The Herd with Colin Cowherd - 3 and Out - Browns Still Off; Steelers' Fitzpatrick Reach; Mahomes/Steph Curry Comp; Old QB Cliff; Julio's Outlier Deal; Week 2 Notes
Episode Date: September 17, 2019In this episode, Middlekauff looks at the Browns' lackluster MNF win over the Jets, why it's clear that Freddie Kitchens is a liability, why the Steelers' trading a 1st rounder for DB Minkah Fitzpatri...ck to Miami could backfire big-time, why the Patrick Mahomes/Steph Curry comparison is more accurate than ever, why Brees and Big Ben getting injured is the norm compared to Brady, why Julio Jones' new deal won't set a trend for more NBA type deals, his notes from Week 2, and 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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What is going on, everybody, three and out podcast.
That's the show.
John Middlough, that's me.
I know we get a lot of new listeners coming from Collins' podcast.
I appreciate everyone listening.
The numbers are going up.
And I just can't thank everyone enough for supporting and listen to the podcast.
And I enjoy doing it.
It's why I wait to record the podcast until after the Monday night game and after the Thursday night game.
Though I may cheat a little and record some during the day.
day. But when you do that, like today, and you do segments on, would you trade for Mink of Fitzpatrick,
you know, Jalen Ramsey drama, you get traded during the game. So luckily, you can press
delete and re-record a segment. So we'll dive into that, the Mink of Fitzpatrick trade.
And ultimately, while I think it's a little reckless by the Steelers, you know, if I was, my days
of being a fan are over, but, and really, you're just kind of a fan of where you're born and how
you grow up, right?
You know, if you're born in the Bay Area, you're probably going to like the Niners.
If you're born in Texas, you're probably going to like the Cowboys.
It would be pretty cool to be a Steeler fan, just because they carry themselves like winners.
So we'll dive into that.
We'll dive into Jalen Ramsey.
Mahomes, people have been using this Warriors comparison for a while.
I'll tell you why him, if, you know, he's a front runner right now to win an MVP back-to-back years,
and that would make the comparison to Steph even that much truer.
Everyone's making a big deal over Breeze and Rothesberger.
I mean, as they should.
I mean, those guys are out and big-time play.
but they're old.
And I think sometimes we just count,
these guys are ancient.
I mean, Breeze is 40 years old.
40 years old.
I get it was a freak injury,
but I think we've lost a little touch.
And part of it's Brady and even Adam Venetary
that the Colts talked out of retiring.
You know, Brady's 42, Vinatari's 46.
Like, that is not normal.
We've kind of jumped the shark
with these old guys playing a young man's sport.
And Julio Jones, a lot of people talked about
how Julio Jones contract would change the NFL.
I got news for everyone.
There's only one Julio Jones.
And just Kirk Cousins, he's been a disaster.
Then I'll dive into just some things that I saw around the league on Sunday.
I just picked out like five or six things that kind of fire me up or excite me
or maybe places I was wrong, things that I'm excited to keep on watching.
And just little things I picked up around the league.
And then like always, Middlecough Mailbag, at John Middlecough is my Instagram.
handle and we open it to you guys.
So you slide up in the Instagram, the DMs, and I answer your questions here.
Really from this Monday night football game, I guess starting with the Browns, they don't
look right to me.
You know, I mean, they are a team just loaded with talent.
There is no disputing just the talent on the squad.
Odell Beckham's a freak.
I mean, it's literally highway robbery that they got him for pick 17, some late third
round pick and a box safety.
Like Dave Gettleman, you're an idiot.
Like, that's the easiest trade Dorsey will ever make.
Miles Garrett is a freak show, but he just commits a ton of penalties,
and he's a little reckless out there.
But there's no disputing their talent.
Offensive weapons all over the place.
Baker, to me, feels a little off.
And, you know, sometimes when you just talk as much as him,
everyone's going to be out to get you one.
And two, this league's really hard.
You know, you get so many new wrinkles.
It's just difficult to play in the NFL.
So when you're just to pump your chest quarterback before you've ever done anything, you know,
you're going to put yourself in tough positions.
The NFL is hard enough to begin with.
And I like his brash and cockiness.
If you got it, flaunt it, I'm never, be who you are.
I'm a big believer in that.
Like, don't be fraudulent.
I think it's why traditional media is dying so much because of how fake everyone is on TV.
And I think there's a lot of people, you know, in this day and age,
I think it's a big reason why bar stool is crushing it.
I mean, I've been able to do my own thing.
I'm just being myself.
I despise being fake for the camera.
And that's what I do respect about Baker.
But I also think you have to be smart about it.
And at the end of the day, in football, more than any other sport,
your head coach has such a big impact on the outcome of every game, of your season, of the team.
This isn't baseball where the GM runs it.
This isn't basketball where LeBron James could carry me or you to an NBA championship if we were the coach.
I just don't see it with Freddie Kitchens, man.
I just don't.
And I think the downfall of this Browns team, and they got some flaws, right?
Their offensive line is a little bit of a question mark.
But there's no disputing the talent.
They're really, they have high-end talent at several positions.
I just don't see it with the head coach.
And we know they have a big ego GM.
Their schedules gets tough.
I still think they'll be compete, you know, for a playoff spot.
But the more you watch them, I start to wonder, like, by no means are they some lock playoff team?
By no means, are they some lock 9 and 17?
Like, they're going to have to play well to get the nine wins.
I think most of us thought before the season, like, yeah, they're going to,
there'll be a 9, 10 win season.
Two games in, it's going to be a major work in progress for a head coach that's never proved a damn thing.
I mean, he's been a head coach now, what, two games?
he hadn't even called
he had never been a play caller at this time
a year ago. He was still like a month
away from that. Think about that.
And then the Jets, I mean, I guess God just doesn't want
Jets fans to have good things.
You know, the quarterback's quarantined at home.
Trevor Simeon looks like his ankle gets broken.
As a buddy in the league texts me
who's been around Gace, he's like, well,
Gase doesn't handle adversity well,
and you can see it on his face, and it's a guy that's at the office
24-7, like Adam,
This is why I could never be a coach.
How could you show up to the office tomorrow at 5.30 or 6 in the morning and try to get ready?
The Jets play the New England Patriots this week.
I think someone sent me a text.
They were an 18.5 point underdog.
They're probably going to start Luke Falk,
who had never been active for an NFL game until the night.
Listen, I'm not the biggest levy on Bell fan the way he handled everything last year,
but he is a star player.
He is a baller.
And it sucks for him.
So it's like, yeah, you gave up 14 and a half.
million and you got your $27 million this year
for over two years.
You got a two-year $27 million contract.
I know the internet says one thing.
That's the true numbers. Two years, $27 million
to be on a team that's probably
going to win three or four years games.
And Joe Douglas took this job.
It's going to be a challenge.
Now that Donald's out for the foreseeable future,
the Jets aren't going to win many games.
And clearly the Patriots are the cream of the crop
in their division and the bills who all
touch on later are much better,
especially now that Josh Allen,
is getting more and more reps.
They're just better coached.
Sean McDermott's better than Adam Gase.
They're coaching staff.
They're toughness.
They're just more of a unit.
I mean, here's one issue with the Jets.
Three or four days ago when Greg Williams was talking all that smack about O'Dell
Beckham, which one, it's like Greg, I was hard on the Browns Week 1,
but if you watch the game, Odell looked fantastic.
And as you saw tonight, like, Odell's a baller.
He's an elite talent.
Now, is he overrated in the sense that he hasn't proved it for the last four or five years
consistently, for sure?
But a big reason, two big reasons.
One, he's been heard.
And two, he played with Eli Freak and Manning and the Giants' worst office of line like in the league.
So his talent is special.
And when he's on the field, if you give him a capable quarterback, lights out.
He's proven that over and over and over.
He's a little bit of a diva.
Well, I got news for you.
When you're good enough, you can act like a diva.
There's a reason 10s can be a little high maintenance.
If you're high maintenance, when you're a 4, you might not get a date.
but, you know, if you're a nine or a ten,
you can be a little bit of a pain,
and people deal with you.
That goes for guys and girls.
You know, I mean, Brad Pitt or whatever might be high-maintenance.
It was not being discriminatory here.
But at the end of the day, like Greg Williams,
mouthing off about Odell Beckham Jr.,
the Jets had to take it down from their website.
They wiped the slate clean of that.
You can't even find it unless someone tweeted it out
or copied it live when he was at the podium.
Why? Because it's just stupid.
It was moronic to say that.
One, Greg, you're not the head coach.
You don't get to set the message like that about another team's player.
But two, his ego's so big, he's a little bit out of control, and your team's not very good.
So why would you mouth off?
It was stupid at the time, even dumber now.
And the Jets are just, and this is a long year.
So Joe Douglas, I know he got $4 million a year and six-year contract.
He got him and Adam Gase have made generational money.
Adam Gase is a multimillionaire.
his kids, kids won't need to worry about cash. Same with Joe Douglas now.
But their life sucks. I mean, it really does.
These next three or four months are just awful.
So the money is great. And it's, I mean, it's really fantastic. All of us would love to have that.
I mean, there might be some millionaires. Listen to this.
But we'd like that money. But it's being on a team that's going to win three or four.
That's a long, long season. So I hope they're in for this one.
I mean, Joe Douglas, now you got a huge race.
But the Eagles wasn't a pretty good gig.
Yeah.
Now, Adam Gage didn't have another job.
But he also didn't sign up for this thing when he thought Sam Darnold,
right, at the time, he didn't know Sam Darnold was going to get mononucleosis heading into week two.
You know, I guess, you just can't make out with any random chicks anymore without getting...
Last night, a blown call changed a game.
This morning, the internet lost its mind.
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Every episode, we're cutting through the noise,
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A little mono in New York City, but overall,
just a terrible Monday Night football game.
No other way around it.
And God, this Monday night football crew,
as a buddy in the NFL text me,
They wouldn't even be a top five college crew on ESPN.
I started thinking about it.
I'm like, you're right.
I mean, Tessator acts like it's every play's the last play of the Super Bowl.
Like Joe, not every play is a walk-off grand slam in the World Series, buddy.
Just take a deep breath.
And I don't think Bougar has any clue what's going on.
I really don't.
It's just, and I'm not trying to, that job's hard.
I could never be a play-by-play guy.
I have no ambition to be an analyst.
I wouldn't want to do it.
I couldn't do. I don't know enough football.
But I do know as a consumer.
I just like to be entertained.
And we know what good is and we know what bad is.
And that Monday night football broadcast is like, you know,
nails on a chalkboard.
It is cringe-worthy.
It really is.
And I've tried to be open-minded.
Like, John, don't be so negative.
It's bad.
It's, this is Monday night football.
Millions of people watching us.
And they're forcing us to watch that crap.
I feel for everyone that,
powered through it today.
I try to hit mute,
but I like to hear what's going on.
That was probably the highlight
of just how terrible they are.
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Let's talk about players, trades.
and everything's going on.
One, I think there's somewhat of an overreaction going on right now in social media.
The NFL's about player empowerment.
Have you guys not followed pro sports?
The NFL is no different in the NBA or Major League Baseball.
Players throughout the history of time have demanded trades, have asked for trades,
new administrations have come into buildings and had fire sales.
Like, this is not new.
So Jalen Ramsey has asked for a trade.
everyone's like, this is the time of player empowerment.
No, it's not.
The three guys drafted above Jaylon Ramsey in his draft, right, were Carson Wentz,
Jared Goff, well, they went vice versa, right?
Jared went one, Carson Wentz, went two, Joey Bosa went three, and Zique went four.
Well, two of those guys have got historic amounts of money in the two quarterbacks.
Zeke got broken off, and clearly Joey Bosa will probably at the end of this season.
So Jalen, you know, is mad, partly he probably hates his coach, doesn't want to be there anymore,
but also he knows that they're not going to pay him.
So he's like, guys, I want out.
Now he's yelling at his coach, there's probably more to it, but it's over money.
So he demands a trade, he's not the first player to demand a trade, and he sure as hell won't be the last.
So when you read this, like, it is time, and I see guys, like, smart guys, Warren Sharp, people writing like,
player empowerment era.
No, he's just, he's an elite player, he wants a trade, it's really not that weird.
it's over money. Did Khalil Mack really want to leave Oakland? No, he wanted his money. So if you weren't
going to pay him, someone was. And until, you know, that's how he ended up in Chicago. Now, again,
more variables. Gruden didn't want to pay him. Maybe he did. Mark Davis broke. Might not have had
the cash. Who knows? A lot more to it. But at the end of the day, you know, money talks, everything else
walks. So it always comes down to money. And I think Jalen Ramsey, one, he didn't want to show up to
camp without a new contract, did kind of reluctantly, remember, shows up in a Brinks truck,
and now he's fighting with his coaches. A lot of stuff's probably carrying over based on the
contract. I think it's based on the contract. You can say, well, they're making him play zone,
he wants to play man, all that BS. Great, he's an elite player. He wants his money.
Mika Fitzpatrick traded for a first round pick for Pittsburgh. Let me say this.
I admire organizations like the Steelers. They carry themselves like winners. They are
winners. They're one of the standards, not just in football, but in pro sports. They don't
worry about the draft. They would rather eat their own puke than say the word tank. They don't
think like that. So if you're a Steelers fan, I don't know why I said eat your own puke. I just
try to think of something that you could visualize that would make you really gross. Because
I think the word thrown around tanking, especially with the youth on social media, now I'm making
myself sound old. Listen, I understand tanking, especially late in the season when you're losing.
but like what the dolphins are doing, that sucks.
I mean, it really just sucks for the fans.
It just sucks. There's no way around.
It's not fun.
In most organizations, I've worked for one organization in the league.
Philadelphia Eagles.
Jeffrey Lurie would jump off the Walt Whitman Bridge before he tanked.
Would not fly.
The Pittsburgh Steelers ain't in a tanking.
Seattle, John Snyder, Pete Carroll, ain't tanky.
Belichick wouldn't even know how to spell the word tank.
Andy Reid doesn't even know what that means.
Sean Payton would laugh in your face.
so winners don't think like that.
But when
unforeseen things happen
and in football
when you lose a starting quarterback
especially when you have a good one
in Ben Rothesberger, that changes
everything. There is a chance
when you're playing a backup, it might not go well.
And it's not like you're 2 and 0 right now.
You're 0 and 2.
So if you just look at it, you've got to take the emotion out
and I get it would be fresh, right?
You just lost Rothesberger.
Mason Rudolph came into the game.
actually didn't look that terrible.
Had a couple of moments.
You go, we can still keep this together.
No one's running away from us in the AFC North.
We'll assume Baltimore will lose this week to the Chiefs.
And we're still alive in O&2.
So I admire and respect that mindset.
But I also think it's a little reckless to train a first-round pick
given that less than 24 hours ago,
Rothfisberger went away for the season.
And Mason may be good, and he may not be.
We just don't know.
We've seen countless quarterbacks, especially from that program.
I guess not that program, just one quarterback who's Brandon Whedon, not translate to the league.
So when you're going to be reckless about something big picture, like if you told me the Eagles,
the Chiefs, Seattle had traded a first round pick, I did a little math today.
Seattle is 77 and 36th, 2012.
All they do is win.
The Eagles are good.
The Chiefs are clearly one of the best two teams in the league.
If a team like that wanted to trade a first round pick for Mika Fitzpatrick,
who just went 12 a year ago.
go and is, you know, above average starter.
I don't know if he's quite elite, but he's a really good player.
I would completely understand it.
I really would.
Because you go, well, we're going to be drafted in the mid to late 20s anyway.
Hell, ideally 30th, 31st, or 32nd.
We won't even have a player anywhere close to Minkas Fitzpatrick's caliber.
It would make sense.
But the Steelers, I...
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 SportsSlice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.
And for more, follow Timbo Slic 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.
suit 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. 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
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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.
want you to wave at her.
What?
Quarterback on office blue of 42.
Hey, Red, my mama want you to wave at her.
What?
Hey, Ms. Parker.
Listen to the Clifford show on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast.
Listen, it's pretty clear that it is probably like, I wouldn't say 50% chance, but it's
definitely above 25% that they're going to be drafting into.
the top 10. There's
a decent chance that you're going to give Miami
a pick that is better than
the pick that they used on Mink of Fitzpatrick
two years ago. Think about
the return on the investment on that.
Now again, I do not
condone or accept
what Miami's doing. I feel...
The way I judge you on things
is one, what's good for business,
and what's good for business is usually good
for the fans. And tanking
like this is an embarrassment.
Now, there's Ben Count
articles written and stats out.
The Miami Dolphins record,
I think these last like 20 years,
is exactly 500.
They are the ultimate average team.
But still in the NFL,
the way the parody in football,
how every team has money,
you can sign free agents,
you just, I don't like it.
I don't like it at all,
to be honest with you.
Though they do, like this trade,
like the Laramie Tunzel trade,
Listen, is every player available in sports?
Like if I wanted Mike Trout and I offered them, I don't know, 30 players, my entire minor league system.
Maybe they say yeah, right?
If I offered you, there's probably some sort of offer that might make Joe Lacob think about trading Steph Curry.
Now, it would have to be nuts, right?
It would have to be like 10 first round picks and Giannis.
But everyone has a price.
Didn't they say in The Godfather, I'll make you an offer, you can't refuse?
So, I don't think they set out to trade Laramie Tunzel, but when someone offers you two ones and a two, you know, I get you think about it.
Now, I wouldn't have done it because you go, well, the Texans are probably going to be pretty good and drafted in the 20s.
So those picks in the 20s are not all equal.
There is a big difference between getting a first rounder that's pick 11 and pick 28.
Like, it was cool trading Amari Cooper until that pick was 27th.
It was cool trading Khalil Mack until that pick was 23rd.
But this one, I'd say, I'd feel pretty good about this.
If you're like, if you are going to go full tank and a team offers you a first round pick and you go,
there's a pretty decent chance.
This thing's going to be top third in the draft.
I get how you do it.
I think this was a pretty easy trade for Miami.
And I'm not condoning what they're doing.
But this one, a guy that doesn't want to be there, who doesn't, for whatever reason, fit, like it, whatever.
And you get a first round pick from a team that you start doing the math and you're looking at their schedule.
Like, they're going to beat the Niners?
They're a seven-point dog right now.
So Vegas doesn't think they have a chance.
Now, I'm not saying that they're based on Vegas.
What does that really mean?
Dogs win all the time.
Mason Rudolph's going to come out to Levi Stadium to a 49er team that's kind of rolling right now.
Now does Mika Fitzpatrick help?
Sure.
But dramatically improve them, I think if it ends up going, like we all kind of think,
not going to go that well, this could be a pretty disastrous trade.
and I think at the end of the day
they made this trade just solely on emotion.
Despite, you can respect the way their organization thinks and operates,
I would imagine most people listening to this non-Steeler fans do.
If you follow sports, especially if you follow the NFL,
you're going to respect the hell out of the Steelers,
what they stand for, toughness, consistency, big picture stuff,
standing behind their coach, always winning the fan base, sweet Steeler games.
It's cool.
We all respect them.
But I think this is a little reckless.
And one of the dumbest things they've done probably in recent memory.
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What up?
It's Dramos.
You may know me from The Recap on LATV.
Now I've got my own podcast,
Life as a Gringo,
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We'll be talking real and unapologetic
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and everything in between
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brought to you by State Farm.
Like a good neighbor,
State Farm is there.
Okay, let's talk about Patrick Mahomes
and the Kansas City Chiefs offense.
And one comparison that's out there,
and I think a lot of people just throw this out there nationally,
is the Chiefs are basically the Warriors of the NFL.
And Mahomes is kind of the Steph Curry.
And as someone that's watched every warrior game,
over the Steph Curry
dominant era,
literally every second,
besides some blowouts,
of the Curry era,
I actually think the comparison,
I've been using this for a while,
is perfect.
But I actually think it's never had more merit
and had a closer parallel
than it is having right now.
Because Steph Curry,
Steve Kerr's first year,
was unreal,
won the MVP,
they won the championship.
It was one of the most remarkable seasons
as I'm a diehard basketball guy
I've ever witnessed.
It was, he was beyond special.
Then the following year, that was the same year,
the Warriors won 73 games.
They ended up losing to LeBron.
You know, they're still talking about it.
They were up 3-1.
Curry came back, and it was clear by, before Christmas,
it was like, holy shit, this guy is better.
And if you watched him in the Kerr's first year,
you would have never, like, that's as good as it gets.
And he came back better.
And it's the great part about pro sports,
at the highest level with the best players
is we often talk about a guy going into the lab.
And unlike in my profession or whatever you do,
we have so long to improve on whatever we're doing.
You know, as long as I'm gonna be able to talk,
hopefully I'll have this job.
As long as you're able to sell,
you'll have whatever job.
And you can read about it if you are driven
by improving at your job and getting better.
Time is kind of on your side.
Now, you could argue time's never,
Anything can at any moment.
I get all that.
I just mean most people work, you know, 50s, 60s.
Like, if you're in your 30s or hell, even your 40s, you've got years to improve.
In pro sports, you really have a small window.
Star NBA player, star baseball player, star football player.
Your peak years, you could argue, like, your legit peak years are probably under seven to eight years.
So every one of those offseys, now we've had outliers, Brady, LeBron.
Is Steph going to have 10?
straight peak years. Who knows? He's had about five or six straight. Maybe he's got three or four more
left. But Tiger, for all those years, what I think inspires us to make us, you know, love and admire
and talk and watch and consume these guys is that the best in the business always go back
in the lab and improve. And only a small, like once you get to a certain level, listen, I've
never been a pro athlete. I can imagine it gets pretty difficult.
to take steps.
And I think once you get to a certain level,
you're really just trying to take incremental steps.
Once you get to as good as like Brady is,
he's just working on getting, you know,
it's cliche, but like 1% better.
Like that was crazy about Steph's second MVP season.
It felt just the eye test, he was 20% better.
In the previous year, out of like 100%,
it felt like he was like a 98.
And last year, Mahomes,
I don't think could have been much better
if on the 100 scale,
if this is Madden, I would have given him like a 97 or 98.
And it feels like he's come back, and he's not one or two percent better.
It feels like he's 20 percent better.
Like he is on a completely different level.
And you only get this in sports so often when you're talking about the highest of highs, right?
The MVP level player.
We saw it countless times with LeBron James in his peak before LeBron became consumed with money
and just about his brand and what he's doing in L.A.
when he went to Miami, he'd go into the lab in the offseason,
and he'd just had one of the great four or five-year stretches,
those four years of Miami and the first two in Cleveland,
when he was just chasing greatness.
It's why I love Tiger Woods,
because forever Tiger Woods, his number one priority was always winning.
And he'd go into a lab, he'd change his swing.
Michael Jordan would come out every single year with just different pitches.
It was incredible.
And that's what we're witnessing right now with Mahomes.
He went into the lab, whether it was,
and it might just have been mentally.
I know Coach Reed, you talk to those guys in Kansas City.
Like, God, he's even better.
And you hear that.
You're like, God, he threw 50 touchdowns.
He was the MVP.
How's he going to get better?
We've seen countless examples of these quarterbacks that have won MVP.
Like Matt Ryan couldn't get any better.
Cam Newton, that was the peak of his life.
Mahomes, was that just kind of scratching the surface?
Now, I think it was more last year than scratching the surface.
But that's not what we're going to see.
This guy is better.
And I'm watching him against the Oakland Raiders.
and he flipped a switch in the second quarter and had five straight drives.
Now, one was called back where he hit bombs,
which what felt like the minimum the ball flew in the air was 50 yards.
I mean, honestly, it probably was averaged.
I'm sure there's next-gen stats about this,
35 plus yards in the air.
It was one of the most remarkable things I've ever seen live in an NFL game.
Deep bomb after deep bomb after deep bomb.
And only one of the five were a guy that was just kind of wide open.
Most of them were relatively highly contested balls.
Like the corner was either stride for stride or a step behind.
So the ball had to be placed pretty perfectly.
And I got news for you.
The ball was placed perfectly every freaking time.
It was, and I text a guy on the chief staff, he's like, I just text him.
Have you ever seen anything like that?
And this guy's been in the league for 15 plus years, and his response was no.
Never in my life.
My jaw hit the floor.
And this guy, like Steph Curry, whatever you think about the Warriors,
and kind of what they become with Kevin Durant.
I don't blame you.
And I get there's envy and jealousy all those years
once Kevin Durant showed up.
But I will promise you.
What Steph Curry stands for as a teammate,
for how hard the freaking guy works,
and how remarkable he is as a player,
if you weren't emotionally hating the Warriors,
I think you could take a step back
and you can admire and respect how good the guy is.
Because he's freaking incredible.
When it's all sudden done,
he's going to go down as a second best point guard ever.
That's not an opinion.
That's a fact.
You know, how many point guards,
the resume. Three chips, two
MVP's, and I don't know if he's slowing down
at least for a couple more years.
Like Patrick Mahomes, I feel pretty confident
saying this if he doesn't get hurt,
is going to be a generational
player. And we say this a lot,
and I've been wrong on this
before. I kind of jump the gun a little on Jimmy
Garoppel. I'm going to pull back. Not that
I'm down on Jimmy in the sense that
I just anointed him as a top five quarterback,
probably too fast. I've seen enough
with Patrick Mahomes,
especially when I factor in the variables.
As Tony Romo said yesterday, Andy Reid might be the greatest offensive coach ever.
Now, I think Andy would probably push back on that, but I think we all can admit or acknowledge, probably the right word,
that Andy, you know, the Bill Walsh, I mean, is one of, is one of the best offensive play callers in the history of the sport.
And clearly right now in the league, full of great young and old play callers all over the league,
he's probably the cream of the crop right now.
Just as a play caller, play to play with the weapons that he has.
And then, like I said, the other variable is the weapons that he has.
He has Travis Kelsey, who is a rare player.
I don't know what Travis, I don't have his combine information in front of me.
But when Travis plays, he plays at a 4-4 speed at a size which no one can stop him.
You can't put small safeties on him, he'll toss it around.
You put longer corners on, he's too physical, and he can run by him.
He's just a freak.
Sammy Watkins, they have resurrected slash kept healthy, and he looks like a monster.
They have just the kid they drafted in the third round, Hardiman, I think that's how you say his name,
can absolutely scoot.
Their running backs are legit.
They got Cheetah who will come back in a couple weeks.
They're just absolutely loaded.
Their offensive line's good.
It's the ultimate combination of, one, a generational talent who truly wants to be great and is going in the lab mentally and physically in the offseason.
A little Tiger Woods like.
then factor in a great coach with a good system, great system, and the weapons.
Like, it's the ultimate combination.
Kind of like Steph Curry.
Steve Kerr came, turns out to be a really good coach, opened up the system for him, let him eat,
and the rest is history.
The rest is history.
It's like if this guy stays healthy, as Michael Jordan once said, the ceiling is the roof.
The only guy, I think in this league, under 30,
that even has a chance to be on his level as Carson was.
Deshawn Watts is not can't be as good as this guy
Dak Prescott who's clearly improved can't be as good as this guy
Jared Goff who's a really good play can't be as good as this guy
Now Carson you watch last night
I don't have the box score in front of me or the other night
I don't care how many picks he throws
When Carson's on and the flip the switch is flipped
His good beside Mahomes for all the young guys
Is on a different level
Like he can put the team on his back and carry them to the promise land
Now, his problem is he takes a ton of hits, and clearly he just, he gets just worked sometimes
because he keeps plays alive and gets destroyed.
So that would be my red flag on him, just can he say healthy?
But when he's healthy, his high end might not quite be Mahomes high end, but it's pretty damn close.
But I'm pretty confident right now through two weeks.
Mahomes is the heavy MVP favorite.
They play Lamar Jackson, the Ravens this week at home.
If they take care of business there, you know, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I,
I don't see how this guy doesn't win back-to-back MVPs.
So the example of the Steph Curry Warriors and the Kansas City Chiefs,
well, you're looking at the Steph Curry of the team.
The top teammate, the most likable guy, the biggest superstar,
and at the end of the day, the most talented one.
So get ready for the first back-to-back MVP we've seen in the NFL in a long time.
Okay.
You know, many say age is just a number.
My 35th birthday is, hell, less than a month away.
Getting old.
But as a wise man once said, aka Warren Buffett, you should be better in the second half of your life.
You just have more experiences.
You've lived more life.
You should have a better experience just around people.
The second half of your life should be better.
And I agree with that.
As I've gotten older, my life has only got better.
Gain more wisdom, have more control of my life.
Actually, being a single guy, like dating older women.
They tend to have more wisdom.
and just I enjoy being around them more.
But I don't discriminate them.
That's like I wouldn't date younger women.
But just I like older women.
I like all women, really, but you get my drift.
In life, as you age, it's a good thing.
You know, most people in most walks of life make more money the older they get.
That's what makes pro sports so unique and so the opposite of everything else in society.
you actually make the most when you're younger.
Like most professional athletes,
unless you're like Michael Jordan,
the most money they'll ever make in their life
is like 27, 28, 29 years old.
It's the opposite for me and you.
Like my income just keeps kind of doubling
or growing at a rate the older I've gotten.
That's most people.
But I do think that we've kind of lost touch
with age in sports
where we just think these guys
should be able to play forever.
yesterday Rathusberger went down
I guess I'm recording this on Monday
so if you're listening a couple days ago
Drew Breeze is now out
Rothesberger obviously out for the season
Drew Breeze is out for a considerable amount of time
with a messed up finger
and everyone's like freaking out
like guys are going down
I'm sorry
Drew Breeze is 40 years old
40 years old
now it was a freak injury
like he didn't get hurt quote unquote
was because of age
but what Brady is doing
should be an all-time outlier.
This is not normal.
And I understand that the quarterback position
is more protected than ever.
So I do think guys are going to play
35, 36, 37, 38 at a higher level.
But just look at other guys.
Like Eli shot, Flacco stinks.
You know, Raffersberger
had this kind of innocuous injury
in terms of the way he threw it.
Isn't that crazy?
He's 37 years old.
37.
Like if he was 25, 26, 28,
I'd be like, God, that's just a freak deal.
But isn't that freaky?
These guys are really, really old.
They really shouldn't be playing at this age
when you really take a step back and think about it.
Like, look at Rogers.
I think we're all starting to notice with Rogers.
At 35 years old,
he's not quite the same as he was at 30, 31, 32,
nor should he be.
And here's the other thing about Rothesberger.
His 37 is a weathered 37.
I mean, weathered.
Even Drew Brees,
like he has had a major shoulder injury.
Now, for the most part, I think he's missed one game in his time in New Orleans.
He's been consistently healthy.
But is there a chance that, you know, from the information, we know he messed up some ligaments,
he's going to need surgery or whatever on his thumb, and should be back in six to eight weeks or whatever?
But there's a chance at 40 years old, this body just doesn't respond to it.
Because I've noticed in my early 30s, my metabolism slowed, when I get injured now or tweak something,
then it just hurts a little bit longer.
I think many people listening, if you're, you know, in your 20s, enjoy it.
Because as you get older, things change.
People always tell you that when you're young.
You're like, sure, sure, sure.
And then you realize, God, my metabolism has slowed down.
You're like, I'm not 60.
I'm 33.
What the hell is going on?
And you just have to change.
Now, the thing about pro sports, forever, the most famous line in all of pro sports was,
Charles Barkley uses this all the time on TNT.
Father time is undefeated.
And forever he was right.
Like guys will just get washed out of the league, get washed out of the league in all these sports.
And now more and more, and part of it is technology's changed, the way we take care of our bodies changed.
I'm not saying that these guys haven't earned the right to play at this age and aren't still playing at a high level,
though Rathusper didn't quite look the same.
Breeze has been pretty damn good.
You can say he's a little bit, a little questionable the last several games, but he's still a really good player at 40.
I just think that we often think of these guys and forget the age.
age. And you just can't forget that component of sports. I mean, Drew Breed's 40. Think how many guys
that he plays on an everyday basis, or I mean, like on every Sunday, that are between the ages of
22 and 26. Some majority of the guys lining up against him on defenses are first contract players,
or even second contract players are early into their second contract. Those are most of the guys in the
prime of their career all over the NFL. And this guy's still doing it at 40? So, yeah, I mean, it was a
freak injury. But to me, there's just no
lock that he's coming back. Big Ben.
This could be a career
ender. I think sometimes
we used to talk about that a lot in sports when a guy
would get injured. Like, we may never see him again. We
don't anymore because we just think
that these doctors and
the diets and the workout
programs, oh, guys coming back, guys
coming back, guys coming back. Some guys don't.
Some guys in the prime
of their career get injured. I saw one
in my backyard, Jerich McKinnon.
Tears his ACL last year.
ACL chair, right? He's 25, 26 years old.
You're like, oh, he's going to miss the year. That sucks, but he'll come back.
Because ever since Adrian Peterson, everyone just assumes guys come back, especially guys in their 20s.
You know what happened to Jerich McKinnon? He's never been the same.
Do you know what happened to Jared McKinnon? More than likely, he'll never play an NFL snap again.
That sucks. That's shitty. But that used to happen all the time.
And I think we think that that's crazy when it happens now, because it is kind of weird.
because it doesn't usually happen to most players, right?
Like Jimmy Garaplo, Terris and ACL, he's back the next year.
No, just, Carson Wentz, Territz and ACL, back the next year.
For the most part, the guys do bounce back.
But when these guys get older, it's what I always say is going to be the downfall of Brady.
Like, ultimately, Peyton Manning's arm, he was just shot.
He just couldn't throw the ball anymore.
Like, more than likely, that's not how Brady's aging.
He's going to be able to throw it with a high velocity
probably until he's like 50.
I bet Brett Far could just sit there and still just,
fling a dart 40 yards on a rope still to this day.
But his body broke down. The other parts
besides his throwing arm. And I think ultimately
knock on wood, I don't want it to happen because I still like watching Tom, but that's
probably the downfall of Tom one day. So Breeze, Rothusberger,
there's going to be a point in time where one of these guys, not both, this may
never resurface it. It might be over for both of them. Even though you say,
Breeze just his thumb. Well, who knows if it never comes back?
Because at 40 years old, maybe you can't recover from it. Who knows?
Again, I hope they come back.
I like watching these two guys.
Big Ben and his prime was one of my favorite players in the league.
But I think we overlook age and where it's great for me and you,
it's great in our businesses, we just keep making more money the older we get,
and we keep gaining more wisdom, and life keeps getting better.
In pro sports, it's typically the opposite,
and I think we've gotten to a point where we just expect these guys to play forever,
and we might get a hard lesson with some future Hall of Famers this season.
I looked up something before I dove into this topic
because I thought it actually has a decent parallel
to what I'm about talk about.
Players contracts and just the narrative
that when Julio Jones signed his deal
which is basically a $66 million,
which I don't have a calculator in front of me,
but he got 64 of it guaranteed.
It was basically an NBA-style contract.
And people are like, oh, that's an executive texted Schefter
that this is going to pave the path
for players getting fully guaranteed deals.
And I think you never, Jerry Jones once famously said,
you pay premiums for premiums, you'll never go wrong.
It's when you try to go cheap that you get burned.
Once upon a time, and I Google this, I use this on this show, right?
Instagram, my DMs.
You know Facebook in 2012 bought Instagram for a billion dollars,
which at the time was pretty eye-opening?
I googled it before I was figuring out what I was going to talk about on this show.
It's estimated, this could be off, that Instagram right now is currently worth about a hundred billion dollars.
Now, that does seem a little high, but it's clearly worth a lot more than the billion dollars they paid for it.
And I believe the same thing in players.
I have no problem quote unquote overpaying great players.
Steph Curry, LeBron James, Mike Trout, you name it,
just the best players in all of sports.
Khalil Mack, Aaron Donald.
Julio Jones.
Guys like Julio Jones have always had a huge amount of leverage in the NFL,
even the most player unfriendly sport when it comes to contracts.
The great players have always got paid,
and they always will get paid.
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.
answer. 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 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. Trip 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
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What's up, guys? This is Clivert Taylor the 4th.
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Now, Kirk Cousins was a little bit of an outlier.
He got franchised twice.
Then they let him hit.
the open market.
There were several teams that needed a quarterback,
and he got $85 million fully guaranteed.
He clearly is not worth that.
Now, you're only worth what someone's willing to pay you, of course.
So he was, in theory, worth because he was going to have a market,
with supply, demand, drive up the price, just basic economics,
he's going to get a lot of money.
But one thing's clear.
He ain't a max quarterback.
Watching the Packers, Minnesota game, he does things.
he became a full-time starter like halfway through.
He started six games in 2014.
Then every year since, he's been a full-time starter.
So, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, and then this year in 2019,
where he'll start every game.
Just not good enough of a player.
You know, he's not even a top 15 quarterback.
He can have top 15 moments, but his downfall consistently always is one thing.
In big spots, in the fourth quarter, when you have to make plays,
he crumbles like a cookie
like he doesn't have a chance to make them happen
Julio Jones
who quote unquote has always
been a highly paid guy literally probably
since Alabama number one high school recruit
goes to Bama Bama's first big recruit
becomes a dominant player of Bama
was a top six pick in the draft a historic
draft that being in 2011
then he goes on to the Atlanta Falcons
where he dominates and he's got multiple
contracts and he just keeps dominating
he's been worth every penny it's the reason why
the Falcons don't even hesitate to guarantee him
basically the entire contract.
So is this going to change things in the NFL?
Khalil Mack got $90 million guaranteed.
Aaron Donald got $87 million guaranteed.
Great players get a lot of money.
Zeke Elliott, despite being a pain in the ass off the field,
Jerry Jones, like, just give him $50 million, whatever.
Because he's an elite player.
If Zeke was Melvin Gordon, he wouldn't have got that.
Like, I got news for you, Melvin Gordon.
I begged you, run and sign the contract.
Well, what has happened two games in the season?
You know what turns out?
Austin Echler may be just as good.
Hot take, Austin Echler might be better.
So this notion that it's going to change the NFL for NBA-style contracts,
they've always somewhat been that.
And the difference between the NFL and the NBA are injury factors in the NFL are just gigantic.
So NBA contracts, I also got news for you.
Just because you sign an NBA contract, doesn't mean it's a good contract.
Think how many deals in the NBA are puking your mouth bad of just quote-unquote,
really good players. Russell Westbrook, worst contract, maybe in all the sports behind John
Wall. Chris Paul, most of the worst contracts in sports are either in baseball and basketball,
where the contracts are fully guaranteed. You know where the majority of not bad contracts are
in the NFL? Why? Because Kirk Cousin's deals, if more and more of those type deals happen,
there'd be terrible contracts littered all over the league. Who would not benefit from that?
Us as fans. Because for all you guys, the DM me all the time, fans, fans are you,
of different teams, you would be stuck with just these shitty players that you wouldn't be able to
get away from. Do you know what the Minnesota Vikings wished if they had it all over again?
They didn't guarantee the whole goddamn contract. Now, again, they did not have a choice.
They had to because supply demand, it was what it was, but you better believe they're kicking
themselves right now. He's not good enough. They had one goal when they signed him. They thought
they were going to win a Super Bowl because of him. You know one thing's clear? They're not going to
win a Super Bowl with Kirk Cousners are starting quarterback. Now they may make the playoffs this year.
they may not. They're going to be in the mix because their roster is so good.
But, like, Julio Jones, yeah, I give them fully guaranteed contract.
Every time I play a game, more than likely, if Julio Jones is not the best player on the field,
non-quarterback, he's going to be the top two or three players every single time we take the field.
So if that's the case, and I say this all the time, with huge money,
there are non-quarterback, maybe two to three guys a team.
Some teams may only have one.
some teams may not have one.
The good team probably have two or three guys that you don't hesitate to pay.
And the only way you get screwed in the deal is if there's an injury.
And that's welcome to sports.
But this notion that the game's going to change dramatically is just not true.
Because most players are not Julio.
And quarterbacks, like Kirk Cousins, the good ones, never hit the actual quote-unquote open market.
But as we've seen, if you're a good quarterback, you don't even need to hit the open market.
Carson Wentz, Jared Goff, soon-to-be Dak Prescott.
They get an astronomical amount of money.
And you could also argue that the NBA-style contracts,
that's the quarterbacks.
They get NFL-style contracts.
They get nine-figure deals, which are really lucrative.
They also get the most off-the-field endorsements.
They get the most women.
They get the most praise.
They get talked about the most.
They are the NBA stars of the league, the quarterbacks.
And a handful of non-quarterbacks.
And those guys, Julio, Khalil Mack, Aaron Donald,
get historic amounts of money.
But I got news for you.
The majority of players are replaceable.
Welcome to the NFL.
Next man up.
Injury.
See you later.
Undrafted Free Agent becomes a star.
Seventh rounder, becomes a starter.
Fifth rounder, becomes an all pro.
That's the way the league works.
It always has and always will.
So this notion that things are going to dramatically change contract-wise,
I just don't see it.
Because as we see with Jared Goff, Carson Wentz, soon-to-be Dak Prescott,
who are better players than Kirk Cousins,
won't get a fully guaranteed deal like Kirk Cousins,
mainly because they'll never hit free agent.
agency like her cousins. So it's fun to talk about and a cute thing to kind of be
throw out there on social media and it's going to get likes and retweets and, listen, I'm
chef's my guy. I'm not taking a shot at that like someone texts on that. But Julio's an outlier.
He's an exception to the rule. He's a first ballot hall of famer. He's the number one overall recruit
at 17. He goes to Alabama and just dominates. Guys like Julio are not a dime a dozen.
they're once every 10 years.
I mean, they don't come around that often.
Like, Odell Beckham,
check the two resumes.
Doesn't hold a candle to Julio.
Hopkins, maybe one day,
but, you know, it's going to still take some time.
Like, Julio's an all-time great.
So, and don't get me wrong,
I would pay DeAndre Hopkins.
Like, to me, he fits the mold.
Like, yeah, I'd give DeAndre Hopkins 80 million guaranteed
if the deal was 85.
It wouldn't even hesitate.
He's that good, you know?
But, like, that's who I'm talking about.
Julio and DeAndre Hopkins.
That might be the list.
Seriously.
So think about that.
That's what we're talking about here.
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Why?
Because I have cellulite because I have thick thighs.
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I always want to look better.
I want to work out.
I want to lose weight.
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Okay, let's fire around the NFL and just some things I jotted down.
intrigued me that I saw, just whatever.
Lamar Jackson.
Anyone that's listened to me for a while
or listen to the show even recently,
I was not a big Lamar Jackson guy.
Now, I get, and I even said,
I did a topic, I think, last week,
all about context.
And context is key.
Who you're playing, who you're doing it against.
But I didn't ding my homes
for four touchdowns in a quarter
playing the Raiders,
who are not going to be a very good team.
team, so I can't totally ding Lamar for kicking the crap out of bad teams.
Now, he did get Vance Joseph, who I said is the worst defensive coordinator in the NFL.
I feel that.
I feel very strongly about that.
That's probably one of my strongest opinions that I believe is a fact,
is that Vance Joseph is the worst D.C. in the NFL.
And Lamar kicked his ass, and Lamar Jackson dominated the dolphins,
who are actively tanking.
But what you're seeing out of him, just he's calm, collected.
his accuracy, he's been impressive.
And I say it all the time.
Hell, I'll say it every week.
Even if I don't like you out of college,
if you're a high character guy,
I don't mind being wrong and then rooting for you.
I'm doing the same with Josh Allen.
I would not have drafted Josh Allen number seven overall.
But following his career on social media,
I like the kid.
I think he's just a high-level guy.
And he's clearly, Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen,
have dramatically improved.
Lamar, I mean, if somehow he'd go into Kansas City this weekend
and win.
What I said about Mahomes being winning back-to-back MVP,
Lamar Jackson would heavily throw his hat in the ring.
So Lamar's been awesome.
This is a big week for him, but even if it doesn't go well,
I'm impressed with Lamar.
I really am.
Eli Manning should be benched.
When you are throwing away your season,
and the Giants aren't actively throwing away their season,
they just stink because their players aren't any good,
mainly because you do things like trade pick 17 or four,
you trade Odell Beckham for pick 17 which becomes a nose tackle and a box safety team stinks so when your team stinks you have to find out what you have you might as well put Daniel Jones in there it's not like Eli has some streak going anymore it's over
streak ended a couple years ago just play Daniel Jones from here on out and by the time you're listening to this maybe they've announced Daniel Jones because Pat Shermer wouldn't say one way or the other at the podium but I think it's time like Eli your careers
I can actually see Eli being a backup somewhere next year, but it's over.
Gardner Minchew, you know, he's a fun player.
He really is.
That final drive of him just making some things happen, he's fun.
Now, is he that good?
I don't know, but he's got some just natural pocket awareness.
He really does.
I don't know how many games the Jacksonville Jaguars are going to win.
It's hard.
This guy was almost a graduate assistant for Sabin a year ago,
and now he's starting NFL quarterback.
but I like him.
I like his swag.
I think most people just, he's kind of cool, you know.
I'm rooting for him.
I was texting with an NFL coach tonight.
Yeah, I got a couple numbers in my phone.
And I, uh, because I got a text over the weekend from a buddy in the NFL and it just said
Mike Patton's one of the best defensive coordinators in the league.
So I text the coach in the NFL and I just brought up Mike Petton.
And his response is easily one of the best D.C. is going right now.
I think Mike Petton, and people have forgotten,
this guy was Rex's right-hand guy
when the Jets were beating the crap out of people.
People forget that Mike Petten and Rex Ryan
and that defense went into Foxboro and won a playoff game.
Like, that happened.
Mike Petton's good.
And the Packers right now are a defensive team,
as crazy as that sounds.
Their defense is excellent.
And my bald-headed brother,
because when you're bald-headed,
you're all part of the brotherhood,
and I like Mike Petton.
Rooting for him.
and for the first time in a long time,
the Packers are good on defense,
and he deserves Mark Murphy,
Mike Murphy,
whatever the Murphy's name is
that is the president of the Packers,
and it really answers.
Does he answer to nobody?
Because they have no owner.
I do give him credit for this.
Like, hey, LaFleur,
we're hiring you to be the head coach,
but you don't have a choice
in your defensive coordinator.
We're keeping this guy.
Smart move.
I don't know if Seattle quite gets enough credit
for how consistently good they've been.
It was Pete Carroll's 68th birthday on Sunday.
he got his 100th win as a Seattle Seahawk head coach.
Since 2012, once they kind of turned it around, that was Russell Wilson's rookie year.
And they named Russell Wilson, the starting quarterback, as a third round pick, beats out Matt Flynn, heading into the season.
Since 2012, two games into 2019, the Seattle Seahawks are 77 and 36.
Say that out loud.
77 and 36.
All they do is win.
really all they do is win
and Pete Carroll is easily the youngest 68 year old
in the history of the world
I mean he's 68 he carries himself like he's 43
I mean like I said I'm 35
and there's no chance I have as much energy as Pete
really one of the unique sports personalities we've ever had
like Belichick is I think like 66 or 67
but I'd say even he's a little younger
he could pull off like 58 59
but he doesn't have quite Pete's energy.
Now, he might, from a work ethic standpoint,
but Pete just bouncing around the walls,
the California cool,
he's just 77 and 36.
You know, when Pete went to Seattle,
for us on the West Coast and us packed 12 homers,
I thought, I understood it because USC was about to get popped,
but it hurt.
Like what he had at USC was so special.
I wanted him to stay there his whole career.
But he was right.
and he was destined for that stage.
Because at the end of the day, listen, I love college football, I really do.
And love Lincoln Riley, love Chris Peterson, love Nick Sabin, love Davos-Sweeney.
But the NFL is just a higher level.
It really is because you only get one first-round pick.
And as Pat Hill told me back at Fresno State, you know, in the NFL you get one first-round pick.
At Fresno State, you get a bunch of like fifth-and-six-rounders.
When you're at Alabama, when you're at USC, when you're at Oklahoma,
You get like 20 first round picks.
Now, you may have some guys that you want that you don't get there,
but you get my drift.
So it's just the parody there,
and Pete wanted to get back and prove that he could do it.
And he hasn't just proved he can do it.
He's cemented.
I mean, he's a Hall of Fame coach.
National Championship at USC and just had that thing rolling.
Then comes to Seattle, and once he gets his guys in there,
absolutely kicks ass.
But here's the most impressive part.
Like with Jimmy Johnson, we saw Jimmy turn that thing around, right?
with Dallas Cowboys and Rattle off two Super Bowls
and really the third one he gets credit for.
But could he have done it again?
Think about Pete Carroll and the help from John Schneider,
who I think is one of the best general managers in the NFL.
They have this core group of guys,
and they become one of the best teams in recent memory,
have one of the great defenses of all time, right?
Four straight years in the number one scoring defense.
They were the shit.
And then he flips it all.
He literally gets rid of every single person except Bobby Wax.
And obviously he's quarterback.
But that's what they've done in Seattle.
I don't think quite gets enough credit.
As John Snyder said a couple years ago,
when they went 9 and 7,
you would have thought we went 2 and 14 around here.
Last year, everyone thought they were going to suck.
They make the playoffs.
This year, boom, 2 and 0 again.
Now they're getting the Saints at home against Teddy Bridgewater.
That's another thing on Teddy Bridgewater.
He actually wasn't bad.
The year that he was the Minnesota Viking starting quarterback
and Blair missed the, ironically, against Seattle, missed the kick.
But, you know, I'm not going to jump to conclusions.
I just don't know.
I don't quite see it.
Now, it's different when you get a full week to prepare,
and even this week, it's not going to be easy to judge him going up to Seattle.
But the Saints are in trouble.
And the NFC South is kind of in trouble.
Is it crazy to say that with Breeze out now for the foreseeable future,
the Carolina Panthers just screwed,
because Cam sucks.
Atlanta, one of the more inconsistent teams you'll see.
The Tampa, the Tampa Bay, and Bruce Ariens.
I would not say this if Cutter was their coach, if Rahim Morris was their coach.
They got Bruce Ariens, a proven winner in this league, has a chance to win that division.
I never in a million years would have said this a week ago.
I wouldn't have said this three days ago.
But Drew Bree's being out, and just Atlanta, just something's a little off there.
I'm telling you, keep an eye.
Keep an eye on Tampa Bay.
Okay, let's get into the Middilcoff mailbag.
You guys ready?
I'm ready.
What up, dog?
How do you feel about total QBR versus QB rating?
I don't recall any commentators or columnists ever mentioned QBR rating,
which I feel is a better way to measure how good a quarterback played a game.
Plus, who is the next coach to be fired?
I'll be honest with you.
I have no clue what any of that stuff means.
I never really mess with it.
When it comes to quarterbacks, for me, it was always, you know, attempts, obviously completion percentage.
Just watch the game.
You know, I don't really know what QBR is.
I really don't.
The one stat that did kind of grow on me from PFF was interceptable balls.
Like, if you throw three or four interceptable balls and they were all dropped,
but you went 25 to 35 for three touchdowns, like, that's, the numbers don't tell the entire story.
Next coach to be fired, Ron Rivera.
But I think he's earned enough to get the entire year.
But if they just have a disaster season, he's out.
I mean, Jay Gruden's done.
Does Jay Gruden even want to be there?
I don't think he does.
49er Staley question.
Is Trent Williams the answer?
Well, I think there's a couple angles to this.
For those who don't know, Joe Staley broke his leg.
They're starting really their fourth tackle
because they lost their third tackle in the preseason.
So here's the thing with Joe Staley.
Staley. He broke his leg, but he's not out for the season, and they're not placing him on IR.
So he's only going to miss five or six games, best case scenario.
So if you trade for Trent Williams, which I don't even know if the Redskins would trade the 49ers, Trent Williams,
because the 49ers are going back to Washington October 20th.
If you trade a first round for him, well, then Trent Williams is just starting tackle the rest of the season,
just Joe Staley just go to the bench?
Because McGlinchy's the right tackle.
In a perfect world, you'd rather trade like a mid-round pick for like a fringe
starter, then you could bench when Joe Staley
goes back. But
I'll be honest, I don't really know who
that guy is.
It's the hard thing with tackles, right?
I guess you could, you know, if, I don't
think Kyle would like Big V,
but the Eagles
with Andre
Dillard have an extra
tackle, but I don't know if he really fits this
scheme. But, I mean,
he's functional, but
would the Eagles trade him for like a fifth round pick?
Probably not. So I think it's a
it's kind of a weird spot.
I don't really know what they do.
I think the best thing to do is just play this game on Sunday.
You're playing Mason Rudolph.
You're playing Mika Fitzpatrick and the Pittsburgh Steelers.
And just try to win the game with this.
I think his name is Justin or Jacob Scholl.
I'm going to write an article on The Athletic about it for Wednesday.
Texts a bunch of people in the NFL.
I mean, he was a fringe draft pick.
He went six round.
Texan buddies in the league.
They had him like seventh to an undrafted free agent.
chance he just sucks.
I mean, he just, maybe one day he won't suck,
but more than likely he's not ready right now.
When you're a six-round draft pick at that position,
you usually don't start year one at left tackle, right?
Six-round draft pick, sometimes they start a guard,
sometimes they started running back,
sometimes they start a defensive tackle.
Occasionally a guy wins a job as like a nickel corner,
but you don't often see, yeah, I'm a six-round draft pick.
I was a rookie. I started the left tackle.
That's usually something went wrong.
if that's the case.
Hey John, love the podcast.
Appreciate it.
Full disclosure, I'm a big Buckeye fan,
and I've been pretty stoked about Justin Fields so far this year.
But it seems like no one in the national media is talking about him.
How high is this guy's ceiling?
Would you consider him a potential top NFL prospect if he develops into his potential?
Well, I watched a little bit of the Indiana game,
and I mean, they kicked the crap out of him.
My issue was just consistency with accuracy.
Clearly, he's a special athlete,
a little on the smaller side.
It's way too early for me to say NFL, like top draft pick.
I would say no right now.
To me, he has good arm strength, doesn't always know where the ball's going.
And let's watch him play.
I don't have Ohio State schedule in front of me.
But clearly the Big Ten is pretty good.
Iowa, Penn State, Wisconsin, obviously Michigan.
I know you don't always play all the teams every year,
but I think we'll get a better feel.
I can't really judge them off Indiana.
but once they get in a conference play,
he's going to be tested.
1,000% he's going to be tested.
He's a big recruit.
But here's the thing in the NFL,
or I mean, college football,
we see a lot of these four and five-star guys
never live up to it,
and the hype on him is extreme.
Luckily, his team's good.
What up, Middokoff?
Nice to meet you.
Are you a 49ers fan?
This is like a, whoa,
this is like a porn thing.
That's the thing.
What's going into your DMs?
You never know quite know what you're going to find.
Not really,
a 49ers fan, but it was cool having them practice at my school, Youngstown State last week.
It led to two good weeks for both of them. We got to 3 and O and your guys got to 2 and O.
Pretty cool having a connection here on your show. That's cool. As a question, what do you expect
out of the Steelers for the rest of the season now that Ben is done for the year? Are you thinking
semi-tank in hopes for grabbing Tua or Herbert, or do you expect them to have confidence in Mason
Rudolph going forward? Now, obviously, this DM was sent before the new.
of Mika Fitzpatrick.
Clearly they're not tanking, and clearly they believe in Mason Rudolph.
Now, I saw Chris Mortensen tweeting, well, here's the other thing.
Ben is signed, and Ben tweeted this, or maybe Ben didn't tweet this, but he released a statement.
He's under contract for three years, and this is year one of three.
So he's going to be the starting quarterback next year.
Now, like I said, him and Breeze, eventually one of these guys are not going to respond
to the injury, and it's just going to be career over.
So we may never see Ben again.
And what if Mason Rudolph is good?
like what if they rattle off a bunch of wins and win eight or nine games and they're competing for the playoffs maybe mason rudolph's a starter next year so the tanking is not clearly happening and it's not impossible they don't have first round pick so it's just mason rudolph or nothing question for the pod with his accomplishments and the fact that he won't play the rest of the season what do you think the outlook is for ben's career you think he retires or comes back in a lot of ben action here well he said today that he's coming back if he never came back
Like if he never plays another down of NFL football, he's a Hall of Famer, and he goes down as one of the great Steelers of all time.
Now he's controversial, clearly with some of the off-the-field stuff, clearly with him being a drama queen.
But at the end of the day, from a personal standpoint, just on the field, no judgment off the field.
I can separate the two.
When he was on the field and he was younger and he was right, he was as good as a god, man.
He was a freak show.
He was a special, special player.
We don't really see that guy anymore.
He definitely can't move like it, and he shouldn't.
I mean, he's 37 years old.
But he, in his prime, was a pretty special dude.
With Schumer leaving the door open for DJ,
it could be any week now if he takes Daniel over Eli.
Assuming he's successful, a big assumption,
will the Giants be able to rebuild their roster quick enough
before him and Saquan need to be extended?
I know it's not possible to win with both them on huge contracts.
There is almost zero talent on defense right now.
really quick, that's kind of a misconception.
You can have like four or five max players.
You really can't.
The cap, by the time those guys are getting paid,
it's going to be like $220 million.
And I don't think Daniel Jones is going to be making like $40.
Also, side question.
So, yeah, I mean, I think that's why I play Daniel Jones right away.
Like I said, it's time for Eli to be bench.
See what you have with Daniel Jones.
Sequin's a freak, man.
He is, he's the only reason to watch the Giants right now.
And he's a good reason to watch the Giants
because at any moment he can bust up a 50-year-old touchdown.
He is remarkable.
The power, the speed.
I don't even know.
I'm trying to think of, like, in my lifetime.
Because LT wasn't that quite powerful.
He's basically like Adrian Peterson meets LT.
I mean, he's a Hall of Fame back.
Also, side question.
I go to Michigan, but I'm not a diehard fan.
While I disagree and know even if Harbaugh goes there
is no better candidate to replace him,
he doesn't have the school behind him right now.
How many more, whoa, they're hurting, turn it on him?
How many more chances does he get against OSU?
I mean, he needs to win this year.
you cannot lose to Ryan Day.
I'm a Harbaugh defender.
I like Jim.
I actually used to love Jim.
I think Jim's a badass.
But you can lose to Urban Meyer.
I mean, ideally you can't,
but it is what it is.
Urban's probably a top five college coach ever.
But you got to beat Ryan Day.
You cannot lose to Ryan Day.
So this is a big year for Jim Harbaugh to beat Ryan Day.
Or really, they might turn on them, right?
I have thought that I've posed to two friends
I have a thought that I've posed to two friends in NFL media
and they think I'm joking.
Know that I'm not joking but my premise is a little silly.
Okay, I like where this is going.
There must be a way to test twitchiness and wide receiver.
Separation fits in every offense and the twitchy guys have it for days.
The one thing these guys seem to have in common is that they can dance.
I'm not saying the combine should have a dance competition, but should it.
Yeah, I just, I don't hate that.
I just don't know how you would judge the speed of the dance.
So if you did like go dancing with the stars with the wide receivers,
you just make them do some moves.
How would you tell like what move at what speed?
Like when I do a drill, a cone to cone drill,
like if I do the three cone or the shuttle or the 40,
everyone is measured on the same length.
And the times are all relative based on what a good and bad time is.
because they're all doing the same thing.
How do you all do the same dance move?
And then how would you quantify it?
Like the point of the combine is not to have them run around.
It's to have them be run around and be timed.
And then you're able to,
people have been running the same drills for 50 years.
You can put it into context.
Well, how does this guy compare to that guy compared to that guy?
Hey, John, big fan.
I agree that the Niners have no excuses now.
But losing Staley is big.
Do they try to trade for Trent Williams from the skins?
it's tough rolling with a six-round rookie at left tackle.
Staley is still playing.
Yeah, like I said, I just see what this guy has for a game.
And if it's a debacle, now the problem with it being a debacle
is if your left tackle is just god-awful,
there's a chance you can lose the game
just because if everyone else plays a good game
and that guy sucks, you can lose.
Luckily for the Niners, they have the best blocking tight-in in the NFL.
The other problem for the Niners
is that blocking tight-in is also their best wide receiver.
Worst case scenario, you could just have Kittal stay with the left tackle.
Just every play.
Now, you're basically, you're playing a man down in the passing game,
but they won't be able to get there because Kittal's a badass.
And Kittal could help the left tackle out big time.
Now, that's a worst case scenario, and you might just have to do that for a game to try it out.
You're definitely going to have to do it early in the game to try it out.
Logistical question.
I heard today that the Saints are going from L.A. to Seattle for their next game.
They don't go home, question.
Where do they stay?
Where do they practice?
interested in the inner workings.
Well, the 49ers just did this, and they stayed in Youngstown.
They played Miami, and then they went to Ohio.
I would imagine, I'm just guessing, it's kind of hard,
like they couldn't use the University of Washington practice stuff
because Washington would be using it.
Now, maybe you could time it out.
You stay at a hotel, so basically everything at the hotel,
you can do the meetings, you have all that stuff.
Everything you need to do there, non-practice,
you can do at the hotel.
eat, meet, coaches, offices, you can set all that stuff up.
Now, you do need to find a field, which there's a million high schools.
And the good thing is high school football teams all either practice early in the morning
or after school at like 3.30.
So if you're an NFL team, you can run practice at like 10 a.m.
And you can just go to the local high school, whatever, like one of the good powerhouse schools,
and just go practice for a couple hours.
Bus in, bus out.
It's cool for the high school.
Maybe let the kids come out and watch.
or see you, maybe meet, you know, who knows.
I know the 49ers like that guy just emailed,
they practice at Youngstown State.
They practice at the facility.
So maybe you could find,
maybe when the University of Washington is not on the practice field,
you can just practice there.
That's what I would imagine.
And you can use their weight room.
They can facilitate that for you if you need it.
So that's to me usually how it works.
And it makes sense if you're John Payton.
You don't want to go back to New Orleans.
they come back to Seattle, just kind of stay, hopefully bond.
Luckily for them, they're one-in-one, but this is a shitty week for them.
I mean, they lose Drew Brees, who's the best player in the history of the franchise.
I don't know if he's still quite that guy, but he's pretty damn important, man.
I just don't see how Teddy Bridgewater goes to the plays in Seattle and wins this game,
unless he's dramatically better than what we just witnessed in L.A.
Because I had him on the second TV, because that game was pretty crappy,
for giving all the hype.
I mean, that game was supposed to be sweet,
and then Drew Breeze gets hurt,
and it was just kind of a dud.
And I kept looking up there,
and just he's slow to react.
It felt like he was holding on the ball a little bit too long.
I mean, he's never had a great arm.
Seattle, your first start in a long time?
God, that's tough.
Now I know it's not the Legion of Boom,
but that place is going to be rocking.
They're feeling themselves right now.
They're 2-0.
Pete Carroll's birthday.
Football gods feel like they're on Seattle's side.
So Teddy Bridgewater, Teddy Two gloves.
We're going to need a big effort.
Now, they're actually kind of lucky, though.
They're all staying together.
So they're all at the hotel.
Teddy can live with Sean Payton, basically.
It's been a lot of time with them getting ready.
So can the offense.
Now, if I'm Alvin Kamar or Michael Thomas, like,
just throw me the ball, man.
I know what I'm doing.
I'm not going to put an extra time in the meeting room.
Just, Teddy, throw me the rock.
Appreciate everyone listening.
Always appreciate everyone chiming in on Instagram.
Have a good week.
If you're a Steeler fan, you know, hold your head.
head high. If you're a Dolphins fan, just, I don't know, get ready for the Miami heat season,
start watching some Netflix. I feel bad for you. If you're, you know, that sucks. But enjoy the
week. Hopefully you enjoy the show and I'll see you Friday. If you work in IT, you'll want to check
out Changemakers, a podcast profiling IT industry leaders. We dive deep into IT profiles and learn
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If you work in IT, you'll want to check out Changemakers, a podcast, profiling IT industry leaders.
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Visit changemakers.freshworks.com.
Last night, a blown call changed a game.
This morning, the internet lost its mind, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened.
That's where Sports Slice 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 SportsSlicse on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.
And for more, follow Timbo Slices Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok.
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 headwriter, 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 I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Hey, what's good, y'all? You're listening to Learn the Hardway with your favorite therapist and host
Kear Games. This space is about black men's experiences, having
honest conversations that it's really not safe to have anywhere,
but you're having them with a licensed professional who knows what he's doing.
How many men carry a suit or armor?
It signals to the world that you're not to be played with.
And just because you have the capability that does not mean that you need to,
listen to learn the hard way on the AHA radio app, Apple Podcast,
or wherever you get your podcast.
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 IHeart Radio app,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
This is an IHart podcast.
Guaranteed Human.
