Green Light with Chris Long - Montana Update! NFL RB Contracts, Alex Highsmith, NFL Throwback Uniforms & Barbie & Oppenheimer

Episode Date: July 20, 2023

(2:17) - Oppenheimer Movie Excitement and Chris Guesses the Submissions to the Green Light Music Playlist (13:50) - Chris' Guests on Flathead Lake (34:57) - Fax and the King (37:52) - NFL Contracts for Running Backs and Potential Solutions (1:01:25) - Hard Knocks: New York Jets Won't Be Showing Players Being Cut on Camera (1:08:12) - Alex Highsmith Gets Paid and Zack Martin Holds Out (1:11:00) - Blake Martinez and Retro NFL Jerseys This podcast is brought to you by Cash App. With multiple tools for saving, spending, and sending, Cash App is the easy way to stay in control of your money. Cash App is a financial platform, not a bank. Banking services provided by Cash App's bank partner(s). Green Light's Top 10 Songs Playlist https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2jDt1UuSEstZ4gvEGxZX4R?si=64b0cc26608c477c Have some interesting takes, some codebreaks or just want to talk to the Green Light Crew? We want to hear from you. Call into the Green Light Hotline and give us your hottest takes, your biggest gripes and general thoughts. Day and night, this hotline is open. Green Light Hotline: ‪[phone]‬ Send any Talent Search submissions to: [e-mail] Include any video of your talents, takes and bits as well as a little bit about yourself. Love hearing from the Green Light fans. Also, check out our paddling partners at Appomattox River Company to get your canoes, kayaks and paddleboards so you're set to hit the river this summer. https://paddleva.com/ Green Light Spotify Music: https://open.spotify.com/user/951jyryv2nu6l4iqz9p81him9?si=17c560d10ff04a9b   Spotify Layup Line: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1olmCMKGMEyWwOKaT1Aah3?si=675d445ddb824c42   Green Light Tube YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/GreenLightTube1   Green Light with Chris Long: Subscribe and enjoy weekly content including podcasts, documentaries, live chats, celebrity interviews and more including hot news items, trending discussions from the NFL, MLB, NHL, NBA, NCAA are just a small part of what we will be sharing with you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Greenlight podcast will see clearly now with Oakley jumping into the podcast game. Head to Oakley.com for the greatest shades in the game. Oakley even offers Prism Lens technology. What the hell is that you ask? It's a proprietary technology to Oakley and available for everyday settings as well. Want to know more? Head on over to oakley.com and do your own research. And while you're there, get yourself a pair of everyday glasses.

That'll be sure to change your look for the better. When you wear Oakley, there really is more than meets the eye. Don't trust me. Try for yourself. I've worn a lot of sunglasses brands in my life, and I can assure you, Oakley is not only the best looking, but the best quality out there. Head on over to Oakley.com, O-A-K-L-E-Y, for more information today. Welcome to the Green Light Podcast. It's another check-in from Montana for you all today. Chris pops on a virtual studio, Jay, gives you a little rundown on what he's been doing. He talks a little bit of snakes. He talks about the plumbing issues that were fixed. That's right. His bathrooms are back up and running. He's going to talk about

some of the guests he has in Montana. And we're also going to run through some NFL topics. Running backs being paid has been a hot issue recently. Chris is going to give his two cents. He's also going to give some flowers to Alex Highsmith for signing his deal. We're going to talk about Zach Martin and his dominance and why he deserves to make some money. And a reminder, today we're picking winners for the Greenlight playlist sweepstakes. Go to Greenlight Twitter. Check out how you can win and enter and maybe get some cash app money. And we also know it's a long

weekend. Pop over to the Facts and the King YouTube channel to watch their first show. It was live on Wednesday. But if you haven't caught the first one, Fax and the King on YouTube and watch the fellas have some fun. Y'all enjoy. Los Alamos, New Mexico. Hello! Why do you think? Any guesses? Los Alamos?

I have no idea. That's where Oppenheimer got his hands dirty. They tested out the ACOM. So, question is, any of y'all seen it? I haven't yet. I have tickets for Saturday. I want to do the double feature, though. Double feature?

Like, where they do... I want to see Barbie and Oppenheimer back to that. Is that a thing people are doing? Like, is that... Oh, yeah. Over 40,000 people have bought tickets for both. Yeah. they should do an Oppenheimer and then

one about the guy who dropped the anola gay and his life would be much less interesting you know like the beginning of the movie's like okay boss I'm gonna fuck up this and then the rest of it's just like oh yeah I was the guy that did that I've seen some interviews with that cat like in all honesty

okay first off you got a three hour movie right and I'm gonna see it I think it's gonna be great I'm sure it's gonna be great and thought provoking and all that stuff. But it's a three-hour movie, it's just one bomb, you know? Yeah. Like, really stretching this whole thing out.

There's a 15-minute sex scene, so that's a good percentage. 15 minutes? Yeah. Two hours 45 dedicated to the bomb 15 minutes to sex. Oh, that's good. Oppenheimer, I'm going to see it. But the question is, Matt, you're the historian.

Oppenheimer, good guy, bad guy. I mean, what makes him different than the cat that dropped the annulah gay, I mean, other than intelligence? I guess that you could argue good just because of the longstanding peace that has occurred from like mutually assured destruction afterwards. Like the nuclear bomb was used, yes, in 1945, but hasn't been used since then. And there hasn't been a global war since then maybe the reason why is everybody's afraid of mutually assured destruction. But that being said, it does seem dangerous. Big atomic bomb guy you are.

Oh, fuck. Anyways, I'm going to see the movie. I'd watch the Dan Carlin or listen to a Dan Carlin hardcore history thing on like the actual effects of an atomic bomb. And I had to turn it off. It was too dark. I was trying to, I like downloaded podcasts for the, for the trip up Killy and I'm up at like 18,000 feet alone in camp. in pitch black just, you know, like ruminating and listening to a podcast about the atomic bomb.

It's not pretty. Like, what happened. So anyways, I'm going to watch the movie. I'm excited about that movie. And I want to see the Tom Cruise movie. What can you say about this guy? He just keeps making blockbuster movies. He's like my dad's age.

He jumps a motorcycle off a cliff and then into a parachute jump. And he actually did it. He can do this thing. He can be in diapers doing this. You know, like if it's still good, I watch Tom Cruise movies the next 25 years. I don't care. Just keep making it. I'm excited to see the Tom Cruise run.

Whatever scene he has where he does the classic run. The hands go high. The face stays straight. He doesn't move the neck. His torso is dead on. He's got to have the Tom Cruise run. I'd like to see Tom Cruise run a 40 at every combine like Rich Eisen. Yeah.

Maybe side by side. Maybe they could side by side Rich Eisen and Tom Cruise run. Tom Cruise. Yeah, it hasn't been done yet. Okay, so anyways, layup line today. Don't let it bring you down. Neil Young. Probably would have been on the list.

We're talking about our top 10 list of all time. I had this moment of dread because we just did our top 10 favorite songs of all time subject to change. All that needs to go next to the asterix because I don't get held to these choices in like a month. Things change. And we, we splice it all together. We've got a, we've got a little, I don't know, what would you call it? A little game going, Reed, where people have got to guess whose songs, who, their favorite song and who picked it out of this 50 song playlist, 50 or 60. He's got Boe. 70. It's got Bo Allen, Dr. Fax, myself, Kyle Reed, Matt.

And Macon. And Macon. And Macon. All. submitting 10 songs to this Greenlight playlist. You can find it on the Greenlight Twitter handle. And if you go there, just comment under our post about it. And you can say your favorite song from the playlist and which Greenlight personality submitted that song to the place. You can guess as many times. If you get it right, we might select you for some cash app money.

And, you know, since Neil Young, like said, fuck this shit. I'm out, Spotify. I haven't been able to listen to them on Spotify. So I'll go through these long spells. of my favorite artists, not hearing him. So, like, it's even better. It's like the Neil Young effect of, like, you know, every once a month, I'll open my Apple music, even though, like, the quality of the sound is better and all that.

Like, I can't be bothered to read download every song on my Spotify. Like, that's just, that's for retirement. That's for, like, where my kids are out of that fucking house. But I'll get to listen to Neil Young. And this song, not just this song, I love Albuquerque and a few more, probably would have been in the running for the top 10. this song would have been in my top 10. I also left out Willie Nelson because I can't decide.

It's a tough exercise, man, picking your 10 favorite song. It's ridiculously hard. Matt and I were saying we had a list of like 50 to 100 on the first draft, and we had to pay that down. We'll do more of these because tomorrow, what's going to be really excited, your today are tomorrow, there's going to be the reveals. And we're also going to pick the winner who's going to get the cash prize,

a couple people who are going to get some cash money. But like you're going to get to see whose song is whose. and why. And Reed made a nice little cut up for everybody with the songs and the people who picked them. Read and Ralph. Yeah. And Reed and Ralph. Shout out to Ralph as well. I mean, like, we can do this more often. I think. I think we should do like another song ranking thing next week. You guys tell me whether it's like that. Yeah, but I really like the music because then people get to hear the music during the reveal and they get to be introduced songs and that sort of thing. So like, and it's a lot easier.

Like movie rankings are fucking hard. You got to go back and watch them. You know, like my opinions change on movies five years. That's a good point. To five years to five years. Like, you know, I've probably done a 180. There was a time where I thought 300 was like a film. You know, like every other dude that grew up around the time I grew up.

But like, now you show me 300. I'm like, this is some bullshit. I know somebody's going to get mad, but maybe you haven't watched the movie in a while. There's been a number of movies I've gone back and watched them and been like, that does not hold up. songs it takes three minutes. So I don't know, maybe you guys pick a rock and roll band or a genre or a situational kind of playlist that we can mock up next week.

Maybe the people at home can tweet at us and make some suggestions, but we can turn one around relatively quickly. So maybe an era too. We can do 80s songs, 70s, 90s, all that stuff. Perfect. So if you want some Neil Young music, check out Nugsnet. You can download the app NugsNet, and it's got all live. It's like a live music upload app, basically.

And so it's Neil Young. You can see Neil Young live shows from the 70s. There's a show from 69 in there. Neil Young, 72, Massey Hall is his best show, probably. And I also would have had Neil Young in my top ten. I would have put Helpless, but alas. Helpless is a great song. Helpless is a great fucking song.

Holy shit. So yeah, we love Neil Young. He would have been on the list, but, you know, him and Joe Rogan. So anyways, here are some songs that I have guesses on. And you guys, because the pod's going to beat the conclusion of this contest out, you guys can just make a face or, you know, say, that's a good guess. But I read, I'm looking at for what it's worth, Buffalo Springfield. I would say that's got Matt written all over it or read written all.

all over it, but that's a very Kyle song, isn't it? It's a very Kyle song. So, uh, care, maybe making. I don't know. Uh, peace in the valley, Dawes that only read, only read. Like, you got a song by Dawes in your top 10. That's read. Um, Stapleton's all Kyle, you know, he decided to, to appear like he's got like a really good taste in country music in this top 10. he left the the Jason Aldeen off who I can't talk about

Jason Aldine right now try that shit on my playlist nothing but good music here you know like fucking Morgan Wallens left off the list so I figured Kyle probably went with something that would garner him a little bit more respect I think Chris Stapleton

he just littered it with Chris Stapleton bear down Chicago a few people pick Chris Stapleton So no spoilers, more than one. Okay. So Bear Down Chicago Bears is obviously a big question because it could be Kyle, but it could also be Macon posing as Kyle. There was a time when Macon used to make me ride in his car and listen to like fight music.

Like that was what he played in his car when he wasn't playing his broadcast that he was doing at a high school level. He is his play by play. of high school basketball games. It was band music. Could be Nate, though. Could be Nate. Chicago Bear.

Yeah, it could be Nate. Matt, you're Southern Cross. You've got Southern Cross written all over you. Matt and Reed, there's, there's, like, for instance, Lou Reed. Matt, you're so fucking Lou Reed. It's not funny. It's not funny. Dust on the bottles like a Kyle or a Macon.

You know, there's a lot of crossover there. Colin Baton Rouge, I think, is Macon. feel good seems like a read or a Kyle. I think it's probably a read. Could be wrong. And then a Millie is probably Kyle. So, you know, like there's a lot of these that I feel like I go through the whole list. I feel like I got you all pegged.

I can't wait to see. I just can't wait to see. I cannot wait to see these socials that are coming out later today, Reed. So looking forward to it. And we'll do more of this. shout out to Neil Young in the meantime. Okay. Flathead Lake.

I'm still here. I'll be here for a while. I'm in Montana. I've had three guests. Some of them expected. Some of them are unexpected. Some of them are not really guests. First off, yesterday I ended up on a hike, a place called Mount Aeneas.

You get up to about 7,500 feet. It's awesome. You look down at like these pristine, glacial-looking lakes. You look at the other side. You got Flathead Lake. You know, I run into a couple mountain goats along the way. The reason I was on that hike was because my buddy, Jared Payton, who played at the U and played in the NFL.

His dad was Walter Payton. We've gotten close over the years because of the Walter Payton Award and just, you know, we've got some stuff in common with our dads and that sort of thing. And I just think he's a great guy and he does some media. I mean, he works his ass off in Chicago. He's got a show he's doing where he visits guys that, you know, that played and catch him. up with him and had hit me up and said, hey, man, like, I know you're having a baby soon. I don't know if there's a good time. We'd love to do something where we catch up with you.

And I said, you know, Jared, it's going to be a while because I'm going to be in Montana's. But if you want to come to me, here's where I am. And it's not like a destination wedding where I'm hoping people don't show up. Like, I'd love to see Jared, but this is what it is right now. I'm here. And so he's like, yeah, I'll be there. I want you to take me and my guys on a hike. We'll do the interview on a hike, like show me what it's all about. And the thing about hikes in Montana, it's not like L.A. Where people are like, I just hike up to the Hollywood sign or like the hikes in Montana are generally like big hikes.

You know, like I'm at 2,800, 3,000 feet. The Mission Mountains run right along the east shore of the Flathead Lake. They gain a few thousand feet in elevation. And these mountains go right down in the lake. And the lake's like 350 feet deep because of that in a lot of spots. So it's dramatic landscape. You got Glacier Park outpassed. the Mission Mountains. You got the Bob Marshall, the Swan, all that stuff. It's really wild back there.

And Jewel Basin is the area where a Mounted Neos is. So you can Google Jewel Basin. It's absolutely gorgeous. But, you know, it's a six-mile drive on a gravel road. And your GPS is like you'll be there in 35 minutes. And a lot of people are like, yeah, my GPS is busted. What's up with that? Well, it's because the fucking road is uphill the whole time. And really, really bumpy. So I felt bad when I got there. The guy, I don't know if they knew what they were getting into. It's two Chicago producers and Jared, but I got to tip my cap to these guys. They were feeling the altitude.

One of them was lugging a camera up the mountain. So anyways, you know, hand up. I definitely took Jarrett and his producers on a hell of a trip up the side of that mountain. But it was great to catch up with Jarrett. Every time I see him, you know, it's just, I feel like we know each other, you know, because of some of the things I mentioned. And he's just a great guy. He's got a great attitude. You talk about a guy who lost his dad early

and his dad's just this larger-in-life figure. And he and his family have done so much with that legacy. You know, Walter created the legacy, but somebody's got to carry that thing with class, with intentionality. And again, one of the greatest honors of my life, although you guys know this, like, because I talk about it, one of the most uncomfortable honors of my life because I think the guy deserved it was the Walter Payne Man at the year. And, you know, to be standing on the stage with guys like Kevin Mawhi and, you know, like Franco Harris got to meet him before he passed away, you know, a ton of great representatives in our game. And to be standing up there being me, I kind of felt unworthy. But Jarrett and his family have been awesome. And I want to keep doing stuff with them because

they're always up to something good. And Jared's a great, great personality. in the media. Check out that interview whenever it drops. I'll get you more information. But I lug Jared up a 7,500 foot mountain, and he was definitely feeling it. I will say you probably gave him some false confidence by wearing jeans to a hike. Well, that's the thing about the gene thing. Somebody called me out on the jeans thing. Here's the thing about like, you know, like jeans on a hike. Not that cool, right? but it's more of a it's more of a like i do this you know like i'm just walking around i got my dad's boots on which you know i told jerry yesterday like a lot of people's parents give them stuff you know hand

me downs and that sort of thing a lot of people might ask me hey did your dad give you like a jersey or is there some super bowl thing they're like no he gave me i mean he's giving me some of that shit but the thing that i covet the most that he gave me was his pair of boots that he crossed the Continental divide in in the 80s. Like he's a city boy. I always want to do something outside. He got these boots. Whenever the Continental Divide on horseback with a couple guys and it was a couple day trip and that was out of this world for him.

But needless to say, he's not a guy who's in hiking boots a lot. And he passed him down to me a couple years ago. They got some miles on it, but they're still great boots. The jeans thing read. People said you'd never walk in Howie's shoes and there you go. I'm walking in his shoes right now. Well, actually, yesterday. today though it's hokas so anyways i uh i you know like the jeans read it's a little bit embarrassing

but i had to have a belt when i came down from the mountain yesterday i passed the gal and we just were talking about the hike and she was like yeah i was just at the lake over which is a trail over and there was a griz up there you know like a good size gris so you know like there's a reason i wear jeans is so that i can have a belt if you know what i mean uh because that that 44 is right on the hip. And also, like, when two guys from Chicago show up, three guys from Chicago show up, and they're like, okay, guys, he's got a holster. He's wearing jeans.

Like, I can't tell, like, what I'm getting myself into. The jeans looked great, and they, they, I was just surprised that, you know, when, when Jared probably rolled up, he's like, oh, we're just going for a stroll because he's got, yeah, no problem. Yeah, stroll, but guys got a big gun on his hip. like, you know, I'm looking up at the mountain, like it was six miles up this hill. Anyways, it was great to see Jared Payton. He wants to come back.

I also have a big visitor this weekend, drum roll, unless the miss call I have is a flake job. But like, Ryan Rissillo is coming in this weekend for his Ryan Rissillo, Montana invitational. Did you turn up the Montana heat for him? Did you turn up the... No, but I did put like a name tag. on his door. So, you know, the thing about my house is there's not a bunch of identical looking doorways into your, into, you know, where you stay at night. So he should be okay.

We can joke about it because this is the podcast where we, where we gave you the skinny on what really happened. Again, I want to remind people, a lot of people got on Ryan Rosillo, you guys are fucking idiots. You would have done the same thing if you were shit-faced. I mean, it's not a crime to be shit-faced. The party that should be, uh, facing criminal charges is whatever Airbnb he booked because the key worked in the next door Airbnb. It's a bunch of identical looking ski lodges and fucking, and he goes to put his key in the neighbor's door and it works. It's 3 a.m. You know how many times I've knocked on the wrong hotel door? You know, if my key worked at the wrong door at the Marriott, I could be Ryan Rosillo. So anyways,

Rosillo is going to head out west again. Last time he was here, I remember. I remember. really dropped the ball on this whole thing. He was staying in a little camper. We couldn't get the power hooked up. We really have AC for him. He slept in the kids' room for a little bit. Anyways, this was the trip that a big fire started on the lake. We were down at this bar I like called the garden bar. Like one in the morning, we were tying one on. You know, like, actually, I've never been as drunk in Montana as I got with Bow Allen. But I suffice to say he was drunker than me last last year. but Ryan and myself going to the garden bar a couple years ago was like a top five Montana drunk night for me. And it just so happened that the fire was blazing miles away.

But up here, you're kind of casual about it because it's happening now every year, right? Like it's just the reality of living in 2003 with the way the climate is and that sort of thing. And some of you are rolling your eyes at me. Try spending a summer up here the last 20 years and seeing the ways changed. Did you catch the smoke in Virginia a month ago in Chicago and New York? that's neither here nor there. Me and Ryer at the bar and my wife calls, and she says that the point is being evacuated

because the fire has jumped the highway, and I need to come home. The power's out, the whole thing. I got two kids at home with Meg. So we leave the bar. We got a driver that night, because you can't get a cab. Like, the only other times that,

like, whenever I get stranded in Montana, I stay for one too many, and then you go outside and there's nobody there. Like, you're fucked. Like, I'm 35 miles from my house. Me and my buddy Martin had to walk on the high, highway at two in the morning one night for like an hour and a half. You know, there's nothing worse than being drunk, losing your buzz, having nowhere to go, being far away from your bed. We hitchhiked,

for God's sake. So you got to have a Vietnam vet actually picked us up. It was pretty badass. He was like out of a movie. But we had a driver that night. So we ended up getting in the car with the driver. And we got to drive up the East Shore highway and it's going to be like an hour. We get 45 minutes in, and there's no roads except for the one, and they blocked it off because the fire has jumped the interstate or whatever you want to call it. And when I tell you, I'm looking at like one of these fire movies, like that's what it looks like. It's fucking insane. There were 15 houses that went up and got lost that summer. We had to turn around and drive around the entire 26-mile lake.

We didn't get home until 4 in the morning. I woke up in the morning with the worst hangover I've ever had. sweating my ass off because the power was out is 100 degrees at night that weekend. And I woke up to helicopters and fire planes circling the point. I walk outside. It's eerie. You can't see a half mile in front of you. And knowing that everybody is off the point but us was the cherry on top.

So that was like the worst trip. We're going to see if we can do better this time for Uncle Rye. He'll be here this weekend. Another guest, I can't really call him a guest because he didn't come over, but I got a text from Anders the last day. This is crazy. This is like a week or two ago. He sends me a picture. He's like, guess where I am?

And it's a picture of a lake. And I'm like, I'm like, well, it must be a lake I know, huh? And he's like, it's a lake you know very well. And I'm like, you realize I'm here, right? Like, you can't send me this picture in us now not hang out. I'm like, when you leave? And he's like, I got to leave in the morning. So I thought there was a bit of a code break by my new buddy Anders,

not hitting me up earlier. I can't tell if that was like, hey, I just want you to know that maybe next trip. You know, like sometimes when you're not ready to hang out with somebody on a trip, you're like, hey, just so you know, we go to the same lake and we will hang out in the future. I want to set that up, but not today, bro. I thought that's kind of what happened. He really dropped the ball. All he had to do is take a picture of a house, you know, any kind of house.

and just text it to you and say, hey, guess where I am your mom's house on Flathead Lake? That's pretty good. I would have told him his mom was wearing, his mom wears a Calamari toe ring. This guy, me and Anders met telling mom jokes on Twitter, I'm still firing him off, but he's left the website. So they're just like unanswered. They're just like buried in my reply. So anyways, a couple guys up in Montana got to hang out with one of them so far. Ryan's coming in this weekend.

So can't wait to see, Ryan? Maybe we'll do a pot. I don't want to get out over my skis here, Reeve. But anyways, baby's great. We're back in the house. Plumbing is restored. But the first two nights, because the plumbing got fixed on a Saturday. We had to do it like, couldn't find a plumber, did it kind of in-house. My buddy Rob, shout out to Rob, fixed it. And then, you know, like there was a big hole into our crawl space for two days. So I decided to familiarize myself with the snakes of Montana, considering the

fact that I have a battle currently waging down at the shore. I talked about the snake nest I might have. They still haven't found it, but they've killed like three, four snakes. They're actually prairie garter snakes, not to be confused with terrestrial or common garter snakes. But with that whole issue brewing down at the lake, I have this open gaping hole in my, in my crawl space. And, you know, I've always had this fear of, like, snakes swimming up. a toilet right so one night i'm sitting there and i'm on an edible and i'm like i'm so i'm watching planet earth too by the way david attenborough i got the snakes on the phone i'm i'm familiarizing myself with the snakes of this state okay um then thoughtlessly i go to take a deuce and 20 seconds in

i damn near lift off the toilet because i'm like i thought i heard something like it's just in my head Like, you know it happens, right? Like, the snakes swim up toilets. And so I'm doing research. I'm like, what do I have to do? Because I've had this hole in my crawl space. Guys online say snakes swim up toilets when you have a vent on your roof. They actually get through the roof vent.

So if you have a roof vent and you live at a house that's got overhanging trees, like kind of land bridges for these snakes, you need to look into that. And, you know, I don't even know if, like, prairie garter snakes, I looked at it. They travel 17 kilometers at times between hybrinicula. Is that the word? Hybrinacula and summer range. So I'm not even sure where the nest is. I don't even know if we're going to get this thing fucking squared.

But snakes crawl up toilets. I'm worried about that. It's always been a fear of mine. I like to shit in the morning and at night. And like you got to watch out for the crepuscular snakes, the dawn and dusk snakes. So like imagine I have one of these suckers swim up the toilet. if my vents not properly closed. Like it was the first thing I did,

it was get on the fucking roof the next day. So, you know, like, I think about things like this. Did you actually get on the roof? Yes, if I live in a compromise, the vents good. If I live in a compromise like environment, like if I live in one of these Florida's, I would shit like I lived in Mumbai.

You know, I'd be like a Mumbai dumper. Because if you look up where people take the most out in the open dumps is actually, Um, there's actually a term for it. I want to find it real quick. Open defecation. Uh, they lead the league. You know, like Indonesia's up there.

But like, if I lived in Florida or one of these places, um, I would shit outside. Like, I'm not taking a chance. Like, the fear's gripping me. And we're talking about a 32 inch prairie garter snake. Like, and I, like, I don't even have a vent. It's just in my head. Like, when I go to Florida, no bullshit. I ask for the penthouse.

And that has nothing to do. with the amenities has everything to do with gravity because like I've never seen one of those fuckers swim up to the penthouse like it's just a big fear I've always had since I was a kid I used sit on the toilet and worry about snakes and now it's very real to me so I'd be up there like you know like if I lived in Florida and I wasn't in the penthouse I'd be like a hovercraft like you know just hovering above the toilet ready to get off so I mean like that's what I've been dealing with I've been educating myself on the snakes of Montana which by the way they're I think 10 of them, as opposed to 30 in Virginia, 30 in Virginia, three poisonous. Can you name Matt,

I'm not going to ask Reed, the three poisonous snakes in Virginia? Copperhead is definitely one. That's the only one I know. Rattlesnake, maybe? I don't know. So, yeah, so timber rattler, which is actually one of the most poisonous snakes in the country. I think timber rattlers are actually more poisonous than some other rattlesnakes that you find out west. Copperheads, You got to watch out with the babies. And they're the ultimate, like, don't give a fuck snakes because they're just laying the driveway. Most snakes get out of the way when you make noise, not copperheads. And then cotton mouths, okay, which are found in the southeastern part of the snakes.

But some of the hillbillies in my area will tell you, I've seen a cotton mouth at Sugar Hollow. I don't believe you. But anyways, the snakes in Montana are pretty chill. I found out you've got the hog-nose snake. You've got the gopher snake. You've got the prairie rattler, which is actually the bad one. They don't have them on my side of the lake. Racer snakes, garter snakes, common prairie terrestrial, green snakes, and then rubber boas.

I'm going to get to them in a second. Okay? So most of the snakes I found out in Montana are actually huge pussies. Most of them are just trying to act like rattlesnakes. Like the gopher snake tries to act like a rattlesnake. It usually strikes with a closed mouth. It's a total pushover. And actually, what's interesting about this snake read,

is it tries to rattle to sound like a rattlesnake to fend off. And they actually found out that gopher snakes in areas that don't have a lot of rattlesnakes don't do it. So it is mimicry. The hog nose. Softy. Hog nose snake looks terrifying. Kind of looks like a rattlesnake. You wouldn't know difference maybe.

But they play dead with their tongue out, like their total pushovers. Racer snakes are actually kind of frisky. They'll rive. They'll defecate. they'll secrete a foul-smelling musk from their cloak eye. So, like, I've learned a lot about snakes. I'm not real afraid of the snakes here anymore. It's been a good process for me.

But the rubber boa is the one that I want to find. You guys need to Google a rubber boa. This snake is one of the most interesting snakes I've ever seen. It's secretive. It's slow-moving, and it's totally docile. Evidently, they've never been a human being in the history of rubber boas. Like, yeah. So they're like,

two feet long. You can find them in the forest under overturned rocks. So their best defense is actually just a secretive nature. When Dr. Fax gets out here, maybe we can get him in the woods to look for some of these bad boys, you know? But like bottom line is no snakes in the toilet. Plumbing's done. The fear persists. And now I'm like a herpetologist because I was reading about snakes for like four hours the other night. this shit I could be doing with my life when I finally get the kids down at 9, 30, 10 at night and the wife goes to bed. I'm not doing anything worthwhile. I'm just Googling snakes. I'm so excited to announce our new sponsor, Oakley, express your style and build a look that's made for you. You all know I spend a good bit of time on the river and in the woods, and I need something that protects the eyeballs, but gives me a clean, fresh look.

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So two things. First off, I heard Bad Back Back he joined us the other day on the pod. I haven't listened, but I bet it was fun. He's great. We should have one more, honestly. And then we've got a brand new show. I mean, you guys heard the first swing at it,

Fax and the King with Dr. Fax and Bo Allen. You know, the other week, you know, they were they were green lighters one Tuesday, and now they're going to have their very own show, and it's out what every Wednesday read? Every Wednesday. On YouTube, check it out. Fax and the King. You can also listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts everywhere, but check out the video because they get pretty animated. Yeah, they're a fun group.

That's a fun little grouping, man. As soon as Fax and Bow Matt, I was like, yeah, we got to do something with these two. Like, it's just the synergy is great. So check that out. Give them a chance. And, you know, we've got more shows coming up, coming down the pipe soon. I don't want to say a pipe because it makes me think about snakes. But, like, we've got some more shows coming soon, and we're pretty excited about them.

So check that out. And let's talk football. I mean, the running back thing has kind of dominated the news cycle this week. This podcast is brought to you by Cash App. the ideal app for spending, sending, and setting easy to track savings goals. Personally, I love using cash app savings tools whenever I'm planning a family vacation. I just took my first family vacation as a father. We went to Italy, Kate, myself, and the baby.

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app in the U.S. App Store. Good news. The Thursday show we do with Amp will continue 4.30 every Thursday, the Greenlight team, Cowboy Reed, Facts, Kingston, I'll pop through there sometimes. On AMP, you can interact with us really easily. There's a call-in button. We invite call-ins all the time. You can talk directly to us, ask us questions, ask us our favorite music. We might even play some.

There's also a live chat during the show. If you have a question about a topic we're talking about, fired off in the chat, we'll answer. We're going to be doing what we've been doing all fall every Thursday of 430 on-amp. check us out. So let's talk about the running back thing because that's been the, you know, the entire news cycle this week with the NFL. You know, what I think is that this is one of those situations where I read all the tweets.

I see what's happening to the running back position. We've talked about it before. It's nothing new. But I feel bad for them. Like these guys take a beating. Some of them are great players. And, you know, it feels like to the. them that they're not getting compensated for the work that they do, or at least committed to,

because I think maybe what we're conflating here a little bit is, you know, our team's willing to pay running backs. Yeah, they are, but on their terms, they don't want to commit to running backs. And I think that's the toughest part is like a lot of the counter arguments to these guys make a lot of sense. You know, like as I sat down and was like, where do I really stand on this? When Austin Echler comes on the show and he's complaining about his situation, I'm sympathetic. I'm like, Austin Eckler's a great player. He caught 100 balls last year. He run the ball to the backfield.

Like, he's more than just a running back. You know, when somebody like Sequin Barkley gets tagged, when Josh Jacobs, who's gone for 1,400 and 10 touchdowns the last four years, doesn't get a new deal, you feel bad. But when you sit down and look at it, like objectively, and I take my heart out of it, it's hard to make an argument for why under the current setup, people would be doling out more guaranteed money, bigger deals. longer deals to running backs.

Like, you know, it's funny, I remember a time online where it was totally uncool to pull for running backs to get paid. If you said, hey, this running back should get paid. You'd get shouted off stage. You'd get shouted off the timeline. I mean, Matt Miller yesterday was like, they burned him at the stake. He was like a witch, and people were just standing by and watching.

And I was like, poor Matt, because this is not, you know, thought that only a few have. You know, I can remember in 2019, when Zee got paid for like two years, it was like a meme. His contract was constantly talked about as this eyesore that was holding Dallas Cowboys down. And it was a roadmap of what not to do for teams in the future. And, you know, like that lasted a couple years. You had 2020 where Kamara got paid.

And, you know, I love Alvin. I think he's a great player. But it's not like the Saints have been very successful. I'm not blaming that on him. you know, that adds ammunition to these people that say don't pay running backs. If you look at Christian McCaffrey, yeah, a team was willing to part ways with a lot of assets to go and get him. But the 2020 contract was looked at as a joke, right? Like the team wasn't there yet.

This wasn't going to make them better. It wasn't going to put them over the edge. So, like, all we've had, whether it's Todd Gurley, who's my guy, and I think he was extremely special, but the injury slowed it down for him or Levion or like any of these situations, since 2019, if you really look at them, nothing's changed. But the temperature in the room yesterday changed completely when all the running backs went from their group text to like entering the room and then people got real quiet.

Matt Miller decided to say what everybody had been saying, you know, with no repercussions for years. And he got burned at the stake. So I feel for Matt Miller, but I ask, what has changed since 2019 for the people that are standing on the table? Because obviously, I feel bad. I've made that clear. I think running backs are valuable in the right situation on the right team.

But I can't blame owners and coaches and GMs under the current setup for not committing five years to a player in his prime at like 24, who probably is going to fall off a cliff. Like most of the good ones, Derek Henry's an exception. Frank Gore's an exception. Not everybody lasts as long as these guys have or did. So like Gore, Henry, they don't negate this fact. You can't slip me one or two anecdotes and win the argument. Add to the fact that the game is increasingly more of a passing game. And the fact that, as I mentioned earlier, running backs, the better you are, the more you're going to get used up.

Like the guys who should get paid are not going to be that good for that long. And the fact that like if you go down a roster offensively, really all over the field, And you were trying to pinpoint which player is probably the most dependent upon the functionality of the offense for their success and can be the biggest benefactor of the success of an offense is probably running back. I mean, quarterback is a straw that serves a drink. But when it comes to these other positions that are like luxury, I don't know if running back is the position that can overcome dysfunctionality in an offense. So a bad team with a bad offensive line that's got a fucked up running. run game and no passing game. Like, why would you pay a running back?

You know, I think that's why you see some of these teams that are a player away, like a San Francisco 49er team, making a big push for a guy like Christian McCaffrey. And listen, like, O'Dell Beckham's supposed to make $18 million this year. Okay, he could make $18 million this year. The guy's barely played. I know it seems unfair, but nobody's running around the last couple of years saying Lamar needs a running back. Right.

Like, right? So, you know, he needs somebody in the passing game. And that's where the league's gone and the center of the offense is the quarterback. And it generally goes in some order, protection, somebody in the passing game to present an option for a quarterback. And then a running back. And that's usually how teams are built now, right? Like the running back to me is a luxury at the level of the guys that we're talking about that would command this kind of money. Now, I'm not saying I wouldn't pay Sequan. I would pay Sequan. I don't know if I'd pay Josh Jacobs. So it varies player to player. Shanahan started all this in Denver. I mean, Florio pointed this out in an article in pro football talk. Reed, your Broncos were kind of at the forefront with this thing where, you know, post-Torell Davis, you know, they plugged in whoever they had to plug in. And it worked because they had that zone scheme.

And everybody was on a string and it worked in unison. And you get a good one-cut runner that's solid. That guy can do work in an office. offensive like that, you know, his sons continued that trend as well in San Francisco. I mean, look at some of the guys that have that have popped for him that you've never heard of. So with the running backs, I think that the part of the argument that people are getting hung up on is like, you know, the argument that running back shouldn't get quote unquote paid, conflates and due to durability concerns.

It conflates contract length with contract value. So, like, all the data is there, like these, you know, running backs like linebackers, they can fall off a cliff any moment, like you said, you know, Henry, Gore, Adrian Peterson, their anomalies. But I think this is what these running backs who are kind of speaking out or getting at is, okay, even if that's true, we should still get paid for what we're worth in terms of the production. and for those top tier guys, the skill sets they bring to the table. Like you mentioned, Ecclare, what he can do in the passing game.

McCaffrey's the same way, Barclay, all those guys. So I think that's kind of at the heart of the issue is the way the NFL system is set up is guys are paid based on where they stand within a positional market as opposed to what they're actually worth as far as their production. and their skill sets go. And that's the problem. I mean, like, you know, we're going to talk in a minute about going more positionless because I think that's something you see in other sports. But, like, running back's not only not the only position is getting dicked in this whole process. Like Nolan, you and I were talking about this earlier, Travis Kelsey, tight end position,

underpaid. They could make a great case for this. You know, tight end, Kelsey's, you know, probably in the running to be the greatest of all time. I mean, whether you think it's Anthony Gonzalez or Grunk or Kelsey, and he's been instrumental in them winning titles, you know, he gave them the ability to totally scrap what they were doing offensively and morph into something completely different and then go win a title with some guys on the outside that are, like, you know, found pieces.

You know, he's making 14-3 a year. Okay, he's averaging 30 less yards a season than Tyree Kill, who used to play with him. Now, Hill has like 1,700 yards all purpose all year. So, like, I don't know what Travis' all-purpose yardage is, but the guy is making $16 million less than Tyreek Hill. And, you know, the production is very similar. And you can't say, well, it's a passing lead because the tight end's a huge part of that.

So it's not just tight ends. I mean, like, Lane Johnson makes $5 million less than Laramie Tunsell. I think Lane Johnson is the best tackle in the game. How much of that is being a right tackle, right tackles and left tackles, you know, the back and forth on that. Fullbacks are sitting home watching like, I have no fucking sympathy. Like, dude, like we're buried. So the solution, I think, in Nolan, you bring up a great point.

The solution, I've seen a lot of solutions floated, like pay the rookies more, you know, so the guys get more money front-loaded in their careers. Because like you talk about tight ends, you can't quite equate. the problem because tight ends are more liable to accrue like three, four deals over the course of their career. You know, running backs have a shorter shelf life. So, you know, it's, even though it's a comparison, it's not the same. And I think that's why we're talking about running backs, but like paying rookies more, I think, you know, you'd see teams drafting even less running backs. You know, you'd say, we did see two running backs drafted in the top 12 last year. So clearly teams still

think of that as a valuable position even though they still value that position they do and honestly like we talk about the value of the position like I think the value of the position has had an uptick in the past couple years it was like people thought hey we don't need a running back at all to win and when you talk about one of the last 14 Super Bowl winning teams they're leading rusher making over two and a half million dollars in only one out of those 14 scenarios that's marshon lynch like everybody else is like the perfect running back for a Super Bowl winning team is like a Ligarrett blunt, right? Like we had Ligarit and he was making a couple mill a year and he was a huge part of the

offense. But if you look at it, like the teams that are winning don't need these high paid running backs. That is a fact. So like paying the rookies more like that could that could probably get a little messy like because, you know, we took two running backs in the top 10 as a league this year. but maybe that changes if you're trying to front load the dollars through the draft. Incentives, like people have talked about incentives.

Well, I think incentives are good. Like last year you look at the NFL, I think, gave out $336 million in incentives, performance-based. Top 25 earners, no running back. So like incentives could be better, but incentives alone are not going to solve this problem. They would balance the workload problem, though. Like the one thing is when you have that good young player who's really good. you want to give them as many reps as possible right now under the current system. If there was more incentivization, it would also disincentivize teams to overuse a young player.

Exactly. So it might balance the workload, but teams will artificially doctor how much money you're able to earn. We go through this at every position, like playtime incentives, you know, sacks, that sort of thing, and teams are pulling guys. You know, you could see that with running backs. I think the solution is going more positionless. And Nolan talked about this. Look at the NBA, Matt. I mean, like, correct me if I'm wrong because I'm no expert. But when I always hear these guys talking about what is this team need,

you don't say, I need a two guard, I need a three. I need a three and D guy. I need somebody that can guard a big. I need somebody that can shoot. Like, these are skill sets. They're not positions. And I think, you know, when you talk about that, that should be the direction that,

that the NFL goes. I mean, you talk about like when we used to run sprints, like because Nolan used to work in the NFL. So he used to watch the guys run and that sort of thing. Like it was big, it was skill, and it was quarterbacks. And those were the times. And on defense, I think three levels of defense, offensively, you know, guys are coming in based upon those three buckets.

And I think like paying people according to those three buckets would kind of streamline a lot of things. He's like you wouldn't have Josh Jacobs making the same amount. And I talked about the statistical output he's had the past four years as an Alan Lazzard or Jacobi Myers who are good for like six, eight hundred yards a year and five touchdowns. Now, I know it's a passing league, but there's something wrong there because the output is the output. Going positionless, I think, can can generally help. I mean, the value in today's NFL for these players is already reflected on the field.

like look at Derwin James, look at Buda Baker, look at Micah Parsons. A lot of people don't think about Micah Parsons that way, but the motherfucker is positionless. Like on a, and that's, it's just his value compounds because of that. So like, we talked about Kyle Shanahan earlier and the way the Shanahan's have shaped this deal. He has three guys that are positionless, and he's talked openly about this. Nolan pointed this out. He was recently on a podcast, the play callers. This is a good podcast, evidently very interesting, you know, take you behind the curtain with the way these guys think.

You know, he talked about this very thing. He said, like, I have three guys who were positionless. I mean, like, when I thought about adding these guys, I was adding skill sets, like strengths, things that they can do. Not I need a receiver. I need a slot. I need a tight end. So, like, having these positionless players is becoming more in vogue. and I think we should classify, you know, the contract process through these funnels because it would make it a lot easier. And then you go off production. And, you know, a lot of people, I've said this before, like a running back is like a back to the basket center. I don't think so because like back to the basket centers don't exist anymore, right?

Like if a guy can't run the floor, if he can't shoot, he's not going to be on the field. You know, back to the basket center is probably more like a fullback. Exactly. And when it comes to. Yeah, it's like, that's a dinosaur right there. But when you talk about now, there's the use checks of the world, like there's your Komodo dragons of the world, which have dinosaur DNA, but they've had to adapt. The running backs are, they've already adapted.

The game is changing around them. And what you're seeing, and I wonder if there's any, any parallel to be drawn here with the NBA, but like in the NBA, I still think there's a bunch of stiffs playing center, right? There's still a bunch of guys who are limited. They're not back to the basket. guys, but what they are is they're not yokish. They're not Mb. They're not, I don't know, bam at a bio probably on the end of that classification. You still need like one big on your roster to like in case the other team has a bruiser. You need to be able to guard them like just

in case. And you need a four minute most back. Yeah. You need a short yardage back. Like so, so, so, you know, when it comes to the guys that get paid, you look at the center position, Those guys are getting paid because, you know, their worth reflects in their play. Like if a guy can shoot, if a guy can pass, if he's, if he can run the floor, like, you know, there is a spectrum here. And if those guys are on the right side of that spectrum, they're going to get paid. And I think it should be the same thing with running backs. Like if you look at the top three players at every position, we've seen these lists circulating. The top three players at the running back position are superstars.

And in the NBA, superstars get paid. and it should be the same way with the NFL. And, you know, like the rest of them, they might be your zoo box or your fucking, I don't know, like, I don't want to slander anybody, but like they might be your guys that are more specialty guys. And that'll be reflected in the contracts that they accrue. So I think there is some commonality when you look at the NBA, you look at some other sports with positions. But I think the biggest, the biggest travesty here is that it's a problem. that everybody wants to solve,

but the evidence is stacked against the people that want to solve it. And I would include myself in that category. So I think the NFL to take my right brain hat off and put my left brain hat on, look at jersey sales. Okay, like in the top 10,

generally it's a lot of quarterbacks, great defensive players, that sort of thing. But littered in the top 50 are guys like Sequan Barkley and Alvin Camara and running backs like that. Like look at how much money the NFL makes off of running backs. So they're underpaid on the field, you could argue. But, you know, off the field, they're even more underpaid.

Like, these guys are flag bearers for the NFL. They are like one of the few throwback positions where the game has not changed. In fact, it's probably gotten more physical and more violent for them. And, you know, they do carry the flag for the league. And they do sell jerseys. And by the way, I looked this up. I don't know if it's sure or not, but I didn't know this. I saw a few Chris Long jerseys back in the day.

you know how much players make off of a single jersey sale one and a half percent and then that pie gets divided i had to read it three times i was like what it gets divided again between the player and the nflbara now i don't know if that's per jersey so if you're like saquan barclay you get 0.75 percent three quarters of a point on a hundred dollar saquan jersey but it just speaks to the fact that these guys generally are not seeing but a fraction of the pie And this is a position that's not like guard, it's not like tackle that's very valuable to a football team. You could argue that the value is up for debate, but the value to the sport is very high, the star power, the visibility. And the way these guys go about their business, man, like a guy like Seyquan Barclay is a fucking model citizen. He's playing in the biggest city in America on a team that's storied, that has a ton of passionate

fans and he's making the same amount as a fucking, I don't know, a third guard somewhere. You know, like, and he's not seeing any of the profit on his effect on the game off the field either. So I just look at this whole thing and I'm like, it's a shame. These guys are stars. They should get paid like stars. I do want to add this caveat here because I don't think going positionless is going to do it all by itself. I think you got to get creative. And I did see this cat for SB Nation wrote this article back in April.

James Dater. I'm not sure if I'm saying his name correctly. But I kind of had this idea. I floated to you guys about a cap-exempt fund. That's like an emergency fund for the state of the game right now. Like running backs are getting fucked. We see the problem. There's not really a solution under the current structure.

Maybe we should add in a wrinkle like a cap-exempt. that teams have an opportunity once in some period of time to dip into four running backs. And, you know, I hadn't thought about it to this extent, but this guy, James, for SB Nation, had talked about the, you know, the flexibility as the game changes, if tight ends become, you know, extinct or they're a threatened species, then you dip into that fun for those guys. But right now, that fund needs to go designated to running backs. You have a fun that you dip into once every three, four years, that you have a fun that you the ability to activate that fun and you go on your way and you make up the difference

because for most of these teams the the the issue is not cash you know like cash is available these guys are rich now eckler and joe mixam might get fucked because they play for teams that aren't real cash happy but like think about how easy this would be to do you know the one position on the field that's probably going to get ding the most that has value but we can't decide on how much should be paid according to their superstardom and their production on the field and this is the way to do it you got to get creative i think you got to go positionless and then you have to add another wrinkle in as well i like it i could see getting rid of the franchise tag for running backs too give them a little bit more flexibility i mean that that's one that's like the basics right people

have been screaming about the tag for a long time. I don't know if that's on the table because these folks still want to have control of players, but I think you've got to get creative. So I do feel for running backs, but they're kind of up against it when you look at the evidence, and that's what's tough.

What do you think of J.C. Treader saying that I can't recommend faking injuries, at least publicly, about running backs? that he can't recommend it yeah he was he was basically talking about running backs their longevity and not being paid but when he was asking about running backs frustrations

he said he couldn't recommend faking faking injuries publicly but he didn't exactly rule it out right yeah well jc would be I mean his pro football focus grade would go down if that big motherfucker's not in the backfield So, I mean, listen, it's going to be interesting to see what running backs do. Like, these guys, again, are stars.

They have huge reaches. If they kind of take like an activist mindset in this whole thing, I don't think they're going to get a lot of public support because you're still paid a lot of money to play a game. But when it comes to the fairness in the market and the market needing to correct itself, like they could take some extraordinary measures. Like maybe you'll see guys not show up to camp. Maybe it'll be one of these things where they've got to get behind closed doors

and there'll be guys that cross the picket line and don't. I don't know if they have the wherewithal to do that. I don't know if guys are, especially with their short earning potentials and the state of the position already. Like imagine being like, I'm going to walk out. I think most owners would be like, okay, so there's no good running backs in the league?

All right, I'll pay, you know, the muscle hamster or like some derivative of that guy. You know, like I don't know what they do. That was another interesting point. A couple people pointed this out on Twitter that a lot of the public support was for the billionaire owners, rather, who were making millions off of the players rather than the millionaire running backs who are fighting for a little bit in this short window that they have to earn.

There's a dynamite segue into the next topic, which is the hard knocks thing. Fans like seeing players squirm a little bit, dude. And that's why this hard knocks thing, the Jets came out and said they don't think it's humane. It's like they're fucking Dr. Fax at the turkey farm right now. They don't think it's humane that, you know, players are getting cut on camera and hard knocks. And like a little bit of background here. Joe Douglas used to be the Grim Reaper in Baltimore, like the guy that used to, you know, come get your playbook. We used to call him the Grim Reaper.

I guess they called him the Turk. And I knew that. But it's important to remember it in this context because he is the GM. And he's kind of like the head honcho over there along with Sala. And if they're saying, you know, we don't want to cut guys on campus. it's one of two things. Most people's guess would be that, you know, it's gamesmanship. They don't want hard knocks.

They want to make it a pain in the ass for the NFL. So they're saying we're not going to cut players on camera. Now, I don't know if the NFL is any recourse there. The other hypothesis is the one I just listed with it. Joe Douglas has PTSD from, you know, ending guys' careers and doesn't want to do it on national TV. And I totally get that if that's the case. because, you know, like when you talk about a reality TV show, you talk about like The Bachelor,

you talk about like real world, road rules, like whatever. Fuck. I don't watch them. But you talk about this stuff. Most people opt into this stuff, right? You're opting into something where the final product and your share of the profits hinge on your full participation, right? Like you are the show and this moment is the show. Like somebody having a meltdown, it is the show, right? We just talked about this with hard knocks juxtaposed to the Netflix special on quarterbacks. Netflix special on quarterbacks, they kid glove that stuff. Like you have control over it if you agree to be on that. Hard knocks largely, you don't have to get cut to get embarrassed on hard knocks.

Okay, like you could get pancakeed. You could break down. You could yell at a coach. You could get in a fight at practice. There's a whole host of things that could embarrass you and turn your life upside down. Because in today's day and age, like you catch a stiff arm from Derek Henry. They're going to be meming you for 10 years. You're going to be Josh Norman floating through a, you know,

the blank adobe background. So like shit has changed. The stakes are already high. Why do we have to cut these guys on TV? This hard knocks them. They stand to gain nothing. It's not road rules. It's not the bachelor.

It's not like this is a side show. They don't make any money off it. So if I was a player, I have every right to say, I'm not getting cut on fucking TV. And I'm glad that Joe Douglas and the Jets, whether it was for reasons of gamesmanship or they actually have a heart, don't want to do that. And I think it's really fucking funny because I said good on the Jets yesterday on Twitter,

and I immediately got the responses that I knew I would get, which was like, how dare you take this right away from us, the fans? What did they do to deserve to wave this right? You know, has America gone soft? All the predictable stuff. Like, the world is so soft now. And to that I say, I enjoy those tweets just as much as you enjoy watching. players get cut. Like, this is my watching players get cut. Watching fans swarm that they don't get to see a player that they may or may not resent. We talked about that earlier. You know, like, you guys are

overpaid babies playing a kid's game. This is the moment for them that they get to say, ha ha, motherfucker. I see you getting cut on national TV. You're just like me. You'll never understand what it's like to be them. And this is a moment that I think should be off limits. And I don't care how much you cry about it. And why don't we go down to wherever you work and put you on camera getting fired from insert your job? Well, what they'd say, Reed, is they'd say, well, I don't make millions. Right. And I'd say, well, you know, these guys, again, are not making millions because of hard knocks. So they make millions because of the game. You already bought a ticket to the game. Okay. You have every right to complain about somebody giving effort or, you know, somebody's performance. But when it crosses over into

this stuff, you don't have a leg to stand on. Yeah, and not for nothing. The guys, yeah, the guys who are getting cut, they're not making millions. They're not making them. They're losing their jobs. Like, they're fired. And it's like the end of their career for some. Like, I mean, for some of those guys, it's like, hey, this is my one chance. I've never gotten paid. And oh, now I'm finding out I never will get paid and I'm going to have to do some normal guy job. It's like putting the worst moment of somebody's life on TV. And I get why, as a viewer, it's interesting. But I, I think that that'll curry a lot of favor with the Jets players and probably set the standard going forward. Because once they do this this year with the Jets, like, why would any other team go back the other way?

It would look so unplayer friendly. Well, it's society now, and there's some good things about it, and there's some bad things about it. I think this is a good thing in this situation where somebody's like, hey, this is wrong. And then everybody's like, okay, I'm afraid to be wrong. You know, and you set a precedent, and you're like, well, the Jets already set the market on morality here. So we'll see what happens. I know who's watching at home the most pissed off about this. The guy that brought a girl home to his dorm room and Fisher cut him a couple years ago.

Like guys like that are like, what the fuck? You know, I'm already three years into being like all the people that were pointing at the screen. Like, I am that guy now. So it's pretty funny the timing of it. Some guys are probably pissed. But I do think it's the right thing. Like, how does your life change if you don't see it? player getting cut. I was entertained by it. Not going to lie, I like chaos and the whole thing.

So like if you put it on TV, I'm going to watch it, but I'm not going to complain if you take it away because I know what it's about. Okay, I got cut real quick. I got cut on the telephone. You know, Jeff Fisher, who's my boy, he just called me on the phone. And we were off the phone in like five minutes. We were off the phone so quick, you know, it was just like it was two minutes on me and James Laronitis getting cut. You're going to lower both our little caskets into the ground today. Oh, Jared Cook, too. So it was like, it was a three-person funeral.

And then it was like, so you're getting out outside lately, Chris? You got any big hikes plan? And I was like, well, fish, it's been real. But, you know, like, that's, I was lucky. I've made a lot of money. I played a lot of great football in St. Louis. Like, you know, I was happy to move on. It was fine.

But for a lot of these guys, it ain't like that, as you pointed out. So a couple tidbits from the NFL that I thought were interesting. Like, number one, Highsmith up in Alex Highsmith up in Pittsburgh, who I've talked about really liking, just got paid. Love that. I think he's underrated. I haven't seen Alex Highsmith on any of these lists. You know, like you got your top 10 rushers, your honorable mentions,

your people receiving votes. I don't know if he received the vote. but his production is what stands out. And they needed somebody to come step in for Bud Dupree, right? Like Bud Dupree left a huge void. This guy's physical. He can do a couple different things, but he can really rush. So he played well while T.J. Watt was out too.

Like he was like a number one rusher last year for most of the season. And I think, again, like that goes back to, you know, talk about opportunities in the NFL and some guys get more than others. I mean, like, you know, I was a high drafted guy. I got a lot of opportunities. guys, you know, they get their little opportunity and you got to make the most of it right away. And, you know, he was already, you know, an established guy, but when a T.J. Watt is out, everybody's looking at you. Like, were you the benefactor? Can you carry this defense without him?

And obviously, you'd like to have both of them, but I think he did a really nice job and probably has a lot to do with why he made this money. So Zach Martin might be a holdout. And it was really funny reading. I'm like fishing for replies. Like usually somebody holds out and everybody's like, you know, it's the same thing we talked about with the jets. It's like, you know, eat your food and be happy, right? Like you're rich. But with Zach Martin, it was a lot of like, I don't love this when players do it, but, you know, and I don't need to say any more than that. I think it's brilliantly timed by his, his his squad you know uh nolan pointed out he was just a 99 overall uh madden he's joined the 99 club again he's number one guard and all these lists you know you can talk about a guy like

quentin nelson who i'm obsessed with love the guy he's dealt with injuries the past couple years do you know how hard it is to to maintain the level of play this guy has for the amount of time that he had this is what the hall of fame looks like you know you six out of the hall of fame I mean, it's fucking automatic. You know, my dad used to tell me guys are going to the Hall of Fame. They got to be the best of their position for a period of time. This guy's been the best position for as long as I can remember. And he's been solid.

He's been steady. And he's making the eighth most out of all guards. So he has like a running back like gripe here and probably then some. So I don't think they let this thing linger. But I just wanted to point out that like he's not just a big guy. he's also very smart because the timing of announcing this is right on the money.

Little fun news with the NFL to finish out. I mean, Blake Martinez, who left the game, who I thought was a nice player, dude. Yeah, he had a good year, especially in Green Bay. You know how hard it is to have that kind of production in the NFL, especially not being a guy that, you know,

is thought of as more of a rotational guy or a guy that, you know, isn't one of your horses, like to get the amount of rushes you need to do that to be as successful as he was and then to leave the game like chris borland retired early because of his head like you know you know pat tillman went to the military um fucking blake martinez is doing Pokemon dude he left to go what is he doing flipping Pokemon cards he made millions of dollars doing Pokemon yeah so far this past year he's made 11.5 million from his company called Blake's

breaks basically flipping Pokemon cards and like showing them opening Pokemon packs and stuff like that. He's hired like five and full-time employees as a whole business. Holy shit, dude. What are the full-time employees for? They got to track the commodities.

They got to track the prices of all these things so they can sell them right, buy them low, you know? So he's not the brains behind it. I think he's the brains. He's just like, you know, getting some competent people by his side. There's a lot of squirrels. There's a lot of squirrels out there.

There's a lot of different squirrels. A lot of different damage rates and that sort of thing. Yeah, he made $30 million in his career. He's made almost $12 million this year and made more off Pokemon cards than a star running back might make in his whole career. That's unbelievable. That is unbelievable.

Oh, good for him. dude i'm happy when people you know like you that's the type of thing you tell your parents like i'm not going to college i'm gonna you know i'm gonna do i'm gonna become a poet i'm gonna sell my art by the pier in san francisco like i'm gonna i'm leaving the nflb if he's married how did that conversation go i really want to sell these Pokemon cards i'm gonna make 10 million dollars a year doing good for Good for Blake Martinez, man. We got to get him on Fax and the King, by the way. Exactly.

Yeah, Faxx would be excited. Dr. Fax, he's going to be obsessed with this guy. I think Fax has brought up Blake Martinez every single time Pokemon's been mentioned. That's how I know about it. I want to do that. Well, that's the thing. Like, what is the secret sauce here? You know, like, fuck, dude, maybe Cassius Marsh is going to make a boatload of money on Magic the Gathering after his career.

You know? Blake Martinez said every single day when I wake up, my shoulder doesn't hurt, my back doesn't hurt anymore. The only thing that hurts is, are my fingers from opening a thousand cards of packs of cards per day. You can get carpal tunnel doing that. The last thing is this uniform stuff. I think people are waking up, man. We had this period of like 2000, 2020 where, you know, it started with the Rams and going to like navy blue and that disgusting gold that I had to wear on my pants. Reebok gold pants.

Like people just went more muted. Golds got popular like pewter was in the mix. It was everything was like dark navy. It was like you were marketing to 50 year old guys that wanted to wear a hoodie and didn't want to wear it in cream sickle. They didn't want to wear it. And I just think that whole era is ending, man. People are looking to go backwards. It's just you can't open the floodgates all at once.

Like, look at this Eagles situation. You know, I can remember when the Rams had to wear like a white helmet on their throwback jerseys, like a Merlin and Olson on an Eric Dickerson setup. And you're like, this is stupid. The NFL has to figure this out. Like, you've got to be able to wave a wand and just open the floodgates. But it looks like we're headed in the right direction because we've heard, you know, cream sickles are back this year.

We have heard now that the Cleveland Browns and seen that they're going to have an all white with a white helmet and it looks fucking awesome. You know, I love all white. Seahawks too. White Seahawks are going to, and I think they can wear it as much as they want too, which is a wrinkle that I'm not aware of. Why can't the bucks wear the cream sickles as much they want? Anyways, the bottom line is teams have to go backwards. Eagles have talked about Kelly Green. Out of all the teams that don't have impending full-time throwback,

kind of deals in the works. I don't think the Eagles need to go back to Kelly Green all the time, right? It could be an alternate for them because there's been a lot of history made in the midnight and it looks great. I think midnight looks great. Kelly Green's probably more electric, but sometimes you put

them on the players and you're like, oh, it didn't look as good as it looked on paper and these like mock-ups that people edit together. These are my top five teams that need to go back full-time to their throwbacks. Okay. Number one, the Los Angeles Rams.

Okay, like the new uniforms, I was tough on them. Everybody thought it looked like detergent, the logo, the whole thing. I get it. You wanted a new look. The Eric Dickerson's are elite, and they are much better than what you got right now. The Falcons, man, go back to Jeff George's, call it a day. This new shit is like Grady Jarrett likes it a little bit, but I don't know if anybody else likes it. Arthur Smith seemed kind of lukewarm on it

during our interview. The Patriots go back to the Reds right now. Just do it. You look great. It's a new era. You might can, Bill. Go back. Go back to the tippets. Let's go Saints. Okay. Every time they throw on their throwbacks, they look great. I think sometimes, you know, these teams that are just like, fuck it, we'll just make our colors,

black you know that was a very turn of the century thing where everybody every high school was like can we incorporate some black and then before you knew it like my high school we were maroon and white and we have black uniforms like where did that come from okay this is a team that it doesn't quite work on i think the the um i think the throwbacks are their best look and then lastly the miami dolphins probably the best roster in the afc probably the best roster in the aFC i'm not saying Okay, definitely the best roster in the AST East, in my opinion. You think the Bengals have the best roster? AFC East, yeah, but Bengals probably for me.

You think so? You know, for another time. Lost some pieces on defense. You know, their secondary is. On defense, and that's where Miami has reed up, dude. And just adding Fangio, I suffice to say, this could be the year for y'all. Okay, if y'all, and I don't want to get too far into the old issues. here. If the old issues don't come up, this could be the year for y'all. You want to look good doing it,

man. You got some of the best throwbacks? Throw them on again. So that's my top five teams that need to go full-time to the throwbacks. I don't know if I missed anybody, but the Falcons, the Rams, the Patriots, the Saints, and the Dolphins to me are the teams that should go full-time back to the throwbacks. The Titans need, the Titans have great throwbacks like they're from the Oilers days. and they could just throw a little bit of that color in there too. I'd love to, I'd love for them to go back to the oilers, but you couldn't justify it full time. You couldn't have like an oil tower on a Titans helmet.

You know what I mean? Like they brandy out of it. Yeah, yeah. Just that color, though, the color, just the light blue with the trims is just, yeah. It's beautiful. It's beautiful. When DeHop, when DeHop wears that deal this year, it's going to look amazing. Because he used to wear it in, well,

They don't, do they not wear those anymore? The Oilers throwbacks? No. Because I've seen D-Hop and the Oilers throwbacks and it looks damn good. I mean, you're looking at it. So, anyways, that is, that is, that concludes football talk. And we'll be back Tuesday.