Throwbacks with Matt Leinart & Jerry Ferrara - Best and Worst Expansion Franchises, The Battle for 11 With Larry Fitzgerald, Gary Owens’ Star Studded Wedding and 83 Bam Points

Episode Date: March 12, 2026

Matt Leinart and Jerry Ferrara take a look back at expansion teams in sports history, wondering aloud which is the best and worst franchises. The guys look over everything from logos and uniforms to home crowds and draft history. Plus they ask is Bam Adebayo’s 83-point game going to be a “Where were you when?” moment like Kobe Bryant’s 81-point game. Jerry gives a recap of his star-studded weekend in Texas at Gary Owens’ wedding which doubled as a Think Like A Man reunion. Finally Matt gives a call to his former teammate and fellow legendary Number 11, Larry Fitzgerald to talk about the politics behind coming to a new team and somebody has your number like Mike Evans heading to the San Francisco 49ers where quarterback Brock Purdy wears his iconic number 13.   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

I'm going to FaceTime this guy right now. By the way, if you get Larry Fitz to answer right now, this is a true baller status. Let's see if you got that street cred. All right, we're calling. Let's see. What's going on, man? All right, welcome to another episode of throwbacks.

However it is, you're taking the show today. We appreciate it, but we would really appreciate it if you subscribe on YouTube, the good stuff right there and follow on Apple and Spotify. Follow us on all social platforms at Throwback Show. Matt Liner, how are you today? I'm good, buddy. What's going on, man? Good. You started off a little tech issues, but you pulled it together. I mean, there's one thing in life that I'm just, I'm not good at, dude, and it's connecting cords into all sorts of different ports.

It has been a morning, dude. It's not how I wanted to start, but it's not how you start. It's how you finished Jerry. Before we got rolling, yeah, you troubleshots of things. And I tried to think of, like, the NFL quarterback equivalent. And the only thing I could come up with is if your helmet comms went down, which I love seeing every quarterback, like, hand gesture. that they can't hear from the OC. That's how you looked, bro. It's a great comp. If you're a quarterback and your comms go out in the middle of a play call or a huddle and you don't know the play,

it is a very, very, very, very dark place that you go to mentally for about six seconds. Is it scary? Like, do you even look over to the sideline once you're, like, getting in your set? And it's like, oh, I'm not even close here. You better hope that you prepared and you studied and you know the person, you basically know by what your coach said, the formation and the personnel that you have in, and then the down and distance

and the situation that you are in a game and on the field, that you better know what the play call is. That's what you're expected to know as a quarterback, but that's why sometimes you see like quarterbacks wearing wristbands or you still see not as much in the NFL, but some signals or something come from the sideline. College, it's all signals, right? Even though college has comms now as well.

But when those comms go down, man, and you can't talk back to the coach, it is a lonely place out there. I would make that part of my questions for young draftees. Be like, all right, you're a quarterback. Coms go down. What are the first three things you do? And just hear their thought process like in the moment of because you're right.

Down in distance is the other thing. Not only do you have to get everything set, but it's like, oh, wait, it's third and two and a half yards. The biggest thing is personnel. Right. Who's in? Is it three wides? Is it two tight ends? Is it, it's personnel and it's down and distance in the situation.

So it's like, and then when you have on your call sheet, right, you have a note, you have a call sheet. And on that, you're studying, okay, my five or six third and four to six plays are this. So that's what you're just, you're, you studied that before, but you need to be able, you basically need to memorize that in case that's happened. When I was in Houston, Gary Kubiak made us memorize the whole thing because he had situations where like that, that's our job. I mean, I think you've heard like that mic'd up stuff with Stafford and all that. Like some of these guys, they're just pros.

You just study and you know exactly. exactly what the coach is thinking, because you go over it beforehand. But it could be a random, like, first and ten on the 30-yard line, and you have, like, base personnel in it. And it's probably a run play. But you have to be able to say, like,

look in the huddle, be like, all right, I have fullback. Okay, it's probably power. I'm just going to call this. Sometimes you just call, like, you've heard Joe Burrow, I think, where the mics went out for, like, five straight plays, and he was just out there dicing it up, and he was calling it because he had four wives. Yeah, he knows.

Yeah, he knows in his mind he can call plays that he likes. So, yeah. There's just levels to it, man. there's different levels to it. I like when Stafford, after he gets to play in, and McVeigh continues to talk, is like, shut up. Let me,

geez, I can't hear myself think. I think that's really one of the few times that you could just cuss out your head coach for play car because they can't hear it. So we got a fun one for you today. We're going to do something a little interesting. I have all these alerts on my phone for like throwback anniversaries because we are throwbacks.

And something popped up that was interesting to me earlier this week. Basically, I think it was March 9th, 95, Arizona, Phoenix was awarded, and Tampa Bay later were awarded expansion teams, right? And they ended up kicking off their season in the 1998 MLB season. So we now basically have 30 years of expansion to look back on across all four sports. So I thought we could go with some quick hitting, best, worst, lightning roundish, some stuff with a lot of fact finding, too. There's a lot of interesting stuff here. For me, the criteria.

It was a lot of fact finding, a lot of fact finding. A lot of fact. Like, to me, a criteria of expansion is, like, winning, obviously, is what the name of the game is. But fan loyalty? Like, where are the fans when the things aren't going to? And then for me, it's always going to be logo branding. Like, we're all a brand nowadays. But imagine launching an expansion team and, like, you're responsible with naming them and the uniform in the jersey.

So we're going to have some fun with that. We got a couple of quick hitters. But before we go to that, you know, this is going to air on a lot. a Thursday, so this just happened Tuesday night. I'm sure everyone's going to continue to talk about it for a while. Should I say, where were you, Matt, when Bam, on the bio had 83 points?

Because apparently that's going to be a I remember where I was when this happened thing. Is it, though? That's what ESPN and a lot of other people were telling me, and I'm trying my best not to be a grumpy old guy who's like, I remember when this guy did this, but...

First of all, so immediately obviously he beat, you know, broke Kobe Bryant's 81 point record when he played in the Raptors. And I remember where I was for that, I was at Shellbacks, Manhattan, at the bar when he beat that. We all were just watching on this little screen

in the corner when he got 81. I got a text from my oldest last night, Dad, Bam's got 77s. So I was like, oh shit. So I couldn't even turn it on because I'm on the West Coast, whatever wasn't on TV, and it was like two minutes left.

And then you start to look at the box, and I am not, listen, 83 points, I don't care how you do it, is pretty impressive. But you're not that impressed with this performance of 83 points. No, no, no. I'm impressed. When I'm impressed with the performance, I'm not impressed with like the final number.

Because I think, you know. Because he took 43 free throws. Well, the 40 free throws. And then like, look, the wizards who like, in a way, shame on you for the poor defense for so long. But then they did try to foul him. They fouled other teammates. They were trying to stop him. They just didn't have the wherewithal to do it.

So I think the performance is unbelievable. I don't think, like, an NBA player even going to, like, you know, Rucker Park or whatever, that's like some accomplishment. So to do that in an NBA game is crazy. But I'm less impressed with the final number because of the 40 free throws. And the heat, but, you know, they got him so many extra possessions. It became, but it was a fun chase. The moment was, like, can he actually do this now that they're game planning for him?

So I appreciate all of it. Shout out, 83 points is ridiculous, but I still think Kobe had 6'6, his shot selection. He didn't have that many free throws. I think he had half the amount of free throws. And from what I remember, at least, like they were playing pretty hard defense on him, and he was just in an absolute zone on a shooting team.

I'm not old-headed this, and I'm not taken away from BAM. It's awesome. And it's a great moment. For me, it's not quite aware, where was I when? Shout out to Asia Wilson getting on the podium with him last. That was cool, though, that like, I mean, she's the goat.

Yeah. So here's my final question on the matter before we get to some fun expansion stuff. Will this be a throwback we are talking about on this show 10 years from now? Will we do the remember when? Will this be a memorable throwback moment? BAM's 83 points.

I mean, you got Will at 100, BAM at 83 and Kobe 81? Because we always do the Kobe anniversary. Oh, and I always will. There's going to be a BAM, out of bio, anniversary of 83 points. Where were you then? I was sitting bathing my boys when my oldest son texts me.

He had 77. That's where I was? Well, this is a great transition, Matt, because where were you in 95 when your future home in Arizona and Tampa Bay were awarded MLB expansion changes? Because a lot of other teams flooded into the league after that. I mean, just for reference, you got the Raptors.

You got the Tampa Bay Lightning, Florida Panthers, football, you got the Houston Texans, basketball. We had the Grizzlies. So a lot has happened. And I think it will do some quick hits. Are you ready? I'm ready. All right.

Let's start here. I think it will start low and go high. Let's start on the low note. Matt, worst expansion team from any league in the last 30 or so years. And what do you think they got wrong? So my worst. to expansion team, one of them is the Colorado Rockies. Ooh.

And let me go back because they did have a World Series run in 2007. Yep. So they did have one of those. They've only made the playoffs four times since 1993, I believe was their inception. They're two kind of, I guess, the best players, if you think Colorado Rockies, who do you think of when I say Colorado Rockies in the, like, early 2000s? I think of like, is it Larry Walker? Larry Walker.

Todd Helton is probably Yeah. Todd Helton is probably the best Rocky of all time. And Larry Walker kind of right there. And then you have like Toulouwitzki of guys, Nolan Aronado is really good if you go more recent. A couple things. I think one in baseball, the farm system is huge.

And that's a big reason why the Dodgers, I mean, Dodgers have money, right? But their farm system has been the best in the bigs for, they're always great. And they always have these young players, right? And they always have those players that they can kind of trade pieces to get the big free agents, obviously. So the farm system is absolutely trash. And then you look at the stadium and you look at that, right, the altitude. It is hitter-friendly. It's a curse for the pitchers, right?

Because so they never, like, like, it's something like they never really fix that. Like, I don't know if it's a dome. So there's no air in the stadium that's simple. But for pitchers, it's a nightmare. Because you have the short porch and you have the altitude of the ball is flying. So they never fixed that. Ownership was terrible. I went to a Rockies game a couple years ago.

We took Kaysen. And again, it was the Dodgers were in town and we happened to be in Big Noon at Boulder. So it was pretty cool. There was probably 10,000 people in the stands. And the consensus, I remember asking people, the consensus is like, we hate our ownership.

Fans don't care. It's trash. It sucks. So, and I think they've never won the NL West since they became an M-O-B team. So my biggest failure, I think, is the Rockies. They had one great run in 2007. Yeah, and you know what?

For me, too, like logo branding, I thought it was kind of cool. Well, in the beginning, it was just so new. Purple, well, we didn't see purple a whole lot. Like, yeah. And they never really upgraded or made any significant changes. And they're more known to me for like, hey, you're going to go there. There's going to be some home runs hit. that's kind of been the brand.

They're also like tap the Rockies on the side of beer. I mean, that's, well, for me, Matt, this was a no-brainer. And I had a backup in case you took this one. It's the Charlotte Bobcats for all the reasons above. So bad. Bobcats, not a terrible name. The logo didn't really do it. The colorway didn't really do it.

And you're also, you know, Charlotte. Probably the Bobcats is a terrible name. Bobcats is a terrible name. It's terrible. It's terrible when you think of the other teams we're going to talk about. And also you're replacing the Hornets, which became an iconic logo jersey. One of the first times we saw a teal or whatever that color is in like real life on a jersey. So they had a tough uphill battle.

But then, look, they were unfortunate in the year they drafted Emeka Okifor. Go look at that draft. That is not a great draft. Mecca Okafer, good player. But, you know, number two pick. And then they drafted Felton. they traded for Gerald Wallace. Their most successful season was 44 and 38

that Stephen Jackson felt and Larry Brown was their coach. And that in 2012 they went 7 and 59. Seven. Is that the worst record of all time? I don't even know. I think so. We even had a line, a famous line on Entourage that R, he says, when there's all this jealousy between agents

and this rival agent took us to a Lakers game court side and Ari's getting some shit and Ari's like, I didn't want to go to the fucking Laker game because they were playing the fucking Bobcats, okay? That's why I didn't go. It's a famous line through the Bobcats right under the bus. And the good news, though, is they, and Michael Jordan, I guess, gets the credit for this because he wanted it, you know, they got the Charlotte Hornets name and brand back and they got all the Hornets history, which sort of...

And by the way, they're one of the hottest teams in the NBA now. So if you just look up like Charlotte Hornets history, you'll see Bobcat stuff, but that history is technically supposed to be out of the, and now belongs elsewhere because they got all the history from that move. So the Bobcats are dead. Kemba Walker is probably the best draft pick they've had, maybe. Kimball Walker had a great career. Probably the best Bobcat. Like if you just focus on the Bobcat portion, I think so. And, you know, I did have an honorable mention for the Devil Rays, but they actually had some.

some good moments sprinkled in there and some really good points. Well, the devil rays have been... Since they moved... You know what? Since they switched to the raise and got rid of devil, things have gone, you know, really, really well. But when they were the devil raise, it wasn't off to the greatest start.

All right. Number two, Maddie. Which expansion team have had the most impressive moment? Just think about the most impressive sports moment you've seen from an expansion team. I think we're going to have different ones here. There's no way you have mine. I'd be shocked.

Well, I don't have yours because yours, mine is a team that beat your team in the World Series. Oh, that's the one I have, bro. That's the one I have. Is it? Yeah. Is it? Yeah. No, no, let's hear the case.

Let's do the case. Let's talk it out. You're doing your Arizona Diamondbacks? Yeah, for sure. And I have a very clear reason why I want to hear yours, though. Well, mine is just coming strictly from the Arizona Diamondbacks inception. right so they they they i don't know if they made the playoff in year one or year two but that year was the fourth year they were a part of the nlb they go and get they get ranny johnson they get

kirk shilling those two guys combined for 43 wins that year crazy which is i think it's a record they too were responsible for the four wins in obviously that series so they were a two-man wrecking crew um and just a little history on that they won the n l west over the san francisco Giants, the year Barry Bonds, it's 73 dingers. They beat the Brewers, they beat the Cardinals, and then obviously the historic game seven, Luis Gonzalez hits a little hit. I think just the most impressive thing is,

one, it's year four of a team, and they also beat down the dynasty of the New York Yankees, which no one ever thought. I mean, I think it's just like, it's one of the greatest moments, I think, taking down the titan of baseball when you're year four in a little, you know, little Phoenix, Arizona, and your logo is an A,

with like terrible coloring. I mean, talking about terrible color. By the way, where's the diamond back? Isn't that like, why don't we see the diamond back? Really, the A,

you're right, the A is the more prominent part. Yes. That's so funny, dude, your logo is an A. Point blank, and there's been obviously, you know, runner up.

It still keeps you up in night. I've had some great moments, but I now, as we know, I go to the Jeter golf tournament every year. I'm around all those Yankees. Right? and I've heard them speak in interviews.

Jeter, I think, has publicly said the most gutting thing that's ever happened to him, really, like in competitive Major League Baseball was losing that World Series. Then factor in, Matt. The thing we can't forget is, you know, 9-11 just happened. If you remember those games, the Yankees were down, I think, 1-0,

and then in game 2, they're down like 4-0, and then all the home runs off of Biong-Yung-Yung-Kim. Like, you felt the good. ghosts coming out of nowhere because they hit like back to back like three run game tying homers in the World Series to steal games and

if you told me Mariano Rivera in the ninth or whatever inning it was to kind of close the deal I'm saying pack it up boys start spreading the news we have another ring and you know that whole

entire run meant so much to the city of New York because of what they were going through after 9-11. I don't think their result obviously matter. Of course, they would have wanted them to win. But just the fact that the way they battled, and you're right, like now in hindsight, Schilling and Johnson,

seeing those guys four times in a, and I think even in those relief innings is just absolutely nuts. Dude, Randy Johnson has to be the most intimidating pitcher of all time, right? Yeah, I mean, he made a bird explode with a fastball. Do you remember that?

So you mentioned the Vegas, the Vegas Golden Knights. That's pretty impressive. If you, if you're out there and you're listening, you just, you say the most impressive expansion team of them for major sports on that. Vegas Knights, without a doubt, is by far the top expansion team based on success. I mean, we're talking, we're going to talk about logos and stuff. I think everything. I think they did it right. But you look at this, they made the Stanley Cup in their first year, right? I think they won a cup within five or six years. I read this stat. They sold out

T-Mobile Arena at 104% capacity. in year one. Think about that. As an NHL team going to Las Vegas. I think when you now see the Raiders having success

fan-wise in Vegas, they have a great fan base, the A's, and now, you know, we're going to get a basketball team there. The Golden Knights sort of were the test case

for pro sports in Vegas and it was a huge success. So anything that happens after them is kind of because of them. I want, okay, so let's go down a list here. I want to ask you

which city, we're talking about Las Vegas, which is obviously prime, which city in the U.S. is prime for a new expansion team. It really doesn't matter the sport. Which city would you pick to have the next expansion team and what sport? So I have my sensible answer and I have my heart. Well, they're kind of both the same. I do think cities like, you know, Nashville could certainly have some more sports. They have the Titans.

And I think it's a cool city that is growing so rapidly. I don't think Texas necessarily. I mean, the easy answer is Seattle. Because also they did do so well, I think, too, with the Seattle Cracken. I know we talk a lot about hockey today. That, you know, was a cool brand to come out. Now, the Mariners are kind of popping. Seahawks just won the dance suit.

That's what I mean, it's hard to say they need it because, like, they are having success. And you typically want to go to a city that's, like, hurting. And by the way, I want this, I want Seattle to get an NBA team. and I want it to be called the super. It has to be, right? Don't change anything. The uniforms, the group, like, don't change anything. You know how, like, talk about nostalgia and throwback.

Would you copy it completely? Like, nothing different? I mean, I would, I mean, you're going to have to do some probably brandy different. Would you go supersonics? Oh, I would go Seattle Supersonics, dude. Are you kidding me? You don't think guys want to go play for the Seattle Supersonics? That would be so much.

I would do that. I had, I think, I think Vegas is no doubt. Yeah. Right for an NBA team. team as well. I mean, I'm going to be interested to see how the, how the A's do there for baseball. But obviously, the Raiders have been fine. I mean, it's the best stadium, in my opinion, in the NFL. I don't know if you ever been to Allegiant, but it's incredible. I was at the Super Bowl. Yeah, it's ridiculous. It's ridiculous. Like, imagine if the Raiders are good. Like, imagine if the Raiders and they get Mendoza.

Imagine Mendoza is a stud with Gentie. Imagine the Raiders are like a 12, 13 win team. And you talk about loyal fan bases and how, obviously, Oakland, all. of those fans go to that game. They'll drive. They drive every Sunday for a home game. And, you know, whatever it is, six, seven hour drive. So I think Vegas is definitely prime. And then, and then you mentioned a two, I think Nashville, I mean, Nashville's got the predators and they have, obviously, the Titans. I still think baseball, you could do baseball there and you could do NBA. I mean, Nashville's like the food, the people. Well, that's like the food, the people. Like, should maybe, I don't know, Memphis is such a die-hard fan. I think we're going to have a,

we're going to have a relocation of a team to Nashville. And it's going to be epic. And then my last one, my last one, I want to bring back. Like San Diego, dude. San Diego, you know, they screwed up the charges deal. They wouldn't buy a new stadium. SoCal. Look at you being staying true to SoCal.

San Diego is like, like, I don't even, yeah, like the weather. You're on the beach. You have the Padres who are good. Like, you have no other, you have no other team there. So what? Would you put a football team there? It's not going to be a basketball team. Probably, you know.

Bring back. Fuck, and bring back San Diego? The San Diego wave? We're going to bring back Throwback 3 for today because this is probably my favorite question so we saved it for Throwback 3.

And this is something you and I have discussed off the air before. All right. Our throwback 3 for expansion teams our best jersey logo color scheme, call it branding for an expansion team in the last 30 or so years.

So, I don't like my number three, but I'm going to go with the original just Jacksonville Jaguars. Okay. Interesting. I want to believe that I had some type of memorabilia or apparel of the Jaguars back in, what is, 95, so I was 12 or 13. You had a Brunel jersey. I might have had a Brunel jersey. So that's my number three.

I'm not happy with it, but I'm going to go to Jaguars original logo. And by the way, it's only changed twice in like whatever it is, been like 30, over 30 years. And it hasn't changed a ton, I thought. No, it's just minimal change. Which I think is pretty cool. So they're doing something right with that. Well, my number three has changed quite a bit since it originated. And this is a very crucial era in my life.

And again, we don't talk about hockey a ton on this show. I personally think hockey, especially in the 90s, early 2000s, has done expansion, branding the best. I don't think it's close. For me, my number three is the Tampa Bay Lightning. I bought that jersey, or I asked for it for a birthday or Christmas present. That's a good one.

And those are the days where jerseys were worn for style. I would wear that playing roller hockey in the streets of Brooklyn. And then I would wear it the next day to school as a style piece. What year was that, 93? I think that's 93 or 94. I have it.

I have all this research. I didn't go back that for. The lightning, the lightning is great. It was black. They since changed and they did like the blue color white, but it was black with the lightning bowl in the circle in Tampa Bay. You didn't really see black and blue primarily mixed together.

So that's my number three. Lightning. And by the way, it might be the most successful expansion too. They got like five Stanley Cubs or something and some Hall of Fame players. Like unbelievable franchise. I had a hockey era.

Because I've always loved hockey. I grew up liking it, even though I'm in Orange County. I had the Mighty Ducks jersey, which is terrible. But I had that jersey, and I had a Kelly Rudy King's jersey because I was a big time Kings fans. I used to play goal. Yeah. I used to play a goalie on the street. But see, that's what we were doing back in the 90s kids.

Like, look, a hockey team branded off of a movie. That's what we were doing back then. It's a big swing. And some of them connected and some of them missed. All right. My number two top brand logo. Toronto Raptors. The original

cartoon-y-looking Raptor on the jersey. Purple, kind of white, whatever it was, bouncing the basketball. And it just, I think it was iconic back then because then you look at all the stars

that wore like T-Mack and Vince Carter and talk about a six-starter jacket. Like, it was just, and that, that logo has changed a bunch over the years. But the original Toronto Raptors Raptor cartoon driveling the ball with those some of the greatest players of all time

would be my second best logo. I'm stretching back now a little bit, Matt. Again, I'm going a little before 95, so I'm technically cheating, but it's not that much before. I mean, shit, I would have gone before 95, then. Well, it's not much before. It's like, I think it's maybe a year or two before,

but I'm going with the Florida Marlins, the original jersey. Florida Marlins. Matt, that's the first time I really saw, like, teal. I was meant through a major, then everyone went teal. That was like a big teal. That also I think was the first expansion team I remember how I remember I never was a part of expansion. I was like 12 years old so I was very excited for a new team. Then they go and get like Gary Sheffield. Yeah, they had a really cool team and they

won the World Series in 1997 but I thought they executed. The Panthers, Marlins, Marlins, Marlins. Or Florida Marlins. Yeah, no, the Panthers didn't make the cut for me because I just, the Carolina Panthers are the best Panthers. I think. Panther logo to me. But Florida Marlins, number two. All right. My top one, I mean, we just, I mean, this, I didn't have to dig too deep with this because I think it's just, it just speaks for itself, the Vegas Golden Knights.

Okay. They've done everything right in expansion. They've won. They're in the greatest city in the country. And they're just black, like metallic or whatever, like, whatever, are gray with the black and the gold. and it is just the head of a night. It's just sick, dude.

Like, it's simple. It's easy. They didn't overdo it, but it fits perfectly. So that would be my, my number one expansion team that did the branding right. They did the logo right.

It's worked for them, and they've had tremendous success. Another fun fact, when you said, well, another fun fact when you said, well, my number one, I had two prepared in the event that, And the Raptors were my number one, but I have another thing loaded up for you.

But also, we talked about the ducks. The Raptors were named because of the popularity at the time of Jurassic Park. So that's what we were doing back then, guys. And it was a dinosaur dribbling a basketball, like a cartoony dinosaur. The NBA really went after kids. So I'm going to pivot to my number one and not step on it. I've never talked about hockey this much in my life. But the only other piece of apparel I wore,

hockey-wise, and I've told the story, it was my starter jacket, but come on with the San Jose Sharks. And here's what made the San Jose Sharks amazing. And you and I talk about NHL-94 all the time. I even follow an Instagram account. That's all NHL-94 video game highlights from Genesis. So that's a fun follow. But they launched the expansion team, and then you got to play them in the game, which was,

and they started using NHL was the first to kind of use the actual players' names when they scored. So I'm just tied to the sharks. I mean, I would have loved that we were doing before 95 because I actually had a starter. Well, you have your story, but I had a sharks. I screwed. I set you up. I set you up to keep my two. I set you up to keep my two. Who's the greatest San Jose shark of all time? Am I screwing this up? Was it Owen Nolan? Was he on the sharks? Owen, no. This would be my guess. Would be Joe Thornton. Am I right, guys?

We need our, yeah. I'll say probably Joe Thornton. Owen Nolan was on the sharks. Yeah, but Thornton was a better player. Joe Thornton was a better player. By the way, our chats lighten up that I threw Owen Nolan out there. That's how old my ass is. I scored many goals with him in all the video games. Am I right to say that Joe Thornton is the greatest shark of all time?

Let's see. Let's chat. Patrick Marla. Pavelski. Yeah. Joe Thornt was like 6'5, dude. Joe Thorne was massive. I remember that guy because he, because we used to play the king's all the time.

We're talking hockey. I didn't even show my shirt, bro. This is from another slow, and I'm going to put it up to the camera. That's a dope logo. That's from the HL, Gilbert-owned Cleveland Monsters, the minor league team for the Blue Jack.

Didn't you just go there the other night? I took my boys to a guy. I guess I'm a hockey guy now. But this is a dope logo. Is it not? The monster coming out of Lake Erie? I mean, we're going to have to get a throwback. It is pretty sick.

A throwback NHL. I would rock a shark's jersey, old school. Well, Sharks was, dude, talk about the turquoise and like that logo was sick. All right. We're going to do some quick hits before we get to some NFL free agency. And I can't wait to ask you, you know, about this Mike Evans number stuff. That's going to be fun because I have a take, but I'm probably wrong. I'm usually wrong.

All right. We are going to go most loyal fan base best crowds consistently in their time, good or bad. from the expansion list. I mean, this is hard because I don't... You played in Houston. You played on an expansion team. Yeah, so, I mean, so based on personal... Yeah, what were those crowds like in Houston?

The crowds were amazing. That would be my only experience for playing on a specific team that I played on. That was still technically an expansion team because Houston was 2002 or something. I was there in 10. So I was only eight years. I would say, like, I didn't feel...

When you're on that team, I didn't feel the feel of an expansion team. Like, it was still new. Like, they had, I guess when you're looking back now, like, they had pictures of, like, David Carr on there, you know, like, like their ring of honor. Like, not ring of honor. Yeah, like, just like when you're walking through the halls, they had, like, pictures of the original teams and stuff. An anxiety about David Carr.

But they love, Texas loves their football. And so when, I mean, that was, God, I forget the name, the name of the stadium. But it was rocking back then, man. And we were good. We were a playoff team. So I had great experience. being a part of a semi-expansion team within the first 10 years. I Face-Times you with the Houston Texans legend this weekend.

I was at- By the way. I was at Gary Owens' wedding. We reunited to think like a man cast. We were his groomsman. He married Brianna, a beautiful wedding, all in Houston, everything amazing. And then I'm sitting there and I'm looking at this dude. I'm like, God, that guy looks so familiar, huh? I'm like, is he an actor?

A big, like, big jackdew? I'm like, oh, wait, fuck, that's Andre Johnson. I don't know why he was out of the wedding. And then I'm texting you and you're like, You gotta give me a video. Isn't Gary a Houston guy? I think Gary lives in Houston now. Yeah, I think that's where his wife's from.

And then I was literally sitting next to him. I'm like, I never do this. I'm faced. I've facetimes you. I didn't even tell Andre I was doing it. And I just, I was like, hey, Andre, look who it is. And he was very, very happy to see you. The greatest part about that was, and I'm a big facetime guys.

You are a very big FaceTime guy. I was, I was in Colorado. I was part of this incredible charity event, American Airlines with cystic fibrosis. event. And I'm with one of your former teammates, Perry Reeves. So Perry Reeves plays the wife of Jeremy Pippen, Ari Gold on entourage. She's legendary. So I'm, I'm dancing with Perry. We're drinking at Opry ski. And I'm like, I'm going to FaceTime Jerry. I never picked up. But Jerry never answered. I freaking FaceTime Jerry like 17 times. I'm like, I'm dancing with Perry. Let's go.

And then I say, bro, FaceTime me. And I get the FaceTime back. And it's with Andre Johnson, which I love. I might have had one too many cock- But that is a pretty, I don't know what the odds of that happening in the same weekend are, but... I know. At the same time, it was pretty cool. So yeah. Former teammates. Who would be your just observation? So I would say the, the Texans were great, just based on personal...

I would say, I'm going to get mad of me. I would say I had never been impressed with Carolina Panthers, and I've never been impressed with the Jacksonville Jaguars. Yeah. In my plain experience, now, Boland, Both of those teams were playoff teams last year and all that. But in my playing experience, going to those stadiums, I mean, you might as well go, like, go watch like a, like, like,

like, like, like, like, like, like, it's just like a dead state. Wasn't a raucous crowd. It just, it just wasn't, you know. Even Carolina? I would have thought Carolina would have got a little feisty. No, because it's all, it's an older stadium. Yeah. And you, yeah, it just, it wasn't that better than Jacksonville, my experience in Jacksonville, because Jacksonville.

like a retirement city. Like people go there to retire. They haven't been good in so long. They were just fine. Yeah. It's just, it's just one of those where you have a feel. You go into certain stadiums. You're just like, oh, the vibe, the energy, they're rocking. It's a great home crowd. Blah, blah, blah, blah. You go into other ones like that. You're just like, man, you're going to have to manufacture some energy to get going. So that would be my experience. Yeah. For me, I just think that the team that seems that have the most loyal fan base throughout the last 30, like the Raptors. That was a perfect example like Golden Knights and Raptors I think are the prime example of you do an expansion right and like Raptors are always sellouts and there's just

die hard fans I got drink over there to have a championship so all right we're wrapping up here this is going to be a very quick hitting because I have the list you might not have all this info but when you kind of do a deep dive of these expansion teams and a lot of these look this is just goes to show you how much power the players should have because so many of these organizations just miss on the draft and it starts their career as a franchise off in a very, very bad way. So we're going to do some just best, worst expansion draft picks over the last 30 years. I don't know if you have a few in front of you.

I have a bunch in front of me that I could rip off if you want to just be a listener. I have one of each real quick. I think the worst, the worst pick, Tony Bisselli for Houston Texans. Worst pick. I mean, Hall of Famer. He never played for them. That's right. You're talking about the expansion.

Yeah, yeah. I'm talking about the expansion draft. He was the number one pick in the 2002 NFL expansion draft for the Houston, Texas. He never played. That's crazy. I believe he retired the next year. So they went and got, who by the way, like Hall of Fame, like he was great with the Jaguars. He goes over.

They're going to anchor the line and all this and they're going to protect David Carr, who they pick and all that. He never even sued up. And David Carr could have certainly used protection. Yeah, he was the most. quarterback. I feel bad for that way. Yeah, I would say the best probably, and you might have this, was Gerald Wallace for the Charlotte Bobcats. Yes.

In 2004, he was selected from the Sacramento Kings. He was the first all-star in Bobcats history. And I don't even think he was, I don't know what pick he was in that draft. It wasn't like a top pick, but he ended up being one of their better players. So he's probably the best pick, in my opinion. Outside of the NHL, because the Vegas Golden Knights obviously had some of the best picks. That's like my best, everything the Golden Knights did. is my best.

That's what I'm saying. My worst in expansion drafts, Tampa Bay, when there were the devil raise, took Bobby Abraeu in expansion and immediately traded him. And then he went on to be a two-time all-star, 400 home runs, just like a really great lefty, you know, a really great hitter. And it would have been nice to start off your franchise with a reliable guy. All right, I'm going to throw some, if you have these, I don't know, and if you don't, I'll throw some regular draft. for these expansion teams, which I really think, too, are make or break. If you don't have a bunch, I have a bunch, best and worst.

I mean, you go back to the Bobcats, where he talked about it. I mean, Emeka Okifor was their first one. I don't think he really, right? He was a tough draft. Yeah, he was two overall, I think. That was a tough draft. Who did they pick? Was it just a bad draft?

It was a tough. Go look at that draft. There's no notable. I don't even know if there's an all-star in that first round necessarily. And then they took Ray Felton, I think, the next year. Ray Fulton, I think, I don't know if he made one All-Star game or if he was like very fringe close to it. I mean, Dwight went number one in that draft, but they didn't have the number one pick. So you go. Who are your guys? Okay. For some, I mean, you could say your guy, Tony Bisselli

in the traditional draft was a solid pick, you know, he was number two overall five times. I mean, you got to go Vince Carter as the best. That's such an interesting draft though. He was taken fifth by the Warriors. And the Raptors at 4 took Jameson, and they were both from UNC, and they traded on draft night. So Jameson for Vince Carter. That's a good way.

Matt, listen to this. I mean, Julius Peppers. Talk about a draft pick, nine-time Pro Bowl or 150 sacks. Jacksonville hit so well, though. They went Bisselli, Fred Taylor, Jimmy Smith. You just want to, like, get hits. Even if they're not all home runs,

you want to get hits. Josh Beckett, was a great one for Josh Beckett was a great one. Damon Stalemeyer in 96 for the Raptors was also, I thought, a good start. I just thought it was a good, they didn't necessarily miss. So here are some misses. Look, David Carr at number one, but to me and Matt, you could speak on this. I don't think David Carr is a bust.

I think he was put in a situation where you could say maybe he wouldn't have had a good career no matter where he went. But my, when I say I get anxiety for him, I would watch those games, I'm feeling bad for him. I mean, that dude would get hit so much. We mentioned Adam Morrison earlier. That was number three overall. That was a pretty rough one.

Big country Bryant Reeves, as much fun as he was. I was going to ask you, who's the first draft pick in the Vancouver Grizzlies franchise history? By the way, didn't hate their logo either in Vancouver. I know. It was a little cartoony. They got hit with like a lockout. And then they got hit with the Steve Francis stuff. He basically was like, I'm not going there.

And if only the Grizzlies could have gotten Steve Francis, maybe they would have stayed in Vancouver. So I think we could go. I think that's a pretty solid. I mean, I don't know. Expansion, we're going to see it real soon. Hey, shout out to you expansion. And all the research you've done in the last four days.

You've been so excited about this expansion talk. It's fun, man. I think you got to remember the history. Because, you know, kids today now, they know the lightning as a great organization. I was just some kid with a Walkman and a Biggie CD, or it might have been a cassette tape, rocking around Brooklyn and the Tantha Bay Lightning Jersey. Also, rest in peace,

Biggie Small, speaking of anniversaries. I think it's March 9th. It tragically passed on. 29 or 30 years since he, yeah. When I think about Biggie, right, obviously people are going to do their song list and stuff, and there's so many to choose from, but I always think, like, what would we

have gotten? Like, they would have been so young. We would have gotten I think the sad is... I mean, the whole... And, I mean, Tupac too, right? Of course. It was a sad era in hip-hop or they were just beefing, East Coast, West Coast. And you've seen so many docs about it, but it's like, man, like, we...

I still, but like, even Cole's generation, like, like that, it still lives on. Yeah. Biggie comes on. It's like, boom, we're rocking. Tupac comes on. Boom. Like, we're still listening to that 30 years later. only can like to your point.

Like, can you imagine if they, I mean, the music that they would have put out and yeah, it's, I always think like Biggie at some point in like the last 10 years, I gotta believe would have did a song with 50 Cent. I just believe that in my heart. Those two would have did something, they would have collabed on something.

In this era, they all would have, they all would have clabs with each other. Because East Coast, West, like, it's such a shame, man, when you go back to that. But that was the time. So, all right. Shout out to Biggie Smalls, man.

We're going to take a quick reset We got to talk about this NFL free agency stuff. Matt, you know what stood out to me? Obviously, through all the free agency, Mike Evans on the Niners, that's obviously a huge deal, and his number 13, right? He is showing up to San Francisco. And Brock Purdy, very good player. Don't quite know if he's going to be a Hall of Famer.

Yeah, Mike Evans is the first ballot Hall of Famer. He's got like a million thousand yards seasons in a row. I feel like, is that conversation awkward? rumors are he's not even going to ask for his number. I would be like, hey, buddy, run your shit. I'm a Hall of Famer. Like, give me that. Dude, I remember.

So that's probably true because Mike Evans is a good dude. But I remember, so I wore 11 at USC. Right. And I got drafted by Arizona, who wore number 11 for the Cardinals? Larry Fitzgerald. A Hall of Fame? I mean, he's getting in the hall. He literally just got into the Hall of Fame last month.

And I was like, I was thinking, I'm like, dude, did I ask him? Yeah, because he was only in his third year. I don't know if I asked him, I think I did. But I'm going to FaceTime this guy right now. I'm going to see if he answers. We'll see because... By the way, if you get Larry Fitz to answer right now, this is a true baller status.

Let's see if you got that street cred. All right, we're calling. Let's see. Wait, there we go. See, Larry. Wow. What up? Can you hear me?

What's going on to? Yeah, I can hear you. I can hear you. You say how to Jerry? You know Jerry Farrar? Jared, how you doing, man? I'm good, man. Good to see you. All right, so we're having this conversation.

When I got drafted and I wore number 11, did I ask you if I could wear it, or did you come up to me and say, Matt, you give me some of that guaranteed money and I'll switch? Because I feel like that's something you would have said for sure. No, no. I don't even think we had that conversation.

Obviously, I don't remember. I usually remember things like, especially if it was, some type of offer that I would have presented to you or you would present to me, but I don't, that isn't concerning bill. Honestly, that pisses me off because I would have just asked you for it, but I, knowing you fits, you would have said, no, Maddie, you got to give me a couple, couple mill or something. Okay, so, you know, go ahead.

It's not, to me, it's not really about the money. You know, it's, it's more like, you know, your jersey number, it represents a lot of different things about you and who you are, your experiences. I think, you know, you can't sometimes put a tag on things like that. Okay, so question. And Jerry, Jerry wanted to ask you this because you can't hear him. Mike Evans, Hall of Famer, if you're a sure ballot, first ballot Hall of Famer, you're going to the 49ers.

Brock Purdy is Brock Purdy. No chance. No chance. Brock is a $100 million guy. He's a franchise quarterback and he's going to be the person who's going to take you to the promised land. That's not even like that's not even a consideration. It's not even a consideration.

So what number, what number are you picking then? I mean, he's going to a new organization. He's building a new future. You know, he's got to pick a number that suits him. But I think it would be like way disrespectful to assume that you could go in and ask Brock Purdy to free his jersey number. Plus, I don't think, I don't think the 49 or the league would approve. I mean, think about the millions of Jersey that the national. football.

Right. He's already, you know, throwing a bunch of money into three, but it was a $1,200. I mean, I just, I don't think it's, that's, I don't think that's a conversation. Jerry, you got a thought on that? I'm humbled because I took the other approach. Jerry is humble. He took the other approach, he said, yeah, he said you're a Hall of Famer, run your number.

But spoken from the goat himself, Fitz, appreciate your brother. No doubt, but have a good day. All right. Later, bro. All right. I mean, there you go. See, this is what, you know. Larry's just being PC.

Larry, back, I, no one. He would have hit you for a few hundred grand. Oh, he would have been like, Mattie, you just signed that signing bonus. What you got? You name the number, bro. Let's go. I want a million for each number one on the jersey. So give me $2 million.

You could have number 11. Number 11. Yeah. And honestly, go ahead. No, I'm saying like, if there's ever, if there's ever a good reason to be. like, hey, like defer to the pros. I know that's always a thing. And us, people, fans like to talk football and they get put in their place, right? I would have thought that that would have been a thing. But when you hear Larry's perspective, Mike Evans wants a ring more than,

more than he wants number 13, right? So I guess you go there. Quarterback still king, you know, new franchise. It's already a sign of like, hey, I'm a team guy, man. Like, I'll wear whatever number. I want to wear the W. Well, two things. One is, Mike Evans is that type of dude, right? He's a classy dude. He's, I mean, like, he's well-respected. You never hear anything bad about him. And second to Fitz's point, Brock Purdy is a $100 million quarterback. So it's not like he's some, you know, rookie contract, like scrub guy. The guy's signed a $250 million. Daniel Jones was also $100 million. Yeah. This reminds me, now that we're on the topic is when I retired, when I was at USC, I got my number retired. Pretty much if you win the high

Heisman trophy, there's only, I think there's seven, eight of us now or seven of, however many, all of our numbers are retired. So you win the Heisman trophy, automatic retired number, which is pretty cool. So our jerseys are like hanging in, in the Coliseum on one side, like all of them. So from OJ to Caleb to Carson, Reggie's jerseys back in there in the Coliseum. That's dope. And it made me think of this. There's been multiple times where people at USC have asked me if I would unretire my jersey for some five-star prospect. And do you want to know what I told those guys straight up? I said, absolutely fucking not.

I am never going to unretire my jersey for some random dude who, by the way, now could wear number 11 and transfer after a year. The only person that will ever wear my USC number 11 would be Cole, who's not there right now, is at S&U, or two of my boys if they end up going to USC. in playing football. That is it. And then Cole hit me up a couple of years ago. He's like, Dad, hey, Dad, uh, it's linebacker. I think he's going to see.

He wants to wear your jersey. Would you let him wear it? I said, fuck, Brianbacker? Oh, you are you? This ain't Lovar Aarrington and Penn State wearing the sticks, bro. This is, this is ace at USC. So, so funny, though.

Absolutely not. Would never do it. Well, would you need a few days, though, to think it over? Because, you know, these kids make a lot of money now, bro. Which, by the way, real quick. So Carson wore number three. He let Jordan Addison, the receiver, wear number three. And that, I don't know exactly what happened,

but I think that was a little bit of a shit show. So he let Jordan Addison, who was the big recruit we got from Pittsburgh. He was like one of the first big kind of guys we took in the portal and all that kind of stuff. Obviously, he was a good player. But he wore number three at USC. And Carson was that. So apparently they had a phone call, all this stuff. Is that like a way to sweeten the pot?

Like, all right, here's a good. Pretty much. Yeah. Pretty much. And then we'll throw in, shit, we've better to get Carson on the phone. We'll throw in number three.

You could call me selfish, whatever, but I'm just, I'm not doing that. How many days would you need just to think it over? It's already done, dude. No, no.

What I'm saying is if one of these crazy five stars who's maybe walking into USC and he's getting, I don't know, two, three million bucks a year. And he's like,

Matt, that means so much to me, I got a check with a million dollars on your name on it. I'm not saying your answer changes. All I'm saying is how many days do you need to think about it? Your answer can still be no. You're going to take a million.

A million from an 18-year-old kid? No. It's not for sale. All right. It's not for sale. And that kid probably a chance at him stand at USC after two years is slim anyway. So it ain't happening, bro. I'm keeping that up there forever.

And you call me selfish. I'll give a shit. No, I love it. And I'm not going to lie. I would sell that shit so quick, bro. I'm a sell out. I'm a dirty, dirty. Hey, look, you want how much, how much you want for these fuky jamas?

By the way, how much are those? How much are those? How much are those? I have been offered, the most I've ever been offered for those in cash, which I said no to was $60,000 or $70,000. I do know, I have told the story before, you know, me and the other guys each got a pair. So I think there's been five ever made.

Let's just say some of them have been sold over the years. Never mind. These are the ones from the show. And they popped up at like a Sotheby's auction. Now I could tell whose shoes they are because there's codes written in these shoes. It's got to be Kevin Dillon, right? I'm not saying that. But it went for, I think, 90 grand at Sotheby's like three or four years ago.

I mean, dude, sell the shoes, bro. What do you do? They're just sitting there. You're right? I mean, there is a thought. Does Bree know that? Does Bree know that? No, she does not know.

It's the same with the collectible cards that I have. But my, I mean, my most expensive card is probably $3,000 or $4,000, maybe a little bit more. But like $90,000, dude? Well, I always say you got three kids that put through college, bro. If you ever see something on Instagram from like Complex Magazine, like Jerry Furoa sells Fuki Jamas, that means some bad shit happened. Yeah, I was about to say. That means, uh, I don't know.

I have a tax liability or something I didn't know about or had more kids. All right. Let's wrap up here. Shoutouts to Malik Willis. I'm definitely going to be watching the Dolphins closely this year. I hope. Good for him, bro. Yeah, I hope it all holds up because he, you know,

you don't really see stories about backups in limited time going and getting a bag like that. You know who got a bag? You know who got a bag like that? Our boy Matt Flynn back in the day. Remember that shit? one six touchdown performance and he made a bag in preseason and then he had that one game and then i think seattle paid him all that money and that's when he dropped to russell wilson took his job rookie russell wilson hey i ain't mad at him i ain't mad at him well uh it's it's been the

first time after free agency i was like wait does madden update the rosters in real time because i would like to go play some of these teams now i definitely would like to go play that's a The two Falcons, because that is going to be in a dome, too. Lefty quarterbacks in Atlanta, I mean, we just had Michael Vick on last week. So I'm not saying he's going to be Vick, but he could put up some big-ass numbers. We'll see, dude. We'll see. All right.

We're back next week, and if all stays according to plan, we have a nice throwback Hall of Fame. We'll just say a Throwback Hall of Fame running back. He will need not much of an introduction. I'm not going to say who it is in case he can't. I will say my goat of all-time running backs. Oh, everyone's, people might think it's Reggie Bush now. Who knows? They might think it's, they might think it's one of the eight people.

It's true, true. All right, see you guys.