The Herd with Colin Cowherd - 3 and Out - Wentz Out, Commanders Correction, Rodgers Confidence, Mailbag

Episode Date: August 8, 2023

John examines the total collapse of the once promising career of Carson Wentz, why he’s not liking what he’s hearing from Commanders camp, the staggering viewing numbers from the Hall of Fame Game, why Aaron Rodgers confidence in this Jets team could be scary for the league, and why the Packers secrecy over Jordan Love is ridiculous. He also answers listener questions in the Middlekauff Mailbag. Follow John onTwitter, Instagram and YouTube for the latest. Check out Gametime - the fastest growing ticketing app in the US, and the official ticketing app of 3 & Out and GoLow -  for tickets to all of your favorite NFL, NBA, NHL, NCAA teams. Concert and comedy show tickets, too. Go to Gametime now to create an account, download the app and use code JOHN for $20 off your first purchase. #Volume #HerdSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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What is going on, everybody? John Middilcoff, the arena podcast. How are we doing, my people? Hopefully everyone's having a good day. Enjoying, I would say, the last official month of summer, and then football season starts. Well, officially, we got football games this week preseason. So let's enjoy the next couple weeks of preseason games.

And a lot of takes will be flying after games. don't meet anything, but that's what makes football fun. Here's the game plan. We have a podcast today. I think we'll have another podcast tomorrow and then probably a podcast Thursday. I think I'll do something with Colin for Friday and that'll do it for the week. So we got a lot of content. If you listen on Collins feed, make sure you subscribe to the three and out feed by itself.

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I'm a podcaster. So I'm ready to podcast, and that's the game playing today. We will talk about some thoughts on Carson Wentz, that viral picture of him practicing, looking for a job, a take that I might have to roll back already, and we haven't even got to week one. And just some other stuff. The Hall of Fame game rated pretty well. the Packers refused to stream

Jordan Love's first live practice in front of all the fans at Lambo and we'll do a little mailbag at John Middilcoff. I'll probably do a big mail bag on Wednesday for Thursday because I'm going to Tahoe this weekend. It's just a need to get out of the heat for a minute.

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Game time app, promo code John. I wanted to start with Carson Wentz. And there was a viral video. Actually, it wasn't a video. I just saw the picture with him. He's currently a free agent. He does not have a job. And all you got to do is pull up some depth charts in the National Football League

and realize they're not 64 quarterbacks better than Carson Wentz. But this picture that went viral for a guy that's currently unemployed, he had Colt shorts on. he had a commander's practice jersey on, and he had an eagle's helmet on. And it really honestly was kind of sad. It was like, you're looking at a guy whose career, I don't want to say officially over,

because injuries can happen. But it's definitely not trending in the right direction. It's much closer to being over than him resurrecting it and playing five more years in the league. And I think he represents something. You know, in most positions, it doesn't necessarily matter. if you're good enough, how great of a teammate you are, how much coaches always like you.

Obviously, that impacts you and people want to work with or coach people or play with people that you're just going to like. But when you have the amount of people that play football, that's impossible. And when you get the highest level, when you're so elite, it doesn't matter. It's why we've seen in the history of the league, guys get in trouble with the law, guys obviously have a lot of issues internally and get changed. chance after chance after chance. Antonio Brown is a great example. If Antonio Brown for six, seven years with the Steelers had to average 40 catches and not 90

or 100 and 14 touchdowns a year, he would not have got the rope in which he got once he turned crazy. He got that rope because of the great resume that he put together. And Carson Wentz is a good example of there's nothing you could really put your finger on tangibly. Like doesn't get arrested, right? Never had an issue where he blew up on a teammate that was public, right, where there was a camera on. But there's just a lot of smoke about him.

You know, it doesn't quite resonate with the guys. Can be hard to coach. Because you look two years ago, he was 27 touchdowns and seven interceptions for the Colts on the year that were unraveled at the end of the season. And Ursae lost his shit and said, you got to trade him. They ended up moving him to commander. which was kind of crazy for multiple third rounders and they transitioned to Matt Ryan and it was a debacle for everyone involved.

By the end of the season, Matt Ryan was benched and Heineke was playing over Carson Wentz. But I think Carson represents something that at the quarterback position, our standards are really, really high. And when you're a starting quarterback, the first and foremost, the number one thing you have to do is play well. I saw a video. I was watching NFL network.

I think the first weekend when Pads came on and they were at, Latrobe and interviewing Mike Tomlin and I forget the exact reporter and they asked Mike Tomlin, what's the most important thing for Kenny Pickett to do this upcoming season? And I mean, kind of tongue in cheek, kind of kidding, but also kind of serious.

Be good. Play well. And he just kind of stared at her. And then he went on, you know, being a good teammate, understanding the offense, adapting week to week, adjusting as people adjust to him. Obviously, there are nuances to the position. but the most basic part of playing any position in the league, definitely quarterback, is just playing well.

And that is stuff like reading defenses, understanding what to do in your own offense, knowing what your player strengths and weaknesses are, how to get them the ball, calls to the line of scrimmage, dealing with your offensive linemen, all the stuff that makes that position arguably the hardest thing to do in all of sports.

And then there's all the intangible stuff, right? How hard can you get coached? That was like really what set Brady apart, right? All the stories about Tom Brady always, whether it was Matt Castle or Julian Edelman or who any player saying it. The first day they ever got to New England, they'd look. And in the first practice or the first training camp, they'd go, God, by the second practice, Belichick is just undressing Brady.

And he could take it. Well, if you could scream at Brady and coach Brady's ass up, everyone in the room was on pins and needles, right? We were all walking on eggshells because we all knew we could take it. Well, one of the biggest knocks on Carson Wentz is he's not that coachable, which is not ideal when you're talking about a quarterback. And another big knock on him is, and this happened when Jalen, the moment he got benched for Jalen Hertz, his career just completely unraveled. And it has never been the same. And honestly, a lot of people in the league don't take him that seriously anymore because, and I heard Jason Kelsey say this on his podcast, or maybe he said this on another podcast, but I've listened to a million podcast.

podcast with Jason Kelsey somehow, is that if he could have a do-over with Carson Wentz, he would have worked harder to get him to resonate more and just work harder to have better relationships with guys on the team. And my pushback of Jason Kelsey was sitting here right now is, I don't think he can fake that. I think he kind of have that or you don't. And obviously, Jaylen has that in space. It's why he's having a lot of success in Philadelphia is the guys on the team swear by him. Same thing with Burrow. Same thing. thing with Mahomes, same thing with Herbert, same thing forever in Baltimore with Lamar. The players have to really respect you. And obviously the coaches do, but if the players really

do, the coaches will figure it out. But when the coaches kind of turn on you and the players turn on you, you see a guy who is clearly better than the majority of backup quarterbacks in the NFL right now. But who wants to deal with that? Because most backup quarterbacks, you know what they have going for them? The coach likes them. And they get along very well with their teammates. It's not because, well, we might really have something in this 32-year-old guy that's thrown one regular season snap in the last decade. No one thinks that. Most people think if the starting quarterback goes down, especially on good teams, you're screwed because you typically are. But a guy like Carson Wentz, who has played and has a ton of reps starting games in the league,

should be a valued guy. But he's kind of toxic right now. The entire league is telling you what they think of them. They don't want him. Clearly, he wouldn't be very expensive. So when I saw that picture go viral, it just kind of symbolized how important it is at that position to get along with guys, to let people coach you up. Hell, I try to think about it. Am I courteous enough with the guys I work with? Am I doing a good enough job of communicating? We all, as we age, think about these things. The problem is in pro sports is, let's just in theory, say Carson has matured a lot. It might be too late. Most of us can figure that out through our 30s. And then by the time we get to our 40s, we're like, God, if I was in a position of management or I don't how to communicate

better, it's something we can always kind of grow on. It's something that we can always learn from our previous actions and get better at as we age. It's something just a natural maturity to us as life goes. The problem. Problem is in pro sports, you have a finite period of time. And Carson Wentz's time, it wouldn't shock me if he plays this year, but it also wouldn't shock me at all if he does not get an opportunity. If no one wants to deal with him. And it all gets back to, for a while, it was just perception, perception.

I had heard stories. Like, I don't know if this was when Foll was there or maybe it was when, I think it was when Nick Foles was there, that he walked off the field and like walked right by Jeffrey Lurie as he stuck out his hand to shake, Carson Wentz's hand. I think it was after a victory. And Carson was, I'm pretty sure it was injured or maybe it was backing up at the time. I forget, it's kind of muddied. And those stories just kind of grow on each other. And clearly the Eagles couldn't have got rid of them fast enough. The Colts, Ursa had enough of them in Washington, benched him by the middle of the season. So you're looking at a guy who was once a really high

pick and early on in his career looked like he was a rocket ship. And ultimately his undoing, he's not the most accurate player. He's no longer as athletic as he once was, but he's still a capable NFL quarterback, but no one wants to touch him. No one wants any part of them. And I think it all gets back to intangible stuff. Coaches don't like him.

You know who I talk about like rumors, you know, like high school or any sort of industry where people talk. No one talks more than coaches. I mean, just Google some of these guys' resumes. there's like two degrees of separation of literally every coach in the NFL and college. They all know each other. And if they don't know each other, they know someone who knows that guy.

So the word on this guy isn't just out. It's not good. And it's honestly kind of sad when you see that picture is like, this dude's career feels over. Speaking of his former team, the commanders, I made a prediction a while back that I thought they had a chance to be. be one of the surprise teams of definitely the NFL, but of the NFC. You know, the NFC is wide open. I thought the Giants could kind of take a step back. They were a team that definitely overachieve

last year, benefited a lot from a really good coach, won a lot of low scoring, tight ball games. And sometimes that can flip year to year. It's why a lot of people are off the Minnesota Viking cent is because they won all the one score games. And if that just flips a little bit, that 13 wins can go to eight or nine really quick. And then, you know, I've been falling. a lot of these training camps very closely. It's what I do for a living. Clearly, if Darren Waller is healthy, he is a big time player.

I mean, at one point in time, he was considered like Kelsey Kittle and Waller. And then he got banged up and he just kind of out of side out of mind. The Raiders paid him and then he got injured again. And they traded him to the Giants. And Wink Martindale is just singing his praise in practice because they can't cover the guy. And if he is healthy,

that is a major, major addition to the operation. And then this rookie wide receiver Hyatt from Tennessee. Now, I'm not trying to overreact to young players until they prove themselves, you know, in pro games, right? And I'm not talking the preseason. I'm talking regular season games, week in, week out, handling game plans, handling adjustments, handling the length of the season. But this dude's breaking speed records right now. He runs like 25 miles an hour.

So one issue I had with their squad is, you know, with Sequin, Daniel Jones, what else were they working with? Well, if you had Waller and just a speed element that they should, assuming these guys can say healthy, should be much more explosive. And I know the grittiness and the toughness of their operation, they got a really good day ball and wink Martindale. Maybe I'm kind of back on the giant set. And I've seen Ron Rivera now say this multiple times.

I've seen Jacoby Berset play. I've seen it for years. He's just not very good. He's not very good. And unlike Carson Wentz, he's a guy everyone loves. People want him in the building. He's an awesome backup quarterback. Does all the right things.

Great teammate, great preparer. I think good practice player. Problem is once the games come, he just throws it to the other team. But clearly, you could do a lot worse as a backup. But I think sometimes that intangible stuff makes coaches like you more and forget about like, no, we've seen this guy play for a long period of time and you will lose. if this guy has to start over and over. But I saw Ron say this a couple weeks ago.

He's like, don't sleep on Jacoby Brissette. Saw him say this yesterday. That Jacoby Brissette needs more reps. And he got reps with the ones. Now, Sam Hal is projected to be their starter. But I can tell you, if things go a little sideways, it wouldn't shock me if Ron Rivera goes to the bullpen to Jacobi Berset. And if that's the case, one, maybe I got a little over-excited on Sam Howell.

I got to see it before I believe it. and if they're talking up Jacoby Brissette as they are, that makes me pretty nervous. So I'm going to pivot away from thinking Washington that could surprise some people. I think they're talented enough that they're going to be in that seven to kind of nine range unless their quarterback is a complete and utter embarrassment. But the giant should be better than them. So Jacoby is just your classic. This happens a lot in football because we're all human beings, right?

So when you're around someone, super high character, super hard worker, you're just going to like being around the guy. You're going to like working next to the guy. And in most of our professions, that guy can be very productive. In pro sports, what makes it very, very difficult is like, ultimately that guy has to complete passes. That guy has to not turn the ball over. That guy has to lead scoring drives.

So like all the intangible stuff that you love goes a little out the window once the game starts and the ball snap. And it's like, he missed that coverage and threw it right to the safety. And that's what Jacoby Burstet has done over and over and over again whenever I've watched him play. And last year was on full display when he had to be the starter with Deshaun Watson suspended. It was like he just killed them in big spots. I remember vividly a red zone turnover.

The Browns were driving. It's like, oh. And that's just Jacoby Brissette. And if that guy has to play, which I would bet on the guy ultimately playing for Washington, it's going to be very, very difficult for them to win games. And I was thinking about this. You know, we've all seen bits and pieces of the quarterback documentary. We've all, anyone that falls the NFL, and obviously if you're listening to this, you

definitely do. The number one story typically at your camp is how your quarterback's doing and what's going on with your quarterback. Your quarterback talks a lot. We've talked at nauseam how difficult the position to play is, right? It's arguably the hardest thing to do in all of sports. everything that comes with it from a leadership standpoint, from a mental capacity standpoint,

from just an overall physical standpoint, that there's a toughness element where you're just getting slammed to the ground, you've got to get back up, even if it's less violent than it once was. Toughness is a huge, huge part of playing quarterback. So all the tangible stuff that go on to weekly game plans, the practice, the preparing for the game, and then actually playing the game,

you don't need, you know, we all understand how hard it is. And then I was thinking about this. I was listening to part of my take and Josh Allen, who I think was broke up with his girlfriend, a long time girlfriend from, from Fresno State. Josh Allen didn't go to Fresno,

I think she did. I know that just because I know people around that, you know, that world. And they recently broke up and he started dating, I think like an actress or someone in the Hollywood world. And they were talking to him about when TMZ got a photo of them kissing. And Josh said,

yeah, they were somewhere in Southern California. and TMZ was on a boat. They were on a boat taking pictures of them making out with his girlfriend. I don't even know if they were making it. I think they were just pecking, having a good time, enjoying the sun, maybe having a mimosa or something. And he was just saying it was a really weird feeling to look out there

and seeing people take pictures of me with this new girl I'm dating. And then I saw a headline today that Aaron Rogers just purchased a $9.5 million house now that he's, you know, in the general area, Montauk, I think is what it goes by, as the new quarterback of the Jets. And I was thinking about, does anyone care or Sauce Gardner, who clearly is one of the best, if not the best corner in the league, or Quinn and Williams, one of the best interior defensive linemen lives or dates? No one gives a shit.

Like the pressure on the quarterback is not just from a playing standpoint. it's 24-7-365 how you lead your life. Everyone's constantly watching you. And this goes back to Carson Wentz is when things got a little weird and he had some adversity, people didn't like the guy. And then he didn't handle those situations very well

and people just want no part of them. It's Collins' big thing on Baker Mayfield. Well, he's trending toward if he doesn't win this job, almost feels like more people like Baker than like Carson Wentz. But some of these guys, you just kind of get lost in this show. and you can't handle all the different variables that are coming, right?

Because everyone's always looking at you, 24-7 all-season long and all year-long in the off-season. And Rogers is the best example of it now that Tom Brady's retired. He's the most famous, you know, Hollywood version of our quarterback. But the young guys get treated like that. Think about Patrick Mahomes, who is having as much success early on in his career as any quarterback in like the history of the league. Right? Gets starts winning MVP, starts winning titles. It's just the total package. The moment he builds this monstrosity of a house with a golf course and a football field, it goes viral. Imagine if just the guy next to you at work, whether it's in a cubicle or an office,

just all where he lived was just all over the internet. And you can say it's a public job. It obviously is. But that is a level of pressure that is not easy. And all these guys, I give them a lot of respect. I can't even imagine being paid, you know, being Jalen Hertz. I saw he just turned 25 years old. I think Justin Herbert's similar age, maybe 26, 27. Getting 180, 190 million dollars guaranteed. You know, now these guys had already made money. Some of them have had some endorsement deals. Herbert was drafted high. But that's the type money where you never have to think about money the rest of your life, ever. Like you don't even, everything in your life beside maybe buying an island or whatever is kind of free.

Money is no issue, no object for anything you do. Yet the work ethic for these guys, like, I don't expect any of them to fall off at all. I expect them to keep getting better. I expect Justin Herbert to have the best season of his career. I expect Jalen to sustain what he's been doing. I expect Lamar to bounce back. So I give these guys a lot of respect.

This is not an easy position to be in. You know, this is not something that life, football, I guess, trained you a little bit for, it, but no one prepares you for $200 million, the weight of the world and everyone's staring at you. Like, Aaron Rogers is almost 40 years old. He's, he's been around the block a few times, but these young guys handle it pretty well, everyone's staring at them. And you can say, yes, what the money is for.

And it's true. But it still doesn't make it easy. And I really respect all these guys, the majority of them. And we talked about this last week when we talked about the top tier, just the high character guys, right? And that's all the top guys. Right? They're all good people. People really like them. They treat people well. All the stories about them on and off the field are just really good. And that always hasn't been the case. When I was a kid, a lot more sketchy characters in the league. I think the league's in a really, really good spot when it comes to the character of the people that are playing its most important position at quarterback. Can I tell you about my friends at Factor? With the busy fall season just around the corner, You might be looking for wholesome, convenient meals for jam-packed days.

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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 couple of other things around the league is the Hall of Fame game, which I got to be honest. I watch bits and pieces up. I mean, what else is on TV? There's nothing really August. I'm not really watching August baseball. There's no other sports on.

It was, I threw it on, I watched Sack Wilson play a little bit. It wasn't super locked in, but I watched. Almost six and a half million people watched. And I looked it up just to put it into context, the Lakers and Warriors,

who have never played in a, in the Steph Curry era in a playoff series. They did for the first time this year. And in Game 6, the deciding game, it averaged a little over 7.5 million people, which was a historic number for a second round series. The two biggest brands in the NBA, LeBron James, Steph Curry, Lakers, Warriors,

did under 8 million people. So there was less than a million and a half difference for the Hall of Fame game. the Hall of Fame game in the NFL. I say this over and over. This is not going to last forever. I'm not putting a date on it. I'm not putting a year on it.

I don't know when it's going to end, but the end is not near. The end is definitely not in sight. The NFL is so freaking popular. They can get almost 7 million people to watch a Hall of Fame game, which is easily the worst preseason game of them all. I mean, it's a joke.

Really, the Hall of a whole. Hall of Fame game year in, year out, is much more about interviewing the Hall of Fame, the candidates, the guys, the guys being inducted, right? Barber, Joe Thomas, Zach Thomas, whatever. Those guys all get interviewed throughout the game. That's, to me, why I kind of pay attention. Interested to hear what they think, usually wearing their gold jacket or like their Hall of Fame polo.

It's just kind of a cool moment. Hell, the light, I looked up, the lights were out. So usually the game is just kind of a, uh, If it feels like a put together high school game, but football, man, it's never been more popular. And if you can get almost 7 million people to watch the Hall of Fame game, the other thing that jumped out to me, not that this is new, but I went to, I did CrossFit for the first time on Friday. And the guy that convinced me to go, Chris was like, God, Roger sure looked happy, didn't he? I'm like, yeah, he looked like a pig and shit. Rogers hasn't looked as happy since who knows when.

And it's not, he's backing it up with his actions with the amount of money that he gave back for the salary cap and working with his contract with the Jets. But it's all over his face. And he's, you know, for a guy that's 3090, sometimes his face, he can look more like 48. For all the ayahuasca and the dark rooms and the cold tubs or whatever, he's, he's not the youngest looking 39-year-old you've ever seen. but his joy, how much fun he's having. The NFL does not need him to be great. Like I said on a podcast or two ago, Tom Brady's gone. No one cares.

Not that no one cares, but the league, it will not have one rating impact at all. If Rogers has a big year and he is a major story, he's always a major story, but if he just has Lees the Jets, who are obviously New York, enormous fan base, which I expect, I think, this could be one of the biggest stories in recent memory. And it's going to have a lot of parallels. But on, I would say, a much bigger scale because Tampa Bay Bucks are not nearly the brand of the New York Jets. So if Rogers gets this team to the playoffs, double digit wins competing to win the division, you could argue it would be the number one story in the league. And you can see it on his

face. He thinks they're going to be really good. Every time he talks, I really like this team. I really believe in this team. And this is not some guy. That's not Philip Rivers saying that, right? That most years, they're struggling to win 10 games. Some of his time is 10 year with the Chargers. Not great. Year in, year out, Rogers was on Super Bowl contending teams.

Teams that you could say when the playoffs started, had a chance to win it all. Like he knows what a good team looks like. He knows what talent looks like. Same with Brady. When Brady got to Tampa, you knew that he had a pretty good idea. Like, we got a squad.

When you've played around other good players, you know what a talented team looks like, right? Like, if you've worked for Apple or Google, like, you're going to know innovation, right? If you've played for the Packers for the last 15 years, you got a pretty good idea what a playoff level team looks like. You're not taking just like educated guesses. You're like, yeah, that guy's a player, that guy's a player. This guy's going to be good, right? I don't think he's doing that just randomly to try to boost up the morale and the confidence

of his squad. I think he believes it. Because the older you get, you're not into fake it. And as we've seen with Rogers, he ain't into like, you'll just say how it is. And if you just go off his body language, you've got to be pretty bullish on the Jets. And last but not least,

I understand coaches can be very, very, very sensitive to material about game plans and their team getting out. It's why when you see all the information about your team and the viral videos, during training camp, whether it's on Twitter or Instagram or wherever you look on the internet, that stops once the season happens because the media is not allowed in the practice starting week one. Actually, it starts like the last week of training camp. But right now, if you go to an

NFL practice, any of the 32 teams, the entire thing is open. So the media can stand there and watch from the first whistle at practice till the final huddle at practice and they break for lunch. you get to watch the entire thing. The moment the season starts, you get 15 minutes of practice. You don't get to watch anything. You definitely don't get to watch any group or team drills, right? And I think a big reason for that is they don't want anyone seeing the game plan stuff. Right now at all these practices, if I go to Seattle, if I go to the Giants, if I go to the Niners,

if I go to whoever, for the most part in early August, you are just running your place. right? You're running your basic run plays, you're running your basic pass plays and you're building upon them every day. And you're using them in different situations, right? Whether it's red zone, whether it's two minute drill, whether it's backed up, however, whether it's third long, you just, you're fucking with different situations. You're trying to put your team in just adverse situations or just normal football situations and see how they react. Seeing what you have to work on, the closer and closer you get to the season. The past, Packers who have a big like live scrimmage slash practice at Lambo, which every year looks incredible.

And a lot of teams do this, right? I saw the Eagles do it the other night, would not stream it on their website. And a lot of the Packer fans were pissed off. And Mark Murphy, the president, who's kind of like the pseudo owner was like, you know, football operations was very, very sensitive to putting that online because we got a new quarterbacks. Like, guys, we know your offenses. You guys, the LaFleur, McVeigh, Shanahan, like, you guys are going to.

to run the plays that you've been running with Aaron. I promise you, you are. This notion that you're letting out state secrets by streaming the practice online is laughable. Here's the other thing. You play the Bears week one. I would bet $10,000 that the Bears had a representative in Lambo that game. They had someone there taking notes. Just like whoever, I think the Patriots play the Eagles, right? So when the Eagles had their open practice at the link, there was someone from the Patriots or the Patriots paid to be there. So this notion that by not streaming it, you're keeping things in house or hiding it, is kind of lappable.

The reason Jordan Love is going to succeed or fail has nothing to do with people being able to watch your practice online on August 5th. It doesn't matter one iota. I believe that deep into my soul. Now, I get where coaches, their reaction is always going to be, don't do it. No. Right. No.

That's always going to be a coach's reaction. No. I remember when I worked from Fresno State, when we would do a walkthrough on the road, whether it was a Rutgers, Wisconsin, Boise, wherever we were playing. Pat Hill would always have me, go check trash cans and hope to find the practice script from the other team. And maybe you would gain something. And then you'd hear stories over the years that other teams, not even that we were playing, but just in general, college or pro, would leave fake practice scripts in the trash can to try to throw you off.

So you're constantly doing gamesmanship. But when you play a game, like your core package of plays, you don't game plan all those practice plays. You game plan the plays that you think are going to work against their scheme. So the bears, you are going to run plays with Jordan Love that you think will work against the defense that Iber Fluse runs. Just like your defense will try to run coverages and different schemes against their run game to corral Justin Fields that you think will work against their offense. So I think sometimes people can overthink this, get way too scared about something that ultimately doesn't matter. but it doesn't change the fact the Packer just said no and the fans were not happy

and you're just going to have to wait because I think Jordan Love I have seen people say he sucked in practice I have seen people retweet viral videos of him throwing between two defenders who aren't even putting up their hands thinking it's like the greatest pass

since Prime Brett Farv I don't really have a take my expectations aren't high but I wouldn't go as far as I just think he's going to suck I've said over and over, my bet would simply be it's going to come to an end. You don't typically go, Favre Rogers, Favre Rogers 2.0, right? It usually ends. It usually, it's more likely to be just an average to below average quarterback than some fringe pro bowl.

So I'm excited to see it. If he is good, I think one, Payton Manning's all over for the quarterback series. It would be one of the most intriguing storylines. The other thing with Rogers. and this happened with the Patriots and Brady is anytime you break up, anyone listening to this who's broken up with someone or been dumped, what do you do?

Now with social media, you kind of keep tabs, how are they doing? How are they looking? You know, if you're a girl, is like, is he getting fat? Is he losing his hair? If you're a guy,

like, does the guy she's dating or married to make more money than me? Is her life better than me? Even though we know how fake everything is online, but still, it's just, it's a human reaction. It's no different in football. Like, every Packer fan's going to be,

keeping an eye on the Jets. And Aaron Rogers is going to be keeping an eye on Jordan Love, even if he likes the guy. You think Aaron Rogers wants the Packers to have more success than him and vice versa? Of course not. So that's just, we saw it with Brady and we saw it with Tampa and we saw it with the Patriots. It was like, God, Belichick has nothing. Cam Newton. Their disaster.

And Brady won the Super Bowl. Huge, huge win for the Brady contingent, huge, huge L for the Patriots. If the Packers win five or six games, even if they are very, very equipped to take on a young quarterback next year in the draft and the team actually is pretty loaded and Jordan Love, they won't even own that much money. It's not even that big a deal. And ultimately Rogers wanted to leave. So who even cares? What are they supposed to do? Hold them hostage. They did the right thing. And Rogers goes on to win a bunch of games and being the AFC championship, it'll be just somewhat a black mark for the Packers organization. It just will. And if it's the opposite,

if Rogers missed the playoffs and all of a sudden, Jordan Love, they're the seventh seed, it would be an enormous win for the Packers. It's why when you roll it back to back when I was in college, and they made the pivot for like Ted Thompson, got rid of Brett Farb, and they went with Aaron Rogers, and it worked. He became a fucking genius. I mean, it was, it's one of the great moves in, like, NFL history.

It really is. Like, some of the great moves in NFL history, a little bit, trading Montana and getting rid of Farf for Rogers and Steve Young. Like, it doesn't get any better than that. But most moves are like, getting rid of that guy for some scrub or some dude that's not good enough and then you're drafting a quarterback the next year. It's like, yeah, we're going to bet Carson Wentz for Jalen Hertz. Like, I was this going to go? Three years later, the dudes on a $200 million contract had you

within, you know, a couple first downs and a PI of winning the Super Bowl. That worked out pretty well. Pretty good little transition. So it's just going to be a talking point that I find pretty enjoyable and I'm looking forward to. Okay, let's do a little mailbag. At John Middlecough is the Instagram. At John Middlough is the Instagram. Fire in those DMs. Appreciate everyone who has.

Let's start with Zach. I played soccer at Ohio State. Our tickets were free. And there were several occasions when we were mid-workout on the indoor turf field when a football position group came through and basically kicked us off.

Did it bother us in the moment? No question. However, in the years that followed, all the Olympic sports, soccer included, benefited from completely new state-of-the-art facilities, and we know where that money came from. Your comments were spot on, and they shouldn't be triggering to anyone. It's just a fact that football foots the bill for essentially all of college athletics. I don't know.

I mean, I wasn't even trying to trigger anybody. It was just a fact. You know, I mean, football, especially at the school like Ohio State. I mean, Ohio State's much close. closer to an NFL team than they are your run-of-the-mill college team. I would imagine they are, I mean, they're definitely a top two or three program in the country just in terms of revenue, in terms of importance, in terms of fan base. They're just, they're a monster.

And you're clearly a pretty good athlete. I mean, playing any sport at a place like Ohio State is very, very difficult. But, you know, it's just, there's a clear hierarchy at any school. Like you go, I heard Kyle Shanahan. I didn't even know this. He started his college career, because he played at Texas as a walk-on, and he eventually got a scholarship. Started at Duke.

And he was like, yeah, when I showed up to Duke, my high school felt more important than their football team. They were a basketball school. So, like, when the guys walk around Duke, you know who's kind of paying the bills, the basketball team. And I just think there's nothing wrong with just embracing reality. Like the WNBA should send thank you letters every day to the NBA. to the players, to the players union, to Adam Silver and David Stern, they pay for the league.

You know, you got to know where your bread's buttered. You got to know who compensates you, right? You got to know why you're in business. Some businesses make money on their own. In a lot of different athletic endeavors, it's subsidized by someone else. Football subsidizes itself and everyone else. Okay, let's dive into Joe's question. Question for the pot.

I'm a Niners fan. Never really had faith in Lance, and I wish they would have picked Fields instead. Anyway, do you think it's possible that Darnold could resurrect his career with the Niners? I've heard you say good things about him in the past. I personally feel like this is the best situation

for him coming from the Jets and the Panthers, or do you think Purdy is the way to go? Well, I definitely think that any young player once they get with a really talented team and a good offensive coach, especially a quarterback, has a chance to resurrect his career, if it's worth or possible to play well.

Some people just can't play for whatever reason. I would put Sam Darnold on a guy that, yeah, if Sam Darnold got his opportunities with the Niners, I think he would look better than he ever would. My question is this. I'm recording this on Monday, had a fantastic practice. He's fully healthy.

If he stays healthy throughout the season, which obviously is a big if, he started whatever, eight games, and he got hurt in one and had a devastating injury. Wasn't all his fault. Kyle, you can't block an all-pro with a backup tight end, but that's a conversation for a different day. Purdy's just going to play.

And Pertie, Kyle loves Brock Purdy, and they're going to be good with Brock Purdy. Now, Super Bowl good, who knows? Can they win playoff games? Time will tell, right? I think there's still question marks on Purdy throughout the entire season. It's not like he, I mean, he only started basically starting in December last year.

but I think there's a very good chance that if Brock Purdy can stay healthy that Sam Donald never really gets to play and I think to me the biggest question mark on August 7th, how the next two and a half weeks play out. Who wins the backup quarterback job? I'm betting on Sam Donald because I think the coach likes Sam Donald more than Trey Lance.

But if Trey Lance wins that job, then that tells you everything you need to know. I think that's the number one thing we have to look forward to it's August 7th, basically by August 25th. I think we'll have a really good idea before the final cuts. Who has won this job? They play the Raiders this week in joint practices. Then they have a preseason game where Purdy's not going to play.

So Lance and Sam, who gets the first set of reps in that game? How do they both look? Because they're going to be playing with backups, the IUCs, the kiddals. They're not going to be playing in that game. use check McCaffrey you're going to be playing with a lot of random guys

so if you do play well it's going to be pretty impressive last night check the Raiders defense isn't exactly the 85 bears so I think preseason games well I don't put much stock into them like I saw Derek Carr's going to play

or Russell Wilson like it doesn't really matter to me how they look you know I'm not saying that doesn't reflect whether they're playing well or not but whatever I'll judge them on regular season games backups though it matters toward coaches, man. It does, especially young players, backup, you know, position

battles where you are on the depth chart. It has a big impact. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Clever 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 Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok podcast network on TikTok. This college football realignment is now just for money in its minor league NFL, two conferences just like the NFL. With all that is going on, should they change the rules to allow college football players to leave the NFL earlier than three years. Let those guys go, make more money at an earlier year now rather than making them stay in college.

Why would the NFL want that though? The NFL, what percent of players, think in recent memory, would be ready to go right out of like year one of college football? It's a very, very small list. It really is. Or even after their sophomore year. you're talking the elite of the elite Jamar Chase

maybe a Sequin some of these elite O line and D line players it is not a high percentage yet a lot of guys would leave you know who doesn't want that the NFL the national football league

likes that rule they don't want to worry about a bunch of 19 and 20 year olds coming in their league who aren't ready to go because there's a physical element how often if you're listening to this if you're following your team

training camp right now is a second year player from like LSU or Texas or USC or Oklahoma or whoever on your team making a big jump that did not play much as a rookie and that guy was in college at minimum three years a lot of them are four or five so football is not basketball and even in basketball I see what the Warriors they got a bunch of random young guys on the team none of them are ready to contribute to real games so these leagues want guys one thing that football has in college is like good coaching. These coaches in football make a lot of money. A lot of them are pretty good.

A lot of these coaches, defensive coordinators, offensive coordinators could easily be doing it in the pros as well. So they help develop and put these guys in position to get better. Plus physically, most guys develop a lot 19, 21, 22 years old. Once you're like Jason Kelsey, Jason Kelsey probably hasn't got stronger in seven years. but that period when he was like 19 to 23 was a big growth period for him as a player. I'm just using him as an example. So, yeah, I don't think that'll change.

It is not the NFL's problem slash issue or honestly even worry about what's going on with conference realignment. I mean, if it has ramifications on the development and the play, then maybe. But as of right now, they don't care. That's their problem. Who is more responsible for the death of the PAC 12? The NCAA for having the backbone, for having no backbone to negotiate one huge college TV deal? Well, if I was the SEC, or I was Ohio State in Michigan or USC or Texas,

I would slowly but surely, if not much more quickly, break away from the NCAA. Why do they need the NCAA? These leagues negotiate their television deals. It's not the NCAA. The NCAA just tells them the rules. Why don't they develop their own rules? Why don't they go,

how about we have 100 scholarships? Why don't they just go independent? It feels to me like college football has outgrown the NCAA. That's what it feels like to me. Now, when it speaks to the PAC 12, like I said, it was Larry Scott. And I am not anti,

I'm glad the soccer player hit me. I'm not anti those sports. I have a lot of respect. You play soccer at Ohio State at Duke, at North Carolina, at Texas, or baseball, or any of the Olympic sports swimming. It's hard as shit. My girlfriend that I dated in high school through college, D1 water polo scholarship. It's hard. A lot of what is just asked upon you relative to a normal student.

It's not easy by any means. It just doesn't generate any money. So relative to the money. But Larry Scott didn't understand the importance of putting football number one, two, three, four, and five. And everything else after benefits everything else after. Like your golf programs, your swimming programs, your soccer programs, benefit when football is kicking ass and taking names. At a conference level, at a university level. And I don't think Larry, who is a tennis player, understood that.

and he had visions of something different and it was awful. Now, one thing I always heard is Larry Scott's argument was, well, it wasn't my fault that USC hired Sark and hired Clay Heldon. He didn't hire the coaches, right? But his vision as a conference was a big, big downfall for, you know, what used to be known as the Pac-12. and now people are calling the PAC 4, aka just it's dead.

Was listening to a pod a couple weeks ago and you were talking about when you went bald? Well, decided yesterday to join the Bald Brotherhood. Hit 26 this year and decided it was time. That was right around the time I did it as well. Was it the Army for eight years and deployed three times so wearing a helmet for three years

did not do me any favors. Appreciate your service. Chris Jones' problem seems bigger than it feels. Oh, this is for mailback. Patty and Kelsey left money on the table for more players to be signed. We trade away Tyreek, which I was good with, but not having CJ signed feels like the Packers with Rogers and refusing to sign players that the team truly meets. Aaron wanted weapons, and they spent high picks on defense, same with the Chiefs.

Just feels that eventually Patty will grow tired of the front office, not getting him A weapons and signing A plus players that are on the team after not taking him. all the money he probably deserves to be paid. One major issue, or I would say not issue, but difference with Mahomes and Rogers, is Mahomes just won the Super Bowl. Like that just happened. You know, part of Rogers' angst, edginess, he was taking a lot of shit because it was like, God, this guy can't get out of the championship round.

If Rogers, I think he's been to five conference championship games, obviously he's only been to the one Super Bowl and he won. it. If of those five conference championship games, right, he would have won a couple of them and lost the Super Bowl, I think we would look at him a lot different. And I think he would have been, he would have thought of his time in Green Bay a lot different. Like just getting to the Super Bowl, Peyton Manning did it. Elway did it. It's a big deal. You're allowed to lose it. But when you don't get there, that's a big hurdle to cross. And the difference is Mahomes and Andy, I would say Andy and Veach when it comes to Mahomes. And how could you blame him? He trusts those guys to the endth degree. What they say, they've always backed up. And even if they haven't done maybe everything that he's wanted them to do, he knows how talented Andy is.

And even last year, it's a good example. All the guys Veech drafted how they contributed to a Super Bowl team. You know, Rogers started nitpicking. They started getting rid of older players and it's not like they were signing guys. The chiefs are always aggressive to do stuff. They tried to sign Trent Williams. They got rid of the Honey Badger, but then they got Justin Reed.

They're always making moves. They trade Tyree Kill, and it looks like they've drafted good players with those picks. I think the Chris Jones thing is, you know, are they comfortable with giving him an enormous amount of money in his third contract? And I think it's a legitimate question to ask. Now, you're 100% right.

In the short-term intermediate future, you've got to have Chris Jones if you probably want to win a Super Bowl this year. Now, big picture, could you entertain trading him? Because you could probably get a one and a two. Could you go back to back years trading Tyree Kill and Chris Jones? Seems like pretty risky.

But it does feel like they're semi-equipped. They were much more equipped to handle the loss of Tyreek because they have Kelsey, the emergence of Pacheco, just Mahomes in general. They would have no chance to really have an answer to what Chris Jones provides them. So I don't know. there aren't always right and wrong answers to this. This is also a business. Just because Chris Jones wants $100 million guaranteed

doesn't mean the chiefs are cool with giving them that. Right? Especially when the other guys on the team consistently take less money. And they've already paid Chris Jones a lot of money. Now, I get where he's coming from. So these sometimes situations when it comes to money can be complicated.

Not everything's black and white. So I think Mahomes is trust in those guys is incredibly high. And I think that's what really separates, I would say, kind of your guy's operation, is that everyone, your main two players,

you got three main players, right? Mahomes, Kelsey, Chris Jones. Well, two of the three of them, I would imagine, like, Travis Kelsey would say, I love you to Andy Reid. Like, that's their relationship. Like, it's not trust,

it's love. it's like a family loyalty. Chris is operating in the best interest of his own business, and we'll see how it plays out. Hope all as well. I remember you mentioning Metallica on a show a few months ago. I think it was about the old bassist, Jason Neustadt, leaving the band,

and was wondering if you were a fan. Of course, who fucking doesn't like Metallica. If so, even if you are a casual fan, I absolutely 100% recommend that you see them when they roll through Phoenix in September. I saw them at the Meadowland for two shows over the weekend and it was absolutely bananas. The crowd was 80K deep each night

and the boys absolutely brought it for two plus hours. And they played entirely separate set lists each night so there were no repeats. I know how much you appreciate athletes, artists who are masters at their crafts and these dudes have simply never been better. I have nothing but respect. for any artist, whether it be like Metallica, who's been at it for, I mean, what decades

this? They started in the 80s, the 90s, 2000, 2010s. I mean, this is like decade four and a half here. I mean, they've been going strong for a while. They can just consistently bring it. And it's, I can't even imagine the feeling of seeing Morgan Wallin and seeing 40,000 people look at them. that feeling as a singer, as a band, as an entertainer, right, on stage, it would probably be the same as a comedian, has to be a high that, you know, you hear these players talk about it, right? The high of coming out for a game or the high of making a big play in front of, whether it's in the, you know, college in front of 100,000 people in the NFL in front of, you know, 30 million people watching and 60,000 people in the stands. You never get that in business. you know, I've been had some success in the podcast business.

You make more money. It doesn't actually do anything for you, right? I'm not saying you don't want to do that and it can't help your family or whatever, can't buy your house, but it's not like you get highs and lows from that. Like you get highs and lows from your craft, right? Ultimately, Metallica, those guys have been making millions forever. And most motivational speakers, and you can depend on who you listen to, they can be cheesy or whatever.

I would say one theme that the most dead on theme of anyone that talks about just human beings and motivating and success for a living is when you follow your passion, it makes life so much easier. Like ultimately Metallica is a good example, right? I'm sure they have bad days. I'm sure they have days when they're not feeling it. But clearly they love what they do. Like love playing music. Now, they happen to be elite at it.

but like you couldn't at their age, which I would imagine a couple of them are close to 60 now, you couldn't be jamming for two plus hours and touring because you don't need the money at this point if you weren't just an addict. And I think about this with football coaches like Andy Reid or Belichick or Sabin, like these guys love football

more than you can ever imagine. And anyone listening to this who thinks they love football and listen, I would imagine most people listening to this, love football. I love football. I've seen it first hand. The love like Coach Reid has for football, I've never been around Belichick, but I know his kind,

is so much stronger than what the rest of us have, including 99.9% of players, it's stupid. And I think it probably speaks for Metallica. It speaks for some of these actors. I just love anyone who takes their craft really, really seriously and can continue doing it forever at a really, really high level. I think it's just, I'm a sucker for that.

And I remember Metallica, maybe it was a year ago. It might have been two years ago. They played this small, small venue. It might have been less than 1,000 people in downtown San Francisco, which obviously is, I think a couple of them are from around that area. It's kind of like their home base. And they put tickets on sale like 5 o'clock. They were going to play like 8 o'clock, sold out in a minute, whatever.

And they played for like three hours in front of 1,000 people. And I remember some of the clips going viral of that performance thinking, these guys are just addicts, man. Music is their crack and their crackheads. And it's just, I got, I think Tom Brady was like that. Peyton Manning was like that. In athletics a lot of times, right, your physical attributes go. Like Tom's kind of started to go.

Not his arm necessarily, but he'd probably never been slower. Not that he was ever fast, but he definitely didn't want to get hit. He just, he didn't quite, Peyton's arm went, Rothesberger's arm went, Breeze's arm went. A lot of players, you know, receivers and running backs that aren't fast. You just lose the speed. Revis lost his speed. He just went in the Hall of Fame.

If you're lucky enough, and your voice stays, right, as a broadcaster, as a artist, like, you can do it for a long, long time. I think the Rolling Stone still go on, you know, on tour. Obviously, they're doing, they're making money off it. I remember years ago because all the big artists used to come through when I worked for the Eagles, the link. And Taylor Swift, I mean, this was probably 2010 or 2011.

Don Smolensky, who then was like the assistant president. Now he's the president of the Eagles, been the president for a long time. He used to be a early morning workout guy. I was not. I would go, I would show up at the office. I would sleep because you would work so late, basically sleep in.

You usually had to be at the work at like 637. I would just get out of bed. bed, I would drive right to the office, and I would shower and change there because you had a locker or whatever. And he would always be changing after his early morning workout. I mean, he was leaving work a lot earlier in the scouts, but I would always pick his brain about the business element of the concerts. And he would, I remember him telling me, after a Taylor Swift concert, they like cut her a check. I think it was like two or three million dollars. And again, this is over a decade ago. I can't even imagine what she's getting now. But the business behind, the amount of money,

you make on touring when you get to Metallica, Taylor Swift, I saw it with Morgan Wallen, what he's about, Garth Brooks forever, whoever, right? I mean, all the big artists is stupid. It's really where you print your cash. But I also was thinking this when I was at Morgan Wallen. Like, there are a lot of people involved in a tour, right? You're touring with several people. They all have bands, so everyone needs to get paid. You got people putting up the stuff, taking it down. you have all your managers and agents. There's just a lot of moving parts. It is not easy.

I remember thinking the second night, because I went back to back nights thinking, this is a big operation. It's clearly a lucrative operation. But it's fascinating to watch all the people. But I also watched, obviously, the headliner is the guy making the most. But his bands obviously got to get paid. All of his opening acts, they got to get paid as well as their bands have to get paid. and then their agents and managers

and everyone that represents them have their hand in the cookie jar. I just think when you got a tour, especially a relatively big tour where there are a lot of people on the tour, he's got a lot of hands in the cookie jar. Now, the bigger the tour is, the more cookies in that cookie jar.

You got a lot of people reaching in there. I think it's pretty fascinating. I've always been fascinated by the music industry. I think we'll end on that. We'll just keep it rolling, have another podcast tomorrow. Adios. Another podcast from some SNL, late-night comedy guy,

On Humor 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'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 IHart Radio app,

Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human