The Herd with Colin Cowherd - 3 and Out - 3 Bold NFL Predictions + Division Winners, Disappointments, Sleepers

Episode Date: September 6, 2022

John leads off with some big picture appreciation for America’s love affair with football, then makes 3 bold preseason predictions about Belichick’s future with the Patriots, the Broncos first season with Russ, and Brady and the Bucs season. He also picks his division winners, disappointments, and sleepers. He also gives his thoughts on a huge weekend of college football, and answers listener questions in the Middlekauff Mailbag. Subscribe NOW and follow Middlekauff and The Volume on Twitter, Instagram and YouTube for the latest content. It's always FanDuel for the best wagering action! #herdSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Another podcast from some SNL, late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter.

Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year.

Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media. Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifers Show.

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From 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84's big to me. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a year, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it with our friends, fellow comedians, and favorite authors. Like Mark Lamont Hill on the 80s.

84 was a wild year. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The Volume. The Three Now Podcast with me, John Middlethoff, is presented by Fandual Sportsbook. There's no better place to make every moment more than with Fandual. Great odds and markets for baseball, the NBA, NHL, PGA, PGA, and so much more. Awesome new and existing user promotions. America's number one sports book, very easy to use, safe and secure.

You get your winnings fast. I cannot recommend it enough. Love gambling with Fanduel. If you are new, just download the Fandual Sportsbook app to get started. Now sign up with promo code Colin so they know we sent you. Is going on everybody. John Middilcock, three and out podcast. Fresh off about a four-day bender in National.

which is an absolute incredible city. And being there at the beginning of college football, deep in the south, was awesome. Absolute incredible weekend. I just spent about an hour and a half on the treadmill, sweating out, probably over under four bottles of Tito's, and potentially 50, 60 Kores Lights, took in a lot of football.

Watched a lot of college football over the weekend. Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Sunday night we were flying home, got to see the first half of the LSU Florida State game. Did have Florida State though, so when we landed and I saw that it was 24, 23. I was excited. So week one of the NFL season is now here. We're off rocking and rolling. A little weird this week because of Labor Day.

We got Bill's Rams coming up in just a couple days. If we're listening on Tuesday, I mean, we're 48 hours away for the NFL season. Pretty good slate of games Sunday. and we'll just rock and roll. The game plan is podcast today. Have another podcast out on Friday with my man Stucky, doing some gambling stuff. I mean, it would be me on the podcast,

but Stucky's joining us again. If you guys are new to the podcast, Action Network guy, big gambler, big Stucky guy, and we'll probably pick three games every week on the NFL slate. Maybe college. Last year was difficult because we would put it out on Sunday, but this year it's going to be part of the Friday podcast. We'll work through things.

We'll figure it out and then probably consistently have mailbag out maybe early on Sunday morning and then usually a podcast Monday, Tuesday, Friday, and just keep rocking and rolling like that. Other than that, a lot going on today. Got some bold predictions. I'm going to pick every division winner. Tell you I like to be the MVP this year. I think it's going to be the worst team in the NFL.

Just some other things that, you know, if you've listened to me for a while, you kind of know where I stand on a couple of these teams. and then a lot of college football thoughts. I love college football. I mean, I'd say the NFL pays the bills, but gosh, darn, I could watch college football all day long, and literally I did, and it was glorious. It was like a lot of you listening, it doesn't get any better than that. So subscribe to the podcast, share with your friends, also on YouTube.

Check out the YouTube, subscribe to the volumes YouTube page. Middlecoff mailback, slide up in those DMs. At John Middlecopf is the Instagram handle, fire in those DMs. get your question answered here. I'll put some at the end of the show and we'll have some coming up later in the week as well. But I wanted to start with this. It's my second time going to Nashville. And I remember the last time I was there, I was there for a bachelor party, but I made a work trip out of it. You know, when you're not a W-2 guy, you find ways to expense your life. So the bachelor party was like Friday to Monday. And I was like, you know what? It's during the spring and the

Titans were practicing. And I know my guy, John Robinson, who actually I had on this podcast. This would have been four or five years ago. And I went out there for the week. And I stayed in downtown Nashville. I went to a couple Titans practices. It was really cool. And there is something special about the South when it comes to football.

People are very, very passionate. And everywhere I went, you would see someone wearing a Roll Tide shirt, LSU shirt, a Tennessee shirt, a Florida State shirt, Ohio State shirt. I mean, you had people, a University of Texas shirt, an A&M, and you could feel the passion. And I didn't grow up in an area where college football was king. I grew up where pro football was king. I grew up in Northern California where the 49ers are like the New York Yankees. And I was lucky enough in my time working in the NFL to be a part of the Eagles,

where I would say, you know, Penn State's a big deal, but there's nothing like the Philadelphia Eagles. They are treated in that city and really in that state. I guess the Steelers are there too. But in Eagle Country, it's treated like Alabama football or Ohio State football. It means everything to everyone. And it really just hit me before I dive into the football stuff. How lucky I am that so many people care. And like I do the golf podcast, that's a passion project. Now, there's a lot of money in golf. I love golf. Golf, you know, does pretty well. But football, pays the bills around here and football is the biggest sport

in America for a reason. You guys. So whether you're listening to this and you're a cowboy fan, you're an Alabama fan, you're a Seahawk fan, you're a giant fan. Football is king right now because of the fans. There are more fans and more people

who truly give a shit than any other sport. Really, you could combine them all. It ain't even close. In this country. I know soccer and F1 internet. I'm talking about where we who the base is here. Football is king for a reason is the fans. And I know this as someone that when I worked in radio, I used to sit in the media areas. And I felt very isolated. I remember when I left and started getting into podcasting, I started buying tickets. I no longer sat with the media elites.

I sat with the people. And I believe this to my core. I became much better talking for a living, the closer I got to the fans. And I think a big reason why so many people in the media feel out of touch and let's face it, aren't that good of their job, is you can kind of get into a different world where ultimately the media, like the league, you know, the health of it all revolves around people.

And now in 2022, it's actually less powerful to go to a game in terms of the money for the sport. As you just saw the Big Ten deal, the SEC deal, the NFL deal. It's all about us sitting on the couch and watching that's how these leagues and these conferences now print money. But as someone that spent last year, almost $1,000 a ticket for three of us to go to Week 18, Rams, 49ers,

I remember going into the stadium and the buzz was incredible. I remember being there at halftime and the Niners were getting wrecked. And I remember the comeback. There is still nothing like being at a big football game. There is nothing like watching some of these games on television over the years in the SEC, Ohio State, Michigan, and just knowing it means everything to everyone there. And ultimately, this might sound cheesy or whatever,

but just thank you for liking football. I mean, this would not be possible. My career would not be possible if it wasn't for the number one sport in America, which most people care about. And being in Nashville, you know, listen, I can become numb to this as a business and just sports in general. It's really the only industry I've ever worked in.

And I don't look upon it like I did once in my early 20s or when I was a kid growing up. It's just different when you start making money on something. But it's stuff like that that makes you realize the passion of the people. That's why I do this shit. And I can't wait. Let me repeat, I can't wait for this NFL season. And I'm not faking that. I mean, let's face it, there are 10 plus teams that could probably win the Super Bowl.

Going into week one, everyone thinks they can win. part of the reason like when Oregon gets curb stomped and dogwalked by Georgia, it's a humbling experience because if you're Oregon, I don't know if you thought you could win if you're a Ducks fan. And I know a lot of Ducks fans growing up on the West Coast, a lot of people go to Oregon. You know, most of us can't get into UCLA or, you know, Cal or some of the good, like you can get into Oregon even if you're not an athlete.

It's a school. So I know a lot of people that have gone to school there and root for the football team, as they should. And you just think like, hey, can we just kind of make this a game being in the second half? And then you get bent over and take into the woodshed, and it's a humbling experience. And it's going to happen to a lot of NFL teams this Sunday, potentially Monday night, high hopes. You know, now one game does not define your season. But the best part about football, and I've been saying this forever, is one of its differentiating factors from the other sports is every game matters.

And I sat there at some of these bars this weekend of dudes wearing their team's getting wasted, screaming for their team. It's like, this shit really matters. Like, let's face it. the Yankees are playing a game right now. Aaron Judge, I think it is 54th home run. Ultimately, that game, like him hitting the home run matters, that game is completely irrelevant. It does not matter.

It's the problem with baseball has. They have so much inventory. We've never had less attention. So if anything, if you want to, you know, excel as a sports, why everyone keeps telling the NBA, like, wipe off like 30 games and maybe people will care. But you give us 82. Hell, you don't care about half of them. Why is the consumer?

Everyone cares. And the one thing with college football, we'll dive into a little bit later, like going to the 12-team playoff, play big games. Like every game in the NFL, now it doesn't turn out like the game's good. Not all games are close, but every game going into a football game matters in college and pro. And hell,

and high school is no different too, just because you only play once a week. So like I said, thanks to everyone that listens to this podcast, that loves the sport of football and makes this whole thing possible. And if anything, all these quarterbacks making $45, $50 million, they should send you all thank you cards. Because without you guys watching, the money doesn't flow.

It's just a reality of the times that we live in. Kickoff week one with Fandul, America's number one sportsbook. Join today to get started with $150 in free bets guaranteed. When you place your first $5 bet, just sign up with the code Colin to get in on the action. Then you can turn game day into payday all season long.

Here are two games that I don't like, I love. The 49ers right now about minus seven against the Chicago Bears. I think that is blowout city. The Arizona Cardinals, while they are home hosting the Chiefs, are dealing with a ton of injuries in offense, Ron Dale Moore, Zach Hertz.

I like the Chiefs big in this game. I think the Chiefs have a chance to win the Super Bowl. I think the Chiefs have a point to prove early and often, and I love them in this game even on the road. Play your way and bet on more than just the final score. Wager on everything from touchdowns to total yards to catch us. Don't fumble your chance to get $150 in free bets. Win or lose with promo code Colin.

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See full terms at sportsbook. Fanduel.com. Gambling problem? Call 1-800 next step or text next step to 533-4-2-Arizona, 1-88-78-7-9-77. Or visit ccgogh.org slash chat, Connecticut, 1-800 gambler, or visit fanduel.com slash RG, Colorado, Iowa, Indiana, Illinois, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia,

1877-7-7-70, stop, Louisiana, or 1-800-270 for confidential help, Michigan. 1-8778 Hope NY or text Hope NY 467-369 New York, Tennessee Redline, 1-800-88-97-89, Tennessee, 1-800-5-2-4700. Wyoming, visit www.1-800 gambler.net, West Virginia. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque.

Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win.

A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Clever Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show.

This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast. It's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So, if you've ever supported me or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where

you need to be. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Before I dive into who I'm picking, I don't know if I'm going to pick a Super Bowl winner. Like, it's so stupid. How would I pick a Super Bowl winner when the playoffs? start, tell you who I like. Now, I think it's more realistic, like who I like to make the divisions, who I think are playoff teams, who I think suck. But if I pick a Super Bowl winner, like, to me, the only way that matters, and I was telling my girlfriend this, one reason I do a lot of posts

and stuff like talking about gambling, because I actually gamble. Like, because I've been gambling, I'm 37 years old. I've been gambling for more than two decades now. And I see so many people because of the influx of money in gambling that are talking about it, just because they know they can make money. They don't actually, most of the media, they wouldn't bet $10 on something. And for someone that actually does it, it means a lot to me. And I've always said, like, I'm not a big future guy. I like betting games. I loved betting on Arkansas this weekend. I love betting on Florida State. I don't really like waiting. I can't wait five months. Now, I get some people do it, whatever, it's just not really for me. So I'm talking about, like, if I knew who was going to win

the Super Bowl, I'd put $5,000 on it right now. But I don't have a great feel. You can convince me seven teams will win. Now, I feel pretty confident writing down the teams they're going to win the division in like 80% of them. I think picking the divisions is just a more realistic exercise. I think we all know you can list me five teams. The bills, the Rams, right? The Niners, the Ravens, the Bengals, like they can win the Super Bowl. Yeah, we know. And it becomes a fumble here, a pick here, but the Chiefs. I mean, what are we talking about? But I wanted to start, before I get into the division winners, just three bold predictions. And I'm not, I try to tell people all the time, like one thing we try to do here is, like, I only talk about things that I like talking about.

Now, I'm not a dummy. I know the way to get the most people listening. Like, I can't just talk about the Jags every day, but for the most part, the Jags bore me. I talked about him when Urban Meyer was there because they were a big story. But I'm also not going to force feed on a daily basis, Dak Prescott and the Cowboys. When I do talk about them, I'm excited to talk about them. Like last week, when their offensive linemen got hurt. Now they got Jason Peters, a 40-year-old on the practice squad. Yeah, it's kind of interesting stuff. But like you watch some of these shows.

They talk the Cowboys nonstop. And I get why they do. They have the most fan bases. Like if this was a baseball podcast, I'd be dumb to not lead with the Yankees basically all the time. If I was doing college football, if I'm not talking Bam Ohio State or Notre Dame, I'm probably not making as much money as I could.

But like I try. I know what the hits are. And I can figure out ways to play the hits but with things that I actually care about. And you watch some of these shows. To me, my generation, like, we're not consuming first take or Skip Bayless's show. Like, we're just not. Now, part of it, like, we got jobs.

We're not at home. Well, I guess some people are working from home now technically. But the consumer that watches the show at like 9 in the morning is just probably not people I'm hanging out with. It's just a reality. That type television bores me. One reason I've always thought that Collins, one of the best in the businesses, because he can take things and just make such unique angles on them. And those guys are just like they reiterate, kick a dead horse.

It's like, God damn, I'd rather eat a dirt sandwich than watch this right now. So these are bold predictions, but I honestly truly believe them. I'm not just saying them to Sam. I think that all three of them have a possibility. And I'm going to start with one. It's going to seem a little crazy. And listen, this guy could lose every single game this year. They could go 0 and 17.

and I don't think he would deserve to get fired. And I don't even necessarily think if this season goes off the rails, this guy would get fired. I don't think that is going to happen. But I do think you could see the light at an end of a tunnel of just a breakup.

Sometimes breakups are just needed. Going your separate ways. Like ultimately, Brian Kelly just needed to leave Notre Dame. And he did it. Now, he chose that. Notre Dame wasn't going to fire him. But sometimes you just need

to make a change. Bob Stoops kind of actively retired and gave them Lincoln Riley. I think this is the best idea for the program. It's a little bit different in the NFL, especially now that Josh McDaniels went to the Raiders. They do not have an heir apparent. But Bill is 70, 71 years old. Let's face it, the team is kind of trending in a weird way. And last year was impressive.

And I think he needed it kind of to be like, hey, guys, obviously Tom played a big role in my success, but I'm not the village fucking idiot here. Y'all watch me coach circles around everyone for like 20 plus years. You saw these moves that I constantly did that your coach didn't have in the bag. We all saw it. It's easy to go, well, Bill sucks. No, we all watched. They played in the biggest games and he outcoached basically 99% of the time his opponent. Like that's a fact. So anyone acting like Bill Belichick, if he's not the greatest, one of the greatest coaches, you're just an idiot or a hater. Like even if you're a diehard Jets fan, a diehard

Steelers fan, if you are over 30 years old and you watch the majority of Belichick and Brady's career, you tip your hat to both guys. But there comes to a point in the sport, in any sport, where I don't know even necessarily it's his message, but maybe it's just time. And what they're doing, and I've always thought this, like, one thing I'm a huge believer in, like I do agree with Elon Musk. Whatever Twitter tells you that like 12% of America's on it, I would cut that number in half.

I agree with Elon that that number is closer to five than it is what they're telling you. I think it's a minuscule percentage of people in this country. humans that are on that app. Now, Facebook, obviously they have Instagram, TikTok, those numbers dwarf that shit. But because the media, the media is obsessed with Twitter, they act like that is everything, yet it's a tiny subset. And sometimes, well, it's like, well, the media drove this guy to get fired.

Bullshit. The guy got fired because he wasn't any good, usually. Sometimes there's a social media run. I remember a couple years ago when Tennessee was going to hire Greg Shiano and Clay Travis, some other guys, went all in on this is insane. You know what? The media didn't force their hands.

It was an insane move. Under no circumstances to the University of Tennessee of hired a guy from the northeast. Graciano's now a Rutgers, that's a good fit for him. You're going to coach in the SEC. I like to have southern guys.

Josh Heifle, good fit. Tennessee actually looks pretty good. But this notion that like social media forced it bullshit, I think they realized this is insane. and the fan base is this is nuts. This makes no sense. It didn't.

And luckily, they changed and they pivoted and now it looks like they got the right guy. But Belichick, whether he wins six, seven games, whatever, because I think they're probably a six seven win team. They're not very good. But him hiring his buddies back, his buddies would be strong, but guys that know what he wants

in Joe Judge and Matt Patricia, in their heyday, if Tom would have been around, who cares? Because they would have won 11, 12 games. They would have hosted playoff. games, they would have made a ton of money. So everyone can think Bill Belichick is one of the biggest assholes ever. Well, when he was winning playoff games, hosting playoff games, and printing money for his owner, do you know who doesn't care about all the fake white noise on Twitter or social

media? Bobcraft. But do you know what happens when you start not going to the playoffs and not hosting playoff games and not having the same trajectory of your franchise once did? The owner is ultimately a cutthrow businessman, starts wondering like, does this make sense? And, I'm not saying that if they win six or seven games, Bob Kraft is like Monday morning, Black Monday, Bill Belichick has been fired. But I do wonder if they just get to a point where like, should we just break up? Should we just go our separate ways? A little bit like Tom Brady and the Patriots a couple years ago.

And that's what I think happens at the end of this year. I don't think he quote unquote gets fired, but I expect this to be the last season, Bill Belichick coaches for the New England Patriots. Now, if Bill Belichick's available, even at 70, 71 years old, he is going to be a very, very, very valued individual. And I always hear this like, nepotism. I think Steve Belichick's pretty good coach. Is Kyle Shanahan nepotism? No, it's like some people that have famous fathers or fathers in a certain industry are actually really good. And some people are not. Just like some people that are in the NFL that have no connection to the NFL in terms of their father suck. You know, what is that?

Like it's just to me, the nepotism, his kids know what they're doing. I've heard good things about Steve Belichick. I think he's a good coach. Ultimately, to me, the reason, would be like Joe Judge and Matt Patricia, like that's who you were going down swinging with, and his draft record, which is pretty terrible. So I expect Bill Belichick his last season. Number two, I'm shorting the Denver Broncos. And I said this a couple weeks ago. I don't blame them for giving Russell Wilson a lot of money. He deserved that money relative to his resume. And once you make that trade, you're always going to extend them. So this has nothing to do with them paying him. The moment they traded for him, they were going to give him a big extension.

It happened. He's now got it. Half the league would have given the big extension, more than half. You know, what, 32 teams, probably 22 teams would have gladly, if Russell Wilson was available, paid him that money. So this has nothing to do with his contract. But I said it a couple weeks ago when he told Peter King, well, he didn't, but an unnamed Russell Wilson's source that he views him and Nate Hackett, not as coach player, but as partners. And there is no way that I could not think of the New Jersey Nets

when I saw that statement. And here's a major difference between the New Jersey Nets and the Denver Broncos. Like ultimately Kevin Durant at his sport is a better player than Russell Wilson. Actually dramatically better. And in basketball, one individual can impact you more than even a quarterback. Now, here's my main issue with them. I've said over and over, I'm not a Russell Wilson hater. I've seen him live several.

I think he's one of the best quarterbacks. He's a remarkable player. But I do think in his world, he thinks that Pete Carroll held him back. And he no longer wants to run. He wants to be Tom Brady or Peyton Manning. And that also adds he wants to influence who comes on the team, who leaves the team, and what the scheme is. There was a famous story I heard in the NFL.

Well, I mean, it happened all the time, probably. but when I was in the NFL, I was told when Peyton Manning would walk out to practice, this is in like the mid-early 2000s with the Indianapolis Colts. If you don't understand, like the way a practice happens is it's all mapped out. Every single play in a practice script, once you go to 7 on 7, 9 on 7, 11 on 11, any red zone team drills is mapped out before you get to practice.

Now, on the fly, a coach can ask for something or ad lib. But for the most part, when you head out to a practice, once you get with, at minimum, seven on seven to obviously the team, everything is mapped out. That's what the coaching staff does. Peyton Manning would hand him the laminated sheet with the practice script every day. You would also hand him a red pen, and he would make corrections to it. And obviously, as time went on, he earned this kind of, like, I would say legend of being like one of the smartest plays we've ever seen.

and I think Tom kind of took that on with Josh and Bill as time went on. Because at first, Peyton got a lot more credit than Tom. It's like, well, Tom's just told what to do by Josh, Bill O'Brien, and by Belichick. But then the second half of Tom's career was like, he basically is Peyton Manning, too. And that the best quarterbacks can operate like that. I know Aaron Rogers, as he should, has a lot of juice and tells LaFour. Hell, LeFleur is even admitted. Like, he has plays.

I have plays. We go back and forth. Russell views himself like that. And I understand in his shoes why he views himself like that. but I just Nate Hackett a couple years ago No one had really heard of. This guy was not going to be a head coach. And now he's a head coach.

And now Russell Wilson doesn't view him as a coach. He views him as an equal. And let's be real. He views himself above Nate Hackett because ultimately he's going to dictate the terms. And I think this has, Russell Wilson has never had an offensive coordinator. In all of his years in Seattle,

that didn't get fired. all three guys, Beville, Schadenheimer, and one guy before him. Every single one of them got fired. He has never had an offensive coordinator. Think of all the great quarterbacks. Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Roplasberger, Rogers, Mahomes, all their guys. They don't get fired. They go on to become head coaches.

They go on to be head coaches. Think about the only time the guy got fired was Bruce Ariens. That was like after they won the Super Bowl because the Roonies were so mad he wouldn't run ball. But he didn't get fired because they sucked. He got fired because they philosophically didn't view each other the owner. Not because they weren't killing it on offense. Yet Russell Wilson's offensive coordinators always get fired. And now his head coach is offensive coordinator. And the one thing Pete had is the juice to tell Russell no. I just, you got to pick a team to finish fourth in that division. And it's not because I don't necessarily believe in Russell. I just don't believe

in his philosophical belief on how he wants to operate now. He was always a number two. And what I say in number two, he was told what to do in Seattle. And let's face it, we can nitpick it all you want. They made the playoffs basically eight out of ten years. And one year they missed, they went nine and seven. And last year they went seven and ten because he broke his finger. If he hadn't broke his finger, they still might not have been, they would have been right there because nine and eight got in the playoffs.

So this notion that Seattle was some joke post their sweet defense is bullshit. They were always very competitive and they were always a playoff team. So I think Denver is not going to go well. And last, and ultimately I'm not going to pick this team to win the division. Tampa Bay. I said what I said about Tom Brady last week that I completely understood about being 45 years old and having issues with just the way the NFL operates. Why?

Because no one 45 is in the NFL. Most 45, hell, half the good coaches in the league are under 45 years old. 45-year-olds are not supposed to be star players in pro sports. It's unprecedented territory. And part of the reason what makes it so crazy about Tom is his kids. And now there are reports, which anyone who's been in any relationship could have told you from a mile away like, yeah, I bet there's some weird stuff going on at home. Because it's natural. When weird stuff goes on at home, it impacts you in real life.

In your job, with your friends. It has direct impact on how you live your life. if you're in a serious relationship, you have a fiancé, you're married, we've all been through either breakups or turmoil in a relationship. If it doesn't impact you, you don't give a shit about her, right? If you just do a little bit, it does impact you greatly. And this notion that Tom Brady, who is one of the most driven individuals in the history of pro sports who spends, like, let's face it, I've always said this, and Coward was on this a decade ago.

I remember being in college, listen to it was like, I love this take, about how the media is obsessed. Like, you've got to be balanced. Like, there are some jobs you don't get to be balanced. Some of my friends, their dads couldn't make Little League. You think it's because they didn't want to make Little League? No, they had to work. You know, not everything is equal.

Some people have jobs. Hell, they work at night. They can't be home for dinner with their family. You think you don't want to be home at dinner with their family? Well, some don't, but some do. And you just can't make it. You know, every industry is a little different. And the way football works for five, six months out of the year when you play quarterback,

especially what Tom Brady, you know, puts into it, you don't have much time. And clearly his family, and it feels like his wife, does not want this anymore. And it's creating a lot of drama where he literally just left training camp for 11 days. So how can I think that Tom, who is still an awesome player? I've said this over and over, and everyone that's watched these guys play would have to agree. Drew Brees' arm fell off. Paid Manning's arm fell off. Rathusberger could not throw.

That's the reason those guys couldn't keep playing. They're right arms. They weren't any good anymore throwing the football. Tom Brady still throws the football at an elite level. We've all watched them. We all agree. But what turns out might take them down is not actual football. Because the guy has mastered football.

He's mastered the pliability. He's mastered at all. But your home, whatever's going on, and the more and more intense it gets, I've done a lot of people. I'm not trying to act. I don't know anything beside what I've read on the internet. But let's just say, you know, there's words divorce being thrown around.

People listening that have gone through divorces? I've known a couple people. It's hard. It's not easy. And listen, as someone that's never had to go through one, I can't imagine going through it and then trying to be locked in, especially as things go on at work, or hell, just breakups or just when she's really mad at you.

These are human reactions going on. So the Bucks didn't sniff the playoffs for 12 years before Tom got there. Didn't sniff it. They were a joke franchise. And Tom came and he saved him. Now, they have a lot of talent. But if Tom ever disappears or retires or has to miss a couple games to go to the Bahamas, they're fucked.

We all acknowledge that. And you could argue if Tom is not able to super focus and be completely present, which might be difficult, if you have crazy things going on at home, like I just, I'm out on them. And I worked with Todd Bowles for a couple of years in Philadelphia. I like Todd Bowles. I think he's, you know, pretty impressive guy.

I've said over and over. In the NFL, like I get in a lot of industries why you want to keep moving up the ranks because there's a big deal of like making 90K and making 220, making 180K and making 500 with a bunch of bonuses. When you get into normal people money, the difference of going up the rings dramatically changes your life. Gives you the ability to buy a $500,000 home or a $950,000 home. Gives you the ability to qualify for a loan or pay for your kid to go to private school, whatever.

When you're talking about NFL number two's, the average defensive coordinator in the NFL makes close to $2 million. Several of them are over three. Todd Bowles would have been one of those guys. You get paid a premium to be a number two. And there's nothing wrong with it. Most jobs when you're not the head honcho don't pay $2.3 million. So I've always thought he's an elite number two.

He is, you know, him, Fangio, best defensive coordinators in the league. I'm not sure he's a head coach. And when you're a coordinator, you don't have to deal with your quarterback having Merrill issues. That's what the head coach deals with. You don't have to deal with players having issues that aren't on your side of the ball. That changes when you're the head honcho. And I don't know.

I would say that I actually feel the most confident about that, that Tampa's and Chambles. Belichick last year and Denver, I feel pretty good about Denver and Tampa. I'll be honest with you. Let's pick some division winners. I feel pretty confident about absolutely the majority of them. I just went one outside the box one because, you know, I needed to mix it up.

And I don't really feel great about that division. I just refuse to pick Dennis Allen. But we'll get to the NFC second. Start with the AFC.F.C. We'll start East Coast, move west. The AFC East. I think this is one like, you don't need to overthink it. Like, who's going to win the SEC West, Alabama?

Who's going to win the SEC East? Georgia. Who's going to win the AFC East? The Bills. It's just pretty easy. This is not, well, I can see Mike McDaniel and the, no, just the Bills. The Bills are going to win this division. They are easily one of the Super Bowl favorites.

If Josh Allen keeps playing like that, they could go on a couple of year run. This is, to me, the easiest. bills. I mean, I wrote it down so fast, like most of you, that's the easy one to pick. They're really good. They're quarterbacks in the peak of his powers. They have a good roster. I don't think the division's that good. Love the bills. The AFC South, I'm torn because my guy John Robinson stud GM, his head coach, absolute baller. But I do think the Titans might take a little bit of a step back this year to maybe take a couple steps forward in the next couple years. Transition to Malik Willis, maybe need a year for Trailing Berks to kind of figure it out.

Harold Landry just tore his ACL. Because I think a lot of Titans fan would be like, you're going to pick the Colts. Everyone's always blowing the Colts. Chris Ballard, this, Chris Power, Frank. I don't even think Frank's that great of a coach. One of my bold predictions might have been like, if the Colts don't make the playoffs,

Frank's going to get fired. Because I don't think Chris Ballard would, but Frank would get fired. And I would say if somehow the Titans win this division, because I don't think they necessarily should, but if they do, I think Frank's fired. But if Frank is just solid, which, you know, I'm still going to lean that he is.

I'm going to pick the Colts to win that division. So I got the bills, the Colts, the AFC North, this one was a hard one. Right now, Lamar Jackson has not signed a new contract. So maybe this week he refuses to practice. I don't know. I would not, like, Lamar, you need to draw a line in the sand. You can't keep practicing. Stop practicing.

Tell them, hey, John. Hey, Coach Harbaugh. Wednesday at practice, I ain't going to be there. I'm going to be standing on the sideline. Drinking Gator in. So until we figure out this contract and you give me $170 million or like Lamar, you're not going to get a fully guaranteed deal. Coward had a good point. Like just because one business is a disaster doesn't mean every other well-run business copies that.

Just because the Browns gave a dude that has half of the massage therapists in Texas coming after him, $230 million guaranteed. Does that mean that anyone else is going to copy that? Right. You see what the Walton just did? They gave Russell Wilson $160 million. The Ravens, like they plan on giving Lamar that too. So, Lamar, sign that deal, 165, 170. Listen, I would say 170, final number, put it on paper, I'll sign it.

Sign that deal, practice. I do like the Ravens to win that division. And that's not a lot of Bengals fans. I think you guys are a locked playoff team. I think those two teams are right there with the bills and the Chiefs. Like, the AFC is loaded. I'm giving the slight edge to the Ravens. Now, if something gets weird with the contract, I would immediately lean the Bengals.

I think the Bengals are good. I am not a Bengal hater. love their quarterback, love their weapons. Coach, you know, we'll see. But as long as you got Joe Burrow, sometimes good quarterbacks make average coaches look pretty good. The AFC West, this one's honestly pretty easy for me. I've seen a lot of people picking a lot of other teams.

I do think the Chargers have one of the best, if not the best, rosters in the league. But I can't pick Brandon Staley to out. Like, it's just, I can't do it. Now, I think the Chargers are going to be the playoffs. If I had to rank this division, I'm going the Chiefs to win it. I don't know. They just won it six straight years.

I'd go the Chargers 2, I'd go the Raiders 3, and I would go the Broncos 4. Now, as crazy as when I say that Broncos could get weird, they still could go 8 and 9 and 8. To me, it's not inconceivable that the Chiefs go 12 and 5, two other teams go 10 and 7, and Broncos go 9 and 8. But the pressure on any team in this division, like, if the Chiefs didn't make the playoffs, it'd be devastating because they view themselves as elite powerhouse. But ultimately, no one's getting fired or anything is going to happen. The other teams, it would get weird fast.

especially with the Broncos and especially with the Chargers. But I'm taking the Chiefs. Let's go to the NFC. I was tempted to go a little outside the box, Washington football team commanders. But I've had it kept myself. The last two teams have kicked Wentz to the curb. And it's hard to forget those last two games last year

against the Raiders and the Jacks. I mean, that Jags game, you just, there's sometimes a stench. You know, when I was a kid, if you got sprayed by skunk, they put you in a tomato juice Spudum is like going to not make you I never got sprayed by skunk but it happened to dogs

so he had to wash the dog off it's hard to like Carson Wentz has skunk all over him right now and if he doesn't clean himself right now you never shake that stench he has one weird year from kind of being out of the league I'm gonna lean with the Eagles here and it's it's less

I think the Eagles roster is excellent the quarterback you know I'm torn on this one because I didn't like them at all coming out. And even last year at times, like, I don't know. I don't really see it. It's not really my style of guy, you know?

I like big arm guys that can sling it. You know, I like Herbert. I like Josh Allen. I like Brady. I loved Rostasburger. I like big guys throwing darts. And that's not really Jalen's deal. But the other thing that I really like, and this is, listen,

I respect them most about the Cowboys is Dak Prescott. I love players who do everything. humanly possible to maximize their career. And I was reading Albert Brewer this morning, and he was just saying, one of Jalen's greatest characteristics is how much he likes football. And it's why during the draft process, we talk all the time about you really need to like football. Because ultimately, it takes so much of your time.

It takes so much of your effort. It forces you intellectually, physically. It's so hard. You practice so much more than you play. you're always in the wait room. It's hard unless you're just some all-time physical freak to be good at football without loving it. It's another thing that always bothers me about the media

during the unnamed scouts when they're like, yeah, he just doesn't like football. Like that's some people in college. Not everyone likes football. Some people like football more than others that play it. Now, Julio Jones said he doesn't watch football. You know it doesn't really matter the majority of his career for Julio Jones. You know why?

He's six, four. He can run a 4-3. He's bigger, faster, and has better hands than you. And he clearly likes playing football. But most good football players, I would say, tend to be football junkies. They love the workouts. They love the practicing.

They love the game. And I do think we could see a very solid year at Jaylen. And a little bit like the, you know, I still think the Cowboys are probably a playoff team because the NFC relative to the AFC is not close to as good. So I'm going to go Philly. And honestly, winning this division might be 10 and 7. You know, I think the Eagles could probably get to 11 and 6.

And it wouldn't shock me of the, you know, McCarthy-led boys or 9 and 8 or 10 and 7. But I'm going to give the slight edge to the birds. The NFC South. Well, if I'm not going to take Tampa, because I'm not, I just cannot bet on Dennis Allen. When I worked in radio, I did the Raiders games. and I know their team wasn't great, but I couldn't take Dennis Allen seriously as a head coach.

Now, I do think he's proven to be a very good defensive coordinator, but like I said, I just said it about Todd Bowles. Dennis Allen, like, you are made just to make $2 million every single year. Now, he'd be like, what do you mean? They just offered me six and a half, seven to be the head coach. I understand why these guys take it, but ultimately you lose your job.

And I'm just not betting on Dennis Allen. Could be wrong. Maybe their teams are so good. Maybe James is just a new guy. but I'm taking the Carolina Panthers. I needed to have one that was a little off the rails. I do think Carolina could be really, really good on defense. They were solid on defense last year.

J.C. Horn of Is he says healthy. Their front's good. Offense was a main issue. Sam Darnold was terrible last season. Now, I'm not the biggest Baker-Mayfield guy, but I have one take watching the preseason sitting at my lady's house on the iPad, just watch some preseason games probably a couple weeks ago. I was like, you know what Baker does?

He looks pretty natural in this Carolina jersey. Now, to me, Baker, when he's on, it's probably somewhere between 15 and 20. If Christian McAfree can stay healthy, DJ Moore's a really good player, if they could just be solid on offense and the division gets a little weird, who knows?

They would be my one sleeper pick. Now, Matt Ruhl could also get fired by the end of October. But I do not feel comfortable picking Tampa Bay. New coach, Brady in a weird place. I cannot take the Saints with Dennis Allen as their head. coach. So, and I, obviously, I think the Falcons are going to be one of the worst teams in the league. I'm going to go to Carolina Panthers. And last but not least, torn on this one, the NFC West. I have the utmost respect for the Rams. They've built, and the way they've done it is

freaking awesome. I'm glad they've existed just in sports the last couple years to just be so different. But last year, the 49ers went 10 and 7, and Jimmy Garoppel was all over the map. they lost four games. Think about this. They swept the Rams in the regular season, but they lost their other four games in the division. They got swept by Arizona. One of them was Colt McCoy who destroyed him. And they got swept by Seattle, who wasn't very good. In one of those games, I guess they played Russell twice, if memory serves me correct, but they went two and four in the division. So if you just go three and three in the division, because I'll go, I would expect them to split with the Rams.

And let's just say they split with the other two teams and just go three and three, which I easily think could turn into four and two. All of a sudden, instead of being a 10-win team, you're flirting with being a 12-win team. And I do wonder, like, are the Rams just going to go back-to-back years

winning 12 or 13 games? It's like, are they at the point now a little bit like the Warriors where they know they've gotten over the hump, they have some older star veteran players where the key is just to be right by the playoffs? They know they can go on the road and win. hell, they just did it in the second round.

When they beat Tom Brady. And let's face it, they kicked his ass. So I wonder if they kind of pick and choose their spots. Let's say Stafford. I mean, I know I saw McVeigh say that his arm is good. But I think the Niners just have a lot more urgency. Now, you could go, well, Biddlecock, they got two fucking quarterbacks. And you're like, yeah, it's not ideal.

I'd rather just have the one quarterback. Jimmy, Trey, who knows the way that goes. But I've been going to NFL training camps now for 13 years. Their roster is as good as any I've seen. Star players everywhere. And to me, they went on a stretch last year where they just kind of lost like three or four straight games. It started weird.

They went three and five. If they start faster and Kyle has hammered this home, we just start fat. What I say? Start five. Instead of being three or five, just start, you know, five and three. All of a sudden, it's much easier to get to that 11 or 12 game threshold.

So I'm picking the Niners, but a lot like the AFC North Ravens, Cincinnati in the playoffs. Niners, Rams, in the playoffs. So, yeah. And then my worst team, I'm really torn between the Bears or the Giants.

That one's a hard one for me. I think the Bears are going to be really, really bad. It's one of my favorite bets of this weekend would be the Niners versus the Bears. I think that matchup for the Bears is awful. The offensive line is horrendous. It's going to get ugly for the Bears. And I think the division, you know, I think the Packers,

did I skip the Packers? I like the Packers in the North. My bad. I like the Packers in the North. And Minnesota, you know, I'm not, I think they're a little overrated. I think they're a little overrated. Because they have a fundamental flaw. In a passing league, their D.Bs aren't that good. They can't really cover. So, I mean, I know they could score points.

They scored points last year. Their offense has not been the issue. Their defense under Zimmer used to be awesome. And then it got weird. this notion that like Kevin O'Connell, what? He's going to make Kirk Cousins throw 38 touchdowns again? We saw that. Like Justin Jefferson keep dominating.

Delvin Cook, like he gets hurt sometimes, even though I like the backup running back. But I think they got a fundamental, I think they're over-aid. I'm not with Colin on that 12-win team. So my worst team would be the Bears or the Giants. I saw today that Brian Dayball said that Mike Kafka, who I like, I was with him in Philly when we drafted him.

He worked with my guys in Chiefs Forever. I think Mike Kaffka is a good young coach is going to call the place. Like, hey, Brian, they hired you to call the place. That's your fucking job. I don't understand when these young coaches get hired, solid last year. Defense coordinator, you got the job because you're the coordinator.

When I hire you as a head coach and I'm giving you $7,8 million, I also want you to do, I don't know what you're good at. Like when McVeigh gets hired, when the floor gets hired, when Kingsbury gets hired, just go around the league. all the offensive coaches always call the plays. Why is this guy not calling the place?

I'm baffled. I'm absolutely that one, if I was a Giants fan, the whole point of hiring you for what you were doing with Buffalo. It feels like are you not calling the plays because you know we're going to suck and you know it could be ugly, so you want to have, you know, as Chris Carter would say, a fall guy, is what it feels like a little bit.

Two sleeper teams. I don't know if these are playoff teams, especially Houston, but I think Houston could be just, be feisty. I know they're over under, I think, was four and a half. I like them to go over. The Lions, and I'm not just saying this because of Hard Knocks, I actually only watched two episodes, even though I said I really liked them. I think both those two teams wouldn't shock me if one, if not two of them went seven and ten. I think both are going to be feisty all year long.

Like I said, I think the Vikings are overrated. The Dolphins, I think they could have a bizarre year. I'm rooting for Mike McDaniel. I enjoyed just this press conferences last year when Kyle made in the offensive coordinator. I think he's a unique football guy. That place is weird. And that plays consistently over the last 20 years, but specifically with the new owner, just gets weird and it gets weird fast.

And they add Tyree Kill, a lot of pressure to a. I think he sucks. I just think it could get weird to get weird fast. The Brady thing. The owner's always doing weird stuff. Would it shock you if they're in the mix for like Sean Payton by Halloween? I just,

I don't know, man. I don't see it. And I think Arizona is going to be a disaster this year. I really do. When you look at the way their season starts, they open up against Kansas City at home. I love the Chiefs in that game. And then week two, they got the Raiders.

I don't think it's inconceivable at all. They started O-N-2. Remember last year, part of the reason, what they hung their hat on is they started so fast, they were undefeated. And I don't know. And when I say disaster, they still have a lot of talent, like 7 and 10.

You know, for a team that just, you know, was competing, honestly, if they just win week, what was it, 18, they win the division. So I'm out. I mean, you guys know where I stand on Arizona. I'm out on them this year. Patrick Mahomes is my MVP. I think he's going to dominate this year.

I think him, Andy, the Chiefs are going to be on a mission and on a mission to dominate. It's why I love them week one. Honestly, my prediction week one would be 38 to 17, something like that, chiefs over the Cardinals. And I would say Joe Burrow would be right there. You know, I think Joe Burrow is going to have another fantastic year. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble

stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care which I'll say it. Yep, that's me, Clifford Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions,

my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated.

One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast. It's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So, if you've ever supported me or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to The Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tap Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do with Little Kim? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam Jette. And I'm Alex English.

Each episode, we pick a here. unpack what went down and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill, waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84 is big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack all day, but just so y'all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack, so I'm starting to see that there's a through line.

We also have AIDS on the table right now, so. Then you're finishing that sentence. Yes. I don't think there's a more important year for black. black people. Really? Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hard Way with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Keer Games. And in recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month, I'm bringing over a decade

of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking, Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the things, We get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing and we're still chasing it and we don't know when we've done enough because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses.

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Join me, Keer Gang. is we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, learn the hard way. Open your free iHeartRadio app. Search Learn the hard way and listen now. Okay, I just wanted to do a couple minutes on college football. First and foremost, I really don't know how many of these people exist. I know a couple people have tried to make media careers with hatred toward this conference.

They've always been wrong. and the NFL stats of draft picks have never been in their favor. Obviously, Alabama's dominance. They've always leaned on that. Well, Alabama carries the conference. Well, Georgia won the national championship last year. LSU a couple years previous. So other teams win it.

Obviously, Auburn has won it. When Urban was there, Florida has won it. But I've always said this was such a stupid argument. You're defined as a conference by who's at the top. The Big Ten doesn't get a lot of extra credit just because like Iowa is solid. It's considered right there with the SEC because Ohio State, right? Because Ohio State has had their moments with Urban, not with Ryan Day, where they're equals to LSU, Georgia, Bama. Right?

Hell, they beat Bama once in the college football playoffs. But you can't watch these games and tell me anything else that the SEC isn't dramatically better than everyone else. They're bigger, they're faster, they're stronger. Now, the knock, I think years ago, you know, the quarterbacks are not as well coached. Obviously, Georgia and Alabama right now are on a tier all by themselves. No one else is even close. I'm recording this before Clemson has played. And Dabo has accomplished way more than Ryan Day.

So if we're going to lean, again, maybe they get upset or something. To me, I just can't put Ryan, like, I don't trust Ryan Day. Like, let's just put the coaches in the tiers. with Urban no longer being in college football and I guess he would be the only guy. It's Nick clearly by himself. And then to me there's a next tier and I would place Kirby clearly by himself.

Then if you wanted to put the Ryan Days and the Lincoln Riley's kind of there with just some unknowns. Both of them got to the playoffs a lot. Both of them got smacked in the playoffs. But right now the two best coaches in the country are in the SEC. The two best coaches in the country have the best teams.

And then, but okay, let's just, if you want to just, well, what about everyone else? Well, Florida beat Utah, the Pac-12's best team. And let's face it, Utah is the Pac-12's best team by a pretty wide margin. Tennessee, I was drinking when they were playing, but I remember watching them thinking like, Josh Heapel's good. Like, Josh Heep was a legitimate coach. Tennessee's good. Kentucky's good.

Texas A&M is good. LSU sucks, but Ole Miss is now solid. The SEC just has better players than everyone else. It's not arguable anymore. It's the best conference. the country. The second best conference, and now they're at in Texas and Oklahoma, obviously Alabama plays Texas this week and they're going to kill them. But Oklahoma's really good. They're an SEC program, you know? So I just, the argument died years ago. Anyone's saying it now

is just a complete hater. And sometimes being a hater is kind of fun. I think I was considered or can be like with the Arizona Cardinals maybe. What else could I be a hater of? That might be it. But I don't know, man. I just, I can't really. Arkansas, I had $500 on Arkansas this weekend. What did they beat? I don't know, Cincinnati. And they could have won that game by more. But a nice little win.

Sam Pittman's good. Arkansas is a legitimate program. Like the athletic programs, because of the money Sabin has brought in, they're better at now everything. All the other sports too. You see how good the SEC's basketball teams were this year? Like the SEC has kind of passed everybody.

Now, you know, if Michigan's really good, if Michigan State's good, maybe the Big Ten can be right there. Iowa will look terrible in offense. Wisconsin plays Washington State this week. But the SEC is clearly the best conference. And, I mean, let's face it. If you wanted to find the national championship this year, Alabama and Georgia should just play a seven game series

because no one belongs in the field with them. And like I said, Kirby is, I think he's the real deal. The SEC now has two Alabama's. One just happens to play in Athens, Georgia. A lot of people have tried to copy the Nick Blueprint. He's figured it out. And he's got them rolling because, holy shit. Dan Lanning, is he good?

not, I got no clue. But I will try not to judge him off that game. I always hate, I heard Rosilla, I was getting some lunch today, listen to his podcast. He had a good stat. He said 40 of the Division I starting quarterbacks were transfers in 2022. So these are guys that have transferred this year that started, you know, the Bo Nix, the Jackson Darts, the Caleb Williams. I'm watching Bo Nicks.

And it always bothers me. I got no problem when you get a transfer like Justin Fields or Caleb Williams. It's like a no-brainer. Bo Nix, like we've seen Bo Nix. Come on, Oregon, you can't do better than that at quarterback? I'm not blaming Bo Nix for that game, but like, you're going to start Bo Nix. You tell me how great the recruiting is, and even Kirby said after the game, like, our players are just way better than their players. Well, part of the reason I've supported Mario is he's a great recruiter. So we have to acknowledge this. If you're getting the eighth best class, the team's getting one and two, Bama and Georgia, and I text A&M, I think, is right up there too, you know,

these last several years. There's a different level of kid, even in the top 10. Like how many of those guys that Mario was landing at Oregon did Nick even want that Kirby wanted? K. Bon, Thibbado? Like two? I mean, honestly, how many guys total were they interested in? Because I'll tell you this, Mario was interested in every guy they got. And as we saw the same players in the recruiting classes on the field in Georgia, it looked like JV versus varsity. And Oregon at the end of the day is probably a 9-10 win team. You'd think, but who knows? Maybe Bow Nix or maybe Dan Landings not that good. And like I said, Ryan Day, it was a little unfair that Harbaugh said he was born on third base because I don't think he was born on third base.

But he did inherit. Like if Saban retired tomorrow or at the end of the year and someone takes over his program, like Bill O'Brien takes over the Alabama program. Like Bill O'Brien in terms of, now he's proven that he can be a successful coach. He's made the playoffs and the, you know, he took over for Joe Paterno. It's a little different than Ryan Day, who'd never been a head coach. But ultimately my point is, Bill O'Brien would have a huge advantage. He would inherit everything. I'm not saying that they would hire Bill O'Brien.

I'm sure Lane would want the job. But you know what I mean? If Lane got the job, you'd say, yeah, Lane was born on third base. Like Ryan Day, there is an element. He took over for Urban Meyer when he had the program absolutely rolling at Georgia, Bama and Clemson levels. And I'm watching him. I go, everyone acts like he's on these guys level.

Like, I don't know. He's good. I think he's solid. But I think anyone in this Ohio State fan that's listening to this, like you saw Urban Meyer. He ain't that. And the problem is for a program like yours, like that's what you want. You want Kirby Smart.

You obviously want Nick Saven. You've had it before in Urban Meyer. And I'm just watching Ryan Day going, yeah, you know, I don't know. Just a lot of hype. Yeah, just like Billy Napier. Like Billy Napier, one game. Florida programs kind of in Chambles, get Utah. Who's a legitimate program beats them.

If you told me, I've seen the guy coach one game in a power five, but I've seen Billy Napier coach at a smaller school. The guy's kicking ass. Who would you bet on the next five years? Billy Napier or what if I told you that Billy Napier is better than like Ryan Day and Mario? Is that outrageous? I know some people in the business would say, yeah, he might be. Billy Napier, that was a big time win because we know Kyle Winningham is a big time coach.

Kyle Winningham would have beat Ryan Day if he didn't play running backs at cornerback because they were all injured. Be like, well, middle cow, what about all the guy sitting out? Well, yeah, fucking everyone always gets on their knees and gives Ryan Day the reach around when about his recruiting. So if you tell him his recruiting is great, last year or Utah, how many players does Utah have that Ryan Day would even want? I just think that, I don't know, man. I think sometimes we can put guys on pedestals. There are like two really good coaches.

And Lincoln, like Lincoln is a little bit like Ryan Day. I think Lincoln is really good. But he also inherited Oklahoma, made the playoffs, but we get to the playoffs, he gets smoked. USC, like, I can't make any judgments off a game against Rice. I'm so tired of these games. How is USC playing Rice is a fucking embarrassment.

Michigan this week is a 51 point favorite against Hawaii. What are we doing playing these games? Now, is the PAC, or not the PAC 12, is the college football expanding 12 games? Is it cool? In theory it is, but Georgia's one or two and they're playing Oregon that's 11.

Like, that's going to happen a lot. Some of these teams are going to get killed. Part of the reason that makes March Madness so fun is we get a lot of upsets. Are we going to get a lot of upsets? How often do upsets happen in college football? Think about the last however many years in college football. How many upsets we saw?

It doesn't feel like we saw that many. The biggest one was when Ohio State beat Bama, but a couple years later, that game aged pretty well. We're like, wait, they had Joey Bosa, they had Zeke, they had Michael Thomas. Like that team, it turned out, was a team built like Alabama. And they had Urban Meyer. But I actually, what makes March Madness so cool

is you get upsets every single round. Gonzaga number one all year long gets bouncing like the Sweet 16. Like Georgia, Bama, Ohio. State, these teams aren't getting bounced early. We saw it last year. I'll give Cincinnati a shot, and we did, and it was ugly. Michigan finally got it, and then they got curb stomped. Everyone, and I put money on Florida State, and I simply did it, not because I have a great feel for either team, but I saw value.

They were an underdog. LSU was a joke program these last couple years of that OJRA. Like a pretty big embarrassment for relative to what they are in coming off the national championship in 19. they are down. Like they have a lot of issues. Starting Jaden Daniels to me is a reflection like their programs in shambles. Guy was an average quarterback in the Pac-12. Had some moments like as a true freshman.

I was like, oh, Jaden Daniels. You watch him last night? He's like a running back. Jaden Daniels, that guy's going to be a starting quarterback. Brian Kelly has proven he can win. LSU program needs a huge reset. This year could be kind of ugly. They might go seven and five.

And he's going to get beat up because in the, The SEC, it's like the NFL, you win or go home. People do not tolerate losing. And I'm not saying he's going to tolerate losing either, but he's going to lose this year. And he's going to try to basically blow the thing up and be solid next year. Because I just, they're not very good. And if you're starting quarterback is Jane Daniels, who was running for his life against Florida State. What's going to happen when you play Alabama?

I don't know if you saw Texas A&M. They've been recruiting five-star elite SEC guys. Not the Mario guys at Oregon, because we saw. The Mario guys at Oregon don't look like the five-star guys of the SEC. Like, they just look different. I see them on the same field. One guy runs faster than the other. So I don't really know what's going on.

I just judge you when you're both playing college football, the high school rankings are over, and I watch you play one guy faster and hits harder than the other guys. So now I'm watching Brian Kelly's team. Like, in theory they have some guys, but it feels like they're not even close. Because I'm watching the talent for Florida State, and I'm watching the talent for LSU,

and I'm not 247rivals.com guy here. and I just go, I don't see the difference in the talent. And relative to what LSU was a couple years ago with that borough team, it sure as hell doesn't look like that. So I think everyone beating up on Brian Kelly, rightfully so. It's the way college football works. But they're going to suck. Like, I expect them to not be good.

And yeah, I think that's probably wraps it up. I think this college football season, like I think what's cool about it is the games are very entertaining. It's a very entertaining product. You're watching the Appalachian State North Carolina game. You're watching just some of these random games throughout the country that are compelling or tight. But it does have a little bit of a feel like when Michael Jordan was playing in the NBA, or when Tiger Woods was playing in the peak of his golf powers in the early 2000s.

Like we know who's going to win. Alabama and Georgia. Like those two teams, if you just watched bits and pieces of every game, it's like those are the two best teams. Blake Anderson, who's the coach at Utah State, he said, in my 30 years of coaching, that's the best team I've ever seen, talking about Alabama.

We know how good Kirby's team is. So we've got two teams. It's a two-horse race. That's what it feels like. Though what makes the sport of football fun is it doesn't feel like that ruins the year. But I think we all can acknowledge Bama and Georgia are going to play in the SEC championship game

and then they're going to play again in the national title. It would take a major injury probably to Bryce Young. or I don't even know if Georgia has an injury that derails their season because they're not dependent on their quarterback, even though their quarterback looked pretty good. Sometimes these Pac-12 teams, they get involved in these games and then they just get embarrassed. It's like, God, you wonder why our conference at West blew up. Can we ever win a big game? I saw in the last nine games, Pack 12 against the SEC, you know, in opening games or early season games, one and eight. it's ugly

it really is and listen to Big Ten I know you get you get cocky too because you think you matter and you do financially you matter you get huge TV ratings you got some power brands

they kick your ass too let's not act like you're their equals or Urban Meyer ain't walking through the door Ryan Day ain't beating those two teams that ain't happening Okay Middlecoff mailbag at John Middlecoff

is the Instagram firing those DMs If I just said on the college football part, which I'm pretty sure I did, I wouldn't say my brain's firing on all cylinders. I'm kind of like LSU football right now, struggling. But if I said, and I left out Dabo Sweeney, you know, I had Sabin one, I would have Dabo two and then Kirby three. I mean, Davos won a couple titles. Now, I would say Kirby right now is very, very close to his level.

Because it sure feels like Kirby, Kirby ain't ended at one. Like he's got another one coming He's the real deal man He really is Been listening to you for a while Grew up a big Bills fan And been a dream of mine To live in America

The weather here in England Is shitty Anyways, worked my ass off To get into UC Berkeley next year But one thing I'll miss Is our golf courses Since you know the area Any recommendations

Near San Fran That won't break the bank Yeah it's a problem golf in the Bay Area is extremely expensive. I would say the shittiest course is going to cost you $80.85. So, you know, Harding Park, once you become a resident of the Bay, you can play, I think it's like $120.20 might even be higher. All the golf is really expensive. Boundary Oaks, where I live in Walnut Creek, will live would be strong.

I haven't been there in a month. But where I have a condo, who knows if I'll ever go back, might never. It's actually hotter in Scottsdale today. Or excuse me, it's hotter in Walnut Creek, 113 degrees than it is where I'm at 106 in Scottsdale. So, you know, they say it was like, oh, you're going to leave to the heat. It's like, well, shit. It's like where I live, it's hot all the time. Now, it's not usually 113, but it consistently gets in the hundreds.

Boundary Oaks, Walnut Creek's not bad. The public golf in the East Bay is pretty bad. Obviously, country club, if you're a college kid, probably going to be out of your price range. I used to drive to Napa Chardonnay and Eagle Vines kind of a sleeper place especially in the weekdays and from you and Berkeley

probably be 25 minutes away two kind of cool public courses that you can play for relatively cheap How many beers in? This is just responding to my stories A lot From the Valley Modesto Now live in Ohio

Love to go low pod Thought you might like this Get a laugh Liv spent all their money on the players and settled for interns as their camera crew. Hey man, just wanted to reach out and see if you'd answer some questions. I have for you. Then he said, just saw this now, but Notre Dame with the points was Locksville. Fuck the Utes.

I was rooting for the Uts. You know, I was, I stayed away from gambling on Notre Dame, Ohio State. You know, first time, I guess it's technically a second game, but, I mean, his first real game, a bowl game doesn't necessarily matter, especially when the coach just left. Now, granted, he lost. But, you know, I thought Ohio State was going to kill him. Now, I was at a bar that was pretty packed, and the TV with Notre Dame game was kind of on the other end. And I remember looking up and Notre Dame was winning.

It was like, that's pretty nuts. But obviously they didn't win. But they did cover the 17 points, which, you know, good teams win, great teams cover. Davis versus Cal. Did you find a bar in Nashville playing that game? I'm a ham listener and played at Cal during the Dykes doldrums. Saw you were in town, so I had to see if you found a spot. I did not.

Guy Haberman was on the call with Shane Verene. That would have been a big deal in my family. I mean, it is. But I mean, my dad really cared about UC Davis. Athletics, and he grew up loving Cal. He would have taken a lot of pride in that game. I'll be honest, didn't watch a snap. Now, Small World, Justin Wilcox, Oregon guy, made his career kind of a Boise.

Dan Hawkins, who was a UC Davis guy, but then he made his career at Boise, but then he kind of failed at Colorado. Now he's coaching at UC Davis. But again, didn't watch one snap. Hey, first time, long time. Actually, just got into your pod recently and have come a big fan. I know you're not a big fantasy guy, but curious on your take when it comes to punny team names. Do you believe you need to have that player on your team or as funny as funny? And it doesn't matter.

If you ever have physical therapy questions, come for advice. This guy's, yeah, I mean, my whole body hurts. I think a funny name is a funny name. I'm obviously not a huge fantasy football player, but if you have a funny name, I remember someone had a name, it hurts when I fart. I mean, it hurts when I fart is absolutely incredible.

And if you don't have Ertz or Eifert on your team, that name is still brilliant. I would be hard-pressed to find a better fantasy football team name, then it hurts when I hurt. It hurts when I fart. Now, if you had one of the two guys in your team, that would probably make it.

So I'm in agreement there. Hi, John. A tendency that I noticed was Kyler, Russell Wilson, and now I've heard the Josh Allen all played baseball. They all have hoses for an arm. If I were in your shoes, I might want to take a look at college quarterbacks that have played and were successful at baseball.

baseball, but were also quarterbacks. College recruiters have said they like athletes that have played multiple sports. Connection? I think so. Kaepernick, baseball player, had a big arm. Mahomes, baseball player, big arm. Yeah, I mean, I don't, I'm not in the business of signing or drafting these guys. So, I mean, I would imagine scouting departments talk about that a lot. You know where I stand.

I'm a big arm guy. I like quarterbacks with big arms. I also think it's very, very weird. And I understand. I don't have kids. It was so different. I mean, I grew up in the late mid-90s, early 2000s. Nobody isolated with one sport.

Clearly, that is not the case anymore. Now, unless you're like LeBron James and your kid is brawny, you know, have your kids play all the sports, swimming, soccer, basketball, football, let them do whatever they want. I never understand. Like, Mike, more than likely, your kid is not playing college athletics. So just let them enjoy sports. And if he does turn out to be good at him, then maybe he can become a little more focused when he's 16, 17 years old.

But some of these people that are so focused on their kids at like 10 years old on one sport seems insanity to me. So just, I know you weren't necessarily asking this question. I don't think enough kids play all the sports. Basically every kid I know growing up, now none of them I would say became pro athletes, but played every sport when we were kids. And then as you, like, I stopped playing baseball in junior high. I sucked at it. I stopped playing basketball in eighth grade.

I wasn't any good at it. You eventually kind of gravitate to whether what you're good at or what you like. But I never understand all these guys just like, this guy's going to be the next Roger Clemens. Now he throws 83. He's not. You know, he'll be like the third guy in his high school baseball team. He's never playing at the University of Texas or LSU,

let alone the Giants or the Dodgers. So let's just, let's have him play basketball and hell, give him a tennis racket in the golf club. You know, see what he can do. He might turn out to be an artist. So let's like not try to focus this guy. He's not going to be the next Aaron judge. Like, I'm sorry, your kid is not Steph Curry. Big fan of the pod.

And listen, I'm not. I understand. Well, actually I don't. If you are living vicariously through your kid and especially if you're not like, it's the one thing. If I was a pro athlete and I want my kid to be a pro athlete, one, the genetics would be on my side. but the overwhelming majority of people that play youth and high school sports were not, their parents were not pro athletes. Hell, the majority of them were not college athletes.

Let's just have a good time, you know. And then let the cream rise and then they'll go and we'll figure it out from there. I got a question and a recommendation for you. I know you're a big Tito's guy, but if you're looking for a changeup, I recommend 1941 vodka. One of the founders of Tito started it, and it's been my choice of vodka all summer. I saw you were in Nashville this weekend.

And since you're a well-traveled guy, I'd be interesting to hear how you would rank New Orleans, Nashville, and Vegas. Well, I've only been to New Orleans one time, and it was right after Katrina, and I went with some buddies. You know, we tried to be good guys, so we went for a couple days with Habitat for Humanity.

I'm not religious. It was a little weird. I'd say we were a little out of place with the group, though we blended in well, but then we also stayed for three days and we hit the town. But we had no money. I mean, we were poor college kids. We helped out Katrina, even though we realized like we weren't quite sure what we were doing,

just throwing trash kind of all over the place. It was an incredible experience just to see with your own eyes, everything that was going on. New Orleans, it's really hard for me to understand how sweet it could have been. I did not have any money and I thought it was incredible. So I would say it's pretty sweet. Vegas is so different because it's just casinos. Like you're going there for the casinos. Now, in 2022, the restaurants, there's so much shit to do.

But it's just casino after casino after casino. Like that's, to me, New Orleans and Nashville have more similarities, right? Bourbon Street and Broadway than I would say Las Vegas Boulevard does. I would say Vegas, the strip is just, it's one of the most unique streets in the world. I would rank them I don't even know I think they're all pretty special I don't even think they need to be ranked

if you told me I had a place in all of them I would be happy I would probably New Orleans would be third but like I said I've been there one time 15 years ago I think Nashville is like I meant to be there like that's honest my take

now I have a buddy I think he listens to this podcast too who who's family successful in business. They own a place on, I'd say, the sweetest golf course, potentially in the South. So got to go there. It was awesome. Morgan Wallen was teeing off as we were having a cocktail. Darius Rucker, Jake Owen, I guess the Currys came a couple days later, Steph and his dad and Seth were playing. Like, it inspires me to podcast more so I can buy a place there. Now the price points for these places are really high.

I got to do a lot more podcasting. But again, I'm a pretty patriotic country music. My dad was a farmer. My brother is a farmer. So like when you go to these bars and country music is everywhere, people are chanting USA like, I like that shit. And you're just Vegas, you're not going to. Vegas is much more clubby.

I'm not a club guy. But I love to gamble, so I love the sports book and you get nice restaurants there. So I would probably put Nashville number one. If you told me tomorrow, you have an unlimited amount of money and you have to invest it one place and be placed. I might go to Nashville. Now, both Nashville and Vegas in the state of Nevada and Tennessee have no state income tax, so they're huge tax shelters that way. But I think Nashville is a pretty special place. And I love Vegas. But like, I'm in Scottsdale right now. To me, like, now the gambly is legal.

Like, I think there are going to be casinos everyone in Scottsdale. Now, it's never going to be the strip, but my take is Scottsdale is way sweeter in Vegas. Honestly, it's not even close for me. and I've spent a lot of time in Scottsdale, spent a lot of time in Vegas. So, I mean, to me, Scottsdale and Nashville are just kind of my vibe. They're, I mean, they just fit me. You know, sometimes it's like, you know,

like when you're in love, you just, you never know, you meet someone, you're like, I'm in love. You can't describe it. You just go certain places, you're like, this is my vibe. And it's just Nashville is just my vibe. Just like Scottsdale's kind of just my vibe.

Now, it doesn't mean everything, you know, it's like all your vibe. It's hot and humid there. Shit, it's hot here. But the dry heat, to me is better than the humidity. And I tweeted out, someone's like, what were the best bars? And I was like, well, Kid Rock's bar was by far the best.

It just the vibe, the axe. It's just so badass. And I tweeted it out and someone was like, oh, you tourist? Well, yeah, I mean, I don't go there every other week. So I'm going to go to the most fun place. They're like, well, you should have gone to this, the off the beaten path. Well, we did try that on Saturday. I got news for you.

It was kind of boring. I went to Nashville to have fun to go hang out Broadway. And it was badass. Just like I go to Vegas not to go off the strip. I'm going to go stay at the Cosmo. I went to Nashville. Now, if I moved to Nashville, I would live in the suburbs, but, and I probably wouldn't go to those places as much, but I don't. So when I did go, this guy was like, you know, sell out, sellout. I mean, whenever someone uses the word like a bunch of sellout happens in music all the time. So you just didn't want Metallica to ever be cool. You just wish like only you and like, 300 people knew them in like 1983 forever.

Well, I'll tell you who's really glad that, you know, it happens all the time with musicians when they get really big. Well, that's where they make their money. And that's where their popularity comes from. But yeah, I mean, so Nashville is sweet. Why would an NFL front office have leaked the Gruden emails as part of an investigation of the Washington Comorators? He did a LOL emoji.

What did the league have to gain by taking him out? You know, Brady, this is a great question. And I think people in the league, I don't know if there was like an interaction between these two, if he just openly talks shit. Roger Goodell and John Gruden hate each other. That's just what I've heard from secondhand people. And maybe it's just as simple as my theory always is the NFL leaked him and Roger had some hand in it. Roger Goodell's brothers gay.

And obviously there was some homophobic stuff. Maybe it was an easy one as like an FU. Now, I don't think that's the root of their hate. But my theory has always been from talking to people. Goodell hates him and wanted to destroy him. Could be completely wrong. Maybe Roger would say, I don't know where you got that, but that is not true. But other than that, like where could it just be Dan Snyder hates, you know,

because he just recently fired Jay Gruden. So maybe he hates the Gruden's, but why would he leak out? I don't know. It's just classic Gruden. Washington's team, it's just always something. You know, it's never just kind of normal. I saw Gruden was saying, you know, basically like I screwed up, but I still want to coach. Like, Gruden, the reason you're never going to coach again is not because of those emails.

It's because we just saw what you are like when you're in charge. You had multiple first rounders who are literally in jail. Henry Ruggs and Gary on Conley are currently in jail. They were back-to-back first-round picks. Jail. Now, the Henry Ruggs thing, you know, he was a high character guy, so I don't totally put that on.

Like, I don't want to say a random occurrence, but a lot of people would have drafted Henry Ruggs. It's just completely sad story, but the result is still the result. You drafted him over guys like C.D. Lamb, and he's currently in the clink. I mean, honestly, if you told me he gets life, like it sucks, but I'm not going to feel bad for him.

Gary on Conley was a complete loser. or the entire league couldn't stand and you drafted him and he's in jail. Leatherwood was so bad, he was untradable. Like, John, one, you didn't win that many games.

You never made the playoffs. And I don't believe for a second you were for sure going to make the playoffs if you hadn't gotten in trouble this year. Maybe you would have, maybe you didn't. Like the team ended up making the playoffs, but that was after your ass got fired. I think Gruden was just a disaster.

One of the most overhyped things in the sporting world, any any, you know, golf, basketball, football, baseball, racing we've ever seen. Because the hype on Gruden grew by the year. It was like Gruden. Oh, University of Tennessee. Oh, USC. All the Cowboys.

All the Indianapolis Colts. He became all hype. No substance. Because we saw him. It was just, just was not great. Not for $100 million. I don't know if you'll see this, but thank you for doing the podcast. I love getting your insights, perspectives,

and insider views that you bring to the NFL experience. You're hilarious. I appreciate the laughs and also hearing your opinions. When I'm having a stressful day, listening to you, I didn't try to read that to make myself feel better, but I'm glad you enjoy the podcast. Okay. Another question, if you need some comment.

Who throws at college pro days, the starting quarterback, even if not eligible for the draft? As in, did C.J. Stroud throw for a lobby in Wilson, or do they get some coach or backup? And follow up. If Stroud throws, do scouts go watch him? Ohio State may be the greatest example. Maybe going to Clemson to the scout DJ before a better example.

Yeah, I think it depends. I mean, did Bryce Young throw for his guys last year? I think Mack threw for his guys one year when Tua got hurt. Those guys easily can. I mean, if they want to. Now, if you said, like, well, wouldn't the scouts just go to watch CJ? Well, if a guy like CJ or Bryce or any of these underclassmen, Caleb Williams this year, so many scouts.

or you're seeing them play multiple times. You were spending, think if you scout Ohio State, you know, if that's my region and I go through there, I would say I'm spending seven, eight days there throughout the fall. Multiple days at practice, seeing them multiple games. I'm with them nonstop. So that day, not that you're not watching CJ or whoever's throwing, but it's not, it's really more about the guys

that are going to be drafted next month or two than that guy. Because you evaluate him so thoroughly. I think it's probably 50-50, maybe a little less. Maybe 20, 30% of the time a guy like CJ throws. Just hell, they like them. That's their friends. Why wouldn't you not throw? It's like you're trying to help them out.

It's cool. All the NFL guys are there. I would recommend if you're healthy. Shit, go if you got especially highly drafted guys, go throw. Sometimes, yeah, backup quarterback. Sometimes like you'll bring in like a junior college guy or, you know, find, I remember when I was at Fresno State, we had a guy that, like, you know, was from Fresno, but played at New Mexico, who was going to be like an undrafted free agent. You get some stuff like that.

So it's not perfect by any means. It's not ideal sometimes for the wide receivers. But it's usually something like that. How many starts would you give young highly drafted quarterbacks these days to prove the organization and fans that they are the guys? guy. And in your opinion as a former scout, when do you know? I think when you're evaluating any player or any situation, none of them parallel the other. Sometimes ideally, you know right away. You know, I think Andy Reid told me, but I mean, I said this publicly. They, when Patrick Mahomes got to play that last game, week 17 or whatever, Alex Smith's last year there, he's like,

I implemented the game plan with him while my coaches got ready for the playoff game, and it was just an unreal experience, watching him take all the information in, then watching him executed against the Broncos. And then within the first month, I mean, they were already high on him. When he played like he did, it was like, yeah, this is over. Justin Herbert took like four games. You're like, holy shit. You know, Josh Allen was a little bit of a work in progress.

I would say Lamar Jackson, you know, that first year that he kind of came in for Flacco, you're like, God, this guy might be better than we think. And by the next year, you're like, this guy's a stud. I would say Joe Burrow, like he played two games in the NFL. You're like, holy shit, this is going to work. But some guys take a little bit longer. You know, Alex Smith is a good example. It took him like five years to figure it out.

Now, people don't have five years now. You know, so Trey Lance, Justin Fields, Trevor Lawrence, like, I would say two years. I would say Trey Lance, like, we got to know in two years. You had a redshirt year. You're getting now this year and you're inheriting all these sweet players. Like, Trey Lance, you should be able to throw up for 30 touchdowns this year. If you can't, we got some issues. If at any point in time, you get bench for Jimmy Garoppolo this year, it'd be a problem.

I would say Justin Fields is going to be harder to evaluate because his team sucks. Trevor Lawrence, I think the next couple of years, if you're one of the most heralded prospects of all time, like, you should look pretty good. You know, Mac Jones immediately is kind of is what he is. Tua, like it feels like Tua's got a long time. Like, if Tua can't get it this year, like, it's over. I'm already in the camp. It's over, but I'm not, you know. I'm not

stubborn enough if he is good to not acknowledge that he's a good player. I just don't expect it to happen. Okay, last question. No question, just a thought mostly regarding the turf at MetLife. I wonder if the owners, whoever is in charge of the turf,

doesn't want to change it as they could be taken as an admission of fault, opens the floodgates to watch of potential for rather large damage claims on some pretty valuable assets. Although they were going after the NFL as a whole, The concussion suits set many precedents to base claims off of. Agreed. Pretty clinical, but after two years at a product liability law firm, occasionally this behavior of large corporations. You just keep rolling with it so you don't face. We got smart listeners. We got some litigators. We got people all over. We got people getting into UC Berkeley. Impressive group out there, you guys. I saw Nick Bosa today told Albert Breer when Albert came through 49er, or

practice how mad he was after he tore his ACL and he's still pissed off. He thinks it's complete bullshit. He used the example that every soccer team in the EPL, I don't know if this is true, but maybe the 49ers have told them this because now they own an EPL team. Well, they owned a team that wasn't the EPL and they kind of got qualified. Pretty impressive. Leads, 49ers made a shitload of money off it. They bought in for pretty cheap. I remember someone telling me with the Niners is like, you know, think a little bit like the Raiders, like at their lowest moment. If you could ever figure it out, they're a sleeping giant, right? And then boom, Vegas, start making some money. That's what Leeds has been. But

Bosa said that every team in the EPL plays on grass. And he was like the MetLife turf. Remember, if you don't remember this, but Nick Bosa, Terry's ACL, two plays later, saw him and Thomas Terrez Zatel. I guess they went the next day and they rolled it over with like a concrete roller. You're right. I mean, I think you might have hit the nail on the head because if they put grass in, but I also think you could just simply say, we just wanted to make a change. You know, It's not black and white enough where it's not like players are suing the giants. But I think it's insane at this point in time to have a turf that is that bad that everyone acknowledges is terrible and still play on it. So you might be on to something.

Yeah. Well, that'll do it. I'll see you guys Friday. Week one right around the corner. When I talk to you on Friday, we'll have a little, we'll have an NFL game. Thank God. It's here. Let's rock and roll.

Football's back. I think I need to go sleep for about 10 hours kind of rejuvenate and get ready for some football. Adios! Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends.

Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes.

Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds.

I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey,

or my career in sports media. Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifers Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. So let's get to it. Listen to The Clifford Show on the IHeard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok podcast network on TikTok. On the Look Back at it podcast.

For 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84 is big to me. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a year, unpack what went down, and try to be. to make sense of how we survived it with our friends, fellow comedians, and favorite authors. Like Mark Lamont Hill on the 80s. 84 was a wild year. I don't think there's a more important year for black people.

Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.