It is! The JR Sportbrief Show here with you on the Infinity Sports Network. I'm coming to you live from Atlanta, Georgia. Much love and many thanks to everybody tuned in and locked in all over North America. Happy Friday to you. Whatever you're doing, wherever you're at, I hope you're safe. I hope you're well. I hope you're good. I hope you're smooth.
I hope you're cool. Like our super producer and host, Ryan Hickey. Happy to be hanging out with him here in New York City. The show gets started every single weekday at 6 p.m. Eastern, 3 Pacific. You can always listen on your local Infinity Sports Network affiliate.
If you got Sirius XM, it's channel 158. If you got a smart speaker, ask it to play the Infinity Sports Network and the Odyssey app where you can go ahead and hit rewind. You can pause.
You can do whatever the hell it is that you want. And boom, we pop right on up. You got to appreciate that. Hey, thank you to Merrill Hodge, former NFL player and analyst, for joining us in the last break. He is real high on the Lions. He is real high on the Kansas City Chiefs.
How about this? We got another guest who's going to come through and join us. Dieter Curtin Bach is going to come through and join us in about 20 minutes to talk about the San Francisco 49ers. We learned earlier this afternoon that Christian McCaffrey, he might be going on injured reserve. Terrible.
Awful. He got that calf issue, that Achilles issue. It's been bothering him.
Dating back to training camp. He missed the first game of the week this past Monday against the New York Jets. It doesn't appear that he's going to be playing this week and maybe for a month. So many other injuries. I mean, Jordan Addison is hurt as well. He's not going to play with an ankle issue. He's not going to play against those 49ers. As a matter of fact, his head coach, Kevin O'Connell, he told us earlier today, Jordan Addison is very simple. O-U-T, out. Jordan Addison will be out for the football game. He's doing really well in his rehab.
Don't have any kind of timeline on next week or anything like that, but he will be out for the game this Sunday. I get media availability and it's good because it allows us to do our job. But at what point can they just not put this on the internet? And they do and just, we go about our business. Like coaches do so much press conference here, press conference there. This guy is hurt. This guy is, and everybody sounds exactly the same.
I don't know. Kevin O'Connell is not Mike Tomlin, but even Mike Tomlin earlier today, Mike Tomlin was just like, oh yeah, Russell Wilson, I don't know if he's playing, he's questionable. I mean, every one of these coaches is like they read off of a script. Listen to Mike Tomlin. Regarding Russell's availability, I'm going to list him as questionable. And so obviously if his availability is questionable, then starting is less so. But we've been in that mindset all week, man. Like I've said, we've been focused on getting Justin ready to play and we'll continue in that mindset as we push forward toward game time.
On and on and on, over and over and over, the same day over. Every coach does the same thing. It's like they have the same five lines assure everybody that everything is fine, that this player is fine, that this guy's hurt, that he's not playing, that we're going to win the next season.
It's the same thing. Even in college, right before we went to break, we talked about some of the big college matchups over the weekend. And you want to talk about a big matchup.
You want to talk about a team. They can't lose again, right? Like Notre Dame has to bounce back after that loss against Northern Illinois, right? They're taking on Purdue. They have beat them eight straight times. They can't go out there and lose to them. And Notre Dame needs to get it together, especially on the offense.
They are one of the only FBS schools, one of the only Division 1 schools here that hasn't thrown a passing touchdown. Riley Leonard has to do better. The head coach, he knows as much. Marcus Freeman says, he's been exceptional at practice, so I expect big things.
He better. Nobody's roles have changed. Riley's had a really good week of practice, has made some really good throws and done a really good job at decision making, taking care of the football. And everybody else has done a great job, too, in terms of what they've been asked to do.
But nobody's been asked to do anything differently this week than previously. Has anybody ever heard a coach say, oh, he had a really bad week at practice? Has anybody said, oh, he dropped a couple of... Has anybody ever said that? No, he looks good.
He looks good. We're ready to play. Not that I expect that level of honesty, but come on. But come on, man. Just because he has a great week of practice, we think that that's going to continue on.
I ain't betting on it. And sometimes we got coaches that are too honest. They say a little too much. Like Antonio Pierce.
I got to be honest. Earlier today, Antonio Pierce, who needs to be worried about the Baltimore Ravens, I get it. Antonio Pierce is a former player. This man had to fight, bite, scratch, and claw his way into the NFL. He was undrafted. This man won a championship with the New York Giants, helped Plaxico burst when he shot himself.
I don't know if that's a good or a bad thing. I think he tried to hide it and cover it up, but we'll forget about that. Earlier today, he was asked about Tua Tonga Veloa and his head and the concussion, which is now kind of the fourth that we've witnessed or head injury that we've witnessed. And I think Antonio Pierce was a little too, what's the word here? Too honest in talking about somebody else's health, especially while he's evaluating it. I appreciate the honesty, but I would have punted on this question.
Listen to what Antonio Pierce had to say about Tua. I'll be honest. I'll just tell him to retire. It's not worth it.
It's not worth it to play the game. I haven't witnessed anything like I've seen that's happened to him three times. Scary. You can see right away the players' faces on the field.
You can see the sense of urgency from everybody to get Tua help. I just think at some point, he's going to live alone and he's going to play football, take care of your family. Yeah. That's good advice, but I don't know if I'd be giving that advice as the head coach of another team. Hey, I wish him well. We know what this game is.
I wish him and his family. That's it. You don't got to chime in. You got a different role. You're supposed to put your head coach cap on.
You say, hey, I wish him well, but I'm focused in right now in the Ravens. Done. Simple as that.
Done. Hey, Mike McDaniel said as much today. He says, I don't need people. He says, people don't need to speculate about his future.
Listen to what Tua's own coach said. It would be so wrong of me to even sniff that subject. And it's more in line of actually caring about the human being. And that's something that entirely, you're talking about his career, right? His career is his, you know, and that's something that I think I just really, really, really wish I totally understand it.
And it's not misplaced. I totally get how that's where people want to go to. I just wish that people would for seconds hear what I'm saying, that bringing up his future is not in the best interest of him. So, you know, I'm going to plead with everybody that, you know, that does genuinely care that that should be the last thing on your mind. Hickey, that's, that's one way to tell him why Antonio Pierce and everybody is shut up. Like, why are you putting in your two cents? It's one thing for me to have, I get paid to have my opinion and they shouldn't give a damn what I think. But for, for Antonio Pierce and everybody, like relax, like let Toa do his thing.
There's somebody else who had an opinion as well, but I think his supersedes a lot of other folks. Nick Saban, Toa's former coach. Nick Saban was chatting it up with Pat McAfee and he was asked whether or not Toa should retire. And it's Nick Saban.
What the hell did he have to say? Toa is such a great competitor, but I think this has to be a medical decision. I mean, you have to let medical people who understand the circumstances around these injuries, these concussions, when you have multiple concussions, that's not a good sign. And I think Toa and his family and everyone else should listen to all the medical evidence to make sure that you're not compromising your future health-wise by continuing to play football. But I think that's a medical decision. I don't think that's something for me to speculate on, or, and I know a lot of people are doing it and, you know, more power to them, but I think the family should not be influenced by that.
Toa should not be influenced by that. It should be all based on, you know, medical professionals. Yeah, I like, I like that.
That was a nice, nice little punt. He didn't say or lean one way or the other. He said it should be up to the doctors. And that's, that's why Nick Saban is Nick Saban outside of the rat poison stuff.
I don't, we don't put rat poison out there. Just tell the truth. I wish Toa nothing but the best, but I'm still, why am I bothered? I don't know. I just think it's, it's not Antonio Pierce's business. And I don't know if it's part of his transition from, from being a player now to a coach, to a head coach that he needed to, to kind of chime in, but he's in a different spot. Like, if I'm Toa Tongaveloa, maybe he doesn't even know what Antonio Pierce said today, or maybe he does. Maybe people text him about it. Maybe, maybe Toa's doctor said, hey, bro, put your phone down.
We don't know. But when you got pressure from another guy like Antonio Pierce, worry about your team, man. The Raiders suck. Worry about your quarterback. Like, worry about the Ravens.
Worry about stopping Lamar Jackson. You know, share some positivity for Toa Tongaveloa and just leave it there. We didn't need Antonio Pierce advising another player in the league as to what he should do. And I understand you, you're a player. You're in a fraternity. You're, you're one of few to have the success that you've had. But just, just don't do that next time. Antonio Pierce, I think he got a little bit, a little bit to learn here as a head coach. And I think one of those is, yeah, even in the simplest form, like, leave other dudes, leave them alone, especially if they're hurt.
Hickey, what are your thoughts? Am I, am I going too far? And then just like, shut up about other guys' players. I think that last part for me would be like the only thing where I could say, okay, that's fair. Like, don't talk about other players that are not on your team, especially when it's a developing situation where we're still not really sure what the whole ramifications are. But the reason why for the most part, I don't mind what he said and kind of almost like it, it is coming from a good place. Like everyone saying retire is wanting to have a healthy life at only 26 for another 60 years, not see his brain go to motion and just have him suffer because he keeps on playing and putting his body at risk. At least with people calling for him to retire, at least with people calling for him to retire, it's not from a negative perspective, it's a positive. That's why at least I don't think it's the worst thing in the world. Is it too early to be saying that though? Like it makes me uncomfortable watching, I don't care if it's Tua Tonga Vlo'o or whoever, it's uncomfortable.
You know, that's why, I guess it's different. You sit down and you watch boxing. You know, there's, there's an expectation, like it's, it's blood lust, right? Like there's an understanding that you're going into the boxing ring and you're throwing hands that somebody might get knocked out. Somebody, you might see somebody on a defenseless position on the floor.
In football, hey, less, less likely, but also something that can happen. I don't want to see anybody, you know, go down and get hurt. I just think it's early to say, bro, retire.
Every, it's like, everybody's like retire, retire, retire. Like why? Because of what happened two years ago.
Like, like we had this conversation two years ago. Correct. When, I mean, the NFL says he suffered two concussions. I think like three or four.
Exactly right. So it's like, you see all the head trauma that we witnessed right in front of our eyes and like, at least for the first two, where he fell against the bills. And then obviously that Thursday night game when he, his whole body locked up, like that was so scary.
And now you add like multiple concussions. I think now because we had this basically conversation two years ago, even though last year was healthy, it's kind of like, just you go back to where we started from the last time we had this conversation. So if a doctor comes out and says he's perfectly fine to play football, then what? We just, now everybody questions the doctor, where the doctor come from. If multiple doctors say he's fine, he's at the same risk as he was, if this didn't take place, he can go, what does everybody say then?
Fair. I think the tough part is we just don't know. Like we don't really know how CT works, right?
You can't diagnose until unfortunately after you pass away. So it's like, doesn't Antonio Brown say he's an expert right now? He said that he has it, right? Yeah. I don't know.
He got, that's the guy I'd listen to. Yeah. He got a lot of things wrong. Like being stupid.
That's one of them. But anyway, that's true. Anyway.
Uh, good, good luck to, to, to a tongue of a low. Everybody has an opinion, but I'm not a doctor. He's not a doctor. Nick Saban said he's not a doctor.
Antonio Pierce play, but he ain't no doctor either. Uh, I agree with Saban. Let him be evaluated. He is certainly always going to be a case of what's going on. Let's take a look. How's Tua? That's always going to be the case, but, uh, let the doctors figure it out and leave, leave Ryan Sandhill at home. Okay.
Leave him at home while you're at it. It's the JR Sport Reshow here with you on the infinity sports network. We're going to take a break. When we come back, we're going to talk about another superstar. Uh, Tua is one of the highest paid quarterbacks in the league. We're going to talk about the highest paid running back in the league. We're going to go out to the Bay area, have a conversation with Dieter Kertenbach who covers these 49ers for Bay area sports HQ, KNBR. He does a lot.
The mercury news. I want to know the nine is going to be okay without McCaffrey. What does Shanahan do and Purdy and et cetera and on and on. Dieter Kertenbach is joining us. It's the JR sport reshow on the infinity sports network. I need you to think O'Reilly auto parts for all of your car care needs.
Get guaranteed low prices and excellent customer service from the professional parts people at O'Reilly auto parts. Dieter Kertenbach on the other side. Don't move. You're listening to the JR sport brief. Oh yeah. I impress myself every day.
I do. 8 5 5 2 1 2 42 27. That's 8 5 5 2 1 2 42 27. Dieter Kertenbach is going to come through and join us in a few minutes to talk about these San Francisco 49ers. We learned earlier today that Kyle Shanahan is looking at Christian McCaffrey and he is like, he ain't playing. Not playing on Sunday. He's not playing against the Vikings and damn it. He may not play for a whole month as we are seriously considering putting him on injured reserve. Listen to what Kyle Shanahan had to say earlier today.
Something we're considering now. Yeah. Yesterday was his worst day.
It's on and off, but with yesterday having the most pain, something we're going to be discussing here the next 24 hours. Listen, we know, we know which teams are the best of the best. I don't care that Christian McCaffrey. It'd be nice. Of course you want to see the players out there. You want to see everybody at full health. It'll never happen, but there are a few teams that you, you look at and it's like, listen, if you're going to get hurt, if you're going to be injured, do it now. If you're going to get hurt, if you're going to be injured, do it now. Like I want to see teams at full strength in the post season. Not that I'm wishing this on anybody and people in Buffalo are going to curse me the hell out. But if Josh Allen ever needed, they'd be hurt.
Not that needed, but if he was going to be hurt, be hurt now. I mean the Buffalo Bills playoff chances would be cooked, but ultimately you want him, you need him for the post season. I think about Christian McCaffrey. This is very different than the Buffalo Bills.
Their offense is stacked. If Christian McCaffrey needs to take a little bit of a break because they don't need him, then so be it. Why rush him back if he's been dealing with a calf injury, dating back to training camp. Ain't no rush there. Lamar Jackson. Come on now.
We've seen this one before. Lamar Jackson goes through the year. Lamar Jackson gets tired. Lamar Jackson goes into the post season. Lamar Jackson goes down and poof. Leg injury.
Head injury. No Lamar Jackson in the post season. That's not what we want to see. And so for Christian McCaffrey for a stacked 49ers team, put them on injured reserve. Let's see if Jordan Mason can go out there and run wild.
One thing you also need to do is keep Jordan Mason away from the microphone. He's spilling all the beans. Christian McCaffrey was going to be out.
I knew I was going to play from Friday. And nobody needs to hear that. And too many dudes running around that are just... Hickey, it's a matter of inexperience. It's loose lips. Antonio Pierce, first year full-time head coach, talking about other players. Jordan Mason throwing his own team under the bus. Just shut up next time.
Simple as that. Since Bill Belichick loves just taking on any job offered to him, maybe he could be like a PR rep for every team and go through some coaching on how to avoid stepping in it. The Art of Saying Nothing by Bill Belichick. And now all he does is talk and talk and talk and talk and talk some more. Ironically, Bill Belichick, he hasn't met a microphone.
He hasn't met a show that he doesn't like. Bill Belichick is doing five different programs. And Bill Belichick doesn't know how to stop. And Bill Belichick is sitting on inside the NFL. And he's doing the Manning cast.
And he's chatting with Pat McAfee. And there continues to be all types of word that Bill Belichick, he's going to still try to coach next year. And the funny rumors, and they are rumors, is that Bill Belichick might actually entertain the New York Giants in a way the Giants are looking.
Come on now. Think Brian Deball is going to keep his job? You think Daniel Jones is going to keep his job? If you're the New York Giants, are you going to bring in a Bill Belichick who ultimately is going to want to run everything? Probably not.
Not by any stretch of the imagination. But when you think about the media availability of all these players and opportunities and everything that they do, sometimes you've got to learn and master the art of saying nothing. It's the Gerald Sport re-show here with you on the Infinity Sports Network. It's time for us to have a conversation with someone who has a lot to say.
Coming to us via the Bay Area News Group. He does everything on radio, online, the web, and more. It is Dieter Kurtenbach. Dieter, how are you? I'm doing well. Well, better than Christian McCaffrey right now.
I guess that puts me in a camp with so many people. Well, let me ask you this, Dieter. We heard from Kyle Shanahan. He's not playing against the Vikings. He might go on injured reserve. Is this that big of a deal because the Niners offense is so stacked?
What do you think? Well, it's not a big deal right now. But this is the National Football League.
I love saying that. The National Football League. It makes me sound like a real football guy. One play, everything can change.
You don't want to be in a situation where you're playing from behind. Not just in a game, but when you're talking about your roster. The 49ers are starting the season. They've started the season now without one of their key players. They don't know when they're going to get one of their key players back. Jordan Mason was magnificent on Monday night. Every team that the 49ers face, so long as Christian McCaffrey is out is going to dare Jordan Mason and the 49ers offensive line to do it again.
And he's not going to be able to do it again. I presume maybe we'll find out against every team. Not every team is going to be so movable as the jet on Monday night. And it's just also the fact of if you're a running back in the NFL, Jordan Mason had 28 carries on Monday night football. If you're a running back in the NFL, it's the harsh reality. You're going to be in that blue test for at least a series, whether you want to be or not.
And you don't know when it's coming. And the 49ers are down to Mason, their third string running back. I think people overlook this because he was the guy who got the job, but Christian McCaffrey missed all of training camp. The 49ers put Elijah Mitchell, the backup running back on IR at the end of training camp. Jordan Mason was the third string back, and that is an incredible amount of talent to have on your third string. But there are points of diminishing returns to be sure.
Once you get down to four, five, six, who the heck knows how deep you have to go. From behind right now, we don't know how long it's going to be before Christian McCaffrey comes back. And you just hope that Jordan Mason can continue to do what he's done, which has been fantastic through one game, and that he stays on the field. That's the most important thing now because after Ben's a guy who didn't even start in college last year and he's a rookie coming into the league, Isaac Corinto.
And so let me ask you this, Dieter. You mean to tell me that Jordan Mason is not going to be the running back version of Brock Purdy? That's not happening? I'm not saying he won't be. I'm just saying that it's not terribly likely. What we saw on Monday night, I'm not saying it's separation. I'm not. I'm just saying that that cannot be the game plan week in and week out.
It was just inside zone, outside zone. And I don't know if it's Minnesota this week. I don't know if it's the rest of the next week or the New England.
Somebody is going to get wise to run in this thing. And the 49ers are going to have to make some adjustments. And it's a lot easier to make an adjustment when you have Christian McCaffrey who can do everything on a football field than it is to do with Jordan Mason, your third string running back. Yeah, Dieter Kurtenbach is joining us from the Bay Area News Group. Minnesota Vikings, that is the next team that is up on the docket here. They certainly had a good showing and a good game against the New York Giants, which I don't think is a difficult thing to do. What are your thoughts on these Niners taking on the Vikings? Are you expecting them to go another 2-0? I think, yeah. I think the sportsbooks say the same thing, right?
Six-point favorites with Minnesota playing at home. That's telling. But man, it's a head coach in the quarterback league and the Vikings have a really, really good head head coach in Kevin O'Connell and Sam Darnold. I don't know what he is. I don't think we found out that much about Sam Darnold last week.
Other than he has a really good coach who made it look easy for him and he took advantage of every opportunity given. They got Justin Jefferson and Aaron Jones on that team right now. To overlook the Vikings, if you're the 49ers, is to just set yourself up for failure. That place is going to be loud.
It gets crazy loud in that dome. And the 49ers, short week, traveling cross country, 10 a.m. body clock. I think that the Niners have certainly enough talent to win it.
And it comes down to brass tacks. We're talking Brock Purdy versus Sam Darnold. I know exactly who you take in that scenario.
It's Brock Purdy. But yeah, I kind of like the Vikings to cover. I feel like the Vikings are a little more a little more feisty than this six points at home underdog line would suggest. So I'm expecting a pretty good game. If nothing else, you're going to have two well coached teams going at it. That's the kind of NFL I like to watch.
And I didn't see a lot of that last weekend. Dieter Kurtenbach is joining us here coast to coast. The J.R. sport re-show. You talk about the dynamic weapon of Justin Jefferson on the Minnesota Vikings. The 49ers, they've had to deal with another injury dating back to last year. Talano Hufanga, you know, dealing with that ACL. People are waiting on him to come back and help on the defense. Is it likely that we might see him make a debut? Are they going to hold him out a little longer? No, he's going to be held out.
And that's the smart thing to do. The Niners are not in a position to they don't need to rush him back. Kind of like with Christian McCaffrey, right? If Jordan Mason went out and had a terrible game on Monday Night Football, I mean, I'm not stating, you know, they kept using the line.
Well, if the playoffs started today, there's a level of desperation in play. When you're rushing guys back from injury, the Niners don't feel any of that right now because they have so much talent. And I think that applies to the defense as well. They feel pretty good about George Odom, the guy who stood in as a strong safety. They feel really good about second year player Jair Brown, who's standing in at their pre-safety this year. And above all that, they feel really good about Nick Sorenson, their new defensive coordinator and his top assistant Brandon Staley, former Chargers coach.
And I think they have every reason to feel good about it. We saw what they did to Aaron Rogers and the Jets. They had Breeze Hall looking like some, I guess, Jordan Mason, maybe actually not because Jordan Mason looked a lot better than Breeze Hall on Monday Night Football. Breeze Hall, the hell of a player. He had, you know, Garrett Wilson on the clamps. I just think that the Niners should feel really good about their defense and they don't need to rush anybody back, especially to you look at their schedule.
This is the soft part of it. What they need is guys to be ready. When we're talking Halloween to Thanksgiving, we're talking week six, Thursday night football against Seattle, followed by a game of Kansas city and Dallas. We're talking about the week of Thanksgiving. You go at Green Bay and you know, Green Bay is going to be fighting for its life, probably with Jordan Love back by then. Then you go home for Thanksgiving. Then you get back on a plane, you go to Buffalo, New York, and you get to play Josh Allen.
That's no fun. Anyone can tell you that the Niners got a hellacious, hellacious travel schedule. They have a hellacious back end to the schedule. The perks of being a first place team are on full display. Guys can take their time and getting back into the fold because again, even without Tala, no Hufanga, even without Christian McCaffrey guys that you will need down the stretch, don't get me wrong.
You will need them. But even without those guys, six point favorites going into Minnesota this week, I think that tells you everything you need to know about how talented this 49ers roster is. Dieter Kurtenbach is joining us here from the Bay Area News Group.
You know, last hour we had a conversation with Merrill Hodge. I asked him his thoughts on the 49ers and he said, yeah, they'll be good. But he seemed a little bit higher on the Detroit Lions. What are your thoughts as to how things will boil down here in the NFC? I think there's a lot of reasons to like the Detroit Lions. I really do. Clearly, they are the second best roster, if not the best roster in the NFC this season.
I think you can make a case for the Philadelphia Eagles as well to be in that conversation as they've been in that conversation for the last couple of years. But here's what it comes down to. And it feels so simplistic and honestly casual. But the fact of the matter is, it always comes down to this. It's head coaches and quarterbacks. And the 49ers have Kyle Shanahan and Brock Purdy. Say what you will about Brock Purdy, but he processes the game as well as anybody.
He can deliver some big time throws, particularly in good situational football scenarios. You saw what happened in the NFC Championship game. Jared Goff had a chance to just win the game. Just carry him home, Jared, and he fell apart. You saw what happened, and I hate to speak of the recently injured here. You saw what happened with Jordan Love the week before that in the NFC playoffs.
Just carry us home, Jordan. One of the worst interceptions you'll ever see to lose to the 49ers on the final play of that game. You've seen what has happened with Nick Sirianni. What does he even do on the sidelines, JR? I don't know who he's talking to. He always looks like somebody's cussing him out on the headset. He doesn't seem to talk to anybody.
I don't know what he does. His quarterback can't seem to stand him, according to the ESPN reports. That's a hot mess, and I'm not going to buy into a head coach and quarterback relationship that seems...
They're button heads. They can't even be in the... Well, they get along right now. That's what they say.
Yeah, well, that's what I would say, too, if I had 16 more games to play. I got some coworkers I put up with as well, but that doesn't mean that we're going to get to where we need to go. That doesn't mean that everything's a-okay and we're still going to put together the best newspaper or the best radio station known to man. You want chemistry. You want cohesion. You want the quarterback and the head coach to be on the same page through and through.
Maybe that's the case in Detroit, but I just like the 49ers quarterback better. And I think when it's all said and done, that's what it comes down to. Head coach and quarterback, I'll take Brock Purdy over Jared Dopp every day and twice on Sunday. Okay.
Hey, final question for you, Dieter. You talk about your confidence in Purdy. We saw what just happened down in Dallas with Dak Prescott. $60 million. What's that number looking like for Brock? You think he's going to sit in that same boat or is he going to go past him? I'll tell you, man.
Inflation's out of control. And if you got Dak Prescott out here, a guy who... When was the last time the Cowboys played in an NFC championship game? Uh-oh. It's been 20 years. Uh-oh, okay. More than that. I think Dak Prescott's a hell of a football player. And I'm not arguing that he shouldn't get the money because you're seeing some guys who aren't very good at football getting just as much money. I could look over in Cleveland.
I can look at what her cousins just did this past weekend. He looks like he's... Man, I mean, he's a shell of his former self, and it's somewhat to be expected, but that Michael Pennix pick looks a lot more sane now that you see Kirk Cousins out there not being able to move around in the pocket. And so this is the cost of competence, and that's what Dak Prescott gives you, plus a little bit more. And that's certainly what Brock Purdy, who was fourth in MVP voting, gives you as well. He's making himself a whole lot of money, and good for Brock because currently he's making as much as Skylar Thompson.
And we all know that those two things are not the same. So Brock's been having to get by on some... I guess this would even be considered middle-class wages in the Bay Area. He's about to go into that upper echelon for sure.
He can buy any house he wants, probably buy 10 of them when he's getting 60, $65 million a year from the 49ers at the end of this campaign. Nice jump from a 900,000 to 60 mil. I'll take it, man.
I'll take the 900 too if you can give it to me. But it's good to be a good quarterback, that's for sure. And no doubt about it. Well, it's good to be chatting with you, Dieter. Where can people follow you and all of your work at the Bay Area News Group?
Fill us in, man. If you want to dive into the muddy waters of X, I'm over there at Dieter, D-I-E-T-E-R, Dieter and Hutch Show, KMBR Radio, San Jose Mercury News, East Bay Times. I'm out there.
You can find me. My game is very Googleable. Googleable?
I like that. G-O-O-G-L-E-A-B-L-E. Googleable. I said it. I never said I'd spell it. Yeah, I tried. I think I spelled it okay.
It's the JR Sport Region. I tried, Dieter. Hey, Dieter, I'll catch you on down the line, okay? Hopefully, we won't be talking about hurt guys.
That sounds like a plan, Jay. My main man, Dieter Kertenbach from the Bay Area News Group. You're locked into the JR Sport Region here with you on the Infinity Sports Network. You know, let's stay out west because yesterday I wasn't here, unfortunately, and we had some big news affecting the west, specifically the Pac-12. I want to get in on who's coming, who's going, and how they have graduated from two to six. You're listening to the JR Sport Brief.
It's the JR Sport Brief Show here with you on the Infinity Sports Network. Thank you so much to Dieter Kertenbach from the Bay Area News Group for joining us in our last break. 855-212-4227. That's 855-212-4227. I need you to thank O'Reilly Auto Parts for all of your car care needs.
You're guaranteed low prices and excellent customer service from the professional parts people at O'Reilly Auto Parts. You know, I wasn't here yesterday, unfortunately, but I'm back today and I'll be back on Monday as well. Now, while I was out, I did get a chance and an opportunity to check in on some of the football action and some of the news that came down the pipe yesterday. Earlier in the day, we learned that the Pac-12, which is currently two, is going to be adding four schools from the Mountain West. And that news, it came down yesterday.
And I want you to take a listen as CBS Sports HQ came through and told us about it. We have some breaking news in college sports. The Pac-12 has officially added four schools this morning. The Pac-12 was left with just two teams after the last round of realignment. But they're adding Boise State, Fresno State, Colorado State and San Diego State, starting with the 2026-27 academic year. They will join Oregon State and Washington State in the new look Pac-12. So here is what things look like. Now, keep in mind, per NCAA rules, the Pac-12 has now two years to get back to the minimum of eight teams. And that clock is ticking. These moves also take the conference of the Mountain West down to eight teams.
Here we go with the moving again. OK, we already have Oregon and Washington. They left to go to the Big Ten, Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah. They went to the Big 12. Right now, the Pac-12 is down to two. By the time we get to 2026, they will graduate to six teams. They're still not a Pac-12. They are Pac-6. And so what what happens to the West now?
I have no idea. Outside of the Mountain West getting paid a lot of money because the Pac-12 decided to steal its teams. This is crazy. So the Pac-12 is going to exist. The SEC is going to exist. The ACC is going to exist. The Big Ten is going to exist. The 12. So what happens? Do we get a consolidation of the Mountain West and the the the Big 12? Like hickey how the hell is all this combined, man?
What is this? That's a great question. The big sky. Maybe they eat up some of the Mountain West. Maybe it would get a merging of two.
Somebody gots to go. We went from a power five to a power four. I don't know.
We're going to stick at power four because now I don't know. Consolidation is on the way. Yeah, these teams for the new Pac-12, they make you feel any kind of way? No.
Like the Pac-12 is back? No. No. No, they don't. No.
No. Boise State. San Diego State. I think San Diego State.
I think basketball. Colorado State. No. No. Sorry. Fresno State. No.
Sorry. And then we got away two years. 2026. Each school has to pay $17 million. They have to pay a $17 million exit fee to leave. And then a Pac-12 has to pay the Mountain West $43 million directly for stealing its teams.
Just more of a shell game as they continue on. That was the big college football news early yesterday. But then last night we had, this is what you call abuse. This is terrible. South Alabama, the Jaguars beat Northwestern State, the demons. Your name is the demon.
I thought you'd be good. How is this even possible? They beat them 87 to 10. How they put up a basketball score against a football team?
I have no idea. Listen to these highlights from ESPN. The Hunch team punt will be fielded by Pritchett and the 39 yard line makes a move up to the 44 up to the 45. Jamal Pritchett has plenty of speed and he's got some room down the sideline. Jamal Pritchett no flags anywhere and he is gone. It'll be the direct snap to Bothwell.
Nobody touches him. Touchdown South Alabama. Hawkins throws left side tipped. Intercepted. This could be a pick six and it is.
McDurr right side. Jarvis Durr touchdown South Alabama. situations where the Jags have not been putting it in the air in the fourth quarter. They've just been running right at them and Northwestern State has no answer.
In Northwestern State representing the Southman conference. Where's the, why don't we have a mercy rule? Well, there sort of is. Did you see what they did in the fourth quarter? No. What? They shortened the game by six minutes. Who decided that? Apparently both coaches agreed. I don't know how they got to six minutes, but I mean, think about it.
They played a full fourth quarter. They could have got to 100. Oh my God. At that point, you got to go for it, right? 100, 100. No, that's demoralizing. Get to triple digits. See if the scoreboard can reach that high.
You're playing football, right? You're 21 years old, 22, 18. Well, however, you're probably in your early twenties. 26 in some cases. 26 in some cases. 29. Okay.
All right. We don't want to talk about the guys who have gotten five extra years of COVID eligibility. What story do you tell on a Saturday night when you're asked, Hey, you played college football. Yeah, yeah, I did. What's your biggest memory? Like, do you sit around and joke about that? Listen, man, I was on a team. We lost 87 to 10. What? You could score 87 points at a football game.
Yeah, we gave up 87. Is that something that you just joke about? Or is that something you want to avoid as an adult? No, I think you have to joke about it.
You have to laugh to avoid crying. Yeah. I was so bad.
It's good. I was once on a team. We gave up 87 points. Wow. Wasn't a hundred. Look, that'd have been something.
A hundred would have been a better story. You're right. These guys are going to go through the season. They're oh, and three right now. Good luck to the Northwestern state demons.
87 to 10 in a football game. Embarrassing and sad. Joke about it later, but I think last night they were crying.
I think that much would be true. It's the JR sport re-show here with you on the infinity sports network. We're going to take a break. When we come back on the other side, there are even wilder stories that took place in college football.
We had a guy in Boulder, Colorado. There's a guy who made big news, not named Deion Sanders. We'll get into that next hour.
There's so many injuries in the NFL. I'm going to give you a rundown on everything going on. And of course, we're going to go back in time. This day in sports history is the JR sport re-show on the infinity sports network.
