The Late Run

In this episode of The Late Run, Chad Ochocinco and Raheem Taylor-Parkes sit down with Tottenham Hotspur legend Ledley King live from Premier League Fan Fest in Denver. King reflects on spending his entire playing career at Spurs, why staying loyal to Tottenham meant more to him than chasing trophies elsewhere, and what made his former teammates Gareth Bale and Luka Modrić so special. He also shares the story of Bale's unbelievable early winless streak, recalls Tottenham's memorable Champions League run, and explains why Thierry Henry was the toughest Premier League striker he ever faced. Plus, King opens up a...

In this episode of The Late Run, Chad Ochocinco and Raheem Taylor-Parkes sit down with Champions League winner Timo Werner in Denver. Werner opens up about the criticism he faced at Chelsea, how disallowed goals and missed chances affected his confidence, and why he never gave up despite being booed by thousands of fans. He reflects on his incredible RB Leipzig team, the possibility of joining Liverpool instead of Chelsea, winning the Champions League alongside N'Golo Kanté, and the challenges of adapting to the Premier League. Plus, Werner weighs in on the Messi vs. Ronaldo GOAT debate, explains why h...

In this episode of The Late Run, Chad Ochocinco and Raheem Taylor-Parkes sit down with USMNT legend Tim Howard live from Premier League Fan Fest in Denver. Howard reflects on joining Manchester United and training alongside Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney and Roy Keane, explains the standard Sir Alex Ferguson established and why beating United moved him to tears, then breaks down the state of American goalkeeping and what today’s USMNT needs to compete with the world’s best. Chapters: 00:00 - Intro 01:01 - Tim Howard’s Journey From New Jersey to Man United 04:10 - Sir Alex Ferguson’s Standard and Leav...

Football Is Life! You know Cristo Fernández as Dani Rojas from Ted Lasso, but his soccer dream started long before AFC Richmond. He joins Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson and Raheem Taylor-Parkes to explain how knee injuries changed his path, how his football skills helped him land Ted Lasso and why he returned to professional soccer with El Paso Locomotive FC.

Cristo shares the real story behind Dani Rojas, Jason Sudeikis's advice about the catchphrase and the fan encounter he'll never forget. Plus: chasing acting and soccer dreams, refusing to write yourself off at 30, and a Mes...

Andrew Schulz and Mark Gagnon pull up to The Late Run, and Ocho finally gets the GOAT answer he's been waiting for. Andrew says Messi is more skilled, but Cristiano is the more dominant force on the pitch, and then argues Messi "never played at the highest level" because the rest of La Liga was "guys working at Trader Joe's." Andrew also admits he lived in Barcelona during its heyday and went to zero games at Camp Nou, tells the story of politely asking Myles Garrett and Chloe Kim to move out of his seat in a World Cup...

In this episode of The Late Run, Chad Ochocinco and Raheem Taylor-Parkes sit down with comedian and creator Corey B to discuss how IShowSpeed and a new generation of creators are making soccer cool in America, why MLS needs more personalities like Zlatan Ibrahimović, and what American soccer still gets wrong about youth development and pay-to-play. Corey reveals what it was really like fighting two-time world champion Paulie Malignaggi, while Ocho explains why he asked Floyd Mayweather for a real fighter on the Logan Paul undercard, tried to dap up the man who dropped him, and paid his NFL f...

World Cup winner, Bayern legend and now MLS star Thomas Müller pulls up to The Late Run, and Ocho, who admits he went 14 years without a trophy, finally gets to live vicariously through someone who's won it all. Thomas takes us back to the countryside club where his cousins handed him a ball, why always being the youngest forced him to get creative, and the day Louis van Gaal looked down the bench and said, "you, you there - let's try this guy."
Then it gets real: the 2015 Man United offer worth a reported €100M, why he was...

USMNT head coach Mauricio Pochettino pulls up to The Late Run. The former Argentina international joins Chad "Ochocinco" Johnson and Raheemovic to break down why he committed to the U.S. through 2030, what American soccer needs to change to compete with the world's best, and why he believes young players like Cavan Sullivan, Julian Hall and Neil Pierre are ready for the international stage.

Pochettino also looks back on the controversial penalty he gave away against England at the 2002 World Cup, explains why he prefers football without VAR, and opens up about managing some of the biggest...

The future of American soccer pulls up to The Late Run. Julian Hall, the New York Red Bulls striker who signed his first pro contract at 15 and never set foot in a high school joins Chad "Ochocinco" Johnson and Raheemovic in front of a live crowd (with his mom in the building). He talks about recording two assists against Messi and Inter Miami, the debut at 15 where he felt like he was "about to pass out," and the decision everyone's waiting on: Poland or USA?Plus: Ocho tells the story of the trade the Bengals refused (two first-round picks...

Comedian Kam Patterson pulls up on The Late Run live and finally gets in a room with the man he's supposedly beefing with. Raheem asks what actually happened with Ocho on Club Shay Shay, Kam also explains why Kevin Hart is the blueprint for his whole career and why he stayed quiet on set to soak up game, what it felt like getting thrown on the Weekend Update desk his first week at SNL, and why he'd rather do a live sketch than take a World Cup penalty with a whole country on his back Chapters: 0:00 - Intro 1:23...

Ocho finally sits down with his favorite player and COUSIN (at least according to the paperwork he brought) - Son Heung-Min. Sonny opens up about the call he almost ignored, “No way going to the MLS", and the years of LAFC persistence that changed his mind. He shares why the packed American stadiums still surprise him every single week. Then Son takes us back to leaving Korea for Germany at 16 years old, where he learned the language by watching SpongeBob, and the discipline that journey built in him.
Son goes deep into the Spurs years: the best team he...

Comedian Godfrey pulls up on The Late Run and gives Raheem and Chad "Ochocinco" Johnson the most honest take American soccer has heard: he never wants the USA to win a World Cup, and he's got reasons. He breaks down how Nigeria's government wasted a generation of talent while Pablo Escobar was out here funding Colombian soccer, crowns Pele over everybody, does a Kevin Garnett impression that needs to be studied, and finally gives Ocho his flowers for actually knowing ball. Plus the Karl-Anthony Towns story where Godfrey takes credit for a championship, and why soccer will never grow...

Christian "Bobo" Vieri - once the most expensive footballer on earth - pulls up to The Late Run and takes us inside the golden era of Serie A: training next to R9 and laughing out loud ("you can't stop him"), and the day he saw steel coming out of the Phenomenon's knee. He breaks down his world-record €49M transfer (about €335M in today's money), why all that money moved to the Premier League, and the four stadiums on earth where playing feels different - starting with 85,000 at San Siro: "that's where you sh*t your pants."
Then it gets...

Arsenal legend Sol Campbell pulls up to The Late Run and starts swinging: modern football is "too easy," the tough tackles are gone, and no striker on earth (not even prime R9) could ever say he had Sol's number. He takes us inside the Invincibles: training sessions that were "like matches," Pirès scoring 40-yarders with his instep, Henry and Bergkamp as a double act you had to out-think, and why that unbeaten record still stands 20+ years later.
Then it gets personal: the REAL hate between Keane's United and Vieira's Arsenal, and the retired United players who still h...

He was named after Drogba, raised on a soccer ball, and now the phone won't stop ringing. US soccer's brightest prospect Zavier Gozo pulls up to The Late Run to talk Champions League dreams, the World Cup call-up he believes he deserved, and the credit-card sacrifices his mom made to get him through America's pay-to-play system.
Plus: Ocho relives the day he trained with Real Madrid in his NFL prime and got "embarrassed" in a 30-minute Rondo, and breaks down why young U.S. players need minutes before 2030. It ends with Zavier's Ronaldo take that makes Ocho almost...

Emmy-winning sports "talker" Katie Nolan pulls up to The Late Run and answers the GOAT question before Ocho can even finish asking it. She explains why she'll "defend soccer to the death," why being flippant about the world's most popular game is a huge negative to you as a person, and how meeting the US Women's National Team in 2015 turned her into a believer.
Then it goes deeper: the $35-vs-$5,000 problem locking American kids out of soccer and the 50 million people who tuned into USA–Belgium confirming exactly why casual American fans don't watch. Plus, why it's unfair th...

Chris Paul pulls up to The Late Run Show with Chad Ochocinco and Raheem Taylor-Parkes, and the 12-time All-Star came with stories nobody else can tell: the trade to the Lakers that went through and got killed within hours, the league rules that blocked him from becoming a part-owner of LAFC, and the day Wembanyama pointed at the Paris apartment where he lived alone at 15.
CP3 gets into why retirement routines are harder than playing, what La Masia does that AAU can't, why super teams collapse in the locker room before they collapse on the court, his answer...

Two days before the biggest World Cup Final of our lifetime, Trevor Noah pulls up to The Late Run. He tells the story behind the photo of Messi bathing baby Lamine Yamal nearly two decades before they meet in a World Cup Final, explains why the whole world is rooting for Spain on Sunday, and calls out England for playing scared. Then it goes deeper: street football under apartheid, why your country's style of play tells you everything about where you grew up, the 2010 vuvuzelas (and the player who blamed them), and why he still stands by "Africa won...

The Late Run goes LIVE for the first time ever, from House of Goal NYC in the middle of the World Cup, and Gronk pulls up a changed man. The guy who never watched a single soccer game in his life now has full World Cup fever: naming his comp (Erling Haaland, who else), breaking down how Serie A actually works, and arguing that America's best athletes playing football is exactly why the USMNT can't crack the world's top eight. Ocho and Raheem get Gronk's review of his first live World Cup match, somehow the most boring game of...

Gregg Berhalter, a two-time World Cup player, former USMNT head coach, and current Chicago Fire manager, joins Ocho and Raheemovic on The Late Run. Gregg opens up on his tenure coaching the USMNT in Qatar, how failure can actually help American soccer, and the emotional reality of watching his own son play in the World Cup. He drops the line that sets the tone: “On any given day, we can beat any given team,” but states clearly that America isn’t a heavyweight in world soccer yet.
Plus: coaching Christian Pulisic and Weston McKennie through their growing pains, the in...

In this week's episode of The Late Run, Landon Donovan—the most decorated American men's soccer player of all time—joins Ocho and Raheem. From the jump it's clear how different his road was from Chad's. While Ocho was a drafted NFL star with people lining up at his door, a 19-year-old Landon was being sent to a park to entertain 11 kids just to sell 30 tickets. Landon gets into the culture shock of moving to Bayer Leverkusen alone at 16, the 2012 sabbatical that nearly ended his career and why he became one of soccer's first mental-health voices, the Jürgen Klins...

CM Punk pulls up to The Late Run with the belt — and the WWE World Heavyweight Champion turns out to be a bigger football head than anyone expected. Ocho and Raheemovic get Punk talking Celtic loyalty (he's half Irish, and rival Drew McIntyre reps Rangers), why Celtic vs Rangers is "200 years of religious hatred," and why most Americans only wake up to soccer for the World Cup. Then it gets wild: Punk tells the story of the night in Brazil when an opponent disrespected the Brazilian national flag mid-match — and the ring got surrounded by armed men aiming straight at h...

In this episode of The Late Run, Premier League and Champions League winner Mario Balotelli joins Ocho and Raheem. From the opening bow, it's clear these two are cut from the same cloth: two of the most unapologetic showmen their sports have ever produced, in one room. Chad doesn't call himself "Balotelli Jr." for nothing. Mario gets into why the Italy national team has fallen so far and how he'd fix it, the rough Liverpool year that left him low in England, the racism he faced in Serie A and why he calls it ignorance, the Mourinho red-card story...

Rey Mysterio Jr. walks into the Late Run and immediately makes it personal. The WWE Hall of Famer breaks down why the mask means everything to Mexican culture, what it'll feel like at Azteca for the World Cup opener, and how Maradona shaped his love for the beautiful game. Then it gets heavy: 14 ACL tears, the moment he almost tapped out for good, and how his son reignited his fire as they made history together.
Ocho and Raheemovic push Rey on Mexico vs USA at this World Cup and the timeless Messi vs Ronaldo debate (spoiler: Rey breaks...

Chad Ochocinco and Raheem Taylor Parkes put the GOAT question to Inter Miami's Dayne St. Clair — the only man who trains next to Messi every day — and get a one-line answer that stops the tape. From NFL pressure vs. World Cup nerves to whether MLS finally gets its respect, this one lives in the crossover.

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Maurice Edu joins Chad Ochocinco and Raheemovic to break down what success actually looks like for the USMNT at the 2026 World Cup on home soil. Group D, the Paraguay opener at SoFi, the Belgium and Portugal wake-up calls, and whether a quarterfinal run is enough to shift soccer culture in America. Mo sets the bar at semifinal. Chad's not sure we get out of the group. Hit play and pick your side.
Plus, Mo brings the receipts. He talks his 2010 World Cup run in South Africa with the USMNT and the 86th-minute Slovenia goal that got chalked off...

USMNT midfielder Tyler Adams joins Chad Ochocinco Johnson and Raheem Taylor-Parkes on The Late Run ahead of the 2026 World Cup. Tyler opens up about what a successful World Cup looks like for this generation, why some young Americans are moving to Europe too soon, and the politics of being an American player trying to earn respect abroad. He drops a powerful line: until America creates its own Messi, there's always going to be a stigma on US players. Plus: Ocho and Raheem break down the Arsenal vs PSG Champions League final, Tyler reveals who the hardest Premier League midfielders...

Bradley Wright-Phillips pulls up to The Late Run and pulls no punches. The MLS legend and son of Arsenal icon Ian Wright sits down with Raheemovic and Ochocinco to talk about the pressure of growing up in his dad's shadow, why he believes Messi's child has no chance of being better than him, and what MLS in 2013 was really like - "the ghetto". Ocho shares the real story of his Sporting Kansas City trial during the NFL lockout, the time Mourinho let him train with Real Madrid's reserves and they ran rings around him, and why he got fined...

Rob Gronkowski joins Chad Ochocinco Johnson and Raheem Taylor-Parkes on The Late Run for a MASSIVE crossover episode. Gronk tells the story of meeting Messi in Barcelona's owner's suite, playing goalie against Barca players, and explains why Tom Brady IS the Messi of football. He also drops a scorching take: the NFL RUINED American soccer by stealing the country's best athletes — and ranks European pub culture ABOVE NFL tailgating. Plus: Gronk settles the Messi vs Ronaldo debate, Chad's McDonald's diet gets the "Play On" stamp, and the episode ends with an iconic Gronk spike.

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Stephen A. Smith pulls up to The Late Run with Ocho and Raheemovic and goes everywhere. He picks Messi as the soccer GOAT, doubles down on his "Messi in MLS is LeBron in the G League" line, and tells the wild story of how a 1991 Winston-Salem Journal assignment turned him into a Wake Forest soccer beat writer for two seasons before ESPN. Then he switches sports and delivers the full Jordan-over-LeBron stat package: 6 Finals, 6 rings, 6 Finals MVPs, never a Game 7.
Stephen A. weighs in on whether American athletes could compete in soccer if they had Ronaldo's training regimen...

Four-time WWE World Champion Sheamus joins Chad Ochocinco and Raheem Taylor-Parkes on The Late Run during WrestleMania week. A lifelong Liverpool fan from Dublin, Sheamus tells the insane story of wearing a Liverpool kit on live TV in Manchester — bottles thrown, fans swinging, and he calls it the best moment of his career. He picks Maradona as the real GOAT over Messi and Ronaldo, explains why winning a WWE title is harder than scoring a World Cup goal, reveals he'd trade his WWE Championships for Ireland to win a World Cup, reacts to Rooney slapping Wade Barrett, debates Jordan vs...

Cam Little, kicker for the Jacksonville Jaguars and former soccer academy player, joins Ocho and Raheemovic for a full crossover episode just weeks before the 2026 World Cup on American soil. Cam settles the GOAT debate immediately - Ronaldo, no hesitation - and breaks down exactly why Messi's World Cup win doesn't change anything when you look at the longevity, the fear factor, and what Ronaldo is still doing at 40. Plus: could Ronaldo and Messi actually coexist on the same MLS team?
From sneaking onto University of Oklahoma practice fields during COVID to nearly quitting after his first hit...

In this episode of The Late Run, Knicks guard Miles “Deuce” McBride joins Chad Ochocinco and Raheem Taylor-Parkes. A Cincinnati native who grew up idolizing Ocho, Deuce tells the story of getting denied an autograph by Chad as a kid. Now, twenty years later, they’re face to face. He opens up about the Knicks’ locker room soccer culture, his brother playing for Bayer Leverkusen, what would happen to New York if the Knicks win it all, picking Messi over Ronaldo, his NFL what-if, and goes head-to-head comparing soccer and basketball athletes: Brunson vs Lamine Yamal, OG vs Van Dijk, KA...

Jon Vlogs pulls up and it instantly turns into story time. He breaks down what it’s really like being close to Neymar, the poker night that started it, Messi showing up to the birthday party, and Neymar’s rehab pain most people never see. “He was Crying.” Then we get into Kings League Brazil, why Jon calls it “TikTok for soccer”, and Ocho goes full unhinged pitching a “life or death” streaming era.

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MLS Commissioner Don Garber sits down with Chad Ochocinco and Raheem Taylor-Parkes for an all-time conversation about the past, present, and future of American soccer. Garber reveals how he convinced David Beckham to leave Real Madrid for MLS and the legendary clause that let Beckham negotiate team ownership. He settles the Messi vs Ronaldo GOAT debate without hesitation, breaks down how MLS went from $5M team investments to a $23 billion enterprise, and opens the door on promotion/relegation for the first time ever. Ocho reveals he racked up over $5 million in NFL fines, pitches himself as an MLS team...

Gerard Piqué sits down with Chad "Ochocinco" Johnson and Raheemovic for an all-time episode of The Late Run. The 4x Champions League winner and World Cup champion gives his definitive answer on Messi vs Ronaldo after playing alongside BOTH, reveals the inside story of Sir Alex Ferguson selling him for just £5M (a move that changed football history), and breaks down what's gone wrong at Manchester United.
Piqué opens up about Rio Ferdinand mentoring him as a teenager, why his kids watching TikTok instead of Barcelona inspired him to create Kings League, how Neymar was the most skilled pla...

Rio Ferdinand joins Chad Ochocinco and Raheemovic for one of the most loaded episodes of The Late Run yet; going deep on what Cristiano Ronaldo was REALLY like in the Man United dressing room, why being called a "hard worker" is the one thing that offends him, and how Sir Alex Ferguson's psychological genius kept players motivated even when he dropped them. Rio tells the wild story of sitting in the Leeds chairman's office for 8 hours to force his move to Manchester United, only for the police to warn him never to come back to Yorkshire. Plus, Ocho and...

Two-time NWSL Champion and USWNT star Midge Purce pulls up to The Late Run and doesn't hold back. From a fiery Messi vs Ronaldo debate where Ocho tries (and fails) to flip her answer, to a raw breakdown of the NWSL's controversial High Impact Player rule and why she thinks Trinity Rodman is still underpaid, Midge brings the heat on everything wrong with women's soccer pay.

But the real jaw-dropper? Midge reveals she played 30 minutes on a TORN ACL because she didn't want to miss Olympic camp. She opens up about the year-long mental battle to...

Rick Ross pulls up to The Late Run and goes ALL IN on World Cup 2026, revealing he plans to streak if Haiti wins, comparing Messi's impact on Miami to nothing he's ever seen, and breaking down why soccer needs to take over the hood. The Boss also drops his Ronaldo vs. Messi take (spoiler: Dade County loyalty wins), names Biggie and Pac as hip hop's equivalent, and gets real about what it was like being famous before Instagram even existed.

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Chad Ochocinco Johnson and Raheemovic sit down with comedy legend Bert Kreischer for a conversation that goes everywhere: soccer culture in Florida, Messi mania in Miami, the World Cup 2026 “last dance” talk, and the comedy Mount Rushmore. Bert retells *The Machine* origin story, breaks down what makes a great comedian, and somehow ends up pledging to become a real soccer fan.

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