The Herd with Colin Cowherd - 3 & Out - Honey Badger hangs it up, could J.J. McCarthy's job be on the line, Packers need to win

Episode Date: July 23, 2025

John reacts to the news that Tyrann Mathieu has decided to hang up his cleats and retire from the NFL. John talks about the journey for the Honey Badger from getting kicked off his LSU team to becoming a team captain for every team he played for in the NFL. Next, John talks about his top 5 people that could have their job on the line heading into the season. Later, John pays tribute to the passing of Ozzy Osbourne. Finally, John answers your questions in this episode's mailbag segment.04:44 - Tyrann Mathieu retires 13:40 - Raheem Morris' job could be on the line 16:23 - Does Kyler Murray need to have a great season 24:23 - Should J.J. McCarthy worry about his job 27:39 - Trevor Lawrence must succeed this season 30:39 - Packers front office has pressure to win 43:35 - 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. #VolumeSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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What is going on, everybody? How are we doing? John Middilcoff, Three and Out Podcast. Hopefully everyone is doing great. Honey Badger, Tyron Matthew. officially retires. I do think his story is very symbolic of so many guys in the NFL, guys that are not super high draft picks that become stars and the impact of teams.

So I just want to talk about a big picture just why this is so difficult. I also thought I do five guys whose jobs could be in trouble in 2026. So basically on the line this year. quarterbacks, coaches, GMs, and Ozzy Osbourne died. RIP do want to give a quick little something at the end to Ozzie.

And obviously, Middilkoff mailbag at John Middlecoff. At John Middlecoff is the Instagram. Fire in those DMs. Get your questions answered here on the show. Very, very easy. Just fire into my Instagram DMs and get anything answered

here on the podcast. If you listen on Collins feed, Make sure you subscribe to three and out. Appreciate everyone that has. Spotify, Apple, iTunes, wherever you may listen to podcasts, we got you covered. YouTube as well.

Fire into the old YouTube. Appreciate all of you that have done that. If you haven't, all of our content is up there as well. But before we dive into football, you know I got to tell you about my friends, my partners, and the official ticketing app

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Download on the GameTime app today. Last minute tickets, the lowest price guaranteed. I'm fascinated by so many of, you know, many of you guys that are listening, work in all sorts of industries from medical, to construction, to finance, you name it. Probably everyone, if we took a poll of everyone listening, we would find 100 different industries, right? And every industry is a little bit different.

But for the most part, in most industries, the currency, the power of the product is not a human being. And that's what makes the NFL such a unique business. Obviously, it's doing extremely well in terms of financially and popularity, but it's difficult. And if you're on the team side as a general manager, as a team president, as a head coach, and you take over a franchise, typically when it's not doing well, you are tasked to build a good team. And the way most people build a good team is through the draft. and obviously times have dramatically changed when it comes to the judgment of weed and marijuana. I remember when the Honey Badger, who retired today, multiple time All-Pro made a bunch of Pro Bowls,

world champion. Actually, let me rephrase that. Super Bowl champion. I hate world champion. This isn't soccer. This isn't baseball or basketball. It's an American sport. And listen, a lot of guys say it in the NFL.

Harry Roseman, love saying a world champion. It's Super Bowl. American Championship, but he won a Super Bowl, just an unreal player. And he's a great example. Now, he got kicked out of LSU back in 2012 for synthetic weed, which I'll be honest at the time I knew nothing about. Now, I would say the stigma around weed, even though it technically is legal in some places, it's not legal other places, it's not federally legal.

Anyone who's in the weed business knows that there are complications because it not being federally legal, make it hard to run a business because of the right-offs, but that's a whole other conversation. Bottom line, getting kicked out of college for weed in 2012 seemed like, damn, this guy's a major red flag. It would not feel like that today, but he did get kicked out, and he did not play his junior year. And he was one of the best players in the country, at one of the best programs in the country, but because of that situation, did not get drafted the following year, till pick 69. I think it's safe to say if he hadn't been kicked out of school

and he had just played at LSU, he's probably a top 15, 18 pick. I mean, he's probably picked somewhere between 10 and 20, would be my guess. He was on a big-time prospect, but major red flag. And people are like, can't touch this guy, a lot of problems. Now you look back at his career. He's been a team captain for every team he played for.

I'll never forget when he went to the Cardinals, when the Cardinals drafted him and Bruce Ariens and Steve Kime and Carson Palmer and they turned that around. And within a couple years, they're in the conference championship. And I remember an interviewer, Patrick Peterson said, this guy's the heart and soul of our team. He goes to the Texans, team captain.

Goes to the Chiefs. Those guys freaking loved him. I got a buddy on that staff that says, beside like Kelsey and Mahomes, it's easily one of his favorite players of their dominant era. He's an absolute stud. but he fell. And that's what makes this so complicated.

I texted a couple people today because I saw the Packers paid their right tackle. Zach Tom, almost $100 million. And I was like, I'll be honest, I don't know that much about this guy. Was he a high pick? No, he's a fourth round pick. So I text buddies on different playoff teams.

I'm like, what's the deal here? And I got basically, listen, good kid, was a high character guy coming out, but thought he was pretty average. I thought he would be a backup up at most positions. Stunned. Did not see this coming. Did not think he would be this good.

Well, they just got a guy who's going to be their right tackle for potentially eight to 10 years. And if every team in the league realized what he would have been, he would not have gone in the fourth round. And that's my point, is building this thing and trying to, and as training camp start, we're going to go, this team sucks, this team's good, this team's going to be back. what makes it so difficult is all of a sudden a couple years in a Zach Tom for some other team will just be like a high-end starter at right tackle a guy that was drafted in the second third

or fourth round that should have been a top 15 10 pick will just not be in trouble anymore we'll just not only be mature but become a leader become a team captain and all of a sudden he helps that franchise go from shitty to good in most of your guys industries when you make an acquisition, when you merge with somebody, when you buy a product, when you do a business deal, it's pretty black and white. You can throw up the Excel spreadsheet.

You can get the numbers. This makes sense. It does not make sense. For most things, you can break it down simply to widgets. The problem in the NFL, you're dealing with humans. And not only humans, you're dealing with young men. And I think anyone,

our listeners, are heavily skew men, basically 100% is we mature late and not every guy is Peyton Manning or Tom Brady and super dialed at 21, 22 years old. Some of us are fucking idiots. Some of us need to grow. Hell, some of us just like need to mature. And you look back when you're 30 at what you were at 25, when you're 35, back what you were at 30 and you're like, I'm a different person now. As you should be. You should always be growing. It's no different with these players. And I think what's so exciting about this upcoming season is everyone thinks, and for the most part, we know a handful of teams that are going to be good because they've been consistently good, and as long as they

stay healthy, they're going to be in the mix. But there are going to be countless other teams that hit on three or four guys that no one's counting on. Why? Because it literally happens all the time. All of a sudden, your third and fourth round pick from this year and last year are high-end pro bowl players. And instead of going, yeah, kind of like the roster, it's like, damn, I really, really like the roster. It's what makes the NFL so fascinating. Like, in the NBA, for the most part, like, there are going to be some high-end players,

but they're typically drafted really high. And occasionally, there's a good player at like 14, another good player at like 26, but there aren't that many good players drafted on a yearly basis. And if you hit on a second round pick, meaning the guy makes your team, that is a massive win. We find all pros all the time on the third day of the draft.

We find guys getting 80 to 100 to 120 million that are drafted in the fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh rounds. I mean, arguably the greatest player of all time was pick 199. The 49er starting quarterback, they just gave $180 million to, was Mr. Irrelevant. So what I love about football is that it's like this grand human experiment and the power of coaching, the power of these organizations. One thing I heard when it came to Zach Tom is he really benefited from being in Green Bay. The organization deserves a lot of credit.

No different than the Arizona Cardinals when they drafted Tyron Matthew. They had arguably his best friend on the team, Patrick Peterson. They had Carson Palmer. They had an old school, you know, kind of throwback coach in Bruce Ariens. They were equipped to handle it. It's why whenever someone goes, well, the Falcons, they passed on Jalen Carter. I got news for you. Probably would not have worked.

The Eagles were equipped to handle the. that situation. Why? Because they had Brandon Graham and Fletcher Cox in the meeting room sitting right next to him. And every day at practice, the guy standing across from him was either Lane Johnson, Jason, Kelsey, Jordan Milata, Landon Dickerson, a bunch of high

end elite players. So the standard there and what was going to be tolerated is a lot different in some of these losing places. And some teams get crushed like, God, I can't believe they didn't take that guy. They couldn't take that guy. It's way too risky.

know, it really is. And I'm just fascinated by the draft. I'm fascinated by these players. I love watching guys who have issues early on, figure it out, and not only become high-end guys, but become the heartbeat of teams, become the team captain, the team leader, the guy that everyone kind of follows. And it happens all the time. And there's no other sport that can produce that quite like football. Okay, let's, uh, let's, let's, let's, do a little thing that I like to call, is their job on the line? And I just pick five guys, or five situations. And I think, you know, there are a lot of big storylines in the NFL, and we will get to those as training camp goes. But I was reading an article last night that went,

wow, I didn't realize that these two guys could potentially lose their job at the end of the season. So it got me thinking, why don't I make a little list of some guys that I don't think most people are talking about, like, is this guy's job on the line? And I think you could make a case that it is. So we're going to start with number five. I'm going to start with the Atlanta Falcons. They have underachieved, unlike any franchise, since Matt Ryan left. They've drafted all these skilled guys. And last year, everyone told me they were going to cruise to the division championship. I said no chance. Now, I picked the Saints, but of course the Falcons didn't make the playoffs. This offseason, they trade up in the mid-20s and use a first.

round pick next year. Why do you do something like that? Because you realize there is pressure from the owner. The owner's in his mid-80s. He literally just put himself in his own team's Hall of Fame, Arthur Blank. I think it's safe to say that he feels the clock ticking. And I have a hard time seeing Rahim Morris, who everyone anointed, hell, he anointed himself. He said, the reason we have such a big coaching staff, because we're going to win and these guys are going to get hired. So we want to have their replacement on the staff. Rahim, you seem like a nice guy.

No one's hiring guys from your staff at 8 and 9. I'll promise you that. And I don't know how anyone with a brain could pick the Falcons this year to make the playoffs. Doesn't mean they can't, right? I'm a Michael Pennix fan, but I think there is tangible pressure on this organization to not only go above 500,

but to win that division and be in the playoffs. Because I think if you don't win that division, you're not in the playoffs. I think that is a one playoff bid division and as we're sitting here right now I'm giving it to the bucks but I think that these guys

that whole thing could get blown up which could be ugly they just used a high pick on Michael Pennix they've obviously drafted guys like Bejohn and Drake London a bunch of guys really high and now this last draft they got really really aggressive

I think if they were to underachieve like last year and what Michael Penn doesn't work. Whatever happens, I mean, their defense hasn't been good for a while.

I think you could see that building detonated. And Arthur Blank's starting all over a couple years after firing Arthur Smith. Number four, this one's interesting because like,

this guy's clearly talented and an NFL quarterback. And when you watch him and he's on, he's as dynamic as anybody. And he can have drives, he can have halves, where you're like,

he is killing these guys. I remember two years ago when he came back from injury, Kyler had a couple drives against the Eagles. It was like as that team was falling apart, you're like, this guy looks remarkable. And he had moments last year where you're just like, what is going on? Now, it's not all his fault.

I think, you know, Marvin Harrison, listen, if you could do a redraft, as we sit here today, I don't think anyone's taking Marvin Harrison over Malik neighbors. And I think most people in the NFL, especially people that weren't tasked with the decision to make, a lot of people had Malik neighbors over him. That being said, like Marvin Harrison was still a big time prospect.

They need a lot out of them. They have a stud tied in. They spent a bunch of money on defense. They drafted a couple really good defensive players high. I think there's some tangible pressure on this team to take a step. They have, you know, a relatively new GM, a relatively new coach, who I like. I think they've done a good job. I look at their roster, I go pretty good.

I watch Jonathan Gannon and I go pretty solid. His team has played their balls off the last two years. and now they have some talent. But like, this is the NFL. Like, can you make the playoffs? And Kyler's year starting, obviously they've only made the playoffs one time. And that was the year they started like 10 and 1

and they fell apart at the end. And then they got worked in that playoff game against the Rams. So I just think you get to a point where, okay, he's really talented and are we going to ever win with this guy? And he's one of those unique players where it's like, you go 8 and 9, maybe you still want to stick with the coach and the gym. But what if they go? we want someone else a quarterback. We want to pick our own quarterback. He would be the type

player that would still have some value. So if I was a betting man right now, and I know they're kind of like the trendy hipster pick as people taking the Arizona Cardinals to make the playoffs, I'm not going to do that. And I think they miss and I think there's a pretty good chance that Kyler Murray is playing somewhere else in 2006. You know what Scottie Schepleutta taught us? You drive for show, but you put for dough. And the easiest way for you to make some dough, betting on this week's tournament on draft kings from the opening round through sunday draft king sports book has you covered chris goddera who uh just finished third at the open and won the week before at the scottish open betting favorites this week do think he's going to run

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We have some big news. What's the news, name? Huge news. We created our own podcast called, Hey Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts.

Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts throughout there. But this one's extra special. So how do we actually come up with a name, Hey Jonas, guys? I honestly don't remember I think it was on a call about what we should call it And we were thinking I'm originally calling it One of the early names of our band

Before Jonas Brothers This is how you guys remember it going down Yes I have a very different memory of this We were talking about a thing A bit for the podcast For people could call in and say hey Jonas And then I wrote down on my little Notepad Hey Jonas

And offered it up as a potential title For the podcast But thanks for remembering that guys listen to hey jonas on the iheart radio app apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcast just listen we don't care where you hear it another podcast from some s nl late night comedy guy not quite unhumor me with robert smigel and friends me and hilarious guests from bob odenkirk to david letterman help make you funnier this week my guess s n l's mikey day and head writer streeter sidel help an acapella 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. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in.

I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise. Breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves. their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context, and ask the questions everybody wants answered.

Sports Slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to Sports Slice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slices Life 12 and the TikTok podcast. network on TikTok. The French Open is one of the toughest tests in tennis, and I know firsthand because I competed there myself. I'm Renee Stubbs, and on the Renee Stubbs Tennis podcast, I'm breaking down everything happening at Roland Garris, every match, every upset, and what it really takes to win on Clay. Jenchian win. I mean, she went down in three to Rabakina, but I'm delighted. She's an outsider to win the French, me. And she likes Clay. Listen, Lina Rabakina is, I'm a good. I'm a

arguably the best player in the world right now. And I actually can win on any surface. Because if she's serving, well, good luck. Consider this your court side seat to the French Open. Listen to the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHart Women's Sports. Another guy. We have seen two recent examples of guys drafted in the top five to teams that view themselves as playoff teams.

One team literally was the 49ers. They had Super Bowl aspirations. They take Trey Lance. By the end of year two, they're like, this guy's done. Bring in Sam Darnold, you guys kind of compete for the second job. Actually, you're the third string quarterback. No, you're out of here. We traded you.

He was traded before week one of his third year. Anthony Richardson is going into his third year. I think we all know how this thing's going to end. Daniel Jones is going to be starting week one. So these were two quarterback drafted third, And fourth overall, you know, the Colts not nearly as good as the 49ers, but like the Niners because they're crappy division, they have playoff aspirations. This isn't just, we're drafting you high, we can suck, you can figure it out,

kind of like a Bryce Young situation. Hell, he even got benched in your two. I do think JJ McCarthy's in a unique spot. I have no clue what he's going to look like. None. I do know this, that if I assume Jane Daniels is going to stay really good, if I assume that Bo Nix is going to just maintain

and be a solid starter with Sean Payton I'm going to bet on those two guys I think it's safe to say to buy some stock into Drake May with Josh McDaniels, Mike Vrable I just think that thing's going to kind of work we have a long history of knowing a lot of quarterback drafts 50% of them at best hit

some of these guys are going to fail you know Caleb's got Ben Johnson got a really good roster you would think he would make some incremental improvements Pennix, J.J. McCarthy. The pressure, this team won 14 games last year and was 30 minutes away from being the number one overall seat

in being 15 wins. They're starting quarterback through 35 plus touchdowns. Had a really, really good season. JJ's never played like that. JJ played on an offense and a team in college that was fucking loaded. I mean, absolutely star-studded everywhere you looked. Offensive line,

defensive line, running back, overall defense and a head coach who philosophically believed in running the ball. When all else fails, call runs and we'll slam it down people's throat, and that's what we did. That's not how Kevin O'Connell plays, because they are equipped to chuck that ball around. They have the best wide receiver in the league, arguably him or Jamar Chase, which is ironic because they both played it on the same college team and were unstoppable and didn't lose a game. Addison's a stud. They got players everywhere.

They've added a lot in free agency. there is no just like, oh, we'll ease into this thing. If this does not go well, like I do think J.J. McCarthy could be won and done. This isn't 1996. This isn't 2007. And I guess it's no fault of his own. He got injured last year, but last year just didn't happen. So if this year goes bad and they were to miss the playoffs,

are they just going to give him a long runway? Trey Lance didn't get one. Anthony Richardson didn't get one. Trey Lance played four games. So I just think that the clock is ticking and this thing is going to be intense from the jump. The other guy that no one's talking about that I just have to wonder, is this going to work? Is given the hype, there is no disputing that Trevor Lawrence has been one of the more underwhelming high draft picks in recent memory.

He's not like one of those where you're just like, out of the league just totally sucks. But he's definitely not one of those where you go. God, lived up to the hype. What an awesome player. If anything, he just leads you pretty frustrated. I was told this guy was going to be the greatest thing since Andrew Luck or Paid Manning, and you watch him and you just go, I don't know, I don't see it. Now, I think it's easy to go.

He plays for the Jacks. Franchise has been in Shambles, and the organization has just struggled to figure it out. The owner from a GM to their coaching situation, it's just been a mess. I look at Liam Cohen, and I go, well, how did Liam Cohen, become a high-level coaching prospect because of two guys, really three. Obviously, Sean McVeigh put them on the map. But when it comes to players and it comes to quarterbacks,

it was Matt Stafford and Baker Mayfield. And when I think of those two guys, I think ultimate football guys. Like absolute badasses, lay it all on the field, their teammates love them, just throwbacks. I mean, you could picture Baker or Stafford playing in the 60s, playing in the 70s. obviously both, especially Stafford, made a ton of money, but it feels like they would have played

for free, right? That's the passion, the toughness they show. They're just awesome players to watch. It's easy to watch them on television. If you're out of game and go, this guy's just a badass. That has not really been Trevor Lawrence's thing. I mean, hell, when Trevor Lawrence was coming out, his dad was like, yeah, football's not everything.

He's got other loves. You know, it's like, yeah, I think Baker and Stafford really loved their family, but like, football means a lot to him, you know? And I just wonder, like, Liam Cohen looks at football through the eyes of those two competitors. And I understand he's been paid a lot of money. But we have seen recent examples. Russell Wilson is a good one that, like,

those days, if the head coach doesn't like you and doesn't want you, like, if this thing does not go well, and they obviously traded a future first-round pick to get Travis Hunter, so all the sudden if this gets weird, which I think is very possible, given that Trevor Lawrence has proven nothing in the NFL, that maybe a little bit this offseason, it's like, yeah, we'd probably entertain giving them up,

because we're going to need some picks, we're going to need some reinforcements and just go, yeah, this is not our guy. This isn't our type player. And like any young coach, it's like I'm not saying that he shouldn't be willing and fired up to coach the guy, but I think we've seen this song and dance before.

So if I was a betting man, and you tell me that this Jag season does not go as planned, which I would, based on the last decade plus of history, probably not going to go well, I would say everything would be on the table for Trevor Lawrence next off season. And this is one I did not see coming. I was reading the, I actually watched this show called Missing Amy or Amy's Missing or it's this crazy-ass documentary on Netflix. but between episodes I clicked on my phone and the athletic the website came up and it was about this new president

because Murphy just retired from the Packers and his name is Ed Policy he is the son of Carmen Policy who forever was like Eddie de Bartolo's consigliary who became like the CEO of the 49ers during the Bill Walsh

George Sefer Joe Montana Steve Young days It's like, damn, this is Carmen Policy's son, is now running the Packers. And he's in charge. And what makes the Packers unique is there's no Jerry Jones. There's no Bob Kraft. There's no Jeffrey Lurie. Ed Policy is essentially the boss.

And Gutikins and LaFleur, who I think are good. And I expect them to be good this season. I'm going to pick the Packers to win the division. That being said, they have two years left on both their contracts. And they're coming off kind of just a weird season. They went one and five in the division. you know, Jordan Love was just a little hit or miss. I think part of that was injury, but still,

this is a result-based business, right? You can give me excuses until the cows come home. At the end of the day, no one really gives a fuck. And reading this article on the athletic, Ed Policy is behind these guys. He's rooting for him, but he's openly said, like, listen, we got to get it done. Now, I don't think they had to win the Super Bowl,

but I do think, I don't know if these two guys, because most people do not go into a lame duck season. Most people, GM or coach, do not do what Mike McCarthy just did. Or Joe Douglas just did. It's pretty rare, especially when you have someone above you that did not hire you. Now, I'm only bringing, this would not cross my mind. I didn't think about these guys being on the hot seat. I don't even necessarily think they're on the quote unquote hot seat.

But after reading this article, I went, there is some pressure here. I'm like if you don't win, you're telling me this guy who's a lifetime football guy, who's been around football since the day he was born, whose dad worked with Bill freaking Walsh, who helped build with Eddie de Bartolo, one of the great dynasties in the history of professional sports. These guys better win. These guys better have a good season.

There is more tangible pressure on this group, including Jordan Love, than I realized. I went, damn. Maybe people are talking about this in Packer, but I went, I don't, could they just have like a off season and go eight and nine and just keep their jobs? I don't think so. So I think there is sneaky some pressure in Green Bay to win.

You know, to win the division, to host a playoff game and just show some positive momentum with Jordan Love for Ed policy to go, okay, here's an extension, Matt LaFleur and Brian Gutikins. You are my guys for the future. So, you know, from Goudicin to LaFlorne to Trevor Lawrence to J.J. McCarthy to Kyler Murray to the guys in Atlanta. I think all these teams wouldn't shock me. I mean, I expect the Packers to make the playoffs. But hell, I mean, I expect the 49ers to compete for the Super Bowl last year. It went 6 and 11. Like, the NFL's weird. Weird shit happens. Things go sideways really, really quick. And obviously, some of these quarterback situations, given the pressure of modern day football and the microscope that's on it, you better buckle up because this thing can get weird fast.

I want to end on this. I love music. And my go-to musical genres have always been rock and country. And I grew up listening to like gangster rap, don't as much, but I still throw it on when I'm working out. But I don't listen to that much new stuff.

I realize the majority of stuff that I listen to is from like the 80s and 90s. The older I get, I'm like, I kind of feel like my dad. Like when I was a kid, my dad always listened to old music. I'm like, I hate the stuff. And now when it comes on, like I get emotional. I listen to it all the time. But the thing I respect most about a musician, especially someone, and I think you could say this in rap too, guys who are really versatile, who can do a lot.

And I mean, by the time I came into my own listening to music in the mid-90s, Ozzy Osbourne was one of the biggest, you know, and most established rock stars like the history of America. Worldwide, obviously, he's not from America, but you know what I mean. But I think, you know, the thing I've always respected about like Metallica is, and I think it would, be easy to get pigeonholed as like a aggressive rock metal band is just being able to do one thing and one thing really well. And that's play like really loud, aggressive music. But some of Metallica's best songs honestly are kind of like slower ballads. I would say nothing else matters is like one of my favorite songs of all time. And I would say the same thing about Ozzy. And I think a lot of people, especially if you're around my age, the thing you remember most about Ozzy is the

reality television show when he was, you know, it feels like he's kind of been in La La Land for a long time. And obviously, he's been sick now for a while. And I think he just raised like a couple hundred million dollars playing like two weeks ago. I mean, he just played like his final concert of all time, I think over in London. But Ozzie was really talented. And I think the one thing you can get away with now in any genre. This speaks for country. This speaks for rock. This speaks for rap.

Is with technology, I think you can kind of fudge it a little bit. And the way I always judge a musician is like I, especially with a country or rock, like I kind of go to your acoustic version. Like, what do you sound like? What do you sound like if it's just you in a guitar? Can you fucking hang? And you had to back then.

Because the technology did not exist. You could not fake it. right and now and listen I sound like the old man get off my lawn but I I do think based on technology and based on the ability to manipulate sound you can fake stuff a little bit and when you go to listen to Ozzie just type in some of the stuff in like the 80s you know even the late 70s it's it's hard because the sound quality is not as great given the way it was filmed but it was like god this guy's fucking talented this guy can really really sing and I think the other thing that's kind of dying and part of this is with cameras and technology it'd be hard to get away from it.

There is something to be like anyone my age or older that grew up on the quote unquote rock star that would just do crazy-ass stuff. There was something, I don't know, mysterious, just cool about it, even though it's like, yeah, he just burned down the entire hotel. And then he woke up in the pool with a bag of drugs and his bus was on fire right next to him. them. It's like that type stuff doesn't really happen anymore. But it felt like all these stories that you heard about Ozzie, one defining was that he bit the bats head off. Like that stuff just is a thing of the past. And I just think that Ozzy's a dying breed of rock stars.

One, where if you didn't have the talent, you literally had no shot. Like you had no shot if your talent was not elite. It was impossible because you could not fake it. And obviously from a personality and just a, there's a craziness factor that you can't really fake. And clearly he had it. And obviously as he got older, you could feel the impact of the way he lived his life in his true rock star heyday. Because I would say, you know, his prime, whatever that might be, mid, late 70s through the 80s, was just an all-time musical career. in the heyday of just pre-camera phones, pre-camera, pre-social media.

I've always respected this. If you became super, super famous before the internet, it was typically, I mean, obviously you could have like an incident, like if you're Monica Lewinsky and you're giving them a BJ under the Oval Office desk, like there were situations where people could get famous that way. But I mean, like, if you were an athlete, if you were a musician, if you were an actor or an actress, and you were like worldwide known and respected like you had some talent and that's the way I would describe obviously it's like there was a lot of talent in that body hey it's us the Jonas brothers and guess what we have some big news what's the news news news news we created our own podcast called hey Jonas we

invented a podcast well we didn't invent it we just contributed to it first people to do podcasts pretty yeah pretty wide range of podcasts we're starting a trend but this one's extra special so how did we how we actually come up with a name Hey Jonas, guys? I honestly don't remember. I think it was on a call about what we should call it. We were thinking I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band before Jonas Brothers. This is how you guys remember it going down? Yes.

I have a very different memory of this. We were talking about a thing, a bit for the podcast, where people could call in and say, hey, Jonas. And then I wrote down on my little notepad, Hey Jonas, and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast. But thanks for remembering that, guys. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL, late-night comedy guy,

not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smigel and Friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer 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. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending. Opinions are flying. And nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in.

I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise. Breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source. The athlete themselves. Their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down,

give you context, and ask the questions everybody wants answered. Sports Slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to Sports Slice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slic Life 12 in the TikTok podcast. podcast network on TikTok. The French Open is one of the toughest tests in tennis, and I know firsthand because I competed there myself. I'm Renee Stubbs, and on the Renee Stubbs Tennis podcast, I'm breaking down everything happening

at Roland Garris, every match, every upset, and what it really takes to win on clay. Genshin won. I mean, she went down to three to Rabakina, but I'm delighted. She's an outsider to win the French for me. And she likes Clay. Listen, Lerner Rabakina is. arguably the best player in the world right now. And I actually can win on any surface.

Because if she's serving, well, good luck. Consider this your court side seat to the French Open. Listen to the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. Let's do a little Middlekopf mailback. At John Middlecough, at John Middlecough, at John Middlecough is the Instagram fire in those DMs and get your questions answered here on the show.

We're going to start with Adam. Got a question for the pod if you get a chance. When a coach calls the plays for one side of the ball, like McVeigh or LaFleur on offense, or D'Amico on defense, what does the team's coordinator on that side of the ball actually do? Do they help the coach create the scheme on that side of the ball? Or is the coordinator sort of expendable

when you got the head coach calling that side of the game? On the other hand, when a coach is viewed as an offensive scheme guy, Sark, Dabor, or a defensive scheme guy, Sabin or Kirby, how much do they actually contribute to the development of the scheme on the other side of the ball, where they're not viewed as much of an expert. Thanks. I think, I can speak better to this with an offensive coordinator. Typically, your offensive coordinator, right, and there's a ton of them in the NFL now. Kevin McVeigh, LaFleur, Kyle, you know, Andy kind of goes both ways, but Dayball has kind of gone back and forth to.

Typically they have their coordinator. A lot of times they have a run game coordinator. So his job will be to scheme the run plays or play a major role in the film development early in the week of the running game. and then a lot of people now split it with a run game past game coordinator, and those people work with the head coach to develop the game plan. I think if you went, even if you didn't have quote unquote, a coordinator, right, when you go into an offensive meeting room on Monday afternoon and Tuesday developing the game plan, the offensive line coach, the wide receiver coach,

they're all kind of throwing different ideas around. So it's, I would say most of the best organizations are pretty collaborative. collaborative operation. But typically the coordinator is going to have a strength. Like when Mike McDaniel was Shanahan's coordinator for a year or two, before he became the Dolphins, like he's a run game guy. It's what he's really, really good at. Kevin O'Connell, more past game-oriented.

So I think you just help with your strengths and the stuff you're not as good at. You probably, you know, listen and learn and try to get better at and know like if I become the coordinator of calling plays, I need to improve in that level. Obviously, a lot of offensive line coaches play a big role in the run game. But I think pretty collaborative, you know. Obviously, the final decision is made by the coordinator, which now in the NFL is a lot of times the head coach.

I think defensively in the example you gave, even we could use college and pro like Damico, Kirby, Sabin, they have a huge, huge impact on defense because philosophically they have beliefs. As a head coach, right, even if I'm not calling offense or defense, if I'm Nick Saban, you are running philosophically what I want you to run, right? It's why I've hired you. It's why we spend all the offseason during training camp. My hands are very, very involved.

There's rare cases where it's like, probably like Andy, spags. Like spags is so good. I'm not saying that they don't talk scheme and like he doesn't have an influence. But that would be pretty rare, right? Maybe solid now back with Kyle gets a little more free reign. The head coach is kind of in your ass about constantly, especially if you are struggling or have a bad game, about things he wants to see, especially during the game.

I think we would be stunned how often a head coach gets on the, microphone to the opposite side of the ball, especially if it's a defensive head coach, run the ball here. I'm not telling you what play to call. I want to run. Slow down the game. I want to run. Because he's in charge of the game. And that's what is challenging when you're a coordinator. Also, the head coach is like, you know, the offense comes off. You kind of got to gather yourself. That's where you need the assistance to help kind of manage everything because you still got to watch the game. If they need time out, There's a lot of shit going on. It's a good question.

I got to push back on your opinion of Dylan Ryola. You repeatedly talk about him not being any good. This is only compared to the unrealistic expectations outsider's place. He was dramatically better than anyone who played quarterback recently in Nebraska. Let us to our first bowl win in a decade. You have high praise for Colorado for Colorado. Nebraska dominate them. I don't know if I'd get high praise for Colorado.

I just, they were. one in 11 or whatever and two years later they're winning eight nine games and i would say shadour has proved to be a better player than riola i'm not saying riola sucks i all i said was relative to a guy you're giving four or five million dollars to and i would say the same thing about nico the expectation was like this guy could be a number one overall pick so yeah if you're comparing him to what was a quarterback's name from fresno adrian martinezis Obviously, he's, I would take Riola over at Martinez, but the guy that was supposed to go to Ohio State and Georgia,

no wonder Kirby's like, yeah, we're not paying this. You know, now, we'll see if Kirby's guy's any good this year. But I think part of the hype and part of the money adds to an unrealistic, unfair expectation. Right? The expectation for this kid at Michigan that they just gave $15, $20 million to is outrageously high. number one overall recruit, all the billionaires, ponied up money to buy him from LSU.

So yeah, I'd say anything less than him throwing a bunch of touchdowns and looking unreal in the big games, it's going to feel disappointing. So is it unfair? Probably a little bit. Would we have judged Rola the same way 10 years ago? Probably not. Now it's just, there are unfair expectations.

And I think there was just a recklessness to his game. But Holgerson has a long. history of being a good offensive coordinator, so I'm excited to watch. I do not think by any means like he's just going to suck. I just said based on last year for the expectations, it felt underwhelming. I mean, there was one game where you guys had like a fourth and 50 in overtime. Again, he's 18 year old kid. Totally fair. But the expectations now for these young players and the hype machine is just borderline out of control. Love the pod. Congrats on starting a family. That's awesome. Lifelong Bengals fan. Not a question, but just want to know, just want you to know, Joe Burrow will overcome the Browns family and bring the Bengals at Super Bowl. That's how good he is. I mean, if he does, he'll be pretty legendary.

The Bengals got a lot going on in terms of the owner talking, the GM talking, Shemar Stewart's agent talking, Trey Hendrickson talking. It's just, it's good thing it's July 22nd. I think you got a couple weeks to just figure this out. But once you get to like mid-August, one thing for Trey, like he could probably show up a couple weeks before, be fine. The rookie, this one's a guy who got four and a half sacks. Is he, are they going to figure this out?

If it is true, and I'm not, I'm no contract negotiator, no Harry Roseman here. But if Mike Brown is simply arguing, and other teams have done this too, like if you go to jail, we're not going to pay you. I'm sorry, I'm on the Bengal side on that one. Especially if other teams this year have had the same language. Because they're like, well, the Bengals had that language in before.

Well, so did other teams. Now they're pulling it out in 2025. Because if it's simply as, if you go to jail, we don't have to keep paying you, I'm on the team side. Now, there's a lot of back and forth. They both kind of lost me. But it's got to be exhausting to be in part.

of these situations. How do you prepare for a podcast? I know Colin has a two-hour routine. Do you review DMs ahead of time, then rehearse your answers or takes, or do you read them in real time? Because your gift of gab is so, you seem so natural.

I appreciate that. The main meat of the podcast, like any topics and angles I'm going to take, obviously, like, I typically get up. I would say once football really gets going, I try to get up between 6 and 6.30. I go to the espresso machine. I make myself a double shot.

I come to my desk. I check the stock market. I slam that espresso. I make a big Stanley so I can hydrate. For an hour, an hour and a half, I try to just throw some initial thoughts together, see what's going on. Then I go to the gym, and then I usually come back,

and then I kind of hammer that out. With the DMs, I used to go through Instagram, but Instagram you can't really sort that well. So what I do is before we do the mailbag, I go, I pick like 10, 15, however many unread or, you know, until I feel like we got at least 30, 45 minutes with content. And I just take screenshots.

So, I mean, I kind of read over them, but I don't have like a rehearsed take on Dylan Riola before I press record. unlike the meat of the podcast, I do. And for those on YouTube, we split it up, so it's like two separate things. As a lifelong Eagles fan, I have a question about McNabb, who is my favorite player of all time. How was he viewed within the Eagles organization when you joined? Also, do you think he could have won a Super Bowl if he had been given more offensive weapons? Well, when I got hired, he had just gotten traded to the commanders.

So when I got there, it was supposed to be Kevin Cobb's first year starting, and then he got Catoed in the first game by Clay Matthews, and then Michael Vic came in, and Michael Vic just kept playing. So I never was around McNabb. You know, when I first got there, just trading McNabb, he was older, kind of falling apart. It, you know, I don't want to say the wounds and the situation was fresh, but it was like anytime you come into a situation where a guy had just left,

it's not like I showed up in 02 in the peak of his powers for the next five years. So I think obviously he was a huge reason. He changed the course of that franchise with Coach Reed. And I think big picture he's viewed pretty highly there. But when I got there, it was like a transitional period with Shady McCoy, Deshaun Jackson, guys like that kind of taken over and McNabb gone. My friends and I often have debated a hypothetical redraft of an NFL player, For this exercise, we will say the draft order is the same as it was this year.

Every player currently in the NFL is on the board. How many quarterbacks do you think would be taken in the first round? The obvious ones are the top guys that we all discuss. But I'm curious to know how many teams would reach for guys in round one, given how crucial the position is. On a separate note, thanks for putting out content regularly. I appreciate it. I would say, it's a great question.

I would say at least 15 plus Maybe once you got to like You know that line of 12 to 15 guys off the board It's like am I going to take Tua Or am I going to take my chance in the second round But it's like what if Tua goes in the 20s And then all of a sudden you're taking Will Levis

So I think a lot You could argue they might be the first 20 picks Because it's like are you going to take Would you take Micah Parsons or Penae Soule or Jamar Chase or a guy like that over Kyler Murray. And again, in this exercise, do you have to factor in age? Are we just talking one year? Because if it's just one year, you feel comfortable taking Matt Stafford.

If it's like over the course of the next 10 years, you know, Matt Stafford's probably not going in the first round. Or maybe he is and you just go, we'll figure it out next year in this hypothetical draft. Do you think the Vikings could or would? would trade J.J. McCarthy for Cam Ward? Who do you think we'll have a better career? No, the Titans, there's no trade going on there. I don't think the Titans would make that trade.

And I don't think the Vikings would make that trade either. The Titans definitely would not make that trade. Feels like JJ will have a Matt Ryan career, while Cam Ward made me more like a James Marriota. Cam Ward is way more physically gifted as a thrower than Marriota He definitely has some James to him I feel like he's a better athlete than James Yeah I mean that's

Some of these guys are not going to work out Right we've had a lot of them in recent memory Feel like workout I mean the draft were burrow herbert and Tua Like that's pretty unheard of Listen we can pick apart Tua but like he's a legitimate starting quarterback in the NFL Burrough is one of the best quarterbacks, and Herbert is a top five or six guy. I would bet on Cam Ward over J.J. McCarthy, but JJ in a way better spot. Really good coach, really good team, good defense, unreal weapons.

If JJ can't succeed in Minnesota, he's not going to succeed anywhere. Question for the bag. I grew up a Cardinal fan watching Larry dominate the league played with some of the worst quarterbacks ever to play. like Ryan Lindsay I think it's Lynn Lee John Skelton Josh Rosen Derek Anderson

Drew Stanton Blaine Gabbardt God he did play with some scrubs He put up insane numbers but he never gets talked about as a top wide three wide receiver ever He didn't get Joe Montana or Steve Young or Matt Stafford

dominated the league but he went under he was underrated his whole career where would you rank Larry all time it's a good question I mean he's one of the great playoff performers ever. I mean, his performances in the playoffs

feel like I was going to go pull up his stats really quick because his playoff numbers were just incredible. In the playoffs, Larry has 85 targets, 57 catches, 1,000 yards

and 10 touchdowns. In the 08 run, he had 30 catches for 550 yards and 7 touchdowns and average 18 yards a catch. He was pretty unreal in that one when they made the Super Bowl. Yeah, I mean, he's just, he's a bright lights guy. I would say the thing about Larry, just looking at his game logs,

I mean, he just didn't miss many games. He missed three, he missed one, he missed a couple. It feels like he missed like five games, like 15 years. Yeah, I mean, I'd have no problem putting him as like a top 10 wide receiver of all time. but it's like you know Jerry Randy go really high Terrell Owens pretty polarizing

you could argue this like would you rather have Larry Fitzgerald or Terrell Owens Terrell Owens was a freak show but God he was a pain in the ass I mean Larry's like man of the year and all time great first bout hall of famer I mean you can make

him and Calvin Johnson you can make the argument like just put them on any team especially if they're good they're going to be unreal imagine if you had put like Larry Fitzgerald on the Pittsburgh Steelers with Rothersberger. Well, like, imagine if Larry Fitzgerald was 25 years old right now and on the Ravens. He'd be unstoppable.

So one thing with wide receivers, a lot's out of your control. I mean, a lot of those years, think about some of the coaches Larry had. I mean, really beside Arians when he was older, and I'm pretty sure didn't Arians move him to the slot? I mean, Arian's for a couple years 109, 107, Larry kicked ass for Bruce

when he put him in the slot. But some of those years, I mean, the peak of his powers, like four or five years in, he was a beast, man, hunter catches, 50 hundred yards, 96 catches, 50 yards, 10 touchdowns, 12 touchdowns, 13 touchdowns.

I saw him at this like, barstool, draft kings gambling thing, probably like, I don't know, four or five months ago. He is fucking big. It's like, How could you tackle that guy? Hey, it's us, the Jonas Brothers.

And guess what? We have some big news. What's the news, name? Huge news. We created our own podcast called, Hey Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it.

We're the first people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts throughout there. But this one's extra special. So how do we actually come up with a name, Hey Jonas, guys? I honestly don't remember. I think it was on a call about what we should call it. And we were thinking I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band before Jonas Brothers. This is how you guys remember it going down?

Yes. I have a very different memory of this. We were talking about a thing, a bit for the podcast, people could call in and say, hey, Jonas. And then I wrote down on my little notepad, Hey Jonas, and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast. But thanks for remembering that, guys. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel

and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the plays,

the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athletes themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context, and ask the questions everybody wants answered. Sports Slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to Sports Slice on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slic Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok.

The French Open is one of the toughest tests in tennis, and I know firsthand because I competed there myself. I'm Renee Stubbs, and on the Renee Stubbs Tennis podcast, I'm breaking down everything happening at Roland Garris. Every match, every upset, and what it really takes to win on clay. Jenchian win. I mean, she went down in three to Rabakina, but I'm delighted. She's an outsider to win the French for me. And she likes Clay. Listen, Lina Rabakina is arguably the best player in the world.

right now and I actually can win on any surface because if she's serving, well, good luck. Consider this your court side seat to the French Open. Listen to the Renee Stubbs Tennis podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner

of IHeart Women's Sports. I loved your show with Colin over the weekend. What are your full thoughts around the WNBA CBA? With you sharing space with Colin in his show, I feel like you didn't have chance to tell us your real take on the whole WNBA thing. I tend to fall with your thought. The W is nothing without CC and they have a hot pile of garbage.

I think one main difference, like when Colin talks about that topic and when I talk, he talks about Caitlin Clark a lot on his show. So the WNBA, he's kind of in that world. I followed the WNBA on the internet. Right? Like I know what Caitlin's doing because people are tweeting and Instagram posting and I see the highlights. I'm not sitting down and watching the Indiana fever. But if I was going to watch a game, it'd be that. I don't watch. You couldn't pay me to watch any of the other games. So I was like,

I don't pretend to care that much, but I love business and I love talking money. So if we're going to talk, what do they, I heard this saying a long time ago and I wrote it down, I'll never forget until the day I die. Life is not about what you deserve. It's what you can negotiate. business does not care about your feelings. And obviously for most of these sports, basketball, baseball, football, there's a revenue sharing agreement. And it's typically around 50%. Right. I'm in the business of sharing revenue with people I'm in business with.

Right. I wouldn't get out of bed for 9%. Right. but if my podcast had lost money for years and I was still getting paid based on money that I was not generating, it's the conversation with, it's so funny to see everyone up in arms or that'd be, let me rewind that. Some of the dialogue surrounding the late night television show, it's like, well, well, they're losing 40 to 50 million dollars a year. there is no industry where you're going to go year after year losing 40 or 50 million dollars a year on one television show and survive honestly it's unheard of they went this long

the w nba is different it's a lot like non-revenue generating sports in college right football program basically plays for all your other sports men's basketball depending on the school can make a lot of money some of the big schools the women's basketball could make money, but all the other sports, especially the Olympic sports, lose money and are subsidized. So the NBA has subsidized them. Now, if they've turned the corner now and are going to make money, I totally understand negotiating for a higher percentage. But like, what is the fair

percent? Would the league go under if you paid them 45 percent? Can you go from 9 percent to 50 percent? probably not. Can you go from 9% to 25%? I think that can make some sense if financially you're still making money. I also think this. Is the league really propped up by one individual? Like, is the WNBA that popular right now or is Caitlin that popular? Caitlin did not play in the WNBA All-Star game and the ratings were way down. It was well reported, whatever, a month ago, that when she got injured, that the ratings in the league plummeted. So it's like, is the WNBA having some big renaissance or is one human being propping up the league? And obviously, you can't just pay her like $5 million and pay every, you know, it's collectively bargained.

But it's pretty complicated, you know? It really is. So some people arguing like, what about all the tech companies? Some of the biggest tech companies didn't make money forever. And they could pay people. It's like, well, yeah, they paid in typically stock shares. So it's like, if this hits, you get equity. Well, that's the problem with pro sports.

There's only one person who has equity in the operation or a group of people, and that's the owner of the franchise. So I just think it's, you know, Ethan Strauss wrote about this, that the television ratings are going to go higher, but they're also included in the NBA's television deal. So it's like the NBA is in control as they should be given that they funded the entire league. Do I think Caitlin Clark should make $75,000? Obviously she should make more than that.

Some of the top players, of course. But I also don't really give a shit. Because I don't pretend. It's like that Shane Gillis joke. Like everyone clapped for a reason. They had no clue. I don't pretend to be banging out these games on my couch. I know when she does well or when she's injured because I think,

see it on social media. But I'm not watching the games. But I am paying attention. She's got me to pay attention. I also don't really like lose sleep. Like are they going to have a lockout or a strike or a holdout or what? Whatever. Won't change my sports viewing habits at all.

When scouting college players, are you more intrigued by a player who had one big final season with great numbers? Or would you prefer a player that has played two? two to three years, each year that player develops and gets substantially better, but may not have had the eye-up popping numbers in his final year, like previous mentioned. Basically, which do you value more in scouting? One thing I learned, obviously doing that and doing what I do now, is you have to take every player as their own individual circumstance. You know, every player is different from someone else. So it's like Joe Burrow had one.

big year. That clearly translated to the NFL. Jaden Daniels had one breakout year. It translated. Baker Mayfield had a huge long career at Oklahoma. That's translated. But this is also difficult. Like T.J. Watt texting some of my buddies, I remember a couple years ago, I was like, how did this guy fall to the late 20s? They're like, well, I didn't think it was that good in college. So what we talked about with the Honey Badger, this is really, really hard. Obviously, if you have have an unreal year, right, one year at the highest level. So at a big program and a big conference, you're proven that you can do it week in, week out for now with the playoffs, potentially 14, 15 games. That's impressive. But if you have a long body of work,

like some of the guy, like Caleb Downs for Ohio State, plays Alabama, unreal, goes to Ohio State, unreal for a couple years. It's like he's going to be good. If he stays healthy, he's going to be an excellent NFL player. Jeremiah Smith, same thing. There are going to be some guys this year that pop. There are also some guys that have down years. Well, it's like, why do they have a down year? Well, they changed coordinators, the offensive line sucked.

His quarterback wasn't any good, and he only had 45 catches. But he's a big time player. So I think you have to look every single individual player as their own story. And that's where you, you know, you got to spend especially a draftable player or a guy that's going to get drafted in the top, I don't know, 100 plus picks, really understand all the different variables. Because this is not, like, in baseball,

you can either hit or you can't, right? You can either run or you can't. You got to, you got to, you can throw 98 or you can't. Right? Maybe we can develop a secondary pitch, but it's kind of like what you see with what you get, is there anything to work with? In football, there are a million variables.

It's like, well, they had a big coaching change. They changed the scheme, and it was an awful fit for it. his ability. But two years ago when he played in the zone defense, he was one of the best corners in the league. This year they played more of a man-to-man scheme. He's not the fastest guy. It kind of exposed him. Right. So you got to factor all these things in. It's just a long way of saying that I don't think either or. It truly doesn't matter because Trevor Lawrence started as a true freshman, won the national championship, number one overall pick. Joe Burrow was viewed as

like a fifth round pick till his senior year, then he was a no-brainer number one overall pick. I just think it varies player to player. Question for the bag. Does Todd Bowles not get enough credit for making two solid consecutive hires at the offensive coordinator as a defensive head coach? Yeah, I mean, I think the organization gets a lot of credit. I think Todd is an easy personality. People really like working for him clearly. I think he learned a lot. working with Bruce Ariens, right? He's Bruce's guy, but Bruce is an offensive guy. So I think he's got a pretty good feel for what he's looking for. I think Jason has been in the league for a long, long time, been around a lot of coaches from Andy Reid to Belichick and has a very good

field to help him out. And Baker Mayfield is just, has proven to be an excellent guy for a coach to come work with. So I just think the organization, from the head coach to the GM to the quarterback. The bucks have been really impressive from the pivot they had when Tom officially officially retired, but I'm not coming back in the middle of the summer. They deserve a lot of credit because they've just kept on winning and it's not easy to find a quarterback. And they went from Tom Brady to Baker Mayfield and Baker Mayfield's like a pro bowl level guy. And that was an excellent transition. Okay, we'll end on this. Can you break down the podcast business? does 100% of the podcast revenue come from advertisements

or is Spotify Apple also paying for listens? Are there other factors of play? Apple does not pay for listens. Spotify pretty sure does not pay for listens. Advertising is a pretty massive part of the business, obviously. So whether we sell Travis Matthews or GameTime, they pay a, once you get to a certain level, you negotiate a rate for,

for a month, for a quarter, for multiple quarters for the year, for a title sponsorship, for placement maybe in the middle of the show. Obviously, the price point varies from spot to spot. But, you know, best case scenario is you sell advertising to massive companies for a lot of money, and they are a huge part of your business. And YouTube pays, you know, they pay a revenue split. that just based on how many people you can have watching, and obviously through YouTube, like the podcast,

you can integrate both to sell the advertising. Now, I don't, we don't do merch here, but that is another big area. You know, Barstool is a good example. They make a lot of money off selling merch. And so it's basically advertising. All podcasts essentially is, is what radio was forever.

The difference isn't too. 2025, people do not listen to terrestrial radio like they consume podcasts because of the phone. But all radio was, was an audio version of newspapers, which was advertising distribution. That's no different what television is. Why is the NFL so valuable to CBS or Fox or ABC or NBC or whatever, right? Why? Because they can have 10, 15, 20 million people watch the games, meaning they can sell premium advertising real estate. And if I'm paying a billion dollars, I think I can make $1.5 billion.

Math 101, I'm making a profit of $500 million. Again, I'm just making up numbers. But no different here, right? Once you get to a certain amount of listeners, start with 1,000, get to 10,000, get to 100,000 per episode. You can sell at different rates. Obviously, the bigger podcasts, you know, are doing tens of millions of dollars. And other podcasts are doing six to low seven figures and doing well. But it's typically just based on advertising.

Yes, that's where I guess all of the money on this venture comes from is from an advertising standpoint. But it was no different when I worked in radio or television. It's all the same business concept, right? It's using the content to market whatever companies, and they pay for that space. Okay, before we get out of here, I got to tell you about Live, Golf, UK. They are playing at the JCB Golf and Country Club.

I saw some pictures of it on the internet. It looks pretty cool. Obviously, Liv's coming off, you know, Deschambeau, shot 78 in the first round of the open and then he shot 16 under to finish in the top 5 Hatton was really good he was in the mix really most of the tournament Mickelson made the cut

so always exciting to see these guys across the pond you got John Rom Legion 13 Bryson and the crushers so you can check it out this weekend at the JCB Golf and Country Club follow every shot on Fox Sports Bryson, Phil, Kepka, DJ.

DJ made the cut at the open as well. Actually, had some pretty good moments on Friday. I watched them play a little bit. We'll see the individual stakes at hand. Obviously, Waco Neiman. It's had a hell of a season, but John Rom and Bryson DeCambeau are right on his tail. So, again, check it out on Fox.

JCB Golf and Country Club, Live Golf. Hey, guys, it's us. The Jonas Brothers. I'm Joe. And I'm Nick, and guess what? We created our own podcast called Hey Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it.

We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts. We get to ask other people questions because we're sick and tired of being asked questions. Well, sick and tired is a strong way to put it, but, you know. Tired and sick. Tired and sick. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen.

We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite. 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.

Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where SportsSlice comes in. I'm Timbo, and every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the biggest moments in sports and giving you the real story behind the headline. And we're going straight to the source, the athletes themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions in the moment, and the stuff nobody gets to hear. Listen to SportsSlic on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast.

And for more, follow Timbo's Slice Life 12. and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Winning on Clay is an art. The rallies are relentless. And at the French Open, only the toughest survive. I'd know. I competed there for decades. Join me, Renee Stubbs, on the Renee Stubbs' tennis podcast

for no-nonsense breakdowns of the biggest matches, the toughest players, and the moments that define Roland Garris. She's an outsider to win the French fame. And she likes Clay. Listen, Lennar Rabakina is arguably the best player in the world right now, and I actually can win on any surface. Listen to the Renee Stubb. tennis podcasts on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart women's sports. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.