Geoff Schwartz Is Smarter Than You - Players are Making Demands & Opting-Out

Episode Date: August 4, 2020

The NFL's COVID-19 opt-out deadline is now official (Thursday at 4 p.m. ET.), Pac-12 players have made their list of demands and we'll make predictions for quarterbacks getting a fresh start in 2020. Plus, how long will The Rock's XFL actually last? Cold Open: Devin McCourty NFL Opt-Out Deadline: (4:05) Pac-12's #WeAreUnited: (16:51) Old Faces, New Places: (34:17) 'Move the Line' Betting Segment: (41:30) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

I think it's an absolute joke that the NFL is changing the opt-out period, mainly because they don't want to continue to see guys opt out. I'm sure they're shocked about how many guys have opted out. But it's the same thing when we sign a CBA. Sometimes some of those things that we think are good sometimes backfire. It's Tuesday, August 4th. The opt-out deadline is now official. Pac-12 players have made their list of demands

and will make predictions for some old faces and new places under center this season. I'm Jeff Schwartz alongside Gabe Goodwin. This is Jeff Schwartz is Smarter Than You. Thank you guys for tuning in as usual. Quick announcement. We loved our time at The Athletic. We have moved on from The Athletic.

Mutual decision. I appreciate everyone reaching out and asking about why we're not on The Athletic. We have moved on from The Athletic. Mutual decision. I appreciate everyone reaching on, asking about why we're not on The Athletic app. That's the reason why. We're on our own now. We're twice a week, and we're adding a lot of video component to this, including full video portions of the show

on a YouTube channel, most likely my YouTube channel. I think it's just Jeff Schwartz, where I put out some football things. Now we'll transition that to the podcast podcast is very exciting news i appreciate i really do everyone reaching out and asking me about where it's been on the athletic pod that is what's happening with it we're brand new 2.0 we're keeping the the energy going speaking about energy gabe you came in here wearing a usc hat yeah and the energy just shows me you're trying to troll me right now.

Yeah. It also, uh, probably jinxed us because this is take two of recording the show here after the internet crapped out, you blamed it on my SC hat. I think that's a little bit unfair. Uh, it's in the news, you know, the PAC 12 is a topic we're going to get to in a second. I felt it was appropriate to wear the hat. I wish you hadn't trolled me. We're going to send you an organ hat just so you can be on the right side of history now. That'd be great. Just don't send me 256 of them that I have to combine into 275,000 different combinations. Sorry you've worn one helmet for the

last thousand years. Okay, enough boring people with our Pac-12 rivalry talk. Gabe, how was your weekend? We haven't talked in a week. We're one week closer to football at some point. Who knows when? NFL,ember 10th supposedly the pac-12 september 26th the big the big 12 playing like august 25th or some crazy nonsense like that um but how are you doing man it's been a week i'm okay thank you for asking uh

you know everyone's healthy uh enjoyed watching a little bit of baseball except the mets lost every game of the weekend and then lost their best player. And we're about to get into the opt-outs going on in the NFL, which are hard to take as a Jets fan. So, I mean, the main stuff in life is good. The sports stuff, less so. Have you enjoyed sports? I think the presentation of the hockey and the basketball has been great so far. I don't know if you've watched any playoff hockey.

The presentation of the hockey and the basketball has been great so far. I don't know if you've watched any playoff hockey. Our good friend, Blackjack Fletcher, by the way, he has been giving me a lot of picks. It's been a lot of fun to follow along. A little money on these games. They're great games. They're on the TV now.

Like, they have done a great job. Baseball, I like baseball. I'm a baseball fan. I'm going to watch it. But, you know, the production, it's just such a big stadium, right? right like you can't hide that you won't have fans there the NBA and and and NHL have done a good job of hiding it and I think the NFL is gonna have to do that too because the Raiders announced today no fans in their stadium this year we're not gonna have fans but I've enjoyed sports being back yeah for sure and and for a production geek like myself you notice with the NBA at least they're putting cameras in new

places you get angles that you don't normally get in an NBA game because there are just fewer people around. And I think the NFL is going to have a little time to steal some tricks. You know, they, they threw cameras in pylons a few years ago. I think we're going to see cameras in some strange places. They're going to be a lot of cool replays. So let's hope the games are played because it'll look cool. Well, we are rooting for the games to be played, but a lot to discuss. We've got a heavy show today. We got a lot of COVID talk early on about the NFL and what they're doing. We have some,

obviously the PAC 12 player demands, which is near and dear to both our hearts, but I covered the PAC 12 for a living. So I have a lot to say about that. And then we'll end with a little bit of fun with some older quarterbacks. So Gabe, why don't you kick us off with some COVID opt out news in the NFL? Yeah. So some big names are choosing not to play. That is theirbacks. So Gabe, why don't you kick us off with some COVID opt-out news in the NFL? Yeah, so some big names are choosing not to play.

That is their right, of course. The biggest name that I've seen is C.J. Mosley of the Jets, linebacker, of course. He's out eight players on the pats. Almost every team in the league is dealing with this on some level. We're expecting a few more names to come before the deadline, which was negotiated

to be this Thursday, according to Adam Schefter. The owners wanted it even sooner, but Thursday's the day. Oh, and not to bum everyone out, but Eagles coach Doug Peterson tested positive for Corona. He's apparently doing OK, but he's got it. And 84 players are in the protocol right now, having been at least exposed to covid. So opting out makes a fair amount of sense. This is a real problem in the league. I understand better than I thought I would why some guys would make this choice. As a former player, I imagine you see how hard this choice would be,

but I respect the guys who've made it and made it now. Well, it's got to be extremely hard because for whatever reason, football, we don't do sitting out very well, right? Like we've threatened to sit out as NFL players for years, right? When we don't get what we want in the CBA. We're going to get to Pac-12 in a little bit. They're threatening to sit out as well. There's like a very hard team aspect of this, right?

Not letting your buddy down, not letting your teammate down, not letting your friend down, your organization, especially by the way, look, a lot of people think that once you have money in the NFL, you're just free of like any worry. In my opinion, I felt the opposite. I felt like I was obligated to do more for the Giants because I got paid a lot of money. So players have kind of their heart being pulled on by all these different things. So to opt out is a very tough decision. Now, it's not tough for a couple of players. Nate Soldier, for example, cancer survivor, his son has cancer. Very easy

decision, right? We've seen some players that are high risk making this decision it's very important to point out because it's something that people of course are going to right away is that they think players are getting paid to sit out yes and no high risk players are getting 350 000 as a stipend which is basically in advance a next year's salary their contracts toll over for a year which means next year they get the same deal they have a year, which means next year, they get the same deal they have this year. Okay, so you're one less year to free agency. But high risk players,

I believe accrue a season toward retirement, which is very important. And we do have good benefits. If you're a low risk player or no risk player, you get 150 toward next season, no accrued season, and your contract tolls over. So we're not getting broke off to sit out, okay?

And that's a very important distinction to make here. And guys have many different reasons. They have newborns. I think some players are just about to retire. And this is a mental way for them to get out without actually having to say, I'm retiring. Because we've seen older players, they're getting close to the end. This is like their mental way to kind of get themselves

out of playing without having to say, I retire and maybe get a little bit of money. The NFL wanted this deadline pushed up because they felt players were using it, who were going to get it cut. But again, I haven't really noticed that, Gabe. I haven't noticed a lot of players, like fringe players. There are fringe players that are sitting out and they might never play in the NFL again. And this is the business. Look, if you sit out this year, you might lose your spot, right? You might lose your job. The NFL teams might look at you sideways, even though they'll say they support you. But it's a hard knock business, man. Like if you're not there and someone beats you out, you're not gonna have your spot next year. Players all know this, that this is part of opting out.

But one thing I want to discuss with you specifically, Gabe, this is earlier today. This tweet was at about 1 p.m. Eastern. And so I don't think any players have opted out since then, but it's important. Of the 44 players who have opted out so far, 13 are offensive linemen and 10 are defensive linemen. We've also had tight ends opt out.

So that leads me to believe, do defensive linemen. We've also had tight ends opt out. So that leads me to believe, do offensive linemen and defensive linemen who are going to be in close combat feel less safe playing football than the rest of us? Also note, you know, they say BMI is a big part. I think BMI is mostly BS for a guy like me. But nonetheless, it's a thing. And, you know, the higher BMI you are, the more issues you have with COVID. Yeah. And I mean, I've gotten to know you a little bit, Jeff, and you're a former offensive lineman. You're a pretty normal guy. You're not wired like wide receivers that I've met. I think that, you know, there's sort of a working class vibe to a

lineman that maybe says this ain't worth it. And the, the fame and fortune that doesn't always come with being a lineman is not part of the equation. So that, that could also be part of it, but yeah, I mean, being a 300 plus pound guy, and we see what happens to guys like you who get out of the league, you lose a ton of weight. You know, a lot of, a lot of guys who play in the line wouldn't walk around at that weight. Um, so maybe it is a little bit more unhealthy for some of those guys and they're being more careful. Yeah.

And that's, you know, obviously what we'll see more of these, you know, more of these. We saw Odell Beckham came out. Wall Street Journal said, hey, I don't think it's safe to play this season. And that was two weeks ago. And now Mary Kay Cabot, who covers the Browns for years, has said that he has changed his opinion based off of what they're doing at the facility. And I will say this. I have watched as many videos.

I've looked at as many pictures as I can about teams attempting their best to keep everyone healthy. And I think they're doing the best they can of it not being a bubble, okay? They have sensors. They're testing every day. Look, the Broncos have some sort of sanitizing machine. I don't know if that's the thing. The Dolphins are like sanitizing the air in the locker room. I don't know if those are real

things or just to make players feel more safe, I guess. I don't know. But I will say, you know, we gave the NFL a lot of grief for getting to the point of starting. But Gabe, they're doing what they can in the facilities to keep everyone healthy. Now, of course, Doug Peterson got COVID outside the facility. So that's the issue is that how are they going to play? Because they're going to have a Marlins situation. We're going to have a St. Louis Cardinals situation where they have 11 staff and players testing positive. They've shut it down.

We're going to have those. How can the NFL players stay safe is my biggest concern, and I hope they can do it. So far, I think they've done a decent job. I know there's, you know, there's a lot of players on the COVID list, but for,

you know, 2000 players coming back all at once to have 94 on there is, is not terribly bad. Yeah. I mean, it's not, here's the issue though. And I think the reason I'm no epitome epitomologist,

but part of the problem, thank you for correcting that. Part of the problem is if you feel for correcting that. Part of the problem is if you feel that you are safe within your sort of your bubble of camp or the bus or among your teammates, and these guys are being told that they are safe, it will spread very quickly. As we've seen with the Marlins and Cardinals, that if one guy comes in with it, wherever he got it, whether he went to the club in Atlanta or just some freak thing, or by the way, chance more of us are walking around it than we would ever know. But we aren't tested every single day like these folks are.

All these things are possible. But when you believe that you're in a safe work environment, it's much easier to spread. So that's a concern of mine. And that might be why so many of these guys said it's not that they don't trust their team or the league. It's that there's just simply no way to ensure safety. So, you know, the question I have about the guys sitting out, though, and this is a fair question. People have said this is like, hey, are they just never going to leave their house? But I think to your point, though, is that the facility being inside we know leads itself to spread COVID, right?

Being in close contact as much as look, there's a video out of the Rams. Sean McVay's wearing a face shield. Everyone's sitting six feet apart. But still, if you take your mask off to go shower for a second or to eat and you cough and it gets everywhere, like there's ways to still get COVID in the facility. So look, no, the players are not going to just sit at home all day at home, but they feel like the risk is less. And I'll tell you what, for the most part, I have only gone to the market to take my child to school now, you know, to get physical therapy.

Like, I'm not going anywhere. Like, I could easily just sit out of season and not do anything. I'm fortunate enough to not have to go a lot of places. Now, my wife is working, and that's a concern, right? What happens if your wife brings you in the house? But I think it's very easy for players to just do nothing for most of the year. I mean, they're probably going to go work out, but they're not going to be out at the bar if they've opted out of the NFL season.

They're not going to be out at a club. So I think the players are going to do what they can to stay healthy off the field too. I think you're right. And also, by the way, I'm no contract expert, but looking at the Mosley situation, the guy was signed a $10 million roster bonus or paid a $10 million roster bonus in March, which is like two thirds of what he was set to make this year. So just rationally speaking, like, why should he play? Who could blame him for not playing? He just made $10 million not to play, right? I mean, that's got to be a factor for a few guys. Yeah, I'm very curious though about the Jets' approach to that because it feels like they could be like,

hey man, like we paid you to play and you're not playing. Like, are we getting that money back? I think, you know, obviously if he plays next year, the contract tolls over. I'm curious about that specifically because I don't know what the bonus language says if a player sits out. Because we know if you retire before your guaranteed salary is up, you owe the team back money. I mean, the Lions famously made Calvin Johnson pack a million dollars back to them.

So you owe money if you retire too early. So with Moseley's case specifically, I am very curious if the Jets at some point would be like, hey, buddy, we paid you. Bronson was expecting you to play this season. Are we getting any of that back? I'm curious about that. Yeah, I'm curious too.

New York fans had a lot of that type of emotion this weekend with Cespedes also. How about that, by the way? I know we're not a baseball podcast, but my man just up and left town. He didn't tell anybody. He had a walk-off home run, right, in game one of the season.

And just up and left, he didn't tell nobody. They tweet out that they thought basically he was missing. Like there was some nefarious action that happened. And 30 minutes later, it's like, well, he just packed his stuff and left. He didn't tell them, but they tweet out that they thought basically he was missing. Like there was some nefarious action that happened. And 30 minutes later, it's like, well, he just packed his stuff and left. They literally went to go, we went to his apartment or his condo. He was gone. He just gone in the wind. Yeah.

Well, he's been a mystery since the day he signed. So listen, with the NFL, it sounds like, you know, you've talked a lot about how hard it is to rehab, how hard this job is, how hard this job is on your families. I was talking with my wife about this decision that guys are facing and I was describing what you've told me it was like for your wife when you were still in the league and had young children and what kind of pressure that puts on her. Now to worry about your health and the family's health. I get it. I get why guys are saying it's not worth it. And look, the bubble idea, I come back to this bubble idea.

Everyone's like, well, bubble up, bubble up. The Saints, by the way, are doing a bubble for training camp, which I like. They're going to a hotel. One month is fine, right? Like, look, Gabe, if you told your wife you have three young kids under,

you have three kids under three, and you told your wife, hey, I'm going somewhere for a month, but the trade-off is i make five hundred thousand dollars your wife would be like leave go go right for one month she might have me leave for way less than that but yeah but like but like for six months or seven months and by the way it's not just the football players families it's the equipment managers families it's the athletic trainers families it's all the people the saints are doing this for 150 people 280 people they're not bringing their families with them they're just these are just personnel um and so it's a lot of people that's just why the bubble for the nfl was never going to work so i'm glad they're doing these

mini bubbles but i come back to this it's very simple. NFL players have got to do their part off the field. We saw that with the Marlins, with the Cardinals. There's going to be teams here that don't play 16 games. It's just the way it's going to be. And so can we minimize that as much as possible and play through it? Baseball is just saying, screw it. We're playing through it, right? We're finding ways to make it work, which I think the NFL is going to do too, until obviously it could get to a point where it's just too much during flu season. it work, which I think the NFL is going to do too, until obviously it could get to a point where it's just too much during flu season. Yeah. Well, it's easy to make fun of guys who pick up COVID going to the club. I think, you know, the 50 year old coach also deserves some level of scrutiny.

Maybe there's an innocent explanation, but all people on Twitter who are crapping all over the players for how they got it, maybe ask a few questions about how Coach got it too. He did not answer today. What is the answer? He did not answer. He said he's not revealing that. Right, okay. So I'm not saying he did anything wrong, but let's not assume every player did something stupid and selfish

and every coach just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Probably there's a little bit of forgiveness and blame that we could give to everyone. Let's move to a challenging topic here. And then one you have spent a lot of time on and please cut me off as, as needed, because this one is difficult, but we're talking about opt-outs. Um, the players in the PAC 12 football players in PAC 12 put together a put together a really amazing piece with the Players' Tribune that basically listed a set of demands that they have that if they are not met, they apparently will sit out the football season. Some of these demands are really like pretty bold, aggressive asks, and others are just such common sense, you almost wonder why they had to be

raised. I mean, I'll list a few of them. One of the more bold ones was a 50-50 rev share between schools and players to fund scholarships for athletes. So football players would get football scholarships and 50-50 rev share with the team. The ability to opt out during this pandemic and keep your scholarship and eligibility and spot on the team. Makes sense. They would want to deny schools the ability to protect against liability. So in other words, if they bring a bunch of guys back to play and then everyone gets sick, the school should have some liability in that. And they want to ensure that a third party oversees all the testing and safety protocols for the athletes, not just leaving it in the hands of the schools. There's more stuff. It's exhaustive, but it was a very well-written, very bold statement from a bunch of players who organized.

I say good for them. They're using the leverage they have. What say you? I'm with you on using the leverage they have. And I appreciate college players understanding they have a voice, right? They have a voice. And a lot of these suggestions, really their demands, are bold. they work, and some of them are just utterly ridiculous.

And some of those ridiculous ones, I think, weigh down the actual point of these demands, right? And that's maybe an oversight by them. They only put this together within the last month. It's been fairly quickly to come together and put these lists of demands out to the conference. There's some procedural things I kind of don't understand. I've talked a lot about this, by the way, on my Pac-12 show and SiriusXM 373. I mean, there's no person to negotiate with. There's no Demora Smith. There's no Tony Clark. They haven't talked to the Pac-12 office yet.

So there's interesting little things like that. So the meat and bones of what this is about. There's a COVID part, and these are all tied together, in my opinion. There's a COVID part, a racial justice part, and a basic economic part. And they're all three tied together, right? They're all tied together. Why play through a pandemic when for years we've been unpaid labor and most of us have been minorities, right? Like that, they all kind of mix together. So think about this document in that sort of fashion. So section one, and I've read this through many times, is the COVID-related parts.

And this to me, the PAC-12 should have already done, which is here's how we're getting back to work related to COVID. And to be fair, Oregon football players, Stanford football players have come out and said, we've done a good job. Like they're happy primarily in their facilities with how they're returning to action. They're now back full workouts. If you can do it, I mean, USC can't go back to work out yet. August 17th is supposed to be training camp. They want more from the Pac-12 conference, right? They also want insurance because of COVID.

You're not getting that, all right? They don't want to sign a liability waiver. Maybe the Pac-12 relents on that. But again, if I'm the Pac-12, if you're any business, you're not going to just allow the players to sue you. Like, that's a part where I don't know if they're going to get that, all right? But they're going to get protocols. And they're going to get that, all right? But they're going to get protocols and they're going to get a third-party independent watch group, which is

also something they asked for. We're going to skip section two because coaches are not voluntarily going to take less money. They're not going to pay for less facilities. Section three is the racial injustice part. This is going to be three for three. They're going to get all this, okay? I'm telling you right now. It's very easy for the Pac-12 conference. The Pac- to be three for three. They're going to get all this. Okay. I'm telling you right now. It's a, it's very easy for the PAC 12 conference. The PAC 12 has been very inclusive. They've been on the forefront of this. The most minority head coaches in all of college football is in that conference. All right. I think five of them to be exact. They've done a great job with that. So number one is they want basically a advisory board, right? Some sort of advisory board to discuss issues with racial injustice.

Pac-12 is going to do that. Check that off. They'll do it. Number three in the three things they want in that section is a Pac-12 Black Player Summit. Boom. Check. They're going to do that. Done, right? Great suggestion. And number two is really interesting in this whole order of things. Two percent of revenue going to low-income Black students and other minorities and other basically causes that they determine, they again, is kind of broad, that they determine. I think, Gabe, and I'll ask you right here, that to me feels like a win for both the Pac-12 conference to do and really help the demands of the players. and really help the demands of the players.

Well, yeah. And I think what they're trying to do, and the authors of this letter worked in groups across multiple schools, and I think what they're trying to do is be leaders and force the hands of bigger entities than just the Pac-12, sort of like the state of California put in place laws about name, image, license. They're trying to get all of the NCAA to hear them, not just worry about their 12 teams. So I think without knowing if 2% is the right number, it feels like they're going to be able to push that across multiple conferences by raising that issue.

They will. And again, this is a very PACTA related. I don't know if other conferences will have these. Now, a bunch of other stuff, the economic demands, the 50% revenue, insurance, all this other stuff, it's not going to happen. It's not going to happen. The PAC 12 really has no reason to negotiate on those things with the players. There's legal issues when it comes to those topics as well. There's NCAA rules as well. But look, name, image, and likeness, which is basically you're allowed to market yourself, which I don't know if people realize. College athletes

are not allowed to market themselves. So I can't, as a college athlete while under scholarship, I cannot go to a car dealership and get paid $5,000. I cannot get paid to post on Instagram. I can't get paid to do any of that stuff, which is utterly ridiculous. In any walk of life game, if someone wants to give you money to market yourself, you can do so. So they want 50% of revenue, which again, there's a lot of contradictory stuff in here. They want to fund all athletic programs, but also get 50% of and get two percent here and and then have six year scholarships which again costs money and then they want insurance for six years and it just it's not it all doesn't really add up it's just a lot they threw a lot at the pac-12 conference to try again but the problem is i go back to is

that it kind of weighs down the really good aspects of this document which are the covid related stuff and look cutting down some lavish expenses in in, I think we'd agree that probably they spend a lot of money in the wrong ways. And there's a way to do that. But there's a couple of things that I, overarching points I think are important to discuss when it comes to this letter that I think the players are sort of a little bit out of touch with. One is the idea, and this is a discussion we have on Twitter. It's a terrible place to have these discussions, is I feel like in general, we completely devalue the scholarship at all. Like we just say it's not worth anything. It's worth something, right? Do we agree on that, Gabe? Like it's a free ride at, especially in the Pac-12 Conference, some amazing institutions.

You're going to USC, to Stanford, to Cal, to UCLA, right? Great academic institutions for free. And you leave those institutions with typically a degree and no college debt. And as a whole, that program's value, you being part of that program, props yourself up. Okay. It props it. So I think we've somehow like just devalued altogether what a scholarship is. It just feels that, I mean, I don't, maybe it doesn't feel that way to you. Like reading through this, it feels like there's just no talk at all about there actually is a value in that actual scholarship. Yeah. But you're not allowed to be nuanced because

if you say that, then all of a sudden a certain portion of Twitter is pouncing on you for somehow, you know, not thinking players should get paid. And that's not the argument you're making. You're just simply saying they should get something and let's acknowledge that this is worth something. Should they get more? Perhaps we can have that discussion. But this let's start from this is valuable. You're not allowed to say that in certain certain groups. I will say, though, to join with that that crew. freak out about the idea that players are speaking up for themselves and asking for more when these universities are extremely profitable. Like why do I random guy care about Larry Scott's salary or the endowment at Stanford? Like what am I fighting for that for? Like if the quarterback can make a little extra money and be happier and safer and healthier. Why is that a bad thing? I think people, all this is jealousy,

right? They're jealous that they don't have a scholarship and that the players are asking for more. Obviously there has to be a racial component to this. I mean, more people have said it. There has to be, I think, I don't know how,

why else people would want to hold down college athletes at the rate they do. And maybe it's a subconscious thing. Maybe it's outright racism. But that's some part of that in this discussion. I don't get it either. Because like I said, in any walk of life, name, image, and likeness, marking yourself is part of this. And another thing that I think that players don't really understand in this is the value

of themselves as a player to the school, okay? You know, there are studies that have come out that each player is worth a million dollars to their school. Are you sure about that? Is the backup center worth a million dollars to their school or is the starting quarterback worth 25 and the backup is worth 100,000? And I think that they don't quite understand that when an image of likeness happens, okay, five players on a team are going to get broke off.

That's really it. Now, look, you know, Oregon, for example, Panay Sewell, Kayvon Thibodeau, maybe a couple of the inside linebacker recruits, Javon Holland, USC, Slovis, Amon Ross, St. Brown, J2Felly. There's four or five guys that are going to make a ton of money. Now, Jeff Schwartz might get $1,000 from his hometown touchdown football club. That's money. I'm not going to diminish that. But I think all throughout this document, the athletes have kind of inflated a little

bit their actual individual worth to the entire machine. Now, if none of them play, of course, they're worth a lot because no one would make any money. But there is still some value to being on that football team that I think is being ignored in this demands. Yeah, that's fair. But isn't this just, I mean, everyone tries to start a negotiation by making their most extreme case. And I think that they're right to do that for themselves. I would ask this though, with the name, image, and license, isn't it, and it's an honest question, isn't it the threat of that to the teams and universities that if I

can just go sponsor the quarterback, I don't need to run my money through the whole organization. And now I've got a few million bucks I want to spend. I'm just going to give him half of it. And then I've got only half left for the university. Whereas right now to get your hands on the quarterback, it's all got to go to the university. Yes and no. Again, I go back to how much are someone going to pay the number one recruit in the country to come and talk about football basketball i think there's a lot more money to make because one or two basketball players can make you a championship team you have to buy like 15 or 20 football players to make you a championship team right and that's a lot of money to do that and maybe someone you

know is willing to do that but yes your point's accurate, that if someone pays a player $500,000, let's say, that's $500,000 less to the school. But again, if you cut off some cost, if you cut off some things here and there, you could make it work as an athletic department. The last point about this that I want to make is kind of a counter to the demands per se is that, look, football makes up 85% of an athletic budget. It makes up almost everything. They are the only sport besides basketball, men's basketball, that typically makes schools

money. Some teams make money on women's basketball, maybe softball, maybe baseball, but it's very minuscule. And the coaching salaries are a lot. They're a lot of money. And plenty of people have argued that they shouldn't be that high. And the facilities are lavish. There're a lot of money. And plenty of people have argued that they shouldn't be that high. And the facilities are lavish. There's a ton of money spent there.

A lot of times, though, privately donated money. But the upkeep's a lot of money. Those are all to help you win at football, in theory. And if you win at football, you make more money. Everyone makes money. So to say the coaches should cut their salaries, well, you're not going to get good coach in the Pac-12 conference. You're not going to get a good coach in the Pac-12 conference. You're not going to be a good conference.

Hey, the next time that a kid comes to your school and he looks at your facility and it's not very good, he's not coming to your school anymore. So as soon as kids say, I don't care who coaches me and I don't care about the facilities, they'll stop spending money on facilities and coaches. But those are things that recruits care about. It's what players care about. They want the best coaches. Well, typically, you've got to pay for facilities and coaches. But those are things that recruits care about. It's what players care about. They want the best coaches. Well, typically, you've got to pay for the best coaches.

So some of these things I do not think the players, and they're young, right? They're 18, 22-year-olds. I get it. Again, I appreciate their effort here. They're going to get a lot of these concessions. They're going to be done. But look, Gabe, no one's going to sit out.

I mean. You don't think so. Look, we've seen some players come out. Elijah Molden, who is one of the best players on Washington, first-round draft pick corner, said, look, I'm with y'all on most of it. Don't agree on some of it. I'm not sitting out. During Thompson Robinson, UCLA's quarterback,

who's been, by the way, outspoken. We covered this about a month ago with Chip Kelly. He kind of came out early on. He said, I got to play. We saw a player at Washington State. I got to play. Right? I mean, look, it's hard to sit out.

Will players sit out for COVID? Yes. We already saw this Bruja at Washington State where a player sat out for COVID, but then his coach kind of got on him for it, which is inappropriate. Nick Rolovich, you're losing your team for doing this. Don't do that. Not appropriate about the boycott. I don't think we see a lot of players just say, I'm sitting out specifically for the boycott. Yeah. Well, obviously that impacts how powerful this

movement can be. If the biggest players who are worth the most to the universities just show up and play obviously you know this isn't as powerful if a bunch of guys who we all like watching on saturday say we're not kidding around we're not coming to play then i think they're going to get more we'll see if they stay as a unit but here's the sad part gabe is the pac-12 conference does not have a lot of players who you would like have to they'd have to like sit out for the pac-12 to not play i mean like if it was an sec and a bunch of the quarterbacks that out and the wide receivers you'd be like okay maybe but the pac-12 doesn't have those guys no well also we've we've proven as a

society i mean i watched 20 minutes of two guys playing cornhole the other day. I'll watch the backup guy at any Pac-12 school play. Oh, we'll watch it. You might not be good, but we'll watch it all. And I do think that players, and look, 400 players on this group text. There's been players, big players, Pene Sewell, Oregon's left tackle, Koi Dang, Cal's best returning linebacker have tweeted out. But we talked about this when it came to all the aftermath of George Floyd's murder.

That, look, it's easy to put out a Twitter support, right? It's easy to do that. But again, when it comes down to it, are these players really going to sit out the season? And also, I know we're going long on this, but I think's important topic you know to discuss because there's a very nuance here you know with 400 players and of course i think there's 12 or 13 they're kind of at the top of this is what does everyone need to get back do you know do they need the covid part and the racial justice part do they need to see some financial gain from this too like everyone's going to have a different end game and i see it all the time with with nfl players we about it with the new CBA.

So there's a lot of things here that I think make this to where it doesn't actually end up happening in the boycott. But, but players have understood they have power now, they have a voice now, and they can use that voice to get better living conditions essentially in college football. And that I appreciate them going ahead and using their voice. Yeah. And the people on Twitter who are having the same old argument about how college athletes shouldn't be paid and you're just retreading the same stuff and you're in Bolmani's mentions

and you're in Jeff's mentions and you're in Mina's mention. Like, just chill, guys. Just relax. Ask yourself why you care so much that a 19 year old kid is getting his college paid for and you're enjoying watching them on saturday just relax and ask yourself why that bothers you so much it's just jealousy yeah jealousy all right let's let's move to a an easier topic to get into and we'll pick up some time here um excuse me i'm getting choked up thinking about football.

We're finally getting our first looks at some QBs in some new places. Some old dudes showing up in new uniforms now. So we got Bridgewater in Carolina. We got Rivers in Indy. Obviously, we've got Tampa Brady in Tampa Bay and we've got his replacement Super Cam in New England. and we've got his replacement Super Cam in New England. So here's the take. Get ready. All these guys will fail except Cam. You've told me too many times in the last few weeks,

you got to have time to sync up. These teams aren't getting together. It's going to be hard to gel with a team that you haven't worked with before under these COVID conditions. Some of these guys aren't that good in the first place or they're joining teams that aren't that good. It's not going to work for any of them, including Brady. Cam's the only winner in the bunch. Well, Cam is like half his team sitting out. So that's going to be tough. I mean,

he's got a new offensive line coach, a bunch of guys sitting out. Cam's in a tough spot, but I do think that he will play well in New England, which I've said for a while. Look, Teddy Bridgewater, great story, but the Panthers return, I think, only 50% of their production from last year. New coaching staff everywhere, right? These guys have never coached – well, Matt Rule coached the NFL for a year or two. Oh, Matt Rule's the best, man. They've never – Don't talk shit about Matt Rule, man.

Joe Brady was the quarterback coach in New Orleans. I mean, look, so they don't have a lot of NFL coaching experience. So, you know, there's going to be concerns there. You know, Tyrod Taylor, they're just waiting for Justin Herbert to be ready to play. The one guy that I'm curious about is Phillip Rivers, and I'll tell you why. Early in his career, Phillip Rivers was what you would call kind of that quote-unquote game manager, right? 2006, and this is when they had LT, they're running the ball a bunch they're 14 and 2 he threw the ball

480 times 460 times 460 times then in 2007 11 and 5 through the ball 406 times again exactly same amount two years later they're 13 and 3 486 The rest of his career, he's thrown the ball no few, I mean, you know, over 508 times every single year. Some years, closer to 600. So we're going to get, in my opinion, game manager Phillip Rivers. We're going to go back to that. Indy's going to run the football. It's the best offensive line he's had in 10 years.

And they're going to just scheme up easy throws for Phillip Rivers. His arm is half dead anyways. But I think we're going to see game manager run the football, Phillip Rivers. That might have a chance to work. That sounds so friggin' boring. That makes a 7-9 team

a 9-7 team irrelevant in the postseason. I'm calling that failure. I don't care about them. Sure, but that's what I think we're going to get from him. I mean, he's got a chance to go 10-6 in that division, I think.

Okay. So I just, I don't, so like the Colts don't, don't matter. I mean, whatever. Deshaun wins the division and maybe has a chance in the postseason.

Phillip Rivers making him an 8-8 team or a 9-7 team, I'm counting that as not a thing. Jacoby Brissett could have done that. What's Tom Brady going to make? What's Tom Brady going to go? I don't think it's going to work.

I think the whole thing with Tom, it took him a decade to become an actual leader of an offense and not just a guy carried by defense. It's all based on his precision and his obsessive nature and he's got to have exactly the right guy in the right place. These guys don't know him.

How did it piss you? How much did it piss you off to see them working out extra on the side? And then, and then Florio confirmed that it was legal to be working out like that. That pissed you off? Because no one else was working out like that. Yes, of course it pisses me off, but it's not good enough. It's not going to make a difference. He's going to outwork everybody.

But I agree the first, oh, I agree that the first. That was my wife popping her head in thinking, he's talking about Brady, this could get ugly. I'm not going to enjoy the rest of my night if this guy's talking to Brady. Oh, there she is, he's popping back. Have we shared the story on air, by the way, about your wife and what I thought,

that she was a fake person? Yeah, I don't remember if you shared this on here. Really quickly, this is fantastic. So another podcast Gabe and I worked on, there was a lady with a deep British accent who was giving the cues for the games. If it was like New England versus Los Angeles, she would say New England versus Los Angeles,

and she would say the line. And the accent is so perfect, and the drops when she would say New England versus Los Angeles. And she would say the line. And the accent is so perfect. And the drops when she would talk, especially the jokes, she would say were just so perfect. And when it came to this live show we did, we did a live show, and they said, Georgine's going to be there. And I said, you mean like the computer's going to be there? They're like, no, she's a real person.

It's a real person. She's not a real person. And of course, she walks in. She's a real person. And her accent's, you know, obviously she's from England. It's a real person. She's not a real person. And of course she walks in. She's a real person. And her accent, you know, obviously she's from England. It's wonderful. And you guys tried to mock me for that. And we put it out to the crowd and half of them said that she thought it was fake too.

I know. She was hard to believe. Most people did not think she was real. But when Paul LaDuca is the voice of reason and the guy who figured it all out you know that you were on the wrong side of history when laduka is the guy who's like no no guys let me explain that's not a good sign and that's what happened that night she's she's she's real so fantastic hello hello uh gabe's wife thanks for popping on um yeah you know look tom brady is the first month is going to be tough it's just going

to be tough i know that they think they're going to power through it i get it but new you know new coach and quarterback compared for the first time you know everything i believe i their left tackle might be one players who's opting out there's rumors about it not done not set in stone that's a problem it's a problem he's always had good left tackles. You're not going to find, I mean, Donald Penn is the only guy that comes to mind. Jason Peters just signed with the Eagles

that could kind of like, okay, go play right now and make it work. So it's not going to be perfect. But I think Rivers, go 10 and six. You know, Cam Newton's probably going to go, what what 10 and six, Tom Brady, 10 and six. I mean, they're kind of all three of those guys probably have the best opportunity to go about 10 wins. I'm going with the other side of what you said

we, a couple of weeks ago, I just want veteran teams with the same lineup in place where they all know the playbook. They all know how each other like to work. There's nothing new about it. And for the first few weeks, they're just going to ram people with offense. And I think they're going to get in a hole in New England or excuse me, in Tampa Bay. And Tom Brady is going to be that guy who throws the hissy fits and drags all his receivers under the bus. And they're going to be showing him pointing at a Microsoft surface, screaming at Chris Godwin. And and we're going to see pretty him pointing at a Microsoft surface, screaming at Chris Godwin. And, uh, and we're going to see pretty quick.

It ain't going to work. I, I hope I like Tom Brady. I, I, I don't know why it just, there's something about him that, that I enjoy. I don't know what it is. Yeah. Okay. It's your brainwash like every other NFL media member into thinking you like Tom Brady because you've been told you have to like Tom Brady. Let's move the line. The more amazing person in the world, the only one actually outranking Tom Brady in most people's eyes is The Rock. Good news. The Rock is now the

owner or co-owner of the XFL. He's bought it with a bunch of backing. I want to know, is this the XFL that actually lasts now that The Rock owns it? Over or under 99% chance of success? I'm going to go over here. The question is, what is success? I don't know. But everything The Rock does turns into gold.

He's now a comedy star, action star, like kids movie star. The Rock, The Rock, everything, everything. You know, he has, he has, Zuri suggests that success is two seasons in a row. Okay, that's fair. He's kind of up and running. Just come back for another season is success.

No, I think two, just two consecutive seasons in a row. Okay. Like full consecutive seasons in a row, Zuri has weighed in. That's what he believes. All right, so you think The Rock can bring the XFL two seasons in a row? Yes, I think so.

I think so too. The Rock doesn't invest in things to not make money, right? I mean, it's just what he does. I am very jealous of the rocks instagram have you been the rocks instagram account before yes of course what he has the best he has the best cheat meals i've ever seen in my life he'll eat like 17 cookies and four pizzas and i'm so jealous he gets gyms set up for him and these movie studios he lifts all day then films and eats a ton of food i mean dude dude's living the dream guys

don't take what tequila brand now um i'm a big fan of the rock there's nothing not to like about the rock um buying the xfl i thought was interesting given the xfl's history with vince mcmahon the rock was always a company guy he and vince are sort of a thing i don't know what the message there is we'll have to get some wrestling nerds in to explain it to us. Maybe call blackjack Fletcher. I think now XFL I'm long on it. I think it will be here for decades. Uh, all right,

next up. I want to know times. We have to speak about Antonio Brown signing somewhere in the first eight weeks of the season over under 7.5. Is this going to be a weekly conversation this year? Um, yeah, it's a, it's a nightly conversation.

Pete Carroll said he's kicking the tires of Antonio Brown and Josh Gordon. Like today, as we're doing this. Why is this? What more do people need to see about Antonio Brown that they want him around? I was very surprised at the Lamar Jackson quote about him that basically said that like that like he needed him in the locker room but they also have a great locker room which basically meant like i think they want his is kind of his his football attitude on the field in the locker room and that locker room can handle maybe the outside part of his it's just like but look when you're talented gabe you get a lot of chances right it's just the way it is in all walks of life.

And a game suspension for Antonio Brown, if he can stay out of trouble, if his civil suit doesn't blow up, I don't know, into something else, no other crimes accused, he stays out of trouble for eight weeks, someone's going to sign him. Do you hear the ifs you just rattled off? And I'm not even making any jokes here, man. I before last season, I was on record saying I'm done joking about this guy. There's something wrong with him. I don't know what it is. I don't know if it's mental health. I don't know if it's drugs. I don't know what's going on. But he's in that Kanye territory

for me where it's like it's too bad because this guy was awesome. And now I don't know what's going on. I don't see how he becomes someone you can count on. I don't see how you can give him money and ask him to be part of your team. Well, you're probably going to give him a veteran minimum deal. No guaranteed money. Okay. That hasn't worked the last two times that it was tried. After he left a team that basically hung on to him for a couple years,

clearly after they even wanted him around. He's basically burned three teams in two years. It's fair. Again, I wouldn't sign him, but I'm not Seattle. Pete Carroll's like living the dream out there, man. He can do whatever he wants. Okay. Good luck, Pete.

Odds people finally stopped complaining about their Monday night football booth now that it's Levy, Riddick, and Gracie. Over under 0.5% chance. 0.5% or 0.5 people? No. I want to know if there's any chance at all that people will stop complaining about the Monday Night Football booth or is that just something we're going to have our whole lives? I'm fairly certain like Mad Dog Russo went on a giant rant about Steve Levy doing this already. That checks out. Yeah, it says here, you know, he said, Steve Levy, we're going to put Steve Levy in there who's never done a Monday Night. We're going to throw Steve in there. I mean, come on.

He's not Dick Enberg. What? So first of all, like Steve Levy has called many, many games and is very, very good and is a voice that lots of people know. I think this might have been months ago he said this, but that's still. That just seems like he's got a personal problem with Steve Levy because they both come from the New York area. I'm sure he knows him from 20 years ago. Steve Levy is the least objectionable part of this. If people want to complain, they'll complain about Riddick or Gre or greasy but i don't even know what to complain about with either of those

guys they both seem fine i am i don't watch games for the announcers i i most of the time when i watch games they're on mute literally so i have three tvs and they're on two of them are on mute and the red zone channel is on i need to hear hear Andrew Siciliano's nice voice all the time so I can turn my attention to the important – if he says, okay, Chiefs – I watch the Chiefs on the big TV. Rams, Jets. Jets in the Red Zone. And I turn to –

That wouldn't be the case. So I turn to the TV that has the Red Zone channel on. I even watch national games with the volume very low. I don't – and maybe because I don't need Chris Collinsworth to explain to me what's happening. But I understand why people do tune in for this. I think this crew is going to be just like whatever. Like they'll be enough to where people won't complain and just be good. Like they're not going to be Al Michaels and Collinsworth.

They won't be Romo and Nance. They're going to be good. They're not going to be Al Michaels and Collinsworth. They won't be Romo and Nance. They're going to be good. Right. Which means that people are going to complain. You gave me my answer. There's a 0% chance it's complaining. Okay. But what are the right people to complain? Everyone complains. Yeah. Okay. I mean, that's all you've proven. Let me ask you this. How many more times is Rob Manford going to change the rules of the baseball season? Over 100.5 more times. I'll give you, how about tomorrow? Before tomorrow, will he change the rules again?

I think he just did it. He just did. He changed the rules again. Yeah, the rules are, but this is what, it's just this season's going to be what it is. I like that baseball is being flexible because we know baseball for a long time, rigid as can be. How do you feel about the seven-inning doubleheaders? Love it. Love it.

I said to friends, seven innings is plenty. Let's make every game that way. DH and NL? Good. Because it seems rather silly now to have pitchers hitting. Really, we need pitchers to hit. There's like one in all of baseball that can hit. Madison Bumgarner is the only one that can actually hit.

Why do we need to have pitchers hit? We don't. It's another position for someone else. So yeah, I wonder if these are going to be part of the extra innings rule. Yeah, I don't want us to watch a 13 inning game. Put a guy on second base in the 10th inning. Yeah. I mean, it's insane that that's their solution is like

we've got this massive problem with the COVID outbreaks, but you know, we'll shorten, we'll shorten double headers. I don't think they're really getting the point, but yeah, I expect many more rules changes to try to keep this thing alive. There's a lot at stake, a lot of money on the line and a lot of our enjoyment for us Mets fans. It's the season's already shot. I mean, we're done. All right. Last one real quick days. You could spend in orbit before asking to come home, over under 29.5. Oh, I can make it over for sure.

You think so? Yeah, I mean, you just, I mean, what do I, I'm doing my job up there. I'm just like, or I'm just doing nothing. No, you're busy. You're being an astronaut. Yeah, I could be, I mean, now in COVID, I think all of us would be like, yeah, 30 days out of my family, be my guest. 30 days floating around, eating, you know, the stupid ice cream that they give you in space camp,

just looking down at the earth, reading little charts that you can do that. How do you go number two in the spacecraft? I don't know the answer to that. But I imagine that when you just resign yourself to that being the way that it's actually quite nice. I've thought about this with my kids. I'm like – so they just go in a diaper and nobody judges them for it?

That must feel great. Right? Just floating around in a space suit and just got to go. I don't know. I don't know if sitting in a shitty diaper is exciting for kids. I mean, it's got to be, it probably feels like good. I guess you just go wherever they want. But I mean, my kids have enjoyed going to the bathroom in the bathroom.

They enjoy doing that. No, I get it. I'm just saying if there was no societal pressure on you to go find a toilet and you could just let it go yes well especially like i i don't do this as much anymore to eat better but like you know when you have that poop attack driving down the street yes if you just let it go i've had many of those where like i'm in that like that holding the stomach cramp and i'm just driving rushing home and run in and blow i've had those issues yeah we've all had. So yeah, if you could just go on yourself. Are your twins potty trained yet?

No, not yet. Not yet. We've got to get on this. It's coming now. They're old enough. We have to get on this. I can update you soon. We're dealing with sleep training with the other one.

So we have to get our priorities in order. Daddy needs to sleep before the kids start pooping in the toilet. Pigger fish to fry, right? By the way, I had one of those moments you were just describing, uh, where you're like, Oh man, I don't know if I'm going to make it. But I was at that time, I was swimming in the Marina here in LA. I was trying to get a workout. Just go in the ocean. Strongly considered it. Uh, my body settled down. I was able to hold in. But interesting fact, while swimming, I'm a little bit foggy these days.

Not sleeping a lot. Not as sharp as I should be. While swimming, swam into a buoy. Head first into a buoy. And now I've got a buoy dent on my forehead. The new video viewers of this show will see. head first into a buoy. And now I've got a buoy dent on my forehead. The new video viewers of this show will see. That's why I've been wearing this SC hat the whole time.

Wait, so you just free swim in the ocean for workouts? I've been trying to do that lately. That's hard. There's no pools open. I mean, what else can you do? There's no gyms. That's a great workout. That's hard to do.

Yeah, it is. I mean, I'm drinking, you know, boat gas, but other than that, it's great. I mean, and the riptides in Southern California are fierce. I don't know, in the marina side. Oh, okay. You're fine then. Yeah. The rip currents can be bad like in Santa Monica. No, you got to be very careful out there.

No, if you go off the beach past the surfers and swim, you know, pier to pier. Yeah. You need to be really strong and you probably have a little extra somebody keep an eye on you because that that can get tough this is in the marina in fact i had a seal swim up to me the other day it's nothing i got connor bad rip time i was like 15 years old and the lifeguard was like waving at me like sorry like because you know and so i i swam sideways and got out of it um nothing lifeguard can do that you have to kind of just like hopefully you pop out the back end or you swim sideways and

and get through it you can't fight it so yeah i'm glad you're safe when you're doing that uh you ran into a buoy that's just incredible i were you thinking about like sam darnold you're just like this guy just what you're so frustrated just boom yeah uh you bring up sam darnold by the way like that guy couldn't avoid mono so how is he how's he gonna do this season just saying okay well it's a good point to end on that on on that note um great show again today guys again i appreciate you sticking with us with a new format, a new style we're doing here. Really, I'm excited to do the video. We've been practicing now for months on making this quote-unquote right. Appreciate Zuri, of course, our producer, getting this going.

So thank you guys. We'll be back on Thursday. Matt Ford is back. Gambling. We're doing gambling. It's happening. We're previewing the NFL season. Two divisions per week plus a couple props.

We're going to have a lot of fun with that. It's gambling season, everybody. All right, everyone, have a great week. Talk to you guys on Thursday.