Yeah! And I would happen to be JR. I'm coming to you live from Atlanta, Georgia. Home of Thursday Night Football. Thank you so much to super producer and host Ryan Hickey in New York.
Connor is hanging out with him too, holding it down. And thank you to you for listening. I'm only here for one more hour. Time flies when you're having fun.
This show gets started every single weekday at 6 p.m. Eastern, 3 Pacific. Let me give you an update. Bam! Buccaneers lead the Falcons 10 to 7 Thursday Night Football. The New York Mets and the Brewers, no score.
None. Not even early. It's the seventh inning.
They haven't scored yet. Winner goes home. Winner advances. Me? I'm just hanging out, talking about football, talking about baseball, talking about basketball, Kaitlyn Clark, NBA, everything. I got you covered.
Thank you so much to David Sampson, former Major League Baseball executive for joining us to talk about the playoffs. And how about this? In about 15 to 20 minutes, we're going to have a conversation with Norbert Leo Butz. Now, who the hell is that, you say? Well, he's an actor.
Why the hell would I have an actor here on the show? Because Norbert Leo Butz, he plays Bill Belichick. On FX's American sports story, Aaron Hernandez.
Yes, you heard me correctly. This man had to study and learn about Bill Belichick in order to play him on TV. I want to ask him, how the hell did you get to play Bill Belichick? What did you find out about this Aaron Hernandez situation? Well, at least in research, what is this whole story about on FX?
And then what really goes on in the mind of Bill? How did you prepare? Hickey, how would you prepare to be Belichick? I mean, you've got to do more than imitate the press conferences, right? You have to be miserable, right? Don't you have to take up method acting and just be miserable all day every day? Is it that tough to just be miserable all day as an actor? Like, that's easy, right?
No? I mean, on the surface, I guess so. But that's like, to be miserable every day, every waking moment seems tough. Well, Bill Belichick was only miserable when he was with the public, right? He wasn't miserable all the time. I mean, he coached hard. So, I mean, not that that means he's miserable. I'm sure he loved the misery, but I don't know.
It seemed like he was more of a curmudgeon than he was an optimist. Here's an unrelated question as I stare at Thursday Night Football. Do the referees get drug tested in the NFL? That is a great question.
Probably not. Over the past, I don't know, 25 years, every referee is like, like Mr. Olympia right now. Like, what is that about? Oh, you're talking Royce. I was thinking drugs, but some of the calls they're making.
No, no, no, no, no. Not holding. I mean, every referee, all these umpires in football in the NFL, these guys are like, biceps are popping.
They wear referee shirts that are too small. They got necks like, I don't know, who got a big neck? Hickey, go ahead.
I'm got traps. Oh, oh, oh, oh, crap. Oh, no.
Oh, damn. Milwaukee has taken the lead here. In his wildcard matchup, Jake Bowers is going deep against Butoh and the Brewers have taken a 1-0 lead in this game.
The New York Mets are going to have to answer something back if they want to continue on. At least it's the seventh. Hickey, can you breathe? Are you still here? You OK? This team has battled back from far worse. Oh, so you're OK?
Good. I'm like a duck in the water. On the surface, looks calm. Underneath, flapping away like crazy. What do they call them? Fins? No, ducks don't have fins. Webbed feet? Yeah, webbed feet, yeah. Good.
All right, anyway. Oh, hey, speaking of answering back, the Falcons answered back. A 70-yard score and drive. The Falcons answer back.
They currently lead the Bucks 13 to 10. Mooney gets himself a TD. And we'll see if they get the extra point.
How about this? Everybody's scoring at the same time. And there's nothing wrong with scoring. Everybody wants to score.
Everybody wants to win. And you know what? Before we talk to Norbert Leo Butts about the series on FX about Aaron Hernandez, speaking of scoring, I mentioned this and we talked about it earlier this week as well.
Lamar Jackson didn't appreciate a lot of the messages. Oh, crap. Damn, Hickey. I think it was the same spot as the first home run. Is that, you know, I'm paying attention as much as I can. Is that back-to-back home runs? And I think on back-to-back pitches, I believe.
Okay. So when is Butto going to get the Butto out of the game? Well, thanks to Rob Manfred. He's got to face at least one more batter. Oh, crap, man. Here's a tip for you. Don't throw this one a strike, please.
Throw it anywhere but over the plate. Oh, my goodness. He can't hear. He's holding his. He can't hear in his stupid cap. What's going on?
It's probably loud in there. Oh, hey, strike. All right.
Okay. Two runs is nothing. Just like they were against the Braves on Monday.
They've been there. Two runs is not. You don't have no money on the game, do you? No. No. God, no. Please. Then I'd really be dead. Good.
Yeah. Well, let's go back to Lamar. Lamar Jackson, let's be clear.
He doesn't give a damn if you ever have money on any of his games. And Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens, they certainly play a unique style of football. They're going to run the football down your throat.
We saw what they did against the Bills. Derrick Henry, 200 yards rushing. They scored 35 points. Lamar Jackson. He didn't. He only threw for 156 yards. And so there were a lot of people upset that he didn't garner them fantasy points.
Okay. And people get upset and they get mad. And so Lamar Jackson went online and he basically said, listen, people stop messaging me about your gambling habits because we didn't score or throw X amount of touchdowns or I didn't pass for X amount of yards. The bottom line is we got to win.
So shut up and leave me alone. This is not the first time we've heard this. You can go to a game and you could hear people in the stands yelling at the players because they didn't perform or their parlay didn't hit or the players performance cost them money like this is this isn't nothing new. But nowadays, when everybody can just gamble straight off of their phone, the issue, the problem has exploded. You can have a guy sitting up in the rafters who's gambling on the game.
Yeah. Lamar Jackson ain't going to hear him. Lamar Jackson can open up his phone at the end on the way home and just go, man, look at all these ticked off people because I didn't pass for 200 yards.
I mean, sheesh, give him a break. And so Lamar Jackson was asked about that earlier today about the fans who just want a message and complain and whine about their gambling habits. And he said he's sick of it.
Listen to him. I understand we're human, too. You know, we've seen that like we're going to we're trying to win games.
You know, all our life we played football. We got to this the highest level, the professional level to win games and not to help people's parlay. You know, we're not betting on the games. You know, we can't even bet on games and stuff like that. So we're not worried about that. And I don't believe we're going to get rid of our stats either.
You know, we read about the W column, you know, the win-loss column. We're not trying to lose. So we go out there and just try to do what teammates do, you know, try to help each other out. This guy might run someone else on the route to get this guy open, just being team players. And we don't we don't we don't dwell on parlays, but I see a lot of people like to make comments in our comments section in our DMs.
But then when we address them in our DM, they want to make it public. So it's like it is what it is. We trying to win. We trying to win. Yeah, it's it's for everybody.
It's for everybody. This is the world that we live in right now. Like, let's really think about this in the span of like, what, a week? We have a two time MVP of the NFL complaining about fans who reach out to him because of their gambling habits and addictions. And just last week, we had WNBA players running around saying, oh, I'm sick of the the comments and whether it's misogynistic or they're racist. Like we live in a nasty world full of nasty idiots who just pick up phones and cry behind keyboards because their lives are miserable. Like, yeah, they are human.
But what is do we ever become desensitized to the fact that not leave the trolls along? Like, I don't think Lamar Jackson's going to lose sleep at night. I'm sure he sleeps in a very nice bed, very comfortable, very big. Good for him. But I don't I don't know if if addressing this. Makes a difference, right?
What do you got? You got to reference this. I feel like we get a reference to this like maybe once a month from a different athlete.
I don't care about your betting. Somebody tweets that somebody talks about a Lamar Jackson MVP. People talk about it and people lose their minds. I think we need to get to a point. All these athletes have podcasts. A lot of them have.
Thank God Lamar Jackson doesn't have one. Everybody wants to talk, but nobody can take the criticism back. Just just stop.
Picky, is it a birth? Are we are we so far gone that everybody has to have social media? Like, can we have an athlete one day who just says, I don't have any social media? Wouldn't that be great?
Isn't that the show? Hey, have any social media? Yes.
Come on. He announced this thing going to the Dodgers on on Instagram. Remember that? I don't actually. I remember the fake reporting that he's going to Toronto that I remember it was in Japanese. It was so maybe you don't remember. Oh, OK.
I think there will be definitely somebody at some point here, but they will be by far one in a million. We that's that's what we need. We need somebody just shows up and and works and plays and doesn't give a damn what Bobby X and Bobby X. Twenty nine. Fifty five. Forty four.
Has to say about Lamar not passing the ball. We need it. We need an athlete. Wait, wait. Yeah.
Victor, Victor, when Benyama's on social media. Right. Of course he is. Oh, yes. Yes. He has Instagram. Of course he does. Come on. You think? Yeah.
When be at when be air. I wonder how often he uses it. I was going to say, and if someone else is posting for him, does that count? No, I don't think so. Looks like he has a new video up for Media Day. I don't know, but social media has become such a toilet bowl.
Hickey, I started my career on social media. OK. The J.R. sport got started in 2009. The world is nastier today than it was in 2009. People's thought process to say whatever they want with no repercussions. And it's just the world is a nastier place. I don't know if I would want to start the J.R. sport reshow online in 2024 because people are just so disgusting. It doesn't matter who and what you say. You're absolutely right.
It's sad. And there seemingly is no end to it. Like when you are nameless and faceless on social media and can kind of say whatever you want without really any ramifications, the problem is only going to feed into itself. We should have some type of I don't want to sit, but we do like every computer connected to everything has an identification number.
Right. You know, people try to hide it with VPNs and I don't want to get too technical, but like everything you do and say can be tracked. But the fact that there's no accountability, like eventually we have to come to a world. And I know this is the problem with technology, like laws and regulations are always slow to catch up to the tech. Like I can't I can't I can't pass you in the street and just get in your face and yell at you without without you know, I'm committing a crime.
I'm harassing you. Like if a police officer is there, he's he has all right to say, hey, man, I'll put you in cuffs and sit you back here. Like, why doesn't that exist on the Internet? Like everything says we have regulations and this and that. Why can't we step into a world where it's enforced since everybody wants to be so so digital and everybody wants to live in an artificial world where you have a representative here and this and that? Man, we can have laws that regulate these things.
It's just picky house. These people these people are old people making the laws old. I think we learned that earlier this year, but they're old.
That we did. And that is true. I will say I think part of it, though, is just the mass amount of honestly harassment that goes on. Like it's kind of like if you if people stampede, you know, whether it's a whatever, let's just call it a stadium. People break it to a stadium and thirty thousand people stampede the gates. Well, the cops will probably arrest like 10 people. But like there's going to be twenty nine thousand seventy seven hundred people running around because they're just there's too much going on and not enough people there to enforce the law. I think the same thing with the Internet.
I mean, how many people I can only could you imagine what Lamar's DMS most look like on a daily basis? Like, I think there's just too much volume of hate going on to enforce. You would think with modern and this is with modern tech, not like you have you can have filters for for certain things that get said and don't set. You would think with technology and this exists. You can do it. Let's be like, come on, you can do this. You can filter what goes out like you as a company, as a provider of whatever service you Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, like you can you can prevent someone from creating an account.
If someone tries to send a message that has certain words or phrases, the computer is smart enough to tag it and go, hey, this is filthy. How about we deactivate your account? But you know what? It's all big business. At the end of the day, that's what it boils down to.
If you really started chopping off user base, then you start hurting yourself and your own bottom line. But if we don't want to deal with harassment, quote unquote, and Pete Alonso can't catch up with the hickey, what the hell is wrong with him? That's not Pete Alonso.
Who the hell is that? No, that was Pete Alonso. You know, the problem is broken beyond repair. He can't even catch a baseball. Nope.
Was he afraid of the net? Oh, my off the glove. Oh, my goodness. You know what's going to happen next picture. You know it. You know what's happening. It's going to be a home run.
It's going to be a single. Why not? Why the hell not? Oh, my God.
Oh, man. Anyway, look, do you want him back with the Mets or you want him gone? I mean, I want him back. I don't know who they would get to replace him, but who wants him anyway? He's he's going to have no choice but to return.
That's also true. His market has taken a massive plunge. Aaron Judge, he is not. Peter Lons was not Aaron Judge. Hey, the New York Mets got out of it. Thank you, Diaz. Two to nothing. He stopped the bleeding.
Good for him. It's the J.R. sport re show here with you on the Infinity Sports Network. Hey, Tampa Bay has gone up on the Falcons as well.
Seventeen to fourteen, eight minutes to go in the second. We're going to take a break when we come back. Yeah, we're going to have a conversation with an actor. Norbert Leo Butts joins us. He plays Bill Belichick in the FX series that highlights Aaron Hernandez. American sports story.
OK, so we'll have that conversation about a guy who plays Bill Belichick on TV. This is going to be a lot of fun. We'll do that on the other side.
But before we do that, I have to do this. Sports fans, listen up. One in eight men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer and bladder leaks can be a side effect. That's why depend is teaming up with the Prostate Cancer Foundation to encourage screening, because health, it's a long game and it's yours to win.
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Learn more at depend dot com. You're listening to the J.R. sport brief. It's the J.R. sport show here with you coast to coast on the Infinity Sports Network.
Yeah, we got Thursday Night Football going on, but we also have something cool dropping on FX. We all know about Aaron Hernandez, FX's American sports story. And right now we're being joined by one of the actors from this series, Norbert Leo Butts. He plays someone that we're all very familiar with. He's on commercials and all over the place right now.
It's Bill Belichick. Norbert, how are you, man? I'm doing well. I'm doing well.
Nice to meet you, J.R. Absolutely. We're going to we're going to dive a little bit deeper into the series and your involvement and your unveiling in the last episode. But for anyone listening who's not familiar with the series, Phyllis, and we know about Aaron Hernandez, but give us a summation of the series.
Yeah. So there was a obviously the the documentary that was made about Aaron Hernandez. There was a podcast. People have been fascinated with the story of this brilliant young prodigy football player who was plagued by by demons of addiction, of childhood trauma.
The death of a father at a young age, some some abuse. And so FX's and Ryan Murphy have had decided to sort of dramatize it. And it's so it's specifically about how this could have happened to a kid with so much promise for his career and life to have ended way too young. And and it it it poses some questions about who might be complicit. Right. And and this kid's downfall and nobody really gets a pass. You know, the show really is generous and sort of, you know, I don't want to say passing the blame, but, you know, it takes it takes a whole community to. To to to to really bring somebody down.
Yeah. So it's a fascinating look at a at a at a tragic look at a great American sports figure. Norbert Leo Butz is joining us here on the J.R. sport re-show Coast to Coast. He plays Bill Belichick on FX's American sports story. Aaron Hernandez, how did this opportunity fall into your lap to play Bill Belichick?
How did you get involved in this project? Sometimes you just get super stupid lucky as an actor. I mean, you know, an opportunity comes and I think Belichick would say this himself. You don't look a gift horse in the mouth, in the mouth. Yeah, man. I think I've I've been familiar with Ryan's work. I think he's been familiar with mine. The first 20 years of my career were actually on Broadway stages.
He he really likes casting New York actors and Broadway actors. And so this came as an offer to me out of the blue. And I have to tell you, not only I have maybe watched prior to filming this five NFL games start to finish my entire life. I am not a football fan.
I never was. I'm a huge baseball fan. I'm a tennis fanatic. I had my own prejudices against the sport, I think.
Wow. And and when and when my agent called and said, hey, you're high on the list to play Bill Belichick, I had to go remind me who that is. That's how uninformed I was about the world of professional football. And I'll even tell you another anecdote. I think I I was doing a show in Florida years ago called Bloodline, and my costar was Kyle Chandler, who famously did Friday Night Lights. And Bill Belichick was a big fan of Friday Night Lights.
Bill Belichick also would go down to the Florida Keys in the off season to fish. He came to our set one day and everyone was all about, you know, he's here, you know, who's here. And I was like, who is this joker? I don't care. Okay. You know.
But. It is an amazing role and he is an amazing human being with a career unparalleled, I think, in professional sports. So the research into this has turned me into an avid football fan.
And yeah, so it really just fell out of nowhere. And I thought, what in the world am I going to have in common with this, the winningest coach in the history of this, of the game? You know, and I did find some parallels with the guy, especially when he's up parallel.
What is that? So here's what what I look, I knew I was never going to be able to even attempt. To learn, have the kind of knowledge that that guy has of the sport, right? I mean, he's a savant in some ways, right? He is a true football genius.
I think his mind, I was never going to be able to do that with all the preparation in the world. But I read a really interesting biography on Belichick by David Halberstrom. Yeah, it's an amazing book and it's and it gets into his childhood, right?
It gets into his formative years. Bill Belichick was the grandson of European immigrants. I'm the grandson of European immigrants with a work ethic that was that kind of very old school.
Pull yourself up by your bootstraps and and work, work, work. So that discipline. Our fathers were very similar. So our fathers were first generation stoic, authoritarian in some ways. And and Belichick worshiped his dad and I worshiped my dad.
So we had similar fathers. And that was really my in into the guy Belichick will say to this day that his biggest influence was his dad. Steve Belichick was obviously a coach at Navy for years. He was he wrote the preeminent book on scouting that is still used in the sport. He was a scouting genius. Belichick understood that the ability to scout better than anybody was the key to to getting a winning football team. And that data is so complex. I mean, it's like advanced chess, right?
With all the stuff you're trying to take in, you know, what they're running in the 40, the weight, the height, the vertical jumps, all of that data, right, is put into a machine. And nobody did it better than Belichick because he was taught by his father, who literally wrote the handbook on how to find the best players. Yeah, we know Belichick is we know this man is a is a computer. Norbert Leo Butz is here with us, plays Bill Belichick and FX's American sports story, Aaron Hernandez. Your character was just introduced in the last episode advocating for Aaron Hernandez.
We have episode five that that drops tonight, 10 p.m. Eastern Time on FX. What what was the most challenging part? We can all look at the press conferences and say, hey, he was dower. We all know and see the personality when he is not acting as a coach.
I'm talking about Bill Belichick acting as a coach. What was the most challenging part about playing him in the series? You know, whenever you're playing a real figure of a famous person, there is you can't be helped. You can't help but be filled with some imposter syndrome, right? This guy has got legions of fans and anti fans. People have very strong opinions about this guy. So that's the first trepidation, right? Is like, oh, God, I'm never people are going to be looking at the voice.
Did I do this and this and the cutoff sweatshirts? He's such an iconic figure. So the first rule of thumb for me was just to kind of get all that out of my head and just play the Belichick that is represented in this series.
And, you know, we're not trying to get the total man here. These are just those seminal years where Belichick was able to put together that incredible team. In the mid aughts, right, so that that was a real key. I guess the other difficult thing, and I'll be honest with you, J.R., the makeup, the hair and makeup for Belichick was about four hours. Oh, boy.
It in the in the chair and then an hour and a half to get it off. It takes a long time to look as bad as Bill Belichick. You have no comb over and no just know what I was.
It was really hard. You know, the guy has lived on fields his entire life. He has that great weather beaten face. You know, my face is a lot sort of like smoother. I'm playing him at about the same age, but Belichick had much, much more sun damage, deeper lines, and all that had to be done with with makeup. I had to have like I don't have the right comb over, so they had to put a bald cap on me and then put a wig on top of that. So it was a long, long process.
And it's always tough to try to like act when you have all that stuff on you. But I will say that team is so amazing at FX that once they had to pad me, I'm I'm not nearly as thick as Belichick. The guy is just a you know, he's a he's a bowl. He's not that tall, but he's just super thick in the shoulders and in the midsection. So I'm padded.
But when when you go through the works, as we say, and you come out, you look in the mirror, you're like, oh, it's it's really easy to drop into the character. Well, let me ask you this, Norbert. I know it's been one episode since he debuted in the series.
I assume we're going to see a whole hell of a lot more of them as the series goes on, including tonight. Right. Have you gotten any response or any inkling as to what his response might have been so far?
I have not. And I would be extremely doubtful that he would tune into the project. Number one, it's a painful time for him. He truly cared about about Hernandez. And I think he truly cared about all of his players. And I know Belichick, it's a really bad rap for right. Being this kind of like unemotional, unfeeling, you know, task for a thorough taskmaster.
Right. And I think that that is what I learned in doing a lot of research on the guy is a is a was a strategic front he put out. I think it was very strategic. I think it was intentional, that kind of mumbly belligerent, not giving an inch to the press. Yeah, man, it was an intimidation tactic. The guy's favorite book was The Art of War, that ancient Chinese text about, you know, about how to deal with an opponent. And that was his his ethos that were that those were his core beliefs off the field.
I mean, come on. We saw the guy at the Tom Brady roast. You see him in these commercials now from everything I've read about his friends. He's really funny. He loves to go to rock concerts. He's a he's been a great dad.
His kids adore him. Right. Like there's a real human being there. He just was not going to show it. And even the slightest hint of that, because he thought that was a detriment to to his opponents. Well, we we certainly saw all of the winning over what almost amounted to 20 years ago as eight Super Bowl rings to as you can't argue with those. Exactly.
And you can't argue that there was a method to his madness. You know what I mean? So let me let me ask you this, Norbert. You've now become a fan of the NFL and you're going to elicit varying opinions across the country now. You're not a Patriots fan now, are you?
Like, are you a fan of a team? You got to pick one. You know that, right? You know what? I disagree with there.
I don't have to pick a team. I have a cop. I'm from St. Louis, Missouri. And we have a complicated relationship with the NFL there.
Right. So I grew up as a kid. We were the St. Louis Cardinals way back in the day. And then, of course, Phoenix to the Cardinals went to Phoenix and we had the St. Louis Rams. We had some good years there, but we lost our we lost our NFL. The franchise is gone, you know? And so there's a kind of a hole in St. Louis. And I think that's what a lot of people because we didn't have a home team to root for.
I am a Missouri boy born and raised. I guess Kansas City is a team that I think is an amazing team. Oh, yeah. That is who I kind of get behind. It's been a thrill to see this incredible organization they're putting together. That's so I'm going to go with the Chiefs for now. Hey, no, that's their winner.
That makes all the sense. You don't listen to some teams that you don't want. Stay away from the Jaguars, Norbert. Stay away from them. OK, well, I, I appreciate the time, Norbert.
We're coming. It was super fun. No, absolutely. Where can people follow you? Check out the American sports story and Aaron Hernandez for listen. Yeah. Well, American sports stories, Ryan Murphy productions.
So you can see it on FX and Hulu FX. I'm on Instagram at Norb Leo Butts. Yeah. People can come see. I'll post stuff about as the show goes on, I'll post like, you know, you know, behind the scenes stuff and how I did the makeup and all that kind of stuff.
It'll be fun for people to see. Hey, Norbert, I appreciate the time and you joining us and we'll catch you on down the line. Good deal. Good deal. Thanks.
No doubt about it. You're listening to the J.R. sport re-show here with you on the Infinity Sports Network. Thank you so much to Norbert Leo Butts for the conversation, plays Bill Belichick and FX's American sports story, Aaron Hernandez. You're listening to the J.R. sport brief. It is the J.R. sport re-show here with you on the Infinity Sports Network. Thank you so much to our guest in the last break, Norbert Leo Butts for coming through. He plays Bill Belichick on FX's American sports story, Aaron Hernandez.
You can check out the next episode, October 8th, 10 p.m. Eastern. Listen, the New York Mets did. Well, I can't even talk. Pete Alonso just did a three run home run. The New York Mets were on the brink of elimination. One out. Pete Alonso stepped up.
He said, no, no, no. They were down 2-0. He hits a three run bomb. The New York Mets, they lead the Brewers three to two. They have an opportunity to put another run up on the board. They have two outs here at the top of the ninth. They just need to close the game out. The game is not over. The New York Mets have the lead.
They need to close them out. Hickey Diaz has to do it, right? They got to put him out there.
It has to be Diaz, right? He's pitched two winnings already. How many pitches has he thrown?
To be honest, like maybe 25. I did not count. Then the last game he threw what, like 40 to 60 something pitches? He threw a crap load of pitches. Yeah, he pitched two winnings. That one against the Braves.
Now another two winnings here. It's not out of the woods, but Pete Alonso saved the Mets ass. The fans deserve that.
He sucked all season. And, uh, damn. Meanwhile, on the other side of the fence, here down in Atlanta, we've had a real interesting game. The Falcons don't know what defense is.
At halftime, the Buccaneers lead them 24 to 17. There's a few things I need to let you know before we get the hell up on out of here because something like this is very, very important. Like the Dependable Player of the Week, sponsored by Depen and the Prostate Cancer Foundation, reminding you that health is a long game and screening for prostate cancer is easier than ever.
Learn more at Depen.com. Padres' phenom Jackson Merrill. He delivered big time last night, two hits, drove in two runs, and the Padres beat the Braves 5-4 to advance to the National League Divisional Series. Merrill, the soon to be Rookie of the Year. This man is batting.429 this postseason as the Padres get ready to face the Dodgers.
That is in the future. But right now it's time to take a look back at a few things that took place this day in sports history. Back in the days when I was young I'm not a kid anymore, but some days I sit and wish I was a kid again. It's time for this day in sports history. You see, back in those days we had radio and you couldn't see anything and it was primitive and lousy and we liked it. On the JR Sport Brief Show.
I wish I was 50 years younger and I'd kick your ass. October 3rd, 1951. It was the shot heard round the world. You can thank Bobby Thompson. He helped the Giants win the National League pennant over the Giants with a three run shot. Take a listen to this courtesy of MLB. Yeah, the Giants were losing 4-1 entering the 9th. Unfortunately for them, they lost to the Yankees in the World Series.
Hey, October 3rd, 1974. Jerry West, he was 35 years old, 14 time All-Star, won a title in 72. He retired. He explained why. I think that when you set standards for yourself and when you are willing to sacrifice some of those standards then you're not being very honest with yourself.
And I know myself that I didn't want to sacrifice those standards. Jerry West passed away this past June. God rest his soul. This day in sports history, October 3rd, 1995. Some guy named OJ Simpson, well, he was found not guilty of the you know what. Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles. In the matter of the people of the state of California versus Orenthal James Simpson, case number BA097211. We the jury in the above entitled action find the defendant Orenthal James Simpson not guilty of the crime of murder in violation of penal cult section 187A, a felony upon Nicole Brown Simpson, a human being, as charged in count one of the information. OJ Simpson passed away this past April.
October 3rd, 2021. Tom Brady took on the New England Patriots. He returned the Bucks beat the Patriots 19 to 17. Ryan Suckup hit a game winning field goal. But hey, this guy, Tom Brady, he passed Drew Brees for the most passing yards ever in NFL history.
This is on NBC. Over the middle for 27 yards. He's going to be one shy of the mark. They actually moved it one yard to the 14 to actually tie the record. So the record now belongs to both Brady and Brees. For the moment further on that last pass, we are not told that that record has been broken. They're announcing it to the crowd right now. They put it up on the board. So they originally spotted it a yard back game, the extra yard. And there is your record.
Not quite high drama, but not much of a ceremony. I mean, well, Tom Brady, come on, man. He finished up with the 9000 yards more passing than Drew Brees when he called it quits. OK, Tom Brady has eighty nine thousand two hundred and fourteen yards passing.
Drew Brees has eighty thousand three hundred and fifty eight and the New York Mets. Well, they just put up an insurance run. Starling Marte single the right scoring Winker. The Mets now lead four to two. There's a runner on second two outs. The New York Mets have two insurance runs. They got to finish it in the bottom of the ninth.
Let's see if they can add another run. Meanwhile, here in Atlanta, Georgia, the Buccaneers lead the Falcons 24 to 17 at halftime. Thank you so much to our guest and our last break. I want to thank him, Leo. Excuse me, Norbert Leo Butts came through, plays Bill Belichick on the FX show Aaron Hernandez. And thank you to David Sampson for joining us.
Nothing personal with David Sampson, also former Major League Baseball executive, for talking to us all about baseball. Look, I'll be back with you tomorrow. Six p.m. Eastern, three Pacific. Thank you so much to super producer and host Ryan Hickey.
Thank you so much to Connor. Let's see if the New York Mets can hold on to what has been a thrilling comeback. Hopefully a victory here. The Falcons. I don't know about a comeback.
Let's see what they can do. The J.R. sport free show is done. If you missed a minute, hit rewind on the Free Odyssey app, but don't move. Why?
Bart Winkler is coming up next. Thank you, Hickey. Thank you, Connor. You'll be well. Be well. Be safe. Be smooth. Be cool. I'm gone. Good luck to the Mets.
