JR SportBrief Hour 3

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Learn more at Goalie.com today. You're listening to the J.R. Sportbrief on CBS Sports Radio. Because the show gets started at 10 p.m. Eastern, 7 Pacific.

So if you're at work, if you're on the road, if you're at home, you're making that money, whatever you're doing, I'll be here for two more hours. So consider this halftime of the show. Thank you to super producer and host Dave Shepherd. More importantly, there is no show without you. Every single one of our listeners.

So we really appreciate you being here. We're pulling up towards the divisional round of the NFL playoffs, which is nice. And we've talked about several stories that are taking place dead smack in the middle of the week. We talked about Brock Purdy. We spoke about Trey Lance.

I think it's due time for the 49ers to say, all right, let's just trade the guy, get some draft capital back. We talked about Gronkowski and his comments on Aaron Rodgers. And then we also recently last break heard from Julian Edelman on Tom Brady saying that I think Tom Brady is done in Tampa Bay. A matter of fact, this is what Julian Edelman had to say on inside the NFL. Listen to this. Jules, I got to ask you this, Tom Brady, you saw the game, everything.

What'd you think of us? What do you, do you think he will have another season and give us your thoughts on him? If he has another season, it's not going to be in Tampa Bay. Right. And it just because Tom's a businessman.

Tom's a smart guy. He's going to do exactly what he did when he left New England. He's going to go to the best situation that helps him win if he wants to continue his playing career.

I don't know. He'll probably sit these next two weeks and he'll hang out with his family and he'll assess the situation. I'm sure he has a routine now because he's probably been thinking about this these last three or four years on, you know, am I going to play?

Am I not going to play? Right. And, you know, I'll give him a call and bug him a couple times and see if he'll give me anything.

He probably won't, but I'll let you guys know in a couple weeks. Yeah. So, we don't know what's going on with Tom Brady and then Rob Gronkowski was getting at Aaron Rodgers for basically thinking about MVPs and not thinking about Super Bowl. So, we have plenty of athletes. Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady, they aren't the first guys who have been here at the end of their careers and have just extended things.

Tom Brady extended his career and he won another Super Bowl. Aaron Rodgers is extending his career and he's making buckets of money. And so, you can't fault anybody for sticking around whatever their reasons are, financial, competitive, otherwise, hey, everybody is free to do what the hell they want to do. But from a fan's perspective, we all know there's some guys that just hang on for too damn long. There's some athletes where it becomes just painful to watch. It's like, why are they allowed to do it?

Oh, because it's a business and it's all about money. And so every single Wednesday night, you probably know this by now, if this is your first time listening, welcome. I bring you a top six list.

I've been doing this on YouTube since 2009. It's nice to bring it to the National Radio Show on CBS Sports Radio. And specifically tonight, inspired by Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady and other people who just won't quit. It's time for a top six list of athletes who just hung on for way too long. Six, five, four, three, two, one. It's time to get JR's latest top six list only on the JR Sport Brief. It is the JR Sport Brief show here with you on CBS Sports Radio, athletes who hung on for way too long, athletes who didn't know when the hell to quit. Top six list.

Let's get things started. Number six. I don't want to say this is unconventional. It's probably highly unlikely that you will say the name of this individual or even expect that I will have said it. His name is Chuck Liddell.

Oh, yeah. The Iceman. I've met him. He's a nice guy, too. Thank God he didn't punch me in the face. Unfortunately, at the end of his career, he got punched in the face too many damn times.

He did not know when to quit. Chuck Liddell is an icon. Chuck Liddell is one of the greatest fighters of all time. Between watching him and Randy Couture on VHS tapes and DVDs.

That's what I love. And then Chuck Liddell decided to stick around a little too long. He got beat by Rampage Jackson and then he continued on. He got knocked the hell out by Rich Franklin in 2010. And then he came back again in 2018 to fight Tito Ortiz and Tito Ortiz finally knocked him out. Chuck Liddell, at the end of his career, won only one of his last seven fights. It was almost eight damn years between losing to Rich Franklin, knocking him out and then getting knocked out by Tito Ortiz. And that was only about four or five years ago.

If you worry about somebody's health, it's terrible. At one point, Chuck Liddell spoke to Joe Buck on Undeniable. And he was asked, hey, man, did did you do this fighting thing too long? And and what about that last fight with Rich Franklin?

This is what Chuck Liddell had to say. He said it might be harder for others to watch that are close to you. I know your mom said that she'd watch every other fight on the card. But when it was yours, she'd kind of hide her eyes and ask her husband, is he winning?

Is he losing? What's going on? And whether it's Heidi, your wife or whomever, you know, that shot from above your dad. You know, picture your kid down there with that shot from above.

That looks like a guy who's wondering, at least for that moment, where the hell he is. It's tough. It's like, you know, taking a you've been doing something for your whole life, basically. You know, since I was a kid, I would always had something coming up, whether it was baseball or football or wrestling or fighting. You always had something. And for me, for the last 20 years, fighting has been my number one goal. I mean, everything revolved around me winning the title, being a champion, me and winning.

And now all of a sudden there's there's just kind of that's gone. Man, I couldn't be his mama sitting down watching this dude get knocked out just basically to end his career. Chuck Liddell.

Yeah, I worry about that guy for real. Top six athletes who hung on for way too long. Chuck Liddell is number six. What's the next number? Number five.

Where do I even start with this man? He wore number 23. He wore number 45. We watched him wear an ugly ass Washington Wizards uniform. His name is Michael Jordan. I feel like the man basically thought he was going to get a piece of the Wizards from a polling at the time, and he thought he was going to transition from upstairs to downstairs to help out the young guys.

And then I feel like they reneged on a deal. And then what we got were were two years of Michael Jordan. We weren't used to. Michael Jordan was playing for the Wizards at 38 and 39 years old. OK, we got a guy named LeBron who's 38 right now.

He's busting ass. But Michael Jordan didn't play for three years. And I give him credit because Michael Jordan came out in the NBA, which was very different 20 years ago. Michael Jordan was out there getting 20 points a game, backing folks down like it was nothing. But like everybody else, Father Tom catches up to everybody. Athleticism wanes.

It doesn't last. And watching Michael Jordan in a Wizards jersey is something that I wish I forgot. I think most people wish they forgot this. 2002 All-Star game in Philadelphia. Michael Jordan had nothing in between him but air, opportunity, and then the basket was there. He went up for a dunk.

And you can listen to what happened. This is Marv Albert, Bill Walton and God bless him, Steve Snapper Jones on NBC. Jordan ahead of the field. Jordan takes it. Oh, he flew it. Whoa. Oh, goodness gracious sakes of that. Michael went back rimmed.

Was the easiest of the two. This is really fun for him. And even the embarrassing moments. Yeah, Michael Jordan. Yeah, yeah, sure. Michael Jordan was he was getting embarrassed and having fun.

I'm sure that's something that he he enjoyed. Here's the deal. Tracy McGrady and Daikembe Mutombo.

These guys were standing up laughing at him. Yeah. Michael Jordan, Washington Wizards hung on too damn long.

Didn't want to see that. Michael Jordan, number five on the list. Who's at this number?

Number four. Oh, he's real familiar with Michael Jordan. They played against each other.

He played in the 90s together. Except for this guy is a gigantic human being who you can watch on television every Thursday night. His name is Shaquille O'Neal.

I don't need to lay out the man's resume. We know what he did. We knew how great he was. But at the end of Shaquille O'Neal's career. Thinking about every damn color of jersey that this man wore. He looks like a rainbow man went from the Lakers to the Heat. And then he gets moved to the Suns. And then he wore that ugly ass. What a burgundy, wine and gold, whatever that crap is with the Cavs.

And then he finished. Looking absolutely gigantic and unfortunately being hurt with the Celtics. Shaq was a teammate with just about everybody. He was a teammate with LeBron. At one point in time, he was teammates with Nate Robinson. Shaq just looked like a damn rainbow.

He was on Fair Game with Kristen Lee and he talked about his final season, which was riddled with injuries with the Celtics. I felt like I was rapping. I didn't feel right. Like, Doc told me when I come in and said, we're not going to need you too much.

Just rebound. And I accepted. I said, OK. I just wanted to try to. I was ring chasing. Be honest.

Really? Oh, yeah. I was ring chasing. They had a chance that year. We did.

And I think if I wouldn't have got hurt and I think if they would have kept Perkins, I definitely think we could have won. I was ring chasing. I really was. But I wanted to I wanted to help Paul because Paul was one of my favorite players and I love KG. So I wanted to play with them, come and do all I can just to help them get one. It'd be number five for me. And that's what I was I was trying to do. I said, OK, I got four.

Just let me try to go play with a couple of teams, stack the deck, see what I can do. Shaq played in 37 games. Nine points, five rebounds.

20 minutes. When I think about Shaq in numbers, I think about a guy going out there just getting 30 plus points and 12 rebounds and blocking shots, three or four of them suckers and being ridiculous, not nine points. You heard the man. He was ring chasing. He hung on way too long.

He's absolutely amazing on television. Last time I saw him, I threatened him to a fight. He still owes me one. Top six athletes who hung on too long. I got Shaq at number four. This next one is no, this one is sad. What number is it?

Number three. Man, I didn't get a chance to see him play, but I could have. That's how damn long he played. He is one of the greatest baseball players of all time.

This man put on a uniform that he had no business wearing. And his name is unfortunately to say, hey, kid, it's Willie Mays. You think Willie Mays and you automatically think about the Giants.

You think about records. I think about hoping and wishing that Willie Mays would say that Barry Bonds is a cheater, but we know that'll never happen. But anyway, one of the greatest baseball players of all time. San Francisco Giants were like, hey, man, sorry, dude, we we can't pay you.

We can't we can't get you no money. This man started off in New York. He's there for the transition over into San Francisco after he serves in the military. And then he does everything you could think of. He goes out and wins MVPs. He wins a World Series and he still wants to play. He wants a job with the team. They're like, sorry, we can't do that. So he gets sent to the New York Mets and things just.

They don't end well. He does get a chance and another opportunity to play in the World Series. And in that World Series on a hazy day where everybody was stumbling and fumbling around. A forty two year old Willie Mays, future Hall of Famer.

He probably looked the worst at Shea Stadium, looking bad, fumbling, stumbling all over the place. And when he finally did hang him up, it was as a Met. This is his message in 1973. With my farewell tonight, you would understand what I'm going through right now. Something that I never feel that I would ever quit baseball. But as you know, it always come a time for someone to get out. And I look at the kids over here, the way they are playing and the way they are fighting for themselves. Tells me one thing. Well, they say goodbye to America.

Thank you very much. Yeah, Willie Mays. Some guys you don't want to see finish their career in a foreign jersey. I guess at least he was back where he started in New York, I guess. Is that a consolation?

I don't think so. Unfortunately, Willie Mays, he probably should have called it a career in San Francisco and not push it by going out and agreeing to play in New York for the Mets. He should have been done in 71, not 73. God bless Willie Mays.

And thank God he's still here. Top six athletes who probably should have hung on or maybe given it up earlier than they did. Willie Mays is three. What's the next number? Number two.

This is just where do I start? How many times is a guy allowed to retire? How many times can you retire and then retire? At what point does the office go, hey, just stop, stop faxing us.

Just just stay home. And when you're done, we'll contact you. Let's let us contact you in a few years. I'm talking about Brett Barr. Three MVPs winning all of them. MVP, MVP, MVP, Super Bowl champ. How many games can I play in almost 300 consecutive games? Hall of Fame.

Yes, absolutely. But this man just he was here and he could never make up his mind. They draft Aaron Rodgers in 2005. The man plays two more years after that. And he says, all right, I'm done. And then a couple of months after he retires, he says, no, I want to come back. And then they go now, bro, we're going to run Aaron Rodgers. You can't come back. And then it's like the Minnesota Vikings are trying to snatch him from Green Bay.

And it's like, no, we can't do that. And then he goes to the Jets and the Jets look great. And then he gets hurt. And then the Jets suck. And then he's sending dirty pictures to Jen Sturger. I know Jen.

Hi, Jen. And then after that, he retires. He tells the Jets, all right, I'm done. And then he goes to the Vikings and then he almost goes to the Super Bowl.

The Saints beat him. And then he has another season where he comes back and he's hurt again. Concussions all over the damn place. The beginning and end of Brett Barr. Retirement, comeback, retirement, comeback, concussion, dirty pictures, retirement, comeback, retirement.

Terrible. Brett Barr and his mom, they pretty much sat down with Graham Bessinger. And even his mom is just like, man, after Green Bay, my son should have stayed his ass at home.

Your mom, and I love her because you read all these articles and she's a great quote. She said she thought you should have retired after the final year in Green Bay. What do you think?

You know what I think? It doesn't matter. And I say this to like when I was coaching kids or to our youngest daughter all the time. I'm like, really? Because people will say and you may or at least heard people say like, if you could go back and you could do, people do that.

And I'm one of those that goes, I don't even want to go there because you can't do it. It doesn't matter whether I should have retired or not. I mean, that's not even for her to say. That's her opinion. But the bottom line is I didn't. That's what matters is what happened, not what we think could have happened or should have happened. That really doesn't matter.

So I don't even go there. Brett Favre has been very open, especially in recent years, about his worries regarding his concussions. And then we know Brett Favre probably has some other things to worry about as he is currently being investigated for, you know, maybe taking funds that did not belong to him, but were earmarked for other individuals.

We will see how that plays out. But Brett Favre, we know. The ping pong game back and forth in retirement. He stuck around too damn long.

He ain't pay off with no Super Bowl. It's the Gerald Sport Brief Show here with you on CBS Sports Radio. It's a top six list. Brett Favre is number two. It's a countdown, which means we have one more and I'm going to share that number with you. Who is number one?

Who stuck around too long? I'll tell you on the other side of the break. But before we do that and before we get to commercials, I got to break you off with a deal. You're listening to the J.R. Sport Brief on CBS Sports Radio. You're such a man of the people. You take more calls than any sports personality I've ever known. And to take words out of your mouth, pardon me, we appreciate you, man. Call in now at 855-212-4CBS.

It's the J.R. Sport Brief Show here with you on CBS Sports Radio. We're talking about athletes who didn't know when to quit. We're talking about athletes who who hung on for way too long. And I'm about to share with you number one on the list. But before we get there, let me give you a quick recap of the five individuals who I mentioned before. At number six, I gave you the Iceman, Chuck Liddell. I have no idea why over the last decade he's decided to, you know, have like one or two fights and get knocked out again. But every time I see Chuck Liddell, I'm just glad that he's he's still able to stand and at least move.

And number five, someone who hung on for too long. Michael Jordan. OK, three year gap after the Bulls dynasty.

We know there was a lockout. San Antonio Spurs win. Michael Jordan thinks he's going to get a deal with Washington. He suits up. He's trying to move the franchise forward by playing. And he just plays and nothing happens.

And he doesn't get a piece of the Wizards after the fact. And nobody wants to remember Michael Jordan as a damn wizard, even though he was pretty damn serviceable. And he was also 38, 39, and he was still putting up 20 a game. And oh, yeah, by the way, and Michael Jordan's final season is a 39 year old. He played 82 games.

That's foreign for the basketball players now. Another athlete hung on too long at number four. I gave you Shaquille O'Neal. By the end of his career, he just looked like a rainbow. All of the jerseys he wore. He gave you a little shade of orange with the Suns. He gave you some wine and gold with the Cavs. He gave you green with the Celtics.

He gave us some some heat, some red with Miami and obviously the Los Angeles Lakers. Willie Mays. Speaking of someone who wore some colors that you probably didn't want to see, I gave you Willie Mays at number three. To start his career off with the Giants in New York to go to San Francisco and help put together one of the greatest careers of all time. Going back and ending in New York because San Francisco could not afford him in any capacity was a damn shame. It's it's kind of weird even thinking about Willie Mays being a New York Met. And I wasn't even alive to see it in person.

You can watch the games on YouTube, though. And number two, an athlete who hung on for too damn long. Brett Favre.

And he has openly talked about his issues with concussions. Brett Favre being a New York Jet for a year. Brett Favre being a Minnesota Viking and almost going to the Super Bowl. And then Brett Favre being a Green Bay Packer. Retiring, coming back. The Packers telling him, no, we got Aaron Rodgers, we don't want you anymore.

It's just it was way too damn much. And so for all of the retirements and the returns, I got Brett Favre at number two on this list of athletes who hung on for too damn long. And if I got Brett Favre at number two, that leaves us where, Shep?

Number one. This is a this is just a terrible story and situation in this case, because this man is one of the greatest athletes of all time. He's one of the greatest and most admirable human beings to ever walk the face of the earth. And it's not necessarily because of sports, it's that he used his platform as an athlete to do amazing things and to stand up for what he believed in.

And unfortunately, he participated in a sport that you do not play, but you actually have to go out there and do. At number one, someone who hung on for for too long is Muhammad Ali. And we certainly saw the effects of of the sport of boxing, the fight game, more aptly called at the latter stages of his life as he developed Parkinson's.

And it sounds crazy. It feels like so much longer. Muhammad Ali has been gone for about six, seven years at this point. He died in in 2016 at 74 years old and even in the mid 80s into the late 80s into the 90s. You could clearly see the effects of Parkinson's and that boxing had on his life. Muhammad Ali turned pro in 1960. His last fight took place in 1981.

He lost three out of those last four fights. I mean, you even had at the end of his career, Larry Holmes telling everybody, man, I had to I had to take it easy on him because I didn't want to hurt him. And we know that he had three years of his career robbed, his license stripped because he didn't want to participate in the war. But come on to watch one of the greatest humans on earth to succumb to Parkinson's due to the sport that helped elevate him is just terribly poetic in the worst type of way. And you have a lot of individuals who are very familiar and knew him personally shared some of these these sentiments and thoughts. David Remnick, a journalist, Bud Collins, Charlie Steiner, they want ESPN talking about Muhammad Ali and how long he just he stayed in the ring longer than he needed to.

And you'll also hear the voice Howard Cosell. You also hear one of the greatest trainers, Angelo Dundee, talk about Muhammad Ali. The only thing that makes Muhammad Ali like other fighters is the fact that he went on way too long. The people who really cared for him pleaded with him to quit after Manila. And instead, he fought five more years.

It was hubris, I guess. And he just couldn't push himself out of the limelight to watch him just get beaten up without putting up a fight. It's just standing in a corner, just being beaten to a pulp brought tears to my eyes.

He's he's ready to go. This must be stopped. It is a sad way to end.

What can we say? We know boxing is boxing is tough. Boxing is tough. And we know we can have heavy weights stick around a little bit longer.

Power's typically one of the last things to exit and leave. Muhammad Ali, his last fight, 1981, he was, I can say, only 39 years old. But when you have 61 fights, you take some of the beatings and wars that he got into with Frazier and just getting beat up, it's still winning against Foreman. Man is an accumulation there. And I think we all know at this point of life about taking blows to the head. Muhammad Ali, the greatest. But he hung on for way, way too long.

But God bless him for his contributions, not to society, but just to the planet Earth. It's the JR Sport Brief Show here with you on CBS Sports Radio. The phone lines are open to you right now. It's 855-212-4CBS.

That's 855-212-4CBS. Who's an athlete who hung on for too long? I just gave you six. Give me some new names.

Tell me some individuals who you feel stuck around for too long and should have given it up. I'm going to take your calls on the other side of this break. You're listening to the JR Sport Brief on CBS Sports Radio. You're listening to the JR Sport Brief on CBS Sports Radio. Hey, JR. Thanks for having me on. I love your show. You're not the typical screaming head commentator. You're calm, cool, collected, and entertaining at the same time.

It's a hard skill to match. Thank you. Call in now at 855-212-4CBS.

It's the JR Sport Brief Show here on CBS Sports Radio. I just brought you a new top six list. Tonight, we looked at some athletes who have probably or probably did hang on too long in their respective sports. And number six, I gave you Chuck Liddell. And number five, I gave you Michael Jordan. And number four, I gave you Shaquille O'Neal. Number three, Willie Mays. Number two, Brett Favre.

And number one, Muhammad Ali. I'm going to get to your phone calls right now. If you want to give me a holler on social media, you certainly can at JR Sport Brief.

Give me some other names. Let's talk to you right now. Richard's calling from Chicago. You're on CBS Sports Radio.

Hey, JR. Great topic. Tough list. I've got three quick ones if you want to take the three in different sports.

Give me two. Terrell Owens in football. He was, I think, 38 or 39.

He's trying to come back now. So, he would be a pretty good pick for a current or recent player. That guy's going way back. Boxing got me thinking because when you started ripping off some boxers' names, I didn't even have this on the list, but I kind of dug this out. How about George Foreman in 48? Yeah, well, oldest heavyweight of all time, I think.

I mentioned power being one of the last things to go. That's why we typically see heavyweights instead of, you know, some of the smaller, lighter weight guys, welterweights, et cetera, hanging in there. But yeah, it became difficult to see George out there as well.

Yes. Yeah, and I thought he was terrific. It's really interesting that Terrell Owens, and you probably know a lot more about this than I, but people are talking here in town about he has contacted teams thinking that he can play at 48 years old and he's trying to latch on to a playoff team. Well, that's unlikely. We've had Terrell Owens here on the show before. I know Terrell Owens.

He is one of the most fit athletes that I have ever seen or been around in my entire life. And I say this without saying it in jest, Terrell Owens could play in the league right now. Can he play a full season? No, no, I'd be shocked. Is it going to happen? No, hell no. I don't expect it to happen.

But he can go out there and still be serviceable in a game or two or three or four, but it's not going to happen. But that's just how it goes. We got a lot of guys and he's certainly a freak. Thank you, Rich, for calling from Chicago. 855-212-4CBS. That's 855-212-4CBS.

We're talking about athletes who hung around, stuck around for too damn long. Let's go to Alan calling from Toronto. You're on CBS Sports Radio.

Hi, JR. I'm going with Rodney Harrison. Dick Buckus II, he was one of the most intimidating hitters of all time. He spent 15 outstanding years, nine with San Diego and six with New England. But in 2005, his career was cut short after three games. And in 2006, after 10 games. 2007, he was suspended for abuse, substance abuse. And in 2008, that ended his career with his thigh injury. But in 2007, this is not going to bring a smile to Brady or Belichick's face, because if he would have been in his prime at his zenith, who knows, things might have turned out differently, but he let two outstanding catches go down the field. One by Kevin Bass, a 54-yarder, and the one by Tyreek Hill in the helmet. By the time it turned out differently, they would have been 19-1.

And he missed 20 games in the last four seasons. Alan, take a breath, Alan, please. Alan, are you still there? Yes, I am. I'm still here, yeah. Okay, you were just on a long roll. I had to try to slow you down.

The only way I could do that was to hit a button. Sure, okay. I get it. No, Rodney Harrison played a long time, and he was also known as a dirty player. But now he's on TV, so it worked out for him in the end, didn't it? Yeah, he's off the field.

He's a commentator off the field. Oh yeah, it worked out good for him. Appreciate it.

Thank you, no doubt about it. I swear when Alan calls, he has oxygen right next to him. I don't know how he does it. 855-212-4CBS, an athlete that hung on too long. Let's ask Lee, calling from Montana. You're on CBS Sports Radio. Hey JR, how goes things tonight? Things go pretty well.

What's up? Hey, you know, I had a thought about an athlete who hung on too long, and you know, a hell of a pitcher. I'm talking about Nolan Rice. He threw one pitch too many, and it was against Seattle, and I think he broke his arm and the pitch was gutted over the plate.

The next thing you knew, four runs crossed the plate. But when you think about the totality of his career, I think the opposite. I think it is still absolutely ridiculous that this guy pitched for more than, what, 25 years, and then he was still a badass.

Like, how? Hell, he could still throw the heater at 95, 98 miles an hour. That's my point. I wouldn't say that he stuck around too long.

He got injured at the end, but I mean, damn, I'd say Nolan Ryan is the opposite. Yeah, I can agree with that. Yeah, I'm like...

But I think I would have probably retired two years earlier. Oh, okay. But then again, I couldn't break a pane of glass with a pitch.

What does your fastball look like? Hell. Well, hell is pretty hot. It would be in flames, so maybe you're giving yourself too much credit there, but... I'm talking about the cold side of hell.

Oh, so it's so hot that it's cold? Right. Yeah, I think it wouldn't even be a little late change-up. Okay. I understand.

Yeah, no, I'd put Nolan Ryan in a different category. Hey, Lee, thank you for calling from Montana. Appreciate you. You got it. No doubt about it. Yeah, I'd put Nolan Ryan.

Stuck around too long. I would put him in the list of athletic freaks. You could put him on a list. You could put LeBron on the list. Put Shaq on that list. Shaq stuck around for too long. He also is one of these athletic freaks of nature. Nolan Ryan made no damn sense.

And he was punching Robert Ventura in the head, which should count for a whole hell of a lot. And speaking of hell, Shep, did you hear this man? Did you know there's a cold side of hell? Did you know that? No, I hope no one ever finds out there's a cold side of hell.

That's my hope for everybody. JR, I mean, Nolan was an athletic freak of nature. He was not quite the same pitcher as the last two years, though.

Oh, my God. He pitched forever. The last two years. I'm looking at the numbers right. He started 27 games and had an ERA of 3-7. What are we talking about?

Well, Jay, what happened to the numbers in front? I mean, he definitely had a losing season in one of those last two. And I understand that he didn't have the best win-to-loss ratio of his career.

That's not a... But win the loss, it doesn't need to be 2023 with some analytics nerd in the front office to tell you about win-loss ratio. Okay, what was his ERA last year? That's one season. One season he started 13 games.

He didn't play, okay? But to have 27 starts and have an ERA of 3-7 when you are 45 years old is freakish. I don't think you can go back in time and go, oh, well, it was an ERA of 3-7. Man, we got these punk-ass pitchers throwing baseballs right now.

These dudes are 25 years old. They can't get past five innings. And, oh, they got a four ERA, and these guys are getting $60 million deals.

Right. Nolan Ryan was a badass, even in a quote-unquote advanced age. Okay, so 45 you would say was his last good year in the MLB?

His final year was his worst year. All right, now at 45, what he did as a starting pitcher, obviously once in every four days back then, compared to what the guy number 12 does in Tampa, you know, soon to be the Raiders, what's more impressive at 45? I would say pitching because arms don't last, man. Yeah. They don't.

They don't. Baseball, you're not supposed to throw a baseball like that. You're not... Tom Brady is throwing rockets, sure, fine. He don't got the same arm that he used to. You're not supposed to go out there and throw a baseball, something that small, changing grips, damaging ligaments. Being a pitcher is one of the most fragile things in professional sports because the mechanics that are involved in it, from your body, your lower body, to the transfer of energy through your arm, you're not supposed to do it. And the fact that he did it, I mean, he did it for almost 30 years, is ridiculous.

It's mind-numbing. And now, you know, football, you can throw. Tom Brady threw the ball 66 times. It's the J.R. Sportbree show here with you on CBS Sports Radio, 855-2124 CBS.

We're going to talk about more athletes who hung on for too long. Goalie gummies get you so close to your goals, you can actually taste them. The trick? Simply start with bite-sized steps, like Goalie's apple cider vinegar gummies with added B vitamins for daily health. Or Goalie Ashwagandha gummies to help you relax, restore, and unwind.

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The trick? Simply start with bite-sized steps, like Goalie's apple cider vinegar gummies with added B vitamins for daily health. Or Goalie Ashwagandha gummies to help you relax, restore, and unwind.

Mmm, tastes like wellness just got a whole lot better. And when goals taste this good, it's easy to achieve them. Goalie, taste your goals. Learn more at Goalie.com today. Goalie, taste your goals. Learn more at Goalie.com today.