Stefon Diggs Clears The Air (Hour 3)

Yo, yo, that's what I'm talking about. Hour number three of our radio program. But where else? It's the Zach Gelb show on CBS Sports Radio.

And right now, we got a whole lot of audio to get to. But before we get to a loaded news brief, Hickey, your owner is at it again. Jim Irsay.

So, the most upset I've ever seen hot take Hickey. We were at the draft in Kansas City. And this was right after the Colts drafted Anthony Richardson on night one. And a week before the draft, Hickey wouldn't want that. But the week of, he said, I want Anthony Richardson. I don't want CJ Stroud. You didn't want Will Leviss. You really wanted Bryce Young. You ended up being wrong. I told you you're never gonna get Bryce Young to begin with. But you talked yourself into Anthony Richardson. Fine. Happens.

Then the next day, as we're getting set to do the second draft show, Jim Irsay starts tweeting out, you know, wouldn't it be bad to have a Montana and a Young basically speculating they could go get Will Leviss as well in the draft because he fell out of the first round into round number two. And I walked into the lobby. And I was like slowly moving into the lobby. Like I got out of the elevator. I saw Hickey was there. And you were basically like an animal that was just laying in a field. And you're about to get attacked by a superior animal. And I'm just like slowly walking up to Hickey and the large person I am, I'm like tiptoeing in the lobby, hoping, you know, Maggie was around, Perloff was around.

They didn't look up and say, hey, Zach, what's going on? And I walk right up to Hickey and I go, any reaction while recording Hickey to what Jim Irsay had to say? And you were so mad. And you gave us like a decent minute reaction. But then what people didn't see was Hickey and I were walking to the draft, which is like 15 minutes from a hotel, a nice little walk to the stage that we were on.

And Hickey was just going off. Like I've never seen you go off before. You were as red as a tomato. You were so red. It was crazy. And you were furious. And the other time you were really mad was when Jim Irsay, after the Jaguars lost with Carson Wentz, just kept on releasing videos, talking about how that will never happen again.

And you could barely hear him outside his private jet with the engines going. Well, today I did see you post on social media that you're going to wear that run the damn ball hat in support of one Jonathan Taylor. And you think Jonathan Taylor, is this right? You believe that Jonathan Taylor is now on the pup list because he doesn't want to participate because he's trying to stick it to the organization to give him some leverage to get the contract done. Kind of like Jalen Ramsey, all my back hurts to kind of force a trade.

A little bit of a silent protest. Yes, absolutely. So sometimes you could come up with some crazy ideas and sometimes you hit on them. Sometimes you hit on them.

Sometimes you don't. Your podcast co-host George, he seems pretty level-headed, right? Very much so. He's a journalistic background. He sticks to it. And I don't want to say he's not opinionated, but you're the one that's given the hot takes and the opinions on that podcast. I wouldn't call them hot takes.

I would call them observations and or strong opinions. Bremer, right, is his last name? George Bremer.

What did George Bremer say when you threw out this theory? Did he agree with you? Did not shut it down. I didn't shut it down. Again, George is... And he's plugged in. He is someone who's usually, again, down the middle.

He definitely did not shut it down. And again, we both are looking at the timing. Jonathan Taylor has been vocal on social media about wanting a new deal and does not like the state of the running back salary going down. Very fishy that his ankle was not a discussion in the off season for the most part.

All of a sudden, it's a problem. So let me just ask you this, because you're employed by Odyssey, which is the parent company that owns the podcast company that you guys are on. I don't think George is employed outside of the podcast, right? His regular job is in an Odyssey station, right?

He works for a newspaper. That is correct. But that's not owned by Odyssey. No, sir. So is George, I don't want to say apprehensive in kind of shooting you down because in reality, you're just an employee of Odyssey, but maybe he's being respectful on someone else's turf. I'm just wondering in the past, as George said, all the idea that you've, you've presented is kind of crazy. Or does he just agree with everything you say? No, Georgia disagree. George has his, he stands firm on what he believes in.

I like George. And that was something that you want to call me quote unquote crazy for throwing out there. I'm not calling you crazy. I'm just asking. That thought maybe can be thrown out. He's faking an injury, right? It's maybe sometimes it's plausible unrealistic and reaching George. The journal study is a very good journal study is they're not true to death.

Okay. So Jim Irsay just so happens to take the Twitter and you know what, Hickey, I'm going to say this. I believe your theory on Jonathan Taylor's a hundred percent correct.

And here's why. Because Jim Irsay could dress up this tweet as if, oh, he's just responding to all the running backs that are complaining right now. Like Austin necklace said in the show, I want answers from the owners. Well, Jim Irsay kind of has become the spokesperson for all the owners. It was Jim Irsay who went after Daniel Snyder at the time. So maybe Jim Irsay is just a big fan of the Zach Gelb show on CBS sports radio. Cause Hickey's on it.

It's not cause I'm on it. I trashed the guy every time I get and his organization, but maybe Jimmy just heard Austin neckler with us is like, oh, I'm just trying to give an answer. Or maybe Jim knows behind the scenes, why Jonathan Taylor's actually on the pup. And he's going to put out a tweet that is general addressing all the running backs, but really is twisting the knife into the back of his own guy in Jonathan Taylor. So this is the tweet from Jim Irsay, NFL running back situation. We have negotiated a CBA that took years of effort and hard work and compromising good faith by both sides to say now that a specific player category wants another negotiation after the fact is inappropriate.

Some agents are selling bad faith. Jonathan Taylor against Jim Irsay. That's what this seems like Hickey and Jim Irsay is fighting back against the running backs. And one of those running backs is his own in Jonathan Taylor. Your thoughts.

A few thoughts. This is basically evergreen for everything that Jim Irsay tweets did not need to be tweeted. Jim didn't have to say it.

Could have put the phone away and we could add a nice little Wednesday night here. No problem. With that said, he is 100% right.

He is a 100% right. But this is different because this is now his guy and a Jonathan Taylor wants to be the one that says I'm going to take the stand for all the running backs. Screw you, Jim Irsay. Oh, I would love this.

A little cult contentious relationship. Oh, please, please, please let's have this happen. Well, thankfully, one thing that cures any frustration, any sadness is money. And if JT gets a pretty solid amount of money, I think all frustrations will be forgiven. And he'll be back off the pup list magically in a day or two after he signs a contract. And all of a sudden he'll be ready to go freak number one with Anthony Richardson to wreak some havoc and bring some hell upon the Jacksonville Jaguars defense. Until that point, Jim Irsay is going to tweet stupid things.

I don't think this is in terms of a relationship going to be now all of a sudden drive a wedge between negotiations between JT and the front office. Yeah, because you're just trying to think that this isn't a problem and now this become a problem. But you usually agree it's not smart.

I know every situation is different, but just generally speaking, right? Yes or no, you agree it's not a great idea to invest a lot of money in a running back for the last 10 years. Only one really bell cow back has won a Super Bowl.

Generally, yes. OK, so with that being said, we could kiss goodbye this thought that wasn't really ever going to happen anyway of the Colts winning two Super Bowls in this next decade because you know they're going to eventually throw the bag at Jonathan Taylor. And as great of a player Jonathan Taylor is, it's not smart in the NFL to pay your running back a whole lot of cash. Well, you don't say to that.

Well, you said the same about quarterback too, right? Gotta win before you get that big deal. Gotta win before the big extension happens. That's a bunch of bull crap.

What did Patrick Mahomes just do this past year? Say, screw that notion. I'm going to be the first guy to break the barrier and I'm going to win a Super Bowl with a big time contract.

That's a bunch of bull crap. So we do know it is possible to pay a lot of money and win a Super Bowl. We haven't seen a bell cow back since Marshawn Lynch win a Super Bowl, and that's not as highly regarded Marshawn then the way that we view him now. So alrighty, Jim, thank you.

Oh, I absolutely love Jim Irsa. Well, the Colts, to be fair, we're never going to win a Super Bowl with Johnny Taylor in his prime anyway. At this point, I just want Jonathan Taylor around to develop Anthony Richardson.

So by the time JT, the wear starts to hit, Richardson can fly and not need one of the best running backs currently in the NFL to help carry him. You know, that's my goal. It is really stupid. Oh, and I love it. Let's get to a news brief. Time for your daily news brief. We get you caught up on the rumors, reports and reconnaissance from the day in sports.

This portion of the show is sponsored by the United States Postal Service, introducing USPS, Ground Advantage, reliable and affordable two to five day package shipping, the United States Postal Service. The fond digs finally addressed the media. He discussed the reason for his frustration during minicamp. My main focus and my only focus is winning. Super Bowls is, I mean, everybody said they won a Super Bowl, but we've had legitimate chances at this thing. Like we've had the team, we've had the coaches, we've had everything that we needed. And as far as us not getting over the hump, I feel like it's always asked for a cause for a conversation. I always wanted to have a conversation and we have an open door policy. Coach will tell you he has an open door policy and I've had those conversations.

All right. Let's hear more from Stefan Diggs. He says the playoff loss to the Bengals was extremely frustrating.

I try to keep a lot of things in house, but I'm saying it's regarding last year. Obviously, the way we lost was was just terrible in any regard. You know, you don't want to lose any game, but we've lost for a couple of years at this point. And we've been trying to get over the hump and obviously it calls for a lot of frustration.

Stefan Diggs says all of his frustration now with the team is Gonzo. All in all, like as far as with that, I was here, but he did have a conversation. We and him did have a conversation. It's all water under the bridge now, but I attribute it to like, I mean, family matters. I don't like dancing around things. I don't like those kind of questions.

Black and white is everybody has family matters. We had a conversation. Everything is all as well. Water under the bridge. Now we're back at work. So he was just frustrated. And then he was either sent home or just left. And then Sean McDermott was also equally as frustrated.

And that's why he said it's concerning that he's not here. And now they're trying to pack everything up and pretend like there's nothing going on here. I think they could move on from this for now, but when they reach another point of frustration in the season, that's where you want to see how it's handled. Because if they're trying to tell you, this was pretty much all a bunch of nothing.

Okay. In the summer, you could survive that, but in the season, what happens if you reach another point of frustration? Let's hear from Stefan Diggs. We'll get one more from Diggs. He says the speculation surrounding his reason for frustration are ridiculous. For me to just want more say in the office is crazy because I play receiver. I don't care what play is called. You know what I'm saying?

I can't get up there and say, call this. It's a lot of outlandish, obvious things where people were throwing out there. People were saying, as far as like Mike Monroe, I've been a captain on this team for three years. There's no question about my role and who I am as a player, how hard I work.

Those things never had question marks. As far as me wanting to say so on the play call, that is insane to me. Just because I couldn't call a play to save my life.

I couldn't call a game to save my life. Be for real. So I like that answer, but something you do have to bring back up, Hickey, is it did end ugly in Minnesota. Is this the start of it?

I know the money is the way that it is, where it's going to be tough to move them even if you wanted to get moved. But is this going to be the start of the ugliness that's going to peak back up again? And if the offense, the Bills offense doesn't iron out the deficiencies in play calling and otherwise, again, I'm with you. Easy to say now in late July training camp, all is well, all is forgotten. It's either in the season or the playoffs and you see the same issues pop up like last year.

I think we'll see it even going to get worse. So Stefan Diggs was in the wrong with whatever happened, but then Sean McDermott took it to a different level because there's a lot of times where coaches sweep things under the rug to the public and you don't find out about that. So let's hear Sean McDermott update us where things stand with Stefan Diggs. We're in a good spot. We're in a good spot. As far as the team's concerned, yeah, we got a lot of work to do. That's really our focus and it should be our focus is about the team and making sure we're putting the work out here that we need to put in.

Yeah, that answer does nothing for me. We're going to wait and see when they go through a losing streak or go through a tough time how this is all handled moving forward. Jerry Jones says he thinks his team can be a Super Bowl contender. If we can have the kind of camp we want to have, we've got a team that can compete for the top spot where we've evolved over the last over the last two or three years with our defense. You look at some of the talent we've got. Look at Dak. When I look at all those things, I think we've got a chance to be a contender. That's nice.

Until you get the job done, I have no reason to believe. So we just had T-Mac on Tracy McGrady earlier, Hickey, and he's promoting his one-on-one basketball league. And I said to him out of any NBA player that you would like two NBA players, who would you like to see? He said Durant and Devin Booker. He'd like to see them go up against one another. I said Victor Wambunyama up against Giannis Antetokounmpo. Do you have a duo that you would like to see go up against each other one-on-one? You got someone in the NBA right now? Two guys? I'll go small guys.

I'll go Steph Booker. Okay. Well, one-on-one, in your face, score from anywhere. Let's see it. Well, how about a one-on-one fight between coaches? Mike Vrabel and Dan Campbell. Here is Mike Vrabel on Busting with the Boys getting asked if he could beat Dan Campbell in a fight.

Oh. Would you beat Dan Campbell in a fight? I mean, sure. I think I could beat anybody in a fight, except for like Jeff Simmons.

No. I mean, we battled on the field. Who got the better of who on the field?

Hmm. I don't remember. I don't really remember much of Dan Campbell as a player. Mike Vrabel was a heck of a player. Catching touchdown passes in the Super Bowl and then was a wonderful open field tackler. My uncle would sit there each and every Sunday, Hickey, and he would say, Mike Vrabel, the best open field tackler in the league.

He would say that each and every Sunday. Mike Vrabel is a really good player. You think that's a ridiculous statement, though? You don't remember him kicking the crap out of the Colts all those years? No, I'm just more laughing. It's like, oh yeah, I don't remember much of Dan Campbell's career, but Mike Vrabel, of course I remember him because you're a Patriots fan.

No, it's not. Of course you remember Mike Vrabel catching these touchdowns. What did Dan Campbell ever really do? I'm not making Dan Campbell's career to be anything that, you know, I'm not trying to boost it up.

I'm just more laughing at the fact that it's like, oh yeah. If you told me he was entering James, yeah, I would remember that. But Dan Campbell as a player, could we look up Dan Campbell's career stats here? Well, I'm not saying Dan Campbell is good.

I think I know the teams, I think I know the teams you play. 91 receptions in his career for 934 yards. Okay. All right.

Most yards in a season 308 with Detroit. Uh, let's get to, who do you think will win that fight by the way? Oh, Vrabel. I don't think there's a coach in the league that's beating up Mike Vrabel.

How about that? Sean McVay has asked his thoughts on Vegas setting the Rams over hunter number at six and a half. It's funny, all these players are getting suspended for gambling and you have a media member asking a coach about a gambling line. What do you think of that six and a half gig win over under? Whatever I say, I'm gonna get in trouble right now.

I don't believe in us. That's a smart answer by Sean McVay. It's a bad look if you're answering questions about a gambling line when you get players around the league getting suspended for gambling. Jordan Love and the message Aaron Rodgers sent him last night. Aaron reached out to me last night and that's exactly what he said. Yeah, he said just be yourself, have fun, enjoy it. Um, you know, it's obviously my time now and he just said, you know, be yourself.

And I mean, that's all you can do. That's kind of been the message from everybody is, you know, be yourself. Don't try to be anybody else. Don't try to be Aaron, things like that. Just be yourself. And that's kind of what I'm trying to do. How about this new Aaron Rodgers being a good former teammate, right to Jordan Love.

I may have been a pain in the ass while you were there in terms of dealing my own issue, even though he treated him nicely behind the scenes. But I'm gonna send you a text wishing you good luck. Today I'm gonna take $35 million less and have a pay cut. I commend Aaron Rodgers because he's doing everything the right way right now. And also, he's leaving no stone unturned to try to go win a Super Bowl and go all in with the Jets.

But Hickey, let's be 1000% real with this. He's also driven internally to just be motivated like no other to stick it to the Packers. And that's a big part of this contract extension too, where he takes less and takes $35 million less.

Yeah, you look like a great teammate. But also, this is Rodgers, the GM, and he wanted to be kind of a GM figure with the Packers. But the Packers weren't listening to him. They never got him that extra great wide receiver to pair with Devante Adams. They never drafted the players that he wanted. They eventually drafted his replacement. And even though a lot of guys he wanted to keep around, the Packers got rid of ended up doing nothing since leaving Green Bay. This is Rodgers in New York saying, yeah, this will be dressed up as this great teammate, which right now he is.

But also, I want to stick it to Gudekunz. I want to stick it to Lafleur who were not listening to me and show you that the Aaron Rodgers way when given the power to do what I want works. And now the Jets, if he says I want Dalvin Cook, you can't go say no to him. Now Dalvin Cook signs a different team that's a different story. But this guy just took a huge pay cut, an unprecedented pay cut. And it's not only to go all in to win a Super Bowl, but it's also to try to give the middle finger to the Packers because he thought his voice wasn't being heard by the Green Bay Packer management team led by Brian Gudekunz.

Which is why I hope that that text message was sent in good faith and he's actually true in the words he said. Because I think human nature does creep in where not only do you want yourself to do well in New York and stick it to the Packers, I think there's also, I'm sure in most people, a small part of rooting against the guy that's replacing you to almost double down on how bad they screwed up. And you want to doubt me, it's one thing where I'm going to go and let's say an Aaron Rodgers of mine light up with the Jets and maybe win a Super Bowl.

But also if Jordan Lafleur is like, wow, you really screwed this up. All right, he's Zach Kilp, CBS Sports Radio. That's a News Brief First and Gold next with Zion Johnson as we'll preview the L.A. Chargers.

us do available now on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. You're listening to The Zach Gelb Show. The NFL season is inching closer and closer. Who are the contenders and who are the pretenders? We have four downs to figure out your team's future. It's time now for First and Gold on The Zach Gelb Show.

All righty, today we'll preview the Los Angeles Chargers. Zion Johnson plays on their offensive line, getting ready to enter year two in the NFL. I remember when we first met Zion right before the NFL draft when he came in studio, eventually did go on in the 2022 NFL draft to be a first round pick, 17th overall.

And we'll see what year two has in store for him. And he's kind enough to join us on The Zach Gelb Show. Zion, appreciate the time as always. How you been? Absolutely Zach, thanks for having me. It's always great.

Well, thanks so much for coming on. So how do you kind of look back at that rookie year for you in the NFL in that transition going from Boston College to Los Angeles Chargers? I mean, I know for our team, the end goal was a lot deeper than, you know, we ended up making it, you know, we were able to have some wins, some losses and, you know, some good moments, some tough moments. But, you know, our goal for this year is just to build on what we did last year and continue to become a better football team and win more football games. I know you'd never get over a playoff loss like the way that it happened for you guys, but how do you feel like it happened for you guys? But how do you kind of move on from that to not let it kind of hold you back for what you guys could be able to accomplish this upcoming season?

I mean, you don't forget about it. You allow that moment to drive you forward every day and work on your faults, work on the things you lack that caused, you know, individuals, you know, us as a team to get into that point in that game. You know, we're all striving each day to become better players for our team so that something like that never happens again. For you individually, Zion Johnson, offensive lineman, second year for Los Angeles Chargers in the NFL, where is your game at, do you think, individually going into your number two? I feel great. I feel like I had a lot of opportunity in the off season to get better, work on the things I know I need to work on, to get even more comfortable in our system and, you know, just kind of, you know, take the onus of trying to master the scheme and, you know, know the most I can about the offense.

And I feel like I've made a step in that regards, but now, you know, it's up to me to prove that and put that on tape. And how about the rest of the offensive line? Tell me a little bit more about the big boys up front. I mean, it's great. I mean, you know, left tackle right next to me is Rashawn. You know, he's a tremendous player, lots of talent, great leader. I mean, you could sing his praises for hours and hours. You know, he's a great guy. You know, Corey is at center, absolute great leader, has been in the league for a long time.

He knows how to get it done. You know, Jamari is at right guard and Trey is at right tackle. Both guys who are, you know, very talented and work really hard every day. And, you know, I feel blessed to be on the offensive line with those guys.

Guys that I know I can count on and I know if we put our heads together, we can do something special. Did you have a rookie dinner experience last year? I did have a rookie dinner experience. It came about a little earlier in the year, which was great for me.

We got it over with, but it wasn't too bad. The guys really enjoyed it. We went to like a nice dinner in New Orleans and everyone had a good time. What kind of food are we talking? In New Orleans, you get some gumbo, some crawfish, some poboys, all that stuff.

All of that. The gumbo was great. Crawfish. I think there was something else there that like, I don't know if it was like snails or something. It was something. Escargot, baby.

Escargot. That's awesome. How much did it cost you if you don't mind?

Um, I can't, I can't remember the exact number, but it was, it was, it was, it was not bad compared to some of the horror stories. You know, we have a great group of guys and they, they know that like we can have fun and, you know, not hurt anybody's pockets. That's awesome. Let's get to the next down. Zion Johnson here with us. So talking about the money that's going into the pockets, Justin Herbert got a ton of it yesterday with that monster extension. I know it's someone else's money, but that's your quarterback.

That's your leader of your football team. When you see that extension hammered on out with the organization and him, how did you react to it yesterday? He was awesome.

I mean, he deserves every, every penny of that deal. I mean, he's a great leader, great player. Um, he's just the guy you love to play with every, every game. And, you know, we pride ourselves in protecting him every, every Sunday.

And, um, we can't wait to see, you know, what more he does in the future. I think the world of Justin Herbert, but there are some that say that he's overrated. What do you say to people that don't believe in Justin Herbert? I mean, everybody's going to have their critics.

There are people that, you know, let's scoff at them and say they're overrated. But I mean, Justin Herbert is a great leader. We love him on this team. And, you know, we don't listen to that noise. We know what he's capable of and what this team is capable of when we're at our best.

Let's get to the next down. Zion Johnson here with us from the Chargers as we get set for their 2023 campaign. I know that, like you were saying earlier, you guys could learn and you don't want to forget about that playoff loss, but you want to make sure it doesn't happen again. On paper, this offense with the Lyman up front, the quarterback, Justin Herbert, you got Austin Eckler back. The wide receiving room was already great with Keenan Allen and Mike Williams.

Now you had Quinnen Johnston at a TC. You got Gerald Everett as your tight end. I think the sky's the limit for this football team on offense.

What type of offense do you think you guys have this season? Yeah, I definitely agree. I think the sky's the limit. I think, you know, one thing that we're focusing on is just making sure that, you know, we leave everything out there, every single play. You know, one thing we've been stressing in our room is a lot of people talk about the light at the end of the tunnel.

You know, people think of camp that way, that like you're looking to get out, you know, out the end at the end, playing your best and getting through it. But we try to take the approach of looking for the light at the end of the window, the light at the end every single day and maximizing our talent, maximizing our potential every single day and, you know, trying to make sure that this offense comes together. And we're able to have those explosive plays, those big plays on TV that we want to have.

For so many years, there's been high expectations for the Chargers, but they've come up short throughout a long period of time. Like, are you aware of that? Do you hear that noise or is that just something you just only focus on on what you could control season to season since you're a younger player in the league? I mean, I know the goal. I know our goals. Our goals are to win games and, you know, the ultimate goal.

But we try to keep, you know, the outside noise, you know, out of our ears, focus on, you know, us on the team, on our family and what we're trying to accomplish. What have been your early impressions so far in the new offensive coordinator, Kellen Moore? I mean, it's been great, you know. I mean, we just really started, you know, going full speed.

I want to put the path on soon, but I'm really excited for what we have coming up. And as we said, there's big expectations, a lot of eyes on your head football coach Brandon Staley. Everyone has an opinion about him, good or bad. You tell me a little bit about your time last year with Brandon Staley and what stood out to you with him as a head football coach first year in the league.

I mean, I think he's a great guy, a great coach. I mean, the one thing that stuck out to me is even when we got in tough situations where it seemed like, you know, things were hitting the fan, you know, he's cool and collected, sticks right to the plan. And I feel like that attitude kind of permeates the team and, you know, people start to stay calm under pressure. You know, you see that from Justin and a lot of the vets on our team that, you know, we understand that there's going to be certain times in a game or certain times during the season where things are going to get tough, but those are the moments that really show you what kind of team and what kind of locker room you have.

And let's get to the final down. Wrapping up with Zion Johnson, you guys suffered a lot of injuries last year, and it was really remarkable that you guys are still able to make the playoffs and be a team that looked like they were headed into the direction that we thought they could reach. How does that affect you guys mentally and does it at all when you see so many teammates? Unfortunately, I know it's part of the game, just get injured.

Yeah, it definitely is part of the game. You know, it is tough, you know, to see guys you practice with, guys that, you know, have done well for the team, get injured and not able to play. But, you know, we have to have the mentality of next man up, you know, we have other guys who have been practicing during camp and practicing every day that know that their opportunity might come and they might have to come in the game. So we just have the mentality of next man up and, you know, next guy has to come in and really lift us up.

But yeah, it can be tough, especially for the individual because mentally, you know, when you don't feel like yourself, it can kind of, you know, hurt a little bit. But everybody's itching, you know, get back on the field and we know that we have guys to the left and to the right of us that can hold us up. When you look at your division and really it's the entire NFL, but it hits home for you guys even more because you have to play them twice a year. Everyone's chasing Kansas City. How far away do you think you guys are from catching the Kansas City Chiefs?

I mean, I don't think we're very far at all. You know, we know what we're capable of as a team. We know in all those games that, you know, we've played that they've been close games and, you know, if we, you know, played a little bit better at certain parts of the game, you know, the outcome could have been different.

But now we're just in camp trying to, you know, hone those things, work on the specifics of our craft that can allow for that outcome so that, you know, the next time we have an opportunity, we can come out with the win. How's your golf game been? I know you played golf before playing football growing up.

I've been wanting to get back on the course, but I haven't really been able to recently, but best believe I'm going to be out there after this season for sure. Oh, win a Super Bowl and you'll have a nice little off season, right? You go get some away time and not have to work that much harder, right? Yeah.

I like the sound of that. Yeah. Zion Johnson, always great to catch up with you.

Good health and good luck coming up. You're number two in the NFL. Awesome. You have a good one, Zach. You're listening to the Zach Gelb Show. So two things before we get to the show, you know, Tawny news, since you just played that rejoined from our pal Leroy Hoard, you know, Leroy got mad at me. He was not happy with me last night, Hickster. Cause your war is Jersey?

No, no. He loves that, that I have a 33 Leroy Hoard Jersey, but I was eating that burger to defend Jim Harbaugh because the NCAA are a bunch of frauds saying, Oh, you bought a kid a hamburger. And now we're going to try to give you a four game suspension cause you lied about it.

A bunch of bull crap. So I texted the video to Leroy knowing he thought thinking he would get a kick out of it. And he just goes shaking my head. How do you kick a brother when he's down? And I'm like, what do you mean?

I was in support. And he goes, I know. He goes, I probably took that out on you, but I'm just trying to forget the fake ass NCAA.

And I respond to a bunch of hypocrites for cupcake games though. And then he brought up a good point. Yep. Tennessee got a slap on the wrist for the same thing. And I said to him, you know, if they had Batman week three, he would absolutely be on the sideline in the NCAA.

Wouldn't be making that big of a deal about this. And he said, yep. So I think our relationship is fine with Leroy Hoard, but he was a little bit annoyed last night with everything going on with his guy in Jim Harbaugh.

Look, I will say this. Jim Trestle was fired for something similar. He was fired Harbaugh suspended for four games against East Carolina, Carolina, UNLV, Rutgers. What about the Tennessee stuff? Let's just pretend like, you know, all is. But what about the Tennessee stuff? I think Tennessee stuff's a great point.

Nothing like that. They had what, $9 million fine and some, some reduction. Well, Jerry was also fired. Yeah, but the guy stinks. The guy wasn't a good football coach. But he was fired.

Yes. Because of these violations. No, he was fired because he stunk as a football coach. He was fired.

Well, I, you could say the motivation was to fire him or investigate, I should say the motivation to investigate. If he was Jim Harbaugh, if he was Jim Harbaugh, is he still the coach of Tennessee? Honestly, the way Jim Harbaugh got off, probably not. Probably not in terms of how he got off at his start. So you're telling me if, no, I'm saying.

Cause they're impatient over it. No, no, no. I'm saying if Jim Harbaugh, you look at this situation right now, where he's coming off back to back big 10 championships and now he's going to get hit with the four game suspension. If you're telling me that everything that, that Jeremy Pruitt did, if it was coming off back to back SCC championships, you think they're getting rid of him as a head football coach? Is he getting fired? No.

Thank you. But the reality is from the NCAA's perspective, he was fired. So it's like, it's apples and oranges. It's really not. Jim Trussell was fired for tattoos. No, it's the NCAA being selective because the NCAA doesn't like that Jim Harbaugh lied to them. That's what it is. Don't do the, if you're also, if you're Jim, it's a stupid game.

I'm again, I'm in, we are in full agreement. These allegations are stupid and the game itself, the NCA is playing is stupid, but if they're going to play a stupid game, play the stupid game. Just don't lie. Just don't do the one thing you truly cannot do. They don't really even care about the violations.

We've talked about them. Like they were going to get a less, he was going to get a less punitive punishment if he just was forthright. Don't do the one thing they actually value.

And the one thing that should come after you for, which is lying to them. That's what he did. By the way, back to Jim Ursa, this tweet about Jonathan Taylor. Hickey has this theory, which I agree that Jonathan Taylor's on the pup, not because he's actually hurt, but because he's negotiating or trying to negotiate a new contract and he's not happy that he's not going to get what he wants. Jim Ursa, NFL running back situation. We have negotiated a CBA that took years of effort and hard work and compromise and good faith by both sides to say now that a specific player category wants another negotiation after the fact is inappropriate. Some agents are selling bad faith. Now that is Jim generally talking about the running backs, but taking a shot at Jonathan Taylor and his representation.

We shared that to you earlier. Jonathan Taylor's agent responds and said, quoting the Jim Ursa tweet, bad faith is not paying your top offensive player. We got drama, Hickey. You may have to jump into a shower afterwards and give a shower no cap instant reaction video because your season hasn't even started yet. And the Colts are in shambles where you have your best player not getting what he wants, the owner taking to Twitter like a petulant moron. And now you have your best player's agent fighting with the owner based off the stupidity of what the owner said. What a wonderful year it's going to be for the Colts.

This is great. All goes away once JT gets paid and it's going to happen. So I'm not concerned again. Jim shouldn't have tweeted it.

It was absolutely stupid. He gets him again. Why he hasn't had his Twitter taken away is beyond me because nothing he tweets is ever good outside of ticket giveaways.

You know, you guys should have happy birthdays. You know what? I know college coaches usually don't work in the NFL or people going from college to NFL doesn't usually work. Maybe you guys should employ the people that are in charge at Auburn and making sure that Hugh Freeze doesn't tweet and get that in the NFL with the good old Jimmy.

Maybe I'm up for whatever because yeah, this is just stupid and unnecessary. Is he in the, this is the final year of Jonathan Taylor's deal, right? Yep.

Fourth year of a four year deal because he was a second round pick. Yes. Okay. You think a deal's getting done by week one?

Yes, you do. Yes. Oh, I can lock it up that a deal's not getting done by week one. He'll get paid. Jimmer says no. By week one.

By week one. Absolutely. He's getting paid. No doubt. Absolutely. A hundred percent.

A hundred percent. He's getting paid. He'll see folks. He's going to come and he ain't going to get that contract. He'll get the contract.

He'll be on the field and he'll be happy. Okay. Now when do you start to get worried? Because this is pretty bad when you have the agent and the owner going at it for all of us to see all of us to say, see, I think you're just trying to pretend this is like, you, you know what you are right now? You're the dog with the, um, with the gift of the fire all around him. And he, and the dog sitting at the table with the cup of coffee saying everything's fine.

Nothing to see here. That's what you are right now. I I'm it's fine because I think this is going to happen to have no reason to freak out or panic because I've been talking about it for a while now.

He'll get paid by week one. I have no reason to change my thinking. If anything, I miss is only going to strengthen it. The push is not good when the owner and your star offensive player going at it.

Ooh, this is fun. Per Tom Verducci, Shoe Otani is coming off the trade market and the angels are going to try to go make the playoffs this year. Now I predicted a few weeks ago that the angels would not trade Otani. And I do think that Otani is going to leave them in the off season. And I believe that Otani is going to sign with the giants. That was my prediction.

So I can't say I'm shocked. I know that they talked to a few teams. Maybe the return wasn't as rich as what they thought it was going to be. And Artie Moreno doesn't want to be the guy that trades away showing Otani and they still haven't heard from Otani if he's coming back or not next year.

And it makes no sense for Otani to give them a firm answer on that. I still believe, I don't think it's impossible that he could go back to the angels, but I hope it doesn't happen. I believe he'll leave this off season and I'm going to say he goes to the giants. What's your prediction Hickey on where Shoe Otani is going to be playing baseball next year?

Why not return? Back to the angels. I think he can return. I think there's a chance.

Absolutely. And I think those, that chance is definitely up now that he's not getting traded and now they're going to, rightfully so, make a playoff run with him. And when Mike Trout hopefully comes back sooner rather than later. Well that's banking that they'll make the playoffs. Right, I'm saying they're making a playoff run.

Yeah, they're going for it. I think that's the right move. And if you make the playoffs, I think that all of a sudden strengthens your argument to bring him back. Now I don't think they're going to make the playoffs.

I think you should bring him back either way. It should have nothing to do with you make the playoffs or not. It's not their decision, it's Shoei's decision. But that's what you, I don't think you said that there. Or maybe I just wasn't saying what you said. I was just more assuming like people understood it from Otani, so that's on me then.

If you're Otani, yeah. If they make the playoffs, maybe you're more inclined to, but I'm looking at some of these other teams that are probably going to be interested. If you want to stay on the West Coast, that's one thing. Dodgers, Giants. You know Steve Cohen is going to try to do it. He's going to do everything in his power to not get outbid. I don't think anyone's going to outbid Steve Cohen. Just if Otani's going to want to go there, maybe the Yankees get into play.

I don't think Boston's going to do it, but I'm looking around and I'm seeing the Giants. They tried for Judge. They didn't get him. They tried for Harper, didn't get him.

Maybe third time's a charm. I'll say Otani going to the Giants.