1. Man, sports debate shows are so weird.
Normally, you have people on the hot-take fests saying crazy stuff they don’t even believe in hopes of getting some Twitter play or having a dope like me write about it.
However, today, we had the opposite. We had a host openly saying he didn’t want to talk about one of the more polarizing players in the NFL.
First Things First host Brandon Marshall got heated with colleague Nick Wright Monday during a conversation about Baker Mayfield and openly questioned why the show was even discussing the Browns quarterback after Cleveland’s 16–6 loss against Las Vegas in a game that featured epic wind.
“I’m done arguing over an average quarterback. Why are we having this discussion? We’re talking about Baker Mayfield. Like, why are we going back and forth? You’re trying to defend Baker Mayfield.”
If hot take shows are only supposed to talk about great quarterbacks, then only three or four teams would get discussed every day.
Baker Mayfield was a No. 1 pick and Heisman Trophy winner. That makes his NFL performance a noteworthy topic. Not to mention, everyone wants to see if the Browns will ever turn the corner and get out of the doldrums they’ve been in forever.
This was just a bizarre take by Marshall.
I also don’t understand why co-host Jenna Wolfe tried to step in and end the argument. Fighting is TV gold. We would’ve liked to see Wright and Marshall continue to yell at each other.
2. Patrick Mahomes threw five touchdown passes against the Jets yesterday AND gave Tyreek Hill a piggyback ride after one score.
3. Speaking of the Jets, they traded linebacker Avery Williamson to the Steelers on Sunday. Williamson went from an 0–8 team to a 6–0 team, so naturally he seemed more than ready to make the switch.
4. Craziest stat of the NFL season by far: The Chargers have now blown 16-plus point leads in four straight games, making them to first team in NFL history to pull off such a tragic feat.
The flip side of that agony is pure joy for the Broncos, who pulled off a 21-point comeback and beat the Chargers 31–30 after trailing 24–3 in the middle of the third quarter.
Denver quarterback Drew Lock was feeling himself after the win.
5. Twenty-five years ago today ended up being one of the greatest moments in New York Yankees history and one of the worst moments in New York tabloid history.
6. This week’s SI Media Podcast features an interview with Kirk Herbstreit. The college football analyst discusses what doing College GameDay without fans has been like this season, his relationship with Lee Corso, the infamous Eminem interview he did with Brent Musburger, whether he’d leave college football to call NFL games, the reaction to him getting emotional on air discussing social injustice, his favorite College GameDay guest picker, what happened when Corso dropped an f-bomb on College GameDay and much more
You can listen to the podcast below or download it on Apple, Spotify, Stitcher and Google Play.
7. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: Seems appropriate this week.
8. SPORTS VIDEO OF THE DAY: If you missed the end of the Indiana-Rutgers game on Saturday, you need to see it now. Keep in mind that the spread on the game was Indiana -11.
Be sure to catch up on past editions of Traina Thoughts and check out the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast hosted by Jimmy Traina on Apple, Spotify or Stitcher. You can also follow Jimmy on Twitter and Instagram.
