Has The 49ers Super Bowl Window Closed? (Hour 1)

It is the JR Sport Brief 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 Tuesday to you. I hope it's been a good one regardless of where you are at and what you are doing. Thank you for being here. This is where we'll be for the next four hours. This is when the show gets started every weekday at 6 p.m Eastern, 3 Pacific. I'm in Atlanta, Georgia.

Thank you so much to our super producer and host Ryan Hickey in New York City. Day two of the NFL legal tampering period. NFL has to brand everything, right?

We just can't be a day before free agency. But anyway, fans of the San Francisco 49ers are worried that they are gutting the team. Maybe didn't realize the team stunk last year because everybody was hurt. We got Philadelphia Eagles fans. They just won the Super Bowl.

Some of them are worried about the Eagles and some of the individuals that they are letting walk away or trade like C.J. Gardner Johnson. And we got some NFL players who are going to join us here in the show. Some NFL vets, a two time Super Bowl champion with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Max Starks is going to join us in about 20 minutes. Pete Bursich played for the Minnesota Vikings. He's not one of the voices of the Minnesota Vikings. He used to hit people.

Now he talks about people hitting people. He'll be here in a few hours to talk about the Vikings. They may have me come in as quarterback, which is not a good thing at all. Speaking of quarterbacks, we'll get to this in a second. Daniel Jones is now a member of the Indianapolis Colts. That is absolutely hilarious.

Has me in stitches. I'm waiting on Kirk Cousins to get the boot from here in Atlanta. And then Tiger Woods has a torn Achilles. How much more further confirmation do we need that Tiger Woods is done?

Does he need to tear his other Achilles? What are we doing here? And then I got to just give you a quick heads up. As I do at the end of every show, I share with you a couple of things that took place this day in sports history. Let's just say this day in sports history, back in 2020, it wasn't good for the world of sports. The world was not good in 2020.

Today in sports history was pretty miserable. If you go back to the year 2020, of course, I'll share with you what exactly that is at the end of the show. If you want to be a part of the show, you can. The phone number here is 855-212-4227. That's 855-212-4227. You can find me on the internet. I exist everywhere. I am at JR Sport Brief. Ryan Hickey, how are you, man? You good? Well, JR, you're set in the open.

Daniel Jones is now a cult. So how do you think I'm doing? You're not good. Not good. Can I buy you a beer?

I'm going to need a few and then a few more every single Sunday to watch him. You are. You are. You are. I try not to bother you on Sundays. I know you do the show.

You're a working man, making all the money. Oh, yeah. I may have to reach out to you during every Colts game that I don't watch, that I only see highlights of Daniel Jones throwing an interception, Anthony Richardson fumbling the ball. I may have to just check in on you to make sure you're OK. Can you call them highlights? I think you'll be seeing a lot of Colts low lights. Low lights?

In 2025. There's an interception. There's a fumble. There's three sacks. Oh, man. Two QBs that can't figure out who's on their team.

And, you know, they're colorblind, I think. How much of a yo-yo do you think we'll see with the Indianapolis Colts? Oh, that's a good. I don't think a lot like I think Richardson will start. Yes, I agree. And whether it's inconsistent playing or injury or injury, I think once he is on the shelf, I think you'll see Daniel Jones for the most part. Actually, I think it'll be one yo-yo be Anthony Richards, two yo-yos, Richardson, Jones, especially his injury, probably Richardson back again and then maybe one more time back to Jones. Step, step, step, step. Well, we're not counting in the fact that Daniel Jones is likely to get hurt too.

That's also, I think that's, you're right, that just also now adds to it as well. Why have one QB that is inconsistent and hurt when you can get two QBs with the same skill set? When I saw the news earlier today, if anyone who is not familiar, not caught up, Daniel Jones signed a one-year contract worth 14 million dollars with the Indianapolis Colts. Now, we know the Colts are as average as average can be. Last year, they went eight and nine. Offense was mediocre. The defense was pretty pathetic, ranked 24th in the entire NFL. And the standout thing about the Indianapolis Colts is just the starting quarterback. You know, whether or not Anthony Richardson is going to be healthy enough to play or whether or not he's going to tap out of a play like this is real bad. The biggest marker and point, the most memorable thing from the Colts season last year was when Anthony Richardson, after a long play, a couple of them, decided that he wanted to come out of the game and take a rest.

And then he actually verbalized this after the game, like, hey, you're the starting quarterback, you're the star of the team. Why did you come out of the game? Were you hurt?

And he literally stood there and said, I'm OK. I'm just, I was tired. I needed a breather. I can't believe he said this.

This is from back in October. Listen to this. Man, tired. I ain't gonna lie. That was a lot of running right there, all I did. And I don't think I was going to be able to go to that next place. So I just, you know, just told the saying I just needed a break right there. He just needed a break.

He was a little tired. That's just a little running that I did right there. I don't think I was going to make it to the next play. I just a little tired.

Damn, bro. They ran the football. He didn't they run the football in the next play? They handed the ball off and that what happened? I think you're honest. I can't remember.

It was a third in love. That's what I know. This I've never heard a quarterback say this. His own teammates publicly ripped him to shreds. The media justifiably ripped him to shreds. Fans ripped him to shreds. Who the hell? I need I need video of when Mike Tyson said, you know what, I'm just I'm tired. I'm just going to walk to my corner and get a little bit of a break. You know, when have I ever seen?

I don't know. Michael Jordan say, you know, I'm tired. Michael Jordan played in a game whether you want to call it the flu or food poisoning. Michael Jordan went out there and bust ass.

Okay. Anthony Richardson is built like a truck. This man could do backflips from one end zone to the other and just, you know, smile about it. But he was too tired to continue playing in a football game. I mean, these are some of the toughest humans on Earth. They're tougher than me. So who had a modest speak?

But the fact is, I never heard nobody say I'm too tired. And so what a shock. What a surprise when he's not hurt. He's tapping out of football games that the general manager of the Indianapolis Colts, Chris Ballard, actually came forward and made a point to say, you know what? It was actually a couple of weeks ago at the combine. This man said, I'm going to bring in some competition for Anthony Richardson. Yeah. The guy that they just selected in 2023, fourth overall, this guy needs competition already.

Listen to this. We want to create real competition. I think it's good for the team. I think it's good for Anthony. I mean, I don't like when we draft, we drafted Anthony high knowing it was going to take some time. All right.

And we knew there's going to be some hiccups along the way. And it's, it's, you know, I know we all want to finish product right now. I do. You do. Fans do. We all do.

But I think as he continues to progress in his young career, us adding competition, I think will, will help up everybody's game. Oh man, man, man, I don't, I don't miss New York city, but this is like watching two cockroaches in the subway runner, runner, runner, a race. It's like watching two rats runner a race. This is bad. Like this is not, it's not thoroughbreds out here. This is like this is like watching dirt just to sit on the side of the road, blow away.

This is bad. Like Daniel Jones was dismissed from the New York giants. He wanted to leave the giants after they started two and eight. He then went over to the Minnesota Vikings to basically collect dust, which is what he did. And then when you think about Daniel Jones numbers as a starting quarterback, yeah, the New York giants suck, but so did he, he had a career record over there of 22 and 44. The giants selected him sixth in 2019. I think the only difference in Daniel Jones and Anthony Richardson, one is older, one is younger, one is black, one is white, but they're both bad.

It's going to be real interesting. Congratulations, Daniel Jones, a one year contract with $14 million. This man sat around on the phone with his agent.

They were on zoom, they're texting, they're having conversations about, Hey, I'm a find you somewhere where you could start. You know what that is? The cults, him and his agent sat around and said, you know what? If there's a guy that we can beat out to get you back as a starting quarterback in the league with a good quarterback, Jonathan Taylor, it's going to be the Indianapolis cults.

You, Daniel Jones, you can beat that guy out. It's the same thing Joe Flacco said last year as he decided to go two and four as a starter, he stunk for the cults as well. What is it about Anthony Richardson that other starting quarterbacks, other potential starting quarterbacks in the NFL, they look at this guy, they start licking their chops. I go, Oh, that's the guy that quit. Oh yeah, of course I could take his job.

Oh, training camp compete against them. Of course I'll take his job. And like Hickey said, I think Anthony Richardson is, is going to get the starting nod. He is the incumbent. There is more invested in him long term and especially with the draft capital they used to select him at number four two years ago.

Let me say that again. Only two years ago, they don't want to completely bury the guy unless Anthony Richardson completely sucks. Unless he's turning the ball over here, he's playing in the pre Hickey. Will they even play him in a preseason? They going to protect them that much. I mean, at this point he needs the experience.

I think he might have to play. Wow. It's that bad. Wow. You're going to run out there and pull a calf muscle or something. Oh my God. Don't put that in the universe, please. I'm just, well, I'm just going by a recent history. Okay.

Can I do that? The reality is fair. Unfortunately, he's heard every other body part so far, right? When he, when he sprained the shoulder, remember that Hickey? I wish I could forget it.

I can't. Yeah. He dropped the shoulder. Remember when he hurt his knee? Remember he hurt his head? Yeah.

The concussion. Yeah. Okay. Yeah.

Come on boy. Yeah. It's like operation. Yeah. He's like, he is like a walking game operation that he is. Oh man.

Yeah. I saw this and I thought of you first. I'm glad you're laughing. I'm glad you are. No, I'm not laughing at you. I've never laughed at you. It's just the situation that is comical.

Here I am. I root for my team's pain, specifically the jets. Like I root for them to be bad.

I think it's hilarious. You root for the, the cults to be good, but they are bad. I think I'm going to take a page out of your book this year. Honestly, you're going to root for the team to suck.

I'm going to root for Anthony Richardson to succeed. Oh, what? Inevitably the odds are stacked against that happening, right? So that's probably not going to happen. I've already come to conclusion.

Okay. When Daniel Jones plays, I'm rooting against them. Oh, wait, wait. You're going to, you're going to root demise. You're going to root against Daniel Jones in hopes that Anthony Richardson finds success. No, not even that.

Just root for Daniel Jones to fail so that there's no thought in 2026 of him being the long-term guy. Oh my God. And we can get on. You ready for this? What? The March for Arch. Oh wow.

You want the whole team to stink real bad. Now what are the, now that can't be the case, right? He can't be an Indianapolis cult. He can't, come on. He has to be a saint. He can't be a cult.

No, that's too, what's he going to go to beat him? He can't go to the Broncos. Well, we could get that. No, we can't have a Manning 2.0 with the cults, man.

The world doesn't work that way. He can't go to the saints where his granddaddy got the life beaten out of him for his career. Go to the giants. No, no, please.

He'll get the, he'll, he'll be Archie, Archie, Archie 2.0. Go to the cults. They'll develop you. They'll protect you. You got some weapons.

They have some success. Come on. Listen, bro, 30 years later, we do almost 30 years later, we do not need another, we don't need another Manning in Indianapolis.

Okay. We've had enough of that crap. They haven't had outside of like three years, a good quarterback in there since. Well, if the other guy didn't get the blood beat out of him, then he'd still be playing. I'm talking about Andrew Luck. I know.

I know. Fortunately he did. And that guy, he literally got the blood beat out of him. Literally.

He did. Poor guy was going to the bathroom. What does he see?

Blood. Not what you want as a human being. But anyway, all the best to you as a, let's take a look at the last two seasons. Anthony Richardson's completion percentage of 50%. Keep in mind elite quarterbacks at 70, uh, Daniel Jones. How about this? 65%.

Oh, a little better. Anthony Richardson, 11 touchdowns to 13 interceptions, Daniel Jones, 10 touchdowns to 13 interceptions. So if we were to combine their numbers, that would be a whopping 21 touchdowns to 26 interceptions. And the last time I looked, those are not numbers of a starting quarterback. Those are numbers of a backup who doesn't play, who's been benched. That's not the, uh, touchdown to turnover ratio that you look for. A good luck to the Indianapolis Colts.

And I will be thinking about Hickey as I sip a beer and think about sending him one. I'm terrible, terrible, terrible, almost as bad as the jets. It's the JR sport re-show here with you on the infinity sports network. We got so much to get into. How bad are the 49ers going to be? I got rid of 10 starters, the Philadelphia Eagles. They just won a championship. They're cutting bait with a lot of their players. We're going to talk about the Minnesota Vikings. What do they do at quarterback?

I think they're in a better position than the Colts. Anyway, we got so much more to get into. We're going to take a break. When we come back, we're going to have a chat with someone who won two Superbowl championships with the Pittsburgh Steelers. His name is Max Starks. Of course, I'm going to ask him about the Steelers, the Colts, and everything going on in the NFL.

Congratulations. We're just getting started. It's the JR sport brief show, the infinity sports network. You're listening to the JR sport brief.

It's the JR sport brief show here with you coast to coast on the infinity sports network. NFL free agency actually starts tomorrow. The league year starts tomorrow, but we've had plenty of moves.

We've had plenty of trades and people getting cut. It's all official tomorrow to talk about what we've seen, what we've heard, what we can expect. Something to have a chat with someone who's played in the league. Right now, he's an analyst all over the place. NFL, SEC, ESPN. He's a two-time Superbowl champ with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Of course, we'll talk about those Steelers and so much more. Joining us right now, he's also a Gator. His name is Max Starks. Max, how are you, man? I'm doing all right. I can't complain. How are you doing? I'm very well.

Thank you for taking the time to join us. I guess we might as well start off with your Steelers. We see Justin Fields is gone. Russell Wilson is a free agent. What do you think is the best thing for these Steelers to do? I know your old buddy Ben Roethlisberger says he got another pass left in him, but I don't think so.

Yeah, no, I mean, I think that, you know, has definitely sailed. I mean, as much as you love to have a good, you know, redemption story, a guy off the couch. I mean, had Joe Flacco's done it. You know, remember Gino Toretta when he came off the couch? You know what I'm saying? And went and helped the Jets out.

So, I mean, yeah, you do have those. I don't think that's the case here. I think when you look at just, you know, where the Steelers are, I think they're trying to figure out, you know, what the best opportunity is. Is it starting brand new with the young guy, knowing that you gave DK Metcalf a five-year window with the team?

So, grow and learn together and give them a reliable, steady target? Or do you go with something that's a retread, you know, in Aaron Rodgers or bringing back Russell Wilson? I would be less inclined to the latter just because due to age, I mean, you look at where Russell is and, you know, if you're saying that Russ is too old and has lost a step, what are you saying about Aaron Rodgers? Because I think, you know, when those two actually went head to head, Russell Wilson got the better of Aaron Rodgers when we played the Jets on Sunday Night Football.

So, you know, I kind of look at that and I say, no, I don't think that's the right course of action for them. I think it is something younger or something with a proven type of mentality or maybe it's still a trade out there that we don't know about. But I don't think that the question lies in someone over the age of 30, 33 years old or better to be a quarterback for this team. And Max Starks is joining us here on the JR Sport Brief Show. Let's talk about someone younger than that much.

Well, not that much younger, but he's younger and he seemingly has a lot of maturity issues. Now that the Steelers have acquired DK Metcalf, do you think it's still worth it for the Steelers to have Pickens on the team or do you think they should maybe move them, move on? I think it's still worth it because, I mean, you look at just look at the field, right? I mean, when you're talking about the AFC North and what it has to offer, Jamar Chasen, T Higgins, prime examples, right? You got two alpha receivers on the same team.

And so I think when you look at that, you got to have a one, two punch combo. Jordan Addison, Justin Jefferson is another one of those that I think of, you know, now obviously you see Devante Adams paired with Pukina Kua out in LA. They realized they needed to get somebody that was a little bit more durable than Cooper cup, but you want a one, two, one, two punch because, you know, the era of calling someone a wide receiver one is really dependent upon the defense that you're playing, right? Because wide receiver one will get the double, but guess who gets the wide receiver one balls? It's the off guy. It's the guy that's not getting double covered.

So you need someone to take that pressure off, but you need a complimentary or comparable guy on that opposite side. And I think that's what the Steelers see is like, you know, too many teams tried to neutralize George Pickens and you didn't have that reliable other guy to go to. So now if you could take pressure off of George or, you know, when it does go to George, now you have DK, now teams are putting a quadrant where they have to think about which side am I going to double bracket, right? Cause I can't double bracket them all. You know, there's only 11 guys on defense and we're already dedicating two guys to each of these resources. And then you forget that you still have Pat Fireman in the middle of the field. So I think having more options is better.

I don't think you gain one to trade one in my mind. Max Starks is here with us where you talk about the AFC North, one team that has a big decision to make next month, that happens to be the Cleveland Browns. We know that they're sitting in that number two spot, have to wait and see what the Tennessee Titans do. What do you think is the best course of action for the Browns to be more competitive? Is it absolutely snatching up whoever's left or the top quarterback available?

I mean, I mean, they've, they've already gone after, you know, a Superbowl winning quarterback in a Kenny ticket, right? Oh my God. Oh, that hit Max.

That's not nice. Come on, Max. Come on. I'll just say, I'll just say, you know, listen, I got, I had to be a little tongue in cheek with the fellows, you know, I mean, you know, cause I was always taught, you know, as a young kid, I lived in Florida, we used to be on boats all the time, you know, there was maritime law and the rule was if it's Brown flush it, this yellow, let it mellow, you know? So I learned that. So I just, it just, it's in my mind.

So I can't help but do that. But, but I think, you know, for the Browns really, I think it is, you're going in trying to find somebody younger, cheaper, because listen, you, you've allocated a lot of resources to that quarterback position and you can't recoup any of that. You remember that whole fully guaranteed contract situation? So I think they have to go in the well and they have to go draft somebody, you know, we'll see where a cam ward ends up, you know, should door Sanders, another one, or if you like a Jackson dark or, you know, or you like some other guys that are coming out in this draft, whether it's a well Howard state, Ohio, you say Ohio branded if you want from a OSU guy. So I think there are some options in the draft, but you know, when you have that type of money committed and I got still on your roster, you know, it's tough to go and find another competent starting quarterback that is going to want to come there. Cause you know what you're dealing with. Cause you can't cut the Sean Watson.

Yeah. Two hundred and thirty million dollars guaranteed in that power ball hit the Jack, but I'm sure he's rehabbing in Miami right now. Max I'm I'm sure he is from one Superbowl winning quarterback to another one. This guy won a seven championships. His name is Tom Brady with Tom Brady out in Vegas.

You know, they they've made some changes. Pete Carroll is in. I know he has a 5% stake of the team. He also has Geno Smith.

Okay, fine. He's a broadcaster. He has a piece of the team. What do you think this means for the Raiders?

Is this like a big deal, a small deal? Is he broadcasting too much? Like, is it his team?

Is he running it? What is the Brady effect on the Raiders? No, I think the Brady effect is he understands that there has to be a division, right? You know, in season, he's a broadcaster off season. He can work more front office management ownership related things to a degree.

Right. You know, and I think that's where, you know, the input, the insights to Mark Davis kind of being that sounding board and, you know, kind of confidant slash other opinion that goes into Mark Davis's mind. I think that's the role that he kind of sits in. That's why they, you know, that's why they wanted to bring him in as a small minority partner. But I believe he has more control than just 5% and more decision making power and leverage than just that 5% ownership stake. Here's the thing that's going to be the really big thing is in a year or two, you know, when he has kind of put his thumbprint on this team in the off season, when is his presence going to be felt in season when it really counts, when decisions are made, when you have to have, you know, more insight, more say in the process, whether it's, you know, managing Pete Carroll, whether it's going in with another situation, that's where it's going to be really interesting to see if he continues with broadcasting because I can tell you right now, if I had a choice between broadcasting or ownership stake, that ownership stake is going to be worth a lot more than that broadcasting piece over time. Two times Super Bowl champ Max starts to see it with us.

That was going to be my next question. You certainly understand how much work goes into broadcasting. Do you think he's going to see through this next, I believe, nine remaining years? No, no, I don't see that. I don't see that. There will come a decision where he'll have to make it, I would say, in the next, I would say next two, maybe three, maximum, maybe three.

I don't think he makes it five years broadcasting. I certainly understand that, given all the work on both sides. When we talk about Geno Smith going to the Raiders, we saw Sam Donald make his way out to Seattle, apparently for the contract that Geno Smith rejected. Is Seattle kind of just spinning their wheels right now? I mean, it's a process, you know, you have to trust what Mike McDonald's trying to get accomplished as a coach. You know, you realize you had to trim a lot of fat to get back to a place where you could build this team back up and they've, you know, they've traded away a lot of resources. They've gotten a lot of draft capital. So I think, you know, the signal is, hey, we're young, we're going to rebuild and, you know, we just have to kind of deal with it.

And yes, I know, you know, Sam Donald is appealing and attractive. We brought him out here, but we're still growing in this process. And we just need something to keep us competitive with the rest of the NFC West as far as the name brand of quarterback. But at the end of the day, I don't expect them to be a competitive team for this year and next year. You talk about the NFC West, we saw the Rams go to the postseason and surprise folks a little bit with their fight. And then we also just just over the past two days, two, three days, we've seen what the 49ers have done. The 10 starters who are now off of the team, where do you think they still fit in when it comes down to just one of the top teams in NFC?

Are they even still there? I don't know if they're still there because, you know, they still haven't done the deal with Park Purdy yet, right? You know, he's up, but he's injured. And I think they're still trying to wait to figure that out to see his health status and to know if they can be a team that can push. I mean, you know, his contract will really be the last shoe to drop to see how they view him and how they think about him as a quarterback. So I think right now it's kind of a wait and see type of situation. You know, you had a Christian McCaffrey who's not getting any younger, but yet at the same time, he commands a lot of money as well as a lot of those other options on on that team.

So, you know, you look at and you say, yeah, they want to be competitive, but I don't know if they're in the top NFC picture right now. Max Starks is here with us on the JR Sport Reshow. Before I let you go, I have to ask you about the man that that you played for in Mike Tomlin. He's always catching heat and is like a 10 and seven average season that we get every year and out for the Steelers.

What makes him such a great coach that everybody internally loves him and then the fans just beat up on him on the outside? I mean, I mean, you can't you can't spell fanatic without spelling fan, right? Yeah. I mean, I think that's what we kind of understand. You know, fans, you know, they have a high expectation of themselves.

They want to see championships and they want to see them all the time. But I always caution fans when they do ask that. I said, remember the 70s? OK, great.

Great. Now keep that in your mind. Now, remember the 80s?

You remember the 80s? That's right. There was no Super Bowl appearance. There was there was no championship. They got close, you know, just like the Steelers did. You know, Mike Tomlin has been to the mountaintop twice, won it once, and we lost to Green Bay the second time. And then he's been to the AFC Championship as well. Now, has it been recent?

Not in the last six, seven years, but it is still in the pedigree on the resume. And, you know, this team, they held on to some pieces a little bit too long. And now you're kind of trying to rebuild that. And I think we're doing the right job. You know, we finally we finally address the offense that super young looking for leadership there for guys to grow up in that position. But, you know, defensively, now you're getting a little older. Now you have to kind of shuffle the deck and kind of rebuild that defense to give them some depth again.

So I think it's just a balancing act. And it's tough to find a generational quarterback. You know, we have many teams are trying to do it on a year in and year out basis because they don't have that guy.

They don't even have a franchise guy. They can look at and say, man, when this guy was our quarterback, man, it was crazy. You know, Tom Brady's aren't walking this earth. You know, the Steve Youngs, the Joe Montanas, the Ben Roethlisberger's as well. Eli Manning's the guys who won multiple championships.

That's not walking the face of the earth and available to you right now. I mean, just as great as we talk about Joe Burrow and Josh Allen won Super Bowl between the two of them. And, you know what I'm saying? So it's a tough thing to do. And I think for Steeler fans trying to get them to understand that because it has short term memory issues at times of remembering that you got to remember the Bubby Briches are going to talk about.

Oh, my gosh. I was in the Ben Roethlisberger's, right? You know, those are the things that you have to kind of remember in this process. And, you know, Steelers are figuring it out and they're still winning despite of it. A lot of teams have to tank and lose to get a Joe Burrow, to get a Jayden Daniels, right? And these guys are top five picks, but what you have to do is you have to have worse five records the previous year. The Steelers have not had that in the 21st century, except for one time in 2003, where they drafted Ben Roethlisberger at number 11.

Hey, Max, last question for you, man. You talk about having a franchise quarterback and a top coach. We've seen Bill Belichick basically get the boot from New England. I know you're a Gator in the SEC.

I got to ask you about the ACC. How do you think he's going to do it at North Carolina? Has the college landscape shifted that much that he will be perfectly fine coaching these young men? I think it's going to work out for the first couple of years because I think the biggest thing you have to remember, you're not trying to just reach the kids, you're reaching the parents of those kids. And guess what?

The parents remember what Bill Belichick was in New England. And so, you know, that's going to automatically give him a draw. And I think his approach is going to be a little bit fresher than a lot because he's brand new to this. I think, you know, some of the things he's already started reinstating in the spring practices without using the names on the back of jerseys to kind of get guys to buy into the team concept first, I think is, you know, is a novel approach, something that has not been done yet. And let's see where it goes from there. You know, I think, you know, if you do get those guys to buy into that, which I've heard from a number of guys, you know, young men that have spoken about it, you can hear the buy-in, you see what they're doing in practice from some of the clips and everything.

And everybody's excited, man. You've got a six-time winning Super Bowl champion coach as you're a football coach. I think he knows a thing or two about winning and what success looks like. So I think he has their attention. What's going to come is, you know, after year two, after year three, is it sustained success?

Is it not sustained success? That's when we'll see a flip. And we'll see what Bill Belichick does. Hey, Max, I appreciate the time. And Max, you have an interesting, you got an interesting energy. I'm literally here on the air with you. And someone who you're familiar with, Willie Colon, is over here messaging me about his educational foundation.

I guess it's something with the Steelers in the air, man. Yeah. You know, I mean, we're everywhere.

That's all you have to know, Jay. We're everywhere. You know, you know, we're like Bay Bay's kids.

We don't have to multiply. I see. Well, I have not seen that in a long time, Max.

You've been watching Bay Bay's kids? Oh, it's been a while, Max. Come on.

The late Robin Harris, man. Oh my God. That little baby. You know, we got to have that every once in a while. Little nasty. I have not seen that.

The little nasty ass baby with the flies on his diaper. I got to go back and watch that, Max. Okay. Yeah, man. Yeah. Take a little, take a little hotel time machine back and watch it.

It's a good little laugh. I certainly will. Listen, Max, you keep pretty busy. Where can people follow you and keep up with you or your broadcast and analyst work? Tell us. Yeah.

You know, if you go to the X or the Twitter machine, however you'd classify it, Max Dark 78. Also, you know, IG, M Stark 78, but also I'm on Sirius XM radio. I'm also on Steelers Nation radio. So I'm everywhere. ESPN radio on game days during the season for NFL and our college. So I'm everywhere when it comes to football, JR. Yeah, I heard that.

All you Steelers are everywhere. Max, we'll catch you on down the line. Always a pleasure. All right. Pleasure.

No doubt about it. It's the JR sport re-show here with you coast to coast on the infinity sports network. Thank you to a two time Super Bowl champ and a broadcaster and announcer, Max Starks for joining us. It's the JR sport re-show on the infinity sports network. 8 5 5 2 1 2 42 27.

That's 8 5 5 2 1 2 42 27. One team that we discussed and are they going forward? They're going backwards. We got to talk about these 49ers and all the changes that they've made. 10 starters gone.

How far back are they going? We'll have that conversation on the other side of the break. You are listening to the JR sport brief. Oh, my goodness. Uchiwale. Oh, my God.

Nice. Uchiwale. Oh, man. Hickey, do you know the words to this song? I've never heard of this song, JR, to be honest with you. Oh, listen, oh, listen, I was going to say I'll send it to you. I said I will. I will not send it to you. I will let you. I will let you Google us on your own time.

I hope you don't. OK, so not on the work computer is what you're saying. Or definitely on the work computers. I think that's what you're saying. Definitely look it up.

Nah, don't Google no work. And shout outs to Nas. Great guy. Shout outs to Nas. Yeah, but Uchiwale is a very suggestive song. I love it, though. A great beat. I like the whistle. I love it. I don't know what it says about me.

I know all of the words, but that's besides the fact. Thank you so much to Max Starks for joining us in the last break. Former Pittsburgh Steeler came through to talk about everything in the NFL. One thing of note, Max is not advocating that the Steelers bring on a quarterback north of 30 years old or 33 years old, which would automatically discount Aaron Rodgers, who is in his 40s, and Russell Wilson thinks they should go younger. I can't blame him.

I mean, if they keep up with this route, I mean, they might be the Indianapolis Colts choosing between Anthony Richardson and Daniel Jones. Anyway, thank you. If you missed that conversation with Max, go ahead and hit rewind on the free Odyssey app. Phone lines are open. That's 855-212-4227.

That's 855-212-4227. One thing that we did bring up are some of the changes that are going on in the NFC West. Obviously, you take a look at the Seahawks. They have a new quarterback in Sam Donald. You think about the Rams. They've been able to bring in Devontae Adams. He's in the fold. The Arizona Cardinals got Josh Sweat. And then meanwhile, you take a look at the 49ers. Oh, my goodness.

They have gotten rid of in some way, shape, or form. Ten. Count them ten different starters from last year. The San Francisco 49ers, I mean, heading into last year, they were supposed to be one of these teams in the NFC along with the Detroit Lions that were NFC contenders, NFC championship contenders, Super Bowl contenders. And naturally, we saw all of the injuries that took place. And now you've shipped out Deebo Samuel. He's now gone. Charvarious Ward is signing with the Colts. Hufanga, one of the best safeties. He was hurt last year. This man signed with the Denver Broncos like the Broncos needed help at the defensive back position. They did not.

They not at all. One of the best. They cut Leonard Floyd. Leonard Floyd is now gone from the 49ers. He's here in Georgia now.

And one thing that the Falcons need, they need somebody to get the quarterback because they haven't been able to do that now for years. Leonard Floyd, a Georgia guy too, back in Athens, back in Atlanta. Good for him. Drake Greenlaw is out.

Yeah, I'm naming a lot of names here. They even got rid of Kyle Juszczak. Yeah, one of the few fullbacks that are still running around in the NFL. Nine time Pro Bowler. He's 33 years old.

Matter of fact, he's getting ready to turn 34. They say that he's starting to miss blocks out there. And so the 49ers are going through a little bit of a makeover after half of their damn team was hurt last year. They went 6 and 11. Their defense was just horrific with all the injuries. They were ranked 29th out of the 32 teams on defense. The 49ers were bad. Ian Rappaport was on Pat McAfee's show and he talked about why even despite 10 starters disappearing, the 49ers will be okay. I'm sure their fans are going crazy.

I'm sure. But this is what really good teams should do, right? You should let guys who are looking for third contracts or guys who you can't afford to pay leave and you draft and develop behind them. Like that's what, you know, for the Patriots for years did that. The Ravens do it. Steelers do it. Like the really, the Chiefs certainly do it. The really good teams can let their big ticket free agents go knowing that they have the confidence in the personnel department to draft behind it.

Look, I'm not going as far as he's making this sound. He makes it sound like things are going to be a-okay for the 49ers. Now their defense is not going to be as bad as it was last year.

29th out of 32? Like just by having healthy bodies and then also having Rob Salah back in the fold as their defensive coordinator, that's naturally going to help out the San Francisco 49ers. I know Deebo Samuel is gone and I'll be running around in Washington. Good for him. Man, that guy didn't want to be there anymore.

He's mad at all the other touches that all the other offensive weapons were hauling in. You know, what is Ricky Piersol going to do after he got shot last year? Hickey, is he eligible for comeback player of the year?

If DeMar Ham was a two-time player or comeback player of the year nominee, Ricky Piersol, no doubt about it. I think all NFL players who get shot should automatically win comeback player. Why did they give it to Bryan Robinson? He got shot. He got shot in the ass. They shot him in the leg, right?

I thought he was in the leg like the calf. Speaking of which, should Ricky Piersol have been nominated last year? Would that be an award that he would get nominated for this upcoming year?

You make a good point. He wasn't nominated at all. It was his rookie year, so I guess he had nothing to come back from. I was just going to say, do you need a season to come back from? Sure, they may have got robbed. They need a comeback player of the year from a guy who never played in the league.

That's what they need. With rookie, yeah, they got rookie play, they got rookie XYZ for every award, right? Rookie, do they do that? Rookie defender of the year, right? No. Offensive rookie of the year, defensive rookie of the year, yeah. You're right, you're right. So, rookie comeback player of the year as well. Yeah, a guy who came back from, rookie who came back from adversity to make the league, right? No. That would create for some great sob stories.

But everybody would be shot. Well, you had Josh Jacobs a few years ago when he was in Alabama, he was like living in his car. That's a great story. Oh, you're right, you're right, you're right. Come back from that. Come back from living in a car back to inside, yeah. Yeah, let's come back. That's a good comeback. It's such a son different about getting shot now. He got shot in the chest again. That guy could have been dead.

Oh my God. Oh man, I don't care who they give the war to next. I couldn't even tell you who would be some of the leading candidates for next year. We would have to know about now, right? Wouldn't we? I think we would. You'd have to.

I'm going to think about this in a break. And then we're going to talk about a team that people are worried about coming back. They got nothing to come back from. They just won a championship.

We're going to talk about the Eagles and get into the Vikings as well. Don't move. It's the JR sport re-show.