Season 7, Ep 21 – The Deion Sanders Episode: Deep Freeze Debates, Hall of Fame Snubs, and Baseball’s Broken Money System

Season 7, Episode 21 of Sports Fellowship with Fox and Frank opens in the middle of a true Pennsylvania deep freeze, as Dan Fox and Frank Knight battle sub-zero wind chills, bomb-cyclone warnings, and the kind of winter that hasn’t hit this hard in years. With Alan “Action” Jackson sitting this one out (and very vocal about needing time before discussing Bill Belichick and Eli Manning without cussing), the guys set the tone with cold-weather banter before locking in The Deion Sanders Episode.

The show kicks off by correcting an omission from last week: congratulations to the Indiana Hoosiers, who capped a historic season by going 16–0 and winning the College Football National Championship—becoming the first undefeated champion in the playoff era. Dan and Frank discuss the fun, drama, and inevitability of complaints in a 12-team playoff format, agreeing that whining has no place when that many teams get a shot.

From there, the conversation shifts into one of the most polarizing topics in sports right now: the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The guys break down why Bill Belichick not getting in immediately is indefensible, regardless of how the voting process works, while also debating Eli Manning’s Hall of Fame case—agreeing he’ll get in eventually, but questioning first-ballot status. Along the way, they touch on other notable names stuck in the logjam, what it really means to “change the game,” and why you simply cannot tell the story of the NFL without Belichick.

The episode then pivots to speculation and prediction, with Dan floating a bold take: Bill Belichick’s next NFL stop could be the New York Jets. The guys debate ownership, timing, legacy, and whether a 70-something Belichick would even want to walk back into another organizational tire fire.

The back half of the show dives deep into Major League Baseball’s offseason stalemate. Dan lays out the staggering payroll disparities—Mets and Dodgers north of $320 million, while teams like the Marlins, Rays, and Athletics sit under $80 million—and explains how luxury tax payments alone can rival full team payrolls. The Dodgers’ massive financial advantages, deferred contracts, international media revenue, and opt-outs from revenue sharing spark a blunt conversation about competitive balance, small-market accountability, and whether a salary cap (or at least a soft cap) is inevitable.

The discussion widens into labor tensions, the looming threat of another MLB work stoppage, and the long-term damage done by the 1994 strike. Steroids, the home run boom, fan trust, and Hall of Fame hypocrisy all come back into focus, with Dan and Frank agreeing on one thing above all else: neither side truly prioritizes the fans, despite claiming they do.

The episode wraps with a lighter note—broadcast booths, Mets vs. Phillies coverage, baseball fandom vs. team loyalty—and a reminder that this podcast is still being recorded deep in Dan’s basement “bomb shelter,” courtesy of ongoing renovations.

Special Thanks to:
Fox Brothers Alarms - https://foxbrothersalarms.com
First Baptist church of Phillipsburg NJ http://www.fbcpburg.org/