It is the JR Sportbrief Show here with you coast to coast on the Infinity Sports Network.
I'm coming to you live from Atlanta, Georgia. Thank you to everybody tuned in and locked in all over North America. Happy Wednesday. Happy hump day. Happy December 18th. Happy almost, well damn it, I guess in about two weeks it's going to be 2025.
Wow. Time flies when you're having fun. But anyway, let's focus in on the now. We've had a busy show. It gets started every weekday, 6 p.m. Eastern, 3 Pacific.
I'm in Atlanta. Super producer and host Ryan Hickey is in New York City. Hey, we talked about Kirk Cousins. He got benched. He spoke. He said there's nothing wrong with him physically. He's just making mistakes.
We all make mistakes. And when you make mistakes in the NFL, you lose your job. Patrick Mahomes looks like he's going to be all set and ready to play on Saturday against the Texans. Trevor Lawrence is having shoulder surgery. He's been out, but now he's out, out. Nick Chubb is out as well. He just came back from a ripped up knee. Now you got a broken foot. That poor guy.
Poor guy. NBA looking real bad right now. NBA Cup people like, hey, where's the interest? They even getting ready to change the All-Star game format or they will be changing the All-Star game format.
We'll talk about that later on in the show. And thank you as well to Matt Verteram for joining us from Sports Illustrated. If you missed a minute of the show, you can always hit rewind on the free Odyssey app, A U D A C Y. You can always listen live, hit pause, all of that good stuff. Thank you to people listening on their local Infinity Sports Network affiliate. If you got Sirius XM, it's channel 158. And if you have a smart speaker, ask the speaker to play the Infinity Sports Network.
So much to get into, right? Now I'm waiting for all the football over the weekend. There is no NBA tonight after they had their NBA Cup last night, which the Bucks won. We have the Boca Raton Bowl going on right now. Western Kentucky is taking on JMU, them ugly ass purple uniforms. A JMU leading 17 to 14 in the third quarter. Picky, I know this was a game that you couldn't wait to see, right? Couldn't wait to see it.
I love both seasons. So yeah, a random game on a Wednesday with nothing else going on. I am fired up for JMU.
I hope they lose just because of that. Oh my goodness. Whoa, the celebrations.
Oh my goodness. Did he get hit for taunting with the bows and arrows? Did he get hit for taunting for that? I don't think so. I mean, football has been very anti-gun and I guess I'm a little bit ahead of you. He's doing it again. I don't think they've come around to the bow and arrow celebration just yet.
Oh my God. How many arrows do you got to get hit with? So bottom line, some guy named O'Neal sacked Western Kentucky's quarterback and while the quarterback is down on the ground, he rapid fired bows and arrows or arrows into his body. How many arrows you think he hit him with? About five of them? I was going to say at least three, four and it was rapid fire. Boom. Shoot. Boom. Grabs another in his pack. Boom. Fires another. In the guy's face.
Pow, pow, pow, pow. In the guy's face. Took a while for an offense to allow him to come over and get it out of the way. And shove him out the way.
You sacked him. Give him one arrow and keep it moving. And even one arrow, like damn. Hickey, that's going to be a penalty soon too. You can't pump lead into the opposition and you can't pump, I don't know, what's an arrow made out of?
Wood or lead or stone? You can't do that. I've never heard that phrase before. Pump lead into someone. Oh, that's a, yeah, that's a, that's a gun. That's a bullet. Yeah.
No, I figured that out, but it took me a second. I'm like, huh, pump lead. Yeah.
Pump lead. That's, listen, let's put it. No, you don't want to experience that. Okay. No, no, no, no.
I like the phrase. I don't like the experience. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We don't want you to, Hickey, if you got shot, I'd be sad. I'd be real sad. I'd be like, damn, Hickey got shot.
Damn. I'd be in a lot of pain. I'd be wondering where you were hanging out at. I'd be like, nah, man.
Where are you, where are you going? Bad idea. Yeah.
Pump lead. Good to know. I'll put that in my arsenal. Yeah. Yeah. Use that one. Use that. I don't know what context you use it over the air, but.
Same or even just with friends, you know, when I say put lead in that guy, pump lead into that guy. No need to be violent now. No, no, I'm non-violent. We don't advocate for violence here on the show. We don't. We don't. You know, we just talk about it. Like earlier when we talked about the guys with the Chainsaw Massacre guy.
Okay. It's a violent, it's a non-violent show. Non-violence here.
It shows all about love and caring and loving each other for the holidays. There we have it. No more pumping lead.
That guy, Hickey, if I was a ref, I'd give that guy a penalty. Or three. Yeah. For each, each, each arrow.
You can't do that. Anyway, it's bowl season. Enjoy it. It means it's the end of the year. Enjoy it. That means we're pulling up on the national championship. Yeah.
We got to wait like a little less than a month, but enjoy it all. This is the time of year where people reflect and they get ready for family and friends and they go to stupid holiday parties or they don't. People get drunk, people break up, they get together. They do all types of things. It's that time of year. You argue with your family. It's just things get wild.
People get engaged. Wonderful things happen. It's the holidays. Well, for me, this is the last top six list of the year.
I know. I, like a lot of people, I'm going to take some time off. I'll be back next year. I'll be here tomorrow and Monday, and then I'm disappearing off the face of the earth. And so this is the last top six list of the year. And so I wanted to wrap things up in an appropriate way. I wanted to take a look at this year, 2024, and I wanted to share with you a list of the top six athletes in 2024.
And because this appears to be self-explanatory, I'm not going to waste too much time. Which athletes have had the biggest impact? Which athletes have had the most success? Which athletes have been the most amazing? Who has had an impact on and off the field to play? Who's been awesome? And on that note, let's play the awesome music. 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 coast to coast on the Infinity Sports Network. It's time for a new top six list. We're taking a look at the top six athletes in 2024.
Success stories, accomplishments, big money, everything. Which athletes had the best year? This year. It's a countdown of six.
So we go to this number six. How about this man just won the Heisman Award? How about this man went from an HBCU to Colorado? And now people are talking about whether or not he's going to be the first pick or one of the first picks most definitely in the upcoming NFL draft.
This man's name is Travis Hunter. This man is the first two-way player to win the Heisman since Charles Woodson. He did that this past Saturday. When you take a look at his numbers on offense, absolutely amazing. Sixth in yards, 1100 receiving yards, second in receiving touchdowns. He had 14 of those in a defense. They didn't even throw the ball his way. He had 92 catches as an offensive player, only allowed 22. He had 14 receiving touchdowns, only allowed one.
They did not throw him the ball. Four interceptions, 11 pass breakups. And not only did he win the Heisman, he was the AP Player of the Year. He won the Walter Camp Award Player of the Year. Chuck Bednarik, he was the top defensive player in the whole country.
I can go on and on and on. He won the award, the Balitnikov for being the best wide receiver. And then on Saturday, what did Travis Hunter do?
He thanked the Sanders family. Deon is quarterback Chidor for changing his life. Coach Prime, Chidor, man, y'all changed my life forever. That one simple phone call, Chidor, look where I'm at. Man, that's crazy, bro.
It's crazy. I'm trying not to get emotional because I know our last game coming up soon. But I'm thankful for both of y'all. Coach Brown, I'm going to whip you on that late tomorrow or whenever we get the chance. But thank you, man. You changed my life forever.
I told you that multiple times. I really appreciate it. Yeah, you want to talk about the top six athletes in 2024? I have Travis Hunter at number six. What's next? Number five.
You want to talk about life changing? Man, we got a baseball player. 15 year contract, 765 million dollars. It's Juan Soto. This man joined the New York Yankees, helped Aaron Judge and helped take them to a World Series, their first appearance since 2009. And Juan Soto said, I hope that Aaron Judge is time for me to get paid. This man batted 288, 41 home runs, 109 RBIs, helped out Aaron Judge, got on base for him.
This was just amazing for him. And then he took Steve Cohen's money. Can't blame him. He said it's about family.
It's about values. Juan Soto, by the way, three years ago when he was 23, he's only 26. He rejected a 15 year, 440 million dollar deal from the Nationals. He said, no. He said, I don't want that money.
Who needs your 440? This man signed for what will probably amount to 800 million, incentives included. Juan Soto, the newest member of the New York Mets.
Generations are getting paid with this guy. He explained why he went to the Mets and said bye to the Yankees. The Mets is a great organization and what they have done in the past couple of years showing all the ability to keep winning, to keep growing a team, to try to grow a dynasty is one of the most important things.
Definitely what you were seeing from the other side was unbelievable. And the bats and everything in the field and the future that this team has, it has a lot to do with my decision. Guess if you can buy a future and give me 800 million dollars, I'll be down for it too.
Sign me up. Juan Soto, he had himself a hell of a year. He didn't win the World Series this year, but he is one of the biggest winners in the athletic space in 2024. That's why I got Juan Soto at number five on my list of the top six athletes in 2024. What comes after five? I can count backwards.
Number four. Oh, man, this guy, he ain't going backwards. This man is going forward, forward as in in two weeks. He's turning 40 years old on December 30th. His name, LeBron James.
Oh, yeah. Why is LeBron one of the top athletes in 2024? Why is I mean, come on, we know he manufactured a situation where he could play with his son is still historically significant.
Good for him. But for being 40 years old, LeBron James is still out here basically dropping what like 20 plus points, eight rebounds, eight assists. He's about to be 40. He took some time off because he was sick of his guys and his foot hurts. But more importantly, how this guy is almost 40 years old and still winning gold for Team USA. He was the best and most consistent player for Team USA during the Olympics. Yes, Steph Curry told everybody night night, he told the French go to sleep. But LeBron James won his fifth straight gold medal and during the Olympics, 14 points, eight rebounds, 10 assists. Yeah, LeBron, who knows what happens with the Lakers? This man is still a winner. He's big time. Let's go back to the Summer Olympics in Paris.
Listen to LeBron James courtesy of USA basketball. I feel phenomenal. We brought that gold home. So we came in and do it.
We did it. So it's amazing what he's doing at his age. I don't know what the lake is going to do in 2025. Not win a championship, but who knows? Maybe by the time we get to this point next year, LeBron James will be on a retirement. So I got LeBron, old LeBron James at number four on my list. Top six athletes in 2024.
LeBron is four. What's next? Number three.
At number three. Oh, this guy is a great two. This man is absolutely amazing.
I think he's Wolverine with these healing powers. This guy's going to play football on Saturday. His name is Patrick Mahomes. Man, if we think about this entire calendar year, not only at the beginning of the year did Patrick Mahomes beat four teams on his way to another Super Bowl championship. This man is currently this season as of right now having a record of 13 and one. Like, what could go wrong for Patrick Mahomes besides a high ankle sprain beat the 49ers in the Super Bowl also beat Baltimore, Buffalo, Miami. And on that run, by the way, against these that the best teams at six touch touchdowns, six touchdowns and one interception is supposed to be the best teams. And Patrick Mahomes just lights everybody up.
Ask the Buffalo Bills. The only way you can stop Patrick Mahomes. Well, I don't know how you stop him.
I have no idea. He's beat adversity. His dad gets locked up. The guy criminals breaking into his house and he's still busting as you can't break his ankles.
You can't do nothing. Mahomes is special. Let's take a listen to Patrick Mahomes from the Chiefs parade early this year. He said this year, well, 2025, we're going for the repeat. No, for real, though, we appreciate everything y'all do showing up there on every single week. We know we had to go on the road last year, but I promise you next year we'll be at home and we're going for that three piece. Don't forget to get it twisted. We're doing it three times first time in history. We do it.
Love y'all. Well, listen, man, he said it. He's not lying the way they rolling right now. Looks like they're going to be at home. No road games, a bye.
It looks like it. Let's see if they could hold on. OK, I got Mahomes at number three on my list. Top six athletes in twenty twenty four. Mahomes is three. Who's next?
Number two. He's speaking of slowing somebody down. This guy got robbed, too.
It is slow him down at all. It is Shohei Ohtani. This man had the first 50-50 season in Major League Baseball history. This man won a World Series and then he didn't help out too much because he dislocated his shoulder and he still played. He won National League MVP.
And I think I mentioned this. He got robbed by his guy, Ipe Mizuhara. But who cares?
Who cares? Last year. That doesn't count to this year. He also got himself a seven hundred million dollar contract. But let's take a listen. This is when he hit that 50th home run ball, which, by the way, was worth four point three million dollars at auction.
Listen to this. This is Shohei Ohtani's call from the Dodgers radio network. Shout out to Tim Nefert. And the pitch coming to Shohei Ohtani. He swings, hits a drag to left. This ball's back. There it is.
Number 50. The first player in the history of Major League Baseball to have a 50-50 season. He is incredible. Shohei Ohtani with an opposite field home run.
50-50. What a day for Shohei. It's crazy, right? And then he won the World Series. And then to everybody's surprise, at the World Series parade.
And I remember watching this on Spectrum Sportsnet. They encouraged Ohtani to speak English and say, thank you. Listen to this. This is so special woman movie. I'm so honored to be here and to be part of this team. Congratulations, Los Angeles.
Thank you, fans. Oh, my goodness. He has to speak English all next year now, right? He has to. No, he's not.
Yeah, I don't think so. Maybe at the next parade. He's like, I'm not speaking English.
At the next parade, maybe. Talk to my interpreter, the one who's not robbing me. Hickey, what's with all these rich guys getting robbed? They make too much money, huh? That and I guess they're so focused on their craft, they can't see what's going on right beneath their nose. Yeah, my home's got what, a 450 million dollar contract plus some Ohtani at 700 million.
So I guess, yeah, people are like, hey, why not rob them? They ain't going broke. It doesn't appear that my home's or Ohtani worry too much about finances. It's the JR Sportbri Show here with you coast to coast on the Infinity Sports Network. I just gave you Shohei Ohtani at number two on my list of top athletes in 2024. It is a top six list, which means we're going to take a break. When we come back, I'm going to share with you who I have at number one. Which athlete is number one?
Which athlete had the best year in 2024? I'll tell you who on the other side of the break. You're listening to the JR Sportbri.
It's the JR Sportbri Show here with you coast to coast on the Infinity Sports Network. Yeah, I'm giving you a top six list. Yeah, it's my last Wednesday of the year. I'll be back in next year Wednesday, whatever the hell day that is. And so I have to give you a top six list of my top athletes to close out the year. In a few seconds, in a few minutes, I'm going to share with you who I have at number one. 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. Let me give you a quick update.
If you're just tuning in and if you missed any of this, the fancy audio, all of that good stuff, you can hit rewind on the free Odyssey app. But the top six athletes for 2024. I'm about to share with you number one. But at number six, I gave you Travis Hunter. The man just won the Heisman, the first two-way player to win this award since Charles Woodson. And number five, I gave you Juan Soto. You tell me that he is not a winner.
I think there's something wrong with you. Helped take the Yankees to the World Series, even though they lost. They got there because of him. Helping out Aaron Judge, who stunk by the time he got to the postseason.
And Juan Soto just signed a contract that can be worth up to $800 million, 15 years with the New York Mets. And number four, I gave you LeBron James. I know LeBron has been dealing with a foot issue. But when you think about the year in totality, especially what he did in the summertime, LeBron James picking up a fifth gold medal. He's about to turn 40, still playing at a ridiculously high level when he plays.
And then he had the honor of playing with his son, even though that entire thing was manufactured. I got to give LeBron credit for what he's doing at his age. I have LeBron at number four, my top six athletes in 2024. And number three, Patrick Mahomes having himself a hell of a year. We know the NFL season pretty much spans from the fall into the winter. But if you think about earlier this year, calendar year 2024, Patrick Mahomes went on a run, four playoff victories to another Super Bowl. Right now, this season as it marches towards a conclusion, even with a high ankle sprain, the Kansas City Chiefs have a record of 13 and one. It looks like they're on their way to securing a buy in the AFC. And Patrick Mahomes, I mean, if they can continue what the hell they've been doing, he might be right. Kansas City Chiefs might be looking at a three-peat.
They would be the first team in NFL history in the Super Bowl era to win three straight Super Bowls. Patrick Mahomes, number three on my list, the top six athletes in 2024. And number two, I gave you Shohei Ohtani. This man's season started knowing that he wasn't going to pitch because of Tommy John. His season started being robbed by his translator and friend, Ipe Mizuhara. How did his season and year end? Well, he won a World Series his first year with the Dodgers. This man won another MVP. He was the first player in Major League Baseball history to have a 50-50 season. Not too shabby. And then he needed a little bit of a surgery to pop his shoulder back in and fix that.
But yeah, sounds like a good year to me. Shohei Ohtani, number two on my list. And so those are five athletes. It's a top six list. Who the hell was the top athlete?
Who was the most influential athlete? Who do I have at the top of the list? Who's this number? Number one.
Number one. It's a woman. It's a young woman. It's Kaitlyn Clark. Yeah.
Yeah. Time magazine didn't get it wrong. And by the way, all the controversy surrounding Kaitlyn Clark all year all year long, even upon when she got the award, even when, you know, she had her interview, even when she wanted to highlight other people in the league, everything she says and does is controversial. And she ain't doing nothing but playing ball. What did Kaitlyn Clark do to anybody?
The answer is nothing but being an amazing basketball player. Oh, yeah, she lost the championship game. How about they wouldn't get there, Iowa?
They wouldn't get there. They wouldn't have gotten there if it weren't for her. How about Kaitlyn Clark drafted number one overall in April in the WNBA? How about Kaitlyn Clark helping to take the Indiana Fever, a garbage team?
Sorry, they were. So the playoffs. How about Kaitlyn Clark in her first year, her rookie year? Not only did she win Rookie of the Year, this woman not only led the league in assists as a rookie, but led all rookies in points, assists, steals, field goals made, three-pointers made, free throw percentage, true shooting percentage. And she did this while averaging 20.6 rebounds, eight assists and a steal. Oh, yeah, and by the way, she stunk the beginning of the season, turned the ball over every chance she got. They didn't let her on the Olympics.
Oh, yeah, here's something good. An eight-year deal with Nike, $28 million. They put her games in arenas all over the country. I went to go see Kaitlyn Clark when she came here to Atlanta, Georgia. They packed that place out more than some of the Hawks games, and she did this all over the country. But there are people who are still critical of her impact.
Black, white, yellow, purple, pink. She's an outlier or she doesn't need the spotlight. There's more than just Kaitlyn Clark. Well, she's the one people are showing up to see what's the big damn deal.
Enjoy the money, enjoy the hype, enjoy the private planes, the Jets. Yeah, the NBA is financing the damn thing and losing money, but it looks like there's some light at the end of the tunnel for the WNBA. And yeah, there are plenty of reasons as to why, but she's the biggest.
It's kind of crazy. This past week, Sheila Johnson, a billionaire, owner of the Washington Mystics. She was on television. Sheila Johnson was sitting around on CNN and she said, man, Time magazine, athlete of the year. They gave it to her. Damn it.
They should have just given it to the whole league. What are we doing? Highlighting her? There's more than her.
What? Last night we read Time magazine where Kaitlyn Clark was named athlete of the year. Why couldn't they have put the whole WNBA on that cover and said the WNBA is the league of the year because of all the talent that we have? Because when you just keep singling out one player, it creates hard feelings. And so now you're starting to hear stories of racism within the WNBA.
And I don't want to hear that. We have got to operate and become stronger as a league and respect everybody. Okay, yeah, there's a couple of things here. Racism, unfortunately, exists everywhere.
It's disgusting. It exists in the WNBA. I'm sure there are elements of it in the NBA. There's elements of it in your laws. There's elements of it in your neighborhood.
There's elements of it all over the damn world. It sucks. It's terrible. It's disgusting.
If you remove that element of it, everything else that Sheila Johnson said was just about competition. Why are we singling out one player? What are we talking about? We need to give the award to an entire league. What are we saying?
How about we just, I don't know. Lamar Jackson wins MVP again. We can't single out Lamar. Let's just give the Baltimore Ravens. They're the MVP.
No, they're individual awards to highlight individual accomplishments. God bless her. And if y'all didn't want to single her out specifically, there's a lot of people who've made this amazing point.
And if y'all didn't want to single her out specifically, there's a lot of people who've made this amazing point. Your team singled her out. Instead of playing at a high school gym, you actually moved the game into DC downtown, whatever the hell they call it now, the Verizon Center. They changed the name so often, I don't know, the one in Chinatown.
Why did you move the game there? Next time when Kaitlyn Clark comes to town, leave it in a 1,000 seat venue, since you don't want to highlight her so damn much. Kaitlyn Clark can't win for losing. This woman just plays basketball. She doesn't respond to the negativity. In her article, she said, yes, I want to use my platform and everything that I have. And yeah, I balled out.
I've whooped the ass on the basketball court. She says, yeah, but also in my position and as a white woman, I want to help elevate the other black women in the league. Okay.
Big freaking deal. She wants to help people. Who cares? Now there are other people who are mad at her for even saying that.
Why are people mad at people trying to help other people? What does it matter? Oh my God, what a world. Kaitlyn Clark answering to the negativity. This is what Kaitlyn Clark had to say. I feel like I always have had really good perspective on everything that's kind of happened in my life, whether that's been good, whether that's been bad. And then obviously coming to the WNBA, like I've said, I feel like I've earned every single thing that's happened to me over the course of my career. But also I grew up a fan of this league from a very young age. My favorite player was Maya Moore. I know what this league was about.
And like I said, it's only been around 25 plus years. So I know there's been so many amazing black women that have been in this league and continuing to uplift them, I think is very important. And that's something I'm very aware of. And like I said, I try to just be real and authentic and share my truth. And I think that's very easy for me.
I'm very comfortable in my own skin. And that's kind of been how it is my entire life. Man, there's a lot of people who like to make money, especially nowadays on the internet, on TV, just just by hate. That's it. They profit off of it.
Just a lot of people that just go, I need to make some money. I'm just gonna be angry about something, find something to be angry about. Well, she says she's white. Now she wants to help people.
Oh, can't do that. Oh, you white being white didn't help you get there. Oh, she's an amazing basketball player. But in her position, she can help other people. Big freaking deal. How about people just help each other regardless of what they look like. That'd be so much nice, wouldn't it?
Not a bad idea. But for what she's done on the basketball court, how she's helped the WNBA, how she's helped herself personally, how she wants to help other people. Yeah, Tom got it right. She's the athlete of the year. And on my top six list, Caitlin Clark is at the top of my list as well.
Caitlin Clark is my top athlete here in 2024. And number six, I gave you Travis Hunter. And number five, I gave you Juan Soto. And number four, I gave you LeBron James. And number three, I gave you Patrick Mahomes. And number two, I gave you Shohei Ohtani.
And number one, I gave you Caitlin Clark. The phone lines are open right now. 855-212-4227.
That's 855-212-4227. In the calendar year of 2024, who are some of the best athletes to have absolutely amazing years? I'm going to get to your calls on the other side of the break. Ask Kiki, get his thoughts on who his number one athlete of the year is in 2024. You are listening to the JR Sport Brief.
It is the JR Sport Brief Show here with you coast to coast on the Infinity Sports Network. It is Wednesday. Every Wednesday, I give you a new top six list. And because this is going to be the last Wednesday that I am on air in the year 2024, I'll be off for the holidays in a few days.
So I had to get this one out the way. I wanted to share with you a new top six list, the top six athletes in the year 2024. Athletes who have had a major impact individually for their teams on and off the field of play. And so if you missed the full list, you can hit rewind on the free Odyssey app and you can get the explanations. You can hear from the athletes themselves.
Odyssey app, it's free. And number six, I gave you Travis Hunter. And number five, I gave you Juan Soto. And before I gave you LeBron James. And number three, I gave you Patrick Mahomes. And number two, I gave you Shohei Ohtani. And number one, I gave you Kaitlyn Clark. The phone lines are open 855-212-4227. That's 855-212-4227. We're talking about athletes who have had exceptional years, phenomenal years.
They've had some of the best damn years, period, in 2024 at least. I'm going to ask Hickey his thoughts in a second. Let's get to the phone lines. Let's go to Naples.
I assume this is in Florida. Let's talk to Larry. Larry, you're on the JR Sportbreeze show.
What's up? Beautiful downtown Naples. What a spectacular night.
JR, great job. A couple of disagrees with you. I would have put Bobrovsky in there for winning the MVP in the finals and winning the Stanley Cup.
I would have probably put in... Larry, he also, doesn't he suck right? He kind of sucks right now, doesn't he? Well, yeah. Well, they're struggling. Let's put it that way. That's right.
Number two. Well, no, wait, wait, wait. Hold on, Larry.
I'm trying to... I've got more. Hold on.
We got a lot of callers here, Larry. Let's slow down a little bit. All right. Let me... Well, hold on. Well, geez. Geez, Larry, slow down. We got a lot of callers. I want to talk to you about the first guy.
You're like, I got more, I got more, I got more. You are. Hold on, Larry. Go ahead, Larry. Give me one more since you don't want to talk about Bobrovsky and the reason why I wouldn't put him on the list.
But go ahead, Larry. Give me one more. I got Simone Biles. Oh, there we have it. Okay.
Thank you. I agree. I was thinking about Simone Biles. I was. I decided not to put her on the list.
Why? Amazing comeback for what she did, especially a couple of years ago out in Japan. She had the twisties, decided not to play. I appreciate her mental bounce back. It's gymnastics.
I love it. Look, people were getting on me years ago. I couldn't believe.
Hickey, I could not believe four years ago. People who can't jump off of their damn couch were destroying Simone Biles for saying, hey, I'm not mentally equipped to do this in the Olympics right now. People were calling her a quitter.
I just don't think this. I think people I don't want to say there's fatigue with Simone Biles. Everybody is so used to her being amazing. And that's why I didn't put her on this list. It's tough. I mean, also, you got six.
I don't think you've listed anyone that you feel like you doesn't deserve to be on it. So now it's just like I said, levels. I think, you know, again, it's tough when it's like a two week sport that no one's really watching outside of those two or three weeks that it's on in the summertime in the Olympics versus full season long athletes, right, that are performing at a high level for months and in some cases, you know, close to the whole year. Yeah. I try to think about like impact, like real, real big impact, impact.
Like you said, you think about year round. Travis Hunter did something that we haven't seen in almost 30 years. Juan Soto just made money that we've never seen a professional athlete make. LeBron James is doing something and has done something, continues to do something that we haven't seen a basketball player do. Patrick Mahomes is in the same space. When you look at his entire calendar year, you know, I can pick out anybody. This guy won MVP, that guy won MVP. But Patrick Mahomes year from December, not excuse me, from January of 2024 to December of 2024. Like it's both seasons, the end of last season, all of this season has just been ridiculous. Shohei Ohtani, he's making history, continues to make history.
And then Kaitlyn Clark making history. So I'm sorry, Bob Roski, yeah, amazing year. And right now he stinks. OK, he stinks right now for the Panthers.
Well, what do you want me to say? I'm sorry. My bad. Hickey, is there is there an athlete that has stood out to you this year that has an amazing year? I liked your list a lot. One that I don't think I would put on, but I think is definitely in the discussion. What about Jason Tatum?
Oh, finally breaking through. I know he wasn't exactly great in the playoffs and the finals, but his career has been much maligned for not breaking through and playing well in matters most. And the Celtics were dominant for really the entirety of the playoffs, for the most part here on their way to a championship. What would you think about like was Tatum, you know, if you had like a first or second out, like, you know, seven, eight, nine, whatever, like Tatum in that banks or was he really for you, like not even? No, I thought about, I thought about both Simone Biles and Jason Tatum.
I thought about both of them. And the reason why I didn't put Tatum on this list, it's that Olympics experience, man. That's it.
That's it. Like, hey, he didn't get the MVP. You could have given it to him or Brown, but they gave it to, they gave it to Brown. And then when he gets to the Olympics, he doesn't play.
And then when he does play, he's, he's shooting the ball off the side of the backboard. And so as amazing as he is, that's why I didn't have Tatum on this list. I, you know, I thought about him. He crossed my mind. Simone Biles certainly crossed my mind. There's, there's quite a few people that cross my brain, but I think there's some common themes here.
The people on this list, they've, they've won big time this year. They've done some things that, that haven't been done, but I definitely thought about, uh, Jason Tatum. Maybe let's see what he can do next year.
Okay. Maybe he just whoops ass in 2025. There will be no Olympics, but, uh, maybe he wins the NBA cup and then he wins MVP. And then he wins a championship.
Maybe Tatum has a Jordan year next year. I have, uh, I have no idea. 8 5 5 2 1 2 42 27.
That's 8 5 5 2 1 2 42 27. Gordon is calling from Buffalo. You're on the JR sport re-show. What's up, Gordon. Hey, how's it going? JR.
I love the show. Um, first time call. The only thing I wanted to add was Josh Allen's name for consideration. Now I understand that this takes into account the entire year.
And of course the, uh, chief's winning the sewer bowl is going to be, you know, included in that, but the year Allen's had this year, I just don't see how I can't be included in the list. I want to get your take. I'll hang up and listen. Thank you. Thank you, Gordon for calling from Buffalo. Absolutely. But he's a loser.
That's just what it is. I know he's having, I know he's having an amazing, we all know he's having an amazing year, but what did, what did Josh Allen do this year besides be amazing and then fail in the playoffs? Did he win something that I missed?
I know what he's looking like right now. He's probably going to win MVP, but I'm moving him off the list. I'm moving somebody off the list. Excuse me for Josh Allen. I'm not, I'm not tell me about next year where he will likely win MVP, right?
Right. January will come. February will come. And if honors will come, boom MVP, right? Josh Allen, will he have a super bowl?
Maybe possibly. And I think we got a totally different discussion next December, but for the year 2024, unfortunately for Josh Allen, it's been full of disappointment. There was no MVP that went to Lamar Jackson was no super bowl. We know where that went.
That went to the Mahomes guy. And so for Josh Allen, the boogeyman that he has to beat and forget, forget being on my top six list, who cares, right? He sure as hell doesn't. His boogeyman is winning in the playoffs and he got to go out there and do that. I love him. I really do.
I want to see him. I would love nothing more outside of Mahomes, just winning all these super bowls. You know, I would really love to see Josh Allen win one. I'd like to see Lamar win one at minimum. They could win two and three. I don't know how many that one of them got to win.
Patrick Mahomes can't win it every year, right? Can't. 855-212-4227. Allen is calling from Toronto. Allen, you okay? Yeah. Hi. Well, you are you sure you all right?
You sure? Sure. Yeah. I have a little bit of a cold, but I got to go. Okay.
Got to go quick. Sam Darnold. He's on pace for over 4,000 yards. And you and I, we labeled him a bust at one time. He don't ever amount to anything. He's a situation. And the Vikings are 12 and 2.
They were 7 and 10. What a turnaround. So do you think, Allen, do you think he's had a better year than Travis Hunter, Juan Soto, LeBron, Mahomes, Shohei Ohtani, and Kaitlin Clark? Well, yeah, because we didn't expect him to have that.
Oh, we didn't expect it. So that, well, what did he win? Did I miss something? Did he win anything yet?
Not yet, but, you know, you could go all the way. Uh, could be, could be. Allen, get better, man.
I think that cold is getting to your brain. Sam Darnold, an amazing year, probably come back player of the year, maybe, but a top athlete of the year? Uh, no, he ain't Kaitlin Clark, bro. Not a top athlete. Not in that category at all. I'm going to get to more of your calls. 855-212-4227. Top six athletes of 2024.
Kaitlin Clark, number one on my list. More of your calls on the other side.
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