The Herd with Colin Cowherd - 3 & Out - Notre Dame takes down Indiana, Mailbag

Episode Date: December 21, 2024

John opens the weekend with an instant reaction to the ND-IU game and how Notre Dame was in a class of their own as they took care of business against Indiana. Later, John has a massive weekend mailbag. He answers your questions during today's podcast.   Follow John on Twitter, Instagram and YouTube for the latest. Check out Gametime - the fastest growing ticketing app in the US, and the official ticketing app of 3 & Out and GoLow -  for tickets to all of your favorite NFL, NBA, NHL, NCAA teams. Concert and comedy show tickets, too. Go to Gametime now to create an account, download the app and use code JOHN for $20 off your first purchase. #Volume #Herd  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Hey guys, it's us. The Jonas Brothers. I'm Joe. I'm Kevin. And I'm Nick. And guess what? We created our own podcast called, Hey Jonas.

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What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano. It's our favorite time of the year on our podcast, Point Game, the playoffs. We're digging into the biggest surprises of the season. And I'm looking back on some of my greatest playoff moments. If we didn't talk ever again, I was crying. You just understood.

That's how personal it got. Wow. Then after that game seven, Marquis'clock, he's like, you know, I love you, dog. You know, it's all love. This was just playoffs. This was just basketball. So listen to Point Game on the, iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Every family has its secrets. But what happens when you discover that your dad has been living a double life? That is not the look of an innocent man. Is everyone lying to me about who they are? I felt such desperation. I felt it was what I had to do. Listen to deep cover the family man on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts. or wherever you get your podcasts.

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from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. The volume. What is going on, everybody? How are we doing? I thought I'd do a little Saturday mailbag, but I also, I recorded the mailbag during the day,

but I waited till Notre Dame absolutely beat down the Hoosiers. Don't let the 27 to 17 score fool you. So I did a little recap of what we all just witnessed. Notre Dame now headed to play Georgia. I want to say the semis, but it's actually the quarterfinals. It's hard to keep up with everything in this new playoff format. But we got three more games tomorrow as well as NFL games.

So we'll have stuff up on YouTube. Probably have a podcast out, combine the two of them as well for Sunday. We've got so much content. The games on Sunday are not great. Saturday actually is dramatically better than Sunday. So I thought, you know, it's right around Christmas time, so we're going to chill a little next week.

We might as well grind it hard. And when I say grind it hard, watch football and talk about it. So I was actually really excited to watch this game. The pregame, you could argue, was cooler than the actual game. But for Notre Dame fans, you should be fired up. That's a big win. Get a playoff win for Marcus Freeman. And the little story that it was Indiana that we will have to,

we might have to just talk about right off the bat because that was bad. And a long, long mailbag. So at John Middlecoff firing those DMs. I have so many questions. I know a lot of you guys that have asked me questions, haven't got your question answered yet. I'm not trying to avoid you or circumvent your question. I just have a lot.

And there's no perfect way to do it. You know, on the Instagram, my guy Zuckerberg, you can't, like, filter it like Excel spreadsheets or anything. So I just kind of go as they come in. So if I miss you, I promise you. I am not avoiding you. that I'm trying to get to your question, but it just comes with the territory.

So make sure you subscribe to the podcast, subscribe to the YouTube page, and we're off and running. But first, you know, I said I was watching this game, like I'm sure many of you and many people all over the country, hell, my buddy Michael Titus was there. And if you want to go to a game like this, if you want to go to any game, Christmas, Hanukkah,

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tonight. You know, this obviously Notre Dame is one. one of the biggest brands in all of sports, college or pro. There's something powerful about the helmets, just when you see that gold kind of shining in the light, how cool it was. And listen, before we get negative on anything, this playoff is awesome.

This home field game at Penn State, at Notre Dame, at Ohio State, at Texas is badass. The only people to get kind of screwed are these teams with a buy because of the power of these New Year 6 bowls that they also don't get a home game. If I was commissioner or czar of this entire thing,

I would figure out a way, one, I would expand it to 16 teams. And every single team, whether you play in the first round or get that home field by, or the first round by, you get a home game. That was very, very powerful.

My buddy was there, he kept sending me pictures. It looked awesome. It's a special atmosphere. These college teams aren't used to getting home games, games in the middle of December, let alone late December or January 1st. So I'm pro Rose Bowl. I'm pro the Orange Bowl.

Like I like some of the bowls. We can save that till the semifinals. And I think we got to find a way to have this happen more often. Because game day leading up on campus was Sabin there. Dude's kicking the field goal with McAfee, the lead in for like 10 minutes before kickoff, the band playing. It was awesome. Sign me up.

We're all on board with home playoff games. Now, before we get to Notre Dame, and they get a big win, they're off to play Georgia, we will dive into their potential hopes, not just against Georgia, but for the rest of this tournament. One of the biggest stories all year was Indiana.

And I think we have to separate two things, because in a vacuum, their season was incredible. They won 11 games. Go to their football. reference record page, they had never won double-digit games. They said at the beginning of the kickoff, no program in like Power 5 Division I history

has had less success than Indiana. So what Sigdetti and the program accomplished on a historic basketball program was awesome. I don't care who you're playing. You could be playing the Sisters of the Poor, the School of the Blind, Eastern Illinois, Nebraska, doesn't matter. You win 11 games in Indiana.

That is awesome. And then I think we have to factor in when we're in this college football playoffs. And we're not looking for cute stories. We're not looking for, this is awesome, let's give them a shot. We're looking for the best teams. And in the NFL,

even if you play in a crappy division, you play another division from the other conference and you also play another division from your own conference. So it's almost unavoidable that you're playing a handful of really good teams. And if you end up with 9 to 10 wins or obviously more, it's impossible to not have a couple good wins on your schedule. Plus, everybody in the pros is wait for it, a pro.

And I think there's become this big disconnect because everyone views the SECs as like, the football elites. You can't talk any sense into them. they just believe to their soul that they are dramatically better than everyone else and based on recent history the NFL draft national championships and success in the playoffs i think it speaks for itself but like we have lumped in the big 10 with the SEC almost like they are equals now with the SEC adding Oregon obviously that is a massive edition, one of the better programs in the country over the last 20 years.

But on the whole, the teams Indiana was beating this year, no one cares that you destroyed Nebraska. Honestly, and listen, Signetti is, I like big personalities in sports. They're fun to talk about. They're fun to watch. They create a lot of fun storylines. But football at that level, and obviously the NFL level, are extremely difficult. It's why I would say the two best NFL coaches of my adult life don't really talk that much shit when they're coaching about anyone else.

Andy Reed and Bill Belichick. If anything, they're the opposite. They build you up. They could be playing a winless team. Belichick was classic for this. And if they're playing a really good team, they act like they're the greatest thing since sliced bread. And even in college, Sabin was very careful with his words.

Kirby, while very emotional, very hesitant to like shit on another program. Signetti, coaching in Indiana, runs around like he's Bear Bryant meets Bill Walsh combined with Vince Lombardi. And I'll promise you this. Next year, I Google their schedule. They're playing Penn State, Iowa, and Oregon on the road.

These teams in that conference are going to be looking to beat the living crap out of him because he never shuts up. great season, incredible story. He had no business being in this game. He really didn't. And one thing we learned tonight, and I think anyone with a brain that has followed the sport,

records aren't all equal. And trying to compare records in college football is kind of stupid. How could anyone compare Boise State's record of playing a Mountain West schedule to Ole Miss or South Carolina's records playing an SEC schedule? It's like comparing apples to, cheeseburgers. In Indiana, through 95% of this game, they didn't have 150 yards of offense with

five minutes left to go in this game. And Notre Dame's good, and who knows, maybe they could beat Georgia. But that's not exactly Lou Holt's Notre Dame team. I would imagine this team's not as good as some of Brian Kelly's Notre Dame team. It's a good team. But that was JVers varsity immediately. It reminded me a little bit of the Bears Vikings game from Monday Night Football. I would say less than 10 minutes into actual play of the game you knew right away, they have no chance to win the game. And in games like this, I always laugh when people on social media was like, I can't believe he punted down 17 points.

Like guys, nothing he does matters. Absolutely nothing. It's like they got a really good quarterback. Well, yeah, he looks good playing Minnesota at home in September. How does he look against Ohio State or Notre Dame? He looks like a guy like his brother, headed to the CFL and there's nothing wrong with that. It had a great season.

You can make decent money in the CFL. But like when he plays real teams, doesn't look like a high-end college quarterback, let alone an NFL prospect. I like Mel Kuyper, having them six on your big board seems a little bold to me. And the team speed, the athletes. And that's what when people that argue about the SEC

are simply saying, on a weekly basis, even if we're playing a seven-win team, they got three or four guys on defense, alone that are going to be drafted in the top four rounds, two defensive linemen, a linebacker, and a safety. And those guys are hitting our players on a snap in, snap out basis. That is different than playing a team with maybe one draftable player that's a right guard. It's not the same. And I think Indiana tonight, moving forward will really impact teams. If it doesn't look like they've beaten anybody, no one's going to give a shit what your record is. You know why? Because it does

not matter. And there has to be some level of eye test. Are they good enough? Do they have any chance to compete? Right? Do they? It's much different in the NCAA tournament with college basketball because we allow 64 teams in. So even if you go, is this team really that good? Who cares? There are seven seed? When there's only 12 teams going and obviously five teams because of automatic qualifiers get in, there aren't that many at-large bids. And everyone was making this big deal. I was like, how could, how are we even discussing Alabama or South Carolina with their, you know, with their three losses or two losses or whatever?

It's like, guys, just watch the talent on one team and watch the talent on the other team. I just looked at the top 25. And once you pass Indiana and you get out of the top, the teams in the dance, Alabama, they're better than. Ole Miss is better. South Carolina is better. Missouri is better. They didn't play Illinois this year. I would bet on Illinois straight up against Indiana.

Colorado, who's barely in the top 25, is a better team than Indiana. Simply because they have better players. Their quarterback, top five guy. Their best player, top five guy. They have two guys on their team that are top five draft picks. easily could go number one and two in the draft. I'm watching Indiana like, do they got a guy going in the first two rounds?

Meanwhile, Notre Dame, they have a rotational pass rusher, Bryant Young, who is a special place in my heart, because when I was a kid, the 49ers could not beat the Cowboys. And then in 1994, they drafted a defensive tackle from Brigham Young, or from Notre Dame, and he came, and his name was Bryant Young, and now his sons at Notre Dame. and he's six foot seven and comes off the edge. You're like, holy shit, that guy's got a chance to be a first rounder.

I promise you that. He'd get drafted right now just off his measurables. It's like, you think Indiana has a guy like that on their team? Let alone all the starters, all the stalwarts for this, you know, program in the last couple years. Notre Dame every single year is pumping guys into the league. Indiana is the worst program in the history of college football. And this is why, well, it's like, how can we look at what's happened in previous years?

Now, obviously that has become more difficult with the transfer portal, with the movement. But if like this program every year is pumping out X number of players in the top three rounds to the NFL draft, that has to matter. Because this game, especially college football, it's about the X's and the O's, but on Saturdays, it's a lot about the Jimmy's and the Joe's. And how many guys on Indiana would start for Notre Dame? and it's not like I'm balls deep into every single roster in college football but I can watch a couple games

I can watch Indiana play four games I can watch Notre Dame play four games and I have a pretty good idea I would imagine everyone sitting on their couch goes yeah they've maybe got a couple guys so out of the 22 starters how many of the 22 guys on Indiana would go to Notre Dame

who is probably like you know we're going to find out against Georgia a fringe top 10-8 team in the country I think if you're being aggressive, you would say five. Probably have a couple defensive linemen. They clearly have a solid defense. Offensively, can't be many.

And if you're being conservative, you can say like two or three. That's an enormous talent discrepancy. And what we just had to witness was because, like, they factored in and Sean McDonough, and I'll give them credit, in slow games, and he used to do this on Monday night football, he can turn the broadcast into a podcast. And he can just start slinging takes. And he essentially, I thought,

summed it up perfectly. Like, we need to stop assuming there are two power conferences, right? Because in the last 20 years, there's been one. And that's the SEC. That doesn't mean on given years

the Big Ten is not really good. Last year's a good example. At their peak, like Ohio State and Michigan can go toe to toe with anybody. But this year, like, we'll find out. they got potentially two really good teams, maybe three, but let's not act like they go five, six deep. And their middle and their bottom is simply not nearly as good

as the middle of the SEC when it comes to talent on the roster. So being seven and five in the SEC and being seven and five in the Big Ten, those are not equals. Just like going nine and three in the Mountain West and going six and six in the SEC, it doesn't mean just because the team's got nine wins, it's way more impressive than going six and six.

We're hiking two different mountains here. One person's hiking Everest, the other guys hiking the hill in their backyard. That doesn't mean that playing football is not hard. That doesn't mean that Indiana shouldn't be proud of their season. But I think we learned a lesson really quick. Indiana had no business being in this dance. None.

And that was as easy of a game as they could have. They had a fucking bus ride to the stadium. And they got mollywopped. That was embarrassing. If you didn't watch the game, you look at the final score, you're like, oh, probably a decent game. No, it was terrible.

It was awful. It was really, really bad. And I don't think Indiana should be embarrassed. They are who they are. They played two good teams, and they got worked in both of them. And all of us, because there was so much hype leading in

because they had created this, like, fraudulent standing, we kind of were like, ah, so could something happen? And then obviously nothing did. And on the flip side, Notre Dame, like, if this was the NFL and let's say they were in the AFC and they had a couple home games or every team they were going to play

was going to be in cold weather, I'd say they could beat a lot of teams. I'd say honestly they could compete for a national championship. I'm not saying they could win it. But what they do well does work. They have two really good running backs. They ran for, I think, almost 200 yards a night. Now, one of the runs.

He actually took the hand off. like two yards deep, but it was a 98-yard run. But he ran like 104 yards. It was sweet. But they're going to be able to run for, should be able to run for 100 yards against good teams. Or just have some success on the ground. And defensively, they're really good.

They have a really good defensive line. Obviously, they've got feisty DBs. They're well-coached. They're physical. They're tough. Like, that translates. And in games, in the teens or the 20s, or it's hard to throw the ball around,

I would say they have a very good chance. The problem is, is their next game is in New Orleans, in a dome against Georgia. So it does neutralize the strength. Obviously they're playing, I mean, comparing Indiana to Georgia, it would be like comparing an NFL team to modern day high school in Southern California, who's obviously really good. But I was pretty impressed. I think they're pretty solid if they can play their way.

their one downfall is going to be and there was a lot of hype on this player coming in and he seems like an incredible guy and he's obviously a really tough motherfucker. I mean you watch the way the guy competes. He's just a fantastic kind of playmaker runner. Can he throw the ball well enough? And they obviously went all in on him.

They paid him a lot of money. His numbers don't look terrible tonight. 23 or 32. Had a couple nice deep passes. Made some nice plays on the run throwing the ball. I just don't know if he's going to be a good enough pass. to beat the Georgia defense. Now, there's a big wild card.

Kirby Smart was on game day. And basically acknowledged like Carson Beck. You know, in college football, unlike the pros, you don't have to, there's no injury reports. So you could be very mysterious about what's going on. Like, did he get the Brock Purdy UCL injury? Is he out for the season?

Is he not? Kirby Smart, essentially, I would say acknowledge, like, yeah, he's gone. He's not here anymore. Like his season's over. We'll find out more and more as we get closer to the combine, like what the hell's going on. Schefter and those guys, I'm sure,

we'll break the news sooner than later. But playing a backup quarterback, you never know. Now, Indiana's defense is solid, and it's actually not bad at all. Georgia's defense on a completely different level. And when they bring their A game, as we've seen, you know, against Texas,

they're going to be tough. So can Notre Dame run the ball effectively against them. Can they pass it well enough to just keep them honest? But that is a fantastic game. I mean, tonight was underwhelming. I mean, I'm glad and happy that we all experienced the first night of the playoffs at Notre Dame.

It felt cool, felt big. But Indiana playing a part in that was a little bit of a letdown. Georgia Notre Dame is a fantastic game on paper. I also think it's a big game for Notre Dame. Right? I would say, in the Bryant, and Kelly era up until this upcoming game. They've had some of these moments,

and it felt like they've come up a little short. This would be as big of a win as I can remember. To beat Kirby Smart, to beat Georgia. Obviously, Georgia gets the extra rest, even with the backup quarterback. I mean, Georgia's got three or four guys on defense that are going to go, I don't know, in the top 30 picks. And Notre Dame, I was impressed.

because the toughness, the defense, the running game, Love's run was sweet. The crazy thing is he had a 98-yard run and he had 108 yards total on eight carries. So it's always good. I thought McElroy had a good point. He's like, coaches love doing, you know, if you just take out that one run, we did a pretty good job.

Right? If you remove that one run, Notre Dame actually ran for under 100 yards. But that's not the way it works, right? It's like, no, that run actually happened, and that was seven points. That's part of the total. It's like, well, if we just didn't have the two go routes that Randy Moss took for a total of 140 yards, you know, we would have done pretty well on defense.

Well, those two things happened. So I'm fired up for that game already. I came in, actually parlayed Notre Dame tonight with the three games tomorrow. I took Penn State. I took Clemson Money Line. and I took Tennessee. I think I took Tennessee in the points. Also, I got a little bowl.

I had like 100 bucks left. I think I also threw the Texans plus three and a half. So we got a long way to go, but we're one down, four to go. But nice win for Notre Dame, cool moment in Indiana. Nice knowing you. I would say if you go six and six next year, I'd be impressed. It's the most wonderful time of year for getting in on all the hoops, football, and hockey action at the Draft King.

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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. We're starting a trend. But this one's extra special.

So how did 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, oh, we were thinking I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band. Before Jonas Brothers was. 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, S&L's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band

with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Keith Gianmanca seemed like a mild-mannered suburban dad,

but secretly, he became someone else. a master of disguise who went on a crime spree. At the time, did it seem like a crazy idea? It seemed very crazy. But I felt so desperate that I felt it was the quickest, easiest way out. Did you allow yourself to think about how it could go wrong and what that might look like? No, I didn't want to manifest that. I was trying to manifest success.

Every family has its secrets. But what happens when you discover that your dad has been living a double life? That is not the look of an innocent man. This is going to change my life and my family dynamic forever, because everything that had existed prior in my reality is now untrue. Listen to Deep Cover the Family Man on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you're watching the latest season of the Real Housewives of Atlanta, you already know, there's a lot to break down.

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

the drama, the alliances, and the team everybody's talking about, As an executive producer in reality television, I'm not just watching it. I understand the game. As somebody who creates shows, I'll even say this. At the end of the day, when people are at home, they want entertainment. To hear this and more, listen to Reality with the King on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. The story I've told myself about love or relationships can then shape my behavior, and that can lead to me to sabotage the possibility of connection.

This Mental Health Awareness Month, tune into the podcast deeply well with Debbie Brown and explore the journey of healing, self-discovery, and returning to yourself. We explore higher consciousness, emotional well-being, and the practices that help you find clarity, peace, and self-mastery in a world that can feel overwhelming. The world is becoming lonelier. We're not becoming more social and connected. We're becoming more individualized, but we actually need people in connection. If you've been searching for a soft place to land while doing the work to become whole,

this podcast is for you to hear more. Listen to deeply well with Debbie Brown from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Okay, let's do a little mailback. Ad John Middlecalf is the Instagram fire in those DMs. Get your question answered here. on this little thing called the powdcast Okay, start with a question

If you had to pick one player From this draft class to be in the Hall of Fame, Who would it be? Personally, I would say Alt With an honorable mention for Bowers. I think the hard part about skill guys, Bowers, neighbors, Rome, running backs, whoever

is so much as out of their control. You know, Bowers, for as awesome as he, he is, what if his quarterback play for like the first five years of his career is a disaster? It's hard to overcome that to get true greatness. Now, if you told me Bowers was playing with like Herbert, I'd be like, hell yeah. I would say Alt is a pretty good choice. I would say Mitchell, the Eagles Corner, has a chance to be pretty freaking good. You know, like a four, five, six time all pro. One of the defensive linemen, whether it's first, whether it's doubt Thomas Turner, Byron Murphy, one of those guys, I think could be pretty good.

But I like your alt pick. I would probably go with the corner Mitchell for the Eagles. Because some of those guys, like, if you're an elite offensive tackle or an elite corner, you can overcome no matter what. Even a quarterback, like, what if Cliff Kingsbury leaves and that derails Jaden? Bo Nicks, it's so hard with quarterbacks. but his coach is going to be there, you think, for a while. Last mailbag, you had a question about your gym routine.

I was wondering if I wrote you up a routine if you'd give it a shot for a few months and see how you liked it. I played low-level college football, and once I was done, I shifted my focus to lifting. Since I didn't need to block defensive ends anymore, I wanted to lose some weight. I lost 20 pounds in six months and kept my strength. Let me know if you'd be interested.

Yeah, I'll shoot you my email. You send me some circuits. I'll bang those out. I'm just looking to tighten up the bod. Not looking to, you know, deadlift heavy weight or anything. But fire me an email. For the bag.

If Kyle could have a do-over, do you think they would have elected to roll with Darnold over Purdy? I understand they went to the Super Bowl last year, but we saw Tomlin bench fields this year at foreign world. It feels like a whiff that they had Sam in the building. No, I

I mean, Brock Purdy is in a different universe. Brock Purdy's a better player Russell Wilson. Like, the Steelers would die to have Brock Purdy. I think if they had a do-over what they would have done, is Brandon Ayuk would not be on this team. They would have traded Brandon Ayuk

around the draft. And even if that meant, like, they didn't want to eat not getting a first round pick, I think if they could do it over again, they would have traded him for a second and a third round pick. and freed up their money and given them a lot more flexibility. I think that's one move that they would like to do over because that thing became just a disaster situation for them.

And my guy Kawakami, who knows Kyle and John and that organization well, who covers the 49ers and the Warriors and a Bay Area guy, he said they will never go through that again. And that was an experience of like talking to a wall. I think anyone of you listening with little kids when you're trying to reason with a little kid and it's just, it's like what this is pointless,

that's what I think it felt like with the 49ers dealing with Brandon Ayyuk. Like, bro, we are offering you a lot of money. What are we doing? These fake trades that you keep saying no to, it was a low-level negotiation. It really was. And I think they regret it.

They really do. And I'm not even talking about the injury. You can never know. Who knows? He might never be the same. and even if he's fully healthy, I just think, why are you paying that guy that much money?

It didn't make that much sense to me at the time. He's never going to catch more than 75, 80 balls in your offense. I just, at least Debo, in theory, was a very versatile player when they extended him and could do a lot. Like, I don't know. I just invest in the line of scrimmage. I went to UC Davis. I can't believe you grew up in that college town.

I don't know how old you are But when I go back And I'm actually flying back on Monday for the week And then we'll come back on Saturday The town And maybe it's when you're growing up There's a youthful naivete There's just

You're not really thinking about life When you're 13, 14, 15, 16 Like you do as you age You're just trying to play football hang out with your buddies, you know, chase some babes, just trying to enjoy, hang out, have your parents off your back. You go back in the town seems a lot different. You know, I honestly, when I go back to downtown Davis, it feels a lot different than the town that I grew up in. Now, granted, I graduated high school in 2003.

So, I mean, we're talking to 20 years is a long, long time. And I haven't lived there since I left high school to go to college. But it definitely feels dramatically different. But it's a cool place to grow up. I'm curious what your thoughts are in a blockbuster trade. The Bengals trade Burrough for Hertz and some picks, similar to what the Rams did with Goth and Stafford. Howie Roseman seems like he's always looking to improve.

I mean, the Eagles move on from Wentz, Foles, Doug Peterson, pretty damn quick. plus I assume Burrow is getting tired of the Bengals there's just how he would do that trade so fast he would drive Jalen Hertz to Cincinnati the Bengals are not trading Joe Burrell it makes no sense for them to trade Joe Burrell I mean they got into a knockdown dragout

with Carson Palmer years ago and he like had to sit out it's just not going to happen not now I'm not saying ever but he's just he's going to be on the Bengals. He just is. Talking in 2025. Can you imagine being a Cincinnati

Bengal fan and trading Joe Burrow? For as shitty as this season is, and it sucks. Technically they're still alive. A pretty big game coming up against the Broncos. Actually, I kept acting like the Broncos are a lock playoff team. They do need to probably win one of these last two games

if Cincinnati wins out. But you can't even entertain I mean, if you would even entertain that, you should sell the franchise, which is stupid. They're not going to sell the franchise, but you know what I mean. Like, he's just, you don't trade. He's the best. I think he's the most talented player they've ever had.

Now, the Broncos finish with Cincinnati in a week. Now, they get that extra rest, and Cincinnati play, who they play this week? The Browns. So I think Denver could really, if Denver loses that game, they're in pretty good. shape. If Joe Burrow was available, I don't even think you can. I don't think any of us can. Fathom the aggression by the NFL.

And I mean, individual teams, general managers, and coaches to get in on that. That would be like, uh, it'd be like, you know, uh, Yonis is available, right? Or, you know, like when Otani or Juan Soto was available. and like five teams were lined up to pay $650 to $700 million. That would be the equivalent of a trade. It may be hard to predict just because a lot depends on coaching and quarterback, but who do you think the next great dynasty in the NFL like the Patriots beside the Chiefs? Some might consider the Chiefs of Dynasty, and I agree if they win it this year.

Well, they already got a mini dynasty. They've been to four Super Bowls and whatever, six years. They've won three of them. they are currently the number one overall seed. I mean, it's them. Their coach quarterback, their general manager, their infrastructure is not going, their defensive coordinator,

they're just not going to go away. Now, not every year they're going to be 13, 12, and 1 or the number one seed. One year they're going to be 11 and 6. I think they were last year. And they won the, like, they just, they are the dynasty. Like, there is no other even remotely close

team in a conversation. So I think it's just them. We're in the middle of their dynasty. Which is cool. Long time listener, lifelong Eagles fan. Although I'm not the biggest Siriani guy, I'm wondering why he seems to be treated

more unfairly by the media and the league than other coaches. So many are quick to say, what does he do? No one hand while totally glazing the other leader of men, CEO type. Coaches like Harbaugh, Campbell, ETC.

I just don't think the media are quick to dump all the blame on him and none of the credit for the team's achievement. It can't be both. Fact is he's 46 and 19 as the Eagles coach and has them on the franchise's longest winning streak after being on the hot seat.

And he's not even remotely in the discussion for coach of the year. I think his awkward personality may just be off-putting. Yeah, I think there are a lot of factors. I think last year was pretty glaring. I think any time he's a pretty big front runner, at least he was before this year,

and I think that rubbed a lot of people the wrong way. There were articles like the quarterback wouldn't even talk to him last year. It doesn't feel like he was behind Kellynne Moore and Vic Fangio. Right? The organization hired them. I would also say the organization, when you say Howie and Jeffrey Lurie

almost feel bigger than the coach, right? Like they had Doug Peterson and they won a Super Bowl and they beat Bill Belichick and Tom Brady. And then they ran him out of town.

And I like Doug a lot. Like he's been very cool to me. I enjoy Doug Peterson. Anyone that knows Doug likes Doug. But like watch him in Jacksonville. He's not very good. Like if you remove Siriani from the infrastructure

that Lurie and how he provide and put him on the giants, no one has any faith that he knows what he's doing. I think, and when I say knows what he's doing, I meant like, is the guy driving this bus? Does he do something for sure? Obviously, he, like, leads the team eating, talks to guys of practice,

calls up the huddle after a win. But I think, you know, Harbaugh, his, let's use Jim Harbaugh, Like, it's tangible what he does. We've seen him six different places. They all win big. Just look at the Thursday night game. Jim Harbaugh's impact is undeniable.

Michigan, Stanford, Niners, San Diego, now the Chargers. It's honestly pretty crazy how good he is. And then you watch Sean Payton, there's just also no denying what he does. It's like, well, he calls the offensive game. And he coaches the quarterback. And I think you go around like Dan Campbell brought life People use Campbell as an example here

He took over the lions Do you know how insane that is to take over the lions And have them this good, this fast? It's one of the craziest things I've ever seen in sports Hey John, I wanted to give you a heads up The word salacious does not mean what you think it means I've been hearing you use it a lot Here's the definition

Having or conveying undue or inappropriate interest in sexual manners. The context I've heard of you is the guy took a salacious hit. Woody Johnson's story was salacious, not trying to be the vocab police, but wanted to give you a heads up. Well, the, uh, I hear what you're saying. We could have used a better, uh, adjective there than salacious. The Woody Johnson, Mike White was naked in the shower and slamming his helmet. And that's when Woody was saying that you should slam your helmet.

You suck. We could use a different word for big hits, but I hear what you're saying. Listen, I'm not acting. I'm not your typical Big J here. Well-read. I don't know if that's something someone would put right in front of my name.

Probably should read more. I use your game time code to buy tickets to Jerry's World to see Baker play Sunday night football. I'm a lifelong sooner fan, and this will be the first time I get to see Baker play live. I had a comp for Baker I was curious to hear your opinion of. I told my friends recently that I thought he is an upgrade version of Jeff Garcia.

He's a little bit thicker with a stronger arm. They both have ended up in Tampa after bouncing around their first successful spot and even have close to the same career record. Baker just passed Garcia in career touchdown passes this past weekend, which I didn't even know until I looked it up. but I also was curious to hear your thoughts on your opinion on the question. I tune in to Cleveland media periodically to hear them cope about Baker's success and they still say he was a bust.

What do you think the number one draft pick has to achieve? Baker Mayfield is one million percent not a bust. You can't be a bust when you sign second contracts for $100 million. I mean, busts are Leaf, Achilles Smith, Jim Marcus Russell. I mean, his guy, Trey Lance. it is just guys that just, you know, whether it's character stuff or whether it's ability, just can't play in the NFL. I mean, Baker Mayfield's about to lead a team back-to-back years of the playoffs.

Baker Mayfield's a really good player. I mean, Jeff Garcia, I do think their styles are a little different. I would say Jeff Garcia, trying to think of a Jeff Garcia comp. Jalen Hertz, not perfect. Jeff Garcia was like a movement, run around, make-throat. guy. I felt kind of undersized

not a huge arm. It's kind of a gamer. So he does have some similarities to Baker. Their play is very salacious. No, just kidding. Well, let's talk about Cleveland.

That's a salacious story. Yeah, I don't know. I guess I don't even know what the question. Cleveland, And sometimes, I think you see this a lot like when a guy leaves a company or people break up that they go on somewhere else to start their own thing or go work for someone else and have a lot of success, maybe more success that they previously had at their old spot.

Or that, you know, you see this a lot, you know, on Instagram. Someone breaks up with someone, two people you know, and then she like starts dating this really successful guy. And maybe they get married and have kids. You're like, damn, shit. But maybe there, those actions are independent of each other. It was like the previous relationship was not going to work. So whether she went and dated the next Jeff Bezos or dated, you know, the local

plumber, shout out to plumber. I actually probably need one right now. My water pressure is kind of weak. But, like, it had nothing to do with the, like, that relationship had to end. and once something ends, you don't control what happens to them. It's no different football. It's like if a guy's playing for me

in the NFL, you see this, I guess now in college too with the transfer portal, and I'm going to cut you or I'm going to tell you like you're not going to play here, you should hit the transfer portal. You might go on and become an incredible player. And there's nothing I can do about it.

It was like it wasn't working out here. And sometimes, you know, whether it's freedom, whether it's a newfound person, perspective, you're able to, I don't know, like, you know, get like a new lease on life.

And then opportunities that wouldn't have arose previously are available. So I think the Baker thing, like, Kim and Cleveland just weren't going to work after a while. Like, it had to end. Now, they didn't have to give Deshawn

that money, but they did. Would you agree that Herbert is today's version of Stafford? I say this because everyone knows the difference between a football and a ball gown can see that he's a talented and very good quarterback because he

because of lack of coaching in front office and aptitude he hasn't had success I would say the main differences is Stafford never got his Jim Harbaugh and now that he gets his Jim Harbaugh would anyone be shocked if in like you know three or four years

that team is is in the playoffs, unless there's some salacious story that comes out that derails everything. Thanks for the game time plug. I was always able to score tickets to see whatever is left of Lincoln Park

that spring for a hell of a deal. My issue with going to seeing Lincoln Park, which I'm glad thanks for using the promo code, well, I guess GameTime thanks you, but we appreciate the transaction. I mean, part of Lincoln Park, I mean, not having Chester, isn't that kind of the key to the band?

but hope they were good. Mailback question. I want to know your thoughts on the Lions' chances to win the Super Bowl are truly overdue to injuries. It looks like they're planning on getting some significant players over the coming weeks and throughout the playoffs. They do seem like a shell of themselves defensively with losing Davis and McNeil,

but they should be getting Jalen Reeves, maven back for the Bears, as well as another DB, with Anzolone coming back as well for the play. playoffs. I'm not a huge, I think you've got to be careful. It's one thing. It's like, hey, this guy's going to be back in a week or two.

Okay. Right. And then some of those. Like, hey, this guy could be back for the second round or the NFC. Like, that's a pretty big question mark. When you have a guy like coming back off a hamstring or an injury that's now been three or four weeks and he's going to. And then some of these, he should make it back for the playoffs.

And that's a Hutchinson thing. Like, maybe he could make the NFC chip. Maybe. but I don't know. I mean, I think that it's really, really hard to overcome what they're having to overcome. I think the best case scenario for them, and it's going to be difficult because, I mean, they're just, you know, the Vikings control their own destiny. Now, granted, the Lions play the Vikings.

But that number one seat's pretty big. I would say it means more to them than anybody because of how many guys are on the shelf. Love the pod tonight. I'm a lifelong Chargers fan and this was one of the best wins than I can remember. I agree, it was pretty big time. Partly because as a Chargers fan

and those of us that live on the West Coast that watch so many of their games over the last like two decades, I guess some of the L.T. Rivers teams were closing the deal in a lot of games but it does feel like the second half of Rivers career and then the Herbert

run was just filled with games like last night because every game they play in for like 20 years is relatively close in the regular season and the Anthony Lynn,

McCoy and then Brandon and Staley and God they lost a lot of them this is a strange question can I work for free for you just as simple as sending you stat breakdowns or anything like that I have two kids in no life other than football watching

I spend eight hours a day 12 hour shift watching football I appreciate you reaching out, Zach. Sounds like you watch a lot of football. I just really don't need anything right now. That's, you know, I get asked that question a lot. I just, there's not many needs I have. Honestly, maybe it's just I should read the websters a little more.

My dad would be not proud of my ability to nail a vocabulary word. I was wondering how you would approach this upcoming draft if you were the GM of the Chargers? Uh, I think you have to look at their defensive line. Cleo Mac still looks pretty good. I mean, he last night against, now granted,

McGlinchie, when you get on, I mean, boasts of smoke McGlinchie. The crazy part about McGlinchie is he's going to be a 12-year starter where he, if he's healthy, he literally starts for just five-year starter for the 49ers. He's going to start every game for Sean Payton. and he'll have made $100 million, and there is no one I have less confidence

if he's one-on-one in a passing down, second and third and long, against a higher-end pass rusher, it feels more likely that you're going to get a, watch out, right? He's got a lot of lookout blocks, and he had one last night when Bosa smoked him, but I do think both those guys,

obviously Joey Bost is younger in Kaleel. It's kind of crazy that Kaleel Mack has been, in the NFL for 11 years. Makes me feel really old. And he was like a fifth year guy coming out of Buffalo. Joey Bose is 29. I bet Khalil is 32 at least.

Khalil is 33. So, I mean, you got two guys, a lot of wear and tear. I think defensive line. Pass rusher. DB. I think defense. And then I think Harbaugh is going to draft a running back on the second day because there was some

sweet running backs and you know I think ideally what he had in Blake quorum at Michigan what he had at Frank Gore at uh with the 49ers he always had really really good running backs with the Stanford I think he'll look to get a bell cow running back and then honestly maybe he I don't know how good the tight end draft is it was actually good last year I'm not sure it's good this year I've noticed you speak very highly a Jim Harbaugh and rightfully so he's an excellent and well-accombal coach with a national championship. As a Ravens fan, though, I never heard you have the same energy for Harbaugh

when he's 3-0 against his brother and wins being the Super Bowl. Who do you think is the better coach? Well, I think Jim is. Now, Jim has proven it, you know, multiple places. I just think Jim, I think John, like Mike Tomlin, falls under the category of just same play so long. We both acknowledge they're both really good.

and I would say John's lost some really bad playoff games in recent memory. The game last year was atrocious. I mean, really bad. I would say the game several years ago against the Ravens, I was listening to Luan and Compton had on Gruden

and Gruden asked them what was your finest memory as a player in the NFL. And I think his example was playing, you know, New England and playing Baltimore in those two playoff games as big underdogs and running the ball down their throat. And I, you know, when I think of John Harbaugh, I think of pretty big disappointments in the games that have mattered with Lamar Jackson.

Obviously, John Harbaugh is really good. And I actually know a guy who recently worked for him who just said, it's remarkable. So I'm not trying to diminish him. I just think, you know, I mean, I've seen Jim do it like four different places. John's been, in one of the best organizations in the NFL and won. And now he has one of the best quarterbacks I've ever seen. And it's like, can he finally get it done? It's a big couple days coming up for John Harbaugh.

They could either win the division or they kind of be locked in his wild card. Now also, as we saw last year, I would put them in the category that if their defense plays better, they could win on the road. Hey, it's us to Jonas Brothers, and guess what?

We have some big news. huge news. We created our own podcast called Hey Jonas. We invented a podcast. Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to a... 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... Well, 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, S&L's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter.

Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Keith Giamanka seemed like a mild mass. Bernard Suburban Dad, but secretly he became someone else, a master of disguise who went on a crime spree. At the time, did it seem like a crazy idea? It seemed very crazy, but I felt so desperate that I felt it was the quickest, easiest way out.

Did you allow yourself to think about how it could go wrong and what that might look like? No, I didn't want to manifest that. I was trying to manifest success. Every family has its secrets. But what happens when you discover that your dad has been living a double life? That is not the look of an innocent man. This is going to change my life and my family dynamic forever because everything that had existed prior in my reality is now untrue.

Listen to Deep Cover the Family Man on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast. or wherever you get your podcasts. The story I've told myself about love or relationships can then shape my behavior, and that can lead me to sabotage the possibility of connection. This Mental Health Awareness Month, tune into the podcast deeply well with Debbie Brown and explore the journey of healing, self-discovery, and returning to yourself. We explore higher consciousness, emotional well-being, and the practices that help you find clarity, peace, and self-mastery in a world that can feel overwhelming.

The world is becoming lonelier. We're not becoming more social and connected. We're becoming more individualized, but we actually meet people in connection. If you've been searching for a soft place to land while doing the work to become whole, this podcast is for you to hear more. Listen to deeply well with Debbie Brown from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. If you're watching the latest season of the Real Housewives of Atlanta, you already know there's a lot to break down.

Gorsha accusing Kelly of sleeping with a merry man. They holding Kay Michelle back from fighting Drew. Pinky has financial issues. I like the bougie style of Housewives show. I think it looks like to be interesting. On the podcast, Reality with the King, I, Carlos King, recap the biggest moments. from your favorite reality shows, including the Real House Wise franchise, the drama, the alliances, and the T, everybody's talking about. As an executive producer in reality television, I'm not just watching it. I understand the game. As somebody who creates shows, I'll even say this.

At the end of the day, when people are at home, they want entertainment. To hear this and more, listen to Reality with the King on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. The Falcons make me laugh. They finally last January stopped Rich McKay from doing a Kevin Warren, that's the official word, and controlling everything behind the scenes, and they're still useless. Fontenau has got to go.

And so does Rahim. I'd love to see them hire someone different. They seem to cherry pick Tampa and the Saints personnel quite a lot. I'd be tempted to try Joe Brady if you can get the right GM. Bad news for Rahim fans are already thinking about the next coach. I think these last couple weeks are pretty big, man. I mean, if they were to lose a couple of these games down the stretch and Pennix looks bad,

and I'm a Michael Pennix guy, but that situation could be a disastrous offseason. Right? The cousin's thing was a failure. If you could have a do-over on that, you 100% would not have given him that money. And now there's all this pressure on putting Michael Pennix making his first start basically at Christmas

when the season's on the line. That's pretty cool. Why didn't they start them two weeks ago? That's what I don't understand. Why didn't they start them two weeks ago? At minimum, start them against the Raiders. But now you start them, and I get the giant stink, but man. Earlier in the video, you said Quinn Johnson, or whatever his name is,

and how he physically can't catch. How is that someone hasn't tried to move him to DB? He has never once been able to catch. Today, for the one big drop, you can see at least he is trying to use his hands. But he still has the habit of jumping like you would try to catch it in your gut. The guy has no chance of ever having hands.

What could be his route to redemption as a DB? I would say at the NFL level, that's a pretty big transition. I don't think you can necessarily just move him to safety because he's probably too big to play corn. I mean, how much does he weigh? 210 pounds? Let me see his measurables.

He's six foot. He's basically 6-3-2-10. He's got long-ass arms. He ran a 4-5. I think he'd have to play safety. But I don't know if he ever played defense in his high school career. His hands, he just, you can feel it. And some guys battle that, you know, Torelli.

Owens famously, you know, didn't have Chris Carter or Marvin Harrison's hands. I would say the modern day guy who doesn't have natural hands and is still a big-time player's D.K. Metcalf. To me, that, he would have to be kind of in that category of being this version of like after the catch, break tackles, go routes, but every time you throw him the ball, it's just a coin flip whether he's going to come down with it. I recently watched the old 30 for 30 doc on SMU receiving death penalty tied to the Pony Express.

And how guilty the NCAA felt over crushing the program, any chance the decision still loomed in the back of the mind of the committee in picking SMU over Bama? I think I would really doubt it

because yeah, I'd have a hard time. So they got the death penalty in what year? 84? What year is it? 90. When does their season go away? It doesn't even look like

so from 86 to 89 I don't think it did had any factor at all to be honestly. Pretty crazy. Think about the world we're living in now where it's like they even try to deny that it's pay to play. It's supposed to be NIL, right?

Like if I'm Yeti Coolers or Stanley or you name it. Taylor made. or Chevrolet, I give these guys an ad, which clearly they're just paying guys. Like, your name is it, it's in the likeness. Well, here's this 500 grand. It's like, well, what's this?

Is this like, is it getting an advertiser? No, it's just money. It's just pay to play, which I'm fine with. But that was basically, I don't remember. I'm pretty sure I watched it years ago. But wasn't that just because the two running backs, Craig James and, who was the other running back, the Pony Express?

Got like cars and money? A couple hundred thousand dollars back then, which obviously was a lot of money. Pony Express. S.M.U. Who was the second running back? Eric Dickerson. Think how stupid that sounds. Like you have the death penalty for paying players.

What a world do we live in. As a Jags fan, I really like Lawrence and think he can be the guy. But he has not been consistent and he was overpaid. What are your thoughts on the situation? Assuming Doug gets fired. I think that's a fair assumption. How do you think head coaching candidates view Trevor Lawrence? While the contract might be concerning,

do you think potential head coaches believe they can win with Trevor? And that they can make him elite quarterback given his talent. Would a younger offensive coach like Ben Johnson, Joe Brady, or Liam Cohen be able to build and would they be interested in the job? I think all these guys are going to be interested in the job. Now, I think one problem is, is Trevor Lawrence now has had poor play and injuries. So it's not just a guy that might need some help to break out of his poor play. His injuries, I mean, he was banged up last year, missed games,

and now he is missing the season getting shoulder surgery, I think, correct? So I just pulled up his contract. His contract basically starts next year. So his cap hit, like the dead money, in 25, the next two years he's basically on the team. His dead cap this year is 150. Okay, got that over with. 25, his dead cap is $133 million. In 26, it is 88.5.

God, they paid him a lot of money. I mean, the way that the spot track has it, the potential out is in 2008. Now, we've seen teams move before that. But I think for the health of the franchise, he's on the team for the next couple of years. So you would have to have some belief that you can make him play better. I don't know. Probably stay away from me.

Now it is, you know, the division is not great. Florida, no state income tax. So if I pay you $10 million a year, that's a lot of money. Desirable a place to live. live, I guess. Jacksonville, people seem to like it. But I don't know.

That seems like a very, very difficult job. With everything coming out regarding the Jets' ownership this season, dysfunctional ownership, it got me wondering about the other owners in the league. Could you share a tier list or rank the owners in the league? I actually have been working on this theory I was going to bring up with Coward on Sunday. is that when I was a kid, and honestly at the creation of the NFL, right, in the 70s when the AFL-N-FL merged and the Super Bowl was created, for decades, winning meant such a strong financial windfall, the difference of losing.

Because for a long period of time, getting people to attend your game was a big deal. Well, over the power of television, the advent of the streaming services, and the booming amount of money behind the television contracts, you don't need to win anymore as an owner. You're guaranteed to make money whether you win zero games or whether you win 17 games in the Super Bowl. Now, you make more through the different revenue streams, when you win.

Obviously, the Chiefs make more money now than if they were a four or five win team. But he would still make a astronomical, a massive amount of cash. I think I got to mix in a new word for astronomical. So if you got a good adjective to replace that one with fire it in my DMs, you're basically full proof.

You are recession proof in the NFL. So as an owner, if you think about it, like one thing that's in vogue are no Belichick, right? Even Vrable last year. It's like, yeah, we don't really want a guy that's not going to listen to us, whose ego is going to be as big as ours. We want a guy that we can tell what to do. And I do wonder if a lot of owners like having a guy that they can,

that will listen to them, that will take their dumbass ideas. Because back in the day, like hiring Mike Holmgren or Bill Parcells or, you know, whoever the big personality coach was, you just let them do it because you'd hope they'd win. It'd be more money for you. Now it's like, let them kick ass and take names.

Or listen to me. Either way, I'm making money. So the Chiefs, those guys have been so good. Clark Hunt lets them do whatever they want. I would say the bill, same thing. They are winning at such a consistent clip now. They get a lot of juice. The Steelers have had the same owner forever.

The Ravens are a good example. like he listens to De Costa and obviously Ozzie and John's been there for a long ass time you know I think the Chargers kind of battled this over the years and now they got Jim they kind of let him cook Denver new owners they pay Sean a bunch of money they just like let him cook but you see like the Patriots

I think they kind of like telling Jared Mayo what to do because for 25 years Bill told them what to do Tennessee clearly wanted that that's why they got rid of Rable you know the Browns like he tells everyone what to do constantly. It's not an easy place to work. The Bengals owner is essentially the GM.

You know, the Panthers, Tepper is all over that. The Bears are a good example. Like, their family isn't that confident to run the show so they hire Kevin Warren. It's just too many cooks in the kitchen. Cowboys, it's hard to overcome, Jerry.

He's always, you know, giving you stupid ideas when it comes to football. The Arizona Cardinals owner, like the Bidwell family has a long history of having no clue what they're doing, and being cheap. I don't even know about the Falcons, but I think most of the teams that are good, Eagles are somewhat of an exception because their GM and owner has a lot of juice, but like Kevin O'Connell, LaFleurorre, like they get to do whatever they want.

Dan Campbell, Kyle Shanahan and Shaw McVeigh, like people aren't fucking with them. But like I said the other night, if you're a super rich guy, you're going to listen to your kids a lot. and let's face it, if, you know, if I was 17, 18, 19 years old and an owner's kid, my ideas would probably be pretty stupid too. I would be, but I'd be talking to my dad constantly about the team. We need to get this guy. We need to get rid of this guy.

We need to hire this coach. Think how many takes if you were born into an NFL family, your dad owned the team. And by the time you came like 16, 17, 18, freshman in college, the amount of takes and thoughts on football you'd be giving him. And unlike everyone else in his life, who is on the payroll, and terrified to upset the Apple card,

which is his checkbook, as a kid, you don't give a shit. Because you know he's got, you're his kid. So you can give him just unfiltered opinions, which is not the case with basically everyone else in his life, which he probably appreciates and some of them he uses.

So I think that story sounds really crazy because it is if he actually told Joe Douglas he has a bad madden rating. Like that is, that's, you can't even begin to explain that one away. Like, that feels really low level. But if you don't think,

I guess this is the best way to put it. There is no way another team in the NFL has not had or their owner had not had an idea pitched to them by one of their younger children

assuming they have younger children that are in their teens that Madden played a part of personally this is basically asking me the question what's your opinion on the Madden ratings to evaluate the players he nixed the trade

and didn't want the team to sign guard Joe Simpson I almost busted a gut laughing what I read it was funny it's just it's a funny story and I mean it's just it's hilarious actually

because the Jets are at the point where everything is believable like if it came out that they hired you know you pick a coach let's say it's like the Jets have hired Aaron Glenn and then Rusini and Michael Silver

do an article about the process and it was like what they did is they took like the wheel of fortune and they put 10 names of guys they liked and they just spun the wheel and it landed on Aaron Glenn and that's why they chose him. If you wrote that down

after whoever's hired and said this is why they chose him, everyone would believe you. So the Jets are at the point now. And I heard Shreger saying this that like everyone is talking a bunch of shit about the Woody Johnson's kids

and here's where I do agree. Like if I was his, if I was Woody Johnson's kids, I would be throwing dumb ass ideas, surely. Because when I was 20 years old, now I didn't know anyone in the NFL, let alone an NFL owner, the ideas I'm sure I had for like team building

would have been moronic. So it's like, yeah, the guy listens to his kids. Now, does he listen to his kids and not his GM? Then that's a problem. My other thing, are like, are we sure Joe Douglas is like the best thing since Ozzy Newsom? Like, yeah, he's okay.

he also drafted Zach Wilson, who stinks. Like his entire career came down to drafting that guy. A couple questions. Do you think it was the right move to go to Pennix this year? And Judon did not produce like I thought he would. Does it make sense for the Falcons to go after Micah Parsons? Or are we so bad it won't make a difference? I would imagine...

Last time I heard Matt Judon... This is probably a month ago, had like two sacks. He has three and a half sacks on the season. So yeah, it's not going great. Listen, you couldn't keep rolling out, Cousins. I think the question with Pennix and Cousins is, why didn't we do this like two or three weeks ago? But watching him in that Raider game, you couldn't keep playing him.

You could not. I do think it makes it a lot easier that you're playing a bad team this week. Now, I think if you could look back, do it all over again. At minimum, you would have started him in the Raider game. But the time is now. Part of the reason I liked why I hated the move of drafting him to sit behind cousins, which looked like it was going to be a couple of years before they started playing games,

is Michael Penix as a 24-year-old six-year NFL or college starter. He's not a project. Now, is it going to be good or bad in the NFL? Who knows? No one does. But he's also the type player that, like, just put him in. Like he's ready to go. He's not J.J. McCarthy where you've got to work on some stuff.

Not saying that he doesn't need to work on stuff, but like he's a plug and play guy. And so maybe that serves them well. Maybe he'll hit the ground running. It wouldn't shock me if come Sunday that he throws, I mean, they're playing the Giants, like three touchdowns. Saints fan here. An even bigger three and out fan. I like this guy.

I was fine with the front office pushing contracts down the road. with the breeze later years, but it seems like they never got the memo that he retired. If you were the GM of the Saints, this off-season, what would your plan be? I think the move, remember at the end of like the Cam Newton era? Teper bought the team,

and then basically they just gutted everything. I think it might just be time for a gut job. Now they extended Alvin Kamara. I don't even know what would their big time assets be you know if he was under contract he would be an asset uh defensively they already traded laddimore you know cam jordan cam jordan like 35 years old he's pretty old obviously derrick has little to no value cam jordan he's 35 years old so i mean he doesn't have much chanelaner is where camps from i i think you just blow it up start over and just kind of eat it

You guys are in trouble. And let's face it, he kind of did you dirty, but Sean knew it. Sean could see the writing on the wall with the financial situation, no quarterback, and he jumped off the ship before it sunk. Which I don't blame him, but it sucks to be a fan to be like, well, Sean Payton, I mean, the chances of you replacing that is going to be very difficult. Even this off-season. And I think because of your...

your financial situation as a franchise, it's hard to get people to go there because you don't have any flexibility. I'm not sure if this is the right spot, but I had a question for the mailbag. What are your thoughts on Darnold to the Seahawks? I'm a diehard Seahawks fan for 30 years, and I think Sam would be a great fit.

I don't think he'd be a bad fit. I mean, when you look at, you got a deep threat in DK, he can throw bombs. You got guys, you know, Tyler Lock is getting up there in age, but Jackson Smith is just a fantastic elite. talent and you got multiple running backs in Charbonnet and Walker, the offensive line stinks, but you don't have to give up any assets to get them so you can just, why don't you just draft offensive linemen? I'd be all for it. I would say the 49ers do not want

that to happen. I'm a big Colts fan. What do you think the Colts should do at GM head coach and quarterback in 25? I think Ballard should be fired because of the last of success, lack of success for the last eight years. The last time the Colts is, the last time the Colts won the division was 2014. Jesus. The Texans have won six times since then. The Jags have won at two times and the Titans have won at two times. I want the Colts to keep Stiking and pair with the GM he knows well.

Alic Hallaby. On the Eagles would be a good fit. He has been with the Eagles for 17 years and has a strong emphasis on analytics. I also think Richardson should get one more year, but they should sign Fields running quarterback to compete. Pete in training camp. Richardson has been poor, but if you suck next year,

you can draft a quarterback high in 26, like Arch Manning. What our owner would love to do. It's a good question. You know, ironically about Alex is he texts me, I didn't talk to him in a long, long time. And he texts me probably

within the last couple months that he just enjoys my stuff. And then I text him back and he never responded. Yeah, Alex is, when I was with the Eagles, if you looked at Alec Haliby's computer, it would probably look like something you would see it like the Pentagon, meets like the CIA, meets like, you know, Elon Musk and Tesla. I mean, it was like, I have no clue what's going on here.

He's brilliant. He's really, really smart. I don't know. I can't speak to the relationship between Steichen and Halibie. but I want a route for Ballard. Like I want him. I don't know him, but everyone I know that knows him loves the guy.

But it's a disaster. It really is. I mean, they waited and they waited and they waited on a quarterback. And his whole thing was always, I can't just take a quarterback because you guys want me to take quarterback. I have to love the quarterback.

If we're going to take quarterback in one of these high rounds, like we got to like him too. We can't just take quarterback because we need a quarterback. And then finally he goes all in on this guy. And it's just, it's bad. I mean, it really is. Because he has fundamental flaws that I don't know if you can overcome. And when you can't accurately throw the football

and you have little to no touch, it's a problem. And I think because of his immense talent, he's one of those guys you hold on to. So it's like, do you bring in, like, would you sign Sam Donald this offseason? Well, if you do, then you just get rid of Anthony Richardson. But does Anthony Richardson has any value? He's the fourth overall pick.

He was drafted two years ago. So next year, I'm just thinking off the top of my head. He probably makes like $7, $8 million. Someone trading for that? Is their backup quarterback? Could you move him to like tight end or running back? Yeah, I don't know. I don't believe Ballard will be fired until he's actually fired, so I think that he will keep his job.

I would expect all these guys to be back. I would say Anthony Richardson would be the guy to go. Now, you'd go, so Ballard gets multiple coaches, he gets all these quarterbacks. He just can't get the quarterback, right? He really can't. It's kind of crazy. Why did the Niners release Darnel last season? they had great quarterback on the roster knowing Purdy would be negotiating his contract.

They would have some leverage there. Follow up. Why don't the Niners go get Darnold? If he's not retained by the Vikings, he's not going to cost as much as Purdy and has a lot of potential. Well, he was a free agent, so he was on a one-year contract to be the backup. I think they paid him. I forget the number off the top of my head, like $3 million, $2.5 million. Then they wanted to keep him.

The Vikings offered him $10 million. And it's not like he played. I mean, I guess he played, maybe he played Week 18 against Carson once. I can't even remember now. I've barely watched that game. But he didn't play any meaningful snaps, so you're basically just going,

you're buying this new mindset, but not because he had started half the games. I think when you look at Purdy, I think Kyle loves Purdy. By everything that I know, and everyone in the loop, like Kyle is very, very invested in Brock Purdy. So as long as Kyle is around,

Brock Purdy's going to be their quarterback. Like, I'm not opposed to doing something. Like, would I rather have Sam Donald for $28 million than Purdy at $55 million? Well, yeah. But I'd rather give Sam Donald $70 million guaranteed than Purdy $180 million. Of course.

But the guy that's pulling the trigger on that is Kyle Shanahan. He's the boss. First and foremost, my heart, goes out to Chubb. I think he's talking about Nick Chubb. Two questions. Should Nick Chub think about retirement, given his injury history?

And with this in mind, should Cleveland draft Genty? Sometimes you just... You know, this... I do understand the mindset of Andrew Luck, who said that just after a while, that rehab table and that training room made him like question his own saying,

and if you're Nick Chubb and you have this devastating knee injury and you come battling back and then you're coming back and you're working your way through it, you're playing and then all of a sudden you shatter a bone, you're like, what is happening to me? I would say given there's just a broken bone, maybe I'm missing some information, but he can come back from that. Now, Nick Chubb is going to impact I'm trying to read.

Doesn't sound like it's too bad. If Nick Chubb wants to be a brown, he'll be a brown next year. This is a teammate talking. He's a free agent. Yeah, I don't know. I don't think he retires. And I would doubt Cleveland,

which is pretty analytically driven, would take a running back in the first round. Because part of this draft is supply of demand. There are probably 10 guys that are going to get drafted in the first three rounds. So aren't you better off drafting another position that's harder to find? You know, maybe a pass rusher, maybe an offensive lineman, maybe a quarterback, and then drafting a running back in the second or third round? I mean, where would Nick Chubb get drafted?

Remember, Nick Chub wasn't even the first running back off his own college team. That was trivia. Sonny Michelle. Not a great pick by Bill Belichick. Lifelong Longhorn fan With the way Quinn has been playing Do you think there's a chance

He returns for another year Or should he go pro If he has a good playoff run Is there any reason he couldn't be the third quarterback taken After Sanders and Ward Maybe fall into a better situation I saw a headline like two weeks ago That his status

Is up in the air in terms of of maybe he would go to the transfer portal because if people are like hey you're going to get drafted in like the fifth round maybe he would just go to another school I don't see any scenario in which he returns to Texas

Arch Manning is going to be the quarterback for the Longhorns in 2025 like that's a fact obviously if he's healthy so Ewers has two options does he go pro or does he transfer to another school now the question is

who would want them? Right? Like the top, top teams? Like, would DeBoer want them? Would Georgia want them? Because if he could go to one of those schools, then you'd have to entertain it. You could make millions of dollars.

But if you have to level down, that's pretty risky. You might as well just go pro now. You know, I think was it Stucky that said that he might go to Michigan State? Maybe it was my guy Jackson. That'd be a lot of risks there. I'm 27 and going back to college and have my AA and business management.

I saw Arizona State has a sports business major. I watched sports my whole life, but around high school became fascinated with the business of sports. I'm married with two kids, and I'm wondering if you have advice about this being a good potential career option. If I went with this degree, I would aspire to be in a finance department or front office in some way. I live in Orange County, so there are pro sports teams here everywhere around me.

I got a master's when I was a GA at Fresno State in sports administration. And it had little to no impact. It literally had no impact on the rest of my life. Now, I didn't have the time and I would not have been able to study enough to get like a true MBA, just a business degree. but I would say a business degree, an MBA or an undergraduate degree, I don't know where you're going to school, but to just get into the business school would be more impactful

and better off for your future than the sports business degree. Because if you wanted to get involved in a front office from a finance side, I think you would have probably an easier entry with just a general finance degree from, you know, UC Riverside or UCLA or whatever, then a sports business degree. Because it's not like a sports business degree. I guess even at A, maybe at ASU,

I don't know enough about that, but I don't think they're just funneling you into the Arizona Cardinals. Because if you were, had a undergraduate business degree at ASU, I think you could get hired there just as easy. or with the Lakers or whoever you were trying to work with. 27, two kids married. Seems like you get your shit together. Everyone keeps talking about Vrable and all these other coaches.

What about Pete Carroll to the Chicago Bears? He says he still has the energy and he knows how to build a culture. You know, I think when you look at historically, makes a lot of defensive guy. We know Chicago likes defense. You know, he is a little desperate. He might be willing to listen to Kevin Warren, unlike Belichick and Vrable,

because it kind of looks like no one's ever going to hire him to do anything ever again. So I think you could do a lot worse. Now, I've heard a lot of people say that they have to go offense. It's like, okay, but I think they just need to get the right coach. Even if you get an offensive guy, then your defense sucks, and what if he's not great with the entire coach? team.

I just think they need to hire the right coach. They could do a lot worse than Pete Carroll. A lot worse. That's for sure. Do I think they hire Pete Carroll? I don't. My gut says Pete Carroll's not their next coach. Okay, last question.

Was listening to you talk about Prote's contract, comparing him to Dak, Trevor Tua, and I agree. Though I like him as my quarterback, I think 50 plus million average per year to be reserved for future Hall of Famers. But with the quarterback market looking like it just keeps growing exponentially, what do you think gets it to stop or slow down? I feel like we're looking at the 2000-8 housing bubble with quarterback contracts.

One main difference in that analogy is in 08, let's use the big short, the movie. The scene when they're in Miami, I think they're at the strip club, and the strippers are all buying a bunch of homes. They're not putting any money down. They're not getting their income checked. It was kind of fake. I mean, it was a giant house of cart. It was a Fugazi.

You didn't need anything to get approved to get a mortgage. Where these teams are actually giving these people cold hard cash. And they just feel like these other quarterbacks don't exist. Or that once I have one, it's a very big risk to try to upgrade when I'm in that kind of non-top five, six guy. But, you know, my guy is good enough to win me the division and compete in the playoffs. But we all agree, like, he's not the best. He's not going to the Hall of Fame.

He's not some, like, all-time great talent. I also think the incoming crop, like, there's a bad quarterback class in the draft. So you're like, are even better quarterbacks coming in the draft? For the next couple years. Like, look around college football. It's like, who's the best prospect besides? Shador Sanders for the next couple years. It's like Arch Manning.

He started like two games in his life. And if his name was Arch Middilkoff, we would never be talking about him. So I think there's more substance behind this. No one ever just lets a guy leave. Ever. It took cousins tearing his Achilles. If cousins hadn't torn his Achilles

and they had ended up with 10 wins in a wild card spot, I wonder if there's a deal. the chance he's still on the Minnesota Vikings. It was easy once he tore his Achilles. It was like, yeah, we'll just move on. So I think a lot has to do with teams terrified of the unknown. And it's like they have so much money that they're like, yeah, we'll just ride with Tua. We'll just keep rolling with Purdy.

And obviously, Purdy is a better player than Tua and accomplish more. But you know what I mean? The 08 housing market was just, it was all fake. This is not fake. Trevor Lawrence is getting real money. And they're just going, how are we going to upgrade over Trevor Lawrence? Now, I do think the negotiation that was there,

it's like you did not need to give that much money. Like part of whatever happened to like, you know when eBay first started and you'd find something cool that you'd want to buy? And you'd be like, I got $200. And once you hit a certain number, you're like, well, I'm out. I'm not getting that.

Sometimes you would just, no one else would bid. You're like, I just got this, you know, signed Lorenzo Neal Fresno State picture that I can put in my college dorm room for $7. Hell, yeah. I just got Larry Bird's underwear for $17 that are signed. I mean, the shit on eBay was incredible. And every once in a while, you just throw in a bid and no one else would bid and you'd get it. Like, whatever happened to like, hey,

we're not getting into a bidding war with you. We're not even negotiating against ourselves. The market is the market. No, this is what we're offering you. We have you under contract for several years. We're ready to play ball here in terms of we're not afraid. Like, this is what, we're not budging off this. Teams get so scared now.

Back in the day, you would just battle it out for a couple of years. Like, whatever happened to that? It's like, yeah, we're not going to be the victim here. We're offering you $150 million guaranteed. Why want $200? No. When did that stop? It happens all the time.

Anyone that's bid on a house, it happens. You're like, yeah, we're not going over that number. Okay, we're not doing a deal. Okay, see you later. The difference is you already have that person under contract. Trevor Lawrence was under contract for two more years, his fourth year and his fifth year option. And they're like, here's $200 million guarantees.

He's like, what are you guys doing? Maybe I'm just clueless, but I don't get it. I feel like these agents really, really take advantage. It's one thing if it's Justin Jefferson, right, or some all-time great talent, you're like, yeah, Josh Allen or Lamar Jackson. It's another thing when these guys are clearly in the second or third tier. I just don't get it.

Now I get it. You've got to pay somebody, but I think a lot of money right now in the NFL is getting wasted on closer to average players getting paid. like they're pro bowlers and they are simply just not. Appreciate everyone listening. Thanks everybody for coming in the DMs. I just, there's just not enough time in the day to respond to all you guys.

So we'll just keep banging it out. Probably keep banging them out as we go next week as well. And have a good weekend. Enjoy the games. And I will talk to you soon. The volume. Hey guys, it's us. The Jonas Brothers.

I'm Joe. I'm Kevin. 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. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman, help me. make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel, 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 IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas.

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

Wow. Then after that game seven, Marquis come in two, he's like, you know, I love you, dog. You know, it's all love. This was just playoffs. This was just basketball. So listen to Point Game on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Every family has its secrets. But what happens when you discover that your dad has been living a double life?

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