FLAME TECH FOOTBALL FRIDAY RUNDOWN: FREROTTE, GURLEY, FRENZY & MORE!

Fridays are reserved for the gridiron and we tackled it all on Episode #401 of The RP Show – Canada’s Daytime Sports Talk Show! Here’s the rundown:

• Rod and Dupes kicked it off with The Warmup for Four Seasons Sports Palace covering these Quick Six show topics: 1) The Blue Bombers agree to a one-year extension – Is he the GOAT of Canadian CFL running backs?, 2) The New York Jets hire Robert Saleh and the Jaguars hire Urban Meyer as head coaches, 3) Which underdog will win on NFL Division Playoff weekend? (Rod says the Bucs and Darren’s going with the Ravens), 4) Thursday NHL takeaways, 5) Team Dunstone and Team Anderson will represent Saskatchewan at the Brier and Scotties, and 6) The Raptors are 3-8 after a 111-108 win over Charlotte.
• A busy hour one included a chat with 17-year NFL veteran and Pro Bowl QB Gus Frerotte. He went deep into the firing of Doug Pederson by the Eagles and explained spats between QBs and coaches are common. The Pennsylvania product said he had big-time blowouts with Norv Turner and Mike Martz with the Redskins. Frerotte previewed this weekend’s NFL playoff games and also discussed Pat McAfee’s comment that the CFL is State Fair Football. Gus doesn’t agree but acknowledged the differences between the NFL and CFL. He concluded that the NFL is definitely a “step up” but in the end, football is football. As a Penguins fan, Gus and Rod debated Marc-Andre Fleury’s role with the Vegas Golden Knights.
• The daily Capital Auto Mall/Universal Collision Centre poll question was: Which underdog will win this weekend in the NFL – Rams, Ravens, Browns or Buccaneers? At press time Tampa Bay was leading.
• Hour 2 was simulcast on Game+ TV and Facebook Live and we were joined by RP Show NFL Insider Tori Gurley. Tori predicted the Browns will pull off an upset over Kansas City, primarily because of rust on Patrick Mahomes and the fact the Browns have something special going. On the Eagles news, Tori reported that the team still has a headache with a battle between QBs Carson Wentz and Jalen Hurts. Regarding the CFL, Tori said players are “in limbo” at the moment.
• A special guest was CFL veteran Shaq Murray-Lawrence who’s now a member of the Canadian National Mens Bobsled Team. The Scarborough product joined the show from Switzerland where Team Canada is on a European tour. He explained that Team Canada originally reached out to him with the opportunity back in 2017, and that Jesse Lumsden paved the way for him. Murray-Lawrence reflected on his time in the CFL and said he plans to return to the league when play resumes. The UNLV product said Alouettes coach Khari Jones has given his full blessing for Shaq to pursue the bobsled opportunity.
• News broke near the end of the show that the Saskatchewan Government is committing $4-million to the province’s WHL and SJHL teams however the panelists agreed that it’s unclear if that means the government will fund a Return To Play. After the show a source confided that the funding is simply to ensure the teams’ survival and that health officials are investigating options to get the leagues back onto the ice.
• Friday’s show is available for viewing now on our Facebook page, you can catch the replay at 4:00 pm ET on Game+, listen to the podcast by clicking on the CONTENT tab at the top of this page or listen anytime to our 24-hour live audio feed at RodPedersen.com/ListenLive.
• See you at 10 am CT Monday on Facebook Live and 12 pm ET on Game+. Our guest list includes Vegas Golden Knights insider Gary Lawless! Note that beginning February 1, the show will go live daily at 11:00 am Sask Time to accommodate two full hours airing on Game+ across all 10 provinces and 31 states.