The Three True Super Bowl Contenders (Hour 2)

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We continue. This is Zach Gelb's show on CBS Sports Radio. Our number two of our radio program, 4 p.m. Eastern, 1 p.m. Pacific.

Welcome on in. Zach Gelb's show, CBS Sports Radio. Brendan Rice is going to stop by. He is the son of the legendary Jerry Rice. Brendan Rice is now in his second season as a wide receiver at USC after a previous stop as being a wide receiver at Colorado. So looking forward to talking a little Jerry Rice, USC, Caleb Williams, and Brendan Rice when the USC wide receiver joins us.

Real quickly, before I get into my list of Super Bowl contenders and why the list is very slim right now, I am looking at our YouTube chat as I currently speak. And there's a man, Matt from Framingham, who said Zach, I'm going to a place that you like to go to since I've listened to you throughout the years, Center Pizza today in Framingham. And Center Pizza is a delicious pizza and sandwich shop in Framingham, Massachusetts. And I said to him, as much as I like Center Pizza, when I'm in the Boston area, my favorite place to go get pizza is actually Santarpio's, which is delicious. And there was actually one time I went to Santarpio's with two of my uncles and then my uncle's mother and my cousin. And the line was so long to get in. So we called in a pizza and we ate the pizza in the parking lot.

And I didn't know that Santarpio's maybe wasn't in the best part of Boston. But while we're devouring this pizza like it's a tailgate and we're a bunch of pigs pretty much at a tailgate as we're just devouring like two pizzas on the hood of the car, we hear pop, pop. And then the next thing, the sirens. And at first, like I just thought they were fireworks. But then when you hear the sirens after that, the police officers were actually like zooming down the road and they stopped and they saw us eating the pizza and they go to us.

Where did you hear those pops from? And my uncle was like from somewhere over there. Like, I don't think we were we were in close enough distance where we heard it, but I don't think we were in any immediate danger. So my she's not my grandmother, but it's my uncle's mother on a different side of the family.

She then could get very worried, right, as any kind of Jewish mother or Jewish grandmother would be. And she's like, what were those noises? Because she pretended not to hear those noises when they happen. But then when the officers come over and my uncle was like, everybody in the car, they were just fireworks.

Don't worry. And we finished the sausage pizza and the pepperoni pizza that we had to the two minute drill, Omaha, Omaha, and shoved all the pizza right down your throat. And then you ended up moving on and we drove out of there. But not that I shared that story in the YouTube chat. Now I just share that story to everyone listening.

A very sensitive debate did pop up. And I think we're starting to learn each other a little bit more. Like, I've known Big Mike CBS for a long time. Some call him Moist Mike now. I've known Stu for a very long time as well.

But it's different when you just know people and your coworkers with people and then you work on the same show with people. So this is a big test, guys, in the big three here from three to 6 p.m. Eastern on CBS Sports Radio featuring Zach Gelb, Moist Mike, which stamped every time I says that just shakes his head and looks like a disappointed human being and the always sweet Stuart Kovacs. Where do we lie on pineapple on a pizza?

I will hold back on my analysis and my opinion not to make you change your opinion one way or another and maybe suck up and get some brownie points, which I don't think you guys should do anyway. But I have heard a little bit of a debate in the YouTube chat about the guys that were referred to by last show as the weedos and the purple drinkers and their love for some pineapple on a pizza. Stu, where are you at pineapple on a pizza? If it's like a brand pizza like a Domino's or a Papa John's or something like that, I'm all for it. I think it's great on Domino's.

Really? Yes, I think. So a lesser quality pizza, you need to enhance it a little bit more and put some pineapple on it is what you said.

Yes. But if I'm getting a classic New York slice, I would not dare get pineapple on it. I would just get pepperoni or whatever special toppings they're known for, whatever. Usually pepperoni though or plain. Now, I don't know Stu that well away from the studio.

I just know work, Stu. But you may be indulging on something that could increase the appetite. Let's just say if you are ordering from one of the chain pizza places and then you're like, oh, I'll eat anything right now. So let's get crazy. Let's get crazy and put some pineapple on the pizza. No, I do not mind having like a chain pizza every now and then. Again, I think it's different. I don't consider that like having like if you say I'm getting pizza, I think of pizza, pizza or if you say pizza, pizza, pizza, pizza, pizza, pizza. If it's chain, it's different.

It has like a different feel to it, but I'm down for either one. But I think regular pizza is better. So the verdict from Stu is if it's from chain pizza, you throw the pineapple on it. If it's a traditional New York slice, your local pizza shop, you would not be caught dead at the register saying, hey, throw some cut up some pineapples and throw some pineapples on that slices. Yeah, I'm not going to John's here in New York and asking for pineapple. That's for sure. OK, Samter, pineapple on a pizza.

What's the verdict? There's only two ways to eat a pizza, plain and Hawaiian style. That's it. Pineapple and ham on a pizza. I don't care if it's Domino's or if it's New York style, it's the best way to go. Now, my favorite pizza place. I go all plain, just plain cheese. Well done. You have to order a pizza pie. Well done.

I do like it. Well done. But the place I go to Joe's oftentimes makes it pretty well done to begin with or at least close.

I always tell them well done. But if I'm not getting Joe's plain pizza, it's always Hawaiian. My favorite thing pizza place around here, I get prosciutto to Parma and I get a little bit of pineapple on it. It's a good accent, by the way.

It's absolutely amazing. Anybody who doesn't like pineapple on pizza, they're being trolls for the sake of being trolls. They're being traditionalists because they think pizza is a certain thing that has to have a certain if you try it, you're going to love it. If you like pineapple, if you like fruit and you like pizza, you're going to love pineapple on pizza. Do you know of a place in the city that is in delivery distance from our studio here at 345 Hudson Street that makes a good pineapple pizza and what other crap that you put on the pizza? Well, so the place that I usually go to, there's a thin crust place and there's like 10 of them and they have different names throughout the city. And it's amazing brick oven thin crust pizza.

And I'll get it with the prosciutto to Parma and I'll get it with the pineapple. There's one that's like maybe five or six blocks away from here. I haven't been to that one, but they're all the same menu, just different names.

So I'm assuming that they probably have it. It's not a normal New York slice with, you know, you fold it up and it has the thick, fluffy bread. No, this is like thin crust, which I like, delicious.

And I'm assuming if they have the same menu, they'll have it. Okay. So let's do, I'm going to put this on Samta before I give you my opinion. I want to try, what did you, pineapple say with the nice fancy accent prosciutto de Parma, prosciutto de Parma. Now, normally I'll just go ham and pineapple, but this place that I go to, it's prosciutto de Parma. You got to say that using your hands a little bit more.

Prosciutto de Parma. All right. We'll kiss you on your left cheek, your right cheek. Alrighty. Get a free appetizer, something like that. I want to try that tomorrow. Cause I am usually someone that's not a troll, but I've never really enjoyed pineapple on a pizza, but I will say. Have you had it? Yes, I've had it. Okay. You've had it and you just don't like it that much. No, I don't love it, but I will say you've done a good job selling up the pizza. Like Samta, I thought you, like, I was about to just yell at both of you guys, say you're the biggest idiots I've ever worked with. Shame on you, Spike. We need to find the new producer. We need to find the new board op. I was ready to just crush both of you and Stu did an okay job, even though I was questioning some of those pizza chains.

And I was wondering if Stu is maybe doing a little puff puff pass, but for Samta, I thought you really saved the sinking ship here. And I'm, I'm willing to try it again. I like plain pizza.

Well done. I usually like the small pepperoni cups on the pizza too. Very delicious. Like Prince street pizza here in the city, that square slice that used to always fattening us up here at CBS sports radio. And then someone left and now we don't get the pizza anymore, but that was delicious. I love Buffalo chicken on a pizza, but I don't just go into any pizza joint and ask for Buffalo chicken. I'm very particular with the Buffalo chicken. I could look at the Buffalo chicken and know right, just that the look, if it's a good Buffalo chicken slice or not, I will dabble a little bit with some meatball on a pizza. I could do some sausage on a pizza as well. And recently at my local pizza joint in the city, right by my apartment, they have improved their chicken bacon ranch slice. I'm not a big ranch guy, but their chicken bacon ranch slice is very good. So I think I hit all the potential toppings that I like to consume on a pizza, but I am willing to try this pineapple perjuta de parma pizza that Michael Samter is talking about.

So maybe you will look at this. Maybe you are making me a different human being only working together for three, four weeks, where if you said to me four weeks ago, try some pineapple on a pizza without saying the perjuta de parma, I would say, yeah, go take a lap and never talk to me again. I'm going to get a restraining order put out against you. Anytime that I change anybody, it's not for the better.

So I would run as fast as you can. Okay. I'm a peacock. I'm a peacock. You got to let me fly. I'm going to try to fly with the pineapple perjuta de parma pizza, but no a rule of thumb. I'm usually not a pineapple on the pizza type of guy. Alrighty. Who are the true Superbowl contenders in the NFL? Now I'm very strict about this.

Like if I was a teacher, it would be very tough to get a perfect score or to be considered one of the better students in my class. If you've listened to me throughout the years, and even if you're new to my style of radio and the way that I think, I am very, very, very skeptical to say that teams are great. If I say your team is very good, that's a compliment. If I say your team is good, that's a compliment. But if I say your team is great, if I say your team is excellent, if I say your team is marvelous, that's how you know, I really do believe in your team.

And through the first seven weeks of the season, with the ball about to be put up into the air tonight in Orchard Park, which I love going to Buffalo. I would love to be like Pearl off, lose a bet and have to spend two, three days in Buffalo and go to a bar bill and get a little beef on weck and also get one of those wings. It's the Butter BBQ Cajun wings, which are just like to die for.

I think I got that right. If I'm there, I know how to order them. But the wings are some of the best wings I've ever had. Better than Anchor Bar, better than Duffs, like all the fine places in Buffalo. But bar bill's really where it's happening. You know, maybe take a stop at Ted's Hot Dog 2 and get myself a hot dog.

Maybe go a little bocce pizza too, see if you have any pineapple for people like Sampdur. But we have week eight starting tonight between the Buffalo Bills and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Neither of those teams right now is Super Ball contenders.

The Bucks have been impressive, but now they've come back down to earth recently. I still don't think they're going to win that division, but it will either be them or it will be the Atlanta Falcons. I've leaned Atlanta before the start of the season and I still lean Atlanta. But those two teams aren't Super Bowl contenders. And before the year, a lot of people would have said the Buffalo Bills are a Super Bowl contender.

So right now, my three teams that are the Super Bowl contenders in the NFL, it's the Chiefs who won the Super Bowl last year. We know their defense has played well this year. Their offense has not been as successful as in years past. But if the offense has been the quote unquote problem, they'll find a way to figure it out because of 15 and 87 and Big Andy reading those cheeseburgers in Kansas City. By the way, talking about food, Kansas City, go to Jack Stacks.

Delicious, delicious, delicious barbecue. Stu knows it when he was there for the draft. So Kansas City definitely Super Bowl contender. The team that was in the Super Bowl last year and had a 10 point lead at halftime, the Philadelphia Eagles, definitely a Super Bowl contender. The Eagles, whose quarterback Jalen Hurts has hurt to some capacity right now, but he is playing. They have not played their best brand of football.

They're still six and one. And even when the Eagles win, we're nitpicking to how they win. And then finally, even though they've had some injuries catch up to them the last few weeks, the San Francisco 49ers are Super Bowl contender. After that, there's some really good teams. There are some teams that are looking like they could be a Super Bowl contender.

But I just got to see more. The Baltimore Ravens are one of those teams that I was very close to putting them into the list and saying, okay, we'll take four teams. But that Steelers loss still stands out to me. And that's a game they should have won.

And they snatched the feet from the jaws of victory. But that Ravens team, as long as Lamar stays healthy, they could beat anybody in the NFL. And they showed that last week to the way that they dominated Detroit. The Dolphins and the Lions, I think, are a step below the Ravens. But they're in a team that could be a contender.

They just got to show me more up against the elite opponents. The Lions really don't have an elite opponent the rest of the way. Their best remaining opponent is the Cowboys. The Dolphins in two weeks do play the Kansas City Chiefs. So an opportunity to show that, okay, the Dolphins up against the Bills, the Dolphins up against the Eagles, and their poor performances, they're better than that. And for the Lions, they'll win a lot of games. And it's just going to be, where do you fall with the Eagles and 49ers schedule picking up?

Can you find a way to usurp them and actually get the number one seed? And then we have home field advantage for the Lions, potentially, even after the massacre last week in Baltimore. And we know that's a fan base that's starving for success because they have not won their division since 1993, and haven't won a playoff game since 1991. And then two more teams to monitor. I'm still going to monitor the Bills. I'm concerned what we've seen with the Bills. I think the Bills need to go trade for Derrick Henry or Saquon Barkley before the trade deadline next week. And yes, I'm concerned about Tredavious White being out and Matt Milano being out. But the Buffalo Bills have been close the last few years.

They are starting to fade, but they're in that monitor conversation. And then finally, it's the Jacksonville Jaguars. The Jaguars in week two, they disappointed me because I thought they would beat Kansas City.

And since then, they've now got back into my good graces. But I'm still a little skeptical because I look back at that game in week two up against Kansas City and I was like, man, that offense was a complete no-show. And then up against the Texans in back-to-back weeks, the offense was a no-show. Now, they've been hot as of late and in their four-game winning streak, their best win was the Bills. They beat the Falcons, they beat Indianapolis, they beat the Saints. But for the Jaguars, you have an opportunity, just like the Dolphins do, right? The Dolphins in a few weeks play Kansas City. Well, the Jaguars in two weeks, they play the San Francisco 49ers. They'll have the Bengals on the schedule and the Baltimore Ravens.

So there's an opportunity for the Jaguars to compile some elite wins. So right now, in my strict standards, I only think there are three Super Bowl contenders. It's the Eagles and the 49ers and the NFC. And the AFC, it's the Kansas City Chiefs. But there's some teams that are lurking in different capacities with the Ravens, the Dolphins, the Bills, the Lions, and the Jaguars. And you know what? We'll learn a lot more about this team in the next two weeks, but the Bengals are not dead yet.

Let's see how these next two weeks go up against the 49ers and then up against the Buffalo Bills, but the Bengals could assert themselves right back into the Super Bowl contending conversation as well. All righty, this is Zach Gelb's show on CBS Sports Radio. Let's take a break.

We'll come on back. USC wide receiver Brendan Rice is going to join us. We'll hear a little bit more about his story. He is the son of the legendary Jerry Rice, the greatest wide receiver of all time.

And how does USC bounce back after back-to-back losses to Notre Dame and Utah? Brendan Rice next. This is Zach Gelb's show right here on CBS Sports Radio, where pineapple pizza with a little prosciutto de pharma is an interesting thing. We continue this Zach Gelb show coast to coast on CBS Sports Radio saw a great campaign the other day on behalf of Breathe Right. And it was Jerry Rice, the goat, having a little trivia competition with his son, who's a star wide receiver at USC in Brendan Rice.

And Brendan, you didn't do that bad of a job knowing about your old man. Appreciate the time. Thanks for it. And how are you? Great. Thank you for having me, Zach. Well, let me start you off with this. Like everyone knows you're the son of Jerry Rice. You probably get like tired just hearing questions about your dad. But when did you realize growing up that man, my dad's a pretty big deal. And he's the greatest wide receiver, one of the greatest football players of all time. I was just about eight years old when I was going around class like, Hey, my dad's doing right. It's like thinking like, Oh, like, this is crazy. And just really looking up to some of the accolades and the stuff that he's done.

He's a match for born leader and leads by example. It's always something that I've always wanted to incorporate in my game and go ahead and develop the attributes within my game and move forward. Did you feel pressure like at a young age to try to go play football? This is always going to be pressure and a kid like that is always gonna feel the pressure. But growing up, I felt as though like, Hey, like if you go ahead and put the work ethic forward that the pressure is going to lay off and you're going to look at it as a blessing because a lot of people don't have that type of pressure. Don't have that dad.

That's a Hall of Famer. So you got to take it, take it as a blessing. Had you fall in love with the game?

So it could become a blessing for you. I fell in love with the game at such an early age. I played tackle football before I ever played fat flag football. So just seeing how, how my whole family was really into the game of football, even my sister played it. And my sister was actually a ball player than all of us. I would have to say she was a lot more dominant and used to make the little boys cry.

So football was just, oh, go ahead. So you probably had to draw some inspiration from your sister, right? She kind of set the way. Oh yeah.

Most definitely she set the way for all of us. That's awesome. Brendan Rice here with us. How would you describe your game? Like we've seen you play a little bit at Colorado the last two years, you got a whole lot more attention, especially this year at USC.

But if someone's never seen Brendan Rice play your game is what the next type of player that goes ahead and likes to dominate the opponent in each way possible. I like to take people's wheels away, uh, play in and play out. So like every play you're going to get something new for me. And I feel as though that you're going to have to be ready for that.

I'm going to have to come prepared because all throughout the week, I'm thinking about different ways that I can incorporate things into my game. That's going to really go ahead and put me in the best pedestal to go ahead and put my best foot forward as well. So something that I want to ask you here, Brendan Rice, because my dad was involved in radio back in the day, he produced a very famous talk show, Mike and the mad dog. And like when you get into the same business as your old guy, people go, oh, that's so-and-so son at first. And then you try to leave your own mark and kind of create your own path. So I'm just wondering, let's say in 20 years from now, we're talking, what do you want people to say about Brendan Rice? And what do you want your own mark on the game to really be? I want my own mark on the game to be what the headline, just go ahead and say, yeah, Jerry Rice was great, but Brendan Rice went ahead and paved his own way. And he had to go ahead and put in the natural born work ethic to get to where he's at today. And hopefully in 20 years, you can say that, hey, Jerry Rice and Brendan Rice were just as good or even better.

That would be unbelievable if that was the case. Brendan Rice here with us. You see right now in the game of football and right, we've seen guys, fathers have great careers and then sons try to follow in their footsteps.

But it's pretty neat with what you're doing right now. Over at Stanford, you got E.J. Smith, the son of Emmitt Smith. And then we know Colorado with Chidor and Shiloh Sanders and who their father is, Coach Prime. And then, of course, at Ohio State, you got Marvin Harrison Jr. And we all know how great his father was. Do you kind of follow those stories?

I don't know if you have relationships with those guys just because of, you know, playing college football and who their dads are, but how much of a keen eye do you have on those guys' career? I think it's huge, just like all these guys going ahead and following in their dad's footsteps and just going ahead and some of them like, you know, doesn't always work out, stuff like that. But I feel as though my situation was just a little bit different because I was grown up into something that I wanted to go ahead and put my best foot forward. And I wanted to have to develop my own capabilities because my dad was such a hard worker and such a man of honor. And he feels as though that, hey, you're not going to work for it. You're not going to get it. So just having that humble and hardworking dad makes you go ahead and transfers onto your child that everything out in this world is not going to be given. You have to go earn it.

You have to go take it. And I know from like my experiences, like my dad was tough on me when I was first trying to get into the business. And then eventually he was like, yeah, you're pretty good at this. Do you remember a moment when your dad said, yeah, son, you got a pretty bright future ahead of you. You're pretty damn good wide receiver.

My dad was very critical. I mean, within my first three years, I would have to say my freshman year of college, he kind of saw some signs, but I felt like this year it's really taken off and he's proud of like what he's seen coming into transition and all the hard work is starting to pay off. And I'm really starting to enjoy the fruits of the labor. We're talking to Brendan Rice right now.

We'll talk about breathe right in just a second. I know the last two weeks for USC, it hasn't gone your way up against Notre Dame and then a tough loss to Utah. Just how do you kind of look back at what the journey has been like the last two weeks? Day in and day out, you're going to have to put your best foot forward and going to have to strive for greatness.

You're going to have to win the game on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursdays, even at the Friday walkthrough and then going into the game, you have to make sure that you go ahead and take what you did on practice each of those days and push it into the game. Because honestly, a lot of stuff that you go through within practice, if you have those mistakes in practice, you're going to have those mistakes in the game. So just going ahead and bouncing back off of that sometimes seems fall down, but people don't remember the fall down.

People remember how you respond and how you get up. So what's the vibe been like with that being set around the team this week after two bad losses for you guys? Just do you sense a different level of hunger from your teammates? Well, just getting back that sense of hunger is what we truly need. And we had that sense of hunger in the beginning of the season.

Now we need to go ahead and reestablish that and push each day in and day out and go at each other and make each other better because on Saturdays it's going to show up. I feel as though that it's really becoming a transition and people are going to be reminded what USC is really all about. We all know who your quarterback is. We've seen him a lot. We know he's going to be the number one overall pick in the draft. He won the Heisman Trophy last year. He's an incredible football player, but you have a different perspective than I do watching from my couch or maybe seeing him in New York when he won the Heisman. You tell me who your quarterback Caleb Williams is.

Caleb Williams is a natural born leader. Each day in and day out, you're going to get the same thing out of him. He's going to go ahead and push on you and harp on you, especially as a wide receiver. We've got to be on point all the time because he's the one throwing us the ball.

So just making sure that you're going ahead and continue to improve your game is going to help build that trust day in and day out. And he's going to be able to depend on you when he goes into that scramble mode, when he goes into those big time situations, when he wants to just go ahead and get it to a specific person. What does your dad, by the way, say about Caleb Williams?

I'm just wondering. My dad says a lot of things, honestly. If anything he says that's most apparent all the time, it would be gifted. Gotcha. I want to read you a tweet.

I'm sure you saw this. It's from Emmanuel Acho, who after you guys lost to Utah, said with the national championship hopes gone, Caleb Williams should consider sitting out the rest of the season. The Heisman is a long shot. College football playoffs are even less likely and he won't play in the bowl game. The risk of playing far outweighs the reward.

Business decision. When you hear that from Emmanuel Acho and he's advocating for your quarterback to sit out for the rest of the season, how do you kind of react to it? I mean, you kind of got to chuckle because that's not who Caleb is. Caleb is going to go ahead and fight with his teammates each and every day. If you think he was really going to sit out, you lost your mind.

I promise you, you lost your mind. This guy is a competitor. He's a guy that's going to go out there and try to show up your defense each day in and day out. And if you think that Heisman is out, guys, I promise you, he still has the best stats in the nation. He can still go on to beat Washington and Oregon. If you guys want to go ahead and say college football playoffs are up, OK, go ahead. Like a lot of teams, a lot of football left.

We'll see you guys in December. Love that answer. Before we let you run, Brendan Rice, tell me about the campaign that you're doing today on behalf of Breathe Right. I mean, just breathe right, going ahead, incorporating into my lifestyle. It's being passed down from generation to generation. And it goes back to the lines of legacy. So just as that legacy goes ahead and gets passed down, I'm able to see some of the stuff that my dad used to do with the Air Jerry campaign and how we had to note the nasal strips and just going ahead and being able to recreate that was kind of nostalgic. So just going ahead and incorporating that into my lifestyle and going in and seeing how the nasal can affect my game after those long travel days, it helps me clear my sinuses and allows me to breathe better for those long nights before the game day preparation.

I feel like the legacy is really being passed down. And I'm thankful for that. Well, I love this conversation. Really do appreciate the time today. And good luck on the rest of your journey, Brendan Rice. Thank you. Time for your daily news brief. We get you caught up on the rumors, reports and reconnaissance from the day in sports.

And this portion of the show is brought to you by Wesley Financial stuck at a timeshare and want out contact Wesley Financial Group now and get a free timeshare exit information kit at Wesley Financial dot com. Let's start off with to a tongue of Iloa. We talked about this the other day that the Dolphins were announced to be the in season hard knocks team and to a tongue of Iloa is channeling his inner Robert Sala.

And he's not happy with the mid season hard knocks. I'm just not a big attention guy. I understand it comes with the territory. I know this just different for me.

I like to keep things private. I know having conversations with some guys in the locker room that, you know, for them, it's gonna be tough as well. So we're all gonna work through this together.

What are you really working through together? And the Jets are so fraudulent, too. They were all bitching and complaining about hard knocks. And then the NFL forced it down their throat. And then the Jets embraced hard knocks.

And here's the thing. Hugh Jackson explained this to me when the whole Todd Haley scene happened. And I said to him, Hugh, that wasn't a good look in hard knocks. When you're basically telling Todd Haley, you're the head coach of the team. And when you're in this decision and you're in this chair, you have to make decisions that you may not be able to understand as the offensive coordinator. And Hugh Jackson explained to me, well, you got to remember I control what goes out in hard knocks. And maybe I was trying to send a little message there because what you guys saw on camera for the first time wasn't the first time that was actually going on behind the scenes. It was a conversation about maybe giving guys days off or something like that. And Todd Haley maybe wanted to push him a little extra more.

And it was a conversation that occurred for the fourth or fifth time when we were finally seeing it for the first time. So the teams control what goes out and therefore I don't think the Dolphins are going to try to throw their own team under the bus outside of Tua dealing with maybe a potential concussion. And they're not going to show that on hard knocks anyway outside of him just getting hurt.

I can see why maybe he'll be skeptical there. But once again, the team dictates everything they put out. So I don't see what the big deal is.

And I don't see what any player would really be annoyed by this. And the Dolphins have a bunch of personalities anyway, where I don't actually believe that behind the scenes people are actually worried about this inside the Dolphins locker room. But it kind of fits to his personality or lack of it.

I'm a fan of Tua Tunga by Loa, right? There's a reason why he doesn't want to do quarterback, which is fine. You don't have to. But this is a thing that the NFL is making your team do. And I don't know how it was agreed upon. But it did happen.

And I don't think it's that big of a deal that you have to freak out about it. So we played yesterday Brady Quinn saying that Deshaun Watson's baby like a trust fund baby where he got all this money and then he was cleared to play. And then since he got his money, he didn't want to play.

Deshaun Watson responded to those comments made by Brady Quinn earlier today. I wouldn't ever want to play. I just, I just worked my ass off for two years to get back to playing. So why wouldn't I want to play? This is what I've been doing since I was six years old.

So why wouldn't I want to play? I see the, I see the same thing. I see all the, the narratives, this, that, the third. I mean, all that stuff is just trying to call controversy and commotion.

Why would anybody listen to any of that stuff? All that speculation. So if it ain't coming from me, then all the other bullshit. Well it's not as if Deshaun Watson is the most trustworthy human being to ever walk the planet.

Number one. So just because it's not coming from you doesn't mean that it's necessarily false. But when I saw it, he got cleared to return any past concussion protocol. I just thought that was Kevin Stefanski saying you don't want to be on the wrong side of this where just cause some player is cleared to return doesn't mean he should be out there on the field.

And that's what I thought it was. And then the reason why he's going to be out this week, it's not because of a lingering effect from a head injury. It's because of the shoulder injury, which he thought he recovered from. And he was back on the field this past Sunday from the shoulder injury. So did the shoulder get worse? Did you realize like you weren't ready?

I don't know. Like something just doesn't add up to me there with the whole Deshaun Watson situation. I'm not saying he didn't want to play, but it's not as if like we could just rule that out of a possibility. Here is a Frank Reich as you do get ready for a matchup this weekend between the Carolina Panthers and the Houston Texans. Frank Reich on this whole decision about going Bryce Young over CJ Stroud when many people thought that Frank Reich wanted CJ Stroud and then David Tepper, which I think did happen here, swooped in and said, no, we're drafting Bryce Young. We got the guy we wanted to get. Couldn't be happier about that in every way.

I'm happy for CJ. You know that he's had six good games and I have no doubt he'll have many more good games. But I know this when it comes to evaluating quarterbacks or any position, it's years, not weeks. You know, you can't put a label on a guy after six weeks or even a year.

So he's not wrong where you can't label someone even though we rushed to do so in the media world. But every time I hear Frank Reich speak, I almost think he is a hostage victim. Where a few weeks ago it was like discussing David Tepper. Yeah, we have tough meetings, but I love how aggressive David Tepper is. He just doesn't sell it well. And a lot of people in NFL circles know that he preferred CJ Stroud and it was Tepper who wanted Bryce Young. But he has to get up there and I know you could say, oh, it's just his normal tone in a press conference, blah, blah, blah.

A lot of us know the truth on that one. Here is CJ Stroud and the narrative that Bryce Young is struggling right now. Personally, watching the film and watching every game of his, I don't think in any way, aspect or form he's playing bad. That's what people think if you're not winning or like you have a turnover here and there. Bryce is playing some really good football. I just don't think people watch in depth like if you're a quarterback, you know.

Personally, I think he's playing good and I think he'll continue to be great in his game because he has that swagger and mentality and that type of playing style. I believe in Bryce Young and something I praised Bryce Young for last year was how he found a way to perform at a high level with not a lot of talent outside of Jameer Gibbs around him. But I don't know how to evaluate him this year because I don't think he's been put in the best position to succeed. The offensive line in Carolina stinks. You know, Adam Thielen has been good, but he's not a number one wide receiver and Miles Sanders is an overrated running back.

So it's tough to say Bryce Young, go have success, go look good when you really have nothing great around you. Let's go to Brian Dabel, the head football coach of New York Giants. He was asked about the future of Saquon Barkley and him maybe being on the trade block.

I think that's actually a mistake. Now, I don't think you have to trade him, but you got to listen. And maybe behind the scenes, right, Brian Dabel knows something different and you just walk up to the player and you want to show your player everything's going to be fine. But then what happens if you trade him? He's on the final year of a contract, right? He's a franchise tag player right now. And I don't know where the Giants are heading to. And they didn't get a deal done last offseason. So there are things that are drastically changed this offseason. If someone offers you a second round pick, and this team is not ready to win consistently, you got to consider that if you're the Giants and you should pull the trigger. Here is Rob Gronkowski ripping apart the Patriots for celebrating their second win of the season.

Go get him, Gronk. If you ask me, that celebration was pretty ridiculous, Chung. Whenever we celebrated just a little bit, we would get hounded. They would just run one game and they celebrated like more than we would when we won a Super Bowl. That was like one of the most absurd celebrations. I'm like, wow, they won a game.

They went that crazy. They're acting like they've never been there before. Well, a lot of these guys haven't been there before because they didn't have Tom Brady and they didn't have you winning Super Bowls on this team.

And outside of like Matthew Slater with everyone that is running it out of New England and like David Andrews now that still remain. I'm wondering there, is that like Gronk kind of like mocking the hot take culture a little bit and just giving a hot take of his own and trying to be the serious analyst? Or is that more so him just saying, yeah, we barely were allowed to celebrate New England. I was like the king of fun and we were actually winning. I'm not going to rip someone for doing a gritty in the end zone, but for where the Patriots standard is, it was a little amateur hour by Giseke and Mac Jones.

Like have fun, you win. But the standard for the Patriots, which has fallen significantly since TB 12 has walked out of the building. I don't think they're going all crazy and bonkers and acting as if they want to want to Super Bowl the way that Gronk is saying it.

If TB 12 is still in that building because you wouldn't expect that game to actually be as close and need a last second drive to get the job done. Here is Ben Roethlisberger on football in with Ben Roethlisberger, his podcast on George Pickens bad penalties for the Steelers. You've got to put a stop to it now before it gets out of control because that kid, I'm going to say it again. George Pickens is a absolute animal. Yeah, he's a game changer. He's a difference maker, but you've got to have it. You got to get under control before it gets out of control and you and you lose it forever because it can happen. It can happen.

And so I just want to see someone with that much talent lose it like that. Let's go to Victor when Benyama made his debut last night Mavericks win though against the Spurs 126 to 119. When be as the cool kids call him had 15 points in the game and was also able to pull in five rebounds to assist and had two steals in a block.

But he did have nine points in the fourth quarters under a lot of foul trouble. And Victor when Benyama talked about that foul trouble in his NBA debut. I wasn't very aggressive. I couldn't be really in the first half. We could I could get a couple buckets by surprising, you know, the opponents because they're they're more focused in the moment on my teammates that are hot in the moment. And let's go to pop Greg Popovich on Victor when Benyama's debut.

I think it was great. One of the toughest things for a player is you get into foul trouble and you never get in a rhythm and you're in and out of the game and that sort of thing. So I thought his maturity showed even at a young age where he came in with the last, I think, seven minutes and just play. We ran some stuff for him. He executed where a lot of guys would have been totally out of it by then.

I thought he had a wonderful outing considering that. And finally, before I give you my thoughts on one, let's hear courtesy of ESPN Luca Doncic curse on live TV talking about the sensational game he thought Victor when Benyama had. I always love the accidental curse, like Hickey when he was producing me a few years ago, just curse when talking about Russell Westbrook.

I've never laughed harder in my life. But going back to Victor when Benyama, you see how incredible of a defender he is like late in the game last night. He didn't block Kyrie Irving, but just his long wingspan affected the shot and made Kyrie hesitate. He is very skinny and I asked him about that at the draft and he's like, Well, maybe we should tell people to skinny up, not bulk up and add up weight.

So it seems like he's resistant to adding more weight, but he probably should. And last night you could cover up the minutes because of the foul trouble. But I do wonder, are they going to put him kind of on a minutes restriction this year? And then as a role as an offensive player, we know he could hit the three. But how much of the post game are we going to see from Victor when Benyama as well? I think for all things considered, it wasn't like a booming success last night, but it wasn't a disappointment. It was a fine performance and he came alive in the fourth quarter and made it a game and showed up on the big stage when he had nine points in the fourth quarter. So you could check off the box for Victor when Benyama and the biggest story of the NBA regular season will continue on and we'll see how we're talking about him at the end of the year. And hopefully Perloff is driving around San Antonio, just getting people throwing things at him and making fun of him when Wendy wins the NBA Rookie of the Year. Coming on back, Zach Gelb's show CBS Sports.