Tom Brady's Time In Tampa Coming To An End?

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Well, Rocket can. I guess we have the end for now on Kevin Durant and this Nets drama. We'll see if it will get revisited at some point during the season before the trade deadline or probably what's more likely at the end of this upcoming season. Whenever we find out what the return is on Donovan Mitchell and you get a full year removed from the ridiculous return that the Jazz got for Rudy Gobert when they did send him to be a member of the Minnesota Timberwolves.

So the statement today from Sean Marks. We have agreed to move forward with our partnership. We are focusing on basketball, one collective goal in mind.

Build the lasting franchise to bring a championship to Brooklyn. Hickey, I read this and I go, they're going to couples therapy. This is a relationship that one side wants a divorce. The other side doesn't want to divorce until it gets X, Y and Z back from the other, you know, partner here. And there will eventually be a divorce.

It's just not happening until they complete couples therapy, which will probably be at the end of this basketball season. This would be as if we got into a fight and it got really vicious. You wanted to leave the show. I want to know part of you, but I was only going to let you go unless I get something back that's viable for your services. So like a bottle of milk and maybe some cookies would probably do. I'm not asking for much.

Maybe you want to throw in a beer and a few hot dogs and I'd be okay. And I say that with love, of course. But then I don't get what I want.

Spike would only maybe give me like a half of a roll of sushi and I didn't think that was enough. So then I release a statement. Hickey and I have agreed to move forward with our working partnership and we are focusing on building a championship worthy radio program for the present and the future. That wouldn't really be that believable if it got to the point where we were exchanging blows and I wanted to punch you and I wanted you to be off the show and you didn't want to be here.

And then a short time afterwards, it was, oh, yeah, it's all good for now. It is a year by year partnership where Kevin Durant said, you know what, instead of being the bad guy, instead of sitting out training camp, instead of kind of forcing my hand and maybe sitting out games because I am passive aggressive because I don't like conflict. I will say we're not going to get a trade done. So I would just play the you know, be the nice guy for a year and play the team. I just don't know what Durant wants.

Well, I know, excuse me, let me rephrase that. I know Durant wants out. Why does he want out? That to me, I still don't know because he picked to join Brooklyn. He picked to team up with Kyrie Irving. He wanted James Harden. Then he approved James Harden getting traded. He must have been fine with bringing in Ben Simmons. He wanted Kenny Atkinson to be gone. Then he brought in Steve Nash. So pretty much everything you wanted, you got. Is this just him not wanting to play with Kyrie again and he doesn't have the cojones to tell that to Kyrie?

Like that's the only thing I could go back to. It makes no sense why he would have an issue with Sean Marks or Steve Nash when Nash was his call and Sean Marks has basically got it out of the way and has done everything that Kevin Durant has wanted in the three years that KD has been in Brooklyn. I think it just goes back to him not wanting to be like the decision maker anymore. I think, like you said, the Nets have done everything possible to cater to Kevin Durant. Every single thing he's wanted for the most part, he has gone. So there's no real incentive to leave because every decision that was made with the Nets was made by Kevin Durant. But I don't think he's just doesn't want to be a decision maker anymore. He goes, you know what, this is not too much responsibility. And more times than not, as a leader, you have to be the bad guy. You got to yell at people.

You got to say, hey, look, get focused or you're not playing well or improve. That's like Kevin Durant's M.O. That's why he's returning.

And that's also why he wants out. If that is true, he is lamer than what I thought. That is so lame. I mean, honestly, what? Go take your ball and go home.

What decision making that I wanted and I picked to go to Brooklyn. Give me a break. He is so lame, if that's true. I agree. That's true. But if that's the reason and you actually write for once, that is so lame. Lame, lame, lame.

And what else could it be? You said it. They've given him everything.

Kyrie is the only thing I have for you. He has driven this team. He has made plenty of decisions that made his job harder. Not easy.

OK, let me just challenge you on this, though. OK, let me play into this theory and just play devil's advocate that he doesn't want to be the decision maker anymore. He goes to Boston. Is he the decision maker? I think it's Jason Tatum's team. I think Bright Stevens making the shot. It's calling the shots.

I would agree with the last part you said, but the first part. If Durant goes to Boston and Jason Tatum looked up to Kevin Durant and Jason Tatum just failed in the big moment, even though it was his first time being there. That's not Jason Tatum's team. That is not LeBron going to Dwyane Wade where you knew LeBron was the guy, but it was still considered Dwyane Wade's team or in Golden State. KD going to the Bay Area where you know he's the best player, but it's still viewed as Steph Curry's team. Jason Tatum is a top 10 player. Jason Tatum was first team All-NBA this year. He hasn't done enough in this league where that's not Kevin Durant's team. That's KD's team. He becomes the face of that organization. He becomes the face of the franchise. You disagree?

I do. I think it's still like he can take the last shot. Kevin Durant, you can have the offense work through Kevin Durant on the floor, but I still think it's Jason Tatum because he's been there. He's grown up. He's, you know, he's ascended to stardom level. I still think it's kind of the face of the team, but not all time.

Great level. No, I'm not saying that. Like Wade, top 75 player of all time. Curry's top 75 player of all time. Jason Tatum, not a top 75 player of all time yet. No, but neither is Joel Embiid. I think if he goes to Philly, they still think it's Embiid's team.

Like you could still, I think he could be the best player. I would disagree with that because KD would be viewed as the savior. KD would be the guy that gets them over the hump and gets them to the top of the mountain. But isn't it still, hey, Joel Embiid with Kevin Durant. It's not Kevin Durant with Joel Embiid. I think it's still Philly's team in the eye of Embiid, even though you can have Kevin Durant be like, you know, the closer and taking the final shot. That would be the first time that Embiid would be number two in his career.

And Durant would be the number one. Now let me throw you another team because I'm not going to give you Miami that's different from Pat Riley and all that. He wanted to go to the Suns.

That was the first reported team. He goes to the Suns. I know you have Devin Booker. I know you have Chris Paul. And that's not going to happen now because KD staying and DeAndre ate him with the contract and all the trade restrictions that are on it. That becomes KD's team.

He had no problem wanting to go to the Suns. He's the missing link. He's the guy.

I don't think so. How not? Like when you say it's KD, like Kevin Durant doesn't want the team.

When you say it's KD, he doesn't want that. That's part of the reason why you see the teams that are listed. They all have something in common. They all have leadership built in.

They all have a culture built in where he can just slide in. Kind of like Golden State where you just slide in and play basketball. Kevin Durant's not going to Phoenix and calling the shots.

He's not putting Chris Paul to the side and saying, I'm the decision maker. I know Boston and I know the Suns have been to the last two finals. The Suns two years ago and Boston this past year. You can't compare it to Golden State. They don't have the talent like Golden State did. Golden State was already 73-1 team before Durant got there.

I think it's where we're off the different pages here. I'm not even talking about talent. Kevin Durant is going to be the best player on any team we just talked about. I'm not talking about talent. I'm talking about leadership. I'm talking about when you talk about the face of a team, that's not even to me the best player on the team. That's just kind of like who is the emotional leader? Who is the guy that you still view? CP3.

Okay, that's fine. CP3 would still be the leader of the Suns. But 100% KD would be the leader in Boston. Like the offense runs through Kevin Durant, I would agree, in every single place we went to. KD would be the leader in Boston. In Phoenix, yes, it would be Chris Paul because he's already the established veteran. Some people consider him a top five point guard of all time.

He changed the way that team works in the belief level. He goes to Boston. You're telling me Jason Tatum's getting into a heated debate and telling Kevin Durant what to do?

No. Kevin Durant is going to be the leader and everyone would kiss his ass in Boston. Even Marcus Smart would kiss his ass too.

Because Durant has established that there's not a guy that's established enough yet to an all time great level. A top 75 level that could tell KD, okay, we're not going to do it your way. There would not be that guy with the Boston Celtics. So, this to me... Brad Stevens? And I think KD could say you were a failed head coach in the NBA.

Now, that may not be a fair comment. You saw Brad Stevens get to a bunch of conference finals. If Kevin Durant, and I know Stevens is now running the organization, but remember, he likes Emile Doka a lot. So, I think he'd be okay with Brad because Brad and Emile are on the same page.

And Emile was with KD for a year with the Brooklyn Nets. But I don't think that Kevin Durant would have any problem getting into a ring a little verbally speaking and getting into some contentious arguments with Brad Stevens. He's never done that though.

What do you mean? He's run away from arguments. He's not run towards them. Yeah, he runs through his Twitter account.

It's 9,000 Twitter accounts. Yeah, but he doesn't yell at anyone. When was the last time he yelled at anyone?

You don't know what happens behind the scenes. You know what happened in this meeting? He didn't get what he wanted. And that's why he's going back. Okay, he didn't get what he wanted, but it doesn't mean he didn't yell.

It didn't mean he didn't take his big game and cry. Well, he has the power and he's not using it. Right?

What power does he have? Sit down. Don't play. Okay, yeah. And imagine what that would do for his legacy if he didn't play this entire year when he has four years left in his contract.

The Nets, what they did was they showed NBA teams. This is, yes, it's an era of player empowerment. And yes, usually what players want, players are going to get. But once that player signs a contract, you do have some power, especially when there's four years remaining on the contract. If there was only a year remaining on the contract, it's different because then you have to get something back for KD before he would walk. There's only two years left in the contract, a little bit different. There were four stinking years left on this deal.

Well, it's not fair. The Nets were going to trade him. They had an offer. And they knew they weren't going to get that offer.

If they got one, it sounds like they would have pulled the trigger. It would have had to be six first round picks and some talent. I'm just saying, Kevin Durant, it's not like there was no shot. Basically, when you're asking for Karl Anthony Towns, Anthony Edwards, and four or five first round picks, no one's doing that.

I don't care how great of a player Kevin Durant is. You're not getting those two young players, Anthony Edwards, future star of the league. Karl Anthony Towns has been a very good player this league and four or five first round picks. That's just not happening. Even if they were offered six first round picks straight up, I don't think they're doing it because they wanted the picks and some proven talent or some promising talent.

And there was no one that was going to do that. This trade may have been able to happen if it wasn't for Rudy Gobert. And the Donovan Mitchell deal, that's hitting a point of it getting into stalling when it comes to the talks. Even though I just read an article via Mark Berman that there's some mystery teams that Danny Ainge is claiming a confidence, which please, who actually believes that? The Knicks are eventually going to get him. And I think the Knicks, didn't I read that the Knicks offered five first round picks and Obi Toppin?

Yes. And there was one other player. I forget who the player grinds. It was Evan Fournier. Evan Fournier, thank you. A salary dump.

Yeah, you were right. So it was Fournier, it was Obi, what's poppin' Toppin', and five first round picks. That was supposedly the offer that the Knicks have made. And look how tough it is now to trade, like Donovan Mitchell, very good player. Five first round picks for Donovan Mitchell?

Five. This entire Rudy Gobert return set the market out of whack. Because Donovan Mitchell's a very good player.

Kevin Durant's a great player. Look at what the return potentially is being asked for with Donovan Mitchell. There was no way a Durant deal was going to get done. So I give credit to the Nets, but this is just punting this decision down the road. Because KD's a baby, maybe he wins a championship and then he shuts up. But Kevin Durant's, I would be very surprised if he finishes out all four years of this contract.

Wouldn't you? Oh yeah, that letter basically said if we're going to be partners, we're going to continue the partnership. We have agreed to move forward with our partnership. Not exactly encouraging words that he'll be there for four years. Four more years!

KD's like, nah, I'm good. It is the Zach Gelb show on CBS Sports Radio. We'll take a timeout, we'll come on back, we'll do a little first and goal with Rick Stroud. We'll preview the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Buccaneers will be six teams we have remaining, so after today we will have five.

Now I will say, I have a lot more to get into. We've got to find time to do this draft to first-year head coaches. I also got a paver sent to me that has been made by a listener, Jim Solania, used to host radio on WFNZ in Charlotte. He's been making this paver for over a year. The package that was sent to the station, I don't know how they got it up here. I'm a little bit concerned that maybe the paver broke. That is a concern of mine. I don't know how that thing got from Charlotte to New York, and I have not opened it yet and I will open it.

Sometime before we sign off at 10 p.m. Eastern, 7 p.m. Pacific. I don't know. In that flimsy box that it was sent in, Jim could have packaged that thing up. I could just see it being tossed around and maybe it's in a thousand pieces. Is it heavy enough or light enough to toss around? How heavy is it, you think? It's heavy. Now I'm a large man and I could pick it up, but I would think a scrawny person like yourself would have a problem picking it up.

Do I got to go pick up the paver, put it over my head, do a few squats? You wouldn't be able to lift that thing over your head. Now I will say I'm a little bit concerned because when I pick it up, I feel something moving around and it doesn't sound like it's one whole piece. It's one huge brick.

I think there might be a slight crack somewhere in there. But we'll take a look at it later. Zach Gelb's show CBS Sports Radio, Rick Stroud joins us next. Each time now for First and Gold on the Zach Gelb Show. All right, we'll talk with Rick Stroud right now as we preview the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Rick does a great job covering the Bucks for the Tampa Bay Times. Rick, appreciate it as always, how are you? Doing well, how are you?

I'm doing fantastic. I got to start you off with this Tom Brady vacation for 11 days. Was it just that he went to this all-inclusive resort and that was it or is there more to this story?

Yeah, I'm not even sure what resort and can confirm that. But no, I think there definitely is more to it. It was something that he made the Bucks aware of prior to training camp. I know there's been a lot of theories out there about just trying to manage family time. It was family related, was not health related with any of his kids, his mom or dad or anything like that. But in due time, I think we'll find out. It was personal.

There is something there, there. It wasn't just, hey, let's go on a vacation that we had promised during the 40 days off. So some things even for Tom Brady are going to remain that way for at least a while.

And yeah, it was more than just a golf outing or something like that. To my knowledge, he's not talked to reporters since this entire Dolphins thing came down from the NFL with tampering. Are you guys scheduled to talk to him this week at all or nothing in the works? I'd be very surprised if the first time we talk or the next time we talk to Tom Brady isn't a dare to, you know, the week of the Dallas game.

I really believe that. And at that time, I don't expect them to address this. So, yeah, the Dolphins thing, we talked to him the day before that was brought up.

And we had a headline writer that called calls us now tamper Bay, which is sort of what it's been. You know, other teams trying to to see if they can get Tom Brady from from the Bucks. But he really, you know, he hasn't addressed any of it, including the whole tampering situation, because it came down the next day. So Tom in the offseason especially or the preseason kind of dictates when he's available. When the regular season comes, of course, you have to talk to the coach and the quarterback at least during the week and then after the game. But that's really the first time I think we'll talk or the next time we'll talk to him is probably Dallas week. Is he mad at the organization? Do you think in these 11 days he was thinking about retired again, Rick? No, I you know, initially I was concerned about that. I think they kind of mishandled the whole message. I mean, they could have gotten out in front of this and just, you know, whether it was personal reasons or not at the beginning of training camp made us aware that look, he's going to practice for two weeks.

We're going to do the install. He's going to get used to his new teammates and he's not playing against Miami or Tennessee. So really, you know, a couple of walkthrough practices there for the guys that are playing. He's going to take a couple days off his birthday and others. He didn't miss a ton of time. And I think they could have just made us aware that rather than one week say he's missing a day for personal reasons. The next week say coach bowls will address why he's out for personal reasons.

So it created a lot of speculation and intrigue and it may have anyway, but I think, you know, saying it once instead of twice probably would have helped the situation. And I just think it was kind of mishandled Rick from afar. Feels like this is his last year as a quarterback in the NFL. Would you agree with that? Well, I think it's his last year in Tampa.

I really don't know. You know, it's kind of hard to put, you know, a timetable on a guy that's literally beat time, right? Like Tom versus time, time lost. And all I know is that if he's playing well and he's healthy, those are the two biggest factors. Now we hear about his family and certainly, you know, that's his kids are getting older and he is missing things. But then he just went ahead and decided that, you know, when my football career is over, I'm going to go to Fox for 20 weeks out of weekends out of the year. So, you know, he at least this time around knows where he's going when his career is over. That's something that's different than a year ago when he was trying to figure out what retirement would look like.

So we're definitely closer to the end. He's not, he's a free agent after this year. So presumably, you know, he could go anywhere. And we've seen obviously he has some interest in trying to become, you know, involved in ownership at some level. So, you know, an organization willing to offer him that may get his attention even as a quarterback.

So I really don't know. We're certainly really close to that. But this is, in my mind, this is last year in Tampa. Why is last year in Tampa?

Why if he wanted to play, he wouldn't return to the box? Well, I mean, I just think he wants to be a free agent. And, you know, they've built a forever house in Miami. We know that he had certainly conversations about going down there. Obviously, he has a lot of relationships, not just with Stephen Ross, big Michigan booster, but Bruce Beale, who's a minority owner, is actually on his board of TB12. So he has a lot of connections with that organization. I think he wanted to pair with Sean Payton down there as well, it seemed. And so, you know, somebody that spent as much time as he has kind of looking around for other opportunities. He did this when he was a free agent in New England. We all read the story about the Raiders.

And, you know, certainly San Francisco was another organization that he had made inroads to. So I don't see what would prevent him from doing that. Now, you know, it could be his last year of playing, and maybe he goes and joins another organization as a minority owner, like I said. But I just feel like his time in Tampa, while it's been good, and you would never say never, but if he wanted to be wedded here, they could have extended his contract easily.

And he did not want to do that. So he wants to be a free agent like he was his last year in New England, and I think that means he's probably got his eye on somewhere else. Let's get to the next down.

Talking to Rick Stroud. The offensive line injuries are a concern. We know you've got to protect Brady. We saw in his final year in New England the Patriots didn't do that. They didn't have a good year. How do you kind of look at this offensive line right now with all the injuries they've been hit with?

Well, I mean, the way I look at it is different probably than the organization. I was talking to some people in the front office, and they're not nearly as panicked as their fans, and I don't know how Tom will feel about it. I mean, it obviously was a terrible loss for Ryan Jensen in a non-contact, not a non-contact, but a non-padded practice, second day of training camp, tough guy to replace. Robert Hainsey, who's in his second year, was actually a tackle at Notre Dame, has done a good job, but he's not Ryan Denson.

He's very smart. He knows what he's doing up front. They've been trying to figure out what to do at left guard.

Ali Marpet retired at age 28. Aaron Stinney went down with a knee injury for the season. He was the guy that played during the three playoff games in the Super Bowl, but quite frankly, I'm not sure he would have made this team. There are some other guys they like better, believe it or not, and one of the guys who they drafted, Luke Gedicke out of Central Michigan, had a rough outing his first start in preseason, a couple of holding penalties, and gave up a sack, but the guys that watched the film in the building tell me that, well, one really probably shouldn't have been holding, and the sack was probably caused more by a missed block on the tackle.

So there's all ways to cut it up. They think that they're okay. They can't sustain many other losses on the offensive line. They simply don't have the depth now. But they think they're going to be all right, and the quarterback is a big difference maker because when you're getting the ball out as fast as he does, 2.5 or less most times, that can make your offensive line look pretty good.

But there's no question it's a concern when you've got three new inside guys and where you cut it on this offensive line. What's the latest with Chris Gobbin and his health? He looks really good. I mean, it's hard to evaluate because he's had no contact, but he tore that ACL.

December 20th had surgery on January 3rd. Here we are going to be about eight months later, and they say he's still on track to maybe play against the Dallas Cowboys. Watching him move, he's playing with a brace, which is a little cumbersome, and he won't have any contact. I don't expect him to play in a game before Dallas. So it'll be a little bit of a challenge for him not having been tackled to the ground or had guys around his feet. I don't think they'll rush it because they do have some depth, a lot of depth at receiver. But watching him today, I think there's actually a real chance that he plays against Dallas, which is remarkable. Do you buy that Gronk is actually done, or in a few weeks when Brady calls him, maybe Gronk comes back, Rick Shroud?

I think Gronk gets a call probably around December 1st, especially if the Bucs are in good position to maybe secure a high seed in the draft, and they'll work something out contractually for those final four games in the playoffs or whatever. That might be Bucs fans probably wanting that to happen, but it just seems to me that he's a beat-up guy. The year he came back, he had had a year off. His body had healed up. He made it through all the games. And then last year he was reminded why he quit.

He broke four ribs and punctured a lung and still played really, really well. They're going to have to find a way to make up those 50-something catches for 800 yards and five touchdowns. I think you do it with Julio Jones. I think you do it with four receivers instead of the tight end position. So they've got to do a little bit different. But come on, we know that Gronk's going to take that call, ask his mom for the football pants when Tom Brady dials him up in December and says, hey, we need you for a couple games in the playoffs and the Super Bowl.

Let's get to the next down. No more J.P.P., no more an Adamic and Sue. This defense, how do you look at it? Todd Bowles moving over from defensive coordinator to being the head coach. They're real athletic, more athletic up front, which is what they needed to get.

That's why Sue is not here. They drafted Logan Hall, who has a lot to learn. But he's got a heck of a get-off. He's a good pass rusher.

I think Jotron Shoenka is going to surprise people this year. They moved him around a lot last season. He played a lot of football because J.P.P. was hurt.

But he really didn't find a home. Now he's at that left outside linebacker position. So they're deep. They're more athletic. And they've added on the back end, when you get a Logan Ryan, when you get a Canon Neal to add to that secondary. Of course, they've still got Carleton Davis and Sean Murphy Bunting and Jamel Dean.

It's a good group. And then the two linebackers. I expect a better year out of Devin White. LaMonte Davis is still doing it at 32. This is a really deep defense that's been together.

And I think they've just gotten faster and more athletic and deeper up front. Let's get to the final down. Wrapping up with Rick Stroud. What's the truth why Bruce Arians is no longer the head football coach of this team? Well, I mean, if you talk to Bruce, he's a very altruistic guy that always wanted to have a succession plan. Tried to do it in Arizona with his guys, Todd Bowles.

You know, the Bidwells didn't go for it there. He retired. He came back to coaching. And, you know, he had an opportunity when Brady decided to come back to hand Todd Bowles a Super Bowl ready team with Tom Brady at quarterback, which he preferred over handing him one that had Blaine Gabbert and Kyle Trask battling it out. That's his side of the story. I think we'd be naïve to not think that, you know, that this is okay or not better than okay for Tom Brady in some ways.

I don't think he ordered the code red. I don't think he, you know, did any of that. But I do think that he's used to working one way with a very engaged coach. Really, Todd Bowles, he's really as much from Bill Parcells tree as anybody. Brought him to Dallas. Taught him to 3-4.

Brought him to Miami. And I think he likes the way he works and the fact that he's engaged, still calling the defense. So this does not upset Brady. I keep hearing they see the game the same way, which means complementary football, you know, against some of these high-powered offenses, man, you got to protect your defense a little bit, run the ball a little bit more.

So we'll see how it plays out. We've seen some changes in practice. The accountability is better.

The work ethic, I think, is a little bit better. So, you know, I think everybody's happy. I think Bruce got what he wanted. And I think Tom Brady is fine with the arrangement. You can follow him on Twitter at NFLStroud. Always has big stories, Tampa Bay related.

And also covering the entire league. Make sure you give him a follow and read his work at the Tampa Bay Times. You could also listen to his podcast, the Sports Day Tampa Bay, a podcast available on Apple Podcasts, iTunes, and TampaBay.com. Rick Stroud, thanks so much. Thanks for having me. Thank you.

You got it. There's Rick Stroud joining us. We'll come on back with the closing bell. You're listening to the Zach Gelb Show. Hello, hello, hello.

That is right. It is the Zach Gelb Show, coast to coast on CBS Sports Radio. So well over a year ago now, Jim from North Carolina called our show. And I didn't know that that was the legendary retired talk show host, man who used to be very successful on WFNZ, one of our fine affiliates, and also had a big TV career. That was Jim Salania. He just called one day randomly as Jim in Charlotte, North Carolina. And the next thing you know, listeners left and right, I think that was Jim Salania. I think that was Jim Salania. Zach, I think Jim Salania just called you. And I asked Jim what he's been up to and he said, just relaxing. He was fixing his driveway and he was creating pavers. And it's come to my attention that Jim Salania is the Michelangelo of the paving world. So he was sending me all these pictures and I said it in jest, oh, make me a Zach Gelb Show paver. He made a paver.

This thing was made over a year ago and it was started over a year ago and he's been putting his finishing touches on it. Except I was supposed to go down to North Carolina last year and then I got the eye on football gig. I was supposed to go to a Panthers game and meet Jim, Nick Wilson, backbone, Mac, all those guys at WFNZ. And I was supposed to meet those guys and then Jim was going to give me the paver and I had no clue I was going to get this back to New York. So Jim would sporadically tweet me about the paver. And then randomly last week he just tweets me, what's the station address? I'm going to send you the paver.

Now I didn't know if Jim maybe had a few too many drinks. And I go, is he really going to pay for the shipping to send this paver? Because this is a heavy item. This is not some little paver.

This is a huge brick. And I really thought, ah, there's no way he's actually going to send it. And then when I'm in Florida, I get a notification on Twitter and then also from our bosses. The tweet was from Jim, hey, I sent you the paver. It got delivered on Friday.

And late Friday I got a message from one of our bosses saying, there's a huge box that we're going to put adjacent to your mailbox because it can't fit inside of your mailbox. So I go, wow, this paver actually sent. Now when I was bringing the paver over to the studio, which is about a ten-foot walk, I could hear inside that I think the paver broke, which is not a surprise when you're making the shipping arrangements in a little flimsy box. And it is wrapped, as I could see right here, in bubble wrap. And I have not looked inside yet, but I could tell that part of this paver was broken. First off, Jim, thank you for creating this paver.

Second off, hot take hickey as I'm about to open this up. It's kind of crazy that this has been over a year in the making and it then also stinks that he went out of his way to pay for the shipping and I think this may have broke. I hope maybe there's multiple in there and it's just, you know, it didn't break. I'm an optimist, so I just hope that it really didn't break. Like I said, it's been a lot of effort and time and sweat. I hope, you know, traveling up here, that heavy thing didn't... And this thing was, I will say it was well packed.

Okay, fingers crossed here. Because I had to do some cutting so this didn't take 20 minutes just to prop this thing open because there was so much tape on this. Jim seems like a professional.

Yeah. He wouldn't just send this, you know, in a flimsy box and say, all right, here you go. He may be the professional. He may be the Michelangelo of the paving world, but the guy that was our gal that was in charge of getting this from North Carolina to New York City studios did not treat this with tender loving care. Now, I will say if I could have one criticism of Jim, you got to make sure that this is fragile shipping. There's nowhere on this box that says fragile. It just says UPS ground. There was no fragile. Like, hey, this is a fragile item.

Yeah, minor blip on the radar there. I'm going to open this up right now. I'm going to rip through some of this. Oh, wow. Yep. Little break. You can still see it says it's gold. It says the Zach Gelb show CBS.

He didn't put radio, but he put CBS. And, oh, dude, this almost made it. It's a noticeable chip, but a little chip, and it did fall off in the upper right corner. Now, I'm holding this piece of brick in my right hand. It's very nice.

Very thick. That's like a Notre Dame helmet shiny gold. And look at the brick. Nice brick. This is very nice brick. It also looks very heavy, and the small chunk you're holding, that's no joke. Thank you, Jim.

You're crazy for sending this and spending all this money. Only a little piece got chipped. I look like I just found gold at the gold mine. That is pretty cool.

Like the golden nugget. There you go. Now I'm going to try to pick up the rest, and I'm hoping, oh, wow, this is heavy. I got to stand up. So I'm standing up.

Hickey, provide some background noise, some elevator music. All right. So here's where we really see if Zach actually put his words and mouth where his words are. He claims this is lifted over my head, no problem, easy. As you can hear, folks, he's struggling to lift this pad boy. Well, no, because it's stuck to the bubble wrap.

It does look very nice. It looks like you're holding like the Ten Commandments. It's above my head. He is holding the Ten Commandments of the Zach Gelb show. I don't know if Cap is spying on us because I'm seeing these HD cameras. I'm holding this above my head and trying to get a good workout, and they're starting to blink.

So I don't know if Cap is looking at home at us. This is very nice. The Zach Gelb show in gold paint with red letters. CBS is in black, which differentiates from the everything else. It is a 10 out of 10 job from Jim.

That is for sure. Looks great. How the heck am I going to get this home? Do I just leave this in the studio?

No, no, no. You definitely got to take that along with you, and you got to put that, I don't know if it's in your apartment or I don't know if you have any grass. Maybe if you live by a grassy area in your apartment, maybe then you can kind of dig out a little hole and kind of remind everyone, hey, look, Zach Gelb lives here instead of just leaving it here for everyone else to see. Yeah, I'm really bummed.

Can I superglue this back together, you think? You know, I actually thought about that. Oh, my God, there's no way.

That's why I didn't say it on the air. I thought there was going to be a dumb comment. Maybe we'll have that. It could be your homework for this week. My homework? Yeah, superglue this back together. Yeah, okay. This is very nice. I got to write Jim a thank you note. This is very nice. I don't know what the heck I'm going to do with this, but it's nice. You can't frame that. It's a nice gift. Ripped the wall right off.

A for effort. Yeah, you can. Frame it. I said you can't. I said you can't. Remember when you said you weren't going to say that the dumb comment that you thought was a dumb comment and it wasn't a dumb comment about 35 seconds ago?

About superglueing the paper back together. Yeah, yeah, yeah. What you just followed up with was a dumb comment. It was a joke.

You said you can't frame that. Okay. This is very nice. I'm impressed.

Very impressed. How about your parents? Do they need help on the driveway? Does their walkway need again?

My parents are moving five minutes away, but they are downsizing. They've been trying to get rid of so much crap that I've had. That's my childhood home, so there's a lot of crap. I don't think they want to put this in there.

Are you sure? That could be a nice little welcome mat sign. Man, it's very nice. It's beautiful. I told you, he's the Michelangelo of the paving world.

The red, the gold, it goes well. It's just a shame that this broke, because how did he get brick this big? I don't know. This is a large square of brick.

Went to a... I could throw this at you and you would be like, done. Oh yeah, oh yeah, that's, that's doing, I might be out. You were impressed how long I held that above my head.

That was not bad. Yeah, there's no way you could pick this up. I could pick it up. No chance.

I could definitely pick it up. The Defensive Player of the Week is sponsored by the Navy Federal Credit Union, who proudly serves the armed forces, DOD, veterans, and their families. Their members are the mission.

Learn more at NavyFederal.org. How about Cardinals pitcher Jordan Montgomery? He's been on fire since getting traded to St. Louis from the Yankees as he threw a complete game, one-hit shutout, and just 99 pitches as the Cardinals beat the Cubbies 1-0 on Monday night since trade deadline, the lefty is 4-0 with a.35 ERA. Honestly, the Defensive Player of the Week should be Jim Salania. Look at what he's made. He gave me a real defense item if I needed one. Walking out of the studio could just throw this little piece of brick at someone.

Kabam! When you're taking out the $100K to try and entice me to drink beer through a hot dog, carry that piece of brick around, and everyone tries to rob you. I said Defensive Player of the Week, not Loser of the Week. That would be your title for needing $500,000 to use a hot dog as a straw to eat a beer.

It's called self-respect. You know what? I got a tweet real quickly. I have a tweet that I have to read to you, and this is not me saying it, so don't get mad at me. John Hawes on Twitter. Hickey is the biggest liar or one of the dumbest people out there.

$500,000 also. He doesn't know crap about the Packers. He better stick with what he knows, the miserable Colts and Mr. Wentz. Ah ha ha ha! That is that John82864 on Twitter. He said that he's been saving that up for a while. Hey, real quickly, stock up to Jim Salania. That's the closing bell.

Great job. We'll see you tomorrow. Jay Gruden. Rick Stroud.

Shane Beamer. Thank you for joining us. Each and every one of you. Talk to me now at 6 p.m. Eastern Pacific. We out. Bye bye.