TJ Watt Should LEAVE The Steelers (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 Tuesday 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. You could always get at me on Instagram, where I'm straight flexing via the good old cesspool of Twitter at Zach Gelb.

That's Z-A-C-H-G-E-L-B. Michael Rubin is going to join us today, the CEO of Fanatics in studio somewhere in the 4 p.m. Eastern Time hour, but we're going to start the show. And don't worry, coming up in 20 minutes, we're going to talk about the disgrace of the Edmonton Oilers. So if you're a hockey fan, if you're tuning in today, and you want to hear my hockey opinion, 3.20 p.m. Eastern Time.

And I'll just say it right now. A disgrace what happened with the Edmonton Oilers last night. Fake tough guys. And it is crazy what the Florida Panthers, who are the best team in the league, we all know that, were able to do to them last night, and just not do to them in terms of the score, but from the mental component of that hockey game. You know, the kids say crash out. The Edmonton Oilers crashed out last night because of the Florida Panthers and the games that the Panthers play and the games that the Oilers were trying to play that they're clearly nowhere to go.

They are good enough to play that style of hockey. So that will just be a little appetizer. That will just be like a little teeny tiny pick in the blanket for you. When you're at a wedding, we will get to the actual main course. We will get to the party and the trashing of the Edmonton Oilers coming up in 20 minutes from now.

Because I was embarrassed for them watching that hockey game last night. Alrighty. Anyway.

I'll get to something, by the way, to start this show. I'll tell you I'm right. When I'm wrong, I'll say, hey, I got it wrong.

I'm not one of these talk show hosts that can never admit whenever they are wrong. This one, though, I 100% got my opinion right. And I still stand by this opinion. And I think this opinion, if I was representing TJ Watt, if I'm TJ Watt, I would say, let's go to work here. Let's put Zach Gelb's opinion into action from the TJ Watt side of things.

This goes back all the way to the Super Bowl. We're sitting there Super Bowl week and we get that trade request from Miles Garrett. Miles Garrett wants out of the Cleveland Browns organization. Now, we know what ended up happening. Miles Garrett came on our show.

He talked a big game. Oh, yeah, Philly. Oh, yeah, the Lions. Oh, yeah, the Kansas City Chiefs, right? The Buffalo Bills.

He did all the talking. I want out of Cleveland. It's not about money. It's all about winning a Super Bowl. I want to go to a bonafide Super Bowl contender. And when push came to shove, what did Miles Garrett do? Oh, I don't care about winning. I don't care that I'm going to be on the dreadful Cleveland Browns. I don't care that I'm going to be in the bottom of the basement of the AFC North and never have a chance to go on out and win a championship in my illustrious career, where, yes, you're going to be going to Canton, Ohio one day and you're going to be enshrined in the NFL Hall of Fame, but you're never going to have a legitimate chance while playing for the Cleveland Browns in this late and Miles Garrett's career on going, winning multiple playoff games and being in a Super Bowl and playing for the Lombardi Trophy. So that's how Miles Garrett operated his business.

If you want to take the money, I understand it. It's a lethal sport. That Miles Garrett was thrown to us at the Super Bowl and ultimately about 40 million dollars a year.

Yeah. Forget forget the Chiefs. Forget the Buffalo Bills. Forget the Detroit Lions. Forget the Philadelphia Eagles. Forget teams that actually have a chance to go win a Super Bowl this year. The Washington commanders. I'm going to go play in Cleveland because they're paying me 40 million dollars a year.

They're in Cleveland still. But I remember having this conversation the Monday of Super Bowl week, and I had this conversation with Solomon Wilcox and his great job, Sirius XM NFL radio, and I made it the case to Solomon Wilcox. Well, I'm T.J. Watt. And right, we always pit up T.J. Watt and Miles Garrett. We pin up them against one another.

Who's the best defensive player in the league? And it kind of vacillates every year. It's a seesaw ride.

It just goes back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. One year it's Miles. One year it's T.J. Next year it's Miles. Next year it's T.J. Yada, yada, yada, yada. But I said in this case, T.J. Watt, who does not like Miles Garrett and Miles Garrett does not like T.J. Watt. T.J. Watt should actually follow suit in what Miles Garrett did. And not only should he request a trade, but he should go through with this. Now, at the Super Bowl in February, I said he should just follow suit like Miles Garrett did and request a trade.

I have since revised that take, and I said this back in April. March, whenever the Miles Garrett thing got taken care of with the contract, where T.J. Watt should do what Miles Garrett didn't do. And that's not only talk that you want to trade, but actually execute a trade. And force your way to a bona fide Super Bowl contender. Force your way to the Buffalo Bills. Force your way to the Kansas City Chiefs. Force your way to the Philadelphia Eagles. Force your way to the Detroit Lions. Force your way to the Washington Commanders.

Push for the Pittsburgh Steelers. I said it. I said it all throughout this offseason. And I don't even know what this would be. So I can't just say double down.

So whatever, how many times I said it, put that number and then go down with that once again. And that's what T.J. Watt should do. And I know some Steelers fans could be listening and some Steelers fans that don't get the reality of where their team is at and they're delusional Steelers fans. Which, by the way, Pittsburgh has a great fan base. One of the best fan bases in the NFL. But in all fan bases, you have delusional fans. You have fans that each and every year they go into a season expecting their team to be much better than what they actually are. You know, like even if you talk to Kansas City Chiefs fans, they lose one game and they lose in their mind. But you look at the Pittsburgh Steelers. What are the Pittsburgh Steelers? The Pittsburgh Steelers are a fringe, a fringe playoff team. I'm not saying the Pittsburgh Steelers are definitely going to miss the playoffs, but as easy as the Steelers can miss the playoffs this year, that is just as easy as how they can make it.

Right? It goes both ways. They are in that range of anywhere between 8 to 10 wins this year. And in all likelihood, you go 8 and 9, you're not making the playoffs. You go 9 and 8, you got a chance in the AFC to make the playoffs. You go 10 and 7, you're probably making the playoffs.

You get to 11, that's where it usually feels like you're locked to be a playoff team. But right now, even with the Pittsburgh Steelers having Aaron Rodgers, even with the Pittsburgh Steelers this past year getting DK Metcalf, even with the Pittsburgh Steelers having a down defensive year last year and anticipating they were going to bounce back this upcoming season, is anyone sitting here saying that the Pittsburgh Steelers and Mike Tomlin is their head football coach and this organization right now? And that's not a knock against Mike Tomlin. I'm just listening to what this team has. Is anyone saying right now that this team is going to win the AFC North? If I ask you right now, the Steelers or the Ravens, who are you taking to win the AFC North? It's the Ravens. Now, I think the Bengals are up for debate. The Browns obviously not up for debate. But the Steelers, I think if everything goes right this year, they could be the second best team in the AFC North.

That's if everything goes right. But if the Pittsburgh Steelers were in a playoff game tomorrow up against the Kansas City Chiefs, who are you taking? Taking the Chiefs. If the Pittsburgh Steelers are in a playoff game tomorrow up against the Buffalo Bills, who are you taking? Taking the Buffalo Bills. If the Pittsburgh Steelers are in a playoff game tomorrow up against the Baltimore Ravens, who are you taking? You're taking the Baltimore Ravens.

Right? That's just for starters, those three teams. And we can have debates. Would you take Steelers or Bengals? Would you take Steelers or Chargers? Would you take Steelers or Broncos? Would you take the Steelers or the Texans?

There are healthy debates that you can have. So it just shows you, the Steelers aren't a top three team in the AFC. The Steelers aren't a team that you look at and you say, hey, they're going to a Super Bowl. They have a chance to go to a Super Bowl this year. The Steelers are in the worst spot you could be in as a football team.

They are stuck. They're not bad enough where everything just implodes and you're picking in the top five of the draft and you have the chance to get your next franchise quarterback to finally replace Big Ben. But they're also not good enough where you look at them and you say, oh, wow, they could go to an AFC Championship game. Oh, wow. They could get to the Super Bowl.

And how about a zany idea? They could actually hoist the Lombardi Trophy. Right? These are the Pittsburgh Steelers. This is not some slap you-know-what organization. This is one of the more respected organizations in the league. And forget AFC Championship game. Forget going to a Super Bowl. Forget winning a Super Bowl.

This team hasn't won a damn playoff game since the 2016 season. So here is T.J. Watt who turns 31 this year. T.J. Watt wants a new deal. The organization right now is not giving him a new deal.

And he's not showing up to mandatory minicam. And look, this offseason, his rival, right, his main nemesis in the pass rushing world is Myles Garrett. They just gave him a $40 million a year contract. Now, Trey Hendrickson doesn't have a new deal yet.

Michael Parsons, that will get done, but he doesn't have a new deal yet. But if I'm T.J. Watt, I'm saying forget about Micah, forget about Trey Hendrickson. Those guys are great pass rushers. Trey Hendrickson just led the league in sacks. Micah Parsons is around Warren Sapp, a 15th sack a year guy. But who have been the two best defensive players in the league for the last half decade?

Right? It's been T.J. Watt and it's been Myles Garrett. So if I'm T.J. Watt, I'm feeling some type of way. I'm saying a team in our own division, a team that's a rival of ours, a player who is a rival of mine just easily, even though he requested a trade, did all that stuff, but it quickly got rectified and they gave him a $40 million a year contract. And you're not giving me a new contract yet?

I have to drag my feet? You're making me jump through hula hoops to get this deal done? So if I'm T.J., I think this is a blessing. If I'm T.J., I'm saying, you know what?

I'm walking in tomorrow. I'm showing up for mandatory minicamp and I'm holding court. I'm talking to the media and I'm saying I'm T.J. Watt and I don't want to be a part of this organization anymore because I actually want to be a part of a winner. Now, do I think T.J. Watt's going to do that? No, I don't think T.J. Watt, who is clearly frustrated right now, is going to blast the team publicly like that in front of reporters because there's still a chance that this gets rectified and they give them a new deal. And it's probably likely that they give them a new deal. But if I'm T.J. Watt, I'm saying this team has not won a playoff game since 2016.

They haven't. And where I'm at, I'm on the trajectory to be a first-bound Hall of Famer. I'm on a trajectory to be one of the great players in the history of this league and I want a chance to go win a Super Bowl. And this franchise, their standard has fallen because the Steelers are now in the worst position that you could possibly be and they're stuck.

Not bad enough to be in the top five and get your next franchise quarterback, but not good enough to actually go and legitimately win a Super Bowl. And I would start naming teams. I would say, hey, I'm T.J. Watt. I'd rather go play for the Eagles.

Right? I'm T.J. Watt. I'd rather go play for the Kansas City Chiefs. I'm T.J. Watt. I'd rather go play for the Detroit Lions. I'm T.J. Watt. I'd rather go play for the Washington Commanders.

You know what? Maybe if I go to Green Bay, they'd become a Super Bowl contender. I want to roll the dice somewhere else. And there's like six or seven teams that you could probably look at and say, OK, they're legitimate Super Bowl contenders. How about Buffalo?

Yeah, let's go to Buffalo. Now, I'm not going to sit here and say the Ravens, not that I don't think the Ravens are a Super Bowl contender, but it's a waste of time because, you know, T.J. Watt, the Steelers are not trading into the Baltimore Ravens. But there are teams out there. There are teams out there that are very, very, very, very, very close to winning the Super Bowl or have already won the Super Bowl.

They either have done it and they're looking for more or they're on the verge of doing so. And T.J. Watt could get you to that spot. But T.J., if you're being honest with yourself, you ain't winning Jack Bleep in Pittsburgh. Yeah, you could win an AFC North Crown. Yeah, you go to the playoffs a bunch of years.

But this team hasn't won a damn playoff game since the 2016 season. So do what Myles Garrett failed to do. Follow his playbook originally. Request a trade. I want to go to a winner. But don't take no for an answer. Don't take the money just because it's coming from the team that you've only been on.

Go on out there. You'll get your money elsewhere. You'll get a new deal elsewhere. And you'll actually, here's a crazy thought, have a legitimate chance to play in games that could get you to go win a Super Bowl. Instead of doing the Pittsburgh Steelers participation trophy invitational where it's you make the playoffs, what do you damn do, and you get smacked in the wild card round and you don't see the divisional round. Don't do that. It's a waste of time.

It's nonsense for you. I want to see a player like T.J. Watt, just like I want to see a player like Myles Garrett playing late into January, playing in early February. And in a crazy world that we now live in, you got no shot doing that in Pittsburgh because the Steelers standard is not about winning Lombardi's anymore. That's not the Pittsburgh Steelers way right now.

That's not a realistic goal right now. It's just OK. Winning your 9, 10 games a year, maybe you get 11, maybe you get 12, maybe one year you win the AFC North. Most years you're a wild card team.

You show up in the playoffs and you get beat by a team that is actually chasing for the Super Bowl and you lose in the wild card round. So, T.J., this organization wants to play around with you. I get this deal done in a second. Look at the Myles Garrett deal.

You give that to T.J. Watt and you give him slightly more. That gets the deal done. Easy peasy.

You know what the bar is. It's so easy. I get this deal done tomorrow in a snap of a finger.

It's so simple to get this deal done. But the fact that we're at this point on June 10th in the year of 2025 means there's skepticism on the Steelers side. And if I'm T.J. Watt, I'm saying bleep you. You know what? I got skepticism with this organization and you guys go win another Lombardi. So I'm going to go somewhere else. You know, go get me to Howie Roseman. Go get me to Brandon Bean. Go get me to Brad Holmes.

Right? You know, go get me to Veatch in Kansas City. Go get me to Adam Peters with the Washington commanders. Maybe Les Snead will say bleep those picks again. I go play for the Rams.

Do something like that. Because right now in Pittsburgh, you can have your money. You can have a Hall of Fame legacy.

Right? You can be still be a great player and be with one team. But when it's all said and done, you could have a ring on your finger. Are you gonna have a Super Bowl ring on your finger?

Not with the way that the status quo has been with the Pittsburgh Steelers for the last seven years or so. So they don't want to pay you? Sayonara. Adios. Goodbye. You don't want to pay me? You don't want to do the contract that I want right now today? Then I'm showing up to mandatory minicamp and I'm causing hell.

I'm creating havoc. I'm saying this team standard has fallen. We are not playing for a Super Bowl anymore. We just play to go to the wildcard round and lose.

And I think my services will be better used elsewhere. Philly, Buffalo, Detroit, D.C., L.A. You know, go to Kansas City. Go to a place where you have a legitimate chance to win. Because right now in Pittsburgh, you look like you have a chance to win.

Right? A lot of cities would love to just go to the playoffs. But that's not the Pittsburgh Steelers' way. The Pittsburgh Steelers' way is winning multiple playoff games and hoisting up that shiny trophy. And the Steelers appear to be close, right? Oh, they're in the playoffs. They've never been below.500 with Mike Tomlin. But when you haven't won a playoff game since the 2016 season, are you really close?

The answer is no. And that's why T.J. Watt should say peace. I'm out to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Zach Gelb Show Infinity Sports Network. We go from the gridiron to the ice next. Oh, boy. What happened with the Edmonton Oilers last night? P.U. Pathetic.

Puke. And we'll talk about that disgraceful performance by the Oilers next. By the way, a great moment that I forgot to share about yesterday when I was talking about Bob's bar and when D.A. was here.

That would always be a huge day for the network. We still do it. And you have like kind of a Venn diagram of the people from serious. And then the people from still over here as Pete, the body. Baladi was there. You had Morash, who's now down the hall. So he's still on our team. Is that was there. You had Andrew Bogusch.

Right. Greg Caserta was there, too. So how about seeing Greg Caserta was good. You Pat boy on a Pat boy with David Sheppard was there.

Carlos Ortiz was there. And then from the serious side, you had D.A. and you had that check. And I used to work at serious for about three months. It was a long three months.

Let me tell you any in a good way. I was just kind of being sarcastic there when I said it's a long three months. But anyway, we're there and you have a bunch of listeners that come on out. And that's like where you meet in the middle because there's a lot of listeners to Infinity Sports Network.

And then a lot of listeners to Mad Dog Sports Radio that were there. And that's where they kind of all meet in the middle. So I met backwards Brian Delta nine Brian.

Right. And he comes up to me and he goes, I need to do something that I've never done before in my life. And I said, what is that? While he was holding a plate of delicious wings, they were bourbon wings. There were also buffalo wings from this place I went to last week in Farrell's, which I know Marash loves. And if I knew Marash is bringing Farrell's to Bob's Bar, I wouldn't have gone last weekend. But you double up on Farrell's. All right.

You get a little bit fat. All right. It's going to happen. And that's what basically I did. I'm going to the Mets game tonight. And I texted my buddy. I'm going. I'm not eating a ballpark food tonight. I'm going across the street when this show's over. I'm getting some brown rice. I'm getting some chicken, some grilled chicken.

And that's about it. I could after the weekend, I just had eating from Friday night into sat party on Saturday. Then the Bob's Bar shindig on Sunday. I am not eating ballpark food tonight. I just can't do it.

I think my stomach would would have an uprising and would start to fight me and then knock me out for the rest of the week. So anyway, back to Delta nine Brian backwards, Brian. He comes up to me and he goes, I'm about to do something I've never done before.

And I want to do it right because you're standing in front of me. He goes, I'm trying the blue cheese. He goes, I've never had blue cheese before.

He got heat. His words, not mine. He said, I'm having to say the way you guys want me to say it, because then it'll be clicked. He said he's a ranch guy.

So he goes, he's only been a ranch guy. And therefore, he goes, I'm going to try your blue cheese because I hear you talking about blue cheese all the time. As if I created blue cheese. Right.

As if I'm the founder and the creator behind blue cheese. And let me tell you, it was such an exciting moment. I saw him pick up the wing.

Right. And Brian has a big bushy beard. But but I see him pick up the wing. And this guy, he dunked the wing in the blue cheese perfectly. And not only did he just do a dunk, he smothered the wing, dragged it up and down the plate in the blue cheese, blue cheese on the front of the wing, behind all over the wing. And he took a bite and he goes, hmm, it's pretty good.

I could see why you like this. And for the fact that I was basically able to bring blue cheese to the palate of Brian just made my day, made me feel like I was a million bucks, made me feel as if what I do here on the show actually has a purpose. Right. Actually changes people's lives. That not only did this guy drive up from North Carolina to see all of us, but he drove up to North Carolina, maybe knowing that there was going to be wings there and maybe knowing that there was going to be a fear of blue cheese, but he was going to overcome that fear of blue cheese and he was going to try it and he liked it.

Now, he did tell me that he is still a ranch guy, but he will work blue cheese into his repertoire. And that's all I could ask. I'm not going to change everybody.

Right. In one day, I'm not going to change everybody overnight. But one day at a time, we will just scratch, we'll claw and we'll chip away and we'll make everyone team blue cheese. Stu, your next.

Santa, your next. And let me tell you, we all have to find the way to compromise eventually in life. And this is a non-negotiable for me for the show. If you guys do not try, we're going to have a wing night one night and I want to see those wings smothered in blue cheese.

And Stu just being like, hmm, this is the greatest thing in the world. Like, Stu, you want to have three cats? You have three cats. I'm not a cat guy.

All right, I'll let you have the three cats. But wings with ranch? No, not doing it.

Santa, right? We could disagree on things, but when it comes to ranch on wings, that is like you just being a villain. That is like you just being an enemy. That is you being someone that needs to be taken out if it's ranch and wings.

But you put blue cheese on that. You come sit here. I'll put my arm around you. We'll watch some sports. We'll have some fun. We'll share some laughs and we can bond together as a show.

If Brian could do it, so could Samter and so could Stu. I'm Zach Gelb and I approve this blue cheese message. Did you just threaten to assassinate me if I don't eat blue cheese? I didn't say that.

Take him out, he said. We're going bowling one day. I have the bowling ball. I'm a little bit taller than you and it just happens to fall. Oopsies!

Wow! Nope to self, no bowling with Zach ever. You know, we get you to come to like a charity event or something. I don't know, charity softball. I go to throw that ball to Samter at first base. I don't know why I'd be putting Samter at first base. But if we put you at first base, I put a little extra mustard on it.

A little blue cheese on, a little blue cheese ball. So you're going to invite me to a charity softball game and watch me blow up my knee? Is that what's going to happen? I didn't say that. It was kickball, by the way. Okay, that too. By the way, so the kickball tournament is coming up soon.

It's 11 days. I didn't ask EJ to participate this year. I did not ask Maggie and Perloff to participate this year. Do you want to hear Samter who from the company is going to be participating?

I actually had to do something this year. I would really like if Maggie's husband would play. Maggie's husband was like Pele.

Pele last year was phenomenal with the kickball. But I think we need a little boost in the athleticism department. And I went with one, two, three, four, five, six outside hires. Six outside free agent signings.

I don't want to be the Pittsburgh Steelers with TJ Watt where we just show up right now and we just get into the tournament and we go home very quickly. So I asked some people from outside the company to join the team. Do you want to hear who inside the company has committed and has potentially agreed to not only eat blue cheese but also tear their patella tendon? Do you want to know who that is? I am very curious.

How about the person sitting next to you? Stu Kovacs? Where?

Right there to your left. I mean he loves soccer but I don't know if he can kick a ball. Well, we're going to see. We're going to find out in 11 days. Yep. I've recruited. I think this guy has potential. I think this guy is underrated around here. And I think that this guy is athletic.

And let me be clear. Two people told me no, that they just weren't available, hickey on the air. And then also Pat Boyle, we were kind of using him. We may have to urinate in a cup for him because I don't know if he would pass a PED test. But we were hoping that Pat Boyle would be able to join and he had some event that weekend. But Alex's arm is going to be on the team.

I think Alex's arm is sneaky, sneaky in terms of athleticism and also he talks so much soccer. He has to be somewhat decent. Anthony Gallo is going to be joining us. Which, let me tell you, two to one odds on Gallo tearing a hamstring at this event. At the Dion Dawkins charity kickball game where last year E.J.

Stewart tore his patella tendon. And finally, you need a good vibes guy. Sometimes you sacrifice on the athleticism just for a good vibes guy. Carlos with a K. So this year I've only was able to secure four people from the station. Stu Kovacs, Alex's arm, Anthony Gallo and Carlos Ortiz. And we made a lot of outside moves. We have one spot left.

One spot left. Now Carlos Ortiz is a former military man so he might not be the most athletic. But he is a tough SOB. Maybe throw him behind the plate.

Let him have a play at the plate with the catcher. So Carlos with a K. You know what? He's like Aaron Rodgers on the Jets. He's passed his prime a little bit.

So maybe he could have one or two games where he looks like vintage Aaron Rodgers. But you're not getting military version Carlos with a K. Like if this was Carlos ten years ago, I think he'd be the most in shape person on the football field. Or on the kickball field.

But I think Carlos with a K has been enjoying too many cervezas recently. Well with how bouncy that ball is on the kickball field, maybe not being in shape is probably good for him. He won't bounce quite as much off of his body. A little softer landing spot. Well that's the toughest part because in this charity kickball game you get some people that are just way too competitive. And they're trying to like really quick pitch the ball.

And then it bounces a lot and then the ball is hitting your shin instead of your foot while you kick. So it's not as easy as it looks. But that and we've made some outside moves this year. That's going to be the roster. Are there any interesting names that you can divulge over the outside list?

No no no no no no no. It's not like anyone, this is not nice to say about my friends, but it's not anyone that's like well known. What about people you think that would be really good at kickball? Well two people are returning from the team last year that are outside.

They're pretty somewhat athletic. And that's, oh there's a hockey, I don't know if he's a hockey writer anymore. I think he works for the Post now. So he's about to be writing more articles about our show coming up soon. Christian Arnold is going to be playing on this team with us.

Now just keep an eye out for our intern Brandon yesterday. He did say he played college soccer. Oh did he? Yes and he's a big soccer fan.

Got injured but was a high school and college soccer player. Stu you look like you had a thought on this. No when he said that it made me think of that and that's a great idea. We should ask him.

So could we bully the intern? You want to get in the good graces of the show? Just tell him you signed his credit sheet and he'll get like three extra course credits. Oh that's a good idea. I'll give out credit like Oprah gives out presents during Christmas time. You get credit, you get credit, you get credit, you get credit, you get credit, you get credit. Just don't come to me if you ever need community service. I don't want to deal with that.

Because that means that you did something wrong if you need to get in the good graces of people through community service. So yeah, I would be, when is he back in? The intern Brandon. He's with us every Monday but he's here other days. I can check in what other time.

But usually not during our time window. I don't know. College soccer player you said? Okay. That has potential.

That has potential. I have to further interrogate him. Yes. But he knew as much about soccer as his arm and Stu. He was really in on soccer and he played he said in high school and got a scholarship. Not a scholarship but he played in college and then got injured.

Peanut gallery, yes. Further interrogate him. He's the best athlete you have.

You should be offering him an A, an instant A in the course. I was an elite center fielder last year. You know how many times, David Maranick, the ball would bounce off of him.

And you know how many times I had to go dive and catch the ball because it bounced right off of David Maranick, our boss? Well, you need youth. You need a guy who can kick.

He's got two of those qualities. Well, here's what I'm fearful of. Yeah. So EJ Torres Patel attended last year. Yes. EJ's older than this kid.

Yeah, but now I'm fearful that karma's going to come back to bite me and I'm going to get hurt this year. No, you can't look at it that way. Why? Did you make fun of EJ? No, no, no, no.

But I organized the team last year and EJ Torres Patel attended being a jabroni, stealing third base in a charity kickball game and it wasn't good. Oh, there you go. He got a little too greedy. Yeah, he fell right over the – I thought he was kidding. And then judging by Maggie's reaction, you would have thought that he was no longer with the CJ. Maggie quit right after that and said, I'm not doing this anymore. Well, Maggie's got a family, so I get that.

Look, you need youth. Well, Maggie's husband, on the other hand, was like, put some ice on it, get back into the field, let's go. Maggie's husband, big time competitor on that kickball. Oh, there you go.

Alrighty, well come on back. We'll shred the Edmonton Oilers next. This is the Zach Gelb Show right here on the Infinity Sports Network Update Time. First, here's Zach. The defensive player of the week is brought to you by Navy Federal Credit Union. Our members are the mission.

Before we tell you who that player is, let's hear why this player is being mentioned today, this courtesy of NBC Sports, California. Just timed it up. I found my distance between the wall. Just did what the ball told me to do.

Just go up there and get it. This one to center field. Denzel Clark on the move back after he stepped – Oh my God! He makes another catch! Oh my God! Back to back weeks where he wins the electric player of the week and he's already on the leaderboard for this week.

You go ahead and book it. I've heard the list. I've seen the list of the greatest catches you're ever going to see in your life. If you don't have room for this one on your list, we're watching two different sports.

I mean, Denzel Clark climbs the ladder and then hangs out and Denzel says, nay nay. Give it back. So there you go. Once again, that's courtesy of NBC Sports, Philadelphia.

You haven't seen it by now. That was a spectacular catch by center fielder Denzel Clark who robbed Angels first baseman Nolan – how do you say that last name? Nolan Shanwell. Shanwell. Nolan Shanwell of a home run last night with one of the greatest catches that you'll ever see. Alrighty.

Let's do this. So first off, before I get to the hockey, Aaron Rodgers is married. Now, I don't know about you guys. When I saw him signing the contract yesterday and he had the ring on his finger, right? And it looked like a wedding ring and it was on his ring finger. I still thought to myself, eh, Rodgers is probably not married. Did you think he was actually married when you saw that photo yesterday, Stu? I had the same reaction as you.

I'm like, eh, it's Rodgers. I don't know. I don't know if I buy anything here.

Yes, like he said he was immunized. See, I've agreed to partnerships, alright? I thought it was something a lot.

I agreed to a partnership. I agreed to see someone and we have this ring. I just thought it was not a wedding ring, if I'm going to be honest, even though it looked like a wedding ring. And if it looks like a wedding ring, if it sounds like a wedding ring, if it appears to be a wedding ring, it probably is a wedding ring. Santa, did you think that he was actually married yesterday?

I did. He was being very conspicuous with it and they spoke about it today with the media and this is what he said when he was asked about it. Is that a door ring or anything else, a wedding ring? Yeah, it's a wedding ring. Congratulations. Thank you. How long? It's been a couple months.

That's a guy that wants none of his private life to be public for a person who is an enormous public figure. Now I have a name of who the bride could be. Do you know the name still?

I don't know. Do you want to take a guess? What do you think the name could potentially be? Name for the new Mrs. Rogers? Michelle. Not a bad guess. Samter? Was he dating somebody named Blue something?

I'm going to go blue. I don't know if that is true, but it does begin with a B. And the person who is rumored to be Aaron Rogers' wife is a lady named Brittany. Now I don't know if Brittany is of any person of fame before this. I don't know anything about Brittany, but I was reading an article right before we got back from break where Rogers was talking about waiting for presents or something like that.

And he does online shopping on McAfee. He was saying this around December of 2024. He said, yeah, my girlfriend, Brittany. So that was a mention. Now, Rogers has been seen with this wedding ring one other time before the photo of him signing the contract. Does anyone know where he was seen with that wedding ring on?

And I guess we just all missed it. Stu, any guesses? Was it during the McAfee appearance from a month or so ago? Good guess. Good guess.

But no. Samter, any guesses on where Rogers was first seen wearing his wedding ring, which I guess we all missed this because we weren't being TMZ? Was it while he had a blanket around his body as he stared out longingly into the Pacific Ocean on a beach? No, it was at the Kentucky Derby.

Now, don't you think us being a sports show? Now, I was at Vegas. I was in Vegas for the Kentucky Derby, so maybe I wasn't as on my game as I normally am. But Rogers at the Kentucky Derby, I'm reading this article and it said, yeah, he was also spotted wearing that wedding ring.

And that was nowhere thrown into our algorithm or really the sports world. I don't remember any part of it. I had seen it and I saw articles, but nobody talked to Rogers and nobody got any confirmations. Oh, you have seen this before that photo the other day? Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. I've seen it for a few weeks, for sure. No, I haven't.

But it was just, you know, nobody knew anything. And knowing Aaron Rogers, it was more likely to be like one of those mood rings than it was to be a wedding ring. Yeah. I did ayahuasca with this girl, Brittany.

Now we're married. All right. Did they meet in the darkness retreat? I don't know. A gnomon, anybody?

No, I'm just kidding. Is there anyone there? I hear a voice.

Is this Lene Kukua again? Anyway, let's get to the ice. So you get blown out in a Stanley Cup final game. It happens, right? You could still win the Stanley Cup, but it's how the Edmonton Oilers lost last night that I thought it to be offensive and embarrassing. And it's amazing because it's not as if these teams don't know each other. You know, the main pieces of these teams were just playing last year in the Stanley Cup final, where we saw the Edmonton Oilers go down 0-3, then get it to 3-3 before they lost in seven in Florida. And that's why when everyone came in on after game one, they were like, oh, man, the Oilers, they strike first.

Oh, it's spectacular. Oh, they wanted overtime. Leon Draisaitl. Oh, they have the home ice advantage. Stuart Skinner's playing better this year. I was like, hold on. Let's not get all crazy. Let's not get all delirious. Let's not get all exuberant over one win in the Stanley Cup final. And I said in a sports minute and I said it on the show after game one that the Oilers want me to take them serious in terms of them winning this series, then they had to win game two. Not that they would have won the series because clearly Florida go back to their home ice and wins three and four. But they needed to get out to a race, a start of the race, and they need to sprint out of the cannon if the Panthers were going to trip. And they need to sprint out of that chute and just go as far as you can to the finish line because you know the other team is going to slowly catch up.

And you just hope that your lead is big enough that you're able to hit the tape first before the team that's trailing. And in game two, it got to double overtime. In game two, we know Brad Marchand won. And last night, that game was over real quick.

So now you're down to one. You have a long layoff here. No game tonight, no game Wednesday. It's like the rare time the NHL has a long layoff and the game is until Thursday. So can the Oilers now tie up this series and can the Oilers win game four?

Yeah, they can. But the way that the Oilers lost last night, it's alarming and it was weak and it's embarrassing. And I'm not even talking about the final score.

The final score was pathetic. But what the Edmonton Oilers did last night was they tried to be a team that they clearly aren't. They tried to play the role of the fake tough guy. They're getting their ass kicked. And they then try to be the bully.

You're not the bully. And what happened last night is that the Florida Panthers, they set a trap and you walked right into their trap. You know, I know in the third period, the game got out of hand and Jonah Gajevich right with the fighting and all that stuff, which it was at least entertaining in the third period.

But you already got your ass beat. Like the Oilers at period that will go home, get off the ice, rest up and go get ready for a game four. But they tried to intimidate the Florida Panthers. And I saw this earlier in the game. You know, I know that whole thing of Jonah Gajevich now after the fight where he's smiling with blood on his nose and looking like a lunatic, that's a viral photo. But there was a photo earlier in the in the game where he was kind of like intimidating the Edmonton Oilers because he realized what they were doing wasn't the genuine version of themselves.

And when I saw that photo, I said, oh, boy, I remember watching it live. I said the Oilers are in trouble. What the Oilers did last night is they were the team that gets bullied. And then after they got their ass kicked in a fight, they went home and they said to their older brothers, oh, we need your help.

You know, come back to the to the rink. And they still tried to fight them, but their older brothers did crap and they still got their ass kicked. You're not going to be a tougher team than the Florida Panthers. You're not going to be more physical than the Florida Panthers. But what the Oilers did is they tried to play a brand of hockey, which is not the reason they got to the Stanley Cup final. It's not the reason last year they were able to be when they were down 30, they were able to win three straight.

They tried to play the Panthers game. And I know you want to be a champion. I know.

Right. You would be easy to say, oh, you should emulate the Florida Panthers. Look how great the Florida Panthers are. But you're incapable of winning the way that the Florida Panthers win.

You're good enough to win your way and do it your way. But instead, you tried to be the Edmonton Oilers and you guys are the team of the Edmonton Oilers. But you tried to be the Florida Panthers and you tried to emulate what they do. And that's a recipe for a disaster.

That's a big no no. And the Florida Panthers, they own real estate in the Edmonton Oilers brain. And they laughed at them last night. And they realized that they got them because the Oilers were trying to be someone that they clearly aren't. And then all the extra fighting after you already got your ass kicked, sometimes get your ass kicked. You got to get off the ice. You got to go home and you got to get ready.

Instead, they tried to be the bully back and they're nowhere close to being the bully. It is the Zach Gelb Show.