The Herd with Colin Cowherd - 3 and Out - Kelce Retires, Schneider Takes Over In Seattle, QBs Remaining In Playoffs, Mailbag

Episode Date: January 17, 2024

John reacts to the news of Jason Kelce’s retirement from the Eagles and how his legacy will be remembered as a member of the Philadelphia community and his relatability(6:00). He weighs in on Seahawks GM John Schneider finally taking control of the personnel decisions in Seattle and why he needs to give the franchise a fresh start when choosing a head coach (15:30). He finds the one thing ALL the remaining quarterbacks in the NFL playoffs have in common (21:30) and he answers listeners’ questions from the “Middlekauff Mailbag”(33:30). Follow John on Twitter, Instagram and YouTube for the latest. Check out Gametime - the fastest growing ticketing app in the US, and the official ticketing app of 3 & Out and GoLow -  for tickets to all of your favorite NFL, NBA, NHL, NCAA teams. Concert and comedy show tickets, too. Go to Gametime now to create an account, download the app and use code JOHN for $20 off your first purchase. #Volume #herdSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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John Biddlecock's 3 and Out podcast. Back again. And as of recording this, it's about 5.30 in the afternoon on Tuesday, Arizona time, mountain time zone. Siriani McCarthy, still the head coaches. Maybe that changes Wednesday. but since we recorded Jason Kelsey told all of his teammates he's going to retire. Have some thoughts there.

John Schneider, Seattle's GM, talked to the media today. He's taking over. And some thoughts on the quarterbacks that are remaining, the eight quarterbacks left. Interesting group, seven first rounders and purdy, some number one picks, some picks in the 20s. We have guys from all over the place. Obviously, the marquee matchup is Josh first Mahomes, which is hard to be. beat. So we'll talk some football. If you listen on Collins feed, make sure you subscribe to three and out. Appreciate everyone that has. Also the YouTube channel, all of our content, video wise,

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God, I'm kicking myself, though. I should have put that. I almost made a big bet on the bucks, but I couldn't pull the trigger. But usually the bets you win when you don't, when you were really close, if you would have put the money down, you would have lost. So, you know, it's easy to play that game,

but that one stung a little bit as I was watching them destroy the birds. So let's talk some football. But first, got to tell you about, listen, do you want to go to one of these playoff games? I've been to countless playoff games. I've been to AFC championships. Never been to AFC championship games. NFC divisional rounds, the Super Bowl.

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Game time promo code, John. Let's dive into Jason Kelsey because obviously with the stardom of his brother, his booming podcast, I think he's become infinitely more famous the last couple years. You know, his Super Bowl speech in the

Mummers outfit became something of legend, not just in Philadelphia area, but I think it's one of the great all-time, you know, champion level speeches. It's just something that will be talked about when any championship parade happens forever. And I think Jason Kelsey represents something that's very important for sports fans. And when I was a kid, the 49ers were fucking huge. You know, growing up in the early 90s,

I was born in the mid-80s, but I remember football in the early 90s. And all their players felt like pieces of the community. And then a lot of them, stayed around the community. Like Joe Montana lives in San Francisco. Steve Young lives in Palo Alto. Until a couple of years ago, Brent Jones lived in that area. Jerry Rice goes to all the games.

So when you thought about the 49ers, you didn't just think about like pro athletes. You thought it's like members of Northern California. People that might eat somewhere you eat, might take their kids somewhere where you would go as a kid, like six flags or, you know, wherever. And I think there's a. relatability to that.

And when you get that in a team captain in one of your best players, in one of the most important players in franchise history, I think the connection of the fan base, the sports fan, and that player slash that team goes to another level. Like when you close your eyes, you think about the Patriot Dynasty, like Belichick was going to all those other games. He became really good friends with Danny Aange and going to Red Sox games and Brady and Julian Edelman becoming such big parts of the community. Like that's powerful. That is something that means a lot to the people that I don't know, pay the bills, which is us.

And to me, Jason Kelsey, you know, I didn't know that much about the Eagles when I got hired there. Obviously I knew who Andy Reid was, Deshawn Jackson, you know, McNabb, Michael Vick and stuff. but I didn't know much about the city. I was a guy that had spent beside four months when I interned for the Kansas City Chiefs, 99% of my life, either in Davis, Sacramento area, Fresno, California, or San Luis Obispo in the central part of California. I was a lifelong West Coast California kid. And I remember going to Philadelphia thinking, listen, it's a little cold,

but there was a passion to those people when it came to the football team. That was very relatable. Growing up the 49, it just didn't get any bigger. And when I went to Philadelphia, the passion of Eagles fans, it's like everyone makes a big deal of pelting Santa with a snowball or last night screaming for Nick Siriani to get fired. What do you want out of your fans to not care? Like, wait, they should be saying, hey, Nick, good job, man.

Can't wait for you to try it again next year. Fuck that. Even Lane Johnson, who I think is in the Jason Kelsey mold of, of like, yeah, everything's on the table. He knows, he's not dumb. This isn't acceptable. With the best organizations, the organizations who standard is, you know, competing for championships or it's a complete failure,

stuff like that is not cool. You know, it's not like, yeah, it's okay. Everything's going to be all right. And obviously, people in Philadelphia are a little edgier. But I think Jason Kelsey represented his team as well as any player in recent memory. Obviously, it's hard to beat Brady. and the Pats and just kind of his mindset and work ethic and toughness of representing the Boston people. But to bring a Super Bowl for the first time in franchise history, to wear that outfit.

And honestly, I went to the Mummers Parade one time. I don't even quite know what it is. You know, they have these historic things that happen in a city that's been around forever. That just means a lot to people that have been there for a long period of time. right when i lived in the bay area i would meet people constantly that had moved there five years ago 10 years ago 15 years ago now that i live in scottesdale meet people all the time yeah i'm from jersey i'm from pennsylvania i'm from minnesota moved here five years ago moved here seven years ago you meet people from all over the place i'm a viking fan i'm a big eagle fan huge huge university of texas fan when you live in philadelphia you meet people from

Philadelphia that are born and raised generations. And the birds, aka the Eagles, are easily the number one team in that town. And it's an elite sports town. The hockey team means a lot. The Phillies mean a lot. But the Eagles are on a completely different level. And to have Jason Kelsey a center, when we drafted him, he was an undersized player. He was a guy that Howard mud pounded the table for and said, this guy can play in the league. And he immediately beat out, I forget the center's name, and became a starter as a rookie. And then early on in his career, Jason was a little bit of a wild child. Like, I remember, I'm a couple years older than him.

Like, partied pretty hard. And listen, that's not an aberration for young people in pro sports or life. But clearly the second half of this career, you saw a guy. The other thing, like, met his wife on Tinder. You know what that is? pretty relatable to my generation. A lot of people I know met their wives on dating apps. You know, for a brother who's dating like the Michael Jackson of musicians right now, right,

in Taylor Swift, and it couldn't be any more famous off the field, Jason has like this blue collar beer drinking, tough guy attitude. I'm just one of the guys. You could see me eating a sandwich or drinking a beer with the, you know, the local dude at the 202 union, you know, on a Thursday afternoon when I'm retired. Like, that is foreseeable. And that represents the city. And I think any time you get a player who just fits the region and who feels like Jason

Kelsey is going to live with the Eagles. If you told me one, think about John Elway. John Elway went to Denver, ultimately came back and ran the Denver Broncos, and just feels like that area represents like him and John. Elway parallel each other. They're on the same page with each other. Maybe a little more intellectual, John Elway, Stanford guy, rich businessman, wheeler and dealer. Maybe it fits that community.

To me, Jason Kelsey fits the Eagles community. And it's a sad day because obviously still a really, really good player. But you don't replace that. Like you don't, there's no way, let's just draft the center or let's just move this guy over. It'll never be the same. You don't replace a player who's going to be a first ballot hall of famer, especially not just because with his play, but because of the standard in which he mandates to everyone playing around him.

If you ever get a chance, if you want to nerd out, which is a fantastic podcast, Travis and Jason on the New Heights podcast had on Jordan Milata, who was drafted in whatever, the seventh round, who's now their left tackle from Australia, just a fantastic podcast. Because they kind of get nerdy on football. And Jordan talks about first getting there. and watching Kelsey and Stoutland the offensive line coach.

He's like, it's like they were speaking Chinese. I had no clue what was going on. And what he represented in that offensive line room, the leadership he showed between the transition of the Wentz and Jalen Hertz transition and how much he believed in Jalen, how much he supported the coaching staff with Nick Siriani. It's a huge blow. And it doesn't feel like, you know, in years past,

they did a lot of convincing him, almost begging him to stay. it wouldn't shock me if he immediately goes into the front office and is one day the general manager, you know, for the Philadelphia Eagles in 10, 15 years, right? And I think anytime you get a guy that you know is not just one of yours, he's only played for your team, but it's never leaving the region. It's staying with you. You know, the Lakers had that with Kobe, right? They have that with Jason Kelsey. You know, the Patriots don't even have that with Tom because he was booted and he's never living in Boston again. So it's a pretty special relationship that we don't see very often in sports now.

And it's going to sound negative, but the mercenary nature of the transactions. Like you got to go when the money's hot and when you're a free agent, you use your leverage. Sometimes you get traded when new coaches come in. And Kelsey has lasted through a lot of coaches from Andy Reed to Chip Kelly to Doug Peterson to Nick Siriani. and it doesn't look like he's going to see Belichick or Vrabel. That was a joke, but maybe not. And so a hat tip to you, Jason, because it was a fantastic player to watch.

You represent everything I like about football. And I think you also represent, not just Philadelphia, but why football resonates with so many people in this country and why it has lapped all the other sports and become the bohemath than it has. Because guys like him, just very relatable, despite being super rich, despite making, you know, $10 plus million for many years now, he feels like a guy that we all know.

And that's one thing that the NFL still has. They have a relatability even with their players. John Schneider talked today, and he basically admitted what we talk about a lot. Most GMs in this modern day football are not in control. They're not the highest guy in the food chain, Why? Well, their coach makes triple them. If you make $5 million and you work for a $15 million coach, who do you think's in charge? Right? The coach, there's probably not an organization

in the NFL that the coach doesn't make more than the GM. The Eagles might have been the rare one with Siriani, who probably makes $7, $8 million and how he might make $10. But most teams, even though they have a quote-unquote GM, if the coach wants something, Shannon, hand, McVeigh, Andy. Again, these people have very, very good relationships with their general manager and often compromise and give in and let them run stuff, but they are the boss. And the GMs will admit this definitely off the record. Well, John Snyder told you, I had no control over the coaching staff. I did not control the roster. Now, I influenced it. Pete listened to me, and this goes back to Russell Wilson when he pounded the table. Obviously, Pete let him

draft players in recent memory. It's why their team's pretty talented. But John was not the power broker in that building. Pete Carroll was. Because back to what I was just saying, Pete Carroll's making like $18 million. You think John Schneider, let's just guess making six or seven, has more pull than him? In what business does that take shape? There is not an organization that's a billion dollar business where the guy making double triple the other guy ever answers to that guy. That's not the way it works. Now, it doesn't mean that John Schneider might not hire a coach that's now making more than him, but he did admit, I now run personnel.

I now get say over the coaching staff. And this is a somewhat of a dying breed and a dying, I would say, job description in the National Football League. So John Schneider now, Pete Carroll's a legend in Seattle. He resurrected the program. He not only made them relevant, but won a super. Super Bowl and just kept them winning year in, year out. And now proved that like, it wasn't all Russell Wilson. Shipped him out of town and I won 18 games.

Now, we didn't make the playoffs the second time and we barely made it the first time. But we were very, very competitive both years when we traded Russell Wilson. And we kind of reset the franchise and put ourselves in a position to be competitive moving forward. But it was time. And I think John Schneider now has the opportunity to kind of really put his stamp on this organization. Gutikins was given the same, right? when they transitioned from Ted Thompson and Mike McCarthy in kind of that era. And Brian Gutakins was named the GM.

And then he hired Matt LaFourre. And they traded up to get Jordan Love. And now you're looking at, and I'm not trying to jump the shark here, because we've got a long way to go. Sustaining success in pro sports is really, really hard. We have seen, we saw Blake Bortles and the Jags have an anomaly year, get to the AFC championship game. But I think it's fair to say this organization, their structure,

their history, you would bet on the Packers, like, not going away. Well, if Jordan Love is just a consistent pro bowler moving forward, and you drafted them and you hired LaFleur, guess what? You know, you become a pretty legendary general manager in that organization. And I think John Snyder has that opportunity now. And he comes from Green Bay originally with that mindset where the GM is still, has a lot of juice, has a lot of pull. So I'm fascinated to watch you, they hire.

Right. and I think he's got to be very careful. I just wouldn't go back fishing from the Pete Carroll tree. I wouldn't touch Dan Quinn with a 10-foot pole. Not because I don't like him, not because I'm even overreacting to the Packer game. Like, let's start fresh. Let's not bring in some of, like, anything connected to Pete.

I think this is a good opportunity to just hire the best coach available. Look at Alabama, right? They're replacing Nick Sabin, who even relative to the program is infinitely more important than Pete Carroll. And it would have been pretty easy. to be like, let's do whatever we have to do to hire a former Nick Saban guy who's having success. Let's make an offer where Steve Sarkozy and San can't say no. Lane Kiffin, you know, whoever. And they wouldn't got Kael and Dubour. Why? Because he's really good. He knows

what he's doing. And his style is completely different than Nick. He has no ties to Nick Sabin. But you feel pretty good like, yeah, he's probably going to win. He's probably going to be pretty successful. He immediately brings his offensive coordinator that Nick Sabin tried to hire last year. I got news for he's going to work. Hell, if Nick Savan, they just pay him to recruit a little bit. So, DuBore, I don't know how great of a recruiter is, but the school is going to recruit itself, or at least the foreseeable future.

If I'm John Snyder, I do not, like, honestly, I try to avoid it. I really do. And I just try to hire the best coach possible. And Dan Quinn, to me, is not that guy. And luckily, you have an organization that's willing to pay. And I'm fascinated to watch. this because it's hard, right? The Niners are rolling. They're going nowhere. The Rams are on the come. And the Arizona Cardinals, despite having a lot of questions and a lot of holes in their

organization, they're just always feisty. They just play, the other three teams, just consistently, they're a problem, right? So it's a very, very difficult division, but I'm rooting for John Schneider. I've always defended him. Defending him is even the, that's the wrong way to put it. I've always just said, I think he's one of the best channel managers, you know, in the league. Well, now he gets his chance to really validate that because you hire the right coach, you start winning again, taking this team to the playoffs, draft a quarterback. No one can ever say shit. Let's look at the quarterbacks because it's a pretty fascinating group, right?

You got got Goff first Baker. You got Purdy versus Love. You got the marquee matchup, the modern day, when I say modern day, they were the modern day. the ultra-modern day, Manning Brady in Allen versus Mahomes, and C.J. Stroud versus Lamar Jackson. And the crazy thing is, seven of the eight of these guys are first-round picks.

And beside Lamar, six of them are, I guess Jordan loves in the 20s. I mean, Goffin Baker were number one overall. Josh Allen was the seventh with like a 30% completion percentage in college. Patrick Mahomes was 10, and C.J. Stroud was two. So, I mean, there's a lot of premium

draft capital invested in these individuals. And Jordan Love, I mean, one of the more controversial picks of all time. And Lamar, clearly, if you redo that draft, Josh Allen goes one, he goes two. And then it's like, we'll figure it out from there. But that was him going 32 is crazier than even Purdy going seventh round because everyone was like, wait, this guy won the Heism, he's pretty fucking good. And immediately validated it like two years in when he wins the most valuable player. But I think all these guys represent something.

And especially Baker and Jared Gough, two guys that one dude played in a Super Bowl. Like one guy was the quarterback for a team that consistently won and got to a Super Bowl. And if it wasn't for one of the great defensive game plans of all time, Flores, Bill Belichick, just punking Sean McVe, which would be harder in 2024 than then, but they did it. You know, who knows? Because I don't think Sean McVeigh ever looked at him the same. and the Baker stuff. Odell Beckham kind of falls apart.

The dude won a playoff game, beat the fucking Pittsburgh Steelers with the Cleveland Browns. And they ran him out of town. And then he went to Carolina. It got weird. But both those two guys, obviously Josh, Mahomes,

C.J. Lamar, even love and Purdy. They all have people that believe in them behind them. And they all come different shapes, sizes, different price points. But I think the power of belief

in a coach, in someone you work with, in your parents is so important. I mean, the way Dan Campbell talks about and supports Jared Goff is the complete opposite of the way it ended with Sean McVeigh. I've been in, you know, different spots in my career where it was clear like this is probably not going to go well for me and people just stop supporting you. And you start losing yourself confidence. I don't care if you're a scout, you're a radio host, you're a quarterback, you're a salesman, when the guy you work for or the leader of your company slash business doesn't show

you support, you don't feel like they have confidence in you, we're all human beings, you're going to naturally lose it. When they believe in you, D'Amico says over and over, now he's justifying it, but this team goes as far as this guy takes us. This guy is the reason we're here. Like, you don't think that confidence CJ gets from his head coach matters. You think it's all just natural talent. He's just dominating.

He would do it no matter what. Bullshit. Andy Reed, the support that he has behind Patrick Mahomes, good game, bad game. Same thing with Josh. That organization, that city, the belief. Now, a lot of this is earned. But like this offseason, I'll never forget.

I call them the Twitter gutter rats. There was a segment of 49er fans who thought that Brock Purdy should not be the quarterback. that thought the quarterback position should be handed back to Trey Lance and Purdy should be the backup and they should cut Sam Darnel. Again, these people are fucking imbeciles and they were morons at the time. But Kyle Shanahan was getting asked about this a lot during training camp and never wavered, never wavered once all in on Purdy. And what did lead them to do?

Be the number one seed. And for a guy that was the last pick in the draft to be just, the most valuable player mix. It's fucking incredible accomplishment for the seven, for the last pick, to pick 262. And Baker had to call Tampa Bay. Hey, Jason, I think this would be a great spot. Tampa didn't reach out to him. He called Jason Light or his agent did. Like, hey, I'd really interested in coming there. And then he gets there and they have nothing but belief in them. And they support them. And listen, for the most part, if you're going to get a good quarterback, you usually have to draft them high. There are outliers. You can

find starting quarterbacks in different rounds. You might have opportunities to trade for guys. But in the history of the league, most of the best players have been first round picks. Now, not all number one picks, but when I just start listing off names, they've been drafted in the first round, right? Peyton Manning, John Elway, Dan Marino, Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, Justin Herbert, C.J. Straub. You go through the league right now, Philip Rivers, Eli Manning, Joe Flacco. I mean, all these guys won Super Bowls. It doesn't mean I can't find solid players.

Listen, everyone's shitting on DAC, rightfully so, he had a terrible game. But you can find a guy like that third, fourth round. Kirk Cousin, same thing. Jimmy Garoppel, second round, Derek Carr, second round. You can find starters in other rounds. But in the history league, they usually have to be high. But no matter what, one thing that will never change, whether, you know, it's the guy you draft number two overall or the guy you take in the fifth round.

When you believe in that player, and that player believes that you believe in them at the quarterback position, because there's a lot going on. Because for him to know he's got belief in people above him, everyone on that team is looking at him. So he better be, he can't afford to not be confident. If he's not confident, your team has no shot. None. Zero. It's what I never understood about Trubisky. You're watching a guy, he's not confident.

He has no confidence. He has no confidence. You watch Mason Rudolph, you go, listen, I don't know how good he is, but he definitely. show some confidence on the field. Matt Stafford, he knows that that organization has nothing but belief in his abilities. And then he plays like that and everyone rallies behind him. And I just think that this group represents, especially the NFC, because the NFC is unlike the AFC. The AFC is, I mean, Josh Allen and Mahomes was like $800 million with a quarterback. Lamar signed a $250 million quarterback, saved Harbaugh's ass. And CJ Stroud, the number two pick in the draft is a

rocket ship. But this other group's pretty fascinating. Gough, Baker, Pertie Love. I mean, you can argue the two groups are a little different, but I do think the support doesn't change. You know, whether it's Peyton Manning talking with Bruce Ariens and the belief that Bruce Ariens showed in him that when he was so terrible his rookie year and Bruce never pulled him out of the game, so the only way you're going to learn is through your failures. And Peyton said that really benefited me the next couple years as we got it turned around. And no different than Jordan love. Like that organization, it felt like they were wavering a little bit. Now he wasn't playing that well. But the moment he showed some signs of life, they pushed all their chips in the

middle of the table on the guy. I think Jared Goff's probably the best example. Because I can't get over. You never see this happen. Listen, I say this all the time about coaches and GMs, especially when they get mad at me, like, oh, you're just a shit talker. Everything I say is on the record. Every single thing I say is here on a podcast. You know I'm saying it, literally publicly. I talk shit just as much as you guys do. The difference of me and you is everything has my name on it. You're constantly leaking shit anonymously. That's being a coward.

Now, I understand why you do it. You can't run a team by putting your name on it. But let's not act like we're the same. Because I've been around coaches. I've been around GMs. They're crushing everyone constantly. And you're constantly questioning your group, your quarterback, players. But when you believe in them, it's a really,

really powerful thing. And what Sean McVeigh did, and he even apologized for, he said that I probably crossed the line. Because I did think he crossed the line on Jared Gough. Now, he wasn't playing well, but you don't publicly talk like me. That's tough. And luckily, they were able to pivot. It was a win-win for everyone.

But that had to be, and Jared, you know, is a mild-mannered, you know, kind of surfer vibe from Marin. You know, it's not Belichick or Brady that would have double middle fingers up, but That had to feel pretty good. That had to feel, it's one thing to win it for the city. It's another thing to win it against a guy that told you basically, you're not any good. I don't want you here. I want to get rid of you.

So, yeah, man, this is going to be a fun weekend. 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. all embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds.

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

And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. 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 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? to do a little kill. 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 yeah, yeah, yeah. But just so y'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. 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. Okay, let's dive in the mailbag. At John Middlecough is the Instagram. And get your question to answer here on the show. Two Fs. at John Middlecock, Instagram, DMs wide open, fire in those direct messages. Eagles fan here.

After the playoff loss, I'm torn on what to do with the head coach. Is it worse to keep a coach that melts down and possibly lost the team or keep firing a coach after coach, a la the Browns, Jets, Raiders, Carolina, a.k.a. the bad teams. You're not them. Do you know what the Jets, the Raiders would do to make the playoffs three straight years? They sell their left leg.

Do you know what those franchises? The Jets haven't made the playoffs in like 15 years. The Raiders have been to the playoffs twice in two decades. Twice. Twice. Think about that. Say that out loud. Twice.

And they've been worked both times. So you're not having anything in comp. Your standards are high. So part of like being a winner, like is the guy good enough or not? I think it's fair to ask the question, is this guy good enough to keep? My answer is no. I would fire him after what we just witnessed. I think that's a fireable offense.

I think you could fire a coach and go, we're not the Raiders. We're not the Jets. Because you're not. You are not. So I don't think it's that crazy to make a move and still look at yourself differently than that. I was wondering if you had any ideas on how to

possibly grow this. I've done some local marketing around Montana, but I'm trying to go more nationally. Any suggestions? Huge fan of the pod. Listen, the question is, I just started a clothing line. There's the Instagram page. Basically, it's a cattle brand. And when the letter is on the side, it's considered lazy. So hence the lazy AF for the logo. I reach out if I send you some gear. Okay, I'll respond on an email. I'll give you my email address and then you just shoot me an email. I'll do that way. Shod they got my email address. Probably not a great question here for the podcast.

Okay, finish list of today's pod. Kind of an odd question. I love football, the Colts. I'm a season ticket holder. And I'm glued to my TV on Sundays, Mondays, and Thursdays. In the process of starting a pod, I know everyone had a pod nowadays. This is just a hobby, though, to share my opinions.

How do you balance family with doing your job? You obviously need to watch the games you speak on it. I'm recently engaged, don't live with my fiance yet, but she gets kind of agitated with the fact that I love football this much. How do you balance watching football for your job with the family? Well, she's me and her. I don't have kids yet, which I've already thought, like, I'm going to have to, and I've thought about this since I've moved here, you know, get an operation, build an operation here in general, but an office, you know, I'm not going to travel far. So somewhere in the couple mile radius from. where I'm at. But like, this is not my hobby. This is not a passion project. This is my life. So when I'm spending time with the people I love, like, they get it.

You know, this is not, it's hard to describe any other way than that. Now, I also think if I was doing this and not, you know, almost 40 years old. So if I wasn't making any money doing this, it would be very fair for people to ask questions. Right. But that's not the case. So financially, I think helps kind of quiet the burdens that it's just unique. It's not like it's not very relatable to anyone. Like, what do you do? Yeah, just watch games. Talk about it. I just watch TV and talk about it. Like, that's essentially my job, right? Just have opinions on things that I watch on television or the internet. And I think at first it, not that it throws people off, but it's just, is this real? And I can understand parents questioning it. Like, wait, you're going to marry my daughter and do this? Like, then they're like, oh, damn, it's a nice house. How much you spent on the remote?

Where does that money come? Yeah, it's a pretty lucrative profession. I was taking me a while. But I think that's part of it. So totally understand what you're saying. It helps, you know, my girlfriend likes football. My parents and my family and people I associate with like sports. right, it would be harder in a situation, especially starting a relationship if they just didn't like it.

They would probably wouldn't be sustainable. Now, the amount I watch can drive anyone crazy in a dust. That's why I got, you know, six TVs in the house. So, like, I can go to other rooms, but it can be a lot. I mean, it can. but any job, you know, can be that someone takes a lot of time to do. And I spend a lot of hours doing this shit. Just like I'm sure a lot of people listening spend a lot of hours at work.

Like, it comes with a territory. You know, most people don't have success by just working a couple hours a day, right? So there's a balance of life that we all, there's no right or wrong answer. There's no easy way to do this. But like Thursday nights during the fall, like I can't really. go, like, I don't go out, like, we don't go, like, out to dinner or anything, right? Monday, that same thing. So, Sundays, I'm here all day. You just kind of build your life around different days, just like anyone that works. Some people work the night shift. Some people, hours are differently. Some people travel a lot. It's life. You just kind of figure it out. Long time, listener, I believe that you're going to explode in the industry. I like this will guy. Here's my question. We're exploding, by the way. What do the Broncos do with the 12th overall pick this year? If Williams, May and Daniels are off the board, they will be.

I think Pennix could work in the system. But given his injury history, is he worth the risk at pick 12? Do they move up and definitely grab Daniels? Well, let's think about Sean Payton, what he's desired, right? Post-Drew Brice. He has wanted a more athletic quarterback. One of the knocks with Russell Wilson was like, bro, you got fat last year.

So what did they harp on? Like lose some weight, gain some of your mobility back. And he did, but the problem was his playmaking wasn't there. It's why he had such high aspirations for Taysam Hill because he wanted like this playmaker. Now, he's not that guy.

Even though Tasem Hill is a good football player. Taysam Hill could play on my football team any day of the week. He's just not a quarterback. He's like this running back, hybrid, fullback, tight end thing. But he's a good NFL football player. He's just not a quarterback. Sean Payton, and the Saints realize that over time.

I don't know if Sean ever did. But I think the problem with Pennix is he's a lot like Drew Brees, which is a good thing. I'm not saying, but no mobility. And I think moving forward, the desire for coaches, modern day offensive coaches to have some mobile. You don't have to be Lamar Jackson, but you've got to be able to move.

Look at Jordan Love's movements. Look at Brock Purdy's movements. You know, the Baker golf is a little bit of a throwback. Obviously, Baker moves better than goth. Josh and Mahomes. I mean, Josh is an elite athlete. Mahomes is a fantastic athlete. CJ's proven to be a pretty good athlete,

and Lamar is one of the greatest athletes we've ever seen in the position. So I think mobility's key, man. I think that's what Sean Payton's going to want. So Pennix is a good player. I really like him. Seeing what Sean Payton has wanted over the last four or five years of his coaching career, I'd be a little shocked if they went that way. I told you, we don't talk DAC anymore.

Let's some other team deal with this mediocrity. You can have them for your team if you like them so much. We'll take a second round pick. I don't even know what this guy's talking about. Sending this again to get on the top of the imbacks, not to be annoying. We've seen how the star NFL quarterback contracts keep resetting the market. Do you feel like the same can be true on the downside when you look at the disasters like Russ and Deshawn Watson? In other words, will teams be more?

are hesitant to give these types of guarantees in the future or these just examples of the downside risk of doing business. I think it's somewhere in the middle. Anytime you give a massive contract, I understood Jason, excuse me, Jalen Hertz getting a big contract. He literally just looked better than Patrick Mahomes in the Super Bowl as a thrower. What are you going to do? Like, not give him a contract. He's not going to accept some low-end deal. So they gave him. Now, he looked dramatically worse this season. There's no way around. I don't care. Like, someone in my Twitter replies was like, his analytics and all the advanced stats say, are you fucking watching him play? He looks worse than last season. We all agree to that. And whether it's banged up,

whether it's sustainability, and as an executive told me, he looks much closer this year to the guy a lot of people were unsure of coming out Oklahoma, not the guy we saw last year. So I think the question is, like, you can't be fooled by these anomalies. Right? Like, I'm not giving Brock Purdy a lot of money till he does it year after year after year. And I think sometimes you pay these guys until they've proven it. I'm sorry, Tua, you're playing on the $23 million. I can't extend you. How could you extend Tuaunga by Lowa right now?

I don't mean to cut them. I don't need to trade them. It's what makes DAC so complicated. Wait, I'm going to give DAC an extension. So then I'm just stuck with him again. Now, there is a fine line of like, and this is where the Cowboys are kind of stuck. Like, how are they going to upgrade over DAC? But is that just the mindset?

any human always has. How can we upgrade? How can we upgrade? Well, if you just stick with that mindset, you're never going to try anything. You're just going to stay in your lane and you're going to get lapped. Like, eventually you've got to take some swings. Because once upon a time,

how are you going to upgrade Drew Bledso? Well, this guy in the six round named Tom Brady is dramatically better. Maybe not today, but in three years, it won't even be close. And if Bill Belichick didn't have the cajones to say like, yeah, we're not going back to Drew Bledso. We're going with this guy. because it's easy to go, well, let's give Tray Lance another shot. How about not?

How about we don't? It took a lot of balls. I don't care how weird things got to go. You know what? We're going to trade Aaron Rogers. We're going to go with Jordan Love. Just like it took a lot of balls for them to go, you know what, Brett Farf? We're done with this crap.

We're going to go with Aaron Rogers. It's easy to look back and go, of course you do that. It wasn't the same at the time, everyone thinking Ted Thompson was a loon. A lot of people thought like Goudic, some floor, man. This thing's going to get, I thought that. So sometimes in life, you got to just have balls. You got to just be willing to take some swings. You've got to be willing to fail. If you're just going to stay in the slow lane or the middle lane, like watch all the cars pass you in the left lane. Now, sometimes you get in the left lane

to go a little fast. You might get a crash. But you get a crash in the slow lane too. Just because you stay with what you've been doing doesn't guarantee it's going to work either. So the contracts are tough because there is no like, Yeah, let's just give the guy $100 million instead of $250 million. Like, that doesn't exist. But I do think you got to draw a line in the sand, be like, yeah, we're not giving this much money to this. I've never understand this in the NBA. It's like, yeah, let's just give this guy at the max.

Give this guy the backs. No wonder 90% of you suck. Like, how are you paying these guys? Well, we got to. How do you upgrade? Well, it's like, what the fuck are you doing? No wonder the majority of teams are so irrelevant. Good for the players.

Like, they're making a ton, but most of them don't impact winning. A huge fan of the pod for a couple years now. While I appreciate the football takes and the betting discussions with Stucky, let us not ignore the fact that you're the hottest golf better in the game right now. Fagala and now posting, nice work, let's keep it rolling. Do you have any feelings on La Quinta? I do. I just, I went to cash my JT Postin bet.

Got a nice little four-figure return. I actually went to the ATM. I posted it, and I'm just going to, I haven't go to the casino every time. I'm like, why don't I just use the Draft Kings app? So now I'm just using the Draft Kings app. And we will put those out Wednesday. I'll put my bets out because I just made a ton. I'm going to keep riding JT. Posting.

He's hot. Akshay, Batia, going to ride him. Billy Horsal, going to ride him. I think Justin Thomas and Jason Day are two good guys to keep an eye on maybe a little win equity, top five. But top tens are what I'm going to continue hammering. I almost had three top tens last week that would have paid about. $4,500 in about $700 worth of bets. I missed it by a three putt and a shitty chip.

Akshay had two three putts on the back nine, missed the top 10 by one shot, and Eric Cole just had a couple bad holes. I have a theory I want your take on. For years now, I've heard the most important positions in football are quarterback, left tackle, edge, and corner, which I don't disagree with. And by the way, with, by the way. But could I make the argument that the inside linebacker is what really makes a defense? Yeah, you could. If you look at the two best teams in the league, Baltimore and San Francisco, they have what no other team other than Tampa has,

and that's two elite inside linebackers. Elite would be strong. I think there is a drop off between Roquan and Patrick Queen, and there's definitely a drop off between Fred Warner and Dre Greenlaw, but I know what you're saying. I think their ability to cover with these guys can almost completely shut down offenses because they never have to sub one out for a secondary player

and make them vulnerable in the run like Dallas. They also can completely shut down the middle of the field throws and make an offense completely operate outside the numbers, which is why I think the Niners own the Cowboys and the Eagles because they make limited quarterbacks beat you with really hard throws and they aren't known for making. I've always said this. And listen, I worked for the Eagles who do not take the middle line

backer position seriously. And then immediately I started being around the Harbaugh Niners with Bowman and Willis. And then I've seen this Niner team with Fred Warner. And I've seen it for years in the league. It's my favorite position on defense. Ray Lewis is one of my favorite players of all time. But Brian Erlacker, Luke Keekeley, when you get that player, it changes your defense because they can cover tight ends. They can make 12 to 15 tackles in the run game or in space. Think how many plays that lead to a first down are wheel routes or a, you know, some play around the line of scrimmage. Well, who makes the majority of those tackles?

Your middle lineback, right? And then their ability to blitz. Look at the ramps who got dramatically better on defense this year. Why do you think? Did you watch 53 Jones play? Ernest Jones, the second, I think his name is? He's awesome. To me, he's like one of the most underrated players in the league.

This is not my, I didn't create this saying, I stole it, but it's so, you know, true. Michael Lombardi says, and he's been saying it for years, when your middle linebacker is fast, your defense is fast. When your middle linebacker is typically your defense is solid. Is there a reason that some of the great middle linebackers in the history of league have all been on the best defenses ever? So this notion, do you know what I think is the most overrated position in the league? Corner. I swear to God, I would much rather have Ray Lewis, Patrick Willis, Luke Keakley, Fred Warner and figure it out outside. Like, I saw the 49ers.

They made it to a championship game with no corners. None. What's his name that used to play for the Redskins and the Panthers? Josh Norman was playing corner for them. He couldn't cover me or you. But their linebackers and their D-line were elite. I think any team that overlooks linebacker are just not doing it correctly. Seriously.

To me, middle linebacker is easily one of the most important positions. Here's the other thing. A lot like tight-in. They're cheap. They don't cost that much money. So when you do hit on a star linebacker or a star tied-in, you don't pay them defensive end or wide receiver money. Google how much Fred Warner makes. Look how much Roquan Smith makes.

You want to pay Trent Williams or pay T.J. Watt, like they're expensive. You know, you want to trade for Devante Adams or Tyree Kill. Look how much those guys make. Think how much money Justin Jefferson and Jamar Chia. are going to make this offseason. So to me, tight in and linebacker, you get Leporta.

Leporta is not just going to be one of the best players in the league. He's going to be one of the great values easily in the NFL. Just like Travis Kelsey, just like George Kittal, just like Mark Andrews. Like these guys are not that expensive.

Same thing with linebackers. They do not cost you $32 million. I don't know how much Fred makes, but I'm pretty sure it's like $13, 14, $15 million. I hear you. That's a great, that's not a theory. That's a reality. You get a good middle linebacker.

How many teams of the league with good? Look at, did you watch the Buccaneers play last night? Levante David and Devon White flying around making all those tackles? Seattle forever. Obviously, they had good players. One of their best players was Bobby Wagner. When your middle linebacker is a stud, it's hard for your defense to suck. Hell, and if you do, if you hit on a couple other players on that defense, your defense is usually awesome.

Is it shocking that the Ravens' trawens? rated for Roquan Smith? Is it like they were the team that wanted them? If the bills lose the Chiefs again this year, is it time to fire McDermott? This is the weakest chief's team of the last five years and you have them at home. If you can't beat them this year, when can you? Given the plethora of coaching candidates out there, it might be time to make a move. As crazy as it sounds, because won the division four straight times, won a ton of playoff games.

I don't think you're crazy. I think there's legit pressure. The bills have to win this game. This is must win for the Bills and the Chiefs this year. This is their throwaway season. They are as crazy as it sounds because they got Andy Reed and Patrick Mhomes. This is a house money game. This is the first time he's ever played on the road, Patrick Mhomes in the playoffs.

And he's an underdog. When's the last time the Chiefs have been an underdog in a playoff game? All of the pressure is on the Buffalo Bills this weekend. All of it. So if he were to lose, I think that, like you said, given the options out there, I think there would be some rumblings. I do. And he's done an awesome job.

But I expect them to win. I would say, and I don't bet against Andy in Mahom's. I mean, I think they are going to, when it's all said and done, they got four Super Bowls in them. They've already won two. I think they got two more because I'm telling you, they're going to, They're going to turn this thing around in the next offseason or two. They're going to be better in three years from now than they were last year. I'll promise you that.

I would bet money on that. But the bill is like, you got to take advantage of these opportunities. You've got to take advantage of these opportunities. So I'm with you. I think there is tangible pressure on Buffalo. More this game. The next week gets the Ravens. They'll be an underdog in that game on the road, assuming that the Ravens beat the Texans.

but I don't think you're crazy on this one. So good question. Question for the Steelers and team discipline. Tomlin, I guess, told the team in his team exit meeting that he plans on returning. I don't put much stock into that. I still think there's a chance everything's on the table with Mike Tomlin. For years, Coach T has been public with his willingness to tolerate what I would call behavior detrimental to the team. The comments of some players after the bill's loss,

notably Harris, point to this as a problem that has come home to Roost. Is Coach T and the Steelers, are Coach T and are the Steelers as an organization less discipline than other NFL teams when it comes to setting standards and forcing the rules? I read some Anagie's comments who I thought I actually played pretty well down the stretch of the season. I've been critical of that draft pick because I didn't think he was that good, but I thought had a solid season, especially the second half of the year. I think what he's alluding to

is basically I came from Alabama and we didn't tolerate bullshit. Now, it's easier in college if someone's screwing around to bench that guy for the next guy because the gap is not that wide. I think he's essentially saying like George Pickens, right,

can do things that would not have been tolerated at Alabama. George Pickens would have been benched, cut, forces transfer. I don't care how good he is. Nick Saban would not have tolerated that. In the NFL, it's a little more difficult. It truly is. Now, you can argue what you tolerate, you allow in your organization, and that spills over to everything. He's also easily their best weapon. Now, is he good enough to allow to, you know, just cause problems? I think that's

a fair argument. But, and they've dealt with these guys, and it's not like they ever want a Super Bowl with Antonio Brown or Lebeon Bell and now with George Pickens. But I think it's an easier thing to say what Najee was saying, like essentially like this is not allowed at Alabama. Well, yeah, no shit. You know, if they had the next George Pickens

who was acted like Devante Adams or Cooper Cup, they would bench George Pickens. But they don't. They need him. And the reason he can be a problem is his talent. Now, you could argue like, why are they always taken, flyers on these guys because it's worked for them in the past.

Right? Remember James Harrison? Pretty big red flag guy. Say that guy turned out to be a pretty good player for them. And historically, that organization, they got a little Raiders Al Davis to him, which I'm not opposed to. Andy Reid, Pete Carroll, so do they. So there's no right or wrong way to do it. There really isn't.

And George Pickens was a huge red flag coming out of college. But as you see him play, like he's clearly pretty talented. Got a lot of ability. But he might not block on a run play and say he doesn't want to get hurt. I don't know. I don't think that's the issue with Tomlin. I really don't. I think he's just very dependent on his offensive coordinator and his quarterback like most defensive coaches.

And right now he's got a trio of quarterbacks who, you know, the best one is probably Mason Rudolph. Like Mason Rill is probably better Kenny Pickett. Think about that. That's why if I'm Mike Tomlin, I want out. I want to go somewhere else. I'd want to go to Washington. I'd want to go to Adam Peters, draft a quarterback high, start over.

Kind of get toward home. Not that, you know, as you get older, what's home, but I'm just saying get a lot of money, just get a fresh start, be appreciated. I don't think he gets the appreciation there. Not I'm talking about from the Roonies, but I think the fans are down on them. I'm a big believer.

Divorce when it comes to coaching is very healthy with successful guys. Pete Carroll, Andy Reid, look at Mike McCarthy, got a fresh start in Dallas. He got an incredible opportunity. He just didn't take care of it. Belichick running out of Cleveland.

It happens in a lot of places, man. The Shanahan family and all those guys were fired in Washington. I think sometimes you just need a fresh start. You just need to take a deep breath. Mike Tomlin's a really good coach. I want to see him coach somewhere else. Because I think that's, I think he's peaked in Pittsburgh,

which is not bad. I'm glad, the 80% of the league would like to be as consistently successful as him. But if you're him, like, don't you want to get back to the next level? I just don't think you're getting there. I mean, Pittsburgh. The volume. 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.

On the Look Back at it podcast. From 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84 was big to me. I'm Sam Jay. 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.

It 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. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what you're 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. Now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfills 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.