The Herd with Colin Cowherd - 3 and Out - Indefinitely Suspend Watson, New NFL Media, Kupp + Donald Funny $$

Episode Date: June 10, 2022

John discusses the drastically changing landscape of NFL media coverage, how the Rams are able to extend Cooper Kupp and Aaron Donald, and why the NFL should suspend Deshaun Watson Indefinitely. He explains why Baker Mayfield should be more self-aware, what Belichick copycat move Josh McDaniels unnecessarily made in minicamp, why Lamar Jackson can’t take a rep until he gets paid, and why Nick Bosa should play out this year. Subscribe NOW and follow Middlekauff and The Volume on Twitter, Instagram and YouTube for the latest content and updates. Go to  FanDuel for the best wagering and daily fantasy action! #herdSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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

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

Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, this is Robert from the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast. Joe and I are both lifelong Star Wars fan, so we're celebrating May the 4th with a brand new week of fun, thought-provoking Star Wars-related episodes.

Join us as we tackle science and culture topics from a galaxy far, far away, such as the biology of Tontons and Wampas on the ice planet hot, or the practicality and corporate business sense of the Sith rule. of two. Listen to Stuff to Blow Your Mind on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. On the Look Back at it podcast. From 1979, that was a big moment for me.

84 was big to me. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a year, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. With our friends, fellow comedians, and favorite authors. Like Mark Lamont Hill on the 80s. 84 was a wild year.

It was a wild year. I don't think there's a more important year for black. people. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The volume. The Three Now Podcast with me, John Middilcoff, is presented by Fandual Sportsbook. There's no better place to make every moment more than with Fandual.

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Now sign up with promo code Colin, so they know we sent you. What is going on, everybody? John Middlecop, three and out podcast. Coming at you live on this Thursday, June 9th. Summer is upon us. And I'm coming from you from an undisclosed location. in Scottsdale, Arizona, where summer is definitely here. Supposed this weekend of 114.

So I'm ready to sweat. And when you're a bald guy, you sweat a lot. So the Bald Brotherhood, you guys, anyone listening can relate. You know, when we get hot and we start sweating, it starts dripping down our face. I love this time of year. Love the heat. Love me some Arizona. And hopefully everyone's doing well.

Everyone's doing good. Getting ready for the weekend. some football stuff. We basically have about five, six more days. Some teams are going to practice next week for their mandatory minicamp. I know the Ravens are won. We'll talk about Lamar in a little bit, but the 49ers, for example,

I went to their practice earlier this week. They canceled today's practice, why I be lined out of there. And I would imagine they're canceling next week. So they're going to be a ton of teams who are unofficially ready. They're summer break. And the best part about being in the NFL summer break, It's like high school, baby.

It's like junior high. It's like elementary. You get 40, 50 days to do whatever you want. Now you got to stay in shape. You got to stay in shape. I remember, you know, I never played in college football. Didn't play in the NFL. But when I was in high school, we had to do this endurance test.

And I remember in ninth grade, you know, your first year of playing JV football, I didn't train. And you had to do 10 of these kind of like up and down the field in a certain amount of time. Then you got a certain amount of rest. It was like 50 seconds. And then 40 seconds rest. and you had to be able to do 10, I made it like two. And it was like, welcome to football.

Most of these teams now, you know, NFL teams did that. I think when I was a kid, but most of these teams, these guys are in such good shape. I mean, Nick Bosa showed up for like two days, hadn't been around. Looked fantastic. These guys are on such a regiment as they should be. They're, you know, it makes sense, right? I mean, they have so much money on the line, especially Nick. But a lot of these guys, I mean, they could run until the cows come home.

Maybe not Trailing Burks, who, uh, It looks like the asthma, maybe a little out of shape. That's something to keep an eye on. But a lot going on, and we'll dive right in. Subscribe to the podcast, three and out podcast. Share it with your friends. Share it with your enemies. Appreciate everyone that's listening.

Also, the Middlecoff mailbag at John Middlecoff. At John Middlecoff. I like saying that. At is my Instagram handle. DM's wide open. I'm going to need you guys this summer, man. We're going to try to do some interviews this summer as things basically come to a screeching halt of,

You know, really the only stories typically over summer are extensions and arrests. And we don't root for arrest. Though, you know, depending on the arrest can make for a good story. But I don't root for anyone to get arrested. So there's not much happens over the summer. But that's where you guys come in, firing those DMs. And I'm a content creator. I'll figure out stuff to talk about.

But I wanted to start with something up the top. That's just a little big picture media stuff. I don't know if you saw, if you're on the Internet on Thursday, the Saudi Golf League kicked off, and they're exclusively on YouTube. And Draymond Green, who's a part of the volume, and is just doing phenomenally well.

I mean, he has had videos with, his interview with Steph Curry did seven figures on YouTube. Like, the amount of people that consume Drayman on the internet is incredible. I mean, it really is eye-opening. And he's big on this statement, and he calls it the new media.

and listen, you might hate Dremont, and I understand a lot of people do. I love them because I love Steph Clay and Dremon. They're just my guys. I mean, they're what keep me involved in the NBA. Without them, I wouldn't watch any NBA, I don't think, or very, very little, maybe the playoffs, but I'd be a football golf guy, but they keep me locked in. And he's big on this thing calling it the new media. And when he says that, he means players involved in the media, changing the game.

And I would disagree with him a little bit because I think the majority of my life, players have always, and coaches, have always played a massive, massive role in the sports media. Think about the biggest media star of my lifetime is John Madden, who was famous for being a coach and then transitioned.

Right? Think about the NBA. Their biggest star by a mile is not a Big J. journalist. It's Charles Barkley. It has been for almost two decades now. That's just the way it works. And to me, if I was talking to Draymond, I'd say you are a part of new media, but new media means consumer friendly. When I was a kid and I wanted to read about sports, I had no options.

It was the San Francisco Chronicle, the Sacramento Bee, or Sports Illustrated. The media had me and everyone else by the balls. Wherever you lived, you had to consume the newspaper. I have not read a newspaper, not called the Wall Street Journal, in a decade. you couldn't pay me to buy a hard copy of the newspaper. That ain't happening. So when I hear new media, what that means to me is me. You can listen to me and some people hate me.

You don't have to listen to me. But five, ten years ago, if I wanted to do what I'm doing, I would have to be on radio. Because that's where if you talked for a living, that was the only place to monetize your voice, right? Non-TV. Well, I don't need radio anymore. Honestly, I've turned down radio several times.

I'm not trying to be arrogant or toot my own horn. But my point is, this is an outlet no different than Draymond. Like, Draymond doesn't have to be on TV. Why? He does hundreds of thousands of viewers on YouTube. And I'm watching Live Golf this morning. And people are like, well, it looked really good. If you checked it out on YouTube, even if you're not a golf guy, maybe you ended up there.

They had like this F1 level leaderboard. And at one point in time, when I clicked over, they had 110,000 people watching. When Pat McAfee, who is an internet sensation, and let's face it, a media sensation, he is new media. He does not need a network. You can listen to him on a podcast. You can watch him on YouTube. He does not need Fox. He does not need CBS.

He does not need ABC. Do you know what? They need him. He's got them by the balls. if he even wanted to go over there and he doesn't he doesn't need to why he has ownership over everything he does but when he interviewed aaron rogers after erin rogers got the vid and missed the game during the season and the immunization comment and then he went on pat maccify i remember clicking it on it on youtube and it had a hundred and ten thousand people watching a hundred and ten i think

youtube and anyone that's listening to this with little kids knows that is where people go to consume. And I said this the moment the NFL got involved with Amazon Prime. How are we going to watch it? How are we going to find it? Amazon? You mean one of the biggest companies in the world? The amount of people, how many people of your neighbors or you live in an apartment complex? Every single person I've ever met gets Amazon now. If you don't, you are getting laughed in society. Like you are the minority. My mother, who is in her 70s watches Netflix, watches Amazon Prime, and watches HBO Max. And when she, She listens to stuff, she listens to podcasts. So the day and age where newspapers died a long time ago.

Now, obviously, there are still some that make money, the Washington Post, the New York Times, but for the most part, their reach has been diminished greatly. Television has been destroyed by the segment of streaming of all the channels. It will never be the same. In the 80s, the final episode of MASH had like 95 million people watching it. A big show now has like $800,000 on television. Now, streaming is a lot different. And I'm not saying that right now streaming is overtaking some of that stuff,

but it's clear where it's going. What new media is to me is I had the option this morning to watch Live Golf for free on YouTube. When I landed in Scottsdale at 7 a.m. And I took a taxi to where I'm sitting right now, I watched the event on my 30-minute ride. and to me that is it's the best thing that ever happened to any of us

because before and this is why I think the media especially the older ones get very very angry at least the ones that didn't change Colin has always adapted it's why I feel very lucky and really honored and just I'm again

very very lucky to be a part of his brand because he was never one of those guys that was going to hold on as the ship went down most did and most currently are remember several years ago when a lot of companies said, we're no longer going to pay a lot for writing.

We're going to video. The media freaked. Think about where all the money is made now. Video, audio. The written word no longer produces much money. Like Bill Simmons Company, they don't make money on the ringer's website. They make all their money on YouTube and the podcast, right?

The volume is that without writing. Why? There's no money. in that anymore. And listen, everyone's trying to run a business. Everyone's trying to function. And there's a reason that the NFL got involved with Amazon. Obviously, they have a lot of money, but that's where everything's going. And CBS, ABC, NBC, all these, obviously they've been in business with them a long time. And a lot of the owners in the NFL are very, very old. They still watch CBS, ABC, and NBC. But I would imagine over this contract, that will dramatically change. And these

companies will have to, and they already do, like Peacock and the streaming services, we'll have to go to there. Why? That's where the consumer is. So when Draymond talks about new media, it's not him and what he's doing specifically. It's his ability to get out something right after his game and have hundreds of thousands of people listen or watch him. And he didn't need CBS. He didn't need a radio station. If anything, they need him. So I'm excited to be part of this. And I've seen it coming for a long time, but the live golf is going to rattle the cages of the PGA tour. Because they have more money.

It's why the USFL and the AFL and the AAF could never take down the NFL because they were never going to have more cash than the league. And it's really at this point in time, as we saw we'll get into the Broncos sale, that there's so much money in the NFL country club that there is no stopping it. They have unlimited pockets. And speaking of unlawful, unlimited pockets. Cooper Cup and Aaron Donald just got an astronomical amount of money. And the Los Angeles Rams, I tweeted this the other day. It's like, they're operating like the Saudis. Does a salary

cap impact them? And the reality is it does. But their greatest benefit is the amount of actual cash their owner has. I got into an argument. And really, listen, I'm not going to name the guy's name because I respect them. And I ultimately was probably a little wrong. I had an agent get mad at me over being critical of a contract. And the guy was part of a team with a quote-unquote cash poor owner. And the simple reality is some cash poor owners, all these owners now have money.

Because every year the media rights deal, whether you own the Raiders, whether you own the Browns, whether you own whatever team, it would be on the lowest rung of the amount of cash relative to Jerry Jones, Stan Cronkey, right? you still get more money than it's needed for your salary cap, right? Your salary cap's $200 million.

They just got $300 million this upcoming. I think it kicks in right before the season. So you have the amount of money to pay all your players. This is not 1987, not 1992, or some teams just didn't have the money. Back in like the mid-2000s, Al Davis did not have the cash to pay Jamarcus Russell. Think about that. Now, Mark Davis, even at this point in time, is at a different point clearly than that with the Stadium, but relative to cash, he's in the bottom five.

And some of these teams cannot give huge signing bonuses, not because they won't eventually have the money, because when you give a guy a signing bonus, you have to give it to him immediately. So when I give Aaron Donald a 30-40 Cooper Cup of $30 million signing bonus, they get their cash in a two-week period. And then obviously the rest of the money comes over a period of time. And every penny that you guarantee you have to put into escrow immediately. and Stan Cronkey who I think a lot of people that follow the NBA

think he's very cheap with the Denver Broncos or excuse me, I mean the Denver Nuggets. He lets executives and coaches go, but he pays the players. And I heard Colin say this and people in the league talked about this, but he was even hesitant to pay McVeigh. McVeigh was not highly paid until this year. I think Les Need has had to battle for money

up until the last couple years. He'll pay the players, but the executives, and I honestly, I understand it. Now, a coach, you never go cheap on a coach. Look at Dean Spanos. Look why they've underachieved my entire adult life. He always likes to go cheap on a coach. You never go cheap on a coach.

It's easy to be like, well, pay the good players. But Stan Cronky and what the Rams are doing, it shows they have an unlimited amount of cash. They still play by the same rules as everyone else when it comes to the salary cap, but they can give these enormous signing bonus, these enormous upfront cash payments that some teams just aren't going to be able to do. Now, for example, Aaron Donner and Cooper Cup, they were not free agents.

The Rams had their rights. They weren't going anywhere. And Cooper Cup, who, like, if he didn't get paid, someone asked him, like, were you going to hold out for mandatory minicamp? And he's like, I'd be the first player in NFL history to come to voluntary camps and then not show up for mandatory camps. Because if you're not going to mandatory camp, you get fined about $95,000. It's like $16, 31, and then I think 45.

so it goes up every day that you miss. There's a reason when I was at 49er practice, Debo Samuel was staying in there. He did not want to pay $95,000. If they didn't find you, he would not have been there. But it's a basic math equation. And now they kept two of their better players. And listen, I was live week 18,

and Cooper Cup was awesome. And he was obviously awesome, all the playoffs. He is a star. Aaron Donald is already one of the greatest players in the history of the league. I still think Cooper Cup, It might just be because he's a white receiver. You know, he was a small school guy, whatever.

I don't think we hold him. Maybe some of you guys in fantasy football do, but it's taking him a little while. After seeing him live, he's as good as anyone in the NFL. Now, he benefits from playing with Matt Stafford. He obviously had his career year this year, having Sean McVeigh as his coach. But that guy would be a stud for any coach in the league.

That guy is a big-time player. And the Rams now, and you can say, well, eventually this is, you know, it's going to come to roost. You know, in three or four years, without these picks, if some of these players get old. And that might be true, and that's typically what happens. Because they're kind of building themselves like a baseball team. You don't when a baseball team overpays a bunch of guys. But for the moment, at least in the short term, like they could be good for a couple years.

But then in like three or four years, they got three shitty contracts. At least in baseball, though, there's no salary caps. So like the Yankees or the Red Sox or the Dodgers can pay guys to go away. It doesn't really work that way in the NFL. Look at the Falcons. They had the worst cap situation. I actually saw Thomas Jamitroff. He was at practice.

I didn't talk to him, but he was at 49er practice in a suit. And let's face it, he did a pretty good job over his overall tenure. But what he left for Arthur Smith, and I don't even know their new GM's name, was a disaster. Because they had always paid, paid, paid. And it's one thing to do it like the Saints had been doing it. They had been winning. They had been consistently competitive. The Falcons had not.

I mean, they were, when they played the 49ers last year, they were 7 and 7. they were the worst seven and seven team I've ever seen in my entire life. It really is remarkable that one, that they won that many games and then they still ended up with the ninth pick, but that they won that many games. I mean, they were atrocious.

And the reason was their salary cap was all messed up. If your salary cap is messed up and the Rams is not ideal, but their top five, six players are all elite. Stafford, Donald, Cup. You know, I wouldn't put Alan Robinson in that category, but

Jalen Ramsey. They have elite top it. They're built like a basketball team. If LeBron and Anthony Davis are on the court, they're going to win. Maybe not the whole thing, but they're going to win. If they're not, we saw this year disaster. If Aaron Donald or Cooper Cup get injured,

it's a problem because they put all their chips in the middle of the table on those guys, which, as someone that follows the NFC West, it's the closest division which I follow because of the 49ers and I just live on the West coast. I watch all their games, you know, just all four teams. And it's worked. It's been an incredible success. So I don't blame them for continuing. They're not doubling down now. They're tripling down.

And let's face it, both the guys, but specifically Aaron Donald, who they gave a lot of money, sometimes you worry when you pay a guy, is he still going to work hard? Is he still going to be determined? And then when you give him a third contract, you go, well, he's over 30. Is this risky? I think we all acknowledge Aaron Donald's work ethic and his, he's, is, you know, just the total package of him being ready to go is a 10 out of 10. The only, like, you never have to worry. You know, Aaron Donald kind of mailed it in this offseason. You know, he wasn't that focused in the summer.

Aaron Donald is a six-pack as a defensive tackle. The only thing you worry about is him getting hurt. And let's face it, for him to get injured, it's just going to be random. Any guy in the league at any moment can get injured. That's part of the sport. But when you invest in a guy, you want to trust them, you know, especially when you're paying him a lot of money at the highest level. And I think both these guys have proven to be the ultimate teammates, the ultimate

workers, the ultimate high level guys, and the reason they get paid is because they're elite players. The NBA finals are here, and so is your chance to score big on Fanduals Sportsbook. Throughout the NBA finals, Fandual is giving new customers $200 in free bets guaranteed when you place your first $5 bet. Bet the money line, point spreads, player props, and so much more. Plus, you can combine your bets

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Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me, Cliver Taylor the 4th.

You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw,

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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. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tapped Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do with Little Kim?

Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam Jek. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick it here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill, waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84 is big to me not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack all day, but just so y'all know.

I mean, at this point, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack. So I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now. Thank you for finishing that sentence. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Really? Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history.

Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hard Way 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

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Because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross, because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth? Are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely.

And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Gaines, as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, learn the hard way. Open your free. iHeartRadio app search learn the hard way and listen now i i was watching coward the other day

and he opened up his show about dashan watson and his ultimate take was like rusty hard and deshawn shut it down stop talking i'm even to go further i i've been saying for a long time deshawn watson i was saying this before even some of these new cases have been coming out that i would suspend him for a year i'm changing my tune i would suspend him indefinitely Deshawn Watson, if I was Roger Goodell, I wouldn't put a date on it. I wouldn't say 17 games. I wouldn't say two years. I'd say you are suspended indefinitely until this all plays out.

Because here's what we know, after the information of 66 women in 17 months. And not women. There's one thing to go to the bars and meet women. This guy was running a Bernie Madoff level scam with massage therapists to get laid. let's call a spade a spade that's the reality here and think about this I'm 37 years old I'm not married

hopefully one day but I've dated a lot you know in my late 20s and throughout my 30s and every girl is different I say it all the time like I hate these he said she said you never know and most of these cases

just speaking about the NFL has always been one guy one girl Zeke Elliott and a girl Rathfusberg and a girl Kobe and a girl and it was these things things get ugly and when they're guilty, I think they're the ultimate scumbags. I've said it forever. If you sexually assault a woman, go to fucking jail. And I said on the flip side, if you make it up as a

woman, you deserve to go to a jail. But for the most part, these situations that we have talked about over the year, they've been black and white in the sense of it's been a woman versus a guy, a football player versus a lady, a female, a woman, and it's just, we don't know, it's just This is 66 women. This guy was running a sexual scam to meet women. Now, some of these women, consensual sex for sure. But you cannot convince me. Just humans, like I said, dated a lot of women.

Not everyone moves at the same pace. Not everyone has the same personality. Not everyone is as open. It's pretty clear. Like, you would have to live under a rock to not go, yeah, something probably happened. I mean, let's just be real on this one. And getting back to Roger Goodell, I've said forever, just spend him for a year. Who cares?

Who's going to defend him? When this information comes out, it's like, you're getting indefinitely suspended. Why would you want him in your league until this is cleared up? And honestly, it doesn't feel like it's getting cleared up anytime soon. Because every freaking day, it feels like someone is added. Like, I'm sorry. I can't look at this guy anymore. And you know me, I am not some moral.

high horse guy. I'm not a big Jay. I don't try to act like that. That is not my personality. I think this guy is a walking, talking red flag. And it shows you the Browns who are just the ultimate desperate franchise, who

ironically had the train on the tracks a couple years ago, had an incredible season. They won a playoff game on the road against a division rival. They beat the Pittsburgh Steelers. Now, that year was weird, there weren't fans, it was not normal, but still, that was an incredible accomplishment to get to the second round of the playoffs, their number one overall pick who was a

quarterback. Well, clearly things fell off the rails this year. They do not like Baker Mayfield, who is also a toxic walking, talking red flag for a completely different reason to Sean Watson, but no one will touch him. Obviously, the reason the Browns and all these other teams were interested in Deshawn, because he's really good. But here's the thing. the Browns were the only team to meet these crazy demands of a fully guaranteed contract. And honestly, they may get bailed out if Deshaun gets in serious trouble and the league basically boots him. Because honestly, how could you not think that's on the table?

And I would say in a lot of these situations, we've seen a lot of guys come back, they did not have this situation of 24 women in a lawsuit of 66 massage therapists, massage therapists. Like this guy was the Bernie Madoff of sexual massage therapist scams. That's what this guy was doing. And he's been exploited now. And the crazy thing is, from everyone that's ever talked about him, good looking guy, star quarterback, everyone loved him. Why did he have to resort to this? Is he a weirdo?

A whack job? A criminal? I mean, I think it's all on the table right now. And I, again, if Roger Goodell wants to truly drop the hands, hammer. The PGA tour tried it today with the live guy. Suspended them forever. Why wouldn't you do that? And if it comes out, this is one of the greatest collusions of women getting together trying to exploit Deshawn Watson for life or for money. You can pivot. But it sure as hell does not feel like that's where we're headed does it. Well, let's just fire around the NFL. It's weird to

transition from Deshaun Watson to normal topics. But speaking of, you know, Baker Mayfield, someone on Instagram was like, your take on Baker Mayfield and posting picks of drinking. I didn't have a take. I simply said, if I was advising Baker Mayfield, I would tell them, under no circumstances, when the entire league thinks you're untouchable, toxic, not worthy of trading for, I would not be posting any pictures in the middle of the week of you drinking. I'm not anti-drinking. If you're listening to this on Friday, I'm probably hung over. Going out tonight on Thursday to a dinner, going to have some drinks. Going to have some cocktails, some wine, some tequila, some vodka. I am pro having a good time. I'm also pro using my head. I'm not a quarterback that no team, this isn't some

random quarterback. This isn't Nick Mullins or Trevor Simeon. This guy was the number one overall pick in the NFL who led the Cleveland Browns to the playoffs. And now it's like, well, he makes $18 million. There are six quarterbacks in the league that make over 40. A ton of quarterbacks make in the 30s. Jimmy Garoppolo makes 27. 18's nothing. No one will touch the guy. He's untouchable. I don't know why. I don't know the guy, but that's a fact. They had the opportunity for months now to trade for him before the draft, and no one would. The league thinks the guy's toxic. Again, not in a Deshawn Watson terms, but his teammates didn't like him, his team didn't like him. They were out on the guy. And if I was Baker-Mayfield,

I've said over and over, lay low. I don't need, you don't have to fake it and post pictures of you working out, which I'm sure he is, but do not post pictures of you drinking. I know these GMs. Like, I can get eight of them on the phone right now. I know the way they think.

They look at that stuff and it turns them off. Most of them drink. It's not about having a cores light in your hand. It's about like, does this guy get it? And the simple answer, in the league, they believe he does not. because if he did, he'd be on another team. It's simple as that.

I wasn't trying to be like some, you know, act like I'm better than you. You shouldn't be part of it. That's not what my take was at all. It was like, bro, have a clue. Lay low. One thing I saw, Josh McDaniels, the new head coach of the, almost said Oakland Raiders, the Las Vegas Raiders. They've had mandatory minicamp this week.

and they have a setup, most teams do, of like several fields. And the reason you have several fields and a lot of teams that have grass fields is so you can rotate. It's like a driving range, right? You don't hit on the driving range the same place if you use grass for two straight weeks. You rotate because the grass gets torn up. It's no different in football. You tear up certain grass. Like you couldn't have the offensive linemen in the same area if you're using grass every single day all season.

You got to rotate. Well, a lot of these. and I've been going to practices now for well over a decade. Most of these teams move around throughout the days, but they have areas where the media can stand. And I said, listen, I talked about Josh early this week. I'm excited to watch him coach. And he's talked openly about how he's going to be his own guy.

He's going to be different than Bill. And he's not going to be an imitator like he was last time. And most of Belichick's guys have been over the years. He's going to be true to himself. And the first couple days of practice, Josh McDaniels put the team on three football fields away from the media. It's open practice. Again, you're just throwing routes on air. You're running basic plays.

There are no secrets happening. But he put the team 150 yards away from the media and didn't allow them to see a thing. Again, I was just at practice the last couple days. Kyle Shanahan just practices normally. I'm two feet away from team drills if I want to be. There are no secrets. Josh McDaniels, I'm not saying I'm red flagging this, but it is something to keep an eye on. That's a Belichick move.

My question would be, why in the world, are you worried and thinking, because you'd have to think about this, because you mandate where they can stand and where they can't stand, and he only allowed him to stand a place. That's a Belichick type move. And that's a type thing like, are you really your own guy, or are you at your core just a created assistant coach by Bill? Now, I think he knows X's nose. He's been a really good offensive coordinator over the years,

but that is something that's a little concerning to me. Because any times that I see signs of the Belichick guys doing what Belichick would do, not on game day, but like in the middle of June, and is Bill even doing that in New England? Like, come on, man. Just stop worrying about things that do not matter. Belichick guys always worry about things that do not matter. They spend, because you have to spend effort thinking about that.

It takes energy to do that. And I just, I don't know, man, something to keep an eye on. Aaron Rogers, who I've said over and over, can we stop talking about retirement? He just took $150 million. It really is exhausting. Like, just play football. Now, granted, in fairness to him, he's being asked about this some of the time, but I just, I can't take it much more.

Now, he did say that he plans on retiring, and I think he will retire as a Green Bay Packer. He'd be like, well, yeah, they're giving him $150 million. He's making $50 million a year for the next three years. But if I was a Packer fan, and listen, I enjoy watching Aaron Rogers. I really do. He is, he's my L-Way, he's my Marino, just freak talent, who's elite. Now, he may end up with one Super Bowl, you know, he's just, which is crazy,

because to me, he is the most physically gifted guy of his generation. Tom's the best player, but Tom can't do things. Aaron could do. Payton Manning can't do things. Drew Brees, they couldn't do things that Aaron can do. Aaron is incredible watch and he dominates. But he leaves a little something to be desired in the playoffs. I'm not arguing that. But here's a simple reality if I'm a Packer fan. Because this guy is liable to quit at any moment. Like after this season, if for some reason you went like nine and eight and missed the playoffs, who knows? Maybe he walks away. I would enjoy every snap because the next couple years are not guaranteed with the guy.

And as you saw with Jordan Love and it's just his one outing, you ain't going to win with it, Jordan Love. Now, your division sucks and maybe your team would be good enough to compete for like eight, nine wins if Jordan Love was your quarterback, but probably not. Like you've had arguably the greatest run we've ever seen, not from a Super Bowl standpoint, but just quarterback play. 30 years of Brett Farb and Aaron Rogers. And actually, I think it's more than that because Farve got there, what, 93?

Yeah, I guess it's 30 years because, yeah, you're going to have 30 years of the two guys. and maybe a little more if Aaron plays out this contract, but it's going to end. Like, we can see the end is in sight now. And as just a lover of high-end talent, the reason I watch pro sports, I've said over and over, is to watch Barry Bonds, is to watch Tiger Woods,

is to watch Steph Curry, is to watch Aaron Rogers. I don't watch the NFL for undrafted free agents. Now, if you become a great player as an undrafted free agent, I enjoy watching you. But I watch football, I watch all these pro, sports for the stars.

I like watching the Yankees because they have Aaron Judge. If they had Randos, I would not care. So enjoy this guy, man. He is, he's, I mean, listen, the best player in the history of your franchise was Brett Farf, and this guy's better. 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 at all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds.

I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care which I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media.

Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. 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 what you need to be. Listen to The Clifford Show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tap Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people.

I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do a little bit? Kim, well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick it here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84 is big to me, not just because of crack.

I'm down to talk about crack on day, but just so you all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack. So I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS. the table right now. Thank you for finishing that sentence. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Really?

Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hard Way with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests.

I'm talking. Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing. And we're still chasing it. And we don't know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses.

Steve Burns, Dustin Ross. Because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth. Are you a good person because you're a friend? free. 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, Keer Gaines, is we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, learn the hard way. Open your free iHeartRadio app. Search Learn the hard way and listen now. Clearly the Steelers are like big on these hold ends, which is smart. I've said over and over,

if I was representing Debo Samuel, Lamar Jackson, Minka Fitzpatrick, you would go to mandatory minicamp because I wouldn't want you to get fine, but under no circumstances would you take a snap. As an all-pro elite player, when it's contract time,

we are done taking snaps. Now, I say it over and over, part of football, you can get hurt doing squats. You can get hurt sprinting with your trainer, let alone in training camp and obviously in a game. But I will take zero. zero, zero risk at one of these OTAs or training camp until I put pen to paper.

So if I'm Debo Samuel, if I'm Minka, I do this hold in. I take no snaps until I get my new contract, which is inevitable. Obviously Minka Fitzpatrick, who has become a star defensive back in the league, who they traded a first round pick for, is going to get extended. But as you saw last year with J.J. Watts brother, T.J. Actually, it's unfair to call him J.J. Watt's. He's an elite player. Held in and got his money.

And that's the right move. And the Steelers, they're old school. This is not the Sacramento Kings is given away free money. The NFL is a tough negotiating business. As any business that's successful should be. You don't just hand out cash. Even too highly valued employees. You negotiate.

And part of negotiating is this. And this is a way as a player to gain a little negotiating leverage. Don't practice. Lamar Jackson falls under that category too. John Harbaugh, who I think spoke earlier this week, their mandatory mini camps are next week, said that Lamar Jackson will be at mandatory minicamp. And I would recommend, and I know he doesn't have an agent,

but if I was his friend, I would say under no circumstances, are we taking one snap under center? And it's hard. I mean, I saw Debo like itching to get involved. He had his gloves on, he has cleats on, and he didn't have like a jersey on, but you could tell, like, he wanted, when you love football, when you love doing something, if you just put a mic and a recorder and a computer in front of my face, I'd wanted podcast. I got takes. This is what I do. If you're a salesman,

you like to sell, you know, if you're good at it. If you're in real estate, like, you want to flip homes. If you're a stock broker, you want to make some cash. Like, once we get good at something, it's enjoyable to do it. Because once you get good at something, especially most industries, you make money doing that. And it's, you enjoy the process of doing it. And football is no different with the high-end players that love ball. And it would be very, very difficult to just stand there if you're Lamar Jackson. But that's what he has to do. Because can you imagine him, Taryn and ACL, Taryn and Achilles, even getting stepped on, like breaking a leg, it is not worth it when you're talking the amount of money that's on the line. We're not talking $10 million. We're not talking $30 million.

We're talking a $150 plus million in guaranteed cash. Dak Prescott got 160 guaranteed a couple years ago or last year, 40 a year. We'd all take Lamar Jackson over Dak Prescott. I know that for a fact. So if you're Lamar Jackson, you can't, even if you end up quote unquote taking a, you know, I wouldn't say team friendly, but just one that Lamar's going to get paid no matter what, but a deal that both sides feel good about, you just can't. can't do it. It's just not worth the risk. I think we talked about a couple weeks ago the

the Denver Broncos sale. And listen, the market, let's face it, the real estate market is slowing down, as it should have been. It was beyond inflated. It got ridiculous and it got crazy over the last 18 months. It's, I wouldn't care coming to a screeching halt, but I'm sitting in Scottsdale right now and it's, it's, they're hitting the brakes. I'm seeing the Bay Area slowing down, which is, which is inevitable, right? Everything goes up, bet it comes down in the history of recessions, of real estate, of any commodity. Right. But the one thing that has just gone up, up, up, up, up and up more has been NFL teams.

There has been no coming down. It's only gone up. And the NFL, it's not a true, like, when you put a house on the market, you can technically sell it to anyone who wants to buy it. That's not the way the NFL works. When the Denver Broncos went on the market, they did not really go on the open market because they were going to pick who was going to join the NFL country club. They were not going to give it away to someone they didn't want inside the club.

The Waltons who have several kids who are in like the top 30 of richest people in America own a ton of land all over this country. Guess what a lot of NFL owners do? They have other businesses. You know who they probably want to be associated with, talk with, do deals with, are the Waltons. I don't think this was random. Now, they didn't give the guy a deal. He paid $4.65 billion, a record for an American sports franchise.

I don't care. That's an astronomical amount of money. When you see that the Denver Broncos are worth 4.65, I go, what would the Cowboys be worth? What would the Lakers be worth? What would the Yankees be worth? Eight? I mean, seriously, what are those franchises worth?

And the Denver Broncos is an elite franchise in an elite city with a ton of history, a ton of brand recognition, and a huge fan base. But $4.65 billion, they should go for way more than TEPA paid for the Panthers. But double? Teper paid 2.2. So they just got more than double what the Panthers sold for. And we're not talking like, well, double. It was worth $800 and you got $1.5.5.

$6 million. We're talking billions, multiple billions more. So this situation, they wanted the Walton's involved. The Walton's have the unlimited amount of cash. And I think this was a strategic move by the owners to get this family involved in their league. It's like, just because you're super rich and you love golf does not mean that you can get into Augusta. When I went and played LA Country Club, they don't let actors in. They don't want Hollywood people in. The only members at LA Country Club are businessmen, our finance people, are real estate and bankers. They don't, like, everyone else is a member at RIV and some other country club, Bel Air. The L.A. Country Club says, no, it's not about how much money you have.

Monterey Peninsula Country Club, same thing. There are a lot of rich people that want to join. They say no. That's what the, you know, that's what these private kind of things are about. and I would imagine that the top five or six heavy hitting owners in the NFL and also Raj, Jerry, Robert, Cronky, the Glazer family, the Maras, like they wanted these guys in the league because there were, there are other people that could afford it and I'm sure they were very, very interested.

But it's not about that. It's about who they want in their club. It's about who they want in that convention center when they're at Arizona or Dallas or whatever for the owner's meetings. And there are 32 men sitting in that room. They have to watch you in that room. Because there's a lot of people that want to be in that room and would have the finances to get involved.

But they don't want you. Last but not least, Kyle Shanahan said that Nick Bosa, they haven't even started discussing a contract with him. And if I was Nick Bosa, I would recommend playing this year out. Because, and I think he's prepared to do that, he's only in his third year, or excuse me, going into his, I guess this is going to be his fourth season.

So he's done with his three years on his rookie contract. He's contract eligible. But if he has another massive season and is another all pro, right now he'd get $110 million and $28 million a year. He has another 16, 17 sacks, and it's clear that him, Aaron Donald, Miles Garrett, are the best defensive players in the NFL. We're talking $33, $34 million. We're talking $130, $140 million of guaranteed money. We are talking a historic deal. So I, while it's risky, because any time that I remember Cole Hamels when I lived in

Philly when I was working for the Eagles, they were going to offer him like $120 million before his last season on his contract. And people are like, well, if he plays it out, he'd get like $200 million. And I remember being on the radio or hearing Jason Stark or Peter Gamens or just Maybe it was like a Steve Phillips type who just said, have you ever got a piece of paper in front of you that said $125 million and not signed it? I give Aaron Judge a lot of credit. The Yankees offered Aaron Judge $215 million.

He said kick rocks. He's having his best season as a pro and he's going to get like $350 million. He took a huge risk and it's paying off. It's working. But if I was Nick Bosa, now the risk is he got hurt in high school. he got hurt in college and he got hurt in the pros. And he plays, he's in the trenches. So you can get injured.

And his family, I would just say in general, has a history of being injured. So if the Niners, who, it doesn't behoove them, like, just wait. Let the cap go up. What's the rush? He's only going into his fourth year. You have him under contract for two more years. But they've always been a forward thinking organization that you sign them now. You do get them for cheaper.

Get them for $28 million instead of $33 and obviously maybe $20 million. less guaranteed cash. What if he's a defensive player of the year this year? What if he's, you know, honestly. I mean, that's basically like winning the MVP as a defensive player. So it could cost them a lot of money.

But I do think for both sides, it's probably the right move. We'll have a Middilkoff mailbag coming out this weekend at John Middlecoff is the Instagram, at John Middlecoph is the Instagram. Fire in those direct messages. Get your question answered here on the show.

And have a good weekend. enjoy talking to you. I hope you enjoy listening. And we will all talk soon. Adios. Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends.

Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel. Help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends

on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year.

Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, this is Robert from the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast. Joe and I are both lifelong Star Wars fan, so we're celebrating May the 4th with a brand new week of fun, thought-provoking Star Wars-related episodes.

Join us as we tackle science and culture topics from a galaxy far, far away, such as the biology of tontons and wampas on the ice planet hot, or the practicality and corporate business sense of the Sith rule of two. Listen to stuff to bowl your mind 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 I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Clifford Taylor the Fourth. 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, unfilts 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 Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok podcast network on TikTok. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.