Seahawks Hire Mike MacDonald (Hour 2)

The Sultan of Sizzle. The Titan of Toastiness. The Kingpin of Kindling.

These are the admired ones. Those who've created the prime place to gather. They don't just have a backyard. They have the backyard because they know a Solo Stove Fire Pit is more than just the ultimate smokeless fire pit. It's a place where friendships are forged, football is revered, and food is enjoyed. Solo Stove. The perfect flame for the big game.

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Oh, sorry. One retired quarterback returns to claim what's his. That's claim a ring with diamonds made from M&M's peanut butter, but you're on a roll.

The Ring of Comfort. Coming soon to a Super Bowl new you. What's going to happen? One vacancy is left.

It is the Zach Gelb show on CBS Sports Radio. And it's kind of crazy with Mike McDonald getting hired today as the new head football coach of the Seattle Seahawks. Give you a reaction to that in just a bit. How the commanders are still the last team standing.

And you could change the owner who needed to be changed. Daniel Snyder was a pig and thankfully they brought in Josh Harris. You got a respected hot commodity in as your new general manager.

I'm not going to I'm not a radio host that pretends to tell you when I don't know things and just try to talk in circles and give you all this information that I've just read from other articles. Peters may be a rock star. How many times have you heard that there is a hot commodity in the GM world and then he gets there and he can't do anything like Joe Douglas, for example.

A rock star with what he did with the Ravens, what he did with the Philadelphia Eagles and with the Jets. It's been a bunch of years now and he still hasn't fixed their offensive line. But there's so much positive momentum brewing with the commanders, new GM, you have a new owner, you have the second pick in the draft, and they're still the team that got stood up by their date at the dance. And now it's like, OK, who are you going home with?

Who are you pivoting to? Because you were supposed to get the 10 out of 10 candidate where for no experience because they didn't want Belichick. They didn't want Vrabel. They didn't want Pete Carroll.

It seems like they didn't want Jim Harbaugh. For whatever the reasons were, they wanted something new and they wanted something that was getting praised around the league as what would have been a sensational hire in Ben Johnson. But Ben Johnson, and you could believe the Adam Schefter stuff that maybe he was asking for too much money. You remember the Josina Anderson report that he was asking like in the 15 million dollar a year range, which I always just thought because of knowing the Ben Johnson history that that was just to kind of make David Tepper offer him a check that he couldn't refuse. Because Johnson last year pulled out of the Panthers job and said, no, I'm staying in Detroit and I'm not taking the Carolina job. And a lot of people thought Tepper wanted Ben Johnson. And I thought that was Johnson really being smart. And I know what the narrative is with David Tepper. I know how ugly David Tepper has been. So let's have this report from my agent or himself floated out to Josina Anderson that he wants 15 million dollars a year because all or maybe it was a rival owner that was even like, we know Tepper will pay this rookie head coach 15 million dollars a year. Let's put this perception out there that the price was 15 million. So he'd be the only one to match it because say what you want when you have no experience as a head coach, you know, given someone a six, seven year deal or guaranteeing them 15 million dollars a year.

That's pretty bold and it upsets a lot of other owners. But Tepper is weak right now. Tepper doesn't know the difference between his elbow and his behind, let's just say. And he would probably, you would have thought been desperate to give Ben Johnson that.

But then even Tepper kind of got humbled in this process, which I don't know if he's actually humbled. But, you know, we had to promote from within with Dan Morgan, the general manager, and then Dan Morgan had a relationship with Dave Canales, who no other team. And I'm not saying Dave Canales shouldn't eventually be a head coach one day. Dave Canales did a good job in Seattle with Geno Smith. He did a heck of a job this year with Baker Mayfield with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. But that wasn't a big name in the hiring cycle. But it was going to be what was going to lead the Panthers into getting their next head coach, someone that had a new connection with the general manager and someone that, quite frankly, probably wasn't going to get hired anywhere else.

So I can't really crush the Panthers higher because knowing how right they're graded on a scale, the Tepper scale, their moves may not work, but it's the best what they could do with the crappy situation. So you go back to the commanders who we all thought it was going to be Ben Johnson. And then, for whatever the reasons were, in the last 24 hours, Ben Johnson says he's staying with the Detroit Lions, and I find it funny. For the last two weeks, every Tom, Dick and Harry that covers the NFL, and I'll even throw my hand up here, and I thought it was a foregone conclusion, Ben Johnson to the commanders. And then we have all these insiders after Johnson says I'm staying with the Lions.

Wow, clearly it wasn't as much of a lock as everyone thought it was, and I heard from my sources that was the case the last week. Well, why did you report that? Why didn't you say that?

It's a you-know-what swinging contest. Oh, I was wrong, but I just can't admit I was wrong. So now I got to pretend like I'm in the know, where a lot of these guys are in the know, but everyone thought one thing was going to happen. So when everyone thought one thing was going to happen with the commanders getting Ben Johnson, and it doesn't happen, why can't you just say we were all wrong on it? Why can't you just say, oh, it didn't happen, and Ben Johnson, for whatever the reasons were, find out what the reasons were, shocked us all? Instead of, well, clearly, sources told me leading up to this announcement that it wasn't a foregone conclusion like everyone else thought it was. Like, come on, such a bunch of bullcrap.

It really is. So Johnson is back to the Lions as their offensive coordinator, and really the commanders are the team that you thought were going to have a hot date to the dance, and now it's like, okay, who's going to be our rebound? Who's going to be the person that makes us feel better after getting rejected from Ben Johnson?

And everyone else is walking home from the dance with someone, and you're still sitting there, and you're getting nervous, you're tapping your glass, and you're saying, hmm, who else is still here? And it looks like it's going to be Dan Quinn, where Dan Quinn is deserving of another opportunity. I still don't know if Dan Quinn just has the greatest agent in the world, or teams are actually interested in him, because the last three years all I've heard about is Dan Quinn is this hot commodity. Dan Quinn is someone that people really want to be their head coach, and then he never gets a job. So I guess the commanders are going to hire Dan Quinn, and it's not a bad hire, but it's not a great hire, it would be an underwhelming hire.

But it's funny, with all the changes with the commanders, they still get screwed, they still get left out of the party, they still get left out of the fun. And maybe that hire will end up being the right hire if it's Dan Quinn or somebody else, and maybe Ben Johnson will end up being some bum as a head coach. But it is wild that the commanders are the last team standing, and it seems like they don't have a damn clue where they're going to pivot to, because everyone thought that Ben Johnson was going to be the next head coach of this team. So that leads us to Seattle's hire of Mike McDonald. I think this is one of the surprise hires of the coaching carousel.

Like, you go through it, Mayo to New England made sense. Antonio Pierce staying with the Raiders made sense. Canales was somewhat surprising, but when I heard he got his second interview and you had the Morgan link, I tweeted this three days before he got the job, I go, that's going to be the guy that they have to settle on. Callahan going to Tennessee, I think that they're just trying to find some lightning in the bottle on the offensive side of the ball, and they're rebuilding, and Mike Vrabel didn't want to be the coach there anymore. Raheem Morris landing in Atlanta.

Raheem Morris is deserving of a second opportunity. It was just a sloppy process by the Falcons, because Blank wanted Bill Belichick, but everyone else in the organization knew that their jobs would be on the line if Bill was brought in. So that's why Arthur Blank didn't end up going with Bill Belichick.

So you go through all these hires, and you could eventually see why they happened. Mike McDonald, I don't think it's a bad hire, right? The guy just ran a great defense the last few seasons, ever since coming over from Michigan, has the connection with the Harbaugh family, he's only 36 years old, and Mike McDonald now is going to be a head coach. And I don't know if he's going to be this great head coach, but what Seattle is telling you is they're trying to get back to their Legion of Boom days, where they're dominant on defense, and then they'll figure the offense out. Because the last few years, that defense under Pete Carroll has not been magnificent. And Pete Carroll, I think, was flirting with retirement, then at the end of the year didn't want to retire, and I didn't know that he was flirting with retirement, these are just things that I've read. And then he wanted to stay as the head coach, but the organization already, I think, got in the mindset of life without Pete Carroll as the head coach, and when he tried to make that last stand to be the coach, the organization already made their decision to move on from him. So the idea of bringing Mike McDonald right now on the surface does not appear to be an upgrade over Pete Carroll, and it's like, hmm, they took a big step back, but what the Seahawks are doing right now is they're realizing, if Pete Carroll continued to coach this team, this team wasn't going to be a Super Bowl contender again.

And in all likelihood, the days of Pete Carroll getting the Seattle Seahawks to another Super Bowl were not going to be in their favor. So you reset the organization with a good foundation, like you have Tyler Lockett, you have D.K. Metcalf, you have Jackson Smith and Jigba, you have some emerging names in the secondary right now, and Geno Smith is there, Geno Smith is solid, but he's not the long-term answer for the Seattle Seahawks. You know, if he could stay healthy, Kenneth Walker, I think, is going to be a good back in this league, and he's my favorite running back out of his draft class from two, three years ago. But McDonald is someone that's young, he had a lot of success in Baltimore, and maybe he's that new mold of coach where the new mold of coach is a Dan Campbell.

It's a D'Amico Ryans. It is a player's coach who is in a doormat, and that's young, and that could galvanize a locker room, and I'm okay, right, with the defensive hire, because now everyone tries to go offense, offense, offense. Look at some of these hires from the last cycle, like Dan Campbell, Antonio Pierce. You go on, now Mike McDonald, D'Amico Ryans, you don't need to be the brainiac offensive coordinator to get a head coaching job. Like, Sean McVay was born to coach. Hey, Sean McVay worked.

I'm not crapping on offense. I'm not telling you don't hire an offensive-minded guy, and I know that Dan Campbell was a tight ends coach, because he played tight end, but no one was hiring Dan Campbell because they thought he was a wizard on the offensive side of the ball. But those guys like Pierce and like Mayo and D'Amico Ryans and Dan Campbell, that's kind of the new mold, and I know Mike McDonald was not like a former player like those guys. Like, yeah, sure, he played his college ball at Georgia, but no one really remembers Mike McDonald as a football player.

So. And, you know, actually, I don't even think he coached. I don't think he played at Georgia. I think he was just a student at Georgia.

I got to double check on that, but he's not remembered for anything that he ever did on the field as a player. But a guy like that can still work. But that's kind of the new mold of coach. It's one of those guys that are leader of men.

My way of the highway doesn't work. And now you're a player's coach, but you can't be a doormat. And I can't stress that enough. Guys like Robert Solid, doormat. Nick Sirianni has had a lot of success, doormat.

Those guys don't last long in this league. So I know it's not the best radio take in the world. But the Mike McDonald hire is. On the surface, I think it will get praise.

I don't think a lot of people saw this coming up until this week. He clearly has had success in college and in the NFL. And, you know, he went from Baltimore to Michigan, then back to Baltimore. And he has a little college background at Georgia. And I think this is one of those hires that I don't think will get universally praise.

It will get praise, but I don't think it will be universally praise. But for Seattle, it kind of brings them back to their roots and resets them with the younger coach. Now, ultimately, you got to win games.

Ultimately, you're going to have to succeed. And if you go six wins, seven wins and six wins, you'll be out of a job three years from now. But at first, when they got rid of Pete Carroll, I was like, I don't really like it.

Now, knowing where Seattle was and thinking about it more and where Seattle was never going to get back to another Super Bowl under Pete Carroll. And they were just going to be stuck as being a good team that's in the playoffs, out of the playoffs, out of the playoffs. The idea of this hire is the right hire.

We'll ultimately see, though, if it will end up working. So the commanders are the lone job still available. And I guess it's going to be Dan Quinn.

But what a fascinating hiring cycle this is. Harbaugh gets a job with the Chargers. Belichick shut out. Vrabel, for now, shut out.

Like, commanders, what are you doing? Go get Vrabel. Like, you just lost out on Ben Johnson. Why wouldn't you go try to get Mike Vrabel, who's established in this league? And no one's going to look like you bring in Dan Quinn. It's like, yeah, OK, yeah, it's fine hire.

But it's underwhelming from what you were trying to sell your fans. You bring in Mike Vrabel. I would argue the case.

I rather have Mike Vrabel than Ben Johnson. That's me. I think you would do a great 180.

You'd be going home right with the the smoking hot date at the dance after you were just heartbroken, thinking that your hot date broke your heart at the dance. But now it's like you could maybe do better. But it seems like the rebound here for the commander is going to be like, all right, fine. You know, appealing.

But you know that this is not the one for you long term. Alrighty. We react to the coaching cycle. 8 5 5 2 1 2 4 CBS 8 5 5 2 1 2 42 27. We'll take a time out when we come back with some of the biggest stories in the world of sports with some audio. We call that segment the news brief. Bart Winkler still will join us 30 minutes from now on a Winkler Wednesday and then at 5 20 p.m. Eastern to 20 p.m. Pacific, a late addition to the show. Former three time Pro Bowl linebacker, two time All-Pro in Chad Brown is going to stop by in the final hour of the extravaganza.

Come on back. The Sultan of Sizzle, the Titan of toastiness, the kingpin of kindling. These are the admired ones. Those who've created the prime place to gather. They don't just have a backyard. They have the backyard because they know a solo stove. Fire pit is more than just the ultimate smokeless fire pit.

It's a place where friendships are forged. Football is revered and food is enjoyed. Solo stove. The perfect flame for the big game. A peanut butter M&M's production in a world where Super Bowl winners get the world's admiration and a fancy ring.

But the runners up get nothing. One retired cop. That's one retired quarterback. Read the script.

Oh, sorry. One retired quarterback returns to claim what's his. That's claim a ring with diamonds made from M&M's peanut butter.

But you're on a roll. The Ring of Comfort coming soon to a Super Bowl new you. Hey, Mel, Bri here. Got to work from home today because the whole family caught a nasty.

Hey, Mikey, if you're going to puke, find the popcorn bowl. But my availability is one hundred and ten percent. Coincidentally, so is my fever.

Kidding. Mel, I'm so cold but hot. But I'm going to get you that budget just as soon as.

Mikey, popcorn bowl. Press one to use Instacart to get your family sick day essentials delivered in as fast as 30 minutes. Press two to keep working.

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No long term commitments or contracts. That's Stamps dot com code program. Extra, extra real about it. Extra, extra real about it. Time for your daily news brief. We get you caught up on the rumors, reports and reconnaissance from the day in sports.

All right. News brief time. Zach Gelb shows CBS Sports Radio the gift that keeps on giving Jerry Jones. This is what you know Jerry Jones does best. The off season. No one's talking about his team. We finally got off of ripping the drama Dallas Choking Cowboys. But since Jerry cares more about the headlines than winning, he has to put the team back in the news. I know it's a senior ball and all that stuff. Blah, blah, blah.

Mobile, Alabama. But Jerry Jones has high hopes for Dallas. He says they're all in for this upcoming season. I would anticipate with looking ahead at our key contracts that we'd like to address. We'll be all in. I would anticipate we'll be all in at the end of this year. We'll be going all in on different people than you've done in the past. We'll be going all in. We've seen some things out of some of the players that we want to be all in on.

And yes, I would say that you will see us this coming year not building for the future. It's the best way I know to say it. You hear the reporter in the background like, okay, Jerry. Okay, Jerry. Oh, okay. We get it.

You're all in. Have you not been all in for the last 20, 25 years? Because there's not many years where we ripped the construction of the Cowboys roster. It's that even with these good players, they just don't get the job done. Let's go to one more of Jerry Jones on Dak Prescott's future with the team. He has one year left on his deal. Dak has done nothing to change my mind of any promise for the future. I think I said in the deal that we'd go as far as Dak takes us in the playoffs. And Dak sucked in the playoffs. We go as far as Dak takes us.

And that's how far we went. Aye, aye, aye. So then your mind does change. Because, correct me if I'm wrong, Stu.

I'm a Stewart you there. But correct me if I'm wrong. Jerry Jones was the same guy that a few months ago, he said, I don't see why we can't win it all this year. I don't see a flaw with this team. And then you bow out in the first round on Wild Card Weekend, where basically a rookie quarterback, I know he's not a rookie because he's been in league the last few years, but his first two years as a starter, Jordan Love kicks your ass. I'm not just putting this on Dak.

The whole team didn't show up. But that didn't change your view at all of Dak Prescott and the Cowboys? Yeah, it would have to a little, even if it doesn't mean you're going to move on from him.

You can't say it didn't change at all because it was just putrid. And the Cowboys are in such a tricky spot because the cap hit is so enormous for Dak. And you know Dak is good, but he's not great. You're never going to win a Super Bowl with Dak.

So it's easy to say to move on. But are you going to find that much better than Dak right now with the roster that is win now? No one believes they're going to win now, but they're in win now mode.

So if you don't extend him, you have this enormous cap hit, and you'll lose some other guys in trying to trim everyone in under the cap. They're in a disastrous situation. So what does Jerry Jones do best? Fellas, we're going to the drama game.

I'm just going to talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, give people content, and they'll continue to have drama and intrigue to see what we're going to do. Patrick Mahomes went on with our buddy Carrington Harrison on Sports Radio 610 in Kansas City. And Patrick Mahomes says Justin Tucker is the only kicker to ever give him a problem in pregame warm-ups going back to the whole incident over the weekend where I guess Mahomes trying to warm up. He asked Justin Tucker to move the helmet.

He moved it like two inches over. And then Travis Kelce came in like a wrecking ball. Can I even say that? Isn't that a Katy Perry song? There's no beef. Miley Cyrus. Oh, is it Miley Cyrus?

I came in like a wrecking ball. There's no beef between Miley Cyrus and Taylor Swift, right? There's no beef there? I don't think so.

Not that I know of. Okay, I'm just making sure. I don't want to annoy the Swifties. I am an ally.

I am all for Taylor Swift. So I just want to welcome you into our environment and our world. This is Patrick Mahomes talking about that whole incident with Justin Tucker. I've had like seven years of kind of doing that same warm-up routine, and there's only been like three occasions where there's been a kicker that wasn't – because you usually talk to guys that have been a kicker that wasn't necessarily moving out the way, or you weren't kind of sharing the field in the right way.

And I mean it was in Baltimore all three times. So he does that little stuff I think to try to get under our skin. And let's go to Travis Kelce.

He was on his new Heights podcast, and he really ripped into Justin Tucker. So we're warming up, and we do our same warm-up every single time on our side of the field. For those of you that don't know what happens in pre-games, the Ravens have their side of the field, and the Chiefs has our side of the field.

Now, specialists, because of like the win factor and where you are, they get a chance to kick at both field goals and kind of punt from both sides of the field. But it's always – if you're trying to go onto the other team's designated area, you kind of stay out of their way, you know? You don't interfere with what they have going on. That is the unwritten rule. That's the unwritten rule. If you want to be a fuck about it, you keep your helmet and your football and your fucking kicking tee right where the quarterbacks are warming up, and they're dropping – eyes are looking left, and they got a helmet down by their feet. It's actually kind of dangerous, really, but – Like, if you're not going to pick that up, I'll happily move that for you.

This is not going to be popular. Mahomes and Kelsey got to shut up. Enough with talking about Justin Tucker. You've won. You've advanced to the Super Bowl. I don't need to hear you bitching and complaining about the warm-up procedure with what happened with Justin Tucker. And I told you earlier in the week that, initially, my brain is telling me Kansas City is going to win the Super Bowl because you can't pick against Patrick Mahomes.

My gut, though, is starting to tell me that it's going to be the 49ers, because even though the Niners are the favorite, it feels like no one's picking the 49ers and everyone's telling you, oh, you can't bet against Patrick Mahomes. And I don't think Mahomes and Kelsey are unlikable, but in this case, they come off unlikable here. Like, enough about going after Justin Tucker and the pregame routine. You've won the game.

Move on. Stop dragging your feet and crying and moaning about Justin Tucker. Who gives a rat's ass? Let's go to AJ Brown. He somewhat dismissed the trade rumors of him being in Philadelphia.

This is courtesy of Up and Adams with Kay Adams. Why does Twitter have this wild idea that you're getting traded? I don't know. I don't know, you know?

Maybe they know something I don't know. I mean, have you heard anything about this? Is this, like, a media thing?

It's everywhere. I'm sure you've seen it. You know, I've kind of been through this before, you know?

Some of it, you know? So, you know, I remain quiet. And, you know, if something happens, I'll be waiting by the phone.

If not, then I'll be right here. All right, Stu and Carlos, I've got to get your view on this. So, the headline here, and this has been everywhere. AJ Brown dismisses trade rumors. He opens up about the trade rumors. Maybe there's more to this interview. I've only heard that part of the clip that's been going viral. I'll be honest with you, I did not listen to this entire interview with AJ Brown and Devante Smith with Kay Adams.

I did not. But that doesn't sound like a guy that really clarified anything. And I like how Kay kind of did that. You know, why is Twitter saying there's all these rumors about you getting traded? Because the guy doesn't look happy at all on the sidelines. He looked miserable this past year. He looked like he didn't want to be there this year. And he didn't really give, I'll pull a Robert Solow line, positive vibes only there. He's like, yeah, I've been through this before. Oh, yeah, by the way, you got traded to Philadelphia from Tennessee when you weren't happy. And I'll just wait to see what happens when the phone rings and if I get traded or not. Like, did she ask him, did he ever say, I want to be in Philadelphia?

Philadelphia is the only place that I want to be? Like, did that get brought up? Because I didn't hear that there. Did not hear it, and that's pretty much an easy answer for him. He could have just said that.

You know, just stay with that, yeah. Like, I know Jim had A.J. Brown on. I did not hear that interview yet, the legendary Jim Rome. But I would ask A.J.

Brown this, just point blank. Do you still want to be in Philadelphia? Are you happy in Philadelphia? Because it looked like you weren't happy at times this year. And then let him respond to that. But I wasn't the one doing the interview.

He was no gas, all breaks. Yeah, good line. I wonder if A.J.

Brown would have hung up the photo of me. Here is Stephen Jones. I feel like they have Jerry Jones speak, and then they're like, Stephen, you speak.

You clean everything up. Here is Stephen Jones. He knows they need to prove themselves, the Cowboys. We have had three good years at 12 and 5, and we have had major disappointments in the postseason.

So until we do something about it, which is go have another great year and have success in the playoffs, then, you know, that's going to be there. I mean, there's no way they're going to, you know, explicitly trust you until you get it done. When someone trusts Tom Brady and the Patriots that they're going to get it done, yeah, why? Because they did it year in and year out.

If someone trusts my home in Kansas City that they're going to do it, why? Because they do it six years in a row, they're in the championship game. Until we compete at that level and we get the job done, then there's going to be doubt, and rightfully so.

I like how he is his father, except he's more polished. He gave you, right, the CEO answer where he kind of led you down the road. Hey, did people doubt Tom Brady? Did people doubt Patrick Mahomes? Like, did they doubt those teams?

No, because they have the quarterback. So he basically just said there's reason to doubt us, and that plays into the drama, but it was more buttoned up and not as blunt and direct as his father would give it to you. Here is Jason Kidd, last one we'll play for you, a 97-1 The Freak. What a radio station name that is.

The Freak. Here is Jake Kidd, Jason Kidd, on Luka Doncic's greatness. I've said this before, and I'll say it, you know, for as long as I'm here, you can't take this young man for granted. He's better than Dirk, he's in the atmosphere of MJ, the best to ever do it, LeBron, Kobe. And so just to appreciate what this young man's doing at the age of 24 is something that Dallas has never seen, and I've said this internally, he's better than Dirk. He does things that Dirk could never do, and now it's the opportunity of getting the right people around him to ultimately win a championship. I know you're his coach, and Luka Doncic is a phenomenal player. Can the dude make an NBA Finals and win a championship first before we start saying that he's better than Dirk?

Who was the face of that franchise forever? Can he win a championship before you start saying he's Michael Jordan or Kobe Bryant, two of the best winners this game has ever seen? Don't get me wrong, a lot of people want Luka Doncic on their team. He's a stud, he's a beast, he's a dog.

But you can't say he's better than Dirk, you can't say that he could be comparable to Kobe and to MJ right now. The dude's accomplished a lot, but not even a blip on any of those guys' radar with what they've accomplished in the NBA. All right, that's the News Brief. This is that Gilb Show on CBS Sports Radio. It's a Winkler Wednesday, Bart Winkler from the Bart Winkler Show right here on CBS Sports Radio. You can listen to his show on many of these same CBS Sports Radio affiliates weeknights.

10 p.m. to 2 a.m. Eastern is going to join us on the other side. Update time first here is Rich Ackerman. Bart Winkler is here with us, the host of the Bart Winkler Show. Monday through Friday on CBS Sports Radio.

Many of these same affiliates, 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. Eastern. And what does this hat say? The world's best dad.

That's my guy, Bart Winkler. Bart, what's happening? So what do I got to say? What do I got to do here?

I don't know, maybe we should do contrived radio and be like some of our confidants in the media just fighting. I want to get on entertainment tonight. What do I got to do to get in the news? What do I got to say?

What do I got to do? Got to go to the Zach Gelb Show School of Broadcasting, I guess. Yeah, how do I get on E! News tonight? Have Shep do something stupid. Which happens probably five days a week.

Well, actually six with this show. You and Shep. Shep was taking shots at you last night.

Was he really? What did he say? I did not catch that. What did Shep say? He didn't say anything. See, two things just happened there, folks. Either Shep did say something and Bart is being a good teammate or Bart was just doing what a lot of other people do and they just kind of go with the fun of the conversation and just kind of was saying something that wasn't true. I'm going to think it was the first part of that conversation rather than the latter, though. I won't get mad at Shep.

You have my word. What did Shep say about me last night? I don't think they should show Taylor Swift on TV ever again, even at the Grammys. She's ruining America. Is that what Shep said or are you just poking fun that we went viral because of Drew Tranquil?

I'm trying to get us aggregated here. Yeah, well, you know that they only put 44 seconds of Taylor Swift on that CBS broadcast. I don't know. I think that you're a normal sane human being, which could be a miscalculation on my behalf, but I don't think you're actually annoyed with the coverage of Taylor Swift. I don't understand how people are fed up about this already. I am. I'm annoyed.

It's not enough. Yeah, maybe she's got a minute or two. I love Taylor Swift. Taylor Swift is amazing. She's an incredible role model. She's taken a lot of shots from a lot of different directions that she shouldn't... She just wants to go support her boyfriend at a football game. She doesn't need to be the center of national conversation. And I also saw that Travis... She wears lipstick better than any other female human on earth? She does. I think Travis Kelce said today with Pat McAfee that before they extended the invite for her to go to the Bears-Chiefs game, I think it was the first game she went to, that they were already talking and I don't want to say dating, but they were seeing each other in some capacity for a month already up until that point.

So I have no problem with this. I think people just like to complain and politicize everything one way or another and somehow this story's been politicized and people just bitch to bitch. I have no problem with Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce's relationship, but not only that, Bart. I thought it was actually good that she went on the field after the game. I never thought she was going to go on the field because you actually saw that there is a genuine love between those two where a lot of people thought this was just a fake relationship so they could both continue to just maximize the brand of Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce. Yeah, I think that we're in a very interesting day and age where we want everything to be a conspiracy, where we want everything to be like, there's got to be a deeper meaning behind everything.

Yeah, like the gotcha moment. I don't know what that is. I love the people that think that there's some sort of agreement between the NFL and Taylor Swift to make it like the NFL was sitting in a board meeting one day and thinking, how can we get bigger? We're already going international. We've got 32 teams. That's probably enough.

How can we get bigger? Who's somebody that's popular that's not in our demo? Yeah, why don't you call Taylor Swift and see if she'll start dating one of our guys. And Taylor Swift is just going to be willing to date Travis Kelce if she didn't want to date Travis Kelce. She doesn't need the attention. She doesn't need the bigger profile. She's an icon.

She's an international superstar. Like the NFL needs her more than she needs them. So she wouldn't just date Travis Kelce because the NFL says, oh, we want you to do us a solid.

You know, it wouldn't make any sense. Maybe one of the greatest love stories outside of that commercial where the granddaughter drives the grandma around town and helps her relive memories with her grandpa might be the greatest love story of our time. If they get married, I do think they're going to get married. I'm not going to be betting plus $920 that they get engaged at the Super Bowl. But this is like our version of the royal wedding.

That's what it would be here in America with Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce. You got any sports questions or what are we doing? Yeah, no, we'll eventually get into that stuff.

Bart Winkler here with us. My mind's still moving in the direction of what the heck Shep was saying about me last night, which we'll get to the bottom of that eventually. So you don't like Brock Purdy?

Is that what sources are telling me? So here's what I said last night. And I gave like a 10 minute soliloquy on this man about what he is. I think he is a quarterback that has skill. I think he's a quarterback that has a lot of teammates that have skill.

And I think that he does a good job at maximizing his talents to mesh with the talents of his team. I think that he is an above average quarterback, dare I say good. I think that what I saw in the regular season was a better version of this quarterback. He's getting away with some mistakes.

And if you like name his top five plays at the playoffs, a bunch of them are runs. So all of a sudden a running quarterback is good now. Doesn't look very quarterbacky to me. But I think that based on how he's played in the playoffs, he's probably very fortunate to be in the Super Bowl.

That being said, yeah, I think he's a pretty good quarterback. And that's what I say. And that's what I say. I think that I went in and said some things that were nicer than what you're going to hear at this guy's funeral someday in the distant future.

I was very complimentary of him. And the problem that I'm having is what I just said isn't enough. What I just said isn't enough.

That is not enough for what people are trying to have Brock Purdy be. You got people out in San Francisco. Here's the problem. Trust me, I know the 40 Winers fans very well.

Remember, Deebo hung up the phone on me. I've been hearing it from them all throughout the season. So the Brock Purdy thing is the dumbest exercise in sports talk that's ever occurred. And I do blame the 40, we call them 40 Winers fans.

Yeah, that's fine. I like that. Because what's happened is they say, Brock Purdy is, man, this guy is really good. And then guys in the biz, like a me or a you, say, yeah, Brock Purdy, he's pretty good.

And then they hear the clip in San Francisco and they say, pretty good. He's really good. He's great.

So then they double down. He's rocking out with his Brock out. He looks pretty awesome.

Yeah, you know what they all say. Yeah, he's not great. Brock and roll. And then we're just like doubling down on each other. The guy is probably a top 10 quarterback. I would like to see him do this on teams that aren't as stacked. But then again, not everybody can come into this team and take him to the Super Bowl. However, I think there's a few other guys that can. Yeah, so here's my thing with Brock Purdy.

It's nothing about where he was drafted or what he's doing. I think that they were fortunate. They're fortunate.

If you're a Niners fan and can't admit that you're not fortunate to be in the Super Bowl. Why? How?

When? They have a great team. They have not played great in the playoffs, but it's still been better than everyone else in the NFC to get there. They could have easily lost that Packers game. They could have easily lost that Lions game. Heck, Kansas City could have easily lost the game to the Ravens over the weekend.

They were begging the Ravens to get in the game, but these other teams, they projectile vomited when either they had the lead or they were trying to go make it a football game. Your points on Purdy, I think they're all fair. He's a good quarterback. I called him a game manager earlier in the season.

He's been better than a game manager, but I'm not going to say he's elite. I'm not going to say he's a top five quarterback. But what I've said to 49ers all throughout fans throughout the year, why do you care what people say about your quarterback? As long as you win, flip the bird to everyone, and who cares how he's classified? And I thought the funniest thing was Mahomes, Mahomes, the best quarterback in the league, after he goes to another Super Bowl, he admitted in his postgame press conference when I asked him about his Chiefs defense when I was in Baltimore for the AFC title game, he admitted that this year, he himself learned how to be a game manager and just trust when the defense is having a great game to just manage the game and not mess it up.

So, real quickly, just give me a yes or no. Would you rather have, or just give me the quarterback you'd rather have, Josh Allen or Brock Purdy? Josh Allen. Tua Tunga-Vilova or Brock Purdy? I think I'll take Brock right now.

I would agree, because Tua has a ton of talent and they couldn't get out of the first round. Would you rather have, well, I know you're going to rather have Mahomes over Brock Purdy. What about Justin Herbert over Brock Purdy? Ooh, somebody called my show last night.

He went by the name 100. And he said that Justin Herbert is empty calories. Yeah, I would rather have Herbert than Purdy. I just think the coaching that Herbert's had. Like, you put Herbert on the 49ers.

Does anyone not think that they're going to be in the Super Bowl? What about Jordan Love, C.J. Stroud, Brock Purdy? I'd rather have C.J. Stroud, Love I'm intrigued by. I think there could be a higher upside with Love, but right now I would probably say Purdy.

But splitting hairs. How about Trevor Lawrence or Brock Purdy? Trevor Lawrence is Daniel Jones with a wig, so. Dak Prescott or Brock Purdy? Oh, Dak.

Really? I rock with Dak. Oh, I love Dak. He has so much talent around him, and the guy chokes every year. Dak, if Dak Prescott was on the 49ers, they'd be favored by 12 points. Wait, wait, wait, but hold on. Dak Prescott has C.D. Lamb. He has Brandon Cooks.

Like, he's got talent there. You've got no running back. Now Tony Pollard is some bum? Every Cowboy fan was fond of getting Ezekiel Elliott. Now they want him back.

So, you know, I think that's going to be. How about Jared Goff or Brock Purdy? I feel like if Jared Goff was on the 49ers and Brock Purdy was on the Lions, the Niners win that game by double digits. Yeah, it's tough to say when they were up by, what, 17 at one point in that game.

God, I feel bad for them, man. No, but Purdy is a good quarterback. He's good.

Doesn't mean that there can't be like seven or eight other guys that you've ever had. Yes, he is good, but that's not enough. That's not enough from the bloodthirsty Purdy nation. They need you to say he's Joe Montana or David or Steve Young or Steve Young. So last thing I'll ask you is we've got 45 seconds left, and I don't think we're having you on next week just because we're going to be at Radio Row and it's like a zoo out there.

What? Yeah, well, we'll have to punt the coverage like one more week. We're going to punt the football one more week. You're going to talk to Bill Romanowski instead of me?

Yeah, you guys probably make the same amount of sense. But just real quickly, who wins the Super Bowl? Who are you going with? You can't bet against either of these guys. So who do you go with?

That's the problem. Chiefs by eight. Chiefs by eight. Uh-oh. Now you know. New guy on CBS Sports Radio. He's going to say something.

Oh, he's just doing it for clicks. And then I'll end up being wrong. Or I'm going to be taken off the air.

I swear. Bart Winkler, host of the Bart Winkler Show. You can listen to him weeknights 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. Eastern. Bart, thanks so much for coming on back. I'm Zach Gelb's show, CBS Sports Radio. We'll be right back. We'll be right back. Thank you.