Top Ten Docs (4-3-20)

This is The Drive with Josh Graham Podcast. Tune in to The Drive weekday afternoons 3 to 7 on Sports Hub Triad. Via Zoom press conference, we finally had a chance to catch up with new Panthers wide receiver Robbie Anderson.

You'll hear from him in just a few minutes. But I want to start with one of his fellow wide outs. As Carolina stockpiles receivers and free agency, I saw numerous outlets report this week, according to sources, that Curtis Samuel was not being shopped. At that point, I wasn't thinking Samuel should be traded. But after reading those reports, I started thinking, why not trade Curtis Samuel?

It just makes too much sense. This wide receiver room, I think it's at capacity when you consider they brought in Robbie Anderson. They also have signed a handful of other receivers to a one-year deal. And Curtis is one of the few receivers the Panthers have at this moment that actually have trade value. He's on a rookie deal, he has one year left, he's shown some flashes, and the Panthers, they've had opportunities to trade guys and they've been unable to get draft picks in return. Yes, the Panthers got Russell Okun from the Chargers in exchange for Trey Turner. But there's a five-year age difference there, Turner being younger, and the Panthers got no picks back. That's not good when Okun has one year left on his contract, and every move the Panthers have made indicates that they're a tanking team.

When you're tanking, you want to have as many assets as possible, you want younger players. The Panthers, they're getting guys who are younger than 29 mostly, with the exception of Okun, but they're not really picking up draft picks aside from trading Kyle Allen for a fifth round pick. Samuel, he has value. You can't risk losing him without getting anything in return, the way that you lost out on Cam Newton, the way that you lost out on getting any picks back in that trade with the Chargers. There are only three Panthers wide receivers I think anybody would trade for right now. DJ Moore, and you're not gonna get rid of him, two years remaining on his rookie deal. He had a breakout season last year. Robbie Anderson, you just signed him.

I don't think he's going anywhere, as he's wearing a Christopher Caffrey jersey during his zoom press conference. So then there's Samuel. They also signed Seth Roberts to a three million dollar deal. Why would you do that if you don't expect the guy to play? You got Samuel Anderson, and you also have DJ Moore out there. Why are you signing a wide receiver to a one-year deal for three million dollars if you don't intend him to play? Also there's overlap with the skill sets for these receivers.

Robbie Anderson, not a tall guy. He's all about speed, it's all about getting him in space, possession wide receiver, line him up different spots. That sounds very familiar. It sounds like what DJ Moore's asked to do. It sounds like what Pharoah Cooper's good at, as they brought him in on a one-year deal. Now you got Samuel who does a lot of the same thing, and I get he's somebody you can use in the running game as well, maybe dispel McCaffrey a little bit, but speaking of that McCaffrey guy, a lot of what Samuel does, McCaffrey does as well. So I just don't know if there's enough balls to go around where Samuel's gonna feel happy signing an extension a year from now.

Especially if the team's not any good, you know, because you're tanking. So if you don't think the guy's gonna resign, and I don't think he's going to, because the team's not gonna be good and there's just too many wide receivers in that room at this moment who are extended beyond next year, why not trade him? Oh but Josh, they already said they're not shopping him. Just because they're not shopping him doesn't mean they're not accepting offers. Part of me thinks this Robert, they float the rumor out there, they leak to the media they're not shopping Samuel as a way to trigger in some GM's minds, oh that's a guy we should consider giving a call, that's a guy we should consider reaching out to the Panthers about. Am I crazy to suggest that? Because I wasn't thinking Samuel, oh they should trade him amid everything that's going on and the Panthers picking up wide receivers stockpiling them left and right. No I don't think you're crazy, I even said that right to you as I told you through talkback that the Robbie Anderson deal was done, I was like well Curtis Samuel's out.

Because I mean he's too similar to everything they have and you might as well get some value for him now, especially if he's gonna be buried during the season and you can't trade him before the deadline. And he doesn't have a tie to Matt Ruhl that I know of, or to any of the other coaches. Okun has Pat Meyer the offensive line coach who vouched for him, Teddy Bridgewater had Joe Brady, Joe Brady working with Teddy in New Orleans, DJ Moore he's from Philadelphia, Matt Ruhl recruited him heavily when he was coaching at Temple. So apparently they have a good relationship. I guess since Matt Ruhl's from New York City and Curtis Samuel's from Brooklyn, maybe that counts but I don't know about any connection between Ruhl and Samuel.

That's trusting the process a little too hard. Yeah the team's tanking, this is a pro tanking move. Scott Fowler he's gonna join us in about 25 minutes to grade the Panthers offseason. We've got a great show today, Jim Ross the legendary wrestling announcer gonna drop by, it's WrestleMania weekend. We need to find a way to celebrate that.

WrestleMania is still going on, WrestleMania 36. Do you think, Robert and Aaron, do you think you guys could cut a promo against coronavirus? Like the way Mean Gene Okerlund would be in the middle of some of the greatest wrestlers ever as they talk trash with each other. Do you think you could come up with something in the next 10 minutes?

You guys talking trash but not to another wrestler, not to each other, but to the coronavirus? Do you think I could do that? Do you think I could do that? Do you know what corona's taken from me, Josh? Do you know what it's prepared to take for me? I hope I see him Sunday and he'll get what's coming to him. Aaron do you think you're up to it?

Without a doubt, playboy. Alright, 10 minutes. We're gonna do that. I'm about it. See, I was gonna be in Atlanta this weekend for my first ever Final Four. You were gonna be at WrestleMania. I was supposed to be at the Big Dance, man.

I'm a little upset. What do you view as the Big Dance? The Showcase of Immortals, the the biggest show of them all in WrestleMania. Because the NCAA tournament is also called the Big Dance. I think that's just something that's like the the pinnacle, you know.

WrestleMania has better music. If you want to reach out to us, I'm not gonna disagree with that. You could tweet us at SportsHubTriad. Let us know what you think about the Panthers and Curtis Samuel. Also Robbie Anderson had a chance to catch up with him briefly in the Zoom press conference earlier today. And here's how my exchange with Robbie Anderson sounded. Robbie, given the familiarity you have with Matt, what is the vision that Coach Rule sold you on that convinced you Carolina was the right spot?

I know he's, I know when it's in his blood. You know, I know that's what he's here to do, you know. So it wasn't really much that he had to sell me on, you know. It was in the back of my mind when I saw that he was kind of hitting the market to become a head coach. I already knew I would want to go there. And then when I saw that Teddy signed there, it just, I just felt like it was like the icing on the cake.

Like it really attracted me to want to be a Panther. Take me back to your first impression of Matt Rule, because at the time when he's recruiting you, he hasn't had much success at Temple at that point. So what do you remember about your first impressions of it? The first, my first impression was when Coach Rule was on my official visit.

And you know, when you do your official visit, like before you leave, you sit in an office. Not an office, like you know, I have like a meeting with like the head coach and probably like the position coach and one other coach. And we just had like a grown man conversation. You know, I explained, I don't remember the conversation, didn't he, but I remember him making a comment of how he likes him, you know what I'm saying. And he was with me my freshman year, my red shirt freshman year, and he was always, he always liked me, liked my skills and what I could bring to the field. He always told me I was going to be a big-time player. And then he left, he went to the Giants and then he came back.

My red shirt sophomore year. If you found it interesting that Teddy Bridgewater was a part of the selling point in order for him to pick the Panthers, remember Robbie was a young wide receiver when Teddy signed with the Jets back in 2017 before being traded to the New Orleans Saints. So they did spend an offseason together. And I gotta say this, all the players, not that this really matters in the wins and losses for Carolina this year, but all these guys who have been brought in so far, very likable team guys. Russell Okun, he's on Twitter as the Panther King and he was one of the finalists to be the player rep for the NFLPA.

So that speaks a lot about his character. Teddy, go and look at video you can find of him in the Saints locker room last year, winning five in a row. His reasoning, passing up a starting job with the Miami Dolphins to stay in New Orleans a year ago. He's a wonderful teammate, everybody vouches for him. PJ Walker, he immediately said yeah I'm vouching to be the backup quarterback.

I'm trying to be the backup and let Teddy develop and do his thing. Team guy, selfless. Robby Anderson in this press conference, he's wearing a Christian McCaffrey jersey and he's more willing to talk about the guys he's playing with than himself and I think that says a lot. But he was asked why he's wearing a McCaffrey jersey and what relationship he had with them and this is how Robby responded. Robby Yeah, I spoke to Christian as soon as it was out there that I signed. He hit me up so we spoke. You know, I'm excited to be on the field with him and have that talent around me. He's a great story.

He switched from corner to wide receiver, went undrafted out of Temple, then was a standout with the Jets, got a big payday being reunited with his former college coach with the Carolina Panthers, an easy guy to root for. We'll talk to Scott Fowler more about the Panthers in a little over 15 minutes. But there are two teams who can realistically pick Tua later this month and see their franchises completely transform into contenders as a result.

I'll tell you who they are next. Big news! Tua Tagovailoa had his final medical checkup and the results on his hip were, quote, overwhelmingly positive. Plus, Tua's giving interviews and saying the right things. There are videos of him throwing in Nashville and he doesn't look reserved at all. So much so, here's what he told ESPN's Kevin DeGondi last night.

I mean, I feel as normal as can be. I feel like if I had to go out there and perform the same way I did my sophomore year and my junior year, being 100% healthy, I mean, I feel like I'd be able to go out there and do that, so. I'm completely sold. I'm all in on Tua. He's my favorite quarterback in the draft. This isn't me saying I don't think Burrow's gonna be any good. I just think Tua's gonna be better. Cincinnati, though, isn't going to trade out of the number one spot. They're going to draft Burrow for several different reasons.

So, where's Tua gonna go? Even though I think these reports, they're very positive and he seems to be okay. He seems to be very confident in his physical ability at the moment. I know from people who have been in those war rooms for NFL drafts that medical and different physicals conditioning, they play the biggest factor in a team's decision. Medical is the number one thing that is considered.

It plays more of a role than you think it does. That's why I don't see the Redskins picking anyone other than Chase Young. If they trade back, I think they trade back to try and draft Isaiah Simmons. Detroit, I think they'll take either Okuda or maybe trade out of that pick if somebody wants to trade up and take Tua. But considering the risk, I don't see anyone trading to try and do that unless that team is the LA Chargers. The Giants, of course, aren't going to pick a quarterback there at four, so it's gonna be the Miami Dolphins or the LA Chargers that get him. And I feel like if he goes to either one of those teams, they will be transformed into a contender in three years.

Three years, the Chargers or the Dolphins will become a contender because Tua Tagovailoa is on the roster. He couldn't do that with every team. If he's taken by Cincinnati, there's too many issues.

It's too dysfunctional. Every great quarterback has to have some support, organizationally, talent around them, coaching. Those things matter.

Every detail matters. I don't know what Zach Taylor is. I know that this organization hasn't won a playoff game since 1989 and hasn't even been to the playoffs for the last five years, so he seems healthy. I like Tua, but not enough to think he could completely transform an organization from being dysfunctional to being elite. I don't think the Dolphins or the Chargers I'd classify as being dysfunctional. I don't think Dean Spanos is a good owner, but he's not meddling in some of the football-related matters the way that Dan Schneider does, the way that you got with the Haslams in Cleveland or what Cincinnati has done in recent years.

Cincinnati's just cheap. The Miami Dolphins, out of the two, they're the better situation. The AFC East, it's winnable now that Tom Brady's not there. Meanwhile, the AFC West?

Yeah, you have to run into that Pat Mahomes guy for the next decade. Miami, they've set a better foundation. I like their ownership team better. I like their coach. I think Robert Flores, he's brought a lot of the New England culture to Miami.

A lot of coaches have tried to do that. Heck, Matt Patricia and Detroit tried to, and he hasn't been able to do so, but the way he's picking players, paying some of the DBs this offseason since they have some cap space there, the way that they've drafted, the way they've accumulated draft picks, it's very Belichickian what Miami's doing. And Miami goes on the road and beats New England in Foxboro, a game that completely changes the playoff picture. I think Miami's in a better spot. They have more draft capital, so if they take Tua at five, they could get two more first-round picks as well. It's a better foundation than the Chargers, but if the Chargers do end up getting him, that's a team that has a lot of talent and a team that went to the postseason just two seasons ago and won more than ten games.

So it's not a bad spot. He's gonna become a star because he's in Los Angeles and has more access to Hollywood and all those things. I'm worried Miami might pass on him because of concerns of health, even though he's progressed in a big way. We're seeing some of these reports, they're looking to trade up to the number one pick because they like Burrow more, or they are on the fence between Tua and Justin Herbert. Tua would transform either the Dolphins or the Chargers. I think the Dolphins are gonna come to their senses and take them at number five.

If not, the Chargers will benefit and the Dolphins will be wondering for the next decade why they let Tua Tagovailoa slip right through their fingers. Scott Fowler gonna join us in ten minutes, the award-winning columnist from the Charlotte Observer. Robert and Aaron, they have notepads in front of them. They've been trying to mold, in honor of WrestleMania being this weekend, trying to mold a promo, a wrestling promo against the coronavirus. Robert just threw his pieces of paper in the air.

He says he doesn't need them. You know why I threw my piece of paper in the air, Josh? Is this part of the promo?

Yes it is. I've been waiting on this. COVID-19, I don't know who the hell you think you are, but I know exactly who I am.

I'm a citizen who's concerned for the well-being of the people that live around me. And whether it's COVID one, two, three, hell, nineteen, bring all of you. Me and my boy Aaron right here are gonna take you down. And the one thing you have to remember is when we're quarantined we're not locked in here with you. You're locked in here with us.

Tell him, Aaron. You know something? What? I've been around, I've seen a lot of things, I've done a lot of things.

We've been a lot of places. I've been washing my hands since I was a little boy. Three times a day. Singing my ABCs while I was doing them.

Happy birthday. Getting in between my fingers. Working up a good son.

Don't forget those thumbs. Turning off the faucet with my elbow. Leaving with the paper towel on my hand when I touch the bathroom door. You know I've been practicing good hygiene for a long time, COVID-19.

A long time. So you think now you're just gonna pull up on me? You gonna get me sick? You gonna get Aaron? No way. Nah man, nah man. I've been taking Flintstone vitamins.

Since day one. Barney Rubbles. Two at a time.

Wilma, Fred, the whole gang, bam, bam. You guys need to calm down. This coronavirus is a bigger deal than you guys are making it right now.

No, this Sunday is gonna be a big deal because when you have to face me and Aaron, the real deal, Gabriel. What's gonna happen? There's only one thing gonna happen. COVID-19 is gonna be able to tell you how many lights are on the ceiling after me and Aaron lay them down for the one, two, three. Three! Count them all!

One of those trays was bilingual over here. Whoa! I'm shook. I'm ticked off. Oh my gosh, Robert's facial expressions.

I could see veins popping out of his forehead. He's excited. He's excited to beat COVID-19. And you people should be too. Wash your hands. Keep your ass at home.

Stay away from each other. Tell the people I saw at Target last night. Get out of Target! Stay out of my face!

It was just, and this is in Kernersville, not Winston-Salem or Greensboro. It is just, Robert, it felt like a zombie movie. When you walk in, nobody wants to be next to you at all, but there are so many people and just people kind of in your space. I had to leave the Target. I had to go. Too many people.

I can't believe that. You would think that people would take this seriously at this point, but... I don't know if that classifies them as not taking it seriously, but they're not staying at home. I mean, how many people were there not buying food or toilet paper? There were just people hanging out.

Yeah, they're not taking it seriously! Right, yeah. I saw a lot of people in the electronics section. Trying to get those new Animal Crossing switches. Is that what that is? I don't know anything about the Animal Crossing.

I don't know why that's trending. I remember back when that game originally came out like 15-20 years ago. Yeah, for GameCube. I never played it either, but my brothers are, my youngest brother is super into it. Big time.

Oh, this is a programming note. At this time, or I guess around this time, Monday, we're gonna be talking to Danny Manning. And we've reached out to Wake Forest trying to get Danny on, trying to get John Curry on, trying to even get Dave Claussen on to see what's happening now that spring practice has been canceled. We haven't heard anything. We heard that, oh, it's gonna be some time, but Danny Manning has agreed to an interview at this time on Monday.

So if you're a Wake Forest basketball fan, take note of that. We'll be talking to Danny on Monday. Does that give you any indication about how comfortable he is for the 2020-21 season? I don't want to read too much into it, but would he be doing interviews if there was any question he was gonna lose his job potentially in the next three weeks? That's where I'm at.

Probably not. Yeah, I gotta feel comfortable. Just landed a grad transfer from Houston Baptist. The roster looks pretty good. He's doing Zoom meetings with his team. So we'll get to the bottom of a lot of things with Danny on Monday's show. Award-winning columnist Scott Fowler will help us grade the Panthers' offseason moves next on The Drive.

Welcome to the show that cloned the Loch Ness Monster and got her drunk. The Drive with Josh Graham. The award-winning columnist from the Charlotte Observer, Scott Fowler, kind enough to spend some time with us. I saw you a few hours ago on the Zoom press conference for Robbie Anderson, and I want to talk about some of the offseason moves the Carolina Panthers have made. But first off, speaking of wide receivers in Carolina, how surprised were you to see reports surface that the Panthers aren't shopping Curtis Samuel after you see them stockpile the receivers that they have early on in free agency? How surprised am I that they are not shopping Curtis Samuel? Is that what you asked?

I'm sorry. Yeah. Oh, not very surprised. I mean, you know, Samuel to me wouldn't have very much value and they, you know, as a slot receiver he'll probably fit in here okay, and I think that they're still under a relatively cheap contract, so I think he's a guy you take a flyer on for another year, see how it goes. And then, you know, he obviously had a disappointing 2019 and that's one reason why they've thrown a lot of money at Robbie Anderson to get him to come. Yeah, when you're tanking you're trying to get younger players and most of the Panthers signings have been 29 and younger, and you're trying to get shorter contracts even though Anderson's is a little bit more expensive. You're talking about a two-year deal as most contracts have been.

Teddy Bridgewater, even though he has a three-year contract, the third year is not guaranteed. So when you look at the moves Carolina has made, how would you grade the offseason so far in terms of what Carolina is trying to do with the new coaching staff? Well, they certainly are trying to sign, you know, looks to me like guys at that mid-price and lower level, like you say.

It is not a win now philosophy. For what they're trying to attempt, I think it's been fine. You know, I'd probably give it about a C. I don't think they've gotten much better nor much worse. I mean, some of the moves I don't really understand. The trading, Trey Turner away, for instance. Other things I do understand, I've long, you know, advocated and predicted that they would release Cam and end up with a different quarterback, and I think Teddy Bridgewater was a good temporary solution, at least.

And I like the Anderson signing. I think that they didn't have enough weapons at wide receiver, and he'll give them another shot. I think where they're falling short right now is defensively. I think it's clear that this is going to have to be a real defensive-oriented draft for them to, you know, because they're not trying to tank. So if they're really going to try to win, I would think 80% of the effort is probably going to have to be defensive in the draft. You don't believe they're trying to tank?

Oh no, no. People rarely try to tank. I mean, it just doesn't work very well. You know, the Dolphins made a mess of it last year, and it's just such an iffy proposition. I think Rule has no intention of, now he's not gonna, you know, worry too badly if they go 4-12, but they're not going to go 0-16.

I mean, or 0-17 or whatever. There's not quite enough, there's not enough down time on this team for that to happen. It's Scott Fowler with us here. He's on Twitter at Scott underscore Fowler.

Read his work in The Observer and charwoodobserver.com. Do you think there's enough talent offensively on this team, with Anderson at wide receiver bringing in some more depth there as well, Teddy Bridgewater at quarterback, to get an accurate gauge in year one on Joe Brady, how much this could work or how much he might need to learn? Well, I think, yeah, if they're, you know, it just depends if you count offensive line in that equation.

I think that's where the problem is right now. I think skill position-wise, they're in decent enough shape that we can see, you know, what's going on with Joe Brady and that offense. But offensive line I worry about.

That's been a bugaboo for years. Scott Fowler's with us here from The Charlotte Observer. I've agreed for some reason that if the Panthers stay at number seven and don't draft a defensive player, as you've mentioned, specifically Ken Law, the defensive lineman, Derek Brown, the defensive lineman, or Isaiah Simmons out of Clemson, I'll have to, whenever we're allowed to get our hair cut again, I'll have to cut my hair into a mullet and dress like Joe Exotic for a week. Do you think I'm safe in thinking that Ken Law, Brown, or Simmons is going to be the pick? I would think you're probably 90% safe, but if Herbert drops, I think that would be the one place that might have to, you and Carole Baskin, may have to get reacquainted because I think that that's a, you know, that'd be hard to pass.

Yeah, I assume he'll be going at that point. Before we let you go, Scott, tell me the best thing you've either read or watched, maybe even Tiger King, in the last few weeks while we're trying to stay away from each other. Yeah, you know, I was a huge fan of Tiger King and I'm a big Ozark guy, so we haven't finished the third season yet, but those two have helped our quarantine over at the Fowler household immensely. You're the best, Scott. It's good to hear your voice. Stay well, stay safe, and we'll talk sometime down the line. Thanks, Josh.

See you, buddy. You got it. That's Scott Fowler from The Observer. Adam Gold and Haze Permar, they're rooting for the Panthers to draft someone else at seven. Robert, what do you think the biggest threat to that is going to be?

Because we've already said, here are the stipulations. The pick has to be at number seven, and if, if it's not Ken Law out of South Carolina, Derek Brown from Auburn, or Isaiah Simmons, I will, whenever you're allowed to cut your hair again, I'm not letting Aaron or you cut it, I will cut my hair into a mullet and dress like Joe Exotic for a week. We're talking your choice of EMS Joe Exotic, maybe Priest Joe Exotic, Cowboy Joe Exotic, King Joe Exotic. Yes, Aaron?

If, um, you got a whole week, you got time to run through the whole game. You could be Paramedic Joe, you could be... Do you have a favorite Joe? Paramedic Joe was great, because I was wondering when I was watching it, where the hell did that jacket come from? I am partial, or maybe even Cop Joe Exotic. He was once a cop. I, I'm partial to Priest Joe Exotic. I don't know why during the funeral he was Travis's funeral, he's wearing the... The same suit he wore for his music video. Oh yeah, here kitty kitty.

I'm kind of partial to I will never financially recover from this Joe, where he's just chest wide open bewildered look in his eye. Yeah, who do you think the biggest threat though is to up in this? Scott thinks it's Justin Herbert potentially falling. If two is there, I think the Panthers take him. Oh for sure. Like if two up for some reason because of medical, and I can't completely rule it out.

Yeah. If he's there, you draft him. Tough for Teddy, but you draft to him.

Right? Maybe if they fall in love with one of these top tackles, if they think they want to strengthen up front. If you trade pro Coon, I don't think... But he's only on a two, they only have him for two years.

One year. Okay, so they only have him for one year. But, you look at these, these, the state of the defense, the defensive line, you just have to think it's gonna be defense or else we riot.

I, no, you would riot. I would be so happy to see them draft anyone besides those three. You're saying it might be Wurfs out of Alabama potentially? He's out of Iowa.

Oh, Wurfs out of Iowa. Who am I thinking of? The Alabama tackle that people tend to like. Also, you've got Thomas, who seems to be a good one.

The kid from Houston, Josh Jones, he's not gonna be, they're not gonna take Josh Jones out of the state, but he's another first-round tackle. Looking at the other major professional sports team in North Carolina, the Carolina Hurricanes, they just announced steps they're taking, important steps to protect interest of team employees. Looking at some of these bullet points, things that are gonna happen for full-time employees amid this crisis, approximately 55% of the full-time staff will be placed on furlough through June the 7th, but they will be given the opportunity to take full advantage of the government stimulus program still. Employees placed on furlough who are not eligible to collect a hundred percent of their full base salaries via unemployment insurance and stuff like that, they're gonna be provided a bonus by the organization upon the conclusion of the furlough period, which again is on June 7th. All furloughed employees will continue to receive health care benefits during the furlough period and the company will assist employees by making their premium payments during that time.

This again coming from the Carolina Hurricanes as we're trying to see businesses, pro teams of course, and colleges figure out financially how they make these things work. Like yesterday, it was a tough day for radio and you see some of the effects that it's happening, but I'm an optimistic guy. I just put my head down, I try to work as hard as I can and much like you might view this radio show as an escape, we view it that way as well as a distraction from everything else. That's why we try to have fun around sports even in times like this and that's what we're gonna try and continue to do moving forward.

Robert, we got daily positivity and I can't think about a better time to do daily positivity more than now. If you missed any of today's show, The Best Of podcast, if you miss any of it, is on SoundCloud, iTunes, Apple podcast, and Google Play. Make sure to subscribe there. You can listen at home at sportshubtriad.com and on the sports hub triad app. Coming up, the real reason the Cincinnati Bengals won't trade out of the number one pick under any circumstances. Keep it here on The Drive. He may not be beautiful and we do sit around all day and talk sports and yes Britt McHenry, we feel great about it.

Do you feel good about your job? This is The Drive with Josh Graham. Like many of us, I think Rex Ryan might be losing his mind a bit being indoors because he was on ESPN's Get Up and had some things to say. First, he said drafting Tua is the biggest risk in the history of the NFL Draft and if that wasn't bold enough, here's what he had to say about the Cowboys giving Amari Cooper a five-year 100 million dollar extension.

Well, I agree with Dan on the fact that I wouldn't have paid this guy. To me, this is the biggest disappearing act in the National Football League. He doesn't show up on the road.

He doesn't show up against, when the competition's good, when he's against the top corners, that guy disappears. And to me, he reminds me it's only one time that I can remember in the head in recent memory on elite receivers and disappearing acts like Amari Cooper. That was the kid that the Raiders had a few years ago. Oh, that's right, that was Amari Cooper. This is who he is and Dan, he doesn't love football.

Hell with it. He stops his routes. He does all this. I wouldn't have paid this turd. Oh, I love him slamming on the table at the end. Can you just give me him slamming on the table after delivering?

I wouldn't have signed this turd. Oh, he is upset. He's also good at TV. For him to say, oh yeah, who was that guy on the Raiders that he reminded me of a few years ago? Oh yeah, that was him. Oh see, I thought he was just babbling and had no clue who his account was gonna be.

Oh no, that was him that he was talking about. Rex Ryan, I like him. I like him on TV. He's not afraid to tell you how he feels. I'm not bothered by it. Is it over the line? I mean, Amari Cooper, based on what I know, he's a good teammate, a good man, very nice. A great neighbor. To say he's a turd, to say he's a turd. Turd. I mean, come on, that doesn't seem... Where does that come from?

It doesn't seem necessary. It seems like there's more to this than what Rex Ryan's leading on. Like, did Amari Cooper refuse to show him his feet one time?

I heard you got some nice tutors. Let me see them things. And he held it against them. Is Amari Cooper out here making feet jokes that Rex Ryan's trying to hold against him?

Like, where did that remotely come from? I'm fine if you don't think they should have gave him five years, a hundred million dollars, but we're just gonna throw names out there? Yeah, I wouldn't have signed that jackass. Whoa, Rex, why are we doing that?

What do you mean? I wish Greeny would have followed. Hey, Rex, why don't you call him a turd? I wish.

I wish it became Therapy Couch. What are we doing? Rex, what is it about his character that you don't like? Well, he disappears in football games. Okay, we're just gonna let that sit. Thanks, Rex. He's already since apologized for these remarks. Oh, please tell me what the apology said.

I want to know. I want to know the complete apology from Rex because I bet you it's like Brent Musburger being defiant talking about Joe Mixon calling his final college game or it might sound like Baker Mayfield's apology which years later after the plant flagging incident in Ohio State he said I didn't want to do that at all and I wish I didn't have to apologize for this. Do we have the sound or do we just have quotes? Just a quote, no audio.

Okay, what do we got? I can't believe I said that. Use that word. Obviously, it was a poor choice by me to say what I said about Amari.

What I added at the end of that, I want to apologize to Amari again and hope he accepts my apology. He called him a turd. Think about this. Somebody was eating their breakfast this morning because I doubt many people in their homes are showering before nine o'clock as Bomani Jones has put out there. They're just eating their breakfast and all of the sudden Rex Ryan, as we're trying to escape from the stuff on the outside, the coronavirus stuff, we just got a turd in the punch bowl here. Turd. Turd. Amari Cooper. What would lead you to think it's a good idea on television to call somebody a grown man a turd unless he actually is. Like if you call OJ Simpson a turd I'd be like okay well I can't really disagree with you on that front. Carole Baskin.

Right, Carole Baskin. If you want to call her a turd or anybody on that show a turd I'm not gonna push against that but if you're going to say Amari Cooper's a turd at least give us some reason why other than the fact he disappears at games. I think this is Rex Ryan back when he was with the Bills or with the Jets. The way he would talk in scouting meetings. Like they're getting set for free agency and they're just shooting the bleep and somebody, the general manager or an assistant coach, would bring up something like hey what do you think about Amari Cooper is this a guy you think we should trade for? Ah that guy's a turd. It leads me to believe what are some of the other things Rex Ryan thinks about players that he's not gonna say publicly or you might if you ask him he might say publicly let's ask him about Cam Newton see what he thinks. Turd.

This guy's a trained broadcaster he's on Sunday night or Sunday NFL countdown he's done a lot of television he's done a lot of press conferences how do you know? Maybe don't compare a player and say he's a steaming pile of bleep. Maybe don't do that. But he didn't say that. He called him a turd.

That's not the same thing. You know how I know that it's not bad call him a turd because we're saying turd over and over again. We can say turd. It's hilarious it's not and I'm it's hilarious it's funny now if somebody called me a turd to my face I don't even think I would.

Just because the FCC allows you to say it on the air doesn't mean you should say it. No I'm saying I think if somebody called me I've been called worse things than a turd I'll say that. That's fine but no one has said anything about Aaron Gabriel on these radio waves worse than a turd if I just sat here and called you a turd randomly you would get mad.

I don't think I would I don't think I would. I might laugh if you keep doing it. It's funny it's not I don't think I've ever witnessed anybody being incensed or enraged because they got called a turd. And I'm not incensed or enraged I'm confused. Exactly.

Confused is fair. Like I said if you want to call Carole Baskin, OJ or any of those people turds fine. I'm not objecting to the word I'm not saying protect the children anything like that but if you're going to call a guy with no track record of turd-like behavior a turd then you got to tell us something.

We need a baseline what constitutes turd-like behavior? I feel like T.O. is T.O. Antonio Brown if you want to call him a turd. That's fair.

That's turd-like behavior. Right. Amari he was injured most of last year. Where was he? Why wasn't he playing on the road? He was hurt. Injured reserve. What? You said he's hurt.

I'd like to sit I'd like to picture him sitting at his home like looking at a cast or something on his foot. What? I'm a turd. I'm a turd. I wish we could get wrecks on so we could play guy or turd.

Is this a guy or is this a turd? Just amazing. I didn't know that we were gonna have this conversation on the air today.

I didn't go into today thinking in my car man I'm so lucky I get to talk about an NFL, a former NFL coach on national television, calling an active player a turd. What I saw this morning I knew we were gonna talk about it. I knew it.

You know this show very well. Well right now what else is going on? Oh there's so much going on. We got the draft coming up.

We got the MJ documentary set to come down. Oh my gosh there's so much that we could talk about other than Rex Ryan saying this. Turd. Robbie Anderson we caught up with him. Turd.

Teams they're asking coaches, athletic departments asking coaches to take pay cuts. There are a ton of things happening right now that are more interesting, more entertaining, maybe not more entertaining, but certainly more newsworthy than this. Turd. I present me watching a 2006 college football championship game the other night. Oh that was great.

But there's not much else going on. Oh that is great. It was a great one.

Oh my gosh I love that so much. I love that the referees weren't miked. I love that they were just giving the calls to us and then you had Keith Jackson and it was great to hear his voice telling us that oh this is the penalty and Vince Young oh he's going for the corner he's got it. Oh that's so great.

I was blown away at how retro it actually sounded to have been 2006. Oh it was great. The referees they weren't just reviewing everything. Vince Young's knee was clearly down before he pitched the ball for a touchdown but as the broadcasters were clamoring oh they need to review that. They kicked the extra point and we moved the bleep on. I loved it. I loved that game.

I think it's the greatest football game of our lifetimes. Alright speaking of things that are happening documentary, MJ doc, people are excited about that hack. The Tiger King doc is still something that people are reacting to and we are included in that. Doctors another thing that we're talking about in the news.

So in honor of documentaries and doctors, I'll list off my top 10 docs next. You wanted to hear some great sports talk? Well here it is. Oh what an appallingly ironic outcome. The Drive with Josh Graham.

It's not ironic it's just coincidental. On Sports Hub Triad. It is time for my weekly top 10 list. It is my top 10 docs. Top 10 docs in honor of documentaries being in the news quite a bit. Whether it's the doc series, Tiger King, McMillions, which I think is equally as crazy and not being talked about nearly enough on HBO. Robert did you get a chance to finish that documentary series?

I did not I got caught up in my 600 pound life. Oh my god. It's terrible it's so bad.

It's bad news. I strongly suggest the McMillions documentary series. Then you have the 10 part series that's gonna come out on Michael Jordan The Last Dance starting April 19th as that's moved up from June. And rather than just talk about documentaries it's also a time to celebrate our doctors. Heroes in America fighting against this invisible opponent. It is top 10 docs in honor of doctors and documentaries alike being in the news this week. Send in your guesses on Twitter at Sports Hub Triad. Top 10 Docs.

Let's dive right into it. Top 10 Docs. Number 10. My number 10 doc.

Doc Rivers. How many do you have guessed here by the way? How many do you have written down? A good four. I forget Robert do you like guessing these?

No. People in their car they love it. They love sitting there trying to figure out what's gonna be on the top 10 list.

There's some word play in there, some obvious ones. I think Doc Rivers is an obvious one. Number nine. My number nine doc. Dr. Mario Williams.

Dr. Mario Williams making the cut. A lot of people forget about Dr. Mario. Which is just a glorified Tetris game.

It really is but I enjoyed it. I remember when I used to go to the dentist back in the 90s. I look forward to playing the old Nintendo they had there. Oh really? To play Dr. Mario. That's smart cuz I would hate it.

I hated going to the dentist too as a kid but I definitely would have gone for some video games. Number eight. My number eight doc.

Dr. J. Okay wait a minute. Let's stop that right now. That's a complete load of crap. A turd if you will.

Okay. Turd. I don't know why I made Dr. Phil Mr. Mackey. Dr. J definitely belongs on this list. Number seven.

My number seven doc. Hoop dreams. Either that or OJ made in America the greatest sports documentary of all time I think.

Hoop dreams is just it still stands up. It's great. You can find it easily and I need to go watch that again.

This might be the reminder I need to do that. Number six. My number six doc. Dr. Curtis Strange.

Because for most of you this job could be done by a monkey with a bottle of Motrin. Wake forest great. Dr. Curtis Strange part of the great Wake Forest golf lineage.

Number five. My number five doc. Doc Gooden. I had my days of drinking. I had my days of meth.

Joe Exotic making an appearance? Yeah I mean it's Doc's. It's not really a lot of doctors I could have pulled funny clips from. What is your favorite fictional doctor? Probably JD off Scrubs or Dr. Cox off Scrubs.

Dr. Cox is great. Maybe House. Did you watch Grey's Anatomy?

I did not. I can't. That's the most depressing show of all time.

You think it gets sad then it gets sadder. Number four. My number four doc. Dr. Evel Knievel. It is miserable but who's fault is it? Is that Kelso?

No that was. It's my main man doctor now. Off of my 600 pound life.

He said you're miserable but who's fault is it? He talks to those people like they're dogs man. I watched Hot Rod recently. Cool Beans. Cool Beans. We could do this the rest of the segment. Cool Beans.

Cool Beans. Number three. My number three doc.

Dr. Jekyll and Carlos Hyde. It makes me sick. Look at this guy. Do I even care? I don't care.

Getting a lot of texts and tweets people guessing things that are not on this list. Number two. My number two doc.

Mark Surgeon. Good. That's very good. Robert did tell me there's gonna be a positive sound. Yeah right.

Usually they're negative. And this top ten. That would fit. And number one. My number one doc. Doc Emmerich.

You called the cops on a six-year-old. That's my top ten list top ten docs. If I missed anything on Twitter at sports up triad three three six seven seven seven one six hundred Aaron out of the four that you guessed how many did you get? Dr. J. You had to get Doc Rivers didn't you? Yeah Dr. J. Come on man.

And Dr. Strange. Come on. I don't know why I sound like Coach K. Yes defense. Come on Duke. Defense. Come on Duke.

Defense. Come on you turds. No that's just Rex Ryan.

I could see him yelling back in the day when he was the Ravens DC. Bart Scott get your turd butt back on defense. You turd. Turd. Hitting the table. Actually he wasn't hitting a table at all.

His his stomach is so fat that it actually has the same banging force of a stomach. Shut up. You turd.

Turd. That was not his stomach. Was it really? I have to go back and watch it now. I feel so bad.

I'm not fat shaman but shut up. Alright tell me what you would have been doing this weekend. See I was gonna be in Atlanta for the Final Four. It would have been my first Final Four this weekend. There was a Taylor Swift concert it's supposed to happen tonight in Atlanta that was I was planning to go to so really bummed out not gonna be watching college basketball in Atlanta or Taylor Swift. You were gonna be at WrestleMania this weekend. I was gonna be in Tampa.

What is we got Jim Ross joining us the great Jim Ross at 5.30. Give me your best WrestleMania story that you can share because how many how many have you gone to? I've been to everyone since 23 besides when they went to California for 29. So you've been to the last 13 pretty much?

I've been to a lot of them yeah. What's the best story you could share with us because Robert with all due respect you're a debaucherous person. I guess you want me to tell the arrested story. I think you have told us the story about how you got arrested. Okay cool because I did not want to tell that one again. I guess the best one would be besides me getting arrested we were in my... To cap that one real quick because there are people who probably haven't heard that story before.

Essentially you... I walked into WrestleMania. I went through security gate.

I saw that there were $700 on the ground. I proceeded to get very drunk and black out at WrestleMania. I ride the bus back to the hotel. We get back to the hotel bar. We're drinking with the Hardee's, Ric Flair, the hurricane, and I steal a platter of fireball shots.

We all take them. I black out in the hotel lobby. I wake up in the drunk tank. I miss my ride. I buy a plane ticket for the wrong flight. I have to buy another flight from Dallas-Fort Worth. I fly all the way to Tennessee to ride with my ride and my mom was not very happy with me. I bet.

My favorite WrestleMania is probably Miami. I was very young. I was 19. I wasn't able to legally drink.

We somehow made that happen. We would go to this IHOP because it was near the hotel. It was the only thing that was open after we were done partying and we stole these refill water glasses and we would fill them back with whatever alcoholic substance that we would enjoy in Miami. We would take them to the beach and Buff Bagwell, which is a former WCW wrestler, and Vader were sitting at the pool and they scream at us from their pool seats, lounged back, just two old buff men. Vader's not that buff, but they're like, no glass on the beach! And we were like, who yelled that? I think Vader just told me not to take glass on the beach and if Vader tells you to do something, you don't do it.

It sounds like if Vader was talking to Rex Ryan and told him exactly what you were about to do with those glasses, I have a feeling Rex Ryan would have called you. Turd. For sure. For sure. Coming up, one Carolina Panther, it just makes too much sense, not the trade. This is the Sports Hub, you're on the drive.