Best of NBA News Part 2: Rich Paul JOINS to talk all things Bron + Jaylen Brown & Joel Embiid STILL haven’t spoken?!

20:02Chad Johnson:Hey, speaking of the draft, you got one of my favorite players to watch. I watched him at high school. Caleb Williams. He's nice, man. Hey, I've been random raving to Arkin Ocho about how nice he is. And I thought he showed great flash in college. Obviously him getting hurt. But when you think about it, Rich, that he made seven threes in college, bro. He went seven for 11 the other night. Yeah. From three. And they talk about, oh, man, he reminds me of KG. Hell, I seen a lot of KD the other night. Yeah, no, listen, I think I've always said it. I thought he had the most upside in the entire draft and just a tremendous kid, a great family.

20:47And he's serious about his approach. He's serious about his profession. When you see the post-game interview, and they said you had 35, he's like, yeah, but we lost. Focus on that. We lost. And then he talked about how he was emotional going into the game and, you know, being vulnerable and being able to state that, hey, I was emotional. I actually cried because this is my first time playing since I got hurt. The game means that much to me. That's not an act.

21:17Shannon Sharpe:Yeah. I'm just letting you know, that's not an act. That is that is very authentic and true to the core. And, you know, we had, you know, Caleb and Coa Pete and Brayden Burry, just an unbelievable draft class this year, man. And, you know, just just unbelievable young men and families still. That's the thing. And so, you know, when you talk about going to do something else, you know, obviously, you know, people talk about that. And there's been rumors and, you know, every competitive agent meeting, they tell families, oh, Rich, going to run a team and things like that. I think that's part of the game.

21:52But the reality of it is, no. You know, I built a real – see, it's the difference between building a business and building a book of business. I built a business. And so it's not that easy to go away from. And I don't even want to do that. But it's not that easy to go away from. I enjoy what I do getting up every day. I'm in that office every day if I'm not on the golf course, obviously. And, you know, I think it's. I'll say this, I'm honored when people say that, because as you guys know, I come a long way, man. But at the same time, I really enjoy what I do. The moment I stop enjoying it, I won't do it.

22:34But but but right now I really enjoy what I do. I have great clients, I have great families. We built a tremendous business that stretches far beyond representation. And, you know, every day I get up, I'm still thinking of how to get better. I'm still trying to perfect my craft, man, and find different ways of processing and, you know, different verticals. That's not representation, just representation adjacent. I'm learning a lot every day. And so, you know, you learn from young people. You get a lot of young people around you. these kids are smart, man. Very smart. So I'm learning a lot. So no, no, not right now, man.

23:16Not right now. I'm still a young man. You know what you're trying to, why you trying to get me out the game? I ain't trying to get you out the game. You with me? Okay, okay.

23:27Chad Johnson:Hey, hey, hey, hey. Go ahead, Ocho, go ahead.

23:32Joe Johnson:I got a question. With everything you accomplish, being a CEO, building a business, if you didn't go this route. Yeah. If you didn't go this route, hell, if I didn't play football, if football didn't work out, I wanted to be a marine biologist. I wanted to be a veterinarian because I love animals and I love killer whales. Yeah. What would have been your other route if you didn't get out the way it did? That's a good question. You know, I was always a people's person, Ocho. You know that. Hell, me and you became friends. I ain't played football. Wasn't ever in the Bengals' locker room or nothing.

24:06You just had to like it for me, you know? Um, and the same way with me and Joe, uh, you know, um, that's a good question. Look, I, again, I threw so many things at the wall, hoping one stick, man. And then I, and obviously, you know, I think people get it misconstrued when I, when I talk about my journey and people try to make it that I'm as if I'm not appreciative of the opportunity that LeBron, um, forgave me. I was tremendously appreciative so much show that I couldn't wait to to to do what I've been able to do and not be dependent on. Because I think when an athlete give you an opportunity as a friend, as a brother, as a cousin, distant cousin, you know, whatever the case may be.

24:54That's not something that you should rest on. You know, that's not to, you know, to make a bed. That's more of like a palette, you know. and it's just one of those boosters. But then I think the most respect that we can show you guys is to go on and build something, and then you can look back and say, hey, man, you know what? I'm with that. And I say that to all the young guys that surround my clients. I tell them, it's on you. There's no way that you should be asleep when your guy go to practice and come back from practice. There's no way. There's no way them cars should be on E or not washed.

25:39There's no way the cleaners shouldn't be there. The Amazon boxes shouldn't be by them doors, that garage door, that front door. That snow removal should be on time. You know, that refrigerator, them cleaning crews, all of that because it's just a proper way of doing things. And as you know, I try to get a game, and as best as I can, man, I'm extremely appreciative of the opportunity that was given to me. But at the same time, I know I couldn't lean on that. And the last thing I ever wanted to do was be that guy in the section, and then when it's all over, them people ain't picking up your phone calls.

26:20I had to build something. They're not picking up your call. They don't care who you used to hang around with. That don't mean nothing. That's not going to pay the bills. And so I try to express that as best as possible because, you know, I've seen a lot, man. I've seen a whole lot, a whole lot had to deal with a whole lot. And so I don't know. I probably would have been in the music, probably music or fashion, you know, music or fashion. I could, you know, vice president of global marketing at one of these shoe companies or, you know, a manager, music manager. I can manage talent all day long.

27:01I'm an A &R, too, now. I can pick a lot of records and find writers and get songs made and find the producers. You know, I had a record deal at 25, 24 years old. What you good to be? Come on, man. Listen. You can sing? I didn't pick singles. I done it all, Ocho. That's just what, again, that's just me. Well, we know you can pick a single. No, no, no, no, no. I pick singles. I pick, come on, there you go. Oh, singles, okay. Oh, I'm going to pick singles. Oh, man, my man, my man. Damn.

27:31Joe Johnson:Yeah. Hey, you know, I'm glad you said that, man. You know, LeBron, LeBron gave you an opportunity. You know, he threw you a layup. And, you know, I sing too, so I can sing my demo. Here you go. Hey, listen, Ocho, I don't know about no layup. May have been a pass. I had to make the layup myself. Right, right, right, right I don't know about no lead You know, I've been trying to get in the music industry For a little minute You know, I can sing now I can sing my demo This is what we need to do for you Because one thing about you, you got it, you a star I know you a star We got to surround you with the right writers We got to Get you the right reference We got to put that auto-tone on you though, man Because I know you, we got to put that auto-tone on All you old chokes But we're going to do all the other stuff, the theatrics, man.

28:20Right. We got to do stuff.

28:21Shannon Sharpe:Nah, you're going to need to put auto zone. That doesn't mean these car parts.

28:28Joe Johnson:Hey, ump, come on. Hey, ump, I could, I ain't invite you to my show when I perform.

28:35Shannon Sharpe:No, let me invite you, boy, to the show. Rich, let me ask you. I'm going to get you out on this. Huh? Rich, you know what? Being in this business, like you say, quarter century. And you've had, you've seen some players have some up and downs. right with LeBron in 2011. Darren Fox had a very similar situation this year. He didn't play his best ball. We know Darren Fox is an all-star. He's a phenomenal talent. What were some of the things that you relayed to him, that you talked to him about after the series was over? Yeah, I talked to him a lot. Series over, during the series, after games and things like that.

29:07Anytime you play a sport, you got to have short memory. You got to have short memory. I think people, it's hard to place a one season on a not-so-use series. I think we've all seen that from the best of athletes. You don't look like yourself for a series for whatever reason. Shots not falling, don't have your same quickness or your shift or the timing is off or anything like that. And sometimes it just, you know, you said that blackjack table long enough, you're going to get a bad shoot, maybe one or two of them. You know, you just got to weather the storm. You know, New Edition made the best song ever.

29:48Can you stay in the rain? So I think during that time, we was just having conversations about short memory, keeping the confidence, you know, understanding that social media is, especially with all the things that's going on with gambling and things like that now, I think the comments and things like that is out of control when it comes to things like that. So you have to block those things out. But also do other things. Having, you know, not being on scoring don't mean you can't affect the game in a different way. Right. So just trying to keep – anytime in that situation, you're just trying to keep guys positive.

30:25But at the same time, there's a balancing act. Like you can talk about it, but then you can't talk too much about it, right? Because at the end of the day, you don't want to be drowned out. And when I say you, I'm saying the athlete don't want to be drowned out with it. You got to get there, go by the house, have a conversation, have a little meal. You may have five, six conversations and read a conversation within that conversation about it. And then you move on. But De 'Aaron is a professional. I have no doubt that he'll have a good year this year. we don't make excuses and so you know you gotta have accountability in situations like that and he said it himself you know obviously he needed to to do a better job and I think given the opportunity the next time he will yeah

31:18Shannon Sharpe:appreciate that man hey Rich thanks for stopping by yeah no problem I know I've been trying to get on hey tell LeBron tell Goat when you want to have that big reveal you know Y 'all get on me, man. I don't know anything. I know just as much as y 'all know.

31:39Chad Johnson:Hey, typically, I hit him, Rich. I hit him in the DM. He hit me right back. Hell, I hit him. I said, hey, man, I need you to come on Nightcap. I still ain't hearing from him. Typically, he hit me right back. Didn't he tell you he was going to do this? He said, I thought y 'all was going to do the show. Well, he ain't going to do it now. But I thought, I don't know, I thought y 'all had a conversation.

32:02Shannon Sharpe:Hey, his face car good anytime. Yeah, yeah, I know that. He got interest to the club. He got interest to the club anytime. I watch the show, man. I just, I enjoy the show. And, you know, y 'all my guys, man. So I said, I've been trying to come on and it's tough. So this happened to be the right time. I hit Ash. I said, y 'all, I hit you. I said, y 'all on? He said, yeah. He said, yeah, I'm on. So I appreciate, appreciate you guys having me on, man. Enjoy the rest of the show. Thank you. Tell the wife we said that. I will do. When she's performing again, is she touring anytime soon? Not to my knowledge.

32:38Shannon Sharpe:Yeah, not to my knowledge. Get out of my pod, man. Not to my knowledge. I got blinders on, man. One thing for sure, I'm like this.

32:52Chad Johnson:They don't know nothing about that, Rich. They don't know how to like it. Yeah, horses at the Kentucky Derby, all he sees is the finish line, man. I don't know who on the map or who on the white. I'm just like this.

33:05Shannon Sharpe:Joe, Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch put the league on notice saying Anthony Edwards will be a cold-blooded score with the addition of LaMelo Ball. He's engaged in a way like I've not seen, and I think there's a combination of factors. Obviously, the excitement of playing along LaMelo. I think it's also maturation and recognizing what the team needs, where the team's at. He'll be far more like, I think I've just engaged in the overall sport. He's looking. He's watching. He maybe didn't have the confidence to express some of his thoughts before, and now he's just way more communicative, and it's fun.

33:39Shannon Sharpe:Joe? Hey. Can we see Ant-Man seriously in the discussion as an MVP?

33:46Chad Johnson:Yeah, I think it can definitely happen. Obviously, health plays a big factor, Uncle Ocho, but when you look at LaMelo Ball and Ant-Man, their games complement one another. LaMelo is so unselfish. He make guys around him better. He has a natural feel, a natural great feel for the game. When you watch a cat play, bro, it ain't necessarily about him coming out and scoring 30, 40 points a night. It's his natural feel of the game, knowing how to pass, when to pass, seeing plays happen before they really even happen. And LaMelo is like that, bro. Hell, if I ain't mistaken, Uncle Ocho, I think he led the league as far as usage rate, making guys around him better.

34:28Chad Johnson:It's some stat I've seen. But I think he's definitely going to make the game a lot easier for Ant-Man offensively because he knows and understands, listen, okay, boom, this is our horse. I definitely got to get him going. I got to get him at least eight to ten easy points to where he don't even have to fight and work hard. You know what I mean? And then he's going to be nights where he's probably going to have 14, 15 damn assists. But then there's going to be some other nights where he's going to have an efficient 22, 25 points. He'll lead them in school. You know what I mean? I just feel like they compliment one another and it's going to be so fun to watch because they're both so electric.

35:04Chad Johnson:Box office and can play, bro. They both got something to prove. Lamella going to have a chip on his shoulder. You know what I mean? This

35:11Shannon Sharpe:going to be good for the game. And you look at it, Joe. He's got a guy. Not only can he facilitate that. Now, Lamella is going to be the best scorer that he's played with since Cat. And he's playing with a guy that's a little more flamboyant as far as passing the ball than Mike Conley. He can score better than Mike Conley. They're kind of saying Mike Conley can facilitate, but Mike Conley wasn't the score that LaMelo is. Yeah. And nobody said, so now you got him, and you got McDaniels coming on into his own. So now you just can't gang up on Ant-Man. You've got to pay these other guys some attention.

35:49Shannon Sharpe:And so it's going to be very, very interesting to watch. I can't wait to see it play. I can't wait to see him go at it because Ant-Man is so fun to watch. I've never seen a guy because normally most guys be taking a series. They don't really. Ant-Man will engage with fans on the sidelines. Yeah. Yeah. He's like, man, hey, I got to work out. I'll be big like you. I said, I don't know about that. And he said, oh, no, no, no, no. This is a lot of not eating and a lot of working out.

36:14Chad Johnson:Hey, hey, hey, hey. It's good that he know his body because, you know, some of us know. You know, we know, but we can't afford no bad week or two here. We've been picked up 10 pounds. But I think Minnesota, Ocho, I think they're going to lean heavily on McDaniel really making a huge jump this upcoming season because they're going to be perimeter dominant, and they're going to need guys to really be able to score points and be effective on both ends of the court, and they got a number of cats who can do that, bro. They got offensive firepower.

36:49Shannon Sharpe:You look at the SOMO, you look at Shannon, you look at LaMelo, You look at Ant. Like you said, if McDaniels take that next step offensively, they got four or five guys that we know on a given. Well, we know Ant-Man can get 30, 40. But the other guys, and we've seen Mello get 40. But those other guys can get you a solid 20 easy. Yeah. Easy.

37:08Chad Johnson:They got it.

37:09Shannon Sharpe:And so now you got your anchor with Rudy. Rudy's going to be Rudy. Just give me a double-double, Rudy. Anything over eight points, we'll graciously accept. But we need you to be somewhere around 11, 12, 13 rebounds a game. around two, three blocked shots a game with some intimidation factor. Because even though you don't block it, you alter it so much, they're not even close to making it. Absolutely. Ant-Man is going to be Ant-Man. I'm counting on him being that. But I agree with you, Joe. I think they're going to be a very fun team. You know, they moved on from Drew Randall. They felt like he was clogging it up and wasn't.

37:47Shannon Sharpe:This is me. Nobody's told me this. But, like, I don't really think he ever really fit with what they were trying to do, Joe. Right. Right.

37:56Chad Johnson:I understand. You know, I think what happened, especially in the playoffs, they tried to play through Randall, and it just didn't work. You know, obviously, Ant-Man was hurt. He was hobbled. Hell, he even came off the bench the first, I think, game or two. Yes. It just didn't happen for him. You're right. Their games don't complement each other because he's just not a – he can catch and shoot and make a three, but he ain't no damn catch and shoot three. You know what I mean? Like, he a guy you kind of got to play through in order for him to be effective. You know what I mean? You got to drop him the ball in the mid post and let him work a little bit.

38:28Chad Johnson:You know what I mean? And it's kind of like force feeding. So, I just think they're really thinking back. You know, obviously, with them getting rid of Cat and him going to win a title, hell, man, hey, things happen, bro. Move on. You know what I mean?

38:42Shannon Sharpe:I think the thing also, Ocho and Joe, is that because Julius Randle is not a great passer, He doesn't do a great job of passing when the double team comes, and he doesn't have a signature move. So now he's got to take 15 dribbles just to get within a couple of feet of the basket to try to bull his way to the basket up and under you. Well, man, so while you're doing all that, uh, uh, uh, uh. I'm just standing around watching, Joe. Hey, Joe, I'm like this. Hey, what you going to do for me now? Come on now. Shoot it to me. I'm ready. Hey. Uh. I'm like, well, damn. He's like a dump truck, a sanitation truck.

39:20Beep, beep, beep, beep. Well, damn, Joe.

39:24Chad Johnson:Hey, hey, you right.

39:25Shannon Sharpe:Now you pass me the ball with four seconds and wonder why I rushed up a shot. Now you killing my shooting percentage because you rushed me a shot. You gave me the ball 30 feet out.

39:35Chad Johnson:Hey, okay, Ocho, the most underrated attribute a cat can have in basketball is being able to pass the damn ball. Right. Man, I'm talking about that's the most underrated attribute because if you got a guy who can really pass, especially your bigs, man, they can make the game a lot easier for everybody. But if you got somebody, man, who can't pass, it's hard, bro. It makes the game a lot harder. You know what I mean? So I understand what I'm saying, you know, as far as Drew Randall not being a great passer. Man, you got to have – if your bigs can pass the ball, man, your offense can run real smooth, bro.

40:08Chad Johnson:Why you think Jokic is so dominant?

40:09Shannon Sharpe:Oh, man. Why you think Jokic is so dominant? He can pass his ass off. Yes. Like a damn point guard. Yes. Yes. That's why bigs that can pass out of the double team now, because guess what? I pass out of the double team. Akeem Olajuwon, he was passing a Kenny Smith jet and Vern Mad Max was getting wide open threes or getting wide open look threes. Sam Cassell getting wide open look threes. And now when you come to double team, I dumped the ball down to oldest Thorpe.

40:40Chad Johnson:Yeah.

40:40Shannon Sharpe:Or I got Clyde slacked knifing through the basket. Boom. So when you get a guy like that, Shaq with Kobe, you look at Shaq. Now, he's not a six, seven-assist guy, but Shaq knew Kobe coming, slashing, diving. He dumping off two of Kobe dunking the ball. Or he got Robert Orr. He got Rick Fox. He got Fish knocking down three. So when you got guys like that, it's hard. You got the double Shaq. You ain't got no choice.

41:06Chad Johnson:Yeah.

41:06Shannon Sharpe:Even though you know they got shooters out there. Look, yeah, that's a three-point shot. But Shaq going to dunk your big in the basket if you don't double him. Every time. Every time.

41:16Joe Johnson:And think about that. You see what y 'all just said, right? Yeah. Shaq is. How dominant Shaq is. Yes. And now think about that fire we got down there in Miami. Huh? No, no, no, no. Think about that. Think about that. Hold on. I'm not saying. They ain't going to be one Shaq and they ain't going to ever be another one. I'm not saying he is Shaq. I'm just saying we're teaming. We're going to have to double team him. Huh? And we got the king coming over there too, right? We got the king coming over there. where he's had to carry the crown, carry the weight of the team on the shoulders. Stay with me, Joe.

41:46Joe Johnson:Let me finish that. He's had to carry the weight of the shoulders all his career. Now he want to sit back, kick back, and relax and let everybody else do the heavy lifting. Guess where he can do that at, Joe? Where he can do that at, Ocho? Where he can do that down in Day County, boy. Hey, Ocho. Ocho.

42:06Chad Johnson:Giannis, you really don't have to double Giannis. You just got to build that damn wall and train the fish. Build a wall.

42:11Shannon Sharpe:Yeah, I'm not done because he don't have a signature move, Ocho. He ain't got like a mini. He ain't got no turnaround. I'll give him that all day. I just got to keep him out of the paint. That's what you do. As long as I ain't letting him do this or dunking the ball on me. You heard what you just said?

42:27Joe Johnson:Yes. I got to keep him out the paint. Who in the hell has succeeded on keeping him out the paint? Build that wall.

42:32Shannon Sharpe:The team that beat his ass in the playoffs when I can just focus on him. Well, he by himself. You can't just focus on him now. Hey, I'm just not going to let him get 30, 15, and 7. Well, Bam will give you 83. Okay, well, let Bam give us 83.

42:47Chad Johnson:Yeah, yeah, yeah. Hey, real talk, though. Like, Giannis getting the rebound, that's when he had his deadliest. When Giannis get the rebound, Ochoa, I feel like he had his deadliest because, you know, he can attack. It's a fast break right away. So what teams have to do is you have to build that wall, meaning you got to have at least shit two three sets of eyes on him and y 'all in close proximity so he ain't got no lanes he can kind of get into and get in the teeth of your defense and cause all kind of hell because once he do that you let him get in there hell now he nerf hoop dunking it spraying out for three it's just too many options you know what i mean but i think i think they're gonna be a hell of a team i think they're gonna be greedy defensively which is gonna fuel their offense.

43:35Chad Johnson:Yeah. Hey, Ocho, Ocho, real talk. If y 'all get LeBron, what if they ain't going to be turned up to the max over there?

43:44Joe Johnson:Hey, Joe, you ain't got to tell me because you understand that expert analysis you just gave me? Yeah. What you think LeBron thinking? LeBron, no. Where can I go where I don't have to shoulder the burden? What is going to be the easiest route for me? Not to just play. Yeah, we heard Rich Paul say, oh, it's not about the money. Oh, it's not about getting the ring. the hell you say. Yes, it is. I want my best chances. I want to maximize the end of the road as much as I can. And this is the best fit. I understood that, which is why I've been saying everything I've said. How you think I knew Giannis was coming to Miami?

44:20Joe Johnson:What did I say on the show long time ago? Long time ago before anybody. Oh, yeah. Giannis out here looking for houses. I mean, I ain't just throwing that out there. And then we got the reports today, huh? You saw the reports about Clay? What? I saw that. I saw that. Hey, listen. When I say something on here on Nightcap, I know y 'all think I be lying. What you saying, bro? And I don't even need sources because I be in the room with the people that's making the moves.

44:45Chad Johnson:What you saying, bro?

44:47Shannon Sharpe:Huh? What you saying? You got really lucky because had Boston given that third year that Giannis wanted, Giannis would have been in Boston. But hey, you must have knew Boston wasn't going to give him that third year. They won't even know. I know what I'm talking about, man. You know what they want to do in that third year? But, Joe, you said something very interesting before I was leaving. You say Giannis getting the ball on the defensive rebound and pushing it. It's like a running back, Ocho. What we say about Derrick Henry, we got to make him check his feet. Hey, you got to. If I just toss him the ball and let him run and then come downhill, I got to make him check his feet.

45:25Shannon Sharpe:I got to stop the ball. I got to make Giannis pick up his dribble. Yeah. And I ain't talking about it at the damn free throw line because it's too late. You let him pick up the dribble up at the free throw line. He had the basket. He dunking it. Or you fouling it.

45:35Joe Johnson:Hey, the best thing you can do, um, make him go east and west, Joe.

45:39Shannon Sharpe:Yes.

45:40Joe Johnson:I got to stop the ball. I got to. That goddamn Derrick. Hey, that goddamn Derrick Henry, Joe. Joe, he weigh about as much as you. He's 6 '3". And he get a head of steam? Once he get past the line? Boy, I'm making a business decision. Ain't nothing you can do. I'm going to tackle his shoe. That's it.

46:00Shannon Sharpe:I'm going to go out and shoot. As a returner, we'll say, hey, the first guy down to the gunner, you got to throw. You got to make him. You just can't let him. Because when they just hit it on the move, it's too much. You got to make him check his feet. But I told Ocho, Ocho, when they first got there, what did I tell them to do? I said, man, y 'all put him in an offset. He's not an offset back. He's not Jameer Gibbs. He's not Christian McCaffrey. Put that man heels at eight yards and toss him the damn ball. He's an old school back, huh? He's an old school outback, Joe. Hey, he want to be out there.

46:33Shannon Sharpe:You can put a fullback in front of him, and you can let the fullback slide however you want to. But he wants you to hand it to him or toss it to him. But he can't do it. He's too long. He's a long strider. So as a long strider, you put him in the offset, one step, two steps, he had the line. Yeah. Hey, well, how you got it? He ain't shifting like Gibbs. He ain't shifted like a Christian McCaffrey. No. He doesn't have shake like that, like a James Cook. Those guys can operate in an offset position. But not him. He's too big. Hey.

47:05Chad Johnson:But how's he that big, though, with that type of breakaway speed? Because it's like once he get through that, if he can get through that, it's like ain't no damn catching him. No, no, no. He's strong. He throw that hair back like we did back in the country.

47:19Shannon Sharpe:He throw that hair back, it's over.

47:21Joe Johnson:If he ever threw that head back. Right. Goodbye. He's strong, Joe. Oh, yeah. Damn. I'm not talking about this strong. I'm talking about when he running, he in that open field.

47:31Shannon Sharpe:Yeah.

47:32Joe Johnson:He's strong, boy.

47:33Shannon Sharpe:See, people missed on him. He went in the second round because of his style. You got to look at Joe and Ocho. Yeah. He had the most rush yards in high school football history. He broke Ken Hall's record of Sugar Land, Texas. Damn. That's still for like 50 years. He broke that record. Now he goes to Alabama. He's not there long, but look at the carries. And he had what we call an upright running style, which is a big target. He's a big man providing you a big target to hit. So everybody says, ain't no way he's going to be able to last long. He's got 2 ,000, 3 ,000 carries in high school. He's got another 2 ,000 carries in college.

48:12Shannon Sharpe:And so he might, at best, got four or five years. And here he is, if I'm not mistaken, going to year 10, and go year 11 and have a chance to be the all-time leading rusher. He has a chance, outside chance, to catch Emmitt Smith and LaDainian Thomas as far as touchdowns from a running back. So he surprised a lot of people because of his running style is not conducive for someone because he's a guy that runs the contact. He's a collision back. Hey, if you notice, now, if he out there in the opening, he see you go, because I got to tackle him low, Ocho. I ain't going to hit him in his damn chest.

48:46Shannon Sharpe:You a fool. Absolutely not. and get ranked. I'm going low, Joe.

48:50Chad Johnson:Hey, hey, hey, I noticed that this year too, this past season, because he dealt with them damn fumbles because guys were like, damn, taking this contact. I'm going to strip this damn ball.

48:59Shannon Sharpe:Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. And now I put that in the back of his mind so now he can't run aggressively as he normally would because he's thinking about securing the football. You're at your best when you're just free. Ocho's just running his ride. He running that speed out. Ocho, that left foot going to hit at 10. He's going to throw it at 12. He's going to roll. and he knows when he comes out of that break, one, two, that ball, hey, pow, he already know. I'm going to hit it at 10, I'm going to roll to 12. Hey, when that right foot hit on that dig route and I'm on the right side, I'm driving back downhill.

49:33Shannon Sharpe:I already know that. But I can't be thinking about it because what happens is it so's doubt. You have a couple of drops. Now all of a sudden you apprehensive. You tried to body catch. You ain't fluid. You tried to body catch it, Joe. Yeah, yeah. You running with the football, you got both hands around it. You can't – how you juking somebody like that? You need to have the ball – ah. So they put doubt in his mind because he had those fumbles last year, especially against Buffalo.

50:01Joe Johnson:Hey, remember what I said on the show, Unc? He fumbled because he got them what on his arms? Oh, those sleeves? Those sleeves. Next game, sleeves was gone, Joe. Yeah. You got to be able to feel that ball on your skin. when you wear them long sleeves, Joe, like the hoop as well. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. If you can't feel the ball, you got to be able to feel that ball. Somebody punch it the right way, you got to have that skin to leather on. You got to have that skin to leather contact.

50:28Shannon Sharpe:But considering that Minnesota has knocked Denver out a couple of years of the playoffs, and with really just ant. Now, McDaniels has been out of his mind. I don't know what it is about the Nuggets, Joe, and then they found something in Desamo. They found something in those guys, but I don't know what it is about the Nuggets that he loves playing against the Nuggets. And he gives Murray a fit.

50:59Chad Johnson:Hey, that's why he plays well. Let me tell you something. When you got a guy who's known for defense and he can score, he's a pretty good offensive guy too. See, him having to guard Murray, it fuels his offense because, you know, you play good defense, you're in good spirits, so you're playing the right way. Boom, that ball finds you. You know, now you're able to make plays offensively. But defensively, he's so engaged that, you know, it kind of fuels his offense and kind of gets him going to the point to where he looks so good against the Nuggets. I'm like, I don't think the Nuggets want to see the Timberwolves no damn more.

51:33Chad Johnson:No, no.

51:34Shannon Sharpe:He's like, I need to see the Nuggets about 40, 50 games. I'm an all-star against them for sure. So that's how it rolls out. It is. I'm anxious to see Ant-Man. He is, you know, he's a pleasure to watch. Because at the end of the day, I don't give a damn to sport. It's still about entertainment, Ocho. You go to a sporting event to what? To be entertained.

52:04Shannon Sharpe:Let me ask you a question. If Jordan just laid the ball up, were you going to be just entertained? It was that tongue hanging out, and he's sideways. Yeah. Yeah. It was Magic Johnson doing this. Yeah. Yeah. That part. Yeah. That's why Biggs, that's why Biggs is hard to resonate with Biggs, unless you like Shaq breaking down the backboards. Everybody talking about the most unstoppable shot that's ever been created in basketball is what? The hook. That's Scott Hook. Scott Hook. And don't nobody get Kareem created. Man, ain't nobody want to see that. Ain't nobody even practicing there no more. Ain't nobody practicing.

52:42Shannon Sharpe:Of all the things, you see people do the finger roll, George Gerber, the dark finger roll. You see them hang in the air. They even tried to copy Steph Curry shooting the ball from distance. Ain't no, not one player has ever, when's the last time you seen somebody throw a hook shot from 18 feet like Carina?

53:00Chad Johnson:Hey, that's a hard-ass shot, though, Uncle Ocho. I ain't going to lie to you.

53:03Joe Johnson:Hey, that's probably why they don't want to do it, Uncle. It would take long to perfect something like that, too.

53:08Shannon Sharpe:Kareem said, how long you thought he took him to work on that? He said, you make it seem like he just came in the league and he's been working on it his whole career.

53:15Joe Johnson:Oh, yeah.

53:17Shannon Sharpe:Yeah. And that's the thing. Jordan's not Jordan if he wasn't entertaining. He understood the entertainment value of it. Right, yeah. When he started flying through there, dunking on everybody.

53:31Chad Johnson:With spraying his legs, huh? You already know how the logo goes. Yeah. What's up, man?

53:35Shannon Sharpe:The jump man. Yeah. I mean, he dunking on everybody in the game. And when he came out there with that tongue hanging out, I said, man, you're going to bite your damn tongue off.

53:48Joe Johnson:I'm surprised he didn't have any issues where somebody hit him out there or hit him while his tongue was out.

53:55Shannon Sharpe:What kind of issue? If the Knicks didn't do it and the Heat didn't do it and the Pistons, wasn't nobody else going to do it because they were the most physical. Hey, but don't sleep on the Boston Celtics now. People don't people don't look at because they look at McHale and they look at Parrish and they look at bird They don't think they were physical but they had a super team Everybody all of them have to the Lakers and the Celtics had a super team, but super teams are okay Joe if you build it That's what I that's what I learned to notice As long as you build it, but you do realize The Celtics did not draft Robert Parrish They traded him for Joe Barry Cowell in the right to the number one pick.

54:40Shannon Sharpe:So that's how they got Kevin McHale and Robert Parrish. They didn't draft Dennis Johnson. They didn't draft Nate Archibald. A lot of the players that they got, they didn't draft. But that's okay. That was before he went there. And look at the Lakers. They didn't draft Kareem. They drafted Magic. They didn't draft Bob McAdoo. But look, if I like you I'll make excuses You know what I'm saying, Ocho I like what you do If I don't I don't give a damn what you do You can find a cure for cancer Screw you You ain't cure diabetes Oh, man You find a cure for cancer But you ain't cure diabetes What you gonna do about that, Joe?

55:20Shannon Sharpe:Come on, come on If you so good at medicine You know how it go But no, I think this is Ant-Man I'm trying to think The closest he's going to come is to the Lakers or the Clippers. I got to go see him. I got to hear him. Hey, T. Lou, I know you watch it because you watch all the time. I'm going to come see Ant-Man play.

55:42Chad Johnson:When they go play the Clippers? Yeah.

55:48Shannon Sharpe:I think I want what I will. I'm going to hit his ass up.

55:51Chad Johnson:Yeah. Minnesota going to be fun to watch this year, Arke Ocho. Hell yeah.

55:56Joe Johnson:Absolutely.

55:56Chad Johnson:They're going to be fun to watch. I still think they're going to be a top five team in the East. I mean, West. Top five. Yeah.

56:06Shannon Sharpe:For sure. And if they stay healthy, they might be top four. Could be. Could be. If you can stay healthy.

56:19Shannon Sharpe:Tracy McGrady said Jalen Brown and Joe Ellenby haven't spoken since the trade. Joe, let's take a listen to what T-Mac had to say. JB was on a stream the other day and he reached out to Max. He talked to Max and he talked to Vijay, but I don't think he hasn't spoken to MB yet. So, and, you know, they had their thing in past years, you know, personal, you know, thing going on. Now they're teammates. And I don't think there's been a conversation between the two, at least not to my knowledge. I haven't heard anything on it. So that's not a good sign because when you go into a new team and you go into a team that, you know, this is the MVP.

56:58Shannon Sharpe:Like, you've been the MVP for this team. Now I'm coming to join your team, and we haven't had a conversation. I don't like it. I don't like that. You know what I mean? Because we all trying to – we're getting off to a fresh start. Joel, you're getting off to a fresher start, right? And now you're adding another MVP along with the young boys that you have. To make things easier for you. To make things easier for you. And there hasn't been any communication as far as my knowledge.

57:27Joe Johnson:Joe, this is your level of... Go ahead, Ocho. Hey, Joe, I know you probably... From a football sense, you know, when new players are coming in, especially new receivers, they're the veterans coming from other teams, especially when it's the offseason, I don't put too much into it as far as the communication goes. Obviously, most of the players are off right now. They're traveling there with families. I wouldn't put too much into it, Joe. And maybe you guys may feel different about it, even though a conversation needs to be had, listen, welcome to the team, maybe something like that. I think something a little bit more formal, in person, you know, you guys see each other, but just saying, hey, welcome to the team as far as right now, especially while everyone's out doing their own thing, is eh.

58:12It's eh.

58:13Joe Johnson:If I hear from you, it's okay. If I don't, I see you when it's time to play ball and it matters most. But, Joe, you might feel different.

58:19Chad Johnson:I kind of agree with you, Ocho. I feel like if they did have anything riffraff between each other, that's water under the bridge now, fellas. Maybe I have said some things and I still believe them to be true, but hey, we're on the same team now. Is it water under the bridge? Yeah, I mean, man.

58:39Shannon Sharpe:I mean, Tyler Hero thought it was water under the bridge too. He said that months ago. Yeah, yeah, yeah, but what I'm saying.

58:45Chad Johnson:That was a good one. That was a good one. That was a good one. Hey, but what I'm saying, listen, we're on the same team now. I may have said something about you flopping cool. You still do. I still think you're a hell of a player. But now that I'm here, listen, man, let's come together, man. I ain't tripping. Maybe they have talked since that interview. But I'm like Ocho. I don't really put a whole lot of stock into that, bro. I just feel like MB knows what JB stands for. You know what type of shape he's going to be in. You know the mindset he's going to come with. You're going to have to match that energy, partner, if y 'all trying to do something in the Eastern Conference.

59:20Shannon Sharpe:What is standard protocol? I'm not talking about the eighth man on the bench. I'm talking about a bona fide, a finals MVP, an Eastern Conference MVP, an all-NBA selection, a multiple, multiple, multiple-time all-star. What is standard protocol of a guy of that caliber going to a team and the best player from said team, or one of the best players from said team? What is normal protocol? Is it normal, standard operating? A, standard operating procedure. SOP. What is standard, Joe?

59:52Chad Johnson:Yeah, no, no, no. I ain't going to sit here and act like it ain't normal. Now, normally, if you get a guy that caliber now, if you get a guy that caliber, the first thing, you know, you hit him and be, hey, bro, welcome to the squad. Boom, we about to make some shake. You feel me? We got to be on the same page. We're going to get together here soon. I know you're going through blah, blah, blah, blah. But, yeah, it should have been already handled. But he talked to the young guns already, huh?

1:00:15Shannon Sharpe:Yeah.

1:00:16Chad Johnson:Let me ask you a question, Ocho.

1:00:18Shannon Sharpe:When you went to New England, did Tom reach out to you? Yes or no?

1:00:24Joe Johnson:No, I saw him once I got to the stadium because he didn't have my number.

1:00:29Shannon Sharpe:Okay. Yeah.

1:00:30Joe Johnson:Well, hell, he could have got that. I mean, Belichick had it, so he could have got that. Yeah, me and Bill had a relationship long before I got there. Right. Me and Bill was really close. And another thing, what if Embiid is still upset and Embiid swing on Jalen Brown when he get there? Hey, chill, bro. Chill.

1:00:48Chad Johnson:Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, this ain't what Houston came to, you know what I mean? Listen, we had a little mishap. See, one thing about it, a lack of communication can lead to a real misunderstanding, fellas. You hear me? And that's what we've been going with.

1:01:02Joe Johnson:Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, Joe, you ain't just finna throw that out there like that. Let me write that down, bro.

1:01:06Chad Johnson:I'll go ahead, take your time, take your time. I'm gonna run it back for the people in here. I'm gonna run it back, I'm gonna run it back. I gotta use that in my next argument. I'm gonna run it back. A lack of communication can lead to a misunderstanding, man. That's all it was. But, hey, hey, hey, Bam just had to get some straightening. Just get a little straightening. That's it.

1:01:22Shannon Sharpe:You see what I'm saying, Ocho? Hey, Chad, y 'all see how Joe circled back on that? We had nothing left Bam and Tyler Hero long ago.

1:01:29Chad Johnson:Now, look, look, look, look. I kind of feel Bam in a sense. You know what I mean? It's like Ocho been doing all that talking about me and thinking when he see me, it's just going to be key, key, key, ha, ha, ha. Yeah.

1:01:40Shannon Sharpe:Yeah. Wow. Hey, Bam say Tyler Hero, Guitar Hero, and Hogan's Hero. Bop five. One, two, three, four, five. Bop. Yeah.

1:01:52Joe Johnson:Take that with you. And listen, Tyler Hero, man, that's my dog, man. That's my homeboy. I'm sure there was a misunderstanding. He said some things that he probably thought weren't going to get out publicly.

1:02:02Shannon Sharpe:Of course. He screenshot it from the DM. He tweeted that. He did that in the DM. Somebody screenshotted it and sent it out.

1:02:11Joe Johnson:I'm sure. I'm not sure if he tried to apologize. Knowing Tyler Hero the way I do, I'm sure he tried to apologize. and probably Bam really wasn't going for it. And one thing led to another. I hope cooler heads have prevailed now, and they probably talked it out. And I'm sure Tyler Hero apologized, and Bam probably did the same thing. Listen, you move forward. We move forward, and we play ball. Yeah, yeah.

1:02:35Shannon Sharpe:Hey, that would be something that would be better asked of John, because I know that when they brought players to the team, I wouldn't call anybody. about it ain't nobody look I've always had two phones and you ain't getting the main line that was for kids you know that was for very very select select group of people that being said uh like I said Joe that would be something that you would I mean because quarterbacks I'm sure you could you hear I've already talked you know when Joe Burrow or you hear Patrick Mahomes they already say I've already talked to Patrick I've already talked to Joe I've already talked to Trav I've already talked to this guy so I just wanted to know what was standard operating procedure because that's not something that I've been in.

1:03:15Shannon Sharpe:When we bring in players, I'll see you when I get to a mini camp or training camp or something at that level. So that's why I'm asking you guys because I've never, me personally, I've never brought in anybody I really knew. And at that point in time, it's kind of like today, guys, I understand I'm a position friend. We're friends because of the position I'm in. You're my friend because of the position you're in. The days of you got somebody, Ocho, that you grew up with in high school. Joe, you grew up with in high school and college. We're what we call positional friends now. We're friends because of the position that we're in.

1:03:54Shannon Sharpe:See? Let's not make it more complicated than what it is. We're teammates now, Joe. We're teammates now, Ocho. Yeah. Let's not lose sight of that, okay? So, hey, that's my dog. What up, dog?

1:04:05Joe Johnson:I'm glad you said that, too, Uncle. Just because your teammates are Uncle Joe, you don't have to like each other. No. You're not there for a relationship. You're there to win a championship or to do everything you can to win a championship. And everyone has to pull their own weight. That's all it is. Now, if we happen to be friends and build a relationship because we happen to be on the same team, we're all for it. That's fine and dandy. And to answer your question, now that I think about it, remember I got traded to the Patriots real late. Real late, right before the season started. So Tom didn't have time to call me because when I got traded, I had to be in New England in 24 hours.

1:04:38Joe Johnson:Hey, hey, hey.

1:04:39Chad Johnson:Hey, Tom, one caller, you know that way. You fall in line. You get these damn orders. I'm throwing the balls. Don't worry about it. Yeah, he won't call it.

1:04:47Joe Johnson:You know that way. Hey, Joe, let me tell you something. When you get to New York, you're going to fall in line, too, because I'm going to get you. Damn.

1:04:54Shannon Sharpe:Hey, man, look here, man. Joe, I mean, Joe might have a change of heart and bring his girl. Don't beat him up in front of you, girl. Come on, come on, come on. You got to chill. You got to chill. I'm just saying, man, just in case.

1:05:03Joe Johnson:You got to chill. You got to chill. Hey, aunt, you might be on to something. Because in order for him to go to Houston, I think he had to bring her here. So you know how it is when you want to go somewhere, you want to do nice things for your girl so she can let you go.

1:05:18Shannon Sharpe:Hey, hey, hey. Ocho, you see the list? You see what we got? We got an official.

1:05:25Chad Johnson:Okay. Okay. Hey, Chad, Chad, Chad. Y 'all see, we can't even have a civil show no more.

1:05:30Joe Johnson:Hey, we might want to get that laminated so we can't get you. Okay, no problem. No problem whatsoever, Chad. Get that laminated.

1:05:36Shannon Sharpe:We always try to be, we try to do things official. We don't ever want to think anything is shade tree or is rigged. You know what I'm saying? I mean, hey, this is an official document.

1:05:46Chad Johnson:I'm trying to see how in the hell we go from Jalen Brown to my permission slip. That's what I'm trying to see. That ain't no good thing.

1:05:55Joe Johnson:It all coincides.

1:05:58Chad Johnson:Well, listen, listen, listen, listen. Back to the Jalen Brown thing. Yes. I think what's understood really don't have to be explained, honestly, fellas. Meaning, MB, I think he knows everything revolves around him. Obviously, they still can have him. No, I don't know. I don't think that's the case no more, Joe. Yeah, I'm saying when I say revolve around him, I'm meaning playing the right way. Because he can't be. Okay, yes.

1:06:24Shannon Sharpe:Okay, I see what you're saying.

1:06:25Chad Johnson:He can't be no ball stopper. When I say fall in line, meaning like, man, look, he going to get 20 points because he that damn good. You know what I mean? Yes. But can you get in the floor of the game and not be a ball stopper to where it gets all these other perimeter guys, you know, out of sync? You know, we want to continue that chemistry and continuity that they kind of got going. We don't want to pull the reins back. We want to continue to let them attack offensively. Hell, JB, M and Max, they both averaged 29 a game this past year. Y 'all don't think they trying to build on that? Now, listen, I understand that they all going to have to sacrifice a little bit.

1:07:00Chad Johnson:I just don't want to see that wild, helter-skelter-ass basketball, no rhyme or reason, your turn, my turn type. I don't want to see that, man. I want to see these guys be in sync and Joel play the right way and make the game easy for everybody around them. That's what I want to see.

1:07:15Shannon Sharpe:But I also think, Joe, you know what happens a lot of times? They overpass the ball because everybody wants to show that they're sacrificing and everybody wants to show just how unselfish they are. And they're like, I'm going to show everybody. Bro, take the shot. we're not saying take the obvious. We're not saying do the obvious right thing, but I think sometimes they overpass the ball because they're trying to show, you go out of their way to show that we're so unselfish, I ain't got no problem with him, I ain't got no problem, and you're not playing really good basketball. I still believe that you play fundamentally sound basketball, and guys know when to do the right thing and when it's not the right thing.

1:07:55Shannon Sharpe:That's just me personally, but I really wanted to see what you thought about this because this is your level, And like I said, normally it's probably the quarterbacks that normally reach out because for the most part, that's generally the guy that's looked at as the CEO. Now, it would have been very interesting. Probably, I mean, if you went to when Saquon was with the Giants and they had some quarterbacks, maybe they reached out to them. But maybe it was Saquon or maybe it was Jetta. You know what I'm saying? Maybe it was something like that. But I know when guys would go to Kansas City, they would always say Patrick.

1:08:27Shannon Sharpe:They'd talk to Patrick or they'd talk to Trav. and so I was always interested to see because I was, even though I was one of the leaders on the team, I was, you know, I was busy. I was, I was working out, hey. And even like, Joe, did you take guys when you were in college and they brought guys in, did you take them around campus? Did you take them on, did you show them on the official visit? Nah, I wasn't that guy.

1:08:52Chad Johnson:I was, I'm going to tell you all the time. You were too quiet. When I was not, it wasn't that I was too quiet, man. I'd be too locked in. And I'm just not the typical guy when it comes to, like, showing guys a good time and all that. Man, I ain't the dude for that. You hear me? Yes. That ain't me. Because, boy, on my visit, I know they cut up. Damn, Joe, you didn't participate? No, man, I wasn't partaking in that. Hey, look, let me tell you all something, man. Before I went to college, I had a real plan. I can't be here no longer than two years, bro. No longer than two years. I got to get my ass out of here.

1:09:26Chad Johnson:Yeah. Hey, it wasn't no NIL back then. If I'd have got a few million, you know, I could have brought Mama to college with me. She could have been cooking it out with me. Yeah, yeah, she could have got a place right close by. It was just going to be a little pit stop. Hell, it was a little pit stop, but we're going to go on, keep it on, you know, get back on the road. Keep on moving.

1:09:42Shannon Sharpe:Yeah. Ocho, did you show people around with you? Where? At Oregon State. Well, you hell, you just got there. Hell, you went there with me. I was, hey, Joe, I was in school for two weeks.

1:09:54Joe Johnson:Hey, it's that. I went to one class I went to my finance two classes I went to my finance class Joe and you know I love theater and drama I ain't going to nothing else you did just enough to get by I did just enough that I know I'm going to use later on in life you know I'm dramatic I love theater plays you know stuff like that and finance you know I am when it comes to my finances but I don't play yeah

1:10:23Shannon Sharpe:Yeah, that's how I was. I mean, look, I did it. Like I said, I showed Ben Coates around one time, and I told him he shouldn't come there because they moved me to tight end and he's going to be on the bench.

1:10:35Chad Johnson:You told him, oh, it was a guy in the same position as you. Yeah, Ben Coates that played with New England, that went to the Pro Bowl, that me and me scored the Pro Bowl.

1:10:42Shannon Sharpe:Yeah. He was from South Carolina. He ended up going to Livingston. But he came to visit Savannah State. I was his host. so I went out that was the only that was the first and the last time so I was like man I didn't know what position you played I was a wide receiver yeah so you know and coach like a lot of times the top offensive players that were coming in skilled position players coach would have me and I was only did it one time so I guess he thought enough for coach that okay coach I'll do it I said my man what position you play he's like man I'm a tight end I said oh okay I say uh what you what I mean what you're trying to do?

1:11:21Shannon Sharpe:He's like, man, you know, it'll be big for me to start my freshman year. I said, don't come here. He said, why? I said, because they're moving me to tight end and you can't beat me out. I was just honest. And guess what, Joe? The next year, I was an All-American. Conference Player of the Year, Offensive Player of the Year, All-Conference, and Black College All-American. So what do you think the chance was he's going to beat me out? It wasn't going to be.

1:11:51Chad Johnson:Hey, you kept it 100 with him, man.

1:11:53Shannon Sharpe:He went to Livingston, had a great career, got drafted by New England, and him and I used to go to the Pro Bowl every year. If you was in the AFC from like 93 to 98, you wasn't going to the Pro Bowl. Not over me and him.

1:12:08Chad Johnson:Y 'all had it sold up.

1:12:08Shannon Sharpe:The only question was who was going to start, he or I. No, hell no. But I was honest with him. Coach Davis said, God damn home, I can't let you take nobody else out. Hell, we ain't going to get nobody. And then if I'm a wide receiver, I'm taking you on a recruiting visit. But it got to the point, Coach said, you're going to be the slot receiver. We already got our two receivers. It was me and Squirrel. We came in together. So I was two, he was three.

1:12:40Chad Johnson:Yeah. Coach, hey, I'm an All-American.

1:12:43Shannon Sharpe:Then the next year I come back, I'm offensive player of the year. I'm first team all-conference. I'm, again, Black College All-American. I was the only sophomore on the Black College All-American team. Right. All the black coaches. We were in Greensboro, North Carolina. Anybody that knows the Sheridan Black College, the Sheridan Network, they have a Black College All-American just for HBCU players. Yeah. My coach, Coach Davis, Coach from Grambling, Robinson, Coach from Jackson State, W.C. Gordon, Coach Willie Jeffries, All those coaches from Gunslinger, Archie Cooley, Coach Cooley, they sitting around.

1:13:24Shannon Sharpe:Now, everybody else is juniors because guess what? They got the black college all-star game. So, you know, they're out there practicing. All the coaches come in. I'm already there because I'm a sophomore. Obviously, I can't practice with them because I'm not leaving college. And everybody was talking about this guy. Oh, man, Harvey Reed, who was the running back. He was player of the year, black college player of the year. They talk about all these guys. Benson Brown, they call him the undertaker. Mississippi Valley. He said, man, this joker here going to be good. Coach Davidson, look here, I don't mean to cut y 'all off.

1:13:54Shannon Sharpe:He said, but I got the baddest in here. And he'll stop more. He said, I tell you what, in five years, he be the bad. He going to be the bad. Whatever he play, he going to be the baddest one. All y 'all good. I'm sure all them guys good. He said, but I got the baddest in here right now. And he'll stop. He ain't lie. Hey, hey, hey.

1:14:15Joe Johnson:you still talk to some of the players that played with you at Savannah State? Yeah. Bucket, me and Bucket played together.

1:14:22Shannon Sharpe:What about Squirrel? I'm talking about Squirrel. I see Squirrel. I see. When I go back, Squirrel, we got what we call the 86 class. 86 is the best recruiting class in Savannah State history. Me, Squirrel, Big Daddy, Rough House, Dane, Yard. A couple of the guys are past now. Dane is past. Yard is past. Coop. but we were the baddest class. BMW, Mike Wallace. Yeah, we still keeping communication and when I go back which is not often, we call 86 and when we see each other we start hollering 86 and we know who that is, 86. We on the yard they already know 86 was in the house. 86 in the house. Anybody with a Savannah State, y 'all know about 86.

1:15:11Y 'all should

1:15:12Chad Johnson:cut up on their yard than your man.

1:15:13Shannon Sharpe:Huh?

1:15:14Chad Johnson:I already know it. Huh? I already know it. I already know it. But look, for the most part, I don't know, maybe at North Carolina,

1:15:24Shannon Sharpe:Kentucky, the basketball teams, because those are basketball schools, Arkansas probably is a basketball school. But if you go to a football school, I'm just trying to figure out how anything can even come close. Come close. at Alabama, at Ohio State, at Michigan, at Penn State, Notre Dame. What is even close to the football team, guys? Georgia.

1:15:48Chad Johnson:Nah, nah. Arkansas football school, you right. Nah, nah. Them boy, hey.

1:15:54Shannon Sharpe:Hey. Oh, yeah, but we still, we playing, as a matter of fact, we playing, it's just so hard because everybody still is in Atlanta and in Savannah, Ocho. And so they talk all the time. And a lot of times when they have homecoming, they'll FaceTime me. That's the only time I let them FaceTime me. They're like, man, hey, Sean, what's going on, man? You need to beat out here. No, not with y 'all drunk ass. I don't need to beat out in there. But no, it's always great hearing from the guys. I invited Big Daddy, Squirrel, Polk, and Bucket. They came to the Hall of Fame. As a matter of fact, I paid for those guys to come.

1:16:32Shannon Sharpe:And Rough House, he asked Bucket to say, man, tell Sharp I want to come. I said, bro, hey, if he paid for his way, I got him a ticket into the game. So, I mean, to the ceremony. So he paid for his own way because, like I said, he's a part of that 86th class, and we were like this here. Yeah. I mean, you know, obviously, guys, we fought against, you know, I didn't fight, but you know, we knuckle up. But, boy, ain't nothing come between us. It's us against everybody else. Yeah, we're going to fight. Yeah. Hey, dab it up and be okay tomorrow. Don't you try that. Don't you try that in the yard now.

1:17:07Chad Johnson:Hey, hey, hey. I can imagine the stories the boys got, boy. Hey. Huh? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Old Freaky Shay over there?

1:17:17Shannon Sharpe:It's so funny. No, no, no, I wasn't like that. I wasn't like that. Joe, Joe, Joe, I went to school, you know what I'm saying? I got to get a degree. I got to get a pot here, man. Porter sent me for two reasons.

1:17:26Chad Johnson:Hey, hey, hey, that don't mean you ain't freaky because you got to do all that here.

1:17:28Shannon Sharpe:But I could, hey, I only had four years to be there. I could be there freaky and freaky would have kept me there the next year or two.

1:17:33Chad Johnson:No, no, no, no.

1:17:36Shannon Sharpe:I'm going to get out regardless because back then, well, I don't know if they do it now. Man, black college ain't got no money to be red-shirting nobody. You got to get up out of there. You got four years. You come in there at 18, I mean 17, you getting out at 21. You come in at 18, you getting out at 22. Ain't no red shirt. Even if you hurt yourself, you getting up out of there. You just got a year-cut show.

1:17:57Joe Johnson:Hey, Joe, every time, you know, when Uncle and I first started, and sometimes he'll tell stories about, you know, some of the things that happened at HBCU, we had some really good stories, man, when we first started the show. And man, that just got me thinking, man, obviously I didn't have the opportunity because I was a knucklehead and I took such a long route, you know, in the school system. And my love and my dream was to always attend Florida A &M University. Always. Just to hear Un talk about the HBCU experience in general and being able to see my daughter cross at Prairie View A &M. and Joe, it experienced that atmosphere, Joe.

1:18:33Joe Johnson:Like I had to talk about my daughter crossing over. Joe, I was in tears, Joe. Yeah. Joe, I'm talking about in tears and the atmosphere, it was unbelievable and I was only there for two hours. So I can imagine being able to have that experience for four years straight. If that small, simple size can't be emotional, Joe, I ain't even lost. Ain't nothing like Rush.

1:18:54Shannon Sharpe:You see him go over to see the AKA, the Deltas, Yeah. Obviously, the Fis, the Frats, the Qs, the Capas, the Sigmas, the Alphas.

1:19:06Chad Johnson:Hold on.

1:19:07Shannon Sharpe:They had all that where Ocho was at, didn't they? Yeah, but it ain't nothing like HBCU. Not the pageantry. I know. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

1:19:15Chad Johnson:Okay. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Homecoming Joe, that buzz, that atmosphere, that student center is buzzing.

1:19:23Shannon Sharpe:Everybody start the five. the alumni start filing in, start coming in. Late Monday, Friday by Friday, everybody there, they up on the yard. They talk, hey, Sharp, what you got for it, Sharp? Oh, you already know. I'm going to put it down for you now. You came back to see O'Shea do it?

1:19:39Chad Johnson:Yeah.

1:19:40Shannon Sharpe:I got you. I got you. I'm going to do what I do.

1:19:42Joe Johnson:Hey, Joe, I had the opportunity to go with my daughter's senior year. I had the opportunity to go to Prairie View Homecoming her senior year. Yeah. Joe, I ain't never seen nothing like it, Joe. Yeah. I ain't never seen nothing like it. And every time FAMU has their homecoming, you know what? I got to work. I'm always working on that Saturday.

1:20:02Shannon Sharpe:I've never had opportunities to go. It's amazing. And that's what I tell people. If you went to a PWI, every black that's gone to a PWI, you should have to spend one semester at an HBCU. And you want it to be the fall. You want it to be the fall because in the fall, you're going to get a little bit of everything. You're going to get all the football season and you're going to get a couple of basketball games. Yeah. You know, our football team, we would call the suit coat, the suit coat crew. So we come in there, all football players, we have a suit coat on.

1:20:34Chad Johnson:Yeah.

1:20:35Shannon Sharpe:And we got to roll the toilet paper. As soon as our team score, we throw the toilet paper on the floor. They have to stop the game. They started calling texts on us, Joe. Yeah. And so now the players, they're getting hype. Hey, Sean, y 'all coming, we got you. Yeah. We got you. It's just, hey, don't matter if we go first or not. As soon as we go, about 40 rows of toilet paper. Now, you're going to mess up the dorm because, hey, we only had so much toilet paper in there, we still have toilet paper from the student center. But that's all right. But the team, we had a great chemistry. We had a great foundation.

1:21:07Shannon Sharpe:We got along for the most part because Peacock, basketball, football, and a few baseball players, but mainly it was football and basketball players that stayed in Peacock. most of the baseball players stayed down there at Boston. But we were close.

1:21:26Joe Johnson:Oh, man. I wish I had the opportunity to get that experience. Ain't nothing like it.

1:21:32Chad Johnson:College was fun, bro. Yeah. Damn.

1:21:37Shannon Sharpe:I'm glad I went when I went. Yeah. I couldn't. Joe, we couldn't. Well, you could, Joe. Ocho and I couldn't make it in social media era. Not in college. Oh. Not in college.

1:21:54Shannon Sharpe:No, not me. Yeah. Not me. You got to realize, Joe, I had a brother in the NFL my junior and senior year. Yeah, you going to be cutting up. You going to be cutting up. Bro, I had a 300ZX with T-Tops. I got a Mercedes. My senior had a Mercedes, a 300E. Big body.

1:22:12Chad Johnson:Yeah. Boy ain't passing up no hoo-ha. He got, he. Yeah, I already know it.

1:22:18Shannon Sharpe:And you know, you young then. Man, hey, I had to hire me a hostage negotiator to talk him down. He be up about five or six hours, I had to talk him down. Hey, hey, you've done all you can do, Mr. Sharp. You can come on your, hey, you can ease down now. Hey, you gotta chill. You gotta chill. Man, I hear my joke. Had a hostage negotiator to talk him down. That's a bad idea. Hey, ask about me. Oh, Joe.

1:22:43Chad Johnson:Oh, Joe, what's wrong with your man, bro?

1:22:45Joe Johnson:I don't know, Joe. Listen, let me tell you how bad I had it, right? I wanted to, never had the opportunity. Went to Oregon State, obviously a great time. It was a short four-month stint for me at Oregon State. But I love FAMU so much, Joe. And I was a knucklehead in school, Joe. I graduated high school late. I didn't apply myself. Smart, but I didn't apply myself.

1:23:07Chad Johnson:Yeah.

1:23:07Joe Johnson:I love FAMU so much. Even after I made it to the NFL, you know I had them about music. I love the band. I've always been a fan of the band. From 2002 to 2008, I'm not sure how many people in the chat went to FAMU or maybe played in the band, but I'm sure you heard the stories. Every offseason, I did my training in Tallahassee just so I could see band camp. Joe, just so I could see band camp. Man, Dr. White, I'm not, Dr. White's not there anymore right now. The band director is Dr. Shelby Chipman. They saw, hey, Joe, every offseason, I'm in Tallahassee. I go train in the morning and sit there and watch band camp.

1:23:46Joe Johnson:Oh, yeah? Did you ever play an instrument? Yeah, yeah. You know, Joe, I play piano and alto saxophone. Yeah. Okay. I love it. I couldn't go there, so that gave me my sense of peace.

1:24:00Chad Johnson:Yeah, yeah.

1:24:01Joe Johnson:It's being able to see band camp during the offseason and get my training done in the morning and go watch them boys, man. That's, yeah, because by the time you got there,

1:24:11Shannon Sharpe:because when I came out, Prop 48 had just been instituted, the year I graduated, because of what happened at the University of Georgia. So that made it work. That made it so everybody was up under. You had to make at least$700, or you had to sit out your freshman year. So the only place I really could go was D2 or HBCU. So that's why I ended up going to Savannah State because I was one of the top recruits coming out. But my grades, like I tell people all the time, Joe, I couldn't have got in prison with my grades.

1:24:46Shannon Sharpe:Hey, I ain't fit to hold nobody. I ain't fit to hold nobody. I'm not, like I am now that have acquired knowledge and wanted to learn, I had no interest in that when I was in high school. Because you have to understand, I was so much better than everybody else in my school. I was so much better of a basketball player. So much better as a football player. Especially my senior year. It was close my junior year. my junior year, we had a guy end up going to Georgia Tech named Alfonso Thomas. He probably was the best player. I probably was the second best player. My senior year wasn't even no question.

1:25:18Shannon Sharpe:Basketball, I was the best player. Track, I was the best at what I did. So, hey, I ain't seen no reason. They can't do no school work.

1:25:29Chad Johnson:They came from being out there in them fields.

1:25:33Joe Johnson:Hey, the chat making fun of me talking about I laugh so much. Hey, I laugh so much. but hey chat do me a favor those that think I'm lying look at my Instagram look at my picture that's on my Instagram that that that that that look at my picture that's my Instagram what you call it your bio your bio yeah yeah your biopic yeah look at my biopic what about it I mean because they talk about oh I'm lying about my fam my love for fam you and the band yes yes