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- [00:00]
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.
- [00:10]
Don La Greca
So do like I did and have.
- [00:12]
Ryan Reynolds
One of your assistant's assistants switch you to Mint Mobile today. I'm told it's super easy to do@mintmobile.com.
- [00:18]
Peter Rosenberg
Switch upfront payment of $45 for 3 month plan equivalent to $15 per month.
- [00:24]
Don La Greca
Required intro rate first 3 months only.
- [00:26]
Peter Rosenberg
Then full price plan options available, taxes and fees extra.
- [00:28]
Don La Greca
See full terms@mintmobile.com this Don Han at Rosenberg podcast.
- [00:35]
Peter Rosenberg
That sounds like heaven to me.
- [00:36]
Don La Greca
Listen live weekday afternoon starting at 3 on 8 80, ESPN, the ESPN New York app and your smart speakers. It's a big 5:00 hour. Don Han and Rosenberg, 880 ESPN, the ESPNY app. We'll get back to your calls. 800-919-3776. In the conversation, of course, with you, we have a Super bowl on Sunday. Of course our big game party is going to be tomorrow. Our first time live out with you, Rockville Center, Long island, the Tap Room. That's where we're going to be at from three to seven, of course. So make sure you come hang out with us. More details on that coming. But right now I'm excited, guys for this next guest because I love talking with him. He is just a wealth of information and passion for the sport he covers. Venerable ESPN NFL reporter Sal Palantonio joins us right now. How we doing, Sal?
- [01:27]
Ryan Reynolds
Are we doing good? You're going to Rockville Center. That's my old stomping grounds when I was a kid.
- [01:32]
Don La Greca
Yeah.
- [01:33]
Ryan Reynolds
That's exciting. Yeah.
- [01:34]
Don La Greca
Where you guys, I wish you could be there, but I think, you know, you're in New Orleans. I'm sure you're quite happy to be there. How many Super Bowls now is this for you covering itself?
- [01:44]
Ryan Reynolds
33 overall. 30 at ESPN. This is my 30th anniversary at ESPN.
- [01:49]
Don La Greca
That's a wow. And I mean, New Orleans, how many times in New Orleans, right? I mean, it seems like it's there a ton. It's in the rotation.
- [01:58]
Ryan Reynolds
Yeah. Brady's first super bowl when he beat the Titans, obviously when the lights went out, when the Ravens won. I was here actually when the packers won. So that was 96, I believe. So I've been to a few of them here. I love it. New Orleans because everything is centrally located. Our hotel is very close to the Eagles Hotel, one block within walking distance. And you can just walk down to the Superdome. A lot of restaurants, people here, you know, they get into it. The hospitality is wonderful. New Orleans is a great place to have a Super bowl, without a doubt.
- [02:34]
Peter Rosenberg
And it should be a good game, Sal. And the thing I keep circling back to when I'm trying to figure out who to pick and I look at the Chiefs defense hasn't allowed a hundred yard rusher since opening day and that was Lamar Jackson. So how do. Can they just stop Saquon without having to do anything special? Or is there something while trying to stop Saquon that Hurts can take advantage of.
- [02:58]
Ryan Reynolds
There's going to be a hundred yard rusher on Sunday. His name is saquon Barkley. Number 26. Number 26 turns 28 years old on Super Bowl Sunday. I can guarantee you he will run for over 100 yards against the Chiefs. You know, and the big outlier is the Eagles offensive line. It's the heaviest in the National Football League in the last 10 years, total of 1688 pounds. I talked to Landon Dickerson today who had that knee injury in the NFC championship game. He said he's fine, he's good to go. Talk to Cam Juergens. He had that back issue going into the game against the commanders. He's fine. Talked to Jeff Stoutland. He said these guys want to stay on the practice field for the entire practice yesterday and they, they're ready to carry the load with Saquon and Saquon by himself. Just running 30 times in this football game could be the entire engine of the offense. But you got to remember that Jalen Hurts threw for 304 yards against the Chiefs in Super Bowl 57. He beat the Chiefs in Kansas City. The Eagles will be able to score, I believe, on the Chiefs enough to win. And the question, Alan, the question is how does the Eagles defense hold up against Patrick Mahomes ii? This Eagles team is built to win a Super Bowl. The question is, are they built to beat the Chiefs?
- [04:23]
Don La Greca
Now I wonder, do they employ Sal similar to what the Giants did with Tom Brady in getting Mahomes, like making him uncomfortable at his feet right in the pocket. We know he does scramble, he will scramble and he's tough when he does. But, but it's. Isn't that really the one way to get him frustrated is to just make sure. And the Eagles are so strong up the middle. Would that be what we should be looking for in this game?
- [04:49]
Ryan Reynolds
Well, what the Giants did with their NASCAR defense, Spagnolo's defense against the Patriots in those Two super bowl in the super bowl in which he was involved is they did a lot of blitzing, situational blitzing that the they fainted a lot of blitzes. They made sure that Tom Brady was, you know, as confused as you can possibly make him. And they did get at his feet. He doesn't move like Patrick Mahomes. The key is, and when I talked to Vic Fangio about this yesterday, you really have to have two defenses against Patrick Mahomes. And this is the piece that we have on the NFL Matchup show, which debuts tomorrow p.m. on ESPN2. My colleague Greg Cosell does a great job of breaking down how you need two defenses against Patrick Malms, one when the ball is snapped and he's in the pocket, and a second different one when he is trying to evacuate the pocket. And it's the second one that we don't know about the first one. We do know Fangio is not going to blitz. He rushes four, he drops seven. He blitzed the least amount of any team in the playoffs. And so they won't blitz Patrick Mahomes. They will rush for hope to get home with coverage. And if Mahomes starts to scramble now, what do you do? And Buffalo did not do a good job of this. So you have two linebackers. You have Oren Burks in for Nakobe Dean, who had knee surgery recently, and you have, of course, Zach Bond, who's an all Pro at the linebacker position. And you have the Rookie corner, Cooper DeJean, who's going to be the fifth defensive back on the field because the Eagles are always in nickel defense. So one of those three guys is going to be responsible for running down Patrick Mahomes and making sure that he doesn't scramble for big yardage or scramble for the first down, especially on third and fourth down in the third and fourth quarter.
- [06:45]
Peter Rosenberg
And if you go back to the losses Mahomes has suffered recently in the postseason, whether it's Cincinnati who sacked him four times, and of course, we know what Tampa did in that Super Bowl. Is there anything that Philadelphia can do similar to what those two defenses did?
- [06:59]
Ryan Reynolds
Don that's a great point. That's a great point. I think the Tampa one is a great point. I don't know if specifically they have looked at that, but they should because Todd Bowles did not blitz Patrick Mahomes in that game. If you remember, Mahomes had the highest yardage horizontally scrambling of any quarterback in super bowl history. They ran him out of the they ran him down constantly and tried to get him down and he was running for his life all the time in that game and they didn't blitz. So the question is, will the Eagles have enough pressure with the four to do that? Similarly like Todd Bowles and the Bucs, now there is one X factor and that's Jalen Hurt. Excuse me, Jalen Carter. Jalen Carter, the most double team defensive tackle in the league, all pro at defensive tackle, is sick. He was limited in practice yesterday. He did not make the media session today. I was told that he was kept out of the media session so that he didn't infect anybody else on the team. They had him in his room resting and making sure that he gets better in time for the game. We don't know if he got on the bus today to go to practice. They just finished practice. And we'll get the practice report here at about 7:30 Eastern, about 6:30 Central and we'll know then exactly how much Carter was out there, if at all.
- [08:37]
Peter Rosenberg
Sal, let me ask you, we talked the other day to Jeff Darlington sort of about the nature of the Chiefs team. Them being in his eyes, sort of surprisingly likable. What does this Eagles team like to you? They seem to be having a really fun run. There's the whole Gilly, you know, dancing with this team in the locker room. There is a fun factor to this Eagles team. Are they operating like a team that doesn't have the pressure of a two time defending champion, for example?
- [09:07]
Ryan Reynolds
I don't think so. I think this team understands exactly the pressure that they're under. You know, you're playing the super bowl champs and you know the super bowl champs have already won two. This team was shut out in Super Bowl 57. And just look at the approach that and the messaging from Nick Sirianni in the last 24 hours where he told the team, you got to focus and refocus on every single down and every single play. He understands completely focus and refocus. And he has been coaching them really hard for them to understand that it's unfinished business and there's a lot of legacies on the, on the line and there's a lot on the line for a lot of these players. This team will be completely reconstituted in a lot of ways next year. Josh Sweat, Milton Williams, I mentioned Zach Bond, all those guys have got to get paid. Makai Bechton is going to get paid. What's. I mean, there's only so much money that can go around. So this team understands exactly the unfinished business of Super Bowl 57 and Nick Sirianni. Understands what's at stake. You know, this team had a 10 point lead at halftime in Super Bowl 57. There was only one other team that lost a double digit halftime lead in super bowl history and that was the Atlanta Falcons against Tom Brady. The 28 three game. That's a bad neighborhood to be in. And they all have a bad taste about that. They really do. They have a chip on their shoulder and a bad taste. And they want to get back and win this game again.
- [10:43]
Don La Greca
Two years later, two years later, back at it again against the same team. The great Sal Palantonio joining us right now. Just to jump off of what Peter was asking you, Sal, and I know it's a little off football, a little more into personality, but that super bowl does involve personality as well because there's a, there's a big audience that hasn't watched as closely as, you know, Die Hard football fans will watch and sports people like us will watch. And something again, like Peter was alluding to this and it's something we've been talking about is there's a chief's fatigue, right? It's like we've just enough of them. This Mahomes and Kelsey in every commercial, it just. That starts to happen. But there's also something with the Eagles and that's Nick Sirianni, who you mentioned and how hard he's coaching and. And it felt like last year was things slipping away and the job he did this year compared to that, from that moment with he and Hertz, there was some talk about them being at odds and now there they are back in the Super Bowl. And it's also a perception of when you look at him, just looks and stuff, it's this like, what kind of guy is he like? Because he seems like he can be tough to deal with. He seems like a guy where you kind of look at him strange. Like, why does he act up like that? Why does he wear jerseys and do some things that you feel like that's a little immature for a head coach. So bring us into that. Like, you've dealt with him a ton. I know. What kind of person are we talking about here? Who is Nick Sirianni? And does his. The perception of him not really fit what he. Who he really is?
- [12:08]
Ryan Reynolds
Yeah, that's a complicated question, Alan. And I think right now who he is, is he trying to bring this team across the finish line? And there's an intensity to him. You just listen to the words that he's using. We are embracing adversity. We have unfinished business. We are all about toughness, details and togetherness. I want this team to focus, refocus and focus again. That's what he said yesterday to the team at practice over and over again. I want you guys to focus, refocus and then focus again because this is an unusual circumstance. They went through a lot of contingencies yesterday, a lot of circumstances in the game that crop up, long timeouts, long halftime, all that kind of stuff to make sure that the team went back to the task at hand. So he is coaching them hard right now. He's had a very, as you alluded to, complicated season and the stuff between him and Jalen Hurts was real. That's been reported by me and Tim McManus and other people at ESPN. That was real. They talked it out after they lost to Tampa during the bye week. They had a come to Jesus moment, the two of them. They understood that if they were going to ride this thing together, they had to get together. There was the moment where he was jawboing with with the fans after the win against Cleveland. That was not a good look. All of that is there. It's on the record, it's well documented, and he's come out of it. I'm not going to say it's quote a quote unquote redemption story because it's really not until he wins the Super Bowl. Right. It's just not. I mean, that's just the life we live. And I mean, it's the world we live in. And it's Philadelphia too. They've only won one super bowl title. Everybody in the NFC east combined is 112. So they understand what's at stake here. You know, within the environment of Philadelphia, the Phillies have failed to win the World Series after getting back many, many times into the playoffs recently, only one title for the Phillies in 2008. Only one title for the Eagles in 2017 since the Sixers won the NBA championship in 1983. So, you know, people want in town, want them to get over the finish line and win this game. So I think there's an intensity about this approach for the team and the head coach right now. And you know, listen, beating Mahomes and Reed, that to me is the key. You know, this Eagles team has the ability to score 35 points like they did in Super Bowl 57. The question is, can they? Hang on. Remember, Mahomes had 15 first downs. They converted on third down seven times for a total of 15 first downs in the second half in Super Bowl 57. In the second half against a team and Eagles team that led the league in sacks that entire year two years ago. So he's hard to kill. My homes is tough.
- [15:15]
Don La Greca
He is.
- [15:16]
Peter Rosenberg
And that's. And that's what so difficult when I, when analyzing the Chiefs, like we joked about it, you know, going back to the K show, like I think they could be had. Like there were just so many games where they caught breaks. There were so many games where they found a way to win and that's what champions are supposed to do. But also following sports, Sal, as you play with fire, eventually you're going to get burned. It is a very strange dominant team with an amazing record, but yet didn't blow a lot of teams out. Only twice scored 30 points. So are they playing with fire? Do they just know how to win?
- [15:48]
Ryan Reynolds
No, I think they know how to win. I think, you know the key will be, as I alluded to in my first answer, what is Fangio's plan after Mahomes breaks the pocket? What's the spy operation and who is it? They have some speed on the defense. Cooper DeJean out of Iowa, the rookie, the reason why he's on the field and was put on the field by Fangio after the loss against Tampa. He's the fastest player on the defense, so I'm sure he'll be involved. Oren Burke, 6 3, long arms, very athletic special teams player who is in for Nakobe Dean. He's got some speed. And remember, the Eagles this year are 50 on artificial turf. And that Super Dome turf is the S5 Turf Nation turf designed look it up on their website for quote unquote, high performance, AKA speed. That turf was put in there for the Drew Brees offense and that's turf. You can use your speed on that turf to defensively track down what you need to track down and the guy they need to track down as Patrick Mahomes II.
- [17:02]
Don La Greca
How about that reporting, boys? S5 Turf Nation Turf. That's what Sal Palatonio brings.
- [17:08]
Peter Rosenberg
Turf specifics. You don't get that every.
- [17:11]
Don La Greca
I love that. That's. That's a great little tidbit, Sal, off of the super bowl, but onto something that I know. Again with all the wealth of information you have. We've kicked this around and we are in New York, obviously, and we have gone back and forth about this and curious how you feel. Eli Manning, first ballot hall of Famer. Do you agree or disagree?
- [17:33]
Ryan Reynolds
Totally agree. So how many quarterbacks are Repeat Super Bowl MVPs? Are we ready? Here it comes. Tom Brady. He's going into the hall of Fame. Patrick Mahomes, he's going into the hall of Fame. Bart Starr, he's in the hall of Fame. Terry Bradshaw, he's in the hall of Fame. Joe Montana, he's in the hall of Fame. Eli Manning, that's the list.
- [17:57]
Don La Greca
Wow.
- [17:58]
Ryan Reynolds
So I'm on the voting committee. I'm one of the 46 electors for enshrining at the Pro Football hall of Fame. This is my 12th year in the room discussing these players. And I pushed very hard in the room for Eli Manning, first ballot. It was a very vigorous conversation. He had a lot of support in the room and he has a lot of support to go into the hall of Fame. And I believe that he will go into the hall of Fame. We'll see if it's tonight, if it's the first ballot. Don't know. The voting has been made very secret by the hall of Fame. We'll find out tonight whether he gets in. But Eli Manning is a Hall of Fame quarterback. No question about. I don't realize wins and losses, but wins and losses really, you know, is more about the team.
- [18:44]
Peter Rosenberg
Yeah.
- [18:45]
Ryan Reynolds
And the players you have around you. Name the hall of Famers that Eli Manning played with. Go ahead on offense. No, no, seriously. Can we remember.
- [18:55]
Don La Greca
There are.
- [18:56]
Peter Rosenberg
Right.
- [18:56]
Ryan Reynolds
Look at all the hall of Famers. Troy Aikman had, Steve Young had.
- [19:00]
Peter Rosenberg
Right.
- [19:01]
Ryan Reynolds
Joe Montana had. Terry Bradshaw had two. He had two. He had Stallworth and Lynn Swan. Oh, three. Franco Harris. So, I mean, Eli didn't have a supporting cast like those other cats did. And he beat Tom Brady twice. He beat the greatest quarterback and the greatest head coach twice in the Super Bowl. And I was on the Centennial Committee of the hall of Fame with Bill Belichick, Ron Wolfe, John Clayton and many other people. And I remember Bill Belichick, who was sitting about three or four chairs away from me saying how he judges hall of Famers. He said, I judged them based on their performance in critical situations against the greatest competition, against championship competition. That's the dictionary definition of a Hall of Famer. And that to me is Eli Manning.
- [19:54]
Peter Rosenberg
And I think what really helps him too here, Sal, is that the end of his career was not good. A lot of losing seasons, a lot of really bad seasons. I think that helps him, that that's continued since he's left. I mean, so you talk about where the team was. They were trying to win him another Super Bowl. They made really bad decisions under Gettleman. Letting Tom Coughlin go, like. So at the time, you're thinking Eli is responsible responsible for how bad things are. It's only gotten worse since he left.
- [20:22]
Ryan Reynolds
I don't think there's really much debate about it.
- [20:24]
Peter Rosenberg
I don't think so either.
- [20:26]
Ryan Reynolds
The numbers are there and the trophies are there.
- [20:30]
Don La Greca
Yeah, I completely agree. And we'll find out tonight for sure. It's the NFL matchup. It's, it's Saturday, right? We'll get the first episode, first viewing.
- [20:39]
Ryan Reynolds
Of it, first ever airing on a Friday night for Super Bowl 59. Yeah.
- [20:44]
Don La Greca
Tomorrow night.
- [20:45]
Ryan Reynolds
We pounded the table to get that done and we finally got it done. I've only been involved with the show for 23 years. Finally did it for us Friday night at 5pm on ESPN2 and then Saturday morning 8:30am on ESPN2 and always streaming on ESPN Plus. So, yeah, it's the longest running NFL studio show in the history of television for a reason. Because it's, you know, they just do such a great job at NFL Films breaking it down. And I love being involved with the show. Thank you for, thank you for promoting it. I appreciate it.
- [21:21]
Don La Greca
Well, it's a must watch, especially for those you getting ready for the Super Bowl. You want to know about both teams, what to expect, what to see. This is a definite X's and O's breakdown with you and Greg Cosell do is like it educates you as a, as a viewer and gets you ready for the game. So I always love, love catching up on it and the fact that it's going to be Friday at 5 and then also again Saturday morning, I believe also Super Bowl Sunday. You'll have it on in the morning too, on ESPN too. So anytime you get a chance to check it out, make sure you do. Sal, always great to talk to you and obviously all the wealth of information and I'm never going to forget S5 Turf Nation turf. That's the best reporter you can get.
- [22:00]
Ryan Reynolds
It's the fast, the fastest turf in the west, baby.
- [22:04]
Don La Greca
Love it. Enjoy the super bowl. Congratulations on 30 years at ESPN of covering the super bowl as well. All the best. Talk soon.
- [22:10]
Peter Rosenberg
Congrats out.
- [22:11]
Ryan Reynolds
Thanks a lot. Thank you. Thank you so much, Peter.
- [22:13]
Don La Greca
Thank you, Sal. Palantonio, man, like, like, see that? Those are the details that you can kind of smirk at but don't understand. He was probably went out of his way to say speed's gonna matter. We're in a dome. Let me ask like, does the turf have an impact? And somebody's just going to give you the whole like, you know, like Cliff Clavin at Cheers. Oh, you know, it's that old LS5 Turf Nation turf. You know, as a matter of fact.
- [22:39]
Peter Rosenberg
Normie, the milk accorded is made of 90% potassium.
- [22:43]
Don La Greca
Like somebody that couldn't wait to be asked. And Sal knew to ask. But that's a great reporter.
- [22:49]
Peter Rosenberg
But think about it. You're absolutely right. But when you look at this game, if this was a chief super bowl from six years ago, you'd be thinking fast turf. Oh, that's a. That's a tyree kill.
- [23:01]
Don La Greca
Oh, yeah.
- [23:03]
Peter Rosenberg
You look at this version of this super bowl and to me, fast turf favors Saquon Barkley, Devontae Smith and AJ Brown. Give me the. Give me the faster team to get an advantage in that situation. That's how I at least look at it. We'll see how it plays out. But that is a really interesting piece. And he was looking at it more of fast defense to be able to kind of slow down Mahomes. That's what it is. We've seen Mahomes lose before in the game against Cincinnati, in Kansas City, and of course the super bowl against Tampa. It was all about containing him. It's a different world. He's a great quarterback, guys, but that threat of him being able to move, how he's able to dodge through tacklers, how he's able to buy more time with his legs, but when he's running for his life like he did in that super bowl against Tampa, there wasn't anything he'd do.
- [23:48]
Don La Greca
Yeah.
- [23:49]
Peter Rosenberg
You know, as he said when he, you know, he ran for all those yards horizontally because he just couldn't break. Break the line of scrimmage. He couldn't find a seam to gain yardage and couldn't get any, but find anybody open. And so it is possible. Is Philadelphia's defense up for that task?
- [24:03]
Don La Greca
I'll tell you what, the other thing too, that he guaranteed when he talked to you, Don, at the beginning, was he guaranteed Saquon will rush for over 100 yards? Why is that significant? Since Spags became the defensive coordinator in 2019, Kansas City has not allowed any player to rush for 100 yards against them in the playoffs.
- [24:20]
Peter Rosenberg
Right.
- [24:21]
Don La Greca
And so that's significant.
- [24:23]
Peter Rosenberg
And no running backs this year. Lamar Jackson had, I think 112 on the ground on opening night against Kansas City. But running backs don't do that. Now is that. Does that guarantee Philadelphia win or is it one of those where he has a big day but they don't get anything from anything else if one of.
- [24:38]
Don La Greca
Them is a 60 yarder. Right. Because we know he can do that. And then the rest of it is just kind of, you know, chip here, chip there, who knows? But that is just definitely something to keep an eye on because that's a very interesting stat as well. It sure is. All right. 800 now. 193776. We'll get back to your calls. The Eli conversation. Sal is on the committee and he said he pushed forward. He believes in it. We have a lot more to get to an NBA trade deadline. Reaction Pete Alonzo back with the Mets. Reaction Eli Manning, super bowl and more. Lots of calls. We'll get to them momentarily. But right now I'd like to introduce you to an SUV where everything for every passenger feels just right. It is the all new 2025 Infiniti QX80. It's Infiniti's most luxurious full size three row SUV that's full of customizable and advanced features like individual audio that easily isolates calls or directions right to the driver's seat. So when you have to take a private call, you keep your business personal. 64 customizable shades what mood are you in? You can set the interior to match it. Any colors, your team colors, all that stuff. How about like, you know, Valentine's Day? Go for red, right has two rows of heated and cooled massage seats for the ultimate relaxation and luxury. And this great feature that especially in the summer, in the hot months, I know it's cold now, but when it gets hot in the car, what do you want to do? You want to keep things cold, especially like your drink. It has a front console cool box that does just that. Keeps things nice and cold for you. Now that's just a few of the many amazing and new features available in the all new Infiniti QX80. So discover you're just right. Visit infinityusa.com to learn more about the all new Infiniti QX80. Availability of features may vary by trim level, packaging and options. Taxact knows filing taxes can be confusing. So we have live experts on hand who can help answer any questions you may have. Questions like can I claim my SUV is my home office?
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Peter Rosenberg
If I answer work emails in my car? If I adopted 12 dogs this year, can I list them as dependents and.
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Don La Greca
Am I doing this right or am I doing this very, very wrong? Our experts have the answers to those questions and many others. Taxact, let's get them over with.
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Peter Rosenberg
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- [28:23]
Don La Greca
Thanks for listening to the Don Hahn and Rosenberg podcast.
- [28:27]
Peter Rosenberg
I didn't listen to anything you just said.
- [28:28]
Don La Greca
Catch the show on demand whenever you want. Just subscribe to us wherever you get your podcasts. So for the first time you can come out see us live. That's right. Don Legreca, Peter Rosenberg and myself, Alan Hahn. Tomorrow, starting at 3:00pm, we'll be at the Tap Room in Rockville center out on Long Island. But not out out on Long Island. You know when they say out on the island, it sounds like, oh my God, it's all the way out there. No, it's Rockville Center. It's actually pretty fairly centrally located not too far from the Queens border. Special countdown to Kickoff broadcast that we're gonna do to get you ready for, of course, the big dream about like you dream about. We're bringing the big game experience to you at the Tap Room. Steps away, by the way, from the LIRR station, Long Island Railroad to you in mine in Rockville Center. So easy to get to, especially if you're working in the city. But it's all brought to you by Tullamore. Do Irish whiskey Sloan Security and Security Dodge. You can shop 24 7@securitydodge.com during their President's Day sales.
- [29:28]
Peter Rosenberg
You bet your ace. There it is. He knew you'd do it.
- [29:33]
Don La Greca
See, they found it. Do you know that you actually did that during that promo? I read it earlier yesterday. Because I was saying during their President's Day sales event, that's when you said.
- [29:46]
Peter Rosenberg
You bet your ace that I like it. It's gonna go a long way if there's any vehicle in which you can run. That was. It was Don's reaction, though, that really took it to the next level. You never know what's gonna. I did not expect you to say that.
- [29:59]
Don La Greca
That's President's Day sales event.
- [30:01]
Peter Rosenberg
You bet your ace.
- [30:02]
Don La Greca
Yep. For full contest details.
- [30:04]
Ryan Reynolds
The whole thing.
- [30:05]
Peter Rosenberg
It's the whole thing.
- [30:06]
Don La Greca
How about how I just keep going? I just plow right through it, like. Yeah. It's almost as if I'm used to. I swear, Peter, I think five years of working with Bart Scott prepared me for you.
- [30:17]
Peter Rosenberg
Oh, please. Next to Bart Scott, I'm like, I don't know what I am, but that's what I mean.
- [30:22]
Don La Greca
Nothing phases me. So you do that. I'm just like, yep, keep going.
- [30:25]
Peter Rosenberg
Yeah, I'm. If. What if Bart had done the same thing, you would have been wondering, do we have to dump. What? We've issued an apology about what just happened.
- [30:34]
Don La Greca
Right. See, I always feel like if you just ignore it, then everybody else will miss it. They wouldn't have heard it. And they can't rewind, so we'll be all right. 800-919-3776 so Sal Palantonio says Eli Manning in his eyes, and he's on the committee believes, and he gave us some examples of why he should be a first ballot hall of Famer. That we should hear about that tonight. John in New Haven disagrees. John?
- [31:00]
Ryan Reynolds
Yeah. How are you? How's it going?
- [31:02]
Peter Rosenberg
Good, good.
- [31:03]
Ryan Reynolds
I list. I listened to Palantonio and I was hoping you would have asked him the question I'm going to ask you. But ironically enough, he didn't mention his brother, Peyton. I didn't hear him mention Peyton. He's 1. He's 12 also, but.
- [31:21]
Don La Greca
MVPs.
- [31:23]
Ryan Reynolds
Oh, I. I just. It was just. I thought it was just how many had won two Super Bowls.
- [31:27]
Don La Greca
No, he said super bowl mvp. Yeah.
- [31:30]
Ryan Reynolds
Okay.
- [31:31]
Don La Greca
That's the list.
- [31:31]
Ryan Reynolds
I don't even know if Peyton won one MVP in those games or not. But. But I Still, the point I want to make though is that he named all those quarterbacks. And I, I personally, it's only my opinion, and this has been going on for a long time around the New York area about whether or not Manning is. Eli should be in the hall of Fame. But over the quarterbacks Talentonio bro brought up, how would he have answered the question if you asked him, is Eli Manning better than any of those quarterbacks? And my answer would be no.
- [32:05]
Don La Greca
But why does that matter?
- [32:06]
Peter Rosenberg
Why is Terry Bradshaw better than him?
- [32:09]
Ryan Reynolds
I watched him play for years and that's, that's why he won many more games and he, I think he could do more.
- [32:17]
Don La Greca
But Sal's point was, by the way, those two. But hang on. By the way, just quickly, Don, I'm sorry. Do you know in those Super Bowls that, that Terry Bradshaw, right. That was the last time that a running back had more yards than passing yards.
- [32:32]
Peter Rosenberg
I'm not even going to get into the stats.
- [32:34]
Don La Greca
Like the running game was a huge part of what the Steelers did.
- [32:37]
Peter Rosenberg
It's really. But, but I think his point, John, is that you look at, he won two Super Bowl MVPs, Bradshaw. And of course, he was 4 for 4 in the Super Bowl. He mentioned the hall of Famers that he played with, two hall of Fame wide receivers, hall of Fame running back. He didn't even mention Webster, who's a Hall of Fame center. And Aikman Irving was a Hall of Famer. Emmett Smith, a Hall of Famer, hall of Famers on the offensive line, I.
- [33:02]
Ryan Reynolds
Understand that, but he's been on the back, you know, we've been talking about John years, ever since he got retired.
- [33:08]
Don La Greca
But John, if you're going to, if you're going to power rank everybody on the list. That is a very exclusive list of two time Super Bowl MVP quarterbacks. Okay. If you're in a power rank, if you want to say, well, he's last on the list. He's still on the list though, John. And by the way, Peyton Manning did win one super bowl mvp. He did not win the other one. When the Broncos won, when he was the quarterback was Von Miller.
- [33:29]
Peter Rosenberg
That's what I thought. Yeah.
- [33:32]
Ryan Reynolds
Well, I still look at a lot of his regular season play. You got to admit one of the, one of the victories in the super bowl was, you know, was luck with that touchdown pass with the, off the guy's helmet or whatever right away after.
- [33:47]
Don La Greca
The hell, after the helmet catch. After the helmet catch. Do you remember the touchdown pass that they still had to get the helmet catch didn't score a touchdown. It just kept the drive going, the drive alive.
- [33:58]
Peter Rosenberg
Right. And he also, a guy that's not a scrambling quarterback, was able to get out of being sacked. And listen, we can nip. Yeah, I, I understand there's deficiencies in Eli's game. The one thing I do think is very, very underrated is his regular seasons. He almost threw for 5,000 yards in 2011. You know, so listen, he's not, he's not flashy like his brother was, but I always hate that argument. Alan and Peter of. Well, if you take those two Super Bowl. Well, no, we're not taking those two. It was a spliff, you know, and when we had Mike Greenberg on, he's talking about all the reasons why Patrick Mahomes is the greatest quarterback of all time. He keeps bringing up the Super Bowls. I mean, so obviously winning is important. And he also got to the playoffs in his second year and his third year, won a Super bowl in his fourth year, went to the playoffs in his fifth year. Plexigo Burr shoots himself. Otherwise maybe there's another run there. Then he does it again as a Super bowl mvp. One of the greatest passes of all time to Manningham. Game winning touchdown drives when that doesn't happen very often in Super Bowls. And I'm not going to take anything away from Troy Aikman. Troy Aikman is a Hall of Famer, but Troy Aikman played with so many talented players and he didn't have very many game winning drives because his team was so good that he never was in a position to have to come from behind. You know, Terry Bradshaw had Hall of Famers not only off at sudden. How many hall of Famers do you have on the defensive side of the ball? How many outside of maybe Tom Coughlin, who I think's got a chance to go and Strahan who's already in. How many players on the Giants in those two Super Bowls are going to the hole?
- [35:19]
Don La Greca
Never. Strayan was only on one of them.
- [35:21]
Peter Rosenberg
Right. So on that second Super Bowl, I mean, Tuck's borderline used to. Uman Yora's borderline, you know. So again, I just think that there's so many people that want to look at the regular seasons and look at how the career ended, but God, you just can't remove like the stat, the two statue of liberties that stand there.
- [35:41]
Don La Greca
Yeah, exactly. But also like I said, it's. We keep bringing up Super Bowls and everybody else that the counter is always. Well, regular seasons were pedestrian. And then I remind people Again, greatness matters in the biggest moments. And while the super bowl, in big moments, he made big throws, including the Manningham throw, which we can never. That's one of the great throws in the history of the Super Bowl. That's a dime. Great. Absolute great. Way to put it, Peter. A dime. Let's not also forget the courage, determination, and everything else that he showed in San Francisco. Like, I mean, just getting ragdolled in that game and just standing up to it, how does that not matter to anybody when you're watching and saying to yourself, my God, this is greatness.
- [36:22]
Peter Rosenberg
Yeah. And playing in 216 consultants consecutive games when you didn't have to get to play in this era now, where you have a sneeze wrong, they're going to throw a flag. Like I said, that San Francisco game, he was beat up. And I'm not saying there was anything illegal going on, but he was beat up pillar to post in that game. And yet it still found a way to win on the. Listen, I said it was. But we'll see tonight whether it's first ballot. He's gone. So for all the people, I don't think he's gone. He's going. So I guess if you ever go to Canton, which I suggest strongly, I know Cooperstown because it's so close and everybody raves about Cooperstown. I've been to Canton. It's amazing. Go to the hall of Fame game over at Fawcett Stadium. It's. It's a great experience. If you ever get a chance to go. I've been a couple of times. If you ever go, just avoid the area where Peyton. Where Eli's going to be, because he's going to be there. May not be tonight, but he's going to be there, so avoid that area.
- [37:11]
Don La Greca
Let's go to Ryan in Port Jeff. What's up, Ryan?
- [37:14]
Ryan Reynolds
Hey, what's going on, boys? How you doing?
- [37:16]
Don La Greca
Good.
- [37:16]
Peter Rosenberg
What's up, everybody?
- [37:18]
Ryan Reynolds
I thought the. The Stefano interview yesterday was awesome. I didn't realize, you know, my daughter. Yeah, he was. My daughter's 10 months old. I didn't realize I have to start her quesadilla, but.
- [37:28]
Don La Greca
Yeah.
- [37:31]
Ryan Reynolds
Yeah, saw it on my chair, man, that was so funny. But I missed the beginning of the show. And I don't know if you guys talked about it already, but I just think the Alonzo deal is a big win. Win for the Mets, you know, gives them some flexibility in a couple years or maybe out of his prime and, you know, obviously he gives a little bigger bat to the lineup. This year and give some protection to Sodo. So just want to hear you guys talk about that for a second. But great job, man. Love, love listening to all you guys.
- [37:55]
Don La Greca
Thank you, Ryan. Yeah, I thought 6:00 hour. We definitely need to dive back into the Alonzo story. But you want to answer his question, Donnie?
- [38:02]
Peter Rosenberg
It makes all the sense. Michael was talking about how maybe they overpaid. Maybe they did all right, but what does it matter? There's no cap. They've got plenty of money to be able to move around. They got him at a much cheaper rate than I think they would have gotten had he accepted the the offer that was given by. Was it Van Wagonen back in the day, like the extension that was given to him, I guess the gentleman before, you know, $54 million over two years he's here. He doesn't feel like he got beat up to stay here. Fans love him. Get. Keep Vientos at third base. You got him for two years. If he has a monster season and decides to opt out, fine. They'll probably go after Vlad Guerrero to play first base or maybe they'll be able to match the money that they think he might deserve if he goes out there and hits, you know, 60 home runs. But he's going to be motivated to try to opt out. Right? So obviously it didn't work out when he, when he was in his walk year this year to have a monster season, but maybe it takes a little bit of the pressure off. No. Knowing that he's got a landing spot for 20, 26 if he doesn't have a great year relaxes him. Team should be really good. I, I, I don't. We could sit here and I know in sports radio we've got to find the negative. This is not the Will Ponds where now this is going to cost them getting somebody else. This isn't the Giants who are trying to bring in free agents. And the cap would have restricted them had they brought Saquon back. It's not, that's not the way it works in baseball. So they maybe pay overpaid a little bit, but they'll get a motivated player. The fan base is excited. That lineup looks really stacked. Protection for Soto. Where. What am I missing, Mike? Guys? What am I missing?
- [39:36]
Don La Greca
I completely agree. Completely agree. I'm sure Michael would too. Thanks for listening to the Don Han and Rosenberg podcast.
- [39:44]
Peter Rosenberg
I didn't listen to anything you just said.
- [39:46]
Don La Greca
Catch the show on demand whenever you want. Just subscribe to us wherever you get your podcast.
- [39:53]
Ryan Reynolds
All right.
- [39:54]
Don La Greca
This is your last Chance, by the way, for Superbox Bonanza 6. This is it. Only one box left. What do you say? You want to just go call number one? First caller. How fast can you dial? You want to do it like that?
- [40:06]
Peter Rosenberg
Oh, I like that.
- [40:06]
Don La Greca
Let's go call number one. But don't call the caller number. You got to call this number. Ready? 8 8-8-987. ESPN. You gotta figure out the numbers there. Like the rotary phone. Remember it was like eight. Wait for it. A. Peter, are you old enough to have ever used a rotary phone?
- [40:32]
Peter Rosenberg
Yes, I, I used a rotary. The early days in my house were, were big rotary days. Now I don't know if this was a rotary phone or every tabletop phone or, you know, kitchen wall phone.
- [40:43]
Don La Greca
Oh, the best.
- [40:43]
Peter Rosenberg
But at Ramapo College at the radio station, the call in number was 825-1234. If you can count, you can call. You'd say that.
- [40:55]
Don La Greca
I like that.
- [40:56]
Peter Rosenberg
Now people were using the phone to make long distance calls. It's college, right? So it was a rotary. So they pulled off the wheel, whatever you'd call it so you couldn't call. But did you realize that you know where, Peter, you remember where you used like hang the phone. So there would be that little hook where you'd hang the phone, the plastic hook that would. Oh, yeah, disconnect the call. Well, if you, if you hit that, like let's say the number was 9, 7, 3, you'd hit it 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. Stop. 1, 2, 3, 4th, 5, 6, 7.
- [41:28]
Don La Greca
What?
- [41:29]
Peter Rosenberg
Stop. 1, 2, 3. That could dial the phone.
- [41:32]
Don La Greca
What?
- [41:32]
Peter Rosenberg
We figured that out. Yeah, it's, it's like a cheat code for phones. And that would be. Then that would act as the dial and you'd be able to call out. Wow, look at you, an innovator.
- [41:45]
Don La Greca
And they're all like, isn't it amazing when you're in college, you find any way to cheat the system?
- [41:49]
Peter Rosenberg
Oh, I grab because.
- [41:50]
Don La Greca
Oh, yeah.
- [41:50]
Peter Rosenberg
Oh my God. Between that and Sportsphone, like just trying to like get through on a very minimal budget of just going and buying like an Italian bread and a pack of baloney and have that be like three days of dinner.
- [42:04]
Don La Greca
Kidding me. Ramen noodles. And you would just get chicken, pork and beef. And so each night I'm having a different flavor. It feels like I'm having a different meal. There's nothing better self right. Tonight I feel like having chicken. Anyways, call number 1-888-987-Espn for a chance to win $250 in the first and third quarters, 500 at halftime and a final score payout of $1,000. It's all brought to you by Tulla Mardu Irish Whiskey, Sloman Security and Security, Dodge Shop 24 7@securitydodge.com during their President's Day sales event. Richard in Manhattan has a compliment for you, Donald. Hello, Richard.
- [42:40]
Peter Rosenberg
Hi, Richard.
- [42:41]
D
Hi, fellas. Steve Cohen should come out with a statement today. I couldn't let Pete Alonso go to another team. I wouldn't be able to sleep tonight.
- [42:51]
Don La Greca
Take a shot at John Mara. I like it.
- [42:55]
D
Sure. And super bowl week. Saquon Barkley. Pete Alonso was the yankees Bobby Mercer 50 years ago. And for Bobby Mercer, we got the best position player in baseball, Bobby Barnes. But we were crying when we lost Bobby Mercer. Same thing. They both played nine years. Eli should go into the hall of Fame because of the postseason. And it would be poetic justice if he goes in with Jim Plunkett, who also won two Super Bowls. Jim Plunkett and Eli's father, Archie were 12 in the NFL draft in 71. That would be great. But Donny Ovechkin's got 25 goals but 10 empty netters. I mean, you know, maybe Bettman should put a change in the rule. A half a goal for those guys.
- [43:38]
Peter Rosenberg
Are the worst things you've ever said on the show.
- [43:40]
Ryan Reynolds
All right.
- [43:41]
D
Okay, Don.
- [43:43]
Don La Greca
Three pros shouldn't count either. There's nobody going.
- [43:45]
D
I heard you after the game with Johnny Porzinski.
- [43:50]
Peter Rosenberg
Yeah, you.
- [43:51]
D
I mean, that guy, in 10 years will be Dave Maloney's replacement. Man, what a great interview. And that guy answered the questions great. You and him together had the chemistry. Man, this guy sounds. Sounded like a college professor the way he spoke. And he spoke easily and quickly. Man, that guy was smooth. I have to say that one other thing you guys were talking about, the hot goalie. You know where that came about, Alan? 1971, when Ken Dryden came out of Cornell, he went right to Montreal. No one ever heard of him.
- [44:20]
Ryan Reynolds
No one ever heard of him.
- [44:20]
Don La Greca
I would have come before he won the Calder. It's crazy. That never happened.
- [44:24]
D
Yeah, that was unbelievable. Allen, you know who Karl Anthony Towns reminds me of? Transformative basketball play at. This guy was the first of his kind. Thirty years ahead of his time. This is who Karl Anthony Towns reminds me of? Bob McAdoo. Bob McAdoo was way ahead of his time. He's never talked about. That guy was unbelievable. Unbelievable. And he doesn't get the credit. And as far as Alonzo, I mean, look Whatever happened to all these homegrown guys that left? It never worked out good. Seaver left, John Riggins left, Daryl Revis left, Darrell Reevas left, Sam Huff, Jocheman park and Retell left. All these homegrown guys left. It never worked out good. So Steve Cohen had to know this and this happened. I mean, what Michael, What Michael. What Michael is saying. He's ignoring all of this stuff. There's caveats to everything and you gotta, the fans love him. That's worth so much more than anything can be said. Fellas, always a pleasure.
- [45:23]
Peter Rosenberg
Thank you, Richard. The Giants had to do what they had to do because it's a hard cap. It wasn't their draft pick. Now you could say Steve Cohen, you know, came here, Alonzo was already here. And certainly Stearns inherited Alonzo. But I don't think there's anything wrong with just acknowledging, you know what he's, he's one of us and nobody else. We've said it many times, guys. Nobody would appreciate Alonzo more than Met fans. If he signed with the Blue Jays or the Giants or the Reds, he'd.
- [45:52]
Don La Greca
Just be a guy.
- [45:53]
Peter Rosenberg
34 home runs last year. Nice player, okay, but he meant more to the Mets because of what he's been able to accomplish. Rookie home run record, the home run against Milwaukee last year, all those things kind of, I think they matter in a long season. You know, we can, we could talk about championships and like with Eli, the postseason, that's football. There's, there's 16 regular season games when Eli played. You know, football's a different animal when you talk about baseball. 162 games. The comfort of having a player, a favorite player to get you through the dog days of summer, rooting for him, I think that matters. It matters a lot. And I, I don't have a problem in a non cap sport if you just acknowledge. I think this is the right thing to do by him, it's the right thing to do by our fan base. Take advantage of it before they end up instituting a salary cap in baseball.
- [46:41]
Don La Greca
Yeah, right until that's coming. But I think the right thing to say about it, and we'll talk more about this in the 6 o'clock hour coming up in just a few minutes. But I just think the right way to say it is this is, I think Stearns and even maybe Cohen, to a lesser degree, they didn't love him, but the fans did and that meant something to them. We don't love him. We don't really need them. We don't think like, it's not like that big of a deal to us when it comes to just, you know, on paper for us to build a championship team. He doesn't fit like that kind of guy, but right now, fans love him. We really don't have any other answers. Yeah, let's. Let's keep them around as long as we can do it. And the flexibility of we're not stuck. Like, you would say that the albatross of that contract wouldn't be hanging over them, regretting that decision that they made because they didn't have a better option. So this was the best way. I think, like I said, this feels like a win win for everybody. Pete gets paid, he gets to stay around. You could tell he didn't want to go anywhere else. I know that was some of the reporting. He didn't want to play for anybody else. Bob Nightingale had that in USA Today about a week or so ago, and we were talking about it. And so no matter what Toronto or Cincinnati or any other team might have said, you know, the Cubs were kicking it around for a minute. It wouldn't hit the same if it wasn't. If he wasn't still in a Met jersey for at least one more year.
- [48:00]
Peter Rosenberg
Now, a while ago, we never mentioned this. You know, David Stearns was asked about balancing being a fan and being the head of baseball operations. And he said, fans, by their very nature. Look, I'm still a Knick fan, I'm still a New York Giants fan. So I still have the fan part of me. Fans get to be emotional, and that's what makes being a fan a lot of fun. I don't have that luxury. And if I did and let that creep into this, ultimately, I don't think our fans would be happy about that because I would probably make decisions that aren't in the best interest of our organization. So he acknowledged that He. He's from New York, he's a fan, but he's got a job to do. But in my opinion, I do believe that because you have a little flexibility in baseball more than any other sport. And the way that the. He must look as a Giant fan and see how it went down with Barkley, that, yeah, maybe it's best to move on from Alonzo, but for a couple of extra million dollars, if it makes our fan base happy and we can make this work and we don't constrict ourselves in the future, isn't that good, too? Is it. Is it so wrong to maybe in baseball more than any other sport, let a little emotion creep in. Is that okay to do? And maybe if the Giants had done that, they wouldn't have egg all over their face right now. Even though it was the right thing to do and I was agree and I still agree it was the right thing to let Barkley go. You cannot, you cannot explain away the damage it has done to this Giants fan base. The reputation of Mara, the reputation of Shane. It could not end any worse. Now it's not like Pete would have gone to the the Yankees or the Phillies or the Braves or something like that. So it's not apples to apples, but it's still, you have the chance to do it when I do it.
- [49:40]
Don La Greca
Thanks for listening to the Don Han and Rosenberg podcast. I don't want to know how the sausage is made, but I just want to know it's good. Hear more of Don Allen and Peter weekday afternoon starting at 3 on 8 80, ESPN, the ESPN New York app and your smart speakers.