Shedeur Sanders' debut reaction, Ranking LeBron James & Tom Brady | 08.11

Summary

The Right Time with Bomani Jones: Shedeur Sanders' Debut Reaction, Ranking LeBron James & Tom Brady (08.11.25)

Episode Overview

In this episode, Bomani Jones and crew break down Shedeur Sanders' NFL preseason debut, dissect the hype and narratives surrounding it, and humorously push back against wild overreactions online. The show then launches into the highly anticipated conclusion of their “Top 25 Athletes of the Last 25 Years” list, with detailed discussions on what sets icons like Simone Biles, Tom Brady, LeBron James, Tiger Woods, and Usain Bolt apart. Along the way, the team delivers memorable stories, sharp analysis, and plenty of laughs about sports culture and the way we talk about greatness.

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Shedeur Sanders’ Preseason Debut: Hype vs. Reality

[01:46—15:54]

• Context of the Hype
  • Bomani reflects on the madness around NFL preseason games, noting how confirmation bias runs rampant. He laughs at how every fan finds a way to validate their beliefs, no matter what actually happens.
  • Bomani:

    “Preseason games are for everybody’s favorite: confirmation bias.” (03:54)

  • Ryan touches on avoiding Twitter to protect his sanity:

    “I’m already pretty aware of how stupid I am. I don’t need as many reminders... I don’t feel like this is good for me at this point in time.” (01:51)

• Shedeur’s Performance: Two touchdowns for the Browns in a preseason game— but Bomani emphasizes how little this actually tells us.
  • Bomani:

    “It was six yards per attempt, which is utterly unnoteworthy. But preseason games are weird, right?” (03:03)

• Internet Reaction and Nike Hype
  • Bomani’s incredulous at the online narrative that Shedeur is “set up to fail” or evidence of “collusion by the man.”
  • Nike quickly launching an ad behind Shedeur draws laughs and skepticism:

    “How you getting Nike ads and you’re not even a starter?... Where your daddy at? Like you’re spending all this goddamn money on these watches and you ain’t even wearing it right?” (09:09)

• Evaluating Shedeur’s NFL Chances
  • Bomani remains skeptical but measured:

    “I am skeptical of how good he can be in the NFL. I think there is data that indicates that he is not an NFL quarterback... But being good enough to play in the NFL and being good enough to be on an NFL team, those are two different things.” (06:15, 06:33)

  • Compares the Browns’ messy QB situation and jokes about journeyman Kenny Pickett, old Joe Flacco, and others:

    “Kenny Pickett is a journeyman in year four!” (07:28)

• Confirmation Bias and the “Tebow Cult” Parallel
  • Bomani notes the Shedeur hype resembles Tebow Mania, but stresses Shedeur is not Tebow-bad:

    “If Shedeur Sanders were to play in the NFL this season, I do not think that he would be the worst quarterback that I have ever seen... because that is the worst quarterback that I have ever seen play NFL football.” (12:33)

  • Hilarious musing about the power of prayer and Tebow’s magical comeback:

    “I don’t know if anyone has ever been as prayed up as Tim Tebow was for that run, ever.” (13:16)

• Bomani’s Plea to Fans
  • Urges fans not to overreact in August, since the Browns’ QB situation will provide everyone a chance to be “right” soon enough:

    “Save your energy. You can’t already be fighting like this in August. You’re going to be out of breath by week two.” (15:17)

---

“Old Timers” Game and the Perils of Nostalgia

[17:44—26:08]

• Mariano Rivera’s Achilles Tear at Yankees Old Timers Day
  • Bomani and Ryan can’t help but laugh— not at Rivera’s injury, but at how wild and risky these Old Timer games are.
  • Bomani:

    “How you gonna get hurt in an Old Timers baseball game? That’s what I was trying to figure out.” (18:39)

• Why NBA Stopped Old Timers Games
  • Tells the story of 1993’s NBA Old Timers game that led to catastrophic injuries (David Thompson, Norm Nixon), explaining why the league doesn’t do it anymore:

    “They were carrying dudes off the floor... We can’t do this anymore.” (21:17)

• Legendary Alabama Football Alumni Game
  • Recounts the 1985 Alabama Spring Game: a tackle football clash between college kids and a motley alumni team, including players from the 1940s and legends like Kenny Stabler lining up against Cornelius Bennett.

    “...they played a game of tackle football...There was a player on that alumni team who played for Alabama in 1942.” (24:31)

---

The Top 25 Athletes of the Last 25 Years: The Top Five

[27:33—59:38]

#5 – Simone Biles

[29:03—33:55]

• Bomani lauds Biles’ physical dominance and all-around ability, stressing how the gap between her and #2 is almost unparalleled:
  • “The gap between her and number two is as big...as there is between number one and number two of anybody on this list...” (29:03)
• Discussion of how Biles revolutionized what’s possible in gymnastics and has enjoyed an unprecedented two-peak career, stretching from 2016 through 2024—possibly even aiming for 2028.
  • “She out here doing stuff that they can’t do. Hard stop, right?” (31:11)

#4 – Tom Brady

[34:09—41:08]

• Explores Brady’s mixture of staggering longevity, “luck,” and dogged execution. The Patriots’ many close Super Bowl wins, his almost unemotional excellence, and success with two franchises.
  • “Tom Brady is not here because of traits. He’s here because of execution...I just can’t think of anybody at any sport who was that good at simply executing.” (38:17, 39:08)
• On Brady’s career arc:
  • “The best version of Tom Brady never won a Super Bowl.” (37:07)
• Panels cracks up about Brady’s “four first names” and his Social Security card size.
  • “How big is your Social Security card? Is that like this so that you can get everything like one of those big checks?” (34:37)

#3 – LeBron James

[41:17—46:50]

• Celebrates LeBron’s unmatched hype as a high schooler, his immediate impact, and surpassing even wildest expectations.
  • “LeBron did more than anybody could have ever possibly asked for him to do as an NBA player. Right?” (44:08)
• Explores his triple-Finals MVP feat on three teams, all-time scoring record, ambassadorial role, and the pitfalls of endless GOAT debates.
  • “We are lucky to have him here. And he’s number three on this list. Which is an incredibly prestigious honor.” (46:47, 46:51)

#2 – Tiger Woods

[47:05—54:12]

• Argues Tiger’s sheer dominance and the “gap” he created over his peers made him a sport-defining legend.
  • “The gap between Tiger Woods and everybody else in his sport was so vast and so great that I cannot ignore.” (47:56)
• Tiger forced Augusta to literally redesign the Masters course just to slow him, with Bomani connecting this to broader “trying to hold him down” metaphors:
  • “The man tried to hold Tiger Woods down so bad at Augusta that it is unforgettable to me.” (49:21)
• His wins on “broken legs,” signature “Tiger Slam,” and his universal cultural resonance as must-see TV—“kids, old folks, gangsters and the thugs all on board with that.” (52:33)

#1 – Usain Bolt

[54:23—58:46]

• Bomani:

  “The man has had the world record for the 100 meters since the year 2008... I contend being the best runner of the 100 meters makes you the king of all things.” (54:44, 56:25)

• Lists the astonishing durability of Bolt’s records and the universality of sprinting—“that’s the thing that everybody has done.” (56:38)
• Panel points out how Bolt’s dominance at three Olympics, and his global icon status in arguably the most accessible event in all of sports, sets him apart:
  • “He’s not just the king of the race running. It was incredible to watch him run the race.” (56:43)

---

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Confirmation Bias in Sports
  • “If you think somebody is good and they play well in a preseason game, boom. You have a measure of verification. If you think somebody is going to be bad and they played well in a preseason game. It's only a preseason game. And the converse also holds up.” (03:59)
• On Comparing Shedeur to Tebow
  • “Don’t do that to Shadur. That’s not—he didn’t earn that.” (12:57)
• On Tom Brady’s Execution
  • “What’s it like to go in the backyard and pretend to be Tom Brady? You stand real still and be unafraid of somebody hitting you.” (39:08)
• On the LeBron vs. Jordan Debate
  • “We have done all of ourselves a great disservice by locking in so much on the arguments about the best two players of all time. Because again, it requires you to find ways to diminish somebody as good as him.” (46:01)
• On Usain Bolt and Universality
  • “Everybody has run a race at some point, and he is not just the king of the race running. It was incredible to watch him run the race.” (56:43)

---

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Shedeur Sanders preseason overreactions: 01:46–15:54
• Old Timers Day injuries/NBA storytime: 17:44–26:08
• Top 25 athletes countdown (Top 5): 27:33–58:46
  • Simone Biles: 29:03
  • Tom Brady: 34:09
  • LeBron James: 41:17
  • Tiger Woods: 47:05
  • Usain Bolt: 54:23

---

Episode Tone and Style

True to Bomani’s voice, the episode is equal parts analytically sharp and irreverently funny, mixing robust sports analysis with pop culture savvy and a gift for storytelling. Regular collaborators toss in one-liners and participate in in-depth debates, making this episode both insightful and thoroughly entertaining—essential listening for anyone interested in sports culture, bias, and what greatness really means.

Transcript

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[Bomani Jones]

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Right Time A Wave original. My name is Bomani Jones. Thanks for listening wherever you get your podcast. Thanks for watching us on YouTube. 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. Be sure to stick around with us. We are going to wrap up our list of the top 25 athletes of the last 25 years for counting down from five to one. Also, something from the weekend that wasn't really funny. But anyway, first up guys, something happened this weekend that it's gonna be good for business.

[Ryan Brumley]

It's gonna be bad for my health.

I have been doing a stay off of Twitter situation, quite honestly, because like what foe number one, number two, I'm already pretty aware of how stupid I am. I don't need as many reminders as I now receive without being balanced out by the occasional attaboy, you know what I'm saying? It just, I don't feel like this is good for me at this point in time.

[Bomani Jones]

So I stay away and people keep me hip to what's going on. Ryan keeps me hip to what's going on. My friends, hey, sometimes keep me hip.

[Ryan Brumley]

To what's going on, right? But then also I pop in every.

[Bomani Jones]

Now and then, right? Just kind of jump in, see a.

[Ryan Brumley]

Little bit of what's going on, get a taste of the action.

[Bomani Jones]

You know, I need to be aware of what the discussion is now, of course much of that discussion is the discussion of the bots, but y' all stupid asses be over there talking to.

[Ryan Brumley]

Them so, you know, I can find out what Some of y' all be thinking too.

[Bomani Jones]

Anyway, Friday night Cleveland Browns played a preseason game and Shador Sanders threw.

[Ryan Brumley]

Ryan, correct me if I'm wrong, two.

[Bomani Jones]

Touchdown passes in that game.

[Guest Analyst]

That's correct. Two touchdowns.

[Bomani Jones]

Two touchdowns.

[Ryan Brumley]

I saw some clips of it. I did not see the full game.

[Bomani Jones]

Because preseason.

Two touchdowns. I did see the numbers. It was six yards per attempt, which is utterly unnoteworthy. But preseason games are weird, right?

To say he only had six yards in attempt in a preseason game doesn't necessarily mean that you played poorly. But the other part of it is throwing two touchdowns in a preseason game doesn't necessarily mean that you played well. There is very little that regular people can take from watching a preseason game. Now if you are a film eater, you'll be able to do that. If you somebody in the league or whatever, you'll probably be able to make.

[Ryan Brumley]

Something out of it.

[Bomani Jones]

Otherwise, preseason games are for everybody's favorite.

Confirmation bias. I think we can all safely agree upon that.

[Ryan Brumley]

Right?

[Bomani Jones]

If you think somebody is good and they play well in a preseason game, boom. You have a measure of verification. If you think somebody is going to be bad and they played well in a preseason game. It's only a preseason game. And the converse also holds up. Shador Sanders got the start. Ryan. I did not realize that there was a discussion around him prior to the start from people who are Shador Sanders supporters who felt as though he was being set up to fail by being asked to start this preseason game. I, I, I did not know that this was a thing. I see that people I know Robert.

[Ryan Brumley]

Griffin was one person who said it and I don't want to extrapolate that he' everybody but I did not get the feeling that he was alone in the expression of this sentiment.

[Guest Analyst]

No, there is a, there is definitely a corner of the Internet whe again, whether it's bots or real people that were saying that Shador was being set up to fail because he's had never gotten any reps. The first team offense going out there with a lot of second team receivers and then again start yes playing in this preseason.

[Bomani Jones]

So he would have been better suited for success playing with third and fourth teamers.

[Guest Analyst]

I didn't say the argument was okay.

[Guest Commentator]

No, like, you know what I mean? Like I'm just, I'm trying to figure.

[Bomani Jones]

Out like what, what would have worked for you under those circumstances if that's the way you see it. Because it's not like I don't understand. I, I see there's a kernel of logic in that. But what I'm saying there is you would probably go find a way to be mad. Regardless of how it goes, man, he can't be out here throwing with those guys. They too good. Oh, well, he didn't actually get to work with them. Oh, okay. I mean, I think it would be relieving. Let me tell you something. I don't know if football is anything like my business, but, man, when you work with bums and then you'll be out there working with people, that's good. When you get out there working with people, that's good, man.

[Guest Commentator]

That like, you put on a new pair of socks, like, damn, you don't.

[Bomani Jones]

Say to yourself, I can't walk in these. I don't know what this good feeling is like. No, that's not how that works. Right. But anyway, sure. I got out there, he did what he did. Again, I don't feel qualified to give an evaluation on it. I'm not inclined to do it. I also am pretty straightforward about this. I come into this believing that or.

[Ryan Brumley]

Believing is not the right word.

[Bomani Jones]

I am skeptical of how good he can be in the NFL. I think there is data that indicates that he is not an NFL quarterback. I also think that we've seen enough to indicate that he vis a vis.

[Ryan Brumley]

Some of his now peers.

[Bomani Jones]

He may not be good enough to play in the NFL, but being good.

[Ryan Brumley]

Enough to play in the NFL and.

[Bomani Jones]

Being good enough to be on an NFL team, those are two different things.

[Ryan Brumley]

When we talk about quarterback, I think.

[Bomani Jones]

We all agree there are 96 quarterbacks in the NFL. There are not 96 quarterbacks in the.

[Ryan Brumley]

World who are good enough to play NFL football.

[Bomani Jones]

Right. The Browns got five quarterbacks that ain't.

[Ryan Brumley]

Good enough to play NFL football.

[Bomani Jones]

One of them, Deshaun Watson, his old nasty ass, isn't gonna play this year. Joe Flacco. I mean, I don't think Joe Flacco went to high school with me, but he could have, right?

Dylan Gabriel, who nobody thought was going.

[Ryan Brumley]

To go in the third round.

[Bomani Jones]

Kenny Pickett, who is already a journeyman. And let me just make sure I get this part right about Kenny Pickett. Kenny Pickett is a journeyman. My computer went slow trying to look it up. They ain't even want to know how. My man a journeyman already, and he.

[Ryan Brumley]

Got drafted in 2022.

[Bomani Jones]

He is a journeyman in year four.

[Ryan Brumley]

Just throwing it out there.

[Bomani Jones]

So that's who we got. Watson, Sanders, Pickett, Flacco and Dylan Gabriel. Everybody is going to get a chance to start this year because I don't think any of them are good enough to play. That's. That's my read on this situation.

[Ryan Brumley]

Right.

[Bomani Jones]

All of them are probably going to.

[Ryan Brumley]

Get a chance to play, though.

[Bomani Jones]

I guess one of them will probably.

[Ryan Brumley]

Get cut going into the season, but.

[Bomani Jones]

They'Ll probably just put one of them.

[Ryan Brumley]

Boys on the practice squad and then roll all in and that's out. Anyway.

[Bomani Jones]

I've been rambling a little bit. I'm talking in circles. I just want to get to the point that for me personally is important, which is, could y' all please not lose yalls minds about this? Can you? Can you? And what made me realize I needed to talk to you and ask very kindly that y' all not lose yalls minds is that Shador Sanders threw two touchdown passes in an NFL preseason game. Not even. It ain't even the last preseason game. You know, the one where they halfway pretend like it's football. I don't even think it was that game, baby.

[Guest Commentator]

Nike put out an ad.

An ad behind Shador Sanders.

[Bomani Jones]

And the ad said, let me make sure I. I want to make sure I get the words exactly right. Okay? The ad said only a matter of time. And it was a picture of this fifth round pick doing the thing with his watch.

I hate to be this guy Ryan, but he doing it with the wrong arm. It looked like he wear his watch on the wrong arm.

[Guest Analyst]

That's always something you could have pointed out.

[Guest Commentator]

It's on his right. I'm just saying. It's just saying it's on his right arm. That ain't the arm you put a watch on.

Where your daddy at?

[Guest Analyst]

Right? Y'.

[Ryan Brumley]

All.

[Guest Commentator]

Like you're spending all this goddamn money on these watches and you ain't even wearing it.

[Ryan Brumley]

Right? Right.

[Guest Commentator]

He be having the hardest time trying to wind that cuz the thing go on the wrong. The wrong way.

[Bomani Jones]

Anyway. When I was a kid.

You could be all kinds of criminals and anything else and Nike ride with you just as long as you were still actually good at what you did. Now Nike don't even really care about what you did. Like Nike is not. Just do it. Or look at what you just did. Nike doing ads for. Hold up. We going to get there in a minute. Just you wait. Just. Just you wait. That's what.

[Guest Commentator]

That's what I just realized.

[Bomani Jones]

Has the plot been lost this badly on everything? Where a dude throwing a couple touchdown passes in a preseason game, A dude.

[Guest Commentator]

That'S not even a starter.

[Bomani Jones]

How you getting Nike ads and you're.

[Guest Commentator]

Not even A starter, and it's not his fault.

[Bomani Jones]

I want to be very clear about this. It's not his fault. I get the feeling that Shador Sanders is trying to do everything he possibly can correctly at this point. I. I don't know if he realizes that they handled the draft process badly, but I do believe that the way he's handled things since has been different. I thought the clip of him running into Tony Grossi, who's a media guy up there in Cleveland, talking about how Tony never has anything positive to say about him. I thought that was a great look for Shador because he handled it in good spirits, right? Like, he wasn't angry about it or whatever. He was just like, come on, Tony. Come on, man.

[Guest Commentator]

What I got to do.

[Bomani Jones]

I thought he handled all of those things really, really well. Right. But nothing was proven from that game. I was talking to one friend of the show who I know is listening, and I'm not going to name him just because he and I talked about it.

[Ryan Brumley]

And I don't want to relitigate our conversation on here. I don't think that's fair. I don't think it's appropriate.

[Bomani Jones]

But the point that he made was.

[Ryan Brumley]

Those two touchdown passes proved that Shedor could play in the NFL. And I'm like, see, there we go. There goes the confirmation bias.

[Bomani Jones]

That's it right there, right? Like, no, no. Throwing two touchdown passes in the preseason game has never proved that. A whole lot of guys are throwing two pre. Two touchdown passes in a preseason game and then wound up going to be the orchid man. Like that.

[Ryan Brumley]

That's.

[Bomani Jones]

That's not. That's not an uncommon thing to go down. No, no, no, no, no. We're not proving anything. But what he did was entrench the people who still believe that Shadow Sanders has been a victim of collusion by the man still believe this.

[Ryan Brumley]

Right.

[Bomani Jones]

I don't know what will disprove it. I also know this. I have seen a comparison. I talked to one of my guys that works in Cleveland doing media there, and the comparison that they're making up there to the surrounding cult of Shador is to Tim Tebow.

[Ryan Brumley]

And I want to be clear about something.

[Bomani Jones]

If Shedeur Sanders were to play in.

[Ryan Brumley]

The NFL this season, I do not.

[Bomani Jones]

Think that he would be the worst.

[Ryan Brumley]

Quarterback that I have ever seen. And that's why you can't compare him to Tim Tebow, because that is the worst quarterback that I have ever seen play NFL football. You see my face? Well, I mean, some of y' all are listening. You hear my.

[Bomani Jones]

You hear my face?

[Ryan Brumley]

Do I sound like I'm joking? Does this sound like hyperbole? It's the worst quarterback I've ever seen in my life. Don't do that to Shador. That's not. He didn't earn that. You know what I'm saying? Like, I get why you might be worried, but. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. It ain't gonna be that.

[Bomani Jones]

And look, I understand that Shador prays a lot.

[Ryan Brumley]

At least I believe he prays a lot. His daddy talk about praying all the time, right?

I don't know if anybody has ever been as prayed up as Tim Tebow was for that run, ever.

[Bomani Jones]

I don't. I don't.

[Ryan Brumley]

I don't.

[Bomani Jones]

That was wild.

[Ryan Brumley]

I ain't never seen somebody stink for.

[Bomani Jones]

As long as he would stink and then just need to be good for two minutes and then he make it work, right?

[Ryan Brumley]

And then they had that game against Pittsburgh, right? Wow.

[Bomani Jones]

I'm bringing that up because that was.

[Ryan Brumley]

A really, really miserable couple of months to go to work. It really was. It stunk. I'm just telling you right now. I ain't never heard people say more illogical shit in my life as I did during that run. A Tebow mania. And a big part of it was people really thought that, like, this was entirely powered by Jesus. Now, I don't know why it was that Jesus was always running late.

[Bomani Jones]

I don't know.

[Ryan Brumley]

I'll. Jesus always struck me as being punctual, right? I don't go to church like that. So, I mean, I'm not. Want to pretend like I know everything about Jesus, right? Maybe people saying all the time, you know, Jesus. You know, culturally speaking, we believe that.

[Bomani Jones]

Some people run late.

[Ryan Brumley]

And many people who believe in facts.

[Bomani Jones]

Believe that Jesus belongs to some cultures. Therefore, maybe that was your extension. I have no idea. I just always figured Jesus would be on time. Except Jesus was always running late, always in a hurry. Damn. Get to the end like that.

[Ryan Brumley]

I said, my bad dad made it.

[Bomani Jones]

Just in time, right? I don't think Shador Sanders can possibly pray enough. I think you have to be a.

[Ryan Brumley]

Preacher'S kid to pray enough to be able to have the. The. The. The sort of not luck, good fortune.

[Bomani Jones]

He was blessed and favored.

[Ryan Brumley]

I think that's what they be saying that Tim Tebow had at the end.

[Bomani Jones]

Don't, don't.

[Ryan Brumley]

Don't insult Shador Sanders like that. And don't assume that his life is quite as charmed. There's a lot going on that it can never happen again. Right. That's all I'm saying. There's life that happened that can never happen again. I'mma just tell you this.

[Bomani Jones]

I ain't really trying to argue with.

[Ryan Brumley]

Y' all about him until this actually turns real.

[Bomani Jones]

Like when it actually turns real and.

[Ryan Brumley]

He gets to play, we'll see.

[Bomani Jones]

And if he doesn't get to start to begin the year, which I still think is in the cards, but if he doesn't start to begin the year and you're a Shador person, don't sweat it. He's going to get his chance to play. Everybody's going to have their chance to be right with this collection of quarterbacks, you're going to see it. Save your energy. You can't already be fighting like this in August. You're going to be out of breath by week two. If this is what you doing, pace yourself. Wait till he gets there. My guess is if they have their druthers is going to go.

Kenny Pickett to Joe Flacco to Shador Sanders to Dylan Gabriel. That's going to be my guess on.

[Ryan Brumley]

What the order is and how they go. That's. That's.

[Bomani Jones]

And I have my logic for it. Kenny Pickett, because if it doesn't work for him now, you need to go.

[Ryan Brumley]

Ahead and cut him. You're not really betting on the future there.

[Bomani Jones]

Joe Flacco there, because, I mean, come on. Now, we know this is preposterous, but he's the one that the people will.

[Ryan Brumley]

Be calling for because Browns fans feel like they've seen success with him. So then you put him in next. The, the.

[Bomani Jones]

The highest levels of management clearly feel.

[Ryan Brumley]

Good about Dylan Gabriel because they took him third.

[Bomani Jones]

That's why you save him to the end, because you give him more time to get ready. And then they throw Shador out there because if nothing else, the owner would like to be rid of that hassle. Because at every turn, Jimmy Haslam be.

[Ryan Brumley]

Telling people Shador wasn't his pick.

[Bomani Jones]

To be fair to Jimmy Haslam, I think the reason why he does that is because as far as we know, he himself has made two selections of quarterbacks as the owner, and one of them was Johnny Manzel, and the other.

[Ryan Brumley]

One was Deshaun Watson's old nasty ass.

[Bomani Jones]

And I just think it's. It's better for everybody involved that you not be Jimmy Hasm's pick, including Shador Savage, right? All the people who are offended by the way to Hasm's like, hey, that wasn't my pick, Shador need to be glad because nothing that would. That's how we would know he was sorry is if Jimmy Haslam made the decision to take him. Jimmy Haslam didn't take him. That's why we say he might have a chance.

But pace yourself. We got plenty of time for y' all silliness as the season progresses. And then once the season gets going, y' all can be silly about it and there'll be other actual football going, so I won't have to pay attention to y'. All. Please, just wait. Do it for your boy.

All right, guys, Something happened this weekend that. Whoo. I'm not saying that what happened is funny, but it reminded me of stuff.

[Ryan Brumley]

Okay.

[Bomani Jones]

The Yankees.

[Guest Analyst]

It's obviously a funny situation.

[Guest Commentator]

It is, right?

[Bomani Jones]

It is.

It's.

[Guest Analyst]

It's not not funny.

[Bomani Jones]

It's not not funny. The Yankees did Old Timers Day at Yankee Stadium, which is a big deal for Yankees fans, right? Like, they really get into old time mistake.

[Ryan Brumley]

And.

[Bomani Jones]

And Mariano Rivera did Old Timers Day and he tore his Achilles tendon. Ryan, I didn't see how he tore his Achilles tendon. Did you see how he tore his Achilles tendon?

[Guest Analyst]

They did not confirm it because they, like, if you see in the reporting, it said, like, he ran out to first and he kind of tripped. So they're not sure when the injury happened, but he was still out there running around. 55 years old.

[Guest Commentator]

That's what I was trying to figure out.

[Bomani Jones]

Like, did you try to leg out a double right, like. Or was he really trying to get his legs into that cutter?

[Guest Commentator]

Like, I think.

[Guest Analyst]

I think. I think it was just a false step, like trying to get a fly ball.

[Guest Commentator]

Yeah, but.

[Bomani Jones]

Yeah, so he tore his Achilles and that's bad. But my man Terry sent me a text and I'm so glad he did because it wouldn't have made the shovel until he said this. And I don't even think Ryan know about this. He said the text said it's time to remind people why they stopped playing the Old Timers game in the NBA. Are you familiar with what happened with this?

[Guest Analyst]

I'm not.

[Bomani Jones]

Okay. Okay.

[Ryan Brumley]

Okay.

[Bomani Jones]

So if I am not mistaken, the first Old Timers game, I mean, the. The first rookie game was in the year 1994 at the All Star Game. Now, you will remember the 1994 All Star Game if you are my age, because that was the one where Scotty Pippen had the red shoes and. And he cut his hair down and so his shit looked like this. Like it Looked like somebody was just grabbing him by the top of the head and carrying him around. Y' all remember that?

[Ryan Brumley]

If you saw it, like, you're like.

[Bomani Jones]

Wow, why Scotty keep that box for so long? Because he ain't had a fade option. Anyway, the year before they had had the All Star. I mean, the, the Old Timers game. And the thing about the Old Timers game was like, Oscar Robertson in 1993 is still playing in the Old Timers game. Like, they get some dudes out there, right? And apparently they was really out there playing hard.

[Guest Commentator]

Because that 1993 all timers game had two catastrophic injuries.

[Bomani Jones]

One of them was to David Thompson, who I believe towards patellar tendon or his acl, and the other one was to Norm Nixon, who I think towards quadriceps tended to Ryan. I could tell from your face that.

[Guest Commentator]

You looked up and found out what had happened in San Alzheimer's game.

[Guest Analyst]

Yeah, I mean, I one, this is before my time, so I, I didn't know this existed.

[Bomani Jones]

Yes.

[Guest Analyst]

And. But the idea of.

40 year olds going there and essentially doing a run at the Y is just, is just incredible.

[Guest Commentator]

But we were watching the heroes of yesteryear. They were dropping like flies.

[Guest Analyst]

Of course, of course they were.

[Guest Commentator]

I mean, like, they were. We were carrying dudes off the floor because I'm sure the problem was, yo, they can't get the dudes to play hard in the regular All Star game. But they got them to go hard enough that they were injuring themselves in the Al Thomas game.

[Bomani Jones]

And so they was like carrying their quadriceps.

[Ryan Brumley]

Yes.

[Guest Commentator]

It was like, yo, we got to stop. We can't do this anymore. We can't have it anymore. And so they stopped doing the Old Timers game.

[Bomani Jones]

But that then led to us having an even better situation of an All Star of Old Timers game. I keep calling it All Star Game, but it wasn't. It was an Old Timers game. And I need you guys to understand this. Apparently they only did this one time. Okay, one time. But in 1985, Ray Perkins was the coach at Alabama and he had a bright idea.

Why don't we have a game at the spring game where on one side we have the current team.

On the other side we have a team of Alabama alumni.

And they played a game of tackle football. You heard me, A game of tackle football. Okay, so on one side you had Kenny Stabler, who is now in the Pro Football hall of Fame, but who at that point was too old to play NFL football anymore. He had just retired.

On the Other side.

Cornelius Bennett. Ryan, are you at all familiar with Cornelius Bennett?

[Guest Analyst]

That's before my time as well.

[Bomani Jones]

Okay, so here's the thing about it. I understood that he was before your time.

I don't know if we still create players like this anymore, but there are guys who are like, okay, Odell Beckham will be a great example of a player like this in that Odell Beckham will not make the hall of Fame. Right, Right. But if you was there.

You know what we're talking about here.

[Guest Analyst]

Yeah. People will remember Odell Beckham in a way that they won't remember like someone like Tory Holt or Isaac Bruce.

[Bomani Jones]

That is cool. That is. That is a great way of looking at it.

[Guest Analyst]

Yeah.

[Bomani Jones]

Cornelius Bennett is an all time great college football player. Who was that type of NFL player, but an all time great college football player. The idea that Kenny Stabler ever was on the same field with Cornelius, probably in his mid-40s. Correct. No, it was right at the. It was right at the end. He was right at 40. Right. And they're lucky that it wasn't like the new days where the kids show up and go to Spring Day, like go in a semester early. Because then Derek Thomas would have been out there running down Kenny Stabler. Okay, now when I say an Alabama alumni team, John Hannah wasn't out there. Right. It wasn't an alumni team of Alabama greats necessarily.

[Guest Analyst]

It's. It's people who were still thought it was a good idea to get out there and play tackle football against PE against 20, 20 year olds.

[Bomani Jones]

Ryan, this game was played in 1985.

[Ryan Brumley]

And there was a player on the.

[Bomani Jones]

Alumni team who played for Alabama in 1942.

And.

[Guest Analyst]

Could have served our country. Might have.

[Bomani Jones]

What are we doing here?

[Guest Commentator]

Who signed off on this?

[Bomani Jones]

Right.

[Guest Commentator]

Like. And also, if you are Cornelius Bennett.

[Bomani Jones]

You can't like, go full speed, can you? Like, you can't actually get out here doing this.

[Ryan Brumley]

Right.

[Guest Commentator]

Look, in our day and age, right now, we got 25 year olds out.

[Bomani Jones]

Here tearing their Achilles tendons.

[Guest Analyst]

Yeah.

[Guest Commentator]

Playing basketball. We can't be out here having Old Timers Day no more. I didn't think it was possible for somebody to get hurt in an Old Timers baseball game.

Are you serious?

[Guest Analyst]

I mean, to be fair, tearing your Achilles and pulling your hamstring are the two injuries that you can get. You know, trying to run. Yes, man. But still.

[Bomani Jones]

Oh, my God. I just. I saw that and I was just like, at once. This is tragic. On the other hand, up. Here we go.

[Ryan Brumley]

Here we go. It's not funny that Mariano Rivera tore his Achilles.

It is funny that Alabama played the alumni game. And I got there because I got to remind Everybody of the 1993 Old Timers Game with those catastrophic injuries where while you may not have found those.

[Bomani Jones]

Injuries to be funny, it did make you laugh.

[Ryan Brumley]

Which is not quite the same thing quite often. There are stories that come up in the news that are understandably not funny, but they still make you laugh. Don't ask me what I'm talking about.

[Bomani Jones]

Top five Coming up next.

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[Bomani Jones]

All right, here we are. The dream we all dreamed of the.

[Ryan Brumley]

Top five in our list of the top 25 athletes of the last 25 years for the year of our Lord 2025.

[Bomani Jones]

Now remember, for those of you we're only dealing with North Americans or all of whom had to be 25 or under on January 1st in the year 2000, right? Okay, now we're going to run down for you the top 25 athletes or the so far where we've gone on the list. Number 25 was Randy Moss. Number 24, Cam Newton. Number 23, Albert Pujoltz. Number 22, Ray Lewis. Number 21, Tim Duncan.

[Ryan Brumley]

But you can kind of put them where you want.

[Bomani Jones]

Number 20, wild card selection. For all you know it alls who wish it was your list, put your.

[Ryan Brumley]

Own name on then.

[Bomani Jones]

Number 19, Katie Ledecky. Number 18, Mike Trout. Number 17, Lamar Jackson. Number 16, Aaron Rodgers. Number 15, Aaron Donald. Number 14, Peyton Manning. Number 13, Kevin Durant. Number 12, Kobe Bryant.

[Ryan Brumley]

My bad. I thought somebody was shooting. Sorry about that.

[Bomani Jones]

Number 11, Steph Curry. Number 10, Patrick Mahomes. Number 9, Michael Phelps. Number 8, S.H. otani.

[Ryan Brumley]

Number 7, Floyd Mayweather.

[Bomani Jones]

And number 6, Serena Williams.

[Ryan Brumley]

Sorry, sisters, but, but, but.

[Bomani Jones]

Let's go to number five.

Simone Biles. Now, one characteristic of everybody that I have got in this top 10 is you can make an argument for every single person that they are the greatest of all time at their sport, right? Like, that is where everybody in the top 10 got. You can make an argument about Simone Biles, that the gap between her and number two is as big a gap as there is between number one and number two of anybody on this list, right? Like, like, it's. It's absolutely in the cards that you can make that argument. We got some other people that will talk about that. I. I will tell you on one. On the number one answer why I would not say that about that person. But to me, the reason that Biles is so impressive. And again, it's not like I'm a person with a very sophisticated understanding of gymnastics. I can only tell you. But so much like, I bristle a bit at the people who talk about Serena Williams in the way that they do, just because if I ask those same people who tell you that Serena Williams is the greatest female athlete ever.

[Ryan Brumley]

And ask her why she's better than Stephie Grof, a whole lot of them start stumbling and asking, like, who is that again?

[Bomani Jones]

You know what I mean? Like, that didn't. That felt like the sort of thing where you just say it over and.

[Ryan Brumley]

Over again and people will go along with it?

[Bomani Jones]

You watch Simone Biles compared to everybody else, and it's like.

Is this what it was like when Jim Brown was playing? Like, where you look at somebody and they are just that much more physically talented than everybody else. But in the case of Biles, it's one thing to be so physically talented and be so explosive, but then this is a sport where you. You can't do that, but not have the grace and body control. The game is really grace and body control. So, like, to do the things that she's capable of doing and then have the crazy body control and just be out there over and over doing things. It's not like she just doing things that other people can't do as well as her.

[Guest Commentator]

She out here doing stuff that they can't do. Hard stop, right?

[Guest Analyst]

And so much of gymnastics is, like, set up by what you're trying to accomplish, right? And that's how a lot of the scoring is done. That's how a lot of, you know. You know, a lot of your judge against your peers and where. And where she was setting the bar was so. I mean, bit of a gymnastics pun, but so much higher than everyone else.

[Guest Commentator]

And she ain't even have to be.

[Bomani Jones]

Perfect at it because nobody could come close to Eli doing things that people couldn't even dream of trying to do. Right. There's no need for a gold medal and everything. And every time. And you had the thing that happened in Tokyo with the twisties and all of this stuff or whatever. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. It happens, right? But no, no, no, no, no, no. As Americans, we watch a lot of gymnastics because it be on the first week of the Olympics, and America is good at it.

[Ryan Brumley]

Right. That wasn't what was going on here, man.

[Bomani Jones]

We were watching this because this was. This was greatness. This was. This was something unlike anything. I'm not sure the next time we'll see people who can do the kinds of things that she could do. I don't know if we'll ever see anybody relative to her peers in that sport who would be able to do the sorts of things that she did.

[Guest Analyst]

And also, when you look at the longevity of her. Right, right. We're almost like. We've talked more and more about peaks and longevity in this list, but you almost have two peaks.

[Bomani Jones]

Yes.

[Guest Analyst]

For someone for gymnastics, where your careers are so condensed, they're so short, and you have so many people coming up behind you. To have the run in 2016. She did and the run in 2024. And honestly, they're talking about her potentially doing, like, being in some of the teams in 2028, and it's not out of this world that that's possible.

[Bomani Jones]

Yeah.

[Guest Analyst]

She's so much better than everyone else.

[Bomani Jones]

There's a different discussion as to whether with this time to go, you know, get a job.

[Ryan Brumley]

Right.

[Bomani Jones]

Like, after a certain point, it's like, wow, look at you with your four bachelor's degrees.

[Guest Analyst]

Right?

[Guest Commentator]

But, but.

[Bomani Jones]

But it be dope on campus. Right? Like, there's, you know, like, there's an element of that. And don't forget, the thing was, she didn't go in 2012 because she was a little bit too young. Right. Like, one thing about gymnastics and the idea of longevity that has changed is that once they put the minimum age in at 16, because it used to be all those children out there and children, there's flexibility stuff that you could do when you are a child that you cannot do when you are like an adult. The whole game changed up and this sort of longevity became more possible at this point. And I guess there's also just more ways for her to make money for being Simone Biles off of this. But no, she's it. She, she, she, she gets this number five proudly. And by the way.

H town, you know what I'm saying? Like, like, like north, north side suburban, no less. We don't get that many times to shine on people over there.

[Ryan Brumley]

My part of things.

[Bomani Jones]

I see Simone, Simone comes in number five. And now we go to number four.

Tom Bray.

Ryan. I don't know about you, I was about to say his full name, but I find few things quite as pretentious.

[Ryan Brumley]

Than people that got multiple middle names.

[Guest Analyst]

Yeah, it's, it's a lot. Especially when it's like almost he has four first names.

[Guest Commentator]

Yes, exactly.

[Bomani Jones]

It was a Thomas Edward Patrick Brady or Thomas Patrick Edward Brady Jr Jr. Come on, man. I just take, like, it's a lot. Like how big is your Social Security card? Is that like this so that you.

[Guest Analyst]

Can get everything like one of those big checks?

[Guest Commentator]

Yeah, that's what I'm saying. Yeah, exactly.

[Bomani Jones]

Ed McMahon gave you your Social Security card, right? Like, it was really hood.

[Ryan Brumley]

But.

[Bomani Jones]

What makes Tom Brady such an interesting person to put on this list? And you guys know I value peak over longevity. However, the longevity is so staggering with Brady and the idea of winning seven Super Bowls. Seven Super Bowls, I mean, we'll be talking about here. Scott Kazmar makes a very good point and he's not wrong.

[Ryan Brumley]

And he lays out a pretty thorough.

[Bomani Jones]

Case for Tom Brady is the luckiest quarterback of all time. The Patriots had more h. More, more horseshoe keister alliance than any other team that you could possibly think of. One thing that is fascinating about all those Super Bowls that they won is how they're all close. Like, I think the, the, the, the biggest point differential on those Super Bowls was the one against the Eagles. And even that, I want to say was something like a ten point game. And the Eagles had a chance to get there at the end of the game. Like, the margins were always so thin on the Patriots, but hey, man, by and large, you could pretty much guess that Tom Brady at the very least wasn't going to mess it up. And if there were plays that needed to be made, there was a good chance that they would be made. And hey, I think that we tend to overrate comebacks and I think that we ignore the fact that in order for you to have to make a big comeback, you also had to go.

[Ryan Brumley]

Down a long way.

[Bomani Jones]

But, and, and, and it was against the Falcons.

[Ryan Brumley]

They were never going to win the super bowl anyway. Under any. Like, nothing was going to happen. They could have been up by a hundred points. They would have dropped a goddamn rocking.

[Bomani Jones]

Jock basket out and Tom Brady would have threw a. Through that, and they'd have been scoring.

[Ryan Brumley]

25 points every touchdown, and they'd have won the game too. Like they. They were. They were playing the Falcons.

[Bomani Jones]

But you had to have the steely.

[Ryan Brumley]

Resolve within yourself to say, we're not out of this yet. We got a chance to go ahead and do it.

[Bomani Jones]

Patrick Mahomes, most talented quarterback I've ever seen. When, when the Eagles was whooping that ass, there was not a moment where I thought, all right, now I think the comeback's about to start.

[Guest Analyst]

I mean, Tom Brady started his career beating Kurt Warner in Super bowl and almost ended it by beating Patrick Mahomes in the Super Bowl.

[Bomani Jones]

Correct.

[Guest Analyst]

That's like, this is the kind of longevity we're talking. I remember kind of breaking it down. You could break it down almost having three separate hall of Fame careers.

[Bomani Jones]

Right. Well, this is what I find interesting about that with Tom Brady. The best version of Tom Brady never.

[Ryan Brumley]

Won a Super Bowl. Right.

[Bomani Jones]

Right. They, the Patriots won those three Super Bowls in four years, from 01 to 04, then from 05 to 13. That's nine years where they did not win a Super Bowl. Within those nine years, they had an undefeated season. Right. You have that 2011 year where I want to say Brady has something like 37 touchdowns and four interceptions, where your number one receiver is Julian Edelman. Like, when you. When you look at what the receivers were pre Moss and post Moss, and this guy was doing the things that he was doing and putting up the numbers that he was doing. And how was he doing it? By playing exceptionally well and making really good decisions.

[Guest Analyst]

Yeah, I mean, football used to be so much built like out outside in.

[Bomani Jones]

Right.

[Guest Analyst]

You had these, you know, big receivers on the outside, they're cutting in. You know, that's kind of the west coast offense. And then they. In that 2011 team with those two tight ends, when they had Aaron Hernandez and Rob Gronkowski and they were able to almost like reinvent the game on the fly just because of Tom Brady, you know, he had his supercomputer back.

[Bomani Jones]

Well, that was the thing. Right.

[Ryan Brumley]

Rob Gonkowski is the greatest tight end who ever played, like, hard stop and.

[Bomani Jones]

Hernandez, look, I mean, can't act like it didn't happen, right? Or he never existed. Hernandez, as your second tight end was kind of nuts. But we're still talking about. In the NFL, you're running an offense based on having two tight ends, right? You can do that with an excellent quarterback, like the one that they had, and the one who out there like, hey, man, this is how I grind. So this is how we're all going to grind. But if you were to ask somebody what's so good about Tom Brady is that he's really good. Like, when somebody says they see somebody in a draft and they're like, oh, he reminds me of Tom Brady, what does that mean? Right. Tom Brady is not here because of traits. He's here because of execution. And I just can't think of anybody at any sport who was that good at simply executing. Like, what's it like to go in the backyard and pretend to be Tom Brady? You stand real still and be unafraid of somebody hitting you. Right? Like, like, like, like, what is.

[Guest Commentator]

What, What.

[Bomani Jones]

What is there to mimic? What. What is there to emulate?

[Guest Analyst]

And then walked into another team, you know, where he had kind of split the. Split the credit for that sort of execution and that will and that, you know, that discipline. And then walked in to Tampa Bay, of all places, and then made everyone follow him and won the super bowl as soon as he got there.

[Bomani Jones]

Yes. And it's.

The overall body of work is so.

[Ryan Brumley]

Strong that it overcomes my own personal preferences.

[Bomani Jones]

Right. But look, if. But so let's say we talk about peak. Let's put it there. The peak is an undefeated season with 50 touchdown passes.

[Guest Analyst]

Right.

[Bomani Jones]

Okay.

[Guest Analyst]

That's a support winning three Super Bowls in four years.

[Bomani Jones]

Right.

[Guest Analyst]

Or having the greatest comeback in football history.

[Bomani Jones]

Right.

[Guest Analyst]

It goes every day, you know, over.

[Bomani Jones]

And over and over again. We can list it. We can list it.

[Ryan Brumley]

We can listen. We can go so many times over.

[Bomani Jones]

And he earned it, Jack. Like, if you want to get in there, like, you want to teach your kids about hard work, he really. Well, I was about to say the training prayers and the vitamins, but he out there hanging out with Alex Guerrero.

[Ryan Brumley]

You know what I'm saying? I don't know what the hell they be over there doing with that TB12.

[Bomani Jones]

They still doing that? You remember when TB12 was gonna be the way that he got his money. I don't really hear about the TB12 no more.

[Guest Analyst]

Guerrero's with the Raiders.

[Ryan Brumley]

Really?

[Bomani Jones]

He's strikes me as Raidery.

[Guest Analyst]

Yep. He's he's, he's part of the Brady ownership secret.

[Guest Commentator]

Oh, I forgot. That's right.

[Bomani Jones]

Tom Brady's Raiders, too.

[Guest Analyst]

Yep.

[Bomani Jones]

Okay, well, they gonna be the most pliable, flexible team in the whole league, apparently, as Guerrero gonna come in there and be like, wait till Pete Carroll finds out how Alice Guerrero feels about weightlifting.

[Guest Analyst]

I think they're. I, I, I, I would love to see those two have a conversation. Yeah, sure. They have a different standards, if you.

[Bomani Jones]

I would actually love to see that conversation between Tom Brady and Christian Wilkins.

[Ryan Brumley]

That's the, that's the conversation. I want that.

[Bomani Jones]

Wow.

[Ryan Brumley]

We'll get back to that.

[Bomani Jones]

Anyway, number three.

LeBron James.

[Ryan Brumley]

It's gonna happen again, Ryan.

[Guest Analyst]

Yes.

[Ryan Brumley]

Okay, guys, I want to be very honest with you here. It's almost a coin flip for me between number three and number two. Okay? So what I'm not going to do is get here and make the case for why LeBron is not higher. I just want to talk about the greatness of LeBron James. Right.

[Bomani Jones]

And I think I've tried my best.

[Ryan Brumley]

On this list to not be at a place where I have to explain to you why it is that somebody isn't or whatever it is to go with the negatives, because this is intended to be a celebration of who the people are.

[Bomani Jones]

If you weren't really of age in 2003, like, it's one thing to have been a younger person, like in middle school or maybe even high school in 2003, it was another to have been old enough to have a little bit more historical frame of reference. And so I'm 23. When LeBron hits the league, there has never. Okay, I don't want to say there never been a player as hyped as LeBron, because that's not true. I was here for the shaq hype of 1992, for example.

[Ryan Brumley]

Right.

[Bomani Jones]

What made it a little different with LeBron is that with Shaq, he was as big as he was, and we had watched him do it for three years in college. There was a bit more of a.

[Ryan Brumley]

Proof of concept to let us know.

[Bomani Jones]

What was going to happen when he.

[Ryan Brumley]

Got to the league.

[Bomani Jones]

And it was immediate. It was instantaneous in a way that with LeBron being 18 years old when he got there, it was not going to be. However, we spoke of what was possible with LeBron in reverential terms that seemed unfair at the time. It seemed preposterous to make an argument that an 18 year old who was not a center would be one of the upper echelon all time. Greats in the NBA.

And despite the hiccups, despite the ups and downs of the first nine years of his career.

He managed to exceed all of it.

All of it. He did that. Right? The thing that I don't think that people who believe. People who believe LeBron is the greatest player of all time and do not.

[Ryan Brumley]

Believe that it was Michael Jordan have a tendency to just say that everybody who does this is like some sort of Jordan lover. Da, da, da, and everything else. And you just refuse to give LeBron credit for anything. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. I don't think you guys get this.

[Bomani Jones]

LeBron did more than anybody could have.

[Ryan Brumley]

Ever possibly asked for him to do as an NBA player. Right?

[Bomani Jones]

Even those of us who don't have him as number one easily and willingly make this point. Being as good as the Cleveland Cavaliers were with him that first run where you're winning 66 games and your second best player is Mo Williams. What are we talking about here? The Miami version of LeBron, which, hey, if you want to say that the Miami version, LeBron is the best basketball player you've ever seen, I don't really have room to argue with you about that. It was mindblowing to watch what it.

[Ryan Brumley]

Was that he was capable of winning.

[Bomani Jones]

Three championships and being a Finals MVP on three different teams is unreal. The 2016 NBA Finals, the topline stuff on LeBron's resume is so unreal and so incredible that those of us who were here and got to see it are absolutely fortunate, right? The all time leading scorer in the history of the NBA.

[Guest Commentator]

And most of us do not believe.

[Bomani Jones]

That scoring was the thing that he was best at. He's Wayne Gretzky in that regard. Like every comparison that we make across sports when it comes to LeBron is.

[Guest Commentator]

Somebody that's way crazy high in their shit over there, too.

[Bomani Jones]

Like, we won. Getting able to see this and all of these things that we're talking about, while he is the combination of. Of the supercomputer brain and maybe being as physically gifted as any basketball player has ever been, while also serving as an unreal, incredible ambassador for the sport. We won having this guy here. He was amazing to watch. He was.

We have done all of ourselves a great disservice by locking in so much.

[Ryan Brumley]

On the arguments about the best two players of all time.

[Bomani Jones]

Because again, it requires you to find.

[Ryan Brumley]

Ways to diminish somebody as good as him.

[Bomani Jones]

And look, there are knocks and criticisms.

[Ryan Brumley]

That you can make of anybody else.

[Bomani Jones]

But when that becomes the defining conversation, then much of the conversation becomes defined by.

[Ryan Brumley]

By talking about what somebody didn't do.

[Bomani Jones]

Right or where somebody came up short. In spite of how many examples we.

[Ryan Brumley]

Have of where this guy came up big, where this dude stood tall, and where this guy exceeded all of these.

[Bomani Jones]

Things with the weight of a league and a world on his shoulders, he was incredible.

[Ryan Brumley]

We are lucky to have him here.

[Bomani Jones]

And he's number three on this list.

[Ryan Brumley]

Which is an incredibly prestigious honor.

[Bomani Jones]

Number two.

Eldritch Tiger Woods. Now, guys, I gotta tell you, I.

[Ryan Brumley]

Wish I had been a radio host with his career first, got started or whatever. I didn't really get it cracking till right before, you know.

He got run up on with that.

[Guest Analyst]

Things went sideways.

[Bomani Jones]

Yeah.

[Ryan Brumley]

Yes. This, this, that is a great way to put it. They went sideways.

[Bomani Jones]

I will never.

[Ryan Brumley]

Wow. As I talk about, we should be celebrating people not talking about the bad stuff.

[Bomani Jones]

Anyway, I remember that when that report first came out, they said he was seriously injured in a car accident in his driveway. And I was like, you can't go.

[Ryan Brumley]

Fast enough in your driveway to get seriously injured.

[Bomani Jones]

Something's going on.

[Ryan Brumley]

And then we found out he got run up on with a what?

[Bomani Jones]

She ran up on him with that iron. But no, no, no, no, not that iron. Yeah, the.

[Guest Analyst]

The iron.

[Bomani Jones]

How about this? An iron rather than that.

[Guest Analyst]

The iron. Yes.

[Ryan Brumley]

There we go.

[Bomani Jones]

That is what happened to him, man. Listen, the reason I am putting Tiger woods here is this is again a gap discussion. And the gap between Tiger woods and everybody else in his sport was so vast and so great that I cannot ignore. Right. I also have to note about Tiger.

[Ryan Brumley]

Woods and I think that this part gets very, very important.

[Bomani Jones]

I can't think of anybody else on this list that. Ryan. They did so much to the course at Augusta to stop Tiger from being Tiger, that of course that never had any left handed champions just started having left handers winning all over the place because they changed it up so much to try to stop Tiger Woods. Now, it's one thing to me if you decide that you're going to change the course because everybody is out here wrecking shop and it's just gotten too easy. The course.

[Guest Analyst]

Everyone's winning at minus 20 or whatever.

[Guest Commentator]

Right, right, right. The course had not gotten too easy. The course was too easy for timing it ever been. It was this one dude that showed up like that right there that was.

[Bomani Jones]

It's so funny. That was the metaphor for we gotta work twice as hard a statement that Tiger woods probably has no idea the origins of. By the way.

[Guest Commentator]

I don't know if he ever got that speech.

[Bomani Jones]

But the. You. You won't talk about the man trying to hold somebody down. The man tried to hold Tiger woods down so bad at Augusta that it is unforgettable to me. 1997, the first Golf. The first time I ever went out of my way to watch a round of Golf was the 1996 Masters, where Greg Norman blew that lead by the turn against Greg fal.

[Ryan Brumley]

I mean, Nick fdo.

[Bomani Jones]

This was the opposite of Greg Norman. This was.

[Guest Analyst]

This was just.

[Bomani Jones]

We just watched. Watch a coordination. I remember that in 97, he shot a 40 on the front nine in the first round, which is terrible. He shot a 30 on the back nine, which is unreal. And it never stopped from there. From there. It did not stop for 12 years. There's pebble beach, where he beat them all by what, 15 strokes or whatever it was. There is the Tiger Slam, when that came around. There is winning the ninth. Was it the. Was it the 1998 U.S. open on a broken leg?

[Guest Analyst]

It was 2008. 2008 U.S. open. Yeah.

[Guest Commentator]

We have completely forgotten that happened.

[Bomani Jones]

He won the playoff round on Monday.

[Guest Commentator]

On a broken leg. How the fuck do you play golf with a broken leg? He did it on a broken leg.

[Bomani Jones]

We can run through all these things that he pulled off in a sport that, generally speaking, this is what my brother and I talked about him.

[Ryan Brumley]

My brother plays a lot more golf than me.

[Bomani Jones]

But, like, golf is a sport that you can't really appreciate watching on television.

[Ryan Brumley]

If you haven't played golf.

[Bomani Jones]

Like, there's no way for you to explain to somebody just how hard the things are that people are doing if.

[Guest Analyst]

You'Re not how hard the things are that the worst player on tours do.

[Bomani Jones]

Correct. And even if you're watching and have played, unless you play it on courses of that caliber, you can't understand what it is to say Tiger woods managed to stick that on a green from however many yards with a seven iron. Right. Where everybody else is shooting with a wedge and it's hitting the green and then rolling all the way back down. Right.

[Ryan Brumley]

Like they're.

[Bomani Jones]

They're subtleties to playing golf that you just can't get unless you watch. And Tiger woods made watching golf mesmerizing in large part because he was so amazing to the people who happen to watch it right now. Of course, a great part of the Tiger woods legacy is the sort of multiculturalism or the. The multiculturalism of the idea of Tiger woods, though Tiger woods did not lead to this huge influx of multiculturalism on the course of. Of course it wouldn't. They don't want a multicultural course, dumbass. Right? Like them seeing Tiger woods play golf and then being like, wow, we can get more black people out here. Hell no. What you think they going next? Their wives to come with them? That's crazy. It's the opposite of why they're out there doing it. They see Tiger woods and they're like, damn, we got to get more of them boys playing football than ever. Next thing you know, they gonna come.

[Guest Commentator]

Over here and start playing this.

[Bomani Jones]

Right? But on the course, for the observers and for everything that you ever have known about the social factors surrounding, like, elite level golf, because golf is a people's game. Everybody who tells you that golf is a rich people's game needs to go to a muny, right? Like Ryan. I imagine you played at a few munies yourself. It is. It is a game of the people.

[Guest Analyst]

No. Yeah. It's a game for everybody.

[Bomani Jones]

Yeah, I got. I. I think that's the thing that is lost more than anything else. And when Tiger woods was out there, he was a man of the people, even though he was clearly not a man of the people in many ways. But everybody could get on board with that. Kids were on board with that. Old folks were on board with that. We white folks, gangsters, and the thugs all on board with that. Right. Everything. I can't think of e. Even with LeBron, even with, like, Michael Jordan, I guess, is kind of an example. We're like, yo, we're all here for the show, right? Regardless if you're rooting for him or not. We're all here for the show. Tiger had us all here for the show. And I'll never forget, I think it was actually, of all people, Doug got.

[Ryan Brumley]

Leap, who made this great point once.

[Bomani Jones]

Where I saw somebody say, well, you know, with Tiger, he could only win, you know, if his. If his putting is not going, then he doesn't win.

[Ryan Brumley]

Yeah.

[Bomani Jones]

Because nobody's beating him.

[Ryan Brumley]

If his putting is on, like, that.

[Bomani Jones]

Was your only hope, is that the putter wasn't working that day. That was it. He's that guy.

[Guest Analyst]

My favorite thing about Tiger now is he is talking about a different mythical athlete is Mike Tyson.

[Bomani Jones]

Yes.

[Guest Analyst]

Is where he still gets us. If he's out there, he still gets us in, and we still convince ourselves he can win. Yo, that is, every time he shows up at Augusta, there will be a contingent, a large contingent of people's like, I don't know. We'll see how these first two rounds go.

[Bomani Jones]

He has only won the Masters one time in the last 20 years. Before he pulled that last one. Right, which was his Nicklaus in 86, he hadn't won since 2005.

[Guest Commentator]

Right, right.

[Bomani Jones]

Because they again had done so much to the course to make it. Boy, you don't. No one man should have all that power.

[Ryan Brumley]

That's what I would be saying about myself under those circumstances. Y' all gotta change up y' all.

[Bomani Jones]

Whole course for me. No one man should have all that power. All right, number one.

The top athlete of the last 25 years.

In 2025.

You same, Bolt.

That's right.

[Ryan Brumley]

Look, guys.

The man has had the world record for the 100 meters since the year 2008.

[Bomani Jones]

Okay? We're coming up on 20 years.

Of.

[Ryan Brumley]

Him holding the world record.

In the 100 meter dash. I'm pulling this up for you right now so you can know what the progression has been on holding the world record.

In the 100 meter dash. All right, Bo.

[Bomani Jones]

Excuse me, 2009. He set the record himself twice in 2008, and he has held it by himself since 2009. When he set the record in, oh, In May of 08, the record had stood for.

About eight months.

It stood for a year before that. Okay, I'll just run through you. The record got broken in 07, in 06, three times in 06. 05, 0299. 96, 94, 91, 88, 88, 81.

[Ryan Brumley]

A lot of that was drugs, but.

[Bomani Jones]

You know, we can run through. The point that I'm making that you're seeing is these world records have typically held up. Okay? The world record was broken in Mexico City in 1968 and then held up for 14 years. Now, it's worth noting that if you've ever seen the bob beam and long jump of Mexico City, Mexico City was putting up incredible times at those Olympics.

[Ryan Brumley]

All right?

[Bomani Jones]

Bolt has now had that record for 15 years. 15 years. And I contend being the best runner of the 100 meters makes you the king of all things, because that's the.

[Ryan Brumley]

Thing that everybody does.

[Bomani Jones]

That's the thing that everybody has done. Everybody has run a race.

[Ryan Brumley]

Even your fat ass has run a race. Everybody. I know. I know that's right. I'm talking about you.

[Bomani Jones]

Everybody has run a race at some point, and he is not just the king of the race running. It was incredible to watch him run the race. And I will point out, and it is entirely possible that the 19.3 that he put up in the 200 might be more impressive than the 958 that he put up in the 100. He won the 100 and the 200 at three straight Olympics. Now, the reason where I said earlier that Simone Biles might have a bigger gap than anybody is Carl Lewis was also doing this while doing the long jump. And that matters, right? There's something to that, to have that, to him be able to do that also in another event. But for this time period, I have never had anybody blow me away the first time I've ever seen them. Like Usain Bolt that time he ran that 100 meter dash in Beijing in.

[Ryan Brumley]

The finals in 2008.

[Bomani Jones]

I've never seen anything like it. But you control for all the things, socioeconomic stuff, for access, for everything else. He did this in the event that everybody's got an opportunity to do in.

[Ryan Brumley]

One way or another.

[Bomani Jones]

And to this day, nobody is coming close.

[Ryan Brumley]

Right?

[Bomani Jones]

I had gotten this wrong when we.

[Ryan Brumley]

Talked about it before on the show.

[Bomani Jones]

Tyson Gay ran a 9.8 in the.

[Ryan Brumley]

Olympics in London in 2012 and did.

[Bomani Jones]

Not even get a medal.

Did not even get a medal. Everybody was so happy to finish in.

[Ryan Brumley]

Second and third place because when nobody.

[Bomani Jones]

Beating that monster at the front, nobody in the world, and he walked away as that dude at the top. You're the best at the most universally applicable thing in athletics that can be done. You get to be number one on our list of the top 25 athletes.

[Ryan Brumley]

Of the last 25 years.

[Bomani Jones]

And I want to thank all you guys for riding with us along the way, checking this out. We still got the Context episodes coming. So Wednesday we're going to talk with my guy Michael Smith about the last 25 years of the black quarterback.

[Ryan Brumley]

What has changed?

[Bomani Jones]

Would have stayed the same, all of that stuff and then something that you won't want to miss. We invited my good buddy Nick Wright on to come on on Friday and Nick is going to critique our list of top 25 athletes. Because, Ryan, you have worked with Nick. You can verify this. Don't nobody care more about putting the list together than Nick. Nobody's more meticulous about these things. And he damn sure more meticulous than me.

[Guest Analyst]

He was. He is Mr. List and he, you know, the idea was almost always put together with the idea of him being the cherry on top at the end of it.

[Bomani Jones]

And we got a little, little twist.

[Ryan Brumley]

On it for you, for you guys.

[Guest Analyst]

Check that out on Friday.

[Ryan Brumley]

You guys aren't going to want to miss.

[Bomani Jones]

But hey, ladies and gentlemen, thanks so much for joining us here on the right time. We do this here three times a week. That was Ryan Brumley handles everything behind the scenes. Thank you, sir. Remember, follow the right time. 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. We'll talk to you guys in a couple of days. Take it easy.

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