1. Arizona State’s Cam Skattebo was one of the best players in college football during the 2024 season.
The running back racked up 1,711 yards and scored 21 touchdowns. He also caught 45 passes for 605 yards.
Skattebo did his thing at the NFL scouting combine this past weekend, but the combine is dumb, so I have no idea what he did or didn’t do. I just know from watching him play last year that he is a freakin’ beast.
Naturally, with Skattebo expected to get selected at some point during the NFL draft next month, the 23-year-old is subjected to a significant amount of coverage from the media and talk from fans.
This is where Kyle Brandt comes in.
Brandt offered a passionate, funny and strong five-minute message on Monday’s Good Morning Football about how everyone should discuss Skattebo. Brandt laid out several dos and don’ts, even calling out some of his colleagues for engaging in the don’ts.
“Ladies and gentlemen, I am not going to sit here for the next 52 days and hear the name Cameron Skattebo in the same sentence as ‘deceptively fast’ or ‘sneaky athletic.' It’s already happening and I don’t like it,” said Brandt.
In addition to naming certain words and phrases (“gym rat” and “great motor” to name a couple) that people should not use to describe Skattebo, Brandt also bluntly and hilariously called out those who do the lazy comparisons.
“Do better than just scrolling your nostalgia Rolodex for the fattest meathead cracker you can find,” demanded Brandt.
Some thoughts, and some rules, on Cam Skattebo pic.twitter.com/HwxhuZDrFj
— Kyle Brandt (@KyleBrandt) March 3, 2025
2. I love when there is a piece of content that I don’t have to sell you on. I just tell you what it is and you click it and enjoy it.
Having said that, here is three minutes and seven seconds of Bill Raftery saying “ONIONS.”
Celebrate the return of March with three minutes of ONIONS! pic.twitter.com/mhaXeVXJnb
— CBS Sports College Basketball 🏀 (@CBSSportsCBB) March 1, 2025
3. ESPN recently opted out of its contract with Major League Baseball, making this upcoming season the final one that will see MLB games airing on the Worldwide Leader.
A new report from the Wall Street Journal says that ESPN wanted a $350 million reduction on its deal with MLB. ESPN’s current contract with MLB is for $550 million per year. The network wanted a new deal for $200 million per year.
That tells me ESPN really didn’t want to be in business with MLB anymore. While $550 million is probably too much to pay for baseball, asking the sport to take a $350 million paycut is wild.
4. Steph Curry thoroughly enjoyed the Conan O’Brien–Adam Sandler bit from last night’s Oscar’s thanks to the Sand Man’s footwear.
Adam Sandler in his Sunday best at the #Oscars2025 pic.twitter.com/VvPViPTCAa
— clubheartbreak (@clubheartbreak) March 3, 2025
5. The biggest story of the weekend from the sports world was John Cena turning heel for the first time in his long career at Saturday’s Elimination Chamber pay-per-view event.
I’ll share my full thoughts on the segment on this week’s SI Media With Jimmy Traina, which comes out Thursday. I still have no idea why Travis Scott was part of this and literally had no idea who he was while he was in the ring until I searched Twitter, but I’ll get into that on the pod.
One important aspect of Cena’s heel turn getting so much attention and coverage is that it was truly a surprise.
WWE Chief Content Officer, Triple H, explained after the event that the circle of people who knew about the big swerve was “very, very tight.”
6. The latest episode of SI Media With Jimmy Traina features an interview with ESPN college basketball analyst Jay Bilas.
Bilas talks about the popularity of the NCAA tournament, whether the NCAA tournament should expand the number of teams that make the tourney and why he stopped doing NCAA tournament games for CBS/Turner.
In addition, Bilas discusses why college basketball's replay rule needs to change, why he wants the sport to get rid of halves and go to quarters and the quality of play in college hoops. Bilas also talks about doing NBA games this season, why he enjoys the NBA game more than the college game and. why he got into broadcasting.
Bilas also shares hilarious stories about fans sending him money, Bill Raftery and Larry David.
Following Bilas is the weekly “Traina Thoughts” segment. Sal is away for this episode, so my former SI colleague and the host of the Citius Mag podcast, Chris Chavez, fills in. Topics discussed include the Yankees changing their facial hair rule, the Oscars and much more.
You can listen to the SI Media With Jimmy Traina podcast below or on Apple and Spotify.
You can also watch SI Media With Jimmy Traina on Sports Illustrated‘s YouTube channel.
7. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: If you watched the old Total Divas show, you know that John Cena was actually a heel once before in his career. I’ve said this before, and even said it to Cena once during an interview: He should’ve won an Emmy for his performance on this show.
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 Google. You can also follow Jimmy on X and Instagram.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as NFL Network’s Kyle Brandt Doesn’t Want to Hear the Clichés When It Comes to Cam Skattebo.
