Jerry Jones' revealing interview; Commanders sale close? U.S. Women's Soccer Team kicks off big year and the Deion impact is real in Colorado
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This is your morning Buzzcast for Tuesday, January 17th. Good morning, I'm Abe Madkour. Thanks for listening to the Buzzcast. Well, let's start with what is next for Tom Brady after last night's wild card loss against the Cowboys? Will he continue to play or will he head to Fox and be in the booth? Brady was very non-committal Monday night after the loss. His contract is set to expire, he has a no-tag clause, meaning the Buccaneers cannot use the franchise tag on him, so he will become an unrestricted free agent at the age of 45 and will be free to sign with any team.
Brady said there is no timetable for making a decision on his future. Remember, about a year ago at the end of January, news dropped that Brady was going to retire but he changed his mind 40 days later and returned to the Bucks. My guess? He surveys the league and if there are opportunities that intrigue him, Las Vegas with Josh McDaniels or wherever Sean Peyton lands, Tom Brady could in fact be back for one more run, but time will tell. Cowboys' owner, Jerry Jones, is certainly a very happy man today, and I found his interview with USA Today very telling. He covered a lot of ground and specifically spoke about Commanders' owner, Dan Snyder. He acknowledged that their relationship is not as close as it used to be, but he said he didn't believe reports that Snyder had used private investigators to track other NFL owners or that Snyder, a longtime friend of Jones, had a file on Jerry Jones.
Specifically, Jerry Jones doesn't believe that Snyder would do such a thing to Jones because they are friends. He also said in the next sentence, "Dan is his own worst enemy, his very own worst enemy." While the NFL is awaiting the Mary Jo White report on management conditions at the Commanders, Jerry Jones also said he hasn't seen any conclusive evidence that would rise to the level of NFL owners voting to force Dan Snyder to sell his franchise. But he did acknowledge that there are so many issues surrounding the team and Dan Snyder that momentum is clearly going toward a sale. But if you read between the lines, it's pretty clear that Jerry Jones will not go above and beyond efforts to keep Dan Snyder within the ranks of NFL ownership. As he said, quite frankly, "Is he worth me taking a sword? He's not Al Davis. For me, he's not." Some pointed frank comments from Jerry Jones about just how far he will go to protect and support Dan Snyder and it sheds more light into the workings of the NFL.
Meanwhile, a report on NBC Sports states that a Commanders deal may come quite soon and that Todd Boehly has reportedly pulled out of the bidding and that Josh Harris, a DC-native and owner of the 76ers and the Devils, is perhaps the top candidate to buy the commander. We'll see if that deal moves forward.
Let's stay with the NFL, because while I'm watching every head coach job opening at the league, it seems most informed NFL writers are really keeping a close eye on the cults in what Jim Irsay does. There are a lot of eyes watching to see if Irsay brings back Jeff Saturday as coach, believing it would raise more concerns about the spirit and effectiveness of the Rooney Rule. The Colts didn't violate any NFL rules in hiring Saturday in November. Remember, the Rooney Rule doesn't apply to interim situations, but if they hired Jeff Saturday full-time, their perception among many in the NFL is that other candidates were never taken seriously.
The New York Daily News' NFL writer, Pat Leonard, was very blunt writing over the weekend. The NFL cannot allow Irsay to hire Jeff Saturday. There's real concern in NFL circles that the league's hiring cycle will not include any Black or minority candidates being hired by the Panthers, the Texans, Colts, Broncos, and Cardinals. Many believe the hiring of Saturday who went one in seven in his interim stint and has no previous NFL coaching experience before this season would be an especially bad look. But Saturday is very close to Jim Irsay and Jim Irsay is the one making the call here. While I'm watching all of these hirings, I'm especially keeping my eye on the Indianapolis Colts.
Meanwhile, the Cardinals have moved quickly to fill their open general manager slot, hiring longtime NFL executive, Monti Ossenfort, as their new GM. He will report to Cardinals' owner, Michael Bidwell, and now they'll select their next head coach. Ossenfort is 44 years old. He replaces Steve Keim who stepped down as general manager. Ossenfort comes to Arizona with 21 years of NFL experience, that includes 15 years with the Patriots and the past three seasons as the director of player personnel for the Tennessee Titans.
The US Women's National Soccer Team kicks off a very big year with its first match of 2023 against New Zealand tonight, and it marks the debut of US soccer's relationship with Warner Bros. Discovery, and tonight's match will be seen on HBO Max at 9:30 PM Eastern Time. Meanwhile, US Soccer has reached a Spanish language media rights agreement with Telemundo that will run through the 2026 FIFA World Cup in North America. It's a four-year deal and it marks the end of US soccer's 15-year run with TelevisaUnivision. The US Soccer TV package with Telemundo includes more than 20 Men's and Women's national team matches per year. Tonight's match against New Zealand will air on Universal and stream on Peacock and the Telemundo app.
Telemundo now adds US soccer rights to its growing portfolio. It has the Spanish language rights to the '23 Women's World Cup, the '24 Olympic Games for Paris, and the '26 Men's World Cup. Telemundo continues to add soccer rights to its portfolio and the US Women's National Team begins a very big year tonight against New Zealand.
Let's move to college sports. The Deion Sanders influence is real and it's really making a difference at the University of Colorado. Now, this is a school that hasn't been known for its football program and hasn't drawn much support for its football program. But to prove what a difference Dionne is making, consider this: As of last week, Colorado had roughly 2,000 season ticket deposits on the books. A year ago, they had about 300 according to The Denver Post. Ever since Deion Sanders was announced as head coach, tickets have moved very briskly and the university expects a season ticket renewal rate of the 94%-95%range, which is strong for any program. So, the Dion Effect is real at Colorado and this is a story we'll all be watching all season long.
And if you miss Monday's Buzzcast, we touched on a few things. Very briefly, we touched on the Spurs setting an NBA regular season attendance record of more than 68,000 fans on Friday night. We touched on the Utah Jazz signing a new naming rights deal with an old partner, Delta Air Lines, and we also touched on plans for $200 million in renovations to Progressive Field in Cleveland. That is your morning Buzzcast for Tuesday, January 17th. I'm Abe Madkour. Thanks for listening to the Buzzcast. Thanks for spreading the word on the Buzzcast. Stay healthy, be good to each other, I'll speak to you later in the week.