49ers Need More Respect (Hour 1)

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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 returns. That's one retired quarterback. Read the script.

Oh, sorry. One retired quarterback returns to claim what's his. Um, 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. Live from the play show, yet not overly ostentatious, Mandalay Bay Convention Center in beautiful Las Vegas. Here we are, day number one of Radio Row, as we get you set all the way up until kickoff on Sunday for Super Bowl 58. Zach Gelb here with you.

The Zach Gelb show live in Las Vegas. Michael Sampter has made it. Dan Silverman has made it. Frank has made it.

And Stuart Kovacs, unfortunately, is back in our New York City headquarters. We're rocking and rolling today all the way up until 3 p.m. Eastern, 6 p.m. Pacific. Excuse me, 3 p.m. Eastern is our show starting. Taking you all the way up until 6 p.m. Eastern.

And we've got a whole lot to get to today. Mike Pritchard will stop by 20 minutes from now. Thomas Dimitrov and Eric Eger will join us at the top of the hour. And Solomon Wolcottz will stop by in the final hour of the show.

Working on a few other things as well. As always, you give us a follow on the good old cesspool of Twitter, Instagram, I'm straight flexing, at Zach Gelb, Z-A-C-H-G-E-L-B. And you can always give us a call, 855-212-4CBS, 855-212-4227. And we'll be here for five straight days, obviously, Monday through Friday right here on CBS Sports Radio. And we'll give you some of the best Super Bowl coverage in the business. And I'll tell you, you come to a convention center like this with every media member in the country. I believe there's like 170 plus stations that is literally like right behind us.

And you have all the big media networks here as well. And you hear like a bunch of just like baloney from so many people where everyone says the same GD thing as you lead up to this game. And the two things that you really hear the most about are with the 49ers. No one's giving them a chance because you can't bet against the great Patrick Mahomes.

And I'm already just tired of that conversation and already the way that we describe Brock Purdy. And I know I'm a little persona non grata in the San Francisco 49ers fan base. I know Niners fans, they bitch and complain about me all the time on all their Reddit threads and everything because we had the whole kerfuffle, I guess is the word that I'll use with Deebo Samuel this offseason. But I actually find myself as we just start Super Bowl week rooting for the San Francisco 49ers.

And I think a lot of people are surprised by that. No, it's not just because Samter is some fugazi Kansas City Chiefs fan after being a Jet fan for all those years and the Jets eventually broke him to becoming a fan of the Kansas City Chiefs. But when I look at the 49ers, it just doesn't make any sense to me where we've had a team that has been so close to winning a Super Bowl the last five years. And we know they were up by 10 with seven and a half to play up against the Chiefs in Miami right before the world basically shut down. And this has been a team that has just been so close but yet so far. And they've got to break through. They've got to win this game coming up on Sunday. And if they don't, then you wonder, well, how much longer of a window do the San Francisco 49ers have? But you would think that the San Francisco 49ers, the way that people are talking about this game, are like a 10-point underdog.

And instead, the Niners are a two, two and a half point favorite. So it just doesn't make any sense to me. And I understand greatness. I know Mahomes is one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time.

If he retired tomorrow, he would be in Canton, Ohio in the Pro Football Hall of Fame and be one of the all-time greats. But to basically make it as if this is the Patriots up against the Packers, or the Patriots up against the Bears were ways that people are talking about the San Francisco 49ers, it's just something that doesn't resonate with me. And when I hear every show around the country go, oh, you know, what is Brock Purdy?

And, you know, is Brock Purdy really that good? And the Kansas City Chiefs, you know, they're going to win the game just because of the fact that you have Patrick Mahomes. It just makes me want to root and pull. And I will be cheering for the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday. And I'm an anti-Kansas City. You know, Kansas City is a great city, delicious barbecue.

Patrick Mahomes is impossible to not root for and not to like. We all know the Travis Kelce storyline is big. And you want to talk about zoos tonight. This is going to be some display. I cannot wait to be at Allegiant Stadium tonight for media night, which gets underway a few hours from now.

And just to see, what's the proper word for this? I guess the jackassery that will occur and the clown show and the dog and pony show that will be on full display when you do have Travis Kelce interact with all the buffoonery reporters tonight and they all want to make their different jokes about his relationship with Taylor Swift. So that's going to be something tonight that's going to be on full display. That is an exciting part of Super Bowl week. But outside of that, leading up to this game, when you have the best team in the NFC and they've been perceived to be, right, the best or second best team in the NFL this season and then you have the great Patrick Mahomes with the Kansas City Chiefs as they try to finally put the flag in the ground and say that they're a dynasty because you need three Super Bowls to get a dynasty. Really, there's not a lot of big storylines heading into this game where it's going to elicit these crazy reactions.

And so far, the two biggest storylines have to be the whole conversation around Brock Purdy and then it feels like. And we're going to talk to a lot of people this week and maybe at the end of the week I'll have a different feel on this. But just being in this convention center yesterday in the afternoon and then today, all throughout the day, when everyone's just chiming in and giving their two cents.

I went on a few shows today as well. And you just hear people's breakdown of the game. No one's actually breaking down the game. No one's talking X's and O's and all that stuff. It's just the same old two things that we've now heard going back to last week and that will carry over into this week.

How do you view Brock Purdy? And then also nobody, seemingly. Which the way that it just feels, giving the San Francisco 49ers any shot in this game.

And I've seen this enough. It would not surprise me whatsoever clearly that the Chiefs win coming up on Sunday. But when I have to hear now for what's going to be going on two weeks how it's going to be the Chiefs, it's going to be the Chiefs, it's going to be the Chiefs.

You can't bet against Patrick Mahomes. It kind of reminds me similarly, ironically enough, because the Chiefs that year were playing the Buccaneers led by the great Tom Brady, the greatest quarterback of all time. It does give me similar vibes back to that Super Bowl between Patrick Mahomes and also the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

That's what it reminds me of. Because going into that game, no one gave. And I mean no one.

I was on an island when I, plus the points, took them on the money line as well. And I was predicting the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to win. And that's what this feels like when we get set for the big game coming up on Sunday. It just feels like no one's given the 49ers a chance. And they're the favorite.

They're minus money on the money line. But I feel as if every single person from all the networks, all the local shows that are here commencing on Radio Row are going to be taking Kansas City. So just the way that this game is being covered and the way that this game is being talked about is pushing me to a point where now I am not only in on the San Francisco 49ers, but I am all in on the San Francisco 49ers to win the Super Bowl.

And I'll take it a step further. I hope Rock Party, and I love Spagnola, this Chiefs defense has been just so great ever since week three when I was like, wow, this could be their best defense that they've ever had in Kansas City. And you saw it in the AFC Championship game a week ago up against the Baltimore Ravens when that Chiefs defense was the number one reason. And they were the preeminent reason why they ended up winning that football game.

It was because of the way that that Chiefs defense not only contained Lamar Jackson, but shut him down and embarrassed the MVP and the two-time eventual MVP of the NFL in Lamar Jackson. So with as great as that defense is, I am pulling that Brock Purdy exposes this defense. I am pulling that Brock Purdy wins the Super Bowl MVP. And I would not mind, and I don't know if this is the best formula for them to win the game, but I would not mind if we're talking about Brock Purdy on Monday with 333 passing yards, three touchdowns, and no interceptions. That is what I am pulling for.

That is what I'm rooting for. Because the conversation about Brock, and this is coming from someone that originally said, I thought he was a system quarterback. And who cares how you classify him? Who cares what you refer to Brock Purdy, game manager, system quarterback. You want to call him a great quarterback?

I do not care. The dude has been the right dude for the San Francisco 49ers. And for a while, the 40-winers fans did annoy me. Some of it, admittedly so, was with the Deebo Samuel stuff.

But then it was this year, nothing was good enough. But now I kind of see what they're so mad about. Now I kind of see their vision and why their tone has been met with so much vitriol. It's because they're getting disrespected.

That's just a fact. The San Francisco 49ers heading into this game are getting disrespected. And when I don't have really a dog in a fight, and I don't have a team of any rooting interest here, I got to pick a side. And that's the side that I'm going to garner to the team that is the favorite in the game, but you would think that they are some seventh seed that just backed their way into the playoffs where no one, and I mean no one. I may be on an island as crazy as this is for a team that's a favorite, for a team that has been consistently there the last four or five years. I feel as if I am on an island begging someone to join me on the island and take the San Francisco 49ers in this game. I've been struggling the last week. My big gut has been telling me the 49ers are going to win the game.

My brain's telling me what everyone else is saying. Oh, you can't bet against Patrick Mahomes, you can't bet against Andy Reid and Travis Kelce. Oh, the NFL is rigged.

Taylor Swift, of course. She's going to get that Super Bowl ring, right? She's going to be in the luxury box. It's going to be awesome. You have Taylor Swift on the field after the game. Smoochie, smoochie with Travis Kelce and all that stuff. That's what everyone wants to see. I don't want to see it. It's not that Andy Taylor Swift. I like Taylor Swift. Swifties, don't come after me.

But it's every single media member that just says the same damn thing. Oh, Brock Purdy. How many times are we going to sit here this week and ask a guess? How do you classify Brock Purdy? Is he a game manager? Is he a system quarterback?

Is he a good quarterback? Enough. I want to pull my hair out. It's just absurd.

It is ridiculous. And nothing's changing from now until Sunday. And we all know what happens on Sunday. Brock Purdy plays his butt off. They win. He'll get his moment.

They lose the game. You're going to have people saying, is Kyle Shanahan going to replace the San Francisco 49ers? So the coverage of the Super Bowl, if you can't tell in the last ten minutes, it has agitated me already.

It has annoyed me. I'm in Las Vegas. I should be in a great mood. We're staying in a casino.

I haven't lost any money yet at the roulette table, at the blackjack table. I should be in a wonderful mood. Had a great dinner last night.

Had some good chicken, some lobster mac and cheese, some cream spinach as well. I am in a good mood. But then I walk around and I have my ear just right to the ground and I'm listening to what everyone's saying because I can't avoid myself when I'm in these situations. And I should just keep my head down and just keep on walking.

But I listen to what every single person says. And I may have to put out a search committee. I want to know if anyone else is going to join me in taking the San Francisco 49ers in this game.

Alrighty. Moist Mike, I got to get to you because I know that you are Mr. Kansas City Chief. I already saw you kind of rubbing elbows with the Kansas City affiliate out here. You're just already massaging Mahomes and Kelsey and Andy Reid. You want to go get Andy Reid a cheeseburger that maybe you'll bring him to media night tonight.

You'll give him a nice, big, fat, juicy burger. Do you feel this as well, what I'm feeling right now? I know you embrace it because you're our resident, degenerate Kansas City Chiefs fan. And I know that you are pulling for your Kansas City Chiefs. And I do feel wrong because I picked against Kansas City in the first round. I picked against Kansas City in the second round. I picked against Kansas City in the third round. And I'm picking against them right now.

So why not? You'll notice my gambling strategy the next few days. When I lose, just keep on doubling, doubling, doubling, doubling down until you basically run out of the funds and know when to walk away. I'm not ready to walk away on the Niners. I think the Niners are winning this game.

But it's amazing. You would think with the 49ers being the better team on paper that this is David and Goliath and that the Niners have no chance, which is just crazy to me. I mean, listen, obviously I'm going to disagree that the Niners are the better team on paper.

Yeah, they have more talent. But at the end of the day, it comes down to the quarterback and I'll trust Mahomes over Purdy any day of the week. I get why people are betting on the Chiefs. I understand that people might think that the 49ers are better, but they want to bet on the Chiefs. At the end of the day, it feels like a pick them to me.

It feels like it's up in the air. I don't think either team, at least not from what I've heard, is getting overly disrespected. Anybody who's picking the Chiefs... You just got in last night.

That's why you haven't heard the same dribble that I've heard. See, I'm not hearing, though, that people are disrespecting the Niners. I think the people who are picking the Chiefs over the Niners are only doing so because of the pedigree of Andy Reid, Mahomes, and that team. So it's not like a, well, the 49ers can't do this for... I don't think there's any disrespect being lobbied at the 49ers. I think it's just kind of like whenever the Patriots were in the Super Bowl, you just always gave them this benefit of the doubt, no matter who they were playing, no matter what the talent discrepancy was between the two teams, and I think that's kind of the case here.

I don't see any teams getting disrespected. At the end of the day, the Chiefs are going to win the game. It's just a matter of how close it's going to be, and I think it's going to be a really tight game. I think everybody's expecting a tight game. I'm not hearing anybody talk about a blowout.

I'm not hearing anybody talk about the 49ers can't contend. It's just, you know, that. Well, when Bush comes to shove, I know this is not going to be true what I'm about to say in terms of the actual percentage.

You know, some math nerds will try to tell me otherwise. It feels as if 95% of the people are picking Kansas City. Well, it's easy to say feels like because, I mean, unless you're going around to every single station, every single affiliate.

Oh, I talk to them all. Yeah, every single show. Listening to every show on ESPN, CBS, Fox, hearing every single pundit. You know, it's easy to kind of pinpoint what you're hearing, but at the end of the day, I would be surprised if by the end of the week, we're not at like a 55-45, fairly close 50-50 type split. Imagine if I just get up because I have a very loud voice and I could project and all the stations are right behind us. Imagine if I just stood up right now and screamed at the top of my lungs, who's picking the 49ers to win?

I think outside of the San Francisco Bay Area stations, we would not have a lot of hands. Those hands would not be raised very high because most people are just saying, I can't trust Brock Purdy. It's Patrick Mahomes in a big game. Got to take him. Mahomes didn't lose Super Bowl. He's lost Super Bowl. Brady lost three.

It is possible, and that's what makes me pull for the 49ers in this game. All right, we'll take a time out here on Radio Row. Mike Pritchard is going to join us on the other side. We are live for the next five days in Las Vegas. We'll try to not get into too much trouble as the week does go on. I'm very afraid of Samter on this trip, by the way. I don't know. I feel like I'm going to have to take some money out of my paycheck and bail out Samter at some point because he's going to be up to no good as the week does continue to roll on.

All right, we'll come on back in five. Zach Gelb's show. But where else? CBS Sports Radio.

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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 returns. 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.

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No long-term commitments or contracts. That's Stamps.com Code Program. Alrighty, back inside the convention center, Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas. Super Bowl week is here, and now joining us, played in the NFL, lives in Las Vegas right now, going to tell us where to eat, got to probably tell us where to go so we don't get into too much trouble this weekend.

Some trouble, but not too much trouble. He, of course, is Mike Pritchard from Visa. Mike, great to see you as always. How are you? I'm great. More importantly, tell you where not to go.

How about that? Where to stay away from. What areas to stay away from. But great to be with you. Still can't believe my hometown is hosting a Super Bowl. You know, it's so bizarre because five years ago, you couldn't talk gambling at all.

Couldn't mention it. And now, if you don't talk gambling, someone's like, what's wrong with you in the sports media landscape? But to see, and hey, anytime you come to Las Vegas, you're going to have a good time, and you're going to leave, and you're going to be like, I need to eat a salad the next week.

I need to go to the gym five, six days a week. But now in the sports role being here, now I'm going to the game Sunday. I'm going to the Golden Knights game on Tuesday. I'm excited. You have a baseball team coming here as well. We know the Raiders are here. It's awesome that now the sports world, even though the players can't gamble, they have embraced the team's beat. Right.

Zach, what you just said and what you just laid out, I mean, think about that. If you want to visit Vegas right now, that you got all those options from a sporting standpoint. Growing up here, all I had was UNLV. I mean, that was our pro team, right?

The Running Rebels or Randall Cunningham and the football team. But no, things have changed, and rightly so it should. It's about time. When I was a player in the league, the NFL, they would scare the bejesus out of us in terms of gambling and sports betting and bookmakers and kind of staying away from certain elements when you do visit Vegas. Now it's all open, but I think if you're a current player, you got to watch what you do. But as a retired player, I mean, it has been phenomenal, eye-opening for me as the NFL has partnered up with sports betting. I know that there's been some issues in the NFL. We all saw what happened with the Lions before the start of the season.

You go back to Calvin Ridley, right? That was the first big example. I'm not really, though, concerned about professional athletes gambling. It's more so college athletes, because when you have a football team, you got 100, 125 guys on the roster. If I'm a guy like 100, buck 25, and you have some information, that wouldn't shock me if there's more college issues than pro issues. I agree with you a thousand percent. I mean, you're going to have your outliers, I think, when it comes to national football.

Guys that think they can get away with things. I'll quickly remind an NFL player, say, look, man, we got 51-49 revenue sharing right now with the National Football League. Why do you want to risk that? Because of gambling right now when you're a player. Don't do it. You can enjoy the benefits and the partnership of sports betting with the revenue sharing.

You know, do it that way, right? But you're right. I mean, I think on the college levels, there's so little policing in a lot of areas when it comes to college football, right? I don't know if the NCAA even has the authority that they used to. So you got a lot of players, like you said, deep on a roster that, you know what, I'm not getting any play, but I might know some information.

I might get hit up. But that comes back to education. You know, I think coaches and departments and schools, they're going to have to do a great job of awareness and educating these athletes, though.

Mike Pritchard here with us does a great job now with Vison. So I'm already tired of the conversation leading up to the game because everyone says the two same things, which is how do you want to refer to Brock Purdy as? And then the other part, you can't bet against Patrick Mahomes, the great Patrick Mahomes.

You don't get me wrong. We all know how great Patrick Mahomes is, but the great players have lost some big games as well. Mahomes has already lost one Super Bowl.

Where are you at on this game? Because it does feel like everyone's going Kansas City. Well, no, it does feel that way. They're so familiar. They run the same scheme. You know, you look at the tree that they both come from, Andy Reid, Mike Holmgren's tree, Mike Shanahan, and then certainly his son Kyle.

And they all emanated out of San Francisco, right? That's where it all began with Bill Walsh. But they have different versions of what they want to do. To me, I take it away from the quarterbacks and I go defense. You know, Peyton Manning came out and said that he thinks there's going to be a lot of offense. And you look at the quarterbacks and the way Brock is playing, I can see that. But you have spags on one side, you have Wilkes on the other, and you have some monsters on the defensive side of the ball for both teams. I don't know how those guys let this game slip away from them. In other words, where there is a lot of offense, there is a lot of playmaking offensively.

I know a lot of people want to see that and suggest that. But I think there's a lot of playmakers on the defensive side of the ball as well. So this is going to be a tighter game.

And if it's a tighter game, then I think you favor the experience in Patrick Mahomes. And it's interesting because before the start of the season, everyone talked about the Niners' defense. No one talked about the Chiefs' defense. And in Week 3, I texted spags that go, you guys have a legit good defense that it's not getting talked about. And he kind of played it off as, I'm good when no one's talking about us.

Let all the attention go in other places. But the last two weeks, and I'm picking the Niners in this game. But the last two weeks, the Niners' defense has not been great. It's not played clean.

And Kansas City's defense just keeps on humming and humming and humming, and no one talks about their defense. Sure, sure. I mean, I think from a betting standpoint, like if I'm betting this game, I'm probably going to tease it. Because now I'm getting through where the spread is right now. I can get through multiple possessions.

I can get through to two possessions, really. And everybody thinks it's going to be a tight game. The probability suggests that.

So teasing it and finding another leg or a couple of legs, if you want to, is something that attracted to me. But no, I agree with you. San Francisco, and if you go all the way back to the beginning of the year, there was probably four teams you thought were going to be in the Super Bowl, right? There's going to be San Francisco or Dallas, maybe the Eagles, or maybe Dallas or Eagles over Dallas.

But then in the AFC, it was going to be Kansas City, maybe Baltimore, whoever was going to surge through. But no, I think we're getting the matchup everybody expected to get that I think everybody wants to see. It is a rematch in some sorts, in some ways, some fashion. But no, you cannot predict a football game. NFL is so special because you can't predict a football game. And I think it's going to play out that way.

I think we're going to get a lot of drama in this one. So I know you played for the Broncos, the whole Russ Sean Payton thing. It's now inevitable that eventually they'll just release him at some point this offseason. Where do you think Russ is playing next year?

You know, Zach, his roots are in Carolina, North Carolina State if you want to go there. There's so many teams that need quarterbacks. We saw the last two years so many backup quarterbacks, right?

And the desperation to get a franchise quarterback or to get that type of quarterback in your locker room is at a fever pitch right now. Atlanta makes some sense. Minnesota jumps out to me.

Minnesota definitely jumps out, you know. And don't get me wrong. I think Kirk Cousins is a better quarterback. Right. But I don't think they're bringing back Kirk Cousins.

Yeah, I know. Whose contract? Well, he doesn't have a contract right now. So you got Russell's contract. But I mentioned Carolina because I think Bryce needs to take a timeout.

Oh, interesting. Bryce Young needs a timeout. That guy was drinking through a fire hose last year. And it caused Frank Wright his job. It cost the GM their job.

I mean, you know, that's not somebody's fault. I just think maybe he didn't marinate long enough, right? And I think if you take a page out of Patrick Mahomes, he sat back a whole year to kind of understand what this league's about. And now he's taking the league by storm.

If Bryce is really that talented, maybe he needs an example in front of him. And at this point with Russell, you know, that's where he's at in his career. I don't think a Super Bowl caliber team would look to sign Russell Wilson as their starting quarterback. But, you know, when you are a number one overall pick and you already played, there is no way they are benching you. There is no way they're going to sit you for a full season and bring in someone, even though his stock is not high right now, the caliber of Russell Wilson.

I know that people would say, oh, you got to be mentally tough. I think that would ruin his entire confidence. It could or, you know, they're not going to be good next year either, right? I'm thinking of Russell and, you know, Russell wants to get to the Hall of Fame right now.

That's all he's about, I think. And, you know, you're not going to win, really, in Carolina. But if you're Bryce, what are you going to learn as now you have a first-time head coach? I mean, green head coach, really, if you think about Canales. And I know he's got a relationship with Morgan, the GM, and maybe they can structurally put this team together.

But how long is that going to take? You're looking beyond this initial contract for Bryce Young. And you have an owner that, quite frankly, there's nothing positive to say about David Tepper. Pretty much is the head coach of the team, I think. Oh, he has his hands in everything. He is the guy, I've said this before a bunch, he owns the restaurant. He's never cooked a meal, though, in his life. And he goes to the chef, Mike Pritchard, and says, yeah, I know how to cook the chicken parm when the chef has been cooking the best chicken parm for 20 years.

Right, right. That's Tepper. That's why they get Dave Canales as the head coach.

Nothing against him. Or Morgan as a GM. Morgan, I don't know how thick his book was in terms of searching for head coaches, right?

He's got some pictures of Tepper, let's be real. That's how he got the job. Yeah, but who is he going to hire as head coach? I mean, he doesn't really have any experience with anybody else other than what he did in Seattle.

So, yeah, that's what you get down there in Carolina right now. Belichick, I know you also played for the Falcons. We all thought he was going to go there. And then I think a lot of people in the building said, well, if Bill comes in, we're going to lose our job. So let's tell Arthur Blank not to hire him. And Arthur Blank, listen, was that a mistake to not hire Bill Belichick? Yes, just like it was a mistake not to go after Lamar Jackson last year. I mean, Arthur Blank comes out and says, and I love a donor, I mean, but he comes out and says, look, we're not interested in Lamar Jackson. What? After they were interested in Deshaun. Sure, exactly. But, you know, the whole guaranteed contract thing.

You can work around that. But that guy would have elevated your franchise. Hell, he's going to win MVP. Who knows, with that offensive talent, what could have happened this year. But you close the door on that. Now he's closed the door on Belichick and that brain trust, right? I think here's the thing, Zach, when you're a player, each and every year you're afraid that they're going to upgrade your position. I remember vividly with Seattle and Randy Moss was going to get drafted. And, you know, you're looking at that TV, you're watching that TV with intensity that, okay, Seattle Seahawks, are they going to draft Randy Moss, who's still on the board, by the way, because he was going to upgrade, he was going to take your job, and you knew that. I think as a front office personnel, you need to approach your job as if somebody can come in and take your job. They can upgrade your position if there's somebody out there.

And I think Atlanta missed that opportunity to upgrade their entire front office with Bill Belichick. Last thing I'll ask you, Mike Pritchard from Vison, on a scale of one to ten, where's your confidence at with your alma mater, Colorado with Coach Prine? You know, I was at a five last year. I bet the overwind told I had to hit that. I had to sweat it out a little bit.

I did, I did a little bit. It was looking like a lock in week three. Right, we got there, though. Here's the thing about Coach Prine and what he's done. Our program was not even relevant for a long time. It brings attention.

Sure. So he brought attention. We have relevancy now, and we got better athletes. I think the hard work is over because he's changed the mindset, right? He's changed the culture.

He's built a culture now. So now the easy part is coaching these four- and five-star athletes. And I think any head coach in college football will let you know that if I can get those type of players, we're going to be successful. So I think the wins are going to come.

They're going to add up, and they're going to come big time in the future. I saw your guys' set up in circle last night when I was going out for dinner in Vison. Seems like everything's going well with you guys.

You know what? We are humming. Vison.com slash subscribe if you want to be interested in our material. We have so many handicappers. I've learned so much in the four years I've been with Vison in terms of betting. I no longer try to predict the game.

It's all about probabilities, and I use that to- You're an analytic guy now. I am. I am.

Jeez, I don't know. I'm not all the way there now. You handed in your football man card, it sounds like.

No, I still carry that one. But the insight, I can't ignore what a lot of people have brought to light to me in terms of sports betting. But it's phenomenal partnership with DraftKings as well, so I couldn't be happier. So I put a bet in.

$100 plus $411. Kittle anytime touchdown, and then Kelsie anytime touchdown. You in on that? I love that. I have Juszczyk as the anytime touchdown. I love the anytime touchdown, especially if you want to parlay them because they start to add up and stack up for you. But I haven't went too deep with anytime touchdown.

I did hit Jamison Williams on an anytime touchdown. It's like ruined. Oh, it is. It really is. But when it hits, though, it's awesome.

It's electric. It's my favorite thing to bet these days. Yeah, me too. Anyway, he is Mike Pritchard. Mike, thanks for coming by.

Thanks a lot, Zach. It is the Zach Elb Show on CBS Sports Radio. We'll take a time out. We'll come on back live from Las Vegas on Radio Row.

After these short messages, we'll get into a little Kyle Shanahan clarifying his Tom Brady comments to Peter King. Update time first. Here is the act man, Rich Ackerman. James Allen dot com promo code podcast says here that Graybar is a distributor. Yeah, we support electrical and data com projects all over the country.

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The free AutoZone fixed finder service can help you find the fix for free. Get in the zone. AutoZone restrictions apply. Zach Gelb Show, CBS Sports Radio Live, Mandalay Bay Convention Center, Las Vegas, Super Bowl 58. We continue to work through the week before on Sunday, we get the little football game played between the San Francisco 49ers and the Kansas City Chiefs. So two, three weeks ago, an article comes out and buried in the middle of the article. It's almost like ESPN didn't want the publicity. ESPN didn't want the headlines. It was kind of surreal to me that in the middle of the article, it was revealed that Tom Brady was pursued this offseason by the San Francisco 49ers.

Now when you have a story like that, I don't care what the intentions of the actual story was. When you get it revealed that Kyle Shanahan told Brock Purdy that he was going to go pursue Tom Brady this offseason and he was going to be the guy for the future, but as Shanahan even said, Purdy's arm was in a sling and it was one of those scenarios where he didn't even know if he was going to have a quarterback for this season or if his starting quarterback was going to be ready for the season, so they were going to give Tom Brady a call. It's crazy to me that that story didn't elicit a bigger reaction or it wasn't portrayed initially when the story came out that the 49ers pursued Tom Brady.

Give credit to Mike Floyer, I've seen that he's been floating around here. He was kind of like one of the only guys that was talking about it and delved through the article and revealed to us that that was the case with the 49ers. So last week Brady goes on one of those car wash tours. He goes on with a bunch of shows and people asked him about it.

I think it was McAfee's show that asked him about it. But it was basically a non-answer by Tom Brady. Tom Brady has perfected the non-answer. When you ask him something, he doesn't give you the answer and that's why some people are skeptical whether Brady's broadcasting career is going to be successful or not. But today, or I guess over the weekend, it was like a drive to work series that Peter King was doing with Good Morning Football and he was driving to work with Kyle Shanahan and Kyle Shanahan said, yes, I was serious about it, Shanahan told Peter King. As we talked, I'm looking at Brock and he's got his arm in the sling and I'm really not sure I've got a quarterback who's going to be ready for the start of the season.

That started all this. And it went on to say that, you know, from Kyle Shanahan to Peter King, I actually thought it was giving Brock the biggest compliment. I let him know he's our guy long term, no question. And if Tom Brady wanted to come here and start for one year, that's the only way you are not starting when you're healthy this year.

That's pretty cool. I wanted to assure him, don't worry, you're our guy. But how cool would it be if Tom Brady would be the quarterback here for one season? How cool would it be for you to learn from him? So, you know, let me just ask this.

I don't think if I'm Brock Purdy, I'm like, yeah, this is cool. Yeah, this is awesome that they'd be bringing in Tom Brady. Like, Santa, could you imagine, let's say that we go back to your earlier days in the radio producing business. And let's say that you're producing the show that you wanted to produce. There's a joke here that you can make, so not this show.

No, I'm just kidding. So let's just say, earlier in your radio career, you're producing, like, the show, and you have a team that could go win Marconi awards and really have a lot of success. And then the program director comes up to you and goes, you're good at what you do. You're our guy for the future. But I don't know, we're going to bring in Baba Bui, right?

Howard Stern's producer, one of the legendary producers of all time. And he's going to do your job for the year, and you're going to learn from him. When you already produced championship quality producing performance, would you expect, even with the aura and the success and the fame and the greatness that Baba Bui has, should I expect you to be like, yeah, I'm all for it.

Try and get him replaced for a year when someone comes in to basically show you the way, when you were already the guy, but now they're saying, we still like you, but you're the guy for the future, not the guy now. I mean, if he was Baba Bui, I'd be pissed, because, I mean, I don't know what he can teach me. No, but... He can teach you a lot. If they brought in, like, a multi-Emmy award-winning, legendary producer who has put together the best radio shows in history and has won awards and has critically claimed, listen, it's a learning experience. Would I have a little bit of a hit to my ego? Sure. But if I knew that it was only for one year and I can learn legitimate stuff that can make me a better producer, make my shows better, at the end of the day, as long as I'm not taking less money, as long as I'm not going to get fired the next year, as long as it's literally just, you're going to be here, we just want you to learn from the greatest that there's ever been, and then you get your job back, I think that after the initial shock of it, I'd be okay with it.

But what's to say? And I know they prefaced this as if this was going to be a one-year arrangement. What happens if Tom gets the call? Tom wins a Super Bowl, and then Tom goes, eh, I'm still at the top of my game. I thought I could play until, like, I'm 50 to begin with, and everyone at first said he was crazy. What stops him from playing the next year? And that's the part. Like, I love Mike Pritchard, who just joined us.

He advocated for maybe Russell Wilson to go to the Carolina Panthers and play a year to have Bryce Young learn, and Bryce Young basically be put in a timeout. When you have already been the guy, or you have been told this is going to be your franchise, whether it's Bryce Young with the Panthers, or Brock Purdy, who stepped into the role with the San Francisco 49ers last year and had a lot of success and the belief in the locker room, once you take yourself or get taken off the field, you lose luster. You lose that title of being the guy.

And you never know, regardless what they tell you, if you will ever be that guy again. So that's why, from a Brock Purdy's perspective, yeah, I get it. You can get it.

Oh, it's Tom Brady. All right, that's the one name where I would be fine. But I'm not saying I should accept it. I would be fighting for my job because, you know, there's always these times where you get a job and people go, I don't know if he's ready. You know, I don't know if this person's going to succeed early on. It may be a long-term investment.

Bleep that. When you get thrown into a position, go be the guy and go make sure that they're never going to take you off the field or take you off the radio or take you off whatever profession that you're involved in. That's just my philosophy because, you know, when I started doing radio from 2 to 6 a.m. Eastern, people go, well, that's a different show than if you were an afternoon. I treat it as if I was doing the number one morning show in the country or the number one afternoon show in the country.

When you get afforded a platform, you got to kind of build your own sandbox and then see who else wants to join it throughout the rest of the year and throughout the rest of the time. And also the crazy part to me, too, Mike, is that this is the same guy, Shanahan, who had also came out over the weekend right when Jed York was talking to the media, how a year ago, over a year ago, in training camp, Kyle Shanahan said, you guys know Brock Purdy is the best quarterback that we have on the roster, the third string quarterback. And that was right after they initially traded for Trey Lance. Shortly after that, you had Jimmy G, who's been to a Super Bowl, but we know that Kyle Shanahan was not a believer in Jimmy G because if he was, he would have never traded up three first-round picks to go secure the services of Trey Lance. And could you imagine Jed York when he heard that? And even John Lynch said, he goes, I couldn't believe he actually said it. He goes, I knew he thought it, but sometimes, right, like, Samter and I have some conversations, and I'll lower my voice here because our bosses are right across from us, that maybe you just don't say to the bosses, and it's just a conversation that you have, coworker to coworker. But the fact that Kyle Shanahan walks into that meeting with Jed York swinging his you-know-what around, and he goes, hey, the best quarterback on our roster is the third string quarterback, he's lucky I'm not on the team, because as good as Kyle Shanahan is, I think I would have fired Kyle's butt on the spot. I think I would have said, we just traded three first-round picks for Trey Lance.

So that's also the crazy part to me. There's a fine line between genius and arrogance, and I guess Kyle Shanahan is kind of towing that line, but listen, I guess he's a genius. You could be really arrogant and think, hey, you know, we might have to go with our third string quarterback. But he was right. At the end of the day, he was right. He was the best quarterback. Is it arrogance, or is it just the truth?

Right. Like I said, genius and arrogance is a fine line, and he is right there with it. Since we're talking about Brady and this whole 49ers story, that Shanahan gave more clarity to after Brady wouldn't talk about it after it came out last week, when Belichick was in New England, Bledsoe was the highest-paid quarterback in football.

A hundred-plus million-dollar contract just signed it. A lot of people close to Belichick said, even before Bledsoe got hurt, Brady's the best quarterback on this roster, and he believed in Brady. And that's kind of just compelling when you follow the parallels to that story. Brock Purdy, Mr. Relevant. Brady drafted in the sixth round.

I know it's a low-hanging fruit. I'm not comparing Brock Purdy to Tom Brady, but it's wild now with the Shanahan revelation, how confident he was in some extent to Brock, unless it was Brady coming in, that that was the way that the whole thing is going down. And also, let's remember, Kyle Shanahan, a few years ago, Brady wanted to go there before he went to Tampa Bay, and Shanahan and John Lynch, they openly admitted it. They evaluated it for two to three days, and they eventually said, no, we're going to stick with Jimmy G because he was just coming off that Super Bowl loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. So it's a wild story in both ways, that they actually really did pursue Brady. Brady then said no, and then they tried to spin it a positive to Brock Purdy or from the start to Brock Purdy, but then a year before that conversation even went down, they were really confident in Brock Purdy.

When no one even knew, unless you're an Iowa State fan, who Brock Purdy was. Just wild, wild stuff. It's time to ask the pros where you, the listener, get to ask us a question, and it's brought to you by O'Reilly Auto Parts. Simply tweet your question at CBS Sports Radio or at Zach Gelb using the hashtag Ask the Pros. Be listening later in the show when we might answer the question.

Think O'Reilly Auto Parts for all your car care needs, get guaranteed low prices, and excellent, and I mean excellent customer service from the professional parts people at O'Reilly Auto Parts. We will take a time out when we come on back. Former NFL General Manager Thomas Dimitrov will join us on set, and also my brother-in-law may be the biggest fan of our guest that's going to be joining Thomas Dimitrov from Sumer Sports in Eric Eger. So Thomas Dimitrov, Eric Eger, you're joining us next on the Zach Gelb show live in Las Vegas on Radio Row. The Ring of Comfort, coming soon to a Super Bowl new you.

We'll be right back. Yep, Graybar does that.