00:00I don't know how many of you are following this,
00:03but there have been massive layoffs at ESPN today.
00:10This got a lot of attention yesterday when Ryan Clark was let go by ESPN.
00:18Ryan Clark was let go when he was doing a show.
00:23He was doing an NFL show, and they told him during a break
00:28that he had been let go.
00:31That seems odd, to say the least,
00:34but apparently the reason that they did it is that the news leaked
00:40that he was going to be on their layoffs list,
00:42and they didn't want him to read it on social media while he was on the air.
00:48So they went and told him, and he up and exited off the show.
00:55But a lot of big names are being laid off.
00:59From ESPN.
01:01You've got kind of a list here, right, Max?
01:04Yeah, I've been throwing just names on a sheet since I've been seeing them
01:08as they get rolled out this morning.
01:09I mean, the big one that really made me go, wow, was Carl Ravitch getting let go.
01:14Wow.
01:15And then another big name, Tom Pellisaro.
01:18Yeah.
01:19He's getting let go at ESPN.
01:21I like Tom Pellisaro.
01:22I think he's good.
01:23Yeah.
01:24I think he's a good reporter.
01:25I think he's a good NFL writer.
01:28Now, Tom Pellisaro, correct me if I'm wrong.
01:31He came from the NFL Network.
01:33So the NFL Network-ESPN merger, some of these names are more NFL Network guys, right?
01:40Not Ravitch.
01:42Not Ryan Clark.
01:43Not Ravitch.
01:44Not a few more names on here.
01:46Bart Scott.
01:47That's an ESPN guy.
01:49Can I tell you something?
01:50I like Bart Scott.
01:51I think Bart Scott does that morning show with Greenberg.
01:56Yeah, get up.
01:57And I actually like him.
01:58I think he is, first of all, he's just one of those dudes.
02:02He'll just say anything.
02:03And he's very convicted in the way he talks.
02:07I think he's very knowledgeable.
02:10Okay.
02:11Now, he's more of a recent guy at ESPN.
02:14Who else?
02:14Another recent ESPN hire that has now been let go is Cam Newton.
02:18If you may know him from his appearances on First Take.
02:22Ryan Clark, as we all discussed.
02:24And then another NFL Network guy who's getting let go, who I think is really good and has
02:29been nothing but good to everybody in this building.
02:31Charles Davis.
02:33Oh, really?
02:35Yeah.
02:35I like Charles Davis.
02:37I love Chuck.
02:37I think Charles Davis is excellent calling games, too.
02:41Yeah.
02:42I mean, all these people that I've listed off, they're going to be just fine.
02:46They will find work elsewhere.
02:49It's just unfortunate to see them get let go like this.
02:52It sucks when all these names that we know and love get axed, essentially.
02:59I think there are some people whose names have not appeared that a lot of fans would probably
03:05say, well, why isn't that person gone?
03:07I don't know.
03:07Ryan Clark is the biggest.
03:09Well, Carl Ravitch, actually.
03:11Yeah.
03:11How long has Carl Ravitch been at ESPN?
03:1333 years.
03:14Oh, man.
03:15And he's been excellent.
03:17Just an excellent broadcaster, period.
03:21Look, Ryan Clark is, for me, like he's been very polarizing, you know, as a broadcaster.
03:28I can just tell you this, that Scott, who, you know, as most of you know, is one of my
03:34best friends for 35 plus years, has worked with him on that Monday night football show
03:41now for a few years.
03:42And before Scott started hosting the pregame show on Monday night football, Ryan Clark would
03:47appear with him, you know, all the time.
03:49The two of them were actually on the air when, you know, they went, they threw it back to
03:56Scott and Ryan Clark the night that, why am I blanking on the Buffalo safety who nearly
04:01died on the field?
04:02Damar Hamlin.
04:03Hamlin.
04:03When Hamlin nearly died.
04:05And I really thought Scott and Ryan Clark that night did a great job.
04:11But beyond that, you know, Scott's always, I can tell you, Scott's always told me that
04:16he actually really likes Ryan Clark personally and otherwise.
04:20But I think for a lot of people, he's been incredibly polarizing.
04:24There's been, I think, a little bit too much.
04:27This, I'm, this is one person's opinion.
04:30I just think that these outlets for the most part, for most people, you know, are not where
04:36the consumer wants to go for their politics.
04:41Sports are a diversion.
04:43They tend to be the place where you can get away from a lot of that stuff.
04:47And I'm not saying that cultural issues, um, aren't worthy of, of discussion.
04:54And we've done a lot of it on the show over the years, a lot of it.
04:57And there have been certain things that I have felt like, to be honest with you, there's
05:02really, there's opinions, there's strong opinions, but that's not really why people are tuning
05:08in today on this particular day after a skins game or after, you know, during the NFL season.
05:15Um, but he seemed to really go out of his way over and over again to turn a lot of
05:23his
05:23commentary into, you know, non-sports commentary to inject race, to inject politics, to inject
05:31cultural issues into a lot of conversations where it seemed like it was almost forced.
05:37I always felt that way in watching him.
05:40Um, but I also thought from a pure NFL analysis standpoint, he was pretty good.
05:46I know he got into it last year with Peter Schrager once, once Schrager ended up at ESPN,
05:51you know, that I, I did not remember that clip where essentially he said something to the
05:57effect of Schrager.
05:59You wouldn't know because you weren't a player.
06:00So like that's the non-player in you is what he said, the non-player in you and Schrager
06:05said, you know, I I'd appreciate it if you'd consider the non-player angle, which, you know,
06:12we've all gotten that at some point along the way, whether it's from listeners or viewers
06:16or guests or, you know, other, you know, people in that, that are on the other side as,
06:22as players or coaches.
06:23Yeah.
06:24You don't know.
06:25Cause you didn't play the game.
06:26There's that's, I I've always felt that's a bit of a cop-out for a lot of those people
06:30because there are angles that are interesting from people who did not play the game and
06:37see it differently.
06:39Um, now people who didn't play the game or coach the game are never going to know as
06:43much about the game more, more times than not, than some of those in it at the same time.
06:48I think some of us could legitimately get plugged in to, you know, the coach's ear to tell
06:54them when to go for two and when to call timeouts about as well as some of the people that
06:58are
06:58actually doing it, but that's beside the point.
07:01Um, so I guess the, the Ryan Clark and Carl Ravitch would be the two biggest names, right?
07:08I like Charles Davis.
07:10I've always liked Charles Davis.
07:12I'd throw a Pelissero in there, uh, as a big name, that's surprising, but I guess they
07:16are, there's no doubt that the combined efforts of the NFL network and ESPN, they have a lot.
07:23Well, they've cornered the market pretty much on reporting, you know, with Schefter and
07:29Rappaport, you know, and Jeremy Fowler, you've pretty much got, you know, at that point, it's
07:36almost redundant, but I like Pelissero.
07:38Yeah.
07:38I mean, honestly, I was talking to Brian and I kind of said this to you in a break, like
07:42I, it would not shock me if like, if I was a, a media exec at Fox right now, I,
07:47the phones
07:47would be hot, hot, hot.
07:49I would be making so many calls right now, but Fox keep in mind, they're much more about
07:55the broadcasting of games than they are about the reporting.
07:58Now their pregame show has what's his face.
08:01You know, the, um, you know, the guy that's, uh, you know, benching 700 pounds and, and
08:08wants to let you know it every time you see him.
08:10Um, the, the guy that's really close with a lot of who's the Fox NFL glazer glazer.
08:18Yeah.
08:19He's good.
08:20That was, that was not an intended shot necessarily probably sounded like when I actually think
08:25he's good, but he's their number one reporter NFL reporter.
08:29Am I right?
08:30Yeah.
08:31I mean, he's the guy delivering all the news on the, on the pregame show to Terry,
08:34Howie, Michael, and Jimmy.
08:34I mean, there are, there are obviously places for these guys to land for sure.
08:39The TV guys specifically, but when you got to Pelissaro, I'm thinking more about the
08:44report.
08:44So Fox Yahoo, the athletic will be scooping up the athletic very soon.
08:50Yeah.
08:51That's where, you know what?
08:53That's where Pelissaro.
08:54I hear, I hear the, uh, the athletic came into a lot of money recently, uh, not having
08:58to pay out a certain contract to a certain reporter.
09:01Well, yeah, well, she resigned.
09:03But yeah, she wasn't fired.
09:06More for Pelissaro.
09:07Yeah.
09:08But didn't they add somebody already to take her place?
09:10Uh, we'll, we'll, we'll see once it, uh, once football season kind of gets flushed
09:14out, who's doing what?
09:15I mean, we're going to find out a lot of those ads here over the next week because training
09:19camps are underway in multiple places with rookie.
09:23In fact, I think Schefter put out a tweet this morning.
09:26Let me just see, uh, the, the teams that opened up camp, we've got camp opening up people,
09:32all right, here are the teams, uh, that, uh, have reported where rookies have reported
09:39to training camp today.
09:40The bills, Panthers, Texans, and dolphins, July 21st rookies have reported.
09:47Do you, I'm assuming, I would bet you that two of those teams play in the hall of fame
09:51game, because usually the teams that play in that first preseason game report a little
09:57bit earlier than everybody else.
10:00The hall of fame game is Carolina, Arizona.
10:03So the Panthers were on that list, right?
10:06Yes.
10:06But not the Cardinals.
10:08Um, we are, uh, only two weeks away.
10:13No, two weeks, Thursday night away from actual football and television.
10:18If that matters to you, that hall of fame game is pretty, pretty bad.
10:23Um, we are, uh, we're, uh, we're, uh, we're, uh, we're, uh, we're, uh, we're, uh, we're, uh,
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