever. I do want to clarify, though, Because I do think the way it was perceived is like USC in recent times has asked me. And I basically said how you disrespect me like that. Absolutely fucking not.

Like the context is one, I clarify, Lincoln has not asked me in the last five or six, I think this year five. They have not come to me. This isn't a recent thing. But there has been times. I've been gone 20 years from USC. There's been times earlier on where it said, hey, would you ever consider doing this? We got kind of a big time prospect.

And the answer then is the same as it is now. No, I will not, unless it's one of my sons. Now, if they want to go and do it on them, and then that would be complete disrespect if they don't ask. But just to clarify, like, I love USC, Link, like, they've been great. It's just, I think people take it and they'd be like, how dare USC come out of him in Alaska? Like, that hasn't happened.

Well, McAfee stirred the pot early. I think it was McAfee. First was Floreal, the McAfee picked it up, stirred the pot some more. Then it ended up on PTI. And then it just went every. I mean, crazy. I mean, listen, like, it's, it's my favorite number of all time. I wore 11 growing up. That number represents what we were able to accomplish at USC, which is incredible. I was a fortunate to accomplish a lot of things as a player, but also as a team. It's up in the Coliseum next to some of the greatest players to ever play. There's a lot of tradition there. And it's a complete honor for me to have that. And then I just said in this day and age, athlete, it would really be hard for me to kind of like to give it up based on these players jumping around and doing stuff for money and this and that. And I think you asked me,

is it is it for sale? It's just not for sale. It's not for sale. It's not for sale. Unless, Kaysen and Cannon in about 12, 13 years are football phenoms. They want to go to USC, then go for it. They can both wear it. Well, I think they got a shot. You know, I tried to think of what the acting example of that is. I always try to pull. put it in my world. This is not fully my world because I don't have this honor. But I think the closest I've come to it, not me personally, is so imagine if you're ex-actor and they give you a star on the walk of fame, right?

But now it's like 10, 20 years from now. It's like, hey, we've ran out of room. They got to move you. There's no more. And Salome, we're giving, Shalamay's ready for his star. Can we take your star off for a little while? We'll find you another place off a vine somewhere. And the answer is what?

Fuck no, bro. Exactly. Fuck no. That's, yeah, that's true forever, man. Yeah, that's the only thing I could come up with in the Hollywood world that would be the same thing. So you handled it well. It was a fun story. And we got more of that to come.

And I can't see, I can't wait to see what you go viral with next week. You had the gymnastics thing two weeks ago. You're on a viral heater, bro. I mean, let's just go, dude. Just anything for the show, buddy. Anything for the show. All right. We will be back next week.

Thank you to Barry. Barry freaking Sanders. I'm not going to stop saying it now. How cool is that? The goat. The goat. Getting ready for a game means being ready for anything. Like packing a spare stick.

I like to be prepared. That's why I remember 988 Canada's suicide crisis helpline. It's good to know just in case. Anyone can call or text for free confidential support from a train responder anytime. 988 suicide crisis helpline is funded by the government in Canada. Thank you.