With the first pick in the twenty twenty six NFL draft. The Las Vegas Raiders select Fernando Mendoza. Quarterback. Indiana. All right, there you go.
The surprise of nobody, I mean, absolutely anybody. Everybody knows Fernando Mendoza, the Heisman Trophy winner, started at Yale, went to Berkeley, ended up in Indiana with the national championship in an undefeated year. He's more impressive as a guy than he even as a player. I love the fact that part of his story is he would intern at real estate places because he wanted to make sure he had a job when he graduated. I'm pretty sure, I guess at one point.
It didn't maybe look like he was going to be a first-round draft pick or a second. But these days you never stay at the college at your start. Joe Burroughs had one good year in college. He ends up one of the best NFL quarterbacks and Heisman Trophy winner. Anthea Munos was great from day one at USC and then was a star for Cincinnati after that.
Hall of Famer joins us now. Anthony, welcome back. Hey, Brian, it's always good to be with you. How are you doing this morning? I'm doing good.
I was just amazed. We talked to. uh jumbo covert yesterday and he was He was saying that when he was drafted, that he didn't even he wasn't even on television. that they had a trouble getting a hold of him 'cause he was in the back yard. That it was just no big deal.
Do you remember what it was like when you were drafted? Was it a big deal? I do. You know, for me, I wasn't really sure what was going to happen because a lot of people said I wasn't going to be drafted because of injuries. But my wife and I were in our one-bedroom apartment on the campus of the University of Southern California, along with some teammates in the same apartment complex.
You know, just kind of ho-hum. I mean, you know, we had hopefully something happened, but it was a matter of waiting for a phone call. That was about it. There was no. I always kid my wife and I said, Man, It would have been nice to have to be able to wear a suit that nice on draft day, wouldn't have?
And she said, Well, I don't think I could have gotten you out of your overalls. But so. But that no totally different Yeah. I mean, it was and but it was a big impact in your life. I mean it changed everything.
And then you you did you started right away and never let go of that position, right? I did. It was to get that call from the Bengals when a lot of people, like I said, were saying I wouldn't be drafted, to be drafted in the first round, the third pick in the entire draft. And I get into camp and I was inserted as the starting left tackle in day three. The coach said, man, you got to be the left tackle.
And so for 13 years, number 78 lined up there. And I was grateful because we had some good runs, first with Kenny Anderson and quarterback and then Boomer Assaias and some great guys that I played with. But yeah, it was one of those things that once I got there and earned that starting job, for me, it was I did not want to relinquish that starting job until it was time to retire. And it happened that way. I'm very thankful.
So let's run through some of the draft picks overall. We know about Mendoza. Number two, David Bailey of Texas Tech. Um He he went number two overall and he went to he went to the Jets.
So Jeremiah loved the outstanding running back from Notre Dame, went to the Cardinals, Carnell Lake. One from Ohio State, one to the Titans, and then Arville Rees of Ohio State goes to the Giants. Anything stand out about the top five? You know what?
Well, I guess Ohio State had a pretty good defense, a pretty good team. But no, I've watched all those guys. I have not seen a lot of David Bailey, but to go that high, he has some talent. Jeremiah Love, I watched him quite a bit, and what a talent. I mean, the guy is amazing.
Tate, I watched, of course, living in Cincinnati, get a chance to watch Ohio State. Also, Reese at linebacker. And a couple of picks later, you know, Sonny Styles, a linebacker for. Ohio State that went to Washington.
So, yeah, so I mean, athletic, hard work. I mean, you can tell the guys work at their craft. And I'm just, I always get excited because, you know, guys that high are expected to play well. And that's one thing that I watch.
Okay, how accurate or how does that depend from being a great college player to being a great NFL player? And a lot of times it doesn't necessarily work out. But I root for the guys to do well, and we'll see what happens. A lot of people thought the Giants with their second pick after trading the other one to Cincinnati Um I Uh that uh Dexter. Dexter Lauren for the Cincinnati pick.
The Giants take Francis Marwa out of Miami, so he's big right tackle.
So and a lot of people are surprised by that. But if this guy can play, it's going to worth be worth it. You know what?
And I watched him quite a bit this year. At least from what I've seen, he can play. Again, his adaptation to the NFL offense and what he can do. But everything I've seen in this young man, the way he moves, the size, a very I mean, a lot of times you see the left tackle that are you know, they talk about them being athletic. And I really thought this young man is pretty athletic for a right tackle.
So At least what he's done and on paper, it should be a pretty good. And when I saw that, I said, well, they got a pretty good deal there. Of course. I don't know if we could have gotten a first-round pick like Dexter Lawrence. I mean, when we made that trade.
I was over the top, Brian, just so thrilled. Because he's coming off the season in which he was a little overweight, only had half a sack. But anyone who played with him said, please don't trade him.
So you don't really judge him by sacks. I guess you judge him as an offensive lineman, right, Anthony? How would you handle him? And you thought he was a handful. Yeah, you know, being the player he is, he's going to occupy a couple guys in the middle.
And anytime you can occupy a couple offensive linemen on blocking schemes, your linebackers are going to run free. Allow them to make some plays.
So, you know, for interior guys, guys that get a lot of sacks, I mean, that's good. But guys that are, you got to look at the other things they do. And like I said, pressuring up the middle, not necessarily getting sacks, but occupying guys, and therefore, other guys benefit from it.
So I'm not going to take that one sack or something and say, oh, my goodness, he can't get to the quarterback, because there's other things that a big guy in the middle like that can do that will help a defense.
So Anthony, as you know, with the NFL has never been hotter. It's never you have all these broadcast outlets competing to carry it instead of just giving it to two networks. He really they really fanned it out. But some of it's behind paywalls. You know, you got if you wanna watch the NFL, you gotta get Amazon.
You wanna watch the NFL, you gotta get Peacock, you wanna watch it, you gotta get Hulu.
So, I mean, the you have a YouTube. You had a bunch of subscriptions along with cable in order to watch it. And the FCC is looking at what the NFL's doing. The NFL is confident they're just adapting to the market for people who cut the cord. and a medium where they are.
How do you feel as a Hall of Famer player? Got it, but you've been a fan too.
So how do you feel about it? Can you empathize with the money you gotta pay just to watch games? You know, it's interesting because, yeah, you know, before I, you know, got educated in all this TikTok and all that, you know, it's great to have some grandkids that are very, you know, tech-oriented to hook me up. But, you know, the days of, I guess, not only viewing, you know, at home, but you look at the prices of the tickets of people trying to go to games. I mean, it's one of those things where a family of four, it's tough for them to afford tickets going to the game, but it really is.
It's like buying water in a bottle now. You know, back in the day, you just turned on the drinking fountain and got free water.
Now you got to buy water.
So how much further is this going to go? How much more are you going to have to pay to watch the NFL where you used to just flip on ABC, NBC, and CBS, and you could watch as many games as you want for free? And I can sympathize with those that struggle to do that. But man, I tell you what, Brian, this league is raking in the bucks, and you got to give them credit. You know, their main thing now is just don't mess it up because it is.
Marketing wise, they are huge right now. And I had a chance to be at the owners' meeting with the president of the Hall of Fame, Jim Porter, and just hearing what's going on, it's like, holy smokes. I think I was born about thirty-five years too uh too early. Yep, you weren't in the leather helmet era. Those guys really had it rough.
They had to go right to their jobs after practice, those guys. Exactly. Then some of you guys, you just missed the get-job in off-season time. But a friend of Fernando Mendoza, I find it interesting that he kept interning in real estate firms, thinking that, you know, I don't know if I'm going to make it. Very serious guy.
He's already attended Raider Camp. I think what he could do within the collective bargaining deal. And he's going over how a Raider practices, the Raider playbook. Here's a little from Fernando. He is so impressive.
CUP 43. The last five months has been such a blessing by God, and I can't think of him enough. I'm just looking forward to get to work, prove it at the next level. College was fantastic. I'm so blessed to have that career.
But now I step into a great game of the NFL. Look forward to proving and earning it every single day. I just get the sense that he's been in college so long, literally three schools, I think five or six years. He comes out really pretty mature. I mean, there's very little I'd I'd be sh I would not be shocked if he was a mid-range to in the upper level right away.
Would would uh would you Brian, I tell you, every interview I've heard, I've been I get more and more impressed every time I hear this young man. And to me, you know, he's going to I mean, he's already doing it. I mean, the fact that he's already studying, that he's already seeing how things are done, to me that's impressive. And out of all the positions, everybody's got to do that because it's very difficult mentally, regardless of what position, but especially quarterback. I mean, that position is the most demanding.
That's the most important. And to hear him just be appreciative and thankful for what he's got and he's ready to go to work. You know, of course, I played with the Bengals. I still root the Bengals. But now, as an older guy, I root for individuals.
And he's definitely an individual I'll be rooting for and hopefully get a chance to meet here in the near future. I'm Dana Perino. This week on Perino on Politics, I'm joined by Fox News congressional correspondent Bill Melusian. Listen and follow now at Fox NewsPodcast.com. Or wherever you get your favorite podcasts.
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So the Jets have a lot, need a lot, and they have to make these picks work. They gave up a lot last year and gave up on the season, gave up two players. Here's one of those picks: David Bailey, cut 44. with the second pick in the 2026 NFL draft. The New York Jet Select David Bailey.
Linebacker, Texas Tech. I mean, is this the type of player that can make an impact? Because the Jet fans are really worried about this draft.
Well, I mean, defensive end, pass rusher, all I have to do is look back to when I was playing against the New York Sack Exchange with Mark Gaston and Marty Lyons and Abdul Salam and Joe Kleko. Those guys can create havoc if they come in and do what they're drafted to do. And he's supposedly the second pick in the draft. They're saying he can get off and get after the quarterback.
So if you can get somebody like that, I mean, look at Cleveland, they got Miles Garrett. You know, he's a guy, you know, Micah for Green Bay now out of Dallas. We traded him. Those guys can be a game changer if they come in and do what they're drafted to be I mean, to do what they've been asked to do.
So, yeah, he could be a game changer. He can turn things. He just got to come in and do it.
So, the whole thing with going on in college now, I'm really anxious to see if these reforms are going to be real. The Senate had a proposal, the House has got something a little bit different, but I know. Randy Levine, the present New York Yankees, along with Nick Sabin and others. Or Co-chairing, and they got some really prestigious people on this panel to try to fix college sports. What's the right balance?
To me, I think if. One transfer, and after that, you got to sit out. I think there should be an age cutoff. I mean, you shouldn't be a 27-year-old senior unless you're serving in the military and something happens, but we're not really doing that now.
So, I mean, literally, the military could be an exemption. And I'm happy that some players, you, you know, the fact that you had to live in a one-bedroom apartment while married, while being the best offensive alignment in college sports, that's not right. But on the second hand, maybe we need some type of Some type of salary cap. You have it in every major sport, whether it's through a luxury tax, there are limitations. There's rookie limitations for the NFL.
Give me three things that you would change.
Well, first of all, I just got to make a comment on the age thing. This guy's playing 26, 25, 26 years old in college. I was in my fifth year in the NFL. Thinking about playing, still playing college at that age was like, oh, that's crazy. I mean, no, there's several things I think about.
I mean, with that money, I agree with you. You can't transfer every single day. I think there's got to be contracts. It's professional. I mean, you're getting paid.
So if you're going to get paid, you've got to give me a commitment, a two, three-year commitment to make that much money. If you transfer, I agree with you. I mean, it's, you know, it's willy-nilly. You go, you play one, 12, you know, 14 games with one school. The next year, you're there, and you start the entire season.
So I think if they're already dealing with agents, they're paying guys. Let's go with contracts. Give me a contract. you know, for those guys that are and gals that are doing that because still there's what, ninety they say there's like ninety percent that are aren't in that in that boat with the you know, the guys and gals that are making all that money. But still, those are I think those are some ways that you curtail You know, which is kind of sad, and I got to share this thing.
So I'm out in Southern California right now, and I'll probably see a couple of my college buddies.
Now, think about this, and I don't see this happening again ever. This year, Brian, is my fiftieth year that I was a freshman football player at USC. There's five guys that we get together when I come to Southern California. All five of us were freshmen offensive linemen at USC together. Four of us were married in college, one shortly after.
And we have a 50-year relationship because we met each other when we were 17, 18 years old. We played four or five years of college together, and that was it. And now we're enjoying grandkids, and we still Those type of relationships, you'll make some relationships, but you're not going to have some long-term relationships like that, which to me. The one thing that I tell people when they say, What do you miss about the game? I say, I miss the locker room, I miss the relationships.
And that I mean, I look at college and I mean, you play in four or five different colleges. Where are those long-term relationships that you have an opportunity to make if you play At least three years at a college, sometimes four and then maybe a graduate year somewhere else. Almost every one of my friends that I still have today from high school, I played soccer with.
So, I don't have your career, but I know the feeling. You point to different things. You get to know them on and off the field, and you keep that alive. I'll give you an example: the University of Michigan basketball team that won the national championship. Pretty great, but not one attended as a freshman.
They all transferred in.
So it did just become, yeah, I'm not saying they didn't work hard and the coach didn't do a good job. Obviously, they did, but that's not what it used to be. Right. No, I hear you. I think it was three years ago when Ohio State won the national championship.
Now you talk about Michigan basketball. On the other hand, 10 of the 11 starters on defense for Ohio State had been there four or five years. They had one kid that transferred in. That was a freshman Downs who was drafted this year. He left Alabama after Nick Saban retired.
But 10 of the 11 starters had been there at least four years, some five years. That's important. To me, that's, yeah. I mean, it's just the opposite of what you just said about Michigan. But if you guys give me.
Yeah. Yeah, by the way, you launched 78 Muno's cigar brand. You could get it carried into my Anthony Muno 78 cigar.
So go pick it up. It's got to be quality. Anthony, thanks so much. Appreciate it. All right, Brian.
Always a pleasure being with you, buddy. Take care.
