The Herd with Colin Cowherd - 3 & Out - Aaron Rodgers misses mini camp, Mike Tomlin extended, RIP Jerry West

Episode Date: June 13, 2024

John dives into the Aaron Rodgers/NY Jets saga and what it means that he's missed mandatory mini camp, should it be a concern for the Jets or do they let it slide. Later, John talks about Mike Tomlin getting a contract extension with the Steelers and what that means for the organization. Finally, he reacts to the passing of Jerry West and what he meant not only to the NBA world, but the entire sports world. Lastly, John answers your questions during this episode's mailbag segment. 6:49 - Aaron Rodgers misses mini camp 15:39 - The Steelers and Mike Tomlin 22:04 - RIP Jerry West 34:58 - Mailbag Follow John on Twitter, 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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Happy Thursday? Almost at Friday. Could have been Wednesday. I'm recording this on Wednesday. You'll probably listen on Thursday. hopefully everyone's having a good day and uh you know what let's talk a little football so uh Aaron Rogers making some headlines

people are not happy that he said I'm not gonna practice for mandatory minicamp even though I've been here for the last two months I'm going to we don't even know what at the time I'm recording this and I got news for you like it's not even the biggest story of their holdouts

honestly it's not even close so we'll dive into that the Roonies have acknowledged what they are expecting now. Mike Tomlin gets a three-year extension, and I think we've got to just come to reality of what the situation will continue

to be moving forward. And then Jerry West, the logo, died today, one of the great NBA players of all time, but specifically was I mean, an all-time great any sport GM. And I wanted to dive in because in football,

we've had, you know, guys like Ozzie Newsom and John Elway and John Lynch, you know, after their playing career, dive into the trenches. And it's something I've always respected a lot, the guys that, as I call addicts. And luckily, with football is it's not an addictive drug that would kill you, though. It is extremely stressful. And you lose a lot of sleep. But we'll dive into that because we lost an all-time legend.

He worked when I was in the Bay Area. He was with the Warriors. And was a big reason Clay Thompson wasn't traded. So absolute legend. 86 years old, his son Johnny, who I think still works for the Warriors. He's married to Michelle Wee, the golfer. So I think actually she won the U.S. Open,

the women's U.S. Open 10 years ago at Pinehurst. I'm pretty sure. Might have been her lone major win, but don't quote me on that. And we'll do a little Middlecoff mailback. At John Middlecoff is the Instagram. At John Middlecough is the Instagram. Fire into those direct messages

and get your question and answer here on the show. Obviously, subscribe to three and out. subscribe YouTube page We got one of those as well A lot of content up there Other than that Any other house cleaning

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anything he says becomes an immediate headline and for people in the word business that they love the clicks for us talking about it he's just an interesting figure and he's done a lot of things that I have found head scratching right like demanding a trade from the Green Bay Packers to the New York Jets thought it was nuts

now I'm not anti-Iahuasca never tried it but a lot of people you know, I made him go, what's he doing? The darkness retreat. All four self-growth trying to improve, but let's face it, most of us couldn't go and do a darkness retreat for three or four days.

So he has just done things in the last couple years that has already added to a guy that I would say was pretty polarizing before that. And the story about Aaron Rogers leaving mandatory minicamp immediately just becomes a massive story. And personally, I don't think it's a big deal at all. I have no clue at this point in time of recording this where he went.

I truly don't care. And you'd go, Middlecock, you're a hypocrite. You crush Lamar Jackson for not showing up. Well, yeah, Aaron Rogers has been with the team, just like Patrick Mahomes, just like Justin Herbert, just like Josh Allen, all the star quarterbacks for the last two months. and he took off for a couple days in June, whatever. This is a business.

He's going to get fined. There are repercussions for his actions, and he didn't care. If he hadn't been there all of OTAs and then also did this, I'd be like, yeah, this is fucking nuts. What's he doing? But he has been there the entire time.

Just like last season, the entire off season. It has not been an issue. Did he go to another darkness retreat? or to a RFK speaking engagement. I got no clue. And like I said, I don't care. If you're going to miss a couple days in the offseason, it's not that weird.

Players do it all the time. Where it gets weird is when you give Lamar Jackson a couple hundred million dollars and he doesn't show up until it's mandatory. Like that's not ideal. It doesn't mean it's going to impact the fall. It's just not what the team wants. Now, the Ravens are well run. Big picture, they're going to be fine.

This is the Jets. And they have constant issues. Today on the back of the tabloids, I guess New York's one of the lone big cities where newspapers still matter. And he's everywhere. And it's gone viral and everyone's making fun of him. And he brought it upon himself because he made the statement where football has to become the main thing.

We can't worry about all the. And then he just disappears. But ultimately, like, he's been there the entire time. It's not an excused absence because you can't have an excuse absence unless something personally bad is happening to you during mandatory minicamp. To me, the Jets way bigger issue. Like, they know Aaron Rogers, where he stands, where he's going to be during training camp, it's not a big deal.

I think the overreaction is kind of laughable. But he's Aaron Rogers. It's kind of like LeBron James. When anything happens, it becomes a really big deal. Hell, Caitlin Clark has thrown her hat into this ring. Caitlin Clark could, you know, eat a sandwich weird and we'd be like, What is going on with that? And that's Aaron Rogers' world that we live in for as long as he plays in the NFL.

Literally everything he does, people are going to have an opinion, which is part of the reason the NFL is so big. You need athletes that move the needle like this individual moves the needle. But he is the least of the Jets' worries. I said this the other day. They literally traded for a player who wanted a new contract. That's why he was having issues with the Eagles. he wants more money.

So if you trade for that player and you do nothing with the contract, you are inheriting the problem. When the Miami Dolphins traded for Tyree Kill, the chiefs had an issue because Tyreek wanted a ton of money and they weren't going to pay him. So when they traded him,

if Miami had not reworked his contract and given him a huge contract extension, they would also had an issue on their hands. But what did they do? They gave him a massive extension. The Raiders, Khalil Mack was not showing up to training camp until he got $85, $90 million guaranteed.

Then the Bears trade a couple ones, a three, whatever for him. If they did not give him the contract extension, they would have inherited the problem. But they gave him a contract extension. The Jets trade for Asan Reddick who has not stepped foot in their building. Their coaching staff, their front office,

do not know the player. They do not know the guy. And they have not given him a new contract and he's MIA. That to me is the Jets issue. Because it's symbolic of, do you guys know what you're doing? Aaron Rogers can do things that you think are weird or you don't agree with.

One thing that is not disputable is when he's on the field, he's a good player. And we know he's going to be on the field if his Achilles or body is together. Is a son Redick ever going to show up? Is he ever going to come? Do they ever plan on giving him a contract extension?

Or did they just trade for a player not realizing the severity of the issue? Did Howie Roseman just completely fleece them? If Aaron Rogers is bad this season, there is no debate that the Packers fleeced the Jets on Aaron Rogers. But we all universally agree that if we were in Joe Douglas's seat, if we were Woody Johnson or Woody's brother who was running it at the time, maybe he wasn't, maybe Woody was already back, that we all would have made that trade, every single one of us.

And they, hell, Aaron Rogers took a contract discount, gave them back like $30 million. He's actually been pretty easy for them to deal with. The only issue was his Achilles ripped five plays into a season in 2023. This Assan Redic issue is a problem. It's one thing when you have players that you've drafted on your own team,

that have contract issues. Brandon Ayyuk, contract issue right now. You know him. Like, you know what he stands for, he knows you. Like, everyone's on the same page. It's about money,

but you feel very comfortable with the guy. Why? Because you've spent years around them. The Jets haven't spent any time around this player. And let's face it, they traded for him because they kind of need them. Because they just lost

one of their better pass rushers to the Eagles. So they replaced them with the Eagles problem. And now it's become their problem because they clearly refuse to give him a contract. So Aaron Rogers are going to get the headlines, but I promise you he's the least of their worries. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. 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 Nash would get that thing. That man, hell get the flying. He run up the court, licking his fingers, why he got the. the ball like after you go through a training camp with that i zah you figure it out real quick

get your ass up and down the court and you're gonna get the ball so listen to point game on the iheart radio app apple podcast or wherever you get your podcasts hey everyone it's rider strong and will freddell from podmeets world and now the pod meets twirled podcast we're two men who were completely clueless to reality tv who now have covered dancing with the stars traders and we're gearing up for the season finale of survival So yeah, now we're experts. I know we annoyed a lot of our listeners by our severe lack of survivor knowledge. That is the point of the show.

I'm just going to remind you. I have watched some survivor. I obviously haven't watched enough. Did people not like it? Yeah. Just because we? Yeah. We'll be recapping the big conclusion in the 50th season from the final attempts at gameplay

to the desperate pleas of finalists to a bunch of, ha, who. Ah, ha, who. Again, we are experts. So make sure to tune in to Pod Meets Twirled for all our Survivor 50 takes. Listen to PodMeets Twirled on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, it's Edwin Castro, also known as Castro 1021. And I'm Conky, his best friend and business manager. And we've got a new show called The 1021 Podcast.

I'm taking you behind the scenes on how I became one of Twitch's most popular streamers. We also love sports. And with the World Cup right around the corner, we'll be breaking down the biggest storylines ahead of the big tournament here in the USA. Listen to the 1021 podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The Steelers, let me just say this.

I do agree with consistency, knowing what you're going to get, and every day showing up is a huge advantage in life. that every day that you show up to work that you know so-and-so is going to be there. Isn't the old adage showing up as half the battle?

And I agree with that. If you are just willing to persevere and show up to your job or whatever you're doing on a daily basis during the good times, during the bad times, you will slowly lap people in your field. Because most people eventually tap out

or can't be consistent. Or just like, I'm going to take this month off. I don't have it right now. And the Steelers really, really value consistency and continuity. There is no arguing that. They've had three coaches for the last like 50 years. That means a lot to the Rooney family. We knew that before they ever signed Mike Tomlin

in this three-year contract extension. And I don't believe that you just have to change to change. The NFL is not the tech industry. You don't just need to adapt nonstop just because that's just the landscape of the world. and the business you're in. Though clearly you have to adapt schemes and change with players. But when you have something good as a coach, I understand not willing to make a change in that position.

And no organization in the history of sports is less willing to upset the Apple card in terms of their head coaching position than the Rooney family. But I think we have to acknowledge this in 2024. Mike Tomlin's a good coach. I said it last year. I thought they should have parted ways. It wasn't because I think Mike Tomlin sucks

or Mike Tomlin immediately wouldn't have gotten a job. The Eagles once fired Andy Reid. They knew Andy Reed was good. Andy knew he was good. It was time for a change. Now, it was easier to do that because I think he had just won four or five games. The Steelers don't bottom out.

Mike Tomlin just refuses to lose less than eight games. Every year for the last basically six, seven years, nine, ten wins. But you know you're going to be won and done in the playoffs. And I think the Roonies are acknowledging we're cool with that. We want no part of ever being what the New York Giants have become or what Carolina was last year.

We don't want to be in that business. We're fine with making boatloads of money, which the Steelers clearly are, continuing to being a major brand in the NFL, playing on primetime games, winning our nine games, our 10 games, and packing up after the first game in the playoffs.

Because that's what this franchise is right now. And that's what I expect this season to happen again. And I'm not going to talk anymore as, you know, this season plays out like I expected to, like it has previously, consistently. over the last six plus years, any differently than I have. I'm not going to say this is the time that it's time for a change because they're not going to change. As long as he wins, now if he wins five games, yeah, then maybe it would be on the table.

But if he goes 9 and 8 or he goes 10 and 7 and he's a wildcard team and he loses the bills or he loses the Chiefs or he loses ever in the first round, he will come back next year. And as long as he continues to do that, he will keep a job. And I think sometimes, and I just can speak from experience, I would imagine many people listening can as well. You don't need to be a head coach to know that whether it's force change or whether you do it yourself with a new job opportunity can be very, I would say self-motivating, self-correcting, invigorating. it creates a feeling inside that you cannot get when you're just stuck in the hamster wheel of your current role. And I'm not acting like Mike Tomlin is just content that he's not trying to win. Of course he is. Does he want to win the Super Bowl sitting at his desk right now?

100%. Does he have any chance to do that? No. Do the Roonies know that? 100%. But they are just terrified to, fire Tomlin or trade him to another team or whatever and then get into a position where they just stink for a couple years. They just refuse to do that. But when you refuse to do that, you also

refuse to kind of take the next bigger step. Think about this. The Eagles, when they fired Andy and went to Chip and then went to Doug, they essentially took a step back to then eventually win the Super Bowl in 2017. no one would say that Doug Peterson is a better coach than Andy Reid, but like they just needed some new blood. They needed some new thoughts. And they didn't change their philosophical belief on how to build the team. They do it the same like Andy does.

Build in the trenches. Quarterback play. I mean, it's pretty simple formula. So the Rooney way to build the team, old school, badass, tough guys. Defense, run the ball, doesn't necessarily have to change, and it won't change. But this head coaching job feels like he's on scholarship a little bit. And he's definitely earned success. He does not lose.

And there's something to be said in a league full of parity where basically everyone has some down years. John Harbaugh has some down years. John Harbaugh has had worse individual seasons than Mike Tomlin. but clearly his high end is much higher. So if I'm a Steeler fan, I guess on the glass half full, we're going to be competitive. And the glass half empty, we're just going to be doing what we've been doing,

which is not that much when it matters the most. And that kind of sucks. Jerry West, when I was in radio, he passed away today. I used to go to a lot of warrior games. And this is before Durant. So I went to the two teams, one that won the championship, and then the 73 win team that lost in game seven. And back then, they weren't quite the rock stars in which they would become when Kevin Durant went there.

So you could go to a game and pregame, Clay was not Clay. You could just talk to him on the bench, you know, as he's just warming up or lacing his sneakers. This is, you know, a couple hours before the game. And Jerry West would be kind of roaming around a lot because he was, you know, a high-ranking official with them. He wasn't technically the GM Bob Myers was, but he had a lot of juice. And he was a major presence there.

And I got to bullshit with him a couple times. Nothing too crazy. Wouldn't know my name or anything. And one thing I always remember is he's huge. He's massive. So I was offended when JJ Redick made the comment about the players back in his day. And Jerry West was clearly offended as well, because Jerry West, if he played in 2024,

would fucking dominate. He would have been fine. But I can't speak to his playing career. It was before I was ever born. Something I admire a lot in just human beings, are deal makers, guys that essentially just get things done. Because let's face it,

in the world we live in in America, in our society, we got winners and we got losers. And I actually think the thing that differentiates the two is not a huge gap. Some people are just unwilling to not figure it out.

and whether you're in a normal business or whether you're in sports, that separates people. And when I look at Jerry West, I just see a guy who had gut feelings on things, who had an intuition because of his knowledge of basketball, and just stuck to his guns. And when he wanted something, he just made sure it happened. And this goes back to when I was a kid, when he signed Shaquille O'Neal from the Orlando Magic, which was an enormous coup for the Lakers back then,

and was one of the bigger stories in the 90s. And then when he pounded the table for Kobe Bryant. But the thing I remember most being around the warrior teams for a couple years was people forget this now. And if you didn't live in the Bay Area, you might not know this. One huge potential trade for the Warriors was they were going to trade for Kevin Love. But the trade was essentially going to be Clay Thompson and someone else for Kevin Love. And Jerry West looked at Bob Myers.

and most importantly, looked at Joe Lacob, the owner, and said, if you trade Clay Thompson, I quit. I resign immediately. And I just think people that trust their gut,

and obviously it's built through experience of having success and making your decisions. Like, Jerry West had balls. He had stones. He's a dying breed of human being. I mean, the guy was born in 1938, so he grew up in a completely different time.

time than several generations. But I've always respected elite players that then go on to become general managers. Because that job, unlike coaching, and he was a coach really briefly, I think in the late 70s, you don't have that much impact when the game starts. Right? There are some famous stories of Billy Bean, the longtime GM for the A's of like he'd work out, during the games because he'd get, his anxiety would be so high. Jerry West was notorious for that too.

He was like getting his car and drive around Los Angeles because he couldn't watch. And again, he was the GM of the Showtime Lakers and the Kobe and Shaq Phil Jackson Lakers. But his anxiety was so high, it struggled to watch because as a player, you're used to controlling. Even as a coach, you get to impact it. As a GM in basketball or football, you're sitting there on a suit in the stands eating popcorn. You have no impact when the game starts. And I think we have a lot of guys in the NFL. Obviously, Ozzie Newsom transitioned in the 90s

and went on to become one of the greatest general managers the NFL has ever seen. And still to this day, he retired a couple years ago. At the head of the table is not the owner and is not the current GM Eric DeCosta. It's still Ozzy. Why? He's addicted to football.

John Elway. who played later than Ozzie, obviously made more money than Ozzie, and had successful business career owned a bunch of car dealerships, did not need the money. And Pat Bowling called him up, and he said, I'll run the team. I'll fix this. And like Jerry West, the first thing he did was close a deal. Got rid of Tim Tebow and landed Peyton Manning,

and it changed the Broncos for four years. And they became one of, if on a given year, the best team in football. Went to two Super Bowls. I had a couple of bad playoff losses and obviously won the one in Peyton Manning's last year against Carolina Panthers. And on a little bit lesser of a level, I wouldn't put John Lynch on the level of John Elway, but John Lynch does not need to be doing this. He does not need to be working 80, 90-hour weeks. Having the anxiety overcome you on a Sunday when you're in a box eating a hot dog,

watching the football game and having no juice. But this is who they are. deep in their core, deep in their soul. They like being in the trenches. I was in the trenches for a couple years. It was a lot. It's very stressful. And some guys thrive in that environment.

Some guys enjoy just like you're not guaranteed to win every week. You're not guaranteed to win ever. It can be a disaster on any given season if the wrong guy gets injured. but they fucking love it. And it's a small percentage of people. Like Peyton Manning and Tom Brady, like they're not doing that. Because there's a big difference of like,

one day I want to own the team. And no, I want to be the GM of the team. I want to be every day with the coaches and the players. And obviously, Jerry is probably one of the most legendary executives in the history of sports. Ozzie Newsom is, I would say, for on the NFL level, you know, probably not far behind him.

And what John Elway did forever in Denver, it ended poorly. But I respect the shit out of him for doing that. And same thing with John Lynch. Howie Roseman has to be the GM. This was his desired occupation. John Snyder. This is what these guys wanted to do in their 20s and 30s.

Those guys were playing at a Hall of Fame level. And then as they got older, they missed it so much. deep down in their loins, they had to get back and be a part of it and be a part of the grind. Because it's really the highs and lows are dictated by the Sunday outcomes or in the NBA, you know, the playoff games. But it's really about the daily just ability to be, I don't know, in the mud with the boys. and as we move on and the guys continue to make more and more historic amounts of money,

I think we're going to see less and less of these people doing it because who needs that stress in their life? Who does? Not many people when you got money. Why would you want stress in your life if you can avoid it? But some guys that stress and that uncertainty and ultimately the competition gets them off. Because of the money, I mean, Terri West has been super rich for a long time.

John Lynch was rich before he ever came back to the 49ers. John Elway was probably worth $100 million when he accepted to be the GM of the Denver Broncos. They did not need those jobs. Did not need them at all. Ryan Gutikins needs the job. Where else is he going to make $3, $4 million? I mean, this is occupation. This was not these guys' occupation.

but the sport was and they loved it at the deepest levels and I've said it forever having been around Pat Hill and Andy Reed and knowing a bunch of guys that work for the Patriots forever with Belichick

I don't think the common fan quite understands the addiction these men have to the sport of football how much it truly means to them 24 7, 365 thinking about it nonstop it's their life it's equal with their family.

Sounds crazy, but I just promise you it is. And RIP, Jerry West, probably one of the greatest sportsmen to ever live. And I'm a sucker when former great players get involved because I just think we're going to see less and less of that. Like I said, given the financial amounts of money these guys have made. A couple other quick stories before we get out of here. Darren Waller retired.

He's going to become a rapper. I watched some of his rap song about getting a divorce with Kelsey, the girl in the WNBA. It was probably one of the worst songs I've ever seen. Was a pretty incredible story when Gruden and Mayock resurrected him. Clearly a really, really talented player. Ever since he started wanting money, he started getting injured a lot, and he just kind of became irrelevant. And the Giants traded a third round pick for him last year.

got injured and now his career's over. So, yeah, I mean, it's just the NFL things happen fast. And then Amari Cooper. He's currently holding out, wants a new contract in the last year of his deal, making $23 million, probably wants $30 million. And all these wide receivers, man, it's tough because you're having success. I don't think make $18, $19, $20 million. These guys making $20,000. 38, 30, 34.

And you're going to see this more and more over the next couple years, these guys that are already on contract extensions going, hey guys, I'm going to need a little race. And Amari Cooper's the latest. It'd be interesting to see how he's been good for the Browns. He's had a, it's weird, right? He was drafted number four overall

and the expectations of him. At one point, I remember going to Raiders camp his rookie year. I'm like, is this guy going to be the next Jerry Rice? In a weird way, it feels like he's underachieved, but also been a fantastic player, kind of a bizarre career, partly because the Raiders traded them, then the Cowboys traded them. But when you look at a stats, dude has been good for a long, long time. And I think you could argue the Browns are in somewhat of a tight spot.

You just give them one of those little three, four million dollar contract kickers to make it worth a little more. We'll see how that plays out. What's up, fam, Ms. Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano, and our podcast Point Game is a lot. about defying 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.

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 podcasts.

Hey everyone, it's Ryder Strong and Wilfredel from PodMeets World. And now the Podmeets Twirled podcast. We're two men who were completely clueless to reality TV, who now have covered Dancing with the Stars, traitors, and we're gearing up for the season finale of Survivor. So yeah, now we're experts. I know we annoyed a lot of our listeners by our severe lack of survivor knowledge. That is the point of this show.

I'm just going to remind you. I have watched some Survivor. I obviously haven't watched enough. Did people not like it? Yeah. Just because we... Yeah. We'll be recapping the big conclusion

of the 50th season from the final attempts at gameplay to the desperate pleas of finalists to a bunch of... Ha, hoo. Ha ha, who. Again, we are experts. So make sure to tune into PodMeets Twirled

for all our Survivor 50 takes. Listen to PodMeets Twirled on the IHeard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you're watching the latest season, of the Real Housewives of Atlanta, you already know, there's a lot to break down. Gorsha accusing Kelly of sleeping with a married man.

They holding Kay Michelle back from fighting Drew. Pinky has financial issues. I like the bougie style of Housewives show. I think it looks like it's going to be interesting. On the podcast, Reality with the King, I, Carlos King, recap the biggest moments from your favorite reality shows, including the Real House Wise franchise,

the drama, the alliances, and the team, everybody's talking about. As an executive producer in reality television, I'm not just watching it. I understand the game. As somebody who creates shows, I'll even say this. At the end of the day,

when people are at home, they want entertainment. To hear this and more, listen to Reality with the King on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Okay, let's do a little

Middilcoff mailbag. That's where I answer your questions. at John Middilkoff is the Instagram handle. So just fire into those DMs and get a question to answer here on this little podcast. This is from Chris, long-time listener, first-time writer. Hypothetically speaking, if the NFL did a redraft, how many quarterbacks would go off the board before another position? I personally believe it would be around 20 get picked before non-quarterback.

My friends think I'm crazy. So you don't mean necessarily, you don't mean a redraft. You just mean like an expansion draft every player's available. I think 100% there are five guys in some order going. Mahomes, Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, Joe Burrow, Justin Herbert are going in the first five picks. I would bet $50,000 on that. I don't know the exact order, but those would be the first five players. Then I think it would start being debatable, right?

Trevor Lawrence, Jalen Hertz, Kyler Murray, Brock Purdy, the Dak Prescott's of the world. Would you take all those guys before you took another position? I think that's where the debate would really kick up. Who am I missing? You know, you have this new group of guys that were just, drafted. Caleb Williams, if we're doing it today, I would add Caleb Williams to that. And I'm not saying he's, obviously, we have no clue if he's as good as those top five guys, but the

potential, Caleb Williams will get drafted ahead of Trevor Lawrence. I'm pretty confident on that. Again, money, not factoring in or I'm just saying draft the player. I think you would have a handful of guys that you would start debating, right, if you were in the draft room. And like eight quarterbacks went, you're like, do we want Micah Parsons, Nick Bosa, you know, Justin Jefferson, to start going around the great players at different positions. Some of the great interior defensive linemen, Miles Garrett, T.J. Watt. Would I take that guy over Dak Prescott? It's almost like a fantasy draft.

Well, who could I get in the second round? Could I get, you know, Kirk Cousins in the second round? because I would rather have Kirk Cousins and Micah Parsons than Kyla Murray and whoever, right? Max Crosby. Obviously, when you factor in age, like if Trent Williams was 25, if I didn't love the quarterback,

I'd have no problem taking a Trent Williams-like player as my first pick. I don't think it would be 20. Stafford's a little older and banged up. golf. I guess golf. Guys like Gough, Dach, and Purdy, they would just go.

So maybe the number's like 12-ish? I would say 12-ish. I don't think we're getting to 20. Like, you're taking Derek Carr over Micah Parsons or Nick Bosa? I don't think you could. You know, I think Kyler's a wild card.

I think Jalen Hertz is somewhat of a wild card. I mean, he's got a big year coming up. Who am I missing? Tua. I mean, I wouldn't take Tua over any sweet defensive player. Like, you're going to take two over T.J. Watt? I'd be like,

I'd be like Jerry West to the Warriors. Fire me. I quit. I'm out. I'm out. It's a good question, though. One thing I'm going to do this summer, going to Tahoe for like a month. I got some good kind of evergreen podcast that I was thinking of the day in the car. and one of them I'm going to do a little coach draft I think

college and pro wanted to see if you know who Mike Francesa is yeah I don't fucking live under a rock I talk for a living yes I know who he is and if so

if you have ever had any sort of interaction or story with him being from New York Francesa was our go-to sports guy for decades and I imagine any listener of yours from the Northeast would know who he is. So wanted to see if you have any familiarity with him.

Keep up the great work. P.S., me and my buddy crack up. Fine, you mentioned atrocious McGlinchie contract. Someone DM me like a week ago. I was like, did McClinty sleep with your girlfriend or hurt your brother? I'm like, no. He's a good guy. I just think he's a pretty overpaid player.

I've never been around or met Francesa, but I have several times when I was on radio interviewed Chris Rousseau and talked to Chris Rousseau for a long time at a Super Bowl and he is the coolest. And I didn't really listen to much Francesa, but as someone that has serious XM in his car, as we've known about my Bluetooth issues in the Tahoe, I'm a serious XM oilist.

And Mad Dog Radio, obviously Russo's channel, I would say 10 years ago, whenever I was in the car and I would stream it sometimes, it's probably a little too sporty for me now, that specific show. But early on, I loved it. I would consider myself a diehard Chris Russo guy. He entertains. He is exactly what you want in this business, an entertainer. I never understand.

Like, you know who gets really mad? A lot of times. You know, who used to be very envious of sports talk radio people 10, 15 years ago and called them lazy, were newspaper writers. Well, there was a jealousy. You made way more in sports talk radio. And you were actually, I guess 20 years ago, the newspaper was bigger. But obviously, sports talk radio really took off over the last 20 plus years. And there was such jealousy because they're like, that's not journalism?

No, it's not journalism. This is a business. We're trying to make a lot of money. Our number one goal is to entertain the consumer. That's all anyone that's good at this job cares about. And Rousseau to me is an all-time elite entertainer. I don't watch first take, but I respect because I've met him a couple times, Stephen A, and he was cool as shit too. Listen, he's not for me, but he's obviously Alita his job.

And I think him and Rousseau, they are just special personalities. And I've always said this. Like, I like to be entertained. If you bore me in sports, I'll stop reading you. I won't listen to you. Like, I like to be entertained. I don't care if you're a little off the wall sometimes. I'm a fucking nut job, right?

So I like some off-the-wall takes, and Rousseau has them in spades. I think Rousseau, to me, if I did Mount Rushmore, Sports Talk Radio, for me. I mean, in my opinion, I'm not saying these are actually the greatest, but the influence on me and the people I listen to the most by a country mile would be Colin, Dan Patrick, Chris Rousseau, and Jim Rome. and honestly there's probably not even a close fifth there's not a close fifth I mean I started listening to Jim Rome when I was really young

and I think the coolest part about the way the internet and the world is now how you can just consume anyone you want you know I can listen to a guy I can stream a guy in New York and I started doing this 10 years ago you know before like you knew about Colin or Dan Patrick because they were on ESPN but these guys in local markets you would never hear about them

and I remember the first first time I started listening to Mad Dog, I'm like, Rousseau, this guy is a gem. Now, if he's talking down the French Open, I'm changing the channel. A little too baseball heavy for me. I follow baseball. I don't watch it, but I know what's going on. I'm not breaking down seventh innings. And that's, listen, I don't blame him for doing that.

When he cut his teeth, talking baseball in sports talk radio was huge. And I just think those guys, I'd never listen to their show. But clearly they're one of the all-time great chemistry shows. And the thing isn't with chemistry, with a radio host, like you can't really fake it at the highest levels. And like I loved Rosillo and Scott Van Pelt. And that they were so unique because they were so much younger sounding than all these other shows. You know, Colin's show was always so different,

which I liked because he talked money and business and obviously the analogies, but he didn't sound like anyone else. And to me, Jim Rohn was just so. early on it, but he was just very, very sports meat and potatoes. You know, Dan is just such a great interviewer and Russo is just out of left field. And I'm, I'm a huge Russo guy. I like a little crazy in my sports talk analyst. Like I, like I'm not looking, I hate it when people, especially when former players get in,

I'm here to educate. Bro, this ain't chemistry. I'm not looking to get a fucking education. I'm trying to laugh. I'm trying to have fun. I'm pissed off. I just lost $1,000 on the game. I want you to talk a little, you know what. Like, this ain't education. This isn't Spanish three here. No one's trying to get educated. This is all entertainment. And I think no one figured that out faster. You know, I think why audio started lapping the written word.

Obviously, society changed. But a lot of Big J journalists, you know, they're just very stuck in their ways. And I think when you start working in radio, and this has really benefited me being in podcasts, is when you're meeting with your bosses and the people that matter, it's always about money. It's like, are we doing well enough? Are we generating enough sales? Are we doing well enough with revenue? Your job is to generate revenue. It's honestly, this is a sales job. That's what this is. And the ads happen to be what we're selling. and the bigger your audience is, the more money you make. But the reason Colin and Dan and now Portnoy and, you know, McAfee, like, they can sell. And they're selling themselves.

And that's why a lot of journalists have gotten really bitter over the last decade. It's like, hey, guys, this is all a business. The newspapers, do you know what that was? That was ad distribution. That's what that paper was filled with articles written by you guys. But the reason they've been cutting for 20 years is less and less. of us are reading them. And it's why I feel very fortunate to be in this medium where audio is as strong as ever

and it's only going to get stronger. It's obviously changed radio and streaming and podcasts. But you have a unique relationship when you listen to someone very closely. And I found this out just meeting some of you guys out and about. You feel like you know the guy really well. And I felt like that when I met Chris Russo. It's like, God, I've been listening to this guy for like 10 years. When the first time I met Colin, it's like, God, I've been listening to this guy since I was like,

18 years old. You know, I've never met Dan Patrick, but you just get to feel like you know the guy. It's why, you know, in the history of the business, the Howard Stearns, the Rush Limbaugh's, I mean, Mike and Mike, I mean, you're talking about people 20 years ago making $20 million a year because of the power of the business. And Russo, like I said, I think even if you don't like have a different opinion, I think he's very, it would probably be the two of them, but would be on the Mount Rush. more radio for sure.

It's funny when I hear people talk about, like, I still listen to my radio from where I grew up. Like, I don't. I don't at all. Maybe it's just not that good. I used to work in the area. But, you know, depending on where you live, you know, Philly's always had great sports stock radio. Same with New York.

Same with Boston. I think on the West Coast, it's just podcast. You know, it's kind of a little more progressive area in the sense of more, I would say, on per capita more people are working from home, change the game. I think podcasts, more than the East Coast, has destroyed West Coast radio.

Just a question for the pod. Love listening. What are your expectations for the Rams this season and how long do you think their window to win a Super Bowl is? I think expectation is to compete to win the division and to be a Super Bowl contender. I mean, if Stafford's healthy all season, I don't see why they can't win 11, 12 games

and be in the hunt. in the NFC. Them, San Francisco, Lions, Green Bay, Philly. I mean, I think it's pretty clear who the big dogs are. You know, I don't think there are many wild cards in the NFC. Been listed to your pod for about three years, and I like it. Love hearing your insides. Keep up a great work.

Question for the pod. Appreciate the nice words, Aaron. What are your opinions on the Seattle GM, John Schneider? Where do you rank him and what would it mean for his career if this upcoming season with all the coaching changes turns out to be a success. Meaning, being a team that competes for a wildcard spot, I think John Snyder is easily one of the better GMs in the league. I don't know him personally.

I know a lot of people that are very close to them. I thought that when I worked in the league. I thought that when I worked in radio in the Bay Area and seen as the Richard Sherman teams, I thought that over the last three or four years as they've transitioned out of Russell Wilson. Now, he's made bad moves, but I don't. do believe that Pete Carroll has, like, I put Jamal Adams on Pete Carroll. I'm not saying John Schneider didn't like him or wasn't on board, but I don't know if that move happens if the front office is in charge. Pete was, and that's a debacle. But what he did to the Denver Broncos

is an all-time fleecing. Now, obviously Pete was involved in that too, but he gets credit. You know, they always say buy low, sell high. He got Russell Wilson. And he was the reason, pounded the table. Because Pete Carroll, and he told him, he said, Pete, when you meet this guy in person, you're going to be like, wait, this is the quarterback? Because he was really short. And Pete, if you ever looked at his USC teams, they were massive. Matt Liner's huge.

The team was enormous. Hell, the Seattle was huge, the guys they had on that team. And he sold Pete on it. So he bought, it's like he bought in a video at like a hundred bucks. and then he sold Russell Wilson for a premium. It would be like selling a video right now. That alone is an all-time move. And then I've really thought these last couple years

our team's been really talented. A ton of really good guys on offense. Draft DK in the second round. Jackson Smith in the first round. The running back, Walker from Michigan State, stud, drafting the offensive linemen when they pivoted from Russ. Defense has been a little hit or miss, but now they might have a better defensive coach.

In 2024, obviously Pete's one of the greatest defensive coaches in the history of the league. I don't know where exactly he ranks, but I think he's definitely, I mean, no doubt about it. Top 10 GM in the league and just one of the more talented guys of the position over the last couple decades. People love him. People love the guy. In the business. I've never heard a bad word about the guy. And we all know the longer you do something in an industry, especially highly competitive industry,

it's hard to not like, eh, the guy's kind of. a shady character or god he fucked me on that one people like him thanks so much for the content every week you have made me a better husband because I look forward to doing all the chores around the house just put my AirPods in

and listen to some pods while doing the dishes you know it's funny because sometimes we do this too like she'll be out watering I'll be doing something in the house we both have AirPods in is it pretty normal for couples nowadays to be in their own home, both having AirPods in,

listen to something. You got a little true crime. I got a little golf podcast. And then when you need something, you're like, Hey, hey, Maria! And then she can kind of hear you.

And then you're just kind of yelling at each other. When I grew up, you just screamed that everyone was just sitting right there. You had nothing to do. Right? So it's like you're doing the dishes. You're just looking at your parents.

They're staring at you mad because you screwed something up, got yelled at because school called and said that you were late to three classes. Now everyone's got their AirPods in 24-7, 365. Definitely makes, uh, I even take sometimes my phone to the shower, put it on the ledge

where it's not going to get wet and just play a podcast. I think I'm an audio addict. I consume a lot of audio. From book on tapes to just have YouTube audio going in the back or podcasts. Just a lot. I just constantly need audio. in the back. Being that I'm a die-hard Trojan fan, I've followed this guy a lot the past three years.

It seems very unlikely that he turns into a bust. In your opinion, what is his floor? Oh, my question is about Caleb. I would say his floor, I'm trying to think of like a talented physical player. It's a little shorter. I think his floor would be like some of the versions we saw of Russell Wilson. You know, when the L-O-B changed and he kind of became this scramble around, make deep the rows. But I think he's much more talented than Russ. He's bigger.

He's probably not as fast. I mean, he's not slow. Maybe they're actually similar athletes. That sounds crazy. But I'd go Russell Wilson, Seattle. Because you couldn't say, like, I mean, his floor is not like Josh Allen, right? That's an incredibly high floor. but his floor is not like some scrub.

You wouldn't be like, like Jimmy Garoppel won a lot, but Caleb's floor should be higher, and he's never going to play like that. Like you look at like the Jimmy Garoppelos, the Derek Carr's, like that type play. Caleb's not going to look like that in the NFL because that's just not his style.

So I think his floor does sound pretty high. But I can't really think of, I think his floor is incredibly high. I think it would be stunning if he's not really good. And if he's not really good, it's... Because ultimately, like, you see Bryce Young in a game. Like, if he's not good, you understand it because he's tiny. You know, Trevor Lawrence, you watch him, and you go, okay, I have a lot of hype, but you're like, what does he do great?

But even he, he, he's not living up to the hype, but he's still better in half the league. So it's just he's not living up to the hype. hype because people thought he's going to be a top five quarterback and instead he's like 14th, right? I think Caleb is better. If he becomes Trevor Lawrence like underwhelms for the hype, I still think he's probably a better version of that. I guess that's a long-winded way of saying that. I mean, and I've actually tried to pump the brakes on it in rookie season because I think we go

overboard. every rookie is just going to be C.J. Stroud. And we know that doesn't happen. We know how hard it is. You can go on to be a legend and just Peyton Manning, Eli Manning. I mean, these guys, you watch the rookie season. Andrew Luck was an outlier. As a rookie, he was pretty damn good.

Most rookies are up and down and a lot more down than up. So even if they go 8 and 9 and he throws 24 touchdowns and 14 picks, it's like, I bet he has moments throughout the year where he's like, oh my, this guy could be truly special. And part of being truly special is dependent, this is not basketball. Or it's kind of on you. It's really kind of on you.

Like, can you become a star or not? It's usually not the coach that makes you a star. It's the player. Like, Michael Jordan was Michael Jordan well before Phil Jackson ever showed. Steph Curry was pretty freaking good before Steve Kerr ever arrived. So, in football, like, Mahomes was going to be good no matter what. we can all acknowledge that.

But is he this without Andy Reid? Tom Brady said over and over, like, we needed each other. Who your coaches really, really matters. Is Eber Fluse good enough? And if he's not, if they miss the playoffs and fired him after this season, like, well, who do they bring in? Would they hire like Mike Vrable? Is Mike Vrable good for a quarterback?

Ben Johnson doesn't seem like he ever wants to leave ever. Who's the next like Kyle Shanninghan? Sean McVang, does that guy exist? Because to be good, I would argue Peyton Manning's the only guy who's, after a while, it didn't even matter. Like Tony Dunn, I'm running the offense, buddy. Me and the old line coach, Tom Moore,

and Howard Mudd, like, stat out. Staddle, we run the offense. That's usually not the way it works. Andy Reid runs the offense, right? Belichick ran the team. Manning's an all-time outlier. where I remember hearing stories when I was in the NFL, he'd be walking out to practice

and he'd ask for the practice script from the offensive coordinator and he'd ask for a red pen and he'd go through and make changes before practice started on the field. That ain't normal. Usually you need help. And I think Caleb's going to need help. Maybe it's Shane Waldron.

Maybe it's after everyone when it gets fired, they nail it. But if you don't, like it can, you can be in the wilderness. read the Steve Young book. It was pretty ugly. I mean really ugly. Until Bill Walsh traded for him from Tampa Bay.

Now, Tampa in the mid-80s was, I mean, worse than any team in the league right now. I mean, they were a joke. But you go to Bill Walsh, Jerry, right? You start winning MVP's and become a legend. As Patrick Mahomes would it's like to get drafted by Andy Reed. It's got to be just, I can't even. imagine how often he thinks how lucky he is.

Like he knows it. He knows it. Because he's very, very lucky. And he's also deserving. Like, he controls a lot of his own destiny. But if your coach sucks, I don't know. You just never know. I'm not trying to shit on an Iber flus here, but a lot of people just acting like the bears are going to be sweet.

Like, I don't know, man. Are we sure their coaching staffs any good? The volume. Another podcast from some SNL. late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and Friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman

help make you funnier. This week, my guest, S&L's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel

and Friends on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. American soccer is about to exploded. The World Cup is coming. Ramers sending on to Ernie Stewart the chip. I'm Tab Ramos. I'm Tom Boe. On our podcast, Inside American Soccer, you'll get the real storylines,

the biggest decisions, 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. Listen, Inside American Soccer with Tom Bogart and Tab Ramos on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast,

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 crying. You just understood. That's how personal it got. Wow. Then after that game seven, Marquis come in to you, 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 podcast. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.