The Herd with Colin Cowherd - 3 and Out - CFB Week 1 Takes, Rams Red Flag, Baker/Lamar Extension Calls, Make or Break QB's, Mailbag

Episode Date: September 7, 2021

John reacts to College Football's opening weekend, including Bama dominating again despite losing stars from last years title team, and Florida State QB McKenzie Milton's inspirational comeback from a potentially career-ending leg injury (1:00). He also explains why he's not sold on the Rams D (19:00), if extending Baker Mayfield and Lamar Jackson is the smart move (29:00) how COVID DNP's will affect the way he gambles on games (35:00), which 3 QB's are facing make or break 2021's (43:00), and answers listener questions in the Middlekauff Mailbag (48:00).Make sure you follow John and The Volume on Twitter, Instagram and YouTube for the latest content and updates and check out FanDuel for the best wagering and daily fantasy action! Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Clifford Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media. Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfilled conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. So let's get to it.

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We will talk about everything that's happened. I'm recording this a little bit before the Ole Miss game. They play Louisville. Not that I really care that much about that game, especially Lane Kiffin. Former Fresno State Bulldog will as a player,

not as a coach. We'll not be coaching because he tests positive. So that game lost a little luster to me. Fantastic weekend. An elite college football weekend. Had some thoughts,

some takeaways. We will hit on. A lot of other stuff. You know, week one of the NFL season, we have a game this Thursday. I will have a podcast right after on Friday morning. like I always do reacting to that game

and then just everything else going into the weekend slate. Have a gambling theory that I'm going to institute into my repertoire. And I think you should too. Something that kind of hit me that the bills did that for whatever reason the Ravens and Browns chose not to do, it's something worth monitoring, I think, as we go along. Something I read this weekend on Rahim Morris, the new defensive coordinator of the Rams,

that just, you know, kind of put off, I wouldn't say a red flag, but just something worth monitoring. And then just a couple other NFL things that I'm really excited for this week. Of course, Middilkoff Mailbag. At John Middilcoff is the Instagram handle. Slide up in those direct messages.

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we're going three days a week. We'll have Monday, which once the season hits, we'll kind of just be probably 25, 30 minutes, just a reaction to the three or four big stories. And then I'll do my big podcast on Tuesday and Friday. But we will have Monday content this fall. So I can't wait. And subscribe, leave a review.

I know many of you have and I greatly appreciate that. To me, the number one takeaway of the weekend slate of games, I don't even think it's close, is just the dominance of Nick Saban. Like it gets to the point where it's like, oh, this has got to just slow down. Oh, this can't continue at this rate. And it just does. He's won six titles in 12 years. It looks like he is going to be very, very tough to beat.

And if he gets a seventh and 13, it is not out of the realm of possibility. to me the most impressive thing the guy did though and I would say offensive-minded people in the sport of football are typically viewed at the good ones open-minded progressive individuals constantly adapting willing to change willing to institute new things into their playbook I would say historically defensive coaches are viewed as the opposite stubborn

tough-minded like they just kind of go with what they've always he's done. Obviously you add things, but they would be considered the group of people that are less likely to change. Do what they do. And Nick Saban, a defensive coordinator at his heart, at his heart, really he's a DB coach. If you've ever, I've been lucky enough to know people that have been around him at the program at Alabama, if you've just watched any special on him, he is there at individual drills with the corners and safeties. That is his baby. Yet, several years, ago and he was quoted saying, forever you could run the ball and play defense, which is exactly what he did when he got to Alabama. He ran the ball down your throat and he played elite defense.

Then the sport changed in college football, in high school, and definitely in the pros. The rules changed. You had to score points because the rules were conducive for you to throw the ball down the field. It became college football. The NFL always had been a little bit, but college football definitely morphed into what the NFL was, which was quarterback century. you had to have top quarterback play to win a big. In the last three years, or basically four years, his three quarterbacks are now all starting week one. They're all under 24 years old.

And then you watch in the Alabama game this week against Miami, which was basically over at halftime. I mean, hell, it was over five minutes into the game, but I stopped paying attention after halftime. Is the quarterback they have now, I mean, I don't think it's out of the real possibility to say he's the most talented of the group. Mack, Jalen, Tua, I might take Bryce.

Now it's only one game, but he was freaking unreal. He was the most dynamic of the group. It's insane. He pivoted. And the best people in any business are always willing to pivot. Not just blindly, not just throw shit at the wall and hope it sticks. He knew what he was doing. He knew that he had to get top-flight quarterbacks.

And obviously, they really pivoted with the wide receivers. Now, remember the first big recruit he ever got was Julio Jones back in the day. I remember when I got hired at Fresno State, Jim McAwayne had just taken over the offensive coordinator job. I think they won it the next year, maybe two years later. And the first guy, he got on the job. The second day, he was in a limo going to meet Julio, who I'm pretty sure he definitely was the number one recruit,

but he was an Alabama kid. And obviously they never looked back. But they would have a Julio. They would have an Amari. Then they'd even have a Calvin Ridley. And then right at the end of like Calvin Ridley, it was like, ah, they got three or four guys. And then they lose all these four cats the last two years.

And you're watching. And they just got like four versions. of Jerry Judy. It's like they're just restocked. You know, Najee Harris graduates. Next running back up. Now, they've always had running backs,

but to me, the passing game is on a completely different level. And his ability to get in the modern day times on that level, but yet on Alabama's level, because the one thing Clemson

has done in the last, you know, in their kind of dominant, you know, stretch here, five or six years, was Deshawn Watson to Trevor Lawrence.

Now I know DJ struggled, but every team, in the country would have taken him, right? What is Ohio State done? They have tried to like put, you know, take the quarterback play to another level. And you see, you see LSU is a good example who I got to give Chip credit. I bet on LSU. They got their ass kicked.

Ed Ogeron is, he's exposed. Like he is a coordinator dependent coach. He brings nothing to the table. Can't call the defense, has no clue what's going on on offense. Yes, he's a great recruiter. But clearly like they've always. recruited will. LSU, like, if you are a great recruiter, that is cool, right? That is important in college football. Sabin does not win just because he's a great recruiter. He is one of the greatest

defensive minds in the history of the sport. And he clearly knows their offense, though he lets his coordinator run the offense. And he just hires elite guys. Lane, Sark, now Billy O. Like, let's face it, Ed got a little lucky with Joe Brady, who was a quality control guy in the NFL. Now, you get credit for making that higher, but you look at the last two years, like, what are you doing? You think Brad Johnson's kid would sniff starting for Alabama? And I give Chip credit.

And this is another thing that really stood out to me this weekend. I'm watching Fresno State go toe to toe with Oregon. This transfer portal, of course, all the old heads and all the people that, you know, people that, you know, never want anything to change. Like, don't let these guys transfer. I actually think it's the healthiest thing going on in college football. It spreads the equity, right?

Because if I'm a running back and I go to Ohio State or I go to Georgia and I'm maybe the second stringer, but I could be starting at all these other schools, I'm out. And I immediately go to UCLA starting running backs from Michigan. And UCLA, more than a lot of other programs, are going to really benefit from, Chip is not going to get in these knockdown, drag out recruiting wars. That's just not his style and he hates recruiting. but he will benefit from all these kids that he does not land out of high school a year in, maybe even two years in, they go, I want to come back home.

Well, boom, I'm ready. And instead of just signing 20 high school kids every year, I'll sign 14 high school kids and I'll take six transfers. And those guys are ready to play. They're like an NFL free agent where they have college film. Even if they just played, you know, 35, 50s, 80, however many snaps, during the season as a rotational guy, I can see them on that level.

Where in high school, it's a complete projection, like an NFL draft pick. So when I'm watching Chip's team and I go, and I heard Colin say this on his podcast with Joel Klatt, which was fantastic, Joel's excellent,

he was bringing up the point that they got like five transfers. These were guys that were in Division I football that came. Because when you look at Chips recruiting rankings, they are not what UCLA historically has been when they've been good. they recruited really well. Chip doesn't care that much.

He's not going to recruit like Clemson, like Bama, like Georgia, like Ohio. It's not his thing. But if he can get his type guys, which I will give Chip credit on this one, he's a little guy. Chip does not like little players. Chip likes massive players. His defensive line when he was in Oregon were DeForest Buckner and Eric Armstead. And before that, Dionne Lewis. And offensive line, his first draft pick when he got to the Eagles was Lane Johnson.

So Chip is not into these little tiny players, even though you'd think with his offense, no, that is not the thing. Defensive-wise, one thing, I remember when Chip got hired with the Eagles, he only wanted defensive linemen that were like 6-7. And the scouting department was like, Chip, those guys don't really exist

besides like the two guys on your team and clearly you can't just draft them both. So it becomes kind of complicated. But one thing that he's also going to benefit from is the Pac-12 is pretty average. The USC's way down. Stanford sucks now. Cal lost in Nevada.

Oregon, Washington, the headline in the athletic said Washington suffers the worst loss in program history. So I'm watching the Big Ten, they look good. I know Penn State,

Wisconsin wasn't a high scoring game. Those teams are solid. We saw Minnesota play Ohio State last week. I think the Big Ten's pretty good. You know, if the SEC's one, they're two. And if you factor in Notre Dame as part of the ACC, you'd say, you know, they're probably

a solid three. And the big 12s, I mean, who knows, they might be right there, maybe 3A and 3B. It's up in the air. I mean, we'll see how this all plays out. But the transfer thing is going to be huge. It's going to help out, it's always helped out, but now that they can transfer and immediately play the Fresnos, the Boisys, those type

programs, I don't know why you would ever play good non-power-5 programs. Boise State, you see. CF, Fresno State, Nevada. I wouldn't touch those programs with a 10-foot pole at all. You get zero credit for beating them. Zero. Oregon squeaks by Fresno State.

Everyone just talks shit about Oregon. Like they're not good enough. Even though they won the game. And if they lost it, it's a disaster. Right? Like Cal loses in Nevada and I'm sure it happened all over the country. That these really good teams, like playing a Cincinnati, playing those type programs, the benefit just to me is not there.

I want to do something that just really stood out on Sunday night, and it's McKenzie Milton. He is the former quarterback for UCF who had the devastating injury, who then transferred to Florida State. And last week, we gave a happy talk on Phillip Rivers, and there was a pure genuine thing that just made you stand back, watched this guy who'd made, however, I think it was $243 million, coaching high school football.

And you just went, you know, that makes me happy. That makes me smile. That is cool. We need more of that in our world. And then I saw McKenzie Milton and I was like, that's inspiring. That made me smile. This guy's doctor,

told him, this is not possible. I've never seen this before. You're not going to be able to come back. It is so impressive the will of human beings. When you put your mind to something in life, right? Like, there are certain things that you'll never be able to accomplish. If you're not a good athlete and you love basketball, you're just not going to be able to play in the NBA.

But if you put your mind to it, maybe you could become a GM in the NBA. Maybe you could become an NBA head coach, right? I mean, when you are dead set on something, it is really hard. And if you're just unwilling to relent on anything but what you want to accomplish, you may not end up accomplishing that, but you will find a way somewhat close in that kind of sphere of what you're thinking about. I promise you. And people like, oh, middle guy, that's not true. Bullshit.

If you really do. Now, you can't, it might not take six months. it might not take two years, but if you're willing to go above and beyond and no one, regardless what people say, it's incredible what a human being can accomplish. And obviously, McKenzie Milton, Division I, high-level athlete when he was at UCF.

But to make that comeback, and then to play in a game against Notre Dame who's clearly pretty good, that's one of the coolest things I've ever seen. And maybe I'm overreacting a little bit because it happened last night as I'm recording this on Monday. But if that doesn't make you smile, if that doesn't make you go,

damn, that's badass. I want my kid to have that type drive. I want my kid to look up to a guy like that. I don't know what you're, maybe we just don't see the world the same way. Because that was, I think, the coolest thing that I saw this weekend by far. Okay, let me tell you about my friends at Fandual. Football season is here.

And if you've never bet on the NFL, there's never been a better time to give FanDul Sportsbook a shot. Because right now, you can place your first bet risk-free. That's right. You'll get up to $1,000 back if you don't win. FanDuel gives you so many bets to choose from. There are same-game parlay bets, player props, futures, and so much more. See for yourself why FanDuel is America's number one sports book. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but in,

encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win. A win is a win. I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me, Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined.

And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment. And the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast. It's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger.

So if you've ever supported me or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. American soccer is about to explode. The World Cup is coming. Ramos sending on to Ernie Stewart.

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Without Luca and Austin Reeves, I got to manipulate the game. We get a player's perspective on the challenges of the playoffs. I think Joker's going to be exhausted this series because when they don't have Rudy in the lineup, he has to really guard guys like Nas Reid. He has to guard Julius Randall. And then he has to give us everything he gives us on the night-to-night basis on offense. And when IT's friends,

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Okay. This team, and I don't blame anybody because they've earned it, they have consistently won since this coach has been there in Sean McVeigh. They upgraded dramatically at the quarterback position. I think Matt Stafford is in a completely different universe than Jared Gough. And I'm not, you know, I wouldn't say I'm a Jared Gough hater. I actually root for the guy from down the street from where I'm recording this right now. Went to Cal.

I'm a sneaky cow guy. Not that I went to school there. They would never let an academic loser like myself in. But my grandpa taught back for the university way back in the day. and I used to go to games with my dad. So I root for Cal players just naturally. Though, you know, he's a little slow and weak arm for my taste. But I want to see Jared Gough do well.

Sean McVeigh seemed to really turn on the guy the last couple of years. But their offense is going to be really good. I think we all acknowledge that if Matt Stafford, I mean, it might take several weeks to really click. But it's pretty clear that when you get a good quarterback in this offense, it works. Right? Matt Ryan won the MVP. obviously Aaron Rogers won the MVP last year.

Jimmy Garoppel led a team to the Super Bowl, and he's nowhere in the same world as those two guys, just from a talent perspective, let alone career resume. Stafford just played a lot longer. He's just more physically gifted. But one thing the Rams really hung their hat on last year was defense. And they won 10 games, but they won a playoff game on the road.

Now, a little skewed. No fans allowed in Seattle when they played a. I thought they kind of shoved Seattle around a little bit. And I was reading this article in The Athletic about Rahim Morris, who's taking over for Brandon's Daly. And I give Sean McVeigh a lot of credit on the Brandon Staley hire. Because when he fired Wade Phillips, he had a specific individual in mind.

He hired him and that guy turned them into the number one defense in the lake. And one thing in this article I was reading that just made me go, whoa, didn't see that one coming. now, and I'm not focused on the day to day of just like the Rams. So if you're a Rams fan, you, I'm sure heard this. But for me, it was like the first time that I'd be like, I didn't quite realize that they're going to run the same defense. And Morris and McVeigh agreed when he took the Rams job

that he wasn't going to change what they were doing because it was already working, even though that meant him learning a new system. And I went, wait, usually when you hire, a new coordinator, you let them implement their system, right? Now, obviously, you have core philosophies as a head coach, but you hire that guy to run what he does. And when I read that they agreed to keep the same system, which I understand from McVeigh standpoint, because it worked, I went, what do you get to a certain point in life? When you hire, like, if I'm hiring

someone at 23 years old, I can mold them to do whatever I want. Belichick has made a career out of it, right? Hire young guys. They call them 20 and 20s. $20,000, 20-hour days. So you work for $20,000 a year, and you work 20 hours a day, basically, for all season long. It's hard. It's really hard.

But Josh McDaniels, the Patricias, the Flores, that's where all those guys start. And they start on the ground floor, and he molds them. He teaches them. Now, while McVeigh and Rahim Morris had worked together before, Rahim Morris was taught the game of football

by Monty Kiffin. And his philosophies on coaching defense, once you get 40 plus years old and you've been coaching in the league for almost two decades, you bring something to the table. That's what you do. So if I'm going to hire you,

I want you to do what you do. That's what makes you hireable. And I think this works in any industry. If I hire someone for a lot of money, all these defensive coordinator, every defense coordinator in a league makes seven figures. So in any big boy business,

if I'm going to pay someone seven figures, I can't then, try to force them to learn and do what we've been doing, even though it was successful. I'm partly hiring him for his ideas. So now I'm getting him to run Brandon Staley's defense. Well, of course Brandon Staley could run the defense. He ran it to John Carroll.

Then he ran it with Vic Fangio, who's arguably the best defensive coordinator in the league. And he worked with him for like five years, learning all the ins and outs with him. And I've known several people that have worked with Vic and they're like, God, he's the most brilliant guy I've ever been around. So if you get to mentor from one of the top, it becomes your defense.

like Brandon Staley runs the Vic Fangio like they speak the same language and now you want Rahim Morris who's never been around that to do that and I understand where Sean McVe is coming from because what he had worked but that's not how it works you know this can be very very challenging

because there comes with an ebb and a flow as a play caller I naturally just call what I'm comfortable with I know once I get to a certain age if I've been calling a defense or around a defense and obviously defense has changed, but you know the rules like the back of your hand because it's yours. But when I have to teach, it's one thing to teach a position coach. That's part of the deal.

That happens all the time around the league. I hire a position coach. He might not necessarily know the ins and outs of the offense or the defense, but we teach it to him. And then he teaches the coaching points as a coordinator that I want him to teach. And we figure it out. And he could add some of his wrinkles. But as a coordinator, that's my thing. I'm in charge of it. Like, I'm the boss, right? It's, especially when your head coach is also the offensive coordinator, it's all on you. Now, I'm all for being open to ideas and willing to listen and think about everything when it comes to football schematics. Right.

You should never be like, we do not do that because that's not what we do. That's the dumbest line of thinking ever. But if you go, that's not what we do. We don't do that because we haven't practiced that. So I wasn't going to call that and just expect. my guys to do it in a tough situation. I go, that makes sense. But if you're not willing then to practice that over next week or the following month,

then that's a you problem. I do think, though, the pressure on this team, not necessarily locally because I don't know if anyone in L.A. cares that much about the Rams. But nationally, they're viewed as a legitimate Super Bowl contender. And they've earned that right. But a huge reason was because I think we view them as a complete team. Their offense is going to be way better with Matt Stafford, and they're going to have a top, you know, five, eight defense.

Maybe they're not going to be the number one defense in the league. But the defense of coordinator has never called this defense, has to call this defense, just because Sean McVeigh didn't want to necessarily change, which I kind of understand. Shouldn't he have just gone and hired someone off Fangio staff again that knows or whoever, whatever type guy that he thought could make the same calls

and was comfortable with doing that? That makes me a little nervous. And it's just something to watch. if Rahim Morris can pull this off, maybe he's just the most impressive coach in the league that no one talks about. Because last year in Atlanta, they pulled names out of a hat,

they all started coaching different positions. I'm not questioning this guy as a coach. I'm not. Like, I think he's a pretty impressive guy. But I do just think it's a very, very challenging thing to do. If I took Sean McVeigh right now, or Kyle Shanahan, for example, who know their offense

and that, you know, kind of Shanahan or LaFleur, and what they do, they know like the back of their hand. It's their baby. Because they've all, Kyle's been around it since birth. McVeigh and the floor now have been around it for over a decade

and they've been calling it now for a while. If I went and said, hey, can you run Sean Payton's offense? Let's just say the Saints hired him. Sean's like, I want you to call the place. But you're going to call my place.

Like, well, what, don't you want him to call his place? It'd just be a challenge. Now maybe two or three years down the line, you become comfortable with it, but day one, now I'm not saying this is going to impact them necessarily against Andy Dalton. He stinks. They should beat the Bears.

But just for a team that has very, very high expectations in a very, very difficult division, which is a lot on the line, I think this could be a little more challenging than even Sean quite realizes. What thing I've been thinking a lot about is the Josh Allen implications on the Browns and the Ravens. because I think it's human nature. I know this happened to me several times in my life. I'm sure anyone listening to this has had the same thoughts. You always think when you're an employee, think you are worth more typically than you are or some of your counterparts.

How often do you tell your friends that work in other businesses like, I should be making more than this guy? I think I'm better at my job than this guy, aka I deserve more money. and that may be true or that may not be true, but typically it's on your employer to make the decision. Do they feel you're worth more? Because you go, hey, if I'm making 75 grand and I think I'm worth 125 grand, you go, hey, it's 125 grand or I'm out of here.

They're either going to have to say, okay, or see you later. Godspeed, have a good run. Take it easy. It happens to every single human that ever wants a race. You either get the raise or they say, know, and if you have options, you bounce. If you don't, you just stay better, right? But eventually, it's on your employer or your boss.

They make the decision. Like, you don't necessarily make the decision, even though indirectly you kind of do through your work, through your resume, through what you bring to the table. So when Josh Allen gets his contract, $150 million guaranteed, I think all of us, and listen, I'm a Josh Allen fan, we're like, geez, that is a lot of money.

That is a lot of coin. Because it was. It's one of the biggest guarantees. I think it was more guaranteed cash than even Mahomes. Obviously, Mahomes' contract is way bigger and he's not going anywhere. But it was a massive deal. But it also had implications because there are two guys in his draft class who were both kind of on the same path, right?

Lamar Jackson, who was more accomplished, at least in the regular season had won an MVP. Now, up until last year, he hadn't won a playoff game. Josh won two playoff games last year. Baker, who hadn't really done anything until last year when he also won a playoff game and played really well. If I'm those guys, I go, well, if he got paid at minimum, I want the same money. If I'm Lamar Jackson, be like, well, he has one more playoff win than me, but I won an MVP. I've made you guys a bunch of money. And Baker goes, well, you guys have never had a quarterback, basically my entire life. You guys have been a laughing stock at the position, and you guys have never won. Now, it's not just on me, unlike those other two guys that have a major

impact, but, like, I think I'm pretty deserving. Could you guys win without me? And, like, the elephant in the room now is, the market's kind of set. Josh Allen got $150 million guaranteed. Like, are those guys going to be willing, when I say those guys, I mean those teams, going to be willing to give that contract to Lamar Jackson. Let's start with him. To me, this year is going to be fascinating. He does not have the vaccine. And what if he misses three or four games throughout the season? He missed a couple last year, right?

I'm not talking injuries at all. I do not, if he got injured, rolled an ankle or whatever running around, whatever. He's been a very, very durable player beside the one cramping issue last year against the Browns. But when you look at like, what if he misses two or three games and it cost them the playoffs? and they haven't signed them to an extension. You think they're just going to be willing to then give them the $150 million this off season? Or do you think they write it out again?

What if you're the Browns, who are run by Paul D. Podesta, who is an analytic-based individual, who comes from baseball where they are obsessed with value? That's all they think about, is how can we get the same player for half the price?

It is the name of the game in baseball right now. How can we platoon? two guys instead of giving someone $30 million a year, can we find two $7 million players to do the same job? And save ourselves $16 million. Now, obviously it's a little more complicated at quarterback, but do they view Baker Mayfield as those guys equal? Hell, we saw De Pedestis several years ago,

and maybe he's proven to be right. They didn't view Carson Wentz's top 20 quarterback. So who knows about their metrics and their analytic models what they even think about Baker? Now, even someone who I wouldn't say it was a Baker hater, but I didn't think he was going to, going to be as good as he was last year. And he had an impressive season. But I would, under no circumstances, pay him $150 million. Now, you can always come back. Well, John, who are you going to play him at

quarterback? And I would agree. But do they agree? Where the Ravens are a little bit more, all their chips are in the middle table with Lamar. My question, do they view Lamar as like a 12-year player? Because the bills, not only they draft the guy number seven overall, they were one of the only people in the league who not only believed in the player, but just thought big picture. Like he's going to take some time. We're going to figure this guy out. He's a little bit of a project. We think he can be a star. And in their mind, he is and they compensated him that way. Lamar has also been a star. I think the question is, is it sustainable? Is it worth giving him a five or six year contract? Can you get 10 years out of that style of play? And that's why this year,

I don't think they've signed him yet because they wanted to see him do it. Well, what if he can't stay on the field a whole time because he is tested negative, which he already has this year. And then Baker, I just don't know how they view it. I do know that they are obsessed with numbers. I mean, just look at the two guys they have running the organization, the general manager, who is a very, very progressive numbers guy, though he did, I think, play in the Ivy League. And he Podesta, who I also think did also play football in the Ivy League. I mean, these guys are really, really smart.

They've built an excellent team. But do they view Baker Mayfield as worth... as much money as Josh Allen. Because I think those two teams have proven right now, they don't, or those deals would be signed. You're telling me, Baker Mayfield's turned down $150 million guaranteed. Lamar Jackson's turned down $150 million guaranteed. Zero chance.

I think it's fair to assume that those contracts are not on the table for those two players. Okay, we talk gambling on this show every Thursday. I guess I record it on Thursday. You listen to it on Friday or Saturday. Last year we did a three for the money. I just picked three games that I liked. Pick them.

And college or pro. And we're going to do something, another segment like that this year. We actually might have a guy from the Action Network come on and give some of his perspective on those games. Maybe we'll have him pick the games. We're still kind of working those out. But I love to gamble.

And I've said over and over, a lot of people in the media space are going to try to fake it to you. Let's face it, if you follow some of the people in sports media on social media, they're scared of their own shadow. and now you think you're going to gamble on games. Give me a break.

I think one thing that's going to separate people in this space, and I don't even claim to, like, be in the gambling space. I just talk about gambling because I talk about football and watch football because I gamble. Not because I want to be, you know, the next, I don't even know who the guy would be. Stu Feiner or whatever. That's not my schick.

I'm not claiming to have a schick, but like I talk about gambling when I talk about gambling because I might gamble on the game, because I might put some money on the game. Like it's real. And I think a lot of people are going to try to dip their toes in the water because there's money to be made there and fake it. And I think those people will get exposed with time.

But I was thinking about a philosophy this season. I was reading Peter King. And listen, I wouldn't, if I didn't have to mention COVID, COVID protocols, vaccines ever again, I would sign up for that right now. I don't think my philosophy on this, I think you and I know myself, everywhere we've turned for 18 months, we are just inundated with that talk.

I think we can all agree, it gets exhausting. It's September, 2021. Whatever your opinion is on that at this point, ain't changing. So too many people also in this space love getting on their moral high horse and talking down to people

or forcing their views on people. It's like, guys, the people think what they think at this point. Like, this is not March 2020. We're almost in 2022. So I try to avoid it at all times. Sometimes it's impossible, right? If Lamar Jackson misses two weeks because he tested positive, like it's just going to be hard to avoid that topic.

But I'm not going to get up here and rant and rave against Carson Wentz because honestly, I don't give a shit. He can do whatever he wants to do. Now, if he misses a game, right, then we'll have to talk about it. But one thing that's inevitable, I think some of these guys are going to miss some games. And we have several star quarterbacks that don't have the shot. And reading Peter King, like, there are some hard fast rules in the NFL. If you're unvaccinated and test positive, you know, or contact tracing, like automatic, if you test positive, 10 days, bye-bye.

Contact tracing, automatic, five days, bye-bye. That's automatic. There is no negotiation with that. Like, it's set. It was negotiated with the union. I had someone DM me the other day like why are they testing vaccinated players?

I'm like, you think the league all they care about is money. They're not running a charity. But this is where I crushed Urban Meyer last week. They are in business with the union. These testing protocols exist because you deal with the union. That's why.

You know, if the league didn't have to text a vaccinated player for a month, they'd probably sign up for that. But you have to do deals with the union, just like a million different industries do. So it's not, you can't just, you know, universally decide on rules without getting them to sign off on it because they represent the workforce. At least the workforce that matters.

Obviously, there's, you know, salespeople and other people. But I'm talking about the players. And if you are going to gamble on games. 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,

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Yep, that's me. Cliver Taylor the fourth. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment. and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast, it's a space for honest conversations,

stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So if you've ever supported me or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to the Clifford Show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. What's up, fam, it's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano and our podcast Point Game is about defying the odds. Like LeBron heading into the playoffs without Luca and Austin Reed.

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And you can obviously, you know, lines come out for the next week. you know, right after the game, sometimes on Sunday. I mean, they can come out, you can get them even before then, but I'd say some people make bets throughout the week leading into the weekend. If you see a line that you like, I don't know if you're going to be able to do that this year. Let's just say you see a game and you go,

damn, that team's getting eight points, I'm going to hammer them. And then all of a sudden, let's say it's like the Vikings playing Tampa Bay or something. And the Vikings, it looks shitty. You're like, God, that's a pretty good value. And then all of a sudden, Kirk Cousins, on Thursday is not going to be able to play on Sunday. I do not think you're going to be able to, and this works for vaccinated players too.

My philosophy this year for sports gambling, but specifically football gambling, I would wait up until the day of the game. I would wait if you're going to gamble on Thursday, Sunday, or Monday. Wait till game day to place your bet because that's the only way to be safe because at any moment, and it's mainly quarterback, and Colin's been hammering this home for a long time, that quarterbacks are typically the only thing that moves the line, right? It happened forever with the Patriots. Like Grinkowski would get injured, and all of a sudden you'd be like,

oh, that's going to cost them like five points. The line wouldn't budge. But if you moved, took Tom Brady out, I mean, it'd be a 10-point swing. Happened with Dak last year. It happens with quarterbacks. Quarterbacks move the line. They, because they do. Because we've seen it year after year after year.

The difference between starting quarterbacks, especially like top 15 quarterbacks and their backup, is like the size of the Grand Canyon. So if you are going to put whatever amount of money you put on the games, because here's the thing. I know this. I see the numbers. You guys bet.

I would wait till game day. It's just not worth it to get yourself into a position where you bet on a team and all of a sudden the quarterback's out. You're like, uh, think about the Broncos last year. Now that's worst case scenario. They played a game without a quarterback. They played a game without a quarterback.

They took a practice squad wide. receiver and put them at quarterback. And it was a joke. I mean, of course it was. It looked exactly like what you think it would look like. That is going to happen again. Even though it's 2021, and we would like to move on from this, that's clearly not the case. It's still part of our world, right? So my recommendation is just wait till game day before you put money on the game. That is going to be my philosophy in 2021. Weight loss starts with the mind, and nobody knows this better than Martha Cameron, who lost 20 pounds on Noom weight. Yeah, I lost 20 pounds and kept it off.

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Brought to you by the ad council. Walk a mile in my shoes. I got three quarterbacks this week, you know, come Sunday that I am fascinated to have an opinion on. Three guys that are, you know, are they going to change our opinions that we already have on them? Because I think three players, I think they're three of the more polarizing guys in the league right now. Starting first and foremost is what Carson Wentz. From a football perspective, he was terrible last year. He was awful.

He was easily to me a bottom two or three quarterback in the league. But the majority of weeks, he might have been the worst starting quarterback on a given week. Of the starters. I'm not counting when Jimmy Garoplo got hurt and C.J. Bathard and those type guys started. I'm talking true starters, week one. I thought he was the worst starter as the season went on. Now, we've never disputed his physical gifts. But playing quarterback, especially once you get 28, 29, 30 years old,

is about more than just throwing the ball hard and throwing the ball for. He had no touch. He had terrible decision making. he was turning the ball over like James, who we'll get into here in a second. Can Frank turn his career around? Is it just as simple as, you know, Frank really likes him? Frank really believes in him. Carson's comfortable.

Maybe Philadelphia was a little much for him. Maybe whatever reason, the locker room, just bad fit. I don't know. I don't have the answers. And obviously I know a lot of people in Philly. No one really had the answers. It's one of the more bizarre things we'd ever seen. A guy that several years removed from looking like an MVP with all this talent,

then just sucking. And that's what he did. He sucked. So is this guy going to be good now? It's not like he's had a smooth training camp, right? He broke his foot, we think, or whatever that weird injury was. Somehow it was going to miss a bunch of games, but somehow he came back early. Then he got Corona.

We think Matt had just tested positive or negative. Who even knows anymore? But it sure looks like he's going to play week one. Is it going to look any good? Because last time I checked, they got a pretty tough game. Cals, Russell Wilson, all those guys? It's a big boy game. So actually one of the better games on paper

this week. It's probably a top two or three game on paper by far. I'd probably have Brown's Chiefs one. That might be two. So I'm fired up. The game I might have three is Miami, New England. That game's fantastic. And Mack, like, he might struggle.

He might be awesome. He's a rookie. So, like, I can live, he's going to ebb and flow. It's just a natural reaction and just, everything's not going to be smooth, whether he struggles week one.

whether he's awesome week one. It's just part of playing the position, unless you're Justin Herbert. But even that, you know, he wasn't playing in front of fans. It's going to be difficult on given weeks. He's going to look awesome on given weeks. He's got a great coach,

and he's got a good team. To me, the most polarizing guy in that game is Tuatanga Vailua. I mean, as we talked about last week, the head coach had to tell the team, like, we're not trading for Deshawn Watson with Tua Sanan right there. They just drafted the guy number five overall.

He was viewed as one of the best college quarterbacks of like the last decade. and now he just sucks. And I would lean like, yeah, maybe he's just not any good. I don't know. This happened before. It's going to happen again. He's smaller.

He doesn't have a great arm. I mean, he has a defensive head coach. So maybe it is just a struggle. But to me, if Mack Jones outplays Tua, that's not ideal. It's just not because that narrative will only grow. And it's not, to me, some fake narrative. Now, it's just based on what he played. Now, if your argument is, well, he was coming back off a major injury,

that's fair. But what we saw last year as a player was not good. And you don't even need to hear anyone's opinion on it. Just watch what they did. They kept pulling him out of games because he wasn't very good. Whether it be the Raider game or the Bronco game. He got yanked for Fitzpatrick, who was clearly a much better player than him. And then to me, the last guy, just someone I just am fascinated to keep an eye on,

is famous James. Is James Winston, who was drafted in number one, Overall. And then Arian's got there. We're like, okay, we might see what he's got. Throws all those interceptions. They upgrade with Tom Brady, which was a no-brainer. He goes to resurrect his career as a backup, just learning behind Drew Brees.

Drew retires. He earns the job the following year because the hybrid guy just isn't good enough, which is the right move, make, you know, take some just play offense as a, you know, whatever his quote-unquote position is on the field with James. But can James be good? is James a good enough quarterback with a top five head coach and a really good roster to have a team competing for the playoffs to win 10, 11 games in the regular season? I don't know the answer to that. But I know this. I am fascinated to watch a play out. So to me, Wentz and Tua and James are three

guys that I can't wait to watch play this weekend. Okay, Middlecough Mailback at John Middelloff. The last. middle cough mail bag until football's back. Well, the NFL, like I said. College football's back. Sporting an Alabama hat. I think the volume sports on YouTube. Everything's, we're recording it now.

Modern day, 2021. YouTube as well as the podcast. So let's go through some questions. The Miami guy is this guy's username. Going in on the listener questions last week, I put coaches into five categories. Elite. Belichick, Sabin, we're mixing college and pros. And Andy. Talent maximizers. Low ceiling, high floor guys. Tomlin, Matt Campbell, Kyle Whittingham, solid. Brian Kelly,

McVeigh, Carol, underachievers. Gruden, Peyton, Gundy, Helton. Yeah, I'm going to have to punt the brakes there. In what world can you put Sean Payton with John Gruden, Mike Gundy, Clay Hilton. Sean Payton went to the playoffs last year, won a game. As we go to the playoffs, like all decade long. He's a Super Bowl champion. I know Gruden is too. But Gruden hasn't won anything for like 15 years. Sean Payton's been winning consistently.

Winning consistently. I would put Sean Payton in a higher category. Mike Gundy, Gruden, Hilton. I mean, Gruden's not winning anything. Mike Gundy is at least winning eight, nine games a year. Clay Hilton, I just kind of feel bad for him. Bums, guys that get lucky, or are train wrecks like Gase. Do you think there is a bigger gap in college or NFL coaches?

I think there's a bigger gap in the NFL because you can be a really good coach in college at a program where you don't get the elite guys and you just can't beat Alabama or Clemson or Ohio State. In the NFL, like we're all getting to, I mean, obviously quarterbacks change team to team, but we all get one first round pick. all have an unlimited amount of money.

It's easier to be a big-time coach, right? It's just in college, if I'm in the SEC and I'm an elite coach, like Dan Mullen, who's really, really good, he had a ceiling at Mississippi State. He could win a national championship at Florida. He never could at Mississippi State. It was impossible. It's why I think, like, I know Sark won, and I said that that game against Louisiana Lafayette, he kicked their ass.

Maybe their team is just really good. Maybe Sark's a different guy. but the Sark, I'd seen him at Washington, who's made the playoffs and USC, who's a big time program, not achieve, right? It's going to be difficult for Lane to beat Georgia and Alabama at Ole Miss consistently. Can he upset them once? Maybe. Can he ever win the division or go to the SCC championship game?

Probably not. So I would say it's much more difficult to punch above your weight, consistently in college than it is in the pros. If I'm a dynamic coach in the pros, I'm winning games. Period. Point blank. Love the pod. Old St. Louis Rams fan. Do you think St. Louis gets a team again?

If not, what city will be next? Which current city is likely to lose theirs? Here's the thing with St. Louis is you guys did steal the team from L.A. Right? You guys took the team in 1994. So it was not like your team, right? Like the Chicago Bears or the New York Giants. You took that team in the mid-90s.

So they just, L.A. just stole their team back. You did take them. And I'm not, I'm indifferent on the Rams. Like I, I'd be, I understand where you're coming from. I'd be pissed if I was a Rams fan and they took my team from St. Louis. I get it. But I do think you need to take a step back and go, you know, we didn't steal them. Right.

You can't be shocked if you meet your wife in a strip club, if she ends up cheating on you. Right. Or if you're, you know, you see this happen sometimes when someone like, you know, we were together with someone else and we started sleeping with each other and then we ended up getting together and then like something shady happens is your relationship later on.

Like you kind of signed up in a shady way to get the team in the first place. That was kind of a mean swipe at strippers. I actually think strippers have got a raw deal in places like California where I lived when the lockdowns happened. Like no one cared about them. They had to earn a living too.

So when you shut down their business, you know, I felt bad for them. I don't think, you get an unemployment benefits benefit of tips do you but i'm i'm the wrong guy i've never worked in a tip oriented business which sucks because you know when you're not making much money it's one thing if you make like 30k but like with tips you can get up to like 60 you like okay whatever when you work in football and you make nothing that's just all you make is nothing you don't get to do like side projects or extra benefits like that's just that's the cash so uh i'm pro

stripper. So I would say, I don't think there's going to be any, I think the teams are kind of where they're at. I don't think that we're going to see much change. There's not, there's no expansion coming. What major city in America doesn't have a team right now? You know, Vegas just got one, LA got one again. I think we kind of got what we got.

I think the only question mark would be if we take the Jags and we put them in Europe or or London. From Philly, big fan of the pod. Appreciate all the stories, your time with the birds. My question is, which coordinator in the NFL, offense,

or defense, is someone who should be getting a lot of attention, but isn't an unsung hero? That's a good question. To me, I don't know. It has to play out.

I think the way you look at it is you look at it with head coaches that call place. So look at it in Kansas City, in New Orleans, in Green, Bay in L.A., both L.A.s in San Francisco, like, can one of their coordinators have an elite unit,

then they become a head coaching candidate, right? Robert Sala, became an elite defensive coordinator. He got a head coaching job. Once you start calling plays and do a good job when your head coach is on the other side, I know you're the boss of the unit. Because it's hard to be like, well, what about Kyle Shanahan or Sean McVeigh or Andy Reid's number two? Well, they're not calling the place. So if you're not calling the plays, even if you're learning under the guy, I actually want you to become an offensive coordinator before. I know you're an offensive coordinator by title, but if you're not calling the plays, are you truly an offensive coordinator?

No, you're not. So I think it would be on one of those teams or, you know, whoever the defense, I guess the defensive coordinator is Jack Del Rio with Washington. He actually did a better job than people would think when he was in with the Oakland Raiders. I don't know if he would get a head coaching job at this point in time, but who knows? I know you are mostly a football guy, but would love to hear your elaborate a little more on this year's giant squad. Keep doing you. I guess you mean, San Francisco Giants?

I mean, they're having, they hired the right general manager. Major League Baseball is a GM run sport. The coaches are basically irrelevant now. Gabe Kapler makes like 900K. He has like 17 coaches. on his staff. I bet the majority of coaches on Gabe Kapler's staff make like $75,000. You make up 500 grand coaching running backs in the SEC. Coaching does not matter in baseball anymore.

GMs completely run the sport from the front office. In Farhan Ziety, the San Francisco Giants GM is elite. He is elite. But he runs the team. So in fairness, like, even I'm not a big Kapler guy. I can't take him seriously. and I give him zero credit to the team this year. As a manager, they don't have as much juice.

You have to leave relievers in for three batters. Like, the best manager I've ever seen with my own eyes was Bruce Bochy because he was elite in big games with the bullpen. Mix him matching. Get one guy out and then yank the guy and bring a next guy in. Mix and match. Right, righty, righty, lefty, lefty. You can't even do that.

Like, I'm all four speeding up the game, but the three batter minimum has kind of changed the sport a little bit. and GMs have built their team around it. So it's a GM run sport. If you got an elite GM, which Tampa does, the Giants do, the Dodgers do, the Yankees do, all the good teams do.

You can win. I mean, it's just that simple. If you don't, you're going to get the A's. They win all the time because of Billy. Vikings fan here. I've had some disagreements recently with a friend about Cousins. While yes, I agree, Cousins is an above average quarterback,

and the best one we've had in a while and has even shown that he can win as a playoff game. I, as a fan, am interested in the business finally seeing the Vikings host the Lombardi Trophy, and I just don't think that's a possibility with Cousins.

How much longer do you think Minnesota is stuck with Cousins as our quarterback won, and do you think the Vikings should move on as fast as possible? Bonus question, what do you think of Cellen Mond? Well, they just gave Cousins an extension last year. Cousin on the team another two years. but Cousins is not your problem.

Your problem has been defense. Last year was defense. They've been making the playoffs because their offense has been good. And two years ago, when you guys upset the Saints in the first round, which is the crowning Cousins' achievement, the reason you got your ass kick the next week,

your offensive line sucked. I like Rick Spielman. I think he's really good. People I know in the league that know him and have been around him think he's a stud. But he's built some flawed teams. teams. And when you have a quarterback who can't move and your offensive line sucks, it's going to be hard to win in the playoffs because their teams over the years have been pretty good. And also like Zimmer, does Zimmer have a cap? I think Zimmer's a good coach, but is he like a dynamic coach? You know, he's a defensive guy, so he has no impact on the offense. I don't know. I mean, I think it's easy to blame Cousins. But to me, Cousins has produced better than Zimmer, better than their offensive line in the last couple years. So I don't know. I mean, I think it's easy to blame Cousins. But to me, Cousins is produced better than Zimmer, better than their offensive line in the last couple years. I think we've got to be careful where we place the blame.

Messaging from Sucke, BC, small town, west coast, Vancouver Island. I love British Columbia. Vancouver, one of the more beautiful cities in North America. I went there once for a scouting trip. I scouted this defensive lineman on the BC Lions, I think probably a decade ago, like in 2011. And I got there like a day early. I'm like, this place is freaking amazing.

I had been there once Whistler in college. I went on a ski trip over the winter, but we just got so wasted and flew in. I didn't go to Vancouver. We just flew in, got on buses, and they took us up to Whistler. And the problem with Whistler, there wasn't any snow.

So it actually wasn't that cool, even though it was really gorgeous. But when I went to Vancouver, that place is badass. Quick question. Although they have not played a single rep, I wonder if you have an opinion of who will have the more successful career.

Trey Lance or Trevor Lawrence? Well, Trevor Lawrence is the much better player. Any human alive would take Trevor Lawrence over Trey Lance. But the NFL is a coaching league. I think Urban Meyer might not last two seasons in Jacksonville. If it gets really ugly, which it might, I envision him quitting. He's done it before. Why wouldn't he do it again?

He's quit twice. Quit on Ohio State. definitely quit on Florida. So you don't think, I mean, he doesn't need the money. This is an ego play to prove that he can do it. This is 100% an ego play. And partly money. He's getting paid, I'm sure, $12 million a year.

But he already has an unlimited amount of money. Irmaier might have like $80 million in the bank. Now, I don't know what his financials are. Maybe he's hurting for cash. But this is to me to prove that he belongs. Right? To prove that he can hang with the big boys. Well, he might not.

He might just be one of the all-time great college coaches and that's where he belongs. Like Steve Spurrier. Now, they are much different personalities, but what if he quits? And then Trevor Lawrence, who's their next coach? I don't know.

What if he's not good? So to me, I would just say I would always bet on the better coach. I would rather have Trevor Lawrence, but Kyle Shanahan is going nowhere. And I know Kyle Shanahan, unlike Urban Meyer, like, Cal Shanahan calls the place.

Kyle Shanahan is basically the quarterback coach. The offense is his baby. What's Urban's baby in Jacksonville? the quote unquote culture. He's not calling offensive plays. You know, you might be picking the players, but this isn't Ohio State. You don't have an unlimited amount of first round picks.

Do we sure we know what he's doing when it comes to the draft? He took Travis E.TN in the first round this year when their best player on their team was arguably their running back. What the hell was he doing? So I have little to know faith in Urban Meyer. So I would bet on Trey Lance, even though he's got a long way to go, just because of Kyle Shan.

Ann. If we're in college, I would bet on whoever Urban Meyer had. But we're in the pros. We play on Sundays in this league. We see Urban's swimming in the deep end now. And he's, you know, the floaters, can they keep him up? We don't know. He might just fall under. I know Kyle can swim in the deep end. Took a team to the Super Bowl two years ago. Urban might not be able to win five games in the NFL. And I think Trevor will end up taking some collateral damage there, taking some shrapnel, but it might not be his fault. He just might, I mean, he's arguably playing for one of the worst organizations in all of sports. The Jags are a joke. And if people have DM me before about Khan, I guess his soccer teams are sucked too. For a guy that's a great business guy and made all this money, every sports team he owns loses. Like, that has to be some reflection of something that he's doing. So I would bet on Trey Lance strictly because of the coach, not because I view him as a better player. Situation in business matters.

timing matters who's leading you matters who's running whatever business you're in matters and I just trust the group in San Francisco much more than the one in Jacksonville appreciate everyone firing in those DMs thanks everyone for listening to the volume keep sharing it with your friends

and just excited for football to be back it's an exciting time of year there's nothing better than early on in the fall you just end up smiling a lot more it's just a happier time even when all the radical miserable people want to bring you down. We just turn off us. Us football people,

we just turn off football and they just can't get to us. We're just like, no, we're too happy. You're not messing with me. You're not bringing me down to your miserable level. So enjoy the week. Get ready for football and I will talk to you after the Tampa, Dallas game. Let's go. The volume. Get right to the romance and find the way to wow this valentines with 1-800flowers.com.

From classic roses and bouquets to decadent chocolate. covered berries, gourmet treats, and more. Surprise your Valentine with 1-800flowers.com. Right now, get the 18-stem enchanted rose medley for $39.99, or upgrade to 24 red roses for $10 more. Go to 1-800flowers.com slash tune-in. That's 1-800flowers.com slash tune-in. Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guide, 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 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. On the Look Back at a podcast. From 1979, that was a big moment for me. Eighty-four was big to me. Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a year, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it with our friends, fellow comedians, and favorite authors. Like Mark Lamont Hill on the 80s.

Before it was a wild year. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me. Clivert Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media.

Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Cliford Show. This is a place for raw, unfilled of conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. So let's get to it. Listen to The Cliford show

on the IHeard 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. an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed human.