The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Middlekauff - Luck Retirement Misconceptions; Bet On Ballard; AFC Ripple Effect; Weekend Thoughts; Middlekauff Mailbag

Episode Date: August 27, 2019

In this episode, Middlekauff gives his thoughts on Andrew Luck's bombshell retirement decision, why his decision isn't surprising given his injuries, why he's betting on Colts GM Chris Ballard to succeed despite losing his star QB, the ripple effect of Luck's decision on players and in the standings, his thoughts on this weekend's Miami/Florida college kickoff, NFL preseason, and answers listener questions in Middlekauff's Mailbag. Follow John on twitter @JohnMiddlekauff and go to 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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What is going on, everybody? Monday, I'm recording this in the middle of the day. what, I repeat, what a weekend. There's really just, for the majority of this show, and I would imagine if you're listening to this show, you listen to a lot of other shows. I mean, there's really only one big topic. I'm going to try to hit it on every angle possible. From Andrews, from the leagues to the players,

from the media, it's just a bombshell story. We don't get, you know, that often. It's an all-timer, you know, in my mind, in my 34 years of life, and probably, you know, I don't even count like the first 10. It's the last 25 years of watching sports. It's one of the crazier. But I think when you dive in, and I will, it's not maybe as crazy as we think. We'll touch on Chris Ballard, who, you know, I'm a big fan of. I don't know them personally like Colin.

You know, I know a lot of people that know them well from Coach Reed to Nagy and Beach and all those guys. They swear by him and just watching the work he's done. So we'll dive into him. I mean, there might not be a better guy. Tass was kind of saving the franchise is probably too strong because they're already pretty equipped. I mean, this isn't like the Arizona Cardinals roster. And then the ripple effect for the players.

You know, you see on social media like, is this the start of a trend? No. Not many guys at 29 years old in the NFL have $100 million in the bank. So I would say no on that one. And then we'll just kind of go around, just some different things I saw this weekend, some preseason stuff. The Miami, Florida game. God, I love the SEC.

And I include in the SEC, Miami, Florida State, and Clemson. I just include those teams as SEC because the ACC's God awful. And I know Miami and Florida State technically aren't even good, but they have the potential to be good, and Clemson's rolling. But, God, I love Southern football. I mean, it's something we just don't have out here. We have the NFL. And when I say out here, some of you guys live, some of you guys live in the South.

I'm jealous. I really am. Now, we take our pro football. I live in the Bay Area, and a lot of people would be like, oh, you're just a bunch of hippie liberals. You know, I'll tell you this. Football is a king out here. And rightfully so.

I mean, the 49ers won five championships. Not them all in my lifetime, but in a lot of people's lifetimes living out here, and the Raiders won a couple. No, they won a couple in L.A. too. But, you know, it's just football is very, very big on the West Coast, but it's all pro football. So I'm jealous how big college football is.

And then we'll just go around. some of the other things I saw, but I want to start with this. I think the hardest person to judge in life, not personally, but professionally, is someone not driven by money. And I'm sure a lot of you guys are, wherever you are, whatever business you are in charge of hiring, maybe in charge of acquisitions, it's a guy like me, if you're going to do a deal with me, it's pretty black and white. If I ask for a number and you hit that number, we'll do a deal. You know, at this point in my, it's, it's, in my life, I'm pretty driven by money. It's not the end-all be-all of my life, but it does dictate a lot of decisions. Now, I think we all aspire, and I used to be not driven by it at all.

It's just, I guess, the more money you make, it's just kind of a natural, probably maturation of anyone in any business with capitalism and competitor. It's not even necessarily about the number. It's just more about competing and just always trying to get a bigger number. I mean, that's just the way the world kind of works. And a lot of people and a lot of professions, are money driven. But there are a few, especially at the highest level of their field, that aren't driven by cash.

And to me, they are always the biggest wild card in any business. Just because you offer them a number that in your mind to do whatever, or your company's paying them, or whatever, it doesn't matter to them. They are not there for that paycheck, however big or however small that number may be.

And I've met, I don't have as many. many of those people in my life. I tend my friends tend to be probably a little more capitalistic. It's capitalistic a word. Just younger, driven, ambitious. I mean, I was the only guy not making any money

out of most of my friends in like my 20s. A lot of them were working in finance, just working in tech, making a lot of cash. I was making nothing. I would say early in my career when I got into football, unlike a lot of young players, a lot of young scouts, we don't make any money. And then once you get into radio, you don't make that much money

starting off either. So, and that's I guess the natural kind of growth of most people in their professional life. That's the one thing unique about pro sports, even coaches. Like as you saw in Hard Knocks a couple weeks ago, Sean McVeigh started off making like 10 grand, just basically being the coffee guy for Gruden. Gruden called him the piss boy. Now he rose up the ranks way quicker than most, but it took them a little bit. You know, it took them a lot quicker than most, but it still takes time. You know, if you started Goldman Sachs, you're not the president day one. Usually takes you a while, 20 years to become a partner or whatever.

Well, Andrew Locke, there are a few football players, and I would say there are a few athletes anymore. Like LeBron James, I got news for he's driven by money. To me, Michael Jordan never was driven by money. Now, that's not to say he didn't like money, but he was driven to win. My two favorite athletes by a mile are Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods. And Tom Brady, you might be able to throw him in there too. I think you could put him and lump him into this category. their number one priority in life

number one was to win the money and all that stuff came but their number one goal was to win you see Antonio Brown's into making money LeBron James he's into making money the whole of the clutch guys they love their cash Carmelo I mean his career

and his life is defined by money especially a lot of NBA players it's just money money money money money that's why Michael Jordan ran circles around everyone he was there to one his number one priority was to win and I saw it first hand several years ago when Patrick Willis retired, and I think there are some similarities with the Andrew Luck. Patrick Willis didn't play football for the cash. Now he

ended up making a lot of cash, but when you watch Patrick Willis play in the peak of his powers from like 07 to 2013 before his feet really started giving out, maybe 2012, one of the great ass kickers I've ever seen. You're not that passionate, you don't play that fast and physical and violent if it's about the cash. And you've seen a lot, a lot of Hall of Famers. The NFL is defined by a lot of people, and it shows like how crazy they are, that their number one goal is not cash. Like Lawrence Taylor wasn't playing for the cash. Ray Lewis and Ed Reed were not playing for the cash. Now, a lot of cash came, and I think with Andrew Luck, and you saw this with Willis when he just stepped away.

And again, also injured. Andrew Luck was a great wild card for many factors. One, I never thought he was driven by the money. Now, he grew up wealthier, highly educated, went to Stanford. I mean, the guy's a genius. But when you watch them play football, and when you watch the guy with lacerated kidneys, or maybe it was a spleen,

torn shoulders, messed up ankles, just battle and battle and battle, when you're already super rich, when you have a million options, like that guy is somewhat of a wild card. And he, like, to me there's zero questioning his toughness

because you don't play through all those injuries over the countless amount of years that he played through those injuries, as he said after the game, on Saturday night, four straight years of dealing with something. Serious borderline career-ending injuries at different points in time. And he's uniquely suited because he has options. And not just options, he's the smartest guy in the room.

Every room he walks into. Like, for example, I don't know what, again, we all do different things. I know for me personally, I don't have that many options. I can scout football players. I can talk pretty well for a living, pretty opinionated. If my vocal cords ever went, like Joe Bucks talked about, and I've thought about getting hair plugs,

when he got the hair plugs, and he messed up his vocal cords, he didn't know if he was going to continue to be a broadcaster. I'd be screwed. I'm not an engineer. I'm not that smart. Just went to a couple state schools in California. Andrew Luck, if I was Andrew Luck,

I have $100 million in capital. I'd go start my own business, start my architecture engineering firm, and just dominate the world. Because he did not retire, because, quote, unquote, like he said, the love of the game just left.

the love of the game left for a reason. His body was shot. I'm sure many people saw the tweet from Warren Sharp that his first three years, he was hit more times than any player in the league. And despite him being a mammoth human being, if you're not driven by the money, and obviously he gave away $58 million

that he would have made the next two years under this contract, if you're driven by the money, I don't care who you are, part of the reason why most people keep playing, especially when you have that type numbers coming to you, That's a lot of money to give up. I don't give a shit how much money you have in the bank. $58 million this year and next year is a lot of cash.

A ton of cash. I don't care if you're Warren Buffett or you're Andrew Luck or you're me or you. That's a lot of money. You can't be driven by the money if you tap out's the wrong word. If you just quit, retire, however you want to consider it. Because I do think it's fair to say, like some people are going to say he quit. Some people are going to say he retired. Whatever.

I just think he got to the point. and it was not his fault. I said on my other podcast, Hey, Raymondal Coff, it's a sports tragedy. That's what this is. A sports tragedy. It was out of his control.

He was given the worst general manager. You could argue in the history of the NFL. I had a front-or seat for this guy for like a year and a half when I worked in Philly. We laughed when Ryan Grickson got the job internally. Anyone that worked around him. I mean, we were shell-shocked. Now, I could never,

imagined in a million years, and I thought it'd be bad, would be this bad. I mean, it almost got Andrew Luck killed and ultimately forced him to not be able to take it anymore. And I think one thing that's being lost in all of this, people are acting like he was their starting quarterback week one. I read it in MMQB, and if you watched him talk, he was not going to be able to play week one. Albert Brewer wrote that it was more than likely he was going to start the season on injured reserve and potentially miss at minimum half the season. There was a chance to his whole season was done for whatever this injury is to his lower leg. Caff, Achilles, who knows?

He is messed up. And it's just, for as crazy as it was, it's one of those things that that's just crazy. When you get an update like that, it's just nuts, right? But then once you read in the details, it's not that crazy. If you just would have shown up in 2016 and someone just would have told you Donald Trump just became the president. Your jaw would hit the floor. But then when you dive into the details, well, you'd be like, well, you know, Democrats have been in power now for eight years. He ran against probably the worst candidate we've ever seen in Hillary Clinton.

Like, you kind of, you're like, okay, I get it. Still nuts. Like, this story is still nuts. But once you get the deals, you know, the details of everything, you're like, oh, you know, Hillary didn't campaign in certain states. The Donald won that were swing states. Like, okay, that kind of makes some sense. This isn't political rant, but that's just a fact. Like, it was, that's to me of the last several years the crazy thing that happened.

Donald Trump became the president. But then once you, when you really kind of took a step back to the emotion out of it, it was understandable. Just like this, like, it was crazy when you see that Adam Schaefter says that, says that Andrew Lux retired. I mean, I was sitting there having a cocktail watching Miami, Florida. And I was, I think I was actually watching a YouTube something on my phone. And it came across.

And I thought like I was losing my. my mind. It didn't make sense. And then you saw that it was a real tweet. But then after the game, when you saw him speak, and then you saw Ballard and these guys speak, it started to make more sense. You realized how much pain he was in. And again, he has not been at practice. Basically, since April, his leg is messed up. He would not have started week one. More than likely, he would not have started week two, because he would have been on injured reserve. Now, he might have to come back. He might not have. But I think he was in a unique case. You know, some of these guys He's like, oh, they store their ACL three times.

It's basically what he's done. He's ruined both shoulders, or at least, I don't know if it's been both shoulders, but the one shoulder multiple times. He clearly has this ankle thing that he can't play on. He's messed up. He's had lacerated this and that. He's been killed. It's not just, like, to me, this is more like Yao Ming,

and I think it kind of got lost on social media. This guy just quit, retired. You know, however you want to put it, and people are talking, the reality was his body shot. His body is shot. You know, like Yao Ming just had to retire at like 30? Knees were just done. Brandon Roy, knee was just shot.

Happens a lot in basketball where prominent, prominent good players are just done because their body gives out. This one's a little different because he didn't have a degenerate anything when he came out of college. It was beaten out of him once he got to the pros by the ineptness of the leadership. Like if he would have been drafted with Chris Ballard as his GM, he's probably I mean in the peak of his powers right now maybe he has a Super Bowl

who knows but you are so dependent you know that's the one thing for as much money as these guys make in pro sports the major difference between their jobs and again it's why as they said madman this is why you get paid you know it's part of the deal why you make so much money

but they don't get to pick their destination so and usually when you're the best player in a draft you're going to the worst team the worst team. Like, it's worked out pretty well for Goff and Wentz. But when you take a step back, you go, how did it work well for them? Well, two organizations traded up to get those guys. Philly, one of the best organizations in the last 20 years, and then the Rams somehow found

this, like, you know, potential next Bill Walsh. But for a minute, it looked like, oh, Jared Goff is screwed with Jeff Fisher. Luckily, they got, you know, they found McVeigh. Where Philly, it was just, God, Carson Wentz, if he's going to be good, he's in a pretty good situation. Where you see a lot of guys like, is Kyler Murray in a good situation? Hell no. Was Mr. Trubisky in a good situation?

Hell no. Then Matt Nagy showed up and potentially might save his career. Deshawn Watson, is he in a great situation? You could say, well, kind of. He's got really good players, but he also has the worst offense line maybe in the league beside the Cardinals. And his head coach can't get along with any GM. So, yeah, he's got problems on his hands.

Luck was in a situation that was crazier in all these guys. And it just killed him. I mean, physically just killed him, ruined his body. And I think one thing that is consistently being lost is this guy is injured right now. He's not like when people are like, he should have given them a heads up. They already did. He'd been hurt and they had traded for Jacoby Perci. 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.

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12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of mental health awareness month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking, Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't really really. that we are in possession of the thing, and we're still chasing it, and we don't know when we've done enough.

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

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Like, they have reinforcements. You know, it's like, well, we didn't know we needed cash on hand. They have some cash on hand. Now, not ideally you'd love to have, I don't know, another Andrew Luck or a Jimmy Garoppel, but Jacobi Brousette's about as good as you can do. They traded, you know, one of Grigsens' swinging misses two years ago for this guy. Remember, Jacoby Brissette's a player that Bill Parcells, you know, was like in love with.

Told Belichick, Belichick, I think, drafted in the third round, pretty high-level guy. It's about as good of a backup as you can have. I don't know what would have changed if Andrew Luck would have retired in the spring. But he wouldn't have retired because he said he wasn't really thinking about it until this leg injury just won't go away where clearly maybe they told him like maybe your Achilles is about to rip

and he's like, you're telling my Achilles about to rip? This is a theory of mine. What if the doctor said, listen Andrew, you can go out there and play and it's like Richard Sherman said this a couple years ago when the doctor said listen, you're going to have this Achilles pain, it's eventually going to rip on you. And Andrew's thinking, you're telling me I'm just going to play maybe a game, maybe five games, the thing's going to rip

and then I'm going to have a torn Achilles and have to start or rehab all again, after I've done this like three times, hell no. I cannot do it. And again, when you're not driven by money and then you already have a ton of money and you're the smartest guy in the room, I'm telling you, for as crazy as this story was, and I think we all agree when we all got the ticker, either we saw it on the ticker or got the update on our phone, it was insane. After 24 hour, 48 hours, you take a step back, you start looking at the details, it's not as crazy as you think.

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and I'm hit or miss with Joe. I like specific guests or when someone, one of my friends or someone on Twitter or something will be like, Middle Club, you should listen to this. And I listen to this guy named Jocko. He's like this crazy Navy SEAL. He's like one of the best Navy SEALs ever. And then he went back to train Navy SEALs. It's pretty fascinating.

I mean, this guy's a complete badass. I mean, he's probably one of the top 10 badasses on our, like, in America right now. Like, legitimate badass. And he has this thing. on YouTube. If you just type in Jocko good. And it's kind of like a motivational rant, but it is just, I mean, it makes a lot of sense.

And just, he would talk about when, you know, the seals would come back and say, well, we thought that there wouldn't be armored guards there, there are. And his response would always be good. Hey, you know, we are Humvee, we blew a tire.

His response would always be good. You could say whatever you wanted to him. And his response would always be good. I would say that most motivational speakers, like anyone that you watch worth their salt, will always say the best thing in life that can ever happen to you is fail.

Like fail, fail more. Because you learn way more from failure and tough times than you ever do from good times. Because the reality is people can always say, be humble in victory when you're making the most money, like say a lot of people are not able to do that. I mean, that's just, that's the reality. And the reality is when most people get a curveball in life,

whether that's what Chris Ballard just kind of got handed to him, whether it's at your job, something goes wrong, the economy turn. Most people freak. When the reality is, I've been fired twice in my life. And I can't relate to Chris Ballard losing Andrew Luck. I can't relate to the Navy SEALs. But I can just relate my own personal experience. The two times I, quote, unquote, failed where failure was handed my way,

and I thought, what am I going to do? Best thing that ever happened in my life, professionally twice. Changed my life both times for dramatically better. Now, it sucked initially. Just like any time you get bad news, it really sucks. I think maybe the older, more mature, certain type personalities definitely can handle it better. But I'm telling you, this is the best thing potentially. And when I say best thing to ever happen to Chris Ballard, one, you've never

want to lose Andrew Luck. Chris Ballard signed up for Andrew Luck. That's what you want. But Chris Ballard already earned. Think how much street credit Chris Ballard earned? Because I think a lot of people, including myself, the hype was so strong. We talked about Chris Bauer, the GM, like we did Andrew Luck

the prospect. We're like, everyone's been blowing this guy for 10 years. He's the next GM. I don't know him personally. But everyone loved him. And I was like, okay, we've heard this song and dance before. And then he gets to Indy, and the first time he has a chance a hire a coach, the dude accepts the job, and then last minute flips.

And Chris Ballard, not only, I mean, handled it perfectly. Couldn't have handled it any better as he's putting together a really good roster. And he goes and hires Frank, who even last year they started 0.15, they made into the playoffs. Now, clearly they lost their most important player. No one will dispute that. But Chris Ballard, in just the eye of the storm with Josh McDaniels, where I mean, I think I handle failure pretty well. I probably would have snapped. Most people listening probably would have snapped. I mean, we would have been, and maybe he did.

I mean, so angry, but his ability to hold it together, go on another search, and then find a really good coach, and then make the playoffs the next year is absolutely remarkable. And I'm a big, like, I've already seen this guy be handed a shit sandwich and come out with a chicken salad. Like, we just saw that happen last year. Now, this, I would say, is much more difficult. because it's easier to find a coach,

just a functional offensive coach, than it would be a superstar quarterback. But I think if anyone can figure it out, one, he already, like I said earlier, he has Jacoby already there, who they feel confident of, who he traded for a couple years ago, and I saw Frank today say,

I'm so glad that he acquired this guy before I even got here, because where would we be if we just had a couple undrafted free agents? But I truly believe, like the best people, people, their careers are defined when shit starts going wrong. That's when they kind of rise above it. And when I said earlier that LeBron was driven by money, he wasn't always that way.

For a long period of time, he was driven to win. And I think that helped drive him to become one of the best players ever. Never forget, he was getting mocked and laughed at from being a choke artist. And he just kept driving, he kept driving, and he finally got there. And he finally did. Now he got to the point where he's just like, whatever, I've won three, I'm never going to get six. about the money, which that's his prerogative. Where Chris Ballard now, to me, has by far the most to gain.

Because one, I think he's already put together a pretty good team. So Jacoby might be able to win eight, nine games just with this team. If they were to go nine and seven this year with Jacoby Reset, when Andrew Luck retired two weeks before the season, now again, he wasn't going to play anyway. But given the, you know, kind of the nuclear bomb that went off of just that retirement and how that impact the locker room, that would be incredible. it would speak to the locker room that Chris Ballard is built, and then it would also speak to he was able to pivot

when Josh McDaniels left him at the altar and find a credible coach to coach his team. And three, he's loaded with assets. He's got a ton of draft picks. I think he has two second rounders this year and a first rounder. And if he needs to, and this is a year where there's going to be quarterbacks in the draft, if Jacobi is not that guy, let's say they go 7 and 9, it's clear Jacobi's just not going to be good enough to be a starting quarterback.

He can get aggressive and he can go up and get a quarterback. Because when you look around the NFL, a lot of the, of teams have young quarterbacks right now. So, and some of them are going to be terrible. Like, I got news for you. The Arizona Cardinals are going to stink. They're not going to be very good. The Buffalo Bills or the New York Jets,

one of those teams potentially, you know, could be drafting in the top five. I don't think so. 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 athletes 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 SportsSlic on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. 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 while you hear on earth. Are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Gaines, is we have real conversations about 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? Time out. Quarterback on office blue with 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 IHeart 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 paramedapapetopausal chin here you do. So let's talk about it. Join me on my new podcast. How hard can it be with the Adamani Arriva, 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, no. 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. But you never know. Well, those teams are drafting. quarterback. So you just look around the league. The majority of teams have a guy. Have a guy. So he can get aggressive if he has to. But I'm betting on him because I've seen him in just a disaster situation handle himself with dignity, class, and then execute. Like I don't even put

that much stock into the way he conducted himself. I admire that. But at the end of the day, that doesn't matter if you don't execute. He executed. So why would I not think like, yeah, there's only one Andrew Luck alive. I mean, there's been one Andrew Luck, maybe two since Elway. Peyton Manning and Andrew Luck. So is he going to find the next Andrew Luck? Probably not. But can he get a high-level starter in the draft or somehow through a trade? Why not? He's proven to be one of the better general managers in the league. And I've seen him, like a lot of GMs, have just handled, had success most of their time. Like John Snyder, they've been pretty successful for the last like eight years. Like his worst year, as he said two years ago,

we went nine and seven and it felt like we went two and fourteen. You know, how are you? Roseman is a great example. He became a GM at the time I think the youngest general manager in the league and the Michael Vic, Andy didn't work out, Andy gets let go, Chips comes in they just hired the wrong guy, Chip's a nut job, Howie gets demoted,

gets demoted, thrown to the other side of the room. When it's clear, Howie's the more capable one than Chip. Look at that. Honestly, not even close. And Howie would tell you, right now he's way better off for that experience. Think about that. Now, again, they were lucky. They were able to go up and get Wentz.

But I do think that Ballard, if there is that situation with Herbert, there are going to be quarterbacks, and there's some, you know, that kid at Utah State is getting a lot of hype love from at Georgia. We'll see how good he is. Like, there are going to be guys if they even need one, because they do have a guy that's going to get a year chance. And I saw that Orloski, Dan Orloski, had a great tweet, that a coach told him a long time ago.

And I think this speaks from most guys in the league. besides like 20 superstars, quarterbacks, and then a couple like Julio Jones, Khalil Mack type players. A lot of times, and the majority of players in this league, are not stars, they're role players, or they're just functional starters. But you're going to get one opportunity,

you're going to get one big opportunity, like you're going to get a chance to start a regular season game. I'm not even talking quarterbacks, but you better be ready to throw a haymaker. When you get your chance, throw a haymaker. And I think he has a guy that's kind of, uniquely equipped in Jacoby that's played a lot, that has experience, has been in the franchise a lot, so they're not trading for some random guy two weeks before, who's just ready to

throw a haymaker. We're going to see this guy's best. Now, it may turn out his best might not be good enough, but it may turn out, you know what, you can win with this guy. Maybe he's Kirk Cousins, who knows? I'm not comfortable even trying to guess what he is. Kind of like him, kind of don't, but I haven't really watched him that much. This year, I'll be able to judge him. And Chris Ballard will be able to judge him. And if he's not the guy, he'll pivot. And this is a guy that he spoke with his head coach to the team today. I'm just betting on him handling it because I've seen him handle these situations before. He's clearly a high-level guy.

And he's built a good team, a well-rounded team. So I actually kind of still like the Colts. These days, it can be hard to find and hire the right candidates for your small business. That's why LinkedIn jobs made it easier to find the people you want to talk to you faster and for free. Create a job post in minutes on LinkedIn jobs to reach your network and beyond to the world's largest professional. network of over 770 million people. Focus on candidates with the skills and experience you need. Use screening questions to get your role in front of only the most qualified people.

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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, 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 MyCultura podcast network available on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Okay, let's get into the ripple effects. this decision is ultimately going to have on the league, and specifically the AFC, because when we looked at football post Brady, right, because Brady is 42 years old, and Big Ben's 37, Rivers is going to be 38 this year, these guys are getting up there in age, right? Obviously, Russell Wilson, Cam, other division, a lot of younger players, you know, from Goff to Wentz, to Dak, to Jimmy, a lot of other guys.

in the other division. So when you look at the AFC, I think most of us thought that once Brady and Belichick, maybe they never were going to quit, but eventually, I got news for you, they're not going to be there forever, right? They're not just on like a lifetime scholarship

of Brady. He's 42 years old. So eventually, and I love Tom Brady, again, I'm going to include him now, moving forward in my Jordan, Brady, and Tiger. They played to win. That was their number one goal.

They had other goals. you know Tiger likes women Some of these guys like their money They like Jordan likes his gambling They got other things they like But their number one goal is winning But eventually his number one goal is going to be He's just too old to keep playing

Now Belichick who knows I mean he is 67 years old He's going to coach at least 75 Probably not But I guess you never know But let's just assume that dynasty I wouldn't say comes to an end Because Belichick could keep coaching

For seven or eight more years But Brady will be done And they will have to transition So you would have said that, God, the Colts are positioned, if Andrew Luck can stay healthy, to be dominant. It'd be them and the Chiefs. White would be the two teams that you're like, Mahomes and Andy. I mean, they have to be the biggest winner yesterday in this whole entire ordeal. That they got rid of Andrew Luck.

Because Ballard, you know, the Chiefs are really well-run, their team just watching them against the Niners the other night. They would have destroyed them if it was a real game. They're going to be really, really good this year, like really good. And they're going to be good for a while. They have a guy, I got news for you. The hype on Mahomes might even be understated. He is the truth. But they don't have luck to go through anymore.

And Brady eventually is going to be gone. So when you look at the AFC, you go, I like Sam Darnal a lot. And I like Adam Gase. They got Joe Douglas, but it's going to take them a little time. Josh Allen, rooting for the guy. Sean McDermott's a defensive coach. Again, solid team. but are they keeping anyone up at night?

I would say the big curveball in this whole group would be Baker and Freddie, and I think Baker and the team is going to be good, but Freddie, I got news for you. He's a major question mark right now. I got no clue if he's good or not. Right now I tend to lean, it's going to be a challenge for him. Ben, like I said, is 37 years old. So they're going to eventually have to pivot to a new quarterback,

which is hard. I don't take the Ravens that seriously. When you look at the AFC South, the Titans don't even know if Marriota's good. Foles is an older player. He's like a really, really expensive bridge. You know, it could be good for a couple years, but he's not like some dynasty there of Nick Foles. Deshawn Watson, I would throw him in the mix. His problem is their offensive line is terrible.

They do not have a general manager. Say that out loud. They don't have a general manager. Then you look at the AFC West, you go, well, again, River's going to be 38 this year. Mahomes is the lead dog right now in the pack with luck on, of everyone under 30. Derek Harrod Gruden, major question mark. This is a big year for them. They technically could resurrect.

They could be a group next year that I go, you got to take them seriously. They still have a long way go. Their defense is atrocious. They don't really have playmakers there. Their pass rush is awful. Antonio Brown is a major wild card. He could dominate or he could quit. at any moment. Then you look at the Broncos, you go, well,

Fangio's a defensive coach, so their defense is going to be good, but Flacco is, I mean, Joe Flacco, and of course he is. I mean, that's literally his name, but he's not that great of a player. And the guy they drafted in the first round, their head coach has even admitted he's a mile away from doing anything. And the Chargers don't really have a backup plan behind Phillip Rivers. So to meet the AFC, the ripple effect on actual, the teams there, and the road post-Bradie just opened up like the Red Sea, led by Mahomes and Andy. To me, now they're in the driver's seat if they do this right, to not just win but kind of consistently win.

I know Colin has called them the next dynasty. You know, it's hard to tell because you never know. You need other players. Like it is, as we've seen with Brady and Belichick, they have been dependent on Edelman, you know, Hall of Fame competitor, Gronk, Hall of Famer, McCordy, just, a stud. They've found very good front seven guys over the years. They have an unreal leader slash special teamer. So to create a long-term dynasty, and I always say this about, especially the

Patriots post-2010-ish, they have a core group of guys and they kept them together. So that will be key for Mahomes to do that. And it looked like that's what was so crazy about the culture. Like, God, they got kind of a young core. Quentin Nelson looks like he's going to be a star. T.Y. Hilton's a stud. They have luck. If they'd get Darius Leonard, like they were going to have a core, a four or five, super high character, tough guys. I know that corner they drafted from Temple looks to be really

good. That all went out the window. That's the sad part. The other thing I see a lot of people talking about that this will lead to more players retiring, and I'm just going to call bullshit on that. Because, like I talked about

early, this was a unique situation. This is a player, that might be the smartest player in the league. That includes coaches, that includes players, that includes contract negotiators. This guy is brilliant, brilliant. As he told people in his interviews at the Combine, his hobby was reading.

As someone that wished he could read more, I have to do audiobooks. I just, for whatever reason, my ADD, I can't sit there for a book long, and that's a character flaw. I wish I was better at that. I'll be the first to tell you, you become, and probably most people listening

that read know this, a lot smarter when you read. It's a pretty, it's not a complicated formula. Like, oh, how do you gain intelligence? Just read. Read, read and read. And you will become smart. And Andrew Luck has been rattling off books probably since he could walk. So the guy's brilliant. But here's the main kicker here is he has $97 million right now. And he's $29, $97 million. This is not the NBA. These big contracts do not get thrown out. So you have to be a quarterback. So maybe you're be another quarterback walks away, but the curveball I would be, well, they've never protected these guys better.

You can't hit them. You can't hit them in practice. They don't really practice. They don't play in preseason games. Then in the regular season, they're very protected. Now, could we see it in years past when guys, you know, are in their early 30s and are kind of breaking down and they've banked $40, $50 million for sure? And this is, I think, that makes the league a little nervous moving forward.

I don't think they want to start getting anywhere close beside maybe quarterbacks, giving out these NBA-type salaries. Because if I was 28 years old and I was worn down for football and I already had $80 million in the bank and I was a middle linebacker, let's say I'm Luke Keekely and I'm 29 years old and I've already banked, let's say the contracts in the next CBA, the equivalent of Luke Keekeley, he signed a $90 million deal.

Screw it, I'll play it out and I'm out. You know, I play my rookie contract, play my next contract for years, have eight years in the league and I leave if I'm beat down. You know, but there is something in any human. There's a competitive nature just in our society. society, right? That's the great part about capitalism. It's competition. I start a business. You can start a business to try to take me out. It's no different with football. Someone's coming for my job. I want to keep the job. Why do I want to keep the job? One, just the competitive nature. I want this job. Two, a lot of people in the league love to play football because it is so difficult to play. You practice infinitely more than you play. It's by far of the three major sports, the most mentally draining sport. You spend, you ever hear like, oh, yeah, in basketball for during, training camp they had weeks of meetings you notice that you hear about in football meetings

watching film in meetings meetings meetings meetings like those are tedious those are mentally challenging the play have to learn the playbook have to learn the adjustments to the playbook then have to do it on the practice field in basketball you just play and then you get to implement stuff through the games in baseball you never practice like you might take batting practice before the game but you just play In football, you just practice, practice, practice, practice, practice. You spend your entire off-season, just practice, practice, practice, practice, practice, practice, practice, practice, practice, practice, practice, practice, practice, practice, practice, practice, practice, practice, practice, practice, practice, practice, practice, practice, every Friday. So if there are 17 or 16 weeks, and plus you do something on Saturday, usually kind of a lighter walk-through. So you're talking three-and-a-half practices, I don't have a calculator,

in front of me, but I guess I can pull it up on my phone, you're talking a lot of work. And I think a lot of these guys in the league kind of like it. And again, like they said, Madman, that's why they pay you the money. What Ray Lewis say, you pay me Monday for Saturday, Sunday you get for free? Like the games, there is nothing like a football game. The longest I ever played was high school. And there was nothing like walking out on the football field if it was only 2,000 people in Davis, California.

And then working in college football. I remember going to Fresno State and going out to a game. Our first game, I think it was a home game against Wisconsin. There was 40,000 people there. The NFL is, and definitely players from the SEC and some of the bigger, you know, Big Ten, Big 12. Then there's nothing like the NFL. I was lucky enough, the team I was with was, it's a unique fan base. A home game in Philly, in a big game is special.

Just like I've been to a ton of Raider games. Now, most of them haven't been that big, but when you get a good game at the Coliseum, it was pretty sweet. I've been to a ton of sweet games back when they had candlestick for the 49ers. There's just something special about a football game. Why? Because you don't play that many of them. Many people have been to an NBA or even a professional baseball game. There's nothing really that special about it.

You might gone to 30 Major League Baseball games in your career, you know, in your lifetime. You see some home runs. You may not see some home runs. But most football games you go do are a pretty big deal. Because you know they don't play that often. So this notion that guys are going to walk away, the sport is kind of uniquely equipped to keep guys around, just because the carrot in front of their, you know, what they're working for is so special. It really is.

There is nothing like a game, and it pays a premium. Like luck made so much money, but if you're a guy that's only made $10 million, then you factor in agent fees, you factor in taxes. So you've got a decent chunk of change. You're ahead of the game, you know, if you retire at 28. But you got $3 or $4 million in the bank. you're still only 30 years old. Like you've got to do something.

And then you start realizing, God, no one's willing to pay me anywhere near this in the real world. I kind of got to start from scratch. These jobs are elite. You could argue there is not any profession quite like the NFL. Because unlike basketball pays the most, but there's a small percentage of people. There's a third of the amount of people on an NBA roster

as there isn't an NFL roster. So even the guys not making that much money in football, those jobs don't exist in the other sports. just because there's way more positions. And I also got news for you. Football, because the way the sport is, it's about toughness, the size is not crazy size. You get guys that, quote-unquote,

aren't great athletes, smaller school guys, undrafted free agents on every team that make the NFL. You don't need to be Julio Jones to make the NFL. You really don't. I mean, think about the amount of undrafted free agents, from a Cal Poly to North Texas to some little schools in Ohio that make the league every year. Think about that.

Guys that had no scholarships out of high school. Like that's unheard of in the NBA. Unheard of. Baseball may be a little more because it's a little more skill-oriented. But in football, you got guys from everywhere making it to the league. All over the country. Little schools, big schools, you name it, make it to the league. Every year, guys they get drafted, it's the ultimate meritocracy,

guys that get drafted, they get cut. As we'll see later this week. A ton of fifth, sixth, and seventh round picks will have been beat out by undrafted free agents from worse schools. It's a never-ending cycle, guaranteed to happen. So the ripple effects on the league are strong, but I actually think on the players, it won't have an impact at all. Okay, let's dive in to just some weekend thoughts,

things I saw this weekend, preseason games, college, whatever, and we'll just hit on some different topics. Starting with the first one. Miami, Florida, which I think I read was the highest rated opening day football games has ever been on ESPN. I don't know if either of the teams is going to be, you know, maybe Florida's a nine-win team. My guess on Miami, true freshman quarterback, the ACC kind of sucks, probably seven or eight wins. But the NFL speed on that field was jaw dropping.

And listen, I'm a West Coast homer. I wish the Pac-12 was better. it's not. It's terrible. Right now it's the fifth best conference in the country. And they just don't have the athletes on defense that you saw. I mean, Florida, if they got a good quarterback, they'd be an 11-win team. Miami is just a couple years away.

They're headed in the right direction. The speed in the SEC is the game changer. It's the speed and the NFL players on defense at every unit. D-line, linebacker, and D-B. The speed and the violence in which they play. And I I thought Miami held their head high and went toe to toe with them just in terms of the physical nature.

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 Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slices Life 12 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Welcome to my, new podcast, Learn the Hardway

with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking. Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing,

we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing, and we're still chasing it, and we don't know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch. becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin

Ross, because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on Earth, or are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Gaines, as we have real conversations about healing,

growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, learn the hard way. Open your free our heart radio app. Search, learn the hard way, and listen now. What's up, guys? This is Clever Taylor the 4th. And on my podcast, The Cliverts Show,

I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff, like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game. This 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, Miss Parker. Listen to the Cliverts show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano, and our podcast, Point Game is about defying the odds. Like LeBron heading into the playoffs without Luca and Austin Reed. And finding ways to win no matter what. He's the smartest player to ever play the game.

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

And when IT's friends stop by, like Quentin Richardson, we dive into some playoff history too. Steve Nass would get that thing. That man, hell get the flying. He running up the court, licking his fingers, why he got the ball. Like, you go through a training camp with that Isaiah, you figure it out. real quick. Get your ass up and down the court, and you're going to get the ball. So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your

podcasts. I was impressed, but I include the SEC, and I also include, I said this earlier, the three teams, Clemson, Miami, and Florida State. And I know Florida State's a little down, Miami's a little down, but when those schools are right, they get SEC level players. As I've said many times, Phil Savage told me Jimbo Fisher's advantage. you know, seven years ago at Florida State was he recruited an SEC player and he played an ACC schedule. Same thing that's happening to Dabo, and that's the advantage that I think that Miami and

Florida State, if they get back on track, they should be able to at least push each other. And I do think that Miami true freshman quarterback will be headed in the right direction, but man, you don't need to be Bill Paulian to realize there were some NFL dudes on that field. And that just, to go from that game to Arizona, Hawaii was like varsity playing the first, game and then JV. playing the second game. Jadevion Clowny. It sure feels like he's going to get traded.

I'll just be a little surprised when he does get traded or I guess anticipating what they're going to give up for him. What is it going to take to get Jadevian Clowny? Because I know you're going to have to pay him. And that I did read yesterday because I've said before that you can't pay him if you trade for him. Well, if he signs his tender and then they trade him, I guess that he can do that even though I thought the day.

date already passed, so maybe I'm a little confused. I'm not a cap expert. But I'm fascinated because they won't sniff what the Bears got for Khalil Mack last year and the two first rounders and a third rounder, not a second rounder because it was a pick swap. I'm fascinated, but all signs are pointing to him not being on the Houston Texans too much longer. And Bill O'Brien really screwed up on this one. You should have traded him in March right when the league started or within the first couple days, like D. Ford, then either get draft capital to use, get the cap space to use,

just you would have functional ability for this season. Instead, more than likely, unless they get a player for them, which I wouldn't say is out of the realm of possibility, they're probably not going to get that much besides draft picks and cap relief, which I don't know what that does for you on September 1st or whenever they end up trading them. Mahomes Jimmy. Jimmy's alive.

I didn't think Jimmy Garoppolo was great. I thought he looked much more calm. Listen, he's a good player. They just need to get his confidence back. He's still a little rattled, but he made some big-time throws, still made a couple head-scratching throws. He's going to throw picks, and that drives Kyle nuts. But Jimmy's alive.

He's no longer going to get cut. He's no longer going to be benched for Nick Mullins. He's still a good player. We witnessed it. Mahomes, listen, I'm trying not to... live in the moment, be a prisoner of the moment. You know, everyone's like, middle cough, so much hyperbole. Mahomes is fantastic.

He's elite. He is so good. The hype on him is not even strong enough. He could have thrown for 450 yards against the 49ers. He's a badass. He really is. Now, to me, his one flaw right now is being a little reckless with his body when he scrambles. He did it, I think, in the first preseason game, he dove at the line of scrimmage.

In this one, he had some crum. crazy scramble where he ended up diving head first, kind of left his ribs exposed. He's got to be careful with that. That to me is his only flaw right now is being a little reckless with his body. Bro, just slide, get out of bounds, throw the ball away. You can't take unneeded hits. It's a hard balance. He's got some far V-in to him because he doesn't give a damn.

I mean, he does not play scared, which is awesome, but he's too valuable to, quote-unquote, be reckless. Keenham officially named the starter for the Washington Redskins. What a debacle. The Redskins, Jay Gruden's going to be fired at the end of the season. The Redskins are going to be awful. It's just crazy what a train wreck that franchise is, really. I mean, it's really eye-opening how poor a franchise and one of the biggest markets in America with some great history

is just consistently so terrible. Case Keenham, didn't we see that last year in Denver? What are you guys doing? Rosen, I'll give Flores credit. He has not named a starting quarterback. Watching a little bit of Rosen and third preseason game, he made some plays. It's a no-brainer to me. Josh Rosen should be the starter for the Miami Dolphins.

You traded a second round pick for him. He was a first rounder a year ago. Just sink or swim with him. Find out what you have. Maybe you'll find out you have a legit starting quarterback that's young and doesn't make that much money. Maybe you'll find out he's not good enough. But either way you will know. The one thing you will not find, or the one way that you won't find any information out,

if he sits on the bench behind Ryan Fitzpatrick. What's the point of that? Fitzpatrick is a fantastic backup. He's a good, you know, great to have if Rosen were to go down. Great to have just a mentor Josh. But you have to play Josh Rosen. This is a no-brainer. I saw three plays in the preseason game from this weekend thinking,

come on, guys. What are we doing here? So hopefully Florida makes the right decision. And then we just have a pretty good weekend of college football games coming up this week. Maybe on Friday I'll pick like three or four of my favorite games, pick them against the spread. Because I do love to gamble. I actually might go to Cal versus UC Davis on Saturday. I love college football.

There's something special about the pageantry, about the student sections, the band. Nothing like opening weekend. Great start with Miami and Florida. But this should be, this isn't a great week. week when you look at the games, but it's better than nothing for sure. So I'm excited for, I think games starting Thursday. We'll start getting some legit football games. 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. Like, I don't know.

I always look at like this. Like, what do I want? I wanted to be a WWE superstar. All right, what does it take to be a WW superstar? What are the tools I will need to give me every possible opportunity I can get? And so I took the tools of acting classes, improv classes, wrestling school, everything I possibly can to knock on the door of 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.

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Slide up into my DMs at Instagram at John Middlecoff is my handle, same as my Twitter account, and do post videos there, my DMs on Instagram wide open, you slide in, I answer your questions. Start with Jeff. With most teams in the NFL having an established veteran or young quarterback, do you think the next few years quarterbacks will be drafted lower due to lack of need across the board? Interesting question here. The one curveball currently in the league is the Steelers are going to need a backup quarterback. Chargers are going to need a backup quarterback.

Think about some of the older teams. I mean, the Patriots are a wild card, even though I know Stidham is playing well right now. I think some older, you know, the Packers are going to need a quarterback. So you're going to get some of these teams that might pull a Mahomes or an Aaron Rogers, or they take a guy in the first round and he sits. That would be my guess of something happening. like that. Love the podcast. You and Colin are the two most informed media people when it comes to football,

in my opinion. Sam, I agree. Quick question about cornerbacks. I've seen a lot of discussion about some rookie corners. Rock Yon Sim, the Colts guy, among others, being better in man coverage than the zone. Just wondering how hard it is to develop the zone coverage skill and if it's normal for college cornerbacks to have strength playing one type of coverage versus other. or is it a college issue where some DCs don't scheme zone coverage is often to man-to-man. I think it would tend to be an individual program situation.

Some programs run a lot of zones. Some programs run a lot of man. If you get a Sabin corner, he's done a lot. Same with a lot of the guys in the SEC run a lot of different coverages. I think to make a general statement would be impossible. I think it completely depends on the individual. Now, some guys may be at a school. that runs a lot of zone,

but he has the physical attributes where he could line up to be a good man corner, and if he has good ball skills and he's fast, I think it will translate. But there are going to be some guys that are man-to-man corners that if they don't have good instincts, they might not be a good zone cover guy.

I think beside quarterbacks, at least in my scouting life, my years working in the league, and definitely in college football, and just watching football obviously really closely since the last five or six years talking about it for a living,

corner is a really hard position to evaluate, to project. There are a lot of things that maybe the tape doesn't show. Some guys do, you know, I was having this conversation a couple weeks ago. How many corners come in the league that have poor ball skills that ever become a good corner? I think like an end-all, be-all, non-starter for me with a corner, if you don't have good ball skills slash instincts, you can't make plays on the ball, it's going to be hard to be a good corner. especially in man-to-man.

But even a zone, you have to have good instincts. It's probably a little bit different in zone because you're more like pattern matching so you can put yourself in right positions, but you still have to make plays on the ball. I don't need you to be Odo Beckham, catch the ball, but just make plays on the ball. Break up passes.

And that, to me, is a skill that's hard to find. I mean, there's just not many good corners. It's why my theory is just load up on the defensive line and just have a lot of shitty corners and just try to, you know, get 50 plus sacks. I'm watching the Steeler game the other night. They were destroying the Titans. They don't have great D-Bs.

They just rush the past. Same thing with the Chiefs. I'm going to get a lead because we're going to score points. You're going to be behind and you're going to have to throw, and I'm going to have my edge rushers just tee off on you. That would be my philosophy. I saw a report that there is no way the NFL will have four preseason games next year. Thoughts on having two preseason games, 18 weeks, and two buys for each team.

Well, I think that reports off because, nothing's going to change until the new CBA. So I would say that that's impossible. Like that's just, that's not going to happen. Now in two years, whenever the CBA runs out, they're definitely going to have a change. You know, whether that's two preseason games, two joint practices, one preseason game and two mandated joint practices,

I don't know how they're going to do it. But I think the day and age of four preseason games with the next CBA is dead. I think it's 100% dead. But as I noticed, as a media guy, And as someone, you know, who thinks about content and distribution and is just a fan of football, what do we do in the month of August? You know, I mean, if you're a baseball fan and your baseball team sucks,

you're not really watching that much baseball, there's no basketball, there's a little golf on the weekends. But the NFL games throughout the month of August take inventory up before college football. So they get three weeks, basically, a content of the preseason games that we think suck. Really four. I don't count the last that preseason game. game four where they just play all the scrubs where every team plays this Thursday. But those three preseason games are basically spread out every week, three straight

weekends from Thursday to Monday. That takes a lot of space. It takes a lot of inventory for these networks that are in bed with the league. So I think it's somewhat complicated. I saw Bill O'Brien today said he had an idea where you go two preseason games and then you go two joint practices and you televise the joint practice. Maybe mic up the coaches. That's not a terrible idea.

I actually think it's one of the smarter ideas ever. You could probably do mandate two joint practices where they're filmed, their TV products. You know, you pick two or three a week and you just put them on national television and then maybe one preseason game. I wouldn't be opposed to that. College football question for the pod. Any chance people are overlooking Penn State as a contender in the Big Ten?

They have three likely first rounders and could have a top five overall D they have unknowns at quarterback running back and wide receivers. It's a pretty big if. But upgrade talent in all those spots. They upgraded at quarterback? I mean, they're quarterback. Trace McSorley is good. You want to keep a bold prediction from Middle Coffier?

Yeah, just one third person. Keep an eye on Trace McSorley being better than Lamar Jackson one day. Hamler and Formouth are potential All-Americans. They get Michigan and home, avoid Wisconsin in Nebraska, and Northwestern in the West. Well, they've lost Sequin Barclay. They've lost, and obviously this is a second year without Saquan, they lost the quarterback with, he is a flawed college player, but Trace McSorley is a winner.

I like Trace McSorley. Now, their coach can really recruit. So I don't know I'd have to go and look up all these guys. I'm not some diehard Penn State guy. But James Franklin clearly crushes and recruiting. I think the question is, like when they get Michigan, when they get, you know, Ohio State, when they play in some of these big games,

if they get it to the Big Ten championship game, can he out-scheme those programs? Can he out-skeam Wisconsin? Can he out-skeam Scott Frost? You know, once the talent is relatively, you know, equal. That's, to me, the knock on Franklin. Because there's no disputing. I always root for a bald guy.

I like his energy. He can really recruit. Just can he dial up plays. And I don't know. John, I hear everyone, always saying that numbers in little league football are declining and that football overall as a sport is waning as a long-time football fan i pray this isn't true yeah i don't have kids i can't speak on that i have noticed though that local high school teams seem to have smaller rosters than when i

played do you think that the overall participation in football is waning and if so do you think that the sport is linked to fan interest in the sport if so do you think that is linked to fan interest in the sport. I think it has more to do with like what is, I'm a millennial, whatever the generation is older than me, you know, that are now like 45 to 50 that have 15 year old kids. Like if you're a 50 year old guy and you have a 15 year old kid, I think there are a large percentage of people that are a little uneasy with CTE and just the stories that they've heard. And I think there is something to be said about that. I know like where I grew up in Davis, the rosters have been smaller, but a lot of kids play like, you know, water polo, swimming, soccer.

but we're kind of like, we've always kind of had that. But I don't know, my pulse on high school football and even youth football is not strong enough to have an informed opinion on this. I do know a decent amount of people between probably 45 and the early 50s,

you know, with kids that are getting closer to high school, and they often ask me, they go, is this this CT, you know, real? Like, is this something that I should be afraid of? Should I let my kid play football? So it was definitely a real conversation happening. Will it have big impacts long term? That's a hell of a question.

I hope not, but you can't be disputed. And I think the league has actively tried to change the sport and make it safer. I think they've actively tried to make it safer these last four or five years. Do you think fantasy football has peaked in popularity now that more and more states are legalizing gambling? That's a good question. I think fantasy is pretty unique. because you get a squad, you get to play with your friends, you get to do it all year long.

Gambling's kind of separate. Gambling is something you do as an individual. I mean, maybe you brag about with your friends, but you don't really get to brag about with your wife, especially when you lose. I think they're kind of separate entities, because I can enter a fantasy football league with my buddies for $100 and be pretty entertained all season long.

Now, I'm more of a daily fantasy guy than a long-term fantasy guy, but I am a big gambler. and I really, I've never had the patience to do fantasy leagues. That's why I like daily fantasy. But daily fantasy and same with gambling, I don't view them as the same thing, though they have some similarities because you're putting money up.

But I don't know, I would say that they won't have that much impact or direct correlation of one getting hurt based on the other. I think they'll both be fine. I don't think fantasy's peaked, actually. Question for the mailback. How much of Andrew Lux's retirement is solely centered on the Colts organization failing to protect him over the years and their mismanagement of handling his health.

If he wanted to return to the NFL but not the Colts, would that be possible and how would that play out? That's a great question. I don't know the logistics of, I know they put him on, you know, IR, retired or whatever. I'm pretty sure they have his rights. That's part of paying him the money. I don't think he's just, if he just comes back next year,

he's not a free agent. Like the Colts, the Colts control him. I'd have to ask someone in the league, like the exact rules for how long. But like if Calvin Johnson wanted to come back this year, the Lions have him. You know, they decide his fate, whether he wants to play for them or they'd have to trade him. So I think that 100%, if Andrew Luck had been protected, had a good GM, had a decent coach, and had an offensive line those first couple years and just play like a normal player, like just had like the start like a Mahomes or like, you know, maybe it looks like Baker's going to have

or even Darnold or Josh Allen, he'd say, still be in the league for sure. Pretty sad, actually. John, what am I missing about the DACs situation? Turning down $30 million offered to play quarterback for the Dallas Freed and Cowboys, maybe the most coveted position to all American sports. $30 million is an insane amount of money that 99.9% of people would kill for in their lifetime, let alone one year.

Pre-tax, I know, but still. And that does not include all the endorsement money that comes when you're being the quarterback and the most popular team. It's proven that the quarterback contracts bring teams down, Big fat quarterback contracts, you know, brings teams down, agree. I just can't understand why more quarterbacks don't take a little less to help the team freaking win. That's what the ultimate team game is all about. The NFL is hard enough as it is making a few million more just to show up and get your ass kicked.

Never have a chance to win anything of significance just doesn't compute with me. What am I missing and why do more guys not choose the money when it will make a difference in their lives anyway? In fact, it may make it worse. Hell of a question. I think the greed of the agent for sure. because like you said, if you're Dak Prescott, and you can look at Jerry Jones, be like, you know what, I'll take $26 million a year.

I'll sign a five-year deal. So five years, you know, $100 million, let's say five years, $100 million, $25, you guarantee every penny. I'll easily make that up. I live in Dallas, Texas, so I'm no state income tax. And I'm giving you an extra, instead of taking $35 a year, I'm taking $25,

giving you an extra 10, take care of Zik, take care of Amari, and let's kick the shit out of everybody. And I'm going to become, I'm worth $100 million. A great part about being a quarterback, I'm going to get another contract. And I'm going to be such a rock star in Dallas. I'm going to get huge endorsements. Now, I completely understand, instead of taking $32 million, I wouldn't take like $15. But if I trusted my GM, which I don't know why you wouldn't if you're DAC,

your GM is also your owner that's paying everybody, why wouldn't you take more of a team-friendly deal, especially that team where you could win a lot of money? I'm with you. Like, I think, you know, we love painting the owners like greedy pigs. Well, why aren't the players greedy pigs, too? Like if Dak Prescott really has to take $34 million, like, bro, couldn't you just take like $25 and help your team out? Because you know you're going to get more contracts.

Russell Wilson's already on his third contract. How many contracts is Rathlbler and Rivers and all those guys get? Flackos had like six contracts. So, yeah, I mean, it'd be one thing if we're talking like $5 or $6 million, you know, like a five-year, $25 million deal. We're talking like $90, $110 million when you're the quarterback of the Cowboys. I'm with you to think that I have any sympathy or think that like, okay, Dak, sign 35. Your team's not going to be as good. You're going to get throttled.

I promise you that. I got a question for your show. What do you think about the protection of quarterbacks, too much or too little? I think right now it's just right because the league's very dependent on the players, on the quarterback. And when a quarterback goes out, when a couple quarterbacks go out from injury, it can ruin the league because the team's already set on primetime games. it's just hard to watch.

So keeping those guys healthy to me is very, very important. You know, keeping DAC, keeping Mahomes, keeping Baker, keeping Jimmy, keeping all these guys upright is key to the health of the league. No different in the NBA, making sure the top 15 players play. Like, Adam Silver has an epidemic on his hands. Like, you can't roll out a product when your best players play, you know, 70% of the games. Like, Adam, this is bad business, buddy.

It's just like Roger Goodell realized, I can't have a league where three of my top 10 quarterbacks are on injured reserved by October 1st. That's bad business. Because at the end of the day, it's all a business. We need the fans to generate interest to make everyone money. The players, the teams, people like me, like it's all dependent on the fans being interested. And I know as a fan, that's how I started off. And I still kind of, I mean, I'm a fan of football.

The moment you give me two backups on a Thursday night or a Monday night game, I mean, it's terrible. It's hard to watch. I can relate to everyone being like, this sucks. So if I know it and you know it, you better believe they know it because the television rating say so. So I think at the end of the day, you can never do enough to keep the quarterback healthy. I know it sucks, but it's the right thing to do. Appreciate everyone listening on this pretty luck-heavy podcast. Pretty crazy.

God, what a crazy 48, 72 hours. It would be a crazy week just with him retiring. But appreciate everyone listening. and see you later this week. Football, college football's here. Regular season is right around the corner. Can't wait. Adios, peace.

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This morning, the internet lost its mind and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where SportsSlice comes in. I'm Timbo. In 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 Podcast, 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 podcast, The Clifford 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 whops up to me. He goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What? Come up. Quarterback on office blue with 42.

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