The Herd with Colin Cowherd - 3 & Out - Jonathan Taylor’s BIG Extension, Hall of Fame Weekend, Fugazi Friday & NFL Training Camp Mailbag

Episode Date: August 7, 2026

On this episode of 3 & Out, John Middlekauff dives into Jonathan Taylor's contract extension and what the new deal means for the Indianapolis Colts, the running back market, and the value of elite talent at the position. John also breaks down the rise of Kahlil Benson with the Kansas City Chiefs, discussing why the young player is generating buzz and what has stood out during training camp. With Hall of Fame Weekend here, John looks back at Adam Vinatieri's incredible NFL journey, from his clutch postseason performances to his place among the greatest kickers in league history. What made Vinatieri so special, and why does his career stand out even among the NFL's all-time greats? Then it's time for Fugazi Friday, as John reacts to something extremely personal to him. To wrap things up, it's another edition of the Middlekauff Mailbag, where John answers listener questions and tackles the biggest stories from around the NFL and beyond. From contract extensions and rising players to Hall of Fame careers, media controversies, and fan questions, it's all covered on this episode of 3 & Out. Follow John on Twitter, and Instagram for the latest.  All lines provided by Hard Rock Bet #VolumeSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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I actually just recorded the podcast, and then I have to go back and change the intro that's different from the video. and after recording the podcast, which is like an hour plus long, Jamir Gibbs signed. So the opening of the podcast is around Jonathan Taylor, but Jamir Gibbs falls under my point stance. And I still stand by everything I've been saying about the discounts teams are getting. Adam Venetary, I find him fascinating going into the Hall of Fame with the other star power. It's Fugazi Friday.

I got a big Fugazi today. that I'm pretty fired up about. And we'll do some mailbag questions. Some people are mad at me. Some people are mad at me. They do not like that I'm being mean to quarterbacks. I'm like, guys, I'm not creating these narratives. I'm just reacting to them.

And yeah, hopefully everyone is getting ready for the weekend. Got some good plans. Enjoy summer. We don't have that much longer a summer. Well, if you live in Arizona, it's hot for a couple more months. But some of you guys, you know, that temperature drops. Early fall, right around the corner. So let's enjoy it well.

we can. You guys know the drill. If you listen on Collins' feed, make sure you subscribe to three and out. If you want to watch the video, go check out Netflix, hit alert. You'll never miss a show. I might, just because I already recorded the podcast, do a video on Jamir Gibbs signing this contract and put it on the YouTube channel. You can go check that out, three and out. Appreciate everyone that consumes the content. You guys are the lifeblood. But let's just dive into the show, and I don't want to beat a dead horse here. But Jonathan Taylor, who has been one of the better running backs in the league for several years now, a versatile dual threat can catch the ball, obviously is an exceptional between the tackles, every down running back, just got a contract

extension. And like Bejohn Robinson, you could take both their guarantee dollars, add them up, and they would not equal Zayflowers. There's no one in the league. You know, I don't think there's any fan that would say, hey, if you could rank these three players would have Zay Flowers above Bejohn Robinson or Jonathan Taylor. And I feel like I'm picking on Zay Flowers. I have no issue. Congratulations for him changing the course of his life with a massive contract. I'm simply just talking about the market, the market parameters that are dictating

these contracts for running backs relative to these wide receivers. seemed extremely out of whack to me. Jonathan Taylor almost had 2,000 all-purpose yards last year. He had 20 touchdowns. So you were getting these guys, and you can make the argument, well, they just, running backs, you can't just build around them and you won't be able to win. We don't have to pay them any money.

So it's like it's on you to build the rest of the team. When you get one of the elite guys, a McCaffrey in his prime, a Sequin Barclay, a Bejohn Robinson, a Jemir Gibbs, of Jonathan Taylor. It's on you as a general manager and you as a head coach to figure out a way to build the rest of the roster because even once you pay that guy, he counts like a random guard and free agency would.

And like you get a beachfront property for rural prices. Like you get an elite player, but you don't have to pay him a lot of money. It's like having, if you could ever, you know, an Ed Reed type player comes into the league at that position, they don't cost money. much money. Tight ends. Forever, Travis Kelsey and the peak of his powers was making way less than all these wide receivers. And you can be like, well, he kind of took a discount. Part of it was his position and the contract that came along with the comps. It's why tight ends before have argued, like, I'm a wide receiver. They've said that because they want to get paid like a wide receiver.

Anytime you try to tell an outside linebacker, you're a linebacker, they're like, no, I'm a pass rusher. pay me like a defense event totally understand you know i i just think that the comps at this position if you can find one of these guys a lot that it was the knock on jeremiah love it's like hey man you get jeremiah love at three you're already paying him a lot of money relative to his position well i don't care is he the best player when i'm drafting at that spot and i have a need at that position if he becomes an all-around elite player over the course of the next eight, nine years, even as he gets raises,

relative to another guy that I could pick, and let's face it, 50% of the picks miss anyway, I'm going to get extremely cheap asset. Like, this is all an economic exercise. The players are the assets. Their position dictates the price in which you have to pay them once you choose to extend them, right? or desire to extend them.

And it's all based on comps on previous contracts. It's very rare that you get these outlier contracts for starting quarterbacks. It's why we talk so much about Sam Darnold and Baker Mayfield, how little they make as top 15 quarterbacks relative to other guys. We'll dive into Jalen Hertzl a little bit later. But, you know, he makes $50 million. And if you tell me last year, Sam Darnold's playing way better than him, well, he makes half as much.

so you have more wiggle room to buy other guys. And I just think that the way this sport is being played right now where these running backs are all coming in the league with the ability to catch the ball. And a lot of these offensive coordinators feature these players. Their value is more than just the yards and the stats they put up. And guys like Jonathan Taylor put up a lot of stats. their value is the ability to build around them because they don't cost very much money

even in the prime of their career when they're on second and third contracts. So when you told Chris Bauer like this guy really wants an extension, it's why Vita Vaya, who props to Jason Light's like, yeah, we're not trade them. I was like, we don't plan on doing that.

They're at a contract impasse because Vita Vaya is like, my number starts probably at $34 million a year. It's like, Vita, we love you. You know, like you're an excellent player and have been a core piece of this franchise. But as we get up in terms of the numbers on third contracts, these deals become more complicated. It was, you know, he makes $17 million a year. And he's laughing at it.

Jonathan Taylor makes like $4 or $5 million more. And he just got a, you know, a massive extension relative to his position. So I think this position became so polarizing a couple years ago. It's like you can't give these guys five, six year contracts. And they no longer get them. They just get multiple years at numbers that are just way smaller. And they have become, you could argue, one of the biggest discounts in the league, specifically Jonathan Taylor and Bejohn Robinson.

I've been saying this for a while and I learned it through experience because you would get so excited even as I started doing radio and podcast and I would go to practices. Like, I can't wait to see this third rounder. I really loved him in college. Watched them to play a bunch at Florida. This fifth round pick was one of my favorite players last year in college football. Watched them play at Washington. Saw him play multiple games.

Pack 12 after dark. This guy's an ass kicker. And then you would get to practice. And the guy you were excited to see that was just drafted in the second, the third and fourth round, you have an undrafted free agent split reps with them. And then as camp would go on and as preseason games would take place, the undrafted free agent would separate from them.

And I think the thing that's powerful about football is, if you are drafted in the first round, you're going to get more opportunities. No one would argue that. But pass like pick 40, it's pretty wide open. And usually spots, are based on merit. It's why over the course of this next month,

a lot of veteran players will get cut for former practice squad guys, six-seventh-round picks, undrafted free agents, who have either taken their spot or a franchise has gone, you know, this guy might not be as good as our starting guard right now,

but he's a second year undrafted free agent. He got to start two games last year, because there were some injuries. We think within a year he will be, if not just as good, he might be better. Oh yeah, and he makes $900,000. And the starter makes $10 million. And if he's on the roster week one as a veteran player, your contract is guaranteed for the rest of the year.

So you start thinking in your head as a front office as a GM. It's like there's not that much of a difference now, but there is financially. and if we go with the young guy, it gives ourselves more wiggle room during the season to make trades and other maneuvers in the future. And I just saw a story today,

and I texted a buddy in Kansas City, I said, this Kaleo Benson guy who's starting at right tackle for the Kansas City Chiefs, you know what round he was drafted in? He wasn't drafted. He was an undrafted free agent.

You know where he played last year? Indiana, where he was a starter at a right-tacket. tackle on a team that didn't lose. And the year before, he had played at Colorado, the year they had an excellent offense with Shador Sanders, Travis Hunter. The left tackle that year is now at LSU makes huge NIL money. Like they had two legitimate tackles. I think when he was at Colorado, he also played guard. So this guy's proven to be able to play multiple positions. But he is

currently the starting right tackle for the Kansas City Chiefs. And coming into the year, despite coming from Indiana. He actually started in Indiana. Signetti came, transferred to Dion, and then after a year transferred back to Indiana. I don't think many people would have been talking about this guy. Because let's face it, what I do for a living, what fans do in terms of following their team, most people aren't discussing undrafted free agents. Hell, most people aren't discussing third round picks, you know, third day picks, excuse me. We talk a lot about the first rounder and maybe one of the two second or third rounders. They get all the oxygen

and then training camp starts. And by the end of it, you have multiple undrafted free agents. You're like, these two guys are going to make the team. One of them might start and the other guy's going to rotate at whatever position they play. And I think that's the powerful part about football.

Is once camp starts, and specifically and you saw this a little in hard knocks, you see this in all the clips that go viral with different coaches discussing camp. We can get excited, players stand out, but until the pads come on and you actually start hitting, you never know. Now, just because you're excelling, maybe the first week of pads, does not determine anything by any means, because you're going to have to show it a little bit in some of these

preseason games, and then your spot's not even set if the season starts near the starter as a young undrafted free agent or late round pick, because then you have to earn it in the actual games. You have to prove that you can do it. But you do. But you don't. do get the opportunity. And one issue with baseball, who by all signs, looks like it potentially going to go on strike next year or lockout or whatever the fucking terminology is, regardless what rounds are picked in takes a while through the minor leagues forever.

In basketball, if you're a second round pick or an undrafted free agent, which is very rare for that guy to make the team, you're just thrown at the end of the bench. Even if your team's terrible, it's very difficult to, get minutes, right? It takes some time. In football, you can come out of nowhere and week one be starting on a team with, on an offense with one of the greatest quarterbacks we've ever seen, one of the best tight ends we've ever seen, the Super Bowl MVP, you know, and Andy Recall in place. It happens that fast. And to me, and I'm sure there's an example like this with every team

all over the place. That's what's cool about training camp. It's why I, I don't. It's why draft grades are so stupid. It's like, I love this team's third and fourth round pick. And then we look back in two years, those guys barely ever crack the lineup. One of them's cut after the first training camp. The other guys traded three years later.

And all of a sudden, the six and seventh round picks are starters and an undrafted free agent is the best player from the class. And that's how fast it happens. The other thing fascinating is this week is, a Hall of Fame induction for pretty good class, right? Larry Fitzgerald is truly one of the great wide receiver prospects to ever come into the NFL. He then becomes an absolute superstar on a team that is just all over the map most of his

career, plays with a bunch of shitty quarterbacks. In the couple moments he has with real quarterbacks, he, I mean, shining feels like an understatement. He's truly, he had one of the great playoff runs we've ever seen. And Drew Breeze, who was setting records at Purdue, second round pick, goes on to have a Hall of Fame career once he links up with Sean Payton. Luke Keakley, who top 10 pick at middle linebacker, which is very rare.

You have to be very good to get drafted high at that position. If it wasn't for concussions, I think he'd go down as one of the greatest players we've ever seen. And even despite the concussions, still had an incredible. credible career and was a badass immediately. And then there's Adam Vinutary. And I think the NFL and back to the undrafted thing has so many parallels to real life. Most of us aren't born on third base. Most of our parents aren't some famous politician or own some big ass company.

Like if we want to do something, we just kind of got to figure it out on our own. We have to just kind of will ourselves there. And it's difficult. and the path is typically pretty bumpy. You're going to find yourself in some situations that aren't ideal. But then you look back and you go, that helped make me who I am. That helped me figure out my life by being forced to either get it done

or this isn't going to work out. I don't care what you do for a living. Most people have to figure it out on their own, and most people aren't really handed shit. they create their own opportunities. And I read this article today after we got off the show and I was eating my free little turkey wrap, which was pretty bombed, by the way. Fox has an incredible little cafeteria called Moes, you know, from like The Simpsons.

It's, they make some good sandwiches. I've been having tuna melts. I've been having turkey melts. I've been having turkey wraps. I've been eating well. I've been eating well. And I was reading this article on The Athletic about Adam Venetary. And I don't think I quite realized that.

he wasn't even good in college. He made one more field goal at South Dakota State than he missed during his college career. It's not like he was drafted. It's not even like he got an NFL opportunity out of college. He actually had to go to NFL Europe, which clearly doesn't exist anymore. But at one point in time, was an area, honestly, the way it was always discussed to me when I worked in the NFL, it felt like it was even more powerful than the UFL. Like it produced more NFL players and was definitely scouted extremely closely.

And he gets out of South Dakota State. By the end of his career, they used a defensive lineman at kicker because Venetary was so bad at extra points. And the defensive lineman did a better job down the stretch than Venetary. So the coach was actually justified. Well, he works with this guy between graduating and getting an opportunity to go to NFL Europe and becomes a really good kicker. And then Bill Parcells brings him to camp.

And when he went to camp, he was only there to try to push this veteran kicker who he ends up beating out. But then the season starts, it's a disaster, he's missing kicks. And it's like week four. and he had already missed a field goal in that game. They're playing the Jags, I think led by Tom Coughlin at the time, and he has an opportunity to kick a game-winning kick in overtime. And his job was already on the line. And as he's running out, Bill Parcells looks at him and says,

if you miss, do not bother coming back to the locker room. Vinoteri was like, he's already been on my ass for six months. I've been all over the map during camp. I don't even know how I made the team. and when he says it, it was pretty clear. If I missed this thing, my NFL career is over. This is 1996. Hits the kick.

It kind of the rest is history. Obviously, never gives us the spot. Belichick ends up coming. Kicks a bunch of game winners. Goes to the Colts. kicks a bunch of game winners. But so many guys in the NFL, and look at this Hall of Fame class.

Larry Fitzgerald's like a blue chipper. Luke Keekley is a blue chipper. Blue Chipper. Drew Brees, while it was a little weird early on in San Diego and then he banged up his shoulder and got replaced by Philip Rivers, got with the right coach and put up historic numbers, a legendary quarterback that many would argue a top 10 quarterback. I might push back against that a little bit, but he's definitely, he's definitely a top 20 quarterback based on numbers. I mean, they dwarf most people, but if I was comparing them to, I'm not trying to diminish him.

Incredible. He's first ballot Hall of Famer, complete bad. Everyone knows who that is. And then there's Adam Venetary that wasn't even good in college, barely got a shot to even go to training camp, was more like an extra leg there.

You look back 25 years later, even Bill Parcells was quoted in this story going, not in a million years, when I first met Adam Venetary and saw him in training camp, that I would have thought 30. years later, this guy would be considered not only one of, if not the greatest kicker of all time, definitely the most clutch kicker of all time. It also shows you this. We all get different opportunities at different moments, and we never often, like, are we really prepared for an

opportunity? Like, sometimes you are, sometimes you're not. And when that opportunity comes, sometimes you don't even realize you're in it till later when you look back, but you either got to get a done or you don't. And sometimes when things go well, when that opportunity arises, it can literally change the course of your life. And honestly, I don't think I understood the background of Adam Vinatari. Now, a lot historically kickers and punters have gone and have great careers that are undrafted. That part isn't that crazy. But this was not a guy getting phone calls out of college. This was not a guy that had a bunch of invitations

leaving South Dakota State. That'll happen when you made 27 field goals and missed 26. You know, this guy wasn't exactly shattering 1-Double A records down in the Dakotas. And now you look up, and Adam Venetary is, I would say,

as household a name, as the other guys he's going into in the class with. Like, when you say, Drew Brees, you know, you introduce, Larry Fitzgerald, Adam Venetary. No one that has followed football during the internet era, like clearly a quarterback is more important than a kicker, big picture. But just in terms of name recognition and star power, he's kind of got it.

I mean, he played an integral role for two teams that happened to be, like, led by two of the greatest quarterbacks of all time, Tom Brady and Peyton Manning. And a lot like Brady, Belichick kind of shored him. yeah, I don't really want to pay it. Like, okay, I'll go to the Colts. And what happened his first year there? Beat the Patriots and won a Super Bowl with paid Manning and then stayed there

the rest of his career. And I just think it's an incredibly cool story. And the thing I like most about training camp is when all the dust settles, things like this happened. All of a sudden, this random guy becomes part of a team, and he's going to be putting positions to succeed.

he's going to be put in positions to be a second contract guy once they name him the starter at any position. Like if you get the, you can be playing for shitty teams. Everyone's watching you. You know, the eye in the sky doesn't lie. I think about this all the time, like professionally when I interact with other people. Everyone talks. My business is relatively small.

You can play like two degrees of separation with most people that kind of, work in the space. And word travels really fast. Oh, that guy's kind of a dick. That guy's kind of a diva. You don't want to work with that guy. I hear this stuff all the time of people that not only if I never met, I might never meet. But who knows?

Some of this stuff might not be totally true. But once you get that reputation, it kind of becomes who you are. And it's no different as a player. And the reputation is not, you know, a guessing game. It's all dictated on the game. the film. You know, we'll get into some of the mailbag questions about like, Middlecock, you're so hard on this quarterback, you hate this quarterback. I was just reacting to what NFL coaches and GMs told you they think about these quarterbacks. That's not

my list. I didn't have Jalen Hertz at 17. Now, maybe if I made one, I would have them closer to 17, probably than 10, but like I didn't put that number next to his name. I didn't put, you know, some of these guys wherever they ended up landing, not put Lamar Jackson the top five, put this guy at two, put this guy at 28, they did that. And they're the guys, and I've seen it firsthand, who spend the majority of their life with a clicker in their hand watching film on everyone in the NFL. Think how often you hear or read an article or hear a coach talk or a player talk be like, yeah, every Tuesday or every Thursday, he goes over all the touchdown passes. from the previous week, all the, all the fuck-ups around the league,

all the, whatever the situation is, most coaches dedicate 30 minutes, an hour to these different situations throughout the week with the entire team. And they go over it. And typically those are two teams that, you know, if I'm the Dallas Cowboys or the New England Patriots, it might be the Jags against, you know, the L.A. Chargers. And that year, I might not even be playing these teams, but my coach, the staff, has been paying attention

because they pay attention to everything. And the best part about the NFL is once you get that shot, especially if you earn your shot during training camp and can make a team, the possibilities are endless. It is truly on you, right? It truly is. And we see it every year. There's a million of these stories.

Think how many prominent players. from the last 10 years. For every Aaron Donald and JJ Watt and all these guys drafted high, there are a million. Richard Sherman's and George Kittles and Jason Kelsey's and guys, Brock Purdy's and all these guys

drafted in these later rounds that go on to play in the league and be pro bowlers and get huge contracts. Pooka Nakuas. I mean, I can literally go every team and find a guy, Dak Prescott, to make a $60 million a year, was a fourth fucking round pick.

Because in his training camp, He shows up, probably just like, I just want to make the team. By the end of camp, Romo's back shattered, Kellen Moore's hands, you know, pointing the other way. And Dak Price got your quarterback. That's how fast it happened. So we talk a lot about injuries on this show. You just, I know the 49ers get the majority of the discussion around them.

But they happen everywhere, to everybody, to every position group. And they can happen at a moment's notice. The starter goes down. sudden 10 plays later, the backup goes down. And boom, your plan. You're like, God, it's only week three. You have the rest of the season to prove yourself not just your own team, but the rest of the league. Today's show is brought to you by our presenting sponsor Hard Rock Sportsbook.

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Fugazi Friday today is going to take a little bit of a left turn. I'm going to try to keep my composure on this one because this is one of those that not only angers me. It's a story that kind of hurts my soul and my heart. And it's just something in a human being that means a lot to me. KNBR is a radio station in northern California. But like WFAN, for example, in New York, it is an extremely powerful radio station. I think they're called like 50,000 watts or whatever. You can hear it basically everywhere in California except like Los Angeles. And the majority of my life, especially as a kid,

it was the only thing on in my dad's car. 680. It was just on in the truck. And no matter where we were, he could be driving down in the valley, he could be driving down, you know, south of Santa Clara, which was probably an hour and a half from where I grew up.

You could go up to Lake Tahoe. You could hear it everywhere. And it was a really, really big deal. And one of the prominent voices on that station, because he's the voice of the 49ers, Greg Papa, is currently fighting, for his life. Last year during

summer vacation, I think he went to Europe. And he got really sick. And he went to a doctor when he was, I think it was in Spain or France. And they said, you got to get home. And he rushed home. I think he went right to Stanford Medical. And they found out he had leukemia. And for the last calendar year plus, he has literally been fighting for his life. and he had a prominent radio show on KNBR. When I first got into radio, he had the biggest show or one of the biggest shows in the market

on the station that I got hired by. And I not only worked with him, I became close friends with him, I not only professionally looked up to him, I spent a lot of time hanging out with him. Greg's a cool cat. And he likes to have a good time. He knows everyone in town.

And he's a guy, if you want to go out, for a couple of cocktails in Northern California, you want to go with him because there is not anyone that doesn't know him. And I would imagine a lot of guys listening to this right now, whether you're in Minnesota, whether you're in Dallas, whether you're in Miami, any of the markets, right? You have prominent voices. This guy is the main Miami Dolphins guy.

You know, Scott Zolak, you think Scott Zolak, you think the New England Patriots. Right? moved to Arizona. Ron Wolfley had a radio show, and he was the analyst for the Cardinals, huge personality, said off the wall shit. Everyone kind of knew who Ron Wolfley was. That was Greg, except he literally did it with every team. He was the voice of the Oakland Raiders for 20 plus years. He has called 49er games now for six or seven years, done multiple Super Bowls. Oh yeah, he also called A's games. You can hear him in the movie Moneyball when Scott Hattieberg came back,

because he was the voice of the A's. He's also been one of the voices of the San Francisco Giants, as well as the Golden State Warriors. He literally has an association with every fucking team in the market. Oh yeah, he's been a prominent radio host for decades. And as he's fighting leukemia, while his son also works for the station, they fired him yesterday. Now, this is a station that is owned by a company called Cumulus. I think they just filed for bankruptcy. they financially have some issues.

I don't pretend to know all the ins and outs of how disability and insurance comes when you run these major companies. But I do know this. When you have some human being who means a ton to a certain region who has been financially viable for everyone who's been in business with him

because of his production, especially in the radio business, where he historically has rated extremely well means if you're a radio station you want to be in business with him because you can make money off him. Who right now can't work because he almost died

and the recent article came out I haven't texted with him in a minute that a couple times his lungs filled up as he's going through chemotherapy and he was basically on his deathbed. Guy Haberman who came on the show last year who also is very close with Greg

has been, you know, guys, a play-by-play guy, has looked up to Greg, filled in for him last year doing the 49ers. And by all accounts, it looks like he's going to have to fill in for him again this year, depending on his health status and be the voice of the 49ers, you know, this year because Greg can't do it. And I don't know if Greg's ever going to have the capability to do radio and to do these shows. But it's not because he doesn't want to.

And even he said, like, I plan on, I want to try to do radio again. And you fire the guy as he's. fighting for his life? It's one thing to fire John Middilkoff. I just don't think you're good enough. Okay, some people on the internet might be mad. I'll be like, I'll show you. But like, it's a dirty cruel world.

And that was, that was an eye-opener for me. It's like, God, I'm rating well. We're making money. Like, yeah, Mark Davis wants you out. It's like, okay. I mean, it's the way the world works. It's another thing to fire one of the most legendary individuals

in the history of the region, who literally is the voice of the 49ers, which your radio station, where he works, is partners with. I just, I was at a loss when I saw it. I just went, I've been trying to contain myself and not say something I will regret. Very negative on terrestrial radio

over the course of the decade, because I've seen it firsthand. the impact of myself leaving that line of work going into the digital space. So I shorted Terrestrial Radio a long time ago. Now, there are certain markets where it thrives. Philadelphia, New York City, Boston. The Bay Area is not near what it used to be in terms of the power of that station. But they still have the 49ers.

Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch come on that station. every single week. Trent Williams, who fought cancer, what, seven, eight years ago, came on the station because when you're partners with the NFL team,

like I would imagine whatever market you live in, the team, your favorite team, their radio station, their partners usually do stuff at training camp. When I was at this 95-7, we were partners with the radio.

It was pretty cool. We would have a, set up inside the gates in Napa, which didn't suck, and do Raiders training camp. And Khalil Mack, Charles Woodson, Sebastian Janakowski, they would literally just all come on because we would just see them right there. Every single player, Amari Cooper, you name it. There wasn't a prominent player that Raiders had during that time that not only we couldn't get, they would just kind of come out or come hang out and do great interviews. It's incredible access for the partners of the team.

Well, Trent Williams last week was just on K&BR. The only reason I know, not because I was listening live, KNBR posted it. And the whole post was about Trent wishing Greg, because he's got to know him since he's been on the Niners and Greg's calling the games. I think they both like the stuff we like in Northern California grows from a tree.

And they've become good buddies. And basically was like, I've been through this, I'm thinking about them, I'm wishing them well, and they fucking reposted it. Or they created the content and then they posted it about great papa getting well and less than a week later, they're like, yeah, we're firing them. It's like, business is cold. We all get that. But there is a way to and not to do business. There is a way to lose credibility and just being like, you're not a serious operation.

This is also a company that I think like 15 years ago, the most prominent radio show on that station was Tom Tolbert, who no longer works for K&BR, but was one of the biggest afternoon hosts in the country. He had played for the Golden State Warriors. He was college teammates with Steve Kerr. He's just a big sports guy. He just fit perfectly in the market. Great guy.

Legendary host. His partner, Ralph Barber, Bieri also got fired. Well, he had Parkinson's disease. He ended up suing the company for $10 million. And he won. Because in states like California, when a guy gets sick, you can't just fire him. And here's the other thing.

The PR campaign on Gregside will be 100 to 0. I just think this notion that these companies, it's just it's an embarrassment. It's embarrassment to the industry. It symbolizes what a disaster of the industry is. And to just, I don't even want to use the word embarrass. Greg's been fired before. You know, ironically, he's the 49ers voice,

who's Kyle Shanahan's the coach. He was very, very close with Al Davis. I think he considered Al Davis like his second father. They were thickest thieves. He loved El Davis. I've never met a human being beside the Davis family that loved the Raiders more than Greg Papa. Greg loves football and he loved the Raiders.

And Mark Davis was going to interview. I can't remember if this is after they fired Del Rio or Dennis Allen. It must have been Del Rio. He wanted to interview Mike Shanahan, Kyle's dad. And it turns out that Mike Shanahan and Al Davis were mortal enemies. and Greg couldn't fathom that Mark Davis would interview a man that his dad, he claimed, would like roll over in his grave

if they ever made the head coach of the Raiders. Well, Mark took offense to that and him and Greg had already kind of butted heads and fired him specifically for that moment. And it, you know, it crushed Greg. I mean, the Raiders were like a part of the soul. They were The importance of that franchise to the man

Was unlike anything I've ever seen A lot of you guys are diehard fans Love your squad This was deeper than that It was like family It really ruined them And he transitioned well to the Niners But that love

It's like they say with your firstborn You just kind of like them a little more You know I'm firstborn I feel always like my parents like me a little more Maybe not My dad I think like my brother But man I just

just embarrassing. It truly is. Some of these people running these operations feel like they just have no clue what they're doing. They have no understanding of like this is not a good idea. Sometimes you've got to stand up in a meeting. And listen, I'm not claiming I'm some Fortune 500 CEO or I have all the answers.

But there are certain moments where any level-headed person go, yeah, I don't think this is a good idea. Let's do something else. It's like, let's figure out someone else that we can get rid of. This is not going to go over well. And it has gone over a lot like a turd in a punchbowl as it should because you just fire a legendary human being who's battling leukemia. Probably not the best idea. So get well soon, Greg, and fuck that place.

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Visit bell.ca for details and to check availability. Bell, connection is everything. What's up, fam? I'm sports journalist Ari Chambers. Hey, what's up, y'all? It's your girl, Sam J. And we're the host of Everyone Watches Women's Sports, a new podcast from Together and I-Heart Women's Sports. Because let's be real. Women's sports is giving us way too much to talk about these days. So Kelsey Finler, she became the first female solo rower to go from California to Hawaii.

My first thought is like, what's up with the snacks? Like, what are we eating? The highlights, the rivalries, the breakout stars, the moments that take over your entire timeline. And the conversations that start during the game and somehow keep going all week. Every week, we're breaking down the biggest stories across women's sports. Naomi Osaka showing out. She beat. Sabalinka. Shout out to you, Naomi.

You get the palm, Naomi. You get the palm for that. Because we're not just interested in what happened. We're interested in why everyone's talking about it. Because everyone watches women's sports. Listen to everyone watches women's sports on the IHeart Radio app. Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast. Let's dive into a couple of mailback questions before we get out here.

The best part of the Mike Shanahan story is Bill Romanowski and Rod Woodson. It's kind of how I got started. in radio. Before I got a show, I used to be a part of the football hour. And the football hour used to be Bill Romanowski, Greg Papa, myself, and Rod Woodson. It was like, sometimes I'd look around, I'd be like, this is crazy that I have.

You know, I was like 30 years old. They're going to me for different takes with Hall of Favor and Romanowski, who's got Super Bowl rings on a bunch of different teams. And Bill, when Greg was, was going, because Bill wanted Mike, Bill loves Mike Shanahan because he played for him in Denver. He just, he looked at Greg after Greg said, that's his mortal enemy. And he was like, Greg, who is not Al Davis's mortal enemy? Like, Al hated everybody.

He also said that Rod Woodson was kind of a pussy and claimed he didn't like tackling. They almost got into a fight. It was just, it was, and I would, you know, Rod's one of those guys. He's not very loud. His tone is like pretty consistent. You know, Bill's very animated. Rod is sneaky big, too. Like Bill's obviously really big dude.

Rod is, I mean, that's a big defensive back. But he's not like, he's not Ray Lewis on a microphone. You know, he's just, he's pretty calm and collected. I remember looking at his eyes when Bill essentially said like, bro, you didn't like to tackle. You weren't that physical. It was like the most offensive thing you could tell Rod Woodson. I thought they were going to fight.

I was like, I'm getting out of here. Good times. Mailback. At John Middlecoff. At John Middlecoff is the Instagram. Fire in those DMs. Get your questions answered here on the show. I just, this isn't a question.

I just want to read it. Hey, man, we get it. You hate J.J. McCarthy. It's sad how much hate in your heart you have for this kid. That's just funny. I mean, that's, who do you think he hates? some more. All the people in the media that say he's not going to make it,

or like the teammates, like Justin Jefferson, Kevin O'Connell, the other wide receivers. In all seriousness, I don't hate anybody. I truly do. I was thinking about that today when I kind of took a screenshot of that picture.

But I don't think I hate anybody in life. There's some things I see on the internet. I'm like, I can't stand that person. I don't hate them. I really don't. And definitely when it comes to football players, there is no hate for any of these guys.

This is all just business to me. But let's be real. I mean, the guy's, he's, what was the, what was the quote in Sandow's article from like an unnamed coach or a GM? J.J. McCarthy makes football look hard. It's like, geez, geez, it's not any good. A lot of quarterbacks aren't any good. Like, it's funny, if you say like,

just pick a random guy. Anthony Richardson or I don't even know. I'm trying to think of like guys drafted high recently that aren't any good. Like Deshawn Watson. The guy's not any good anymore. No one's like, you hate Deshawn Watson.

They'd be like, yeah, I agree. You're not any good. But you're like, oh, JJ, or JJ McCarthy's not any good. You're like, you fucking hate her. You have so much hate deep in your soul. What is wrong? You have a personal agenda? It's like, no, I just watched him play.

He was overthrowing every ball. I was like, I watch enough football Then I'm like, that's not any good You know, that's not going to work I honestly, I think I thought it was going to be pretty good When they drafted him I thought it's like, oh, you can be like Jimmy Garoppel or something That was probably my comp, like Jimmy Garoppola

Kind of play like that Turns out he's like Jamarcus Russell with more effort and less arm The only channels I got, this guy grew up in Canada The only channels I got growing up on the farm Were Buffalo games The first game I ever watched was the early 2000 box defense smoking buffalo and j p lossman so been a fan ever since but i digress what are your

realistic expectations for the bucks we have a sneaky good roster and an o line was riddled with injuries i think if all things go well you can win 10 games you know i think the vita vea situations and the baker situation um are always a little touch and go right like if baker's doing well he'll feel good because he'll know he's got a big contract waiting at the end. If it's not going well, how does he act? You know, Vita Vaya, is he just going to not practice all camp? He's a bigger guy and then just playing the games. That's kind of risky from an injury standpoint.

But they definitely have good players, right? I mean, they drafted a Bucca last year because I think they knew Mike Evans was a free agent. There's no guarantee they're just going to keep him forever. They have some good young players on the defense. of line going along with Vita Vaya. I saw, again, you got to be careful about overreacting to like one-on-one reps O-line D-line. It's a huge advantage for the D-line. But Ruben Bain had a rush.

You're like, God, damn, this guy looks sweet. So I think Rubin Bain, I'd put his over under at sacks like nine and a half. I would imagine he's got double digits. I think Ruben Bain's going to be a core piece for this franchise. for a long time. Can you discuss the work life for a GM during the season? Is it just as busy during the off season when I assume there's more emphasis on preparing for the draft and roster construction via trades, free agency, contract extensions, and training camp? I think it probably depends GM to GM. I would say, let's just go Monday after a game.

You know, most GMs come in in the morning, they watch the tape, and they link up with their coach or their owner and discuss the game. Any transactions that need to be made, injuries that happened, and kind of the roster construction on a weekly basis based on the game, what guys on injury reserve or pop or whatever time of year might be coming back.

So you spend Monday kind of doing that. And it also depends on the time of the year. But then throughout the week, you obviously go to practice. You're with your coach. Like you're kind of your coach. coach's right-hand guy of like this, we need to change this, maybe depending on your role as a GM, you're interacting with the offensive and defensive coordinator, you're constantly

working with your scouting department, you know, hey, we need to put together a workout because our fullback broke his leg or our backup linebacker broke his leg. We need to work out three linebackers, so you're running stuff like that. You are also constantly watching the league. not just your own team. So usually the opponent that's coming up, you're watching the free agents probably a segment of them every week. So you're just maintaining as the year goes on. You can put grades on them.

You're also watching the draft prospects. So every week you put a certain percentage of guys that you want to watch, I think how he did it by position or by school. And you're working with your college director. they're funneling you reports. You're reading those reports. Depending on the week, right? Let's say it's October.

And you're playing in, you're playing the Detroit Lions. Maybe you go a couple days early and you try to go to the Michigan Penn State game or you're playing the Eagles and you go see Penn State, Ohio State. Or you're playing Seattle and maybe that week, you know, you drive down to Oregon on Saturday. Saturday to watch the game. So it's some of that. But it's a lot like you're around your team all the time. You're watching practice. And then there's a million other things. You know, things come up, whether it's dealing with the training room, dealing with the equipment staff, dealing with your owner,

negotiating contracts, working on contracts, working on contractual issues, people being mad. So I think every week you got a handful of things that you have no clue or coming beside what your routine is of watching your own team's tape, watching practice tape, watching your opponent's tape, watching free agents, and watching draft picks. Because when the season ends, you should have, I don't know what the number is, but a large percentage of the college guys drafted.

So come January 1, going into the All-Star Games, you've watched a large, large percentage of the draft. Even if some of the guys are just a couple games, you have exposure to a lot of the players. And obviously, you've read the reports throughout the year as well. So it's just accumulating knowledge nonstop on the draft. The draft thing is 365 for the GMs. And same thing with free agency.

Now, sometimes free agency, if like, hey, we know we're going to be in the mix for some free agent dbs. so you just kind of watch that group a little more closely. But I think you always kind of approach you, watch every position. Obviously, then working trades, turning your practice squad. So you're constantly watching all the preseason tape the first couple months on, because there were a lot of guys on practice squad that have never played an NFL game. So their only resume is the preseason games.

So you've got to rank all the guys that only. have preseason film that are on practice squad. So if you need a guy that you want to steal from someone else's practice squad, you guys put together like a free agency board that's always getting updated as guys get signed or guys get elevated. It's a lot of watching football.

I mean, and I'm not talking like football with Jim Nance and Tony Romo or Troy Aikman and Joe Bucks. It's all 22 tape. So if you like music or podcast, you can listen to something, but it's the silent tape. I'm glad you defended DAC after his

bad stat against good teams was thrown out there by the Eagles. In my opinion, the 12 and 5 offenses were completely elevated by DAC to some degree. No disrespect to these guys, but we had Noah Brown as our number two wide receiver and a washed Zeke going against the loaded Niners in the 22 divisional round. Jerry always liked our guys. We'd limp into the playoffs every year and get beat. Most of the guys on that offense aren't doing much on their new teams now. He puts 30 plus touchdowns every year and win healthy, 37 and 10 in the division, one of the best rookie seasons of all time, 13 and 3,

no matter what coach or players are around him. Right now, I feel like he's in the high-end Jared Gough to low-end Joe Burrell archetype. All he needs is a Super Bowl, and he's in the Drew Breeze, Peyton Manning Conversation. Peyton, man, let's pump the brakes. Drew Breeze,

if you gave Dak to Peyton for 10 years, I think he would look better. He's closer to Drew Breeze, I'm not saying he's better or even equal to Drew Breeze, but Peyton Manning is in a different universe to me than Drew Breeze. But I hear what you're saying. Your take on Dax's career. Well, one, he's a fourth round pick, and he's going to make $500 million,

and let's say Cowboys have a couple more good seasons, have been a guy that took the Cowboys to the playoffs six or seven times throughout his career. But the way to really separate his legacy from, like, Tony Romo, a guy that put up good stats, went to pro bowls and made a bunch of money. I do think he needs a couple definitive playoff moments. Big playoff drive, some big playoff wins, even if he never wins a Super Bowl. Because if you're a betting man right now, you would say, Dak Prescott's probably never going to win a Super Bowl.

But could he be the first guy to get him back to the NFC championship game? Imagine if the Cowboys were just like the three-seed and won back-to-back games and were in the NFC championship game. that would, I don't want to say validate his career, but that would be an enormous moment for the guy. I mean, the Cowboys haven't been to that game in 30 years. So obviously he won a Super Bowl, it would be massive. He'd be in this weird spot.

I mean, he won a Super Bowl and he balled out. Obviously, a Hall of Fame, he'd start talking about it. But I do think if over the next couple years, he could get them to the NFC championship game. it's like Jalen Hertz. Jaylon Hertz won a Super Bowl. Last year they led the league in three and outs. He'd be like, oh, Kevin Petula,

it's like, yeah, he still missed wide open guys. Like, I watched it. O.C. can be bad, and he can be bad too. Right? So it's like, Jalen just a polarizing player. But you could never take away. It's like, yeah, he played a Super Bowl and dominated. Like, that happened. So Jalen Hertz's rest of his career could be really shitty.

You can never take that away from, ever. So winning a Super Bowl is just the ultimate Trump card. It's like Eli. I watched a lot of Eli seasons where he didn't even look that good. It's like, well, got hot. Two Super Bowls beat Tom Brady. It's like Trump card. What are you going to say?

End of argument. So I think his career won has been an enormous success. Any quarterback that's not a first round pick, Jalen Hertz was like a late second round pick. His season could end, his career could end tomorrow. incredible success. Kirk Cousins, incredible success. Russell Wilson, third round pick. You're talking these guys that are second, third, fourth round picks? Like, people would go, like, are Derek Carr and Jimmy Garapolos career successful?

Fuck yeah. I mean, you're a starter for like seven, eight, ten years in the league as a non-top ten pick. That's an incredible accomplishment. You get drafted on the third day, not the second day when they got multiple rounds you have to wait till the third day and you go on to have a long lucrative, successful career and just be a high level guy,

very impressive. What is your self-proclaimed professional weakness? Most extroverted sales guys I know who can talk to a brick wall like yourself, never talking to a brick wall, but I hear what you're saying.

Have no administrative skills and are extremely disorganized. What percentage of uptick in podcast traffic do you see when the NFL season gets started? I'm extremely disorganized. I would not call myself an organized individual. Having been around like play-by-play guys and different people in the NFL to just see like what organizational look, what organization looks like. Like if you just looked at my computer with documents all over the place, my desk, disaster, not organized at all. Professional weakness don't have great hair, which in my profession, not ideal.

I would say, yeah, very extremely disorganized. Yeah, I mean, football season is traffic goes up. We do well in the off season. You know, I would say June and July slow down a little bit. but free agency is huge for us, the draft offseason. Like, we do well, you know. Clearly football season is, it's, carries the business. You know, I mean, the advertising revenue doubles,

the importance of the power of eyeballs. You just can't. I mean, it's the old, I was talking to someone yesterday in the business world that nothing else in America can get this many people, in one spot all together at the same time. I was looking today because we were talking about Arch Manning. Last year, Ohio State and Texas, on the West Coast kicked off at 9 a.m. Big noon kickoff.

17 million people watched. It's one of the most watched non-NFL games in the history of Fox, besides like World Series or something. It's just crazy how many people watch football, college included. And the power of the sport You know, I mean, I'm essentially drafting off the popularity.

I can't wait to visit Seattle and watch the Chiefs take on the defending champs in October. My girlfriend is a diehard Swifty, and she's excited too. Regarding the bills. Oh, because you hope to get a little sneak peek at Taylor roaming around? I saw that Travis, you know, there was like a shot of him looking kind of fat. Then Andy said he's in great shape. It's like, guys, I don't think I live. I kind of appreciate.

I miss the days when dudes in pro sports would show up to training camp. Like, what do you been doing? Drinking beer, smoking cigarettes? And then the guy would just be an all pro. And I'm not saying Travis at this age can do that. But like the expectation now to come into training camp, what are you been doing? Training eight hours a day, the last 45 days. I don't know.

A lot of Hall of Famers in the 70s and 80s and 90s. like didn't go to Equinox three times a day in the middle of July and we're fine. I'm not defending him. I mean, totally understandable. You just got married. But I just think we, I do wonder how many injuries come from overtraining. And I get why guys overtrained because in your mind you're like, I got to do whatever I have to do to keep my spot.

Regarding the bills, you're often critical of coordinators becoming head coaches as need to deal with increased responsibility and issues on both sides of the ball. Do you believe Brady is cut out for the new role and the challenges to come with it? I have not heard you or other media members have any concerns regarding the transition. I do think one big advantage he has is he's been there. So when you elevate the coordinator, who was the coordinator of by far the best side of the ball, and he knows all the players and the GM, it is an easier transition, right? It doesn't mean that, when one of his players gets a DUI or one of the guy's wife has, you know, a miscarriage and the guys just can't focus.

Like, those now are all on him, regardless what position the guy plays. The guy has some personal issue. The guy's just depressed for whatever reason. Like, you got to deal with that all. And as a coordinator, if it's not on your side of the ball, you don't have, it's not your problem. And even sometimes when it is, like the head coach and the GM still deal with it. So all that shit comes to your plate. It's all on you.

It's why that skill, like being a head coach, especially in 20206, with the world we live in and social media, he's got a lot of weird things going on. And I think he's actually more equipped because some of the younger guys that shows you can relate a little more to younger guys. I just had a brief conversation with him at the combine, but I've watched him. I think he's a really impressive guy.

But until you're in the firing line of like what's actually happening, you never know. You know? I mean, last year, then they trade for Slay and then he quit. And then they made a personnel move and the guy they wanted to bring back was claimed on waivers. You know, like Joe Brady didn't have to deal with any of that. Sean did though. And that's it's back to the opportunity thing. And until you're sitting in the seat,

you never know. Let's face, there's a learning curve. Like Jim Harbaugh or John Harbaugh or Andy Reid or Sean Payton, like there's not that much that's going to come across their desk that they haven't seen. So it's just a big advantage from a stress standpoint. Think about when you try something new and things aren't working, you know, a new job.

There's a lot of anxiety that comes with that. One underrated part of the gig is that, you know, I was asked like, what does a GM do every day? They spend a lot of time and deal with the head coach. Like, those guys are meeting constantly. And one, I would say, disadvantage or just part of the learning curve is your relationship with a guy that you're in business with. Think how much stronger your relationship is professionally after five, 10 years working with somebody. I'm sure a lot of people listening to this have been working with an individual or multiple individual

on a very, very close basis. And after a while, like, you kind of know the way they think and how to deal with them. The moment you first start working with somebody, there is just, it takes some time. And sometimes you butt heads, sometimes you disagree because you guys, maybe the communication is a little bit off. And I just think it's an easier transition when you already know the guy. It doesn't mean it's perfect and his personality is different than Sean McDermott's, but I'm high on Joe Brady.

I expect him to be pretty good. But I can't pretend to know how he'll handle crazy shit because crazy stuff is bound to hit. I would like to offer some perspective regarding quarterbacks that are under six feet in athletic. I was a 5-9-165-pound quarterback in college. quarterbacks who are most athletic in high school in college and under six foot do not work. I found out real quick the difficulty of playing quarterback in college, not because of talent,

but because of lack of height. I was a starting quarterback as a true freshman and running around like Johnny Menzel. It didn't matter. When you have six-five tackles, it catches up to a short quarterback. Kyler Murray is an all-time great athlete, but when you're that short, it's really hard, especially in the NFL. Owner, GMs, and coaches should realize by how super athletic quarterbacks under six foot do not work. Thanks for your time. It's just basic math, right?

There's a reason you don't ask the shooting guard to cover shack. There's a reason Steph Curry doesn't check Yokech. It's just a math problem. It's why if you get a look downfield of your 6'5 Grunkowski or wide receiver, Mike Evans, on a 5-10 corner, throw it up to the guy. The bag isn't literal, John. It's slang, fam.

Please don't die on this hill. But it is literal. I heard a funny story the other day on the internet. I was watching Taylor Luan talking to Devante Adams. And Devante Adams said when he got traded to the Jets, a rookie had number 17. So he put $17,000 in a bag. And he's like, listen.

He looked, the rookie had played, I forget when Devante got traded, like middle, late October. The rookie had played four games, for, excuse me, four snaps, four snaps. So he'd barely play. Devonte's like, this guy has no connection to this number. It's not like he's been making plays. I'm going to offer him $17,000 and tell him any of his family members who bought your jersey number 17, I will give you even more money. I will pay for them to get New Jersey's.

So he looks at the guy with his bag of money, because bags of money have been around forever, right? And offers him $17,000, which in actual cash, if you think about it, in Jersey or New York, that's like $32,000, $35,000, if you factor in like a wire. And he said, the kid looked at him and said, I appreciate it, but I'm going to need a million dollars. and I think Devante was

shell shocked so he was like what did he just say I'm going to need a million dollars fam and the next day he went to Woody Johnson and he said I want 17 and Woody Johnson took the number from him and gave it to him

so the guy instead of getting a bag of $17,000 got zero dollars terrible financial move by that young fella but I understand it's not literal because there's literally bags of money that's part of it. It's like, hey, you got a cool car. I'm not saying it's cool outside. I'm saying it's a cool car.

Right? Because, like, to me, that's like the bag of, like, he got a bag. That actually exists, right? Like, that's what it is. I feel like I am going to die on that hill. I mean, all these fucking players talk about the taxes. Every NBA podcast is like, fuck. I got $750 million. I don't have a penny to show for it because of taxes. Like, yeah, I feel like, yeah. I feel you, dog. Agent fees. Buying my mom's seven homes.

Part of, you know, sucks. My question, in terms of sports talk, terrestrial radio morphed into podcasts, which morphed into video simulcasts. Where does the industry go next? What are the headwinds? I mean, fuck. Great question.

I don't know. Whatever they are, just, once the wind starts blowing away and it's working, you get out your, you know, your parasail and you just follow it. I don't pretend to be Zuckerberg or Elon here. I don't know. No clue, honestly. I mean, I don't know what, you know, AI, what are they going to have, AI Middlecoff? Maybe that guy's AI Middlecough's pretty entertaining. I just want some royalties. Honestly, I have no clue.

I'm kind of like coach cliche, just kind of head down. feet where they're at and just just keep swinging. And then if it's time to pivot, we've got a lot of smart people part of this operation that are paying attention, get different ideas, throw them out there. We're not afraid to hang lefts or rights, whatever we've got to do. Luckily, I think the biggest advantage the digital people have is we're pretty fluid. You know, it's like, hey, this next thing's out.

I don't know what that could be. And I, listen, I don't love social media. I get on there. It's just because what works on social media, pissing people off, what gets the most attention? It's like I, sometimes I look at the athletic,

like an article on like, best plays of Colts practice will have like 15 comments. And then it's like, Trump comments on the WNBA. We'll have like 7,000 comments. Well, so they know what gets clicks and what works. But like, is this a necessary article?

You know? I just think that I mean I never got on TikTok I mean TikTok's massive I guess I created an account but I've never TikToked or maybe I tried I'm like this is I don't have this in me

you know Instagram and Twitter already feel like too much I couldn't even log into my Facebook account if I tried don't know if I deactivated or deleted it it does feel like social media is more powerful than ever but in a weird way is really relevant but also not that relevant.

Like everyone I know in real life, like for example, my podcast, we're on Netflix, and it does really well from an audio standpoint. Like, I first and foremost view myself as an audio guy. Because the power of audio, and I look at myself as a consumer, I still listen to a lot of audio things, right?

even if I'm listening it from a video form, I'll put it in my pocket and listen to it in my ear. I do that all the time. So, despite the different avenues that have come along for the space in which I'm in, I still consume, and I think I see the number, a lot of people still consume things somewhat in a traditional way.

It's just not necessarily traditional how they consume them. right the phones didn't exist 20 years ago with this capability you keep talking about jalen hurts like he's a bum he also had coordinators make two different runs of the super bowl and hired his head coaches how many coaches does dac need to burn through until he reaches a conference championship much less the Super Bowl i'm so tired of the narrative this guy is terrible for his team and bad contract when he's led two different teams to the super bowl i do not want to listen to forty-divers propaganda i keep hearing jalen hurts is a problem after one bad season with a bad o'c the league and media talk like he's Rice Young. I'm sick and tired of it. He's not Patrick Mahomes or Josh, but most

quarterbacks in the league are not. You can make all the excuses you want. Hertz is grown, shown, he can deliver in the biggest stages, yet quarterback like Dak are still waiting for a conference championship appearance. Again, I didn't make the list, but we have to agree like, okay, the Super Bowl, he was really good in the Super Bowl. That was a couple years ago and the running back went for 2,000 yards. It's like, I used to have a great head of hair. I'm bald now. Like, I'm a big, like, in the future. Last year happened. He was terrible. Their passing game was atrocious. Their coordinator got fired. And then an article came out where I don't think the article just appeared out of thin air crushing him. Again, I didn't write that

article. It wasn't like my takes. I'm just reacting to the things coming out. I hear you. Like, His resume is better than Gough is better than Dack. Those guys have never excelled in a Super Bowl. Gough's been to one Super Bowl, they scored three points. Dax never been past round two of the playoffs. That's a fact. Yet, in going into the season, every GM and every head coach thinks Gough and Dach are both better players than Jalen Hurts. universally.

So it's like the 49ers propaganda. The fucking 49ers played you last year. In the playoffs. With a bunch of fucking no names playing defense. And you couldn't beat them. What was the final score of that game? 49ers, Eagles, playoff game.

They scored 19 points. And they scored six points in the second half. So it was like, Yeah, some was the coordinator, clearly. But, like, some has to be the quarterback because there'd be played. No, it's not all his fault. AJ drops some balls. And let's face it, they blamed a lot on age.

Maybe they're right. Time will tell. But again, I'm not creating these narratives. This is not my opinion, right? I don't think, I'm not creating a narrative, J.J. McCarthy sucks. He literally statistically was a worst quarterback in the league. And by all reports, Kyler Murray's flying past him. Now, is it my opinion that J.J. McCarthy is going to get traded before the season? Yes, it is.

I do think it's fair that Jalen Hertz can't be the 17th best quarterback in the NFL and make $50 million a year and keep a spot, you know, in perpetuity. The conversation, if they got big last year, which they did, they will grow. But I agree. He's an incredible success story. Second round pick, starting quarterback on multiple Super Bowl teams. won a Super Bowl, has played extremely well. But I think we could go like, why doesn't he run more? And his highs are, you know, there's one thing like, Lamar Jackson's coming off a bad season. Lamar Jackson's highs are like, I'm the greatest running quarterback of all time.

I won multiple MVP's. Now, in an individual playoff game, I didn't play great. But so I think every conversation is somewhat different. This guy's going to be mad at 49er propaganda here. 49ers should relocate their choice. training camp, practice activities away from Santa Clara. Not because of the substation, but because of the unrelenting PR distraction and player anxiety

surrounding the site that have become toxic to the franchise. While independent scientific reviews have dismissed the viral theory, the narrative is morphed into persistent, psychological burden and a damaging organizational meme. This guy, smart guy here, Roger. Why not relocate to the Oakland Coliseum as a temporary option? Moving to Oakland completely separates the team from Santa Clara substation, instantly shattering the toxic viral narrative.

Jed York would get thrown out of a plane before they moved their operation to the Oakland Coliseum. I see what you're saying, but that's one of the great dumps. Whatever the substation can do to your body, I'd rather spend time by the substation than be in the Oakland Coliseum. But in all seriousness, the Raiders never practiced in the substation. Or I mean, in the Coliseum, they had a practice facility, you know, 15 minutes away in Alameda. Maybe not even, 10 minutes away. So I don't think they ever practice one time, maybe a walk-through, but like their practices were at a practice facility. And their training camp used to be in Napa.

Remember, it's Spitech. I know they've kind of thought about over the course of the next several years, maybe doing a couple. The Napa training camp set up was pretty cool. But I think at this point, if you move the operation, it becomes even a bigger story. But the Coliseum is that there's nowhere to meet. it's not a viable

despite being one of the biggest shitholes in the history of the internet era of modern day sports I mean I'm honestly shocked they haven't put dynamite around that thing and nuked it and just I don't even know what you'd make

that area is not a great area of Oakland over there but it's there's nowhere to do anything would be the problem one reason these teams You know, I bet if you look 20 years ago, most teams went somewhere. Even when I was a kid, Bill Walsh and the 49ers used to go to Rockland up in Sacramento.

When I was with the Eagles, they went to Lehigh, which is a small little college, hour, hour 20 minute drive away from the practice facility. What do the Eagles do now? Practice facility. What do the Niners do now? Practice the facility. What do most teams do? Practices the facility.

Because it is easier, right? Players have their locker. You have all the access to your meeting rooms. All the coaches have access to their offices. Like when we used to go to Lehigh, and when all these teams did, La Trobe or whatever, you needed a big IT team to come up and set up all your stuff. So you had access to all the film,

the ability to take tapes and put them up. It's easier now with technology, but you basically just need to take your operation and move it to wherever you're going. This guy sent me a picture of the Eagles injury report. Leonard Dickerson. Rest, not injury related. Lane Johnson.

Lane Johnson hasn't been in practice for a minute. I guess it's Mackay Lemon and Devante Smith are injured. I feel like this is a great example of the Niners being in the media because of the substation. No one talks about Devante and Lemon injuries. I think this is Lemon's second hammy drafted. I look every day on Rodo World, which is a fantasy website

just because they kind of post stories and injuries and I can just kind of fly through what's going around in the NFL and pro football talk. There are countless injuries all over the league every single day of like prominent players. Jalen Waddle leaves practice, he's out. So-and-so, this guy leaves practice, he's out. Bears, Kobe Bryant, they just gave a bunch of money

eight to ten weeks. This guy banged his knee out for a while. This guy carted off. Every team. But if you're like, camp, the 49ers had so much momentum on the injuries that once you have an injury report of 20 plus guys, it's just a big story. Fair or not. So, like, most teams, if they're, they get seven, eight guys injury, oh, it's training camp. It happens.

With the Niners, it's like, it's the electromagnetic fields pulsing through their muscles. And I got Jalen Hertz's dad tweeting at me going, stop. Stop the propaganda. It's like, bro, I didn't create the list. I didn't. I think coaches sometimes, and I'm not defending Kevin Petula. I don't think he'll be an offensive coordinator anytime soon.

He was clearly bad because it's his job to figure out plays that work. But they get all the blame typically. And part of that is like, you know, just coming off Super Bowl, he had played well in the Super Bowl. But two things can be true. Coordinator can be bad. and the player cannot play well. But once your resume is good enough,

all the blame goes to coordinator. It happened with Russell for a while. It definitely happened last year. And it was easy to beat up on this guy that no one knew. It's not like this guy was, you know, Greg Rome is an example of a guy that's been fired. Because I had someone like, you never talk about Justin Herbert.

He's gotten, he got a coordinator fired. I'm like, yeah, well, he was like, people I all agreed around the league. He's a top five quarterback. That's, again, that is my opinion also, but that's the NFL GMs and the coaches. All of them. They all voted, and they put him there. Sandow's not talking to, you know, polling fans here. I mean, he's polling the decision makers, the coordinators, the head coaches, the GMs, and the assistant GMs.

That's who vote on the list. those guys literally watch all this tape and winning and losing and playing well is how these guys feed their family and I'm not saying some of them they definitely have biases and agendas but not all of them like a lot of them

their favorite players on other teams in the league remember Andy Reid telling me he's like my favorite player in the league is like Max Crosby the Chiefs and the Raiders should hate each are yet I bet if you just pull all the offensive coaches around the league, they fucking love Max Crosby. Not in terms of when they're playing them,

but just like the respect they have for them. So it's like most coaches and players, like, especially the longer they're around, have a pretty good idea what it's supposed to look like and what it's not supposed to look like. Now, you could say sometimes they stick up for coaches when sometimes coaches are just bad. I'm in agreement.

Like, there are probably people around the league, like, Kevin Petula, it's not all his fault. Like, yeah, I would have fired him too. I'm not saying the Eagles were wrong there. But also just on individual plays, you just watch, like, what is going on? I do think that's fair. And one key thing gets back to, like, he will not run. And that's like a skill he has.

It makes him a really, really good player. And part of that skill, running skill, I think Lamar has this too. Lamar's faster in Jalen, or used to be. I mean, I don't know. We'll find out how fast Lamar still is. I think it's high-high-end speeds no longer quite the same when he was like a rookie. But Jaylon's really good at like avoiding hits. It's not like he's, this isn't Jane Daniels running around or Jackson Dart.

Like those guys are natural like getting down, getting out of bounds. It's like a legitimate skill, high-end skill, like an elite NFL skill. James was like, I'm not doing it. Nope. The Russell got like that. Pod quarterback. I'm Peyton Man. It's like, bro, you're not.

And there's nothing wrong with it. You know, it's like, can we just do what we need to do to win? But we'll see if that changes as you're. Again, I'm no hater. I respect the shit out of a guy. Serious as hell, works hard. You know, just like to complete a few more passes. That's all.

Adios, have a great weekend. Talk to you soon. The volume. Hey, Portlandia fans. Carrie Brownstein and Fred Armisen here. of the 90s is alive in podcast form. We're launching Podlandia, AEO rewatch, our brand new podcast where we revisit every episode of Portlandia together, breaking down sketches, going deep on our iconic characters,

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