Jim Rome is a sports radio icon and Pat McAfee recognizes that.

On The Pat McAfee Show on Wednesday, McAfee was talking to co-host A.J. Hawk about how Rome trended recently on Twitter.

This happened after news of Tom Brady’s FOX Sports deal surfaced, and a list of the top paid sports media personalities was compiled. Rome came in behind Brady at number two making a reported $30 million a year, and many were surprised by that number. McAfee wasn’t.

“That’s because you need to respect the f–king jungle,” he said. “I have nothing but respect for Jim Rome.”

McAfee gave props to Rome, 57, saying he’s been doing sports talk probably longer than anyone. He’s one of the most widely distributed hosts in the country. Pat said he won’t tolerate anyone talking smack about the Smack-Off King.

“No disrespect will be said on this show of Jim Rome, ever,” he said. “Love that man.”

In a case of “you never know who’s listening”, 106.7 The Fan in Washington, D.C. got a surprise on Wednesday. Former NFL pro-bowl cornerback DeAngelo Hall texted Brian Mitchell of BMitch & Finlay that he was listening and wanted to join the program.

After discussing some opinions of the Commanders and other rivals on the field, Hall made a point to address leaving the team’s radio booth as a color analyst. In April it was announced that Hall would exit the broadcast booth. At the time it was reported that the decision was Hall’s. On BMitch & Finlay he added more context by explaining that, “it just felt like it wasn’t the right situation for myself.”

Hall went further by adding that a deciding factor for his decision seemed to be the team’s vision for the broadcast.

“I need to see it. I’m a fan first and it made it hard sometimes to go to work because my vision of what I thought it should be wasn’t ultimately what the decision-makers wanted to do. And you know how I am guys, I speak my mind and I just asked to go my separate way. I still love the organization, I’m still rooting for them.”

The former Washington player joined Bram Weinstein and analyst Julie Donaldson when the Washington Commanders overhauled their entire broadcast crew after an organization-wide sexual harassment scandal mentioned former play-by-play voice Larry Michael.

Hall was sure to praise his former teammate taking his role. “But so hyped for London Fletcher. I told Julie and Fletch at separate times man, that Fletch was such a great teammate and an inspirational person in my life and my process of growing as a pro and as a man, that taught me so much about the game. I couldn’t be happier that she gets a hell of a replacement in London Fletcher.

“I’m hyped for those guys but I’m too pretty to be on the radio, guys, I need more face time,” Hall quipped. “I’m fighting to get in one of them booths. When you see Tom Brady making 10-for-375 I said ‘I’m in the wrong business.’ When you’re watching Tony and them guys I’m in the wrong business. I got to get off this radio and get my face in front of the tizzube.”

Those people who closely follow the NBA know that there is bad blood between point guards Patrick Beverley and Chris Paul. Beverley took the feud to ESPN earlier this week, discussing Paul and the Phoenix Suns’ playoff exit on Sunday. Part of his criticism was related to Paul’s lackluster play and inadequacies on the defensive end of the ball, calling him a “cone” since they always remain idle.

“Go get someone who’s not an elite defender and have him up here talking,” said Beverley on Monday’s edition of Get Up. “Y’all got Patrick Beverley up here; I’m going to give you Patrick Beverley truth. I can’t give you the next man’s truth.”

Tuesday morning, Paul Allen welcomed SiriusXM NBA Radio and Mad Dog Radio host Rick Kamla to his show on KFAN in Minneapolis. They discussed how Beverley stood out across ESPN programming.

“When you go on an ESPN panel show, do you go hard…or soft?,” asked Kamla. “They’re not going to ask you back if you go soft and Pat [Beverley] is trying to lay the foundation for a post-playing career with ESPN. He’s got a big mouth; he’s got a lot to say; he’s very provocative… so I think he’s going to do very well in that space.”

Throughout the week on First Take, Beverley has been debating Stephen A. Smith, and at times, has been able to silence him during their discourse. That is no small feat, according to Allen.

“Patrick Beverley found a way to silence or quell the audible nature of Stephen A. Smith, which is miraculous,” Allen said.

Paul has been selected to nine NBA all-defensive teams throughout his 17-year NBA career, and has been named an all-star 12 times. While Kamla affirmed that his defensive impact is not what it once was, he believes that calling Paul a “cone” was perhaps hyperbolic on Beverley’s part, he still said it was valuable to ESPN and the audience.

“We need provocative stuff; we need guys to get outside of the box and give us interesting stuff, so I’m here for what Pat [Beverley] had to say,” explained Kamla.