The Herd with Colin Cowherd - 3 and Out - Sunday Ticket Celebration, Hold Off on Kyler, Mailbag

Episode Date: July 15, 2022

John discusses the grind mentality that makes the greats like Tiger Woods and Peyton Manning to keep coming back with nothing left in the tank, why the NFL Sunday Ticket is a landmark moment for NFL fans, why he wouldn’t extend Kyler Murray until after the season, Bill Belichick’s best quality as a GM. He also answers listener questions in the Middlekauff mailbag. Subscribe NOW and follow Middlekauff and The Volume on Twitter, Instagram and YouTube for the latest content. It's always  FanDuel for the best wagering action! #herd See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Now sign up with promo code Colin so they know we sent you. What is going on everybody? John Middlecop, three and out podcast. Back again. Back at it. Excited. Fired up to talk some football. Just watch Tiger Woods.

Press record. But we're talking football here because Tiger's kind of struggling. But I do have some thoughts, actually. relate to football. A lot going on. Here's the schedule. I'm going to include the mailbag just on this podcast. I don't think this podcast is going to be that long. As we go into another summer weekend, most people are kind of checking out, enjoying the summer. Don't blame you. Get your tan on, pool, lake. Have a good time. Next week, I'm going to be in Lake Tahoe, but don't you worry. I will have a go-lo podcast reacting to the open out on Monday. I talk this week to Andrew

Whitworth. We will do that on Tuesday. And then Cam Hayward, Pittsburgh, I mean, both Andrew Whitworth, man of the year, Super Bowl champ. Cam Hayward, all pro defensive lineman. That'll be out Thursday. So we will have a lot of content going. I'm going to need you guys for the mailbag at John Middlecock. Is my Instagram firing those DMs. Ask any question you want.

It's the easiest way to get a hold of me for the show and get your question answered. It's how we interact. It's our version of callers because ultimately this is your show without you. I couldn't do this. This thing would not exist. But I appreciate everyone that listens. if you listen through Collins feed, subscribe to my feed, share with your friends. You guys know the drill.

Again, greatly appreciate everyone that listens, the shares with their friends, talks about the podcast, enjoys listening to the podcast. I wanted to dive into something actually I just witnessed. And listen, Tiger Woods is shot. It's over. He's never going to win a major golf tournament again. He's a shell of himself of the version that we saw in like 18 and 19 that won the Masters. It's never going to happen.

happen. The car accident changed his life. You know, luckily he kept his life, but it's over. Without it being over. I mean, he still be able to show up and I love him showing up. I love talking about him. I love watching a guy play and shoot 78. I don't care. I can't enjoy it. But I was thinking today watching a guy who is worth a billion dollars who has more accolades than anyone in his sport except one other guy who's one of the most accomplished athletes in his individual sport in the history of competitive athletics. And you can argue with golf, but include racing, include tennis, include it all. I respect and admire so much in people that just refuse to quit and just have a grinder's mentality. And I'll never forget, I did the Raiders post game for a

couple of years back when Peyton Manning was with the Denver Broncos. And they you remember the last season that he played in the NFL, it was over. All of a sudden, he couldn't throw. It was a disaster. Remember, he got benched in the middle of the season. But somehow he willed himself. Now, obviously they had a really good defense. But if you remember, he led touchdown drives against the New England Patriots in the AFC championship game. I remember going to the Super Bowl. I mean, it might be one of the only Super Bowels I ever go to. I honestly don't have that much desire to attend to Super Bowl. I had tickets, my cousin Kenny,

working the beer business, Coors Light, it was sweet. It was cool. At Levi Stadium, Broncos, Panthers. I had a lot of money on the Broncos. Payton couldn't throw it from me to you. He was done. But he just had so much just guts and heart and just a mind and just a will.

He had no business. He probably even playing in the game. But he led a couple early touchdown drives. obviously Vaughn Miller made some things happen. They win the game. I have nothing but respect. And this is ultimately in the scouting world, what you're looking for.

How bad do guys want it? And Peyton Manning's an example at the time. Peyton Manning had more money than God at the time. He was already a Super Bowl champion. He wasn't going to tap out. Tigers worth a billion dollars. He has a fake leg. He refuses to tap out.

Listen, I love the guy. I thought he was a fantastic player. What he did with the shitty Colts team was remarkable, but Andrew Luck's just like, yeah, I'm over it, left. I don't necessarily blame him. I'd get bored of the rehab too. You didn't get bored of the rehab? Tiger, paid Manning, a lot of guy. Tom Brady refuses to retire. So ultimately what you look for in players, and it's harder now than ever, the money's crazy, is like, do you love the sport with like every inch of your core? Does competing and playing, whether you have it, it's easy when things are going good.

It's easy in the NFL when you're on a 13-win team. If you're a golfer and you're shooting under par every round, if you're a tennis player and you're competing in Wimbledon in the finals, right? Just if you're an F1 racer and you win a race, how do you do when you suck? How do you do when you get bouncing the first round? How do you do when you get cut?

What happens in baseball when you go three straight weeks? You don't have a hit. You know, ultimately to play at the highest level, to compete at the highest level, you actually got to kind of love the adversity as much as the, you know, the high end of the success for a lot of guys, the success, funny, when I was interviewing Cam Hayward earlier this week,

you'll hear that next week, is what's crazy is like Cam's a good example. Played at Ohio State. When you played Ohio State at Alabama, at Georgia, USC's a bad example, but most of the big programs, you win a lot. And then you go to the NFL, it's like, you could easily just go to the Jags.

You could just go to a team that the Bears. You just go to a team that you're not going to win. Cam got lucky, you got to win to the Pittsburgh Steelers. He's never lost. Even his worst season, they're 8 and 8. all he does is win. Yet you feel pretty good. Like he's a bad example in the sense of like,

I have a lot of confidence. He can handle the shitty parts, right? Certain guys you feel pretty good about. But you don't really know. It's actually why you feel pretty good about guys that play really hard on bad teams. I remember when we scouted Nick Foles, one thing that like Coach Reid really liked about Nick

was that his team sucked. I think his coach got fired in the middle of the season. But late in games and blots, he was still trying really hard. on like a four or five win team. Maybe they went, maybe they went six and six. But they weren't good. When you watch some of these guys to Alabama,

you're like, God, they got it pretty good. Now, obviously some of the guys are so talented, it doesn't matter, but not everyone is the elite of the elite. Not everyone's Aaron Donald. Most guys, you know, you have to overcome with the intangible stuff. And usually the intangible stuff in sports, when things are going bad, you got to like it. And I would say this translates to most things in life.

That's why so many successful people tell you, do what you love to do. Because life's not always going to go smoothly. And when things aren't going smoothly, if you really are passionate and it means a lot to you, you'll keep battling through. Golf means everything to Tiger Woods. Not the billion dollars he's worth.

Not all the previous champions. That's the other thing. Just because you get success in the past, we live in the real time. I see this a lot with the San Francisco Giants, like social media fans. It's like, you should be grateful for 2010, 2010, 2012, in 2014.

Losers think like that. It's 2022. I want to win a World Series now. Why can't compete now? Like, what happened in 2000? I had hair in 2010. I'm bald now. In 2010, I was 25 years old.

I'm now 37. Life changes. I don't have much in common. And there's difference with family. And I'm not against, like, big things happen in your life. You know, it's like, hey, I worked in the NFL. But, like, no,

In 2022, like, what are you doing now? Right? Hey, I used to work for Goldman Sachs. Well, you're working at the Safeway counter now. You know? Like that was eight years ago. So those type people, when you love it, and this is the scouting, when you're picking these players,

like I see it with the Niners with Debo. Debo played on terrible teams at South Carolina. But it was pretty clear when he was healthy, even at South Carolina, very, very competitive. I'm just using him as example. You could use it with a ton of players in the league. and I think it's why people are so consumed with the passion for the sport, the love of the sport, and honestly, the little balance of that when it comes to drafting guys.

Like, ultimately, football meant more to Peyton Manning, to Tom Brady, than everything. You can question, like, does it mean everything to Aaron Rogers? You know, I think it means a lot, clearly. I don't think that's the reason they've lost the playoff games, but I get the argument. Like, it means a shit-lo. to Patrick Mahomes. Watch this. It means everything to Aaron Donald.

I've watched Nick Bosa play. Like, football is the guy's life. I like that in my players. You know? I like that in my athletes. I like guys that just like, Janis Ante Cumpo. You got to drag that guy

off the fucking basketball court if you're going to beat him. Like, that's what we want. So even Tiger Wood shooting 78, he grinded his ever-loving ass off with one leg. He's got one leg. His other leg's fake.

It's a created leg, and he's still out there doing it when he doesn't need to be doing this at all. But like Payton, like Tom still, it's like they love it. And when those guys love it, we as fans and definitely front offices gravitate toward those individuals. The baseball season is here. This baseball season turn K's into cash and big hits into big wins with Fandual Sportsbook. Right now, new customers can step up to the plate with no sweat for, bet up to $1,000. Just sign up, place your first bet, and Fandul will give you up to $1,000 back in free bets

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text, Hope, NY, 467, New York, Tennessee, 8-88-88-9-8-8-9, Tennessee, 1-800-5-2-4700. Wyoming, visit www.1-800 gambler.net, West Virginia. 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,

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,

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and a TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Another story I saw today's Sunday ticket, which this makes me very happy. And I know a lot of the, you know, the streaming, the anti-streaming people are like, I hate streaming. Do not put it on a streaming service. It's like, guys, this isn't 2012.

Like, I watched Netflix, Amazon Prime, HBO Max. I was at the gym today. I was streaming peacock on my iPad. Like, get with the times. It's just as clear as television. Like the cable television, it's not going to exist in five, ten years. So when I saw that Apple is going to get the Sunday ticket, I wanted to do cartwheels down the hallway.

Because one, for me personally, I've never had Direc TV since I left my family's house in like 2003 to go to college. I've not had direct TV since. And obviously, direct TV has had the Sunday ticket forever. And a lot of people are like, you don't have the Sunday ticket? I'm like, well, I get a Thursday night game. I get multiple Sunday games. I watch the Niners game.

I get the Sunday night game. And I get the Monday game. I also have the NFL, whatever's called game pass. So any game that I want to watch, I can always go back and watch it. I don't have 17 TVs. And even if you did, you can't watch everything. As someone with two TVs in their living room,

you really, two is hard. You know, you really end up focusing on one game. It's easier to go one game and Red Zone than it is to truly watch two games. If you're doing that, you're either Bill Belichick or you're lying. But Sunday ticket getting, like, think about the great migration that's happened in society,

all these people that live in city, that have moved from San Francisco, that have moved from New York, that have moved from Chicago to smaller towns. They're still 49er fans. Still New York Giants, Jets fans, still Bears fans. Think how much easier it is now for them to consume their team. You just, you have Apple Plus. I have it on all my smart TVs.

And I love the guys like, I don't have Apple Plus. We'll get it. If you ever heard of Apple, they're kind of a big deal. If you have a television, the one thing I would say that over time is even now, inflation has hit everything. TVs are still pretty cheap. You ever walk into a target? She's like a 65-inch TV for like $500.

I've had the same Vizio TVs in my living room that I got to target a 65 and a 50 for a combined like $1,200. So, and those, they're actually outdated. I can easily upgrade and it's not even that expensive. So you have no excuse if you want to watch your team and obviously your computer and your iPads. I think it's fantastic for the consumer. And whatever's best for the consumer and easiest for the consumer is best for the league. Now, the games are still going to be on CBS, ABC, NBC, whatever. but having the ability to be out of market,

like if I move to Arizona and I'm going to want to watch the Niner game, well, I can just get Apple Plus, $300 a year, boom, I got the Niner game. I don't want to get Direc TV. Why? Because I'm not going to get any of these. I'm just going to have like YouTube TV now or Hulu TV or whatever. My whole life's going to be streaming. So is yours.

That's inevitable. That's where we're going. Now, is it a perfect world? Do we end up playing for 8 million streamers? Yes. I realize, I bet if you add it up, I mean, my cable bill alone, because I got to get the best internet is like $280. that's just for cable, then I literally pay for every streaming service, except Peacock because

that comes with Comcast. But like when I move, or even if I were to kind of rent this out at Airbnb and come back, like I think I would just do all internet TV. I wouldn't do the Comcast. It's not necessarily needed. I do like the ease of knowing it's going to be there. But still, man, I think that this is a no-brainer. It's a big win for all of us. I know I'm biased. I can't wait. hopefully this becomes official but this feels like it was inevitable. The other thing is is what the economy kind of taking a turn

like even Amazon and Apple their stocks are down. So the NFL historically over the last 20 years has gotten everything they've wanted with rights deals. Rightfully so. Their games are the most watched things on television.

This might be the first time where they again are going to get a lot of money but I wonder if they're going to get a little less than they asked for for the first time in a long time. One, who's bidding for this at the numbers in which they're going to ask a couple billion dollars a year? If Apple went,

let's just pick a number. They want two billion dollars for the package. If Apple offers one six, who else is offering? Amazon already bought Thursday night football. It's not like they're going to do Thursday night and the package. So CBS is not. Direct TV's out. Like,

I do think for the first time in a while, and this is why I think the NBA is so arrogance, like their salary cap only goes up and up and up. Are we sure? Are we sure? The ratings have been going down and down and down. And now if the economy gets weird for a year or two with the tech companies, they're just a lock to pay more than they got for their last deal, which was enormous. I don't know. I'm not saying that's going to happen because live rights are very valuable. People want that. But it's like this stuff, like the economy does kind of matter, you know, because it impacts the companies that ultimately pay for this stuff because the amount of

us that watch it. And I do think that it would be big for, you know, a lot of people would just get it immediately that live all over the place and would easily stream it. And it would be, it would be fantastic. I'm rooting for it. Another story I saw Adam Schaefter. The big Js love to act like, you know, you just, you work sources, you organically build them. And the one thing I've always respected about Schefter, and I throw woe in this too, is a lot of reporters kind of make their hey or become big because they know agents and they only push the player side. Like they only get their information from agents. To me, if you don't get your information from coaches, GMs, like, I don't take you as

seriously. And there is no chance that Adam Schaefter doesn't have every head coach, every general manager, and multiple executives on every team in his role decks. He knows everybody. I remember when I first got my job at Philly, Adam Schaeftcher used to call the office. I'll promise you this. He doesn't call the office anymore. now we have known each other a long time, right?

He knows, because he knows all these guys for a long time. And he builds and works relationships. And that's, listen, at the end of the day, Adam is a sales guy. He has to sell himself to get to know guys, to get their information then to use so he can break news. That's the business he's in. Well, there was a story that he used, like, who would send these people gifts.

I think up to $16,000 worth of chocolate one year that he sent out to all the different general managers, probably head coaches, maybe OCs, DCs, and assistant GMs, that give him stories as basically a thank you. And I saw on the interweb that Jernos, you know, kind of got a little offended, like, this is not how we rule.

This is not what we do. Well, Adam makes $10 million a year for a reason. What he brings to the table is extremely valuable. And anyone that's listening to this in business, what do you do to your clients? I don't know you take care of them. On my other podcast last year, when the 49ers traded for Trey Lance,

now I'm not a journalist. Don't pretend to be one. Hell, I don't even like when people call me a media member. I don't consider myself one. Trey Lance was traded for. Our podcast doubled in listenership immediately. That was one of the best things that's ever happened to our business and we had a fantastic year financially because of it.

Before, maybe after the draft, we sent wine. to basically John Lynch, Kyle Shanahan, Parag, and Adam Peters. Obviously, they didn't do the trade for us, but it was just like, thank you for making us a lot of money. And I've learned that from my friends that don't work in this industry, that just work in other industries, that are constantly taking care of the people that take care of them, whether it's directly or indirectly. That's how the real world works. Maybe if more of these Big Js that spend all their time on Twitter did some of this stuff that Adam

after did, maybe they'd make a little bit more money. Maybe they wouldn't be miserable all day. Maybe they would be thriving. So Adam makes $10 million a year for a reason because of those people. His value is breaking news and he can't break it without them. Ultimately, he's just in his own little world as a businessman and he's a lead at it. And listen, Rapsheet is too. And if you told me that Rapsheet does similar shit, I wouldn't be shocked because you got to take care of the people that take care of you business 101. A couple just quick topics will fly through. Cliff Kingsbury said that he was,

he said this a while back, that he was praying that a deal got done before Kyler Murray came to training camp. Then Jeff Darlington said it's very reasonable to believe that a deal gets done before camp,

which is now, you know, I'm recording this July 14th. Let's just pick a date. The 28th, let's say the Cardinals report. That's 4.4. That's 14 days away. And honestly, they could easily report the 25th of the 26th. So time's ticking here.

I think it's insane. I know he's mad. I know he thinks he deserves a big Mahomes, Josh Allen deal. I'd pump the brakes and we're waiting. Under no circumstances. And listen, the media that's in bed with the agent and the player side, and listen, I know his agent and I respect his agent. I think he's good.

He's actually been on this podcast years ago. But he wouldn't be able, and I haven't talked to him about this, wouldn't be able to convince me that like, I'm sorry, I'm not paying Kyler Murray. I'm not saying he's not valuable. I'm not saying he's not a talented player. But it's like you're under contract for five years. I will pay you after

the fourth if you take us to the playoffs a couple times. Part of your deal is like Josh Allen got paid. Why? Great guy consistently goes to the playoffs. Never pouts. Like ultimately we had to sign leaders a year ago because we didn't view the client, the player, the quarterback as a leader.

He had a fantastic year last year until he didn't and he had one of the most head-scratching playoff performances from a talented player we've ever seen. Honestly, it looked. He would rather be any, remember Jerry Jones? They had, they had hard knocks, I think the first time, you know, way back in the day. And Jerry gets in front of the team and he's just kind of flexed his muscles as a rich guy. He goes, guys, guys, I could be anywhere in the world, but I'm here with you.

Basically, like, I'm so rich. I could be in Italy. I could be in the Mediterranean. I could be in Spain. I could be in Chile. Hell, I could be now in space with Bezos. But I'm here in the heat of Oxnard, watching Pads Pop and my Cowboys.

I love the Cowboys. And it was like, Kyler Murray was the opposite. I have to be here. If I could be, I'd be anywhere else in the world but playing quarterback in this playoff game, getting my ass kicked by the Los Angeles ramps.

So I'm sorry. I just need to see more. as just an objective guy who has been a little wrong on the Cardinals. They've been better than I thought. From a financial standpoint, I don't see how giving them $150 million right now. After three years, most of these guys like Joey Bosa got a contract every four years,

even Nick Bosa, who has been a much better player in a vacuum than Kyler Murray is like, yeah, I'm going to get paid after this year. So I don't expect them to do because ultimately their owners are a little cheap, but maybe they're trying to back them into a, corner, I would avoid that at all cost. The Pats.

Belichick, you can crush his drafting over the years. He's had a lot of misses. He makes some weird picks. Part of that, he doesn't listen to any of his scouts. Whatever. Now, you can't, his results speak for themselves. So, yeah, he's drafted kind of shitty. He won six Super Bowls.

You know, he made the playoffs last year with Mac fucking Jones. Mac Jones. He made the playoffs. That was a six seat. Now, he got throttled, but he made the playoffs. That was pretty impressive. one of his best qualities, his best quality is coaching the team. But his quality as a general manager and as a personnel guy is how little emotion.

Like he has no emotion toward his picks. So many general managers, and rightfully so, it's a human nature. Like, I pick this guy. I want to see him succeed because if he succeeds, it makes me look good. In whatever industry you do, any idea you have in business, you want to see that thing succeed. So sometimes when it's not going well, you're like, let's just stick. through it. This is going to work. Why? Because if it works, you get credit. It's, it makes sense. It's not like, it's not that complicated of a reasoning behind why we do what we do and push for things and

hold on to things. Relationships too. But Belichick is so unemotional with his draft picks. Whether you're a first round pick or a six round pick, you become a starter for his team and he doesn't think you're good enough. He will get rid of you. Nikiel Harry looking back and listen, I was wrong. I love the pick. I thought he was going to be awesome. It's been a disaster. It's been a disaster. And he just traded him to the Bears. Now, the one, how Ruth was Belichick is, he'll find the one thing he did well, and Nikiel actually could block, and he used them to block. Remember, he was like bringing them into like the slot, cracking down on linebackers and like, they used them. He just couldn't really catch. Can't really play a wide receiver. Belichick just shipped him out. Most general

managers would hold on. You know, it's why like if you tell me Jalen Rager is traded, I would say that would probably be a good move by Howie Roseman. And Howie now has AJ Brown, he can be less emotional to Rager. And a lot of GMs kind of, I saw it with the 49ers and Dante Pettis. They probably held on a little bit. Solomon Thomas. You hold on a little long, like just pivot. Just get off it.

It's easy when it's your new team. Like, you know, Josh McDaniels comes to the Raiders and Cleland Farrell and Jonathan Abram and they just like kind of suck. It's easy for him. If you tell me he cuts them or trades them in training camp, be like, yeah, it's not their pick. He doesn't care. It's another thing when it's your point.

pick because the majority of GMs, and I don't blame them, but Belichick is way better at that. He just cuts bait, and he cuts bait fast. The one bright spot of these leagues that I do not watch, I'm not going to lie to you and claim that I watch the USFL when I don't. I probably watched a total of 20 minutes. And the 20 minutes I watch it, it's not that I don't enjoy it, like, I just can't really get into it. It's like, if I'm watching the USFL, like, I should go outside and go for a walk.

I should go to the gym. Like, I should do something else. I got to use my time a little bit better than that. I watched a lot of NFL, a lot of college. I can't watch the USFL. But it is cool that in these leagues that there are going to be several players that either bounce out of the NFL and get their shot back or just weren't on the radar. And the Washington football team commanders Redskins signed a guy from the USFL a division

two defensive back. And if you can get some of those stories, because I think we talked about in the last podcast, if they could do some sort of cohesion with a team, kind of like a minor league, that's never going to happen. But if you can just do what they're doing now, I think they're in a pretty good spot. And I think that's pretty cool. For a guy that, you know, I bet there was a time in his life, not only he never think he was going to be in the NFL, but he probably thought his football career was over.

And, you know, in a lot of sports, right, if I play on the PJ tour for a couple years, and even if I fail and I'm done, I can still go to become a member at a country club. and play golf and everyone that plays with me goes, this might be the best player I've ever seen. If you ever go play pickup basketball, like the Y, and this guy's like, you know, I played basketball at New Mexico. I was a backup shooting guard.

You're like, God damn, this guy's the best guy at my gym. So if you're a tennis player, you just play tennis so you can't walk anymore and you just dominate a tennis. Football is the one sport where it's like, even if it ends in college, like what else do you do?

Like you go to the gym and you're big? There's no like pickup football leagues. It just kind of ends. So these leagues are cool for guys like that. 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. 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, 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 dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to the Clifford Show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or where you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tap Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do with Little Kim? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick it here,

unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode, with Mark Lamont Hill waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84 is big to me not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack all day, but just so you all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack. So I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now. Thank you for finishing that sentence.

Yes. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Really? Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hard Way with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Keer Games.

And in recognition of mental health awareness month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking, Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing and we're still chasing it and we don't know when we've done enough because people scoreboard watch.

Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth or are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person.

Join me, Keer Gaines, as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, learn the hard way. Open your free iHeartRadio app search learn the hard way

and listen now. Let's dive into the middlecoff mailbag. At John Middlecoff is the Instagram. At John Middlecoff is the Instagram. Fire into those direct messages. I need you people. I need you guys. At John Middlecoff.

Fire in those DMs and get here on the pod. Have a pod mailback question. Can you explain the difference between NBA and NFL salary caps. Luxury tax, dead money, ETC. I assume that all teams are in the max salary cap by the start of the season. So how can teams do trades?

Well, start there, not all the teams are in the max salary cap. If you go to like SpotTrack, it's a website that puts all the contracts together and kind of breaks it all down and also does team payrolls, a lot of teams have a lot of space right now. I think the was the Jags. I know the Browns. There are several teams that have 10 plus million dollars in space. The major difference is one is a

hard cap and one is a soft cap. So the Golden State Warriors, I don't know the exact NBA hard cap or soft cap this year. Let's just pick a number. One 10. Well, their salary cap with all their players and their team went way over $110

million. They had three players. Steph makes 50. Clay makes $4.4.000. and Draymond makes 25, they got three players that maxed out the salary cap. The difference in basketball, when football it's $200 million, you cannot go over $200 million. In basketball, you can. There's quote unquote a soft cap. But once you hit a threshold, you go into the tax.

So once you go into the tax, every year that tax, you know, basketball is kind of complicated. There's a formula. I think the first year is like one to one. The way the warriors are, they're in a tax where some of their contracts are like four to one. So if I sign a guy to a two-year $40 million contract, I have to multiply that contract by four. So it gets very, very expensive. Now, if you have a lot of money, you can do that.

Where Jerry Jones, if he could, would not have let Randy Gregory leave. He would have paid him. He would have paid a lot of the players. Like they had to get rid of Amari Cooper. They didn't have the space. He might have just kept him. But he can't because he has to have a salary cap, a hard one. So one is a soft cap.

The other is a hard cap. You can go over the soft cap. have to be willing to pay some tax that gets redistributed into the league. I think I heard on a podcast that every team in the league that didn't pay the tax got an $11 million distribution. I'm pretty sure that is how it works. I could be wrong because I don't see, like I don't think the Warriors get $11 million back.

So all the teams like the Lakers, the, obviously the Warriors, there were other teams. They pay into the tax and then that gets distributed, which is kind of bullshit. if I'm the Warriors like I got to pay for the fucking magic screw you but those are the rules of the league to keep competitive balance the NFL doesn't have to worry about that because one their media rights deal

pays for everything alone and two you can't go over the cap so no one there's no advantages which I do think keeps somewhat a little more equitable but I got no problem with the Warriors did I started listening to you once you join the volume and now listen to every show beside the golf ones

I enjoy hearing your perspective. And as a recent BBA graduate from the University of Mexico, I enjoy you speak about business and stocks. Even though my biotechnology center portfolio is currently in the toilet, this was from May 11th. I would imagine it's more in the toilet. I'm not quite sure if this is really what I want to spend my days doing. I would consider myself a semi-professional fantasy football player

and hope to make a living one day playing fantasy or become an entrepreneur similar to yourself. So my question to you are, do you play fantasy football? And if you do, do you rely more on the eye test or following standard projections? And lastly, what advice would you give regarding my current career situation? Thank you for a great content. It helps past time at my job when I'm delivering food for Grubhub and Uber Eats on the weekends. Well, let's start with your current situation.

one, if you just graduated BBA program, so I think that's a graduate degree, let's just guess you're in your mid-20s. If you want to make a career change, try to make a career change. Now's the time. At my age, there's no making a career change.

I'm just too entrenched in my ways. I've already done the grind for over a decade. Like, I can't go back to making no money. I can't ever do that. Now, luckily, I'm where I want to be, but I sacrificed a lot in my 20s. I made no money. grinding my ass off. I had friends crushing it in different financial industries. I made nothing.

But I did what I wanted to do. And I took a flyer and ultimately it led me down this weird path, but I'm here now. So to me, you have two options. You either just go all in on it or if you have a good job, instead of driving Uber and DoorDash on the weekends, why don't you do like fantasy football content? Or, you know, I don't know exactly how you would do that, but like dedicate your time to doing that on the weekends. And then if you, over a couple years, again, I'm just assuming you're 25 years old. If you think that, you know, you just get a feel for like three or four years while you can, let's just, I'm just pick a number. Let's say you're making 100 grand doing a normal job. And just on the side, you try to hustle. Now, here's the other thing. When I was young, I didn't go out

that much. I didn't have that big of a life. I didn't, I wasn't like leading a normal person life. I kind of went all in. I put all my chips in the middle of the table. This wasn't my philosophy at the time because I was just doing what I was doing. But looking back, like, you know when people say, like, when you get somewhere burn the boats, like, don't give yourself an option to go back. Like, again, I wasn't, this wasn't my mindset at the time just because I was living in the moment. But the boats were burned.

I didn't have second options. I never like, well, if I can't make it to the NFL after Fresno State, I'll just go work in insurance. Like, that was not my mindset. I was going to the NFL. And then once I got out of the NFL, I was like, I'm going to get a radio show. And it was just like those, they just became, and I just was not going to not have that happen. So, but like, it's easy to say now.

At the time, again, I didn't have much. So it didn't necessarily matter to me. But you got to put all your chips in the middle of the table. I think it's really hard to kind of make transitions if you're making some money, if you're half-assing it on the side. So I would quit the Uber East and the DoorDash and just go all in on your fantasy football. I don't play fantasy football. I mean, I've played daily fantasy.

I suck because maybe I'm more of an eye test guy. It's clearly a skill. I'm not Matthew Berry or Field Jates. I'm just not good. So it's just not fun for me because I always lose. I always just give money away. But yeah, I mean, I, yeah, I don't know what else to say. I'm terrible of fantasy football.

My recommendation would be if you're really interested and you can't see yourself doing that, if you can't see yourself doing that now when you're young, What do you think you're going to think when you're 40? Be fucking miserable. So I would try to pivot as quickly as possible. Love the show. I've always heard the second year for players is huge. There's so much learning during their rookie year

that they don't start to find their feet until their second season. Is there added pressure from the team's perspective on second year players? In your opinion, do rookies or sophomore players have more pressure on them to succeed? Who are some of the second year players

you're looking forward to watching this season? Well, I think it depends. You know, if you're a second-year player and a high draft pick, there's always pressure. Right. If you have a first round surrounded your name, like first-round pick, so-and-so, there's pressure. Now, if you're second, third, fourth, fifth, and you're on a good team and you play behind star players, you know, you get to ease in. Not everyone's given the same runway. Some guys have to land the plane immediately and others are expected to dominate.

Now, I think the reason there's such a huge gap is think about this. Let's say I'm a second year player and I'm, let's just pick a guy. Let's pick, let's pick a quarterback. Let's pick Justin Fields. Justin Fields plays 2020 on Ohio State. They go to the championship game and they lose. So he's basically playing until the middle of January. Then his season ends, he immediately starts training for the combine.

Then he goes to the combine. and because it's a highly touted prospect, he continues to train for his pro day. And then while the pro day is happening and then after the pro day, he's flying to teams and meeting with teams. So his offseason while Tom Brady, you know, Aaron Rogers,

whoever are just doing normal things, training, working out, letting their body recover from the season, those guys never stop. They actually keep training for specific events. And then the draft happens. They're flying all over the place. And then they get to the team.

so they're way behind of their training regimen, and then especially some of those guys have to play immediately. So you're just kind of a lot's going on, where some guys get to kind of ease into it. Maybe I get drafted in the fourth round. I make the team. I'm a backup offensive guard. The guard gets hurt week eight.

I become the starter for the second half of the season. Well, I got two months to just watch my starting guard take notes, how he practice, what he talked about, interacting with the coach, what the quarterback likes, what the running backs likes. I get to kind of ease into it. But then the next year, I've been a starter. I know what it takes.

I get to recover in the offseason. If my coach is the same, I know the scheme. And I get to just be, I'm more, I guess, you're just more comfortable. Think about, and it's hard to do because once you've been somewhere for a while, it's hard to relate to that feeling of the first day. But those first day jitters on a job of just not knowing anyone.

Now, as an NFL player, you get to go kind of in with a group. Like there's a group of drafted players that are all kind of experiencing at the same time. For most of us, like if we get a job, you know, it's just you go, I'm going to show up one day by yourself. It's like, hey, here's your office.

Password is Nike 14. Good luck. We'll see you at lunch. You know, you just kind of start working. Where in football, it's a little different, but there's a comfortability. There should just be an improvement. There should be an added confidence.

So there's just a lot of factors. I saw a post at CBS Sports ranking the most overlooked and underrated player on each team. They had Al Shire for the Niners. Who do you think that would be for the 49ers? Eidlean Jannings. One underappreciated player on each team. Zeke Elliott is one.

Mike Evans is another one. Tyler Lockett. Tracy Walker and the Lions. Daniel Jones. Jones. Yeah, this list is kind of stupid. But I'd say Al Shire, pretty good one. The 49ers lineback and core is really good. So him and Greenlaw, Greenlaw was hurt last year a little bit, but both those guys, though, I mean, Fred Warner gets a lot of the credit, but those guys are legit starters. Been a fan of three now for a while. As a revolt, as a result, I found your go low and I'm getting

more into golf. With the ongoing live versus PGA drama, what opportunities do you see as a result for the increasing popularity of golf. Could it ever get to a point where these two leagues interact competitively on the course together? It feels like there is a potential for some unique matchup type golf events that would create compelling story lines.

I see this all an opportunity to possibly increase the popularity. Well, as of recording this, there is potential for the British Open to have like Rory, Scotty Sheffler, Cam Smith, Victor Hovlin versus Westwood, DJ, Gooch,

Bryson, it honestly, organically could kind of play itself out in this major, which would be freaking awesome. Rory just leading the charge. You know, golf can change fast. I mean, half these guys could blow up tomorrow. But, you know, I think we're a long way away from that. We are a long way away from that.

But I like where your head's at. I think it would be very, very cool to have some sort of like this league versus that league. you know, like play for a couple tournaments. Now, you could argue what do the super rich live guys, like DJ, he made $175 million. But he's really good. Like you watch him, he shot 400 today.

Like DJ can play. You know, Bryson can play. So that's the thing about Bryson. I talked earlier with Tiger Woods. At the last live event, Pumpkin Ridge, Bryson got $150 million. $150 million to go to live. I mean, that is, and Bryson was already a multi-millionaire.

But that's a ton of money. And after his first round, he was on the range after. Like, I'll just give Bryson this. He really cares. He really tries. Why? He loves golf. At his core, he's a golf nerd.

Like Tiger, like Phil, like, like, you know, Jordan Spee. Like, Bryson, now he's not as cool as those guys, but he loves it. And it's why I said it was a big blow losing him. Because, listen, he's a weird guy. but you don't want to lose huge personalities and unique guys like that. But I think if you can keep him in the mix in these majors, like, you know, adds a little villain element. A huge fan of the pod from Toronto.

What kind of season do you think it would take for a non-quarterback to win the MVP? After Henry Rush for 2,000 yards, a few years ago, I don't see how any award could ever go to a non-quarterback unless there was bad quarterback play throughout the league. I think it would take You know, Cooper Cup Had it just a remarkable season Didn't feel like it was close

What are the chances that are running back Beside Derek Henry ever has like a 2400 yard season? Feels very unlikely. People don't play that way. I think it would be more likely come from a defensive player. Remember years ago, JJ Watt

caught touchdowns? He had like 15, 18 sacks. He was dominant against the run. He was the clear defensive player of the year. I think it would be possible if you just get a defensive player that has like 23 sacks that is just clearly the best player on defense

and is the best player on his own team kind of like LT a long time ago Ray Lewis, a guy like that. You know, I don't know exactly who that player would be. You know, Micah Parsons would just have to have like 24 sacks and just dominate against the run and the Cowboys win 11 games and Dak Prescott's kind of average.

I was like, Micah Parsons led this team. Nick Bosa has 23 sacks, and Trey Lance is just kind of a game manager. He would get conversation. Now, if Justin Herbert throws 50 touchdowns or Matt Stafford, yeah, it's going to be, I'm with you. It's my issue with the Heisman Trophy. Just rename it the quarterback award. Is this a quarterback award, or are we trying to go for the most valuable player? Then the argument is like, what is the most valuable player?

Is the guy that throws the most touchdowns or is like, are we sure that Aaron Rogers to me has been the best player in the league last couple years, but there has definitely been seasons where it's like, yeah, I could go for someone else. The year Tom Brady won it. I probably would have given it to, was that Derek Henry's year? Was that the next year?

But it's going to be very, very difficult. Which kind of makes it a little monotonous. Like, I just kind of want to see something else. Answer this question, actually. Love the Pod, have an idea about the NIL and Transfer Portal. What do you think about making the athlete sign multi-year contracts to stay at a college based on NIL? And could those contracts keep athletes from transferring similar to contracts in the NFL?

Seems like if something like that occurred, it could put a little bit of stability in the colleges. So basically, you're saying that if I'm a good example, would be Jordan Addison, the guy that transferred to USC, the Bolitnikov wide receiver winner. If he was making 500 grand by a company that supported him at Pittsburgh, he was tied to the University of Pittsburgh to stay. and I would say, I think you might be on to something, but that's not how it works in pro sports. If I'm, if I'm Patrick Mahomes and I have an all-state deal, or I'm Steph Curry and I have a subway deal,

if I become a free agent and I want to leave, Subway or State Farm or whoever can't tell me where to go play. Now, historically, Nike's always had a lot of influence in basketball, but if the player wants to play somewhere, he's going to play somewhere. So I have less of an issue with a transfer portal more that I do

like the buying of the guys and just I'm not against buying of the guys because I'm pro capitalism and pro these guys making money even though they've always made money I just wish there was just some like in the NFL there's a salary cap there's an amount of money you can pay players every year there's only a certain amount of teams that can deal

like it's just not an equal playing field and it never would be because USC Texas has more money it just feels like it's a little out of control it just would like some sort of like rules behind it. Again, every, I get, I get, we all get regulated in all of our industries. The NFL is regulated. All, pro sports are all regulated. The college, there's just nothing. And this gets back to the NCAA is a joke. I would get rid of the NCAA. I would basically bring in like a Roger Goodell type to just create some bylaws. Maybe there's a cap. You know, the most you could make is two million dollars a

year. But again, I'm not trying to put limits on guys making. I'm just trying to have some sort of some sort of cohesion. I mean, it's just, now, listen, I'm making money on the internet. We're still a little bit of the Wow, Wild West. I like the Wild West. Because you know who the Wild Wild West? Who it benefits? The brave, the most aggressive.

You know, it just does. Now, it's a little bit, college football is the Wild Wild West, but it's also backed by money. You know, USC, Texas, Bama, Georgia, Florida, A&M, like Ohio State, Michigan. they're still landing the best players. So my analogy with the internet's a little bit different.

But I hear you. I don't mind being able to transfer one time, but it does feel like it's a little out of control. You shouldn't have unlimited transfers. I shouldn't be able to transfer here. And then next year, you're transferred again. It's like,

some of these guys playing like four different teams. You know, it's like, it's one thing if you play in four teams, you have a 15 year NFL career. Yeah, it's like I played five years in college. How many school? Well, who'd you play for? You played Division 1 football?

Where'd you play? Well, actually, I started Alabama, then I went to Fresnel State, and I ended up at Washington State, and I finished at Florida A&M. It's like, Jesus Christ, you moved a lot. Enjoy the weekend. Let's enjoy this summer, coming down the home stretch. Hopefully everyone's doing well. Talk to everyone soon.

Godspeed. May the peace be with you. See ya. The volume. Another podcast from some SNL, late-night comedy guy, not quite, unhumored me with Robert Smygel and Friends. me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier.

This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. 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 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 IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.