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 all over North America. I hope you're safe. I hope you're well. I hope you are amazing.
I'll be hanging out with you for the next four hours. This is when the show gets started every weekday at 6 p.m. Eastern, 3 Pacific. You can always listen on the free Odyssey app. You can always listen on your local Infinity Sports Network affiliate. You can always listen on Sirius XM 375.
You can always listen by asking a smart speaker to play the Infinity Sports Network. It has been a Thursday. NBA trade deadline has come and gone. Kevin Durant, still a member of the Phoenix Suns. Last night, the Lakers get a big man. The Pelicans ship out one of their stars. No, Zion is still in New Orleans, probably enjoying the food. And the Atlanta Hawks, the Atlanta Hawks are just dumping everybody not named. Trae Young, at least everybody healthy enough that they can dump. Yeah, so we'll talk about the NBA trade deadline and we have some guests who are going to come through. The Super Bowl is still a few days away.
How about this? Hall of Famer, Warren Moon is going to join us. A matter of fact, Warren Moon is going to be here with us in about 20 minutes.
This is going to be cool. Later on in the show, we'll have a conversation with someone who played for the Philadelphia Eagles and then he also coached for the Kansas City Chiefs. His name is Herm Edwards. Herm is going to join us. Coach Herm Edwards will be here in a few hours and then next hour, you know, to kind of break down everything going on in the NBA following this trade deadline.
Joe Vardon, national NBA writer for the athletic. Joe Vardon will be here with us. He'll stop by next hour.
I'm glad that you're here with me. I'm being joined by super producer and host Ryan Hickey. Ryan Hickey is in New York City.
If you want to holler at us, you can. The phone number here is 855-212-4227. That's 855-212-4227. You can find me online. I am everywhere at JR Sport Brief.
That's at JR Sport Brief all over the place. Hickey, how are you, man? You doing good?
Doing well today, JR. Yeah. Excited for our guest, actually. Very excited. Herm Edwards, Warren Moon, Joe Vardon, all three. I think it's in terms of timeliness, relevancy to the stories going on. I think this should be a fun show and some really good insight. Well, it's pretty cool that from a NBA perspective, we can ask Joe Vardon what he thinks about all these trades. I mean, this has been absolutely crazy. Yeah, Warren Moon will be here with us in a few minutes. But before we get to Warren Moon, let's really think about, and there was no crazy deal at the deadline, so don't feel that I'm holding you hostage in anticipation. There were deals, but they were minor deals.
Let's think about the big deals that have taken place. Okay. Last night, after we got off the air, the Los Angeles Lakers swung a deal for big man and Mark Williams. Don't fool yourself if you've never seen him because he played for the Charlotte Hornets.
Okay. And before that, he barely played at Duke. This man is getting you 16 points, 10 rebounds. He just has to stay healthy because he can barely play half a season.
Let's see if playing with LeBron James and Luca changes things for him. I told you Kevin Durant is not going anywhere. He's still a member of the Phoenix Suns. He had the Suns with Bradley Beal, didn't want to leave and Devin Booker. So I don't know what their situation looks like.
It's probably looking bad. A matter of fact, Shoms, he was on ESPN and he said why the Suns didn't move Durant. From what I'm told, there are multiple teams making really aggressive calls to the Suns on Kevin Durant.
Obviously, we know what has happened. He has made it clear. He had made it clear that he did not want a reunion with the Warriors. The Warriors made a very strong pursuit of him over the last week and several calls are continuing to pour in. One thing I do want to clarify, Kevin Durant has not requested a trade and it's my understanding most of all these conversations this week have been somewhat blindsiding because going into this this week and this season, I don't think a trade was something he was thinking about. He has wanted to stay in Phoenix. Yeah, he was blindsided.
But welcome to the world where everybody else, man, you will be perfectly fine. Them checks are still gonna roll and the Suns are still, well, they ain't winning nothing. How about this? We got another team. They not winning nothing either.
We were able to talk about this because it broke live while we were on the air. The Golden State Warriors, man, they got Jimmy Butler. Wiggins is on his way to Miami. And after these Warriors played last night and lost, they spoke to the media. And Steve Kerr, he talked about how miserable it was that we basically had to trade our guys while they were warming up. The NBA should have a heart. Listen to Steve Kerr.
Yeah, it always feels different. I think the league should consider making the trade deadline at the All-Star break, just so you don't have to face these games where guys are getting traded half an hour before a game and you're trying to process the emotions and trying to win a game. I don't know if it's possible, but it'd be great if we could move it back to or make the last couple of days before the deadline, like off day.
I don't know how to do it, but these are tough days for sure. Man, y'all be all right. Get over it. Guys are making millions and millions and millions and millions of dollars knowing that they can be traded. I mean, come on, we had Dennis Schroeder. I think it's been traded, what, three times in four days?
Making lots of money? Who cares? And the NBA did adjust the trade deadline, or at least, yeah, they did because Demarcus Cousins, one day he was traded right after the All-Star game. He was traded during the All-Star game.
And Steve Kerr, come on, man. You've lived through a lot of terrible life experiences. Suck it up.
You'll be okay. And then last night, I told you the New Orleans Pelicans got rid of one of their stars. It's not the fat one.
It's the thinner one. Brandon Ingram is on his way to Toronto. That should be fun, right? I guess.
Scottie Barnes, Brandon Ingram, RJ Barrett. You got Grady Dick. Uh, you know, what else? Yaka Pearl is still there.
How you fit all these guys? Emmanuel, quickly, I don't know if they have enough basketballs, but eventually maybe Ussayo Jerry will flip some of them, right? This was the news late last night. More breaking news out of the NBA. The Pelicans are reportedly sending Brandon Ingram to the Raptors for Bruce Brown, Kelly Olenek, and a first round pick and second rounder. Ingram has not played since December 7th because of an ankle injury.
The I set to become a free agent this off season. Hickey, do you know what Brandon Ingram sounds like? Uh, I have not heard him in a very long time. So no right now, man, this guy just puts up 20 plus a game and nobody knows what he said. I would only know what he sounds like as I met him when he was a rookie. That's it. Outside of that, I'm like, do you even talk?
Do you speak? I guess there's no reason to, uh, good for him. He's going to Toronto. I'm sure he's thrilled about that. I love Toronto by the way, but Brandon Ingram, uh, I think he'd be happy, uh, in the Carolina somewhere.
I don't know. Those are the trades folks that you want to know about some of the others think about this. So Durant doesn't go anywhere. The Lakers end up getting a center by swapping, connect and sending him out to, uh, to Charlotte. The Raptors get Brandon Ingram. Jimmy Butler is an exchange for Andrew Wiggins. Kyle Kuzma is now a member of the Milwaukee Bucks in exchange for Chris Middleton. Chris Middleton is now in Washington, DC, along with get, get a load of this Marcus smart, who I don't think I've ever seen him play for the grizzly since he went there. And then we had the debut last night of D'Aaron Fox with the San Antonio Spurs. So now D'Aaron Fox can throw lobs up to Victor web and Yama for the next 10 years. What a world, right?
Pretty amazing. And then we had all these other minor deals. Dennis Schroeder traded a million times. I think right now he's on the, he's on the pistons. The last time I checked was on the jazz was on the warriors was somewhere else, but now he's going to Detroit. Good for him.
You stiff, no longer a member of the Phoenix sons. He's now in Charlotte traded for Cody Martin. Who cares? Uh, Davion Mitchell. He's not on the Raptors anymore. He goes to Miami to play defense while PJ Tucker benchwarmer doesn't even have to show up. Well, he's going to Toronto.
Good for him. And Daniel Tice, he's going from new Orleans to Oklahoma city and Chet Holmgren is, should be back tomorrow by the way, but there's no guarantee that his body will make it through the next couple of months of the season. And so there you have it. There's the trade deadline. Jimmy Butler in a new place. Durant didn't go anywhere. The Lakers obviously got Luca and they got a center if he's healthy and Mark Williams.
And how about this one? Congratulations to the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Cleveland Cavaliers starting five is now nuts because they have acquired Deandre Hunter from the Atlanta Hawks. And I'll get to the Hawks in a second, or maybe I'll do it later because who wants to hear about a loser right now?
Let's talk about the winners. The Cleveland Cavaliers have Jared Allen, all star Evan Mobley. Allen could have been an all-star too, by the way. They have Donovan Mitchell. I just told you they added Deandre Hunter and he has his own injury issues.
The man can go get a bucket. He can shoot. He can play defense.
He's good. They have Darius Garland. That's their starting lineup. The Cavs are going to be a problem all throughout the postseason. Don't nobody want to see them and adding Deandre Hunter, it's not bad. And speaking of the Hawks, I might as well remind you as well, they got rid of Bogdanovich, the shooting guard. He's now one of the Clippers.
What a world. I want to give a congrats not just to the Cavs, the Lakers, the Raptors because of their collection of talent. I think those are some teams that actually did an admirable job here. Prior to the NBA trade deadline, the Lakers have boosted their odds of competing with a team like the the Thunder. People don't talk about the Memphis Grizzlies. They're certainly at the top of the Western Conference as well.
I give him credit. Hickey, am I missing the team? I mean, if you want to put the heat in there for getting anything back for Jimmy I mean, if you want to put the heat in there for getting anything back for Jimmy Butler at this point, it could be a win, yeah.
Well, they got rid of a headache for that one. Pat Riley's going to sleep better tonight. And then we got, I told you, we'll talk about some of these loser teams. I think we can all agree that the Dallas Mavericks are the biggest loser here in this entire situation.
I don't care. Anthony Davis, he can't even play right now. The Bucks, Kyle Kuzma?
Well, he gets to stand in the corner now and just shoot. He should be healthier than the guy that that he's replacing, Chris Middleton. But is there anything sexy about adding Kyle Kuzma to your basketball team?
I think the answer is no. I don't think the Milwaukee Bucks have moved the needle. I can hear Giannis Atetokounmpo in the end of season press conference now. We need to get better. We need to get better. We need to get better. We didn't do enough. I didn't do enough. We need to get better.
I can hear it right now. The Hornets, the hell are they doing? I mean, good for them. They got Dalton Knecht.
That's good, right? Don't play no defense, but he can shoot. Brandon Miller is out. They got Rota Marla, they got rid of Mark Williams.
And why do they stink? I mean, the Hornets, well, they just got LaMelo just jacking up shots. What a world, what a terrible world. The Suns in a bad position. Everybody is ticked off.
That is absolutely hilarious to me. The Phoenix Suns have Bradley Beal, who the Phoenix Suns wanted to move. The Phoenix Suns have Kevin Durant, who they openly wanted to move. The Phoenix Suns weren't able to get rid of either one of those guys. And so now the Phoenix Suns have two stars on their team when the team did not want them there. That sounds like a fun environment to work in if you ask me. And then the Golden State Warriors want to talk about a fun environment. This might turn into a violent environment. Can't wait to see can't wait to see Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green.
The first time they have one of these altercations, at least I think at this point of his career, Draymond Green, he needs to worry about whether or not they will give him the boot. I'm just saying it's the JR Sportbreeze show here with you coast to coast on the Infinity Sports Network. I told you we got a lot to get into later on in the show. We're going to have a chat with someone who coached for the Kansas City Chiefs and started his career playing for the Philadelphia Eagles. That man's name is Herman Edwards. Herman Edwards is going to join us later on in the show.
We just talked some basketball. Next hour, we're going to be joined by Joe Vardon, who covers everything NBA all across the country for the athletic. Tonight is a big night in the NFL down in New Orleans. It's NFL honors. The best of the best active and legends are going to put on their Sunday's best down in New Orleans on a Thursday night as they give away or don't give away.
They're going to hand out. They're going to award the MVP, the Offensive Player of the Year, the best of the best. Who's going to win MVP? We will know tonight. We'll also know who's going into the Hall of Fame. Is Eli Manning going going into the Hall of Fame tonight? Is he going to be elected into the hall?
We will find out these answers and more. Something I guess nice happened to Joe Burrow. Joe Burrow wants his team to pay up to keep his team together. Ryan Day, he has been paid to stay at The Ohio State University.
Matthew Stafford might want out. There's a lot going on, and we got you covered here on the J.R. Sport Brief Show. You're listening to the Infinity Sports Network. And when we come back on the other side, it's time for a chat with a Hall of Famer. His name, Warren Moon.
Don't move. You're listening to the J.R. Sport Brief.
It's the J.R. Sport Brief Show here with you coast to coast on the Infinity Sports Network. It is Super Bowl week. Every day we are getting closer and closer and closer. And right now we're being joined by someone who is a Hall of Famer.
This man went from Washington, CFL, NFL, and he's one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time. His name is Warren Moon. Warren, how are you? I am doing great today.
How about yourself? I'm down here in New Orleans and things are starting to perk up. You're getting closer to the weekend. The fans are starting to roll into town. You can kind of feel the excitement in the streets.
So, yeah, I'm pretty excited about it. And we all know down in New Orleans, everybody is just letting the good times roll. We know things have been rolling for the team that you played for, ended your career for, I should say, with the Kansas City Chiefs. So much talk. It's been a relatively quiet week. You know, Mahomes, the Eagles, they don't give you a lot to talk about.
What are you looking forward to the most, Warren? I want to see how Kansas City attacks this defense of Philadelphia because they've been really, they've been really tough to move the ball against throughout basically the whole season. You look at their record. That's one of the strengths of their team is the personnel on this defense. And they don't do a lot of things fancy.
But what they do is they do the simple things very well. They run to the football. They're very aggressive. They can put pressure on you with four guys up front and their secondary is very active. So I want to see how Kansas City is going to attack them.
And then on the other side, I want to see how Kansas City's defense, what are they going to do against Saquon Barkley? Because this is a guy that's just been dominating the league each and every week. You know, he's up over 100, 200 yards every time he touches the field now. And Kansas City hasn't given up 100 yards from a rusher in like 18 playoff games. So something's got to give here. And somebody's going to get either exploited offensively or they're going to get stopped by the Kansas City defense.
So I'm interested in seeing those two things. Warren Moon is here with us, the JR sport re-show on the Infinity Sports Network. You talk about Saquon Barkley. We know he's the brand new engine under the hood for the Eagles. Jalen Hurts has been here before, was close. And even with his success, he's been criticized for his lack of passing, not getting the ball to AJ.
What are your thoughts on that criticism? You know, on this day and age of passing the football, the way the rules have changed, it's become more of a quarter receiver type of game. That's what everybody expects every week. But I think they're a perfect team that shows you that the running back is very important to their team. You look at with Baltimore getting Derrick Henry, what he was able to do for their team. Lamar Jackson wasn't going for huge numbers because you had a guy like Derrick Henry behind you. And it was the same way with the 49ers with Christian McCaffrey. So if you have a running back that you can rely on that makes your team more balanced, now your quarterback, you don't have to be relying on him as much to make a lot of big plays through the air, but you just always know you have a quarterback that can make the plays when he needs to. And that's what Jalen Hurts can do.
And that's what he's shown. He makes the big plays when he needs to, but he doesn't have to carry the football team offensively. Warren Moon is here with us.
We know you're in the Hall of Fame. Patrick Mahomes, if he quit tomorrow, he would be in the Hall of Fame. What do you think about his legacy and what he's been able to accomplish even up until now?
I think it's been amazing. I think that he's been more successful probably than any other quarterback in the league through their first seven years in the history of the league. I mean, he's been to the AFC Championship games seven years in a row. He's been to the Super Bowl. This will be his fifth Super Bowl. It could be his fourth win in seven years. I mean, I don't think nobody has had that type of start. He's been an MVP twice in the league. He's been, I think, an MVP in the Super Bowl three times. So there's not a whole lot left for him to do except for this three-peat. And that would kind of single him out from every other quarterback that's ever played the game because nobody has ever done that.
Well, Warren, is that a prediction? Is that something you expect to see on Sunday? A Chiefs, another trophy? Well, I'm rooting for the Chiefs. You know, I played for the Chiefs at the end of my career. I'm still friends with a lot of people in Kansas City close to the organization. And I kind of want to see history too.
I want to see greatness. And a lot of people don't like teams that win all the time. The Patriots went through that when they were dominating the league during that time.
And people just like to see something different. And they tend to complain about teams that are great. I mean, I respect teams that are great. They can go out there and do this year after year after year knowing you have that bullseye on your back.
You know, I played on a team in Canada. We won five championships in a row. Every time we went out on the field, we got everybody's best. And that's what Kansas City has been getting for the last three years. They get everybody's best every time they play them because they want to knock them off. And it takes tremendous focus in order to play like that each and every week. And that's why they've had so many close games is because they're getting everybody's best effort every time they play them. It doesn't matter if it's the Raiders or whoever it is, what their records are. These teams play hard against them.
So I respect the fact that they're able to go out each and every week and raise their level of play and do what it takes to win and be in a position like they are Sunday. Hall of Fame, everything. Warren Moon is here with us on the JR Sport Brief Show. You talk about your time in the CFL. Talk about your time in the NFL. If you were playing right now in 2025, Warren, what would you be doing out there?
Man, it would be against the law what I'd be doing out there. They would be wanting to change some rules, you know, because my strength was throwing the football. And in today's game, the way the rules are geared towards protecting the quarterback, towards not being able to put your hands on these receivers.
Man, it would be like pitching catch out there. And I would have loved it. But, you know, I played during my era. It was a little bit more physical era, especially on the quarterback. You know, we got drove to the ground during those days. You know, we took hits after two steps after we let go of the football.
Those things were legal then, but we still got up and kept playing. So I like that they're protecting the quarterback now because they're a big part of the game. And then you want those guys out there each and every week. But I also know that, you know, I took my bit of punishment for the amount of times that I did throw the ball during my career. And, you know, I love the way the game is being played today.
There's more scoring, no question about it. And that's what the league wanted. You can't say anything too much negative about the NFL right now, but the way this thing is going, how popular the game is, how much money it's generating, how the players are being paid the way they're being paid.
You know, I'm really happy for these young guys that they're being taken care of the way they are. Warren Moon is here with us on the JR Sport Brief Show. We know the NFL, you talk about the money. It's been a topic of conversation this week from Roger Goodell and also the Players Association about potentially adding an 18th game somewhere over the next five or so, maybe less years. What do you think the league should do if they decide, if they mutually decide to add an 18th game? Good?
Bad? Do they need adjustments? Definitely adjustments. I mean, you might want to put another bye week in there for teams just to make sure that they have, you know, another week off. And the thing I'm more concerned about more so than the extra game on the schedule is these games where they're playing within three or four days of each other.
Those are the tough ones. When you play on Sunday and then you plan on Thursday and a couple of times this year, you know, teams played on a Wednesday and they had to turn around after three days and play again. That's tougher on your body than maybe playing one extra game in the season. So those are the things I think they really need to look at. How much turnaround time these guys have to get their bodies rested and ready to play again.
Because when you play 65-70 snaps in a football game, it's going to take you a number of days to get your body ready to play again. That's my biggest concern. Well, Warren, I know you're down in New Orleans. I know they have Derek Carr at quarterback. Is there any chance that you can help out these Saints or is there no more gas left in your tank? You in the Big Easy. Can you help them? You know, if they need my services, they're really in bad shape right now. Now, I could do a three-step drop and get the ball out of there or you give me the quick game, I can get the ball out of there.
But don't ask me to do anything where I have to really sit in that pocket because we're seeing these quarterbacks today don't get a lot of time back there because of the speed coming off those edges and my legs don't move like they used to. Well, Warren, we know you're no longer playing, but I know you played at Washington. And correct me if I'm wrong, there's somebody else by the name of Moon who is going to be playing for Washington. Am I correct?
You are correct. My son Reichen committed there yesterday and I have mixed emotions about it, but I'm really happy for him because it was his decision and, you know, he's going to be going to a place where I kind of made a name for myself. I just want to make sure he's able to make his own name and his own legacy and not be compared. And the good thing is that we don't play the same position. You know, I played quarterback. He's more of a receiver slash running back or he can also play defense. He plays nickelback and he plays safety. So he's got some choices to make what he wants to play and he can kind of take his time and figure out where he's going to be best suited for their team. But the main thing, he's going to get an excellent education. They have one of the best business schools in the country.
He's going to that business school and he'll get a chance to play for a really successful university. Hall of Famer and great Warren Moon is here with us on the JR Sportbree show. Last question before I let you go and enjoy the city, Warren. What's on the menu for dinner? You got to tell me, what are you looking forward to having? I am going to Dickey Brennan's tonight.
Dickey Brennan's Steakhouse and I'm gonna have a big steak down here. Last night I had gumbo and I had crusted red snapper. So I'm kind of doing a little bit of everything.
I had a po boy for lunch today. I'm doing all New Orleans while I'm here and I got a couple of more days to go. So I'll probably be another five or six pounds before I leave here. I got to get back home and get on a program. Well listen, we know out in Washington, y'all got that good seafood as well Warren. So you getting the best of both worlds. Enjoy the Eats down in New Orleans.
Enjoy the Super Bowl, rooting for them Chiefs. Warren Moon, we appreciate you. Where can people follow you and everything that you're up to? You can get me on Twitter at wmoon1 or you can get me on Instagram at warrenmoon1.com.
So either one of those is a way to get me and kind of follow what I'm doing. Always a pleasure chatting it up with a legend, the great Warren Moon. It's the JR Sport Brief show here with you on the Infinity Sports Network.
And right now it is time for a news flash with Marco Belletti. 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. 855-212-4227.
That's 855-212-4227. Hey, thank you so much to Hall of Famer Warren Moon for joining us in the last break. I tried to see if he could still get out there on the football field and do a little something and Warren Moon is like nah bruh. He did say today if he was playing, what he would be doing to defenses would be illegal. I'm sure, I mean, they don't touch nobody now.
You see what they do to Patrick Mahomes? Can't touch the guy, can't breathe on the guy. And let me reiterate, that doesn't mean that it's any shenanigans or any cheating going on and none of that. 855-212-4227. That's 855-212-4227. You know, he's getting ready to go to dinner. Hickey, I hope nobody's going to follow him around now, are they?
Hope nobody's looking for him. Oh, I didn't think about that. Right, right.
No, it sounds like where he was going, it's kind of like you got to know somebody or maybe when you walk to the front they're like, do you have reservation? No, no. Beat it kid.
Yeah, yeah, Warren Moon will be good. I'm sure he's going to have a nice meal and then head over to NFL Honors tonight. And we're going to get into that in a second. A matter of fact, 855-212-4227. That's 855-212-4227. Let's go ahead and hit the phone lines and talk to Brent. Brent is calling from Illinois.
You're on the JR Sportbree show, Brent. What's up? Hello, JR. Happy New Year. It's my first time in 2025 talking to you. Happy New Year. Oh, wow. It's been a month and change. Welcome back.
Okay, thanks JR. I want to bring up, there's one owner that won't attend this year's Super Bowl. It's Virginia McCaskey. Yeah, I heard.
You beat me to it. Yeah, she passed today at 102 years old. Thank you.
Oh, you're welcome. I think she's a great owner. I enjoyed having her funds run the team.
They got us to one championship. So I'm glad we're having some tribute to her today. So thank you, JR. Oh, no, there's not a, let me be clear, there's not a tribute.
And a lot of people don't particularly care for the family's ownership of the team, if I'm being honest. I mean, she's 102 years old and she passed. I mean, God rest her soul and condolences to her family, but we don't have a tribute plan for Virginia McCaskey. I'm sorry about that.
No, just you and I talking for less than 30 seconds. That's all the tribute we need. Okay. Well, thank you. Thank you so much, Brent. Okay. Thanks, JR. Take care. No doubt about it.
Brent from Illinois. There you have it. Hickey, I'm not trying to be disrespectful, am I?
And it's up to me, by the way. We don't have no tribute for her, do we? No, right? No. No, there's no tribute. No.
No, there's no tribute. Well, Hickey, what am I supposed to say? Shives a great life. Look, I hope to reach 102. You? You? Yeah. You do?
I hope so, yeah. I'd like to be around for a while. I don't have no number, man.
I don't know if it's 102. By the time we are eligible, is that possible? Oh, boy. I guess technically every second we're eligible. Yeah, yeah, yeah. By the time you and I get anywhere close to 102, they probably will have, they'll probably have us like Robocop out here. We won't have to worry about it, man. It'd be that simple.
That's true. I mean, who knows? 50 years from now, you know, 102 may be like the new 50. Well, you're gonna live older than Abraham, huh? Well, I just, my only requirement for I'm eligible to pick the can is I just want to see the Mets win a World Series and Penn State win a national title. So if it happens next year, we can get rid of you. Well, I'd like to celebrate a little bit.
Ah, okay. I'll give you a few years. But I don't have to make it to 102.
If they are, you know, losers, I may have to even extend that beyond just one or two. I'll hold out as long as it takes. Yeah, well, you're a good guy. Let's try to keep you here as long as possible, okay?
All things considered. And I know you got to be happy. Pete Alonso, I heard, is going to be sticking around with the Mets.
Good for him. Oh, fired up. Let's go, JR. Is it opening day? Ready to take down the Dodgers, go to the World Series? Let's go.
Let's have, let's have ourselves a season. Yeah, I know that Marco Belletti is, is not in the studio right now. He's out doing his news thing, learning about stuff so he can deliver to us the news. But I remember Marco was just like, it's over, it's done. Didn't you think it was done too? Or was that reverse psychology? Yeah, he's, he's always playing mind games.
It bothers me. But if you say something isn't going to happen, you feel good when it happens, right? Now that works. But it's also, you can't do it on purpose. Like the reverse jinx doesn't work if it's intentional. Oh, okay. You know, I can't say, oh, the Mets have no chance to win the World Series this year. Wink, wink.
Hoping that they'd be like, you mean like, if you mean it, okay, fine. That's fair. All right.
But if you're just trying to say for the opposite to happen, I don't think the powers work that way. I could be wrong, but okay. All right. Well, I know everybody's happy.
Well, Marco doesn't care. He's a Yankees fan. So, but I'm, I'm happy for you, Hickey. Shout outs to all the New Yorkers, New Yorkers everywhere. Thank you to all of the New Yorkers listening all over North America.
And speaking of New York, I mentioned this earlier in the show. In a few hours from now, the NFL is going to have its now annual award show because why would the NFL just randomly give out awards and not have a show? So a few years ago, they started NFL honors. They roll out a red carpet before the Super Bowl. They hand out rookie of the year, defensive rookie of the year, coach of the year.
They go through the whole gamut, ultimately culminating in who will walk away with the MVP award. And we believe it will either be Lamar Jackson or Josh Allen, two guys who are not in the Super Bowl. Well, one because of the other guy, but ultimately both of them because of Patrick Mahomes. And as a part of this entire NFL honors show tonight, we're going to find out whether or not Eli Manning gets elected into the pro football hall of fame.
And this is always a touchy subject. Hickey and I have gone back and forth over this, you know, plenty of times I look at Eli Manning and I see a guy who slayed a dynasty. I look at a guy in Eli Manning who just basically put Tom Brady down twice. Eli Manning is like Superman during the daytime. He's just a nerd walking around.
But when the going gets tough, he jumps into the phone booth and he puts on the cape. Eli Manning is an Iron Man. I didn't know this would be a whole Marvel thing, but this is what Eli Manning is.
He's normal until it's time to turn it on. And I think, isn't that what you want in football? Isn't the goal to go out there and just win games to win the Super Bowl? When you look at somebody's career, isn't the ultimate goal to win the big one? Well, Eli Manning won the big one twice and he knocked off the greatest quarterback of all time twice to go out there and do it. And so, yeah, he was OK in the regular season. Yeah, he led the league in interceptions a few times, but he was a four time Pro Bowler. But when you look at Eli Manning's career versus the average career of a quarterback, most of these guys are carrying water. This man was a starter.
He was an Iron Man. He's a two time Super Bowl champ. This man deserves to be in the Hall of Fame.
I know Hickey doesn't agree with me. Someone else who thinks he deserves to be in a Hall of Fame is someone who he helped get a championship. His name is Michael Strahan.
Strahan talked about it. He says he hopes Eli gets into the hall. I hope it happens. I think he deserves to get in. I know he will get in as we know those things are always unpredictable. I mean, one, two Super Bowls and had an incredible career.
And I think Eli definitely should be at home. And a guy, a two time Super Bowl MVP. Come on, man. We did hear earlier today is a Hall of Fame vote. Hickey, what is this guy? He's spilling the beans.
Is that what's going on here? Yeah, I thought you weren't allowed to talk about anything. And this clip you're about to hear, Ira Kaufman was very straightforward in talking about the candidacy for at least this year and this year only of the managers talking about Eli Manning. All right, let's listen.
This is from Sirius XM earlier today. Your boy, he's not going to make it, Chris. He's not going to make it. At 1003 tonight, people will walk on stage and your guy's not walking on stage. He's not my guy. My guy being the New York quarterback.
Is that who that is? But yes, now, Chris, I'm not saying that he's never going to wear a gold jacket. I'm not saying that.
If I had to bet, I think you will. But you have to understand this is a first year eligible player and he is not. He is not Bart Storff. He is not Brady. He is not Elway. And even you'll acknowledge that. So he's certainly not a no brainer from that respect. He's going to have his day.
But his day is not February 6th. Well, damn, you made it sound like Eli Manning did something to him. And let's be clear. Eli Manning is not Tom Brady. Eli Manning is not Joe Montana. Nobody is going to confuse the entirety of his career with these individuals. But the last time I looked, if you're going to have a Hall of Fame, it's about the best of the best and the people who accomplish the best. And if the goal is to win, I think that's why everybody's playing football. If the goal is to go out there and win when it was time to do so in the biggest moments, Eli Manning went out there and did so I know the entirety of his career.
OK, I'm looking at the length of it. I'm looking at the fact that he never, ever really got hurt. I'm looking at the two times that he beat the New England Patriots. I'm looking at the two Super Bowl MVPs. Ninety nine point nine percent of quarterbacks who have ever thrown a football in the NFL.
Wish they had the career, wish they had the longevity, wish they had the accomplishments of Eli Manning. I told you he's Clark Kent in the daytime. He's a nerd. He's boring as hell. He's sloppy. Lois Lane hates his guts.
She doesn't want to go out on a date with him. But then at nighttime, when the lights are brightest, he becomes Superman. Everybody loves him. He is saving everybody's ass. And he saved the asses of the New York Giants. Elon Manning has the clutch gene. And so all Hall of Famers aren't created equal.
Yes, we have the best of the best. But Elon Manning, his career is a damn good one. I think it's Hall of Fame worthy.
Simple as that. Hickey, you're you loving this, don't you? You don't never want to see Eli in the Hall of Fame. I know you don't. I mean, I just I I think the Hall of Fame should be reserved for the true greats of the game. And someone who played 16 years and made four Pro Bowls to me does not scream great. That's the championships.
Hickey, the MVPs. Eight games to me doesn't mean you're in the Hall of Fame. What if Nick Foles after winning the Super Bowl was, you know, Alshon Jeffery dropped against the Saints. They're one catch that pass. You beat the Saints all of a sudden you're in the NFC title game. I mean, you're talking about Nick Foles in the Hall of Fame.
No, no, no. But Eli, Nick Foles, let's be real, in his regular season, Nick Foles wasn't good, right? He had one good year outside of that. He wasn't good. Eli was good to above average. You just talked about his Pro Bowls. He made it a fourth of the time. Yeah, but when he won, he destroyed it. The name of the game is to win and to win big. Eli won big. You can't argue with this. Wouldn't the majority of quarterbacks who have ever, 99, 98% of quarterbacks wish they had his career, would you agree with that?
I would rather have Eli's career over Aaron Rodgers, if that makes you feel any better. Okay. All right.
I think the winning, I would take the winning and he was fine. I just wouldn't say all time great. We agree. We agree. I don't know. Well, not that last part, though. It's the JR Sport Brief Show on the Infinity Sports Network. When we come back, we are going to talk about an all time great because Tom Brady is at the Super Bowl, but there are a few things he can't do. I'll tell you what.
