Aaron Rodgers Is Officially Headed to Pittsburgh (Hour 1)

Live from the police show, yet not overly ostentatious, studios of the Infinity Sports Network here in beautiful New York City, sitting on top of the 10th floor, 345 Hudson Street. Welcome on in to what is a Thursday edition of the Zach Gelb show across all the great local Infinity Sports Network affiliates, Sirius XM channel 375, and the free Odyssey app. 888-710-4ISN is the number to jump on in.

That's 888-710-4476, and you could always get at me on Instagram. Where I'm straight flexin' or via the good ol' cesspool of Twitter, at Zach Gelb, that's Z-A-C-H-G-E-L-B. We got Nico in the house today, Scarlatos, and then also we got Stuart Kovacs as well. Man, a lot of syllables today, if I'm just being honest, when I have to sit here and say those two names, and we'll be rocking and rolling all the way up until 6 p.m. Eastern, 3 p.m. Pacific time. Johnny Lazarus, NHL analyst, does a great job, NHL daily face-off. He's gonna join us in studio at 4 p.m. Eastern time, where Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final, oh boy, did it deliver last night. The start of that game, you get Leon Dreicheidel instantly first two minutes. He nets a goal. It's 1-0.

Then you get a controversial goal by the Florida Panthers, where I thought it could go either way. Could you make the case it was interference? Yes. Could you say that he was pushed in, even though it was slight contact?

Absolutely. The fact they called that a goal on the ice, and I say this, that if my team was on the other end of it, I probably would be livid. But the fact that they called that a goal on the ice, I think you had to keep it a goal, even though that doesn't always work, that you need conclusive evidence to overturn it.

But in the case of that, I thought that would have been 50-50. The Oilers not only challenge it, they lose the challenge, so then that puts the Panthers back on the power play. The Panthers convert, and boom, in a snap of a finger, it gets out to be 2-1. Ultimately, the Oilers did tie it in the third period, and they go into overtime, where they had 1,000 chances.

1,000 chances. And I'm sitting there and I'm saying, the longer this game goes on, I'm thinking to myself, the more it shifts into the favor of the Florida Panthers, because how many times do you see a team get into overtime, get a billion looks, they keep on coming up short, and they don't end up getting them, and the other team just gets a fortuitous bounce, and boom, they're running off the ice, because they don't even want to have it potentially get overturned, and it's like, alright, just get to the locker room, get to the locker room, get to the locker room, and get off the ice. You had to delay a game. I'll ask this to Johnny Lazarus when he's in the studio with us at 4 p.m. Eastern Time. I'm a big hockey guy, but Johnny, he lives and sleeps and breathes hockey.

It's like a drug to him, almost, or a religion to him. Everyone last night is complaining about the delay a game penalty. It's a rule. So what are you bitching about? I know it's unfortunate when you see a game end that way, but that's the rule, and that's been the rule forever. So everyone who parachutes in and isn't watching hockey all throughout the year like I am, they sit there with their fingers and they type, oh, you know, this rule shouldn't be allowed.

Like, what? What are we doing here? So I wonder if a hockey purist like Johnny Lazarus who will join us in studio in an hour from now, 55 minutes to be exact, if he has a problem with delay a game penalty. But on the power play, as it looked like we were heading to a second overtime, you had this game winner on the Oilers Radio Network courtesy of Jack Michaels. Remember, Leon Dreisaitl started the party, and he also ended the party last night. Nugent Hopkins on the left, tap boards, under pressure, turns and gives it up. Beautiful pass. McDavid in front, what time is it?

Score! Leon Dreisaitl, 4-3, Edmonton in overtime! So the Edmonton Oilers take Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final. You know how sensational Leon Dreisaitl and Conor McDavid are. We know Conor McDavid's the preeminent player in the league, and it's not even close. You could make the case that Leon Dreisaitl is anywhere from 2 to 5.

So you have two of the top five players in the league. You know the star power that the Oilers do have, and they're going up against who I think is the best team in hockey in the Florida Panthers. So the Oilers needed that game last night, especially since they got the good start, then they had to go away from them. If they would have just got blown out of that game or they would have come back to win that game, you're sitting there and just wondering, oh, was that challenge going to maybe change the entire complexion of this series? That's definitely a thought that I had on the ice, even though, or on my couch when I was watching the action on the ice, when I was watching it and I saw that the Florida Panthers took a lead and eventually were up 2-1.

So that's definitely fair to wonder. The Oilers had their moment last night. We know last year, right, this was a Stanley Cup final where it was 3-3, where the Panthers took the first three, the Oilers took the next three, and then the Panthers on their home ice won Game 7. But my biggest reaction to last night, number one, the Oilers got that victory. They needed that victory. Number two, even after a rough start, Stuart Skinner, third period and on, played really well. But with all that being said, this was just one jab.

This was just one punch. And it's going to take a just heroic effort, even when you have Connor McDavid and Leon Drysidel. But it's going to take an heroic effort to take care of business three more times up against the Florida Panthers. And this would be my message to the Edmonton Oilers. Go win Game 2.

Don't be satisfied that you just got one. Remember, you have the home ice advantage. Don't lose that home ice advantage. And I think a lot of people like me who said going into this series, my gut tells me the Oilers are going to win, right? Is McDavid really going to lose back to back Stanley Cup finals?

Is that going to be the case? Especially when you have Leon Drysidel, right? That's what I said yesterday. My gut is telling me it's so tough to pick against McDavid and Drysidel, but my head is saying, Yo, dummy, you could make the case that, well, you can't say the last three years because they did lose to the Vegas Knights. But this team has been in the Stanley Cup final for the last three straight years. We all know that the Panthers are the best team in hockey.

I don't care who has more points than them. I don't care what happened in the regular season. Going into the postseason, I said to myself, I was not picking against the Florida Panthers until someone took them out. So I ended up picking the Florida Panthers to win this series. But if you want to make someone like me a believer where you'll have my gut and my brain meet up and say, OK, they'll win the Stanley Cup, not that if you take the first two that you're guaranteed to go win this series.

Right. We saw the Maple Leafs and the Panthers in this Stanley Cup playoffs in round two. At one point, the Maple Leafs are up 2-0. I was like, oh, this could be their year. Austin Matthews and Mitch Marner.

Here we go. And then the Florida Panthers ended up winning that series. But if you want me to take you very seriously and spark that thought or spark that doubt in my cabeza, that the Florida Panthers aren't winning the Stanley Cup this year, then you go take game number two. If you don't take game number two and this goes 1-1 back to Florida, obviously you could still win the series.

But then I go back to thinking, OK, the Florida Panthers are going to win this series. So we'll do more hockey coming up at 4 p.m. Eastern time today. We'll also take a look at the best dynamic duos in sports coming up in about 12 minutes from now. And that's based off of Connor McDavid last night assisting the game tying goal and the game winning goal. And Leon Dreichel having two goals last night, two of the five best players in hockey. Dreichel started the party and then he shut it on down last night, lighting the lamp and getting the game winner for the Edmonton Oilers as they needed that massive Game 1 victory. But also tonight, the NBA Finals do commence.

And here's the thing. Even when hockey ends quickly, it delivers. I remember when my team made the Stanley Cup final, the New York Rangers, up against Los Angeles Kings. You had three overtime games, I think, in that. And a few of them went to double overtimes. Game 1 and Game 2 were both overtimes, if memory serves me right. And then where they lost the series in Game 5 was was an overtime as well.

So even when hockey ends quickly, just like baseball, even when baseball ends quickly, you know, it's kind of sad and pathetic. You look at my Mets made the World Series, those games up against the Royals were sensational. And the Mets only won one game up against the lousy Cincinnati Royals. I say the lousy Cincinnati Royals. They ended up winning the World Series this year, that year. So they weren't that lousy. But you get the point. It's probably like I was about to use a curse word there and I didn't want to use a curse word.

So I just said lousy. So in hockey, in baseball, you could have a series end quick and it still be a great series or a very fun series. In the NBA, we've seen some series end quick in four or five.

And it's just an absolute brutal watch. You look at this NBA Finals, I'm going to say most people believe the Oklahoma City Thunder are going to win. You know, I'd be lying to you if I'm going to sit here and say, hey, the Indiana Pacers, I really do believe that they're going to win the series. I'd be lying to you or I'd just probably be a contrarian if I just got on the air and just said, yeah, I'm picking the Pacers.

I wouldn't be able to back it up. And trust me, I have a ton of respect for Tyrese Halliburton. And I love Rick Carlisle as a coach. And Pascal Siakam is just such an underrated beast on the basketball court. But when I look at the Pacers and the Oklahoma City Thunder, I expect the Thunder to win the NBA Finals. I just don't know how good of a series this is going to be. I'm taking the Oklahoma City Thunder in six games.

Part of me sat there and said, do I take them in five or do I take them in six? If one of these teams are going to sweep another, it's going to be OKC sweeping the Indiana Pacers. I don't believe the Pacers are going to get swept. But you take a glance at the Oklahoma City Thunder. I think an underrated part of their run this year, because we've always sat there and we tried to take away from them and discredit them and wait for that other shoe to drop where their inexperience was their ultimate demise. In round two, having some performances that were just like alarming and you're saying, oh, here we go with the Thunder up against the Denver Nuggets team that won the championship. I thought was enormous for them, especially when they got to a game seven. We're on their home court and the Joker and company were just awesome in that first quarter. And they had a double digit.

I forget what the number was, but they had a double digit lead at one point. And when that happened, and then by halftime, the game was basically over, it was night night. That was a huge moment. Not that it took the monkey off their back, but it almost felt like it, that that was their moment. OK, we're staring Nicole Jokic, we're staring Jamal Murray right in the face to champions.

We're staring the best player in the league right in the eyes. And yes, that team that that Nuggets team is considering the fact they fired their coach three games before the start of the postseason. It was miraculous. They were even in a game seven in the second round. But the way they won that game, not just winning that game, but the way they won that game and the adversity that they had to overcome. I think that was a lot of years of what usually other teams have to go through in terms of getting let down, falling and then getting back up. I think that all happened in that series for them with the amount of conflicting emotions that they had. So I don't go into these NBA finals now and say, oh, the Oklahoma City Thunder, will their inexperience come back to haunt them?

I don't think that's the case. You got the MVP of the league. You got Jalen Williams.

You got also Chet Holmgren. And you look at the Indiana Pacers, is Tyrese Halliburton capable of going for a triple double, no turnovers? Absolutely. Is Pascal Siakam capable of winning you a game like he won game two for the Indiana Pacers up against the New York Knicks when he dropped 39 points?

Absolutely. But the race is to four. This is not a Super Bowl where it's one 60 minute game. This is a race to four. And in a race to four, I just don't see how the Pacers get to four first over the Oklahoma City Thunder, barring a massive injury to Shae Gilges Alexander.

So I look at this. What do the Pacers have to do to make this a series? They got to take one of these first two. Because if one of these if one of these first two don't go to Indiana, I think most people are going to say, OK, Thunder up 2-0. You go back to Indianapolis and you go up against the Pacers games three and four, you'll take one on the road.

Right. And then it's three one going back to your building to close this thing out and go win an NBA championship. So you need to take one of these first two games like the Florida Panthers could lose both of these first two games to the Edmonton Oilers and still win the Stanley Cup. The Indiana Pacers have no shot of winning this series if they lose both of the first two games. And I know not that long ago we saw the Phoenix Suns go up 2-0 in the NBA Finals and the Milwaukee Bucks ended up coming on back and winning bucks and six, bucks and six, bucks and six.

So I'm looking at this. The Pacers, bare minimum, have to take one of these first two games. Now, what would the best outcome be for the NBA is another question that I have. And I still think the best outcome for the NBA is going to be Shae Gilges Alexander winning the NBA Finals MVP. Because if he wins the MVP in the NBA Finals MVP, this would then be another go at it where you have another player win an MVP in this league. Like we've seen Giannis, like we've seen Joker. Now you have Shae Gilges Alexander and then they followed up with a championship and then also a Finals MVP because we talk about how there isn't a face of the sport right now.

There's a lot of great players that have won championships, and I think that's very healthy for the league. Do we have breaking news or something? Oh, go ahead. We have breaking news on the Zach Gelb Show. I'm sitting here and Nico looks like he's seen a ghost.

Stu is talking to Nico and I'm speaking and I go, what I'm saying is not that crazy. So I just assumed we have breaking news. What is it? This is this is worth it. Yeah. Finally, the wait is over. Rogers? Rogers.

About damn time. According to Tom Pellicero. He's retiring, right? Four-time NFL MVP Aaron Rodgers informed the Steelers that he will fly to Pittsburgh on Friday and sign before next week's minicamp. Sources tell the insiders. Finally, a done deal.

He will play his 21st season with the Steelers. So here's the immediate reaction. About damn time. Put the ayahuasca down. Get out of whatever cave you're in. Come back from Egypt and now you go get in that facility and we'll see what success looks like for the Pittsburgh Steelers this year. Because I look at this Pittsburgh Steelers team, it's almost stupid to bet against Mike Tomlin to get to the postseason. Because even though Mike Tomlin hasn't won a playoff game since the 2016 season, this is an organization that we walk into each and every year and we go, I don't really think they're going to be that good. We're going to lower the bar.

This is going to be the year where you pull the rug out from underneath you. But Aaron Rodgers, this is what success is for Rodgers in Pittsburgh. He has to win a playoff game. Aaron Rodgers at this point of his career is incapable of winning a Super Bowl anymore. The Pittsburgh Steelers right now, I don't look at them and this is why the Steelers standard has fallen.

I don't view them as a championship contending team. So I'm not going to sit here while Aaron Rodgers is 40, right? And tell you, oh, I expect Aaron Rodgers to go win a Super Bowl with the Pittsburgh Steelers when, yeah, you do have D.K.

Metcalf now. But this isn't an offense that I'm looking at, I'm saying, wow, I'm really intimidated by the Pittsburgh Steelers and I would expect their defense to bounce back. Now the AFC is absolutely loaded, so it's not a lock that the Pittsburgh Steelers are going to make the playoffs. But winning a Super Bowl for Aaron Rodgers this year and the Pittsburgh Steelers this year isn't going into the postseason, winning a wildcard round, winning a divisional round, winning a conference championship and then winning the Super Bowl, right? This isn't Big Ben.

This isn't Bradshaw in terms of what the standard was for those guys. But Aaron Rodgers limping into Pittsburgh where he hasn't been a great quarterback, let's be honest, in three years, he needs to win a playoff game this year. And if he doesn't win a playoff game this year, I just look at this as a giant waste of time. And also for Mike Tomlin, this is a one-year thing.

You need to finally start to set up a plan for long-term success again. Because I said this before, I would give this edict to Mike Tomlin right now. In these next two years, you have to find us the next franchise quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers or you need to win a playoff game. If not, Mike, you're a phenomenal coach. Mike, you'll probably be in Kansas and Ohio one day. Mike, you did an unbelievable job for this organization. You won a Super Bowl.

But you know what? It's just time for a different voice. So Aaron Rodgers this year, if you want me to praise him, if you want me to look at this and say, wow, the Rodgers-Pittsburgh-Stealer experiment worked, he needs to win a playoff game.

Anything short of that, it wasted Nico's time, it wasted Stu's time, and it wasted my time. More on Aaron Rodgers for the Pittsburgh Steelers next. This is Zach Gelb's show right here on the Infinity Sports Network. I'm cracking myself up, folks. Sometimes you just have a moment on the air and you go, I don't even know what I just said. So I was talking about the Mets in the World Series up against the Cincinnati Royals. And obviously I met the Kansas City Royals.

But I got a tweet during the break from PerryBR231. It's the Kansas City Royals, not Cincinnati. So I'm sitting there and I go, huh? And I go, all right, I know I just talked about the Royals during the break.

So let me go use the rewind function on the Odyssey app. I was talking about him right before the break. And I listened back and I said, yeah, I know the Mets lost to the Cincinnati Royals, those lousy Cincinnati Royals.

So I apologize. What I think happened here, and I was just wrong on that. Obviously I know that the Cincinnati Reds and the Kansas City Royals are not, right, are separate entities. But I'm going to assume here right before the show started, Stu and I.

And no, this is not me just blaming a producer for something fully cognizant of how that may sound. But Stu and I are talking about some of the best dynamic duos in sports. And I was debating, you know, is it Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelsey? Is it Derrick Henry and also Lamar Jackson? Or is it Jamar Chase and Joe Burrow of the Cincinnati Bengals? And I thought that was a very tough decision that I was going to have to make. And quite frankly, the debate that we were really having was Ravens or Bengals in terms of their duos. Who's the best duo in the NFL? And for, I guess, whatever reason, when I was talking about the Kansas City Royals, I ended up calling them the Cincinnati Royals.

You know, I used to always mess up as well. The Tampa Bay Lightning and the Toronto Maple Leafs. I'll never forget this. We had Vinny Viola on, the owner of the Florida Panthers. And it was after his organization. Was it that they defeated the Maple Leafs or they were going to play the Maple Leafs?

I forget which one. Or maybe they're going to play the Lightning. Whatever it was, though. Like, let's say they were going to play the Lightning. I think it was the Maple Leafs.

I was like, oh, they're going to go on to face the Tampa Bay Maple Leafs. So sometimes that just happens, folks. So it is what it is. But the big news of the day, the breaking news that we just reacted to.

And this is something that I was on since 2021. Aaron Rodgers finally has elected to go sign with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Or he tends to sign with the Pittsburgh Steelers as that is the breaking news report that did happen during the first segment of the show. So let's just do this real quickly with Aaron Rodgers, the worst kept secret in America. Charlie Batche, you still think Mason Rudolph should be the starter?

Geez Louise. But Aaron Rodgers has informed the Steelers he will fly to Pittsburgh on Friday and sign a one-year deal with the team prior to next week's minicamp. Sources confirm to Adam Schefter. Now, I said this earlier, the expectation, if you want this to be a success, is for the Steelers to win a playoff game. Will they even make the playoffs, though?

So let's just do a little quick exercise. Stu, help me out here. Who would your guess be is going to win the AFC East right now? I would say the Buffalo Bills.

OK, I'm going to have you and Nico be the end-all be-all right here. So the Buffalo Bills winning the AFC East, I do not disagree with that. Who do you think is going to win the AFC North right now? I'll say the Ravens.

OK, Nico, do you agree with that? Yeah, I'm good with the Bills and Ravens. You guys aren't going to go with the Kansas City Bengals? No? I did that one on purpose. I said to Stu during the break, I go, did I call them the Cincinnati Royals? Because sometimes I'll have people tweet me things that will say things that I said that I just never said. I never said that. Right?

And Stu goes, yeah, I thought it was some inside joke that I just listen on the inside of. So, no, not the case. So you guys are both going with the Baltimore Colts, right?

Yes. Sorry, the Baltimore Ravens. The AFC South, who do you have winning that division? I will say the Houston Texans. Nico, you agree?

Yeah, right on cue, that works. Even with that bum shoulder that C.J. Shroud has right now.

General soreness right now. We don't know. AFC West, are you going to be like Carlos with a K and be a jackass and say that the Kansas City Chiefs or the Cincinnati Chiefs are going to miss out on the postseason? I'm assuming you will not do that and you'll both take the Chiefs to win the West. I got to say, it's going to be the Raiders' year. No, it is definitely the Chiefs that are going to win the AFC West. Yes, the Oakland Raiders, right? Yes, yes. Los Angeles Raiders.

Yes. And you will, I'm assuming, agree as well, Nico, that the Kansas City Chiefs will win the AFC West, right? Yeah, I'm high on the Chargers, but like you said with the Panthers, when we talk about hockey, you can't pick against the Chiefs until you see it happen. Okay. So I'm in agreement with that right now. If the season was to start tomorrow, I would pick the Bills as the AFC East winner, the Baltimore Ravens as the AFC North winner, the AFC South would go to the Houston Texans or maybe the Oilers, and then the AFC West would go with the Kansas City Chiefs.

Now, with that being said, I'll just ask you this question. Miami Dolphins or Pittsburgh Steelers, who's better? I think the Steelers.

Nico? Yeah, I think the Steelers are just more well-rounded. Okay, I agree. So we eliminate the Dolphins from playoff contention. The New England Patriots or the Pittsburgh Steelers? Still the Steelers.

Nico? Yeah, Pats are on the up, but they're not there yet. I would agree. Jets or the Steelers? Steelers. Steelers.

I would agree. The Cincinnati, Kansas City, who knows what you call them, Bengals or the Pittsburgh Steelers? The Bengals are better.

I would agree. Yeah, even without Troy Henderson, I still like the Bengals. Okay, so I will move the Bengals up the list. The Cleveland Browns with their 7,000 quarterbacks or the Pittsburgh Steelers? Steelers. Steelers. Alrighty, here we go.

I'm in agreement. The Indianapolis Colts, as I think Danny Dines may be starting every game this year with the new Anthony Richardson injury news, and who the heck knows when he's going to come back? The Pittsburgh Steelers or the Indianapolis Colts? Steelers. Steelers.

Yep, I would agree. The Jacksonville Jaguars in Duval or the Pittsburgh Steelers? Steelers. Steelers. I would agree.

Here we go. Also, as we continue to move down this list, the Tennessee Titans with Cam Ward. Could this be CJ Stroud? Could this be Jayden Daniels for the third straight year or do we take the Steelers? Steelers. Steelers.

I would agree. The Los Angeles Chargers or the Pittsburgh Steelers? Chargers. I'm going Chargers too. I would agree. The Denver Broncos or the Pittsburgh Steelers?

I think this for me is the toughest one. I'll go Steelers though. Ooh. I'm going to go Broncos.

Ooh, so now I'm the tiebreaker. I'm going to go with the Broncos as well. I'm going to slightly go with the Denver Broncos. Las Vegas Raiders or the Pittsburgh Steelers? Steelers. Sorry, Stu. Steelers.

Yeah, right? We always feel bad for Stu. So, you look at this, it's actually not as difficult as one may think for the Steelers to make the playoffs this year. I think they could be that third wildcard spot. But now they have Aaron Rodgers. And just getting a wildcard spot for the Steelers, am I going to sit there and pat the Steelers on the ass and be like, yippee-i-yo, Kyay?

No. I shouldn't be. They need to win a playoff game this year. Now they could miss the postseason.

Don't get me wrong. They're a fringe playoff team. But just another participation season for the Steelers where you show up to the Invitational and you don't do any damage, it's a waste of time. For Aaron Rodgers this season to be viewed as a success with the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Pittsburgh Steelers must not only make the playoffs, but they also have to win a playoff game. And that's how Aaron Rodgers could ride off into the sunset with something that is not an abysmal ending to his career. Because if Aaron Rodgers finishes his career, when you look back at the last four years, losing a game at the end of the season to the Detroit Lions, then going to the Jets, you had the Achilles injury, three plays into the season, then last year was a complete another bleep show that he was leading in New York, and then you go to Pittsburgh and you miss the playoffs? Or you go to Pittsburgh and you just make the playoffs?

Ehh, underwhelming, disappointing. Aaron Rodgers right now, his career, he's a top 10 quarterback of all time, but he's one of those guys that you look at him and you go, it's amazing how he only made one Super Bowl. It's amazing how he only won one Super Bowl. I know Dan Marino's probably listening to this and he's saying, well, I would have loved to just have won one Super Bowl. But when you win it that early in your career and the other quarterbacks that were in your era or right before you, Brady, Peyton Manning, heck, even guys like a Big Ben who won multiple Super Bowls, Eli Manning won multiple Super Bowls as well.

Patrick Mahomes already is better than you. He's already won three Super Bowls. You only winning one Super Bowl is disappointing. So at least a nice way that you could put some lipstick on a pig and end your career with some dignity and some praise is by going on out there and winning a playoff game and doing something that they haven't done for the Steelers standard that is completely shot right now, because that used to be an organization that was synonymous with winning championships. Now it's just up show up to the postseason, maybe have a close game or get obliterated in the first round, and you don't want anything that won a playoff game since 2016. So Aaron Rodgers, do yourself a favor. Go off on a good note and go on out there and win a playoff game. But if you don't want a playoff game, this was a giant waste of time for everyone involved.

All right. It is Zach Gelb show right here on the Infinity Sports Network. We will take a time out. We'll come on back and we'll look at the best dynamic duos in sports right now.

This portion of the show is sponsored by Hyundai, the all new all electric Hyundai ionic nine space for up to seven range for miles. Johnny Lazarus will join us in studio coming up 20 minutes from now we'll break down game one of the Stanley Cup final as the Edmonton Oilers have taken a 10 series lead up against the Florida Panthers with the Leon Dreyseidel game winner last night, Aaron Rodgers is on his way to Pittsburgh tomorrow, and he's going to sign with the Steelers ahead of mandatory mini camp. So I saw that Ian Rappaport tweeted out the most important thing on Twitter right now. Did I miss anything on Twitter, Stu, when when Ian Rappaport just wrote the most important thing on Twitter right now, or is that just him saying something that is crystal clear right there with Aaron Rodgers or something else after the world that I'm just unaware of?

Not that I know of. That's the only thing I've been saying is the Roger stuff. You know what I've unfortunately have gone down the rabbit hole of today, and I even had a tweet about it. So I guess that people think Meghan Markle used a surrogate to have one of her children. So she released a video of her and Prince Harry. I believe I'm getting the Royals correct here, like dancing in the hotel room, basically doing a tick tock or something to this song. And like people think that the video she posted, she wasn't pregnant because they think that she put a pillow under her stomach or something like that. Now I've gone down that rabbit hole today. I think the whole thing is bizarre, but because she's dancing, people's like, oh, you know, in the UK, they're like her, her royal status should be revoked.

Like what? I've never got the royal culture if I'm just going to be out there and be honest. Maybe that's why I called him the Cincinnati Royals earlier. Maybe that was, I was thinking about the royal status of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry as well. Now, I really don't want to go down the weeds of that story, if I'm just being honest, because there's a lot that I probably just don't understand, but the way that she's being dragged online, I just don't understand it. This is a big topic for you, Nico, right? You've been all over this stuff today, right? Oh yeah, definitely.

Yeah. And then I see Dave Portnoy and Kirk Minnahan going after it. Now I used to be a big Kirk Minnahan listener. I had a very good relationship with Kirk and he would come on my show all the time whenever the Patriots would get to the Super Bowl. That's Kirk Minnahan and Dave Portnoy. Everyone's freaking out, oh, Dave shouldn't speak that way to one of his employees. I love Kirk Minnahan. I'm a huge Kirk Minnahan fan. You ever hear how he speaks to his staff? I got no problem with it. That's part of the business, part of the job.

It's fun. And Kirk was, when he did radio, was absolutely great at it, it was phenomenal. Him and Jerry and other people as well that he hosted with, it was really fun radio to listen to. But this idea that, oh, Kirk should feel like he's some victim because Portnoy told him to shut the bleep up and called him a bald bleep.

What are we doing here? And I watch the Unnamed show all the time. So I feel like whenever there's an issue from the Unnamed show, you have all these other talk show hosts, they have no clue what they're talking about. They see the social media clip for a minute and they go, oh, this or all that. I watch the Unnamed show each and every week with Whitney, with Portnoy, El Presidente, and then also Kirk Minnahan.

They used to be a big Kirk Minnahan show listener when he was on WEI. And to me that was a, it wasn't a normal show, but it wasn't that far off in terms of, oh, they're yelling at each other and they're having some debate about something. This was just a lot more of a serious issue. And I say this as a Jewish guy, a Jewish man, with what's going on in the world and how my people are being treated, unfortunately, and the disgusting things that are going on in the US.

So that's why I think that it was more of something that when you're watching and it was a little uncomfortable. But if you know Portnoy, who I'm a huge fan of his content, and you know Kirk Minnahan, I'm a huge fan of his content. It's not like that crazy what ended up happening and what you ended up seeing on the Unnamed show the other day. But anyway, I guess that Ian Rapport says the biggest news on Twitter today is not Kirk Minnahan, is not Dave Portnoy, is not Meghan Markle, is not Prince Harry. And it is Aaron Rodgers who is flying to Pittsburgh or is going to be flying on Pittsburgh tomorrow. And he's going to sign with the Steelers ahead of mandatory minicamp. Now let me continue that on with the Pittsburgh Steelers and we'll get to the dynamic duos in just a second. Stu, give me the Steelers schedule here. And I think the Steelers are a fringe playoff team, anything short though, the Steelers winning a playoff game this year, even though they're a fringe playoff team for how far that organization has fallen off. You bring in Aaron Rodgers, you need to go win a playoff game or it's a disaster. It's one thing to say that. Now let's hear their schedule is, and I think there's a road for them to make the postseason this year, but let's see where this team is going to go and what I think right now they're going to be from a win loss perspective. Go ahead.

All right. Well, they bet on themselves with this first game and it's going to be interesting in the one o'clock Eastern slot, but Pittsburgh at the Jets week one. That's the Jets Super Bowl.

It really is. That is a Super Bowl for the Jets. I'm going to say that the Steelers won that game. One win for the Steelers.

Okay. Home against Seattle. Oh my God, my series going off of my phone because I guess it heard me say the Pittsburgh Steelers.

I don't know why that was the case. But anyway, yes, I will go with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Week two home against the Seahawks. I'm going to say that's a win. A slight win, though.

Twenty three twenty. Okay. At the Patriots, people are going to call me a Homer, even when the Patriots think they always beat the Steelers. Mike Tomlin has been a horrible coach up against the New England Patriots. I know that's usually going up against Bill Belichick, but I'll say Mike Vrabel gets a victory there. All right, week four, they have the Vikings in one of the many international games this season.

I will take Minnesota. That's Roger's Super Bowl, though. Week one is the Jets Super Bowl. This is Roger's Super Bowl because he wants to be a Minnesota Viking, but I will take the Minnesota Vikings.

All right. And then they have the bye week and then they are home against that with Roger's day. You could lose it. It's a possibility. Home against the Browns after Dubai win at the Bengals loss home against the Packers.

Oh, that's man. You got some a lot of good games, some good Roger games there. I'm going to say it's a loss home against the Colts win. You better win that one at the Chargers. I will go loss home against the Bengals. They'll win one of those. So I'll take a win there. Okay. At the Bears win in Chicago. He goes to Chicago, Chicago. Yeah.

Oh, boy. You got some good Roger games here. Home against the Bills loss at the Ravens. Loss home against the Dolphins on a Monday night win at the Lions loss at the Browns win and then they end the season week 18 home against the Ravens. Is that game going to mean anything for Baltimore?

Yeah, that's what I'm thinking. A lot of week 18 games. What am I at right now? Do you know how many wins I'm at right now? I'm at eight right now. Eight.

When? All right. Nine and eight. Oh, 500. I'll give them nine and eight. Give them nine. And imagine I said tie 881. Mike Talbot still never below 500. I'll go nine and eight, nine and eight for them would be by prediction for the Pittsburgh Steelers this year. All right.

Let's do this right now. So Leon dry side on Connor McDavid, I should say Connor McDavid and Leon dry side. Connor McDavid is a preeminent player in the league. He had the assist on the game winner and the game tying goal last night.

Leon dry settle scored the first goal of the game and he scored the last goal of the game. Best duos in the NFL, the NHL, the NBA, and major league baseball. I will give one then Stu will give one. And this is off Connor McDavid and Leon dry settle with their brilliance, the best duos in the NFL.

I'm going to sound like Sam here. I have a list. You could go with Joe Byrne, Jamar chase. You go Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelsey, even though Travis Kelsey has been slowing down a little bit as a late, I, and then I would think you have Lamar Jackson and Derek high, like one of those three, Lamar Jackson and Derek Henry, Joe Byrne, Jamar chase, Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelsey. One of those three are the best dynamic duos in the NFL. I'm going to go here with Lamar and Derek Henry. I know that Joe Byrd just led the league in passing yards and passing touchdowns, Jamar chase is the one, the triple crown. But when I look at it, Lamar Jackson, multiple MVPs, Derek Henry, an MVP of his own, and he's an absolute stud. I just think that duo together, quarterback running back and the way that they are in the red zone is where I'm going to look at them. And I'm going to say that they are the dominant, the most dominant duo in the NFL right now. Offensive player of the year, by the way, for Derek, I think I said MVP offensive player of the year is what he, what he didn't win the MVP. But continue. All right.

And for mine, I will, I will go with the one you didn't choose here. So I'm going with Joe Burrow and Jamar chase. I just think that quarterback, the wide receiver that's as lethal as it's going to get.

And I just think it's, it's just so good. They just need the rest of the team around them to be, to be better. And Mahomes and Kelsey, I think are one of the great NFL duos of all time. Like you got Montana and rice, you got Brady and Gronkowski, and you also got Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelsey.

Like those are some duos that you think of just right away. But at this stage of his career, Kelsey is, is still a good tight end, but you don't need him to be elite until the post season and the last two years, Mahomes numbers in the regular season, even though he's still the best quarterback of the NFL, I have not been sensational. NHL. So I'm going to take McDavid and dry saddle out of this.

Cause that's the easy one. I'm then going to go with their guys down in Tampa Bay. I'm going to take a Kutcher off and point.

I will go Kutcher off and point stoop. Yeah. There's a lot of decent ones here.

I think Matthews and Marner for the maple leaves, I think, I think that for me is probably the best one. There's a couple other ones. I know you'll probably win anything. Yeah. That's the problem. Right. Of course. But I think that's pretty the most lethal, you know, on ice duo.

Yeah. And you look at it, if you want to go a forward and then also a defenseman, McKinnon and McCar. I know that's, you know, not the same, like not the same line, you know, not a center and a, and a wing or something like that. But that's also one that I thought NBA is difficult because we talk about being in the era of dynamic duos. I'm good at, even though there's an injury here, I'm going to go Jason Tatum and Jalen Brown because they want a championship together. I am going to be a Homer here. I will go LeBron and Luca, despite LeBron's age, he's still one of the better players in the league. And I think Luca has a chance to be a top three or four players. So I think that duo right now is the best one. I don't think it's you being a Homer. I think it's you being right now.

How about this? Major league baseball, the first one that comes to mind last year, I'd probably say Shoei Otani and Mookie Betts. Now after just winning the world series MVP and the crazy start, he's off to this year. And we know how great Freddie Freeman has been for a long time. I'm going to say that the best dynamic duo, major league baseball right now is Shoei Otani and Freddie Freeman. So that's what I will end up going with.

Okay. What do you take? Freeman and Betts? I mean, Otani and Betts.

I was thinking of taking Otani and Betts. They might have the two best ones. But I think Lindor and Soto, once you get deep into the season, as much as it pains me to say, I think Lindor and Soto is going to be pretty close to what Judge and Soto was last year. I'm actually annoyed Samter isn't here today because you two rats, Samter and Stu, you guys are like a bunch of schoolgirls a few weeks ago when the Mets lost two out of three to the Yankees. Now the Mets have the most wins in the NL and Juan Soto is back in his last five games, three home runs, and you got the Soto shuffle and all you guys had your contrived drama. Oh, one Soto doesn't look happy with the New York Mets. Oh, let me get a bunch of clicks. Let me get a bunch of big takes out there. Looks pretty happy to me last night, smiling, looking happy, looking wonderful and his family's treated nice. You know, that's all good. All right. It is the Zach Gilb Show on the Infinity Sports Network. When we come on back, Johnny Lazarus will join us. We'll talk some pucks next.