The Nightcap Recap: 2/3/25

Welcome to The Nightcap Recap, your final stop for everything we covered on C2C at Night with Callan McClurg and James Gonzales.

Whether you missed the show or just want to relive the hottest takes, boldest debates, and standout moments, we’ve got you covered. From buzzer-beaters to breaking news, late-game heroics to off-the-wall rants, this is where the conversation continues—after the mics go off.

NFL: Super Bowl Sunday is right around the corner, and Callan and James offered the insights as the Kansas City Chiefs look for an unprecedented three-peat, while the Philadelphia Eagles look to stop the AFC juggernauts in New Orleans.

Callan and James open up with discussion about the health of both teams, which sees both Kansas City and Philadelphia getting clean bills of health with no players listed on the injury report. 

“It’s a great thing.” James noted about the health status of both teams. “You normally don’t get this. It should be a high octane game, where of course anything goes. It’s just great to hear that the injury report is not a factor.”

Callan agreed with James’ take in part adding on to his point that “To come into the biggest game of the year and not having anyone injured, is refreshing to see.” 

Shifting to a team by team breakdown, Callan wanted to talk about the Chiefs first, and highlighting their quest for the first ever three-peat in NFL history, even despite the perception of being aided by the referees.

“I think James, you do have to stop and appreciate greatness. I respect greatness when I see it. I have no stake in the NFL whatsoever, but as an outsider to the NFL and not a fan of the sport, I would appreciate seeing what I’ve seen from the Chiefs. With what Mahomes has done since taking over for Alex Smith, to Andy Reid finding the fountain of youth when he left Philadelphia, and how ownership has turned this K.C. team not really in a big market being smacked dabbed in the middle of the country, by my definition of K.C. being a small to middle market city, going for a three-peat? Unbelievable job.”

“They won Super Bowl IV, then it was a 50 year drought.” James added on to the past history of the Chiefs prior to snapping the title drought. “Getting Andy Reid to work with any Quarterback, he’s always been great.” James also mentioned how Patrick Mahomes sat for a year to watch Alex Smith before he took over the reins. “He sat a year, and watched Alex Smith call plays and I think that really helped him.”

Gonzales also credits the Chiefs front office and their scouting department for some of their maneuvering to get more talent in the draft recently, mainly due in part to the Buffalo Bills. “They [the Bills], made a trade with the Chiefs to make the last pick of the first round and the Bills would get the first pick in Round 2, and the Chiefs got Xavier Worthy, so it’s the Bills fault.”

McClurg and Gonzales changed gears to talk about the Philadelphia Eagles, who made the Super Bowl after dropping 55 points in the NFC Championship Game. Callan was quick to note about how the Eagles blocked out a lot of the outside noise surrounding the team after their finish a season ago.

Callan said of the Eagles: “What an impressive year for Nick Siriani and this Eagles team. I think there was a lot of noise after last season. Is Siriani going to get fired? Are they going to trade Jalen Hurts? Then they have Saquon Barkley land in their lap when the Giants fumble the bag, and he goes there (to Philadelphia) and finds himself again.”

James alluded to Nick Siriani’s coaching style and how it has worked with the Eagles. “Siriani does it [the job], but he does it his way…it’s the Philly Way. You’re going to get the boos, you give it back. He’s perfect for the job.” 

Gonzales mentioned Saquon Barkley’s season along with him going to the Eagles and leaving the Giants that “Philadelphia is yelling over the river to [New] Jersey and New York saying ‘THANK YOU GIANTS’ for not keeping Saquon Barkley. That scene in Hard Knocks with the Giants, where the G.M. says ‘Oh don’t worry, there’s nothing that says Saquon is going to go to the Eagles,’ Then the owner says ‘He’s our most popular player, if he goes to the Eagles I won’t sleep well.”

“With Saquon Barkley, when you go from a team that expects you to do everything to a team that says ‘Do what you can do, you have help around you, it’s not a one dimensional team where you have to carry the load.’ He ran for 2,005 yards, 13 Touchdowns, 100 yards shy of Eric Dickerson’s record, it showed that he had so much left in the tank.”

Callan’s Super Bowl Prediction: Chiefs 30, Eagles 27

James’ Super Bowl Prediction: Chiefs 31, Eagles 27

ROGER GOODELL’S STATE OF THE LEAGUE ADDRESS: Callan and James moved to discussing Roger Goodell’s state of the league address moderated by FOX Sports’ Curt Menifee. 

Footnote: Callan briefly mentioned Commissioner Goodell's response to accusations of sexual misconduct against Baltimore Ravens kicker Justin Tucker.

18 GAME SCHEDULE: “I’ve long believed that you can do an 18 game schedule, but there needs to be two bye weeks. I think you can keep the three preseason game schedule to be able to evaluate your rosters. If and when it goes to 18 games, two bye weeks, no exceptions.” - Callan

“I would counterpoint, with making the preseason only two games. Starters just play in the first one and maybe two series and that’s it. Caleb Williams didn’t even play in the first one for Chicago. Two preseason games is fine, but you have to have two byes.” - James

TOM BRADY BEING BOTH A BROADCASTER AND NFL OWNER: “I still think [Tom Brady working for FOX Sports] won’t last. I think Tom will be given an ultimatum at some point. Own the Raiders or do FOX Sports, you’re not going to be able to do both. Eventually, someone’s going to get upset with Tom about his commentary in some capacity and the owners will call a special meeting saying ‘We have to have this guy work for FOX, or work as an Owner. He can’t be a part of both.’ I think Tom has more value there [with the Raiders] than talking about a game on FOX. Football fans like yourself [James] are being deprived of what his greatness as an analyst could be. - Callan

“I think it depends on the Super Bowl, and how well he does. If he does a bad job I think eventually he’ll quit that and be part of the ownership and be more hands on with the Raiders. He’s already been hands-on this off season with firing AP [Antonio Pearce] and [Tom] Telesco and bringing in Pete Carroll and Chip Kelly and the new General Manager. I would love it if he just did the Raider job because they need all the help they can get…I can’t believe I’m asking for Tom Brady’s help, Ouch. The other problem was about his alleged cheating as a player. That’s a cloud hanging over him that owners will remember that’ll be his demise in the booth. ” - James

Footnote: FOX Sports is currently involved in litigation related to sexual assault. One lawsuit names Joy Taylor and Skip Bayless, while another, filed by Julie Stewart-Binks, stems from her time at FOX Sports 1 during the network's 2016 Super Bowl coverage.

SCRIPTED FOR THE CHIEFS?: “The commissioner said it right James, there’s no script! This isn’t World Wrestling Entertainment that I went and saw a few weeks ago for the first time in 17 years. There’s no predetermined winner of a Chiefs game. Though we can say that calls do go their way. At the end of the day, like I always say, "Don't let the officials get involved, make the plays to win the game so you don’t have to worry about them becoming a factor.” - Callan

“There’s always some kind of controversy that comes in of course and when it’s the Chiefs when it’s Taylor Swift involved with [Travis] Kelce and [Patrick] Mahomes. There’s talk that, Yes it is all fixed for them to win. The popular gets to win like the Lakers, the Yankees, they all get to win, the most popular goes no matter what. When you have a do over 3rd down against Cincinnati, or a phantom Holding call in the Super Bowl two years ago against Philadelphia or a sideline issue with Pat Mahomes and he flops, you have to call it…I guess.” - James

Footnote: Callan congratulated the C2C Between The Ropes crew for getting 2,000 views on their WWE Royal Rumble live stream episode from Saturday.

NBA TRADES: In arguably the most stunning trade in NBA history, the Dallas Mavericks shipped 25 year old guard Luka Doncic along with Maxi Kleber and Marikeff Morris to the Los Angeles Lakers for Anthony Davis, Max Christie and the Lakers 2029 1st Round Pick while the Utah Jazz got roped into the deal and acquired Jalen Hood-Schifino and 2025 1st and 2nd Round Picks, one of which from the L.A. Clippers.

Much like every other Basketball fan, both Callan and James were both stunned when the trade was announced, with Callan saying the trade by the Mavericks “felt like a White Flag moment.” While James shared a common thought of everyone “I didn’t see this coming! I saw Shams had this story on Instagram and I thought that he got hacked. There’s no way. 2K wouldn’t even allow this! The Lakers traded Anthony Davis where I thought he would be there for his whole career, or if he asked to be traded…but he didn’t ask to be traded.”

But James went further, and addressed the elephant in the room, “Did LeBron [James] have a hand in this?” However, Gonzales noticed a trend between both LeBron and Luka in prior meetings between the Mavericks and Lakers “There would also be a dap up and a nice conversation between them, but I never thought they’d be teammates. LeBron just admires how Luka plays and knows that he [Doncic] is one of the future players that will carry the torch for the league.”

Gonzales mentioned that he felt bad for Max Christie, saying in part that sports "is a business, but it’s a cruel business.” He also took exception to the return of just one draft pick in 2029 that the Mavericks got from the Lakers in the trade package, saying in part “Okay…that’s fine, but they got bamboozled! That’s not an even trade for a 25 year old Luka Doncic, you have to get at least two or three first round picks.”

Callan’s thoughts begin with him mentioning that he felt both Dallas and Los Angeles each won the trade, with the Lakers slightly getting the edge while saying his concerns are that Doncic can’t sign a SuperMax contract in LA, along with the notion that if he doesn’t resign after 2026, the Lakers don’t have much of a backup plan to go along with trade rumors involving the Golden State Warriors inquiring about LeBron James among other star players.

Regardless, Callan also brought up a couple of points of emphasis that weren’t mentioned by other sources. That was that the Mavericks and the Lakers had mutual feelings about both Doncic and Davis. Mainly, the reason in his mind for Dallas making the trade was a direct reflection of Doncic’s inability to maintain his conditioning, his diet, his weight and his on court antics of constantly arguing with the referees about not getting foul calls, while McClurg also believes the Lakers began to get increasingly frustrated with Anthony Davis’ injury history during his tenure in the Purple and Gold.

McClurg also took exception with the Mavericks front office for trading away Doncic one year removed from a trip to the NBA Finals despite losing to the Boston Celtics. “Dallas, how do you go from being three wins away from an NBA title, to dealing away the face of the franchise?”

He continued on the tangent with calling out Mavericks General Manager Nico Harrison and the ownership, questioning the trade and sympathizing with the fanbase. “How can you face your fanbase now?! How can you possibly paint a narrative that this is a great day for Dallas Mavericks Basketball? A very proud, well respected club because of Dirk [Nowitzki], because of what Mark Cuban did to make the Mavericks into a winning ballclub. How can you as an organization look your fanbase in the eyes and say ‘We dealt away a 25 year old budding star because we were ticked off because of his weight, his ego,and his attitude for a 32 year old beat up, banged up, chewed up and spit out Anthony Davis. They [Nico Harrison and the Ownership] can’t show their faces for the rest of the season.”

Footnote: In their first game after the trade, the Mavericks trailed the Cleveland Cavaliers 49-10 after the 1st Quarter.

Gonzales ended the segment with his own sentiments about the Mavericks, saying in part that the trade “Kills a franchise.”

This wasn’t the only major NBA trade, as another three team trade went down of the weekend as the San Antonio Spurs landed De’Aaron Fox and Jordan McLaughlin in a transaction with the Sacramento Kings who snagged Zach Levine and a package of six future draft picks from the Charlotte Hornets, Chicago, San Antonio, Denver Nuggets and the Minnesota Timberwolves while the Chicago Bulls got Zach Collins, Kevin Huerter, Tre Jones and the Spurs’ 2025 1st Round Pick.

Callan brought up that rumors had long linked Fox to San Antonio, while praising the Spurs for not blowing up their core of players on the roster and giving Victor Wembanyama and maintaining draft picks despite losing two of them. “They’re coming out swinging after a dismal season in 2023-2024.”

James mentioned how the teams in Texas (with the exception of the Mavericks) and the Oklahoma City Thunder have been good this season, and also agreed about players wanting to play with Wembanyama while giving his own praise to the Spurs for the trade. “The whole state/area is good. Houston, Oklahoma City and now San Antonio possibly getting back to the way they were. I’ve heard that players want to play with him [Wembanyama], they want to play alongside him. “With Fox, I’m just shocked that the Spurs didn’t have to give up Vassell or Castle, or Harrison Barnes, or Chris Paul even. They didn’t have to give up any of that.”

Ultimately, Gonzales questioned what NBA General Managers are doing when it comes to trades like this one. “I don’t know what NBA GM's are doing. I think they're being soft. The Spurs fleeced everybody in this trade.”

Much like his dissatisfaction with upper management of the Mavericks, Callan made sure the upper management of the Sacramento Kings heard his take loud and clear about firing Mike Brown from his head coaching duties after he signed an extension and helped Sacramento end an 18 year playoff drought, which was the longest postseason drought in the NBA despite a rift between him and Fox.

“I’m going to go back to the well. I put the Sacramento Kings in the same exact boat [as the Mavericks]. How can you as a franchise, who broke that 18 year playoff drought, extend Mike Brown, but because of a traded superstar who had a beef with the head coach, you elect to fire a former NBA Coach of the Year because now the departed superstar didn't get along with him? So if you’re the Kings and Mavericks, how do you as mid major, small NBA markets face your fanbase? I just don’t understand that when you go all in to make the playoffs or get to the finals, because of budgetary reasons you have to make a move like this. The fanbases deserve better, the Mavericks were three wins away from their 2nd NBA Title. The Kings are going back to Old Sacramento Habits by trading a superstar player for seven draft picks and one veteran player. Give Me A Break.”

Disclaimer: Mike Brown played his college basketball at the University of San Diego, one of Callan’s current employers.

NHL TRADES: Before Luka for A.D., there was Mikko Rantanen being traded from the Colorado Avalanche to the Carolina Hurricanes in a shocking three team trade that also saw the Chicago Blackhawks trade Taylor Hall to Carolina along with a prospect. Colorado reaps the benefits of Jack Drury and Martin Necas plus draft picks in 2025 and 2026 from Carolina while Chicago gets a 2025 3rd Round Pick from Carolina.

McClurg’s thoughts on the trade is mainly due to the fact that “Colorado was against the Cap, they weren’t going to be able to re-sign Rantanen to a long term extension, but still get two well established names. But this move from Carolina says ‘We’re going all in’ they’ve been so close these past four or five years. Getting Rantanen to add more fire power to their offense is critical.”

The Philadelphia Flyers acquired Andrei Kuzmenko and Jakob Pelletier and two draft picks from the Calgary Flames in exchange for Morgan Frost and Joel Farabee.

Callan likes the acquisitions for the Flames, sitting in 4th place in the Pacific Division, in part “Adding Frost and Farabee adds two more players to a very good offense so that Nazemi Kadri and Jonathan Huberdau aren’t carrying the offensive load, while not putting so much pressure on [Goaltender] Dustin Wolf.”

Two teams who were in the postseason last season now find themselves going in the wrong direction, as the Rangers and Canucks make a trade revolving around J.T. Miller, who had been at the center of an ongoing rift in the Vancouver locker room with Elias Petterson in which the team GM and the team president stepped in. New York acquires Miller along with Erik Brannstrom and Jackson Dorrington while Vancouver lands Filip Chytil, Victor Mancini, and 2025 1st Round Pick.

Despite Miller getting a fresh start in New York, McClurg insists that the Rangers need to stop making excuses when it comes to their offense as they get Miller in the trade. “I hope Miller can help the Rangers, but they still have too many guys making a lot of money who aren’t scoring. There’s No Excuses. I know the slogan is ‘No Quit in New York.’ Well, guess what? There should be ‘No More Excuses’. I don’t want to hear anymore excuses coming out of MSG about why the Rangers aren’t playing to their full potential. You were in the Eastern Conference Finals as the Presidents Trophy winners, what happened? Is there a disconnect between Peter Laviolette and the team? Maybe. They have gone backwards in so many bad ways this season.”

Footnote: Callan picked the Rangers as his Stanley Cup Champions prior to the season as part of his 32 Bold Predictions segment back in October.

McClurg also addressed the second trade involving the Vancouver Canucks, who dealt three players and a first round pick in 2025 to the Pittsburgh Penguins for two players.

Callan wondered aloud if Kyle Dubas is the right guy for the Penguins GM role, noting his track record of moves made while with the Toronto Maple Leafs that saw them make the postseason, but fall short of Stanley Cup expectations, but he does believe that the 1st round pick sent to Pittsburgh from the Canucks “could be vital.” as they attempt to plan for life after Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang.

When James asked if Callan believed the Penguins “would break up those three players to get younger.” McClurg emphatically said that there’s no way it happens and that they will “retire on their own terms” while calling out a rival network host that “Don’t give me this bologna and garbage about a player like Sidney Crosby going to a team in a rebuild. A guy like that doesn’t deserve to go out in a rebuild in a new market. He’s a Penguin For Life. I didn’t see Mario Lemieuex jump ship from Pittsburgh when he came back from beating cancer. A guy like that doesn’t go somewhere else to finish off his career.”

He also stood firm on his take that the Canucks have “One more trade to make.” which he believes will involve Elias Petterson. 

The trades finally came to an end with the Dallas Stars picking up Mikael Granlund and Cody Ceeci from the San Jose Sharks for two picks in the 2025 draft.

Callan was not really surprised with the Sharks electing to move a couple of their established veterans to add more draft pick quota, saying in part that a team like San Jose “would bring in veterans, but you’re not going to keep them for the full season.” 

He also stands firm that San Jose “has shown some flashes of promise and they have something nice brewing” and that Macklin Celebrini “will finish in the Top 3 in the voting for the Calder Trophy.” while adding that Mike Grier deserves praise for trying to expedite the rebuild, but still believes that Grier “needs time” especially in a very tough Western Conference, but does think that the young core involving Celebrini, Will Smith, Luke Kunin and William Eklund is a great starting point, but once again emphasized the need for time and patience.

FAY VINCENT PASSES AWAY: He had the job of being the Commissioner of Major League Baseball fall into his lap after Bart Giamatti passed away from a heart attack mere days and weeks after Baseball handed out the lifetime ban for Pete Rose for gambling on the game, but the Baseball world mourned the passing of Fay Vincent, the shortest termed MLB commissioner of just three years who also brought Baseball back after the Loma Prieta Earthquake during the 1989 World Series, passed on Saturday (2/1) at the age of 86 from Bladder Cancer.

Callan and James reflected on Vincent’s tenure:

“I bet there’s a lot of fans that would love to have him as the commissioner now. Because he’d be on the owner’s side more than the player’s side because of the money being handed out, especially with all the deferred money by the Dodgers. His intentions were good for Baseball.” The New York Times even shared Fay Vincent’s final warning to MLB ‘Gambling always leads to corruption.’” - James

“I’ll remember him for being tough to work with. But his saving grace was how he went about bringing Baseball back after the Earthquake. I applaud all the commissioners for how they’ve gone about being smart to bring sports back in wake of tragedy. Fay Vincent’s legacy will be how you come back to play sports in wake of tragedy, that’s the measure stick for when games resume.” - Callan

PAT HOBERG FIRED: For the third time in a year, another MLB gambling scheme was made public involving Umpire Pat Hoberg who was fired for having a friend of his using a shared gambling account to make wagers. Other than a deleted text thread, no evidence linked Hoberg to any wrongdoing when it comes to any games being affected.

“It’s unfortunate. The perfect/good ones [Umpires] get in trouble, but we still have the bad ones out there and they get elevated.” - James

OFF THE BOARD TOPICS: 

James asked what sport has the best trade deadline.

Callan reminisced on the 30th Anniversary of the San Diego Chargers’ trip to the Super Bowl in 1995.