The Ryen Russillo Podcast - Todd McShay’s 2022 NFL Mock Draft: Four First-Round QBs. Plus: Steph Curry’s Influence.

Episode Date: December 15, 2021

Russillo shares his thoughts on Steph Curry's 3-point record, his first few years in the NBA, and his impact on the sport of basketball (0:31). Then Ryen talks with ESPN's Todd McShay about his 2022 NFL mock draft, including his defense-heavy top 10, his four first-round QBs, and more (11:46). Then Ryen answers some listener-submitted Life Advice questions (46:00). Host: Ryen Russillo Guest: Todd McShay Producers: Kyle Crichton and Steve Ceruti Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

I am ready for a mock draft. Are you ready for a mock draft? Todd McShay, the big return. And his first mock draft is up on ESPN, so we'll go through all that. A lot of stuff, not just the quarterback stuff. Life advice and what it means to watch Steph Curry.

He broke the record. And opened. I want to start where a lot of shows would start today, and that's Steph Curry breaking the all-time three-point record. Hopefully I do it a little differently than you've heard it everywhere else. And I'm going to start with this. I was a little surprised that this was as big of a deal as it was. And I'm definitely not complaining about it because I kind of liked that we cared about a record again.

Baseball records were a thing, depending on how old you were. If you're really young listening to this podcast, you'd be like, were you guys losers? I'd be like, maybe. We may have been losers, but we really cared about home run records. I know just because Ted Williams is my father's hero that anybody that flirted with 400, I was like, I hope this doesn't happen. I don't know.

It's just one of those things. It's obsessive. It may seem wrong, but we care. Anybody who had a certain number of home runs at the All-Star break, I would be sitting there trying to figure out, okay, well, this many games are played. What's the best chance?

Dale Murphy had a couple first halves, but again, the baseball first half plays more than 81 games, so it wasn't always perfect math on all of that, but we cared about all of this stuff. Certainly, with the steroid era, however you feel about that, there's something that's not debatable is that it's taken away a lot of interest in the home run chase and all this stuff. It's just not really the same, and the fact we're not having, ironically, as many home runs. So with basketball, the all-time scoring deal, it's probably going to happen with LeBron passing Kareem, unless LeBron were to have

devastating injuries here at the end. I think that will happen and that will and should be a bigger deal than Steph's pursuit because Steph's pursuit was weird for a couple of different reasons. The first one is this was not an in-season deal. So the angst of him not getting this record, which is partly his own fault because he had toyed with the idea of saying, well, maybe I'll get 16 against Portland. Now, maybe he looked at Portland's lineup that night and realized they've been one of the worst defensive teams and goes, you know, let me really see what I can do if I go for it

because that's, I think, something that we've all wanted to see from Steph is just be like incredibly selfish for a couple games and let's see what happens and he missed a million shots and it looked like other teams were so keyed up and making sure that he didn't break the record that it then became this kind of lingering thing for over a week he was always going to break the record this wasn't 58 home runs with a week to go in the baseball season hoping to surpass 61 when we asked you that you used to care about 61 so that part of it was like okay this is entertaining this is the thing but it's it's going to happen like there's no debate about this he's going to pass ray allen for career threes and another part of it too is that the game has

shifted as such that you know all of these these three-point records are i don't want to say meaningless because it certainly means something to be the all-time three-point leader, but the inevitability of it because of how many guys take now, it wasn't as dramatic as I think it was being made out to be. So then he misses a bunch of shots against Portland. The Philly game on Saturday night was ugly. He went 6-20, 3-14 from three. Philly was absolutely selling out,

like as if it were last possessions in a close playoff game, trapping him, running to him. Theibel does probably as good a job, maybe the best single job on Steph that anybody does, although I thought Steph was kind of using some of Theibel's chasing against him in the matchup that was at Golden State, where Steph was aware of it and would kind of reset himself

and position himself, and Thibel would just do a blow-by and miss. I think Thibel chases people down through screens and still stays in the play to contest a shot better than maybe any player I've ever seen. I'm serious. Do a mental snapshot if you're really into hoops and think about all the people that work that hard to get around screens and still get up to contest jumpers from that far out have we seen anyone care and put that kind of effort

and actually challenge shots the way he does chasing down shots off a screen have we ever seen anyone do it as well as dival does it i don't know that we have so steph was dealing with that on top of it felt like doc rivers and mb and those guys were like look we care about stopping him and they won the game and they were terrific. I thought it was a little weird. I'll admit a team that can't get out of the second round taking such pride in stopping Steph from passing Ray Allen being like, we're too prideful. Never let that happen. We'll beat the fucking Hawks then.

So this is the continuing deal. Steph was 19-60 from three over it. So it felt worse than it was. 32% isn't great for Steph. It's, it's not the end of the world. And on top of it, as much as everybody's like, I'm just so glad this is behind them. Whether Steph said it, whether curse said it, whether you just get a vibe of golden state, kind of dragging this out and not loving it. They went three in one. So as weird as it looked, cause it looked weird and it was bad against Philadelphia. And that Steph was chasing.

And in a moment, this guy who I think has been the best teammate in basketball the last 20 years, the unselfishness of his whole entire approach to franchise and to being a teammate, that he felt like, let me see how many I can get up here and see if we can't break this record. So he needed two against the Knicks, goes ahead and breaks it. By the way, quick aside on the Knicks and everything else, they're 12 and 16 now. I think they're incredibly predictable offensively.

They haven't had R.J. Barrett now because of the COVID protocol thing, so that adds to it. Fournier, who they spent a lot of money on, not closing the game, and it was the right call, hunting him defensively. And Fournier's just going to have stretches where you're like, how much should we pay this guy? This guy averaged what in Orlando? I just think that Fournier's the kind of guy that should be just a place that's like, yeah, we got a game tonight.

All right, cool. Because this is bad. This has been a bad stretch. Not to say it's always going to be this bad. They're better off with McBride and some of these other younger guys playing. But other than quickly drive and kind of making it up on his own or Randall getting hot. And again, without RJ, it's not entirely fair. But this is a weird offensive team right now with the Knicks.

And I know Derek Rose has his moments on a nice first quarter. If you go across the bridge, did you guys see what Kevin Durant did last night? It's beyond the 34-13-11 in a close win in overtime against the Raptors. It is a 48-minute night from Durant where he was playing with David Duke, not that one, Cam Thomas, De'Ron Sharp, who we know, their two first-round picks, and a guy named Kessler Edwards who opened, I think, for Godstreet Wine a few years ago. He played 44 minutes and actually had 17-10. I think it was his third game ever. Kessler Edwards. That's what Durant had around him as he beat the Raptors and Scotty Barnes.

How about that step back three in the corner? My God, is that guy like he's in another level already based on what we saw at Florida State. So just a quick aside there. So back to Steph, the timeline is the same one for me that it is for a lot of people. You watch him at Davidson and you said, man, this is fun, but is it real? Then Davidson brought him back that next year and they kind of like almost featured him in a way to try out for the NBA, running the point, which didn't always work out. So I'll admit, I was like, this is kind of weird

that you're going to completely kind of change who you are to show off his other skills and to see how to develop. And what we didn't realize at the time, and maybe I should have, was that the team around him just wasn't strong enough to almost play with him. Like, he's so good that other guys maybe like it was almost a bit like the lamello ball thing where once he played with way better teammates it was going to open up the rest of his game so then Steph comes in as a rookie and remember it was like Jarrett Jack they played

him off the ball that wasn't his game to run, which is fine. The corner threes are incredible. But Mark Jackson had him off the ball and in closing moments off the ball, which isn't all on Mark Jackson. It's a philosophical shift that we've seen where teams just went, hey, who's the best guy? If he's a guard, let's just have the ball in his hands the entire time. I also think it's destroyed the entry pass, but we'll worry about entry pass history a little bit later.

That'll be a different podcast. And then I remember it kind of clicking for me. And I don't know if it was the end of the first year or the second year. It probably was the second year where he started to have a little bit more freedom. And I remember thinking, okay, he's got one of the best handles. He's the best shooter maybe in the league right now. And I think he's one of the smartest players that I've seen in the league instinctively. And we started talking about this on the radio show because I was amazed that it was working out to this level.

Because forget that he's not peak athleticism. Forget that he looks like he's still 15. Shooting translates, okay? And when you end up being the best shooter ever, there's going to be a role for you.

And that's what we get to see from him. So you know how much I love the guy. I think his approval rating is through the roof. I mean, unless we're talking selfishly fan-based stuff here where he's gotten your way and, you know, I get it. I've heard them all. I've seen them all for years. I already know what you're going to say.

I think there's something genuine about him that feels a little different than today's star in a lot of sports because I think a lot of sports, a lot of stars have a hard time being genuine. I also think it helps him that he won so early in 2015. He doesn't have to chase other people the way other stars have had to chase.

We've probably been more unfair in how we've ranked Steph in comparison with the other stars at times. I think these last two years are a perfect example of this what they're doing this year with this roster around him to win this many games as i've said all season i still think is a little surprising like we we weren't 100 sure if you could carry a team the way a lebron could carry a team and you know last year depends on what you think is that team around him really bad yeah it wasn't great then they lose in the play-in game so what does that mean is it an accomplishment or is it disappointment?

It depends on whether or not you love Steph or are annoyed by Steph. Again, I can guess everybody's answers here. But the part that we can never dismiss is that he changed this sport in a way that that list probably isn't five people long. MJ changed it in a big way. I don't know if it's Wilt and the big man first or if it's Bill Russell.

I can't really say Shaq changed the game because he was the only one that maybe we'll ever see do things the way Shaq did them. The great part about Steph changing it, and hey, is he going to be a top five player, is he going to be a top ten? We were in a hurry to kind of ruin almost any segment. I mean, hell, they even had people going, can Steph get 16? And then somebody would sit on a TV show going, yeah, I think it's a no.

It's a no for me. The record's 14. 16 is not impossible, but nobody ever did it. So to actually debate that real time, like, hey, what do you think? Think this guy's getting six home runs tonight? I don't know. It's a lot of home runs um when you think about jordan's impact the cultural impact the coolness factor the style

part of it the sneaker like it's hard to ever surpass that but here's something with jordan that was always distant it was with it was beyond our grasp i mean, Jordan was doing things you would just watch him be in awe of. I mean, Jordan was, we thought for moments he could fly. What Steph does and how he's changed almost every young kid's thought of the way they can play basketball. Steph feels real. Steph feels obtainable. Steph feels like that skinny kid that isn't sure. That so many of us were when we first got onto a basketball court

trying to figure out who we were going to be as players. You know, MJ was flying. And at least with Steph, he was doing something that we could all try. And no one's ever, ever done it the way he has. Todd McShay has his mock draft out for 2022. It is up on ESPN.com. Please check it out. And this is great to catch up.

Okay. There are actually a lot of guys I really like in this draft. I know leading into it, I heard a bunch of, oh, it's terrible at the top, the top end talent compared to last year, all that sort of stuff. I don't know. I was going through the mock and I kept feeling like, no, I really like this guy too. So now you have, I think what's been kind of a consensus switch

is that Aiden Hutchinson, Michigan, is now over Kayvon from Oregon. So it's Aiden one, Kayvon two. How did that switch happen? What is the deciding factor for you between the two guys? It's funny because I did it, and I don't want to say I struggled with it, but I had Kayvon there since the preseason as the number one player. And then just watching tape, going back and really studying the tape against Utah twice.

He's just one sack and one tackle for loss. And then watching Aiden Hutchinson and just how, how driven he is, the burning fire that he has to succeed, the leadership that he brings, in addition to, obviously, his physical tools. And then when his team needs him the most, you know, against Ohio State, which I think they lost six straight against, and needing that game to get in the Big Ten championship

in order to get into the college football playoff, he just stepped up. And it was like he refused to be denied. And everyone around him kind of fell in place because of it. And just seeing that leadership. Listen, Thibodeau is more talented. There's no question about it. I mean, they're somewhat similar in size. Thibodeau is probably better length.

He's more – Hutchinson's powerful, but Thibodeau is probably better length. He's more, Hutchinson's powerful, but Thibodeau's more powerful. Hutchinson is fast. People don't think he's fast. He ran a 4.68 in Michigan's workout last summer, but Thibodeau's faster. You know what I mean? Everything you see physically from Hutchinson, Thibodeau's just a little bit better athletically. But Hutchinson, the thing that Hutchinson does is that he knows how to tie it all together. So he has a plan as a pass rusher. He has a plan

and is prepared for what he sees from the offense. And you'll see him pre-snap. He and Ojabo, David Ojabo, who's going to be a first-round pick, I've got him going number 10 overall in this draft. He came out of nowhere this year. We can get to him later. But you'll watch those two pre-snap, and it's almost like a quarterback signaling to his receivers,

you know, the communication pre-snap, based off of what the formation is, the alignment, and any pre-snap motion. So the preparation's outstanding, all the little things he does, and being able to tie together his physical tools with a plan to brush the passer, and then the execution of that plan you don't see many guys that can pull it all together at the college level like Hutchinson said it does so after seeing the last few weeks of the college football season and

studying those tapes I made the move and I was I was bracing you know how it goes man like you know Thibodeau is the number one on everyone's boards everyone every scout that's been quoted as a you know anonymously says he's the best player in the country and you know they're this is this will be ridiculous and what are you thinking mcshay you're an idiot and i did it and then all of a sudden you know i didn't get a whole lot of feedback which is fine either way and then i talked to we did the first draft podcast with mel and mel's like yeah I got Hutchinson up there and everyone else and it's not because of what I did but I think everyone else who actually puts time into this kind of made the same decision all within that same two or

three weeks span yeah that's fair all right so you got Evan Neal tackle from Alabama going three you got Stingley going fourth to the Jets now Stingley's freshman year is one of the all-time years. I mean, 15 games, national championship, six picks, and you just saw him. I mean, if you watch them play up close, you're like, this kid's already a pro running around out there. He's played 10 games since, no picks, only five

passes defended. Is there enough tape from the last two years with him shutting it down now, back-to-back seasons, to still feel comfortable making this kind of investment with him that's that's the tough part and this is this is where scouts really earn their money and you know we've talked about it before scouting scouting used to be 70 30 evaluation you know what you see on tape and 30 private investigation and it's almost flip-flops at this point any scout you talk to you know they spend more time than

they care to at local restaurants and bars and interviewing the people working in the cafeteria, you know, everywhere on and around campus to get to know who these guys are. And then the medical results and the characters, psychological tests and all those sorts of things. So Stingley is going to be a really good example of the process that's outside of just the characters, psychological tests, and all those sorts of things. So Stingley is going to be a really good example of the process that's outside of just the tape because we all know he's a phenomenal player. We really do. I mean, you can't argue that based on the 2019 tape. Even though he didn't have the interception totals,

and clearly he has in the last two years been either healthy or, you know, things have just not been the same at LSU. been either healthy or, you know, things just not been the same at LSU. But ultimately, you can't evaluate that 2019 tape and think anything but Stingley belongs in the top five. But we're going to find out, you know, is there anything there that led to him kind of shutting it down when he didn't have to? I'm not saying he did. These are the things that teams are going to be digging for.

Could he have played but decided not to? Could he have rushed to get back on the field? Those sorts of things. But ultimately, all the reports I've gotten is that he's going to be a professional. Listen, he's kind of got a Deion Sanders mentality. Like, you guys can support the run. That's fine. You guys take care of that.

And that's not great in today's game. I'm not excusing it. He's got to become more effective. With all the screen game and the short game in the NFL now, you've got to be able to tackle at the cornerback position. That's certainly not his strength. My goodness, man. He is long. He is fast. He's got greasy hips. He's got great ball skills. In that first year, he had six interceptions. So

whether it's the Jets at four, maybe the Jets at nine would be the absolute four for where he's going to go. But he belongs somewhere in that top five to seven range. And again, I don't see him, if the order stays the same, which we all know it won't, but the Jets pick again at nine. The Falcons could use him at eight in this current order, and even the Panthers could use him at six. So I can't see him getting outside of that top nine range. One of my favorite players to watch all season long was N'Kobe Dean, linebacker of Georgia.

I know he's a little undersized, 6'2", 20s, but if you just watch as you did, number 17, every time you watch Georgia, and they were loaded with playmakers. There were guys, Tyndall would be making plays, Jordan Davis gets a lot of love, we'll get to him a little bit later, but Dean was one of my single favorite guys on any team all season long, the amount of playmaking

that he made. You have him go on 7th, which I actually was like, okay, wow. It almost felt like he was behind some of the other guys. why do you think he goes the highest of any of the Georgia defenders I fell in love with him watching his tape early this year I think it was I think it was like right around the first of October and I you know he was on our list I watched him in the preseason from last year and he's a really good player had him kind of you know later first round but he elevated his game to the next level this year. And he did it in two ways. One,

I think it's rare to see a guy at his size who can get off of blocks the way he does. And, you know, everyone thinks about take on skills. It said, you know, that old 250 pound Mike linebacker, who's taking on the fullback and, youback and shedding him and then going and making plays. And that's great, but in today's game, which is played in so much space, it's more about getting in and out, the hand-to-hand combat and the ability to just kind of – he's slippery. He's kind of like a pass rusher, but in every facet of the game.

You know, you always talk about pass rushers needing to be slippery and kind of greasy, getting off of blocks. That's what he does. And he'll strike you, but then all of a sudden he's gone. It's like a ghost. So as a blocker, you get that initial contact, your eyes black out for that quarter count, and then he's gone. He's moved on.

So he's special in that regard. His coverage is outstanding in terms of his range. You saw the pick six against Florida, a huge play early in that game. And what I loved about it is all of a sudden 17 is out on the perimeter covering a guy. I mean, this is your Mike Linebacker on the perimeter covering a guy, plucking, taking off, and then bringing it to the house. But the biggest change from last year to this year is his pass rusher.

I mean, I don't even know what he had. He had two interceptions this year. I'm looking at five sacks. He finished with five sacks, which is really good for an off-the-ball linebacker. But he was way more disruptive than just the five sacks. And he was coming in. He was taking on centers and guards, kind of swimming them, ripping them, dipping them, doing all the little things you have to.

And he just – he's nasty, man. He leaves it all on the field. I'm in love with him, if you can't tell by now. I put him up at seven, and I don't care. I know it's too high for an off-the-ball linebacker. Maybe he goes a little bit later. But anyone who – the team that drafts Dean is going to wind up with one of the five best football players.

I really believe that in this draft. And he just, he brings it every single week. Yep. Nailed it. That's, that's how every time I'd have George on, I'd be like,

there he is again. You know, it's like in the beginning of the season, you keep trying to keep track of everybody's number. And I'd be like, wait, Oh, it's,

it's the Colby again. And then I was looking up his high school stuff. I mean, he was the number two linebacker, but inside, they had him listed as inside coming out of high school. He's behind the kid that ended up Smith, who ended up at Penn State.

But look, he's five-star, all of it, but at 6'2", 25, I wonder if some teams will ding him for that. Because this is where, despite at the top, when we started talking, where I'm going like, I'm looking at your mock,

and I'm going, okay, Leal from A&M, who was like a blink test for me, the first time I saw him at A&M,'m going, okay, Liao from A&M, who was like a blink test for me the first time I saw him at A&M, I went, okay, who's this? Who's this? I mean, it's just body type movement and you go, okay, who's this? And then even having Kyle Hamilton, did you have him go in 10, the safety for Notre Dame?

Yeah. It was driving me crazy. I mean, I couldn't get – Jamison Williams and Kyle Hamilton, every pick that I went past, really past four, it was driving me nuts. Like, ah, I want to put them in there. Forget team needs.

Forget that the Giants need this. Forget that the Panthers need that. Like, it was burning a hole in me, having Jamison Williams and Kyle Hamilton in reverse order. I think Hamilton's in the top five. I mean, Hutchinson and Thibodeau are one, one, two. Evan Neal in offensive tackle has got to be in your top five.

Derek Stingley, if everything checks out, needs to be in the top five. And then Kyle Hamilton rounds it out. And then I would put Jamison Williams, the wide receiver from Alabama, at number six right there. So, to me, that's – you talk about the tiers, the elite tiers, the elite group in this class is Hutchinson, Thibodeau, Evan Neal, Stingley, Jamison Williams, Kyle Hamilton. Yeah. Cause Hamilton, I, knowing you the way I do,

I would have thought you would have gone, how the hell did I end up with Hamilton at nine? Yeah. You were right. Yeah. Cause Hamilton. All right, give me the Hamilton breakdown of what makes him so special as a safety. Well, it starts, first of all, with the fact that he, you know, his size. I mean, to have the athleticism that he has for his size is obviously rare. I just, I look at him and I see a player who can play in the box.

He can play single high. There's not many guys out there like that. He also, you know, you look at the ball skills. What did he play? I think he played seven games and had three interceptions this past year. He's always around the ball. He has great instincts. And in today's league, you've got to be able to match up on every down, right?

You've got to be able to play. If you want to be an elite player, if I'm going to use a top 10 pick on you, you've got to be able to cover the tight ends, on occasions cover some wide receivers and some running backs one-on-one. Then you've got to be able to play single high, you know, and cover as that center fielder at times. And then when I move you in the box, you've got to be able to play single high and cover as that center fielder at times. Then when I move you in the box, you've got to be able to hold up as well. It's hard to find guys that can do all those things at a high level.

That's what Hamilton does. Plus, he's really intelligent. His football intelligence is off the charts. He's a great leader. The defense for Notre Dame was really good for the vast majority of the season. He was really the only big-name premier player on that defense. And they got better as the season went on, and he didn't play the second half of the season.

I get it. But Hamilton has always been the guy for Notre Dame, really since he stepped on the field for them a couple years ago. Right. So just to recap, as of now, McShay's got dean seven he's got jameson williams bam wide receiver eight and then kyle's nine and ajabo the other side of hutchins there michigan is 10 and then again you know i demar leal 11 and that's where i thought i got a little confused before we jump to the quarterbacks let's stay on jameson how does jameson compare to the other

bama like this has been an absurd Bama run of first round wide receivers I know what I think Jamison excels at I mean some of the deep ball stuff has been incredible we know that he transferred over from Ohio State you have him ahead of Ohio State's guys Garrett Wilson yeah right

so you have Wilson going 20th going 28th compare like why is Wilson so far ahead of those guys and then compare him to the other Bama guys as well? Well, just think about this for a second. You leave Ohio State, one of the premier programs in the country, because you can't get on the field. You go to Alabama where they set a record.

No school in the history of the NFL draft has had – no school in the history has had two sets of first-round wide receivers go. And Alabama did it in consecutive years, which makes it even more ridiculous, you know, those four receivers over the last two years. And he still says, you know, I'll go there. They got Mechie. They got John Mechie. He's probably going to be a first-rounder.

That's what everyone projected, you know, coming into the year. And Mechie had a good year. He's more of a possession guy. I think he's going to be around two guys. Obviously, the injury, we'll find out. But he looked over and said, you know what? They lost four first-rounders. They got another first-rounder.

But I think I can get on the field. He shows up. And I had the Miami game, and I was like, I just haven't seen much tape on him. But the coaches told us, you know, like he's, he's, he's a dude, you know, you're going to, you're going to be talking a lot about him when we get close to April and he's just, he looked different. You know, he just, you could see within the first three steps off the line, it was over.

It's over, you know, these corners. So all of a sudden the game plan changes and now we got to, we got to move the safety over. We're going to bracket him. I think I love three things about him. One, yes, the first thing that jumps out on tape is the acceleration to get down the field. We're talking about SEC defensive backs, and we're talking about a first-year starter coming into a new program. And he's not only running by them, but when the ball's in the air,

we have some great tapes that ESPN already cut. The ball's in the air. There's a safety tapes that ESPN already cut. The ball's in the air. There's a safety on one side of them, a corner on another side, and they've got two or three yards on them. But when that ball goes up and he sees where he has to be based on the trajectory of the ball, he in like a three-second span is able to outrun those guys who are running with him, you know? And it's pretty amazing what he does tracking the ball. Then the second thing is running after the catch, which you see in obviously the offensive side, but then his ability with the ball in his hands in the return game. I think it was I think it was only nine kickoff returns he had the average around 37 yards per kick return with two touchdowns.

I mean, two out of nine. It's just, it's remarkable because you think of him as just a deep threat. He's not that. And then the third thing is, think about what, 1,400 plus yards receiving, I think 15 touchdowns, receiving touchdowns, two kickoff return touchdowns, and he still is like, yeah, coach, I'll go cover punts and I'll be the best damn gunner in the entire country. He got that penalty against Auburn for targeting, but look at the effort that he was given to get down the field. And then he comes right back in the next game, and the first punt, the first punt against Georgia, he was like, you know what?

All right, you got me in targeting last time. Watch. Boom. And knocks the guy out. I mean, this dude just loves the game. He's been hungry to get on. Think about having all that talent, right? Think about you, Rassomo.

You got to ESPN. You're like, I can do this. But like, we're going to put you on this show, and you can be a substitute for a while. We'll give you a little snack with the college game day radio. How hungry were you when you finally got the SVP and Rassomo show, right yeah it's a good analogy i don't know that i had speed tell me it wasn't building up tell me you weren't there wasn't a fire burning inside of you because i know and i had a couple conversations with you so think about your jameson williams and you know i'm the best wide receiver

in the country i've been sitting behind these guys ohio state i get it they're really good but i haven't been able to play. I'm now going to Alabama, and now I get to go. He comes out and just... I'm going to do everything from returning kicks, wide receiver. I'm going to block down the field. I'm going to cover punts. How do you not love this guy?

He's a Ryan Brasillo college football in the NFL draft. Yeah, I like that. I like that because I got into it a little bit because the Ohio State fans are always an interesting group to, I guess, consume the content of. But it was this like Breer,

who I love, but is brutal when he talks about the Buckeyes, was showing a tape of Jameson Williams. And it was kind of this hint of like, this is how amazing Ohio State is. Bama's number one guy couldn't even be the number three at Ohio State. And I was like, yeah, maybe in the beginning. But if you've watched all of these guys play,

and Garrett Wilson's the best of the Ohio State guys. And Jacob Smith is terrific in the way they use him. I mean, he's going to make, that guy's going to make a lot of money in the NFL, getting off the line of scrimmage and being the slot guy. And Olave has moments too, where you're like, he's really really good but i can't imagine watching those three all season then seeing what james and williams did this year and thinking that somehow james and williams wouldn't be ahead of them still like it's just and i'm so glad you brought up the targeting which i figured you

would because that's what changed it for me i loved everything about him and then i saw him again a targeting penalty that made that auburn a lot harder. And then to come out against Georgia, it's like, he's still got, he's still playing punt coverage and he's trying to kill everybody. And he's a receiver who is fast, a fast receiver. Who's about to get paid 20 million guaranteed dollars. And he's like, I don't care. Let's go. That's why he, he's got so much of that dog in him i and it's only been one year and that's whatever anyone who doesn't like him is going to point to one year why didn't he win i

don't care if you watch 14 15 tapes of alabama this year and you don't think he's the best receiver in this draft class i can't help you there you go okay uh and we had not talked about him at all prior to just right now. And that was always my point. He may have been four behind those guys when he was there. There's no way this dude is behind all three guys if he's still alive. If he had just said, all right, fine, I'll stick it out. And I just wonder what that was about. Again, and we're also talking about Day and this offense,

who they do as good a job as any single program in the country. I mean, look, Bama lost Keenan Allen at one point. And so that was like, well, how did that happen? And I remember Bama fans going, oh, whatever. He's not any good if he couldn't stay here. I think it's a very prideful, weird thing that happens with fan bases. Anyway, moving on. Let's get to the quarterbacks, finally.

So you have Kenny Pickett of Pitt going 12th, but you got Matt Corral going 13th. So this tells me, as we sit here in December, we could still have a lot of movement. And as we know, quarterbacks, the closer we get to this whole thing, one of these guys, like, all right, let me ask you this. Yes or no, one of these quarterbacks jumps in the top 10 when it's for real?

Oof. I'm just going to go with history and say yes. Yeah, All right. I mean, I think – I forget the stat. I think it was only one time since like the early 90s did we have only one quarterback go in the first round. I think it was E.J. Manuel in 2013. 2013 E.J. Manuel.

And he was the only first rounder, and he went 16 overall to the raiders that year so um you know i started to the bills oh yeah buffalo right sorry um but yeah so i i remember raiders because i remember saying that's a raiders type pick because the raiders have been so bad in the draft and i took holy hell for it from the bills mom yeah and from the raider fans anyway um yeah so i'll ultimately just about every year we see these guys push up i i kind of it reminds me a little bit of that what is it the um was it 2014 yeah the 2014 draft break blake bortles johnny manziel teddy bridge. It's not a perfect example, but it's an example of guys that I think we all knew weren't – I think even at the time, and I liked Bortles more than I should have, clearly, and I get it.

Johnny Manziel kind of went around where I thought late first or early second. He went 22nd overall, Bridgewater. I actually had Bridgewater ahead of Manziel. But anyway, the point is, they all got moved up a little bit in that draft. So I think it's similar. But here's the problem. You've got the Lions picking at one and also 25.

And I'm talking about teams that could have quarterback needs. You've got the Texans at two. What's going to happen with Deshaun Watson? You've got the Giants at five and seven. We're coming up on Daniel Jones. He's got his fifth-year option coming up. And, you know, with the injuries and the turnovers,

it's hard for me to understand why you would move forward and make him your only plan, either draft another guy, bring in another veteran, something like that. And then the Falcons at eight, are they going to move on? The Panthers, I skipped over at six. Obviously, I have a quarterback needed as well. So there are a lot of teams in that top 10 that have varying degrees of needs. Now, where's Aaron Rodgers going to be?

Where's Deshaun Watson going to be? And, you know, 22, 22, what are you, criminal? No, not criminal, but. 22, yeah are you, criminal? No, not criminal, but. 22, yeah. Yeah, it's 22. Civil complaints. Civil complaints, thank you. So where is that going to wind up?

Is he going to be playing all those questions with Houston and with Watson? And then there are questions about Russell Wilson. You know, where is he going to be next year? So that's going to be kind of the first domino or two or three dominoes to fall on this quarterback thing but to the long way to your answer is if I had to bet I would say probably because even if it's one of the teams like Washington Pittsburgh that start to get nervous if they've decided hey Kenny Pickett from Pittsburgh is our guy or Matt Corral from Ole Miss is our guy. Kuyper really likes Desmond Ritter from Cincinnati and thinks a couple guys in the league think that he's the best quarterback

of the group. Malik Willis has a lot of love from Liberty, didn't have the great season you were hoping for, but has a lot of talent. So if a team falls in love with one of these quarterbacks and then you start to get some intel that the Jets at nine are shopping to get up ahead of the Steelers at 12 or whatever the intel is. I could see a team moving up a couple spots where it doesn't cost you a ton in that 8, 9, 10 range to go get one of these guys. But realistically, I think Pickett and Corral belong in the first round.

I think Willis is on the fringe, and I would give second-round grades to Sam Howell from North Carolina and Desmond Ritter from Cincinnati. All right, so let's start at the top there with Pickett versus Corral. What is it? I mean, again, you've got 12 and 13, so I can't imagine there's that much separation. What makes Pickett the number one QB on the board? number one QB on the board? All the reasons that Mac Jones had success as a rookie are the reasons why I think Pickett can have success. I'm not saying he's going to, you know,

Mac Jones wound up in a great situation with an organization that understood how to protect him and a lot of running back throws early on and didn't put him in a lot of bad situations. And as he developed and gained confidence and understood the parts of the offense that were being installed, they started giving him more, and you've seen him flourish.

If Pickett winds up anywhere close to that kind of situation, I think he's capable of handling it. And I'm not saying having a Matt Jones year, but he's capable of having a good starting quarterback year because the things that make Jones successful are the things that make Pickett successful, and that's pocket awareness. Of the five quarterbacks I have here in the first round, he's the least mobile of the five, but he's really good inside the pocket. He feels where the pressure's coming from.

He senses it. He's always got his eyes down on the field and ready to pull the trigger, but he can maneuver inside the pocket and buy extra time. Secondly, he processes faster than any of these quarterbacks in this class in terms of progression read one to two to three and being able to kind of identify pre-snap what the defense is showing

and then post-snap what the defense is really out to do. And then thirdly, when those first two things are done, he throws the ball accurately. He's as accurate as any quarterback in this class. And those are the three things, like I said, that Matt Jones does so well. And I trust those three things. I hope Matt Corral has a lot of success, but I'm a little bit worried because of his play style, how tough he is, competitive he is, how mobile he is.

I think he had 30 carries in a single game this past year. And that's just his mentality. And that's what he has athletically. But with his body type, can he hold up in the NFL? You can go through all these guys, but to me, if you have the pocket awareness, the processing ability, and the accuracy,

if you've got any kind of supporting cast and the coaching staff to guide you through it, you've got a real chance to have success in the league. Set me straight here if I'm wrong about it um if i'm watching i mean i've watched them all and i'll admit probably watched ritter and corral the most uh yeah of the four guys corral has moments where that ball is ejected out of his hands like there

seems to be some pop on his on his football that is you're like like, whoa. And I think Malik has a little of that too. But there's an ejector button on the, and again, as we've learned, that's the first mistake you could be making in evaluating the quarterback by going, oh, wow, he gets like the early velocity on his football is awesome. Okay, well, what about the rest of this stuff? Have you gotten better at, and as I've pointed out now for years, it's a coin toss on the first rounders,

on the bust rate. It just is. It hasn't gotten any better necessarily. And Dilfer and I talk about it a lot. It's kind of like evaluating how you deal with chaos. And it's kind of hard to simulate NFL chaos and understand who's going to answer to it and who's going to crumble.

And it's the processing. It's the mental stuff. It's just that's why there are misses. It's not that everybody's bad at it. I hate when people are like, oh, these guys just suck at what they do when it's like, no, like the data tells it's like getting bad, mad hitters for not hitting 500. Like, no, no, this is what the win rate is. It's 300 for really good hitters. That's what it is. There doesn't exist some other. There's no version of this in this evaluation where I think all of a sudden it's going to be a 75% hit rate on first round quarterbacks. Hall of Fame NFL general

managers, and you can put points to just about all of them, and they've missed on quarterbacks. The other part, too, is where you land. You're telling me that Trevor Lawrence wouldn't have had success if the exact same blueprint was laid out for him in New England? You're telling me Zach Wilson wouldn't have had a lot more success?

I'm not saying you would have been Matt Jones. I'm not trying to compare the two. I'm just saying the situation, the coaching staff, the blueprint, how you bring these guys along and the supporting cast. You look around. If you're Trevor Lawrence, you look around. I've got Jawan Taylor and Cam Robinson at offensive tackle.

They can't. I think they're 25th or something in the league in sacks allowed and win percentage. Who are my receivers? Who are the guys that I can put the ball up when things are bad and I can trust they go make a play? Who are my receivers? Who are the guys that I can put the ball up when things are bad and I can trust they go make a play? Who are my guys? You can't tell me that Trevor Lawrence in New England's situation, I'm not saying they have a lead talent, but they got a damn good offensive line. They can run the ball. They got backs that can catch the ball. You've got security

blankets all around you. Even if you're not making big plays, you can gain three, four yards on a given play just by doing the easy thing, checking down or just getting outlets in my back. So that's the hardest part about this evaluation process is if Kenny Pickett winds up with the Lions as the number one overall pick, he's not going to have near as much success as he would going 12 to the Steelers. It's just, that's the bottom line. Yeah, no, it's a really good point

because Trevor Lawrence watching this happen and it's gotten worse. And I'm thinking like, wait, this guy could do everything. Well, everything I built in the team is getting worse. And I'm not saying that that's why Trevor's, but like as a quarterback, you rely on the coaching staff you rely on protection you rely on you know people there's a lot of unhappy people I'm not I'm not in there I know I know Urban well I haven't talked to him during this whole you know this the last

couple months um but it's very obvious that there's some there's dysfunction within that organization that can't be helping Trevor and the offense. But they've gone seven straight weeks of not scoring 20 points. Yeah, and the big knock on Trevor was what? Long looper. A little long sometimes every now and then. And it's like, okay, so that's why it's... When I check in on them, it looks like a mess.

And yeah, I would admit I'm worried. Early on, he was struggling the first several weeks. Then he went through like a 6 and i'm yeah i would admit i'm worried early on he was you know he was struggling the first several weeks then he went through like a six seven game span where he started to ascend and he was kind of getting it and then just seems like things within the entire organization i don't know when i can't pinpoint why i don't know what rumors are true and not true it doesn't matter just seems like you know things are falling apart from the core. So it'll be interesting to see how it all shakes out. But it's been tough to watch because I know he's a darn good football player.

And there are very few guys. That's the difference. There are a lot of guys that can be map jokes, put in the right situation. There are very few guys that I believe can come into an organization that's a wreck and still be able to turn it around. Like Andrew Luck was a perfect example. I know he didn't do it long enough. I know he retired before anyone expected.

I know he didn't win Super Bowl and all those things. But you look at that roster and how it had disintegrated. It was abysmal. I mean, Chris Ballard, the new GM, had to come in and just tear the whole thing down and rebuild it had disintegrated. It was, it was abysmal. I mean, Chris Ballard, the new GM had to come in and just tear the whole thing down and rebuild it back up. And it's done a really nice job.

I think he's one of the most underrated GMs in the league, but, but when, when he was, when luck was there, he was carrying that team. They were going, you know,

they went to the playoffs. They almost beat the Patriots that one year. So it was the pay. They got a win in the play. Denver. They beat, they won at Denver by the Patriots that one year. They've got to win in the playoffs. They beat Denver. They won at Denver. By the Patriots, right? Right.

Yeah, gotcha. But anyway, the point is very few guys are capable of doing that when the organization around you is a mess. I mean, that's the elite of the elite. But you've got to be able to come in and be Mac Jones. And again, I think Zach Wilson could have been Matt Jones in that system. I think some other guys could have as well. I'm just so glad you said that about Luck,

and that's why I'll always defend Luck, is that you don't understand. He did something that doesn't happen. He came in as a rookie quarterback and then turned them into a playoff team. You're like, wait, what? I know the ending, and i know it wasn't healthy and there i've heard more and more arguments to be like oh was he really all that and honestly

trevor was considered the most physically gifted prospect we've seen since andrew luck and you know when i think about mac jones in new england and you and i texting over the mac jones year of like what we liked what we didn't like and again this is the long-term joke for the audience to understand that i would see something at home. Todd would be on the sideline. I'd be like, Hey, make sure you check 72's hands. Like check out, check out how he sets it. It's like, it's the most annoying game you can play with McShay. But whenever you stand next to McShay on the sideline of a college football game, literally anytime anybody makes a play, they will look to McShay to see if McShay is like writing something down or not to be like, huh there huh something and poor Todd's like yeah no I get it I get it and like his friends start doing

it to him so when he started do I go I love Mac Jones feet in the pocket feel free to use this and Todd three days later may go yeah thanks dickhead I appreciate it um but what's that the Tebow height weight or you're like no no no, he's way taller than the measurements. Wait, was it that I said he was way taller? Is it that I was next to Tebow and I said, I don't think he's that big. Oh, you're one of the two. I'm like, I'm like, listen, we have the NFL scouting combine. We, we have pro days. We have like official measurements. Everyone does the same thing.

And you just eyeballed it based off of your height versus this i was like okay i got it i'll put that in my notes i was like i yeah i was out with him i go i don't see it i don't see it it's like and and todd has never it's been it's been 12 years and he's not letting it go because i remember the night that i was out with him and then i sent a text to somebody and I was just like, all right. Hey, Todd McShay is one of the best to do it and a close friend and I'm fired up. We get to talk some draft, man.

So we'll talk again soon. You want details? Bye. I drive a Ferrari 355 Cabriolet. What's up? I have a Ferrari 355 Cabriolet. What's up? I have a ridiculous house in the South Fork. I have every toy you could possibly imagine. And best of all, kids, I am liquid.

So now you know what's possible. Let me tell you what's required. Okay, a couple of life advice follow-ups. I'm enjoying our community here. I really am enjoying it. I don't know how you feel about that, Kyle. But sometimes I do like the follow-ups i'm joining uh our community here i really am enjoying it i don't know how you feel about that kyle um but sometimes i do like the follow-ups we feel like it adds um a layer that we did not think of you know look i'm not so selfish that i think everything i'm saying is perfect all the time and there's times where we'll read some of these follow-ups that

kyle sends me and i go you know what not a bad point let's share it i like the follow-ups well i almost always i like the follow-ups even if i think the guy might be a bit of a douche i would also like to see more about what he has to say about just about anything usually who's that anybody in general the follow-ups on anyone from anyone yeah yeah um i'm not saying we want more follow-ups we're good i've just every now and then i'll read one so look um same age as you, Ryan, average stature my age. I'd say all those slowly dropping the LBs, things of the Peloton.

Shout out to Rudy. Shout out Peloton. I've been in insurance since right out of college, so I've run the gamut from suit and tie to no suit with a tie. Wait a minute, to no suit with tie and on down to where I'm not sure I remember how to tie a tie, nothing to do with polos, basically. I think what he meant to say was a suit with no tie.

All to say this, golf apparel, particularly the pants, work going out on a weekend, wore a dark pair to a wedding recently, as comfortable it gets and should satisfy his superiors. That's kind of what a lot of people have said here. Find the right pants. There are so many options now. Here's another teacher chiming in. Responding to the 265-pound teacher in sweats.

Got to follow the rules. It's not about you in this one. Well said. I'm a teacher and also taught online last year. Good deal. Not mentioned in the podcast why you switch the clothes. I never wear a belt except at work. It's okay.

Find some shirts you don't need to tuck in and some really lightweight khaki pants. Ooh, lightweight khakis. Pleated, not pleated, not specified in the email. It's almost as good as how I dealt with it. I hope this helps. It's not worth the hits to your reputation to wear that stuff. All right.

Okay. Moving on. This one is help managing friendship with son of famous sports media personality. Whoa. All right. 18 years old, 5'10", 205, pretty average looking. All right. Freshman in college or the first semester of school have developed a solid friendship with the son of, let's just say, a prominent sports media personality.

He tells me who this is, and it's a big one. Wow. Yeah. He's genuinely a nice kid. I didn't even realize who his dad was until a few weeks after we became friends. We're not best friends. We're insanely tight, but have hung out a bunch and are in the same bigger circle of guys. But I think you know where this is going. As someone who potentially wants to get into sports media down the road, how long and how close do I have to be to this kid before I can pull the can I get in contact with your dad card i don't want to ruin our friendship because he thinks i'm only friends with him because of who his dad is because it's really not like that i actually like him and it's not worth for me to come off like a dick and ruin the relationship but

as someone who i'm sure has asked for favors like this all the time am i wrong to try to make use of this potential connection or how should i go about this without it going wrong um i would say lay out on this and if you guys are friends like like in a couple of years, I'm serious. Um, that might be the best way to go about it. But then again, like you shouldn't even be thinking about it if you care more about the friendship. I know, uh, there are people say, Hey, it's not what you know, it's who, you know, and all that kind of stuff. The, who, you know, thing in my business is not really what it's cracked up to be. All right. Like there are people that I've helped,

um, and given advice to, but I can almost never get you a job. And definitely the case now, like it's, I could, I could always tell. Cause again,

I remember what it was like on that other side and I didn't really have anyone help me in the beginning, like not at all. And there are other people that I know got hooked up because of a relationship. I've never wanted to ask my bosses to say, hey, will you hook this kid up? You know what I mean? Like I helped Saruti get a job because I'd worked with saruti for years and years and years and i had zero zero percent hesitation on what kind of person he is what kind of employee he was but he was also qualified for a job that was available so kicks ass right and and i saruti it was over a year i think um because i brought it up once and then that was it and there was nothing to it and then i just left left it and because i i always think it's a little weird when it's like, Hey, will you vouch for this person? Or will you recommend this person? Or will you do this? I'm like, I don't even know who the person

is. I don't know who the person is. So I don't, not always comfortable with that. So the reason I'm telling you all of that backstory part of it is just that even if you think you're going to have a connection to somebody, that's a huge huge part of what it is that you want to pursue, the best you're likely going to do is get advice. Now, is there an internship possibly down the line that somebody could give you an advantage of yeah maybe um but i also remember the internships and i remember a couple times like pursuing the internship path for you know i think there was somebody in basketball or something that was like hey someone so it's like a neighbor they applied can you have somebody just make sure you know it doesn't get thrown in the garbage can i was like yeah i can just say hey this name double check it if it's a fit you know give it give it a good once over and that was like, yeah, I can just say, hey, this name, double check it. If it's a fit, you know, give it a good once over.

And that was about it. And then the person didn't even get it. You know what I'm saying? So, like, these jobs on my side of things are incredibly hard, especially if you want to be on the air too. So nobody's just going to say, oh, hey, you're friends with my kid? Here you go. In.

Six to eight. Bring your IFB. Like, you know, it doesn't – I think everybody knows that it doesn't really work that way. So honestly, I would, I would not even worry about it at this point, you know? And if you become close enough friends and he knows what your interests are,

I mean, you can say, hey, look, this is what I want to do. Obviously, I know who your dad is, but, you know, whatever. And I would give it to, you know, if you guys are legitimately friends, I would give it to the end of the year. I mean, if you're not even friends, it's the last thing this guy wants to deal with because it probably happens to him all the time.

Like I went out to dinner with Woj and his son once and I was like asking his kid. His kid was in high school, right? Because I think he's on his way to college next year. And I go, what's it like? You know, are you a basketball fan? He goes, yeah. I go, what is it like for you in high school like it must be ridiculous he's like yeah it sucks he's like everybody asked me

like hey you know who's does anyone know if they're signing this guy like ask your dad and he's like it's just it's yeah right and it's just endless and you're kind of like god that's gonna suck so um i know you're excited and i know that you think you've made a potential There is this potential connection and you want to take advantage of it and it could alter your career and change your life and all these positive things. I'm telling you two things. Temper your expectations of what the relationship would even be if you got a chance to even have access to a conversation with this person. All right. Because what they're actually capable of doing for you and what you may think they're capable of doing for you

are two entirely different things. And it's not like you're a lifelong friend here, you're somebody that met in college. I would also add that there could be a time, but there's a really good chance if it's a son of somebody or a daughter of somebody that's really important and they're so used to hearing this all the time that when you bring up like what you want to do, they may freeze up and just be like, oh, that's interesting because they don't want to offer anything because people have asked them for a favor to connection to the parent for most of their their adolescence. so um i would say just relax and you know remain friends and if you guys end up being lifelong college friends and all that kind of stuff the rest of the shit's going to take care of itself

because you you're probably not going to end up on nfl today at 19 years old so there you go it feels a little gross yeah it just seems like the number one just be just be friends just be friends that's it just be friends because if that's not if that's not real, it just seems like the number one, just be friends. Just be friends. That's it. Just be friends. Because if that's not real, if it's not like a real friendship, you might have to punch a guy in the face for this guy before that's even on the table. There might have to be some real stuff that happened for you to even be in the running for this thing that he's probably never going to do for anyone anyway, because it just doesn't feel good to do that kind of stuff, especially once you're worried about, oh, does this guy want something from me,

rather than I'd like to help him. So yeah, be friends, and then maybe his dad will come up for a parent's weekend, or you'll go hang out with him in the summer, and then you can actually just see his dad. And if his dad has no thoughts on you, then you're out anyway. It doesn't matter.

So I would just say just be his friend and stop thinking this way. It makes me feel a little yucky. Yeah, look. I don't know that you have to go as far. That would be an unbelievable setup there. I mean, that could be a scene in some sort of show. I don't think it would carry an entire movie.

But you set up something where the kid is threatened. Nice. Yeah, yeah. His safety is in question, and then you step in as a hero. What are you checking in for? He's 5'10", 205, is a freshman. That's a decent size.

It's a decent size freshman. And he just starts slapping dudes around and protecting this kid. Yeah. Just staged an amazing bar fight at the one bar that the freshman can get into. You could say you grew up

in an orphanage and asked to come home for Christmas. Or you could do the the planes, trains guy just have nowhere to go for christmas right yeah and not make him ask you that was thanksgiving i believe um oh it was thanksgiving so it doesn't get enough credit as a thanksgiving movie uh and in planes trains and automobiles pulls a super depressing turn. So I would... If you could pull that off, you'll get it anywhere.

If you could do planes, trains, and automobiles, but funner, less saddy, then maybe you could try that. All right, let's get one more in here. Sports media jobs. All right, we're doing it. 23, 6 foot 300 pounds.

Best described as barrel chested or carries it well. Nice. I'm emailing about a situation as I'm in the third round of interviews for three different positions at a major sports organization. We'll leave it out. They are internships that I've been trying to get for a few years now and i think i would have gotten a job in 2020 because i was sitting in the same position i am now but covid putting an end to sports and live events the position i was interviewing for were out all right cool um by the way i think you deserve a lot of you know 23 you start to start to run numbers you start to get

really down on yourself and i i'm telling you there are certain themes here that i will express over and over and over again because i think think they are really important. And I don't think there's much debate about it, but you will, you will really get on your case a lot in some of these post-college or early 20 years, even if it's not college, because you start freaking out and comparing yourself to everybody else and all this different stuff. And I love that you're at 23 going, look, this is what I want to do. And everything got pushed back about a year and a half here. So maybe at the math at 21, it sounds better to be doing this internship. The jobs in sports and all that kind of stuff is really tough, man. And maybe I'll do a revisit of the start of my career again,

but I feel like I've told the story, but the podcast has grown so much. So maybe it'll be repetitive for some, not so much for others. But I was 26 going into a year turning 27, where the first thing I was offered was an internship. And luckily I was like, all right, I'm out of here because I can't do this. And I couldn't, um, I got 12 grand out of it though, but by, by having it not be an internship. And then ultimately when we argued and screamed at each other six months later and I left and, uh, they were like, well, you're an intern anyway. And I was like, yeah, see, isn't that the problem? I go, when I interviewed, I said, I'm not coming here for an internship and you changed the title of it, but really it carried

out the same exact way as being an intern. So the reason I bring up any of that stuff is that I know it sucks, man. And I know it probably sucks to, Hey, I'm taking an internship, but if this is really, really what you want, um, you're going to have to follow rules that are a lot different than saying internship at the bank. When at 23, if somebody is doing well and out of school and has the connection on top of everything else, I doing well and out of school and has the connection on top of everything else. I mean, you want to talk connections, the banking stuff. Again, that was a foreign language to me. I was like, wait, what do you guys do? Banks? So anyway, all right, that's an aside. The issue isn't that the time COVID has happened. I've

graduated college, got a fairly boring office job, working with mortgages. I'm paid fairly well. The odds of moving up in the company are very favorable due to my performance and career path I took. I'm about two years from nearly doubling my salary because the schedule raises bonuses. With that being said, the job is pretty boring. I feel like the internships could potentially lead to doing something a lot cooler in my life. Obviously, I'd be taking a pay cut, but there's other reasons I think I'd hesitate to say yes. I wasn't hired by the organization after the internship. I think my option would be fairly limited. And if I was hired, I'd be moving constantly. Other than that, I'm good at making friends. I think the opportunity to work in high-level professional sports

would be sick. Yes, it would be. Would love to hear what you guys think. This guy also is offering up his mortgage expertise as a finance guy. I might, I don't know. Potentially, I think I'd like you to be older than 23.

No, but don't take that the wrong way. You might be totally qualified for it. The reason I'm even open to it with this guy is because he's actually not trying to do it. Because we've had other guys that have hit me up. And, you know, if you don't follow me or something, too, on top of everything else, and I know that you're just trying to get your name out there.

Like, again, I kind of appreciate the hustle a little bit, but it's not going to happen here. I'm not going to do a fucking 30-minute life advice with somebody i don't know to advertise put it on your linkedin yeah right right to advertise your brokerage company or whatever um okay look i mean you have another you know big time dilemma here it's as age old as some of the other stuff we talked about relationships earlier in the week right um you know when i decided to do what i did i knew it had to be that i knew it had to be that i knew it had to be different it had to be something and even then i would say for the 20 years creatively i don't think i'm challenged the way that i would like to be but i whenever i would hear from other

people being like well you know i'm gonna have to move a lot or whatever none of that shit has to eat like if this really is what you want to do, none of that stuff even is close to important enough to, to, to tell you you're not going to do it. Yeah, no shit. You're not going to make as much money as you are right now. And yes, your money would, that's, that's what happens. That's how we all get kind of sorted into our lanes of life because it's a little bit earlier. Maybe you meet somebody, you want to start a life, maybe a family priority. And then all of a sudden you're like, hey, I'm 35 and I wanted to do this thing in sports, but it didn't really work out. And there's nothing wrong with that. But what I was always anti was when somebody would ask me what I was doing and I would explain what I was doing.

And they're like, wait, you drive back and forth or, oh, you sleep in hotels or, oh, you're doing this or you never have a weekend off. Oh, you have to watch all these games. Oh, you don't make any money. Oh, you're doing this or you never have a weekend off. Oh, you have to watch all these games. Oh, you don't make any money. Oh, you do. And I was like, yeah, yes. Yes to all of the things that you just said that kind of suck about a job that can be really cool. And when they were kind of like eye rolling,

I don't know, I'd be like, exactly. Like, exactly. You wouldn't do it. I've decided to do it. So that's really all you're going to have to figure out. I would say at 23, if this is something that you want to do, go do it. Yeah, it's not going to be as much money and you may be screwed after the internship with very few options or you may be end up on a path that you can't even see right now that no one can predict because you make one connection or there's one person that actually has a little juice that you do connect with throughout this process and you grind long enough for you to execute this, or you go through it, expose yourself to it and go, you know what? I actually don't think this is as great as I thought it was going to be six months ago or a year prior when you first started exploring this, right? Like all of these things could happen. And then you get this exposure to

it and go, you know what? Wasn't terrible was making some money, pushing mortgages around. That wasn't so bad. So I would say at 23, especially that you just lost about a year and a half to this stuff, I would say do it, pursue it. Exit your current situation on the best terms that you possibly can. And you're going to get exposed to some stuff that you're never going to be exposed to. And I know for me personally, I would have been asking questions about it for years later on in my life going huh i wonder what would have happened if i'd actually given it a shot i knew that would haunt me i don't think it's going to haunt everybody i don't think i'm necessarily stronger

or any of that i just knew i i know i have very little sympathy for people that would be like well i couldn't make less money or i couldn't do this or all these different things like okay cool like if you couldn't do any of those things, continue to not do any of those things. And then this is your lane and this is my lane. So there you go. Yeah. I'm of the mind of, uh, fuck it. I'm definitely of the mind of fucking, especially if you're at 23, you're probably saying fuck it towards a lot of other decisions that aren't as big as, as career. But yeah, like Lee, it's actually not hard to leave on good terms either. Like most of the jobs that I left there were like, if you ever want to come back, minus one or two, we'd be happy to have you. So like, it's actually not impossible to leave. And, and like, I than I do the Models work.

Models was just more of an interesting time being like 19 with an apartment. Just none of that should have happened. Managing a department. None of it should have happened. But it was just I look back fondly on the time. But when I think about the work that I miss the most, it's definitely the driving around in a truck solo. The last guy smoked cigarettes in it. So it wasn't a huge deal. I felt just, I felt like I was pretty free,

you know? So I, I do miss that. I do miss that stuff a lot. When I think about what I have to be doing during the winter months, I kind of cool off it a little bit, but something about having your own truck, dude.

Pretty good. Yeah. Look, I miss driving around the truck, meatball subs at lunch, you know, working with your hand, which is kind of stuff. i don't miss a ton

of the other stuff around it you know so whenever i start to romanticize it i love that you go back to models tomorrow do you have you ever told like when you're single and i know you're not now when you were single how quick would it take for you to get to i could go back to models right now well i actually my first was youngest manager in Modell's history. Don't know if that's true, but it seems true. I'm going to go with it. 18 turning, I guess I was 18

when I was hired, 19. Is that even legal? Can you run a department at Modell's 18 turning 19? I don't know. It seemed like everybody there was 40 but me. I think they were a little confused, but I got my shit done. So I don't know. What were some of the jobs that you wouldn't be welcome back uh definitely the melting pot um and then why are the melting pots gym and gold's gym wait a minute wait a minute well i don't think we've ever talked about your experience at gold's gym

feel free to do i've worked everywhere give us the full timeline of Gold's Gym. I started off doing the parties in their back room. Started off doing they did like parties on the weekends. It was the dumbest party. I mean, it would be literally one of the worst parties you ever went to as a kid. What was it? Gold's Gym? Like, oh, so it was like a room.

Yeah, yeah. It was for like up to like eight or nine years old. And it's just a room. And the parents pay like $100 or $150 for a room. Yeah, yeah. It was for like up to like eight or nine years old. And it's just a room. And the parents pay like a hundred bucks or 150 bucks for a party, probably a little more actually. And then you get like pizza that's literally like the class party pizza

where it's like a tiny sliver. Like, you know, it's like a teacher salary pizza party. And it's like a tiny sliver. And then it's like little cups of either ice tea, brisk ice tea at that or Hawaiian punch. Those were your only two options. The party lasted like an hour and a half. They had an indoor soccer field

at this Gold's Gym sports complex. And they could do that. We could play like two games of like, you know, a short version of kickball or something. And they were gone. They were out. And I got like $75 for that thing. So I did that. And then eventually I went to the kid zone, which is during the weeks, uh, basically people would drop their kids off up to, cause you can't have kids under 13 or 14 on the floor. So we'd have kids from like 13 to four in that, in this one little area. And that was a time, but I just, I went to college and

didn't, um, tell anyone anything. So, uh, they just didn't want me back. They were like, dude, you just left. I was like, Oh, sorry. I thought you guys knew I was going to college. So you didn't actually work like at the cool particles gym. You weren't, you weren't, I wanted to real bad, real bad. I got a free membership though, because of that. Um, so that was worth it. Okay. Then, uh, we need to do more on this at some other a free membership, though, because of that. So that was worth it. Okay, then. We need to do more on this at some other point. But we'll have Bob Myers on Friday.

And please subscribe. Thanks to Kyle, as always. Ryan Russell, the podcast. We're here for Spotify Network. Outro Music you