The Herd with Colin Cowherd - 3 and Out - Brady’s Bucs Future, Baker → Niners (?), Lamar’s Big Mistake, Mailbag

Episode Date: December 6, 2022

John reacts to Tom Brady’s game-winning drive to beat the Saints on MNF, if this is his last year, or just his last year with the Bucs, if the Niners could sign Baker Mayfield to replace Jimmy Garoppolo, and why Lamar Jackson should have held out in training camp for a new deal. He also looks at what players and coaches deserve a holiday bonus or a pink slip, and answers listener questions in the Middlekauff Mailbag. Subscribe NOW and follow Middlekauff and The Volume on Twitter, Instagram and YouTube for the latest content. It's always FanDuel for the best wagering action! #volume #herdSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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

Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque.

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

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just download the Fandual Sportsbook app to get started. now sign up with promo code Colin so they know we sent you. What's going on, everybody? John Middlecough, Three and Out podcast. How about the goat? Thomas Brady, game winner. Game winning touchdown. I didn't see that coming about midway through the fourth quarter,

but I had to change the opening of my show because I had some takes and they did not age well in my head, but luckily I hadn't recorded anything. Also a lot going on, some thoughts on Baker Mayfield, Lamar Jackson's now injured, Jimmy Garapolo, some guys, you know, we'll play a little game a little bit later as well as the Middlecoff mailbag

at John Middlecoff, at John Middlecoff is the Instagram. Fire in those DMs. Get your question answered here on the show. If you listen on Collins feed, make sure you subscribe to the three-and-out feed. Share it with your friends. Share with your enemies. Tell people about us.

We like organic grassroots. And hopefully everyone had a good Thanksgiving. Hanukkah Christmas right around the corner So let's finish 2003 or I guess no It's 2022 It's finished strong baby Okay watching that Monday night game

You know In my job Especially with a one-off game You kind of got to develop the take On Thursday night and Monday night football Throughout the game You're like what angle am I going to say What's going on? Obviously tonight

Tom Brady Like I'm not talking about the Saints No one cares about a four and eight team that does not even own their own draft pick. You know who's the big winner tonight? The Philadelphia Eagles. They own the Saints first round pick. Eagles are about to go 16 and 1 and somehow have a top four pick. It's crazy, but get ready.

It's going to happen. And so it's just Tom Brady. And you're watching the game. He looks miserable. And I'm texting people, just like I'm sure a lot of people are texting people. Listen, there's been some buzz. Like, are the Niners going to go after him this offseason? Could he go back to New England?

I'm watching this guy, and I understand those conversations, I'm watching this guy scream at people, throw his helmet, freak out, which he's done his entire career. He's literally doing it every series. And there are points in that game where you just go, I don't know if Tom shot, but he doesn't quite look like Tom Brady. He's getting pressured, he's hitting the ground, he wants no part of contact, don't blame him, he's 45, like I wouldn't want to get hit either.

His passes, let's face it, aren't quite as, crisp, not in terms of arm strength, but airmailed some deep balls, skip some other balls. You're like, we've all been watching Tom Brady now for a couple decades. This doesn't quite look for Tom Brady. And then you realize most greats don't just go out winning the Super Bowl, playing well like John Elway. I know Peyton Manning won the Super Bowl, but we all watched that. He was a shell of himself. We saw Rothesberger last year, shell of himself.

Marino at the end of his career, shell of himself. Remember that far of season? that was a debacle. Most guys go out, not on a high note. They struggle. That's part of being a great player. When it ends, it's usually ugly. In the history of sports, that's always what happens.

Somehow, with pliability, avocado ice cream, this dude is circumvented at all. It's been crazy, fun to watch. It's why he's such a fascinating player. We've never seen anything like it. And let's face it, for the first time, this season, he has not been good. He was terrible in the first half.

he looks just like if you didn't know who it was you got the hair plugs he's super skinny you'd go this guy's a pretty marginal player and then what happened I got my take I wrote it all down I'm like this is how it's gonna go he's gonna be a eight and nine playoff team he's gonna get his ass kicked in the first round this season my thought was

like anything right when you do something and you become it makes you miserable you hate it it takes the joy out of whatever you like doing out of it, it would have to make you question, do I like doing this? We know Tom Brady loves football as much as any human being can love any single thing, right? That's not debatable, not arguable, no one would even push back if you went. Tom Brady likes football more than anyone else likes, loves whatever.

We'd be like, yeah, you can't like football or love football. or be obsessed with football more than Tom Brady has for the last two decades. And you watch him now, you go, it feels like the joy, the passion has been ripped out of him. And because of that, it might make him, even though he might have some opportunities this offseason, that might make some sense, him go, screw it, I'm out. I'll go call some games on Fox. I'll chill. I'll hit the single life.

I don't know if Tom Brady's hitting the bars, but my DMs will be packed, and I'll be living the good life. And then the last five minutes happened and you go, holy shit, you know what? Duke can still play. Leads the game winning drive. I think it was either Joe Buck or Troy Aikman said at the end of the game.

That's the latest, and he's had a million of them, he's ever thrown a game winning touchdown. And he was just methodical, driving him right down the field. It was like a boxer who still had it, had him on the ropes, throwing body blows, hitting him with the uppercut, another body blow.

The guy doesn't know, where it's coming from. And then at the end of the game with like 20 seconds left, most people would freak out, call a timeout. He's in complete control. Colin plays in the line of scrimmage. Clearly it ain't coming from the coaching staff. He forces Dennis Allen to call a timeout. And the moment Dennis Allen calls a timeout, you go, Tom's locked and loaded. Once that happened, I went, he's going to find a way to throw a touchdown. And then he literally throws two touchdowns. He throws the game winner to Godwin that gets called back with a holding penalty. And then he's able to hit another pass, I think the guy to win, then obviously hit the running back for the game

winner. And you just go, like, I understand. Like, Giselle, I know you want him to retire or wanted him to. Now you guys are broken up. He works six months a year, and he's still elite at his job. He doesn't want to retire because he still has that in the bag. Now, I think it's fair to question, can he do that consistently like he once did? You would say probably not, right? He's 45 years old. But clearly, when you watch football and he still has that ability, you go, I understand where he's coming from. And it made me go, for a lot of this season, when you watched him and it looks like he's miserable, it looks like he has no joy, it looks like he didn't even want to be there. Like, if he could, he would tap out and he'd go somewhere else.

Not like to a different team. He would just not be there with Tampa Bay. It's moments like that, the smile on his face, they get the competitive juices going, they get that Patriot vibe back in him. Like him and Bill just beat Peyton Manning in the Colts, or they just beat John Harbaugh on the whole. Ravens to go, yeah, I bet Tom's not leaving. Like, maybe I will be open to the fact that he'll come back. Now, he's not coming back to Tampa, and let's acknowledge something. Tom Brady bears some responsibility for this season.

Like Tom Brady, the majority of his career, and he's admitted to this, I think he even told Howard Stern when he first did his big interview, he's been very open since obviously leaving the Patriots because he's allowed to talk, said, you know, they never really asked for my opinion. And when they did, they didn't listen. They knew guys that I wanted to stay and they get rid of him. Welker, Logan Mankins, you name it. Hell, they tried to trade grunk.

He had no power. And historically, unlike the NBA or even baseball, if you're a huge contract guy, you have no juice as a football player. Even if you're Tom freaking Brady, Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, those guys are not telling Brandon Bean and Brett Veach who to sign. Now, they may say something, but they don't actually have the juice. And once he got to Tampa, he had full autonomy to do whatever he wanted, right? He brought Alex Guerrero, they started listening to all the signings.

He wanted Antonio Brown, boom, Antonio Brown's there. Anything he wanted he got. And then this offseason, he retires. And then all of a sudden, 30 days later, Bruce Ariens got and he comes back. Like, he got Bruce Ariens fired, which I get, like, I can't relate to Tom in the sense that I didn't have to spend every day around Bruce Ariens. I didn't have to deal with Bruce Ariens from a coaching standpoint. But here's what I know. When Bruce Ariens coaches your team, you're pretty good.

Is he Bill Ballicheck? Is he Vince Lombardi? You know, is he Chuck Knoll? Is he like some all-time great coach? No, but he's damn good relative to the majority of coaches. And he's way better than Todd Bulls. Like Bruce Arias has been a head coach at Arizona and at Tampa, and they've won at a high rate.

When you watch Todd Bulls coach, now with the Jets and now with the Bucks, they're just not as good. They are just missing something. I've been around Todd. great guy pretty even healed one thing about Bruce Ariens kind of fucking crazy and sometimes you need a little crazy in your building

and I watch the bucks it kind of lacked that because you think Tom at 45 is going to be as crazy as he once was at 35 and staying on every guy making sure some of these guys are doing the right things no he's 45 years old he's playing with some guys that are 22 23 24 years old and he signed up for this

and he didn't just sign up for this he forced their hand he created this so this season which feels destined 9 and 8 win the division, play the Cowboys, probably be an underdog, and I'm going to pick the Cowboys to win that game. So they're going to win the worst division in football, and then they're going to host a playoff game

because of the way the NFL playoffs work, but I would expect them to lose. I mean, their offense, despite, they obviously have the pass interference at the end of the game, and that final drive, which was impressive, is hideous. Like, it's really hard to watch. I mean, I'm having the thought tonight going,

Listen, I've never been a big AFC, NFC South guy. Like, when it comes to Southern football, I like it. It's called the SEC. I don't watch the Atlanta Falcons. I don't watch Tampa Bay. I don't watch the Houston, Texans. I don't watch that, those two divisions play football. I watch Florida, I watch LSU, I watch Georgia, I watch Bama, but I don't mess with

their pro game. Occasionally, when Tennessee, when they're good. But for the most part, I don't watch that, those two divisions. And tonight, that division, I mean, the NFC South, is borderline unwatchable. It's Monday Night Football. We're going to watch millions of people. But if you put that game on Sunday,

just with a full slate, let's face it. If you're not some Tampa Bay or New Orleans football fan, not a soul is watching that game. If it's around other good games, or just a normal slate of football. And for the majority of that game, it wasn't watchable.

Because the Saints suck too. Their defense has been playing a lot better the last couple weeks. Their offense isn't great. Even though Andy Dalton has actually shown some signs of life, and I actually think someone will have him as a backup quarterback next year. But they're what, a 4-9 team

who does not own their first-round pick? I think, you know, if they mattered more to the landscape of the league, we'd go, is Dennis Allen one and done? I could see them giving him another year, but I would say he's already on thin ice. He stinks. He's not very good.

And the Todd Bulls situation, like, what is Tampa going to do next year a quarterback when Tom Brady either just goes to Fox or leaves to another team? I think it's pretty clear. He's not coming back to Tampa Bay. and he left them with Todd Bulls. Now, maybe Bruce Ariens would have retired anyway.

He even said, like, he wanted to be in a position, which I do think was true. I don't think it was true necessarily this year to be able to hand it off to either Bowles or Lefich. Here's the thing. You could argue Byron Lefich screwed up a little bit. Because remember, the Jacksonville Jags wanted to make him the head coach, but he didn't want to work for Trent Balke,

which I understand. I saw Trent Balke working with some coaches in my time around Trent Balke in the Bay Area. It did not go well. Tough guy to deal with. But Byron Leppwoods was going to be a head coach after those two years with Tampa

when Bruce Arings was a head coach. Byron Leppertz is not getting hired after this season. They're one of the worst offense in the league. They can't run the ball. Beside those two drives, they can't pass the ball. It's pretty ugly. And, you know, this is where coaches will tell you got to strike when the iron's hot.

Because sometimes you see an assistant coach take a job either as a coordinator or either as a head coach. And knowing some of these guys over the years, they will tell you like a lot can change in a year, man. One injury, you know, one bad season, no one's calling you. So when you get offered promotions, when you get offered the chances to lead a unit or lead a team, you just sometimes got to do it.

And I know you can be choosy when you're Sean Payton, you know, when you're Jim Harbaugh, when you're these established guys. But when you're getting your first shot, I would have thought coming into this season like, oh, Byron Leffowitz, Locke, he'll be a lock head coach. I will be stunt if he's an NFL head coach. based on this year. Because now we'd go, well, Bruce was the offensive guy. Right?

So how much of the offense was Bruce in control of? And now how much Byron and Tom? Like, it's just been ugly. And Tom created this. Tom signed up for this. But what a roller coaster ride. And, you know, you think about some of the great players of all time, right?

I mean, Tiger Woods can't walk anymore. Like, it's over. He's 45, 46-year-old. He's a golfer. You know, basketball. Michael Jordan on the Wizards. It's like, it usually just ends kind of weird.

Even Tom, if this is his last year, is still having some moments. Remember, the game winning drive against the Rams, game winning drive here against the Saints on Monday Night Football. But I think those type moments, even in the shittiest season, what feels like of his career,

and you could argue it, it probably is, in terms of their record, if they're a one and done team, it was just a bad season. Those couple moments, those three or four game winning drives, two or three,

however many it turns out at the end of the season, might be enough for Tom to go, you know what, this is why I'm not tapping out yet. I still got it. And you know, I'd go, I get it. Football season is underway. So now is the perfect time to download Fanduel, America's number one sportsbook.

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So sign up today with promo code Colin for your no sweat first bet. Make every moment more this season with FanDuel, official sportsbook partner of the NFL. 21 and over in president, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, Louisiana, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, or West Virginia. Must wager in designated offer market. Max bet $5. Restrictions apply. See full terms at sportsbook.fandul.com. Gambling problem, call 1-800 next step or text next step to 533-4-2-8-8-8-8-7-9-7-7. Or visit ccccdeggobler or visit fanduel.com slash RG, Colorado, Iowa, Indiana, Illinois, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, 18, 680,000. 777-7-7-70, Stop, Louisiana,

or 1-800-270-7-1-1-7 for confidential help, Michigan. 1-8778-8-N-Y, or text, Hope NY, 467-N-Y-N-8-8-8-9, Tennessee, 888-9-9, Tennessee, 1-800-5-2-4700. Wyoming, visit www,000-1-800-Gambler.net, West Virginia. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. others say it's unleashing human potential.

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

Yep, that's me. Clipper Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skis. hits, 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. Okay, I wanted to dive into some stuff that happened in the football world. And I think about, you know, one of the things that I miss, and I don't miss many things from working in the NFL,

first and foremost, winning is pretty cool. I mean, it's fun to win as an organization with all your friends in the organization, the coaching staff, the scouts, the players, the trainers. I mean, it's a pretty small-knit group. So when you do, it feels really good. Same goes for college. Like, winning is a powerful thing. It's very hard to do.

And when you do it, it's sweet to celebrate. Do not miss losing, whether it was at Freso State or with the Eagles, nothing was worse the next day after a loss. That sucks. Even though I think people like deep deep in the profession and lifers, they kind of like it in a weird way, like keep you on your toes. But I do miss in scouting when I did college football the curiosity that comes with getting to learn a player. And I think in any industry, being curious is the way you become successful. and obviously in football, your most important assets are the players. So getting to know them, doing the due diligence to learn about them in college,

and then keeping tabs on them throughout the pros is a process that I enjoyed. I definitely enjoyed the college stuff, getting to know. And I still to this day, I've always been fascinated by people's backgrounds, where they come from, what they're like, what makes them tick, who they're dating, just the way people are wired. I'm naturally a pretty curious person at a roommate in college whose girlfriend called me judging John

because I'm just always interested and you can say I'm judging but I'm just I'm trying to accumulate information on people or things it's why if you listen to this and you play the stock market like what are you always trying to do? Learn about companies figure out what can work and what can not work and in football getting to know players on the road

your college scouts is very important and especially when you're going to draft a guy relatively high, first, second, third round. You want to know about the good and definitely the bad. And I think when we look at some of the quarterback stuff that happened in recent, today Baker Mayfield was released. He technically, from all reports, asked for his release. He was never going to play again.

And, you know, I know someone very close to someone at Oklahoma. At Oklahoma, they loved him. They loved his chip on his shoulder. They loved, he got along great with his teammates. honestly the write-up for Baker Mayfield coming out of college from Oklahoma was fantastic around that program what he meant to them on the field what he meant to them off the field the heartbeat of the organization like he was very very impressive but I'll give coward credit on this he had some off-the-field issues remember the one time he had the issue at Kansas

then he had the thing at Arkansas it didn't bother me that much now I come from Pat Hill and Andy Reid we might be a little more liberal when it comes to off-the-field the field issue. The reason it didn't bother me that much, I thought he could play. I thought he was going to be the next Drew Breeze. And it turns out, I was checking his numbers today because obviously there's a lot of conversation about should Kyle Shanahan claim Baker Mayfield. Obviously, Jimmy Garoppolo goes down. We'll get to him in a second. And my take is no. And I don't think my take right now recording this on Monday, I don't think Kyle's going to claim him. Strictly because he values character too much. And Baker's not a criminal. He's not like the worst guy in the world,

but he definitely has some character red flags. He has been an issue with some of his teammates. That's not even disputable. And as Doc Rivers once famously said, you better be better than your problems. And you would say right now, based on the way he definitely played this year, he was atrocious. Two years ago in Cleveland, they couldn't stand the guy. Now, you could say he was banged up and he was. But when he left, it wasn't like the guys pounded the table and said, you know, played hurt, we really missed them. Most guys did not defend them. They did not like him.

And when you're a quarterback, it really matters that guys like you. Look at Jimmy Garopla. The dude is injured all the time. And here's the thing as a scout, right? When you have a meeting and once Jimmy gets to the league, like his, when he's on the field, he's proven to be pretty good, right? He's not a top 10 quarterback and he's not even as good as the group of like cousins, Dak, Carr.

He's at the end of that group. but if your team's good and he's the quarterback, first and foremost, everyone on the team fucking loves the guy, and two, he can just, you know, steer the ship. Now, he might hit some rocks, but he's also gonna get you to land all the time. He is a pretty good, you know,

he can just get the ship going to where you needed to go. Can you do anything special? For the most part, no, but he's not gonna lose you games. Because when he started, he's like 42 and 19 as a starter for the 49ers. But here's a problem. And unlike character,

but it is kind of like character. Like with character, you never truly know. You go, well, this guy's really bad guy. This guy's gotten to a lot of trouble. Yeah, he's 21 years old. And you know the reality of human beings? Some of them never change. Some of them stay arrogant.

Some of them stay cocky. Some of them stay stubborn. Some of them are never open to help. And they just stay a bad guy. Like society. How many people did you know that you went to high school with or college with? You're like, you know, I was, I never really bived with that dude. I just, I didn't trust him.

I thought he was kind of, you know, shady. something sleazy about him I'd be the last guy I'd ever do business with and then he's just always in trouble or he's always struggling or he's always bouncing job the job or just he's always off we all know that guy and then you also know that guy's like god damn this guy started drinking when he was 12

guy was selling weed when he was 15 which ironically now used to when I was a kid if you wanted to buy some weed you had to go behind the McDonald's at about 10 o'clock at night in the dark in hand cash now it's like they just delivered to your house you give him a credit card times have changed so trust me I'm using that as a 1998 reference.

And now that guy is like, oh yeah, he's the CEO of the bank. You know, he pulls, I've heard close seven figures. Remember at the nicest country club? Actually, the president of the country club. Married with multiple kids. Very happy life. Doing well. It's like, damn, that's pretty impressive.

So you never know. Us guys, I can speak for guys. Obviously, women are much mature than us, for the most part, at a younger age. They're locked and loaded. They're just, they're at a higher level. There's no disputing that for when it comes to, the early and mid-20s. Not arguable.

But some guys are really mature. Some guys are very focused at like 18 years old. They know exactly what they're going to do locked and loaded. Most of us are not. And a lot of us, and I can speak, I think the majority of humans mature a lot in their 20s. And a lot of guys that become impressive that quote unquote, like remember when that guy used to cause hell?

Well, by the time he's 30, he's not doing that. He might be married, might be in a serious relationship, might have a real job, whatever. No different with players. Honey Badger got kicked off the team. Remember with LSU and everyone's like, God, this guy can't put down the weed, complete clown.

Then he became a team captain of three different teams, all one. Every single one of them became the heartbeat of those teams. I remember talking to my guys with the chiefs last year. They let him go because his play was diminishing. They loved the human being. He went to the Texans for one year, team captain. I mean, remember when he was on the Cardinals?

Bruce Arias, those guys swore by him. I think Larry Fitzgerald called that guy the heartbeat of the squad. So it's like you never know and that's the hard part about scouting and clearly Baker Mayfield like there's just a red flag, it's just off but his main problem is not any good at football he's not a good athlete

his arm doesn't look as good as it used to he's not very accurate and he turns the ball over all the time like Jimmy Garoppolo has some knocks right he's injured all the time that's the thing with injuries sometimes you get a guy you know this guy toward two ACLs in college and he never gets hurt again some guys are completely durable

then all of a sudden when they're 25 they start getting hurt all the time like the one thing with Jimmy Garof is pretty sure I don't know much about his collegiate injury history, but I'm pretty sure he was a pretty durable player. The moment he started playing in the NFL, when Tom Brady got suspended, second game of that season, he got injured. Jacoby Brissette played the next two games. The second year that he became the full-time starter for the 49ers, he tore his ACL in the third game. In 2020, he hurt his ankle.

In 2021, he had a thumb and a shoulder. This year, you know, they're saying it's a broken foot. I think information will come out that it's even worse than that. It's a name that you'll go, damn. He gets injured all the time. I don't know why. Why is he more brittle? Like, Patrick Mahomes, who's not the biggest guy in the world?

I see get bent over all sorts of stuff. Hops back up. And it's a hard part. That's definitely one thing I do not miss about being on the sideline as a scout in the game, at boxes, just like a guy goes down laying there. You're like, that sucks. He may never get up. And you don't know.

The thing with character, though, you can control. And I think a big reason why the chiefs have been so successful. Why I think the Niners are having success. I think the bills are built this way. I think the Eagles, a lot of high character guys. I'm not just talking like football character, very competitive. Good people. The majority of the NFL are good people that other people like.

Now, obviously, every individual might not be friends with everybody. But like, for the most part, people go, I like being around that guy. His teammates like being around that guy. The coaches like being around that guy. And for whatever reason, Baker Mayfield just doesn't have some of that. And then you get to a guy, Lamar Jackson, who now is injured as of recording this. I think he said it's week to week or day to day. Like John Harbaugh, kind of being weird.

We'll get to John Harbaugh here in a little bit. Lamar Jackson, who actually had a lot of questions about him as a player, and rightfully so. Inaccurate, would it translate? The character stuff, people love the guy. Come to the NFL, he's only doubled down on that. Everyone that's around Lamar Jackson swears by him. Teammates, coaches, people in the organization, people outside of the organization, he's one of the most popular players in the league.

He's everything you want to build a league around. Entertaining player, good guy, does all the right things. But I said this off-season, I thought he made a mistake. You know, like part of as a player, and I can't imagine being in your early to mid-20s and having the ability to negotiate all these contracts with several zeros on the end. whether you're making $5 million as a player or negotiating for $40 million a year. That is very difficult. That's hard to do the older you get.

And the older you get naturally, hopefully if things are going well, you keep negotiating contracts in your business, revenue keeps growing. And you get experience on how to deal with that. I can speak from my experience, started making once upon a time $20,000. And I remember thinking like, should I ask for more? What should I do? I mean, I wouldn't get out of bed for doing that for like a month. now, but like you just learn how to deal with different sums of money. One point in time,

$100 means a lot to you. Then by the time you're 50, hopefully a million dollars doesn't mean, you know, it just, it all depends on what you're doing, but you get experience on how to deal with that. You do not have the experience as a 23, 25, 27 year old football player on just like how to negotiate for yourself. So when you negotiate these contracts, it helps to have someone that knows what they're doing, whether that be a lawyer, whether that be an agent. However, Like, I'm in a business where I guess a lot of people have a, I don't have an agent. Like, if I had a question, there are a couple of people that deal with contracts, I would go to. A lawyer, a contract negotiator, but I don't need an agent.

Like, I don't give a fuck. I'm not going to pay that guy his point. So I understand players not wanting an agent. I completely get that. But you better have like a high-end lawyer, even if you're playing a flat fee that's cheaper to give you some advice. Like, hey, man, this is probably a pretty good deal. You should take it. You know, this is, this is, you're being compensated at a pretty high level.

And I get when emotions get involved with contracts. Last year you see Deshawn Watson that ran after every massage therapist in the state of Texas get $230 million. You saw Kyla Murray who people can't stand. His own building doesn't like him. Somehow they gave him $170 million guaranteed. You're sitting there a Lamar, you're like, I've won an MVP, I've had more success than these guys. I'm a good guy.

I deserve a ton more money than I'm being offered. And I understand being in that. vacuum. Someone has to be sitting next to you and be like, bro, take the 175 right now. This is life-changing money. You're not talking the difference between $7 million and $9 million. You're talking $150, $160 million. The other thing is you play a style that's very, very risky. Right? Like pocket quarterback, the NFL is risky to begin with. Whether you're a wide receiver, whether you're a safety, whether you're not offensive linemen, you can get hurt on any given play at any given moment.

Right? Durable players break legs. Non-durable players have freak things where people fall into them. From Trent Williams to Micah Parsons

to, you name it. Any player on any given snap can have their season ended. Anyone that's been watching football long enough has seen it all. From Jerry Rice to Tom Brady, we've seen the best players in the history of the league,

Steve Young, Michael Irvin, carried off in stretchers. Now the game's a little different now, but you get my point. Lamar, The moment, and I understand fighting for what you're worth, because deep down, even when you have a contract negotiator or an agent, the only person that cares about you to the deepest being is yourself. Because ultimately that agent or that lawyer is just getting some points off your deal.

Like, you truly care about your worth, which I respect. But when you did not sign the deal that they offered, which again is your prerogative, you gave them all the leverage when you decided to play. because your leverage would have been like, listen, I'm not playing a snap given the style in which we play and the style in which our offense is predicated off until we come to an agreement. And that would have put them against the wall. You actually bailed them out when you're like, you know what, we'll figure this out after the season. That's a no-brainer. Of course the Ravens are basically going to do, yeah, yeah, year by year, let's do it.

And now he's injured. Now, it might not be a serious injury, but it shows the risk of the style in which he plays. his leverage was when Levi-on-Bel did it, I thought it was moronic. And it turned out to be the dumbest thing he's ever done. Not take that second franchise tag. It cost him $15 million. The following year, he gets $27 million. But he actually had to subtract the money that he missed.

And then he was never the same taken off the year. It was a debacle. The Ravens were never going to let him sit out the year. Hell, I don't think they would have let him miss a game. They would up the offer by 15, 20 percent, surely. and he would be under contract and they wouldn't be worried, he wouldn't be worried,

and be in this position. And now the Ravens are just, like, something's off with that team and something's off with their offense, something's off just, they're not, even though they're eight and four, there's a difference eight and four, right? Like, you watch the Bengals,

that's an eight and four that's headed toward 12 or 13 wins. You watch the Ravens, you're like, I can see them win. Now their schedule's relatively easy, but it wouldn't shock me if they go two and three to end the season, and all of a sudden they're 10 and,

and hopefully to get in as the last wildcard. And I think it started with the way that everything was handled. I don't blame the Ravens for playing like that. I do blame Lamar for, it just, this was too risky. I'm all, I live my life based on risk. But there's a level of risk. Like, if you're sitting at the poker table and you've shown up to the blackjack table and you brought $1,000, and you turn that $1,500 into $2,500.

So all of a sudden you look at, down and you have $3,500 worth of chips. If you want to start placing $500, $600 a $1,000 a hand, I'd be like, whatever, man. It's like you've tripled your money. If you've turned that $1,000 into $75,000 over the course of a night and anyone that's been to Vegas has seen crazy things happen, like there comes to a point where it's like, yeah, man, might be time to step away. Like you 50x this bad boy.

And that's basically what Lamar did. He went from the 32nd pick. to a franchise quarterback, when franchise quarterbacks get $160, $170 million, guaranteed. Guaranteed. And he decided to like play it out. And I just, even if he's okay, which I'm hoping he is, I don't see the risk first of reward there. Because I don't think he's going to get that much more money.

People keep going like, what if he's, he's never hit free agency. He's, they're not going to let him walk. That would be the dump, if anything, they would franchise tag and trade him. but if someone did that, they would get several first round picks back. So he's not just like going to hit the open market. That's not the way it works. I just think this was very, very avoidable. I wanted to do a little something because, well, you know, financial times are a little harder.

But historically, right, bonus season is right now. So at your jobs, if you've done well toward the end of the fiscal year, you get a big bonus, right? Or just some sort of bonus if you have done well in your job. And we're also seeing, I just saw on my phone, the Wall Street Journal, a little app came on and said PepsiCo, who I recommend Pepsi, Pepsi buy my jet. I think that's the name of it, Netflix special, is pretty entertaining. I've watched a couple episodes, fascinating watch. Even though it's like, I'm starting to be more pro Pepsi as this thing goes. This guy's a pretty dead set on getting this jet for basically nothing.

But we can have that conversation at a different time, even though you kind of start out rooting for him and then it starts getting a little weird. but I recommend pretty good little documentary. I love Cindy Crawford growing up, by the way. She's, I mean, she was Tom Brady of models. That's for sure. But a lot of guys are getting laid off right now. And I don't root for anyone to lose their job. Even though I've said this over and over,

lost my job a couple times. Best thing that never happened to me. Typically, like, if they don't want you there, you don't want to be there. Let's go, I want to do a little exercise where I'm going to pick a player or a coach and basically say, does this guy deserve a bonus

or do you deserve to get laid off? and I'm going to start with, you could argue, this guy deserves the biggest bonus in the league based on what we thought and based on what he's produced. And he literally just threw a game-winning touchdown yesterday. Now it was against the Rams, but I would say Gino Smith,

based on the perception of Gino Smith, based on the perception of that team, he's 22 and 6 this year. And it's one thing, like you can box score, scout, whatever. Watch the guy play. He throws a beautiful ball. He's very in control. Speaking of that quarterback stuff earlier, you watch Gino talk, you watch him conduct himself.

He's a very, very impressive guy. And hearing players over the years talk about him, he's very well liked. And his physical attributes, like, he throws a beautiful ball. He's got a strong arm. And you get those two wide receivers, D.K. and Tyler Lockett kicking ass. Kenneth Walker got hurt yesterday. But Gino Smith has been, if you talk about a guy that just deserves a massive bonus, if this was corporate America, it'd be Gino Smith.

And if you talk about a guy that deserves to get laid off, I mean, this guy is officially an embarrassment. Brandon Staley, they're now 6 and 6. The Raiders, Josh McDaniel runs the flea flicker, which any kid that plays video games young, it's one of the coolest plays going, right? Josh McDaniels runs it every single week. Like, it's like one of their go-to plays, once a week.

And yesterday they hit it. Like, the car to Devante flea flicker is as easy of a flea flicker as you're ever going to see. Devante's in man coverage. He's like six, seven yards ahead of the corner, walks into the end zone. Then he high fives everybody. Brandon Staley is a defensive coach,

yet his defense blows. Absolutely blows. And then again, it sure feels like the chargers are trending to miss the playoffs. Now, they still have a chance. They still, you know, they play Miami this week,

Sunday night football big game. I just, I've been beating this drum from the beginning. I never saw it. I thought he had fraudulent characteristics the way he talked. I thought he was too much of a politician. And then I just watched his teams. He's a defensive coordinator,

calling a defensive place, and his defense is stink. The only reason the Chargers, they were what, 9 and 8 last year, they're 6 and 6th this year, so they're basically a 500 team in a year and a half since he's been the head of the coach. Even compete is the quarterback, and he has nothing to do with Justin Herbert. Absolutely nothing. So to me, if we were at Facebook or meta, as they call it,

Braden Staley would be my first call into the HR. And speaking of, and I've been hard on this team. But if you watched the highlights yesterday from Devante Adams, what he did, the Chargers, Devante Adams makes a ton of money. And he got traded for a first round pick. He's been one of the best wide receivers in the league for the last four or five years. But it's easy. Like, I've been impressed with Tyree Kill.

But his teen's been winning. It's been fun. And he's been kicking ass, and he's clearly their best player. But they're winning every week until last week. But they're 8 and 4. They're having a fantastic season. and Tyreeks getting a ton of credit. It's easy to be into it when things are going well.

The Raiders have been, they were 2 and 7. If you're 2 and 7 in the NFL, your season feels beyond over. Yet Devante Adams, every single week plays like he's still on the Packers, and they're playing for a Super Bowl. They're playing for the number one seat. And yesterday, at 4 and 7 against the Chargers, he approached that like they were 7 and 4. And that division game is the difference of making the playoffs and not.

He ends the game with like 8 catches, 177 yards, and multiple touchdowns. statistically, Devante Adams, like to me, Devante Adams and Tyree Kill are lock all pros. But from an I-test standpoint, from a statistical standpoint, kicking the shit out of every DB they play. And Devante Adams makes a ton of money. Same with Tyreek. Those guys have been worth everything and more bonus territory for me, for sure.

Layoff. Speaking of the Lamar Jackson situation, like something's off with the Ravens. and I just, you know, I wouldn't wish upon my worst enemy to watch that 10 to 9 win against the Broncos. Like, we all agree.

Nathaniel Hackett's getting fired. Like, it's over. He's a dead man walking. Their pick is going to Seattle, which right now is scheduled to be the fourth pick in the draft, and everyone just openly talks. He's one and done. It's over.

He'll never be a head coach again. But like John Harbaugh, I pick them to go like 13 or 14 weeks, wins. I thought they were going to be a powerhouse team. And even before Lamar got banged up, you watch him, you go, what is missing here? Why are you struggling to win games on a weekly basis? You just lost to the Jags, who the Lions beat the living crap out of. How does this happen? What is wrong with your team? And I still think the Ravens are going to make the playoffs. They should. Their schedule plays out that way. They play the Steelers this week who are actually trending in a pretty

positive direction. But I just wonder, like, is something off? Are we missing something? Now, I don't think John Harbaugh will get fired. But it's something to keep an eye on. That one's really weird. And just the biggest WTF game, a lot of people wanted to give to a major flowers.

Give him a big bonus. Give him the potential MVP. Statistically, he had a solid season. And they, the last several weeks, had beat up on some terrible teams, right? The Texans, the Browns. I watched them against the 49ers, who statistically are the best defense in the league.

And he got worked. And he was awful. He was all over the map. He was struggling to hit water if he was in the boat in the middle of the ocean. Now, he did hit a couple plays late, but for the most part, to an 18 to 33,

he was way worse than those numbers. He was atrocious. And I do think something to keep an eye on. This week they're playing a bad defense in the Chargers. He still plays the Bills, still plays the Patriots, who are a good defense. Still plays the Jets. There's a lot of pressure now on this team, right? They're right on the cuss of making the playoffs.

I said the other day, I don't remember the Dolphins making the playoffs since Tony Sprano. They made it in 2016. Adam Gase. Sorry, I forgot. That was the game against the Steelers. I actually remember now because I put money on them. They did not cover. They got destroyed in that game. Jarvis Landrieu is on that team. I think they had a, was Jha Jai on that team?

They had some players, but it did not go well for me as a gambler. But Tua, like, I would be a little nervous as we get into nut cutting time of the season. And you start playing in these outdoor games. San Francisco, they play in Santa Clara. I mean, as cold as it gets there is like 55 degrees. And it definitely was not 55 degrees. That was not Buffalo. That was not Kansas City.

That was not New England in December. That was borderline Miami in December. So if you're not going to excel in that game from an accuracy standpoint, I don't feel great about you moving forward. Do you know who showed up? Tyreek showed up. Jalen Phillips showed up. Bradley Chub was good in that game.

Their defense was actually pretty good in that game. Tua was atrocious. Tua, I haven't looked throughout the league. I'm sure the Texans quarterback play was the worst yesterday. They had to be right up there as the worst quarterback play in the league. And two admitted it. And he was limping after the game. He was getting peppered.

But you're going to get hit. Like moving forward, it's cold. Your offensive lines banged up. You're missing your attack. I mean, Austin Jackson's now on Injure Reserve. You just had to sign, I think Eric Fisher today. Like, you got some problems. And I don't know, man.

I wouldn't say, I wouldn't pick Miami to miss the playoffs. But if you tell me Miami misses the playoffs, I do think it's believable at this point. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman.

documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Cliver Taylor the 4th.

You might have seen the skits, 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.

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Little Middlekopf mailbag at John Middlecough is the Instagram, fire in those DMs. Very easy to do. Again, it's just my name at John Middlkoff, fire in those DMs, get your question answered here on the show. Okay, let's start with Paul. I was never as high on Russell Wilson as Colin from early on, but I'd agree that based on Russell's time in Seattle, he probably earned himself a spot in Canton. However, if he continues to be historically bad for the rest of his contract in Denver, do you think there's a chance he could play his way out of the Hall of Fame?

Is there any precedent for that? Anyone who's established Hall of Fame credentials, but then bombed and taken themselves out of likely election? I'm not talking about on the field performance, not Barry Bonds or Pete Rose type.

This guy's from Flagstaff, Arizona. Paul, nice to meet you on Instagram. I'd have to think that'd be probably a good question for Belichick. What I think's rare is he's young. Right?

So a lot of times, like it was ugly for Rothesberger at the end. But like, no one's really going to remember that, right? That last year for Peyton Manning, even though they ironically won the Super Bowl, he was terrible, but who cares? Like, it just ended after that year. Like, what if Russell plays five years

and it looks like this? Now, in a couple years, even regardless of what they're paying him, they would cut him or they would bench him. But, like, that's not good. He's not going to go away. he's not 38 years old like in theory

33 34 35 36 he's got some years so a lot of times with players once they fall off a cliff they go away I just don't think

Russell's gonna go away and if it stays bad which feels crazy like he's really just gonna suck this bad I don't know what you'd say like yeah I'll just get it back like who's gonna coach them next year

he's gonna be a one and done coach who's gonna accept that job Sean Payton's not. Some young coach like Iber Fluse or like you know, Kevin O'Connell because you don't turn down NFL jobs but what if they can't fix him?

What if he's not fixable? I'd be nervous. So yes, I would say play him Saturday out of the Hall of Fame. I just think what you do recently when you do it for a long time is what you remember. Like Odell's been weird

now for a while. And what do we think? We think he's kind of weird. Right? I mean, it's like, part of, you know, when you kick ass, even Tom Brady, like, if it's just over after this year, like, who cares? If Tom Brady was bad for like five or six years, yeah. Willie Mays played for the Mets for one season. Right? So if he does this for four or five years, I don't think it's out of the realm of possibility.

Go Stangs, love your content brother, big fan, keep crushing. I appreciate it. I think he means the Cal Poly Mustangs. Be the home of John Madden, no big deal. Just donated about $30 million, keeping our program rolling. The coach at Cal Poly, Bo Baldwin,

was the head coach, just quit to go be the offensive coordinator or Arizona State. It's crazy how much more money you can make as a coordinator now in Power 5. Immediately pays a million dollars. I would guess Cal Poly was paying him 400 grand, 500 grand.

you double your money. And it's cheaper to live here in Scottsdale or Tempe than it is in San Luis Obispo. So can we fire Brandon Staley of the Chargers now? Let me know. Like, listen, I'm not trying to toot my own horn. I've been wrong before. But we got to give,

I'm going to take a little bit of a victory lap. I said it early on. I said something was off. And I can judge, I can't judge success or failure off a press conference. Like everyone's press conferences are different, right? Check says nothing. Pete Carroll smiles.

Kyle and Sean McVeyer are candid. Every guy, Sean Payton can own the room. Your press conference does not determine whether you're going to win a Super Bowl or make the playoffs. But I lived in California long enough to sniff out a phony. And just watching that, and it was like, what is up with this dude?

And I remember texting someone that had worked with him going, yeah, I'm not a huge fan. And I don't think he doesn't know football, but being the head coach. But yeah, he had a lot of success for one season as the defensive coordinator. When Sean McVeigh was in charge, right?

He just got to just deal with the defense, deal with the scheme. He didn't have to worry about cutting a guy or demoting a guy. Like, that's Sean's choice. He just coached 35, not even 35, 28 guys and did a pretty good job.

They also had Aaron Donald and Jalen Ramsey in their primes. He's a, terrible head coach, and his defense is atrocious. And he's just so fake. Maybe sometimes I think fake people, are they actually just, that's who they actually are? And they're just pretending to be something they're not. Or excuse me, not pretending.

That's just, they're actually just this phony. Or do they say that? And then when the cameras go off and they're behind the scenes, when I think of a phony, I think the moment the cameras go off, the moment the lights go off, and they're talking to their wife, they're talking to their best friend, they talk completely different. I talk the same everywhere I go. Most people I know are pretty consistent.

Those are the type people that I like. Those are the type people that resonate with me. When I think you're just saying one thing and doing another, I despise those people. Regarding Fresno State, don't you think Tedford would be a great fit for DJ Unglele? DJ is apparently in the transfer portal, and it seems like Tedford would be able to maximize his potential,

considering what he's done with quarterbacks in the past, including Aaron Rogers and most recently Jake Hanner. Well, yeah, I mean, I think Jeff Tedford would take DJ Ungle in a heartbeat. I have a hard time seeing DJ going from Clemson to Fresno State. Mario Cristobal came up second at Oregon recruiting him. Clearly, Oregon has issues. Now, he's played him. You know, DJ is not what we thought he would be, but does that make some sense at Miami?

I think, think about DJ, who had a better starting career than Spencer Rattler. Spencer Rattler got an SEC job. Now, you could say that Beamer was with him at Oklahoma, took him to South Carolina. You know, could Virginia take him? Could Oklahoma take him? I just think that I'd be shocked if he goes to a non-power five team. I'd honestly be shocked if he doesn't go to like a top probably, you know, 30 school.

And when I say that, I mean like some of the better SEC schools, some of the better Big 12 schools, he's also going to get paid. I mean, that's part of this transfer portal. Everyone enters the transfer portal. They're basically just seeing who will pay them. And I had a buddy who's a GM of a college team. And basically every time a starter enters the transfer portal,

their recruiting service, you know, like their team, writes the guy up. So you evaluate the guy like you would as a scout in the NFL. And, you know, all these quarterbacks going, like, not everyone's going to have a seat at the table. there are only so many there are only so many guys that can be a starting quarterback Love the show

Discovered you through Colin and I've been listening for a few months I think it's a little disrespectful to call Austin Echler just a scat back he leaves the league in touchdowns over the past two years and is a top 10 back

I think that's fair if I did call him a scatback I'm an Austin Echler fan when I say like let's talk about the top four or five running backs right Nick Chubb, Sequin Barclay, what Josh Jacobs is doing. These guys are true between the tackles.

You can ride the guy. To me, Austin Echler, he's a great receiving back. He's fantastic, I would say, just screenbacks. He would be, you know who would love him? Andy Reid. Now, he's a really good, he's a winning player. Is he a true, are you making the playoffs, riding him? I don't know.

you know, I hear he scores a lot of touchdowns, but Justin Herbert throws him the ball a lot. How many of those touchdowns, maybe I'm speaking out of turn here, but might as well bring up his stats. How many of those are receiving touchdowns? Is it all rushing touchdowns? Because, and he's a fantastic story, right?

Undrafted free agent. He went to Western Colorado. Like, I'm a fan. I'm not some hater. So Austin Echler has 28 receiving touchdowns. has he had 8 and 19, 2 and 20, so that's 10. He has 24 touchdowns the last four years in the past game. And in the run, he has more career receiving touchdowns than he does rushing touchdowns.

So, you know, I'm not going to take, I told you so on that one, but I think it's fair. And the last, how many, you know, 60 catches last year, 70 catches this year, 21. He's going to get over 70 catches this year. So he's going to have, in the last two seasons, 160 catches. He's never run for over 1,000 yards. So I, no, I feel pretty good about where I stand. The ITAS matches the statistics. Again, really good player.

But is he a true every downback? I don't know if that's what he's most equipped to do. Sorry for the long question. Feel free to chop it up for the pot. you want. The Pat's Bill's Thursday night made it very obvious what everyone, including you, was saying before the season. Patrician judged to run the offense is a colossal mistake. It's actually impressive they won as many games being so anemic on offense. Well, I mean, like last year, they're built on running the football and definitely playing defense and special teams. So,

and they have the greatest coach of all time. You know, they're six and six. I just think Bill's floor is so high, but I hear what you're saying. Oh, let me finish this question. Now they're wasting time on a first round rookie quarterback. quarterback deal and potentially ruining his development. If you plug Mac Jones and the 49ers offense, you could probably win a playoff game, but we aren't going to know for sure because he's having to take intentional grounding penalties at his own one-yard line to avoid taking a safety. If you're Robert Kraft, do you read Bill the Riot Act?

What the hell do you do? You know, I don't know. It's a tough one. Is Robert Kraft really telling Bill Belichick what to do football-wise? I just, I doubt it at this point in time. Now, the other thing is, like, Robert's getting old. How many more seasons? Robert just already won six Super Bowels.

Roberts football life the last two decades has been pretty incredible. Now there is some buzz about Tom Brady returning. I listened to Bill Simmons podcast last week. They talked about it. It was kind of on the internet streets. Not inconceivable. I'm recording this before the Monday night game. But regardless, like Tampa's a one-and-done playoff team,

assuming they make the playoffs. I could see that. Tom going home. I have a question for the mailbag. about Kingsbury. A few years back, he was on Flying Coach with Shrager and McVeigh. On the podcast, Kingsbury said that before a game against the Rams, he was

scrambling to find a ticket for a model friend of his he was taking to the game. This, for me, instantly was a red flag, but is something that is absolutely normal for a coach to do. But is something like this absolutely normal for a coach to do? Well, yeah, I think a lot of coaches might

on game day be scrambling for a cousin, you know, maybe, their dad decides to come to a game, a college roommate, a high school friend. I don't think it's abnormal to try to find a ticket through either the other team or your own team for someone in your life. I would say that is not abnormal. What makes it abnormal for Kingsbury is the women he's bringing to the game, for the most part, are better looking than anyone else in the league. At coach, besides like McVeigh. Part of it, he's single, he's good looking.

I'm not saying the coaches, like players, don't have... you know, good-looking wives or girlfriends on the side, but I think it's more polarizing. I stumbled upon Kingsbury's girlfriend on Instagram. She's pretty good-looking, and she does some model Instagram influencing. It's clearly his house. And my first reaction was like,

is this a good look? And it's like, why? Because I'm judging him because he's got some 28-year-old bombshell that he's dating. Like most coaches in the NFL, if they could, probably would love to take this girl out. They just couldn't, the single ones. wouldn't get a date with this girl. So is it that abnormal? Like she's an Instagram

influencer. That's the industry. Would it be that much different if she was a real estate agent? Like she's just taking Instagram influencing picks in tight clothing at his house. Ideally, if you were an owner or you were a GM, would you like your coach to just be stable and married? But if Cliff Kingsbury was married, he'd have some smokeshow wife. And she might be an Instagram influencer. So I think we judge him a little more harshly because the girls he's with don't look like other girls that coaches are dating. Even though I met Ed O'Geron at the Super Bowl party and he was dating a smoke show. So it doesn't bother me at all.

I judge Cliff Kingsbury because I don't think he's a super buttoned up coach and I think his offense is pretty soft. And I think he believed in Kyler Murray, which I don't know how he did. Do you think the 49ers were Target Baker or any other free agent quarterback with the loss of Jimmy G or they'll stick it out with Purdy? I would expect them to stick it out with Purdy. I don't think they will claim

Baker Mayfield. I only come in the mailbag when the Raiders win, but thoughts on them getting back to 500 heading into the Steelers game and setting up a massive game against your Niners.

Are the boys alive? We're just dead beating up on shitty teams. Like I said earlier, Devante is playing as well as any player in the league. I thought Derek was really good against the Chargers. Josh Jacobs has been phenomenal.

They feel like they got some mojo. Now they play Thursday night game against the Rams. all of a sudden you're six and seven. Then you get a long week for the Patriots. It's not inconceivable if you get to seven and seven. Then I think you play the dolphins. No, maybe you don't.

You play someone else after the Patriots. Then you get the Niners. I think you get to seven and seven. If you get to seven and seven after being two and seven, that's impressive. You definitely have high-end talent. Star running back, star wide receiver, really good quarterback,

star pass rusher. So I would be bullish. Gotta beat the Rams. Interesting take on Coach Prime to see you. I wonder how much having his son play quarterback there affected his decision to come. As a CU grad, I'm excited. Yeah, I mean, I think

I've never watched Jackson State play. I said it the other night. Just like no one has. You haven't, I haven't. None of us have. So how good he is as an in-game coach or how good his son is as a player, I have no clue.

We're about to find out. Like, you play Washington, you play Oregon, you play Utah, you play USC, like these are real top 20 teams with NFL guys everywhere. Is Dion Sanders gonna make it? When I say make it,

like win nine games, one day at Colorado, I got no clue. I would probably bet against it because of the uphill battle, but also the transfer portal, maybe I would be ignorant, naive. He might just have so much talent

it might not matter. But here's what I know. I'm gonna be fascinated to watch. And here's the thing about, Boulder. It's basically like a colder version of Berkeley. It's a very hippy PC town. You know what Dion Sanders isn't that. Deon Sanders is going to make a lot of people uncomfortable and I'm here for that. I can't wait to watch him have just kind of people on the edge of their fucking seats. And Dion Sanders is going to bring an edge there. He's going to make everyone uncomfortable the way he does

things. He doesn't give a shit about offending everyone, whether it be players, people around town. I can't wait. I am. I am. I. I am. I. I. I am. I. I. I. I. I am. I am. This is going to be one of the more fascinating hires of my life. But I can't pretend to tell you. I think he's not a coordinator. He's a motivation guy and a recruiter. Well, that can work. To me, his coordinators are going to matter.

He hired a defensive coordinator from Alabama, who his offensive coordinator is going to matter, and how good his son is. I can't. I'm about to find out. They open up in Nebraska, and then I think they play like Minnesota. Obviously, they play a tough...

The Pact 12 was pretty good this year. Hell, like Washington State's pretty good. You know, Arizona, you know, was making strides. Arizona State should be much better with the real coaching staff. Okay, last question. Hey, dude, Kansas City fan and semi-ruff state of mind. Kansas City, KC, can beat Cincinnati, right? They've had an opportunity to win all three games and continue to make crucial mistakes.

Is Cincinnati just our kryptonite? Are they actually doing something to cause our mistakes? Well, I think the Travis Kelsey play is somewhat freakish, right? Anytime a fumble like that happens when you're trying to push a pile, like I'll give you somewhat of the benefit of the doubt. Now, you're not going to, you haven't really covered Jamar Chase. The good thing is no one really does. You just, you know, I would say you would take your chances.

You're going to have to outscore him. That's one thing, right? I mean, you lost the game 27, 24. I think the Chiefs go into most games thinking they get to 30 points. You can 30 points you win the game. They had their opportunities. They didn't take advantage of it.

Now, I think Cincinnati could probably say the same thing. I looked over one time at the TV and all of a sudden the ball bounces off Boyd's face mask. You could do it have walked right in the end zone. Joe Burroughs like, oh my, how do you, what are we doing? So I just think Cincinnati's good. I said this on Saturday, or I guess Sunday night. I don't know if Burroughs quite Mahomes.

But the gap there is not very big. He is him, Alan Mahomes. And when he play those guys, like, when Elway plays Marino or Montana or Brady plays Manning, you know, it's like anything can happen. Well, Rogers, like the other guy is good enough. If he has his best game, you might lose. Great offense historically beats good defense

with an all-time great quarterback if his team's really good. And one thing Joe Burrow has is like really good wide receivers. And we've seen them. at LSU and now in the pros when he's on his team is tough to beat why? Because he is going to be right there with Mahomes you would say every game Mahomes has played in his prime now the last several years

he's been the best player on the field there's only been a small handful of guys and Aaron Rogers who the one year they missed because Rogers was missing because of the vid Josh Allen and probably Burrough that could just be like I can be every bit of your equal and when that's the case like that That is just what Cincinnati has.

The other thing is they're a cold weather team too. They play in a cold weather division. One of your big advantages is like it's loud, it's cold, well, they play at Pittsburgh. They play at Baltimore. Like they, you know, Cleveland has been good. Like these guys have been used to just go into some tough environments so they can come into Kansas City and not be blown away. And they have like Ohio people love football. And their home field advantage, like that place is loud.

It's old, it's shitty old stadium, but like people in Ohio love football. and I just think that you watch it's a tough place to play and their team is good they're well coached not necessarily Zach Taylor but it doesn't necessarily matter because their offense is so good

defensively they're just physical team I still like you in a playoff game but I think here's the one thing we have to come to a realization with Kansas City there are two teams that I think their players have to acknowledge

right they play the Ravens they play whoever they're going to go, we're going to beat this team. And that's their mindset. When they play the bills and they play Cincinnati getting ready that week for a playoff game, they have to acknowledge if we don't play good football, we will lose.

We will lose the game. I think that's healthy. That's good. And I think now they have that. There is no excuse to playoff game. If you play your best and get beat, sometimes the other teams is better. But there's no like laying an egg

or not being ready. Not that Andy's team for the most part are always ready, but like his team now knows. We got to fucking lock in against these guys. Because if we don't, they will beat us. They beat us three times in a row. And all the games looked a little different. That game yesterday was, I really, really enjoyed it.

Appreciate everyone listening. Share it with your friends. Subscribe to the podcast. Subscribe to the volume YouTube channel. And we will talk soon. Peace. The volume. Another podcast from some SNL, late-night comedy guy,

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