The Drive with Josh Graham - Panthers CB James Bradberry

Attention, please. This is The Drive with Josh Tram Podcast. Tune into The Drive 3 until 6 p.m. weekdays on the Sports Hub. I love it.

It's brilliant. Some of the best advice I've ever been given goes as follows. The world gets out of the way for the person who knows what they want. But having $12 billion doesn't hurt either. Carolina Panthers owner David Tepper told reporters at training camp today that he wants a stadium with a retractable roof in the next 10 years. And he also wants to host a Final Four in Charlotte.

And this isn't the first time he said these things either. Here's what I've learned with David Tepper. He's one of these go-getters as a hedge fund manager. Somebody that is pretty measured, great in business, and pretty ambitious with what he goes after. However, don't get that confused with somebody who just throws things against the wall and hopes that something is going to stick. David Tepper is going to get a new stadium.

And he's going to get that Final Four. Because in the short period of time that we've gotten to know David Tepper, in a little over a year, everything he said, he's backed up. When he first got here, he started looking at facilities and said, Wait, you're telling me when things get really bad, there might be a circumstance the Carolina Football Panthers and the NFL will have to practice in a convention center? You're telling me we don't have an indoor facility? We don't have state-of-the-art locker rooms, state-of-the-art training facilities? Oh, we're going to change that.

And right now, you're seeing the bubble go up in Charlotte, and they already have approved a new headquarters that will be going up in the next year or two in Rock Hill, South Carolina. He said he'd do this, and he did. He backed up the Kneelers last September. He was on CNBC or MSNBC, one of those shows, talking business. They asked him about the Anthem Kneelers. He said he thought what they were doing was patriotic, not unpatriotic. Then a few weeks later, he signs Eric Reid.

He backed up what he said and what he believed in. From the start, he started talking about MLS soccer. And at first, we just rushed to decide, OK, maybe eventually you'll get MLS soccer. He hires Tom Glick, who has a background with Manchester City as a COO overseas. Also helped landed the New York FC MLS franchise.

You don't bring a guy like that in unless you're serious about soccer. And now, as we've seen in recent weeks, the bid has been officially presented. There's an all-star game tonight with the MLS. We thought that tonight would be the night we learn of at least two expansion teams, but the MLS looks like that they're going to push back that timeline and then choose between Sacramento, St. Louis, maybe Detroit, Las Vegas, and Charlotte. But Charlotte seemed to be one of the frontrunners because, due in large part, you've got the NFL owner, and that owner just so happens to be the richest NFL owner at the moment. He's going to get that team, I think.

And when he does, David Tepperd, I know you're a big fan of the show. I know you're listening. Just stay away from British team names. No Blank United, no Carolina United or North Carolina FC. That's the Panthers, North Carolina FC. I'm fine with soccer club. You know, you could probably talk me into United or enter Charlotte.

I don't know. Just keep it with soccer. We call it soccer here.

There I go on my soapbox. The bad news for Charlotte is this. He's going to want a new stadium. People will talk about a renovation, get the retractable roof on Bank of America Stadium. When it's all said and done, that seems like a lot to do to maintain a stadium that has very quickly become one of the older stadiums in the NFL. Right now, Bank of America Stadium for the Carolina Panthers, which came into the league in 1995. They started playing there in 1996. That is the 10th oldest stadium in the NFL. And that includes the Los Angeles Rams, who are playing at Memorial Coliseum right now. They're playing in the L.A.

Coliseum. Next year, they're going to be in their new stadium. That also includes the Oakland Raiders, who are in their last year in Oakland. So next year, Carolina is going to be in the 8th oldest stadium. We're talking about a 10-year window.

So that's not. The Packers are always going to play at Lambeau Field and the Bears are always going to play at Soldier Field. But aside from that, the lifespan of a stadium has gotten shorter and shorter. We're going to be talking about a new stadium in the next five years with the Panthers. You can welcome all this retractable roof stuff, but Arthur Blank got his new stadium from the Georgia Dome and it's been great and his soccer team's been great. If David Tepper gets a new team, I guarantee you in the pitch he's brought up, hey, we're going to have upgrades with the stadium. What they're doing in Atlanta, we could do the same thing in Charlotte. And if David Tepper wants his Final Four, I don't think it's going to be a Bank of America Stadium with just a roof on top. So that's the bad news for Charlotte. It's going to be a new stadium, I think, in the next 10 years. The good news for Charlotte is this. He's building that stadium in Charlotte. It's not going to be in South Carolina.

I'm sorry. With all due respect to the folks in South Carolina, I don't think the NCAA is going to be excited about billing Final Four Rock Hill. I don't know how many hotels Rock Hill has, but I doubt it. I just strongly doubt we're going to have a Final Four in Rock Hill.

What do you say, Des? Do you remember, was it two years ago, Duke had to go to South Carolina to open the first two rounds of the tournament? North Carolina did too, I think. I think they did, actually. They did. North Carolina, they got through against Arkansas. Duke, they got knocked out by South Carolina. Right.

Do you remember how many articles of the Confederacy were on our TV screens throughout that entire weekend with them hosting? So the bad news is it's going to be a new stadium. The good news is he isn't building that stadium anywhere but Charlotte and Charlotte wants to have the stadium there. And usually in business, when both sides agree that it's best for something to happen, it's going to happen. Now it might not happen at the price you want it to with the taxes that you want it to in Tepper's case or in the Panthers case, vice versa. But it's going to happen. Don't buy any of these rumors that you see that's floated out there that Charlotte might not be the home of the Carolina Panthers. So I expect that there's going to be a Final Four in a new stadium in the next 10 to 12 years.

Why? Because David Tepper says so. And David Tepper's backed up everything he's said so far and he's the one with the money. And the people that know what they want are generally the people that get things done and the world gets out of the way for. And the ones with the money, vice versa, too.

And David Tepper checks both of those boxes. Desmond Johnson's producing today's show. We've got Aaron Gabriel in the house of the control room. Internal Olivia is here. So it's a packed house.

Darren Gantt will join us in about 20 minutes to talk about this topic and also what's going on with the New Orleans Saints. But what a night in television. Last night, I was at a ballgame doing stereotypical millennial things, just staring at my phone next to Darren Vaught and Brant Wilkerson-New following this baseball fight, following the debates, following. Of course, the bachelorette, which I went back and I studied the tape at dawn. But let's just do an impromptu edition of this. This is the earliest we've ever done the bachelorette minute. It is the final bachelorette minute of the season.

It's official. Hannah is bad at making decisions. She kept High Point alum Luke P, who is an awful person, around way too long.

He played baseball and soccer at High Point. Then she got rid of four-time Windmill lover Pilot Pete in the final three. Then she chose middling musician Jed, who was showing off to Hannah's dad about this dog food jingle he had just landed over sex God and former Wake Forest quarterback Tyler C. Sex God.

The guy is a hostage. Jed was the champ. Jed was sleazy, though, and is sleazy. Number one, he wasn't single. Now, he wasn't specifically dating somebody. He made it clear to Hannah, listen, I'm not really officially dating somebody else, but this woman we've gone out with, I've gone out with her a couple of times. I've slept with her a couple of times. We spent a weekend in Gatlinburg. Her parents bought me a cruise, a vacation cruise for my birthday.

And that was three days before I started to tape for the show. That's dating. You are dating.

You are with someone. Des, it's 2019, though, Des. It wasn't Facebook official. So, yes, a very sleazy guy. That's the best way to put it. Number two, only interested in furthering his music career, this Jed. Jed even admitted it. At first, I came to the show not expecting to fall in love, but just trying to further my music career.

But in fact, I'm actually starting to like you. And Hannah fell for that bleep. Here's how you knew that this guy was a scumbag. In proposing, he brought his guitar and he sang a proposal song that was just awful.

Just awful. Played an engagement song that she was eating up, but I bet hating watching in hindsight. So they meet after the fact when People magazine put out a story saying, there might be some controversy with the next season of The Bachelorette because this guy's not single. And on top of that, Hannah loves Alabama. Alabama girl, roll tide.

This woman, the photo they use, she's wearing an Auburn hat. Oh, no. Oh, you can't do that. It's the worst thing that's happened to Alabama since the kick six or since Cam Newton was coming from behind.

Twenty one to three down in Tuscaloosa. They still hate him. But to make things better, Tyler C, he came back to save the day.

Live episode. Jed was getting crushed by the crowd. He got no applause when he went back on the stage. Not great for Jed.

I don't know how this is going to affect his music career, but I would I would imagine negatively. Or his girlfriend. Tyler C saved the day because the chemistry is still there. She started laughing at some of his jokes. She even did the subtle knee grab. That's always a good sign if you're laughing.

And then she grabs your knee because what you're saying is so funny that I can't even stay balanced. And then she asked him out for like a drink or something. And he said, yes, The Bachelorette asked out. That's right. A former contestant. That's right. But she had just dismissed runner up.

Yes. And Tyler said, sure. Tell me when scandalous and scene. That's the end of the season right there. That's the end of the season. Also, the best scenario for Hannah.

You can't fall in love with someone in a couple of months. So you got this ring. That's the thing. They pay for the ring.

ABC does. So she gets the ring. And even though she gets dumped and embarrassed on national TV, essentially, or cheated on and embarrassed on national TV, she keeps the ring and she gets the tape. Tyler, with no pressure, no pressure of getting engaged in two months. Why did she not kind of worked out well for her?

Why did she not pick him in the first place? Because Jed, because it was two hours, like guitar, two hours. Jed played guitar. Us musicians are a special breed, man.

He plays a little guitar. Wake Forest needs to claim this guy. Do they? Athletics hasn't because he only was here for like a year or two, was five or 19 passing against Florida State with three interceptions. But Wake Forest University actually put out a tweet yesterday. It's the first time I've seen anybody over there acknowledge him.

Wake Forest University's Twitter account. Who cares about the final rose? Tyler Cameron already has a trophy that matters. 2015 ACC debate champion. Yeah. And it's a photo of him holding a massive trophy. So I guess congratulations to Tyler C. What a season.

Should have pulled that photo out instead of the guitar. How much violence is too much violence in sports? That's next on the drive. On this massive extension, Michael Thomas just got from the Saints.

We'll also talk to Darren Gant for ProFootballTalk.com about it in 15 minutes. But baseball, what a week where you have the trade deadline. You have Trevor Bauer throwing the ball after being taken out of the game or as he was being taken out of the game over that center field fence. That got people fired up. And last night, the Pirates and Reds at it once again. Remember it was Yasiel Puig earlier in the year who had that great photo that he was in the center of? It seemed like him fighting the entire team.

Well, it seemed like notes were taken last night. If Yasiel Puig can do that, maybe I can do that, said Amir Garrett, who did something I've never seen before. Not get into a fight as a pitcher, even though that's a little bit more rare. Usually it's the batter who gets hit by the pitcher who charges the mound and then a fight ensues.

No, not the case here where the pitcher charges the third base dugout. A tad different. If you don't know what we're talking about already. Well, you've been under a rock all day, but still prepare that audio and we'll get to that in a second.

Here's the part that I'm interested in. We want tension in our sports. Yes, I think most people would agree you want contentiousness.

You want tension there. But do you want violence? What is the line that you draw?

Is it something that's individual to every single person? Because I feel like based on the sports fans that I know and my experience in sports all these years, we want tension, but we don't want danger. Everybody's violence threshold is a bit different.

I'm fine with violence in sports. I already have a feeling that the way that we retroactively punish people for their thoughts with today's sensibilities in the past. Like you go 15 years ago and pull something that somebody said and hold that to today's standards.

You force them to apologize. 15 years from now, that's going to happen to me. And the thing that's going to end my career is believing today that violence in sports is good. And I like violence.

I'm fine with violence. I like it in hockey. I like it in NASCAR.

I like it in other places. I like it in football. I like violence.

If that makes me a bad person, I'm sorry. I love boxing. I love MMA. I love violence in my sports.

But there is a large portion of people. Some people don't like any of it in sports. They just want their baseball. They don't want any conflict. They get enough violence and conflict on the news. They just want to watch a baseball game.

So I feel like it varies from person to person. And I think in the clip you're about to hear, this is from Fox Sports, Cincinnati or Midwest, the Reds broadcast, the media is fine with trash talk, with some tension. But they don't want players to act upon that. They don't want the players to act upon what is being discussed.

You can hear it in the broadcasters voice and find when it completely turns. Listen how OK the broadcaster is with what's happening leading up to the actual fighting, the actual fisticuffs here. There is a serious conversation going on right now. And Garrett is hot. And now there's some serious chirping coming from the Pirates dugout. And now Garrett's on his way to the dugout. And here we go.

Garrett goes in there. This is not a good scene at all. How quickly did that turn from, oh, here we go to this isn't good. This is not what we're looking for. This is getting kind of ugly.

Yes. For the first time in maybe 10 years, I rewatch the Malice in the Palace the other night, just randomly. I did that last week, too. I was in a YouTube hole. There are a lot of interesting things about the Malice in the Palace, none the which. It was Jamal Tinsley trying to fight people with a dustpan. Like he's in he's in the tunnel and he's waving a dustpan at people. That's that's a detail that I'll never forget. Also, the fact that Bill Walton was doing color for the game. Oh, my gosh. Bill Walton was doing the color commentary.

Oh, my gosh. This is unbelievable. I can't believe these fellas would jump into the crowd. This is this is not what you would see in the Pac-12 from the Conference of Champions. That would be the limit for me. John Wooden would not accept this. It's not this is this is unbelievable.

How bad of a Walton is that? It was like we're ebbing and flowing there a little bit. Yeah. But I mean, I smoke weed.

That's the limit for me. I don't mind fights and stuff. That's cool. Not all the time. Just when it goes into the stands.

Yeah. When it spills in the stands and I might get punched in the face by Metal World Peace. That's when I go.

That's too far. Every time I watch that. I remember feeling guilty and feeling stupid when that initially happened, thinking that's on the fan.

That's not on our talking malice. And I watch it again. It's almost like if you don't have the opinion that everybody in sports has, you feel guilty for having it.

I still feel it today when I watch it. Yeah. He's actually out of the fight and just laying on the scores table. That guy decided to throw a beer and hit him right in the face. That's what happens.

I'm sorry, you privileged person. Don't throw a beer and hit Ron Artest, crazy ass Ron Artest in the head with the duty charge. The duty charge wouldn't even got it through the beer.

At that point, you're just looking for blood. He just rents the crowd. You couldn't see it was sweat and beer and anger. The one guilty guy that looked guilty in the stands.

Ron Artest just goes for him, beeline. Right. But in the clip, you hear the media. They are cool with it until, oh my gosh, this guy is going after the whole bleeping team. The Bulls in the stands.

This guy. It was truly stunning. I was sitting in the Dash ballpark when this was happening right behind home plate. I spent more time looking at my phone than looking at the field.

Admittedly, last night with the bachelorette going on, the debates with all the memes and gifts that came out of that. And this happening because right before it happened, Yasiel Puig got traded away from the Reds and he was still in center field and right in the midst of this. That's a great which had me thinking there's a fight happening. And Yasiel Puig is representing the Reds and backing up his teammates that aren't in fact his teammates anymore because he's not a red.

And I'm not sure if he knows it yet. Wow. So you got traded in the middle of the game, right? Traded in the middle of the game. And they let him keep playing at least. Wow. In the interim, I think they took him out right after that. Oh, oh, by the way, you've been traded. Yeah.

He gets pulled out of the scrap. Yo Puig! Yo Puig! You're playing for the Indians. You're an Indian.

You're an Indian. Get out of here. Does Major League Baseball hate this? No. Oh, the publicity.

Well, maybe. This is a huge week for them. Trevor Bauer in the news cycle. Training camp started. And people were talking about baseball and Trevor Bauer and fights.

That's great for baseball. I'm telling you publicly, Rob Manfred is going to say, this is awful. This is unforgivable. How dare this? These two teams getting involved in a kerfuffle. How dare it happening?

But if you inject them with true serum, I like all this tension we're getting. We're baseball and nobody's really talking about us ever unless it's for this. So we're all here for this. Is this the only major sport that you can even get away with doing this? This hockey. One guy jumping into the other team fighting for like unabated like what? How long did this fight go on? It was at least five minutes. It looked like a long time. No, it wasn't at least five minutes. It got broke up after two minutes.

That's a long time. No, there were like a few re-skuffles. They got back together. It got broken up after two minutes. Re-skuffles.

That's what happened. I'm fine with this contract Michael Thomas got, which might surprise some people because one of my most popular stances is don't give wide receivers massive contracts because they're mostly luxury items. Mostly you don't want your foundation to be wide receivers.

It's like having a sports car when you struggle to pay for your mortgage. Three of the top four wide receivers in salary did not make the playoffs last year. The one exception to that I think is the top paid wide receiver Michael Thomas now. So before that, the top four were not in the playoffs.

O.W. Beckham Jr., Antonio Brown, and Mike Evans making up the top four in addition to Michael Thomas now. Six of the top ten did not make the playoffs. So Adam Thielen in there, Jarvis Landry, A.J.

Green. The reason I'm fine with it is because you have to have a wide receiver that is this good to be competitive as long as your quarterback's on a rookie deal or an average quarterback. Drew Brees doesn't fit the bill of that of course, but you've locked up Michael Thomas through 2025. So in 2022, Drew Brees isn't going to be around playing at 43, 44 years old, I don't think. Which means if you have Teddy Bridgewater, much like Andy Dalton's career has been allowed to be sustained because of how good A.J. Green is, that's what's going to happen with Michael Thomas and whoever the Saints have there in a transitional period.

Teddy Bridgewater or drafting somebody that Teddy Bridgewater will then link you to. That's why you make this move because Drew Brees, he can get by with anybody. He was making it happen with Traquan Smith and all those years with Devery Henderson and Terrence Copper.

It didn't matter who was playing wide receiver. Drew Brees made it happen. But it seemed like there's a little bit of forward thinking here with the Saints and making this decision, even if it is a record deal. Five years, $100 million, $61 million of which is guaranteed. Will the Carolina Panthers have a new stadium in the next 10 years? How about a Final Four in Charlotte? We'll discuss with Darren Gantt for ProFootballTalk.com next. Here we go! You're on the drive with Josh Graham, the Sports Hub at AM 600, AM 920.

Big show today. Darren Gantt for ProFootballTalk.com now with us. James Bradbury, Panthers Corner, also a guest on the show. Somebody I'm very interested in camp is Bradbury. While we're talking about Spartanburg and what's happening, Luke Kuechly was taken out of practice today. Ron Rivera said it was for precautionary reasons.

Pretty hot out there today. Curtis Samuel, another big day. He had some success against Bradbury, but James is in a contract year, something we're interested in talking to him about. But when you look at the numbers, Darren, fourth and completion percentage against among corners.

And fifth, overall in PPUs, past breakups, 15 on the season a year ago. So, in your mind, as he's entering a contract year, how do you think Carolina should handle him? I think it can be interesting to see. I think one of the things that actually accidentally works against him is Dante Jackson's emergence. I mean, because a year ago, before you knew Dante Jackson was probably going to be a player, there was a lot more, a lot more probably heat on trying to get something done for him sooner rather than later.

I think now, you know, if you know you've got one of those spots taken care of, I think it makes you a little more hesitant sometimes, even if only kind of in the back of your mind, maybe subliminally, to try to wait a little bit to do some of that business. But I think Bradbury is certainly a solid player, and it's a good pair of them. I just think when you, you know, start trying to budget and figure out who makes what down the road, it's going to be a tricky time, especially going into the tail end of a creeping wave. When you're talking about second contracts and positions of most prominence, or at least ones that are highest and lowest on the totem pole, where does cornerback fall for you? Pretty high, I mean, and that's changed, honestly, and I think that's a league-wide shift in the last couple years. I mean, you know, one of the other guys that I think they probably need to talk about sooner rather than later is Christian McCaffrey, or he's going to want to talk about that, whether they do or not. I think it's trickier to give running backs extensions than it used to be. I think there's probably a little more emphasis now, the way the game's gone, in doing wide receivers. I mean, you see the big deals coming down for guys like Michael Thomas. Julio will get his soon enough. Those guys, but receivers in corners are getting a lot more traction than they used to. In the old days, it was just quarterbacks, left tackles, pass rushers, and, you know, other guys kind of almost had to wait in line behind them.

But I think you've started to see that loosen up the last couple years. I do want to talk to you about what David Tepper had to say earlier today, but since you bring it up, yeah, yeah, getting pretty excited about it. Michael Thomas, though. Yeah, I'm getting really excited after watching South Carolina pick up the tab for the training center.

We North Carolinians are certainly going to get our chance to contribute to the cause. Michael Thomas, though, what do you think this move tells you? Five years, $100 million, $61 million guaranteed, about where the Saints are right now. I think, to be honest with you, it kind of covers them for the transition because, I mean, listen, this guy's a playmaker.

That part's obvious. More catches yards in his first three years than anybody ever. Not anybody in New Orleans or anybody in the division. You know, he's breaking records set by a guy named Odell Beckham for the first three years of a career.

So I think he's got a bright future and will be there for the carryover whenever. It's no longer Drew Brees than the Saints, and I think that's important. To be honest with you, I think Michael Thomas may have bought Drew Brees a little extra time, and having him around certainly made those guys more dangerous. I mean, Drew's getting older.

The ball doesn't fly as far when he throws it as hard as he can as it used to. So I think it's going to be interesting to see how much longer he is still able to play at that Drew Brees level, but it certainly is a lot easier knowing you've got that degree of weapon on the outside. I mean, it's like Matt Ryan with Julio Jones.

There's certainly a go-get-it quality that you know if you've got that guy, it makes everything else you're trying to do a lot easier. I'm a little concerned about the team that won the NFC last year in the Los Angeles Rams. I believe the Super Bowl hangover to be a thing. I'm concerned about Todd Gurley's injury.

I'm concerned about some of the contracts they've given out, which led to a guy like Miss Domican Sue walking this offseason. Do you believe the Saints or the Rams to be the team to beat in the NFC this year? What if it's not either one of them?

Whoa! No, I mean, it could go a lot of different ways. I think, you know, when you look at... Say it's the Panthers.

Yeah, I don't think anything's automatic. One team's got a 40-year-old quarterback, and the other one's got a quarterback who's just kind of average. And a lot of turnover with a lot of, as you mentioned, a lot of one-year contracts and a lot of, you know, replaceable parts almost, the way they built that thing out in L.A. So I want to see how Philly's going to respond this year with Carson Wentz healthy. I want to see if Atlanta is as good as I think they are when everyone is well.

I want to see what Carolina looks like. You know, I don't think much of the NFC East as a whole, but I think there's a lot of teams out there that are worth thinking seriously about at this time of year, including Green Bay and Chicago. I mean, you know, if Matt Leflore is the Aaron Rodgers whisperer, and if he makes Aaron happy and everybody's pulling in the same direction again, they're certainly going to be a part of the conversation.

So I don't think it's an automatic that it's just those two teams. Gosh, you're really speaking to the beauty of the NFL, where unlike any other sport, you can pretty much talk yourself into. Fan bases can talk themselves into making the playoffs. Seventy-five percent of the league can do that. Essentially, everybody other than the Buccaneers, the Dolphins, the Giants, and pretty much the Cardinals, those four teams, every other fan base at least, can talk themselves into it. And if you make the playoffs, Darren, you have a shot at winning the Super Bowl.

Anything can happen. Yeah, beauty's in the eye of the shareholder, I guess they would say. Yeah, I just came up with that on the fly.

I mean, that's the way it's built. And Dave Tepper alluded to that during All or Nothing. He said, you know, hey, the league's built for everybody to go 8-8. And that just speaks to how thin the line is. And it depends on health, and it depends on quarterback, and it depends on being lucky sometimes. And I know people who sports very seriously don't like to consider that, but sometimes playing dumb luck can work in your favor. Darren Gant's with us here on Twitter at DarrenGant.

Read his stuff. ProFootballTalk.com. Do you believe the Panthers will have a new stadium in the next ten years? Probably, because I know my city has a tendency to roll over when somebody offers to scratch its belly. That's just kind of the way Charlotte's operated in the past.

And here's what we know about Dave Tepper. He's got big ideas and big plans and thinks he can do big things in Charlotte. And Charlotte loves big things. They love shiny and new things. I mean, that's just part of our civic character down here. We like banks, we like khakis, we like things we can count.

And if it's shinier and newer, the better. So, yeah, I think inevitably it happens. Now, I've still got a lot of questions. There's still a lot of questions unanswered.

I spoke, you know, we wrote it up. It was in Sports Business Journal. He talked to somebody there who said ten years, retractable roof stadium. There are a lot of questions unanswered.

Same spot, different spot. There ain't so much land available inside 277 where you would want to put anything like that. So, you know, is he thinking about moving out, going to Clemson for another year or something like that? Who knows? I mean, there's just I don't think they're nearly that far down the line.

I think because training facility in South Carolina, because MLS has been front of mind, I think he hasn't gotten around to asking people in Raleigh and Charlotte how much they're willing to kick in for this project. But I think it's inevitable. I mean, it's obviously inevitable that he's going to ask. He said so. And it's probably inevitable that he's going to just hand him whatever he wants.

Even though he's the richest single owner in the NFL. He's also saying that he wants a Final Four, too. And that leads me to believe that any rumor that says that this stadium, if it's going to get built in the next ten years, it's going to be in Charlotte. It's got to be in Charlotte because you're not going to have the Final Four going to Rock Hill, Darren. If it happens, there's no way it leaves Charlotte, right? No, and like I said, and not to be too wonky inside, and I don't know how this translates for your listeners, but inside the Beltway, inside 277, there's a pretty tight circle. That's the downtown corridor that they like to call Uptown because it sounds better. And sounding better is another one of those things Charlotte really likes.

It's going to be downtown. He likes this market. And he, you know, as an old hedge fund guy, he's always looking to buy low, sell high. And he bought on Charlotte because he thinks Charlotte's an emerging market. When he's talking MLS and competing against Sacramento and St. Louis for an expansion team, he's practically giggling and saying, bless their hearts, because look at their little cities. And if you compare the footprint of what's within an hour and a half radius of each of those three cities, it's not close.

I mean, one's growing. One's got new money flying in every day. One's got a lot of young people moving to town. And the other two are Sacramento and St. Louis. So Kepa wants Charlotte, but that's part of the equation for him. Some people start talking about ADMs, like fans get panicky and, oh my God, the team's going to go to London.

Oh, he wants to be in Charlotte because Charlotte's playing. Last thing, last concert you went to? Last concert I went to, I saw Tedeschi trucks and Blackberry Smoke and Shovels and Rope out at PNC the other week. And that was pretty strong. That was a solid lineup.

I enjoy all three of those bands a lot. You're welcome in the next few weeks. Allison Krauss and Willie Nelson are going to be performing here in Greensboro. So we're excited about that. You're welcome any time, Darren.

Yeah, I mean, I'm still invested in that one. And I'll say, having seen Willie, what he sampled here in Charlotte the other summer and then circled back and made it up to us by having the Avett Brothers open up for him. He's on that list. If you get a chance to see guys like Willie, you go see them and you work out who's going to watch the kids and who's going to feed the dog later. Thanks for the insight, Darren, and the fun. We'll talk to you sometime soon. Yep. See ya, dog. You got it.

That's Darren Gantt on Twitter at DarrenGanttProFootballTalk.com. It is one of my bigger regrets. I was in Colorado, Red Rocks, one of the premier music venues. Somebody comes up to me and says, I got an extra to go see Bob Dylan.

And I thought about it for a second. I said, I'll let you know tomorrow. And I'm not going to out the person who gave me this advice. But it's some of the worst advice I've ever gotten, I think. He said, don't, don't go see Bob Dylan. He can't sing like he used to. And you're never going to look at Bob Dylan the same way if he can't sing the songs properly. So I missed out on Red Rocks and missed out on Bob Dylan.

And I still haven't talked to that Fred since. What does the New Orleans Saints hear? The move to sign Michael Thomas to this massive extension. Tell us about where they're at. That's next on The Drive.

This is the Sports Hub at AM 600 AM 920. Serious talk, talk, talk, talk. And I like it. Now back to The Drive with Josh Graham.

Special technique of shadow boxing. Okay, here's what we're going to do. In just a few minutes we're going to go out to Panthers training camp in Spartanburg. And chat with cornerback James Bradbury. And it's an important year for JB as he's been starting since the time he arrived in Charlotte. Second round draft pick out of Samford. And a lot of pressure was put on him right out of the gate. Remember, the year he arrived was the same summer the Panthers parted ways with Josh Norman. The entire Dave Gettleman revoking the pulling of the franchise tag that drew a lot of criticism. The Panthers were just coming off of a Super Bowl appearance.

They were 15-1. And it didn't help JB's case that he was assigned or chose number 24. So he's playing as a rookie. And even though he was in SEC country, he didn't play at an SEC school.

He comes in and he starts right out of the gate. And he's been a pretty good starter for Carolina the last few years. They draft another corner last year in the second round, Dante Jackson, who turned out to be an excellent player on defense. And all of the sudden, Carolina has a pretty good tandem in the secondary.

One of the better ones you're going to find with Jackson and James Bradbury. When you look at the numbers, JB's been terrific when it comes to pass breakups and the percentage of incompletions when balls are thrown his way. Which is also incredible when you factor in who he's going up against. In the NFC South, you got Mike Evans, a first-round draft pick in Tampa. Then the heavy hitters, Julio Jones, who is complemented now by Calvin Ridley, a first-round draft pick from last year. Then you have the $100 million man as of today, Michael Thomas, getting the big deal with the Saints and those quarterbacks as well.

Drew Brees and Matt Ryan. So if anybody understands what makes Michael Thomas unique, it's probably the guy who's had to face him twice a year the last handful of years. So we'll ask James Bradbury about him, looking at some of the video from practice in Spartanburg today.

He had to go up against Curtis Samuel, and Samuel's been excellent in camp, so we'll ask him about him as well. Plus, there's just a lot of other hijinks that happens at camp. Before we get to James Bradbury and Spartanburg, the drive brought to you in part by our friends at Pie Guys Pizza & More. Pay them a visit in Clemens, Lewisville Village Commons, or the Kinnaman Village Commons, excuse me. Off of Lewisville, Clemens Road in Clemens, try the Gram Slam Pizza, only available at Pie Guys Pizza & More.

PieGuys.com, a great sponsor of the show. Now we're catching up with Panthers cornerback James Bradbury, kind enough to be here on Sports Hub Triad, live from training camp in Spartanburg. I understand, JB, you guys are in the dorms. Just how big or small are these dorm rooms at Wofford?

I mean, they're not too small. I mean, I've got my own dorm in my hood. It's cozy enough to where I'm comfortable.

It's not a bad spot. How many guys, is it the rookies that have to stay in the rooms with each other? Are anybody sharing rooms? Oh yeah, your first year you got to share rooms, I guess with a fellow rookie.

But then after that, you guys are waiting to get your own room. I remember talking to Luke Kuechly, and I think it was Kirk Coleman a few years ago, and they were saying, training camp's the time where you get to display some of the special talents you have, and for them they were really into magic. What kind of special talents do some of the guys have on the team, if not yourself? I mean, what I used to do, I used to draw a lot, so in my free time I would draw.

A lot of guys, they go back to the room and play video games, so we kind of match up and play video games during our off time. But we haven't had any guys do any magic yet, so we're still trying to figure it out. We still got some time to figure all that out. Oh, so you're drawing, are we talking landscapes? Are we talking people?

Man, I was just drawing different logos in my notebook. Alright, so we'll have to see some of that. James Bradbury with us here, Panthers cornerback. It's a new defensive scheme that's been installed, but it's still Ron Rivera running the ship. He coordinated the defense the last three games of the season, and it produced good results. What makes Ron, give me a sense and take me behind the curtain, what makes Ron different as a defensive play caller? Of course he had his experience on the defensive side of football, playing with the Chicago Bears, and I played for a great defense then. He's been in the league, coaching for a long time, so I mean, he knows the offenses and he knows what they want to do.

So I mean, he's just an overall big, knowledgeable guy. It is James Bradbury with us from Panthers training camp. Let me ask you to put your football analyst hat on right now, because again, you get to face some of these wide receivers, and you have to break down tendencies and watch tape during the week. Even you have good insight on the guys that you face in practice, and the name that we keep hearing time and time again the last week or so, since training camp began, is Curtis Samuel going into year three.

Tell me a little bit about what makes Curtis Samuel a difficult matchup, as somebody who, granted, doesn't have to face him on Sundays, but of course practices against him at training camp. He has a unique set of skills. He's very fast, very explosive, and to be six foot and have some weight on him, that's rare to see.

I mean, he gets handed out of his brakes very well. I mean, he can run past you, run underneath, and run across the field, do it all. So I'm looking forward to seeing him this season.

Another guy who's big and fast in your division is Michael Thomas, who just got the record deal today with the New Orleans Saints, a five-year, $100 million contract. What makes him unique when you face him twice a year? Six-three guy, very physical at the line, good releases, has a strong hand. That's pretty much his suit. It's a strong suit.

He has a very strong hand. Whenever that QB throws the ball, I mean, he's going to go up and get it. And, I mean, that's the number one goal for a receiver, being there to kiss the ball. J.B., tell me about someone else in your secondary who's very important to your team this year, stepping in at safety. There's Sean Gaulden in his second year.

What do we see, or what have you seen that we haven't been able to see a lot of since he hasn't had a lot of playing time up to this point? I mean, just getting the overall knowledge of the defense under his belt. Of course, going into his second year, you have a better feel for the NFL, for the speed of the game. And then he knows the defense very well, this training camp.

And he made a play today in the post, and I'm looking forward to seeing him as well grow and mature. There are a lot of SEC dudes in the secondary. You've got Eric Reid and Dante, who are LSU guys. And Rashawn is from Tennessee. You're from the state of Alabama. You went to Samford. Did you grow up an SEC fan at all? I started off as an Alabama fan, and then I switched over to Florida State as I got older, as I got to middle school and whatnot. I'm a kind of fella off that bandwagon. Those fans get a little rowdy, and I wasn't too...

I didn't want to be a part of that. I grew up a Florida State fan. How much do people push their college teams in the locker room?

I know Dante. Whenever LSU got a big win, he'd let people know it. Yeah, especially during the season when all the games are happening, and you see guys' teams or colleges match up. You see a lot of drawing back and forth, a lot of trash talking.

So especially during the season, that's when they really get rowdy in there. James Bradbury with us here, Panthers cornerback at training camp. Lastly, I'm trying to think about who the guy is at practice that is able to talk trash with Cam on defense, now that Thomas Davis isn't around anymore.

Who's the one checking Cam in terms of trash talk and also maybe checking him on his music selection? I'd say it's more of a group effort now. But especially on the back end, Dante Jackson, he talks to him quite a bit.

He was talking to him a lot during OTAs. But for the most part, it's a group effort. We all say a few things to him here and now.

But it's all in the fun, all in the nature of the game, compared to a fighter. And when it comes to music, though, JB, I mean, he's got the Beyoncé playing after every single win, and a little bit of LMI. I don't know what else he's listening to nowadays.

Do you get any input here? I mean, what do you think? Nah, I think he has a big secret down there by his locker, so typically he plays whatever he wants to after the win.

But as long as he wins, I don't care what he plays. Well, JB, we're looking forward to seeing you in a few weeks. Enjoy the rest of training camp. Thanks for the visit and the triad today. Thanks for having me on. You got it.

There he goes. James Bradberry from Panthers training camp in Spartanburg, South Carolina. JB's a pretty quiet guy compared to other corners you'll talk to. Dante Jackson doesn't mind talking smack, doesn't mind letting you know how good his LSU Tigers are.

As we saw in All or Nothing, he's a very brash guy, or at least that's just his general approach to things. JB, albeit he's quiet, I didn't peg him as an artist of sorts, as a drawer. At any point, Des, did you ever get into sketchbooks or drawing?

Actually, yes. I was actually a pretty good artist in high school. I was all in on sketchbooks when I was in middle school.

I would sketch a ton of things. And when I was a kid, I loved Batman. You could not find a black crayon in the house because how often I was drawing Batman pictures.

That was my thing. But it wasn't Leonardo DiCaprio, Jack Dawson in Titanic level. I'm going to draw you with the jewel on and nothing but the jewel type of situation. Nothing but the emerald. Or was it a sapphire? It was a sapphire. Thank you. Gigantic.

It was gigantic. Rose thought, wouldn't it be great to pass along in the family, just throw it in the ocean, with the guy that she could have allowed on that door. I'm not bitter. Let him on the door. Yeah, there was room. I'm not bitter, though. Nope, not me. Not at all. David Tepper wants a final four in Charlotte. And if anybody can make that happen, I'll tell you why it's him.