August 4, 2022 • 39 mins
Former NFL tight end and FOX Sports Radio Weekend host George Wrighster is in for Rob, and he and Chris discuss why Roger Goodell is uncomfortable being the judge, jury and executioner for Deshaun Watson but has no problem holding those roles when it comes to NFL owners, and tell us how the NFL preseason experience differs for starters and backups. Plus, The Athletic Los Angeles Lakers beat writer Jovan Buha swings by to discuss LeBron James’ hesitancy to sign his contract extension right now, the ongoing trade rumors surrounding Russell Westbrook, and much more!
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thanks for listening to The Odd Couple podcast. Be sure
to check us out live every weekday from seven pm
to ten pm Eastern four to seven Pacific on Fox
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(00:25):
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Yeah, it is The Couple.
I'm Chris Bruce Ard alongside my partner Rob Partner. You
(00:47):
heard it. This is George Ricetery b Rob Barker, and
we are live from the Fox Sports Radio Studio Live.
George is a frequent phil in for Rob Parker. And
if you didn't know, he's a talkative one. I don't
(01:08):
know that what he's saying is it makes much sense.
But the brother is talkative. He's an up at you one.
What's up man? Welcome man, I'm doing good man, I'm
you know, probably better than I deserve to be. Blessing
on top. All right, that's always good to hear. We
should have had you on on the worship Wednesday. Man,
(01:32):
I'm ready. I'm ready for that. I'm waiting on him
to put on some some some some Helen Baylor or
some Larnell. Oh all right, all right, well, look for
those done don't know, I think most no, because like
I said, you are a frequent filling on the show
when Rob is off. But you got credentials. You got
credentials on the radio. I mean, everybody knows you're a
(01:53):
former NFL player, but I mean on the radio, share
it with us. You have your own show on Serious,
tell us about it when they can find it so
they know. You know, I'm not bringing cameragers up in here.
You already know. So yeah, on Mad Dog Sports Radio
Monday through Friday, nine pm. So that gives you opportunity
to listen to the Eye Couple and then flip and
(02:16):
then get a little dinner and then get back into
it with the with the Night Night that. It don't
get no better than that. Three hours of the Eye
Couple and then your shots three hours, yeah, three hours,
and then three hours of George Reister. You can't beat that.
So let's introduce the Eye Couple crew George, and then
get this thing popping because it is a ton to
(02:38):
talk about both on the field and office. We all know,
all right, we got a DJ Alex ty shirt aka
Alex the x vegan is back. I knew he'd beat
that way today because he gets to shine because it's
Tysher's Tower trivia. You said the ex vegan. Yeah, Alex, Yeah,
I mean he might want to try to explain himself.
(02:58):
But yeah, dude, beating meat like a month. Okay, we
gotta chill that bibbs chicken. Calm down? Am I wrong?
I mean a little bit. It's not that crazy. A
little bit is all it takes. You stop me an
x vegan. Yes, yes, correct, correct, you are he is?
He is right. If vegans one of those things is
(03:20):
like it's like another thing that that starts with a V.
You either all in or you all out. No, that's true.
I will say this. I've never really been like full
plant based on the vegan side because I have honey
every day, and that's like a anti count. That doesn't count.
(03:42):
Nothing died to money. Yeah, I would have never known
in a million years that honey was they called an
animal beans? Oh yeah, but it's yeah. But you I
think of like, you know, like dairy and all of
that in terms of you know, veget vegetarian vegan, but
(04:02):
then hunt I barely include a dairy. But yeah, exactly
to me. It's you're not even burgers. You're not yeah,
just not me, that's my yeah, yeah, yeah. So all right,
you can see George, just a touchy subject with you
can tell it's clearly what you men don't be saying.
(04:22):
I ain't nat up in there. He clearly very touchy voice,
met up a couple of times. Hey, George, what are
you talking about? Exactly? Super producer Rob Gee is in
the house and on the updates. All right, man, Steve Disaker,
all right, Um, this happened, uh recently. We had a
(04:46):
chance to talk about it yesterday, but um, we haven't
heard your view, George. And obviously the big news in
sports right now is the NFL appealing the Deshaun Why
ruling from Sue L. Robinson, the independent arbiter who gave
him six games. The NFL wants more, and we now
(05:10):
know it will not be Roger Goodell making the decision.
It will be former New Jersey Attorney General Peter C.
Harvey who is making the final call. So your thoughts
in general on do you think the NFL is doing
the right thing? Do you think the six games was low?
(05:34):
And do you think that I'll get to the Peter
Harbor stuff with you after that, but share with us
your general thoughts. Well, first thing is I generally like
the NFL to stay out of the adjudication business. It
is not a law enforcement arm. It is not any
of those those things. So I generally like the league
(05:55):
to stay out of those types of things. But you
do have to understand that this is a business, and
when things affect the bottom line, you have to like,
there are steps that have to be mitigated. Although it
doesn't feel right that it's navigated by the court of
public opinion. But when it first came out, though, Chris,
I was like, okay, a six game suspension. Felt felt
(06:18):
it didn't feel fair, it didn't feel right, but it
felt like it made sense. Really it felt blow to me. Yeah, well,
hold on, So I thought it made sense based upon
history with the Ezekiel Elliott and the Ben Roethlisberger case
and being that six games had been the standard suspension
(06:39):
or what is. And that's clearly yeah, to your point,
that's clearly what she based her ruling onint because she
agreed with the NFL that they had proven their point
that he correct ran a file of the conduct policy.
But that's why I think there does need to be
(07:00):
and appeal by the league and a stiff repelling whatever
it is, ten games, twelve games a season. Here's why quickly,
and I'll let you get to it, because I don't
think she should have went on precedent. You're supposed to
be independent. Those precedents were set by Roger Goodell in
a previous collective bargaining agreement. This was supposed to be
(07:22):
a new day. So you come with a new ruler,
I get in the court of law that that's what
you do. But this wasn't that. And so I think
if they said a new precedent, say it's twelve games now,
so in the future, guy forbid. If this type of
thing happens, that guy won't be getting six games, He'll
keep getting twelve. And again, hopefully it leads to it
(07:44):
deters guys who might think to do that in the future.
So that's why I like the appeal by the NFL. Now,
now I didn't get to this point yet. I think
the NFL did the right thing by appealing it, even
though even though when they collectively bargained the last CBA,
they said that as far as suspensions scope, there would
(08:07):
be an independent arbiter, which was Judge Sue Robinson, and
then if the league or the players didn't like the decision,
then they could further appeal it to either Roger Goodell
or whoever he appoints. And he appointed the former the
new Jersey Attorney General. Now, now where I did not
(08:30):
think that. So I thought that it made sense initially,
but then when I read the opinion of Judge Sue Robinson,
and she essentially said that he ran a foul of
the conduct policy and that she believes in just the
four cases that they heard this about, because the other
ones they didn't deem credible enough to uh to put
(08:51):
in in this and there were four, and she said
she believed it that he did, and that he didn't
seem remorseful and it was flagrant, and that this is
the worst case that the NFL has seen. Now, Now,
when I read that, I was like, WHOA, six games
doesn't make sense anymore. Now, this is a case where
(09:13):
she should have, I believe, didn't not use precedent. But
this is also leads to um Chris that Deshaun Watson
had the opportunity to negotiate with the NFL a suspension
the league would supposedly was willing to do twelve games
(09:35):
and a fine of you know, around six million dollars.
That means you could have got him down to ten
to ten games and you know three three four million dollars,
which would have satisfied everybody, right Like, there would have
still been some people who would have been unhappy, but
he would have been suspended for longer than the season,
(09:55):
but he still would have had gotten a chance to play.
He could have lived with that, and instead it was
this constant arrogance in the situation. And that's why, honestly, Chris,
I said I from the beginning, I said I would well,
once once things escalated, I would like I would have
suspended him for an entire year, not necessarily because I
(10:16):
could prove whether he did it or not, because there's
no evidence really in terms of there's no videotapes, there's
none of this other stuff. But I would have suspended
him for a year for recklessness, for putting the league
in danger, for putting himself in danger, Like it was
just flagrant in between sixty six and one hundred massage
(10:36):
therapist in like seventeen months. But Chris though the one
thing and I'm gonna send it to you on this
is the league gave just the Houston Texans in this
not even mentioned and they had a hand in and
allow some lawsuits themselves exactly, and and and the league
(11:01):
not a peep from them about the Texas, right right, Well,
we're gonna get to, uh in the next segment, the
league and how they deal with their owners, because that's
been a topic that's been coming up. Um, you know,
whether you think Watson is guilty or not. Uh, the
owners are getting away with some stuff themselves, and and
(11:22):
that just doesn't seem fair. Isn't fair? So we're gonna
get into that next. But look, Peter Harvey, the New Jersey,
former New Jersey Attorney General. Um, it's interesting because he's appointed.
He was picked by Goodell obviously to make it look
(11:43):
like objective. But you gotta believe that you know it's
gonna be right. So I what do you think? So
do you say it you think it should be a
year or you thought it should be a year. I
was at one point I thought it would be a year.
Is that what you think would be best? Right now?
(12:06):
And you think you should come back with a year,
because well, let me hit you this way that wants
twelve games. There's reports that the league wants one of
two things. Charles Robinson Yahoo reported multiple sources have told
him the league wants either this which is an indefinite suspension,
and after this season Deshaun would be able to apply
(12:29):
for reinstatement he must go to treatment, and that in
that scenario he would not get fined. Or they want
twelve games roughly a ten million dollars fine and treatment.
So of those two, do you have a preference? I mean,
(12:52):
who who am I am? I? George George reis my
Deshaun Watson. You ain't Deshaun Watson. Well, now you know
what that's interesting though you could go go from broth.
Both perspectives, tell me from both, Okay, So for so
for me, I'm going I'm taking the year's suspension because
I mean, I'm I'm viewing you not as a player.
(13:13):
I'm viewing you as a an outsider looking at this situation,
not not if you had been playing. Okay, okay, okay,
as give me your view just as insider if if
if I want to powder you think it's more fair,
I guess, or if as an outsider, if I want
to pound of flesh. I go, you know, the the
(13:36):
the the ten twelve games and the ten million dollars fine,
I mean that ten million dollars. Hitch, you hit you
in the wallet, homie. I mean, I don't care how
much money that you have. A tillion dollar finds a
lot taps him in the wallet. Yes, first, it breathes
on him, It blows on his wallet. I don't know
if it hits him. Oh it no, No, it definitely
(13:59):
does big Because when you look at Deshaun Watson's now now,
when you look thirty, how much is going to make
versus how much he's he's made because he's on a
five year, two hundred and thirty million dollars deal now,
but throughout his career up to this point, like he's
(14:20):
he's not a guy who's made you know, one hundred
million dollars up to this point, he's made fifty one
million dollars. And you know some of that has gone
to taxes, so i'd say half of it basically. Yeah.
So so so a ten million dollars fine to to
a guy who's pocketed fifty one million dollars, that's a
huge fine. So so from his perspective, What do you
(14:44):
think is best. Oh, if i'm I'm taking the year suspension.
But at the same time, no, actually I would take
the tenney is big well, but but actually no, I
would take the shorter suspension because he needs to. If
you're Deshaun Watson, you want to get back on the
(15:04):
field because he hasn't played football. Chris has not played
football since December of twenty twenty and it will be
if he gets suspended for an entire year, it will
be September of twenty twenty three the next time that
he throws a football in an NFL game, that will
(15:24):
be almost three years. And remember Colin Kaepernick, who was
sitting on the sideline. And there's also this and and
this is why I think it might be best for
the NFL to go with the twelve games ten million
dollars or thereabouts. Uh. And the treatment. I like the treatment.
(15:46):
I think he needs treatment. Um. And I also think
that if he even if he's not remorseful at this point,
maybe he'll he'll become remorseful in treatment, like he will
understand what the issue is why he did those things,
and enables him, right, But it enables him if he
(16:08):
goes through treatment, people can look at him like okay,
especially if he comes out and apologizes, people can then
forgive him and he can begin his rehabilitation as far
as the public image can begin. Then there's the playing
this season, and you make a great point about him
going two years, two full seasons without playing. There's also
(16:31):
this the negative attention, the controversy, the all the hoop
lie everything that's going to surround his return. If he
comes back after twelve games this season, you get it
all out of the way this year. Yep, that's him,
that's the Browns, that's the league, because none of them
(16:52):
are gonna want to deal with that. But you get
it out of the way this season, and when he
comes back next year, it's a clean slate, a fresh start.
It's just about football for the most part. So I
think that's why the twelve game suspension, you met your
good point, the ten million dollars because of you know,
(17:13):
what he's made thus far would be significant and the treatment.
So I think that's how he should go. But we,
as I said, we're going to get into some more
stuff surrounding this situation. And Roger Goodell, he doesn't want
to be the judge, jury and executioner for Deshaun Watson,
(17:34):
but he certainly doesn't have an issue being that with
the owners. We'll get into that next. It's the Eye Couple.
George Reisters in for Rod Parker. I'm Chris Bruce are
keep it locked? All right? Let me tell you, folks man,
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your battery solution and America's number one battery destination. All right,
we just saw George. The ruling on Deshaun Watson was
(20:26):
not the only one to come down. The owners had
a ruling Steve Ross in particular with the Miami Dolphins,
and it was found that he tampered with Tom Brady
both when he played for the Patriots and the Buccaneers
to get him to quarterback the Miami Dolphins and Sean Payton,
(20:48):
who was, of course the coach of the New Orleans Saints.
The league found him guilty and find him one point
five million dollars, suspended him from the facility and all
other NFL activities until mid October, and took a first
(21:12):
round pick next year twenty twenty three and a third
round pick in twenty twenty four from the Miami Dolphins,
who also have another first round pick next year from
the San Francisco forty nine ers trade, so they still
have a first round pick, but they lost one. And
unlike the Deshaun Watson situation, Roger Goodell just ruled on
(21:38):
this like it used to be with players. He just
called it himself. And a lot of people are pointing
out George the Stark difference in the punishments. Deshaun Watson
may be suspended for an entire season, maybe fine, ten
million dollars and the owner, Stephen Ross, is only gonna
(22:03):
miss about six weeks of regular season action and at
one point five million dollars fine. And unlike Deshaun, as
you pointed out, Ross has tons of money, all right, yeah,
billions and so old as Deshaun, but not compared to
Stephen Ross. So when you look also at the fact
(22:23):
that not only are the rulings different, but Roger Goodell,
who works for the owners, who works for Stephen Ross,
made the ruling, so you know he's only going to
go so far. And what this one to me, while bad,
(22:46):
isn't the one that really irks me. It is Daniel
Schneider and Daniel Snyder. All of the accusations of a
toxic environment in his organization, all of the accusations of
sexual harassment, women saying they were harassed hundreds of times.
(23:07):
One woman said every day that she worked there, over
the course of several years, she was harassed. He himself
is accused of sexual harassment and trying to get a
woman to speak with her and and groping her and
things like that. Yeah, and he paid was not nearly
(23:29):
as severe as what Deshaun Watson might lose. So where
do you land on this? I think that while Deshaun
needs to pay the price, so to speak, I think
the owners do as well, especially when you put in
the collective or I should say, the league's constitution and
by laws, that you're going to hold owners to a
(23:51):
higher standard, are you, because I don't see it. That's
where I'm at on it. They are not holding owners
at all to a higher standard. George right there, and
they would tell you something happened to George. No, I'm right,
I'm right here. Hello. Hello, Hell, okay, George, go ahead.
(24:16):
I'm I'm having technical difficulties. And my student was like,
why are you talking? You were you were talking? Yes,
I was talking, So could you hear me? Yes? I
heard okay, because I couldn't hear trying to insert myself
in the middle. But you couldn't hear me. No, I
couldn't hear you at all. Yeah, A ten million dollars,
so the owners would tell you. Roger Gordell said, Hey, listen,
(24:40):
the culture of the Washington football team is being cleaned up.
Daniel Snyder's not in charge of the team. His wife
Tanya is. He was fine. Ten million dollars. So many
people fired all of this stuff and no matter what
the workplace looked like. The one thing that may actually
cause Daniel Snyder to lose the team is if they
(25:02):
find out or figure out that he actually cheated the
other owners out of one nickel, right, a one nickel,
that will be the thing that forces him to sell
the franchise. And I know that he'll get billions from that,
but that's not what he wants. He's been on record
saying he wants to pass Yeah, yeah, he wants to
pass the franchise down to his kids. And then he
(25:24):
might end it up with in the hands of Jeff Bezos,
which he won't want either. But to go back to
Stephen Brass though, all right, let's get to this guest, George,
and then we'll get back to this we have Yo
Vine Buhai, friend of the show, Lakers beat writer for
the Athletic joining us yovin. Welcome. How are you. I'm
doing well, guys, Thanks having me on. Good to have
(25:46):
you as always. All right, let's get you the big
news of the day. Lebron eligible for a two year,
ninety seven million dollars extension. The sides met today. Nothing
came of it. Rich Paul said it was productive, but
that's it. They'll continue to talk. What is your read
on kind of where things stand in and really even
(26:06):
what each side wants. Well, if you're the Lakers, I
think you want to sign Lebron to that extension. I
think you want to lock him up long term. I
think up to this point he's proven to be worth
every penny and then some right, and helped you win
a championship in twenty twenty. Last season, I think by
(26:26):
all measures, was a top ten guys. Still, you know,
we'll see this season kind of you know where he's
at going into his age thirty eight season. But I
think he's obviously aged as well as any superstar in
NBA history, So I don't really see any reason why
that would change over the next couple of years barring
an injury. So I think from the Lakers side, it's
pretty straightforward. I think from Lebron side is where the
(26:48):
real interest is because you know, from what I've heard
and just kind of my sense of things, like this
is his only leverage really over the Lakers right now.
I mean, of course he has leverage just being on
being a superstar and just all that kind of comes
with that. But he is you know, uh, you know,
someone who wants the team to to be upgraded and
(27:10):
is looking at, you know, potentially a Kyrie Irving trade
or a Buddy Heel trade, and um, you know, I
don't think he's happy with the current state of the roster.
So I think, you know, this is something that he
has some leverage with La, you know, with in terms
of just potentially not signing this extension until they, you know,
make a move. So I think he's probably going to
(27:33):
play this out a little bit, be it a few weeks,
a few months, you know, we'll see how long it
ends up happening until he signs it. But then there's
also the other factor of Brawny and his future and uh,
you know, does Lebron want that flexibility uh, you know,
to potentially join another team if Braunie ends up elsewhere,
or you know, maybe he ends up in LA and
(27:54):
then it all works out that way. But we've seen
this with Lebron, you know, in the socially in Cleveland,
where he was kind of going year to year and
applying pressure on the front office through that. So I
suspect right now that is definitely part of his motivation
is just maintaining that flexibility and also applying some pressure
of hey, I want a better roster. Go trade for Kyrie,
(28:15):
go trade for Buddy Healed, you know, make us better. Um,
what about the reports that have come out today that
Lebron is done playing with Russell Westbrook that they like?
How true it is that because just a few weeks
ago we heard that they him, Anthony Davis and Lebron
(28:35):
had had a night zoom session. So where do things
actually stand? I think things are still icee. I mean
I was there. I sat right behind Lebron on the
baseline at Summer League at that game, and it was
like Lebron was the godfather and everyone was coming up
to him kissing the ring. You had Rob Polinka and
(28:57):
Darvin Ham and all the players that were in attendance,
and the one guy who didn't come up to him,
who was Russell Westbrook, and that you know, they left,
They did not interact, and they did have that that
meeting that weekend over the phone. But a few days
later Russ ended up parting ways with his agent, and
his agent came out and you know what, one of
(29:17):
the you know, Goad Fouchet, one of the more private,
big time agents in the NBA, doesn't feel a lot
of interviews, doesn't know, He's not a guy you're going
to see sitting courtside like, he's a very behind the
scenes agent. But he released that statement ESPN and it
was like, you know, basically, the implications were, Russ is
not you know, Russell doesn't want to be in LA.
He doesn't want to adapt and adjust to the role
(29:38):
that the Lakers are asking of him, and he wants
to go elsewhere, and if he goes elsewhere, he might
get bought out and kind of bounce around again. And
I just think, you know, kind of reading between the
lines there and what we saw and what we didn't
see in terms of just them not interacting, like I
do think this is icy, and I think he got
icy towards the end of the regular season, just in
(30:00):
terms of their interactions on the court and uh, you know,
kind of just the way that they would interact even
in front of the media. It wasn't as warm as
it used to be compared at the beginning of the season.
So to me, uh, you know, I think Lebron is
always calculated and he's always uh you know, I think
going to be smart with the kind of the way
he moves publicly. But I think behind the scenes he's
(30:22):
ready to move on from Russ. I think everyone's really
ready to move on from us. The problem is the
rest of the league knows that, and they're holding that
against the Lakers. The Lakers don't have a lot of leverage,
and everyone's asking for the moon. It's you know, give
us a couple of picks, give us your young guys,
and and you know, trying to maximize what they can
get from LA. So right now, I think it's a
big game of chicken, and ultimately one side is gonna
(30:43):
have to fold, and I do suspect it'll probably be
the Lakers, and then I'll probably have to be a
couple of picks attached to Russ. If they do end
up trading him. With the report, you know, and you
talked about what the comments by his ex agent Fa
Fouchet combine with the recent report you you actually had
in your story about Darvin Ham, you know, having the
(31:07):
power to bench for us at the end of games,
which really is saying we're gonna let Darvenham coach, right,
He's gonna be a coach the team. But you know,
obviously these yeah, yeah, but they're saying this stuff, whereas
last year was kind of hidden about Frank Vogel did
even have the power to do that. Do you think
these leaks, if you will, are a sign that the
(31:28):
Lakers know Russ is not about to do what Darvin
wants him to do. Darvin's been out spoken about we
want him to defend, you know, we want him to
not worry about you know, but basically play differently. Do
you sense that there's a feeling like Russ just is
not going to adjust to that. Yes, yes, I think
(31:49):
people around the team are skeptical of that, and you know,
I'm skeptical out as well, because you know, I think
sometimes people kind of forget what what the narratives were
twelve months ago. But twelve months ago, people were saying
the same thing with Russ of um, you know, they
had the intro press conference with Frank Vogel and Rob
Polinka and it was all, uh, you know, we're gonna
(32:10):
play up tempo and Russ is gonna you know, figure,
we're gonna figure out ways to play him off the ball,
and he's gonna be our defensive captain and this and
that and all this different stuff that just never came
to fruition last season. And um, you know, Russ has
played one way for fourteen years. It has made him
a Hall of Famer, it has made him one of
the best point guards ever, but it also makes him
(32:31):
a heart fit next to other superstars. And we've kind
of seen some of those struggles since leaving Kevin Durant
and just kind of the limitations of having Russ being
your second or third best player or even your first
best player. Like you know, it's the sample size has
not been great over the last you know, five six years,
so I think there is some healthy skepticism within the
(32:52):
organization of of him actually making those changes. And that's
where I think, you know, last year, I think it
was handling him with Kid gloves. You saw the way
they spoke about him in the media and just always
kind of, you know, pumping him up, and even when
he'd have a bad game, you know that they'd know
Lebron would take the blame, or Ady would take the blame,
or or Frank Vogel would And I think this upcoming
(33:14):
season it's going to be treating him more like a
normal player. And if you don't play well, you're gonna
get bench. And if you don't buy into the things
that we're telling you to do, you eventually might be
coming off the bench, and if it gets even worse,
you might just be sent home and you know, not
even be playing on our team. So I think with
him being an expiring contract and with the way the
(33:35):
first season played out, I think they're open to possibilities
that they weren't open to last season. Great stuff. That's
Jovan Buha, Lakers beat riding for the Athletic Thanks a lot, man.
We appreciate you. I appreciate it. Talk to you guys soon.
Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in
the nation. Catch all of our shows at Fox sports
Radio dot com and within the iHeart Radio app search
(33:59):
f s R listen live. All right. We can sit
here on the Odds couple and talk about how complicated, complex,
diffic cult other banks making for you to redeem your
credit card rewards, but we won't. We'll just take the
high road and talk about how simple, easy, peaceful Discover
(34:20):
makes it when you want to redeem cash and any amount,
you can do it at any time with Discovery. I mean,
it's amazing, folks. You can learn more at discovered dot
com slash redeemed rewards terms do apply, all right, George Reister.
We have the Hall of Fame Game tonight's exhibition game
kicking off the preseason. Right, you're right about that, the
(34:45):
inappropriately named the Hall of Fame game since we don't
have any future Hall of Famers playing um, Trevor Lawrence out,
Derek Carr, graiters, guys, they're not playing. Um. What was
your or Now, you were a guy that played tight
end for Jacksonville and you started about half your career,
(35:06):
what you like, six years, started about half your career?
What was your view toward the preseason? And talk about
different players views, the starters, the stars, and you know
then the guys obviously trying to make the squad. Well,
if you're a guy that's trying to make the squad,
(35:27):
you want every single preseason game. You want every waking
minute that you can get on a football field with
people to see you, because you're not only auditioned for
your own team, but you're auditioning for the other thirty
one teams as well, because they have a scouting department
that's literally dedicated to watching other teams film. So you
(35:49):
so you played well, doesn't mean that you may not
fit in where you are, but you may fit somewhere else.
But for the guys at in the very top of
the roster and in the middle of the like the
guys who are for sure going to be on the team,
hate the preseason. Bro absolutely hate the preseason because it
(36:10):
only brings opportunities for you to get injured. And and
in college football right there is there are no preseason games,
and the product is still really good. Right and in
the year with the twenty in twenty twenty preseason preseason gone,
(36:33):
what what I happened? Product? Great ratings? Fine, So this
is just the cash cow for the owners because they
get a chance to have games on television. Parking beers
being bought tickets being bought with with without paying the
players their proper salaries. So that's why the owners don't
want to get rid of the preseason. It's about money
(36:55):
for them, but for the players, aside from the guys
who are fighting or to get into the league and
be in the league, the preseason largely just like Trevor
Lawrence isn't even playing tonight, Neither is Travior's etn James Robinson,
any of those. Darren Waller's not gonna play today. So
none of the people who are actually going to be
(37:17):
contributing greatly to you winning and losing aren't even playing.
So you're doing this. This is a money grab. This
is not often here players talk about how whether it's
a Pro Bowl or a preseason game, when you go
out there and don't play your hardest, that's when your
most susceptible to It sounds like a cliche, but can you.
(37:40):
I mean, you've probably been on the field and I
guess maybe at times not giving your hearts you know,
because of the situation, not because you were low. No, no,
you really believe that that Yeah, if you don't go
full or you got a better chance of getting hurt
and why for sure? For sure, because it's a little
bit of your like all of your energy needs to
(38:05):
be dedicated and focused on what you're doing. It's literally like,
if we're doing this and we're you know, not in
it fully where we're trying to text, we're trying to
talk to your wife in the background, or anything like
like that, you're not really as focusing. You're more likely
to have a slip up or something else. It's the
same thing if you're not fully in tune and locked in,
(38:28):
that's when you know somebody can fall into you. You're
not fully aware, your your muscles aren't as engaged as
they need to be. So if your heart is not
truly in it, then you shouldn't really be out on
the on the field because I agree with that old
adage that something bad can happen when you do that.
(38:49):
All right, that's our man, George Rerister, did you play
in most preseason games or no? No. I probably played
in about half the preseason games that were available to me. Okay, okay,
all right, Well, look, we got two hours left on
a TV theme song Thursday plenty to get into. We
spoke with Jovan Buja about the Lakers and Lebron. We'll
(39:13):
get more into that next. You want to keep it
locked right here on Fox Sports Radio, the iHeartRadio app
or Serious XM channel eighty three. However, you may be
listening because we about to bring that heat in the
next hour. Lock it
Thanks for listening to The Odd Couple podcast. Be sure
to check us out live every weekday from seven pm
to ten pm Eastern four to seven Pacific on Fox
Sports Radio. Find your local station for The Odd Couple
at Fox Sports Radio dot com, or stream us live
every day on the iHeartRadio app by searching f s R.
(00:25):
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Yeah, it is The Couple.
I'm Chris Bruce Ard alongside my partner Rob Partner. You
(00:47):
heard it. This is George Ricetery b Rob Barker, and
we are live from the Fox Sports Radio Studio Live.
George is a frequent phil in for Rob Parker. And
if you didn't know, he's a talkative one. I don't
(01:08):
know that what he's saying is it makes much sense.
But the brother is talkative. He's an up at you one.
What's up man? Welcome man, I'm doing good man, I'm
you know, probably better than I deserve to be. Blessing
on top. All right, that's always good to hear. We
should have had you on on the worship Wednesday. Man,
(01:32):
I'm ready. I'm ready for that. I'm waiting on him
to put on some some some some Helen Baylor or
some Larnell. Oh all right, all right, well, look for
those done don't know, I think most no, because like
I said, you are a frequent filling on the show
when Rob is off. But you got credentials. You got
credentials on the radio. I mean, everybody knows you're a
(01:53):
former NFL player, but I mean on the radio, share
it with us. You have your own show on Serious,
tell us about it when they can find it so
they know. You know, I'm not bringing cameragers up in here.
You already know. So yeah, on Mad Dog Sports Radio
Monday through Friday, nine pm. So that gives you opportunity
to listen to the Eye Couple and then flip and
(02:16):
then get a little dinner and then get back into
it with the with the Night Night that. It don't
get no better than that. Three hours of the Eye
Couple and then your shots three hours, yeah, three hours,
and then three hours of George Reister. You can't beat that.
So let's introduce the Eye Couple crew George, and then
get this thing popping because it is a ton to
(02:38):
talk about both on the field and office. We all know,
all right, we got a DJ Alex ty shirt aka
Alex the x vegan is back. I knew he'd beat
that way today because he gets to shine because it's
Tysher's Tower trivia. You said the ex vegan. Yeah, Alex, Yeah,
I mean he might want to try to explain himself.
(02:58):
But yeah, dude, beating meat like a month. Okay, we
gotta chill that bibbs chicken. Calm down? Am I wrong?
I mean a little bit. It's not that crazy. A
little bit is all it takes. You stop me an
x vegan. Yes, yes, correct, correct, you are he is?
He is right. If vegans one of those things is
(03:20):
like it's like another thing that that starts with a V.
You either all in or you all out. No, that's true.
I will say this. I've never really been like full
plant based on the vegan side because I have honey
every day, and that's like a anti count. That doesn't count.
(03:42):
Nothing died to money. Yeah, I would have never known
in a million years that honey was they called an
animal beans? Oh yeah, but it's yeah. But you I
think of like, you know, like dairy and all of
that in terms of you know, veget vegetarian vegan, but
(04:02):
then hunt I barely include a dairy. But yeah, exactly
to me. It's you're not even burgers. You're not yeah,
just not me, that's my yeah, yeah, yeah. So all right,
you can see George, just a touchy subject with you
can tell it's clearly what you men don't be saying.
(04:22):
I ain't nat up in there. He clearly very touchy voice,
met up a couple of times. Hey, George, what are
you talking about? Exactly? Super producer Rob Gee is in
the house and on the updates. All right, man, Steve Disaker,
all right, Um, this happened, uh recently. We had a
(04:46):
chance to talk about it yesterday, but um, we haven't
heard your view, George. And obviously the big news in
sports right now is the NFL appealing the Deshaun Why
ruling from Sue L. Robinson, the independent arbiter who gave
him six games. The NFL wants more, and we now
(05:10):
know it will not be Roger Goodell making the decision.
It will be former New Jersey Attorney General Peter C.
Harvey who is making the final call. So your thoughts
in general on do you think the NFL is doing
the right thing? Do you think the six games was low?
(05:34):
And do you think that I'll get to the Peter
Harbor stuff with you after that, but share with us
your general thoughts. Well, first thing is I generally like
the NFL to stay out of the adjudication business. It
is not a law enforcement arm. It is not any
of those those things. So I generally like the league
(05:55):
to stay out of those types of things. But you
do have to understand that this is a business, and
when things affect the bottom line, you have to like,
there are steps that have to be mitigated. Although it
doesn't feel right that it's navigated by the court of
public opinion. But when it first came out, though, Chris,
I was like, okay, a six game suspension. Felt felt
(06:18):
it didn't feel fair, it didn't feel right, but it
felt like it made sense. Really it felt blow to me. Yeah, well,
hold on, So I thought it made sense based upon
history with the Ezekiel Elliott and the Ben Roethlisberger case
and being that six games had been the standard suspension
(06:39):
or what is. And that's clearly yeah, to your point,
that's clearly what she based her ruling onint because she
agreed with the NFL that they had proven their point
that he correct ran a file of the conduct policy.
But that's why I think there does need to be
(07:00):
and appeal by the league and a stiff repelling whatever
it is, ten games, twelve games a season. Here's why quickly,
and I'll let you get to it, because I don't
think she should have went on precedent. You're supposed to
be independent. Those precedents were set by Roger Goodell in
a previous collective bargaining agreement. This was supposed to be
(07:22):
a new day. So you come with a new ruler,
I get in the court of law that that's what
you do. But this wasn't that. And so I think
if they said a new precedent, say it's twelve games now,
so in the future, guy forbid. If this type of
thing happens, that guy won't be getting six games, He'll
keep getting twelve. And again, hopefully it leads to it
(07:44):
deters guys who might think to do that in the future.
So that's why I like the appeal by the NFL. Now,
now I didn't get to this point yet. I think
the NFL did the right thing by appealing it, even
though even though when they collectively bargained the last CBA,
they said that as far as suspensions scope, there would
(08:07):
be an independent arbiter, which was Judge Sue Robinson, and
then if the league or the players didn't like the decision,
then they could further appeal it to either Roger Goodell
or whoever he appoints. And he appointed the former the
new Jersey Attorney General. Now, now where I did not
(08:30):
think that. So I thought that it made sense initially,
but then when I read the opinion of Judge Sue Robinson,
and she essentially said that he ran a foul of
the conduct policy and that she believes in just the
four cases that they heard this about, because the other
ones they didn't deem credible enough to uh to put
(08:51):
in in this and there were four, and she said
she believed it that he did, and that he didn't
seem remorseful and it was flagrant, and that this is
the worst case that the NFL has seen. Now, Now,
when I read that, I was like, WHOA, six games
doesn't make sense anymore. Now, this is a case where
(09:13):
she should have, I believe, didn't not use precedent. But
this is also leads to um Chris that Deshaun Watson
had the opportunity to negotiate with the NFL a suspension
the league would supposedly was willing to do twelve games
(09:35):
and a fine of you know, around six million dollars.
That means you could have got him down to ten
to ten games and you know three three four million dollars,
which would have satisfied everybody, right Like, there would have
still been some people who would have been unhappy, but
he would have been suspended for longer than the season,
(09:55):
but he still would have had gotten a chance to play.
He could have lived with that, and instead it was
this constant arrogance in the situation. And that's why, honestly, Chris,
I said I from the beginning, I said I would well,
once once things escalated, I would like I would have
suspended him for an entire year, not necessarily because I
(10:16):
could prove whether he did it or not, because there's
no evidence really in terms of there's no videotapes, there's
none of this other stuff. But I would have suspended
him for a year for recklessness, for putting the league
in danger, for putting himself in danger, Like it was
just flagrant in between sixty six and one hundred massage
(10:36):
therapist in like seventeen months. But Chris though the one
thing and I'm gonna send it to you on this
is the league gave just the Houston Texans in this
not even mentioned and they had a hand in and
allow some lawsuits themselves exactly, and and and the league
(11:01):
not a peep from them about the Texas, right right, Well,
we're gonna get to, uh in the next segment, the
league and how they deal with their owners, because that's
been a topic that's been coming up. Um, you know,
whether you think Watson is guilty or not. Uh, the
owners are getting away with some stuff themselves, and and
(11:22):
that just doesn't seem fair. Isn't fair? So we're gonna
get into that next. But look, Peter Harvey, the New Jersey,
former New Jersey Attorney General. Um, it's interesting because he's appointed.
He was picked by Goodell obviously to make it look
(11:43):
like objective. But you gotta believe that you know it's
gonna be right. So I what do you think? So
do you say it you think it should be a
year or you thought it should be a year. I
was at one point I thought it would be a year.
Is that what you think would be best? Right now?
(12:06):
And you think you should come back with a year,
because well, let me hit you this way that wants
twelve games. There's reports that the league wants one of
two things. Charles Robinson Yahoo reported multiple sources have told
him the league wants either this which is an indefinite suspension,
and after this season Deshaun would be able to apply
(12:29):
for reinstatement he must go to treatment, and that in
that scenario he would not get fined. Or they want
twelve games roughly a ten million dollars fine and treatment.
So of those two, do you have a preference? I mean,
(12:52):
who who am I am? I? George George reis my
Deshaun Watson. You ain't Deshaun Watson. Well, now you know
what that's interesting though you could go go from broth.
Both perspectives, tell me from both, Okay, So for so
for me, I'm going I'm taking the year's suspension because
I mean, I'm I'm viewing you not as a player.
(13:13):
I'm viewing you as a an outsider looking at this situation,
not not if you had been playing. Okay, okay, okay,
as give me your view just as insider if if
if I want to powder you think it's more fair,
I guess, or if as an outsider, if I want
to pound of flesh. I go, you know, the the
(13:36):
the the ten twelve games and the ten million dollars fine,
I mean that ten million dollars. Hitch, you hit you
in the wallet, homie. I mean, I don't care how
much money that you have. A tillion dollar finds a
lot taps him in the wallet. Yes, first, it breathes
on him, It blows on his wallet. I don't know
if it hits him. Oh it no, No, it definitely
(13:59):
does big Because when you look at Deshaun Watson's now now,
when you look thirty, how much is going to make
versus how much he's he's made because he's on a
five year, two hundred and thirty million dollars deal now,
but throughout his career up to this point, like he's
(14:20):
he's not a guy who's made you know, one hundred
million dollars up to this point, he's made fifty one
million dollars. And you know some of that has gone
to taxes, so i'd say half of it basically. Yeah.
So so so a ten million dollars fine to to
a guy who's pocketed fifty one million dollars, that's a
huge fine. So so from his perspective, What do you
(14:44):
think is best. Oh, if i'm I'm taking the year suspension.
But at the same time, no, actually I would take
the tenney is big well, but but actually no, I
would take the shorter suspension because he needs to. If
you're Deshaun Watson, you want to get back on the
(15:04):
field because he hasn't played football. Chris has not played
football since December of twenty twenty and it will be
if he gets suspended for an entire year, it will
be September of twenty twenty three the next time that
he throws a football in an NFL game, that will
(15:24):
be almost three years. And remember Colin Kaepernick, who was
sitting on the sideline. And there's also this and and
this is why I think it might be best for
the NFL to go with the twelve games ten million
dollars or thereabouts. Uh. And the treatment. I like the treatment.
(15:46):
I think he needs treatment. Um. And I also think
that if he even if he's not remorseful at this point,
maybe he'll he'll become remorseful in treatment, like he will
understand what the issue is why he did those things,
and enables him, right, But it enables him if he
(16:08):
goes through treatment, people can look at him like okay,
especially if he comes out and apologizes, people can then
forgive him and he can begin his rehabilitation as far
as the public image can begin. Then there's the playing
this season, and you make a great point about him
going two years, two full seasons without playing. There's also
(16:31):
this the negative attention, the controversy, the all the hoop
lie everything that's going to surround his return. If he
comes back after twelve games this season, you get it
all out of the way this year. Yep, that's him,
that's the Browns, that's the league, because none of them
(16:52):
are gonna want to deal with that. But you get
it out of the way this season, and when he
comes back next year, it's a clean slate, a fresh start.
It's just about football for the most part. So I
think that's why the twelve game suspension, you met your
good point, the ten million dollars because of you know,
(17:13):
what he's made thus far would be significant and the treatment.
So I think that's how he should go. But we,
as I said, we're going to get into some more
stuff surrounding this situation. And Roger Goodell, he doesn't want
to be the judge, jury and executioner for Deshaun Watson,
(17:34):
but he certainly doesn't have an issue being that with
the owners. We'll get into that next. It's the Eye Couple.
George Reisters in for Rod Parker. I'm Chris Bruce are
keep it locked? All right? Let me tell you, folks man,
what do you like? All right? What's your favorite live event?
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(19:19):
Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio app. I'm George Reister, host
of the Reister or Wrong Hidcast. This is the intersection
where sports, business, society, and pop culture beat the truth
absolute fire on Monday's, Wednesdays and Fridays. Facts only. Make
sure you check your feelings at the door, because nobs
(19:41):
is allowed. We keep it one hundred. This is where
real conversations happen. Listen to the Rights or Wrong podcasts
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your podcasts. That's right, it is a TV theme song Thursday.
In case you didn't know, with the Eye Couple, and
(20:02):
if you're dealing with a dead battery, head on over
the auto Zone, America's number one battery destination. They offered
free battery services like free battery testing and free battery charging.
So next time you're having battery trouble, go to the zone,
your battery solution and America's number one battery destination. All right,
we just saw George. The ruling on Deshaun Watson was
(20:26):
not the only one to come down. The owners had
a ruling Steve Ross in particular with the Miami Dolphins,
and it was found that he tampered with Tom Brady
both when he played for the Patriots and the Buccaneers
to get him to quarterback the Miami Dolphins and Sean Payton,
(20:48):
who was, of course the coach of the New Orleans Saints.
The league found him guilty and find him one point
five million dollars, suspended him from the facility and all
other NFL activities until mid October, and took a first
(21:12):
round pick next year twenty twenty three and a third
round pick in twenty twenty four from the Miami Dolphins,
who also have another first round pick next year from
the San Francisco forty nine ers trade, so they still
have a first round pick, but they lost one. And
unlike the Deshaun Watson situation, Roger Goodell just ruled on
(21:38):
this like it used to be with players. He just
called it himself. And a lot of people are pointing
out George the Stark difference in the punishments. Deshaun Watson
may be suspended for an entire season, maybe fine, ten
million dollars and the owner, Stephen Ross, is only gonna
(22:03):
miss about six weeks of regular season action and at
one point five million dollars fine. And unlike Deshaun, as
you pointed out, Ross has tons of money, all right, yeah,
billions and so old as Deshaun, but not compared to
Stephen Ross. So when you look also at the fact
(22:23):
that not only are the rulings different, but Roger Goodell,
who works for the owners, who works for Stephen Ross,
made the ruling, so you know he's only going to
go so far. And what this one to me, while bad,
(22:46):
isn't the one that really irks me. It is Daniel
Schneider and Daniel Snyder. All of the accusations of a
toxic environment in his organization, all of the accusations of
sexual harassment, women saying they were harassed hundreds of times.
(23:07):
One woman said every day that she worked there, over
the course of several years, she was harassed. He himself
is accused of sexual harassment and trying to get a
woman to speak with her and and groping her and
things like that. Yeah, and he paid was not nearly
(23:29):
as severe as what Deshaun Watson might lose. So where
do you land on this? I think that while Deshaun
needs to pay the price, so to speak, I think
the owners do as well, especially when you put in
the collective or I should say, the league's constitution and
by laws, that you're going to hold owners to a
(23:51):
higher standard, are you, because I don't see it. That's
where I'm at on it. They are not holding owners
at all to a higher standard. George right there, and
they would tell you something happened to George. No, I'm right,
I'm right here. Hello. Hello, Hell, okay, George, go ahead.
(24:16):
I'm I'm having technical difficulties. And my student was like,
why are you talking? You were you were talking? Yes,
I was talking, So could you hear me? Yes? I
heard okay, because I couldn't hear trying to insert myself
in the middle. But you couldn't hear me. No, I
couldn't hear you at all. Yeah, A ten million dollars,
so the owners would tell you. Roger Gordell said, Hey, listen,
(24:40):
the culture of the Washington football team is being cleaned up.
Daniel Snyder's not in charge of the team. His wife
Tanya is. He was fine. Ten million dollars. So many
people fired all of this stuff and no matter what
the workplace looked like. The one thing that may actually
cause Daniel Snyder to lose the team is if they
(25:02):
find out or figure out that he actually cheated the
other owners out of one nickel, right, a one nickel,
that will be the thing that forces him to sell
the franchise. And I know that he'll get billions from that,
but that's not what he wants. He's been on record
saying he wants to pass Yeah, yeah, he wants to
pass the franchise down to his kids. And then he
(25:24):
might end it up with in the hands of Jeff Bezos,
which he won't want either. But to go back to
Stephen Brass though, all right, let's get to this guest, George,
and then we'll get back to this we have Yo
Vine Buhai, friend of the show, Lakers beat writer for
the Athletic joining us yovin. Welcome. How are you. I'm
doing well, guys, Thanks having me on. Good to have
(25:46):
you as always. All right, let's get you the big
news of the day. Lebron eligible for a two year,
ninety seven million dollars extension. The sides met today. Nothing
came of it. Rich Paul said it was productive, but
that's it. They'll continue to talk. What is your read
on kind of where things stand in and really even
(26:06):
what each side wants. Well, if you're the Lakers, I
think you want to sign Lebron to that extension. I
think you want to lock him up long term. I
think up to this point he's proven to be worth
every penny and then some right, and helped you win
a championship in twenty twenty. Last season, I think by
(26:26):
all measures, was a top ten guys. Still, you know,
we'll see this season kind of you know where he's
at going into his age thirty eight season. But I
think he's obviously aged as well as any superstar in
NBA history, So I don't really see any reason why
that would change over the next couple of years barring
an injury. So I think from the Lakers side, it's
pretty straightforward. I think from Lebron side is where the
(26:48):
real interest is because you know, from what I've heard
and just kind of my sense of things, like this
is his only leverage really over the Lakers right now.
I mean, of course he has leverage just being on
being a superstar and just all that kind of comes
with that. But he is you know, uh, you know,
someone who wants the team to to be upgraded and
(27:10):
is looking at, you know, potentially a Kyrie Irving trade
or a Buddy Heel trade, and um, you know, I
don't think he's happy with the current state of the roster.
So I think, you know, this is something that he
has some leverage with La, you know, with in terms
of just potentially not signing this extension until they, you know,
make a move. So I think he's probably going to
(27:33):
play this out a little bit, be it a few weeks,
a few months, you know, we'll see how long it
ends up happening until he signs it. But then there's
also the other factor of Brawny and his future and uh,
you know, does Lebron want that flexibility uh, you know,
to potentially join another team if Braunie ends up elsewhere,
or you know, maybe he ends up in LA and
(27:54):
then it all works out that way. But we've seen
this with Lebron, you know, in the socially in Cleveland,
where he was kind of going year to year and
applying pressure on the front office through that. So I
suspect right now that is definitely part of his motivation
is just maintaining that flexibility and also applying some pressure
of hey, I want a better roster. Go trade for Kyrie,
(28:15):
go trade for Buddy Healed, you know, make us better. Um,
what about the reports that have come out today that
Lebron is done playing with Russell Westbrook that they like?
How true it is that because just a few weeks
ago we heard that they him, Anthony Davis and Lebron
(28:35):
had had a night zoom session. So where do things
actually stand? I think things are still icee. I mean
I was there. I sat right behind Lebron on the
baseline at Summer League at that game, and it was
like Lebron was the godfather and everyone was coming up
to him kissing the ring. You had Rob Polinka and
(28:57):
Darvin Ham and all the players that were in attendance,
and the one guy who didn't come up to him,
who was Russell Westbrook, and that you know, they left,
They did not interact, and they did have that that
meeting that weekend over the phone. But a few days
later Russ ended up parting ways with his agent, and
his agent came out and you know what, one of
(29:17):
the you know, Goad Fouchet, one of the more private,
big time agents in the NBA, doesn't feel a lot
of interviews, doesn't know, He's not a guy you're going
to see sitting courtside like, he's a very behind the
scenes agent. But he released that statement ESPN and it
was like, you know, basically, the implications were, Russ is
not you know, Russell doesn't want to be in LA.
He doesn't want to adapt and adjust to the role
(29:38):
that the Lakers are asking of him, and he wants
to go elsewhere, and if he goes elsewhere, he might
get bought out and kind of bounce around again. And
I just think, you know, kind of reading between the
lines there and what we saw and what we didn't
see in terms of just them not interacting, like I
do think this is icy, and I think he got
icy towards the end of the regular season, just in
(30:00):
terms of their interactions on the court and uh, you know,
kind of just the way that they would interact even
in front of the media. It wasn't as warm as
it used to be compared at the beginning of the season.
So to me, uh, you know, I think Lebron is
always calculated and he's always uh you know, I think
going to be smart with the kind of the way
he moves publicly. But I think behind the scenes he's
(30:22):
ready to move on from Russ. I think everyone's really
ready to move on from us. The problem is the
rest of the league knows that, and they're holding that
against the Lakers. The Lakers don't have a lot of leverage,
and everyone's asking for the moon. It's you know, give
us a couple of picks, give us your young guys,
and and you know, trying to maximize what they can
get from LA. So right now, I think it's a
big game of chicken, and ultimately one side is gonna
(30:43):
have to fold, and I do suspect it'll probably be
the Lakers, and then I'll probably have to be a
couple of picks attached to Russ. If they do end
up trading him. With the report, you know, and you
talked about what the comments by his ex agent Fa
Fouchet combine with the recent report you you actually had
in your story about Darvin Ham, you know, having the
(31:07):
power to bench for us at the end of games,
which really is saying we're gonna let Darvenham coach, right,
He's gonna be a coach the team. But you know,
obviously these yeah, yeah, but they're saying this stuff, whereas
last year was kind of hidden about Frank Vogel did
even have the power to do that. Do you think
these leaks, if you will, are a sign that the
(31:28):
Lakers know Russ is not about to do what Darvin
wants him to do. Darvin's been out spoken about we
want him to defend, you know, we want him to
not worry about you know, but basically play differently. Do
you sense that there's a feeling like Russ just is
not going to adjust to that. Yes, yes, I think
(31:49):
people around the team are skeptical of that, and you know,
I'm skeptical out as well, because you know, I think
sometimes people kind of forget what what the narratives were
twelve months ago. But twelve months ago, people were saying
the same thing with Russ of um, you know, they
had the intro press conference with Frank Vogel and Rob
Polinka and it was all, uh, you know, we're gonna
(32:10):
play up tempo and Russ is gonna you know, figure,
we're gonna figure out ways to play him off the ball,
and he's gonna be our defensive captain and this and
that and all this different stuff that just never came
to fruition last season. And um, you know, Russ has
played one way for fourteen years. It has made him
a Hall of Famer, it has made him one of
the best point guards ever, but it also makes him
(32:31):
a heart fit next to other superstars. And we've kind
of seen some of those struggles since leaving Kevin Durant
and just kind of the limitations of having Russ being
your second or third best player or even your first
best player. Like you know, it's the sample size has
not been great over the last you know, five six years,
so I think there is some healthy skepticism within the
(32:52):
organization of of him actually making those changes. And that's
where I think, you know, last year, I think it
was handling him with Kid gloves. You saw the way
they spoke about him in the media and just always
kind of, you know, pumping him up, and even when
he'd have a bad game, you know that they'd know
Lebron would take the blame, or Ady would take the blame,
or or Frank Vogel would And I think this upcoming
(33:14):
season it's going to be treating him more like a
normal player. And if you don't play well, you're gonna
get bench. And if you don't buy into the things
that we're telling you to do, you eventually might be
coming off the bench, and if it gets even worse,
you might just be sent home and you know, not
even be playing on our team. So I think with
him being an expiring contract and with the way the
(33:35):
first season played out, I think they're open to possibilities
that they weren't open to last season. Great stuff. That's
Jovan Buha, Lakers beat riding for the Athletic Thanks a lot, man.
We appreciate you. I appreciate it. Talk to you guys soon.
Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in
the nation. Catch all of our shows at Fox sports
Radio dot com and within the iHeart Radio app search
(33:59):
f s R listen live. All right. We can sit
here on the Odds couple and talk about how complicated, complex,
diffic cult other banks making for you to redeem your
credit card rewards, but we won't. We'll just take the
high road and talk about how simple, easy, peaceful Discover
(34:20):
makes it when you want to redeem cash and any amount,
you can do it at any time with Discovery. I mean,
it's amazing, folks. You can learn more at discovered dot
com slash redeemed rewards terms do apply, all right, George Reister.
We have the Hall of Fame Game tonight's exhibition game
kicking off the preseason. Right, you're right about that, the
(34:45):
inappropriately named the Hall of Fame game since we don't
have any future Hall of Famers playing um, Trevor Lawrence out,
Derek Carr, graiters, guys, they're not playing. Um. What was
your or Now, you were a guy that played tight
end for Jacksonville and you started about half your career,
(35:06):
what you like, six years, started about half your career?
What was your view toward the preseason? And talk about
different players views, the starters, the stars, and you know
then the guys obviously trying to make the squad. Well,
if you're a guy that's trying to make the squad,
(35:27):
you want every single preseason game. You want every waking
minute that you can get on a football field with
people to see you, because you're not only auditioned for
your own team, but you're auditioning for the other thirty
one teams as well, because they have a scouting department
that's literally dedicated to watching other teams film. So you
(35:49):
so you played well, doesn't mean that you may not
fit in where you are, but you may fit somewhere else.
But for the guys at in the very top of
the roster and in the middle of the like the
guys who are for sure going to be on the team,
hate the preseason. Bro absolutely hate the preseason because it
(36:10):
only brings opportunities for you to get injured. And and
in college football right there is there are no preseason games,
and the product is still really good. Right and in
the year with the twenty in twenty twenty preseason preseason gone,
(36:33):
what what I happened? Product? Great ratings? Fine, So this
is just the cash cow for the owners because they
get a chance to have games on television. Parking beers
being bought tickets being bought with with without paying the
players their proper salaries. So that's why the owners don't
want to get rid of the preseason. It's about money
(36:55):
for them, but for the players, aside from the guys
who are fighting or to get into the league and
be in the league, the preseason largely just like Trevor
Lawrence isn't even playing tonight, Neither is Travior's etn James Robinson,
any of those. Darren Waller's not gonna play today. So
none of the people who are actually going to be
(37:17):
contributing greatly to you winning and losing aren't even playing.
So you're doing this. This is a money grab. This
is not often here players talk about how whether it's
a Pro Bowl or a preseason game, when you go
out there and don't play your hardest, that's when your
most susceptible to It sounds like a cliche, but can you.
(37:40):
I mean, you've probably been on the field and I
guess maybe at times not giving your hearts you know,
because of the situation, not because you were low. No, no,
you really believe that that Yeah, if you don't go
full or you got a better chance of getting hurt
and why for sure? For sure, because it's a little
bit of your like all of your energy needs to
(38:05):
be dedicated and focused on what you're doing. It's literally like,
if we're doing this and we're you know, not in
it fully where we're trying to text, we're trying to
talk to your wife in the background, or anything like
like that, you're not really as focusing. You're more likely
to have a slip up or something else. It's the
same thing if you're not fully in tune and locked in,
(38:28):
that's when you know somebody can fall into you. You're
not fully aware, your your muscles aren't as engaged as
they need to be. So if your heart is not
truly in it, then you shouldn't really be out on
the on the field because I agree with that old
adage that something bad can happen when you do that.
(38:49):
All right, that's our man, George Rerister, did you play
in most preseason games or no? No. I probably played
in about half the preseason games that were available to me. Okay, okay,
all right, Well, look, we got two hours left on
a TV theme song Thursday plenty to get into. We
spoke with Jovan Buja about the Lakers and Lebron. We'll
(39:13):
get more into that next. You want to keep it
locked right here on Fox Sports Radio, the iHeartRadio app
or Serious XM channel eighty three. However, you may be
listening because we about to bring that heat in the
next hour. Lock it
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