The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Championship weekend's biggest potential winners/losers; Game breakdowns and picks; Gase/Williams Jets marriage; Clemson/White House overreaction

Episode Date: January 18, 2019

Subscribe here to the 3 and Out with John Middlekauff Podcast https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/3-and-out-with-john-middlekauff/id1352730623?mt=2.  Middlekauff looks at Championship Weekend's biggest potential winners and losers, his game breakdowns and picks, why he's bullish on the Adam Gase and Gregg Williams marriage with the Jets, why the Cowboys won't win a Super Bowl with Jason Garrett, social media pearl clutching over Clemson's White House fast food dinner, and answers listener questions in Middlekauff's Mailbag. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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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. What's up, guys? This is Clivert Taylor the Fourth. And on my podcast, The Cliverts Show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff. Like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker, this linebacker walks up to me. He goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her.

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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 harmed. You just understood.

That's how personal it got. Wow. Then after that game seven, Mark keep coming till. 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,

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Are you organized and like driving? Become a delivery driver. You have the skills it takes. and CareerBuilder.com has the jobs to get you hired fast. Visit CareerBuilder.com. What's going on, everybody? Your boy, John Middlecough. That's me.

I'm not talking to third person. I'm just trying to introduce myself, start of the show. Not everyone knows me. We got new people coming on. You know, I see the metrics every week. Show's growing. Appreciate everyone listening. Not everyone knows who I am.

I was actually thinking, might not be a terrible idea to introduce myself and just let you know a little bit about myself. I don't know if this is probably the week, especially being Friday. We're headed into the championship weekend. Maybe I'll do that here in the coming weeks because I'm not sure everyone knows exactly who I am. But, you know, for those many of you do. You can follow me on social media at John Middilcoff, Twitter, Instagram, you name it.

I used to work in the NFL from California, scouted a little bit, worked in college football. But we'll get into introductions later for you new folks. But we're going to talk about the playoffs Saturday. We got three games left. I mean, two championship games is then that thing they call the Super Bowl. So let's enjoy it while we got it because I love the draft. I love free agency. I love all those stories as much as anyone.

But there's nothing beats the games. That's the reason we talk about this for a living. It's the reason you guys listen to the actual games. So we'll dive into that right now. Also have some thoughts. I think the Jets coaching staff is, got a chance to be really good. Jason Garrett was given the vote of confidence by Jerry Jones.

I have some thoughts on that. And then just, you know, somewhat sarcastically, but also somewhat seriously. I've had enough. And sometimes I get triggered by people triggered on social media. So I got triggered by the reaction of people triggered of what the Clemson football team ate at the White House, have some thoughts on that from someone that, you know, has seen what NFL and college players eat.

And it's just, it's a good example of the media elites pretty out of touch. But let's start with this weekend. Listen, I say it all the time. Like, you know, anyone, when I left the NFL, I went to radio, which was just the corporate world, and it was black and white. You either produce ratings or you didn't. You either made revenue through the ad sales or you didn't. Most of you guys listening work in some form or fashion,

unless you're a teacher or government worker or whatever, you know in the private sector. And you all know that a lot of times that the Excel spreadsheet, you're either making money or losing money, overrides things that you may believe in that the company's doing big picture, whatever. It's very black and white. Just like in pro sports, winning and losing.

That's the whole point. of this whole thing. Now, interwoven in that is also making money because it's, you know, a business. But when you win, you make money. Now, in the NFL, you can lose and also make money because the media rights deals pay so much. But at the end of the day, in basketball, football, and baseball, the playoffs mean more. Now, in football, the regular season still matters a lot, just because you play way less game. So it doesn't parallel, like to me, in basketball and baseball, No one gives a shit anymore. How many home runs you hit in the regular season?

How many points you average? You can get a triple double of your Russell Westbrook. No one really cares. If you can't get it done in May and June, it just doesn't matter. Like the Dodgers, they have won the NF, I almost said NFC. The NOS, I think five or six straight years have nothing to show for it. They can't win the World Series. So at the end of the day, they haven't got it done.

where in football, like obviously if you win the division, you're going to make the playoffs, but you can have a net, like Philip Rivers of Borderline Hall of Fame career these last six or seven years and has made the playoffs once.

So it's a little different just because you play way less games. But at the end of the day, we value playoff success a lot, as we should. I think sometimes we overvalue a little bit, like a guy that's won a championship and a guy that hasn't won a championship

with a quarterback or a coach. But I do think, for the most part, it is pretty indicative of who the best guys are. Now, I think this weekend is a great example. Like Mike McCarthy was just fired this year. Does anyone in this world, beside Mike McCarthy's family, think that he's a better coach than Andy Reid? Anyone.

No, you will not meet anyone. I got another one for you. This guy's won a Super Bowl. Does anyone think that John Harbaugh is a better coach right now than Andy Reed, or has been in recent memory. I got news for he is not. But having the Super Bowl, like when you look at this weekend,

who has the most on the line and really the most a game? It's Coach Reed. Because he's had a borderline Hall of Fame career. He has, he's played, or excuse me, coached six playoff games so far in Kansas City. He had 19 in Philadelphia.

Six plus 19. That's 25 playoff games. I think his record right now is 12. and 13. So he, let's say he wins this weekend. He'd be a 500 playoff coach and also have two Super Bowl bursts with two separate teams, be one of seven men. But he's got, you know, eventually he's got to win the Super Bowl. When I view Andy Reed, and again, I'm biased, works for the guy, been around him, seen firsthand the way he treats players, coaches, how smart he is, how he operates, just knowing him personally ever since. Like, I just have a lot of admiration and

respect for the guy. And I think eventually with Mahomes, he, he's, he, going to get it done. But this year, the opportunity's there. He also, when you beat Brady and Belichick, you get extra credit. You know, it's one thing to win a Super Bowl or win an AFC championship game, but when you beat them, it adds a different level. Like a couple years ago, I was at game seven of the NBA finals. Part of the LeBron legend is, in game seven at Oracle Arena, in Oakland, he beat a 73-win Golden State Warriors. If he had just beat some random Houston Rockets team, it wouldn't quite have resonated like it did. Like one thing, one of the reasons Eli Manning is an absolute legend is not because one year he beat the Jets and the other year he beat the Ravens.

He beat Belichick and Brady twice. Like, the guy got the nickname Big Dick Nick because he beat Tom Brady and Bill Belichick, you know? And that's like this weekend's huge. You get him at home. Coach Reed, you know, Belichick for the most part, owned him motor. his career, obviously beat him in the Super Bowl. Like, you beat him in the AFC championship. You know, no one remembers this might not have been the best New England Patriot team.

The only thing we remember, you beat Belichick and Brady. That is all that matters. Like, if you hit a home run off Greg Maddox, no one is ever going to tweet out, you know, that's the one game where he lasted four innings. You just tell everyone, I hit a home run off Greg Maddox, the guy that won all those Sy Youngs, right? You beat Belichick and Brady. It adds to the legend that is missing a piece right now.

And then I think he would be in great position. Going into Atlanta, playing in a dome team, the Chiefs are the ideal dome team. I mean, they got Tyree Kill, they got Kelsey, they got Sammy Watkins, they got a quarterback, they can throw it 800 yards. Like, to me, it's not even close. Belichick and Brady have absolutely nothing on the line this weekend. Nothing.

Like, there's nothing. like they, their cake's already been made. They've made the cake. They put the icing on the cake. Hell, they've already put a cherry on top. They've won five Super Bowls together in 18 years. They've been to eight straight AFC championship games. It's just not happening again.

It's 100% never happening again. I feel very confident saying that. They have nothing more to gain besides just like, it's like Warren Buffett making more money. He's already so rich. it's just extra zeros in his bank account. That's what Belichick and Brady have on. Where Coach Reed,

and I'd put Coach Reed in even a different category than Mahomes because it's only Mahomes first year. But the one thing we've seen in just sports is that things can change at the drop of a hat, the snap of the fingers. I mean, at one point in time, after three years, we all thought anyone that had a pulse thought that Torell Davis was going to be,

I don't know, the next Walter Payton? Hell, he was already off to a better start because he'd won Super Bowls. And he was rushing for 2,000 yards. I was like, God, is this guy going to be the best player in NFL history? And then he got hurt. Now, that's obviously worst-case scenario, but I've seen it with Kaepernick. I mean, two years in, it looked like Kaepernick was on the front page of Sports Illustrator Russell Wilson.

They were going to change the league. Well, one guy's still an all-pro-level player. The other guy's out of the league. Now, obviously, he's out of the league because he got blackballed or whatever. But I got news for you. I know everyone on Twitter loves to tell you he got some. screwed. And again, I definitely think he got blackballed, but he was a terrible player by the time he got out of the league. He was not very good. But, and Mahomes and him don't have that many parallels,

but my point is, just overall anything can change. So Mahomes won, he's going to win the MVP. He's got a home playoff game, a home championship game to go to the Super Bowl. They got to take advantage of it. And Andy kind of needs it. You know, this would be a huge, huge moment for his resume, where Tom and Brady have nothing on the line. And then I think it's a little different. Like Sean Payton, he's won a Super Bowl, but he's nowhere in the Belichick category, though he's a borderline Hall of Famer.

I would, you know, you'd have to give him the nod a little bit over Andy, and Drew Breeze is definitely going to the Hall of Fame. But those guys' resume is pretty locked and loaded. Like, it's pretty incredible. I think by far the guy that has the most, like I'd put Andy number one, and the guy too with most on the line, just with the most to gain is even if Jared Goff is unreal,

who gets all the credit in L.A.? It's the little guy with a beard. Like, if they win, Sean McVeigh is going to get more credit than Jared Gough, which is crazy. Like, that's the thing about Andy is even though they win a lot. Like Mahomes, his players still get a lot of credit. Because McVeigh is known as his boy genius, like he gets more credit than his quarterback.

So I think by far in that game, Sean McVeyas is more on the line. Now, he's already viewed so highly. He's already won a playoff game. He's made the playoffs twice. I'm not saying he has a lot to lose because he doesn't. He's an underdog in this game. He probably should lose the game.

But if he wins, I mean, you think we all get on our knees, you know, and give him praise now. Imagine the level if he wins the NFC in year two. That's how the legend grows for these guys. It happens so quickly. I saw it happen with Jim Harbaugh. It was like two years. Boom, NFC championship next year's Super Bowl. And then it was like the legend had just taken off.

If Sean McVeigh makes a Super Bowl in his second year at like 32 years old, he's getting way more credit than any player on his team. That's even different. I can't even say that about Coach Reed. Like if the Chiefs win and Mahomes throws for 350 yards and three or four touchdowns, he's going to get a ton of credit too. Like it's going to be hard for, it's impossible for Jared Gough to be the headline over McVeigh, you know, on Monday morning if they win this game.

And Breeze is already headed to the Hall of Fame. Sean Payton can become like a legend if he wins these next two games, beats the Rams and then beats the Patriots or the Chiefs, and he's got two Super Bowls. Same with Breeze. Like both those guys are. Breeze is already a lock Hall of Famer. I think Sean Peyton sure as hell looks headed that way.

And in my mind, Sean Payton, I'd have no problem putting him in the Hall of Fame. probably needs to make at least one more Super Bowl to feel good about it, but he's an elite coach. But I'm telling you, if Sean McVeigh wins this game, you think we speak highly of him now, and he's held in such high regard around the league, I don't think they'd ever be looking back.

He'd be heralded as, you know, basically Bill Walsh 2.0. Okay, let's get into what I actually think. Now, again, I mean, it's, this is, any time that you pick games, I'm a gambler. You gamble on games. You're just taking educated guesses.

Hell, I worked in the league. And, you know, having been a fan, having been in the league, and now having been in the media, you all know about the same. I mean, truly you do. Now, it's a little different. I think sometimes when you work in the league and you're not feeling great and then it doesn't go great, just like, God, you got a gut feeling. But I'd say for the most part, like fans know.

you know and now listen we have upsets and that's a great part about the playoffs when crazy things happen it's 10 times more impactful than when something crazy happens during October uh look at last week hell look at two weeks ago whoever would have thought nick foals could go into Chicago and win that game uh i don't think anyone did beside philly you know and even philly i would say the fans probably didn't believe as much as the team but when you look at this week I'm pretty confident who I'm going to gamble on and who I like to win. Let's start with the NFC game. Rams Saints.

Rams getting three points on the road. I think this one's pretty simple. I think the Rams. Actually, when the season started in the middle of the season, I thought the NFC was really good. It turns out the NFC was really deep. I think the top of the AFC is better. Now, it may be wrong. the Saints or Rams go on to win the Super Bowl.

I just don't think the Rams, I know they played well last week against Dallas, but I'll get into Jason Garrett here in a second. I'm not sure the Rams are as good as we once thought they were in the middle of this regular season when we saw him play that Monday night game against the Chiefs at home. They have one elite player on defense in Aeron Donald. Marcus Peters is a talented player very flawed. Akeeb-Kalib, I think, is pretty big shell of what he once was. Their linebackers are questionable at best.

Their defense isn't just that, it's just not that good. And again, I'm a Jared Gough guy. I root for him. But I just close my eyes, try to envision him holding up the NFC championship trophy, saying, Atlanta, we're coming for you. I have a hard time doing that. And that may sound stupid, dumb logic. I just, I can't see it.

I like the Saints. I like Drew Brees. I just think they're a more complete team. I think Michael Thomas is playing at the high. highest level of any player in this game. Drew Breeze has not played well. As a buddy texted me, middle of the Eagles Saints game, he's like, Drew Breeze is off. And when he's off, he's really off.

You know, I mean, when you get him off his spot and he gets uncomfortable because he doesn't have a great arm, it can look ugly. He'll skip balls. It's just hard for me to see. Like, great players like him usually don't have back-to-back duds. and at the end of the day he made winning plays in that game, but for his standard, I thought that was a below average game. I think he's going to come out swinging.

I think a lot of quarterbacks have had success against this Rams team, and I just like the Saints minus three. Over under is 56 and a half. You know, it's, I would imagine if you did historic, you know, historical data and look at, you know, how these games have played out, taking the under, for the most part in games like this are, are fun. I hate betting on unders just because, I mean, as just a fan of sports, like you don't want to root for baskets or touchdowns, so I wouldn't touch. But I like the

Saints. To cover the three points, I like them to win. I just think they're a better team. The next game, listen, I think we all learned our lesson, you know, betting against the Patriots. And when Tom said everyone thinks we suck, you know, I don't, last week after the Charger game, I do think there was some substance behind it, because a lot of people were picking the chargers. A lot of people thought the chargers were better, because on paper they are. But at the end of the day, you know, is it about the jimmies and the Joe's? It's about the exes and those. I mean, we can argue that all day long. I know one thing. It's about Belichick and Brady, and they kick ass. When games are important, they are good. When they're playing

in big playoff games, in cold situations, at home or on the road, they come through. So I hesitate doing this. But it just kind of feels like Mahomes and Andy's year. I mean, this guy, first year starting, wins the MVP, throws for 50 touchdowns. As I saw someone on Twitter, and it kind of got you thinking, or got me thinking, said, how crazy is it that Marino in 1984 threw for 48 touchdowns? Like, if touchdowns were like money and we could factor in inflation, how many touchdowns would that be right now? And I was thinking maybe 70, you know, because someone wrote 60. Like, I don't know if that's enough.

It feels like 48 touchdowns in 1984, I don't know, 72. I mean, it'd be a really, really high number. But I do think at the end of the day, this Patriot team, and I know Cowards talked about it, that game they played on Sunday morning, or for me Sunday morning, you might live on the East Coast Sunday afternoon, is as good as they can play.

And it showed. I mean, they kicked the living crap out of the chargers. But this Chief's team's a little bit of a different animal, clearly. Mahomes is just better than Rivers. Andy is in a different level than Anthony Lynn. Also, this game's in Kansas City, and it's starting to look like these frigid temperatures are not going to take place.

It's one of the truly great home field advantages in any sport, college or pro. This place is going to be nuts. They haven't been to a Super Bowl. Hell, since some of those NFL films videos of Hank Schram was that late 60s. I mean, I don't ever remember. I mean, hell, in my lifetime,

they've been to one championship. game in the last 25 plus year. I mean, they don't make it past last round. So it's kind of weird seeing them at this place. But they have this game at home. New England has not been as good on the road. This is, like last week, I bet against New England just because I thought the Chargers were going to beat them. It turns out I'm an idiot. Like, how did I pick the Chargers? This is not necessarily like, I think the Patriots are the Chiefs equal. I think the Patriots in these playoff games. Brady will come through. Gronk will empty the tank. Sony Michelle, you can run the ball on the Chiefs.

You can take advantage of the Chief's defense. But at the end of the day, one thing's giving Brady trouble over the years. I remember a couple years ago when they went to Denver, it was Vaughn Miller. They couldn't block him. And the dude that actually just got fired from the Colts, I think his last name was like Guillermo,

the offensive line coach. Belichick never fires coaches. He fired him after that. And, you know, I think if you think back on the Super Bowls that he lost, the offensive line let them down. If you think about last year on that final drive, what happened? Brandon Graham caused a fumble for Brady. So, you know, I think at the end of the day, the difference in this game is the chiefs are as good as rushing the passer at rushing the passer as any team in the NFL.

Their pass rushers can dominate the game. And that is historically given Brady trouble. And when you hit him, and when you hit him again, and when you hit him again, he's not going to tap out because he's the goat. like goats don't tap out but it does phase them and it messes with them and i think that that's ultimately the difference uh this one's hard like this might be a one point game i i could see this one being really tight if i had i take the patriots it's weird like i like the chiefs to win so i'm not going to take the patriots plus three you just take the chiefs minus three i think the chiefs win if i had to i don't feel great about taking the three points but i last night a blown call changed

This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where SportsLice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context, and ask the questions everybody wants answered.

Sports Slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to Sports Slice on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of mental health awareness month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests.

I'm talking. Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing. And we're still chasing it, and we don't know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch.

Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross. you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth? Are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person.

Join me, Kear Gaines, is we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose. On my new podcast, Learn the Hardway. Open your free, our heart radio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. What's up, guys? This is Clever Taylor the Fourth. And on my podcast, The Cliver Show, I'm bringing you. conversations about all kinds of stuff.

Like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker, this linebacker walks up to me, he goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What? Quarterback on office blue 42. Hey, rep, my mama want you to wave at her. What?

Hey, Ms. Parker. Listen to the Clifford show on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. What's up fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano and our podcast Point Game is about defying the odds. Like LeBron heading into the playoffs without Luca and Austin Reed. And finding ways to win no matter what.

He's the smartest player to ever play the game. His IQ is at a level that we've never seen before. And he knows without Luca and Austin Reeves, I got to manipulate the game. We get a player's perspective on the challenges of the playoffs. I think Joker's going to be exhausted this series because when they don't have Rudy in the lineup, he has to really guard guys like Nas Reid. He has to guard Julius Randall. And then he has to give us everything he gives us on the night-to-night basis on offense. And when IT's friends stop by, like Quentin Richardson, we dive into some playoff history too.

Steve Nass would get that thing. That man, hell get the flying. He running up the court, licking his fingers why he got the ball. Like, after you go through a training camp with that, Isaiah, you figure it out real quick. Get your ass up and down the court, and you're going to get the ball. a point game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I just think it's their time. And this is, these are the best four teams. I think they're all really, really flawed, you know, a final four. None of them are, you know, I won't think, I don't think whoever wins the Super Bowl out of any of these four teams, I don't think we'll

ever think back on that was a great team. Now, the Chiefs would be an all-time great offense. The Patriots would be, you know, the Dynasty, the Saints, Bree's getting his other one. and McVeigh would be like our new Walsh. But I think none of these teams will go down as like the 85 Bears or the 88-9ers or some of those 90s Bronco teams. You know, I'm just trying to rattle off some great teams that, hell, even the Seattle team that won it five or six years ago to me is much better. And yeah, I think the Patriot team that wanted a couple years ago was better.

But all these teams are high-end, you know, big-time playoff teams. teams. So it should be fun. So at the end of the day, I'm going Saints. I'm going Chiefs for a Super Bowl. But regardless of what my prediction is, I don't think we can lose. No matter what the matchup is, whoever wins either game, we're going to get a winner because of the markets, because of the quarterbacks, because of the star power that all these teams possess. This episode is brought to you by Royal Caribbean, an award-winning global cruise line. A vacation is what you make it. So are you ready to make the most of it? A Royal Caribbean adventure is the perfect opportunity to not just take a vacation, but to take it for all its worth. We know you're eager to

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Beneficial State Bank member FDIC 2021. Terms and conditions apply. Visit aspiration.com for more information. Okay, let's get into the New York Jets. And I think they've had a weird week, right? Because they hired Adam Gase. And I think they got a decent amount of credit for it. He was the Kyle Shanahan and Sean McVeigh.

He was really the first skinny white guy that kind of started this whole trend. Don't get that twisted. It started with him. And Peyton Manning's love for him. Things didn't go great in Miami. But in fairness, he didn't pick the players. Tanny Hill kept getting hurt.

I think he's going to be a pretty good coach. I mean, I think he is a good coach. He's a good offensive coach. But he needs help. Now, his press conference did not go very well. It looked like, and it had nothing to do with anything he said. It looked like he was on drugs. His eyes were all over the place.

Maybe he's just a different dude. I don't know. I've never met him. But it was not ideal, especially with the New York media. But I will say this. My big question mark on him, and from what I've heard from people that know him, is he's just got a huge ego.

He's very headstrong. And with players, you get into his doghouse, it's hard to get out of his doghouse. And I think the best coaches, when it comes to good players, are open-minded. You know, you can't just, I can't stand Jarvis Landry. No, you have to make it work. You know, I'm all four fringe players not wanting to coach them up. I hate average to below-average players as much as any coach. So I don't blame you.

But when it comes to high-end starters to really good players, you can get mad at them or whatever and be down on them on a given week, but you have to look to make it work. That is a 100% fact. And he did not do a good job of that in Miami. But I will say this. His ego really big. He made an exceptional hire in Greg Williams. Ego really big.

And to me, if you're going to work with another person where both of you, think you, you know, invented the game or invented whatever you're doing. I think the New York media is a good example of that. Chris Russo, Mad Dog, who I listen to on Series XM. I'm in California. I didn't even know who he was 10 years ago. I never knew him and Mike Francesa. I didn't know what their show was because when they were going, streaming didn't even exist. I can imagine if I lived where their radio station happened to be, I would have been a huge fan. And anyone that's watched the 30 for 30 of them know that they didn't even talk to each other. But they were both so talented that their egos that it kind of worked.

I do think that it's different because it's a radio show and it's coaching. But when you're an offensive coach and you are also the play caller, when you hire a defensive coach who is really good but has a massive ego and a resume of not really listening to many people, it actually can work because he just kind of does his thing and you just let him be. When you look at Gase's time in Miami, his defensive coordinators were terrible.

His defenses were awful. Check out Greg Williams' resume. It's elite. It is awesome. It is sweet. Mike Francesa still gets made fun of for falling asleep. Guess who it was impossible to fall asleep around?

Chris Russo, why? He's like a bundle of cocaine. never stops. When they were together, they were a powerhouse for a reason. They complimented each other perfectly. Now, again, I'm not saying that coaching football is anything like doing a radio show, but I've done radio shows with other people. It's important for the other person to compliment you. And even if you have a huge ego or you think you're better than the other person, if the other person can bring something to the table that you don't, you need that person, so you just kind of suck it up and deal with them. I think a pretty good example right now, and it's

different because his personality is not the same as Adam Gase's, is Doug Peterson. Like, is Jim Schwartz really Doug Peterson's type guy? Probably not ideally. I mean, it was pretty clear that he was bad-mouthed him last year, you know, through back channels in the media. But Doug also knows he kind of needs him. You know, he's not a defensive guy. He doesn't know what to do. He needs him to call plays. So it's been a good marriage. I really think that even if these guys don't even like each other, you know, that's not. important here. Now, you got to work together, obviously, in any business, you've got to be a quote unquote, I love this, you got to be a pro. Yeah, that just means you got to be mature about certain

things and suck it up and deal with it and know when you do. But you don't have to be best friends. You don't have to sing kumbaya and hold hands every day. I think this is probably the best assistant coach hire of the entire cycle. Just because of how dependent gase is on this figure in his organization. Greg Williams is not going to go anywhere. He's not going to get a head coaching job, at least according to us on the outside. According to him, he's got them lined up.

But I think this is the perfect marriage. And even if these guys are kind of crazy and don't tend to listen to many people, they don't really need to listen to each other. They just need to coach guys up. And Adam is an elite offensive coach. And now he has Sam Darnold. The Jets defense is not great,

but Greg Williams has a long history of turning defenses around. He's a big time defensive coach. I love the marriage, love the hire. I actually kind of excited for the New York Jets. One thing's pretty clear through Jerry Jones's words this week and Jason Garrett's reiterated that all his coaches are coming back, that Dallas is not going to make coaching change.

And I think we knew that at the moment. It became clear that Dallas was going to win the NFC East. And I did a topic maybe in the offseason or maybe really early on in the season that at the end of the day, Jerry, in his late 70s, would pay an astronomical amount of money to make Jason Garrett work. Do you think in a million years that Jerry Jones, at his age and the amount, how great his life is, and just now that this team has signs of life, that he wants Jason Garrett to be a star coach so desperately, so badly, mainly because more than likely, if he gets rid of Jason Garrett, he will downgrade.

even though Jason is probably just a slightly above average coach. But here is the problem. Let's say Jerry, you know, I hope he lives long. I love Jerry Jones, but, you know, he's in his late 70s. He doesn't have that many more years left. That if he just keeps riding this out with Jason Garrett, the outcome's already pretty determined. And I've been someone that has defended Jason Garrett.

I almost think he gets a bad rap. Like people talk about him like he's Jim Tom Sula, like he's the village idiot. And I've never thought he was that terrible. But here's the issue. The NFC has never had probably top to bottom brighter minds and brighter offensive minds. You just saw Jason Garrett go against a top-notch coach in Sean McVeigh, who's 32 years old, and he kicked his ass. What happens once Jimmy Garoppolo gets healthy and Kyle gets humming?

We've seen what Matt Nagy's doing in Chicago. Doug Peterson, the guy in his own division, you know, like he's got a coach against that guy. That guy's already won a Super Bowl. and has four playoff victories in his short three-year career as a head coach. Bruce Ariens is now back in the south. Sean Payton, like look at the offensive coaches in the NFC. Like, it is so, it's going to be so difficult for Jason Garrett to ever win the NFC. He's nowhere close to, and again, I don't think he's that terrible,

but the high end in the NFC with McVe, Sean Payton, now young Matt Nagy, Sean Peyton, as I already said, Sean Payton, but Bruce Ariens is now returned. Everyone views Kyle Shanahan as a really good coach. He's 4 and 20 without Jimmy. With Jimmy, he's 6 and 2. So if Jimmy stays healthy, they are going to be a competitive, you know, competing for a wild card type team.

Like, how is Jason going to get over the hill? I understand Jerry doesn't want to go down the road of going on a coaching search and restarting his organization. but if he really wants to win a championship before he's put to rest. And at the end of the day, I know he says it, and I think he believes it, but I think more in his life, you know, he just wants to keep living. Because he's so rich, he's so powerful, and his team's so much fun and such a big deal, that, again, I don't think he's lying that he wants to win a Super Bowl.

But is he George Steinbrenner? Because if he was, Jason Garrett would probably go. and he just offer Lincoln Riley a blank check. And there's no guarantee that Lincoln Riley would be better than Jason Garrett. It could turn out Lincoln Riley might be a flop. But one thing's clear that Jason Garrett has a ceiling. Now his floor is pretty solid. Like, for the most part, you're going to be competitive,

but his ceiling isn't good enough. It just will not beat McVeigh. It will not beat Peyton. It's never going to be as good as Doug Peterson because he's not a Super Bowl-level coach. Like Matt Nagy clearly has a higher ceiling. Like this guy's capped of what he can do. Look at his team. They had an elite pass rush, two dominant linebackers,

cover corners everywhere. They had Zeke Elliott, arguably the first or second best running back in the league. Acquired Amari Cooper, who's really good. Gallup's pretty solid. Dax's not bad. Even their offensive line that everyone's like, you know what? Their offensive line's not what it used to be.

Still pretty damn good. How many teams in the NFL would have taken that offensive line even with the injuries? And I'd argue he undis. achieved. You know, he really did. Now, part of it's Dack. I mean, Dax's not exactly Tom Brady, but hell, I don't think he's that much different like Jared Gough. And look at what they did. They just kicked crap out of the Cowboys. So I think at the end of the day, Jerry's all in on this. He's not going to change. And I think, you know, whenever, as this team continues to come up a little short, and it's only going to get more difficult because they've got to

pay more guys, it's Jerry's own fault. Because he should have. got rid of Jason, you know, a while ago, just because, like, his ceiling's not high enough. They're capped before the season even starts, even if they have a Super Bowl-level roster. He's just not a good enough coach to get it done. I'm not going to spend too much time on this because it's kind of stupid, but I, before I got in the NFL, I worked at Fresno State. And when you work for a football team, you know, on the coaching staff, as a scout, if you traveling with the team or whatever, there's always a lot of food.

And I don't think this week in the media, when Trump, and this is not a political take, when Trump served McDonald's and Chick-fil-A and pizza and people are like, oh my God, how could they? I got news for you. First off, just men in general, I'm in my early, I guess mid-30s. And I am struggling to try to eat clean. Most guys I know are dirty eaters, especially when they're young. Football players, we used to feed our football team.

When I was at Fresno State Rally Burgers, which is like a much, much dirtier Burger King, every Sunday night. You'd get multiple like double cheeseburgers. I'd also personally slam a couple too. I actually went and go pick them up after Sunday practice. And then when we'd travel, this was at Presbynizal State, we would get a snack.

So like as a team travels, and the NFL is the same way. You, let's say, you know, in college you play on a Saturday. So let's say you leave on a Friday morning. You usually have breakfast catered for you, wherever you are, if you have a walkthrough or whatever, breakfast catered. Then you go to the plane. They have a meal for you. You fly somewhere.

Let's say at a couple hour flight. You land. You go to the hotel. Then with, you go to your hotel room, check in. You know, now it's three or four. Dinner's at five. So you eat dinner. And then you always get a snack after night meetings.

And the team meeting and then you go to a position group. And there's usually a snack. And our snack at Fresno State was like grilled chicken sandwiches from Burger King or McDonald's. Like that's what we would get. And guys didn't just eat them. People would grab two or three. I mean, they slammed them. When I got to Andy Reid in Philadelphia, we had this thing called Fast Food Friday.

Every Friday, there was fast food served. Now, it was a little different. It wasn't like McDonald's or Burger King, but it was like ribs. It was even like sushi, burgers, all sorts of stuff. Guys, including the staff, including myself, look forward to every Friday. Fast food Friday.

So this notion that these players would have been at 20, 21 years old, I get the media elites that make six and seven figures that eat at Fleming's and Ruth Chris, and who knows where the majority of nights. Most people don't. And most young people don't, especially athletes, college athletes, will eat anything. You know, and don't get it twisted. You find a lot of fast food rappers when you get to the NFL of players in the NFL.

Doos making millions. People like fast food. There's a reason there are a lot of fast food restaurants everywhere. People go. People eat it. So this notion that like the players would have been offended, I would imagine, I never saw an after picture. but I saw some of the linemen taking pictures with multiple Big Macs.

Definitely, most coaches are not exactly the pillar of health. The Big Macs, the Chick-fil-A sandwiches, the fries, you name it, we're getting slammed. Anyone saying, and I know someone on Molly Quorum on ESPN called it racist, which is, you could argue that comment is offensive, it's absurd, it's moronic. But all these commentators and people in the media claiming like, how could you do that? Do you know how excited kids are and just guys in general, especially young guys, when you give free food?

Like your free food can be pizza, it can be Ruth Chris, it can be Fleming's, it can be Big Macs, it can be in and out burger, no one cares, we eat it. Guys eat food when they're young. You put it in front of us, we will consume it. Football players, they will eat anything. And then you serve them more, they'll eat more of it. So this notion that they were like Look down upon it

Their Twitter pictures showed it all they were loving it Why? Because guys like food Football players like food even more So don't Don't let the Twitter You know group think and echo chamber Make you think that those guys didn't love the meal Because hell if you put a Big Mac in front of me right now

I'd slam it Okay let's get to my guys on the Middilcoff mailback You can always slide up into my DM on Instagram at John Middilkoff. That's my name. And holler at me.

You know, you can hit me up on Instagram, slide up in my DMs, ask questions. 99% of my DMs are dudes asking football questions. So slide up in them. John, you didn't answer my question last time. My bad. Alshan and Foles are getting a lot of slack

from Eagles fans. I'm a die-hard fan and knew the game was over when foals through the pick in the first half. Damn. Are fans in Philly getting too soft and trying to prove they're not as bad as people say? No. To me, you won the Super Bowl last year.

The team, Philly's an elite sports town. They have, you know, they're a pro sports town. And the Eagles are in their own stratosphere in terms of interest. And the Phillies and now the Sixers are definitely a big deal. When I lived in Philly, the Phillies were good. Actually, the Flyers were good too, but the Phillies were really good. They just won a World Series. They were competing to get to another World Series.

They played the Giants in the NLCS, which was pretty sweet watching the Giants kick their ass. But they were sweet. Halliday, Ryan Howard, the Sixers sucked. But the overall point of this is the Eagles are by far the number one team in that area. Be the equivalent of like the Yankees in New York or the Lakers in L.A. It's the Eagles and Philly. So they won it. I mean, you guys want a Super Bowl with your backup quarterback.

It literally is one of the great all-time sports stories. Like if we're just telling all-time great sports stories, right? Miracle on Ice. Jim Valvano winning the NCAA championship. What's his name? Dude Gonzalez on the Diamondbacks getting the hit off Mariano Rivera in like 2001 for the Diamondbacks. I mean, there's a small. handful of just all-time, just like storybook,

uh, sports stories. Not like, Shaq and Kobe wouldn't, I'm talking like, wow, you could make a movie on that. Nick Foles is one of those. I mean, he's probably a top five. When you factor in the importance of football, I mean, in this country, in society, I mean, you could argue it's like top three. It's, it's, uh, it's, you couldn't write it in a movie. So, you know, if fans don't want to be mad about,

this loss. You were an eight and a half point underdog. Nick Foles was starting again and you had a chance to win in the last five minutes or at least just make it a game. That's incredible. At the end of the day, the Eagles you know, these last 12 months, you know, somewhat

define the NFL. Nick Foles somewhat defines the NFL. Doug Peterson establishing himself as a great coach. I think this is the one year where you can just kind of go, you know what, that was badass. That was sweet. We were the defending champs.

Everyone counted us out. Carson Wentz can't stay healthy to save his life. And we still found a way with Nick Foles to dip back into the magic. We're never going to see that again. Sometimes you see a backup quarterback, I mean, win a game in the regular season. When does a backup quarterback ever win a playoff game?

When do they ever win a playoff game? Just think out the top of your head when a backup quarterback wins a playoff game. I'm not saying like comes in with the lead when the guy gets injured, but the backup quarterback has to start a playoff game. Just think it off the top of my head. Not doing any research on this one. It sure as hell feels like every time the backup quarterback starts a playoff game in recent memory, remember when Carson Palmer got hurt and the Cardinals rolled out and got their ass kicked

against the Carolina Panthers that were seven and nine. Connor Cook had to start when Derek Carr broke his ankle. No chance. So the Nick Foles magic, to me it's like, it's real. It's unheard of. It's just an awesome story. I think I might have already answered this question, but I'll fly through it again. Giants obviously have a huge need at quarterback.

Although Dwayne Haskins is a prototypical quarterback and likely to have more longevity in his professional career, how much would the Giants consider drafting Kyler Murray if they decided to go quarterback at six. Yeah, I think I did answer this question last week, but I think you're starting to see more and more of it. And listen, I'm a Kyler Murray guy, but I think we've jumped the shark a little bit about him going super, super high at 5 foot 9. The SID at Oklahoma has already admitted, like in socks, he's a shade over 5 foot 9.

I think at the end of the day he probably goes 15 to 32, not in the top 15. I would much rather take Dwayne Haskins over Kailer Murray if I had the choice. You just bet on the bigger player. Like you said, much more prototypical. They already have a great running back. Now, as a fan, if I was in high school and still, I mean, I know a lot of older people, so I'm not pigeonhole in the young people, play video games. If I just still played Madden, that would be sweet.

You give me Kyler Murray, you give me Sequin Barclay and you give me Odell Beckham. They would be my go-to Madden team. but it might be one of those things that sounds a little better in theory than it actually would be in reality. I'd be shocked. Gettleman still runs the team. Pat Schumer's history with quarterbacks if they would be a Kyler Murray destination. And here's the other thing. Like they already have such strong star power with Sequin and Odell.

They just need to get a quarterback, one that would probably work in the NFL. To me, Kyler is a little bit more swing for the fences. I'm not against swinging for the fences, but if you have the option, I would just take the guy with the higher floor because I already have a pretty high floor as an offense because I have Hall of Fame talent at 22 years old playing running back. And I know it feels like a lot of people on Twitter

are shitting on O'Dell. I still think O'Dell's sweet. Now he's got to stay healthy, but he's an elite player. So you got those two guys with a good quarterback, you should be really good. For the mailback. Another Giants question. I can't for the life of me understand.

why Gettleman chose Seiquan over the quarterbacks last year. Can you explain what you think his reasoning for this was? I'm a big Giants fan and I'm pissed that they chose Seacquan over Darnold. Well, I think his reasoning's twofold. One, I don't think it's all his decision. I think there's an ownership level and I think this happens in pro sports, probably more than us in the media, definitely you as fans, ever realize that the general manager's got to say shit because the owner wants to do something

and he's got to take the hits for it. So I think the owner, I hope the owner, because if Gettleman thought that Eli can still play, I think he's an idiot. So, you know, I think they thought Eli could still play. I think they have this, like, kinship to Eli for the Super Bowl that he won seven years ago, even though he hasn't been good for a couple years.

And even if you do believe he still can play, he can't move, and your offensive line sucks. So to keep him to roll it back, I thought that was crazy. And I also think that they, just saw Sequin Barclay as a generational player, which he might be. You know, it's just an all-time great potential running back as a guy that's going to change the league.

And he show flashes that definitely as a rookie, but I almost feel they undervalue the quarterback, you know, and I think they'd tell you historically in the organization. You know, I grew up a Niner fan. So if you grew up a Niner fan, I'm in my mid-30s, I watched Montana, not really Montana, a more young, but you quarterbacks are really important. If you grow up a Packer fan or work in the Packer organization,

it's a quarterback-centric league. The Giants aren't. The Giants won Super Bowls with Parcells on defense. They won Super Bowls with Coughlin with a defensive line. Now, Eli got hot, but think about their star players.

Brandon Jacobs, Jeremy Shockey, and I think Jeremy was gone. Even Tiki Barber had just retired when they won the 1 in 07. Manningham, Steve Smith. Like, they won with that front, with Strahan, Osi, Tuck, Eumenura.

I guess Osi is Eumenura. I met Kiwanuka. Kewanuka, Yuma, you know what I'm saying. Like, that's defying them. Their front was an unreal. It was a dominant force. And I think they view other positions as equally as important. I don't.

And most of the NFL doesn't. It's a quarterback league. But I think the Maras and, you know, John Mara's brother is, you know, runs part of the personnel department. And I think Gettelman has worked for the Giants forever. They have an old school view of football. They view it more Parcellian where the quarterback, I bet even this year, like are they really going to take a quarterback, that number six overall?

I know the fans want them to. I know on this podcast, I'd say to do it. I doubt they do it. They'd go, hell, we'll just. take Roshan Gary and we'll take you know Will Greer in the third you know that's and we'll make him a good player you know we'll dominate on defense right

that's just that's how they think and again I don't agree with it and I agree if I were you I'd be pissed off now the bet you know if you want to go glass half full on this is one thing to pass up a quarterback and the guy you take sucks at least you did get an unreal player so it sucks not having a quarterback because you're probably not going to win that many games, but at least you get to watch Seguan Barkley. You know, I was talking to,

I helped a guy that works for the athletic to an article for the Buffalo, their Buffalo site. And we were talking about like the Buffalo team when they traded up from 9 to 4 in 2014 and took Sammy Watkins. Like it's one thing to take Sammy Watkins and it doesn't work out. It's another thing to pass on Khalil Mack,

especially that went to school in Buffalo. So it's like, I mean, taking like a baseball bat to your face if you're a Bill's fan. But, you know, at least at the end of the day you get Seguan Barclay. Okay, last question. You had a segment about how Meathead head coaches don't work, specifically John Harbaugh. The next segment you talked about how hard it is to win playoff games and how Andy Reed has 10 victories. No, he had 10 victories in Philly. He has a couple in Kansas.

He has 12. Pretty sure Harbaugh has more. I think John has 10. Here's the thing. And Meathead head coaches have always worked in the NFL. Since about, they stopped working about three or four years ago. As the rules changed, and quarterbacks became 20 times more important than they already were,

and they already were important. And you can't really play defense. Like toughness isn't quite, you know, you don't have to worry about getting decleted over the middle of the field. You can't jam anyone at the line of the street. scrimmage. There's a reason since John Harbaugh won the Super Bowl, he has one playoff victory over the last like six years. It's because his greatest rank, like John Harbaugh, if this was 1996, John Harbaugh would be an elite coach. But his, what he brings the table, he knows

nothing about offense. He's just a motivational guy. When the rules used to be much more physical, 09, 10, 11, 12, that's when he was winning all his playoff games. He can't, he can't, he can struggles to make it to the playoffs now. This is the first time he made the playoffs this year in like four years because the rules changed on him. Again, I'm not saying John Harbaugh, John Harbaugh is the highest, highest end of meathead coaches, and he's really not. I mean, he's a smart guy. When I say that, I mean, there's two sides to the meathead coach. One is just the meat head all, all motivation, which is kind of hardball, because he doesn't

have a side of the ball, but he's smart. The other is like Mike Zimmer, who coaches a side of the ball, and he's good at it on defense. But his mentality is still living in like the 80s or the 90s. He's like, run the ball! It's like, hey, coach, they can't jam our receivers. Our quarterback makes $30 million. How about throw the rock? How about our two receivers are borderline all pros?

And I think that those guys have struggled with the changing of the rules. Not that their mindset, I'm not some that the old school guy is always wrong. But when rules change on you, it's like in any business. If regulation happens, you better adapt or you will lose. You'll go out of business. Unless John Harbaugh can just spend the entire offseason studying offense and learning how to coach it, he's capped on what he can do. Andy's strength just in this NFL in 2018 is the most important thing.

Twy has the number one seed because he can coach offense and he can coach a quarterback. John can't. they have Lamar Jackson who can't throw I think it's crazy that John wouldn't even want to coach him but he does and defense is still important it's why the Ravens are going to be competitive but they got no chance to win in the playoffs and I'm not a huge Flacco guy and I think they made the right move

but at least Flacco five six years ago when he was playing well gave you a chance in the playoffs they got no chance now they could have the best defense in the league next year and they might I mean they beside Chicago they were this year I think scoring defense, they might have been won. But it doesn't matter. You got to be able to score points.

We just saw it, this last round. In the second round of the, you score points, you go home. And I'm not talking like, you're not winning games like 50, you know, you got to score mid-high 20s. Patriots had 35 points in the first half. You know, you got to beat Andy Reid. Hell, look at his division. He's going to have to still. Rathelsberg is still around, and he's going to have to beat Baker.

You know, it's just not easy. I don't think John Harbaugh's He's a high-level guy I like John Harbaugh. I love the Harbaugh's But I just think his greatest strength Is like five or six years outdated And I can say the same thing about his brother

And you see it when he plays Ohio State Sometimes that old school offense You kind of you know You run into a brick wall against certain teams That are more progressive and have equal talent Or more talent It's crazy about Belichick He wins all these games

he doesn't even have this much talent, but he's out scheming you. Belichick can tell you every player's role on every snap of the game, offense, defense, special teams, every single player what their responsibility is. Now, he's an outlier.

John can't. Now, Andy can't tell you that much about defense. But it doesn't matter. If defense was the most important thing in football, I'd say, you know what, Andy's going to have some problems. It's not. Hell, he'd just say,

our defense sucks. We're the number one seat. It's way more important to understand offense. That's why the all, these guys got hired as offensive coaches. Now, I'm not saying all of them are good. They're not. I think LaFleur is going to fail. I think Cliff Kingsbury, it's going to be difficult. But, like, what they do in their ability to coach the quarterback, again, I don't know if LaFleur can coach. But I know Cliff can coach a quarterback. So at least he'll have a chance, you know? I mean,

if he's losing shootouts like he did at Texas Tech, I mean, it could be worse. That was ultimately my point. appreciate everyone listening you can always get in the middle cough mailbag at middle cough at john middlecough slide up in those DMs I'll answer your questions here and if I didn't get to your

question I'll answer it on Monday and just keep it flowing I'm just tweeting back an emoji to the guy that just answered asked this question about John Harbaugh but have a good weekend enjoy these games thanks for listening and

yeah man enjoy We got three games left. Two Sunday. Soak it all in because they're almost gone. It's going to make me really sad. Thanks again for listening, and I'll see you Monday. Becoming a magician takes thousands of hours. Right, Ashley?

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Making daily frustration. Disappear. Just doing my job. Hurry, you only have until February 13th to save 20% when you purchase $500 in Alpha. Get started with your free design at the container store today. 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 SportsSlice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok.

Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer. Street or 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. What's up, guys? This is Clivert Taylor the 4th. And on my podcast, The Cliverts Show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff. Like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game.

This linebacker walks up to me. and he goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What? Time out. Quarterback on office blue with 42. Hey, ref, my mama want you to wave at her. What? Hey, Ms. Parker.

Listen to the Cliverts show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano. It's our favorite time of the year on our podcast point game, the playoffs. We're digging into the biggest surprises of the, the season. And I'm looking back on some of my greatest playoff moments. If we didn't talk ever again, I was crying. You just understood. That's how personal it got. Wow. Then after that game seven,

Marquis come in to him, 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. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.