Will Cain Country - Cain On Sports: What's It Like To Play For Urban Meyer?

Episode Date: February 23, 2024

On this edition of Will's Friday sports episode on The Will Cain Show, Will sits down with former Florida Gators, Kansas City Chiefs, and San Diego Chargers Linebacker Brandon Siler to discuss why he chose to play at the University of Florida in its heyday, and what it was like to play for Urban Meyer. Plus, as Brandon now heads up a firm that represents NIL players, he reveals just how much players are getting paid, and how even high school sports are becoming professionalized.    Brandon previews his new book The Definition of a Leader: How To Lead Others And Be True To Your Own Vision, where he discusses his insights on developing the necessary skills to become an effective leader include the importance of communication, accountability, and self-awareness.  Tell Will what you thought by emailing [e-mail]   Follow Will on Twitter: @WillCain Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

For a limited time at McDonald's, enjoy the tasty breakfast trio. Your choice of chicken or sausage McMuffin or McGrittles with a hash brown and a small iced coffee for five bucks plus tax. Available until 11 a.m. at participating McDonald's restaurants. Price excludes flavored iced coffee and delivery. What's it like to play for Urban Meyer? was the culture at the University of Florida? And are high school players getting paid now the same way they are in college for NIO? A sports conversation with former San Diego Charger, Can City Chief, and Florida Gator, Brandon Siler. It's the Will Cain Show at Fox News

podcast, available on demand in audio at Apple or Spotify, Monday through Thursday live at 12 Eastern Time on Fox News.com and the Fox News YouTube channel, and always on demand. demand, the VEO version of these conversations at Will Kane Show on YouTube. Hit subscribe. Today on the Will Kane Show, Cane on Sports, my guest is Brandon Seiler. Brandon played linebacker at the University of Florida. He spent five, six years in the NFL playing for the Chargers and the Chiefs. He's now the head of Legacy Pro Sports, which handles NIL contract negotiations for college athletes, but also working in the world of high school sports. I didn't expect this, but we had a fascinating conversation on what that means, like, what guys are getting paid and what's going to happen soon with high school sports, as everything becomes more professional.

In this conversation, we talk about how Brandon never remembers or never would admit getting a big hit, but he'll tell you about the biggest hit he delivered, why he chose Florida. We'll talk about it. It came down to Florida versus USC, and I describe USC's colors as maroon and gold. an ongoing debate here on the Will Kane show. Why do I not understand the various shades of burgundy? I don't, and I don't care, and I don't apologize. I mean, how many sports fans out there know that Florida State is Garnet and USC is Cardinal, and the Texas A&M Aggies are maroon?

I mean, it's all some shade of dark red. Could you possibly, can you do that? Can you name the official, the official, colors of all these college programs? We need to do that in the future. Let's do that. Let's like name a college program and you tell me with the right terminology, the color of their uniforms. But we didn't do that today.

Instead, we talked about Florida, NIL, and playing linebacker in the NFL. I hope you enjoyed this conversation with the man who wrote, Definition of a Leader, Brandon Siler. Here's Brandon. Brandon Siler, the founder of Legacy Pro Sports, the author of Definition of a Leader, former Florida Gator, former San Diego. Charger, Kansas City Chief. What's up, man? Last time I saw you, you were at the front of the stage partying at the Gronk Beach Party.

Oh, and what a party it was. It was kind of crazy, and you were right there in the mix of it, man. You were right there up front with Flo Rida, with Flav of Flav. Tell me what happened that day. Like, how did you get up there front and center, and how long did you stay and party? Well, you know, we represent all of the Gromachian. We got them all disability when they got done playing. So we know the whole family, and we've been good friends with them for a long time.

So I'm there at pretty much every grunk beach. I went to one and kind of got addicted to it. So got my front row seat every single time. I looked across the stage. There was you. There was Michael Irvin. Richard Sherman, all the gronks, including, of course, Rob Grunkowski, and then, yeah, Flo Rida, Flava, Flav.

It was kind of a crazy scene right up there at the front of the stage. And by the way, Brandon, I don't know, you're younger than me by a little bit, but for me, like the biggest star siding, you know, Titus O'Neill, W, W, the biggest star siding for me was Flavre. I mean, I'm like, that's Flav of Flav. That's public enemy. Right? I don't know.

I think Flo Rada was a little bit better for me. But, yeah, it was cool seeing Flavent Flavent. go up there doing his thing and Flo Rida, give him his bras. Let me talk to you about after the Super Bowl this past weekend. We'll do several different topics within the world of sports here with Brandon Siler. Everybody's talking about the NBA All-Star weekend. Everybody's talking about the NBA game, Brandon. And they're talking about that it's just a huge letdown.

It's a huge disappointment. It's just, it's a party like Gronks Beach party. And that's the way it's been for quite some time. You know, it's like, see the all-stars, see the stars. But for the game itself and everything around the game, from the three-point contest to the slam dunk, it just has lost something, Brandon. It's just not the same. It just doesn't feel like the star-studded event that should be NBA All-Star. Well, I think that, you know, everybody has kind of got a bad perception, right?

Like, the NBA All-Star was never really too competitive. You know what I'm saying? You had maybe two or three guys on each team that was really. taking it super serious, but you hear the older guys talk and they're like, well, you know, they don't take it serious anymore. Y'all didn't take it serious either, okay? So it's not like it was something super serious in the beginning. Now, the dunk contest, now you like to see that get back to where it's supposed to be, but I think once the best dunkers in the league stopped dunk in the dunk contest, I think that's kind of where it lost everybody. So, for

For me, Brandon, the NBA All-Star game, Major League Baseball, All-Star, less so the Pro Bowl. But they were events because they felt like, you know, like the Justice League or the Avengers. It was like, okay, I get all my superheroes in one spot. And I get to see how their superpowers come together. But I think it was Scott Van Pelt of ESPN said it best. He's like, pretty simple. If you don't care, we don't care. And it just seems like everything about NBA All-Star weekend is now.

about maybe it's about the parties, maybe it's about everybody else outside of the game and the weekend, but it doesn't seem like anybody there cares. So it's like, why should we care about NBA All-Star? Well, I think that, you know, the players take it as an opportunity to celebrate that they've made it to the All-Star game. So they're there to party and hang out too, right? They're not really there to perform. So I think that's where it kind of mixes up what the fan's perspective is because they're celebrating an award that they worked all year to, to get to. So they're there to party. They're there to enjoy the festivities and have a good time, not to perform in a way

that you're going to see their top talents and everything that they do every game of the season. You know what I'm saying? But in the end, I know what you're saying, but in the end, what that's going to do is that's going to kill the All-Star game and weekend. And here's why. I mean, again, I think this is maybe a little bit of old head talk, old guy talk, but one of the things that all of those games represented,

and the Pro Bowl in the NFL has always been a distant third. But even so when we were younger, one of the things it represented was the first time we really got to see all of these players in one spot. If you think about how you used to watch sports, you would watch your local team, and then you got a few national games. Like, I got to see Jordan on Sundays or whatever it may be, or if he came and played the Dallas Mavericks. But to see Jordan and Malone and Barclay and Bird and Magic all in the same court, that was a chance to see guys that I rarely got to see. So now the problem is if these guys just go celebrate their election to the All-Star team, we're faced with this.

A, I get to see these guys all the time now between league pass or the number of national games on T&T and all the different. ESPN. It's not rare for me anymore to see, you know, back in the day, I don't know when I would have seen Dominique Wilkins, but for the dunk contest, but for the All-Star game, but for when he played the Mavericks. Now, I can see Trey Young whenever I want. And so the All-Star game isn't special. And if it's not special and it's not competitive, what is it? Why do I watch? It's what, the NBA's version of the Oscars? Well, Will, you don't look that old. But, you know, the World Wide Web has been around for quite some time now, okay?

So people can see all of the All-Stars all throughout the year, right? You bring up a valid point. Like, yeah, you know, you could go on the Internet and see somebody on the West Coast. You can do it. You can see them every game if you want. If you're a Lakers fan and you're in Orlando, you can watch every single. you can watch every single game. So the All-Star game is going to be, I guess,

similar down in a way when you can have access to these guys all around, all around the whole year and the old season. So I think that, like, even in the NFL, like they try to find other ways for these athletes to show you just how athletic they are, just how athletically talented they are. Right. Like some would say, shoot, the NFL game, you don't even, they don't even dress up, right?

So, like, now we don't got to. to pulling flags and and pushing obstacle courses. But some of that is fun to watch, right? Because these guys are the elitist of athletes. So even when they're doing simple competitions against each other, you can see that athleticism come out of them like no other. And I think that's what we all are tuning in to see is how special athletes these guys are. Well, the other, we'll put a button on this.

But the other problem is social media. Like, this is one of my pet peeves. I think everybody that claims that they watch basketball and they know basketball, they don't. They don't watch. They don't watch a full game in their life. They watch highlights on Instagram and think they know basketball. But that also means they're always seeing the studs doing their most amazing moments in a game. So again, it devalues All-Star Weekend.

Hey, so I am older than you. I am older than you. Uh, you were at Florida, you, you went to Florida. You were a gator from like, what, oh, four to, oh, six or seven in that range? Mm-hmm. Okay, you were there at the beginning of Urban Meyer. First, I want to know, how'd you pick Florida? Like, why'd you commit to the gators?

Well, you know, right when it came down to it, um, I had, I made my narrow down, basically, I cut the map in half because I said, I'm not playing up there, right, where it's cold at, right? I needed some heat for my bones. I'm a true Florida boy. So I said, okay, I'm going to stay down here on this half of the country. And then Florida recruited me well, right? I had committed the USC early in the process, and then they took my scholarship. Then I went and got MVP of the All-Star game.

They tried to give it back. I'm like, no, I'm straight, guys. and Florida recruited me through the whole thing. Ron Zook did a good job with me. And my mom fell in love with Zuck. So Coach Frieger actually came to our house to recruit me and the head coach get this one time to visit your house. And she didn't even come out the room.

So she pretty much was hardcore on Florida. And I wanted to stay home and close to my newborn baby sister at the time. People don't appreciate that, how much moms, how much family plays a role in making this decision. Why did your mom love Ron Zook? She just felt like he had, like he was true and real. A lot of the things that even when I'm talking to my players or I'm talking to somebody's parent that we go to represent,

like, I'm like, look, this is who I am. Like, what you see is what you get, right? I'm going to be straight up and I'm going to be real. Like if I feel like you're doing something wrong or there's something not right about your game, I'm going to tell you. Right? And Ron Zuck had that same kind of feel. My mom can sniff through that stuff real quick. I'm curious what you think of Ron Zuck. He had to follow a legend in Spurrier. And some of those guys that have to do that. And I think, I think, Brandon, this is a thing for Kaelin DeBoer at Alabama.

It's going to be a problem following Nick Sabin because some of these guys like maybe Frank Solich at Nebraska that had to follow Tom Osborne. Look, if you look back on it, Solich, pretty good coach, but he just couldn't live up to the standard of Osborne. And Zuck had to follow Spurrier. I'm curious what you think of Zuck. I love Zuck. I mean, I think Zuck was a good coach. I think that those positions, when you follow those grades, are set up.

They're set up for failure, right? Because no matter what you do, if you keep going and you keep winning championships and you just keep running them off, then it's going to be like, oh okay well that was what Sabin left you behind that's what he did right and that's the best situation that you possibly can get out of that right I think Zook was in a similar situation where he didn't really have the reins of our team right he wasn't able to do the things that when Irvin came in fake punts and going forward on fourth down he couldn't do that kind of stuff just because the fan base and the school just had him in a box and

was just so tight on them, you know. And I think it's always like that when you follow one of the greatest. You think Kailin-Dabor set up for failure following Sabin at Alabama? Or sure. Not even a doubt. It's one of those. It's fascinating when you think about it, like when they were talking about replacing Sabin, there were people would say, and I'm a Longhorn fan, so I have a dog in this five.

Like, you know, Steve Sarkeesian, you know, he should go to Alabama. I'm like, why would you go to Alabama? Why? He's set up at UT. He's got it on the right path. Why would you go follow Sabin? But DeBoer's a little different because Washington to Alabama is a clear step up. But you have to think about that like, okay, this is the big break. Do I take the break? Or is it a break that I'm just never going to win? Like, not literally, but figuratively, I will never win. Yeah, you know what? Everybody's got to make that choice. It depends on really where you're at in your career. If you're at Washington, you just got to the national championship, like, what's the chances that you're getting back to a national championship, right? You want to go, you want to go coach

at one of the big schools. So that's an opportunity that he probably couldn't pass up at that point in his career. Even though he knows that he's pretty much set up to fail, you just can't turn it down. You know, not at that point. You can't. All right. So, Brandon, you're at Florida. Zooks out. Urban Meyer comes in. Now, it becomes the stuff of legend i mean there's the winning which you've got a ring to prove the winning and then there's the culture there's there's been documentaries made about this about florida under urban mire um i think you were there with tbo and chris leek was your quarterback i think when you won uh won the whole thing erin hernandez not i don't think had arrived yet at florida

But what can you tell me about the culture of Florida? Everybody talks about it. What was it really like to be at Florida under Urban Meyer? I mean, we had a great time. I could tell you that. We had a great time. Like, you know, people was all about, you know, wanting to hear the negative stuff that we did in school.

I can tell you that whenever you put 60 of the finest athletes together, okay, you're going to have some friction, right? you're going to have some problems. There's going to be some fights. There's going to be some drinking. There's going to be some partying. There's going to be some girls. Right.

And we had it all. We had all of that, right? But why were we on TV and why were you doing a documentary about us? It wasn't because of that. It was because we pretty much whooped everybody's butt, you know, going through that time in football. Right? So we let people into what was the reasons, you know, how we trained, how we worked. and it kind of surprised even people that had played with me, right, in the NFL.

They were like, yeah, y'all were doing all that, you know, and that was our price. That's what we felt like we needed to do in order to get the culture on the right track. It was one of those we only as strong as our weakest link. And that's why I had the chain around my neck and I had everybody sign a link on that chain because we was only as strong as our weakest link. So you had to kind of squeeze to get all the weakness out of the team. And that's what we did. And that's what the pressure was on those workouts and the way that we got after the thing.

Well, it sounds a little bit, a little bit like the 90s Cowboys. I mean, it was work hard, play hard. Oh, for sure. For sure, work hard, pray hard. That was kind of our culture, you know, because we have fun, right? Like, it was like, look, we're going to show up. We're going to whip people button. And afterwards, we're going to party hard until it's time to work again

and then we're going to work hard so that we can party hard, right? So it was like the motivation cycle, right? Work hard, so you can party hard. Work hard, you can party hard. Was that, how different was that from Ron Zuck, but also what you found in the NFL? I mean, was the culture there under Urban Meyer, Florida, something that was unique?

Like, you didn't see that with the Chargers, you didn't see that with the Chiefs, You didn't see that with Zook or it was the same everywhere you went in football. It was especially unique at Florida, right? And you see what happened later. Like it was right on time for us because, you know, later on, that stuff ain't allowed no more, right? Like some of the workouts that we did in some ways that we had a training is of the old. Like if you try to do that nowadays, you're going to get in trouble for it.

Hence Urban trying to turn around the Jaguars, right? In the NFL, you definitely don't have that type of culture. You don't have a culture where you can strain out the weakness, right? Depending on how much somebody pays you to play is depending on how much, you know, you can't squeeze that person, right? Like, we get in trouble for hitting certain people in practice and knocking them down to the ground. Like, you just can't do that in the NFL. So it's definitely the coaches, that culture that we had at Florida was. It was unique. It was dynamic, and it was definitely not something that was at any other

places that I've went to. Wait, if I understand you correctly, so when you get to the NFL, one of the things I feel like you're describing is, okay, in college, we're all kind of treated the same. We squeeze the weakness out of everybody. We're only as good as our weakest link, and everybody's in this misery and party together. But you get to the NFL, and now guys make different money, and they have different statuses in the organization. You're treated differently. Do you not think, is that what's going to be happening right now as we speak? And I know with Legacy Pro Sports, you're involved in NIL, but basically we have, we're watching, we're living, you're a part of college football turning into a more professional environment.

They're dudes making serious money, you know, quarterback's making easily in the seven figures. Other players making very little. So what you had at Florida, set aside the partying, the way you worked, and that culture, that's got to be a thing of the past then because it's all going to look more like the NFL. That's exactly that, right? I talk to the parents or the guys that I represent that are in high school and college

and I'll tell them, look, this is like a business now, right? Like this is you going into business, right? And the kids out there that, you know, just want to play football and don't care about the business, a lot of times if they go in there and they haven't negotiated a deal, that they are due, the politics will play in the opposite way for those kids, right? If I have two kids that come in there and I have one that's great and the other one that's

just as great and I say, okay, well, this kid just said, okay, well, I just want to go play football and this one negotiates a higher rate to come play football for that university. At the end of the day, when that depth chart gets put together, this guy is going to go in front of that other guy. And I try to explain that. This ain't all about kids just being greedy, right? It's a business. So you have to understand that if you don't put yourself in a place to negotiate your best deal going through this process,

then you in turn are making it more difficult for you to be successful once you step onto that campus. And that's just the truth about it. It's a business. Fox News Audio presents Unsolved with James Patterson. Every crime tells the story. But some stories are left unfinished. Somebody knows. Real cases, real people.

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Oh, that's fascinating. So, okay, so I play, look, I'm not putting myself on the same level. I played collegiate sports, right? So I played water polo division one. So I know this. Like you got a player on scholarship and a player who's not on scholarship. In order for the guy not on scholarship to beat out the guy on scholarship, it ain't going to be enough to be a little bit better than him.

You can't be on equal playing field. And I would argue you better not even be a little bit better than him. You have to make it black and white. It has to be absolutely clear that the team is compromised if you're not in the pool, on the field versus the guy they've invested in. And it makes sense. that's human nature. I mean, people want to show that they were right. They want their investment to be proven. I want the scholarship, the guy that I chose, to be the guy that looks good.

Otherwise, it looks bad on me. Some guy that I didn't even recruit is beating out the guy I did recruit. And then you add, and by the way, that plays in the NFL too, right? How many chances is a first round quarterback going to get over a sixth round quarterback or an undrafted free agent? He's going to get an untold number of chances. But what you're saying is it now college, you're incentivized to get an NIL deal so you get those extra chances. So you get that benefit of a doubt. So you get that investment from the program that a guy that's like, hey, I just want to win on the merits is going to put himself way behind because of all that human nature

we just described an incentive. And that's exactly it. I try to tell like I have a lot of my clients that these kids, they're just like, you know, look, we just want to play football, right? We want to go get us a great education. you should make your decision on where you go to school based on all of the things that are good education, where you're going to play, where you're going to excel and maybe get you to the next level. But you have to consider the business, right? And that's why we decided to get

into this. We only represented pro athletes. And now we got into this space because guys that really want to go into this situation and want to go to school and just play football, Those guys are now getting pushed to the back of the line, and you'll see the next year and the year after. These are the same guys that's unhappy because they're just as good, if not a little bit better than the guy next to them. But that guy is getting an opportunity because that guy negotiated his NIR and actually they're paying that guy more to be on that campus. So I would advise all guys that are in this situation to take it serious and really have somebody that can represent you and negotiate. you the highest mark, not just because you're a greedy little kid and you want the money. No, because politics will set in because this is a business and it's run just like the NFL now.

Is there a flip side, Brandon? Is the flip side, though, when you combine the NFL, the NIL with the transfer portal, that a guy who takes money but isn't performing is not given that second or third chance, he's pushed to the portal. We always think of the portal being a place where the player makes the choice, hey, I'm going to go somewhere else. But what's not being talked about right now, and I know this is happening, is coaches have end of the year meetings,

and they may not say, you're off the team, but they'll paint a bleak picture of your future, right? Like, I don't think we have, you know, I can't see you in the too deep, or whatever may be to the point of like, let's send this kid the message,

this is not his home and push him to the portal. And I'm curious, like, by taking NIL, do you have less of a leash? Do you know what I mean? Would the coaching staff be more apt to say, we invested, he's not performing, so let's see if we can push him out to the portal? Where a guy that didn't maybe flies under the radar,

I don't know if I'm just thinking out loud, maybe flies under the radar a little bit and affords himself that second or third opportunity by not being pushed to the transfer portal? Nope. I don't think so, right? because anytime that you invest into something, right, you're going to have more of a stronghold on to it, right? And then when you talk about the kids that's already on the team,

I think most universities have kind of figured this out, is that you can't just not pay the guys that are already on campus, right? So you have some universities that pay this amount for a freshman, this amount for a sophomore, this amount for a junior, this amount for a senior. And then all of the stuff on top of that is what, guys signed for. So all the juniors on campus at these particular universities are making the same amount, right, except these guys that go sign these NIL deals that are outside of it.

I mean, some of these deals are incentive-based as well. So you just, you know, I really don't think that there's a flip side of like, oh, we paid this guy. Oh, and he's not performing, so we want to push him out. More so it would be we paid this guy. So we need to give him another try and another chance because we've already wasted our money on. So you're in this with Legacy Pro Sports. I'm going to ask you, you can give me what you're comfortable with, but give me some market, Brandon. So Matt Rule, head coach in Nebraska, he said, and then he ended up getting Dominic

Rayola to transfer or to switch his commitment from Georgia, Nebraska. But I think he said, Brandon, seven figures for a starting quarterback in college football, that you're going to need to come up with seven. figures for a quarterback. Can you give me some markets out there? I know a lot of programs and I have a nephew in college football and I know, you know, from Texas Tech to the University of Texas to Clemson, like there is a base at some point. I think at Texas, every offensive lineman gets, I can't remember what the number is, 25 grand. And then there's more, as you talked but you can get. What's it cost? If I want to be, if I'm a top 50, top 25 college football

program and I need a starting quarterback, what's that cost me? It varies so much. This is so crazy because I try to explain this all the time. This is a wow, wow, West, right? There's no parameters around it on how much you can spend or how less, you know, what the market is for a certain player. It kind of depends on a certain situation and who you have representing you. Right. What are you putting out there? What does your brand look like? Right. What can you market to these teams and show them about what you can do for their university? There are definitely some cases where the quarterbacks are seven figure guys, right? And most of those guys are proven guys, right? It's guys that have been in college for a little bit that played pretty well. And now they want to go from one level to the next, right? You'll see in this transfer portal, a lot of these. sophomore, juniors, going into their junior year, that type of thing. Those guys are getting a lot more because they have a proven track record. High school kids, if you're not the absolute top, top, top,

those guys, it's a bigger, bigger margin between what those guys are making and what those transfer guys are getting. It's crazy. And I know that Legacy Pro Sports, you guys are also doing high school athletes. Like, what are high school athletes getting in NIL? Again, that's a very vague question, right? I've seen, I've seen guys just get $25,000, right? But I've also seen guys get half a million, right?

So it's a big range and it pretty much is around what you can market yourself as. Like what can you produce to that university and what they think of you, right? Because it's a two-way street. You're getting into a marriage and you're signing a contract with the university, basically. It's about what you think about that university. university, how much, how much competition you've created between the other schools and the other universities out there that want you. And you can kind of push your market up for yourselves if you have that sort of competition over you. If you're a guy that just kind of doesn't care

about it, most of those times, you know, you're going to get lowballed by the universities. Wait, help me understand high school. I want to talk about high school. So I guess in my mind, the high school NIL deals are like marketable high school players most likely in basketball in the states that have allowed this. There are only some states that have allowed at the high school level to get marketing deals, right? So I can profit off my name. Let's just take an extreme example. Let's say I'm a top 10 high school basketball recruit. Maybe I can get a deal with Nike, we'll say, right? And I can sign an NIL deal, make money with Nike. that's what I was thinking of when I thought about high school and NIO.

But you used the word university as well. Are high schools using that, the schools themselves, as recruiting athletes to come to certain high schools like they do in college? Is that happening in high school? No, I think you misinterpreted. So when I was saying the universities, the universities have these collectives, right? And the collectives is what negotiate what these high school players are getting. When people think of the NIL, they're not even thinking about what you just said, about the marketing and deals with people like Nike and draft kings, right?

They're thinking about the negotiation with the collective, how much I can get to go play at Georgia or go play at this university, right? That's what most people think of the NIL space of now today. whereas unique is that you can make money off of your name, image, and likeness, which is signing up with brand deals. And I think that's one of the things that we do differently is we've represented guys for five years over 5,000 NFL players, and we've built up these relationships with these brands. So now everybody can't go get draft king.

Everybody's not grunk, right? But there's all these other brands that are out there that are at smaller levels, that are at big levels, that you can pair these athletes up with and actually get them at NIL deals outside of their collective deal with the university or with the collective of the university. So I'm going to ask you this since you're at the forefront of this. Do you think we'll soon see a day where high schools set up their own collectives in states to where it's legal? and they could play even younger players to come play it. And you'd have to figure out what the incentive base is for various high schools, because high school doesn't make – it's not like it's a big revenue-generating sport, although it can be in places like, you know, Texas with football or AAU basketball.

Do you think, you know, collectives will make their way into the high school and start recruiting players to certain schools? I don't think that the atmosphere of what we have right now with the transfer portal and the NIL space, I don't think that it's going to be something long term. I think that the NCAA is going to jump out there and do something about this, right? It's not going to all be the same.

But I think once that happens and the rules are set on how this is going to play out in the long term, I think once that happens, then whatever those rules are, it's going to trickle down to the high schools that have the money that's making big money. probably some of these private schools that you see out there, they're going to be able to

bring kids in and put kids together. And I think that that private school sector is where you'll start seeing where they start recruiting guys and they start playing nationally against each other. And I think it'll trickle this way down. I do eventually. I think you're right. But I think the other aspect besides NCAA is there'll be laws. I mean, sooner or later, they're going to have to create some laws either at the federal or state levels to bring this all together. Hey, so talking about this, talking about, you know, not just college, but potentially high school, becoming professional. Anthony Rendona plays for the, for the Los Angeles Angels. He said something that a lot of people are receiving as controversially. He's like, look,

I play baseball. Basically is like, this is my job. There's a lot of different things about me, my identity. I don't know what all he said, my religion, my family. He's like, this is my job. And to me, Brandon, I actually didn't find it that controversial because it is a job. Like, you are a professional, and it's just hard for us in sports because it's such a passion-driven enterprise from the fans to the players. Your passion is rewarded as a player, you know, unless you're an elite elite athlete, you're going to be driven by your passion to be better and be good. And there's something about just saying it's a job that makes you think, like, I've seen people

say, well, that's why Rendon hasn't lived up to his contract. That's why he's not better. But I just also wonder, A, how common is that? for every league and every professional and B, how common will that soon be then in college? This is my job. Well, I don't think it's very common at all. I think that most of athletes that do this,

we dreamed of always doing this. We're passionate about doing it. But it's not everybody. Even in the NFL, you know, you had those guys that are on your roster that did not have a good time going out there doing their job. They wasn't very passionate about it, right, even though they were really good at doing it. They did it because it was what they did. It was what they was taught and they were

really, really good at it. But sometimes you had guys out there that didn't have passion. But I'll tell you this, it's not very common. It's probably about 5%, I would say, of professional athletes that have that same feeling. If it's only that feeling that is just a job, right? Because it is a job, but it's a job that I'm very, very passionate about, right? And that's how most athletes view it. This is Jason Chaffetz from the Jason and the House podcast. Join me every Monday to dive deeper into the latest political headlines and chat with remarkable guests. Listen and follow now at Fox Newspodcast.com or wherever you download podcasts. So most guys are living out their dream. They're living out their dream for sure because you think about it. If you're the, you're the

percent of one percent of all people that want that job, right? There has to be a level of passion in most cases. You know, you're only going to have a few cases where there's somebody that's just extremely talented and they've been taught this skill and they're going to do it over and over repetitively better than everybody else in the world that's passionate about that job. You know what I'm saying. I do know what you're saying, and I'm just looking at you as we're talking. I saw you at Grong's Beach Party. By the way, it's been like what? It's been more than 10 years since you've been in the NFL. You look like you could line up at linebacker. Looks can be deceiving, okay? I will go out there and I'll hit you one time. I probably got

me one of them in there, but it takes a lot to be a professional athlete. That's why like when I see like fans talking like out the side of their mouth, like, oh, I could do that and he can't do that. I'm like, do you know what it takes to be a professional athlete? Like, that is all the time, 24-7 working your body, man. I'll be out there running good for about 20 yards and pull an ham strain. What do you weigh right now? About 255, 250.

What did you weigh when you played the NFL? Oh, 250, 255. Probably right around in the same thing. You're doing something. You're doing something. It's just lined up. It's lined up a little different. But yeah, yeah, right around the same way. So, by the way, you played linebacker at 250? You were a big linebacker, man. Like, that's, you don't see, actually, you don't see those guys in the NFL anymore. Well, that's changed. Like, back then, like, Ray Lewis was playing lineback at 2.6. 65 maybe you know what I'm saying like but that's changed like it's getting more and more of a past heavy league and you don't need the big fellas like myself that is jamming up the

middle 24-7 because right now in the way that this league is going nobody lines up and our formation and runs it right at you every down so you don't need those guys you know it's more like the safety type the guys that can tackle but also can run you put those guys at linebacker now and and let them run in pass covers. That's why like seven is seven on seven seven has developed and come so far, right? It's because they made a sport out of just the passing game, right? Seven on seven is just taking the line and out of there, right? So it's like now that sport is excellent because that's pretty much what football is. You know, if you came out today, probably at your time at Florida, they would have said to you, let's put on 30 pounds and

play defensive tackle. No, I would have lost 20 pounds and played lineback. Okay. Well, what's easier? Losing the 20 or gaining the 30. How fast were you, Brandon? What was your 40? 4.5. I read it 4.5. So I could get there. I could get there. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Based upon that, they would have made you lose 30 pounds. That's exactly right. If you were running a 4-5 at 250? Would have been a lot of pounds then how to took that weight off. Let's go back to Florida for this analysis. Like, did this play?

So this is controversy in baseball right now, the new uniforms. Everybody hates the new uniforms by fanatics and Nike. I mean, they hate them. And I think that they're saying the pants are see-through, so they're X-rated. Your fans love to analyze uniforms. And by the way, no. think there's no uniform more important in the NFL because that's what we root for. I mean, sorry, man, but we root for the laundry because we can't see your face. You know, NBA, it's about the

dude. And that's, everybody knows that, because all you see is the dude. But in the NFL, we root for the helmet. So did you have a lot of opinions on uniforms? Like, did you, like Florida versus USC, you know, did you want to be wearing maroon and gold or blue and orange? No, man, I really didn't, really did mind, you know, I wasn't one of those big style guys. I was kind of one of the country bumpkin type of guys, you know, one of those hardcore guys not putting a shirt on when it's snowing and that sort of thing. You know, I saw the guys that when you, when you're on your way walking out of the locker room there in front of the mirror, I wasn't one of them guys, man. I could care less. I was out here to try to get the thing.

Back to linebacker. Give me the biggest hit, the one that is. you don't remember that game. Was it, I mean, I don't know. There may be a bunch, but there's got to be one that stands out. Like, that was the hit. Yeah, there's one hit where when I played special teams, my first two years in San Diego, and I ran down on a kickoff,

and we were playing against New England, and I didn't even hit the ground. I just, I hit him, and he flew down, and I just walked right on top of him and kept going. So that was one that's kind of like, stood out of my mind forever. You know, when you're running down on special teams, those hits can get a lot crazier than just the defensive hits

because you're going 50 yards down the field at top speed before you make contact. One of my good buddies is he was a pro bowler for, he's roughly, you know, your age, my age, pro bowler, I don't know how many times over for special teams. And he's now the special teams coordinator with the commanders. Larry Izzo. It made me think about it because you mentioned the Patriots. But, you know, I mean, Larry had a lot of things going for him, but the main thing going for him was he's crazy.

Yep. And you know what? On special teams, you like the guys that's a little bit crazy. That's why I led during special teams, I led the NFL and special teams tackles my second year, right? Got a lot of crazy in there, right? So when you run it down on those teams, you got to think about it. When you're going down there passionate enough to run at top speed for that long and collide straight into somebody. You got to have a little bit of crazy a year. Well, see, when I asked you about a hit, it's kind of interesting your mindset, you went straight to the one you delivered. I was actually talking about the one you received, the one that you were like, oh, man, do I want to play football? Nope. I don't remember those hits. I did the hit.

I did the hit, and I didn't take no hits. I did the hit. There's no, he's, I don't know, when he came in to Lee. I think he came in after you. There's no Derek Henry moment. There's no running back, running downhill. You're like, if I have a moment, I wouldn't share it with you. What is this? Show no weakness? Show no weakness. I'm a linebacker. What are you talking about? I want to do this with you here at the end. I want to talk about the NFL. Man, I'm kind of obsessed with this, Brandon. I'm obsessed with holding, but both ways.

Okay? It kills me. First of all, it kills me, and I'm a homer that Michael Parsons never gets called draws a holding penalty. I mean, come on. But it also kills me watching the price that an offensive lineman pays for holding. Like a 10-yard penalty, Brandon, is a ridiculous amount of yardage for holding. And then on the other hand, by the way, I'm going to be fair. I'm going to be fair to you. Now, the defense. Defense, defensive holding is an automatic first down. That's too much, too. So I feel like we don't know what holding is. We call it inconsistently. And when we do, it's entirely too game-changing. My holding kills a drive or makes a drive. Yeah, but think about this. I'll give you a different perspective on that. If a cornerback holds a wide receiver that is beating them by two or three yards

and that ball is thrown, that is the difference between a touchdown. So that should be a significant penalty, right? If a guy drops back to throw a touchdown and somebody is holding that defensive end, is holding Parsons, right? And he could have got the ball and got it down and he throws a touchdown. That's significant. That's significant in the game. Now, what I do agree with you is the consistency that is called that, right?

We all know that officer linemen are holding every single play. And as long as it's not something that's blatant and in front of the referees or directly affecting the play that's happening, they get away with it. So the consistency, I think, on the holding call is more of my problem, not like the penalty, the 10 yards that you have to give away or the automatic first time. All right, well, then let me make one more argument to you then. All right, if it's going to be inconsistent, and I don't know how you're going to solve it, it's going to be. be inconsistent. I would love it if we can figure it out. They can't even define it. They can't define a catch. They can't define a hold. If it's going to be inconsistent, then make it less substantial. Like just five yards back, five yards forward, whether or not it's defensive

or offensive, and move on. And if you got it, you can convert. Quit making it the thing that makes a drive stall or succeed. Don't like that idea. And I'm going to tell you why. Because the second that you tell somebody that it's only going to be five yards, especially on defensive holding, then they are going to hold that receiver every time they get in trouble. Because that's a thing down. You don't, like, it takes you so much to game plan and to strategize to get that guy open to throw that pass that's going to make the difference in the game that if you hold him and you only get five yards, no automatic first down, if it's third and fifth,

team and you'll beat by two yards? Hold them. It'd be third and ten next down, right? So do you like college football pass interference better than pro? I mean, do you like spot foul, 40-yard penalty better than the 15-yard penalty? I mean, the same rationale applies, right? Like, that was going to be a touchdown, but for what you did. But I like the way it is in the NFL better, 15 yards. I don't like these 40-50-yard penalties in college football. Well, I think the NFL rule is a lot better. I do. I think it's severe enough when you're you give them 15 yards. I don't think that it should be a 30, 40-yard penalty.

So I agree with you there. All right. We end on some. I made on some agree. I made a day you want, huh? You were ready to come in here and do some first take. You thought we were going to have a little more head-to-head. We can do that next time.

We'll find the one where you, that's a secret people don't know about first take. Like, here's what happens. In the meeting before the show, we discuss where our disagreement is, right? So we go into the show knowing where we disagree on this. And so we get straight to that. So if that's what you want, we can pregame this and be like, I think X, you thinks Y, let's go, Siler. Because by the way, when it comes to this, Brandon, I'm a linebacker. Like, you better be ready.

Like, I don't get it. I hit. I like it. Back on backer sounds like a special team's play. All right, Brandon Seiler, Legacy Pro Sports. His book came out last August, Definition of a Leader. Check it out. He's right there in the middle of everything that's changing in the Wild Wild West of college sports.

Appreciate you, man. Thank you, Brandon. Thank you, Will. Thank you for having me. There you go. I hope you enjoyed that conversation with Brandon Seiler. Check out his book, Definition of a Leader, and check out Legacy Pro Sports about the way everything is changing. and not just college, but soon high school,

as we turn everything into the NFL, as we make all of sports professional. Brandon Seiler. That's going to do it for you today. I appreciate you listening to The Will Kane Show. I'll see you again on Monday. Listen to ad-free with a Fox News podcast plus subscription on Apple Podcast, and Amazon Prime members.

You can listen to this show, ad-free, on the Amazon Music. Hey, I'm Trey Gowdy host of the Trey Gowdy podcast. I hope you will join me every Tuesday and Thursday as we navigate life together and hopefully find ourselves a little bit better on the other side. Listen and follow now at Fox Newspodcast.com.