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The JR Sport Reshow, here with you coast to coast on the Infinity Sports Network. I'm coming to you live from Atlanta, Georgia. Thank you so much to everybody for being tuned in, locked in, and listening all over North America. I hope you're well, I hope you're safe. I hope you're all of the amazing things on this Tuesday, December 16th.
Twenty Twenty-five, okay? Man, we only got a couple more shows left here. The JR Sport Breeze show on the Infinity Sports Network. We'll be wrapping things up. on Monday.
Okay, show get started 6 p.m. Eastern, 3 Pacific. And we've talked about a lot. Tuotanga Valo, his own head coach. The guy who always had his back, Mike McDaniels, said Two ain't no better or special.
Than everybody else in the locker room, I might bench Tuaton Gavaloa, even though we got three games left. in the season. We talked about the injuries to Patrick Mahomes and Micah Parsons, guys ripping their ACLs all over the place. Jaden Daniels Today by head coach Dan Quinn of the Washington Commanders. Jaden Daniels is out.
for the rest of the season. He's only played seven games We saw him dislocate that elbow. He's had a bunch of leg injuries. Washington is done.
Now we can talk about something else.
Somebody's going to be done. I'll tell you who that is in a second. And something that's going to start in a little while. The finale of the NBA Cup. The New York Knicks and the San Antonio Spurs battle it out For December Basketball Supremacy Yeah, you can't just win a championship in June.
You gotta fight for something in a. December to make things relevant.
Okay, so we'll talk about the NBA Cup. I'm going to tell you who just decided to walk away from their sport in their prime at the top of the heap. How about this? In about twenty minutes we'll be joined by Will Graves. to talk about the Pittsburgh Steelers, their victory last night, Will Graves.
Covers all things Pittsburgh and Steelers for the Associated Press. We'll talk about the NFL MVP race. Hey, man, we got one guy retiring. Cooper flag went off last night forty points.
Well to get into that later on in the show, next hour we'll have a conversation with Doctor David Chow. Talk about all these injuries in the NFL.
So, we got a lot to do. You can always tune in on the Free Odyssey app, your local affiliate, SiriusXM. 375, and if you've got a smart speaker, ask it to play. the Infinity Sports Network. You wanna call?
You can do that too. We got a phone number, it works. Use it Before, well, ultimately, it's going to get lost real soon.
So, use it. 888-710-4ISN. That's 888-710-4ISN. You can find me online. I exist everywhere at JR Sport Brief.
That's at JR Sport Brief, all over social media. Yeah, we talked about Tua getting benched, potentially. Jada and Daniels being sat down for the year, Aaron Rodgers still rolling here at forty two years old. But we have a superstar in the world of boxing. One of the greatest boxes, I think we can say that, one of the most accomplished boxers of all time.
He's saying, I'm done, I'm finished. But Crawford is is not fighting. He just about forty minutes ago. Put a post up on social media and he announced that there ain't nothing else for him to do. We saw him beat Canelo Alvarez.
And for his fifth weight class, to pick up a title, I should say, in his fifth weight division. And he said, I'm done. And I agree with him. There ain't nobody else for him to fight. Listen to what Bud Crawford just put on social media.
I gave this sport every breath I had. Every scar Every triumph. Terrence Bud Crawford is the pound for pound king. Every ounce of my heart. The fighting pride of Omaha.
Nebraska, you're assigned. And go. Ring magazine. An undisputed supernatural work. Champion of And I've made peace with what's next.
Uh And now. It's time. Thank you. Ye's calling it he's calling it a rat.
Now Bud Crawford is done, and he's finishing up his career with a record of forty two and oh. We just saw him a couple of months ago beat Canelo Alvarez. Boncha, I my my brain is already in the toilet. That was that was in Vegas, I believe, right? They did that in Vegas or Jerry's World?
Yee good question. I'm pretty sure it was a Vegas. Let me double check. Yeah, I mean if you try to max that out, that might have been in Jerry's world. But either way, Canelo is the top of the top.
And here's the thing about Bud Crawford. He never took the approach of of boxing and turned it into The WWE. You know, Floyd Mayweather made a point and he made himself a lot, a lot of money. and got a lot, a lot of pay-per-view buys. Just by going out here and uh being a villain in in some cases and in his arrests and getting in trouble.
He he's made himself a villain. And in return, he made himself a lot, a lot of money. Ibacha, where was the fight? It was in a Legion Stadium in Vegas. Home of home of the Raiders.
And, um Yeah, thank you. Thank you for that, Botra. And so, yeah, Bud Crawford is done. This is the complete opposite. He didn't duck nobody.
Dudes have been ducking him for years. And this is the screwed-up part. About boxing. This is the part that sucks about boxing in comparison to other sports. It's like setting up a tent.
And if you are the loudest carnival barker, You can set up a tent, make money, and leave. And you can ultimately go out here and cherry pick your fights. There's nothing or nobody who says that you absolutely have to fight the next guy. Because it's a Yeah. Botcha, I gotta be careful.
I guess I don't. Boxing can be like a scam business. You know, there's not one governing body. I mean, even with this case of Bud Crawford, people may have heard about it or not, depending on how deep you are into. Watching people get punched in the face.
Maybe you love it. Maybe you don't. He had to pay fees. to be the champion.
So he could be proclaimed the WBC champion. They said they wanted three hundred thousand dollars. for him to keep his belt and those are the fees that you owe us. And he said, I ain't paying that. And I'm not mad at it because it's it's all a hustle.
Like everybody knows he beat Canelo Alvarez, Everybody knows he was the champ. He didn't pay the money. He walked away. And these dudes be they're crooks. They are.
They just run around taking money and figuring out whatever they can slap on it from the fees and what have you. it boxing is not organized like And this is probably in the worst way, the opposite direction, like the UFC. No this one UFC. There are multiple other, you know, organizations, but we know the UFC is is the top. Boxing doesn't have that.
You can be the WBO champion, you be the WBC champion, you'll be the IBF, the there's there's just too many organizations, and then you gotta unify the belts. It's just It's a hustle. and so I'm not mad at him. For not trying to pay $300,000. And it was, I think the writing was on the wall for that as well.
He won the bout. He did not want to pay the fees. He said that they were not fair. Everybody else accepted the fees that he he sent over to the other organizations. And so I I that was very clear at that point in time.
I'm like, this guy's going to retire. Like, he doesn't care about the beef, the smoke. He doesn't want to pay $300,000, and he doesn't give a damn if they take the belt. Yeah, he doesn't care. He doesn't need to defend the belt because he's gonna quit.
And that's exactly what he did.
So no he wasn't yelling and no he wasn't screaming and he had a lot of dudes that were afraid to get in a ring with him. because he'd screw up their money by beating their ass. He's the man. To see what he did to Errol Spence, busted him up and then went out there and beat Canelo Alvarez at 168 pounds. A good for Bud Crawford on the way out.
You know, Bach, I always like the athletes who don't. They don't talk crap. They just go out there and destroy you. Like, I loved. watching Tim Duncan.
People called him boring, the bit fundamental. He just he was unwavering in how he played and how he did not respond to anything. He just just went out there and played. You know, Wayne Gretzky. The great one, when he played, he was no jackass out there.
Could you imagine if Wayne Gretzky had an attitude of screw you, bleep you in games, he'd be. Ridiculous. It'd be Jordan. Just not as popular, of course, but he'd be known as like how Jordan be trash talk.
So, in a weird way, I respect I don't know. I feel like hockey, it's a little different because they're more gentleman-like, even though they fight each other and try to hurt each other all the time. No, teeth are flying, people are bleeding, they're punching each other. Yeah. Yeah, but it's also it's also still.
organized in a way. And at the same time, I I have to respect Crawford here for leaving at his top of his game. Uh I just I don't see often Athletes just knowing when the time is right to step away. And it just seems like a perfect time. Is there really any other rivalries he can.
Try to ignite? No. No. There's no there's nobody for him to fight. And, I mean, if you're Canelo Alvarez and going, hey, I want a rematch, you're Bud Crawford going.
For what? For what I I just I just beat your ass And, you know, credit to Canelo Alvarez. He went out there and pretty much said, Oh, yeah, he beat me. He beat me up. And so, no, there's there's nobody for him to fight.
He's thirty eight years old. We know when it comes down to boxing, watching some of these dudes just try to stay on too long. And you know, heavyweights can can last a little bit longer. You know, but even uh thinking about like Tyson Furies of the World and Deontay Wilder has to be on the other side of 40 right now. Let me, how old is Deontay Wilder?
He's forty years old. He just turned forty. It's just like, oh. Do we want to see you getting punched around at forty years old? No?
I mean if you can do it and and get in and get out and make the money? Bud Crawford's doing the right thing. Like who else is there for him to fight? Nobody. And now that I think about it, Botcher, isn't that a Isn't this joke fight, this money-making joke fight on Saturday?
Is it Jake Paul, right? Is it Saturday? I think it's Friday night, which is even a worse day because I didn't even know this was. Like, I knew it was happening in December. I just didn't know it was coming up this fast.
And it's like, it's December got here quick. Yeah, it's December 19th, so that's Friday, right? Wow. At. Five oh no, that's that's a wrapper.
What? Yeah, it it's happening Friday though. There's a rapper fighting on it on a bill. You know, I just looked up Jake Paul versus Anthony Joshua Date, and it brought up Big X the plug at an event. Yeah, yeah.
As the top story he raps, yeah.
Well, remember Yeah. If we had Anthony Joshua in America is not as marketable. As Javante Tank Davis. And we know because of his legal issues, of which he always seemingly finds some legal issues to get into. Unfortunately, they're all domestic.
We found out that they gave him the boot. And they bring Anthony Joshua. Who, I think all things considered, he hasn't lived up to the billing of being like the next. great heavyweight. He's been good, he's been okay.
I remember hearing about Anthony Joshua. Woof, man.
Somebody told me about him in 2012. And then he's he's obviously grown since then, but He's out of it. Macha, do you know anything about Anthony Joshua? Didn't he get knocked out by someone? Was it?
Uh.
So he got knocked up by someone where he really wished young supposed to. and it kind of ruined his his uh his reputation, right? Am I going insane? No, you're you're not. I'm not gonna say it ruined his his reputation where he just, you know.
You know, fell off the face of the earth, but he got knocked out by Andy Ruiz. And that pretty Andy Ruiz is just a big dude, just knocking you out and punching you. But then after that he won the belt back from him, And then he just uh he couldn't beat Alexander Usak and that just kind of uh Put the stink on him a little bit, man. Yeah, I recently saw that clip, and people were like, Yeah, no wonder he's trying to fight Jake Ball just to get his name back out there. Yeah, he was the guy.
He's well, look, it the the money's coming in.
Somebody has to go out there and do it right.
So, Anthony Joshua Somerset. He's also a heavyweight. And I believe there's a weight limit here. That Anthony Josh, I don't know the exact number, but But of course he's he towers over A Jake Paul. And so Jake Paul's gonna try to protect himself.
I have no idea what this is gonna look like. See, Enbacha, this is why all of this is weird. In a normal world, We know it doesn't exist. In a normal world, If you put which brother is it? Jake?
Jake, right? Yeah, Jake. If you took Jake, what's the other Logan does wrestling, WWE?
Okay. Fox is a little bit, though. He does what? He boxes a little bit. He fought Mayweather.
Mayweather, yeah, but we know that was nothing to exhibition stuff. In a real w normal world, Anthony Joshua versus Jake Paul. Anthony Joshua would beat this dude into a pulp. in a first round. Like, what they plan on doing on Friday on Netflix and in Miami or whatever the hell they're going to do, I have no idea.
I just know. In a normal world, I don't know how fat Jake Paul is getting to absorb any type of hits. Anthony Joshua would destroy him. Quickly, quickly.
So, I have no idea what this is going to look like. A lot of hype, but maybe uh Anthony Joshua does the dance.
So the people at home can just get their money's worth. I mean, if you paying for Netflix, then uh Sure, why the hell not? What a what a day, what a night Bachelor, what are they going to do? There's not even who's boxing that anybody gives a damn about? Nobody, right?
It's all celebrities now. Yeah, not anymore. I. I remember well, Tyson Fury had had the the people going for a little bit. But even still, it's just...
I don't know any real boxing matchups besides Canelo versus anyone just 'cause he's big name. Yeah. I'll say Jake Paul. And there's there's nobody else. There's a bunch of guys on the ride that on the rise that the general public has not heard of.
Box is just different. I mean, the the people making a real money are the side show YouTubers making big cash because of their their presence. The actual sweet science side of it has kind of been pushed to the wayside just to make money, and that's the name of the game for everything.
So, listen, congratulations to Bud Crawford on his retirement, finishing up his career with a record of 42-0. Just picked up his fifth championship in a different weight class with that middleweight championship that he beat Canelo Alvarez for, and then subsequently said, I ain't paying the fees. Y'all can have y'all belt back. We all know I won. What does it matter to me?
And now he retires.
So good for him. And he got an extra 300K in his pocket. Give it to me.
Okay, please, bud. Sending me the money. It's the JR Sport Ree Show here with you, Coast to Coast on the Infinity Sports Network. We're going to take a break. On the other side, we're going to talk about somebody.
Who won't retire?
Okay, he's 42 years old. He's playing quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers. We're going to have a conversation with Will Graves about. Pittsburgh, all things Pittsburgh, Mike Tomlin, the offense, Aaron Rodgers, and everything in between. Oh yeah, and then you might have heard uh TJ Watt got jabbed in the lung with a needle.
Who get what the latest is from Will Graves? It's the J. R. Sport Reeshow of the Infinity Sports Network. Listen up, football fans.
You won't want to miss this. Right now, new Bet365 customers bet $5 and get $150 in bonus bets, win or lose.
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Last night the Steelers pick up a victory. They move their insects. Listen at the top of the AFC North. Aaron Rogers looked good. I guess people are quieted down on what happens with Mike Tomlin, but the Steelers still have some issues.
We know about what unfortunately took place with TJ Watt last week. To get an update on the Steelers and whether things have calmed down just a little bit in the Steel City, joining us right now is someone who covers all things. Steelers. He's an AP National writer who's based in Pittsburgh. Welcome back to the show, Will Graves.
Will, how are you, man? I'm good, JR, man. Appreciate you having me on. No doubt about it. I mean, over the past couple of weeks, given where the situation was with Mike Tomlin about a month ago, have people in the city quieted down just a little bit?
Yeah, just a little bit. I think he had me on a couple of weeks ago after the Buffalo game, and things were pretty bleak. Funny how beating your rivals on the road and then looking like a competent football team for. maybe forty minutes against a team that's obviously Not, you know, not formidable, but a team that had been hot lately in Miami last night and beaten them pretty handily. I would say things are calm.
Now, if they get rocked in Detroit on Sunday, I'm sure we'll be back with DEF CON 1, but that's just kind of how it goes. You know, Aaron Rodgers. early in the season talked about, hey, let's not ride the roller coaster, it's a long ride. It has been an eventful one here for sure. over the last three plus months, but they're sort of Look, they're exactly where they basically always are in December under Mike Conlin.
They're in the mix with Christmas coming. It's the same as it ever was. The same that it ever is. Will Graves is here with us on the JR Sport Re Show. You mentioned Aaron Rodgers.
We know at this point it's kind of crazy to think he's. He is already told. 42 years old, just had his birthday on December 2nd. What is your overall evaluation on his play this season, how he's been embraced, not embraced by the city, the community, you guys with the media? What's it been like?
You know, as a player, I I'd say he's been a little erratic. I mean, one of the reasons That they had trouble in that two and five stretch. I mean, he got hurt a little bit, obviously, you know, fractured his wrist. uh a month ago and missed the game, but like you know, he has been sort of up and down against the Chargers on Sunday night. looked every bit his age.
And then you look last night, it's cold, it's seventeen degrees. the field is sort of it's a frozen tundra esque And he's going twenty three to twenty seven for two twenty four two touchdowns and only one really bad pass out of the whole mix. And a couple of real darts. I mean, the DK Metcalf touchdown, we can talk about what a great play DK made after the catch. But Aaron also threaded it in between two defenders to make that happen, right?
So He's been a little bit up and down. And as far look, I think he's ho very popular in the in the locker room. Very, very popular in the locker room. I think and it I mean, it's something that and I heard about this before he got here. I talked to some guys that had covered him, you know, previous stops in his career.
And he's a guy that is, I mean, this sounds kind of corny to say, but he's sort of like a man of the people. You know, I spent a a couple of weeks sort of just watching him interact in the locker room, and he will talk to anybody. He'll talk to a practice law guy, an undrafted rookie free agent. He'll talk to, you know, TJ Wadden and Cam Hayward. And I mean, the he gets around and he seems to have a pretty good rapport with everybody.
I mean, I you know, Mike Tomlin talks a lot about Aaron's, quote, love affair with the game. And I can, you know, whether he looks like there's a couple times this year, he's kind of looked like, oh man, I'm getting kind of old to get knocked around like this. But he certainly invited he definitely embraces the team aspects of being a football player. Part of it, knowing that that chapter of his life is coming to a close very soon. And even I saw NFL Film shared a cut up this morning.
He was mic'd up. a little bit or some of the Dolphins players were, and he was on the sideline after he'd run out of bounds, and he's jawing with the Dolphins players, and he's loving every minute of it. I mean, they were calling him old man and all this stuff. But I mean, he really, really is sort of leaning into this sort of, for lack of a better phrase, Indian summer. Um this twilight era of his career.
Well, Will, you talk about the Twilight Era of his career. He made a point last night of referencing some of his teammates as being outcasts. You know, thinking about Gainwell and Thielen, who just joined the team. DK Metcalf here in his first year away from Seattle. He didn't include himself in that category.
But what do you think about this roster construction and just how they're put together now? A lot of criticism as to who he can throw the ball to. Do they have enough of this? Do they have enough of that? What are your thoughts on how they're put together for now in the future, too?
Well well, I I think you know when when they made a trade for Jalen Ramsey and they signed Rogers, there was a lot of this, hey, the Steelers are all in for twenty twenty five, which isn't really the case. If they were all in, they would have found a way to keep George Pickens. And look, I understand why they had to trade him. I was around him for his three years. His teammates had just grown tired of his act.
And when that happens, no matter how talented he is, you can't have him around. Same with Antonio Brown, to be quite honest with you. But they've got some solid pieces in place beyond this year. The idea was. Hey, we're going to bring Rogers in and try to stay competitive, and we're going to find our quarterback in the draft next year.
Now, the problem is. the draft doesn't look nearly as stacked as we thought it was going to be twelve months ago, right? Um you know, so the future is still kind of like who knows, uh, you know, who believe their starting quarterback is going to be week one next year. As far as this year, I mean, they've been okay. They've patched some holes The the issue that I have is you know, and it's curious, You know, they got four tight ends.
But all do different things. And, you know, they they're paying Pat Fryermuth top ten tight end money, and he can barely get on the field sometimes. And then last night they kind of dust off the. Cobwebs and he, you know, catches three passes late to kind of keep him going. It was a John New Smith was MIA for a month.
And then he's running a 14. He lines up a tailback and he runs a 14-yard touchdown for a 14-yard touchdown. I mean, like.
So, I mean, like, it's interesting. Like, they have an interesting mix of players. Are they as talented? As Some of the teams that they might face in the playoffs. I mean, on the surface, I would say no, but I mean, if you look at the AFC, In a weird way, it's Everything's sort of breaking the way that they kind of hoped.
Look, the Chiefs are already out of it. If they can beat the Ravens to win the division, the Ravens will be out of it. There's no Joe Burrow. Um you know, the the teams that they've would face in the playoffs like there isn't going to be a massive you're going to have young guys like Drake May in their first real playoff mix, right? You're going to have, you know, maybe CJ Stroud coming in for a second time, but we're still not sure kind of where he's at in his development.
You know, we've got Bo Nix in the playoffs for the first time, and then you've got a 42-year-old guy with four MVPs in his Super Bowl. And I think that if they get in the playoffs, they would like their chances. Whether I like their chances will sort of depend on the matchup. Um but The thing is, with this team, like literally, you do not know what you're going to get on a given week. as down as it was two weeks ago when we talked I'm not saying people are playing in Super Bowl trips, but there is a I would say it's calmness.
Right? Like they didn't boo Renegade last night. Right. Like, you know, even Ben Rothenzberger, who was very vocal in his comments about, you know, say, let's, let's clean, let's have it. Let's maybe they need a clean plate and a fresh start.
And well, he was inducted into the Hall of Honor last night along with Marquise Pouncy and Joey Porter Sr. And I asked Ben, I said, you know, what's it like to sort of be Vocal, you know, critical of a team you're so closely aligned with. And he said, Well, I didn't say that Mike T had to leave. I just, you know, I'm like sitting there thinking that is kind of exactly what you said. And maybe it, um, but he said, and he, you know, Ben included in his comments, like, you know, he could coach for another 10 years and that'd be fine.
Here, and that would be fine.
So. I mean, let's just say that that's sort of indicative of sort of the mood of Steeler Nation at the moment, right? Like, it's pretty volatile. Like, if they beat Detroit, You know, I can see there will be stories on Monday. Hell, I might write one of them.
Oh, the in the place where they want more. Ben Roth Rothelsberger wanted his first Super Bowls, you know, twenty years ago. they've refound a spark that's going to carry them into the playoffs. I mean I I don't think so. I mean, I really think this week is a bad matchup for them.
But the irony is These next two games actually don't matter. like they could lose the next two, and if they beat the Ravens in in week eighteen, they win the division. And as long as the Ravens win at least one of their next two, They will have a chance to play for the division, and the division won't be decided until week 18.
So it's sort of this weird. They're sort of in a weird spot, but I would say that You know, when the Steelers play from the end of the second quarter yesterday when they had a long touchdown drive and then the what we're calling the Pittsburgh plunge instead of the tush push. for Connor Hay. We're through the beginning of the fourth quarter when they score touchdowns on four straight drives. and they helped the Dolphins to two, three and out.
The Dolphins had minus twenty yards in the third quarter. It was the most competent stretch of well-played football that they'd probably had since September, and I think everybody was like, oh. But temperature wait the the temperature you know, went from simmering back to sort of just a Nice little lukewarm room temperature.
Okay, well this is this is normal. uh kind of Steelers football.
Well, we gotta we gotta wait and see how things bear out over the next three weeks. AP Ryder, National NFL, based in Pittsburgh, Will Graves is here with us on the JR Sport Brief Show. One guy who we don't know if he's gonna return, when he's gonna return. is uh TJ Watt, who we know he got that dry needling procedure and it uh punctured his lung. Is there any update on that, or is we can we count him out for the season unless it's a deep playoff for him?
Or what are you hearing?
Well, Mike Tomlin, today, you know, when we got him today, you know, twelve hours after the last time we talked to him. um said that he had no, quote, no new information TJ, he will return, I believe, you know, by week eighteen, if not before week eighteen. I w it's hard to see him playing on Sunday in Detroit. But the reality is, you know, for the first look, their record without TJ in his career was one in eleven. and then they got the win last one and they looked pretty competent doing it.
So I don't know if it's quite the And and knowing, as I just mentioned, that you know, they don't have to you know, like basically it's going to come down to week 18 no matter how this goes. Maybe there's no need to kinda rush him back. I mean, like, I have a good friend of mine Who is a licensed physical therapist, former elite athlete, now treats lead athletes, including NFL players? I texted her. On Friday, after JJ said, Oh, by the way, this is why TJ's in the hospital and this, you know, with the dry needling thing.
And I asked her, I said, You know, how bad do you have to mess up for this to have this happen? And she said, pretty darn bad. I'm not let's not pretend that look, I'm not going to say that TJ was on death's door or anything, but like, this was a really odd, odd. injury. And look, you know, they they have been sort of mom about you know, there's basically two types of procedures you can do to correct it, one which is m more invasive and one which is less invasive.
And if it's less invasive, there's a chance In other she said, look, there's a chance he could be back in two weeks. Um, you know, somebody that does that has that the lesser of the two procedures to be back more quickly. But I think we'll see him again this year. He's going to be in a great mood when I got to, you know, hey, dude, what's with this dry needling thing? And to be honest with you, look, it was a freak accident.
He's been doing this. lots of NFL players, lots of athletes do this procedure. It was just kind of a weird you know, one in ten thousand, you know, freak thing that happened. And hopefully, you know, who knows what's going to happen with the poor employee that that stuck that needle in him. But it's going to I I would say they they avoided disaster, but yeah, it's certainly jarring when, you know, a guy that's going to the Hall of Fame is standing in the cafeteria and he can't breathe and he's talking about discomfort in his chest and then the next day he's having lung surgery.
So Um, you know, scary, uh, not as bad as it is it could have been, but certainly uh. A sobering thing for TJ and his failing in for the Spielers. We'll see. I think the Steelers are pretty status quo, as you mentioned, for what it stands for right now. I know we've had this discussion, and I don't think it's changed too much, but given where we are this season, and we talked about the draft, I mean, even the Heisman came and kind of went with a whimper.
No, not as much excitement in years past. What can we expect from these Steelers? in the off season, outside of everybody feeling like it's the same old, same old with no movement.
Well, uh, you know, I they've been pretty active in free agency in making trades, I mean, in bringing DK and let's remember signing Russell Wilson and trading for Justin Fields in twenty twenty four. I mean, Omar Khan and Eddie Widdle, the new front office regime, is they've been there's been some unsteeler like stuff that they've done since they've been partnered up. But, you know, I I sat there and, you know, for months, you know, it was, well, Rogers is a bridge quarterback. They're going to get their guy in the draft next year. And you know, then they'll sort of then they'll be then we'll really get to see like Yeah.
Can they have success with a young quarterback like New England is, like Denver is, or are they going to kind of do make another mistake like they made with Kenny Pickett? And then the real sort of maybe Mike Tomlin needs to go find a fresh start like that's when I think we'll really have an understanding of whether Mike T is going to be here until he's eighty years old or not. Um but the reality is I think that their you know their needs might be shifting. You know, I think I remember last time we were on here, I you know, we chatted, you asked me about Rogers and I told you I'm pretty positive Rogers is going to retire. I'm still pretty positive, but I mean, look, he's been.
I think, you know, the wrist thing was sort of a freakish injury, and he's look, he. He's playing through a fair amount of pain still. Let's remember one of the touchdowns last night.
So Marquez Valda scanling was when he was under center, which is something that he couldn't do the first couple of weeks playing with that brace on his wrist. And they ran a little play action, and MVS got open running across the field. You know, he's. you know, he still looks like he can play, right?
So uh is there like a I've gone from a a zero point five percent chance to a one point five percent chance that A Aaron Rodgers is quarterback for the Steelers next year. But I do think there's going to be it would be another bridge type situation when you look at the free agent. that are available. Like there's really nobody that jumps off the page. They're not going to go and get, you know.
Daniel Jones. They're not going to go spend money on Daniel Jones or anything like that. I think that they're You know, they might try to find another bridge guy. You know, I don't know. I mean, like, the only way for them to get a maybe a shortfire bona fide starter would be to trade.
Well, I mean, to trade TJ TJ Watt. I'm not saying they're going to do that, but I'm saying they would have to make a big move with one of their personnel. And I don't really see that happening.
So I think we might be treading water for another year here, whether it's with Aaron Rodgers or for me personally, I would love a Jameis Winston. I would I would love the Jameis Winston experience as a guy in the media. What a fun guy to cover. But they might have you look, Mason Rudolph is under contract. Let's remember they do have Will Howard, their rookie from out of Ohio State, who They wake.
Excuse me. You know, I think he's a bit of a project guy, but you know, maybe that's what they roll with next year. I mean, I think it's Sort of an unknown. That's why everybody's sort of leaning into this moment. They are.
Look. They they're exactly where they want to be in December. They're in first place in the division with three games to go and they control their own destiny. Look, they don't look a lot. I've written this several times this year.
The only place they look like a first-place team is when you look at the standings. But I think last night what we saw, especially in the middle part of the game against the Dolphins. If they can somehow replicate that, I think it's going to be a tough ask against the Detroit team that's going to be playing for its playoff live. against Cleveland on the road the week after that and then home against the Ravens. I think You know, it's I think there's a pretty decent chance they're going to have a home game in the first weekend of the playoffs.
And if it's against you know, a quarterback that doesn't have a ton of playoff experience. And Aaron Rodgers is on the other side of the ball, like, you know, they have a puncher's chance, and I think that's all you could really ask for. Hey, we're gonna we're gonna see. The same old Steelers. We'll we'll wait and see how this one airs out.
Hey, Will, always a pleasure. Thank you so much. Tell tell everybody where they can follow you and your work. You can follow me on exit at Willgraves AP, but please go to APnews.com. We've got a lot of great journalists working for this venerable organization.
We do it the right way. We kind of stick to the facts, which Kind of gets on my nerves sometimes, but at the end of the day, I appreciate it. We do it the right way, and I'm grateful to be a part of it.
So please follow our work at apingnews.com. Appreciate you all. Enjoy the holidays, okay? All right, same to you. Take care.
No doubt about it. Shoutouts to Will Graves coming through, joining us from the Associated Press. It's the JR Sport Re Show on the Infinity Sports Network. You know, Will brought up a good point. There's no real standouts that you look at in this quarterback class coming into the NFL and just go, oh my God, this guy's the next big thing.
He's going to take over. We're going to take a break. When we come back, I'm going to tell you about one quarterback. He's not even going into the draft. It's official.
He's staying in school. I'm going to tell you who it is. We'll talk about it. But right now, it is time for a news flash. Here he is.
It's Rich Ackman. That 365 is paying out before the final whistle. Check out Bet365's unrivaled early payout offer. When you bet on the team to win and they take a 17-point lead, you get paid no matter the final score. Forget the final whistle and start counting that cash.
Hold up, you get early payout on parlays too! Download the app and see why it's never ordinary at Bet365. Gambling problem? Call 1-877-718-5543 or visit morethanagame.nc.gov. Must be physically located in North Carolina.
TNC's applied. This is Free Range with Von Miller, the podcast where I step outside the lines and I take you with me. Each week, we're talking everything from the biggest stories around the league to the biggest stories off the field. This isn't your average sports podcast. This is game meets culture, locker room meets living room, and no topic is off limits.
So if you're into good conversations that ruffle a few feathers, join me every Wednesday and follow Free Range with Von Miller, everywhere you get your podcast. Welcome to Radio Rental. The scariest stories you've ever heard in your life. All told by real people. And off we go.
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Yours. Get that early booking deal at Verbo.com. You're listening to the JR Sport Brief. It is the JR Sport Brief Show here with you coast to coast on the Infinity Sports Network. Hey, thank you so much to Will Graves for coming through in the last break.
Covers all things Steelers, all things NFL, based out of Pittsburgh for the Associated Press. Always a good chat with him, as the Pittsburgh Steelers are once again in a. In stasis, they're in the same spot they typically are every year, looking like they'll go to the postseason. Looking like they're go there and just kind of roll the dice and see what happens.
So we'll see how things bear out. The Steelers do end their season against the Baltimore Ravens in a game that ultimately, and likely, go out there and decide. What happens in the division? Thank you so much to Will Graves. 888-710-4ISN.
That's 888-710-47. 4IS and so much talk about A guy like Aaron Rodgers, and when he's going to hang him up, and when he's going to be done. But we found out earlier today that there's going to be one guy, he ain't going anywhere. And that's Arch Manning. Arch Manning is going to stay in college.
He's going to stay at Texas instead of making his way to the NFL. And I think, based on just how he started the season with the Longhorns, I think it was going to be a formality that he was going to stick around unless they made the playoff and went on one of these ridiculous runs. But as it stands, we're going to have the Texas Longhorns. They're going to be playing Michigan. If you've heard, there's a whole lot going on in Michigan.
But they're going to take on Michigan. In Orlando at the Cheez-It Ball. And so we got confirmation that Archer Manning ain't going. anywhere, finishing up the season six and one, through for almost three thousand yards, twenty four touchdowns and seven interceptions. Take a listen to the CBS Sports HQ report on Arch Manning going Nowhere.
Well, Arch Manning will return to Texas for the 2026 season. That's according to our partners at 24-7 Sports. Manning's first year as the Longhorn starter got off to a slow start, but he finished strong just shy of 3,000 passing yards, 32 total touchdowns, and seven interceptions. 2026 will be his fourth year on campus following the family trend. If you recall, Uncle Payton stayed for four years at Tennessee, and Uncle Eli played through his threatshirt senior season at Ole Miss.
Look, if Arch Manning was good if Arch Manning won a championship if Texas was in the playoff and wanted to run, Arch would leave. That's it. But he has more to show. There is no rush. It's not like there's a a financial incentive for him to leave.
The family has tons of money. He has NIL money. He can go out there and he can improve his draft stock and status and then move along next year. I mean, there's no reason for him. To go into the NFL, just fully develop a little bit more at college.
I think that's the best decision. For Arch, and I'm looking forward to it. I'm almost certain that as we move into next year, was a lot of talk, preseason talk about Arch Manning winning the Heisman. He's gonna be the favorite.
Next year.
Okay, he just might be the favorite next year as well.
Okay, 888-710-4ISN is the number. That's 888-710-4ISN. Arch Manning ain't going to the NFL. And it's kind of crazy as I wasn't able to get here yesterday on air. I didn't have a chance to talk to you about Philip Rivers.
I mean, just last week he they signed him off the couch. He made that start. I did see bits and pieces of the game, especially the end as the Colts. They couldn't come back and hold on. The Seahawks won 18-16, but Philip Burvis didn't look bad for a guy who just rolled off of the couch, 120 yards passing, a touchdown, and an interception.
He ain't throw them out of the game. They were right there. I mean, I had uh somebody message me and said he looks like Sebastian Janikowski. He's so damn big at this point in time. But what the hell do you want from the guy?
He's forty four years old. And so it sucks the Colts went out there and lost the game. They're now eight and six. This certainly doesn't improve their standings as it relates to making it to the postseason. And so who knows how much longer that will see Phillip Rivers out there on the field.
The Colts' next game is going to be against the San Francisco Fortune. forty niners. Philip Rivers says man Yeah. Played one game? We got another one?
If I can stay healthy, like I feel good, it's going to get better as we go. But the catch in that is we got to win. It doesn't really matter if it's getting better as we go if we don't win because it's going to be over in three weeks.
So that's the catch there, but it's going to continue to get better. I mean, this was obviously the first one we're talking about three days of practice. But again, it was a real blessing to be back out there with the guys. That's good. Good for him.
Forty four years old, still trying to Make something happen now. Playing against them 49ers, I think he might get his ass kicked, but he's smart enough to know when to get rid of the football. His head coach Shane Steichen. These Colts trying to hold on to a playoff spot, maybe a wild card position, definitely wild card. He says, I liked how Phil Riffords played.
I think obviously him being off for that long, obviously there were some unknown, but for him to go out there and do what he did to put us in a position to win in a hostile environment after that long of a layoff was pretty impressive. You know, getting us into the right plays, managing the game, I thought he was phenomenal in that regard. On the sidelines, his leadership, all those things that he brings to our team will be beneficial, you know, for all of us. Yeah, good luck. Let me just put it that way.
Good luck. They got three games left. San Francisco and of course two divisional games as they'll take on the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Houston Texans. I am not holding my breath. That these Colts are going to make it into the postseason over those two teams.
I just don't. I don't see it happening. This is going to be a nice story. Philip Rivers came back, he pushed back his Hall of Fame eligibility, and he certainly can add to his legacy if he continues to not look like a complete old joke. But hey, that may change up game to game.
The 49ers may eat him to death. And by the way, the Houston Sexens. They have one of the best defenses, if not the best defense, in the entire NFL.
So, good luck against that one. The last time that we see Phillip Rivers on the football field against the Texans. It may not be a It may not be pretty, so beware when you On that one. It's the JR Sport Re Show here with you, coast to coast, on the Infinity Sports Network. 888-710-4ISN.
That's 888-710-4ISN. Speaking of old guys, you know what, forget the old guys. Enough of Aaron Rodgers and Philip Rivers. Let's talk about some young guys. Because, in another 30 minutes, one of the most exciting young.
Athletes in the world is going to be in action on Amazon. It's the NBA Cup. Victor Wembenyama and the Spurs. Taking on the New York Knicks. Could you imagine if the Knicks win something?
and it's not an NBA championship. We'll talk about that here on the Infinity Sports Network. That 365 is paying out before the final whistle. Check out Bet365's unrivaled early payout offer. When you bet on the team to win and they take a 17-point lead, you get paid no matter the final score.
Forget the final whistle and start counting that cash. Hold up, you get early payout on parlays too! Download the app and see why it's never ordinary at Bet365. Gambling problem? Call 1-877-718-5543 or visit morethanagame.nc.gov.
Must be physically located in North Carolina. TNC Supply. This is Free Range with Von Miller, the podcast where I step outside the lines and I take you with me. Each week, we're talking everything from the biggest stories around the league to the biggest stories off the field. This isn't your average sports podcast.
This is game meets culture, locker room meets living room, and no topic is off limits.
So if you're into good conversations that ruffle a few feathers, join me every Wednesday and follow Free Range with Von Miller, everywhere you get your podcast. With stays under $250 a night, Verbo makes it easy to celebrate sweater weather. You could book a cabin stay with leaf views for days, or a brownstone in a city where festivals are just a walk away. or a lakeside home with a fire pit for cozy nights with friends. Or if you're not a sweater person, we can call it corduroy weather.
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All told by real people. And off we go. This wasn't a human being that I saw. There's something here in this house, something out of this world. There was a woman moving through the hall.
I stepped back and I was completely alone. Radio Rental is available now. Listen for free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey there, we're Karin Vienne and Sabrina D'Anaroga here to introduce our newest podcast, Crimes of a Crime House Original. Crimes of is a weekly series that explores a new theme each season, from Crimes of the Paranormal, Unsolved Murders, and more.
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