SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
And now it's time for sports.
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SIMON: NFL draft winners and losers. And the hottest team in baseball - ha-ha (ph) - the Chicago Cubs. I'll bet you guessed. So wonderful to speak to Michele Steele of the Big Ten Network. Michele, thanks so much for being with us.
MICHELE STEELE: Good morning, Scott. Did someone say Cubs?
SIMON: Cubs - yeah, I said - I'm - I - and it is, you know...
STEELE: OK.
SIMON: ...Statistically defensible. Listen...
STEELE: (Laughter).
SIMON: ...NFL draft, no surprise. The Las Vegas Raiders picked Indiana University quarterback Fernando Mendoza after their historic season. But after three rounds, who do you think are the big winners of this year's draft?
STEELE: Well, let me give credit first to Indiana and what that coach, Curt Cignetti, has built over there. My goodness - first overall, with Fernando Mendoza going from Bloomington, Indiana to a city that is the exact opposite of Indiana, I think, in every...
SIMON: Oh, right.
STEELE: ...Possible way.
SIMON: Yeah.
STEELE: But good for him. The Raiders have been looking for a quarterback since the Eisenhower administration. So this feels...
SIMON: (Laughter).
STEELE: ...Like a real moment. As for the other winners, I would point to the Philadelphia Eagles, who continue to find value in Rounds 2 and 3 - we saw that last night - that other teams seem to miss entirely. And they're perpetually rebuilding Cleveland Browns - yes, I said the Browns, Scott...
SIMON: Yep.
STEELE: ...Getting some accolades for seeming to make the right decisions on paper. We'll see how it all comes together this fall.
SIMON: I have to ask, New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel will miss most of the draft to seek counseling over his alleged involvement with Dianna Russini, former NFL reporter for The Athletic, who resigned because of the same alleged involvement. Help us understand some of the implications and consequences here.
STEELE: This is a big, big deal in the NFL. Typically, a head coach like Mike Vrabel would be the last word in the war room, so to speak, where they make all the decisions on who they're going to select to build their roster, and he is not there this weekend. This has been the story of the draft. He coached the Patriots in the Super Bowl just a couple months ago, Scott. And he was seen photographed at an adults-only resort with one of the top NFL reporters in the country, Russini. You know, they both initially dismissed allegations of anything untoward, but Russini resigned from The Athletic, and Vrabel is stepping away from the draft, as you said, to seek counseling.
But we don't have the full story. He has addressed it publicly but really without confirming or denying the specific nature of what happened. You know, the quote I keep coming back to is actually from Rick Pitino, and not always the most reliable moral compass here, I'll grant you. But he once said something I think very wise, Scott.
SIMON: Yeah.
STEELE: He said, the truth becomes part of your past. A lie becomes part of your future. And Vrabel isn't lying exactly, but he's not giving everyone clarity, and I don't know how you rebuild trust with a locker room, with a fan base...
SIMON: Yeah.
STEELE: ...When the full picture hasn't been painted. It's hanging over the franchise. It's hard to believe that his position could genuinely be uncertain.
SIMON: (Chanting) Go, Cubs, go. Go, Cubs, go.
STEELE: Hey. Hey.
SIMON: Ten in a row. How are...
STEELE: Yeah.
SIMON: ...They doing it?
STEELE: Yeah, they did. I want to mention, first, the dugout rat. Because...
SIMON: Scoots. Scoots.
STEELE: (Laughter) Scoots. Yes.
SIMON: That's his dugout nickname.
STEELE: Not Scooter. Scoots.
SIMON: Yeah.
STEELE: He ran across the Cubs dugout during a game this week, and the Cubs have won every game since. I'm not saying the rat is the reason, Scott. I'm also not not saying that.
SIMON: Yeah.
STEELE: So 10 in a row is real. Craig Counsell has this team playing with a looseness and, you know, a confidence that we really kind of didn't see a lot of the last season. And Cubs fans know that the correct response to a 10-game win streak is cautious, measured optimism, so we all have them penciled into October.
SIMON: And, on the great South Side, Munetaka Murakami - my God - fourth fastest, 11 home runs in the first 26 games. He is on the same pace as Roger Maris, Henry Aaron and Aaron Judge and The Bambino.
STEELE: Oh, my goodness - outpaced - hit 69 homers this season. The record is 73. And the amazing thing for me is that he's doing it with a real quiet, sort of calm consistency. He doesn't seem to be feeling any kind of pressure whatsoever. The White Sox lost over a hundred games, you know
SIMON: Yes
STEELE: ..Last year. And - but nobody tells Murakami, OK? I just want to see the guy thrive. So...
SIMON: Yeah. I wonder if somebody said to him, do you know how many games this team lost last year?
STEELE: No. I know. I know. I mean the White Sox - it's not typically where legends come to shine. But I love it for that fan base. And let's ask Pope Leo what he thinks.
SIMON: Oh, I think...
STEELE: How bout that?
SIMON: I think papal intervention might be the key.
STEELE: Oh, yeah.
SIMON: Michele Steele, thanks for being with us
STEELE: See ya next time.
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