FOOTBALL FRIDAY RECAP: KIDS SAY THE DARNEDEST THINGS!

We likely had the greatest moment in The Rod Pedersen Show history on Episode 197 on Friday! Here are the highlights:

Cutting right to the chase, we were joined in the final segment by Tampa Bay Buccaneers WR Bryant Mitchell (a former Edmonton Eskimo) who had just finished a workout in Tampa Bay. The whole idea of the interview was to get a sense of the excitement in Tampa regarding Friday’s official signing of QB Tom Brady. However Bryant was accompanied by his son Amaur’e, who’s out of school and accompanied his Dad to the field. Rod asked Amaur’e what his thoughts are on Tom Brady coming to play with his Dad with the Buccaneers. The 7-year old looked right in the camera and said “I just don’t want him to cheat!”
Rod and Bryant had predictable reactions — Rod’s jaw dropped while the elder Mitchell said, “Ohhh man!” They quickly composed themselves and got back to the interview. Bryant – who signed a new deal with the Bucs on Thursday – said he’s grateful for the franchise having faith in him since he’s coming back from a knee injury and declared himself 100% healthy. He also said the City of Tampa Bay is brimming with excitement, and felt they definitely are a playoff team in 2020. He felt they should’ve been in the playoffs in 2019 with Jameis Winston at QB, and now they just have to prove it.
Back to the beginning of the show, Rod and Dupes opened with The Rollout covering these Magnificent Seven show topics: 1) Tom Brady officially signing with the Buccaneers, 2) The “Lebron” effect with several NFL free agents wanting to sign with Tampa Bay, 3) The Buccaneers raising their ticket prices by 15%, 4) CFL Commissioner Randy Ambrosie’s comments that “nothing is certain” with the CFL for 2020, 5) Will Charleston Hughes achieve 28 more career sacks to become the CFL’s all-time leader?, 6) Are we starting to realize the correlation between sports and society amid the pandemic, and 7) The future of sports media considering Tom Brady announcing all of this week’s news from his own social media accounts.
The daily Capital Auto Mall/Universal Collision Centre poll question was: Will Charleston Hughes record 28 more sacks to become #1 all-time in the CFL? Over 60% of respondents said yes.
TSN’s Dave Naylor joined the show from his home in Toronto to give his thoughts on the New England Patriots (he still believes in Bill Belichick’s abilities without Brady), the immediate future of the CFL, and he posed the very interesting question of who will finish 5th in the CFL West in 2020? (assuming there is a season). That question drew tons of reaction from viewers and listeners alike. They all agreed they wouldn’t have pegged the BC Lions to finish 5th in 2019 so nothing is ever guaranteed in the CFL.
Football maven John Lynch was in the bunker and Naylor said the first thing he thought of when he saw John was their trip to Las Vegas together in 1994 to cover the Saskatchewan Roughriders against the posse. “Frenzy” went off down memory lane with an entertaining story of that game which kept viewers on the edge of their seats!
Right from the get-go Lynch told everyone that, despite concerns for seniors around the Coronavirus, he was appearing in the bunker on his own free will, after consultation with his family. They all feel that mental health is as important as physical health and that he needed to get out of the house, and appear on the show. He said at age 82, he should be free to make his own decision. The crew observed social distancing regarding John’s placement on the set.
BC Lions offensive line coach Kelly Bates joined the show from his home in Vancouver and explained that despite the uncertainty around the CFL at the moment, there is “not a pause” in their off-season. He discussed what’s keeping him busy football-wise right now, and also his optimism around the 2020 Lions. Hall of Famer Damon Allen was watching the show and chimed in with some barbs on the Facebook feed regarding playing with Kelly, and everyone had a laugh.
The Voice of the Regina Pats Phil Andrews joined the show from his home and discussed where the WHL stands amid the Coronavirus. He discussed some ticketing details and said the team would be handing out its year-end awards Friday evening. Philsy gave some thoughts on the potential for the WHL Playoffs, the Memorial Cup, how disappointed he is for graduating players and contending teams, and agreed with Rod on the story of how Max Paddock’s season ends needs to be told!
Friday’s show is available for viewing now on our Facebook page, you can listen to the podcast by clicking on the PODCAST tab at the top of this page, or you can listen anytime to our 24-hour live stream feed at RodPedersen.com/ListenLive presented by SUDS Full Service Car Wash in Regina.
We’ll see you at 10 am MT Monday on Facebook Live and RodPedersen.com/ListenLive!