It is the JR Sportbreeze show here with you coast to coast on the Infinity Sports Network.
Happy Monday. I'll be hanging out with you for the next two hours. This is a four hour show. I get started every weekday 6pm Eastern 3 Pacific.
I'm in Atlanta, Georgia. I'm being joined by super producer and host Ryan Hickey in New York City. Man, we have talked about a lot. We got people with opinions on Mike Tomlin. I say Mike Tomlin needs to stay.
Hickey says that he needs to go. In about 20 minutes we'll have a conversation with Mike DeFabo from The Athletic. He covers the Steelers.
I'm going to get his thoughts on what changes we can expect in the Steel City. We got the Rams and the Vikings getting ready to kick off in a matter of minutes. Our final wild card game of this weekend.
I guess it's not the weekend anymore, but you get what the hell I'm saying. Mike Vrabel introduced as the new head coach of the Patriots. Mike McCarthy out as head coach of the Dallas Cowboys.
We have talked about a lot. If you've missed a minute, hit rewind on the free Odyssey app. Thank you to people listening live on their local affiliates. Sirius XM 158. You can ask a smart speaker to play the Infinity Sports Network. Oh yeah, and by the way, much love to everybody watching on YouTube. Yeah, you can watch the YouTube stream. Just search the Infinity Sports Network. And then you can watch the stream and look at me sit in the studio and look at Hickey and talk to us.
It's it's great. You can talk to us too. Yeah, plenty of people call up 855-212-4227.
That's 855-212-4227. Find me online. I'm on the Internet. I am at JR Sport Brief.
That's at JR Sport Brief everywhere on social media. We're getting ready to see who's going to take on the Eagles. In the divisional round of the postseason Rams and Vikings getting ready to kick off in a neutral territory in Glendale, Arizona. We know the Los Angeles Rams had to pretty much move to to AZ because of the fires out in Cali. NFL making that decision last week and Hickey.
We were talking about this in the break. I'm pleasantly surprised at how filled the stadium is right now. It's I don't know what the upper deck looks like, but as you mentioned, the lower bowl is is full and for a game that was just changed last week. This is this impressive and it looks like it's a lot of Rams fans too.
If you had no idea about the situation, the circumstances, you just turn the TV on. You are talking normal playoff game. You know, crowds there looks pretty energized like this is just a normal home playoff game.
Nothing unusual about it. Yeah, and the field is painted is is the blue and yellow of the Rams fans addressed. This is the most road ish home game ever. And I said, I'm going to give the Minnesota Vikings a slight edge here in this game, which is I just I believe is going to be back and forth.
We got we got some of the best wide receivers in the game playing here from Justin Jefferson Pukanukua. This is going to be a fun one. This is going to be an interesting one. And I don't know anything but the NFL that could just say, yeah, we're going to move a game. I don't know, seven hours away and the place is packed. Like, I think the Rams said they sold fifty two thousand tickets on the first day.
This is crazy. The game was moved on Thursday. They practiced on Friday. They practiced on Saturday. I don't know. Maybe this will be emotionally draining for the Rams. They had to bring their families out. And this is this is nuts.
You can't make this stuff. What can the NFL do or what can't they do if they scheduled the game tomorrow? Would people be there somewhere?
Absolutely. They could if they schedule internationally. I bet you people that place would be like 70 percent full.
Oh, my God. I think the upper deck is a is it empty up there? They're talking to. Cooper Cup right now. And the upstairs looks kind of dark.
I don't know. Anyway, it's pretty amazing that they're able to have this game and whoever wins this game. Good luck. You got the Eagles next. And realistically, with the offensive numbers that these teams have been putting up. I know the Eagles defense is pretty much holding it down for them. The offense.
I don't want to say I'm confused. They beat Green Bay yesterday. Had love running for his life. Saquon Barkley had one hundred and nineteen rushing yards.
They beat him 22 to 10. But at the end of the game, all anybody could talk about was A.J. Brown. In his book, this man was caught on television during the game reading a book.
And this book ended up being a number one seller on Amazon as of this morning. A.J. Brown, he's he's he's not going to get a cut. But I mean, damn, he was on the sidelines after he caught one pass for 10 yards.
This is the same A.J. Brown who wanted the ball earlier in the season, disappointed it wasn't coming his way. The jail and the hurts not getting him the ball only passed for one hundred and thirty one yards. But the Eagles keep winning. But there's going to come a point in time where they got to throw the rock. It's like they had that one game where he complained and they immediately threw the ball right after that.
And then they they went back into going into the cobwebs. A.J. Brown describing what the hell he was doing on the sidelines, reading literature. Man, it gives me a sense of peace. That's a book that I bring every single game.
My teammates call it a recipe. You know, it's the first time I heard that y'all got my camera. That's not the first game. You know, it got a lot of points in there. It's a lot of mental game, a lot of mental parts about it. You know, for me, you know, the game is mental. So I feel as if I can do anything and everything, but now I got to make sure I'm mental. It's something like how I refresh every drive, you know, regardless of if I score a test now or drop a pass.
I always go back to that book area drive and just refocus. Inner excellence. That's the name of the book.
Inner excellence. Now, he says that he's he does this all the time. Today was the first day that he got caught. He's reading and he has passages that are kind of, you know, marked in the book. When does he bring the book out? How come no one has ever seen this book? Is he running through the tunnel with the book?
Is somebody. How the hell do you have a book on the sidelines? Like we've seen some wild things. Mark Sanchez eating a hot dog. Oh, my God. Hickey, what was the deal with that?
This is just that's to have the Jets thing, right? He was hungry. Game was over.
And this scoreboard wise and wanted to enjoy it a little bit. He could have had a protein bar. He's eating a hot dog.
Well, I think helps explain why Mark Sanchez's career did not go up much from there. He's on Fox now, right? That he is.
Yeah. Good for him. Good for him. I think Tom Brady's ever eaten a hot dog on the sideline before. If you put a hot dog in front of Tom Brady, what would he do? Would he, like, convulse? Would he curse you out? Like, I think his body would literally convulse.
What is that process piece of me doing in my vicinity? Oh, man. Does he eat does he eat normal food? I heard he eats pizza every now and then. Right.
Really? Oh, I never would have guessed that Tom Brady eating pizza. No, no. He doesn't seem like a pizza guy. Do you think you think you could see Tom Brady on a Friday night sitting around eating a pizza? Tom Brady, the former NFL quarterback, has been seen eating pizza with his children at restaurants, including Delaraco's in Brooklyn Heights and Mr. 01 Doral. So he eats the finest of pizza in Brooklyn in Miami. You got to be a grade A weirdo if there are headlines about you eating pizza with your kids. Look, man. No one else to get in that headline. Tom Brady eats pizza and cheeseburgers after bad injuries. OK. We got multiple headlines. Oh, boy. Oh, man. When is he quitness?
This TV stuff. Is he quitting this year? He's going to quit, right? I mean, there's a thought.
And they got the Super Bowl this year. So maybe you go one and done. He calls the big game and then gets out of there. But he wants the money, right? He's like, I can just make this money and pack it in.
They got to pay me. Not like he's it's not like he's doing a job full time. I think he needs them. Yeah. No, you're right.
You're right. And you think you think I know he had a partner who helped him buy a piece of the Raiders, but. I mean, Tom Brady walking away from thirty seven mil for the next 10 years, like. You think he's doing is he do is he that what is he that wealthy? Maybe he is. I mean, damn. And he's popular enough. He could find other ways to make up.
I mean, not maybe not all of it, but most of it. Get back with that X. Well, never mind. Oh, wait, wait, wait. She's pregnant, right? Is she pregnant with the.
The trainer. It's a rumor around town, right? Oh, my God. God, that would kick his ass. Oh, man. Well, you think Tom Brady should go beat him up? No, we can.
He's a jujitsu instructor. That's right. You put Tom Brady in a chokehold in two seconds. Then you're talking about adding insult to injury. Could you imagine that we read these stories? These things happen like everywhere. Like this happens all the time. You got a trainer. This guy's and he's in the house training your wife and then you'll break up. And now he's with her and like Hickey. He might know jujitsu, but he can't he can't defend what he doesn't see coming. I'm just saying, I'm just saying, Hickey, I'm not an advocate for violence, but I guess I just was. Mm hmm. That's rough.
That's rough. Could you imagine how angry Tom Brady has to be about that? Do you think he is, though? Like, I think he is. He just think he is. Why? Because he loves football more than his family. Yes.
Now, you could argue the lack of attention paid for 20 plus years out led to that decision to be made. And Tom seems pretty happy being around the game. So he's like, yeah, so what? The guy used to pay to train my wife is, you know, got her pregnant and is. Oh, my God. Probably looking at it like, hey, I don't got to pay for training anymore. I'm good. One less bill to worry about. Yes.
Who are we going to interview next for Raiders coach? I guess that's what he's doing. That's rough, man. Oh, I feel for Tom Brady, but not really. Not not really.
Anyway, they're doing the national anthem here in Glendale, Arizona. Does that roof open up? It doesn't open right. Impossible, right? No.
Oh, no, it does. Oh, yeah. That's a retractable roof. Oh, my God. I think I've been in.
I think I've been in there. I think. How come the roof is never open? I get it. It's cold in Arizona right now. Right. What is it going to drop down into the 40s tonight, I guess. Is it. Yeah. Listen, man, when that sun goes away, man, the sun disappears behind the cloud. It gets rough.
It's going to go into the 40s tonight. No, that's wrong. Wrong Glendale is too many. Let's see.
There's another Glendale. Interesting. Oh, yeah.
It's going to be 37 degrees tonight. Oh, wow. Yeah.
Frost on the car. Yeah. When that sun disappear, this is something different. Well, whoever wins this game gets a chance to go up against the Eagles. I told you about A.J.
Brown and his book. Hickey, they're going to they're going to lay an egg at some point. They are. The Eagles are going to lay an egg at the most inopportune time. And I could see them beating whoever comes against comes out of here. I don't think they want to see Minnesota at all because Minnesota could just absolutely light them up.
And I get it. The Eagles have a great defense. I just don't know how much longer they can rely. On not having not having balance, really.
And Nick Suriani addressed this when he was asked about it. What the hell is going on with the offense? You can't pass the ball.
That's what he said. As an offense, we struggled a little bit as an offense. You know, I don't think we had the game that we wanted to have on offense. We're going to go back to work tomorrow and, you know, no victory Monday for us. And we could play Saturday, too.
We don't we don't know. But no victory Monday for us. We're going to go back to work because we do have a lot of things to clean up.
Oh, my God. Hickey, they're going to choke, right? And he's going to get blamed and cry. I actually I actually kind of feel optimistic after yesterday with how bad the offense was.
No choice but to bounce back that. And also, I know the Packers banged up and not great this year. That game never felt in doubt, even though score wise, it got to one score in the third quarter. It was only 10 nothing for most of the game. It felt like it was a million to nothing that like that game never felt close. You never actually thought the Packers had a chance to win. And so with how bad the offense was, at least to me, I'll take the bright side of, yeah, the offense played as bad as they could, both really passing and running. It never felt like Saquon got going, even though we got over 100 yards. It never kind of felt like he dominated the game. You know how bad the offense was. They this game still was never close. And so the offense, assuming you bounce back, defense is still one of the best, if not the best in the league. They got a lot of ways to beat you. And that's a tough out.
Nowhere to go but up. Offensively, yes. Jalen hurts especially.
Yes, bro. They're going to run into the Lions. The Lions is going to run him out the building. We'll see.
We'll see. First of all, we got to get through tonight in ESPN, the greatest liars ever. Hickey is almost 15 past the hour. They haven't started this game yet. And they were there in commercial break. So it's not like, OK, like the ball is getting teed up and we're 30 seconds away.
Or you're like at least another few minutes away. Yeah, they lied. They lied again. I believe them because every now and then they trick you every now and then they say, hey, the game is going to start at eight. And then Hickey, I'm like, oh, I got time to, you know, go get some food.
I can do this. And then I can sit down and I come back and I'm like, well, there's five minutes out in the first quarter. I'm like, they play five minutes already. And then you get days like today where they ain't kicking the ball for like another five minutes. ESPN, great liars.
Terrible. It's the J.R. Sportbrie show here with you coast to coast on the Infinity Sports Network. We're going to take a break when we come back. Yes, people have asked about Mike Tomlin all show long. We're going to have a chat with Mike DeFabo. He covers the Steelers for the athletic. We're going to get his thoughts on what happens with the Steelers, how they get better. Mike Tomlin, where's he going?
All of this stuff. Mike DeFabo joining us on the other side. It's the J.R. Sportbrie show coast to coast. The Infinity Sports Network.
Don't move. You're listening to the J.R. Sportbrie. It is the J.R. Sportbrie show here with you coast to coast on the Infinity Sports Network. Down to our final wild card game. Minnesota and the Rams with a chance to take on the Philadelphia Eagles. We did have one team get eliminated on Saturday night.
It was ugly. Ravens took care of the Steelers. People are asking for Mike Tomlin to get the boot. Russell Wilson is a free agent and Justin Fields is a free agent. TJ Watt. He's like, I want a contract extension. I don't want to go anywhere to talk about the Steelers and how they can go from being good to championship contenders.
And how do they do that? And what's the fate of Tomlin and all this stuff? Joining us right now is someone who covers the Steelers for the athletic. We're being joined by Mike DeFabo. Mike, how are you, man? Hey, I'm doing great. Thank you so much for having me on the show. Absolutely.
Thank you again for the time. I guess before we go real deep into what the hell the Steelers do next, what is your postmortem here on the season? They had two quarterbacks and another good record, but then a loss in the postseason.
What are your thoughts here? Yeah, I mean, the way that I look at it is this team basically was built and this defense was built to give Ben Roethlisberger one more chance to win the Super Bowl. And now what you have is the NFL's highest paid defense for the third consecutive season being really, for lack of a better word, embarrassed by a top tier AFC quarterback. I mean, if your formula is going to be we're going to win with defense, then the measure of your defense is going to be how do you perform when you go up against the top tier AFC quarterbacks? The Patrick Mahomes, the Josh Allen, the Lamar Jackson. And in the last three postseason appearances the Steelers have had, all three of those quarterbacks have badly beat this defense. I mean, you go back to a couple years ago, the Kansas City Chiefs literally ran out of fireworks because they scored so many points against the Steelers defense.
Then a couple years ago last year it was Josh Allen and shout was on repeat at the Buffalo Bills stadium as they kept scoring touchdowns. And now it was Lamar Jackson dicing them up. So, you know, I look at this and I think the Steelers have to take a hard look at what is our approach to roster building?
Because they are the outlier right now. You know, they could trade a guy like Minka Fitzpatrick, and I'm not saying they should or shouldn't, but just hypothetically, and they would still have the highest paid defense because they commit so much to that part of the ball. I just feel like an offensive driven league, that's not the way to go. Mike DeFabo was here with us from The Athletic. You talk about the defense and we know some of the names. You mentioned Minka Fitzpatrick, you have T.J. Watt, they bring over Patrick Queen over from the Ravens.
Like, they got a lot of talent. And so when you have all that talent, what's going wrong? Is it the scheme? Is it Tomlin?
What's the deal? Yeah, I mean, throughout this season, one thing that has plagued them has been miscommunication and mis-designments. And really, they went to work trying to clean up a lot of those mistakes and played pretty clean, but they just got bullied against the Ravens. I mean, the Ravens, for the most part, just lined up and said, we're going to out-tough you, we're going to out-physical you. And Deshaun Elliott, the Steelers' safety who they brought in this year, after the game, he said, giving up 300 yards rushing is worse than 300 yards passing.
So I think that, unfortunately, they do have to look at significant changes. I don't imagine Tomlin's going anywhere. So unfortunately, their defensive coordinator, Terrell Austin, he's got to be on the hot seat right now. I mean, he came in in 2019 and he's had top 10 defenses kind of year in and year out. But yet when they get to the playoffs and they fizzle like this, they aren't living up to their paycheck. They aren't living up to that salary cap hit. And, you know, you've got to expect more from the defense.
I mean, if your plan is to win with defense and you're getting blown out by the top tier quarterback, something's got to change. Well, Mike, do you think you said it? We all know Mike Tomlin is not going anywhere. Do you think that he should? You know, it's such a difficult decision and discussion when it comes to Mike Tomlin because I think he is a very good football coach.
I really do. And I've talked to players like we wrote a story at the Athletic this year. And, you know, we talked to players who one of the guys said that Mike Tomlin basically saved his life where he was in a deep depression when he got hurt. And because Tomlin was there for him, he pulled him out of that, let him know that he was going to be there. So you see the impact that this coach has and you hear players within the locker room talk about how much they respect and admire him.
You know, at the same time, this is a results oriented business. And I feel like the problem with the Steelers right now is they're stuck in football purgatory. They're good enough to get nine wins, 10 wins, keep Mike Tomlin's non-losing season streak alive, but they're not good enough to do anything in the playoffs. And so, you know, maybe the answer, like I don't think that the Steelers are going to make any change because you have to remember, last year, Mike Tomlin extended his postseason drought to seven seasons. At that time, he had one year left on his contract.
If there was ever a time to say enough is enough, we need different results in the playoffs, that was it. And what was the response by the ownership? They gave him a pay raise. They made him one of the highest paid coaches in the league, top five, gave him a three year extension. So there's a certain way that the Steelers do business.
They've only had three head coaches since 1969. I would be absolutely floored and shocked if they moved on from him, if they traded him. But what I think they need to do is, he is a great CEO, leader type coach. I think they need to bring in some really good X's and O's, schematic minds on both sides of the ball, especially this year on defense, and give those guys more autonomy to make some of these decisions.
And I think that that's, I guess, the best way to go. But really, I could tell you here, I live in Pittsburgh, I've grown up in Pittsburgh, lived here my whole life for the most part. Fans are as frustrated with Mike Tomlin as I've ever seen them.
His approval rating has to have reached an all time low because fans just feel like they're kind of stuck in the same vicious cycle, where they feel like there's no way out of it, and it's going to keep being one and done appearances until something big really changes. Mike DeFabo is here with us on the JR Sport Brief Show. He covers the Steelers for the Athletic. When you think about two guys who might really be gone because they're free agents, you have Justin Fields and then you also have Russell Wilson. What is the approach before the Steelers this offseason? Are they going to bring back one out of the two? Russell Wilson says he wants to return. Fields may end up somewhere else.
What do you think is most likely to happen? Well, it's fascinating because before this season, we asked assistant GM Andy Wiedel about this, and would you want to sign one of these guys before the season? And his response was, by the end of the year, we're going to know what the right answer is. Now, I think that's one of the most disappointing things about this Steelers season is I don't think that there is a clear and obvious answer.
And if it is, it's that these guys aren't it. You know, I think at one point in this year, Russell Wilson had me believing. I mean, I was one of the biggest Russell Wilson skeptics. I thought his best years were behind him. And I felt like even in his prime, he was lifted up by a great running game and great defense.
He really surprised me with his moon ball and his ability to unlock a different side of George Pickens. And for a couple of games, it looked like maybe this would be a different Steelers offense. But really, as soon as George Pickens got hurt and opponents started game playing to take away the deep ball, this offense just completely dried up. And, you know, the biggest fear or danger would be if you give Russell Wilson some big money multi-year contract, you know, you might be setting yourself back, you know, a couple of years and you might be an even worse spot. So, you know, if you if you bring back Russ, it's got to be a lower term, lower money type of contract.
I think that possibly a transition tag or something like that could be on the table that would come in at around thirty five million dollars, I believe. Maybe you get him for less. You know, the other the other aspect is Justin Fields. They brought him in to learn. And there's a part of me that says the Steelers so badly want to be this rushing team. They've invested a ton into their offensive lines over the last couple of years. You know, it's why not just go all in with that and basically run like the rookie year Lamar Jackson offense next year with Justin Fields, take advantage of his legs, really lean into that quarterback mobility. But but, you know, the bottom line is, I think last year the Steelers went into it and explored every single option.
I think this year you've honestly got to do the same thing. Look at the free agents, look at the trade market, look at the rookies, look at everything. Because until you find an answer, a quarterback, it's going to be hard to snap out of the cycle. And the Steelers are in an endless, endless loop.
Is there anything else that we should pay attention to throughout the course of the off season? Like you said, they're good. They're not bad. They're pretty pretty. They're just good.
And they stopped there. So are there any changes? Is Arthur Smith going to stick around on the offense?
What can we expect over the next eight months? Well, I think the big question that's going to emerge throughout the off season heading into next season is what do you do with George Pickens? Right. I mean, this guy's talent is his talent is undeniable. And in some instances, he was the only source of offense for the team.
But that said, I think that his antics have been well publicized. And even I believe Mike Tomlin is starting to tire of it. You know, you go back to I believe this week 14 when he had two unsportsmanlike conduct penalties and Mike Tomlin himself said it's time for George to grow up.
Well, right now, George is entering the fourth and final year of his rookie contracts. Traditionally, this would be the time when the Steelers would extend a player like that who's performed on the field. But they've learned tough lessons in the past with guys like Antonio Brown, where if you give that guy money, he can become more of a headache than he is an answer for you and a solution for you. So, you know, I think it's going to create a fascinating situation because there's guys like Deontay Johnson who held out for the Steelers before last year, their rookie deal, and got their money.
There's guys like Brandon Iuc this year who held out and got his money by holding out a year early. What is George holds out? Then what are the Steelers going to do?
What kind of decision do they make? So I think that that's going to create one of the most, other than quarterback, I think that's the biggest question for the Steelers is, do you extend George and believe that you can keep him on the right track and get the most of them? Do you trade him while he still has some value? Can you convince him to play out the fourth and final year of his rookie deal? You know, I don't know what the right answer is, but I think that that's going to become a big headline story next training camp if it doesn't before then.
I mean, if the past indicator of his behavior is an indicator of what we're going to see into the future, I think everybody should get ready for the headache. Mike, it looks like you're going to have a lot to report on. Where can people follow you and all your work with the athletic? Yeah, definitely. You can catch me on Twitter at Mike Defavo.
And then, of course, all my work is on the athletic. Hey, Mike, thank you so much. We'll be catching you down the line, OK? All right. Sounds good. Thank you so much for having me.
I really appreciate it. No doubt about it all the time like that. Mike Defavo covers the Steelers for the athletic. It's kind of crazy.
You know, even after the game that George Pickens was asked if he had any optimism surrounding the offense going forward. And he's just like, no. Whoa. OK. All right. Well, tell me how you really feel. Tell me how you really feel.
And typically he tells everybody how he feels, even if in a lot of cases, especially on the football field, he behaves like a toddler as no self-control. None. Zero.
Zero. Eight five five two one two forty two twenty seven. That's eight five five two one two forty two twenty seven.
A phone lines are open if you want to give me a holler. We're going to take a break. And when we come back on the other side, we're going to talk some college, because, yeah, there was a college football playoff game the last time we were here on air. And now the college football final, the playoff is set next week here in Atlanta. We're going to talk about Ohio State. We're going to talk about Notre Dame. And then there's another coach in college.
Man, this guy's name is being thrown around for all types of jobs. It's Deion Sanders. It's the JR Sport Brief Show on the Infinity Sports Network. You're listening to the JR Sport Brief.
It is the JR Sport Brief Show here with you coast to coast on the Infinity Sports Network. Eight five five two one two forty two twenty seven. That's eight five five two one two forty two twenty seven. Since we went to break, the Los Angeles Rams put another score up on the board, a field goal. So now the Rams lead the Vikings.
Ten to nothing here. About four minutes to go in the first quarter. Minnesota Vikings trying to trying to put something together here and give an answer back. Still plenty of time left in this ball game. But the Rams are up.
Ten to nothing. Thank you so much to Mike Defabo for joining us in the last break. Covers all things Steelers for the athletic. I think there's a consensus amongst everybody. The Steelers are good, but they're not good enough. I think I think we all know that.
I think we can all see that how they go about getting out of this. That's that's TBD. That's that's TBD. And what they do in the off season at the quarterback position, how they go about improving the defense, which floundered here at the end of the season.
I don't think anybody has an answer. No. But if I just had to guess, based on what we've seen from the Steelers in the past, they're going to patch the team together. They're going to try to win with rock fights. They're going to have a great defense next year. There can't be any worse than what they did now. And they'll go to the playoffs maybe as a wild card and then they'll lose. I don't think that's a far off observation, not by any stretch of the imagination. None. Sam Darnold is out here yelling at guys. It's still weird seeing him actually be successful.
But, you know, everybody's entitled to some some victories every now and then. Eight five five two one two forty two twenty seven. That's eight five five two one two forty two twenty seven. 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. You know, right before we went to break, I told you all, as we are in the midst of all this NFL action, all the news that we see a week from today. The college football playoff will culminate here in Atlanta, Georgia, going to have a championship game. We're all set.
We're all done. We're going to have Ohio State after they beat Texas on Friday. They're going to take on Notre Dame. I'm excited. Somewhat.
Hickey, is it just me? Does this championship game lack a little bit of juice? No, I'm excited for it. I think the fact that Ohio State's a big favorite and maybe there's not a lot of unpredictability with this game. Couldn't have you feel that way. But I think there's still Ohio State, Notre Dame, two big brands.
I think there'll be a lot of interest still, especially as we get closer to next Monday. Yeah, they're two big brands, but everything surrounding Notre Dame. And it's because of their head coach and Marcus Freeman. Everything is so cool, calm, collected. There's no big dramas, no big controversies, no big storylines on that side.
And then you take a look at Ohio State. We know where the storyline is. It's about it's about Ryan Day. Is he going to is he going to win? Is he going to look puzzled? Is he going to be crying? Is this going to erase all the losses to Michigan?
Like that's the storyline there. And then even looking at the game from this past Friday, Jeremiah Smith, he had one catch for three yards. This is after almost Holland and 200 yards receiving against Oregon. And so I'm going to imagine that he's going to have a massive, a massive bounce back. And I just think their offense and their defense and all the talent. And it doesn't matter if Smith is having a bad game, like Buka can come through and have a great one. I think they're going to light up Notre Dame. I think they're going to whoop that ass. I agree. There is one way Notre Dame can get in this game and win it.
OK, go ahead. The only downfall for Ryan Day is his obsession with being physically tough. For whatever reason, he wants to try to show everybody how tough he is. And he does that by trying to run the football. Doesn't work because Ohio State's office lines banged up the camera on the football. If I'm Notre Dame, you know, I'm doing that all this week. I'm getting Lou Holtz on every show, every podcast. I'm having him spew all about how soft Ryan Day is, how soft Ohio State is.
This offensive line can't handle Notre Dame's defensive line. Stir the pot and get Ryan Day going, because I bet you he's still upset about Lou Holtz. Well, you know, a year and a half later, he is. Didn't he didn't he recently answer something about that like a couple of days ago? I think it was like, yeah, no, you're right.
It's like, are you did you to clear the air or something like that to that effect? He goes, no. Oh, my goodness.
Lou, this is Lou's week here. How are you going to beef with a guy that old? I mean, isn't it doesn't a couple of this? I mean, people die just angry at the world, but you're younger than him. I don't know.
Well, Jake Paul makes a career out of it. Oh, beaten up on old guys. That's it. Well, you only beat up one old guy, Mike Tyson, right? Did he beat up? He beats up old guys and people who aren't like old time fighters. There you go. That are still older than him, but not in their prime.
But it's a different story for a different day. So does he do beat up my guy, Evander Holyfield next? Maybe he can fight here. Tyson Fury is retired today, as of today, retired again. Why does he fight Tyson Fury ties to too closely removed? Oh, oh. Still, it's in too good of shape for Jake.
I want to say Tyson Fury is probably he probably outweighs him by 100 pounds and has him by, I don't know, six inches, five inches. That'd be a massacre. How tall is that? Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Hickey, the man is six nine. Oh, no, he's not. Come on. Is he actually. Oh, my God. They said he's six.
Hickey, I've seen this guy. That's OK. You know what? It's true.
That's a lie. That's literally real life Goliath. Yeah, I've I've I've had my share of not run ins, but I've met Deontay Wilder a million times. Very nice guy. Deontay is six seven. He's a legit. Yeah, Deontay Wilder is legit basketball height. He's a basketball player. And Tyson Fury is bigger than Deontay Wilder. He is six foot nine.
And so, yeah, I guess if he wants to beat up on retired people, fight, fight Tyson Fury. Which Paul is this? Is this Jake?
I mix them up. Jake Paul. Jake Paul is he's six foot one. OK, yeah. Go fight Tyson Fury if you want to impress me. I'd pay to see that one. It would be a that'd be a fight that he doesn't want to see. Anyway, Hickey, what the hell are we talking about?
Old people. Ryan Day fighting Lou Holtz. And I'll be the next celebrity fight. Anyway, Ryan Day, you talked about his crew. He says he's proud of how resilient his team has been throughout the season. And now they one went away from a championship.
The story of this team is yet to be told. And no great accomplishments are ever achieved without going through adversity. That's just the truth. And so we've gone through our share of adversity and that's life.
I've told those guys that. So we're not focused on what we know, what's coming down the road. We're not focused about focused on what happened in the past. We're focused on right now and being right where we are. And then at the end, you know, we want to be able to tell the story of this team.
And that's really what this team is focused on right now. Everything is so dramatic when it comes to. Oh, my goodness.
Is every is it really. Let's continue on. He said we are one went away. One went away from greatness.
Listen to this man. We talked before the game about how you how do you leave a legacy is to become your own legend. And there's some guys on his team today that I believe will become legends in Ohio State history.
And we also talked about how we want to keep this team together. It's a great team. They've been through a lot. They're resilient and they're great people.
They do everything the right way. And so now they get 10 more days together. It's college. Some guys aren't sticking around together. People are going to go pro. Guys are going to hit the portal.
Dudes are chasing the check. Come on. I'm actually a little happy for him. Just a little bit.
A little bit. Because everybody gives him so much crap. When he loses to Michigan. And he seems like a. Is he not a punching bag? That's what he is, right? Oh, absolutely. For that fan base, he is.
That guy's just a punching bag. And they're going to win. And Hickey, you'll be here. I'm excited for that. That's going to be fun.
Are you excited for the game? What are you going to do specifically besides walk around and have the five dollar hot dog? I don't know. You got to tell me. I'm excited to see what that stadium has to offer. I mean, you're the expert.
I really you know, I don't really know. I got no plan so far. Football state. I mean, but you're going to be at the game like all day before the game. What are you going to do early? Like just go to the game and leave. You know, walk around.
No, I like to do a little bit of both. Like I like to get the stadium early. What time is the game? Like seven thirty. And I want to get the stadium.
So ESPN live. OK, fine. The festivities start at seven thirty. OK.
I don't know. I'd like to be there in, I don't know, five thirty or so. Like I'm going to see if I can get on the field thing. That'd be pretty.
Yeah, absolutely. Walk around, kind of explore. But also I want to spend some of the day looking around what Atlanta has to offer.
And I've never been to Atlanta. So hopefully, hopefully when you're here, it's not freezing. Hopefully. Yeah, I hope so, too.
Then stupid. I mean, the games, it says seven thirty. They are they really going to kick off at seven thirty?
My guess foot to ball will be at seven fifty. I always line us and why they started. Why is it not like past eight Eastern, five Pacific? Why are they starting at this time for for the kids share for the kids, the kids? And like the NBA, it starts the games at like nine fifteen at night to watch the game.
OK. Yeah. For the kids. We know the NBA doesn't care about kids.
They don't. Have you heard Anthony Edwards at these press conferences? Not for kids. No. Oh, that's big time. NSFW. Yeah.
What are you? He's now been fined a quarter million dollars profanities obscenities. Somebody tell him the league is for the kids. The kids love him in a potty mouth, man. Sometimes for his own wallet's sake. Cut it out, man.
I don't think he worried about a quarter mil. I take it, though. Give me that. The J.R. sport show here with you coast to coast on the Infinity Sports Network. We're going to take a break. We'll give you an update on the Vikings and the Rams.
And how about this? The guy on ESPN right now, Troy Aikman. He has some words for the Dallas Cowboys and their potential coaches run. Don't move. It's the J.R. sport show. Don't run from me.
