The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Middlekauff – 3 & Out – The "get the bag" NFL; No Bosa holdout 2.0; On-field OBJ still incredible; Training camp takes; Middlekauff Mailbag

Episode Date: July 26, 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 gives his thoughts why he's sick of the "Get the bag" culture in the NFL when they've already been paid, why Nick Bosa's smooth contract negotiation with the Niners shows that the Chargers were to blame for Joey's holdout, why OBJ on the field is still mesmerizing, and 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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Thank you, Jesus. Because I had an epiphany today that I can't do, like the NBA off season and then the O'Dell Beckham articles. I can't take it anymore. For the love of God, I just want to talk about the games, the practices, the players. I can't do the off the field. fluff anymore. Don't get me wrong. I'm not trying to act like I'm on my moral high horse here. I like it as much of the next guy. But it feels like this year, 2019, especially the last couple

months, has just been more than ever. And I've officially tapped out and I'm ready for football and thank God it's back. Because I, if we like had two more months of the offseason, I might quit. I don't think I could do it anymore. But we got actual football, actual things that impact the team, and the players and the coaches, thank you, Jesus. And we'll get into all that. We'll get into Jalen Ramsey. He showed up in a Brinks truck. I'm a little, and maybe it stems from,

I am tired of the get-the-bag culture. We're going to dive into that in a second. Nick Bosa signed. There are three teams right now in the league that are just operating at a different financial level just in terms of the way they do contracts, how forward-thinking they are. We'll talk about those.

The O'Dell Beckham, I'll give O'Dell Beckham credit for this. He just took over my timeline today, and it had nothing to do with Pat Shermer, it had nothing to do with the trade. It was just football. And God, he looked good. He is a transcendent talent. We'll dive into Beckham. And what I'm going to do is I wrote down just some topics, some things around training camp. This is what you do when you work in the NFL.

You keep track of every team, just some things that kind of caught my eye. and I'll hit on them all. And then, of course, Middlecoff Mailbag, at John Middlecough is my Instagram. I'm going to start doing three or four Instagram videos a day, just kind of short, two or three minute ones on just topics. Obviously, I always take your guys' questions. My DMs in my Instagram are wide open, slide right in,

and I'll get your questions here on the podcast. But I want to start with this. I've had enough of the get-the-bag culture of players that have already made money. I cannot take it. because in every walk of life besides pro sports, no one cares about rich people in the sense that we don't have any sympathy for them.

I saw this quote the other day. Someone sent me this article about Peter Coors, you know, the guy that runs Miller Coors, was bitching and moaning about like aluminum tariffs and how it was costing the business money. And it's like, I understand, and I'm as pro business as anyone in America, but most of us don't have the energy.

unless it's our own business or the business we work in the feel bad about other rich people like those are rich people problems literally that's one of the defining kind of like political waves of this last election

what's going to come up in this election is just rich people it's always they're screwing America they're getting off blah blah blah blah blah they don't get the benefit of the down on anything and most people always go well that's I don't care yet for some reason with

pro athletes were always like, they're getting screwed. They are getting screwed. Get the bag. Get it, Anthony Davis. Anthony Davis deserves more. It's like he's just making $150 million. Jaylon Ramsey, pay the man. Do you know the Jalen Ramsey when he was drafted three years ago, so he's going into his fourth season, was paid $23 million. I rounded up. It was 22.9, but no state income tax in Florida. $1.9 million before he had ever played a down of football. I think Nick Bosa just signed today for over $30 million. Over $30 million.

He has not played a down to football. No one said for all the guys, now listen, Jalen Ramsey's been a great player. We all thought he was going to be really good. That's why he was drafted high. We've thought about that about a lot of players over the years, right? Especially the last five or six. I'm even talking after they cut the crazy rookie money to what it is now, which is still good money if you're drafting the first round.

But think about half the players in the first round do not work out. Do you know what we never say is, you know what, he should give all that money back? You know another big pet peeve of mine really quick before we dive into Jalen Ramsey is they did not honor the contract. Alan Hearns was just cut from the Cowboys. And all I saw, same with Mike Daniels, was just cut from the Green Bay Packers. all I've seen on Twitter is like, I'm so tired of the NFL, they do not honor the contract. A deal is a deal. Well, actually, the deal with Alan Hurons is they could cut him at this point in time

in the contract and not have to pay him. Clearly the same thing with Mike Daniels. So, yeah, they did honor the contract. Because if it was a true four or five year deal, more than likely, they would not have cut them. So if anything, why do we never put the blame on the agent slash player? Alan Hearn signed that contract. Clearly, he probably wanted a little more up front money, so a couple years into the deal, they could get rid of them. They literally honored the contract. They're just following the letters of the law.

That's welcome to business. This is not a charity. This is professional football. Now, I understand Jalen Ramsey thinking he's worth more. I'd argue, I understand the argument where he's coming from. But Jalen Ramsey, like, there is something to be said for having a feeling for the room. Also, having a feeling for, he doesn't sign the checks,

but he's in charge of giving out the money. Who would you say the last person, maybe in NFL history, that would enjoy seeing a human that's one of his best players, show up in a truck full of cash, that banks drive around in, with an armored guard that has a,

that has like a bullhorn slash microphone screaming out pay the man. I would say if Tom Coughlin's not won he's in the competition for one. So Jalen Ramsey, hey bro, have a feel for the room because I also got news for you.

The one thing we've learned definitely in the NBA and even in the NFL if you are an elite player which Jalen Ramsey's is. I'm even non-quarterbacks. I'm talking the Khalil Max, the Aaron and Donald's, the Jalen Ramsey's, the O'Dell Beckham's, you will get paid.

Whether the Jacksonville Jaguars pay you or the other 31 teams pay you. I promise you one thing. Jalen Ramsey's will get a massive contract. That is 100% inevitable. And if for whatever reason, Jalen Ramsey could never play football starting tomorrow again, he's already guaranteed $22.9 guaranteed million dollars. and he's only played three of the four years, but he would still, he would never have to pay back the fourth year. He already earned it.

So the quote-unquote, get the bag culture, Taylor Ramsey already got the bag. He's just trying to get another bag. I don't understand. Like, I get where you feel some sympathy for DAC. You know, this guy's been making $600,000. He's a starting quarterback in the NFL and a starting quarterback on a really good team. He deserves a pay bump. I don't think you would hear anyone disagree, whether you're pro-management, pro-prone,

player, pro big business, pro employee, whatever. That's just common sense, right? But I'm sorry, I'm not losing much sleep for a guy making $7 million. It's probably worth $12 or 13. Your time's coming, brother. Not everything happens overnight. That's not the way business works. There's a reason they signed you to five-year contract. And even if whatever they don't pay him next year, his fifth year option is very lucrative. I think it's like $12 million. Same thing with Zique. 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.

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This fifth year option is very lucrative. These guys are not getting screwed. You can't just pay every single player every time they want to get paid. Just like the NFL, a lot of teams have a lot of players that they would probably like to cut right now. But because of the contract, whatever, it doesn't make any financial sense to cut them. I'll tell you what, no player has ever done. When they've been overpaid, and then they sucked for that team, they've never paid the team back. Unless legally, because they quit or retired or something, they were obligated to. But if legally they were not obligated

to, no player in the history of America, in the history of America, in the history, history of American pro sports has ever just paid money back out of the goodness of their hearts. Yet the teams take all the wrath. And I get it. We always go after big business before we go after the employees. But these employees, especially a guy of Jalen Ramsey's level, is making a ton of money. And if you had any common sense, and these people advising these players, and I get, their egos get so big and they do not listen to anybody. It was moronic showing up in that brink struck.

Like, it's kind of funny. I laughed on social media or whatever. But again, the guy that's going to be in charge of giving you that money would be the last person on earth that would get a kick out of that, that would enjoy that. Hell, he would be the first person to absolutely hate that. So, come on, bro. Whether the Jaguars pay you,

or whether they trade you to the Niners or the Cowboys or the Bucks or whoever, you are going to get your money. Like, have a little more common sense, my man. 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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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 WW. 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 at that very often. You really don't. Listen to the MyCultura podcast network available on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. CareerBuilder is made for people who have that thing. You know, those superpowers that make you good at your job, the skills you bring to work. And CareerBuilder knows those skills make you right for other jobs too. Higher paying jobs with benefits. jobs you never thought of trying.

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Become a delivery driver. You have the skills it takes and careerbuilder.com has the jobs to get you hired fast. Visit careerbuilder.com. One thing, you know, we all hate different things. You know, certain types of people drive us nuts. For me, the person that I hate the most is the super rich guy that's cheap. And I'm not saying the super rich guy that's cheap in a sense of like he's not going to waste money left and right, but the super rich guy that penny pinches. And that's Dean Spanos.

And for people that don't live in California, Dean Spanos is, my dad was a farmer. He farmed basically from Sacramento down to Los Angeles. And Spanos owned that area real estate. That was his grandpa. And then his father, you know, 40 years ago, bought the San Diego Chargers. Now, Dean, his son, usually like the third generation, they're a little looser with their funds. Dean couldn't be any cheaper. He is as stiff of a billionaire as you will ever come across.

And the 49ers, one thing made me nervous with Nick Bosa when they drafted him. If you've been listening to this podcast for a while, you know, I didn't love the player. But the other thing that made me nervous was the Bosa family, and it starts with the dad from the behind-the-scenes information. have is the dad somehow feels like he got screwed in his NFL career and again he's a little of the of the get the bag culture and I understand it you got to get every dollar you can at every moment well Joey had some issues with the San Diego Chargers because the San Diego Chargers when you sign these rookies let's just use a flat number let's say you draft a guy in the first round and his number is 20 million dollars is what you have to guarantee him well at the

moment he signs, you give him, you know, $8 million or something, the other amount of guaranteed money goes into escrow. Like, that's the antiquated way the NFL works. So you have to have the money of true guarantees at the moment of signing. Dean Spanos was so tight with Joey, he just, he would rather put it in the escrow account than just give it to the player. But, like, again, just for, so you understand, he no longer has that money. He's giving it to the NFL. He was fighting with Joey Bosa that he wanted to defer the payments to the escrow account instead of just giving it all up front. Talking with people today with the 49ers, like, they didn't really worry about that. Because their mindset is pretty simple. You're giving away the money anyway. So if it makes the

player happy, it's not on you whether he blows it all or doesn't. Like, he's a grown man. He's got people around him. But he wants his money up front. That's a sticking point. point for him, just give them the money. Because again, you have to give away the money at the point you signed it. You give it to the escrow account. So you're going to give 10 to him and 10 to the escrow account. If he wants all 20, just give him all 20. It's his money no matter what. Again, they were not fighting for money that was not theirs. They were just fighting for the way the contract was paid. And the 49ers are consistently on the forefront of being good with their players when it comes to money. They don't get in issues. If anything, they've taken. They've taken

some, I guess, quote-unquote shit, an agent said that it's bullshit the way that they structure their contracts. Because the way they typically do it is they do a lot of upfront money and then by like year two or three, they can cut you. But when they can cut you is not when free agency starts. They usually do it a month later. But again, I'll say this always, that as a player and an agent, you don't have to sign a contract.

You don't. You can say no. So whenever they've signed a contract with a player, the player has happily signed that money because usually they give big up front bonuses and when it came to Jimmy Garapolo who next year two years into the contract they will be able to cut for I think less than

$4 million in dead cap they can just get out of the contract and you go God that's screwed up that will be let's just say Jimmy has a disaster season they cut them be at the NFL not offering five year contracts well the 49th the way I look at it is well the 49ers gave him

million dollars after he had played 10 actually at the time he'd only played eight hell eight no seven games he played five for the nirers and two for the patriots they gave him 70 million dollars in guarantees he had played seven career games so yeah part of their leverage was we want a little wigger room if this doesn't work out but you know what jimmy garoppolo instantly became when the 49ers signed him a very very rich man and i think you see wabosa and i was of the i kept talking to a couple people with the Niners. I'm like, I don't know, I'm getting nervous. I don't know if you guys are going to sign them. And I kept hearing, it's going to be fine, it's going to be fine, it's going to be fine. I didn't really believe them. And they were telling the truth. And I think there are three

teams in this league that run circles around everyone when it comes to money. I happen to work for one of the guys, Howie Roseman. He's as smart and as dynamic of a GM, his resume, his resume now speaks for itself. The hoodie in New England is as unique of a head coach slash general manager as probably we've ever seen in pro sports. He's the head coach. He's the GM. He's in charge of the money. He does it all.

He is literally the ultimate football human. He's just, he's the greatest non-player in the history of the NFL, in my opinion. Because he can coach. He literally can coach every position on the team. He's one of the greatest GMs we've ever seen. And he manages their salary cap. Now, unlike the Niners and the Eagles, he benefits a little as his quarterback who happens to be the greatest of all time

consistently takes undermarket value deals and help them kind of run their entire operation. But I give Brady some credit for getting the big picture. I take a little less money, helps us sign guys, helps us set the culture. I'm already super rich. I'm going to be a legend in Boston forever. I'm already worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Like I got news for you. The bank doesn't follow you.

doesn't follow the Hearst when it's all said and done. It does not. Just got news for everyone. It does not follow the Hearst. So a lot of these super rich people, that was a lot of money in their bank. But the Niners and Eagles consistently do two things well. When they draft a guy and they like them,

they take care of them early. One, and two, they're just very good with agents. Like Howie Roseman's greatest strength, or one of his greatest strengths, is he has very, very good relationships with agents. I went for a walk today. I was sitting at my office, I'm like, I got to get outside. I was just felt cooped up, felt like a cage cat.

And I was walking around. I was thinking, listen some music. And it kind of hit me. You know, most times, like coaches and even GMs, like, I hate dealing with agents. Think how stupid that is. Why would you hate dealing with agents? You have to deal with agents.

They are the decision maker and hold a big, you know, key to get what you need. This is the most important part of your team. The players. So wouldn't it behoove you if you were a general manager or even a head coach to have really good relationships with most of the key agents? Now, I'm not saying a lot of them don't. But when you think coaches and you even think GMs, you think them always arguing with agents. And again, I'm not saying arguments aren't, you know, not normal because you're going to argue when you're talking over a lot of money.

but I would want my general manager to have very, very good relationships with agents. I have a front row seat from Bob Myers here with the Golden State Warriors. One of his defining positive attributes is how well he deals with representative. Now, he's a former agent himself, but he realizes like, those guys are kind of the gatekeepers to what I need. If I can get those guys in my side, they'll funnel me some players. They may give me a discount. Because at the end of the day, the player, do you know what he doesn't know? The language of his contract.

All he knows when the agent says, I got you $30 million. Cool, I'll sign it. They don't know the intricacies. I'm saying most of the players. Some of them do. But most of them don't. So if you're in with the agents, you're going to be able to do progressive deals, make things happen. And who consistently makes things happen the most?

The Niners and the Eagles. I mean, the Eagles are, they've crushed it. The Niners, you know, one of the reasons they went on this crazy run with Jim Harbaugh? is because even when they sucked, they were always keeping their own sweet players. Navarro Bowman, Patrick Willis, Frank Gore, Vernon Davis. When Harbaugh got there,

all those guys were on second contracts. Easily. Like, no one really noticed because the team sucked, but they were just equipped to kick ass and take names. And when you just bitch it, like bitch and moan about every penny on every contract,

like the Chargers, it just wears you out. And the Bengals, part of it's because they don't have much money. Like Al Davis always wanted to pay a bunch of players. His problem was he just didn't have any of the money. I always appreciated for Al, say one thing, he was always aggressive. If anything, he had to be like, Al, pump the brakes, slow down, we can't spend all this money. But he was, he was always willing to spend the money. Now, you can say the problem was he didn't always spend it smartly, and that definitely

was the case in his latter years. But there's a fine balance. You have to be willing to spend the money. You have to be willing to give players, quote-unquote, what they want, when you're going to give it to them anyway. I understand, for fighting for things like, listen, we're only giving you a four-year contract and the guy wants a six-year contract. I get those type arguments are tough. But when I'm going to guarantee, when we're all on the same page about guaranteed money, and all you're technically arguing for is when you give me the money, if I have to have that money at the date of signing no matter what, why do I care if I give it to you or give it to the escrow account? I have to have the money on hand. Think how

stupid that is looking back about the San Diego Chargers. We do not do. business that way. You don't, Dean? Well, you're cutting the check either way. Why wouldn't you just give Joey the money? Like, that's the one thing today with Nick signing that made me realize, like, God, the chargers are pretty ass backwards. Like many of you, sometimes I'm sitting on my desk and, you know, I can only take so much sports podcast, sports radio. Really, Colin's probably the only radio show that I consistently listen to. And even I don't, I consume Colin through my television in the office. So I don't even, it's weird.

And even when I was down there with him, you know, three or four months ago, he's like, I don't really run a radio show anymore. I do a TV show, and he's right. Even though, you know, we all think of him like a radio host, and technically he is, but I consume them all through the television. But that's really the sports talk that I consume, besides my reading and Twitter and Rodo World and the athletic I read a lot, I also write for them.

But that would be the one. But that's a little more local. For the most part, especially the second half of the day, I'm a music guy. And if I'm at my desk, like if I'm at the gym or whatever, I use Pandora, but if I'm at my desk,

I use YouTube. And I don't really know how YouTube works. I mean, I've read about it, the algorithms. They just know what I like. I just go to playlist, hit play, and they just give me random stuff.

And it'll be everything from just, you name it. I mean, you guys, I'm sure a lot of people listening that you do it too. It's incredible. Sometimes it'll just end up on a song. You're like,

what song is this? I love it. Today I'm sitting there doing a couple things, and I just have YouTube on to the best. background and Whitney Houston comes on and it's a live performance from 1985 with David Letterman. I'm saving all my love for you and I kind of click on it because I just hear this voice and it was

incredible. You're just watching it. You're like she was really young, she was beautiful. I mean her voice is just mesmerizing. If you go to the video, search it on YouTube, Dave, a young Dave Letterman, I mean, shit, it's 40 years ago now. More than 40 years ago, 94, 2004, 2004, about 30, about 35 years ago, not a math major. He's mesmered. I mean, he's shell-shocked. It was like the most amazing performance he'd ever seen. He couldn't hold, like, he shook her hand, but he held her hand. He was just staring at her.

I mean, he was kind of like, at a loss for words. It was incredible. Because at the end of the day, she is as talented of a performer, just when you factor in her looks, or just, she can dance, and then her voice is as good as it gets as we've ever seen. Now, that was 1985. I was born in 1984. I don't remember really that, Whitney. I remember the one that struggled with drugs,

the one that was married to Bobby Brown, the ones whose life was in Chambles. But at the end of the day, she's probably, if we did a American Idol from scratch, with every performer in the history of the world, I don't see how at minimum she's not in the final four. She might even, she would be a one scene.

She might even win the whole thing. And I think today, on my Twitter timeline, Now, obviously, this guy hasn't had issues with drugs, though there might have been a little cocaine on that Paris or wherever the hell he was in Europe with the pizza in the picture. But to me, Odell's career has become about a lot of stuff that's not football. It's just a lot of not good stuff. Even though, unlike Whitney, and the parallels don't work perfectly,

because O'Dell hasn't been arrested, he's not really a big problem, but he kind of is a problem, first of the thing. some of the teams. It's little things and they just add up. But today, I took a deep sigh of relief and said, thank God we have O'Dell the football player back in my life, not O'Dell the celebrity. Because Dustin Fox, who played in the NFL, follow him on Twitter, great follow, hosts a radio show in Cleveland. I think he works for the Cleveland Browns too, which is at practice tweeting videos of O'Dell just demoralizing and

destroying every defensive back in his way. He looked in You know why? Because he is incredible. He is as talented of a wide receiver that's coming to the NFL in the last 20 years. Now, I'm not saying he's the best wide receiver. Hell, he's not even the best wide receiver in the NFL right now. Like Antonio Brown has consistently been that guy for the last six years. But Antonio Brown was drafted in the six round for a reason.

He was nowhere near the talent that O'Dell was coming in this league. He can't run like him. Now, he's worked his way and become a great player. Odell's biggest problem is two-fold. One, he's played with a shitty quarterback. in just a terrible offensive operation the last several years. And, too, he gets hurt. He just can't stay on the field.

But there is no disputing his talent. That's why I wanted the 49ers to trade for him. I'm watching that thinking, I can't believe the Cleveland Browns got this guy from basically the 17th pick in Gibral Peppers. That is insanity. That is nuts. That's the easiest trade John Dorsey will ever make.

And when it comes to O'Dell, and I know Colin talks about this all the time, he's basically an NBA player in the NFL, And it's even more than that. He has become one of the most polarizing players in the league. He's one of the most famous players, easily the most famous non-quarterback in the league. But it's for a lot of the wrong stuff. It's about stupid stuff.

It's about stuff that's just starting to wear me out. Because I love Odell, the football player. I want to watch him play football. He has a chance, and I know he kind of sounds like hyperbole when he says, I'm chasing Jerry Wright. 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,

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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, Kier 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 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 walks up to me, he goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What?

Quarterback on office, blue, 42. Hey, rec, 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. American soccer is about to explode. The World Cup is coming. Sending on to Ernie Stewart the chip.

I'm Tad Ramos. I'm Tom Boe. On our podcast, Inside American Soccer, you'll get the real storylines. I'm not worried about Policic. I'm not worried about Balligan. I'm not worried about McKinney. My only concern is what happens in the back. The biggest decisions. If you're going to look at stats and numbers, he has no shot at making this World Cup team. And the truth about the U.S. national team.

It wouldn't be a huge surprise if, if our team ends up in the quarterfinals or potentially a great run into the semifinals. The World Cup is almost here. Experience it all with us. Listen, inside American soccer with Tom Bogart and Tab Ramos on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, wherever you get your podcast. He can do whatever he wants to do. He just got to stay on the field.

Because I'll promise you this, when he's on the field, no one can cover him. And in these next four or five years in the prime of his career, if he can stay on the field, no one will be able to cover him. I promise you that. I've been watching the NFL for a living now for 10 plus years, and there's just not many guys like him that come through. And I'm even talking great players. He is uncoverable.

So at the end of the day, for all the fluff and all the comments, all the GQ articles and all the stupid shit that surrounds him, the great part about having football back is we just get Odell the football player back. And I was thinking today watching him at Cleveland Brown's practice, I actually think being in somewhat of a smaller market, though he's going to be on a team that's going to be covered like a big market. is going to help him a little bit. I don't know if he's going to be able to fly under the radar

because once you become Odell Beckham, you don't fly under the radar. But when you play in Cleveland, it's not the same as playing in New York. Now, would he be as famous if you would start in Cleveland and not New York? Probably not. Because when you, as I said on my last podcast,

when Odell claimed that the New York Giants were only playing on primetime games because of Odo Beckham, no, O'Dell, they were playing on primetime games because they're the New York Giants. They just happened to have Odo Beckham. They played on primetime games when they had LT. They played on primetime games when they had Michael Strahan.

They've been playing on primetime games when they had Kerry Collins. They play on primetime games because they probably have 15 million fans. And networks, like a lot of people to watch, because that's how they make money on ratings with advertising, and that's where the cash comes from. So, Odell, yeah, you helped. I mean, people want to watch you play. But the main reason that they get play on Monday night football

and Sunday night football and Thursday night football is because they're the New York Giants. Now, at the end of the day with Odo Beckham, if he can kind of somehow just stay focused on football, the sky is the limit. Now, I'm not some Whitney Houston, you know, historian. I don't know all about her ups and downs, but clearly she got involved with the wrong guy,

she got involved with drugs, and it derailed her career. Because you watch this video, her with Letterman, and a lot of earlier stuff in his career, even, you know, I was listening to the Kevin Costner podcast he did with Bill Simmons, and one of my best friends has a cabin up at this place called Fall and Leaf Lake. And if you've ever watched the movie, the Bodyguard, that's where Fallen Leaf Lake, that's where they shot the movie.

It's where that boat blows up and Kevin Costner dives into the water when Whitney Houston's kid was there. And she clearly had the world by the balls. She was the most talented singer. She was just stunningly beautiful. And she was even a good actress. And their life just fell apart. And I think we often see that, not necessarily parallel that.

perfectly with great talents in pro sports, but we see guys that don't get to live up to their potential. Because really the sky is the limit for Hodel Beckham, just like it was at one point in time for Whitney Houston. And you can say, well, he's already become really famous, he's already really made a lot of money. He should be able to do so much more. Like he should have a six or seven-year run,

like Antonio Brown just had. You know, that's what he should have. Because you could argue right now he's underachieved. And watching him play, and at the end of the day, what I like most about pro sports are the elite talents. I want to watch LeBron James. I want to watch Mike Trout. I want to watch the Odell Beckham's.

I don't watch pro sports for overachievers. If I want to do that, I'd go to Dalesow High School, which is five minutes away from where I'm sitting right now, and I'd go watch their football practice. Because yeah, they got some good players, but they got a lot of overachievers in that operation. When I sit down, I watch the NFL. I want to watch the best of the best.

and that's what Odo Becker miss. And it kind of felt the last year and a half he wasn't really living up to that in New York. Now, it wasn't all his fault, but I really hope that he's able to live up to that in Cleveland because he's too talented not to go down as one of the all-time great wide receivers. I'm always upgrading my car.

Not because I need to, because I want to. Today, it's custom rims from my ride. Tomorrow, it might be a new driver's side seat cushion. And eBaymotors.com always has what I need. They've got over 122 million car parts, all at the right price. That's perfect for me, because I'm a car guy. Are you still in the garage? It's two in the morning. Almost done.

Okay, I'm a car fanatic. eBay Motors. Let's ride. Can I tell you about my friends at LinkedIn? Listen, it's a new year, 2022. We're all trying to find people that hire, for those of you listening that are in HR, running small businesses, wherever you. you are and LinkedIn makes it easier than ever to find people you want to talk to faster and for free create a job posted minutes I've done it on LinkedIn jobs to reach your network and beyond to the world's largest professional network of 770 million people focus on candidates with

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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. In high school, I never really was like dating around or anything like that. And then I got into a long-term relationship and was dating someone for a few years. And then after getting out of that relationship, I think this past year or so or whatever, whatever has been like actually living life as a single person.

It's very hard. And I think it's not hard, like not hard, I should say, but like it's very different knowing nothing but long-term relationships. and then moving into like the single lifestyle that's like, quote, dating around and like feeling people out. That's kind of been something interesting to navigate. Listen to the My Cultura Podcast Network available on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Here's what I'm going to do.

Now that we have so much going on, if there's not like 10 topics, you know, that I'm super passion on. I might just write down like a bunch and just have a segment on every podcast up until the season starts or I'd just go around the league and just things that kind of stood out to me or a story I saw and just hit on it and we'll move to the next one. That's what we'll call it Training Camp Live. I just made that up. But yeah, Training Camp Live. Start with this. Mike Tomlin gets a one-year extension. Only in pro sports, you just randomly give the guy the one-year extension when you know it's kind of a make or break year. To me, it's kind of stupid.

Now, I do think that Mike Tomlin, who's probably coaching for his job somewhat this year, has earned it. I mean, they have won so much. He's made the franchise, so much cash. He's kept them consistently winning. I don't really have a problem for it. My way too early prediction here on July 25th,

I actually think the Steelers going to win the division, but let's just say they don't. Let's say they don't make the playoffs again. I think he gets fired, and I think he's the head coach of USC next year. What's his name? Lin Swan, what's his name? Yeah, Lynn Swan, that's his name.

Is the athletic director at USC? I think that he would offer him $8 or $9 million to be the head coach of USC. Now, I also think Mike Tomlin would have NFL offers, but that's a way too early prediction if they don't win the division, which I think they're going to win. Pat Schumer.

In that GQ article, which I still kind of refused to read, but I read a lot of excerpts from it, O'Dell Beckham had a line that said Pat Shermer had texted him the moment after he was traded and it just said, oh, just saw the news. And Odell basically responded, no shit, you made the news.

I think Pat Shermer, if I had to rank 1 through 32, he would be my last head coach that I would want. I think he's the worst head coach in the NFL. I also think he's a pretty big fraud. Like, Pat, this isn't 1967. we're not completely dumb. We understand what's going on. Players, coaches, fans.

We understand that you did not like Odell. You can't text them. Oh, just saw the news. Like you weren't in the loop. Like you weren't working hand in hand with David Gettleman. I was critical of Odell for some of the comments in that article. This one I completely support. Pat Schumer looks like an idiot on this text message exchange.

The Washington quarterback race. I saw Jay Gruden said it's going to come down to the wire. Alex Smith's career is over. So it's basically just Case Keenham versus DeWain Haskins. I think at the end of the day, if you're Jay Gruden, and he's also basically admitted, or he's already admitted, that he's coached for his job. They've got to make the playoffs or be pretty damn good.

I mean, I would imagine if they went 9 and 7 and Haskins look good, he would not get fired. But that's the key. Haskins to look good. If I'm Jay Gruden and I feel that Haskins is better than Case Keenham, and I don't see how he would not feel that, I don't think Case Keenom's that good, I would just start Dwayne Haskins from the jump. Because that that would give you the best chance that maybe by October or November,

he can get a feel for it, he can get in a groove, and he can give you the best chance to win. Because we know with Case Keenum, your team has to be pretty super loaded for you to have a chance. If you're on a flawed team like he was last year, you're going to get your ass kick. So Case Keenom's a good backup. I would just roll with Dwayne Haskins from Snap 1. Now, I don't know, like I haven't seen any clips of Dwayne Haskin. Maybe Dwayne Haskins is terrible.

I'm saying if it is close, I lean with Haskins. And I'm going to assume, I don't know why I'm going to assume this, because I'm not even the biggest Dwayne Haskins fan, but he should be able to beat out Case Keenum in training camp. I said last week, when a player goes on Pup and he was not injured, in the OTAs, it's a big deal. And I said, you know, JJ Watt being on Pupp scares me a little.

Well, he passed his physical and he's off Pup. So it clearly wasn't that big of a deal. But then I saw that T.J. Watt, his brother, passed Russia for the Pittsburgh Steelers, is now on Pup. I'm telling you, my little brother is a member at this country club close to Sacramento, and I went to play in the Skins game on Wednesday night.

And I was playing with the guy. He's a big Niner fan. And he was telling me, he's like, you know what? I play fantasy, but holy hell, and this guy's a lawyer, really smart, went to Duke, really sharp, actually. I was impressed. He's like, it's really hard to keep up with the NFL. I don't know how you do it. I'm like, I don't even do it that well, I feel anymore than what I did in the NFL, like when I was a super NFL geek.

And I felt when I was in the NFL, I didn't know enough information. It is a really, really hard sport to keep up with the amount of players, the amount of transactions, especially over this next month. It is pretty crazy. So just, I go to Rotterworld five or six times a day just trying to pick up with what I've missed. Julian Edelman. I don't know if he hurt his thumb in spring OTAs. It looked fine when he was doing his big tour, you know, for the documentary that he filmed on Showtime,

which someone actually told me a buddy of mine, I think, text me, or maybe someone told me out last week that it's really good. I don't need to check it out. He has a hurt thumb, and he's going to miss a couple weeks. I know this if I'm Julian Edelman and Julian Edelman's a championship player I love Julian Edelman I love everything about him I would imagine the back of his mind

he's going to be a little nervous the Patriots draft a slot receiver every year they drafted the Berrios kid from Miami a couple years ago I mean they just they always have that position how did Julian Edelman get his job he Wallypipped Wes Walker

if you're a patriot and you come in injured to training camp Now, I'm not saying he's going to get cut, but you kind of spark that thought in Belichick's mind. He goes, well, we can just get this guy for, you know, an eighth of the price. So if you're Julian Edelman, clearly, I mean, Edelman's one of the toughest guys in the league. If he's hurt, he's hurt. But you better get back on that field as fast as possible because there's a chance that one of these guys, the hoodie has drafted these last couple years, just starts dominating at that position.

And again, the hoodie, who's basically an NFL economic professor, will just do the math. So I'm nervous for Julian Edelman that he's going to get Wally Pipps sooner or later. Now, it's inevitable in New England, but the quickest way to do it is be injured. Josh Rosen. I saw that I almost called a Pat Fitzgerald. Pat Fitzgerald went on that rant about phones are the reason that people are not attending games. Pat, while I agree phones are somewhat a societal problem right now, they are not the reason people are not.

attending Northwestern games. Probably overpriced. It's just, we can just watch at our home in front of our 70-inch television in the stack refrigerator. But I read that Ryan Fitzpatrick, the, I almost said the Tampa Bay, the Miami Dolphins quarterback, he's been on 50 different teams, the Miami Dolphins quarterback is taking first-team reps. And I was on Doug Gottlie's radio show today, and I said, simply put, under no

circumstances, when you were gifted. this former number 10 overall quarterback that a couple years ago was viewed as the number one quarterback prospect in college. You acquired him for, I think, pick 62. You have to start him this season. You have to see for 16 games get a sample size of what this guy can bring to the table. Maybe you have something in Josh Rosen. Maybe you have a franchise quarterback.

Maybe you don't. But the only way to find out is to plan because here's what we know. Ryan Fitzpatrick is one of the better backup quarterbacks of the last decade. He's not a starting quarterback. He's not good enough to get you to the playoffs. But having him around, having him coach up Josh Rosen, and just having him be around Josh Rosen is a good thing. But kind of like Washington, but even differently,

because Josh Rosen's already played. So he's already got NFL snaps. Make him your starter, see what you have. And then at the end of the year, if you suck, draft a quarterback. If you don't, keep wrong with Josh Rosen. But to me, the biggest no-brainer is Josh Rosen has to start week one. Let's get to the Middilkopf mailbag. Slide up in the DMs at John Middlecoff.

And I'll answer your questions right here. Two questions for the pods. What are the stats that you look for to tell if a team is performing well? I've heard Colin reference yards per attempt to tell if a quarterback is protected by his offensive line and things of that nature. Just curious to hear your perspective on the topic. Also, what's a storyline that is being undercover going into the season or something that you're keeping an eye on the most that people aren't? Think about that. My first one, I think it depends.

I know gamblers, yard per play is a big one. For me, on just talent and how good a team is, total yards don't mean that much to me. I'm big on just on defense, scoring defense. I mean, at the end of the day, the goal of the sport is to, not allow points. Scoring defense, turnovers, sacks, those are the numbers, those are things I look for in football and obviously

more in-depth analytics, pressures. I mean, getting pressure on the quarterback to me is huge. Offensively, one thing I'm going to start monitoring and I've been thinking about this a lot is how many catches your running backs have because successful offenses

throw the ball to their running back a lot. So that's definitely something I'm looking for. Yards per attempt is You know, it's a big thing to tell how much a quarterback is pushing the ball downfield. You know, tendencies on third down. You know, what your conversion rate is on third down. I mean, that's the must-down. That's the must-have down.

I would imagine, just thinking out loud, how many yards you're gaining on first down. I would imagine most of the best offenses in the league have the highest yards or average yard gain on first down. Because it just makes the sport easier, right? if you have to go less far on second and third down. Storyline that's being undercovered would probably be like Zimmer and Tomlin coaching for their job. Think how crazy that would be.

Can you imagine that the Vikings miss the playoffs with how much they're paying all their players and their quarterback? I think Zimmer would get fired. And I think if the Steelers, who I think are going to win the division, so that's my prediction here, but I don't feel great about that, I think he'd get fired too if he didn't make the playoffs.

So that would be pretty crazy if two guys, Zimmer and Tomlin, you know, lost their jobs. How much is Aaron Rogers constantly get so much love and he constantly misses the playoffs or no-shows in big playoff games? I'd have to go back and dive through his numbers. I mean, I remember vividly off the hand. He wasn't that bad in some of the games they lost first the Niners. Their defense was atrocious. Now, that game that they lost to Seattle, I would imagine if you're a. having beers with him.

I don't know if he'd have beers with normal humans. Aaron Rodger's kind of an elitist. He'd probably tell you that McCarthy screwed it up. I think Rogers has the perfect balance right now. And I think LeBron kind of got this. Most people consider him to be the best quarterback, and he takes a lot of shit. You know, for getting coaches fired,

missing the playoffs. When you're at the top of the mountain, the wind blows the fastest, right? So I think right now he's the perfect balance of Most people say that is the most talented quarterback before we learned about Mahomes last year in the league. But he has his flaws. As a personality, he feels like not the easiest guy to get along with and not the easiest guy to coach. So I'd have to dive through the numbers.

I feel it off top of my head. Remember the one year? Who'd they lose to? Atlanta, I know because I bet on the Packers in the NFC championship game. Remember how terrible the defense was? And he rattled off two playoff victories. He went to Green Bay and won. I forget who they beat in the first round.

Oh, they beat the Giants. Did they beat the Giants? Yeah, they beat the Giants. That was the Odell Beckham when they had the buy. Or no, they had the buy? That was just when Odell went to Miami for the day. But he beat him. Was that a different game?

Now I'm getting my years mixed up. But I remember one year that they went to the NFC championship game and they lost the Atlanta Falcons the year that Delano went to the Super Bowl and Rogers just carried a terrible defense. So, at the end of the day, Rogers is stud. He's just flawed. I mean, most players are. I mean, Brady's flawed.

He can't move. Hey, man, question from the mailbag. Where does Jamal Adams rank among NFL safeties? I'd argue top three and give him an outside shot at defensive player of the year. I'll be completely honest. I haven't watched that much Jets football. I like Jamal Adams a lot coming out of college, but I've probably watched the Jets play twice in the last.

last couple years. And last year, bits and pieces of them. So to make, like, a definitive take, you know, I've watched a ton of Ed Reed when Ed was humming. I'd watch a ton of Earl Thomas. I'd watch a ton of, I'm just trying to think of recent, in recent memory, really good safeties. I haven't watched that much.

Jamal Adams. Now, people I trust speak really highly of him. He's an active, I mean, he's just a versatile, physical player. Yeah, it's a big year for him. I don't know, just thinking off top of my head, how good is their defense? They have Leonard Williams, they have Quinn and Williams. But yeah, it's definitely a big year for it. The corners kind of suck.

Who do they have at, linebacker? I mean, they got rid of Duran Lee. So, yeah, I mean, I think if the Jets were to make the playoffs, he definitely had a chance to be the defensive player of the year. After your experience in an NFL organization, do you think a female coach will actually be able to make an impact in the league? I think at the end of the day, if you can help a player, he doesn't give a shit if you played, if you never played, if you're white, if you're black,

if you're a dude or you're female. If you can coach a wide receiver or coach a quarterback and give him an edge on game day, which means he's going to play better, which means in turn he's going to get more money, they don't care who is coming from. Now, it's a little different, I guess, a quote-unquote, female, a girl, whatever you want to say, than a guy. I've been around a lot of shitty guy coaches. So to think that if she is qualified, whoever she is,

and I know there's several female coaches throughout the league now, listen, there are a lot of guys that don't deserve to be coaching in the NFL just because they know the right people. So I don't think it has any bearing. It's just how good of a coach are you? And that would be the separating factor. In which division do you think coaching will determine who makes the playoffs? Who and why?

Every division. literally every division. You can't make the playoffs without a good coach. I think it's really hard to have a Jim Tom Sula, to have Steve Wilkes, a Vance Joseph. If you're a bad coach, you will not make the playoffs. That's a fact. So I would say, you know what,

you might be able to go the AFC North because Freddie Kitchens probably has one of the most talented teams in the league, and it's going to be playoffs or bust. I don't know if he'd be a one-and-done coach, but if the Browns went 7-9, could he get fired? I don't think he'd be a lock to keep his job, so I'll go to the AFC North.

Mailback question. Out of the players holding out, Zeke, Gordon, Mike Thomas, Clowny, Chris Jones of the Chiefs, which of these players do you think are needed most by their franchise and which team should sign extend these guys ASAP? Well, listen, I've been hard on Zeke, but I will not dispute his importance to the Dallas Cowboys.

My main issue is like, Zique, you don't get to really hold out when you've just been a problem child. But Jerry's kind of soft, maybe he would pay him. They need him. To me, Melvin Gordon by far is needed the least. Mike Thomas, check out how much they depend on Mike Thomas in the passing game. So he'd be right up there with Zique. Clowny, I think they could get by. But one of the things they hang their hat on is that front,

the defensive line. Him and JJ Watt caused a lot of problems. I actually think when you think about it last year, JJ, who I did not expect to be as good as he was, part of the reason, though, is you have so many, him and Clowny, you can't double team them all,

so you kind of rotate between the two of them, and J.J. gets to get loose. While Clowny is not some dynamic pass rusher, he still is a major threat, and when it comes to the run game, you have to double team Clowny, because he will destroy you. So,

I would say Clowny would be above Melvin Gordon. The Chiefs, their defense isn't great. Chris Jones is clearly their most talented. Well, you got Frank Clark. You go, well, you got him and Frank Clark together. That's a pretty talented defensive line. You add the Honey Badger.

They should be much improved. So I'd put Chris Jones right up there too. But Mike Thomas is very important to what the Saints do. Zeke's very important to what Dallas does. Chris Jones is very important to what the Chiefs do. You go, well, the Chief's defense sucks. Yeah, I'm pretty sure they led the league or second the league last year in sacks.

I'm getting a lot of questions I posted on my Instagram feed. I'm kind of hooked. It's like basically my Bats Theret or my real housewives is the last chance of you. I'm not on season four yet. I'm on season three with this coach Jason Brown that they brought to the middle of Kansas.

He's this white dude from Kansas, but he's just insane. It is just, I can't turn it. it off. It's kind of sick because I mean this dude swears every other word just a disaster. I mean, I don't even know if he knows that much football. He's just cussing to everyone. It's terrible TV, yet I cannot turn it off. I'd highly recommend. Season three, season three, last chance you. Let's see if I can find another question. That's it. So hit me up on Middilcoff mailbags. I'm running out of questions. I got so many DMs right now. I've

answer them all. And if I haven't answered you here, I've answered you directly. Appreciate everyone interacting. Enjoy the weekend. Your football team's back in action. Can't wait. We'll actually have padded praxis starting next week for every team in the NFL. Buckle that chin strap, baby. And if you're a fan, get your fingers ready because you're probably about to draft fantasy in the next month. So start locking in. I'll be here to help. Again, thanks everyone for listening. And let's get ready for some football. If you work in IT, you'll want to check out ChangeMake 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.

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