All right, hour number two here on a Tuesday afternoon, let's get it started. Coffee and company. Fil Bethorton's here on Sports Talk seven ninety If you want to join us on the show, your best bet today is to text in on the Ellen and Federal Credit Union text line five h two four three eight ninety seventy three. Members get more at Ellenn Federal Credit Union. You can learn what open your account today at LLENFCU dot com.
All right, so we are just a couple of days away from the NFL Draft, and we'll get into that, and just just a few because I do want to take a look at just where all these local players are projected to go, because obviously the attention has been on Tyler Schuck for good reason. I mean, quarterbacks usually you get talked about way more than any of the position in the draft, but he is somebody that has I think, I mean, maybe I'm just caught up in the Louisville world here not looking.
At the rest of the draft and whatnot.
But when it comes to players that when the season ended, there wasn't really much said about them at all as far as being likely taken early in the NFL draft, and then here we are a couple of days away. I mean, Chuck's got it, the guy of all positions that has kind of begun. He's been the buzz prospect in this year's draft, which sometimes you know it's a smoke screen, or sometimes you know it's all for nothing.
But we shall see.
All I'm hearing is good stuff, which you don't know if that's legit or not when you get this close to the to the NFL Draft, But real quick, just when it comes to the portal, you know, I've yet to see any big news today as far as a big name that that surprises folks. I did make the prediction at the beginning of the show that we'll have at least one big name that makes some kind of a decision or makes some an announcement that you know,
shocks everybody. And there's a really good player that becomes available late and everybody's going to be scrambling to get him, or you know, maybe the rosters are already set for certain schools. Therefore, you know, therefore they want these guys, but you know they can't, they can't get them. They already fill the spots. So that hasn't happened.
Just yet.
But as of four minutes ago, Casein Pryor put out a social media video announcing that he's coming back. So he did give us the confirmation. All signs pointed to this, but I am happy to know that, you know, there's no scenario I guess at this point. And again, it's good news and it's what I expected, but there is a little bit of like, all right, there's the relief because I expected him to come back. He didn't do anything to make us think that he wasn't.
But you just never know.
Anybody leaving at any time in college sports. But the most part, I feel like should not surprise you anymore. There are some exceptions, but you know, sometimes guys leave just because they can't. Nobody did anything wrong. The money might have been you know, comparable. So the fact that he's letting us know he's back is good. Now I'm gonna play this video and I will warn you I've not heard it yet, So there's highlights. There's like some
social media clips that they've got in there. He is talking briefly, but my guess is that there's just going to be some music and then him saying something, so it might not be great for radio. But given that it is a big piece of news and it's something we've talked about out for a while. Now, let's let's let's give it a listen and see what we have here. Right. So here, they're just showing a bunch of tweets that I can't even seem to see what they say. All right, Well,
I'm gonna pause really quickly here. So what they showed to kind of set the scene for you is just a bunch of social media, like a bunch of tweets that they screwed that that they included in the video that I get. I they were all so fast. I'm not sure if it was people like doubting prior or saying he wasn't coming back or what it was. But anyways, that was what you missed that you couldn't see. And then I assume this is case and letting us know the big news.
So there you go.
That's the big news case and prior coming back that was the expectation. But he did let us know. And if you were somebody that you know, tends to to overthink things I do, I don't think I would have been, you know, up late, waiting until midnight to see if there had been any kind of confirmation one way or the other. But rest assured there's no need to worry. Now he's told us that he's coming back and watching the highlights there that of course you couldn't see, you know,
because this is radio not TV. You know, five games, I mean, he only played in five games before he got hurt. He played in the opener against Morehead State. He played against Tennessee who you know that was not a good game, and then Indiana West Virginia and Oklahoma's when he got hurt. So really four and a half games. But one thing that really stood out that was missed. And again credit to Louisville, Pat Kelsey, all these guys, because at times and it was kind of I don't
maybe I don't know what word to use. It wasn't uncomfortable, but maybe a little awkward because when things were rolling, especially in January, like you would at times forget about Cason Pryor and Koran Johnson because the team had started to play well and win a lot of games and look good doing it, and you know, you felt great about the team. So therefore you're not thinking like, oh, what could have been? I mean, occasionally you would think about it, but it was a good thing. That's not
Cason's fault by any means. But you know, to see what I saw in the mostly the games in the Bahamas before he got hurt, and I guess briefly against Tennessee although that was a bad game for everybody, you know, he he gives you some athleticism that you really just you know, you didn't have. And this year, meaning this upcoming season, I mean, you're gonna have with him a very very athletic, versatile guy that can can can can
really excel and transition. And you know, I'm not thinking, oh, what could have been from last year, because again, the team did well enough to where it was oftentimes something
you didn't spend much time thinking about. But Louisville, you know, given that he's healthy, which because his injury happened so early in the season, it's hard to imagine he won't be fully healthy by the time the season starts, because you know, I guess that's one benefit of it that one you do, you do recover from an ACL tear a lot quicker now than you did fifteen twenty years ago. But you know, whatn't as if he suffered at the
end of the season. I mean, for example, Kobe Rodgers, who did not play last year for Louislle because of him. You know, he tore his ACL in the last game of the season in the NCAA Tournament when Charleston lost Alabama, so that led to him being out.
A whole year.
Cason missed a whole year essentially, and with that he got another year for a medical red shirt, an added year because of the junior college ruling. And if fully healthy, I'm sure he's going to be shaken off some rust. But this kind of feels like a big addition.
From the portal. I mean it it isn't, but it kind of is.
Right like you, he was a big deal last year, right like Cason, I feel like of all the guys that you added, and everybody kind of had a different layer of excitement, Meaning Chucky was the point guard you really knew you needed and you were I mean, that was a big git. Terrence Edwards was the first player to commit, and he was a great starting piece considering he had just upset Wisconsin. Him and James Madison did
in the NAA Tournament. James Madison beat Michigan State in East Lansing that year and oh, by the way, he was their best player in one Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year. So you were excited about everybody. And I loved that it was spaced out because you know, Karin Johnson, he's a guy that all packed twelve six man or I guess, the six man of the year in the PAC, twelve double figure scorer in a Power five league, former four star recruit, a good shooter, and again he
got hurt, but like that was a nice piece. Jamon Hadley, mister versatile. When if you remember they were going after they needed they needed front court players, they needed they needed a stretch forward and they you know, I don't really remember anybody outside of great Osibor that they were going after that. They they didn't get now they were they were looking at some guys they ended up elsewhere, Like one kid ended up going to Kansas State.
It was transferring.
So again, Cason was a big deal because he's the exact kind of guy you needed that you didn't have. And Osibor said no to Louisville and everybody else decided to follow Danny Sprinkle to Washington, and that probably let Louisville offer a little bit more money to somebody like Cason Pryor, and you know, I think you could see right away that he's he's a talented player, but you didn't get a chance to get any of it because
he got hurt so early. And now you know, I don't know, it's an obvious thing that we've kind of I mean, it's a no brainer, Like you don't really know what you lost, and because the team ended up actually having a really good season despite him only playing five games, maybe you don't truly realize what you were missing, right because you weren't sitting around thinking, oh, what could have been?
I mean maybe you did at times.
I know we did, whenever you were losing early on in the season, whenever those guys had just gotten injured. But kind of going back to what I said about and I'm not saying that the case in Pryor is as valuable as a player as zotega Oway, although I mean maybe he is. I don't know stuff to say because he got hurt. But going back to what we talked about earlier with Kentucky, a lot of their additions in the portal I think are good pieces that a
lot of teams would love to have. I think the majority of the guys they got at certain positions were not their first choice at said positions, but still they got some good pieces. But they didn't need to go out and get an elite guy that everybody wanted because they got Takeaway Back, who I think was their best player last year and will probably be an All American All American caliber player this year. So with Cason, I don't know if he's going to be an All American
caliber player, but like who knows. I mean, I think to see Louisville have three commitments from the portal that are all viewed as top twenty players in the transfer portal. So maybe Ryan Conwell, maybe Adrian Wooley, maybe those guys are your best player. Maybe it's Isaac McNeely, or maybe it's Case and Pryor, you know what I mean. So he's not an addition to your team, but he kind of is because you didn't have him last year as far as being healthy and able to play. So that's
the news you guys just now joining us. Case and Pryor did go ahead and let us know on the deadline day that he is coming back to Louisville, and that is that's great news. And again I'm I'm reacting to news that I didn't think would be like in any way of surprise, and it's not. But now that it's official, certainly certainly exciting. Right again, it's coffee and company, and we are fiel about Thornton's here on Sports Talk seven ninety before we get to our next break.
Yesterday, throughout the.
Day and even maybe even maybe it's even happening today, you have a bunch of players who are entering the portal that have no eligibility, and I.
Mean, it's it. It's to me, it's embarrassing.
But I also understand that you'd be foolish not to take advantage of another year in college if there becomes a scenario where you you get in an extra year. But with the NC double A completely being a mess
right now, I mean it. I just think yesterday seeing so many guys enter the portal that have played four some five years over one hundred and twenty games in their career, they don't even have any they don't even have an explanation, like they don't even like, I don't know what a waiver looks like for the NC double A. Butt's let's just imagine that it's like a document that you have to fill out, and you have like four to five options as far as what your reasoning is,
like is it medical, is it family emergency, whatever, like, whatever your options are. Most of these guys have nothing to choose. They're just gonna submit it and hope that it gets through. And again, I don't blame them, because, right, why not give it a shot if others are doing it too, right, there's nothing, there's nothing really to lose other than I guess some personal pride and some shame, because again, there's just something about it that screams like
it's over, man, Like go start your life. You had a great run. You know, you're you're you know, send Billy Madison, you know what I mean. Like it's over, bro, Like, you know, go go go get a job, update that LinkedIn profile, you know, find find work. I mean, there will be life after basketball. Like a part of me says that, like that, that aspect is what makes it sad.
But you know what's the saddest part is that it's because of the NC douable A. There's no there's no rules, seemingly right, now, they've never had less control, there's never been less fear of the NC double A. People are doing whatever they want and just you know, I guess daring the nc DOUBLEA to you know, regulate things and operate as if there are guardrails and rules and things
you have to do. It's just everybody doing whatever the hell they want, and daring the NC double A to you know, show that they have any kind of authority to to to fight you, or to to challenge you or tell you what you can and can't do, because right now, because they for generations had this archaic amateurism model and it's now been ruled legally that that was not a legal thing for them to do. You fight, you know, you hire a lawyer, you fight it. You're
probably gonna win. I mean, I say that somewhat sarcastically because I just don't know what the like. I don't know what you could claim you'd need you deserve eligibility for if you take the The NCUBA is very beatable right now in court, that's been proven. But you can't just go to court and say, yeah, I think I should be able to play six years in college because because because there's money to be made like that that you probably won't win, right, but everybody's trying.
It because there's zero.
Respect, fear awareness of the nc DOUBLEA and what their rules are, so like, yeah, people can make fun of these guys, and I guess I was kind of doing that yesterday as we made it a big part of the show. But the people like, if you want to point fingers and make fun, make fun of the n doable A. Like their existence is hilarious right now, And part of me is like, you know, what really can they do? They don't have resources to you know, regulate things, like,
they don't have subpoena power. They can't really enforce stuff. And right now they try to enforce things. Schools are hiring a lawyer and the NABA is being told, yeah, you can't do that, and that puts them in a position that's, you know, really tough to be and right
what are they supposed to do? They're pretty helpless and I'm sure the people right now that are working with the NC DOUBLEA, like as employees, trying to get this thing, trying to get this whole college athletics world back on track and clean it up a little bit, they're not the They're not at fault, but it's the entity the organization for again generations. They never made any kind of adjustments.
They wanted you to think that the rules in place to play college athletics back in the nineteen fifties is if they had it their way, it would still be that way. They would have not made any kind of adjustments to you know, modern society. So when you are just so dug in on the way you did it forever, you get to this point where it blows up and I think yesterday seeing I mean, just think of it. Just I mean, like, nothing surprises us right now in college sports, but just.
Say it out loud.
You got guys that are entering the portal that are no longer college athletes, but trying to still be college athletes because they just in their mind and I guess their attorneys are their agents whoever are like, why not give it a shot. The NAA's getting body bagged every day. So anyways, real quick, we got to get to a break.
But I will say, did we get a name that you know fits the criteria for what I said at the beginning of the show, I said, I think by the end of the day or the end of the show, we'll have a player that hits the portal that everybody's going to be really excited about. That's going to be, you know, a big, a big popular player that everybody wants if they have, if they've got roster spots and money open.
I don't know if this guy fits the criteria, but I kind of think he does.
Boogie Fland former John Caliperry guard who committed to Kentucky and to play for Calviot. Obviously calgoes dark and saw he followed him there. I mean, I kind of feel like Boogie flanned. I mean, he didn't play a ton because he got injured, but when he was healthy, he was Arkansas's best player. They made the Sweet sixteen. He's a former five star guard, so I think that fits it. So therefore my prediction was correct, probably the only thing I'll get correct today.
But hey, I'll take it all right, quick break. What I want to do.
On the other side, take a look at some NFL draft stuff, some guys that I think, you know, wouldn't shock me if despite being taken late and not getting a whole lot of love, I could see him having long NFL careers and guys who you know didn't have long NFL careers. Some of these guys who you know are viewed as all time busts. I want, I want you to keep this in mind. They couldn't control the fact that somebody thought they were as good as they you know, good enough and worthy of a top pick, and.
You know they weren't overrated.
Is a tough spot to be in because, to be honest with you, you can't control it, right, you're not ranking yourself. So I have a little sympathy for those that you know were drafted early, had a lot of expectation, couldn't live up to it. I mean, again, it's their job. They couldn't get it done, but you know they didn't pick themselves. All right, quick break, keep it lock right here on Sports Talk seven ninety. That's right, we're uh. I was gonna say about halfway through the show, but
a little bit further than that. We will be out about thirty minutes early today because we've got a Louisville Bats game coming your way. Their coverage will start around five thirty, so an hour left and we'll make the most of the last hour that we have, so stick
with us. It is Coffee and Company, and we are fuel about Thornton's on Sports Talk seven ninety just a couple of days away from the NFL Draft and right now and again, there's all kinds of different different NFL mock drafts out there, and I don't really even have one that I feel like is, you know, more trustworthy than the other. In fact, there's way more coverage on the internet, way more outlets that really prioritize NFL draft
coverage compared to the NBA Draft. But you know, I've always referenced mock drafts, but I've never once looked at one, I don't think, and felt like, okay, well this one is you know, this is mel Kiper, this is Todd McShay. No offens to those guys, but I just in the NFL, I've always felt like it's a little bit harder to predict. But right now, here is the expectation according to let's see who I just pulled up here.
This is CBS Sports, and.
It doesn't show I guess this is like a collection of their staff that is collectively putting together a mock draft either way, And it sounds as if cam word has already been told that he's going to be the
first pick. So cam Ward quarterback to the Titans number one, Travis Hunter number two to the Browns of Dual Carter, the edge from Penn State number three to the Giants, Will Campbell, an offensive tackle from LS Shoo to the Patriots, and then Mason Graham, a D lineman from Michigan to the Jacksonville Jaguars.
So Ashton Jenz.
I mean, it's starting to seem as if he's going to be likely taken with the six pick to go to the Raiders. And I could be wrong, but I feel like it's been a while since we had a running back taking this early. I could completely be making that up, but obviously the ringing back position in the NFL is so different now than it was even five
six years ago. Seems like, I mean, I kind of feel like if you're going to draft a running back in the first round, even I mean doing it at number six, I mean, maybe this guy has a long career, but think about it in the NFL with a first
round pick. Best case scenario for you is that a guy plays and has a sensational season or a sensational career that lasts many years, multiple contracts, right if that happens, even if you don't win a Super Bowl, but you end up bringing in a guy that is clearly good and you value him. You know that if you don't keep signing him, he's gonna go elsewhere like that. That's that's what you know. Obviously you want to win, but
it takes more than just one draft pick. So what I'm getting at is, I guess the payoff the draft a running back because again, how many running backs are even getting big time second contracts now?
Not many? And I hate that for these guys.
But like, if you are keeping up with how the NFL you know operates this day and age, like the better move for you is to go get a running back right out of college that maybe you know you can get as an undrafted free agent, utilize him for you know, a few years. I mean again, maybe take
him in the late rounds. I mean so, anyways, I guess if the raiders, I mean, what they would look at is, Okay, he's on his rookie deal, he's rather cheap right now, and then by the time by the time he gets to his second contract, you'll let you let him walk because you know, playing four years in the NFL as a running back is like, you know, or playing four years at most positions in the NFL is seemingly like playing ten years as a running back. So I mean, I think Genti's good, but I just
I don't know. I feel like seeing him being projected to be taken that early is a real surprise. But looking at the rest of this mock draft, I just want to reference, at least if I can find it again, there's seven and if there's seven rounds, so it's not as easy to uh, it's not as easy to uh to figure out. But let's see. That's my We'll come back to this because I'm gonna make sure I need to filter it out to where I can actually see it because I want I don't want to just look
at Chuck. I want to look at Ashton, Jilotti, Quincy Riley, maybe even Jacry Brooks. So we'll get into that coming up here a little bit later. What I also wanted to talk about when it comes to the NFL draft is some names we discussed yesterday, Guys that are viewed and believed to be you know, all time busts. I defended a lot of guys yesterday just by saying that, you know, just because you didn't end up being like one of the best players to ever play. I feel
like it's unfair to say that you're a bust. And because you were a really good player and you were taken, I don't know, number three, and you had a good career ten years, all pro, maybe not elite, but you were good for a long time. But yet somebody was taken in the twenties and they are believed to be an all time great. That doesn't mean you're a bust.
It just means that you know, somebody slipped late. I don't know why I'm so sensitive to the whole bust conversation, but I just feel like it's almost impossible to live up to that, right, Like, what's this? I mean again, you go back and look at all time number one draft picks, guys that you would say are for sure not a bust. I mean, how many of those guys are there? And I mean, what do they accomplish? Because I think you have expectations so high, especially if you're
a quarterback being taken number one in the NFL. That's a really, really, really tough thing to see through because usually you're gonna get thrown right in there because they need you. And the reason that you're being taken number one, or the reason that team, I should say, is taking you at number one is because they sucked. That's how they ended up with the number one pick. They were the worst team in the league. And let's go throw this rookie quarterback out there and see if he can
make them any better. Again, I don't hear people mention these things, and I guess there's no way to know for sure, but I feel like you could take like, let's say, let's just say there are three tiers of quarterbacks in the NFL, really good, good, and then you know, good enough to start. But if they could find somebody better, they would get them. That's that third tier, meaning find somebody you know they could they could find somebody better,
they would take it. I feel like if you were to just take any of those guys, maybe not any of them, but a lot of them, and you put them in the same situation that the number one pick at quarterback is going to be in when he inherits, when he walks into a situation, I feel like they would be just as bad.
Like it wouldn't be a big upgrade.
Now again, maybe a lot of those guys that are in that third tier aren't viewed as number one potential players, like they didn't have that kind of hype. But still, like it really is such a tough scenario to envision a number one pick at quarterback going to an awful team and that team being any good in a couple of years. Like, it's just it's almost a winless battle. I mean, it's happened. I mean Joe Burrow, I mean he got the Bengals to the super Bowl pretty early.
That was unheard of and he was the number one pick.
But it's rare, it really is.
So anyways, this is from college sports only the Twitter account. They have a thread here as far as where are they now? These guys that are, you know, believed to be some of the biggest bust in the NFL draft. Josh Rosen, we talked about him yesterday. He was the tenth pick in the twenty twenty one draft. Obviously went ahead of Lamar Jackson, Baker Mayfield, Sam Darnold, Josh Allen, then Josh Rosen, then Lamar Jackson.
So between.
Allen and Jackson, you have three MVP Awards and the guy taking between those two guys Rosen and you know, he played a few games in the NFL did not work out. So currently he is now a student at Penn's Wharton School of Business. So regardless of the NFL not working out, he clearly put away a little bit of money and has started his life post football. Probably not what he envisioned, but you know, there you go. How about Paxton Lynch had a Memphis He was drafted
in twenty sixteen. I know he was, I think I think he played a few different places, but I remember him being in Denver.
According to this, he is now just a sports dad.
I don't know, I mean, I don't know what he does for work, but apparently, if you will, like keep up with him on social media, all he talks about is you know, watching his kids play sports, which, hey, I mean, there's nothing wrong with that. And again, if you flame out in the NFL and you had, you know, a few years to try to make it work, it does suck that you didn't make it work, and you've got to move on and realize that you weren't able to do it. You weren't able to last in the NFL.
As long as you wanted to. But it's not like, you know, you're losing your job and becoming homeless. You made millions of dollars to play football, so you got
a good You got a good. When you do have to start life after realizing that you didn't have what a lot of people thought you had as far as being able to make it as a pro athlete, you're likely in a good spot to start your new life after football or basketball or whatever it is, because you know, let'st I check professional athletes to make a lot of money.
Johnny Manziel he is such a figure within sports, and he was such a I mean a character that he's always seemingly maintained a level of relevance that you know, I don't think is fading anytime soon, but obviously he is.
He's got his.
Own like golf apparel line, and he's got a podcast that apparently does really well and he makes good money doing it. And of course, you know, he made a lot of money in the NFL, and he made a lot of money with endorsements. I'm sure, because you know, he was Johnny Football, Brandon Whedon. I don't remember a whole lot of him in the NFL other than just a brief stretch with the Browns. But he was drafted in twenty twelve and now he runs the Brandon Whedon Foundation.
Whatever that is.
I'm sure it's a positive, a positive thing for his community wherever he lives.
Jake Locker, he is a very forgettable guy.
But he was drafted out of Washington and ended up in Nashville with the Titans. And I don't remember him ever. I mean I remember playing, but not long. But he now is the co owner of Locker Room Fitness Center in Washington, so he's got his own gym. Jimmy Clauston. How about that guy? For to talk about a name I forgot about. He was in the twenty ten draft. He's a real estate developer in LA. And then some of these guys have moved on to be analysts. Mark Sanchez.
I don't know if he was a BUZST, but he's listed here. I mean, he was a guy who you know, played a while in the NFL. He's mostly remembered with the BUF fumble, if you guys remember that many years ago. Also, I remember him and Rex Ryan for beating Peyton Manning in one of the last good years we had of Peyton and Indian. I was a bummer to lose to Sanchez, but he's doing a good job, I think as an
analyst for Fox. And then Brady Quinn he's now uh you hear him on Fox Sports Radio and also he is a part of the Big Noon Kickoff, which is the uh Fox version of college game Day. And then JaMarcus Russell probably the all time bust and a guy that unfortunately there hasn't really been any like good stories about him that I've that I've seen since he flamed
out of the NFL. In fact, the last story that came up this was last year he was fired as a high school assistant coach in his hometown because he stole seventy four thousand dollars from the from.
The football program. I mean that's just sad. I mean.
I don't really know, like when you say sad, like you know who, like you got to think about like who the victim is and something sad like. But I mean, I guess it's just sad for him that like that's his life that he because he's somebody that I'm not really sure why he was viewed as a guy that was a surefire I mean, look, maybe if it wasn't maybe if it wasn't the Raiders taking him number one, then he would have fallen and other teams would have
known to avoid the risk that was JaMarcus Russell. But I mean flamed out in the NFL. And there's so many stories that you know, make him look bad, like it's actually a funny story, but it also is, you know, not surprising if you have followed JaMarcus Russell in any way, that they didn't believe that he was watching the game
film they were given him. He just told him that he was, so to test him, they gave him game film that had nothing on it, there was nothing to watch, and they asked him if he watched it, and he so, oh, yeah, yeah, I don't know if it was.
Game film or what.
It was just you know, playbook stuff or I'm sorry, that's what it was. They gave him a playbook and it had nothing in it, that's what it was, wasn't film. And they asked him if he'd he'd been studying and he said yeah, And he didn't realize that. You know, pretty easy to catch you in the line when they gave you a playbook that was empty and that was a story that came out like many years after. I
think he bounced out of the NFL. But I mean, this guy have a hard time seeing somebody fall harder than he did after being taken number one and all that expectation, all that hype and then now a sad, sad tale for sure.
Matt Lioner. Again, some of these guys aren't busted. I don't know. I guess. I guess maybe these aren't viewed as bust.
These are just guys that some of them are, obviously, But some of these other guys are just quarterbacks that got drafted and you know, did not have lengthy careers. But Ryan Leaf, I thought he was somebody that you know, would never be topped. But I think he has been topped by JaMarcus Russell because you know, despite Ryan Leaf being he was the second pick overall at quarterback in nineteen ninety eight. Again he went ahead of Peyton Manning
and he clearly, I mean, he couldn't hack it. He was I mean, he was out of the NFL pretty quickly, and you know was awful. I mean as far as like a guy taking that early and as far as production, he's he's right there with the JaMarcus Russell and then you remember, you know, he anything you heard about him post NFL was that he was in trouble with the law,
getting arrested for drug possession. I think he became addicted to drugs and because of that he became you know, a criminal and was breaking the law with burglary and all that kind of stuff. Well, then he ended up getting treatment and has been from an I understand, he's been completely you know, out of trouble for many years now. And he also currently works for the CW as a
college football analyst. So you know, it's a guy who I thought would never be topped, and sure enough, JaMarcus Russell has I think, outdone him as far as the biggest all time bust. And now you know, Ryan Leaf is, you know, seemingly living a much better life than he was right after the NFL. All right, let's do this quick break. We'll come back and wrap up the four
o'clock hour. Talk a little more about where the local players here from both Louisville, Kentucky and even Indiana are expected to go.
And who knows.
We got a lot to get into, but not a lot of time left because of course, we're at a little earlier today, so we'll make the most of what we have to work with. Keep it locked right here on Sports Talk seven ninety. So I missed this earlier, but the younger la mala a. I. I'm sure I'm not saying that correctly. But Niko's brother, he also is going to be heading to UCLA. Bad news came out
over the weekend or maybe yesterday. I'm not sure, but he was at Arkansas, I believe, and I gotta, I gotta let me just double check this because.
I think he was.
He at UCLA, left to go to Arkansas and then came back to UCLA. That sounds crazy, but let's see. Yeah, ESPN says the younger brother is expected to join former Tennessee quarterback at UCLA.
The younger of the two in.
Arkansas freshman quarterback will make the move after deciding to enter the incitable A transfer portal, sources confirmed to ESPN. Yeah, so he was the number. He was an early enrollly so he's never played anywhere, but he was the number one forty. He was ranked one forty five overall in the twenty twenty five class and previously spent eight months committed to UCLA before he flipped to Arkansas during the early signing period in December.
So he was committed to UCLA.
I knew there was some kind of connection where he'd already been affiliated with UCLA in some way. So he was committed to UCLA and then flipped to Arkansas enrolled early in December. And now that his brother's going to UCLA, little bro is going to follow him to UCLA and Arkansas they are they're fighting this now because of just how things are currently. You know, I was gonna say regulated, but there's really no regulation in the NCUBLA. But they can't.
They can't, like they can't fight to keep him ineligible. However, they are fighting, I guess, to uphold the contract that he signed. So this is from one hundre Ye At, the director of Athletics for Arkansas.
Quote.
I've spoken with the leadership team at Arkansas Edge and express my support in their pursuit to enforce their rights under any agreement violated by our student athletes. Moving forward, we appreciate edges investment in our student athletes and acknowledge the enforcement of these agreements is vital in our new world.
Of college athletics. We look forward to continue.
Dialogue with all parties and resolving these matters. So Arkansas's taking measures to enforce the contract they signed with this young man, and that's what you should do. That's why you have things in writing. And where it really gets
just tough for these schools is that. I mean, as much as I blame it on the NCAA, and as much as at times I say, look, you know, coaches, you know they shouldn't complain so much about players getting paid and players being able to go wherever they want because you know a lot of people have to make adjustments and whatnot. Right, your job duties can certainly change
over years because you know, society evolves. So when it comes to having to make some adjustments and some changes along the way to your job, that's really that's that's normal. And these guys, by the way, they don't have to win to make all their money. So yeah, I oftentimes and I still believe everything I said, like coaches complaining
about it one does nothing. And if it's just about the fact that they don't like players being able to go wherever they want or players making money, I mean, then go do something else, because you know it's not changing, but if their gripe really comes from the just you know, helplessness that they that they that they currently operate under, I mean I get it because you're not because the nc DOUBLEA is still trying to, you know, not have
these college athletes viewed as employees. Like that's what they're so against is them identifying as employee status, which then again, you know, changes everything about taxing, the scholarships and all that.
It's a whole mess.
Like that's that's the real thing that could potentially change college athletics forever. I mean, I think we'd have something, and I mean we probably would have what we have now would just be it would probably just be called pro sports. I mean, we know it is, we don't
call it that. But anyways, what I'm getting at is because you are not allowed to quote pay for play, meaning we know that this is pay for play, right, Like these players are going to a school to play a sport, but they're paid for just being who they are, not for the sport. And again I hope you can sense the sarcast and because it's all a ruse, like
it's it's not real. But because the NCAA is so dead set on these guys not being paid for play in any money that they get, even if it's millions of dollars, it's just because of who they are, not because that they're there to play sport. That's the way it has to be with the NCUBLEA. So when you write these contracts, you can't, like, you are not allowed under the NSCUABAA rule book to if there even is one anymore to say that this guy is you know, the terms of the deal cannot include paying or I'm
sorry playing. It can be you know, it can include like appearances and I don't even think you can include
it to like how long you stay there. Now, what you can do is basically say that if you take money and you know whatever, the But where it gets really tricky is that if you're going to put in the contract detail specific things that this person signing the contract, this player has to do in order to fully get whatever is coming with the deal, it can include a lot of things that you know are obvious, right like sticking around playing you know, for the team and not
opting out and transferring. So I'll be curious to see what the verbiage is here with this contract because I mean, they need there's no way it had anything to do with he had to stay there and play. I mean, go back to I've already forgotten the young man's name, Triton Flowers. You know, he came to Louisville, got in IL money to do that, obviously, big time recruit, and then he got here and realized, oh it's a mess talking about Kenny Payne, and he got out he'd have
to give any money back. I mean, I think he had some kind of a deal. I mean, clearly he had in IL money, but I'm not sure what the contract was. But I mean, if you remember, his father was pretty outspoken and saying like he's still uphold he upheld his end of the deal, and he appeared at
some engagements. I think that's actually why he stuck around as long as he did before he decided to bail and go overseas instead of, you know, playing in colleges, because I think he knew that if he stuck around just long enough, he would not have to give back any of the money that he had taken because he
appeared at some events. So that that does leave you helpless because you know you've got to pay players to get him there, but the NCAA still is acting as if they're not there to play a sport and you're just paying them for existing. And that makes it to where when it comes down to putting pen to paper and upholding an agreement, you know, like contracts are four, you really can't enforce anything.
It's a mess.
I feel like every day on the show that's brought up. But not only because it's something that you know, we talk about, like it's not a planned thing, but like Arkansas is clearly wanting to get back money they paid for this player who never played a second for them, and I think that they're they have every right to do that, but because of the NCAA and they're incompetence, I'm sure the contract probably doesn't have anything in it that will make him have to pay any money back.
I mean, I could be wrong. We shall see. All right, let's get to a break. We'll come back on the other side. I got We got about thirty minutes before we get out of here and get you to the Louis of Bads game.
So stick with us right here. On Sports Talk seven ninety