The Herd with Colin Cowherd - 3 and Out - Brady Ballin, Dak's Back, Most Hyped Teams, Must Watch Players, 3 for the $ Week 1 ATS Picks, Mailbag

Episode Date: September 10, 2021

John reacts to the Bucs handling the Cowboys in the season opener, Brady dominating at 44, and his take on Dak's return from injury. He also examines Aaron Rodgers comments that playing QB in the NFL is easier now than ever, gives his most hyped teams, explains why NIL is making CFB more interesting and reveals which week 1 storylines he'll have his eye on. Then, he runs explains why his 3 for the $ Week 1 NFL Picks by Action Network sharp Stuckey, and answers listener questions in Middlekauff's Mailbag.Make sure you follow John and The Volume on Twitter, Instagram and YouTube for the latest content and updates and check out FanDuel for the best wagering and daily fantasy action! Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The volume. 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, Clifford 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's big to me. I'm Sam Jay. 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 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 Valentine's Day, you know just what to get that special someone because you know what makes them tick. Their favorite bouquet of roses and a box of chock. Roses and a scented can't. A teddy bear. Roses and a teddy bear.

Yeah, a teddy bear. So head on over to proflowers.com to get fresh this Valentine's. Day and get 15% off gifts for your special someone with promo code Crush 15. That's Crush 15 at Proflowers.com for 15% off through February 14th on flowers, gifts, and more for Valentine's Day. See website for details. What is going on? The NFL is officially back and Tom Brady still on top.

Tampa Bay wins 3129 and we are off and rolling. This is a three and out podcast with me. John Middlecough. I think this is week two now on the volume, and I've been hammering this home. You have to subscribe to the, if you listen on Collins feed, you also can listen on my feed,

and we put out a podcast now on Monday that's not going to be on Collins' feet. It's just going to be on the three and out feed. So if you like this podcast, I know many of you do, you got to subscribe to that feed so you can listen. That's where it's going to be on Monday mornings. I'm going to do like 30 minutes,

you know, recap and some of the big stories from Sunday. so you got to subscribe to that feed. A lot going on. We'll hit a little bit on this game. That was sweet. That was badass. That was awesome. A lot of points.

A lot of firepower. A lot of wide receivers. Quarterback play thriving. And we'll dive into a bunch of other stuff. Looking forward to Sunday. A lot of different games we'll hit on today. A couple thoughts on college football. We will also have every week moving forward.

Stucky from the Action Network, who is a degenerate gambler. He's been gambling for 20 years. You'll hear him a little bit later. He hosts the Action Network podcast on every Thursday. You can find that Apple iTunes. We'll go for about 10 minutes and we'll do three for the money together. He told me, you'll hear it a little bit later, that he's bet five figures on games.

So I like talking to people that actually gamble. He actually gambles. We pick the three for the money. and we talk about that a little bit later in the pot and of course the Middilkopf mailbag at John Middlecough is the Instagram at John Middlecough is the Instagram slide up into those direct messages

and get your question answered here on the show. Very, very easy. As we progress in this whole volume thing, we're going to try to do something interactive, link some of you guys up in some posts and stuff through your guys Instagram questions. So we'll just keep progressing, keep figuring this thing out as we go.

and have a good time. A little bit like Tom Brady, except the opposite. I tweeted this out during the game because I played golf on Wednesday night. And I got a knee that's bothering me a little bit, and the knee was hurting. The knee hurt all night long,

and I played terrible. The next day, as of today, my knee still hurts. I'm 36 years old. I also, I haven't sworn golf club in like three weeks, my neck kind of hurts today. I'm just kind of in pain. again, 36 years old.

Tom has me by eight years. He looks fantastic. We all know that. Physically, he's got the chiseled jaw line, the hair. He looks fantastic. As a player, are you kidding me? 32 of 50. But again, I don't even need to look at the box score.

If you watch him a night, you went, is this guy Tom Brady in his prime? Now, he benefits from having Mike Evans, who didn't even do much today. Chris Godwin, who's a baller. Antonio Brown, I don't know, had one of the great six-year stretches in the history of the league.

Rob Grunkowski, after that year off, looks fantastic. He has great weapons. Running backs need to learn to catch a little bit. But Tom, how's this possible? Is this honest to God? I'm not even trying to be sarcastic or anything. Is this the greatest athletic achievement in the history of humanity?

Like, we've seen some physical athletic achievement, like younger LeBron or younger Michael Jordan or a Michael Vic, you know, or a Bo Jackson. But those guys were like in their 20s, in their primes or early 30s. He's 44 years old. This is nuts. Like this is like, we're all kind of numb to this. And I think we all have to come to grips unless he gets hurt. How's this ever going to stop?

Because unlike Peyton Manning that last year, Peyton Manning's arm stopped working. We saw it with Drew Breeze the last couple years. His arm stopped working. Philip Rivers. And obviously these guys were never even as good as Tom. Peyton was close. But Drew wasn't even Philip Rivers.

Tom's arm, I mean, the deep ball power, he can't move. And it doesn't matter. He cannot run at all. He cannot move outside of his little two-yard circle. Yet he can kick the living shit out of every single team he plays. Now Dallas isn't great on defense.

He'll play tougher tests as a season goes on. But are you kidding me? Like, this is what we're watching right now? We're watching the most historic, 44-year-old man operate in the history of sports. I know there's some hockey guy hitting me up on social media. Gordy Howe. I'm not a hockey guy. I know there are boxers who fought.

Like, listen, I can only speak. I'm just talking the major team sports. basketball, football, and baseball. Those are three ones that I follow. This is crazy. And it doesn't feel like it's stopping anytime soon. He's on a loaded team who had, you know, he had a pick that went off Lenny's hands. He threw a pick at the end of the half.

Godwin fumbled. I mean, they were fumbling and turning the ball over left and right. I just don't know. I'm at the point now where I'm kind of speechless on Tom. It is just remarkable. as someone who's not quite close to 40 yet, my body aches, my body hurts, I can't do anything physically anymore.

Hell, I can't even play golf that well anymore because my knee hurts. I just, I'm at a loss for words. And on the flip side, I think one thing, and I try to think about this a lot when I evaluate quarterback because I don't think we do it well enough.

And I think this translates to society to, tough people win, always, consistently. In business, and in sports, tough people. Now, in normal society, mentally tough people, right? We're not fighting or shoving. I mean, you can, but you get in trouble in real life. Mentally tough people.

Every successful person I've known, growing up, still to this day, people that I'm around, all mentally tough. Mentally weak people get destroyed in this world. Physically tough people in pro sports, they have to be physically and mentally tough because you're using your body, especially in football, have success consistently. in the history of team sports and definitely in football.

You have to be mentally and physically tough. I have nothing but respect for Doc Prescott. He put on a toughness clinic tonight. And listen, if you've been listening to me for a while, you know that I believe that contract is a little rich. And you watch him last night, I saw someone that covers the NFL tweeted, I don't think his arm looks quite as strong.

To me, that's Dak Prescott's arm. Now, mobility-wise, you could tell he couldn't quite run like he could pre-injury, which makes sense. You know, he's less than a year removed. But his arm, he's never had a great arm. His arm has always been much closer

to like an Alex Smith than it ever was a Tom Brady or an Aaron Rogers. But his ability to stand as as Greg CoSell of NFL films eloquently says, look down the gun barrel. And I think he stole that from Jaws and I stole that from both of them.

Most guys can't do that. Because who wants to do that, right? Especially in the National Football League. You're looking down a throw with either a linebacker or a defensive lineman coming at you. You are about to get destroyed. And he consistently does it. Now, here's the other thing. He, to come back from that injury, to not play all season last year after he broke his ankle,

and then basically miss all of training camp with a shoulder injury, I tip my hat to him. I really do. I have, I, I'm probably too hard on them. Now, I will not move off of my stance of, you know, listen, I, I'm a sucker for stronger arm quarterbacks. It's just something I'm inclined to like more. But if you're going to play that tough, and I think his mobility will come back, I don't

know if he'll ever quite be as mobile as he was when he was younger after a major injury like that, but he definitely can move more than like statue quarterbacks, right? Even on one leg, he's faster than Tom. Now, obviously, you don't have to be a great, to be a great quarterback, you don't have to run. But the Cowboys have something, right? I mean, they do. You can win with that guy. They're wide receivers.

Amari Cooper's elite. C.D. Lamb is a baller. I can live with a couple drops if you can make plays. Gallup who hurt his ankle. Their weapons are badass. And everyone's like, why? Where's Zeke? Well, the Tampa Bay is one of the best front sevens in the league.

I saw Charles Woodson tweet it, and he was dead on. He's like, they're not running it because you can't run it on that front. You got to throw, and they did. I think he threw for over 400 yards. So to do that, I have nothing but respect for DAC. My question, I have two questions for the Cowboys, though. Like Bruce Ariens now runs a CEO operation. But I know Bruce Ariens is elite offensive play caller

because we saw him do it for decades. And I know he runs a tight organization as a CEO because his team just won the Super Bowl. What is Mike McCarthy doing? Honest to God question. What is Mike McCarthy doing? He doesn't call the offensive plays. know he knows nothing about defense. He has not, no part of special teams. What is he doing all

game? I don't know. Now, I know he has a resume of having success and he's called place before. But right now, Jerry Jones is paying him $8, $9, $10 million here. What's he doing? And big picture, I was thinking about this watching the game. Like Todd Bulls, one of the best defensive coordinators in the league. And if you had to pick on the short list of two or three guys, if you were starting a team from scratch, he would be your pick as a defensive coordinator. On the flip side, the Cowboys, whose defense was atrocious last night. Now they made a couple of plays here and there tonight. And DeMarcus Lawrence looked a lot better than he did last year.

So, you know, some positive strides. But big picture over the next 16 games, and I think it's fair to say the Cowboys are going to be competitive. Their offense is too dynamic. Zeke will get going. They're passing games too. If Dak stays healthy, they're going to be awesome on offense. But defensively, Dan Quinn's defenses, and he kind of played this CEO role in Atlanta. but his defenses were terrible in Atlanta, and he's a defensive guy.

So now he comes to Dallas, and he's in charge of the defenses. How is he going to fix this? Like, how are they going to be just solid on defense? We've seen him run defenses, and since he was part of, I don't know, one of the greatest units of all time with L.O.B. and Pete Carroll in their peak heyday way back in the day, I don't know. I don't know if he can do it, to be completely honest with you. I would bet against him.

He's not Mike Nolan. Mike Nolan was atrocious. I mean, my mom could have told you that the moment he got hired, this is not going to work. I do think this is functional. Like they're going to be a little bit better than last year. But I don't see them being, you know, if they miss the playoffs this year, it'll be 100% because of his unit. And back to the head coach, McCarthy knows nothing about it. Right.

Here's the thing about Ariens. Ariens always runs a physical operation, even though he's a past first coach. Think of his teams in Arizona. They were a badass physical team because you meet it, you just listen to Aryan's talk, you go, this guy's a certified badass. This guy, this guy's a crazy SOB. And his teams kind of have that in a buttoned up way.

McCarthy is kind of a pass happy guy too, but his teams historically are pretty soft. Like one of the big downfalls of Green Bay all those years is one, he knew nothing about defense. And two, his offensive philosophies, his team was just kind of soft. So it's just something to keep eye on, though, definitely more bullish on Dallas.

Dak Prescott, you know, I don't know if they'll ever be a top five quarterback, but you can see tonight, like, you can win with them. Now, you have to have a good defense. The run game will have to get going against lesser teams, but their offense is going to be really good, starts with him in those wide receivers. And ultimately, what a comeback for the NFL. Thank God they're back. That was a fun night. You know, I don't need that much offense all the time. I like some physical defensive play, but I'm not going to complain here. That was very entertaining. Watching Aaron Rogers on who's just got great hair right now. As someone who is

fallically challenged, I would only come back if I had the incredible flow, Pat Riley style, where you could like, you know, use the wax or whatever the spray and just go completely straight back, you know, like Michael Douglas in Wall Street. That's a fantastic look in Rogers has that going right now. I'm jealous. And he went on Pat McAfee last year as a weekly. The game's changed. I mean, you see it with the volume sports.

All the SEC players are now going on Jay Boy's show, the SEC show, which is really good. I've been listening to it the last couple of days. He's talented. And forever, that would have been on terrestrial radio. They're screwed. I mean, you thought in the last five, six years, the digital space progressed. Woo! watch out.

Bye, Terrestrial radio. Y'all had a good run. But McAfee, who does a show on YouTube, and on satellite radio, which I like Sirius, he has Aaron Rogers on every week.

And, Aaron Rogers, listen, whether you agree or disagree with the way everything went, and we all have our own truths, and let's face it, in situations that we don't know about,

it's hard to know all the information, There were a lot of stories written, some true, some was potentially false. Rogers told McAfee that some was. Now, the one thing that he did not deny is that LaFleur was nervous this offseason because he's like, yeah, I was contemplating not returning. Like, Packer fans were like, the media is making this up. No, it's actually true. Rogers admitted it.

Like he did, now, I don't know how he would have figured that out to get away from the Packers, but this was not made up. We have as much information now. And he's admitted it, which to me is very, refreshing. In a day and age where it's hard to believe anything, everything is agenda driven. I'm not even talking pro athletes, but definitely with pro athletes, it's hard. They are very careful about what they say. Rogers is in the, I give zero shits anymore. I will say whatever I believe. And it's fun to watch. And now it's his truth. You know, it's his biased,

his agenda, but at least he's telling you kind of an unfiltered opinion. I mean, the only thing, is kind of unfiltered on right now. He's pissed off these single-digit numbers. I don't know why he's so obsessed with these single-digit numbers, but it really bothers Tom. The other thing, though, that Rogers got Tom's back on is Tom, I think he said a couple weeks ago, that the game has changed dramatically from a quarterback standpoint.

And when he was younger, because obviously when you're 44, you played in the mid-2000s, when the rules were, you went across the middle, you got, you got, skulls got cracked. People got K-Oed. It was, it's still a violent game. It was dramatically more violent. And not just for Tom, obviously, as a quarterback in the 2000s and all before, you were a sitting duck, right?

If the pass rusher could do whatever he felt like to you. There were no flags for unnecessary roughness or violent collisions or there was no, in the 90s, there was no such thing as a defenseless wide receiver. I still hate that. there's no defenseless wide receiver. If you're running a route through defensive backs, you know that those guys are paid to tackle you. In the 80s, in the 90s, in the 70s,

they were paid to destroy you. Now, the game's changed. It's my beef with the rule in college. Throwing kids out of the game, I understand the thought process behind that five or six years ago. They were trying to change the game. They did. It's worked.

Everyone knows. We're not seeing the John Lynch's, the Atwater's, those guys don't exist anymore. Guys aren't wired like that anymore. So just because there's a violent collision, I never see a collision where guys get ejected in college

where I go, that malicious intent, that guy was trying to injure them. Like throw on the 90s, right? Atwater, Lynch, some of those guys, you're like, oh my God, that guy was trying to inflict pain. That guy was trying to put him in the 10th. That doesn't happen anymore.

So throwing the kid out, like what are we doing? We've jumped the shark on that. They need to rescind that, rule. 15-yard penalty, okay, but throwing kids out of the game, that really pisses me off. But back to the NFL, Brady was going on this rant about how it's much harder. It used to be much harder. And Rogers, with McAfee, agreed and said, listen, when I was a young player, I was very, very careful and cognitive of laying a guy out. Because if I threw the ball into traffic, that guy would get killed. I was at, I remember maybe my first,

year in Philly, might have been my second. Austin Colley was knocked out in a game. We were playing the Colts and Peyton Manning and Austin Colley had to be carted off the field. And if you remember, he had some concussion issues, but the collision, I mean, was really, really violent. There was also a collision either that year

or the year before with Deshawn Jackson. He also might have, I mean, we thought he died on the field. Now, he obviously is still alive, but it's one of the most violent collisions I've ever seen. And there is a level that has been knocked out of the game football. But from a quarterback standpoint, and Rogers was reiterating what Brady meant is it was a lot

harder back then. Because if you let a guy, you would get him injured. He would be knocked out of the game. That does not exist anymore. And he was saying that the West Coast offense was predicated on exact steps and putting the ball in exact spots because they were avoiding defenders. There was a reason to put it on a guy's right shoulder, not his left shoulder. There was a reason to put it five yards to the left, not four yards to the right. Because Ronnie Lott was sitting right there. You know, Mike Singletary was coming across the middle. And his ultimate point was, you know, bad throws for the history of the game up until five, six years ago, not only were not rewarded, they would have major, major consequences. That doesn't happen anymore. And, and,

It got me thinking that if you can't be a high-level quarterback, and I'm not even talking Mahomes, Rogers, or Brady, but if you're not considered like a top 15 quarterback in 2021, I don't think you could play in 2002, 1994. Like, you know how bad Ms. Trubisky was the last couple years? Can you imagine if you were throwing Ms. Trubisky in like 1994, where it's like, if you were just scattershot inaccurate, it, we would have laughed you off the field. You wouldn't have been able to survive.

Now, that doesn't mean that good quarterbacks that still have some issues couldn't have figured it out. But it was way more difficult because every decision that you made back in the day, people got hurt, you know? People were terrified to go over the middle first and foremost because there was a reason to be terrified. You would get injured. Now, like, it's more offensive. and even McAfee pushback, part of cleaning up the game was also keeping you quarterback safe. Because Rogers was saying, like, I'm not begging for roughing the passer calls, even though, let's face it, when guys like that get tackled, the flag comes out.

And as a fan of violent football would probably be the wrong word, but I like hits. I watch football for the physicality as well as touchdowns, but I like physicality. That's why I watch. And it's not really there as much. anymore. When you just tackle a quarterback to the ground and the flag comes out, like, those guys are really, really protected. So if you can't excel as a quarterback when you are protected and guys down the middle of the field know that they can't get hit, maybe you're just not that good at all. And I'm not trying to act like playing quarterback even in 2021 is something easy to do. It is still

very, very difficult. But it is much easier than it was 20, 30 years ago. Because this notion of like throwing guys open, that still exists, but not, guys just get open, you know, no one reroute you at the line of scrimmage. There's no, watch tight ends this weekend, just take off off the line of scrimmage. In the history of football, a lot of times you would put the Sam linebacker or an outside linebacker, defense event, over the tight end. And when he was going to, if it was third and eight, and when he was going to go out to his route,

someone would hit him at the line of scrimmage. They call it the reroute. And at least slow down the timing. Now those guys, Kittal, Kelsey Waller, there's like, do-to-do, do-do, do-do, where's my little five-yard halo in the middle of the first down? Like, you think Bill Romanowski, who works out of my gym, you think that was allowed in his day?

You would get yanked off the field on defense. So when you watch this year, and we see guys struggle, just know that guy's really not very good. That guy's terrible. It's like the NBA. There's no defense played anymore in the NBA. If you can't get on an NBA floor now, like as, you know, if you're a shooter and you're not getting any playing time, like you really stink. The coach thinks you're bad because no one asks you to even play defense anymore. Right.

Think about baseball. It's like, you know, to play back in the bigs when I was growing up, you had to be a good contact hitter. You had to be able to go the other way. You had to be able to, you know, run the bases. None of that shit matters anymore. You just try to hit home runs, strike out. That's all anyone cares about. Hell, they don't even care if you can run or whatever.

Just get on base. Like, games progress. And that's fine. Like, people always before you think things were harder. And you know what? It's true. Like, my dad thought his life was way harder than mine. He was right.

He was part of a generation that was drafted into a war. His dad thought his generation was harder than his. He was also right. His dad was in World War II. I'm thinking about my generation. I was just with my cousin, seeing some of his kids. I'm like, these kids, I see it with my brother's kid. They have it great.

I remember being a kid and begging my parents for like a Game Boy. I don't know how much they were back then, but they weren't that much money. I'm pretty sure they were like $100. No, you can't have a Game Boy. I didn't know anyone that had. I knew one friend of like my 50 friends. at school that had a game boy. Every kid I know now has an iPad,

and I don't blame those parents. If I had a kid, I'd give them an iPad too, keeps them quiet, keeps them on the couch, so they're not running around, breaking things. But it's like things advance and progress, but we have to admit, like, playing quarterback right now, and you're going to see it this weekend

with all these rookie quarterbacks playing, has never, ever been easier. Okay, let me tell you about my friends at Fandual. Football season's here. And if you've never bet on the NFL, there's never been a better time to get Fanduil Sportsbook a shot. Because right now you can place your first bet risk free. That's right.

You'll get up to $1,000 back if you don't win. Fan Duel gives you so many bets to choose from. There are same game parlay bets, player props, futures, and so much more. See for yourself why Fandual is America's number one sports book. 21 plus and present. 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. A win is a win. Yep, that's me, Cliver 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 Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. If you're watching the latest season of the Real Housewives of Atlanta, you already know there's a lot to break down. Gorsha accusing Kelly of sleeping with a merry man. They holding Kay Michelle back from fighting Drew. Pinky has financial issues. I like the bougie style of Housewives show.

I think it looks like it's going to be interesting. On the podcast, Reality with the King, I, Carlos King, recap the biggest moments from your favorite reality shows, including the Real House Wise franchise. the drama, the alliances, and the T, everybody's talking about. As an executive producer in reality television, I'm not just watching it. I understand the game. As somebody who creates shows, I'll even say this. At the end of the day, when people are at home, they want entertainment. To hear this and more, listen to Reality with the King on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

Hey, I'm Deanna Maria Riva, actress, mother, lover, and a Gen X woman walking through life one hot flash and hormonal crying jag at a time. You ladies know what I mean. I'll bet you a perimenopausal chin here you do. So let's talk about it. Join me on my new podcast. How hard can it be with Deanna Maria Riva, where I call on my Gen X squads from Ohio to Hollywood as we navigate midlife's most fantastic BS. All of a sudden, I'd had hanginess happening on my own. I was like, what the hell is this?

that? I was married when I had her, so I didn't even consider how empty that Ness was going to be. Mood swings, night sweats, fupas, sex drive, wait, what sex? Dating at 45, how hard can it be? Getting naked at 50 with the new guy. That one's kind of hard, you know?

Well, that's lighting. They say we can't polish a turd, but we're sure going to try. So let's get blunt with laughs, tears, or tears of laughter, and dive into it, unfiltered and ask, how hard can it be? I cannot believe I'm about to say this out loud. in public. Listen to how hard can it be with Deanna Maria Riva as part of my Cultura podcast network available

on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. In Colorado, Indiana, New Jersey, Virginia or West Virginia. First online, real money wager only. Refund issued as non-witrawable site credit that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook. Fandul.com. Gambling problem?

Call 1800 gambler. Or visit fanduel.com slash RG. Colorado, New Jersey, Virginia. 1-800-9 with it, Indiana. Visit www.1-800-gambler.net, West Virginia. This winter, there's something for everyone with the Disney bundle. Unforgettable stories on Disney Plus, like Marvel Studios Eternals. It's beautiful, listener.

And Disney's Enkando. This is my chance. Fan favorites on Hulu like Penn 15 and The Great. And epic sports on ESPN Plus, like Man in the Arena, Tom Brady, and over 1,000 NHL games. Get the Disney bundle today for only $13.99 a month. Includes Hulu ads and support a plan, access content from each service separately. Terms apply. See the Disney bundle.com for details.

This episode is brought to you by DirectTV Stream. Introducing Direct TV Stream, the best of live TV and on demand, which means you can get all your favorite sports, movies, and shows together, so you can watch new episodes of your favorite reality shows live or binge old episodes on demand. Either way, get ready for some drama. And the best part, Direct TV Stream. has no annual contract.

DirectTV stream. Get your TV together at directtv.com. Requires high-speed internet and compatible device. Content varies by package and location restriction supply. If I could be you. And you could be me? For just one hour. If you could find a way...

To get inside. Each other's mind. Walk a mile in my shoes. Walk a mile in my shoes. Walk a mile in my shoes. We've all felt left out. And for some, that feeling lasts more than a moment. We can change that.

Learn how it belonging begins with us.org, brought to you by the ad council. Walk a mile in my shoes. I wanted to do something. I wrote down three teams that I'm guilty. I'm just as guilty as anyone who plays into the hype. And hype is a real thing. You see it in the draft when guys get overly hyped,

even though the league can be a little wishy-washy on guys. But I think GMs, it definitely influence. as owners. It influences fans. Well, what's a big reason that we react the day after or a week after the draft positively or negatively? It's all based on the media's reaction, right? Who they hyped up and who they didn't hype up, who Mel Kuyper liked and who he didn't like. And I'm not blaming him. He's going to like who he likes. And not like who he likes, right? Us as fans, we have teams that we like and teams that we don't like. But I do think in the offseason, no games are going on. We annoying teams. And like,

I said, I am guilty. And you get bullish on teams. You see the ability for these teams to like, okay, you were a seven-win team. This year you win a 11. And all of a sudden, you're competing to, you know, playing the championship game. I'm not talking even the Super Bowl, but just maybe you win a playoff game. It happens. No sport that it happens as much as the NFL, right?

We see every year teams go from worse to first. Every year a team underachieves, fires a coach, gets a good coach, and then all of a sudden wins the next year. It also goes the other way. For every Green Bay Packers that just hire LaFleur and start winning, we see time and time again teams hire the wrong coach and they keep losing. Look at the Cardinals, right? Look at the Cowboys.

Look at, I mean, it happens. Even Ron Rivera, let's start there. Because I think the Washington football team has gotten a lot of hype this offseason. And some of it is deserved. Ron Rivera has a long history of being a good, NFL football coach. Made the playoffs a lot. I think he made the playoffs four times

when he was in Carolina. Here's the thing. Now Carolina was a run-first defensive-oriented team. But his quarterback, the Cam Newton he had, was a lot different than the Cam Newton that we saw in New England. He was a dynamic runner.

While he was hit or miss from an accuracy standpoint, he did have big play potential because of his arm. He had a top, you know, I'd say obviously the MVP year he's a top five quarterback but for the most of his career was like a top 10

quarterback, top 12 quarterback, but had the talent on any given game to play like a top five quarterback. Then on top of their good defense and the run game. Well, right now, his defense is really good. A lot of people think that Washington football team is going to be a top two or three defense in the league. I don't necessarily disagree.

Right? He's got, he's a defensive head coach. Del Rio's an old school defensive guy who was the coordinator. those years with Peyton and John Fox in Denver, like Coach Khalil Mack, they're going to be good on defense. To me, offensively, here would be my question. They are very, very dependent on Ryan Fitzpatrick.

And who doesn't like Fitzpatrick? He's a fun player. He's got the big beer. He's the highest wonderlick score ever. He went to Harvard. I just Googled his football reference page today. He throws a lot of interceptions. And I mean a ton of interceptions.

So this is a guy who historically has been turnover prone. Rivera is not just going to let him slinging around like he's Rogers or Russell Wilson. That is not the way he's going to want him to play. But at his core, he's kind of got that in him. So this notion, now, their division's not very good. That helps them a lot. But last year they went 7 and 9, I don't think they're just some lock to go 10 and 7. And to me, it starts and ends with him.

he's an older player. Now, like I talked about with Rogers and the Brady thing, it's never been easier to play quarterback, and we've talked about it before. I think Fitzpatrick benefits a lot from the modern-day rules. If this was 1996, Fitzpatrick probably out of the league. But it's 2021. You can only, you know, play the hand you're dealt.

And this is the time he's living in. But I would just, I just keep an eye on them. I think it's, and I kind of like them this week. I actually think it's, we'll go into the other team that actually they're playing the next team, the Chargers, but I think Washington football team probably wins this week. I kind of like a money line. But I just think big

picture, it might be a little harder, like, I kind of view them 8, 9. Now 8, 9 might win them the division. But if they go 8,9, they win the division, let's not act like we'd respect them. Then the Chargers, who, I'm as guilty as anyone on this, I think they're going to be good because their roster's fantastic and I love the quarterback. But when I go

back to the head coach, and he was fantastic, fantastic as a coordinator in L.A. Now, he had the best player in football in Aaron Donald. He had an elite corner. Johnson, the safety was good. They had a lot of good players. And his defense dominated.

He's now the head coach. And he's also calling the defensive plays. I looked at Lombardi, Joe Lombardi, his offensive coordinator. The last time he was an offensive coordinator was 14 and 15 in Detroit. Stafford actually was pretty good the second year, though they went 7 and 9. His first year, they made the playoffs lost in a wild card round. I'm pretty sure they lost the Cowboys that game. And then that was the last member, Sue, like, cried,

and then he went to the Miami Dolphins for like $60 million guarantee. I don't have a worry about their talent. Their talent, their high-end talent is elite. I think Herbert is going to be a star. Keenan Allen is a star. Bosa is a star. Derwin James can just stay on the field. He's a star.

They have really, really good players. But are they just going to be out coaching everyone every week? Is that just what's going to happen? because if it is, then is Brandon Staley just all of a sudden, like one of the best young coaches in the league? That might be the case. But that also might not be the case. It also might be a little challenging.

You know, I don't think it's inconceivable. They go eight, nine wins. Because I think a lot of people, myself included, just kind of act like they're going to win 11 or 12. Their division is pretty hard. Obviously, the Chiefs' best team in the AFC. The Raiders are feisty. Broncos have a ton of talent.

I mean, they could easily go three and three in that division. Just a team that, you know, sometimes I need to, take a deep breath before I I know anything. I got to see it first. And then last but not least, this team won 11 games last year with a coat with a quarterback who's now

a high school football coach, the Indianapolis Colts. We all agree their roster is really good. Their head coach is good. My problem with them is they are depending on a quarterback who threw 16 touchdowns and 15 interceptions last year.

15 interceptions. If I'm going to bag on Ryan Fitzpatrick for throwing a lot of picks, I got to look directly at Carson Wentz. There's two other elements to Carson Wentz. Obviously the COVID thing. But he also just gets hurt a lot. Hell, he got hurt in this training camp. He had the most miraculous comeback I've ever seen.

It was said five to 12 weeks, all of a sudden 12 days later, the dudes of practice. But I also think it shines a light on it at any moment. oh, his hands broken. Oh, he's got a problem with his kneecap. Oh, his hamstring. Oh, his labrum. Like, it's always something with the guy.

So his play is a question mark. We don't know if he'll be able to turn his career around. He might, but he also might not. We also just don't know the simple fact that the year he tears his ACL, next year he has the back injury. Next year, he's healthy, plays all 16 games, struggles, but actually he's good down the stretch. Then he gets a concussion, random,

but still he gets knocked out of a playoff game. Then the following year, 15 or 16 touchdowns, 15 picks, benched, benched for Jalen Hertz. Who your boy right here thought was a running back coming out of college. Might be wrong on that one, but that happened.

He was awful. And now we're just, you know, Rivers was, I would say, over the hill, but he was still solid. Rivers last year, an over-the-hill Rivers, when I say over-the-hill, he was like better than Drew Breeze. He wasn't like Peyton Manning, that's 2016 year. But he was just, he was trending down,

was still dramatically better than what we saw Carson Wentz. I don't even think that's debatable. So to think that the Colts are just going to get what Philip Rivers was last year with Wentz, I think is a question mark. I really do. And if he's not, like, they just, could come back to Earth a little bit.

When I say come back to Earth, like nine wins. But as we know in the AFC, where it's way better than the NFC, nine wins is not sniffing the playoffs. So I just think the Washington football team, the Chargers and the Colts, are three teams that a lot of people that talk about football are just putting in the playoffs. And it's just something that I would say,

I don't know. We will have to see. I noticed on the social media streets, someone from like the sports business journal tweeted out the numbers from last week in college football and they were huge. I think it's official now. Not that it hasn't been for the last several years.

College football is the number to sport in America. NFL's one, college football is set it to. They did numbers that baseball and basketball would die for. I mean, they had several games. over 7 million people. And we've been talking about this forever. Football brings something to the table. Those other sports cannot replicate.

Urgency every week. Importance every week. Every week matters. I don't even blame like baseball. There's 162 games. I mean, I'm a Giants fan. They're in first place. The Dodgers are nipping at their heels.

Like, I'm sorry, just random games. It's hard for me to even get excited. And it's early September. Not all these games matter. And even though their games kind of do. matter. In the NBA, they've told you the players, the coaches, the front offices, we don't care about this game. And their players don't play. In football, just because the nature of the sport you spend all week, it always feels like the games matter. And then in college football,

some NFL places have this, but for the most part, college football venues are better. They just are because they got 50, 80, 100,000 people there, all singing the same songs, all chanting the same thing. It's a powerful experience. It's very communal. It actually gives you hope on like society. You know, in a day and age where none of us can agree on anything, and actually that's not necessarily true. It's only on social media. I go out in the streets every day, whether it's to dinner or to the gym, people are friendly. You know, it's like sometimes like everyone hates each other on social media. You go out in society, most people are nice. That's always been the case, always will be the case. Most people are just friendly.

to other people. But when you see all this hate online, and let's face it, like I know me, and I'm not proud of this, spend too much time online because that's where my business is. It's how I feed my unborn children. And you watch these college football games, and people are going nuts. And it's awesome. But I always, in someone who worked in college football, like the NFL way more, because I always thought college football, there was, in just college athletic athletics overall, it just, there were way, The way the business was set up always bothered me. And it might have been from my own experiences

because when we were at Fresno State, we always battled the football program who literally paid for everything. If our players got an iPad, then every other program had to get an iPad. And it doesn't necessarily work that way at Alabama, LSU, Texas. Like the football players just get it better.

I'll never forget at this town hall meeting for every coach in the athletic department and every administrator. Pat Hill walked in late and the volleyball coach, kind of tongue and cheek, but also kind of serious, like, must be nice to be you, Pat, showing up late to this big meeting. And Pat said, yeah, no big deal. I was just out fundraising to pay your salary. I don't even think you could say that in 2021.

He was dead serious. The football program literally pays for everyone. And listen, I'm not anti- like women's sports or even the non-revenue generating men's sports. I understand they have to exist. my high school girlfriend, Division 1 athlete, water pole player. Her scholarship would not have existed without football. Girl I dated later on in college was a softball player, full scholarship. Like these scholarships get created by football.

So it's, and who knows, one day I'll have daughters. They might not be athletic, but if they are, I want them to play sports. It's healthy for you. It's good for you. But they make no money. They make none. The football program, and depending on the school, the basketball program, subsidizes the whole athletic department.

And then you're constantly battling because of Title IX. Like, well, if he gets that, you got to get this. It's like, well, it's our money. And now the thing that I like the most about college football is all the players are getting paid if they can generate it. So when you see that Bryce Young is getting a million plus dollars and get paid to go on, you know, podcast, like it's just like it's become more like normal business. And it makes me feel good. It's pure. Like, you should be paid for your services.

It's always bothered me about Jay Billis, who I like Jay Billis a lot. But on social media, he always gets on his moral high horse about guys not getting paid. It's like, Jay, what world are you living in? Duke's been paying guys forever. You don't think guys in college basketball have been getting paid six figures, maybe some, the top guys, seven figures, for longer than I've been alive. You've got to be naive. Now, we don't even have to pretend.

Now, to think that guys aren't still getting paid in shady ways would be naive. But now I can do it above board as well. So I can do it both ways. And I can compensate these guys, give them cars, give them money. Because before, one thing that the guys did get screwed that were paid under the table and don't ever get it twisted. Guys have always been paid under the table. That's the way it works. When I talk to coaches throughout the country in college athletics, cheating often comes up.

And I don't care about cheating. I call it capitalism. If I want to pay up, the NCAA is an arbitrary group that just makes up rules. They are not some, you know, they're not sanctioned by the government. They don't have any power in a courtroom. In my opinion, they're irrelevant. But if you're a college coach, they do have, they can't have an impact because they can, you know, put sanctions on your program. They can screw you pretty well.

And hopefully this inevitably kind of pushes them out and destroys them. I'm not some like NCAA defender. But I'm also not some defender of like the media members that have acted like, the top guys have always been getting screwed. Bullshit. I think they've always been getting paid. And having worked in the NFL around some of the top guys,

like, it's not something talked about. You know, it's something that everyone just kind of keeps quiet. Now you can just embrace like, hey, man, I'm just posts on social media for 100K. It's like, good, good for you. I do it too. Or I would. I'm talking 100K for a post.

But I think college football is going to, it's really benefited. In college basketball, used to be like this. When I was a kid, it was enormous. Why? Because we watched all the top players that were then going to go into the NBA. Now it's like half the guys are playing in Australia. We've got three or four guys in the G League. We got a couple guys that play a couple games and like screw it. I'm out. It's hard to even keep up.

College football, because of the setup of the sport, you've got to play three years. And I think that's a fair rule. But like there's no other minor league football. There's no other place for them to play. There's no other place for them to play that they'd even want to play. You would be stupid if you're if you didn't want to go to Alabama, Texas, or one of those schools. It's a blast. I mean, it's fun. And these guys do it.

And then they become stars and then we find them in the NFL. So I actually think college football is only going to get more popular. I was texting with Coward the other day. I was like, listen, I think the SEC has always been a big deal. Football in the South,

Texas to Florida, you know, up to Georgia, West Virginia, Carolina, whatever. That region, football is powerful. High school football and college football. I do believe, and again, if you're listening to this,

you live in the South, maybe I'm a little off base on this. I think Nick Sabin, what he's brought to the table in the last decade, has even taken them to another level. Now, they've benefited from the internet, the world's much more flat, but you see it all the time. The Alabama's quarterback is an L.A. kid. Clemson's quarterback is an L.A. kid. You think 20 years ago those guys were going to Alabama and Clemson,

no chance. Probably one's going to UCLA, the other is going to Washington. Now it's like, I want to go to Clemson. I want to go to Alabama. I would too. J.T. Daniels,

transfers, goes to Georgia. I don't blame them. I'd want to go to Georgia too. Bad ass. So I think the SEC is, I don't think it's ever been more powerful. I don't think it's ever been cooler. I don't think it's ever been more nationally relevant.

It's not just like living in Mississippi. It's cool. Like, it's cool for me. And I live in the Bay Area. Hopefully not for too much longer. but I'm here now. So I think ultimately college football

for me personally, I'm glad that we don't even have to pretend that shady stuff's not going on. Because not even shady, it's above board. And it was only shady because of the NCAA. They made it shady. The NCAA to me has always been a joke.

But if you're a head coach, you do have to balance taking them somewhat seriously because they can screw you over. So I think college football is poised to have a massive year. Okay, one thing I just wrote down some things that are going to interest me this weekend. We'll just go rapid fire.

Won't spend too much time, but these are just some things that I'm excited to watch play out this weekend. One, the three Alabama quarterbacks. Jalen Hertz, Mack Jones, Tua, Tua, and Mack are playing each other. And then Jalen is playing Atlanta. So I'm fascinated to watch all these guys and then just what their stat line is going to look like at weekends end. Is there a chance? And I've said this, I think before on this podcast, Tua is the worst out of the three? That seems crazy.

Can you imagine telling someone that was going to be the case three years ago, two years ago, when he came in in that national championship game for Jalen? It's insane. But it doesn't seem that inconceivable now. those three guys, which is an incredible accomplishment for Sabin and his program, three guys he recruited that are starting week one all under 24 years old. But I think the guy that was anointed the best several years ago when they were all in college now feels like there's a chance he might be the worst, which is nuts to me.

Sam Darnold. Another guy, like in the vein of all those Bama kids, and this guy is still a kid too, I think he's 23 years old, is, is Sam Darnold going to resurrect his career? He has Joe Brady, who kind of made at Ogeron, let's call a spade of spade. Now he's got McCaffrey, they have offensive weapons, he kind of gets out of the rat race in New York, he gets away from Adam Gase. If Matt Ruhle is just, he doesn't even have to be the real deal,

if Matt Ruhl is just a good coach. If Matt Ruhl, we look back and go, you know, Matt Ruhl is a solid NFL coach. Not every guy's Jimmy Johnson, right, or Pete Carroll. Can you just be like, I don't know, even know. I guess Ron Revere is above average, but just something like that, just solid. Just like, okay, I'm not expecting you to be some historic winner. Can you just take a team to the playoffs every once in a while? And if he can, then Sam Donald's got a chance for success.

Now, one major issue with Sam Donald that I heard from my buddies in the league, and just when you watched them, is not just turnover prone, decision making was atrocious. Had some parallels with Famous Jamis, where you just like, what are you doing? Now do we chalk it up? Adam Gase is an idiot. Team sucked.

And he played Hero Ball? Or is it like, that's kind of him. Because that was kind of the knock on him his last year with SC. And then clearly, the first couple years in New York just have not been,

the tape he's put on film. That's such a stupid. Obviously, the tape you put on film. The games and the play he's put on film was not that great. It just wasn't. Even trying to siphon out the poor coaching, the players he was playing with,

just the playing, play-in, play-out ability to execute and ability to not throw the ball to the other team is something to keep an eye on. Because that scared a lot of people in the league that, let's face it, you could have had them for relatively cheap. And I don't think in a young player who was drafted third overall, a lot of the league thought he was pretty overrated.

could the Texans go winless? Could they go 0 and 17? It starts this weekend. They're going to have to beat, if they beat the Texans, they're in good shape. They still probably win two games total if they win this game. Excuse me, if the Texans beat the Jags.

But they're going to be really, really bad. They're going to be awful. Their defense is atrocious. I think they're trying to win games. Don't totally blame them. I would do what the dolphins did several years ago. I would bottom out. I'd go full Sam Hinky.

That is the play. So you have to have. have a franchise who's trying to lose. They'll never admit that, but trust me, they are. They hired a coach. Nice guy. I worked with Dave Kelly. Not in a million years would I ever envision him being a head coach in the NFL. I think they hired him knowing, like, he can get us through these two years that are going to be potentially a total of like three or four wins, and then we'll fire him, and then we'll get a real guy once we get our picks. Because I, would it shock you if, like, midseason, they trade Laramie Tunzel. I mean, that's really their only asset, but

They are going to actively try to lose. Maybe not this game, because players don't necessarily try to lose. Even the, you look back at the Hinky Sixers, they just rigged it. The players they threw out there, they knew were so bad we wouldn't win. I think that's a little bit what the Texans are doing. And, you know, it'd be hard to go 0-117, but I'd put the over under probably about one and a half, and I'd probably take the under. They are not, it wouldn't, it's, it's,

possible. Let's just put it that way. It's possible. I mean, look at the Jags last year. They won the first game and didn't win again. Kyler Murray, he was the number one overall pick in the draft. When you're the number one overall pick in the draft, the expectations are sky high. This is a guy who was drafted top 10 in baseball too. His talent is immense. His speed is elite. His arm strength is fantastic. His talent is big time. But is he an actual good quarterback. To me, that's the question. You can be really, really gifted at anything in life, but are you actually good at what you do? Like, there are a lot of smart people that don't

actually do anything. So it's like, what are you doing with all that intelligence? You know, guy like me, it's like, I'm not much up here, but somehow I get the job done, right? Kyler Murray has all these physical attributes besides size. And that is somewhat of a limitation. I do think it would be a challenge, just do the math. If you're 5'9 and all the guys in front of you, five feet away, are 6.3 to 6.6, it's going to be hard to see. You know, I mean, there's a reason that some of the smaller quarterbacks kind of have to scramble sometimes.

And I'm not talking about run. I'm just talking about scramble outside the pocket to see. It's a great benefit for a guy like Tom Brady or the Mannings or Philip Rivers or Joe Flacco when all those guys were good. Obviously, Tom still is. you can just see over the line of scrimmage. Right? It's easy.

Because you don't even, you just, you just taller than the guys. And that's a problem for him. But is he a good enough player to be like a pro bowler this year? I don't know. I would bet against it.

But if he is, he can save Kingsbury's job. If he's not and underachieves, they're all getting fired. Every last one of them. Beside Kyler, he'll be on the team. But the rest of them, the head coach, the GM,

adios. James, I love, I'm a sucker in sports for guys resurrecting their career. It's a cool aspect of sports. I think it happens probably a lot in life. Just most of us don't lead public lives, right? We go through, we get fired from a job, we lose our business, we go through a rough job. 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 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 you're saying. Yep, that's me, Cliver 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 Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. If you're watching the latest season of the Real Housewives of Atlanta, you already know, there's a lot to break down.

Norsha accusing Kelly of sleeping with a merry man. They holding Kay Michelle back from fighting Drew. Pinky has financial issues. I like the bougie style of Housewives show. I think it looks like it's going to be interesting. On the podcast, Reality with the King, I, Carlos King, recap the biggest moments from your favorite reality shows, including the Real Housewives franchise,

the drama, the alliances, and the team everybody's talking about. As an executive producer in reality television, I'm not just watching it. I understand the game. As somebody who creates shows, I'll even say this. At the end of the day, when people are at home, they want entertainment. To hear this and more, listen to Reality with the King on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Hey, I'm Deanna Maria Riva, actress, mother, lover, and a Gen X woman walking through life one hot flash and hormonal crime jag at a time. You ladies know what I mean.

I'll bet you a paramedipausal chin here you do. So let's talk about it. Join me on my new podcast. How hard can it be with the Adamia Riva, where I call on my Gen X squads from Ohio to Hollywood as we navigate midlife's most fantastic BS. All of a sudden, I'd had hanginess happening on my own. I was like, what the hell is that? I was married when I had her, so I didn't even consider how empty that nest was going to be.

Mood swings, night sweats, fupas, sex. drive, wait, what sex? Dating at 45, how high can it be, getting naked at 50 with the new guy? That one's kind of hard, no? Well, that's lighting. They say we can't polish a turd, but we're sure going to try. So let's get blunt with laughs tears or tears of laughter and dive

into it unfiltered and unbothered and ask, how hard can it be? I cannot believe I'm about to say this out loud in public. Listen to How Hard Can It Be with Deanna Maria Riva as part of my Cultura Podcast Network available on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your

podcasts. Here, hell, maybe a couple years. Get a bad divorce. You're just down in the dumps. It's no different with athletes. You just play poorly. You go through, you know, rough times. And then, you know what?

Eventually, now some people don't. But some people do. They come away on the other side and they figure it out. And then they get rolling again. Right? They meet a new girlfriend. They get a new sweet job. They start a new company.

Can James Winston? Now, you could argue James really hasn't. played that well at all in the NFL. I know that one year he threw up, he threw for a lot of yards, but he also threw, I think, 30 picks or 31 picks. I'm pretty sure like eight pick sixes. It wasn't just the amount of picks. It was the amount of pick sixes.

It was, remember Matt Schaub had that stretch seven, eight years ago, where he threw a pick six in like four straight games? I remember he had thrown a pick six in like three straight games. They came to play the Niners on Sunday night football because Joe Buck was doing the World Series or maybe he wouldn't have done Sunday night football, but maybe I'm off on that one. But it was definitely, I think the World Series was going on,

he was going to helicopter back and forth. So maybe it was an afternoon Fox game. Matt Schaub opened the game with a pick six. First throw the game, pick six. So pick six is not ideal, right? Any coach will tell you that. Picks are bad, but a pick six, probably, you know, the worst,

there's not a worse offensive outcome, right? If you had to list the five worst offensive outcomes, the number one worst potential possible offensive outcome would be I throw the ball to a defender and he goes into the end zone. The only thing worse would be as I throw the ball to the defender, I also get hit and I get injured so I lose my quarterback and I give up six points. That's probably worse.

But if James is solid for them, they will compete to make the playoffs. They have a good head coach. They have good players on that team. They have just a culture there of winning. I am fascinated to watch James Winston this year. Look, Valentine's Day is almost here, and you know what that means. It's time to...

Luckily, you know what makes her blush. Fresh blooms and gifts from Pro Flowers. Head over to Proflowers.com and use code Crush 15 through February 14th and get 15% off all the best blooms and gifts that will really make your special someone on Valentine's Day. Get fresh this Valentine's Day with Pro Flowers. See website for details. Look through your children's eyes to see the true magic of a forest. It's a storybook world for them.

You look and see a tree. They see the wrinkled face of a wizard with arms outstretched to the sky. They see treasure and pebbles. They see a windy path that could lead to adventure. And they see you. Their fearless guide is this fascinating world. Find a forest near you and start exploring at discovertheforest.org. brought to you by the United States Forest Service and the Ad Council.

Look through your children's eyes to see the true magic of a forest. It's a storybook world for them. You look and see a tree. They see the wrinkled face of a wizard with arms outstretched to the sky. They see treasure and pebbles. They see a windy path that could lead to adventure. And they see you. Their fearless guide is this fascinating world.

Find a forest near you and start exploring at Discovertheforest. Brought to you by the United States Forest Service and the Ad Council. Well, we got to bring back the segment. Three for the money. We did it last year. You know, we had some good weeks. We had some bad weeks. But we're going to add someone who's been professionally gambling for a while,

who's been in the gambling space with the Action Network. Goes by Stucky, Lexington, Kentucky. We want to welcome to the show. Action Network, obviously a part of the volume. And Stucky, how's it going? It goes well. I'm excited for the NFL season to get here. We are so close to that, you know, Red Zone music and all the kicks across the country. So I'm really excited and happy to be here. You consider yourself a professional gambler?

I would say semi-professionally because, you know, in order to be a professional gambler, you bet and bet that's your sole source of income, which has never been the case for me. I mean, I worked in finance for, what, eight years? And then I helped launch the Action Network back in 2017 and lost my entire career. So left my entire career, I should say. So I've never had to solely rely on betting on sports as my primary source of income, which is how you would define a professional better. So it's always been just like a side income for me.

And I've been doing it seriously, I guess I'll say seriously for 15 years and betting, you know, close to every day since, you know, high school back in 2000, 2001. Okay, you, you're my type guy then. So I don't want to put you on the spot without me. The largest wager I've ever put on a game is probably $2,000. If you don't mind me asking, like, what is the largest amount of cash you've ever put on an individual game? On one game, probably, and I actually lost. It was spread across a couple books.

It was, you know, very low five figures, I'll say. Okay. And I had the Falcons plus four and a half against the Patriots in the Super Bowl. And they were obviously up 28 to 3 and then lost the coin toss in overtime and then lost by six. I also had the under in that game. So that went from a very joyous Super Bowl up 28 to 3. to a miserable night. And then you have to be reminded of it, like, every two weeks for the last, you know,

four years that the Falcons blew a 28 to 3 lead. And I'm like, I know, trust me. And I hear it all the time. So, yeah, that was my largest wager. So what we do here is we just pick three games. And you've been doing this longer than me. Let's just, let's start with the first one. Patriots, Miami.

What are you thinking? Well, I guess this is a nice transition into the first game. I'm actually backing Bill Belichick here in the Patriots, minus three. I played some minus two and a half, minus 120 when it was available, liked them up to minus three. I'm fairly low on the dolphins this year. You know, I still am not sold on Tui yet. He has all the tools.

I think he's going to be a successful NFL quarterback. But this is more like year one than it is year two for him. Last year he was dealing with an injury. In the offseason, it was obviously a COVID-impacted year. And then he was splitting time with Ryan Fitzpatts. Patrick, it doesn't help, you know, and some of the underlying statistics were a bit worrying. It doesn't help that he has a really bad offensive line. It's a really, really young offensive line.

They're also going to be without their left tackle due to COVID for this game. They added some interesting pieces on the outside, but Will Fuller is suspended for this game, who I think is going to help them stretch out defenses. So I'm still not fully sold on two, and he's going up against Bill Belichick, who just has a great track record against inexperienced quarterbacks in their first and second year. Last year, these teams split. The only game Miami won. They did nothing in the passing game.

They ran all over New England later in the season, but New England has completely reloaded their front seven. And I don't think that's going to be the case this time. I think it's an area of strength now for New England. I think both sides of the ball, New England should dominate the line of scrimmage. I think two is going to be confused. I know it's Matt Jones's first start, but I actually think he serves as an upgrade, which is shocking to say. Usually if you go from a veteran quarterback to a rookie, you can't assume too much. But I think Cam Newton was washed up.

Mack Jones behind a really dominant offensive line, some upgraded weapons. They'll lean on that run game. I think they'll dominate the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball, and that'll be the difference. So I like the Patriots at home with – it'll be nice to see fans in the stance. I'm with you on that one. Okay, game number two, Saints Packers. Yeah, this one is ugly, but I actually took the Saints plus four and a half.

with James Winston. By the way, if they were going to bet on James Winston, never back him as a favorite, always back him as an underdog. I think he's 10, he's something like 10 and 17 against the spread as a favorite, and he's close to 70% against the spread as an underdog of more than a field.

A high variance quarterback, right? He's going to make mistakes. That's a nugget. Yeah, so he's going to make, he's going to make, you know, really good passes. He's going to make mistakes. So that's the kind of quarterback you want as an underdog, high variance guy.

I want another nugget of Sean Payton as an underdog absolutely dominant. 31, 13 and 1 against the spread in his career. So he's a great coach to back as an underdog, the second most profitable coach, as an underdog since 2005. You know, when I look at this game, similar to the game I just talked about, I do think New Orleans will have an advantage of the trenches on both sides of the ball. What they do have is a really strong offensive line, one of the best in the NFL. So Winston will have time. I think they'll be able to run on Green Bay. And on the other side, look,

Green Bay develops offensive linemen better than any organization in the NFL. But they're dealing with a lot of turnover at that unit. They lost Lindsay, Bactiarty's out. They had a kick, you know, Jenkins out to left tackle. They have two rookies starting in the interior. So there might be some growing pains early against a really good Saints defense. There's some questions at the number two corner spot for New Orleans. But I don't think that hurts as much here against the Packers.

who don't have the strongest number two receiver. So I know this game is in Jacksonville on a neutral site because of the hurricane. I made it, you know, slightly under a field goal. So I scooped up the four and a half. I'm hoping that New Orleans can rely on their run game against a pretty vulnerable run defense and create some problems for Green Bay's offense with, you know, a very inexperienced offensive line that still needs to build continuity. Yeah, I would probably agree the thing that would make me,

nervous would just be James and just he's just the ultimate variable. You know, and who knows? Maybe he, we've seen it before with elite offensive coaches and Sean Payton definitely is around the league historically. They can resurrect guys, right? So maybe he'll never become a top five quarterback, but who knows? Can he become a top 15 quarterback? And if they get that, the Saints are going to be pretty solid.

Now, to me, the only question there is neutral sight. So it doesn't, it's not like they get a home game, right, the Saints. And obviously they benefit from playing indoors, but a huge. part of that was always Drew Brees. Maybe they are a little more equipped now to play outside, especially as the season goes in the elements, James got a bigger arm, but that's something to keep an eye on, right?

Absolutely nailed it. I mean, I said, you know, for the last couple of years, when, you know, Drew Brees doesn't, he didn't have their arm strength, right, towards the tail end of his career before he retired. And Norlands could really rely on their rushing attack if they faced Green Day in the playoffs, right? If you wouldn't want to face this Green Day offense

with the New Orleans teams we've seen in the past two years on a fast track if they met in the playoffs. So I always said, look, if they did meet their playoffs, New Orleans might be better off playing in Lambo, right? On a slower track against that bad run defense, turned it into, you know, you kind of slow down Aaron Rogers. So I think playing in Jacksonville actually might help them here.

Not, you know, obviously I subtracted some points for home field advantage, but I think that the slower track could work in their favor. That's a good point. Last game, cards at the Titans. Yeah, we go from Bill Belichick and Sean Payton to Cliff Kingsbury, so it's a big drop off in coaching. But I took the three here. Look, both defenses have major questions, especially at corner,

and both offenses have a lot of exciting pieces. I think Arizona should be able to spread out Tennessee and go to work, I guess, a corner group that just really lacks a lot of depth and talent. they can't really generate pressure. So I think Arizona is going to be able to move the ball at will. They did add some reinforcements in their run defense, which was really poor last year. I think that'll help here.

But the defense still isn't great. However, when Tennessee has the ball, obviously you have to worry about covering, taking care of Derek Henry and then covering A.J. Brown and now Julio Jones, tough task for anyone. But it's not like the offense just added Julio Jones to this unit. I mean, they lost, you know,

Corey Davis, they lost John Smith, and they lost their play caller, you know, and Arthur Smith, who went to Atlanta. I think that's a big loss. And on top of all that, over the past, you know, three weeks or so, Tennessee has been just crushed by COVID. They've had, they still have, I think, two offensive linemen on the COVID list. I expect everyone to play, but they just haven't been practicing together. Tana Hill went on the COVID list, just came off on Monday the day that Julio Jones came back

from injury in camp. So they just, they haven't been working together a lot. and there's a lot of new pieces, a new play caller. So I think continuity could be an issue early on. So, you know, taking all of that into account, I made this closer to one. It's probably a coin flip game between two offenses that should have their way in this matchup. But I think that lack of continuity might just stall a few more drives. And I don't think Arizona is going to have any trouble moving the ball against a really poor Tennessee defense.

So the Tennessee team that last year, look, they won, I think, 11 games. But they went seven and two and one possession games if you throw out the Browns game where they came all the way back to make it a one possession game. They were plus 11 in turnover margin. They stayed relatively healthy. They benefited a lot from luck. And a couple of bounces go against them this year, this is a team that could finish. I wouldn't be surprised if they finished like, you know, seven or eight wins.

Yeah, I'm not a big Kingsbury guy at all. I think they're all going to get fired because they're going to disappoint. but they do match up better against softer teams. And while they have big players on Tennessee, they're not, like you said, defensively, they're bad. To me, the over here, the only thing that would make me a little nervous, like you mentioned Tennessee, Todd Downing when he was the offensive coordinator in his one year for the Raiders after they had been good with Derek Carr,

Amari Cooper, Michael Crabtree took over for Bill Musgrave was awful. Now, I mean, really, really bad. And now we've seen coordinators turn their careers around. but this is, you know, Tennessee is a team. I'm going to keep a close eye on the first couple weeks to just, you know, Rabel's obviously really good, but they were very, very predicated last year in the last couple years on that offense. And if the play caller who got a head coaching job, if they're bad,

they can come back to Earth for sure, right? Because that defense, pass rush to question mark, coverage is non-existent. So this could be a high-scoring game. Yeah, on paper, it looks like both offenses should have their way. oddly enough, I think all eight Arizona games went under, all eight road games for Arizona went under the total last year, which was so bizarre to me. So I don't know why that would be the case.

Maybe they're due to go over. But, yeah, on paper, both offenses have a distinct advantage here. Okay, Stucky. I appreciate that. Best of luck to you gambling. I'm sure how many games do you think college and pro or just, where we just focus on something? Oh, yeah. College, absolutely, college and pro. Over over under 40 games.

you'll have money on this weekend? Oh, way under. But I'll have, I'll probably have, I mean, the college slate's pretty poor. It's a lot of teams that are, you know, playing FCS schools and things like that. You know, I'll probably end up with like 10 to 12 college games. And, you know, maybe only five to six NFL games tops. It's week one. You know, there's, it's, I love week two in the NFL that where, you know, you get the

overreactions in the market for what happened in week one. Week 1 in the NFL for me is more of a, you know, obviously it's exciting to watch. But it's more of a learning opportunity to see what some of these teams look like after they had scheme changes and personnel changes. So, you know, I would say max bets this weekend, Saturday and Sunday, probably around, you know, 18 to 20. Okay, Stucky. Have a good weekend, man. Absolutely. Thanks for having me. See you, bro.

Okay, let's go. Middlecoff mailback. At John Middlecough is the Instagram handle. DMs wide open. You just slide in, kind of like a slip and slide. You guys ever had slipping slides when you were kids?

And you fire in the DMs. Okay, from Dell. How much did school matter when evaluating as a scoring? Evaluating as a scouting. As a non-GM, obviously, I would try to find the most talented guy at a bottom feeder SEC school.

They probably have below average coach like Bush Jones or Trad and Morris. play NFL guys at other top SEC programs and don't have that many NFL guys around them. They also get the concept of pressure. Since Bama has the goat of coaching and seemingly all the NFL guys,

it makes sense that most of their NFL guys outside of Jones, Collins, and Henry are meh, like Tua. The problem is that happens. Like people scout, you know, Mississippi State. When I was with the Eagles, they were terrible and we got Fletcher Cox. A couple years ago, South Carolina was awful,

and Javon Kinlaw, who the Niners drafted 14th. So I think part of it, I think guys do that. You know, in 2021, if you're a great player at any Division I school, whether that school has,

you know, I don't know, one win or five wins, it just doesn't matter. It really doesn't. So I think those guys, you're actually thinking like a GM, but those guys get scouted.

Quick question from Tyler. How many years would it take for Belichick to not win a Super Bowl before we pause and say, oh, maybe it was Tom? And does it hurt his legacy if he goes eight years and doesn't win one and then retires?

Well, he's like 70 years old. So is he going to coach still 78? Probably not. You know, win a Super Bowl? I would say if Belichick makes the playoffs with Mac Jones, like Belichick doesn't have to win a Super Bowl again. Belichick won Super Bowls as a defensive coordinator for Bill Parcells,

and Bill Parcells on the 30 for 30 said that he created the game plan that's shut down Walsh in Montana. Like that happened and the K-gun and the Bills. We watched that. So Belichick, like whether Tom wins three more Super Bowls, and hell he might, we can't acknowledge Belichick's greatness. Like that's not disputable. We all saw it defensively special teams for years.

with the Patriots. The way, just the shit he did, we all witnessed it. Every single one of us. The Malcolm Butler, call time out, Bill, call time out. He didn't call time out. What happened?

I don't know. One of the greatest plays in football history. Belichick. Hey, John, huge fan of the pot. The other day I heard you offhandedly mention how Belichick isn't the best drafter. Absolutely agree. And you used him taking Chase Winovich

in the second as an example. Is Chase Winnevich? Minovich considered a bad pick. As a Pat's fan, I love the kid, but wondering if the football heads see him different. I'll be honest, haven't studied him that closely. I asked around, I think this offseason, I talked to a buddy about it in the league. He thought that he's just a good pass rusher, not great against the run, just a role player. Now, I think this season, there will be more eyeballs on Winnevich, just because their team's

going to be better, and we're all going to be watching, right? they're going to be playing in just more meaningful games than last season. So is he a bad pick? I don't know. I think the jury's still out. Is it trending closer to bad? Like in the second round, you're looking for difference makers. Grunkowski's the second round pick, right?

Like, you're looking for impact guys in the second round. Nick Chubb, you know, A.J. Brown. Deshawn Jackson. Like, you can get really, really good players in the second round. So bad pick, I wouldn't say that yet. it hasn't been great. Listener from College Station, grew up a Packer fan my whole life,

and I'm wanting to know your thoughts on the future of the Packers. I understand that Love might be a bust or generally not as good as the Packers want and need him to be, but realistically, Rogers can't be the quarterback forever in Green Bay. What do you think the move should be

for the future of Green Bay? Trade Rogers after the season and acquire a quarterback for draft picks. Pray he lasts a few more years. Let him pick his successor. Go with love and hope for the best. Curious your thoughts. think it's simple. You just try to convince Aaron Rogers to say. Tom Brady's 44 years old.

Aaron's 37. Can I get seven more years of Aaron Rogers? I fix the relationship. I keep Aaron. I extend him and he retires as a Packer with Devante Adams. That happens. That's what I do. Every ounce and every bit of my energy all season long is to make Aaron feel good. Aaron, we want you here. We want to win more Super Bowls with you. We want you to be like Elway or Brady. Later on your career, rattle off championships. As a Green Bay Packer,

one of the most historic brands in the world when it comes to sports. Think about that. One of the most historic brands in the world. I don't even know, Manchester United, the All Blacks, The Yankees, the Packers, the Cowboys, the Montreal Canadiens. I mean, I don't know.

I mean, think about it. That's what it is. I mean, the Packers, this is where we want you. What will it take? Jordan Love, trade them. Like, see ya. Like, we fucked up, picked in work, whatever. We have Aaron Rogers.

We thought he was going to be bad. Turns out he was still awesome. We're going to kick ass and we're going to take names. And we're going to win the NFC North for the next seven years. That would be my game plan. So if I had to send him, you know, as the kids say, send him his flowers. Give him his flowers. I guess you actually send flowers.

I got to send some vodka. I guess he likes, he said brown lique. So he likes a scotch. I'm not a big scotch guy or a whiskey guy. I'm a white liquor guy. Vodka, tequila. I've always been a white liquor guy. Though I don't hate a Jack and Diet Coke, but it's just, I don't know.

It's never been my order, really, since I was like college. I do white liquors. Maybe it's because I'm not that tough. It feels like all the tough guys, just drink like whiskey on the rocks. Not I can drink whiskey on the rocks, the high ball. I think a high ball is whiskey and water. But I just, I don't know. I just, I've always gravitated toward the clear liquors.

I really have. And those are the ones I enjoy. And I think as of 9.30 right now, I think I'm going to go pour myself one and go to bed. So have a great weekend. Tell your friends about the place. podcast again you like the show mondays are on my feet only not on collins subscribe to the three and out feed i need to do that come out monday and um and yeah have a fantastic weekend enjoy watching the games enjoy gambling enjoy your family and your kids if you have some or your girlfriend

or your wife or your friends or wherever stage you are in life and uh and yeah i will talk to uh everyone on monday peace the volume Your Valentine's Day shouldn't start with a Hail Mary. We've got you covered on the big day when you order flowers and gifts from Proflowers early this year. Head on over to ProFlowers.com to get 15% off our entire collection of blooms, gifts and more for your cutie with promo code Crush 15 until February 14. The clock is running out, so don't wait until everyone's rushing the field for those last minute gifts on February 14th. Be the MVP this Valentine's Day and go to Proflowers.com to save 15% with code Crush 15 at checkout.

See website for more details. 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. Clifford 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 Cliford Show. This is a place for raw,

unfilled conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. So let's get to it. Listen to The Clivert Show on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcast, 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.

From 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84 was 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.

It 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.