The Pomp And Joe Show
Ray Fittipaldo says he's not counting out TJ Watt playing quite yet
12 Dec 2025
Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
You too. Yes, the sounds that bring in Ray Fittipaldo of the Post-Gazette. Donnie and I here on a Donnie Football Friday along with City Limits. We are at the Baseball Card Castle in Cranberry having the time of our lives. You should join us. Tons of people walking in. Bring non-perishable donations. We're supporting the greater Pittsburgh community. Food Bank here for the holiday season.
You can drop by to donate. A man in a penguin's sweatshirt just walked in with a hat that says Stick City. Look at this limits. This is incorrigible. Not to be confused with the Penn State linebacker, Stick City. No, please. Donate online, pittsburghfoodbank.org slash need. Text need to 50155. I've picked out Donnie's wedding present, and I have it hidden behind the general's dad over there.
Donnie, you're going to love this, and I also have a book for you. It's a Sports Illustrated book.
Chapter 2: What are the community efforts discussed during the episode?
Open to any random page right now. Just a random page, and we'll see what's there. Oh, my God. John Henry Johnson with a panoramic view of one of his runs. Look at that man. Phenomenal. Oh, man. Little Alan Fanica, little Dermot Dawson. The bus. The bus in a snow game against the Bengals. Rocky Blyer in a snow game. Donnie, let's not have an indoor stadium. I mean, look at these photos.
What are we doing here? Is Cleveland getting an indoor stadium? Oh, yeah. That's going through. For what? To have the Final Four and have concerts inside during the winter. I don't care about any of that. Neither should they. If this was a Browns book, we'd be opening to things like Jim Brown in the mud and snow. And the drive and the fumble and all the other infamous events.
What are we doing, Donnie? Why are they doing indoor stadiums? I know why. I know why for what he just said. It's a crying shame. You just opened to the Vikings. I knew that we had all jumped the shark when the Minnesota Vikings went indoors. That's where Bud Grant used to stand on the sidelines when it was minus 30 in a T-shirt practically. Do you remember when they were making the new stadium?
They were already out of the Metrodome. And they were playing, what, at Minnesota's college stadium. Yeah. They had that playoff game against Seattle. And I think it was zero degrees. Yeah. And here came old man Bud Grant. Yes, I do. In a t-shirt. Yes. To the coin toss. God bless him. That's what football's supposed to be. Surely you agree, Donnie, right? Absolutely. Yeah. I mean...
Even Buffalo's new stadium is going to be part, like it's going to be still outdoor, but it's going to be encased. I guess I'll accept that, but not really. Can you imagine a dome stadium here? I get because... It's sacrilege. Yeah, we've already discussed why places do it, because you can do... We already have a hockey arena. Multipurpose activities. Yeah, we have one of those.
Right, but places want a larger venue to host massive, massive events. They're selfish, and they ruin football. Now things like the Final Four or some huge concert, I don't know, maybe like a WrestleMania. I know you guys aren't wrestling guys, but... They're going to look at places potentially indoors that can fit 70,000 people, not a hockey arena that fits 20.
Imagine this book with no outdoor shots. It's all in an indoor. Go ahead, open it again. There you go. There's the Tulane Stadium in an outdoor game.
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Chapter 3: How does Ray Fittipaldo view the trend of indoor stadiums in the NFL?
There's Chuck Knoll being carried off the field after an outdoor football game, and that's part of the ambiance. It's part of the culture. It's part of the history. It's part of the city. What are we doing? You lose the Dolphins mud bowl game, the 3-0 game. You lose everything. You lose everything. You play on a carpet when it's 72 degrees. Imagine this book wouldn't be worth a damn.
How are you, Ray? I'm good, guys. How are you? Ray, how did you feel about that rant? yeah i mean bud grant was definitely tempting fate much in the same way george allen tempted fate when he got uh an ice bath after a big win and then unfortunately for george he wasn't with us too much longer after that wow suddenly it's a somber note that ray's presented here It doesn't have to be, Joe.
No, I know. You can read Ray's stuff at PostGazette.com. So the latest on T.J. Watt, I'm not sure if the Post Gazette's reported anything updating his situation. The last I heard or we heard was from Tom Palacero, Ray, that it's not any type of, according to him, not any type of major or long-term type of injury. There was a tiny hole in the lung, according to Palacero, that was, quote, fixed.
but obviously very, very doubtful for Monday. Has the Post-Gazette reported anything new and your thoughts on this whole episode? No, but what Pellicerra reported kind of jives with just me being around the team. Yesterday, it was a normal practice. It was a normal locker room. Guys joking around. It definitely, you know, there was a lot of,
I think angst that it was kind of a really bad situation. But I kind of knew just being around the team yesterday that it was not. And I talked to Alex Highsmith after practice. He told me that TJ was getting better, had some other off the record conversations. And I was told the same thing. And I'll tell you one thing about, I think Schefter said he was doubtful. Palisaro said he was doubtful.
Until the Steelers roll him out, guys, I am not going to roll out T.J. Watt. I just know how he's wired. If there's a way he can play on Monday night, he's going to play. So I'm just throwing that out there. He may not be able to, but I can guarantee you if there's a way for him to play, T.J. is going to want to be out there.
Ray, does this to you sound like it was a botched treatment session or was this just something that randomly happened? Yeah, I mean, I don't have that information, Donnie, but Pellicero and Schefter's reports were vastly different. You know, Schefter kind of intimated that there was, you know, a punctured lung involved.
Didn't Pellicero kind of, I mean, he did say there was a tiny hole in the lung, right?
Yeah, but the way Pellicer, I mean, again, we're like reading and listening to these reports and unfortunately we're forced to read between the lines, but it almost seemed like the one report, it was like, there was like a, you know, a shot involved in the other report was, you know, he was just in the weight room and, you know, this happened and they sent him to the doctor.
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Chapter 4: What are the latest updates on TJ Watt's injury?
Assuming the Steelers can find a way to beat the Dolphins at home and the Browns on the road, which I think we all think they should do. Ray, you're breaking the rules of the game. Sorry, John. Agree or disagree? Ray? Is Ray gone? Agree. Agree. Agree. Okay. Agree. Who wins Bengals-Ravens this weekend? Ravens. And a final score and an MVP for Steelers-Dolphins?
I'll go 21-17 Steelers, and I'll go with... let's go with Adam Thielen catching his first touchdown. That is incredible, Ray. Thank you. All right, guys. Have a good weekend. Thanks, Ray. Take care, buddy. T for touchdown for Teelan in the game, huh? Donnie, is the Teelan pronunciation, should we call Ray on that? I know, we have to figure that one out. Sean and I noticed that one last week.
Is he right and we're wrong? We all have such a respect for Ray. Maybe he's right. Did he hear it was Teelan and not Theelan? Just like Teal College. Yeah, right, exactly. What, a guy that's played like 14 years saying his final five games, hey guys, it's actually Teelan, not Teelan. I don't know. Tony Dorsett said later on it's Dorsett and not Dorsett, right? When he was out the door?
Connor Sherry was here for years, and then all of a sudden it was Connor Sherry, and then he tells everybody it's Connor Sherry. Maybe it's Adam Teelan. I'm looking at pro football reference. They always have pronunciations of names. It says Teelan. Okay. Feeling. I mean, that's what I thought. I'm trying to let Ray off the hook here.
How do you gently tell somebody it's like somebody has a crumb in their beard or something? Do we tell Ray during the segment that that's happening? Or how do we do it? How do we go about informing him? And who wants to do it of us three? I'll bite the bullet. You will? I'll do it. Just say, hey, it's Thielen, not Thielen. Okay. Maybe. I'll send Ray a text. That's his star player. Yeah. Right.
I know. Now, you were a little bit taken aback by... His score prediction, he made a face. I think the Steelers are going to win this one handily. I'm more along Nick's. Well, Nick, did Nick give us a score? He said this could be a boat race if they contain A-Chan. And I think they're going to. And I think Tua's going to throw him the ball. He stinks. 14 interceptions.
Are you aware of what his record is when it is 40 degrees or colder? 0-5? Yes. I mean, this just adds up to me to be a smashing win, only to have a letdown very soon thereafter, which is the Steeler way these days. It's a Monday night. It's going to feel when they smash the Dolphins like all is well. And then on a short week, they probably lose the next game.
Well, here is something, too, that I think is fair to consider. If the weekend goes their way, if the Ravens lose to the Bengals, they are now... 6-8. If the Steelers win on Monday night, they're 8-6. They're setting themselves up for, at worst, a winner takes the AFC North in Week 18. Right. Even if they would lose the games against the Lions and the Browns.
Now, I mean, I wouldn't really call a loss against the Lions a downfall. Not at all. Because that's a good football team. Absolutely. The Browns game stands out, though. That will be one, especially given who their starting quarterback is said to be. Maybe DTR comes back and haunts the Steelers again. Maybe Jameis Winston beats them in Cleveland again. And maybe Shador Sanders does.
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