Dan Le Batard Responds To ESPN's Statement | Hour 2

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I know you got sources, let me rib you on that. That was insane, Dan. You're going to call yourself a journalist? I'm saying I don't know if it's true. I don't know if it's true. I'm not sure if it's true, but I'm going to give you every single detail and I can't report it. I don't have enough sources to tell you. But my sources are saying this. No, I have to agree. That struck me as very odd when he was saying that because what he was doing to Ross Tucker was he was saying, "Ross, you have Buffalo sources. Do my reporting for me." No, do it for me. Get back to me with the answer. So I can report it. All right, so hold on a second at the risk of sounding defensive, okay? You already have. It's the second time that I have asked Buffalo reporters to look into something that I haven't been able to verify because it's something that so few people would know if it were true. I'm offering something to you there that is a morsel of information that I'm saying on the front end. I don't know if this is true. I can't say it as a fact. So if you have Buffalo sources, please ask those sources whether or not this is true because I think this is a story people would be interested in. I've been trying to reach Mike McDaniel on it for a while and he will not talk about it because it would be a fairly amazing story. Would we not agree that if that is something that were true, people would want to know about it? But because I haven't, because my sources are not solid enough and I would need multiple sources on this and I just don't have them in Buffalo, I can't report it as fact and I'm saying. Please don't report it. I have not reported it. It's a good move though, Dan. It's a good move because you get to say the report that you don't want to report. It's kind of like the way where when I want to call them a stewardess and I say, oh, but they're not called stewardess anymore, what are they called now? You know, I get to say it. It's not the same thing at all. You get to say the word. Very similar. Yeah, very similar. So would I have been better off if I had done this? Yes. Yes. Go through your holistic credibility and get red glaze. Here is something we like to call red glaze speculation. You're good. In delay. Thank you. Fine. I'm good. Now you're good. Thank you. Thank you for calling me out on that. A number of things that I want to get to this hour, but I'm remiss if I don't get the rest of the updates on Greg Cote's catchphrase countdown. I am really bothered. I thought we were going to get number one today. The Greg Cote show featuring Greg Cote has had an exclusive, an exclusive proprietary ownership of these catchphrases appear first on your podcast and then the joke comes over here. But this is a months long joke that I thought we were going to get number one today. We're not getting number one. We're getting 75 through 71. Yes. This is a bonus interlude, a prelude to the big reveal on number one. We now have numbers 75, 74, 73, 72, and 71. All right. So number 75 is? I'm a small private individual. 74, I eat but all the time, 73, I hear you, 72, you may be right. Ultimate argument diffuser. Yes. Edwin Pope taught me that. And 71, that is weird, wild stuff. Wow. I criticize that one. No, like everyone does a fake Carson. That is why that is weird, wild stuff. I've been hearing that from your father for a long time. Thank you. Ah, yeah. It's a very limited impersonation. But so number one, we will get next week, and you do eat but all the time, correct? Oh, yeah. I just had some a couple of weeks ago. Didn't you guys tell me? Right. What I mean? Everyone does. Didn't you guys tell me that there was something else that was butt related in the broadcasting realm that you guys were giggle snorting about because you're softmoric in nature. And when Jim Nance actually, what are the two words that Jim Nance combined this weekend, a punt? And what was the other word? He combined a kick and punt and he did a Chris Cody style. You can only imagine. We can't play it. I tried to find a way to edit it that we could partially hear it, but it just sounds like that word in every setting. So, like the combination of the first part of kick and the last part of pun. That's right. But, who else was talking about butt this weekend? Chris Jones, Harrison Bucker, made a big kick in their win, and Chris Jones was speaking up for his kicker. Y'all as a whole down my kicker last year, and I just got two metal fingers to y'all. Like, I love butt, and I trust him butt, and I think butt is the best kicker in the league, and I'm going to continue to support my kicker. Listen, nobody is perfect, you know, even though we won't butt to make them all. Sometimes you're not, and it's just the cycle of life, and that's where adversity comes in. And that's why I support butt, because he stands tall every time, and he face it like a man, and two metal fingers to anybody who doubt my kicker. You know what's funny about that? Chris Jones doesn't sound at all like he plays. Not at all. Not menacing whatsoever. I had never heard his voice before. Chris Jones, I was surprised at how -- I had to make sure it wasn't a fake video. It sounded so jarring that I was like, I had to check multiple songs. Not since Mike Tyson talked for the first time, and I heard him talking, I'm like, wow, I do not associate that particular brand of menace with that particular voice. When I think of these guys and how it is they sound, it's more like the realm of Kalea's Campbell, who sounds like a friendly giant, where he's decided for that moment, not to menace me, because he's just talking and appearing like a human. But if I say the wrong thing, he's going to chew my face, and I'm going to not survive whatever that particular menace is, that is not how I thought Chris Jones sounded while he was saying that he loves butt. They also must call him butt in the locker room, right? Like, it's not Harrison, it's not Butkert's butt. Everybody calls it butt. What a butt. He supports butt. Oh, it has. I don't think we all do. Well, in some sense. I'm a big supporter. I always support butts. Big supporter. Always. Well, with two teas. You know, it was butt last night. My beloved James Winston was butt last night. Let me tell you some about James Winston, number one, he was awful last night, as you would expect, if you paid any attention. Okay. And you know, it's not a tough spot, being the number one overall pick in the draft and having a good career. Like that would be what would be expected of you. James Winston is so unique to me, because he's super likable. Clearly, all of his teammates love him every stop that he's on. I think this is 14 and 12 NFL seasons after being the number one overall pick. All of his teammates seemingly love him yet. Can you think of another player who was the number one overall draft pick, total bust. And everyone loves him. Like I don't think that guy exists. Total bust played four years with Tampa Bay had one season that he threw for 30 touchdowns. Never made the playoffs. Had one season he threw for 30 touchdowns, which also coincided with throwing 30 interceptions and they gave him the boot albeit for Tom Brady as well. He has been a starter double digit games once in the last seven years. The number one overall pick a quarterback. I'll go down my kicker last year, and I just got two mental fingers to you. I'm like, I love but, and major bust. And it's just odd to me that a player who has had this career who was a bust is beloved the way James Winston is. Greg, is there a distinction that you would make between total bust and bust? Is James Winston a bust? Is James Winston a total bust? Or do you reject both of those because he did lead the league in passing one year? When I think of total bust, I think of Jermarkis Russell. He is also, if not the best, one of the very best college quarterbacks I've ever seen. I think total bust is harsh. I would call him a bust just based on the standard that he invited by where he was drafted. But the fact that he's hung around the league and is now seen as a reliable backup, the veteran backup. I know the reliable part. You watch us, I don't know. Until last night, I thought he was a reliable spot. I did, I did watch last night, but I'm talking about the overall body of work, not one game. Okay, but last night, 11 for 27, 111 yards, one terrible interception throwing a bad fundamentals like throwing off of his back foot. The rent is ways that were sloppy, but Ian O'Connor tweeted from the athletic, a great columnist at 830 last night when Dart went down. And this is why you have one of the better backup quarterbacks in the league in James Winston for the Giants. The drop off from Dart is not a total plunge into the abyss. He's super likable. That's what it is. Well, it was. really likeable james winston i'm sorry like i'm going to continue to push back reg on and being a huge bus if you're taking number one overall let alone at the quarterback position number one overall and you last with that team for four seasons and no playoff appearances that's a massive bus i think a massive bus does not stay in the league as long as he has the problem with him is that it's an interception issue this dog does entire career and at that position sort of a big deal to say that he's interception prone cussing says the same dog on him except it's not nearly as bad as james winston massive bus don't have a hundred and fifty six touchdowns for their career like that's just what it is because he's been around for a long time but but just being in the NFL for a long time and having those days okay but twenty five thousand yards there's a big difference in your career like come on there's a big difference between being around for a long time which is a by all means a good NFL career that is not what's expected of you to be around for a long time when you are the number one overall pick you're supposed to be a great player imagine setting your makeup then forgetting it's even theirs meet new grippy setting mist from mavely new york jelda mist technology locks in your look for up to 24 hours with flexible all day comfy grip no tightness no stickiness no residue just plump dewey hydrated skin that still feels like your skin try new grippy setting mist from mavely new york maybe it's faint blaine down lebertar boy boy great buddy who needs me this is the down lebertar show it's also kind of warmness rising that he's everybody's favorite everyone loves him like it it is if you had to tell me which of those two things is more surprising that that guy with that past would be considered everybody's favorite or that guy with what we expected him to be as a quarterback would still be hanging around considering some of what Tony just laid out of like the the solid enough career that exists as a former number one overall pick I think it would be a little more surprising that he's everybody's favorite person yeah like think about other number one overall pick quarterbacks who are huge bus jamarkis russell somebody brings up jamarkis russell no one likes to mark is russell everyone loves james it's a really weird career it's crazy what Jeremy is mentioning there is he's got some sorted stuff in his past as well that doesn't have much of anything to do with performance and the interceptions are alarming because he's got 114 career interceptions and Aaron Rogers has 124 career interceptions and Aaron Rogers has thrown almost three times as many passes in his career as james wincent and the most damning stat that I can give you is that that year that he led the league in passing and had 30 touchdowns and 30 interceptions Tampa Bay said you know we'd be really good if we got rid of the interceptions tom Brady can you come over here they got rid of the interceptions they win the Super Bowl immediately they go from not making the playoffs to any Super Bowl I mentioned this yesterday I mentioned the stat yesterday on the show regarding Baker Mayfield because you cannot in today sport turn the ball over at that position that much Baker Mayfield has 27 or 28 fumble since 2024 he has 28 or 29 interceptions since 2024 both of those are at the highest end of the league on either the most or close to the most on he gives up the football way too much for that position it's a plague between james winston and Baker Mayfield how much quarterback recklessness they had sandwiched around Tom Brady who would you rather have career wise james and what he's done or Kyla Murray and what he's kind of Murray really Kyla Murray for sure really yeah for sure why if I would ask you like james win league for 12 years how many number overall pick how many times he's thrown for 20 touchdowns like three times in a year 100% right and that's horrible I only done that once I need a favor I want to pin Zaz down number one overall I want to know what argument you're actually making here because if you're making an argument for a bus that is for some somehow somehow likable that I actually think that I can't think of a more likable bust someone that's perceived as likable while being a bus but you're saying he's just the biggest bust of all time which he just isn't no no I'm I'm not saying his biggest bust of all time that's what I said you did have to listen to the start of this he doesn't say the biggest bust of all time no not all time did anyone hear him say the biggest bust of all time and I'm specifically making it quarterbacks because there have been other players taking number one overall we're by far biggest but bigger bus I'm gonna go back and look at the tape the only the only four seasons where he started double figure games he's thrown for more than 3500 yards 4,000 twice 5,000 once a total bus does not have even those numbers yeah I and and and when you take that guy number one overall and then you get rid of him after just five years and he's never a starter again in the league come on like it's it's bad teams keep signing him Tampa New Orleans Cleveland the Giants he would be out of the leagues five seven years ago if he was a total bus and and every team that signs him praise they'll never have to play him because he's the backup Sam Bradford or James what I saw yesterday was terrible that uh that was that was not competence on the on the Monday night football stage and when you pair it against what the Rams were doing with Stafford and Devonte Adams it looked all the more condemning outside of Chicago I don't believe another team changed more from week one to week two in the entire league than the Giants did last night and how it is that they look and felt Jackson Dart I think we can say at this point Jackson Dart has a real trouble staying on the field I also think we can say at this point marvel that Stafford's always healthy while already the young quarterbacks throughout the sport two weeks in you got Jay Daniels going out you got Caleb Williams going out uh and last night you got Jackson Dart going out really hard to keep these people healthy we're already into the backups in week three where Caleb Williams is screaming so loud that you can hear him in the arena screaming because those people got so silent scared by that injury I really am amazed by how Stafford never gets hurt when if you guys are remembering the way he had to play in Detroit I don't understand how his body still functions like if any quarterback should age at 38 the way all quarterbacks age at 38 it should be Stafford that's aging that way because the amount of mileage on his body and the things that he has played through in his life is a real insanity I don't know about the rest of you I don't know if this is even fair what I'm about to say does Stafford seem to you guys like someone who's maniacal about taking care of his body no no is that fair though like he's but he clearly cares a lot you can't you can't is it fair I mean well but he's look in college he was somebody who with his shirt off did not look particularly impressive I don't think that Patrick Holmes Patrick my Holmes physically looks all of that impressive I don't know if it's fair to make a judgment given how much you know Matthew Stafford cares right you can't question how much he cares you can't question how durable he is you cannot question how much he's willing to play through so I don't know if it's fair to say that I think I'm making up something here that's not fair for me to do which is to say that Matthew Stafford doesn't take care of his body the same way the best and most meticulous of quarterbacks take care of their body but I do think it's a I think it's an assumption a lot of people may yeah I mean coming off an MVP season I wouldn't say anything critical about about Matthew Stafford but I will say the quarterback position I don't think is renowned for physical specimens maybe Josh Allen is I don't know that I've ever seen Josh Allen without a shirt but when I think of a lot of quarterbacks dating back to Dan Moreno and Baker may feel there's a lot of quarterbacks who don't look physically imposing but there are mis and sometimes their legs are you know I just don't associate the quarterback position with physique maybe I'm wrong he may not look like a guy that takes care of his body it's either that that he takes care of his body well while also not looking like he takes care of his body or he's just an insane just pain threshold have her because he's only had one two three seasons in his entire career that he hasn't played 16 or 17 games in 2016 he had a season where they started nine and four he was getting like MVP consideration in Detroit this was a team that was not good should not have been competing for the postseason and then he tore ligaments and dislocated part of his throwing hand they lost the final three games that season and lost in the wild card round but he had been on his way to potentially getting MVP votes he ends up not even being a pro baller because of that if you had asked me when Matthew Stafford was at the tail end in Detroit will he still be playing at 38 years old I would have said because of the way he was physically ransacked playing for bad teams that he himself would take to the playoffs on a franchise so mismanaged that not one but two of their best players ever quit Barry Sanders and Calvin Williams I would have said to you there is no circumstance never mind at an MVP level there's no circumstance under which Matthew Stafford's body will be able to hold up into his late 30s so that he can still play the way that he is playing MVP The league get out of here, but no chance. It's Calvin Johnson. I got to find you for that big fine Oh, that is my point. He's one of the greatest ever that is I deserve that Williams. Yeah, my bad Local TV anchor market for season Calvin Williams. I am such a good point too Yeah, I blew it and just the dismount you know Josh Allen's only 17 rushing touchdowns away from tying Barry Sanders for 10th all time You might get that this year how's that possible in the last 40 quarter back in the last 40 years. I have max Three other quarterbacks take a number and overall worse than James Winston max in last 40 plus years I would say Tim couch. I would say Marcus Russell of course and David car that's it and and then it's James win. I think Sam Bradford was better than James Yeah, I think so yeah So you're holding the number one against him. Yeah, it is an unusual career that James Winston has had five at Tony He's Calvin Hughes. I said local Calvin Williams. That is the locally. I said somebody else's local I bet there's a Calvin Willie. I'll look at how was that a fine for me and not for you Tony I already paid the fine put a put a buck in here still fine for you though, but I got it I don't look to back off. Okay, I have it right here on the on the table But Tony somebody collect money from someone other than me. Yeah, okay somebody make someone pay something because Jeremy Just got $400 out of that bucket out of that fine bucket the other day And it was all my money Let's get Tony right now to pay the fine for confusing Calvin Hughes and Calvin Williams He might have been thinking of former Cleveland police chief who now does random spots on news five Cleveland Calvin Williams Do you think of that guy? I was thinking to be him at the all-star game and you guys get that guy on film Imagine setting your makeup then forgetting it's even theirs Meet new grippy setting mist from Mabelie, New York Gel to miss technology locks in your look for up to 24 hours with flexible all-day-come-view grip No tightness, no stickiness, no residue. Just plump, dewy, hydrated skin. That still feels like your skin. Try new grippy setting mist from Mabelie, New York Maybe it's Mabelie Down lebertar can't wait for 39. Yeah, I can't either 40 coming first Do you know what 40 is yet? Not yet. See, what are we doing? Greg? Did you just laugh? Did you just laugh out loud at something Louis said in your ear? Great. Cutie. Yes I couldn't help it. It was funny Thanks, Louis Gagging the goose Of course Choke in the frog. I mean, there's a million of course half of them would sound dirty if we keep doing it. This is the down lebertar show I Want to get your thoughts on this. I didn't get to this Friday. I didn't get to this on Monday, and I should have ESPN did something fairly rare Their spokesperson made an official statement reacting to some things that I've been saying recently that we will play for you in a moment But I just want to give everybody the backstory or some context here before we head into this story of what it is that happened here So that we can be clear on the reaction of ESPN and the parts of this that are fair or unfair the thing that we were talking about When I brought this up was about Joe Buck and his contract and this was a week later than what we had as a previous conversation Where I'm saying things that are simply factual They're not opinion They're not Perspective I'm saying something that is factual a few weeks ago when I say there are not many black Color commentators in the NFL and people objected to that for a number of different reasons But the number I think we counted it up was three or four and the thing that I started the conversation on was saying You've got a disproportionately black league and the commentators and the analysts in the booth on the days that are in front of everybody not the studio shows Now when there are a few hundred thousand people watching when the millions are watching the people giving you the analysis tend to be white people then Joe Buck signs his monster deal and after Joe Buck signs his monster deal I say this Asking everybody listening to this have you noticed that the people at ESPN Who are getting the chances and the big money as things grow at ESPN are Joe Buck and Pat McAfee and Josh Pate and Rich Eisen and the goalics and Jason Kelsey and Peter Schrager and the mannings Has anyone noticed that that is happening? I'm legitimately asking the question as I know that Steven A Smith has also gotten the money, but as the money flows in From Disney and ESPN to fund the great spectacle that is the worldwide leader in sports that is now sitting out the political Discussion to become the worldwide follower of sports that it's a whole lot of white people hiring a whole lot of white people and giving All of the money to a whole lot of white people and I will say it again. I Have no issue with those people getting that money, but it's only Those people getting that money and I'm just wondering is that something that's being noticed and chronicle my straw hat fell off at the end of that I'm wearing a pink hair and a feather boa and a ridiculous blue jacket and red tie Yeah, that really does enhance your strong opinion. Yes What what are your thoughts though? It's not it's it's not an opinion. I'm gonna I'm gonna be clear on this This is not an opinion. It is a fact that the people at ESPN who are in power-broker positions are all white And the people making the content decisions there keep giving the big money and the big platforms to other people who are white hardstop not an opinion factual like not Room to debate unless you just want to be one of these grifters like Shit stain who has a disciple army of shit stains who says the following? So I don't know why Lebitard is dressed up like that asking the question. I honestly have no idea what goes on on his show So ESPN. I don't know how often they do this how often do they send statements on this I don't remember them doing this to Ron DeSantis or anybody who was saying that they were too woke What I noticed is that they then got rid of most of the people who are Legitly too woke, but can you read the statement that ESPN gave to awful announcing on Friday? Yes This is simply an inaccurate and irresponsible Characterization of ESPN our talent and our talent leadership ESPN has the deepest and most diverse roster of commentators in the industry Bringing a wide range of expertise Experiences and perspectives to our coverage. We are proud of the team We have built and will continue investing in new voices So I offer a heartfelt and legitimate apology for a real inaccuracy that I am guilty of I forgot busing with the boys They are brand new to the line of yatham and paid to yeah What I said was the NFL network and ESPN have put on a whole bunch of white people in charge of how to select the next evolution of ESPN and One of the things that they said is what about Jason McCordy which is the only example I think they can use and it's not even a good one because I was talking about the big money and the biggest of the platforms Never mind that's got van pelton my greenberg and Paul fine bomb or some of the voices with the biggest amount of money I'm not even talking about that. I'm talking about the next evolution of ESPN and one of the things they highlighted is some of the people They threw out here Kevin Nagandi of the Wardo Perez Malika Andrews Richard Jefferson Freddie Rolone One of the few Hispanics they've got anywhere in the last ten years at the network I'm not that's a football. I'm talking about the next evolution of football I'm talking about the NFL network and the NFL in general which cannot be trusted on matters of race Cannot be trusted on matters of race when they come in and own 10% of ESPN I'm talking about the next evolution of how you get young people I'm watching last night and a half time It's Calcissist McAfee. It's Van Palt. That's Where the big money and the big platforms are going. I'm not talking about hiding Dominique Foxworth on digital He's better than any of these people Dominique Foxworth I'm talking about the next evolution because they're gonna be more layoffs here What it looks like next is being shown to you now and it's all white people choosing white people I'm gonna say it again not an opinion the biggest platforms and the biggest money the shows Are going to the white people hard stop like it's not arguable Yeah, I totally get what you're saying and I think it's I think it's a valid thing to say I haven't done the math along racial lines. I don't know the statistics on it But what you say certainly rings true to me. I can also see why ESPN would have extremely thin skin and But wait a minute. Hit dog. Hit dog gonna holler here Here, look, I'm giving you the math. It's Kelsey, it's Buck, it's Eisen, it's McAfee, it's the Manning's 60 million a year through the 2030s. It's Josh Payt, it's the Golix, it's Shrager, it's busing with the boys. Where are the minority platforms getting the big money? Big money, big platforms. McCordy's got a good job. McCordy would be a good example. He's not getting paid like, wait, Kelsey's getting paid, but that's a good example. Where are the others? And I'm just going to keep showing it to you, and you can argue it if you want, but you're arguing against facts and you're making. Man, ESPN, you already made your statement. It doesn't come out on a Friday afternoon. You already made the statement. This is not an arguable thing, unless you're just looking to argue. Because what's untrue about what I'm saying here? Is somebody disprove what I just said when I'm talking about where's the money and the platform's going to, and you won't be able to disprove it on the people making the decisions there. All white, all of them. And that one's not up for dispute. I'm talking about these platforms and this money, the tens of millions of dollars that are being given, and who's getting the shows? Who's not, not do you get to appear as part of somebody else's show? Who's getting the shows? Who won? White people. White men. Who disagrees? Give me disagreement. Where's the disagreement? Give me something. This is not, not, not an echo chamber. Even at the executive level, they lost the black person. They were always just retired like two or three weeks ago. And he was actually making content decisions. This isn't to say that they don't have minorities in those positions. I'm saying the minorities are not making the decisions on these giant platforms and contracts. They're not, because they're not. Like when you throw Freddie Rolone at me, what you're doing is making the smaller fish, the smaller fish that are everywhere. Not the biggest of the fish. The biggest of the fish. That's not an accident. Like this is, this is what the future holds because as I mentioned, there are more layoffs coming there. But this money's been given out. This money's the future. These platforms are who they've decided to bet on. And as we talk about this stuff, I do find always interesting, the grifters who appear to argue against facts with their perceptions, their biases and their opinions. When I welcome anybody who can prove to me that what I'm saying is not so. They are going for mullets and sleeveless shirts. They are going for SEC football fans. And I'm talking about football specifically because the NFL and ESPN have just gotten into the business of what Kingsport is going to look like on that network, 10% of which is owned by the NFL now. Yeah, I don't think ESPN puts out a defensive statement like that unless they feel truth in what you said. Oh, I don't think that they would admit to that. Can you give me all the examples? I really speak ignorantly here because I don't remember whether there have been any ESPN statements at DeSantis or at whatever it is that makes an appearance here when the other side of this is brought up because I don't know how often ESPN makes these kinds of statements. I've always thought that their silence is the one making the statement. So I googled directly how often has ESPN made statements when being accused of being woke? And what Google AI told me is there are two distancing statements. One, the Jamel Hill controversy in 2017 to this. Those are the primary examples that they used. There was an example of in 2018 ESPN saying that they are not a political company. My assumption is that that's when the woke accusations sort of first started, but obviously not on the opposite side of this, which is what you're presenting right now. I've been seeing, if we're just talking about the reaction to everything that you've said, I've seen more people trying to call, like, bring up, like, you're being a hypocrite, more than saying you're being wrong about what ESPN is doing. That's the stuff that I've seen. - Okay, so I've seen some of that as well. And the hypocrisy is allegedly, they're saying that we don't have black employees when more than half of our executives are black or minorities and our entire company. The minority here is white people. Like, the people writing about this don't seem to know that Latinos are minorities. Like, they don't, like-- So I wanted you to answer to that, because I've seen more of that. - Well, okay, so this is the dishonest part of what it is that's happening here, where it's just, I'm sitting here giving you facts and the counter-argument doesn't have facts in it. It just accuses me of hypocrisy, but let me give you some of the backstory here. For those of you who are new because we have new people every day, I'm gonna give you some of the history of all of this year, because I worked for ESPN in some form for over 25 years, okay? And I've told you before that I grew up on ESPN, I love ESPN. I'm wildly grateful for all of the things ESPN did for me, but here's some of the backstory, okay? ESPN for a long time was my third job, and I didn't actually ever wanna go to full time at ESPN for a number of different reasons. And not until John Skipper looking for a Latino voice while underrepresented in that demo worse than just about any other, for 10 years was trying to hire me because in journalism I was the Latin guy, and there weren't a lot of other choices when it came to Latin guys. And I was CAA's worst client for 10 years because I didn't wanna do it. But then he's like, what if your dad's on the show, what if your brother's doing the art, what if you have the beach behind you in Miami? I wanted something more Miami and something like, okay, cool. I'll try this and what Skipper and I were trying to do by edict from Skipper is change your culture, rattle a culture because he couldn't change 4,000 employees, so he was gonna hire like seven or eight fire starters and see if they can influence some people. And then over the time at everything that was happening at ESPN, what ended up happening by the end because of the reaction to woe, because of Disney not liking the discomforts around, why are we being accused of being a political organization? You're being accused of it because Skipper hired me and some minorities and the seat next to my father. All of those people were minorities. Other than Cody, Hank Azary, and Stugatz, it was always Katie, or Sarah, or Balmani, or Izzy, or Mina, or Pablo, or Jamel Hill, or Michael Smith, like that was on purpose. That was the last seat left at ESPN for all those people by the end, giving opinions on television. There was no other room. I had to make fights in order to keep that seat protected 'cause it was housing eight or nine people, and it's where the last of woe was with a front facing ability to give opinions that, you know, are DI opinions or whatever. That's the history of what it is that I and we were trying to do at ESPN that was objected to in a way that they did get out of the building. And when I point this out to you, I'm not even pointing out all of this in order to shake a fist at them. I'm just asking, hey, have you guys noticed that this is happening? And the reaction is bleep you, it's not happening. And it's ESPN sending out a statement saying, it's not happening, and it's like, no, I lived it. It's obviously happening. And you're denying that it's happening, and I'm just gonna keep showing you behind that curtain and you do what you want with that information. I don't know if we change any minds. I know that my tone gets in my way all of the time, and I get strident, and I sound upset about this. But I have lived what it is that I'm presenting to you, and what I'm presenting to you is factual. Like you can claim that I'm a hypocrite by saying false things about who works here, but I'm not saying false things about who works there. I know who works there, and I know who the decision makers are, and I know how much money they have, and who they're giving it to, and there's no rebuttal to what it is that I'm saying. None, and they keep presenting it as if there is a rebuttal, and there's not. You don't have as much information as I do here. You have not actually lived this. I lived it, and everyone's saying something different than what I'm saying isn't presenting you facts.