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Bomani Jones
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Right time a Wave original.
Ryan Brumley
My name is Bomani Jones.
Bomani Jones
Thanks for listening wherever you get your podcast.
Ryan Brumley
Thanks for watching us on YouTube.
Bomani Jones
Subscribe like, rate us, review us, give us five stars. You only give us four stars. I'm inclined to believe you are a hater. You got a lot going on in the world to talk about. But the first thing I want to get out here and talk about is is the fact that we don't know nothing. And I'm gonna tell you how I know that.
Ryan Brumley
We don't know nothing.
Bomani Jones
We don't know nothing. Cause last night and really throughout the duration of this whole season, Sam Darnold been out here throwing the ball to. You know there's one exception I can think of but otherwise Sam Darnold out here throwing a ball to a bunch of white boys and they bout to go to the super bowl. Everything you ever thought you knew about the world goes out the window. When you think about that Sam Darnold out there throwing it to a Cooper a Jake. What's the other one Ryan?
Bo
Not even a Jake. A Bobo.
Bomani Jones
Yeah, Jake. Jake bubble right like, like this there's another white dude he out there throwing it to and like ain't none of them like Matt Conkey. He fast right? Yeah, they just out here just I guess Cooper cup at one point was fast. Yeah, it's out here making and and by the way they didn't just win that game. Like with Sam Darling around. They won the game with Sam Darnold throwing for like 800 yards. What are we, what are we, what are we doing here? What, what, what, what is, what is the world like? As much as we talk about that with the Seattle defense, that isn't what happened in this game. That wasn't it. Like, you know, I've been saying, hey, man, ain't no get out of here with this Matthew Stafford going to the hall of Fame situation if you lose a game to San Darnle. But I can't even really fully like go full throated about that one because he threw for 800 yards too, right? And they're going. They're, they're, they're, they're, they're going. I just want to say this right fast because it's. I don't want to seem like I'm.
Ryan Brumley
Insulting guys and I don't want to.
Bomani Jones
Really do this during super bowl week because it's not fair, but I'm trying to think how far back we got to go to get a quarterback matchup.
Ryan Brumley
Quite like the one that we going to have in this Super Bowl.
Bomani Jones
And it's interesting because Drake may two guys that were number three pick in the draft, Drake may, may ultimately be that guy. Sam Darnold turned out not to be that guy, but has proven to be a guy who has actually not been that good for like the last month and change. But suddenly it all got dialed up in the course of this game. And here we are, 20, 26.
Ryan Brumley
There we go. I want to call Cortez and tell him happy New Year.
Bo
Happy New Year.
Bomani Jones
Yeah, just, just to do it after that situation. Hey, man, I have to say that.
Ryan Brumley
Was an excellent football game with the Rams and the Seahawks.
Bomani Jones
Like, it's one of those where I don't even feel like analyzing it really. You know, gets down to the point or it, it only matters. But so much, I guess, is the way to look at it. Like, I found myself as I was watching it, being less like, man, I gotta think about what we gonna talk about tomorrow. Then I felt in the course of watching it like, damn, man, this is, this is fun. This is what you want. This is one of those where you almost wish. Well, I don't know if that's a.
Ryan Brumley
Fair way to put it.
Bomani Jones
I was just going to say, like, this is certainly a rivalry of sorts, I imagine, to the people who really care about these teams. And then that even gets to be a little bit weird because of the Rams and Their relocation. But if this were like a traditional rivalry, like. Ryan, can you imagine if this was the Falcons and the Saints having this kind of game? Now, of course, the Falcons and the Saints would never play each other this late in the year.
Bo
Never this late in the year. With this good a quarterback play on.
Bomani Jones
Both sides, it would never happen. Understand this.
Ryan Brumley
I don't know if you even realize this.
Bomani Jones
In the year 1991, the saints and.
Ryan Brumley
The Falcons played against each other in the wild card round of the playoffs at the Superdome. And the Falcons won that game. And the winner was going to rack up their first playoff win ever.
Bomani Jones
Two teams that had been the league.
Ryan Brumley
For 25 years, and the only way.
Bomani Jones
One of them could win a playoff.
Ryan Brumley
Game was to play the other.
Bo
Which. Which. Which a. Where was AAR playing at?
Ryan Brumley
That. That was a. That was a.
Bo
For who?
Bomani Jones
No. Oh, Bobby A. Bear was playing for the Saints.
Bo
Gotcha.
Bomani Jones
Chris Miller, I believe, was the start.
Bo
That's kind of my point. Yeah. Yes.
Bomani Jones
Yes. No. Abraham Abear got there shortly thereafter.
Bo
Yeah.
Bomani Jones
I saw Bobby Abear throw six interceptions against the Oilers. Six interceptions. But Seattle, when you.
Ryan Brumley
You.
Bomani Jones
When you can win, when your main unit ain't really doing the thing you're doing, you.
Ryan Brumley
You.
Bomani Jones
You have got a team, and they're one of those teams that just. Where you watch them and you're like.
Ryan Brumley
Oh, they look well coached.
Bomani Jones
You know what I mean? Like, everybody seems to be where they supposed to be the one time they didn't seem well coached. It seems very clear to me, Ryan, that that boy Reek Woolen be doing.
Ryan Brumley
Dumb shit all the time. And.
Bomani Jones
And. And the way that I know that is. Look, I ain't gonna lie, man.
Ryan Brumley
And you know y' all will understand what I'm saying if you get a little bit mad. I thought that was surreal. Caucasian officiating when they hit him for that 15 yards, for, like, taunting the sideline. Like he wasn't over there grabbing his jewels.
Bomani Jones
Even imaginary movie, whatever he said had.
Bo
To have been particularly egregious.
Bomani Jones
Well, it seemed like the ref told him to stop, and then he kept on going. Then.
Bo
That's very Caucasian official.
Bomani Jones
Yeah. Yeah. I'm just saying, I felt you tested that man's authority. Whatever happened to let him play? Right? Y' all always get out of here talking about this let him play situation. Now, I'm inclined to cut that man some slack. And I know this ain't gonna mean a whole lot to y', all, but that's a Fort Worth decision making that he was engaging in. Right there. And he. Fort Worth, like, that's Funky Town. Don't think stuff all the way through.
Ryan Brumley
Right.
Bomani Jones
Like, it just. It just. It just doesn't work like that. But when he got to the sideline and that other cat was, like, getting Autumn about it, like, they. I just realized, oh, he must do this all the time, right?
Bo
I told you not to be doing stuff like that.
Bomani Jones
Yes. I would also love to see what Reek Williams draft profile was. He is a 6 foot 4 corner who. Who ran a 426 at the combine and was drafted in the fifth round. What was he doing in those interviews? What was he saying to those people to where they were like, I don't know.
Ryan Brumley
May.
Bo
Maybe we'll get him another day.
Bomani Jones
No, no. But I tell you this. That is definitely a guy. Pete Carroll drafts.
Bo
Yes.
Bomani Jones
Pete Carroll's like, oh, yeah, we.
Bo
We'll figure it out. Six. Four.
Bomani Jones
Yeah, six. Look, six. Four quarters are unwieldy because it's a lot of, like, small space maneuvering, but at the same time, six, four. Run a four, two, six.
Bo
Yeah, we can figure something out.
Bomani Jones
We. We can see what this is. But.
Ryan Brumley
Okay, how much. I mean, we'll have two weeks to talk about this. How much Sam Darnold are we about to be out here believing? And if Sam Darnold and the Seahawks win the super bowl together, how long before somebody tells me that he belongs in the hall of Fame? Just throwing it out there, just asking the question. We just out here, it's harder than ever to get in the hall of Fame, and we just out here, like.
Bo
That'S putting everybody in.
Bomani Jones
Yeah, but that's afraid we got to retire. Like the.
Ryan Brumley
The.
Bomani Jones
The future hall of Famer, we gonna need to know.
Ryan Brumley
Right?
Bomani Jones
You know what I mean? Like, and that's. And that's not just about Stafford. Now, look, if you guys want to.
Ryan Brumley
Put Stafford in the hall of Fame.
Bomani Jones
I'm kind of giving up on the idea. Although I'm still holding strong on Eli Manning.
Ryan Brumley
Y' all seem to at least be putting up a fight about that madness.
Bomani Jones
But.
Ryan Brumley
I already forgot what I was going to say right fast. Don't you hate it when that happens?
Bomani Jones
Yeah, I'm still mad. I was just telling Brian, man, I had a line that was so cold, and I ain't want to hit him with it last night because I didn't want to ruin it. When I said it this morning, and I acted like I am not 45 years old and I woke up and that. That it's never coming back.
Bo
It's gone.
Bomani Jones
And I'm telling you, you were gonna.
Ryan Brumley
Be in the floor.
Bomani Jones
I mean, it was first class, amazing work and poof, gone.
Ryan Brumley
Now it's gone.
Bomani Jones
But I do think though, and by the way, for those of you who.
Ryan Brumley
Are wondering, G, why don't you want. Why aren't you talking about the. The AFC championship game? For what. What is there to talk about?
Bomani Jones
Like, like dead ass.
Ryan Brumley
What.
Bomani Jones
What is there for us to talk about other than the fact of we ain't. You know what?
Ryan Brumley
This is what there is to talk about when it comes to that game.
Bomani Jones
There are some lies that people have to tell. I'm an adult.
Ryan Brumley
I recognize this. Sean Payton had to lie to us about Jerry Stim.
Bomani Jones
You'll see. Just watch. I did.
Ryan Brumley
And those were three terrible hours. Okay?
Bomani Jones
He's a backup quarterback. I'll put it to you like this, where they were just like, yo, Sean Payton believed in him.
Ryan Brumley
No, he didn't. You know how I know he didn't believe in him? Because he drafted Bo Knicks.
Bomani Jones
You know what I'm saying? He went out there and drafted a quarterback about his age. I'm just saying.
Bo
All from teammates.
Bomani Jones
Right? Right. That all of us were of. Of whom all of us were wildly skeptical. Yeah, right. And he was out there like, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, let me go ahead and get me. Let me go ahead and get me a real quarterback. And he would have got Bo Nicks.
Bo
Right.
Bomani Jones
So Stidham was out there. I felt so bad. He was suffering from full on set lemon booty that first drive and. And as soon as I sent a tweet about it, he threw that one.
Ryan Brumley
Pass and then after that they were done.
Bomani Jones
They had that situation. I have only really recalled seeing this in golf where at the turn of the weather changes where like half the people play around under one set of conditions and then the other half play it under another. And that's what the second half was in that game. I mean, it was at the point where Vull was calling just throw it away plays.
Bo
Right. The only way that get you beat is Drake May taking a dumb sack fumbling. And he called the whole game avoiding that outcome.
Bomani Jones
And by the way, those two outcomes.
Ryan Brumley
Were totally on the board.
Bomani Jones
Yes, totally on the board. And I want to say this to Drake May right now, okay? Sam Darnold has officially exceeded every expectation that we had after we re recalibrated from our priors. Right. I think Bayesian is the term that we're looking for. Right. We had our priors, we adjusted our priors.
Bo
Is It Bayesian or Kinsian?
Bomani Jones
I, I, these are, these are Bayesian. Kz it is when you start talking about like macroeconomic stuff, right? Bayesian is the probability things.
Ryan Brumley
Okay?
Bomani Jones
Yes, Bayesian. Like we made the adjustment to the priors. Sam Darnold is good money forever. There's nothing else he has to do. He exceeded our expectations two years in a row. There's nothing he has to do, okay?
Ryan Brumley
He's who he is.
Bomani Jones
Drake. Me. I'll tell you this right now.
Ryan Brumley
If you win this super bowl and we know quarterbacks don't win games, you non clicking motherfuckers, okay, Just so we don't have no misunderstanding there, quarterbacks don't win games. But if Drake May is the quarterback of the winning team, under these circumstances, you are good, okay? It will make your career so much easier. I think Drake May is very talented. I think the ceiling is very high. Do I think Drake May will be better than Josh Allen? Nope. Do I think that he will be better than Lamar Jackson?
Bomani Jones
Nope. But we about to be on them.
Ryan Brumley
Boys necks from here into forever because.
Bomani Jones
We'Re about to watch either Drake May.
Ryan Brumley
Or Sam Darnold win a Super bowl. And those guys haven't even been there. They ain't even touched the grass in the Super Bowl.
Bomani Jones
Drake May gets this one, brother. You straight? You straight. And you not like Dan Marino. Dan Marino got there in his second year, but he had to go against literally one of the greatest football teams of all time, the 1984 49ers. And when you think about the 49ers, all you need to know about 84.
Ryan Brumley
Was the defense was probably better than the offense. Okay? Right?
Bomani Jones
Everything you ever heard about the 49ers.
Ryan Brumley
And that's not saying the offense was overrated.
Bomani Jones
The defense, Ryan, they had three pro.
Ryan Brumley
Boulders in the secondary.
Bo
Jesus.
Bomani Jones
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Bo
What you do?
Bomani Jones
What, what, what, what are we talking about here? All right, Dan Burrito. Never. Drake May, you go ahead and do this right now. Honestly, you could. I. If you win this right now and you keep playing, I'm gonna be looking at you like I look at Klay Thompson. Like, dude, why are you still here, brother? If I was Klay Thompson, I wouldn't even know. Like, there would be some games I would miss because I forgot. I'd be like, damn, we got a.
Bo
Game tonight which no one would be surprised by because of Clay Thompson. Because it's Clay Thompson.
Bomani Jones
Because it's Clay Thompson and the Mavericks. Like, why would you keep up with.
Ryan Brumley
The Maverick schedule right?
Bomani Jones
Yeah, like, if I was Clay Thompson, it would be some games where I'd be like, damn, we got a game tomorrow. All right, but hold on, man. Let me call my girl. Oh, man, I gotta see. We got plans tomorrow, man. Let me see if she can change them. I mean, look, we can change our plans. I'll come. You know what I'm saying? But otherwise, like Drake may win a Super Bowl. Hey, man, all we gonna do is like, you, you, you. You've accomplished it all. This also sucks because, Ryan, we have the worst combination of things. The obnoxious Boston fan, they back in the game because the Patriots are back where they were. And they also have a legitimate underdog, feel good story sort of element of it.
Bo
They can legitimately say no one believes in us.
Bomani Jones
I sure didn't.
Bo
I sure didn't.
Bomani Jones
I sure didn't. I sure don't. Now, I want to be fair to May, though, in the sense that he's played two games in terrible weather.
Bo
Right.
Bomani Jones
I would say that he has looked terrible. I have not felt good about the.
Ryan Brumley
Way that he has played.
Bomani Jones
But there are. There's stories around it. Now, the issue for that super bowl and what we're going to talk about for a couple weeks is that guy.
Ryan Brumley
Against an excellent defense.
Bo
Yes.
Bomani Jones
Based on what we've seen so far in the postseason, we're asking for a lot here. On the other side is going to be Sam Darnold playing against an NFL.
Ryan Brumley
Defense in a game that really matters.
Bomani Jones
Could go either way, Right.
Ryan Brumley
This could.
Bomani Jones
This could be it, but I'm gonna give it to the NFL.
Ryan Brumley
Man, y' all gave us a great postseason so far. You did.
Bomani Jones
Like, I've.
Ryan Brumley
I've thoroughly enjoyed all of this, everything that we've gotten. I think that this has been a.
Bomani Jones
Great, like, exhibition of football, which is very important because what we don't have is great teams. And I know.
Ryan Brumley
What was it?
Bomani Jones
I remember Shot said it was like the best DVOA NFC Championship game of all time or something like that.
Bo
Yeah, I, I, I, I. So someone's gonna have to break that down like, a fraction for me, because I did not.
Bomani Jones
I never once watched, and I feel like I've watched a decent bit of these two teams.
Bo
Right.
Ryan Brumley
Never quite saw it. Right.
Bo
Yeah.
Ryan Brumley
Never. Never quite saw it.
Bomani Jones
You gotta. I don't know if we feel obviously.
Bo
Like giant peaks on both sides, but not, you know, you couldn't keep the consistency.
Ryan Brumley
No.
Bo
Throughout the year.
Bomani Jones
Well, let me ask you this about Denver. Do you think the outcome would have been different if Bo Nix have played. And my answer is I'm not sure.
Bo
I'm not sure. Because the weather was so drastic, right?
Bomani Jones
Because here's what worries me, Bo.
Ryan Brumley
Wow. Almost. It did something sacrilegious.
Bomani Jones
Bo Nicks, you didn't do it.
Bo
You got close. You were around in second.
Bomani Jones
They both went to Auburn.
Ryan Brumley
You know what I'm saying?
Bomani Jones
They both went to Auburn. Bo Nixon, get out there and still think, I can do something, right?
Ryan Brumley
I can make this happen.
Bomani Jones
And look, they got what touchdown in the first half, Right?
Bo
Right.
Ryan Brumley
That was. The reasonable expectation was that you could get a touchdown in the first half. They got the touchdown in the first half. But I don't know.
Bomani Jones
I came out of that. It's so interesting. I came out of that with, wow, that one game was so good, I don't even really feel the need to talk about it. Then I came out of it with that other game was so bad. I don't want to talk about it. Like, I don't. I didn't want any parts of it.
Ryan Brumley
And now, Ryan, it's a long two weeks, correct? And it's a really, really long two weeks that is coming.
Bomani Jones
My favorite thing of the long two weeks is the NBA. I don't know if it just worked out accidentally, but. But that trade deadline being right during super bowl week has come in handy the last. Like, yeah, look, it was one thing with super bowl stuff when we didn't have as much media and as much space to fill in that week of super bowl, like, the media day and everything else. Like, you'd go to your whole job, then you come back and be like.
Ryan Brumley
Ooh, super bowl stuff.
Bomani Jones
And it would be this treat the whole week that you would get to. But now that we are always online, we're always talking about football, we ain't got enough stuff. We already know who all these people are. You know, like, we are. We are fully loaded up and aware of who all these people are. So by the time that week comes.
Ryan Brumley
We'Re just like, yo, man, we're. We're a little tapped out, man. Can we just, like, can we. Can. Can we get to the game?
Bomani Jones
Can we get this? Now, if you want to tell me that Marshawn lynch gonna post up with Ginger Cuz and they gonna do a daily briefing.
Bo
Yeah, we're here.
Bomani Jones
I'll watch that. I'm.
Ryan Brumley
I'm.
Bomani Jones
I'm 100% here for that. Otherwise, let us be glad for the great football that we have had so far and cross our fingers that the rest will be decent. All Right. So, you know, I feel like all of us got kind of caught up.
Ryan Brumley
In small sample stuff over the last couple weeks or whatever. And what I mean by that is.
Bomani Jones
The Pittsburgh Steelers have only hired three coaches since 1969.
Ryan Brumley
Okay.
Bomani Jones
Those three coaches bore similar characteristics. They were young coaches who were in their first jobs, who were defensive guys.
Ryan Brumley
They all ultimately wound up being coaches who won Super Bowls.
Bomani Jones
So as a result, we all thought that when the Steelers hired a head coach that it would be a defensive guy in his 30s who never had a job before. But all I can assume is that we were operating off of small samples. Right. Like, this wasn't quite like the Raiders after they let John Madden go and. Well, they ain't let him go. John Madden left. But after John Madden left, every coach that Al Davis hired was an young offensive guy.
Ryan Brumley
And the reason was. Well, yeah, mostly young.
Bomani Jones
Either way, they're all offensive guys.
Ryan Brumley
And the reason was Al Davis ran his own defense. Right. He didn't need a defensive coordinator. He just needed an offensive coordinator and then somebody to call plays on Sunday.
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Right.
Bomani Jones
But we had enough times that he had changed over coaches that we understood.
Ryan Brumley
That that right there was pattern. Okay.
Bomani Jones
Nope. The Steelers apparently just hired three coaches because everything that we thought we knew about them, they took it and they wiped the their city ker with it because they went and hired Mike McCarthy to be their head coach. And I don't. I think that we are typically a little bit too hard on Mike McCarthy. And I have explained in the past why I think it is that y'.
Ryan Brumley
All are so hard on Mike McCarthy.
Bomani Jones
And it's because he's chubby.
Ryan Brumley
Right.
Bomani Jones
Like, the rules get all messed up when chubby people come out here. Y' all know how y' all treat chubby people. And if you don't want to believe me, go ask a chubby person. They will tell you how they get treated.
Ryan Brumley
But there's a. There's a.
Bomani Jones
There. There's a way in which people don't take super bowl champion Mike McCarthy seriously that I think is tied to his weight. Ryan, you sent me the. The joint with the numbers where he basically. It's kind of like he got the same track record as Joe, as. What's his name, John Harbaugh.
Bo
I mean, him, Tomlin and John Harbaugh are kind of spider man. Mim each other with the exact same res. Now, obviously, I would not say the same level of coach, but the same level of resume.
Bomani Jones
Yeah, yeah. But when you look at it, it's. It's very very.
Bo
It's about 170 wins. It's one Super bowl and not a lot of playoff wins since the first Trump presidency, right?
Bomani Jones
And when he got this job, McCarthy, when he got this job at the Cowboys, we're like, what in the world were they doing? And by the way, they were just fine, right? The problem was not Mike McCarthy. Now, there were some problems that you could say you have with his offense, but the problem was not Mike McCarthy. We are all a little bit too down on him. However, let me tell you what I have never seen Mike McCarthy do. I have never seen Mike McCarthy coach a quarterback who was less than very good, or dare I say excellent, okay? He got a version of Brett Favreau.
Ryan Brumley
That was still pretty good.
Bomani Jones
He got Aaron Rodgers when he, at least regular season wise, was as good as any quarterback we have seen. Just in terms of the pure execution of playing football. He was as good as anybody that.
Ryan Brumley
We had ever seen. Right.
Bomani Jones
Remove team success from it.
Ryan Brumley
Everything else just like, wow, I can't believe how good this guy is.
Bomani Jones
And then Dak Prescott, who's probably like, I would, right? I would say that Dak Prescott's not going to make the hall of Fame, but after what happened with Stafford, all.
Bo
He needs is one trade. One trade to the right guy.
Bomani Jones
That's right. Stick around long enough, he keeps getting better. Yeah, you still, you still have a chance, buddy. But the bottom line is, if the worst quarterback that Mike McCarthy ever coached was Dak Prescott, he's been living good, right? Okay, who the hell is going to play quarterback for the Steelers next year? Because I feel pretty confident that that's not going to bring Aaron Rodgers back.
Bo
I mean, I can't imagine a world even if Aaron Rodgers does come back correct.
Bomani Jones
That's not what you want, right?
Bo
Like that, that, that if that's your best option, you don't have a lot of good options.
Bomani Jones
Yeah. So what are they doing? They, they hired a coach who is in his, like, early mid-60s, right? It was 63.
Bo
Ryan turned 63 next season, all right?
Bomani Jones
Turned 63. They're not starting over, right? They are not a, they're not a rebuild sort of team. Me tell you something, that's wild. Up until that Minka Fitzpatrick trade where they traded away first first round pick to get him. They had a run for decades of every year making one first round pick, never two, never zero. One first round pick, right? Like they, they, they have operated very much so on a process sort of thing. They don't believe in tearing it down. I understand if you don't believe in tearing it down, that's fine. But my question is, what the hell do you think this team is that you have right now? And if your goal is, or your game is, we are going to stay competitive with the roster that we have, and then you add Mike McCarthy, it is implying to me that even though Mike Tomlin left of his own volition, you kind of think he was the problem, right? Cause I mean, I don't. Clearly you guys don't mind changing what you've done in the past or what is that small sample thing again? Because he just hired Mike McCarthy. Right? You are clearly not wedded to everything you had done before. There have been articles that have come out that. That are implying that the Steelers are in a place that a lot of college programs get to. North Carolina basketball is one I could think of around the Mad Doherty era, where you look up at what you got is a little bit stale, right? And you'd always been able to get by on whatever the name was and all of this, da, da, da. But then you look up and everybody else is doing all these things and you've been so wedded to what you're doing.
Ryan Brumley
You.
Bomani Jones
Because everybody talks about what it is that you do, and then you look up and it's like, oh snap, man, we need to.
Ryan Brumley
We.
Bomani Jones
We need to get some other things going, right? That is what has kind of been implied in reporting that we're seeing around the Steelers right now. I just don't see how Mike McCarthy makes anything better. And I feel like if he ain't making it better, he making it worse.
Bo
To me, when you were talking about college football there, I thought you were talking. Going to get to the point where it seems that all politics is local. And part of the. There's a lot of reporting going around that part of the reason Mike McCarthy is getting this job, cuz he's.
Bomani Jones
Because he's from Pittsburgh.
Bo
From Pittsburgh. It's. It's certainly not. It's not. Not a factor.
Bomani Jones
Yeah, but that. What the hell if that's what they're doing is that.
Ryan Brumley
That.
Bomani Jones
That can't be all it takes, right? I mean, they could have hired. What's his name, Day Waste. All right, like under. Under these circ. Like I'm sure.
Bo
I'm sure his name's been pitched.
Bomani Jones
And I look and I know this. I was just looking@espn.com Ryan I don't know if you've seen this, but the headline is ruinita Fans, Steelers, quote, excited about Mike McCarthy and Mike McCarthy is many things, but he's not exciting. Even if you think he's effective, even if you think he's the right man for the job, he is not excited. Listen to this. We're not worried about winning the initial press conference. See, that's when you know, you know, ain't nobody trying to hear this shit, man. And look courage to them. Like when you know you're making a call that people aren't going to like, but you're going to do it anyway. Hey, that there's a certain level of G that I suppose you have to have in you in doing that. Just none of us understand what like Mike, I feel bad for McCarthy in the sense that he can't answer the questions. You know what I mean? Like, the questions we have about this decision are not questions that he can answer by telling us about what the scheme is going to be or telling us what the staff is going to be. What we, we don't, we don't understand this.
Bo
Yeah. I just, everything about this hire, we talked about it being one of the best jobs available because you were going to get a long Runway, you were going to be able to grow into the job because we assumed they would hire someone in their late 30s, early 40s, and now they've hired someone just the most retread of all retreads.
Bomani Jones
Yes.
Bo
Like someone who's coached again, lots of experience for probably the two of the other glamour franchises in the NFL. But like if you, if you pushed Mike Tomlin out because he couldn't got over, get over the hump.
Ryan Brumley
Right.
Bo
And so you bring in Mike McCarthy. I, I just don't understand the logic.
Bomani Jones
Well, here's the problem or where I think this will be interesting is because of his age, you don't really have the option of patience. I don't think like you can sell patience with your 35 year old guy and you're like, hey, we get, we gave him a five year contract and we're going to like, we've made this decision right here and now that this is a five year play and we're.
Ryan Brumley
Going to, you know, see where it goes.
Bo
Especially if the Steelers, who have one of the oldest rosters in the NFL.
Bomani Jones
Right, right. Like you, but you could, you could get up there and say, hey, look, we're going to see how this goes, you know, how we do things. You can't do that with a guy that's 60 something years old. Nobody's trying to hear about the time that you're willing to give him or the time that you're going to afford him. Nobody wants to hear this. So I don't. I, I wish I had an answer for what exactly it is that they're going to do from here. Nobody. I don't, I don't think anybody has.
Ryan Brumley
The answer for what it is that.
Bomani Jones
They are going to do. It is not exciting. They said that, you know, the Steelers said that they're excited. Somebody has to be. Nobody else is excited about this move. Also Ryan, this. Did they look at the rest of these coaches and just be like it ain't really hitting.
Bo
Right. I mean I would rather have Robert Salah than.
Bomani Jones
Well, yeah, that's what I'm saying. What a weird cycle where Salah takes the Titans job.
Bo
Right, Right.
Bomani Jones
Cause here's one thing I do know that Salah's going to do. So Salah's gonna bring in some form of the Shanahan offense.
Ryan Brumley
Right?
Bo
Right. He's gonna go find some, one of.
Bomani Jones
Some 32 year old guys.
Bo
There's, there's got, there's always another Kubiak.
Bomani Jones
Yes. You know, like Chris all over the place.
Bo
Chris Kubiak or you know, whatever.
Bomani Jones
K, R, I S. Exactly.
Bo
Yeah. Clay Kubia.
Bomani Jones
I think killer co. Kill killer coops.
Ryan Brumley
Right.
Bomani Jones
Like one of them, one of them.
Ryan Brumley
Is going to be there.
Bomani Jones
You know, it's so funny. You've seen this thing with kids. Khan Canipple where Khan Caniple and all the, all the canipples have names that start with K. And the question immediately was what's your middle name? Of course I haven't seen anybody ask this about these Kubaks and I'm going to find out right now. Like I hope that there is a level of self awareness about what?
Ryan Brumley
Alexander. Alexander Kubier.
Bo
I recall I would go by Alex.
Bomani Jones
Yeah.
Ryan Brumley
I recall having a teacher whose initials were a K and then a K.
Bo
And then a K. Gotta change your name. You know what I mean?
Bomani Jones
Well. Well now you do. I'm not sure if then you had to. Right. I don't, I don't have.
Bo
But that option is always available.
Ryan Brumley
It's always on the board, man.
Bomani Jones
It's always on the board.
Ryan Brumley
Right.
Bomani Jones
Like you get Hollywood, baby.
Bo
People change your name every day.
Bomani Jones
There's lots of ways to change your name.
Ryan Brumley
You could.
Bomani Jones
You ain't even got to go Muslim. You know what I'm saying? You ain't even got to get it on your official paperwork, you know. But you got, sometimes you, sometimes you.
Ryan Brumley
Gotta, you gotta make an adjustment. Speaking of needing to make an adjustment, there we Were they're talking about the. The Pittsburgh Steelers.
Bomani Jones
Have you. Al. I. I'm intrigued also by these guys like McCarthy. Not McCarthy. Mike McDaniel did this. Brian Flores did this.
Ryan Brumley
Where they jumped on the bird in the hand of these assistant jobs. But, you know, the rule is you can't stop somebody from interviewing for a head job.
Bo
Right.
Ryan Brumley
If they are an assistant coach.
Bomani Jones
So McDaniels got that job with Harbaugh.
Ryan Brumley
Flores apparently is staying with Minnesota, which surprised me for a couple of reasons.
Bomani Jones
But they're also still kind of out there interviewing for jobs. Now, look, man, I don't think nobody.
Ryan Brumley
Giving Brian Flores no job. The Steelers knew him.
Bo
Yeah.
Ryan Brumley
And they said, no, thank you.
Bo
Thank you.
Ryan Brumley
All right.
Bomani Jones
For whatever it's worth.
Ryan Brumley
Right?
Bomani Jones
They said, no, thank you. This is a weird market. I think that's the only way that we haven't even gotten to the.
Bo
On Friday, the Bills interviewed Philip Rivers.
Bomani Jones
Holy shit. I forgot about that already. Guys, in case you did not know.
Ryan Brumley
This, this truly happened.
Bomani Jones
On Friday, the Bills interviewed Philip Rivers. And it was so funny because you.
Ryan Brumley
Sent me a text about it and.
Bomani Jones
You had made mention of the point.
Ryan Brumley
That also Josh Allen was going to be sitting in on interviews. And I'm like, I can't believe anybody cares about that right now.
Bomani Jones
He's going to sit in on an interview. Yeah. And Philip Rivers is going to be the one that's making the presentation. What. I'm also trying to imagine Philip Rivers because he's not. He's not a. Like, he's a high school coach, but he ain't been a coach like this. Is he on Chad GPT right now, cooking up his PowerPoints and like, like cranking out who the staff is going to be? Whose idea was this? Did they call him? Did he call them?
Bo
I would rather have Philip Rivers and Mike McCarthy.
Ryan Brumley
It's.
Bomani Jones
It's.
Ryan Brumley
I see the point. I see the argument. I don't know what's.
Bo
I, I don't know if it's a good. That's personal preference.
Bomani Jones
Yeah. Yeah.
Ryan Brumley
But I don't know. I. I don't know any of what's going on here. I, I do know.
Bomani Jones
I do want to say this, though.
Ryan Brumley
About the Josh Allen sitting in on.
Bomani Jones
I don't see that. That didn't move me at all.
Ryan Brumley
Right.
Bomani Jones
I don't. I guess this is not really commonplace in the NFL. I wonder if this also happened because.
Ryan Brumley
Bashadi in Baltimore where he said, lamar.
Bomani Jones
If you wanted to have a say so about who the coach was and why don't you get on the plane with me. We come up here and we do these interviews, right? And maybe Josh Allen was like, huh? Yeah.
Bo
They were also interviewing people in Florida. So you might have just been avoiding, you know, Buffalo this time of year.
Bomani Jones
No. Could be. Right? But I think. I don't. I think we all need to be.
Ryan Brumley
Honest about the level of power that Josh Allen has. Right, with this team.
Bomani Jones
And even if he's not in the interviews, they're not hiring a coach without Josh Allen being like, yeah, I could see it. Yeah, right? Like. Like, this is not. This is not Jerry Jones hiring Barry Switzer and then telling Troy Aikman about it. Right?
Ryan Brumley
Yeah.
Bomani Jones
No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. We're gonna. This decision was always going to involve Josh Allen in a. In a way prominent enough that. That didn't get me. It's the. Hey, Philip Rivers did a good job playing as an old man. Why don't we make him a coach? I hear he's doing a good job coaching at a private school in Alabama. What? What are. What are. What? And see? And this the thing, man. If they'll invite him to interview, it's a good chance he'll get the job because clearly they're crazy.
Bo
You do not call Philip Rivers unless you're actually considering it.
Bomani Jones
Right? Right. Somebody's like, we'll see. I tell you this, I wish I could get into group chat with some of the brothers in the Fritz Pollard alliance. I'd love to know what they thought with the Philip Rivers. The Philip Rivers email came through. Like, what are you saying? Like, it was funny when Jeff Saturday.
Ryan Brumley
Got the job with the Colts a couple years ago.
Bomani Jones
And I know Jeff, and I like Jeff a lot. It was so crazy that they gave him the job that I didn't even have time to get around to a Rooney rule discussion because white boys had room to be just as bad as everybody else. Like, everybody was like, yo, what the fuck? Are you serious? Like, like, he. He on TV right now. What are you talking about?
Bo
He had to get off the first, take second set and drive. Get on a private plane to Indianapolis.
Bomani Jones
Yeah. That's why it's actually so funny. I'm talking about the black. The brothers being mad about this. With Philip Rivers again, the white boys is up in arms. Joe Brady's got to be like, you can't be serious. I've been up here. I've been. I've been up here freezing my ass off for years. Years. I got the big glued under control, and now you go with what he don't even got his own whistle. It's the last call for football on Fan Duel One final Sunday, one last kickoff, the final chance to place your bets before the NFL season closes its tab. This is Super Bowl 60 and FanDuel is making sure you're in on it. If you're a new customer, bet $5 and get $200 in bonus bets if you win. So whether you're backing the favorite or riding with the underdog, make it count. Because after the super bowl, the season's over and football is officially done. Last call for football on FanDuel, an official sportsbook partner of Super Bowl 60. Visit FanDuel.com Bomani to get started.
Bo
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We cover a lot of trends on this show, and over the last few.
Ryan Brumley
Months everyone has been talking about AI.
Bomani Jones
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Ryan Brumley
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Bomani Jones
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Bo
All right, Bo, speaking of coaches, a couple college coaches got themselves in trouble over the weekend. Deion Sanders announced you'll be fining players for the following eight rule violations. School late to practice, $500, no show practice $2,500. Late to treatment, $1,000, no show to a meeting or film session, $2,000amongst others. Bo, what was your reaction to this?
Bomani Jones
All right, so.
Ryan Brumley
Penny Hardaway apparently also came around to instituting fines.
Bo
That went great.
Bomani Jones
Yeah, right. Well, we're in this ambiguous situation of is this the pros and the ant. The issue is this. And this is where I imagine it drives a guy like Dion crazy. They are being paid like professionals, but they are still teenagers. Right. Are in that zone. They are not even if they professional, they not pros.
Bo
And they're, I mean, they're still 19.
Bomani Jones
Yeah, yeah. They're not pros.
Bo
Right.
Bomani Jones
Like, they're not going to comport themselves as pros and cons. Dion sees himself as running a pro program. Did you see the clip talking about like, him and recruiting cornerbacks and he's like, he doesn't recruit 511 cornerbacks because he doesn't see 511 cornerbacks playing in the NFL. And that would matter a lot if he was recruiting for an NFL team.
Ryan Brumley
Right.
Bomani Jones
But they're not.
Bo
Or he was, you know, Alabama.
Bomani Jones
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like you, like you don't. I don't think that he has that luxury. And even if, like, if your game plan is, I'm building an NFL like style program.
Ryan Brumley
Yeah.
Bomani Jones
But you, you can't afford to make those kinds of decisions. And maybe this is the kind of thing that happens when you're in the NFL. I have two questions. Question number one, if they don't pay, then what? Right. Question number two, where's the money going? Because normally when you got these kind of fines and stuff like this, it's like kangaroo court type of stuff. Right? Like you put it in a pot.
Bo
Like a swear jar for a company or something.
Bomani Jones
Yeah, yeah. No, but you, like, put in a pot and then, like, throw a party at the end of the year or something like that with the money that people put into this, man, he's got $2,500 fines in here. $2,000 fines. And look, man, these are kids. I don't care how much money you paying them. Some of them is broke right now. And you're like, well, I guess you can't afford to be late to practice. Well, then they. Late to practice. Dion, what you about to do right? What.
Ryan Brumley
What.
Bomani Jones
What are you. I don't know. I can't. I don't. I get where he's coming from, I guess is the part that I get the logic. Yeah, Yeah. I don't want to pretend like I don't really understand it. And what I don't have a great handle on is what kind of money the guys at the end of the.
Ryan Brumley
Roster are making on this team.
Bomani Jones
You know, Colorado is not a school that has a whole lot of money to give guys.
Ryan Brumley
You know, like, they're.
Bomani Jones
They're. They're five star left tackle they recruited.
Ryan Brumley
A couple years ago is leaving, and.
Bomani Jones
I'm sure it's because Colorado just doesn't have the money to keep them, but I just don't. I don't think this is going to.
Ryan Brumley
Go the way that he thinks it's going to go.
Bomani Jones
Or this leads me to another question. Do you have this much of a problem with getting guys to come to stuff? Like, have these guys been skipping out on you? Have they not been showing up to treatment? Like, is this something that's been going on that we don't know about? Because I feel like you should be able to take care of this with oldfashioned steps. Like steps, gassers, you know what I'm saying? Vicious workouts in the Heat.
Bo
Get out and run that stadium.
Bomani Jones
Yeah, yeah. Like, when. When did. When did that stuff stop working? And now you got to get them to pay $2,500.
Bo
I don't know anyone, no matter how much money they have, who wants to give up $2,500.
Bomani Jones
No, no, no, no, no, no, no. Nobody. I just. I just don't. I can't believe. I can't believe that he thinks it.
Ryan Brumley
Needed to come to this. Right?
Bomani Jones
Like that. That, to me, does not speak well of your capacity as a leader.
Ryan Brumley
If you have to kind of sort of bribe them to do what they're supposed to do at this point in their lives.
Bo
Or.
Bomani Jones
But also. But also, I've never had to try.
Ryan Brumley
To tell a rich 18 year old what to do.
Bo
Yeah, I. I do not. I do not want to be the disciplinarian for a bunch of.
Bomani Jones
Look, man.
Bo
Millionaire, 18 year old either.
Ryan Brumley
This is the. This is the problem with this whole new setup. And I don't know how many people going to say it out loud, but I'll be the one to say it. Nobody likes rich teenagers. Nobody does. Nope. No. Like not a. Not a soul likes a teenager with more money than them. And that's all these little. Saw these little people are. Is 85 of 80. For most people, it's 85 of them.
Bomani Jones
Right.
Ryan Brumley
Like Joel tells the story and he's told this in public, so I have no problem repeating it. When he was covering preps, he did is in Dallas and he did something. He interviewed Chris Bosh. And after they got done with the interview, they walk out to the parking lot and Chris Bosh got into an Explorer. I think it was a new Explorer. And I don't remember what kind of car Joel was driving. But all you need to know is that after watching Chris Bosh getting his Explorer and Joel get in his Hater mobile, he immediately went to go purchase.
Bomani Jones
A new car because he could not be studded on by the 17 year old in this manner.
Bo
I. I can imagine what Joel was making as a preps reporter. Preps report, preps newspaper.
Ryan Brumley
I know.
Bomani Jones
I mean, it was the 2001.
Bo
Yeah.
Bomani Jones
Off and all. And all of. And all I'm saying is this, all of these kids is doing that to.
Ryan Brumley
Just about all of us. And what I mean us. I mean, y'. All. But this is kind of what it is.
Bo
All right. Speaking college coaches, Lane Kiffin got himself in trouble tweeting out a picture of two make Baton Rouge great hats and then tweet tagging the president, Bo. Lane Kiffin. Are you surprised?
Ryan Brumley
As your guy. It's your guy.
Bomani Jones
And the thing with Lane is I have a hard time believing that Lane believes in Trump because I have a.
Ryan Brumley
Hard time believing Lane believes in anything.
Bomani Jones
Like, I can't. He's all. Everything with him is so random and he's such a troll that who knows, right? It doesn't. In some ways, it doesn't matter if he believes this or not. Okay. Read the room, man. Are you watching TV right now? Like, are you people.
Ryan Brumley
Come on, man.
Bomani Jones
You can't. You can't be doing this. Like, this is. This is not. I don't know. This this doesn't seem worth the squeeze. And he deleted it, and then he what? He sent it out because it was linked to Trump's official account, and then he deleted that and then sent it back out without a link to Trump?
Bo
Correct.
Bomani Jones
Right. And look, for all we know, he just came across these. These hats on the street.
Ryan Brumley
Somebody was selling them. I have no idea.
Bomani Jones
My thing is, if I was one of them LSU people, where my problem with him would be was the hat didn't say, make Baton Rouge great again. It just said, make Baton Rouge great. To which I respond, what you trying to say, bro? You just got here.
Ryan Brumley
You know what I'm saying?
Bomani Jones
And I'll tell you, I had one of the best weekends of my life in Baton Rouge on a whole $20. I know people have their criticisms of it, but you do. Baton Rouge, right? You can have a really good time. Please note, though, I was 20.
Bo
I also had a great time in Baton Rouge.
Bomani Jones
20 years old, he said, make it great, but not even great again. He like, yo, y' all need to step y' all shit up. That's what he said. And I just don't feel like you could walk in the door talking like that.
Bo
Lane Kiffin, living by the tweet and dying by the tweet will end exactly.
Bomani Jones
How we think it all will look, man. You guys went from one kind of.
Ryan Brumley
Impossible to like coach to a different archetype of impossible to like coach, but still suffering from the same broad affliction.
Bo
All right. And a little bit more serious. Nose ice has killed another protester in Minneapolis. Protests have gone throughout the weekend. An NBA game was postponed. Bo, what were your thoughts on the situation?
Ryan Brumley
So I'm not in the habit of watching people get shot. I've opted out of that. Enough people have described to me what happened in that video that I don't know if I have anything novel or of particular interest to say about it. It is noteworthy how flagrant these actions have become. Right? I think brazen is probably the word. The.
Bomani Jones
The.
Ryan Brumley
The cockamamie explanations that come on the back end.
Bomani Jones
The fact that these acts happen in.
Ryan Brumley
The first place, full on awareness that when they're going on, there's cameras there. And so it makes you feel like they're not even doing this on the standpoint of, I hope nobody sees it. Like, you got to feel like they want somebody to see it at this point, you know, like, this is.
Bomani Jones
I don't know if it's. We're sending a message.
Ryan Brumley
Whatever it is.
Bomani Jones
I don't know what What I thought.
Ryan Brumley
About in seeing this and you know, Ryan and I kind of, you know, bounce some ideas off each other over the weekend and right before we, we, we got on to do this, we both saw that the National Basketball Players association had sent a tweet and, well, a statement via a tweet and it says, following the news have yet another fatal shooting in Minneapolis, a city that has been on the forefront of the fight against injustices. NBA players can no longer remain silent. Now more than ever, we must defend the right of freedom of speech and stand in solidarity with the people in Minnesota protesting and risking their lives to demand justice. The fraternity of NBA players, like the United States itself, is a community enriched by its global citizens. And we refuse to let the flames of division threaten the civil liberties that are meant to protect, protect us all. The NBPA and its members extend our deepest condolences to the families of Alex Pretty and Renee Good, just as our thoughts remain focused on the safety and well being of all members of our community. Brian, let me know if I'm off here in a way, but like, I feel like I was personally glad to.
Bomani Jones
See that the MBPA made a statement.
Ryan Brumley
But kind of felt like word salad.
Bo
It is not the tenor that these statements used to be.
Bomani Jones
Yeah, well, I'll put it to you like this. The line that NBA players can no longer remain silent. I mean, I'm, I'm just, this is just me giving him some game here. That statement doesn't make noise. You understand what I'm saying? Like it might not be silent, right? Like you may have said something, but it doesn't make noise. Putting actual voice and actual names to.
Ryan Brumley
Things is what makes noise.
Bomani Jones
Now, who knows? Things may change in between the time that I have recorded this and the time you see this, right? There may be some campaign and people doing all the stuff on the Internet and putting out their pictures and statements individually as players or whatever it is. But I know 14 years ago, almost.
Ryan Brumley
14 years ago exactly, Trayvon Martin was killed. I think that was on February 26, 2012.
Bomani Jones
We saw what to me felt like one of the most moving and captivating.
Ryan Brumley
Things that we had seen from athletes in my lifetime is when the Heat put out that picture with them with the hoodies up like it was a.
Bomani Jones
It was a, it was a bold statement. In that moment of solidarity with the people, right? Capital T, capital P, the people. We saw a continuation really from years into the Mike Brown situation in Ferguson. And it really goes all the way through 2020 with George Floyd, where there was a very visible face. I mean, obviously Colin Kaepernick in between there. My bad, almost missed that one. The players, their faces and their voices were very clear and resonant. When these things were happening in the world the first term of the Trump administration, you saw and heard a lot from players kind of pushing back about on what was going on there. Now, for what it's worth, these times are different. I've gotten on here and talked about how it doesn't feel nearly as safe to say what it is that you believe or you feel like when that Kimmel thing happened with Trump or whatever. It doesn't feel as easy as it used to be to talk about these things. But it is to me, quite noteworthy that the tenor and the sound of.
Ryan Brumley
Athletes is much different than it was before.
Bomani Jones
But the truth is, that is not something I blame them for. The tenor of the athlete is different because the tenor of the people is different. The tenor of the times is different. And I have long felt that many have, in times like these, looked at athletes.
Ryan Brumley
It felt as though athletes had a.
Bomani Jones
Responsibility to speak so that they could be heard, because people would listen to them in times where they would not.
Ryan Brumley
Listen to other people.
Bomani Jones
But the truth is, the behavior of athletes in these times has actually typically been reactive and reflective of the larger society rather than at the vanguard of that society. And that's not to say that there are not people who are speaking up.
Ryan Brumley
Against what is going on now with.
Bomani Jones
Ice, but the noise doesn't feel the same. With all that said, though, I guess I am a little surprised that it ain't like one or two people to somebody that's just super duper loud.
Bo
About.
Bomani Jones
What this is like. It feels like there was years and years and work and effort to just change the tenor of conversation in sport that discussed the larger world. Like, when I worked at ESPN, and I worked at ESPN in various capacities.
Ryan Brumley
Really, for about 20 years.
Bomani Jones
I never.
Ryan Brumley
Once had anybody encourage me not to talk about something.
Bomani Jones
Even the thing I had happen with that T shirt that one time, they had some shit to say when I wasn't around.
Ryan Brumley
But nobody ever said anything to me, really.
Bomani Jones
You know, like, I never like this idea that they would just go come and shut everybody down.
Ryan Brumley
That was something I never felt when I was there. And I generally felt like as long as I was saying what I was saying was true, true, and I can support it with some evidentiary basis that I ultimately wind up being okay.
Bomani Jones
After we got, like, into the Trump administration, Kaepernick took a knee in 2016, 2017 is when it kind of hit.
Ryan Brumley
The fan because Trump called them boys sons of bitches and everything went kind of haywire.
Bomani Jones
We didn't talk as much about the.
Ryan Brumley
Things that were happening in the world.
Bomani Jones
But I also felt like the discussion.
Ryan Brumley
In the larger news Zeitgeist was not in. That was not there.
Bomani Jones
Like, I felt like if the topics of the world move back into those places, then the discussion in and around sport would also move to around those places, in part because the athletes would.
Ryan Brumley
Talk about them and then we would wind up going there.
Bomani Jones
And that hasn't happened like the world's on fire.
Ryan Brumley
Right.
Bomani Jones
I think we all generally agree with that. The world is on fire.
Ryan Brumley
Okay.
Bo
And seems to be getting worse and not better.
Bomani Jones
Right. And we've done a full year of Trump's return and it's come with a whole lot of stuff. Right. Do you feel like you've heard the voice of the athlete in this? Cuz I do not. I just don't. And look, they got their reasons. I'm not as loud about a lot of these things as I used to be. For me, it is in large part because I have gotten older and I felt like the means and mechanisms that I use to talk about things, largely social media, stopped being effective. Like, I gave up on the entirety of that experiment as a way to say serious things.
Ryan Brumley
Right.
Bomani Jones
I could do more, or I'm inclined to do more now with this show.
Ryan Brumley
In this point, in these times, like, I'm.
Bomani Jones
I'm rounding into a different kind of.
Ryan Brumley
Shape about these things because I now it's.
Bomani Jones
It's coming up to one of the few times where I didn't feel for.
Ryan Brumley
A long time like there was much that I needed to say that wasn't obvious.
Bomani Jones
Right. It was all so transparent. So, like, why am I there? Young people, though, they typically operate in a different space, you know what I mean? They tend. They tend to be a little bit more gangster wild with what they do, and they just feel the need to be heard. And it don't feel like any of them really feel the need to be heard right now. Like, LeBron got in trouble, not even really trouble, but he did something incredibly.
Ryan Brumley
Stupid in Tone Deaf.
Bomani Jones
And I mentioned it kind of vaguely.
Ryan Brumley
The other day on the show, but.
Bomani Jones
His people, him and Nike, put out a shoe in honor of Martin Luther King that's kind of like this, like, motel green, like 60s motel green, like the Lorraine Motel Green. Which is to say that they thought the way to honor Martin Luther King was a shoe that was inspired by the hotel that he got shot at. They thought that some James air Rays were the way to pay tribute to Martin Luther King, which is ridiculous. Right. There's a zillion people that you can blame for this.
Bo
Fine.
Bomani Jones
What I would stop and make note of is that if you want to honor Martin Luther King by trying to find a way to sell us a colorway, I'd kind of like to know.
Ryan Brumley
What you think about this stuff.
Bomani Jones
Right? And the reason I would say that about him is because we've seen him do it before. We've seen him be at the forefront of these things. Right. And in 2020, remember when he was in the bubble with, like, the leader of society shirt and all of that? Right. I'm not saying this in an accusatory fashion. I'm very curious as to why we.
Ryan Brumley
Hear less from him now.
Bomani Jones
Like, I would love to know.
Ryan Brumley
And.
Bomani Jones
And look, this isn't just about the NBA players because it's unfair. Like, hey, man, these white folks is.
Ryan Brumley
Out here getting smoked in the streets, right?
Bomani Jones
Like, this isn't a. This isn't necessarily, and I think it's somewhat telling that is white people getting smoked in the streets. And it's still the basketball players that.
Ryan Brumley
Are ones that are standing up and.
Bomani Jones
Putting out this statement as much as.
Ryan Brumley
That is standing up. Right.
Bomani Jones
I want to know from a whole lot of these guys, right? White people typically get to slack and they don't have to answer for what's.
Ryan Brumley
Going on with the world and all of this stuff.
Bomani Jones
Right. So I don't want to reinforce the idea that this is a black responsibility, but people who I heard truly not that long ago be vocal and visible, I would love to know why they aren't right now. Are we simply, as a society, exhausted?
Ryan Brumley
Right.
Bomani Jones
Did Covid and George Floyd really get the last out of us in terms.
Ryan Brumley
Of a certain sort of collective action when it comes to these things. Right.
Bomani Jones
But it's different.
Ryan Brumley
And I think that all of us could stand to ask ourselves why it's different. And not just for them, but in some ways, why is it different from us? One point somebody made to me that I thought was good. My man Jason is just kind of as social media has turned into something so ultimately useless and unproductive, and as.
Bomani Jones
The tenor of it got to be.
Ryan Brumley
So toxic and so argumentative.
Bomani Jones
I think.
Ryan Brumley
It'S probably more difficult to organize around social media. It's probably more difficult to build a community around the issue that you are talking about. It just kind of becomes a place to scream and for people to scream at each other. And if you have a generation that has been raised on social media and that's the means through which they communicate, I could see why they would be burnt out from talking about any of.
Bomani Jones
This because I know how burnout I.
Ryan Brumley
Have felt at different points.
Bomani Jones
But things have changed in a way.
Ryan Brumley
That I think is bad. And I think that maybe we should ask ourselves how to change it the other way.
Bo
All right, Bo, let's get to some voicemails.
Bomani Jones
Speaking of changing.
Bo
Speaking of changing.
Bomani Jones
Way to go. Wipe. Way to go.
Bo
Let's hear from a good friend of the show.
West Side Mike
I like to ask this question. Come on, y'.
Voicemail Caller
All.
West Side Mike
The Big Ten is taking over the network. Michigan won a championship. Ohio State won a championship. Indiana won a championship. Three in a row. That's three. Repeat. The Big Ten won the championship. Come on, recruiter. Come on, my booster. We getting our pimp. We from Alabama. We got the gold in our mouth. And the green for the green is for the money, golden for the honey. There's no way we should have a small team, a small town like Indiana. All they got is cornfield. We got deers, we got cows. We got everything you want. And we ain't winning national capital. Come on, Texas, step your game up. You got Jerry Jones. You got all the biggest pimp boosters in there. You got 85 year old, 90 year old booster. Hey, y' all ain't winning no championship. Something's wrong, man. And we gotta stop spending our money. If we let this happen, everybody gonna go to the portal to Indiana, Ohio State and we gotta get back. Alabama, Texas, we gotta step our game up. Pippa is not good. And when you let these small, small city take over our. Over our network. Not the Big Ten. The Big Ten is not a good network. Alabama, we gotta get those booster back up. We gotta get back. We gotta go find these old old grandfather with the money and start pimping these guys again. Texas, them Longhorns, y' all raise your hand. Man, y' all getting too soft down there. Y' all got a commercial with a damn cow running down the street. Stop recruiting these boys again.
Bomani Jones
All right?
West Side Mike
This is west side Mike. They call me DJ Mike Hitman. I'm telling you something. Alabama will win the national championship because I'm gonna come be back a booster. We're gonna stop helping these boys again. Have a good day.
Bomani Jones
Okay? We're not going to pimp them.
Ryan Brumley
I just want to throw that part out there. I will say the show does not.
Bo
Endorse this.
Bomani Jones
I mean, they was pimping.
Ryan Brumley
Them back in the day though.
Bomani Jones
So I guess, you know, when Alabama was winning, that's what it was. We have not talked about Indiana winning.
Ryan Brumley
The championship since Indiana won the championship. It is insane that Indiana won a national championship at football.
Bomani Jones
Like every, every football program, there should have been a team meeting the next day, right? And I don't know we do this and I don't know who's calling the meeting, but somebody need to get cussed out in that moment. I told you, Wake Forest, one that won the ACC in 2006. Everybody got fired in the next two years. No excuses. Nobody had any excuses left. They got a 64 year old coach up there and they went and won a national championship on, on the other team, home field. That happened. That happened. The sec. Boy, all that SEC talk, it just, it's not. I can't believe the big. I just can't believe any of it because I still think the SEC is.
Ryan Brumley
Better than the Big Ten.
Bomani Jones
I think the Big Ten has had.
Ryan Brumley
The best team in the country three years in a row, right?
Bo
And they want it wire to wire. Like, we're like, what? Didn't get hot, didn't get lucky. We're the best team in the country from Labor Day till mid June.
Bomani Jones
Well, hold up. Don't forget this. They got smoked in the playoff by.
Ryan Brumley
Notre Dame last year. And so we're just like, okay, there's a ceiling on this. It was a cute story.
Bomani Jones
And then they went to Oregon for the regular season game and won that game by like 10 points on the road, right? Then came back and beat them again in the playoff. Like they went and took a step. This wasn't a. Like, last year was kind of, oh, this is cute. They was like, okay, now we about to win.
Bo
Beat Ohio State.
Bomani Jones
Beat Ohio State. Neutral site. Ne. I mean, neutralish. But you know, there are a lot.
Bo
Of Ohio State fans in Indianapolis too.
Ryan Brumley
Everywhere. They're everywhere.
Bo
They're everywhere.
Bomani Jones
They are. They are unavoidable.
Bo
All right, here's our next one.
Voicemail Caller
First off, Bo, the Knicks are not winning the east, okay? The Pistons are going to get rid of them in five. But to my question, in the NBA, who is the Josh Allen of the NBA? Meaning no matter how many times they choke, fall apart, the media always makes an excuse. My answer is going to always be the most overrated point guard in the NBA, which is Chris Paul, because all he has done is gotten is get hurt, get and lose to Steph Curry. So I just want to know from you who is the. Who is the Josh Allen of the NBA? It could be currently or of all time. Love the show, man. Thank you.
Bomani Jones
I mean, I gotta be honest.
Ryan Brumley
I don't really feel like people make that many excuses for Chris Paul.
Bomani Jones
Like, I see a great deal of.
Ryan Brumley
Celebrating when things don't go well for Chris Paul.
Bomani Jones
I think the Josh Allen of the NBA has to be a current player. And I had a historic run.
Ryan Brumley
Okay?
Bomani Jones
So I have a current one that.
Ryan Brumley
Bears a lot of Josh Allen similarities as it relates to how people respond to when he doesn't do what he's supposed to do or the way they react to some of his shortcomings. And I bet you can guess who it is.
Bo
I don't. I'm really blanking on a curl.
Ryan Brumley
All right, so I'll give you another hint. You know, there's some reasons, in part, why people root so hard for Josh Allen vis a vis some of his peers. Who has borne some of that characteristic in the NBA. I say Luka Doncic.
Bo
There we go.
Bomani Jones
Luka. Hey, man, I saw somebody put on the Internet about Luka not playing defense, that, you know, Luka don't play defense.
Ryan Brumley
So you got to put people around him that do.
Bomani Jones
And that asking JJ Asking Luca to play defense is just too much.
Bo
I was going pre 2011, Dirk.
Bomani Jones
Ooh, see, I think.
Ryan Brumley
I don't know. Maybe I was just in different rooms when Dirk. When they lost that series in 07.
Bomani Jones
And then in 08, he let David west tap him on the jaw.
Ryan Brumley
We was over here killing Dirk.
Bo
I guess the soft European thing didn't make him one of us.
Ryan Brumley
If you.
Bomani Jones
Yeah, he was getting killed. That was the thing. That's. That's. But Dirk changed the whole game for all the Europeans by winning that one, right, pal Gasol, that was cool, but we still thought you were soft.
Ryan Brumley
You know what I'm saying?
Bomani Jones
Dirk came out there and did that that year. Nobody's one ring changed everything quite like.
Ryan Brumley
Dirk's one ring changed everything.
Bo
All right, here's our last one.
Voicemail Caller
Hey, Bo, this is Matt in OC And I was listening to the White Reggie calls. And that reminded me, I spent some time in Northeast Alabama. It's the only place I ever ran into this situation. What about white Jaylins? Because there are a mess of them in North. North Alabama. Never heard of it before, never heard of it since. But yeah, White Jalen.
West Side Mike
Love the show.
Voicemail Caller
Listen soon. Bye.
Bomani Jones
Now.
Ryan Brumley
The question you need to ask yourself, my brother, is, are you sure they're white? Like, for example, you ever seen John Kittenson.
Bo
I've not seen. I've not seen little kid. Okay, now I hope again to call back to our conversation. I hope he has a J name, not a K name.
Ryan Brumley
Well, he has a J name and he's a Jaden or a Jalen, one of the two. I can't remember which. But first of all, if you Google him, the news stories are going to be tricky.
Bo
Oh, yeah, right.
Bomani Jones
But just look at a picture of him.
Ryan Brumley
Okay. I thought that he was white Jalen. Or is Jalen right?
Bo
Yes, I thought.
Bomani Jones
I thought he was white Jalen and.
Ryan Brumley
Then I saw a picture of his mom.
Bomani Jones
Plot twist. No, he was not white Jalen.
Ryan Brumley
He was just quite like Jalen.
Bomani Jones
What I think may be happening in.
Ryan Brumley
These cases with these white jailings in north Alabama, I would assume that there is a Y in there because when a white mama is involved, the Jalen takes on some permutations that normally involve there being a Y, especially in like.
Bomani Jones
The last syllable, like J a L, Y. You understand what I'm saying? J, J, A Y, L, Y N, J. Or the Jaden J a D, Y, N. I don't know why the. The white woman who may have like.
Ryan Brumley
A slanty haircut and some big old bangles. You know what I'm saying?
Bomani Jones
That's what she tend to want to.
Ryan Brumley
Wind up doing that with the name. So as.
Bomani Jones
As it relates to white Jalen, we don't know how white the white Jalen actually is.
Ryan Brumley
And number two, once again, shout out to Jalen Rose's mama.
Bomani Jones
She cooked with that one. She really did change the world with.
Ryan Brumley
The name she gave her son.
Bomani Jones
But ladies and gentlemen, thanks so much for joining us here on the Right time. We do this four times a week.
Ryan Brumley
Ryan Brumley handled everything behind the scenes.
Bomani Jones
Thank you, sir.
Ryan Brumley
Hit the voicemail line 323-59-67767. Remember, follow the right time.
Bomani Jones
Subscribe like, rate us, review us, give us five stars.
Ryan Brumley
You only give us four stars.
Bomani Jones
I'm inclined to believe you are a hater.
Ryan Brumley
We'll talk to you guys in a couple of days.
Bomani Jones
Take it easy.
Episode Title: Darnold Leads Seahawks to Super Bowl, McCarthy to Steelers, Deion Fining Players?
Date: January 26, 2026
Host: Bomani Jones (with regular banter from Ryan Brumley and “Bo”)
This episode of The Right Time with Bomani Jones dives into the surprising results of the NFL playoffs—including Sam Darnold’s unlikely Super Bowl run with the Seahawks—questions the wisdom of the Steelers hiring Mike McCarthy, and unpacks the controversy around Deion Sanders fining Colorado football players. Bomani also tackles changing responses to social activism in sports and fields lively listener voicemails about college football, the NFL, and quirky name trends.
This episode showcases Bomani’s skill at weaving together surprising NFL stories, coaching drama, and wider societal changes—always with a sharp, witty, and unfiltered edge. Sports fans, and especially those interested in football culture, institutional decision-making, and the evolution of athlete activism, will leave both entertained and provoked.