Drew Brees, Dexter Lawrence Talk NFL Changes

we're hearing what an NFL legend and current star think about the changes coming to the game plus the Big 12 isn't adding Yukon just yet Memphis just fired four members of its basketball staff a soccer Legend retires and the golf world is seeing a major corporate divorce it's Friday September 6th I'm Owen poter and this is front office sports today [Music] today we have conversations with Saints Legend Drew Brees and New York Giants Defender Dexter Lawrence II on today's NFL we also have some big updates in the world of college sports Alex Morgan is retiring Callaway and top golf are decoupling and we'll check in on the World of Sports social media with our multimedia journalist darl Barnes first here your top headlines Jeron Moore has not signed his contract with Michigan yet despite already coaching the Wolverines to a win more the replacement for Jim Harbaugh agreed upon a framework in January for a deal worth 30 million over 5 years but michig ad Ward manual said on Thursday that Moore still hadn't signed the contract and that quote these things take time there are things that have popped up but they're being worked on the money continues to flow into women's sports as Magic Johnson joined the investor group of nwsl's Washington Spirit on Thursday the nwsl has skyrocketed in value since its launch as an eight Team league in 2013 with the league expected to announce a 16th team later this year and Angel City FC reaching a $250 million valuation in July Johnson is taking advantage of that growth by adding the spirit to his already massive portfolio of Team Stakes with minority ownerships in the Washington commanders LA Dodgers LA Sparks lafc and Esports Team Liquid US Women's National Team Legend Alex Morgan announced her retirement yesterday in a video posted to social media she said it has been a long time coming and this decision wasn't easy but at the beginning of 2024 I felt in my heart and soul that this was the last season that I would play soccer Morgan who was a two-time World Cup champion and Olympic gold medalist will play her last game on Sunday for the San Diego wave the commanders have fired VP Riel an in the wake of incriminating video that shows him making derogatory comments about NFL players fans and Executives as we covered on yesterday's show the source of the video was an undercover reporter who matched with anen on the dating app hinge before shooting and releasing the video from their second date initially the commander said they had suspended anen but now his employment has been terminated the Norwegian Men's National Team received a visit from country's anti-doping agency that was anything but routine the agency requested urine samples from earling Holland jorgan strand Larson Antonio NSA Oscar Bob eer Gunderson and Jorgen juuve the catch Gunderson and juuve have been dead since 1962 and 1983 respectively stal sobaken the Norwegian team's manager responded to the summons with eer Gunderson and Jorgen Juve were summoned it was a bit late negative tests on both of them the anti-doping agency has since said that it was a mistake and they will Rie the routines going forward some big changes are coming to the NFL and they will be a major adjustment for defensive players I spoke to Giants defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence II on what he's expecting this season his perspective on the League's growing popularity and whether or not he's okay with an 18th game I'm joined Now by New York Giants defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence II welcome to Dexter how you doing hey great to have you on so you've got your first game of the season on Sunday against the Vikings what's your mental state on the cusp of the season um the the whole season uh you know I haven't really thought about the whole season in tality um more just trying to honestly find a way to win week one and um know dominate week one and I think that's the goal around the building and I'm excited to to go out there and and go play with my friends go go have some f my friends yeah and is this usually the best you feel you know for the season it's just like you know you don't have the wear and tear yet camp Camp is rough sometimes um some days but um like we got a little thing like you never really healthy until maybe you retire so so the NFL has some new rules coming in like the new kickoff and you know maybe most relevant to you the they're taking out the hip drop tackle do you feel like the league did enough to kind of prepare and like help understand the players perspective in making these changes um yeah they brought officials in um to help explain more of what they would be looking for and how they would call it things like that so I think um you know I think we understand what it is we but it it is what it is yeah sounds like maybe you don't love the new tackle Rule n i mean it's not not too much not too much okay yeah yeah I mean probably makes makes your job a little harder um and in already a pretty offense heavy League um I also understand you're doing so some work in your community off the field can you tell me about that yeah so this year I'm working with uh Campbell's you know uh chunky saxs hunger so uh this is the third year of it and um I and honestly um you know when my My Guy brought it up to me um I was excited more excited just you know to be on a commercial and uh you know uh you know because you always watch the commercials growing up but when you start learning the the ins and out of it like what goes on behind it you know the cause of it is that that meant a little more to me so um I'm excited to work with work with uh Campbell this year um it's different from the previous years the previous years the they the sacks of the 10 teams that they work with you know uh donated uh each sack was a th Mills but now it's every sack in the entire league so that means more people's getting fed uh you know so because more sacks going to happen obviously so I think the the way it's going and the growth of it is is amazing and that process of you know being on a commercial and just like you know having people you know turn you into this sort of public figure um what was the most surprising thing for you throughout that process uh the commercial the shoot was a very long shoot but I enjoyed every second of it um just just because you know knowing what you're doing it for you know um you know the awareness that you're bringing um you know for for the awareness bringing to a good cause so I think that's what I'm most excited about and you know um I think I tell people I got a career in acting in the future yeah yeah you wouldn't be the first and so the NFL is getting more popular every year is that something you can feel the difference as a player that's a good question uh I I don't know honestly um you know me my I just kind of go on the field and do my thing thing and um not not to get too much into uh you know the social media type of stuff uh but I think obviously when you when you look back at the end of the season and then you see all the all the like you kind of go back and see like oh like each year the growth in revenue for the league is is amazing so um that's that's so you kind of see it in that way but during the year you don't really feel it yeah I mean I guess if as long as you're staying away from social media it's like the game's the game right and um yeah it's just only the people who are you know you know beefing with their fans on Twitter I guess having the problems yeah yeah so the league you know is talking more and more about swapping out a preseason game and having an 18 Game season how would you feel about that that would be rough man that would be rough uh they they kicked it to 17 um honestly uh I'm I'm you know I'm I'm an advocate of you know taking care of your body and your mental health and all that so you know what you gotta I don't know I feel like it's give and take all the time with with when you start negotiating new things like that so I don't know it depends you know on the other side and what's the give and take is and and yeah do you feel like and also you know now teams are traveling internationally more and more I know you guys go to London does that you know I know it's exciting but it feels like kind of the same thing where it's like more excitement maybe more money but you know a little extra toll on your body uh do you feel like you know that's that's something that the players are behind is going to you know obviously we've got a game in Brazil coming up um you feel like the players are are into all that I think the experience and uh you know going to a different country and playing I think that's exciting um behind it and you know experiencing some people never been across the big Waters so or been across the you know travel to a different country so I think that's uh the experience that you know you get excited about and then obviously going to do what you love on the field what kind of reception do you feel like you get you know from from fans that don't have American football you know in their country I don't know let it's I think they appreciate a little more like they you know I played in London a couple years ago and and the fans were electric uh and no team was really the home team per se so it was good yeah uh I I spoke to Eli Manning a while back and he said you know I was in the first London game and the first time we went you know they would cheer for like punts or like you know time there's like people like pushing each other it's just like and now they cheer and whenn like a third and one they make their first down and like it's like the the knowledge of the game is increased over there if you were commissioner for a day and you know you could maybe change the rules or change how I change the schedule or just change what you want uh what would you like to do is is I don't know honestly um I do a little more homework on you know what exactly you know needs to be changed um you know but you know obviously hearing around the locker room and things like that you know um you know some guys to say more vacation time or more uh you know more money in a sense you know more um better split uh of the money things like that so I think I I would push towards you know make it a little more player friendly probably yeah we had a a bunch of um pretty high-profile hold out situations um this year um and and you know I feel like that's that's every year there's there's a few like usually you know pretty star players who are saying you know I've got a contract but I want a better one um do you feel like that stuff just kind of inevitable like there's always going to be a couple guys in that situation or wonder if there's anything that could be done I think so you know a lot of guys you know want what they earned or deserve and um so I think I think that's going to happen regardless of the fact um but it's just you know it's always a good way to go about it I think guys this year handled it pretty pretty well the ones that I saw handled it pretty well and yeah if you could just say a little more about that like that what was good about how they handled it um I think it's just in in the case of like uh like some of the guys I saw you know it wasn't like a whole like out burst or whole da d da you know it's just more like I just I want what I deserve so I'm show up I'm not going to show up till I get what I deserve and and you know the the hard work I put into the organization and you know things like that yeah right and and because we still have one left but everyone so far I think has gotten gotten a pretty big deal out of it so yeah sometimes the leverage sometimes is in the players Camp I got one thing man I got one thing I need everybody to go to chunkys sax hung.com and purchase this beautiful sexy shirt you know 20% of the proceeds go to you know also goes to feeding uh Americans so I'm excited about that feeding America sorry feeding America um so I'm excited about that and the shirt's comfy and it's sexy because it's on me obviously so go give it go give it a buy well really appreciate you taking the time to chat Dexter Lawrence II thanks so much for joining the show yep thank you the big 12 is backing off the idea of bringing in Yukon at least for now commissioner Brett ymar put out a statement that said quote following detailed discussions with my conference colleagues alongside Yukon leadership we have jointly decided to pause our conversations at this time while ymark is framing this as a mutual decision my colleague amand christovich reports that it's mostly the Big 12 schools that are getting cold feet Yukon wants in and yourm Mark is interested but the other schools would prefer the huskys have more of a football program one game probably wouldn't have changed the equation but Yukon getting blown out 50 to7 by Maryland and the season opener couldn't have helped the delay isn't all bad news for Yukon staying in the Big East for longer lessens any exit fee the school would have to pay a source told fos that the fee would currently be around $15 million Memphis basketball coach Penny Hardaway has let go of four staff members shortly before the start of the season and while no reason was given for the dismissals they come on the heels of Sports Illustrated obtaining an anonymous letter alleging recruiting violations by the program the letter states that Hardaway himself was involved in violations around recruiting one player that came to Memphis and another who ultimately chose another school those happened in 2020 and 20122 and the letter also claims there are academic violations last school year these issues aren't new for the former NBA guard Hardaway was suspended for the games last season due to recruiting violations connected to home visits in 2021 senior Malcolm Dandridge Miss missed five games last season while his eligibility was under investigation the four departing staff make it nine total that have left since the end of last season the marriage of top golf and Callaway has landed in the lake Callaway bought top golf in 2020 with the merger completing in March of 2021 from there the equipment and entertainment companies became more and more in meshed to the point that Callaway changed its name to Top Golf Callaway two years ago however the company's stock has tumbled 38% over the last 12 months prompting a strategic review of its business model the two companies will continue to work together and Callaway May retain around 20% of Top Golf there are still a few paths Top Golf could go down but it will likely become a standalone public company in the middle of next year the broader question is what this means for offcourse golf which had a boom after the pandemic but that industry may be recalibrating now Eastern Kentucky intercepted Western kuy's annual theme game WKU has a tradition of beginning every season with a white out they wear white helmets uniforms and pants and they make it a whole themed promotion however EKU told WKU on Tuesday that they would be exercising their right as visiting team to wear white and NCAA rules Force WKU to switch to its regular red jerseys previous opponents have had that right as well but generally they have let Western Kentucky have their theme game WKU is still encouraging their fans to wear white which might like make it look like they're cheering for the other team but we'll keep the theme alive it might be fun if the NCAA granted an exception to their uniform rules and let this be a true white out game but that might get confusing for everyone Drew Brees retired after the 2020 season with 13 Pro bowls and a Super Bowl victory now he's staying busy with his Investments and other projects I spoke to him about what he's up to today's NFL and if he'd like to get back into broadcasting that conversation is next I'm joined Now by The One and Only Drew Brees welcome Drew how's it going great great to have you on um so I saw that you know recently you invested in Sports Illustrated tickets you also have investments in you like machine learning companies financial software you know some more like sporty things do you have like a team that you work with when you Source Investments like how how do you find and pick companies you want to attach your name and your money to no it's a it's a great question um you know I'm um I think my especially in my post career you know I'm I'm fascinated with um just aligning myself with Incredible Brands companies Visions um and leaders and Founders that I think share uh in a lot of those Mission Vision Values um at the end of the day it has to be authentic um and something that I I I feel really passionate about um and I I can't say enough great things about you know my relationship with Sports Illustrated tickets the opportunity that I've been able to be an investor partner an ambassador you know someone that can really talk very passionately about the brand and what Sports Illustrated has meant to me throughout my career but now the fact that we have a ticketing platform that um really is second to none in regards to giving fans the opportunity to have access to every major um sporting event um and and concert and you name it um relationships with you know all the four major uh professional leagues in the US every venue um and and and really our differentiating Factor being the fact that um you know we have the most transparent pricing process um of any of the ticketing platforms the price that you see is the price that you get that is a Fan's first approach it's I think the worst thing for a fan is that when you see a price on a ticketing platform then by the time you get to check out it's twice as much as than what you're expected right um that's not that's not the way we're going to do business um what you see is what you get and we're going to continue to build in fan experiences in and around the way that we deliver that product to to fans and and get them in in seats at the events that they really want to be at and that's that's what differentiates us with sports illustrate and that's why it's always been such an iconic brand and will continue to be yeah definitely and when you're a player you know did you have relationships I mean obviously you have some level of relationship with Sports Illustrated all the other major media Outlets but is you know is it more just like they something of a distraction or something you're obligated to do or you know when you see certain reporters and you know certain brands you say oh okay like you know I'm GNA have a certain sort of relationship to you no I look I I've always looked at media as an opportunity to to tell your story right um to tell the story about your team to tell your personal story I mean just to use it as a positive right to be complimentary about you know your teammates to talk about your community to talk about things that that are important to you I think we live in a day and age with you know media in general and all the different media channels and Outlets where man everybody kind of has the opportunity to have a press conference at any moment right and um you know I think the way that fans consume information um and content is is it's incredible right and and I look I think it's also what's kind of driving like this desire and this demand for like Live Events like people want to be in the moment right they don't want to miss a moment or opportunity and look I I think that's awesome I mean for a guy who made a living for a long time playing professional sports and trying to deliver like a product and experience to uh a fan base right try to accomplish something incredible that everybody wanted to be in the seat you know to experience alongside us like that's that's what it's all about and you know I saw you said recently that you want to get back into broadcasting if the opportunity is there is that something you're actively pursuing no I I I think the comment I made was that I I I think I could be the absolute best at it you know I've given the opportunity you know um man I I valued my time at NBC so much you know for that year um after I played um you know I spent most of that time in studio on Sunday Night Football which having to work with some incredible people Rob Highland as the producer and Mike terico um uh and and I mean Tony dunie like you name it you know so many incredible people um but you know I didn't really get the chance to broadcast NFL games you know and that's what I feel like I'm most qualified to do that's what I feel like most passionate about you know and certainly where my knowledge base lies right you know is telling the story of A game getting you inside the Huddle getting you inside the quarterback's head letting you know how we're attacking this defense man like drawing exactly the matchup I'm looking at on every play because I know the offensive coordinator I know the defensive qu I know what they're thinking right I know what these players strengths and weaknesses are right so um look man I mean I think you can tell I'm I'm pretty passionate about the game um but yeah that's that that that to me is is something I'd love to do down the road when the time is right yeah for sure and you know you have been in the booth you know at least a little bit and there's another former MVP Super Bowl winning QB about to have his first game in the booth any advice who's been there look I think he's done it the right way you know he sat out a year I think he took time to just kind of you know relax and reflect a little bit and also prepare you know um I know he was kind of making the rounds you know being in the booth with different Crews just kind of observing you know watching the process developing his formula there's definitely a formula to broadcast and game you know it's different than the Manning cast or some of these others that are basically like a talk show you know as you're watching football like there's an actual formula to you know doing an NFL game or any you know football game and I think everybody develops a little bit of their own twist to that formula and they kind of have their own flavor and their own style um and you try to learn from some of the best in the industry um and guys that have been doing it a long time but um you know at the end of the day there's a knowledge base that Tom Brady has that very few people have right and there's some insight that you know I think there'll be a lot of golden nuggets you know with with each and every one of those broadcasts yeah and you know you mentioned the Manning cast those guys look like they're having a lot of fun doing it it looks you know it's pretty relaxed it's not like the intense um thing of a of a play byplay where you have you've got your eight seconds to say what you actually eight seconds is probably too long anyway is that's something that you would be interested in if you you found the right Niche well here's the thing I mean I I think it's got to fit everyone's personality right I think the Manning cast is per perfect for Payton and Eli right like it gives them a chance to you know be together and the banter back and forth between them is is is hilarious at times you know and then obviously they have some really interesting guests that come on right and typically there's some affiliation with you know the the the the teams that are playing you know um or some sort of a current event that they're able to to discuss at the same time um so you know there's it's a totally different format right and it was it was groundbreaking right it was kind of the first of its kind um but it just kind of that's a perfect perfect example of kind of where the sports media spectrum is going you know in regards to how fans are going to like interact with the game listen to the game you know get their information um it's uh it's really an interesting time and and leads to a ton of creativity yeah absolutely we'll have to leave it there but Drew Brees thank you so much for joining us on the show yeah you got it thank [Music] you the World of Sports social media is a buzz with the start of the NFL season plus the final game for a living legend is happening this weekend my colleague Daryl Barnes joins us next to fill us in on what the sports world is talking [Music] about time now for our check-in On The World of Sports social media with our multimedia reporter Daryl Barnes welcome darl Hey on how's it going great how you doing doing good doing good and a lot of excitement around NFL this weekend so ready to get things kicked off yeah it's the season so yeah what are are people talking about these days so the big the first big storyline is NFL's first ever game in South America we got the Eagles and the Packers today in Brazil um a lot of what's been talked about on social media is actually what the conversation isn't going to be on Twitter that's because Brazil has this ban on Twitter um it was the country recently banned Twitter amid you know a dispute with Elon Musk over misinformation so you have a lot of beat reporters talking about hey NFL writers talking about hey I won't be able to you know deliver my information to fans the same type of way that I normally do on Sundays so or on this case on Fridays so that'll be something interesting to watch as your as most fans will probably be tuning in on peacock keep in mind that this is something that a lot of people seem to forget that this game exclusively on peacock uh one of just a handful of games so far that been exclusive on the platform Twitter ban in Brazil is interesting it kind of speaks to how it's still the place where people where reporters go to like kind of get out their their quick news and also it's like it's the conversation Hub right now and it's even through all the issues that platform's been through um it's it's hard to move that entire National conversation to another spot so it's still the spot yeah everyone thought that threads was going to be that big you know successor and it's just not not quite the same not quite the same hasn't picked up in the same way as a news you know plat form and another topic you have for us is also about NFL broadcasting but this one everyone will be able to tune in yeah this one is Tom Brady's Booth debut he'll be doing his you know game analysis alongside Kevin burkart it's the first game of his 375 million contract it'll be the Browns and cowboys and it'll just be interesting to see what we get out of Tom you know a lot of fans instantly fell in love with Tony Romo will Tom Brady have that same kind of effect will he be you know calling out plays before they happen or pointing out things in the coverage that the quarterback might go and try and pick apart I feel like this has to be the most anticipated broadcast debut at least that I can think of and like probably in a few games it'll just become normal but for now there's so much scrutiny like if he gets a player's name wrong or something like I'm sure the you know the social media hounds will will be after him yeah so that we want to keep an eye on we'll probably get some fun Dialogue on Twitter reacting to you know his first couple of his first couple of calls there and uh our your last story for us we've got another one about a living legend after 15 years US soccer Legend Alex Morgan officially calling it a career um she posted a video um yesterday announcing her retirement on X said it wasn't quite the retirement video that she was expecting she went into this 2024 season kind of knowing that it was going to be her last but it was actually a surprise that kind of caused this announcement to come midseason she's pregnant with her second child she announced in the video and so little bit of a celebration as it's also you know a Bitter End um to to her career Shir it's a little Bittersweet I mean you're talking an nwsl Champion two-time World Cup champ Olympic gold medalist I mean the accolades go on and on but she will play her final game on Sunday September 8th and what has been definitely one of the great careers in US soccer yeah I mean she's been you know obviously hugely impactful on the field but also off the field and she started her Media company and has been one of the biggest advocates for um improving pay and investment in women's sports uh so yeah double congratulations to Alex Morgan on incredible career and second child on the way um before we let you go uh we've been running some some Twitter polls we just started this on FS today account so I'll get your thoughts here so we've got two here the first is what change are you paying attention to most this NFL season I'll give you the choice to see what you think new kickoff system private Equity investment use of Replay systems and the new safety rules what are you most interested in I I mean it's got to be the kickoff right everyone's like it looks weird you're watching games on Saturday and the kickoff looks normal and then you turn on the NFL games and they're looking different I'm I'm excited about like the new safety stuff especially like the new weird looking helmets um I feel like good about all that stuff but yeah the new kickoff I'm just excited to see how it goes and like see the kickoff like come back as a thing that uh you know produces real action in the game uh we ran one other poll of this week and just are you ready for football season your choices are yes or also yes can I click both uh no no you got to choose I know it's a tough one H you know I'll go with yes also yes probably feels like you know the the like ha I'm going do this one to be a rebel you know but yeah I me you're with the majority there I did pick also yes so um but you know I guess that's that's just my rebellious side I suppose uh but yeah more of those coming check them out on our our fos Today Twitter feed Daryl Barnes thanks so much for joining us thank you Owen always pleasure time now for front office Sports tomorrow where we look ahead to what's coming up ESPN is looking to integrate AI into written coverage of games fans aren't happy about it but ESPN is going to do it anyway for now Thursday morning ESPN announced incremental coverage for the nwsl and PLL that would use generative AI technology to create Recaps for the games according to ESPN front row the company's PR platform the initiative will begin this weekend fans are not happy and even after ESPN deleted and reposted its initial announcement Twitter users are making sure their thoughts are heard at the time of this recording the post has one of the worst ratios imaginable with 581 combined replies or quote tweets to a measly n likes the comments are brutal as you can imagine ranging from nice work this is effing garbage with four fire emojis to can't wait to never read these Recaps some more sincere criticisms but still with some fervor like how about you just pay writers you soulless hacks well it's true that ESPN has undergone some substantial reorganization recently the company points to ESPN's commitment to embracing emerging Technologies to drive Innovation as a purposeful responsible experimentation with AI technology rather than cost cutting which they were relatively upfront about in the aftermath of RG3 and Sam Ponder being fired the company also notes that AI generated stories will be reviewed by a human editor maybe the public will come around eventually but for now the Twitter ratio speaks for itself the NFL streaming landscape will look very different this season here's what you should know about it as the first weekend of action gets underway Netflix will be in the fold this season hosting its first ever set of Christmas Day games that feature the Chiefs at the Steelers and the Ravens at the Texans meanwhile other streaming services that have been around for at least one season continue to cement themselves even further in the fabric for football's broadcasting rights Amazon Prime will get its Full Slate of Thursday night football games while peacock gets its first ever regular season game tonight featuring the Eagles and Packers in Brazil the NBC streaming service is also expected to have another playoff game after setting a live streaming record with 23 million average viewers for last year's Dolphins Chiefs wildcard matchup YouTube TV also scores big as NFL Sunday Ticket comes over from Direct TV it's home for the past 28 years earlier in the summer a judge threw out the $4.7 billion verdict against the NFL and a class action lawsuit over antitrust violations with its direct DP partnership now Sunday Ticket TV for an additional 379 per year plus the Baseline $72.99 per month for access to the service or you can purchase Sunday Ticket outside of YouTube TV for $479 Red Zone costs an additional $10 per month Tom Brady will make his broadcasting debut at 4:25 on Sunday as the Browns host the Cowboys leading in into the Sunday night football match up between the LA Rams and the Detroit Lions that's it for today send us your thoughts on the day's big stories by emailing today at frontof sports.com and we might read your comments on the show thanks for listening enjoy your weekend we'll see you on Monday