Take 5 (Hour 3)

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Shop in store or visit Ashley.com today. As the dust settles from last week's games, it's time to look at which teams are rising and which are falling. Zach ranks his top five NFL and college football teams on this week's edition of Take 5, only on the Zach Geld Show. Alright, let's start off with college football. In at number five, they're not ranked right now as the best team in the Pac-12.

There are, though, eight teams in the top 25 in the Pac-12. It's my pre-season pick to win the Pac-12. That's Kalen DeBoer's Washington Huskies, led by their quarterback Michael Penix, whose first two games of the season has thrown for 450 yards in a 56-19 victory against Boise State. And then at a 43-10 victory up against Tulsa, where Penix Jr. threw for 409 yards.

I think Michael Penix Jr. is one of the best players in the country, and they have a really good defense as well. This week, they play Michigan State. They're going to absolutely destroy Michigan State, so they'll be 3-0 and probably remaining in that number five spot next week.

Number four. Hello, Texas. Little Sam Ellinger style. We're back. Alright, go win the Big 12 this year if you really want me to say that you're back. Open up the year beating Rice.

Who cares? But then they had Alabama. And last year, they should have defeated Alabama. If it wasn't for Quinn Ewers getting knocked out of that game, and they lost the game in 2019, where Bryce Young and Will Anderson were on Alabama. They had to beat Alabama this year, and they did so. 34-24. Quinn Ewers was awesome in the game. Great victory for Sarc.

But I will say this, Hickey. I'm curious to see what Texas does this week. Because Texas has Wyoming this week. Remember, Wyoming was down 17 to Texas Tech, and they came back and won that game. Now it's a good thing that this game is in Austin.

I think that's very good for Texas. But I'll just be curious, even though I think Texas is going to win the game, if this is a sloppy kind of game where you get worried a little bit, Hickey, if you are the Longhorns, because maybe you're just a little bit hungover from the euphoria of that big win up against Alabama. Trap game, right?

This has trap game written all over. You're coming in off the high of one of the biggest wins in, what, since 09 maybe, right, for Texas football. Hard to get up again when you see Wyoming coming to town.

So Washington 5, Texas 4, number 3. Let me go with the Seminoles over at Florida State. Now we all know they opened up their season against a really good team on paper at LSU, and they opened up a can of whoop ass in that second half, defeating the Tigers 45-24.

And I'm not going to go crazy and jump up and down like a fat kid in a candy store when they're going up against Southern Miss, but they did slay them 66-13. And this is a little appetizer. It's not going to be a good appetizer, but you're going up against Boston College.

They should devour them. And then, you know what I'm going to start to call that game on September 23rd? It's the Clemson funeral. Florida State has an opportunity to really put the nail in the coffin for the Clemson program as we knew it under Dabo Swinney. Clemson is not a good team this year. Dabo Swinney is not adapted.

He's not adjusted. They lost to Duke 28-7. Dabo could talk about this offense all they want. I know the final score says 66-17 up against Charleston Southern, but that game was not as much of a blowout as the final score does read. Because I remember watching that game at halftime, and it was 24-17 Clemson going into half, and at times it was 21-17 after you had that Charleston Southern Buccaneers touchdown. So I didn't even love what I saw in the first half by Clemson last week. Florida State has an opportunity to win the ACC this year and also go to the college football playoff. Take care of business this week up against Boston College and then issue the funeral to the Clemson Tigers.

Alrighty, number two. The cupcakes continue for Michigan. Jim Harbaugh still suspended from the games. JJ McCarthy, I do believe he will be a finalist for the Heisman Trophy. He's actually my pick to win the Heisman Trophy. Got a lot of other good quarterbacks in the way. Blake Corum and Donovan Edwards continue to be sensational. But I got to give some credit to Roman Wilson, the wide receiver out of Honolulu, Hawaii.

He has 10 receptions on the year through two games, 167 yards, and count them not one, not two, not three, not four, but five touchdowns through two games. So Michigan's in at two, and then the cupcakes for Georgia so far. UT Martin and then Ball State 48-7, 45-3. They have South Carolina this weekend. South Carolina going to show a pulse. South Carolina got blown out by a good UNC team to open up their season. This game's on CBS.

I hope it's going to be a game, but I can't really expect this to be a game. You know, Hickey, real quickly when we go to Georgia before we do Speak Now and Forever Hold Your Peace. When's the first test for Georgia when I go through the schedule?

You tell me, you interrupt me and say that's a test when you think there's actually an opponent that sparks some fear into you. South Carolina this week. No. UAB. No. Isn't that Trent Dilfer's school? That is. Auburn, at Auburn. Yes, that's the one. That's the one I circle. I think that's going to be the trickiest test.

Alright, let's continue this. Kentucky. No.

At Vanderbilt. No. Florida. No. Missouri. No. Ole Miss. I'm intrigued. That is definitely, I think, going to be a fun game where that maybe could be the highest point total we see.

Good ol' Rocky Top. I'm going to say no. I think their soul was snatched last year. That is at Tennessee. Yes, but the matchup-wise, Georgia's too physical. I think they're going to push them around. Yeah, they did not look all that great against Austin Peay as well last week. So, that's the schedule.

I think they have one more game. Yeah, Georgia Tech. The Yellow Jackets. Oh yeah, that's right. Sorry. No disrespect to them.

No. In terms of striking fear or being an intriguing game. So maybe at most you could argue there's three games on the schedule where we wonder what Georgia's going to do. They'll be undefeated going into the SEC championship game. It's like three games that could be within 17 points.

I'm being serious. I'm intrigued, although their offense against Cal last week looked awful. They only beat Cal 14-10. Yeah, it was ugly.

It was really ugly. Ole Miss is intriguing. They have a high-powered offense, but also, too, in a big game, they've actually played well under Lane Kiffin the last two years against Alabama. Wouldn't it be so Jimbo-like? I know Jimbo plays Auburn.

That game is at College Station. Wouldn't it be so Jimbo-like when you lose the game to Miami to then go beat Auburn a few weeks later? I mean, he needs to beat Auburn.

Forget about it. That would be so Jimbo. He has to beat Auburn.

Let's play a little game here. I don't think Jimbo Fisher is going to get fired in the season. I don't think he's going to get fired after the season.

He should, but there's $75 million there. He plays Louisiana Monroe this week. When? Auburn after that. Where's that game? I just said it. College Station.

Oh, yeah, sorry. Clean out those years. I'll go win, but I don't feel good about it for A&M. Can I just say one thing about you? When I'm doing the schedules here, I've noticed this.

I will tell you if it's at somewhere or if it is home, and you always go, where the heck is that game? I'm just making sure. That's all.

All right. So, Louisiana Monroe win. Auburn, you're going win for A&M. Win. Arkansas, neutral site, by the way. Jerry World, loss. K.J.

Jefferson gets revenge. Alabama. Boy, I'll say loss, but I mean, I feel less confident than I did last week. At Tennessee, loss.

Oh, my God. South Carolina. Win. At Ole Miss.

That could be a Shane Beamer rallying cry. Loss. Mississippi State. I like Mississippi State.

I think they're going to get one here. I'll go loss. Abilene Christian. Win.

At LSU. Loss. So, you only have him going five wins again. I mean, how many you disagreeing with? I'm not crushing it.

I need the predictions. Even if you disagree with two. Yeah, that's seven.

Seven and five. For that money and that roster, boy. Start passing the hat around now. As I said yesterday, don't let the door hit you or the good Lord split you.

If I get $75 million, you could slam that door right on my ass. I have no problem with that whatsoever. So, speak now forever. Hold your peace. My top five teams in college, football, Washington, five, Texas, four, Florida State, three, Michigan, two, Georgia, one. You had one Pac-12 team in there in Washington. Why not two with USC?

Fight on. I'm still concerned about that USC defense. I got to see what that USC defense looks like up against a legit opponent. They have the best quarterback in the country, but that defense does concern me. Made Stanford look like a JV offense. Once again.

Say that for what you will. I need to see that defense up against a legit opponent. Other team here throughout.

They're also three. No, like USC. How about Notre Dame? Nice little win on the road over NC State. So I thought about Notre Dame.

I don't think they're quite there yet. I was more optimistic. I'm never optimistic about Notre Dame going into the season than most. That's a good win up against NC State. If Notre Dame wants to squeak into the top five and I like all your guesstimate, I like Sam Hartman a lot and they've been a lethal duo. You have an opportunity to potentially plant a flag in the top five going up against a Ohio State team that is beatable this year. You had that test in a few weeks.

It's too premature for Notre Dame, but September 23rd up against Ohio State and NBC. You have a chance to display that. Anyone else? No, that's it. Surprised you didn't mention one team.

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Biggest story in college football. Colorado. Coach Brian. Two good wins open up the year.

I thought they'd be able to win two. Just saying. Coach Brian.

Love me some Coach Brian. All right. My top five teams in the NFL. This was tough. You had the Chiefs lose in week one. You had the Bengals lose in week one. So I don't have either in the top five.

They will eventually be in the top five once again. In at number five, I struggled with this one. This is a late addition. The Detroit Lions. I know no Chris Jones. I know no Travis Kelce as that's a tongue twister for the Kansas City Chiefs. Lions still got a victory. They're in at number five for a team that absolutely dominated, absolutely controlled, as Hickey would say. The New York Football Giants. It's the Dallas Cowboys. Dak was good in the game. That offense was good, but the big story was the defense and special teams. That's a championship defense. It's been that case the last two years. Now Dak has to carry the baton in a big game.

All right. Number three. Their defense did not play great, obviously. I'm still curious what Vic Fangio could do with this defense, but offensively, as sensational as sensational could be.

Tua Tunga, Vailoa was awesome. Tyree kill. Even Missanturon Armstead had 215 yards. I put the Miami Dolphins in at three. Two, I know it was sloppy. I kind of felt like the Eagles, once they got up 16-0, stopped playing in the rain in Foxborough. Late turnover.

Heck of a play by Jabril Peppers. But the Philadelphia Eagles, who are one of the most well-rounded teams in football, they get a victory. They're in at number two. And then in at number one, a lot of people, including yours truly, are picking the Steelers. And it's one thing to win a game where people are picking against you, even when you're the favorite. But then to send a message to basically give the bird to everyone that picked against you and embarrass the Steelers, that's another thing.

And that's what the San Francisco 49ers did with that dominant defense. You had Trent Williams, who was hoping — did you see this quote, Hickey? That Trent Williams was hoping that the Steelers' offense would actually do something so he could rest because he kept on being three-and-out, three-and-out, three-and-out. That is one of the most dehumanizing things, if I'm a member of the Steelers, that I could ever hear.

That is so embarrassing. And you know what? I know a lot of people are optimistic about the Steelers entering this season. They could be a tough, underrated, sneaky team. You got a really good defense.

Mike Tomlin is never below.500. You got some names on offense. But when you hear Trent Williams say that, that's just no respect for the Steelers.

You know that they're not as good as advertised. And that is — panic, panic, panic — when you hear that if you're a Steelers fan, with just Trent Williams being honest and just blatantly disrespecting your team. And you still couldn't even get the big fella some rest. So I put the 49ers in at one. So Lions 5, Cowboys 4, Dolphins 3, Eagles 2, 49ers 1. I would have never expected this would have been the top five after one week of the NFL.

How about a team that beat both of our Super Bowl pick, the Cleveland Browns, in their dominant win over the Cincinnati Bengals? So I think it was Kimberly Martin today. I was watching ESPN.

It was on first take, which I've started to watch now more. And she said she was at that game. And she goes, the final score was not indicative of the way that that game was played. That Browns offense was sloppy in the game. Defensively, they did a good job.

And then it got a little bit lopsided late. I'm not ready to put the Browns inside the top five because I still don't know what that offense is going to be like. And what about the Jaguars? I thought about Jacksonville 5.

I really did. Here was the thing, though. They had to come back against the Indianapolis Colts, which do not have really anything outside of Anthony Richardson right now on offense. And I know there was that freak play where it was Tank Bigsby where the ball was fumbled.

It goes in hand. You thought it was an incomplete pass. The next thing you know, the Colts end up getting a touchdown. But I like the Jaguars a lot. I think I picked them as the second team in the AFC this year, the second seed.

But the opponent factors in there why I did not put them in the top five. That's all you got? All I got for this week. That's all I need. Lions 5, Cowboys 4, Dolphins 3, Eagles 2, 49ers 1.

In the college football world, Washington 5, Texas 4, Florida State 3, Michigan 2, Georgia 1. We'll take a break here on the Zach Gelb show on CBS Sports Radio. First, let me tell you, you can think of O'Reilly Auto Parts for your car care needs. Get guaranteed low prices and excellent customer service from the professional parts people at O'Reilly Auto Parts.

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You're listening to The Zach Gelb Show. Brandon Copeland played his college football at Penn, also spent a bunch of years in the NFL. Lions, Jets, Patriots, Falcons, just to name some of those teams.

Ravens as well. And now Brandon, recently retired, is the co-founder of Athletes.org, which is a 501C nonprofit that will use its technology and other methods to help organize college athletes, amplify their voices and advocate for them. And the former NFL linebacker Brandon Copeland joins us right now. Brandon, always great to have you on. Appreciate the time. How you been? Hey, I appreciate you. Appreciate the intro right now. How you doing, man? Well, I'm doing fantastic. I do have to start you off, though, on a somber note.

I know you played a little bit in New York with the Jets. We all saw the Aaron Rodgers Achilles injury last night with all the hopes and expectations for them. Just what was your reaction when you unfortunately saw that unfold on Monday night? Man, sick to my stomach.

Honestly, sick to my stomach. You know, that city, that organization has been, you know, rooting for, I don't want to say a savior, but, you know, they were excited for this year, right? They were excited for this season and obviously all of that fell on the shoulders of Aaron Rodgers and this amazing defense coming together. And they put a lot of pieces around them and to see him go down the way he did. And unfortunately, I've seen a few Achilles injuries in my time.

You know, just completely sick to my stomach, to be honest with you. And it was really great to see the way the defense rallied and the way the offense found a way to make it happen on Monday. You know, playing with guys like C.J. Mosley, Quinnen Williams, J.F.M., John Franklin Myers, right? Like, they were all over the field.

Quincy Williams as well, too. I mean, it was amazing to watch the way that they played and then also to see an undrafted free agent, you know, in the game in that type of fashion. A lot of excitement.

It was amazing to see that and see that energy. But also, obviously, when they had to face the fact that, you know, they were out without their quarterback for the rest of the season, that's tough. And that's not only tough for that organization, that's just tough for the city, a city that's been waiting for this excitement for a long time. So the good thing about football doesn't mean you're out, right? Who knows what will happen with Zach Wilson. Hey, who knows? Maybe I'll come back and, you know, I'll play a little quarterback. You never know.

That would be something. You're laughing a little too hard there, Zach. You're laughing a little too hard there. How do you know how to play quarterback, man? I'm messing with you.

Trust me, I've seen you in person before. If you're a quarterback, I fear for defenders then, Brandon Coker. But you just laid it out so well where this is a talented team. Now, we know last year they lost belief in Zach Wilson. There was a reason he was benched. There was a reason they were going to Aaron Rodgers.

He's viewed as that savior. Like we're saying, with how much he was gelling with those teammates, even with the talent they have, I just wonder how long it takes them mentally to get over the shock of the injury and having something so great and then it getting yanked away from you. Yeah, yeah. I mean, you know, I guess the good and the bad about football is the good thing is people are used to people going down and people are used to feeling like, hey, we got to move on and we understand that the injury rate is 100 percent. The bad piece of this is, hey, no one ever, ever, ever imagined that on the fourth play or third play of the game, so to speak, your quarterback would be going down like that and I don't think that any scenario that they were running in the offseason planned for this. And so, again, the team competed really, really well last year and Zach was their quarterback. I think that the leaders on that team are going around them and galvanizing and they're saying, hey, we got your back and you're going to have to take your shot.

And hopefully that Aaron is pouring into that mentally and, you know, having a coach like Aaron Rodgers, you know, behind them is only going to be helpful to them. And so Zach Wilson at this point, he has nothing to lose. You know, he's seen it all. He's heard it all. And at this point he needs to go out there and shoot a shot and hopefully the team will continue to rally behind him in that and maybe shock some people this year.

Brandon Copeland here with us. Whenever you have an injury like this, the turf grass debate always comes up and you have players saying all stadiums should have grass fields. Where do you kind of lie on this one just from your experience and maybe understanding the difference of it, if you could explain that? Yeah. Yeah. I mean, honestly, as a young whipper snapper, when I came out of college, I used to love turf and I was all for turf. I practiced on turf in college and, you know, I played on turf and I loved it and I hated grass games because it was too much of a variable of how that surface would be.

And then as I got older and had a few knee surgeries, I loved grass surfaces and I felt a lot better and I could tell the difference between my body and my recovery when I was on grass versus turf. So, you know, I understand, you know, I think that it's time, you know, obviously there's a lot of, you know, our bodies are our assets and if grass is going to help us take care of it, then that's what the league needs to consider. Especially with how much money the NFL prints.

There should be no reason then, right? I mean, hey, you know, listen, you're in their pockets. I'm not, but I'm going to say I think that they can afford it. No doubt about that. So you mentioned the energy in that stadium. You played in New York for a little bit. How did you like that experience, Brandon Copeland, of playing in New York?

Ah, man, amazing experience. I think, you know, for me, my wife is from there. My wife, Taylor, shout out to my best friend. She's from New Jersey and for me, that was an amazing time in my career.

I was starting out as a linebacker. You know, my family could come to the stadium anytime. We had a great time and so, you know, I think that the energy and the atmosphere around New York and New Jersey, especially when you're a winner, again, it's second to none.

Now, I'm not going to sit up here and act like I know what that feels like. We won 1-0 at one point in time when I was there and that was amazing, but we lost a lot after that, but again, this city, similar to Detroit. I played in Detroit as well, too, and those cities and those fan bases, they deserve a winner and I'm excited to see how these teams are in the hut this year. Obviously, there's much to be determined with the Jets, but again, knowing guys like C.J.

Moseley, I never count them out. And you talk about the Lions, I just think attitude is such a big thing in this sport where when you're in an organization that's been associated with so much losing, you need a special someone to come in there and really turn this thing upside down and be different. It seems like Dan Campbell, being a former player, he's just one of these crazy football guys that just brings this energy that's really contagious throughout all the organization. Yeah, man, I think that half of the battle, not even half of the battle, 99.9% of the battle is just believing that you can win in anything in life.

Not even talking football, let's not get too deep over here and go too much off on the tangent, but in anything in life, just believing that you can win and believing that you have a chance and believing that you can line up specifically in football across from your opponent and compete with them down in and down out, that is an amazing feeling. And I know that sounds really, really like, duh, but for a lot of people in life, but also a lot of teams, sometimes that isn't necessarily the case. And you've seen Dan Campbell come in there and really get this organization believing and the city believing and just embracing the blue collar mentality that they have as an organization. And you know, and teams know when they go up against the Detroit Lions, they are in for a fist fight. They know that they are going to be in a phone booth all game and they know that it's going to be a physical game.

And you better get ready to be in the cold tub and all that type of stuff afterwards. But in order to beat that team, they are going to fight Scratch and Claw their way to a victory. And I think by them having that mindset, it matches the city, which I think is why the city has embraced them so much. But also, again, as I mentioned, this city deserves a winner and they're starving for one. So it was amazing to see them win on that first game of the season. So I just went to your website, Brandon Copeland, athletes.org, and I want you to explain everything I need to know about this is athletes.org is finally here for athletes by athletes.

Tell me what I need to know about it. Yeah, I think that, you know, for me, there's certain things that I was always looking for as an athlete. And I think that we have pressure when you come not even just into the NFL, but just also now with college and the NIL space, you're just going pro earlier. You got a pressure to not only perform as an athlete, but you also have to understand business and get it right. And if not, if you don't get it right, then people will say, hey, why don't you understand your money and finances and investing? And why don't you do these things?

It's like, hold on, I'm 18, 19, 20, 21 years old, and I'm learning and growing like everyone else. And so with athletes.org, we've created the one-stop shop, the resource center, and the directory for athletes to go and get help when it comes to their business. We have legal experts who are literally giving pro bono hours to all of our member athletes. Their membership is free, and it's paid for and sponsored by corporate partners who believe in investing in the development of athletes. So now, an athlete, whether you're going to be a future first round draft pick or whether you're the women's rower at the University of Pennsylvania, where I went to school, you can come here and get a contract reviewed.

You can get legal advice, et cetera, for free, which is unheard of. We also have doctors who are offering second medical opinions just to help protect athletes. And we have free background checks and things of that nature so that now we can protect athletes because, like I said, we get one chance to get this thing right.

And if you get it right, that can be sometimes the difference between generational wealth or the difference between looking back wondering, man, if I only would have known. And unfortunately, Zach, we've heard that story way too many times, and so I'm fortunate to have an amazing team at Athletes.org, and we're going after creating a solution here for athletes. Do you like the direction of college football right now? I think it's great that players could benefit off their name, image, and likeness. I know we're still trying to figure out the transfer portal. Some guys, they're allowed to go and play right away. Some people, oh, multiple stops, and the rules are all crazy. Like with the Tez Walker situation, which I don't really understand why he can't get on the field because he really only played at one school. But you keep on hearing about the challenges for the athlete with NIL and the transfer portal. How about the new direction of college football?

Yeah, I mean, I think that, unfortunately, whether I like it or not, this is where it's going, and I think it's only going to get more and more interesting, so to speak, as time progresses. I think that, as Deion said, you have coaches and other folks complaining about the transfer portal, and yet you have conferences being realigned, and all of it has to do with money. I understand that we have, especially college football right now, it's one of the most amazing products in the world, and again, I'm not sure exactly where it goes, I just want to make sure that athletes have a voice in where it goes. And I think that what we're doing, I know that what we're doing with athletes.org is giving them a voice in order to be able to speak up and give their opinion about conferences being realigned, and about how they feel about their medical protections, and about scholarship protections and things of that nature. And so, although I won't act like I'm in the rooms and an expert when it comes to where the sport should go yet, I think it'll take a lot of collaboration to figure out where it should go.

I do think that there should be a lot more transparency, and I do think that there should be standards across the board, because like you said, unfortunately, some of these decisions feel like coin tosses. What would be your best advice to someone that's a freshman or a sophomore, Brandon Copeland, just to kind of navigate this, because it's all new, I think it's good that it's happening for the most part, but like you said earlier, I attend college, you learn in college, you make mistakes, but when you're an athlete it's at a completely different level with the coverage around it. Right, right, I think selfishly, first and foremost, I say go download athletes.org, it's free, free membership, right, but as you navigate the space, and I'm joking when I say that, but I'm seriously looking, right, athletes.org, as you navigate the space, when you come into this club, so to speak, you have pro athletes who are literally giving you advice on nutrition, on rehab techniques, on training techniques, on mental wellness, on brand building, right? So as a freshman, with so much around me going on, who's probably some of the best people in the world to learn from, other athletes who've been in my shoes, and then now, when I do get approached with that contract, or hey, that agent who's coming to me and saying, hey, promising me the world, now within athletes.org, I can go either get that contract vetted by a legal professional for free, or I can run a background check on that agent, or I can see whether that agent is actually verified and certified themselves in the agency registry that we have, right? And so ultimately, I guess that's my long-winded way of saying whether you choose athletes.org or not, ultimately, the thing that has helped me personally, and I haven't, I'm not perfect, I've made mistakes, and I've learned on the fly, which is why I have tried to create athletes.org to give young athletes a playbook or blueprints earlier, look for mentors. Look for mentors.

Do not be too cool to ask for help, because the difference between you sitting down with a business advisor and a contract, and think of it like a business coach, right, and getting a contract vetted is the difference between you asking for, you know, 500 bucks and a post versus sweat equity, and that can be the difference between generational wealth and, again, man, if I only would have known. And so, again, there's so many different things out there, I just want to make sure that we, and there's so many different pitfalls out there, I just want to make sure that athletes understand that we have a community that we literally have built for them by them to help protect them, and I'm extremely excited to be leading the charge with it. Last thing I'll ask you, Brandon Copeland, like, what's the marketplace for this? Because I've never, right, you always think about how the athlete can get help, and it seems like there should be a lot of resources available, but is this kind of newer what you guys are doing right now with athletes.org? Yeah, yeah, I think that, you know, right now there are certain schools who have, are helping in the NIL space and helping their athletes, but, you know, one of the things that we've had in conversations with schools is, you know, there's only so much bandwidth that they have and so much capacity, and whether we can focus maybe on a few particular athletes, but we don't have the ability and the bandwidth to necessarily offer legal advice or expert advice, one, as a school, or just we don't have the ability to offer it to all of the athletes here, right? So, what we're doing is we're trying to combine technology and scale with great partners, great people who want to help, and they want to serve athletes, and we really feel that if we impact athletes, we can impact the world. So, to answer your question cleanly, what we are doing has been done in other ways, but it's never been done like this before because it hasn't been built for athletes, by athletes, and what we started with and what I've laid out here, that was what we launched with. What we're rolling out next and the features we plan on rolling out in the near future, again, they will be literal game changers, and I'm proud of our team for working so hard to build this.

Once again, go check it out at athletes.org. Always enjoy our conversations with Brandon Copeland. Brandon, good luck, and we appreciate the time. Thanks so much, Zach. You have a great one.

We'll see you next time. So, I have not heard this yet. There is an apology, though. I am not familiar with this person, but Maddie Glaab, and I don't know how you say her last name, G-L-A-B. She's a team reporter for the Buffalo Bills. She was caught on a hot mic, and I guess what I could gather from this is this was right before Stefan Diggs was supposed to address reporters, so let's listen up. I don't think the audio is great here, but let's play it right here. Is this a big deal?

I don't think so, Hickey. It sounds like that's a team reporter. I don't think she has control. She's not the PR person of going to get the players, so I'll read her statement in a second. It sounds like there's another reporter saying maybe you should go get him, and then all she said was Stefan Diggs. If I told him to come over, it would be like, F you, and there's no control of Stefan Diggs. To me, this is a non-story.

I'm with you 100%, because I think, and according to reports, he probably said a lot worse with Sean McDermott, maybe Brandon Bean as well, maybe Josh Alex. His name was dragged in this. But it's all good. Nothing ever happened.

Nothing ever happened. All good, but that first day of, what was it? I forget now. It was OTAs, right?

OTAs. You're right. The first day of minicamp, what came out of Stefan Diggs' mouth, I'm sure was way more harmful and way more meaner, if you want to simplify it, than what Matty just said there.

So here is the statement from Matty. I saw this all over Twitter. I thought there was going to be something juicy here, Hickey.

I would agree. You put the words hot mic, and all of a sudden, everyone's ears perk up of, oh boy, here we go. That is probably the tamest hot mic audio I think we've ever heard. So the way that this worked is, I'm sitting here on Twitter during the break, and I keep on saying, hot mic, hot mic, oh my god, can't believe this, this is ridiculous, this is wild, blah, blah, blah. A reporter talking about Stefan Diggs, and I go, Hickey, I go, listen to it. If you need to bleep anything out, if anything's really offensive, let me know.

But I just want to hear it live on the air before I listen to it. To get that instant reaction, and I was expecting there to be something crazy and offensive and gross and disgusting, and it was just, there's no control, Stefan Diggs, and Stefan Diggs will tell you to bleep off. So this is the statement from Matty, who's the team reporter. I want to take ownership for what I said today.

I'm very sorry for what I said and meant no ill will. I respect the hell out of Stefan Diggs, and he has been one of my favorite players to cover. He has a great character and treats us media with lots of respect. He takes time out of his day to talk to us, which he doesn't have to do.

For context, media was waiting players to come out for a press conference. When a reporter jokingly told me to go get Stefan Diggs, I said I don't have control over him. Steph marches to the beat of his own drum, and I love that about him.

He has a playful relationship with our video department, so that is why I said he probably wouldn't say yes to me grabbing him for an interview. I should not have said what I said, and I apologize for that. Steph is not in the wrong.

I am. You know what this is starting to sound like? This is starting to sound like Hickey because there was such an explosion in the offseason. It was so ugly in the offseason that now everyone's trying to create the gotcha moment. Here's the crazy moment where Stefan Diggs, where he blows up on people or he's going to be portrayed to be like this bad player or something like that.

Or this bad dude. I met Stefan Diggs once, and he did something very nice for a guest of mine at a Super Bowl. He cut a nice little video.

It was really nice on Radio Row. I know that it was an ugly ending in Minnesota. Not everything's going to be perfect, and what happened in Buffalo this offseason was crazy. I do think there is clearly something there. But look at the other night when things weren't going well to Josh Allen, and maybe there's a heightened awareness here because of what happened this summer and how sloppy it was by McDermott and Diggs. It looked like Stefan Diggs, and no one talks about this, was really motivating Josh Allen and was being a good teammate. So I'm not saying there's nothing to see here in terms of the Stefan Diggs issue and everything's all great, but I think we've gone to a point now where everyone's trying to create that moment. And remember, Stefan Diggs is a team captain too, where there's definitely going to be a bad situation here. And I think this is one of those instances where you hear this, and it's up, it's a hot mic, it's about Stefan Diggs, and he would just tell this reporter to bleep off if she went up to him. And I don't like the way that people are starting to now paint Stefan Diggs. Some of it's fair, but this is just ridiculous if anyone's trying to hold this against Stefan Diggs.

Well, at least from what I've seen, it's only been a few minutes, so again, I'm only going to throw a few tweets. I feel like, if anything, they're trying to paint the Bill's reporter out to be a bad person here and get her in trouble. And look, all she's doing from, again, I don't know Stefan Diggs, but I can pretend to know Stefan Diggs, but it sounds like to me all she's doing is recounting facts in previous history.

She's not like slandering his character, she's merely explaining her, you know. You don't even need to go there. It's very simple. We've all been in press conference rooms. The media in these press conference rooms, they all try to be like jokey lovey dovey, while most people don't even like their fellow reporters that are in the room, because there's a lot of weird people in the media. I've been in these press conferences.

There's some people I like, there's some people I don't. And you're waiting, and you're waiting, and you're waiting for the players, and everyone tries to be a comedian here. And all she said was, yeah, you know, you had some guy in the media go, oh, go get him, blah, blah, blah, oh, I'm funny, right? And then she goes off, I went up to him and say, oh, you want to come do this press conference, how you tell me to bleep off, because no one has controls, Stefan Diggs.

Like, that's what this is. But we all have these like breakdowns on social media, as I just threw my hat off my head, I don't know why I did that. We have all these breakdowns on social media where it's like, oh, there's really something juicy here. There's nothing juicy here. It's a non-story as far as I'm concerned. But man, I'm telling you, there's gonna be people be like, oh, how dare Stefan Diggs that this reporter would go up to him and Stefan Diggs would, you know, she thinks that he would say like, bleep you. Like, who cares? Man, the social media society could drive me nuts from time to time.