Hour 3: Peter's Theory

Summary

Podcast Summary: Don, Hahn & Rosenberg – Hour 3: Peter's Theory

Release Date: March 27, 2025

---

1. Introduction to NIL and the Maryland Coaching Situation

The episode kicks off with a deep dive into the ongoing controversy surrounding the University of Maryland's head basketball coach expressing his desire to leave for Villanova. Host Ryan Reynolds sets the stage by highlighting the broader implications of Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) regulations on college sports.

• Ryan Reynolds [01:01]: "A lot of the headlines are about the fact that our head coach wants to leave and go to Villanova. He gave what people said was an honest answer about Maryland is a joke."

Don Han empathizes with the coach's frustration, emphasizing the disparity in funding between Maryland's football and basketball programs.

• Don Han [01:32]: "He’s very frustrated because the University of Maryland spends tons of money on a football program that doesn't compete and they don’t spend money on a basketball team that does compete."

The discussion pivots to the fairness and transparency expected in coaching transitions, especially amidst the NIL landscape.

• Ryan Reynolds [02:09]: "Unless you're like Gonzaga. Sweet 16s don't come every year."

• Don Han [02:09]: "No, it's a big deal."

2. The Impact of NIL on Student-Athletes and College Programs

The hosts explore how NIL deals are reshaping the dynamics between student-athletes, coaches, and university programs. They discuss the challenges faced by athletes aiming for the NBA versus those seeking alternative career paths post-college.

• Don Han [04:14]: "Does anybody feel for the kids that aren't good enough to go to the NBA, that aren't good enough to command big NIL money? They just want to win a national championship."

Ryan Reynolds introduces the concept of NIL caps and their potential effects on recruiting and program competitiveness.

• Don Han [10:20]: "Assuming final approval is granted, NCAA schools will be able to spend a maximum of $23.1 million each year."

3. Top NIL Earners and Gender Disparities

The conversation shifts to profiling the highest NIL earners, highlighting notable athletes and the discrepancies between male and female athletes in earnings.

• Don Han [15:26]: "Angel Reese is not in the top 10."

• Ryan Reynolds [15:48]: "This is NIL. This is not from a couple years ago."

Livy Dunn emerges as a standout among female athletes, stirring surprise among the hosts.

• Don Han [13:16]: "Livy Dunn for LSU is making $4.5 million. She's fourth."

4. Ethical Considerations and Future Implications of NIL

The hosts delve into the ethical dilemmas posed by NIL, such as the influence of wealthy alumni and the potential monopolization of funding by affluent donors.

• Peter Rosenberg [18:10]: "A lot of these institutions, they receive taxpayers money. Are the taxpayers okay?"

Don Han expresses concern over the transient nature of college programs as athletes and coaches leverage NIL for better opportunities.

• Don Han [21:30]: "It's going to become so transient. It's already gone from, hey, I like that player, I'm going to watch him for three, four years in college to I guess I'm just rooting for coaches now."

5. Listener Interaction and Theoretical Discussions

Listener Richard proposes innovative ideas for broadcasting the show from major sporting events, sparking a lively debate on the feasibility and potential audience engagement.

• Richard [27:40]: "Citi Field, The Yankees and Mets. July 4th, 3:00 game. Why not?"

The discussion includes speculative theories about Aaron Rodgers potentially signing with the Pittsburgh Steelers during Pat McAfee's sold-out event.

• Don Han [39:05]: "That's exactly what's going to happen. It's a conspiracy theory that it's not going to happen."

Ryan Reynolds and Peter Rosenberg engage with these theories, weighing their plausibility and potential impact on the sports landscape.

6. Concluding Remarks and Final Thoughts

As the episode wraps up, the hosts reflect on the transformative effects of NIL on college sports, debating whether it heralds a positive evolution or heralds challenges that may undermine the integrity and unpredictability of collegiate athletics.

• Don Han [22:02]: "There's more than one royal family. Yeah."

• Ryan Reynolds [22:33]: "If you go to college, then you're staying at X school for X amount of time."

The episode concludes with light-hearted banter and promotional snippets, encouraging listeners to engage with the podcast across various platforms.

---

Notable Quotes with Timestamps:

• Ryan Reynolds [01:01]: "A lot of the headlines are about the fact that our head coach wants to leave and go to Villanova."

• Don Han [04:14]: "Does anybody feel for the kids that aren't good enough to go to the NBA..."

• Don Han [10:20]: "Assuming final approval is granted, NCAA schools will be able to spend a maximum of $23.1 million each year."

• Don Han [15:26]: "Angel Reese is not in the top 10."

• Peter Rosenberg [18:10]: "A lot of these institutions, they receive taxpayers money. Are the taxpayers okay?"

• Don Han [21:30]: "It's going to become so transient."

---

Conclusion

In "Hour 3: Peter's Theory," Don, Hahn, and Rosenberg navigate the complex terrain of NIL in college sports, dissecting its ramifications on coaching stability, athlete compensation, and the overall competitive balance within collegiate athletics. The episode balances critical analysis with engaging dialogue, providing listeners with a comprehensive understanding of the subject's multifaceted impact.

Transcript

[Ryan Reynolds]

Ryan Reynolds here from Mint Mobile. I don't know if you knew this, but anyone can get the same Premium Wireless for $15 a month plan that I've been enjoying. It's not just for celebrities.

[Don Han]

So do like I did and have.

[Ryan Reynolds]

One of your assistant's assistants switch you to Mint Mobile today. I'm told it's super easy to [e-mail].

[Don Han]

Switch upfront payment of $45 for 3 month plan equivalent to $15 per month Required intro rate first 3 months only, then full price plan options available, taxes and fees extra. See full [e-mail] this Don Han at Rosenberg podcast. That sounds like heaven to me.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Listen live weekday afternoon starting at 3.

[Don Han]

On 880 ESPN, the ESPN New York.

[Peter Rosenberg]

App and your smart speakers.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Peter and Don on 10:50am today and the ESPN New York app. Doing a little experiment here. First day trying this, which you know, Don, it's gonna have some issues.

[Don Han]

We're gonna figure it out as we roll.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah, but we're figuring out.

[Don Han]

We are figuring it out.

[Ryan Reynolds]

We're going to talk to the people now about everything. I was just complaining about the fact that my as my team is gearing up to play in our first sweet 16 in nearly a decade. A lot of the headlines are about the fact that our head coach wants to leave and go to Villanova. Now, he had a press conference the other day after a win and when he got asked about what's going on, he gave what people said was an honest answer about Maryland is a joke. Basically, when it comes to nil here, what it comes down to, Don, is he's very frustrated because the University of Maryland spends tons of money on a football program that doesn't compete.

[Don Han]

Right.

[Ryan Reynolds]

And they don't spend money on a basketball team that does compete. And in this era, you now need money to be able to compete. And basically Willard's not having it. Cool. I hear you. I don't give a damn about Maryland football relative to basketball. So I'm all for them spending it on basketball. That doesn't change to me the fact why are we having this conversation right now? You have a chance to go all the way with this team. They are a talented team in the Sweet 16, these don Sweet 16s. Unless you're like Gonzaga. Sweet 16s don't come every year.

[Don Han]

No, it's a big deal. And I just don't know how much power the NCAA has over schools to say, hey, listen, I understand you're looking for coach, your team's out or you know, your coaches in the last year of his contract or your coach is bolting to go someplace else. You cannot speak to a coach about a job until the off season, can you? Can you do something like that? But then that's even hard because the portals open up, like, immediately. Villanova probably wants to have their coach to hit the ground running as soon as Maryland's out. So they probably don't have the luxury to wait for Maryland to be done. So conversations have to be had. Keep it tight, but just keep it. Just show some respect. All right? You want to leave Maryland. I get it. The NLI money's not there. You want to go to a school where there's more money, there's more boosters, there's more ability to be competitive. I get it. I understand players are doing it. Why can't coaches? And the coaches were doing it long before the players were getting paid. Just keep, keep your ducks in a row, man. It's not that hard. Alright, listen, I'm talking to you. But right now, first and foremost, my team's still playing. My resume can still be affected here. I want to win. My kids deserve my full attention. So, yes, you also have part of my attention. We'll talk. I'm interested in the gig, but right now, just respect the fact that I've got things going on in my current job. That's why I can't believe Villanova had anything to do with. With him not being at the meeting or him at the dinner. Now, is it possible that the players didn't want him there? Like, all right, you got one foot out the door. I can't imagine that either because a lot of those players are probably looking at the lack of nil money and they're going to jump in the portal and move on to another school. So it sounds to me like there were extenuating circumstances. Why he wasn't there. Somebody put two and two together and thought that it had something to do with Villanova. I don't think that's the case.

[Ryan Reynolds]

If that's the case, though, I would really feel for these kids going into a Sweet 16 game tonight against Florida, who may be the best team in the tournament. That would be very, very tough.

[Don Han]

Does anybody feel for the kids that aren't good enough to go to the NBA, that aren't good enough to command big nil money? They just want to win a national championship. I know they know that.

[Ryan Reynolds]

This, this is it.

[Don Han]

This is it for them. They're not going on to the NBA. Maybe a few of them will go play in Europe. But some of them are going to become stockbrokers or plumbers or something when this is all over and they want to win and their coach doesn't seem to care. The star players are all moving on to the NBA or moving on to another school. I feel bad for those kids. And listen, they're probably in the majority. Not all the kids on every school are making big money and are going to the NBA. I'm sure more than most are focused on, hey, I want to win a title here. This is my dream to go out there and win a national championship. It goes far as I can, and it feels like the guys that can get me there, well, one foot out the door doesn't feel right. The whole thing stinks.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Honestly, the quote I heard about this Maryland team was, they're locked in. It's not affecting them. Nonsense. Malarkey. There's no world, Don. There's only two ways. To me, there's only two possibilities. There's either we love the coach so much, and if that's the case, Don, it breaks your heart to hear this, or they really don't like the coach that much and they want to go play as a bleep uterus, or they.

[Don Han]

Just understand the business at hand.

[Ryan Reynolds]

And like, now, this is just how life is.

[Don Han]

Because if it is because of the nil money, the players know that as much as he does. Like, they know what they're making. They know what their potential to make is. So I wouldn't doubt if most of these guys agree with the coach and are also looking, where can I go now?

[Ryan Reynolds]

Could we get to a point, though, with the nil thing, Don, where it ends up having a benefit, which is if you go to a program that has a lot of nil money, people start to stick around longer in college because rather than rush to the NBA, they're making more money. So, like, hey, if I can hang out on a college campus having a good old time, and last time I checked, I think kids going to college playing basketball probably having a pretty good time. If I can do that, make a couple million a year, I don't need to rush to the NBA. Do you think we'll get to a time where it has that effect on college basketball? Sure, because that would be appealing at least for the big programs, at least for the ones who have the dogs.

[Don Han]

I mean, that's kind of like Caitlin Clark could have done that, right? She would have made more money at LSU than she would in the wnba, right? Well, yeah.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I mean, she didn't go to lsu.

[Don Han]

But she say lsu. I'm sorry but if she had Iowa. Iowa, I do that. I don't know what the connection is and I don't care.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Angel Reese will her rivalries with lsu.

[Don Han]

Maybe that's what it was.

[Ryan Reynolds]

But Angel Reese, by the way, Angel Reese this year is making bookoo bucks at lsu.

[Don Han]

How much did? Well now Caitlin made a lot of money off the court, but her WNBA salary would have paled in comparison to what Iowa. She would have gotten in nil for sure. But she probably felt the responsibility. Let's move on. Let's see what I can do in the pros. But that's going to happen.

[Ryan Reynolds]

But like the juju Watkins making big money. By the way, I wasn't on the air obviously. Just terrible that what happened to her ACL tear in the tournament. Not what you're looking for. Flaujer at LSU is making money. She's got commercials. The women and the men, the big time players are making big time money. It's crazy to think about what Cooper Flagg, I'm sure could have made over the next few years.

[Don Han]

But he's going to be a first overall pick. So I'm sure the money would exceed what Zenil would be at Duke. But you don't know.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah, at Duke.

[Don Han]

I don't know what's going to happen because we're seeing it now in baseball, in sports in general, Right. These owners like Steve Cohen, sitting on $16 billion owns the Mets, can dip into his finances and with no salary cap, it's a problem. In the other sports, there's a salary cap, so you can't dip too deep into your own funds. But what if Steve Cohen went to decided I want to spend billions of dollars to have my alum, my alumni win a national championship? When's that going to happen? When's there going to be a guy that's worth $20 billion who went to Stanford and goes, you know what? I'm going to give $10 million to a player to help my team win a national championship. What's to stop that from happening? And then how would it be watching the tournament knowing that there's some super team in college where guys are all making millions and millions of dollars more so than any other school could offer. And they're blowing everybody away, by the way, are there?

[Ryan Reynolds]

I'm completely.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I don't know.

[Don Han]

I don't know.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I'm completely ignorant on this. Let me ask. Jacob and Anthony know more than both of us. We're just a couple of yo, yos, who talk. Is there a limit? Are there like hard caps on what Nil can be?

[Don Han]

I don't believe so.

[Ryan Reynolds]

That's what I'm. Because wouldn't you think like a Duke, for example, where their alum are so rich. By the way, did you guys see the Duke story this week? Oh, this is so good. Okay, so you remember, you remember that we. What we talked about yesterday about the, the White Lotus storyline.

[Don Han]

I did find out what it was. What do we. What? I am not approved by any stretch of the imagination. But what's that show about? That That's a natural progression.

[Ryan Reynolds]

It wasn't natural. It's supposed to be. It's like supposed to be. Oh my God, what it want? Like the kid, like after it happens. Just so you understand, the character is messed up. Like it's not like it's normal. It's like, oh my God. This. He's like, it's bad. Okay, it's. It's not a good situation. But. But Don, how funny is this? Duke apparently is not happy because the family that those characters are from are a Duke family. And in this week's episode, the father is proudly wearing a Duke sweatshirt. And apparently Duke is complaining and saying that White Lotus did not have permission to have their character wearing a Duke sweatshirt.

[Don Han]

I can understand that.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I love it. It makes me so happy. There's nothing they won't whine about.

[Don Han]

I'm looking at. Is there a cap for nil spending? Assuming final approval is granted, NCAA schools will be able to spend a maximum of 23.1 million each year. And that capital increase on a yearly basis during a 10 year long settlement agreement, 23.1 million. So yeah, there would be a cap.

[Ryan Reynolds]

On one program, not one school. So like that's basketball.

[Don Han]

I would.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Purdue basketball.

[Don Han]

NCAA schools will be able to spend a maximum. Doesn't say. I think it's 23.1 for everything. Now obviously football and basketball would be where the big spending is. Maybe hockey for certain.

[Ryan Reynolds]

By the way, at some schools there's probably swimming, gymnastics field, but there's nowhere.

[Don Han]

To go for those athletes to make more money. So you wouldn't have to spend like to keep a swimmer in school, you wouldn't have to spend that much. Where would they go to be able to make that money?

[Ryan Reynolds]

But it might not be about that.

[Don Han]

Okay.

[Ryan Reynolds]

It might be about the obsession of the alums who care about that program. And they go, I'm just willing to do anything to get this person. I see what you're saying. There's not Enough competition that they would need to spend.

[Don Han]

But here's the way around it. That money, unless I get proven wrong and Tweet me, call 1-800-919-3776. A school can get you a deal with Nike. That wouldn't count towards the cap. Like I pay them nil money. But if they independently go out and get a deal with Nike, that doesn't count towards that, does it?

[Ryan Reynolds]

Which by the way guys, doesn't all of this beg the question why didn't Bronnie James just stay in college or what? Like Bronny James could have been the most decorated by the. If he'd stuck at USC for a while.

[Don Han]

No, because he wasn't really doing that well there.

[Ryan Reynolds]

But it was one year like.

[Don Han]

I know, but it didn't seem like he was trending.

[Ryan Reynolds]

But the way, the way he's playing in the G League, I have to think he would have gotten very good at college basketball.

[Don Han]

I mean he also did have the heart problem. He did limited for him from actually participate in year one. Yeah. But I also don't think him. Him compared to his like fellow peers. He wasn't going to get drafted that high. I mean he wasn't going to come.

[Ryan Reynolds]

But my point is he wasn't going.

[Don Han]

To command the bag either. That.

[Ryan Reynolds]

But even by junior year you don't think he's making big money even though he's capable of. Basically he's dropping 40 points at times in the G League. Like he wouldn't have been able to be a competitive star in college basketball. I mean, maybe you're right. I don't know. But like how bizarre is that? Then that's even weirder.

[Don Han]

I think too. It depends on what school you go to because obviously system and coaches matter a lot. Some. Some guys will like to have team ball. You'd spread it around. And other teams will let you free flow and just shoot the ball when you want to.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Fair. Fair. It's going to be fascinating, by the way.

[Don Han]

I just, I'm just looking it up because I just did not know about it. Who do you think is the highest paid college athlete right now in nil?

[Ryan Reynolds]

The highest. Angel Reese.

[Don Han]

Angel Reese is not in the top 10.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Sexist.

[Don Han]

No. There's women there.

[Ryan Reynolds]

There are.

[Don Han]

Well, Livy Dunn for LSU is making 4.5 million. She's fourth.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Let me not say the other word that I would say when I hear that.

[Don Han]

What's that?

[Ryan Reynolds]

Well, I said sexist once. I would say something else. I just can't believe Livy Dunn Would be that much higher than Angel Reese. That's, like, weird to me. No, well, Angel Reese isn't the biggest women's college star right now.

[Don Han]

Only she's not that.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I mean. Sorry. She's out of it. Sorry. I totally apologize.

[Don Han]

No, this is nil.

[Ryan Reynolds]

This is nil. This is not from a couple years ago. No, but Angel Reese was on the list for what she had when she was there or should know.

[Don Han]

This is as of March 2025. So they're all current college athletes.

[Ryan Reynolds]

All right. So is Livy Dunn the highest woman on the list?

[Don Han]

Yes.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I'm just sticking with women for a second. Is juju on the list or no?

[Don Han]

No, the rest are all male.

[Ryan Reynolds]

The rest are all male. Let's see. How about she has that deal with.

[Don Han]

The Athleisure Wear Company, right? That probably helps. No.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah, well, Olivia Dunn's popping.

[Don Han]

That's where that money's going.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Well, by the way, considering my brain was having in complete fog and I was comparing athletes that haven't been there for two years. No. Livy Dunn makes sense. She's a star. How high is Cooper flag?

[Don Han]

Two at 5.9.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Oh, Shador Sanders.

[Don Han]

No.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Is he up there?

[Don Han]

No.

[Ryan Reynolds]

This is all sports.

[Don Han]

Yeah. This is all sports.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Is all sports. Is cam or there March 2025.

[Don Han]

I think they'd both be gone. No.

[Ryan Reynolds]

So it's literally. I'm confused about. This isn't the last year.

[Don Han]

This is earnings as of March 2025.

[Ryan Reynolds]

That would still count football.

[Don Han]

Unless they decided. Because they're done. No, because. Yeah, I don't see anybody on the list to be eligible for the draft. When you hear it, it's going to stare you right in the face. But it still surprises you, though, doesn't it? It's a name, you know.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Okay.

[Don Han]

Gets talked about all the time, but hasn't played a lot. But it's got a big, big name. But everybody thinks. Everybody. That he would solve all their problems. All the problems. Come on. There's more than one royal family. Yeah.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Cody Rhodes.

[Don Han]

No, that's right.

[Ryan Reynolds]

All right, just tell me.

[Don Han]

It's March Manning.

[Ryan Reynolds]

He's number one.

[Don Han]

6.7. He's number one. Number one with a bullet. 800,000 more than Cooper Flag, the kid from BYU. AJ Debansta, three at 5.4. Livy Dunn, 4.5 is 4. Carson Beck is five at 4.4. Jeremiah Smith from Ohio State. 4.2. DJ Langway, 3.6. Out of Florida seven. Bryce Underwood is eight. Mark Sears is nine and RJ Davis is 10.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Wow.

[Don Han]

At 2.5 million. So there's a pretty wide range there. So that's what you're looking at. So that's a lot of money. $6.7 million.

[Ryan Reynolds]

That's pretty good.

[Don Han]

But he.

[Ryan Reynolds]

That would be enough to figure out.

[Don Han]

But as the first overall pick in the draft, he's going to leave.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Absolutely.

[Don Han]

But if something were to happen, because he could stay in college another year if he wants to. Let's say he has a lousy year and drops for that kind of money at Texas, he may stay. And here I got into it one time with somebody on Twitter and I said, you know, be careful. Like Alabama, do they have the booster to spend the money Like Stanford, Oregon, Texas. Take a look. Texas got money, man.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah, of course. Well, we knew that though, the second Saban left.

[Don Han]

But there's.

[Ryan Reynolds]

We saw Alabama fall. They came.

[Don Han]

Because again, you're going to get into. Not forget big market, small market. It's just going to come down to what alum do you have that are willing to spend? Boo. Boo.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Boo box. But that's why I was surprised about Maryland. I mean, Maryland should have a lot of big alum. Peter Rosenberg went there. For God's Peter.

[Don Han]

Yeah.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Come on.

[Don Han]

What we got to do is we got to.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Come on.

[Don Han]

Yeah.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Not kidding around.

[Don Han]

Frank Reich, Boomer Esiason, Scott Van Pelt.

[Ryan Reynolds]

What about the franchise?

[Don Han]

What about Larry? Ld?

[Ryan Reynolds]

He didn't graduate. He maybe doesn't feel. Maybe he doesn't feel he owes it to him.

[Don Han]

Oh, he just attended.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah. I don't think Larry. I don't think Larry graduated. I'm pretty sure he went there for a few years.

[Don Han]

But he doesn't feel any pride. He certainly has money.

[Ryan Reynolds]

He has some pride. He definitely has some money. Let's go to good old Danny in Long Island.

[Don Han]

Hi, Danny.

[Ryan Reynolds]

And on Long Island.

[Don Han]

How are you consuming today, Danny? Are you just calling out of the blue?

[Peter Rosenberg]

Hello?

[Don Han]

Sure.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Hi, Danny.

[Don Han]

That's something.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I was listening and you were talking about ld. So next thing, listen, this is a great day for the app buddies. I got you on. I got the TV on. I got the mlb. That's beautiful. It's a beautiful thing.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Good.

[Peter Rosenberg]

If I may. If I may circle back to yesterday, Dick from Manhattan when he said, if you want to slow up, if you want to speed up the overtime games in hockey, take away the stick from the goalie. Is that one of the greatest moments? And I thought, no, you really want to get off the ice and hurry. Take away the goalies, jock strap. You'll see them get out. You'll see them getting out of the way of those shots real quick. There'll be no shots on goal. But. And Peter, if I may. If I may give you a little suggestion. I was very proud of you, dealing with your young child. 24 hours on your own. The key, when the woman leaves you in charge of said baby under any circumstances, never, when she returns from, from going out, can there be any hint of diaper. Ish. Because she will then think you were, like, playing video games or listening to music while the kid was walking around in a soaked diaper. You lay that descendant on like, like it's. Stick them back in the end, you.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Know, It's a good call by you. It's a really good call by you.

[Peter Rosenberg]

No, it's true. It's got to be the diaper. They go right to the diaper. I remember by my third kid, I'd start to smell something. I'm like, she'll be home soon.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Exactly. But that first one, you got to be careful. That's a great point.

[Peter Rosenberg]

They would act like diaper rage will lead to death. Like, you can't have any hands at diapers. Now listen, it was just a small division. One school just, just, just folded the tents. They said, we're not doing it. We can't afford any of this money, so we're not even going to try to compete anymore. They became a Division 3 basketball team. They're actually in the tournament. So, like, this is what's going to happen. You're going to have super teams, like Don said. Let me ask you a question. A lot of these institutions, they receive taxpayers money. Are the taxpayers okay? I mean, I know allegedly it's coming from the boosters, but there's only one pot of gold. It's all coming from the same pot. So if you're receiving taxpayers money. Am I paying for Arch Manning to be at Tennessee? What do I care about that? So there's a lot of ethical questions here. And what's going to happen is you're going to take away the mystique of the tournament here now, where any team can get hot and go on a run, maybe not win at all, but have a few moments now. You're going to have maybe five or six regional superpowers where everybody on those two four teams is draft ready to roll, and the coaches are going, what fun is that going to be? How about, like, it turns into Major League Baseball, where we know the five or six teams that are going to be in the playoffs this year, the Dodgers, the Yankees, the Mets, the, like it's going to be the same teams every year in like the Sweet 16 or the Elite 8 because they're just overwhelmingly stuffed with these, these mega swap.

[Don Han]

And I just feel bad for the fans and the alum who sit there and follow a school and know they don't have nil money. So all the players they recruited, they bolt, they go to the portal, they go to a bigger school where they can make more money. All the coaches are looking to get out because of the nil and because they feel like they got a better chance to win someplace else. It's going to become so transient. It's already gone from, hey, I like that player, I'm going to watch him for three, four years in college to I guess I'm just rooting for coaches now. Now the coaches are bolting. You don't know who's good, who's bad. I think it's going to ruin it, honestly. And I did think they deserve to be paid. I did. But I think we've gone from one extreme to the other, Peter. We went from these players are being taken advantage of to now they're millionaires and now it's a professional sport. Now the first thing a fan of St. John's is doing, calling radio shows saying, well, can we get more money? Can we keep the kids that we have? Are we going to lose? It sounds like free agency in baseball again. Oh, can we spend more money? Hal's not spending enough money on the Yankees. Like that's not what college sports is supposed to be about. Forget the student athletes.

[Ryan Reynolds]

These guys are professionals.

[Don Han]

Now how they are dealt with, like with the Lewis benching, am I supposed to feel upset for a student athlete and him learning a lesson or am I red hot that he was benched because now my favorite team paying him nil money was sitting on the bench and not helping my team win.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Right?

[Don Han]

It screwed everything up. It really has. Now I don't know if it's affected the ratings. I haven't seen what the ratings have been, but I could start to see that this can now all of a sudden become something that was a joyous, fun thing to now just becoming just like everybody.

[Ryan Reynolds]

But I wonder if there's a way to handle it at least where you could make it so it doesn't become so transient. I wonder if the key would be opening up the world to where players can go straight from high school to the pros. Right? That's an option. But if you go to college, then you're staying at X school for X amount of time. I just wonder if there's a way to do it, because otherwise. But you know what? It starts with the coaches, Don. The coaches are so transient, as we're talking about with the Maryland story, they don't give a damn what they're doing. They're willing to leave at any given moment anyway. So how can you expect more of the players?

[Don Han]

I guess the argument is, for certain schools, you may see players stay longer, like you said earlier, because if I'm going to be late in the first round, I'll make more money staying in school than going into the draft. So in some ways that I guess helps the continuity. But really, how many players or how many schools are going to be in that situation? And it could end up being the same schools. Let's face it. The fun thing about this tournament are the Cinderellas. Well, the Cinderellas even exist anymore. And if it's gonna be the same four or five teams winning championships, same for college football, which you're starting to see now already. With the Venmo debit card, you can turn the spa day that your friends paid you back for into concert tickets that you can earn up to 5% cash back on, where a spa day with the girls becomes concert tickets.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Visit Venmo Me Debit to learn more.

[Don Han]

The Venmo MasterCard is issued by the Bancorp Bank N.A. pursuant to license by Mastercard International Incorporated. Term Supply. Dosh Cashback Term Supply. This episode is brought to you by Universal Pictures. From Universal Pictures and Blumhouse, come a storm of terror. From the director of the Shallows. The woman in the yard. Don't let her in. Where does she come from? What does she want? When will she leave?

[Ryan Reynolds]

Today's the day.

[Don Han]

The Woman in the Yard only in theaters March 28th.

[Ryan Reynolds]

You don't wake up dreaming of McDonald's fries. You wake up dreaming of McDonald's hash browns. McDonald's breakfast comes first. Thanks for listening to the Don Han and Rosenberg podcast. I didn't listen to anything you just said. Catch the show on demand whenever you want. Just subscribe to us wherever you get your podcasts. That's getting some lucky. Extra bases here. Down three. Nothing. They'll get a double. Top five.

[Don Han]

Yeah, it's already two outs.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Oh, boy.

[Don Han]

Ronald. Second. You're way behind.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Well, I'm watching the game, and you're. You're. You're just watching the.

[Don Han]

I know, but at least I'm in real time.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Well, what does it matter if I didn't have. You always ruin the Time Timmy Tuffle hit that double. That's how long ago Mookie Wilson scored by the.

[Don Han]

Yeah, it's still three nothing as they were heading to the bottom of the fifth. The inning is what you're watching is done and the Yankees holding on to the 2 to 1 lead in the seventh. You're seeing what the strength of the Yankees is, is this bullpen. And listen, I don't know if you can go to the bullpen in the sixth inning every single day and have your bullpen continue to be effective. But Rodon did what he did was like five and a third or whatever, got into a jam in the sixth inning, bullpen comes in, Hill gets out of it. And now they will just have one of the best bullpens in baseball go out there and get the allotted outs and try to hold on to this thing. Mets, you know it's a, it's been a struggle although Lindor has been good and so has Soto. Soto at last check here has a hit and a walk kind of doing what he does. But Lindoro for three with a strikeout. Alonzo couple of walk. So the Mets just only got two hits so far in this game. And you just saw the second hit the Terence double that and he left stranded at first at second. So bottom five three nothing Astros and the Yankees two one bottom seven.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Oh boy. Thrilling. Like you dream about that March 27th baseball.

[Don Han]

I wonder how that double down on it man how those temps hidden.

[Ryan Reynolds]

How those temps hitting out in the BX right now. Let's see what are they giving us weather wise right now. Tell you what the feels like is it's currently 52, feels like 46. All I could dream about. Let's you know what it's time for.

[Don Han]

Oh Richard.

[Richard]

Hi Peter. Hi guys. Listen, Josh Hart Tuesday night had a triple double. Last night he had a triple non double. You know fellas, I don't bet but I'm interested in numbers and lines and all. You know the eight seat. The eight top teams tonight and tomorrow combined are on an average of 7 point favorites. I mean that's a lot of points. The four number one seeds are nine point favorites and the four other games they're five point favorites. The favorite team. So the average is seven points. That's a lot of points you're giving up in those eight games. I don't know. To me you lay 100 on each of the underdogs.

[Ryan Reynolds]

You know what Richard, I gotta tell you, I don't think that's a bad take. I do those Are big numbers for teams like, I mean, even Sage beat.

[Richard]

At the final 16. Well, listen, Merritt, just seven a game.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I mean, the Turp, The Terps, for example, who are a loaded tal.

[Richard]

I think.

[Ryan Reynolds]

No, no, I think they're on the higher end. I think they were nine.

[Richard]

Yeah. Is it that high? Yeah. Very big spreads there. All right, fellas, 100 days from today. 100 days from today. Today's March 27th.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Oh, no. Sorry. Split the difference. Richard. The Maryland one was six and a half for Florida. Go ahead.

[Richard]

Okay. All right, today, 100 days from today. You guys are off. July 4th, Friday.

[Don Han]

Okay.

[Richard]

I got an idea for the show.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I love it.

[Richard]

You guys do the show. You guys come in. Citi Field, The Yankees and Mets. July 4th, 3:00 game. Why not? You guys are off. Come in for a few hours. I'll be there. I think it'd be great.

[Ryan Reynolds]

What, you're gonna go. You mean you're going to the game?

[Richard]

Well, I'll be there. Especially if you're there. I'll go to the game anyway. Probably.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I love this.

[Richard]

All right, now, 150 days from today, believe it or not, Labor Day, Yankees are not playing. I asked Michael about that, he said, no sense at all. So 150 days from today, Mets are playing in Detroit. So why can't you guys. You guys are off. Monday, the first Labor Day. You do the show from the boardwalk leading From China, the 7 train going to the tennis stadium. Man, that place is a mob scene. That'll be good. That'll give you guys so much visibility. I'd say maybe a hundred thousand people walk through that boardwalk from the 7 train to the stadium, back and forth. I think that's a good idea for the show. September.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Now, I will say this. Here's the one. Here's what I like about it. I like the idea of us, at some point during the US Open, being out there just in front of the people. Don, I think that's a pretty good idea.

[Don Han]

Very good idea.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Labor Day, I'm not thrilled with.

[Richard]

You gotta do it on a day when everyone will be there. People will be there. That's the maximum day. Labor Day is unbelievable. Last year they broke records, and this year they're doing the. They're adding an extra day to the US Open. All right, fellas, yesterday I fixed hockey overtime. I'm going to fix football overtime. Now, let me give you the parameters. First of all, you guys are too young. You don't remember sudden death. It is the most exciting thing ever in sports. You don't even go to the bathroom for the coin flip. That's exciting. You never leave your couch during an overtime in NFL football. But here's what you got to do. First of all, the players know nothing. College and pro, we change everything to this, to my idea. And I can guarantee you college and pro players know nothing. The overtime rules, they just do what their coaches tell them or their position coaches tell them. They know nothing about what's going on. Now, I understand the big problem with overtime. You have to make it fair. I will make it fair. Right now, first of all, it has to be sudden death. I don't care whether you score on a safety, a blocked punt, a field goal, the game is over. Here's how we're going to do it. If the game ends into a tie, ends a tie. Don, I'm playing you. We come out to a midfield, flip the coin. If you win the coin to us, you have the choice of giving you taking the ball at your 10 yard line. That's it. Or giving it to me on my 10 yard line, and that's it. So the ball, no kickoff, nothing. Don, you under toss. You can either take the ball at your 10 and you got to go watch 60 yards to get a field goal or whatever, or gives me the ball, hopefully stop me. And this way you get the ball in good position and then you can.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I don't, I don't, I don't hate.

[Don Han]

That actually, but let me.

[Richard]

And it's football all the way. Except there's no kickoff. That's it. And it's be great and you'll be on the edge of your couch. Fellas, always a pleasure.

[Don Han]

All right, thank you, Richard. I guess again, no dialogue, but the rest of the audience can enjoy our retort. How about this? What Richard said, but you got to go for it on fourth down. So hey, I want the ball first. Right about my own 10 yard line. I got a kicker and kick a 60 yard field goal. Great. I'm going to take the 10, take it to the 10, take the ball first. But I got to go for it on fourth down. So if I, if it's, if it's fourth and 10 for my own 10, I can't punt it out of there. I got to go for it. And if I don't get it, I'm basically handing you the game.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Or what if you get it and get to another fourth down?

[Don Han]

Oh, you always got to go for it.

[Ryan Reynolds]

So you mean no punts.

[Don Han]

No punts. Got to go for it. Then you'd say to yourself. You know, maybe strategically it'd be better for me to be play defense because then I'll get. I'll get a reasonable chance to be able to be in field goal range. Listen, here's the. Here's the issue that Richard has a lot. But on this particular subject.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Got it.

[Don Han]

Football's not worried about the interest. They know they got you. They're looking for the competitiveness. Does it make sense, Peter, with the way these field goals can. Kickers can launch like 65 yard field goals that you win the toss, get two first downs and you win the game. Like, does that fair? Did my defense fail? Peter, if I hold you to a 60 yard field goal attempt or a 55 yard field goal attempt, that's why you want both teams to at least be able to handle the ball. Once you give up a touchdown, you don't have a kick coming. But now you give up a touchdown. You want to be able to guarantee possession just so it's fair and it's not a coin flip to determining whether you win the game or not. He's right. From an interest level, people would be intrigued. The NFL doesn't have to worry. No, they got people interested. They want what's right competitively. And I don't think Richard's idea would be right.

[Ryan Reynolds]

And they probably want whatever's going to keep, you know, eyeballs on the game longer. More money. Let me ask you a question though. Richard said one crazy thing during the call. Well, he says many things.

[Don Han]

Well, one that stood out.

[Ryan Reynolds]

But what was the thing that stood out as just being like, what? What are you talking about?

[Don Han]

The last one was interesting. No, I'm trying to remember the phone call.

[Ryan Reynolds]

It's a specific little note that he made during it that I went, what? You guys are too young to remember sudden death overtime in football.

[Don Han]

In football, it was five minutes ago.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I looked it up. It was officially into the regular season in 2012. Richard, I remember fairly well. Yeah.

[Don Han]

I mean, playoffs had started.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Playoffs in 2010, regular season in 2012. I remember. We remember it.

[Don Han]

Yeah. I don't know what he was talking like.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I still think of sudden death. I mean.

[Don Han]

I. There was a couple of things, you know, where he said he fixed overtime in hockey. Fixed it. So it wasn't just an idea. He believes they're ignorant not to. There's then his idea was taking the stick away from the goaltender.

[Ryan Reynolds]

There's a new swagger to Richard post the event. Are you feeling it?

[Don Han]

Oh, without question. Now. He's still humble, but I think he knows he has an audience now.

[Ryan Reynolds]

He's got an audience. And not only that, he saw the way people reacted and he feels like you people should listen to me. And when I have an idea, let's.

[Don Han]

Get this considered, like, what are you doing?

[Ryan Reynolds]

Like, what? He just created work. Richard just forced us to work on July 4th and Labor Day.

[Don Han]

Richard has to understand about radio. It would get a tremendous amount of people seeing us. I don't know if it translates into any ears, anything as far as like, anything to be monetized. It's not like they give up that real estate very easily. Right.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Hey, come take the.

[Don Han]

Yeah, go just set up wherever you want to set up. So there is a cost to having a remote. And yeah, a lot of people would see us, but they wouldn't necessarily interact with us.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Well, you know what? I would be curious. I wonder, being that we're an ESPN vehicle, I wonder what would happen if we did ask about securing a place to broadcast from, from the US Open for a day or two. It's a huge, It's a huge, huge. The grounds are gigantic, Don. And it's so fun. Like, it would be interesting, you know, and we get a couple like, you know, they throw a couple of sort of marquee players on with us. ESPN does get the US Open. It's not insane. I don't know if it would help us be fun.

[Don Han]

But you're also asking us to do. It's a day off.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Oh, no, no, that's out plus and.

[Don Han]

Also full disclosure, a lot of times that we're not on. On Labor Day, there might be a baseball game that the station has to take. And so, yeah, we're not.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I love Richard. I don't need more work. Your data is like gold to hackers.

[Don Han]

They're selling your passwords, bank details and private messages.

[Ryan Reynolds]

McAfee helps stop them.

[Don Han]

Secure VPN keeps your online activity private. AI powered text scam detector spots phishing attempts instantly.

[Ryan Reynolds]

And with award winning antivirus, you get.

[Don Han]

Top tier hacker protection. Plus you'll get up to $2 million in identity theft coverage. All for just $39.99 for your first year. Visit McAfee.com, cancel anytime terms apply. This episode is brought to you by State Farm. You might say all kinds of stuff when things go wrong, but these are the words you really need to remember. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there. They've got options to fit your unique insurance needs. Meaning you can talk to your agent to choose the coverage you need. Have coverage options to protect the things you value most. File a claim right on the State Farm mobile app and even reach a real person when you need to talk to someone. Like a good neighbor. State Farm is there Pro Savings Days.

[Richard]

Are back at Lowe's with limited time savings on the supplies pros need.

[Don Han]

Get up to 40% off select major appliances, plus save an additional $100 on.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Every $1,000 you spend on select major appliances.

[Richard]

And don't miss your chance to activate.

[Ryan Reynolds]

And earn three times the points on select DeWalt and Klein tools Lowe's.

[Richard]

We help you save valid the 328 selection varies by location while supplies last.

[Ryan Reynolds]

See associate or lowe's.com for more details on qualifying items. Thanks for listening to the Don Hahn and Rosenberg podcast. I didn't listen to anything you just said. Catch the show on demand whenever you want. Just subscribe to us wherever you get your podcasts.

[Don Han]

Boss Gags More skags from, I believe the movie An Officer and a Gentleman Richard Gere vehicle.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I don't know if you're familiar a remake vehicle is. It's not a remake Officer and Gentlemen.

[Don Han]

I don't think so.

[Ryan Reynolds]

No.

[Don Han]

I could be wrong.

[Ryan Reynolds]

It was even older. Maybe I'm wrong. You guys want a crazy conspiracy? Who wants a conspiracy theory real quick? Who wants a crazy one?

[Don Han]

I love them.

[Ryan Reynolds]

You got this is by the way, get ready. This is good. What's the Pittsburgh quarterback situation?

[Don Han]

They've got Mason Rudolph and nothing. Oh no. Nothing. That's it.

[Ryan Reynolds]

And what's up with Aaron Rodgers?

[Don Han]

Just waiting on Aaron.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Hey, Anthony, you heard of any big things going on in the in the Pittsburgh area in the next week or two?

[Don Han]

Hmm.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Related to this company tangentially and related to WWE tangentially?

[Don Han]

Ooh, probably. But you're gonna have to tell me.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Pat McAfee is having a huge event in Pittsburgh that sold out called Big Night.

[Don Han]

That's what I am, by the way. Go ahead.

[Ryan Reynolds]

So McAfee's having a huge live event in Pittsburgh next week. As of this moment, the Steelers have no quarterback and Aaron Rodgers sitting around. Is there a world in which Aaron Rodgers literally signs and walks out at an arena in Pittsburgh?

[Don Han]

That's exactly what's going to happen. It's matter of fact, it's a conspiracy theory that it's not going to happen.

[Ryan Reynolds]

That's how sure you are.

[Don Han]

Yeah. Because think about it. There's no way that Pittsburgh is going to go into the season with Mason Rudolph and somebody drafted the third round.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Impossible.

[Don Han]

So they're waiting on a veteran quarterback. You know, obviously they didn't have any interest in Wilson. And with the stuff that Alan was talking about, I don't think you were on where the conversation was that there were people in Pittsburgh saying that he was physically done Wilson at the end of the season, like they had zero interest in him. Which I think is all garbage because they never pivoted back to Fields despite the four game losing streak at the end of the regular season. But they were never going to resign. What they have to know, there has to be Rogers and what it would make sense. And we do know as much as I've been on Roger's side with this decision and all that and I wanted the Giants to sign him. He does like a big room. He does like the attention of that he has a relationship with McAfee.

[Ryan Reynolds]

It's PBG paints.

[Don Han]

Right?

[Ryan Reynolds]

That's what.

[Don Han]

So it's right. The arena, right where the Penguins play. Sold out. Okay.

[Ryan Reynolds]

The arena sold out.

[Don Han]

So to have 18,000 people on hand for this show, it just makes perfect sense. But judging. Judging by some of the Steeler fans and I got one of my best friends, a Steeler fan doesn't want them, which I don't get, because who do you want? There's no other. What are you going to have? Kirk Cousins.

[Ryan Reynolds]

And by the way, unlike the jets, the Steelers are a place based on their history, where they can make it work. I could believe it could work.

[Don Han]

But do you think. Here's what I'll ask you. Will it get an ovation? Like, do you think that the Steeler fans that are in that building are going to.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yes.

[Don Han]

They're going to be psyched with Aaron Rodgers, their quarterback.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yes. And here's why.

[Don Han]

All right.

[Ryan Reynolds]

If 15,000 people are showing up to the Pat McAfee event in Pittsburgh, wouldn't it suggest most of them are big Pat McAfee fans?

[Don Han]

Yes.

[Ryan Reynolds]

If you're a big Pat McAfee fan, aren't you likely going to cheer Aaron Rodgers being announced?

[Don Han]

The likelihood that you're a Rodgers?

[Ryan Reynolds]

It's a safe bet. It's a very safe bet. It's one of the best takes you've ever heard, isn't it?

[Don Han]

It is. Like I said, I think it's beyond conspiracy theory.

[Ryan Reynolds]

It's a lot.

[Don Han]

It's got to be the way it's a lot. And when's the event?

[Ryan Reynolds]

What's the date on that, Jacob? Pat McAfee's night out? I believe it's next week. Tell me if I'm wrong.

[Don Han]

Makes sense.

[Ryan Reynolds]

But this is.

[Don Han]

Or all right. At the bare minimum, it's like, announced.

[Ryan Reynolds]

The day before and then he showed.

[Don Han]

Up, and then he's going to show up as the Steeler quarterback.

[Ryan Reynolds]

What's the date? J?

[Don Han]

April 9th. April, that's. Well, it's. Today's what, the 27th? Yep. So it's not next week, but it's coming close soon enough. It's before the draft. It's not certainly before. It's going to happen between now and.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Then, so everything is safe between.

[Don Han]

My bet would be it's too perfect for the announcement to be there. Plus, they probably won't be able to keep it quiet. He will be. What day of the week is that? You said it's a Friday. That's a Wednesday. So Tuesday.

[Ryan Reynolds]

He'll sign.

[Don Han]

He'll sign and then he'll be in house because he will do that as the Steelers quarterback. It won't be like. They won't make it, like, the decision.

[Ryan Reynolds]

No, but they'll just bring him out because.

[Don Han]

What's the decision? I'm going to retire. I'm going to go sign. The Giants are no longer available to him.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Adam's been on hold for a while. Hey, Adam.

[Adam]

Hey, Don. Peter. How's it going? I apologize for my topics because I usually consume the show on podcasts. I'm a day late. I just want to talk. My first point is I want to talk about conversation you had a while back about athletes who had, like, one big moment and I'll get to my Giants point in a second and then had nothing ever. I thought that was fascinating. And the guy that I thought that came to mind to me was Andy Ruiz, the boxer who beat Anthony Joshua. I'm not an avid boxing fan, but I know he wasn't that big beforehand and he hasn't really come up after. So I. I don't know if he would fit the mold.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I got to tell you, the Andy Ruiz thing was pretty incredible. He came absolutely out of nowhere and then was actually pretty good for a while. Like, for a moment, for only a few fights, but like that. That is very interesting.

[Adam]

Didn't he lose the rematch, though? I think by decision or something. I'm not. I'm not sure, but that's one that I thought of. But my Giants point would be my fear as a Giants fan with this whole qb, or if I'm a Giants fan with the whole QB situation, is I'm looking back at last year's draft, and I know they were interested in Drake May, but there were three quarterbacks taken after the Giants pick at five, you had the guy in Denver, Bow Knick, J.J. mcCarthy and Michael Fenix. And Bo Nix looks like a really good quarterback. Michael Fenix, the few games that he's played, he's looked really good. Just the eye test and I know he doesn't have a lot on there, but he's looked really good. If JJ McCarthy pans out in Minnesota, how can you as a Giants fan be confident? And these two guys drafting the next quarterback when they had a chance to do it possibly last year and skipped on three, possibly three legitimate starters in this league. How can you be confident in your coach and your and your general manager to select the next quarterback? That's my Giants point.

[Don Han]

So, yeah, it's probably not gonna matter if they don't perform well, they're probably gonna get fired anyway. But you're right, you're not only judged by who you pick, you're also judged by who you don't pick. And J.J. mcCarthy was there. So if he ends up becoming the next great quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings, yeah, it's gonna look really bad. Now Penix, he's been okay. Need to see a little bit more Bo. Nick, same thing. They came later in the year. We'll see. It's still not enough of a sample size for any of these guys, really. Even Daniels and Williams? It's one season, let's see. But no, you're right. You can't kill them for Williams and Daniels. They didn't have a chance to pick those guys. And obviously the kid that went to New England. Why is my. Why am I. Drake may. But you're right. J.J. mcCarthy, Bo Nix, Penix. Yeah. If those guys turn out to be generational quarterbacks, it's going to look really bad. Really bad.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Well, let's take one more before we break and then we have a fun segment coming up at 6:00. Jack and Brooklyn. Hey, Jack.

[Don Han]

Hi, Jack. Hey guys, what's going on? Love the show. Thank you. I had a few points about the LeBron Steven A situation today on First Take, Stephen A said some like outrageous things.

[Ryan Reynolds]

First he said that like he started.

[Don Han]

Attacking LeBron for not going to Kobe.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Bryant's funeral, which is just like debunked, I think. I think that was brilliant. Yeah.

[Don Han]

And then Stephen A. Stephen A.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Apologized for that. For getting that wrong, I believe just to be.

[Don Han]

He apologized but then he was like sort of questioning why LeBron didn't want to be on camera anyways. And then Stephen a. Also attacked LeBron for not going to the lane. Wade like his Ring ceremony or some. Some. I think, oh, yeah, he built a statue. But then it turns out that the reason LeBron didn't go was because he was going on hospital visits for his son who just went their cardiac arrest. So I don't know. I felt like Stephen A. Was getting a little personal. Well, now it's on for sure. But, yeah, that's that stuff. You don't. I think Peter and I both agree that Stephen's not 100% innocent in this.

[Ryan Reynolds]

No, no, no, of course not.

[Don Han]

But it did seem to start with LeBron and the comments about Bronny, and now I think it's just getting out of hand, Honestly, if I'm Stephen A. I just stop. Hey, listen, I got. I'm in my world, you're in your world, and let's just move on. It does seem to be. It feels like it's almost to the level of clickbait now. And you can't. Stephen can't win that because it's LeBron James. LeBron James is the basketball player. People are going to kind of side with him. They seem to side with athletes in these types of situations. I would move on if I were Stephen A.

[Ryan Reynolds]

And I think he's gotten a lot out of it already. And the people who've decided they're against you on this and you're wrong, you're probably not changing any of their minds. And not to say that I think Stephen was wrong. Like I said, I don't think he was wrong about everything.

[Don Han]

He had the right to defend himself after what happened at the game, because obviously something was said. Stephen A. Never responded. Stephen A. Then wanted to respond. They should have just died there. Somebody. Everybody's longing to get the last word.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Or somebody.

[Don Han]

Somebody's got to tap out at some point.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Thanks for listening to the Don Hahn and Rosenberg podcast.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I don't want to know how the.

[Don Han]

Sausage is made, man.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I just want to know.

[Don Han]

It's good.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Hear more of Don Allen and Peter.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Weekday afternoon starting at 3 on 8.

[Ryan Reynolds]

80, ESPN, the ESPN New York app.

[Peter Rosenberg]

And your smart speakers.

[Don Han]

In case you didn't know, these young men are driven. They are prodigies, the savants, the ones we've been waiting for, like Damian Lillard, for instance. He doesn't seek guidance or mentorship. He's a leader.

[Ryan Reynolds]

He isn't waiting for the baton to be passed to him.

[Don Han]

He's taking it for himself. He's relentless in a pursuit of greatness, always pushing to one up himself. He is accomplished, but far from satisfied. He embodies what it means to have an unstoppable drive and are shaking up the status quo in their community and beyond. And Damian Lillard drives a Toyota. A new generation of Toyota drivers are here, and they want you to know one thing. You can't stop my drive.