Ring The Bell (Hour 2)

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From solutions that fit your life well, Rocket can. Coming up 20 minutes from now, former All-Pro running back LaVeon Bell is going to be stopping by. And still to come at 8.20 p.m. Eastern, 5.20 p.m. Pacific from the Seattle Seahawks who are 4 and 3. And Ryan, who would have ever thought if Shelby Harris is going to join us that this weekend, the two teams above 500 that are going up against one another are going to be the Seattle Seahawks who are 4 and 3. And then the New York football Giants who are 6 and 1. Just like we all thought when the schedule came out, that's one of the few games circle. You have Chiefs, Bills, Week 6 circle that one. Oh, Seahawks, Giants.

Oh, that's a must watch. Just like we all thought. Now, if we go through the whole schedule, Ravens, Buccaneers, you would have thought both those teams would have been above 500. Yes, Ravens, 4 and 3, Bucks, 3 and 4, that game comes your way at about the top of the hour. Broncos and Jaguars. Even though I was pessimistic about the Broncos, you would have thought the Broncos would be above 500. Jaguars probably below 500, but a team with Doug Peterson that could maybe start to get their act together after the immaturity that you saw from their last head football coach in Urban Meyer. A little bit better than 2 and 5, yes. Panthers, Falcons, not a game we were circling.

Right. Either those teams being above 500. Bears, Cowboys, Cowboys, yes. Bears, no. Bears are 3 and 4.

I don't know how they're 3 and 4, but they are 3 and 4. Dolphins, Lions, probably not an above 500 game. At least for the Dolphins, yes, the Lions, no shot.

Right. Cardinals and Vikings, you would have thought both those teams, even with Hopkins being out for the first 6 weeks of the season, you would have thought, okay, at least they'd be 500, maybe. Like in that range, probably 4 and 3 you would think, but no, they're 3 and 4. Vikings, 5 and 1. Raiders, Saints, before the year, you could have made the case for it. I was down on the Saints, I was more optimistic on the Raiders, but you could make a case for it. Hovering, I feel like hovering around that 3 and 4 mark. If I were to tell you that the Patriots would be below 500 and the Jets not only would be above 500, they'd be 5 and 2.

You would probably say, what are you smoking, right? Of course, I called that. Stealers and Eagles, Eagles above 500. Sealers, I wasn't optimistic about them heading into the year. But not Eagles 6 and L, that's for sure too. Yeah, Titans and Texans, only Tennessee, not the Texans. Commander's Colts, Colts I would have thought would have been above 500.

Commander's, no shot. Colts 3, 3 and 1, Commander's 3 and 4. 49ers and Rams, right? A lock, both those teams be above 500. 49ers 3 and 4, Rams 3 and 3. Giants, Seahawks, would you have thought either of those teams would be above 500? Let it one both? If you asked who they have combined for four wins, I'd probably say no.

You're exactly right. Green Bay Buffalo, easy, both those teams going to be above 500. Bills, yes, we know. Packers, nope, they're 3 and 4 and they're a lock to go to 3 and 5 after this weekend.

Lock it up. Bengals and Browns, I didn't think the Browns are going to be able to weather the storm without Watson. Bengals, you would think could be above 500 and they are 4 and 3.

So it's not the best lane in the world, but to have the only matchup of teams that are above 500 this weekend, Giants and Seahawks, that's stunning. Packers, Bills not being there, stunning. 49ers, Rams, surprising. And then the biggest one I would think probably, Ravens and Buccaneers. Because you look at the Bucks, the Rams and the Packers, all three of those teams, those are supposed to be the top three teams we were just talking about with Tom McCarthy, all three are underachieving and are overrated immensely.

Which it's really wild to say when you go through the entire slate. It's been a wacky seven weeks and I think this week eight slate kind of highlights the unexpectedness so far that we've seen. Yeah, and I've been asking it all throughout the season, who are your top three teams in the AFC, top three teams in the NFC. Bills, Chiefs roll right off the tip of the tongue in the AFC three.

You basically had a debate between the Ravens or the Bengals. And then in the NFC, it's okay. You have the Eagles as one and then any other team that even try to put a two, people knock. Like the Cowboys, people don't really believe in. The Giants, people don't really believe in.

The Vikings, people don't really believe in. The 49ers, that record, you can't make them number two right now. The Rams offensive line is horrendous. Brady and that offense has been a disaster.

Maybe if they win tonight, that starts to push them back in the right direction. This NFC, he got some good teams. Don't get me wrong. But the only great team through the first seven weeks of the season are the Philadelphia Eagles. This is a mess. I don't remember NFL season ever being this sloppy.

And I don't know if I want to say it's ugly because you know it will eventually even out. But the way to say this, this is the most open the NFL has ever been. But I said this earlier in the week and I'll say it again. Then you wonder really how open is it? Because it's the exclusive club so exclusive that there may not be a team or two that even gets a chance to submit an application by the end of the year. I think we'll see a separation. But I think way later in the year, I think this being open benefits the rest of the NFL and not the three teams. Who are your applications?

Who are your applicants? Bangle's our team. Ravens for sure. And the NFC? I hate to say it.

Would you put the charters in there? I know they're injured and banged up. But later in the year. I can't trust that coach.

That coach stinks. And the NFC then I'll put the Buccaneers in that. I'll put the Rams in that.

I'll put the 49ers in there. Man, this is like when I was applying to colleges and how the admissions office probably felt they looked at my resume. Roll them out. Get this kid out of here.

We're not fire off the resumes. Oh, you have a good essay. All right. We'll give you a shot. But your essay t stink. Your A.C.T. stink. Your grades stink. You stink.

This is what it's looking like. The Zach Gelb College application process. And then there was Temple that accepted me. Oh, come to Philadelphia. It's amazing. You know, I always laugh about this.

I probably shouldn't say this on the air, but I'm going to say it anyway. It is so tough to fail out of Temple and Robbie Anderson failed out of Temple. And Matt rule had to petition the school to get him like if he applied to get reinstated. Usually if you fail out, I think he had to wait four or five years to reapply. That was in the student. I guess handbook or whatever it's called, which is kind of like a dumb rule. But anyway, rule petitioned it.

Robbie Anderson got back in. There was one class at Temple Rhyme. I could.

You're not. I went to one class, one in the entire semester. I got an A. I don't get how it's possible to fail out of Temple University. And that's my alma mater. I love Temple. T for Temple you, baby. But when I hear that anyone fails out of Temple University, it's almost as if you just say you didn't go to class or you didn't even try to care to fake it to make it because I went to one class in a in a semester in terms of I forget what the name of the class was, but I went to one class and I still got an A for that class.

That is frightening. How hard is to fail out? Not to mention senior. I'm second to my senior.

My buddy signed me in. They told me, OK, you got to have this paper done that paper done. But I went to one class because I was broadcasting all these games. And imagine also being a football player and still like, yeah, you get like the actual how many people help you out.

Right. Dude, the professors, if you're on the football team or the basketball team, they like love you. Oh, you're an athlete. It's like I was a broadcaster at that point. I was a broadcaster and I had professors that would suck up to me.

Oh, yeah. You don't have to hand in that assignment. You're calling the basketball game against Villanova, Temple Villanova.

That's awesome. I had two friends that hated me in this one public relations class that I took because anything I would say, the three students before me could say the same thing. Then I'd raise my hand and say it was as if I was recreating the curriculum. That's how crazy this teacher was just over the fact and adored me just because I called the basketball games for Temple.

So when you fail out of Temple, geez, that's that's rough. And we don't know what your own mascot is. And you think there's a bear in the stands. No, that's a panther. Yes. That's not a Robbie Anderson, Robbie Anderson, um, the Owls of Temple. I don't know what he thought.

Got the owl confused for a bird, maybe it's in a plane at Superman. Let me on Bell's going to join us coming up at seven 20. Let's get to a news brief time for your daily news brief.

We get you caught up on the rumors, reports and reconnaissance from the day in sports. Let's hear George paid in the second year general manager, the Denver Broncos. It's always great when the GM has to give a sign of support to the head coach seven games into a tenure, but that's what he had to do today for Nathaniel. Yeah, I believe in Nathaniel.

I support Nathaniel a hundred percent. He's been in this seven games, you know, as a head coach, uh, the scrutiny he's faced is unprecedented. You know, we've had four prime time games, so he's kind of had to learn in front of the entire world. But I really like how, uh, the team, he's, he's, he's kept the team together.

He's either connected. He's kept our building together. Um, and I appreciate how he's, he's fought through that. Yeah, I believe in Nathaniel. That doesn't sound like a GM that actually believes in Nathaniel Hackett.

That's brutal. George Payden believes Russell Wilson will turn things around as well. Sure. We know what Russ is capable of and it's our job to get the best out of Russ and our entire offense. And, uh, I know we'll get there, um, but you've seen the flashes. Uh, with Russ, whether it was a, you know, the first half of the Raiders, first half of chargers, um, you see the arm strength, the accuracy, the mobility, and, and, uh, we all need to play better.

That's for sure. On offense. So George, why aren't you panicking over Russell Wilson's slow starts since you not only invested draft picks, but now a big contract with Russell Wilson.

You know, I'm not concerned. You know, we're, we're in it for the long haul with Russ, not the first seven games. We believe, you know, we believe in Russ. I believe in Russ. We just need to play better on offense and the timing and the rhythm and, uh, we need an identity. You know, we really don't have an identity in offense. And I think that comes with time.

And, and again, hopefully it comes soon. Hickey, do me a favor. You're going to be George Payton. Let's get back to the Daniel Hackett conversation.

So I'm some media member in Denver. Hey, George, what have you seen that Daniel Hackett do well this year? I've seen him wear the team uniform. He has shown up on time. You have to actually make the case for him. Like you are. George Payton.

That's what I'm doing. He may. He's worn the uniform. Well, he has shown up to practice on time. He has not said he's not been like Urban Meyer kicking kickers and, you know, missing the team plane. He better not be kicking.

Be back. Well, that's true. That's your guy. Temple guy. That's the, I did not fill out a temple by the way. No.

Um, otherwise, what is it? What have I seen? Um, where's he grown? Like where's he better than from six, seven weeks ago that makes you want to keep him? You know, he, he's a good listener and he has grown physically. His waistlines grown a little bit.

All the stress eating. He's been doing George Payton on wearing a Daniel Hackett has grown this season. Listen up. I see him in front of the team. You know, he's kept this team together. It's hard to lose five games like we've lost and Nathaniel has great leadership and he's kept this team together. He's kept, kept his coaching staff and really our entire building together. What?

Does he not remember KJ Hamler throwing the helmet after the game deservedly so because Russell Wilson didn't see him. This team has no guidance. They have no leadership. They have no calm voice.

They have no reassuring voice. That's a bunch of baloney. Tom Brady, his team, the Buccaneers host the Ravens tonight to kick off week eight. Tom Brady says the offense needs to get in the end zone more. You know, we haven't scored a lot of points, so I think we scored like 19 points or something like that a game. So it's not good enough by, you know, what we're trying to accomplish. So however you get it in, run it, throw it.

The objective is to score more points in the other team. So we just haven't done a great job with it, you know, thus far. You feel bad for Brady this year? I'll take Kiki. No, I don't. Not at all. I don't. Why not?

Why should I? Because the guy's been the best. He has been the best literally quarterback in the entire NFL has paid a manning. Would you feel bad for him?

And I feel bad for Peyton in 2015. Like, what's that? Honestly, what does that feel bad about?

I'm just asking. He came back. He rushed it. He's taken days off. Like you made your bed.

You got to line it. It's kind of sad because this is the first time and I didn't really buy into this a few weeks ago and people pointed it out. His appearance. He looks dejected. Even Rodgers, they just both look like they want nothing to do with being there. And I'm not saying they don't want to be there. But this is really taking a toll on both of them.

And who was it? Kurt Warner was the People's Magazine where he said that they should both just retire. You know, just go out. It's never easy to end your career.

Just leave now. It's not like you can't play anymore. But even Kurt Warner, who doesn't really like speak out of line, like isn't hot take. Pretty well-researched, thorough kind of guy, Kurt Warner, highly respected. Even he's saying, this is a rough watch right now. Just when you see both of the way that they're interacting on the podium. And then finally, Alvin Kamara of the Saints, he says the offense needs their swagger back. The years we've been good, it's been like a certain swag and a certain confidence, you know, about the offense. Like, even when we were down, it was never like, it was never like, we were looking at the score. It was like, all right, well, let's go.

Let's play football. It wasn't a score thing. It wasn't like, what the other team was doing thing. It's like, let's go out, execute, and we're going to like the result. And I feel like, just honestly, I feel like we haven't really been playing like that. It's been like, we kind of, it's just a little bit of a panic, a little bit of a like, oh, we down, like, and we don't play like that.

I still don't have that mentality. So, you know, I think I saw something about like, somebody talking about like my body language like that. I'm just, you know, I'm always analyzing, always trying to say 10 steps ahead in the game. You know, a blank look for me is not frustration. It's more so like, what can we do? What, what's next? What can we do to, to put ourselves in position to win or put ourselves in position to sustain the drive? Or what can we do to eliminate the mistakes that have been going on?

So that's really what my, my temperament is, my demeanor is, it's never a frustration. This is just simply, they need to be healthy. Seems like the Saints are never healthy.

They have a lot of talent. I don't love either quarterback, James Winston, or Andy Dalton. Michael Thomas seems like a lost cause at this point that he's just never going to be healthy. Chris Alavi's been really good. Jarvis Juice Landry. I think he's like a number two wide receiver at this stage of his career, but he's not been a hundred percent.

Neither is Alvin Kamara seems just not healthy on offense. And even if they are healthy, what's, what's their best case scenario if they were healthy the entire way, like eight, nine wins at best. So I'll be fascinated to see what their record is at the end of the year real quickly, Hickey win loss. They're two and five right now. They play the Raiders this weekend and loss.

They feel good about them. Ravens Monday night loss Pittsburgh at Pittsburgh. I think it's getting able to win Rams in the super new loss San Francisco in Santa Clara loss at Tampa Bay Monday night. Ah, Oh, I'll go win. They usually win those games and I did lose earlier in the year, 20 to 10, just go in. Just say Atlanta loss Cleveland, but the Sean back in Cleveland. Yes. The Sean back loss at Philadelphia loss Carolina last game of the season win.

Okay. So that's seven more losses that we just put on their schedule. That's 12 losses, five and 12 and did you disagree?

Maybe I'm like a game or two at Mac. So we're talking about maybe at best a seven and nine team, seven and 10, seven and 10 team. Just frustrating. They have talent that you mentioned. Just can't say healthy. And even if everyone was healthy, I kept most nine wins.

Probably this year. They could have won the division this year if they were healthy because the boxer are really struggling. That's ugly.

That kelp show CBS sports, what did you say? Not good. Not good. Not good. Dog. No, not good. Not good.

Dog. It is that kelp show CBS sports radio. We will reconnect with lady on Bell.

The former all pro running back next throughout the sixties and seventies. The listening you love is on the free Odyssey app. Your trusted local radio stations, coverage of your favorite teams, live news from your hometown and millions of podcasts on demand. First of all, you can completely customize your listening experience. Follow topics you care about like leagues and teams, pause or rewind your local sports and news and add shows to your queue to catch up later.

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Download the Odyssey app today. You're listening to the Zach Gelb show. International superstar and serial risk taker, Jake, the problem child, Paul will face the biggest challenge of his career when he takes on UFC legend and accomplished boxer, Anderson the Spider Silva in a eight round bout at a catch weight of 187 pounds on Saturday, October 29th in a most valuable promotions event live on Showtime pay-per-view at 9 p.m. Eastern, 6 p.m. Pacific from Desert Diamond Arena, just outside of Phoenix, Arizona. And in the undercard elite UFC striker, Uriah Hall and former NFL star running back, Le'Veon Bell will make their pro debuts in a four round cruiser rate bout contracted at 195 pounds.

And now joining us on the Zach Gelb show on CBS Sports Radio is the former NFL All-Pro running back in Le'Veon Bell. Le'Veon, appreciate the time. How you been? Man, I've been good. You know, this whole process, I've just been enjoying it, been embracing it, I'm prepared.

I'm so ready, bro, for Saturday. Yeah, so when it was first announced that you were going to be boxing, and I know that a month ago you knocked out Adrian Peterson, which is something I never thought I would say, I wondered, why are you doing this? So like, what drove you to get to the sport of boxing? To be honest, it started as a workout, just like an extra cardio workout.

I was using it for in football season, just like the extra conditioning. And then over the course of years, like last two, three years, I've been feeling myself getting better, getting better, getting better. And in retrospect, the same two, three years, I haven't necessarily been, I guess, as productive on the football field. So I kind of had my mind set up like, I wanted to box next because football just wasn't necessarily going the way I had planned it. And I just knew I had so much more to give, you know, athletically speaking. And I made my mind of that I wanted to be a champion, you know, as I got to take the necessary steps to take that, you know, to move towards that goal.

And you know, Adrian Peterson was the first guy to get into the ring. I think it was like the first step for me. I kind of do that. It's like kind of like a glorified sparring match. And then, you know, now it's just time to like really show people like, okay, this is the time, you know what I'm saying? So my first pro fight, fight a guy with, you know, like your right heart with tons of experience. So I'm really showing people like how seriously I'm taking the sport to even, you know, agree to a fight like this. And not only that, I'm going to show people that how dedicated and how motivated I've been to not only step into the ring with them, but I actually beat this guy. How did this fight come about? And were you surprised when you found out that, hey, I'm fighting up against Uriah Hall?

Because like you said, that's a pretty big step this early on. Yeah. So I had the fight with Adrian Peterson, like that Saturday, September 10th, whatever, literally like two days later, Jake Paul asked me to be on the show. So I was on the show, we were just talking and he just randomly threw it out. Like cause I thought he'd be, he probably thought I was going to turn it down, but he just ran into it out. Like, lady, would you fight him on a fight card, then he'd show me the date, whatever. He said October 29th, I'm like, yeah, I'll fight him in your fight card. You know what I'm saying? He's like, would you fight Frank Gore? I said, no, I don't want to fight no more football players. You know what I'm saying? Cause that's what I told him.

That's when I kind of, the cat got out the bag. Like, no, I don't want to fight him with four players. If anything, I'll fight Darren Williams cause Darren Williams beat Frank Gore. So I'll fight Darren Williams. So then the Darren Williams thing, I guess he was hurt.

He wouldn't have been prepared to fight or ready to fight. So then then Uriah Hall was brought to be. I was like, Uriah Hall, you know what I'm saying? How you feel about this? Do you feel like you're ready for this type of opponent? Is that another, I straight up said, yeah, like Uriah Hall, that's actually perfect.

You know what I'm saying? Let me skip another athlete to, you know, basketball, football, you know, let me skip that. Let me just fight an MMA guy. So people know exactly how serious I'm taking the sport and where I'm trying to go with it. I'm not nervous whatsoever.

No, not nervous. It's like, I'm like, if anything, like my anxiety, any anxious that I have, it'd be more so like my performance or like how far I can actually go. I had the same thing with football. Like, no matter what game it was, it could be a one o'clock game on a Sunday.

It could be upon time game, Monday night, it could be playoff game or whatever it was. I've always had that, that feeling inside of me, it's like, okay, I know I prepare well, I know I've done everything that I need to do now, just me going out there and executing, you know what I'm saying? And that's the only feeling I always have in myself, but I don't necessarily work with my opponent at all because there's nothing I feel like they can do to jeopardize what I'm doing.

Lady Anbel here with us. What's your scouting report as a boxer? Man, I think a lot of people want to kind of, like when they see me boss, they're going to say, be patient. I'm a patient guy, same way they say in football, slick, you know, looser, same thing they say in football.

A lot of things that they say about football, it's going to show everybody boxing. I'm like really the same person, you know, same thing. I don't really depend on my athletic ability so much. It's really more of my mind, you know, and me dictating and me manipulating my opponents.

And you know, that's really what it is. Lady Anbel here with us. How do you look back at your NFL career, which was very successful? I think I enjoyed my time. I enjoyed all my time in the league, whether I had the years where I had all pro years and the years where I didn't necessarily play as much, you know, I feel like they all kind of made me to the person I am today and, you know, they made me confident, they made me get more humbled or I understand the sacrifice it takes to be great, the sacrifice it takes to be with teams and things like that.

They all helped me. I feel like every year NFL helped me prepare over to this point because all the emotions I had, even like this whole fight week leading up to this fight week, it's like I feel like I've been doing this for so long just because like I've been in the NFL and I have to deal with, you know, all right, Monday we got this, Tuesday we got this, Wednesday we got this, all right, now it's fight week. You know what I'm saying?

I don't get too high during the week or I don't get too low. I kind of stay neutral and I think me playing in the league so long kind of helped me in that sense. Even when I'm in, you know, patrol our emotions when I'm in the ring, even before the fight, you know what I'm saying? When I'm in the arena, I just feel like my experience to just be performing in front of people has been helpful, you know, and I don't ever take things, you know, I don't get too high on myself and I don't get too low on myself. You know what I'm trying to say? I just try to stay neutral and I think it's, you know, being in the NFL really helped me in that aspect.

Well, Avion Bell, it seems like you're really invested in this. If a team calls you though tomorrow, would you go back to the NFL or is that over? Hell no. No, that's over. The only way I would go, the only way I would go back is the playoffs, like I will only play in the playoffs. That would be the only way. Yeah. I would not play.

I ain't playing no more than like three, four games. No, because that's everything that is in my boxes. I did see your Instagram post that you said that if you could go back to 2018, you would love to hop in a time machine. What would you do differently?

How would you handle that differently? I think 2018 is just like, cause that was the holdout year and I feel like, I feel like I would have just, cause it was like so much that I was like saying, like when I wasn't playing like back and forth, like with the linemen and about, there was people saying like I was supposed to, uh, supposed to report the camp and there was like talks of like a whole bunch of rumors that necessarily didn't clear, like I never cleared the rumors. Like I always, I just kind of sat back and let everything happen and I feel like in 2018, I feel like I should have spoke up more, I should have said more of my side about what's actually happening. Um, and not just on football, but even like outside off the football field, 2018 was just like one of those years where I feel like a lot of things didn't go as I planned, but it helped me transpire to, you know, the person I am today and it moved forward even in 2019 when I signed with the jets. And when I, when 2019, when I came back to the field, I felt so rejuvenated, so good because I played football for a whole year. So I'm like, damn, like it's so good that I'm this damn, I feel like being on my teammates cause that year off, I just, I felt it like, damn, like, you know, like that, that was like that first taste I got like when I don't have football, like what would I do if I didn't have football, you know? And that was like that first taste I got and I needed that, I needed that year to help me understand and be the person I am today because everything, you know, that's when I was on top of the world. Everybody started looking at the lady on the bell on top of the world, it's 2017, 2018, you know, the best running back, this, that and the other. And then, you know, after that happened, people were like, oh, he ain't been the same player, he ain't been this, he ain't been that. So it's more so me learning and then capturing all the, you know, all the moments that made me, made me, you know, sad or angry or irritated and in the same retrospect, all the times where I'm happy and excited and I'm enjoying all those moments, using all that fuel for this fight and leading me to this point and, and I engaged and I embraced all of it.

I know you got to run last one on LaVie on Bell. You said if you go back to 2018, you wished you could clear the air. What specifically would you like to clear up?

Like what is your version of the truth of what happened in 2018? I mean, I'm at peace with it, so I don't necessarily care about talking about the Steelers or none of that. I'm not, I'm probably getting into it. Like it is what it happened, what, four years ago. So I don't necessarily care. I would have did it in 2018, but it's now 2022, so I don't really care to talk about it. I'm at ease with it. I don't move past it. You know, the Steelers doing what they're doing.

I'm doing what I'm doing. I'm cool on it. What do you think about what the Steelers are doing now with Kenny Pickett and Najee Harris?

Yeah, I'm gonna be honest. I haven't watched no football this year, but I think Najee Harris football was watching last year in Alabama or whatever. I think he's a good player. Like, I think he's one of those players who got a special dynamic to him.

You know, it's a lot of things that he got that you can't actually teach him, him running out of the bathroom and all that. So I think he's, you know, will be a good player for the Steelers for, you know, moving on. Well, make sure you buy the fight on Showtime pay-per-view tickets still available at Ticket Master. LaVion Bell, excited to see what you got this weekend against your Iowa Hall. Good luck. Thank you. There you go, LaVion Bell joining us on the Zach Gelb show on CBS Sports Radio.

A lot of interesting things with him. We'll get into it on the other side. But first, this season for the first time ever, you can hear every Westwood One NFL broadcast stream live for free.

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Hickey, I'm not going to lie. I didn't think I was going to walk away from the LaVeon Bell conversation, really having it exceed my expectations. My expectations were pretty low, just because I had a feeling that he was going to want to talk majority about the boxing, and when you got to the end in Pittsburgh, he was going to kind of give some short answers. He was very extensive, and really engaging when it came to the boxing stuff. I did not think that we only got 10 minutes with him, and that's normal when these guys are on some of these tours, but I didn't think I would be that interested in the actual fight and also in his actual boxing background. But right off the bat, when he said he was thinking about boxing, he used to do it as training in the offseason, and when his career wasn't going well the last few years, he goes, I still feel as if I had a lot more to give athletically, to make that jump into the boxing world, which is not easy, and it's gimmicky, right? When he goes up against Adrian Peterson, now he knocks him out, to have Uriah Hall be your next fight, who's had an extensive background in the UFC, that's a lot of respect.

Not that I had no respect for LaVeon Bell to begin with. I'm not saying that, but I was blown away by that conversation with him, and really impressed about the strategy, and how thoughtful he was, and do I think he'll be like a champion, or how do you define champion of the boxing world, and all that. But I'm not telling you he's going to be necessarily super, super, super successful, but it's at least intriguing, and I didn't think I was going to be intrigued by the boxing stuff. Like you said, you hear his passion, you hear it's not just like a money grab, which like LaVeon Bell's not the first, it won't be the last former NFL player to go pursue a boxing, let's say career-release boxing one fight. And I would assume he doesn't need the money. Right.

Do it, competitive drive, like a lot of these guys, like Frank Gora, I would assume doesn't need the money either, but you have that competitiveness in you that you really still want to just do something. You hear LaVeon Bell in the interview say, you know, I still have more athletically to give, and if it's on the football field, might as well do it somewhere else. But you're right, it is interesting that he is motivated, he's into it, and it is definitely something that you kind of have to watch going forward, where boxing has kind of gone to the backburn and we'll say the last 20 years.

Yeah. Other than Deontay Wilder going up against Tyson Fury, there has not really been a boxing event that has really elicited a big time reaction nationally, where unless you're just getting sent out somewhere to be paid to talk about the fight, we have not spent a ton of extensive time in the boxing world, other than Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury, and Fury was must watch and the story's excellent, we had Tyson Fury on in the early stages of this program before you were even working on the show, it was back to the Mikey B days. Other than that, I can't really remember spending a lot of time nationally talking boxing, other than when McGregor had that fight against Floyd Mayweather, but then once again, and Hickey just, you can't see him, but he just did the air quotes, yeah, that was a gimmick. And you could even say to some extent like this is a gimmick too, but Le'Veon Bell did a good job selling it and keeping me engaged and intrigued to just see where he's going to take this boxing career, which to be honest, I have no clue where he's going to take it to. You're right, I guess worst case scenario, if he condes, he's a very good salesman and he'll have a career, he doesn't want to, you know, when he's done boxing, he can sell something else. Yeah, because whenever we usually talk boxing, the two things that usually annoy me is what's the ladies, the score, the ref, oh, the judge Adelaide Burt, I think her name is, she always messes something up. So it's the other that when you watch something and they don't make the proper decision or remember Mayweather, Pacquiao, how they made you wait forever, and then when the actual fight happened, it was clear that Manny Pacquiao was cooked and he was dunzo, and that Floyd Mayweather was just going to dance around the ring and eventually he was just going to wear out Manny Pacquiao in the fight. But there was so many, with the testing and the needles and all that, it was just, they delayed that fight and it did make Mayweather look like he was ducking Pacquiao for years. So usually when it's boxing on a national radio show now, and it's a shame, unless it's based around Tyson Fury, I usually say no, but I thought it was going to be, not like I say it was going to be worth it, but you knew you'd have to talk about the boxing in order to get Lavey on Belon and I had some questions about how it did go down with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

And I thought he did a really good job keeping me intrigued on the boxing stuff. Now for his divorce from Pittsburgh, first off, he's never playing in the NFL again, if his goal is just to get on a team for a playoff run, because your career was coming to a close anyway, maybe if there's a big time in, but running back rooms are so deep now. If there's a big time injury before the playoffs, and maybe someone bring them in, but he'll be in good shape.

I'll tell you that he would be in good shape. But if you're a player saying I'm only coming back to go on a two or three playoff run, and not knowing really any of the plays, not knowing the playbook, any of that, I would be shocked if he ever plays in the NFL, if that's the way that he wants to go about it. I like his honesty of, yeah, I'll play if it's a playoff.

Well, first he said, hell no, and then he goes, actually, if it's the playoffs, that's about it. Not sure many teams will sign up for a, I don't want to say out of shape, but just not in football shape. We'll say LaVon Bell for the biggest game of the season. Football shape is different. I don't know, but if you're able to box, I think you could go run the ball 15, 20 times in a game, I would think. I wouldn't want to find out, for sure, in a playoff game. It would have to be to Kansas City, Tampa, the Ravens, a team that he's been on. Well, that's what I'm saying, a team that at least he has knowledge of the playbook. That's what it would have to be.

Yeah, that's all right. That's actually a great point. You have to know what the hell the playoffs are. You would have to.

I didn't even think of, here I am, so how about just athletically? You're right. You just named all the teams that he's been on.

Yeah, that was intentional. You gotta know the playbook. I'll never forget, I was doing ION football last year, because last year he played on the Ravens and Tampa, and the Ravens had a touchdown.

It was number 17. Yes. He pops up on the screen, Le'Veon Bell, and remember Bob Wye from Hard Knocks, where he's like, like, what's going on out here? Like, wait, stretching?

We won World Wars without stretching. I'm doing ION football. I go, Le'Veon Bell, what the heck is going on on this screen? That's not Le'Veon Bell, because not only was he wearing number 17 was weird, and seeing him in a Ravens uniform was weird, he slimmed down significantly when you saw him at the Baltimore Ravens, and he looked taller, too. Maybe just 26 is, like, not flattering. Like, maybe it makes you look more wide than tall, like, you know, they say the camera adds, like, 10 pounds, maybe 26 adds. I think that he knew that he was going to this boxing route, and he was getting more lean, let's just say. Already in a boxing body?

Yeah, because what? I think the promo read said it was for 195 pounds for this fight. When he was in the NFL, I think he was listening to, like, 225, 230. His physical back, right? He wasn't, like, a speedster.

Yeah. And also, his boxing approach he equated to the NFL, where it's a slow buildup, because that was the one thing, with how great Le'Veon Bell was for a few years, he would always kind of dance, like, right before, and then boom, then take off. It was a slow buildup before you got the acceleration from Le'Veon Bell.

Tremendous patience and tremendous vision. And the other thing, how about the end on what he said from Pittsburgh, where at the time, because there was a lot out there, remember? And he even alluded to it, and he didn't want to further go into detail, which it's okay. It was at 2018.

We still want some answers, but it is what it is. You could tell that there is some regret. His biggest regret was just not speaking up more at the time, because there was a lot of conversation out there, at least from the sales locker room, that he told them at a certain time he would be back to the offensive lineman.

And then when it did come down that he was going to sit out the entire year, remember they were taking every... The announcement came down, I'll never forget this, and I think we had Ramon Foster on once to talk about this, where I brought this up. I think it was Ramon. Or maybe it was Max.

I think it was Ramon, though. The announcement comes down that he's not coming back after. Everyone thought for sure, after a few weeks in, he was going to be coming back. He was like week six or week seven, or whatever it was.

Or maybe it was week nine or week 10, whatever it was. And the moment he doesn't come back, the teammates and reporters got photos of this, went right to his locker, as he had, I think, two lockers, was the setup, if I remember this correctly. And they took shoes, they took... Whatever was in the locker, it wasn't Olevion's coming back to get it.

Maybe it's something that means something to him. The teammates just took it and said, basically, bleep this guy, because I guess he gave them the impression that he was coming back. Don't forget that, because it's something we've never seen before. Rarely we'll probably see again, but they raided that locker the day the announcement was made.

He is not signing, he's not coming back. And this wasn't a Joe Schmoe. This was a very popular guy in that locker room. You know how much it takes to get two lockers in a locker room like that?

Yeah. You're not the 53rd guy in the roster having two lockers. Nah, he did say he felt rejuvenated when he went to the Jets, that he needed that year off. I wonder if he didn't take that year off, though, what his career would have been. If he was back in Pittsburgh, I don't think we would have seen the decline the way that we did see the decline.

Now, it didn't help when he was with the Jets, Adam Gase was the coach, and what it says right here, 15 games in that first year. He had 789 yards. Well, I don't think Gase was, Gase was there, I think, the following year, in 2020, I think it was, when he only played two games with Adam Gase, but you look at it, he was never the same running back ever again. Which a guy goes, and I know it happens, it's the nature of the position, but that year off, I think, just killed his momentum, because this is a guy that was back to back almost 1300 yard seasons, and then the rest of his career, he didn't even total.

I don't think he total like 400 yards, if we're being honest. And he, well, when he sat out, you could argue the best running back in the NFL, like that point, like it was, he was right up there in the conversation, then they said, you sit out the year and clearly never came, you know, in 2017, all pro first team, all pro tremendous. Yeah, crazy.

Absolutely wild. This is Zach Gelbshaw on CBS Sports Radio, I'm going to give you my Heisman watch right now, heading into this weekend, the top five names, Blake Quorum five, Bo Nix four, Max Duggan, welcome into the conversation from TCU and at number three, CJ Stroud two, Henson Hooker one. Is there a name or two that you want to throw into this conversation that took Spencer Sanders out? I took Bryce Young out as well.

I wouldn't add these two names to like anyone on the top five, but I think the two names you just listed, Bryce Young and, uh, I, well, Spencer Sanders, I'd even add Caleb Williams. Yeah. You got to get back obviously in the college world playoff race, but some big games down the stretch to where if you play, if you play as well, you know, the, the war is one in November. Yeah.

That's fair to say. So, you know, sometimes even the first week of December, right? Conference championship weekend. There's still plenty of time for some of these guys, like you said, who have a loss at Alabama and USC to still get back in the picture.

And let me be clear. I'm not excluding those guys from the conversation, just the first five names where these teams are currently at. So yes, a guy like Caleb Williams can get back in the conversation. He was originally my top five list. Absolutely. Bryce Young.

Absolutely. I'm in Spencer Sanders. I've been telling Hickey for weeks, get him on the show. So he could absolutely get back in, but they're going to have to get back to the conference championship game and win it.

Take a timeout. We'll come on back. We'll preview Lamar at Brady next. That would be Ravens and Buccaneers and Shelby Harris and the Seahawks will join us at eight 20 PM Eastern, five 20 PM Pacific. Of the sixties and seventies, football season is here. The new Odyssey app lets you stay connected to your NFL team, your station, your shows, follow your favorite stations and come back again and again, get real time updates on everything you care about.

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