The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
Draft Night in Pittsburgh: Ty Simpson's Triumph & Rivalries That Died
24 Apr 2026
Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.
Chapter 1: What were the highlights of Ty Simpson's draft night?
ian achor ian achor max ian achor also mendoza fernando mendoza nfl draft coming at you on remote from the site of the nfl draft 2026 and football america's most consequential city let's start the show so Yes, hi, and hello, my fellow football Americans. Welcome to Football America, presented as ever by our pals over at DraftKings.
DraftKings, the crown is yours, whether you're in Miami or Los Angeles, New York City, or on the banks of the Three Rivers, it's the right way to go here. Now let's talk about the draft. As the viewer can see, if you're listening, hope all's well wherever you are. If you're looking at me, I apologize for what is looking back at you. I've barely had time, you see, to take a shower.
In fact, I haven't even washed myself. I'm in the same clothes I was in on Thursday night that I sit here on Thursday morning in between rounds one and two of the NFL draft. A mixed bag, I feel like, in terms of the reaction, the fan bases out there. Generally, there's overflowing optimism, it feels like. I would say maybe two-thirds at least of the NFL fan bases are enthused.
I feel like there's a lot of negativity going on right now with some of the reactions sight unseen from the student-athletes just drafted now into the NFL. First things first, as we say hello to everybody, it is episode 61. And so, as always, it's time to name the greatest number 61 in NFL sports history. Gino and Mike. Mike and Gino Fuentes. What's the poop, fella? How are you?
Fellas, how are you?
We're all right here. Well, I'm racking my brain trying to come up with a 61, though. We got nothing for football, man. That's a buried wasteland of names.
I wonder if you had Ian Achor. If nobody told you his name was Max and you're like, who did they draft? Who did the Steelers draft? And you said Ian Achor. Where would you think he was from? Like you think it's like from Wales or something?
You think he's Maxwell or Maximilian? Maxwell. Because if it's Maximilian Achor, that's amazing. That's a long one. Yeah, that's pretty cool.
You're right. Yeah. Yeah. So I don't know. Maybe I max. But but either way, I do want to hear what you Miami fans are talking about. Great time on the on the live draft show with Dan Levitard and the whole crew. on Thursday night and shout out to everybody who watched it. A lot of people came up to me as I milled around. It was great.
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Chapter 2: How do fan reactions vary during the NFL Draft?
Like I said, we got nothing NFL-wise, but we got Rick Nash, if you want to go NHL, Mark Stone. We got really nothing NFL-wise. If I go back here in some of the names, we got Curly Culp from the 1970s. Ah, Curly Culp. That's a good one.
That's not a bad one. That's a pretty good one. I know you guys laugh, but that's all right. I think Garrow, your premian and company, vanquished Curly Culp in the longest NFL game of all time in 1971, Christmas Day.
Guys, I have bad news. What? His name is Maxwell, not Maximillian. I lost opportunity.
That was the last chance, at least according to everybody in Pittsburgh. I know I'm reacting to what's going on in my immediate vicinity, but I mean, people are not happy with it. They thought that the Steelers were going to take. I thought that the Steelers were going to take.
One of three wide receiver options, Lemon was apparently, they were literally, in fact, Mike Fuentes, that was the first I was aware of that was you texted me on Thursday night to tell me that the Steelers were literally on the phone. with Makai Lemon when the Eagles swooped in and stole him. Howie Roseman, dirty stuff!
Because his old pal, who worked with him in the Eagles nerve center, Andy Weidel, before the prodigal son left Philadelphia and returned to the banks of the Three Rivers... to build up the line of scrimmage, which he's capably done, save Broderick Jones. Three years ago, the left tackle, bad necks, and now they had to replace him. Fine, line of scrimmage matters and all of that, clearly.
But they still don't have a quarterback at the time of this recording. And this is a team, I don't know how much we're supposed to have faith in. I think a lot of it is riding on...
what we have known to be true of the pittsburgh steelers for the last uh you know three to six decades and they are living off of that um the the the the terribly um capable ongoing consistently in the mix um guys who came before them but some really specious decisions here it seems like they caught got caught with their pants down but that was kind of sort of nothing
compared with what Miami fans went with. I don't know if this is the direction we want to go real quick here, fellas, because there are other things to react to. Fernando Mendoza, his whole family. What did you make of the outfits that they all wore? They all put on suits and ball gowns to sit at home.
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Chapter 3: What are the best rivalries that shouldn't be rivalries?
And there's going to be people that hate on that. Not me. I enjoyed it, but people are going to hate.
He's probably going to end up as a meme.
Yeah. Yeah. Well, I think his new teammates are going to be the ones who are going to take him to task for that reaction. The yeah. So the so the Dolphins fans, I mean, I just don't understand how your first deed, if you are starting a whole new era in Miami. Okay, we tried it. We gave it our best shot with McDaniel and Tua. And you know what? We're turning the page and we're moving assets.
And very few guys that are recognizable are still there now. And here we go. And your first move is to not take Ruben Bain. I mean, for your own sake, if you're the new brain trust, and this goes for anybody, area, any region of football America, if you want to win over the fan base, the easiest thing in the world to do is to take the local guy. Everybody loves Reuben Bain.
At least now you have something. Now, every Dolphins fan knows that they are intentionally kind of tanking the season. Poor Malik Willis and all of that. Now, OK, so fine. So you got him at offensive lineman to try to theoretically protect him. but you know that you're trying to lose games.
One thing that can bridge the gap into 2027, when you do presumably try to draft the franchise, long-term franchise quarterback, I guess with Malik Willis sitting there, or maybe if Willis plays well in 2026 or looks okay, maybe it continued to build around him. Either way, the winning move for your own sake. To feel like, yes, he is part of what we're all experiencing here.
He cares like we care. The fans do. Up in the luxury box, they care too. You take the logo guy. Instead, they didn't do that. How say you?
Um... Well, it's kind of formulaic what they've done so far. I mean, everybody knew that they were going to take an offensive lineman in a corner. That's just ā that's the book on them. They were going to take someone for the trenches and someone to appease the head coach. They got two free ā Fifth-round picks for moving down a spot, so I can't be mad at that.
But that whole thing about picking the best available player, not what they did. Caleb Downs was staring them in the face. They said no. Reuben Baines staring them in the face.
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Chapter 4: Which rivalries have faded away over time?
There's all these work ethic issues. So, I mean, there's upside. Yeah, of course there is. And let's be real. We're all just like, you know, throwing stuff up against the wall, seeing.
And by the way, you're absolutely right that that's why I'm so struck by it, that there are some people, there are some fan bases that are PO'd right now. And it generally isn't the case. Usually for at least the next 48 hours, you're like, hey, you know what? Super Bowl with this guy. You know, there are people that are mad.
And they could have done themselves at least a PR favor. Like Dave said, you take Reuben Bain. I get it if you don't think he's the best guy. You don't want to do things just because the fans think. But take Reuben Bain out of the equation. There are other guys there that are more polished that you need that you could have taken. And what's two fifth-round picks?
I mean, that's one bright side. You went in with 11 picks. You still have 11 picks.
Yeah, and then later in the round, you trade a third to get back a fourth and move up two spots to get Chris Johnson. No, don't move on from that. Don't move on from the reality.
Like, of course, you take Reuben Bain because you don't know if that guy's a ā oh, he has short arms, whatever. You don't know that he's a bust for two seasons, three seasons. Between now and then, there are going to be so many events that that will be in the distant memory. It's not going to be held against him. He blew it.
Yes. They would have had Reuben Bain and Chop Robinson starting a defensive end. It pisses me off just to think about what's going to happen.
And that's something, right. Yeah. That's something. And instead, now you're always going to look back on Proctor. Are you going to have visceral pleasure in year four of the Proctor experience while Ruben Bain? Maybe thrive somewhere else in football America. Bad look. And then the other thing that's super interesting at the other end of the spectrum, the Dolphins are not contenders.
The Steelers are somewhere in between, I guess. And then the Rams, a lot of people are.
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Chapter 5: What makes a rivalry significant in sports?
Oh, okay. I was just about to say. My assumption was you weren't listening to me. And so you just went back to the previous conversation.
No, no. I do have other work to do, so I'm trying to get out of this as fast as possible. But the Ty Simpson thing is taking the best quarterback so early. A lot of players got traded back. You probably could have got him six picks later. You know, so that's the only fumble there. I mean, you're going to need somebody for Stafford eventually. He already had the back thing.
Sure, he had the best year of his career. But, you know, reality is he's pushing 40 years old. And I don't think anybody wants to deal with what the Steelers are dealing with now with a 40-year-old man situation.
I don't think they wanted to mess with the Jets who were sitting there at 16 because the Jets also need a quarterback.
Yeah, but you can still move back. Like, they got him at 13. You can move back two spots.
I love the idea of Aaron Rodgers, wherever he is in Northern California, watching this draft as though he is because the reality has been created for him by the Steelers and the Steelers alone. Just sitting there watching the draft to see if it meets his satisfaction while he eats grapes.
All right, I guess I will. I guess I will go back to Pittsburgh for one more year.
Uninspired stuff. All right, listen, what is inspiring is milling around with the literally hundreds of thousands of people in Pittsburgh. And I appreciate everybody who came up and said hello and listens to the show and said all the nice things. And one guy, in fact, stopped me to say, make sure you say hello to Greg Cody. Specifically, not anybody else, but just Greg Cody.
So that was all great stuff. And next week, we will have for you, we got to sit down on Wednesday with Pitt head coach. We're trying to get the vibes, you know, the ultimate football city and all of that. So we sat down with Pat Narduzzi. the Pitt head football coach. It was a great time. Me and Lucy Rodin running around Pittsburgh, PA the day before the draft.
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Chapter 6: How do new rivalries emerge in the NFL?
more than a week ago for the listener. It was just a couple, a few days ago, but either way, I'm getting confused with the, with the space time continuum. So I'm bailing on it and just going to talk as though we're in the here and now, which in fact we are. I got a note from listener rip Robin too, on social media. And he is struck by the T wolves and nuggets series.
And he says, it's the best sports rivalry ever. of the last three years, Damoshek make this a thing, and I like this, and I say, let's not just make it a thing, let's make it a whole list. So with the help of the Fuentes boys and Ethan B, let's get into this now. I love this subject. I think it's just the tip of the iceberg.
Nugs, T-Wolves is grand, obviously, but there are a lot of rivalries that didn't exist until 20 years ago, or maybe even less than that. And also, there are a lot of rivalries that used to exist that have now evaporated like tears in the rain. Name that movie, Mike Fuentes.
Blade Runner.
Ah, very good. I knew you'd get that one. So where do you come down on this? What is your favorite? Let's make a nice list here, as a matter of fact. Let's see if we can make it a comprehensive one.
New Age Rivalries. Go. Okay, so there's New Age Rivalries, which are probably rivalries that have come into play over the last few, even just seasons, of whatever sport, you know, you're
That's what new means. Yes, right.
Yes, we're up to speed. But the thing is, rivalry, you think, oh, there's some kind of geographic rivalry or inter-division, but there's a lot of rivalries that have existed that really only existed because teams played each other. And one that I remember, not too recently, but within the last 10 years, The Golden State Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Spurned by just LeBron going back to Cleveland. They played in what, five straight NBA Finals?
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Chapter 7: What are the most intense rivalries in college football?
Yeah. So that's kind of what makes that rivalry, because I think that's the only heat game you go to. And the heat fan is probably outpaced by the Knick fan, even when the Knicks are bad. So it's that kind of rivalry.
Oh, so it's a takeover. So the Heat's arena gets taken over?
Yeah, they come down here, they enjoy our Latin food, they enjoy our no-income tax, and then they want to come and wear that blue and orange crap all over the stadium.
And it's also not just... Sorry, Dave. It's not just the teams. There's a geographic rivalry between Miami and New York where if you live in Miami, you hate all of the New York teams no matter what. It's the same thing with Miami and Boston. Miami and Boston fans, for whatever reason, every Miami Heat fan hates the Boston Celtics. Every Florida Panther fan hates the Boston Bruins.
It's just kind of how it is with those two cities in particular. I don't really know why. I guess it kind of stems from... It probably goes back to the Dolphins and the Jets and the Dolphins and the Patriots, if I had to imagine. But really, the super intense Boston and New York rivalries for the Miami fan are the two basketball rivalries, the Celtics and the Knicks.
Yeah, you know, I think New York City, Manhattan, and all its advantages, you know, big spending and multiple teams per sport just about, that makes them unlikable. L.A. is that on the West Coast. Everybody, the evil empire of the Pacific time zone is the Dodgers, obviously, and the Lakers to a large degree, too, and USC. And so they kind of have to wear all that. A good newer one is,
is the the ducks improbably nobody as i've said many times nobody cares about the anaheim ducks i've lived out here for a quarter century or more now no one has ever come up to me and been like hey you catch that anaheim game last night no one ever does it i think they have 20 000 fans those are the people who hold their season tickets i can't imagine that there are more than maybe like
a half dozen or so other people who don't gain access to Ducks games. They're actually listening to them on the radio in the regular season or watching them on TV. However... Ducks-Sharks improbably is a real good one. And I keep saying, if you would move the Ducks to Portland, it would get even juicier.
But as it stands, all of a sudden, West Coast-NHL rivalries are real good because Kings-Ducks ain't great. It should be there, but just because they're close to each other, it hasn't really emerged. And like I said, I think the hockey market is... I think it's good in LA, but the double down on teams in Southern California is completely unnecessary. But...
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Chapter 8: How does the rivalry between USA and Canada in hockey manifest?
That's not true.
But people say that that's really... The legacy, as an SEC fan, the legacy SEC rivalry, at least in SEC championships, is Florida and Alabama. Florida. Florida has never played another team besides Alabama in the SEC championship. And until last year, neither school had ever lost to another school other than each other in the SEC championship game. Like, Alabama always beat Georgia.
They always beat whoever else you threw at them from the East. But, like, Florida is the only team from the East that had beaten Alabama in until Georgia beat them last year.
Bear Bryant's Bama kind of dipped as Vince Dooley's Georgia sort of ascended and was probably a little bit better over three decades. I know you don't need to drop me a line, Bama fans. I know that Gene Stallings and company stole that one against the U, as a matter of fact.
I mean, if you go back just a little bit before this recent Georgia run in college football,
um alabama and clemson not in the same conference yeah i have that one written down that's one that burned hot briefly and i think is probably over now unless dabbo can rally clemson but yes they they made the big stage and was like i don't think they're ever going to get over the hump in the tournament and then they did get over the hump with the sean watson and trevor lawrence they played in two consecutive national championships and then a third one later right the the trevor lawrence national championship was clemson alabama
Those were the two teams at the top.
They played each other. Well, that one infamously is when I was talking to Deshaun Watson. I'm not sure what happened to him since, but I was talking to him when he was the Houston Texans QB. And I said to him, Trevor Lawrence had won the national championship. And I said, man, these are heady days down there for Clemson supporters.
And I said, but you don't want Trevor Lawrence to win again this year. And he said, why not? And I said, well, because you both have one national championship. If Trevor Lawrence wins a second one, he becomes the greatest quarterback in Clemson history, right? And he kind of chuckled. And then we moved on with the conversation.
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