Latest / The Daily Play With Joy Taylor / Falcons Name Tua QB One, Rams Legal Troubles Creates Clouds, and WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert Steps Down

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Falcons Name Tua QB One, Rams Legal Troubles Creates Clouds, and WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert Steps Down · The Daily Play With Joy Taylor

• 0:03
  Speaker 1: Hey, everyone.
• 0:04
  Speaker 2: Welcome to The Daily Play with Joy Taylor. Thanks so
• 0:06
  Speaker 2: much for joining me. Football season is finally here. We
• 0:09
  Speaker 2: got a weekend of college football action.
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: I was at the Miami-Stanford game where Miami did amazing.
• 0:17
  Speaker 2: LSU completely wiped out Clemson. There was a little controversy
• 0:20
  Speaker 2: in the Michigan game. Football is back. But let's talk
• 0:22
  Speaker 2: a little NFL. Michael Penix Jr. will not start for
• 0:26
  Speaker 2: the Falcons tonight. in their opener in Pittsburgh on Sunday,
• 0:29
  Speaker 2: according to new head coach Kevin Stefanski. While Penix continues
• 0:33
  Speaker 2: to rehab from his November knee injury offseason edition, Tua
• 0:36
  Speaker 2: will get the start for the Falcons.
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: Tua is in Atlanta on a veteran minimum. The Dolphins
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: are paying nearly $ 100 million in dead cap money on
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: their first round pick, which is absolutely insane. But Stefanski
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: coached speak his way through the decision. He said, I
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: think every decision I make is for the football team.
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: You're taking in all the information available to you. Sometimes
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: information changes.
• 0:59
  Speaker 2: And certainly with a decision like this, you want to
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: make sure that you're taking all the information from the
• 1:02
  Speaker 2: spring to summer, how people are performing, those type of things.
• 1:05
  Speaker 2: So felt really strongly about this group and feel good
• 1:07
  Speaker 2: about the way that we're heading. Or two is the
• 1:10
  Speaker 2: only one available is another way of saying this. This
• 1:13
  Speaker 2: is a mess, but it's also where their decisions led them.
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: It's a pretty crazy stat, but the Falcons have started
• 1:22
  Speaker 2: a different quarterback program.
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: Week one for six seasons in a row.
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: So, uh, yeah, now it'll be seven to, uh, um,
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  Speaker 2: maybe he takes opportunity and excels, but he started training
• 1:34
  Speaker 2: camp with a tight back and miss the first week
• 1:36
  Speaker 2: of practices.
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: So that was a setback.
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  Speaker 2: He played a two seat preseason games to the Falcons
• 1:40
  Speaker 2: nine plays in his first games against the Broncos seven
• 1:43
  Speaker 2: of eight for 95 yards in the second against the dolphins.
• 1:46
  Speaker 2: He fumbled a snap in both of those appearances and
• 1:49
  Speaker 2: was unable to push the ball downfield regularly.
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  Speaker 1: Um, which was also an issue in training camp.
• 1:56
  Speaker 2: He was released by the Dolphins in March after he
• 2:00
  Speaker 2: finished with 2,660 yards, 20 touchdowns, 15 picks, and took
• 2:05
  Speaker 2: 30 sacks. He was benched for the final three games
• 2:08
  Speaker 2: of the season, so the Falcons took advantage of him
• 2:11
  Speaker 2: being cut to sign for an extremely affordable one-year deal. Yeah,
• 2:18
  Speaker 2: I think the Falcons are in a bad way. I've
• 2:19
  Speaker 2: been talking about this leading up to the season several
• 2:23
  Speaker 2: times with the back and forth about who is going
• 2:25
  Speaker 2: to be the starter, is Michael Penix going to be available,
• 2:28
  Speaker 2: and what their quarterback situation was going to look like.
• 2:31
  Speaker 2: Tua obviously is a name that is household at this point,
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: but his performance at the end of his tenure with
• 2:37
  Speaker 2: the Dolphins was obviously not great, which is why he's
• 2:40
  Speaker 2: in Atlanta. But looking around this division, I think we can...
• 2:45
  Speaker 2: assume that they will probably win just enough to be
• 2:48
  Speaker 2: out of a high draft pick and miss the playoffs.
• 2:51
  Speaker 2: And I think I'm being generous there. So the Rams
• 2:53
  Speaker 2: are on their way to Australia right now. And despite
• 2:56
  Speaker 2: some pending cases, LA is expecting two key offensive pieces
• 3:00
  Speaker 2: to play. In March, a woman in Los Angeles filed
• 3:04
  Speaker 2: a lawsuit against Nakua, Puka Nakua, that alleged he made
• 3:08
  Speaker 2: a advance towards her and bit her on the shoulder,
• 3:12
  Speaker 2: a quote, unprovoked anti-Semitic statement. In June, Alaric Jackson was
• 3:18
  Speaker 2: arrested on domestic violence charge. He was not charged with
• 3:21
  Speaker 2: a felony for the incident, and his case was referred
• 3:23
  Speaker 2: to the L.A. City Attorney's Office in July of assigned
• 3:28
  Speaker 2: for pre-filing diversion is available to eligible individuals in an
• 3:32
  Speaker 2: alternative misdemeanor criminal prosecution, whatever that means. So at the
• 3:36
  Speaker 2: start of training camp, Rams head coach Sean McVeigh said
• 3:38
  Speaker 2: the two legal situations were ongoing and the team has
• 3:40
  Speaker 2: been in contact with both the legal system and the
• 3:42
  Speaker 2: league to be able to get all the necessary information,
• 3:45
  Speaker 2: but that he, you know, hasn't heard anything about their suspension.
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: So they will likely be playing.
• 3:51
  Speaker 2: This is Obviously not the kind of news that you
• 3:53
  Speaker 2: want to have with a team that has the expectations
• 3:56
  Speaker 2: of going to and winning a Super Bowl. They have
• 3:59
  Speaker 2: been set up this year with the addition of Miles
• 4:02
  Speaker 2: Garrett and the return of Aaron Donald. And they're a
• 4:06
  Speaker 2: very well-run organization with a great culture and standard. So,
• 4:11
  Speaker 2: you know, I expect this to not be too much
• 4:13
  Speaker 2: of a distraction. There is a potential, there's the potential
• 4:16
  Speaker 2: that neither one of them gets suspended or that Puka
• 4:18
  Speaker 2: doesn't get suspended this year as the league investigation goes on. But,
• 4:23
  Speaker 2: you know, it is something that you have to consider
• 4:25
  Speaker 2: when you're talking about how this could affect the season
• 4:30
  Speaker 2: and who is available for the L.A.
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: Rams.
• 4:33
  Speaker 2: And they're just kind of in the unknown. So anyway,
• 4:36
  Speaker 2: McVay said that he is taking it one day at
• 4:38
  Speaker 2: a time. That's all they can do at this point
• 4:40
  Speaker 2: while they wait to find out from the league office's
• 4:43
  Speaker 2: And legal system, what will happen with any of their suspensions?
• 4:47
  Speaker 2: But it does seem like they are going to be
• 4:48
  Speaker 2: available to play in this game against the Niners to
• 4:51
  Speaker 2: start the season.
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: Finally, let's wrap.
• 4:54
  Speaker 2: Up with the WNBA, which is on break right now
• 4:57
  Speaker 2: for the FIBA World Cup in Germany, which has been
• 5:00
  Speaker 2: interesting enough for the USA team. And that was a
• 5:02
  Speaker 2: perfect time for the league and the commissioner, Kathy Engelbert,
• 5:06
  Speaker 2: to announce her transition out of the top job for
• 5:09
  Speaker 2: the league. Engelbert will work through the end of the
• 5:11
  Speaker 2: calendar year, so December 31st, before retiring from the role
• 5:14
  Speaker 2: that she's held for the last seven years. And the
• 5:16
  Speaker 2: process to find her replacement will start later this month,
• 5:19
  Speaker 2: if not.
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: Sooner, according to reports.
• 5:21
  Speaker 2: In an interview with the Associated Press, she insisted the
• 5:24
  Speaker 2: decision to leave was solely on her own and that
• 5:25
  Speaker 2: she did not feel any pressure to step down from
• 5:27
  Speaker 2: NBA or WNBA stakeholders. She said, when I first came
• 5:31
  Speaker 2: to the league, I intended to do this for three
• 5:32
  Speaker 2: and a half years. The seven and a half years
• 5:34
  Speaker 2: exceeded that time. This is a really good time given
• 5:36
  Speaker 2: the financial transformation journey that we've been on, getting the
• 5:39
  Speaker 2: collective bargain agreement done and getting a long-term media rights
• 5:43
  Speaker 2: deal done, getting expansion done. I retire with immense gratitude,
• 5:46
  Speaker 2: tremendous optimism for the future of the WNBA with.
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: The best yet to come.
• 5:51
  Speaker 2: She was the WNBA's first commissioner in May of 2019.
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: The previous leaders served as presidents.
• 5:59
  Speaker 2: She's overseen obviously dramatic transformation of the WNBA's business model.
• 6:03
  Speaker 2: The average value of a WNBA franchise was $ 10 million
• 6:06
  Speaker 2: in 2019.
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: It's now about $ 460 million in 2026.
• 6:07
  Speaker 2: But she has undergone a lot of criticism lately for the.
• 6:18
  Speaker 2: For not being connected to the players as their brand
• 6:21
  Speaker 2: continues to grow and the league continues to grow. Different
• 6:24
  Speaker 2: leaders have called her out. Obviously, many media members have
• 6:27
  Speaker 2: called her out. She has most prominently been called out
• 6:34
  Speaker 2: by Minnesota Lynx star Nafisa Collier, who said in an
• 6:38
  Speaker 2: explosive end of the season press conference that Cathy was
• 6:43
  Speaker 2: negligent in her governance and that the WNBA was has
• 6:46
  Speaker 2: the worst leadership in the world. So pretty scathing coming
• 6:49
  Speaker 2: from one of your most visible players. There's been a
• 6:55
  Speaker 2: lot of growth under Kathy Engelbert. The media rights deal,
• 6:59
  Speaker 2: as she mentioned, $ 3.
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: 1 billion.
• 7:01
  Speaker 2: Uh, the season will increase to 50 games. 18 markets
• 7:06
  Speaker 2: will have teams by 2030 after nearly.
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: Two decades with 12 franchises.
• 7:11
  Speaker 2: She also led a capital raise, um, the CBA and
• 7:18
  Speaker 2: multiple CBAs. And that obviously saw a major pay increase
• 7:24
  Speaker 2: for the players as well. I don't obviously lay all
• 7:27
  Speaker 2: of the responsibility and accomplishments at her feet, considering that
• 7:32
  Speaker 2: that was obviously extremely player driven, but she did bring,
• 7:36
  Speaker 2: you know, new franchises, golden state, Portland, Toronto, three more
• 7:40
  Speaker 2: in Cleveland, Detroit and Philadelphia.
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: Houston's going to be back.
• 7:44
  Speaker 2: Um, I think that the replacement for her is going
• 7:48
  Speaker 2: to be incredibly important to the future of this league.
• 7:53
  Speaker 2: Incredibly important for where they are, both politically, socially, with
• 8:00
  Speaker 2: the new branding, with the new rights deal, with the expansion.
• 8:04
  Speaker 2: It's going to be a lot, a much bigger undertaking
• 8:09
  Speaker 2: than what she entered into in 2019.
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: I mean, it is a completely different world.
• 8:14
  Speaker 2: So whoever takes on this role is really not only
• 8:18
  Speaker 2: going to have to be extremely qualified, but is going
• 8:22
  Speaker 2: to have to be a serious person. Someone who understands
• 8:25
  Speaker 2: bridging the gap between the players, between the media, between fans,
• 8:29
  Speaker 2: between the owners, between brands, the messaging about the league,
• 8:36
  Speaker 2: getting everyone on the same page as to how they
• 8:38
  Speaker 2: are addressing the constant criticism of where they're going to
• 8:44
  Speaker 2: stand on all that. And I do think that the
• 8:46
  Speaker 2: messaging does have to be very direct and complete.
• 8:50
  Speaker 1: It cannot be wishy-washy at all.
• 8:53
  Speaker 2: The best commissioners to me are ones that have the
• 8:56
  Speaker 2: respect of the players, the ear of the owners, the
• 9:02
  Speaker 2: intentions of the sponsors, and the angst of the fans,
• 9:09
  Speaker 2: but in a way that is reasonable. you're never going
• 9:13
  Speaker 2: to win everyone. There's always going to be people that
• 9:16
  Speaker 2: don't like you when you are in a leadership position
• 9:18
  Speaker 2: of this nature, but the important people have to like you.
• 9:23
  Speaker 2: And at the end of the day, you work for
• 9:25
  Speaker 2: the owners and you serve the players.
• 9:29
  Speaker 1: And all of that has to be done.
• 9:31
  Speaker 2: With the intention of expanding the league, of making more
• 9:34
  Speaker 2: money and of keeping fans happy.
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: That's a bunch of tight ropes to walk.
• 9:38
  Speaker 2: So whoever this person is that they bring in, Has
• 9:43
  Speaker 2: to understand all of that at.
• 9:44
  Speaker 1: A very, very high level. It would be disastrous to
• 9:47
  Speaker 1: bring in someone who is over their head or who
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: doesn't understand the pulse of women's sports, who doesn't understand
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: the history and the potential future. of the WNBA.
• 10:01
  Speaker 2: And someone very unapologetic, in my opinion. I mean, they
• 10:06
  Speaker 2: got to be able to stand on their, stand 10
• 10:09
  Speaker 2: toes down on what they're going to say.
• 10:11
  Speaker 1: And sometimes it will be unpopular. And so what?
• 10:14
  Speaker 2: So I really hope they make the right hire with this.
• 10:17
  Speaker 2: There's some big names that have been thrown out there.
• 10:19
  Speaker 2: Swin Cash, obviously Nneka Gumike, who just retired. Condoleezza Rice
• 10:26
  Speaker 2: has been thrown out there. Amy Brooks has worked for
• 10:29
  Speaker 2: the NBA. She's the president of global business development and
• 10:33
  Speaker 2: a bunch of other things. Mark Tatum from the NBA.
• 10:36
  Speaker 2: So there's, There's some big, big names out there. I
• 10:39
  Speaker 2: just think that whoever takes on this role, again, they
• 10:42
  Speaker 2: got to be a real serious MF-er.
• 10:46
  Speaker 1: Okay? For real. And walk in the door with that attitude.
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: Thanks so much for joining me. Hope you enjoyed your
• 10:54
  Speaker 1: holiday weekends. Make sure you subscribe.
• 10:57
  Speaker 2: Follow us on social at The Daily Play Joy Taylor.
• 10:59
  Speaker 2: For more on this and other top stories of the day,
• 11:00
  Speaker 2: tune into The Daily Play with Joy Taylor at urban1podcast.
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: Com or wherever you get your podcasts.