The Herd with Colin Cowherd - 3 and Out: Texans' Clowney Clown Show; Melvin Gordon Victimhood; Oregon Plays Scared; Dolphins' 'Process' Issues; Mailbag

Episode Date: September 3, 2019

In this episode, Middlekauff looks at how Bill O'Brien and the Texans blew it by waiting to deal Jadaveon Clowney until right before the season, why Melvin Gordon playing the victim during his holdout isn't going to get him paid, why the Dolphins' 'Process' style tank job isn't guaranteed to work in the NFL and answers listener questions in Middlekauff's Mailbag. Follow John on twitter @JohnMiddlekauff and go to theherdnow.com to find the latest content. Subscribe now! Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo, and every episode, we're cutting through the noise,

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Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter.

Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, guys? This is Clever Taylor the 4th. And on my podcast, The Cliverts Show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff. Like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker, this linebacker walks up to me. He goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her.

What? Time out. Quarterback on office blue with 42. Hey, Wreck, my mama want you to weigh better. What? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app,

Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano. It's our favorite time of the year on our podcast point game, the playoffs. We're digging into the biggest surprises of the season. And I'm looking back on some of my greatest playoff moments. If we didn't talk ever again, I was hiring.

you just understood. That's how personal it got. Wow. Then after that game seven, Mark keep coming to her. He's like, you know, I love you, dog. You know, it's all love.

This was just playoffs. This was just basketball. So listen to Point Game on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Millions of Americans are getting back to work. Career Builder calls it the great rehire. And we want to help you get the best jobs before everyone else. Career Builder gives you the competitive edge to get the job you want,

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What's going on? John Middlecoff, that's me, three and out podcast. Thanks for listening, Colin Coward's Podcast Network. That's where we're at. And we're getting ready for the National Football League to officially start. Today, if you're listening to Tuesday or Wednesday, you could be 24, 48 hours away from game one, Thursday night. We'll have another podcast.

We go every Tuesday and we go every Friday. And the great part about, I mean, start next week, Tuesday, right after Monday night football, Thursday. you know, obviously we get Thursday night so we'll get reaction to the games every night and just what happened over the weekend. Great weekend of college football. Not a great weekend of college football.

There were a couple, you know, major games. There's one that I want to talk about, but a lot going on. Bill O'Brien basically went Al Davis slash John Gruden this weekend. Just insanity. I'm going to dive in to every angle there. And then I'm going to dive into Melvin Gordon. Melvin Gordon, you know, the classic 2000

19 take. Like, the player is always the victim. It's like, okay, Melvin, go find a trade. Huller back at us. Tell us what you can get. Oh, crickets? Shocker. Oregon, Auburn. Some thoughts I have on Mario and just the way that game played out. That was awesome. You know, there's something

special about football. You know, just watching that game this weekend. It's like no wonder football is way bigger than these other sports. That game felt like the national championship in the first weekend. I got 15 baseball games. going on all day behind me. It's like they don't mean anything. The NBA regular

seasons never meant less. There's nothing like college football in the NFL because every game matters so much. The Miami Dolphins are officially going Sam Hinky and I got some issues with it. I don't think it's just some foolproof plan. And I think we can kind of use the Raiders as an example. They did the same thing last year and it's just, it's a little more complicated than you may think. And then we'll get into the Middilkoff mailbag as always. At John Middilkoff is my Instagram handle. You go to at John Middlecough, my Instagram handle. I'm going to do videos all the time during the NFL

season and a college football season, stories and just regular videos. DMs are wide open. You slide up in them, you ask me a question, and I'll answer them here on the show. That's how it works. That's the equivalent of the podcast callers. That's the way we interact with the people here. And just fire up in them and I'll answer

your questions. I love podcasting. I'm just a diehard podcaster now. Absolutely love it. Thanks for everyone for listening, and I'm so fired up for this fall. But I want to start with Bill O'Brien. And the disaster that everyone thought it was this weekend, it had nothing to do with this weekend. The disaster happened in the spring. Like, newspapers didn't die a couple years ago.

Newspaper died 10 years ago. Magazines didn't just die. They died years ago. When something ends, like when a brick and mortar goes out of business, they didn't die that day. They died years ago when they refused to adapt. when they refuse to see the future. It happens business all the time, right? And I just can relate more to newspapers

and a little more into the media business. Like, everyone, like, media, newspapers are dying left and right. They started dying like the late 2000s, like 09, 10, 11. Blogs started wiping them out. Of course no one advertised with newspapers anymore. No one in their 50 reads them. Like that's like, no shit they're going out of business. Everyone's like, oh my God, the newspapers went out of business.

Yeah, there's no money. No one's advertising with it anymore. The only reason they were in business in the first place called the advertisers wanted to go to him. You know where advertisers go now? Places like this. Now, podcasts may be done in 50 years. Who knows?

There'll be something else. But the day the podcast ends won't be because like podcasts went out of business that day. It'll have been years in the making. Like Bill O'Brien, which years in the making of this disaster. Texted with multiple people around the league this weekend.

The entire league has known that he has hated clowning. And I can't put my finger on why. Does it work hard? doesn't practice a lot. I don't know. Because all I do know, Bill, when Clowny plays on Sunday,

we started talking about Clowny like he was some rotational player. Clowny's one of the best edge players in the league. He's not the best edge rusher, but he's one of the more complete edge players in the league. About 19 sacks the last two years, and you cannot run at him. You cannot run at him.

But for whatever reason, Bill O'Brien hated. So if you know you hate him, and you know you're not going to assign him, and I get you always hate your GM for whatever reason. I'm a Bill O'Brien defender as a coach. But this weekend was an embarrassment. But again, I'm not blaming it. It wasn't this weekend.

In March, when you know you're not going to resign him, you have to trade Clowny. You have to trade them. Because unlike Cleo Mac, who was traded last year, the reason they got two ones for Cleo Mac and the reasons that Bill O'Brien had to give up two ones for Laramie Tunzel, they are extension eligible. And here's the other thing.

They haven't even extended Laramie Tunzel. console yet. The reason the bears gave up two ones for Cleo Mac was because they could immediately basically make him a bear for life on their watch. Now, if they want to get rid of Cleo in a couple years because he gets injured and suck, that's up to them. But they have him under contract basically for life, of his football life. Where Bill O'Brien, they traded him Seattle. The reason they didn't get anything is because Seattle can't extend him. And they chose the way they did it with them splitting the price. They can't even franchise them. but they didn't give up anything.

They gave up two guys, me and you, basically, the equivalent, and a third round pick. I'd give that for Clowny all day. When last year, think about, they got Frank Clark, who's basically the same player, maybe a little bit better of a past rusher, maybe Clowny's a little bit better against the run. I mean, they're pretty damn close to a player.

For Frank Clark, they got a one and a two. If you would have traded, Bill O'Brien would have traded Clownie when you knew you weren't going to extend them and you did not want them on your team, in March, like most good GMs, the way they do business, then you wouldn't have had this problem. And it also then led to a domino effect. You go into the draft.

Imagine if you had traded Clowny for like a one and a three. You would then have the capital to do whatever you want. You know who you should have got instead of having to give two ones for Laramie Tunzel? You could have traded up to like pick 20 and got Andre Diller, the best pass blocking offensive tackle in this draft, who texted with multiple scouts this weekend, said he's, look fantastic in the preseason for the Eagles. The Eagles, who are a very well-run organization

and don't operate, you know, by the seat of their pants and very emotionally, they're well-thought-out, they think big picture, traded up for Andre Dillard as he fell in the draft. It was an easy move. Jumped the Texans and got him. Instead, the Texans sat there, waited, got a player that can't even start as a rookie.

They drafted him 25th overall. Can't even start. Can't even start. Say that out. loud. They could have avoided all this. They could have still had their first round picks in the future, had Andre Dillard, and acquired another first round pick when they traded Clowny.

But instead, they got emotional, they couldn't get along with anyone in the front office, and they played this very poorly. But this weekend's embarrassment did not just happen this weekend. It was set in motion in the spring at the Combine when everyone was talking business. This is when the deal should have been done.

What the hell? hell were they doing? I'm baffled at these moves. Now I get they had to do the Laramie Tunzel move. They're desperate. When's the worst deal you could ever make, right? Is when you're desperate? You'll never talk to anyone that's done anything in business that will tell you, you always have to be prepared to walk away. Bill and Brian wasn't prepared to walk away. He knew he couldn't. He knew he had to have Laramie Tunzel. Now he's lucky that Miami Dolphins are a joke disaster that they were willing to trade him, but he traded two first round picks and a second rounder pick for Laramie Tunzel. And then he doesn't even extend him right away?

Like, look at John Snyder. In the MMQB, Albert Breers article today, John Snyder said that they were interested in Clowny in March. They were ready to make moves. The problem was they couldn't quite agree on the compensation. And Snyder's like, yeah, we had to extend Russell, we had to figure out Bobby Wagner. We just had a lot of other moving parts. So they actually benefited because maybe Seattle doesn't get them if they're willing to do

him in March because someone would have gave in a first round pick for him. Hell, the Chiefs might have given him their first round pick. Because the Chiefs didn't give a first and second for Frank Clark. Now, maybe they would rather have Frank Clark than Clowny. I don't know. But maybe they'd give that exact deal to the Houston Texans for Janabion Clowny. And then extend the guy like they did. Now, maybe Clowny wouldn't assign the deal that Frank Clark signed because it's way less

than Cleo Mac and he thinks he's worth Cleo Mac money. There are some variables here. But surely he would have got somewhere near that compensation if he would have done it in March. And the tonsill thing is when you've screwed up the draft, when you didn't pick the right player, where everyone knew, this isn't one of those like hindsight's 20-20. It was obvious Andre Dillard was the best pass blocker in the draft. It was obvious of the Houston, Texas seat in an offensive line. They just sat there and waited. Like, I got news for you.

Things don't come when you just wait. Sometimes in life you've got to be aggressive. What did Howie Rosen do? He waited to a certain point, and then he started wheeling and dealing. And he made a pretty basic move to jump up a couple slots. take the tackle right in front of them. They got clowned by Howie Roseman when they thought because

pigs get fed, hogs get slaughtered. So they tried to like have their cake and eat it too. They got a little greedy and get it. Sometimes waiting is being greedy. You're like, I don't really want to pay for that. Just pay. Don't be cheap. Because to me you can be cheap and greedy at the same time.

Like, hey, you know, I think I can get this player right at 25. No, just go get them at 20. So what? You got to give up a third round pick to move up four slots. that's being greedy and cheap at the same time, and it cost them. And then it creates a situation where they got to give a two-ones and a two for Laramie Tunzel.

And Kenny Stills, who's, listen, he's been a productive player in this league, but clearly, I don't think Brian Game, or not Brian Game, but Brian Flores, for whatever, this Kaepernick and Jay-Z stuff, maybe thinks his heads even in the game. Because if you watch his post-game press conference, after Brian Flores went on that rant about the J-Z and playing the songs, it was like, I don't even think Kenny Stills is playing that well. I don't even think he cares right now. So, now, will he care with Hopkins and Nashan? Maybe, but I don't know, man.

I just, I think this whole situation easily could have been avoidable. And it's not one of those that's easily avoidable now looking back. It was easily avoidable at the time. The entire league is known that he doesn't like Clowny. Why didn't he trade him two years ago? Here's the other thing. Like, hey, Bill, I got news for you. You hate Clowny?

And I question this too. You are a really smart guy. I think Bill O'Brien is like an Ivy League guy, maybe Princeton or something. He's a smart guy. But his emotions, and all these guys that are around Belichick, Charlie Weiss, Bill O'Brien, Josh McDaniels when he left, are clearly really smart. Because Belichick doesn't think of Nick Saban over the years.

Belichick doesn't like you if you're not smart. If you're not a really, really smart guy. Like, you're not going to have a lot of success with him. So those guys are really smart. The difference of Bill and these guys is Bill never gets emotional. Look at this weekend. He kept down. Jared Stidham, and he cut Brian Hoyer.

Where I think that's a pretty bold move. Where you go, well, if Tom were to roll an ankle and miss a couple games, you would probably say Brian Hoyer's probably better equipped to win you a game in October than some rookie, right? Bill doesn't give a shit. Because he doesn't operate emotionally. He'll just go, we'll keep getting this guy incrementally better, and if we have to, we'll figure it out.

Well, you got Josh McDaniels gets to Denver and Trays Brandon Marshall and Trays Jay Cutler, can't work with anyone. Bill O'Brien, I have to have this guy. I have to, like, whenever you say I have to have this guy, I always sell some of your stock as a head coach, because you're too emotionally invested. And the problem with Bill O'Brien, he's in control. He has no checks and balances. We talk about it all the time.

Like, America, are we sure at the same, we have the checks and balances around anymore? Here's what I know. There are no checks and balances right now in the Houston, Texans' front office. There's one check, and that's Bill O'Brien, and he can do whatever the hell he wants. Now, you could say, are they better today? Yes. because Laramie Tunzel, huge upgrade. 100%.

That's a huge addition. But they mortgage, like part of the Texans is they were going to have a bright future if they did this right. You got Deshawn Watson, you got Hopkins, Watts still relatively young, he's only 30. You still got some young, good players. So you're mortgaging the future to try to win a football this year. What if you don't? You don't have any first round picks, I just, I think it's so emotionally and so short-sighted that if you would have just figured it out years ago, like hire the right gentleman,

manager. Bill eventually, and here's my other issue with him, he couldn't get along with, I can't even think of his first name, but the Smith, the old GM. He couldn't get along with Brian Gain. Now, whoever the next general manager, if it's Nick Casario, why am I to believe that he's going to get along with that guy? He can't get along with anyone. He's just hot-headed, emotional, I'm not sure, some weird combination, because he's clearly a pretty solid coach. Talk to people around the NFL. I've been to his practice in Penn State. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind.

Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real.

From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context and ask the questions everybody wants answered. SportsSlice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to Sports Slice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of mental health awareness month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations

with so many incredible guests. I'm talking. Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing and we're still chasing it and we don't know when we've done enough

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

I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Keir Gaines, is we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, Learn the Hardway. Open your free iHeartRadio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. What's up, guys? This is Clever Taylor the Fourth.

And on my podcast, The Cliver Show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff. Like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker, this linebacker walks up to me. He goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What? Quarterback on office blue of 42.

Hey, rep, my mama want you to wave at her. What? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm CJ Toledano

and our podcast point game is about defining the odds. Like LeBron heading into the playoffs without Luca and Austin Reed. And finding ways to win no matter what. He's the smartest player to ever play the game. His IQ is at a level

that we've never seen before. And he knows. Without Luca and Austin Reeves, I got to manipulate the game. We get a player's perspective on the challenges of the playoffs. I think Joker's going to be exhausted this series.

because when they don't have Rudy in the lineup, he has to really guard guys like Nas Reid. He has to guard Julius Randall. And then he has to give us everything he gives us on the night-to-night basis on offense. And when IT's friends stop by, like Quentin Richardson, we dive into some playoff history too. Steve Nass would get that thing.

That man, hell get the flying. He running up the court, licking his fingers while he got the ball, like, after you go through a training camp with that, Isaiah, you figure it out real quick. Get your ass up and down the court, and you're going to get the balls. So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,

or wherever you get your podcasts. It's impressive, but he's just flying by the seat of his pants now, and he has no one clearly that he listens to. I know coaches that have been on his staff before, and they say he's crazy. He's nuts. And this whole weekend was insanity. It really was insanity, and it was borderline reckless, because it was so reckless that it should never have got to this point.

I still, and I've said this 10 times, I can't get over not trading Clowny before the draft. I can't get over it. Because if you're Bill O'Brien, you knew you weren't going to keep Clowny. And you know he's really valuable. Why? Because he's a really good player. So you get maybe a one, maybe two twos, I don't know. You get something a lot better than the third and two random-ass players.

It makes no sense. It makes none. I mean, it makes zero sense. So I'm not, because I know coward. Some people are like, well, they are better off because they have Laramie Tunzel. I agree. But they never should have been in the situation where they had to give up two ones and a two. They gave up more for Laramie Tunzel than the Bears gave up for Cleo Mac.

Because the Bears gave two ones, but they got a Raiders two back. That's not the case here. They gave up two ones and they gave a two. And they didn't do any pick swabs. It's crazy. It's insanity. And it's what happens when you let coaches run your personnel department that have no experience running a personnel department. You get chaos.

And, Bill, you got to learn to get along with certain talents. Like, Jadavon Clowney's a legit player. You screw this whole situation up. You should be embarrassed. I'm always upgrading my car. Not because I need to, because I want to. Today, it's custom rims for my ride. Tomorrow, it might be a new driver's side seat cushion. And eBay Motors.com always has what I need.

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that a girl that is way skinnier than I am, a size two, a size four, the same exact picture. And I look vulgar because I'm thicker. But if a thinner girl does it, it's not that much of a big deal. And that's what I'm not okay with. Because why? Why? Because I have cellulite because I have thick thighs. I can't do that. I can't feel sexy in my own skin. And that's, those are the things that I want to break because there are so many women like me and I want to be and represent us, you know? Obviously, there's always room for improvement. I always want to look better. I want to work out. I want to lose weight. But in reality, this is the body God gave me and I've never really been skinny. Listen to the My Coutura podcast network available on the IHeart

radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Where do you find the perfect developer? Well, we found her at her home office in Prague. But you can find her, and thousands like her, right now on Upwork. When the world is your workforce, finding the perfect developer, designer, marketer, or whomever you may need, becomes a whole lot easier. Upwork, the world's work marketplace. One theme going in sports right now, in pro sports, at least through social media and being pushed

by many media members, is the victimhood of players. It's mainly being led by LeBron and in the NBA, and obviously the NBA media, just so pro player, they despise big business, just the players always getting screwed, despite all the players in the NBA. I think the average salary is like $4 million. All the top players are making like 25 to 40. There's never been a greater, more lucrative partner. in the history of the world than being an elite NBA player.

It's the most lucrative partnership in the history of the world. You literally carry no liability. Kevin Durant's Achilles tour and he had like four max offers. Clay Thompson torn ACL, no big deal. Here's the max. If you're a top player, you just get broken off no matter what. Paul George making a ton of money. The LA Clippers mortgage the future for a guy with two surgically repair.

as we speak, he can't even, he's not even, he won't even be able to play like the first quarter of the season messed up. No one cares. Morgan's the future for him. Kauai Leonard, the finals MVP, still limping around. No one even cares. Everyone, entire league would offer to the max. But like LeBron and Clutch, they lead this theme of victimhood

and it kind of plays on social media. And I think it's somewhat carried over to the NFL, though as we've seen like the NFL general managers are in charge. And I think Melvin Gordon is, and Zeke have been part of this group that have been tried to kind of play the victim. Like, we're getting screwed. We're the running backs.

And first off, one thing is like analytics. The more analytics comes into pro sports. Like part of, listen, I was, I had a radio show where the radio show, the corporation was based out of Philadelphia. I never met anyone that ran the corporation. I was just a number to them. So when my radio show got canceled,

it was just a number, it was just reshuffling of numbers. Like when I worked in the NFL, it was kind of a people. business. I'm sure many people listening, some of you guys work for smaller businesses. You're not just a number on a line item, because if you work for the guy that owns the business, he views you as a person. Where if you work for a massive corporation, like I have a bunch of friends in the Bay Area that work for people like Oracle or Facebook, now that have all these employees, you don't know like

Mark Zuckerberg or Larry Ellison, you're just a number to them. And if you produce, you stay. If you don't, they get rid of you. They don't view it like getting rid of necessarily a person. They just get viewed a dead weight. And so I do understand like analytics, where most of us now agree, led by the analytical movement, running backs don't matter. And certain players, you know,

that especially PFF say that suck. And then they get mad when like the players say that analytics don't matter. Well, you're trying to act like those people are worthless. Like I get where Melvin Gordon and Zeke and all these people crush analytics. They're like, screw you. I'm valuable.

So I, there is a give and take with this stuff. But the analytics, the I test, everything has proven now that running backs don't really matter. Now, I agree, Zeke Elliott is at the high end of that. If Zeke was a wide receiver, he would basically be Hopkins or Julio, and they would have already paid him. But he plays running back, so it's like, and then on top of that, all the off-to-field stuff.

But Melvin Gordon, who is like 50% of Zeke, wants this new contract, and there's this victimhood, they're just running them into the ground. Well, he is scheduled to make like $5.5 million. They're not about to pay him like 350K. So he's being paid $5.5 million to get run into the ground. And he's proven to not really be the most durable player. He played a 16 game season one time in his four-year career. So all of a sudden, the chargers, who probably against the analytical movement,

would have said, like, don't offer him any more money. Offered him a nice pay bump. Because again, he's already making pretty good coin. I think we talk about him on the victimhood that is social media. Melvin Gordon's getting screwed. Well, kind of. He plays a position that's easily replaceable, and I think the Chargers would argue that Austin Echler and Josh Jackson,

the kid from Northwestern, they could probably patch together 90% of Melvin Gordon at a quarter of the price. So basic business would say, yeah, see him, Melvin, later. But they like Melvin Gordon. They've offered him a bump in his pay about $9.5 million. He refused to take it. And as I said, Melvin Gordon is crazy. He should run to the charge facility and sign them.

that contract. Well, of course, his agent, who has a major agenda in this whole argument, because the more money he gets, the more money the agent gets. Guess what the agent wants to do? He wants his kids to go to private school. Guess what the agent wants? Probably a second home. The agent benefits from these guys making more money. He doesn't truly care about Melvin Gordon or any of these people. I don't agents love to hype that up. No, they're doing this. Number one, they're in the business because it's a business that they make a lot of money off it. Now, with Melvin Gordon, the Chargers finally said, you know what? Everyone's trying to paint us out to be the bad guy.

And I got news for you. Historically, the Chargers have been the cheapest organization in all the sports. So, you know, their resume's not great. But on this one, they're in the right. Like, the way they handled Joey Bosa probably could have easily been avoidable. The Niners proved Nick Bosa wanted the same thing, and they signed him well before training camp. It wasn't that complicated because you were paying them the money anyway. This one, I think most people level-headed people,

and I think I get a lot of people that listen to the show that have a lot of common sense. because you found me through Colin, so you probably, if you listen to Colin, have some common sense. You go, yeah, you know. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending,

opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines.

We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context, and ask the questions everybody wants answered.

SportsClyce brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to SportsClyce on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slices Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast. Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month,

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

and we don't know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes a ball. 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 Hardway. Open your free, our heart

radio app. Search, learn the hard way and listen now. What's up, guys? This is Clever Taylor the 4th. And on my podcast, The Cliverts Show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff. Like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker, this linebacker walks up to me.

He goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What? Come out. Quarterback on office blue with 42. Hey, Rep, my mama want you to wave at her. What? Where's she at? Hey, Ms. Parker.

Listen to the Cliverts show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. American soccer is about to explode. The World Cup is coming. Ramos sending on to Ernie Stewart the chip. I'm Todd Ramos. I'm Tom Boe. On our podcast, Inside American Soccer, you'll get the real storylines. I'm not worried about Policic.

I'm not worried about Balagan. I'm not worried about McKinney. My only concern is what happens in the back. The biggest decisions. If you're going to look at stats and numbers, he has no shot at making this World Cup team. And the truth about the U.S. national team. It wouldn't be a huge surprise if our team ends up in the quarterfinals or potentially a great run into the semifinals. The World Cup is almost here. Experience it all with us.

Listen to Inside American Soccer with Tom Bogart and Tab Ramos on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, wherever you get your podcast. I don't know if I'd pay Melvin Gordon like $11 million a year for five years. Like I understand where the charges are coming from. So what the charges finally said, they say, you know what, Melvin? Because, you know, I've gotten this argument before is the NFL true capitalism, you know, especially for rookies who are under contract for five years and the franchise tag, they never truly get to hit the market to find out what their value is. Because that's the best part of most industries, right? That eventually you're going to, whatever you're worth, you're going to get to prove it on the, the open market. If you're good at whatever you do, people bid for your services, you're

able to make more money. Supply demand, right? Well, they said, you know what, Melvin? You're free to seek a trade. Here is, I'll, if I'm Tom Telesco, I will forward you and your agent every single GM and head coach's phone number throughout the entire league. And you are free to seek any trade you want and any contract you want. And we'll support you. And if we agree with the compensation, Godspeed to you, buddy. And you know what we've heard in the last 48 hours since they've granted him permission to seek a trade crickets. You know why? Because they are in a team in this league that would even think about offering the contract that

the charges were offering at close to $10 million a year. It's why I said originally, the man on the moon could say, hey, Melvin, if they're really offering you almost $10 million a year, and they clearly are, because that hasn't been disputed anywhere, and you're already making good coin. You can double the amount of money because you were scheduled to make about $13 million the next two years. I think with the pay bump, it was going to be close to about. $30 million in guaranteed money.

Melvin, I'm telling you. Just put on your Nikes, tie those bad boys up wherever you are. Whether you're in Cabo, whether you're in Los Angeles, just start sprinting and head right to where your facility is. And bring a pen. I have a pilot G2 Bick in my hand right now, the 0.071.

I like a little finer, but this one gets the job done and say, Tom, where's the contract? I'll sign it on the dotted line. Because I'm sure, as you've seen in the last two days, You can follow all the people you want on Instagram and Twitter and all the teams. No one's trading anything of value for you, one, and two, definitely no one's giving you a contract more than the levy on bill. That's not happening.

And clearly the Chargers are willing to do that. Why? Because they know you the best. They clearly like you. You have been played by an agent who has his greedy hands written all over this, who wants more money for himself, not necessarily for you. You're going to make, if you did sign this contract, I think you'd already made like $15 million.

You had another $30. You're talking $45 million. to play running back in the NFL. Like, you know, this isn't 1994 anymore. That's really good money. I mean, that's great money now. You're not playing the victim card. No one's feeling bad for you.

You're not, you know, a top seven or eight running back in the NFL. They value you more than the rest of the league. You got to swallow your pride and I guess some of your ego. And the good thing is it's not that hard to swallow your ego. You know a guy that's way better than you? His name's Levy on Bell. Didn't sign a contract for that much this offseason. So I'll promise you now that.

thing. You don't want to hit free agency, Melvin, because we just saw what Levion Bell, who again, on his worst day is better than you on his best day, he barely got $26 million. So I'm telling you, sign this deal. I've been saying over and over, anyone listening to this podcast that knows Melvin, tell him to sign the deal. Because when you always play this victim, and this is the clutch move, and it's LeBron, and it's the NBA, people, like, in the real world, no one feels bad for you. The other thing, it's hard to feel bad for you when the market, when the entire league goes, man, you're not worth that. And this team's willing to pay you money that you're probably not even worth.

Because if you hit free agency, no one in the free agent market's paying you that much money. So just very, very poorly played by Melvin Gordon. And one of those things that was, you know, we could see coming from a mile away. This was easily avoidable. He could have been there all camp and been a much, much richer human than he already is. Hey, Singles. Do you feel like a tourist in your own town? Too busy to enjoy all your city has to offer.

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Visit royal caribbean.com to learn more. Where do you find the perfect project manager? Well, we found him in his perfectly organized home office in Adelaide. But you can find him, and thousands like him right now on Upwork. When the world is your workforce, finding the perfect Project manager, designer, developer, or whomever you may need, becomes a whole lot easier. Upwork, the world's work marketplace. Okay, let's get into Oregon and Auburn, which I mentioned earlier, but the best part about football, and it's the one thing that the other sports just can never have. And it's just the natural way the sport is set up is just urgency, right?

is that you only play so many games in college 12 or 13 and the pros now that the preseason doesn't matter. Most teams play 16 if you're lucky enough to get into the playoffs. Every game matters. It's why we overreact to NBA regular season games. No one even talks about baseball anymore, but a regular season baseball game means absolutely nothing unless it's like the last day of the season to get in.

But in football, every game matters. And in college football now, obviously games really matter, especially when you have big time matchups. And the game this weekend, the number one game of the weekend, and I talked about it on Friday, was Auburn and Oregon. And I was rooting for Oregon. I want to see the Pac-12 do well. But my heart, that was my heart, my head told me to take Auburn.

Now, I ended up not even betting the game. But I was pretty hard on Mario. I just questioned despite their talent, which is clear, he's been recruiting at a high level. And now one thing's clear that Willie Taggart has been completely exposed, completely exposed at Florida State, like a complete fraud.

And you know what? It happens in football. Because my theory, it's not even a theory. The reality is with sports, the hype meter. Like in basketball, we hype players. You know, we really hype up players. Look at Zion. Like if he's not LeBron James is going to be,

the hype is incredible. But Devin Bookers, Carl Anthony Towns, we just hype players that haven't even proof people have been calling Chris Paul the second best point guard in NBA history forever. Chris Paul's not even a top five point guard ever. He's not even the best point guard of his own generation. Steph has ran circles around him for years now. He's an all-time flop in the playoffs.

But the media hypes up players. In football, the media hypes up coaches, especially college football. And part of that now is their agents. You know, it happens. Everyone's calling Josh Gaddis, this superstar at Michigan. And I want to like him too. I went and watched a bunch of his YouTube. Then I texted around some people.

I know some people that have worked with him. And he said, yeah, I don't know. But the hype on every list, football scoop, my guy, Bruce Feldman, everyone has him as the number one assistant coach. And he's like, I don't know. I don't see it. But the hype is just, the hype's there. Now, I would say Mario doesn't necessarily have the hype, but because he was at the school and Willie Tagger took them, he got kind of lucky to get the job.

Because if Mario Cristobal would have been the O-line coach at the time at Alabama, not the assistant head coach and O-Line coach at Oregon, he would not have got the Oregon jump. but he took advantage of his opportunity and he's recruited his ass off. And I'll give him credit for this. He's had two crippling losses in two years, Stanford and Auburn. In both those games, his team came ready

and were kicking ass and taking names. But in Division I football, just like in the NFL, this is not Malibu, California. We're not giving out participation trophies. Either winner, you lose. And when you have a lead and you kick the crap out of Auburn in the first half,

and then you're up eight in the fourth quarter to a national powerhouse, you have to find a way to win. And at the end of the day, and I've used this quote a couple times, I can't stop using it. It's so great. Dan Orlovsky, of ESPN, former backup quarterback, was just said, he tweeted this like a week ago,

that the assistant coach that he played with earlier in his career, said, man, you may only get one shot to be a starting quarterback. And when that opportunity comes, and I think this relates to anyone in any business, whatever you do, whatever position you play in football, whatever you may do in life. When you get a huge opportunity, you have to be willing to throw a haymaker.

It's why most successful people in this world are not the smartest people. They just tend to have the biggest stones, the biggest balls. They have Cajonis. They're not scared. It's why so many coaches that get their shot and then they wilt under the pressure.

Like they're down three and the fourth quarter, and they punt. It's like you gotta have the balls to go for it. And twice. Two of the last, someone's blowing me up. Two of the last three possessions for Oregon and Auburn. Auburn was up eight, excuse me. Sorry, that phone call threw me out.

Two of the last three possessions, and not counting the Hail Mary was the last. So the last two ones beside the Hail Mary, if you watch the game. They're up eight points. It's third and seven. Now, they're kind of backed up, but he runs the ball. He runs the ball. They're up eight points. They punt the ball, Auburn then scores, makes it a one-point game.

game. They get the ball back. They're up one at midfield. It's fourth and one. And they were in a tough spot because Justin Herbert, who's, you know, potential top 10 pick, gets yanked out of the game. They end up running the ball off tackle and get destroyed by one of the best front sevens in the country. To me, regardless of what happened in every other point of the game, the game was lost right there. You ran the ball on two critical downs up late in the fourth quarter. That's embarrassing. It just is.

For all the hype, and I was critical of him, his team was ready, and they came out swinging, they played winning football in the first half. Then they're up late in the game. You're up eight points. You're up eight points in the fourth quarter against a national powerhouse. It's basically a road game for Oregon

because it's at AT&T, though a lot of Oregon fans were there. And he ran it twice on third and seven and fourth and one. You deserve to lose if you're going to play scared. Scared money don't make money. money, right? You get your one shot, Mario, and you didn't throw a haymaker. You got your shot, and you did not throw a haymaker. Now, in two years, so basically a season and a game, in two games, the two biggest games

he's played in now, Stanford and Auburn, he just, he blew it. I mean, he got, and in this one, even more than the state, I'll give you a little bit of benefit of the doubt that Stanford game, whatever, weird shit happens, could have happened to any coach. But in this game, you've had all off season, your Teams ready. Your team's loaded. The whole country's watching. I'm on the I'm you. Everyone listening. We're on the edge of our seat. Third and seven, run.

Fourth and one. To put a dagger, a stake in their throat. You run an off-tackle play against one of the best defensive lines in the country. I'd also say this. Herbert got injured. And I didn't know this rule. And Herb Street and Fowler didn't know this rule. Did he call the timeout and he thought he could. put Herbert back in the game, but he couldn't.

You had to keep him out because in college football is different in the NFL. You got to keep him out for a play. Now, if I don't know that rule and you don't know that rule and Herbstree doesn't know that rule, that's okay. But if the head coach is paid millions upon millions of dollars to know that rule. So he didn't know the rule. Not that necessarily would have changed the play call because he ended up running the play with his backup quarterback.

But that's inexcusable. Honestly, it's inexcusable. And in Oregon, they're paying him a lot of money to try to win a national championship. and get to the playoffs. And they would have been, they still might not have made the playoffs who would have won this game, but they would have been a top five or six team.

They would have jumped way up, they were, I think, 11. They probably would have been five or six, maybe six or seven, but they would have been in the driver's seat, especially if Auburn then went on to have a good season. They might be able to lose a game and get in. That's a crippling loss.

And a loss that you're winning. It'd be one thing if they were playing from behind, and you're like, okay, whatever, they got outplayed. They outplayed Auburn. That's the thing. that has to crush you as an Oregon fan is now in two of the biggest games

but especially this one against you know Gus Malza. Say what you want and I know Auburn hates him. I mean he's probably a top 10 coach in the country. He's going X's nose. He's right there with him and when it was nut cutting time he got tight and he ran the ball because

I think at your core you can't shake who you are and Mario's a conservative coach and when you get conservative and he kind of coach scared I can't like you just deserve to lose. You deserve to lose. It's not fair to your kids who are clearly ready for the game. Your assistant coach, your assistant coaching staff that put together a good plan. But I don't believe for a second, Mario, who's not the offensive coordinator, is not in the headset going, run the ball.

And you end up losing by, you know, whatever, six points once they get the ball back and they drive the field. But the game wasn't lost on that final drive when Bo Nix, you know, through that sweet touchdown pass. It was lost on third and seven when he ran the ball. It was then lost on fourth and one. when they ran an off-tackle against one of the best, arguably the best front seven, maybe in the country, and got destroyed. Like if you are going to run a play, bootleg, roll them out, do something. Hell, even punt. Make the true freshman go 90.

You know, I guess he didn't have to go 90 because they were down one at the time. So a field goal wins it. But it goes 60. Like, you're going to run it right in. You might as well just say, hey, man, we'll just go to the locker room. You guys win. We'll go home. But you cannot coach scared in these big games.

Let's get into the Miami Dolphins. who are going full Sam Hinky. And it's really crazy the trend Sam Hinky started. And I think when you look back on Sam Hinky and the tank job that is the Sixers, he nailed Joel Embed. Simmons, yeah, he missed on a lot, though. You ever heard of Janus Antitacumpo?

Guy just won the MVP, passed on him. You ever heard of Jalil Okiefer? Yeah, Hinky drafted him. Michael Carter Williams, Hinky picked him. So Hinky was just taking a lot of swings. He clearly was not a very good evaluator. He missed on way more than he hit. I don't even think that's disputable.

Now, in his process, his process made sense to truly suck to try to get the number one overall pick. Now, in football, if you try to truly suck, it's easier to get the number one pick because unlike professional basketball, there's not a lottery. So if you have the worst record, you will get the number one overall.

all pick. So the Miami Dolphins trade the best player on their team to the Houston Texans and get a lot. They got two first round picks and they got a second round pick. They got more compensation for Laramie Tunzel than the Chicago Bears gave up for Khalil Mack. Now they also included Kenny Stills, but it was clear that I don't think Brian Flores was a big Kenny Stills fan. So it's crazy is Kenny Stills has 12 touchdowns over the last two years and at one point in time was a really good player in this league. Kind of feels like just like an extra throw-in. You know like a Major League Baseball player to be named later, but Kenny Stills is not bad. But I think we all view those picks were mainly given up for Laramie Tunzel.

Because what would Kenny Stills have got on the open market? Like a fourth round pick, maybe? So they gave up all that from Laramie Tunzel. Now I think here's the problem. Because as we saw it with Hinky and as we saw with the Browns, this notion of like, see what Sashi Brown did for the Browns? Sosci Brown passed on Carson Wentz. To think that Sashi Brown 100% would have picked Baker Mayfield,

is laughable. I have no clue who Sashi Brown would have picked. Or, like, maybe he would have liked Lamar Jackson the most. I don't know. But did Sashi Brown set them up for success? Yes. Was Sashi Brown the right guy to start picking the players? Hell no.

You know, and I know nothing about Brian Flores or even, I don't even know his general manager's name. I understand trading a player. Like, every player should have a price non-quarterback. If someone's going to offer you two ones and a two, I guess you have to think about it. Do you have to do it? I mean, this guy is a 25-year-old ascending elite tackle.

But that's a lot. You're trying to lose. Okay, I understand. But let's look at some different parts that make this a little complicated a tank. And make this tanking idea just some unequivocal no-brainer. You know, like the Browns to try to pull off years ago and now that the dolphins are going to try to pull off. Let's start with one.

I just wrote down some things that I got red flagged. Are we sure there are some cat-men quarterback's coming along. Because I watch Justin Herbert, and I got news for it. He's not a can't miss quarterback. I'm not even sure a lot of NFL people are going to like him. There's some questions about his personality. He's clearly talented.

I mean, there's no disputing his talent. But is he just some no-brainer overall number one pick? Hell no. I watched some to him. Like, I like to it. Really accurate. Doesn't have a great arm. Doesn't have a great arm at all.

And the part of playing in Miami, who's the best quarterback in the history of the franchise, I don't know if this guy named Dan Marino. He was basically the Nolan Ryan of football quarterbacks. You know, he probably has the best arm beside Farr of ever. Because who do you have to play in that division? I don't know, the Patriots, usually late in the season,

it's cold. I don't know, the Jets, usually pretty cold. And I don't know, the bills. It tends to be pretty cold in Buffalo. So you need a big arm quarterback. Probably win there. That would make some sense. Probably a big reason they haven't really won the last 20 years.

So are there any can't miss quarterbacks in this quarterback class? No. Now, could they be so crappy in two years they get Trevor Lawrence? Sure, but as we see every year, it's... Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind.

Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves.

Their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context,

and ask the questions everybody wants answered. SportsSlice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to Sports Slice on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12

and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist. Kier 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, Destin, 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 that's two different levels of trust i want you to just really be a good person join me care gains is we have real conversations about healing growth fatherhood pressure and purpose on my new podcast learn the hard way open your free iHeart radio app search learn the hard way and listen now what's up guys this is cliver Taylor the 4th. And on my podcast, the

Cleverts Show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff. Like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker, this linebacker walks up to me, he goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What?

Time out. Quarterback on office, Blue 42. A rep, my mama want you to wave at her. What? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Clifford Show on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. What's up, fam?

It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano, and our podcast's point game is about defining the odds. Like LeBron heading into the playoffs without Luca and Austin Reed. And finding ways to win no matter what. He's the smartest player to ever play the game. His IQ is at a level that we've never seen before. And he knows. Without Luca and Austin Reeves, I got to manipulate the game.

We get a player's perspective on the challenges of the playoffs. I think Joker's going to be exhausted this series because when they don't have Rudy in the lineup, he has to really guard guys like Nas Reid. He has to guard Julius Randall. And then he has to give us everything he gives us on the night-to-night basis on offense. And when IT's friends stop by, like Quentin Richardson,

we dive into some playoff history too. Steve Nash would get that thing. That man, hell get the flying. He running up the court, licking his fingers, why he got the ball, like, after you go through a training camp with that, Isaiah, you figure it out. real quick.

Get your ass up and down the court and you're going to get the ball. So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Pretty hard to just actively tank because coaches try to win and the players on the field, even if they suck and you may have the worst roster in the league, you're still trying to win games. You are. I saw it last year with the 49ers and the Raiders.

Both those two teams were actively trying to lose toward the end and they both won games in December. They couldn't even help it. just because your players just kind of start making plays. And they didn't even want to win. Especially the Raiders. I mean, the Raiders beat the Steelers late in the season, and they actively tried to tank,

and they couldn't even tank right, because it's impossible to tank in the NFL. So here's another one. Your best asset right now on your team is a guy named Josh Rosen, who was just picked 10th overall a year ago, and then you acquired for a late second round pick. How on God's Green Earth am I supposed to judge Josh Rosen whenever he gets to play, because they didn't name him the starter,

which doesn't seem as crazy now that they trade their best offensive linemen and one of their best wide receivers. How am I supposed to judge Josh Rosen on a team that's going to stink? I mean, seriously. How am I going to have any clue after this year, whether Josh plays 10 or 8 games, what I have? I don't think you'll have any. It is a complete guessing game.

Complete. So your best asset on the team, whenever you do put him into the game, it's going to be very, very difficult to find out if this guy is good or bad. As we saw last year, it's impossible to know what Josh Rosen was with the Arizona Cardinals. They're the worst team in the league, literally. They drafted first overall, and they had the worst offensive line the league. Well, the Dolphins just got rid of their left tackle,

so their offensive line's going to stink because now they're starting a backup, and I'm going to have to judge this guy who's not that mobile behind an offensive line, now one of his best receivers gone. I don't even know what to say, and I don't know what the dolphins are going to do. They won't really know. And three, here's the biggest thing. When you trade for two first round picks, like if I trade, when I traded O'Dell Beckham, if I'm the New York Giants to the Cleveland Browns, I knew what the pick was.

They were giving me the 17th overall pick, Gibral Peppers, and then a late third round pick. But I knew exactly what that pick was, right? knew exactly what that pick was. When a couple years ago, when the Chiefs and the Houston Texans, when they traded up for their quarterbacks, those two teams knew exactly where they were going. And they knew that that team was probably going to be pretty good and both those two teams were playoff teams.

Last year, when the Raiders traded the Bears before the season, the reason it even came out, the reason they chose the Bears over the bills, over the Niners, over all these teams, the entire league was lined up for Khalil Mack was because they thought the Bears were going to be the worst team out of the group attempting to trade for them. Well, what happened to the Bears? They weren't the worst team.

They were a playoff team and they won the division. That pick turned into the 24th overall pick and turned into Josh Jacobs. So now we know what the pick was and we know the player. So what any team right now in the NFL trade Josh Jacobs and a future one on a pretty damn good team, more than likely the Bears are going to be in the playoffs again, but like pick 25, Josh Jacobs and picked 25 for Cleolmac. Absolutely not.

Well, what do you say about the Houston Texans? Well, I kind of crushed the trade. I do acknowledge they're better now, and they're more than likely going to be a playoff team this year. Though Clowny's a pretty big loss, and the two guys they got as a guy in the league text me, the actual, I think Martin, Jacob Martin, he liked Martin Mingo, but regardless.

Let's just say they're a playoff team again. So let's say their draft pick, as they were this year. 25. Would anyone trade Laramie Tunzel for pick 25 and pick 24? Because you would do it if you're the dolphins for pick 10 and the following year pick 12. But in the 20s, those picks aren't good. Because if you talk to anyone in the league,

they'll constantly tell you, especially the good GMs, we don't have 20 first round grades. On a typical year, we have probably somewhere between 15 and 20 first round grade. players. There's a reason why John Snyder, Brett Veach, Bill Belichick, Roseman, these guys typically, sometimes they trade up when a guy falls, but a lot of times they go the other way. They go from in the mid-20s back to early in the second round. Because they go, well, we're going to draft a second-round player anyway. We view all these guys on our board as second-round picks. So let's go

back. So the only way to me going Hinky makes sense is when you trade with the shitty team, a team that's going to give you potential top 10 picks because you're trading a top 10 player. So if the picks you're getting back are in the mid-20s, like the way it worked out for Khalil Mack, that stings. That hurts. Like it was cool when you traded the Bears for two first-round picks when you think, yeah, hopefully a couple will be in the top 15.

Well, when they turned into 24 and that guy turns into a running back, I like Josh Jacobs, but he ain't no Khalil Mack, and if the Bears are better this year, let's say the Bears make the NFC championship. Let's say worst case in error for the Bears They go 8 and 8 and they miss the playoffs That picks still what? 18, 19

So you trade Josh Jacobs and pick 19 for Kalil Mack? Deal, I'll do that all day long. Give me Khalil Mack, I'll give you that. Now would I give you like the 49ers? Why didn't the 49ers get Odell Beckham this year? Because they didn't want to trade the second overall pick. Would I trade Laramie Tunzel for the second overall pick and a pick in the 20s?

Yeah, probably would. But the Houston Texas ain't drafting second overall unless Deshaun Watson gets hurt. And now it's less likely for Deshaun Watson to get hurt because he has an elite offensive lineman protecting him. And their offensive line, in theory, should be a lot better. So this notion that, like, tanking, it's hard to tank. One, because I don't know, even if you do tank correctly,

how good the quarterbacks you're going to pick are. Two, your best asset on your team, what if Josh Rosen actually turns out to be good? You might end up winning some games, and then you're drafting like eighth because you went six and ten instead of three and 13, and three of these picks. More unlikely, aren't going to be that good. So for Bill O'Brien, I think he would counter me when I was crushing his deal when he traded for Laramie Tunzel.

Like, I'm trading two picks in the 20s. Now, I'd say, yeah, more than likely you are. I always like to have a contingency plan. Now, my bigger issue is you can't trade for Laramie Tunzel give up that much if he doesn't immediately sign an extension. Immediately. Like, part of you getting the two first round picks is contingent on him signing the extension. But that's neither here nor there. I just think that the dolphins are going to go full hinky.

good luck. I don't think it's going to quite work as seamlessly as they think. Do you own or rent your home? Sure you do, and I bet it can be hard work. You know, it's easy, bundling policies with Geico. Geico makes it easy to bundle your homeowners or renters insurance along with your auto policy. It's a good thing, too, because you already have so much to do around your home. Go to Geico.com, get a quote, and see how much you could save. It's Geico easy. Visit geico.com today. That's geico.com. Hey everyone, it's Dramos from Life as a Gringo podcast. IHeartRadio's sounds of my culture is brought to you by State Farm.

At State Farm, we know how important it is to celebrate Hispanic heritage every day. That's why we support My Coutura and invite you to continue enjoying all its great podcast. We also know what it takes to manage money, no matter the budget. That's why it's a good idea to consider State Farm and their surprisingly great rates. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there. All right, I am here with one of the newest members of the Maikotura Network family. Welcome, my bro. Shoro Maridueña from the Lone Lobos podcast.

And of course, man, you know, our culture is always going to be a big part of our lives. So for you, what is one thing that you think makes our culture so special? When thinking about this question, the first thing that comes to my mind is the food aspect of it. I mean, whether that's menudo on the weekend. or, you know, Sopa de Fidelio for breakfast. Like, I feel like living in Los Angeles, I am blessed and fortunate to be around so many other Latinos, whether that's Mexicans, you know, Ecuadorinos,

Cubanos, you know, people from all different types of walks of life. Food is the one thing that truly ties us all together. Support Coutura all year long by listening to the MyCotura podcast network, available on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Everybody, it's Harvey Levin, you know TMZ.com and our television shows for breaking news, big stories all over the world. Well, we are now doing it in a podcast. We're doing Monday, Wednesday, and Friday where we're going to dig deeper into the stories that we break and follow on the website. So you can check out our podcast every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

Check it out, the TMZ podcast now available on Spotify. Okay, let's go Middlecoff mailbag At John Middlecoff My Instagram DM's wide open Answer your questions here Would you rather have Frank Clark or Clowny

Also for fantasy purposes Do you think Hyde will start in Houston And would you rather have Shady or Damien Williams Answer the running back I don't think Carlos Hyde's very good When I say not very good I mean if he's your starting running back You're in a little bit of trouble

So I think they're just going to siphon through some guys bring up practice squad guys, and ultimately Carlos Hyde's time with them will be short-lived. I mean, he's a solid rotational guy, but when you look at his numbers, his yards per carry have been pretty bad the last couple years. Shady or Damien Williams, you know what's crazy about fantasy, and I just follow a lot of fantasy people on Twitter. When a team signed someone like Shady, like the Chiefs, when they signed Shady, you would have thought Damien Williams just tore his ACL. Like, oh, my God, Damien Williams, his value. Oh, he's screwed. They're going to play both.

It's going to be fine. Both guys will play a lot. I don't think it kills value at all. I actually think it helps. It'll keep them fresher. Would I rather have Frank Clark or Clowny? As I said earlier, I think they're pretty close. Frank Clark's a monster.

He's a beast first to run. You'd probably lean if character and everything is the same. And I don't know much. I think both have some questions off the field for various reasons. Clowny's had some injuries. I would lean Frank Clark. But I don't think you can go wrong with either. You know, because basically the way Seattle looked at it were like,

would you rather have Frank Clark for, you know, what the Chiefs gave him, like $50 million, or would you rather have Clowny and give up a third round pick and get a first and a second? So I would rather be Seattle and have Clowny and give a first and a second. Now, if I was the Chiefs, like I'd probably rather Frank Clark. He's just a more consistent player at this point in time. I think they feel pretty good about it. To me, these are, you know, when you look at the top tier of pass rushers, Khalil won, Von Miller 1A, you know, Aaron Donald, like that little group,

the elite group, and then there's kind of the next tier, you know, Yonik and Daq, Dacway, Frank Clark, Clowny. So, I mean, I think you could pick your poison on any of those guys. I like, I think they're very, very similar. and the one thing that I don't think that that Clowny and Frank Clark get enough credit for because we don't hype this up. They dominate versus the run.

Dominate. Run at them at your own peril. It's like Khalil. You know, you want to run a Kalil Mack? Good luck. He's going to win. That's the one, like you can run it, Yen Daqwe. You can run at Von Miller a little bit.

You can't run it, Clowny or Frank Clark or Khalil. Can't be done. They will not. be run on. Like peak JJ Watt, you ain't running at them. So I like more complete defensive linemen. I don't know about you, but I'm starting to question our conversation from June. Maybe O. You will run the table, at least through the Big 12. Thoughts? Yeah, I mean, Lincoln's a stud, man. And Jalen, and I think I realized this last night, you don't start at Alabama and the peak of their powers as a true freshman without being an absolute stud. And you listen to

Jaylen, and I watched after the game, he talked to, I don't even know who the sideline, Holly row or whatever. That dude is why. That guy's been around Nick Saban. He didn't even smile and he broke like records for the first ever start for Oklahoma rushing and passing, I think touchdowns. He didn't even smile. He wasn't even phased. Of course he's not faced.

He comes from the highest standard in all of college football at Alabama where the only thing that is tolerated is national championships and kicking the crap out of everyone you play. That's their standard. That's what he's used to. So he's coming to Oklahoma like

Yeah, we won one game. We don't celebrate after winning one game. Now, I think you do have to, you know, kind of balance it out like Jaylin. You did have a really good game. Celebrate it. But I was floored. I mean, I know some people at Oklahoma had Drew Hill on this, their head of recruiting on the show before.

They love him. I mean, his character is pristine. He became a team captain immediately. If he throws the ball as well as he did last night, just consistently, he's obviously a great runner and a great leader. The big difference, though, is that defensive coordinator they got, the guy that was with Mike Leach a couple years ago that changed their defense and then went to Ohio State last year.

If Oklahoma plays defense, and I think Blackledge said it pretty well in the broadcast, the other night was like they've had a national championship offense the last three or four years under Kyler and Baker. Their offense was good enough to win a Natty. They couldn't play defense. They couldn't stop a soul. If they can play defense, you don't need to be the 85 Bears. I'm just talking about open field tackle.

and get some three-in-outs, Oklahoma will be in the playoffs. Now, I do think Texas is a lot better, but man, to me, Lincoln's, his quarterbacks are going to be sweet. It's going to be, can they play defense? And they were playing some D last night. I'm high on Oklahoma right now. Woo, that was impressive. Okay, let me get to some more. Okay, let me got to go into my inbox here.

What the hell are the dolphins doing? Tanking. I mean, I think it's a full-on tank. a borderline embarrassment. You know, I understand why their owner would give the green light because they've tried the last several years. They consistently go 7 and 9, 8 and 8, 9 and 7. I think their average record for the last 20 years is 8 and 8.

I mean, they are the ultimate mediocre team. And to me, the craziest stat I saw, probably of the recent memory, they have $51 million in dead cab space. Sue's 13, Taney Hills 18, T.J. McDonald's 4. The amount of dead cap space they have this year

on guys that aren't even on their team is eye-opening. I mean, it's laughable. It's insane. But they've been poorly managed. They've been poorly run. So maybe when you do take a step back, it's not that crazy.

Like, what the hell else is going to happen? They're just going to go 7 to 9 again. It sucks. So you might as well just bottom out. But like I said previously, it's bottoming out in the NFL doesn't guarantee anything. It really doesn't. You're very dependent.

It's hard to get the number one overall pick. This isn't a draft lottery. It's hard to just actively try to lose games because players don't and even assistant coaches don't. And then, I don't know, you're kind of dependent on the quarterbacks coming out. What if we go through a couple years or good quarterbacks just don't come out? So I don't see this as any guarantee that they're going to just figure this out. I'm a big fan of the show.

If Drew Brees were injured, Would Taysam Hill be the best choice to start and would he be successful? I think you'd have to go with Teddy Bridgewater. But the good thing with the Saints is they would have immediate options. I think they would start Teddy Bridgewater, let's say Breeze. Let's say he rolled his ankle and was going to miss a couple games with a bad ankle sprain and couldn't walk. I think they would start Teddy Bridgewater. But if for whatever reason, they'd have packages for Tassum Hill.

And if Teddy wasn't moving the ball and Tassum was, they could just make the switch. they're in a pretty unique situation. Now, is Taysam good enough to beat, you know, a good Panther or Atlanta Falcon team or the Eagles or something like that in a game? I would lean no. But he clearly gives him some options. He's been now. It feels like a saint. Doesn't it feel like Taysam Hill's been a saint for 20 years, even though I think he's been there for like four?

But I swear to God, it feels like, you know, he's one of those college players that you're like, God, hasn't this guy been on a team? Is this guy like an eighth year senior? That's what it feels like Tasem Hill with the Saints. but I think if they had to start a game and Drew Breeze went out I mean I would be floored if Teddy Bridgewater didn't get the call I have a question for the mailback

with the final cuts coming this past Saturday the Eagles wave Smallwood and Adams with that being said do you think the committee approach will be Sanders, Clement and Howard will be beneficial for the Eagles and for other committee approaches in the NFL given that one guy can't really get a rhythm going yeah but I think the thing with the committee

is your rhythm is dictated like you just start playing a hot hand. So yeah, you got three guys. If Jordan Howard's going, Jordan Howard stays in the game. Like it's easy with Zeke or Levion. They're going to, they are the committee. You're just going to play them

and when they need a blow, they come out. But your success in the run game is dependent on them. Like if they're having a good day, you just run them. Now good players like those two guys are going to have good days. But when you have a running back unit by committee,

like if this guy's not really working, the next guy. If this guy's not really working, you use the next guy. So, and then once one of the guys starts eating a little bit, you keep feeding him. So I like it. You know, I think, in theory, you know Jordan Howard is probably the better one.

But if the rookie Sanders starts making plays, keep feeding him the pill. I don't think it's ever black and white. It's like, you know, betting on stocks. You want to diversify your portfolio. Like part of having a good backup running back, Austin Echler,

is when Melvin Gordon holds out, you're like, whatever. That's the thing about running backs. You know, it's hard to like, most teams don't have a good backup quarterback. In theory, every team would love to have Joe Montana and Steve Young. But hell, most teams are just praying for like Jimmy Garoppel. And then they'll just figure out the backup. In a perfect world, you want three deep at every position. And running back is the one position that's actually kind of easy to go three deep.

So I think the, I think the Eagles are in pretty good shape. They'll just ride who you ever's hot. that game. Enjoy the show, Persex is on the NFL. What will allow the NFL to improve offensive line play in the NFL? Is it a good goal to be a high school coach

build a powerhouse? What is your opinion on pro football focus grading system and them as a company? Yeah, I mean, I don't really use PFF. Their numbers and, like, where they grade them means nothing to me. I think that, you know, following some of the PFF guys on Twitter,

I think some of the guys definitely know what they're talking about, but like an individual player's grade doesn't mean shit to me. because if you don't have the play sheet and know the play, you can't give a guy a proper grade. Now, and I also think, like, if you don't know the play,

guessing if the guy screwed up or not, is just impossible. Like, only the coach truly knows that. But I do think you can. I like it for, give me the percentage, how often a guy lines up in the slot, give me a percentage of contested catches,

drop rate, stuff like that. I love. That stuff's cool. But like, they're individual grades on players, I don't care. And it's why I always defend players that are going to hate PFF.

Of course they are. If you tell me I'm shitty at my job, If I'm an NFL player, I'm going to say screw you, especially if I'm a starter and I'm a good, am I productive player. And hell, they may even be right. But I never blame players for getting mad at PFF. Because a lot of times, PFF are saying critical things of players, right or wrong. Hi, John, long time listener and first time caller.

What is going on? What kind of production do you expect at a turn from Kareem Hunt once he returns from his suspension? Kind of like talking about with the Eagles, you play the hot hand. Now, the difference here is, I think that the Browns might have a bell cow running back. I mean, I think Nick Chubb is a 12, 1,300 yard a year guy. I think he can be a belcow, do it all, give him 300 plus touches. In the past game, in the run game, feed him the rock. The difference here is Kareem Hunt's coming off suspension.

What does he do for eight games? I think he's a great wild card. I wouldn't be confident that he's going to come in and just take the world by storm, you know, like the way he played with the Chiefs. I think it's always hard to transition with a new team after you've been suspended for a long period of time. So I would say that I would be very, very hesitant and I wouldn't be confident that I wouldn't be confident that he's going to come in and look like the Cream Hunt we knew with the

Chiefs. Now, he's clearly a talented player, but I also think that speaks more of Nick Chubb and just what a badass he is, because I think Nick Chubb is the real deal. I really do. Thanks everyone for listening. Can't wait for football season. Slide into Middilkoff mailbag. At John Middlecoff is my Instagram.

We answer your questions. Screw around on Instagram, Twitter. Find me all over the internet. And let's get ready, baby. We got NFL season starting this Thursday. As I'm just finishing recording it, I got Notre Dame starting in about 20 minutes. God, I love football.

I talk to you guys soon. Adios. Have a great week. May the peace be with you. singles. Do you feel like a tourist in your own town? Too busy to enjoy all your city has to offer. Events and Adventures organizes up to 30 unique get-togethers around town each and every month. We do all the work, so you have all the fun. On your schedule, visit places you didn't even know were places, and get to know the fellow singles you didn't know you needed in your life.

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That's guyco.com. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo, and every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the biggest moments in sports and giving you the real story behind the headline.

And we're going straight to the source the athletes themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions in the moment, and the stuff nobody gets to hear. Listen to SportsSlice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smigel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer.

Street or 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. What's up, guys? This is Clivert Taylor the 4th.

And on my podcast, The Cliverts Show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff. Like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker walks up to me. and he goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What? Time out.

Quarterback on office blue with 42. Hey, rep, my mama want you to wave at her. What? Where's she at? Hey, Ms. Parker. Listen to the Cliverts show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas.

And I'm C.J. Toledano. It's our favorite time of the year on our podcast point game, the playoffs. We're digging into the biggest surprises of the season. And I'm looking back on some of my greatest playoff moments. If we didn't talk ever again, I was harmed. You just understood. That's how personal it got. Wow.

Then after that game seven, Mark keep coming to him. He's like, you know I love you, dog. You know, it's all love. This was just playoffs. This was just basketball. So listen to Point Game on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.