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Speaker 1: On this episode of Sports Illustrated Weekly. After Russia invaded,

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Speaker 1: thousands of Ukrainians who weren't in the armed forces took

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Speaker 1: up arms to defend their country, including several current and

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Speaker 1: former professional athletes. One of them was recently retired tennis

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Speaker 1: star Sergey Stakovsky. We spoke with Stakovsky, as well as

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Speaker 1: SI senior writer John Wortheim about what it's been like

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Speaker 1: for Ukrainian athletes who have joined the fight, and later,

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Speaker 1: NFL Hall of Famer Jerry Rice stops by to tell

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Speaker 1: us about all the times he graced the cover of

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Speaker 1: Sports Illustrated, his new s I n F T S,

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Speaker 1: and what it's like to be the goat after all

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Speaker 1: these years. But first, with DeShawn Watson being traded to

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Speaker 1: the Cleveland Browns, former Sports Illustrated stafford Jenny Brentis, now

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Speaker 1: a reporter for the New York Times, walks us through

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Speaker 1: her reporting on the controversial quarterback and the allegations of

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Speaker 1: sexual misconduct made against him. It's March. I'm your host

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Speaker 1: John Gonzalez from Sports Illustrated and I Heart Radio. This

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Speaker 1: is Sports Illustrated Weekly. We've got breaking news out of

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Speaker 1: the NFL where the Texans quarterback to Shawn Watson has

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Speaker 1: waived his no trade clause for the Cleveland Browns. That's

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Speaker 1: been confirmed. Last week, Deshaun Watson was traded from the

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Speaker 1: Houston Texans to the Cleveland Browns. According to reports, he

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Speaker 1: signed a five year contract for the most guaranteed money

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Speaker 1: in NFL history, where he will reportedly receive a five year,

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Speaker 1: two hundred and thirty million dollar contract that makes him

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Speaker 1: one of the highest paid players in the NFL. The

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Speaker 1: Browns also protected Watson even if he faced his punishment

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Speaker 1: by the NFL this season for his alleged behavior, because

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Speaker 1: his base salary for two is just over one million dollars,

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Speaker 1: Any for game suspension can only be deducted from that amount,

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Speaker 1: leaving at least two hundred and twenty nine million untouched.

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Speaker 1: Before all that happened, a grand jury in Texas decided

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Speaker 1: not to move forward with criminal charges against Watson in

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Speaker 1: allegations of sexual misconduct that were made against him by

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Speaker 1: multiple women. But while Watson was not charged in criminal court,

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Speaker 1: there are twenty two civil suits still pending against him,

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Speaker 1: as well as an ongoing NFL investigation that could potentially

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Speaker 1: lead the league to take disciplinary action. Against the quarterback.

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Speaker 1: Jenny Brentis previously covered this story for Sports Illustrated and

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Speaker 1: has continued to do so for The New York Times.

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Speaker 1: Be advised that what follows contains some graphic descriptions of

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Speaker 1: the accusations. All right, Jenny, let's start from the beginning.

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Speaker 1: Take us through the allegations against Deshaun Watson. Yeah, John, So,

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Speaker 1: it was almost exactly a year ago that the first

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Speaker 1: allegations surface publicly. A twenty year old licensed massage therapist

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Speaker 1: named Ashley so Lease was the one who filed the

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Speaker 1: first civil suit alleging that during a massage appointment, Deshaun

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Speaker 1: Watson engaged in sexual misconduct order by placing his penis

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Speaker 1: on her hand during the appointment without her consent. The

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Speaker 1: women who have come forward have said they believed that

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Speaker 1: this was a professional setting. They were going there to

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Speaker 1: do a job they had been trained to do, and

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Speaker 1: he took the appointment in another direction. From that first

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Speaker 1: lawsuit being filed, there was then an avalanche of others

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Speaker 1: that followed. There were women saying this happened to me too.

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Speaker 1: I want to support the first person who came forward

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Speaker 1: to say you should believe her account. There are twenty

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Speaker 1: two active civil lawsuits right now. There were ten criminal complaints,

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Speaker 1: and of the ten criminal complaints, eight had also filed

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Speaker 1: civil complaints and two had not. So in total, there

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Speaker 1: were twenty four allegations that were brought to either the

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Speaker 1: civil or criminal court system, and they all were very

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Speaker 1: similar accounts from Watson exposing himself to touching the therapists,

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Speaker 1: in some cases ejaculating on them, and in other cases

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Speaker 1: a handful of the allegations were sexual assault. All of

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Speaker 1: them had a commonality and that he booked a massage

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Speaker 1: appointment with the massage therapist and then turned the appointment

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Speaker 1: sexual without their consent. Take us through what happened with

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Speaker 1: the grand jury that was impaneled in Texas with regard

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Speaker 1: to the allegations made against Shawn. Yeah. So, a grand

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Speaker 1: jury in Harris County, Texas, which is where Houston is located,

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Speaker 1: on Friday, March eleventh, heard nine criminal cases against DeShawn Watson.

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Speaker 1: The grand jury proceedings are secretive. They are behind closed doors.

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Speaker 1: We couldn't even see anyone going in and out in

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Speaker 1: these cases. The grand jury. Here's testimony or evidence or

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Speaker 1: whatever the prosecutor chooses to bring, and we don't know

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Speaker 1: exactly how the prosecutor presented the as. We do know

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Speaker 1: some elements. We know that some of the video testimony

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Speaker 1: the women who filed criminal complaints had given to police,

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Speaker 1: some of that was played in the hearings. We know

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Speaker 1: that several of the women were subpoena to potentially provide testimony.

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Speaker 1: They all sat in a room together. Only one of

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Speaker 1: those women was actually called in front of the grand jury.

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Speaker 1: We don't actually even know which charges they considered. We

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Speaker 1: know that the police investigation was zeroing in on indecent assault,

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Speaker 1: which is a misdemean in Texas. But three of the

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Speaker 1: ten criminal complaints alleged sexual assault. But in all, the

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Speaker 1: grand jury returned nine no bills after hearing testimony for

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Speaker 1: about six hours, which meant that they did not believe

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Speaker 1: there was enough evidence to establish probable cause for criminal charges. Jenny,

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Speaker 1: there's this old saying that prosecutors can get a grand

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Speaker 1: jury to indict ham Sandwich. In this case, the grand

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Speaker 1: jury decided not to move forward. Why do you think

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Speaker 1: they did indict Deshaun Watson. Yeah. I think the corollary

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Speaker 1: to that axiom is that they can indict a Ham

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Speaker 1: Sandwich if they want to indict a ham Sandwich. And

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Speaker 1: I'm not saying that that's the case here certainly, but

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Speaker 1: I bring that up because the prosecutor does have a

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Speaker 1: lot of influence on how the case is presented to

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Speaker 1: the grand jury. And I think part of the problem

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Speaker 1: with the proceedings being secretive is we don't know exactly

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Speaker 1: how the case was presented to the grand jury. We

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Speaker 1: don't even know exactly what charges were considered. We don't

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Speaker 1: know all of the information that was presented. There were people,

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Speaker 1: including prominent media members, who wrongly framed the grand jury's

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Speaker 1: decision not to proceed as an exoneration of Watson. And

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Speaker 1: you have written and spoken about this extensively. Explain why

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Speaker 1: it is that just because no criminal charges were filed

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Speaker 1: against Watson that it doesn't necessarily mean that he's innocent

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Speaker 1: of the allegations made against him. The grand jury proceedings

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Speaker 1: were one part of the whole process, and for Watson,

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Speaker 1: it was certainly an important moment to not face criminal

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Speaker 1: charges in Harris County. Many teams took that as a

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Speaker 1: green light to proceed with trade conversations. That was the

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Speaker 1: outcome that he was hoping for. But there are still

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Speaker 1: the twenty two civil complaints. My understanding is they are

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Speaker 1: all still going forward. Just because a grand jury decides

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Speaker 1: that there shouldn't be an indictment here doesn't mean that

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Speaker 1: there was not some form of wrongdoing. If you look

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Speaker 1: at some of the facts of the case that have

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Speaker 1: been put out there, and by facts I mean not

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Speaker 1: just the accounts of the women, but some of the

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Speaker 1: corroboration that we've reported on, that information does point to

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Speaker 1: there being some form of wrongdoing. So you mentioned the

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Speaker 1: pending civil suits against Watson. I think it's important to

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Speaker 1: draw the distinction explain how those proceedings are different than

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Speaker 1: the standards necessary to prosecute in criminal court. In criminal court,

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Speaker 1: to get a conviction beyond a reasonable doubt is the standard.

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Speaker 1: In civil court, it's the preponderance of the evidence. So

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Speaker 1: the basic legal standard is different. Tony Buzby, who represents

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Speaker 1: the twenty two plaintiffs, has said one doesn't have any

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Speaker 1: bearing on the other. Just because the criminal proceedings are

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Speaker 1: over in Harris County doesn't mean that the civil proceedings

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Speaker 1: are over. And there certainly could be some resolution there

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Speaker 1: in which a civil court would decide that the rights

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Speaker 1: of the women were violated in that way. So Watson

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Speaker 1: had to sit for depositions in the civil suits. Explain

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Speaker 1: your reporting on this, because he invoked his Fifth Amendment

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Speaker 1: right in some of those depositions, but then you've been

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Speaker 1: told that he won't do so moving forward. So while

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Speaker 1: the grand jury was still considering criminal charges, Deshaun Watson

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Speaker 1: pled the fifth, But once the grand jury decided not

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Speaker 1: to indict him in Harris County, Rusty Harden said he

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Speaker 1: would then start answering questions in the civil suits moving forward.

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Speaker 1: I think civilly, if a defendant pleads the fifth that

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Speaker 1: may not be helpful to their case. It may actually

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Speaker 1: be hurtful to the resolution of the case. If they

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Speaker 1: plead the fifth. The legal strategy and civil courts would

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Speaker 1: be to answer questions and try to give some explanation

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Speaker 1: for what's being alleged that you did. But they didn't

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Speaker 1: want to do that until the grand jury made its

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Speaker 1: decision in Harris County. After the grand jury decided not

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Speaker 1: to proceed, the conversation around Watson, especially in traditional sports

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Speaker 1: media forums, turned really rapidly to who might trade for Watson.

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Speaker 1: It became a football conversation, and there's obviously a lot

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Speaker 1: more going on here than just football. And I'm curious

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Speaker 1: why you think sports fans and media like pivoted so

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Speaker 1: quickly to the football component. Is it just that sports

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Speaker 1: fandom and media and social media is sort of ill

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Speaker 1: equipped to have this nuanced conversation. Sexual violence overall is

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Speaker 1: a topic that you need to have studied up on.

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Speaker 1: You need to have spent time learning how to talk about,

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Speaker 1: how to cover, how to ask people questions. I mean,

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Speaker 1: I've gone to trainings to do that, because it's important.

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Speaker 1: Right when you're interviewing people who say they've experienced sexual violence,

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Speaker 1: you need to know how to ask questions, how to

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Speaker 1: get in ormation without retraumatizing. I think, from an NFL perspective,

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Speaker 1: because Watson is a talented quarterback, I think they were

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Speaker 1: looking for something that they could point to to say

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Speaker 1: this was a decision that was made that indicates we

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Speaker 1: can go forward with the trade talk. So I think

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Speaker 1: the grand jury making that decision days before free agency

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Speaker 1: opened for NFL teams going after him, they could say, hey, listen,

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Speaker 1: the grand jury decided not to indict on criminal charges.

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Speaker 1: But also we hear the NFL talk a lot about

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Speaker 1: how they have a higher standard. Right. That's the whole

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Speaker 1: crux of the Personal conduct policy, right, is that it

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Speaker 1: doesn't rely on there being criminal charges or civil charges

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Speaker 1: to hold players accountable for behaviors that may have violated

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Speaker 1: the policy. It's asking players who represent teams, who are

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Speaker 1: prominent figures in their community to hold themselves to a

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Speaker 1: higher standard. And so, just because there aren't criminal charges brought,

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Speaker 1: if you're a team, you should be seeking to understand

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Speaker 1: and well, what are your responses to the behaviors alleged

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Speaker 1: and the civil complaints? How do you explain your actions?

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Speaker 1: Are you willing to at least express some contrition for

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Speaker 1: some of the things alleged or maybe try to rehabilitate

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Speaker 1: some of the behaviors. Unfortunately, the way this has unfolded,

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Speaker 1: because Watson had the no trade clause for a deal

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Speaker 1: to be executed, the trade conversations became more of a

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Speaker 1: bidding war, and so all of the teams that were

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Speaker 1: meeting with him, we're trying to convince him to waive

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Speaker 1: the no trade clause for their team, and I think

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Speaker 1: that made it a situation where it's probably a lot

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Speaker 1: less likely that he was actually pushed on those questions

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Speaker 1: The reality is that the NFL's personal conduct policy is

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Speaker 1: largely a public relations mechanism, and it's used to indicate

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Speaker 1: that we are taking allegations against players or coaches or

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Speaker 1: members of organizations seriously. But I think in this case

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Speaker 1: what we've gotten is a window into the flaws of

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Speaker 1: that process. There are a lot of repercussions to speaking up. Actually,

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Speaker 1: so these had damage done to her massage studio. But

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Speaker 1: when people speak up, they do so in the hopes

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Speaker 1: that there will be accountability, and that can be difficult

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Speaker 1: to achieve through the criminal system, through the civil court system,

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Speaker 1: and these women are trying that they filed civil lawsuits,

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Speaker 1: they filed criminal complaints, but the legal system is not

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Speaker 1: suited for survivors, and a lot of paths to getting

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Speaker 1: some form of justice don't result in a clear statement

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Speaker 1: of guilt or non guilt. It can also be done

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Speaker 1: through the employer, and I think that's where the NFL

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Speaker 1: states that it will examine and handle seriously accounts of misconduct.

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Speaker 1: But the inaction to this point has served to essentially

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Speaker 1: shield Watson from any repercussions, whether they have legitimate reasons

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Speaker 1: for not using the commissioners example list. While none of

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Speaker 1: those have been explained, and so that's the environment that

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Speaker 1: they've played a role in creating. Yea, So much of

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Speaker 1: this remains unresolved to Jenny, as you mentioned, the civil

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Speaker 1: suits are pending. The League has yet to weigh in

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Speaker 1: what happens next for Watson, what's he facing in terms

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Speaker 1: of legal liability and also a possible league suspension. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: so the twenty two lawsuits are still ongoing. I think

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Speaker 1: that from the plaintift perspective, they have a desire to

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Speaker 1: start beginning trials for some of these. Of course, a

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Speaker 1: settlement could happen at any time, but my most recent

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Speaker 1: conversation with Tony Buzby, he said there were no renewed

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Speaker 1: settlement conversations. Unlike last year around the trade deadline, when

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Speaker 1: there did seem to be a push for some of

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Speaker 1: these cases to be settled, that doesn't seem to be

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Speaker 1: the case now. So that is going to continue to

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Speaker 1: go on. I mean, it's a little bit of a

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Speaker 1: surreal circumstance where you have Watson meeting with teams, and

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Speaker 1: in between those meetings with teams, he was also being

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Speaker 1: deposed in those civil cases, and then in terms of

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Speaker 1: the NFL, we don't know exactly the timetable for the

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Speaker 1: league investigation. They have interviewed several of the women who

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Speaker 1: have come forward. They planned not to interview Watson until

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Speaker 1: the criminal proceedings were completed, so they have not yet

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Speaker 1: interviewed Watson, and so their investigation will not be complete

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Speaker 1: until they do that. It's still expected that there will

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Speaker 1: be some kind of suspension by the league. Again, the

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Speaker 1: personal Conduct Policy doesn't stipulate that there needs to be

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Speaker 1: criminal charges for a player to be suspended, But teams

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Speaker 1: seeking to acquire Watson, we're saying this is a long

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Speaker 1: term decision. We want him as a quarterback for many years,

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Speaker 1: and so we'll withstand the suspension and then we'll have

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Speaker 1: him for the long term. Jenny, it can be a

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Speaker 1: little too easy, I think for football fans to get

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Speaker 1: lost in the league lease and the trade talk and

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Speaker 1: the football components, and in so doing overlook the women

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Speaker 1: who made these aimes. Can you tell us a little

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Speaker 1: bit more about what they allegedly went through. We published

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Speaker 1: a story entitled a Massage Therapist on her session with

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Speaker 1: Deshaun Watson, and what it was was an account from

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Speaker 1: a woman who we called Mary, A pseudonym, who was

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Speaker 1: not one of the plaintiffs. She had not filed a

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Speaker 1: civil lawsuit. She was not represented by the same lawyer

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Speaker 1: representing all of the other plaintiffs, Tony Busby. We found

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Speaker 1: her on her own and Mary told us an account

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Speaker 1: of her session with Deshaun Watson in fall twenty nineteen,

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Speaker 1: earlier than any of the situations described in the civil lawsuits.

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Speaker 1: Mary told Sports Illustrated that during her appointment with Watson,

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Speaker 1: he engaged in behavior unlike any she had experienced with

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Speaker 1: a client before. She said that he purposely removed the

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Speaker 1: towel that was covering his private areas. She said that

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Speaker 1: he told her she could touch and move his then

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Speaker 1: exposed penis. She ignored that suggestion. Mary also said that

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Speaker 1: Watson began thrusting his pelvis into the air after he

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Speaker 1: developed an erection, and at one point she noticed what

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Speaker 1: she believed to be pre ejaculate on Watson's stomach. When

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Speaker 1: you actually talk to a person who has been in

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Speaker 1: a massage room with the Shawn Watson, when she describes

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Speaker 1: to you in detail the behavior she said she experienced,

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Speaker 1: when you then have corroboration of that behavior in the

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Speaker 1: form of other accounts and messages she sent. It adds

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Speaker 1: strength to what the women were saying had happened. Ashley

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Speaker 1: Solis described how in real time she was questioning what

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Speaker 1: she was experiencing because it didn't mesh with this public reputation.

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Speaker 1: She told us that she was undermining myself and what

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Speaker 1: was really happening, What was really going on. I thought,

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Speaker 1: this can't be happening. He's a good person, there's no way.

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Speaker 1: After the first story came out with Mary, I received

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Speaker 1: some private messages that were borderline threats, essentially saying, you

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Speaker 1: better know what you're doing. Why are you ruining this

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Speaker 1: man's reputation? You better be right. There were some vulgar

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Speaker 1: words included, and that was a little bit not surprising,

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Speaker 1: but it's always shaking Ashley. Soley specifically said, I want

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Speaker 1: to rehumanize us and make people remember what this is

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Speaker 1: really about. When we spoke to Mary, she said, the

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Speaker 1: one thing I keep thinking about is he's about to

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Speaker 1: get traded to another place. He would have a whole

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Speaker 1: new community of massage therapists to target. There's obviously so

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Speaker 1: much swirling around to Shawn Watson, and yet, as we've

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Speaker 1: discussed Jenny, multiple teams were interested in acquiring him, and

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Speaker 1: I'm wondering what that says about those organizations and the

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Speaker 1: risk or the trouble that they're willing to take on

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Speaker 1: in order to acquire a quarterback of his caliber. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: and I think this comes up a lot when we

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Speaker 1: see teams deal with players who have been alleged to

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Speaker 1: have committed some form of misconduct. They often talk a

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Speaker 1: lot about vetting or doing their due diligence, but oftentimes

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Speaker 1: it's a lot thinner than the team presents it to be.

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Speaker 1: They actually haven't done the work to figure out what

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Speaker 1: is truly going on here. And so in the case

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Speaker 1: of Watson, when I spoke with Tony Buzzby the other night,

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Speaker 1: you know, he said none of the teams that were

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Speaker 1: in the process of meeting with Watson had reached out

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Speaker 1: to Buzzby had asked to talk to the women involved.

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Speaker 1: And you know, maybe the women wouldn't want to talk

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Speaker 1: to the teams, and that would be totally understandable, but

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Speaker 1: that's a call you should make. I also think those

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Speaker 1: teams should be calling the Houston Police Department speak to

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Speaker 1: the investigators who spent nearly a year on the case.

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Speaker 1: The other important question is the idea of second chances,

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Speaker 1: and we hear that a lot in the NFL, and

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Speaker 1: I think we all believe in second chances. But are

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Speaker 1: the second chances actually earned and what has been taken

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Speaker 1: on by the person being given the second chance to

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Speaker 1: show that maybe they've grown or they are taking the

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Speaker 1: behaviors that have been alleged head on and working on

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Speaker 1: things like has there been rehabilitation done? And I think

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Speaker 1: we so readily accept oh, yes, everyone should get a

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Speaker 1: second chance without actually asking what work has been done

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Speaker 1: to earn that second chance. You have done really excellent

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Speaker 1: and important reporting on this, Jenny, Thank you for this,

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Speaker 1: Thanks for the time. Jenny Brentis is a reporter for

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Speaker 1: The New York Times who has covered the Deshaun Watson

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Speaker 1: story extensively for the paper and previously for Sports Illustrated.

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Speaker 1: Will post links to her reporting and our show notes

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Speaker 1: After a break the story of a tennis star and

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Speaker 1: his fellow Ukrainian athletes who have taken up arms to

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Speaker 1: fight Russia play. It was June in the second round

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Speaker 1: of play at Wimbledon. Ukrainian Sergey Stakovsky, then ranked a

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Speaker 1: hundred and sixteenth in the world, face seven time Wimbledon

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Speaker 1: champion Roger Federer and a stillness agaend to what is

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Speaker 1: arguably the biggest upset in Wimbledon men's history. Stakovsky won

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Speaker 1: the match, and for years that's perhaps what he was

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Speaker 1: best known for. But then, not long after Stakovsky retired

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Speaker 1: earlier this year, Russian forces invaded Ukraine and suddenly Stakovsky

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Speaker 1: was back in the news, this time voicing support for

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Speaker 1: his country. He was sort of one of these faces

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Speaker 1: who's his prominence outstripped his ranking. Sort of everyone knew him.

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Speaker 1: He was very outspoken. This is John Wortheim, senior writer

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Speaker 1: for Sports Illustrated. He actually wrote a piece for Sports

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Speaker 1: Illustrated when Crimea was annexed. Um, you know, this is

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Speaker 1: sort of a very much a guy who was part

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Speaker 1: of the fabric of tennis. Sometimes you agreed with him,

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Speaker 1: sometimes you didn't. He retired in Australia, He's in Dubai

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Speaker 1: and suddenly he tells his family goodbye, I'm fighting. Stakovski

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Speaker 1: returned to Ukraine and enlisted in the military, and just

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Speaker 1: days after the Russian invasion he spoke to us from Keith.

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Speaker 1: Stokowsky had been outside the country. He didn't have to return.

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Speaker 1: But like a lot of his countrymen, some of whom

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Speaker 1: are fellow athletes, he did, and to hear him tell it,

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Speaker 1: the choice to fight was no choice at all. It's

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Speaker 1: fairly simple, like seeing the images of father's sending that

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Speaker 1: kids and wife away now in saming behind to defend,

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Speaker 1: and I just didn't see myself as any other different.

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Speaker 1: Stokowski is taking a big risk here, and like a

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Speaker 1: lot of people would be, he's naturally afraid. I was scared.

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Speaker 1: I was scared for my family, my father, my mother,

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Speaker 1: my brother and his family well and care for that time.

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Speaker 1: So of course first was fear, fear for the family,

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Speaker 1: for the close ones. But in this situation, for me,

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Speaker 1: there was no right choice. No matter what decision I

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Speaker 1: would make, whether I would decide to stay home with

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Speaker 1: my kids or I would decide to leave, for me,

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Speaker 1: both of these decisions were bad because one way, I'm

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Speaker 1: betraying my kids and my family because I'm living them

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Speaker 1: alone and I'm not sure that I'll be able to

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Speaker 1: come back. Now the hand, I'm betraying my father, my

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Speaker 1: brother who staying behind, and my country. John. You've heard

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Speaker 1: him admit that he's worried and concerned, as I think

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Speaker 1: any of us would be. And it just strikes me

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Speaker 1: as really powerful, but also strange because, as you mentioned

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Speaker 1: just months ago, he was a tennis player and now

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Speaker 1: he's fighting a war. You know, it's funny in a

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Speaker 1: different context. Sometimes they sound like athletes quotes and it's

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Speaker 1: keeping up morale and it's it's fighting for every point.

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Speaker 1: But you know, he is a husband, he's a father.

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Speaker 1: There's no doubt a level of trepidation. I mean I

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Speaker 1: have at some level, how could there not be, And

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Speaker 1: also at some level, I think there's really this immense pride.

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Speaker 1: We all sort of ask ourselves what we would do

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Speaker 1: in certain situations. And here's an occasion where he's actually

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Speaker 1: got to make a decision, and there's so just Takowsky

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Speaker 1: carrying a rifle for what he thinks is a righteous cause.

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Speaker 1: But I think both of us think is a righteous cause.

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Speaker 1: It is a righteous cause, but it's also a completely

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Speaker 1: foreign experience for him because he's a tennis player, not

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Speaker 1: a soldier, which is something he expressly said to us.

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Speaker 1: I'm not a military. I don't have a military experience.

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Speaker 1: I'm willing to fight about the dying part, you know,

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Speaker 1: I'm not sure that any of the people, even they

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Speaker 1: say they're willing to die. Even me saying that Ukraines

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Speaker 1: are willing to die, I'm just saying because they are dying,

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Speaker 1: which means know it's not like choice, it's already happening.

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Speaker 1: But when you come to every single individual, I don't

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Speaker 1: think that anybody wants to die. John, that is just

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Speaker 1: so stunning to hear. It's a former tennis player who

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Speaker 1: would otherwise be thinking about, I don't know, an easy retirement,

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Speaker 1: and now he's openly contemplating his mortality. I mean again,

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Speaker 1: you just sort of put this in context. And here's

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Speaker 1: the guy who six weeks ago was living that this

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Speaker 1: charmed life of courtesy cars and luxury hotels and you know,

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Speaker 1: it's it's a nice life being a professional tennis player,

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Speaker 1: even if you're not Serena Williams or Novak Djokovic. And

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Speaker 1: uh weeks later, this guy has he's put his money

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Speaker 1: where his mouth is and you see these photos of

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Speaker 1: him and it's just beggar's disbelieves. That's six weeks ago

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Speaker 1: he was wearing you know, shorts and a T shirt

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Speaker 1: and playing tennis in Melbourne, Australia. It's a morning which

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Speaker 1: I wish no one would have to experience. You know,

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Speaker 1: when when when my grandfather his wrestlers and peace, he

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Speaker 1: was the veteran of the World War two, and when

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Speaker 1: he was tolding us the stories, when I remember when

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Speaker 1: I was little, when he was to all the stories

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Speaker 1: in four am that Germany invaded Soviet Union and etcetera.

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Speaker 1: And how that was. I mean, he was always studying

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Speaker 1: with such a fearful voice. I would say, you know

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Speaker 1: that this should not ever happen again. And yet we

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Speaker 1: are here and it's happening. The Russian president says a

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Speaker 1: military operation is now under way in eastern Ukraine, the

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Speaker 1: second dawn of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Russian forces

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Speaker 1: press ever closer into the heart of the country, making

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Speaker 1: their way surely but steadily towards care of the country's capital.

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Speaker 1: Safety concerns, as we said, are now growing in the

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Speaker 1: city of Leviv, that is, in western Ukraine. Russia is

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Speaker 1: turning Ukrainian cities and its crosshairs into a living hell.

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Speaker 1: I think at some level there is still this sort

431
00:25:48,200 --> 00:25:50,480
Speaker 1: of stunned disbelief that this is actually happening, that this

432
00:25:50,520 --> 00:25:52,720
Speaker 1: has been this lurking threat but it's a lot difference

433
00:25:52,800 --> 00:25:54,920
Speaker 1: to sort of talk about this as a threat and

434
00:25:54,960 --> 00:25:59,680
Speaker 1: then seeing libraries and bread factories and universities getting shelled.

435
00:26:00,080 --> 00:26:02,840
Speaker 1: He does seem to echo a lot of what Zelinsky

436
00:26:02,880 --> 00:26:05,280
Speaker 1: is saying. It really uh, you know, it's great that

437
00:26:05,320 --> 00:26:07,560
Speaker 1: everyone's saying thoughts and prayers, but what they really need

438
00:26:07,600 --> 00:26:12,919
Speaker 1: is some financial support and the military support. Yeah, the

439
00:26:12,960 --> 00:26:15,320
Speaker 1: thoughts and prayers thing is interesting because one of the

440
00:26:15,320 --> 00:26:17,840
Speaker 1: people who reached out to him and wished him well

441
00:26:18,320 --> 00:26:20,880
Speaker 1: was Novak Djokovic. And I understand they haven't always seen

442
00:26:20,880 --> 00:26:23,120
Speaker 1: eye to eye, but I would imagine John that any

443
00:26:23,160 --> 00:26:25,879
Speaker 1: differences they might have had during their career are minor

444
00:26:26,400 --> 00:26:30,760
Speaker 1: one measure against the suffering that's unfolding in Ukraine. Right, Yeah,

445
00:26:30,800 --> 00:26:33,119
Speaker 1: you know this this was ten Tennis is a political sport.

446
00:26:33,160 --> 00:26:35,760
Speaker 1: I'm sure they were on different sides of certain issues.

447
00:26:36,000 --> 00:26:38,440
Speaker 1: You know, these are two players who are at different

448
00:26:38,600 --> 00:26:40,600
Speaker 1: positions in the tennis food chain. But no, I mean,

449
00:26:40,640 --> 00:26:42,920
Speaker 1: I think you know, Djokovic takes a lot of heat,

450
00:26:43,000 --> 00:26:46,439
Speaker 1: and sometimes it's justifiable and sometimes it's self sabotaging. But

451
00:26:46,720 --> 00:26:49,960
Speaker 1: Stakovski went out of his way to say Djokovic, I've

452
00:26:49,960 --> 00:26:53,000
Speaker 1: heard from and you know, I mean, obviously without too

453
00:26:53,200 --> 00:26:56,280
Speaker 1: long of a detour of about Serbia and about the Balkans,

454
00:26:56,440 --> 00:27:00,280
Speaker 1: um Novak Djokovic probably is is approaching and observing with

455
00:27:00,640 --> 00:27:03,560
Speaker 1: a different perspective than a guy from an island off

456
00:27:03,560 --> 00:27:06,439
Speaker 1: of Spain or a guy who grew up in Basel, Switzerland.

457
00:27:06,880 --> 00:27:09,000
Speaker 1: But I you know, I mean, I think it's really remarkable,

458
00:27:09,119 --> 00:27:11,000
Speaker 1: sort of we have all these cliches and in tennis

459
00:27:11,000 --> 00:27:13,320
Speaker 1: it's it's a global sport, and it's a global village

460
00:27:13,320 --> 00:27:17,199
Speaker 1: and it's international. And here you really see this this

461
00:27:17,320 --> 00:27:19,960
Speaker 1: war playing out in tennis in the way it probably

462
00:27:20,000 --> 00:27:26,679
Speaker 1: doesn't in other sports. Stokowski isn't the only Ukrainian tennis

463
00:27:26,680 --> 00:27:30,080
Speaker 1: player who's been outspoken about the war. Elena's Fitzalina has

464
00:27:30,119 --> 00:27:33,119
Speaker 1: also expressed her support for her country after beating a

465
00:27:33,200 --> 00:27:36,600
Speaker 1: Russian player in a recent tournament. I was on the

466
00:27:36,680 --> 00:27:39,960
Speaker 1: mission for my country. All the prize money that I'm

467
00:27:39,960 --> 00:27:42,479
Speaker 1: gonna earn here is going to the Ukrainian Army. So

468
00:27:42,640 --> 00:27:46,879
Speaker 1: thank you so much for his support, John. That carries

469
00:27:46,920 --> 00:27:50,359
Speaker 1: some real weight when a player of Spitzalina's caliber speaks up,

470
00:27:50,400 --> 00:27:54,480
Speaker 1: doesn't it. Elina to Alina is a top ten player

471
00:27:54,520 --> 00:27:56,480
Speaker 1: and has been for many, many years. I mean she's

472
00:27:56,920 --> 00:27:59,800
Speaker 1: top of the food chain. In addition to speaking out,

473
00:27:59,800 --> 00:28:02,480
Speaker 1: there are other Ukrainian athletes who have joined the resistance

474
00:28:02,520 --> 00:28:05,880
Speaker 1: against the invasion. Sergey Stakovsky has been at the forefront

475
00:28:05,880 --> 00:28:07,640
Speaker 1: of this, but he's not alone in taking up arms

476
00:28:07,680 --> 00:28:10,520
Speaker 1: for his country. Alexander do Gopolov was ranked as high

477
00:28:10,560 --> 00:28:13,200
Speaker 1: as number thirteen in the world tennis rankings before he retired,

478
00:28:13,240 --> 00:28:16,639
Speaker 1: and he tweeted a photo recently have a bulletproof vest, helmet,

479
00:28:16,840 --> 00:28:18,960
Speaker 1: rifle and other weapons, and he wrote, used to be

480
00:28:19,040 --> 00:28:22,960
Speaker 1: rackets and strings, now this and he spoke to your sport.

481
00:28:23,640 --> 00:28:26,480
Speaker 1: I had no idea how to hold a weapon, so

482
00:28:26,480 --> 00:28:30,720
Speaker 1: so I found shooting plays and I was I was

483
00:28:30,800 --> 00:28:35,760
Speaker 1: lucky that there was an ex military professional who who

484
00:28:35,840 --> 00:28:39,400
Speaker 1: teached me for five or six seven days, I don't remember.

485
00:28:39,920 --> 00:28:43,120
Speaker 1: So now I'm comfortable with with weapons. I can shoot

486
00:28:43,240 --> 00:28:46,640
Speaker 1: quite uh, I mean not perfect, but for sure I

487
00:28:46,640 --> 00:28:50,400
Speaker 1: can hit a person if I see one. Vladimir Klitchko

488
00:28:50,520 --> 00:28:54,160
Speaker 1: is a former boxing heavyweight champion. He's serving a symbolic

489
00:28:54,280 --> 00:28:59,680
Speaker 1: non combat role in the army. Please get into exent now,

490
00:29:00,960 --> 00:29:07,520
Speaker 1: don't wait, act now, stop this war. His older brother, Vitality,

491
00:29:07,800 --> 00:29:10,440
Speaker 1: also a former heavyweight champion and current mayor of Kiev,

492
00:29:10,720 --> 00:29:14,880
Speaker 1: is doing the same. Another boxer, Alexander Yusik, took up

493
00:29:14,960 --> 00:29:19,840
Speaker 1: arms as well. He told CNN, it's my duty to

494
00:29:19,920 --> 00:29:23,040
Speaker 1: fight to defend my home and family. It's not that

495
00:29:23,080 --> 00:29:25,200
Speaker 1: I want to fight somewhere on the front line. I'm

496
00:29:25,200 --> 00:29:28,600
Speaker 1: defending my home. I'm defending my wife, my children, my

497
00:29:28,680 --> 00:29:35,560
Speaker 1: close ones. By athlete Dimitro Production, he joined Ukraine's National Guard,

498
00:29:35,600 --> 00:29:37,320
Speaker 1: and just weeks ago he was in Beijing at the

499
00:29:37,320 --> 00:29:39,880
Speaker 1: Winter Olympics, where he set a personal record in the

500
00:29:39,960 --> 00:29:43,000
Speaker 1: individual races. John, what do you make of all these

501
00:29:43,040 --> 00:29:48,280
Speaker 1: athletes getting into the fight. It's really extraordinary. And one

502
00:29:48,280 --> 00:29:50,320
Speaker 1: thing it says is this, this is not just some

503
00:29:50,600 --> 00:29:53,200
Speaker 1: you know, an X state. This is clearly a country

504
00:29:53,200 --> 00:29:56,720
Speaker 1: that has inspired some real loyalty and real strong feelings

505
00:29:56,720 --> 00:30:00,400
Speaker 1: among its residents. These are extraordinary decisions being made. The

506
00:30:00,400 --> 00:30:03,000
Speaker 1: fallback is these guys have millions and millions of dollars.

507
00:30:03,040 --> 00:30:05,239
Speaker 1: They could be on the beach somewhere in there. They

508
00:30:05,280 --> 00:30:08,040
Speaker 1: are in basements carrying forty pounds of gear and a rifle.

509
00:30:08,720 --> 00:30:11,920
Speaker 1: It's really extraordinary, and I think apart from just sort

510
00:30:11,920 --> 00:30:13,440
Speaker 1: of what it says about them personally. I think it

511
00:30:13,440 --> 00:30:16,120
Speaker 1: also gives the lie to the notion that Ukraine is

512
00:30:16,160 --> 00:30:18,440
Speaker 1: somehow not worth fighting for, and it's to sort of

513
00:30:18,880 --> 00:30:21,480
Speaker 1: you know, you know, this renegade stay, which is a

514
00:30:21,560 --> 00:30:24,240
Speaker 1: notion John, that Stakovski pushed back on when he spoke

515
00:30:24,280 --> 00:30:28,320
Speaker 1: with us. Ukraine is a peaceful country. We never wanted

516
00:30:28,360 --> 00:30:31,920
Speaker 1: to go into any war inside Ukraine. We had a

517
00:30:31,960 --> 00:30:34,640
Speaker 1: big changes to come up, you know, and we started

518
00:30:34,680 --> 00:30:39,080
Speaker 1: to to actually pave that path for the future, defining

519
00:30:39,120 --> 00:30:41,840
Speaker 1: the right direction, to find the right balance, to change

520
00:30:41,880 --> 00:30:45,080
Speaker 1: the system, to change the governance, to change the law system,

521
00:30:45,520 --> 00:30:48,120
Speaker 1: for us to move forward, to make it a quality

522
00:30:48,240 --> 00:30:50,400
Speaker 1: jump forward. We needed a lot of places to change

523
00:30:50,800 --> 00:30:52,840
Speaker 1: and we didn't have the chance to finish it because

524
00:30:52,920 --> 00:30:56,080
Speaker 1: the war broke up, and we just want firstly the

525
00:30:56,080 --> 00:30:58,000
Speaker 1: war to finish, and then that they would give us

526
00:30:58,040 --> 00:31:01,760
Speaker 1: time to fix our country. There's just so much going

527
00:31:01,800 --> 00:31:04,240
Speaker 1: on right now, and Stakovsky and his countrymen and women

528
00:31:04,280 --> 00:31:07,120
Speaker 1: are dealing with so much, and we'll obviously keep monitoring

529
00:31:07,120 --> 00:31:09,440
Speaker 1: the situation, but for now, John, thank you for your

530
00:31:09,480 --> 00:31:25,120
Speaker 1: reporting and for doing this. Thanks John, anytime after a

531
00:31:25,160 --> 00:31:28,160
Speaker 1: break Hall of Famer Jerry Rice joins us to discuss them.

532
00:31:28,200 --> 00:31:33,320
Speaker 1: Many times he graced the cover of Sports Illustrated. You know,

533
00:31:33,720 --> 00:31:35,920
Speaker 1: we throw a lot of heavy subject matter at you

534
00:31:36,000 --> 00:31:38,800
Speaker 1: here at Sports Illustrated Weekly. We just came off a

535
00:31:38,800 --> 00:31:42,520
Speaker 1: piece about Deshaun Watson and another about Ukrainian athletes fighting

536
00:31:42,560 --> 00:31:45,200
Speaker 1: the Russian invasion, and so we thought, you know what,

537
00:31:45,800 --> 00:31:48,360
Speaker 1: let's lighten it up a little bit. And so here

538
00:31:48,400 --> 00:31:52,000
Speaker 1: we are about to throw to a conversation with Jerry Rice.

539
00:31:52,880 --> 00:31:54,920
Speaker 1: If you had told the fourteen year old version of

540
00:31:54,920 --> 00:31:57,680
Speaker 1: me that I'd be talking to Jerry Rice for a

541
00:31:57,760 --> 00:32:02,160
Speaker 1: Sports Illustrated podcast, I would have lost my mind right

542
00:32:02,200 --> 00:32:05,960
Speaker 1: after asking what a podcast is. Sometimes we need to

543
00:32:05,960 --> 00:32:08,280
Speaker 1: take a step back and just enjoy the good things

544
00:32:08,280 --> 00:32:11,400
Speaker 1: about sports and the people who make it great. So

545
00:32:11,480 --> 00:32:14,200
Speaker 1: here's me talking to Jerry Rice about all the SI

546
00:32:14,280 --> 00:32:16,800
Speaker 1: covers he graced his new S I n F T

547
00:32:17,040 --> 00:32:20,400
Speaker 1: S and being the goat all these years later. We

548
00:32:20,480 --> 00:32:23,240
Speaker 1: had a lot of fun once we ironed out some

549
00:32:23,360 --> 00:32:40,200
Speaker 1: minor Internet issues trailing it. They gotta go. Jerry Rice

550
00:32:41,000 --> 00:32:45,520
Speaker 1: is just unstoppable, all right, Jerry Rice, Welcome to Sports

551
00:32:45,520 --> 00:32:49,640
Speaker 1: Illustrated Weekly. I am so happy to be here after

552
00:32:49,720 --> 00:32:53,840
Speaker 1: you stressing me out the way you did. There were

553
00:32:53,880 --> 00:32:57,280
Speaker 1: some technical difficulties that we got past and now I'm

554
00:32:57,360 --> 00:32:59,240
Speaker 1: talking to the goat. He's got the goat hat on.

555
00:32:59,280 --> 00:33:01,920
Speaker 1: This is really a ma isn' uh. Jerry. You know

556
00:33:01,960 --> 00:33:04,719
Speaker 1: you've been on the cover of Sports Illustrated many times.

557
00:33:04,920 --> 00:33:07,600
Speaker 1: Tell me about what you remember about the first time

558
00:33:07,600 --> 00:33:10,400
Speaker 1: you appeared on Sports Illustrated and what that's signified for

559
00:33:10,400 --> 00:33:13,719
Speaker 1: you and your career well as I it's just like

560
00:33:13,800 --> 00:33:16,840
Speaker 1: winning the m v P for the Super Bowl the

561
00:33:16,840 --> 00:33:20,520
Speaker 1: Most Valuable Player and you know, it's so icon it

562
00:33:20,520 --> 00:33:23,640
Speaker 1: it's all about the biggest moments in sports. Is the

563
00:33:23,680 --> 00:33:28,760
Speaker 1: most memorable in my career, and you know, it's just

564
00:33:28,800 --> 00:33:30,600
Speaker 1: like it's one of those things where you have to

565
00:33:30,640 --> 00:33:33,640
Speaker 1: pinch yourself because you just can't believe you are actually

566
00:33:33,760 --> 00:33:39,239
Speaker 1: on s I Sports Illustrated and my cover, you know,

567
00:33:39,280 --> 00:33:42,200
Speaker 1: with from my n F t uh. You know, it

568
00:33:42,320 --> 00:33:47,920
Speaker 1: stems from January nineteen ninety against the Minnesota Vikings and

569
00:33:47,960 --> 00:33:50,640
Speaker 1: I think we were fifteen and two the Vikings they

570
00:33:50,680 --> 00:33:53,440
Speaker 1: were ten and seven, and we needed to get past

571
00:33:53,560 --> 00:33:56,560
Speaker 1: them to uh, you know, get to the super Bowl.

572
00:33:57,280 --> 00:34:00,880
Speaker 1: And I remember in that game, I had five catches

573
00:34:01,080 --> 00:34:05,280
Speaker 1: for about a hundred twelve yards and two touchdowns. And

574
00:34:05,880 --> 00:34:09,320
Speaker 1: it's almost like this play it registers in my mind

575
00:34:09,440 --> 00:34:14,160
Speaker 1: because it was called flanker drive and my job is

576
00:34:14,200 --> 00:34:17,200
Speaker 1: to read if it's man to man or if his zone.

577
00:34:17,680 --> 00:34:19,959
Speaker 1: If it's man to man, I keep going. If his zone,

578
00:34:20,000 --> 00:34:22,799
Speaker 1: I just sit down over the ball. And for some

579
00:34:22,880 --> 00:34:26,040
Speaker 1: reason the defense they confused me a little bit, so

580
00:34:26,080 --> 00:34:28,879
Speaker 1: I was unsure and I just set over the ball

581
00:34:28,880 --> 00:34:31,840
Speaker 1: and Joe threw me in the ball. Then I reversed

582
00:34:31,960 --> 00:34:35,640
Speaker 1: feel and I think I went for seventy two yards

583
00:34:35,680 --> 00:34:38,719
Speaker 1: for a touchdown. And uh, you know, that was a

584
00:34:38,800 --> 00:34:41,279
Speaker 1: defining moment in that ball game, and I think it

585
00:34:41,320 --> 00:34:45,160
Speaker 1: really helped us to get past the Minnesota Vikings. That's

586
00:34:45,200 --> 00:34:47,520
Speaker 1: such a cool moment in time, and it's really cool

587
00:34:47,520 --> 00:34:50,040
Speaker 1: that it was captured on the cover. And as you mentioned,

588
00:34:50,200 --> 00:34:51,880
Speaker 1: you've got these n f T s coming out in

589
00:34:51,960 --> 00:34:54,919
Speaker 1: your part of this rollout, along with a whole bunch

590
00:34:55,000 --> 00:34:57,799
Speaker 1: of really famous athletes. We did a Twitter spaces the

591
00:34:57,800 --> 00:34:59,640
Speaker 1: other day with a couple of them with Emmett Smith

592
00:34:59,640 --> 00:35:02,400
Speaker 1: and because but shack has involved Mia hamm When Gretzky,

593
00:35:02,480 --> 00:35:05,360
Speaker 1: Michael Phelps, John McEnroe. Where you can get these Sports

594
00:35:05,360 --> 00:35:08,680
Speaker 1: Illustrated Covers and n f T S. You're part of

595
00:35:08,719 --> 00:35:11,840
Speaker 1: this rollout. Why did you want to be involved in it?

596
00:35:11,960 --> 00:35:14,919
Speaker 1: And what do you think about this new technology? Well,

597
00:35:14,960 --> 00:35:17,680
Speaker 1: I think if we wanted to make it really accessible

598
00:35:17,800 --> 00:35:21,640
Speaker 1: for the fans, stuff's the most important thing. And man,

599
00:35:21,800 --> 00:35:27,280
Speaker 1: it's uh the non uh fungible tokens, and it's something

600
00:35:27,360 --> 00:35:30,400
Speaker 1: that I think the fans. We wanted to make it

601
00:35:30,480 --> 00:35:35,880
Speaker 1: a comfortable form where they could purchase it because you know,

602
00:35:35,960 --> 00:35:38,520
Speaker 1: for so many years, man, it was all about the fans,

603
00:35:38,560 --> 00:35:41,000
Speaker 1: how they inspired me to be the best football player

604
00:35:41,320 --> 00:35:44,520
Speaker 1: that I could possibly be. And it's basically about just

605
00:35:44,680 --> 00:35:48,319
Speaker 1: you know, just giving back. And I'm thankful that s

606
00:35:48,400 --> 00:35:50,880
Speaker 1: I is part of this and I have partnered with

607
00:35:50,920 --> 00:35:53,600
Speaker 1: them because you know, I'm like one of those old

608
00:35:53,640 --> 00:35:56,520
Speaker 1: guys when with n f T S and all of

609
00:35:56,520 --> 00:35:59,160
Speaker 1: that stuff. I don't know exactly how it works in

610
00:35:59,680 --> 00:36:02,719
Speaker 1: all at but I know I have three dep animation

611
00:36:02,960 --> 00:36:06,480
Speaker 1: and the design and uh, you know, it's seriously fun

612
00:36:06,880 --> 00:36:11,560
Speaker 1: and I'm just very fortunate that I have Grace three covers. Yeah,

613
00:36:11,640 --> 00:36:13,719
Speaker 1: it's really cool. You know, when we were doing that

614
00:36:13,719 --> 00:36:16,400
Speaker 1: Twitter spaces with Emmett Smith, he brought this up, and

615
00:36:16,440 --> 00:36:17,799
Speaker 1: I had forgotten about it. I want to go back

616
00:36:17,800 --> 00:36:20,160
Speaker 1: to the actual physical covers that you could hold in

617
00:36:20,200 --> 00:36:21,799
Speaker 1: your hands, because you know, when I was growing up,

618
00:36:21,840 --> 00:36:24,200
Speaker 1: I collected them. I had stacks of them in my room,

619
00:36:24,280 --> 00:36:26,680
Speaker 1: a bunch of them of you and Emmett. And Emmet said, yeah,

620
00:36:26,680 --> 00:36:28,279
Speaker 1: it was a really cool deal to be on the

621
00:36:28,320 --> 00:36:31,000
Speaker 1: cover of s I. But he said, there was also

622
00:36:31,320 --> 00:36:34,840
Speaker 1: this superstition because before there was the Madden video game curse,

623
00:36:35,400 --> 00:36:37,120
Speaker 1: there was the s I cover curse, which I had

624
00:36:37,160 --> 00:36:40,320
Speaker 1: forgotten about. Did you buy into it back then? Uh? Yeah,

625
00:36:40,360 --> 00:36:42,759
Speaker 1: you know with the men, uh, you never wanted to

626
00:36:42,760 --> 00:36:46,200
Speaker 1: be on the cover of Man, you know because the

627
00:36:46,200 --> 00:36:48,920
Speaker 1: majority players, you know, and they we always get injured.

628
00:36:49,040 --> 00:36:52,319
Speaker 1: It was the same way with s I. But you know,

629
00:36:52,440 --> 00:36:55,520
Speaker 1: you somehow you just gotta you gotta battle through that

630
00:36:55,840 --> 00:36:59,239
Speaker 1: and you just got to appreciate what's happening, you know,

631
00:36:59,480 --> 00:37:03,479
Speaker 1: to add sleep be on Sports Illustrated and stuff like that.

632
00:37:04,000 --> 00:37:06,680
Speaker 1: It's like a dream come true because you know, for me,

633
00:37:06,840 --> 00:37:09,719
Speaker 1: coming from Mississippi, I never thought that I would have

634
00:37:09,840 --> 00:37:13,279
Speaker 1: the career that I that I had playing with with

635
00:37:13,360 --> 00:37:18,120
Speaker 1: the greatest UH quarterback ever, Joe Montana with the greatest Owner,

636
00:37:18,239 --> 00:37:21,799
Speaker 1: Eddie de Barlow, the San Francisco forty Niners and all

637
00:37:21,840 --> 00:37:25,359
Speaker 1: of this, you know, became real and uh, I think

638
00:37:25,360 --> 00:37:27,920
Speaker 1: it's the same way with s I. Man, you know

639
00:37:28,040 --> 00:37:31,160
Speaker 1: the appreciation that goes along with that, and in respect

640
00:37:31,680 --> 00:37:35,560
Speaker 1: any any time you you put on the pilaster, like

641
00:37:35,640 --> 00:37:38,640
Speaker 1: you know, with a shack with Wayne Gretsky, with a

642
00:37:39,040 --> 00:37:43,479
Speaker 1: Billy Jean King, with a Mohammed Ali, Emmy Smith, Dick

643
00:37:43,600 --> 00:37:46,480
Speaker 1: Buckets and all of that stuff. Man, you know you'll

644
00:37:46,480 --> 00:37:49,440
Speaker 1: never forget what a less All right, Jerry, you've been

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00:37:49,480 --> 00:37:53,360
Speaker 1: so gracious with your time. Last one for you for Jeopardy.

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00:37:53,360 --> 00:37:54,880
Speaker 1: I don't know if you're a Jeopardy fan, but what

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00:37:55,000 --> 00:37:57,200
Speaker 1: Jeopardy When they do their daily doubles, they bring in

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00:37:57,280 --> 00:38:00,759
Speaker 1: celebrity guests to ask a question. So the first time ever,

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00:38:00,800 --> 00:38:03,719
Speaker 1: we're gonna do the s I Daily Double from the

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00:38:03,760 --> 00:38:06,400
Speaker 1: panel that you did together at the Super Bowl with

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00:38:06,560 --> 00:38:10,360
Speaker 1: Joe Montana. It's NFL Networks Colleen Wolf with the first

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00:38:10,400 --> 00:38:18,240
Speaker 1: ever s I Daily Double. Very great to see you, Okay,

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00:38:18,280 --> 00:38:20,400
Speaker 1: So it was really fun getting to know you working

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00:38:20,440 --> 00:38:22,799
Speaker 1: with you a little bit at Super Bowl. So my

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00:38:22,920 --> 00:38:26,920
Speaker 1: question is if you could go back and change anything

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00:38:27,239 --> 00:38:31,080
Speaker 1: about the covers that you did. Would you change anything?

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00:38:31,120 --> 00:38:32,840
Speaker 1: What would you do? I mean, we saw Evan Smith

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00:38:33,160 --> 00:38:35,759
Speaker 1: in a hot tub, very iconic, and I know that

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00:38:35,840 --> 00:38:38,720
Speaker 1: you you have a lot of swag, You're always making

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00:38:38,760 --> 00:38:41,880
Speaker 1: fashion statements. If you could change anything or do it again,

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00:38:41,960 --> 00:38:44,720
Speaker 1: what would you do different? You know, I think certain

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00:38:44,719 --> 00:38:47,160
Speaker 1: things you just can't mess with that, just like certain

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00:38:47,400 --> 00:38:51,200
Speaker 1: you know, movies you can duplicate. Uh, you know. With

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Speaker 1: the s I, I think it's just something about being

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00:38:54,520 --> 00:38:59,400
Speaker 1: on that magazine and it defines everything. And I wouldn't

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00:38:59,440 --> 00:39:02,480
Speaker 1: change anything. And you know, I get asked all the time,

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00:39:02,520 --> 00:39:05,879
Speaker 1: they said, well about the old era and the new

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00:39:05,920 --> 00:39:08,720
Speaker 1: era of football. You know what you prefer to play

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00:39:08,719 --> 00:39:11,520
Speaker 1: in the new era of football? No, I would prefer

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00:39:11,600 --> 00:39:14,680
Speaker 1: to play in in the old era. And the reason

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00:39:14,680 --> 00:39:16,680
Speaker 1: why I say that is that, you know, you had

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00:39:16,719 --> 00:39:18,560
Speaker 1: to fight for everything. You had to be like a

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00:39:18,600 --> 00:39:21,440
Speaker 1: glad eater on the football field. You had to establish

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00:39:21,520 --> 00:39:24,759
Speaker 1: yourself and even if the ball was not coming your way,

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00:39:25,000 --> 00:39:28,040
Speaker 1: you you know, you had to defend yourself. It was

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Speaker 1: that type of football. So, you know, I think it's

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Speaker 1: the same thing with the s I. You know, it's

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00:39:32,680 --> 00:39:36,160
Speaker 1: certain things that you can't change. He's a Hall of Famer.

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00:39:36,200 --> 00:39:38,440
Speaker 1: He's been on the cover of Sports Illustrated many times,

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00:39:38,440 --> 00:39:41,680
Speaker 1: and now he's been on Sports Illustrated Weekly. Jerry Rice,

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00:39:41,719 --> 00:39:43,880
Speaker 1: we thank you for this Hall of Fame interview and

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00:39:44,080 --> 00:39:46,279
Speaker 1: thank you guys for putting up with me. I appreciate it.

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00:39:46,680 --> 00:39:59,320
Speaker 1: You have the absolute thank you. Sports Illustrated Weekly is

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00:39:59,360 --> 00:40:02,839
Speaker 1: a production Sports Illustrated and I Heart Radio. For more

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00:40:02,880 --> 00:40:06,040
Speaker 1: podcasts from I Heart Radio, visit the I Heart Radio app,

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00:40:06,280 --> 00:40:09,920
Speaker 1: Apple podcast, or wherever you get your favorite shows. And

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00:40:10,000 --> 00:40:12,719
Speaker 1: for more of Sports Illustrated It's best stories and podcasts,

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00:40:13,080 --> 00:40:16,600
Speaker 1: visit SI dot com. This episode of Sports Illustrated Weekly

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00:40:16,640 --> 00:40:20,080
Speaker 1: was produced by Cooper McKim, Jessica your Moski, and Isaac Lee,

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00:40:20,120 --> 00:40:23,600
Speaker 1: who was also our sound engineer. Our senior producer is

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00:40:23,640 --> 00:40:27,279
Speaker 1: Dan Bloom. Our executive producers are Scott Brody and me

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00:40:27,640 --> 00:40:32,000
Speaker 1: John Gonzalez. Our theme song is by Nolan Schneider. Thanks

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00:40:32,000 --> 00:40:34,120
Speaker 1: for listening, and if you've stuck around this long, we

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00:40:34,280 --> 00:40:45,840
Speaker 1: leave you with this, Jerry, what are they doing? I

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00:40:45,960 --> 00:40:50,040
Speaker 1: know there's I have no hair, all my hair out