As the last pick of the 2022 NFL draft, Brock Purdy accepted the title of Mr. Irrelevant as he entered the league for the San Francisco 49ers. He’s already gone 17-4 as a starter, with 44 touchdowns and 15 interceptions. He’s had a Pro Bowl appearance and of course, ended the season with an appearance in the Super Bowl.

With the NFL draft continuing through the weekend, we will know who our next Mr. Irrelevant is on Saturday night.

So today, ESPN writer Ryan Hockensmith joins us to explore Purdy’s relationship to the Mr. Irrelevant title and tells us the history of Paul Salata, the former NFL underdog who turned the final pick of the draft into an event in itself.

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The NFL Draft is one of the most anticipated events on the NFL calendar. Fans of losing franchises wait to see who will be their next savior, and fans of winning franchises look to see who will bolster their Super Bowl hopes. While first round picks get all the buzz, it's the later picks that make or break a teams’ fortunes. 

So today ESPN’s resident football expert Mina Kimes joins the show to break down who will be drafted where, and which teams’ futures will be determined this weekend.

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Los Angeles Angels manager Ron Washington is the definition of a baseball lifer. The 71 year old has been a scrappy utility player, a pennant winning manager, and a coach with a knack for unlocking his players full potential.

But there have also been downs in Washington’s career: a failed drug test, an extramarital affair, and a decade of thinking he would never manage again. Through it all Washington has done what he’s best at. Teaching the game. 

Today, senior ESPN journalist Howard Bryant, who has known and covered Washington for 30 years, tells us the story of his career. And explains why this current job could be his greatest achievement yet.

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No one was surprised to learn that Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert experienced the same darkness retreat that Jets QB Aaron Rodgers made famous, or maybe infamous. And no one was surprised that the reaction was just as polarizing for Gobert, as it was for Rodgers.

But what is it about the Timberwolves center that makes the Frenchman so dislikable to his peers? What exactly is it about his specific je ne sais quoi that has the man who’s won three Defensive Player of the Years awards, and a bank account to match, viewed as such a problem?

ESPN NBA writer Tim McMahon actually knows Gobert quite well from his time reporting on him and breaks down the many things that sets Rudy apart from his peers in the NBA and the one thing that might be the key to his continued dominance.

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10 years ago this week, TMZ published bombshell recordings of Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling’s private conversation with his mistress, V. Stiviano. Sterling’s racist and sexist dialogue captured the world’s attention, and less than a week later, new commissioner Adam Silver had banned him from the NBA for life, forcing a sale of the Clippers.

Today ESPN senior NBA writer, Ramona Shelburne, who covered the story and hosted the 30 for 30 podcast, The Sterling Affairs: Takes us back through the events of the scandal, explains how it was a seminal moment in the NBA, and ahead of the release of the FX mini-series Clipped, and tells us what it was like transitioning from a reporter to a producer.

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As the playoffs are about to start, all eyes are on the NBA. Instead of the focus being on the court, the attention is all on former Raptor’s reserve Jontay Porter. Porter was caught manipulating his time and performance on the court that tilted multiple prop bets in a specific direction and, shockingly, resulted in one bettor taking home a $1 million payday. It was later found that Porter had also placed bets himself, breaking the leagues sports betting bylaws. 

So today, Brian Windhorst joins the show to break down the dangers of Jontay Porter’s story, where this saga heads next, and gives a NBA Playoff preview along the way. 

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Since the 2023 CFB season came to a close, USC’s Caleb Williams has been penciled in as the presumptive No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. The team holding that pick is the Chicago Bears, who are well known for their inability to draft and develop quarterbacks to their potential. 

A couple of times throughout history, top prospects have used their leverage to force their ways out of unfavorable landing spots. The stories of John Elway, Bo Jackson, and most recently Eli Manning all come to mind. 

Even though Caleb Williams does not look to be joining their ranks, there is still a conversation to be had about how these “can’t miss’ players can and have used their standing to buck the system and how NIL adds new leverage to that dynamic. 

So today, Liz Merril tells us the story of those players who manipulated their landing spots, and why you never know what will happen until “the pick is in”. 

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So ESPN MLB expert Jeff Passan updates us on: the latest happenings in the Shohei Ohtani sports betting case, discusses how now isn’t the time for the league and the player’s association to go to battle over who is responsible for the slew of elbow injuries costing pitchers their season, and explains how players approach trying to be on the field for a full 162 games.

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Technically, the NHL regular season does not finish until Thursday, with a few teams still fighting for the last playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. But the true contenders to raise Lord Stanley’s Cup have already become pretty clear.

So with the playoffs officially starting this weekend, we find ourselves filled with pressing questions. Is Canada finally poised to end its three decade title drought? Can Connor McDavid get over the hump? Are the New York Rangers for real? Our NHL expert Emily Kaplan tells us what to watch for and why this year’s race looks as wide open and unpredictable as ever.

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When a six-foot tall, 265-pound bronze statue of Jackie Robinson went missing from McAdams Park in Wichita, Kansas, it felt like a hate crime. An ugly echo of America’s unjust past and a crime leveled not just at the man who broke Major League’s color barrier in 1947 but also at an urban community within the city.

But as Bob Lutz, the founder of League 42, a youth organization geared towards exposing the city’s black and brown youth to baseball and more, learned, Jackie Robinson was more of an accidental victim than a target.

So ESPN’s Anthony Olivieri, who spent weeks trying to understand what happened, joins the show to tell us how the people of Wichita reacted to the theft and how in the aftermath, the community could be made whole.

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