The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Middlekauff – 3 & Out – Missing on McCaffrey; Vic Fangio issues; Tyreek Hill decision; OBJ/Giants comments; Inside training camp; Mailbag

Episode Date: July 23, 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, Middlekauff looks at why he missed on his pre-draft evaluation of Christian McCaffrey, Broncos new head coach Vic Fangio having some early issues adjusting to the role, his thoughts on Tyreek Hill getting off without a suspension after being accused of child abuse, why the Giants and OBJ were a bad fit, what training camp is like from inside an organization, answers listener questions in Middlekauff's Mailbag. Follow John on twitter @JohnMiddlekauff and go to www.theherdnow.com to find the latest content. Subscribe now! Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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This is a boy John Middlecock, Greenout, podcast. July 22nd as I record this had NFL network on in the background a little earlier. Denver Broncos full goal of training camp. Basically every team will I think have reported by Friday and by the weekend we'll be in full practice mode. So I'm fired up. I'm ready to go. I know you guys are ready to go. The time is now.

We got a lot going on, right? We got holdouts. We got guys going on Pupp. We're going to dive into it all for the next month, you know, leading up to training camp, or excuse me, leading up to the regular season. A little over a month until the regular season. But today, something hit me. I started watching on Amazon Prime, the Carolina Panthers, all or nothing. And it made me reevaluate something I missed on.

Vic Fangio said some stuff about his rookie quarterback that, you know, at first, and I've been hard on Vic. the wrong word. I just, when you hire an old school defensive coach and everything's trending in one specific way, it made me again take a step back and reevaluate some things which, you know, strengths and weaknesses of just coaches in general. And we'll dive into that. Tyree Kill turns out he's not going to get to spend it at all. And, you know, just give my thoughts on that. And then some things to watch for in training camp, what I think matters and what I think ultimately doesn't matter. And then we'll dive into a couple of your questions.

Middlecoff mailbag. At John Middlecopf is my Insta. I'm going to start doing three or four videos a day on Instagram. I've been doing it for the last six months. But over the summer, I haven't done them as much. But we'll just be some short rants, topics, things that are prevalent and are relevant to what's going on in the NFL. But I want to start with Christian McCaffrey.

And I kind of pride myself. I am by no means the smartest guy. Of all my friends, I'm typically one of the dumbest guys. You know, just book smart. I'm not a book smart guy. But I kind of hang my hat, a lot of common sense, and very open-minded. I will be quick to change my opinion. And when something starts trending one way, I have no problem changing with it.

Maybe part of that's living in Silicon Valley or whatever. But it's more than just technology. just being open-minded with everything. And society to me has never changed at a more rapid speed. And you can't be rigid and you can't be stuck in your ways, probably now more than ever, which with the rapid way that things are changing. I'm not saying that's the healthiest way,

but the reality is our phones are a big part of our life, computers are a big part of our life. The world's changed. And society never slows down. It only speeds up. Well, a couple of years ago, I was working in the media, but one opinion that I felt very, very strong on was Christian McCaffrey no way I would draft him in the top 10.

And I had friends of teams that were drafting high in the teams that year, and I'm like, I thought he was a late first round pick. And one thing I failed to do, and it now hit me watching the show, but really watching a season last year, I was wrong. He not only was worth the eighth pick, He's a great eighth pick. It's probably one of the better eighth picks

that the franchise will ever make. I don't know if they did this on purpose, but if they did, I give them a lot of credit that they saw where the league was going. And I think a lot of teams have seen where the league was going. And I saw a tweet from Warren Sharp, and it was based on, it was simple premise here. Running backs with over 15 rush attempts in 10-plus games,

and he just did it year-by-year-by-old. year and he started in 2000. You know, when there were 16 running backs throughout the NFL that had 10 plus games of 15 plus rushing attempts in those games, right? So it's a lot of running backs getting a lot of

carries. And pretty consistently all throughout the 2000s, the numbers stayed in the mid-teens, 16, 11, 15, 14, 12, 12, 17, 13, 12, 17, 13, 12. Then it really started to change the last couple years. 2010 to about 2014,

10, 8, 11, 9, 6. In the last couple years, in 2017, it was 4. In 2018, it was 1. Now, sports, like, the world, is cyclical. Things come back, you know, things have been flow. And, you know, it's not to say that we'll never go back to once we, what we were in the early 2000s, what we were in the 90s, and what we were in the 80s, when the running back was more important.

the quarterbacks, but I'm pretty confident saying we're never going back. The rules have dramatically changed, the emphasis on quarterback play. But to me, the main change has been the rules in the passing game. So it's not as much like the analytics you should pass more. It's just easier to pass more. You can't touch the quarterback and you can't be physical with wide receivers. Now, the running back is usually not covered by a cornerback. He's covered either by a linebacker out of the backfield or by a safety out of the backfield.

So when he's covered by a linebacker, now, granted, the linebackers in the NFL have dramatically changed over the last five years. When I first got in the league in 2010, which is not that long ago, a two-down mic was part of the vernacular. You need a run-stuffing Mike on first and second down, and then more versatile linebackers that were more athletic and could just cover more ground for third down. What does that even mean anymore? It's like Howard Mudd looked at me one time when I'm like, you know, this guy is not a left tackle, he's a right tackle. What does that mean? I'll tell you, it doesn't mean anything. Here's what I know that you need to be able to do as a running back.

And here's where I missed on Christian McCaffrey. Because I went, you know what? He can be Julian Edelman. Well, he's already Julian Edelman, if not better. Because in the last two years, he had over 100 catches last year. He had 187 catches the last two years and 11 touchdowns. So just his production alone as a wide receiver, like go and look how many wide receivers the last two years

have had 187 plus catches. It's not going to be that many. Well, then I started looking around the league. Like all the running backs, the young ones that are flourishing, all catch the rock. We love Alvin Kamar. right. He has 162 catches the last two seasons and nine touchdowns.

Zeke Elliott, the first couple years, he struggled at it a little bit. Struggle is the wrong word. They just didn't feature him as much in the passing game. Well, last year, when Jason Witten disappeared, he carried a much bigger load. Because the one reason we felt good about drafting him in the top five and why

I loved the pick back when the Cowboys did it is he could also catch the ball. He had 77 catches last year. Leonard Fournette, to me, my biggest red flag on the guy, I thought drafting him that high was so crazy. One, because just a, you know, three yards in a cloud of dust type running back are kind of dead in general. But he doesn't catch the ball that well.

He has 58 catches during his two years in the league. That's just not good enough. You know one guy that was way ahead of their time? You go to 2005 when Reggie Bush was drafted second. Looking back, that was kind of crazy. He actually would be worth the top five pick now. His rookie year in the NFL, he caught 88 balls. His second year in the NFL, he got 73 balls.

His first two years, he had 121 targets. The next year, had 98 targets. To be a high-level functioning running back in today's NFL, you have to be able to catch the football. You could argue that catching the football as a running back now is equally as important as running the ball. Now, what I kind of underestimated about McCaffrey, he's a tough physical runner, which I kind of knew at Stanford.

I just never thought he'd be a 1,500 yard again. guy. You know what? He never will be. And you know what? Doesn't matter that. As long as he runs for 1,000 yards between, I'd say, 900 and 1,000, to keep you honest, and then catches his 80 to 100 balls, I'd say if he just averages 90 catches a year for the next five years, that's a freaking home run pick. And for whatever reason, well, I know the reason, I didn't look at it the correct way. I didn't understand and quite probably value what he was bringing to the table the way the NFL was trending. But the writing was on the wall a couple years ago. Just not everyone saw it.

And the smart teams, because I know multiple teams that wanted to draft them, they saw it. And I thought they were kind of nuts. And that's why the Carolina Panthers had to take him at eight, because he would have gone in the next five picks. I know that for a fact. So the reality is, when you draft some of these players, seeing where the league is going is so big. You wouldn't start a business right now

that was based on that just didn't have the option to buy something off the internet. If you're business, if you start one in 2019 and you are not spending the majority of your time online, online sales, you're probably wasting your time and you're going to fail. And there might be something in the very near future

that's going to dramatically change, but you better get at least on the right path. Because when you draft a guy like Leonard Fournett, not a great pass catching back, and someone that can really only run between the tackles, that's a hit or miss pick in the 80s. That's a swing and a miss in 2019. That pick is crazy. What makes Zeke such a different player than Leonard Fournette is how well-rounded he was.

It was he could catch, he could block, he could run, he could do it all. And the knock on Christian McCaffrey, well, I don't know if he's ever going to be Zeke between the tackles. He's not. But you know what he is? He's closer to like Antonio Brown Outrunner Ross. You cannot cover him. Same thing with Alvin Kamara.

These guys are uncoverable assets. So it's basically, we have no problem drafting wide receivers in the top five or the top 10. If they're Amari or Julio Jones or A. Whoever we think's going to be sweet, Mike Evans. Well, if Chris McAfee is going to average 90 to 100 catches a year or Alvin Kamara, you know, 80 to 90 catches a year, whatever,

how is that guy not view closer to a wide receiver? And that's, I think, the way we need to look at these guys moving forward, because I know I will. Because it's pretty clear until every team has the Dion Jones type linebackers, what I think we thought Ruben Foster could be, or Roquan Smith, these guys are going to kick ass and take names, and they're going to produce at a super high level. Like, it was clear, and I'm a little biased because I watch him every night, but like five or six years ago, I'm like, I've never seen anything like Steph, ever. Now, he's the best version of that, him and Clay.

but the league completely flipped. Now, everyone's shooting an extremely high rate of threes. But I still believe, like, I wouldn't throw the ball. I wouldn't target Leonard Fournett 100 times. Not what he's good at. I would target Christian McCaffrey 120 times. Or Camara, or young Reggie Bush, or Zeke, because they're going to catch the ball.

I think one thing the NBA jumped the shark on a little bit, I don't want shitty players shooting threes. He's got to stretch the floor. Yeah, he's making it. 15% of his threes. This is not working. I'm not just going to throw the ball at a running back just because that's what you should do.

That's why in 2019 you're starting running back. Not your change of pace running back. Your starting running back needs to catch the football. Because then at any play, first through third down, he is a threat because you're throwing now much more on first down, second down, and third down. Basically, you could argue all those downs are kind of equal now. You're just as liable to throw as you are

to run it in this modern-day NFL. If anything, you're more prone, especially certain teams, to pass the ball. Well, back in the day, when I first got to the NFL, we would mark guys as change-of-paced running backs. That meant you had your running back that ran the football in first and second down, and then your third-down running back caught the ball.

Well, what does that do? That tips off the team. They know what you're doing with that player. What does Christian McCaffrey do, or Zeke or Kamara? You don't know if they're going to run it or they're going to catch it. That's what makes those guys so very. And I really think he's still the best college player I've ever witnessed. I'm only 34 years old, so I'm not claiming to have seen everyone.

But Reggie Bush would have been perfect in 2019. Now, clearly, guys, I got NFL network in the background. Ladani and Thomason, Marshall Falk, those type player, Barry Sanders. They could have done it in any era at any time. But Christian McCaffrey and Alvin Kamara are so much more valuable this day than they would have been 20 years ago. just like Reggie Bush, who still had a long productive career, never lived up to being the number two overall pick. Because really, he was just drafted at the wrong time.

Kind of like when we talk about three-point shooters, think how many three-point shooters in like the 80s or the 90s could have been, I don't want to say, stars now, but would have had a much bigger role. 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 has.

That's where SportsSlice 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 Slic 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. Trip 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, because 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, as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, learn the hard way.

Open your free iHeartRadio app. Search Learn the hard way and listen now. 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 line's,

You know these kids. 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 of 42. Hey, Brett, my mama want you to wave at her. What?

Where's she at? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Cliverts show on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Hey, I'm Jared Adano. You might know me as that loud guy who yells out, help on the internet. Help! Somebody! Please! But there's so much more to me than that.

I'm an actor. I'm a comedian, and recently, I've become quite the helper myself. And on my new podcast, Hope I'm a Hippocrat. I'll be changing lives, helping people in need with my sage advice and thoughtful solutions. Sike! I'm a comedian! I'm not qualified to give good advice. Join me and my comedian friends as we riff, rant, and recommend some of the most legally dubious advice, known to man. If I'm calling you, even if you're on your phone, let it ring twice.

One ring is too scary. Oh, cream of chicken suit. Hey, cream a chicken suit. This is Help from a Hypocrat, the worst advice from the dumbest people you know. Listen to Help from Hypocrite as part of the Mike Pulturra podcast network available on the IHart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Watch baseball. You can bat 2.30. no one cares. When I was growing up in like the early 90s, if you bat 230, you were not going to be a starter on a major league baseball team. But if you're hitting 35, 40 bombs now, 220, no one cares.

They do not care about strikeouts. It doesn't bother any of these analytic GMs at all. But it really bothered coaches, back when I was growing up watching football, if you couldn't run the football between the tackles or not a high-end, you would not be a starter. you would have been quote unquote a change of paceback. Well, now the change of paceback is your starter.

And that's arguably the most valuable player beside your quarterback on offense because no one can cover them. 95% of teams do not have a linebacker that you feel confident in a man-to-man situation that they're going to be able to check them in space. And I underestimated that about Christian McCaffrey. And kudos to the Panthers and kudos to, I know, different GMs that liked them a lot because they understood the value. and if we could redo it over again, like Alvin Kamara, again, not a great, like I wouldn't call him some bell cow between the tackles, but he doesn't have to be.

And he's still a star. And if we could redraft, Alvin Kamara would not sniff making it out of the top 15. Because these two guys, when you're catching 80 plus balls a year, think how many wide receivers? I mean, Amari Cooper, has he ever had 80 catches in the season? I'm pretty sure he hasn't. And people are like, yeah, he's pretty damn good. These guys are running backs. McCaffrey's already had 100 catch season.

Think about that in you too. So I won't miss on that position again. This clip is brought to you by State Farm. At State Farm, they know it's important to ensure the things you love. They also get that everyone has a budget. 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.

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Why? Because I have cellulite because I have thick thighs. I can't do that. I can't feel sexy in my own skin. And those are the things that I want to break because there are so many women like me. and I want to be and represent us, you know? Obviously, there's always room for improvement. I always want to look better.

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Okay, let's get into Vic Fangio. There's been some interesting things coming out of Denver Bronco Camp. about things Vic Fangio has said and done. And I didn't love the hire just because I think in 2019, the quarterback is by far your most important position. You have to get that right. And the emphasis, even though you could always make the argument, you should zig when everyone's zagging.

And I tend to agree, you know, definitely for gambling. If the masses are gambling on it, you want to bet against them, even if it's a no-brainer, just anything in society. when everyone's saying one thing, they're probably wrong. There's a lot of group thinking life. But you've got to get the quarterback, right. And Vic Fangio, a lifetime defensive coordinator, you know, is just, is old school. He's Parcellian.

He says what he thinks. He has zero filter, and that stuff works for defensive guys. They like to be coached hard. They don't mind being yelled at. They don't mind being cussed at. They're used to it. Offensive guys, especially skill guys, are a little sensitive. I compare them. They got a little NBA player to them, especially young ones,

wide receivers, running backs, and quarterbacks. You got to treat them with kid gloves a little bit. You can yell at Vaughn Miller. You can yell at J.J. Watt. You can yell at Earl Thomas. They can handle it. Can you call out Drew Locke in your first press conference of training camp? Here's Fangio on Locke. His college offense had no carryover to pro offense. He was underdress a lot. I don't think he's as far along being an NFL ready quarterback as he could have been. He's not a quarterback yet. He's a hard throwing pitcher who doesn't know how to pitch yet. I don't think he told a lie there.

But I got news for you. Is that the way to talk about your quarterback? Like Vic, you're no longer a defensive coordinator. You're now the head coach. You are dependent on this guy's success. Yes, his offense does not translate to the NFL. Yes, he's a major project. Yes, he can only throw fast balls and he doesn't have any touch.

We know that. That's why he took him in the second round. But is that the way to go about it? Vic Fangio also cut music from practice. Now, is music that big a deal? I would lean no. Most NFL teams in 2019 play music. Now, on the extreme end, like Kyle Shanahan has a DJ.

Is that necessary? Probably not. But I've been to countless nine-year. practices with that DJ, and they don't play it too loud. I don't think it impacts that much. But Fangio, Bill Parcells, ain't playing music. Mike Zimmer, I don't know, but Mike Zimmer's very Fangio-like, really Fangio-Zimmer-like, who again is copying Parcells, they're not into that. I don't know if Zimmer plays music or not. But it got me thinking. And I try to think about, I think about this all the time. We all have strengths and we all have weaknesses in whatever we do.

and you read enough motivational books or successful people, what they tell you to do is you really focus on your strengths. You know, you do two to three things really, really well at whatever you do. Like if you're a coach, some coaches are great motivators, some coaches are great grain planners. Like in my life, one thing I can do is I can kind of sell myself, you know. Could I sell someone else's product? I maybe could fake it for a while, but I'm really good to sell it myself. I sell my own podcast ads.

I hustle. I can hustle. I can talk. You know what I can't do? I can't fix anything. I, you know, I couldn't be an engineer. I'm not a great cook. I don't waste any time doing that. I'm not great at a lot of things, and I don't waste any time doing that. For the most part, I just talk all day. And what I realized is, you know what? Just record it all, and you can start selling it. That's how I make my money. Right? Like, what did Sean Payton realize? He knows nothing about defense. He needs to get a good. get a defensive coach, just focus on offense, Colin plays, and coached up Drew Breeze, and you'll kick ass and take names. That's what he does well. And Vic Fangio's strength, their defense, which was not good last season, and they've talked about it in training camp, like Vaughn Miller was somewhat underwhelming. You know what Vaughn Miller's going to be in 2019? He's going to be a lot better because he's got Fangio coaching them. Their defense is going to be a lot better because he's got Fangio coaching them. Now, there's a balance of your strengths and your weaknesses, right? Like, you could go around all the offensive coaches, Andy Reid, Sean Payton. They've been proven

their two best offensive coordinators in the league, right? But if their defensive coordinator is off and he's not doing a good job, they're in some trouble. We've seen Sean Payton have those years where they're going like seven and nine, eight, and eight where their offense was awesome. Last year, Andy Reed's defense kind of let him down and one of the best offenses we've ever seen. The defense was terrible. Now part of that is personnel, whatever, but those guys where they can have a huge impact on offense, they can only do so much on defense.

And I look at Sean McVeigh. Sean McVeigh, who's like this young Bill Walsh, he doesn't even watch the defense. He literally sits on the cooler while the defense is on the field and gets his play calls ready. So if Wade Phillips had a heart attack mid-game, I don't know, what do you do?

Kyle Shanahan, you could say, well, he's a great offensive coordinator, he's good with quarterbacks. His teams are a little soft, because again, he's not defensive guy. But I know this, and this is why I'm kind of like, I like Fangeo, I like what he stands for, and I like the old school. But to me in 2019, I can't have my head coach kind of bad-mouthing my quarterback. And I know Arian does it, but at the end of the day, Arian spends a lot of time with his quarterback and coaches his quarterback. Like, he's an offensive guy. When the defensive guy does that, if I'm Drew Locke, and again, I'm not even a Drew Locke fan, but I would imagine

Drew Locke's thinking, and there's nothing wrong with being coached hard and pushed, but defensive guys, they're just edgier, they're just a little angrier. I wonder if Drew Locke's thinking, does this guy even like me? I mean, seriously, does this guy even like me? Because again, Bradley Chubb, he can handle getting MF all practice. He's a defensive end. You don't treat your quarterback like that. And I understand that Vick's strength, defensive guy, he's very candid, coach his guy's

guy's hard. He's a cerebral guy. He's really smart. I do think, though, sometimes in a certain job, when you have a weakness, and Vic Fangio's weakness is going to be offense. He has nothing to do with the offense. But one thing he can control with the offense is he's going to be asked questions about the offense. And because he doesn't know anything about the offense, and he's not coaching the offense, he should be very careful about what he says. And I get, you're older, you know, the famous saying, old dog, you know, old dog, you can't teach an old dog new tricks. That's true. My mom has an old dog right now.

Cali, she's eight years old. She is what she is. But if you're going to be a head coach, you have to be open-minded to adapt on certain things. And I'm already starting to feel like, is the undoing a fan geo? Because it's not going to be the music of practice. It's not going to be coaching guys hard.

But it is the treatment of offensive players. And I saw it years ago with the 49ers. They had just drafted Eric Reed. And it was the first preseason game. and after the game, Fangio basically said, like, Eric Reed's not a starter. He's not good enough yet. They were starting Craig Dahl. Eric Reed had just been drafted in the first round.

And that's just Fangio. Tough love. He didn't start all preseason. Week one, what happened? Eric Reed started. But during the preseason, Eric Reid has to be thinking to himself, I'm way better than this guy. Why can't I play? But he's a defensive guy.

That's the way he rolls, and he's old school. I don't think you treat quarterbacks like this. Even if it's true. Even if he can't hit water sitting in a boat. When you rip them in the media, quarterbacks are just more polarizing. This shit catches on on social media. I end up talking about it.

You notice Kyle Shanahan, Sean McVeigh, Andy Reid, Sean Payton, Jason Garrett, they're just a little more sensitive with the offensive guys. Because you have to be. Also, your team's success is dependent on the quarterback. So, like, even Fangea, what's he going to do in week one against the Raiders? I think it's the second Monday night game. What if Flacco throws three picks?

Is he just going to blast him after the game? Because that's his nature. And even if we all saw him, shit the bed, and play terribly. I wouldn't blame him for thinking that, but it's not conducive to success to say it. And I think that's going to be Fangio and just up-and-coming defensive coach's biggest obstacle to overcome when it comes to owners and GMs.

Like, listen, if I'm a GM, my success is dependent on the quarterback I draft. We have to treat him somewhat with kid gloves. It's just a fact. We're going to go as far as that guy's going to take us. If Vic Fangio is going to have a successful head coaching career with the Denver Broncos, Drew Locke's going to be a big part of that. Just bottom line, end of story.

I just don't think he can blast him. I don't think that's the way. I don't know what's to be gained by approaching it that way, even if it's the truth. Okay, some of the biggest news, I guess this would have come out at the end of last week. it was Friday. I'd already recorded the podcast and a lot of people

be tweeting out me like, what are your takes on Tyreek Hill? What do you think about Tyreek Hill? My takes on domestic violence are just any violence

are always the same. Anything that could get a player suspended. That's a he said, she said in the NFL. Just in general in life. If he did it, he should go to jail. If she's making it up,

she should go to jail. That's how. I base my whole thought process on. And I think most people with common sense agree. You hit a woman, you're not only a scumbag, you're a criminal. Now, I'm not a lawyer. I don't even pretend to know the laws, but in my world, criminal, deserve to go to jail. If you make something up about a man hitting you and you're lying, you're a criminal.

And you're a threat to society. Both people, whoever does that are threats to society. Now, where I struggle with Tyreek Hill in terms of, I thought Zeke Elliott, when it was a he said she said a couple years ago, did not deserve to be suspended. There just wasn't enough evidence. Now, again, like I said with Tyreek,

if Zeke actually hit her, he should have been in jail. It's not the NFL's problem. If this chick was Zeke, made it up, she should go to jail. Well, last year, after the most recent domestic violence, you know, I would say main headline in the NFL, was Ruben Foster.

He got arrested. This is not funny. I mean, it's kind of funny now because nothing happened. At a team hotel on the road, which I'm pretty sure is an NFL record. No NFL player, at least in my lifetime, has ever been arrested on the road at a team hotel. He was arrested in Tampa Bay. They were playing the Bucks the next day. Because the same girl that had made something up the first time was there again.

Now, was he an idiot? Should he have not gone to her room? I don't know if he flew her out or not. 100%. I never disagreed with he wasn't in the wrong. But it came out, she made it all up. The NFL investigated it after the Redskins claimed him off waivers. They even kind of acknowledged, yeah, she's making it up again.

She's actually 0 for 3. And again, in my book, a criminal because she consistently makes things up that try to ruin men's lives. And I don't know, is that like not a PC thing to say? You never hear that in the media anywhere. No one ever picks on the woman when she's. proven to be wrong. It's easy to pick on the man when he hits her. Of course it is. He's a scumbag and a criminal. But if you make things up, like Ruben Foster's girlfriend did, she should go to jail. Now, Ruben and I think a lot of rich professionals, especially the athletes or famous people,

it's not even worth it to go after him, so it just kind of goes away. But the NFL acknowledged she made it up again. Nothing happened. He didn't hit her. And they still don't. They didn't suspend him. Now he tore his knee. and he's out for the year, but he's missing two game checks. And I don't know exactly how it works. He's on IR, pro-age salary. He was not going to be paid week one or week two, even though the NFL said, yeah, he didn't do it.

They basically just fined him for being an idiot. That's the thing that, would Tyree Kill? The NFL, the evidence they have, and I know people with the Chiefs, obviously know people well there, they believe Tyree Kill. They think he's telling the truth. Clearly the NFL thinks he's telling the truth. yet, like, I'm a little shocked they didn't not suspend him,

because if you think he's telling the truth and you think he's innocent, don't suspend him. I understand that. But how did he not get dock some game checks? Because we saw the same thing happen with Ruben Foster, and he got Doc game checks. I thought dragging the kind of the Shield's name through the headlines is a bad thing. So I thought he got off pretty easy there.

But I don't know what to say. like, throw them in jail. I'm not there at any of these incidents. So I always feel uncomfortable. Everyone on Twitter is so quick to say, throw them in jail. Throw them in jail. That's all anyone wants to do. Just throw people in jail. I don't know what's true or what's not. And I think we all fall in the same side of the ledger on if the guy does it, what his punishments would be. Hell, I'd have no problem if you told me, if you hit a woman, you're kicked out of the NFL for life. I don't think anyone would argue that. If you told me that was their new policy, it's fine with me.

But with Tyree Kiel, my whole Twitter timeline's freaking out, we don't have any, no one knows anything. I just do not know. And I'm always uncomfortable, like, so you're telling me the law couldn't figure it out, and now the NFL's trying to figure it out, that was always my problem with the NFL. suspending people when the law couldn't prove anything. It's like, Roger, how are you acting as the judge and jury on this when the law couldn't figure it out? And it became a very slippery slope in a complicated situation. Now, from a football standpoint, I mean, it's one of the biggest wins the Chiefs have ever had.

He's their second best player behind Mahomes, just from non-quarterback, he's their best player. He's one of the most unstoppable forces in the NFL. No one can cover him. He's faster than everyone in the league. He's got great ball skills. He's a versatile player. It's a game changer. Last night, a blown call changed a game.

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Cream a chicken suit. This is Help from a Hypocrat, the worst advice from the dumbest people you know. Listen to help from a hushin soup. Hippocrat as part of the Mike Pulturra podcast network available on the IHart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I think when the story originally broke, however many months ago, I don't even remember, we all thought, oh my God, he's going to get suspended for the year,

whatever. Then it kind of felt like, maybe he'll only get eight games. Now we got none. So I think from a football standpoint, it's a complete game changer because he happens to be the second best player on one of the best teams in the league who has Super Bowl aspirations. So it's a really big deal. And I think my ultimate takeaway is I've given up trying to figure out the NFL and their punishment and their consistency because it never makes any sense. But I also believe if you don't think he did it, then you should not suspend him.

Now, I'm not a lawyer. I'm not on the coaching staff. I don't work in the league office. I have no clue what evidence they have. I just know people with the chiefs. They were pretty confident that he was telling the truth. They believe him. Now, one thing that was a red flag to me about Tyreek, and I don't know why he went down this road,

was he tried to act like it didn't happen in college. Like, he's like, this is a lie, and same thing in 2014 was a lie. And I think a lot of people feel pretty confident, especially the way we talk about it, is that things happened in 2014, that he hit his pregnant or 15 or whatever year that was when he kicked that Oklahoma State. That he hit his pregnant girlfriend at the time, which I'm pretty sure is this lady. That's my problem with these stories with Tyreeks and the Ziks and the Rubens. It's hard to keep up with the timeline of all this shit. I mean, it's exhausting.

I'm done with these stories. It's why I can't imagine working in the league or being a lawyer. Like, that's what a shitty job having to deal with this crap is. And I also think on a big picture topic on just Goodell's power, you realize why we talk a lot about this in the media and a lot on Twitter. Most players in the league don't care. Most players in the league, when I say don't care, don't mind Roger Goodell having a lot of power. Because if you're a good guy in the league, why do you care if Roger Goodell is suspending people for screwing up, for getting in trouble?

I'd say 98% of the NFL never has an issue, never has one problem with the law, never has to meet Goodell in his office. So it's like, whatever, it's not my problem. And that's kind of the way human work, right? Not my problem. I'm not going to worry about it. So I think that's, people are like, the next CBA, you've got to take the power away from Roger. Why? Like, who's that impacting?

Five players a year? Do the math. How many players in the league? 53 players on a roster plus 10 in the practice squad. You're talking 63 players times 32. You do the math. I mean, that's a lot of players that are unimpacted by this stuff. But like I said, if Tyrick did it, he's a scumbag, he's a girl to jail.

If he didn't, he shouldn't be suspended. And clearly the league thinks he didn't do it. it. Now, I can understand if I'm Zeke Elliott, I'd be pissed off. Like, I told you I didn't do it either. I was innocent, and I got to spend it for six games. I could see if I'm Ruben Foster. You told me, you believed what I was saying, and then you still find me two game checks. Like, what the hell? And I think that's the biggest problem, just with this whole operation, is there's never quite a rhyme or reason to any of this thing. You know, you just kind of, when a suspension comes out, you're just kind of a guessing game. Like, how many games will you get? How many games will you not get?

No one ever knows. But that, at the end of the day, you know, I don't know if this has that big of an impact on the NFL in general. I know a lot of people in the media think it does, but I don't know. And I'm just talking about Roger Goodell's suspensions, the way he suspends players in general. You know, I think at the end of the day, it doesn't really matter that much for a perception standpoint. I think people think there's a lot of negativity because it's like on social media. Again, the majority of NFL fans are not on Twitter. They just consume NFL on their television.

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Come seek the Royal Caribbean. Visit Royal Caribbean.com to learn more. Okay, really quick before I dive into the training camp stuff, I'm just going to hit, again, really fast, refused to spend much time on this. Odell Beckham Jr. I guess he, did a long sit down with some dude from GQ. I haven't even read it. But I did see a quote. And I mean, I saw a ton of quotes today. But the quote that really stood out to me, because I don't care about the Pat Schumer and the Dave Gettelman, whatever, but was on the franchise. And this is out of the LeBron James Clutch playbook. The man is always screwing the player. And Odell Beckham, I don't even have a quote in front of me, but it was basically like the

reason the giants the last couple years played in primetime games was strictly because of Odell Beckham. Now, having Odell Beckham Jr. does not help putting you in prime time. But the reason that the New York football giants play in prime time games, whether that Sunday night football or Monday night football or main games on Sunday, the afternoon game against the Eagles or the Cowboys, it's because they're the New York fucking giants. They are the biggest market in America. So whether Odell Beckham had never existed, or whether

he had played their entire career, the New York Giants, just like the New York Yankees, just like the New York Jets, just like the New York Mets, and even the New York Knicks, who couldn't be any shittier, these leagues want to play them in primetime games all the time.

Now, I understand that LeBron James and Rich Paul and those guys tell them, you're getting screwed, they're using you. Now actually they're paying you $20 million a year and you haven't even played that well the last couple of years. So I'm not trying to rip O'Dellier as a player. I like him as a player. I think he's an elite talent. But when it comes to the reason that the NFC East in general, ESPN, ABC, CBS, Fox, whatever damn network is playing NFL games, if they could, they would play the NFC East on rotation. And really, that's

didn't care as much about Washington, they'd play Philly, they'd play Dallas in New York. Those three teams could just play each other every week for 16 weeks. Whether Odell Beckham was playing a wide receiver, whether John Middell Cough was playing a wide receiver, or whether you listening was playing wide receiver, they would play them. Why? I don't have the numbers in front of me, but a lot of freaking people live in New York City. Given it's the biggest media market in America. So when you put the New York Giants, whether they're good, whether they're decent, or whether they're suck, and on a game, a lot of people watch.

When you put the Bengals on a game, not that many people watch. Put the Raiders on a game, not that many people watch. Put the Arizona Cardinals on a game, not that many people watch. Put the New York Giants on television. Again, whether they're an undefeated team or whether they're a winless team, that market consumes that team. So again, I get Odell Beckham Jr., is just listening to Rich Paul and LeBron James, filling his head with these beliefs

that the only reason that the Giants are relevant is because of Odo Beckham, I got news for you. They're relevant because they're the New York football giants. And millions upon millions upon millions of people are fans of that team. So when that team plays, the countless millions upon millions of people

will watch those games. So when the Giants kick off, I don't have their schedule in front of me, whoever they're playing in week one, I promise you one thing. A lot of freaking, people will consume the New York Giants. And by week three, week four, week five, week six,

they might be the worst team in the league. But guess what? They will rate on television. Why? Because their fan base is jive freaking ganic. So Odo Beckham, I get it. He's coming from a position, an uneducated position that's agenda-driven because the players always in the wrong with clutch sports and Rich Paul and LeBron James.

They're always carrying everything. And you know what, in fairness for LeBron James with the Cleveland Cavaliers? Yeah, they need you, LeBron. I got news for you, LeBron. People have been watching the Lakers well before you, and they'll watch the Lakers well after you. Just like Odell Beckham. I got news for you, buddy.

People will watch the Giants well before you got there, and now that you're gone, people will keep watching the Giants. So again, they played in primetime games, not because of Oddo Beckham, but because they have a lot of fans. Okay, really quick as we head to training camp. I just want to hit, I wrote down a couple things,

what matters and what doesn't matter. Training camp is just a kind of a crazy time. When I was a pro scout, you basically split up the NFL. If you follow Road to World or Twitter or whatever, once all these camps get started, injuries, cuts, just a lot of stuff is going on. One human can't follow the entire league. A GM needs a staff to keep track on everything. You're evaluating basically 53 to 90, so that's 37. but really then you're evaluating another 10.

You're evaluating like 50 guys a team, give or take, you know, that might get cut. You know, or you could trade for. So you're evaluating a ton of guys once preseason games start. You're keeping track on every injury. You're keeping track on trends who's playing well, who's not playing well. You know, I got, I mean, I got friends that follow me in the league because they know me. But like when I was in the NFL, I followed a ton of people. Matt Mayoko, you know, written.

Simeini, whoever the main beat reporters are on given teams, Matt Barros, Vic Tafer, I'm biased here, my guys in the Bay Area. But you know what I mean, the guys in different cities that cover teams. And you kind of keep track, not necessarily of their opinions on players, but you do make note when you see a guy, if you've been covering football for 20 years, and you go, God, this guy's really making plays, you know, we jot that down in the NFL. And now someone that talks about it for a living, this time of year, this next month, is hard for me.

especially now that I talk about the entire league. Luckily, I mean, it's not bad hard. I only talk about the main stuff. But it's hard to follow the nitty-gritty of who's getting cut, who's not getting cut, you know, depth charts. There's just a lot going on this time of year. It's what makes the league really fun. But there are also things that happen in training camp

that I think I want to hit on really quick of what matters and what doesn't matter. To me, what matters, anytime a guy goes on Pupp. So when you see a guy, Trey Flowers, J.J. Watt, Hopkins, obviously the next three or four days, you got all these teams coming. We're going to see a lot of names on the physically unable to perform list. Well, you can start practice and practice a guy, especially a veteran player. Julian Edelman's another guy. At any rate you want.

So I could have a guy just do individual drills. But if I put him on Pup, he can't do anything. So if a player goes on Pup, I'm not saying he's not going to play week one because he can come off at any moment. moment. But it is a big deal because he's injured when he shows up, especially if a player, I was watching Ryan Pace and Matt Nagy's press conference the other day, and I actually took a picture I sent it to Nagy. It was a picture of Nagy, bald guy like myself, and Ryan Pace, who just Ryan Pace has an incredible head of hair. I mean, just for us bald guys, I am jealous of just the great hair he has. But they said, I think Ha Ha ha Clinton Dix got injured,

at the end of training camp, or I mean OTAs, and is on Pup. Like, that's not a big deal. If you got injured in the spring, even if it was semi-minor and you go on Pup, to me, that's understandable. But if you left the spring healthy, and when I say spring, like the early June healthy, and I don't know, I'd have to look into J.J. Watt and Hopkins, but I'm pretty sure both guys were healthy in training camp. So what is their injury now?

Like Trey Flowers. Was Trey Flowers injured in spring drills? because if he wasn't, what did he get hurt on? What is the injury now? To me, Julian Edelman has a thumb. Did he hurt it working out? I mean, I've seen Julian Edelman the Showtime documentary. He looked fine.

When did he get hurt? So I always red flag a pup. Now, again, not the end all, it's not injured reserve. I'm not saying it's the end all be all, but it's something to keep an eye on. I get nervous with it. Things that don't matter. I'm just going to go back and forth.

big plays by nobody's. I'm a big believer like the first couple weeks of training camp, especially now that you don't really hit. Certain guys are going to stand out. If they're fast, if they just make some plays, pick guys off in practice,

undrafted free agents. I don't pay much attention to them until preseason games because you can make plays in practice, especially after a couple days, because your opponent then is just your teammate. and you have a scouting report because you literally go against them every rep. It's why the games separate people.

One, there's legitimate pressure. And two, you don't really know what's coming because you're not game planning for any of this stuff. So I don't put that much stock in unnamed guys, especially undrafted free agents, making plays in practice. Obviously, it's better than not making plays. But it does not, the first couple weeks of training camp, you're going to see so-and-so is crush it in practice. I don't put much stock in there. Now, if he makes a couple of plays in the first or second preseason game, then I'm in. You know, then I say, okay, this guy's got a chance to make the team.

Or, okay, this guy's got a chance to, you know, be a practice squad player that someone's going to claim. But if you're just Joe Schmo, nobody, make a couple of plays against the second string quarterback, doesn't mean that much to me. What matters? To me, offensive issues. If you have a new quarterback and your offense's not in sync, especially once you get to preseason games or you have a new quarterback or you have a new quarterback, or you have a new coordinator, like all these new coaches around the league, and your offensive

struggles. It's always harder for the offense to click than defense, especially in 2019. You don't have as many practices. It's just much harder. It's much more difficult. So if your offense stinks in practice, and then we watch the preseason games, I'm just going to use this hypothetical, if the first couple preseason games, assuming he plays, let's just use this player, Aaron Rogers, just looks uncomfortable in the offense,

I would red flag that a little bit. You know, Bruce Ariens, James, just go around the league. I'd say Aaron would be the unique one just because he's a star player. So how the comfort of him, they're probably the best example, because they have this established player,

this new coach coming in with an offense that I don't know if he's super comfortable in. So if the offense struggles to me, in practice it's kind of hard to tell. I mean, it's easier for the coaches, but me at the media just standing at 49er practice, because it's so simulated. But the preseason games, I do put some stock on just the rhythm of your offense.

Not the points, not the yards, but just the eye test. What doesn't buzz coming out of camp? Again, back to the preseason games. One thing that does matter, though, is once the preseason games do start, if you have an undrafted free agent or a six- or seventh round pick who looks equally as good as a veteran player that makes $3 or $4 million, that veteran player then immediately becomes tradable

or he might be cut. He might get cut. Might be cut. I can't even speak. He might get cut. Because you can keep that seventh rounder to be a backup, you know, a starting defensive tackle

or you can keep your starting defensive tackle at $4 million. Here's the other thing. Once a guy becomes a vested veteran, I'm no capologist, but I know a couple things. if that guy makes your 53-man roster and he's on the team week one, and let's just use the $4 million, you keep him week one, and he's a vested veteran meaning he's been in the league four or five years,

I'm not sure of the exact date. Again, not a capologist. That guy then, his salary is guaranteed for the year. That's why you see a lot of older players, especially like seventh, eighth year guys. Sometimes they get cut right before week one, and then they bring them back for week two because their contract's not guaranteed. But you don't mind keeping a seventh round pick Because that guy's contract, what's he making?

600 grand. So the one great part about training camp Is you have all these veteran players That I'm not talking the star guys making 10 plus million dollars I'm talking like a solid veteran guy making 2, 3, 4 in that range Well, it's a big difference if I can just keep an undrafted free agent At 650 grand or keep a guy making $5 million I didn't go to Harvard but you do the math

I mean, you're saving what? $4.5 million? Maybe $4.3 million, whatever. You're saving a lot of money. It enables you to make midseason trades. It just gives you more flexibility. Plus, in the perfect world, you'd always rather have the younger, cheaper option.

This is not the NBA or Major League Baseball. No player really beside maybe a handful of guys on a team or on scholarship. So if you don't produce, you will get Wally Pip by a younger player. What matters? To me, rookie quarterback struggles. Like, Kyler Murray's going to play, right?

If Daniel Jones looks terrible, that's kind of a big issue because he's going to play. Maybe not start the season, but the Giants aren't going to be any good. He's going to play pretty early. So how a rookie quarterback looks in training camp, more now than ever these last three or four years, because rookie quarterbacks play immediately. Back in the day, who cares, right? Remember a couple years ago, even like Mahomes, a couple years ago with Mahomes, we knew he wasn't going to start.

So whether he was good in training camp or, bad in training camp, it didn't matter. But last year, how Baker looked in training camp, how Darnold looked in training camp, how Alan looked in training camp, how Rosen looked in training camp. Lamar Jackson, we know those guys are going to play. Marriota, Wentz, Gough, you go through the list.

All these guys are playing. Like Jimmy Garoppel, years ago, who cares? He was playing behind Tom Brady. But most rookie players, especially the guys drafted high, Kyler Murray, Daniel Jones, Dwayne Haskins, to me, how they look and how they function in the offense, in practice.

so what you're reading about them, and then definitely in the games, does matter. Because we're going to throw these guys into the fire quicker than ever nowadays. A couple of Middilkoff mailbag questions that'll get you out of here on your week. I'm running a little low, so I need, I've answered a lot just manually. I actually got a good question. I actually text this guy back, but I'll answer it here. Again, at John Middlecoff is my Instagram handle. I'm going to be doing a bunch of videos on there too, especially during the season.

just any hot topic going on. You can always hit me up. I interact with a lot of people on Instagram. I interact with people on Twitter too, but Twitter's is such an angry place. Instagram's a little more fun. I enjoy it a little more. So answer your questions on Instagram,

call it the Middilcoft Mailbag, end every show with it. Here's a good one from Jake. When Brady retires, one, will Belichick go with him? Two, would you take the over-under on eight and a half wins post- Brady? one, I think Belichick wants Brady to retire and then at minimum coach one year to just prove like he can make the playoffs.

Two, would you take the over-under post-Bradie? If Bill was the coach, I would take the over. If McDaniels is the coach, I'd take the under. Brady's gone, Belichick's gone. I don't know who the hell would be their quarterback. I mean, I don't know when Tom's going to retire. So if Belichick's there, I'll take the over. if Belichick is gone, I will take the under.

Hey John, awesome podcast. I would agree. Was wondering why you were not higher on Josh Allen of the bills. Once heard you say you love big arm talents. Alan looks like a perfect blend of Steve Young and Bing Rothesburg. Well, we're going to get back to that comment here in a second. If you could fix the accuracy issues, do you think he can be better than Donald or Mayfield?

Also, how do you go about helping him become a more accurate passer? would he benefit from an offensive-minded coach as opposed to McDermott? I see what you're saying about Steve Young because he was a mobile guy, but I think when I think Steve Young, and he was probably my favorite player growing up, I just thought he was a sweet player when I was young, now that I think about football differently than I did when I was 10, when I think Steve Young, I think, besides Drew Bree,

he's the most accurate quarterback ever. So I would compare Josh Allen more to, like, I don't even know, like, Kaepernick. something because he's just not an accurate quarterback. Now, I'm not a coach. I don't know exactly how to fix accuracy issue. You know, if we got Sean Payton or Andy Reid or Kyle Shanahan on here, I think a lot of them tell you that it's just an innate skill a little bit once you get

to the lead. Now, there are subtle things with footwork, arm angle, you can probably work with timing, reps. But I just don't think, historically, you can ever go from being like a, low 50s or whatever he was in college. Now, he was playing with terrible players, but he was awful. I made a point in his senior year, or might have been his junior year, whatever. It was last year in college to watch the Iowa and Oregon game.

And it was like, what the hell is this? Because I wanted to like him. Now, I do like him. I follow him on all social media. He's everything I want in a guy, high-level guy. It just looks like a good human. I root for good, smart humans. You know, Sam Donald, him, or BFFs.

I'm rooting for him. But it's just hard to me to think that inconsistent or inaccurate quarterbacks can win in the NFL. Now, he might have a good year, but I don't think you can sustain it over a period of time. Now, can it get better? Yeah, I mean, work ethic, I think you can incrementally improve. Again, I said this on a couple podcasts ago. Warren Moon told me back when I had a radio show, he improved a lot over his years. but it took a lot of time, took a lot of reps, a lot of effort.

I'm not counting him out that I don't think he can ever become an more accurate quarterback, but I don't ever see him being like Drew Brees or something or Tom Brady. But yeah, if he can just get to 62%, and in this league 62 is like the old 58, because how easy it is to pass, but be an explosive big arm guy, be like, if you look back at Kaepernick stats, and I'm not bringing up Kaepernick, this has nothing to do with the political stuff.

This is just as a football player those first couple years. The Niners were winning a lot of games with him going like 10 for 18, and he'd throw up for like 200 yards and three touchdowns. He did not have many 32 or 40 games. That was not his style of play. He'd run for 50 to 80 yards and a touchdown, and he'd hit a couple big plays to Anquam Bolden, Fernand Davis, Michael Crabtree.

He'd hit huge. huge plays. So he was really more of a flash player than he ever was a dominant, consistent player. So you can win that way. Now, but it's hard to sustain it. And that was a problem for him. But, yeah, I just, I'm rooting for Josh Allen. So I'm not, when you say I'm low on Josh Allen, no, I'm just what most people are on Josh Allen. I think he's an inaccurate guy, and I think it's hard to win in the NFL when you're inaccurate. But I think, like, he does have some tools. He has tools that I want. He'd have tools. I'd love. I mean, I'd get like a football erection here drafting a guy like that in the second round if my coach is Sean Payton,

Kyle Shanahan, Sean McVeigh, Andy Reed, and you just get to work with him. But that's not really the kid. He just kind of got thrown into the fire. He was super raw product. I do think Sean McDermott is the type guy super serious. I just know as a team builder, they draft, not they draft, but they signed a couple small receivers this offseason. I don't love that. But yeah, I'm not... I would not say I'm a Josh Allen hater.

You could say I'm a Lamar Jackson hater. Trying to think of a player that I'm a hater on. I hate Chris Paul. Yeah, I'm a Chris Paul hater. I like more NBA players that I hate. I don't really hate any NFL. players. Just I respect how hard it is. And even like Lamar Jackson, I have a lot of respect for Lamar.

How he conducts himself. You know, just everything I've ever heard about the type guy he is. If you're a bad player, but a good guy, I root for you. And I don't mind, people think, like, once you say, especially as an evaluator, even in the media, like, I wouldn't draft this guy. Just because I wouldn't draft him doesn't mean I hope he doesn't make me look wrong and plays well, especially when they're a high character guy. I root for high character players.

Because more high character players in the NFL, the more healthy the league is. In a perfect world, you wouldn't want anyone ever getting in trouble. You'd want a bunch of good guys playing at a super high level, and you have a good product. Now, we all know that's not possible, but I'm room for Josh Allen to succeed. Appreciate everyone listening. Enjoy the week. At John Middlecock, my Instagram, wide open, fire in there, and ask me questions. And enjoy.

Football is a back, baby. and I will talk to you later this week. Peace. If you work in IT, you'll want to check out Changemakers, a podcast, profiling IT industry leaders. We dive deep into IT profiles and learn what it takes to drive large-scale IT transformations for successful businesses. Visit changemakers.freshworks.com.

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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 headlines. And we're going straight to the source, the athletes themselves. themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions in the moment, and the stuff nobody gets to hear. Listen to SportsSlicse on the IHeartRadio 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 Smigel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel. help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter.

Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. 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. I want you to wave at her. What? Quarterback on office blue with 42. Hey, Brett. My mama want you to wave at her. What? Hey, Ms. Parker.

Listen to the Clippers 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 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 you, 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.

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