1.4.22 - JR SportBrief Hour 4

This is your operating system talking, not your computers or your phones, but your internal human operating system. I'm feeling a little overloaded. Here's how you can ease my stress. Close your eyes or softly gaze at something in front of you. Now inhale for four counts, exhale for six. Keep repeating.

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This is your operating system talking, not your computers or your phones, but your internal human operating system. I'm feeling a little overloaded. Here's how you can ease my stress. Close your eyes or softly gaze at something in front of you. Now inhale for four counts, exhale for six. Keep repeating.

Much better. Longer term, there's BetterHelp online therapy. They'll match us with a licensed therapist we can connect with via video, phone, or chat.

Visit BetterHelp.com slash positive and save 10% on our first month. You're listening to the JR Sport Brief on CBS Sports Radio. You're listening to the JR Sport Brief on CBS Sports Radio. It is the JR Sport Brief show on CBS Sports Radio, and I'm coming to you live from the Rocket Mortgage Studios. Whether you're looking to purchase a new home or refinance yours, Rocket Mortgage can help you get there.

For home loan solutions that fit your life, Rocket can. I can, will, and shall be here with you for one more hour. I get started 10 p.m. Eastern, 7 p.m. Pacific every single weeknight. I hope you've had a tremendous day. I hope you've had a good evening, a good night. And if you haven't, I'm going to be here with you for one more hour. I'm going to try my damn best, OK?

That's all I can do. I'm being joined by super producer and host Dave Shepherd. And we know what the news has been throughout the course of the week, and that is everything revolving around DeMar Hamlin. And I felt the Buffalo Bills shared with us this afternoon that he is showing signs of improvement. He will remain in ICU.

No, no exact word or meaning of what that is, but I know he, his family and everyone await word. We discussed what the NFL is currently looking to do, which is take everything day by day at this point in time. The NFL is in communications with the Buffalo Bills. They have a game this upcoming Sunday scheduled against the Patriots that get started at 1 p.m. Eastern time and is no guarantee either way that that game will be played or not played.

It's just a day at a time. It's really going to be up to the Buffalo Bills. If I were a betting man.

Unless something just changes ridiculously, I think that game will take place. And we've heard from many of the players as media availability kind of got started today. And so I want to take more of your calls here before we went to break. You know, typically Wednesday night into Thursday morning, I deliver and share with you a new top six list.

And tonight I didn't want to give a countdown. No countdown necessary because we are talking about inspirational figures in the world of sports. And so I've gone through several names and you guys have shared plenty as well. I shared with you Jim Abbott, Dickie Veitch and Valvano, Trey Mancini, Magic Johnson, Steve Gleason, Shep shared the name Pele, Marco Belletti, who does our updates here on CBS Sports Radio.

He talked about the comeback of Alex Smith. And so there's so many other names. You can throw Serena Williams out there. Muhammad Ali definitely inspirational.

You can put Jackie Robinson. I mean, there's so many different names, different places, different people, different backgrounds, different reasons that you would say someone is inspirational. And so with everything that has taken this place this week with DeMar Hamlin, he's an inspiration.

I think already for everything that's taken place in the aftermath, which hopefully continues to improve in a positive, positive direction. And so I want to take more of your calls here on inspirational figures in the world of sports. It doesn't necessarily have to be a professional athlete, just a figure in the world of sports, someone who means something and maybe hit you, hit you just a little bit and made you feel a certain way, made you want to, you know, keep going on. And then I do want to share with you some of the audio we had from earlier in the show from some of the active NFL players about what's going on. We heard from Kenny Pickett today, who was a teammate and a co-captain at Pitt with DeMar Hamlin. We heard from Bobby Wagner. We heard from varying guys, someone who just retired and Jason McCourty. And so let's get to the phone lines.

Eight, five, five, two, one, two, four CBS. If you can't call, you can tweet me at JR Sport Brief. I'm looking for names of inspirational figures in the world of sports. I'm looking at a tweet I just received in right now. Richard Noggins says at JR Sport Brief. Thanks for playing the clip of Steve Gleason.

Maybe a little teary-eyed on my way to work. Who dat? Magne McHale says, Hey, JR, I hope the last person that you name is Ryan Chazier.

And we certainly saw what took place with him with the Steelers. So you can tweet me if you can't call at JR Sport Brief. But let's get to the phones.

Let's go ahead and talk to Troy from New Hampshire. You're on CBS Sports Radio. Oh, hello, JR. Hey, I love your show. Great show. Thank you. Greatly appreciate you taking my call.

I'm going to go with one. I'm born, bred and raised in New Hampshire, New England. And we have the best sports city in the country with however you want to rate them.

Pats, Red Sox, Celtics, Bruins. But there's one guy I am going to put on your list. Ray Bork.

Well, I you want to expand on why you would put him as an inspiration? Well, he was a great team player and the time that Phil Esposito was basically they were going to hang his number up. But Ray Bork was wearing his number and he pulled off his shirt at number seven and he gave it to Esposito. And then he wore 77 until he eventually went to the Avalanche. So, uh, but great guy in the community in terms of youth hockey and very inspirational.

OK, well, thank you, Troy, for calling up from from New Hampshire, growing up in a New York City area. And at that point of my life, being a fan of the Devils, I remember Ray Bork is helping to beat the Devils and Scott Stevens and Ken Dinoco. That's what I remember.

I also remember remember him, you know, going on from Boston and joining all those folks with the Avalanche and then finally winning the Stanley Cup. Eight, five, five, two, one, two, four CBS. That's eight, five, five, two, one, two, four CBS. Let's go to Tucson, Arizona, and let's talk to J.J. You're on the J.R. Sport Brief Show. Hey, how you doing there?

My choice would be Pat Tillman. Well, I bring down millions of dollars from the NFL to go fight for our country and give the ultimate sacrifice for our country. Well, thank you, J.J. I appreciate you sharing that. All right. Take care.

No doubt about it. Let's go to Dave. Dave is calling from Annapolis out in Maryland. You're on CBS Sports Radio. Thank you very much, J.R., for this feel good topic.

Inspiration beats degradation every day of the week. If I can please, I'm going to take us back to college ranks. This was back in the 70s. Penn State had a really good running back named John Cappelletti. He wound up going to the pros for the Rams and had a pretty good career. But he won the Heisman Trophy his senior year. And the back story is his younger brother, Joey, was suffering in the hospital.

I think it was from leukemia or maybe muscular dystrophy, but something very serious. And John would visit him every week in the hospital. And his younger brother, Joey, would say, Johnny, can you score me a touchdown this week? And he's like, all right, I'll try. And he did. And then as the season went along, Joey would say, Johnny, can you score me two this week? And he's like, well, I don't know.

I don't know. And he did. And he goes, can you score me three?

And he did. And finally, the last game goes, Johnny, can you score me four? And he goes, I don't call the plays, Joey.

What are you doing? Well, he's got three. Joe Paterno took all the starters out and Cappelletti's teammates went up to him and said, Coach, Johnny needs another touchdown.

Anyways, bottom line, when he got his Heisman Trophy in New York City that year, at the end of the year, he looked that crowd in the eye and he said, I'm sorry, but there's someone that deserves this trophy more than I do. And he teared up and he goes, it's my brother, Joey. And I don't know if you have a brother, but I do. And man, that story just gets me. Yeah.

Something something for Joey. That's the book. Yeah. Yeah. And it's also a movie.

I don't know if it can be found on Hulu. I think everything exists somewhere, just about everywhere. But there's there's no doubt about that. Hey, Dave, I appreciate you sharing that, man. Thank you very much for the chance.

Absolutely. Thank you, Dave, for calling from Annapolis. Let's go from Annapolis.

Let's go west. Let's go to New Mexico and let's talk to Jimmy. You're on CBS Sports Radio. Go ahead, Jimmy. J.R., how are you doing, sir?

I'm very well and you? Hey, man, I'm a first time caller, man. I'm just happy to be part of your show. And you're awesome. You're great, man.

And all I can say is keep it up. I'm old school. You know, the Rome back in the days, but keep it going. But anyhow, who's my aspiration is a Hector Macho Camacho. He was a boxer. You know, he had his tough times growing up in the hood like I did.

I grew up in South Central Los Angeles, but now I'm here in New Mexico with the natives. But anyhow, most of all, we've been praying for Mr. Hamlin just to let you guys know that our spirit is with Mr. Hamlin and his family, as well as his loved ones and fans and everybody out there. We appreciate his talent. We appreciate it all. All I could say, my bro, you're in God's hands and and that's where it's at. You're going to be OK.

I've already saw you. You're going to do good. So let's just let's just let my brother take a breather, rest it and shake it out. And my bro will be back. Guaranteed. Guaranteed. Well, thank you, Jimmy.

Appreciate your call. Another also another inspiration is well, Jimmy. Whoa, Jimmy, Jimmy, Jimmy, Jimmy, Jimmy, Jimmy.

I was going to ask you about the first one. I mean, I'm familiar with Hector Macho Camacho, man. My family is from East Harlem in the Bronx, and I'm familiar with the man. I've spent a lot of time, too much time, probably in East Harlem and Harlem in general.

And I know you're from the West Coast. Why? Why was Hector Camacho an inspiration? Is it because of where he came from or or what? Well, I grew up with the bro for 27 years. You know, we're out of Jimmy Jimmy Montoya's boxing club out of Los Angeles. We picked him up back in the days when he was about 17 years old because Camacho had his ups and downs. We're trying to manage himself.

But then he had a prior manager that just, you know, it didn't work out. But I don't know. That's a good enough.

That's a good enough reason. I got a lot of people on the line here, Jimmy. I want to get I want to get some other folks, OK?

Yeah. All right. Hey, thank you for the call, Jr. And keep up the good work, my brother. Well, thank you, Jimmy. I'm just out here trying to I don't know what I'm doing. I'm just out here having a good time, the best that I can. Eight five five two one two four CBS.

That's eight five five two one two four CBS. I'm looking at some some tweets here. Oh, Nathan, how about another current inspiration?

And this is this is I can't say it's a it's a shock because it's it's it's reasonable. It's someone who actually plays. With the bar, it's it's Josh Allen, Nathan Kaczynski says at J.R. Sport Brief, Josh Allen with his story in college, trying to get on a football team and no one wanted him. Follow your dream and keep chasing after your passion.

Never give up on it or life. This man had to end up at Wyoming and barely ended up there, if I remember correctly. The story is that Josh Allen had to contact about 100 plus, maybe more than that schools just to get his chance and opportunity. And even upon being drafted into the NFL, we know Josh Allen was the guy who had the physical talent, but was a massive project. Well, I think he is on his way potentially at some point on his way to an MVP.

He's certainly been playing on an MVP level the past couple of seasons. Eight five five two one two four CBS. Phil is here from Massachusetts. You're on the J.R. Sport Brief show. Been a while, my friend.

I hope you and yours had a blessed and wonderful holiday season. Thank you. From Massachusetts, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, Special Olympics founder.

Absolutely. And one of their friends growing up was Marjorie, who married Bob Kraft, the Kraft Foundation. He passed on and they do things amazing throughout the community.

And some of the best things people don't get, they don't seek credit for or seek recognition. They just get things done. Well, absolutely. And being anonymous, I don't know if I don't know how familiar you are with this, but we do tons of work here with the J.R. Sport Brief show with Special Olympics. I when you do that, you do that college store thing about media rights, but you also connect to Special Olympics and places.

Absolutely. I think part of your team, what you weren't part of your team mass maritime right there on the buzzes bay in the canal. I went to I went last year, I went and spoke at Bentley University and Waltham right outside of Boston. And I also spoke at at Springfield College, which is the home of the well, not the home hall of fame. There you go.

Where basketball was also, you know, curate. I'm going to go on a website this spring and I'm 60 years old. I had a lot of health issues. I think I've mentioned that you like about my back surgery. I've come back strong.

I've lost a lot of weight. And at some point I want to crisscross with your program because it's inspiring. And I think if I'm getting this right, I'm listening to other people who talk about it on your website. You want people to be inspired in whatever inspires them. It's not just about sports and media. It's whatever inspires them.

Correct. Well, Phil, why are you why are you telling the underlying secrets of the show, man? Why are you why are you ruining the message? Because I'm a loud mouth. Yeah, you're, Phil is over here telling everybody my secrets.

People. Thank you, Phil. Look, I'll put it to you this way, Phil. And thank you for the message you keep. You're a shepherd of life and you use this medium to create a positive message. And there's something like some people give you a hard time or try to push a negative narrative and you cut it off all the time. You listen, you're patient and polite.

But when people go too far, you just say that's not what we're about here. And I think that's what really hooked me to listen to you. I've been listening to you for a couple of years now.

Plus the fact they're both Philly fans. So. Well, thank you. I appreciate that, Phil. All the best. Always a pleasure, my friend. God bless. Thank you.

You as well. Yeah, that's the that's the facts. I mean, it's secret.

So there's secret sauce to this damn show. And it's it's to me, it's it's bigger than sports. I don't I don't sit up here, you know, just trying to be a loud mouth. And I certainly am a jerk in my own right.

I am not a perfect human being, not by any stretch of the imagination. But there's a there's a whole lot that I like to do with the opportunity that I'm presented. And I can have fun and and I can live it up. But it's it's it's it's really this. It's about having substance. We got a lot of fluff and we got a lot of noise and a lot of noise and a lot of fluff can be.

You know, garner you a lot of attention and everything else that comes with it. But I'm someone who really believes in having more substance in anything that you're involved with, because substance actually lasts. It's like going out there and building a car. I can build you the fanciest thing and put you out on the road in it. And the minute you take one wrong turn, you crash and things are cooked.

But if I can actually build you something that could last through a storm, through an accident and you can keep on rolling, I'd rather have that. It's the JR Sport Brief Show here with you on CBS Sports Radio eight five five two one two four CBS. I want to get some more of your calls here on individuals who are just just inspirations in the world of sports.

And then I also want to share with you after the break, I want to share with you just some of the players who talked about DeMar Hamlin today. It's the JR Sport Brief Show, CBS Sports Radio. You are listening to the JR Sport Brief on CBS Sports Radio. You are listening to the JR Sport Brief on CBS Sports Radio.

I'm here working on security, man. I look to your show every night. Hey, man, I am new to your show, but I absolutely love it. It's awesome. This is the best sports clock radio show on the air for sure.

Far none. Call in now at eight five five two one two four CBS eight five five two one two four CBS. That's eight five five two one two four CBS. A little bit different of a top six list tonight. I'm not counting down any any, you know, numbers or names tonight because we're talking about inspirational figures in the world of sports. And so I gave you a bunch of names and you guys have shared some amazing names as well. I'm looking at Twitter right now at JR Sport Brief. Remy Liker says Kobe is definitely my guy and inspiration the way he played, the way he lived, his mindset, his mentality, just deeply inspirational.

Thank you. And I think a lot of that, especially from Kobe's side, came towards the latter portion of his career. I mean, he's he had his ups and his downs, public and private. But but how he approached life in his profession is something that no one could take away from him.

It would have been amazing to see what else he had in store in front of him. And, you know, the man who who helped inspire this list for tonight, even just to name inspirational athletes, is obviously Damar Hamlin. And now that media has opened up a little bit over the past 24 hours as we get closer to the next slate of NFL games, we did hear from from more of the actual players. Mike Tomlin spoke a couple of nights ago, a couple of days ago. But then we heard from Kenny Pickett on Wednesday and he actually played at Pitt.

You might remember this or you actually do know it. Kenny Pickett played at Pitt. Damar Hamlin played at Pitt.

They were co-captains. And so Kenny Pickett spoke publicly for the first time today since the accident, and he talked about, you know, why Damar Hamlin is an amazing guy. And I think this is a good reason as to why he's inspirational.

Take a listen. But Damar, you know, he's an unbelievable person, does so much for the community. A guy from Pittsburgh stayed home, couldn't went anywhere he wanted to, you know, stayed home. And we had a great run together and he had an unbelievable career at Pitt, you know, captains together in 2020. Just all around, you know, great person, great family.

You know, his brother was always around the facility. You know, so they're just they're just like Pitt family, you know, to all of us, you know, and myself included. So, you know, prayers, thoughts and prayers are with him and, you know, just trying to keep in touch with his family through Coach Narduzzi. I'm sure they're getting swamped with messages, but trying to stay up to date on how he's doing. And, you know, it seems like everything's going the right direction and, you know, just hoping out for the best for just want to get better.

Absolutely. Let's go to Eddie. Eddie is calling from Illinois. You're on CBS Sports Radio. Hi, Mr. J.R. My continued prayers for DeMaro and his family. I listen to you every night.

This is one of the most emotional and inspirational shows I've ever heard. And I thank you for it. My contribution is for Ron Santo of the Chicago Cubs and for the main reason why is he played in the late 60s, early 70s. And he was an insulin-dependent diabetic unbeknownst to the Cubs and MLB and his teammates. And then he went on to a 20-year career as a broadcaster. And during his career as a broadcaster, he broadcasted and told the world about how he suffered through diabetes and still continued to play Major League Baseball.

And lost both his legs before he passed away and then was posthumously awarded All-Star Hall of Fame after his passing. And he's an inspiration to me. But I thank you, J.R. What a wonderful show. Thank you. Thank you, Eddie, for coming through and sharing that with the country, man.

Thank you. Let's go from Illinois. Let's go down to Jacksonville, Florida, and talk to Brian. You're on CBS Sports Radio. Go ahead. Hey, how you doing, J.R.? Well, man, I've been listening for a while.

I actually drive a ride share down here, so you're on almost every night. But first off, I want to, you know, send my prayers up for number three in Buffalo and everything from JAG Nation and from Duval. And my inspirational one actually is one that's not known maybe nationally, but down in Jacksonville it's pretty known, but it was for David Girard overcoming Crohn's disease. Or not overcoming, but playing through Crohn's disease in the NFL. You know, you're right. We don't hear too much about him anymore. Yeah. He was there forever. Yeah, I mean, to be able to make it through that and to get through and into the NFL with all that going on, that just speaks volumes to me, you know, when it comes to inspiring. And, you know, he still does a lot down here in the community, so.

I, forgive me, Brian. Yeah. I've hit just about, it's been a few years. I've hit a lot of cities in the past year or two. I haven't been down to Jacksonville in quite a few. Shout outs to my main man, Jim Ross from AEW.

Yeah. How active, what's going on with David? Is he local? Is he doing radio, TV?

What is he doing? I know I see, I hear him on some of the local stations down here sometimes coming in. I've seen him at the JAG games. He's, he's pretty, pretty active out here.

And I believe he has a foundation still. And I don't want to over speak and say not, but like I've seen him around and stuff. I'm one of the Jaguar super fans. I dress up at the games and stuff.

So I might, it might be that I cross circles a little more sometimes being dressed up and stuff, but I see him out and about, you know, he's always good with the fans. Oh, awesome. Thank you for bringing it. I haven't heard that name in so long. So long. But you, you say you're a super fan in Jacksonville, huh? Oh, yes, sir. So you, you are a, you got some, you got some tough skin, man.

You, you a die hard. Are you hanging out? Are you hanging out in that pool down here?

Oh, I've been in it a few times. You're not the mascot, right? You're not the mascot.

No, no, we get, no, he does jump in it after every win though. What's that mascot's name? He's a, he's a yellow, what's his name? Jackson Deville. Jackson Deville. I saw him, he got naked the other day.

What's his problem? Oh yeah, well, it was that game where it was just pouring down rain and I guess his original outfit got soaked. So like they had to, he came back the second half with another one on, but I guess they had couldn't, he couldn't cause it was a rain delay, thunder delay and all that.

So I guess he went in, got put into that and then the rest is history, I guess. Jackson Deville. So what do you wear, what do you wear to the game? I just have a hard hat, some big overalls and a cape.

What does that have to do, what does that have to do with a, with a, with a cat, a big cat, a Jaguar? Well, the overalls are from my great-grandfather, so I wear them in honor of him. The hard hat just happened to start coming on there and then like, I won't let, like, you have to be retired to sign it, put it that way, like, so some players will send other players over at like training camp and it's like a rib for them to, you know, like, hey, can I sign your helmet?

Nope, you gotta be retired, buddy. Well, Brian, let me tell you this, if, how long have you been a Jacksonville Jaguar fan since the interception? Since, since they became a team in 95, well, 93, but 95 when they started playing.

Wow. You're an inspiration because it's a tough thing being a Jags fan when you ignore the first couple of years, okay? Oh, yeah.

Well, I mean, AFC Championship, what, five years ago? Well, come on, man, and what happened before and after that? Oh, yeah, true, true. Well, I hope things work out. It's looking good for Trevor right now, okay? Oh, yeah.

Building around him. Thank you. Thank you, Brian. Appreciate you for calling from Jacksonville. Thank you. No doubt about it. David, I haven't heard that name in forever.

I'm like, wow. And he's younger than, and he's still younger than Tom Brady. Get out of here. No, he is. He actually is younger than Tom Brady. How old, what is he? 44? 43? 44. Oh, my God. Wow. I mean, you know, typically you hear names, right? And you go, I had to go, wait, who, what, what him?

No. I remember him. I remember him, but it was Jacksonville, and they were like, eh, okay, at that point. He was at that point probably with Tomlin before he went to, if I'm adding things up correctly, probably Tomlin there before he ended up on the Giants.

That's nuts. I haven't heard that name in forever. I'm glad that he's still well and rocking and rolling.

855-212-4CVS. Allen from Toronto. Hi, JR. Dave Winsfield missed the entire 1989 season, and to be honest with you, I wrote him off.

I kept saying over and over again, and I annoyed a lot of the people, a lot of the friends that I had, and I kept saying it's too much, much too much to ever see him lace him up again. And 10 games into the 90 season, 1990 season, he was traded to California, and he spent two serviceable years there. He hit for the cycle. And in 1992, he only spent one year in a Blue Jay uniform, but what a year it was.

He pushed him over the top in the 11th inning against Charlie Lee Grant. He cast in the two winning runs with Devon White and Roberto Alomar, and they won the World Series that year. And then in 1993 and 94, he was in Minnesota, his hometown, wound up his career in Cleveland, and he had 465 home runs. It is my opinion that if he would have spent those nine years in Fenway Park instead of New York's Yankee Stadium, he would have been a member of the 500 Home Run Club. As it is, he still had 3,101 hits, and he's a member of the 3,000 Hit Club. You also missed the point of George Steinbrenner trying to ruin and end this guy. Yeah, he hired Spiro to dig up dirt against him, and he just absolutely hated him. He still has a grudge against him. He took our calls a few years ago, but he's in the Hall of Fame at 84.6% of the vote back in 2001, and he certainly deserves it too.

I don't want to call him Aaron Judge before we saw Judge, but Judge is bigger, but in physical stature and running around out in the outfield, I can't think of anyone more recent with an apt comparison. Allen, I appreciate you for dropping Dave Winfield's name, man. Thank you. Yeah, it was a pleasure, JR. Thank you.

No doubt about it. I'm going to get some more of your calls, and we're going to get ready to roll out. You're listening to the JR Sport Brief on CBS Sports Radio. You're listening to the JR Sport Brief on CBS Sports Radio. It's a great JR, man. Your show's so awesome. We appreciate listening to you on a regular basis, my man.

Call in now at 855-212-4CBS. It's the JR Sport Brief Show here with you on CBS Sports Radio, wrapping up the night talking about inspirational individuals and figures in the world of sports, and the man who helped inspire this is named Damar Hamlin. And so, I know if you missed the traditional top six, if you missed the traditional countdown, we'll have that for you next week, but we wanted to take a pause tonight, this week, and not count, you don't count down inspirational people. You don't rank them with the number one most inspirational.

You just treat them as humans in this regard. I'll be back to insulting your favorite athlete next week, but not, not today. Let's get in some more of your calls before we have to roll out, 855-212-4CBS. Let's go to Houston, Texas. Let's talk to Jay. You're on CBS Sports Radio. Hi, JR. First, I want to say thank you for taking my call.

Somebody growing up here in Houston that I always found inspirational was Rudy Tomjanovich after what happened with him with the Kermit Washington situation, and then he was able to turn that around and come back and be the head coach for the Houston Rockets and brought the first major championship to the city and actually won back-to-back championships with the city of Houston, and I always found that to be pretty inspirational after what happened with him. No doubt about it. Well, thank you, JR. I appreciate you, man. Thank you, JR.

I appreciate it. Well, certainly, and I think that was about, oh, well, I can't say 10 years apart. They won that first one, and when Jordan retired, 9-4, 9-5, eh, eight years, would you say eight years shot, when do you get between, eh, it's about eight years, right? Yeah, sounds about right to me.

It takes about eight years in between that punch and then winning that championship. Let's go to Baltimore and talk to T. You're on CBS Sports Radio. How you doing there, JR? I'm excellent.

What's on your mind? I thank you for taking my call. I'm going to enjoy your show, first time caller, long time listening, and first off, I'd like to send up prayers to DeMar Hamlin and his family, as well as the Buffalo Bills organization and actually the whole NFL, the whole NFL, because I know they're all feeling a certain way about the incident. However, my most inspirational figure, I think, would be Walter Payton. I don't know a lot about his off-the-field work, but a lot of what he'd done on the field, I think, would cover. Well, we know how great he was on the field, but off the field, there's a reason that they named the NFL's highest, I don't even want to call it civilian honor, but charitable honor after Walter Payton, because as he was in the process of just having organ failure, he was an advocate for such.

You brought up a great name, T, because there's a reason why they hand out the Walter Payton Award. Yes, sir. I appreciate you, man. Oh, right. Thank you, sir. Thank you.

Thank you. And Shep, the Rudy T. Punch, it was actually in the 70s before that. Yeah, he just doesn't age, so you feel like it was eight years prior to him winning a championship as a head coach, but yes, 77 was when he got... And he was on trajectory to be a Hall of Fame player. And he coached, but I'm saying he coached not in between the punch and before that, but he coached, he had to have been on that staff, Condor, right after he retired, because he didn't play too much longer after that. No, I don't feel like he did, but he was putting up, he was a great player.

He was a very high draft pick, and it's just so unfortunate. One of the ugliest instances in the history of the NBA, we talk about malice of the palace all the time. We talk about Charlie Ward and PJ Brown and that situation in the playoffs. You remember that being a New York guy, right? That's kid stuff.

Yeah, I hear you. That was kid stuff. Yes. What?

Charlie Ward hanging on PJ Brown's leg? Yeah. Oh.

Yeah, kid stuff. Yeah, I agree. And the guy who ended up probably beat up the most was Jeff Van Gundy. Well, that was the Zo, LJ fight. Oh, that was a different... I can't mix them up. Right, right. There's a lot of nicks, either Pacers or Heat fights, yeah.

Yeah, kid stuff. Well, Jeff made a career of it, you know? Yeah, now he's from Houston now, and he's on TV, God bless him. He did a coaching job, his life depended on it, but yes. I don't think he wants one. Oh, he'd take the right one. Yeah, a super team. I don't know if those exist.

Yeah. 855-212-4CVS. Let's talk to Mike in Maryland. Go ahead, Mike. Hey, JR. What's up? A young lady who lives down here in Maryland, Tatiana McPhaden, she was born with spina bifida, she was paralyzed from waist down. She was in an orphanage in Russia, and a wonderful woman adopted her, took her here, and she got into sports to build the body up, and she went to University of Illinois, played wheelchair basketball, got into track and field, and has been competing in Paralympics and marathons all over the world. Well, that's cool, Mike.

I was not aware of that. I appreciate you for sharing. What's the name one more time? Tatiana McPhaden. Okay, Tatiana McPhaden. Well, thank you, Mike. Appreciate you, man. I'm going to look her up. Okay.

Thank you so much. Jim is calling from Georgia. You're on CBS Sports Radio. My inspiration, and good evening, sir.

My inspiration is a gentleman who published a book called Alive and Kicking. It is Rolf Bonerska. He was a kicker for the San Diego Chargers, and during, I think, his rookie year or his second year with colitis, had to have his large intestine removed, went on the field a few months later for a ceremonial coin toss and weighed about 120 pounds. We all thought he was not going to make it. Came back the next year and started kicking and ended up leading the Chargers, having like 15 team records. He leads the Chargers in all-time points at the time.

It's been surpassed since then. But now is still a spokesman for the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation. Hepatitis C Awareness has the Kicks for Critters, where he was a major in zoology, and he does funny things for endangered animals. This man has gone on to do amazing, amazing things for so many causes. He even hosted Daytime Wheel of Fortune and took Pat Sajak's job as daytime host.

I mean, what an inspiration for where he was and what he has done. He took a job from Pat Wheel of Fortune, Pat Sajak, Vanna White? He took the daytime job from Pat Sajak. Pat Sajak went to the nighttime and he took the daytime job for about a year. He even did a soccer, San Diego soccer's announcing while he was kicking for the Chargers, while all this was going on with his condition. And he's still alive today. A true inspiration for all San Diego area folks who will know that name, Ralph Bonerska. Well, Pat Sajak is a robot, so if you can take a job from that guy, that's saying a whole lot in addition to everything else, man. That's wild. Thank you, Jim. Appreciate you for calling from Georgia. Took a job. Pat Sajak.

It must have, yeah, we said this was the 80s. Let's get one more in 855-2124 CBS. Tony is here from Wisconsin. Yeah. Hey, yeah. This is Tony. Tony from Madison, Wisconsin, bro.

Yeah. I'm going to say an inspirational person is a very humble man. His name is JR. Jim Ross. You seem to be very much an inspirational person to so many people, bro. It's very, very nice and refreshing to hear someone, a brother in particular, who inspires others and shows respect to others. You seem to be a very decent person, bro. I enjoyed listening to you. You keep up the good work and keep on inspiring all of us. You do a damn good job at it, bro. Thank you, Tony. I appreciate you for calling from Wisconsin.

Thank you so much. You should see all the old ladies that I kick and all the evil things I do when I'm not on the radio to make up for what I do here. Yeah, it's not going to work.

Nope, not going to work. Anyone who works with JR can tell you unequivocally he's a lot more than a decent person, much more than a decent person, actually. Yeah, just kicking people for a living.

It's all a front for all the devious things I do in my personal life, but what do I know? JR, just very quickly, Dick Hoyt, an individual who his son, remember he was very unfortunately quadriplegic, born with cerebral palsy. He ran 32 Boston marathons with him, pushing him every single time. It just recently passed away.

Very sad. They did over 1,000 road races together, truly inspirational, and there's so many to name. Another kid I'm thinking of, JR, is Jay Mac, Jason McEwen, the team manager. He was highly functioning, but he was on the spectrum, and he ended up getting in the game and he had the game high. Remember he hit those eight threes?

Yes, yes, yes, yes, I do remember that. You're making me think of another name. Everyone may not know him. His name is Chris Nikic.

This man has Down syndrome and he's running Ironmans. What? Oh, yeah. We've had Chris Nikic on the show before you became super producer. Gotcha. Well, I've never become a super producer, so we've got to have him again apparently then.

We'll have you. That's amazing. That's amazing.

He re-did an Ironman? Oh, Chris is not to be played, but yeah. Jesus.

I don't think people realize how difficult that is. Chris Nikic, N-I-K-I-C. Look it up. The JR sport we show you on CBS Sports Radio, it's a wrap. Make sure you go out and be inspirational. I'm done.

Amy Lawrence is coming up next. Thank you, Chef. If you're feeling down and having trouble getting up in the morning, here's a tip. Brush your teeth.

That's it. Often, when we wake up, our brains go into planning mode, which leads to overthinking and stress before our head even leaves the pillow. Something simple like brushing your teeth can break that cycle and jumpstart your day. This tip was brought to you by BetterHelp Online Therapy, which connects you with a licensed therapist via video, phone, or online chat.

Visit BetterHelp.com slash positive and save 10% on your first month. If you're feeling down and having trouble getting up in the morning, here's a tip. Brush your teeth.

That's it. Often, when we wake up, our brains go into planning mode, which leads to overthinking and stress before our head even leaves the pillow. Something simple like brushing your teeth can break that cycle and jumpstart your day. This tip was brought to you by BetterHelp Online Therapy, which connects you with a licensed therapist via video, phone, or online chat.

Visit BetterHelp.com slash positive and save 10% on your first month. If you're feeling down and having trouble getting up in the morning, here's a tip. Brush your teeth.

That's it. Often, when we wake up, our brains go into planning mode, which leads to overthinking and stress before our head even leaves the pillow. Something simple like brushing your teeth can break that cycle and jumpstart your day. This tip was brought to you by BetterHelp Online Therapy, which connects you with a licensed therapist via video, phone, or online chat. Visit BetterHelp.com slash positive and save 10% on your first month.