WEBVTT - Nick Wright REACTS to Aaron Rodgers' comments on Pat McAfee show 0:00:05.519 --> 0:00:08.239 Welcome in. We'll driving the cred episode for eighty eight, 0:00:08.360 --> 0:00:11.560 our Friday episode that I always tell you guys, we 0:00:11.600 --> 0:00:15.400 record on Thursdays. So if between now and when you 0:00:15.400 --> 0:00:19.680 guys hear this there's crazy breaking news, my apologies. We 0:00:19.720 --> 0:00:22.479 won't have it in today's episode. The last time we 0:00:22.520 --> 0:00:26.320 did something like this, between when we recorded the episodes 0:00:26.520 --> 0:00:28.960 and when you guys heard them, the breaking news was 0:00:29.040 --> 0:00:33.440 Lebron James to the Sixers. I was already out of 0:00:33.440 --> 0:00:37.879 the country. I don't think that's gonna happen again. Today's 0:00:37.880 --> 0:00:39.800 shows brought to you, as always by our friends at 0:00:39.840 --> 0:00:42.640 Boost Mobile. I don't even think on Thursday's episode I 0:00:42.640 --> 0:00:44.599 mentioned this one time, but it does help us out 0:00:44.640 --> 0:00:47.879 if you subscribe to the show. Also, just a reminder, 0:00:47.920 --> 0:00:51.960 next week, we will bring to you your regularly scheduled episodes. 0:00:52.000 --> 0:00:53.760 Then we are off for two weeks, but I have 0:00:53.800 --> 0:00:58.520 some ideas for what we might populate your podcast feeds 0:00:58.600 --> 0:01:02.280 with while we are off. Demons also will be back 0:01:02.560 --> 0:01:06.000 next week back you know, done with his final piece 0:01:06.040 --> 0:01:08.760 of his paternity leave, so we will have the full 0:01:08.840 --> 0:01:12.560 crew back with us next week. On today's show, we 0:01:12.640 --> 0:01:16.120 are going to do four separate things we're not doing 0:01:16.120 --> 0:01:20.600 a mail bag today. Four separate topics that are you know, 0:01:21.080 --> 0:01:26.640 it's actually kind of three sports, one non sport. The 0:01:26.680 --> 0:01:28.480 sports we are going to discuss at some point in 0:01:28.520 --> 0:01:33.600 our baseball, international soccer, the pro Football Hall of Fame, 0:01:34.080 --> 0:01:37.880 and we're gonna start the show. There is no straight 0:01:38.040 --> 0:01:40.120 voicemail brought to bout our friends on Boost Mobile, as 0:01:40.160 --> 0:01:42.959 there never is on Fridays. We're gonna start the show 0:01:43.640 --> 0:01:49.960 with a little bit on broadcasting accepted norms. I guess 0:01:50.000 --> 0:01:55.280 at this point in relation to the Rogers' latest appearance 0:01:55.360 --> 0:02:01.040 on Pat McAfee, Now I don't I don't think. In fact, 0:02:01.080 --> 0:02:05.320 I know nothing I have planned here over the next 0:02:05.360 --> 0:02:09.320 ten minutes. So when we're discussing this, to me qualifies 0:02:10.000 --> 0:02:13.680 as even quasi political. That is not the piece of 0:02:13.720 --> 0:02:22.840 this that I am interested in for our purposes. It certainly, however, 0:02:23.200 --> 0:02:29.400 is not x's and oh's sports stuff. And I'm saying 0:02:29.400 --> 0:02:32.119 that on the front end for a reason that will 0:02:32.160 --> 0:02:34.480 make more sense as we get to the back end 0:02:34.520 --> 0:02:37.800 of it, because it's one of my kind of broadcasting 0:02:37.919 --> 0:02:42.919 notes on it. But Rogers went on McAfee and decided 0:02:42.960 --> 0:02:45.160 to do a bit of you know, the greatest hits, 0:02:45.720 --> 0:02:50.200 and it was fresh off doctor Anthony Falci's appearance for 0:02:50.400 --> 0:02:54.480 Congress where he pled the fifth and didn't want to 0:02:54.520 --> 0:02:57.840 talk to them, and so Rogers did something similar to 0:02:57.919 --> 0:03:02.200 what Vic Fangio did from the Eagles podium, which is 0:03:02.520 --> 0:03:06.000 decided this was the right time in the place to 0:03:06.040 --> 0:03:10.680 discuss how COVID was dealt with and doctor Fauci from 0:03:10.960 --> 0:03:18.040 five six years ago. Fine Soviet a few things on 0:03:18.200 --> 0:03:22.880 Rogers before we get to the what I think is 0:03:22.919 --> 0:03:25.079 the most interesting piece of this. But I just want 0:03:25.080 --> 0:03:28.040 to do this on the front end because I've said 0:03:28.040 --> 0:03:33.799 this before, but I want to reiterate it here. Aaron 0:03:33.919 --> 0:03:41.640 Rodgers has created an alternate universe where he was the 0:03:41.640 --> 0:03:47.200 only athlete who decided not to get the vaccine and 0:03:47.240 --> 0:03:53.240 that he paid a massive price for it, when that 0:03:53.440 --> 0:04:01.160 is not at all what happened. Aaron Rodgers, at least 0:04:01.200 --> 0:04:06.840 in most media circles, was not heavily criticized at all 0:04:08.000 --> 0:04:11.120 for and listen to the words I'm saying here the 0:04:11.240 --> 0:04:17.000 decision not to get the vaccine, because unlike in the NBA, 0:04:17.440 --> 0:04:21.440 where if you didn't get the vaccine there were real penalties, 0:04:21.880 --> 0:04:24.880 like Kyrie, it wasn't really an NBA thing as much 0:04:24.920 --> 0:04:28.200 as was a New York City thing where Kyrie couldn't 0:04:28.240 --> 0:04:32.000 play home games with the nets because of the city regulations. 0:04:32.040 --> 0:04:35.880 That wasn't an NBA rule because he was allowed to 0:04:35.880 --> 0:04:40.880 play road games. That whole thing was very weird. In 0:04:40.920 --> 0:04:45.160 the NFL, A lot of guys we still don't know 0:04:45.240 --> 0:04:48.520 who all did and didn't get the vaccine. We kind 0:04:48.560 --> 0:04:52.080 of could piece together if you remember the COVID times 0:04:53.120 --> 0:04:57.039 you had. There were different rules as far as if 0:04:57.080 --> 0:05:01.560 you tested positive, what the the protocol was, as far 0:05:01.600 --> 0:05:05.960 as how much time you had to miss, and what 0:05:06.040 --> 0:05:08.320 the rules were, as far as I think masking and 0:05:08.400 --> 0:05:12.640 other things, whether you were vaccinated or not. And because 0:05:12.680 --> 0:05:14.680 of that, you know, people piece together. Oh, I don't 0:05:14.720 --> 0:05:17.720 think Lamar got the vaccine. There were some other quarterbacks. 0:05:17.720 --> 0:05:19.600 There are a bunch of players that didn't get it, 0:05:20.000 --> 0:05:22.400 and you only knew about it because their COVID protocol 0:05:22.440 --> 0:05:25.719 was different than someone else's COVID protocol. Again, it is 0:05:25.800 --> 0:05:29.359 twenty twenty six. I am not interested in relitigating any 0:05:29.400 --> 0:05:33.200 of those things. The only reason I even bring any 0:05:33.279 --> 0:05:39.200 of that up is because Aaron has created It feels 0:05:39.240 --> 0:05:44.000 to me this fake universe of murderdom where he took 0:05:44.000 --> 0:05:46.400 a stand no one else was willing to take, and 0:05:46.440 --> 0:05:49.080 he paid heavy price for it. It's not what fucking happened. 0:05:50.160 --> 0:05:56.200 Aaron got criticized because he lied without directly lying, knew 0:05:56.240 --> 0:06:01.440 he was doing it, and people didn't like that that 0:06:01.600 --> 0:06:04.560 instead of having the courage of his convictions he has 0:06:04.800 --> 0:06:11.080 now six years ago, when in the moment he could 0:06:11.120 --> 0:06:13.839 have as a League MVP, as one of the greatest 0:06:13.839 --> 0:06:18.080 players ever, took this stand that he felt was a brave, important, 0:06:18.120 --> 0:06:21.920 thoughtful stand that he thought could save lives all these things. 0:06:22.440 --> 0:06:26.680 He instead passed the buck, did a little play on words, yeah, 0:06:26.680 --> 0:06:31.040 I've been immunized, and then kept that ruse running until 0:06:31.040 --> 0:06:36.360 he got caught. That's what he was criticized for. He 0:06:36.400 --> 0:06:43.240 then got more and more criticized, not for a decision 0:06:43.760 --> 0:06:49.039 that was not at all incredibly out of the mainstream 0:06:49.560 --> 0:06:52.200 to choose not to get vaccinated. He got more and 0:06:52.240 --> 0:06:58.960 more criticized because he wouldn't stop talking about this years later, 0:07:00.640 --> 0:07:06.320 and then kept upping the ante on his kooky conspiratorial 0:07:06.400 --> 0:07:09.600 stuff when he tried to bring Jimmy Kimmel into the 0:07:09.640 --> 0:07:15.760 Epstein list and the other nonsense he tried to pedal 0:07:15.840 --> 0:07:18.400 us or have his friends in the media pedal us 0:07:18.440 --> 0:07:22.400 about how he's playing safety and for the scout team 0:07:22.440 --> 0:07:24.920 and got an interception for the Jets when he was 0:07:25.000 --> 0:07:27.880 month removed from the Achilles, and how he might come 0:07:27.920 --> 0:07:31.560 back within the same season, and just all this just 0:07:31.760 --> 0:07:36.160 mouth vomit bullshit that people got sick of to go 0:07:36.240 --> 0:07:40.000 on top of the fact that he didn't seem to 0:07:40.000 --> 0:07:42.080 be a very good leader, a lot of pointing fingers 0:07:42.080 --> 0:07:48.040 instead of pointing thumbs. All of those reasons are why 0:07:46.680 --> 0:07:54.440 he went from I think, relatively popular to relatively unpopular. 0:07:55.000 --> 0:08:01.440 And he has convinced himself and is I think trying 0:08:01.480 --> 0:08:07.360 to convince others. Oh, no, it's only because I didn't 0:08:07.400 --> 0:08:11.280 get the vaccine. No, vak Djokovic didn't get the vaccine. 0:08:11.880 --> 0:08:14.560 Now you can the only reason I bring that up. 0:08:14.560 --> 0:08:16.239 You can say it's unfair that he had to miss 0:08:16.240 --> 0:08:19.280 tournaments that if you want to argue whether or not 0:08:19.720 --> 0:08:23.840 those regulations were right or wrong, and if you think 0:08:24.240 --> 0:08:29.160 that your reading of doctor Fauci pleading the fifth is evidence, 0:08:29.720 --> 0:08:34.480 I am not, certainly in this setting, and maybe in 0:08:34.520 --> 0:08:37.600 any setting, really interested in having any of those debates. 0:08:37.760 --> 0:08:40.320 And if folks think that's because I think that I'm 0:08:40.360 --> 0:08:42.920 on the wrong side of it. You're wrong. I'm just 0:08:43.559 --> 0:08:50.600 I'm I'm not interested in it. But those are those 0:08:50.640 --> 0:08:53.960 are legitimate debates, and if people are interested in having them, 0:08:54.160 --> 0:08:58.160 they should have them. Whether or not they should be 0:08:58.200 --> 0:09:02.400 having them on ESPN at twelve thirty in the afternoon 0:09:02.480 --> 0:09:06.480 is a different discussion, which brings me to where I 0:09:06.520 --> 0:09:08.520 really wanted to go with this, But I did just 0:09:08.559 --> 0:09:10.680 want to set the record trail on the first. First 0:09:10.720 --> 0:09:19.320 of all, that Aaron Rodgers, who lack of personal accountability 0:09:19.360 --> 0:09:25.120 has become an absolute trademark of the last five years 0:09:25.160 --> 0:09:27.920 of his career up to an including. I mean, it 0:09:28.040 --> 0:09:32.000 was so much disingenuous bullshit that everybody remember this one. 0:09:32.640 --> 0:09:35.679 Everybody knows you gotta FaceTime me. I don't have phone 0:09:35.760 --> 0:09:40.200 surface I was ninety percent retired. And then I would like, 0:09:40.480 --> 0:09:47.679 there was just so much obvious bullshit that he just became, 0:09:47.960 --> 0:09:51.480 for a lot of us, a non credible person, and 0:09:51.559 --> 0:09:54.960 instead of taking any accountability for any of that, He's like, Nope, 0:09:55.480 --> 0:09:58.720 I just bravely wouldn't get that toxic shot. And now 0:09:58.760 --> 0:10:01.320 I've been proven right, you all owe me an apology 0:10:01.360 --> 0:10:08.960 it's just such a nonsense. But now to the broadcasting 0:10:09.000 --> 0:10:15.920 piece of it, because I have two major points to 0:10:16.000 --> 0:10:26.680 make here. The first one is about how the overten window, 0:10:26.760 --> 0:10:34.760 if you will, has moved on political topics on sports television, 0:10:37.440 --> 0:10:41.400 and this is one. And I do not hide everybody 0:10:41.440 --> 0:10:46.080 who is listens to this podcast, watches this podcast, has 0:10:46.120 --> 0:10:51.360 had any knows, you know, just a passing knowledge of 0:10:51.400 --> 0:10:53.760 me deeper than it's one of the guys on TV 0:10:55.400 --> 0:11:02.000 knows my politics. I am very old, openly and proudly 0:11:03.000 --> 0:11:11.559 progressive liberal. I vote as such, maybe not in every 0:11:11.760 --> 0:11:17.319 single possible election locally, municipally, everything. I don't just click 0:11:17.360 --> 0:11:21.760 the one thing st you know, party line, ballot or whatever. 0:11:22.040 --> 0:11:26.040 But I had a pretty you know, I have a 0:11:26.320 --> 0:11:30.559 I'm quite proud of my voting track record on causes 0:11:30.600 --> 0:11:35.640 and parties and politicians. I believe in if that if 0:11:35.679 --> 0:11:40.199 you are a person that that makes you unable to 0:11:41.280 --> 0:11:45.920 stomach my take on whether or not you know Cooper 0:11:46.000 --> 0:11:49.640 flag is gonna win an MVP, then you know, good luck, 0:11:49.679 --> 0:11:55.560 God bless But I don't hide it. But I also 0:11:55.720 --> 0:12:02.480 don't at every opportunity, in fact and rare opportunities these days, 0:12:03.720 --> 0:12:08.640 when sports and politics seemed to come together. Do I 0:12:08.720 --> 0:12:15.440 opt into getting into it, and that is for two reasons. 0:12:17.120 --> 0:12:19.400 First one is a pretty simple one that I've talked 0:12:19.400 --> 0:12:26.400 about before, and that first one is that because right 0:12:26.440 --> 0:12:29.959 when the TV show started, there was a lot of 0:12:30.080 --> 0:12:35.080 political sports political talk on TV, in large part because 0:12:35.080 --> 0:12:39.839 of Kaepernick. You couldn't avoid the Kaepernick story. That was inherently, 0:12:41.520 --> 0:12:44.800 you know, a political story in part, and there's a 0:12:44.840 --> 0:12:50.240 ton of it. And I think after that the door 0:12:50.280 --> 0:12:54.400 opened even wider for other things that aren't Kaepernick related, 0:12:55.280 --> 0:12:57.520 where people felt comfortable eye of a platform. I'm going 0:12:57.559 --> 0:13:01.240 to talk about it, and I use this podcast for that. 0:13:02.280 --> 0:13:08.480 When I feel deeply passionate about something. On the TV show, 0:13:08.520 --> 0:13:11.839 we basically never do it. I think the only time 0:13:11.880 --> 0:13:15.400 we've done it in the last three years was when 0:13:15.480 --> 0:13:19.920 we were doing a show from the Chiefs Parade. There 0:13:19.960 --> 0:13:23.200 was a mass shooting that we heard the gunshots of. 0:13:23.320 --> 0:13:27.880 We're evacuated out of We're for you know, our real 0:13:28.960 --> 0:13:34.080 experience of that, and that obviously, at least for me, 0:13:34.960 --> 0:13:37.360 becomes in part of gun story. So I'm going to 0:13:37.440 --> 0:13:39.760 talk about that there. But we do it very rarely, 0:13:40.600 --> 0:13:43.400 and there are two major reasons for that, and the 0:13:43.400 --> 0:13:45.440 first one is this. And this is why I gave 0:13:45.520 --> 0:13:52.280 that little disclaimer at the beginning. It was my own 0:13:52.480 --> 0:13:59.600 reaction to tuning into a sports show that not only 0:13:59.640 --> 0:14:03.040 I like, but this was the most This was the 0:14:03.080 --> 0:14:08.120 moment of clarity for me that I agreed with the 0:14:08.280 --> 0:14:13.040 host's politics, that I thought he was on the right 0:14:13.120 --> 0:14:17.080 side of the major issues that on the topic he 0:14:17.200 --> 0:14:23.000 was discussing. I agreed with everything he was saying, and 0:14:23.040 --> 0:14:27.920 I was bummed out it's what he was doing because 0:14:30.520 --> 0:14:34.320 it wasn't where my brain was at the time. Not 0:14:34.360 --> 0:14:37.560 even not that my brain wasn't agreeing with him, it 0:14:37.680 --> 0:14:44.600 was not what I was looking forward to. The only like, again, 0:14:44.720 --> 0:14:49.640 to very messily mixed metaphors, it would be if you 0:14:49.920 --> 0:14:57.720 absolutely love chile and SeaBASS, it's one of your favorite dishes, 0:14:58.880 --> 0:15:06.040 you find yourself craving it at times, and you go 0:15:06.200 --> 0:15:11.880 to Taco Bell, which you also like, in order three 0:15:11.920 --> 0:15:16.200 hard tacos and a chicken Quesadia, and they come out 0:15:16.240 --> 0:15:23.440 and give you a perfectly prepared Chilean sea bass, even 0:15:23.480 --> 0:15:26.880 if typically you love it, in the moment, you're like, well, 0:15:26.880 --> 0:15:31.360 that's not what I wanted. I was looking for. This 0:15:31.440 --> 0:15:38.080 You gave me that. And then imagine if you absolutely 0:15:38.240 --> 0:15:42.240 hate Chilean sea bass and you go to Taco Bell 0:15:42.280 --> 0:15:44.400 and you make your order and they give it to you, 0:15:44.680 --> 0:15:47.680 how pissed you're gonna be. And in that moment, when 0:15:47.720 --> 0:15:50.400 I heard someone I like who I agreed with what 0:15:50.440 --> 0:15:53.000 they were saying, I agreed with their politics, and yet 0:15:53.000 --> 0:15:54.960 I was still disappointed they were doing it, I was like, Oh, 0:15:54.960 --> 0:16:00.280 I should do it less because the people who hate 0:16:00.280 --> 0:16:03.600 everything I'm saying or gonna be pissed, and a decent 0:16:03.680 --> 0:16:07.240 portion of the people who agree with what I'm saying, 0:16:07.360 --> 0:16:08.720 they're not gonna be pissed, but they're gonna be a 0:16:08.720 --> 0:16:12.600 little disappointed. I was like. And so that to me 0:16:12.720 --> 0:16:16.120 was like a light bulb moment, like, Okay, if that's 0:16:16.120 --> 0:16:17.760 how I'm reacting, that to a lot of people will 0:16:17.800 --> 0:16:20.200 be reacting. Which is why I try to be very 0:16:20.280 --> 0:16:27.040 judicious on these platforms, more liberal about it pun intended, 0:16:27.080 --> 0:16:29.720 I guess here than on the TV show. But even 0:16:29.760 --> 0:16:34.920 here I have to be very very passionate about something 0:16:35.800 --> 0:16:39.440 to where it or I or either very passionate, and 0:16:39.440 --> 0:16:42.560 these are usually wrapped together or feel like, you know what, 0:16:42.680 --> 0:16:45.840 I have something to say that's important, and no one 0:16:45.880 --> 0:16:53.200 else has said it. Like people ask me sometimes privately 0:16:53.840 --> 0:16:57.520 why I don't talk, whether it's just you know, on 0:16:57.600 --> 0:17:03.800 this or on Twitter or whatever about Trump more. And 0:17:05.720 --> 0:17:07.720 there's a couple of reasons, one of which is my 0:17:07.840 --> 0:17:09.520 second point that I'm gonna get to in a moment. 0:17:12.000 --> 0:17:14.040 But one of them is like, yeah, you know what, 0:17:14.640 --> 0:17:19.520 I think that beats pretty well covered. I very rarely 0:17:20.480 --> 0:17:23.639 have an opinion of the current president that I feel like, 0:17:23.880 --> 0:17:28.600 you know what, no one has said this. It is 0:17:28.640 --> 0:17:33.600 a unique individual thought that I get like, nobody has 0:17:33.640 --> 0:17:38.919 made this point, and so I don't, you know, I 0:17:38.920 --> 0:17:44.440 don't know how much my voice would add rather than 0:17:44.480 --> 0:17:48.400 just being like the chorus on you know, certain things 0:17:48.400 --> 0:17:50.480 for people to see the world in a certain way. 0:17:50.680 --> 0:17:52.879 So that's one of the reasons. But here's the other reason. 0:17:54.520 --> 0:17:59.840 And this kind of is tied up a little in 0:18:01.080 --> 0:18:12.800 what's happening currently in the WNBA, which is the stick 0:18:12.920 --> 0:18:28.080 to sports folks one and they they won so resoundingly, 0:18:30.160 --> 0:18:34.520 they got more than they actually initially were asking for. 0:18:35.160 --> 0:18:38.399 Because I do believe and I think, listen, things are cyclical. 0:18:38.520 --> 0:18:41.080 I think we've swung one way, we'll swing back another 0:18:41.119 --> 0:18:44.040 At some point like very rarely will we be in 0:18:44.119 --> 0:18:48.960 a proper equilibrium. I do think there was a period 0:18:49.000 --> 0:18:54.000 of time where the only, not the only, but the 0:18:54.160 --> 0:19:01.440 vast majority of either political or rarely was outright political, 0:19:01.480 --> 0:19:07.320 but politically adjacent commentary you heard on sports TV was 0:19:07.560 --> 0:19:13.560 progressive or liberal viewpoints that if people were not sticking 0:19:13.600 --> 0:19:16.639 to sports, it was saying a lot of stuff that 0:19:16.720 --> 0:19:22.159 I personally agreed with. We have now swung in the 0:19:22.240 --> 0:19:29.840 other direction to where I think folks who see the 0:19:29.840 --> 0:19:33.320 world the way I do have been coled a bit. 0:19:35.840 --> 0:19:40.320 We are not quite as vocal, We pick our spots more, 0:19:42.040 --> 0:19:46.520 if at all, and folks who see the world the 0:19:46.640 --> 0:19:55.680 opposite are more emboldened than ever before. Whether it's boomerasiasin 0:19:55.920 --> 0:19:59.200 using his platform number one radio show in the biggest 0:19:59.200 --> 0:20:07.240 market in America to regularly regularly talk politics, whether it's 0:20:08.320 --> 0:20:12.879 the UFC as an entity holding an event, you know, 0:20:13.560 --> 0:20:20.800 at the White House and Dana White doing all the 0:20:20.880 --> 0:20:33.720 Dana White stuff, or whether it just be folks kind 0:20:33.800 --> 0:20:41.719 of just accepting that whatever the wild liberal athlete version 0:20:41.760 --> 0:20:50.040 of Aaron Rodgers is would just never have the latitude 0:20:50.080 --> 0:20:57.679 of open mic Night during ESPN's afternoon block we like. 0:20:59.040 --> 0:21:02.520 It's just it's swung this way, and maybe it swung 0:21:02.600 --> 0:21:07.200 too far this way eight years ago, and it swung 0:21:07.240 --> 0:21:09.600 too far this way now and maybe you're trying to 0:21:09.640 --> 0:21:11.440 catch it in the middle. Well, never, it'll just swing 0:21:11.520 --> 0:21:15.600 back my thought on it. But here's the other here's 0:21:15.640 --> 0:21:22.240 the point, the the bigger point I'm making about the 0:21:22.320 --> 0:21:24.720 stick to sports folks, And this is what we're seeing 0:21:24.760 --> 0:21:29.800 in the WNBA. And this is what is really interesting 0:21:29.840 --> 0:21:35.720 to me. The stick to sports folks didn't actually mean it. 0:21:38.880 --> 0:21:46.120 And now that Caitlyn Clark is begging people to let 0:21:46.119 --> 0:21:53.760 her stick to sports, they're pissed because what they actually 0:21:53.800 --> 0:21:56.280 meant was if you disagree with me, stick to sports. 0:21:56.320 --> 0:21:58.320 But if you agree with me, you have an obligation 0:21:58.480 --> 0:22:03.040 to speak on it. And that has been a very 0:22:03.080 --> 0:22:08.399 fascinating thing to see play out in real time, that 0:22:11.000 --> 0:22:16.480 these folks who never gave two shits about Sophie Cunningham. 0:22:16.520 --> 0:22:25.320 Three weeks ago she comes out and speaks her piece 0:22:25.440 --> 0:22:32.720 on what she believes transgender athletes place in sports. Is 0:22:35.040 --> 0:22:41.000 the sick to sports crowd is like perfect, aimen totally 0:22:41.040 --> 0:22:47.000 agree with you. Let's have that conversation. Let's let's let's 0:22:47.040 --> 0:22:50.560 talk is there. Does it apply to the w NBA 0:22:50.720 --> 0:22:53.159 right now? Of course not. Is there a player that 0:22:53.200 --> 0:22:56.400 we're talking about that is, you know, draft eligible next 0:22:56.480 --> 0:23:00.520 year whose gender identity is in question? No, definitely not. 0:23:01.600 --> 0:23:06.160 Is there any relevance to this WNBA season on the court. No, 0:23:06.240 --> 0:23:10.199 But this is an argument I want to have. We 0:23:10.280 --> 0:23:14.959 have a popular player saying what I agree with, preach 0:23:15.800 --> 0:23:19.280 and in fact, teammate Caitlyn Clark. You got the biggest 0:23:19.320 --> 0:23:22.280 megaphone of them all. You agree with her? Right? Oh, 0:23:22.320 --> 0:23:26.720 you don't want to talk about it, you coward. It's 0:23:26.720 --> 0:23:41.120 been really fascinating to see, and I I am really 0:23:41.200 --> 0:23:50.000 interested in if Caitlyn's able to do it, if she 0:23:52.080 --> 0:23:56.400 can hold her water on I truly do just want 0:23:56.440 --> 0:24:02.000 to stick to sports. Call me the Michael Jordan of 0:24:02.040 --> 0:24:06.400 the WNBA. Everybody buys sneakers. I'm not trying to get 0:24:06.480 --> 0:24:11.040 dragged into it. If these folks turn on her because 0:24:11.040 --> 0:24:14.959 she has been an avatar for them, Caitlyn Clark has 0:24:14.960 --> 0:24:20.239 been turned into a caricature by folks, by extremists on 0:24:20.320 --> 0:24:22.919 both sides of the political aisle, in my opinion, and 0:24:23.000 --> 0:24:25.720 I'm not a both sides guy. I do not think 0:24:25.800 --> 0:24:28.159 like we have equal problems with I do not believe 0:24:28.160 --> 0:24:31.960 that at all. I do believe that Caitlyn Clark specifically 0:24:33.760 --> 0:24:40.159 has been turned into a person that she may or 0:24:40.200 --> 0:24:44.440 may not be by folks who love her and hate her. 0:24:44.760 --> 0:24:47.480 And the person that she has been turned into by 0:24:47.480 --> 0:24:50.040 people who hate her is the exact opposite person that 0:24:50.080 --> 0:24:52.680 she was. There might be the same person that she's 0:24:52.720 --> 0:24:54.879 been turned into by people who love her. I'm not sure. 0:24:55.000 --> 0:24:58.600 Whatever it is, it's it has not been her own doing, 0:24:59.680 --> 0:25:04.119 and she wants to stick to sports, and these people 0:25:04.119 --> 0:25:12.000 are pissed about it, and that's fascinating to me. Talk 0:25:12.040 --> 0:25:14.920 a little NFL Hall of Fame. Today's show is brought 0:25:14.920 --> 0:25:17.600 to you by presenting sponsor, a Hard Rock Bet sportsbook. 0:25:18.040 --> 0:25:21.320 Some sports fans call this the slow period until football season, 0:25:21.359 --> 0:25:24.560 but on a hard Rock Bet, we call it baseball season. 0:25:24.600 --> 0:25:27.399 This summer hard Rock Bet has the hottest betting odds 0:25:27.480 --> 0:25:29.840 in Florida. And listen, if you're a real better, this 0:25:30.040 --> 0:25:35.159 is legitimately valuable. The ten cent summer sale, whether you 0:25:35.240 --> 0:25:39.359 call it big juice fee, whatever it is, they're cutting 0:25:39.440 --> 0:25:42.560 it out on their bets all summer long winter spreads 0:25:42.640 --> 0:25:45.960 over under pregame baseball bets, same bets, better odds. If 0:25:46.000 --> 0:25:48.040 you're ready to step into the batter's box, sign up 0:25:48.240 --> 0:25:50.760 with Hard Rock Bet today. Place a five dollar bet. 0:25:50.760 --> 0:25:52.920 If it wins, you get one hundred fifty dollars in 0:25:53.000 --> 0:25:55.320 bonus bets on top of your winnings. That's right, an 0:25:55.320 --> 0:25:58.080 extra one hundred fifty dollars in your account. Sure, Hard 0:25:58.160 --> 0:26:00.600 Rock Bet is Florida's only legal sports book, but you 0:26:00.640 --> 0:26:02.600 don't have to be in Florida. Joined the party. Hard 0:26:02.680 --> 0:26:08.080 Rock Bet is live in Arizona, Ohio, New Jersey, Indiana, Tennessee, Virginia, Illinois, Colorado, 0:26:08.119 --> 0:26:11.600 and Michigan, with more states on the way. So grab 0:26:11.640 --> 0:26:14.880 your bat, swing for the fences all August long during 0:26:14.880 --> 0:26:19.040 Hard Rock Bet Hard Rock Bets ten cents summersaal. Download 0:26:19.119 --> 0:26:22.040 the Hard Rock Bet app today and roll with us. 0:26:22.119 --> 0:26:27.240 All right, So we have done exceptionally well on this 0:26:27.320 --> 0:26:31.120 show historically of predicting the Pro Football Hall of Fame, 0:26:31.200 --> 0:26:34.600 we normally do it when the list of twenty five 0:26:34.680 --> 0:26:38.480 semifinalists comes out. Two years ago, when it was down 0:26:38.520 --> 0:26:42.320 to twenty five semifinalists, we got the five Hall of 0:26:42.320 --> 0:26:48.159 Famers exactly right. Last year, I believe we got four 0:26:48.200 --> 0:26:54.520 of them right. But regardless, last year's class Drew Brees, Fitzgerald, 0:26:54.600 --> 0:26:57.920 Keith Lee, Viniti, and Roger Craig. There was a whole 0:26:57.920 --> 0:27:01.920 debate last year about whether or not Crafter Belichick would 0:27:02.000 --> 0:27:05.360 get in, and the answer was neither one of them. 0:27:06.280 --> 0:27:14.520 And we now have a great example as to why 0:27:14.600 --> 0:27:17.480 the NFL Hall of Fame, the Pro Football Hall of Fame, 0:27:18.320 --> 0:27:22.679 is the best hall of fame and why when people 0:27:22.760 --> 0:27:28.359 throw around future Hall of Famer willy nilly, they are 0:27:29.200 --> 0:27:39.639 so often mistaken because not only is this Hall of 0:27:39.680 --> 0:27:45.240 Fame hard to get into, it feels impossible to get into. 0:27:47.040 --> 0:27:52.000 So here's the deal of the non senior candidates and 0:27:52.520 --> 0:27:57.080 just the players, not senior candidate players and not contributors. 0:27:57.800 --> 0:28:02.920 It is a maximum of five eligible a year. Okay, 0:28:03.320 --> 0:28:08.720 so last year, guys who didn't I'm just gonna give 0:28:08.760 --> 0:28:14.520 you the list real quick. Twenty five semifinalists who did 0:28:14.560 --> 0:28:21.840 not make the fifteen finalists. Okay, these guys were semifinalists. 0:28:21.880 --> 0:28:27.680 They didn't make the finals last year. Lomas Brown, Rodney Harrison, 0:28:27.840 --> 0:28:34.640 Robert Mathis, Philip Rivers, Steve Smith, Senior, Fred Taylor, Earl Thomas, Hines, 0:28:34.720 --> 0:28:40.960 Ward Richmond Webb, Vince will Fork, Steve Wisnowski, they didn't 0:28:40.960 --> 0:28:49.520 even make the first cut last year. Finalists that did 0:28:49.560 --> 0:28:56.720 not make the final eight last year, Okay, they were 0:28:57.440 --> 0:29:03.880 as follows, Jarr Evan, Frank Gore, Tory Holt who's been 0:29:03.920 --> 0:29:12.680 waiting forever, Eli Manning, Reggie Wayne, Kevin Williams, Jason Witten, 0:29:13.520 --> 0:29:20.640 Darren Woodson. Finalists who made the final eight but did 0:29:20.680 --> 0:29:28.880 not get in Terrelle Suggs, Willie Anderson Marshall Yonda. All right, 0:29:28.920 --> 0:29:34.440 so you might feel like, Okay, so Suggs Anderson Yonda 0:29:34.960 --> 0:29:38.160 are in better shape than certainly the semi finalists that 0:29:38.160 --> 0:29:45.400 didn't make it. But then also Jarry Evans and Tory 0:29:45.480 --> 0:29:49.800 Halt and Frank Gore and Eli and Reggie Wayne and 0:29:49.920 --> 0:29:54.040 Jason Witten, Darren Woodson. Yeah, they might be in better shape. 0:29:54.080 --> 0:29:56.600 It also might not matter, because here's why this Hall 0:29:56.680 --> 0:30:00.480 of Fame's awesome, and I feel, you know, awesome. It's tough, 0:30:00.520 --> 0:30:06.400 but it's supposed to be new to the ballot this year. 0:30:07.160 --> 0:30:14.240 Among others, but most notably these six guys, Adrian Peterson, 0:30:15.800 --> 0:30:25.320 Ben Roethlisberger, Rob Gronkowski, Richard Sherman, Antonio Brown and Cam Newton. 0:30:29.800 --> 0:30:38.480 So here's why the Hall of Fame is impossible. Rob 0:30:38.520 --> 0:30:46.960 Gronkowski takes one of the spots he is in, Adrian 0:30:47.040 --> 0:30:53.400 Peterson takes one of the spots he is in, Big 0:30:53.480 --> 0:30:59.440 Ben takes one of the spots he is in. That's 0:30:59.520 --> 0:31:07.320 three down already. Cam Newton maybe one day. And I 0:31:07.360 --> 0:31:11.440 really like Cam. Cam Newton is not getting in first 0:31:11.480 --> 0:31:15.480 ballot and probably not ever. I don't want to say 0:31:15.520 --> 0:31:19.920 that because that's more, it's very, very hard to make 0:31:19.960 --> 0:31:21.719 the Hall of Fame case for Cam Newton other than 0:31:21.800 --> 0:31:25.200 like change the game stuff cross him out. Antonio Brown 0:31:25.520 --> 0:31:28.760 has a Hall of Fame caliber resume, but I think 0:31:28.840 --> 0:31:33.880 that they are going to have no problem making him wait. 0:31:35.120 --> 0:31:40.960 And had he not, you know, done what he's done 0:31:41.000 --> 0:31:42.959 over the last few years, they probably wouldn't have made 0:31:43.040 --> 0:31:46.240 him wait. He's a four time first team All Pro, 0:31:46.680 --> 0:31:52.680 he's got over twelve thousand yards, he's got eighty touchdowns. 0:31:53.200 --> 0:31:58.960 He's not getting in first ballot, and this is this 0:31:59.040 --> 0:32:05.920 is a really tricky and to me, this guy is 0:32:06.240 --> 0:32:15.640 very clearly a Hall of Famer. Richard Sherman, I do 0:32:15.720 --> 0:32:21.000 believe deserves to be in and will get in. I 0:32:21.200 --> 0:32:28.240