Manfred is Safe

Rob Manfred's the most hated man in sports today.

And while I don't want to sound like I'm defending him, the growingly popular idea that his job is in jeopardy seems flimsy at best to me. Manfred has bosses, and sometimes those bosses will make you do things you disagree with. Manfred's bosses are the 30 major league owners, and it's his job to do their bidding.

Think about it. Whenever labor disputes come up in sports, you never really see the owner's faces discussing it. It's always Roger Goodell. It's always Bud Selig. It's always, in this case, Rob Manfred. And clearly, the owner's stance, Major League Baseball's stance against the PA, which last week said, just tell us when and where we need to be, when we have to play, when are we going to play. It's an undefensible stance for Major League Baseball right now. Nobody wants to be speaking, defending MLB side of things. The owners, since they're not getting their gates, they're not having fans in the stands, they're losing out on a ton of revenue. So, I think it's become abundantly clear the last few weeks, the owners, they're stalling, they want a 45 to 50 game season, they do not want it to go much longer than that because they feel the longer things go, without postseason play and postseason play being in danger in some cases, that they're going to lose out on money.

They're being bean counters during a time where 40 million Americans are losing their jobs. But you're not seeing the Major League owners front and center. You're just seeing Manfred, who gets paid to defend the ownership's position.

So it's an awkward spot for him to be there, to be in there, and he really couldn't win. But that's kind of what you have to do as an owner. You got to be a meat shield at times, because that takes heat off of the people you ultimately work for. The biggest mistake Manfred has made during all of this is a mistake that any business leader should learn from right now. Probably already knows, but you should learn from the mistake that Manfred made. Don't speak in absolutes ever during uncertain times.

We haven't experienced anything in our lifetimes quite like this pandemic. Manfred made the mistake, without an agreement in place with the players, to tell Ravitch last week he was 100% sure there was going to be a Major League Baseball season. That puts him on the hook when he says five days afterwards that he's not 100%, that he's not sure there's going to be a season.

He can't promise there's going to be a season. So his biggest mistake was speaking in absolutes. Any leader, any business owner right now should learn from his mistake. Do not speak in superlatives.

Do not speak in absolutes. But I started with saying that Rob Manfred's the most hated man in sports today. Isn't every big league commissioner sitting in that spot at at least one time? Every commissioner eventually becomes unpopular.

Every single one. It's an impossible job to come out of looking clean. It's almost like being the president in 2020. It's impossible with as much scrutiny that's going to be there on both sides for anybody to come out in modern day politics clean.

Impossible to do. And the same is true in major sports as a commissioner. They're all hated. Bud Selig, he gets booed. Batman, when he's handing the Stanley Cup trophy to a team, he gets booed. David Stern, he made fun of the fact that he'd go up to the podium at the draft and if fans weren't booing loud enough, he'd call for more boos.

Roger Goodell, he was the most hated guy in sports at least a half dozen times over the last decade. All of them become unpopular. And here's the thing, people that view Adam Silver as absolvent of this, that it's not going to happen to him, it eventually will.

It's already beginning to happen to Silver. The China stuff at the start of the season. Waiting too long to make a decision on Disney. Missing out on all of July and pushing this out into September.

And overlapping with college football season and NFL season. Players criticizing the bubble. Answers he gave last night weren't sufficient enough to a handful of people. But, much like Rob Manfred, Silver has owners to answer to. Here's what's different with Manfred. None of the players have respect for him. That's something I haven't seen for any owner or make it any commissioner in my time following sports. None of the players have an ounce of respect for the Major League Baseball owner.

Calling the commissioner's trophy just a hunk of metal. The Astros scandal. Not punishing any players. Saying they're all immune if they cooperate with Major League Baseball. That led to guys who are usually so silent on speaking out about anything to go top shelf with their criticisms of the Major League Baseball commissioner.

Like Trout. Saying he wishes they were punished more. Trevor Bauer. Calling him a liar. Calling him a jerk.

Calling him a fool. I could go through the running list of names that he's called Manfred. Aaron Judge was critical of Manfred. These guys don't say jack squat about anybody or anything taking stances, but they were taking stances against the commissioner. That's why the NBA is set to return and Major League Baseball isn't. The NBA players trust Silver. They view the NBA office as an ally to them.

It's a partnership. Not with Major League Baseball. MLB has a stronger players union than any of the other major professional sports. But it's such a divisive relationship. Such a checkered history between players and the owners you don't have in the NFL and you don't have in the NBA. So Rob Manfred, he hasn't done a good job during this. He's lost the PR battle, but his job isn't in danger.

Those are separate things. You can tweet the show at sportsubtriad. 336-777-1600 is the phone number. Brendan Marks, he has this story today in the athletic that I absolutely love. The title of which, some Michael Jordan type bleep. An oral history of Vince Carter's North Carolina days.

Brendan's going to join us at the bottom of the hour. It had me thinking about Vince Carter, whose career is finished after an NBA record 22 seasons in the league. Playing in four different decades.

The 90s, the 2000s, the 2010s and playing in the year 2020 as well. A feat that's never been accomplished in NBA history. Is Vince the most beloved basketball player post-Michael Jordan? Because I think he is. Because who anywhere hates Vince Carter? Robert Walsh, you are not only the producer of this show, but you're also a Toronto Raptors fan.

Due in large part to Vinsanity. And I don't even think the folks of Toronto have an issue with him. The ones that booed him when he said he wanted to go somewhere else, they forgave him almost immediately. The second most controversial thing he did in his career was by God deciding to go to his college graduation the morning of a big Eastern Conference Finals game.

A game in which they lost, I believe it was game 7 back in 2001 to the Philadelphia 76ers. Those are the two most controversial things he's done in his career. I can't think of anybody anywhere who has an issue with Vince Carter. He didn't win enough in order to be truly polarizing, but he's played long enough to earn everybody's respect. We haven't seen a better dunker in game, maybe in NBA history.

I hear the expression that college football is the front porch for a university, bringing people in. Dunking might as well be the front door for entry level basketball fans. So if you just follow basketball casually, or don't even follow it at all, Vince's dunk in the Olympics will appear on your radar screen. His dunks in the dunk contest, they are a part of pop culture. He's created culture. He created Vinsanity. And players respected and befriended him more than anybody else. That comes with tenure. It comes with kindness. By every account, he was an outstanding guy.

He is an outstanding guy. And that's different than some of the other superstars who had similar lenses fixed upon them. LeBron, he had the polarity of the decision.

Flip-flopping team, some controversial comments. Kevin Durant, he's a rigid guy. Michael Jordan, he made a lot of enemies when he played in the league.

He evaporated them on the floor. He just extinguished them, but he had enemies nonetheless that Vince I don't think ever did have. I'm thinking about other stars.

Allen Iverson, yeah, he was a little volatile, I think is a good way to put it, when he played in the league. So I'll make the argument that Vince is the most beloved basketball player post-Jordan, and I'm excited to talk about the oral history Brendan Marks wrote when Brendan joins us in about 20 minutes. It was reported yesterday that an ACC coach is proposing that all ACC programs play in HBCU on Martin Luther King Day next year. Well, I love the idea so much that I have an idea for how that might work with 15 matchups I'd like to see.

That's next on The Drive. Yesterday, Jeff Goodman reported that there is an ACC basketball coach planning to propose this week that every ACC school play in HBCU on MLK Day next year. And not only do I think it's a great idea, I put together a template that could make this a new annual college basketball tradition starting next year.

I've spent a lot of time on this Robert. 15 teams, you need to find 15 matchups. Where are they going to play? How is it going to benefit the HBCUs?

This is what I came up with. I think it should be a made for TV event at large neutral sites with the gate and the proceeds going to African American causes and also to the HBCUs. I think you can do this at four different venues, venues that make sense for the HBCUs and also for the ACC teams.

I think the location should be Washington DC, right here in the Triad in Greensboro, Atlanta and Memphis. And you let me know what you think of these matchups here. I think you could have this be on ESPN, ESPN2, ABC, maybe some ACC network love getting involved in this as well. You have all these games going on all throughout the day. It's almost going to feel like Thursday at the NCAA tournament but it's going to be HBCUs playing ACC teams. I think in Washington DC you have in early games Pitt facing Coppin State, Syracuse facing Howard, home to DC. Then in the nightcap, UVA versus Hampton, Virginia Tech facing Norfolk State. That would be at the home of the Washington Wizards and the Washington Capitals, Capital One Arena.

Four games there in Washington DC. In Atlanta, you have the Florida schools, the Miami Hurricanes facing Bethune-Cookman, Florida State facing fellow Tallahassee school, HBCU, FAMU. So FSU FAMU, Miami Bethune-Cookman, Georgia Tech goes up against Savannah State, which I understand was D2 just in the last few years, but recently D2. Clemson faces South Carolina State of the MEAC.

Alright, you with me so far? DC and Atlanta, we're through those two. Second half, Memphis gets three games. Alabama State facing Notre Dame, this will be at the FedEx Forum, home of the Memphis Grizzlies. Louisville goes up against Tennessee State, Alcorn State faces Boston College.

Regionally speaking, driving distance for Mississippi HBCUs to get to Memphis, Alabama represented as well and the state of Tennessee with Tennessee State. Then in Greensboro, these four matchups, I would love to see next MLK Day. Wake Forest versus Winston-Salem State. Again, I don't quite know the rules on ACC teams in the regular season playing D2s. I don't know if it counts for a win or a loss on the schedule.

Usually that's something you play exhibitions for. Wake versus Winston-Salem State would just be a lot of fun to tip things off at noon, Greensboro Coliseum. Second game, NC State going up against either Shaw, maybe a Fayetteville State, maybe an Elizabeth City State. Kevin Keats is going to join us on today's show, we'll run this idea past him. Then in the nightcap, Robert, imagine the crowd you would see at the Coliseum when at 7 o'clock you have Duke about to play North Carolina Central, Lavelle Moten versus Coach K, and in the nightcap, ANT, home to Greensboro, best team in the MEAC last year, faces Roy Williams in the Tar Heels, 9 o'clock.

That would be fantastic. And think about the television revenue, think about how much money they can raise. They do it for the Jimmy V Foundation in November, it's fantastic. Now how about we raise funds for the HBCUs, raise funds for African American causes. I think it's a fantastic idea to have what MLK Day, college basketball, takes center stage, but do so in a way that's unique for teaching and for learning.

Bring communities together for a good cause to teach people about Martin Luther King, and to bring in people who might just view MLK Day as a day they get off of work. If the ACC does something here, other leagues are going to be sure to follow. There are a lot of great HBCUs in the state of Texas, the Big 12 could potentially jump on this. And out west, maybe even the Pac-12. It's the best basketball conference, and generally people follow the best. So I think this should be an annual deal, and tell me where I'm wrong here. I think this would get the maximum amount of crowd playing in huge venues such as the Coliseum, such as Capital One Arena in DC, Atlanta playing, I think they call it the State Farm Arena now, it used to be the Phillips Arena where the Atlanta Hawks played, and FedEx Forum in Memphis.

It's the perfect sites, the perfect cities, the perfect teams involved, would you be for this? On Twitter at sportsupdryad336777, 1-600 is the phone number, Brendan Mark's going to join us to talk a little bit about Vince Carter in 10 minutes. He had the oral history on his North Carolina days earlier today for the athletic. Speaking of that, Robert, here are some interesting anecdotes from that story that I thought you might find interesting.

Let them know me. Apparently Vince, the reason why his teammates went nuts on the bench when he completed these crazy dunks, he would call it. He would say who he's going to dunk on before he would do it, he would tell his teammates this is how he was going to do it, and then the players were amazed when he ultimately completed the dunk that he called. That's pretty good. Apparently at practice he clean jumped over Shemond Williams. It was a scrimmage, Phil Ford, he was serving as a referee for the scrimmage, and Shemond in the story turned around, this is Shemond telling the story, he turned around, looked at Phil Ford after he jumped over him and said, don't worry about it, quote, that emer-effer ain't normal.

That's pretty good. I didn't know Vince was very musically talented. Great dancer. Any time they went out, one time they described he had a hurt leg and they went out and he was still at the center of the dance floor. True to form, multiple teammates cited this, when he went out his shirt went off immediately. Like he's going to the center of the dance floor and the reason he had to take his shirt off he gets too sweaty. Just dancing all the time, singing all the time, he was a drum major at his high school in Florida, played multiple instruments, but not like a guitar or a piano, he played the flute and he played the sax. I respect the taking off your shirt at the club dance move.

You've seen me at downtown dancing establishments and I'm somebody that doesn't mind moving around a little bit, I would just never take off my shirt. He's what J.R. Smith wants to be. J.R. Smith wishes he was this cool. Yeah, that's a good point. J.R. Smith has a ring though.

Just saying. Also, he ate like you and I ate in college. Apparently he had the same thing. He went to the Time Out restaurant and got the same chicken and cheese biscuit every single day. Every single day he got that. And Antoine Jameson told Brendan that he's never seen Vince eat in under an hour. Like you're talking about after practice multiple hours, two or three hours, him just sitting there and sending a plate right back, getting another plate of food.

Vince Carter. Just a legend. You ever eaten at Time Out before? No, I haven't. Oh, you gotta check it out next time you're up there. It's pretty good. I recommend the chicken livers.

Yeah. How's the chicken and cheese biscuit? I think it's just like not a chicken with cheese on it.

I think it's just like chicken and a cheese biscuit, but still good. Oh, interesting. Maybe I misread that a bit. I mean, I could be wrong too.

Either way, I'm sure it's great. Brendan Marks knows. He's going to share details on his Vince Carter oral history when he joins us next on The Drive. Want to become a real sports fan? Leave it right here.

It turns everyone it touches into raging psychotics. All things sports. Well, sometimes on The Drive with Josh Graham. Brendan Marks' story in the athletic this morning is getting a lot of run. It's titled, Some Michael Jordan Type Bleep, An Oral History of Vince Carter's Carolina Days, and Brendan is kind enough to join us now. It almost seems like Vince Carter is our Paul Bunyan-like figure in the state of North Carolina. The same way SEC nation has Bo Jackson and you have the documentary where a lot of things are said in it.

That just can't possibly be true. I had a similar experience reading your story today. At the end, Vince Carter jumping up and touching something that's 15 feet high.

Phil Ford is somehow sending Antoine Jameson photos on his phone in 1995. There are a lot of things in here that I found very interesting. What was your favorite anecdote that was shared with you in the story? It's tough to pick a favorite. It's like choosing a favorite baby, Josh. But the one you mentioned at the end, Vince basically accepting what amounts to a college dare that just sort of presents itself.

That's got to be my favorite because you can see it. You can see college age Vince who is still sort of coming of age. Timberlands, jeans, and someone asked him to do something crazy and so of course he's going to do it. I think that sort of excitement and enthusiasm was sort of Vince's MO.

It's what people are going to remember him for. That was a story that I thought really captured that well. I may have forgotten the most important detail with the 15-foot leap on campus. He did so wearing blue jeans and Timberlands.

Was it wearing a warm-up or anything of that sort or even shorts? Brendan's on Twitter at Brendan R Marks by the way. Is there another story you could share with us that didn't quite make the cut? Because I imagine when you do something like this you get told a lot of things and you try to pick out what gets in and what doesn't. Unfortunately there were a lot of things that didn't quite make the cut and we might have more coming for people sooner rather than later.

It seems like there's a lot of interest in this. Another one that I thought was interesting and it sort of touches on the story is Vince has and still does have a love for music. I learned that Vince actually has a fully functioning recording studio in the basement of his home right now where he records his own rap tracks and sends them out to former players. Antoine told me that he'd be willing to send me a disc of his hits depending on what Vince said. I thought that was pretty cool. Vince Carter in addition to the dunking also dabbling in the rap artistry.

Wow. I started thinking about this a little bit earlier today weirdly enough when Gary Patterson put out his own song over the weekend. Some of the best athletes slash coaches turned artists and of course you have Deion Sanders putting out an album, Kobe put out an album, Shaq of course had his moments as a hip hop artist. So Vince Carter potentially adding his name to that.

That might come in Oral History Part 2.0 by Brendan Marks one day. When you think about the all-time most beloved Tar Heels, where do you think Vince belongs on that list? If we're strictly talking about college achievement, it's kind of weird but it's hard to put Vince very high on the list. Because there are guys who even on his own team he was at times overshadowed a lot.

Obviously playing with someone like Antoine Jamison, a Consensus National Player of the Year, that's going to happen. So if we're just talking about college achievements, unfortunately Vince is one of those who really blossomed once he got to the next level. But if we're talking about in terms of overall legacy of people who Tar Heels fans nationwide point to and go, yeah he's one of ours, I mean Vince has got to be right there in the top two or three, right? I mean it's Michael, it's Vince Carter, I mean those are the guys, those are the ones who everyone knows. I think Vince, especially his longevity recently, the fact that he was Dean Smith's last standing player, I think all of that sort of enhances his legacy, his reputation. Certainly Vince is one of the most beloved Tar Heels as I have come to find out today via social media. I'd go as far as to say, and this might be why your story has blown up the way it has, Vince might be the most beloved basketball player post-Jordan. Because he didn't win enough to be polarizing like LeBron.

He wasn't somebody who created enemies at all. He was respected and befriended by everyone. And who dislikes a guy who's that good at dunking a basketball? If college football is the front porch for a university, the front door of entry level basketball fans has to be dunking. I mean he is the best in-game dunker I think we've ever seen, right?

I think that's definitely fair to say. The only people I can think of who, you know, it came up in the course of reporting the story, the only people who didn't like Vince Carter were one of two people. Angry Toronto fans after he left, or angry Florida natives who wished that he had played at Florida State or Florida. So, you know, Vince obviously, especially the past few years, the way he's able to adapt his game, the way he has adapted to a mentorship role, the influence he's had on so many young stars in the league.

Again, these are all things that are just helping him. There's a whole generation to me, Josh, that I think is so weird of people who never saw Vince Carter as this guy. They saw him as the old mentor guy, so it was a lot of fun to go back and to look at some of those crazy dunks, because they certainly were crazy. It's Brendan Marks with us from The Athletic. Again, read his story on Vince Carter at The Athletic. Follow him on Twitter at Brendan R. Marks. He's got a check mark now, as Robert pointed out to me right before our segment began.

How close were you to getting Vince? It's interesting. Like I sort of teased, there was a major thread that came out of this story that was actually so compelling that we are exploring it further. So there's another story that's sort of in the works, and Vince is included in that one. I think sometimes you get a more accurate portrait of a person when you're asking the people around them. For example, if I asked you, Josh, to describe yourself, I think people like Robert, your co-host, your girlfriend, they would describe you better than you would.

I think that was the case here with Vince. But certainly there is more coming with him, so athletic subscribers, stay tuned. There's more on the way.

Robert, did you have something to add on that front? I would not want to be included in a Josh Graham documentary unless I could have a cup like Michael did and just slowly progressively get drunker and drunker as it went on. Yeah, cigars for days.

I would have cigars, just different. Thanks for the time, Brendan. Great work as always on the story. Of course. Sounds good, Josh. We'll have to do cigars soon, buddy. That sounds great.

That sounds awesome. I'll tie him to that. He's on Twitter at Brendan R. Marks, our good friend covering Tar Heel and Blue Devil basketball for the Athletic Carolinas. I'm not sure if you saw this, but after Rob Bamford spoke yesterday and said that he wasn't sure there was going to be a season five days after he said he was 100% there would be one, Bryce Harper posted a picture of him in a Philadelphia Eagles jersey saying, I'm available. Sign me up. He's going to step in for Brandon Brooks, who tore his Achilles yesterday.

I think you throw him at quarterback. I'm starting to think about baseball players if there isn't a season. And for whatever reason, contracts were null and void. They could sign one year deals with NFL, NBA or whatever sport you want to talk about.

Who would translate that? And Harper is one of the first names that come to mind for me, mostly because we saw what it would look like. He's wearing the number three Eagles jersey. Also, he's 6'3", 220, has a rocket laser arm out of right field. That's a quarterback. He's got quarterback hair too. Quarterback facial hair. Have you ever seen a bad looking quarterback? I can't think of one off the top of my head. I can think of a couple ugly quarterbacks.

Let's go through the list. Give me some ugly quarterbacks. It's like talking about ugly musicians. Other than Post Malone, they're all good looking.

That's not true either. Not all of the Beatles. None of the Beatles were attractive.

What are you talking about? Paul McCartney? No. Your bowl cut with the dumb hair. Are you saying Paul McCartney wasn't handsome? Is that the take you're going with? How do you think this poll would go for you? I think it would go pretty well because I think most men are scared to say that another man is attractive. Well, this is anonymous.

It's on social media. Yes or no? Is Paul McCartney handsome?

You can vote on this poll. I just put it up at Josh Graham Radio. At Josh Graham Radio, is Paul McCartney handsome? You're going to get crushed on this one, dude. Is Carson Wentz handsome? Is Nick Foles handsome? Nick Foles is handsome.

Dude, did he? Okay. You think that because you are also a ginger. Like me.

He is a pale, red-headed guy, which typically does not do too well with the women. Hmm. Can I get to my next baseball player? Uh, sure.

Why not? Aaron Judge. 6'7", 282 with the Yankees. Power forward or D-end?

Hmm. 6'7", 282. Let's say it's a 3-4 and he can still play a little linebacker, so I would say D-end.

Edgerusher. 6'7". Is there a 6'7 linebacker out there? How tall is Vander Asch? He's pretty tall. I don't think he's that tall, though. I can't think of a 6'7 middle linebacker. I can see 6'2", 230 pound Mike Trout playing the Luke Kuechly linebacker type. Can run around, just cover a lot of ground.

Really quick. Strong. I could see him at linebacker. Cody Bellinger, 6'4", lanky. Put him in basketball.

Put him at power forward. Stretch four. And Mookie Betts, he's a bowler apparently. Oh. Yeah. Apparently he competed in the World Series of bowling four or five years ago. So, that's where I'm going to throw him. Can I throw one else, someone in there?

Yeah. Matt Scherzer played at Villanova. He also played football there and he was an offensive weapon. What position did he play?

I mean all over. He played quarterback, running back, they moved him around. Max Scherzer played multiple spots at Villanova? Yes. That's a little surprising. I have a thing here that says, scouts told him that if he would have chosen football over baseball, he would have been a third or fourth round pick. Wow.

That's news to me. We'll take more of these submissions. On Twitter, at Sports of Triad, 336-777-1600.

Also, is Paul McCartney handsome? 777-1600. Coming up. Why baseball's labor dispute is truly unprecedented. And it's not because of this whole pandemic and all.

This is a Tuesday Drive. Okay. Robert Walsh has a challenge for me after we play this sound from a college football coach who apparently has pipes, those pipes belonging to Gary Patterson at TCU. There's a long history of athletes, coaches, putting out rap albums, putting out country music songs, and Terry Bradshaw's case way back when. You don't really hear many coaches who put out tracks, put out some music. So let's hear how the TCU head football coach sounded when this weekend he put out a song. Do you have the title of this song, Robert?

I do not, but I can find it. Gary Patterson seemed to be one of the nicer guys in college football among coaches. Very well respected. He had a song.

Let's hear what his debut single sounds like. Take a step back. Take a look at your life. Hug your children. Kiss your wife.

Know your neighbor. Leave the keys in your truck. Do yourself a favor.

Try your luck. Take a step back. Take a step back. Take a step back.

Everybody stop where you're at. Take a step back. Do you want to take a guess what the song's called, Robert? Frog Nation.

I'm not sure. Take a Step Back. It sounds like a montage song for like a 90s football movie when it's a terrible team and they have to... It sounds like something that would be thrown in the middle of Remember the Titans. Just say it.

Yep, for sure. Like, here's the scene where the team that couldn't get along is starting to get together. Everybody stop where you're at. Take a step back. Yeah, I start thinking about the fat guy in Remember the Titans. His name slips my mind. He's a great actor. I don't know who it is. Fat guy. You know who I'm talking about. Yeah, he's in Boy Meets World, all that stuff. That's right.

So, Gary Patterson. Are you done with the song or do you want to keep blasting it? I don't think I need to keep blasting it. Take a step back. Take a step back.

Take a step back. You'll like it. I'm gonna be honest. It's not bad. It's not bad. A little repetitive, but... Compared to some of the athletes who put out stuff, it's pretty good.

It's pretty darn good. So, here's the part that I don't know about. Robert, in the spirit of Gary Patterson putting out a single, has apparently pulled songs from other athletes slash coaches. Are any of them coaches, Robert, or are they all athletes? They're all athletes. And I have to try and guess who these athletes are?

That is correct. This could be a fun game to play in the car, too. Athletes who are singing, I have to try and guess who they are. Give me the first song. This one's an easy one and I will give you a little hint at the beginning about what sport they play.

This is an NFL player. Okay. You know the song. Ave Maria.

It is an easy one. That's Justin Tucker. There you go. Ravenskicker, who's an opera singer on the side. I remember seeing Bernie Goldberg feature him on HBO's Real Sports not too long ago. And if you're a Maryland fan, you can catch him singing a lot of terrible jingles for Royal Farms. Every time I'm in Maryland, I pop into a Royal Farms. You're going to get some of their world famous chicken fingers. Yeah.

I remember was yelling at me trying to get some of those chicken fingers. This is someone who has not put out a song, but has done multiple songs for their team social media platform. He is a former NBA player. Born down in the dead man's town. La la la la la la la la la la la la la. La la la la la la la la la la la la la. You want another hint?

Don't you cover it up now. Born in the USA. He was not born in the USA. Born in the USA. Born in the USA.

Born in the USA. Did you ask, do I want another hit by this person? I said, do you want another hint? Ah, you just decided to give me the hint that he's not born in the USA.

Correct. I assume this guy's recent. Recently... He sounds young. You said he was... He's a former NBA player.

You talked about program. Was he more known in college than the NBA? No, he did a lot of things for the social media of the team that he played for.

And also the team. He was a great player. Can I hear a little bit of it again? Born down in the dead man's town.

La la la la la la la la la la. Is that Dwight Howard? That is Dirk. Dwight Howard's from the United States.

Dwight Howard's also not retired, but... Oh yeah. Either way, this next guy, he is an NFL player and he is singing a jingle for a car insurance company. Give it a listen. So who is getting down with this great rate? This great rate.

One sec. I'm supposed to know the guy with the deep voices who's doing a bad Leonard Cohen impression? Yes.

That's what I'm supposed to get. Can I hear it one more time? You can hear a different section. This is also him.

All his vocals. What sports? Football. I feel like we're talking in a bar right now.

Hey, you want another drink? Active? Yes, still playing. He plays on the west coast. Well, I can tell.

He's talking about the valley. Oh my gosh. It's not Phillip Rivers, is it? It is not Phillip Rivers. That is Derek Carr. Oh my gosh. Your next hint was he had a brother who was less successful. I mean, technically he has more rings than Derek does. That I had to give directions to at Cameron Indoor Stadium because they were lost. This next guy, I probably should have put this higher up on the list.

I'm not going to tell you the sport he plays for, which is probably already a giveaway, because I feel like if I tell you, it would be a dead giveaway. I mean, you're already being a jerk by playing jingles rather than actual songs that people are writing. It's not like you would know the actual songs either.

There's a chance, maybe. When we talked about this, he was like, maybe get like Damian Lillard. I'm like, okay, so I'm not getting Damian Lillard now because you would know who it is. Anybody that you know sings, you're going to know the song.

So I had to dig a little deeper. And here is this guy singing a classic. Oh man. Great song. And he's good!

Do I have to continue talking? Do you want to hear it? It's Manny Pacquiao.

Yeah, the accent's unmistakable. Him singing with Will Ferrell and Jimmy Kimmel. John Lennon's Imagine. Fantastic. Okay, so I got two right, two wrong. We're down to the last one here. Throw it at me.

This is an NFL player singing a remix of a popular song. Alright, it's a wide receiver. Active? Uh, sure.

I mean, eh, kinda. Oh, I think I know who this is. You going to wait for the break? I'm going to wait until it builds up because I think I got it. I'm feeling very confident right now.

It's Antonio Brown. That kind of slaps. The lyrics maybe not so much, but I was down for it.

Let me hear more of that as I tease the next segment. Oh, this might be the best thing AB's ever done. I miss. Remember a time where the headlines we didn't want to talk about involved AB? Yes. Instead of like international pandemic and systemic racism? I miss the good old days. I'll list off the five college basketball coaches I'd build a program around in today's ball. That's coming up next on The Drive.