Geoff Schwartz Is Smarter Than You - The End of The Aaron Rodgers Saga

Episode Date: July 30, 2021

Geoff is joined by Matt Ford to discuss Aaron Rodgers return to the Packers, coaches quitting over vaccination, and what to expect from Dak and the Cowboys in 2021. They also touch on the Olympics, how to spell HIPAA, and how long Geoff can go without taking a number two. 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.

It's Friday, July 30th. I'm Jeff Schwartz alongside Matt Ford, and this is Jeff Schwartz is Smarter Than You. We're going to talk Aaron Rodgers, who's officially back. Just like we said, we're going to gloat a little bit. We said it's going to happen. It did happen. Players talking vaccinations and getting to everything that has to do with NFL training camps that have returned. They're all back. They're all glorious. Matt, we tried this earlier in the week we were in the same room for once gabe and i were in the same room we tried this it just we had too much fun so we're doing it with you we had lunch twice this week it was good to see you and um are you ready for football buddy i'm so ready for football i'm sorry that the episode between you and gabe will never be heard by anyone the audio quality was just horrific I think we were all too excited to be together.

Yeah, dude, we're a week away from the Hall of Fame game. Like, what's going on here? Like, it's time. It is. And we will give you a wager for that, by the way. We'll make sure that we give you something to think about when it comes to that contest. But something that we don't think about anymore is Aaron Rodgers coming back to the Packers. Yeah, Jeff.

So as of today, Thursday, when we're taping this, it looks like this is a done deal. The contract's getting fully updated today. The saga's over. I mean, we saw a bunch of Instagram posts that maybe made some sense. We saw Aaron Rodgers come back to training camp wearing a set of dumb sunglasses and an office shirt uh but look you know Aaron Rodgers seems to want some

sort of role in the decision making in the organization it seems like he may have already gotten his wish with this Randall Cobb trade that came through I guess this morning um so you know I I don't know Jeff I mean I feel like we kind of get the W here because we sort of said like hey this is nothing like he's going to play for the Packers sort of no matter what he doesn't have a ton of options but I don't know like where what's your big take right now let's go back a few days so we did cover this on the on the infamously now unusable audio incident so before he came back there was the Instagram post between him and Devontae Adams. When Devontae Adams was not coming back either, right? He was wanting a new

contract and no way he was going to come back. And of course, he showed up. And we've known for a couple of weeks, in my opinion, he's coming back. I thought all along he was coming back. There weren't many options. But let's go back to kind of the kind of the the diva nature of this right like this played out exactly how I thought Rodgers was upset he has made his point he made his point via Instagram but the passive aggressiveness I'm glad it's over now right it's over that like the Packers cannot compare themselves to the Bulls they I have to look this up, Matt, because I thought I was right, but I am right. They haven't been to a Super Bowl in 10 seasons. Now, they won that Super Bowl, but they talk like they're the Bulls, right?

And it's passive-aggressive. Are they showing up? Are they not showing up? Obviously, Auburn cleared up with Rodgers showing up. And now the news is that Rodgers had this big press conference. And I very much appreciate his honesty, right? He was very honest about how he felt, why we're here, and his future. But a couple of things, the press conference, I agree and disagree with.

Everyone praised him for standing up for his team, his former teammates who had been released, right? Charles Woodson, TJ Lang, Jordy Nelson, all these guys that had been released. They said, hey, they weren't treated very well on the way out. I don't know how you treat a player well on the way out when you're not going to re-sign them. And most of the time, the Packers have been right. The player that left was not the same player

once they left the Packers. So what does he want them to do? Re-sign them? You're not the general manager, buddy. That's not your job. Your job is the quarterback. And by the way, the best model of this is New England. And then he gave two shits what Tom Brady had to say about

anything, right? Bill Bissett, who we thought was best for the team, and so did the Packers. So I appreciate him standing up for his teammates, but I get it. He's going to be praised to no end by everyone on social media for that. But in reality, dude, that's not your job. It's not your job. If they don't

want to sign someone, they don't have to sign someone. As much as you like them or they're good teammates, and guess what? You've had success, right? You've made the NCAA championship two years in a row. It's not like you're a bum organization that didn't work out for you. It has worked out for the Packers. You have done, excuse me, the organization has done a good job of getting back to their winning ways. And again, I don't know what he means by this should have treated them better if they don't want to offer them what do they have to like give

him a hug on the way out they're supposed to give him like a kiss each cheek and thank them like like I don't know salute them as they like what I don't know what he wants for that but he did make some good points though I don't want to dog him all for this um he mentioned the Packers and I've talked about this Matt Matt, the entire offseason, since the story broke, that the Packers have not included Aaron Rodgers in any of these discussions. And while I just say he's not the general manager, you can include him in discussions to make him feel like he is, right? We do some marriage all the time, right? We make a spouse feel like they're involved when, in the end, you're making the decision anyways, right?

You know, my wife will be like, hey um you know what do you think about this and i'm like oh well i already bought it okay like you know i mean like she's i'm including the discussion but i'm not really in the discussion right the packers could have easily scored a win and might have to score wins moving forward by including aaron rogers in these discussions right again they don't have to take his advice they They don't have to do what he says, but he's going to feel like he's involved in the process, which clearly he wants to be involved in the process. So if it's a free agent, if it's signing their own player, if it's someone in the draft process, just ask for it.

Hey, Aaron, how do you feel about this? How do you feel if we did this and we did that? Again, you don't have to do any of it, but he feels part of of the process and maybe and maybe matt there's a time when you agree with him you already want to do that and then he tells you hey i like i want to sign this guy and you're like you know what i want to sign him too and then aaron feels part of that it's like the packers rarely screwed up in that they should have involved him in the discussion again doesn't mean they have to to do what he says but evolve in the discussion you know he mentioned doesn't mean they have to do what he says, but evolve him in the discussion. You know, he mentioned that, you know, that he is Green Bay basically, right? Like he's the reason why free agents would come here. I mean, you could call them yourself. Like, you

know, the Packers don't have to be part, you don't have to be part of the official pitch to free agents. You can call them yourself. Nothing stopped. When, when, when Joe Tooney, the left guard, I just turned my light off. That's why Matt's laughing. I'm in a hotel in Las Vegas. When Joe Tooney, the left guard for the Chiefs now, was debating whether or not to come to Kansas City, he called my brother. Or Mitch called him, one of the two.

And Mitch wasn't in official capacity as a Chiefs – I think he was actually released by the Chiefs by then. He wasn't in official capacity as a Chiefs player. I think he was actually released by the Chiefs by then. He wasn't in official capacity as a Chiefs player. He just did it because you make the connection, and Joe called him, and they have the same agent, I think. So Aaron Rodgers, you can do this on your own. You don't need the Packers to sell you as a Packer. Of course they're selling you.

But if you want a free agent, guess what, buddy? You can get their number and call them yourself. There doesn't have to be official capacity as a free agent um and and through all of this um you know i keep thinking that we're going to get to a point and maybe we're there already where people are now going to turn on the media for what they reported i really and i really i don't know why because i feel like it's all been accurate. Rodgers wanted out. He did it at the wrong time.

He should have done it in frequency, because once the draft passed, the value just wasn't there. He wanted out. The Packers stayed firm. They reported that Aaron Rodgers was upset that Jordan Love was drafted.

He wasn't told. Guess what? That was true. The Packers apologized for that. Everything that's been reported has been accurate. And people are crushing, you know, Adam Schefter.

He was right, guys. So now this is over. And I do appreciate Rodgers saying everything in that one moment because guess what? Now, Matt, after this week, it's done, right? We're worried about football now. I've seen all the Packers tweets. It's about football. It's about practice.

What's happening in practice? It's no longer about this. He laid it all on the table that was my takeaways i know long rambling multiple things here but um it's now over the song's over we'll probably do this again next offseason so much smart stuff to react to there um the first thing you know you talk about the decision making process and this randall cobb thing is is perfect right it's like okay aaron you want us to go get Randall Cobb? Like, okay, well, fine, we'll get Randall Cobb.

Like, that's not like a move that's going to put anybody over the top, but that's one of Rodgers' guys. The Texans, you know, God knows they don't need him. They have a thousand terrible offensive specialists. Like, sure, let's get him back. Like, I thought that was a pretty interesting move to sort of signal to both Rodgers and the public. Like, hey, you know, we got our guy here. Like, you know, we've turned the page.

I thought that was an interesting transaction. Having said all this, Jeff, I kind of feel like the Packers sort of played this perfectly. Like, they're getting Rodgers back. He's not going to miss any of camp. You know, they didn't reach a long-term extension with Devante Adams but frankly Jeff like if you don't have Aaron Rodgers next year do you really want to be paying a 30 year old wide receiver the top you know rate for a wide receiver in the entire NFL next year like you probably don't and you know if if you know if the Packers come through this year win the Super Bowl do something amazing this season,

they'll figure it out with Adams. You know what I mean? It's not going to be hard. And if Rodgers really hates it so much there, then he's going to leave anyway, and then Adams is going to want to go too. So I think that they're in a perfect spot. They have an extremely motivated Devontae Adams. Aaron Rodgers clearly is on the same page with him.

I think their offense is going to be great and for all of Green Bay they're probably thinking like hey we got to the NFC championship twice this is the year this is it like let's go all in and I for if I'm a Packers fan like I'm a little worried about what's happening in a year or two but like you win a Super Bowl this year that could sustain you for a while it's interesting how just a week ago the Packers were like the worst organization ever for not resigning Devante Adams and Aaron Rodgers wasn't showing up and then boom you know two days later they're they're great again like it you know I mean like they they've played this to your point exactly right exactly right they got their guy back they gave some concessions the Randall Cobb thing is

weird I mean they just drafted a slot wide receiver but nonetheless it didn't give it wasn't didn't cost him very much to bring back a player that he wanted like that and you're exactly right that's the point right is when you do that you you give Rodgers a win it really cost you nothing to do it yeah that's right and you know he's not a bad player he obviously you know was was part of those those runs a while ago so i don't know i i think all of it was smart the packers definitely took some shit but by the time week one rolls around and that offense is putting up 30 points a game in a terrible division that they're pretty much a lock to win um i don't know i hope you've been listening to us when we kept saying like bet on the packers like take them if they're still at your book like now's the time because he's going to come back

we've been saying that for about two months we've been saying that since this happened there was really there was really no leverage he had there really was none there was none um his leverage was was you know was basically causing a media stir which again, the Packers are not bothered by the media stir. It does not bother them. So yeah, man, it's time for football in Green Bay, which I'm sure Packers fans are very happy about. Yeah, I guess before we get to a topic that is just going to be not that pleasant to talk about in the vaccines,

I'm curious. Russell Wilson is a guy who we were sort of thinking might kind of follow a similar playbook. He kind of did just a little bit before Rodgers. It's now sort of hard to remember. If you are a Wilson or if you're the next quarterback who wants to ditch your organization, I'm curious, like, if there was any lesson learned here i feel like if anything pack or rogers looks kind of silly he didn't really get anything maybe he got some concessions in the contract that we don't know about yet but i don't feel like he necessarily came out of this on top if your big win was getting randall cobb back dude like i you know bully for you yeah and

he really doesn't even have it out in 2022. Like, they're allowed to talk about it, but, like, there's no team option. I mean, it's going to be a player option. They don't have to trade him again. But, Matt, the part about the NFL, maybe different than any other league, is when the season starts,

this off-season drama goes away, right? I mean, the NBA, as we're doing this, Russell Westbrook might go to the Lakers, and it's draft night, so there's a bunch of trades happening. And as a Wizards fan, I know you're super pumped about getting rid of Westbrook. Let's go. But, like, the other – like, NBA, I think offseason drama lingers during the regular season. Once the Packers – like, I'm telling you, today, no Aaron Rodgers talk, right? Completely gone.

It's time. It's time to focus on the season. And so the damage that he did with Packers fans, I don't think Packers fans liked what he did. A, it's probably a race because he's back. But two, all it takes is to start 4-0 in September, and that's forgotten about, right? It's completely gone. And so I don't know. Next offseason, if he does this again, I think people will be like, well, the boy who cried wolf, right?

Like he's not – it's again like another empty threat he's going to leave or retire, which again, I don't – he said he thought about it, Matt, but I got to think it was nothing more than like – than just a brief moment in his life i can't imagine he seriously contemplated retiring he had his maybe he had his best year last year i mean he was so awesome last season and and that's what sucks is that's kind of lost guy had 48 touchdowns last year i think i mean they were just unbelievable the whole season they have one amazing receiver and a very good offensive line you know a mediocre defense they were almost unbeatable all year um he's awesome and it's worth pointing out too that um he you know when love was drafted

rogers was upset but rogers actually handled, right? He went out and had his best season of his career. The Packers bet he was going down on his downward trajectory. He gave him two birds on the way to win the MVP, right? So he actually handled that part pretty well. I think we should give him credit for that. I do too. Yeah, well, good for you, Packers fans. You finally get your sanity back,

although maybe you were reading the tea leaves a little closer than some in the national media. Moving on, we have to talk about the latest with the COVID policy in the NFL. Cole Beasley had some interesting things to say this week, calling himself, quote, pro-choice, which was just very curious for lots of reasons. DeAndre Hopkins obviously has weighed in. But I think what's interesting,

Jeff is there's now coaches that are being released or we're a little unclear what's going on with, with Dennis and the Vikings offensive line coach who they said may have been fired. It looks like he may somehow still be involved with the team and a Patriots offensive line coach named Popovich, which I couldn't believe I didn't know that they had a coach named Popovich, won't be with the team this year, they said. And meanwhile, I heard a story out there that I think was Terrell Pryor. Did you hear this?

Terrell Pryor said that he was invited in for some tryouts, but they wouldn't even try him out, whatever team it was, unless he was vaccinated. So we're starting to see this sort of squeeze. Like, you know, these aren't the superstar quarterbacks. You know, Cole Beasley isn't necessarily like the engine that makes the bills go. But we are starting to see this sort of chopping at the edges if you're not vaccinated, where it is now really entering sort of the day-to-day transactions of the league.

So a lot of news there, Jeff. I'm just sort of curious what you make of how this is unfolding. The NFL is doing a couple of things. One is they're taking the public bullet for vaccines being mandated across the country. Yep. And the NFL is not even mandating them, right? They're making life very difficult for unvaccinated folks, especially the coaches who really can't be around the players

if they're not vaccinated. Players obviously can be there, but it makes it tough. But as we're talking, I'm sure there's a tweet coming out about another company who's requiring mandatory vaccines. Yes. And we're not talking about that, right? At least, look, I follow mostly sports Twitter, but I'm sure in the political Twitter people not talking about that, right? At least, look, I know I follow mostly sports Twitter, but I'm sure in the political Twitter people are talking about it.

But, you know, the NFL is taking the bullet for all this because guess what? They don't care about red. I imagine a bunch of the owners vote red. They don't care about blue. Good guess. I imagine a lot of players vote blue. They care about green. They care about money.

And this is about money for them. They want to play an entire season without interruption. They would rather not even test. Like Cole Beasley had mentioned it in his long, rambling pro-choice argument, which, again, it's just, whew, is, you know, the NFL PA wants the vaccinated players to be tested more because the NFL is like, you want to test you once a week. They don't even want to test.

I don't think they would want... I think if you said everyone, if there was like 90%, I think they wouldn't test at all. They don't want to test. They just want to play their season. They want to put their head in the sand and play. But look, if everyone's vaccinated,

yes, you can still spread COVID. But you're not going to go to hospital, most likely. And look, you're not going to hospital anyways, most likely if you're a player who gets COVID too. You're very healthy, you're not going to go to hospital, most likely. And look, you're not going to hospital anyways, most likely if you're a player who gets COVID too, right? You're very healthy, you're in shape, but it protects everyone around you. That's the point of the vaccine. It's not the point is that you're never going to get COVID.

The point is that it kills the variant, is that it protects people around you. You get less sick if you get COVID. And look, you may or may not be able to pass it on yet. They're still working on that. So the NFL is biting the bullet for all of this, okay? When I hear players talk about COVID, the thing that frustrates me the most, Matt,

is they have access to the top medical professionals in our country, maybe the world, okay? If you're Cole Beasley, if you're DeAndre Hopkins, if you're any of these players who want to talk and cole beasley said he's talked to doctors and the doctor said well we don't know yet well yeah it's a virus it changes right things change it changes each week right we get more vaccine data biggest vaccine quote-unquote trial ever right and it's going to be approved by the way fda approved a couple months so this argument about how it's not going to be approved it's not approved yet out the door but we have access to the top doctors in the in our profession

in the profession I should say you're telling me that Cole Weasley can't call up Brandon Bean the GM and get his team doctor on the phone who then calls someone an infectious a virologist I should say or an epidemiologist who no affiliation to the team. If you don't trust the government, no affiliation to the government, right? Just someone independent and have a Zoom call, a phone call, get all your questions answered. Yeah. And instead, players are like, I don't want to talk to experts. I don't want to listen to them.

All these people that spent their entire life doing this, you don't trust what they have to say? Yet if James Andrews, renowned orthopedic surgeon, says, hey, you have an ACL tear, okay, cool. I have an ACL tear. So, again, this is a pro-vaccine podcast, whatever you want to call that. But I understand that it's your choice to do if you'd like to get vaccinated or not. I'm okay with that idea. I hope you do. But if you don't have friends who haven't,

it is what it is. But they don't have the access to the NFL doctors. They don't have the access to these people to talk to. They're getting the information on Facebook and YouTube, right, or Twitter. They're not getting it from the experts the NFL players can get. So that's what frustrates me the most, Matt, is the players coming out and looking like they've done their own research, looking like they haven't used the available resources they have.

You're a Washington football fan. Ron Rivera has cancer, man. Oh, he's a remission, I should say. Yeah. Come on, man. Do it for Coach Rivera. like do it for coach rivera the washington case is really interesting i think more so for me obviously as a fan but um you mentioned rivera and his remission the earlier in the pandemic at some point um when the vaccines were coming out and there were these reports i montez sweat was one of the first players to sort of go out on the record and say something dumb about about vaccines they had uh kizmekia corbett who was part of the development of the moderna vaccine actually talked to the players and explain why it's safe explain why it's you know the right thing to do and washington's still one of the least vaccinated

teams they apparently they're just over 50 which is a competitive disadvantage like i bet i bet them over their eight and a half win total. I felt really good about that. And now it's like, who knows? Like if half the defense has to miss a game, you know, three weeks out of the 17, like there's no chance they do that.

So that's frustrating. I think I, I also, I think you're right. By the way, the NFL sort of led the charge here. Like in the last week, Google, Facebook, Netflix, Lyft, Twitter, think you're right by the way the nfl sort of led the charge here like in the last week google

facebook netflix uh lifts twitter shakes yeah danny meyer today yeah all those restaurants like everybody's starting to do these vaccine mandates and that's what happens with these big cycle sociological changes is like one somebody gets out there and takes the bullet like you said and then everybody else is like well now everybody else doing it. So like we're not going to get shit if we follow along. So I think this is like maybe this might end up being the most important piece of it's it's probably not a super altruistic move like there's a lot of business on the line here lots of tv contracts and of course you know the human side of it and of lives like you think about some of these coaches who are in their 70s or like coach rivera you know has had some serious health scares so there's a lot to it but i give the nfl credit here for for making a stand and know, hopefully the players just get on board and hopefully we can just stop getting people sick.

Like, Jeff, you and I are both vaccinated. We were able to hang out in person without a whole lot of concern, even with the Delta variant this week. And I'm really grateful for that. And a lot of scientists work really hard to make that possible for us. So get vaccinated, please. Yes. Let's move on to something that might might not get people to turn the podcast off because i look again i am i hope you know i'm not trying to push it on you i hope i

made my case um very uh very well on on why i think players should be uh using uh i i'm guilty of pushing it out there our last topic uh i'm i want to talk about dac prescott's ankle as long as that's not a hipa violation which i'm sure someone on twitter twitter can correct me about um so dac the other day uh made us all wonder if he'd been vaccinated he said i don't necessarily think it's important whether or not he's been vaccinated i think that's a hipa violation it's a little confusing but uh jerry jones Jones says Dak had his best practice ever the other day. Troy Aikman has been saying his rehab has been going great. My question, Jeff, the sexiest rundown topic of all time.

Do you think the Dallas Cowboys are going to be good this season? The HIPAA thing, guys, like, come on, man. Let's learn what HIPAA is, please. It's this, you know, the device that you're tweeting on anyone listening that also has a search device go to google.com they're not our sponsor you go yahoo i guess it's all still a thing bing type in bing aol type in type in hippa laws spell it correctlyll it correctly, right? Two A's. Not HIPPO. Look up what they are.

And the funny part is it's not even that complicated, right? Like it's like third parties and, you know, your doctor sharing information with a third party. Not allowed. That's it. That's right. Players can say, hey, I got vaccinated. I did not get vaccinated.

It's not a HIPAA thing. And if you've been vaccinated, I would imagine you'd say you are. But I've been told Dak got vaccinated, so I don't know why he won't just say he got vaccinated. Let's talk Cowboys. Yeah, so look at the Cowboys. You have Dak Prescott, who if he has his average year, is going to be good, right?

He's about, you know, average year puts him like the 10th best quarterback in the NFL. Above average, you know, in that 6-7 range, right? Somewhere around there. Healthy Teron Smith at left tackle. He looks great so far. Healthy Zach Martin at right guard. Healthy Lyle Collins at right tackle. Wide receiving core. CeeDee Lamb, Gallup, and Amari Cooper.

Probably the best trio in the nfl okay obviously we're running backs for cd lamb by the way that has like the fifth highest jersey sales in the nfl it's crazy um defense can't be any worse matt right we look at defense year over year it's much more unstable than offense right like the chiefs offense is going to be good okay the saints offense for years obviously was the, right? Like the Chiefs offense is going to be good. The Saints offense for years, obviously, was the top five offense for years. The Ravens offense is going to be good. The Tampa offense is going to be good. Those tend to stay very stable.

Defense is a roller coaster, right? One year, you're one. One year, you're 15. One year, you're 27. One year, you're 15. You kind of go back to middle on defense. The Cowboys are going to be worse on defense. They've spent too much resources and time.

And back after the year last year, they weren't as bad. So Dak is by far the best quarterback in the division in the NFC East. They have a fifth-place, fourth-place schedule. They're a third-place schedule. They were third in the division last year, I believe. Third-place schedule. They're going to win the division. They're going to win the division. They're going to make the playoffs.

And I would not be surprised if they were fighting in the divisional round for the NFC Championship. Wow. This is the first time you've really... We've talked about this. So I'm glad that we get the chance to. Their schedule may be... I was sort of doing it in my head. I was like, were they third?

The NFC East was such a train wreck last year. It was hard to remember. They play the first couple of weeks. They play at the Bucks and at the Chargers. I could easily see them going 0-2 there. Then they have a Sunday night football home game against the Eagles where everyone will be panicking, which will be perfect. It's actually a Monday night game. Excuse me.

So I could see them kind of starting the season a little bit shaky and the Mike McCarthy meltdown thing going on. They still they play the Chiefs at the Chiefs. They play at the end of the season. They play Washington twice in the last five weeks. Those games are going to be big. I don't know, man. Like every year, every year since I can remember, everyone's been excited about this team. They have a lot of talent.

You know, I agree. I think Dak is awesome. I think, you know, it looks like the offensive line is probably going to be healthy, even though it's hard to bank on that when those guys get injured every year and they're just getting older and more expensive. You know, great receivers. Cool. I don't know. Like I could, I think it's between them and Washington in the NFC East um I think Washington is the more complete team the quarterback's the question but uh yeah I don't I don't see them going super far but I you know I I think they're overrated as always that's that's my general take NFC in Atlanta they get you every year or Dallas and Atlanta always gets you every

single year oh god oh Atlanta I'm you every single year. Oh, God. Oh, Atlanta. I think week one already there's a line. Atlanta is getting four points at home or something. I'm all over it already. It's just so bad. I can't quit Atlanta, man. They're my team.

I just can't quit. Why is that? What about the Falcons? I just can't. You just can't get off of them. Look, the argument for how Dallas is good, it's pretty easy to make. Dax back healthy. Oh, no.

The Falcons are favored by three and a half. We're going to be on opposite sides of that. That feels like a steal. It's just one of those games. I already want to stay away from it. The Cowboys have so many star players, right? You just look at this whole team and you're like, where's the weakness?

Where's the weakness? But like Ezekiel Elliott, when's the last time that guy was a franchise changing running back? Two years ago, probably. You know, Amari Cooper, big name, good player, not a total difference maker. I don't think at this stage, like Gallup's like a classic cowboy, a lot of potential, actually seems to to realize it

you know as a big drop in addition to like three touchdowns against the eagles when they're up by 30 already like i don't know i'll believe it when i see it man um i i will too but i think they have well a chance we'll see track of the cowboys for the rest of the year thank god we're not talking about vaccines anymore boom and there it there it is. Wireless on the most reliable network nationwide. That's cool. But with my wireless, I get unlimited for just $30. Impressive. But does yours have 5G included?

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Let's do it, buddy. First question. Gardner Minshew's next start will be with the blank. The Houston Texans or something. It's just going to be something like ridiculous. He feels like a Houston Texans quarterback. I think he is going to play some games with Jacksonville this year.

I think in an event where that team sort of falls apart, which they might, rookie coach, rookie quarterback, they might do a thing where they protect their long-term asset and trot Minshew out there around the trade deadline or something to see if they can get any value out of him. I could definitely see him playing with the Jags this year. There's no way they'd bench Trevor Lawrence to let Gardner Minshew get any reps. I mean, unless, yeah, they obviously won't bench him, but I do think he's going to have aner Minshew get any reps. I mean, unless, yeah. They obviously won't bench him, but I do think he's going to have a role in that team this year. But the more important question, Jeff, is I can go blank days without pooping.

This is Gardner Minshew who said he will not take a number two because he will not be the number two quarterback for the Jags this year. The question, Jeff, how many days could you go sans poop? I mean, I can barely go four hours. I can barely go this podcast. Yeah, this recording, I'm like, my guts are bubbling. That's all I know, right? I don't know, probably a couple days before I explode in fury and rage on the potty.

I have to call it potty. I call everything like my kid stuff now potty. It's potty. Kids rage on the potty. I have to call it potty. I call everything like my kid stuff now potty. It's potty. Kids are going to potty. If I could be an NFL quarterback by just not pooping for a long amount of days, I think I could make it happen. Here's one to switch the call from ScottologicalHumor for a second, Jeff. Texas and Oklahoma will blank in the SEC.

So right before recording this, Texas and Oklahoma got their official invite from the SEC conference to join them in 2025. Texas will suck. It will not help them at all. Oklahoma will be fine, I think, until Lincoln Riley leaves. And then it's going to be just, who knows what's going to happen. Hank, Texas is never back, buddy. Just letting you know. So you can keep typing SEC in the chat.

They're never back. Look, generally speaking, and I cover the Pac-12 for a living on Pac-12 Radio, and I'm a Pac-12 guy and whatnot. I follow college sports, of course. I just hate all this. It's happening, Matt, so you have to adapt, and you have to get with the times. But I don't like it. I just hate all this. I mean, it's happening, Matt, so you have to adapt and you have to, like, get with the times. But I don't like it.

I don't like it. I do not like it. I don't either. Not one bit of it. It feels like it's just going to be, like, three teams in one conference by the end of this. It's really a shame. As soon as we get off this podcast, I'm going to do my Pato radio show,

and I'm going to talk about this for way too long today. And it's just, you know, what does the Pac-12 do? What does the Big Ten do? What does the rest of the Big 12 do? What does ACC do? AAC. Is there going to be a 30-team super conference? I saw a report today that, you know, the SEC is looking at maybe Florida State and Clemson.

And then it's just going to be the NFL, right? You have two 30, which is fine. Two 30-team leagues and you figure it out from there. But college sports is changing, obviously. Big fan of NIL. We talked about that for a while. But this doesn't feel necessary, which kind of makes it a little crummier. Yeah, it's a shame.

Texas will be fine in the SEC as long as they don't run into Maryland again. So hopefully they'll be able to vanquish that one. Let's see. Let's do two more. Jeff, Team USA Basketball will bring home blank metal. Very vague question. That could be no metal. That could be gold metal.

They'll bring back no medal. They're not playing good basketball, man. They're just not. Maybe they get it together. This is the first year I've been able to watch the Olympics because, well, not first year ever, but watch more of it than usual because I'm not in training camp. Since 2004, 4, 8, 12, 16, been in training camp. So it's been nice to watch.

You know, I stayed out of the Simone Biles discussion on social media, not having that discussion. Very good. That's not worth it. It's interesting how that's symbolic of social media, right? It's like one side is she's the bravest thing I've ever seen, and the other side is like she's the worst person of all time. Throw her off the U.S. team.

It's like, oh, my God, can we have a middle ground here, please? Can we just have a little middle ground, right? It doesn't have to be. It's emblematic of social media. But I've enjoyed watching. I watch more than I ever thought I would. I probably watch everything, volleyball, rugby, rowing, swimming. I go back and watch the highlights. I've more than I ever thought I would. I've watched probably everything. Volleyball, rugby, rowing, swimming. I go back and watch the highlights.

I've very much enjoyed the Olympics so far. I've not watched any basketball. No basketball. Yeah. I've watched very little basketball. I watched some three-on-three basketball last night, and that was awesome. I can make more shots in the rec center than they can make during that three-on-three. It's so chaotic.

I think it's like uh i i don't know like if there was a football equivalent of that it'd be like flag football with no like play calling it'd just be like constant like it's just it's so exciting and they get so winded and it's it's uh it's just chaos it's really a fun fun sport it's wild yes usa guys usa is gonna win the gold like the usa has Damian Lillard and Kevin Durant, and at some point that matters. Like, cool, you have Luka Doncic. Like, great. The US has two guys that are better than him

and then 10 guys that are better than the next guy on Slovenia. But they just don't play. They're just not a team, dude. They're just people that showed up. I'm not even a little bit concerned. Like, there's just no way that that team is not going to figure it out. You just look at every single really loaded sports team. Look at the Bucs last year.

It took them a few months to get it right, but then they get to the point where they need to get their shit together, and they will. The U.S. will definitely win the gold medal. Book that. My last question jeff is uh let me just pick one are the are the yankees what the hell the yankees doing because they just traded for anthony rizzo they did yeah wow they got joey gallo and anthony rizzo and they're

like they're still not gonna win the Wow. Damn, that's really crazy. How about this, Jeff? Give us your take quickly on what the Giants are going to do today and your Lakers. Your Lakers. Yeah, Lakers got... Russell Westbrook, man. I mean... When I watched them play, you know what they needed?

It was more people who can't shoot. That's definitely what they need. Yeah, and hold the ball for too long. Yeah. The Giants, so the Padres traded for Max Scherzer the Jaws are traded for a pitcher Giants just took five of seven from LA though in a week so um good good uh good start there I don't know man uh the Giants are probably gonna trade for Chris Bryant I think the problem with the Giants is they're not supposed to be good this year. And this is probably not sustainable, I don't think, long term, with all the old guys playing well.

But it's been fun to watch, man. They're three up on the Dodgers. They're the best record in baseball on July 29th. It's unbelievable. I told you. I have, every year, put $5 on the Giants to win the NL West. It's plus $5,500 is what I got this year. Wow.

That'd be nice. That'll cover up some Falcons losses later. It definitely will. All right, guys. Appreciate you tuning in as usual. Sorry for the little audio snafu. We're going to have more regular shows moving forward as we get into football season.

We're going to have some partnerships, hopefully, to announce in the next coming weeks. We should have this on, hopefully, some different platforms and some new cool things happening. Yeah, enjoy your weekends. We'll be back next week. Take care, everybody. Thanks, Seth.