The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Middlekauff – 3 & Out – Pats should pursue Texans' tampering; No "new" Kirk Cousins; Earl Thomas' Seattle shade

Episode Date: June 14, 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 Belichick and the Patriots pursuing tampering charges against the Texans over contact with Nick Cesario for their GM position, why Kirk Cousins will always be limited despite Vikings changes to the offense, and why Earl Thomas' comments on the simplicity of the Seahawks D aren't as bad as they appear.  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.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo, and every episode, we're cutting through the noise,

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Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smigel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter.

Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, guys? This is Clivert Taylor the Fourth. And on my podcast, The Clivert 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?

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That's how personal it got. Wow. Then after that game seven, Mark keep coming until he's like, you know I love you, dog. You know, it's all love. This was just playoffs. This was just basketball.

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at the salary you want, with the benefits you want. We even send job alerts, so your perfect job lands right in your inbox. Go to careerbuilder.com today or get left with whatever jobs, Our lefts. Find your next job fast at careerbuilder.com. What is going on, everybody? John Middlecock, the R-N-Out podcast. Taking in the U.S. Open here on Fox Sports One. If you're listening to this on Friday, I'm at Pebble Beach. Looking forward to that, firing down, watching my guy, Tiger Woods.

Well, actually, he's teeing off earlier early in the morning, so I don't know what time I'm going to get down there. But I'm fired up to get to Pebble. I've never played it, but I've been there a bunch. It was like a two-hour drive for me. I don't know if you're watching this tournament looks so badass on TV. It's hard to beat some of the sight lines and the views at Pebble Beach.

It's as good as you get. It really is. Jordan Speed just hit it into the water. That's a problem. Well, let's get into this week. A lot going on. We got tampering charges filed by the Patriots.

You know, Pop Meets Kettle. We'll dive into that. We have Earl Thomas made some comments that kind of interested me. Tom Pellasaro said something the Minnesota Vikings are doing about Kirk Cousins. We're going to dive into it all. But first, let's start with the Patriots. I think there's a reason that law enforcement uses criminals sometimes to gather information. You know, I know historically, like they've used criminals that are already in jail

to help them find out how other criminals think. And I'm not even saying, trust me, I've defended the Patriots. But when you do some shady stuff sometimes, you know what shady stuff looks like. I had for the first time in my life. Now, I've only really worked in business probably the last three or four years

since I've left radio and kind of done stuff for myself. And I had something happened to me, I guess, quote unquote, with a startup where money wasn't paid. some shady shit happened and part of it was my own fault for not kind of calling it out early for keep going along with it but whatever it was I would have paid for that learning experience I mean I literally did because money did not come my way so my my services were actually I might as well paid them because they made the money I ended up not but it was an incredible learning

experience and I think anyone that's quote unquote been screwed over in a financial situation it's why a lot of older people are very cynical about business because they kind of know what it looks like when something weird's going on it's why if you ever go to like someone a high level person with a company you have a mentor in business and you present you know an opportunity they immediately go uh i red flag that i would not you know i would not recommend doing that why because they know what something shady or just not going to work looks like. That doesn't mean they're always right, but they know what it looks like. Well, if you're going to send this guy, Jack Easterby, I think is his name, and I already have

him red flagged because he's like a scout meets a personal life coach, meets team chaplain. Anytime God's a huge part of your life, but you're also the guy like in charge of hiring and firing, but you're not like the GM, something weird's going on. And this guy, I don't know much about him. He's a bald guy, I've just Google imaged him. something weird. I don't quite understand what he does, and I've text people around the Houston Texans. They're not exactly sure either.

All I know is he's Bill O'Brien's now right-hand man. Well, he was part of what the Patriots were doing the last couple years. So the ring ceremony last Thursday night, he went there to go to the ring ceremony because he was part of the team. Now, a lot of people went, like Trent Brown is a raider. He was there. So it's not unnormal for him to go. But one thing's clear.

The very next day, let me repeat, the very next day, the Texans fired their general manager. And all reports so far have been, they're all in on Brian, not Brian Gain, who was their GM, on Nick Assyrio, the quote-unquote GM, like Belichick's right-hand guy.

And it's clear something happened at that gathering at Robert Kraft's house that might not be kosher, that the Patriots, who better than anyone, right away knows, you know, something's not right here. Like maybe, I don't know if Kraft has video. I don't know what's going to,

going on. But again, when you hire a criminal, they know what it looks like. So when you're doing this in Belichick and Crafts backyard, it's called what it is. Belichick's not a saint. I mean, he pushes the envelope on anything. So you send this guy who clearly was there on basically like a recon mission to find out one if Casario would take the job and probably tell him what was going on. So really, Brian Gaines' fate was sealed the moment that guy showed up at Robert Kraft's house. The moment Casario would just tell him like, hey man, I'm probably interested.

And I don't necessarily blame the Patriots for filing tampering charges. Because to me, that's kind of bullshit. You know, it's one thing to go back channels, reach the agent. It's another thing on a ring ceremony night at Robert Crafts House to kind of be doing some backward stuff.

Especially when you were basically the Patriots like Team Chaplain. Again, like once you become the team chaplain, you kind of got to be above board on other stuff. Now, I don't blame the Texans for wanting Nick Casaria. He's clearly highly viewed. He knows exactly the Patriot way. Bill O'Brien trusts him. And from what I've heard, one of the big reasons they got rid of Brian Gain, not because Bill O'Brien dislikes him. Actually liked him. He was literally Bill O'Brien's hire. Because Bill O'Brien, he wants someone that's really good at that

job. And he viewed Brian Gaines and his 17 months on the job as average to below. Just wasn't good enough. And if we know, if we've learned one thing with Bill O'Brien over the last I don't know, three or four years since he's been the head coach, the Houston Texans, once you're in his doghouse, you're dead to him. He will flip on you, you know, faster than, you know, a criminal in front of the feds. He'll sing like a canary

if it means getting that guy out and getting the new guy in. And clearly, for being like this hard-ass, old-school guy, he's got a little politician to him. Because he keeps, and I'm a Bill O'Brien fan. I think he gets more criticism in the media circles and probably in the fan bases than I think he does internally in the NFL. He's viewed as a pretty good coach. But he's got this backstabber shady mentality. Like that's not really arguable at this point.

But one thing was clear. And a lot of people were saying pot meets cattle, the Patriots file with tampering charges. Yeah, because they know what it looks like. And this bald-headed team chaplain. Last night, a blown call changed the 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 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. SportsSlice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to SportsSlice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slicelife 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 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

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

What? Time out. Quarterback on office blue 42. Hey, rec, my mama want you to wave at her. What? Hey, Ms. Parker. Listen to the Cliverts show on the I-Hart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast.

Will Ferrell's Big Money Players and IHart Podcasts soccer moms. So I'm Leanne. This is my best friend Janet. And we have been joined at the hips since high school. Absolutely. Now a redacted amount of years later. We're still joined at the hip. Just a little bit bigger hips, wider. This is a podcast. We're recording it as we tailgate our youth soccer games

in the back of my Honda Odyssey. With all the snacks and drink. Sidebar. Why did you get hard seltzer instead of beer? They had a bogo. Well, then you got it. Do you want a white claw or something here? Just take it. What are y'all doing? Microphones? Are you making a wrap? Alba. I would buy it. Cut through the defense like a hot knife through sponge cake.

That sounds delicious. Oh, you're lucky. I'm not a drug addict. You're lucky I'm not an alcoholic. You're lucky I'm not a killer. I love this team and I'm really trying to be a figure in their lives that they can rely on. Oh. Listen to soccer moms on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

There's now like the pseudo-GM for the Houston Texans, went in on a recon mission, to find out and steal the Patriots guy. Now, if I'm Casario, maybe it's time to get away from Bill. But I'd be very hesitant if I'm Casario leaving Bill Belichick for Bill O'Brien that will turn on you in a heartbeat and a team that, you know, is good on paper, but they still got some financial issues. I think everyone views Deshaun Watson as a really good player, but is he a superstar player? Like is he just going to be some 10-year NFL starter that's leading your team to the playoffs every year?

You could argue in the body of evidence we have, it's probably what it looks like, but you never know. So maybe he's just trying to get a raise out of the Patriots. I don't blame Casario for talking. Like the only person that cares about you is you, you should always look out for yourself. Belichick does. Craft does. Josh McDaniels does. So I have zero ill will or judgment on Casario.

That's welcome to the life. but Easterby, or however the hell you say his name, it's going in on this recon mission, you go on a SEAL Team 6 mission with a bunch of other SEAL Team 6 members on the other side. Like, you might get blasted. You might get caught, right? It's easy when we send SEAL Team 6 into like Afghanistan

and they don't know what we're coming. But if you send a SEAL Team 6 member into like a fortress that is being guarded by SEAL Team 6, even if you're the best SEAL Team 6 member, it's going to be hard to infiltrate that thing. So Belichick, you're not pulling a fast one on those guys. They're too smart. They've seen it all.

They do shady shit. So I think the tampering charges, of all the BS tampering charges that get thrown out and they happen in the NBA more than anything, right? Like, Magic Johnson mentions Paul George's name tampering. Like, this is a legitimate tampering. I think where there's smoke, there's fire here, and the Texas were caught red-handed. This episode is brought to you by Royal Caribbean, an award-winning global cruise line. A vacation is what you make it. So are you ready to make the most of it? A Royal Caribbean adventure

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Learn more and press play on your future at know my status.com sponsored by Gilead Okay, let's get into Kirk Cousins I saw Tom Pellasaro wrote, had a comment that the Minnesota Vikings are giving Kurt Cousins a lot of different looks, different defenses

in practice. And my first response was, just shake my head. You gave this guy $84 million. And when you pay a free agent, a veteran free agent in professional sports, whether it's basketball, football, or baseball. I'm not a hockey guy, but I imagine hockey's the same. You're already getting, like,

the player is the player when you get them. This is who he is. You can't, like, when you draft someone, what's so powerful about the draft is like, think about whatever you do. When you get an intern, you can mold them. You can have them think the way that your business wants them to think. You can help him out build good habits if he just has the most basic stuff. Well, when you hire someone that's 40 years old and has 15 years experience, you're basically getting not a finished product, but someone that has an idea of what they're doing.

No different than when you get a five or six-year veteran player. And Kirk Cousins was six years, I think seven years in the league when they signed him. So you get a veteran player and you give him a ton of money. Like, I got news for you. He kind of is what he is. So you can give Cousins a million looks in practice. It's not going to change that much. Because the things that Kirk Cousin struggles with,

and this is what they should have known when they signed him, or one, he's just physically limited. It was always the knock with Alex Smith. Like Alex Smith, who's a smarter guy than Kirk Cousins, seems like does teammates like him a little more, whatever, just the better version of Kirk Cousins, still had physical limitations, was never going to be able to make throws

that Fav, Peak Brady, Rogers, have in the back. He does not have that club in the back. If those guys have a three and a four iron, his bag stopped at like a six iron. It doesn't mean because he doesn't know where to go with the ball or who's open or who's not open or what he wants to do with the football. It's because physically he can't do it.

Cousins, very similar. Cousins is not a good athlete. So when the play breaks down, he can only do so much. And his arm is meh, better than Alex, but it's not great for NFL standards. So when you have a limited arm talent, they're going to be throws that if they're a split second off, you know, a guy like Mahalb is the best version,

but I just think you can use a lot of younger players that that ball is there when you have a little more zip on the football. And here's the other knock on cousins. Is processing stuff, not in practice, or not in the film room, again, I would say by three or four years into the NFL, cousins between sitting and playing had kind of seen it all. All the different defenses, all the different looks. Like his, again, his downfall is,

He can see it and know it, but for whatever reason, from brain to arm to execution, it's just not there. Now, again, I sound like I'm crushing Kurt Cousins. I think he's a solid quarterback, somewhere between 10 to 15. But that's it. Like, his resume is his resume. 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, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down,

give you context, and ask the questions everybody wants answered. Sports Slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to Sports Slice on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12 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 rapidly.

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 here on earth. Are you a good person because you're afraid?

Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Gaines, is we have real conversations about. How healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, Learn the Hardway. Open your free iHeartRadio app. Search Learn the Hardway 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? Come on.

Quarterback on office, Blue, 42. Hey, Wreck, my mama want you to weigh better. What? Where's she at? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Clifford show on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Hey, I'm Deanna Maria Riva, actress, mother, lover, and a Gen X woman walking through life one hot flash and hormonal crying jag at a time. You ladies know what I mean.

I'll bet you a paramed apocal chin here you deal. So let's talk about it. Join me on my new podcast, How Hard Can It Be with the Adamania Reva, where I call on my Gen X squads from Ohio to Hollywood as we navigate Midlife's most fantastic BS. All of a sudden, I'd had hanginess happening on my own. I was like, what the hell is that?

I was married when I had her, so I didn't even consider how empty that nest was going to be. Mood swings, night sweats, fupas, sex drive. Wait, what sex? Dating at 45. How high can it be? I'm getting naked at 50 with the new guy. That one's kind of hard.

Well, that's lighting. They say we can't polish a turd, but we're sure going to try. So let's get blunt with laughs, tears or tears of laughter, and dive into it, unfiltered and unbothered and ask, How Hard Can It Be? I cannot believe I'm about to say this out loud in public. Listen to How Hard Can It Be with Diana Maria Riva as part of my Cultura podcast network available on the IHeart Radio app,

Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Right? He's going to throw some touchdowns. I got news for you. It's never been easier to throw touchdowns in the NFL for quarterbacks. But he has inopportune picks. He makes inopportune turnovers. And again, just back to his physical limitations, he was a fourth round pick for a reason. Now, where you're drafted does not determine how successful you are, i.e. Tom Brady. But Tom Brady, once he overcame that, one just had an elite arm. Now, it's probably not quite as

as strong as it used to be, but he can make every throw at warp speed, right? Obviously, Rogers Mahomes like the best version but you don't need that but you do need like there are things that just Drew Breeze can't do that a big arm quarterback can't and sometimes I can get you in trouble the difference is Drew Breeze for being a

averaged arm and again when I say average arm he just doesn't have a great NFL arm because he's insanely accurate one in his process like his ability to grind the tape Monday through Saturday the game plan what he thinks the defense is going to do

to him and then put that all into his mind and then execute that into his body is a plus characteristic. Like that's just not a plus characteristic for Kirk Cousins. So you can keep throwing them all these different looks, mess with them in practice, try to get them flustered. I don't think that's going to do much. And I think that is somewhat of an indictment that they were desperate because they thought they were a quarterback away.

Now, I will not argue that Kirk Cousins is not a better player than Case Keen. him. Like, that's not an opinion. That's a fact. He's a better player. But he's not that much better. But when you factor in the money, he got so much cash that then the pressure adds that part of the evaluation of Kirk Cousins is that how much you paid for him. If they had got Kirk Cousins for like $30 million guaranteed, it wouldn't be that big of a deal. But they gave him $84 million. You know, $84 million. Like part of why Instagram's so sweet for Facebook, I think what they buy Instagram for, like a billion dollars? I mean, it's now it feels like they're cash cow.

What would Instagram be worth now? Ten times what Facebook bought it for? Part of when you have a sweet, even when you draft a player, like damn, you drafted this guy in the second round? The Pats drafted Jimmy Garoppel in the second round. The Raiders drafted Derek Carr in the second round. Part of their value is like, damn, Dak Prescott, you got him cheap, Russell Wilson.

That's what's great is when you draft them low. and then he becomes a really good player. Now, Kirk Cousins was drafted low in the fourth round, but then they just paid him like an elite player. And we all know he's not an elite player. There is so much pressure on Kirk Cousins this year because it's not really arguable if you just put a top 10 quarterback on that team. Russell Wilson, Andrew Locke, Aaron Rogers, Tom Brady,

hell, if I gave him Jimmy Garoppolo, if I gave him Mahomes, Deshaun Watson, all these guys, they would win. They would be a lock player. out team. So I know their defense was hit or miss and it's not all on Kirk Cousins and it feels a little unfair because it feels like I'm shitting on him right now. I'm not even necessarily

trying to do. But I do think it's an indictment that they're trying to throw all these curve balls. Like I'm sorry, he's going to be 31 this fall. I think when the football season starts, he's going to be 31 years old. It kind of is what he is. You know? Because he's always kind of hung his hat. The way he became a starter

was being a smart guy. He didn't wow anyone with like athletic ability or deep ball power. He was just super smart. He knew the playbook. That's what he hangs his hat on, right? If Mike Tyson ever in his prime, just, you know what? He doesn't have that much power anymore.

Like, he wasn't going to beat you with defense and ability to box like Floyd Mayweather. Like, he hung his hat on hitting you in the face and knocking you out. Like, no one ever called Chuck Laidale. You know what Chuck Laudel is? He's an elite grappler on the ground. No, if Chuck Laidale was going to beat you, Cal Poly alum, baby. He was going to hit you with a right, right in the chin,

and you were going to go night night. So the moment Chuck Lydell's right hook stopped being a plus attribute, he was screwed. His career ended. It's like the moment we start questioning, you know, I don't know if cousins could quite handle the playbook, we're done. Because he ain't just going to freelance like Fav.

You know, he's not just going to be able to make plays like Mahomes. He's not going to be able to run around like Deshawn Watson or Russell Wilson. He better be the smartest guy on the field. I think the Minnesota Vikings, if you get true serum in them right now, if Mike Zimmer, aka the meathead, aka I respect him, great defensive coach. He walked into my office right now, and I bet he, I like vodka, but I bet he likes whiskey or bourbon.

So I went and grabbed him just a stiff bourbon or whiskey drink. I poured it. About two drinks deep, he'd be like, you know, if we could do one thing over, we would not have signed Kirk Cousins of that contract. We regret that contract. They're already kind of showing you, like you don't need me to tell you that. You don't need him to tell you that. It's pretty clear through the rumors that are coming out there.

It's not going to work out. 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. Surprisingly great rates, like a good neighbor, State Farm is there. Call or go to statefarm.com for a quote today.

I can post a picture that a girl that is way skinnier than I am, a size 2, a size 4, the same exact picture. And I look vulgar because I'm thicker. But if a thinner girl does it, it's not that much of a big deal. And that's what I'm not okay with. Because why? 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. I want to work out. I want to lose weight.

But in reality, this is the body God gave me. And I've never really been skinny. Listen to the MyCultura podcast network available on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Hey, Singles. Do you feel like a tourist in your own town? Too busy to a week? enjoy all your city has to offer. Events and Adventures organizes up to 30 unique get-togethers around

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Start enjoying the sounds of your new single life. Get started today at events and adventures.com. 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.

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. 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 Cultura Podcast Network available on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Okay, let's get into my last item here. Earl Thomas. And Earl Thomas made a comment, and I'm not trying to take it out of context. I did not hear him say it.

So I don't think he said this, like with a negative connotation. I just think he just said it very matter-of-factly, very black and white. Here's what Earl Thomas said I guess he was interviewed this week. It might have been Thursday as camp or mini-camps were ending. Earl Thomas on the Ravens defense. This defense is very complex compared to what we did in Seattle,

where all we did was cover three. And when I first read that, I was like, God, is he taking a shot at Pete? And then I just think he's saying that simply, we do a lot of different stuff here with Seattle you knew exactly what we were doing, which is factually correct. And it just got me thinking. Because for the most part, I would say most NFL coaches believe that more complexity in an offense or defensive schemes is a good thing.

It means you're out thinking the opponent. They don't know what's coming. You have an advantage just because at any moment you can go left, right, blitz, different coverages, run, pass, whatever. Right? and I think Pete Carroll has proven if I get people that fit my system we're going to do the same exact thing every play and it won't matter

we're still going to kick your ass and I think this applies to like anything in life too often people try to like reinvent the wheel in a business and someone DM me this a while back and then I've looked into it it's so true like what most good companies call R&D is not research in development

it's robin duplicate and in most good businesses you're not necessarily you're innovating off something that's already there R&D, rob and duplicate and football's king of that right football coaches are constantly stealing concepts just like in any business

but the difference in football is like I can just steal your play and the good thing about if you're a football coach you can steal it from college you can steal it from high school it doesn't really matter if you see it and you like it take it but I think that I was looking back over the last seven

years and went, well, I'm interested to see. Like the number one stat I look for in a defense is scoring defense. Because at the end of the day, yards, yards per attempt, whatever. How many points do you give up? The entire goal of this thing we call football is to have more points, or just sports in general, is to have more points than the other team at the end of the game. So what is your scoring defense?

like. And I just went through Baltimore and Seattle because Baltimore has consistently been one of the best defense in the league. Now they've done a lot of different stuff. They've also had a lot of different defensive coordinators over that period of time. Well, last year, 2018, Baltimore had won the best defense in the league. They have the number two overall scoring defense. Seattle, second worst year in the Pete Carroll tenure at 11.

Baltimore was really good on defense. Now, they've lost a lot of players from that defense, but last year they were awesome. Well, two years ago, Baltimore was sixth and Seattle was 13. So the last couple of years Seattle fell off for a little bit. They also had a lot of injuries. They had a lot of turnover. But I think they had a five-year run from 12 to 16, where they had four straight seasons where they were the number one scoring defense,

where all they were doing was running cover three. And then in 2016, they were third. During that stretch, and this is when Ray Lewis was still on the team, they saw at the end of Ed Reed, obviously Terrell Suggs, they had a lot of good players, C.J. Mosley. The Ravens 12, 12, 6, 24, and 9. So pretty inconsistent. Now, the Seattle Seahawks had several Hall of Famers.

I mean, Earl Thomas Hall of Famer. Sherman, probably, Borlein Hall of Fameer. Cam Chancellor, Hall are really good. Michael Bennett. I mean, they had some really, really good players. So you keep it pretty simple. But there's no disputing that simple worked in Seattle. You don't, like, if you throw 99 miles an hour,

just throw the fastball. You don't need to overthink the room here. Now, you can't throw the fastball down the middle, but you don't need to throw a million breaking balls. Just throw the fastball. Just don't put it down the middle. Put it in different spots. You're going to get some strikeouts.

If cover three works, you don't need to run. Cover two, cover zero, blitz a bunch. I don't know. You don't need to be that complex. Because shit was working for Seattle. And guess what Pete Carroll did? He was able to get an environment that was conducive to just playing free, playing fast.

and for four straight years four straight years they had the number one scoring defense and then the year they quote unquote fell off in 16 they were third like think how consistent that is and then even two years when they've lost all these players

Cam Richard now Earl they were still top 15 in the league and I would expect them to be a top 10 defense this year scoring defense because that's something that clearly Pete Carroll puts an emphasis on the franchise hangs their hat on it's the identity of the team. And the identity of Baltimore Ravens, you say, is defense too.

But their scoring defense has been very hit or miss. So just complexity doesn't matter if you can't do it right. Like I think when people see the chiefs are a good example, they're very complex. I think the Patriots over time have become very complex on offense. Well, I bet Andy would tell you, we got Alex Smith. He was comfortable doing a lot of these concepts because he did them in college. Obviously, Patrick Mahomes can do a little bit of everything because he saw what Alex was doing. He ran the spread offense

in college. Then he's comfortable adapting to new NFL type concepts. But he can be multiverse. Obviously Tom Brady and Josh McDaniels are one of the most unique combos we've ever seen. But, you know, if you can just run the ball down someone's throat, when the Niners were

humming under Harbaugh, they had one of the best offensive lines in the league. They had Staley, they had Yupati, I think their center was Goodwin, they had Boone, and they had Davis, was their offensive line. And they had Frank Gore and they had Bruce Miller. And you know what they did? The majority of the games, when they would take the lead,

they'd run power down your throat. They'd run power till you tapped out and said, uncle. You didn't need to overthink the room. Do you know when they started overthinking the room and they tried to get this progressive NFL spread attack with Colin Kaepernick? Not running the ball, but throwing the football going four and five wide, their offense fell apart.

But when they just kept it simple and they ran it out of the pistol and they ran power, they dominated. They controlled the clock and they played defense. And they kept it pretty simple. Keep it simple, stupid. That worked. And it's worked for a lot of really good teams. And I think historically when teams have gotten trouble is when they've tried to get tricky.

And I think Seattle is a great example. And again, I don't necessarily think Earl was taking a shot unless he actually was. I didn't hear the audio. I just reading the quote. But I think one thing Pete Carroll should be very proud of is what we do works. What we do works. we play with a violent style, we play fast, and while we don't have the talent that we once did with all these guys gone,

we still are going to be really good because we're going to do something and we're going to hang our hat on and we're going to master it. I think too often in life we try to do a million different things where when you can just hone into something, it's impossible not to improve. Where I think some of these, especially when you go around the NFL, first off, defense is really hard to play, right, in the NFL, because the rules are not on your side.

So when you try to run 18 different million concepts on defense, blitzes, coverages, you can outthink the room fast. There's no outthinking the room on Seattle. Now they may get penalized, they may have a player that's just not good enough, whatever. But they're not going to really be confused because they just do one basic thing and they do it really, really well. So I think that is a compliment to Pete Carroll and a compliment to Seattle and should be viewed

in something they should be very proud. proud of. Okay, no Middlecoff mailbag this week, mainly because it's going to be a slow summer. I'm going to need some of your guys questions. So fire up in the DMs at John Middlecoff on Instagram. That's how I answer your questions.

And I will, I'll get to your questions in the upcoming weeks because everyone's on vacation, including kind of me, but the great part about having a podcast, you can do podcasts on vacations. There's not going to be much going on. I mean, literally the entire NFL is shut down at minimum

for the next month. So we won't even have people reporting probably until July 20th on the early, earliest since June 13th. And plus it's about 540 right now, my time. And I got the Warriors game on in like 20 minutes and I want to watch the golf. So enjoy your weekend. Happy Father's Day, this Friday, or excuse me, this Sunday. I guess you're probably listening to this on Friday or maybe Saturday.

Hell, maybe on Father's Day. Tell your dad about my podcast. Get them listening to. But enjoy Father's Day for all the fathers out there. Keep crushing it. And I'll talk to you all soon. Subscribe to all your friends. Tweet it out. Instagram it out.

Do whatever you do. Adios. Peace. Have a good weekend. Hey, Singles. Do you feel like a tourist in your own town? Too busy to enjoy all your city has to offer? Events and Adventures organizes up to 30 unique get-togethers around town each and every month. We do all the work, so you have all the fun.

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That's 1-800flowers.com slash tune-in. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the Internet lost its mind, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where SportsSlyce comes in. I'm Timbo, and every episode we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the biggest moments in sports and giving you the real story behind the headline. And we're going straight to the source, the athletes themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions in the moment,

and the stuff nobody gets to hear. Listen to Sports Slice on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Another podcast from some SNL, late-night comedy, Guy not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and Friends, me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, S&L's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert

Smigel and Friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, guys? This is Clever Taylor the Fourth. And on my mom, podcast, The Clivert Show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff. Like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker, this linebacker walks up to me, he goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What? Quarterback on office blue 42.

Hey, ref, my mama want you to wave at her. What? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Cliverts show on the I Heartwood Show on the Eye Heart 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 hungry. You just understood. That's how personal it got. Wow. Then after that game 7, Marquis keep coming 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 I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.