The Herd with Colin Cowherd - 3 and Out - Schedule Release Reaction, Rodgers/Jets Draw, Araiza Exoneration

Episode Date: May 12, 2023

John gives his initial reaction to the NFL schedule release, and his thoughts on Aaron Rodgers and the Jets draw. He also explains why Titans look ready to bail on the Malik Willis project, if the ‘Punt God’ Matt Araiza will draw interest after rape exoneration. Follow John onTwitter, Instagram and YouTube for the latest. Check out Gametime - the fastest growing ticketing app in the US, and the official ticketing app of 3 & Out and GoLow -  for tickets to all of your favorite NFL, NBA, NHL, NCAA teams. Concert and comedy show tickets, too. Go to Gametime now to create an account, download the app and use code JOHN for $20 off your first purchase. #volume #herdSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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What is going on, everybody, John Middilcoff's Three and Out podcast. That's the show and that's me. Hope everyone's doing well. It's about 6 o'clock on Thursday afternoon. Waited because I wanted to do some initial reactions to the schedule. I went through and broke down every single game for every single team. Just kidding. There's no chance on God's Green Earth.

I did that. But give some initial thoughts, you know, to start the season. We'll dive into it a little bit deeper as over the next couple weeks, specific teams, schedules. You know, obviously, you know, travel when your Thursday night game is, your divisional games. I mean, it's just, we'll go through. as the summer comes individually with some teams, definitely over the next couple weeks. But I just tried to give my initial reactions, definitely to that, you know, kind of some of the opener stuff on Thursday, Sunday, and Monday is a pretty sweet game, Aaron Rogers.

So we'll dive into all that. Middlecoff mailbag, I will put one out over the weekend, like I always do on Sunday, at John Middlecoff. At John Middlecoff is the Instagram. Fire in those DMs and get your question answered here on the show. we like to work on the weekend here no big deal we don't even need a good job just what we do and uh and yeah the volume dot com you can check out some go lo merch three and out hat is still being developed so hopefully we get that bad boy figured out sooner than later we're live on amp

live on amp download amazon amp and uh and yeah what else any other housekeeping i think that's probably it so you know you're probably looking at your team schedule and thinking you know 11 wins minimum. And hell, that's, you know, a Jags fan. So every fan base is excited. You should be. No sport quite like football beside a couple teams. You know, everyone, if you told me the bearers won like nine games, it's believable. You know, you go from the number one overall pick to compete and to make a wild card. It's makes the NFL the best that way. We always get, you know, teams that win the division come back to Earth and teams that haven't made the playoffs, make the playoffs. So it's the great part about the sport. And do you want to go to one of these games?

If you're listening right now and you're a fan of whatever team, the Bengals, Seattle, you got some buzz, you're a Houston Texans fan, the Cowboys, this is our year. I got you covered. You want to buy some tickets? Download the official ticketing app of this show, Game Time. Very easy to do. Just go to your smartphone, download Game Time, and use the promo code John. That's J-O-H-N, John, J-O-H-N, and get $20 off any pair of tickets.

You want to go to a game before that? Obviously, the football doesn't start until September. Just use the game time at. Baseball, basketball, concerts, comedy shows. They got you covered. Promocode John. Where do we start? The NFL over the last, I don't know, definitely decade, but the last five, six years

has entered into a different stratosphere than these other leagues in terms of viewership. It's well documented, right? The amount of people that watch football relative. to other sports. I think sometimes, and I really fight against this, people think I'm like a hater, and I'm not. I'm a huge sports fan. I love basketball. I love baseball.

I just, as life has gone on, I don't watch as much of it as I used to relative, obviously, to football. It's my job. But the numbers speak for themselves, the record viewership, the amount of people that just watch Thursday night football. As I talked about earlier this week, Amazon, you know, and the NFL, trying to figure out a way to get them better ratings, to get more people to watch. It's like, well, how many people watch? Oh, 9.5 million people on average.

And let's face it, Thursday night games have been pretty hit or miss. And part of it, you could argue, was didn't feel like Al was super locked in. And Herb Street, I like Kirk Herb Street a lot. He's fantastic on college. But, you know, I don't need him calling my NFL games. You know, I like Troy. I like Chris Collinsworth. Not the biggest Romo guy, but he's an NFL guy.

I like my NFL guys, calling my NFL. Just like I like my college guys, call them my college guys. I don't want to pigeonhole anyone, but sometimes once you've been doing something for a while, you kind of get pigeonhole. Football is very, very difficult to call because of the amount of people, the amount of turnover with coaches and rosters. And think about week one. The NFL is, I wouldn't say got cocky, but they went, you know what?

We got this guy named Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs, which kind of feel like the Golden State Warriors because Mahomes, like Curry, just feels like the ultimate superstar right now. All the kids like them. You put them on TV. The ratings are enormous. Steph Curry and the Warriors

when they played the Kings in the first round, shattered records. Highest rated first round series in like 30 plus years. It's not complicated to figure this out. It's not the Sacramento Kings. They hadn't been to the playoffs. It's 17 years.

It's, Steph Curry play basketball. No different than Patrick Mahomes. Patrick Mahomes could play Arizona State next week. If he was the quarterback, 10 million people are watching without hesitation. He's that big of a rock star. But when you look at the chief schedule, you could have thrown a lot of games, right? They play the bills.

They play the bangles. That's an easy one. But I bet the networks go, you know what? Let's put one in October and another one in December. Right? You could have been like the Chargers, the Raiders are arrival. with Jimmy Garoppolo now and Josh McDaniels, definitely the Broncos, who now don't just have Russell Wilson, who may or may not be washed, but they added

Sean Payton. Week one, that's a fantastic just game for our eyes. And they went, you know what, let's take this up-and-coming pesky team that historically is not very good, the Lions. Like kind of a cocky move. And I'm bullish on the Lions. I'm going to pick them to win the division. But let's be real. You are going in on 13, Thursday night football to a team that has been to three Super Bowls in five years, one, two of them, and let's face it, feels like they could go on a dynasty-type run. A ton of people, probably including myself, are going to pick them to win the Super Bowl. They have a loaded team.

All those rookies last year that started all those games at the end of the season and through the playoffs and won the Super Bowl, they're back. They have the best player in the sport, and they have the best coach currently in the sport. and Travis Kelsey still feels like he's in the peak of his powers. And you go with the Lions, who like I said, bullish on him. But here's a reality. Patrick Mahomes and Andy are used to being the hunted. They take every team's best shot, right?

Everyone's coming for him. Just like Alabama football or Duke basketball or Tom Brady and Belichick all those years. Or every time, you know, a Pedro Martinez or Roger Clemens or whoever in the peak of their power, and Verlander pitched in their prime. You're getting the other teams, the other players, the other coaches, all their energy. And it's going to be very, very interesting with the Lions, not just this game, but this season, how they handle it. And from a rating standpoint, this game will be fine. But I'm very interested to watch this team now that hasn't accomplished anything. I mean, they won eight of their last, whatever, nine or ten games last year and had a lot of

momentum and ended Aaron Rogers run in Green Bay. But every year is a brand new year. Every player will tell you that. Every coach will tell you that. Anyone associated with the NFL to a man reiterates that. Why? Because there's so much turnover. Every single season.

We all think the Eagles are freaking awesome because they are. Look at their roster. They lost both coordinators. They lost a guy that had 11 sacks last year in Javon Hardgren. like they lost players. At the end of the season, Lane Johnson was duct taped together. He's an older player who's just been in, things change. I think the Eagles are going to be really good,

but it's just hard year to year to year. Like, it's why it's so impressive what Andy's done, what Belichick and Brady did all those years. And it's going to be fascinating to watch. Everyone's going to be talking about the Lions all preseason. Last year it was because of hard docs. And what happened? They started one and six.

Well, this year, obviously week one, you could play the Houston, Texas. You're getting the team's best shot. But every single game, people are going to be watching this team, especially early on. How do they handle the expectations? Look what happened. Already, Jameson Williams, who they drafted last year in the top 15, suspended because he bet on a game at the facility. Not an NFL game, a college football game. Jameson, you do understand that these companies track you and they don't want to get in trouble and they'll turn you in.

So, you know, listen, that place is going to be going bananas. Kansas City is essentially like an SEC town for the NFL when it comes to football. Their passion, their team's incredible. They're led by the best coach they've ever had, the best player they've ever had. It's going to be fascinating to watch the Lions go in there. Because listen, they don't have to win. They're going to be, I'm sure the Lions are already out. They're going to be an underdog by probably six or seven points.

but do they just look respectable, right? Or do they kind of like first game of the year just kind of get boat race, get overwhelmed by it, something I'm fascinated by. It feels like, and I could be wrong on this, over the last 20 plus years, if NBC had their choice, they would go with some combination of Cowboys at Giants, Giants at Cowboys. Cowboys, biggest brand, best TV product, not in terms of best team. I just mean the most people watch. it's not arguable.

I'm not saying that I'm not a cowboy fan fan. And the Giants, when they're good, play in New York City with fan bases are just based on how many people follow your team? And it's pretty clear, the biggest brands have the most fans. So when you put, when the Steelers are good, when the Packers are good, when the Niners are good, when the Giants are good, obviously when the Cowboys are good, they just have more fans than these other teams. Like the Jags this year could go 16 and 1.

But their ceiling as a franchise is only so high because of the fans. of the quantity of the amount of fans that they have. Well, now the Giants went through one of the most embarrassing stretches in franchise history, right? From Shermer to Joe Judge, it was a joke. And you couldn't put them on Sunday night football with a straight face. One season of being very respectable, getting to the playoffs, boom, they get that not. And that's a really good game.

You know, the Cowboys, I just saw on Twitter right before I hopped on, they get three Sunday night football games. I got news for you. If Sunday night and NBC, which is the number one television show in America, could have 15 of the 17 cowboy games, they would. Like, they would not hesitate.

So this game, you know, the Giants, they love the NFC East because of the markets, Dallas, New York. You know, people want Washington to be bad, you know, very, very badly around the league because of their,

they have a large fan base. They've just been relatively around. And obviously, Philadelphia. So they love pigeonholing and rightfully so, the NFC East into that game. And then the most fascinating game to me of the three primetime games by a mile is this New York Jets hosting the bills. One, it's on 9-11. So the game was going to be whether it be the Giants game or whether it be the Jets game, the Jets actually played the Giants.

You could have done that game as well. But that game was going to be in New York City on. Monday night football. That was a lock. My producer James hit me up. He's a big Giants fan. He's like, don't you think Giants Jets, you know, for the anniversary of 9-11? And I said, yeah, definitely possible. For sure, it was going to be one of the two New York teams. You could have gone Pat's at Jets. I thought that. Because if you remember 9-11, you know, one of the players for the Patriots, Andrewsey, his brother was a fireman, could have easily done that. But I think this is pretty damn good, too. I also think from a football standpoint, besides it's going to be just a big emotional night, right?

9-11 in New York City, Aaron Rogers' first game. You're playing one of the best teams in the league. In no particular order, you have to put the Chiefs won. I think there's like a big five or six. It's basically the Chiefs. Then Eagles, Niners, Bengals, Bills. I would be tempted to throw the Cowboys in there. We'll see how they look, but they're right there on the cusp.

That's no order. saying that the chiefs are won because the Super Bowl champs, and then that five or six, if you want to include the Cowboys, to me is my group headed into this season. So you're playing one of the best teams in the league who has been consistently very, very good and who's kind of taking control of your division. And let's face it, you've been really, really shitty for a long time. Now, you showed signs last year and now you add Aaron Rogers. And the big question for me is, I'm bullish on this day.

I'm going to pick this team to make the playoffs. But a lot of people, and I already saw. coward tweet, you know, he's not the biggest Roger guy, is going to be, well, Aaron missed the playoffs last year, trending down. And now there's all this pressure. Of all the teams, when we talked about this last week, right, the Bronkers are going to have some pressure. But it's kind of unique, right? If Russell stinks, no one's going to blame Sean Payton, and they'll just move on from Russell Wilson. Like, if Deshaun Watson is now just bad, like there's pressure on the Browns because of that contract, they're just kind of SOL.

Well, they're screwed. I mean, I don't know what you can do, right? You know, if the lion stink, everyone kind of annoyed at them. Like, whatever. Like, if Jordan Love stinks, I think people would be like, listen, you made a move. You had to do it. See if you can find another quarterback. But with Aaron Rogers, like, the pressure is on. Aaron Rogers, Robert Sala, Joe Douglas.

I mean, jobs are on the line. And you start this game, everyone's going to be watching. Like, I'd argue this game, to me, is much bigger to the landscape of the league and kind of how we'll judge than even Cowboys Jibs, right? Like, I view this game is probably the marquee game of week one. And just like, what's this thing going to look like? And then you look, and this is what Coward was alluding to on his tweet, the Jets playing six primetime games this year.

Their schedule starts really, really difficultly. Start with the bills who, you know, I don't know how you set the line, but if you tell me the bills are favored even on the road, I think that's very believable. Then you go to Dallas, even if New England turns out to not be that great, still got Belichick, a good defense. He hates the Jets.

I mean, Belichick despises the Jets. What was one of the stories why Belichick made a trade during the draft on Thursday night? It's like, well, he didn't even get good value, but he wanted the Steelers to get a player so he could screw the Jets. Then they go to Kansas City. then they go, or excuse me, they get Kansas City at home, which the Chiefs just better than you,

and then at Denver, which I don't know if they're going to be good or not, but that's just a tough place to play. And then Philadelphia before the by week. So you get Philly, the Chiefs, Dallas, and Buffalo. I mean, it is, we're going to find out really, really fast. If this Jets team, listen, I have no reservation when I think about Aaron Rogers handling expectations. He's been the starting quarter, he replaced Brett Farr, became the best player in the history of a franchise that you could argue in all of sports is one of the most historic and definitely one of the most important to the NFL. He has been the hunted as a player and as a leader of a team now for a decade plus. He's used to playing in prime time games left and right. He has played in

some of the highest rated games of the last 12, 13 years. So I don't, if Aaron's healthy, I have confidence in him. But what about the other guys? Like they have this young nucleus who, yeah, I like Garrett Wilson a lot, but it's a little different animal playing Northwestern than it is Buffalo. You know, I like Bruce Hall and some of these players, but they've never had the expectation in the league. Think about their coach.

Love Robert Solomon. Fellow bald guy, root for him. I'm going to root for the Jets this year. Hadn't had much success as a head coach. Not totally his fault. I mean, they picked the wrong quarterback, but, you know, I would imagine some Jets fans and just football fans are like, is Robert Solow really that good?

And we're about to find out, right? And then just the pressure of that city, it's going to be very, very interesting to watch how it all handles itself in terms of the play, the young nucleus and the coaching staff. And I view Detroit very simple, a lot like the Jets. That's a town that can turn negative fast, right? Like I've been in California, the majority of my life, When the team sucks, people just tune out. Your ratings as a radio host, as a podcast when it comes to the Bay Area or Southern California teams,

don't thrive if the team's irrelevant. If it's a basketball team and they win 20 games or it's a football team and they're winning three or four games, no one cares. People tune you out. But I saw it in Philadelphia. I know New York's very similar. Obviously, Detroit. Kind of thrive in misery.

Now, obviously, they want to win. If you're a Jets fan, if you're a Lions fan, you, you're a fans fan. you want to go to the playoffs. But if it goes the other way, people enjoy the negativity that surrounds a disaster in that northeast corridor, you know? And it would be very fascinating if things went the wrong way. That would be the one thing I would say,

how Rogers handled that. Something to keep an eye on. If, you know, what if they started? I mean, you could argue one and three is on the table. Buffalo, Dallas, New England, Kansas City. That's a very, very difficult start. I think it's fair to say that Rogers and the Jets are, you know, like, what's the story with the Chiefs? Can they repeat? Can they win their third? Right. Buffalo. Can they finally get over the hump?

Right. Those are interesting. Can the Bengals maintain this high level play? Like, who's going to be the quarterback for the 49ers? Can Mike McCarthy? Like, can he win multiple playoff games and get a contract extension? Like, Aaron Rogers and the Jets. Will this work? You know, is this going to be? Is he going to win 11 games? Like, I'm going to pick them to win 10, 11 games. But let's be real. If they were to go like 7 and 10 again, some injuries, it look wrong. Their schedule just beats them up.

It's easily one of the bigger stories in the league. And it's something we'll just talk about a lot. It's something I'll talk about a lot. I mean, I find it fascinating and interesting to begin with, but just the trade, the brand, you know, how's Jordan Love doing? That's something to keep an eye on. Like, does Jordan Love have a really good season? before we dive into what's next, do you know that Angie's list is now Angie,

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Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days,

put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care which I'm saying. Yep, that's me.

Clipper Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show.

This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast. It's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So, if you've ever supported me, or you're just chasing down a tree.

dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. I also saw the giant schedule. You know, speaking of teams that sometimes it's hard. You know, the reason why I would have voted Brian Dayball coach of the year, I guess he won it.

But why even throughout the season, I'm like, his roster wasn't that good. what he was doing was incredible. I still don't think his roster is that great. It's not like he improved that much year to year. Now, maybe some of the younger guys that they drafted, maybe Kavon this year is a 10-sac guy, right? Maybe Daniel Jones is that much better. You can have improvement with some guys,

but let's not act like their roster looks like some of the top teams in the league. And then when you look at their schedule, they got a ton of road games. We'll find early on they got a Thursday night game against the 49ers. You know, fascinated to watch that play out. And like I said, speaking of the Niners, like, who's their starting quarterback when the season starts? One thing with the schedule, which is hard, I mean, I could do if I wanted to run a first take show.

You know, I think we can assume relative health early in the season, but it's so difficult after like October 1st. You know, just from basic things like the guy pulled a hamstring, guy rolled an ankle to bad injuries, to quarterback's missing play, to teams that you thought were going to be good, aren't good. teams you thought were going to be bad. I mean, I penciled in last year, Seattle and the Giants as the two worst teams in the league. Both of them made the playoffs, right? I mean, it's just, I would have said the Packers locked to win that division. Didn't make it. The Vikings, who I'll give coward credit on that, picked them, didn't see that one coming.

That's another one. Like, do they just have another 10-11 win team? I don't know. You know, I think that's what makes this sport so awesome. right? Like I said, there's a hierarchy of five, six teams, which I think everyone, you know, if they remove their bias, just have to acknowledge the final four teams last year are going to be good again. I would put the bills right there, even though they did get their ass kicked by the bangles, but they're good. And then the Cowboys. I actually, Cowboys earn my respect for how well they played

the Niners in that game. They're so physical on defense. It's just I don't totally trust their quarterback in the big spots, but throughout a season, like they can win 12 games. easily. Hell, I mean, they've won, they did that last year with missing their starting quarterback for a minute. Yeah, I just think that's what's cool about the NFL is that there are going to be so many teams that are coming? Are the Jags now just some playoff stalwart? A business team for the next several years locked to win the division? Should be. I mean, they have one of the best young quarterbacks in the division or in the, in the, in the, in all of the NFL. They have a super bowl winning coach, you know, a guy that just crossed my mind and you know where I stand

on this guy throughout the season is Brandon Staley. You know, a guy coaching for his job. Can he win a playoff game? Because anything less than going to the playoffs with Justin Herbert, can they compete to win the division? That's one thing. The chiefs are kind of at the point now where if you told me that, you know, let's say the Chargers won 12 games and they won 11, it's not like the chiefs can't win the division on the road. I mean, they have a huge advantage at home. But if you told me eventually the chiefs are a five seed one year, like as long as they got Patrick Moems and Travis Kelsey and Andy Reed, I'm still taking them very, very seriously. So exciting times. This is a fun time of year when you see the schedule, but it can be difficult just because things change so fast with injuries.

Okay, let's dive into a couple stories around the NFL that don't relate to the schedule. Let's go down to Nashville, Tennessee, and the Tennessee Titans. There was a headline I saw that Malik Willis, who they drafted last year in the third round, his job status is in major jeopardy, as in he might not make the team. And my first reaction to that, of course it is. Like, they just drafted a quarterback in the second round. The general manager, John Robinson, who drafted him, is no longer there. They have a new guy in charge in Rand Carthin with Mike Brable.

It's like, well, same head coach. Well, that same head coach last year when Malik Willis couldn't hit water if he was sitting in a boat, benched him for Josh Dobbs, who wasn't even on their team, who was on the Lions practice squad, in a game at the end of the season that I don't know, kind of mattered. Remember, they were playing to get into the ball. playoffs and he wouldn't play the guy. So I think it's clear that the way that season ended, now you get a new GM, does he have a support system? Does he have people in the building who support and advocate and want to see him succeed? Because if he doesn't, then he's done.

Here's what I know about Will Levis. The GM and the head coach clearly liked him for them to pull the trigger to draft him early in the second round. And by all accounts, they were trying to trade in at the end of Thursday night in the first round in the late 20s to draft Will Levis. So Willis has supporters in the building. Pretty clear, Malik Willis doesn't really. I've been in situations in the NFL, in radio, when my support system left. Do you know what happened? I got fired. I lost my job. It happens all the time in pro sports or just in a lot of industries. when the guy you work for leaves or gets let go and they bring in new people and you are not their guy, the moment things get weird, honestly, some things might be out of control.

They just don't want to deal with you. And whenever I see the response of, well, what do you think happens when you bring in a developmental project and you don't give them time to develop? To me, there are different types of development. When Josh Allen was drafted, it was clear that year one needed some of, time to develop. Same with Patrick Mahomes. But both of them, if you watch that, you know, the first year with Josh Allen and the one game with Patrick Mahomes, there were just like, okay, you could see it. With Malik Willis, I think he was easily the worst quarterback in the NFL that played last season. I mean, think about Zach Wilson, for example. I'm all for development,

but he couldn't complete wheel routes. He couldn't complete a slant route. Like the most, if I'm an NBA player and I can't make a layup. Like I can't play. Like, wait, you can't make a layup? Like in football, especially at the highest level when you're playing on Sundays, go routes are hard. You're going to hit those. I don't even know what the percentage is for the good quarterbacks, 50% of the time,

right? But there are going to be some routes that should be a very, very high percentage. And Malik Willis had no shot to complete those. It looked like, does this guy even, should this guy be playing quarterback? And I don't know if he's a good enough athlete to change. positions, but from what I witnessed, he's a year away from being a year away. And some quarterbacks changed positions for whatever reasons. And to me, Edelman did it. Terrell Prior did it. I remember watching Terrell Prior when I had, when I did the Raiders post-game show. And

Terrell Prior was their quarterback. And ultimately, he just had no chance to, he was athletic enough as a runner, but as a thrower, it wasn't, it was a joke. I mean, it was, and he transitioned. And he went on to play wide receiver. Now, I don't know if Malik Willis is that level of an athlete, but what we went in his last year, even if he improved, you know, 20 percent, he's still not remotely close to being an NFL quarterback. And a guy, it's the one position right, whoever your backup is, there's a chance, you know, he might not play a snap all season long. And then there's a chance, I don't know, Patrick Mahomes rolls his ankle. And the guy has to start a game or come in and play in a tight game.

And that clearly happened last year of the Titans. And it was a disaster. And I'm not trying to act like Ryan Taneyhill's a savior. I wouldn't want him to be my quarterback either. But the support system for Malik Willis, John Robinson never told me this, but it was pretty clear. Mike Frable's not big on him.

The GM has zero ties to him and just drafted a quarterback. He's done. He's completely done to me playing quarterback in Tennessee. Now, can he do something else? Can he bring other stuff? stuff to the table, because if you can, then maybe he could survive. But what I witnessed last year, now, maybe some team would put him on the practice squad, but I have a very, very hard time. And I mean, very hard time seeing him being an active roster quarterback in the NFL,

let alone on the Titans. So to me, it's kind of a non-story. I think the story would be if Malik Willis is able to survive. In 2023, the amount of money these teams have, you know, no one waits. Like, Trey Lance is already battling to be the backup. Zach Wilson is like, thank God, everyone in Jets land is like he doesn't have to start anymore. These guys were the second and third pick in the draft a couple years ago. We're moving at rapid speed. People aren't worried about signing bonuses and cash. You just move on.

And then the way the league works is every year new players are coming through. It's the fastest turnover. It's the fastest cycle of kind of working through guys that can't play. So just always a third round pick. Who cares? Brock Purdy was a seventh round pick. Right? I mean, if you flip those two, it would have been dramatically different. The Niners would have been screwed. Maybe the Titans would have been okay.

Another story, Matt Areza, who's known as the punt god, was, it came out last week. He was cut last year, allegedly in a gang rape. He was, he was, there was, I don't know all the legal terms. There was an accuser that said that he and other guys at San Diego State gang raped her. and it turns out not only it wasn't true, I don't know if the other guys did, but he was not there. He wasn't present. He had nothing to do with it.

And I remember last year when he was cut. Everyone was, you know, the media, and we'll get into them here in a second, was freaking out. And I said, the bills are not cutting him because they know he did it or they know he did not do it. They have no clue.

They cut him simply because he's a punter. And it's like, we can't deal with the potential of this, being true, even if we believe you at the position you play. I said it. If he had been the quarterback, if he had been the pass rusher, if he had been the star tackle, it would have been different. They would have let it play out. When you're a six-round punter, you just don't have the juice. Now, there's a bigger picture thing here. And I've always said this. And this goes back to Deshaun Watson. Listen, no one ever has any clue when it's a he said, she said thing, beside those two people.

in this situation, several people. I don't know, you don't know, and definitely these Big J. Journows don't know. But last year, the reaction with him was very typical. Like, you know, if I tell you a story, if I just make up a hypothetical story, you have a pretty good idea in 2003 what the media reaction is going to be.

And I've seen a lot of like former players that are now in the media, like, where's all the people apologizing? All those people that wrote, articles, they're not going to apologize. That's not what they do. If that's your expectation, like, we're all going to be waiting a while. Do you remember the last couple years? Do you remember all the tweets and the articles from everyone in the media about everything that went on in 2020 and 2021? And then as we've learned, that actually they were wrong on the majority of it. Have they said a peep?

Of course not. They just move on. So if you think you're going to get some article from the Washington Post or the New York Times that says, my bad, next time we should give it a deep breath. Let's see how it plays out. They ain't going to fucking happen. And it never will. So like when these situation happened and you get wrongfully accused, you know, it's just you're in major trouble with public opinion and the people that have, I was going to say pens, but write these articles for a living. Because we all. know what those articles are going to say. And then if it goes on, you're proven that it wasn't true. You're not going to get articles saying, we fucked up. We apologize. You should come back to the

NFL, which is a screwed up system. It's why you can't, I don't get caught up in what these people say one way or the other. Because they're the most predictable group in this country. You can just give a situation and you know the angle they're going to take. And with him specifically, It's bullshit, really. I mean, his career, his life was, I don't want to say his life's ruined because he's 22, 23. His career was clearly derailed. Now, will someone take a chance on him now that he has been cleared of wrongdoings? I would imagine so.

But there still is like, and this is the BS part is, I don't want to say a stigma, but the elephant in the room that follows him even though he didn't do it. and it gets back to the reaction a year ago. It's just a screwed up cycle. And you go, well, John, you've been hard on Deshaun Watson over the years. Well, yeah, it's like 75 massage therapists. If it was just one or two, I'd say, listen, I feel uncomfortable commenting on things that no one could know beside these two people. But it was just person after person after person.

It's like drip, drip, drip, drip. Like, I mean, let's all use some common sense here. But last year, like, the reaction by so many people that cover the sport, it was very predictable. And it's always going to be predictable in these situations. And when it comes out after the fact that, yeah, actually it was completely wrong.

He didn't do a goddamn thing. It's, I can't even imagine being in those shoes of Matariza. Now we'll just see, like I would imagine because he is that talented in some of the punts that he had last year in the preseason. I remember he had like an 82-yard punt that he will get another shot. I say history.

us that, especially when he has been cleared. Like, this guy is not a criminal. But it's still, you know, it's such a hot button issue. I don't know. It's going to be very, very interesting just to see how it plays out. I would say whether it be in the short term, but definitely in the next couple years, he will get a shot. And last but not least, I read an article. While I was reading Albert Breers, he kind of does this Q and A.

and in the Q&A, someone asked, like, will there be tanking this fall because of these quarterbacks? And specifically Caleb. I mean, Caleb's one of the best prospects going into his junior season of my life. His size, his playmaking, his production, his arm, the total package. I mean, he is, I know people that have seen him play live and they're just like, bro, this is not a hype machine. And we see hype machines a lot.

And listen, I can be guilty of that. I pounded the table a little bit last year for Will Levis. He saw it this year with Anthony Richardson. You just see it. Zach Wilson, Trey Lance. Hype machine happens with quarterbacks. This is not a hype machine thing. This is, Jesus Christ, this guy is incredible.

Like this guy is a baller, you know. But I mean, this guy is just an elite prospect. Period. Point blank, end of story. It's very, very difficult to tank in the NFL. You can tank a roster and put together the crappy version of your roster possible, and that's happened. Remember, the Miami Dolphins did it years ago? They won three of their last five games. And they beat the Patriots, remember, at the end of the season, that ultimately led them to get in the three seed, which then the Titans beat them in the first round,

and the Brady era ended. And I've actually always kind of defended Stephen Ross, like, we've come this far, keep tanking. And then they beat the Bengals, which I don't know, led to Joe Burrell, it's kind of changed their franchise. The Dolphins lost to the Bulls. bangles, or excuse me, the dolphins beat the bangles in overtime. So, you know, in basketball, it's so much easier to tank. It really is because you can just put the crappiest roster humanly possible out there. In football, you know, you see it every year. Even these terrible teams at the end of the season, coaches try hard, random players try hard. The teams you're playing sometimes don't take you seriously. It's just of all the sports to tank, it's definitely the

hardest. I mean, we saw it last year. The Texans to win those, what they win, like two of their last four games. They definitely won their last game and Chicago ended up getting the number one pick. Lovie Smith. Like, why did he care? And he clearly didn't. Like the coaches, the assistant coaches, they try. So a lot of people are going to walk Caleb Williams. And by the middle of the season, you know, when you're one in nine or two and 12, you're going to, you know, your fan base is going to have him circled. But it's difficult to attain that. that. It really is. And we see it year after year like, oh, this team is the worst team in the NFL. And they end up drafting four. So, I mean, the Colts were in absolute shambles last year.

They couldn't have been any worse for the majority of the season. They drafted fourth. Difficult to get that top pick. You know, it really is. No matter how hard you try to suck or even you're trying to win. So, you know, the tanking thing, the NFL is very, very lucky that that's an issue that they just don't have to worry about. The volume. Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and Friends.

Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, S&L'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,

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