The Herd with Colin Cowherd - 3 and Out - NFL Crushing MLB, NBA During Corona; Bad MNF Booth Obit; Top 5 Football 'Last Dance' Doc Ideas; Mailbag

Episode Date: May 12, 2020

In this episode, Middlekauff explains why the NFL will avoid most of the major financial devastation that the NBA and MLB are facing, who's to blame for the failed post-Gruden Monday Night Football broadcast booth, and gives his 5 football documentaries worthy of a Last Dance length documentary. He also answers questions in the Middlekauff Mailbag. Follow John on twitter @JohnMiddlekauff and go to theherdnow.com to find the latest content. Subscribe now! Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smigel 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 I-Heart 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 is big to me. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a hear, 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. I mean, 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. Hey, what's good, y'all? You're listening to Learn the Hard Way with your favorite therapist and host, Kear Games. This space is about black men's experiences, having honest conversations that it's really not safe to have anywhere, but you're having them with a licensed professional who knows what he's doing.

How many men carry a suit or armor? It signals to the world that you not to be played with. And just because you have the capability that does not mean that you need to. Listen and learn the hard way on the IHard radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Thunderstruck, adjective. Shocked and amazed by the power of fun on Carnival. Riding Bolt, the world's first roller coaster at sea. Brian got thunderstruck so hard, his 93-year-old grandmother felt it 3,000 miles away in Nebraska and immediately booked a cruise.

Hooray! Get funder struck starting at 289. Carnival, choose, fun. Cruise is running U.S. dollars per person double occupancy, taxes fees, import expenses, additional restrictions, apply. Full details on carnival.com, ships, registry behind us Panama. What is going on, everybody, John Middlecock, three-in-out podcast? We are now in almost the middle of May and just chugging along in quarantine and the corona. I guess some of you, depending on where you live,

it's opening up and slowly but surely. I guess it's hard to even say getting back to normal. I mean, you've got to wear a mask in a store. It's not exactly normal. But we will keep talking about football and try to keep it normal. And luckily, you know, as it feels like, and I'm going to talk about off the top, some of baseball and basketball's issues

for trying to get back up and running is probably unlikely for the NFL. and there's a key reason why. Booger and Tess, I know the Monday night football broadcast is something we've talked a lot about on this show the last couple years, became official, I think last Friday,

maybe a Saturday, all days run together now, they won't be returning. And I have a thought on that. And then one thing I did, like, I mean, a lot of sports fans, I mean, I think they're averaging a little under 6 million people, the MJ doc,

on Sunday, another 7 and 8 were fantastic. What I did is in my lifetime, I wrote the five MJ-level docs I'd want on NFL teams or NFL, you know, like the dynasties, and I also picked a couple of college teams. So basically the documentaries I'd want to see based on these certain teams and kind of their errors. And of course, Middlekopf mailback at John Middlecough is my Instagram handle at John Middletoff, is my Instagram handle, also my Twitter handle. DMs wide open, slide right in there, ask questions. As we get here into, with no offs, OTAs, nothing really going on,

I'm going to need you guys. So fire in there, wide open, hit me up, any ideas you got, open to anything, obviously any questions. And then, of course, if you guys listen on Apple or iTunes, if you go to the three and out podcast, leave a review. A lot of you guys have left a review. Last time I checked, we had like 950, trying to get to that four-figure mark. If you like to show, leave the little five stars.

And if you hate it, leave many stars you want. But let's start with this. Major League Baseball and the NBA are having a lot of issues right now. I don't know if you've followed. There's been a lot of articles written from Wojj and Ken Rosenthal. And they're just trying to get some parameters back so they can attempt whenever the time is safe or they're allowed to get the wheels in motion and coming back. and getting a lot of pushback from the unions.

And it's becoming a financial issue. They're not having issues over the corona right now. They're having issues, well, the NBA is a little bit. Baseball right now is going back and forth over revenue sharing and money. And it got me thinking like, when times are really bad, when you get kind of fat and happy with something, you're not used to taking pay cuts.

It's one thing if you own a business or run a business, you ebb and flow and you see money, come in and you get things that happen and you pay out, you have huge liabilities. Well, the great thing, unlike the NFL, the Major League Baseball players and the NBA basketball

players, the moment their contract assigned, they have zero liability. None. You can break an ankle, you can throw at your arm, and you still get every penny. Think about this. We've all read these stories, you know, like when a big, famous Chris and Cavalieri and Jay Cutler just got divorced. Now there, I guess they haven't officially got divorced. They filed for a divorce.

But we've seen historically some professional athletes and just famous actors, Tiger Woods, whoever, go through these public divorces where they pay these numbers and you're like, he has to pay her $150,000 a month in alimony, separate from child support, just an alimony because she's used to a certain lifestyle. And this goes both ways. I mean, this could happen with a girl paying a guy too. I'm just using the examples that I can think of. And you're just like, Oh my God. And then you read about it and she was like, well, I'm used to getting this much money. Even though she was stay at home mom and just watch the kids, I've always thought it's kind of crazy.

But the law is the law. Even though a divorce, crazy time, ideally no one wants to get a divorce. And when they happen and you have a lot of money, they usually become very expensive. And they usually become very, very ugly because nobody ever wants to take a haircut. Because on both sides, they've become fat and happy if you have a lot of money. They become a little less problematic when there's less money at stake, but you could argue money's all relative, it becomes an issue. Well, right now you're seeing the baseball players

who are not used to taking a haircut. Neither are basketball players. Because the moment their contract is, if I sign a five-year deal in basketball or baseball, at $20 million a pop, so five years $100 million, under no circumstances, whether I rip up my knee,

whether I start sucking, whether I'm just half as good. It's irrelevant. I'm getting every penny. Well, we see it every year in the NFL. When these contracts are signed, two years later, the contracts are relevant. It's like, oh, God, if this guy doesn't pick up his play, you might get cut. And the players know it. It's why there's an intensity and an edge to every game.

It's something that's really, as you see in the MJ dock, you're like, God, the 90s basketball looks nothing like now. Guys actually tried. Guys actually played every night. because there was an element of like, God, I'll get, I'll get cut. I mean, I don't, I'm not making astronomical's amount of money. Well, when you start, and the NBA is having issues right now, the players are like, yeah, we don't really feel like coming back. Yeah, we feel like they're kind of pressuring us to work out.

It's like, bro, I mean, just go work out by yourself in the team facility. The season might come back, be ready. We pay you $20 million. We just want you to stay in shape. Oh, you know, tell Chris Paul to tell Adam Silver, we don't want to do that. and they have leverage because they're so rich it doesn't matter the average NBA salary, $7 million. Where if the NFL, if they opened up the facilities, and they're lucky,

they've been able to avoid all this because their season has not taken place. But if they got to a point where, you know, we're going to be able to play, it's only going to be 60% of the revenue we usually produce because if we won't have fans, we have to take these haircuts because of these sponsors are pulling out, the players would immediately say yes, so we'll only make, 60% of what we usually make. Because again, no one's lying here. Everyone in my business, I'm sure everyone listening,

we've all taken either haircuts or had to move money around or lost business or had deals. They got pushed back. Who knows if they actually come to fruition at the end of the year? Welcome to the pandemic. And baseball and basketball on the owner and team side are having a hard time, you know, just getting something going because their players are kind of fat and happy.

They don't need to do anything. They're all rich. The average salary in the NBA is $7 million. We're in the NFL. You have a lot of guys making money, but they all know they have huge liability because every single year, the majority of contracts,

if you have a major injury, they will cut you at the end of the season. And you might not be able to get another one. So just because you have some quote-unquote, four-year, $15 million a year, $60 million contract, we all know, well, there's actually only $17 million. of it guaranteed.

So there is an incentive whenever the NFL, and again, this is all based on if people can be healthy and they can play, which it feels like we're headed that way. We might have to do fan list events as you guys, I'm not the biggest UFC guy, but watched a lot of UFC that was on ESPN on Saturday. It was pretty cool. You felt like you were there. You could hear the punches. It was just unlike anything I'd ever seen.

It was quiet, but it was a powerful event just to watch. Now, would these other major sports It'd be a little different because the one thing The Octagon is relatively small So it's one thing to be on a You know, a Dodger Stadium with no fans there Or I don't know, the NBA could probably play in practice arenas In football it would look like

You know, a scrimmage But guys would be playing full go But it would definitely feel a little different But we got to adapt And no one is going to feel bad for the basketball or baseball players Because right now the baseball players are bitching unlike basketball and football where there is revenue sharing. That's why the salary cap exists.

The salary cap is based on how much money the league makes and then it gets split up throughout the players. Where in baseball, there is no revenue sharing, but there's also no salary cap. It's why you want to go to the good teams because they pay all the money or the high value teams like the Yankees, Red Sox Giants, whatever. They pay huge money.

Teams like the A's in Tampa don't have to pay anything. But all these players that are under these huge contracts, even if you're not under a Bryce Harper contract, what if you're under a $30 million contract, three years $30 million? They want to have a pro-rated salary. And baseball right now is saying, we need to do a revenue sharing this year because of the corona.

Because our revenue is destroyed, because a big part of baseball revenue is based on fan attendance, which the NFL is actually the opposite. It's based on more media than fan attendance. Though you can make a lot of money from your fan attendance, especially if you have new stadiums. like I know the 49ers make huge money with the sweet sales. It's the biggest reason why the Raiders and Rams and all these teams want to get new

stadiums because you make so much money off sweet sales. You make so much money off even things like, you know, Bud Light. Think about every NFL stadium or every college stadium has Bud Light or Coors Light or whatever. Those people are paying huge amounts of money for that signage. So as I was talking to someone in the NFL, I was like, well, what happens if there are no fans? because Budlides paying you $8 million a year to be at Levi's or be at SOFI or be at AT&T or whatever stadium, they're like, well, there's no fans in the stadium.

We're not paying that. And they're like, yeah, everything's negotiable. This is all uncharted territory. And as you can see, baseball and basketball are having a lot of trouble because those players unions aren't just powerful. They just don't necessarily need the sport if it's going to go away the rest of the year. They can handle it.

Where in football, they're used to the mindset. They don't have guaranteed. contracts. They don't have set roster spots. I mean, if you're like a seven-year guy, pro-ball, Larry Warford, who had made three straight pro-bowls was just cut by the New Orleans Saints.

That happened over the weekend. Cut? Dude, I've been making Pro Bowls. See ya. Goodbye. Adios. To save some money. I mean, the NFL relates to normal workplace, just like us. Now, it's on a lot higher scale,

but things are always changed. They're basically the players are while they're under contract, the majority of them are not that much different than at-will employees because at any moment they can be, have that contract ripped up. So it's really why it makes sense why the league resonates so much. There's so much incentive to work hard because if you don't, you just will get replaced. And really the only quote-unquote scholarships there ever are is when you overpay for a player and it turns out to not be good

and you have to keep maybe one year longer than you want to. or when you miss on a draft pick, right? And you're not going to cut the guy after two years if he sucks, like a first rounder. You give him that extra year, maybe four years. But think how many scholarships there are in basketball and baseball. You're like, oh, my God, I would cut this guy. I'd give anything to be able to cut this player.

But you can't. You're like, I got four more years with him. Then you start trading them as just an expiring contract or a money filler. And it's just, it's a business model that, wow, when things are good, as, you know, for the most part, right, unless we're in a recession, times are pretty good. And you always say that, you always hear this. Professional sports,

or everything is, certain things are recession proof. Like, who would have ever thought that casinos wouldn't be recession proof? Think about that. They literally are the worst possible thing for a pandemic, right? You got to shut down business and hotels. Like, there's literally no way to make money. Think about Disney.

Their entire business model was like cruise ships, sports, and amusement parks. I would have been like, oh, Disney, we hit a recession, they'll be fine. They're losing $30 million a day. And when you're in bed with these huge unions,

and you need them, I mean, they have the players, but it's become a very, very difficult proposition. It's all to money. It's all because of cash. And both sides, and you hear this often so many times, like owners are greedy,

and humans are, we're all inherently a little greedy. We all think about ourselves first. But when you read these comments like the NBA made, their union rep made about playing in a bubble that we would be like prisoners with armed guards, I mean, that's an embarrassing comment. When you read baseball players talking about

how we will not play for a revenue share, we will only do pro-rated salaries, it's like, guys, are you living under a rock? I mean, get with the real world. In football, I just don't imagine us having these issues because the nature of the business setup is always pretty volatile. Now, and even on the owner's side this year, I mean, they're going to take massive hits if they don't, you know,

get to have suites and they've got to give money back for, what if I'm paying $25 million a year for naming rights? Do I have to pay the same thing when I'm going to get no home games? Or, I mean, no fans there? Now, you could argue you're still going to talk about the stadium a lot if the games are being played, but these things are all under consideration. These are uncharted waters.

And sometimes in uncharted waters, you've got to be able to just... Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where sports slice comes in. I'm Timbo.

Every episode, we're cutting through the noise. Breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves. Their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context, and ask the questions everybody wants answered.

Sports Slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to Sports Slice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slicelife-Life 12 in the TikTok podcast. network on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games.

And in recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking, Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing.

And we're still chasing it. And we don't know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross, because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth, or are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro.

Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, 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, our heart radio app.

Search Learn the Hard Way and listen now. 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 with Little Kim? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam Jay. And I'm Alex English.

Each episode, we pick a 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, 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.

What's up, guys? This is Clever Taylor the 4th. And on my podcast, The Cliverts Show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff. Like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker walks up to me. He goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her.

What? Time out. Quarterback on office blue 42. A rep. My mama want you to wave at her. What? Hey, Ms. Parker. Listen to the Clifferts show on the IHeart Radio app,

Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Hit some waves and just hold on for dear life. It's literally what we're all doing. Whether you run a professional sports league, whether you run a podcast, whether you run a printer shop. Everyone's getting hit, maybe beside like Bezos.

And even he's getting sued for trying to force his workers to work. It's crazy times. So I feel zero sympathy for these players, bitching pneumonia. and I look forward to if these leagues can't figure it out, this is a chance for the NFL. I mean, they've already separated, but to be in a different world.

You coming to bed, hon? Yep, honey, I'll be right there. Just got to turn out the light. Ow! Some things never change. Like, your kids always leaving tiny toys on the floor for you to step on. And Geico's saving folks lots of money on their car insurance. Sweetie, I don't know.

I think I left the downstairs light on. Please don't make me go. Fifteen minutes could save you 15% or more. What grows in the forest? Trees? Sure. Know what else grows in the forest? Our imagination. Our sense of wonder.

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Find a forest near you and start exonerated. Exploring at Discovertheforest.org. Brought to you by the United States Forest Service and the ad council. Okay, let's dive into Monday Night Football. And some news broke Friday afternoon or over the weekend that Booker McFarland and Joe Tessator will not be back. And I want to state something. I had been hard over the last couple years on the broadcast.

Start with Jason Whitten. I've heard him interviewed countless times. I heard him on a podcast. He's a really, really high-level guy. Good guy. Very good player. Had a hell of a career. Hall of Fame, I'd have to dive into that.

Maybe not quite a Hall of Famer. We could argue that. Really, really good player. Great career. I think he'd make a great GM one day. Not everyone's made for the media. His personality did not fit. And it was just not a good fit.

And there's nothing wrong with that. Certain things we're all not good at. And we could be excellent at something else. No ill will towards. the guy. But then they double down and they put Tess Stor and Bougar. And let me say this on Bougar. I heard him on Rissillo's podcast. I watched

him for a long time. I've always been a big SEC network guy. He's really good on the SEC. He's passionate about it. He knows the players. I actually thought on the draft. Wasn't bad either. I think he has good, he's solid in a specific role. Not everyone has met the Cal Games.

And Joe Testator is good for fights and he's good for like college football when he can hype it up. Wasn't good for the NFL. I think these guys, I don't know any of them personally. I know having listened to a lot of Booger and Jason Whitten seem like really high character, good people. So sometimes, you know, this job, you got to be critical of people. Bad announcers, awful. And it's Monday night football. We all have higher standards. It was terrible. One thing that I was thinking about this weekend. In football, right, if you're a general manager and you have several bad drafts, I guess unless you're David Caldwell, and several

bad signings, you get fired. Trent Balke had several bad drafts, several bad signings. Jed York fires him. McCagnan was ruining the jets. Fired. That's usually the way it works. You can think of countless examples. GMs actually don't get fired that often, but once you make bad moves, it's really bad.

Now, when you start a new channel or, you know, new radio station, it might take you some time. Like look at Fox Sports 1 It took them some time To figure out who they wanted to wear First couple years They had those dudes from Canada They're gone Try some different things

Some different shows Ultimately you got Colin You got Skipping Shannon You got the gambling show It kind of works right You got all your inventory of games Non-pandemic

You can set up your lineup It's sweet But it takes some time Starting a new channel from scratch It's not easy ESPN has been in this sector Forever They were literally

the first. They have been hosting games since what? Whenever the thing started in 1979 for cable networks. They've had Monday night football now for a long period of time, but they've had NFL games forever. Part of being an exec in television, whether it's at CBS, ESPN, Fox, whatever, like it's on you to pick the talent. Like it's your job. Now it's easy when a guy like John Madden or John Gruden or Troy Aikman if they become a free agent, Tony Romo became a free agent. It was everyone and their mother could be like, yeah, Tony almost good. Right? If I needed a golf announcer, I'll get Jim Nance. Easy. Actually took some balls to have Joe Buck do it. Joe Buck's turned out to be pretty good. I'll get Fox. Fox usually does

some bold shit and it tends to work. Put Joe Buck on the U.S. Open the last couple years for golf, he's been good. You're not going to bat 1,000. Sometimes it's not going to work. You know, I mean, it was easy for Fox in theory, right? To Colin Coward became available. You'd be crazy not to sign him. Signed him. Change, you know, the station, the channel. Well, when you have Monday night football And you're trying to replace John Gruden Whoever, and I don't know who this is And I don't even know why I'm going to waste too much time talking about this

But it's kind of crazy the talent Like we're going to blame Booger and blame Tess and even blame Witten Is it any of their faults? Is it Jason Witten's fault that he retired? And they're like, you want to call Monday Night Football? And he's like, yeah, I'll do it. And they're like, Booger who'd been working at the SEC network. They're like, hey man, we're going to

build you this little mobile, it's like a scissor lift, and it's going to drive you around the sidelines, and you're just going to chime in and say funny stuff, and just say what you see. What's you supposed to say? No? Of course he's going to say yes. Joe Tessator, who was doing games when I worked at Fresno State, he was doing like

Fresno State Nevada, you think he's going to be like, yeah, you know, I'll just stay with you know, doing Oklahoma State Missouri. That's more fun. I don't blame any of those guys for saying yes. Just like when you take the wrong player with the seventh over overall pick, what's the player supposed to do?

You know, I'm not going to report. I should have been a fourth round player. Like, you know, if Cleland Farrell, when Mike Mayock and Gruden picked him, picked up the phone and was like, you know, coach, I wouldn't pick me here. I probably belong, you know, somewhere between 35 and 50 in that range of the draft. I'll never live up to what you're going to pay me in the fourth overall pick. So, you know, I'm going to give you a heads up. I would change the pick right now.

That's not the way it works. someone offers you a sweet job you usually take it so i don't blame any of these guys for taking the job it was a disaster right it was just really bad it wasn't good but it's not always like is it their fault or is it somewhat like why does more people ESPN not that this would be public we wouldn't even know who these people are but the people that should be blamed for this are the people that pick them to take this job whoever those people were in ESPN because it was not booger mcfarlane's fault I've seen him enough on the SEC network and with the NFL draft.

He's a capable broadcaster. Should he have been put on Monday Night Football? Of course not. When you take these guys, I don't give Greg Olson credit, he's now been repping. When you talk for a living or do media stuff, everyone thinks like, oh, I could do that.

I used to think that all the time. Growing up forever, listening to like Jim Rome or I used to love, I don't know if you guys remember the show, Love Line, Adam Carolla, and Dr. Drew and Adam. Adam was just so funny.

It's like, I could do that. And you realize, yeah, Adam Carolla is like one of the biggest podcast going right now. Like, he's been a huge star forever. Right? Or people probably watch Joe Rogan be like, I could be like Joe Rogan. Or I could be like Colin Coward. No, no, you couldn't. No, you couldn't.

Because, one, it would be impossible just to start from scratch. And two, it takes forever to, you know, iron sharpens iron. There's a reason when Michael Jordan was getting ready to go back to the NBA. He built the little bubble when he was shooting. Space Champ and had all those guys playing him. He needed to get his reps back. And he had already had 15 years of reps from North Carolina and the NBA. This stuff's very, very difficult.

Broadcasting is no different. Broadcasting is very, very hard. For someone that just, I just give my takes and my opinions, and I guess I've had some success because I really don't give a shit. I'm not afraid to say what I think you all are thinking. Where a lot of people in the media are kind of scared, you know, to put their opinion out there. or just really take a stand

and I don't just take random stands I'm not trying to take a stand just to say I take a stand if I say it I believe it but I had to become comfortable at doing that and the more I do it the more comfortable I'm at it

and also the more that I watch the more comfortable I am taking a stand on something well when you put these guys in a booth that have never really been in a booth especially Jason Witten like what do you think was going to happen like Greg Olson

whenever he does retire and he does games for Fox will probably be pretty good why because he's had three or four years to practice. He has done games. He's felt what it's like to call a game, to prep for a game. You know what is different than calling a game?

Playing in the game. It's why when you hear sometimes players talk about the draft, like, I'm sorry, they don't know what the hell they're talking about. One, because it's not like they've ever been to a draft meeting. They've never seen a meeting with the coaches beside on Hard Knocks back in the day of what it's like to rank players, of what it's like to talk through players.

They just haven't seen that. It's why when you see them go from playing, like an Elway or a John Lynch, you put a microphone in front of John Lynch right now. There is literally not a subject he couldn't talk about when it comes to football. That's why if John Lynch ever got fired or quit, he would be so much more valuable in the broadcast booth. Same for Mike Mayock. I've played, I've coached, or I've been a GM,

I've seen it all. I've been around the players on both sides. And when you just throw a guy, You wouldn't just put a guy, you just, you know, the first time ever playing golf in a tournament. It's really unfair. I don't remember this, but I guess I've heard the stories about Troy Aikman, started in NFL Europe. Like, you get, same with Chris Collinsworth. It takes time.

You know, I would say that Gruden is kind of an outlier. And it's pretty clear he's just a unique all-time personality. So ESPN, really, you know, and I've probably talked some shit about bugger and tests. last year because it was a bad broadcast. But now that we, I don't think, I like Bougar actually. I do. I think he's a good guy. I actually think he knows his stuff in the SEC.

I don't blame him for being bad at the job. I blame ESPN. They should be ashamed, embarrassed, and they probably don't even get enough heat because the heat is directed at the talent, when the heat should be directed at the, you know, the company and whoever the middle manager is, they put him in this position.

Because if it was a coach or a GM that had staked their career on like a player, like someone, I don't know if he stuck his career because I doubt he did. But whoever's idea was this, it was, should probably pick a new industry moving forward. Okay, because of the Michael Jordan documentary, The Last Dance, which I think we can kind of universally agree, has been fantastic. It has been awesome. Michael, Phil, Scotty, Jerry Krauss, Dennis Rodman, from Isaiah Thomas, Larry Bird, Magic,

talking shit about Gary Payton and Carl Malone, the Charles Bark, the whole thing. It's been box office. Been fantastic. Average, like, 6 million viewers, an episode. Live it up to the hype. So what I thought I'd do is I pick five teams in my lifetime. I was born in the 80s,

so 80s and to where we're at present day, that I would like a documentary on, after 30 for 30 style, MJ Doc, whatever, that I think could be a fantastic 10-part documentary. 10. And clearly there would be anything Vince Lombardi, if you did before my lifetime, would be awesome. The Al Davis, John Madden, 70s Raiders would be elite.

The steel curtain steelers would be awesome. Stallback Cowboys. You'd have options in the 60s. Bear Bryant. You'd have a lot of football options. I did college and pro. Number one's a no-brainer. Absolute no-brainer.

The Pats. Brady, Belichick, six Super Bowls, nine appearances, the undefeated season, deflategate, spigate, suspensions, trades, retirements, you name it, we've seen it all. Seen it all. They are Michael Jordan of the NFL, right? Belichick is Phil, Tom is crazy-ass Michael. They are the Chicago Bulls of the NFL. And like the Chicago Bulls, who won multiple. had multiple three-peats.

I guess the only other three-peat has been Shaq and Kobe. Like three-peach just don't happen. Hell, the Warriors, you know, had an unreal five-year run and didn't get a three-peat. One, three-and-five years. That's hard to do. Miami Heat, I mean, LeBron won two and four. It's just, we might never see a three-peat again.

I mean, think how difficult it was back in the early 2000s with Shaq and Kobe. It's probably never going to happen. In the NFL, I don't think we'll ever see a team win six Super Bowl's in nine years. or excuse me, six Super Bowls in 19 years. I don't see that happening. So that's the easy number one overall.

Number two was a little tough. I could have gone two different directions. And I almost chose the Eddie DeBarre to low 49ers. People don't know, middle coffee buyers. I want with the 90s Cowboys. Because like the Bulls documentary and like the Patriots, there is a lot of drama there. You know, you have polarizing frontmen,

Jimmy Johnson, Jerry Jones. you have countless crazy things going off the field. The White House, cocaine, drugs. You also have championships. You have three championships in four years. You have free agency, trades, Dion Sanders, Charles Haley, just huge moves on top of Hall of Fame players. Michael Irvin, Troy Aikman, Emmett Smith.

It would just be box office. A little shorter, but given it's the Cowboys and Jerry Jones and Jimmy Jones, I think it would be fantastic. It's kind of like it'd be a little playmakers, esh. Like, I don't know if the Pats would be as crazy. I don't know if the Pats would have a huge drug element. The Cowboys would. When I think 90s Cowboys, I think championships and cocaine.

That's the first thing that comes to my mind. So I think the 90s Cowboys, really the early 90s Cowboys, 92, 93, 94, 95, that little run would be absolute box office. Three, I went Eddie to Bartolo and the San Francisco 49ers. Now, there are kind of multiple iterations over the Eddie run. Hires Bill Walsh, wins the Super Bowl's with Montana, the Steve Young element. Obviously, Walsh was kind of, would be awesome behind the scenes. Eddie to Bartolo, a little like Jerry Jones, before Jerry Jones, kind of this crazy, little Italian,

born into wealth, like his dad had a lot of money, bought the team for not that much, turned it into a dynasty, was buying players left and right before a free agency. Then the George Seaford, Steve Young era, they ended up getting rid of Steve Young. Eddie DeBartolo tried to pay off assemblymen or senator or whatever it was in Louisiana to get access to a casino. The feds were involved, was kicked out of the league.

I don't know if it'd quite have the juice of the Cowboys, but in terms of football documentary porn, it would be up there. Montana, Young, Rice, Ronnie Lott, it would be sweet. It would be really, it'd probably be a little deeper into the football where the Cowboys and the Pats would be a little more like the Jordan Dock and a lot of drama. Now, not saying there wouldn't be drama with the Niners, Bill Walsh quit. You know, Bill Walsh, we act like he coached for like 25 years. He wasn't assistant coach for a long time.

He was not a head coach very long. Pretty sure it was 79 to 88. It was kind of a short run. And he almost quit multiple times because him and Eddie were always buttonheads. I think the Steve Young, Joe Montana stuff would be crazy if we had inside access and cameras behind that. But I think that would be elite football content. The drama, though I've heard stories. Some of the Niners used to get in trouble and get off.

I mean, it was a little like the Wow, Wow West around here too with the 49ers. But I don't think it would be quiet as crazy. Now, you're asking the wrong guy, I'd watch anything. The USC Trojans number four, Pete Carroll. The USC Trojans in the mid-2000s were basically like an NFL team. You had championships, you had Heismans, you had agents, you had women, and you had money. You had now vacated basically everything that happened under that time because it was so crazy. And USC in the Pac-12 and the West Coast football had somewhat been dead.

And they threw their hat in the ring, Ohio State, the U, Florida State, Michigan, and it had felt like we had fallen behind out here, and Pete Carroll, remember, was not their first choice. I don't even think he was their second choice. Kind of lucked into getting the job. He flipped a switch and pushed the envelope, quote-unquote, maybe cheat a little bit again. I'm pro-cheating in college.

Everyone worth our salt is doing it. And started kicking everyone's ass. And I mean everyone's ass. By the time they lost to Texas, his roster was so stacked with players, it was stupid. He had really had that thing. humming by that third year when they ended up losing. But even as time went on, they never, they always slipped up once in a year.

But they would have teams. They would have so much NFL talent on it. It was stupid. I mean, one year their linebacking core was like Clay Matthews, Brian Cushing, and Ray Maluga. Every dude was drafted in the top 35. Their linebacking core. I'm not talking like three guys on their defense went high. I'm talking about their linebacking core, right?

His teams, we don't have anything out west. that even looks like that now. It was just, maybe I'm a little biased on this one, but it felt like, I'm an SEC guy, and my next team will be from the SEC. They felt like an NFL team.

I mean, there were stories. I remember one year when the Niners had the number one overall pick. I'm pretty sure this was a national story. The conversation was like, could the USC Trojans beat the San Francisco 49ers? Think about saying that out loud right now.

I mean, you probably have two guys on the USC Trojans that would make the Niners right now. That was a conversation. I was in college when that conversation happened and whether you agree or disagree my answer is pretty clear yeah I'd probably take the Trojans and I felt pretty good about it

I was like yeah I'd take the Trojans you know now in fairness the Niners were an embarrassment this has been the transition from the De Bartolos to the Yorks and Pete's team was just it was like a traveling circus they really were

we won't ever see anything quite like that again at least out in the past 12. The Florida Gators, led by Urban Meyer. People act like the SEC's been kicking everyone's ass for a long time. I'm going to push back a little bit.

Now, most of my life, they've had a really good team or two. You know, like when I was probably in junior high, Spurrier had that thing rolling, they were kicking everyone's butt, Fulmore with Tennessee. But what they have now with like four or five teams that could legitimately

win the national championship, and are just producing all the NFL players feels a little different than it was probably in the mid-2000s. When Urban Meyer left Utah and went to Florida, he up the game. And I think like Pete Carroll, upping the game out west, and bringing in Harbaugh,

bringing in Chip Kelly, Chris Peterson, and just David Shaw, you know, it just made it kind of raised the bar. Last night, a blown call changed the game. This morning,

the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending. opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear.

The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context and ask the questions everybody wants answered. SportsSlice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to SportsSlice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slic Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of mental health awareness month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field

and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking. Trip Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing. And we're still chasing it. And we don't know when we've done enough.

Because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross. Because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth? 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, Keer 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. 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?

George Bush got 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 just so you 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. Yes. 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. What's up, guys? This is Clifford Taylor the Fourth. And on my podcast, The Cliverts Show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff. Like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker, this linebacker whops up to me.

He goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What? Time out. Quarterback on office blue with 42. Hey, ref, my mama want you to wave at her. What? Where's she at? Hey, Miss Parker.

Listen to the Clifford show on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. I think Urban Meyer set the bar in the SEC. and the conference owes him a huge debt of gratitude. Now, his team, and the team I'm talking about, you could argue might be as equally as entertaining as the USC Trojans. They won rings. They had a murderer on their team. They had Tim Tebow on their team.

I mean, they had guys from Percy Harvin to Ray McDonald. I mean, basically, got kicked out of the league to just good players, right? like, I mean, they have so many pros, the Pouncy brothers. The amount of star players that went through Florida on Urban Myers Watch is staggering, just like he did with Ohio State. I mean, just producing pro after pro, after pro, after pro. Now, Tebow was probably the most polarizing one, and, you know, forever he became like the standard of what to talk about.

But their teams were pretty unreal. real. And remember, I think that kind of forced Alabama's hand to get Nick Saban, and then Nick Saban took it to another level, and then every SEC conference program has followed suit. But that team with Urban Meyer for those two or three years, the cheating going on there, the stuff off the field going on there, the winning on the field, the domination on the field. Say what you want. I mean, Aaron Hernandez is dead now, he murdered people, and he's just a total scumbag. He was an elite player. I mean, an elite player. And that's at every position they had guys like him. It was not a fair fight. They had dudes, and I mean dudes everywhere. And I think, so I went,

Pats won, 90s Cowboys 2, Eddie DeBardo L 49ers, kind of encompasses 20 years. Pete Carroll, USC Trojans, mid-2000s, and the Urban Meyer, Florida Gators is my, top five documentaries that I'd like to see in football. Are you an architect, contractor, or engineer looking for more knowledge about energy efficiency? Here's your opportunity to fuel your future. PG&E's energy centers offer more than 500 free online classes. Get practical insights, continuing education credits, and prepare for a range of certifications.

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Walk a mile in my shoes. Look through your children's eyes to see the true magic of a forest. It's a storybook world for them. You look and see a tree. They see the wrinkled face of a wizard with arms outstretched to the sky. They see treasure and pebbles. They see a windy path that could lead to adventure. And they see you.

Their fearless guide through this fascinating world. Find a forest near you and start exploring at Discovertheforest.org. to you by the United States Forest Service and the ad council. Okay, let's hit up Middlecoff mailbag at John Middilcoff, Instagram, DMs wide open, and slide up in them, same as my Twitter handle, my name. Considering the high bust rate or lack of top performers of first round quarterback picks, why don't more teams trade down and fulfill multiple spots or take a stud at a position where you can have multiple guys in the case they aren't elite?

since you can only have one quarterback, there's no room for error at that position, whereas even Clowny, who doesn't live up to the height, but is still a productive player, especially now. Fill out the roster, plug in a quarterback like Cousins,

Tyrod Taylor, Bridgewater. I don't get why teams keep rolling the dice on high picks at quarterback that hit or miss. Just check the last 20 years of first round quarterbacks. Most made no impact. Great question.

It's why, why does anyone bet parlayes? right why have I invested in some kind of low money marijuana stocks right now hoping hit it big you know because if you hit it big on quarterback it changes your franchise why did the Andy Reid and the Chiefs and Vech trade up to get Mahomes why did the Texans trade up to get Deshawn Watson why did the Jets trade up to get they didn't know at the time but they ended up getting Sam Darnold or the bills trade up to get Josh Allen or the Eagles to get Carson Wentz, because if you hit, even before you know what the guy's going to look like,

you're hoping to get a star. And if you have a star quarterback, you have a good team. It's really that simple. Name me NFL teams that have star quarterbacks and aren't good. It doesn't happen. I mean, if you have a star quarterback who is a legit player, you're going to always be good. I'm with you. I think when you trade up for non-star guys or guys they don't have star attributes,

I think that's where you get in trouble. but I'll never fault a team for going on in the quarterback because the quarterback is more important than being deep other places because if you're deep other places and your quarterback's average, like the Minnesota Vikings, I'm going to kick your ass in the playoffs. I just am. Now, just because you have a stud quarterback like Deshaun Watson

doesn't mean you're going to win in the playoffs, Chiefs beat them. Look at the Titans. They had a good team. They got beat. Star quarterbacks tend to win more big games than non-star quarterbacks. So it's really that simple. that when you do hit on the guy, why does everyone go star chasing in basketball?

Because if I get Steph Curry, or I get Janice, or I get James Harden, I'm always going to be good. You know? And I think star quarterbacks are a lot like star NBA players. They change your franchise. Now, when you miss,

because they cost so much to attain, right, whether you trade up to get them, whether you sign them as a free agent, it could be pretty devastating. Let's talk Gators next year. They played LSU as good as anybody, minus Bama and Clemson, and have been on the rise since Mullen got there. I don't think there are many players, there are on many people's radar, but Trass coming in

mid-season last year was such a big improvement after Franks went down. He looks good. If he improves half as much as Burrow did in 18 and 19, I really think they got a shot at the SEC. Check out Pits 2. Dude balls. First round talent for sure. So thoughts on the Gators. Full disclosure, I'm a homer, Gainesville resident, but actually seeing our offense improve with Trass last year was such a treat after years of scraping by. wins in the East with the shittiest offense you've ever seen in your life.

We objectively looked better or pretty good last year with Trask, really hoping we play, want to see what the young man can do. I don't know if you guys, if you have it during quarantine, last year Hard Docs did four college programs. They did Florida with Mullen. They did Penn State with James Franklin. They did Mike Leach and Texas Tech.

and they did one other school that I can't remember now. But I watched the Florida. And my takeaway was, Mullen's a really good coach. And I was watching some of the Alex Smith, E-60, and they were doing things when Urban Meyer showed up at Utah. He didn't think Alex Smith was that good. Changed his career round.

He became an All-American and went number one overall. Who was his offensive coordinator? Mullen. Who went with him to Florida the first time? Mullen. Who won at Mississippi State? Mullen. I think Mullen's big time.

I think Mullen X's and O's wise is better than Kirby Smart. Now I think Kirby Smart is a big time recruiter. And I think he's a good rah-rah leader type. You know, he's like a poor man Sabin. But even Sabin's an elite X in those guys. I'm not even going to put in the same breath of Saban.

But I think Mullen has a chance. Like Eddie O, he's a leader. I think Eddie O is a better version of what Kirby Smart is. I think Jimbo Fisher, you know, is a good X's and O scheme guy, just like Gus Mel's on. think Mullen could be that. And you're going to get elite talent at Florida. I can't pretend to know their roster inside it out.

But I'm with you. When I've watched them last year, they really made strides. I think the East is becoming a lot better. Obviously, the West had 11 first rounders this year. Well, the East, Tennessee's on the come. I've been getting just seen on Twitter. They're landing all these five-star recruits. Jeremy Pruitt's not bad.

Georgia is just stacked. Kentucky is not bad at all. They produce a bunch of NFL guys. And Florida's just good. There's a chance, though. Stoops is good. Now, I'd rather have Mullen than Stoops, but I think Stoves really good. I mean, he won 11 games in Kentucky a couple years ago.

That's an incredible accomplishment. Kirby's solid, but he took over, you know, it has a little bit of a feel, a little different, like when Chip took over for Mike Bellotti at Oregon. You know, Kirby did not take over Vanderbilt, right? Kirby did not take over Oregon State. He took over Georgia. They had been in the SBC Championship game five years ago

before he took over. Now, he's done a really good job. They've been a consistent top 10. He's recruiting like a mofo. But I'd rather have, if you told me who would you want for the next five years, I'd probably lean Mullen. So you got the right coach. And if you got the right coach in football,

you got a chance to win big. Since every team has settled like quarterback, apparently and most have very little cap space, would the Cowboys possibly negotiate a better deal with that if they just rescinded his franchise tag and have him negotiate in the market? It's funny, I tweeted this out last week. I said, why wouldn't the Cowboys rescind the franchise tag

and just go, Dak, here's your offer. Five years, $100 million, $25 million a year? Who is paying Dak Prescott money? And I got a bunch of people, the Colts, the Raiders. Have you Googled how much salary cap this base these people have? The Colts are paying Phillip Rivers $25 million. That is not happening. The Jaguars are not signing Dak Prescott.

John Gruden, they've already spent all their money. Where would Dak Prescott get $20 million a year? Now, it's kind of a dick move, right? You don't treat your quarterbacks like that, but you could argue already when you're playing them along like this on the franchise tag kind of shows you what you think of them. I would think about doing that, to be honestly. I don't think that's crazy at all.

Now, I don't think Jerry Jones is going to do that, but I wouldn't be critical of them if he did. I've been listening to the podcast and love your analysis. Do you think the Ravens can win 14 games again, given that they have the easiest schedule in the league? Uh, I would lean, no. I mean, most times, when you look at the Patriots run, most, you win 12, you go 12 and 4, you have a really good team.

Most teams don't go back-to-back 14 wins, especially when they're predicated on running the football. Now, people have been asking me this. Like, how much time do you spend in the off-season preparing for your opponents. Well, most teams definitely prepare either for early opponents or their division. I would imagine Cleveland,

I would imagine Pittsburgh, and I would imagine the Bengals, maybe not the Bengals, but definitely Cleveland and Pittsburgh would be running looks in practice against the Ravens offense. So they couldn't just run the option right through your, you know,

till the cows come home and run for 300 yards on your ass. Now, because there's no off-season, all the coaches have probably put together the tape and the scouting reports, but you're not able to rep it on the practice field. And then once training camp hits, you have so much else to accomplish, I don't know how much time you have. So maybe they'll be better just as good early,

but maybe it slows down a little bit as the season goes on. I would imagine, though, they're not going to be 14 and 2 again. Even though the Chiefs managed to keep 20 of 22 starters at the Super Bowl, they don't have a perfect roster. Last year, I felt like they were exceptional. I feel like our exceptional safety play between Honey Badger and Thornhill covered up below average cornerbacks.

It's the linebackers. What do you think the Chief's biggest hole in their roster is and who could fix it? Well, it definitely was linebacker's speed and they drafted the guy at the end of the second round, Willie Gaye Jr., who should immediately help that. And I think their corner play should be better this year in the scheme.

After the schedule being released, what is your record prediction for the Chiefs? I feel like they have a team with a great existing chemistry will be a huge advantage in our first part of the season. facing some of our more difficult opponents, which are early. Yeah, I mean, I think the Chiefs win 12 or 13 games. I mean, I think they're going to be the cream of the crop in the AFC, and they're the clear team to beat,

and I like them more than Baltimore, regardless what happens week three. Do you think the Tampa Bay Buccaneers? I love Tampa, are getting a little too much hype. Tom Brady is not proven that he still has a top end. You're left in him, and the team has established losing culture for the last decades, thanks. I look at them differently just because they have an elite coach. and Bruce Ariens, the moment he showed up into the joke franchise of the Arizona's Cardinals,

he started winning and he started kicking everyone's ass. First year, when Pete Carroll and Jim Harbaugh had two teams that went to the NFC championship, his team went 10 and 6. He just belongs. When he shows up, he belongs. His quarterback threw 30 interceptions, 30 interceptions, and he won seven games.

Think of what an accomplishment that was. If they could have just cut that at 25, they might have been 9 and 7. So I think as coach, coaching staff's elite. I think Bruce Ariens is elite. I think if Tom is just, if peak Tom Brady is 100%,

like the great, the goat, you know, the guy that led the comeback against Atlanta, the guy that, you know, threw 500 plus yards against the Eagles, if that's 100, if he can just give Tampa 75 or 80 or Tampa, if he can give Tampa 75 to 80 of that, they'll be good enough. Because last year, James was 50% of that. Like James was

a train wreck. I made this account just to ask you a question. Which offense do you prefer? Peyton Manning with average receivers or Mr. Buskey with Jerry Rice, Randy Moss, West Welker. If you want someone on the slot, Adrian Peterson, all in their primes.

Basically, how much do you think the receiver elevates a quarterback? So would I rather have Peyton Manning with average wide receivers? And when you think about it, he's never really had average wide receivers. Like, think of all the guys that he had in Indy, from Marvin to Reggie,

to Austin Colley, to Dallas Clark, Edger and James, a die, and then when he goes to Denver, they have Demarius Thomas, they got Julius Thomas, they signed Wes Welker, they got Emmanuel Sanders. He's always played with really, really good players. Now, would I take my chance with Mitch Trubisky with Jerry Rice, Randy Moss, Welker, Adrian Peterson?

Yes, I would probably do that. And if Mitch was just terrible, I would go to my backup. I think it would be hard to suck with those guys. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo.

Every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context, and ask the questions everybody wants answered. Sportslice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them.

Listen to Sports Slice on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking, Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark.

Sometimes when we're in the pursuit 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,

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, Keir Gaines, as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast,

Learn the Hardway. Open your free, Our Heart Radio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. 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 with a little camp? 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 y'allon,

I mean, at this point, this is the second episode where we've discussed, correct. So I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now. Thank you finishing that sentence. Yes. 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. What's up, guys? This is Clever Taylor the Fourth. And on my podcast, The Cliver Show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff.

Like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker, this linebacker walks up to me. He goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What? Quarterback on office blue with 42. Hey, rep, my mama want you to wave at her. What?

Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. I mean, I would probably do that. Now, maybe I'm wrong. Maybe if I thought about that longer, that's the type of content I'm here for. Great question.

Big Cowboys fan. Looking for a Cowboys season prediction and specifically a CD prediction. Are we looking at the next desk? Thanks. I would say 10 and 6 and I would say CD catches 60 balls. It's hard for a rookie to have put up huge numbers,

especially in an offense that's going to give the ball to Zika a lot, that's also going to throw it to Amari and Gallup a lot. So they do have a lot of offensive players, right? Amari has, since he's been in Dallas, averaged a year and a half, you know, if you put it out, and really his entire career averaged around 75 catches a year. And think about Amari's underachieved. Zeke gets a ton of touches.

So if CD gets 120 targets, nah, it's probably too many. 100 targets, 60 catches, ratio seems a little crazy maybe less. I think it'll be hard to look up and see C.D. Lamb have 80, 90 catches. It just usually doesn't happen for a rookie.

Last year, the number, and we had a good rookie receiving class, AJ Brown, D.K. Metcalfe, Debo Samuel. I think the leading rookie receiver got 58 balls. So I look at the Cowboys and Eagles as playoff teams, just like this year. They both got injured, and the Cowboys lost a bunch of games,

but both those two teams should have been playoff teams. So I go 10 and 6. Big swing games, though, the NFC East plays the NFC West. It'll actually be harder for Philly and Dallas because you don't just play the Niners in Seattle. You also play the Rams, who, I mean, the Rams don't suck. And Kyler Murray, who's just kind of little, I mean, he's a scary little guy to play. As a 2017 Texas Tech grad, I was lucky to get to watch Mahomes live his entire collegiate career. I remember being floored that the Bears passed on Watson and Mahomes for an,

unproven one-year starter. Do you think the Bears got cute trying to outsmart the league and screw themselves, or do you think Chubisky pick was truly just a bad evaluation by the franchise? Well, at least you're admitting you're a little biased. I think that taking Chubisky over Mahomes was not crazy at all. I actually think it was the right move at the time in theory. Taking them over Watson's a little nuts. Because you basically are taking, we've got two quarterbacks coming out of the ACC.

One guy's been a multiple year starter, been a multiple national championship, and just beat Alabama on a walk-off touchdown and threw a combined like 900 yards in two games against Alabama and national championship games. The other guy was a one-year starter. So that one's hard. Now, Watson is a much better player than I thought he would be. You know, he doesn't have a great arm,

but he's got it. He just has it. You know, sometimes you just... Russell Wilson throws an elite deep ball. He has a powerful, powerful arm. Now, he has it qualities, but he actually, his physical tools are he's very athletic. He can just throw ropes.

Deshaun doesn't have a great arm. He just got it. I don't really, you know, and that's, I can't totally hate. I mean, I understand it. You know, I mean, I would have taken Watson over Trubisky, but I also like, kind of like Trubisky coming out. It looks terrible.

There's no way around it. Looks terrible. And we're live here outside the Perez family home just waiting for the... And there they go. Almost on time this morning. Mom is coming out the front door strong with a double-armed kid carry. Looks like dad has the bag's daughter is bringing up the rear. Oh, but the diaper bag wasn't closed.

Typers and toys are everywhere. Ooh, but Mom has just nailed the perfect car seat buckle for the time. And now the eldest daughter who looks to be about nine or ten has secured herself in the booster seat. Dad zips the bag closed and they're off. Ah, but looks like mom doesn't realize her coffee cup is still on the roof of the car. And there it goes! Oh, that's a shame. That mug was a fam favorite. Don't sweat the small stuff.

Just nail the big stuff. Like making sure your kids are buckled correctly in the right seat for their age and size. Learn more at nhtsa.gov slash the right seat. Visit NHTSA. dot go slash the right seat brought to you by mitza and the ad council adoption of teens from foster care is a topic not enough people know about and we're here to change that i'm april dinwiddie host of the new podcast navigating adoption presented by adopt us kids each episode brings you compelling real-life adoption stories told by the families that live them with commentary from experts visit adopt uskids dot org slash podcast or subscribe to navigating adoption presented by adopt us kids brought to you by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families and the Ad Council. What grows in the forest? Trees? Sure. Know what else grows in the forest? Our imagination, our sense of wonder, and our family bonds grow too, because when we disconnect from this and connect with this, we reconnect with each other.

The forest is closer than you think. Find a forest near you and start exploring at Discovertheforest.org. Brought to you by the United States Forest Service and the Ad Council. What do you think the NFL moving to Christmas Day? Was there some sort of gentleman's agreement between the NBA and NFL that has been ignored? Personally, I love it and will become three games similar to Thanksgiving within five years. Yeah, there's no gentleman's agreement. I don't think the NFL cares at all about the NBA. They would take every ounce of the NBA's revenue if they could.

It's just a doggie dog world. And I think the Roger Goodell in the league sees an open. they see a wounded animal and they're they're a lion on the prairie and they're going to eat and if that animal can either find safety and somehow figure it out but if they don't the lion's going to eat them and that lion is the NFL and that little gazelle the NBA is not a little gazelle it's a big gazelle but it's limping right now and that lion's coming after it so we better find some safety faster it's going to get eaten with the last dance on part of me wants to believe that mj is the goat of all goats. Before this

doc, it's always been Tom Brady in my eyes. I just wanted your opinion. Love the show. I would say the biggest difference between Tom Brady and Michael is Tom was an underdog, right? He was pick 199.

He was not a starter in college. Michael Jordan hit the game winning shot, the national championship as a freshman at North Carolina. But, like, once they've got to the league, they are just relentlessly, in their pursuit of greatness. And I think Tom could kind of be an asshole to guy just like Mike.

But you notice like most of the teammates love playing with Mike. Most guys love playing with Tom, even though he's on them hard. Now there's an element in football with Belichick plays a role to stay on you where it's a little different in basketball. Like Michael was kind of the hard-ass. Phil was kind of balanced it. I would give the slight edge to Michael, but I think Tom is a close second.

I would go in my lifetime, Tiger, I would go Michael one, Tiger 2, Tom 3 as just outlier, badass killers. I mean, just there to, on a different level to dominate. And I would, this doc has been great to Michael and the rep and solidified everything we think of it. I think Tom Brady, we've seen Tom, the guy's a nut. He eats avocado ice cream to try to stay skinny to play football.

And I don't know, Michael smokes cigars and drinks alcohol. so you know Michael wasn't in the health kick but he was into working out so maybe you'd argue tiger or i mean tiger too but tom dedicated more of his life to basketball than tithe than uh michael did to basketball i got tiger on that's why i keep saying him on golf channel it's like replaying some old pGA tour championship that he won in like 99 but all those guys just tom's probably the most extreme even more than tiger you would say michael's the least extreme. Now, he worked out hard, but he wasn't like changing his diet. I mean, Tom eats, Tom basically eats like air. Like, what is, how does Tom function? But he does. I mean,

pliability, avocado ice cream, no tomatoes, uh, water. It's crazy, but it works. I mean, Tom's probably the most extreme with all that stuff. And he's playing the latest. I mean, golf you can play forever. Michael was done playing at, he retired 34. Now he came back for the Wizards, but it wasn't the same. He couldn't have kept winning championships at that age. Pretty remarkable what Tom's done. They're all just on the pantheon of legendary goats. Appreciate everyone listening. And have a great week, and I will talk to you Friday.

Peace, adios, Godspeed. Get right to the romance and find the way to wow this Valentine's with 1-800flowers.com. From classic roses and bouquets to decadent chocolate-covered berries, gourmet treats and more. Surprise your Valentine with 1800flowers.com. Right now, get the 18-stem enchanted rose medley for $39.99 or upgrade to 24 red roses for $10 more. Go to 1,800flowers.com slash tune in. That's 1,800flowers.com slash tune in. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind, and nobody's

telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo, and every episode we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the biggest moments in sports and giving you the real story behind the headline. And we're going straight to the source, the athletes themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions in the moment, and the stuff nobody gets to hear. Listen to Sports Slice on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok.

Another podcast from some SNL, late-night comedy guy, not quite, unhumored 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 a podcast. For 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84 is 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. 84 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. Hey, what's good, y'all? You're listening to learn the hard way with your favorite therapist and host, Kear Games. This space is about black men's experiences, having honest conversations that it's really not safe to have anywhere,

but you're having them with a licensed professional who knows what he's doing. How many men carry a suit or armor? It signals to the world that you're not to be played with. And just because you have the capability that does not mean that you need to, listen to learn the hard way on the IHard radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. This is an IHart podcast. Guaranteed human.