Tuesday brought some very entertaining banter between the Sports Junkies (106.7 The Fan) and WFT Head Coach Ron Rivera, appearing for his weekly (Tuesday) discussion.
The Junkies launched the conversation thanking Coach Rivera, saying the week would have been a disaster for them had Cam Newton and the Panthers defeated the WFT in Week 11.
“Had Taylor not played well and had you guys lost and Cam have played well, it would have been a week, a flood gate of call after call of fans saying, ‘Why didn’t the WFT bring in Cam?’ ” emphasized John-Paul Flaim.
Enthusiastically jumping in was Eric Bickel, “I will be honest with you coach, I told people to bet their 401K on Tampa,” to which Rivera reacted, “Oh ye of little faith”.
“You will take this personally, but don’t,” continued Bickel. “They are just the Panthers to me.”
Rivera interrupted, “No, no, you are right, they are only the second-ranked defense in the NFL. But that is ok. You guys want to stick with numbers, I’m good, I’m good.”
Rivera talking over everyone continued, “They beat the number one team in the NFL two weeks ago (Cardinals). But we are fine. I promise we will show up and give it our best.”
Bickel: “I just want to disrespect them. We have three trophies (Super Bowl); they have zero trophies the last time I checked. We are a heritage franchise; they are an expansion franchise. I will ALWAYS pick us (WFT) against the Panthers.”
As Bickel was saying this, I was cringing wondering how Rivera was receiving that, seeing he coached the Panthers for nine seasons.
It was humorous to hear Coach Rivera eating his breakfast during the interview and to have Flaim then actually ask him, “What are you having for breakfast right now?”.
Also, John “Cakes” Auville jokingly asked Rivera if he works four hours a day as the Junkies do.
You will also want to listen to Rivera explaining what all he had scheduled for Tuesday.
Most emphatically, Coach Rivera was unwavering that the franchise quarterback might be on the roster now, or come in the draft or free agency next year.
There was much more… The segment begins at 18:30
You can listen here.