The Herd with Colin Cowherd - 3 and Out - Stafford's LA Revival, Brady Retirement Limbo, Josh McDaniels --> Raiders, Coach/GM News, Free Trevor Lawrence, Mailbag

Episode Date: February 1, 2022

John discusses the renaissance of Matt Stafford's career after leaving Detroit, the confusion surrounding Tom Brady's reported retirement, if Josh McDaniels can win with the Raiders despite their historic dysfunction, why Bears new GM Ryan Poles should can the false bravado, and why the Jags coaching search is a complete joke. He also answers listener questions in the Middlekauff Mailbag.Follow John and The Volume on Twitter, Instagram and YouTube for the latest content and updates and check out FanDuel for the best wagering and daily fantasy action! 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. 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.

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What is going on, everybody? John Middlecock. out podcast. Super Bowl. In a couple weeks. We have the Pro Bowl this week. I mean, I don't count the Pro Bowl. We just got one more game. Kind of sad. Kind of bittersweet. But luckily, you know, in the NFL, there's no offseason. Besides in July when I'm playing a little golf. But for the most part, we got the draft, we got free agency, we got trades, we got action happening nonstop. And I'll have you

covered. I'll have you covered right here talking about the league, every story that matters, podcast flowing and subscribe to the three and out podcast I need, if you listen on through Collins' feet subscribe to the

individual three and out podcast. I need to do that and everyone that has I greatly appreciate and if you could leave a review. If not,

you know, I appreciate you subscribing. And obviously we have the go low podcast coming out every Wednesday as well right here on this feed talking golf.

I think Jason Sobel from the action network is going to start coming on and for like 10 minutes talk a little gambling each week and we'll keep, you know, kind of banging out the golf podcast and obviously banging out the football podcast. I might because after the Super Bowl, there's nothing football-wise

to gamble on. I might move Friday's Middilkoff mailbag that I usually put at the end of the podcast. I might just put that for Saturday and just have a separate Saturday podcast like we do right now with Stucky, who just kind of is on the weekend by himself, me and Stucky talking. might just put the mailbag for the weekend. But I got to talk through that with my people. And then we'll kind of, we'll go from there. But that's,

that's an idea that's kind of jarring around in this little noggin of mine. Let's dive into some football. Well, you know, the game is here, but not really, because we have the two-week build-up. It starts, last I saw, I think, four-point line,

which is a little crazy to me because I think the Bengals are heavy, heavy underdogs. You know, if you've watched, I know they won the North, but it was a pretty bizarre season in that division with the Browns being terrible. Baker being hurt and looking like a bottom five quarterback. The Steelers quarterback played pretty terrible as well. Somehow they made the playoffs. And the Ravens had seven million injuries. So I'm not trying to disrespect the Bengals at all. To me, this line should probably be like seven or eight. But that will see how it plays out. I mean, I don't think it's going to change much. But, you know, it's not the greatest Super Bowl. part of it's just the Bengals. Now, at one point in time when the Patriots made their first Super Bowl, they were 14-point underdogs to the Mike Mart's greatest show on turf rams. And the Patriots weren't viewed as some powerhouse brand.

And obviously they became that 20 years later. Now, they made nine Super Bowls. They went to 12 championship games. They did a lot of winning. But I would never, ever discount, you know, Joe Burrell, because I've seen them now two of three years when Ed Osier on a ring and take the freaking bangles to the, uh, the Super Bowl. It's really, you just say that out loud. The Bengals are in the Super Bowl.

It is, you almost don't believe yourself, but it actually happened. And I've been thinking a lot the last 24 hours since the end of that Niner game is, and we used to talk about this when I worked with the Eagles. I remember Louis Riddick used to talk about all this all the time. And it's so true. Situations and where you go as a young player in general is very, very important. But I do believe certain positions, if you're a great corner, Dionne Sanders, you could have put him anywhere. Jalen Ramsey played for the Jags, dominated. I could have put Aaron Donald on the Jags, on the Texans, on the Minnesota Vikings, and he's going to Pro Bowls. He's becoming an all pro. Now, part of it at individual positions, like a defensive lineman, Trent Williams

Forever with the Washington football team slash Redskins, it didn't matter how shitty they were. He was kicking the living, you know what, out of whoever was against him. But as a quarterback, I am so dependent on everybody, right? I'm dependent on all 10 guys on my side of the ball. The guy's blocking for me, my running backs, blocking for me, running the ball, catching the ball, and my receivers. I have to factor in all the defensive players.

Four or five of them are chasing me. The other eight are covering people or trying to tackle my offensive players. I have to know what they're doing. Then I'm getting a play call from an offensive coordinator, coordinator, which nowadays is a lot of head coaches. And then I have the structure of all those teammates, guys on my squad,

who the organization is bringing in. So much of it is out of my control. And one thing we see, and we'll talk about Tom Brady coming up, in the history of the league, some of the best players at quarterback have been associated with the best coaches. The two best players at that position are associated with Bill Walsh and Bill Belichick. And forever, like Matt Stafford, I didn't know what to make of them. them. I was a fan because I rooted

for the guy and I got a little Al Davis in me. I like big arm quarterbacks. But I understood the argument that he was kind of overrated, whatever, whatever the negative side you wanted to take, you could make a legitimate argument. But let's face it, he played for the Detroit Lions. And

no one succeeds there. Coaches, players, I mean, the two best players retired at 30. They're like, I can't take this anymore. I am out. I am not going to play for Detroit. I mean, the meme going around right now, Stafford and M&M, you know, being at the Super Bowl is the close to the lines or everyone gets to the Super Bowl. It's funny. Part of what makes a joke funny is a lot of

times it's real. Like, there's a lot of validity behind it. And you got with Sean McVeigh, like, there's no more arguing. We can discuss his game management. Like Andy Reid got dinged on game management for a lot of his career. You can't argue he's an elite head coach. Like Sean McVeigh is an elite head coach and is the best thing. Let me repeat is the best thing that's ever happened in Matt Stafford, that he ended up on the L.A. Rams. And there was a growing process. We talked about it all season long, that he was battling through these turnovers, but him going to a spot where they had a really good wide receiver, they had an offensive coach that clearly is, you know, upper echelon. They have a really,

really good defense. And they have an organization, an organization and a structure and a culture of winning, something that he was not used to. Think about Jimmy Garapolo. Jimmy Garoppolo was a second round pick When you're a second round pick Especially you know and you're not like the top of the second round Which usually isn't great because you're going to a sheet team Any team can pick you at any moment Teams can trade up teams can trade down

You can go anywhere He ends up with Bill Belichick and Tom Brady On the basically the third Kind of stretch of Tom's career Where he wins three Super Bowls And Jimmy's sitting front row I think he won two of them as the backup For three and a half years

Every single day Matt Stafford. Now, obviously Matt Stafford was the number one overall pick, but goes to Detroit. This, an absolute shit show on a yearly basis, running through coaches, running through assistance. Defense is atrocious. They miss in the draft nonstop. Jimmy goes to New England sits every single day when he's 23, 24, 25 years old, sits next to Tom Brady. And in quarterback meeting rooms, unlike offensive line or wide receivers, there ain't seven, eight, ten guys. There are two, maybe three.

It's just you and the offensive coordinator and the quarterback coach. It's a pretty tight-knit group. So for every day, a large portion of the day, he just got to see the greatest quarterback of all time work, listen, operate,

and just take notes. Not just from the Patriots culture, but what Tom was doing. And one thing that Jimmy's kind of hung his hat on since he's been with the Niners is people really like him. He is a fantastic teammate. Well, part of that is just natural,

you know, ability as a guy to relate to other people. Matt Stafford had that in Detroit. Clearly Joe Burrow has that. And Jimmy might have had that anyway, but you can't tell me that he didn't benefit from sitting next to Tom every day, watching Bill Coach.

And then when he's traded, when you get traded, you can go anywhere, right? He gets traded to Kyle Shanahan on a team that has George Kittal, Debo Samuel, the following year, they draft Brandon IU, they trade for Trent Williams. Like Jimmy's benefited a lot. And something that Matt Stafford,

for the large majority of his career, he didn't get anything to benefit off of. He just had to overcome it. And the simple fact is Joe Burroughs in the national championship, most people can't do what he does. Most people cannot overcome dysfunction. Most people cannot overcome in their 20s. It's one thing as we age, we get in our 40s or 50s. I'm not there yet.

But hopefully, like, as I go to my 40s, I'm more mature than I am now. I have more experiences drawn. I am just better suited to handle different stuff. We should all get better with age, right? If you're not, you probably should look in the mirror and figure out. what's going on. So Joe Burrow is just one of these rare guys. He's really more like an NBA player. I just give you Shaquille O'Neal, you're going to win immediately. I just give you LeBron James. I just give you these great players. You are going to win immediately. Well, that doesn't happen in football.

Like Patrick Mahomes won immediately. He's clearly a great talent who had a shitty game. But did he benefited a lot? One, he got to sit for a year behind, I don't know, one of the highest character, smartest quarterbacks ever in Alex Smith. Not a great player, but all the intangible stuff, Fantastic. He got to sit behind this guy and learn. He got to go to Andy Reid. He got to go to a team with Tyree Kill and Travis Kelsey. He benefited greatly from that. And he'd be the first to tell you, right?

Now, he has taken advantage of the benefits and the variables around him. Because ultimately, you have different opportunities come. You have to take advantage of it. But he has. Joe Bro went to the Bengals, who were an absolute joke. And by year two, coming off an injury, has him in the Super Bowl. where Matt Stafford, you know, kind of had, I wouldn't say lucky, because ultimately his market value was because of his talent,

which is God-given, and definitely by the time you get to your early 30s, he's worked on it, you know, the amount of time he spends, I'm sure, on football 365 days a year, it might not be Tom Brady level, but it's clearly a lot. Like, he takes football really seriously. And Sean McVeigh was going to do everything humanly possible to get him. And it changed his life. And now, more than likely, again, I'm going to pick the Rams in this. Super Bowl.

Minus four, I love the Rams, actually. He's more than likely going to be a Super Bowl champ. And he's still, I'm sure the Rams are going to give him an extension. He's not going anywhere. We're seeing the organization. They will do anything humanly possible to add good players. They do not give a shit about draft picks. And as someone that loves the draft who made a living off the draft, who still loves

watching the draft, like you can't argue that it worked. Like it 100% worked and now Matt Stafford is benefiting from it. And, you know, it's kind of going to be the tale of two quarterbacks. One guy that just could resurrect a franchise on his own. Matt Stafford was unable to do that in Detroit. In fairness, no human was ever able to do that. One of the greatest running backs ever could not do that. One of the greatest wide receivers ever could not do that.

Matt Stafford could not do that. But he got to a point or got to a situation where a lot of other high level guys, a really good coach, an organizational structure. And he's thriving, especially in the playoffs, where all the pressure is on him and he's really answered the bell. Beside the Kwoski Tart Pass, I think he's been pretty flawless all the entire playoffs. Fanduil Sportsbook is an official sports betting partner of Super Bowl 56.

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They got same game parlays. You can combine small bets for bigger wins, tons of Super Bowl props, and more. Don't miss out for your chance to turn five bucks. 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, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what you're saying. Yep. That's me. Clifford Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football,

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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 picket 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's 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 So Thank you finishing that sentence And 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 podcast 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, as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, learn the hard way. Open your free, our heart radio app. Search learn the hard way and listen now.

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Post your job for free at LinkedIn.com slash John. That's LinkedIn.com slash J-O-H-N John to post your job for free. Terms and conditions apply. Tradition to Tom Brady. I'm recording this a little earlier in the day. I know he's supposed to talk to Jim Gray. He does the serious hit every Monday night. I don't know what he's going to say.

I would imagine he'll push back on retirement. Now, if he does retire, maybe I'll have to scrap this and redo this part. But even if he does. Like, I think we all assume the guy is going to retire. Now, in terms of Darlington, Schefter, I don't know. I don't quite understand it. I don't really even care. It does not, it does not bother me.

He'll just retire whenever he retires. I'm sure he wants to control. the message and the timing of it. But with famous people, that's not always how it works. And it's already the cat. I would say he's not even out of the bag because we saw when he talked right after the season, we're all like, God, Tom Brady.

He sounds like he's going to retire. So we were already thinking it. Now, you know, I think there's one elephant in the room. Could he demand a trade, you know, to the 49ers end his career? Now, if he did, if that were to happen, which I'd be all for, the 49ers this time around, would not turn him down. That feels like a pretty big stretch.

Like, it feels like the reason he's retiring as he just spoke. I mean, they were hosting the, they were the two seat. So it's not, I mean, that team's been winning, right? Is that he wants to be around his family more. He's 44 years old. So let's just assume he's going to retire. I started listening a couple days ago to the Seth Wickersham book on Belichick. But it's really, and Brady and the organization, but it's a lot on Brady.

And I watched the Joe Montana documentary as well. And the irony is, you know, Brady grew up right by the San Francisco airport, diehard 49er fans, his dad had season tickets. Joe Montana was like his hero growing up. I think they have a lot of parallels as people and as, maybe not as much as people, but definitely as players. And both of them, one thing that's going to be interesting with the college quarterbacks moving forward is when times get tough for these guys, they transfer. When anything happens, they go, I'm out.

and Brady and Joe Montana thought about quitting Notre Dame his first year. By like his third year, he told Digger Phelps, who was the college basketball coach at the time in Notre Dame, I'm quitting football and I'm going to come play for you. Tom Brady thought about transferring back to Cal, told his dad I'm transferring back to Cal. Ultimately did not. And both of them struggled to get on the field. Joe Montana didn't really start to kind of his junior year and his senior year. Tom Brady started a little bit as junior year.

I think the last five games, and then was the full-time starter his senior year. But was not like some four-year player. In this day and age, those two players, one million percent would have hit the transfer portal and would be on other college teams. And for the most part, the struggle is,

I always say this, adversity, any human being listening to this, who's gone through any sort of adversity, personally or professionally, can utilize that to your benefit, learn from it, and become a better person, become better suited on the other side.

Now, sometimes it's hard to get through the mud and the muck of whatever you're going through. But being a human being, and the longer you live, you realize you're always, unless you die, going to come out on the other side. The sun's going to come up. The sun's going to go down. Time's going to progress and you'll get through it.

And both of them did. And for the most part, now with these young quarterbacks, they all transfer. That's why Bryce Young and C.J. Stroud both kind of had, again, they were like first class problems. But Bryce Young kind of got his ass kicked in the national championship. Now, he played okay, but just he lost a major game. And at Alabama, that's a pretty big deal.

And obviously, C.J. Stroud got worked. Now, again, he wasn't terrible, but his team lost, it's a team game against Michigan. So they've had some moments of adversity, right? And the other thing is that when both guys got drafted, now Montana was not a six-round pick, he was a third-round pick. And obviously, Brady was picked $19. They didn't play right away. Now, Joe didn't play right away because the team wasn't very good,

and Walsh was like throwing out Steve DeBerg and just wanted Joe to learn. And there's a point in the documentary, I think it's like 1980. They're playing the Cowboys. And DeBerg is just getting destroyed. I mean, they're getting blown out. And Montana is like hiding from Bill Walsh. And even he says it on the documentary, like, I didn't want Bill to see me because I didn't want to throw him in.

And then a bunch of teammates said that Bill had told him like, I was never going to put Joe in that game. And obviously, Tom, being a six-round pick, you're going to have to work your way up the depth chart. By his second year, he was the backup to Drew Bledso. So he did that. But he did get to learn, which doesn't really happen anymore. Trevor Lawrence, Zach Wilson, Justin Fields,

all these guys get thrown in to the fire immediately. Some of them, you know, I'm a big believer in the cream rises, but as we talked about with situations, like some situations, we'll talk about Trevor Lawrence later, could just destroy you, can just ruin your career. You know, these guys, let's face it, both of them greatly benefited from their situation. Bill Belichick drafted Tom Brady, Bill Walsh drafted Joe Montana. Change their careers.

You know, and one thing that's, especially where I live, and I guess it's Tom Brady's, I mean, one of the most famous athletes in the history of America, one famous kind of thing surrounding Tom Brady is that the 49ers passed on them for Gio Kormazi and Bill Walsh, you know, who at the time was the general manager. Well, watching the Montana documentary, Montana, I've listened to the Steve Young book, Bill Walsh liked athletic quarterbacks. You know another guy that Bill Walsh brought to the 49ers?

Jeff Garcia. He liked guys that could move. He never, you can like a player, thinking like, I think that's pretty, that guy's pretty good, but I would never draft him. Like Al Davis, I think we think of the Al Davis in like the guy that was losing his mind and projection screen with,

Lane Kiffin. For a long period of time, Al Davis was like the smartest guy in the league. You know, I remember last time at the Combine a couple years ago sitting in Andy Reed's in his hotel room when I interviewed him for this podcast. We were BS and after and he was just telling Al Davis stories. Al liked Andy. I mean, offensive guys. But you ever talk to football guys to to Al Davis like in his prime? I mean, the guy was like brilliant. But Al would not draft guys with weak arms. That was not, that was a non-starter. Anyone that didn't run a four-four he ain't drafting slow guys. They just have philosophical beliefs on who can be on their team.

That doesn't mean you can go, I like, I think that guy's going to be a good player. He just doesn't fit my, now I'd argue that you should be a little more open mind to do that. But some guys just stay with what they believe in and then they never really pivot. Well, Bill Walsh never would have drafted Tom Brady. Not in a million years. Too slow. His feet weren't fast enough. He couldn't move.

And even Tom admitted like he got faster in his career. He changed his diet. He really worked on it. But he's not a, you know, a quick-footed athlete. That ain't Tom's deal. Even to this day, even though you could argue at 44 years old, he's probably moving better than he ever has. Now, for Tom to retire, like, he clearly can still play.

We could argue where he was this year, best quarterback, second best quarterback, third best quarterback. He's clearly one of the best guys in the league. At 44 years old, that is not debatable. He is by far the most intelligent guy in the league. And from an arm strength standpoint, his arm looks every bit as strong as it has the last 15 years. You could argue even stronger. So he's leaving because he's just over it. Most guys like, what's he going to do? Play forever.

There had to be a time where Tom's like, where's the end game to this? What is the end game? I cannot accomplish anymore. Football is, it's not like golf either where you just, you can just play the rest of your life, right? Football ends. And once you stop playing football, unless you're like Jerry Rice and Brett Favre in the copper sleeve commercial, which I would imagine they're not playing very much pickup football. When your career ends at whatever age you are, whether it's high school, whether it's college or the pros, you then no longer ever play football again. You may play catch with your kid, right?

But you're not just playing like pickup football leagues. It's not like, hell, basketball, if you want to, if you're not risking like, I quit playing pickup probably three or four years ago because I didn't want to tear an Achilles. I don't want to be on crutches, right? But you can keep playing in your 40s and 50s as you want. Obviously golf and tennis, you can play in your 60s and 70s. football is a game that whatever, whatever age you play from an organized standpoint, when you stop, most of us are told, we're just not good enough, or when you retire at the highest level,

it ends. You never play football again. So maybe he's just wrapping his head around, like, am I truly cool? We're just never doing this again, besides playing catch every once in a while with guys. And I'm sure actually Tom is going to act, because whenever you hear his former teammates talk about how he acts as kind of a mentor. Like he'll always pick up the phone, He'll always help out their kids. I think he's very, very passionate about creating what he created, which is this, you know, I don't want to say fountain of youth, but kind of a hack. And kind of a way which not many people are going to be able to do.

As someone who struggles with discipline with my eating, I marvel at his ability. And it's easy to be like, oh, it's easy. No, it's not. You know, it's really not. I don't care how much money's on the line. Most people, the overwhelming percentage of human beings on this earth struggle with discipline in their life, regardless, whether it's food, whether it's, you know, their job, whatever it is. They're not very disciplined people. It's why the disciplined people, I would say, consistently separate in, you know, just in business, right? The more disciplines you are, the easier it is to separate from the pack. In Tom's discipline, second to none. It was second to none. So, we'll see how this story plays out but it clearly feels like where it's trending

because ESPN if you watched all weekend Tom Brady Sr. went on local news here in the Bay Area he is not retiring and then you turn on ESPN before the games and like Fox everyone's just talking like he's retiring they pivoted away from their story Other big story

also connected to Tom is Josh McDaniels and Josh McDaniels is going to be the head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders. And Josh McDaniels will basically just take over for John Gruden. Because John Gruden for the last, you know, three and a half years before he fired or quit or however you want to describe what happened with the text message, had full control of the organization.

Literally everything went through him. And say what you want about Mark Davis. You know, he's clearly financially in the lower tier of the league. He is a good owner to work for as a head coach. He'll let you do whatever. the fuck you want. You can pick any player. You can run any scheme. You can do whatever you want. There is, we'll talk about John Mara a little bit later. Like, he likes to have his hand in the cookie jar. Mark does not. Mark, I'll give you what you need. Here's the money. Sign. Do whatever you please.

Whatever you please. I saw it with Jack Del Rio. I saw it with John Gruden. And it'll happen again with Josh McDaniels. To me, the question is with Josh McDaniels is I'm not even going to hold him that much against Denver. 33 years old, that was a long time ago. But it's not really arguable that there was a big mistake made there, right? They took Tim Tebow in the first round. Tim Tebow was not an NFL player. And I was like, what a playoff game. Yeah, that was like an act of God.

That was a one-off situation in the sport of football. And Josh was fired a year and a half in, the cheating scandals, whatever. If you watch him and the Patriots tweeted out something earlier this month of him and his family talking about the last, you know, 10 years. years since coming back, he clearly feels like a more balanced person than when you heard Joe Judge talk. And unlike Joe Judge and some of these guys, like Josh, let's just use Joe Judge as an example. Josh McDaniels calls the offense. Now, how good of an offensive coordinator he is? I think most people, if you just say Josh McDaniels say he's one of the better offensive coordinators in the league.

Well, for a long period of time, you had Tom Brady, which, you know, by the time, especially the second go around, like Tom Brady was the best player in the league. So when he came back, In 2011 or 12 or whatever, when Bill O'Brien left, Tom Brady was in the peak of his powers. They had Gronk, they had Edelman. You know, I would imagine most above-average offensive coordinators would have thrived. Now, is everyone getting along with Tom? You know, we'll see. I mean, he's basically just had a couple offensive coordinators in his life, right?

Weiss, Josh, Bill O'Brien, Josh, and now left with Janarians, which I think we all consider Weiss, you know, whatever. Billy O's better than the way social media talks. Josh, I think time's going to tell. because Bill picks every single player. Now, did Josh learn more when he turned down the Colts? Because I think it's easy to shit on him for turning down the Colts and it didn't go well in the sense of he hired people on the staff. Everyone was ready for him to come and then he backed out last minute. But put yourself in a situation.

We all have second thoughts. It's easy to say you got to follow up on your word. That's something we're all taught when we're kids. You got to follow up on your word. And then he realized business, yeah, contracts can be broken. I can get fired at any moment. Like, you know, you got to do you. You got to do your family.

You got to do what you're comfortable with. Right? There's a difference between you're not allowed to quit Little League because you said you wanted to play baseball. And there's also a difference of, yeah, I don't feel that comfortable actually taking this job. And if I am, I'm better off telling you I don't want the job. I'm not coming than coming and being half in

and then like quitting a year or two in. So when it comes to big business, that shit doesn't. doesn't bother me as much. But I do wonder, like, is he some guy that waffles? Is he some guy that's somewhat insecure? Insecure is probably the wrong way to describe it, but just unsure given his previous situation years ago, I don't know. You should improve over time.

We should be getting a different Josh. But don't get it twisted. They're announcing, as I'm recording this, I think the new general manager who's also a patriot guy who was Josh's teammate at John Carroll, Dave Ziegler. Dave Ziegler answers to Josh McDaniels. Josh McDaniels is going to have the John Gruden roll with the Raiders. Now, one thing they have to figure out, because the Raiders have been a train wreck at this, pick some good players in the first round.

Can we stop taking terrible NFL football players in the first round? Damon Arnett just can't put down the guns. The guy is a complete fucking loser. Cleolyn Farrell, high character guy, terrible at football. I mean, that pick is just absolutely atrocious. I didn't mind the Henry Ruggs pick and I think he was becoming a player that was something that probably could have happened

to any organization. Now you could argue there's not top golfs open all night in every city but you know knowing people at Alabama knowing people that scouted Henry Ruggs coming out he did not have character red flags but the situation happened and he's now going to prison for years

surely. So they have to figure out a way to just get some good NFL players high in the draft and I don't know why we would just assume that Josh McDaniel is going to know how to do that. There are a lot of question marks. This is a very risky hire. I would argue it has high upside.

But we've seen it before. It also has a lower floor. So it's going to be fascinating to watch. But Josh McDaniels gets to run an organization. Bears general manager, Ryan Poles said something today that made me shake my head. And I had to do a little research. I texted a couple people that have been around him. I said, is he a really cocky guy?

They're like, no, he's actually pretty understated. And he said something today that I honestly can't believe that he came out of his mouth. Because I don't think there's any point to saying this. And listen, I believe in self-confidence. There's a difference between being self-confidence and like cocky and arrogant. If you do not have self-confidence professionally or personally, try to get a date with no self-confidence. Good luck, buddy. It ain't happening.

If you tell me some guy is taking a position in any company, a high-level position, and he struggles with self-confidence, I'll short the shit out of that guy. guy. That guy will fail. I do not think you can be successful in any high level industry without self-confidence. You need it. But there's also a balance of keeping some stuff to yourself. Because in any high-level business, it's very competitive. It is very, very difficult. Things are not easy. And nothing is a better example of that than the NFL. I say it all the time during the draft. When every single first round, we're watching the draft on television, right? And they go, picks one through 32. when they go to every single draft meeting,

or I mean draft room, after the pick is in, and we've drafted John Middilkoff, if it's the Minnesota Vikings, they're going nuts. They're hugging, they're kissing, they're high-fiving. They're just, unless you have Tom Donahoe

in like the third round, then he'd want you to pick someone else. But for the most part, every single organization is celebrating their pick. No one thinks they miss it. But as we see every single year, half those pixels guys can't play. And Ryan Poles,

who's a younger guy, So he's my age. I'm rooting for him to be good. I love watching all these younger guys get GM spots. Sorry old guys. We're taking over. Millennials are here. We're coming for all your jobs.

But Ryan Poles, who again, I've been told is an understated, kind of a low-key guy, said, we are taking the north. This is what he said today in his press conference. We are taking the north and we're never giving it back. Now, if someone told them like, hey man, Aaron Rogers is getting traded in like two months, I'd be happy too.

That's a big deal to me. You look around, you go, Kurt Cousins, not losing a day sleepover, Dan Campbell and the Lions. But here's what I do know. The Packers historically for 30 plus years have been consistently winning. And as Aaron Rogers said, I own you.

He's also saying, like, our franchise owns you. We've been kicking your ass. The Minnesota Vikings have just been consistently better than you. And the Lions have a long way to go. They got several picks. You don't even have a first round pick.

I just don't understand Listen, your personality is your personality. And I never believe in being fake, right? Part of the reason Bill Belichick's able to act like Bill Belichick kind of comes naturally, though. If you watch Andy Reid's press conference, you watch Kyle Shanahan's press conference, they don't look like that.

These guys, they're all just being themselves. But I do think there's a balance, and I talked about this last week after some of those crazy games in the divisional round, there's a reason you're humble in victory because it's so easy to go the other way. There's nothing wrong with saying, I can't wait, to do whatever I can't.

can do to help the Chicago Bears win. I will spend every waking moment doing everything humanly possible to try to get us to win this division. Winning this division means a lot to us. And there's a difference in saying we're taking back the north and we're never giving it back.

Taking back the north. When's the last time you guys had the north? The Packers, it feels like I've won this division 20 the last 30 years. And the Vikings have won it several times. Like, let's just walk before we run. The other thing is, and I saw this years ago, Jim Harbaugh's last couple years.

Jim Harbaugh's teams under Trent Balke had some criminals. Literally. Guys, I mean, Ray McDonald went to jail for hitting people. Alden Smith, we called him. Alden, the cops are coming, Smith. Always getting arrested. I actually think I just read he got arrested within the last couple months.

Chris Culliver, the corner, once, like almost hit a biker crossing the street, got out of his car. Culliver was like a low 4-4 guy, grabbed brass knuckles and chased the guy down the street. They were basically the Urban Meyer, Florida teams, they just were that in the NFL.

They had dudes getting arrested left and right. And Jed York came out and said, because it was like the seventh arrest, he's like, we want to win with class. It's like, bro, no one gives a shit. Just win. Like, you're not, I say, the NFL's not about teaching moral life lessons.

And Jed was hard to, he didn't live winning with class down for years, basically until the Super Bowl year. And when you, say something like this and it doesn't go well, people are not going to let it die. People are not going to let you live it down. And it's just so unneeded. You just don't need to say this. Now, unless like your owner tells you to say it, then you have no choice. But I doubt that. This doesn't quite feel how the McCaskey family operates. And I get being excited to have your general manager in the

NFL, your GM of the Chicago Bears, enormous brand, big city, passionate city. They love their football team. I just think saying a comment like that in a league that is so competitive, the Minnesota Vikings just hired probably the smartest guy that's ever been a general manager in the history of the league. Now, it's going to be a good GM? I got no clue. But the dude

spent like 10 years as a venture capitalist. So if he does know football and can figure it out, that guy's going to be good. The Lions have a million picks. Have a million picks. And you would just say the law of averages, they're bound to hit him some players eventually. And the Packers, like, I think Rogers is leaving. What if he does

Because if he doesn't, and they roll it all back, they're still kicking your ass. So I just, I don't get it, man. I don't think you got to be Bill Belichick. You don't have to do that. You know, you have nothing. But you do, like, you don't need to do this. You don't need to be Rex Ryan. And even Rex Ryan, when he was talking a lot of shit, especially toward the end, he had won some playoff games.

You know, he'd, I think he'd won four. He'd been to a couple conference championship games. And as an assistant, like, he'd won a Super Bowl. I know Ryan Poles has won an assistant as, or I mean, won a Super Bowl as like an assistant executive on the Chiefs, but I just don't love that. I got to give the Giants a little credit because we talked about it.

I guess it would have been last week. How I was just unsure, are the Mara's going to force Brian Flores on them? They didn't. They let Joe Shane hire his coach. And is it going to work or not? I got no clue. Pretty funny video of Dayball driving his F1 to the Giants facility.

I guess he drove from Buffalo showing up for the press conference in his suit. Now he had the suit coat on in his truck. So they might have just had him drive down the road for that shot. I don't know because no human alive drives in their car with their suit jacket on. That's just nobody does that. You put it in a hanger.

You put it in the second row of seats and you hang it up. But they let him hire his guy. So the only way this was going to be successful. because they haven't had this in years, have a GM and a head coach who are on the same page. That's the only way you have a chance for success. That doesn't guarantee you anything.

These guys could easily fail. I would say they are less likely to fail because just look at their two resumes. Both of them have been around the block, both of them have had success, both of have been around teams that have lost. I think that is powerful. I think one problem with some of the Belichick guys

that are... 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.

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That's me, Cliver Taylor the fourth. 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,

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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 Jek. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we picket 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.

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All you do is win. When they went 7 to 9 last year, those are first losing season in like 19 years. Their first losing season. We talk about like, remember when they missed the playoffs, they still had winning years. So to me,

I'm very, very fascinated to watch these guys. They clearly need to get a quarterback. They have two high draft picks. I would imagine, I mean, Mara said it. They're going to roll Daniel Jones back. I don't think he's any good. I'd be out on Daniel Jones, but not everybody's Joe Burrow. Some guys take some time.

They clearly need to improve their offensive line. I think it's a pretty easy one for these guys. Just give Daniel Jones another shot and just see how it goes and then able to pivot next year when, you know, C.J. Stroud, Bryce Young. So I just think it's a better quarterback class. I really do. And last but not least, I saw Albert Breer wrote this in his MMQB, that Trevor Lawrence should ask for a trade. And I couldn't agree more. The Jags are a joke.

Now, they've been a joke for a long period of time. You could have argued he should have asked for a trade last year, Eli Manning, John Elway style. I'm not playing there. Now, he was never going to do that. He's from the South. He's very religious. He feels comfortable in that environment.

When they hired Urban Meyer, it probably felt him on paper like it made some sense. Obviously, that did not go well. But right now, what are they doing? Briar and Lefich, they were going to hire him, and then he said, I'm not working for Trent Balke. and the one thing you consistently hear, nobody will work for Trent Balke.

And now, Breer wrote this too, and he's right. How did they all of a sudden land on Kevin O'Connell? They fired Urban Meyer a long time ago. They have known they were looking for coaches a long time ago. Why didn't they have a specific list of even if it was seven, eight guys, and then figure it out from there? Well, I'll tell you why. Nobody wants to coach this team.

And they have, just a year ago, this guy was considered the best quarterback prospect. since luck and Peyton Manning. And now they're completely toxic and it starts with their general manager. And I keep seeing like, well, the owner is so loyal to the general manager. The owner is a terrible NFL owner.

He has no clue what he's doing. You know, he might, they're running some competitive wrestling against the WWE. Everyone tells me that's going well. He clearly is a good businessman, made tons of money. But when it comes to his football team, they are an embarrassment.

They truly, they have no clue what they're doing. I actually think the Texans, everyone makes a big deal like, how can you hire Josh McCown? Fuck, how can you hire Uber Fluse? I could never have hired Uber Fluse. No chance.

This notion that Josh McCown would be any worse than the majority of these guys that have been hired over the years is laughable. Joe Judge ran a quarterback sneak on third and nine. So just this notion that all,

just because you're an assistant coach in the NFL means you're any good is bullshit. I would say half the coaches in the NFL are stealing. The average position coach is making $400,000. If you took away their whistle and had them get a regular job, most of them were making like $50 grand. So let's not act like they are just these well-rounded,

dominant individual. They're not even that great at their own field. So this notion that Josh McCown would be a joke, now it does feel they could easily hire Brian Flores as well. But the Texans don't have that much to deal with, right? It's not like they have a quarterback on the roster. The Jags have Trevor Lawrence going into a second year and can't get anyone to take their job. So I don't think he will because it's not, doesn't feel like an Eli Manning.

Part of Eli Manning had a dad that played in the NFL. Part of Elway doing that was he had powerful agents and Jack Elway, who was a football guy. Trevor Lawrence, you know, I don't think he even knows what he doesn't even know. But if he had come from the Manning family, if he had come from, you know, a family that had been associated with the NFL, if they didn't say it last year, they would 100% be saying it now. Get me out of here. Get me to safety.

Come save me. Trade me. I will not play for you anymore. But, you know, there's a reason bad franchises stay bad franchises. And maybe in a couple years, Trevor Lawrence becomes available. And he's, you know, some teams able to poach him and save his career. But who knows? Maybe not.

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Content varies by package and location restriction supply. 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.

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this and connect with this, we reconnect with each other. The forest is closer than you think. Find a forest near you and start exploring at Discovertheforest.org, brought to you by the United States Forest Service and the Ad Council. Okay, let's dive into the Middlekopf mailbag at John Middlecough is the Instagram. easy. You just slide up into those DMs and you get a question to answer here on the show. We'll start with Joseph. Mailback question.

If Stafford wins the Super Bowl, what is the difference in terms of his legacy and Alex Rodriguez? I think you, Arod, I think you mean Aaron Rogers. Let's face it. Both guys are superior talented than most of their position and all that separates them was a Super Bowl. Now that changes, right?

Well, Rogers has had the far superior career. I mean, I'm not an Aaron Rogers hater. As a player, he's remarkable. He's been dramatically better for the last decade than Matt Stafford. Now, he's always stood up for Matt Stafford. He's always supported Matt Stafford and acted like he was underrated. I think Aaron Rogers was a big Matt Stafford fan. Their legacies, the difference, like Roger's legacy,

you know, he's going to go down as one of the greatest quarterbacks ever. Now, he's got some blemishes, right? You only have one Super Bowl. is pretty crazy for a player of his caliber, but he's not done yet. You know, he still has, if you base on Tom Brady years, you could argue like three or four years left at a really high level. Hell, four or five. He could still do some things.

Matt Stafford, though, 33 years old, really could go on a run now with McVeigh if they build this thing. What if he has like a five or six year run where he's going to the playoffs all the time? He wins a Super Bowl. Stafford would have a way to go to match Rodgers, But yeah, I definitely think that he could improve on that legacy. Okay, from Wacey Orkman. I don't even know if there's a real name.

Maybe it is. If it is, cool name. I think Kyle is an offensive coach who missed the calling on defense. Not trying to shit on him, but he's a coach who wants ultra-controlling things. If he calls the shots, it'll work. And does for the most part. Leaning heavily on the run is the best way to control as a coach

and limit mistakes. It's what every defensive coach hammered for, but when Kyle does it, he's a genius. He establishes physicality and can motivate like crazy. Yeah, the difference, though, is Kyle gashes people in the run game. Kyle's run game without like Barry Sanders, Emmett Smith, or Adrian Peterson,

kicks ass. I mean, I've seen it firsthand. His scheming of the run game, Kyle's schemer, his ability to scheme his offense, is fantastic. Most defensive coach, like, Run the ball up the gut.

I'm not saying Kyle every once in a while run up the gut and it won't work, but Kyle's runs are pretty remarkable. Like, I've watched every call, every play call he's had in his career as a head coach. He's been fucking pretty good. He has bad games. And that's human.

Like, to me, it's always like, you can't, no, you can criticize. Like, Andy Reid, you can be critical of what they did at the end of the first half. You can be critical of what Kyle did on second and short and third and short. That doesn't mean they're not great coaches. It doesn't mean Coach Reed's not going to the Hall of Fame.

It doesn't mean Kyle Shanahan is one of the best young coaches in the league. But you can have a bad day. I love Mike Vrable. They had a bad day. There's nothing wrong with that. It's life. I have bad shows. You have bad days at the office.

It's the way the world works. McVeigh was terrible. McVeigh didn't have any timeouts in the fourth quarter. Hey, John, quick question for you. Do you watch games alone with friends at a bar? Does it change depending on the week? I watch most of my games alone. I do this for a living.

You know, I need to stay locked in. Saturdays, college football, I don't talk about as much. Like, I go out. You know, I go out drinking with the boys or ladies, you know, maybe got a little lady friend here and there. But I do, like, Sunday's a work day for me. Sunday is my Monday. Sunday and Monday are enormous days, you know, to stay locked in,

to stay clear-headed. You know, some days, if I get after it too much on Saturday, I don't even like being thrown off on Sunday. So it's like, you know, now I'm not a big go-out guy anyway. But I would say my schedule is a little weird. I mean, just depending on what's going on. I don't really have days of the week. It just revolves around football.

You know, it's not like Monday through Friday and then get the weekend off. All my days kind of blend together. Now, during the off-season, it changes a little bit. But I do enjoy the NFL watching alone. Saturdays, Fridays, you know, if games are on, whatever. But I'll go, I have watched games at bars or hell, go to games. Sunday, though, is just me. It's going to be, I'm going to have to adapt when I get a, I mean, who knows?

I got to find a mate. But a family, it'll be interesting. But, you know, football pays the bills. And right now it's doing pretty well. But, yeah, I enjoy watching football by myself. But I was like that, like as a scout. You know, I was like that when I was young. I've liked watching games by myself.

for 20 plus years, and I'm not that old. Been a listener of yours since the beginning. Appreciate it from Travis. Love the pod, and I hope you keep doing what you're doing. I've been a lifelong Cowboys fan, and after watching what Burrow can do with his leaky O line, I can only think of what an indictment it is on Dak Prescott. That being said, I'm a fan of Dak, and I don't blame just him.

We always have the talent, but it just seems like the team is too entitled. Players never end up performing up to their salary. Question. What can the team do, to send a message to the players that crappy boneheaded plays won't be tolerated. Example, Gregory was coddled for years for his lack of discipline and he ends up making crucial mistakes in the playoff game. Fucking tired of being disappointed.

P.S. Not a fan of McCarthy. It starts with your coach. You're either, you know, the age old saying goes, you're either coaching it or allowing it to happen. The coach sets the tone. What you want in your organization gets set by your head coach. Then it breeds, you know, bleeds down to your. best player. And for you,

Dax's not your best player, but he's your highest paid player and he's your leader. I just think that, I don't know. You know, as long as McCarthy's there, I don't think you're going to be the buttoned up operation. It's just not going to happen. You know, and obviously your organization's unique because of the juice Jerry has.

You know, no team has, it's weird. When I say meddlesome, it sounds worse than it actually is because Jerry, they clearly do a good job. They draft well. They're competitive. But Jerry's always, you know, talking to the media. Jerry's always involved in the contracts. I admire the shit out of Jerry.

I am not one of those people. But again, I'm way more pro-business than anyone that talks about sports beside about five. So I admire a lot of things that Jerry brings the table and what he's done around the Cowboys. But from a pure football standpoint, you know, I think he can. make it challenging and empower guys.

Because think about it. When you're a parent, right, in my life, it was like my dad was the hammer. My mom was a little softer, right? And every house is different. And they'd be like, wait till your dad comes home. Right? And you always knew that you could go to your mom

if your dad said no. And as you get older, like, maybe you get a job. Well, you know if you work for a guy and he's a middle manager, you go like, this guy doesn't have any juice. I'll go to the boss. I'll go to the decision maker. You learn that pretty early in life.

Don't waste any time talking to people that don't have decision-making powers or those that can influence decision-making powers. So if I'm a player, the coach can yell at me, but if I'm Jerry's guy, like, why do I really care? McCarthy can't cut me. Any advice you'd give the young guys trying to break into the industry? Personally, I'm a University of Central Florida studying business, but all I want to do is talk sports. Should I start a YouTube channel, change my majors, or what? Do not change your major. Just your opinion would be fantastic.

I would stay as a business major. If you want to get involved in the world of talking sports, you know, I can only speak from my perspective. You know, the people that come up the quote unquote media way, right, try to get a job at a media entity and be a personality, it is tough. Right? And I would say most people you see on TV, let's just use a couple guys, like Stephen A. Smith or Colin Coward,

Stephen A was a writer for 20 years in transition because, let's face it, no offense to any writers listening, but your industry is struggling. It's not nearly as powerful as it was when I was a kid or even before that. It's trending in the wrong direction. The written word has never been less powerful, right, just in terms of the people that consume it. Right. So I need newspapers die a little more every day. You know, the non like New York Times or Wall Street Journal because those guys, those have a huge, huge, you know, base. But I bet that base tends to be a little bit. little older, where the reason YouTube and video stuff is really big is because that's where all the money is. And that's where all the advertisers go. So Stephen A quit writing and went to TV.

Bill Simmons quit writing and went into talking. All the money is in video and audio. Think about how we consume. We watch television and we listen to podcasts or listen to whatever on through our phone. So I would try to do things that get you reps at that. But if you're just a 23 year old guy with a business major who just talks about sports, I'm not trying to be an asshole, you're kind of a dime a dozen. But like the way I did it, and again, I do not recommend doing this, I got involved in football. So it gave me credibility and then luckily I just know how to talk, right? So I can talk, but people go, oh, this guy's worked in football. If I hadn't done that, I wouldn't, me and coward never would have met each other. He'd been like, who's this guy? There's a million of me's.

So you got to find a way to separate from the pack. And, you know, when I was in college, it was like get a job in a newspaper or something. I would not recommend that. One, they don't even pay. Two, I don't necessarily know. I can only speak from my experience. You know, you've got to find a way to be different. That to me is key.

And then, once you find a way to get different, someone will give you hopefully an opportunity. Because ultimately, you could start a YouTube channel. I would do that. but it's going to be hard. Like, people aren't just going to watch unless you just naturally find some algorithm. I would try to work on a way to separate from the pack.

And I don't know what that answer is for you. I wasn't thinking like this when I was in college. I was just trying to make it. I was just trying to work in football. And then you just kind of got led down a different path. But if I had just never worked in football and just gone media, I would not have that.

I would not be here today. I truly believe that. I know that for a fact. I mean, sorry, that's not great advice, but my number one advice, try to find a way to separate from the pack. You know, whether that's with a legal background, whether that's maybe get involved for a couple years with a team, just so you have some insight information. Because you can always transition to this. Always.

Just wanted to hop in the DMs and remind you that you said the Bengals fans were crazy if we thought we were going to go to Arrowhead and beat Patrick Mahomes. Just to rub it in a little. Who day? I did. Absolutely stunned. Two days later, while I'm recording this Monday afternoon, blown away. I mean, it's fucking nuts. Again, I lost several thousand dollars because of the Chiefs.

Though I still love all those guys. And football's hard, man. This is what I'm saying about Ryan Poles. Football is so hard. It's hard enough when you're good. And you have Patrick Mahomes and you have Jason or Travis Kelsey and Tyree Kill and Chris Jones. It's hard to win games. When you suck to kind of like

act like you're going to be something, Andy Reid has never talked like that. I've never heard Kyle Shanahan say those words. Sean McVeigh, the craziest thing I've ever seen him do is celebrating the end zone after a touchdown. Just look at Belichick. Complementary, complimentary. Even though behind closed doors, you can talk shit.

The best part of my job, I can say whatever I want. ultimately I'm just trying to get more of you to listen. Those guys, their job is to try to win, you know, 17 games. They're trying to win 10-11 them to get into the dance and then try to make a Super Bowl run. I just don't get it. And everything I've heard about the guy, he's a high-level guy, but to just say you're going to run the north. I don't know, man. I think that's a poor tactic.

Thoughts on Lincoln Riley and the rebuild. I mean, I think Lincoln Riley is a baller. So at USC he's going to get players. I know he got a couple transfers. He got Jerry Rice's kid from Colorado transferred. We'll see what happens. Caleb Williams, the quarterback, but he's immediately trying to even think.

Mario left. David Shaw's team's terrible. Chips, average. Hermes, Edwards, programs, and Chambles. Love my guy, Jonathan Smith, Oregon State. Washington, Washington State. Their coach is Dubor. I like Dubor.

I watched it, actually. but, you know, it's a big step up from Fresno State to the University of Washington. Lincoln Riley's the best coach in the back 12. He's one of the best coaches in the country. So now, like I said, when he was hired, the only question I have is when Pete Carroll was awesome at USC. When Nick Sabin has dominated for a couple, you know, a decade, when LSU won their team, you can't, obviously you've got to have good offensive players. Offense was never a problem for him.

He always had star quarterbacks, star wide receivers, star running back. and NFL alignment. They didn't have the defense. Where Pete Carroll separated himself pass rushers, linebacking play. They were so good in the front seven they could out physical people. It's why they could beat the SEC teams.

And I just don't know. We'll have to see if Lincoln... I know he understands that, but if he... There's a difference between knowing what you need to do and truly like thinking about it 24-7, 365. Because to me, his number one goal

should be to get defensive players. offensive things, it's going to be easy. Offense is not the problem. As someone who bet on Jason Day this weekend, chipping and putting for Jason Day, he could do that in his sleep. Jason Day is one of the best putters on the PGA tour every time he plays.

His short game is stupid. It's all about his back not getting hurt and hitting fairways. If Jason Day is going to hit fairways, he's going to have a chance to compete at any PGA golf tournament. If Lincoln Riley gets a defense, he'll be able to hang with anybody.

That's a big if. Is it time to stop talking? talking about the intangibles of DAC. We just watched Joe Burrow on a rookie contract take two Tiger teams to the championship game. Without the best coach, team, and physical skills. Love the show. No, I mean, intangibles matter. Part of Joe Burrow's story is his intangibles.

Joe Burrow has elite intangibles. When you say the it factor, he's got it. I think we question like, I think Dak has good intangibles. I think he's a good leader. I think he's tough. I think Dak's problem is physical skills. Joe Burrow is just a better thrower of the football. Joe Burrow is just a better quarterback.

I'd say intangibles, they actually feel kind of similar. Dax intangibles are not the problem. I think we need to talk more about Dax accuracy, about Dax arm strength, about Dax playmaking ability. That to me is the issue. Intangibles, I never get tired talking intangibles. We should celebrate good people, especially in a time and age when everyone on social media is fucking miserable.

I'm all, I have no issue. shoe. I thought DAC was pretty terrible against the Niners, but I respect the shit out of that guy as a human being. And the NFL, I say it all the time, is full of great people. But not them all are great players. Dax is not a great player.

What do you think of McDaniels and the Raiders fit? Raiders and Waller in his scheme seemed to be intriguing. I talked about it earlier. I would say he's going to love Hunter Infro. The league loves Hunter Renfro. Hunter Infro is an Elite slot receiver.

Elite. And Darren Waller, when healthy, he's incredible. It would be interesting to see who he hires as a defensive coordinator. I actually think they got some pieces on the team. They need to find a right tackle. They need to find a true outside wide receiver. They just need better personnel in their back seven. But it's not a bad starting spot at all.

Would you take Alave or London settle this silly argument? Well, when London, broke his ankle during the season. I had a buddy who told me that he thought he was the best wide receiver in the draft. Now, he's not a fast player. I'm sure he won't be able to run by the combine because of the ankle. I mean, a lave, guys like a lavee, I would say tend to translate more consistently to the NFL. But when Drake London's due hit, if I remember correctly, I think Mike Evans was like a 4-4 guy.

I don't know how fast Drake Linden is. But his ball skills, his physical nature, if he can play like, if it translate to the NFL, he can dominate. Now, you can see guys like that, you know, Chase Claypool. It's like, damn, Chase Claypool is a freak. Right?

But there are a lot of guys that are freaks that don't turn in anything. I don't know about Alave. I'm assuming he's a good character, good guy, hard worker. I have a hard time seeing Chris Alave suck. Now, also, being a wide receiver, it's like, what if I go to a team

that has a crappy quarterback, right? If I play wide receiver for the Giants or I play wide receiver for the Chiefs, it looks a little bit different. You put Drake London with Patrick Mahomes or Josh Allen? I bet he's awesome. You put Chris Alave with Daniel Jones

or Jimmy Garaplo? Might not look as great. And I'm not, that's, I'm sorry, Jimmy. You shouldn't be in the same sentence as Daniel Jones, but you know what I mean. I've listened to you since Collins Feed. Big fan. Appreciate it, Ryan.

I live near Modesto, so I'm not that far from you. nice to have someone local that knows the Niners so well, but also everyone around the league. I know you like to bet a little bit, and I was on my bookie, and I figured this play out and figured I'd share it with you. KC isn't going to lose. Yeah, we were wrong. He shared a parlay. And we both lost. He did put $1,000 in the Niners money line.

I did that as well. Also lost. You know, gambling. I love gambling when someone puts it out like, Action Network often does this. Maybe Darren Ravelle, who's a little weirdo, but he's got some fun nuggets every once in a while. That someone mid-Chiefs game put $200,000 on the Chiefs to win $12,000.

I never understand that bet, even though I kind of do, like if I had $500 million and I just had a bank, you know, with a couple million dollars just to always bet with, I'd be like, well, I could turn $300,000 into $15K in an hour. Where else can you do that? You can't, right? So it's probably boredom, but it's sports, man. You know, I, I never, I've never been a big fan of betting a lot on money line teams.

Like this team, you got to bet, you know, $1,000 to win $100. Like, that bet sucks. Or even like $1,000 to win $400. I'm good. Why is everybody only talking about Jimmy G today? Yes, it was a boneheaded play. The run to the full back on fourth and two was one of the worst nails in the coffin. They dropped the interception was another one.

Most importantly, the corners are terrible. they couldn't cover a wall with 10 gallons of paint. They seemed to watch the D-line, and if it's not a sack, then they try to cover. Yeah, I mean, the Niners got beat, man. I agree. I mean, the Niners got outplayed. Rams outplayed.

Rams took it to them. Most of the game, the Rams took it to them. Niners had a couple good drives. Defensively, they were terrible on third down. You know, they couldn't really get the pressure like they had the last couple weeks. Part of that, you know, I'm not here bitching, but, you know, one thing, and I'm good with this.

I always say this about the NBA, swallow your whistle. Let the kids play. If you're not going to call holding, I'm cool with it. If you're not going to call hard fouls, I'm cool with it. This is the playoffs. I don't need you to over-regulate the game. Let them play.

Let them play. I don't need PI called on every play. It does not bother me. It's why James Harden gets throttled in the playoffs. They don't fucking blow the whistle every time you drive to the basket, homie. It doesn't work, right? Skill game.

Figure it out. Michael Jordan got taken. out, he figured it out. Kobe figured it out. Jerry Rice figured it out. The best players figure it out. But in one-off games, if you're kind of feeling your way and you're like, they're not calling it, it can cost you. And I think you saw that. Just again, totally cool with the referees. Now, I don't know if the TV was on the same page as the in-house clock. There were several delay games they did not call in that game. Definitely. Niners benefited on one, two, but the Rams it felt like benefited on like three.

Again, like they say that the white line, or not the white line, but the red line or the yellow line, where, you know, the first down marker is, they say it's not an actual representation. You know, it's not, that's not an official line. I don't know if the clock on TV is official. But if it is, they were not,

but I say all the time, the referees are terrible. And the NFL doesn't care. I think, listen, this is not a shot at you Bengals fans. I know your passion. I know you love your team. You know, is the NFL thrilled that the Bengals run the Super Bowl?

We'll see. The ratings. It might not matter. I'm a lifelong Rams fan and just watched them finally put the Niners away and it feels like the biggest game of McVe's career so far. My question is, with Cups performance all year long, I wonder why isn't getting more consideration for MVP. Well, the MVP, the voting's over.

So, I mean, I think we all assume Rogers won. I think it's just simple. It's a quarterback award. They might as well just announce it's a quarterback Award. Cooper Cup through 20 games. I did the math. 170 catches, 2,300 yards, and 20 touchdowns. Like, the guy is in a completely different level, but they're just not going to vote for him. They're just not. He has no chance to win the MVP. It's a quarterback award, which we could argue

stupid, but it is what it is. I'd give my left arm to see the Jets make the playoffs, and I was just curious on what you take is on the possibility of a Bengals-like rebound in 22. I know the division is brutal, but do you think Zach Wilson has the chops? I think it would be an enormous stretch. Zach Wilson hasn't

shown anything near Joe Burrow. I mean, what Joe Burrow did at LSU in the highest level, Zach Wilson did against like, you know, Weaver State and Cal Poly and Coastal Carolina. And actually, he didn't even play well against Coastal Carolina. He's a major work in progress. But in fairness to Zach Wilson, who showed signs, their defense was atrocious.

Atrocious. So if you can't play defense, Josh Allen, obviously the bills are way better than you. I mean, the Patriots are dramatically better than you too. And the dolphins, while they got issues, now we'll see. Who knows who their coach is going to be? I don't think you can make the playoffs. But if Zach Wilson is a pro bowler, then maybe you could win eight, nine games. I would say if Zach Wilson is a pro bowler in 2022, it'd be one of the biggest stories of the league. I mean, their defense, didn't they, I mean, I heard people saying this. They had one of the worst defenses in franchise history.

And their head coach is a defensive guy. What I don't understand about Robert and I like him, Saul it, you're a 40, 41-year-old guy hired you to be a head coach. I want you to call the defense. I'm not, I don't understand these young guys that don't call the side of the ball for the reason that they got hired. If I wanted a CEO, I'd call Warren Buffett and ask for his advice who'd hire.

I'm looking for a young gun who can call plays. Sean McVeigh, Kyle Shanahan, LaFleur. Andy Reid once upon a time when he was hired. Sean Payton, when he was hired. Hell, even Bruce Ariens and Mike Zimmer, they were in their 60s when they finally got a job. What did they do? They coordinated their side of the ball

at Arizona and Minnesota. I don't understand why you don't coordinate your side of the ball. That really bothers me. It just doesn't add up. Okay, last one. I'm not even sure how to bring this up. I keep seeing on social media comments on several different platforms

that the NFC and AFC championship games were fixed. My initial take is you're an idiot if you think the NFL is rigged. But not to be completely closed-minded. You know, it's like, you're a crazy asshole for these conspiracy theories, but, you know, it kind of resonates. Have you ever encountered

or heard rumblings from your contacts or time in the league that this is an issue? There is a lot of money related to betting, so I can't say that I would be surprised. Well, here's why it's not possible. Let's just use a regular season example. Patrick Mahomes makes $40 million, right? Tom Brady's making $25 million.

You got Aaron Donald making $20 million. What gambling company is going to be able to pay them, it was easy to fix in the Black Sox days of 1920. No one was making any money. Hell, it was easy to fix stuff in the 70s and 80s. A guy might be making, 200 grand to play pro sports. So it's like, hey, I'll give you 50 grand.

So if I'm making 200 grand in 1985 and someone pays me a quarter of my salary to throw a couple incompletions, I'm not saying that happened. It pencils. What can you pay me to get me to put my career on the line and serve jail time if I get caught?

I make, if I'm, let's just say a quarterback, let's say I'm Matt Stafford. I make 35, million dollars a year. So I basically make $2 million a week during the season. Well, what are you going to do? It plays a $50 million bet. You place a $50 million bet on the Rams game. And let's say you're trying to end due, you know, get Stafford to throw the game. Once you plays a $50 million bet, the feds would be, you know, triggered. They would know about it. The casinos, the red flags would go off. But again, if I'm Matt Stafford, let's say you're going to give me $10 million.

What's $10 million actually worth to me? I'm already worth $300 million and I make $2 million a week. And I'm the only guy they truly can influence it. Even a coach. Okay, you can give a coach a million dollars. Well, if I'm Sean McVay, I make $10. So is $1 million going to be worth it? I think these guys make way too much money now.

Maybe you could do it in college sports potentially, but I think it's impossible in the pros. Because all the star players that dictate the games and even the coaches, even a lower paid coach. You have a $5 million a year job. Even if someone's going to pay me $500,000 to, you know, keep a point spread close or not cover, it's just not worth it.

It would be worth it if you're making $50,000 and someone's offering you $500,000. But that's, it's the complete opposite. And the moment you place a bet of any consequences, it gets flagged. No one would even take that bet. I mean, you'd be hard pressed to find to be able to place a bet like bigger

in a couple million dollars, unless you're quote unquote, high roller in a place. But the high roller is like they would keep close tabs on those guys. So I just zero chance it was rigged. Now, I do think the referees greatly impact the game. Now, could they be on the take? We've seen it before.

I grew up a Sacramento Kings fan. I ditched them because they're the worst franchise in all of sports. I'm conditionally loyal to any sports team. And the Sacramento Kings, poop, got the boot. But, you know, Tim Donagie once screwed them with the Lakers. That's not an opinion. That's a fact. He was in bed with the mob. I actually read his book.

I haven't sitting on the bookcase over there. He used to go to the Philadelphia Marriott where when I was with the Eagles, where all of our players would stay. And I would pick them up my first year. And I also pick up Duce Daly. He was an intern in my first year. I used to pick him up to come to work.

You know, sometimes he wasn't always on time. I'd be like, Deuce, I'd be calling him. Time to go. I can't be late. They're paying me $18,000. I got to be on time. Deuce would come down at about 715, and then we'd fire to the office.

Good times. I love Deuce Daly. Lions, you should be happy. He's on your staff. Have a good week. Talk soon. And subscribe to the podcast, share it with your friends. Keep those Middlecoff mailbag questions at John Middlecoff.

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