Speaker 1: As you were listening to V Sports Leader in middays,
Speaker 1: here is Larry Krueger.
Speaker 2: Welcome back, Larry Krueger with you on this Thursday, I'm
Speaker 2: the Sports Leader and joining us on the u mcgest line,
Speaker 2: Tom Rathman, Roger Craig is part of the twenty twenty.
Speaker 3: Six Hall of Fame class.
Speaker 2: He had to wait way too long, but he's going
Speaker 2: in Saturday, and I am so thrilled. And we've got
Speaker 2: Tom Rathman with us on the line to talk a
Speaker 2: little bit about it. Tom, how are you.
Speaker 4: I'm doing great.
Speaker 5: How are you doing, Larry.
Speaker 2: Oh Man, Tom, I'm doing so great. I was so
Speaker 2: excited to hear this. The Niners, for whatever reason, are underrepresented.
Speaker 2: The Niner dynasty of the eighties and nineties doesn't have
Speaker 2: the Hall of Fame representation that the Steelers of the
Speaker 2: seventies have that the Packers of the sixties have. And
Speaker 2: I think it's maybe due to the fact that Walsh
Speaker 2: died way too young. I think he would have been
Speaker 2: an advocate for a number of guys, and one of
Speaker 2: them is Roger Craig. But he's going in this weekend.
Speaker 2: And you guys made an incredible backfield together. How do
Speaker 2: you feel about it.
Speaker 5: I'm really excited for Roger. I mean it's something that
Speaker 5: he's really been looking forward to and has earned, you know,
Speaker 5: throughout his years of playing football, not only on the field,
Speaker 5: but off the field. You know, I've worked out with
Speaker 5: this guy going back to Nebraska. We were together at
Speaker 5: the University of Nebraska back in Lincoln, and a very selfless,
Speaker 5: selfless player is what he is. When I was in
Speaker 5: there on my freshman year, his junior year, he was
Speaker 5: a starting eyeback and the iback gets all the fame,
Speaker 5: gets all the carries. And we had a guy his
Speaker 5: senior year, Rogers senior year, a guy from Cotiville, Kansas,
Speaker 5: a guy named Mike Roseier came in and we had
Speaker 5: two great ibacks, and they asked Roger to go and
Speaker 5: play fullback, and he played fullback his senior year as
Speaker 5: Mike Rosier played the half back position. So that's how
Speaker 5: selfless he is as far as a player. But no
Speaker 5: question about it. It well overdue either, no question. And
Speaker 5: you know I've kind of questioned the process of picking
Speaker 5: players to go in, even coaches. I mean, you talk
Speaker 5: about Belichick last year didn't get in. I mean he
Speaker 5: was a first ballot guy, but I mean just the process.
Speaker 5: I mean, it just has to be questioned. And that's
Speaker 5: something that really concerns me.
Speaker 2: You know, Rogers, you know, so you know, the humility
Speaker 2: of the man. I almost feel like his humility worked
Speaker 2: against him here. He was such a humble, easygoing guy.
Speaker 2: You know, you guys, there's only one football to go around,
Speaker 2: and when you play with the greatest statistical entity of
Speaker 2: all time and Jerry Rice, your numbers are going to
Speaker 2: be suppressed. And his numbers were suppressed from working with
Speaker 2: you know, you know, playing with Jerry. Nothing against Jerry,
Speaker 2: but it just Roger's humble nature. I think, you know,
Speaker 2: it's maybe one of the reasons he had to wait
Speaker 2: so long.
Speaker 5: I mean, at the same time, when you look at that,
Speaker 5: when you talk about throwing the football as opposed to
Speaker 5: running the football, Roger was very involved in the passing
Speaker 5: game too. He was the first one hundred yes or
Speaker 5: one thousand thousand guy, So you have to get him
Speaker 5: credit there. And you know, there's other players that have
Speaker 5: accomplished that just recently, but he was one of the
Speaker 5: first guys to do it. And to be able to
Speaker 5: do that and make that statement as a player, stating
Speaker 5: that he's a well rounded football player, had no weaknesses,
Speaker 5: could catch the ball, could run the ball, could block
Speaker 5: anything needed from a player, he was capable of doing it.
Speaker 5: And not only that just doing on the field. He
Speaker 5: had great leadership. You know, I kind of followed in
Speaker 5: his footsteps, you know, from day one, you know, going
Speaker 5: back to Nebraska when we were together we met each other,
Speaker 5: he let me hang out with him, him and Jamie Williams.
Speaker 5: They were seniors and they were letting the freshman hang
Speaker 5: out with him. So I was really really grateful for that.
Speaker 5: And then when I got to the forty nine ers,
Speaker 5: he kind of took me under my wing, under his
Speaker 5: wing and taught me the trade of being a pro
Speaker 5: football player.
Speaker 3: Tom, you're a friend of his.
Speaker 2: You know, some guys Drew Pearson openly complained about not
Speaker 2: getting in. How do you think Roger feels about the
Speaker 2: weight and how do you think he ultimately feels about
Speaker 2: getting his day tomorrow or Saturday.
Speaker 5: I should say, well, I think the weights off his
Speaker 5: shoulders because he did get in this year. I mean,
Speaker 5: I think just every year that goes by that you
Speaker 5: don't get in when you have the numbers when you
Speaker 5: have the value of a player that should be in there.
Speaker 5: I mean, that's got a way puns on your shoulders
Speaker 5: not being able to get in. But you know, finally
Speaker 5: they made it happen, and I know Rogers is going
Speaker 5: to be really grateful for it.
Speaker 2: We're talking to Tom Rathman on the Yuma guest Line.
Speaker 2: I got to mention this because I think, Tom, you
Speaker 2: are involved in maybe the best, the greatest play, and
Speaker 2: maybe the Niners' greatest win of all time.
Speaker 3: I view the Niners' greatest win of all time.
Speaker 2: I know they's Super Bowls, but that win in the
Speaker 2: NFC Championship game in nineteen eighty eight, and if people
Speaker 2: forget how the Niners put that bad boy away. It
Speaker 2: was third and thirteen and Walsh ran you off tackle
Speaker 2: and you got fourteen in ice the game, Scott, I mean,
Speaker 2: where does that play stand in your football career? I
Speaker 2: mean that was the run.
Speaker 5: Yeah, that game, you know is up there very high
Speaker 5: with the Super Bowls obviously, but you know, we were
Speaker 5: going into a hostile environment where it was very cold.
Speaker 5: Wind chill was like twenty six twenty seven below zero
Speaker 5: wind chill, and people thought that the California team was
Speaker 5: going to have a tough time, you know, adjusting to
Speaker 5: the cold weather. But you know, Roger and I played
Speaker 5: in at Nebraska together and we were in cold weather
Speaker 5: all the time, so it really didn't bother us. And
Speaker 5: you know, we just made sure that all our teammates
Speaker 5: understood what we were up against. You know, the cold
Speaker 5: weather is nothing, you know what I'm saying. Worry about
Speaker 5: your job and do it at a high level. And
Speaker 5: I think that's what everybody did. And that's the one
Speaker 5: reason we beat him. I think we beat him. Twenty
Speaker 5: eight to three is a game, and so but what
Speaker 5: a great game that was. That was it opportunity to
Speaker 5: get to the Super Bowl, my first super Bowl. Obviously
Speaker 5: Roger had been to two other ones and was successful
Speaker 5: in him. But it was great being a teammate of Rogers.
Speaker 5: Just being able to go and play in two Super
Speaker 5: Bowls together and win both of them. It really was
Speaker 5: meaningful to me.
Speaker 2: Wood he would you ever have believed when you first
Speaker 2: met Craig at Nebraska that he was going to have
Speaker 2: this kind of a Hall of Fame NFL career. I mean,
Speaker 2: he really worked his way to his This is a
Speaker 2: workmanlike Hall of Fame resume that did he put together.
Speaker 5: You don't know how hard Roger Craig worked. His whole
Speaker 5: process was just amazing. The guy knew how to take
Speaker 5: care of himself. I mean he would get massages twice
Speaker 5: a week, he would get chiropractic care two times a week,
Speaker 5: took care of his body, did the weight training, did
Speaker 5: the offseason work, had no shortcuts, and he should have
Speaker 5: been in way before twenty twenty six. So that's the
Speaker 5: thing that's so disappointing to me when you know you
Speaker 5: got a player that put in what he put in
Speaker 5: the way he handled himself as a professional athlete. The
Speaker 5: trail that he blazed was amazing, and I'm just glad
Speaker 5: that I was able to follow in his footsteps.
Speaker 3: Man, we're all so proud of this moment. Tom.
Speaker 2: Thanks for jumping on KMBR today and talking about your
Speaker 2: former teammate. We really appreciate your time and hopefully we'll
Speaker 2: catch up with you down the road. We wish you
Speaker 2: nothing but success in post career, and thanks again for
Speaker 2: jumping on the leader.
Speaker 5: All right, Larry, thanks a lot.
Speaker 2: Tom Rathman, one of the most workmen like players in
Speaker 2: Niner history, tough as nails, and him and Craig were
Speaker 2: a great tandem. All right, We're not done talking Roger Craig.
Speaker 2: We're just getting started. Randy Cross probably belongs in the
Speaker 2: Hall of Fame himself. Randy Cross blocked for Roger Craig.
Speaker 2: He's going to join us next on The Sports Leader
Speaker 2: a NBR one four.
Speaker 1: Five six eighty The Sports Leader. Now back to The
Speaker 1: Sports Leader Middays with your host Larry Krueger.
Speaker 2: Hey, we keep things rolling on this Thursday. Larry Kruger
Speaker 2: with you on The Sports Leader. And it was great
Speaker 2: to talk a little Roger Craig with Tom Rathman. Roger
Speaker 2: Craig going to the Hall of Fame Hall of Fame Class.
Speaker 3: Of twenty twenty six, and.
Speaker 2: Man, I cannot be There's almost nobody I'd be happier
Speaker 2: for than Roger. Just a first class guy all the
Speaker 2: way through, and really really happy that he's going to
Speaker 2: the Hall of Fame.
Speaker 3: It's long over due.
Speaker 2: And I've said this for a long time that the
Speaker 2: forty nine Ers dynasty is underrepresented. Just go look at
Speaker 2: the numbers. It's all right there for everybody to see.
Speaker 2: The forty nine Ers have you know, the number of
Speaker 2: guys that they have in the Hall of Fame is
Speaker 2: pales compared to the other teams out there. And I'm
Speaker 2: not sure exactly why the forty nine Ers are underrepresented
Speaker 2: in the Hall of Fame, but they are. I mean,
Speaker 2: if you look at the they were the dominant dynasty
Speaker 2: of the nineteen eighties. Their dynasty ran into the nineteen nineties,
Speaker 2: and you think of all that dominance, and who's in
Speaker 2: from the eighties nine Ers, Joe, Jerry, Steve Young, Ronnie Lott,
Speaker 2: that's it. And now Roger Craig, go look at how
Speaker 2: many Green Bay Packers are in from the sixties packers.
Speaker 2: Go look at how many these Pittsburgh Steelers are in
Speaker 2: from the seventies Steelers. The Niners dynasty lasted longer than
Speaker 2: the Packer dynasty. Landa definitely lasted longer than the Steeler
Speaker 2: dynasty as far as the super Bowler is concerned. And
Speaker 2: I just feel like the Forden Enters, for whatever reason,
Speaker 2: are underrepresented. It underrepresented in the Hall of Fame. And
Speaker 2: Roger Craig, I really believe if Walsh had not died,
Speaker 2: you know, kind of early in life, he had so
Speaker 2: much his opinion carried such weight that Roger would have
Speaker 2: been in the Hall of Fame. I mean, he's the
Speaker 2: first guy of the first member of the thousand thousand,
Speaker 2: thousand yards rushing, thousand yards.
Speaker 3: Receiving in a season. It's been done like three times since.
Speaker 2: The league's like a total passing league, and yet nobody's
Speaker 2: got thousand thousand except for CMC Marshall, Falk, Roger Craig.
Speaker 3: I think that's it, right, or is there one more?
Speaker 2: Might be one more, but I mean, nobody ever made
Speaker 2: the Pro Bowl as both a fallback and a halfback.
Speaker 3: Roger did. It was just a long overdue.
Speaker 2: I mean, if you look at the team of the eighties,
Speaker 2: team of the nineties, team of the two thousands, all
Speaker 2: the running backs on those all decade teams are in
Speaker 2: the Hall of Fame except Roger Craig, I mean, which
Speaker 2: is amazing.
Speaker 3: I mean, he truly changed football.
Speaker 2: He revolutionized the position of running back, and not to
Speaker 2: mention he was an incredible ambassador for the sport. My
Speaker 2: argument has always been that I think the argument is
Speaker 2: really the opposite.
Speaker 3: The argument people make.
Speaker 2: Is like, oh, well, you know he benefited he played
Speaker 2: with Jerry No no, no, no, no, no, he didn't benefit he
Speaker 2: actually that actually cost him stats. Jerry Rice is the
Speaker 2: greatest statistical entity the NFL's ever seen. I mean, he's
Speaker 2: got some records that to this day are unapproached.
Speaker 3: And yet it's a.
Speaker 2: Passing league more now than ever before. And yet Jerry's
Speaker 2: numbers still stand. Why because Cherry Jerry's numbers are are astronomical.
Speaker 2: I mean, Jerry was motivated partially by insecurity, for fear
Speaker 2: of failure and everything. He needed the ball, and Walsh
Speaker 2: got it, See forgot it. All the Niner people got it,
Speaker 2: and they fed him the ball, where Roger, I think,
Speaker 2: was a little bit more like, hey, you know what,
Speaker 2: I just want to win, you know, not that he
Speaker 2: didn't want the ball. He wanted the ball, but it's
Speaker 2: only one ball. Like you go into an NFL locker room.
Speaker 2: How many times do you go into an NFL locker
Speaker 2: room after a win and there's a two hundred yard
Speaker 2: receiver and one hundred and fifty yard rusher on the
Speaker 2: same in the same game.
Speaker 3: It doesn't usually doesn't happen.
Speaker 2: If somebody goes for two hundred yards receiving, the leading
Speaker 2: rusher might go for seventy four yards. It was a
Speaker 2: passing game. If somebody runs for two hundred and ten
Speaker 2: yards like Rico Doubtell did last year, there's probably not
Speaker 2: a receiver that has big, gaudy numbers sitting right there
Speaker 2: in the same game.
Speaker 3: There's only one football.
Speaker 2: So the argument that Jerry he made Roger is absolutely
Speaker 2: can turn that on its ear.
Speaker 3: Jerry cost Roger.
Speaker 2: Jerry's awesomeness cost Waters, he costs Brent Jones, he cost
Speaker 2: John Taylor.
Speaker 3: I mean, there's.
Speaker 2: Nothing nefarious going on here, but I'm just saying Jerry's
Speaker 2: numbers suppressed. The Hall of Fame resumes of like three
Speaker 2: other niners, and those.
Speaker 3: Guys should go in.
Speaker 2: You know, we're attempting to chase down Randy Cross.
Speaker 3: Randy Cross is in root though to Canton, Ohio.
Speaker 2: Randy lives in I believe, Alfaretta, Georgia, but he's flying
Speaker 2: today to Canton to go be there for Roger Craig
Speaker 2: in the Hall of Fame induction ceremonies over the weekend.
Speaker 2: So way to go, Randy. And if we can catch
Speaker 2: up with Randy, awesome. If we can't, I totally get it.
Speaker 2: Randy's been on a bunch of times in the past,
Speaker 2: but we love Randy. Randy probably has an argument of
Speaker 2: his own for the Hall of Fame.
Speaker 3: I mean, you know, Mike Webster's in there.
Speaker 2: Randy Cross a three time Pro bowler, He's a three
Speaker 2: time Super Bowl champion. You know, this guy was an
Speaker 2: amazing football player. He's in the College Football Hall of Fame.
Speaker 2: You could make an argument that Randy Cross belongs in the.
Speaker 3: Hall of Fame.
Speaker 2: Not to mention, there's lots of niners sense, like, you
Speaker 2: know Frank Gore, Heck, the Cowboy was great to see
Speaker 2: Willis get in. I'll give you another one that I
Speaker 2: really believe is a Hall of Fame player.
Speaker 3: I believe Michael Carter was a Hall of Fame player.
Speaker 2: Olympic silver medallists in the eighty four Games, and then
Speaker 2: maybe the greatest noseguard of his era. I mean, who's
Speaker 2: a better noseguard than Michael Carter. I have a relationship
Speaker 2: a friendship with Tim Krumrae, who was played against Carter
Speaker 2: in Super Bowl twenty three. He also was an awesome
Speaker 2: nose guard. And when I talked to Krumrie, Crumblise like,
Speaker 2: Michael Carter is the greatest.
Speaker 3: Nose guard ever.
Speaker 2: And this is a guy who played the position and
Speaker 2: knew it well, so you know, for whatever reason, you know,
Speaker 2: took Craig forever and he had to wait way longer
Speaker 2: than he should have. Eventually, Gore is going to get
Speaker 2: in because he's the third leading rusher of all time.
Speaker 2: But from the eighties Niners to be as underrepresented as
Speaker 2: as they are as a franchise, it's just it's just wrong.
Speaker 2: I mean, there should be more than just you know,
Speaker 2: the guys they have in there, and Roger getting in
Speaker 2: is long, long overdue, long overdue. So I'm really thrilled
Speaker 2: for Roger. We're gonna talk more about it with South
Speaker 2: pal Antonio, who's going to join us at one o'clock.
Speaker 2: But man, Roger Craig, I'm so happy for Roger Craig.
Speaker 2: I was doing a Niner pregame show a number of
Speaker 2: years ago now with John Lund and Dennis Brown, and
Speaker 2: I said to them, I said, hey, guys, do you
Speaker 2: mind if I do kind of like a segment where
Speaker 2: I just do like an ode to Roger and just
Speaker 2: make the case for Roger to be a Hall of Famer.
Speaker 2: And of course Dennis, you know, Dennis like absolutely, and
Speaker 2: John Lensy absolutely. I want to hear it, So, I mean,
Speaker 2: I put together every possible argument point. You know, he's
Speaker 2: first AE thousand thousand. You know, he was the on
Speaker 2: the All Decade team. He's the only guy in the
Speaker 2: history of the NFL who played in the Pro Bowl
Speaker 2: as a running back and as a fallback. You could
Speaker 2: argue that the eighty four Niners might have been the
Speaker 2: greatest Niner team of all time. Who was the best
Speaker 2: player in the Super Bowl in the eighty four you know,
Speaker 2: for the eighty four nine Ers in January of eighty five, Well,
Speaker 2: Joe got the MVP, but it was Roger Craig. Roger
Speaker 2: Craig had three touchdowns in that game. Roger Craig, I
Speaker 2: think hat over one hundred receiving yards in that game.
Speaker 2: Roger Craig was the MVP of Super Bowl nineteen.
Speaker 3: But the game.
Speaker 2: And that's all right, you know, nobody's nobody's disappointed that,
Speaker 2: you know, Joe is the MVP, but man, that was
Speaker 2: You could argue that Roger Craig was the best player
Speaker 2: in the best game for the best Niner team, and
Speaker 2: he gets left off the Hall of Fame. Really, I mean,
Speaker 2: you think about the guys that Andre Reid was in
Speaker 2: the Hall of Fame before Roger Craig. Make that make sense.
Speaker 2: Andre Reid lost every Super Bowl he ever played in.
Speaker 2: Andre Reid didn't didn't set thousand, thousand levels that nobody
Speaker 2: else reached. Andre Reid is in the Hall of Fame
Speaker 2: before Roger Craig. So there's it's been, you know, I'm
Speaker 2: not sure why. I'm not sure if it's just because
Speaker 2: we're out here on the West coast, if the people
Speaker 2: back east, you know, thet a lot of the voters
Speaker 2: maybe didn't see that.
Speaker 3: I don't know.
Speaker 2: I couldn't tell you why the Niners are underrepresented, but
Speaker 2: they are. There's no doubt they are. Randy Cross probably
Speaker 2: belongs in. Roger Craig definitely belongs in. He's going in.
Speaker 2: But there's probably a few others in there that you
Speaker 2: could make really good arguments for as well. Some really
Speaker 2: great football players are being left off. And I just
Speaker 2: look at that Green Bay list, and I'm looking at
Speaker 2: that Pittsburgh list, and yeah, Pittsburgh got some amazing players.
Speaker 3: Don't get me wrong, and I'm not trying.
Speaker 2: To put their players down, but when you really think
Speaker 2: about the forty nine Ers won ten games almost every
Speaker 2: single year, between nineteen eighty one and like nineteen ninety nine.
Speaker 2: I mean, think about that, it's almost a twenty year
Speaker 2: run of winning ten plus games. Now, granted they were
Speaker 2: in a lousy division, but that aside. I mean, the
Speaker 2: forty nine Ers dynasty went on and on and on.
Speaker 3: When Joe was.
Speaker 2: Drafted in seventy nine, Steve, you know, was awesome in
Speaker 2: ninety five. I mean, that's a long time. They were
Speaker 2: basically on top that entire time. So I'm so happy
Speaker 2: for Roger Craig. So I did this whole breakdown of
Speaker 2: Roger Craig should be in the Hall of Fame, and
Speaker 2: I laid out every argument, and a guy, you know
Speaker 2: from fort Ninder Webzone, Mark Adams, heard it and said,
Speaker 2: I'm gonna take the ball and run with this.
Speaker 3: And Mark really did. He's going to join us tomorrow
Speaker 3: on the show.
Speaker 2: He put together just an incredible, you know video where
Speaker 2: he interviewed Eddie d and Young and Joe and Ronnie
Speaker 2: and all of Roger's teammates and some of the guys
Speaker 2: who played against Roger, and he put together this incredible
Speaker 2: argument video argument for Roger Craig to the Hall of Fame.
Speaker 3: And then South pal Antonio, Mike Matt Mayoko and.
Speaker 2: Others kind of ran with it and pushed Roger across
Speaker 2: the finish line. And I'm just so so happy for Roger.
Speaker 2: Craig so thrilled that he's he's getting in because it
Speaker 2: is long overdue. He was one of the greatest running backs.
Speaker 2: He's a pioneer. He's a pioneer. He's one of the
Speaker 2: greatest niners of all time. Not to mention, you know,
Speaker 2: his training regimen was legend. I mean truly stuff of legend.
Speaker 2: It's funny too because Jerry Rice when they talked to Jerry,
Speaker 2: they always say, oh, and.
Speaker 3: Jerry ran the hills.
Speaker 2: That was Rogers run that Rogers said, hey, Jerry, come
Speaker 2: on out, I bet you can't run this hill. And
Speaker 2: then Jerry's like, yeah, I'm gonna run out. I'm gonna
Speaker 2: go out there and do it. And he did it,
Speaker 2: and then Jerry kept doing it. But Jerry's greatness took
Speaker 2: Rogers Hill away from Roger.
Speaker 3: It's unbelievable.
Speaker 2: And then a lot of people, you know, the for years,
Speaker 2: I kept hearing this, Well, you know, Krug he fumbled
Speaker 2: in the ninety NFC Championship game.
Speaker 3: Are you kidding me? Are you kidding me?
Speaker 2: We're gonna take a three time Super Bowl champion, a
Speaker 2: guy was the NFL Offensive Player of the Year, the
Speaker 2: guy who was a first team All Pro and we're
Speaker 2: gonna say he fumbled in the ninety NFC Title Game
Speaker 2: and he can't go to the Hall. That is crazy, crazy,
Speaker 2: Kyle Chung, did you say something in my ear? All right,
Speaker 2: let's do this. We do what We've hooked up with
Speaker 2: Randy Cross. So we'll do this. We'll come back. We'll
Speaker 2: talk a little ball with Randy Cross. Next on Roger
Speaker 2: Craig on The Sports Leader.
Speaker 1: I remember watching you.
Speaker 2: Welcome back, Larry Kruger with you on the Sports Leader
Speaker 2: on a Thursday and joining us on the Yuma guest
Speaker 2: line to talk a little bit about Roger Craig going
Speaker 2: to the Hall of Fame as a guy who probably
Speaker 2: also belongs in the Hall of Fame, and that's Randy Cross,
Speaker 2: former Niner offensive lineman, three time Pro Bowl or, three
Speaker 2: time champion, former U C. L. A. Brewin, and a
Speaker 2: fantastatic announcer post career, and he's with us on the
Speaker 2: Uma guest line. Randy, great to talk to you again.
Speaker 4: How are you I'm doing great. Thank you very much.
Speaker 2: Well, what does this mean for you? I know, it's
Speaker 2: a great day, Freddie d. It's a great day for
Speaker 2: Niner fans. We all have tremendous pride that forty nine
Speaker 2: ers going into the Hall of Fame. It's it's too late,
Speaker 2: it's it's probably years too late for whatever reason. But
Speaker 2: I'm thrilled that he's going in, and I'm sure you
Speaker 2: are as well. As a once great Niner. You're on
Speaker 2: your way to Canton. Man, that's awesome that you're going
Speaker 2: to go support Roger.
Speaker 4: Yeah. Absolutely, I mean, realistically, it's having him go in
Speaker 4: as close as I'm going to get to being in
Speaker 4: the Hall of Fame. He's, you know, one of the
Speaker 4: one of the signature style players besides Joe and Jerry
Speaker 4: and some of the rest that were on those great offenses.
Speaker 4: And you know, being alignman, you sort of live by
Speaker 4: care anyway, You're not you're not into the stats and
Speaker 4: the glory and all that. Offensive linemen are a little
Speaker 4: bit different. But Roger, besides being an amazing player with
Speaker 4: an unbelievable work ethic, I can I can say he
Speaker 4: is the nicest human being. I had the honor of
Speaker 4: playing with.
Speaker 2: Wow, that and that's saying something. You're right though, he's
Speaker 2: assault of the earth, human being. And Randy, I'm so
Speaker 2: glad that we have you here because you predated Walsh
Speaker 2: and Joe and we're part of the forty nine ers
Speaker 2: in the late seventies when it was a when you know,
Speaker 2: tickets were plentiful, and you know, there were an awful
Speaker 2: lot of coaches in that run.
Speaker 3: And I remember watching you, you know, you on the field.
Speaker 2: After I guess maybe it was your third and final
Speaker 2: Super Bowl, and even after eighty one, you know in Pontiac,
Speaker 2: it's like you have true appreciation for where the franchise
Speaker 2: had been and where it was. How much pride do
Speaker 2: you take in being part of you know, seeing that
Speaker 2: thing go from the outhouse to the penthouse.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean, besides you know, marrying my wife and
Speaker 4: my kids. It was sort of the the honor of
Speaker 4: my life is getting to be a Niner and getting
Speaker 4: to accomplish some of the things that we did, especially
Speaker 4: in light of how bad we were, you know, back
Speaker 4: to back two and fourteen seasons and everything. You know,
Speaker 4: the empty stadium, you know, everyone always glorified Candlestick and
Speaker 4: it was an amazing place to play when people were there,
Speaker 4: But boy, it was a lonely sucker when it was
Speaker 4: just when it when it was just the faithful that
Speaker 4: I say all the time. You know, we played some
Speaker 4: games in December in those terrible years where there was
Speaker 4: like twenty five thousand people than Candlestick. You know, it
Speaker 4: was basically the Lower Bowl. Those were the faithful that
Speaker 4: showed up in the rain in December to see the
Speaker 4: Niners play. But yeah, to get that good and be
Speaker 4: able to do what we did, it was it was
Speaker 4: just an incredible honor and it gave you such a
Speaker 4: great perspective once the winning started, you know there and
Speaker 4: I bore no grudge to anybody that got there late
Speaker 4: and did nothing but win. But sure it sure did
Speaker 4: go a long way towards making you truly treasure the
Speaker 4: chance to win, get double digits in a season, and
Speaker 4: to go to the playoffs and the win playoff games
Speaker 4: and the win Super Bowls. It was just a little
Speaker 4: a little more special. And you know, I'll be seeing
Speaker 4: mister d later on. He's on his way to Campton,
Speaker 4: and you know that's another guy that I owe the
Speaker 4: world to, you.
Speaker 2: Know, Randy Cross with us on the Yuma guest Line.
Speaker 2: I was talking to a baseball executive about a month
Speaker 2: ago about some great players that he had drafted, and
Speaker 2: he said, you know, the key to great teams is
Speaker 2: not just great players, it's great people. And you know,
Speaker 2: it's really hard sometimes to to find great people. But
Speaker 2: I think that's kind of where Roger comes into the
Speaker 2: focus here. I mean, he was not He's not just
Speaker 2: a great football player, he's a great person.
Speaker 3: And you kind of already hit on it. Where do
Speaker 3: you think character?
Speaker 2: You know, ranks among you know, when you're talking about
Speaker 2: great attributes of Hall of Fame players, they're not all
Speaker 2: choir boys. There's some rough guys that are in the
Speaker 2: Hall of Fame. Heck, there's some rough X niners that
Speaker 2: are in the Hall of Fame. But but character is
Speaker 2: a huge part and accountability is a huge part about
Speaker 2: being a great football player, isn't it.
Speaker 4: Yeah? Yeah, I mean it's it's you're you're you're born
Speaker 4: with the athletic ability, but you know, you're parents give
Speaker 4: you that ability to take advantage of it and the
Speaker 4: way you're raised, and it's not always parents. Sometimes it's
Speaker 4: an an and sometimes it's a grandparent. But you know,
Speaker 4: having that that basis, that stable foundation, I think is invaluable.
Speaker 4: And that's something that Roger had. Roger, Roger had a
Speaker 4: unbelievable work ethic, and you know, he had that ability
Speaker 4: to appreciate every single little thing that he was able
Speaker 4: to do. And you know, you can't say that about
Speaker 4: a lot of players. I think, I think personalities and
Speaker 4: that that type of indescribables, you know, the parts you
Speaker 4: can't quantify, are probably the most important part of evaluation.
Speaker 4: You can anybody can read Staff. Anybody can watch the
Speaker 4: tape and say, look at that guy run or look
Speaker 4: at that guy block. But you know, the character is
Speaker 4: going to make you laugh. Character, the character will get
Speaker 4: you a double digit career.
Speaker 3: That's It's a great point.
Speaker 2: You played guard and center and and we're great at both. Really, Roger,
Speaker 2: I don't know if young Niner fans understand this, but
Speaker 2: Roger played full back when the Niners had Wendell Tyler
Speaker 2: at running back, and then Roger played running back when
Speaker 2: Tom Rathman, who was our guest earlier in the show,
Speaker 2: played full back. He was a Pro Bowl halfback and
Speaker 2: a Pro Bowl full back. I mean that's hard to do.
Speaker 2: I mean, maybe you could speak to to to that
Speaker 2: because I mean it's not like Randy. We we've been
Speaker 2: watching football for decades. We've still to this day. I
Speaker 2: mean maybe the guy who's a Pro bowler at full
Speaker 2: back in half back, it hasn't happened.
Speaker 4: Yeah, no, you just don't say it. And he did
Speaker 4: both at Nebraska. He was the blocking back for Mike
Speaker 4: Rozier when Rosier won the Heisman Trophy. I mean he
Speaker 4: and that was part of the evaluation process that you know,
Speaker 4: and give preditor to John McVay and Bill and everybody
Speaker 4: else associated. Billy Matthews, who was the running back coach,
Speaker 4: saw that guy and saw the fact that he can
Speaker 4: run like that and he could catch like that, and
Speaker 4: that versatility was what made him so special. I mean,
Speaker 4: we didn't have, you know, a fullback and a half
Speaker 4: back when we had Wendell and him, or when we
Speaker 4: had he and Tom, we had two running backs because
Speaker 4: they both caught like crazy. That's what you remember about Rathman.
Speaker 4: He was a halacious blocker, but he was also a
Speaker 4: really good receiver for a fullback. And Roger his ability
Speaker 4: to catch some of those one handed snags that he made.
Speaker 4: You know, that's that's just something that the people that
Speaker 4: go into that evaluation process, they come out if you
Speaker 4: get a guy like a in baseball, I guess you
Speaker 4: would you call it a five tool player. That's that's Roger.
Speaker 2: He his thousand thousand let's talk about that. I think
Speaker 2: it was eighty seven. Is that's unright? Eighty seven thousand thousand.
Speaker 3: Or eighty five?
Speaker 2: He was just yeah, you're right, because eighty five, because
Speaker 2: you guys, I remember at in the playoffs, I felt
Speaker 2: like he didn't have a lot left. What did you
Speaker 2: did you have any takeaways from that thousand thousand season?
Speaker 2: I mean, Randy, your guys, offense, you could flip it
Speaker 2: to Roger in the flat. He would turn that into
Speaker 2: an eighteen to twenty five yard game on the regular.
Speaker 2: I mean, it was an it was it seemed like
Speaker 2: an easy play for Joe to complete, or an easy
Speaker 2: pass for him to complete, but it was always very,
Speaker 2: very profitable for the offense. What was your takeaway from
Speaker 2: watching that?
Speaker 4: Well, you know, that offense spoke to two things in
Speaker 4: my mind, and first and foremost, it was the genius
Speaker 4: of Bill And you know, he's the one that put
Speaker 4: people in those positions, and he was fortunate enough to
Speaker 4: have a facilitator like Joe that could get that ball
Speaker 4: to those various spots. And then when you have a
Speaker 4: running back, you know, like like Tom and Wendell and Roger,
Speaker 4: and then the receivers like Jerry and Dwight and Treddie
Speaker 4: and whatnot, you can be as creative as you want
Speaker 4: because there's no limit to what you can try. I mean,
Speaker 4: whatever your imagination could come up with him. He came
Speaker 4: up with some pretty pretty amazing stuff. Some of it
Speaker 4: was stuck and some of it that didn't. But yeah,
Speaker 4: that's that's what I remember about that time the most.
Speaker 2: What do you remember first about Roger because you were
Speaker 2: there The Niners drafted him in the second round of
Speaker 2: the eighty three draft, and you know, as a rookie,
Speaker 2: he's you know, he's walking into an offense that has
Speaker 2: Bill Walsh, that has Joe Montana. These guys had rings
Speaker 2: at this point. Do you remember your first recollections of Craig.
Speaker 4: What unbelievable condition he was in. You know, every time
Speaker 4: from the first camp I saw him in, he and
Speaker 4: Jerry had one thing in common. Every time they gave
Speaker 4: him the ball they ran to the end zime they did,
Speaker 4: so it almost got to the point where the coaches
Speaker 4: couldn't have an offensive drill on the far half of
Speaker 4: the field because they go eighty yards to touchdown, they
Speaker 4: have to run back. So you had to do your
Speaker 4: drills like a thirty forty yard field if you wanted
Speaker 4: to get more plays in because they were going to
Speaker 4: score with the damn ball. And you know, their offseason
Speaker 4: workedouts and all that were legendary too. So that was
Speaker 4: part of what made him so special. And that was
Speaker 4: from the very jump, the very very beginning, he was
Speaker 4: in such good shape. That's why he could survive. I mean,
Speaker 4: you asked the guys that have done that thousand thousand three, Yeah,
Speaker 4: they'll tell you from a physical standpoint, that could be
Speaker 4: the ultimate challenge is to be able to catch that
Speaker 4: many passes. Why you're running for that many yards.
Speaker 2: Eddie d talks about the Niners as a family, and
Speaker 2: I thought his Hall of Fame speech was maybe the
Speaker 2: best Hall of Fame speech I'd ever heard, because he
Speaker 2: stood up there and he said, you know what we
Speaker 2: need to do better.
Speaker 3: As a league.
Speaker 2: We need to treat these guys, the players as family,
Speaker 2: not when they can do something for us, when they
Speaker 2: can't do something for us. And he created that Golden
Speaker 2: Heart Fund, and I know there's a lot of Niners
Speaker 2: pasted in present that take a lot of pride in
Speaker 2: that Golden Heart Fund, which is basically for people don't know.
Speaker 3: The Niners have established kind of a you know, they.
Speaker 2: Call it a hand up, not a handout, where they're
Speaker 2: going to establish a fund that helps the players that
Speaker 2: played for the Niners post career. And I was talking
Speaker 2: to Keena Turner and Guy McIntyre about it. Last year
Speaker 2: there was a Niner x Niner players house burned down,
Speaker 2: and you know, he's dealing with insurance companies and the
Speaker 2: Golden Heart Fund got him that money that he needed
Speaker 2: to to get through that tragedy.
Speaker 3: And it's all stems from Eddie D.
Speaker 2: And Eddie D talks about that family and it's but
Speaker 2: he actually, you know, put his money where his mouth
Speaker 2: is and.
Speaker 3: He walks the walk, so to speak.
Speaker 2: What do you think about that, Randy, Because this is
Speaker 2: a league that spits you up and chews you up
Speaker 2: and spits you out when you can't help you when
Speaker 2: the you know, when you can't help your team anymore,
Speaker 2: you're of no use to most teams. But the Niners
Speaker 2: have separated themselves with the Golden Heart Fund.
Speaker 4: In my opinion, yeah, I think you're right. It's it's
Speaker 4: incredible and it speaks a to the heart of not
Speaker 4: only Eddie, but you know, even the current the current
Speaker 4: Niner organization that's kept this going. And it also speaks
Speaker 4: to the need, because there's an incredible need. But unfortunately
Speaker 4: it also speaks to the lack of sight on behalf
Speaker 4: of the other team because unfortunately there aren't thirty two
Speaker 4: Golden Herd funds. There should be thirty two because there's
Speaker 4: a huge burning knees for that. But the rest of
Speaker 4: the league looked at it. They can't say they don't
Speaker 4: know that it's good. They just choose not to limit,
Speaker 4: not to emulate.
Speaker 5: It, and to install their own.
Speaker 4: Version in their cities. And you know, it's it's sad.
Speaker 4: I tell you, the owner that along with Eddie that
Speaker 4: was legendary and taking care of his players was across
Speaker 4: the Bay at that time, and Al Davis. Al Davis
Speaker 4: really he was taking care of players back in the seventies,
Speaker 4: in the sixties and the eighties. I mean he was incredible,
Speaker 4: and that's something you know. I'd love to be a
Speaker 4: fly on the wall in some of the conversations he
Speaker 4: had with Eddie, because they had a lot more in
Speaker 4: common than people realize, besides the burning desire to always
Speaker 4: be a winner.
Speaker 2: You know, since we have you here, I almost feel
Speaker 2: abligated to ask you. You played in an era of
Speaker 2: so many great teams, right, I mean, you know, the
Speaker 2: eighty one nine Ers were a great team, you know,
Speaker 2: but the Redskins in the early eighties were damn good.
Speaker 2: And then there was the eighty five Bears, maybe the
Speaker 2: standard bearer for defensive football. Then there was the eighty
Speaker 2: six Giants, Then there was the eighty seven Redskins, and
Speaker 2: then there was the Cowboys of the early nineties. Heck,
Speaker 2: you went up against all these teams. What's the most daunting?
Speaker 2: What was the who was the most intimidating opponent.
Speaker 3: Of your era?
Speaker 2: I mean, which of those teams do you look at
Speaker 2: as like, oh my god, we climbed that mountain, we
Speaker 2: beat that team, we vanquished them.
Speaker 3: There's a lot of.
Speaker 2: Great ones there, Randy. I mean, you could give any answer,
Speaker 2: nobody would question it.
Speaker 4: I think both the Giants and the Bears were opponents
Speaker 4: that God as God as much as they gave, if
Speaker 4: you will, and we got a good bit ourselves. I mean,
Speaker 4: we had some great playoff wins against the Giants, and
Speaker 4: some great playoff wins against the Bears, even in Chicago
Speaker 4: where people said it was bare weather and you couldn't
Speaker 4: win in that situation. But yeah, I mean I would change.
Speaker 4: I challenge people all the time. I said there was
Speaker 4: one period in football the eighty four nine Ers, the
Speaker 4: eighty five Bears, and the eighty six Giants. Those three teams.
Speaker 4: I don't think there has ever been three more dominant
Speaker 4: teams back to back to back in the history of
Speaker 4: this league. I mean, if there is, I'd like to
Speaker 4: hear about it, because I don't think they exist.
Speaker 2: I'm with you. I'm with you on that one. Hey,
Speaker 2: on the way out the door, Randy Roger will be busy.
Speaker 2: There'll be lots of people there to see him. But
Speaker 2: if you get a minute with Roger this weekend, as
Speaker 2: a former teammate, as somebody who probably loves them a lot,
Speaker 2: what do you have you thought about what you want
Speaker 2: to say to Roger face to face.
Speaker 4: I'm gonna give him a big hug and a kiss
Speaker 4: and tell him I love him. He's he's the best.
Speaker 4: I've got a sculpture downstairs at my house that Eddie commissioned,
Speaker 4: and I've got one, and Eddie's got one, and Rogers
Speaker 4: got one. It's called Leading the Way. It's me pulling
Speaker 4: out in front of Roger. We both had to sit
Speaker 4: for it by the artist. It's the same guy does
Speaker 4: all the busts for Canton. But I was looking at
Speaker 4: that this morning before we left and I was That's
Speaker 4: all I could think about, was, you know, he is
Speaker 4: such a great player. But you know I could thank him,
Speaker 4: but he knows that. I mean, I just want to
Speaker 4: let want him to know that I love him.
Speaker 2: Awesome stuff, man, Randy, we want to see you in
Speaker 2: that Hall of Fame. I know you're you're you're You're
Speaker 2: said that you're not gonna make it, and you're probably right,
Speaker 2: But you know what, I think the the Niners are underrepresented.
Speaker 2: You could make a great argument for yourself. I think
Speaker 2: you can make a great argument for Michael Carter and
Speaker 2: probably a couple other guys that time has forgotten. But
Speaker 2: you know, way to go to go out and support
Speaker 2: your teammate in Canton. We love what you do on
Speaker 2: CBS Sports. Keep rolling, keep rocking it, and hopefully we'll
Speaker 2: talk to you again down the road.
Speaker 4: All righty, thank you.
Speaker 3: Yep.
Speaker 2: Randy Cross, former Niner and a three time champion, three
Speaker 2: three time pro bowler, and it was good to do
Speaker 2: some Roger Craig recollection for Randy. Good for Randy getting
Speaker 2: on a bird flying from Georgia to Ohio to support
Speaker 2: his former teammate.
Speaker 3: And you heard it there. I'm going to give him
Speaker 3: a big hug and tell him I love him.
Speaker 2: Awesome stuff. All right, let's do this. Let's take a
Speaker 2: time out. We're going to talk more about Roger Craig
Speaker 2: with a guy who made the case for Roger Craig
Speaker 2: with the Hall of Fame people, and that's Sal Palantonio
Speaker 2: from ESPN who works with Greg Cosel on the Matchup Show.
Speaker 2: Salpal's going to join us at one o'clock. Sergio Romo's
Speaker 2: gonna join us at twelve thirty. In about fifteen to
Speaker 2: twenty minutes from now, we'll talk a little little ball
Speaker 2: with Sergio Romo. We can open up the lines and
Speaker 2: take some of your thoughts and on Mike Cruco, you know,
Speaker 2: big story of the day, Mike Cruco is hanging it
Speaker 2: up as the Giants announcer. This is his final season.
Speaker 2: We only have a couple more months of Kruk and Kaipe.
Speaker 2: I'll you know, VCRs better be rolling because man, those
Speaker 2: guys are just absolutely glorious to listen to, and we've
Speaker 2: been spoiled for a long long time. So if you
Speaker 2: have a thought on Mike Cruco and his decision to
Speaker 2: hang it up and his tenure with the Giants as
Speaker 2: a player or as an announcer or as one of
Speaker 2: the faces of the franchise, eight away Cambr is the
Speaker 2: phone number, you know, Honor Crouk Today with your thoughts
Speaker 2: and comments, we'd love to hear from you at eight
Speaker 2: away Cambr. Serge Romo will stop by bottom of the
Speaker 2: hour and we'll chop it up with him and talk
Speaker 2: some Giants ball later on this show on The Sports Leader.
Speaker 1: Now back to The Sports Leader Middays with your host
Speaker 1: Larry Krueger. Keep this little alive and when you tell
Speaker 1: the story, simply tell him or the Giants or San Francisco.
Speaker 3: US.
Speaker 2: All right, welcome back Larry Krueger with you on this
Speaker 2: Thursday on the Sports Leader and the story of the day.
Speaker 2: Mike Cruco has announced that he is hanging it up
Speaker 2: after this season is done. That will be his final
Speaker 2: in the booth. The man that we just know affectionately
Speaker 2: as Krouk is calling it quits. And man, it's an
Speaker 2: emotional thing. We all kind of knew this day was
Speaker 2: gonna come, but to have it hit today is just,
Speaker 2: you know, it feels like a kick to the gut.
Speaker 2: And obviously it's a tough day here at the Sports
Speaker 2: Leader as we transition from the Gregs to John Lund
Speaker 2: here in this time slot. But man, hearing that Kruk
Speaker 2: is is done at the end of the year is emotional.
Speaker 2: It means he is our conduit to Giants baseball, you
Speaker 2: know he is. He is the guy that you know,
Speaker 2: our portal to Giants baseball goes through Crook and Kype.
Speaker 2: And yes, you know, baseball on the radio is awesome,
Speaker 2: and baseball on the radio has always been awesome and
Speaker 2: it always will be awesome. And you know, Dave and
Speaker 2: John do an amazing job on the radio. But we're
Speaker 2: a TV culture and if you really love the Giants
Speaker 2: and you're at home, are you listening on the radio
Speaker 2: or are you watching it? And most people are watching it.
Speaker 2: So the connection from Giants fans to Kruk and Kuype,
Speaker 2: who have just been as consistent as consistent gets you know,
Speaker 2: it's it's it's it's undescribable, it really is. It's hard
Speaker 2: to describe what kind of impact Mike and Dwayne have
Speaker 2: made on Giants fans lives.
Speaker 3: And it's been an awesome run. It's been an awesome run.
Speaker 3: And you know, we knew it was.
Speaker 2: Going to end at some point, and unfortunately it's going
Speaker 2: to end at the end of this year. Now, I
Speaker 2: haven't heard anything about what Kype's plans are, so we'll
Speaker 2: have to see about that. But you know, I mean,
Speaker 2: it's funny. It's like, you know, buddy, Mind's like, I
Speaker 2: can't believe you know, it's you know, he's he's retiring.
Speaker 2: It's like, what do you mean you can't believe it.
Speaker 2: He's seventy four years old. You know, when you're when
Speaker 2: you you know, you give your life to your job,
Speaker 2: you start doing it for money, then of course you
Speaker 2: got enough money eventually, and I'm sure he's got plenty
Speaker 2: of money at this point.
Speaker 3: He's not doing it for the money.
Speaker 2: He's He's doing it because he enjoys Kype and he
Speaker 2: enjoys what he does. This is who, This is the
Speaker 2: career that he's made for himself, and so it's not
Speaker 2: about the financial part.
Speaker 3: And that's some point.
Speaker 2: Don't you want to give, you know, your time, to
Speaker 2: your children, to your wife, to your grandchildren, you know,
Speaker 2: to you you know, sometimes it's you know, you can
Speaker 2: love your job, but your job doesn't love you back.
Speaker 3: And you know that's not always the case.
Speaker 2: But I just feel like, you know what, if this
Speaker 2: is the time that Mikey thinks it's best for him
Speaker 2: to step away, who are we to judge seventy four
Speaker 2: years of age. You know what, if he wants to
Speaker 2: spend time with Jennifer and his children and his grandchildren
Speaker 2: and his friends, hey, you know what, that he should
Speaker 2: be able to do that. And obviously Mike's had physical
Speaker 2: challenges as as he has aged, as many people do.
Speaker 2: And yet, you know what, I really credit him because
Speaker 2: I'm sure there's days he doesn't feel like Mike. He
Speaker 2: probably doesn't feel as good as he maybe once felt,
Speaker 2: but he never shows us that side. He always sounds happy,
Speaker 2: He always sounds excited, He always sounds engaged.
Speaker 3: He always sounds and we tell.
Speaker 2: You about this three picks pitch mix that this giant
Speaker 2: reliever has. And you know, he's just he loves the
Speaker 2: game and he's been maybe the best ambassador for the
Speaker 2: great game of baseball, and uh, he makes us.
Speaker 3: Love it more.
Speaker 2: And he's brightened our days and brightened our our nights
Speaker 2: and given us so much entertainment.
Speaker 3: Heck, I mean it's funny.
Speaker 2: A Kruk and Kype broadcast is unlike almost any other broadcast.
Speaker 2: And you can tell in the first few minutes, you know,
Speaker 2: because Kruk and Kype, you know, and they're incredcit Jim
Speaker 2: Lynch was their great, great you know, behind the scenes
Speaker 2: as a producer. Maybe I'm giving Jim the wrong title,
Speaker 2: but you know he's worked on those broadcasts and the images,
Speaker 2: the stories, you know, and all the people in the
Speaker 2: stands and the oddities, and you know, they just they've
Speaker 2: had fun, laughing, laughing at themselves, laughing at fun things
Speaker 2: and just reminding us.
Speaker 3: All that, Hey, what is sports at the end of
Speaker 3: the days. It's not life. It ain't life and death.
Speaker 2: It's a diversion from life. Right, we don't want to
Speaker 2: talk about politics race, religion, things that divide us. We
Speaker 2: want to talk about things that unite us, like great
Speaker 2: sports accomplishments. Was it Richard Nixon who once said, I
Speaker 2: always go to the sports section first because it's the
Speaker 2: one one section of the newspaper. And by the way,
Speaker 2: we will explain what newspapers are to you younger kids later.
Speaker 2: So one place in the newspaper you can go to
Speaker 2: read about men's accomplishments and not their failures. And I
Speaker 2: always thought that was kind of an interesting perspective on sports,
Speaker 2: you know, And it's like working in sports for all
Speaker 2: these years. Yeah, in a lot of ways, we're in
Speaker 2: the toy department of life, and so you know, people
Speaker 2: don't want to, you know, nobody wants to hear you
Speaker 2: complain about your your you know, your physical condition, or
Speaker 2: your how you feel or you know anything. When you're
Speaker 2: in the toy department of life. You know, you got
Speaker 2: to toys r Us or Fao Schwartz or you don't
Speaker 2: want some person at the register who's all depressed. It's
Speaker 2: a freaking toy store. You want them to be happy.
Speaker 2: And the same thing with what we do here at
Speaker 2: cambr And and sports media.
Speaker 3: You know, we're people's diversions.
Speaker 2: You know, They've got a stressful life, they got a
Speaker 2: stressful disease, they got a stressful life situation or job
Speaker 2: or whatever, and they just want to peel away from
Speaker 2: that and enjoy five innings of Giants baseball. And yeah,
Speaker 2: guys like me are going to analyze it and be critical,
Speaker 2: but you know how many people are there for the
Speaker 2: criticism and the analysis some but there's a lot of
Speaker 2: people that are just there because, hey, man, I had
Speaker 2: a rough week at work and I just want to
Speaker 2: watch some Giants baseball. I want to fold into the
Speaker 2: couch on this Thursday night and take in some Giants
Speaker 2: and Tigers. And you know, Crook and Kuipe were that's
Speaker 2: super comfortable, you know, Duo, It's like that incredible. It's
Speaker 2: like your favorite slippers, your favorite blankie, you know. I mean,
Speaker 2: it's like it's I know, it sounds kind of corny,
Speaker 2: but it's kind of true. They make you feel comfortable immediately.
Speaker 2: You're comfortable. You're watching the game, but you're kind of laughing.
Speaker 2: You're laughing at the lady in the upper reserves who
Speaker 2: brought her freaking you know, bunny with her her you know,
Speaker 2: because it makes her feel better, and they're showing the
Speaker 2: bunny or the kid that's just devouring the ice cream cone,
Speaker 2: and it's just everywhere. And then you know as a
Speaker 2: parent too, I mean, you know Kruk and Kuiper are
Speaker 2: you know parents and grandparents, so you know they oftentimes
Speaker 2: we'll talk about it, like, you know, that kid'll be
Speaker 2: sleeping before they get out of the parking lot. You know, Oh,
Speaker 2: you know, Jimmy's got a baseball, but Sally didn't get one.
Speaker 3: Uh oh, you know. I mean, it's.
Speaker 2: Just just just all the great moments of baseball and
Speaker 2: why we go and it's just been awesome.
Speaker 3: It's just been an awesome ride.
Speaker 2: So Mike, thank you from the bottom of our hearts
Speaker 2: for all the entertainment, all the analysis. Obviously you are
Speaker 2: a great babbler on the mound. I mean Game four
Speaker 2: of the eighty seven NLCS is your masterpiece, but that
Speaker 2: eighty six season was a masterpiece, and these broadcasts for
Speaker 2: decades have been individual masterpieces. And we're all very thankful.
Speaker 2: We're sad for ourselves that we won't be able to
Speaker 2: hear it, but we're happy for you that you're gonna
Speaker 2: wrap up a an awesome career and get to spend
Speaker 2: your your you know, whatever time you have left on
Speaker 2: the planet, and you get to spend it with the
Speaker 2: people that you love, the people that you that love
Speaker 2: you and that you love, your family, your friends, your grandkids.
Speaker 2: That's the way life should be. So what a picture,
Speaker 2: what a what a career, what a giant And you know,
Speaker 2: I just kind of get the feeling like through the
Speaker 2: championship years that Kruk was like the narrator of Giants Baseball.
Speaker 3: I mean the broadcast team, they're all great.
Speaker 2: I mean, Dave Fleming's the best young broadcaster in the
Speaker 2: country right now. Dwayne Kiper is maybe the smoothest I mean,
Speaker 2: his nickname smooth for a reason. He's probably the smoothest
Speaker 2: sounding ex player ever.
Speaker 3: John Miller is John Miller. He's one of the titans
Speaker 3: of his industry.
Speaker 2: These guys are all It's like, it's not like, oh,
Speaker 2: you got one guy who's an A and the rest
Speaker 2: of the guys are c minuses. They're alays, they're always
Speaker 2: you know, John's an a broadcaster, Dave's an a broadcaster.
Speaker 2: Krouk's an a broadcaster type, you know. So it's awesome,
Speaker 2: it's awesome that we've been able to enjoy it. It's
Speaker 2: awesome that we've been able to, uh, they've been able
Speaker 2: to you know, entertain us through all these years. And
Speaker 2: hopefully Kype continues on if if that's what he chooses. God,
Speaker 2: it would be tough to lose both in the same
Speaker 2: same year. But in some ways I almost feel like
Speaker 2: maybe they're a package deal.
Speaker 3: But who knows. Who knows.
Speaker 2: We haven't heard anything about Dwayne's plans, But you know,
Speaker 2: just really enjoyed Mike through the years, and so many
Speaker 2: of some of his greatest calls, some of the greatest
Speaker 2: moments are When I think of some of the greatest
Speaker 2: calls for Kruk, I think of the the David Bell
Speaker 2: or the Kenny Lofton single off Steve Klein in the
Speaker 2: deciding game of the NLCS against the Cardinals, and as
Speaker 2: David Bell slid across home plate.
Speaker 3: Kruke said, we're going, We're going.
Speaker 2: I mean, it was Kuype's call and Krook just said
Speaker 2: we're going, but that we're going was just awesome.
Speaker 3: I'm just amazing.
Speaker 2: The other one that was not a great memory, but
Speaker 2: it was a great call nonetheless.
Speaker 3: Because it was he said what we were thinking.
Speaker 2: Fly ball to right field two thousand and three playoff
Speaker 2: against the Marlins.
Speaker 3: Jose Cruz Junior was a gold glove right fielder that year.
Speaker 2: He was the best defensive right fielder in all of
Speaker 2: baseball that year.
Speaker 3: He was amazing.
Speaker 2: And he dropped a can of corn and Kuype was
Speaker 2: on the call, and Kruke was like, incredible, incredible. It
Speaker 2: was either amazing or incredible, and it was just so
Speaker 2: was like, oh my god, it was like the pain
Speaker 2: of all of us in that one one word from Kruks.
Speaker 2: So brilliance, true brilliance, broadcasting brilliance. And I'll say this.
Speaker 2: I know we're gonna take a time out here, and
Speaker 2: Sir Jermo's gonna join us in a bit. We'll talk
Speaker 2: some Giants talk, some Kruk talk, some talk, some ball.
Speaker 2: But I mean, how many people get to be great
Speaker 2: at even one thing in life? If you're great at
Speaker 2: one thing, you've you're you've beaten the odds. This guy
Speaker 2: was a great Major leaguer and then became a great
Speaker 2: or great er broadcaster of Giants baseball. He didn't have
Speaker 2: one thing that made him great. He had two things
Speaker 2: that made him great. And you could say the exact
Speaker 2: same thing about Dwayne Kuiper. So we've been blessed, man,
Speaker 2: We've been blessed. That's the only way I can I
Speaker 2: can really come to grips with it is we've been blessed.
Speaker 2: And when something goes away after years of being blessed,
Speaker 2: you lose somebody that you love, maybe a friend, maybe
Speaker 2: it's a family member. You know, you could be sad
Speaker 2: for how it makes you feel, but sometimes it's better
Speaker 2: to just be appreciative for the time that we had
Speaker 2: and what a run it's been for Mike. So congratulations
Speaker 2: Mike Kruco, and congratulations to you, your entire family, your
Speaker 2: entire broadcast team there at NBC Sports Bay Area. Thank
Speaker 2: you for so many years of you being the narrator,
Speaker 2: the best narrator of Giants baseball and Giants tradition. So
Speaker 2: thank you very much. All right, let's do this. Let's
Speaker 2: take a time out. Serge Romo's gonna join us. We're
Speaker 2: gonna talk to South Palantonio. We got a lot more
Speaker 2: to get to. Eight toweight Cambire is the number. If
Speaker 2: you want to chime in on anything today, feel free
Speaker 2: to bang the number.
Speaker 3: Larry Krueger sitting here, I'm the sports Leader
Speaker 1: A NBR one oh four five six eighty, The sports
Speaker 1: Leader