The Herd with Colin Cowherd - 3 and Out - Brady/Dallas Fantasy Football; Philip Rivers Future; XFL Advantages; The (Salary Cap) Purge; Mailbag

Episode Date: February 11, 2020

In this episode, Middlekauff discusses if the Cowboys could realistically be in play for Tom Brady if he decides to leave New England, if Philip Rivers has a future as an NFL starter, why the XFL has a chance to succeed where other spring football leagues have failed, and how the the NFL's annual salary cap purge of known players continually makes it the most interesting pro sports league. He also answers listener questions in Middlekauff's Mailbag. Follow John on twitter @JohnMiddlekauff and go to theherdnow.com to find the latest content. Subscribe now! Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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So let's get blunt with laughs, tears, or tears of laughter. Listen to How Hard Can It Be with the Anna Maria Riva on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you love to be remembered as the person who gives the best birthday gifts, I'm here to tell you that 1-800 Flowers.com is your ultimate birthday gifting destination. nation. 1-800 Flowers has thoughtful and artfully created options that are guaranteed to deliver the best birthday surprise. Shop thousands of unique gifts at 1-800flowers.com for exclusive offers and great values. To order today, visit 1-800flowers.com slash tune-in. That's 1-800flowers.com slash tune-in. What is going on, everybody? Gone Middle Cop, 3-and-out podcast, back at it. it again. Monday afternoon.

Just hit record. I got some takes. I got some thoughts. A lot going on. Spent the weekend at Pebble Beach, which it hit me this weekend. You know, it's, I got after it on Saturday. You know, once you get in your mid-30s, maybe we're all different. I feel like my metabolism, the ability for it to break down alcohol, I mean, I can be hung over for two days. But I highly recommend this.

This is obviously a football podcast when we talk to the majority NFL, but we talk college. This Pebble Beach Pro Am tournament, it's the second time I've been there. I highly recommend going if you can. I mean, I'm standing right when I walked into Pebble on Saturday. I just watched Matt Ryan for a couple of holes. I'm standing right next to him. Now, I was with a girl and her family,

and we hadn't really, we'd only had like a drink on the drive there. If I would have been maybe solo, you know me, I'm not afraid to talk. I had some things I just wanted to run off Matt Ryan. I'm standing right next to him. I felt kind of bad. I didn't want to bother him or whatever, but you can easily talk. And if you like football,

I watched Rogers hit a shot five feet away. Peyton, Eli, were there. Steve Young was right next to me, walked by with Phil Mickelson. It's a star-studded NFL crew. It really is, you get to watch them hit shots. You get to walk right by them, and you really can't talk to them,

and they'll talk back, because they're not that serious. They're not really playing for anything. So if you ever get the opportunity, and I know a lot of people listening, we live all over the place, it's worth it. If you're out on the West Coast,

it's a really, really cool event. Very loose, very fun. bars everywhere. Now, I mean, you're paying $16 gray goose and sodas or margaritas or whatever, but you know, screw it. It's one day. You've got to live a little. And, yeah, I had a blast. I, you know, still, I shook off the cobwebs about 36 hours later, but I'm ready to go right now, and we'll dive into Philip Rivers.

That was kind of the big news of Monday. I got some sound from Rapsheet. I want to play off the top. Some Tom Brady-Dack stuff. XFL, a lot of people have been hitting me up. Like, Middlecob, what are your thoughts in the XFL? What are your thoughts in the XFL? I talked a lot about it on the other podcast, but there are a couple things that jumped out to me

that I've been thinking just the last couple hours that I'll touch on, and then the purge, the NFL purge, also known as cap cuts. And it's the biggest difference between football and the health of the sport, of the rosters on all the sports in terms of the teams, relative to baseball and football, that are stuck with guaranteed contracts. And for as much as it sucks to get cut in the NFL, so many guys bounce back you get other contracts.

it's the great turnover in football. Why the cap, like whatever you, we only have $10 million available. That's usually BS because you can create $30 million of the blink of an eye cut two players. It's a great part about football. And then, of course, Middilcoff Mailbag at John Middlecoff is my Instagram.

I love my Twitter account, but my Twitter DMs aren't open to the public. Instagram DMs wide open. This is where we interact. These are the equivalent of podcast collars and you just fire my DMs and I answer your questions here. Got a bunch today and I'll answer at the end of the podcast.

But let's start with some sound really quick from Rapsheet. Well, there is a pretty good reason that owner Robert Kraft and Tom Brady, who have worked closely on several deals in the past, there's a reason why the option was to allow Brady to test free agency, to not get franchise, to not get transition, just to have a clear path toward free agency. And from what I understand, Kraft's thinking on this was basically if the sides came together, if Brady decided that the Patriots were his best option after testing free agency,

and if Bill Belichick, who of course is making the decisions for New England, if he decides that Brady is his best option at this price, then in the end, after all of this, after going through everything, that it will mean that it's basically meant to be, and that it's the best thing for all sides. They craft wanted them to get apart, to see what's out there, and try to come together in the middle. And the hope is, if that works out for 2020,

that everyone will be happy they went through the process. That to me, that was Ian Rappaport, the NFL Network's number one reporter. That's one of the craziest bits of sound I've heard. I had not, when Tom Brady restructured his contract, I think was at the beginning of last year, and it was like he's going to be a free agent when the season ends. You know, I think we all thought it was kind of weird. They couldn't franchise them. But I didn't know that information, that Robert Kraft led that idea of,

Listen, basically is this. Tom Brady, Bill Belichick have been married for 20 years. And their relationship, the last 10, has gotten pretty crazy, right? They've gone through some stuff. From spy gate to deflategate to just angry gate, where they just weren't quite on the same page. And Robert Craft's going this. Tom, I love you, but we're going to give you the option to date around a little bit.

Well, I know this. When you've been in a 20-year relationship, now, I've never been. been in a 20-year relationship beside with my brother and my parents. But I'd known a lot of married people. And, you know, people try to do the open relationships or people try to do different stuff. A lot of times when you're thinking that, there's no coming back. And I think we'd all agree, and I've talked about this before, is they are best for each other. Tom's best chance to win is with Bill.

Bill's best chance to win, given his options right now, is probably with Tom. I feel very, very confident. Tom's best chance to win with Bill. Bill, see, I think even given Bill that option, I would not let Bill date around. Because he's shown before that he's unemotional about stuff. He will move to the next option so fast you can blink. And Tom knows that, right?

Tom's seen Welker, Logan Mankins, Vince Wilford, Richard Seymour. You can go through all the players. I mean, some of the best players, obviously not Gronk, but even Gronk, he was going to trade him. Was it two years ago to the Detroit Lions? And Gronk said, I'll retire. Then he came back for the one extra year.

I think that's pretty nuts. That's a bit of information I did not know. And this gets to a topic that I kind of wanted to talk about with Dak Prescott. Like there's enough smoke with Dak Prescott. It's starting to get weird. This was the two-year anniversary. I think it was Sunday. Or maybe it was February 8th, 2018, the 49er signed Jimmy Garapolo.

If you really like a guy, you sign them in January or early February. Like, what's going on with Dak Prescott? And in defense of Jerry Jones and the Dallas Cowboys, I would not be comfortable giving Dak Prescott a lot of money. And when I say a lot of money, I could not even fathom giving him $35 million. I would like to, and I like Dak Prescott. I think he's a playoff. He's a quarterback worthy of leading a good team to the playoffs.

I think his physical characteristics, he's a big time athlete, which helps in 2020 because you've got to be able to scramble. He's accurate. His deep ball accuracy could use some improvement, though with Amari and Gallup, it's improved. I think his arm strength is just okay, but he plays in the dome so it doesn't matter as much. And I think he typically plays his best football in the second half. He can have a crappy start and then flip a switch and be really good. I'm a fan of Dak Prescott.

But to me, he's like a $25 million quarterback. Now, I'm not naive or dumb enough to know. That's not the way the world works. But I go this. Jerry goes, okay, I'll let him hit free agency. Who am I competing with Dak for this money? Am I just giving him this money? Like when the Eagles and Howie extended Carson Wentz,

they invested the franchise in Carson Wentz the moment they drafted him. All their chips were in the middle of the table with Carson Wentz. Same with Jared Goff. Again, I didn't love definitely the Jared Goff contract. I understand paying Carson Wentz that much because at least you can summock his elite talent. Dak Prescott's closer to Jared Goff.

Now he's a more mobile Jared Goff type, which I like more in this modern day football. But I'm not good with paying Jared Gop $110 million. And if you're Dack Prescott, you're going to want somewhere in that vicinity. I'm not okay with it. So I'll let him hit free agency. Who's offering him big money? The Raiders?

The chargers? The bucks? They're really going to pay him that much money? I don't see it. So if I'm Jerry Jones, I'm going, who am I bidding against? But here's the other thing. And there's enough smoke with this Tom Brady thing that you go, let's look at Jerry Jones.

one of the most famous American businessman in the most famous American businessman in the history of sport and just the way the power of the NFL and just Jerry's marketing ability I mean he's a really really famous American deal maker he's a born deal maker well Jerry's getting up there in age

and maybe Dak Prescott will be ready in two three years but what if they go and Mike McCarthy looks at him and go I don't think he's ready right now to win the Super Bowl though I don't know why he'd think that because I do think you'd go if our team's better, we coach him up better, we could win the Super Bowl. But I remember Jane Slater, who's also on Colin Coward's podcast network, boys and girls, that she had interviewed Mike McCarthy a couple days after he was hired and asked him if he had

reached out to Dak Prescott. And he said no. And I remember kind of going viral on Twitter and thinking, you know, I'm not going to make too much of it. He was busy. But then he started thinking, like, that's pretty weird. your most important employee, if you're the coach, is your quarterback. Even probably, like, before I'm going to figure out who's going to be my linebacker coach,

I'm probably calling my quarterback. Now, let me play a little conspiracy theory. What if he already knew? Like, what if this deal's already done? Like, Tom Brady is notorious for just getting deals done when you don't know, right? That's how his contracts always work. He's never had the dog and pony show like a Matt Ryan or an Aaron Rogers or a Russell Wilson. That's not how Brady's operated.

If anything, there had always been rumors there were some like under under the table type deals. Well, who's an under the table type deal maker? Jerry Jones. What if this deal, when Mike McCarthy was hired, it was kind of like a package deal. Now, I don't know the connection between Brady and McCarthy,

but I'm just saying, like, what if Tom told him I wanted to come there? And then you start factoring it in. I think Tom Brady should stay in New England. Now, and as I talked about last week, I think he should kind of, and this is like, why, everyone's talking about Tom Brady. on my other podcast, I said this. I think Tom Brady, and this is the power. Now, I get he's older, I think he's the most famous NFL athlete ever.

Now, part of it is just the Times, the Internet, a lot of different variables here. But I think it's safe to say that the most famous NFL player ever, now granted, he is 43 years old, or we'll be 43 next season, he's 42 right now. He's going to be a free agent, a true free agent, meaning he can go wherever he wants. he can go.

Any team he wants, he can go. Now, obviously the other team has to want. I'm like, he can't go to Philly or, you know, some of these teams that already have young quarterbacks in a contract. But if he wants to go to the Raiders, he's going to the Raiders. He wants to go to the Chargers. Hell, Bruce Ariens will get into Phillip Rivers. Everyone acts like he wants Philip Rivers.

If Tom Brady calls Bruce Ariens says, I'm in, he's going to Tampa Bay. If Tom Brady calls Matt Rule and says I'm in, Cam Newton's getting cut and he's in. That's the power of Tom Brady. Most famous player ever, still pretty good. though diminished a little bit he can pick and choose where he wants to go. That's the level of player we're talking about.

But he's also given his level of fame, like he's going to go to the Raiders, a team that's made the playoffs once in 18 years, he's going to go to the Chargers, a team that has zero buzz in Los Angeles. You go, no, that doesn't make any sense. You go, why don't you stay in New England? And that's where I keep coming back for.

But I hadn't really been factoring in. What if Jerry Jones doesn't want a sign DAC? What if he wants to keep him, but at just a crazy low rate. Like he'd be cool with keeping him for like four years, 80 million. And he goes, Dak, I'll give you four years 80 million. We'll guarantee every penny. But we're not paying you $120 million.

And he goes, what if I can get Tom Brady for two years, $50 million, guarantee 40 of it, and draft a guy and build around Tom Brady? If you're Tom Brady, think about this. You go, like I said, Chargers, the brand's bad. The Raiders aren't a good enough team. The Dallas Cowboys are the most famous brand in America. They're bigger than the Yankees. They're bigger than the Lakers.

It's the one brand in the sport of football beside the Patriots that can match Brady's brand. Imagine if he went to Dallas and just won. What if he won a Super Bowl for the Dallas Cowboys? I don't think, again, I'm pretty confident Tom Brady's the most famous NFL player ever. Imagine him going to Dallas and winning. I also think back to Belichick

what Rapsheet said about the two of them, you guys are both going to get to kind of separate, make a decision. Well, I wouldn't trust Belichick. Belichick's like that girl that you're like, you know, we've all dated, and it goes for guys too. When you date someone and you don't really trust them and they tell you, you know, they're doing some stuff, you're like, is she really telling me the truth? I wouldn't, I wouldn't trust Belichick as a single guy in this situation as a quarterback list guy for two seconds.

Because one, he's a born bargain shopper, so he's always looking for bargains. And he's always thinking outside the box. And if anything, he's constantly sold on older players. get what Robert Kraft's doing. I think his heart's in the right place with him setting this up. But after hearing that audio, I think they're kind of setting up to go so there's separate ways. Just because any time that you get into, we start dating other people, you might not come back. All it would take to get Jerry Jones to get Tom Brady sitting down with him, assuming Jerry Jones doesn't want DAC back, which again, every day that goes by is starting to get a little weird.

And definitely all it takes for Belichick, maybe I can just sign this bridge quarterback and draft this guy. I could trade for this guy. We know Belichick thinks like that. And Tom Brady knows he thinks like that. That's why Tom Brady started getting pissed at him treating him like crap the last couple years. He's like I've won six Super Bowels with you. Treat me like an equal.

Belichick doesn't treat guys like equals. You've read the Wicker Shams stories. He doesn't even say hi to guys when he's walking down the hallway. That's Bill Belichick. So I think Robert Kraft tried to do the right thing, ultimately did do the right thing. But I'm starting to think with the Dak Prescott situation, smoke fire, if you're Jerry Jones,

Your mortality, I mean, you're not going to live forever here. Can you imagine in the history of the Dallas Cowboys signing Tom Brady? Is that the biggest move in the history of the franchise besides like Super Bowl victories? I'm just saying player acquisition. I mean, Dion Sanders, does Brady be bigger? Drafting Troy Aikman was really big. There would be some of those moves in like the late 60s, early 70s that I can't speak on too young. But in my lifetime, I don't know if there'd be a bigger move.

It would be jaw dropping. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise,

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Like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker walks up to me, he goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What? Time out. Quarterback on office blue with 42. Hey, rec, my mama want you to wave at her. What?

Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Clifford Show. the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. The story I've told myself about love or relationships can then shape my behavior, and that can lead me to sabotage the possibility of connection. This Mental Health Awareness Month, tune into the podcast deeply well with Debbie Brown and explore the journey of healing, self-discovery, and returning to yourself. We explore higher consciousness, emotional well-being, and the practice.

that help you find clarity, peace, and self-mastery in a world that can feel overwhelming. The world is becoming lonelier. We're not becoming more social and connected. We're becoming more individualized, but we actually meet people in connection. If you've been searching for a soft place to land while doing the work to become whole, this podcast is for you to hear more. Listen to deeply well with Debbie Brown from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts. or wherever you get your podcast. He let Dak Prescott hit free agency and signed Tom Brady.

But I also think when you just factor in the brand, it's not as outrageous. Like, I'm with most people. When Colin was talking about it, I saw people tweeting about it. I'm like, that's kind of crazy. And then you start kind of putting the piece of the puzzle. This stuff doesn't get thrown out randomly. And I don't know.

I think there's just, there's some weird stuff going on in this situation. and after hearing the way Robert Kraft set this up, I'm starting to believe maybe there's a chance they go there's several ways. Get right to the romance and find the way to wow this valentines with 1-800flowers.com. From classic roses and bouquets to decadent chocolate-covered berries, gourmet treats, and more. Surprise your valentine with 1-800flowers.com. Right now, get the 18-stem enchanted rose medley for $3999,

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And it was announced Monday morning that the Chargers and Phillip Rivers are mutually departing. Really, that's a nice way of saying the Chargers didn't want them back. Right? That's a Chargers decision. They weren't going to franchise them. They're going to move on. Now, I'm not saying Philip Rivers

wasn't ready to move on. But let's, let's call a spade of spade. The chargers are over it. And it's just when you respect a guy at Rivers' level, you fake it, right? I'll say this, my own personal view of Philip Rivers. I respect the hell out of people that give everything they have to whatever they do. I watched a documentary, I think at the end of last week on Taylor Swift.

I've always, you know, I don't, her music's whatever. but she clearly is pretty crazy in terms of how hard she works, how much she dedicates to her concerts. It's mind-blowing how big of a grinder she is. I mean, it's really, really impressive. And a ton of people. I mean, just there's countless, there's hundreds of thousands of people

that all over America, the world that dedicate themselves to their craft. And the more talented you are at said craft, like if you're Taylor Swift, you know, you become really famous and dominate whatever you're, given, you know, professionals. When you're a quarterback, there is just a level of talent that you have to hold, right, just to make it to the NFL. That in itself, there are only, what, 64 quarterbacks in the NFL, maybe a little more

when you factor in. Some teams have third string guys, and there's a couple, you know, practice squad guys. But for the most part, there's, you know, 32 starting quarterbacks, right? And how many of them are really good? on a given year probably no more than 13, 14, maybe some years like 15, but let's even call it what it is. Most given years like 7, 8 are really good and on a different level. And for the majority of his career, now he had a weird career because he'd have like a three or four year stretch and then he takes stepbacks and then he won the comeback player of the year. And then his latter half in his mid to late 30s was really good.

I think we all respect his passion And at first, when he was young, remember some of the stuff with Cutler, it was weird, we didn't quite know him that well. And as years went on and we got to know him, even if you're a Raider, Bronco, or Cheese fan, I think you have to respect how much he gave a shit. And he really truly cared.

And he physically is not the most gifted guy, right? He's big. I mean, I've walked by him. He's massive. He's 6'5. He's huge. probably 6-5-2-40, but he's slow. He can't move at all.

And his arm strength is probably slightly below average. But when he was really on, he was so accurate. He was so smart, truly a coach's son. I mean, in real life, he was. And he just loved football. And I think as time went on, the nation kind of like, you know what, whatever you think about him as a player. I think some people, and it's fair,

I thought he was a little overrated. I thought he was probably properly rated when he was viewed as like a top five or six player as a position for a long period of time. You know, Hall of Fame, we'll see how these last couple years play out. I think he's the hall of, when he was on, I go to war with that guy any day of the week.

I love watching him play. And again, I get back to, I just loved how much he cared. In a day and age when so many pro athletes talk about their brand and a business, all he talked about was just wanting to play. You know, even at 38 years old this year, you see a passion of a guy that looks like he's 12, 13, who still truly enjoys playing the sport.

And as money has gotten so outrageous, I think we've lost that sometimes in sports. And, you know, especially in my seat, you become so cynical. And I try not to. It's why I still like, why I enjoy Phillip Rivers. Because I know he cares as much as I care. I've dedicated my life to talking about it. I hope the guys that are playing it like, you know, playing it that much. they just don't.

Now, guys like Philip Rivers, Tom Brady, there's a select few that do, and obviously at other positions, but quarterbacks are the positions we talk about the most. And I'm glad Philip Rivers, regardless where this goes from here, kind of came through our life. You know, the NFL and pro sports in general is a television show. That's what it is. And he truly has been one of the special characters in that show for the last decade. He's played a big role. Now, there's been ups, there's been downs.

We forget. Now, here's, from a football standpoint, here's the major question. I've been in these free agent meetings. I know, is he done? Is he shot? Does he have anything left? Because I think if you watched them this year, and I watched way too much Charger football this year,

it crossed your mind he was shot. Now, if I wanted to counter it, and I was pro-Philip Rivers in our free agent meeting, or if I was a coach and I was arguing with my GM, I'd go, his offensive line was atrocious this year. They lost guys. Their backups were horrendous. He is not a good enough athlete to be able to avoid the rush when they can't block.

And when he was protected, he was still pretty good. Now, he had moments where even when he was protected, he turned the ball over the line. Through 20 picks. Not James, 30 picks, but 20's a lot. Now, if I was on the pro-Philip Riverside, I'd go, hey, guys, in 2018, one season removed, they went 12 and 4. he threw 32 touchdowns, 12 picks, and he had a playoff victory on the road against the Ravens. The playoff victory happened in 2019.

So basically 13 months ago, Philip Rivers won a playoff game and led a team. Remember that late in the season, I think on Thursday night, beat the Chiefs at Arrowhead through that game winning, I think two-point conversion to Mike Williams. Yeah, I think it was a two-point conversion. They went for two instead of the tie. Like that wasn't that long ago. So I think he's going to be pretty polarizing in the sense of the way people like me and you fans, like we talk about him.

But I think internally, like the Colts, they're going to come after him. Tampa Bay, I'm sure they're going to come after him. I would imagine Carolina would probably be interested. They're going to be teams interested. Depending on what happens with Tom Brady, you don't think Belichick, like, you ain't going to, Jared Siddom's not better than Philip Rivers if you just needed a one-year bridge. So I think Philip River is going to have options. The money, maybe a one-year 20,

million dollar deal plus some incentives, but again, he's not that far away removed from having a really good season. Now, I think we're a little skewed the way we talk about age with quarterbacks because of what Brady's doing and even Breeze. Most guys are like Eli Manning. Once you get to 37, 38, it's over. You're not good enough. It's just, it ends. That's what the majority, like when I was born into being a sports fan, that was normal. You get 35, 36, it just comes to an end. You have a 14, 15 year career. Now, the changing in technology, the changing in training, the changing in your eating habits. He hasn't really been an injury plague player, right?

One of his things he hangs his hat on is how long he's been the starting quarterback and how many straight starts he's made for the charges. Plus, when you factor in the rules of not being able to hit the quarterback, plus his size, he's just physically, he's just such a big dude that I think you might get lightning in bottle. And back to what I opened this up as, they didn't mutually depart. The Chargers moved on. And Philip Rivers is a prideful dude. So if someone moves on from you, I've been fired a couple times, it wakes you up. Now, I'm not saying Philip Rivers didn't try as hard last year, but we're all humans. Sometimes you just need a kick in the ass to get refocused. This team

stopped believing in me. And I've been kind of their most famous player since LT the last decade, help them make the playoffs countless times, win a bunch of games, be nationally relevant. Probably him or Dan Fowles, best quarterback in the history of the franchise. Again, Dan Fouts, a little before my time, I'd have to do some number research. But I would say that Phillip Rivers, if I was a betting man, I would lean he has one good season left in him, you know, at 38, 39 years old. And whether it's the Colts, whether it's Tampa, you know, a team like that, Definitely the Colts makes sense, right? Frank, coach them with the Chargers.

They know each other. I was reading Albert Breer. He says they have a good relationship. They have a really good offensive line. They need to add some playmakers for him, though. They can add some playmakers. He knows the scheme. Could be a really easy transition. He's much better than Jacoby. It's worth the risk. Tampa, I think it's a little tougher, though obviously it seems from reading all the reports. Arians would rather have rivers than James. You could make the argument. you could just cut James's picks in half, he is a more explosive thrower of the football. Rivers at this point is not an explosive thrower at the football.

Not that he ever really was, but pushing the ball down field arm strength is not really his thing. The number one thing for Rivers, though, for me, got to play in the right climate. Not a cold weather quarterback. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened.

That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise. Breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athletes themselves. Their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context, and ask the questions everybody wants answered.

Sports slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people. people who live them. Listen to SportsSlic. On the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear 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 thing,

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 Steve Burns, Dustin Ross

because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth or are you a good person because you're afraid because that's two different intentions bro absolutely and that's two different levels of trust I want you to just really be a good person Join me, Keir Gaines, as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, Learn the Hardway. Open your free iHeartRadio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now.

What's up, guys? This is Clivert Taylor the 4th. And on my podcast, The Cliverts Show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff. Like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker, this linebacker walks up to me, he goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to. wave at her. What? Time out. Quarterback on office blue of 42. Hey, Wreck, my mama want you to wave at her. What? Hey, Miss Parker.

Listen to the Clippers show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. The story I've told myself about love or relationships can then shake my behavior, and that can lead me to sabotage the possibility. of connection. This Mental Health Awareness Month, tune into the podcast deeply well with Debbie Brown

and explore the journey of healing, self-discovery, and returning to yourself. We explore higher consciousness, emotional well-being, and the practices that help you find clarity, peace, and self-mastery in a world that can feel overwhelming. The world is becoming lonelier.

We're not becoming more social and connected. We're becoming more individualized, but we actually actually, meet people in connection. If you've been searching for a soft place to land while doing the work to become whole, this podcast is for you to hear more. Listen to deeply well with Debbie Brown

from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Now with his arm strength. That's why the Colts in a dome, ton of sense. Tampa in the heat, ton of sense. Those are the two teams to me that make the most sense. and the sleeper would be Gruden.

Because Gruden, I've watched his press conferences, he's been with the Raiders. He loves Philip Rivers. Think about Philip Rivers and John Gruden. Kind of the same guy. I tweeted something out on Monday. Get ready. When Philip Rivers retires, beside Troy Aikman and Tony Romo, every analyst in the NFL will be on notice.

Because their networks will hire Philip Rivers over every single one of those guys. He can replace them all. just go YouTube some of its press conferences. He is a unique personality. You know who reminds me of a little bit? John Madden, the player version of John Madden. He's like a louder version of Romo. Romo's a little kind of happier go.

Like this guy's happy, but there's just, uh, uh, some screams to rivers that are just, boom. Honestly, he reminds me a lot of John Madden. I think he's the player version of John Madden. I think he will have networks lined up around the blog, to, you know, make him one of their main guys on the NFL coverage. Monday night football, Sunday night football. I think he can do it all if he so chooses to.

Now he's been adamant. He's going to coach high school football. His kid who's, I think, a fifth grader. But he still has a couple years to play. And if I was a betting man, I'd say the Colts. And Tampa is also a unique situation. Their offensive line's a little sketchier, though it got better as the season went on.

And like I said, there is the risk. that it's just like he's Eli Manning and it's over. And that would be a big blow if you're the Colts or you're Tampa and you get them and it's over. That's very possible. We're dealing with humans here. We're dealing with an older player that has shown signs of decline. So there's risk there. I think if I was in the situation of those teams,

I'd probably take the risk because the reward is high. Get right to the romance and find the way to wow this valentines with 1-800flowers.com. From classic roses and bouquets to decadent chocolate-covered berries, gourmet treats, and more. Surprise your Valentine with 1800flowers.com. Right now, get the 18-stem enchanted rose medley for $3999, or upgrade to 24 red roses for $10 more. Go to 1,800flowers.com slash tune in. That's 1,800flowers.com slash tune in. 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 through 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. Adoption of teens from foster care is a topic. not enough people know about and we're here to change that. I'm April Dinnwody host of the new podcast, Navigating Adoption, presented by Adopt U.S. Kids. Each episode brings you compelling real-life adoption stories told by the families that live them with commentary from experts. Visit Adoptuskids.org slash podcast

or subscribe to navigating adoption presented by Adopt U.S. kids. Brought to you by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families and the Ad Council. Okay, let's dive. into the XFL. Anytime you start anything with legitimate financial backing, you have a huge leg up. Now, that doesn't mean whatever you're going to do is going to be successful,

but it's a game changer. If I was worth $100 million, I could run a media company a lot differently than I do being worth the pennies that I'm worth right now out of my home office, which has been very lucid. and it's been fun and it's been growing every year but it's not easy like i don't have someone bankroll on me just like look at barstool when barstool i honestly didn't know much about them i had friends that that consumed their stuff when i found out about them is when the sharing group you know bought

gave 50 million dollars or whatever bought half of it kind of put them on the map nationally to people that didn't follow them and they never looked back since they just got bought again by who I actually bought a bunch of stock in just because it's going to work. I mean, I don't see how it doesn't with the way gambling's changed. But it's a game changer when you have financial backing. Now, if Barstool didn't have a solid foundation

and a brand, I could invest a lot of startups get VC money all the time and fail. So you do have to know what you're doing when you get funded, either from the jump or after you've kind of run a company, right? Well, the XFL has tried this before, basically what, 20 years ago, and failed. Vince probably didn't really know what he was doing then. Well, 20 years later, he's had a lot of time to think about it.

He's made a boatload of more cash. And now he's in a position where I'm a big believer and I talk about all the time. You're better from your past experiences because you learn more from failure than you do from success. And you've just seen some other leagues, the UFL, the AAAF, come and go since you've had your chance. Well, this time around, to me, his number one attribute beside the cash, why the XFL has a legitimate chance, is because of the distribution channels.

The reason three and out has a chance to succeed and has succeeded from the jump was because of a guy named Colin Coward. He has this thing called a distribution channel. And a lot of you guys listen to me through his, podcast feed. That is a very, very powerful distribution channel. If I just started this from scratch, maybe I could have figured it out. And I probably would have figured it out, but there would be nowhere near as many people listening. Maybe one day I could have got there. It would have taken me a long time. Or unless someone came along and funded me. Well, they got, they're on ABC

and Fox and ESPN. Like, 3.3 million people watch them. And I'll always, I'll be honest. I thought the football was kind of boring. I need some stars. I'm kind of like the casual fan when it comes to stuff like this. You need to kind of get me going. I'm not coming to the XFL to watch you run power. I've seen all these guys play.

That's why I like college football. Like this doesn't sniff college football. Now, just given the time of year, there's nothing else to watch. But I'm not, like, when I went to Pebble Beach on Saturday, I didn't care about watching the XFL. and the only reason I watched the XFL a little bit on Sunday one, because a lot of people were tweeting at me and I talk about football for a living

but two, I could easily talk about it without watching it but mainly because the golf, the Pebble Beach tournament when I got home was a blowout so I flipped it on and there was literally nothing else on but I do know this because I follow ratings and I talk about this stuff for a living the NBA does not get 3.3 million people to watch any of their games during the regular season

the only game they got close was a Christmas day game That's the equivalent to like the NFL's Thanksgiving Day game. And that's not good. So the XFL got a lot of people to watch. It worked. My issue more is like the best player, my takeaway, after just looking at the rosters, watching a bunch of highlights.

I watched a decent amount on Sunday. I just had the game in the background. Marquette King, the punter, former Raider and Bronco punter, is the best player in the league. Now, he's a legitimate NFL player. The reason he wasn't in the NFL is because, he became kind of a headache and you can't be a headache if you're a kicker or a punter. But he is, I don't even know if there's a close second in the league that's on his level.

Like the other guy that I saw that was like, whoa, this guy's pretty good relative to the rest of the company. Cardale Jones, Shotgun, who could barely hang on to an NFL career. So the talent in the league is a lot of fringe guys. Now, those guys are going to get opportunities to be on practice squads, maybe when guys get hurt throughout the year. So it's going to be a good experience for them. But to consistently hold on to people's viewership, I'm going to need some stardom because we like football,

but a part of the reason we like football, one on Saturdays, because the SEC and the Big Ten and the Big Ten and the Big 12 are enormous brands. It's easy to watch Oklahoma or LSU or Georgia or Ohio State or Michigan. Or I was going to say USC football. That's not true. But you know what I'm saying? Like these guys become stars in our life.

Like we've been watching Trevor Lawrence going into next year for two years. Justin Fields, we've been hearing about him for a while. Justin Herbert, a lot of hype, Tua. We know about these guys. The NFL is not going to have that. And then the NFL. Well, there's two things. Obviously, gambling has become a huge issue.

When I see the lines on these games, and I love to gamble, how would I know who to gamble on? How would I have any clue? Like the Vipers playing the whatever, I don't know. So that's going to be a challenge. I'm not trying to diminish because it's very impressive where they started. I'm driving home on Sunday. Listen to one of the games.

They're simulcasting on Fox Sports Radio. It's Kevin Burckhard. So from Kevin Burckhardt to Steve Levy to McElroy to Pat McAfee. They got stars calling the games. And I just don't know. Like, Pep Hamilton, he's just kind of a, he's a meh coach. He couldn't be any more boring. I want more how mummies, throw the ball, spread it out.

You need to throw. I'm not coming to your league to run it or to watch you run it, to run power and sweeps. Throw bombs, spread it out, and throw the football. And when your best player's a punter, and I'm not blaming them for that. They're paying 50 grand a player. I think Landry,

who, again, is not a very good player. They gave $200,000 signing bonus too. So that's just, it's going to be a challenge. Like, their next step is going to be, you get Antonio Brown or Des Bryan in the league? John Middilcoff ain't missing a snap of that game. Yeah, I just went third person, but I was trying to be funny. You get Antonio Brown, and I honestly, if I'm Antonio Brown,

I think about playing in this league, at least for a couple games, because right now you're out of sight, out of mind for all the coaches and the owners, and they just think you're a full-on slap. the quickest way for you to get forgotten about being a slap, even though if you haven't changed being a slap, go viral, make some plays. Score three touchdowns in the game. Because at the end of the day,

we know teams don't morally care about anything. That's the media. The fans don't either, because if you win, people show up. If Antonio Brown played in one of these games and back-to-back weeks had like four combined touchdowns and had a play where he made all 10 guys miss, you get some eyeballs, consistent eyeballs.

People, I'd build my day around watching it. Antonio Brown. But I'm not building my day around Marquette King. And I talk about football for a living. Because you'd rather listen to me talk about Tom Brady or Philip Rivers where they're going to go. Like the XFL's cool week one. And I think they're going to be in good spots.

And just in terms of they're going to be on the major channels. So their number's going to be high. The NBA's in the tank, in the absolute tank. So they might be doing bigger numbers in the NBA. That's not saying much right now. I just, they're going to have to take some strides. Maybe they get some crossover with the league. Like, for example, Nick Mullins, the backup for the 49ers, they give him to one of the teams.

Sudfeld, the backup for the Eagles, these are just the first couple backups. Brett Hunley, just random backup, young backups that are Josh Rosen. You get some of those guys in the league, now we're talking. And again, I understand you can't run before you walk, so it's going to take some time. They got off to a great start. But to just make this thing interesting, your best player in the league can't be the punter. But Vince McMahon's a great American businessman. He's a billionaire.

So money won't be the issue like the AAF. Their distribution channels are top-knott. They can't get any better. You're on ABC and Fox. It's as good as it gets. So they got the hard part's out of the way. Now, you could argue the hardest part is just get the start players. That's going to be difficult.

But I will say it was a solid start. And a lot of people tweeting, clearly tweeting about the league, but tweeting me about it. So I think they have a lot of room for growth. and in a pretty good place, unlike, you know, the last several leagues that flamed out very, very quickly. Okay, let's dive into the purge.

And that's just my name for it because every once in a while if I'm flipping channels and I see on HBO or Showtime or one of those channels, and it's the purge. And the purge, that movie is like, you know, the one night a year

when you're just allowed to kill everyone. It's a little different. But you see it a lot in baseball. The reason the Red Sox got rid of Mookie Betz was, one, they didn't think they could resign him after this season, and two, financially they don't have any flexibility. They're stuck on all these terrible contracts. One of the reasons the Dodgers didn't have to give up that much for Mookiee Betts was because

they took basically a $50 million tax. David Price isn't good anymore, and he's owed like $95 million, and Dodgers is like, yeah, we'll pay half of it, so we only have to give you one sweet player. It's like, whatever. We'll pay basically the equivalent of a tax to get this player. The Giants who are going to be, the San Francisco Giants, will be one of the worst teams in baseball,

have no flexibility. Because their entire starting lineup is overpaid. They are terrible, but they're all making a ton of money. And unlike football, the San Francisco Giants, if they want to cut Brandon Crawford or Brandon Bell to bust or Pousy,

I mean, all these guys are just kind of over the hill, they can't. They'd have to buy them out and literally pay every penny for them to go away. And the NBA is definitely the same thing. It's a smaller amount of players. make a lot of money and you're just stuck to their contracts. You can buy them out, but there is no incentive for the player or the agent to ever really take

less, especially if there's multiple years on the deal. If you owe me $25 million over two years, it doesn't behoove me to take like, I'll give you, you just pay me 12 and let me go be a free agent. No, I'm getting every penny because eventually if you're going to buy me out, you will buy me out, and I'm going to get about 99% of that money. where in football, on a given year, on a 53-man roster, there are probably truly five or six players who are safe. Obviously, the big money quarterbacks,

then you're three or four core players. Everyone else could be cut at a moment's notice. So when you look around, it's what makes football free agency every year so cool. Like you hear this year in the NBA, this is an awful NBA free agency crop. Next year is the big year. Guys like Janice Antitacupo will hit free agency.

In the NFL, every year new guys hit free agency. Why? Because we have this thing called cap casualties. Well, if your team doesn't have any cap room, you could make $30 million by cutting three players in the blink of an eye. And Albert Brewer and his MMQB today wrote about it the amount of names from Xavier Rhodes to Jimmy Graham to Cameron Brate to just guys all over.

Wadkins, if the chiefs want to gain $15 million in cap space, all they got to do is say, Sammy, see ya. We don't know any more money. If the Minnesota Vikings want to gain almost $13 million in cap space, all they say is Xavier Rhodes, who wasn't good next year or last year, probably will be cut, adios. That's the way it works. And honestly, it's a big reason all those guys are going to get jobs.

like Xavier Rhodes won't make $13 million next year, but he'll get a chance to resurrect his career. Cameron Brayt, who is a good player, you just can't pay everybody. That's why you drafted O.J. Howard's, why you got Mike Evans, why you got Chris Godwin, you might have to either pay James or bringing Phillip Rivers. Like, you cut guys, and that constantly creates space. I think that's a big reason for the health of the NFL. One, it siphons a lot of players.

Like, for example, Sammy Watkins, if the Chiefs aren't, able to figure something out where I would imagine they want to get his number closer to like five or six million. But if you're Sammy Watkins, my advice, and listen, I'm pro chiefs. I want Andy and Veets to keep him. I like watching him with them. But the right business move would be for Sammy, either pay me all my money or cut me. Because if I get cut, there are a ton of teams, the Eagles, the Colts, the Raiders that need wide receiver help. And like Sammy who got overpaid the first time with Kansas City, he would get overpaid again. So it's, it behooves a Like Xavier Rhodes.

Like, yeah, he's had a bad year. I think there would be teams. A lot of teams run that Seattle-style defense. Maybe they take like an incentive-laced deal on a guy like that. He could have a bounce-back season. Jimmy Graham's probably, Olivier Vernon. Like, he's going to get cut.

And he's going to get an opportunity, a lot of different places. Now, he won't make what he's been making, but he's going to get a job immediately. So you get all this turnover with players on top of the Brady's and the rivers and the guys that actually hit free agency. We'll see if Amari does. And the purge, The cap cuts make the league like this extra little group of players that in basketball and

baseball, you're either a free agent or you're not. In baseball, when they... Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending. Opinions are flying. And nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in.

I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise. Breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves. Their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context and ask the questions everybody wants answered.

Sports Slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to Sports Slice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slic Life 12 and the TikTok Podcasts. network on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear 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, Tript Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, 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. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross, because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth? Are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust.

I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Gaines, 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. What's up, guys? This is Clever Taylor the 4th. And on my podcast, The Cliverts Show,

I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff, like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker, this linebacker walks up to me. He goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What? Time out. Quarterback on office, Blue, 42.

Hey, ref, my mom will want you to wave at her. What? Where's she at? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Cliverts show on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. The story I've told myself about love or relationships can then shape my behavior, and that can lead me to sabotage the possibility of connection. This Mental Health Awareness Month, tune into the podcast deeply well with Debbie Brown

and explore the journey of healing, self-discovery, and returning to yourself. We explore higher consciousness, emotional well-being, and the practices that help you find clarity, peace, and self-mastery in a world that can feel overwhelming. The world is becoming lonelier. We're not becoming more social and connected. We're becoming more individualized, but we actually meet people in connection. If you've been searching for a soft place to land while doing the work to become whole. This podcast is for you.

To hear more, listen to deeply well with Debbie Brown from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. DFA a guy, the majority of the time, unless you're a complete baseball nerd, you don't know who the guys are because they're usually random players. Elite players rarely get DFAed and it's usually at the end of their contract. Football happens all the time. like when you sign a five or six year deal when you finally hit free agency so you're drafting the second round you play three really good years your team extends you so that fourth year your fifth year

by your six or seventh year usually that guarantees money is gone and if you're playing bad or i got to pay other players or just my situation changes i can just relieve you of your duties cut you and open up a lot of cap space and it's just for that's why the free agency lists we always look at them getting into this year, you know, obviously Brady, Amari, Genevion Clowny, Eric Armstead. As we know every year, like a couple of those guys will be franchised. A couple of them will re-sign.

Usually the top free agents don't, now this year kind of feels a little different. Like maybe Eric Armstead, they let him hit free agency. Maybe Giadavion Clowny walks. I don't know. Maybe Tom Brady does leave. Goes to the Cowboys or the Cowboys. But usually some of the best free agents

are guys in like their late 20s that are cut. How did the Niners get Richard Sherman? He was hurt. He got cut. Think about that. That's how they acquired him. Right? That's how the guy hit free agency.

He was cut. So you get a lot of guys. Xavier Rose a couple years ago was like an all pro level player. Sammy Watkins is unique because he's the guy that keeps hitting free agency. He's not like a star player. He's never going to be your number one wide receiver. But on a really good team, he could be your fringe number two. If you got a really good tight end, your third option, you're in pretty good shape.

Well, if there's so much free agency money, there aren't that many players to sign, especially because all the top free agents go back. Guys like Sammy Watkins and Cameron Bray, they get overpaid. And maybe you can take a one-year flyer on Olivier Vernon. That's how those guys kind of get acquired. So the cap casualties, we really start feeling it around February, or excuse me, around the combine, which is at the end of February. Because teams, they go to these players' agents, and they say, listen,

your cap hit right now is 15 million. I'm just going to use it even, you know, it's an odd number, but just a flat number. 15 million. We think you're worth six. We'll incentivize it so if you play at the level that we thought you were a couple years ago,

you can get to 11. But we want the cap number to be six instead of 15. Now, if the guy really likes it and he's comfortable and he feels good, maybe he'll stay. But a lot of guys, they say no. Because they know if they hit free agency, even if they are six or seven minutes, million dollar player at that point.

The great part about free agency is there are going to be multiple teams coming after you. Because every year, especially these last three or four years, with the cap getting so high, so many teams have a lot of cash. And all it takes is two teams to be bidden for your services. Think about Jerich McKinnon a couple years ago. The Niners are going to cut him and they're still going to owe him some dead cap money. Like he's not going to be a zero on their cap, even though he's never played a snap for him. Simply because at the time when they signed him, the Jets in Tampa Bay really wanted him.

And Kyle was like mandatory. They had to have him. And then he got unlucky towards ACL and he's never played a snap. So you want to hit, if I'm any of these guys, they ask you take pay cuts and you have a decent film out there. Say no, sir, re. Let me hit free agency. Get that market and the supply and demand and let the demand rise

because teams are going to come after you. And we're live here outside the Perez family home just waiting for the, and there they go. Almost on time this morning. Mom is coming out the front door strong with a double-armed kid carry. Looks like Dad has the bags. Daughter is bringing up the rear. Oh, but the diaper bag wasn't closed.

Diapers and toys are everywhere. Ooh, but Mom has just nailed the perfect car seat buckle for the toddler. And now the eldest daughter, who looks to be about 9 or 10, has secured herself in the booster seat. Dad zips the bag closed and they're off. Ah, but looks like mom doesn't realize her coffee cup is still on the roof of the car, and there it goes! Oh, that's a shame. That mug was a fan favorite. Don't sweat the small stuff. Just nail the big stuff.

Like making sure your kids are buckled correctly in the right seat for their age and size. Learn more at nhtsa.gov slash the right seat. Visit nhtsa.gov slash the right seat. Brought to you by Nitsa and the Ad Council. What grows in the forest? Trees? Sure. Know what else grows in the forest? Our imagination, our sense of wonder,

and our family bonds grow too. Because when we disconnect from this and connect with this, we reconnect with each other. The forest is closer than you think. Find a forest near you and start exploring at Discovertheforest.org. Brought to you by the United States Forest Service

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Love your show, my man. Appreciate it. What is going to happen with James Winston and what do you personally think of his future? That's a hell of a question. It really is. It honestly might be the toughest question. To me, Philip Rivers,

it's not that tough a question. It's worth a risk. James is just a great unknown. 30 interceptions. I think seven pick sixes. I get he's explosive and hit some games where he threw four and five touchdowns, but that is insanity.

We're not talking either about a rookie or second. year player, that was his fifth year in the NFL. And think of who he was playing with, an elite offensive coach and elite playmakers outside. I mean, if Chris Godwin is your number two wide receiver, I didn't know that much about him coming into the season, but just being a daily fantasy guy, you know fast quick. You're like, geez, wow. These two guys, the size and the speed that they have to go along with their tight ends and just Arians, the mind, I would lean to say James has kind of shown you who he is, a terrible decision maker.

Off the field, I said over and over. Now, I enjoyed watching him just because it was such a roller coaster ride. But to me, the moment the Uber incident happens, I can't take you seriously. You get into an incident with an Uber driver when you're a famous guy. How does that happen? And then your decision making on the field is just horrendous. 30 picks, 30 interceptions.

The amount of pick sixes that he threw was just, I mean, it's unprecedented. So I would lean he just kind of is what he is. He's like a poor man's version of Cutler. Now, if I doing a pie chart, I would go 70%, he's just going to be a roller coaster ride to what he is. Maybe there's a 20% chance. He gets a lot better. Like he cuts the turnovers out. Maybe something clicks.

But what clicked this year? I mean, he was horrendous turning the ball over. And then a 10% chance he just keeps getting worse. Like he's just an all-time interception thrower, which honestly, if that was your stance, I wouldn't argue against you. So I'd lean, he just, he is what he is. This is maybe not 30 picks again,

but he's a huge turnover machine. He has been his whole life. Remember he was like that at Florida State? And we tried to make, and I made excuses for him. I liked him coming out. I still think he's a really talented player. If he was doing what he was doing

with half the interceptions, I'd like him. But you throw that many picks, I can't trust you. And in the margins in the NFL, the difference between a seven-win team and an 11-win team are like 10 plays. And if five of those plays are interceptions,

the number one thing that screws you in the NFL is turnovers and the turnover margin. How can you compete when your quarterback's throwing that many picks? Yo, yo, yo, Denver fan here. I'm not bummed out about the firing of Scangelo. I don't know how to say that guy's name. It's a hard name to say.

Scangerello, it's an Italian name. But feel like the production of Pat Schumer as an OC is kind of hard to gauge. It seems like the only time he has ever called plays was with Minnesota for one year thoughts. Yeah, if we're basing it on his one year in Minnesota, it was unreal. Like the year that they made to the NFC championship game and he made Case Keenham look like Montana light.

So if you get that, Pat Schumer, you're in good shape. The Pat Schumer I saw the last couple of years was a laughing stock, was a joke, was a guy completely over his head. Now, some guys are meant to be OCs. Now, I don't think you're getting like Kyle Shanahan or, you know, I'm trying to think of some other dynamic offensive coordinator that's not a head coach. I mean, Kyle is a head coach, but before that, like Kyle was a really good offensive coordinator.

You know, Greg Roman is pretty good. dynamic, right? Ariens and Lefich know what they're doing. I know Ariens' head coach. I just broke my own rule. But I just I don't know. I'm not a Pat Schumer guy. I've met him a couple times. He's a nice guy. People that I know that know him,

he's a coach Reed guy, they really like him. I just don't know if he's quite dynamic enough for me. Now, Vic Fangio, I was reading the reason he fired that guy was Fangio went through him throughout the season and kept telling him to take deep shots. Most Offensive coordinators I know if the head coach is telling them take deep shots

Why wouldn't you just take deep shots? And then what I was reading is he didn't want to get Drew Locke killed. Didn't Drew Locke only start the last five games? I don't quite understand it. So maybe it can't be a downgrade. There's going to be some pressure though because the hype right on Drew Locke coming out of those last month of the season are pretty hot. I'm high on the guy.

He looked good. Now it's going to be the defense against. get better under Fangio. They haven't made the playoffs now in three straight years. We're not talking about the Jacksonville Jaguars here. We're talking about the Denver Broncos. They are used to going to the playoffs a lot. So it's going to have a playoff or bus type feel.

Clearly Fangio and Elway like it and Drew Locke, if he can keep improving, maybe it is an upgrade. Three now. Talk XFL. Outlook, sustainability, growth, expansion compared to the NFL as an entertainment product. Personal initial thoughts. solid crowds inclusion of Vegas game lines and totals

see my knock on that is what does that even mean I don't know who I'm watching so you can give me the lines like in theory that's cool like when I say hey Michigan's playing Alabama it's a 10 point line

like we can gauge that hey the Jaguars are playing the Colts it's a four point line we understand that the Vipers are playing the bruskees what does that mean talent meh I agree I'm a talent

horror. So that's what kind of bothered me. It's just not enough talent. Like, I like watching Moogie Betts. I like watching Tiger Woods. I like watching LeBron James. I like watching pro sports. I like watching college, too, but I'm watching Duke. I'm watching Zion. I'm watching Trevor Lawrence, Joe Burrow.

I'm not watching, you know, Boise State if they don't have some star NFL player. I'm just not. And I know, I see the ratings. Neither are you. Now, this rated because we do love football. and there's there's nothing else for us to watch right now. You know, we don't want, we don't consume basketball. There's no baseball yet.

There's just nothing to watch. The Listen Live booth reviews audio discussion between the booth and the referee in the field was cool. I would agree the Xbox controller was sweet. I agree with most of what you said. I hit on it earlier. The talent man is going to be, I think you need to get a couple like renegade players. You know, you need to find a way to get Des or Antonio. or just something like that.

Alden Smith. You say Alden Smith? Starting for the... I think St. Louis should have named their team the bruskies. I don't even know what their team is. Listen, I'm not crushing any of the team names. It's very, very difficult to find a team name, right? It's hard to find a sweet branding name.

There's a huge amount of luck into it, but the St. Louis bruskes would have been a sweet name. So, yeah, those are my kind of initial thoughts. You can't dispute the amount of the funding and the broadcast partners, like I said, are high level. Enjoy list. Do you think Patrick Willis will make the NFL Hall of Fame? Yeah, I mean, once Bill Cowers are getting in and some of the guys they're letting in, I think Patrick Willis was a Hall of Fame caliber player.

I think he's a five-time all-pro and a seven-time pro bowler. Maybe it's five-and-six. But you're a five-time first-team all-pro. You're the best lineback in the league. basically from the moment he stepped on the football field in 2007 when I think he was an all-pro as a rookie for the next five or six years he was the best middle linebacker in the league Ray Lewis was older

Erlocker was right there but I mean I would take Peak Willis over Peak Erlocker and Erlocker's in the NFL Hall of Fame now Erlocker played longer at a higher level Willis's career just ended fast now he didn't just randomly quit like his foot was messed up he couldn't really walk and people forget

I watched it his last year for San Francisco wasn't great. He couldn't move very well. And that's the one thing that Patrick Willis just to hang his hat on. He could move. He could really play in space. He was like a modern day linebacker,

but he was 250. And he was tall. I mean, he was a freak. I'm telling you, as just a as a sucker for sweet players, going out to Harbaugh's practice, like the year I got fired and went into the media,

Harbaugh had like an NFC championship team. And I remember going from the Eagles to walking out to the Niners practice and their defense, obviously they're front with Willis, or excuse me, Justin Smith, Alden, Ray McDonald, bad guy, sweet player, and Ahmaud Brooks. But then when you watched 52 and what number is Bowman, 53, those two guys walked out, they looked like, I don't know, SEAL Team 6 of the NFL. Those two guys were killers.

They were my favorite NFL linebacking tandem of all time. Bowman's career peak was a lot shorter. Both those two guys in their peak are as good of middle linebackers that have ever played. Even though the peak was short, at their peak, they were elite. And Willis was probably a little more than elite than Bowman. Though Bowman's like 2012 and 2013, dominant, dominant player. So yeah, I hope he makes it love those two guys. appreciate everyone listening.

I feel like my voice is kind of going here at the end. I've given you all I got. I'm like Rivers. I left it all into the mic. Into the program. So you guys can press play. Thanks for listening. Enjoy the week.

And, you know, this is, February is a cool time for football just because we're getting a lot of guys cut. We're going to have a lot of free agent buzz. A lot of rumors. I love a good rumor. So get ready. And I'll keep talking to do a mic with my opinions.

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This morning, the internet lost its mind, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where SportsSlice comes in. I'm Timbo, and every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the biggest moments in sports and giving you the real story behind the headline. And we're going straight to the source, the athletes themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions in the moment, and the stuff nobody gets to hear. Listen to SportsSlic. on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

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Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, guys? This is Clever Taylor the 4th. And on my podcast, The Cliverts Show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff. Like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game.

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