Christopher ‘Mad Dog’ Russo set to make a $10,000 bet on the Jets

Mad Dog is set to make a huge bet on the New York Jets.

SiriusXM and ESPN personality Christopher ‘Mad Dog’ Russo is going to plunk down some serious change on the New York Jets getting double-digit wins this season.

In an appearance on Thursday’s ‘Dan Patrick Show,’ Russo was talking sports wagering. He gave the Jets – his beloved Jets no less – as an example of a wager he plans on making.

Following last year’s 7-10 season and with a strong roster in place – not to mention what appears to be a healthy quarterback in Aaron Rodgers – there is optimism that the Jets are a playoff team.

That optimism is shared by Russo…and his wallet…as he makes a bold prediction on the Jets.

“I’m going to bet the Jets, by the way. They’re 9.5 over/under. Rodgers – they’re due for some good luck,” Russo told Patrick.

“I’m going to bet the over. I’m going to bet them to win 10 games – 10-7. Rodgers (is) healthy. I’m going to do that, I’m going to go to Vegas to do it. It’s a six-month bet.”

Patrick guessed that Russo’s bet would be $2,500.

“$10,000,” Russo said.

“That’s a day’s pay at First Take,” Patrick quipped.

Russo said he would make similar bets on three or four other teams. Russo later added that he can’t take the money with him after this life.

 

Patrick encouraged him to leave something for his family.

“Let them earn it themselves!” Russo said laughing.

Dan Patrick hints Broncos could trade up for QB J.J. McCarthy

“I’ve felt all along Sean Payton wants J.J. McCarthy,” Dan Patrick said on his radio show. Patrick thinks the Broncos could trade up.

The Denver Broncos desperately need to address the quarterback position, but they are not scheduled to pick until 12th overall in the first round of the NFL draft. That has led to much speculation that the Broncos could trade up for a quarterback next month.

During a segment on “Dan Patrick Show” last week, Patrick hinted that he could see Denver moving up to select Michigan’s J.J. McCarthy.

“Sean Payton’s the one that I would keep an eye on,” Patrick said on March 26. “I know Minnesota is expected to go up, and maybe they get Drake Maye, but I’ve felt all along Sean Payton wants J.J. McCarthy. Well, he’s not going to fall to them at [No. 12] — you’re going to have to go get him.”

Patrick’s hunch that Payton is targeting McCarthy echoes what KFAN’s Paul Allen reported last month (Allen indicated Payton is “quite enamored” with McCarthy).

The Broncos met with McCarthy at the NFL combine, attended his pro day and had a private workout with the QB prospect. Meanwhile, Payton has said trading up is a “realistic” option for Denver in the draft.

Jeff Duncan, who closely covered Payton for The Times-Picayune in New Orleans, responded to Patrick’s prediction by tweeting “Dan knows…” That caption was accompanied by an on-target bullseye emoji.

Duncan also tweeted this last week: “If Sean Payton falls in love with a QB, he will go get him. Or die trying. Trust that.”

So Patrick, Duncan and Allen seem to be in agreement that the Broncos are a team to watch as the draft draws closer. It’s possible that this buzz is an elaborate smokescreen from Denver, but if the rumblings are accurate, the Broncos might be preparing to move up for a QB in April’s draft.

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Did the Commanders offer Raheem Morris the head coaching job?

The Commanders loved Quinn all along, but did have serious interest in others, too.

There is more discussion claiming the Commanders settled for Dan Quinn.

On Tuesday, Dan Patrick and his guest, Albert Breer, a senior NFL reporter for Monday Morning Quarterback, joined the list.

Patrick inquired as to what transpired with the Commanders being the last vacancy filled for this 2024 cycle.

The Commanders want a strong, durable general manager for the next decade, and the Harris group firmly believes Adam Peters is that guy. Consequently, Breer began explaining to Patrick this is why Bill Belichick and Mike Vrabel did not fit into the structure the Commanders currently desire. (How Mike Florio had been so insistent the Commanders wanted Bill Belichick remains unknown.)

Breer continued, “They wanted to be wide open about their process, so they had Zoom interviews with I believe, eight candidates. They brought seven of them back for in-person interviews, and they wanted to be open-minded about it.”

Then Breer divulged, “Raheem Morris almost got the job two weeks ago. The Falcons gave him an offer that made the Commanders really think.”

Breer expressed the Commanders then determined, “No, we really want to finish our process. We want to meet with everybody.”

“They were obviously interested in meeting with Ben Johnson. Um, that didn’t go so well (as Breer chuckled) on Monday as they got the news (from Johnson).”

“Then the final two were Mike Macdonald and Dan Quinn, and Seattle swooping in and grabbing Macdonald sort of clarified, simplified things.”

Patrick inquired further, “Did they want Dan Quinn? Did they settle for Dan?” Breer responded, “They love Dan Quinn, they do.” Patrick, unsatisfied again, asked, “But did they settle for Dan Quinn?”

Breer responded pointing to the common connections in San Francisco with Adam Peters there with Kyle Shanahan and other coaches having worked for Quinn in Atlanta. “So with Quinn, the references were great. He knocked the interview out of the park.”

“Is it as exciting a hire as Raheem Morris, Ben Johnson, or Mike Macdonald would have been? You know, maybe not. But Dan Quinn is somebody in high demand the last couple of years.”

“So I think ‘settled’ is the wrong word. I think they were just kind of committed to riding the entire process out, and because of that, they lost a couple of guys along the way.”

On Feb. 1, Chris Russell (The Team 980) stated Morris and Macdonald had both been offered the job and chose to go elsewhere. Russell has more than once also stated he was told by one in the Cowboys organization (during the season finale) that Quinn wanted this job.

Watch: Dan Patrick reacts to Ryan Day’s postgame rant

Somebody touch a nerve?

By now we’ve all seen Ohio State head coach Ryan Day acting like a fool immediately after the thrilling conclusion to the Notre Dame-Ohio State game this weekend where he went after Lou Holtz.

A reminder for the unaware, Holtz is now 86-years old and in the interview he called out Ohio State for not being physical enough in was conducted by a man doing his own Lou Holtz impression.

Anyway, on Monday a lot of the national reporters and sports talkers weighed in with their thoughts.  Among them was Dan Patrick who wondered what the heck Day thought Holtz was going to say and predict.

Check out the video:

What did you think when you heard Day’s WWE style promo right after the game ended Saturday night?

Below are just some of the reactions of college football fans on social media.

Commentator Dan Patrick puzzled by Patriots passing on DeAndre Hopkins

Dan Patrick has some serious questions about the Patriots after they passed on acquiring DeAndre Hopkins

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The world was buzzing after wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins chose the Tennessee Titans over the New England Patriots. Several analysts offered their takes, including Dan Patrick.

Patrick was a bit confused by the Patriots’ lack of pursuit of the five-time All-Pro receiver. Hopkins had a decent year last season, even with an injury and missing the first six games due to a suspension. He recorded 64 receptions for 717 yards and three touchdowns.

He had a stellar game against New England when the Arizona Cardinals met the Patriots in December. He tallied seven receptions on 11 targets for 79 yards. He was able to spread the field in the process, averaging 11.3 yards per reception.

The Patriots did upgrade their wide receiver unit, headlined by the addition of JuJu Smith-Schuster. They also drafted rookie sixth-round picks Demario Douglas and Kayshon Boutte.

However, Patrick doesn’t believe it will be enough in an AFC East division stacked with talent.

“The thing that I don’t understand is the New England Patriots. Because you’ve got a good defense. They were a top-10 defense,” Patrick said on the Dan Patrick Show.  “You have nothing on offense. You’re not even sure of your quarterback. Is Mac Jones a right-handed Tua Tagovailoa?

“I don’t know but Tua certainly has a lot of toys to play with. If I put Tua in New England and Mac Jones in Miami, you would probably see Mac Jones be a very good quarterback. But he doesn’t have anything to work with.”

Patrick certainly makes valid points, especially with the Miami Dolphins surrounding Tagovailoa with top playmakers like Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle. One has to wonder how Jones will fare in the Patriots offense in 2023.

Will it be enough to keep pace with the rest of the AFC?

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Dan Patrick said what about Nebraska Football and Urban Meyer

One game in, and the candidate talk is already happening.

Syndicated radio host and ESPN legend Dan Patrick made an intriguing comment regarding Nebraska Football on his program Wednesday. The soundbite was in response to his executive producer Paul Pabst asking about former Flordia and Ohio State coach Urban Meyer returning to college football after a disastrous season with the Jacksonville Jaguars of the NFL.

Pabst: I’ll throw out a team that’s been down for a while but has a great reputation. Urban Meyer. No one considers him tainted as a college football coach… if Nebraska Football called or would Nebraska Football even consider calling? You can afford to hire a guy with baggage. You can’t afford to keep losing. Mississippi State hired Mike Leach and it’s working ok. Iona (University) hired Rick Pitino, guess what happened? They started winning. 

Later in the show, Patrick reported the following.

Patrick: I had some correspondence with my college football source. We were talking about Urban Meyer and could you see Urban Meyer going back into coach? Do you know what my source said? Paulie is on to something with Nebraska.   

It should be noted that Patrick’s source also said to look out for Arizona State as another possible landing spot for Urban Meyer.

We’re one game into the season, and coaching candidates for a job that’s not currently available are already being discussed. But as I wrote after Saturday’s loss, Scott Frost is in year five and is 15-30 as Nebraska head coach. He’s been around college football long enough to know that this is an unfortunate part of the business.

I’ll keep my thoughts brief because this is all rumors and conjecture at this point. But I couldn’t think of a worse idea for Nebraska Football than hiring Urban Meyer. I’ll just leave it at that for right now.

Below is a collection of tweets and reactions to Dan Patrick’s report. Happy scrolling!

Charles Barkley gives deadline for LIV Golf offer, details ‘very stressful’ week amid interest in series

The LIV broadcast, which is currently only available via live stream, recently added David Feherty to its talent sheet.

“When I leave New Jersey Thursday night, when I leave the golf course, if I don’t have an offer in hand, it’s over.”

That was Charles Barkley’s message to Greg Norman and the LIV Golf Invitational Series during a Monday appearance on the Dan Patrick Show.

The 11-time NBA All-Star and current TNT analyst has been flirting with the Norman-led series over the last few weeks, which will hold its third event this week at Trump National Golf Club Bedminster. Last week Barkley told the New York Post that he’s playing in a pro-am for the Bedminster event after he had met with Norman for dinner in Atlanta to discuss what his role would be with LIV.

“I’m not gonna keep TNT in limbo. To be honest with you, I don’t think it’s fair to them,” Barkley explained. “(LIV has) gotten plenty of play out of me coming to play up there Thursday. So I’m not just gonna be no show pony.”

The LIV broadcast, which is currently only available via live stream, recently added David Feherty to its talent sheet alongside former voice of the Premier League on NBC Arlo White – who is in his first foray as a golf announcer – as well as former Golf Channel analyst Jerry Foltz and Dom Boulet.

The series, funded by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, has long been criticized as a way for the Kingdom to sportswash its human rights record. Saudi Arabia has been accused of wide-ranging human rights abuses, including politically motivated killings, torture, forced disappearances and inhumane treatment of prisoners. And members of the royal family and Saudi government were accused of involvement in the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist and Washington Post columnist.

Barkley said it has been “very stressful” since news broke of his interest in LIV and even called out players for being afraid to admit the decision to join the series is for the guaranteed money.

You can watch the full interview here.

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College football news: five-star quarterback has several scholarship offers

Biggest letdown since the 2019 Michigan game?

When I was 17 years old and a senior in high school I remember just a day or two after my beloved Chicago Cubs choked against the Florida Marlins in the National League Championship Series that Dan Patrick was hosting SportsCenter one evening when they landed an interview with Steve Bartman.

Or so they thought.

After a couple minutes of discussion about the infamous foul ball that played a part in the Cubs collapse, a Patrick question about Bartman being able to stay in the Chicago area was met with a reference to the Howard Stern Show that I’ll let you listen to yourself.

Anyway, Patrick responds by simply saying, “We’ve been had.  That wasn’t Steve Bartman.”

Ladies and gentlemen, tonight I’d like to inform you that we at Fighting Irish Wire as well as countless college football fans nationally have been had.

Five-star quarterback [autotag]Dante Moore[/autotag] was supposed to make an announcement Tuesday night along with the Hayes Fawcett account.  Much was made from many, ourselves included, about what that announcement might be.

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Well, we’re here to tell you what Moore shared with the world tonight and that is that he is a young man with several football scholarship offers.

Friends, we just witnessed the 2022 college football version of Geraldo opening Al Capone’s vault.

Well played, young Dante.  Well played.

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Sean Payton says his focus is on landing a television job

Expect to see Sean Payton on television in the 2022 NFL season

Former New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton did an extensive interview with Dan Patrick on Thursday. After 15 seasons coaching the NFC South team, Payton is eyeing a new challenge: television.

Payton said he received texts from people at multiple networks regarding opportunities with them. He said he wanted to see what television execs believe would be the best fit.

That means Payton wants to find out whether his next home will be in the studio or as a game analyst.

His name has been mentioned as a candidate to replace Troy Aikman as a partner with Joe Buck should the Hall of Fame quarterback exit FOX Sports for Amazon’s Thursday Night Football package as has been prominently mentioned.

Payton said he is not going to return to coaching this season, though a couple of people who know people from NFL teams had checked in his interest.

Payton said any team that wanted to check in on his availability would have to go through the Saints first. He is under contract with them through 2024.

Returning to coaching eventually is a possibility, Payton said. However, television is his priority.

He also said the Saints’ uncertain quarterback situation did not play into his decision to leave the team.

Payton said the Saints had plenty of opportunities to thrive in the NFC South, with the Falcons and Panthers struggling and Tampa Bay possibly in flux.

He spoke highly of the New Orleans defense as well as the offensive line and mentioned Michael Thomas returning for the 2022 season.

The full interview can be heard below:

Dan Patrick: “The WFT Didn’t Take Care of Business”

Dan Patrick talks Washington’s COVID-19 issues from the past week and he was off the mark.

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Dan Patrick came out swinging at the Washington Football Team Monday, “I just didn’t think it was fair to the Eagles that the Washington Football Team didn’t take care of business.”

Ian Rapoport calmly inquired, “I hear you, but do we know the WFT didn’t take care of business?”

Rapoport then proceeded to clarify that the facts of the situation in Washington (and increasing cities in America) were not that simple.

Interestingly enough, after listening to Rapoport’s possible explanation of how Covid is spreading through vaccinated people, Patrick chose not to respond, neither to double down nor to admit he had prematurely judged the WFT.

Actually, the facts are that most of the WFT players on the reserve/COVID-19 inactive list are actually vaccinated people who have taken care of business by following the NFL’s strict vaccination policy launched prior to the 2021 season.

A simple lesson that my parents taught me quickly came to mind.

Unfortunately, I’ve had to learn and relearn this lesson all of my nearly 60 years: “Do not be quick to assume you know the facts.”

It continues to be so embarrassing when I realize I have assumed something to be true, only to find out with a bit of investigation and inquiry, my assumption was once again wrong.

Even more, it seems to be part of the human condition. We are all guilty, and often. We prematurely assume we know, when in fact, often we do not know. We are merely assuming.  Even worse, when we are assuming, we often judge others unfairly.

The NFL did not mistreat the Eagles, nor did the NFL change its rules to help Ron Rivera, as I have read on Twitter.

The NFL memo dated July 22, 2021, clearly stated the terms of forfeiting games involved teams having outbreaks caused by players not being vaccinated.

It’s pretty straightforward, actually.  Here is the link to the NFL memo.

Please don’t misunderstand, I continue to enjoy the career of Dan Patrick. He is a great interviewer and exhibits a good sense of humor on his weekday show. Today he merely illustrated what we all are guilty of doing far too often, assuming and not actually knowing.

May it be a lesson to all of us.