The Herd with Colin Cowherd - 3 and Out - NFL Feeding Off MLB, NBA Uncertainty; Top 5 Offseason Moves; Clowney Turns Down Brownies; Headlines; Mailbag

Episode Date: May 29, 2020

In this episode, Middlekauff looks at how the NBA and MLB uncertainty about getting back on the field will feed the NFL monster, gives his top 5 offseason moves, and looks at Jadeveon Clowney turning down the Browns and other top stories from around the league. He also answers listener questions in an XL edition of 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.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. 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,

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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 is big to me. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a year, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. With our friends, fellow comedians, and favorite authors.

Like Mark Lamont Hill on the 80s. 84 was a wild. 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 to learn the hard way on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. If you love to be remembered as the person who gives the best birthday gifts, I'm here to tell you that 1800 Flowers.com is your ultimate birthday gifting destination. 1,800 Flowers has thoughtful and artfully created options that are guaranteed to deliver the best birthday surprise. shop thousands of unique gifts at 1-800flowers.com for exclusive offers and great values.

To order today, visit 1-800flowers.com slash tune-in. That's 1-800flowers.com slash tune-in. What is going on, everybody, John Middlecough, three-and-out podcast. Back at it again. Beautiful, beautiful might be strong. A hot Thursday. It's coming from you Thursday afternoon. It's over 100 degrees outside, so I don't know wherever you are.

Maybe it's hot. Maybe it's cool. But the heat wave, at least in the northern California area that I live in, is a scorcher. Played golf on Wednesday in about 105. Sometimes I'm a heat guy. I don't like the cold, but that first heat wave is always a pretty big shock to the system. But we got some football to talk about as well. I think everyone, if you're listening to this, you're probably a sports fan.

I'm sure you've loosely followed some of the things that are going on with baseball, some of the things that are going on with the NBA. And it just kind of puts everything in perspective again with the NFL. I chose my favorite five off-season moves. Not draft picks, either a trade or a free agent acquisition. We'll go over that. Some other NFL storylines, some clowny news. Jay Gruden, Flacko, and then of course the Middlethoff mailbag at John Middilkoff is my Instagram handle and DMs wide open.

Shoot, interacting with people all day, every day. Fire run in there, answer your questions on the podcast. This is your guys show. Three and Out podcast is the people's show. At John Middlecoff, easiest way to get on the show. Also appreciate everyone that has gone to the three and out Apple. you know, podcast and left a review. So if you haven't yet, I'm going to keep pushing you.

Do that. I'm also starting to video record the podcast. Definitely a couple segments will be on the Fox Sports Radio YouTube. So, you know, in quarantine, you got some time to think and able to think outside the box a little bit and just get some new things going and just see where they go because what the hell else are going to do? Let's start with this. I'm a huge sports fan.

I love football. I talked about earlier this week. I love golf. I also love the NBA in Major League Baseball. I'm a rare 35-year-old that watches an astronomical amount of baseball games. And it's not like I'm a big Giants fan, but they suck. Like I watch a lot of MLB Network games. I'm a big NBA guy.

I talk a lot of smack about the NBA because I love the sport. And I think with Adam Silver's leadership, it's gone down a bad kind of, it's just taking a bad turn. And they've gotten with some things that they think works on Twitter, it doesn't work in reality, and I'm their base. I grew up on Michael Jordan, love the sport. I grew up on Barry Bonds, love the sport. And you see both the leagues right now are having major issues.

And the NFL for a long period of time got destroyed every turn. And some of it was, you know, self-induced, right? Roger brought some of the heat on himself. If Roger Goodell saw the Ray Rice video and suspended him for two games, like, it's bad. No one would defend that. It is not defensible. But some of the stuff, it's like, the NFL's so greedy.

Yeah, so was every business. Will you meet one restaurant owner that is not trying to make more money? Like, that's the point of business. I always hate that term greed, because it gets so loosely thrown around on social media. Like, literally everyone is trying to, drive more revenue because their expenses keep going up, and it's part of this thing we call business. And that's, I think, we often forget with pro sports

because we all play Little League, we all play seventh or eighth grade basketball, we all maybe, I don't know, we all, high school football, you know, we've all played one of the sports, play some golf, play hockey, whatever your sport of choice is growing up. And then you get, you look at these guys, you go, they're just playing a kid's game for money, but that's part of the thing. They're playing the game for money.

It is their job. No different that if you sell a printer, no different that if, you know, you sell medical advice, no different that if you own a restaurant and sell food. Their job, if you're the right fielder, is to play defense and hit home runs. If you're the shooting guard,

it's to hit threes and play defense. If it's the right guard, it's to zone block and pass protect your quarterback. Like, that's literally what you're paid to do. And when you have these crazy times, and we're going through it, And I've said from the jump, the NFL benefits greatly from the timing of corona. It doesn't take, you know, Dr. Fauci to figure that out.

It's the offseason. They could go Zoom meetings. They adapted really, really well. And I know Coward talks about this all the time. The NFL just adapts really well. And I've lived it. I saw it. Now, I was with innovative guys and Howie Roseman and Andy Reid,

and they could always pivot no matter what happened. If something starts working, go right. If this starts working, go left. They were very, very adaptable. And I'm not saying everyone in the NFL is adaptable, but on the whole, most of them are. Hell, Jerry Jones, like 80 years old, look at the Cowboys, always moving and shaking.

But the NFL also got a CBA agreement in the fall, and it really didn't get that contentious. We had a couple weeks going back and forth on social media, but for the most part, the deal got done, and it's done. And the NFL is labor piece for the next 10 years. Right now you have the NBA. We're in the middle of a pandemic. You know, UFC's back, golf's back,

And the NBA and Major League Baseball, it's like, guys, you have a wide open landing strip right now of real estate to do some business. And for two fundamental different reasons, they can't get anything done. In baseball, it's simply money. It's just whatever side you're on, I'm probably somewhere in the middle. It's just simple greed, stubbornness. Part of it's on the owners. Their refusal to take a short-term loss for the bigger picture game. But the reality is baseball in two years is going to,

have a strike. Because the baseball economics, the younger players get screwed, they got you. Imagine if you draft a guy, and for the first three years, even if you draft him number one overall, he's on the veteran minimum. And you have his rights for six years. Now, once you start playing well in baseball,

I think by your third year, you can go to arbitration, and you can start making more money. Like Aaron Judge this year was scheduled to make $13 million. But for the first couple years, he wasn't making any money. And in baseball right now, you have this where the majority of their money is made from people, you know, fans, you know, depending

on who you read, it's around 40%. So if you're a $10 billion industry, $4 billion of that revenue comes from the fans. In basketball, it's a little different, a lot of television money, it's why they're desperately trying to get back on television. Baseball's at each other's next because they can't figure out a number. It's simply money. If they could agree on the money, they might be playing baseball next week. Basketball, they can't agree on the money.

Why? Because everyone's getting filthy rich. The average basketball salary in the NBA, $7 million. And every team has, I mean, all the good teams have multiple max guys. Those guys are making $30, $40 million. Their problem is, as one of the latest stories I read, the hotels at Disney World where they're going to do the bubble, or as the PC Commando Adam Silver, calls it the campus. Bro, you're in a bubble, you're quarantining.

It's okay. Just call it a bubble. It doesn't matter. You're just trying to play some basketball games. There weren't enough nice hotels. For those of you that don't know, in football, it's a little different because you only travel once every other week. And I know back, you know, I don't know if they still do,

but the 49ers, seven, eight years ago, stayed at like the airport Marriott. It was just a run-of-the-mill Marriott. You know, I know teams, when I worked in Philly would stay at the Air, the Eagles stay at the airport Marriott. You stayed at Marriott. You stayed at Marriots. You got points.

When I was at Freso State, you stayed at Marriots. Football is not as consumed about the hotel. They'll just stay wherever. There's some meeting space and they can just get a night of shut-eye and then go play the next day. Like, they don't have to be at the four seasons. But in baseball and in basketball,

there are requirements for hotels for the team. They are not staying at Marriots. They're staying at the four seasons. They're staying at whatever the nicest hotel is in the city. Back when the Warriors used to play in Oakland, it's where Oracle was, I guess it's still technically there, even though nothing's going on.

They now play in the city. All the teams, because once a, upon a time Shaq thought the Warriors were already in San Francisco. He didn't know because they always stayed in San Francisco. That's where the five-star hotels are. So these players can't stay in a crappy hotel because, you know, just going to be too tough.

And the stories that are coming out, and regardless of owners, players, you don't even need to be on a side. Do you know what fans want? The sports to come back. And you just see bickering over dumb stuff. I talk about sports for a living, and I am exhausted.

I give the NFL, and I've talked about this kind of an nauseam over the last couple months, is they have just been so open-minded. Like, yeah, just go to Zoom. Draft on Zoom. You know, we'll go two hours meeting with your players on Zoom. Depending on the teams, I've read about some teams. I think it was the Bills, they'll do a morning session because they're in New York for their East Coast players.

And then if you're on the West Coast, they'll do an after-lunch session. Very adaptable. Very just on the same page. Yeah, you see these other leagues. No one's on the same page. And it's just not that fun to watch. Now, I will defend them, both the leagues, they're businesses. So these are crazy times, and it's okay to have contentious negotiations.

I would imagine everyone's listening. I know that I have, personally, have money either been pushed back, changed, company that owes you money goes out of business. It's crazy times for all of us. And you hear this all the time. I hate it when people of regular jobs try to compare themselves to athletes. Like, yeah, all of our jobs are not like playing small forward or playing wide receiver. But what they all are is they all are in industries, whether you're in the medical field, whether you're in the media field, whether you're in the sports field.

And every single industry, unless you're Bezos or some of these like Safeways or Costco's, you're not recession proof. And when pandemics happen, things get weird and much. Money disappears. Welcome to reality. And I think baseball and basketball are realizing this. They are not recession-proof. And I saw Dan Graziano quoted a tweet about the baseball issues and goes, well, the NFL might have the same issues if their revenues go down, which the salary cap is a, in baseball,

or excuse me, baseball does not have a salary cap. It's why they do not right now want to do any sort of 50-50 revenue split. where football is a revenue split, and that's how the salary cap is comprised. And it's based on revenue, not just the television revenue, but also stadium revenue. So if there aren't fans,

it could implicate the overall salary cap. But here's where the NFL could fudge it. They make so much money from their television deals, and their television deal, I think, paid every team, I think, like, it was $280 million this last year. Well, the salary cap was like $100,000. So the TV money alone in football pays for every player, pays for every coach. Technically could pay for anything.

Forever Mark Davis and the Raiders made no money. No money. That's including Al Davis. They did not make any money. Coliseum was a dump. They didn't own it. No naming rights. Crappy sweets.

Low season ticket base. They didn't want to make any money. You know what? It didn't matter. You know why Al Davis could always sign huge checks to players? because he got the television money. It's the great part about the NFL. And I think you see this right now in the NBA

is that every owner has a different idea. Like some owners want to do this, some owners want to do that. Mark Cuban, who actually is kind of old school, I think, and it's kind of like an NFL owner, tries to do big picture things for the health of the league. But you get a lot of these new owners, and you see this sometimes on social media, the NFL, it needs new owners.

I call bullshit. Why does the NFL need anything new? I mean, they've never had more juice. They've never had more power. They've never had more money. And they've never grown at a faster rate. Where Mark Cuban tries to get everyone to think alike. The problem is all these owners only care really about their own franchise.

We're in the NFL, everyone does well. Because the television money is so massive. In the NBA, it's more based on how you do in your local markets, your local TV deals. Now, I get the economic structure of baseball and basketball are dramatically different than football. But if you could all get on the same page, it is pretty powerful. And that's one thing in baseball. You see all their owners are on the same page. They don't plan on paying the players very much money.

And listen, we could argue that all day long. The one thing that's great about football, I say their greatest strength all the time, is the non-guaranteed money. Because the guaranteed money in basketball and football creates, we've all heard this term, and a certain business, I'm sure you have people in your company listening right now

that are quote-unquote on scholarship, there are no scholarships in the NFL. If Belichick had a couple shitty seasons post-Tom Brady, would it be that crazy to see him, like, forced to retire or something in a couple years? I'm not even kidding. The Rams two years ago, not even two years ago.

It's May 28, 2020. In February 2019, they were in the Super Bowl. Less than a year and a half later, their defensive cord data was fired. Their star running back was cut, and their star wide receiver, the running back and the wide receiver, Gurley and Brandon Cooks, were both had huge contracts. Cut, traded.

That was, it's May, what, 14 months ago? It's how fast, because there are no scholarships. Like Max Scherzer was tweeting, Max, you're worth hundreds of millions of dollars. And I, let's just assume you have the, the best interests of every player in mind. Whether you play this season or you don't, it doesn't affect you. You can't be affected monetarily.

You're too rich. Same with all the max basketball players. They have hundreds of millions of dollars. Where in football, you get into these situations, and if it does, if Corona stays weird all year long, the NFL is going to be the easiest to be flexible because their players will do it. 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 Slic Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of mental health awareness month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests.

I'm talking. Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit 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 all day, but just so you all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack.

So I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS 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 Clivert 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 walks up to me. He goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her.

What? Time out. Quarterback on office blue of 42. Hey, rep, my mama want you to wave at her. What? Where's she at? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Clippers show on the I-Hart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast.

Anything to play the games. because that's how they get paid. And whether you're a star player or whether you're a undrafted free agent who's on a roster, your career could end like that. And most of your money is just never guaranteed. Unless you're a star quarterback, you're kind of living year to year.

Same with coaches. So the mindset of the leagues are so different, and it's easy to see why the NFL has kind of lapped baseball and basketball in these recent times. Hi, I'm Flo from Progressive. Being a baseball fanatic like me can be stressful. It's not all sports points and touchdowns. So Progressive is going to help you take your mind off your team for a moment.

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Learn how it belonging begins with us.org. Brought to you by the ad council. Okay. Let's dive into something I was thinking about this week. and I'm going to pick my five favorite off-season moves, either a trade or a free agent signing. And one thing that's really added some juice to the league, a lot of young, aggressive general managers,

trades are on the table. And you have a lot of just general managers that are younger, that are aggressive. I worked for one in Howie Roseman, who's been trading people for two decades. But the John Schneiders, the Brett Veaches, the John Lynch's, Belichick would trade his mom. for the right, you know, player. You just got Spielman, you got the bill.

I mean, you got everyone to just trade. The Dolphins traded players. Bill O'Brien will do anything. The league has really been enhanced by the addition of the trades to supplement the free agent market. Because when I got in the league in like 2010 and 11, the franchise tag guys, like a free agent list was always such a joke because the majority of the guys were never going to hit the market.

but now you have so many players that just get Jalen Ramsey, Khalil Mack, Mika Fitzpatrick, Laramie Tunzel, DeAndre Hopkins. A lot of those guys are Bill of Brian involved. Stefan Diggs. We'll dive into some of these names, DeForest Buckner, that are just available, even though technically they're not available. It's really added some juice to the league, and I'll pick my five favorite moves this offseason.

I'm going to start at five. I'm going to go Stefan Diggs to the Bills. And clearly something was off there with the Bills. even though for being a diva he kept producing he had 165 catches 2100 yards and 15 touchdowns the last two years when the dude was on the field he bawled so it's not like he was a deed and they won so you know he was he could have some issues with a quarterback or whatever

but he was a winning player the bills who shah mcdermit at the combine told me you know Josh allen took a lot of heat last year is short and intermediate after his rookie year he was inaccurate it all over the field. Well, he really improved on those two elements of the game. And now his deep ball accuracy still takes a lot of heat. It's not very good. But you go, well, who's really thrown to? Now, granted, he's missing

them by a wide margin sometimes. You add Stepon Diggs, one of the best deep ball receivers in the league. Their team is really good. Their coaching staff's good. To me, there's no excuse for this team adding this piece. They have another solid draft. They have a good nucleus to not win the AFC East when the dust settles. Jim Kelly said it perfectly. Tom Brady's gone. there is no excuse.

It's the bill's division to lose. I agree with that. Love the Diggs trade. I guess it was a year ago, or during the season, the Eagles balked at the Jalen Ramsey price. I agree. You can't trade two ones in a two for a corner. I'm sorry.

Unless it's Dion Sanders, I'm not doing it. And you saw it kind of backfired on the Rams. They didn't even make the playoffs. They haven't even paid them yet. They don't have a first round pick next year. It's just too much to pay. It really was. The bears didn't give up that much for Khalil Mack.

So it was just an astronomical amount. They were desperate, and it was just, it was too much. You're paying, you know, $0.40 on a dollar. Where the Eagles, and they still made the playoffs. Think about that. The Eagles made the playoffs. Now, part of it was the division, a big part of it. Their division sucked.

But then this off season, they get Darius Slay, who's missed six games since 2014. Pro Bowl level player, who fits their system, for a third-round pick, third and a fifth. Like, to me, it's all about value. And probably no team in the NFL is consistently as good as the word value as Howie and the Eagles, but to get a player of that caliber for that cheap, and they've got to give them a little bump,

but they're still, wait until you see what Jalen Ramsey gets in a year from the ramps. So to pay that much to acquire a pro-ball, or I guess that little to acquire a pro-ball player, at a position of desperate need, they needed a corner, they got a corner, loved it. Number three. Now, I'm not going to give the team that much credit because ultimately this player chose them.

Now, I will give the team credit in the sense of they have a really good coach. Now, part of that, they got lucky to have the coach because Bruce Ariens quit the Cardinals and was just randomly available and wanted to come back coaching. But they have Chris Godwin, they have Mike Evans, they have pieces on out, tight ends and just the location in Florida, Tom Brady going to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

They haven't made the playoffs in 12 years. They've become kind of an irrelevant franchise. It's just no juice to them. And they're only a small handful of teams in the league that just no juice. And they have become one. Even though last year they kind of got out of that mold a little bit because James was throwing all the picks. But they were 7 to 9 with James.

He threw 30 picks. You add Tom Brady. You get Gronk to come along too. so you become, you know, one of the league stalwarts now for at least this year. You're going to be on national television all the time. You're going to have people like me and every show and coward and just fans. Like, everyone's going to have an opinion on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers because of Tom Brady. So they went from being kind of a dud to a stud overnight.

Now, that doesn't mean they're going to win. I'm not, I think they'll make the playoffs. I would predict they'd go nine or ten wins. Coaching staff's too good. And Brady's just too big of an upgrade over. James. Now, the pandemic, no practice time, merging of the offense, it's not going to be easy, but I don't see how you can't love going from James Winston to Tom Brady. I don't care if he's 55 years old. I mean, Tom Brady is an upgrade. 49ers. I thought you could have just put

Buckner for the 13th pick. I mean, you're trading a guy that's made one Pro Bowl for who's going to get paid $21 million for the 13th pick, and ultimately that 13th pick, led to Javon Kinlau and Iuke. But, listen, I like DeForest Buckner, and right now if I was a betting man, DeForest Buckner, I know is going to be good. These rookies, I don't know. I mean, it was just 50% bust rate on first round picks. So, they're talented, but who knows.

But to me, the ability to get Trent Williams, a guy that's made seven Pro Bowls. If you told me that you're going to lose Joe Staley, one of the best offensive linemen in the history of the franchise, and this ain't just some random franchise. They've got five Lombardis. they've been a two of this decade and

Joe Taylor's going to retire I'd be like yeah they're screwed well they upgraded and part of it was luck you know Trent Williams the Vikings offered more he clearly denied I'm not going to play there

he had some leverage forced his way to Kyle but you get Trent Williams you get Trent Williams so somehow you end the draft with Trent Williams I didn't see that coming and it's just an incredible move

perfect scheme fit I mean the Shanahan's literally drafted the guy He's a star player. And I think he now getting out of that wasteland that's been D.C., though, listen, I think Rivera will change that. But the team that Trent played on to where he's going to now, huge upgrade. But the easiest, I mean, to me there wasn't even a discussion for the number one move this offseason. The Arizona Cardinals had an overpaid injured running back. A guy scheduled to make $10 million.

as toxic of a contract as you could find in the NFL. There is not a team in the league, I thought, that would take on a contract for David Johnson at that amount of money. Not a team. Let alone to use that guy to get a wide receiver who's had 95 plus catches in four out of the last five years, who is consistently one of the best non-quarterbacks in the league, who we've seen. seen play in playoff games in that Bill's game he took over last year. So you're telling me that I can trade my crappy asset and just a second round pick for one of the best wide receivers in the league and I have a young star quarterback in DeAndre Hopkins.

Like when I wrote down that deal getting ready for this segment, I was like, I don't even think this makes sense. So you're telling me that I get to unload my running back that not another team in the league would take, the team wouldn't take it. Like you couldn't be like, hey, I'll just send David Johnson your way and a box of balls and some bottles

of wine. You'd be like, no, we're good. Now, wait, you don't have to send anything back. Nah, yeah, just, you keep it. We're good. Send the wine if you want, but keep the running back. And you got DeAndre Hopkins? It really is crazy. And this notion, and it always

bothers me, he didn't practice hard. Bill, I don't give a crap. I just don't. He's had over 200 catches the last two years. You depend on this guy to win the division every year. So you're getting a running back who's always injured for $10 million. It just doesn't add up. It doesn't make any sense.

So that's by far my favorite move. Because it's one of the easiest moves you will ever see in NFL history. Honestly, it might be the easiest trade in NFL history. Maybe the one year, I guess, that I forget who traded them when the Saints traded their entire draft for Ricky Williams. That might be the easiest trade for the, I forget even the team. But Hopkins, for a second round pick,

who's under contract, and David Johnson's bloated contract, it doesn't even make sense when you say it out loud. So one, I'm going David, or DeAndre Hopkins for David Johnson. Two, I'm going Trent Williams and Niners. Bucke side and Brady three. Eagles get Darius Slay for Peanuts, four.

And digs to the bills, five. my five favorite moves this offseason. Okay, let's bang out a couple topics that arose during the week. First, Schaefter said that Clowny has turned down an offer from the Cleveland Browns, given the most money to date that he's been offered. I don't really understand Clowny's end game. I don't quite get the tactic here from him and his agents. they're waiting for some like

Khalil Mack, Aaron Donald offer it's just not coming you know the Browns Seattle's these teams are offering you money what do you want? You want to win you want your money I don't get it you just not want to sign

it's not like there's practice going on right now I just I don't get it I really don't he's a solid player you know if you were getting like grade him one to 10 you know if

if like Kaleel Mack, Nick Bosa, you know, the top top edge rushers are like, you know, tens, nine and a half tens. Clowny can have games where he's a nine, but I'd say overall, if you're getting a guy for 16 games, he's probably like a seven and a half. Now, with a couple nines thrown in there and a couple fives where he just mails it in, and he has some injury history, but he's a solid player. The problem is he thinks he's some great player, so you've got to pay them all this money in teams this isn't in 1987 teams get it they have unlimited film they have unlimited data

they have unlimited analytics like I'm sorry clowny we know who you are so either sign a contract or just don't sign a contract I mean I don't necessarily care I just don't get what he's doing Jay Gruden

he was just talking how much he likes Gardner Minchu everyone acts like the Jags are really going to suck and they might but what if Minchu is actually not bad? Now, once he kind of, after the first couple games last year, it kind of settled down. I like him. He's just a fun kind of story. If it wasn't for Mike Leach, I mean, he would have been a coach at Alabama,

and now he's a starting quarterback in the NFL two years later. But we'll see. I mean, I think Jay Gruden, if the offense looks good and the team sucks, fire Doug Marone, hire Jay Gruden. I think that would be on the table. Levy on Bell said that, he's excited to run behind the new offensive line. I don't blame him.

Last year was a joke. Levy on Bell did one of the dumbest things I've ever seen when he held out the entire season. He gave up $14 million. But he was not, he's an excellent player. And what we saw last year is no indication of him as a player. Their team on offense, especially when the quarterback got mono, the offensive line, the weapons. It was a joke. and I think if they can get just some more explosiveness from their passing game,

Sam could just take a big step he needs to. He should eat a little bit. And, you know, the Jets are one of those teams that wouldn't shock me if they're a little more competitive this year. Now, I don't see playoffs. I don't think their roster is good enough, but I wouldn't just write them off. The fourth and 15 rule, I wrote it down before it got, I don't know if it got leaked, he just got reported, that the rule failed.

so that fourth and 15 rule at the end of a game, if you're down like 10 points, that you can go for fourth and 15 on the 25, it didn't pass. The thing I wrote down is they weren't going to allow it in overtime. And I got thinking, like, how would you even, overtime, what are you guys talking about? If you're down three points, like,

you're going to go for it no matter what, right, unless you're going to kick the field goal. And if you're down a touchdown, the game's over. It wouldn't even be applicable to overtime. but regardless, it got thrown away. I didn't hate the rule, but I really don't think the NFL needs that much more excitement. Most of their games are pretty tight anyway.

Joe Flacco signs with the Jets. I saw a headline that said he will not be ready week one, but what I read Joe Flacco said is he won't be ready day one. So I don't know if day one means training camp. That's the way I'd take it. Week one, who knows? Joe Flacco feels like he's holding him on right now. Like the end of his career, right around the corner.

He went that one year where he didn't sign the contract and won the Super Bowl and got that historic money to kind of just be an average Joe. You know, what is, you know, that'd be his nickname, average Joe. And right now he's below average. I mean, he was terrible last year. Now, he was injured, neck, whatever, but he hasn't been good in a long time.

No mini camps. It was reported a couple days ago, Charles, Robinson said that some of the NFL, there was rumors in an NFL league office, there might be a mini camp in the middle of June. The problem with that, football is not like basketball, where if I just got my team together, I could run a practice or run a scrimmage in the open gym. Even if I ran the New York Yankees, well, if I got my 30 guys to the diamond, it'd be pretty easy, right? We'd send all the pitchers to go bullpen, you'd send all your hitters to go BP, You could do some infield, you could do some outfield.

It's not that complicated. To run a football team, it's pretty complicated. You have to install plays, the offense, the defense. And in football, you got these... 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. 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 Slic Life 12 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hard Way with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests.

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

because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth, 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 iHeartRadio 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 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 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 was big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack all day, but just so you all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack. So I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS 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 Clivert Taylor the 4th. And on my podcast, The Cliverts Show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff.

Like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker 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 weigh better.

What? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Clippers show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. 90-man rosters, you got all these rookies and don't know what's going on. There's a reason you have a rookie minicamp. You got new coaches. You got all these moving parts.

OTAs, you kind of got a plan way ahead. You couldn't all of a sudden go, there's a mini-camp this weekend. Coaches are not, coaches are creatures of habit. Coaches are big preparers. you couldn't just all of a sudden say, well, in a week we're doing a mini camp. They'd be like, what?

We've been doing two-hour Zoom meetings. What the hell are we going to do? Now, they would probably do more mental stuff, but it's pretty clear that the coaches and general managers push back on that and be like, you can't give us a weak heads up that we're going to do a mini-camp. Not that that was even feasible anyway

with all the different rules in the different cities, but that's clearly not going down. The other thing I saw today is that the injured reserve, it was either last year or two years ago, I think it was, I don't know, actually, it might have been last year. They finally allowed you to be able to pull one guy off of injured reserve, which is always kind of stupid. In baseball, I can put a guy on the DL. Now, depending if it's a 10-day, 15-day, 30, 60-day, whatever, I mean, there are different lengths. I can always bring them back. In football, it's like I-I-R-em, and

then he can't come back. Like, not everyone tears his ACL. Some guy is just a high-ankle-sprane. I want to get rid of him for a month, have him rehab, use a guy on his roster spot, and then bring them back. I think three guys on the IR, why can't it be unlimited? Like, I'd have to ask someone in the NFL, I don't, what's the logic behind that? Who's it hurting? You're paying these guys anyway. Wouldn't you rather have the guys your, the starters to be able to come back,

then I don't know, Joe Blow the practice squad guy? When you're starting running back, your starting corner is on injured reserve and he's ready to roll and it's November 1st. That rule is always, I'd be fascinated to talk to some old school guy to find out the the, like, the origin of that rule, where it was even conceived. Because it just doesn't, it doesn't add up. And, you know, they now did the one guy, now do the three guy. I think they should keep it at three players.

That just makes logical sense to me. Get right to the romance and find the way to wow this valentines with 1,800flowers.com. From classic roses and bouquets to decadent chocolate-covered berries, gourmet treats, and more. Surprise your Valentine with 1-800flowers.com. Right now, get the 18-stem enchanted rose medley for $3999, 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. 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 U.S. Kids. Each episode brings you compelling real-life adoption stories told by the the families that live them with commentary from experts. Visit adoptuskids.org slash podcast or subscribe to navigating adoption presented by Adopt U.S. Kids. Brought to you by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families and the Act 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. Okay, let's dive into the Middlecoff mailbag at John Middlecough. Instagram handle. Also my Twitter handle. Also my name. Easiest way to find me. My air conditioning.

No big deal. It's like 102 outside. It's gone down during the podcast. Luckily, you know, I can get up during segments, and it's a podcast. I can do whatever I want. I tried to, I'm not Mr. Handyman. I got no clue what to do, but it's out. I mean, I'm getting air, it's hot air, I'm sweating.

And, you know, luckily, this is like, you remember Emmett Smith played the NFC championship game with a broken collarbone? You know, we've seen guys tough it out with high ankle sprains. That would be the equivalent of a podcaster, air conditioner going down. down, I think, in triple digits. Sweating. Don't worry, though. I'm a mentally tough SOB.

Sam Howell, North Carolina quarterback. Number one pick in two years? No clue. Haven't seen him take a snap. Actually, I watched a little North Carolina last year with Mack Brown. I'm trying to remember they have a big upset win. I think they played Clemson tight. Yeah, he didn't look bad.

Was he the true freshman this year? I actually remember watching the game and they were talking about him. It feels like Max, recruiting really well. I think a lot of people kind of laughed at the higher, but it's going pretty well. And, yeah, I don't know. But I saw Daniel Jeremiah tweeting about North Dakota State

has a guy that's like the next Carson Wentz. Michigan can't find a quarterback. North Dakota State has another dude that... I saw a DJ tweet out. He thought he's the best better prospect than Trevor Lawrence. It's like, where are they finding these? Thanks guys. Just started listening and have been enjoying your content.

Appreciate it. Hard to say Giants' future isn't bright. Average age of players is like 25. Let me know how you see them doing this year in the future. What do you expect from Joe Judge Danny Dimes? Well, I don't think we can call Danny Dimes Danny Dimes when he had like a million fumbles and really was pretty average. Now, O-Line was terrible. Coach sucked.

They had a lot of moving parts, right? So it's hard. Blank slate this year. Let's just see what he's got. He clearly is pretty talented. He's athletic. His arm is strong enough. I'm interested to watch him play.

Someone asked me last week on the Middokoff Mailbag. Do you think he's a franchise quarterback? I used to get this a lot of my report card. Incomplete. I would just put it incomplete. I don't know. I don't think he's trending one way or the other. He's a second year guy.

Tough circumstances. Filling in for Eli. I don't really have an opinion on him. My buddies that did the SEC liked him coming out of Duke. I don't know if they liked him at 6 overall, but they thought he was a good player. Joe Judge felt really impressive

when I met him at the Combine. My issue, though, young tough guy, is tough sometimes, man. It really is. Look at the young coaches that have success. Kyle McVeigh, I'm trying to think other coaches in the league.

In this modern day, in sports, I don't know if you can come in like Bill Parcells when you're in your 30s. And you go, well, where'd you come from? Oh, you're the special teams coach for Belichick. I think that's tough. I get it to his personality, but if he lightens up a little bit, I think he has a chance. Clearly, he's learned from Sabin, he's learned from Belichick. So if he's taking good notes and he has a good memory, he's had a front row seat for two of the ghosts. so he comes from great, great, you know, the last two coaching stops.

You can't ask for anything more. Love the three and out and appreciate your big picture no BS analysis. Appreciate it. What is your opinion on the difficulty of back-to-back Super Bowl wins in the NFL? It hasn't happened since the mid-2000 Patriots, and it seems more difficult to do in football than other sports, i.e. the NBA. You think it's mostly competitive, the competitiveness of the league, injuries, salary caps, or what?

would love to hear your general thoughts on the Chief's chances to go back to back. Well, I'm trying to think it hasn't happened in baseball in a while either. I think in basketball, there are two or three teams that are just dramatically better than everyone else.

And you play series, right? It's like you never see back-to-back champs really in college basketball because I think how hard it is to win six straight games. You're one and done. Well, in basketball, I get seven-game series. If I got Kevin Durant, Steph Curry, Clay Thompson,

and Drayman, I'm going to win, right? It took seven injuries for them to lose. They would have won three straight because they had the best team by a mile. Even though the reality is by the end, they kind of hated each other. Not hated each other, but we're ready

to go their separate ways. In football, even if you got Brady, Belichick, Gronk, and all those great players, all it takes, it doesn't even just take one bad game. What if you just have one bad quarter? What if you just have one bad turnover in the second half? What if you just have a pass rusher go off sides.

Like, there's a chance the Chiefs are back-to-back champs right now. Because I know for a fact. I mean, I don't think anyone listening would argue this. The winner of that Chiefs Patriot game was going to beat Sean McVeigh. No chance.

He scored three points in a Super Bowl. Now, what do you have scored more against the Chiefs? Sure, but the Chiefs were a better team. That was the Super Bowl. Now, with the Chiefs that won this year, who knows? Football, I think it's less. less based on salary cap because good teams, Steelers made the playoffs every year.

The Chiefs have been making the playoffs every year. Seattle's been making the playoffs every year. Now, injuries are a big factor. But just one and done, it's just, you only get one shot. You get 60 minutes, right? In basketball, you can mail in game four. Who cares if you're up 3-0.

Or if you're up 3-1, like, so what, you lose game 5? You get game 6. And maybe if you're the team that doesn't have home court, you get a home game, game 6. You win it, you're done. I think that's just a huge factor. It's just the setup of the sport.

It's just, you get one shot. The real question is, why is everyone so low on Ryan Tanyhill? He played for a bummy Dolphins franchise. He was elite at Texas A&M. Elite would be strong. Everyone seems to forget that. When did he not deliver it when he was asked to do this season? At Colin picked Dak over Ryan Tanyhill.

Are you kidding me? DAC is a bottom 5-7 quarterback, 5-7 quarterback in the league. I think they're probably pretty similar. Like, if you put Ryan Tanyhill on Dallas, I think you'd get a similar result. If you put Dak on the Tennessee Titans, you'd get a similar result. I would probably take Dak.

He's been more reliable. I mean, Tanyhill gets hurt. Tanyl's been injured multiple times. Like, that, to me, factors in. But, yeah, I think Ryan Tanyhill's solid. Let's see him do it back-to-back years. Like, any guy can have a good, moment, right? You got to have good seasons, and I'm not the biggest that guy, but can you do it

back-to-back year? Like, what Russell Wilson, what Mahomes, Lamar now is put together to back-to-back good seasons. You know, I'm trying to think of other quarterbacks in this league that are good. I mean, obviously Brady, Rivers did it for a long time. I don't know if he does. Like, can Jimmy Garoppel have another good season? We're going to find out. Time's going to tell. How did you end up getting the podcast on all platforms. Like, what is your journalism story? Love the pod, by the way. Well, I'm not a journalist.

I'm just a guy that talks. I don't view myself as a journalist at all. If anything, I'm a businessman. I sell my opinions. I got my podcast on all platforms because we load it on all platforms. I got this podcast because I met Colin through Twitter

and he gave me an opportunity to do a podcast. I have another podcast that was just, a radio show that we left radio and we went digital and we just load them up. There's never been an easier time if you want to get into this stuff. Just talk, have opinions. The opinion business sells. I mean, it always has, but it's never sold more than it does now.

Now also, you know, you can't just be like every, you know, person. You got to have, just be yourself, right? I'm just a big believer in be, like, don't say things that you think you're going to get a reaction if you don't believe. I know I can't do that. What I say, I believe. That doesn't mean I'm always right. It just might be based on my own agenda, my own opinion, whatever, but it's what I believe.

And I've been able to make a living out of it. Like, I can't be, and I think I see a lot of people in this space that just, I don't think they're real. Now, I also think the people that are really real have a lot of success. Like I've always, whenever I've talked to Colin in person, it's not that much different than listen to his radio show. He just, he is what he is. Like, he ain't faking it.

He's not. And I've met other people that just kind of fake it on the radio or on the podcast or whatever. Like, I'm a big Ryan Rosillo guy. He just says it like it is. Just gives his opinion. You know, I think bar stools made a really good, they've created a monster by just being raw and real.

Like, people ask, like, what do you do? I'm just a raw and real talker. I don't know. People like, you don't, I love your no BS style. 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. 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 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, Kear Gaines, is 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 Kim? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast.

I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick it here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill, waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84 was big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack on day, but just so you all right.

Yeah, yeah, literally. 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 there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now.

Now you're 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 Clifford 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? Time out. Quarterback on office blue with 42. Hey, ref, my mama want you to wave at her. What? Hey, Miss Parker.

Listen to the Clifford Show. the iHeart radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. I really just, I don't even look at it that way. I just look at it like, this is the way I talk. I don't really give a shit. And, I mean, I haven't always been that way. I mean, probably in my 20s when I was with the Eagles. I definitely was, I thought like this, you just have to be,

you can't just kick down the door and give your opinions everywhere. I've always had a lot of opinions. I mean, I've had a lot of opinions since I was like five. I used to get told to shut up all the time. So part of it just comes naturally. But I didn't go to journalism school. I have an ag business degree from Cal Poly. You know, I just, my dad was a farmer.

My mom worked at the state capital. Like, I didn't plan on being like a reporter. And I don't view myself as a reporter now. I'm just, I'm not. I mean, I'm technically in the media, but I, to me, the media has kind of gained a negative connotation. Regardless what side you think politically or even sports wise, It always feels like everyone has an agenda.

I just try to speak for normal people. You know, my friends that watch sports. I just try to speak for them. The way I... I'm no different when I was a fan. I mean, I still am a fan of sports. I don't have, like, teams per se. I just root for people I know.

I throw shit at the wall when a guy misses a tackle or strikes out or misses a three-pointer, especially if I'm gambling on it. I get just as excited as the next guy. I know the way you guys all feel, because I am that. And I think sometimes the media really loses touch with that over the years.

Like every game I've gone to the last couple years, I bought a ticket. You couldn't pay me to sit with the media members anymore. Now I'm not saying I haven't done that, and I have. And I like a lot of people in quote unquote the media. But I feel I'm more touch in talking to you guys. Like I went to, I think, three-niners games last year. I sat in the stands.

And I think it's really kind of helped balance out the way I go about this. because the fans pay the bills. I tweeted this the other day about, like, I think in baseball, them going back and forth over money. Like, the fans aren't rooting for owners. They're not rooting for players. They're just rooting for the games to come back. And the fans, and the media hates this,

they literally pay every bill from attendance to television. Like, the media rights, well, why do you think these media companies pay the leagues? because people watch. Without people watching, the product's not worth anything. But if you get 5 million people to watch a game, your product's worth something.

If I get a million people to listen to this podcast, it's worth a lot more than if I get a thousand people, right? So I'm just as strong as the people listening. I think a lot of people, you know, the other thing is like journalism, I think sometimes can be like anti-business. And I'm very pro-business. Like I don't hide,

I want to make as much, money doing this as possible. I'm trying to get my profit margins as high as possible. This is not, I'm not necessarily looking for the truth. I'm more looking to have fun and entertain. So I, you know, I don't know.

Back to your question about the platforms, I don't know, I don't load this podcast up. Mike does and Haberman does on the other one. So I think you just get like a platform and you can just, you know, you have a, a host and then it connects you to whether it's

Apple or Spotify or whatever you can just click things and it puts you to them all. It's not from my knowledge that difficult. Look to 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. Brought to you by the United States Forest Service and the ad council.

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.

Dipers and... toys are everywhere. Ooh, but mom has just nailed the perfect car seat buckle for the toddler. 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.gov slash the right seat.

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Discovertheforest.org. Brought to you by the United States Forest Service and the ad council. When you were answering the questions about the chargers moving to Salt Lake, you looked out the population and it was a little over 200,000. My question is,

how relevant do you think the metro population of a city would be for an NFL franchise moving there? Salt Lake City's metro is about 1.3 million. I live about 45 minutes from Salt Lake and I drive up every weekend to watch an NFL game and I know a lot of the same people would do the same. We'll drink of water here. Good question.

Because I said the same thing about SAC the other day. I said Sacramento, you know, had like 500,000 people. And then I was playing golf and someone brought up, well, when you factor in the metro area, there's over 2 million people. And I think that that definitely factors in. Like I don't live in, quote, unquote, San Francisco. I live 30 minutes away.

I live 45 minutes away from Levi Stadium where the Niners play. But obviously when the Niners play a game and they say, 2 million people in the Bay Area watched it. I count, just like the guy in San Jose counts, just like the guy in Marin County counts. So yeah, it counts. So I might have misspoke. Maybe Salt Lake City is more of a destination

and an opportunity than I gave it credit for. Because I think sometimes when you Google, you know, CityX and you just go population, If you don't do the metro area, you're not given a proper number. So that's fair. I agree. I think Salt Lake City, if it has that many people, will probably be fine. Now, are they going to get anything?

I don't know. I doubt it. Hey, fan of the pod, heard you talk about who gets more credit between Tom and Bill and I have to push back. Tom was actually pretty good at Michigan. All he did was win big games for them, including a massive comeback against Alabama in the bowl game. Remember that, Brady 6. Anyway, that aside, players play the game, teams are only as good as the players. Bill failed without Parcells.

He actually made the playoffs with the Browns, and they were terrible. Before Tom, he had one winning season when he took over in New England, and the roster, that roster had already gone to a Super Bowl. Well, he took over in 2000. The roster that went to the Super Bowl was 96. So Pete Carroll had been there for three years. So, I mean, it was, I wouldn't say that roster. They went 5 and 11, and then they were 0, and 2 losing the Jets.

Now, don't get me wrong, they're both great, and on their own, they wouldn't have had the success they had together, but Tom would have had been successful anywhere he went. You don't find people with that much drive and work ethic. I don't think it's even close who is responsible for the dynasty. Even the year people were like, argue that the year he got hurt, they went 11 and 5, he's the goat, they missed the playoffs after going 16 and 0. Yeah, I mean, I'm not disputing that Tom Brady is not an absolute superstar, and he's the greatest quarterback ever

and his work ethic, his drive, his desire, his intangibles are off the freaking charts. And you're right, some weird circumstances at Michigan. But I've also watched Belichick do incredible things now for 20 years. And we've all watched football and I think we all agree he's the best tactician we've ever seen. So if you tell me you got the best tactician you've ever seen, I go, that guy would be successful on his own.

back to my Brady argument is that Brady went in the sixth round so he could have easily gone to a shitty team the Jaguars back in 2000. I don't know, whatever the bad teams were back then. The Jags actually might have been all right. I'm sorry. I didn't mean it. So you're more, like Belichick was going to find a quarterback.

And he's found multiple cents. Right? I mean, he found Jimmy Garoppolo. He drafted him. Hell, Jacobi started for a team and was functional. You'd have found a guy. Now, like I said, would he have won six Super Bowls out Tom? No.

But would he won a Super Bowl? Yes, he's too elite. Would Tom have won a Super Bowl? I don't think that's a guarantee. Because as a quarterback, you are dependent on who's calling your plays, who's drafting your skill guys, who's playing defense on your team. Is your organizational functional? Is your organization functional?

I put functional on organization. It didn't quite work. You know what I meant. It's been a long day. I'm hot. So, yeah, I mean, I'm not disagreeing that Tom more than likely wouldn't have been great. But he might not have. He could have gone to the Lions.

He could have gone to the Arizona Cardinals. Belichick would have found a way to win. He's just too good of a coach. It's just, like, to me, too good of a quarterback. There have been a lot of talented quarterbacks that just failed. Now, maybe it might have been a weird, might have been like a Rich Gannon type career for Tom. But who knows? You know, when you're a six-round pick,

you don't get the benefit of the doubt that long. Think about that. I would tend to agree with you. He could have gone anywhere if he was a high pick. He was a six-round pick. So his margin for error would have been really small, really small. Appreciate everyone listening.

Enjoy, I was going to say the long weekend, but I guess Memorial Day weekend was the last weekend. Enjoy the weekend. Go to Apple's iTunes, leave a review, and appreciate everyone listening. Keep sending me your questions. Appreciate it all. And Godspeed. See you. If you love to be remembered as the person who gives the best birthday gifts, I'm here to tell you that 1800flowers.com is your ultimate birthday gifting destination. 1,800 Flowers has thoughtful and artfully created options that are guaranteed to deliver the best birthday surprise.

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