1. If CBS could get every American to hear Tony Romo’s words about Super Bowl LV’s Tom Brady–Patrick Mahomes matchup, the network would easily get 200 million viewers for the Feb. 7 game.
During a conference call Thursday afternoon, Romo kept the company paying him $17 million a year very happy by hyping the historical significance of Brady vs. Mahomes.
“I really think this game is a legacy game,” Romo said. “This is going to be one of the great matchups in sports history. This is what you talk about with your friends. Could you imagine if Michael Jordan got his team to the Finals against LeBron—who is becoming the face of the league? We’re getting that in this Super Bowl. It’s like Jack Nicklaus against Tiger Woods.
“The fact that Patrick Mahomes is somehow in this discussion shows you how amazing this guy is. There’s a chance for Patrick Mahomes playing this game, to climb the ladder. If Mahomes wins, he keeps that door open.
“If Brady wins, I don’t know how anyone can top him.”
Comparing Mahomes vs. Brady to LeBron vs. Jordan and Tiger vs. Jack was solid (and more than fair), but Romo wasn’t done pumping up the game.
“This is the only kid that is going to be in the discussion,” Romo said about Mahomes. “This is the matchup people will be talking about 25 to 50 years from now. As a football fan, this is as good as it gets. This one is really special.”
Romo also added that if Mahomes ever wanted to catch Brady’s six rings, he MUST win Super Bowl LV.
Based on Romo’s excitement for the game, we think Jim Nantz, on that same conference call, may have set the line on this prop bet way too low.
2. Speaking of Mahomes, I’ve said many times he’s my favorite player in the league.
However, we must take issue with the quarterback’s statement in this video.
The issue, Patrick, isn’t that “you weren’t winning by enough.” The issue is that you guys did not cover a point spread for about two months and many of us lost a lot of money!
3. Baker Mayfield was not happy with Browns fans who wondered about the team trading for Texans quarterback DeShaun Watson.
4. Meanwhile, former Texans star wideout DeAndre Hopkins seemed to be addressing Watson’s request for a trade with this excellent tweet.
5. This was a fun segment from Thursday night’s Inside the NBA with the crew poking fun at Charles Barkley for once swapping shirts with a random dude on a drunken night out.
6. The guest on Episode 331 of the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast hosted by Jimmy Traina is John Ourand. The Sports Business Journal reporter talks about why NBC decided to shut down NBC Sports Network and what that means for sports that aired on the cable channel. We also discussed why the WWE decided to make a deal with Peacock for the WWE Network and whether the move will start a consolidation of streaming services. Other topics we covered include the upcoming NFL TV deals and how it looks like everything will remain the same except for the Thursday Night Football package, how Amazon fits into the NFL’s TV future and how it did airing an exclusive game this season, why John thinks the Super Bowl rating won’t be as big as Jimmy predicts and much more.
You can listen to the podcast below or download it on Apple, Spotify or Stitcher.
You can also watch the podcast on YouTube.
7. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: Today is Oprah’s 67th birthday. If you’re on Twitter, you know that this is one of the most used GIFs.
The GIF comes from one of Oprah’s old shows, where she gave something away to the audience. If you’ve never seen the Saturday Night Live spoof of Oprah giving stuff away, you should check it out now.
8. SPORTS VIDEO OF THE DAY: The CBS opening to Super Bowl XXI, between the Broncos and Giants, which took place on Jan. 25, 1987, was so simple, yet so great.
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.
