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Speaker 1: On this episode of Sports Illustrated Weekly, g Q staff

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Speaker 1: writer Tyler Times joins us to discuss former Dolphins head

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Speaker 1: coach Brian Flores and the lawsuit he filed against the

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Speaker 1: NFL and three teams alleging racist hiring practices, and later

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Speaker 1: as one of four members of the wildly popular Around

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Speaker 1: the NFL podcast. Chris Westling was one of the best

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Speaker 1: and most beloved football broadcasters in the world. He was

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Speaker 1: also my friend. Sadly, Chris died from cancer two days

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Speaker 1: before last year's Super Bowl. He was forty six. I'm

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Speaker 1: joined by his wife, Lakeisha and our a t N

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Speaker 1: family to remember Wes and celebrate his life. But first,

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Speaker 1: the Super Bowl will be held at SOFI Stadium this Sunday.

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Speaker 1: It's a beautiful new building that offers an incredible experience

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Speaker 1: for football fans, but what has the stadium meant for

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Speaker 1: the residents of Englewood. We spoke with members of the community,

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Speaker 1: the Englewood Mayor, and more about the impact of so

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Speaker 1: FI on one of the poorest neighborhoods in l A County,

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Speaker 1: and just a quick heads up. This episode features some

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Speaker 1: heavy topics and explicit language. It's February nine, I'm your

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Speaker 1: host John Gonzalez from Sports Illustrated and iHeart Radio. This

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Speaker 1: is Sports Illustrated Weekly. What's it like for the traffic

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Speaker 1: getting in and out on like if you do how

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Speaker 1: to go to the store or something else, It's it's

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Speaker 1: crazy as hell On Sunday, for the first time in

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Speaker 1: twenty nine years, the Super Bowl is back in Los Angeles.

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Speaker 1: SOFI Stadium is the NFL's shiniest new showcase. It's the

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Speaker 1: biggest and most expensive stadium in the country, if not

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Speaker 1: the world. It's also located in Inglewood, a predominantly black,

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Speaker 1: Latino and Hispanic neighborhood that is one of the poorest

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Speaker 1: in l A County. The Rams and Chargers both play

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Speaker 1: their games at so FI, which means that Inglewood residents

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Speaker 1: with an influx of seventy thousand visitors for each game,

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Speaker 1: a number that will balloon to a hundred thousand people

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Speaker 1: for the Super Bowl, effectively doubling the population of Englewood

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Speaker 1: that day. Everyone agrees that so FI offers an incredible

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Speaker 1: experience for football fans, But how have the people of

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Speaker 1: Inglewood been impacted by their new neighbor and has more

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Speaker 1: than one Inglewood resident asked me, would you want to

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Speaker 1: live next to it? I reported this story for a

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Speaker 1: written piece. You can read it right now on SI

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Speaker 1: dot com. So instead of hosting this particular segment myself,

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Speaker 1: We're going to bring in our senior producer, Dan Bloom. Hey, John,

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Speaker 1: how's it going? Thank you for doing this, my friend?

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Speaker 1: Are you kidding? My pleasure? Anything for you? All right? John,

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Speaker 1: Let's start with how you came up with the idea

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Speaker 1: for this story. Yeah. So I went to a game

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Speaker 1: earlier in the season. The Cardinals were playing the Rams,

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Speaker 1: and it was my first time to Sofi and I

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Speaker 1: had a great time. It was an incredible experience. The

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Speaker 1: stadium is first rate in every possible way. But on

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Speaker 1: the way in now you basically drive through the neighborhood

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Speaker 1: of Englewood. I mean, it's a residential neighborhood that's buttered

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Speaker 1: up right against the stadium, and I was wondering to myself, like,

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Speaker 1: what would it be like to live here and to

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Speaker 1: have all of these people who don't live in the

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Speaker 1: community come into the community every single weekend. How did

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Speaker 1: Sophi Stadium end up in Inglewood in the first place.

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Speaker 1: So Inglewood has a long history of sports in the community.

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Speaker 1: Maybe the most iconic thing about Inglewood prior to Sophi

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Speaker 1: Stadium coming along, was the Forum the Lakers, where the

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Speaker 1: showtime Lakers in the Los Angeles Kings played for a

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Speaker 1: long time. But then the Lakers left and the King's left,

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Speaker 1: and by Inglewood was functionally broke, and that's when Mayor

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Speaker 1: James Butts was elected. When I left Engwood, we had

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Speaker 1: the three p s time Lakers, we had the Kings

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Speaker 1: of Hockey. We have a race track with tin forty

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Speaker 1: three thousand people a day, six days a week. And

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Speaker 1: when I came back, functually all we had was the

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Speaker 1: Scissler and being known at our blindary name was triple

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Speaker 1: B minus at the time, which is one step above junk.

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Speaker 1: We had ten million dollars from the bank and we

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Speaker 1: had an eight team Millie all structural deficit, so in

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Speaker 1: by September October we would have been bankrupt. Obviously, not

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Speaker 1: great when you're touting a chain restaurant like a Sizzler

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Speaker 1: and Randy's Donut, which, while iconic in l A probably

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Speaker 1: want a little bit more than that is your main attractions.

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Speaker 1: But James Botts is a really interesting figure. He was

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Speaker 1: Anglewood second ever black police cadet, and then from there

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Speaker 1: he was a homicide detective and undercover officer. He led

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Speaker 1: the swat team, and then he becomes the police chief

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Speaker 1: of Santa Monica before returning to Englewood and winning election

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Speaker 1: is mayor. He also has an m b A. So

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Speaker 1: when he's elected, he's got big plans for the city.

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Speaker 1: Where I stand right now is going to be the

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Speaker 1: side of what we hope will be an eighty thousand

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Speaker 1: seat stadium that will spill over into the most magnificent

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Speaker 1: development here and there is going to be the stadium.

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Speaker 1: It's time for new things. Aside from Rams owner Stan Cronkie,

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Speaker 1: nobody is more responsible for bringing Sofi Stadium to Englewood

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Speaker 1: than Mayor James Bots. I mean, he is, without a doubt,

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Speaker 1: the biggest evangelist for that stadium. So the NFL had

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Speaker 1: long wanted to move back to Los Angeles for obvious reasons.

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Speaker 1: It's a massive market and it was an untapped market,

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Speaker 1: and it didn't make any sense for America's biggest sport

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Speaker 1: not to be there, and so Mayor Bots thought, look,

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Speaker 1: we have a long history of catering to sports teams

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Speaker 1: in this town. Why not put our hand up. Let's

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Speaker 1: have sports again. Let's have concerts again. Let's have people

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Speaker 1: coming to Englewood. Let's make Inglewood a destination. So they

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Speaker 1: put in the bid, and they win the bid, and

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Speaker 1: they get the stadium built in Englewood. It feels like

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Speaker 1: being inside the matrix. This is truly the resurrection of

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Speaker 1: the City of Champions. City of Champions Part two. And

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Speaker 1: because of that, the mayor will list off any number

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Speaker 1: of things that he sees as a positive benefit, not

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Speaker 1: just to Anglewood, but to the residents. As a result

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Speaker 1: of their relationship with Sofi Stadium, the NFL Networks left

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Speaker 1: Culver City YouTube is operating a six thousand seat performing

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Speaker 1: arts theater. We tried to the l A Philharmonic orchestra program.

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Speaker 1: We have the Girl Scouts, the Great Los Angeles Are

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Speaker 1: You Tennis program at every viscit park that the city

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Speaker 1: subsidizes so lore income families kids can learn tennis. There's

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Speaker 1: only three VEGA cities in this country that have had

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Speaker 1: the number of events and teams that we have at

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Speaker 1: nine Square miles and at San Francisco, New York and

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Speaker 1: Los Angeles. But what took them a generation? We did

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Speaker 1: in less than seven years. This is like a resurrection.

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Speaker 1: The pride in the city is just off the charts. John,

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Speaker 1: you took the time to actually go to Englewood. Can

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Speaker 1: you just paint as vivid a picture as you can

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Speaker 1: of just what it was like for you to go there,

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Speaker 1: park your car, walk down the street, and find and

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Speaker 1: meet people. Yeah. I wanted to get a sense of

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Speaker 1: what was going on in Inglewood for myself, so I

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Speaker 1: went there and I talked to people on a game

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Speaker 1: day about what their experiences are like living in the neighborhood.

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Speaker 1: When all these people are coming in from out of

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Speaker 1: the area, I knew that traffic was gonna be bad,

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Speaker 1: So I parked my car pretty far away from the

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Speaker 1: stadium and I just walked it in like fifteen or

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Speaker 1: twenty minutes. And then suddenly you're in the part of

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Speaker 1: Inglewood that's right next to the stadium, and aside from

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Speaker 1: the stadium, it's a neighborhood, not unlike other neighborhoods, and

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Speaker 1: all of Los Angeles, palm trees, the whole thing. And

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Speaker 1: then out of nowhere you see this giant edifice that

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Speaker 1: looks like it was plunked down from a Star Trek

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Speaker 1: movie and it's super incongruous with the rest of the neighborhood.

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Speaker 1: I mean, obviously the architecture is radically different than what

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Speaker 1: you would see first where somebody lives. And as I

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Speaker 1: was walking down the street, a guy opens up his

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Speaker 1: front door and he had a big, bushy hair do

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Speaker 1: because it looked like it was early in the morning

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Speaker 1: and maybe he had just gone up and he didn't

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Speaker 1: have a shirt on. And he leans out and he

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Speaker 1: shouts to somebody who had just parked their car, Hey,

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Speaker 1: you can't park there. And I thought he was just

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Speaker 1: aggravated by it, but he was just trying to be helpful.

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Speaker 1: And it turns out his name is Josh. Every Sunday

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Speaker 1: he's out there trying to be a good Samaritan telling people, Hey,

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Speaker 1: you can't park there. They'll tell you okay. So parking

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Speaker 1: is an issue. We know that, but are there any benefits? Yeah,

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Speaker 1: the parking thing, there's two sides to that, damn, Because

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Speaker 1: on the one hand, yes, it's an issue for the residents.

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Speaker 1: On the other hand, if you have a parking space

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Speaker 1: at your house somewhere for other cars to park, residents

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Speaker 1: will rent that out to people coming in on game

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Speaker 1: days and that's actually going to happen for the Super Bowl,

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Speaker 1: where the Los Angeles Times reported that some spots could

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Speaker 1: go for as much as five thousand dollars. I know

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Speaker 1: people dan in Inglewood who lived, you know, about a

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Speaker 1: mile and a half or so from Sofi Stadium, who

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Speaker 1: think they can fit five cars into their backyard at

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Speaker 1: a thousand dollars a pop. So you could do your

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Speaker 1: math there, that would work out great for them. But

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Speaker 1: this is still not really considering the overarching problem, which

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Speaker 1: is the influx of people every single game day. And

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Speaker 1: I know that some people listening to this will think, oh,

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Speaker 1: that's just people in l A whining about traffic the

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Speaker 1: way they always do. But that's not the case, because

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Speaker 1: the people of Englewood are talking about how their lives

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Speaker 1: are fundamentally altered on game days in ways that other

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Speaker 1: l A residents, including myself, don't experience because we don't

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Speaker 1: live near so Fa. You have to like literally sometimes

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Speaker 1: my husband get out here, like hold traffic and then

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Speaker 1: we'll just ease about. So this is Yolanda Johnson again.

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Speaker 1: She's the one we heard from at the top of

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Speaker 1: the piece who said the traffic in Inglewood is crazy

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Speaker 1: as hell. And you know what, She's right, it is

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Speaker 1: crazy as hell coming back in One night, I was

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Speaker 1: coming from work. That took me an hour just to

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Speaker 1: get to my app. How far always work? I work

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Speaker 1: probably like fifty minutes from here, so it was like

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Speaker 1: an hour and I didn't I want to park all

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Speaker 1: the way around the corner and back again and just

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Speaker 1: leave my car there. So I just stay, just chill

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Speaker 1: it out into the traffic diet that if you're in

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Speaker 1: Inglewood on a Sunday and you're a resident, you have

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Speaker 1: to plan ahead of time. You have to say, Okay,

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Speaker 1: there's a game today, I have tasks A, B and

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Speaker 1: C to accomplish. Am I doing it before the game?

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Speaker 1: Am I waiting it out? And doing it after? Whatever

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Speaker 1: day the game falls on. That is a lost day

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Speaker 1: for Englewood residents. So along the same lines, John, people

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Speaker 1: might be tempted to think that more traffic equals more business.

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Speaker 1: More people come into your neighborhood, they come across your storefront,

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Speaker 1: there's a higher chance they'll spend some money, right, But

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Speaker 1: you discovered that it's more complicated than that. Yes, So

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Speaker 1: as I'm walking around, I stumbled onto blessed Tropical Jamaican Cuisine,

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Speaker 1: which is a Jamaican restaurant also directly across the street

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Speaker 1: from Sophi Stadium, and the co owner was inside. Her

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Speaker 1: name is Sandra Estrada, and we just started talking about

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Speaker 1: how her business is doing. And I asked her what

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Speaker 1: was it like during the pandemic, and pen I mek,

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Speaker 1: we did real good. We did real good. Will you

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Speaker 1: think the pandemic effect? But he didn't. Man, we did

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Speaker 1: great during the pandemic, especially on Sundays. Sundays are her

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Speaker 1: big days. That's when she sells the most oxtail. And

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Speaker 1: then the stadium opened and she said, I think we're

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Speaker 1: going to do great because all these people are coming.

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Speaker 1: Seventy people every Sunday were directly across the stadium. We're

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Speaker 1: gonna do even better business. But the opposite has been true.

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Speaker 1: I used to do like five did, and the food

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Speaker 1: would finish early by seven o'clock. The food will be gone.

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Speaker 1: Coustumers coming and I don't have no more food now

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Speaker 1: I'm trying to see him coming. Yeah. Yeah, and this

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Speaker 1: is my life, this is my business, you know. I'm

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Speaker 1: sorry to hear that. Yeah, she's selling a fraction of

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Speaker 1: the ox tail on Sunday that she used to, and

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Speaker 1: she's not sure exactly why that is. She thinks it's

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Speaker 1: probably a combination of factors. Part of it is probably

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Speaker 1: that people are eating at the stadium, and part of

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Speaker 1: it is the traffic concerns because the way that the

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Speaker 1: traffic has flowed, some people going in one direction can't

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Speaker 1: make a left into her parking lot. On top of that,

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Speaker 1: the landlord for the strip mall that houses her restaurant

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Speaker 1: can make a big buck on Sunday running it out

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Speaker 1: to football fans, which means there are fewer spots for

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Speaker 1: people to park, to go and patronize Sandra's restaurant. Please

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Speaker 1: tell me that you tried this ox tail. One of

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Speaker 1: my great regrets in journalism and life was not getting

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Speaker 1: that oxtail. And I feel terrible about it, you know,

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Speaker 1: like that's a perfect example. I'm part of the problem.

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Speaker 1: I'm part of the problem because I'm going to the stadium.

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Speaker 1: I'm part of the problem because I'm consuming the NFL.

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Speaker 1: I love the NFL. The stadium is incredible. And then

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Speaker 1: on top of that, I'm part of the problem because

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Speaker 1: I didn't buy the damn oxtail that I should have bought.

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Speaker 1: You know, and it smelled amazing, all right, So what

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Speaker 1: else happened to you? Walking a oun in Inglewood on

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Speaker 1: an empty stomach? Yeah, so I'm walking around. I see

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Speaker 1: a bunch of cars going into a parking lot and

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Speaker 1: I figure I'll run over there and talk to some

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Speaker 1: people as they're gathering. And it turned out to be

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Speaker 1: a church, and I mean a really nice guy. His

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Speaker 1: name is Miguel Alvarado. And then what do you do

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Speaker 1: for the church? I are you the past? Okay, very

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Speaker 1: nice to meet you. His church is directly across the

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Speaker 1: street from Sofi Stadium. It is separated by one street,

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Speaker 1: so he's right in the thick of it. And he

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Speaker 1: said sometimes his prisoners don't want to come anymore because

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Speaker 1: it's really hard to get in and out. And then

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Speaker 1: he's had parishioners have to move. Today. I have one

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Speaker 1: person who came and he asked me that that he's

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Speaker 1: going to move to Lancaster with his family because they

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Speaker 1: can't afford to live in here. Yeah, Inglewood was too

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Speaker 1: expensive for them, so they decided to take their entire

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Speaker 1: life and move it two hours north. And that's a

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Speaker 1: life alter. You're now commuting back two hours to work

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Speaker 1: in Angle would or you have to find a new

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Speaker 1: job somewhere closer to where you live in Lancaster. So

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Speaker 1: your whole life has now changed now. The mayor's counterpoint

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Speaker 1: to that would be Inglewood's books are no longer in

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Speaker 1: the red because of the steps the city has taken,

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Speaker 1: including so far the city is financially stable and we're

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Speaker 1: able to methodically and strategically redo things like our main library,

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Speaker 1: our satellite libraries, where we trimmed about six hundred trees

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Speaker 1: a year out of a nineteen thousand tree inventory. Every

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Speaker 1: year we do about three thousand trees a year. We've

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Speaker 1: paved and resurfaced more lane Mills roadway, more linear feet

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Speaker 1: of sidewalk in the last seven years than the prior

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Speaker 1: forty years combined. So this has added to the quality

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Speaker 1: of life. The mayor gets that some residents have concerns,

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Speaker 1: but he ultimately lands on the trade offs being worth it.

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Speaker 1: No situation is ideal, but I'll tell you what. There

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Speaker 1: are a lot of cities that we want to be

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Speaker 1: in our situation. I'll tell you that as a fact, well,

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Speaker 1: he would be Mayor number sixties six who has claimed

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Speaker 1: these benefits. They're going to trickle down. This is Rick Eckstein.

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Speaker 1: He's a professor of sociology and criminology at Villanova and

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Speaker 1: he co wrote a book called Public Dollars, Private Stadiums.

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Speaker 1: This puffery about how communities are going to benefit, it

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Speaker 1: just doesn't happen. And even though there's this real consensus

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Speaker 1: among social scientists that these things do not bear economic

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Speaker 1: fruit in the long run. Anyway, the stadiums keep getting

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Speaker 1: built and people keep justifying it with these economic arguments.

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Speaker 1: People can talk about it all they want, but the

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Speaker 1: data just aren't there. And that's why stadiums are built

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Speaker 1: where they're built. They build it in places like Englewood.

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Speaker 1: They're not gonna build it at Beverly Hills. Put it

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Speaker 1: that way, Rick said, when you look at the people

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Speaker 1: who are coming into the stadium for games, whether it's

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Speaker 1: on game day during the regular season or the tourists

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Speaker 1: coming in for the Super Bowl, these are people who

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Speaker 1: obviously don't live in Englewood. Some of them probably have

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Speaker 1: stereotypical fears of the areas since it is majority minorities,

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Speaker 1: some say, and they don't want to go to the

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Speaker 1: Jamaican restaurant. I was looking at some of the restaurants

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Speaker 1: in the area. Most of them are chains, and that's

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Speaker 1: an issue too, right that money spending a national chain

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Speaker 1: doesn't usually stay in the local community. It gets sucked

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Speaker 1: out to wherever the headquarters happened to be and wherever

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Speaker 1: the executives happened to be. Whenever a stadium is built,

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Speaker 1: someone somewhere who's associated with the stadium will put out

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Speaker 1: an economic impact report and everything will be glowing and

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Speaker 1: rosy and say, by building the stadium in your neighborhood,

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Speaker 1: oh man, everybody's gonna get rich. Some people are gonna

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Speaker 1: get rich, but it's not everybody. These economic impact reports, unsurprisingly,

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Speaker 1: are very favorable to the people who are commissioning these

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Speaker 1: economic impact reports. And they're even favorable to the economists

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Speaker 1: who are commissioned to do the reports, because Rick Eckstein says,

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Speaker 1: they can literally plan for retirement with the money they

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Speaker 1: earned from doing the work. I'm no name names here,

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Speaker 1: but there was someone who was was really prominent in

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Speaker 1: being critical stadiums back years ago. He started doing research

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Speaker 1: for the teams and I asked him, I said, well,

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Speaker 1: why do you do that. That's where the money is.

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Speaker 1: I'm making tens of thousands of dollars doing these advocacy studies,

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Speaker 1: and I want to retire. That's where the money's, Like,

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Speaker 1: you know why you rob banks, because that's where the

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Speaker 1: money is. When I was talking to Rick Exstein, I

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Speaker 1: asked him what's the future look like for Englewood, because again,

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Speaker 1: if you read the economic impact reports, everything sounds like

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Speaker 1: Englewood is going to be the city of the future.

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Speaker 1: And next time said, look at the Barclay Center in

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Speaker 1: Brooklyn that was built in a very middle class, working

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Speaker 1: class area of Brooklyn with all the promises that there's

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Speaker 1: gonna be all this stuff going on and all the

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Speaker 1: people are just gonna be riding at Gravy Train is

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Speaker 1: gonna be great. Well they're gone now and they got

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Speaker 1: priced out of the market. They don't live there anymore.

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Speaker 1: So is there anyone in Inglewood trying to make sure

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Speaker 1: that their community does not go down the same road

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Speaker 1: as Brooklyn with the Barclays Center. Yeah, yeah, there's a

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Speaker 1: lot of people. I mean, there's all kinds of activists

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Speaker 1: in Englewood and people in the community who feel that

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Speaker 1: they have ownership of Englewood and want to make sure

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Speaker 1: that they don't get pushed out of town. And one

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Speaker 1: resident who's working really hard on that front is a

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Speaker 1: guy named Derek Steele. He's lived in Inglewood since two

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Speaker 1: thousand eight and he's an activist for a group called

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Speaker 1: Uplift Englewood, which is an organization that was created in

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Speaker 1: and what they try to do is work with all

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Speaker 1: of these companies that are coming into Englewood, like Sofi Stadium,

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Speaker 1: to make sure that the residents of Inglewood have a

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Speaker 1: voice and a seat at the table. We have to

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Speaker 1: be along this journey together with the rams coming in

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Speaker 1: the new stadium being built, people were really excited about

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Speaker 1: what it can actually mean for the city. Most of

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Speaker 1: the people in Englewood that I spoke with just had

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Speaker 1: a lot of concerns. They had concerns about how much

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Speaker 1: they were going to have to spend stay in Englewood

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Speaker 1: in terms of housing, the impact on their businesses, the

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Speaker 1: impact on their community. But Derek Steele was saying, you know,

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Speaker 1: I've been to the stadium too, and it was an

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Speaker 1: amazing experience. Man. So I think if people have the

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Speaker 1: opportunity to live here and and have those types of

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Speaker 1: experiences is really a net positive because it is bringing resources,

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Speaker 1: it is bringing jobs, it is bringing opportunity, and as

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Speaker 1: long as we're able to be here to be a

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Speaker 1: part of that, it's always going to be a net positive.

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Speaker 1: He said something that I had heard from a number

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Speaker 1: of people that I had spoken with in Inglewood, which

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Speaker 1: is people are leaving Englewood to find cheaper places to live.

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Speaker 1: He told me a story about his daughter who's a

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Speaker 1: grade schooler, and how she had a friend who her

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Speaker 1: parents decided to move. And that's what it was real

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Speaker 1: to me, Like you could actually see it in real

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Speaker 1: life happening, and it's like, well, why do they have

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Speaker 1: to move? Oh? Yeah, the rent went up a thousand dollars,

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Speaker 1: like a thousand dollars, Like come on, you know, And

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Speaker 1: so we got to figure out what we're gonna do here.

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Speaker 1: This is not hyperboctly, this is not being made up.

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Speaker 1: People are really suffer. We gotta figure out what we're

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Speaker 1: gonna do here. But the mayor, James Butts, didn't exactly

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Speaker 1: agree with that, did he. No, not really. He points

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Speaker 1: out that Englewood is still cheaper to live in than

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Speaker 1: some of the surrounding areas. Engwood has a three cap

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Speaker 1: on rents, the lowest in the state of California. We

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Speaker 1: have more affordable housing units per captain and in whole

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Speaker 1: numbers than anywhere in the South Bay. Also, our average

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Speaker 1: is are the lowest in the South Bay. So it

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Speaker 1: seems john from the outside like the mayor and activists

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Speaker 1: like Derek Steele wouldn't agree on a whole lot. I mean,

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Speaker 1: they do and they don't. Dan They both clearly want

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Speaker 1: what's best for Inglewood, but they obviously differ on how

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Speaker 1: to get there and what that looks like. I want

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Speaker 1: to make sure that people are good. They deserve to

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Speaker 1: be made whole because they've done the work. They've done

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Speaker 1: a due diligence to be a part of all the

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Speaker 1: activity that's happened over the years when or wasn't anything,

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Speaker 1: and now that there is something, we should make sure

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Speaker 1: that they're able to stay here to Not every conversation

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Speaker 1: has been easy, and there's been some frustration along the way,

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Speaker 1: but I think as long as we continue to keep

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Speaker 1: the lines of communication open, we can get to a

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Speaker 1: point where people can be really be taken care of.

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Speaker 1: So what does Derek Steele mean when he says there's

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Speaker 1: been some frustration. Mayor Botts is a colorful figure and

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Speaker 1: sometimes speaks more bluntly than you would expect other politicians

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Speaker 1: to speak, and there have been multiple city council sessions

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Speaker 1: where he will dress down his constituents. There was one

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Speaker 1: city council meeting where a constituent had suggested the Rams

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Speaker 1: pay for the extension of the nearby crunchhaw line that

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Speaker 1: would serve as a people mover that would in theory,

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Speaker 1: cut down on some traffic. Right, instead of driving into

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Speaker 1: Englewood for the game, you hop on the train and

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Speaker 1: all of a sudden you're at Sofi Stadium. If I

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Speaker 1: were a Wood resident, I might think the same thing.

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Speaker 1: And the mayor, in no uncertain terms, told this resident

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Speaker 1: what a bad idea that was. This is something that

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Speaker 1: will be in play six or five days a year

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Speaker 1: to deal with the blessings and riches that we have

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Speaker 1: worked ourselves into. Okay, this is our responsibility. It's not

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Speaker 1: enough to say, oh, somebody else should pay for it.

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Speaker 1: That's not what mature adults do. They handle their responsibilities,

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Speaker 1: and the council is handling its responsibility. There's another city

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Speaker 1: council session that really got contentious. There was a resident

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Speaker 1: in Inglewood that was displeased with Inglewood giving the Clippers

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Speaker 1: use of city land in order to hold the press

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Speaker 1: conference to discuss their pending stadium the Intuit Doom, and

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Speaker 1: at the end of the city council session, the mayor

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Speaker 1: got caught on a hot mic telling this person, go

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Speaker 1: choke yourself, Diane, and not surprisingly, that's not got a

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Speaker 1: great look politically. The optics of that aren't fantastic. Most

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Speaker 1: politicians that I've interacted with are more times than not

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Speaker 1: going to be extremely careful with their words, and James

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Speaker 1: Butts is the opposite. Will you get what James Butts is?

428
00:23:19,240 --> 00:23:22,040
Speaker 1: This was a great idea, We needed this in our

429
00:23:22,080 --> 00:23:25,480
Speaker 1: city and I would do it again exactly the same way,

430
00:23:25,520 --> 00:23:29,840
Speaker 1: every single time. And apparently the Caribbean restaurants be damned

431
00:23:30,040 --> 00:23:32,959
Speaker 1: because Mayor Butts, in my view, is running a serious

432
00:23:33,080 --> 00:23:37,399
Speaker 1: risk of being labeled as anti ox tail. Yeah. I

433
00:23:37,480 --> 00:23:39,840
Speaker 1: asked him about that, and when I tried to pin

434
00:23:39,960 --> 00:23:43,520
Speaker 1: him down specifically on Sandra's restaurant, I was sort of struck.

435
00:23:44,400 --> 00:23:47,840
Speaker 1: Businesses operate under the system of capitalism we have in

436
00:23:47,840 --> 00:23:52,359
Speaker 1: this country, and no one guarantees anyone everything will always

437
00:23:52,400 --> 00:23:55,000
Speaker 1: say in the same and their time will adjustments have

438
00:23:55,080 --> 00:24:00,000
Speaker 1: to be made. Very sorry, that business was better before

439
00:23:59,800 --> 00:24:03,439
Speaker 1: the crowds. From so far, it's a little difficult to

440
00:24:03,520 --> 00:24:09,360
Speaker 1: understand how so many businesses benefit from all the additional traffic.

441
00:24:09,960 --> 00:24:14,360
Speaker 1: So I don't know how to respond to one individual situation,

442
00:24:15,320 --> 00:24:18,680
Speaker 1: but I would tell you this, you have more opportunity

443
00:24:18,720 --> 00:24:21,639
Speaker 1: if you sell things if tens of thousands of cars

444
00:24:22,000 --> 00:24:25,439
Speaker 1: come down your street, then if none come down. It

445
00:24:25,520 --> 00:24:27,400
Speaker 1: reminded me of the old adage that if you want

446
00:24:27,400 --> 00:24:29,280
Speaker 1: to make an omelet, you're gonna have to break some eggs.

447
00:24:29,440 --> 00:24:31,240
Speaker 1: It wouldn't have surprised me to hear that come out

448
00:24:31,240 --> 00:24:35,040
Speaker 1: of his mouth exactly, But in that instance, those eggs

449
00:24:35,080 --> 00:24:42,639
Speaker 1: are his constituents, those are his voters. Inglewood didn't have

450
00:24:42,640 --> 00:24:45,800
Speaker 1: a vote on this. There's a loophole in California state

451
00:24:45,880 --> 00:24:50,800
Speaker 1: law that allows cities like Inglewood to gather signatures from

452
00:24:50,840 --> 00:24:54,520
Speaker 1: the residents. By doing that, it allowed city council and

453
00:24:54,560 --> 00:24:58,320
Speaker 1: the mayor to vote it up or down. Thereby bypassing

454
00:24:58,520 --> 00:25:01,440
Speaker 1: putting it on the ballot, and not surprisingly, the mayor

455
00:25:01,480 --> 00:25:04,560
Speaker 1: and city council voted for it unanimously, And that's how

456
00:25:04,600 --> 00:25:08,000
Speaker 1: the residents of Englewood got bypassed on having a true

457
00:25:08,040 --> 00:25:10,480
Speaker 1: set in whether or not it was built in their backyard.

458
00:25:11,440 --> 00:25:13,919
Speaker 1: When I was talking to the mayor about how the

459
00:25:13,960 --> 00:25:16,560
Speaker 1: stadium got built, I called it at an end around,

460
00:25:17,040 --> 00:25:20,280
Speaker 1: and boy, he did not like that. Why not put

461
00:25:20,280 --> 00:25:22,719
Speaker 1: it on the ballot? Why was there sort of this

462
00:25:22,800 --> 00:25:26,240
Speaker 1: end around that prevented residents from voting on it? Was

463
00:25:26,280 --> 00:25:31,040
Speaker 1: it legal, John, for the city council to vote to

464
00:25:31,520 --> 00:25:35,080
Speaker 1: go that way? Yeah? It was okay, So it was

465
00:25:35,119 --> 00:25:38,160
Speaker 1: within the law. Now I'm amazed because I've been asked

466
00:25:38,200 --> 00:25:41,840
Speaker 1: that question before. It was smart for us to do that,

467
00:25:42,200 --> 00:25:46,199
Speaker 1: to be decisive. We had competing cities that wanted to

468
00:25:46,240 --> 00:25:48,480
Speaker 1: do it. Everything was going to go to the people

469
00:25:48,880 --> 00:25:52,439
Speaker 1: that were swift, and so we did what we felt

470
00:25:52,680 --> 00:25:55,600
Speaker 1: the residents wanted. And it turns out we were right.

471
00:25:56,600 --> 00:25:59,120
Speaker 1: If it was you, if you weren't Mayor Butts, if

472
00:25:59,119 --> 00:26:02,760
Speaker 1: you were just Englewood resident, James Butts, would you have

473
00:26:02,800 --> 00:26:05,879
Speaker 1: wanted to vote? I would have wanted them to do

474
00:26:05,960 --> 00:26:09,480
Speaker 1: their duty and voted the initiative of the law. Because

475
00:26:09,480 --> 00:26:13,320
Speaker 1: this was a dynamic time, there were competitors, and so

476
00:26:14,000 --> 00:26:17,960
Speaker 1: I dare say if we waited around for a vote,

477
00:26:18,600 --> 00:26:22,120
Speaker 1: we would have lost ground with our competitors. He is

478
00:26:22,480 --> 00:26:26,000
Speaker 1: fully committed to the idea that so far is an

479
00:26:26,040 --> 00:26:30,800
Speaker 1: overall positive and a win for Englewood. The alternative is

480
00:26:31,200 --> 00:26:36,040
Speaker 1: to be crime written, to have no job generating businesses

481
00:26:36,040 --> 00:26:40,359
Speaker 1: in town, to have no through traffic that spends money

482
00:26:40,680 --> 00:26:43,720
Speaker 1: or the taxes stay with the residents, and then you

483
00:26:43,760 --> 00:26:46,720
Speaker 1: know what, Then you'll have very very cheap rents, but

484
00:26:46,840 --> 00:26:52,919
Speaker 1: you'll have a very undesirable city to live in. So

485
00:26:53,000 --> 00:26:55,439
Speaker 1: what do you think happens, John, what happens to the

486
00:26:55,480 --> 00:26:59,600
Speaker 1: residents who live around so FI Stadium? I hope, like

487
00:26:59,640 --> 00:27:03,600
Speaker 1: Derek Steel hopes that along with Uplift what Englewood and

488
00:27:03,640 --> 00:27:06,080
Speaker 1: a bunch of the activists, they figure out a way

489
00:27:06,240 --> 00:27:08,560
Speaker 1: to stay in Englewood and make it affordable for them

490
00:27:08,640 --> 00:27:12,000
Speaker 1: and make it beneficial for them. If it's a situation

491
00:27:12,000 --> 00:27:14,360
Speaker 1: on the other side where they're getting this place from

492
00:27:14,359 --> 00:27:17,040
Speaker 1: it they didn't even have a say in it. Rents

493
00:27:17,040 --> 00:27:19,119
Speaker 1: are being raised in ways that they can't even take on,

494
00:27:19,480 --> 00:27:23,000
Speaker 1: and nobody's doing anything about it. Like those things are

495
00:27:23,040 --> 00:27:25,600
Speaker 1: are not good not only just for those adults in

496
00:27:25,640 --> 00:27:27,879
Speaker 1: the space, but also the youth, because what does the

497
00:27:27,920 --> 00:27:30,159
Speaker 1: future hole for them? And what are we saying to

498
00:27:30,200 --> 00:27:32,360
Speaker 1: them about what the future means to them if we're

499
00:27:32,359 --> 00:27:35,240
Speaker 1: not taking care of them in their families. But I fear,

500
00:27:35,680 --> 00:27:38,720
Speaker 1: like the economists that we spoke with, that a lot

501
00:27:38,760 --> 00:27:42,200
Speaker 1: of people in Inglewood who could previously afford to live

502
00:27:42,240 --> 00:27:45,600
Speaker 1: there will be pushed out because they can't anymore. This

503
00:27:45,680 --> 00:27:48,280
Speaker 1: is just the beginning for Englewood. You've got the Super

504
00:27:48,320 --> 00:27:51,919
Speaker 1: Bowl this year, next year in it will host the

505
00:27:51,920 --> 00:27:57,159
Speaker 1: College Football National Championship and WrestleMania, the l A Olympics,

506
00:27:57,480 --> 00:28:00,320
Speaker 1: and in you're going to add in the Clipper too.

507
00:28:00,800 --> 00:28:03,520
Speaker 1: This is what life will be like for Inglewood in

508
00:28:03,640 --> 00:28:07,840
Speaker 1: perpetuity moving forward. And James Botts is not second guessing anything,

509
00:28:07,920 --> 00:28:10,720
Speaker 1: and he will tell you so is there anything you

510
00:28:10,720 --> 00:28:13,400
Speaker 1: would do differently? I mean, because so far I'm hearing, Hey,

511
00:28:13,520 --> 00:28:19,879
Speaker 1: we nailed us. I'm sorry, I can't think of the

512
00:28:19,960 --> 00:28:27,160
Speaker 1: thing that we would have done differently. You can read

513
00:28:27,160 --> 00:28:30,320
Speaker 1: my story about how Sophi Stadium has impacted Inglewood on

514
00:28:30,480 --> 00:28:33,320
Speaker 1: SI dot Com. We'll link to it in our show notes.

515
00:28:34,080 --> 00:28:37,159
Speaker 1: After the break, we discussed Brian flores as lawsuit and

516
00:28:37,320 --> 00:28:44,760
Speaker 1: NFL hiring practices with g Q staff writer Tyler times Well.

517
00:28:44,800 --> 00:28:48,400
Speaker 1: The big story this week was Brian Flores. Brian Flores.

518
00:28:48,480 --> 00:28:51,720
Speaker 1: Brian Flores and the lawsuits against the Dolphins and also

519
00:28:51,800 --> 00:28:55,440
Speaker 1: involving the Broncos and the New York Giants. He is

520
00:28:55,480 --> 00:28:59,240
Speaker 1: a pursuit with a class actually lawsuit, basically inviting other

521
00:28:59,280 --> 00:29:01,720
Speaker 1: coaches to come in. What he's doing is for the

522
00:29:01,760 --> 00:29:06,360
Speaker 1: greater good. Uh, He's willing to sacrifice himself. The NFL

523
00:29:06,880 --> 00:29:11,320
Speaker 1: is struggling to integrate everywhere else besides on stages during

524
00:29:11,320 --> 00:29:14,720
Speaker 1: the halftime show and if you're not running the ball

525
00:29:14,800 --> 00:29:18,760
Speaker 1: down the field. When former Dolphins head coach Brian Flores

526
00:29:18,800 --> 00:29:21,480
Speaker 1: filed a lawsuit against the NFL and three teams alleging

527
00:29:21,600 --> 00:29:25,400
Speaker 1: racist hiring practices, he became the latest and loudest voice

528
00:29:25,440 --> 00:29:27,960
Speaker 1: to shout about the league's lack of diversity and it's

529
00:29:28,080 --> 00:29:31,520
Speaker 1: long overdue need for change. Tyler Times is a staff

530
00:29:31,560 --> 00:29:34,240
Speaker 1: writer for g Q who has written extensively in his

531
00:29:34,280 --> 00:29:38,520
Speaker 1: career about the lack of opportunities afforded to black athletes, coaches,

532
00:29:38,840 --> 00:29:42,120
Speaker 1: and executives in sports. I asked Tyler to join me

533
00:29:42,160 --> 00:29:45,400
Speaker 1: for a conversation about Flores and the NFL's troubling track

534
00:29:45,480 --> 00:29:48,000
Speaker 1: record when it comes to putting people of color and

535
00:29:48,080 --> 00:29:53,880
Speaker 1: positions of power all right. So, Tyler, we've talked about

536
00:29:53,880 --> 00:29:56,600
Speaker 1: this offline a lot of times. Opportunities that are regularly

537
00:29:56,640 --> 00:29:59,400
Speaker 1: afforded to white people in the workplace that are not

538
00:29:59,640 --> 00:30:01,520
Speaker 1: af to the black people and people of color. We've

539
00:30:01,520 --> 00:30:04,480
Speaker 1: discussed that in general. As everybody knows, last week Brian

540
00:30:04,560 --> 00:30:07,840
Speaker 1: Flores filed a class action lawsuit against the NFL and

541
00:30:07,920 --> 00:30:12,240
Speaker 1: three teams alleging racist hiring practices. Flores himself has said

542
00:30:12,280 --> 00:30:14,440
Speaker 1: the proof is in the numbers, and it is zero

543
00:30:14,560 --> 00:30:17,760
Speaker 1: owners in the NFL who are black. Previously one black

544
00:30:17,840 --> 00:30:19,960
Speaker 1: head coach, now there's two. Now that the Texans have

545
00:30:20,040 --> 00:30:25,160
Speaker 1: hired Lovey Smith, three black quarterback coaches, four black offensive coordinators,

546
00:30:25,640 --> 00:30:28,040
Speaker 1: six black general managers out of thirty two teams in

547
00:30:28,120 --> 00:30:30,880
Speaker 1: a league that is roughly sev black. Tyler, I wish

548
00:30:30,920 --> 00:30:33,080
Speaker 1: we could be surprised by this. Nobody who's paid attention

549
00:30:33,520 --> 00:30:36,600
Speaker 1: is surprised by this. But now Brian Flores is shouting

550
00:30:36,640 --> 00:30:38,840
Speaker 1: it and making people who didn't pay attention pay attention.

551
00:30:39,640 --> 00:30:44,080
Speaker 1: Do you think people will get it now? No? I mean,

552
00:30:44,680 --> 00:30:46,720
Speaker 1: there's really no reason to believe that people in this

553
00:30:46,800 --> 00:30:49,720
Speaker 1: country or even anywhere else when it comes to hiring,

554
00:30:50,040 --> 00:30:52,840
Speaker 1: actually care about hiring people that are better for their

555
00:30:52,880 --> 00:30:55,320
Speaker 1: bottom line it or for their business. We hire people

556
00:30:55,720 --> 00:30:57,320
Speaker 1: based off of what we know, and if you only

557
00:30:57,400 --> 00:30:59,440
Speaker 1: know white people, but then of course you're only going

558
00:30:59,480 --> 00:31:01,800
Speaker 1: to hire white people, you know. The idea behind this

559
00:31:01,960 --> 00:31:04,240
Speaker 1: is that no matter if it's journalism, members in football,

560
00:31:04,520 --> 00:31:09,000
Speaker 1: anywhere where specifically black people can exist, we were never

561
00:31:09,240 --> 00:31:12,160
Speaker 1: envisioned to have these jobs. When somebody seeks out a

562
00:31:12,280 --> 00:31:14,800
Speaker 1: job description, they're not looking for black people. Like when

563
00:31:14,800 --> 00:31:16,840
Speaker 1: you go to make the listing of how we think

564
00:31:16,840 --> 00:31:19,200
Speaker 1: about these jobs, you're not looking for black people. And

565
00:31:19,280 --> 00:31:21,000
Speaker 1: so you can say all what you want about the

566
00:31:21,040 --> 00:31:22,520
Speaker 1: Rooney rule, you can say all of what you want

567
00:31:22,520 --> 00:31:23,960
Speaker 1: about interview, and you can say all of what you

568
00:31:24,000 --> 00:31:26,840
Speaker 1: want about pipelines and are these people ready to take

569
00:31:26,880 --> 00:31:28,600
Speaker 1: these jobs with the reality and situation is that at

570
00:31:28,640 --> 00:31:31,120
Speaker 1: the very core of it, the centrality of the problem

571
00:31:31,240 --> 00:31:33,600
Speaker 1: right now is that there is no diversity in leadership.

572
00:31:33,920 --> 00:31:36,000
Speaker 1: If there's no diversity and leadership in the front office,

573
00:31:36,040 --> 00:31:38,480
Speaker 1: on the sidelines, and the ownership group, and specifically in

574
00:31:38,640 --> 00:31:41,840
Speaker 1: the ownership group, the people who set out to set

575
00:31:42,200 --> 00:31:44,239
Speaker 1: the identity of who these people are supposed to be, well,

576
00:31:44,280 --> 00:31:46,280
Speaker 1: then we're never gonna win. There could be a hundred

577
00:31:46,360 --> 00:31:49,080
Speaker 1: Brian Flores that come past until there are black and

578
00:31:49,120 --> 00:31:52,280
Speaker 1: brown owners, specifically, until there are black owners in the NFL,

579
00:31:52,720 --> 00:31:55,760
Speaker 1: multiple black owners in the NFL. We you're going to

580
00:31:55,920 --> 00:31:59,920
Speaker 1: do this every single year, every single January and February

581
00:32:00,240 --> 00:32:03,000
Speaker 1: until something changes. And for the entirety of the history

582
00:32:03,040 --> 00:32:07,600
Speaker 1: of the NFL, nothing on this topic has changed. I

583
00:32:07,680 --> 00:32:09,760
Speaker 1: think the position of power thing is so important, and

584
00:32:09,840 --> 00:32:12,560
Speaker 1: that's something that you always stress and we have these conversations.

585
00:32:12,800 --> 00:32:14,520
Speaker 1: The people who are in real positions of power and

586
00:32:14,560 --> 00:32:17,080
Speaker 1: privilege here are the owners, as you said, and they're

587
00:32:17,120 --> 00:32:19,720
Speaker 1: the ones who created the system that has led to

588
00:32:19,800 --> 00:32:22,640
Speaker 1: the lack of diversity. So how could we ever expect

589
00:32:22,720 --> 00:32:26,000
Speaker 1: that the very people who created this system of inequality

590
00:32:26,360 --> 00:32:30,520
Speaker 1: would then honestly evaluate it and fix it. Right. Every

591
00:32:30,560 --> 00:32:34,760
Speaker 1: statistic since nineteen eighty on, from Arizona State to Georgetown,

592
00:32:34,840 --> 00:32:37,880
Speaker 1: to any academic research, quantitative studies, even the studies the

593
00:32:37,960 --> 00:32:41,200
Speaker 1: NFL is paid for, points to a very specific problem,

594
00:32:41,640 --> 00:32:43,640
Speaker 1: and that is that not only do we not get

595
00:32:43,680 --> 00:32:46,160
Speaker 1: the opportunity to come into the door, not only when

596
00:32:46,240 --> 00:32:47,960
Speaker 1: we do get the opportunity to come to the door,

597
00:32:48,080 --> 00:32:50,920
Speaker 1: that these interviews are rigged, but if we funk up

598
00:32:50,960 --> 00:32:54,800
Speaker 1: one time, we will never come back. Ever, the likelihood

599
00:32:54,960 --> 00:32:56,960
Speaker 1: of a black person getting a head coaching jobs slip

600
00:32:57,320 --> 00:33:00,320
Speaker 1: to get a second one, it's even more so. The

601
00:33:00,400 --> 00:33:03,320
Speaker 1: whole problem is how we consider football and the people

602
00:33:03,400 --> 00:33:07,480
Speaker 1: we put in charge to run these teams. They have

603
00:33:07,600 --> 00:33:11,000
Speaker 1: been about seven or eight openings this offseason for NFL

604
00:33:11,080 --> 00:33:14,920
Speaker 1: head coaches. Five people have been hired. None of them

605
00:33:15,280 --> 00:33:18,240
Speaker 1: have been black. Basically, you're talking about you don't trust

606
00:33:18,560 --> 00:33:21,360
Speaker 1: and African American to be a leader of men. The

607
00:33:21,480 --> 00:33:25,880
Speaker 1: National Football League players of color, seventy one percent one

608
00:33:26,000 --> 00:33:29,640
Speaker 1: head coach is black. And those opportunities that you're saying,

609
00:33:29,720 --> 00:33:33,600
Speaker 1: like when they do come, how they're treated in those opportunities,

610
00:33:33,640 --> 00:33:35,920
Speaker 1: what kind of opportunities they get, and getting a second

611
00:33:35,960 --> 00:33:38,920
Speaker 1: opportunity is a really important point. Brian Flores is talking

612
00:33:38,960 --> 00:33:41,760
Speaker 1: about how he was offered a hundred thousand dollars per

613
00:33:41,880 --> 00:33:45,120
Speaker 1: game to lose, right, Hugh Jackson claimed the same. Hugh

614
00:33:45,240 --> 00:33:47,600
Speaker 1: Jackson goes one and thirty one his first two seasons,

615
00:33:47,840 --> 00:33:50,719
Speaker 1: gets fired after starting to five and oneen he might

616
00:33:50,800 --> 00:33:55,080
Speaker 1: join the suit. Flora's lawyers say other coaches contacted them

617
00:33:55,080 --> 00:33:57,720
Speaker 1: about the same thing. So you've got the Browns, the Dolphins,

618
00:33:57,960 --> 00:34:00,640
Speaker 1: franchises that are down on their luck. They take these

619
00:34:00,760 --> 00:34:05,040
Speaker 1: jobs when those teams are down, and they offer them

620
00:34:05,120 --> 00:34:08,800
Speaker 1: to black coaches to serve as caretakers. And then immediately

621
00:34:08,840 --> 00:34:10,680
Speaker 1: when those picks come in or they start to get better,

622
00:34:11,160 --> 00:34:14,560
Speaker 1: they get moved out. And to your point, second, opportunities

623
00:34:14,600 --> 00:34:17,880
Speaker 1: don't come along. So what kind of opportunities are they

624
00:34:17,920 --> 00:34:21,719
Speaker 1: actually getting in the NFL? That was right? I mean,

625
00:34:21,920 --> 00:34:24,719
Speaker 1: you know, if you're David Culley, you've waited your entire life,

626
00:34:24,760 --> 00:34:26,400
Speaker 1: you're in your sixties to be a head coach, You've

627
00:34:26,400 --> 00:34:28,799
Speaker 1: gone through all of these interviews, and your first job

628
00:34:28,880 --> 00:34:30,799
Speaker 1: is with the Houston Texans in your fire the same year.

629
00:34:30,840 --> 00:34:34,680
Speaker 1: You were never set up to succeed. If Brian Floyds

630
00:34:34,719 --> 00:34:37,520
Speaker 1: his lawsuit is what he says it is, then he

631
00:34:37,680 --> 00:34:40,680
Speaker 1: was never set up to succeed, right. And and here's

632
00:34:40,680 --> 00:34:44,080
Speaker 1: the thing, there's a massive burden of proof to prove

633
00:34:44,200 --> 00:34:46,480
Speaker 1: only to people who don't believe in racism. When black

634
00:34:46,520 --> 00:34:48,120
Speaker 1: folks tell me that the races happens to them, I

635
00:34:48,200 --> 00:34:50,439
Speaker 1: believe them pretty quickly because I know what has happened

636
00:34:50,480 --> 00:34:53,520
Speaker 1: to me. And so there's not like some large treasure

637
00:34:53,520 --> 00:34:55,920
Speaker 1: trove of evidence. There's not like some secret, you know,

638
00:34:56,360 --> 00:35:00,720
Speaker 1: Manila envelope of money. It's sheer empathy. Do you believe

639
00:35:00,800 --> 00:35:03,040
Speaker 1: this man or don't you? And if you don't believe

640
00:35:03,080 --> 00:35:05,920
Speaker 1: this man, why don't you? If you can't believe this man,

641
00:35:05,960 --> 00:35:08,399
Speaker 1: why can't you believe all the other hundreds of men

642
00:35:08,880 --> 00:35:11,520
Speaker 1: who have said since the inception of football in the

643
00:35:11,600 --> 00:35:14,200
Speaker 1: modern state, since the sixties and seventies and on, that

644
00:35:14,400 --> 00:35:16,520
Speaker 1: they are not getting jobs, they are not getting a

645
00:35:16,640 --> 00:35:21,920
Speaker 1: fair shake. It is a systemic failure of the highest magnitude.

646
00:35:22,160 --> 00:35:24,440
Speaker 1: And the NFL is not the only league who has

647
00:35:24,520 --> 00:35:27,920
Speaker 1: to reckon move that. So Brian Flor's message Cameron Will

648
00:35:27,960 --> 00:35:30,160
Speaker 1: from the NFL network, and he said it was time

649
00:35:30,239 --> 00:35:32,680
Speaker 1: to stop being quiet about the injustices that are happening.

650
00:35:32,719 --> 00:35:35,120
Speaker 1: This was long overdue. There's plenty of racism that needs

651
00:35:35,200 --> 00:35:37,279
Speaker 1: to be exposed. And I think that's absolutely right, and

652
00:35:37,360 --> 00:35:39,879
Speaker 1: that's true. But I want to lead you into something

653
00:35:39,960 --> 00:35:42,640
Speaker 1: that you've mentioned to me that's always stuck with me.

654
00:35:43,160 --> 00:35:45,880
Speaker 1: That you said, when when something like this happens in sports,

655
00:35:46,360 --> 00:35:50,359
Speaker 1: with sports and ownership that's predominantly white, or fans act

656
00:35:50,400 --> 00:35:53,400
Speaker 1: out and shout something racist at Russell Westbrook Er Lebron.

657
00:35:53,840 --> 00:35:56,000
Speaker 1: The reaction of sports media is generally to run to

658
00:35:56,080 --> 00:35:58,960
Speaker 1: black athletes and coaches and say, oh, the system is broken,

659
00:35:59,000 --> 00:36:01,040
Speaker 1: how do we fix it? And your point has always

660
00:36:01,120 --> 00:36:04,120
Speaker 1: been why do the people who look like Flora's in

661
00:36:04,200 --> 00:36:07,279
Speaker 1: Westbrook and Lebron have to fix the broken system when

662
00:36:07,280 --> 00:36:09,759
Speaker 1: the people who set up the broken system don't look

663
00:36:09,840 --> 00:36:13,440
Speaker 1: like Flora's in Westbrook and Lebron? What else? What I'm

664
00:36:13,480 --> 00:36:16,040
Speaker 1: saying right is that, like you know, no one's asking

665
00:36:16,120 --> 00:36:19,400
Speaker 1: Bill Belichick about this. No one's not gonna Stephen Ross's

666
00:36:19,440 --> 00:36:22,000
Speaker 1: door and saying what happened? You're expecting these black people

667
00:36:22,000 --> 00:36:24,040
Speaker 1: who have been through trauma for so many different years,

668
00:36:24,280 --> 00:36:27,160
Speaker 1: through so many different ideas of what trauma looks like

669
00:36:27,200 --> 00:36:28,840
Speaker 1: for the black body of the United States in this history,

670
00:36:29,120 --> 00:36:31,480
Speaker 1: to go from that to then say, why don't y'all

671
00:36:31,560 --> 00:36:35,280
Speaker 1: explain to us a Majarlie white labor pool in journalism,

672
00:36:35,360 --> 00:36:38,840
Speaker 1: exactly how this goes on? Why don't you ask anybody else?

673
00:36:39,719 --> 00:36:41,719
Speaker 1: Because they have as much to say about this as

674
00:36:41,760 --> 00:36:44,120
Speaker 1: we do, and if they don't, they should because the

675
00:36:44,280 --> 00:36:46,719
Speaker 1: only way, in the only path towards any idea of

676
00:36:46,800 --> 00:36:48,600
Speaker 1: equity when it comes to the black body United States

677
00:36:48,600 --> 00:36:51,879
Speaker 1: and especially through athletics, is with these white people who

678
00:36:51,880 --> 00:36:55,239
Speaker 1: actually hold their power and the key to unlocking what

679
00:36:55,360 --> 00:36:57,800
Speaker 1: the future of these athletics looks like. Rod Graves, the

680
00:36:57,840 --> 00:37:00,680
Speaker 1: president of the First Pilate Alliance, always is the diversity

681
00:37:00,760 --> 00:37:03,160
Speaker 1: is good for business and that no matter what, even

682
00:37:03,200 --> 00:37:04,640
Speaker 1: if you don't want these black people, even if you

683
00:37:04,640 --> 00:37:07,160
Speaker 1: don't want us near you, that we are good for

684
00:37:07,280 --> 00:37:10,359
Speaker 1: your bottom line. If black people can't even be good

685
00:37:10,600 --> 00:37:13,480
Speaker 1: enough to help you make money as a white organization

686
00:37:13,480 --> 00:37:15,440
Speaker 1: in the NFL, then we are no good to this

687
00:37:15,719 --> 00:37:18,640
Speaker 1: league except as crash dummies. And a lot of these

688
00:37:18,800 --> 00:37:21,080
Speaker 1: men and a lot of these people within football at

689
00:37:21,160 --> 00:37:25,200
Speaker 1: every single level are a bit tired of being crash dummies,

690
00:37:25,239 --> 00:37:27,320
Speaker 1: and they've been a bit tired of that for a

691
00:37:27,520 --> 00:37:30,040
Speaker 1: very long time. So, you know, commend and respect to

692
00:37:30,080 --> 00:37:32,800
Speaker 1: Brian Flores, but nothing that we're discussing is new. Just

693
00:37:32,960 --> 00:37:35,239
Speaker 1: in the time of the Rooney Rule, we have not

694
00:37:35,320 --> 00:37:38,160
Speaker 1: accomplished that much. And so if the Rooney rule doesn't work,

695
00:37:38,160 --> 00:37:40,200
Speaker 1: if the legislation the league is putting out doesn't work,

696
00:37:40,320 --> 00:37:42,480
Speaker 1: if half hearted efforts from the people in powers to

697
00:37:42,560 --> 00:37:47,399
Speaker 1: help us out are going nowhere. We're just not wanted here. Yeah,

698
00:37:47,560 --> 00:37:49,520
Speaker 1: and I think that's why Brian Flora is a standing

699
00:37:49,600 --> 00:37:52,440
Speaker 1: up and speaking out. But to the earlier point about

700
00:37:52,520 --> 00:37:55,239
Speaker 1: him having to do it and do it alone, we

701
00:37:55,360 --> 00:37:57,359
Speaker 1: know what the repercussions could potentially be. I mean, Colin

702
00:37:57,440 --> 00:38:00,239
Speaker 1: Kaepernick already went down this road and then immediately not

703
00:38:00,360 --> 00:38:01,799
Speaker 1: only did he not get a job, and he still

704
00:38:01,840 --> 00:38:03,800
Speaker 1: hasn't and he won't. There was all this pushback in

705
00:38:03,880 --> 00:38:06,360
Speaker 1: propaganda about how he wasn't good enough, right, all of

706
00:38:06,400 --> 00:38:08,360
Speaker 1: a sudden he wasn't good enough, which is at or nonsense,

707
00:38:08,360 --> 00:38:10,360
Speaker 1: and everybody knew it to be so. And now you

708
00:38:10,440 --> 00:38:13,040
Speaker 1: have Flora's flat out saying that he knows that those

709
00:38:13,080 --> 00:38:15,360
Speaker 1: same techniques might be used against him and then he

710
00:38:15,440 --> 00:38:17,880
Speaker 1: might be torpedoing his career. I want to play you

711
00:38:17,920 --> 00:38:20,840
Speaker 1: a clip. This is what he said on ESPN. But

712
00:38:20,920 --> 00:38:25,080
Speaker 1: I understand the risks of of of uh filing a

713
00:38:25,200 --> 00:38:29,319
Speaker 1: lasso like this. Um, But I'm very um, I am hopeful. Well,

714
00:38:29,320 --> 00:38:34,560
Speaker 1: there's something I'm passionate about. But if change, if change comes, um,

715
00:38:36,239 --> 00:38:38,120
Speaker 1: and if I never coach again and there's change, it

716
00:38:38,200 --> 00:38:42,759
Speaker 1: it'll be worth it. Tyler. I mean again, I wish

717
00:38:42,800 --> 00:38:46,000
Speaker 1: we could be surprised, and he obviously has gone into

718
00:38:46,080 --> 00:38:49,320
Speaker 1: this eyes wide open. But what does that say about

719
00:38:49,320 --> 00:38:50,960
Speaker 1: the system when you have a guy who says, I

720
00:38:51,160 --> 00:38:53,520
Speaker 1: I see all this stuff. We all see it, but

721
00:38:53,640 --> 00:38:55,880
Speaker 1: I'm gonna point it out even though I know this

722
00:38:56,000 --> 00:38:59,040
Speaker 1: could be the end of my career. Yeah. I think

723
00:38:59,120 --> 00:39:01,640
Speaker 1: the most important thing that people can probably take from

724
00:39:01,680 --> 00:39:06,160
Speaker 1: this is is very simple. This is not about Brian Flores.

725
00:39:06,520 --> 00:39:07,960
Speaker 1: Like as much a people like to believe that this

726
00:39:08,000 --> 00:39:10,120
Speaker 1: is an anomaly and how we think about racism in

727
00:39:10,120 --> 00:39:12,800
Speaker 1: the United States, this is not about Brian Flores. This

728
00:39:12,960 --> 00:39:16,239
Speaker 1: is about the hundreds of Brian flores Is that have

729
00:39:16,360 --> 00:39:19,719
Speaker 1: come through the NFL since the sixties, seventies and on

730
00:39:20,120 --> 00:39:24,640
Speaker 1: who were never given a chance. Before we can even

731
00:39:24,680 --> 00:39:27,279
Speaker 1: get to a fair chance, they weren't even giving the

732
00:39:27,400 --> 00:39:29,600
Speaker 1: chance to come in the room. Now that we are

733
00:39:29,719 --> 00:39:31,799
Speaker 1: forced to be in the room, which only came from

734
00:39:31,800 --> 00:39:34,680
Speaker 1: a rooty rule, which only came from legislation by Johnny

735
00:39:34,719 --> 00:39:37,799
Speaker 1: Cochrane and Cyrus Mary excusing the threat of litigation by

736
00:39:37,880 --> 00:39:40,160
Speaker 1: those people. And that's why we have this legislation. Now.

737
00:39:41,040 --> 00:39:44,240
Speaker 1: The NFL does not care about this. There are dozens

738
00:39:44,280 --> 00:39:47,400
Speaker 1: of coaches around the NFL right now special teams coaches,

739
00:39:47,480 --> 00:39:52,120
Speaker 1: running backs coaches, defensive coordinators, cornerbacks coaches, receivers coaches who

740
00:39:52,160 --> 00:39:56,920
Speaker 1: have had these jobs for ten, fifteen, twenty years. Secial

741
00:39:56,960 --> 00:39:59,800
Speaker 1: teams coordinator in Tampa Bay right now has been coaching

742
00:40:00,000 --> 00:40:03,960
Speaker 1: s actual teams for thirty years. He has not had

743
00:40:04,040 --> 00:40:07,000
Speaker 1: more than five opportunities to be a head coach in

744
00:40:07,239 --> 00:40:11,840
Speaker 1: thirty years. He didn't follow lawsuit. What about Deuce Staley?

745
00:40:11,960 --> 00:40:14,959
Speaker 1: He didn't follow lawsuit. What about Rochie Morris? He didn't

746
00:40:14,960 --> 00:40:16,960
Speaker 1: follow lawsuit? And so what do we do about these

747
00:40:17,000 --> 00:40:18,920
Speaker 1: guys who are literally just regular people who have to

748
00:40:19,000 --> 00:40:23,120
Speaker 1: exist within the NFL who will never get their fair shot.

749
00:40:23,160 --> 00:40:25,840
Speaker 1: It doesn't matter what Hugh Jackson says, and frankly, it

750
00:40:25,920 --> 00:40:28,840
Speaker 1: doesn't matter what Brian Flores says. We have decades of

751
00:40:28,880 --> 00:40:31,800
Speaker 1: anecdotal evidence and paid for data by the NFL that

752
00:40:31,880 --> 00:40:34,040
Speaker 1: says this ship is fucked up and it's not changing.

753
00:40:34,719 --> 00:40:37,839
Speaker 1: So when exactly are we going to do something? Yeah,

754
00:40:37,880 --> 00:40:40,680
Speaker 1: and you're right when you said the Rouoney rule was

755
00:40:40,719 --> 00:40:43,440
Speaker 1: set up to have people in the room, but being

756
00:40:43,480 --> 00:40:46,320
Speaker 1: in the room isn't real. It's just a symbol. So

757
00:40:46,440 --> 00:40:48,320
Speaker 1: that they can get around saying, oh, you know, we

758
00:40:48,400 --> 00:40:51,000
Speaker 1: haven't talked to any black people. Also, I find it

759
00:40:51,080 --> 00:40:54,279
Speaker 1: staggering that you hear a lot of things in the

760
00:40:54,440 --> 00:40:58,400
Speaker 1: NFL about, oh, these people that own the teams or

761
00:40:58,440 --> 00:41:01,080
Speaker 1: the general managers. Are the people who work for the

762
00:41:01,200 --> 00:41:04,680
Speaker 1: teams at a management level, they're not racist just because

763
00:41:04,719 --> 00:41:06,680
Speaker 1: they go and higher a white person. I want to

764
00:41:06,719 --> 00:41:09,880
Speaker 1: play something for you from Tiki Barber on his w

765
00:41:10,120 --> 00:41:13,240
Speaker 1: f A n show, who said he knows the Marras

766
00:41:13,560 --> 00:41:16,040
Speaker 1: the owners of the Giants, and that they're not racist.

767
00:41:16,080 --> 00:41:18,279
Speaker 1: He told the story about Wellington Mara dying and he

768
00:41:18,600 --> 00:41:21,320
Speaker 1: Tiki had gone to his bedside to say thank you

769
00:41:21,440 --> 00:41:24,360
Speaker 1: for making me a giant, and he was upset because

770
00:41:24,480 --> 00:41:26,560
Speaker 1: you know, Mara had died, and now all of this

771
00:41:26,600 --> 00:41:29,200
Speaker 1: stuff is coming out about the Giants, and it bothers

772
00:41:29,320 --> 00:41:32,279
Speaker 1: him that people see the mayors as racist. This is

773
00:41:32,320 --> 00:41:37,760
Speaker 1: what he said. They embraced me like like I was family,

774
00:41:37,840 --> 00:41:41,840
Speaker 1: you know what I mean, And so I know them intimately.

775
00:41:41,920 --> 00:41:43,880
Speaker 1: So when I say I don't believe the racist it's

776
00:41:43,880 --> 00:41:47,440
Speaker 1: because I know they're not right, and I mean they

777
00:41:47,440 --> 00:41:50,880
Speaker 1: don't have the right head coach, the black head coach.

778
00:41:51,880 --> 00:41:54,040
Speaker 1: Even though these black players. They don't have a black

779
00:41:54,120 --> 00:41:58,080
Speaker 1: general manager or a black coordinator, right. I know they're

780
00:41:58,160 --> 00:42:02,720
Speaker 1: not a racist organization, So I get that he's emotional tyler,

781
00:42:03,520 --> 00:42:06,279
Speaker 1: But when he outlines that they have black players but

782
00:42:06,360 --> 00:42:08,640
Speaker 1: not a black coordinator or a black head coach or

783
00:42:08,640 --> 00:42:12,239
Speaker 1: a black executive, that's the problem. He's just outlining the

784
00:42:12,320 --> 00:42:17,680
Speaker 1: system that is structurally racist. How many black head coaches

785
00:42:17,719 --> 00:42:19,680
Speaker 1: have the New York Giants ever had in their history

786
00:42:19,719 --> 00:42:23,120
Speaker 1: as a team, I don't know none. How many black

787
00:42:23,200 --> 00:42:25,400
Speaker 1: gms have the New York Giants ever had as this

788
00:42:25,480 --> 00:42:27,759
Speaker 1: history as a team. I'm going to take a guess

789
00:42:27,800 --> 00:42:30,680
Speaker 1: that it's also none one Jerry Reese. And so the

790
00:42:30,840 --> 00:42:32,680
Speaker 1: point here, right is that if you would like to

791
00:42:32,719 --> 00:42:36,080
Speaker 1: prove somebody is not racist, maybe the evidence that you

792
00:42:36,160 --> 00:42:38,960
Speaker 1: were reaching for should be a bit more substantial than

793
00:42:39,040 --> 00:42:41,080
Speaker 1: Nobody give a damn about what Tiki Barbara was saying.

794
00:42:41,640 --> 00:42:44,000
Speaker 1: Plenty of black folks have said that this is racist,

795
00:42:44,040 --> 00:42:45,680
Speaker 1: and one black person who had a great time the

796
00:42:45,719 --> 00:42:48,040
Speaker 1: Giants is not going to change that. The Marits don't

797
00:42:48,120 --> 00:42:50,800
Speaker 1: hire black people. We would not be here if the

798
00:42:50,920 --> 00:42:55,880
Speaker 1: Maras hired Brian Flores. Pretty simple thing we're choosing to

799
00:42:56,040 --> 00:42:58,319
Speaker 1: keep this lead. You know what I mean, there's an

800
00:42:58,360 --> 00:43:02,399
Speaker 1: active and subjective decision to keep this league and its

801
00:43:02,480 --> 00:43:06,400
Speaker 1: coaches white. Until that changes, I'm gonna funk about what

802
00:43:06,520 --> 00:43:08,880
Speaker 1: nobody else got to say. So what do you think

803
00:43:08,960 --> 00:43:11,800
Speaker 1: ultimately happens with the Florida situation? I mean, again, his

804
00:43:11,880 --> 00:43:15,640
Speaker 1: lawyers have said that other head coaches have reached out,

805
00:43:15,800 --> 00:43:19,000
Speaker 1: that others might join the class action lawsuit. Where do

806
00:43:19,120 --> 00:43:21,040
Speaker 1: you think we come down at the end of the

807
00:43:21,120 --> 00:43:24,080
Speaker 1: day with him and with this lawsuit and with the league.

808
00:43:24,640 --> 00:43:27,719
Speaker 1: I think it will be the playoffs next year. It

809
00:43:27,760 --> 00:43:30,960
Speaker 1: will be January three, and we will still not have

810
00:43:31,040 --> 00:43:33,359
Speaker 1: a lot of black coaches that are even at an

811
00:43:33,400 --> 00:43:37,120
Speaker 1: equitable share of what the NFL looks like. And if

812
00:43:37,200 --> 00:43:38,560
Speaker 1: that is what the case is going to be, as

813
00:43:38,640 --> 00:43:41,320
Speaker 1: it has been every single January and February, if it

814
00:43:41,440 --> 00:43:44,080
Speaker 1: last twenty or thirty years, then this isn't going to

815
00:43:44,200 --> 00:43:48,759
Speaker 1: really matter. Awareness is amazing, but the end result is opportunity.

816
00:43:49,320 --> 00:43:51,759
Speaker 1: We must have the opportunity to get in the room.

817
00:43:52,040 --> 00:43:53,759
Speaker 1: And if a lawsuit is not going to change that,

818
00:43:53,840 --> 00:43:56,879
Speaker 1: which the last one didn't, I'm gonna assume we're gonna

819
00:43:56,880 --> 00:44:01,200
Speaker 1: be sitting right back here January three, February three, and

820
00:44:01,280 --> 00:44:05,239
Speaker 1: every year on words until people get hired, until there's

821
00:44:05,280 --> 00:44:08,799
Speaker 1: black owners. Yeah, I think the opportunity is the key point.

822
00:44:09,280 --> 00:44:11,719
Speaker 1: And I fear that you're probably right about this. I

823
00:44:11,800 --> 00:44:14,759
Speaker 1: appreciate you doing this. You can find him at at

824
00:44:14,880 --> 00:44:17,719
Speaker 1: Tyler Rookie Times on Twitter, go read to stuff in

825
00:44:17,800 --> 00:44:19,480
Speaker 1: g Q, and on g Q dot com. He was

826
00:44:19,600 --> 00:44:22,400
Speaker 1: named the Big Leads Sportswriter of the Year for one

827
00:44:22,840 --> 00:44:25,240
Speaker 1: I'll take the odds on him repeating in two Tyler,

828
00:44:25,320 --> 00:44:34,800
Speaker 1: thank you, appreciate you. Nick. After a break, we remember

829
00:44:34,960 --> 00:44:42,600
Speaker 1: NFL podcaster and my friend Chris Westling on janu something

830
00:44:42,680 --> 00:44:45,960
Speaker 1: close to impossible happened, and now the Bengals will turn

831
00:44:46,400 --> 00:44:50,160
Speaker 1: to their rookie kicker, Evan McPherson. There we go just

832
00:44:50,200 --> 00:44:53,160
Speaker 1: a lot last game, this a lot last Gay, Let's

833
00:44:53,160 --> 00:44:55,479
Speaker 1: go to the Bowl. The Bengals are in the Super Bowl.

834
00:44:55,960 --> 00:44:58,200
Speaker 1: And like Rosie and I were talking about this, you

835
00:44:58,239 --> 00:45:00,800
Speaker 1: know for the A T N guys, like how powerful

836
00:45:01,080 --> 00:45:03,640
Speaker 1: this feels right like for us to watch this these

837
00:45:03,680 --> 00:45:05,839
Speaker 1: two teams play. Who would have picked us? Who would

838
00:45:05,840 --> 00:45:08,319
Speaker 1: have thought this? And like it's happening. It really does

839
00:45:08,440 --> 00:45:11,760
Speaker 1: feel like west is with us. For this. They're picking

840
00:45:11,800 --> 00:45:15,759
Speaker 1: it on third down. He was four for four. This

841
00:45:16,239 --> 00:45:20,839
Speaker 1: was for West. It's so much, it's so much all

842
00:45:20,880 --> 00:45:24,960
Speaker 1: at once, you know. And when McPherson hits that field

843
00:45:25,000 --> 00:45:28,960
Speaker 1: goal and we're all together, it's just like it's every emotion,

844
00:45:29,160 --> 00:45:32,600
Speaker 1: you know, it's it's such happiness. What to find West,

845
00:45:32,640 --> 00:45:34,680
Speaker 1: to me is like wanting to be around the people

846
00:45:34,960 --> 00:45:37,759
Speaker 1: that he loved. The man we're all talking about is

847
00:45:37,840 --> 00:45:41,040
Speaker 1: Chris Westling, better known to his friends as Wes. This

848
00:45:41,239 --> 00:45:44,279
Speaker 1: was Wesson action on the NFL Networks popular around the

849
00:45:44,400 --> 00:45:50,920
Speaker 1: NFL podcast what is up? Boys? Hey Dan? What's there

850
00:45:51,000 --> 00:45:53,680
Speaker 1: in the Midwest? Do you know where in Nashville? I mean,

851
00:45:53,680 --> 00:45:55,359
Speaker 1: I can't I hear what you're saying, but we never

852
00:45:55,440 --> 00:46:00,040
Speaker 1: heard the Midwest too. I can't take this is a

853
00:46:00,120 --> 00:46:02,239
Speaker 1: big spot and ate and three team on a six game?

854
00:46:02,280 --> 00:46:08,400
Speaker 1: Wouldn't Jake look up? You guys have sat behind me

855
00:46:08,640 --> 00:46:11,640
Speaker 1: or sat beside me for seven shows. You sat beside

856
00:46:11,680 --> 00:46:14,600
Speaker 1: me for a growing battle with cancer. Will you stand

857
00:46:14,680 --> 00:46:18,760
Speaker 1: beside me on the most important I don't believe in Bigfoot,

858
00:46:18,800 --> 00:46:21,520
Speaker 1: but I could spend hours on crypto zoology. I think

859
00:46:21,640 --> 00:46:25,359
Speaker 1: yesterday was way better than today, just because of West

860
00:46:25,400 --> 00:46:28,920
Speaker 1: of us. Really, it was phenomenal and I'm still downright giddy.

861
00:46:30,680 --> 00:46:33,400
Speaker 1: Two days before last year's Super Bowl, I got a

862
00:46:33,440 --> 00:46:36,080
Speaker 1: call from Dan hands As of the Around the NFL podcast.

863
00:46:37,120 --> 00:46:39,920
Speaker 1: It was the call we had all been dreading. Dan

864
00:46:40,040 --> 00:46:44,240
Speaker 1: told me that our friend and his podcast partner, Chris Westling,

865
00:46:44,920 --> 00:46:48,520
Speaker 1: had died after a long struggle with cancer. Chris was

866
00:46:48,600 --> 00:46:52,560
Speaker 1: forty six. We were all devastated, and we still are

867
00:46:52,760 --> 00:46:56,440
Speaker 1: a year later. It remains painful and hard to process.

868
00:46:57,320 --> 00:47:00,400
Speaker 1: West meant so much to so many people. For me

869
00:47:00,520 --> 00:47:04,040
Speaker 1: and our group of friends, West was family. To honor

870
00:47:04,120 --> 00:47:06,680
Speaker 1: him the best way I know how, I asked his wife, Lakeisha,

871
00:47:07,360 --> 00:47:10,000
Speaker 1: his a t n co hosts Dan Mark Sessler and

872
00:47:10,080 --> 00:47:13,800
Speaker 1: Greg Rosenthal, and my wife and NFL Network broadcaster Colleen

873
00:47:13,840 --> 00:47:17,480
Speaker 1: Wolf to join me and remembering and celebrating west a

874
00:47:17,560 --> 00:47:20,040
Speaker 1: man who we love deeply and who was taken from

875
00:47:20,120 --> 00:47:26,080
Speaker 1: us far too soon. All Right, So I want to

876
00:47:26,160 --> 00:47:29,040
Speaker 1: start with what we're calling the Westling Super Bowl. Chris

877
00:47:29,200 --> 00:47:31,560
Speaker 1: was from Cincinnati, and we can talk about how he

878
00:47:31,600 --> 00:47:34,279
Speaker 1: actually felt about the Bengals later. But they hadn't won

879
00:47:34,320 --> 00:47:36,000
Speaker 1: a single playoff game in thirty one years, and then

880
00:47:36,000 --> 00:47:37,600
Speaker 1: all of a sudden they go on this run. And

881
00:47:37,719 --> 00:47:40,560
Speaker 1: we had watched the divisional round at Lakisha's and we

882
00:47:40,640 --> 00:47:43,240
Speaker 1: started talking about wouldn't it be cool if the Bengals

883
00:47:43,280 --> 00:47:45,719
Speaker 1: played the Rams, because Keisha is a Rams fan, not

884
00:47:45,880 --> 00:47:47,560
Speaker 1: just from l A but going back to St. Louis,

885
00:47:48,160 --> 00:47:49,880
Speaker 1: And so we decided to watch the a f C

886
00:47:50,160 --> 00:47:52,839
Speaker 1: Championship game at Keisha's house. By the time I get there,

887
00:47:53,360 --> 00:47:55,000
Speaker 1: the Bengals are not doing great, and I asked Greg,

888
00:47:55,120 --> 00:47:57,600
Speaker 1: you know how they're doing, and he just like grunted

889
00:47:57,640 --> 00:48:00,479
Speaker 1: his rosy grunt at me. Uh, and they had gone

890
00:48:00,560 --> 00:48:02,640
Speaker 1: up I think the Chiefs are up twenty one three.

891
00:48:02,880 --> 00:48:05,640
Speaker 1: So Keisha, you were determined that it was not going

892
00:48:05,680 --> 00:48:08,320
Speaker 1: to go this way. Tell everybody what you did. You know,

893
00:48:08,440 --> 00:48:10,880
Speaker 1: you have your Sensei shirt on, You've got link in

894
00:48:10,920 --> 00:48:14,480
Speaker 1: your son and his little Bengals shirt looking cute. Tell

895
00:48:14,520 --> 00:48:17,560
Speaker 1: everybody what you did to change the vibes. I am

896
00:48:17,680 --> 00:48:20,440
Speaker 1: a big believer in like energy and putting out good

897
00:48:20,600 --> 00:48:24,640
Speaker 1: vibrations and energies in the world, and sage gets rid

898
00:48:24,680 --> 00:48:26,920
Speaker 1: of like the bad vibes, bad energy. So I was

899
00:48:27,000 --> 00:48:29,960
Speaker 1: just trying to do whatever it is possible to if

900
00:48:30,000 --> 00:48:31,759
Speaker 1: it's bad energy. I was going to get rid of it,

901
00:48:31,880 --> 00:48:33,719
Speaker 1: and that's what I did, burned it and try to

902
00:48:33,800 --> 00:48:35,719
Speaker 1: do whatever I could to get the Bengals to the

903
00:48:35,760 --> 00:48:39,080
Speaker 1: super Bowl, and it worked. It's also I didn't know

904
00:48:39,200 --> 00:48:42,439
Speaker 1: that I expected stage not to smell good. It smelled great.

905
00:48:42,880 --> 00:48:44,840
Speaker 1: It depends on who it is. My mom hates it.

906
00:48:46,760 --> 00:48:49,160
Speaker 1: The wind was kind of like blowing it over our

907
00:48:49,440 --> 00:48:52,080
Speaker 1: faces and everything too, so we kept getting waves of it.

908
00:48:52,320 --> 00:48:55,520
Speaker 1: It was lovely. I need some of that. I don't

909
00:48:55,520 --> 00:48:57,359
Speaker 1: know what kind of magic it was. That magic work.

910
00:48:57,440 --> 00:49:00,320
Speaker 1: Though they win, they go on this crazy comeback. Colleen.

911
00:49:00,320 --> 00:49:03,000
Speaker 1: When they won, you immediately ran over and hugged Kisha

912
00:49:03,080 --> 00:49:05,600
Speaker 1: and Lank and you were crying. And then Rosie, you

913
00:49:05,680 --> 00:49:07,160
Speaker 1: went over and hugged both of them, and then I

914
00:49:07,280 --> 00:49:08,960
Speaker 1: came over and hugged all three of you guys, and

915
00:49:08,960 --> 00:49:12,759
Speaker 1: then the whole backyard was hugging and everybody was crying. Kyle,

916
00:49:12,800 --> 00:49:16,960
Speaker 1: it was an emotional day, it was, And just having

917
00:49:17,000 --> 00:49:20,160
Speaker 1: watched the game the previous week, Uh, sort of the

918
00:49:20,239 --> 00:49:23,560
Speaker 1: same thing happened in the divisional round when the Bengals

919
00:49:23,600 --> 00:49:25,440
Speaker 1: won that game, and that's sort of when I started

920
00:49:25,480 --> 00:49:29,040
Speaker 1: to believe that the Bengals were going to the super Bowl,

921
00:49:29,160 --> 00:49:31,680
Speaker 1: no matter what, it didn't matter who the Bengals were playing,

922
00:49:31,760 --> 00:49:35,439
Speaker 1: that they were destined to go to the super Bowl.

923
00:49:35,719 --> 00:49:41,200
Speaker 1: And being with Lakisha and all of you guys, I

924
00:49:41,360 --> 00:49:46,120
Speaker 1: feel like this was just a very real way of

925
00:49:46,800 --> 00:49:51,080
Speaker 1: being with West and West kind of telling us that

926
00:49:51,360 --> 00:49:55,759
Speaker 1: he's still with us, because it just felt so improbable

927
00:49:55,840 --> 00:49:59,160
Speaker 1: for all of this to happen, and for it to

928
00:49:59,320 --> 00:50:02,000
Speaker 1: kind of happen this way. It's so perfectly West for

929
00:50:02,200 --> 00:50:05,800
Speaker 1: him to reach out to us through football and knowing

930
00:50:05,920 --> 00:50:08,319
Speaker 1: that this would bring us all together, and that's all

931
00:50:08,400 --> 00:50:12,400
Speaker 1: West really ever wanted, was for us to be together

932
00:50:12,640 --> 00:50:17,080
Speaker 1: and experience things in each other's presence. And I think

933
00:50:17,160 --> 00:50:20,400
Speaker 1: he knew that this would bring us even closer. I

934
00:50:20,480 --> 00:50:23,239
Speaker 1: believe that to Colleen, Like that butterfly on the field

935
00:50:23,320 --> 00:50:25,759
Speaker 1: during the Wild Car weekend, like that just kind of

936
00:50:25,840 --> 00:50:28,400
Speaker 1: changed the whole vibe of the playoffs for me. Seeing

937
00:50:28,520 --> 00:50:30,920
Speaker 1: that right before that kick went in, It's just like, Okay,

938
00:50:31,440 --> 00:50:33,640
Speaker 1: I see the sign West like something's going on. I

939
00:50:33,719 --> 00:50:36,120
Speaker 1: don't know what it is, but I'm here for the ride.

940
00:50:36,840 --> 00:50:39,440
Speaker 1: I mean, a butterfly in you know, thirties something degree

941
00:50:39,480 --> 00:50:42,319
Speaker 1: temperatures not a normal event. In the Midwest down there

942
00:50:42,360 --> 00:50:45,359
Speaker 1: in Nashville. So I do think West was showing something

943
00:50:45,440 --> 00:50:49,320
Speaker 1: special to everyone. I like the year clued into normal

944
00:50:49,480 --> 00:50:52,080
Speaker 1: butterfly migration patterns. I mean, I could be way off,

945
00:50:52,120 --> 00:50:53,680
Speaker 1: but I don't. It's not want to typically tend to

946
00:50:53,719 --> 00:50:55,840
Speaker 1: see butterflies like so it's you know, it seemed like

947
00:50:55,920 --> 00:50:59,640
Speaker 1: an outlier. It's very important just to speak confidently and

948
00:51:00,040 --> 00:51:04,680
Speaker 1: usually that will carry the day, right, That's why we're

949
00:51:04,680 --> 00:51:06,880
Speaker 1: all there together as because of West. He was in

950
00:51:06,960 --> 00:51:09,000
Speaker 1: a lot of ways the glues that that brought us

951
00:51:09,040 --> 00:51:12,560
Speaker 1: all together. But it's happiness, it's sadness, and and it's

952
00:51:12,600 --> 00:51:15,400
Speaker 1: football too, and at least for me, like football is

953
00:51:15,480 --> 00:51:18,239
Speaker 1: just such a essential part of it. And to be

954
00:51:18,400 --> 00:51:20,759
Speaker 1: feeling like all all those sort of emotions, and I

955
00:51:20,840 --> 00:51:22,640
Speaker 1: know we felt it throughout the rest of the day,

956
00:51:22,680 --> 00:51:24,640
Speaker 1: it's almost like you have to come down from it.

957
00:51:24,960 --> 00:51:27,080
Speaker 1: It reminded me too of when Dan and I were

958
00:51:27,120 --> 00:51:30,399
Speaker 1: in London and seeing the reaction of West to West

959
00:51:30,520 --> 00:51:33,080
Speaker 1: there of all the people, and it's also connected and

960
00:51:33,680 --> 00:51:35,640
Speaker 1: like to me, that is West because even though he

961
00:51:35,840 --> 00:51:39,000
Speaker 1: had to some people like a gruff exterior, like he

962
00:51:39,200 --> 00:51:41,560
Speaker 1: was all about feeling all the emotions like he wanted

963
00:51:41,600 --> 00:51:46,960
Speaker 1: to feel everything that life had to offer, like fun, sadness, happiness,

964
00:51:47,040 --> 00:51:49,120
Speaker 1: all that stuff, Like he wanted to suck the marrow

965
00:51:49,160 --> 00:51:51,720
Speaker 1: out of life. I think also when with the Bagels,

966
00:51:52,040 --> 00:51:55,719
Speaker 1: like specifically football to me when we were doing our show,

967
00:51:55,920 --> 00:51:57,799
Speaker 1: and I mentioned this before that I if I'd offer

968
00:51:57,840 --> 00:52:00,759
Speaker 1: an opinion or say anything about football, I'd want to

969
00:52:00,760 --> 00:52:02,960
Speaker 1: know what West thought about what I said. I mean,

970
00:52:03,000 --> 00:52:04,360
Speaker 1: I think we all kind of felt away because if

971
00:52:04,400 --> 00:52:08,040
Speaker 1: he confirmed what you um, your suspicions or opinions, you're good.

972
00:52:08,120 --> 00:52:09,719
Speaker 1: I mean's just like I walked through the streets being

973
00:52:09,760 --> 00:52:11,280
Speaker 1: like I know my I know I'm in good shape.

974
00:52:11,320 --> 00:52:15,640
Speaker 1: But he's He's left us with the greatest, um, what

975
00:52:15,760 --> 00:52:18,759
Speaker 1: would West think moment of all because it's like, yeah,

976
00:52:18,800 --> 00:52:21,399
Speaker 1: I know what he'd think about, like the Patriots going

977
00:52:21,440 --> 00:52:23,640
Speaker 1: to the super Bowl without Brady or Brady going with

978
00:52:23,680 --> 00:52:26,200
Speaker 1: the Bucks, But it's like what would his thoughts be

979
00:52:26,719 --> 00:52:30,239
Speaker 1: on this? We've tried to deconstruct that mystery for weeks now,

980
00:52:30,360 --> 00:52:32,640
Speaker 1: but it only gets more and more heightened as they advanced.

981
00:52:32,680 --> 00:52:35,920
Speaker 1: So um, it's almost just another perfect wrinkle of like

982
00:52:36,360 --> 00:52:38,600
Speaker 1: everyone has the same question, where would West be with

983
00:52:38,680 --> 00:52:41,840
Speaker 1: all of this, you know, Yeah, so let's talk about

984
00:52:41,840 --> 00:52:44,719
Speaker 1: the true meaning of West of Us because we've been,

985
00:52:45,120 --> 00:52:47,440
Speaker 1: at least I've been sort of applying this tag to

986
00:52:47,480 --> 00:52:50,800
Speaker 1: what's been happening. But the true meaning of Westernes was

987
00:52:51,160 --> 00:52:54,239
Speaker 1: built around the Bengals being terrible and losing in the playoffs.

988
00:52:54,600 --> 00:52:56,200
Speaker 1: And really it was just an excuse for us to

989
00:52:56,280 --> 00:53:00,560
Speaker 1: gather and like over serve each other. And how do

990
00:53:00,680 --> 00:53:03,920
Speaker 1: we think West would actually feel about this, because you know,

991
00:53:04,040 --> 00:53:06,800
Speaker 1: he had complicated feelings about the Bengals and like renounced

992
00:53:06,880 --> 00:53:09,719
Speaker 1: his bantom at one point. But it is such an

993
00:53:09,800 --> 00:53:13,640
Speaker 1: incredible run. I think absolutely, as a football fan, he

994
00:53:13,680 --> 00:53:17,000
Speaker 1: would admire this Bengals team and really be all in

995
00:53:17,880 --> 00:53:21,919
Speaker 1: on Joe Burrow. Obviously in the casual greatness of Jamaar Chase,

996
00:53:22,040 --> 00:53:24,320
Speaker 1: I think he would really appreciate the team. But it

997
00:53:24,520 --> 00:53:29,120
Speaker 1: truly was a complicated relationship. It was a broken marriage,

998
00:53:29,160 --> 00:53:32,680
Speaker 1: that's how he put it. It was a dossier, a document.

999
00:53:32,840 --> 00:53:35,200
Speaker 1: It was a big Manilla folder that Lakisha still has

1000
00:53:35,239 --> 00:53:38,120
Speaker 1: to this day that had three hundred to four hundred

1001
00:53:38,120 --> 00:53:41,239
Speaker 1: pages of columns and newspaper write ups, and it was

1002
00:53:41,320 --> 00:53:43,920
Speaker 1: explaining why he was leaving the Bengals fandom in the

1003
00:53:43,960 --> 00:53:47,520
Speaker 1: early two thousand's after years of fan abuse and his

1004
00:53:48,120 --> 00:53:51,000
Speaker 1: description and I remember, you know, in the last three

1005
00:53:51,080 --> 00:53:53,040
Speaker 1: or four years of the podcast, I always used to

1006
00:53:53,040 --> 00:53:54,719
Speaker 1: say to West, all right, West, come on, let's do it.

1007
00:53:54,880 --> 00:53:57,399
Speaker 1: As a Jets homer, I wanted West to get back

1008
00:53:57,440 --> 00:54:01,160
Speaker 1: and have his hometown team and say what about now, West,

1009
00:54:01,200 --> 00:54:03,000
Speaker 1: how about now? And He's like no, no, no, no no.

1010
00:54:03,280 --> 00:54:05,080
Speaker 1: And then Joe Burrow came and I was like, hey,

1011
00:54:05,160 --> 00:54:07,799
Speaker 1: this Burrow kids pretty exciting. And it always went back

1012
00:54:07,880 --> 00:54:12,239
Speaker 1: to his initial issues with ownership and Mike Brown and

1013
00:54:12,520 --> 00:54:14,719
Speaker 1: all the ways that Cincinnati was behind the times, and

1014
00:54:14,760 --> 00:54:18,680
Speaker 1: as someone who's a really smart man and gifted intellect

1015
00:54:18,719 --> 00:54:21,200
Speaker 1: when he came to football as well, like he saw

1016
00:54:21,360 --> 00:54:23,919
Speaker 1: through a lot of the facade of the Bengals even

1017
00:54:23,960 --> 00:54:26,279
Speaker 1: when they were successful, which was kind of the root

1018
00:54:26,640 --> 00:54:28,880
Speaker 1: of West of this, which was, yes, you're in the playoffs,

1019
00:54:28,960 --> 00:54:31,560
Speaker 1: but you're not a real team, and everyone's gonna see

1020
00:54:31,920 --> 00:54:34,359
Speaker 1: on the first opening window of the playoffs. That's really

1021
00:54:34,440 --> 00:54:37,400
Speaker 1: what it was, was West proving everybody wrong that might

1022
00:54:37,480 --> 00:54:40,040
Speaker 1: have even had an inkling of hope for Cincinnati. What

1023
00:54:40,200 --> 00:54:42,759
Speaker 1: makes it difference is dunking on his brothers, right, I

1024
00:54:42,840 --> 00:54:46,399
Speaker 1: mean others. And that's why, like, I can't I can't

1025
00:54:46,400 --> 00:54:49,359
Speaker 1: say with a certainty that West would have been rooting

1026
00:54:49,400 --> 00:54:51,719
Speaker 1: for the Bengals throughout this process if he was with us,

1027
00:54:51,719 --> 00:54:54,040
Speaker 1: because I don't know. He was a stubborn man as well.

1028
00:54:54,400 --> 00:54:57,360
Speaker 1: Maybe he would the rough exterior would have fallen away,

1029
00:54:57,960 --> 00:55:00,640
Speaker 1: but he really did have an ax to grind with Cincinnati.

1030
00:55:00,719 --> 00:55:02,520
Speaker 1: I don't what do you think, Lakisha, do you think

1031
00:55:02,560 --> 00:55:05,080
Speaker 1: things would have changed with this team? I think it

1032
00:55:05,239 --> 00:55:07,640
Speaker 1: changes when you become a dad like you guys are

1033
00:55:08,080 --> 00:55:10,040
Speaker 1: like Link will remind him how he was as a

1034
00:55:10,120 --> 00:55:11,800
Speaker 1: kid and stuff. So I feel like we would have

1035
00:55:11,840 --> 00:55:14,960
Speaker 1: really butted heads because I already gave him the Reds

1036
00:55:15,280 --> 00:55:17,600
Speaker 1: because you know, baseball was his number one love and

1037
00:55:17,680 --> 00:55:19,920
Speaker 1: I was just like, you're not getting football, Like I'm

1038
00:55:19,960 --> 00:55:23,920
Speaker 1: raising Link as a Rams fan. But and now this

1039
00:55:24,080 --> 00:55:27,600
Speaker 1: all happens. It's just crazy. It is crazy, And I

1040
00:55:27,760 --> 00:55:30,800
Speaker 1: choose to believe as Keisha does, that this is cosmic

1041
00:55:30,880 --> 00:55:34,320
Speaker 1: forces and West doing this and it gets better because

1042
00:55:34,480 --> 00:55:37,879
Speaker 1: Keisha there's operation gets his brothers to the super Bowl.

1043
00:55:37,920 --> 00:55:40,440
Speaker 1: Tell people about that. Yeah, I didn't get a chance to,

1044
00:55:40,560 --> 00:55:42,239
Speaker 1: like tell you guys all this. But when I was

1045
00:55:42,280 --> 00:55:44,759
Speaker 1: at the Rams game, crying for their victory and making

1046
00:55:44,760 --> 00:55:47,560
Speaker 1: it to the Super Bowl, this random guy, as I'm watching,

1047
00:55:47,640 --> 00:55:50,120
Speaker 1: you know, the Rams celebrate after the game, walks in

1048
00:55:50,320 --> 00:55:52,759
Speaker 1: front of me and says, you know, congrats on the win.

1049
00:55:52,880 --> 00:55:55,000
Speaker 1: And I look and he's wearing like a Bengal shirt.

1050
00:55:55,440 --> 00:55:57,719
Speaker 1: Out of the whole entire stadium, there's you know, so

1051
00:55:57,840 --> 00:56:00,640
Speaker 1: many forty fans and Rams fan in this random person

1052
00:56:00,719 --> 00:56:03,040
Speaker 1: just walks by and I'm just like, yo, no, congrats

1053
00:56:03,120 --> 00:56:05,719
Speaker 1: to you too. And it's just like, as I'm leaving

1054
00:56:05,760 --> 00:56:09,040
Speaker 1: the game, this weird feeling, like I really do believe,

1055
00:56:09,160 --> 00:56:11,160
Speaker 1: like what's his spirit is all around this, and it

1056
00:56:11,280 --> 00:56:13,839
Speaker 1: just was like, I gotta get his brothers to the game.

1057
00:56:13,960 --> 00:56:15,600
Speaker 1: So like, you know, I'm texting you guys, and we're

1058
00:56:15,600 --> 00:56:17,560
Speaker 1: all trying to figure out how to make this happen.

1059
00:56:17,680 --> 00:56:20,399
Speaker 1: And all of his brothers are coming to the super

1060
00:56:20,440 --> 00:56:22,560
Speaker 1: Bowl now, and it's just crazy we're all gonna be

1061
00:56:22,680 --> 00:56:25,600
Speaker 1: sitting together and watching the Super Bowl and I just

1062
00:56:26,239 --> 00:56:29,160
Speaker 1: onto me so full with so many different emotions and

1063
00:56:29,360 --> 00:56:33,520
Speaker 1: just yeah, this is not an easy task either. They multiply.

1064
00:56:33,600 --> 00:56:37,480
Speaker 1: I think there's twenty of them at this Christmas one

1065
00:56:37,520 --> 00:56:41,000
Speaker 1: of seven and I've got five of them coming. That's amazing.

1066
00:56:41,120 --> 00:56:43,239
Speaker 1: You gotta be ready for them to be trash talk.

1067
00:56:43,280 --> 00:56:45,000
Speaker 1: And when Mick and I hate to say this, I

1068
00:56:45,080 --> 00:56:47,399
Speaker 1: know you're a Rams fan, Keisha, but when McPherson hits

1069
00:56:47,440 --> 00:56:49,839
Speaker 1: that fifty eight yard or to win the game at

1070
00:56:49,880 --> 00:56:53,520
Speaker 1: the end, like they're gonna be all over it. I

1071
00:56:53,680 --> 00:56:57,279
Speaker 1: told you, guys, I've already won like championship weekend. That

1072
00:56:57,440 --> 00:57:00,160
Speaker 1: was my super Bowl and now it's just like I'm

1073
00:57:00,200 --> 00:57:04,880
Speaker 1: happy with whichever alcome. And on the subject of Wes's brothers,

1074
00:57:05,640 --> 00:57:07,400
Speaker 1: there's no way to fill the hole in the podcast

1075
00:57:07,480 --> 00:57:09,520
Speaker 1: of West not being there as a friend and as

1076
00:57:09,560 --> 00:57:11,800
Speaker 1: someone that was just great at what he did behind

1077
00:57:11,840 --> 00:57:14,360
Speaker 1: a microphone. But we've talked about him a lot, obviously,

1078
00:57:14,440 --> 00:57:17,720
Speaker 1: but also bringing in West's brothers this season, uh in

1079
00:57:17,800 --> 00:57:20,840
Speaker 1: our pick segment and they have a weekly check in

1080
00:57:20,960 --> 00:57:23,600
Speaker 1: where they take turns picking their lock of the week,

1081
00:57:24,240 --> 00:57:26,200
Speaker 1: and that's just been such a great kind of window

1082
00:57:26,280 --> 00:57:28,680
Speaker 1: into that family because they ended up like turning on

1083
00:57:28,760 --> 00:57:31,160
Speaker 1: each other like three weeks into the season. And basically

1084
00:57:31,200 --> 00:57:33,320
Speaker 1: it's a one minute recording each of them send in

1085
00:57:34,040 --> 00:57:36,640
Speaker 1: and usually it's just the one bearing the other for

1086
00:57:36,720 --> 00:57:39,480
Speaker 1: a poor pick the week before, or just maybe some

1087
00:57:39,600 --> 00:57:42,640
Speaker 1: other bigger grievance about the person's lack of personality or

1088
00:57:42,800 --> 00:57:45,200
Speaker 1: the type of apartment they live in. And it's just

1089
00:57:45,360 --> 00:57:46,960
Speaker 1: like it was a reminder of like this is a

1090
00:57:47,040 --> 00:57:49,440
Speaker 1: real family. West was part of a bunch of guys

1091
00:57:49,560 --> 00:57:53,360
Speaker 1: that were just like maniacs and uh. I love that

1092
00:57:53,440 --> 00:57:55,360
Speaker 1: they're kind of part of the A t N universe

1093
00:57:55,400 --> 00:57:57,280
Speaker 1: as well now and a kind of another thing that

1094
00:57:57,360 --> 00:58:00,520
Speaker 1: connects us to Chris. That's why I have hard time

1095
00:58:00,840 --> 00:58:04,400
Speaker 1: believing like he wouldn't sorry Mark that like he wouldn't

1096
00:58:04,400 --> 00:58:06,000
Speaker 1: have enjoyed it, just because how could he not be

1097
00:58:06,080 --> 00:58:08,680
Speaker 1: happy to see his brothers in Spice Rack and and

1098
00:58:08,800 --> 00:58:11,840
Speaker 1: everyone that loves the Bengals happy. I love that they've

1099
00:58:11,880 --> 00:58:13,880
Speaker 1: joined the A t N universe too, and I love

1100
00:58:13,920 --> 00:58:16,840
Speaker 1: the A t N universe period. Like Rosie, you're mentioning

1101
00:58:16,920 --> 00:58:18,920
Speaker 1: how cool it was to see the reaction in London,

1102
00:58:19,440 --> 00:58:21,280
Speaker 1: and I always think about I forgot if it was

1103
00:58:21,360 --> 00:58:25,080
Speaker 1: West of Us or Westlemania. When one of the listeners

1104
00:58:25,160 --> 00:58:28,480
Speaker 1: reached out, he's like living on Vancouver Island and he

1105
00:58:28,600 --> 00:58:30,720
Speaker 1: reached out to us and said, I'd I'd like to come.

1106
00:58:31,040 --> 00:58:33,560
Speaker 1: And not only did he come, he slept on was

1107
00:58:33,600 --> 00:58:36,960
Speaker 1: his couch for several days and like that, I think,

1108
00:58:37,120 --> 00:58:39,040
Speaker 1: I know, I know, Dan, this is a sore point

1109
00:58:39,080 --> 00:58:41,160
Speaker 1: for Dan, but but he had just tell him he

1110
00:58:41,320 --> 00:58:44,720
Speaker 1: was coming. He just showed up, right, But this is

1111
00:58:44,800 --> 00:58:48,360
Speaker 1: who West was. It was like okay, but still, what

1112
00:58:48,440 --> 00:58:50,520
Speaker 1: I'm saying is that like all of you guys in

1113
00:58:50,560 --> 00:58:53,680
Speaker 1: West in particular, have such reach and like our producer

1114
00:58:53,760 --> 00:58:55,960
Speaker 1: Cooper is a huge a t N fan, and like

1115
00:58:56,440 --> 00:58:59,480
Speaker 1: people who never met him felt like they knew him

1116
00:58:59,640 --> 00:59:01,680
Speaker 1: and that's a powerful thing. And I think like we

1117
00:59:01,960 --> 00:59:04,520
Speaker 1: were all so lucky to have spent time with him.

1118
00:59:05,360 --> 00:59:07,520
Speaker 1: That's why he was such a great hang. One of

1119
00:59:07,560 --> 00:59:10,840
Speaker 1: the many reasons was it was always the more the merrier.

1120
00:59:10,920 --> 00:59:14,400
Speaker 1: And like our company's softball team, the Shield, like you know,

1121
00:59:14,560 --> 00:59:17,480
Speaker 1: West was an anchor on that team and so important

1122
00:59:17,520 --> 00:59:20,240
Speaker 1: to the team because like it was, it became us

1123
00:59:20,320 --> 00:59:23,000
Speaker 1: all just hanging out and then winning softball games for

1124
00:59:23,080 --> 00:59:25,640
Speaker 1: seven innings. But we would hang out before the games,

1125
00:59:25,720 --> 00:59:28,640
Speaker 1: after the games. It was always a good time with

1126
00:59:28,840 --> 00:59:32,080
Speaker 1: Wes because that was kind of his his way to

1127
00:59:32,120 --> 00:59:35,960
Speaker 1: look at life. West was just truly for me, one

1128
00:59:36,000 --> 00:59:39,640
Speaker 1: of the most unexpected people I've ever met in my life,

1129
00:59:39,760 --> 00:59:44,080
Speaker 1: because when I first started listening to a t N

1130
00:59:44,360 --> 00:59:46,880
Speaker 1: it was when I got the job at NFL Network,

1131
00:59:47,160 --> 00:59:49,160
Speaker 1: and I was like, well, I I gotta I gotta

1132
00:59:49,200 --> 00:59:52,160
Speaker 1: figure this this out. I gotta learn way more. So

1133
00:59:52,280 --> 00:59:56,520
Speaker 1: I just started. I searched NFL podcasts and Years was

1134
00:59:56,600 --> 00:59:58,880
Speaker 1: the first one that came up, and I just started

1135
00:59:58,960 --> 01:00:01,800
Speaker 1: crushing episodes on the flight to l A when I

1136
01:00:01,880 --> 01:00:05,720
Speaker 1: was moving out here, and I couldn't stop listening after

1137
01:00:05,960 --> 01:00:10,520
Speaker 1: I started, and I remember thinking that West was going

1138
01:00:10,680 --> 01:00:13,280
Speaker 1: to probably be the most difficult. I was like, well,

1139
01:00:13,280 --> 01:00:14,920
Speaker 1: I gotta be friends with these guys as soon as

1140
01:00:14,960 --> 01:00:17,640
Speaker 1: I started listening, and I thought that West was going

1141
01:00:17,680 --> 01:00:21,120
Speaker 1: to be the hardest person to win over. And then

1142
01:00:21,400 --> 01:00:23,880
Speaker 1: as soon as I actually met you, guys, West was

1143
01:00:23,960 --> 01:00:27,200
Speaker 1: the easiest person to become friends with. Out of any

1144
01:00:29,840 --> 01:00:33,600
Speaker 1: Dan was the most difficult, was the hardest not to crack.

1145
01:00:34,640 --> 01:00:36,520
Speaker 1: I don't like to be friends with anybody I don't know,

1146
01:00:36,720 --> 01:00:41,080
Speaker 1: so that that was not personal. But with Wes, he

1147
01:00:41,840 --> 01:00:47,360
Speaker 1: immediately was so warm, so welcoming. Just as you said,

1148
01:00:47,760 --> 01:00:50,520
Speaker 1: it was the more the merrier with him, and he

1149
01:00:50,680 --> 01:00:54,880
Speaker 1: was such a glue guy. And it's just the fact

1150
01:00:54,960 --> 01:00:57,960
Speaker 1: that we all get to get together now and watch

1151
01:00:58,040 --> 01:01:01,720
Speaker 1: this super Bowl and be together for it is the

1152
01:01:01,840 --> 01:01:05,280
Speaker 1: best part of it. We spend a lot of time together,

1153
01:01:05,640 --> 01:01:08,280
Speaker 1: We spent a lot of time talking about spending time together.

1154
01:01:08,400 --> 01:01:11,080
Speaker 1: And by the time people listen to this, we will

1155
01:01:11,160 --> 01:01:14,680
Speaker 1: have gathered together to remember West. I think the way

1156
01:01:14,920 --> 01:01:16,720
Speaker 1: kish he would want us to. We're gonna go to

1157
01:01:16,840 --> 01:01:19,040
Speaker 1: some of his favorite spots in l a and then

1158
01:01:19,040 --> 01:01:21,000
Speaker 1: we're gonna go back to your place and play cornhole.

1159
01:01:21,040 --> 01:01:23,560
Speaker 1: And for people who don't know, Wes was easily the

1160
01:01:23,600 --> 01:01:26,040
Speaker 1: best cornhole player in our group. Uh, and then me

1161
01:01:26,160 --> 01:01:31,760
Speaker 1: and then everybody else and then Danny and Humble you again, John,

1162
01:01:33,120 --> 01:01:35,880
Speaker 1: We're gonna go We're gonna hang out and bust each

1163
01:01:35,920 --> 01:01:38,720
Speaker 1: other's chops and and hug each other. And this is

1164
01:01:38,840 --> 01:01:41,760
Speaker 1: I think what he would want, right, Definitely, all he

1165
01:01:41,920 --> 01:01:44,040
Speaker 1: wants is just for us to get together and just

1166
01:01:44,400 --> 01:01:47,919
Speaker 1: enjoy ourselves and have fun. And just I'm looking forward

1167
01:01:47,920 --> 01:01:49,640
Speaker 1: to it all, like I love you guys so much,

1168
01:01:50,200 --> 01:01:53,040
Speaker 1: and I'll be bringing the boys Jack and Harrison, who

1169
01:01:53,120 --> 01:01:57,120
Speaker 1: are kind of big brothers, older cousins to link and Uh,

1170
01:01:57,600 --> 01:01:59,720
Speaker 1: I just love seeing the way they play together, Lakisha,

1171
01:01:59,840 --> 01:02:03,120
Speaker 1: and that is kind of a promise I made to myself,

1172
01:02:03,160 --> 01:02:04,720
Speaker 1: and I think I promise we all made to each

1173
01:02:04,760 --> 01:02:07,120
Speaker 1: other after West was gone to kind of be there

1174
01:02:07,240 --> 01:02:10,160
Speaker 1: for Link. I'll be there for Lukisha and get through

1175
01:02:10,240 --> 01:02:13,200
Speaker 1: what's been obviously a very trying a couple of years.

1176
01:02:13,360 --> 01:02:16,120
Speaker 1: So I'm really looking forward to that because for a

1177
01:02:16,200 --> 01:02:19,520
Speaker 1: lot of us, all of us, really our family isn't here,

1178
01:02:20,160 --> 01:02:22,480
Speaker 1: so you kind of create your own family out West,

1179
01:02:22,680 --> 01:02:24,760
Speaker 1: and that's certainly what we did, and that's why when

1180
01:02:24,800 --> 01:02:27,360
Speaker 1: we lost West it was like losing a brother. But

1181
01:02:28,080 --> 01:02:30,400
Speaker 1: these conversations I think are really good because it's it

1182
01:02:30,480 --> 01:02:32,680
Speaker 1: reminds you of all the the great things that came

1183
01:02:32,680 --> 01:02:37,600
Speaker 1: out and knowing him. I'm looking forward to seeing you guys, Um,

1184
01:02:37,920 --> 01:02:41,280
Speaker 1: Lakisha and Colleen and Mark and Dan and Greg. I

1185
01:02:41,360 --> 01:02:46,240
Speaker 1: love you guys, to love Chris, love you, John right

1186
01:02:46,280 --> 01:02:48,840
Speaker 1: back at you. I mean you, guys. Colleen and Guns

1187
01:02:48,880 --> 01:02:50,960
Speaker 1: are like like ten feet away saying that to each other.

1188
01:02:50,960 --> 01:02:53,960
Speaker 1: That's very sweet. We couldn't share a microphone one mike

1189
01:02:54,120 --> 01:02:56,960
Speaker 1: per host here. It would have been funny. Only one

1190
01:02:57,040 --> 01:03:00,480
Speaker 1: host in this house work first among equals. Um as

1191
01:03:00,560 --> 01:03:03,800
Speaker 1: West would say, he'd the call. Thanks for doing this, everybody.

1192
01:03:08,080 --> 01:03:10,960
Speaker 1: Sports Illustrated Weekly is a production of Sports Illustrated and

1193
01:03:11,040 --> 01:03:14,320
Speaker 1: I Heart Radio. For more podcasts from my Heart Radio,

1194
01:03:14,480 --> 01:03:17,800
Speaker 1: visit the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever

1195
01:03:17,920 --> 01:03:20,640
Speaker 1: you get your favorite shows. And for more of Sports

1196
01:03:20,640 --> 01:03:25,120
Speaker 1: Illustrated's best stories and podcasts, visit SI dot com. This

1197
01:03:25,280 --> 01:03:28,400
Speaker 1: episode of Sports Illustrated Weekly was produced by Alex Kappelman,

1198
01:03:28,760 --> 01:03:32,680
Speaker 1: Cooper McKim, and Isaac Lee, who was also our sound engineer.

1199
01:03:33,320 --> 01:03:37,080
Speaker 1: Our senior producer is Dan Bloom. Our executive producers are

1200
01:03:37,080 --> 01:03:40,640
Speaker 1: Scott Brody and me John Gonzalez. Our theme song is

1201
01:03:40,720 --> 01:03:43,959
Speaker 1: by Nolan Schneider. Thanks for listening, and if you've stuck

1202
01:03:44,000 --> 01:03:46,880
Speaker 1: around this long, we leave you with this from Inglewood

1203
01:03:46,920 --> 01:03:55,000
Speaker 1: Mayor James Butts dot com. And you're not gonna have

1204
01:03:55,120 --> 01:03:58,320
Speaker 1: my video. I don't know about the video. I do

1205
01:03:58,480 --> 01:04:00,920
Speaker 1: know that you will have your audio. We're gonna have

1206
01:04:00,960 --> 01:04:03,800
Speaker 1: a whole podcast on it. Okay, thank you very much.

1207
01:04:04,600 --> 01:04:06,960
Speaker 1: Come on, this is my chance of being Sports Illustrated.