Blue By Ninety - E74: Players are getting PAID

Episode Date: July 21, 2021

With more NIL news coming out of Ann Arbor the Michigan Football players have inked a deal with the Mden to make money off of their own jersey sales, JJ McCarthy shows leadership with his deal, Basketball Talk & Detroit Sports are back? Crack a cold one and enjoy the show.

This is the University of Michigan. Touchdown, Michigan! That's the beat of Michigan ball! And they've got one extra pass. And it goes for the win! The three-pointer by Jordan Poole! Down the sideline! People jump!

Touchdown, Wolverines. All right. Welcome back to Blue by 90. I am Justin, joined by Kalen and Jack, as always. And it is Tuesday, July 20th. We are getting close. The countdown to Jack getting hype about Michigan football is tick, tick, ticking. It's getting close. I know. You were talking already about us trying to pick our favorite thing we're looking forward to or whatever.

And I'm not feeling too good about it. Yeah, I'm not feeling too good about not being hyped anymore. I think it's coming back. I don't know if I'll be able to make it hype train is pulling up to your house jack i feel like if you can like if you can get to august maybe without like truly thinking about it that's pretty good usually it's like in the mid-july right here where i'm like i'm i have to push it off physically like not think about it uh otherwise i you just you know you get like just it's it's your entire life well especially now that i mean the nba finals are about to be over there's gonna be so much i mean there's

already a bunch of football coverage now just because everybody's so excited for it but right there's an even more now the there's no basketball that you know it's just the college football hype is going to be there the nfl hype is going to be there and then my hype is just gonna be back where it was i'm gonna leave disappointed and it's gonna be great i mean great time on the plus side the Tigers are absolutely killing it right now. Tigers are hot. Nowhere. So maybe the Tigers just continue to make a run. Obviously, they're not going to make the playoffs or anything,

but they make things interesting enough from August to September for us to not focus 100% on Michigan football quite yet. Well, I'll tell you what. I am really looking forward to the tigers pitching next year yeah casey my is already up and doing well um fucking tarik scoobles fucking dealing they have so many young starters they're really good special turn ball he just went out for tommy john, but hopefully he should be back by next year. Matt Boyd should be healthy next year.

I mean, they're going to have some good rotation. They just need to get a solid bullpen. The bullpen is brutal other than so-and-so. Yeah. So, I mean, if they can get a bullpen or maybe they turn one of those guys into a long reliever or something, I'm excited. The hype for Tiger is baseball is coming back well they might i think it could be fun actually because they might actually like be in a spot where they're

going to make some moves to get some key pieces that put them in contention so it actually could be fun um you know it's just been too long in detroit here where we've had a competitive Detroit sports team it's been too long and it's you know for Michigan fans for Michigan football fans specifically when we don't have anybody else in Detroit to rely on it just makes things absolutely brutal thank god for Juwan Howard thank god for Ju howard i mean the other part was that kade cunningham was in detroit at the tigers game the other night that's big hype that's pretty cool i mean so maybe the tigers and the pistons kind of come back and then maybe jerry goff leads us to a super bowl who knows too maybe anything can happen never know never know. All right. Well, you know, there has been a lot going on in Michigan sports, too.

Obviously, these guys have been back, you know, first off, seeing pictures of few different pictures uh earlier last week i believe it was of like eli brooks coaching up caleb houston and some of these other guys coming in and and looking solid and i mean the hype for michigan basketball is going to be way bigger than michigan football this year for sure oh for sure and i love that uh people are already getting their raid memes ready i do love that corner what was it hunter dickinson's uh just cooked your team or just diced up your team or something yeah i was like oh fuck here we go give us all the content yeah uh and and then uh i saw xavier simpson came back and was at practice today too uh so that's pretty cool to have a couple you know have some alums come back and talk to them

um you know i i just think that they're gonna be probably pre-season top five or top 10 or something was in there at least top 10 yeah they're gonna be up there for sure i people are super high on purdue you know kaylin i i don't know what what do you think about purdue oiler makers yeah yeah i don't know i mean they they always just have like one seven footer over there so they got they do have that big yeah maybe have, like, two or three now and just, I don't know. That Zach Eady guy is, like, 7'5", and they, like, grow these guys in a lab. And then what's the other dude that's coming back now? I want to say Caleb Swanigan, but I feel like that dude's been out of Purdue for years.

Five years ago. I think it's Travion Williams. Well, you never know over there, right? Like, Robbie Hummel might still be there. I have no idea. Yeah. Robbie, dude. What a legend.

He's the Aaron Craft of Purdue, but he was more likable. That's for sure. I actually love Robbie Hummel on the call, though, now that he does play back. I like him. Yeah, Travions is back i believe um so they're gonna be good i mean people i just i don't know purdue just like they're good but they never can put it together come tournament time so then you know i don't know you just can't trust them i love i was loving their run with carson edwards they had a couple years ago where

he was dropping 40 every game to get him a win. Shot like 100 times and just like would run down and chuck it up. He was fun to watch, man. I liked him. Yeah. It'll be interesting to see how the Big Ten pans out for basketball because, you know, Ohio State was supposed to be up there, but Dwayne Washington is not coming back now.

So that, you know they they'll take a little dip um but still they reload with a few people um msu is is one team i don't think anybody knows what msu is going to look like you don't have aaron henry anymore uh you don't have you know a lot of those guys that are coming that we're supposed to be coming back um and so it'll be interesting to see how that all pans out um but i i mean i really like our chances with juan howard that's for sure oh yeah so um i i said this the other day like i don't know my main concern for basketball would be the depth chart and the rotation how do you get all these guys minutes i mean you've got caleb houston and diabate coming in that probably will get some minutes

yeah brandon johns and dickinson coming back uh you know you got um i mean the guys that were kind of the second tier in terms of Zeb Jackson and T will, and those guys, how do you get those guys minutes and keep everybody happy without having people transfer or people get pissed off and things like that? I'm a little concerned about that. What do you guys think? Yeah. I mean, my initial thought is that the starting five will be Devante,

Devante Jones, Eli Brooks, Caleb Houston. Johns. Yeah, Johns, and then Dickinson. Unless Diabate is like a stud. Well, that's what I'm almost thinking. I think Moussa and Brandon Johns might split time. They might split time. Dickinson, he'll be the big game five.

But Diabate can always go to the five. If Dickinson needs to sit and then you put Johns back in at the four. I mean, who's going to be the backup point guard? Frankie Collins? Is it going to be Zeb Jackson? Is Zeb maybe going to play more of a two guard and you know I mean yeah I feel like that's the tough part I mean you know yeah I mean for me I think it's just the guard rotation I think we're going to see the guys you want to see in Caleb Houston and Diabate and obviously Dickinson's going to play

and Devontae Jones and Eli but it's like who's who's going to be their backups you know is it going to be the freshman or is it going to be you know you're going to see Zeb I don't really know yeah it's funny because like in basketball I can't really predict the starting lineup but I'm like excited about the fact that I can't predict it right as opposed to football where I'm like, I can't really predict the starting lineup, and that brings so much worry to me. That worries me, yeah.

That's a good call out. That is a good call out there. I agree. I feel like in basketball you don't know, but you know one of them is going to step up. It's just which one is going to step up. Where in football it's like of them is going to step up it's just who which one is going to step up where in football it's like is anybody going to step up oh man we're already ready we're already ready for the negativity we are so ready so ready uh yeah for sure so um yeah but but i i'm excited about basketball i know there are a lot of people that are like,

let's just fast forward to basketball season. And I don't oppose that, to be honest. If we could just experience tailgating without having to endure some of the games, that'd be great too. Well, that's something I was just thinking too, man. I wish basketball started a little bit sooner so we could have nice weather to tailgate for basketball. Oh, that'd be sick. know i would i would take that that would be a little more fun for sure well that is like the only frustration i have with chrysler and with

like the stadium is when basketball season comes around there aren't any like bars right around there that you can go grab a drink and then walk over to the stadium it's like right it doesn't make for a good environment they need to like where that coffee shop is on the corner like if that was a bar and everyone went there right before it would crush that would be so fun so fun man where could they if lucky's Market was still there, that wouldn't be bad. You can grab some beers there, you know, walk over to the stadium. Yeah, that's not a bad walk. Yeah, not awful, but obviously, yeah, if it's cold out, that's not going to be fun. Yeah, is the closest place to get alcohol near the stadium the bowling alley?

Probably. Oh, yeah, maybe. Dude, when I was working at the m den they people would come up to that corner spot where the tent is and off the golf course or off the pioneer and they'd say where can i grab a case of beer and it's either a mile down west stadium to like one of those liquor stores or it's down to where it was kroger lucky's market so i go to bushes right or bushes yeah but that's a pain in the ass to kind of walk down or it's down to where it was Kroger or Lucky's Market. You can go to Bush's, right?

Or Bush's, yeah, but that's a pain in the ass to kind of walk down there. That's another, yeah, that is. They don't have a sidewalk on the other side of the street. You've got to cross a bunch of fucking streets, and it's just annoying. Yeah, it's not really convenient. I think we've got to put a Blue by 90 bar in where Lucky's was. Hell yeah. we got to put a blue by 90 bar in where Lucky's was. And then, you know, once we're getting,

we're making a lot of money off these podcasts right now. So we'll be close to being able to buy a restaurant. We're on pace to buy one in about 300 years, 300 or so. Yeah. That'd be good. What I would love to see them do, but obviously they would never do is attach a bar to the golf course.

Oh, that'd be dangerous big moves but that would be super convenient well the sad thing is is like i've played golf there quite a few times they don't sell any beer there so it stinks that they don't even do that so uh yeah all right let's that'll be our next come basketball season that'll be our movement to try and like get tailgating or get some like a pre-game environment for basketball games so stay tuned for that oh yeah so the other big news that we had uh over the past couple weeks is this whole nil thing obviously we talked about the original nil decision a few weeks ago now michigan was all over the news i mean it was espn headlines it was everywhere that michigan is the now the first school that will offer personalized custom jerseys for each player through the mden so i think it's a huge deal

a to be first i think just to be first it gives michigan really good press coverage i don't know what did you guys think about all the news that was circulating with all that oh i loved it i mean not only for the players to get paid off of it, and from what I saw somewhere, who knows how accurate it is, they're getting 10% of the royalties or whatever you want to call it. I think it's like $10. Oh, $10? Yeah. Okay, 10%, $10.

Either way, apparently it's double what NFL players make off of their jersey sales. So I thought that was super interesting. But also for the fans. I mean, you could always obviously go get a, probably get a custom jersey made or whatever, but it's just cool that you can go through the position groups, find your favorite player and get a jersey and have the players make some money off of it.

Yeah, I think it's awesome. I think it's about time. These guys deserve it. And I would be interested to see how it works in terms of like, you know, you know, like JJ is going to sell a bunch of jerseys. Right. But what about, you know, Bowman coming in, you know, or what I mean, that can cause any division in the qb room or yeah i well i saw something that this this is not michigan related saban nick saban came out and said their new quarterback who hasn't played a snap yet has made almost seven figures from nal in well in less than a month well no i think he said he's been offered seven figure deals he's already not taking those i don't know that's what i i'm assuming he hasn't set upon one yet baby but i thought it said he was offered multiple seven-figure deals already he hasn't taken a fucking snap literally hasn't taken a

snap so like i mean obviously we all know bama fans are crazy and the sec is nuts but like my god that's you know that's where like i do think michigan needs to step on the gas a little bit there and get jj like i'd have somebody working on jj's deal that does get him you know at least six figures or something like that and then you know you can market the shit out of that to any incoming qb recruits you know right just the fact that saban said that right makes somebody true yeah yeah it makes somebody go like maybe i will go to alabama instead of georgia or oklahoma whatever exactly exactly well caitlin to go back to kind of your point like as far as like you know some guys maybe making more money off their jersey and

having it cause a division or whatever i think what jj mccarthy did really is gonna make sure that is all avoided because oh if he's making money then it's going to a good cause and then you know it's hard to be mad at that right it sounds out it definitely makes it sound like he wouldn't be the guy to be like flaunting that in the locker room too right i just you never know that was just the example off the top of my head but i could definitely see like you know if aiden hutchinson or somebody you know is doing really well and is starts making a lot of money and then maybe their backup is just like making nothing it can kind of cause a little bit of like

confrontation in a way um but that's where you know as the coach and all that stuff you got to handle some of that team chemistry issues so i would just be interested to see how they handle it and like i i feel like we keep bringing it up too but it's like also when these guys go to the nfl i mean that's just the nature of the beast right like somebody's gonna be in front of you somebody's making more money somebody's gonna be doing this gonna be doing that so i'd like to believe it wouldn't cause any issues at all because it should be just you know you should be aware that that could be something that happens but it could that's right no you're you're definitely right i didn't really think about it from that perspective yeah i think i think you're both kind of correct though where like it it shouldn't

because they have to kind of realize that it's a business i think that's on the athletic department and the coaching staff and all those people to set those expectations right to say yes hey there is probably going to be some differences here you're not all you know on a same salary or something like that it's going to be you know based on marketability branding performance all that stuff so i mean honestly it really is more if you can spin it the right way it drives more competition alan bowman hey man guess what you come in here and kill it and get the starting job there's gonna be 50,000 people that buy your jersey and you're gonna make you know 10 bucks off of each of those that's 500 grand right like

that's pretty good drive to get somebody to work their ass off and come in and so I agree that there probably will be instances that we hear of where somebody's butthurt about it and you know they're maybe maybe they weren't that great of a teammate to begin with you know but when we see to your point about JJ when we see him posting what he did yesterday about hey you know I am gonna donate a portion of each jersey sale to the Mott Children's Hospital you know and he's just like he seems like a natural born leader so I don't see it being a problem with him specifically I think for him to come in and do something like that as a young freshman who hasn't even stepped foot on the field yet speaks volumes to what kind of guy and leader and player he is and what he can bring to the

table for michigan 100 i feel like he's he's setting the tone right for sure and especially before he even takes a snap i mean you know we're we've all been back and forth on who's going to be a starter and whatnot i think we're all in agreement that it'll probably be Cade. But for you to do something like that, well, I mean, I don't know. Okay, maybe not. You got to get your Dan Valari jersey on here. That's true. That's true. Can't forget about the boy.

But like you said, you guys said, it sets the tone. I mean, guys look up to stuff like that, right? You kind of win over the team when you do stuff like that. You're doing it for a good cause, and it's easy to rally behind that guy so maybe it's not this year maybe maybe it's next year maybe it's not you know but when he does you know end up taking over his quarterback for michigan you got to think he's going to have a lot of a lot of guys on his side which is which is great you got to have a good locker room to win to win games so um well i'd love to see it and like i'm looking at the instagram post that he he put on there aj heading gives him a king a crown calling him a king you know uh

andrell anthony posted with a heart uh aiden hutchinson said team guy david ajabo baby goat dalen baldwin goat cripp, you know, Fire. Kind of seems like these guys are all behind him. I don't think that means that they're hating on Cade, but I think that the way JJ is coming into this and the way he holds himself,

he's easy to get behind as a leader. I don't know. I don't want this to get into a discussion of like all right who do you think you should start but i'm like a little bit leaning now jj like hey you've got a generational i don't want to say generational i do hate when people say that like not everyone's a generational talent that's a five star whatever but you've got probably one of the best qb prospects that has ever come into Michigan, at least in the past, you know, 10, 20 years in terms of talent.

You've got what seems like a natural-born leader. The guys are behind him. Seems like he's got a good head on his shoulders. Maybe you just roll with him and say, I don't know. I'm just throwing it out there. You know, I don't want to do it if he's not ready, but shit. I think I'm going to disagree with you just because I think Cade played too well when he was healthy for them to just throw that away

and not see kind of how it goes you know um another thing i kind of thought of is let's i'm gonna put myself in cage shoes and you know go from where what i might kind of be feeling right i might be kind of feeling some sort of animosity because this guy technically right now is my backup going to caitlin going to caitlin's point here the reason I might get a little bit I don't want to say upset about it or feel some the way the reason I would I might feel a little bit of animosity towards McCarthy is because he's my backup he what he did makes him look really good but also I would almost be like fuck man this kind of makes me look bad like why didn't I do this and uh then he's kind of gunning for your spot.

You know, it's like, I don't know. I might be a little – maybe he's not upset with this at all. I'd probably be more upset with myself. But I'm like, damn, man. Like, he's kind of winning over the fan base already. And then he's doing something like this. I'm like, shit, I'm kind of – you know, maybe I feel like I'm falling behind. You know, I don't know.

This is something I kind of thought of just now. Well, you didn't. I mean, sorry. Go ahead, Kalen. Cade's a tough guy to get a read on, I feel like. Like, I follow him on Instagram, and he posts occasionally, and he's just kind of posting, like, you know, countdown to the season type of stuff.

And it's kind of just him. And I just can't get a read on, like, you know, countdown to the season type of stuff. And it's kind of just him. And I just can't get a read on, like, you know, is he a real fired up guy? Is he a guy that people will, like, follow into battle? Maybe a little bit. He seemed like it last year when they put him in. Yeah. After that speech, though, I don't know, man. I loved it, though.

I loved it. I was ready. He was trying so hard for that speech. But, like, man, I don't think guys are like, you know, wow, that was not the Tim Tebow halftime speech, right? It was, you know, and I haven't heard JJ speak or anything like that, really, you know, in terms of in the locker room yet. But I agree with you kaylin i don't know if he's like that natural leader guy that you just like gravitate towards where it just kind of seems like jj is that guy so i i agree with you jack though now that you you said

that like you you do want to give kate a chance like unless jj has to unless jj is like okay unreal ready to go right now i think you want to roll with kade for a little bit see what he can do and then worst case scenario it doesn't work out you still got jj in your back pocket right if you go with jj then have to go back to kade that feels like you fucked it all up a little bit right yes 100 i mean like i said like just to back it up kate played too well to not be the starter yeah and you can't cut cut out alan bowman right yeah he had some pretty solid numbers when he wasn't injured at texas tech so like you know who knows i think that is a really good point caitlin because he's come out and said it in some articles or in some interviews like he's like i'm not coming here just to you know

get an education and bide my time as a as a signal caller or something he's like i'm coming to start i've got the most experience in this qb room why Why not me? And so I'm hoping that this is all healthy competition. And that's great because I don't feel like sometimes in the past with Milton and McCaffrey and Shea and like some of these other guys didn't seem like true healthy competition. It was kind of jealousy and who's going to transfer out and where when can I get my spot? You know, so i agree though i think people are writing alan bowman off for a guy who did put up numbers in uh in the big 12 and it'd be interesting to see him get in there and see what happens so who knows i wouldn't mind

seeing a little bit of experience back there yeah i don't hate it yeah unfortunately the season doesn't start with an absolute cake walk right i mean they're playing western and that western team was pretty solid last year they competed for a mac championship so you you can't just go in and go like all right you know cage you get the first quarter jj second alan third right That would be, I would love to see all three of them in game one. I mean, let's hope that Michigan gets in into a good lead. I would love to be able to see, you know,

all three of them, see what they can do, get the, you know, even for, for really all three of them, Kate hasn't played in front of a crowd. Alan Bowman.

I mean, big 12 crowd, but it was probably 50% last year. You know, and then JJ hasn't stepped foot. I'd love to get them all in there in the big house, get the jitters out, get that first snap and feel the energy, feel it all until, you know, before something could go wrong in the Washington game. And then you got to go in there like, you know, mccaffrey does and uh at notre dame on the road and then he's like you know all over the place and so i don't know i i agree with that i'd be interested i don't know what's gonna happen guys i who knows here's one more thing i don't

know if we have time to touch on it um i don't think josh gaddis has time to mess around though like no i think this is his last hurrah and it's got to be if it doesn't work out this year he's you gotta think he's gone you have to like unequivocally see his offense and be like oh that's a good offense like no questions so he can't mess around with well maybe alan bowman maybe jj he's got to pick a guy and roll with it day one well it's the same go ahead i feel like he's got enough skill players at this point too to be able to you know run your speed in space whatever it is like aj heading hopefully you know he's fully healthy and ready to go he didn't get as much playing time last year but when he did he played really well mike saner still roman wilson um this transfer from jackson state who you know who's a top guy

out there i mean there's endless receivers yeah dylan baldwin um dylan dylan okay i think you're yeah no i think it's right um blake fucking quorum like that's going to have a massive year. We haven't even mentioned Hassan Haskins, who's an absolute stud. That's where I think the biggest frustration for us and for a lot of the fans out there is, is you roll down that list, there's talent all over the place, right? That's where I definitely agree with you, Kalen. The pressure's on Josh Gaddis to figure it out right now. How do you use this talent to push people around and put up some points? Because, you know, the thing is that the Big Ten is no longer a 21 to seven, you know, rough it up game.

You got to put up big plays. You got to put up a lot of points to win football games now and move quickly and so you know i definitely agree it it's if i was josh gaddis i'd have trouble sleeping pretty much every night i think leading up to the season yeah no question yeah well uh i i don't know that's gonna be interesting how all that pans out it's it's something with the offense where you know i i think a lot of it unfortunately what we didn't uh go over right there was the o-line and that's going to be probably the biggest piece to it so you know we can have as many skill positions as possible but if kate or jj or alan bowman or hassan haskins or blake cormer running for their lives and getting stuffed

none of that means anything so you know the line's a question mark and we got a new o-line coach yeah and you might as well throw out last year because there were so many injuries and so much rotation on that line. And you lost your best lineman. It really is just like I have no clue what's going to happen. I was doing the YouTube show earlier, and we went over, like, all right, he was like, can you preview the Michigan's offensive line? And I started going through it and I stuttered and stammered through the whole thing.

Cause I, I'm like, I don't know who's going to play what position. They all play different positions last year. You know, it's what's his name? A stardust started and he's a red shirt senior. So maybe he'll get a shot, but it sounds like he's not the guy. And like, i don't know and they could be i honestly see it as being like who knows what what the actual lineup is gonna be there uh in the two deep and i see that i see people like moving along the line all year

long and so that's not the that's not the thing the way you way you want to go into a season where your offense is like, needs to be great, right? Yeah, I like to know who the O-line is and, you know, have some sort of memory from the previous season of like, oh yeah, they'll be good. Like, we'll be solid. Like, I feel like it's such a big question mark this year, but, you know, we'll see what we get. Yeah, it feels like there's not even one guy that you're like you know we'll see what we get yeah it feels like there's not even one guy that you're like yep i can count on him for sure i don't even think i could name a no lineman you got stuber yeah i'm excited for ryan hayes i can say that yep yeah crippen i'm pretty excited he's a freshman this year, right? Or is he a sophomore?

Freshman. I'm excited for him. Sounds like a – well, no, I won't say that. I remember Cesar Ruiz was really good when he started off right away too. Or maybe he took a year or whatever. But, you know, I'm excited. Zach Sinter is supposed to make a big leap. All those guys.

Trevor Keegan is supposed to make a big leap. I mean guys. Trevor Keegan is supposed to make a big leap. I mean, there's plenty of four-star linemen there. Let's see if they were able to be developed. Yeah, we'll see. We'll see. All right, well, that's all we got for today. We didn't really actually get into the whole Jersey thing other than McCarthy. What I actually heard was that it's more than $10 that they're getting per Jersey. Okay.

So maybe it's 10%. I don't know. Darren Rovell was given false information. I'm more in the know than Darren Rovell. I would assume so. Got to come to Blue by 90 for the real info. Exactly, exactly. He may have 2 million Twitter followers, but we got like 2,000.

So you know what? It equates. It's all the same. You just got to listen to us talk straight bullshit for 25 minutes. Yeah. To get the real info, gotta earn it oh my goodness um all right well i i think it's all good stuff though for michigan and so you know we'll see as i i'm we talk i feel like we say this every time but like i'm just hoping that we'll get

some info out of camp coming up here soon right and like we'll be able to get some info out of camp coming up here soon. Right. And like, we'll be able to get some interviews and here's some things about this new defense. And here's some things about the quarterbacks and the young guys. And like, you know, I don't want to get hyped up, but I want to at least know what the heck's going on when we, you know,

before we go into the season or maybe if we're just going in blind, then it's way better. That's what i'm hoping for i'm trying to go in blind man who knows who knows all right well um we will uh we'll have some more for you guys next week but you can follow us at blue by 90 on twitter instagram and facebook at blue by 90 podcasts on youtube uh and other than that we will see you next week go blue go blue go blue