Rick Walker played in the NFL for almost a decade and won a Super Bowl, so he knows how contracts work and has seen stars do their thing – but this era of player empowerment is definitely much different than what Doc saw from 1977-85.
Here’s the thing, though: Doc can see what Brandon Aiyuk is doing with all this Commanders and Jayden Daniels love – he’s using his friend to get paid, and it’s not right to Doc and producer Denton Day.
“Aren't you more attracted to win teams that win more than teams that suck?” Doc asked. “Or do you make money on both ends.”
“I make money on both ends, as a true gambler does,” Denton Day replied, “and I can tell you for sure there are people I like on the 49ers, and absolutely a player I don’t like on the 49ers – and his name starts with a ‘B’ and ends with a ‘randon Aiyuk.’”
Denton told Doc Aiyuk reminds him of ‘every heel in pro wrestling,’ and some other unsavory folks.
“He reminds me of girls in high school that used to string me along,” Denton said. “He's stringing our quarterback along, Doc, and I can't stand it.”
“He definitely is, and he has a plan, and I tried to explain it before: don’t take the bait,” Doc said. “This dude is working on a contract. If he's as shrewd as I think he is, he don't give a hoot about nothing. The good ones don't care about anything or anybody but the task at hand, and that is to get paid. Hell of a player, I ain't mad at him, but he and his agent are playing you. I wonder how it will affect our quarterback and their relationship, because somebody on our end now has got to intervene in this.”
Denton agrees ‘there has to be a conversation,’ because it’s getting thick.
“It's one thing if you're just hanging out posting Instagram stories, going to podcast interviews, which again seems a little odd,” Denton said, “and to Jayden’s credit, he is still out working out with guys on our team and putting energy into this organization, but you just cannot have photos and potential videos of your practice in the hands of another player who then posts it on social media. At that point, you have to realize you're the butt of the joke here.”
“Yeah, your boy is gonna play you and it's gonna leverage his relationship, which really isn't really fair to you, but he ain't playing fair,” Doc replied. “He's showing you right now who the alpha is, and it's all about the Benjamins. I don't think there'll be any hard feelings, because guys understand he's up now and you might be next, and that’s just the unwritten rule, man. But it'll be interesting how this plays out, because he could have used footage of anybody – but when you pick the footage of an opponent, now you cross a line.”