JR SportBrief Hour 1

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That's right, this is the J.R. Sportbrief show here with you on CBS Sports Radio. Happy Wednesday night to you. Happy Wednesday evening.

Happy hump day. Happy everything. I'm glad to be here. Not only am I happy to be here with you on the radio, I'm happy to just be here, period, alive, with you, having y'all listen, having y'all care. And I'm going to be here with you for the next four hours. This is when I get started, 10 p.m. Eastern Time, 7 p.m. Pacific. I'm being joined by super producer and host Dave Shepherd.

And like I said, I'm happy and thrilled to be here with you, everyone listening all over North America. You can always listen on the free Odyssey app. You can go ahead and hit rewind.

You can hit pause. You can share the show. You can call me and listen afterwards.

You can do whatever it is that you want. At the same time, you can also listen live on your local affiliate. You can stay locked in with CBS Sports Radio dot com.

You can tune in on Sirius XM Channel 158. However you listen, I'm glad and I'm thrilled that you are here. Here's the deal. We got a lot to get into over the next four hours. Every single Wednesday night, I bring you a new top six list, and tonight is not going to be any different. There's so many coaches doing amazing things. Not just in the NFL. We'll talk about some NFL coaches. We'll talk about some college coaches. We'll even get into some NBA coaches. I want to give you a top six list of some of the best coaches in the world of sports right now.

Individuals who deserve nothing but the utmost credit for what they're doing right now. Because, let's be real, for the most part, if you're a head coach, I don't care what team or what sport it is, I should say, you probably don't get love. People want to fire you when things don't go right. When things are going well, they always want to go ahead and give the credit to the players. And so we're going to give you a top six list of some of the best coaches in sports right now. Some other interesting things going on in the world of sports. Carlos Correa, he's finally back with the Minnesota Twins after, I don't even want to call it flirting, but coming to contract agreements with the New York Mets and the New York Giants. And now he goes back to the team that he agreed to a contract with last year. And it seems to me like he's going back to his third choice.

Or he's going back to somewhere where he really had no choice. So we'll talk about Carlos Correa at the same time. This is also very interesting. Naomi Osaka is pregnant. Good for her.

Congratulations to her. Lamar Jackson, I don't know what his deal is for their upcoming game this weekend against Cincinnati, the Baltimore Ravens. And then Tua Tonga Veloa. I have no idea what his deal is for next season because we ain't going to see him anymore this year.

Tua Tonga Veloa is officially out. And that's just a terrible thing. So we have two premier quarterbacks here in the NFL looking to make some noise. And well, at least one of them we know for certain for sure.

We will not see. And so if you want to give me a holler here at CBS Sports Radio, it's real simple. We got a phone number.

It works. We have paid our bills. Hey Shep, they paid the bills, right?

They paid them? You'd be correct. The phone still works. The number is real simple. It's 855-212-4CBS.

It's 855-212-4CBS. If you want to get a hold of me, I am everywhere on social media at JR Sport Brief. If you follow me on social media, you'll already know about every single thing that we will discuss tonight. Shep, thank you for informing me that our bills have been paid at CBS Sports Radio, that we have the lights on, that the phones still work. How are you this evening? You doing good? Doing well, JR. Obviously the news keeps getting better with DeMar Hamlin.

And what else can we ask for? What a miracle, what an amazing recovery. And who knows if we may ever see this guy on a football field again?

I don't know. I'm just, I'm glad, well, I'm glad that he's alive. Damn it. He's glad that he's alive. His family is glad that he's alive.

And you mentioned DeMar Hamlin. We got an update even today about his status. And he's home. He's resting at home. This man spent nine days in a hospital. It was a week ago last Monday, so it is exactly nine days since he suffered that cardiac arrest on the field. He was in Cincinnati, as we know, for a week. He spent the remaining days in Buffalo. He got there to their hospital on Monday. And they've been running tests and running exams trying to figure out, you know, what caused this issue?

Is there a family issue? Was there a pre-existing condition from everything that has been shared with us so far? There doesn't appear to be like anything, anything wrong with him. It literally happens to be a situation right now that he got hit at the wrong time. The man literally got hit in the chest at the wrong time. And I have no idea if we will ever see this again on a football field. I'm sure that this happens, unfortunately, in many other instances across the world, across the country. But I'm glad that he's here.

And throughout the course of everything, we've seen people, at least for a short amount of time, act like human beings, treat each other like legitimate humans. And so head coach of the Buffalo Bills, Sean McDermott, he talked about DeMar Hamlin being released from the hospital in Buffalo. And when we see him back at the stadium, when he gets back with the team, Sean McDermott says that's up to him. Grateful first and foremost that he's home and with his parents and his brother, which is great. I'm sure it's felt like a long time since he's been able to be home naturally there.

And I'm sure it's a great feeling. We'll leave it up to him. You know, his health is first and foremost on our mind as far as his situation goes. And then when he feels ready, you know, we welcome him back as as he feels ready.

Yeah, head will not head coach. He's the most important player on the team. Josh Allen also spoke to the media and Josh Allen pretty much said, listen, we are not going to see him right now. The doctors want him to rest.

He said the players, all of us are chomping at the bit to go ahead and visit him. But obviously he needs to rest. And the reports are that he is walking around.

He's moving around. But he obviously needs to take it easy. The man basically died on national television last week. He was in an induced coma for multiple days. He wakes up and he's like, hey, did we win? And I also heard a story.

This is not even a story. The doctor shared with us that on Sunday, Sunday's game, where the Buffalo Bills went out there and beat the New England Patriots in their season finale. Nahim Hans had a run back.

He scored on the kickoff and then he scored on another one in the second half. And they said that Damar basically lit up every single light in the ICU. So everything that was connected to this man went off. And so we have no idea when he's going to be back, you know, at Orchard Park or whatever the hell they call it now, New Airfield, whatever. We have no idea what his status will be. But I can tell you this. It's an amazing thing that he is alive, that he is in great and good condition, that his body seems to be working, that his brain seems to be working to the capacity that it was before.

Mike, you can't ask for anything more. And I have no idea whether or not he's going to play football. I don't know whether he will ever be cleared to play football again, but the story just continues to move on. If he does get back on the football field, which I think is probably the last thing on his brain as a goal, I would say I think right now he needs to focus on recovery.

But what do I know? The story is big enough as it is. Eight million dollars has been raised just on Damar Hamlin's toy drive. It's now been closed off and they're going to be remitting funds to his next endeavor.

This is it's crazy. They're going to be taking on they being the Buffalo Bills will take on the Dolphins this coming Sunday. And I don't think the Bills need like an injection of energy to take on the Dolphins. I think they're already hyped and already playing for Damar. And so are we going to see Damar Hamlin at the stadium on Sunday? I don't know. I don't think so. I think that would be a little bit too soon.

But what do I know if I'm going to save any of this? Maybe it's for maybe it's for the divisional round. We already know that if the Buffalo Bills go to the AFC title game, that will take place at a neutral site.

And we still have no idea where that neutral site is. And then we know once you get past the AFC title game, if the Buffalo Bills should do so, the next step is the Super Bowl. Are we expecting to see Damar Hamlin in Phoenix and Glendale?

That would be a hell of a story. But I think the Buffalo Bills have the roster. They have the motivation.

And I don't want to call Damar Hamlin the secret weapon, but he obviously is a big motivating factor. And I think if the Buffalo Bills go deep enough here into the playoffs, I would not be shocked to see this man sitting up in a suite. He already broke down the huddle against the Patriots on Sunday via FaceTime. And so I can really imagine the minute that he's eligible to go back to the stadium, the minute that he's able and he feels physically up to it. He's going to be out there.

And it's just so cool to know that Damar, through everything that has taken place over the past week and change. That he's home. You couldn't ask for anything else. 855-212-4CBS. That's 855-212-4CBS. We're just getting started here.

We've already got people blowing up the phone lines. Let's go ahead and talk to Scott. He's calling from Fort Lauderdale.

You're on the JR Sport Reshow here on CBS Sports Radio. What's going on with you, Scott? How are you?

Scott? JR? Yeah, what's going on with you? JR, how you doing, brother? I'm excellent. What's up? Happy New Year. To you as well. I went to college in Buffalo. I went to Buffalo State College. So I'm always rooting on the Bills, but I'm rooting more heavily for the Bills right now than I have.

I'm sure. I think a lot of people are excited about the Bills. Like I like the Falcons and I like the Jets and neither one of them are in the playoffs.

I don't have a team in the race. I like Patrick Mahomes. I like Josh Allen. I like Lamar. But it's so easy right now to root for the Buffalo Bills.

I agree with you. Yes, sir. I'm also a Jets fan. I grew up in New York City. I rooted for Buffalo when I went to college.

Okay. At least you have one team that has a good outlook right now today. The New York Jets got rid of their offensive coordinator. Yes, sir.

And I was very happy about that. On a different note, J.R., what do you think about the Knicks? I think they're playing good basketball right now.

Yeah. Well, the New York Knicks, they just beat the Indiana Pacers in Madison Square Garden. Actually just watched that game in addition to a few others. And I know Jalen Brunson dropped 34 points. The New York Knicks are above 500.

R.J. Barrett just came back. The Knicks are good. And I think what we see right now is what we'll get. They are a team that is slightly above 500. But this isn't a championship team. It's not a championship roster.

What they do and who they add, I'm not so sure if they can. But they still need a consistent game breaker destroyer. On a consistent basis, I don't think that will be Brunson, Barrett or Randall. And I think ultimately Julius Randall might be the easiest guy to move, if not R.J. Barrett. The Knicks aren't going to do it.

We won't see it this year. I can see the Knicks going into the playoffs, getting into the first round and maybe going on to the next round. And everybody has the same conversation.

What do we do? So, yeah, they're good. They ain't championship good. Thank you, my brother. No doubt about it, Scott.

You as well. I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news with the New York Knicks. What's exciting about the Knicks?

Please, somebody tell me. What's exciting? I've been watching the Knicks forever and what am I supposed to be excited about? You know, I don't want to see my teams that I root for just compete to be OK, just to be good. The New York Knicks have either been bad or just OK forever. And so there's nothing exciting about looking at a roster that can pretty much max out at being just good. It's kind of boring. Let me know when the New York Knicks can actually legitimately compete for a title. Until then. Yawn.

A big old yawn. Ernie is calling from Tennessee. You're on the JR Sport Reef show. JR, I enjoy your show. I haven't ever talked on your show, but I'm I've listened to it a lot. And you bring up some interesting points.

And my thing, I want two things I want to talk about. How about those Georgia Bulldogs? And I'm going to make a prediction for next year. And it's not going to be about the championship. But Brock Brock Bauer will be in the running for the house and probably won't win because he's not a quarterback. Then I want to move on to the Jacksonville Jaguars.

I'm a dolphin fan. But Trevor Lawrence has made an amazing turnaround since getting rid of that so-called coach that he had last year and getting a real coach. And these players have stepped up and played around him.

And I never had a clue how good a players he has around him until he got a coach and they started playing together. In a couple of years, this is going to be a really good team. I think they're already a good team.

And you talk about what can happen into the future. Yeah, I believe they'll certainly get better in the second go round. But the fact that they've already made the playoffs is a good look. And thank you for bringing up Urban Meyer, who, yeah, he sucks. And it's nice to talk about what a crap job he did last year. Thanks for taking my call, JR. And Urban was a great college coach, though.

I must put that in there also. Yeah, he was a great college coach until he decided to quit on his teams, you know? Yeah, I know. But just like Steve Spurrier, great college coach, but not cut out for the NFL. Yeah, well, it's not easy to go out there and coach grown men. You can yell at college students any which way that you want. But if you've got to start thinking about doing that with grown men, they didn't take Urban Meyer seriously.

From the get go, they did it. And now he's gone. And congratulations to Kirby Smart. This man is going to try to win three in a row. Good luck on that one. We haven't seen that in almost 90 years.

Good luck on that. It's the JR sport re-show here on CBS Sports Radio. We are just getting started. It's so nice to start with some good news. DeMar Hamlin home discharge from the hospital in Buffalo. Speaking of a hospital, I guess she was in the hospital. Well, not for a bad reason.

Naomi Osaka shared some news that she is a that she's pregnant, that she's with child. Carlos Correa finally got his deal done. Lamar Jackson and to a tongue of Aloha are two broken individuals. We already started talking about some coaches. Doug Peterson.

We're going to talk about some more. This is the warm up. This is like the first inning and I'm already throwing heat. It's the JR sport reef show CBS Sports Radio. You are listening to the JR sport brief on CBS Sports Radio. DeMar wants to hear from you. Call him now at eight five five two one two four CBS.

That's eight five five two one two four two two seven. It's the JR sport re-show here with you on CBS Sports Radio. DeMar Hamlin is not the only good news that we got today in the world of sports, and this can be good news as well. It's always a beautiful thing to, you know, add, I guess, a little bit of life to the world.

DeMar Hamlin goes home. He is full of life. And then we learned via Naomi Osaka earlier today via social media that she is also bringing life into this world. Her and her boyfriend, who happens to be a musician by the name of Corday, that they are with child. And we know Naomi Osaka. She has had a just a very difficult few years, whether it's her her battles with anxiety and depression, dealing with the media, speaking to the press. She is a four time Grand Slam winner. She won the Australian Open and the U.S. Open twice. Recently, she had to deal with an Achilles injury.

She just had to call out a few days ago out of the Australian Open. And now we know why. It's because she's pregnant.

We don't know exactly when or what the gender is. We just know that she's going to have a baby. And so congratulations to Naomi Osaka. One of the cool things that she said in her post is that she looks forward to her child being able to see her go out there and win a Grand Slam, which obviously would be very, very cool. And at twenty five years old, I still think there's plenty of time for her to do that. Naomi Osaka currently has a world ranking of number forty seven. She just needs to get back out onto the court and find some success. She's having a lot of business success in the world, marketing, et cetera. One of the world's highest paid athletes representing Japan, also being Japanese and Haitian. And so there's a huge market for her to make tons of cash globally. And she's capitalized on that. But I know she wants to get back out there onto the tennis court as well. So I assume that we'll see her, you know, maybe 20, 23, 20, well, not 20, 23, 20, 24.

Congratulations, Naomi Osaka. Eight five five two one two four CBS. That's eight five five two one two four CBS. We got John. John is calling from San Diego. You're on the JR Sport Brief Show. How are you doing, JR? Thanks for taking my call, man. I'm good, man. What's up?

Love for tomorrow. Shout out to the fact that he's getting healthy and getting better. I wanted to talk a little bit about this upcoming charger game against the Jaguars. And congratulations to the Jaguars by sneaking in there. And they beat a quarterback quarterbackless Tennessee team this last weekend.

And I know they beat the Chargers earlier in the year. But, you know, we got to remember that Herbert was hurt. They were dealing with a lot of injuries.

And I think things are going to go a little bit differently on Saturday night this time around. Can we say that the Jacksonville Jaguars snuck into the playoffs? I mean, they were able to turn their season around. They were able to turn a year around from what they did last year.

Trevor Lawrence over the past two months has been playing like one of the best quarterbacks in the league. They've won, I believe, seven out of eight games. I wouldn't necessarily say that they snuck into the playoffs.

Yeah, I can agree with you on that. But, I mean, they beat a team in Tennessee that was reeling. Yeah, well, we know that. Tennessee was ripe for getting their ass whooped. I mean, if Ryan Tannehill would have went to the playoffs, we could have looked for three or four more interceptions. But outside of that last game, they have certainly been playing well. No different than the Chargers here of late. So we've got to give credit where credit is due, you know? For sure, for sure.

And they did what they had to do to get in there. But I think now that the Chargers are mostly healthy, and I'm a little upset at Staley for leaving the starters in longer than he needed to this last weekend, because that could turn out to be costly. But I think they're mostly healthy, and they're dealing with a healthy Herbert now. And it's going to be a good game, man. It's not going to be no pushover for the Jaguars, that's for sure.

Oh, no, not without a shadow of a doubt. Look, the Chargers for years have just had tons of talent. I feel like the Chargers have had tons of talent forever.

But somehow, some way, they always manage to be in that secondary tier and that secondary rung. And I know with Justin Herbert at the helm, nobody wants to see that. People want to see the team actually go out there and elevate.

I agree with you, Staley, watching Mike Williams kind of be dragged off of the field with a bum back isn't something that anybody wants to see. But just maybe, maybe the Chargers can go out there in shock and surprise some folks. I'm actually going to go with the Jaguars at home. Let's see if the Chargers can wipe them out.

It will certainly be a close one, I believe. All right, man, I'll call you next week after our Charger victory. That sounds good by me, John. I appreciate you for calling from San Diego. Have a great weekend.

You as well. It should be a fun game, man. Somehow, some way, the Chargers always choke. You know, prior history doesn't necessarily lend itself to this game in particular.

It should be a fun one. We got two young QBs. We've seen what Justin Herbert has done since he's been inserted into the starting lineup, since Tyra Taylor got a needle to the damn lung. And Justin Herbert has done nothing but just throw bombs and annihilate records for a quarterback to start his career. More yards, more TDs, more this, more that than anybody.

It's like he came into the NFL at the appropriate time. And now it's time to see whether or not the Chargers, the defense, and the offense can keep up. And from an offensive perspective, they have the offensive weapons. They need the offensive line to actually stay healthy. They need the offensive weapons to stay healthy. They need the defenders to actually stay healthy. You know, every time I see Derwin James on a football field, I go, he's okay? He's one of the best guys in the league, one of the best safeties in the league. And I go, it's a damn shame, man, I guess because he was gone for two years.

It sucks when you have to go, he's playing? And so I don't put too much stock in the Chargers until they actually do something. They very well can go out there and beat the Jags. I'm not expecting one team to knock the other off. If you had to ask me which team is more likely to blow out or beat up the other one, I would say the Chargers are more likely to beat up the Jags. But I do believe it will be a close game. This might be the closest game for the entire weekend outside of, I don't know, Monday night between Tampa Bay and the Dallas Cowboys. 855-212-4CBS, that's 855-212-4CBS.

I'm going to get some more of your calls on the other side. And we talked about Damar Hamlin, he's home, right? He's back home, not in the hospital, God bless him. We talked about Naomi Osaka, great news with her. She's eventually going to bring a life into this world and then she will take that life home.

Boy, girl, future tennis player, we have no idea. Speaking of home, I guess this guy is finally home as well. His name is Carlos Correa. Did he go home?

Or did he go where he had no choice but to go because everybody else no longer wanted him? We're going to talk about Carlos Correa. We're going to hear from him as well. We're going to talk about Lamar, we'll get into Tua, it's the JR Sport Brief show on CBS Sports Radio. You're listening to the JR Sport Brief on CBS Sports Radio. I'm at work doing security, man, and I listen 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 box radio show on the air for sure, bar none.

Call in now at 855-212-4CBS. That's right, it's the JR Sport Brief show on CBS Sports Radio. We got a little bit of a theme here in the first hour of the show. We're talking about people going home. Damar Hamlin has gone home. Naomi Osaka, she's home, but eventually she's going to be bringing a kid home. We don't know when, but she's pregnant.

Good for Naomi Osaka. And then speaking of going home, this guy's home is Puerto Rico. He made his home last year in Minnesota, and then he decided to make his home San Francisco because they were going to pay him $350 million. And then they said, man, but your ankle's kind of funky, we need to talk about this. And then he said he'll make New York his home because the New York Mets offered him $315 million. And then the New York Mets said, we can't pay you $315, we're worried about your ankle. And then the Minnesota Twins said, look, if those other teams don't want you, we'll bring you back.

And so that's exactly what took place. Carlos Correa initially had a 10-year, $285 million deal from the Minnesota Twins. He said no. He wanted to take the 350 from the Giants, and they said, ah, we don't know about that ankle. And I told you about the 315 from the Mets. And in order to bring him back, Carlos Correa has agreed to a six-year, $200 million deal with the Twins. It's $85 million less than what they originally offered him at the offset or the beginning of free agents, the onset, I should say. And so Carlos Correa is making less money. This new deal can max out at 10 years to 70 if he hits certain benchmarks.

He's still making money. It's not 350. It's not 285.

It's not 280, I mean 315. He'll make $200 million. And it's all because of an ankle that he needed surgically repaired when he was 19 years old. He's 28. He's never had treatment.

He's never had a surgery. But the San Francisco Giants and the New York Mets believe that at some point he's going to need that ankle fixed or he will develop tendinitis or an issue with it. But Minnesota, they don't care.

They'll throw him out there for 60 years with Buxton and hope that they could get back over 500. It was real interesting today. Carlos Correa had his press conference. He spoke to the media in Minnesota and he talked about this whole experience being more than unique.

It was not what we expected going into the off season, you know, traveling around the United States and, you know, going to different parts and, you know, getting the whole process done. But, you know, we stayed true to the process. I never forgot that I was a father and I was not going to let that affect me at home. So I kept my spirits up throughout the whole time. I was enjoying my time with my wife, my son. You know, I kept working out and staying ready. So, you know, the whole process was crazy.

But the endgame was great. I'm happy where I'm at right now. And, you know, I'm excited that I finally get back to work. I know where I'm going to be for a long time.

And, you know, I can help lead this group of young men to where we want to get. OK, I don't know where they're going to go, but it is the Minnesota Twins. I mean, what have they lost? Almost 20 consecutive playoff games. That's almost impossible.

But somehow, some way they've done it. Nice stadium, though. I had a chance to go to Target Field, you know, in the summertime. Yeah, nice play. And I love Minnesota. I got family out there. But yeah, good luck with the Twins and good luck with that money.

This was also interesting. He was asked specifically, what would you tell the fans who feel that you didn't want to be here? The fans that feel like you only came back to Minnesota because everything else fell apart. This is what he had to say. Well, Minnesota was always in that small group of teams that I told Scott at the beginning of a free agency.

You know, the whole free agency process is a very complicated process, as we know. And a lot of things happen along the way. But at the end of the day, all that matters is that I'm here. I'm going to represent this city. I'm going to represent this organization.

I'm going to do it the right way. I'm going to play hard every single day. I'm going to be out there in the community helping as much as I can. And all that matters is what I do from this moment forward for this organization. I'm really focused on that. I'm really focused on giving my all. Me and my family are going to be very dedicated to this city. And that's going to be for a long time.

So we're very happy and excited. What was he going to do? I mean, what was he going to say?

Like, we already know the answer here. Like, he wanted to leave. He wanted to leave for bigger money. It didn't happen, and now he's back. What, do you want him to say that? He can't?

You look like a whole jerk. I don't know how much winning they're going to do, but good luck to the Minnesota Twins. And congratulations to Carlos Correa. At one point, we thought he was getting 350. Another point, we thought he was getting 315. And now he has to quote unquote settle for $200 million. I don't think anybody is crying poverty for Carlos Correa.

But good for him. Getting the bread. 855-2124 CBS. Adrian calling from Houston, Texas. You're on the JR Sport Brief Show. Yeah, it breaks my heart, JR, that Correa is going to be a Minnesota Twin for home because I'm from Houston.

And I feel like he was a, I miss him. But I wanted to talk about Naomi Osaka. People were bashing her, just bashing her for dropping out of the Ozzy Open. And then news comes out like a few days later that she's having a baby.

You know, she dropped out of tournaments in the past. And so people like, you know, had this idea in their head that she's a quitter, that she's not mentally tough enough. And look at her for, you know, going home and bringing a new life. And good for her and good for her looking out for herself and what's right for her.

No, absolutely. I mean, I wasn't too shocked or surprised. We had people bashing her a few years ago when she said that she suffered from anxiety and depression. And we had people giving her a difficult time there. So we have some real, for lack of a better term. Hey Shep, can I say, I can say crackpots on the air, Shep? Yeah. Yeah, and I said it already. So who cares, I said it.

No, we got some real crackpots in the world. Some real disingenuous people who don't understand or care to understand anyone else or viewpoint outside of their own. And so, yeah, I'm thrilled for Naomi Osaka. She's having a kid. And you're right, people will bash her until, you know, the end of days.

And I wish her none but success, you know. Here's the deal between athletes now. Some of them actually happen to be a little bit more honest and straightforward with their feelings. And I don't think there's nothing wrong with that as a society. Do we have a bunch of soft ass people complaining and running around? Yes, we do.

But everybody shouldn't necessarily be placed in that bucket, Adrian. Yeah. I appreciate you, man. Thank you for calling up.

Thank you, man. No doubt about it. Yeah, Adrian is down in Houston. He had to watch those Astros. Congratulations to them. Good for Dusty Baker.

And then he also has to watch the Texans. And that's what we call balance. Balance. Hey Shep, do you feel that, I guess, more of the general public is understanding of athletes and mental health? You would say so, right?

I don't think so. Only because while inflation has kicked everybody in the ass in this country, it does seem like athletes have not been impacted whatsoever. So the reality of most people pales in comparison to what athletes go through where every single year the asking price is higher and higher for the next QB, the next point guard, the next shortstop. And everyone else, we're getting paid the same salary that we were 10 years ago.

Meanwhile, the cost of living, the cost of sending our kids to school has increasingly gone up. So it's frustrating. What the hell does it have to do with mental health?

What are you saying? They have no empathy because of the money made? Like they're not humans? Yeah, because we look at athletes and we say, my God, do you have it so good? I mean, you look at Mahomes, you know, and he's a bargain, considering what he signed for.

And Rogers and Wilson, those guys essentially, they're making $50 million a year. It's hard to get behind them. I'm not talking about feeling sorry for Russell Wilson because he sucked this year. I'm talking about someone like Naomi Osaka who says, hey, I'm dealing with depression.

I'm dealing with anxiety. You know, coming out here and having these conversations with the press is like driving me up a wall and people are destroying her. You know, it's not like she's getting, you know, just maimed on Twitter or Facebook or by rabid tennis fans. I would venture to say most people who have criticized Naomi Osaka aren't even like tennis fans. They couldn't tell you who was ranked number one or who won a French or who won a U.S.

They're just people who jump on a bandwagon of what you just said because I think it's easy to do so. I also think, JR, specifically when it comes to tennis, there has been no woman that has taken that mantle and run with it. Where you have what is going on in the men's game, and obviously Federer just retired, but you have Novak with slam 21, Nadal with slam 22. And Osaka was considered to be the next person. She was going to follow Serena and be the dominant player in the female game. She has not been. She has been a disappointment. She has been upset. And we talk about what she's done at the French and what she's done at Wimbledon. She's been a disaster. So I don't think there's a lot of sympathy for Naomi Osaka, unfortunately.

No. Yeah, well I think from the get-go when she burst onto the scene and she beat Serena, it was an uncomfortable situation from day one. Because people expected and people weren't happy with the judge that day. And they were booing. They were booing the situation.

They weren't booing Naomi. And she was standing up there and at that point she must have been, I think, 20, 21, 20, probably 21 years old maybe. She might have been a teenager.

Yeah, maybe. This was 20, 20, I believe, 20, 18, 20. Yeah, 20, 18. And so she's 25. And so she was straddling the line. Whether she was 20, 21, 19, she just beat Serena. And she's standing there in New York City and she's being awarded with the trophy. And that's a huge place for tennis. That place holds like 20,000 people.

Yeah, it's the biggest tennis venue we have in the world. And she was 20 years old to your point. And JR, she actually got a lot of fans because of that. But when she got the award, she almost had to cry because she just beat her idol and she's hearing boos. And Serena had to tell the crowd, hey, relax. This is her moment. She had to tell her they ain't booing you.

They booing the situation. And that's a tough thing to, I think, try to tie together and comprehend. I just think as an overall, it's less so about money.

You're correct. You know, people can always look at the cash and go, what you got to complain about? But I think there's there needs to be more empathy, not necessarily for guys who want to whine and complain and bitch and moan.

Oh, well, I need to get traded here. I personally got no no empathy for someone like James Harden. None.

Zip, zero, zilch. But then you have other athletes who really do go through some trying times. Let me tell you something. Money doesn't wipe away emotional pain. Unfortunately, in a lot of cases, money can amplify emotional pain. And I understand that may not be something easy for people to deal with.

But when you have to reconcile the two, knowing that you have tons of money and the world financially is at your fingertips, it doesn't necessarily equate to, oh, man, this this money is just going to wipe away, you know, all of my tears. So Naomi Osaka, for instance, she's one of the most financially lucrative and successful athletes on planet Earth. And like you just said, she has not been successful in tennis recently due to injury, mental issues, deciding and declining to participate in tournaments. Do I think we'll see her win another one?

Yeah, probably a few. She won't make a lot of money, though, over the next few years. And she won't even have to swing a racket. So I'm glad that she has at least been up front with who she is and what she's been dealing with. And I wish her nothing but the best, especially as she gets ready to have her child. Congratulations to Naomi Osaka.

It's the JR Sport Brief Show here with you on CBS Sports Radio. Unfortunately, Naomi has had to deal with some leg injuries. We're going to take a break. And when we come back, we're going to talk about an NFL quarterback who's had to deal with some leg injuries. We're talking about knees and ankles. And then we'll talk about another quarterback. He's dealt with an injury in the opposite direction. His damn head.

It seems like he is in concussion protocol all the time. We're going to talk about Lamar Jackson. We're going to talk about Tua Tonga Veloa. And the fact is, we're going to go into the playoffs. We know for sure we ain't going to see one of these guys.

What happens to the other? We'll talk about Lamar and Tua on the other side. The JR Sport Brief Show, CBS Sports Radio. Visit betterhelp.com slash positive to get 10% off your first month. That's betterhelp.com slash positive. This show is sponsored by BetterHelp.

When you're at your best, you can do great things. Working with a therapist can help you get closer to the best version of yourself. Because when you feel empowered, you're more ready for life's challenges. BetterHelp is a great therapy option. It's flexible, affordable, entirely online, and it matches you with a licensed therapist. Let therapy help empower you. Visit betterhelp.com slash positive to get 10% off your first month. That's betterhelp.com slash positive. This show is sponsored by BetterHelp.

When you're at your best, you can do great things. Working with a therapist can help you get closer to the best version of yourself. Because when you feel empowered, you're more ready for life's challenges. BetterHelp is a great therapy option. It's flexible, affordable, entirely online, and it matches you with a licensed therapist. Let therapy help empower you. Visit betterhelp.com slash positive to get 10% off your first month. That's betterhelp.com slash positive.