0:00

You are listening to the Dan Patrick Show

0:02

on Fox Sports Radio Our two

0:05

on this Tuesday, Dan and The Dane's Dan Patrick

0:07

Show. A little bit later on, Alex Smith, the quarterback

0:09

of the Washington football team, will join

0:11

us. After that remarkable comeback, Can

0:14

you win Comeback Player of the Year after

0:16

five weeks? I think so, unless

0:19

Dak Prescott would somehow be able to come back,

0:21

but I would rule that out. Talking

0:24

to an orthopedic surgeon yesterday, he said

0:26

that's at least five to six months. At least

0:29

five to six months of somebody

0:31

of that age who would have that kind of injury.

0:33

He said, obviously Dak is a special athlete,

0:36

but I would probably have a window of

0:38

five to six months, and

0:40

that includes the rehab as well. Nick

0:43

Right from Fox Sports will join us coming up.

0:45

He caught my attention yesterday that he says

0:48

what the media doesn't want you to know

0:50

about Michael Jordan. He had a tweet very

0:52

cryptic. So we'll talk to Nick Right and CC

0:54

Sabathia will join us as well. He

0:57

can talk about Walker Bueller's blister,

0:59

and it can all talk about Walker Bueller's

1:01

pants, believe it or not. After the loss

1:03

last night the Dodgers losing to the Braves.

1:06

This is the question asked to Walker Bueller

1:08

the Dodgers Ace, Hey, Walker, Walker

1:12

Bueller's pants. We're trending on Twitter

1:14

tonight praying at the time or

1:16

place, Michael, thank you Walker.

1:22

Even if he won the game, I don't

1:24

know if it's appropriate. Now, maybe

1:26

you could squeeze it in there. Let's say

1:28

he had a great outing, went seven strong, and

1:30

you go, Hey, let's talk about your Lulu Lemon

1:33

pants that you're wearing out there, not

1:35

when you lose in dramatic fashion where

1:38

the Braves take you to the woodshed in the ninth

1:40

inning. There and now the

1:42

game of the season is later

1:45

on today Clayton Kershaw

1:47

against Ian Anderson. Also

1:50

the Rays over the Astros. Bill's

1:53

Titans coming up tonight, and you've got

1:55

the Rays in the Astros again today. Saint's

1:58

beat the Chargers in overtime last but

2:00

it feels like the big winner was justin

2:02

Herbert that you're kind of going, look,

2:05

you know, the same still looked a little bit flawed,

2:07

but here it is national TV with the rookie.

2:09

He played well, four touchdowns, no interceptions,

2:12

but they ended up losing because they

2:15

can do it better than anybody else. When you

2:17

talk about losing a close game, Chargers

2:20

come on down because they've lost four

2:22

straight, each of them one score games.

2:25

In each of those losses, they blew a lead

2:27

in two straight games. They've blown seventeen

2:30

point leads and lost. Over the

2:32

last four games, they've been out scored forty four

2:34

to sixteen in the fourth quarter and overtime,

2:37

and they lose last night. They never trailed until

2:40

overtime at a miss pat

2:42

and a potential game winning field goal and regulation.

2:45

But the Chargers go down in flames. But the

2:47

consolation prize is they've got a

2:49

quarterback in Justin Herbert, and I

2:52

think, including myself, he was going

2:54

to take some time to develop, but he is

2:56

ready to go and going to a better team than

2:58

Joe Burrow might have more

3:00

success early than Joe Burrow

3:02

and even two a ton of iolo. Let's

3:05

bring in the aforementioned very

3:07

popular Nick Wright from First Things First

3:09

on Fox Sports one, and

3:11

he joins us, thanks for joining us. What did

3:13

you mean by this cryptic tweet?

3:16

What the media doesn't want you to know about

3:18

Michael Jordan? Well, listen,

3:20

Dan, and thanks for having me on It's an honor as

3:22

always. You know, I blame

3:24

you in part for this. Oh boy, Listen,

3:28

folks have a lot of nostalgia tied

3:30

to the nineties. It's

3:32

you and Keith on Sports Center. It

3:35

was a simpler time and the unbeatable

3:38

Chicago Bulls. And I've

3:40

always tried, like the great Michelle

3:42

Obama, to go high when others go low.

3:45

But I've had enough of folks

3:47

bringing up twenty eleven and the

3:49

MAVs series. I've had enough of people talking

3:51

about finals losses. So I just want

3:53

to remind people of some facts about

3:55

Michael Jordan. Did you know Michael

3:58

Jordan ever even had a

4:00

winning regular season,

4:03

much less win a playoff series without

4:05

Scottie Pippen with him. Did you know

4:08

that Michael Jordan the only time

4:10

he ever beat Larry Bird in

4:12

a playoff game was

4:15

when Bird was coaching the Pacers.

4:17

Did you know that in

4:20

Jordan's entire run, there were

4:22

three teams in the Eastern Conference

4:24

that had an all time player on them, Bird,

4:27

Celtics, Isaiah's Pistons,

4:29

Shacks Magic. Jordan's series

4:31

record against those three teams two

4:34

and six against everybody

4:36

else twenty three and one,

4:38

and did you know that after

4:41

the Pistons run was over those

4:43

next seven years when Jordan won five titles,

4:46

there was only one team in the entire East because

4:48

I was here, Oh, Lebron walked over a week East.

4:51

There's only one team in the whole East that

4:53

had more than one Hall of Famer on it. Jordan's

4:56

team. He's the only guy with a Hall of Fame teammate.

4:58

Reggie's got a Dutch guy who's seventy

5:01

four, Patrick Ewings got John starts

5:03

brush out the grocery aisle, and people act

5:05

like the East was great. It wasn't. And so

5:07

I just listen. I don't want to have to do a smear campaign

5:09

on Michael Jordan, who, without questions, at

5:12

least the third best player ever. But I

5:14

do what I have to do. Who is the best

5:16

player ever? Nick? Come on, man, Dan,

5:19

you know the answer to this. The

5:23

thing is this. We we know it's

5:25

Lebron and it is going

5:27

to be in twenty five years.

5:30

Folks aren't gonna believe we argued about

5:32

it. It's like, well, one guy was bigger,

5:34

he was faster, he was stronger, he did it

5:36

longer, he did it in a tougher league.

5:38

He did it when the rules were kind

5:40

of designed against him. He

5:43

did it over a far longer period of time.

5:45

He scored more points, he was obviously

5:47

the better passer. What were we arguing

5:49

about, oh

5:52

the other what was it? And

5:54

so I don't I don't think anyone

5:56

can make a credible case that does not

5:59

involve the phrase he's six and zero or

6:01

bringing up now the twenty eleven finals

6:04

is. And I will admit this, it is

6:06

a meltdown. It is a giant

6:09

blemish on the resume. But it's

6:11

been a decade and since

6:13

then he's played in the last game of the year every

6:15

year except for the year. Tour is growing. I'm

6:19

with you on recognizing Lebron.

6:21

I don't understand why he is. You

6:23

know, he's

6:26

polarizing. Yeah, I don't

6:28

get it. I don't know, like of

6:30

all of the superstars in all of sports,

6:33

nobody faces this like

6:36

Lebron doos No, there's no other big name star

6:39

that we try to discredit the way,

6:41

even you know, Tom Brady, Like people

6:43

will acknowledge Tom is the greatest. They're

6:46

not dragging him down at every possible

6:48

stop sign here. Well, and that's the

6:50

thing is, listen, I think there's a credible

6:53

case to be made. And that's why I said a little

6:55

tongue in cheek that Jordan is at least the third best.

6:57

I think there's three guys with a credible case, and

6:59

you I've talked about this. I don't know what was on or off

7:01

the year Kareem gets totally disregarded.

7:04

Kareem's got the most points, the most MVPs,

7:07

won of finals, MVP sixteen years

7:09

separated, was the best player in the league

7:11

the day he walked into basketball. There's

7:13

a rookie year from day one is the best player in the league.

7:15

So Kareem's got a case. Obviously, Jordan's got a case.

7:17

Lebron's got a case. What bothers me

7:20

is not the folks that are like,

7:22

you know, I think Lebron's second, even though

7:24

I think they're wrong. It's it's your

7:26

good friend and not as good a friend as yours

7:29

as he is to me. But my friend Charles Barkley was

7:31

like, Lebron's not top five, Yeah

7:34

you got you got Paul Pierce retroactively

7:36

kicking him out of the top five because

7:38

of a loss to the Blazers. He didn't suffer. It's

7:40

insane. That stuff is insane,

7:43

and I do think I

7:45

don't know if he gets points for this or not, but

7:48

we saw in the last dance that

7:51

Michael, before his father was tragically

7:53

murdered, was burnt out and thinking about

7:55

leaving a mad Rashad told us he had that before

7:58

that he was thinking about leaving, and then at the end

8:00

to the second three peat was burned out again

8:02

and left Lebron's face a

8:04

level of scrutiny unlike

8:06

any player ever, just because of the social

8:08

media in the twenty four hour sports

8:11

cycle we're in, and has showed

8:13

up to work every

8:15

single day. I don't think that can be

8:18

discounted. I think the reason why Barkley

8:20

brings it up and Paul Pierce brings it up is

8:22

how Lebron went about doing it, That

8:24

he had to go to Miami, that

8:26

he wanted to go to Los Angeles, he needed to bring

8:29

Anthony Davis in, And I think that's

8:31

where they look at it and say, you

8:33

know, Paul Pierce benefited from

8:35

KG and Ray Ray going there or

8:37

he never would have won. And Charles

8:39

knowing Charles, you know he tried

8:42

to do it in Houston like they

8:44

did try themselves. That's

8:46

the problem. And I listen, I

8:48

adore Chuck. But he's

8:50

quoted in the Houston Chronicle in

8:53

the mid nineties explaining why

8:55

he's forcing his way out of Phoenix because

8:57

he wants a chance to win, to

9:00

team up with Clyde and Dream and Paul

9:03

listen, Paul's a very, very good

9:05

all time player, I get it, far

9:08

better player than analysts. But that was unfair,

9:10

but exactly. But the other thing

9:12

is this, if you don't have Kevin

9:14

McHale, Gift is old Buddy

9:16

Danny Ainge, true Kevin Garnett,

9:19

then what's Paul

9:21

Pierce like he needed?

9:24

Now he didn't have to go anywhere. He

9:26

was the Dwayne Wade in that scenario

9:28

with Ray Allen and KG

9:31

coming there. But the idea that nobody

9:33

did it on their own and Lebron

9:36

gave Cleveland a fair chance to

9:38

build something that first time around, and they're like,

9:40

hey, how does Booby Gibson

9:42

and big Z sound. He's like, okay,

9:44

I still maintain that might be Now

9:47

you can make iverson seventy six ers, you

9:49

could throw them in there. Has anybody, as

9:51

Bill Simmons, ever come up with a list of the worst

9:54

teams to go to an NBA Final. Well,

9:56

so listen. The thing that Iverson

9:59

seventy sixers had was the defensive player of the

10:01

year, Dickimbay was excellent. Like we

10:03

forget. They just didn't have a lot of great offense.

10:05

The O seven Calves were a disaster

10:08

Trump maybe only by

10:10

the twenty eighteen Cabs host

10:13

Kyrie post the it trade, Kevin

10:16

loves in and out of the lineup, and it's

10:18

it's Lebron and my guy, j

10:20

R. Smith and Jennie Osman, Like,

10:22

all right, I guess we'll do this together. I

10:25

got a question for you. I can give you Michael

10:27

Jordan at twenty five, Lebron at

10:29

twenty five, Kareem at twenty

10:32

five. And you're gonna build. You're

10:34

the general manager, You're gonna build

10:36

your team around one of those three. Oh,

10:39

I think to me, it's unquestionable.

10:41

It has to be Lebron because he has shown

10:44

he is the only guy. And this is the other

10:46

thing. You didn't tell me who the coach is.

10:49

And Lebron's the only one who doesn't matter. For think

10:51

about all the dynasties, not

10:53

even just basketball, Dan football,

10:57

all the die Eric Spoelsterer, who ended

10:59

up being a great coach. You want to go. He's gonna be a Hall

11:01

of Famer though, Spolster. I think it is,

11:03

absolutely But at the time, yeah, you don't ever

11:05

want to playoff series. Hey, David Blatt,

11:08

you're only going to spend a couple of years in America. You want

11:10

to spend one of them in the finals? Well, hey, tylu

11:12

I think it's a really good coach. We didn't know it, Frank

11:15

Bogel. They got they couldn't get ready a fast

11:17

up in Orlando. You want to win a title, It'll

11:19

be fun. Come on, come join me. You know, when

11:21

your head was shaved, you were more of a Michael Jordan

11:23

guy. Now that you have longer hair, it just

11:26

feels like now you're you're you became a

11:28

Lebron fan. I think eight

11:30

percent of the Jordan legacy

11:33

is the iconic shaved head, and I

11:35

think fourteen percent of it is the sneakers.

11:38

I really believe. Like I'm telling

11:40

you this, I am literally wearing Jordan

11:43

sweatpants and I'm like, damn, he did

11:45

get the marketing done. Yeah,

11:49

And I always wonder about this with Lebron.

11:51

If Lebron had lost a series like

11:54

Kawai did, do you

11:56

know we would still be talk we would

11:58

still be talking about that, well,

12:00

like he's getting fatigued for winning in the finals,

12:04

of course, of course. So I

12:06

think there were two instances in these playoffs

12:08

where you saw how hard

12:10

it is to be Lebron. Jimmy Butler was

12:12

Lebron for a night and it was unbelievable

12:15

in Game five, and you know what it did

12:18

to him. It ruined him for Game six

12:20

because he was spent. Kawhi Leonard

12:22

for the first time in his career entered

12:25

a playoff series where it's like, man, if we don't

12:27

win this, they're gonna crush me. For

12:29

the first time in his career for a playoff series, he

12:31

had to be Lebron where it's like, man, if we don't it's losing.

12:34

There's no win for me here. We're supposed to win

12:36

and if we lose, I get killed. And by the

12:38

end of it, he's going over in

12:41

a second half of a Game seven. Like

12:43

that, weight of the expectations

12:46

that Lebron is dealt with every step of his career,

12:48

it's pretty Unpresceddy and I and we're talking

12:50

to Nick Wright, the co host of First Things First

12:52

on Fox Sports. One the thing that I bring up,

12:55

and I'll leave you with this, is that we

12:57

miss out sometimes because we don't like a

12:59

player for some reason. I didn't like bjorn

13:01

Borg because he always beat John McEnroe

13:03

at Wimbledon, and I didn't appreciate bjorn

13:06

Borg. And there are certain players you would

13:08

watch when you're growing up and you just didn't like. I

13:10

didn't like the Orioles, they always beat the Cincinnati

13:12

Reds, Brooks Robinson, Frank Robinson,

13:15

and I just I cautioned people,

13:18

you may not like Lebron for whatever

13:20

reason, but appreciate this. You'll never

13:22

see this again. Somebody who at

13:24

thirty five reinvents themselves

13:27

and is still the best player in the game, and

13:30

he does it on a big stage in the bubble

13:32

degree of difficulty crazy, and

13:35

we're going to still some how fine fault

13:37

with him. But ye, and you

13:39

know what we're that really hit home

13:41

with me in streat Point by you is and

13:43

I don't mean to bring it down at the very end, but

13:46

when Kobe passed, because I wasn't

13:48

a Kobe guy, so I was always nitpicking,

13:50

you know what, I mean, I was always like, well, what about this?

13:52

What about that? And I don't and I

13:55

love basketball, but I don't think I

13:57

fully appreciated

13:59

what he was doing when he was doing it because I was picking

14:01

Nick. So I can be guilty of that myself. And then all of

14:03

a sudden he's gone and you're and you revisit

14:06

it and you're like, oh my God, like this guy

14:09

all the things he did. So I do think that is

14:11

I think it's a great point by you. I wasn't much of

14:13

a bored guy either, though seems like a jerk. I'm

14:15

just kidding. I wouldn't a lie. What's good to talk to

14:18

you? Keep stirring? Hey, can I tell your audience

14:20

one thing? Yes about you? Oh?

14:22

Dan Patrick and I have never met in person,

14:25

and Dan Patrick, on three separate

14:27

occasions, has called me to

14:29

check in on me, see how I'm doing, and

14:31

to give me career advice. He is a really,

14:34

really good man, despite some questionable

14:36

sports takes at times. I want people to know that,

14:38

Thank you, Nick, I appreciate Thank you, Dan, I

14:40

appreciate you. I'll call you later, Okay,

14:43

see you. That's Nick Ray and he's

14:45

a co host. First things first, on Fox Sports

14:47

One. Now. I I there's certain members

14:49

of the media. Evan Cohen who does Mad

14:52

Dog Radio. I think he's got a lot of talent. I

14:54

think Nick's got a lot of talent as well. There's

14:56

certain guys who just have fresh ideas

14:58

and takes and they're not afraid Tony

15:01

really. I just like that

15:03

they do their research. And

15:06

you know, Nick doesn't, you know, cheat

15:08

off somebody's paper. He always has some

15:10

things that he brings and I appreciate

15:12

that. You know, another person I think is a

15:14

star that nobody talks about is Shannon

15:17

Sharp. I think Shannon Sharp is

15:19

the star of that show with Skip Bayliss.

15:21

Like if you listen to him, there's no stick and gimmick,

15:23

like, he's got facts there. And these are

15:26

athletes who normally come in and probably

15:28

take a shortcut here. Hey, all I do is

15:30

get in front of the camera and I talk or get in front of a

15:32

microphone. Shannon Sharpe has well

15:35

thought out, you

15:37

know, ideas and opinions and

15:39

a very smart stuff in my opinion.

15:42

All right, we're gonna take a break. We'll

15:44

get phone calls in about fifteen minutes. Alex

15:46

Smith, the Washington Football team will join

15:48

us. And what a journeyman. Not

15:51

a journeyman, but what a journey man

15:54

getting to this point. And I

15:57

guess you can you give him Comeback Player

15:59

of the Year right now after five weeks, because

16:02

it'll be be hard pressed if you

16:04

go, hey, what did you come back from?

16:07

I came back from you know, I had

16:09

a shoulder surgery and like Cam

16:11

Newton, you know, comeback player

16:13

of the year Alex Smith, Well,

16:15

I nearly died and nearly lost my leg.

16:18

And just the fact that I got on the field

16:20

this past weekend yeast time. He could have come on

16:22

the field and just taken a knee or hinted the ball off

16:24

once and went right back out And to me,

16:27

that would be enough that he would suited up and actually

16:29

was able to be out there for one NFL player.

16:31

Somebody in the Washington organization said

16:34

they thought that they might do a ceremonial

16:37

This is prior to the start of the season,

16:39

a ceremonial moment for

16:42

Alex Smith where they let him on

16:44

the field in uniform and

16:47

then he goes out there and basically takes a

16:49

knee, takes a snap. I

16:52

mean, it's

16:54

come a long way, Yeah, I don't

16:56

mean to be skeptical, but from an outside

16:58

I thought part of the reason Alex Smith was trying to come back

17:01

was to fulfill some type of contract,

17:03

you know, parameter where to get

17:05

some of the money he made with his big signing

17:07

bonus or his paycheck. He had to appear

17:10

on a roster, be cleared to play. I don't know

17:12

if that's true or not, but I thought that might have been some of it.

17:14

I don't know what happens with an injury. I don't

17:16

know as far as collecting. But then, you

17:19

know, the same source told me that he

17:21

would be able to come back and there they would negotiate

17:24

a buyout. This was

17:26

what was told to me by somebody in the Washington

17:28

organization, and just

17:31

the fact that it was going to be a ceremonial come out,

17:33

take a knee, and everybody gives

17:35

you a round of applause. But

17:38

he'll join us about twenty minutes from now. We'll

17:40

take a break. Phone calls coming up. Update our poll

17:42

results right after this in The Dan Patrick

17:44

Show. Thanks for listening to The Dan Patrick Show podcast.

17:47

Be sure to catch us live every weekday morning

17:49

nine to noon Eastern or six to nine

17:52

Pacific on Fox Sports Radio. Find

17:54

your local station for the Dan Patrick Show at

17:56

Fox Sports Radio dot com, or stream

17:58

us live every day on the Art Radio

18:00

app by searching f s

18:03

R or stream us live on the

18:05

Peacock app. Oh, now I'm hearing from the Michael

18:07

Jordan fans. You got to give equal time. You

18:09

gave Nick Wright all that time to talk about Lebron.

18:12

You know what, Jordan fans, You've

18:14

had your equal time. You got

18:16

a ten part series. You

18:19

got your time. Mark Stein, NBA

18:21

insider says the Rockets interviewed

18:24

ty Lou on Monday, also

18:26

being pursued by the Clippers and New Orleans.

18:28

Rockets assistant coach John Lucas expect

18:31

to do interview for the Houston vacancy, and

18:33

Jeff Van Gundhi is expected

18:35

to interview as well. This courtesy

18:38

of Mark Stunt. We'll

18:40

talk to Alex Smith set to Jonas

18:42

in a little bit. And just

18:45

that thought of putting on that uniform

18:48

and running out on the field this past weekend,

18:50

and how much is like, do you

18:52

want to be the starting quarterback? Are

18:54

you going to get a chance to be the starting quarterback?

18:57

So I don't know how real it is but

18:59

he came in for Kyle Allen

19:02

who was banged up, So

19:05

like it wasn't lost on me. If you would

19:07

have said, hey, Alex Smith is going to replace somebody

19:09

who got banged up on the football field, I go, no,

19:12

not the Alex Smith we know. And

19:14

then I saw him come on the field and go, well, he's got to

19:16

come in because Kyle Allen got banged up. Yeah, time,

19:18

And we're watching nervously every time he's about

19:20

to get hit or he gets tackled, that what if he doesn't get up

19:22

or his leg bends a certain way and something horrible

19:25

happens. To imagine being actually him to be

19:27

brave enough to go out there and be able to focus

19:29

on country knowing that one hit could do

19:31

something devasting. Again to that let well,

19:33

I don't even know if he's processing that, but

19:36

his wife has to be. If she's in

19:38

the stands watching that game, and

19:40

you know, she has no control over he's out there,

19:42

he's playing, he's competing. She's just got

19:44

to go, oh my god, I gotta hold my breath. She

19:47

might be a better interview than him at

19:50

this moment everything she's gone through, because

19:54

you know, when you go through something

19:56

when you see one of your kids or

19:58

if it's your wife, they go through your

20:00

parents, they go through something like you're

20:02

helpless. But you know when you

20:04

go through it, you know you just have like

20:07

blinders on tunnel vision. But those

20:09

who are on the outside watching you and they have no

20:11

they can't help you, they can't control anything.

20:14

That's when it's you know, you're you're

20:16

basically helpless. Nick and

20:18

South Carolina. Hey Nick, what do you have for me today?

20:22

Hey, I kind of take you

20:24

backing off of what Nick Wright said obviously

20:26

given contacted me directly for tree advice,

20:28

but my phone's always open. I

20:31

listened to Jimmy Traina. Is your interview with Jimmy

20:33

trains traina a couple of weeks ago, and

20:35

if somebody in the industry, I just really appreciated

20:38

the general advice that you're giving on there is a

20:40

really good interview, and it's

20:42

just really nice to hear from somebody that's been in for

20:44

a while, somebody that hasn't been at it for quite

20:46

so long. All right, Well, thank you, Nick, and good

20:49

luck. I always tell people, if this

20:51

is what you want to do, be ready

20:53

to hear the word no. Get rejected.

20:56

And that that's just that

20:58

starts out your career. Because

21:00

people graduate from college and I always tell them,

21:03

you know, you graduate, you know, congratulations,

21:06

that doesn't mean you get a job in this business. And

21:08

there are students who are under that impression that

21:10

they go through journalism or broadcasting

21:13

or communications, they get out and they're

21:15

waiting for a job. If you don't

21:17

start when you're in high school, interns,

21:21

internship, then you're

21:23

you're you're well behind everybody else

21:25

in the game. And it

21:27

is who you know, volunteer. You

21:30

don't have to get paid whatever it

21:32

takes to get in a building, to get

21:34

in with any you know, kind of TV station,

21:37

if it's a podcast somebody's

21:39

doing, if it's a radio show, anything, but

21:42

look at everybody in here who started out

21:44

with nothing. You know, guys in the back,

21:48

they're but they're in the building and they

21:51

get to do things now. And

21:53

the roles that you find out and they

21:55

once you're on the inside, that's when you find out

21:57

about job openings. I mean,

21:59

that's what open to me. My first professional

22:01

job is I was running religious

22:04

tapes on Saturday night to Sunday

22:06

morning, nine hours and

22:08

the only time I went on the air, I

22:10

would say, you're listening to Wutue Dayton's

22:13

best rock and roll. I

22:15

don't think it sounded that good. You're

22:17

listening to w Tue Dayton's

22:20

best rock and roll. And

22:22

that's that was all I was doing. I would

22:24

occasionally fill in as a disc jockey

22:27

opening morning Drive news

22:30

and I was in the building and

22:32

I got the audition and I got the job. If I'm

22:34

not running religious tapes on Saturday

22:36

night to Sunday morning for nine hours, I'm

22:39

not getting that opportunity there now.

22:41

Sometimes I'll run religious tapes on weekends,

22:44

you know, just you know, kind of go

22:47

in old school, little throwback action

22:49

there, just to you know, kind

22:51

of feel good. I remember the Power

22:54

Hour or something like that. I remember

22:56

all the you know, I did. How I do is put it

22:58

on a reel to reel and I would

23:01

I'd had to queue it up and then I'd

23:03

fired at the top of the hour. And

23:06

at the time, my other job is I was mowing

23:09

greens at Jack

23:11

Nicholas golf course outside of Cincinnati,

23:15

and I graduated from college golf

23:17

though. Yeah, but if you work

23:19

with a golf course, the last thing you want to do is

23:21

go back to the golf course to play, but

23:24

I would just mow greens. I'd get in there,

23:26

like you know, five thirty six in the morning, go

23:28

out, you'd mow the greens. I'd be done by

23:30

two or three in the afternoon. And then

23:33

on weekends I would run religious tapes.

23:35

Whatever it takes. Even

23:38

when I volunteered at the local TV

23:40

station, I got paid fifty dollars

23:42

to go cover the Bengals in the reds and

23:45

I was driving down from Dayton, so you

23:48

know, by time, I'm paying for gas and whatever.

23:51

All I did is get sound interviews.

23:54

But it allowed me in the building. Then I got

23:56

to do the weekend I filled in weekend

23:59

anchor, but I was in

24:01

the building. That's the advice that I would

24:03

give you. But get ready to hear the word no, but

24:06

don't accept the word no. Some

24:08

phone calls here, I'll get off my soapbox.

24:10

Phill and Indiana hate Phil. Good to have you back, buddy,

24:14

Dan. It's always my pleasure. And real quick,

24:16

Dan, You're one of the classiest people

24:18

I've ever watched or listened to. You're

24:20

really a really great man. I

24:23

wanted to just comment Dan, the passing

24:25

of Joe Morgan. I know you're a big Reds fan,

24:27

so was I. I think you'd have to put

24:29

him, Dan, I wanted to get your thoughts. You'd have to put

24:32

him probably in the top five

24:34

second basement of all time. I mean he was

24:37

the catalyst on that big Red machine,

24:39

which was, as you know, really impressive

24:41

to watch. Thanks Dan, all right, thank you Phil.

24:44

I would have to kind of look at the second

24:46

baseman in history. Yeah. Mcglevin.

24:49

I would think that that's not a debate.

24:51

I think everybody, if you said, top the top of your head,

24:53

who's top five second baseman, Joe more gould

24:55

be way up. Yeah. I don't know who would be above

24:57

him. I mean they're MVPs, right, yeah,

25:00

back to back MVPs. But I don't

25:02

I don't know, you know, off the top

25:04

of my head. When you talk about great second baseman,

25:06

you know, Robbie Alamar comes to mind.

25:09

Uh, I don't know who

25:12

else is? Yeah,

25:15

Rhino Rhino was. He was great,

25:17

but he never played in a big moment um.

25:21

Yeah, he had good statsy

25:24

Trio, don't forget him, you

25:26

know, Biggio, but he played catcher, second

25:29

base, in center field. But

25:31

I I you know, I'm sure I'm leaving out five

25:34

guys who should be mentioned here. Yeah, Pa, Rod

25:36

Crew played carew played a bunch of positions, right,

25:38

did he mix it up a little bit? I know he played some second

25:40

base. Yes, I

25:42

remember him just being a you know, I can't remember

25:45

Rod Crew being in the field. I

25:47

always remember him at the plate because it looked

25:49

like he was falling asleep with the bat, like

25:51

a bat was just barely in his hands there.

25:54

But he's one of the one of the great hitters

25:56

of all time. But I don't

25:58

I don't know one other second and basement come

26:00

to mind there. Uh, Jackie

26:03

Robinson certainly, Um,

26:09

yeah, Joe would Joe would have had better stats than Jackie

26:12

Robinson. But of course Jackie's place in

26:14

history. But yeah, I'm sure that Joe,

26:16

if I ever said that to him, might be like, Hey, I'm

26:18

gonna put you over Jackie Robinson. He probably say,

26:20

Nope, You're not doing that. Yes, Fritzie, because

26:22

I was doing a little starts. Lou Whittaker Saint Louis.

26:25

But he's not in the Hall of Fame, is he or did he get in? I

26:28

don't know if he and Trammel, I mean that was

26:30

a great double bay combination. And they like

26:32

Frank White and Davey Lopes, Bobby Gritch there. Yeah,

26:34

but they're not in that. They're not in that conversation.

26:37

Not with Morgan. Yeah, mclevan, I don't think he played

26:39

it that much. But remember when Yat was a shortstop

26:42

and Malder was a second from the Brewers. That

26:44

was great, great double play combination as well.

26:46

Then yell it went to center field. All

26:49

right, we'll take a break and uh we'll

26:51

connect hopefully with Alex Smith, the Washington

26:53

football team quarterback. Coming up next. More phone calls

26:55

as well, Dan and The Danas Dan Patrick Show. Thanks

26:58

for listening to The Dan Patrick Show pod cast.

27:00

Be sure to catch us live every weekday morning

27:02

nine until noon eastern six to nine Pacific

27:05

on Fox Sports Radio and you can find

27:07

us on the iHeartRadio app at

27:09

FSR or stream us live

27:11

on the Peacock app. Talk to the former Yankee

27:13

great CC Sabathia. He'll join us coming

27:15

up next hour as we dissect some of the

27:17

playoff action from yesterday

27:19

and last night. You got Braves Dodgers.

27:22

This might be it's not the biggest

27:24

start of Clayton Kershaw's career, but it's up there

27:26

because the Dodgers losing to the Braves last

27:28

night. The Raisin Astros go at it again

27:30

Bills and Titans in a special Tuesday

27:33

night game. He's the quarterback for

27:35

the Washington football team. He's Alex Smith.

27:38

Kind enough to join us, Alex, I'll get to you

27:40

in a moment. How's your wife doing.

27:44

She's doing good. I think she obviously

27:47

put her through some stress on Sunday,

27:50

but she was pumped. She was just

27:52

as excited as me. I think, especially

27:55

going out there and doing it and getting through it and you

27:57

know, get that first hit out of the way. Um.

28:00

But yeah, I think she definitely was was feeling

28:03

it on some day because I'm watching

28:06

and you know, she can't do anything about

28:08

it. Your kids are there, you know, they probably

28:10

say dad's out on the field. Mom is probably going,

28:12

oh my god, we've been through so much. She's

28:14

holding her head like she doesn't know how to react

28:16

there. Have you seen the video of I

28:19

saw the good clip and I think it kind of sums

28:21

it up. I feel like my wife certainly there

28:23

and you know, feeling feeling it. You could

28:25

you could see the stress on her face and you

28:28

know, obviously concern and my daughter's

28:30

oblivious, my four year old daughters dancing next

28:33

to her in a stadium.

28:35

You know, my boys are I think my bloys were a little more in

28:37

tune, but they still you know, I don't think kind

28:39

of a great idea and just kind

28:41

of taking it into dad's back out there. Um,

28:45

but yeah, it was. It was fun funny to see that. I

28:47

was. I was really happy they got to be there. You know, we hadn't

28:49

had fans the first couple of home games, so I was

28:51

I was pumped that the family's got to come out and they

28:54

got to be there with me because my wife has been

28:56

through so much the last couple of years with me and so

28:59

so cool we're to be there and to

29:01

share with me. But I also wonder if

29:04

it helped that you didn't have a week to prepare

29:06

for this moment, Like it was just hey Alex

29:09

lad on the field. Yeah, and a lot

29:11

of ways you're right, like rip the band aid off. It was like

29:13

as soon as the hit happened on Kyle,

29:15

I knew it was. It was a good one, and uh

29:18

yeah, I went over to grab my helmet. I was like let's go. It's

29:20

time to time to go, you know, warm up a little bit, get

29:22

a few frozen and get a cup of snaps, and like no

29:24

time to think. Um in that sense,

29:26

yeah, it was. It was kind of nice, just let's let's

29:29

go, no build up, straight to it.

29:31

So yeah, and in a lot of ways

29:33

thankful that for that. You know, for me, it's also

29:35

it's been it's been hard with no offseason, no preseason,

29:39

um, you know, take

29:41

away the take away the injury. For me,

29:43

it's obviously being out of football for two years as well,

29:45

and so for me taking advantage of the reps getting

29:47

back in um what it's like.

29:50

So it was nice to get thrust out there, especially

29:52

into a two minute drill where it's kind of just

29:54

just go to play and reacting. For me, a lot

29:56

of that, I think those instincts knowing that

29:58

that all, they're just kind of I felt like

30:01

I hadn't left, So it was nice to get back in there and

30:03

getting the mix. But I know this may

30:05

sound strange. What felt more

30:07

like football the pass that you

30:09

complete or Aaron Donald trying

30:11

to take your head off like I always as

30:13

a quarterback, and this has been my entire career, and only

30:15

coaches I think talk to you about, you

30:17

know, as far as getting into a rhythm, and for me, it's it's

30:20

kind of one or the other. Get it, get a good completion

30:22

or get hit, you know, And I think

30:24

both as a as a QB

30:27

kind of help you get into the game, into the fluid

30:29

things. So nice for me to kind of knock knock

30:31

both those out pretty early. Did

30:34

Aaron Donald say anything to you, like when he's

30:36

trying to tackle you, I mean, everybody knows what

30:38

you've been obviously. The one time when I didn't know

30:40

it was him that jumped on my back, I mean I knew it at

30:42

some point. I felt like it was in slow motion,

30:45

I did. I'm like, I felt like I had a body on my back,

30:48

you know, and I'm standing there and certainly, uh,

30:51

you know, to know that

30:53

I'm good to go with that and obviously

30:55

feeling strong out there, So that was nice.

30:58

Aaron's Aaron's obviously a heck of

31:00

a player, but uh, you know, obviously

31:02

a really good person as well. I've been around him

31:05

a little bit off season, so a ton of respect for him

31:07

and and loved loved it. Obviously he brings

31:09

it, and so it was nice out there to uh

31:11

certainly get thrown into the fire a little bit. Are

31:14

you competing for the starting john you

31:17

know? For me, yeah, yeah, I mean I got there and beat every

31:19

single day, that's the deal. You know. Camp

31:21

was was a little different, and I started

31:23

on pub and and you know, obviously a little

31:25

bit had to go prove it that I can do this, and

31:28

so kind of starting behind the ball. We

31:30

got a couple of young quarterbacks that that obviously

31:32

you know, getting the majority of the rep. So for me trying to

31:34

take advantage of my REP, to take advantage of

31:37

my opportunities out there and make the most of them. And yeah,

31:39

certainly this week to kind of make to get bumped

31:41

up to the two and know that I was one play

31:43

away and then I knew the reality of that as

31:46

much as anybody. So for me

31:48

being ready my numbers called, I'm ready to roll,

31:50

and uh, this this leaves

31:53

about making the most of your opportunities and so

31:56

for me excited about whenever this next one

31:58

comes. He's Alex Smith. He is

32:00

the quarterback for the Washington football

32:03

team. Last time you were on the show, you

32:05

got traded to Washington

32:08

two hours later, yep, did

32:10

you know when you were in Minnesota

32:13

that day you were going to be traded? When he

32:15

went on the show, Am

32:17

I under oath? Yes? You are?

32:23

You know there? That was kind of honestly, it was it was

32:26

it was ironic that that, you know, that day kind

32:28

of doing some of the media they are around super Bowl that day.

32:31

That was kind of the day when a lot of that was actually going on,

32:33

so and then out a lot of that. I was kind of getting updated

32:36

um in between on my phone and with

32:39

with conversations. So that was the day

32:41

it was happening. So yeah, certainly I knew. I knew

32:43

things we were in the mix. A little weird to be doing

32:45

obviously media in the middle of all that. Have

32:48

you watched the documentary on your

32:50

comeback your surgeries? I did,

32:53

Yeah, I watched it. This obviouslyson inheritive

32:55

was you know, it's uh not

32:57

only you know, a little bit scary obviously

32:59

to put all that out there, to

33:01

let the cameras in and try to be real. That was my goal

33:03

from the get go, and I decided to do it. Was just I

33:06

wanted to be honest and real and not hide

33:08

anything. And so yeah, you never

33:10

know how that's sometimes going to come out. So

33:13

yeah, I was, I like, it's like everybody

33:15

else wanted to see, Uh, I want to see it.

33:18

I couldn't get through it. I

33:20

couldn't do it. No, I've

33:22

had I've had six surgeries on

33:24

my knee, but nothing

33:27

compared to that. And I just

33:29

I tried, and I

33:31

at some point I went, you

33:34

could lose your leg, and you're you're allowing

33:36

a documentary. And I don't know

33:38

how close you could have died, but I know that

33:40

you were close to maybe losing a portion of your leg.

33:43

At any point, do you say to your wife or do your wife

33:45

saying no, this is like let's

33:47

get the cameras out of here. Yeah,

33:50

I think the thankful thing. Yeah,

33:52

I mean, certainly when I had set cists and and things

33:54

were in my life was kind of in danger at

33:56

that point. I honestly it was It's

33:59

just just doctors just trying to save my life.

34:01

And then from there saved my leg. And

34:04

I think once once I had elected

34:06

to to to go with LIMP salvage

34:08

and obviously the numerous surgeries

34:10

that that that was going to take um

34:13

and the unknown that

34:15

that's when the documentary became you

34:18

know, a reality and once we headed down that road.

34:20

And so for me, it was a lot

34:22

of thought that certainly the uniqueness of the situation

34:25

for me also the uniqueness that a

34:28

lot of the all

34:31

the technology, even the surgeries, the limp

34:33

salvage surgery that I had a lot of that was all

34:35

perfected, um because

34:37

of the servicemen and women especially these last

34:40

you know, twenty twenty five years in the Middle East, and

34:42

there had been so many limb injuries, um,

34:45

you know, from from the wars in the Middle East. And so

34:48

for me to kind of benefit from the technology

34:50

that of servicemen and women uh you

34:53

know had gone through, I think was part

34:55

of it for me that it really kind of made it worthwhile.

34:57

I was the first, obviously, I think athlete to kind of go through

35:00

this. Um. This was a kind of uncharted

35:02

territory as far as the road back, and

35:05

there was no guarantee that I was even going to get beyond

35:07

maybe even just trying to walk. And obviously

35:09

that was scary, UM and

35:12

I'm thankful to be obviously where I am today

35:14

and for so many

35:16

things. So yeah, that was kind of the thought

35:18

process for me that that um, I

35:21

wanted it. I was. I was benefiting from so many

35:23

people before me, and I felt like I owed it to

35:26

anybody coming after me to kind of document

35:28

it and help, you

35:30

know, help progress. Can you win

35:33

come back Player of the Year after five weeks, Alex,

35:37

I don't care. Help

35:40

for me. That the feeling, the feeling

35:44

being out there, the emotions,

35:46

the being on that edge. So that's why

35:48

I came back and certainly

35:51

in the middle of it right now and just taking it day

35:53

by day. So I wondered

35:55

about this, and it's not fair to put you in the

35:57

position, but you know, when Dad goes down with that kind

35:59

of injury, and this is a fraternity

36:01

with quarterbacks, do you reach out?

36:05

Yeah, Guy's a great thing,

36:07

you know asked, you know, for me, especially with Dak, I feel like we

36:09

have a ton of common because he played for for you

36:11

know, my same coaches off through college, you know, a

36:13

bunch of you know, Damn moll And Coasting and college. My

36:15

good friend Brian Johnson was his quarterback

36:18

coach off through college. So Dad's

36:20

a guy I keep up with a lot, certainly in the division

36:22

as well, So I have a ton of respect for I love

36:24

his game. I love him as a human being,

36:27

everything he's about. So I had just

36:29

gotten home from the game, you

36:32

know, celebrating, you know, you

36:34

know, taking it all with my wife and kids, and

36:36

we had to We had the Cowboy game on, so watched it happen

36:39

live. M Yeah,

36:41

and you know, I

36:44

feel like I've become a little bit of an expert, you

36:46

know, the lower leg

36:48

and so ye had to look like his ankle immediately,

36:50

and um, you

36:53

know, for me, yeah, thinking about

36:55

him a lot. I thought a lot

36:58

about I've checked up on him through our our

37:00

mutual friends and seeing how he's doing. I

37:02

thought a lot about shooting in the text. Part of me also

37:04

didn't want to scare the hell out of him by shooting him

37:06

a text

37:11

you might be heading. I

37:13

feel like I kind of want to let him. I'll

37:15

let the infection risk kind of

37:17

get out of the way and hopefully reach

37:20

out here see it. Well,

37:22

I don't know what the next chapter is, but you

37:24

gave us a hell of a one this past weekend.

37:27

And uh, you know, like

37:29

I said, I've been through so many surgeries

37:31

and you're going out there to play football and

37:33

that's completely different. So my admiration

37:36

for you as a man. I mean,

37:38

that's that's impressive stuff. And certainly

37:40

your wife to be able to be there, because

37:42

I know how important that is have that support

37:45

because without that, you know, maybe

37:47

you're not you're not here, You're not in this moment right

37:49

now. Yeah, that's right. Yeah,

37:51

thank you, Dan, appreciate it. Thank you. Alex

37:54

As Alex Smith the quarterback

37:56

for the Washington football team, and I couldn't get

37:58

through the documentary. It was you know,

38:01

Plus he's in the moment, it's

38:03

different. But if I'm his wife, then I'm

38:05

saying, get these cameras out of here, like I gotta

38:07

worry my husband's gonna live. And then I'm worried

38:09

if he's gonna have he's gonna be able

38:11

to walk. And then he's saying, you know what happened

38:14

in Iraq and Afghanistan, all

38:17

of those men and women you know who would

38:19

lose a leg. And

38:21

he said he benefited from that, so powerful

38:24

stuff. Powerful stuff.

38:27

And he's thirty six. Like

38:31

Reggie Bush was his high school teammate.

38:33

You know, Reggie Bush hadn't played football in a few years,

38:35

and here he is out of football for two years,

38:38

trying to come back and play and

38:41

then getting into a game and then saying

38:43

I want to compete for the starting job. Yeah,

38:48

mcclem was that a good thing that he didn't

38:50

know it was Aaron Donald on his back wet

38:52

to freaked him out if he had known who it was. Well,

38:54

I don't know if they gave you a stress test in the hospital

38:57

where they go we're gonna put three hundred and thirty

38:59

pounds on you. If it's Aaron Donald,

39:01

you know, maybe that's a whole new rehab.

39:04

Hey, uh, let's see, we're

39:06

gonna put in Dominican sue on your back right

39:08

now. Just the amount of weight. Yeah, Paul, that's

39:10

what I was thinking when it was like the worst first

39:12

hit you could have if you're Alex Smith. It wasn't like a grazing

39:15

shot to the shoulder or some guy that grabs

39:17

him and pulls him down. He has the thickest

39:19

defensive lineman in the league. He really

39:21

jumped on his back like a piggybat. And Aaron Donald's

39:23

not thinking about report, you know what in the past

39:25

of the quarterback when he's doing they should doing his job. But I

39:27

was like, oh, that's the worst thing. And

39:30

plus he didn't mean to be funny,

39:32

but he said, you know, I don't want to reach out to dak

39:34

as if to alarm him, like, hey,

39:37

you know you're you're in the same

39:39

boat as I was. Yeah, it's

39:41

done, and you want to be a supportive wife. But if

39:43

everything they went through, you would think some wives might

39:45

be you know, this is it. We were

39:47

done with football. Let's thank god you're alive and

39:49

you didn't lose your leg. And you know, I don't know how

39:51

you could stand by him to that extent, Have you that brave and

39:54

then be fine with him going back out there again.

39:56

Yeah, because it's more on her than it is

39:58

on him, because she has to just watch.

40:02

And you know, having been there, when you watch

40:04

somebody you love have surgery, even

40:08

going through childbirth, like you you can't

40:10

do anything about it. You're you're there,

40:12

but you can't do anything about it. And here she is in the stands,

40:14

she's holding her head like, oh my god, and his

40:17

kids are reacting like yay, Dad's

40:19

in the game, and then mom

40:21

is just going And she was quoted as saying

40:23

she was nauseous, like she was feeling sick

40:25

while watching him. Yeample, you do remember the

40:27

last time he's in studio with the Minnesota Super Bowl

40:30

week and we did not know he was going to be traded to the Redskins

40:32

hours earlier. Hours later, and we

40:34

were throwing the football around, and I think mclovin said

40:36

to him, give me a fastball. It's not like

40:38

it's Mahomes. I shouldn't have any problem with it. I

40:41

think that's what you said to Alex Smith last time we saw. Yeah.

40:44

Yeah, yeah. But for some

40:46

reason he didn't seem bug that day. Dan. It was weird.

40:48

Is it almost as if he knew something? Yeah?

40:51

And now we find out when he said in my under oath,

40:53

and I realized that he did know Jeff

40:56

and Detroit joins us. So, Jeff, what's on your mind

40:58

today? What? No one

41:00

time for chat Row? I'm calling this

41:02

morning, Dan, because I owe

41:04

you an apology. I needed

41:07

to do a little research. I

41:09

did not know that the Cowboys

41:11

offered dak Pruscott thirty three million

41:13

with one hundred million guarantee. And

41:17

excuse me, but I really don't know

41:19

any broke Cowboy quarterbacks. I mean

41:21

it's like you get the penthouse, you get

41:23

the limits, and you get all of the perks. All

41:25

you have to do is do something decent with

41:27

the Dallas Cowboys, You'll

41:30

be the man forever. So that's

41:33

n That was his fault and I like

41:35

to just say big ups to Mark Cuban going

41:37

off finding Delonte West. My cousin sent

41:39

me a picture. He was panhandling on

41:42

the side of the road having mental problems,

41:44

drug issues. Mark Cuban went

41:46

out hisself, found Delonte

41:48

and got him into a treatment program. I don't

41:51

know too many billionaires that would do

41:53

that, So big up to Mark. He got

41:55

a big heart. Thank you, Joe. You know, Delonte West,

41:57

former NBA player, got him into rehab.

42:01

Yeah, the whole Dack situation. You

42:03

know, best case scenario is

42:05

probably going to be they franchise him, But

42:09

do you want to see what that progress is like. You're not going to

42:11

be able to see him in a game. You're not gonna offer him one hundred

42:13

million dollars out of sympathy. Final

42:15

Hour coming up. CC Sabathia, the former

42:17

Yankee Grape will join US. Jan Patrick

42:19

Shall