The Herd with Colin Cowherd - McVay's early hours; Pro Bowl embarrassment; Brady shouldn't retire; NFL vs. NBA player control; Carr/Gruden

Episode Date: January 29, 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.  In this episode, John explains why Sean McVay's ridiculously early hours aren't the only way to do it, why the Pro Bowl product is complete garbage, why Brady is right not to retire, why NFL player control makes the league competitive, why Gruden will draft a QB, 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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Having the background, I actually I turned it to the Warriors game. The media day, I can only take so much. I watched a couple minutes of McVeigh and Belichick and Bill is just in rare form of not saying anything, so I change a channel to the Warriors game.

But big show today. Thoughts on Sean McVeigh, waking up at the crack of dawn, the Pro Bowl disaster, Brady says there's zero chance he's going to retire. You know, some parallels with Anthony Davis, you know, asking for a trade, Antonio Brown situation. I think there's some interesting, an interesting angle there on just the NFL in general.

Gruden and Carr, John Elway, I guess is smitten for Drew Locke, the Missouri quarterback. Now, there's a lot going on. And then, as always, you can follow me on any social media platform, Twitter, Instagram, same handle, at John Middlecough. and then at the end of the show I'll go Middle Coff mailbag and that's where I answer questions from my DMs you guys slide up in it, slide right into those DMs and then I'll answer your questions.

You know, I guess celebrities and babes, DMs are full of dudes, so are mine. They're just asking about football. You know, basically every question. So just slide up in it. I'll answer anything. But I want to start with this. Peter King wrote his MMQB article

that's now I think on NBC. It was obviously on s.com forever, the MMQB site. And he rode to work, I think it was either Friday morning or Saturday morning with Sean McVeigh. Might have been Saturday morning because they were leaving to the Super Bowl the next day. And he met him at his house for the 35 minute drive. That's no traffic. So, I mean, Jesus, he's probably like two hours away from the facility if he left at a normal time. At, as he called it, insane standard time.

And he drove with him to work. at 4.10 and they got there at like 4.50. He likes to be at work at 5 o'clock. And someone asked me on Twitter, I think it was the other day, just like what time do coaches typically work? And I think this speaks for anyone in any profession. Anyone good at their job

that usually makes a lot of money works long hours. You know, it's like, and I'm not saying Sean McVeigh was not, I think, asking for credit. He's like, if you want the interview, the easiest time to meet me at my house, this is when we leave. and this is when we left. But I think when you see it written down, it's pretty nuts.

And I think, listen, I grew up on a generation. My dad, you know, like a lot of people listening probably, his parents were of the World War II generation. They raised him, the kids that were born, you know, in the 50, 60s, whatever. You know, they come from that old school generation. You got to work hard. Get up before the sun comes up. Don't come home until after the sun, you know, sets.

and I think there's still a lot to be said about that. Listen, anyone that's successful in any field, even if you don't make a lot of money, and you're on your way up, you work long hours. So you don't get credit for that in any business. Just kind of the standard. It's mandatory. But I also think, like, Sean McVeigh is clearly a morning guy.

To eat, like, my head, if I get up at 410, it wouldn't even function. I'd be useless, you know, unless I went to bed at like seven. Now, am I lazier than Sean McVey? Well, probably. But, you know, some people are just morning people. They get up at the crack of dawn and they're firing. Me personally, I wouldn't say I'm a night owl, but I can do my best work from like, I don't know,

five to ten. That's kind of a sweet spot for me, from like 10 to lunch and then later in the day. Everyone's different. And the great part about 2019 is the way, you know, I think technology operates. I can shoot emails from the treadmill. You know, I can tweet it. I can do business in a ton of different ways. Now, with football coaches, they work crazy hours, especially during the season.

And this is the Super Bowl. So you're obviously not going to be sleeping that much. But I don't think it's normal. Like I worked around Andy Reid. He worked long hours. Slept at the office sometimes. I don't think he was working at 4.10 in the morning. Now, again, he slept at the office so you can wake up at 6 o'clock and you're just there.

And he worked late at night, you know, until 11 or 12. But I think this notion, and I always thought this is with football coaches in general, just because you work long hours doesn't mean you're necessarily getting anything done. And I bet McVeigh would tell you the reason why he gets there super early. And I saw a documentary on him like last year. Not a documentary, but maybe it was a real sports or something about him. And he just liked getting to the office really early because then no one bothers you. And listen, I've never been a CEO or a head coach.

When you're at the top of the food chain, a lot of people are coming to you. from like 8 a.m. till dinner time. So you get a lot of things that you want to do. You don't really have time for. So you either do them at night. I would imagine, I don't know if you follow her. She's pretty good looking on Instagram. If I was him, I'd want to get home to my girlfriend.

Now, he gets there early. He can probably bang out some film. He can do whatever, get a workout. He just has that time to himself. Now, I personally wouldn't be able to do that. I know a lot of people listening probably wouldn't be able to do that. But some of you would. Some of you like, yeah, I have no problem.

getting up at five if I have to, as long as I get to leave a little earlier. I think we're all wired differently. And I think you see, Gruden became this living legend because he got to the office at like 4 a.m. And maybe that's what Sean McVeigh knows. And I saw something on TV last week that they were just interviewing him. And he said, you know, the first job you ever get in football, that's kind of what you learn about like the basic of the sport.

You know, whether it's the coverages, the work ethic, how to set up your day. He was hired by Gruden. So he was hired by Gruden, you know, fresh out of college and, like, I think it was 08. It was a Gruden's last year. That taught him, you know, that to him is what works in the NFL, right? That's just the way that was ingrained in him at a very, very young age at a start of his NFL career. Not everyone's like that. You know, Bruce Arias notoriously tells guys to leave, forces them out of the office.

So I think there are so many different ways, you know, the old saying goes to skin a cat. like Sean McVeigh, it probably doesn't work for other guys. Like I doubt Pete Carroll's getting the office at 4 a.m. His career turned out okay. So I guess what I'm trying to say ultimately is that I'm not trying to take anything away from Sean McVeigh. He clearly is a grinder. But I think all coaches work really crazy hours. What separates him is when he's in the office, he clearly knows what the hell he's doing.

Whether it's implementing the scheme, whether it's when the players actually show up, dealing with them. Like, the league is not about, like, how much time you put in. I got news for you. Everyone puts in time. What you do when you're in the office? If I ever run a company, hopefully one day I will, Middle Cough, LLC, JDM Media, you know, ink. If you work for me and you were a sales guy, hosted a show, whatever, I wouldn't give a shit. What time you got there, what time you left.

Do you produce? Do you get the job done? Like Stan Cronky ain't checking in, making Sean McVeigh sign in and out when he leaves. You know what he does? He's like, that guy's kicking ass. I can't wait to give him an extension. I don't care what time Todd Gurley shows up to practice. Is he getting it done?

Yes. You know, clearly Tom Brady, Belichick, McVeigh, Andy Reid. This guy spend long hours, players, and coaches. But a lot of, I mean, Derek Carr constantly talks about how long and what, you know, the time he puts in. He doesn't win, you know. A lot of players put in, Matt Stafford, I'm sure, puts in time. It doesn't work, you know?

Certain people get to a point where it's like the law of diminishing returns. For McVeigh, he clearly is productive when he's there. It works. Like to me, whether he's getting up at the crackadon or showing up to work, you know, at nine after a late breakfast and, you know, a jog. It doesn't matter to me. All I care about in the NFL is, If I'm a fan of a team, does my coach get the job done on Sunday?

And clearly McVeigh does. Let's get into this thing they call the Pro Bowl. Typically when the media and the group think on social media led by the actual sports media all agree with something, I just naturally, I don't try to be contrarian. I just don't think like them. You know, I'm not an extreme liberal. I was raised in a capitalistic home. You know, where we worked in the private sector business.

My parents weren't teachers. Now, academics were a big deal in my home, but, you know, it was a bottom line business. You know, it was a very regimented, you know, came from an army background, was not much screwing around. So it's like, as we've seen, there's nothing wrong with it. You know, I got liberal friends, conservative friends. Most people, as I always say, are in the middle. But most of the sports media, as we've seen, decided. even opinion, it's a fact, are extreme left-wing liberals. So a lot of their takes on stuff

usually have some political agenda and I just happen to disagree. And again, I'm just a middle-of-the-road guy who, uh, you know, but my ultimate point is sometimes I can be contrarian and I'm not even trying to be contrarian, I just think differently. And I know a lot of people listening do too. They don't feel always the sports media, you know, represents their thoughts. And sometimes I think the sports media, I don't know, can be out. out of touch sometimes with the common guy that's making, or girl, you know, making 60, 70K. They don't realize, like, fans pay for the business model of everything, of this podcast, of the game I'm watching, of the player's salary.

Like, without fans, there is no nothing. And I think a lot of people lose touch with, like, go on Seatgeek and check how much a ticket cost for, like, a warrior game. Now, I know there are a lot of wealthy people in the Bay Area, but even like the upper deck. Like, it's a couple hundred bucks a pop And I got news for you The venture capitalist ain't sitting the upper deck Well, the guy making 50, 60K

That might live in Stockton Is driving his kid that gets to see Steph Curry one time That's a lot of money Like I try to value the fan Because I know how much this stuff costs And it's not easy for everyone to pay for it And sports are dependent on their fans But ultimately the point of this

Is I do agree with the sports media on this And just the casual fan on this The Pro Bowl is bro. Unlike, like baseball is the easiest all-star game to play. Because you can just play a baseball game. Like a spring training game can look like a Major League Baseball regular season game. If a, you know, it just can look normal. Guys throwing 95, dudes are swinging, good defensive plays.

Now, I'm not saying it doesn't get sloppy or whatever, but you can play a baseball game full speed and you're not really thinking about getting injured. In basketball. Like, you just go to any gym, people are playing five-on-five basketball. Now, I know the All-Star game of late has been shitty in the NBA, but historically, I remember being pretty good. Now, there's some flair and pizzazz to it where guys are screwing around, but, I mean, for the most part back in the day, guys played really hard.

The thing about football, like, you can, you either play at walkthrough speed or 100%. Like, you can't play football. I mean, you can play through an injury at 75%, but you going into the game, no, you got to lay it all in the line. You can't play somewhere in the middle. You've got to be all in. And what the Pro Bowl is throwing out. Like I was thinking like, what is a parallel to this?

And I don't think there is. You know, like a company wouldn't put out a half-ass product unless they knew you would consume it and could still make money off it. Maybe they would. Like the Pro Bowl got 8 million people to watch yesterday. Or if you're listening to us on Tuesday on Sunday. I would imagine every NBA game on Sunday if you added up their viewers did not equal 8 million.

As I saw someone tweet, the highest viewed college basketball game this season, Duke at Kentucky, I think it was the initial tip-off to the start of the season was Zion Williams and this hype team, got like two and a half million people. Now, college basketball clearly is not as big as it once was, but I think it shows you. Like, I mean, 8 million people watch that. I swear to God, I refuse to watch. Now, I'm somewhat of a horror, so I flipped it on. I saw one play.

I promise you, I only watch one play. Usually I'd try to hype this up and pretend. No, I'm being honest. The play was a fake punt. And I think Zeke was like the personal protector. So basically the second to last guy before the punter. And they snapped it to him. And then he ran it for a first down.

It was like fourth and ten or whatever. The entire defense wanted no part of tackling him. And Zeke wanted no part of contact, arguably the most physical runner in the league. And I was like, this is just beyond stupid. How is anyone watching this? And I get they got a lot of famous players and things in the game. But that product, and listen, I'm not saying like get rid of the, I get. You get 8 million people, you can sell advertising, it leads to the revenue sharing, it's just more money.

And I understand that. But I would have to have a serious talk. Like, I don't think you can keep rolling that out. Like, that's just, it's just an embarrassment of your product. Like, you're already making so much goddamn money anyway. Do you really need the extra couple million that gets thrown in the pot for that game? Would you be better off having a home run derby with the guys? Or I don't know, making them play golf or having a, I don't know,

4x100 race with Odell Beckham versus Mari. I don't know, something. But that game was an embarrassment for the professionals. And I don't even blame the players. Because if you set that game up, given that, you know, all those guys make a ton of cash. none of them want to get hurt, which again, I don't blame them,

and their teams don't want them to get hurt. But that product is, it's unwatchable. So the 8 million people, I mean, I guess it was boredom. There wasn't a lot on television yesterday. I don't know how you could watch that. That's the one thing. I try to relate to the common fan.

I don't get how 8 million people consume that thing. Now, the arrow's pointing down. Last year was 8.6 million. This year was 8. to me that number is going to continue to diminish. I would just find a way. I don't have a great solution for this, but I might just scrap the game

and have a Pro Bowl week with activities, maybe even just make it flag football. I wouldn't even have them put on pads, because that's basically what it is now. Just go flag football, you know, have, I don't know, home run, just screw around, a bunch of different events. But you can't keep rolling that thing out. That thing is an abomination.

I'm going to get to something right now. I actually hit on in the last podcast because in the Middilkoff mailbag, someone asked me if they thought that it was going to be Brady's last game, the Super Bowl, or just this final season. And my response was I just couldn't see it, mainly because maybe I said this on Twitter, actually. It's kind of like Warren Buffett. There's a reason Warren Buffett doesn't retire. It's never been easier for him to make more money. I mean, it's as easy as gets. I know some business owners, some bigger than others. a lot of them refuse to sell

because once the business gets big enough, it just prints cash. It's actually more expensive to sell when you factor in taxes. You just sit on the business, pays for all your expenses, and you get cash coming in. It's incredible.

But 20 years ago, they would have said blood, sweat and tears, like how hard the business was, right? It's why anyone, early on in their career, you know,

it's why coaches often say enjoy the journey, not the end result. Because the process, like Clemson, and Nick Sabin often says this. Like once you win a championship, it's really about all the time you put in, not the end goal. And I think Tom Brady is a great example of, he said zero chance, I think, to Jeff Darlington in an ESPN interview that he retires.

It's never been easier for him to play mentally. And physically, he's adapted this TB12 method in kale smoothies. I mean, I'm thinking when I'm done recording this, I'm going to go to Rubio's and get just some dirty chicken burrito. I, you know, it takes discipline to do what he does. And he said it on time versus time, like, if you're going to play me and beat me, you better give up your life because I've given up my life for this. And he's 41, he's still in great shape,

he's skinnier than he's ever been, and mentally he's smarter than he's ever been. And he also has the greatest coach slash team builder we've ever seen. So it's not that crazy when he says zero. Like I would imagine if you sat down with Elway, I'd love to sit down with Elway, But if we sat down with Elway, say myself, all you guys listening, and we just said, John, why did you walk away when you walked away on top? And maybe he said this, but I'm saying like a legit answer, like over beers, not cliche sports BS.

One of the things he'd probably say is, you know, just it was hard to play. I mean, my body hurt. It was hard for me to stay ready. It was physically took a toll because clearly John Elway was really intelligent, right? Mentally, he could handle it. physically your body usually takes a shit on you. I mean, look what happened to Peyton Manning. It just, the body tapped out.

Mentally, he had never been smarter. I mean, he's a genius. But his arm was done. I mean, by the second half of those games in 2015, his final year, remember he got Bench Rossweiler, but that first half of the season, I saw him live, throw two picks against Charles Woodson, who actually had never picked him off.

It was done. He would have told you, God, if my arm would have held up, I would have played until they dragged me off the field. Because it's never been easier. Like, I know how to prepare. It's like when you do anything longer and you work in a specific business, you get a better feel for things. And the thing about sports, unlike business, is it always kind of rejuvenates you. Because there's always young players coming in, people talking mess, acting like they're better than you.

Every week you get a new opponent during the fall. So it's easy to kind of get motivated. It's not just like, oh, more money in my checking account. It's like, I actually physically got to play someone. So it's easy for him to stay, you know, kind of on his toes just because every year he's got to compete against new players coming in, players that are getting better. Mentally, he's never been stronger.

Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise. Breaking down the plays, the controversies,

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Slice Life 12 and 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.

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Learn the hard way. Open your free iHeartRadio app. Search Learn the hard way and listen now. 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, this linebacker walks up to me. He goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What? Time out. Quarterback on office blue with 42. Hey, ref, mom, I'm a one. want you to wave at her.

What? Where's he at? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Clifford show on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, 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 flanks. He running up the court, licking his fingers, why he got the ball. Like, 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. So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Physically, I mean, he looks like he's in his mid-30s, not about to be 42 years old this year.

He's got the best coach ever. So, you know, I don't think his situation parallels like Peyton when he can. quit or retired. Elway Winnie retired on top. These guys' bodies told him no more. Farve was shot. Remember that last year in Minnesota? Physically done. Brady threw 500 yards in the Super Bowl last year.

If I had to guess, I'd be shocked if he doesn't get to like 350 this year. I think it'd be hard to expect another 500 yard performance. But if I had to guess even win or lose, he's probably got 350 and a couple touchdowns. Like he just has that in the bag. Right now at 41 years old. So it's really actually makes sense why he's not tapping out.

Why the hell would he? You know, it's like I said, Warren Buffett. They're absolutely, it's never been a dumber for Warren Buffett to not retire. It's just too easy. It's just too easy. It is obviously not too easy for Tom, but it's never been easier. This episode is brought to you by Royal Caribbean, an award-winning global cruise line. A vacation is what you make it.

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That's why they have options, like insuring your car and your home, getting you great rates on both. It's a good idea to consider State Farm. For surprisingly great rates, like a good neighbor, State Farm is there. Call or go to StateFarm.com for a quote today. If you could talk to me a little bit about the process you went through, and I think it's good to not pat yourself on the back, but to put it out there so other people can kind of hear what it takes. Like, I don't know. I always look at like this.

Like, what do I want? I wanted to be a WWE superstar. All right, what does it take to be a WW superstar? What are the tools I will need to give me every possible opportunity I can get? And so I took the tools of acting classes, improv classes, wrestling school, everything I possibly can to knock on the door of WWW. The people of the, everyone on that real world show would wear my T-shirts would always ask me to do the MIS.

Like, they were so supportive. Like, you don't get it that very often. You really don't. Listen to the My Coutura Podcast Network, available on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Well, the NFL, as proven by 8 million people watching the freaking Pro Bowl, and we've known this forever, is at the top, right?

They dominate in terms of every metric, in terms of ad revenue, in terms of eyeballs, in terms of people just consuming their product relative to the other leagues. and one thing, and I know the media loves player empowerment. And obviously players like player empowerment. Guess what? Employees like employee empowerment. You always want to get a little from the man, right?

Because the man's always trying to screw you, even though the man is the one paying you and really taking all the risks. And I say this all the time about like, if you're an NFL player or an NBA player or a major league baseball player, you are a partner with that team and the league. let's say you're making $10 million a year. Well, your liability is obviously your body in the sport. But the game, like, let's say you play Major League Baseball, you play for the San Francisco

Giants. Opening day, there's 40,000, 45,000 people there. Well, if someone gets drunk, falls, and breaks his hip, they ain't suing you. Like, the team deals with that. If there's a fight, something happens, the team deals with that. And even though they split the revenue with you, They take all the liability on all that stuff. You don't have to worry about making sure if the games are on television.

You don't deal with any of that stuff. They deal with it all. Now, your liability is your body, but you're getting paid a lot of money, you know? And I know everyone loves to say that Levion Bell got screwed this year. You know, it's like, God, you know, he was just offering them those coal miner salaries. No, actually they offered them $14.5 million. Every penny guaranteed. And he said no, which I said all along was stupid.

But the one thing I think the NFL has going for it, and I'm biased, I've seen it firsthand, is the team has a lot of control. Now, I was lucky I worked with a smart team around people like Howie Roseman and Andy Reid that knew what Brett Veach, guys that knew what the hell they were doing. So, you know, it's not like I worked for village idiots, though I was around Ryan Grigsson and I was never shocked with the way everything happened in Indy. But my point here is, as an NFL fan, like if you're a lot of you're not, you're a lot of an NFL fan and you're an NBA fan, the likelihood that your NFL team can compete is exponentially

higher. Like in the NBA, the New Orleans Pelicans, now that one of the top five or six players in the league is demanding a trade, that franchise is screwed. Like, they're just done. And really, at the end of the day, there's three or four teams that can win it in the NBA. But one of the reasons the NFL is running circles around them, one is because so many teams every year competitive. Like, do you know, I got news for you. Do you know who's going to be a sneak? Super Bowl pick might be strong, but definitely a playoff pick. And I think a team that a lot of people are going to pick to win the division next year in the AFC North, that's Cleveland Browns. And I think there's some substance to it.

Like, they should be pretty good. You know, like, you can go from shitty to good overnight in the NFL. It happens all the time with a good coach, with a good draft. I mean, it consistently happens. I mean, look, every year in the playoffs, like three or four new teams enter the playoffs. I think this year was like six. You know, obviously the Cowboys, the Bears, you just think about the Chargers.

Think of all the teams this year that made it. The Ravens, that did not make it the previous year. So, and I'm even leaving teams out. Obviously, the Falcons made it. Who am I missing here? Who was the six-seed? The Titans. Oh, the Colts?

I mean, see, it's just having the players being empowered is a risky thing. and for the most part it's going to lead the stronger the players union and the stronger the players to more bad contracts. And if you're a fan, you don't want bad contracts.

You want your team to have flexibility. Look at the last several years for the Washington Redskins. They were franchising Kirk Cousins every year. So they were always flexible. If they needed to get out, they could. But they were also paying him a boatload for his services because he was a starting quarterback

because he was like a borderline pro bowler. So you're like, okay, you fell okay with it, but you never got tied down. Then this year they let them walk. The Vikings paid a boatload for him, probably too much, but that was the market. And then they overpaid Alex Smith. They would have been better off making Alex play this year out and then franchising them twice. Instead, they gave him like $71 million guaranteed for injury only.

Well, what happened? His leg fell off. So they basically signed the equivalent of an NBA or a Major League Baseball contract. And now they're screwed. it's going to be like $40 million of dead cap. If the players had a lot more power in the NFL, do you know how many teams would have countless Alex Smith-type contracts? Now, I am not a believer that players don't deserve some more cash.

But I also think it's a slippery slope with guaranteed money. Just because of the nature of the sport, guys get hurt so much. And when you do have an injury, you don't see it that much in baseball, I guess occasionally with Tommy John. we've seen it recently in basketball. You know, John Wall signs this enormous contract. His knees all screwed up. The contract is a disaster.

Chris Paul's $160 million contract. Disaster. Absolute disaster. Gordon Hayward signed a max deal in Boston. Absolute disaster. Missed a season last year. This year, shell of himself and you have to plan. In the NFL, you don't have those situations that often.

Because contracts beside a quarterback, you're never going to. guaranteed. It's always why your team's so flexible. Even the Raiders who have made the playoffs one time in 16 years, for the last like four or five years, they've had a lot of hope. They've always had flexible cap. They've always had the money to go sign people and they have the cash because every team has the cash. I really think the most underrated part about the NFL is it not being a players league. Besides, it's a quarterback league obviously, but there's only like 14 to 17 quarterbacks that truly matter that all the other players are.

kind of like just kind of pawns in this whole thing that we benefit. It's why so many teams are competitive. It's why hell the Browns were a good watch, the second half of the year. It's why teams every year go from worse to first. It's why every year we have all these new teams in the playoffs. Because you have constant turnover. You're never stuck. You're never paying this just contract like Albert Poole's who can't even run.

And you're paying them $30 million a year. That never happens. So I know the media loves to talk about it and I get the players. I don't blame the players for fighting for it, but just know this. As a fan, you benefit from having it be a team first league, not a player first league. Okay, let's dive into another story that I saw today.

It was actually starting with the McVeigh story that we jumped off the beginning with, also in the Peter King article. And I'd actually heard something similar. And it's regarding John Gruden and drafting a quarterback this year. And I think that the potential of him, with one of those late first round picks, I think pick 23 and picked 27 from the Cowboys and the Bears.

It's actually the Bears pick us first because obviously they got bounced out when Cody Park you missed the kick. Maybe it's 24 and 27 and the Cowboys, you know, winning that first round game, not ideal, you know, for Khalil Mack and Amari Cooper. But one of the things Peter King wrote is that a personnel guy told him that keep an eye on Gruden drafting a quarterback. And not just to replace Derek. And that doesn't even mean the part of the story was like, I don't even think they'll get rid of Derek. And I've actually heard from people around Gruden, he likes Derek.

You know, Derek is a people pleaser. And he is talented. Though I've said over and over, like, I've been watching Derek since he was in high school. I didn't think he played that well, really the last two years. Now, he did show moments this year, flashes of that 2016 campaign. But for the most part, it was very hit or miss. and Gruden is, you know, kind of, you know, stubborn when it comes to his quarterback. I mean, that's his baby.

That thing runs his offense. He's the play caller. And part of this article was just, you know, the people from the Ron Wolf School thought, anyone that was around Green Bay, so that's Holmgren, Gruden, Marriucci, Andy Reed, they believe in drafting quarterbacks like every other year. Hell, Reggie McKenzie did it two years ago with Connor Cook. trade it up for him. And I like the move. I just didn't like the player. So Derek, who is on a pretty team friendly deal for having a max contract, it gets pretty cheap moving forward to get out of on a

yearly basis. But one thing is clear. He does no competition around him. Since becoming the starter, it's been Connor Cook, it's been McGloin, it's been A.J. McCarran, they signed Peterman. The other quarterbacks around stink. I mean, they are terrible. As people in the league said, God, Gruden is going to fall in love with someone at this Senior Bowl. He was coaching the Senior Bowl. He even went on record to say, because him and Kyle Shanahan are friendly,

like they were exchanging players, like between meeting rooms, so they were getting to know them. I know Drew Locke talked about at the beginning last week of the Senior Bowl. Gruden sent down with him for breakfast, drilling him on different passes that he had screwed up on during the season. Gruden's going to draft a quarterback. Now, I personally, if I was Gruden, I wouldn't mess around with them super early, any of these guys.

I would not waste a first round pick on a quarterback. I would not waste my high second round pick on a quarterback. But if I liked a guy, and I'm just using this guy as kind of an arbitrary figure, if I like Trace McSorley, and I can get him in the fourth round, I'd do it. If I like Gardner-Menschu, and I can get him in the fifth round, I'd do it. And I think I'm going to coach that guy up, and that's going to be, you know, Derek's backup. because right now the backup behind Derek is not good enough to even begin to push him. Drafting a guy when it's John Gruden drafting the guy and clearly even Mike Mayock has said, yeah, he's in charge.

That might light a fire just to get some extra competitive spirit out of Derek that he doesn't even know he have just by seeing the guy next to him in the meeting room every day. Like this guy is coming for my job. Hell, Belichick's done it for years with Tom Freak and Brady. Always drafting quarterbacks around him. And I'm not saying you think you're losing your job, but there's just a competition. You ever been around a guy when you've been a situation? The one time I interviewed in the NFL, I got the job on the spot like that day of the interview.

But when I went to interview for the Philadelphia Eagles, they had a cafeteria at the Novacare Center. And there were two other people in there interviewing. Also for that same job. It was kind of intimidating. But like it helped me get laser focused. And, you know, it's like that with coaching interviews. you know who else is interviewing. It's like that with players.

Like competition is healthy. I think Gruden, I don't even think this is a story. He 100% is drafting a quarterback. To me, it's just what round? I would not, even if I loved a guy, I would not screw around with the first round quarterback. I don't think, first off, I don't think any guy is good enough in this league

or, excuse me, in this draft to do that. But I think they're definitely drafting one. So if you're a team in the NFL, and teams do this, you start building a board of other teams, needs. So you start getting a feel for what teams are going to take what type players wear. And quarterback is a need for the Raiders. Not a starting quarterback, but a quarterback in this draft. In this draft, while it is not very top-heavy, I don't think it has anywhere near

the prospects of Lash. Rosen, Josh Allen, Baker Mayfield, and Josh Allen. I mean, we had four guys going the top 10. That's borderline unheard of. Hell, that might be an NFL right. That's pretty crazy when you think about it. But this year, I think you're going to get like 12 quarterbacks drafted. Like all those senior bowl guys are just getting drafted. So, I think Gruden, I don't know which

one, but I'd be shocked if he didn't fall in love or kind of become, you know, smitten as the thing we'll talk about next with a quarterback at the senior bowl. The story I saw today, I think in the Denver Post, was that John Elway, I love

this word is smitten for Missouri quarterback Drew Locke. I've read this a couple of places that Elway likes Drew Locke. Now the Denver Broncos draft 10th, can you take Drew Locke 10? No. I'm not the biggest Drew Locke fan. I don't really love any of these quarterbacks in this draft, but I get Elway, right? He's somewhat desperate for a quarterback, and I think sometimes that can force you to like a guy, you know, a little more than you should, but whatever.

Maybe he really likes this guy. Now, his history recently is not great at picking these quarterbacks. But I'm not going to spend much time on this, but I just, everyone needs to be aware of this. When you read things like this over the next month, a lot of it is the leaks coming out that teams want you to think one thing because it gets out for the other teams when really they like someone else. And I'm not saying this report on Drew Locke, because I've seen enough people, and clearly Elway talks to people. I don't even think he gives a shit. He likes the guy he'll just tell you. don't think he's necessarily playing games.

But you're going to read a lot over the next month. A team likes this guy, a team likes that guy. A lot of these GMs and head coaches will not meet the player, like literally see them together for the first time until the combine. So a lot of the GMs have not seen a player in person. For the most part, the head coach definitely has not. So until you see a guy live in person and talk to him and get a feel for him, you can watch the tape.

It's one thing to watch an NFL Free Agent tape. You've already met the player. You already evaluated him coming out. It's another thing with a college prospect. So watching the tape is a huge part of it. But you've got to meet the person. You've got to see him in person. You have to actually sit down and talk with them.

Like these are human beings. So now obviously Elway met Drew Locke at the Senior Bowl and a lot of general managers got to meet these players. And I think the last two years it's average like 33% of the draft have come from the Senior Bowl. it's a big deal. Senior bowl's a big deal. But, you know, I would say probably 100% of the GMs were there, but definitely not 100% of the coaches might be less than 50% of the head coaches went. And even if the head coach is not picking the players, he's playing a role in the draft

process. For the most part, you're not going to draft a player that the head coach does not like. So the overall point of this is just when you read something that your team likes player X, especially before the combine, it's probably fake news. You know, and I'm not saying that it's necessarily true after the combine, but there might be some validity to it, because at least they've met with the person, watched them work out, and obviously evaluated the tape. So I just think when you hear this is a process, the draft process, it really is true. And it's really kind of just taking shape.

Now, all the regional scouts and college department have evaluated. These players and a lot of them have seen them, you know, live. But most of the head coaches and the general managers have not, because during the season they're with the team, the NFL team. They don't really get to go on the road as much. They don't have time. So just be careful when you read things, especially things that you don't want to read.

Like, I hate that player. Your general manager or coach might hate that player as well. So the draft process, to me, really doesn't really kind of come full circle till like the end of pro days. There is so much information to be gained and so much vetting to be done over the next couple months that you got to be really careful

just with these type stories that you know it's probably a 50-50 chance that it's just they're not even true. Okay, let's get to the Middilkoff mailback slide up into my Instagram DMs at John Middukoff, J-O-H-N-M-I-D-D-L-E-E K-A-U-F.

Kind of a tough name to spell. And, you know, I've been humbled over the years when I first got a job of the Eagles, and I think Fresno State, too, they only put 1F. They couldn't even spell my name right. So, I mean, it'll humble you. Tough name. It's not exactly Smith or Johnson or something, so I get it. John, what's Derek Carr and the Raiders beef with you?

I saw Derek had blocked you on Twitter. That's a great question, you know? I've always been a Derek supporter. But I'm also, you know, kind of hang my hat on just being real and being authentic. I didn't think he played that well. You know, maybe I have tweeted before. I think he should ask for a trade. I think it'd be a win-win for both teams.

I don't know. Maybe he didn't like it. I don't know. He blocked me, you know? I've known him for 10 plus years. And he gave me the old blockeroo on Twitter. So, you know, you live and you learn. The Raiders have just hated me for years because they thought I was too critical.

It's like, hey guys, you guys just stink. And you're leaving my town. So I stick up for, you know, my friends and my neighbors. I'm a community. John Middilcoff's a community first individual. And when you screw over members of my community, I stand up for them. So they didn't like that. But I don't know.

Maybe Derek thought I was too harsh about relocation. I don't know. I don't get it. You know, I did see Stephen A say something. when he was going back and forth with Derek, and I did agree. No players, and just people in general, ever get mad when you give them compliments.

Like, obviously, Derek wouldn't have blocked me when I was saying he should have won the MVP two years ago. The Raiders would never have gotten mad at me if I said, God, they're just the best organization going. People only really get mad when you're critical of them. And in this job, you know, in the position I'm in, and the position anyone's in that talks for a living, like you got to do both.

You know, you can't tell me it's sunny when it's pouring rain, and it's a tough position. You know, it's why, you know, I'm not going to have close relationships with players. I have actually a lot of close relationships with coaches and executives, and a lot of them I've been critical of, but they can handle it. They're part of the job.

It's why they make a lot of money, you know. It's just, I don't know. It is what it is. Uh, I'm still a Derek Carr fan though, and I think that if he is with the Raiders, you know, I think he'll definitely have a better year. But he has to play better. When you get paid all that money in the landscape of the NFL in 2019, more is asked of you. And you just got to be, he has to be better. As a Carolina fan, Cam is the most frustrating paradox in the world.

Nobody seems to question his elite athleticism or arm strength. True. He's got all the weapons. But he doesn't seem to care about the hard work of fixing his fundamental. he seems more focused on fashion. He's like the owner of a nice sports car who never does any cleaning or maintenance.

How do we fix him? Is it about getting the right coach, changing his mindset? What do you think? That's a hell of a question. Good analogy too. I do think Cam works pretty hard, but he has been gifted,

you know, probably in the history of the NFL, some of the greatest physical gifts we've ever seen. You know, I went to the last time I saw him, live was that the last year a candlestick and the Niners played the Panthers and I remember and I had seen him because I had went to his draft. The Eagles had sent me in 2011 to Radio City Music Hall. So I saw him that year he went number one and he was huge. But I remember seeing him like three years later when when they played the Panthers and thinking like oh my God, this guy looks like LeBron James. Yeah, he's one of the all-time physical freaks, but he's never been accurate. Like he's one of

those guys that depends on running. You know, his MVP season was his most accurate season, but he also rushed for 10 touchdowns. Like, he's a guy you run quarterback power for. Like, he's never really been my type quarterback. But I've never argued that when he's on, he could win any game. A Super Bowl, a playoff game, a big regular season game, whatever. Like, he is as potent as any player we have in this league. But, like, his just basic flaw is he's inaccurate.

And that's never really going to change. And you're not going to change his fundamentals at 30 years old. And now he's coming off a major shoulder surgery. You know, I think when a player tells you, like, we kind of know, Cam is what he is. As long as he has athletic gifts are still there, and let's just assume his arm strength is still strong, he's going to be a factor.

But I think the MVP type year is an outlier. That's kind of proven. He's a different cat. I do think, I'll give him some credit. I think he's matured a little bit over the year. over the years, because I do think he came in a league a pretty immature guy, and he's had some immature moments over the year. And I think

it's hard to be a quarterback when your highs are so high and your lows are so low. It was, you know, my problem with his Super Bowl antics after the Super Bowl. It's like Cam, two weeks ago, you were on top of the world, and now you're down in the dumps. You're like a bipolar football player. You can't act like that. You kind of got to be consistent. And I'm not saying you don't get to celebrate

because you do. But like Cam, are you going to celebrate every first down. Like, Brady celebrates touchdowns and wins. I don't need you celebrating a seven-yard run to move the sticks in the first quarter. But that's kind of, that's just his DNA. That's who he is. You know, he's kind of a showboat

who's kind of been humbled these last couple years. But if he bounces back and he's healthy, like they got no excuses. A DJ Moore, the rookie they got is legit. Christian McCaffrey, I'll be honest, I was wrong. He's a star. Like, that team is good. Luke Keakley, superstar.

Like, they have no business. if Cam's healthy to not compete for the playoffs. But one of the reasons it feels like they miss the playoffs every other year is because Cam's play is not consistent. Now you've got Norff Turner. I think Ron Rivera is a good coach. You got an owner willing to spend cash. Has a lot of cash.

Time to win, man. Now I know they have one, but like if you're going to win a Super Bowl with Cam, you're not going to do it when he's 38. He's probably got a couple years left, assuming he bounces back to kind of make a run here. So it's got to, I think it's got to happen these next couple years. And it's going to be difficult. The Saints are still going to be good.

The Bucks are not going to be as shitty as they've been with Bruce Ariens, right? And the Falcons just had so many injuries this year. They're going to be better. No, it's just tough division. Arguably the toughest division in football. So, I don't know, man. I think you, you know, you just got to keep your fingers crossed that his shoulder gets back to 100% and just kind of hope they catch lightning in a bottle because he probably only has a couple really good years left.

because as he ages, his athleticism is going to diminish, and he's not an accurate pastor, so it's not a great combination. Hey, John, I'm optimistic about the future of the Browns. What is your honest opinion of Baker? He receives a lot of hype following the record-breaking rookie season, and rightfully so, but do you think he is a star for years to come? Also, how much does Freddie Kitchens have to do with his future success? Start with the latter.

I mean, your coach has a lot to do with your quarterback's future. success. So if Freddie Kitchens is a legit coach, he looked like a pretty legit offensive coordinator in his short, you know, tenure once he took over as the interim, he'd be in good shape. When it comes to Baker, I mean, I think he can be an excellent player. I think he can be a pro bowler. If you draft a pro bowler that you're in great shape if that guy plays quarterback, right? If you have a pro bowl quarterback, that means you will, you're going to make the playoffs, which as a Cleveland Browns, that's a big deal. Now, I don't know if that's going to be next year, but I think he has that type

skill, because his most important attribute is he's really, really accurate, and that's a big deal in the NFL, and he has a good arm. So, like, a lot of quarterbacks are, like, Alex Smith was accurate, but his arm wasn't great. You know, Philip Rivers is accurate, but sometimes his arm strength gets him in trouble. Like, Baker has a good arm, and he's really accurate. Now, sometimes a little like Cam, I don't love the antics, the high and low, but he is young. I do think he'll mature as he gets humbled a little bit in this game, but he's good, man. Tight end's legit, Chubb's legit,

Jarvis is a legit slot receiver. They clearly need to get some outside receivers. Be shocked, right, if they don't draft, hell, maybe a couple receivers in this draft, and be active in free agency or trades, because if you can get a good outside weapon, the kid they got from Florida, Calloway, can't catch the ball,

him and Higgins feels like dropped the ball too much. clearly Calloway does. They need to get a legitimate, just outside, just a solid player. I mean, hell, just like a Michael Crabtree. I mean, I'm just pulling a name out of my, you know, out of nowhere here. Obviously Michael Crabt is not a free agent, but just a good outside receiver. Because you got a running game, you got a tight end, you clearly got a good slot receiver, and then Baker can make guys matter.

And then Calloway and Higgins can be like fourth and fifth wide receivers instead of having to be like second and third. So I'm a baker guy I get Collins apprehension for the personality Because usually that type personality does not work at quarterback So I do think he's got a mature to kind of reach his ceiling But he's young I mean how would he

And I don't blame him for being that a little immature He went to Oklahoma, he kicked ass Then he was drafted number one Then he became a starter and kind of revitalized the Brown So he hasn't really been humbled yet I know he'll love to tell you Well I had to earn a scholarship Yeah, that was a while ago now.

I mean, you've been the starting quarterback at Oklahoma for three straight years. Now you're starting the NFL. So we all come, you know, humble roots or whatever. But you can, the farther you get away from your humble roots, you know, you could say, you know, I grew up this way. I mean, I grew up humble roots or whatever. But you start kind of feeling yourself, and then it starts getting back by people start feeling you.

Not literally, you know what I mean, figuratively. You know, I think he might need to be humbled before he becomes. a quote-unquote star, but I like the player a lot. You know, I think best case scenario, and this sounds a little crazy, I do think he has a lot of parallel, maybe a little more athletic,

just because Drew Bree is not that athletic, but that type game. You know, a six-foot guy that is just really accurate, and he's got a better arm. So I think he's that type player. Now, is he going to have Drew Breeze's career? More than likely, no. But I do think he can be a version of that,

a poor man's version. If he becomes a poor man's version of Drew Brie's, I mean, Drew Brie's a Hall of Fame or he's like a 10-time Pro Bowl. If Baker's a five-time Pro Bowler, it makes the playoffs a couple times, that's a raging success given the team that he's taken over. Okay, Middilkoff. Couple questions. My take on Antonio Brown is if he isn't careful he's going to become more Chad Johnson

than Marvin Harrison and not make the Hall of Fame, especially if he doesn't play with Big Ben going forward. Question. How will the new rules and current era affect wide receivers make in the Hall of Fame? Who are the current receivers that will be in the Hall of Fame? Is there a chance Antonio Brown doesn't make it? Second question. Your future.

You haven't really got... Oh, I thought you were saying you haven't really gotten. You've gotten better every week. And I think you have the best takes on football in the media. Agreed. What do you want to be in your future? Would you want to do TV? More video?

Blah, blah, blah. Okay, let's start with Antonio Brown before we dive into the middle-coff future. I think Antonio Brown's a Hall of Famer. I mean, just check his last five years. He's incredible. I mean, he's one of the best wide receivers we've ever seen. I do think the stats are clearly inflated,

but I think there's some pretty clear Hall of Famers. Like Antonio Brown's a Hall of Famer. Julio Jones is a Hall of Famer. If DeAndre Hopkins stays healthy, he's going to be a Hall of Famer. there's some Larry Fitzgerald, Hall of Famer.

I mean, there are some guys in this league that are, I'm just saying these guys off top of my head. So yeah, I mean, I think Antonio Brown is much better than Chad Johnson. I mean, Antonio Brown just had one of the great five-year stretches we've ever seen in NFL history.

Like the stat test, the eye test, just hearing coaches talk about him test. Like, he is an elite all-time player. Now, I do think anytime you change quarterbacks, and you kind of have this attitude. Like, I think Diocinco is a bad comp. I think it's closer to Terrell Owens,

where he's clearly kind of a problem, but he's so good that you deal with it. One thing T.O. had is he was louder than Antonio. Like, Antonio, like, Tio never shut up. It doesn't feel like Antonio talks that much, and I follow him on all the social media platforms. But it feels a little more, less harmless. Now, I don't know anyone with the Steelers,

so to get the true, true dirt on what he's like on a daily basis, clearly somewhat of a pain in the ass, but he's been so dominant. Yeah, I do not think he's Chad Johnson. I think he's a Hall of Famer. And then my future, my question, you know, I used to aspire to do stuff when I was in radio, and then the medium changed so much,

and I can have a really good living doing this podcast, I have another podcast I've talked about Haberman and Middlecough. I have a Periscope show that I've sold that I own. You know, I like running my own life. And I've been an employee and I've been a quote unquote owner of stuff or even a partner and stuff like with this. I like being in full control. I'm just not a great team guy unless it has to do with the message that I want to do.

And I think the way the media has changed, just the platforms. I can make money off doing a Periscope show into Twitter off my iPad. I do these podcasts that are more profitable than I ever had on a radio station where I made pretty good money. And I do it from my house. So I don't know really what the future holds. Like what is television? Like everyone's cord cutting. Like is the future television YouTube?

Like I'm probably not active enough. I have a YouTube channel. I think it's John Middilkoff. But like that's to me where the future is going. and you get to control it all. So, you know, I can't tell you, I have like a set goal that I want to do X because I think we've never seen the landscape of all this stuff change so fast. Like, I loved reading newspapers and reading Sports Illustrated when I was a kid.

Like, Sports Illustrated is not even going to be around in a couple years. So I'm just got to be able to adapt with whichever's coming. And to be honestly, I don't quite know what's coming. You know, I mean, look at Colin. If you want to listen to a show, think of the places you can find it. You can find it on podcast, which, as he's tweeted out, like set records in 2018, like hundreds of millions, 115 million or something people listen. You can watch it on FS1, that you can also, if you have FS1 on your cable package or YouTube TV or whatever,

you can stream it on your iPad. You can listen to them when I get in my car on Sirius XM Radio. So I just think there's so many different platforms and so many different ways. and I like the business aspect, as you can tell, listening to this podcast, that I don't know. I mean, I, you know, 20 years ago, you'd be like, I got to get my own sports television show and my own radio show. I don't even think you have to do that anymore. I mean, through Colin and through my other platforms, like, I have so many people listening to me that wouldn't even have been existed 10 years ago. So, you know, I pride myself on, you know, you got to adapt or die, so I've just got to keep adapting, you know.

So I don't know. I don't know what the future holds. I do know what the future holds, though, that I'll have another podcast come Friday called Three and Out with me, John Middlecough, and I appreciate everyone listening. Like, you can always slide up into my DMs at John Middlecough on Insta.

Easiest way to get a hold of me, email me, my email is on my Twitter account, same at John Middlecough. Easiest way, it's easier to get a hold of me, again, I say it all the time, on social media, than it is actually calling me. It's sad, but it's just the truth. So thanks for listening.

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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. 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 Acapella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple

podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, guys? This is Clever 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, this linebacker walks up to me.

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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.