Best of the Ben Maller Show

0:00This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Every small business owner has that one moment that could have broken them. But remarkably, it didn't. Hi, I'm Ben Walter, CEO of Chase for Business. And on season three of The Unshakeables, my co-host Kathleen Griffith and I are bringing you more incredible stories of overcoming the impossible. We're really proud to share that The Unshakeables is nominated for Best Branded Podcast at the 2026 iHeart Podcast Awards. Listen to The Unshakeables wherever you get your podcasts and learn more at chase.com-podcast. JPMorgan Chase Bank and a member FDIC copyright 2026 JPMorgan Chasing Company. Next Monday, our 2026 iHeart Podcast Awards are happening live in South by Southwest. This is the biggest night in podcasting. We'll honor the very best in podcasting from the past year and celebrate the most innovative talent and creators in the industry. And the winner is... Creativity, knowledge, and passion

1:00will all be on full display. Thank you so much iHeartRadio. Thank you to all the other nominees. You guys are awesome. Watch live next Monday at 8 p.m. Eastern 5 p.m. Pacific Free at Veebs.com or the Veebs app. Hey, I'm Jay Chetty, host of The Unpurposed Podcast. My latest episode is with Hillary Duff, singer, actress, and multi-platinum artist. You desire in family like this picture. And that's not reality. My sister and I don't speak. It's definitely a very painful part of my life. And I hope it's not forever, but it's for right now. Listen to Unpurposed with Jay Chetty on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts. That's the sound of a tree in Tennessee's great Smoky Mountains. Releasing volatile organic compounds. Which is just a fancy way of saying, it's creating fog. And that makes the Smokies. Smoky.

2:00This is one of many sounds in Tennessee with a story to tell. To hear them in person, plan your trip at tnvacation.com. Tennessee sounds perfect. You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. It's pretty cool. A visit to hang out with a bunch of alligators. Well, actually one alligator. Welcome in the beginning of a brand spaking new week of the band-mailer show. We are in the air every where. As we shoot the breeze. We're in the air. We're in the air. We're in the air. Where's we shoot the breeze and we feel the rush coast a coast border to border and beyond on the vast end enormously powerful microphones of FSR Amonating lie do it live from the bait

3:02As we toss out clickbait clickity click From the mighty audio ocean that we all swim in here from the world famous Fox Sports radio studios now Noah in Austin and Jeopardy Al remind us that this hour made possible and part by our friends at tire rack for over 40 years tire rack has been helping customers like Alf the alien opiner You're the pro bouncy ball Hall of Fame Ferg dog in that winter wonderland of Fullerton and Mala prop guy find the right tires for how what and where they drive ship fast and free And that's the way to do it back by free road hazard protection with convenient installation options like mobile tire installation tire rack dot com Away tire buying Should be so our lead this hour to begin the the brand new week a Punching back no, I'm not gonna sit here and take about you know, I could do hours and hours You know saying well, let's go back and I have lucky Tony go and look at the archive of

4:06Model logs we did years ago pointing out the Suckage in the Valley of the Sun and All the you don't know what you're talking about you do with the overnight show. Okay, well Kyler Murray is so bad how bad is he he's so bad that it appears he's going to get his wish nobody wants to trade for him So it appears that he's just gonna be let go From number one Overall pick in the draft years ago To just being fired If you have if you have been following here months and months of chatter that Kyler Murray is gonna go play for some other team and the drama O'Rama and all of that and The chatter over the weekend the Cardinals are just going to release them Just get out of here you suck so much and take your little video game system with you get out of here That's it And the story bouncing around this is a state-funded NFL media over the weekend pointing out that this is going to be the

5:14The greatest year ever if you like suck quarterbacks if you want to add a quarterback that cannot play at a high level This is your year for pennies on the dollar as Kyler a little fella alligator arms Murray He will join to a tongue-of-eye Loa Geno Smith Justin fields Kirk cousins among others Possibly Aaron Rogers who will be available on the market, but let's start out with alligator arms Kyler Murray What a bust this guy was my god does he suck? And so that that's a good journey. I'll point let us discuss the question Why did things not work out and when I say not work at? I mean really not work out really really not work out for Kyler Murray in Arizona so my thoughts on this. I've got lobster boy Jurassic Park and Table read and we will combine all of these things together and we're going to make a large pizza

6:18Which would have provided by the way more joy to the Cardinal franchise if they just drafted a large Pepperoni pizza that would have been more successful than what they ended up with Now I've been seeing some things here. They've been tossed out into the echo chamber Since the news came out the Cardinals are going to release Kyler Murray and many are saying well, it's the Cardinals wall That's not his wall. It's the Cardinals wall. Oh my god This we got hurt. Okay. I can't believe a fun-sized quarterback would get hurt That never happens, right? Some I guess are blaming the moon cycle We had a cosmic event the other day So that might be why I want to check with our astrology insider that that's why this is all going Going sideways, but Kyler Murray Doesn't matter how you want to look at it Kyler Murray Stinks It's a solid level of stink. It's not just an occasional stink. It's a lot of stink

7:19That's the way it is and when you're the number one pick in the draft when you're drafted the very time The expectation is that you're going to be a Siberian tiger and the Cardinals for some reason thought this was a Siberian tiger Well, it turns out it was a it was a ragdoll house cat ragdoll house cat is what it was and and first read I guess Kyler's all right I guess a secondary little bit of panic Little bit of panic and then if you have to go to the third read he is now spinning around Like he's late for the airport and he can't figure out which terminal he needs to go to and there's issues So Kyler Murray entered the NFL a few years back and we knew right away. This gets a side show I you know play with baseball is like a baseball player. Oh play football. Okay draft me number one Okay, we'll take you number one overall and all that stuff But it was always like a side show you look at him play and I don't know if you've had this image It's like well that something's wrong with my TV. That's like that guy doesn't belong out there

8:23What's up with that it was like oddities Watching Kyler Murray plays like a glitch on your television there and really he belongs in the same category with lobster boy The human cannonball and sword swallers Just freaks of society and all that stuff you draft at the very top again I keep going back this you drafted the very top of the NFL draft you're expecting a Greek God You're expecting a Greek God instead you went down to Best Buy and you got the geek squad is what you got I like one of those because Kyler's about the size of somebody on the geek squad I would think they could be even bigger They could be even bigger and so this is a guy in his NFL career with Arizona He has been a September hero and a December zero Time it again and then the cardinal career which if you believe state funded NFL media is now over Kyler Murray will end up as a number one pick who did not win a playoff game He played in one playoff game as a starter and if you remember he sat on the bench it was against the Rams

9:29In Englewood and I happened to be at the game and he was sitting there dazed and confused On the side like what I would just happen. I mean wow Bismill failure a Bismill failure And I will leave a line open for those that are listening in the greater Phoenix area Because I don't think there's any cardinal fans outside of the greater Phoenix area I think they're all there in in Phoenix and I don't think they exist anywhere So if you would like to call up and I will allow you To say listen you were right. I was wrong. We will do that at some point here But my god the signature moment you know what the signature moment of Kyler Murray's career with the Arizona Cardinals is Do you know what it is you don't It's bad job by you bad football now Kyler Murray's signature moment in the NFL It was not some crazy touchdown pass. It wasn't a wild touchdown run by Kyler Murray. No, no, no, no No, no, no, it was a cause in his contract the homework clause That this guy is such a dingleberry

10:30He's such a jack wagon this Kyler Murray the Cardinals knew it They said we got to put a homework clause in here And when you're supposed franchise quarterback Kyler Murray Is out there and you need an independent study Reminder That doesn't seem like great leadership. What do I know? I just do the overnight. There doesn't seem like great leadership That seems like okay, this we got to make sure this guy goes to detention because he's not that good at studying When you got attention and that that's the kid who was at the the Catholic school And sister Mary had to come over and you know hit him with a ruler It's screaming his face. It's got terrible body language the whole thing's insane And even more insane is we know the guy can't play we know he doesn't like football He can't play and some other teams gonna add him That is then we can go find them Not me what So keeping the theme of the hour going we mentioned that this is the offseason if you want to quarterback's that cannot play at a discount

11:35So do you have words here's the question do you have words For the available 2026 NFL free agent class of quarterbacks which at this point And subject to change but at this point it's looking like Kyler Murray to a tongue of iowa Geno smith Justin fields and Kirk cousins It's the uh Dante's inferno is what this is so this is a quarterback room if you put all these guys together Kyler Murray to a Geno smith Justin feels in Kirk cousins It is a basket of deplorables is what it is right the my word I used to words handy downs These are handy downs is what this is here and and the quarterback big board If you were to look at bany not a list Terry Lingland not a list bany's big board of quarterbacks This is a literal stew a literal stew of Broken dreams

12:35Players that never made it some that had a little one hit wonder in them So you're looking at a collection you're pretty much staring at a collection of garbage so dense That waste management should be the title sponsor Like the quarterback class of 2026 and free agency presented by waste management And have a dump truck drop these guys up. It's a flea market And then talk about the players changing teams about it's a flea market and all that's about to flea market With Jurassic Park Sized fleas all right Jurassic Park sized fleas is what it is And again with the has bins the never words get together And then they hang out and bunch of dingo berries and that's how they do And you got genosmith who's a career back up That failed in Seattle failed with the Raiders as a starter and is someone dumb enough to give him another opportunity

13:36Justin field should not be taking snaps in the NFL. He should be selling life insurance Somewhere get him a job doing that a real estate. Kurt Cousins. We've seen enough of him. He ought to go become a Become some kind of TV person put makeup on he can pour us on on CBS or NBC They got rid of dungee so they need somebody to bore us they could put cousins on there you got Kyler Murray who should go to his calling here become an esports star and leave the NFL behind and take the joy stick Put the duke down take the joy stick and knock yourself out of the park the only one worth The only one worth a second look and this is very liberal Is to a tongue of I lower Who is still a ticking time bomb who is still a ticking time bomb to a Because of the concussions and all that stuff you toss in That he's limited. It's like a designated hitter back when the American League only had the DH and the National League did not Where to is limited you can only put him on a west coast team or a dome team

14:40Any weather that is not perfect And it's really bad. It's really really bad. It just doesn't work the whole thing falls apart the whole You just you can't deal you can't do it you cannot do it a one cold breeze one snow flurry And the thing of my jig is just ruined. It's just absolutely ruined all right now Last word here. So we head to Detroit. We head to Detroit. We're David Mont Gummary. That's a running back And he used to be considered pretty good but David Mont Gummary sarcastically questioning On social media a report over the weekend claiming that the current lions running back Mont Gummary wants out of Detroit He teams supposedly looking for a day three traffic number the first round is on day one Then the second and third are on day two and then after that you got the fourth and the fifth and what not on day three

15:43So that's like a fifth round pick in return for David and my Gummary Of course, they always say this when you want to get rid of a player you always claim well, it's because of the salary cap It's always because of the salary cap and the dumb dumb the low information fans. They oh, yeah. Okay. Okay. I believe that yeah, that's right Sure, let's not question anything Now my Gummary was not in on this How do we know that David Mont Gummary? Who had been part of the backfield with Jermir Gibbs Well, he sent out a message as we said on social media and he Decline to agree with the said report. So Question how does David Mont Gummary that's a running back his Clear indication here that he does not want a lion's trade Based on his podium posted in like a couple years So how does that shift the arithmetic to you? All right, so my Gummary what he did here is he threw a massive wrench

16:43into the best laid plans of lions and men Right here. It makes it uncomfortable I don't know if I want to go as far as say incredibly uncomfortable, but it's uncomfortable For the lines because they have this all mapped out. Oh, I will blame the cap. When in doubt blame the cap Dumb people believe that we'll just say that we'll get rid of every player So we'll have all the cap space. We'll have no players left. That's the way to do it. All right So this has I jotted down on my my scorecard MD as in messy divorce As in messy divorce written all over the the lions were trying to control the narrative And they almost got away with it if it wasn't for that meddling social media They wanted to make it Seem like Mont Gummary was on board with exoning Detroit And he was the one who wanted to enter the NFL's transfer portal

17:43So they could look like the good guys. Oh, we didn't want to get rid of him But you don't want to be here. And so we had to get rid of him and all that and uh, yeah And David Mont Gummary essentially said uh, yeah, I'm good here. Uh, no thanks. Uh, I'm good right here. I don't want to go any of us Which is very odd someone wants to play for the lines normally my entire life most of the time people want to run away from the Detroit lines So uh think about like this. It's a table read And Mont Gummary's sitting down at the table read and he's not following the script Bad job by him right to the lion's head. Well, just follow script now. Jermir Gibbs to be Completely clear here. I think you know this. You don't mean need me to tell you but Jermir Gibbs has zoom past zoom past David Mont Gummary in terms of his impact the Gibbs is the center square Of that offense the tic tac toe. He's the impact guy. He's the home run hitter and all that stuff Mont Gummary more like a Do stale from back in the day or Joe mixing

18:47That type of running back solid not a bad player And use the word gritty not the mascot from the flyers, but the word gritty And it's not like he's irreplaceable. He's not he's not irreplaceable And you see it flip him if you're the line so like wow we'll get rid of him. We'll get a late traffic and we'll grab a younger person at a half the price And we'll save some money and so but then he dug his I guess he had some heels on he dug his heels in And said I'm not down with that. So we'll see where this goes, but Mont Gummary is Curly weaponizing the fanboys and the bots in the matrix to put pressure on the lions to keep him that will likely not work But the effort is being made. It is the bandit maler show if you would like to be part you can join us right now 877 99 on Fox. That's 877 9966369 if you'd like to be part of the live program here also on x at

19:51Ben Mallor that is at Ben Mallor if you want to be part of the live show we'll take your calls Your comments all of that and again 877 99 on Fox easiest time to get into his now it gets progressively Harder and harder As we work our way through the overnight if you don't want to stay on hold I get it You can hit us up on the x machine and that's at Ben Mallor straight ahead In Aaron Rogers update is Aaron Rogers leaving the NFL What's the latest on his status and his wife? I'm sure they're out having a great time We can't see her but we see him. We'll give you the latest on Aaron Rogers We'll get to that and we will do it Next However, it is the a block and what hours. Let's see if we can find out right now Power number one. Are you ready to tackle your financial goals with we bowl Remember that name we bowl

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21:57dot com we bowl financial LLC member s ipc fena investing involves risk for more information visit we bowl dot com You're listening to fox sports radio Hey is kovino and rith from fox sports radio now in addition to hearing us live weekdays for five to seven p.m Eastern two to four Pacific on fox sports radio we're excited to announce a brand new youtube channel for the show Yep, that's right You can now watch kovino enriched live on youtube every day All you got to do search kovino and rich fsr on youtube again go to youtube search kovino and rich fsr check us out on youtube subscribe hit that thumbs up icon and comment away saying things like sorry i can't talk right now i'm editing audio

23:00If this sounds familiar you're probably already a podcaster The good news is spreeker makes the whole process simple you record your show uploaded once And spreeker distributes it everywhere people listen apple podcasts spotify And about it doesn't apps your cousins swears are the next big thing Even better spreeker helps you monetize your show with ads meaning your podcast might someday pay for Well more microphones Start your show today at spreeker.com spreeker Because if you're going to talk to yourself for an hour You might as well publish it next monday our 2026 iHard podcast awards are happening live at south by south west This is the biggest night in podcasting We'll honor the very best in podcasting from the past year and celebrate the most innovative talent and creators in the industry And the winner is Creativity, knowledge and passion will all be on full display Thank you so much iHard radio Thank you to all the other nominees you guys are awesome watch live next monday at 8 p.m. Eastern 5 p.m. Pacific free at beeps.com or the beeps app

24:03i'm Clayton knackered and in 2022 i was the lead of abc's the bachelor Unfortunately it didn't go according to plan He became the first bachelor to ever have his final rose rejected the internet turned on him If i could press a button and rewind it all i would But what happened to Clayton after the show made even bigger headlines It began as a one night stand and ended in a courtroom With Clayton at the center of a very strange paternity scandal The media is here this case has gone viral The dating contract Agreed to date me but i'm also suing you Please search for it This is unlike anything i've ever seen before I'm Stephanie Young this is love trapped This season an epic battle of he said she said And the search for accountability in a sea of lies I have done nothing to get hurt by the Listen to love trapped on the iHard radio app apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts

25:09Hey i'm Jay Shetty host of the on-purpose podcast My latest episode is with Hillary Duff singer actress and multi-platinum artist Hillary opens up about complicated family dynamics motherhood and releasing our first record in over 10 years We talk about what it's taken to grow up in the entertainment industry And stay grounded through every chapter It's a raw and honest conversation about identity evolution And building a life that truly matters You desire in family like this picture And that's not reality a lot of the time it's for people My sister and i don't speak It's definitely a very painful part of my life and i hope it's not forever but it's for right now Listen to on-purpose with Jay Shetty on the iHard radio app apple podcast or wherever you get your podcasts The great escape do you really want out though that's the question welcome in the beginning

26:12Of another hour of the bedmailer show we are in the air everywhere As we drop in for a brief chat As we are sprinting To success unless we're not coast to coast border to border and beyond on the vast end Tremendously powerful microphones of FSR emanating live from the empty the empty stomach As we fast away The overnight hours from the world famous fox sports radio studios were eek and roseville minnesota reminds us that this hour Made possible in part by our friends at tire rack for over 40 years. That's a long time. I'm told Over 40 years tire rack has been Getting or done helping Legends like bozo the district attorney find the right tires for how what and where they drive ship fast And free which man willing gardener likes a lot back by free road hazard protection with convenient

27:17Installation options like mobile tire installation, which makes mark the full name guy a happy camper tire rack.com The way tire buying should Be and while we're at it might I remind you and this is very important Danny and Nashville Wanted me to tell you that this hour also made possible in part by our friends at express employment professionals facing a peak Looking for a new team member workforce Solutions from express employment professionals makes higher and easier visit express pros.com to find An office and see how express can help you hire smarter and faster All right back to what we go and we begin this hour With that Dallas Cowboys winning doubt throw the cowboys out Because the cowboys are good for business in these parts. And so that is what we're going to do and There's one storyline That is bigger than all the other storylines with the Dallas Cowboys and it involves a certain disgruntled wide receiver

28:18So if you haven't been following this story the cowboys recently While we were away placed the non-exclusive franchise tag On the back of George Pickens by George Which means that if you would like to get your hands on George Pickens you can do that you can negotiate Contract with pickens however you got to read the fine print however the cowboys would have a chance to match any offer Sheat that George Pickens agrees to All right, so if not if not and then the team that signs him would have to give the cowboys not one but two First round draft fixes compensation So that's the the deal on that now if you've not been following the nitty gritty on this and perhaps not The state funded NFL media saying that they do not expect that do not expect George Pickens to sign the franchise tag anytime soon that he's going to drag this thing out As is normal protocol

29:20You sign at the very last minute if you're going to sign that at all And that's how this goes you crank up the drama or Rama now we hear the Pickens camp the pickens camp Gonna try to Find a team play the match game try to find a team that is a match for George Pickens on a long-term Contract And then it will be up to the cowboys whether or not they want pickens to actually leave or not and how Desperate they are to keep George Pickens. So that is a good job. We all point let us discuss the question Is how could George Pickens Crowbar his way out of Jerry's world. How does he get out of Dallas? How does he get out of The cowboy locker room. So my observations. I got food to the loom Whole foods and hunger games And we will combine all of these things together And we are going to eat our own dog food is what we're going to do You know, that's an old old business saying you got to eat your own dog food

30:23You got to consume your own product and all that and a lot of people don't do that anymore We do consume our own dog food though. We do we do on the show. So number one All right, so don't let the franchise tag horn swagger you do not allow the franchise tag do commit skull doggery Because it's not handcuffs. This is idea. That's a handcuffs situate. It's not handcuffs It is like a suggestion box that is decorated and wrapped in barbed wire That's what it is All right, so the playbook For the great escape like a very traumatic the great escape from Jerry's world You start by poking the bear you must poke the bear you know it you raise a hullabaloo You got to raise a hullabaloo you become the mosquito That is buzzing around Jerry Jones while he's sitting on those tremendously expensive Egyptian sheets that he sleeps on there at three in the morning And you just bother him and we've seen this before

31:23It's a common movie. It's a common movie here. Micah Parsons He did something similar. He stopped his feet. He had a conniption fit He settled down just a little bit bang the drum and all that and suddenly Jerry flinched and traded his ass to Siberia to go play for the green bay packers the holy land of the cheese curd And that was that But Jerry for for a long time. So now we're gonna keep Micah Parsons. We're not gonna trade him and then he did So we know that for Jerry chaos is really good Really really good then they have Enough if they were to get rid of George pickens They already have in CD lamb a top-level wide receiver So they can get somebody else in there to play wide receiver But pickens has to be willing to play the game. You got to play the game if you really want to get it I would love the franchise tag If the company I work for wants to give me you know one year of cowherd money

32:26I'd be very happy at that. I would not complain. I wouldn't demand a trade. I would take that And have a Cheshire cat smile at these guys. He's an awful place. They bitch so much about the south the franchise tag It's such a such a hardship for these guys. It's so sad It really is just like working in a sweatshop having to make uh the average of the last Five years of players at your position or whatever it is and the word of the formula is It's really difficult. I don't know how these guys sleep at night being franchise tag my god So anyway, George pickens here He's got as you said play the game send out some cryptic Instagram stories You know send send out some stuff of you wearing different uniforms. That's always good this time of the year right? Oh, yeah, here's here's George pickens wearing oh look at that. Is that a is that a raiders? Oh, he's wearing a raiders? He wants to play with others that the social media posts that have the freemy vibes of them You know what I'm talking about yeah So and then you can go just full

33:26If you really want to upset your joints you go full what I call fruit of the loom You know those t-shirts. I don't think they're like this anymore But these make those t-shirts that had the label they the tag on the back And it would poke and kind of tickle you while you wore the shirt It was very annoying So you got to do that you got to be annoying you got to poke and annoy Jerry Jones and make it uncomfortable make it loud And messy and Jerry will enjoy that for a while and then at some point he will no longer enjoy it And that's the point of demarcation that is the point of demarcation there and As far as the window shopping You're free to roam around the NFL try to work out of deal you got to go to Buffalo first now nobody really wants to live in Buffalo for But that's the team You go in there as the number one option at wide receiver. They don't have a number They don't have a number two receiver in Buffalo. You go in there get paid a ton of money You got a top level quarterback. You're good to go You're good to go Patriots they made the Super Bowl They don't have an assassin at wide receiver go to New England

34:29I mentioned the Raiders they're starving for anything Relevant if the Raiders were a show on Vegas on on the strip. They'd be cancelled Because they're terrible Then you got teams like the Titans who sock that need help the Ravens who have a star quarterback that need a big time wide receiver So George Pickens is the shiny toy That price who cares about draft picks. I would trade all of my draft picks. I don't give an f About draft picks now meanwhile Indianapolis we go the scouting combine is oh v e r it's all over The comma how are we going to go on with our lives All those nugs all the nuggets all week every day 15,000 stories popping out of the scouting combine With its corporate sponsor there In Indianapolis all those NFL people running up expensive counts at the two or three high-end restaurants in downtown Indianapolis So the combine is over another year is in the books another one bites the dust another one bites the dust

35:32So I don't know how much you consumed Of the combine I Very little very little I had I will admit I had it on in the background I think it was Thursday. I think it was Thursday. I had it on the background. I did not really pay attention to it Uh, so that that's it and I did monitor some of the names that are being hyped up for example If you did not partake in the NFL scouting combine consuming it From what I understand I could be completely wrong about this, but from what I understand the two studs That got the most buzz are notardom Running back Jeremiah love. That's the name of a star. Jeremiah love. That's a star's name You better not suck when your name Jeremiah love. That's a big-time name The Golden Domer and then you've got Cincinnati wide receiver Jeff Caldwell. Who?

36:32Jeff Caldwell who had scouts drooling At the combine you might want to see a doctor. All right, so let's discuss this the question What are your takeaways? From the nuggets that came out of the scouting combine. What are the big takeaways on this? So the annual underwear Olympics the closing ceremonies Which includes something with rich ison who used to work here back in the day But uh the whole thing has been commandeered And in the last 15 years this is not new. This is not a fresh take But the last 15 years this thing has been commandeered. It's a marketing junkered It's a marketing junkered. They roll out the runway You got the red carpet. They shine the spotlight on the players that are entering the NFL and they parade them out It's like fashion rig in peri. It's it's fashion week And you know they're wearing not shoulder pads. They're wearing spandex But uh that's it. That's what they did. They got bright colored cleats on. They uh shoes the whole thing

37:36And they run around and they shake their took us uh that's how they do it right there boom On fashion week NFL's fashion week The NFL executives poke and prod they bring in their trainers and their doctors and they get all the measurements and then the wingsman's and It's kind of like going to Whole Foods and buying a cantaloupe They're measuring it like it's a cantaloupe at Whole Foods except their human beings and so Jeremiah love and this guy Jeff Callwell have never heard of Uh they won the weekend allegedly from what I read maybe I read it wrong but they won the weekend They look like Marvel superheroes. So I'm sure they do Mazelta they look great And it's the NFL going full Hollywood hooray for Hollywood hooray for Hollywood It's Warner Brothers with the 40 yard dash Is what it is and then the draft is at this point and it's been this way as long as the drafts been around I try to add some sexy women and they add some fireworks and Everyone's got a sob story in the draft, you know, they all came from bad parts of town

38:40They all had no money. They're it's a if anybody is drafted who has a lot of money. They're shamed. I think what's wrong with you Anyway, the point of all this is the NFL draft is when you break it down to its essence and you go back to bedrock It's old dudes reading names off a card. That's what the NFL draft is. There's nothing exciting about it nothing Let's just have somebody walk up to a podium and read names That's it. That's all now they they can add fog machines. They've tried that right hype videos You know the whole thing And this is important you got to start pumping up This is the biggest event of the offseason. You got to pump up these players Send out the press release the hype videos the dramatic piano music in the background You got to have that he's built like he man, you know that that old You know, it's it's the it might as well be produced by the people of tutsi role who make that fluffy stuff cotton candy

39:42With them throw some lollipops in there some tutsi pops are good to go Here's the reality check though Nobody knows anything nobody knows anything when it comes to the NFL draft it is a spin of the real roulette wheel You draft because somebody looks like the incredible hawk they've got the measurables that you like And that don't guarantee anything. You're not gonna be a superstar because you have the the measurables and as the old line goes From back in the day you can have the body of tarzan But if you don't play like tarzan if you play like yeah, it's it's not well. It's not well There you go play like Jane So you don't know what you don't know is the point of all this and you don't know what you got Until you open the box. What's in the box? You don't know Sometimes it's a franchise level player And sometimes it's a honey suckle turkey Yeah, we'd cuss both ways. All right now final point As the event of 2026 came to an end I did notice the chatter

40:46That there are many NFL staffers who think they're on thin ice Now why is that well a popular topic by popular people the scouting combine Artificial intelligence. Oh, no Yes, and that it is spreading like a fungus Not the fungus hut, but it's spreading like a fungus there in the question whether or not AI not Alan Iverson, but AI will knock Jobs for scouts. Oh, there'll be fewer scouts and there'll be less coaching jobs and that's that because of AI And the many of the jobs that are currently done the low-level jobs in the NFL are jobs that could easily be replaced with AI And would be more accurate and so this is the concern that you have with people working the NFL We're trying to make their way up the ladder

41:48That the ladder will be chopped down and they're gonna fall down. So Let us discuss this the question on this one How do you see this AI Takeover of the NFL working out All right, so my first thought is I absolutely love this story. No, yeah, you hate in my job eventually will go There'll be AI here. I'll lose my job the AI. I'm convinced of that at some point I believe that to be true that said This having covered the NFL for years back when they had those fat guys that used to play that smokes the guards and war Hawaiian shirts and they were the scouts with the radar guns and all that and the stopwatches like that crowd They got replaced almost all of those guys got replaced by the ivy league crowd the analytical crowd came in They flooded the league with spreadsheets and and now they're the ones that are now in danger of getting eaten by their own creation How great is that the irony is just outstanding

42:49So the same Analytical crew that took the NFL by storm those nerds that flooded the NFL with all this stuff They built this monster in the lab Where you put in all the numbers and all that stuff and now they're in danger of being escorted out of the building With one cardboard box with all their stuff in it I've made that walk by the way, it's not a fun walk. It's not a fun walk I've made that walk before but they they sold everyone on process over people This was the argument. I'd say process is more important than people We don't care about the human beings. It's all about the process. Okay, great wonderful. Well Uh-oh Yeah, yeah, now the process is starting to replace the people. It's the corporate hunger games the corporate hunger games of the NFL and maybe odds be ever in your favor Chad from Cornell or Mike from Harvard or Steve from Yale or whoever Good luck on that right and

43:51Eventually it doesn't happen right away I know in radio it happens right away, but in other businesses The NFL's got a lot of money so they can afford to have no-show jobs which these jobs pretty much are no-show jobs and all that stuff Heck the the Vikings GM who just got let go was supposedly drafting players based on pro football Focus or whatever it was and that that was who he was drafting based on what they recommended rather than actually doing Which is essentially what this would be like AI says to draft this guy. Okay, it says well draft that guy because that's what AI said And then if anybody questions it you say well the AI said to draft it so just blame AI. Okay, change AI is there Okay, we'll change AI's they just do whatever they're told So but the cost cutting does eventually happen All right happens in every business and it's it's like they they payroll slash and burn Would be what this is and there's so many more coaches now than there used to be in all of these sports so many more

44:52And you can trim the fat away I think a little slash and burn situation get rid of some of these guys and that's corporate America 101 That's I've worked at big corporations for My entire adult life and that's how they operate, but if the robot can write the scouting report Then why have the scout right if the robot if AI can do What the nerds can do, but they can do it quicker and they can do it better than what's the point So my point is my thing is this like AI is a fine tool I'm not against it the problem is When you start running these things like it's a madden franchise. You're just setting it up and Franchise mode and that's that and and all and the problem is that and then it's like they try to make this like a science fair Which is also not great. That's like a science fair You know, it's it's it should be a bar fight Not a science fair as far as that can the NFL's concerned there and you AI can measure the wingspan They can do that they can say well how many jumping jacks can this guy do okay? He can do that many that sounds good

45:56Can this guy do the old flip? I don't know if you can do the flip. Let's find out. We'll ask AI and And all that but you cannot measure this is the thing AI cannot measure and we'll never be able to measure Is whether or not player X has any guts right or they has that and you can't measure who's going to panic In front of 75,000 people on a Sunday night in the fourth quarter because they have tight took a syndrome There's no AI program that will tell you that is going to happen right and but it does happen and Oftentimes you you find that information out by the Scouting community So it's like it's like a chainsaw thing realizes it's like a chainsaw, which is useful Until you forget it's you know, it's sharp and then you can get hurt by you know, you can get hurt by it All right, it's the Ben Mallor Show if you'd like to be part If you'd like to be part you can join us right here is right there 877 99 on Fox is the number 877

46:589966369 also on X add Ben Mallor so we have some business from last hour That we need to get to we will we'll get to that coming up here in a couple of minutes some latest information on Aaron Rogers and his Situation and what's going to happen with him in Pittsburgh also the thing and NFL star was told to avoid The thing in NFL star his father said you've got to avoid this at all costs And the person has so far not avoided that thing and has become a star in the NFL We'll get to all that and we will do it next However, it is the A block what hours it let's see if we can find out right now Well, look at that are you ready to tackle your financial goals with we bowl You don't have to sit on the sidelines whether you're a rookie or a pro yeah We bowl puts you in the game with tools that help you make the moves you want trade stocks options and ETFs

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49:01You're listening to fox sports radio Hey is kovino and rith from fox sports radio now in addition to hearing us live weekdays for five to seven p.m Eastern two to four Pacific on fox sports radio we're excited to announce a brand new youtube channel for the show Yep, that's right You can now watch kovino enriched live on youtube every day All you got to do search kovino and rich fsr on youtube again go to youtube search kovino and rich fsr check us out on youtube Subscribe hit that thumbs up icon coming away Great Here we go you can do this bread we can do this Is one big bag let's do it for mark and saw quarterback tailing green at a store combine over the week Kenny shattered some records bend you think this will help him climb up draft boards No, cuz it's it's not you know he wasn't that great at Arkansas and if he's it's the underwear Olympus right it's it's not the skills necessarily that matter

50:03To dominate a quarterback so i'm gonna go no it's nice that you did all that stuff But as a quarterback that matter that much next Ty Simpson was a one-year starter at alabama rather than accepting offers to transfer to other school He decided to enter the draft then how do you feel about Simpson's pro prospects Blah, I don't think he was that great. I mean he's fine I think he should be a mid-round draft pick. They're talking about him being drafted in the first one I think that would be that would be a little bit of much I don't think he's gonna be anything more than an average NFL quarterback next The Celtics have won eight of their last 10 games 20 games above 500 without Jason Tatum is jalen brown a serious MVP candidate Well, he's gotta be in the in the conversation. I don't think anyone's running away with the MVP award In the NBA at this point and there's only it like another month and some change to go. So it's down the stretch Yeah, he's in the conversation. How did we do Brandon? Pass This is an iHeart podcast guaranteed human