SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
Time for sports.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
SIMON: College football is back. The Dallas Cowboys trade a superstar for what? And apparently - I don't know; did you hear? - somebody got engaged this week. Sports reporter Michele Steele joins us now. Michele, thanks so much for being with us.
MICHELE STEELE: Good morning, Scott. You're hosting from the WEEKEND EDITION tailgate this morning, right?
(LAUGHTER)
SIMON: Yes. Oh, my. And we're barbecuing up tofu for everybody.
STEELE: Oh, yeah.
SIMON: Listen, it's only week one in college football, but already a game of the year. No. 1-ranked Texas visits defending champion Ohio State at The Horseshoe in Columbus today. What do you foresee? A guy named Arch Manning, of course, is the Longhorns' QB.
STEELE: Oh, yeah. Arch Manning - now, he's the nephew, as we all know, of Super Bowl-winning uncles Eli and Peyton. He's the grandson of Archie, who quarterbacked for the Saints back in the day. Now, it's remarkable, Scott, that NFL teams can barely field 32 serviceable quarterbacks, and somehow this family has, like, four elite ones.
SIMON: Yeah.
STEELE: Arch is getting his chance to finally take over as the full-time starter for the No. 1-ranked Longhorns. He's been the backup for a couple years. And, boy, does he get a doozy of a game. Ohio State beat Texas last year to advance to the national championship. Now, neither team returns many starters, but you get what you pay for in college football, and both of these rosters just stacked with blue-chip talent. I kind of like the Ohio State at home, though.
SIMON: All right. Is it a quieter start this year? Because last year, football was - college football was rocked by the realignment of conferences, among other things.
STEELE: Oh, yeah. It used to be the Power Five. Now they're the Power Four 'cause of realignment. The biggest change this season for the collegiate game is that you had that legal settlement recently that allows schools to share revenue with...
SIMON: Yeah.
STEELE: ...Players. We are so close away, Scott, from these guys - from players being treated like employees, and the college game is really professionalizing. So not like the seismic changes that we saw last season, but it's a new normal where these programs are just adapting to everything.
SIMON: Still may be just the NFL preseason, but the Dallas Cowboys made news. Well, I don't understand this trade. Micah Peters...
STEELE: (Laughter).
SIMON: Micah Parsons, one of the most devastating pass rushers in league history, traded to the Green Bay Packers. Why in the name of Farmers Branch, Texas, would the Cowboys make that trade?
STEELE: Easy answer.
SIMON: Yeah.
STEELE: Two words - Jerry Jones, the most famous owner in all of football, Scott. He got rich - now, stick with me here. He got rich as a wildcatter. And a wildcatter's a guy - it's a high-risk oilman. He drills in places, as Jerry said himself on a documentary I was watching recently - Jerry said himself, only God knows what's underground. And Jerry got rich as a much younger man doing these oil wells.
SIMON: Yeah.
STEELE: And my theory of the case is that he hasn't really doubted his own intuition since, much to the consternation of Cowboys fans, 'cause he's been the GM of the team for the last 30 years and then they haven't won a championship in 30 years. The long and short of it here is that Jerry thought he had a handshake deal with Parsons. Parsons wanted Jerry to deal with his agent. He wanted to get paid. He's a generational talent on this defense.
SIMON: Yeah.
STEELE: That didn't happen, and Jerry dealt away a big-time player. If you know anyone from Dallas, just send them, you know, like, the crying emoji.
SIMON: Oh, right, because this has become...
STEELE: And they'll know what you're...
SIMON: ...A way of life in Dallas sports, hasn't it?
STEELE: I don't know what's going on. There was a picture going around of Micah Parsons and Luka Doncic, Scott...
SIMON: Yeah.
STEELE: ...Holding the other player's jersey after a Mavs game, and it's hard to believe.
SIMON: Oh, boy.
STEELE: I know. It's hard to believe that both of these guys are now gone. Now, the Mavs did get Cooper Flagg in return for that, but the jury's out on how this trade is going to turn out. But, boy, did the Packers just get real good.
SIMON: Yeah. Yeah, exactly. Look, I have to ask because I know you're invited to the wedding. Where were you when you heard that Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift got engaged?
STEELE: Yeah, I'm still waiting for my save-the-date notice, Travis and Taylor. I'm just putting that out publicly. But I was at the grocery store, Scott, minding my own business, buying some hot dogs. And all of a sudden, I heard, like, a quiet but perceptible rumble in the store. The earth under my feet started to shake.
SIMON: (Laughter).
STEELE: I went outside. I saw a Chiefs' logo in the sky. I checked my phone. The prophecy had been fulfilled. The last two famous people on Earth, Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift, finally made it official. I'm happy for them. I saw them at a Nebraska-Cincinnati - two unranked teams, Taylor standing by her man. And that's true love.
SIMON: Oh, my gosh. Yeah, going to a Cincinnati game. Listen...
STEELE: (Laughter).
SIMON: ...I am so deeply moved. Thank you. And give them my best, won't you?
STEELE: I will. I will. I'll make sure they know. See you next time.
SIMON: OK. That's reporter Michele Steele.
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