The Dan Patrick ShowOn today’s Dan Patrick Show, DP talks to Joe Vardon about USA come back win over Serbia yesterday. JJ Watt shares how he got his first scholarship. And Bob Costas shows off his Emmy's to Dan.
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He's Joe Varden from the Athletic He's been covering Team USA over in Paris during the Summer Olympics. Joe, if I was sitting next to you with seven minutes to go and Team USA was down eleven, what would you be saying?
Well, I wouldn't be saying anything because I had my head buried in the laptop writing about how this collection of all time legendary NBA greats players and coaches had collectively failed and that USA basketball was heading into a extended period of soul searching with the LA Olympics coming up and them not being defending champions. That was the scenario, guys. They were dominated. Even when they made that little push there in the third quarter to cut it to six, it was right back up to fifteen with thirty seconds left, ridiculous four point play. What happened from the seven minute mark in was once in a lifetime type stuff.
Yeah, that's what I wonder. It's nice to applaud them that they did come back, but how do they get down seventeen in the first place?
Yeah, I think it's it's a lesson how don't mean to go on too long here, but I do think what happened last night is a lesson for anyone who's not paying attention about how much the game has changed. And it answered a question that we didn't have an answer to coming into these Olympics, which is can the USA continue to just flood the talent or the court with talent and guarantee themselves a gold medal? The answer is no, they can't do that anymore. Now. They may very well win tomorrow night, but what we learned is that a team built around just one superstar, with one competent shooter in Bogey Bogdanovich, and then role players who are who are solid EuroLeague role players, they can dictate the pace of play against anybody. And so what we saw last night, I believe was awesome, and I think you were alluding to it at the top, because you see these four, these four former MVPs, they're on the court together and they had to do this. They they all had to play as well as they could possibly play to beat Serbia, and I think that is af I think that that is a positive, defining moment for them and for the game at large, because it does speak to how far the rest of the world has come.
Who is going to take the heat if Team USA had lost you you hit it.
You were right on the money there. I mean, Kerr gets ripped every day. He gets ripped for not playing Tatum, which that one kind of is bewildered by it. But Steve gets ripped all the time. He they didn't win at the World Cup last year either, So his path is very similar to Popovich's. You know, great all time NBA coach had it hard with Team USA. And then you said Lebron, I mean yeah, like I had it in the story. You know, he was headed for two bronze medals. That is just that's not a thing for USA basketball, and that was going to be hung on him. And now he's got a chance for three goals, which is more than Michael. You know, it's all time legendary stuff. And it was this close to going going the other way.
And you look at these three players. I'm not putting em beat in there, but like we can't. I'm talking you know what Lebron does. He's a unicorn. Nobody's been like KD and nobody's like Steph Curry. And you're seeing this unfold, but you're also seeing it unfold and you're going they have to be who they are to knock off Serbia, which, to you know, what you're saying is a I had it to basketball around the world, and I always worry about these guys who are fringe NBA players or maybe couldn't get into the NBA. This is their moment to show that they can play. And I don't know, you know, the French team, like how dangerous are they going into this game after we just saw this close game?
So there's a lot to discuss with this, and I want to start with it. I was here in January for ten days. I did a bunch of stuff. The Cavs and Nets were here and they like I. Since I knew I would be cover the Olympics and knew I was working on some international stories, I thought I'd come out here with them, and so in the process of all the reporting, I got a chance to sit down with Vincent Collett, who is the head coach for France, and he was Wemben Yama's coach here with the Paris Metropolitans for that year before he was drafted in the NBA, and by French rule, if you're coaching the national team at the EL, you can't coach that year in the French League. So coach Collette was off for a year, and he said he'd been watching the NBA every night because of Wemby, and then before those games, because they're on so late here, he was watching the EuroLeague and he said that he thinks there are at least four EuroLeague teams that could beat the Detroit Pistons and the Washington Wizards. His point is that that's how far the talent has come here in Europe to where it's getting a lot closer to soccer. We're like, yes, we have the Premier League, but then there's also great leagues in France and in Spain and you know, whatever the case, like, there are teams and there are players outside of the main sport playing country that can really compete. And so that's what happened with Serbia. And now you get to France and you look at their roster and it's got Wemby and so you think, okay, like he's their guy. Well they're two best players, and I'm sorry, like the one I know because he used to play for the Celtics. The other guy, his name. His name escapes me. He looks like in the face, kind of like our Darren Williams, but he's you know, he's a guard and he's physical and he's a EuroLeague player, but that doesn't mean what it used to. So like, the French do not have the talent that the United States has there they should be especially weak at the guard positions, but they have dictated the pace of play against two teams that are loaded with NBA talent, and they beat him both. Canada, to me, was always the team that could really scare the US because they have Shay Gilgess Alexander who's as good as any player in the NBA, and then they had a bunch of role players who are all NBA level guys. They took care of They took care of Canada, and then you got Germany defending World Cup champ. Dennis Shrewder dictates the pace of play in Foeba. He's got the Wagner brothers, Tice, a couple other guys. They France just out physicaled them. They shouldn't be able to do that to the US. They shouldn't be able to keep up with the pace that Lebron and Steph set. But if they do, then the crowd gets involved and it becomes another nervy moment. So we'll see if the US can avoid getting into France's style of play.
We're talking to Joe Varden joining us from Paris. He's NBA senior writer for the Athletic covering the Summer Olympics. How entertaining is the Joe ellenb versus France story to you?
I mean I've written it I don't know five times now. Like my reporting on this, Dan goes all the way back to I was telling you in January. One of the stories I came back with is that the French federation on the record and they had like receipts. They said that they helped him get a French passport because he told them to because he wanted to play for them, and they were explicit about this. So it goes back at least that far that like the French, you know, the basketball Federation, the government, you know, President McCrone called EMBIID to try to recruit him after the passport had been granted, and then the fans at large, like they know all this stuff, and so it's been fascinating to me to see their reaction to him. But then watch sort of the evolution of Joel through this. He was he was startled the first game. He was also like really sick, which we didn't know until recently. You know, Grant Hill had told me that that Joel was so sick that day that he had to drive up the day of the game from Paris to Lele separately. But he was He seemed to be taking back by the booze, and then his teammates got his back and started waving the booze on with him, and then he started to shift his commentary about what was going on. At one point he said he doesn't care if they boo Then he said, well, I'm an American, uh, and I'm always going to play for team USA. And then he said he hinted strongly that the USA players wanted him and the French players didn't. And now he said, well, you know, I love France and I was always going to play for Cameroon if they if they qualified for the Olympics, but since they didn't, I picked the US. So it's to me, what's been fun has been the evolution of the saga instead of just like you know, Joel making the one inappropriate gesture and you know, fans yelling back at him like I don't care as much about that, but but I've been intrigued to watch him beat handle all this.
But this isn't quid pro quo that France will get you a pass but we'll get you a passport, but you must play for it. Is that what you think happened here?
No, it was.
More like, I mean, the recruitment goes back years by Boris Diaal. You know, we know him well in the US, and the French Federation president who we would not know in the US. But they were taking meetings with Joel like in twenty twenty one, even to gauge his interest. And the reason why is for years before that he had stated in several French publications that he had interest in doing this. So they recruit him, and they recruit him, and according to them, they had gotten him to the point where he said, okay, I am going to play, and they said, well you need you need to be a French citizen to be on the team, and according to them, he said, okay, get me a passport. You know, Joel, through a spokesman, has denied this, has denied the quid pro quote. But it's it's it's hard to it's hard to believe that this isn't at least very close to true, especially because they're explicit the French Federation guys, they're explicit in it, like this is not done in France. They are always playing guys who just are from this country period. Joel has never lived there. That they were making an exception for a truly great player who had at the time wanted to do it. So I think that's all real I do. And I think that you know, Joel's evolution from where he was and wanting to play for them and then ultimately picking the US, you know, is a fascinating saga.
Tu finished this sentence. If a team USA loses to France this weekend, Dot Don.
It's a failure and it's a it's a it's a total reset, and that is unfort fortunately. You know, I just got through talking to you this beautiful state of where we are as a basketball playing universe, and I believe all that I do. But at the same time, we haven't cleared that bar yet where anything other than gold is acceptable for USA. And the fact remains Dan, this is a team with eleven all stars on it. They've never done that before, and it is Lebron and it is KD and Steph all together with mbat this this team has to win the twenty eight team. With the Olympics being in La, the world's going to be even better France, like as we know. You know, we had Victor and Kolbali drafted two years ago or last year, and then this summer we had four French guys picked in the top round of the NBA draft and none of them are on this team. So France is going to be great for a while. But the pressure will still be there in La. I think once we get past down La, it's going to be a different discussion and we're going to look at it the way we do like a soccer World Cup or soccer Olympics, where there are a number of countries that can win regardless of who's sent. But for now, all that stuff aside that the US has to get it done tomorrow.
Great stuff, Joe, thanks for joining us. We appreciate your time anytime.
Dan, you know that.
That's Joe Varden, senior NBA writer for the athletic covering Team USA at the summer Olympics. We may have to give back to the Statue of Liberty if we lose. I think that's only fair. Just get a boat and take it back and give it back to them. If we lose, just.
Strap it on top. Yeah, like a like a mattress on top of an suv.
Twenty twenty eight is going to be interesting, as Joe pointed out, because you know, is Lebron is going to be what forty three? Is he going to try to play? Steph Curry is going to be forty kd Is he going to be forty one? You know this this Baton exchange didn't happen because it was going to be like, you know, Anthony Edward's going to be there, and Devin Booker is going to be there, Jason Tatum and you know there is some young talent. We just it still comes back to game on the line. Steve Kerr goes, let me put these guys in and in four years He's right, France is going to be a monster. In four years they are Germany as well, and they'll be you know, Canada as well. So Team USA right now as opposed to in four years or eight years, I'd be a whole different landscape when it comes to playing for a gold medal. Yes, Paul, I don't.
Know about you, guys, but it sounds like a guy who wants to be in the chair for that Olympics right here me? Yeah, four years from now? Or is this our last Olympics?
This is our last Summer Games. I'm kind of like Lebron. I mean, I don't know. I'm holding on for dear life here.
Never said ever are we gonna have a closing ceremonies today?
I'm holding on for dear life.
Got table? Yeah, I mean it's amazing. I show up every single day. It surprises me sometimes. Yeah, play the day up next. Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in the nation. Catch all of our shows at Foxsports Radio dot com and within the iHeartRadio app. Search FSR to listen live.
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Hour two On this Friday, Dan and the Dan Nets Dan Patrick Show, It's a Meat Friday, The Underrated Blt, a smoked BLT sandwich on the Trigger, along with beer battered onion rings, and honor of Fritzy and the Olympics as well. Eight seven seven three DP Show email address Dpadanpatrick dot com Twitter handle a DP show Future Hall of Famer J J Lot will join us coming up. I think he goes in the same year as Tom Brady does, so we'll talk to J. I think Matt Ryan is up for the same year as well, with JJ and Tom Brady. Bob Constace a little bit later on as well. We got football coming up tonight, Texans Steelers. That got a whole lot more interesting in my opinion, because Justin Fields, I'd like to see how many reps he gets, how he does, how they showcase him. So I'm really curious about that Falcons against the Dolphins. Michael Pennix Junior the third. I'm really curious how many REPSI getting, Probably twenty twenty five, maybe a little bit More and the Eagles versus the Ravens. So some football coming up tonight. The big news yesterday team USA survives down seventeen and now they faced France for the gold. Steph Curry was unbelievable. He had thirty six, but it took a herculean effort from the entire team, well everybody but Jason Tatum apparently, but Lebron and Katie and Joel Embii were great. Devin Booker had a big three as well, but it took that. So on one hand, you can go, wow, they came back from seventeen down, or you can do what I did? How did you get down seventeen to begin with? And as many games as I watched the Joker play, I've never seen him more emotional than yesterday. Even when they were winning an NBA championship, he was far more emotional yesterday. What that game meant to him? Because every season, no matter how it ends, for Denver, what does Joker say, can't wait to get back home. Well, now he's back home. Now he's with his players, he's representing his country, and it meant so much to him. Got in foul trouble, wasn't dominating Lebron guarded him in the fourth quarter, and Team USA lives for another day and a chance to win the goal. All right, eight seven to seven three. DP Show email address DP at Danpatrick dot com, Twitter handle at dp show. Good morning those watching on Peacock, Thank you for downloading the app and our radio affiliates Fox Sports Radio, iHeartRadio as well. Poll question for hour two is going to be what seat no O'Connor?
Right now?
We got up there, Dan, would you rather this is shocking to be would you rather blow a lead or not have a chance?
Right now?
Seventy four percent of the audience would rather not have a chance than blow a lead. And then we also have up there the BLT is overrated or underrated? Oh right now? Sixty percent of the audience are correctly saying it's underrated. It is underrated, Almost almost forty one percent saying it's overrated.
Okay, that's a blasphemy.
Yeah.
I think the grilled cheese sandwich and peanut butter and jelly, I mean those are underrated. You know, I know, we got all these big sandwich companies, you know, Subway and Jersey, all of that. Sometimes it comes down to something really simple you know, Mom, I think I'm gonna have a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, or how about a grilled cheese sandwich with some tomato soup. BLT. I don't need to add anything other than just a BLT and the love of my mother. Yes, Paul.
BLT though, is like a luxury sandwich though, when someone fires one up in the morning, like, oh, toasted bread, and that's a luxury sam.
Yeah, all right, so that's our pole question for hour two there. Yeah, we're gonna keep those two up. I believe, Okay. J J Watt NBA today on CBS studio analyst and former teammate Andre Johnson going into the Hall of Fame. He's joining us on the program. Are you Eligi the same year as Tom Brady? Is that what? Twenty twenty eight?
First things first, Blt's trash.
Whoa, whoa, whoa. Let's say goodbye to JJ Watt, JJ good luck this upcoming season here. Wow, Wow, it's trash.
It's just it's just a it's not a superior sandwich. I agree with you on peanut butter and jelly. I agree with you on grilled cheese. I just I don't see the appeal of the BLT. The bacon implies that you are interested in something unhealthy and delicious. The lettuce goes in direct contrasts to that because there's no point to it. So if we're going unhealthy, let's just go all in. The bacon, egg and cheese far far superior to the BLT.
All right, I'll agree with you on that. I just we were talking about underrated bacon, you know, and egg sandwich. I mean, that's no one said that's underrated BLT. Correct, it's underrated.
I think it's perfectly rating because you don't really ever think about it. And if you got one, sure I'll eat it. But I mean it's not when I'm going to order. Now. My wife went to North Carolina and there's this place called I believe it's called Merrick's there that they're famous for their bot. I suppose if you stack enough bacon on there, you can make an argument.
A slab there. H Do you go in the same year as Tom Brady?
I don't know. I don't. I'm hopefully I'd like to go in someday. That would be very cool.
I would make plans that weekend if I were you. I'm just saying you might be in Canton and with the wife and kid, just I would make plans there this weekend.
Last weekend was my first time, first time being there. It was really really cool. It was really special. I got to see obviously Andre and celebrate him, and see a bunch of guys I grew up watching and playing against, thankfully, Patrick Willis and dwy Freeney and Devin Hester, Julius Peppers. It was really really cool to see those guys.
But who's the one player former player where you went, Oh my gosh, I.
Can tell you this definitively. I'm still trying to get my mom to pull up the picture. But when I was I believe I was like fourteen or fifteen years old. I was in the Atlanta Airport. I was a huge Miami Hurricanes fan growing up massive Hurricanes fan, so obviously Andre first of all, but Devin Hester was walking through the airport with his Miami Letterman jacket on, and my mom and dad I was like, I gotta go get a picture. So I have a photograph of me in the Atlanta airport with Devin Hester in his Hurricanes jacket, and so he came off stage at the Hall of Fame speech this past weekend, and the people around me said, I've never seen you fan out like that. I ran up to him and I said, Devin, I gotta get a picture with you. And I took a picture with him, and so I'm waiting for my mom to give me the picture. We're gonna put him side by side. Because that was cool for me.
That would have been awesome if you did have it when you were fourteen or fifteen and you showed him, you would have freaked him out. He would have been, well, yeah, that's you when you're fourteen or fifteen, and you were probably still bigger than Devin Hester at fourteen or fifteen.
I can't tell you how cool it was. Also, I'm a kid growing up in Wisconsin as a Miami Hurricanes fan. It was a pretty big rarity, I feel like. But they were they were the cat's pajamas back then. Man, they were unbelievable.
Did you want to go to the U?
Oh? Yeah? I filled out the online questionnaire that you can fill out the school's website, and a couple of weeks later in the mail, I got like the standard, you know, bulletproof letter that they send everybody with Larry Coker's autographed at the bottom. I thought Larry Coker himself sent me that letter, and I was like, holy shit, I mind you. I'm like, I'm on the freshman team. I just filled out and I was like, I'm going to Miami, guys, I don't know if you tell you school. I showed everybody the next day. You didn't realize they were interested in a no star recruit from Wisconsin. Dad, I don't know what. I don't know what they were thinking.
You didn't realize it was a form letter that had no idea.
Yes, you could have got me with a lot of internet scams back then, because I would took mine and sinker that I was going to be a cane.
When did you get a star or two stars? Or were you ever like a two or three star recruit?
Got two? I got two on one and I think I was zero on the other. I don't know. I honestly don't know. I believe it was two stars is what I got. I remember my first offer. My first offer was the University of Wyoming. My dad, it was this is incredible. He literally flew out to Wyoming, put my tape on the desk of the coach and flew home. He was like, cause, I mean, I'm thankful to him. And so the coaches they flew us out there and we went out there for a visit to Wyoming and they offered me and I was blown away. And we look at this board and had his board with like fifteen dns on it, and they were like, we're offering all fifteen these guys. The first four that accept are coming here. I'm just going to tell you that's how that's how it's going to work. And at the time, you know, I'm I'm like, I don't know if I'm going to get another offer. My Dad's like, I don't know if you're going to get another offer. And so you start to get the wheels turning. But then the process kind of took off as it was. But I'll never forget getting that first offer, flying out to Wyoming and being out there. I believe it's Clara Laramie, Lara, Yeah, Laramie.
Did you go out there during the winter.
No, No, it was not during the winter.
Yeah, it's a little bit different than Wisconsin winter. Just just letting you know, yes, and you spend a.
Lot of time out there and big, big Laramie guy.
One time I went out to uh Wyoming in the winter. Don't need to go back again. No one and done and uh the wind was whipping a little bit beautiful, but it was unbelievable. He's JJ want NFL today on CBS. You probably did track and field growing up, Like what Olympic sport would you have been good on?
So my dad held the high school shotput record at my school and I never did track and field. I went out for it in seventh grade, saw how much running you had to do, and I literally did not go back for day two. This is brutal. It's just brutal. So my senior year of high school, I decided, I'm gonna see if I can break my dad's record. I've never thrown shotput, never done it. Thankfully, went out there and did break it, won the state championship, and then my brothers each broke my record after that, but they each did it for four years. They did the whole thing. So I would say shotput. I would really love to throw the hammer. I think that would be such a cool event to with the hammer around and throw it. Other than that, I don't think I have much much going on. In the Olympics. I think everybody's pretty pretty incredible. I can tell you the one I would suck at the most, and that would be water polo.
Would you die that that.
You could not put? Like if you were trying to torture me and get information out of me, throw me in a water polo match, that sounds like I would. I would die. Yeah, I would absolutely die.
It would be weird to see with floaties on while you're doing water hoole. Hey, that's a violent sport. Men and women. I mean, they go at it. There's I remember talking to one of the US women's member team members shit scratches all over her body, and I said.
If I was treading water and you like wrestled me, I would have the biggest panic attack you could ever had. Like think about that, Like you're treading water, fighting for your life, and all of a sudden somebody just climbs on your back, like no, get out of here, man.
Second most important position in football today is what.
Wow, that's a really good question, very very I mean, I've never been asked it, and it's so hard because there's nothing that affects it in such an individual way as the quarterback but.
The left tackle used to be really important. Edgeworth. Yeah, I mean now wide receiver is white as wide receiver the second most important position.
I feel like, I feel like you do have to have a guy to get the ball too, because the quarterback. Yeah, I would because you can. You can try to eliminate an elite pass rusher with chip blocks and everything. So it also depends on who he's got helping him out. But I would say, if you're only taking one guy and you're not taking everything else around him, I would say, yeah, it's probably a receiver to give his quarterbacks somebody to throw it to. I can tell you the second toughest position to play, and that's cornerback. By far. Cornerback is such a difficult position to play in the National Football League, especially with all the rules that they put in place now that I have so much respect for those guys, that position is brutal.
But if you could start your team with your brother or Justin Jefferson.
Yeah, that's a tough one. In today's league. You got to score the points, man, you gotta score the points. You're trying to you're trying to trap me into a headline where I don't take my brother here. Yeah, yeah, that was that was tricky. You're you are a veteran of the game. That was impressive.
And you're taking justin Jefferson, your.
Words not mine, Your words not mine.
Enjoy Thanksgiving?
Do you do?
You miss hitting somebody.
Every now and then? Every now and then, for sure, for sure a guy cut me off in line the other day, and yeah, you know, you definitely wish you get some of that aggression out.
You should be allowed one blind side, you know a year.
Well, you just it would be great. That's the beauty of it, man. And sometimes you just get to let it fly and you don't get that experience like you know, I've it is. It is a beautiful thing. But yes, yeah, there's definitely times where you miss just a perfect, clean hit, nothing better.
What was the biggest transition going into doing studio work at CBS.
Some of it is, uh, finding the line of locker room talk that you can like bring, you know, like and also finding the knowledge level that you should bring to the table because you you can't go, you know, so deep into the weeds about things that are going on in the games and some of the tactics which you can do Obviously, when we're in the back room or the green room, me and coach Kawers, they're talking about schemes and things. It's unbelievable. But you bring that to the air and you might lose some people pretty quickly. So there's a fine line that you have to find between educating the fans and keeping them in and also going too far.
Yeah, because sometimes you can speak a language for your fellow football players and that's not your job. Your job is to speak your language, but translated so we can understand it. And that's sometimes tricky for our former athletes.
Yeah, it's definitely tricky. I specifically remember there was something that we were talking about with We're leading up to the Mahomes playing against the Ravens, and we were talking about, you know, how he likes to scramble out the B gap and then you know sometimes he'll go deep out the back of the pocket. And they were like, are we one hundred percent sure that the fans know you know the B gap? And I was like, I think there's a large majority of fans that do. And they were like, but does everybody? And so that's had I had to say. That gap there between the tackle and the center, you know, like you just can't sometimes you have to switch it up.
How's your soccer club doing?
We start up on Monday. We got our first match on Monday from the new season. Very much looking forward to it. We're in the championship. Last nume we're in the championship. We won it and nearly set a record for points, so very much looking forward to this season.
All right, before we let you go, let's play the JJ Benching game. How much is JJ benching right now? One rep? Todd four forty five or forty five? Seat O'Connor, JJ Watt one rep. I'm gonna save four, all right, Marvin.
He's taking it light, so three seventy five.
All right, Paulie, he's been doing a lot of legwork this summer. I noticed, good job, are you kid. I'm gonna go. I'm gonna go four to thirty five.
No spotter.
Paulie checks out your pictures on Instagram, which it's creepy. I'm an advisor, you see, but it's creepy when he goes, look at JJ, look at you'm working on. I'm going to go four twenty five.
I actually have a bench today, so I could I could tell you, but I'm not going to one rep max it. I would say at the peak of my career, I would say four forty five is probably about right. But right now today I would say I'm probably about four fifteen. I think I put up four fifteen today.
All right, how about a round of apart for four or fifteen, let's go.
I how about your Dan? What are we putting up?
Oh? God, if you gave me four reps, I could probably do four fifteen like combined.
Okay, so we're looking at we're looking at one one hundred. Yeah, a rep for four reps.
Yeah, right around there.
Probably if somebody, if somebody slapped cash on the table and said, Dan, you're today, we need you to bench the most you can possibly bench for one rep. What do you think you're putting up?
Well, today wouldn't be good because I've had one rotator cuff done and then I have the other shoulder that has to be scoped. So this would be leg day today.
Okay, I squat? What do we squat? Me?
Well, I have a I have a replacement me, so I don't. I don't want that to pop out. How about calves? Maybe we do calday? I haven't had anything happen to my calves. But you know, I'm a warrior. I left it all out on the field. That's why I have all these surgeries. You can relate to that there.
Yeah, I'm right there with you. Yeah, I mean you use the rotaar comfan as an excuse. Rotar cuff, BEng gone, but still here putting it up. You know.
Well, congratulations and once again thank you. Make make plans for is that August of twenty twenty eight, Pauline that.
Yeah, don't take a European vacation that weekend?
Yeah? Are you do you want to go those? Do you want to go before Brady or after Brady?
Oh? I mean I think that anybody who's around Brady is going to be overshadowed that that at that time he is going to it'll be that'll be really cool. I mean, the greatest of all time.
Maybe pop him right in a stern hum, just a just a pop, maybe a four um.
Make a memory. You would be you would be remembered.
Yes, And I'm gonna guess there are probably a couple of guys up on the day us would probably go yeah, oh yeah, we'll get him all the defensive kinds be like, yeah, but did you ever get Brady? Uh?
This is a big point of controversy between us. I got him for one in the playoffs, which they don't count on official stats, so the stat book says zero, the actual playoff stats says half. But if you watch the play I got the whole it's a it's a whole thing. But I mean, guy's got seven rings. He doesn't give a shit about.
Playoffs, you know, but we do because you got one hundred and fourteen and a half half sacks.
My halves are very very discussed, a very much discussed point in the meeting rooms.
Yeah, I'm not big on the half no, no.
So it's either all or nothing. But you're just what if two people hit them at the exact same.
I'm gonna give you both the sack.
Oh you're giving both fools?
Yes?
Oh I like that. I thought you were gonna go with it. Okay, I like that.
All right?
Do you give you three guys at him to all three get it? Sure? Oh? I like that, But now I don't like because I'm retired. Numbers would just destroy mine.
My best of the family. Great to talk to you, Good luck with the upcoming season.
Always enjoyable. Thank you guys, have a great day.
That's j J. Watt NFL Today on CBS and Future Hall of Fame. Let me take a break. You know, I don't like lists. You don't know. You know, I don't like rankings when it's coming to the NFL. Who's best, top ten, top five? But there have been a few lists that came out out and we thought we'd have our good buddy from Pro Football Focus, Steve Pomelozola on so we could separate fact from fiction. Because this whole thing where Tyreek Hill is the number one ranked player according to players is absolutely stupid because Patrick Mahomes wins championships and until somebody does something different, Patrick Mahomes is the number one player in the NFL. We'll see if Steve agrees with me right after this.
Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in the nation. Catch all of our shows at Foxsports Radio dot com and within the iHeartRadio app. Search FSR to listen live.
Stat of the Day has always brought to you by Panini America, the official trading cards of the program. Your next favorite comedy series waiting for you on Peacock mister throwback follows a down on his luck memorabilia dealer who looks for redemption by reuniting with his sixth grade teammate, who happens to be Steph Curry. Mister throwback. Now on Peacock, I saw where Jerry Jones he said, Jerry's just gonna stop talking. I mean it's great for us, it's content, but he says he has no urgency to get a contract done with Cede Lamb. CD Lamb then replied on social media, Lol, it just feels like the longer this goes, the more expensive it is. But once again, he's a billionaire and I'm not. Steve Palozzolo maybe can explain the logic here with the Dallas Cowboy, Steve Pro Football Focus, head of Football Pro Production and Check the Mic podcast. Also, he's going to be the new co host of that with the thirty third Team, so it's always great to have Steve back on to offer up his expertise. What is Jerry doing with CD Lamb, Like, what's the logic here? In your opinion?
Jerry had a quote a couple of weeks back basically saying I know what I'm doing. I'm just creating some buzz, which isn't the best football decision, right, Like we always talk about this through the lens of salary cap and the price. Jerry's looking at it. Maybe from a business perspective, Hey, everybody's talking about the Cowboys, that's okay, But clearly from a football perspective, letting Dak go right to the final hour, letting ce d Lamb, letting Michael Parsons go to the final hour, I don't think is going to be the best actual football salary cap driven decision.
Yeah, and I wondered about this logic, and you're not the first to bring it up, But the more I hear Jerry talking people talking about the Cowboys, Michael Parsons, Dak Prescott, Cedee Lamb, it seems like that is priority number one. Is I want you talking about my team and maybe we get around to being a super Bowl caliber team at some point. Where does Pro Football Focus have ced Lamb ranked in the top let's say wide receivers.
I mean, for me, I think he's in that top four to five. I mean I think I think you've got Tyreek Hill, justin Jefferson, guys like Jamar Chase aj Brown. But what Cede Lamb did last year. You know, they have slowly taken away some of his friends over the last couple of years, Amari Cooper, Michael Gallup getting hurt, and Ceedee Lamb stepped up. He can win on the inside, he can win on the outside. He was obviously Dak's go to guy. Last year. I think Ceedee Lamb showed he could be in that top five. Conversation for receivers.
Second most important position in football.
It's receiver. Obviously quarterback one. It's it's receiver, though, and the market has started to show that at the most twenty million dollar plus players in the NFL, guys getting up over thirty million dollars a year. It's a passing league and when you have that number one difference maker at receiver makes a huge impact the NFL.
The players had their top one hundred ranking there. Somehow Aaron Rodgers made the list even though he was in for four plays last year, Like it's hard for me to take it seriously, but then people do. And then Tyreek Hill was number one. I love Tyreek Hill, nobody like him, but Patrick Mahomes is the most valuablelay in the league. He wins championships. It's I use the same logic when I voted for MVP in the NBA. Carl Malone might have had a great year, Charles Barkley may have had a great year. Mike was always going to win a championship in my mind, and I can't take I mean, that's value. There's nobody more valuable than Patrick Mahomes.
Do you agree?
I completely agree.
Yeah.
I think Mahomes is in that Tom Brady echelon of hey, this is the best player until you know, somebody says otherwise or they retire. So the player's list, though, is interesting. They vote during the season, and who knows what their criteria is, But you know during the season if they voted around week fourteen or fifteen. Remember the Chiefs offense wasn't doing so hot last year. This was before we saw them go on that run, you know, in the playoffs. I also don't know how much the players are factoring in positional value. I mean, if we were just listening, who are we going to start a team with, You're going to have eight or ten quarterbacks first, before we even get to your receiver or edge rusher. So I think the criteria, who knows what it actually is for the players. They're just kind of writing names down on a list and you know wherever it shows up at the end.
I think if they voted right after the Super Bowl, we know how this would end up. It would be Patrick Mahomes. But look, Tyreek Hill was wonderful. Justin Jefferson in there, Trent Williams would be in there. You know what, give me your top five best players going into this season.
Yeah, I'm gonna refer to the PFF Top fifty. We did this a few weeks ago over at PFF dot com. We had Mahomes number one. We have Miles Garrett number two, Cleveland Browns edge rusher. I think there's other edge rushers in his league, but I think Miles Garrett has separated himself above the guys like Micah Parsons, TJ Watt, sorry JJ, nick Bosa, and some others. We have Trent Williams number three, who you mentioned the tackle from the Niners. We have Justin Jefferson number four. I think that's where the players had Justin Jefferson a little bit too low. I think he's in that Tyreek Kill discussion as a one A, one B type of receiver. And then I have Micah Parsons number five in the PFF fifty. So you know that was that was how we did it, and it was we tried to We tried to list it at PFF from you know, taking positional value out of it. So we still put Mahomes up there. But if you're if you're just listing quarterbacks, you'd have Josh Allen up there. I'd have Joe Burrow, guys like Lamar Jackson, but taking position out of it, those are the top five.
Most underrated NFL players going into this season. Give me five.
Five underrated players going into the season. I think looking through our list here, I think Sauce Gardner from the Jets. He doesn't get targeted a whole lot. And I saw the the NFL Executive rankings a few weeks ago saying, hey, Sauce Gardner. You know didn't love Sauce Gardner. I think he's shut down. I think he's about to break the bank for corners, you know, when he hits the market in a couple of years. I think Antoine Winfield, the safety out from the Bucks, single handedly winning games last year with a forced fumble at the goal line, making big plays and coverage. His teammate Tristan Wurf's with the box. He's not underrated anymore. He just got paid. He's getting his thirty million. But what Worfs did last year playing going from right tackle to left tackle after three years playing right tackle a lot of times it takes a little time to transition to the other side. He didn't need any time to transition to the other side. And I'm gonna say I'm mona Saint Brown because I'm going to the thirty third team in the Saint Brown Brothers podcast. They're doing a great job over there. A manra look the money is starting to talk and say, hey, he's not underrated anymore. But he has just done such a good job. He's got that list of all the receivers that were drafted ahead of him, and he just goes out there and continues to produce as one of the best slot receivers in the NFL.
Is Brandon Auk worth a couple of first round picks.
I wouldn't say a couple. I think one. I think one is fair. I'm in the world where a first round pick and a thirty million dollar contract I think is probably worth it. If you're a desperate team, I mean, if you're the New England Patriots that needs a number one wide receiver. And if you look at the Patriots in particular, I know they he just turned them down. But when you have a rookie quarterback, and you saw what a number one receiver did for rookie rookie contract quarterback Jalen Hurts in Philadelphia, a rookie contract quarterback Toua in Miami when he got Tyreek Hill. Teams that are desperate for a true number one I think need a guy like Brandon Ayuk and that's probably worth a one plus the thirty million.
Who's more desperate, Cleveland or Pittsburgh.
I'd say Pittsburgh at this point. I love the rest of their roster. I think Pittsburgh's also just more equipped to spend the money on receiver because they have one of the cheapest quarterback situations in the NFL. They have Russell Wilson for pennies on the dollar. They have justin Fields for almost nothing, and then presumably next year, hey, maybe they'll draft someone. They're probably not breaking the bank for a quarterback and in the coming years, so Pittsburgh can handle one of those thirty million dollar contracts at receiver, Plus they just lost Deontay Johnson. So if you can get a guy like Ayuk to a pair with George Pickens, that's how you elevate a Russell Wilson or Justin Fields.
How talented the Bears roster, I.
Think it's middle of the pack to maybe lower half of the league. I think they've made great strides since Ryan Poles has taken over a ton of good additions. I still worry a little bit about the defensive side of the ball. They played well down the stretch after they traded for Montez Sweat from Washington. Still worry a little bit about their pass rush, some inconsistency on the back end. Love what they've done on the offensive side of the ball, though, I think bringing Keenan Allen in as that high volume slot receiver, drafting Roma Dunes in the first round to pair with Caleb Williams, the offense absolutely moving in the right direction. My big question is can the defense keep up with what they did down the stretch last year.
I know we spend way too much time talking about Aaron Rodgers in the offense. I would like people to focus I wish they would on the Jets' defense in just how good that defense is, because that might be the cornerstone of their success this year in my opinion, your thoughts, I.
Mean, going back to what I said about SaaS, Gardner is one of the most underrated players. If we go back just three the Jets had one of the worst defenses in the NFL. They were getting wrecked. Sauce Gardner comes in locks down one side, the pass rush gets better. I mean, I do believe all three levels. The Jets do have a fantastic defense. It you know, kind of got overshadowed last year the too last two years by just how bad the quarterback play has been. But yeah, if Rogers and the offense are just pretty good and the Jets defense is just a fraction of what they've been the last couple of years, they have a chance to make a move because that pass rush is fierce range at linebacker. Love what they do, what they have at corner. The Jets defense is definitely one of the best in the league.
So the new co host of check the Mic podcast with the thirty third Team, tell the audience about that.
Yeah, my co host Sam Monson and I We've been at PFF almost since the beginning. Sam's been there almost seventeen years. I've been there almost thirteen years. It was just a great opportunity for us. We've been podcasting together for over ten years and had a great opportunity to go to the thirty third team Start to Check the Mic podcast, work together going forward, and you know, we hope the fans, listeners, our viewers, we'll come with us.
Awesome. Thank you for all your contributions. We'll stay in touch with you. Congrats on the new job. Thank you, Steve.
Thanks Dan.
That's Steve Polozolo, Pro Football, head of Football Product, co host of Check the Mic Podcast thirty thirteen. All right, we'll take a break. We'll get to more phone calls coming up right after this.
Be sure to catch the live edition of The Dan Patrick Show weekdays at nine am Eastern six am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio app.
Feels like Snoop Dogg's title was co host of the Olympics. He was everywhere I thought. He came out as the big winner here and now four years from now in LA that's where people are going to be waiting for Snoop Dogg. I think he happened upon the scene and we're like, all right, okay, and then all of a sudden, Martha Stewart's involved in it. They really incorporated I thought, both of those and celebrities as well, and made it an even bigger deal, if that's possible. Yes, Pauline.
Right on cue break, Dancing at the Olympics is starting, and the opening ceremonies for it, Snoop dog walked out in the crowd in.
Bisser springing Bob Constace, the Hall of Fame sportscaster and a host of the Olympics. Many many, many, many many times. If I would have told you twenty years ago, fifteen years ago, hey, Snoop's going to be co hosting the Olympics, you would have said, what you know.
Dan, what a crushing blow it's going to be when next spring Snoop Dogg is the guy who denies you the sports host Emmy yet again, Wow, that is.
Just going to be.
It's wrong on so many levels, but it's inevitable.
All Right.
I see where we are. We've established the battlegrounds already. Bob shot across the bow. Okay, but you know, the Olympics are about celebrating, showcasing. Would you have pushed back if that was a suggestion by management that they were going to incorporate Snoop.
I think the tide was flowing in a direction that it's just would have gobbled me up and taking me out to see you know look Snoop is a very personable guy. I'd encountered him once a few years ago, and he was very knowledgeable about sports. We mostly talked about the NBA and I had a reef encounter with him along with Al Michael's at the Beach Volleyball venue and I was in Paris last week.
You know, he's he's high spirited about it. I get it. I get what the appeal is.
And if I was hosting, as long as it didn't encroach upon in any way what you're primarily there for, then it's you know, it's just a side dish. It's a large side dish in this case, but it's a side dish.
How has social media changed the Olympic coverage?
You know, I guess it's even more more out there than before. The last time I hosted was twenty sixteen.
But the thing that.
Strikes me and I'm not an expert on this because I'm not following all the re actions from the general public. But the athletes themselves, all of them, even those who are elder statesmen, which might mean that they're thirty years old, they grew up with social media, so they're posting throughout You know, who is the pole vault woman from the United States who decided its work and some people loved it and some people didn't. But her answer was, look, I make money off of this. I have popularity because of this. It's second nature now. And another thing that I've noted is this every Olympian just about is going to have a catalog of childhood photos and videos because everybody all around the world has the fault. So the entire life of the child from birth through whatever has has been filmed, and so it's almost already made documentary, already made for the Olympic profiles. You know, here's Duplontis, Mondo Duplontis when he was pole vaulting, like off his bed when he's three years old.
I was wondering if consciously, subconsciously you did this. I think I did, and that is that you kind of root for Team USA when you're hosting even though you're supposed to be covering the Olympics. Did you ever find it you kind of blurred the lines there.
Not really, because TM USA almost always did well enough that there are going to be lots of big moments and they're going to be metal winners brought into the studio. And I think your job is to be appreciative. We know that the coverage is going to lean toward the home team. In Britain, it leans toward athletes from England, the UK, the same thing in Australia.
Everywhere you go.
You go to parts of the world, they'll show a whole lot of badminton because in Pakistan they're really.
Good at it.
In Canada, even if the Canadians don't win a whole lot of medals and they've done well in these Olympics, they're going to lean.
The CBC is going to lean in that direction. That's not you, Nique to the United States.
But I think it's our job, or was my job when I hosted it, to be aware and appreciative of the accomplishments of all the athletes, no matter where they came from.
What do you remember about the Dream Team.
The Mania that surrounded it, you know, walking down the Roomblas in Barcelona and seeing like a fifteen story building from the sidewalk to the roof of the building with a Michael Jordan mural on it. The mania that surrounded them, and also the idea that their opponents and in most cases in ninety two they're victims, enjoyed. It was the guy from was an Angola who wanted to take a I guess back.
Then selfie's were kind of a new thing.
The ball goes out of bounds and he wants a selfie with Markley for the balls foot back in play. And I also remember Marv Albert in typical dry Marv style. I threw it out to him for the first game I think it was the Dream Team against Angola, and he says, Bob, bookmakers in Lo London have taken this one off the board.
Have you ever experienced anything close to just the admiration the fandom that we had with the Dream Team.
Not exactly, because you had a lot of build up prior to all those players, not just Jordan, you know.
Magic Bird.
Every member of that team, with the exception of Christian later and Christian may be in the hall of Fame because the Basketball Hall of Fame is, you know, combines amateur and pro. So he may be in because of what he did at Duke, but apart from that, every other member of the team is a Hall of Famer. But that fame, at least in the United States, preceded that, and then the reverberations continued into the subsequent NBA seasons, So I think it's kind of been a separate category.
How do we know a city did well in the Olympics.
Well, there's just a vibe feeling. There's always a bottom line feeling. The Greeks got the Olympics in two thousand and four because of their historic connection to it, but a nation of only ten twelve million people probably can't put it on again, and there was a huge economic cost and a lot of the venues now just sit there with weeds growing because they have no use for it. Subsequently, but the vibe in Paris is incredible. It just feels like a success. It feels right, and even watching at home wherever home is the United States are anywhere around the world, this is a huge bounce back from the last three Olympics, especially the last two. I think Tokyo would have been an excellent host, but we'll never know because it's under COVID circumstances. There's no fans in the stands. And then with the same circumstances in place, all the restrictions, no fans when they went back to China for another olymp I think by then the understanding around the world that China is a serious human rights abuser and just a mockery of the supposed Olympic ideals that turned people off. Now the COVID circumstances are largely behind us, no alliles notwithstanding, and there are fans in the stands. It's a beautiful setting. Everywhere you look. It's a postcard. It's not just the Eiffel Tower, it's not just the Loop. I was driving to one of the games with Al Michael's one of the events rather and I said, you know, Al, in the average American city, maybe not DC or New York or whatever, in the average American city, the twentieth most appealing building we will see on this ride would be the centerpiece building in that city. That's just what Paris is. And this could be the beginning of the Olympics getting its group back because Milan Courtina seems like an appealing setting for the next Winter Olympics.
And then it's in.
Los Angeles, and from an American standpoint, despite all the challenge just of putting it on in security and everything else, there's going to be a big, big vibe for that. So, you know, Paris, I think is the start of something really good for the Olympic movement.
Talking to Bob Costas, I was wondering if the IOC, and I know there's so much money at stake here and getting bids from other countries, but could they do a rotation. Doesn't a rotation make the most sense because it doesn't economically damage or you know, these cities, and even if you have multiple cities involved, it could be the West Coast could bring you the Olympic Games, not just the city of Los Angeles.
Yeah, that makes some sense, it does. And maybe you could farm out certain events. Maybe you run the marathon.
You always run the marathon in Greece, you always run it in Athens, you know, to keep that connection. You could probably identify let's say four or five really good host cities for a Winter Olympics, be a different sort of four or five around the world for a summer Olympics. We know that the IOC is intent on spreading its wings. They're going back to Australia. That's a good thing. Australia was a good host in.
Two thousand and there's going to be another one in the years ahead.
They've put several in Asia, and that's a good thing, as soon as they can find the right nation and the right city to host. They want to put an Olympics in Africa, and those are all good intentions. But to your point, it's becoming more and more challenging, and a lot.
Of times what happened with Beijing.
I'm not making excuses for the IOC, but a lot of the other more classic winter Olympic sites backed out because of the costs and other issues, security and everything else. So the list of possibilities is shrinking. So to your point, it might make sense to have some permanent sites and rotate them.
Baseball topics, if you will, Paul's schemes against the Dodgers coming up on Saturday, who comes to mind, Well, I guess Dwight Gooden. But who comes to mind that had this? Must see TV? As far as a picture.
You know, Vida Blue when he started with the A's was like that Fernando Fernando pitch, like eight shutouts in his first ten starts or something like that with the Dodgers Fernando Mania. For a while, there was a whole lot of hype surrounding Steven Strasburg, and in his first game he struck out fourteen against the Pirates, as it happened. But and he had some good years and he was the MVP of the World Series in twenty nineteen, but injuries kind of took him off what could have been a Hall of Fame track. And your point about Gooden is absolutely correct. And you know, there are some athletes where the objective accomplishments are one thing, and then there's just the poetry of it. Dwight Gooden was just beautiful to watch, you know, his motion, the fluidity of it, that classic twelve to six curveball to go with the high heat. And back then, I don't want to sound like back in my day, Sonny, but back then, great pictures finish what they started.
And so they're on the.
Mound when the game ends and Gary Carter comes out and you know, shakes hands with Dwight Gooden. We're in an eurowere. Blake Snell, who had won two cy Young Awards, just pitched his first complete game, and only because it was a no hitter. So I think that, you know, some of the drama and theater is taken away there. I understand all the modern analytics. I'm not saying it isn't the right strategic approach, but from the standpoint of theater, we're never going to see Bob Gibson on the mound as the World Series ends, or Sandy Kofax on two days rest in the seventh game of the World Series strikes out the last guy in the World Series ends. That tableau has been taken away.
Okay, but we're gonna have to modify our Hall of Fame expectations for starting pitching.
Yep, Yeah, it's true.
You're going to get people in the Hall of Fame with fewer than two hundred victories. You know, Dizzey Dean had fewer than two hundred, but he got injured and had established Hall of Fame credentials.
Kofax is the best example.
I think you want to one hundred and sixty five, but for that five year stretch, he was the best pitcher on the planet, maybe the best picture of all time.
You can certainly make a.
Case for him, but generally speaking, two hundred was a threshold. Three hundred was a cinch. But no one's ever going to win three hundred again because you just can't get that many decisions anymore. So I think you could very well see a guy with one hundred and forty wins, but with a good era and the analytics lineup, especially as the electorate changes and younger voters who have grown up with this as the norm, no problem with that, that's their norm, they'll be more receptive to that.
Well, it's almost like the running back and the pitcher, the starting pitcher, huh, very similar that we've we've reduced their necessity there, and we're going to have to reassess running backs because it's probably going to be more receptions, you know, yeah, yards after the touch or whatever it might be, not necessarily running the football.
Plus, when you.
Talk about a thousand yard season, which used to be a benchmark, or the two thousand yard season when OJ did it, that's a fourteen game season. When Jim Brown broke into the league, was a twelve game season, then fourteen, then sixteen. Now seventeen, so you know all those have to be taken into account on a percentage basis.
You could have picked other rooms in your apartment, right.
No, this is the one that works best. I swear.
I said to Eric, your guy there, your production guy there. I know where you're going with this. I'm just I have a sense where you're going with this. It's what's behind me.
Yeah, right, yeah, yeah.
I tried to crop the shot so that it wasn't there. But when I do this now I cut the top of my head over as far as I can go.
Does that help?
Yeah?
But it's a message. I mean, you know, you came out of the gate Snoop Dogg's gonna win the Emmy, and then you take this shot, and now we got sports Emmys over there.
I mean, yeah, you.
Know there's more. They don't all fit behind me. Look, here's a panoramic.
All right?
You got me.
All in good fun.
Bob, Bob.
Do you have any rooms without Emmy's.
Yes, yes, just a few.
Your wife won't let you have an Emmy in the bedroom though.
Uh no, no, that crosses the line.
Great to catch up with you. Thanks for joining us as always, buddy, Thank you care that's Bob Costas. That was great. I asked for it. I asked for it. So Bob opened it up and then showed the entire room where all the Emmys. Unreal, Yeah, unreal.
He's like, he's got eight of them behind him, and then he's like, oh, that doesn't need and there was just another whole.
Wall of them. That was fantastic. Yeah, what a boss. Yeah, absolutely, absolutely, yeah, Paul.
One of the funniest bits when you did not win, you didn't lose, you didn't win the Emmy. A couple years in a row to Bob Costas, he called in each Monday to talk about or whatever day it was, and Fritzy and I had the idea on the third one to invite Bob up and Fritzing and I talked like Bob Costa, it's not going to come up at eight forty five in the morning on a Tuesday, and Fritze calling us, Yes, sir, I'll be there. It was like a two minute conversation.
They brought in an Emmy and he surprised you.
He was on the phone and back yeah, and then walked.
Out because he would usually say hello, loser, because we'd have him on the day after he won the Sports Timmy Hello Loser, and I went avon Yes.
He hung out with us afterwards, where we went.
To Yeah Cool. He had a Texas longhorned baseball hat on jeans. He's drinking Budweiser at the bar with us. It seems like this is blowing my mind.
He got on jeans, a hat, and it's drinking a Bud heavy. This is one of the greatest days of my life.
