Chapter 1: What are the initial thoughts on the NBA Playoffs?
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A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what y'all say. Yep, that's me, Clifford Taylor IV. You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media. Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show.
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Chapter 2: How does Jerome Bettis reflect on his career and playing in Pittsburgh?
If you're declared to have a concussion. Okay. As of right now, I don't know if he's been declared to have a concussion. Well, he looked like he had something. He hit his head pretty hard. Lakers over the Rockets. Billy Donovan out for the Bulls. And there's mixed messages here of did he want out? Was he forced out? Is there another job that he might be in play for?
Steve Kerr's situation with Golden State. It feels like, and it's felt like this for a couple of months for me, that he was done in Golden State. So we'll have Wendy, or I should say we'll have Wendy here to talk about Wendy. What about the WEMBA? Can we change the name to WEMBA?
Love that. They need to.
Would it help if he didn't get hurt and they won last night and he had a big game? Then I could have said that. Yes, Paul? I think Commissioner Silver would get a concussion to make WEMBA healthy. They need him for TV ratings. First hour brought to you by Miller Lite. That's America. They've been around for 50 years. What, Paul? The bar is open, I heard. It is. Oh, yeah, yeah.
They said they were going to open up the bar. All right, see you guys. Yeah. No, no, you can't go. Draft night isn't just about who gets called. It's about who shows up. So grab your crew, crack a Miller Lite, and for every big moment, Miller Lite legendary moments start with a light beer.
You know, when we talk about the draft, there's usually a lot of names there, recognizable names, and there isn't much buzz here because we know Mendoza's going number one to the Raiders. And then after that, maybe the most interesting name is Jeremiah Love, maybe Ty Simpson. But other than that, but I go back to last year. There wasn't a lot of buzz other than Travis Hunter.
And where was he going to go? Well, there was the draft day trade. He, of course, goes to Jacksonville. Cleveland gets some picks. And we thought, you know, boy, that could be a great deal for Cleveland because you get a defensive lineman from Michigan who played well this year, and then you're going to get a first-round pick from Jacksonville. And we thought that might be a top-ten pick.
Now I think they're getting the 24th pick in the draft, and now Jacksonville just said Travis Hunter is probably going to be a cornerback, predominantly a cornerback. This is what I said from the beginning. My source said... He's going to be a corner, and then you'll sprinkle him in with offensive packages. Well, it turned out it was the opposite there.
But I'm trying to think if you're going to have a long career, do you want a long career as a defensive back or a wide receiver? and I think they're going to make him a full-time defensive back with the potential of being a first-team all-pro talent where he wouldn't be a first-team. I think he's got the talent to be a wide receiver, but not a number one or number two wide receiver.
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Chapter 3: What insights does Bettis provide about the NFL Draft process?
And then he ended up with Philadelphia. So, once again, this was what was said to me last night. That everybody thinks they've got, you know, Scadaboo is their starting running back. And I was told, not so fast. He's a great guy to have for you as a changeup. I don't know if he's Mike Allstott. Ooh, how about that one? Nice ref.
Thank you.
I was going to say Peyton Hillis, but go ahead. Oh, okay. I'll give you that. Bloop, bloop. Yes. Yes, Dylan.
I was going to say, it would be kind of perfect if Jeremiah Love went to the Giants, had a couple good years, and then they ship him off to Philly to go to the Super Bowl.
But it feels like the Giants are going to go defense. They're talking about Sonny Stiles. How did Ohio State not win the national title? Aren't they going to have five guys in the top 15 here? Hmm. They're like Kentucky basketball. Yeah. Yeah. Yes, Paul.
I did see I was watching NFL live yesterday and Orlovsky was talking about they were debating whether you help Jackson Dart by taking two offensive players or defense players. He goes, you want to help him take two defensive players so he doesn't have to score 30 a game.
That will help. Yeah. Or your field position is going to be a whole lot better for him. We could really help him by teaching him how to slide. I think that's where I would start. That doesn't cost you any draft picks there. But, you know, the Giants at five, I think, will be interesting. And then they have the tenth pick as well.
But all signs indicate Jeremiah Love, Notre Dame running back, would go to the Titans at four. I love him. I'm not afraid to take a running back that high. And I might look at this as a five-year window. I don't want to be stupid like the Cowboys and re-sign Zeke Elliott. I got five years. I'm good. Then I move on.
Unless it's somebody truly, truly special where it's a McCaffrey that you go, that's a 10-year guy at that position. But how they're being used now, there's so many more touches. It might not be carries, but it's touches. And if I can, you know, B. John Robinson is one of those guys where you say, we're just going to get the ball to him.
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Chapter 4: What are the expectations for this year's top draft picks?
It's Jeremiah Love. And he's a home-run hitter, and I would swing for the fences with him. Yes, Paul? Kansas City weirdly has the ninth pick of the draft. That means they're kind of out of the Jeremiah Love window.
But could you see them making that jump four spots up and surrounding the back half of Mahomes' career with that guy?
No, because they got Walker from Seattle. They got their running back. You don't want to... No. Kansas City's in a good place. They're going to be smart again. They'll draft well again. And they'll be back in the mix again. I also had odds. I don't know if you guys will find this surprising. Best odds to make the playoffs. Best NFL odds to make the playoffs. Just got this from DraftKings.
Who do you think is number one on that list? Paul? The L.A. Rams? L.A. Rams. Third on the list. Marvin. The Lions? The Lions are fifth on the list. Todd. Seattle, running it back. Seattle, fourth on the list. Wow. Dylan. My Baltimore Ravens. Bloop, bloop, bloop, bloop, bloop. Yep. The Ravens, number one, followed by the Bills, Rams, Seahawks, Lions, Chiefs, Patriots, Niners, Chargers.
Steelers didn't make the list here. Yeah, I know. Sorry about that. Speaking of the Patriots, Mike Vrabel had a press conference yesterday. Weren't allowed to ask any questions, but here's a little bit of what he had to say.
You know, I've had some difficult conversations with people that I care about, with my family, the organization, the coaches, the players. Those have been positive and productive. We believe in order to be successful on and off the field, you have to make good decisions. That includes me. That starts with me. We never want our actions to negatively affect the team.
We never want to be the cause of a distraction. Those are comments and questions that I've answered for the team and with the team. We'll keep those private and to ourselves. Care deeply about this football team and excited to coach them.
He kept it vague and didn't have any questions being asked. But if you had one question, if you were allowed to have one question, what would you ask? Dylan, I'll start with you. What's the one question you would ask Mike Vrabel? Was it worth it? Wow. Was it worth it?
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Chapter 5: How does Bettis compare the current NFL to his playing days?
I did not. Okay. All right. Todd, what would you ask?
Was it your spouse or the other that hired the private investigator to get those shots right at the right moment, hiding in the bushes with the zoom lens?
Okay. All right. Kind of wordy, but okay. Uh, Paulie, did you and Diana Rossini conspire to lie initially when this investigation started? Okay. Marvin, how long has his alleged relationship been going on? Okay. How about why did you have to have difficult discussions if nothing happened? I think we're doing okay here. We're almost like journalists or something. Yeah. Yes, Dylan.
To play devil's advocate a little bit, you could still have difficult conversations if someone thinks you did something and be like, I swear I didn't do it. You know, that's still, your wife's probably going to be like, mm-hmm. No, it might be awkward, not difficult.
Okay?
All right. The way they came together, they've known each other. Now, I don't know if their wives and husbands know their relationship. They do now. Yes, but this is one of those situations where moving forward, it didn't cost Mike Brable anything, well, maybe at home, but it cost Diana Rossini her job here because Mike didn't do anything that was a violation of any NFL policy.
And Diana, if is guilty in this, losing her job, it's almost, you know, the ethics of journalism were in play here. Yeah, Paulie. It's a pretty classic move by the Patriots and Vrabel to give a vague statement, no questions, and then the next time he's up in front of the podium, he can say, this was already addressed. We've already addressed this. Isn't that the move?
Well, if you're dealing with friendly fire locally, I don't know how many of those reporters are going to go, hey, this is where you get a news reporter. who comes in, a rogue reporter, and then they want to ask questions. But you could say to Mike, no, you didn't really answer anything here. But I would feel like if this was a Super Bowl,
and Mike Vrabel was in front of the media, then you're going to get more questions asked. But you're going to have PR saying, hey, we've answered this. We're not going to answer it anymore. Yes, Marvin. The funny thing about the Patriots is they're as well known for their scandals as they are for winning Super Bowls. Look at you on fire today. Come on, I'm in Pittsburgh. Come on, I'm here. Okay.
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Chapter 6: What are the implications of the Steelers' quarterback situation?
Now, is there any other team, any other city, where all the colors with their teams are the same? Yes, Todd? Not all, but like Mets, Knicks, and Islanders have that blue and orange, but obviously it's not every team. But that comes to mind as like a second place kind of finish. By the way, the Mets just lost again.
12 in a row?
That's 12 in a row. What are you doing?
Man.
They're just getting started. Okay, but this is what's going to happen. Mark my words. We're going to be late August, and all of a sudden, here come the Mets. Now, it won't be enough, but it'll be just enough where you go, where were you earlier in the season? It's going to happen. Yes, Paulie?
Do you think that there's a bit of a gentleman's agreement between all the owners in Pittsburgh to never go rogue? Or is it an official agreement? Oh, I don't know. But, you know, they've been around a long, long, long time. It's not like they're the mammoth. By the way, my mammoth won last night. My mammoth. My mammoth. They're still the Utah Hockey Club to me. I know.
You're not going down without a fight with that. The mammoth. Yes, Todd.
I think the black and yellow thing is a big coincidence. Like when women show up to a party and they're wearing the exact same dress, they all just showed up the same day. Really? I guess they were all wearing black and yellow today and they just stuck with it.
how you think you're doing today so i don't know how you i don't know like you got silence in the audience which actually is worse than like getting booed and having stuff yes yes but you'll get that too i will get yeah you will dude wipes um all right let me take a break dylan's going to come up with a poll question uh we'll get to phone calls best and worst of the week uh we're full uh tyler sitting by he'll take your phone calls and uh right now we got a full slate of phone calls we'll get to those best and worst of the weekend
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Chapter 7: How does Bettis feel about the importance of community service?
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A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what y'all say. Yep, that's me, Clifford Taylor IV. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show.
This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment. And the next, we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast.
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Each episode, we pick a year, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill waxing all about crack in the 80s.
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Chapter 8: What final thoughts does Bettis share about his legacy?
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Open your free iHeartRadio app, search Learn the Hard Way, and listen now. That is set to join us. I mentioned this last week that, you know, people in Pittsburgh aren't quite sure what's going to happen. I feel like Aaron Rodgers is going to play again. And then I have a source who actually works at the Polo Lounge and said that on April 1st, Aaron Rodgers came in with a hoodie.
The hood was over his head and he met with Mike McCarthy. And I'm going to guess it wasn't just socially, but probably planned that they would be, oh, hey, we're both at the Polo Lounge singing show tunes. Hi, Mike. But from what I was told, they came in and Aaron came in, had his hoodie on, met with Mike McCarthy. I'm assuming that he is going to be coming back.
But it still goes back to what we said before. You're kind of kicking the can down the road here. You've got to have stability. Of all the positions in all the sports, it's the most important one and having continuity. And here's Pittsburgh in this situation again with Aaron Rodgers. And Rodgers had good numbers. But, you know, if you're a Pittsburgh fan, 9-8, I mean, how many 9-8s can you take?
I mean, do you feel like a contender if you're 9-8? I'll ask the Pittsburgh fans here. The communal groan. Would you rather be bad to get better or stay at 9 and 8? So you're cheering for badness to get better. Is that right? Okay. All right. It wasn't like full-throated that they were like, yeah, let's be crappy so we can be better.
But, you know, if you're stuck in that 9 and 8, you're not really going to get that draft pick. Yes, Paul? Yeah, they had the 21st pick of the draft at Steelers as of now.
Yeah.
And I don't know if they trade up, but you still hear this, would Ty Simpson be in play, depending on where... I wouldn't take him in the first round. But if I can get him maybe in the second round, there's going to be a couple of teams. I still think Arizona and the Jets are going to be interested in Ty Simpson. I still think that. Yes, Martin?
It feels like the Steelers are going to reach for Ty Simpson like they did Kenny Pickett. Like, you know what, we just got to pick a quarterback of some sort.
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