Transcript of Hour 1: The Arch That Is Not A Bridge

This is the Dan Levatore Show with the Stugats podcast.

I'd like to talk with you guys a little bit about what is happening surrounding Adam Silver, because you guys say, Don't follow the legend, nick Saban. Don't follow the legend, Bill Belichick. And the way Adam Silver followed the legend, David Stern, was by being so bold or appearing so bold, I should say, appearing so bold, because when he took the team from Donald Sterling, it was actually a very easy decision because all the other owners wanted him to do that because they hated Donald Sterling. Donald Sterling was an embarrassment to all the other owners for a long time.

Except for Mark Cuban, funny enough.

The position that Adam Silver now finds himself in is an interesting one because I thought, once upon a time, he was a progressive, modern leader who was younger than David Stern, who would be ally to the players, more gentle, wouldn't be iron-fisted dictator. You don't believe that anymore? Well, he's just gotten old, right? Adam Silver has aged during the tenure in a way that might make him make a few of the mistakes that he made when he called it a highlight league. He's walked some of that back here recently because he had to. When you've signed this much in television contracts, you cannot tell your television partners that it's a highlight league on the internet. Let's listen to Adam Silver walking some of that back before we get to some other Adam Silver comments, because he's been caught off guard by Pablo Torre's reporting that is so thorough that it has showed that Adam Silver benefited from a soft media for the last few years, that he's smarter than, usually, in the way that we cover some of these things. But he's been behind Pablo Torre, and Pablo Torre has made some of the things he has said look bad with new information.

But let's get some walking back here, some backpedaling on Adam Silver calling his league a highlight league.

A portion of the question, the end of the question was about the impact of social media. That's what I was answering on our sport. And what I was saying in a very positive way, and I don't think it takes... I think it's additive to those who watch our games live and increase the likelihood that they'll watch our games live. By saying highlights-based, I meant when I watch the traditional sports center and they have the top 10 plays, and five of those are NBA plays, I'm like, Yeah, I'm not thinking like, Oh, damn, more highlights are being promoted from our league. Conventionally, the reaction that was like, that's really good. It's a live game full of highlights. I mean, by definition, highlights aren't necessarily past tense. I mean, like when the NBA games are packed with action. And I guess it was misconstrued, but the point I trying to make is that there is this community of social media followers, frankly, globally estimated at roughly around two and a half billion people connect with the NBA in some way.

I think he's full of crap. I think he's full of crap because he says there that if you remember what the question was, I was answering about social media. I have the question. You want to hear what the question was? This was back after the owners meeting, which was what? A week and a half, two weeks ago. The actual question was, it's becoming very expensive to watch the NBA as a fan, not just to go to games, but also in order to... There's different streaming services you have to subscribe to. Some of the RSNs are expensive. I know there are points of entry for fans to interact with the NBA. There's social media, a lot of younger fans. That is how they're experiencing the sport. But I wonder how much you think about that and how that will shape the next generation of fans. That's a question about cost. He's full of crap.

Not the only time that he's full of crap. Because let's go to the original sound that Adam Silver gave us before Pablo Torre's additional reporting that made all of this sound very foolish.

The podcast came out. It was news to me. I'd frankly never heard of the company Aspiration before, and I'd never heard a whiff of anything around an endorsement deal with Kauai or anything around engagement with the Los Angeles Clippers. So it was all new to me.

And that didn't seem right at the time, and it proved to not be right when Pablo Tori reported what he did. And so this is what Adam Silver had to say after that. He has said that you have said you hadn't heard of Aspiration before, but a $300 million deal with the team The team was going to be like a Jersey Patch sponsor.

They had Aspiration on the back of the courtside seats. I think Pablo- Just to be clear, I'm not sure if I said I never heard of it, I meant in the context of the accusations here.

I certainly was aware of the brand, but I didn't know anything about it.

Got it. Yes.

Because I think just earlier today, Pablo tweeted, he said that because it was a $300 million deal, it was a founding sponsorship agreement. Those, as I would expect, have to be approved at the league level.

Why is he lying? I mean, you can't be any clearer than, I've never heard of the company aspiration.

Why is he lying? Because the truth makes everybody look really terrible. The truth... Allegedly, Why is everyone lying? Because the truth is this is, and I know this is complicated thicket of information because it is rare in my lifetime to see a journalist put in the work in sports that would come close to a smoking gun on things the seventh richest person in the world is trying to hide. Usually, we can't get close to those things. The corridors of power in sports and around money in general make it that there is just these giant gulfs between the people who are running sports and the people covering sports. We're not actually allowed near many of the guard gates, never mind, through them. Pablo Torre's reporting on this, if it is factual that Balmer put in tens of millions of dollars, should make this one of the biggest sports scandals that we've seen in a decade. The biggest one in that sport, non-crime division. The accusations here are not crimes around the- That's a big asterisk, non-crime division, because there have been a lot of gambling scandals in the NBA, just these past two years. Well, you tell Tell me, go ahead.

Sterling was pretty big.

Yes, it was.

I think that was over a decade ago, though, at this point. Donagy.

Sterling was pretty big, and I would say that it was pretty big because of what the commissioner did. If the commissioner did the same thing here, this one would it would be as big. It doesn't have the racial elements, but it would be as big if they got rid of the owner, which they're not going to do.

I'm glad that you mentioned Sterling because Silver came out of the gates, getting a lot of credit for his handling of Donald Sterling and being more progressive than any of the other commissioners when it came to gambling. But in retrospect, that seemed like we were moving in that direction either way. So it got a lot with... He bought a lot with how he handled Donald Sterling. Do you remember how poorly he handled Robert Sarver and what the initial punishment was? I don't remember. Which was just a year long suspension, while Chris Paul and LeBron James came out and heavily criticized what went on with Robert Sarver and how it was allowed to do. You remember what pushed Bud Zeeley out? It feels like, maybe I'm remembering this wrong, but people weren't happy with that All-Star Game fiasco. The NBA has got its own All-Star Game fiasco. In fact, the NBA has bigger problems right now. Style of play, ratings way down, load management. These are all things that happen on Adam Silver's watch.

This is his NBA.

This is his NBA. And now you add the kawaii thing to this. Let's not forget the Daryl Mori China thing. There have been a lot of bad things that have happened to this man's resume when just a few years ago, along the time of Bray Rice, he would have argued easily, Roger Goodell is the worst commissioner in sports, and Adam Silver is the best. Shoes on the other foot. You're right. Roger Goodell has wholly turned that thing around.

I mean, unless they find actual federal crimes or whatever that have been committed in this, the story is... In terms of how it's affected the league, it's largely insignificant, right? You have a guy who refuses to play a lot of the time, who went to a team where he didn't really impact anything. They didn't win a championship or anything, and they circumvented a salary cap, and again, didn't really impact any of the results.

Well, it's up to the owners, right?

Yeah. But I'm saying big picture. It's not like, Oh, now we need to strip a team of a title. This is the integrity of the game. It hasn't really impacted results very much.

If they want a title, if they had any actual success, I suppose there'd be a I think it depends on what the penalty is, guys.

I will- We don't think there's going to be a big penalty is what we're saying.

That's a big problem.

Okay, and maybe there won't be. It's a carnal sin. Maybe there won't be a big penalty. I don't know that we can comment on this intelligently, though, until we see what all the reporting is and what the penalty is, because the Donald Sterling story was obviously a salacious scandalous story because we had audio of racism at a time. Think of the time this was. Race as subject matter was something that it mushroom clouded for reasons that have been happening in this country for the last 10 years at that time. You had the scandal there. But what made it the story that it became is, holy shit, a commissioner just came down and took somebody's team. It was the penalty that made it mushroom into the larger story. When you guys talk about a commissioner doing a good job or not, What's the job? Because Goodell was seen as a clown but was making money for the league. Adam Silver, while not a clown, Adam Silver found a revenue source in streaming that didn't exist before. And the consequences, if not for streaming, maybe all those things you just mentioned would have actually hurt the dollars because fewer people were watching.

But it doesn't matter. The teams are worth more than they've ever been, and the money is rolling in at an unprecedented number.

I don't think you can give them credit for finding streaming when I think they're last to the streaming rights fees. Now, streaming platforms have evolved and have increased resources and a higher priority on getting live sports rights. But the NFL was talking to the streamers well before, and they had their deal with Prime and Netflix. The NHL, their basically League Pass package went to ESPN. Mlb had Roku and Tubi. We're doing the streaming thing again. They had exclusive, so I don't know how much credit you can give Adam Silver for finding this. But to your point, the saving grace for Roger Goodell when he was in the middle of the Ray Rice stuff and it legitimately felt like he was going to get fired was he kept raising the watermark in terms of rights and what the league was generating, and Adam Silver has done that.

I'm not giving Adam Silver credit for discovering streaming. I'm simply saying that by happenstance, an amount of money has appeared out of nowhere that makes it so that those owners are probably happy with the job Adam Silver is doing, because I will ask you guys again, what is the commissioners' primary job? Because I think we think of it as, protect the league, protect the optics, protect the future of the league. I think the owners say, no, how much cash are you making me right now? That's the number one job of Adam Silver.

No, you're right. I think the average sports fan thinks the Commissioner's job is to be in charge of the league, to be like the law and order of the league, and be in charge of making sure everything is fair and just. But in pro sports, it's literally the job of the Commissioner just to make the owner's money.

A few sports a decade ago were better positioned for global domination, like the NBA, and that stuff is cool. They've been slow on this expansion to Europe. I don't know if the same energy because of the things that I outlined, style of play, load management. You don't know if you buy a ticket, you're going to see the stars playing. These are all newer things that have happened on Adam Silver's watch that David Stern, say what you will about the man. I don't think he would- He was the best. He would not let this stuff happen when it came I buy a ticket to set game. I don't see Star because of what? Because they're resting?

He was that Commissioner that I just described we wish or thought that commission is supposed to be the ones that keep the league in order and make sure that everything is on the up.

Popovich, I remember where that started. Popovich in Miami let his starter stay in San Antonio, and David Stern thundered in and corrected that. But this is an important distinction you guys are making between how it is that these leads are led, because I would say that soon after on a commissioners' job, very soon after on the priority list of make owner's money. And David Stern did this very differently, and this has happened quietly under Adam Silver. The owners didn't feel like they were David Stern's boss. They are Adam Silver's boss. And the job of Adam Silver beyond making money is to be the protective buffer. This is all Goodell did at the beginning when there was chaos around him. Hey, make sure this shit doesn't get near Jerry Richardson. Make sure that none of this shit gets close to the money. Just take the hit as the leader of the league so that we're not yelling about any of the owners. Be the protective buffer on this. But here he's compromised because this is an owner everyone loves, and this is an owner who is very much Adam Silver's boss. When Steve Ballmer returns Silver's calls a little more slowly than Silver returns Ballmer's calls.

That's the way that relationship works. The money is the power there, and part of the job is protect the owners from being seen as all of this. Protect all of the owners from being covered in the garbage. You take the hit on it.

I mean, it's very clear that Adam Silver is trailing on this story. His answers on it have been bad. When Deflategate is happening, or when the Steven Ross tampering stuff is happening, Roger Goodell sprang into action. You announced this investigation panel, and I know that Adam Silver has done that, even though there's ambiguity surrounding that. But he wasn't saying quotes that made things worse. It's a challenge for him to navigate, and I don't think he's navigating it well.

This episode is supported by FX's The Lowdown, starring Ethan Hawk.

Allow us to introduce you to Lee Raybon, a quirky journalist rare bookstore owner, unofficial truth seeker who's always on the tail of his latest conspiracy. This time, his most recent exposé puts him head to head with a powerful family that rules Tulsa.

Meaning only one thing, he We must be onto something big. Fx's The Low Down premieres September 23rd on FX.

Stream on Hulu.

Dan Levatard.

Two us residents.

Oh, wow. That's pretty good. It's in there.

It's better. I think I haven't been practicing?

Stugatz. I didn't realize we had a substitute complicated legacy-Brought you by headquarters Toyota.

441 Power Line Road. Second down to nine.

This is the Dan Levatard show with the When you say Zaslow, that Adam Silver is full of crap, aren't we all?

Actually, literally, aren't we all full of crap?

You're talking about the GI track? Yes.

I'm talking about how your back hurts when you take a big dump.

What? That's never happened to me, unlike that collar.

I did like his accent, though. I got to tell you, I do love that segment, pull this take. It's growing on me.

Tony has football observations that he has not made this week, and he is somewhere outside. It is raining outside, and I don't know exactly where he is because I can't see him at this precise moment, but I suspect there he is. I see him on the preview, and soon... Look at that. Look at that landscape. That looks fake behind Tony. That is freedom behind him, over his right shoulder. He have the Freedom Tower over his left shoulder. What do we do with that freedom? We waste it. We waste $800 million on that thing over there, that arch that's not a bridge, that is just a useless built thing that is making downtown traffic just awful in Miami. No reason for that. That is just wasteful spending. Downtown Miami is filled with construction because we can only build up. What is that thing behind, Tony? It is a giant waste of money. I don't understand why that's there.

Don't forget the flooding.

Oh, and it floods right under there. Yes.

That thing is edging right now.

That would be a useful bridge if 10 years from now, all of South Florida is underwater, and that's how we were traveling that high up. But it's not a bridge, is it?

It's going to be a bridge. Is it?

Are we sure? You sure it's not just a visual arch? Are you positive?

It's definitely not going to be a bridge.

It's called the Downtown Miami Arch Bridge.

Yeah, but is it a functional bridge or is it just-When they build the road under it?

The Golden Gate Bridge, you didn't just snap your finger, and then all of a sudden there's a bridge there. You have to build the different portions of the bridge. So that's what they're going for.

I'm not sure this is structural, though, as a part of the whole bridge thing. I think this is mainly esthetics, right?

This is for a Tom Cruise movie where he's going to jump across something.

Yeah, we got two people full of shit right now, Adam Silver and Billy. That's on a bridge.

I mean, it's going to be a bridge. It's going to be associated with a bridge.

It's whatever you guys want it to be.

No, I'm trying to back you up here, Billy. I think, but right now, it is going to be a bridge. But is this part of the structure or is this just esthetics?

This is part of the thing that'll make you say, Oh, that's a cool looking A Bridge. Look, it has this over it. We built this just for Tony's segment.

When this is done 25 years from now, you're going to love it and call it a bridge.

So you're assuming South Florida is going to be 25 years from now, that thing will be done, I think. Okay. Hello, Tony. I would say South Florida might be done in 25 years. @levitar Show, put it on the poll. More likely to be finished in 25 years, that Bridge or South Florida. Tony, so you are on what floor right now of the lovely and extravagant and luxuriousious Elser?

Dan, we're on the 13th floor, I believe. It just says pool, so I don't know. They don't have the floor exactly. We have a 13th floor.

But I think we're on the 13th or 12th floor. I thought most places tried to not have 13 floors.

The floor still exists, though. They just don't call it that.

That always confuses me because we don't want to label it 13, but then I'm not stupid. I know that the floor that's labeled 14.

You know where you really are.

Is actually 13. So how do we handle that?

Hotels should just have a blank empty space. Yeah.

How does that work?

What percentage- Well, we've got pool and fitness. What percentage- That's the floor we're on, pool and fitness.

Can you guys imagine what percentage of hotels actually label it 13 and then don't label it 13 simply because it's unlucky? Because it's totally inconsistent, right? Do you think the majority of hotels will have 13 as the number or won't have 13 as the number?

I usually see in an elevator, it's skipped. 12, 14. It's wild. Everyone knows where you really are.

Juju, put it on the poll, please, @Lebitard Show. Most hotels, do they have a number 13 on the 13th floor or not? Tony, do you have OLIs? What are these? Just NFL observations?

Well, we got every week, Dan, on my top five observations from the week, and usually we do have some OLI. I've got two OLIs for this week. A lot of football played, and I had a lot of observations for football being played. So you want to start in the OLAI. Atlanta going to surprise a lot of people this year. Defense playing tough. Offense looking good. Bijon Robinson looking good. I like what Atlanta is doing, Dana. What do you think about Atlanta?

Offense doesn't look that great to me. I believe that what happened in Minnesota is Minnesota He's got a quarterback problem, and I don't believe that that was because Atlanta's offense looks that good, but we'll see.

That's why that's the Ola. Just a little appetizer to get the conversation going.

Anthony Falcon's Twitter hate Zack Robinson.

Here's OLA number 2.

Zack Robinson is getting so much crap online. They hate that offense right now.

Second OLA, is it too early to call Brandon Aubrey the best kicker of all time? Put it on the poll, please. At L'Hôpital show, Juju, is it Too Early to Call Brandon Aubrey the Best Kicker of All Time?

I don't like what I'm doing, but it's Justin Tucker, clearly.

We talked about Justin Tucker earlier. Oh, wow. Is anyone going to be desperate enough to sign him? We failed to mention he's suspended the first 10 games of the season. However, week 11, people start getting desperate.

How long does Brandon Aubrey have to keep this up to be the best kicker of all time? A couple of years?

Ten more years, I think.

Ten more years. More than just a few games.

Ten more years. At least a few more games.

Ten years of making everything and then falling off for his last season, and he can be in that conversation. I'm not going to do this where we forget how incredible Justin Tucker was.

Or Sebastian Janakowski.

Sea bass.

Smoking a cigarette on the sidelines. I love that. All right, starting off at number 5, Mike stand up. Kam Ward showing flashes. There's something there with Kam Ward. And I don't love the 37-yard throw across his body. Yeah, number one pick. I don't love the 37-yard throw across his body from the six-yard line, which is a terrible throw somehow or another, across his body, away from a fade away throw, and he still gets it there. There's flashes there, Dan O'Neill.

You're not allowed to claim you're seeing things other people don't see when it's a number one overall pick.

Could be something there.

Yeah, but again, there's been a lot of number one picks as of recent that haven't been good. You called number one pick You can't do it. Last segment. Did you forget that?

I'm not going to let you do this. You're not allowed to take credit for thinking Cam War might be good. You called Trevor Lawrence's Ass. Yeah, he's Ass.

No, I didn't say Cam War might be good. Okay. All right. Okay. Number four. Panic meter at five right now for Chicago. My internal panic meter is at five. What number does it go up? I'm not ready to go seven or eight. It goes up to 10. It goes up to 10. So right now, I'm halfway a little worried about what's going on in Chicago. I don't know if Caleb Williams is the answer, guys. I'm a little worried about it, if you want me to be honest. The body language isn't great. There's plays that he makes that are just like, What are you doing? Kind of like the Trevor Lawrence situations. You always try to find a way to lose the game somehow. Caleb Williams, even though he makes great plays, makes them really stupid plays. I'm just like, I'm a little bit worried about the situation over there. Dan, what's your panic meter for Chicago?

This is good. I want to know this.

Out of 10, Dan.

Eight?

Wow. Yeah, out of 10.

Wow.

Over two games, you're at an eight already?

I mean, it's not two games. It's two seasons. It's not two games.

I made Tony go.

But it's two seasons. And if they wanted Caleb Williams to be the solution, they need to not allow 50 points against the Lions.

Good point. But it's only two games in of Ben Johnson, right? I feel like I almost trust Ben Johnson more than I do Caleb Williams, trying to get things back on track. He made Jared Goff in a $200 million quarterback. So that's why I have it at a five right now, because Ben Johnson, I still trust him enough to maybe dial things in for Caleb Williams. All right. Number three. A lot of questions here on the Tony stuff live. Number three, is it time to have a conversation about Joe Burrow? Time to have a conversation about Joe Burrow.

He gets hit a lot more. He gets hit a lot more than any other quarterback. It made Andrew luck retire. Andrew luck was retired. Andrew luck was sacked 50 times fewer during this portion of their careers than Joe Burrow. He's getting hit way too much.

Out of six seasons, three of them could be potentially season ending with injuries. So 50 % clip of being healthy is not good. I feel like there's a conversation that needs to be had. I don't know if I'm the one to have it. I just feel like somebody maybe needs to have it. So just wanted to put that out there for others. Thank you. All right. Number two. Yeah, just food for thought. That's what I do here. Food for thought. Something going on in LA, Rams and chargers are tough. Dan, you said it. Rams are built, Ram tough, but the chargers also seem to be kicking ass. The two LA teams that nobody in LA cares about. Dan, you spent a lot of time in LA. You were on the beat for the chargers a couple of years ago, I remember. You were talking to Sedano, I think. What is the vibe right now in LA, where all of a sudden, your teams are good. Dan, your second home in LA, what do you think?

Zazlo says that Jim Harbaugh is an all-time great as a coach. Yeah, it's true.

Why would I not say something true?

Their defense, no one can throw downfield on them through two games. You have to dump because their corners and their secondary is too good.

What about the Rams? Ram tough.

The Rams are going to be that for as long as Stafford's there. Look, man, Stafford in the playoffs is the guy who beat braided. Stafford is the one who made the throw to cup to be... No one... Mahomes couldn't beat braided at home. Rodgers couldn't beat braided at home. But Stafford went on the road, went to braided. Went to Braady. Went to Braady and beat Braady.

The grizzled vet, Matthew Stafford. So yeah, LA is going to be a tough out for a lot of teams. What if we have... This is devious. What if we have the first LA, LA Super Bowl. Chargers on one side, Rams on the other side, and nobody in LA gives a shit. Wow.

Can't wait to hear me talk about that.

Can you imagine? Yeah, well, you heard it here first in week two, LA, LA Super Bowl. All right, getting back to number one. It was a joke at first, but after 10 scoring drives with zero punts and a 2-0 record beating a tough Broncos team, guys, Danny Dimes putting in position for an MVP run. I don't know what to I'm going to tell you guys, all I'm saying is he's playing the best footballs of entire life. Shane Steigen and Them Boys playing some tough football. Danny Dimes right now, if you look at certain books, plus 7,500 to be the MVP. Put a couple of quid on that. I've already got some locked in. I'm very excited for the Danny Dimes train. Dan, how long do you have to see it for it to be real? Two games, not enough, of course. What's the week where you're like, All right, it's for real? 10, 11, 12?

I'm going I'll just stop you real quick because I don't think anybody would be saying this right now if a Bronco hadn't jumped off sides at the end of that game, and the courts were just one and one. Okay.

Well, sure. But that's not the point we're at, right? No. It's the point he's at two and oh. He hasn't punted yet.

Right. I will not believe Daniel Jones is an MVP until seven or eight seasons after he's won the MVP. Tony, thank you for joining us from a freedom, a space of freedom. We appreciate it.

Tony's top five is presented by Smirnoff, the official Vaca sponsor of the National Football League. Smirnoff, please drink responsibly. The Smirnoff Company, New York, New York. Vaca, 40% alcohol by volume.

Don Levatard. No one else here is willing to do a Trump or a Biden. That's not true, Dan. Okay, Tony, you can catch- We have a thousand impersonations.

That's not bad, man.

That's not terrible. Finally.

Pretty good.

Stugatz.

Yours is terrible.

You just got to get a little redder, a little pinker.

You're right there, man.

Yours is not. You're biting me. What do you mean? His is good, Dan. That's actually not bad. This is good. That's not terrible. That's not terrible.

We got to come together.

A little Southern twang there.

A little George Bush in that one. This is the Dan Levatard show with the Stugatz.

What's up? Today is the 30th birthday for-I'm not pushing it. I'll push it. I got it. But I'm just laughing at your reading. What's up? I'm just laughing at your reading in general. Oh, he stumbled over a word.

I wish you guys could have the director's cut of Chris Coty cursing.

I see you shouting F-bombs when you read, Today is the 30th Happy birthday for Patrick Mahomes. Happy birthday to him. I don't care. Good luck. I should also mention that he has the most TD passes wins, playoff wins, and is tied for the most Super Bowl wins before turning 30.

It's a good career before it ended this season.

I don't think he's going to age like braided, though.

Is he a Hall of Famer already? Yes. Okay.

You guys are doing a funny thing, though, because when Patrick Mahomes lost Tom braided in the Super Bowl, and it was obvious, Oh, look, his offensive linemen, they're all out. And now he's got to run loop-di-loops in circles because they're going to get crushed because he doesn't have all of his players. That was something that Patrick Mahomes, rightly, shouldn't have been blamed for that game. What Patrick Mahomes is enduring right now is very nice, Mike, that you all defend him when he's responsible for all the winning but isn't responsible for any of the losing. That's a good position to be in. That's right.

And he's earned it. I'm sorry, why are we doing this? If there's one dude that's deserved like, Hey, hold on. Let's not write this dude off. I know maybe you're feeling a little cocky because you were so right about writing off Tom braided seven years before he retired. But Patrick Mahomes deserves a level of respect.

How about you not do the absolutism? I'm not writing him off. I'm simply saying that what they were an offense, the pleasure they were, bringing us out of the Brock Osweiler age of Everyone's throwing five-yard slants and outs, and that's how we're doing it. The whole league is plagued by it right now. Every quarterback in the league is afraid to throw the ball downfield. I just watched a Monday night game where Gino Smith was more incompetent down the field than a quarterback has ever been. He had a dozen throws down the field, more than 10 yards. Two of them were intercepted. All of the others were incomplete.

That doesn't mean he was afraid to throw it down the field.

I'm not saying Mahomes is afraid to throw it down the field. I'm just saying he's not throwing it down the field. He did it twice in the last game. Game, missed a receiver, a nobody receiver, obviously a nobody receiver, missed him down the field by 10 yards. I know he wants to do it, but what I'm saying is there are limitations that are keeping him from being able to do it.

And I agree. And the limitations are his two receivers being out. Rishy Rice has basically been out two seasons at this point.

It's a weird way to celebrate his birthday.

It is weird.

Happy birthday to him. I don't care. Good luck.