The Herd with Colin Cowherd - 3 & Out - USA BEATS Canada, Is there value to going to the Combine, Chicago MOVING to Indiana?

Episode Date: February 23, 2026

John is BACK and opens the show talking about how great it was watching Team USA take down Canada in the Olympics to win the Gold Medal. John talks about the similarities between Team USA and Seahawks QB Sam Darnold. Next, John dives into the importance of the NFL Combine and why he feels having personnel from every team at the Combine is something that is extremely important and doesn't understand why some teams don't send people to the event. Finally, John reacts to the news about the Chicago Bears potentially moving to Indiana.   Follow John on Twitter, Instagram and YouTube for the latest.  All lines provided by Hard Rock Bet Use promo code “3ANDOUT20” on https://nicokick.com/zone for 20% off at checkout! Check out Gametime - the fastest growing ticketing app in the US, and the official ticketing app of 3 & Out and GoLow -  for tickets to all of your favorite NFL, NBA, NHL, NCAA teams. Concert and comedy show tickets, too. Go to Gametime now to create an account, download the app and use code JOHN for $20 off your first purchase. #VolumeSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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What is going on, everybody, John Middlekopf, Three Now Podcast. Hopefully you're doing well out there in the streets. Let's see if I still know how to podcast. Your boy is back. We are back again, recording a little podcast after a week. You know, a couple years ago, it would have been a nice little vacation week. Who knows, maybe it would have gone to somewhere, I guess I live in somewhere sunny, but Hawaii or something. Now I just sit and hold a baby and watch the Olympics.

So get three hours sleep. So life has changed, but sports is not. So I'm going to lead today's show with the USA hockey situation. That was just, I watched so much Olympics over the last week and watching that game this morning and watching all the games this week with the hockey team. Sports is special, man. That was really, really cool. This is the Combine Week.

We will be going to the Combine for a couple days, rubbing elbows with the people. Coach Reed, I was texting him. I said, coach, come on the podcast, said, John, I will not be there. I'm on an injured reserve. So Andy will not be on the show. He got knee surgery. But I think we got Vech. I sent out a million texts to GMs.

efforting coaches, so we'll see what happens. But we'll have a lot of content coming from the combine. But I want to dive in with some general thoughts on the combine. And then one of the big stories last week while I was not doing shows was the Bears moving to Indiana. So some thoughts there we will dive into as well. And that'll be the podcast today. We'll do a big mailbag for tomorrow. At John Middlecoff, at John Middlecoff for tomorrow.

I think I'm going to record that actually right now. but fire in those DMs. We will do mail bags. They're not going away. We are going to buckle back up. Ad John Middilkoff is the Instagram firing those DMs. And you guys know the drill.

Subscribe to the podcast. Wherever you may listen, Spotify, Apple, and obviously all the videos, they live on a little thing called Netflix. We appreciate everyone watching. So let's just, let's dive in. There's a hockey show. Let's dive into USA, baby.

Like, if you're listening to this, I'm sure we can agree. Like, we're big sports people. We like sports. I grew up loving sports. It was honestly the only thing or one of the only things in life I could remember. Like, I could go to class. I couldn't remember anything the teachers told me through college.

I got a graduate degree. I don't remember much if anything I've ever learned in a classroom. Yet if you told me, especially when I was younger, peppered some guy that played in 1993, where did you go to college? I knew it. How many yards he had? How many home runs he had? You know, I love that. stuff. And when it comes to sports, like, I am an equal opportunist. Now, I don't like hockey as much as I do

football or golf, but I treat it a lot like the UFC. I don't watch the NHL, though I do chime in the playoffs. I don't watch the UFC, but I couldn't have any more respect for the people that participated in it. Their respect level for me is a 10 out of 10. And like many of you, I watched every minute of this USA hockey run and I was glued. The Hughes brothers, the Kachuk brothers, obviously the momentum from the All-Star game

format of last year, which was incredible. All these same players that were on those teams was just freaking awesome. Then you factor in USA across their jersey. You factor in that we got to take out potentially if we could make it there.

Canada, who some players in the tournament on other teams that play in the NHL considered this Canadian team like the greatest team ever assembled. In fairness, Sidney Crosby got hurt a couple games ago, but they got the best player in the world in Connor McDavid. They got the next Connor McDavid. Celebrini, whose dad is the Warriors athletic trainer. So I'm from the Northern California. So I'm definitely more into the sharks now that he's on the team.

But let's face it, most people thought we were going to lose in this game. And this is what makes sports so powerful. is my, because of my wife, I watch Alana Bravo, whether it's Southern Charm, whether it's Summerhouse, our guy Wes, who I met at the volume party, who's on Summer House, who's really fucking cool and is now becoming a big star on that show, to Love is Blind. I mean, we have been dialed into that show. These all have scripted elements to them. I mean, there are moments in all these shows that's like, this isn't raw and real, this is fake. And in fairness, they're in the business of getting the most people watch. It's entertainment. And ultimately sports is entertainment, but there's a purity to it.

And there was, and we've seen it recently, like, Sam Darnold several years ago was one of the laughing stocks of the sport of football, whether it came to getting mono, I think it's a rookie, to I'm seeing ghosts, to people just generally thinking he is not a good player, to several years later being the starting quarterback for a team that won 17 games and the Super Bowl. and now Sam Darnold before Josh Allen, before Lamar Jackson, two guys, they're going to be first about Hall of Famers. He has a Super Bowl before those two guys. Like, you can't make that stuff up.

You couldn't write that stuff in sports movies. And then you get this group today who, one, I don't quite understand. You know, all these games have been in the middle of the day, like 1 o'clock mountain time for me, which is late in Italy. And I get there's a time change. but for some reason this game kicked off at the crack of dawn.

Anyone that has a young child, you don't get much sleep, you're going to bed at like 3 o'clock in the morning, was hard to get up for, but found a way to like kind of groggy watching it on my phone the first couple periods, then you kind of wake up and watch the stretch of the game. But it was just something that so many people in my life that I would not consider hockey people.

I don't have that many hockey friends. I honestly don't know if I really have any. my wife would be on the extreme end. Her brother and herself and her dad, they were season ticket holders. Well, they weren't. Their dad was to the San Jose sharks. They grew up going to these games. They love hockey.

The first time, I've only been to one hockey game in my life. It was one of the Phoenix Coyotes. They played in downtown or they played at Tempe where ASU plays. It's literally ASU's club hockey arena. It seems like 4,000 people. And I got up while the action was going on to go get, either go to the bathroom or get a beer, whatever. My wife, like, you cannot get up.

I'm like, what do you mean? And they wouldn't let me get up. Because in hockey, it's not baseball, it's not basketball, it's not, you can't just get up whenever you want. You can only get up and go to the concourse to the bathroom, whatever, when the action is stopped. And I was like, I didn't even know these rules. But you couldn't help but get behind these guys, their emotion, their strong connection

to each other and the pride they took in their logo. let's face it. You know, I love football, but there's no, flag football is going to be in the Olympics. It's not real football. And I know flag football has expanded, a lot more people have interest. Like, it is a completely different game than what we watch during the fall, right? Baseball, basketball, all these other sports can play their same game in the Olympics. It's pretty cool. And basketball forever, like when I was a kid, the dream team was created, they beat the shit out of everybody. Other teams were waiting in line to get Michael Jordan, Charles Barclay, Larry Bird, and Magic Johnson's autographs, to now 20 years later, we lost some Olympics,

to the last Olympics with Stefan LeBron, there was like, that was incredible theater. And this is an issue the NBA has. When the people involved in the entertainment don't care, you can't expect the consumer to care. It's one thing football has built in. Football, when you watch a football game, for the most part, right, obviously you get blowouts in games that aren't close. the most part. Every team, especially in the NFL and high level of college, is giving 100% their full effort. No one ever disputes with college football or the NFL that players and coaches

aren't doing everything humanly possible Monday through leading up to the game to get ready and then during the game laying it all on the field. It's why I think it really resonates with so many people. Obviously, the inventory factor, there's not as many games, but when you turn on the game, like everyone is just laying it on the line. It's why, UFC has become such a rocket ship. When you watch these fights, you're like, these guys, they are just crazy. To get in that octagon, the level of effort you have to put in just preparing, let alone the craziness in which you have to get in there to even attempt to win a fight.

And that's the one thing hockey has. Jack Hughes, who scores the game-winning goal, is interviewed after, he's missing a tooth and bleeding. He just lost in that game. Like that's the thing everyone, we'll dive into the combine and draft prospects. Part of this dude at Kansas who keeps tapping out of the games, one of the things I keep saying is this is not football or hockey. Like your likelihood of getting a major injury,

especially as a smaller player, it's one thing as a big, is kind of slim the nut. And especially when you're getting judged against all these other guys in your class who are just playing balls to the wall. It's why if you watch BYU, if you watch that kid at Arkansas, if you watch Boozer play at Duke, you're like, God, These guys play really, really hard, which I think we all really respect. You look at this NFL draft class.

We watch Fernando McDoza. We watched the two defensive linemen at Miami. You're like, these guys, till the season ended, just fucking gave it all they had, which you have to respect. Because winning and losing obviously is very difficult. The margins between them are very, very slim. But you watch a day and you just watch a group like that was pretty special. I don't know what else to say.

It was just a pretty cool, really cool, genuine moment. And I just thought it resonated with a lot of people you can tell online because, one, we weren't supposed to win. Two, this is not our sport. I put this out on Twitter earlier this week. I kind of hate. That's actually a pet peeve of mine when people say that.

Like, I tweet it out like, no one cares. But I was thinking this, that's probably a better way to put this. Earlier this week when I'm trying to console my child from screaming where you could hear him from 10 miles away, not because we're doing anything, just because he's a baby and they scream. And the problem is they can't really communicate so you don't really know what's up. But that's the story for a different day is that this hockey team, this group of guys who all seem, like I'm Googling them all, between 25 and early 30s, to be everything we've always wanted, and I don't pretend to be a soccer guy, though I respect the power of the sport.

I saw someone put out on Instagram within the last week that, the power of the global sport, because clearly Raj, I mean, he's sending people to Australia. The Niners or Rams are kicking off there potentially on Wednesday, which I do understand why they're going to have to play a game on Wednesday. Because of the calendar and the laws, they're not going to be able to play on Friday, week one this year, but they want to get two games before the weekend. So they're going to cheat the system and go Wednesday. So they said, might as well send them to Australia.

But clearly, they want, and listen, the bad bunny situation, Roger wants to go international. He wants to go global. There was a reason he would rather go with Bad Bunny than like Morgan Wallin or Metallica. He'd rather resonate with other people in other countries. That is their next big. I've been saying this forever. Roger Goodell wants to have a package where they're playing all over the world every single week. That is clearly a stated desire and goal from the league office right now.

Whether we agree or disagree, whether it's going to work, only time will tell. But the old adage in business, you're either growing or you're dying. And, like, I think he'd be the first to say it's going to be hard to add more domestic fans. He's probably right. And I think a lot of casual people would go, you guys are printing money, you don't need to get any bigger. That's not how businesses think. It's like, how do we grow? How do we incrementally grow?

And back to the soccer thing is, I guess there was a soccer game, like Man City might have played Liverpool or somebody. And it might have been Sunday morning of the Super Bowl and 750 million people watched. Like 150 million people watch Super Bowl. 750 million people watch that game. And I think Roger, even forever is like, Rogers trying to screw Adam Silver. I don't think Roger Goodell thinks about Adam Silver.

He's completely irrelevant to their operation. I think he goes, how do we become closer to soccer in the EPL? And again, whether that's possible or not, I don't know. But part of what makes the Olympics cool is like this global operation. Now, hockey is a little more specific to certain countries, right? Canada dominates. in theory some like eastern European countries should dominate.

And obviously we've gotten really good. And we haven't won the gold since 1980 when NHL players weren't even there. But watching the pride and the joy they had in it. And then there's just, I said this about Sam Darnold. There was a human interest level story in Sam. Most of us could relate to it, right? He failed, stumbled. Now, most of us can't relate to like millions of people watched his,

his failure, right? And I guess indirectly made fun of him. When we stumbled, maybe our family knows, maybe the people were working with knows, it's much more of a kind of controlled environment. But I think that resonated with a lot of people. And then you went like, is Sam a good guy? Is Sam the type guy that most people I know would want to be friends with? And the answer was like, always yes. So I think a lot of people just gravitated like, Sam Darnold is just a fun story to root for. He is a relatable individual. And you watch these guys, that moment, like, you can't make up the situation that happened with, I think it's Johnny Gudrow. I might be messing up his name, also known as Johnny Hockey, who died in one of the worst tragedies you can ever imagine.

Right. Hit riding a bike with his brother the day before his sister's wedding. while he has two young children and it turns out his wife was seven months pregnant. I just, I can't even, even before I had a child, that story is just, that hurts every single human I will ever meet to their soul. Died riding a bike the day before his sister's wedding while his wife is pregnant, while they also have two young children with his brother. and he obviously was a star American hockey player. By all accounts, he not only would have been on this team, but he was close friends with all these guys. And then they win the gold,

and his best friend, his teammate, who happens to be on this team, grabs his kids, brings him out to take the picture with his jersey. Like, it's like you can't, I don't get those reactions and those feelings inside me. in many walks of life right most people like you don't have a kid every day you don't get married every day

you don't go on the best day of your life most days you don't have devastating things happen to you most days you don't even have that many things that happen outside of your world that really emotionally move you most days I mean you just don't you know especially if you don't live on your fucking phone

and let the Algo create madness in your brain and you see this and you go, damn, that's something that just, words can't even describe it, but you know when you watch it, the feeling you get inside. And that's what I think this, what happened with this team was like,

man, that was really, really cool. And I think sports is still one of the last kind of areas in society where it just draws so many people, from so many different walks of life, from so many different beliefs, from so many different economic statuses, from most of us that you're listening to me, I'll probably never meet you.

Yet we all sat there and watched these games and had a similar reaction. No different than Canada being devastated by losing the game, right? That it draws all these people in a country that live on opposite ends, you know, of 3,000 miles away, they're all pulling in the same direction.

Now, Canada pulling for their guys is more like us pulling if the NFL was a global sport and we were represented in the Olympics to play football. Right? That's not the case. But I just think that was awesome. It really was. And I couldn't get enough of it. And I'm glad that the way the timing of this worked out with my day,

hopefully many of your days, were able to experience that run. because that was really fucking cool. Today's show is brought to you by our presenting sponsor Hard Rock Bet, Florida's Sportsbook. I know it's tough when no football makes me sad. But like the song says, I bet I will survive. With Hard Rock Bet, there's always something every single night. Oops, hockey, so much more. Plus, all the great same game parlay, live betting, and player prop options you're used to.

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Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, New Jersey, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia. Hey, it's us, the Jonas brothers, and guess what? We have some big news. What's the news, name? Huge news. We created our own podcast called, Hey, Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it.

We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts throughout there. But this one's extra special. So how 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. Well, 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, where people could call in and say, hey, Jonas. And then I wrote down on my little notepad, Hey Jonas, and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast.

But thanks for remembering that, guys. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends, me and hilarious guests from Bob.

Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

The French Open is one of the toughest tests in tennis, and I know firsthand because I competed there myself. I'm Renee Stubbs, and on the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast, I'm breaking down everything happening at Roland Garris, every match, every upset, and what it really takes to win on Clay. Jenschen win. I mean, she went down in three to Rabakina, but I'm delighted. She's an outsider to win the French for me. And she likes Clay. Listen, Lina Rabakina is arguably the best player in the world right now, and I actually can win on any surface. Because if she's serving, well, good luck. Consider this your court-side seat to the French Open.

Listen to the Renee Stubbs Tennis podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year.

Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Jacob Kingston grew up in an isolated polygamist sect. We were God's chosen kingdom on earth. He felt destined for greatness. So when a swaggering Armenian businessman catapults Jacob into an extraordinary world, He doesn't look back.

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The largest tax investigation in American history. You need to tell me what you know. Is somebody coming? coming after me. Jacob told Levan, you're ruining my life. Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. The Combine is this week.

And big picture, I mean, there were a lot of talks over the last several years to move the combine to Los Angeles. My buddy Phil Savage, who I haven't talked to in a while, I think he's still working for the Jets, ran the senior bowl for a long time. He's originally from Alabama, worked for the Ravens. forever, became a GM in the league. I worked with them for a brief stint in Philadelphia. That's how I got to know him. And when he ran the senior ball, I remember talking to him, he's the thing he was always worried about. And he's, he lives in New York City now,

but forever he's from Fair Hope, Alabama. And, you know, the small town, that area, it means a lot to him. He was always worried that they were going to move the senior bowl eventually to like Los Angeles, right, to the SoFi Stadium. And it still might eventually happen, right? Jim Nagy, who then ran the senior bowl. after Phil is now the GM at Oklahoma. So, and by all accounts, the senior ball, the talent they get is not quite the same. I don't think it's necessarily long for Alabama. I'd say the same thing about the combine.

They desperately wanted to move the combine to a bigger city, specifically Los Angeles. And there was a lot of pushback for the league. It's really one of the most unique places I've ever been to because you can stay at most of the hotels, whether it's the Spring Hill Suites or whether it's like, I don't think they have a four-seat. seasons in Indy, but like the J.W. Marriott, which is probably the nicest hotel, to all these, you never have to go outside. So even in the heart of winter when it's freezing cold, it's all connected by these walkways and this convention center that leads right to the football

stadium that you're all kind of under the same cocoon. It's just an incredible city to operate from a logistical standpoint to run this event. And there was a major pushback and they were able to keep the event in Indianapolis, which I'm glad. It's a city that I don't go do very often, and I've only been to for the combine. But whatever I'm there, someone asked me recently, like, what's it like? Is it a cool city? I'm like, yeah, I always really, really enjoy it. It's clearly kind of a small, bigger Midwestern city that it's just very, very easy to operate.

But the keys of this week, which has changed a lot. A lot of teams, I just read a story today, read a story to be strong, saw a headline that the Jaguars will not attend. You know, the Rams do not attend. Kyle Shanahan, I'm sure, will not attend. A lot of people have chosen. Sean McVeigh will not be at the combine. Now, John Lynch will be there.

I don't think Les Sneak goes. A lot of GMs go if their coaches don't go. No one with the Jags is going. And I think the Jags, like the Rams, they believe there's this bias. Kyle Shanahan just doesn't want to go. Things is kind of pointless. He just zooms into the media. Listen, I think there's value there.

And I want to go through some of the things that are valuable. One, the most valuable thing in the immediate is your GM and your front office going to gauge the market. How much are players on my team that are free agents going to cost? Because these agents are going from team to team finding the market, finding the number, and then knowing how much higher with that number can we go. So the number one thing of the free agents that are on your own team that you want to keep how much are they going to cost? What's the price?

And can we afford to keep them based on our salary cap? Or if we can't, do we need to manipulate some stuff so we can't re-sign them? To me, that's the number one thing. And then the guys that are not on your team that you would be interested in signing, how much are they going to cost? So you can gauge, do we have enough room to sign them? Because by now, you've targeted the good teams. It's hard for some of the teams with new coaches, a lot of moving parts.

But if you have a team that everyone, you know, the past, Packers, the Niners, the Rams, all your front office and coaching staff is returning. You have spent the last month plus determining these three or four guys are number one targets. Well, how much are those guys going to cost and can we afford to have them in our salary cap? And if we can't, can we manipulate some guys that are on our team, move some money back, and figure out a way to keep them. So to me, it's all about in a couple weeks, free agency hits, setting that up. And then factored into that, if you are team,

interested, a lot of these new teams, you know, whether you're the dolphins, the Harbaugh, the Ravens, all these teams have new coaches. So are there, were there players on the staff, or excuse me, on the roster, even if the GM, you know, Joe Shane is technically just a college scouting director now, but, you know, do we have guys on this roster that are not going to fit, that might be good players, but are not going to fit what we want to do on offense or defense? Because if we do, we're going to be interested in trading them. So that gets out this week. Hey, these five players, we're open to trade.

And then you find a market or, hey, we'd be interested in these three guys. Would you be interested in trading them? How much are they going to, like, what do you want for? And then clearly the big name guys, everyone's going to be asking about AJ Brown and everyone's going to be asking about Max Crosby. And there are probably several other players that we will find out over the course of the next week that are also available for trade. what's it going to cost? Obviously, Max Crosby, I was texting with a, you know, a pretty accomplished coach over the course of the last week.

And he's like, I'd be a little stunned if they traded Max Crosby. They just elevated the defensive line coach, who is Max Crosby's boy, to the defensive coordinator for the Raiders. And a lot of people around the league think that's a sign. They're going to desperately try to keep them in their good graces and keep them on their team, which don't blame you. he's one of the best players in the league and very well respected. But I think they're going to treat this like an NBA player like a Janus of like, well, what would it cost to get him if you would entertain trading him? To me, A.J. Brown things a little more complicated.

He's a little bit of an older player. Now, when he's on, he's still elite, whose productions dipped a little bit the last couple years and he's really, really expensive. In a league where you can find wide receivers kind of easily. Now, maybe not to A.J. Brown's level, but could I sign two guys, sign a guy and draft a guy for way cheaper than

trading a second round pick for a $32 million guy? So I do wonder if that things, if AJ Brown ends up going for less than you would think a player of his status and talent would go for. Where on the flip side, I think if Max Crosby was traded, my guess would be you get multiple first round picks. and if I was a team, the bears, the lions, the bills, those type of team, the Eagles, I would have no problem giving multiple first round picks. Still risky.

And this is football. Guys get hurt. He's a little bit older. He's finished the last couple years injured. But I would have no problem making a very aggressive bid to land Max Crosby. He's that good. He's that serious. He plays that hard.

He's that dominant of a player. I can't even imagine if you put him on a good team what he would look like. I mean, he's played on one of the worst. teams in the league over the last several years, and is clearly one of the best players in the league. What would he look like on a team that's winning 12 to 14 games that has help around him? I mean, it would be pretty scary. It would kind of look like Michael Parsons this year on the Packers. It's like, holy shit, this guy looks good. Okay, so we got that out of the way. To me, the second most important thing is just meeting the draft guys. And this is where the Rams

and the Jags guy, Gladstone, they feel this creates some bias. At the end of the day, you are acquiring human beings. And while your scout, whether it's at the SEC scout, your West Coast Scout, whoever, has met these guys. Maybe your college director has met these players in an All-Star game, or when they've gone to the school. Your GM and your coach have never met these guys.

Now, what can you make in a 15, 20-minute interview with the player? Obviously, you've got to take it with a grain of salt, but I do like meeting other individuals if I'm going to be in the business of using a high draft pick on this. them. That kind of matters. And also meeting a guy, if you have some questions, what does he do when we ask him something that maybe isn't that comfortable? And it doesn't have to be, hey, remember when you got your second DUI at 19 years old? It could be as simply something like, this is what we saw on tape and it really bothers us. What do you have to say for it? To see what

he answers. And I think there's value in meeting people. I think we would all agree in this world, I mean, several years ago, it was like, no one's ever going to meet in person again. everything's going to be Zoom, business travel's done. It's like, no, actually it's not. I flew across the country last year to help land a deal, and it mattered, and it worked. Why? Because talking to people face-to-face will always have value, at least for the foreseeable future. And I think that's no different when it comes to football, just like it's no different in whatever business we're in. And I think meeting these guys initially really matters.

and laying the groundwork of a relationship that you can build on and see if this is something you'd be interested in. Because for as much as you are drafting the player to put on the pads and make tackles and throw touchdowns and catch touchdowns, you are signing the player. This goes back to the James Pierce situation. No one. And I repeat, nobody in the NFL would have said last year at this time,

James Pierce couldn't play football. That guy is like, holy shit, this guy's a big time talent. In any draft, he's a top 15-ish talent. But we're not comfortable with the guy. But with those type players, I want to get to know the guy. That's the business we're in. To do the research, to do the detective work, to do the vetting of the human being.

It's not that complicated. So I can never get on board with these guys not valuing the combine when it just comes to meeting the guys. Two, or excuse me, the second part of the draft prospects, and you could argue this is equally as important, at least with anyone that has question marks, is the injury information. The NFL differs from baseball and basketball.

Like in basketball, these guys don't give out injury information. I remember, listen, I grew up a Sacramento Kings fan. The top prospects still to this day, like withhold medical information from the Kings. It's like, yeah, we're just not going to give it to you. Why? Because we just fucking think you're a joke. That's why in the NFL, these guys go to the combine and they go to a medical check where every trainer, every doctor is there, and they get full on physicals.

So sometimes, you know, a guy's never been injured. He's never had an issue. And then something comes up. And before, this has also saved people's lives. They found situations with regular heartbeats. There have been countless examples of that. And this is also where you get into kind of weird territory where one team and their doctor will, go, we have this guy as a medical red flag. We do not think he will last more in two or three years. And so that team, like, what are you supposed to do as a GM or coach? He's got a list of your doctor. And then you take him off the draft board.

And then all of a sudden, that guy is a 10-year career. Makes a couple of Pro Bowls. And you're like, well, we really like the player. And our doctor told us not to do it. And there's nothing you can really do about that. That's the subjective nature of this time of year. I mean, most famously, it potentially derailed Nick Saban. career in the National Football League.

The Miami Dolphins team doctor failed Drew Brees on a physical. The Saints clearly did not. How'd that work out? Now it worked out for Sabin, at least in college, but not in the pros. So I just think that the medical information during this time of year is extremely important. And every team is, it's one of the biggest priorities of the combine. And last but not least, and I think this is diminished over time, the on-the-field work. You know, Belichick's big thing always was, now you could hit him on drafting as he got older,

but we're not signing guys to lift 225 pounds. We're not signing guys to run the short shuttle. We're signing guys to play football, right? So the underwear Olympics gets some pushback, which I understand, though there are some basic metrics that you need to be able to do to excel in the NFL. You can't be a 4-8 corner. That ain't going to work. I don't give a shit what defensive scheme you run.

So obviously there are some basic metrics that you run. The biggest part of the on-the-field workout, whether it's the 40s, whether it's some of the short athletic testing, whether it's the jumping, whether it's just some basic open-field movements, it's comparing it to previous drafts. So when I say, hey, this wide receiver reminds me of Zay Flowers, or this guy reminds me of Fletcher Cox, or this guy reminds me of whoever,

well, we can put their tape against each other, and then we can put their physical metrics against each other. I say it all the time, it's a lot like real estate. The physical testing determines your market value in the draft. It does not determine if you're going to be a good player or bad player. It just determines what I have to pay for you. So if you run a really slow time as a wide receiver, you're probably not going to go super high.

So I still might really like you. Can I get you in the third round? Pooka Nakuwa, Devante Adams. I don't have to draft in the top 50. Devante might have been, I think he was like 55 or whatever, but that's my point. Keenan Allen ran a 477. Did that derail his career?

No. Why? Because he can get open. Deandre Hopkins probably couldn't run a 5040 right now. Doesn't matter. Elite Condescent Catch you guy. So I think a lot of guys, like one of the stories right now is Fernando Mendoza is not going to throw at the combine. Don't blame him. He just played 16 games. He played one of the most important four-game stretches in the history of college football. Beat Ohio State, beat Alabama, beat Oregon, and beat Miami.

Every team in the league watched every single snap of those games in terms of their scouting department. Like, you've seen enough. And you've seen over the body of work of this year. he's been a multi-year starter. He honestly doesn't need a throw. And one of his big things, I will throw, I'll just throw at the pro day with my guys. Don't blame him.

A lot of these guys, if some of the Miami guys and some of the Ohio State guys, I've seen these guys play a lot of games. The film is what matters. And as long as they do that at their pro day, it's like, I don't have a big deal with it. I don't have a big issue with it. And if some guys don't want to do some open field workouts

and want to do individual workouts, that doesn't bother me either. The world has changed. It used to really bother teams. I think it bothers teams way less and less in 2020. So there's still a lot of value with the combine. There's still a lot of interest with the combine. I think the combine has become a lot different for teams.

It used to be a grind. It used to do workouts. Once the workouts start, like Thursday through Monday, they would start bright and early, and then you'd be interviewing guys till like 1130 midnight. I mean, they were long days. Now the interviews, I was texting with a bunch of, I'm like, what's the schedule now?

He's like, it's way easier. You get interviews closer to the morning. You get some of these workouts in the afternoon. When you can kind of zone out because all that stuff's taped anyway. So I just think the combine is kind of morphed. And for my own personal interest, I hope it stays in Indianapolis. But if I was a betting man, it's probably not going to be in Indianapolis long term. Can I tell you about my new friends, Z biotics?

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Remember, to head to Zbiotics.com slash three and out and use the code three and out at checkout for 15% off. Hey, it's us the Jonas brothers. And guess what? We have some big news. What's the 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 it. First people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts

throughout there. But this one's extra special. So how did we, 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, oh, we were thinking, I'm originally calling it one of the early

names of our band before Jonas Brothers. This is how you guys remember it going down? Yes. I have a very different memory of this. We were talking about a thing,

a bit for the podcast for people could call in and say, hey Jonas, and then I wrote down on my little notepad, Hey Jonas, and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast. But thanks for remembering that, guys. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it.

Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smigel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel help an a cappella band with their between songs banter.

Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The French Open is one of the toughest tests in tennis, and I know firsthand because I competed there myself.

I'm Renee Stubbs, and on the Renee Stubbs' tennis podcast, I'm breaking down everything, happening at Roland Garris, every match, every upset, and what it really takes to win on Clay. Jenchen went. I mean, she went down at three to Rabakina, but I'm delighted. She's an outsider to win the French for me. And she likes Clay. Listen, Lena Rubakina is arguably the best player in the world right now, and I actually can win on any surface.

Because if she's serving, well, good luck. Consider this your court side seat to the French Open. Listen to the Renee Stubbs Tennis podcast on the IHeart Radio app. Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of I Heart Women's Sports. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque.

Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle. Grace. Listen to Superhuman on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Jacob Kingston grew up in an isolated polygamous sect. We were God's chosen kingdom on earth. He felt destined for greatness. So when a swaggering Armenian businessman catapults Jacob into an extraordinary world, he doesn't look back.

Ferraris and Lamborghinis, private jets, meeting the president of Turkey. I'm Michelle McPhee. and this is one of the most shocking criminal conspiracies I've ever come across. When Jacob met Levan this went to a billion dollar fraud. But with two kings from entirely different worlds, just how long can their empire survive? The largest tax investigation in American history. You need to tell me what you know. Is somebody coming after me? Jacob told Levan, you're ruining my life. Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

Another big story is the Chicago Bears. And for those of us that don't live in the area or know the area, when you just see the Chicago Bears are going to move to Indiana. Like, I don't know if I didn't listen in geography, but I'm like, damn, they're going to move a long way away. And then you hear people break it down. It's technically like 30 miles from where they're. play now, but when you factor in traffic, it's like an hour drive, and depending on where you live, it could be a couple hour drive, it's like, okay, it's not as crazy. But when I was in radio, we have the Raiders. And an enormous story during that period of time was the relocation of the Rams,

the Chargers, and the Raiders. And my overall take is, as a fan, it is exhausting. It is an exhausting situation as a fan. Now, the Raiders, even looking back, I was biased because I was in business with the Raiders. I didn't want them to move, so I rooted for them to stay. Though, big picture, you would much rather be from a financial standpoint in Vegas than in the city of Oakland, especially when you factor in. There's another team that takes up all the resources in the area given us the 49ers, and the Warriors had left

and then obviously the A's had desperately been trying to leave forever and you think they've pulled it off, they're currently playing at a AAA Stadium in Sacramento. But the point is, like, every team left Oakland. The Raiders weren't alone. The Rams had been stolen from Los Angeles. So when, you know, back, I remember Joe Buck getting so mad, it's like, the only reason you had the Rams

because you took them from Los Angeles. They weren't technically your team. San Diego, I wish they would have stayed in San Diego, financially, from knowing people around that organization, it was the right economic move. And this stuff is all about economics. This situation happens when there are two variables. And I ultimately got fired for this.

Because, well, this and I used to piss Mark Davis off because I used to, their team was terrible. I did the post game show and I used to be like, this is awful. But they used to get really, really mad when I would come on air and talk about how stupid the move was. Like they wanted me to be like an activist, push propaganda. And I was like, you shouldn't move to Vegas. Now, if I removed my emotional attachment to the, at the time, all the people in my life are like, it's a no-brain remove. It was a no-brain remove.

And financially, the Raiders were way better off now than they were when I was around them. And they were in major, major economic trouble. The Bears are on a higher level because they're in a major, one of our biggest cities in America, that has unlimited financial capital in terms of to invest in the team, sponsorships, suites, like they will have no problem printing money. But like the Raider situation,

like the Bengal situation, their owners do not have liquid cash. And whenever I see people online of like, we do not give billionaires tax breaks, there's a big difference between a David Teper who owns the Panthers. I just saw a headline that Steve Cohen made more money last year than any other hedge fund in America.

Steve Cohen, the profit was $3.4 billion. David Teper was right behind him at $3.2 billion. That is nothing to do with the Carolina Panthers. He made $3.2 billion in his side business, well, he'd say probably his main business, but maybe the Panthers are his main business. But you know what I mean. David Teper is a money printing machine.

You see this with Steve Ballmer. There is no amount of money that's any. issue to the guy. Hell, he hates that there is a salary cap in the business that he's in now in the NBA because it neutralizes his ability to outspend people, right? And so when you look at the Bears, their family does not flush with cash. Stan Cronkey, we had Al Guido on, and he was talking about the cost of making these stadiums. And he mentioned there was a $6 billion stadium. You know, who paid for that? Stan Cronky in cash. Maybe not. All cash. but he paid for it. All, stand.

But that's his. He owns that himself. He rents it out to the Chargers for a dollar a year, which isn't a hell of a deal. But it stands. Why? Because he has an ungodly amount of money. When you want to build one of these stadiums

and you're someone like the Raiders, seven, eight years ago, they needed help. They could not do it on their own. Not because they're these filthy, rich guys that are hoarding all this money. They don't have the money. They can't do it.

And whenever I see people, if you can't afford to build the stadium, you should sell the team. That's a great mindset in theory. No one thinks like that. And the McCaskys definitely are not selling the team, at least for the foreseeable future. So if they're going to build one of these stadiums, especially in a place like Chicago, it's going to be expensive as shit. And they do not have the cash to spend $3, 4 billion, which I'm sure that's what it would cost.

In Chicago, when you factor in the unions, when you factor in all the red tape, when you factor in the building costs, it would be astronomical. It was like the 49ers. when they built in Silicon Valley, which they got a lot of shit for because the stadium was much closer to the city. They could not build the stadium on their own. They needed help.

And Santa Clara gave them that help. They gave them a lot of money to help build the stadium and the 49ers splint a lot of the profits with them. Why? Because the Yorks did not have the money to do it. So these situations are only possible to get this weird twofold. The owners don't have money and you get to these politicians that are just kind of wacky.

And Chicago politicians, like Oakland politicians, are big on our taxpayer dollars, are not going to go toward a team, which, listen, okay, but are you going to lose the Chicago Bears? Are you going to lose the Chicago Bears? Like, is that going to go on your watch? Does Chicago Bears leave? Because I've seen this song and dance before.

They might leave. If you do not help them, they might leave. And that goes on your watch, which is, okay, just do it. just deal with it. And here's the thing is, the NFL, they were like, I remember in Oakland, we're not dealing with Libby Shaf. We would never do business with this human being. So we're not going to like get into this war of fucking power.

Fuck you, we're out. And that's how that operated. And I could see Chicago going like this too with, I saw the mayor, the chubby billionaire, J.P., whatever his last name is. One of his big things was like, you know, we've talked to him. and we're big on affordability. So if we do help you, we got to make these tickets.

So he's trying to determine what they can sell tickets. It's like, this is never going to work. This is, they're just had an impasse. And this thing could get a lot uglier before it gets better. But here's what I know if I'm Roger Goodell. I got to have the Chicago Bears in Chicago. So we got to figure out a way to make this happen. And I Googled it.

The Bears, the McCaskys own 80% of the Bears, which is obviously a large chunk. Do they have to sell some percentage to have people come in and get them, kind of like the Raiders did with Brady's crew of super billionaires? I don't know. But if I'm Goodell, I just can't have the Bears be playing in Indiana. I just, I really can't. So I wonder when the league gets involved, which I would imagine will be relatively quick

before grounds ever broken. But I've seen it before. I would not just like, I don't think some of these reporters are doing, like propaganda for the bears to go like this is real. Like I think we're far enough along like, yeah, this is real. Like this is real. They don't have the money to build in Chicago. They or, you know, in downtown Chicago, which is ideal whenever you're in one of these major

cities to put a stadium down there. But if you don't have unlimited cash, it is not financially viable to do it because you don't have the money. So I think these situations take on a life of their own. and I think the situation's got a chance to get a lot weirder, right? I mean, a lot of, I know several people that are associated with the Big Ten. Like, Kevin Warren is not exactly viewed as some, like, genius dealmaker. Obviously, the people, the politicians in Chicago are not exactly viewed like Warren Buffett

when it comes to fucking handling money. So you got a lot of different moving parts here. My bet would be this situation's, going to get a lot more bizarre before we ever get, oh, they've just figured something out all as well with Chicago Bears. My take is the Chicago Bears got to play in Chicago. Chicago Bears got to play in Chicago. I don't think that would change, right?

The Kansas City, Missouri thing, like moving across, like, that's not as weird. Chicago Bears got to play in Chicago. Now, whether that's in the suburbs or whatever, I'm not as cut up on that. Like, I'm not as bothered with the 49ers playing in Silicon Valley as Some people, at first it was like this kind of stupid. Over time, it's like, I get it. It's a longer drive. You're coming from Sacramento,

candlestick there. It is what it is. Some people like it. If you lived in San Jose, it's great. It's way closer. So, buckle up, I guess, if you're a Bears fan. 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 Smigel and Friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter, Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter.

Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. And nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. And every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the biggest moments in

sports and giving you the real story behind the headline. And we're going straight to the source, the athletes themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions in the moment, and the stuff nobody gets to hear. Listen to SportsSlic on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Winning on Clay is an art. The rallies are relentless. And at the French Open, only the toughest survive. I'd know. I competed there for decades. Join me. Renee Stubbs on the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast for no nonsense breakdowns of the biggest matches, the toughest players, and the moments that define Roland Garros.

She's an outsider to win the French fame. And she likes Clay. Listen, Lernerabakina is arguably the best player in the world right now, and I actually can win on any surface. Listen to the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. This is an IHeart podcast.

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