The Herd with Colin Cowherd - 3 and Out - NFL vs. Trump; Training Camp Corona Protocols; Dalvin Cook Holdout; Dabo, Iowa Heat; Mailbag

Episode Date: June 9, 2020

In this episode, Middlekauff looks at Roger Goodell siding with NFL players, what it means in the re-escalated fight with Donald Trump, and how the recently released league training camp protocols will drastically change how training camps will be executed. He also discusses the pushback Dabo Swinney and Iowa football are receiving for not being sensitive to the protests, and Dalvin Cook's holdout threat, and other headlines, and answers listener questions in Middlekauff's 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. In every episode, we're cutting through the noise,

breaking down the biggest moments in sports and giving you the real story behind the headlines. 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 Podcasts, 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.

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 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 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 to learn the hard way on the AHA radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. 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 think I left the downstairs light on. Please don't make me go. Fifteen minutes could save you 15% or more. What is going on, everybody, John Middlecough, three and out podcast. Back at it again on Monday, June the 8th. We're kind of in the summer.

Are we in the summer now? 2020 just feels like one bad dream, so it doesn't even really feel like summer. but we're back at it again. We got a lot going on. We'll piggyback some of the stuff we talked about on Friday with Drew Brees. Roger Goodell got involved. More players got involved. Donald Trump got involved.

Semi-predictable as the weekend was going on how it was all kind of going to play out, at least on social media. The NFL on Monday gave some protocols on how you have to operate within the coronavirus. I'll dive into some of those and how it. will just impact the way, you know, a team's facility works. I know some of you guys have never been in a team facility. It could be a little challenging. The NFL, we'll just go around the NFL, some stories.

Dalvin Cook's going to hold out. Stuff going on with Iowa football and Kirk Forens, and Davosweeney's taking some heat, and we'll kind of touch on it all. Then, of course, the Middilkoff mailbag at John Middilkoff is my Instagram handle. My DMs are wide open. Fire a question in there, and you will get it ready. here on the show.

It's the people's show. So I appreciate everyone firing in the DMs. Also, for those of you that haven't done it, go to the Apple iTunes, 3 and out podcast, leave a review. Greatly appreciate it. A lot of you have done that over the last,

in 2020 over the last six months. So I tip my hat to you. But let's start with this weekend. And let me piggyback off something I said on Friday. And I have just kind of a motto in life. High-level people do high-level things. It's why I was not going to put Drew Bree six feet under. He was not going to lose his locker room.

He was not going to be fired from NBC. His resume was way too long to go, yeah, I think he'll figure this out. I think he'll end up on the right side of the ledger. Several days later, he's getting standing ovations on Twitter. Of course. I think the thing we all need to do with Twitter sometimes, is just take a deep breath or social media.

Not everything is so emotional in the moment that it's going to ruin people's lives. Now, sometimes it will. You know, I'm not saying that everyone is going to get the same latitude and the same amount of time to respond or to react. Your resume, what's cowards say, your life resume should matter. Like, Drew Breeze, if someone shows you who they are, believe them. Like, we've had 15 plus years of seeing who Drew Breeze is. I was confident that he would find a way out of it

And now it feels like he's out on top He's one of the league spokesmen's He wrote or a tweet or an Instagram at Donald Trump One thing I think happened this week Is when the players And I know Peter King and Albert Breer wrote about it Is that the player Some of the most famous players

From the Honey Badger to Patrick Mahomes To Michael Thomas I think Michael Thomas kind of led the charge And a guy with NFL media Was in charge of it Put together a video a Black Life Matter video. It was really powerful.

It was really well done. And kind of putting the NFL's feet to the fire. And I think the NFL, the number one reason Colin Kaepernick got blackballed, and he did get blackballed. Like you can't deny it. Is because of money. That period, when Kaepernick was kneeling,

they started losing ratings. And no league cares more about their ratings than the NFL. Because like most of us that are playing the stock market, we only wanted to go up, up and up. And for a year, I guess it might have been kind of two, definitely like a year and a half, the rating started going down. And right or wrong,

they blamed it on Colin Kaepernick and the kneeling. And listen, I've said over and over, I don't care if you kneel, I don't care what you do. I understand it's well documented that they're not kneeling in protest of the military. they're kneeling against police brutality, social injustice. It's clear.

We talked about this on Friday. I get that. I would imagine most of you listening get that. There is a percentage of people, though, who don't get it, who don't understand that. And we'll be turned off by the NFL. We've seen it before. Now, we'll be less this time. I don't know.

But those people do exist. They are human beings that watch the NFL. And the NFL, what they do. truly care about even more than people go into the games is people sitting on their couch and consuming their product on Thursday night, on Sunday all day, and then on Monday night. That is their number one business goal is to get you to watch football and watch it a lot of it.

And they've done a pretty good job. And they think that kneeling, or they did think that kneeling, maybe they still know, forces people did not watch. I'm on a phase by it. I would imagine many people listening if you're a big football guy, you're on face by it. Clearly people were. Roger Goodell had no choice on this one. I'm not trying to diminish the video that he put out,

but it was pretty clear where this boat was headed. It was going to be the players who were all kind of coming together, pretty universally, especially once Drew Brees kind of pivoted. Everyone was kind of behind him. The Black Lives Matter movement that was really, really powerful all over the country, the peaceful protests all over the place. that the NFL could not be at some divide. And Roger Goodell, which is kind of unfair,

he feels like the guy that's anti the players. Really, he's just answering for the owners. Now, I read and heard that the owners didn't even know he's going to make this video, but Goodell is kind of this, you know, peon widget used in this whole grand scheme of things to take all the heat off the owners who just want to keep making money.

Now, Roger Goodell got out in front of it because the moment players start talking, we're going to kneel, and I think it's pretty, you don't need to be working in the league office to know. I'd imagine the majority of the league is going to be kneeling come week one and potentially for the entire season. The kneeling is going to be all over the league. I expect players or coaches to kneel. A lot of people are going to be kneeling.

It's going to be a big, big story. and if the NFL did not actively come out and say that they are going to support it, they are going to be their hand in hand, it would feel like a racial divide between the league's office, which is really the owners, and the players. And they could not have that because Donald's going to be doubling down. This is an election year.

He rides this kneeling thing because clearly he thinks, or he knows to his voting back, face, check the box. Like, that's a big thing for them. And he's going to hammer it home. That you kneeling, anti-American, again, I don't think that. People do. And I think sometimes we struggle with, like, are we really looking for diversity of thought

or do we want everyone to think alike? Like, you are allowed in this country to think differently. And if it bothers you, I do get it. Again, doesn't bother me. I could not give a shit any. less, like in terms of I don't correlate the two. But Donald's going to go

all in on it. And he's already been tweeting about the kneeling, about taking shots at Roger Goodell, and I think what the NFL needs to do is kind of almost pigeonhole themselves or pivot almost against Donald Trump. And that's kind of what it feels like.

I think the NFL would pay a substantial amount of money to get him out of office. Not because the majority of their owners and Roger Goodell, and I'd imagine a lot of players, vote on the right side of the ledger. And it's usually financially based. It's not, I'm not giving you like a political science discourse here, but one side likes taxing rich people more than the other side. So if I was making $10, $20, $30 million or some of these businesses, it's, it's not that complicated

why this happens. But Donald Trump has now become a major pain in their ass. Because he constantly tweets about them when this situation comes up. He constantly interjects himself into this situation. And the NFL did not have a choice once the players and really the George Floyd and everything became what it became. And as it should end racial injustice in this society and push for change. Well, the players, they were all not only going to come out pretty heavily as they did. And because it's so easy to communicate now with even guys that you don't play for, they mobilize so fast and the videos.

And then Roger Goodell kind of doubled down. They're against this president now. And this is not your normal president because he's always tweeting. And everything he says becomes a major story. And this is one story that he just won't let die. So the NFL has kind of shown, F you, Donald. We don't care what you think. We're in this to make money.

and deep down we would like to get rid of you. Because right now you cause us more problems than benefits. I think it's really that simple. The majority of our players are black. Every time that you do this, it feels like it's a fight or you're coming after them, right or wrong. That's how it feels for them. And I give Roger Goodell credit for making that video.

Whether you can think it's hollow, whether you can think it's fraudulent, that's up to you. But he had to do it. because he had to show that this is not going to be some racial divide. We are on the side of the players. Now, I do think it's going to be a fascinating watch because if the media could choose, and the media that covers the NBA,

or I mean the NFL and definitely the NBA, but just as a whole, like we've seen studies done. They are extreme left-wingers. If they could choose, the entire country would be kneeling. If the fans are allowed in the stands, come the fall, everyone would have to kneel at the national anthem. But that's not real life. And I think the NFL, while they had to push all their chips into the middle of the table on this one,

probably internally, because ratings are so important to them, it pays the bills, they have this new CBA sign, they want to get these TV deals done, are probably on edge to know how this is going to turn out. And I think in a perfect world, the NFL would have just been indifferent because all they, Do they care about their players? I don't know, probably not that much. They just care about making money. Let's just call a spade a spade.

But now they're on the player side and they're on the anti-Donald Trump side and they're on the pro-nealing side. And clearly, like I said, I think we all can agree there's going to be heavy kneeling come this fall that if the ratings gets weird, it will be interesting

to see how the league and the owners because the owners will push him if they pivot at all. Will they stay with his stance? I would guess they do. and just try to help fund and get Donald out of office. Because from Drew Brees to Roger Goodell to all their players, his constant tweeting in negativity out the league is, you know,

one of the things that, you know, in a perfect world wouldn't be there. No president's... 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 SportsSlice on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12 and 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, suit 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. care gains is we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, Learn the Hardway. 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 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 y'all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack. So I'm starting to see that there's a through line.

We also have AIDS on the table right now. Thank you for finishing that sentence. 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 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 with 42. Hey, Brett. My mama want you to weigh better. What? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Clifford show on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast.

He's going to be tweeting about how the NFL is screwing up. They just won't be, at least for the foreseeable future. But he will. And I think they're a worst nightmare if all these guys keep kneeling, him getting reelected, and just for the next three or four years, this constantly being a discussion. And I think that's one of the great unknowns right now. And I think if you could poll the NFL league office, including Roger Goodell, which I would

imagine most people would be like, oh, yeah, he's just a Republican. He desperately wants to see Donald lose and get out of office come this fall. Get right to the romance and find the way to wow this Valentine's with 1-800 flowers.com. From classic roses and bouquets to decadent chocolate-covered berries, More made treats and more. Surprise your Valentine with 1800flowers.com. Right now, get the 18th 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. 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 the world. 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. 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 is 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. Okay, let's dive into the NFL and the protocols that they released on Monday when it comes to the coronavirus. And I think like most businesses, regardless of where you fall, even though I do think for most of us normal human beings, it's hard to take the word social distancing that serious after the last couple weeks. But that's a whole separate discussion.

I don't want to go down that rabbit hole. But just listen, there's still a lot of unknown about the corona. We don't have a vaccine. The NFL is coming back. There is no question about that. This is not the NBA. They're not going to twiddle their thumbs and say they're four months away from being four months away.

They don't operate like that. They make a decision and they go. That's why historically, in recent memory, they've taken heat for different things. And they're not always right. But they money first. But even in these unprecedented times, you have to take,

it all comes back and just talking to people that I know that run businesses. It's all about litigation. and CYA covering your ass in situations where if people do get sick. Obviously, the NFL does not want anyone to get sick, but they're coming back. And inevitably, some people might get sick or, you know, may, I don't even know the terms. I'm not a doctor. But in terms of, you know, asymptomatic people, you read stuff every day that certain people can't spread.

We've got a lot going on right now. We do know that the NFL will come training camp, though. People are going to come back. And I've said this all the time about having been in an NFL facility and working for a team. Despite it being every team worth, well, I guess teams are worth different amounts. But I worked for the Eagles. They're probably one of the top five or six value team in the league, multiple, you know, two and a half, three billion, whatever.

If you could put the top 10 NFL teams on the open, hell, the bills went for two billion. You know, you can say the Niners are worth two and a half. If you put the 49ers on the open market, they would go for like four. if you put the Eagles on the open market, they'd get four or five. Like, this is not that complicated. We all get it. The protocols they put in, though, to protect themselves, there aren't that many people in a facility to begin with,

but when the players come in, especially in training camp, that's 90 guys. And you usually have extra coaching interns, usually have extra training camp interns, usually have extra, uh, you know, assistant training.

Training interns, you just need more people. Because when the season, when you do your roster cut down, it was always amazing to be like, you'd have all these people all around, and then you do the roster cut down, and it basically got cut in half. And all the interns left, the players all got cut. And you kept, at the time, it was eight practice squad guys,

now it's 10. But it's dramatically less people. And if you've never been in an NFL meeting room, a lot of the meeting rooms, quarterbacks, linebackers tend to not be that big like when you think about it

when you're in high school or whatever you go into a classroom it's relatively big 30 40 people obviously you get to college you have some of the big you know amphitheaters which most teams have

because when you're addressing your whole team you're going to have your 60 70 players with practice squad all your coaches a lot of people in there but when you break off in a meeting rooms you go to confined spaces

and the locker room I would imagine if you've never been in an NFL locker room, whoever team you root for through social media or through the internet or through the team's website, you've seen videos of that home locker room, get some idea of it. It's not that big.

Even the big ones don't have that much extra room. The lockers may be expanded. The rules that came out, there were some that really stood out to me, that you have to have legit six feet of distance in meeting rooms, that the cafeteria has to be spread out, that shout and here's the thing

if you think about during training camp you go to practice you're getting coached up for two or three hours you're hitting you're all sweaty a lot of guys then either go get an immediate lift

they just take off their pads in their sweaty undershirt or they all kind of share three or four ice baths that are like big blow up pools that they sit in and you know listen you ever get into an ice bath

and you're sore it works there's a reason and those guys get into it. But these protocols of using this stuff, they're going to attempt to be really strict. Now, we're still months away. A lot of information will continue to come out.

Who knows? But these teams are implementing this stuff. And I think it will be difficult when it comes to ice pass, when it comes to showering, when it comes to the cafeteria. A lot of the cafeteria set up, I would say a somewhat buffet style. It's not like you're going to the MGM Grand.

It's a huge buffet. but it is like there's a sandwich station, there's your salad station, you got a couple guys on the grill, the grilled chicken or grill fish or, you know, burgers or whatever, but guys are kind of just grabbing. You got trail mix and bread and it's,

there's a lot of touching. And I think it's going to have to dramatically change. I mean, the NFL claims it has to, but that's going to be difficult. Are you going to have a prepared meal for every player? obviously my 190 pound wide receiver is taking a lot different amount of food than my 300 pound guard

or my 300 pound nose tackle just like my middle linebacker might be eating more than you know my backup quarterback it's going to be complicated I think the locker room situation attempting to not have back-to-back locker rooms that is going to be very difficult as well

I don't know how the locker room can function like it normally does you might have to make a separate locker room for all rookies and all undrafted free agents. Right away, that would be like 20 guys. And maybe every guy that wasn't on the team the previous year, who's not like a free agent signing. But when you just read these protocols, I start thinking, it's going to be very, very hard to execute it.

It's easy to say it. It's easier to write down. Like, it's pretty easy to go, if you're in the team facility, you have to wear a mask. That was one of the things on the NFL's protocol. They also broke things down in tears. Like the general manager, there's tier one. The players, the coaches, the trainers, the strength staff, like that whole group.

Then there was a tier two to like separate people. And the GMs were, and I think the scouts were in tier two. Well, in training camp, the GMs, the scouts, your coaches, your players are all kind of intermixed. Your GM and your coach are working hand in hand. Who's doing well? Who's not doing well? Who are you going to cut? Like those guys are together on the practice field a lot of the time.

between periods. I just, I don't know. I mean, I don't know if this is going to be feasible, and I get that they want to play games, and they're going to play games. But some of these protocols, and part of it is just, back to what I said, CYA have it on paper,

they're going to be restricted areas. They claim in the building, places you can go and not go. Now, the good part is, a major difference when the NBA, the NBA is going to this bubble. I mean, still two months away, but they're going to this bubble.

The NBA players are not used to being told what to do. They dictate the terms. They tell their coach what they want to do. They tell the coach when they want to practice. They tell their GM who they want to play with. They set the rules. The GMs don't. The coaches don't.

The players do. In football, it's the complete opposite. It's like a militaristic system. And the coach, the head coach, is at the top of that food chain. he tells everyone what to do. And the players just listen. Because in football you kind of have to. A lot more moving parts than basketball.

One individual player doesn't have the same power. The way a practice works. You do just have to listen to the coach. Every day there is a set schedule, especially in training camp, that is almost every 30 minutes from 7 a.m. until 7 at night is accounted for.

In training camp, it's actually later in that, probably 9 at night. And it actually be pretty, It'll be easier to execute some of these protocols, even though it's going to be difficult to figure them out because you have a confined space to begin with. Whatever you tell the players to do, once you figure out how you're going to set these protocols,

to me, won't be that difficult. The players listening and following orders in terms of what your coach tells them to do about the coronavirus, whether it's mass, whether it's distancing, I actually think will be pretty easy. Now, whether they actually follow it, like if the coaches even care, that's a whole other story. But this is the one league that is so just buttoned up when it comes to schedules, when it comes to discipline, when it comes to being told what to do and then actually doing it,

that I do think has a chance. I think the NBA, they're going to be in a bubble in Disney World when Disney World is open and you're going to tell LeBron James, he's not allowed to leave the hotel. When's the last time LeBron James been told to do anything? Or Russell Westbrook or James Hardin? I'm not, and my point is more like I'm not trying to give those guys a hard time. If I'm James Harden and there are people out and about like, I ain't staying in the hotel. What are you going to do?

Find me? Kick me out of the league? I got more juice than anyone in the hotel. I'm going to do what I want to do. Where football, it's just so many more people and it just typically, when the coach tells you do something, at least in training camp, maybe as the season goes, you might argue, over plays or have a disagreement in scheme or playing time. But in training camp, it's pretty black and white.

You got to be here at this time, you're there. We go here at this time, they all go. We eat at this time, everyone eats at that time. It's not that complicated. Now, I do think ultimately these organizational facilities, whether it's the Niners, whether it's Seattle, whoever you are, maybe Jerry's world is a little set up because he's got so much space. most of these facilities have less space than you think.

They're not used to housing hundreds of people. And when you factor in the space that you're going to need using these protocols, it could be a little tough. You might see some weird, weird setups, but it's what happens when you're dead set on playing football in the fall. Okay, let's dive into just some stories around the league that happened over the last couple days. Really not that many stories.

kind of had to throw in a college, we're kind of a couple college stories. On Friday, several coaches showed up. Teams tweeted out pictures. Mike Tomlin was in the building. Andy Reed was in the building. Various other organizations showed up. Some voluntarily pushed off for a couple more weeks.

Some teams, I think like the Bears, the Eagles, basically just said no one show up until training camp. Read the day. I think the, like the L.A. Rams. are going to come on a voluntary basis in a week. I do think the voluntary stuff with coaches is a little hard. I get their illegalities.

You can't mandate them being there during these times. But to me, you either show up or you don't. I wouldn't do the, it's not mandatory. You're either coming to work or not. That's just, to me, not a good way to operate. The reason that you don't do, you do voluntary mini camps is because that's negotiated through the union, right, and through a CBA. Anyone, if you run a company, I never have, but I've worked for some, when they say, hey, you come to work today, you show up.

When you say, well, it's just voluntary. Come in if you want. Well, am I going to be shamed if I don't and I go hang out with my girlfriend or I go see my parents or if I work from home? Because that's kind of the problem that I think we've seen during corona people work. from home, you can function from home. But if everyone's in the office, you're not going to get the credit. So if I was a head coach and we were showing back up, it would either be, everyone has to show up. And until everyone could show up, we wouldn't show up.

Now, maybe I might show up by myself, but I would tell the staff they do not have to show up. Just to make it kind of easier for everyone to follow. So we don't have people getting shamed here. A couple of the big stories over the last, I'd say like week, but definitely the weekend was one was Iowa football. Their strength coach, I think goes by Coach Doyle. I've been with Kirk Ferenz or Farrins. I'm not, I kind of screw up his name for a long, long time.

Now, Iowa football has had a lot of success under Ferenz, Ferenz. Let's just say, Kirk, done a really good job. They've won a lot of games. They've produced a lot of pros. They were just in the Rose Bowl a couple years ago, Stanford. It's been very, very successful. Well, it over the weekend got kind of ugly. A lot of players coming out saying things like this program is pro-white guy and kind of anti-black guy. This program is very, very hard on black guys in the wait room. And the head coach

had kind of released a statement. There's a big difference between holding guys to a high standard and being on guys than being demeaning. And I think sometimes it's a very slippery slope in these situations in a weight room specifically when it comes to football. Because when it comes to the weight room and football, it's a huge part of the sport, much, much more than basically every other sport. You can't play the majority of positions without dedicating yourself to the weight room eight to nine months a year. And it's not always fun.

You're pushing around heavy, heavy weights, and you're getting yelled at. And there is a fine line, right, where you're pushing a guy. and you're on a guy, and you're even giving a guy a hard time, and kind of crossing the line. And I'm not shocked to see these situations come out. I would imagine we see more and more of them as players become empowered to speak. And it'll be fascinating to me if a prominent player who's in the NFL comes out against one of their coaches or one of their programs

and says things that were said to him, they're just going to be offensive things that are said. in the sport of football, in the coaching of football, and there is a fine line between, like, even when I say offensive might be too strong a word, things that could definitely be deemed as offensive, that would not be said in the insurance office, that would not be said in, you know, in a car dealership,

things are just going to be said in a wait room that are going to be, whoa, if you take them out of context. And then there are going to be things that are said that are just plain wrong, that the guy would just be a racist. I don't know. I know that term gets thrown around a lot right now, being a racist.

And I've always thought when it comes to social media and some of the stuff I've struggled, I don't do well with that because I think people get labeled. And it's just, I'm not comfortable saying one guy is or one guy is it. When I don't know them, I've never been around them. But the Iowa situation feels like it's got a chance to be a little ugly. Here's the other thing with Iowa I read. The head coach allows, had a mandate on all their players.

They weren't allowed to tweet. Well, once the blowback came, now they're allowed one tweet, I guess, a month. It's just like, what is going on here? Now, I'd say this, Iowa football is good. So whatever he's doing does work. And I think sometimes things that make people a little uncomfortable on the outside work for that program. Now, do you have to adapt? You've got to get what the times.

Can you not allow your players to tweet into it? 2020, especially when you have a lot of black players and everything that's going on with Black Lives Matter. Feels, you know, a little overkill. I'd say mildly. But, like, who am I to say? That head coach had a lot of success. He kind of knows what he's doing. Not really my style.

And it doesn't feel like it's the next guy we're going to talk about Davos Sweeney, who's taking a lot of heat for kind of being silent during this period of time. And I know he wore a football matters t-shirt. I think over the weekend, someone tweeted it out, took a picture, it kind of went viral. Listen, I am not very religious, and I know people in the South clearly are. So I try to do this with everything, put myself in other shoes. I would say I'm pretty agnostic, though if you're really religious, I respect it. I mean, we don't all have to, you might think I'm crazy.

We all think differently. And clearly a big part of dabbo is God. and it's something that really thrives in the South. They talk about God, he talks about God, and the SEC, it's a big deal. On the Pac-12, we don't talk about it like that out here. If you were like the head coach at USC or Oregon and we're kind of talking like Davo,

people look at you a little weird. Now, if you won like Davo, people wouldn't care. You talk however you want it. But in the South, that's just kind of to me the price of admission talking like that, and then if you win, it's just a double whammy. But I think Daabo's been a little out of touch on this deal wearing that shirt

and listen, I know Trevor Lawrence was tweeting that the football matters, he'd been wearing that shirt forever. But this is the same thing back to Drew Brees. And I think sometimes when you're so rich and you're so powerful, I think he can just naturally lose touch. It's just especially in an off-season when you're not around other people. Like humans, we're not meant to be doing this. Be isolated from the people we work with.

If you're a coach from your team, this is not normal. while some people in the media celebrate this, most of us don't want this. They would like to be around their team. But when you're Drew Brees, when you're dabbo, you have an unlimited amount of money and you're just hanging out with your family for three straight months,

maybe you're just not quite locked into what's really going on in the real world. In your 15,000 square foot house, you've got second homes, you're flying private to go vacation. I mean, most of us, you know, we go to the grocery store, we check into United,

we don't have that much, square footage isn't that big for all of us. So I think you see sometimes like, come on, guys. Let's pull our head out of our rear end and let's get a feel for society right now. And I think Dabo feels a little, and I'm a, listen, Dabo has had an incredible run. I'd say beside Nick Sabin, it's one of the truly, you know, impressive runs we've seen in the last decade, two decades.

He's, I mean, hell, he's beat Nick Sabin now multiple times. times, right? He's big time. He's probably, if you factor in age, he's probably the number one, because Nick, what does Nick have, a year or two left? I mean, Davo's in the peak of his powers, probably the number one coach in all college football. But, you know, a little more, and then he had an issue where a coach had used the N-word, just spent a rough little quarantine period for a couple weeks for the Clemson program and obviously the Iowa program. Sometimes these football programs, the head coach has so much power. He lives in this little bubble because no one can really say anything to him.

Like in the NFL, you have a GM, you have an owner, there's some balance. Like the head coaches, Kirk and Dabell, they're more powerful than the AD. They're more powerful than everyone. They are at the top of the pyramid. You think Nick Sabin takes orders from the AD? Hell no. It's the opposite. He tells the AD what to do.

That's not the way it works in the NFL. If the owner wants something to happen, the head coach listens, the general manager listens. The general manager and the head coach balance each other out. Hell, the players have a lot more juice, especially your good ones. They can balance everyone out. There's more balance.

College football, there's no balance. Now, when you get the right coach in Sabin and Dabo, in Urban, it just works. Like, they set the top, they do everything. But sometimes when times get weird, if they're not quite up with what's going on, they can look like an idiot fast. Breaking news of Monday, Dalvin Cook,

the star running back for the Minnesota Vikings coming off a career year. Excellent player. I mean, an ideal zone runner, fast, physical, just a stud. 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 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 rapidly. 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, 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 a 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 is big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack on day, but just so y'all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack.

So I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now. Thank you for finishing that sentence. 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 walks up to me, he goes, hey, ref, my mom wants. want you to wave at her. What? Time out.

Quarterback on office blue of 42. Hey, Red. 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. Legitimate starting top five or six back in the league on, you know, one of the better teams in the NFL.

says he will not show up to training camp. He will not be anywhere to be found until he gets a new deal. This is tough because he's clearly one of their better players. They drafted him in the second round, so they haven't really paid him that much money. He's already had a major injury since he entered the NFL, an ACL.

I think was his rookie season? It might have been last year. Regardless. He tore his ACL in the NFL. I think it was last year, so it was two years ago. and like what are you doing? Am I giving this guy Christian McCaffrey contract?

I would hesitate doing that. Now, I saw some people tweeting well, Melvin Gordon, Levion Bell, like I think this team, I don't know anything about this guy's character, but they view them as a core piece of their operation. What are you paying them?

Like, I'm not giving him Zeke money, but he's going to want $40 to $50 million. Could I get him signed for $30 million? Which essentially is just, be a three-year contract right. He's got one year left on his deal, and then two years, kind of an extension, basically like 15 a year.

So three years, 45 million, guaranteed like 35 of it, do something like that. It's clearly complicated because you don't want to be in the business of paying big money to running backs. We've seen it. It doesn't work.

It is a risky proposition with the upside by no means balances out the downside because the downside is massive. And I think when the dust settles, I think Minnesota is going to have a little bit of a problem on their hands because they need this guy to win. Cousins need this guy to function. Their offense kind of revolves around them.

But there has to be a price point and a number in which you feel comfortable before you just break Dalvin cookoff. 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. 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 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. 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 bags. 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,

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. Brought to you by Nitsa and the ad cap. Council. Okay, let's dive into the Middlecoff mailbag. At John Middlecough is the Instagram handle. And fire your questions away.

Also, for those of you guys that like playing, got a little Draft King's game going for the golf this weekend. I got a link in the bio of my Instagram. If you guys like doing a little daily fantasy golf. It's fun. Trust me. But let's start with the first question. The Green Bay Packer signed a buddy of mine out of

Montreal University. Mark Antonio Diquot, I can't. I mean, is a Caucasian DB, I like Caucasian DB, that ran the 40 and 435 at his combine while being sick.

Give me all the measurable 6.3-198, which leads me to my next question. Is there any way that the Packers use him as a wide receiver instead of a DB because of his physical attributes among all the DBs that went in the combine prior to this draft? He wouldn't even rank first.

in the three cone drill. He would have ranked first in the three cone drill, third overall in the 40 and six best in the shuffle. I think the Packers have a long history of signing guys as undrafted free agents, and that's what I think this guy was. Yeah, just physical freaks. They like height, weight speed.

So your buddy, 6-3, 200 pounds, he can run, and I just think you bring him to camp and you work with him at different positions. Now, this year, for a guy like this, becomes a little more difficult. You know, you're not going to be, you don't get the offseason, they don't get to try you out of different positions. Once the team reconvenes whenever training camp starts, you got to get everyone on the same page to start playing games.

So it's going to be difficult for some of these undrafted free agents to kind of get in the mix, just because time is not necessarily going to be on their side. But I think the Packers just have a long history of taking guys with really, really good measurables. Does holding out help or hurt Dalvin Cook? It didn't work for Levion Bell or Melvin Gordon, but then again, the Vikes need him more on their offense than the other teams' rosters do. Yeah, I mean, I think it's a balance.

I think Melvin Gordon clearly was just a replaceable player, and he wanted way too much money in it and I'm not getting that much for the Broncos. Leveon, they truly liked Levion as the player. think the person he had been in trouble he had been suspended he had had a major injury you know clearly he wasn't anywhere near antonio brown in terms of being a pain but i don't think they were sold on the guy giving him all that cash and part of it is just good business as a running back because i'd say levion in his peak has been better than dalvin now dalvin's if i was ranking him i'd go levi on dalvin melvin melvin but maybe i'm maybe i'm wrong maybe dalvin cook has a chance to be better than leviant now levion

had some really good seasons. But Delvin, I'd put Delvin Cook in the Leveon category. Like, he can be that elite of a player. I would not put Melvin Gordon in there. So I just think it becomes complicated how much you pay running backs. But you're right. They are, you know, just more dependent on Delvin Cook. Me and my friends were having an argument the other day on what was more important to a

rookie quarterback. I think that having more weapons at the skill positions to help develop a quarterback faster, but he thinks it's more important the piece, more important piece for a rookie quarterback is a solid offensive line. If you had to give your young quarterback weapons or an O line, which would be more beneficial, I would probably start with the offensive line

because if he's protected, then he can just make some place. If you have really good weapons and you're running for your life, you're screwed. Now, it depends what type quarterback I have. If I have a Kyler Murray, a Lamar Jackson, Russell Wilson, a guy that's really, really athletic, Deshawn Watson, maybe I take my chances with elite skill guys. But if my guy is more of a Jared Gough, all the older quarterbacks,

you know, the rivers, the Rathsburger could move, but the last five or six years he's not really moving. Brady, Manning, guys like that, you would choose offensive line for sure. You know, in a perfect world, you clearly want both. I think you've got to protect the guy. Now, if you don't have either, you get like Sam Darnold, right? You just have a disaster, and that's not what you want. You want to protect the player.

I'm trying to think of an example. I think the offensive line, you definitely want an offensive line. Love the pod. From what history has shown us, do you think there is any chance the Patriots could have a sneaky stellar season and find themselves in the Super Bowl again? even with a depleted roster, if any coach can somehow find a way

to capitalize on the situation that the coronavirus pandemic has presented, it's got to be Belichick, what are your thoughts? I would say never say never, but depending on Brian Hoyer slash Jared Stidham to me is enables them or I guess

will limit their ability to make a Super Bowl run. Now could they still win the division? Yes. Their defense is going to be good. They have great coaching staff. You're right. Belichick, if anyone's going to pivot, but they could barely beat Mahomes when they had Brady and Gromk.

Now they're going to beat them. They're going to be able to outscore Lamar Jackson. You know, the Buffalo Bills, last year Brady had some big moments in that Patriot game, especially the home game. I don't know. I think it'll be tough. Now, I think they'll compete to make a wild card.

And I think they're going to be, you know, when the dust settles, they're going to be right in the wild card. mix come, I almost said Friday, come December. Super Bowl, I can't see that though. Can you imagine if Belichick were to win the Super Bowl with Jared Stidham?

There would be, or just got to the Super Bowl? I'd say if he got to the AFC championship game with Jared Stidham, it'd be one of the most remarkable accomplishments we've ever seen in professional sports. Because like if Brady gets there with Tampa, you'd go, yeah, it was impressive,

but Bruce Ariens had success. They got stud players. Tom is the goat. You'd get it. I think most people are saying, yeah, I bet Belichick might not even make the playoffs. What's your take on sports memorabilia? If you could pick one iconic piece of sports history

for your personal collection, what would it be? I'm not a big sports memorabilia guy. I have a framed picture of Michael Jordan that my uncle got signed. He played golf with them in the 90s. As you watched on the last dance, Jordan played golf with anybody.

I got a couple pictures One of Pebble Beach and one of Augusta behind me That's about it I mean I got a picture of Jack Nicholas The golden bear the golfer That he's my dad used to fish with this guy Who knew him

And he signed it for me But my mom put it in front of the son And the son he also fished with Nick Faldo Got that signed as well You can still see that you can't see the golden bears So yeah I mean I just Those were free I don't have, I wouldn't pay for things,

though I understand people that do. If I could have one piece of sports memorabilia, you know, maybe like a Brady Super Bowl jersey, a Montana Super Bowl jersey, maybe like a picture of Tiger Woods winning, you know, the 2019 Masters sign, something like that. I just like frame pictures for, that look cool to go in my room.

Now, you know, the Babe Ruth baseball, something like that would be pretty freaking cool or like a Vince Lombardi, something with Vince Lombardi. I'd say Mohammed Ali, like signed gloves, would be pretty badass. I mean, there are a lot of options. Mickey Mantle, like a signed bat. Do you think the Lions have a shot for a turnaround season similar to the Niners a year ago?

While I have the doubts about the stability of the Lions organization and Matt Patricia, both teams had parallels, including their starting quarterback missing the majority of the previous season, had a top three draft pick, and had coaching continuity coming into the season. Well, true on that, here's what I'd say is the difference. If I gave every single person listening the opportunity to hire a coach, offense, defense, head coach, whatever, and I gave you two humans.

One was Kyle Shan, even before last year. I said Kyle Shanahan or Matt Patricia. Every single human listening to this, including Justin who asked me this question, would take Kyle Shanahan. I think the coach is dramatically better than Patricia. The players like them. he's just, Patricia's like making them practice outside

when they're playing at a dome, feels a little lost. The top three pick, so you got Okuda. If Akuta turns into a star, I'm talking about a superstar, year one, pro ball, all pro level guy.

Nick Bosa was elite as a rookie. Here's what else the 49ers had. They had an elite defense last year, and their pass rush was dominant. Is the Lions pass rush that good? They had Bosa, they had Armstead, they had Buckner, and they got a little bit of D4. They had the best running game or one of them in the league. I guess Lamar Jackson, the Ravens did, but I think they were top three or four rushing team in the league.

Now, the Lions passing attack, I'd say the last, it feels like the last handful of years, when Stafford was on the field, you know, right, when they had Golden Tate, when they had Marvin Jones, they've had other dudes that were legit. I mean, they can, you know, they had, I guess Ebron didn't really do that much there, but they could always score throwing the football. They were potent a couple years ago. I just, I don't know if the balance is going to be there. So, no, I don't see the parallels, to be honest with you. Bro, I'm listening to Three and Out and hearing you talk about your AC being out, Home Depot is window units that just plug into the wall, not too expensive, L.O.L.

I probably needed to get one of those. I was supposed to have the, I bought, I had to get a new mobile. They were supposed to install it today. Of course, it hadn't showed up. Coronavirus, I don't know. And luckily, it wasn't that hot today. It was cold all weekend, so I've trapped the coolness in my place. So it's like 90 degrees.

Or excuse me, it's like 70 degrees in my place. It feels fine. But the heat's coming the next couple days. Now, I may or may not be going down to play, you know, spyglass on Wednesday. So that's supposed to be the hot day. I'll be out playing. playing a little golf, you know.

But other than that, the last I talked to the guy earlier today, Friday. What are you going to do? I actually need to call the guy. I'm a Marine War veteran and wanted to say thank you for your words on Memorial Day. I listened to many podcasts, and you were the only one to remind everyone that it was Memorial Day is actually about. Thank you for my question. Why is it so hard for the NFL to find accurate kickers? Because, and I'm just, I mean, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm,

I'm very pro-military, which feels weird. You know, everything gets so splintered right now with everything that's going on in the country. Like, you can be all-encompassing, which I feel I am. But I think there's a lot of kickers. The accuracy doesn't translate from college to the pros. Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't. You know, we see guys elite players get drafted.

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 SportsSlice 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, 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 and 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, Kear Gaines, is we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, Learn the Hard Way. Open your free, iHeart 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 a little kill? 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 is big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack all day, but just so y'all know. I mean, at this point, 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 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 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 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?

Where's she at? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Clippers show on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. The other thing is kicking is not as much about talent. Like once you're one of the top kickers in college, you have the talent. It's so mental. To me, it's like golf.

It's like hitting in baseball. If you lose your confidence, and the unlike kicking and hitting in baseball, you're not going to get an unlimited at bats if you're a good player. You're going to start missing kicks. You're going to cost the team games. Because in the NFL, the games are determined. and even when good teams play bad teams, there aren't that many blowouts in the league.

You're in a lot of games. So if your kicker misses two or three field goals and you lose by eight, you're like, Jesus, he hits those three, we win. It happened to the kid in Tampa Bay, and it can just snowball on a player so fast. Like most kickers have that once you get drafted, you have the talent.

Then it's just mentally. Can you not go into the tank when you miss a couple kicks? a lot of guys can't. Who in your mind has the best quarterbacks based on division? Do you think you could rank them from best to worst? That's a good question. I would say up the top of my head,

I mean it would probably be the NFC West. You have Russell Wilson, who's probably the second best quarterback in the league. You have Jimmy Garoppelow and Jared Gough. I mean, everyone's shitting on Jared Gough. he's had a pretty good career of these last three years. Check the numbers.

Jimmy was a top 12 quarterback and Kyler Murray is one of the most exciting young players. If I'm just off the top of my head, Roger, Stafford, Kirk Cousins, not bad. Wence, Dack. Who else? The Redskins and Daniel Jones?

Probably not. You got Breeze, Brady, Matt Ryan. That's pretty damn good. That's actually really good. It's hard to do off the top of my head I'd say the AFC West car drew lock Probably not We don't know the Chargers

And Mahomes is like sweet But I don't the other three guys I mean car's been up and down Drew lock who knows That's a good question Maybe uh You know have to dive into that a little later Been wanting to DM you for a while

But just kept pushing it off Great podcast really is Any chance to bump it at three times a week Maybe this fall we'll see Now for the real question, I've been thinking how the NFC has been more dominant than the AFC for some time now. Just thinking it out of left field, wouldn't it be kind of a cool, crazy idea if they swap teams in the conferences? Keep east and east, west and west, but swap the NFC to the AFC vice versa? I know it would never happen, but don't you think it would be one hell of a ride?

So like you just would randomly put the AFC West would become the NFC West and the AFC West. and the AFC West or the NFC West would become the AFC West, just do a couple of those. I mean, I think it's pretty clear that they already kind of do intermix. The great part about football is you play your division twice,

you play one other division in your conference, and then you always play another division in the other conference. So you have so much intermixed conference, you know, to conference. You get a lot of NFC and AFC games throughout the year. I really don't think you need to do that. I think part of it has just been the coaching's been a little bit better, top to bottom in the NFC.

The star quarterbacks, Russell Wilson, Aaron Rogers has now been dominating in the NFC for a while. I mean, the 49ers have had some good teams over the decade. The Rams once McVeigh showed up, you know, the Eagles have consistently been pretty good. You've had Drew Breeze, Matt Ryan to go with Russell and Aaron Rogers. I think it's just kind of a quarterback thing. It really is.

Just kind of off the top of my head. The NFC East, the NFC South, the NFC North. Yeah. If I could be you. And you could be me for just one hour. If you could find a way to get inside. Each other's mind. Walk a mile in my shoes.

Walk a mile in my shoes. Walk a mile in my shoes. We've all felt left out. And for some, that feeling lasts more than a moment. We can change that. Learn how at belonging begins with us.org Brought to you by the ad council. Walk a mile in my shoes.

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 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 experience.

at Discovertheforest.org, brought to you by the United States Forest Service and the Ad Council. Just listen to your most recent episode episode and your bit about Nick Foals coming to the Bears and noticed that as a Bears fans that dominated much of the media cycle

surrounding the team. One thing that I really think is going under the radar is the additions to an already arguably elite defense. Leonard Floyd was an obvious bust and now we're bringing in someone with a pass-rushing acumen of Robert Quinn. additionally, we drafted Jalen Johnson to replace Prince Amokamura, who was noticeably aging.

I think these two additions to an already powerhouse unit can catapult them to a top three, probably top one defense in the league. Thoughts. Yeah, I think their defense should be better than last year. I thought Khalil underachieved, and I think he was banged up. You had Roquan and Danny Trevathen get injured at different times. But when those two guys are healthy, with Khalil, with a key, team Hicks with Robert Quinn, with Eddie Jackson, with Fuller.

Jalen Johnson was a really good player at Utah, tall, long corner, fits what Chuck's looking for. They have the talent to be a really, really good defense. To me, their defense last year, while it wasn't as good as the previous year with Fangio, was not the problem. I mean, their problem last year was Ms. Trevisky. So if they get better quarterback play, they got a chance. What are your thoughts on the Broncos this year?

Have a friend that's a huge Broncos fan, and he is talking a ton of shit about how good they're going to be. This friend wants me to bet $1,000 that the Broncos will win 10 games this year. Vegas has their win total at 7 and a half, which leans me to taking the bet. Uncle Colin is super high on the Broncos and makes some valid points that have me pumping the brakes. What are your thoughts? Do I take the bet? I think that they win above 7 and a half. Now do they win 10? They won 7 last year. They're betting, to me, if they're going to be a 10-win team, you're basically just going to say Drew Locke's really good or it just has a really good season.

The numbers might not bear it out because they're going to be a run-heavy team but they added Jerry Judy, they drafted the little guy from Penn State, they got Fant, they have a defensive head coach, they add Pat Schumer. Listen, I can't make some definitive statement

about Drew Locke, though the little bit you watch of him, he looked really good. And I'm very high on Fangio, their defense is going to be good. You get Bradley Chubb back off the ACL. I don't think it's crazy. to say that the Broncos have a good, you know, win 10 games and make the wild card.

Due to the pandemic, there has been speculation that the CFL could potentially fold if they do not play this season. What is your opinion on if the NFL were to acquire four or five franchises, Saskatchewan, Winnipeg, Toronto, Edmonton, Calgary? I know this seems outlandish due to the weather, their government, and the fact that it would take some time to build four to five new rosters of NFL talent. But if the NFL does intend on expanding one day, it seems it would be easier to expand with teams that already have stadiums built in fan bases

and their own prior histories. My final comment is some Canadians already feel that once the NFL ultimately moves to Toronto, the CFL will become obsolete at that time. That's a good question I can't speak on if they've been. move to Toronto if that's inevitable or not. I don't think it is a lock to be inevitable that they end up in Toronto, but maybe I'm naive. I think there is zero chance of them buying five Canadian franchises.

Zero. I mean, none. I just, I don't know anything. Just my initial gut when I read that was like, I can't see them purchasing the Canadian teams in the Canadian Football League. Now, you're probably right. There would be some built-in advantages. They have stadiums.

They have fan bases. I'd have to You know Winnipeg, Saskatchewan How big are these cities? I'd have to Google them all You know, the NFL is not in the business of expanding into smaller markets

Right, they went to L.A. The only reason they left the Bay Area for Vegas, which is a smaller market, was just you got a free stadium and Vegas is an expanding market. But I think market size is really, really big. That's why Toronto would make sense. I don't know

about the other teams. people keep talking about the Broncos offense and how it is loaded now this offseason. But what do you think about their defense? Do they have the guys in the schemes to be a top 10 defense? Well, like I said, you get Bradley Chub back, you put them with Vaughn Miller, you immediately get one of the better pass rushing duos in the league. In theory, if Chub's healthy. He was really good as a rookie. I mean, Vaughn's a stud. You have that safety that's one of the better players in the league in Simmons.

you just have one of the best defensive minds in football. So if Vic Fangio is coaching your guys and you got pass rushers, you're going to be good. It's really that simple. If you got pass rushers for Fangio, your defense is going to be good. He makes average corners be good. He doesn't need star corners. He's got a star safety, and he's got a good defensive line.

So I think they could be a top 10 defense for sure. Their success is going to come down to the quarterback, who, you know, I don't know that much about. I watched him on a Q&A thing with Baker Mayfield on Instagram. He's pretty likable. I know in the Black Life Matters protest in Denver that I think was it, I forget who put it together, but Vaughn and he was there and they had 50 guys. To me that was one thing that stood out.

50 guys on the team showed up and the coaching staff. Maybe they got a pretty good thing going unity-wise as a group. as a unit as a team kind of feels like they like each other. So I'm bullish on the Denver Broncos this year for sure. Appreciate everyone listening. And just keep chugging along in 2020. And share with your friends. Tell people about the podcast.

If you haven't already, leave a little review on the Apple iTunes. And have a great week. Talk to you Friday. See you. Get right to the romance and find the way to wow this valentines with 1-800flowers.com. Classic roses and bouquets to decadent chocolate-covered berries, gourmet treats, and more. Surprise your Valentine with 1-800flowers.com.

Right now, get the 18-stem enchanted rose medley for $39.99, or upgrade to 24 red roses for $10 more. Go to 1-800flowers.com slash tune-in. That's 1-800flowers.com slash tune in. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the Internet lost its mind, and nobody's time. telling you exactly what happened. That's where SportsSlice 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 Podcasts, 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. 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 I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

On the Look Back at it podcast. For 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84 was big to me. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a year, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. With our friends, fellow comedians, and favorite authors. Like Mark Lamont Hill on the 80s.

84 was a wild year. It was a wild year. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Listen to Look Back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, what's good, y'all? You're listening to Learn the Hardway 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 AHA radio app, Apple Podcast, or or wherever you get your podcast. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.