June 2, 2023 • 34 mins
John discusses Aaron Rodgers clarifying he didn’t actually ghost the Packers, why Tom Brady isn’t going to the Raiders, what ex-Warriors GM Bob Myers has in common with today’s NFL GM’s, and if DeAndre Hopkins could reunite with former QB Deshaun Watson in Cleveland.
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
The volume What is going on Everybody? John Middlecoff three
and out podcast. Recording this on June first. We consider
(00:23):
June the official start of summer if we do a
happy summer, so let's buckle up, enjoy the sun, the water,
the outside, get some vitamin D. So let's rock and roll.
Here's the plan football podcast today. I will do a
mail bag but I'm gonna need some mailbag questions at
(00:44):
John Middlecoff is my Instagram dm me if you want
to get answered on the show. We usually do one
on Sunday, So the game plan will be to do
a podcast on Sunday and uh just a mail bag only,
but I need some of you guys to fire in
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We've had a golf podcast this week. We've had a
(01:25):
football podcast this week, So content's flowing. Just because it
summer doesn't mean we're we're not a teacher here, We're
not taking the summer off. So rocking and rolling. Hopefully
everyone's doing well and H and yeah, we got a
couple more weeks of OTAs, some stories popping off around
the league. We will dive into it all. Aaron Rodgers,
Tom Brady adamant, I'm not coming back. I'm done. I
(01:50):
think Tom's official word was I'm over it, which we'll
talk about and H and yeah. So we'll dive into
all that coming up today on the show and other
and that. Let's dive in. But first, can I tell
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ticketing app of this show. We love those guys, so
should you, because they're awesome. Let's start with Aaron Rodgers
and listen, this is a sometimes I think in this business,
(03:15):
people played the hits, right, the Dallas Cowboys, Aaron Rodgers,
Tom Brady, the New York Yankees, right, Lebron James. And
then there are just times when it's just a continuation
of a story, right Brady and Belichick, the moment they
got a divorce, Like, I'm sorry, that story amplified and
to me, and I think to a lot of people,
that story was fascinating, right, Belichick, what was he going
(03:38):
to do a quarterback? The Cam Newton debacle, they missed
the playoffs, Tom Brady won the Super Bowl. The way
it all played out that he drafted Mac Jones and
Tom Brady was, you know, miserable with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
We thought Bruce arians and he forced him to quit.
Like there were so many variables of that story. It
just made it pretty interesting. And I think with the
Aaron Rodgers story, And there was a long article and
(03:58):
I read it on The Athletic, a subscription based service
if you haven't checked it out, they do good work,
and a long article about kind of the breakup of
Aaron Rodgers. And I think anyone listening to this, I
don't know if it happens for older people, but definitely,
you know my generation, when you're in your twenties. I
would imagine a lot of people now in their twenties
when you are texting with someone, whether it be a
(04:21):
current girlfriend or someone you're chasing, and they don't text
you back, like that's a pretty good sign, like it's over,
move on, go do something else. And in this day
and age, with how often our phones are with us, listen,
we can go to places where there's bad service. If
someone does not contact you back after you have reached out,
(04:42):
especially after a couple day period, like just move on
with your life or it's you know, a sign to
yourself that like, hey, that person is no longer interested.
And I think this works not just in personal relationships
but professionally, like if you're trying to get a job,
and listen, I'm all for being very very persistent, being
very very aggressive doing whatever it takes, email, texting, phone calls,
(05:07):
guerrilla marketing of yourself to get whatever you want, whether
it's a deal, whoever. Like eventually, if you don't hear back,
like there comes a point in time where it's probably
not worth your time. And a big part of this
Aaron Rodgers story was this texting back and forth between
Gudakin's and Rogers. And Rogers big thing was like, I
(05:27):
don't have great service in my Malibu home over the water,
over the Pacific Ocean. Aaron, I think it's living pretty good,
not great service, I guess in Malibu, California. But listen,
we've all been places where the service isn't great. Somewhat
understandable for a moment in time, but eventually you leave,
(05:47):
Like eventually the text messages and the emails come through.
Like you got the internet, the connect to Wi Fi,
you know, so if the guy calls you or shoot
you a text, it comes through if you're connected with
the Wi Fi. So to me, it's a little bullshit,
But I also think it represents like there's nothing wrong
with both sides cool with moving on. It doesn't mean
one side is more right than the other or one
(06:10):
side is eventually going to be validated more than the other. Like,
let's face it, Tom Brady won the argument right, went
to Tampa, took a joke franchise super Bowl playoffs. Playoffs
now we could debate this year's playoffs pretty questionable. But
overall his success relative to Belichick's success without him, even
though I actually think Belichick with Mac Jones, who I'm
(06:31):
not that high on, has been pretty impressive through two
years since he got him and pivoted off Camp. But
still like Tom won the argument, not that like to me,
Belichick is some scrub coach. I still think. I still
believe the twenty years that I watch him out schematic
his opponent with moves, with plays, with decisions is easily
(06:55):
one of if not the best coach I've ever seen
any sport. But like Tom Brady the Super Bowl and
took Tampa back to the playoffs, hosting the Rams in
the second round the following year. You know, Belichick's getting
curb stumped against the Buffalo Bills. And how this plays out,
I don't know. I am pretty bullish on the New
York Jets. I think they're gonna be pretty damn good,
(07:16):
but they got some question marks. Nate Hackett, Robert Saul
as a head coach, just the organization in general, haven't
been to the playoffs longest time for any professional team.
The Packers, like in theory, they might not be that bad.
A ton of high picks over the years, a lot
of speed on offense, a consistent running game, some young
skill guys that showed out as the season went on
(07:37):
last year. But their quarterback, like I'm sorry, like I've
seen la floor with a really good quarterback. They can
win games, give me Jordan Love not even they can
feel very confident. I eed the contract they gave them,
But this story about the breakup, like it was just time.
I feel like I've been hammering this home for a
long period of time. But articles keep coming out. They
(07:57):
try to justify one side or the other side, like
Gudhakins and Lafloor and the Packers in general were over
Aaron Rodgers. Aaron Rodgers was kind of over them sometimes
once you've been, you know, in a relationship professionally for
that long, like it's okay to go your separate ways.
Now it's gonna be fascinating. It's gonna be a massive,
massive topic, like the Dallas Cowboys, the LA Lakers, you know,
(08:21):
the New York Yankees. I will defend anyone that says, like,
why are you talking about them when they suck or
when they're not some you know, Super Bowl World Series,
NBA Finals contenders, when they're an under five hundred team.
That is fair. And the reason anyone does it in
this business is because it's a quantity game and they
(08:42):
got more fans than any other team. And when you
talk about the Yankees or the Cowboys, it works when
you talk about certain other teams in any sport just
because they're good. It's not guaranteed. I'm recording this before
the Denver Nuggets play the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals.
I got news for you. Not many people are gonna
watch NBA finals relative to some previous NBA finals. It
(09:03):
doesn't mean there aren't great players, great coaches, and it
could be very, very entertaining, but it's just a numbers game.
And I think when you factor in Aaron Rodgers, who's
one of the most polarizing players, the Green Bay Packers,
who were easily one of the biggest brands in American sports,
and the New York Jets. While they've suck forever they
are in New York, they have a large fan base.
I am fascinated by this story. I'm on a record
(09:24):
I think the Jets are gonna be good. I'm not.
I don't know if I'm gonna pick them. We still
got a ways to go. Whether I'm gonna pick them
to win the division, but I'm definitely picking them to
make the playoffs. And I am intrigued by the Packers.
Do I think they're gonna be good? I don't, just
because history would tell me to bet against Jordan Love
and I'm not going to practice. I don't know anyone
on the staff who's banging the table to me that
(09:46):
like this guy's gonna be the next star. And like
I said, just the number the chances that you get
three straight really just two straight Hall of Fame quarterbacks
and then just a good one. Like when I was
a kid, I didn't really up on Joe Montana, like
I was born in nineteen eighty four, but when I
really came into my own as a sports fan, Steve
Young was the quarterback. And Steve Young won won multiple MVPs,
(10:09):
the forty nine ers ross and won a Super Bowl,
and then when he got ko, you know, his career
ended up with a concussion. They transitioned to Jeff Garcia,
who obviously isn't a Hall of Fame player, but was
making Pro Bowls, was really good, Like they kept making
the playoffs because of them. The chances that Jordan Love
is Jeff Garcia, history would say slim to none, like
(10:31):
that's not gonna happen, But I'm fascinated to watch it
and listen. I know some Packer fans that are excited
for this whole. I don't want to call it an experiment,
but it kind of is that they've made this decision
before and they got Aaron Rodgers. We'll see what happens
with Jordan Love, but this is a story that just
is gonna just keep giving and I'm cool with it.
(10:53):
I am pretty fascinating now. If the Packers and the
Jets both suck, I'm not just going to talk about it.
To talk about it. Sure, another story that just is
not going to die, at least until this guy kind
of attempted to make it die. Today. We talked about
Jimmy Garoppolo earlier in this week that how insane it
was for the Las Vegas Raiders, a team pretty desperate,
(11:15):
a team that moved on for a stalwart at quarterback.
While he was an inconsistent player, he was very, very durable,
and you knew what you were going to get. Now,
he didn't mess with the head coach. So they trade
Derek Carr, or they cut Derek Carr, and then he goes.
I guess they couldn't trade him, so they cut him.
He's with the Saints. Now. For them to hits their
wagon to Jimmy Garoppolo, who literally can't pass the physical
(11:37):
for the second year in a row during this period
of time, to me is insane. And Josh McDaniel said
today that he's comfortable and he's confident that Jimmy's going
to be healthy. No one can say that not Jimmy's mom,
not Jimmy's dad, not Jimmy Garoppolo, not Don Yee, Jimmy's agent,
because Jimmy's always injured and the likelihood that Jimmy is
going to stay healthy is is very very slim. History
(12:01):
would show us that. But Tom Brady, who I think
a lot of people probably I'm guilty of this as well.
I've said, like, keep an eye on this until Tom
Brady we go a season without Tom playing. He's not
working for Fox this year. He's taken the year off. Now,
I wouldn't say I listen or read gossip stuff, but
there's enough buzz. I keep an eye on the internet,
(12:22):
the Internet streets, the Interweb, and there's some buzz like
obviously they're splitting custody between the kids and base in Florida.
You know, is Tom going to move to Vegas just
because he is a part time owner? If I had
to take an educated guest, the league is cool. They
want a guy like him to be involved. And based
on the money, it's not like Tom just bought twenty
(12:45):
five percent of the Las Vegas Raiders, right, he might
have just bought fifty million dollars, which gets you who
knows a percentage point two percentage points and when you're
a minority owner in pro sports. But I know this
specifically in the NFL, you have the zero juice. You
have no pull on players, You have no pull on
whether the coach staser goes Now, this is a unique situation.
(13:08):
I think this looks good for Mark Davis. Obviously. Tom
Brady is very, very close with Josh McDaniels, but he
was adamant today, I'm not coming back. I'm over it.
Like we talked about Aaron Rodgers and Brian Goodikins, the
organization and the player were kind of over each other.
It was time. Sometimes you just get overdoing something, even
(13:30):
if you love football as much as Tom Brady love football,
and I don't think you can love it anymore. But
at his age, not one to get hit like I
think it made sense. I said it all season long.
Tom Brady's arms still look good. He never coop was
that mobile. It's not like he ran around, so his
(13:51):
athleticism didn't really diminish. It was that he didn't want
to get hit in the pocket. And I don't blame him.
He'd been hitting the pocket for multiple decades. He's super
rich super accomplished. Like what was he doing it for?
As Ricky Waters once famously said, for who? For what?
And that's to me how Tom played a little bit.
And to think that Tom Brady would come back to
(14:13):
the Raiders just because Josh McDaniels was there. Their offensive
line is atrocious, their defense isn't very good. Their team
just in general, beside a couple players DeVante Adams, Max Crosby,
is not very talented. Tom Brady's not coming back just
to come back. And think of some of his peers, right,
Peyton Manning who was really his peer now Peyton Manning
(14:37):
when it ended for him. And I went to a
game that last season when he played the Raiders, and
it was right in the middle of like, is Peyton
is this over? Like what is going on with Peyton
Manning's arm? It can't be that bad? Remember the announcers
used to be like, Ah, he's just saving it. He's good.
Just takes them a little longer to get warmed up
for now. He couldn't throw. His arm did not work right,
(15:02):
did not work? Could he could barely throw at twenty yards?
I remember going to the game against the Raiders and
the big story was that Charles Woodson had never intercepted
Peyton Manning and Charles was on his last leg. His
shoulder was like, you know, I had a harness keeping
it together. Peyton was clearly on his last leg in
that game. If my memory serves me correct, Charles Woodson
(15:24):
intercepted him twice. Now the Broncos still won the game.
I think Derek threw a pick six to Chris Harris.
But it was like, God, Peyton is He's fucked, like
it is over, and so Peyton didn't have a choice. Like,
would Peyton have walked away, he would have been like Tom.
He would have stayed into his early forties if he
could have. The league left him, which happens due ninety
(15:46):
nine point nine percent of good players, let alone any player. Right,
most people are not John Elway that say see you,
I'm walking out on top. Most people, hell are like
Peyton Manning Tiger Woods, holding on for dear life even
as the body does not cooperate. So could Tom Brady
have come back? Tom Brady could be a starting quarterback
(16:08):
in the NFL. He's no longer a top three or
four starting quarterback, but he easily could be better than
half the league, and if he truly wanted to get hit,
he could easily be a top ten quarterback. But the
moment you don't want to get hit. It's why some
players like Derek Carr. Derek Carr is very very talented.
If Derek Carr was willing to stand in there, like
(16:29):
some of the top guys in the league, Mahomes, I
would put Josh Allen, you know, Aaron Rodgers for a
large percentage of his prime, he would be a top
ten quarterback. But he's not really willing to stand in there.
And I'm not acting like some tough guy like I'd
be willing to stand in there. We're just talking about
the best quarterbacks in the league, and consistently in the league.
You have to be willing to stay in the pocket
(16:51):
and deliver strikes if you're not some mobile guy like
Lamar Jackson, right, and or even Trevor Lawrence. A lot
of these quarterbacks are very very mobile. Tom's ever, so
the moment he won't stand in there to the last
second and deliver the ball, his skill level and his
ability to produce at the highest level is just going
to be diminished. And I think he recognizes that, like
(17:11):
it's not worth it for me anymore, regardless, separate from
my family situation. And it'd be one thing if the
Raiders were like, got this team with Tom Brady, they
win thirteen fourteen games easily. But he knows he's not
that dumb. And I keep getting back to all the
chips in the middle of the table of Josh McDaniel's
head coaching career is on Jimmy Garoppolo and that has proven.
(17:34):
And I've had a front row seat. I've gone to
so many of these forty nine or training camp practices.
I know a lot of people with the organization. It
is just a very, very risky proposition to bet on
that individual who just struggles to stay on the field.
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thing that happened this week this wasn't a football story,
(19:02):
but it was just a sports story. Is Bob Myers,
the Golden State Warriors general manager, who has been you know,
one of the lead recruiters and getting Kevin Durant, is
best friends with Draymond Green and Steph Curry and has
proven to be one of the best gms, not just
in the NBA, but in all of sports. Basically said
(19:23):
I'm out, I don't want to do this anymore, and
I don't necessarily want to talk about the reasoning behind that.
But I do think that Bob represents in the NBA
and the NFL are different in terms of, you know,
the way that even non like superstar players you just
kind of have to kiss the ass of the players.
(19:43):
But a lot of NBA gms are very very close
with their players and forever and even when I got
in the NFL, you know, twelve years ago, growing up
through football, there was like a clear line of delineation
between managed and players because in football, more than especially
(20:03):
basketball and baseball, with the contracts not being guaranteed, you
could get rid of a guy at any moment, the
moment he stopped producing, the moment you just upgraded in
the draft, you would kind of guy, you would trade
a guy. You had to be pretty ruthless, right. It
was like a lot of other industries in America. You
just why a lot of the best businessmen I think
(20:24):
are considered like, hey, he's kind of an asshole, kind
of a dick, you know, not the greatest guy. Was
he not the greatest guy? Or is he just really
good at business? And sometimes business is going to piss
people off, and to be a great businessman. In football, historically,
it's kind of been Bill Parcells. Bill Walsh is most
famously known for, beside the Super Bowls, not getting rid
(20:45):
of a player one year too early. Then instead of
a year too late, he got rid of them all.
He traded Joe Montana. So this notion that gms in
front office people could be friends with players was just
kind of frowned upon and not something that successful people
do well. I think Bob Myers retiring and he represents
the NBA people, but like Bob Myers is very good
(21:06):
buddies with John Lynch, and I actually think the new
age NFL GM is a little closer than NBA than
we ever talk about. Think about the best GMS in
the league, pretty close with their players, their star players,
pretty close with that group. They are very agent friendly.
I remember being a kid, you would see some of
(21:29):
the great rants by their coach or GM would be
like talking shit about agents. Hell, I remember what year
would this event? I mean, I would have been like
a sophomore in college when the moment happened with Terrell Owens,
Drew Rosenhaus and the Philadelphia Eagles. Look at Andy Reid,
I would say he is one of the most universally
approved head coaches when it comes to people that played
(21:51):
for him in the league history, and they had a
pretty knockdown drag out with t O and Drew Rosenhose,
and I think those days are kind of done. Like
when you listen to Patrick Mahomes or Travis Kelce or
anyone with the Chiefs talk about, you know, management, they
love Bretviach. Think of how the players on the Eagles
(22:12):
talk about Howie Roseman. I've seen it firsthand with John Lynch.
John Lynch has this kind of weird hybrid role because
he was a really famous Hall of Fame level player,
and honestly, his role, the most important thing he has
to do is like calm down, Kyle. There was an instance,
I guess the other day at forty nine er practice
where Dwayne Allen, former tight end in the NFL, now
(22:37):
works for the NFLPA, and he was at practice just
like a lot of NFL Union represents representatives go to
football practice throughout the offseason to just like take notes
and make sure that you're not, you know, doing things
you're not supposed to do, press coverage, tackle, physicality levels.
(22:57):
And I don't know the exact story. I mean some
different versions out there. One version I heard is he
made a comment. One thing, he was one hundred percent
like in the huddle, very close to the players. Some
people say that he made a comment like that's a violation.
I can't confirm nor deny that. The one thing I
can't confirm Kyle Shanahan basically stopped practice and went nuts
(23:22):
on Dwayne Allen in the middle of practice. And I'm
on team Shanahan on this one. If you're a union
representative one the guy running the practice, you have to
let know that you're there. Kyle did not know who
he was, so he just thought this random guy was
at practice and then he was like in the huddle
with guys or close to the huddle. That's never gonna fly.
But my point with this is ultimately the guy that
(23:44):
mediated that was John Lynch as the practice went on
and went talked to him calm the whole situation down.
And that's one of John's main roles. And one thing
these modern day gms have to do is like you
are paying random players ten to fifteen million dollar, you're
playing your star d Lineman O Linemen wide receivers twenty
(24:05):
to twenty five to upward to thirty million dollars, and obviously,
if you have a star quarterback, you're easily spending over
forty million dollars a year. So it behooves you when
your team and the team that you're in charge of
is invested so heavily into these guys. I wouldn't say
to be their friend, but have a legit working relationship. Like,
(24:28):
think how many people you work with that you wouldn't
call your best friend or someone you hang out with
all the time. But like if you go to a
happy hour that if you're on a work trip, like
you can easily hang out and you have more than
a cordial relationship, like you consider the person your friend.
You don't maybe go out of your way to hang
out with the guy, but you definitely when you spend
(24:50):
time with them, you like them and you talk to
them a lot, and it's just a relationship that you know,
even relative to some of your friends outside of work,
sometime times the people you work with you end up
spending more time with. So I think this modern day
GM of Howie, I think. I think John Snyder is
now playing this role in Seattle. I've seen it with
(25:12):
John Lynch playing the role for sure, And you know,
Jason light did it once he got Tom Brady is
kind of straddling the line, straddling the fence of you know,
you kind of got to get close to these people,
you know, especially generations change. You know, people like when
they feel liked. You know, back in the day it
was cutthroat. You just kind of dealt with that. Those
(25:34):
days are probably over. You know it, wouldn't it behoove
you if you're going to pay some d linemen or
your quarterback or whoever, one hundred plus million dollars guaranteed,
like be all in with the guy, to really like
the guy and to work on having a strong relationship
with the human separate from the player. And I think
(25:54):
that's just a fact, like the day the days of
Bill Parcells, Bill Walsh, even Bill Belichick, even though I
think a lot of players over the years has defended Belichick.
He's much easier to deal with in person than he
is the way the media seems. But in terms of
the way he deals with you on his team, like
he never went to dinner with Tom Brady, like that
(26:16):
just wasn't their relationship. Those days are kind of over,
and I think we're only going to see that you know,
come to fruition around the league moving much more forward.
And if I was an owner, like, that's kind of
what I want on my gym. I want a guy
that these agents are the gatekeeper to the most important
people in the league, the players. So getting in with
the agents is very, very important. When I was a kid,
(26:39):
like GMS hated agents. Now they're not even They're more
than a necessary evil, Like they're part of the business.
And if you can't deal with them, if you can't
be friends with them, if you can't have very very
good relationships with them, it's probably not going to work.
One story that won't die. It's going to be interesting
how this plays out. Albert Breer reported that DeAndre Hopkins
(27:00):
his market is tepid at best, and I think a
huge reason. If DeAndre Hopkins was cool with playing for
five million dollars, there'd be fifteen teams lined up to
pay him or you know, attempt to sign them, make
him a starter, get them on their offense with their
offensive coordinator and their quarterback immediately. But he wants a
lot of money, and I think sometimes you know, with
(27:22):
a guy like this, and we talked about it earlier
in the week, he saw Odell Beckham get fifteen. He
knows he's better than Odell Beckham, and he's not wrong.
But just because someone else signs a terrible deal Deshaun
Watson doesn't mean that quarterbacks that are more deserving, better players,
better people are going to get that contract. And that's
(27:42):
kind of you know, played out right. Jalen Hurts Lamar Jackson.
I would rather have both those guys than Deshaun Watson,
yet neither of them sniffed the two hundred and thirty
million dollars guaranteed. And DeAndre Hopkins still have a And
I saw that Deshaun Watson talked about you know, he
(28:03):
still talks to DeAndre all the time. I think he's
pounding the table trying to get him in. It did
made me think that there are a lot of pressure teams.
I mean, it's the NFL, so the overwhelming majority of
the league coaches, star quarterbacks, highly paid players are under
a lot of pressure to perform. But last year Deshaun
Watson really got a pass. Right. They were only paying
(28:24):
him a million dollars. He was suspended the majority of
the season. No one thought they were going to be
that good with him missing the whole time they turned
out not to be, and when he got back he
was really shitty, and people like, well, he hadn't played
in forever. I think there's a ton of pressure on
everyone involved now if they suck, you can't fire Deshaun Watson, right,
his contract basically puts him on scholarship. But Stefanski's clearly
(28:46):
in a make or break season, and if he's really bad,
here's the thing, if he's really bad, how could they
get a coach like the one thing Denver had going
for him when their owner was willing to pay a
coach eighteen million? And maybe Jimmy has Them would two.
But ultimately, Russell had nine plus years of being like
a Hall of Fame elite player, and especially the last
(29:08):
five or six years. So you go listen, even if
he is washed, if I can get a couple of
years close to what he once was, we're big time. Right.
DeShawn have like a season and a half, you know,
and the one season that was clearly his breakout season,
the team was god awful what they won four games?
So I think there are a lot more question marks
(29:28):
than answers with Deshaun Watson. In general, I think the Browns.
You know, historically, bad teams and poor organization organizations don't
overcome adversity and question marks easily, right, Like ultimately the Steelers,
like there's some question marks by the end of the season, Like, yeah,
they're pretty good. You wouldn't want to play them in
the playoffs, right, Even Belichick, it's like, yeah, Mac Jones,
(29:50):
Bill O'Brien, how it's going to work out? Like, yeah,
they're probably not gonna be great, but don't win nine games,
right the Browns. You convince me they win six. You
could convince me if Deshaun Watson's Pro Bowl level player,
they win eleven. But I got no clue. I wouldn't
put my cold, you know, my cash on it. I
have no faith, especially in them being good. I would
bet on them being bad, just because that's what history says.
(30:13):
And I just think anytime you put a microscope on
a team that doesn't really know how to win, a
lot of players that don't necessarily know how to win,
things go bad quick. It's why I say about the Lions,
like I'm bullish on the Lions. I think the Lions
are gonna be pretty good, But even Lion fans would
have to admit like it's gonna be a little different.
Everyone looking at us like, oh, yeah, they're gonna win
(30:33):
ten games this year, right, They're a lock to make
the playoffs. That's usually not how that franchise carries itself.
A coach who's never proven to be a playoff coach,
a lot of players that have obviously never played in
the playoffs. So it's just it's gonna be fascinating to
me to watch just this Cleveland Brown Deshaun Watson contract
situation kind of play it out and last but not
(30:55):
least the college football year. You know, we're just a
year away from a lot of the movement of USC UCLA.
You know, Oklahoma, Texas I think goes to the SEC
in twenty twenty four. I think a lot of people
on the West coast, I know, a lot of Oregon
fans kind of wonder like, is the PAC twelve gonna
survive or Oregon Washington eventually going to get an invite
(31:18):
to the dance. The ACC recently came out with they're
gonna give tiered revenue, which is the right move right
Clemson North Clemson football, North Carolina basketball, Florida State football.
They're carrying carrying the conference? Why do they have to
split with Boston College? Right, We're not all equals in
(31:42):
the conference. And this college football season I think is
gonna be awesome. I can't wait to watch these quarterbacks.
I think sometimes we get quarterbacks that are over hyped.
Hayleb Williams is not overhyped, and from what I've been told,
Drake May is not overhyped either. Now, part of being
a great player is doing it over and over and
over again. So the moment you dip, people start questioning you,
(32:06):
even if you still play well the way that we
questioned top players. Part of the deal. I mean, look
at what we did to the guys in the draft
this year. You rip them all apart. Hell, we were
ripping Trevor Lawrence a couple of years apart. Part of
the deal, man. But I am very, very excited to
watch LSU with Brian Kelly. Lincoln Riley has got a
bunch of sec guys in the transfer portal. My favorite guy,
(32:29):
Steve Sarkisian. You know Arch Manning, who's technically not even
the starting quarterback. But hunt of pressure on that program Oklahoma,
I mean, is is their coach going to be basically
a venables, a two and done guy. I mean, that's
a program that anything less than nine wins is a disaster.
And honestly, nine to three doesn't feel that great. At Oklahoma,
(32:50):
It's it's usually double digit wins every season. To just
you know Harbaugh, Ohio State. I'm really really excited for
college football and this is this is truly one of
the last years college football has been changing in college
athletics in general, but it's one of the last years
that we get some purity is the wrong way to
say it, but just some old school matchups like USC
(33:14):
is not gonna play Oregon if unless Oregon goes to
the Big Ten like consistently anymore. Like they're gonna play
Iowa and they're gonna play Wisconsin, like Oklahoma playing k
State or Iowa State, like those days are about to end,
which I'm gonna miss. I'm not I wouldn't say I'm
like super old school where I'm like this could never change,
(33:35):
but I'm also not exactly coward where I'm pounding the
table glad this is happening. You know, born and raised
in California, like I like watching USC and UCLA and
basketball and football play the West coastchools. But I'm also
not ignorant, naive, or don't have the business understanding of
why this is happening. So I'm just really gonna try
(33:55):
to soak in this fall and enjoy some of these
matchups that I grew up on that are just going
to die, and they're going to die very very soon.
(34:26):
The volume
The volume What is going on Everybody? John Middlecoff three
and out podcast. Recording this on June first. We consider
(00:23):
June the official start of summer if we do a
happy summer, so let's buckle up, enjoy the sun, the water,
the outside, get some vitamin D. So let's rock and roll.
Here's the plan football podcast today. I will do a
mail bag but I'm gonna need some mailbag questions at
(00:44):
John Middlecoff is my Instagram dm me if you want
to get answered on the show. We usually do one
on Sunday, So the game plan will be to do
a podcast on Sunday and uh just a mail bag only,
but I need some of you guys to fire in
those dms. That's a reminder. You can catch me recording
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(01:04):
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We've had a golf podcast this week. We've had a
(01:25):
football podcast this week, So content's flowing. Just because it
summer doesn't mean we're we're not a teacher here, We're
not taking the summer off. So rocking and rolling. Hopefully
everyone's doing well and H and yeah, we got a
couple more weeks of OTAs, some stories popping off around
the league. We will dive into it all. Aaron Rodgers,
Tom Brady adamant, I'm not coming back. I'm done. I
(01:50):
think Tom's official word was I'm over it, which we'll
talk about and H and yeah. So we'll dive into
all that coming up today on the show and other
and that. Let's dive in. But first, can I tell
you about the official ticketing app of this podcast, game Time.
Here's what you need to do. I need to grab
your smartphone. Grab your smartphone, go to your app store
(02:13):
download game Time. It's the number one fastest growing ticket
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You should too. And when you do, you can go
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on me. I don't even need a thank you card.
Just use the promo code and have a time promo
code John. Download the game Time app right now, official
ticketing app of this show. We love those guys, so
should you, because they're awesome. Let's start with Aaron Rodgers
and listen, this is a sometimes I think in this business,
(03:15):
people played the hits, right, the Dallas Cowboys, Aaron Rodgers,
Tom Brady, the New York Yankees, right, Lebron James. And
then there are just times when it's just a continuation
of a story, right Brady and Belichick, the moment they
got a divorce, Like, I'm sorry, that story amplified and
to me, and I think to a lot of people,
that story was fascinating, right, Belichick, what was he going
(03:38):
to do a quarterback? The Cam Newton debacle, they missed
the playoffs, Tom Brady won the Super Bowl. The way
it all played out that he drafted Mac Jones and
Tom Brady was, you know, miserable with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
We thought Bruce arians and he forced him to quit.
Like there were so many variables of that story. It
just made it pretty interesting. And I think with the
Aaron Rodgers story, And there was a long article and
(03:58):
I read it on The Athletic, a subscription based service
if you haven't checked it out, they do good work,
and a long article about kind of the breakup of
Aaron Rodgers. And I think anyone listening to this, I
don't know if it happens for older people, but definitely,
you know my generation, when you're in your twenties. I
would imagine a lot of people now in their twenties
when you are texting with someone, whether it be a
(04:21):
current girlfriend or someone you're chasing, and they don't text
you back, like that's a pretty good sign, like it's over,
move on, go do something else. And in this day
and age, with how often our phones are with us, listen,
we can go to places where there's bad service. If
someone does not contact you back after you have reached out,
(04:42):
especially after a couple day period, like just move on
with your life or it's you know, a sign to
yourself that like, hey, that person is no longer interested.
And I think this works not just in personal relationships
but professionally, like if you're trying to get a job,
and listen, I'm all for being very very persistent, being
very very aggressive doing whatever it takes, email, texting, phone calls,
(05:07):
guerrilla marketing of yourself to get whatever you want, whether
it's a deal, whoever. Like eventually, if you don't hear back,
like there comes a point in time where it's probably
not worth your time. And a big part of this
Aaron Rodgers story was this texting back and forth between
Gudakin's and Rogers. And Rogers big thing was like, I
(05:27):
don't have great service in my Malibu home over the water,
over the Pacific Ocean. Aaron, I think it's living pretty good,
not great service, I guess in Malibu, California. But listen,
we've all been places where the service isn't great. Somewhat
understandable for a moment in time, but eventually you leave,
(05:47):
Like eventually the text messages and the emails come through.
Like you got the internet, the connect to Wi Fi,
you know, so if the guy calls you or shoot
you a text, it comes through if you're connected with
the Wi Fi. So to me, it's a little bullshit,
But I also think it represents like there's nothing wrong
with both sides cool with moving on. It doesn't mean
one side is more right than the other or one
(06:10):
side is eventually going to be validated more than the other. Like,
let's face it, Tom Brady won the argument right, went
to Tampa, took a joke franchise super Bowl playoffs. Playoffs
now we could debate this year's playoffs pretty questionable. But
overall his success relative to Belichick's success without him, even
though I actually think Belichick with Mac Jones, who I'm
(06:31):
not that high on, has been pretty impressive through two
years since he got him and pivoted off Camp. But
still like Tom won the argument, not that like to me,
Belichick is some scrub coach. I still think. I still
believe the twenty years that I watch him out schematic
his opponent with moves, with plays, with decisions is easily
(06:55):
one of if not the best coach I've ever seen
any sport. But like Tom Brady the Super Bowl and
took Tampa back to the playoffs, hosting the Rams in
the second round the following year. You know, Belichick's getting
curb stumped against the Buffalo Bills. And how this plays out,
I don't know. I am pretty bullish on the New
York Jets. I think they're gonna be pretty damn good,
(07:16):
but they got some question marks. Nate Hackett, Robert Saul
as a head coach, just the organization in general, haven't
been to the playoffs longest time for any professional team.
The Packers, like in theory, they might not be that bad.
A ton of high picks over the years, a lot
of speed on offense, a consistent running game, some young
skill guys that showed out as the season went on
(07:37):
last year. But their quarterback, like I'm sorry, like I've
seen la floor with a really good quarterback. They can
win games, give me Jordan Love not even they can
feel very confident. I eed the contract they gave them,
But this story about the breakup, like it was just time.
I feel like I've been hammering this home for a
long period of time. But articles keep coming out. They
(07:57):
try to justify one side or the other side, like
Gudhakins and Lafloor and the Packers in general were over
Aaron Rodgers. Aaron Rodgers was kind of over them sometimes
once you've been, you know, in a relationship professionally for
that long, like it's okay to go your separate ways.
Now it's gonna be fascinating. It's gonna be a massive,
massive topic, like the Dallas Cowboys, the LA Lakers, you know,
(08:21):
the New York Yankees. I will defend anyone that says, like,
why are you talking about them when they suck or
when they're not some you know, Super Bowl World Series,
NBA Finals contenders, when they're an under five hundred team.
That is fair. And the reason anyone does it in
this business is because it's a quantity game and they
(08:42):
got more fans than any other team. And when you
talk about the Yankees or the Cowboys, it works when
you talk about certain other teams in any sport just
because they're good. It's not guaranteed. I'm recording this before
the Denver Nuggets play the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals.
I got news for you. Not many people are gonna
watch NBA finals relative to some previous NBA finals. It
(09:03):
doesn't mean there aren't great players, great coaches, and it
could be very, very entertaining, but it's just a numbers game.
And I think when you factor in Aaron Rodgers, who's
one of the most polarizing players, the Green Bay Packers,
who were easily one of the biggest brands in American sports,
and the New York Jets. While they've suck forever they
are in New York, they have a large fan base.
I am fascinated by this story. I'm on a record
(09:24):
I think the Jets are gonna be good. I'm not.
I don't know if I'm gonna pick them. We still
got a ways to go. Whether I'm gonna pick them
to win the division, but I'm definitely picking them to
make the playoffs. And I am intrigued by the Packers.
Do I think they're gonna be good? I don't, just
because history would tell me to bet against Jordan Love
and I'm not going to practice. I don't know anyone
on the staff who's banging the table to me that
(09:46):
like this guy's gonna be the next star. And like
I said, just the number the chances that you get
three straight really just two straight Hall of Fame quarterbacks
and then just a good one. Like when I was
a kid, I didn't really up on Joe Montana, like
I was born in nineteen eighty four, but when I
really came into my own as a sports fan, Steve
Young was the quarterback. And Steve Young won won multiple MVPs,
(10:09):
the forty nine ers ross and won a Super Bowl,
and then when he got ko, you know, his career
ended up with a concussion. They transitioned to Jeff Garcia,
who obviously isn't a Hall of Fame player, but was
making Pro Bowls, was really good, Like they kept making
the playoffs because of them. The chances that Jordan Love
is Jeff Garcia, history would say slim to none, like
(10:31):
that's not gonna happen, But I'm fascinated to watch it
and listen. I know some Packer fans that are excited
for this whole. I don't want to call it an experiment,
but it kind of is that they've made this decision
before and they got Aaron Rodgers. We'll see what happens
with Jordan Love, but this is a story that just
is gonna just keep giving and I'm cool with it.
(10:53):
I am pretty fascinating now. If the Packers and the
Jets both suck, I'm not just going to talk about it.
To talk about it. Sure, another story that just is
not going to die, at least until this guy kind
of attempted to make it die. Today. We talked about
Jimmy Garoppolo earlier in this week that how insane it
was for the Las Vegas Raiders, a team pretty desperate,
(11:15):
a team that moved on for a stalwart at quarterback.
While he was an inconsistent player, he was very, very durable,
and you knew what you were going to get. Now,
he didn't mess with the head coach. So they trade
Derek Carr, or they cut Derek Carr, and then he goes.
I guess they couldn't trade him, so they cut him.
He's with the Saints. Now. For them to hits their
wagon to Jimmy Garoppolo, who literally can't pass the physical
(11:37):
for the second year in a row during this period
of time, to me is insane. And Josh McDaniel said
today that he's comfortable and he's confident that Jimmy's going
to be healthy. No one can say that not Jimmy's mom,
not Jimmy's dad, not Jimmy Garoppolo, not Don Yee, Jimmy's agent,
because Jimmy's always injured and the likelihood that Jimmy is
going to stay healthy is is very very slim. History
(12:01):
would show us that. But Tom Brady, who I think
a lot of people probably I'm guilty of this as well.
I've said, like, keep an eye on this until Tom
Brady we go a season without Tom playing. He's not
working for Fox this year. He's taken the year off. Now,
I wouldn't say I listen or read gossip stuff, but
there's enough buzz. I keep an eye on the internet,
(12:22):
the Internet streets, the Interweb, and there's some buzz like
obviously they're splitting custody between the kids and base in Florida.
You know, is Tom going to move to Vegas just
because he is a part time owner? If I had
to take an educated guest, the league is cool. They
want a guy like him to be involved. And based
on the money, it's not like Tom just bought twenty
(12:45):
five percent of the Las Vegas Raiders, right, he might
have just bought fifty million dollars, which gets you who
knows a percentage point two percentage points and when you're
a minority owner in pro sports. But I know this
specifically in the NFL, you have the zero juice. You
have no pull on players, You have no pull on
whether the coach staser goes Now, this is a unique situation.
(13:08):
I think this looks good for Mark Davis. Obviously. Tom
Brady is very, very close with Josh McDaniels, but he
was adamant today, I'm not coming back. I'm over it.
Like we talked about Aaron Rodgers and Brian Goodikins, the
organization and the player were kind of over each other.
It was time. Sometimes you just get overdoing something, even
(13:30):
if you love football as much as Tom Brady love football,
and I don't think you can love it anymore. But
at his age, not one to get hit like I
think it made sense. I said it all season long.
Tom Brady's arms still look good. He never coop was
that mobile. It's not like he ran around, so his
(13:51):
athleticism didn't really diminish. It was that he didn't want
to get hit in the pocket. And I don't blame him.
He'd been hitting the pocket for multiple decades. He's super
rich super accomplished. Like what was he doing it for?
As Ricky Waters once famously said, for who? For what?
And that's to me how Tom played a little bit.
And to think that Tom Brady would come back to
(14:13):
the Raiders just because Josh McDaniels was there. Their offensive
line is atrocious, their defense isn't very good. Their team
just in general, beside a couple players DeVante Adams, Max Crosby,
is not very talented. Tom Brady's not coming back just
to come back. And think of some of his peers, right,
Peyton Manning who was really his peer now Peyton Manning
(14:37):
when it ended for him. And I went to a
game that last season when he played the Raiders, and
it was right in the middle of like, is Peyton
is this over? Like what is going on with Peyton
Manning's arm? It can't be that bad? Remember the announcers
used to be like, Ah, he's just saving it. He's good.
Just takes them a little longer to get warmed up
for now. He couldn't throw. His arm did not work right,
(15:02):
did not work? Could he could barely throw at twenty yards?
I remember going to the game against the Raiders and
the big story was that Charles Woodson had never intercepted
Peyton Manning and Charles was on his last leg. His
shoulder was like, you know, I had a harness keeping
it together. Peyton was clearly on his last leg in
that game. If my memory serves me correct, Charles Woodson
(15:24):
intercepted him twice. Now the Broncos still won the game.
I think Derek threw a pick six to Chris Harris.
But it was like, God, Peyton is He's fucked, like
it is over, and so Peyton didn't have a choice. Like,
would Peyton have walked away, he would have been like Tom.
He would have stayed into his early forties if he
could have. The league left him, which happens due ninety
(15:46):
nine point nine percent of good players, let alone any player. Right,
most people are not John Elway that say see you,
I'm walking out on top. Most people, hell are like
Peyton Manning Tiger Woods, holding on for dear life even
as the body does not cooperate. So could Tom Brady
have come back? Tom Brady could be a starting quarterback
(16:08):
in the NFL. He's no longer a top three or
four starting quarterback, but he easily could be better than
half the league, and if he truly wanted to get hit,
he could easily be a top ten quarterback. But the
moment you don't want to get hit. It's why some
players like Derek Carr. Derek Carr is very very talented.
If Derek Carr was willing to stand in there, like
(16:29):
some of the top guys in the league, Mahomes, I
would put Josh Allen, you know, Aaron Rodgers for a
large percentage of his prime, he would be a top
ten quarterback. But he's not really willing to stand in there.
And I'm not acting like some tough guy like I'd
be willing to stand in there. We're just talking about
the best quarterbacks in the league, and consistently in the league.
You have to be willing to stay in the pocket
(16:51):
and deliver strikes if you're not some mobile guy like
Lamar Jackson, right, and or even Trevor Lawrence. A lot
of these quarterbacks are very very mobile. Tom's ever, so
the moment he won't stand in there to the last
second and deliver the ball, his skill level and his
ability to produce at the highest level is just going
to be diminished. And I think he recognizes that, like
(17:11):
it's not worth it for me anymore, regardless, separate from
my family situation. And it'd be one thing if the
Raiders were like, got this team with Tom Brady, they
win thirteen fourteen games easily. But he knows he's not
that dumb. And I keep getting back to all the
chips in the middle of the table of Josh McDaniel's
head coaching career is on Jimmy Garoppolo and that has proven.
(17:34):
And I've had a front row seat. I've gone to
so many of these forty nine or training camp practices.
I know a lot of people with the organization. It
is just a very, very risky proposition to bet on
that individual who just struggles to stay on the field.
Before we dive into what's next, do you know that
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or visit Angie dot com. That's Angi dot com. One
thing that happened this week this wasn't a football story,
(19:02):
but it was just a sports story. Is Bob Myers,
the Golden State Warriors general manager, who has been you know,
one of the lead recruiters and getting Kevin Durant, is
best friends with Draymond Green and Steph Curry and has
proven to be one of the best gms, not just
in the NBA, but in all of sports. Basically said
(19:23):
I'm out, I don't want to do this anymore, and
I don't necessarily want to talk about the reasoning behind that.
But I do think that Bob represents in the NBA
and the NFL are different in terms of, you know,
the way that even non like superstar players you just
kind of have to kiss the ass of the players.
(19:43):
But a lot of NBA gms are very very close
with their players and forever and even when I got
in the NFL, you know, twelve years ago, growing up
through football, there was like a clear line of delineation
between managed and players because in football, more than especially
(20:03):
basketball and baseball, with the contracts not being guaranteed, you
could get rid of a guy at any moment, the
moment he stopped producing, the moment you just upgraded in
the draft, you would kind of guy, you would trade
a guy. You had to be pretty ruthless, right. It
was like a lot of other industries in America. You
just why a lot of the best businessmen I think
(20:24):
are considered like, hey, he's kind of an asshole, kind
of a dick, you know, not the greatest guy. Was
he not the greatest guy? Or is he just really
good at business? And sometimes business is going to piss
people off, and to be a great businessman. In football, historically,
it's kind of been Bill Parcells. Bill Walsh is most
famously known for, beside the Super Bowls, not getting rid
(20:45):
of a player one year too early. Then instead of
a year too late, he got rid of them all.
He traded Joe Montana. So this notion that gms in
front office people could be friends with players was just
kind of frowned upon and not something that successful people
do well. I think Bob Myers retiring and he represents
the NBA people, but like Bob Myers is very good
(21:06):
buddies with John Lynch, and I actually think the new
age NFL GM is a little closer than NBA than
we ever talk about. Think about the best GMS in
the league, pretty close with their players, their star players,
pretty close with that group. They are very agent friendly.
I remember being a kid, you would see some of
(21:29):
the great rants by their coach or GM would be
like talking shit about agents. Hell, I remember what year
would this event? I mean, I would have been like
a sophomore in college when the moment happened with Terrell Owens,
Drew Rosenhaus and the Philadelphia Eagles. Look at Andy Reid,
I would say he is one of the most universally
approved head coaches when it comes to people that played
(21:51):
for him in the league history, and they had a
pretty knockdown drag out with t O and Drew Rosenhose,
and I think those days are kind of done. Like
when you listen to Patrick Mahomes or Travis Kelce or
anyone with the Chiefs talk about, you know, management, they
love Bretviach. Think of how the players on the Eagles
(22:12):
talk about Howie Roseman. I've seen it firsthand with John Lynch.
John Lynch has this kind of weird hybrid role because
he was a really famous Hall of Fame level player,
and honestly, his role, the most important thing he has
to do is like calm down, Kyle. There was an instance,
I guess the other day at forty nine er practice
where Dwayne Allen, former tight end in the NFL, now
(22:37):
works for the NFLPA, and he was at practice just
like a lot of NFL Union represents representatives go to
football practice throughout the offseason to just like take notes
and make sure that you're not, you know, doing things
you're not supposed to do, press coverage, tackle, physicality levels.
(22:57):
And I don't know the exact story. I mean some
different versions out there. One version I heard is he
made a comment. One thing, he was one hundred percent
like in the huddle, very close to the players. Some
people say that he made a comment like that's a violation.
I can't confirm nor deny that. The one thing I
can't confirm Kyle Shanahan basically stopped practice and went nuts
(23:22):
on Dwayne Allen in the middle of practice. And I'm
on team Shanahan on this one. If you're a union
representative one the guy running the practice, you have to
let know that you're there. Kyle did not know who
he was, so he just thought this random guy was
at practice and then he was like in the huddle
with guys or close to the huddle. That's never gonna fly.
But my point with this is ultimately the guy that
(23:44):
mediated that was John Lynch as the practice went on
and went talked to him calm the whole situation down.
And that's one of John's main roles. And one thing
these modern day gms have to do is like you
are paying random players ten to fifteen million dollar, you're
playing your star d Lineman O Linemen wide receivers twenty
(24:05):
to twenty five to upward to thirty million dollars, and obviously,
if you have a star quarterback, you're easily spending over
forty million dollars a year. So it behooves you when
your team and the team that you're in charge of
is invested so heavily into these guys. I wouldn't say
to be their friend, but have a legit working relationship. Like,
(24:28):
think how many people you work with that you wouldn't
call your best friend or someone you hang out with
all the time. But like if you go to a
happy hour that if you're on a work trip, like
you can easily hang out and you have more than
a cordial relationship, like you consider the person your friend.
You don't maybe go out of your way to hang
out with the guy, but you definitely when you spend
(24:50):
time with them, you like them and you talk to
them a lot, and it's just a relationship that you know,
even relative to some of your friends outside of work,
sometime times the people you work with you end up
spending more time with. So I think this modern day
GM of Howie, I think. I think John Snyder is
now playing this role in Seattle. I've seen it with
(25:12):
John Lynch playing the role for sure, And you know,
Jason light did it once he got Tom Brady is
kind of straddling the line, straddling the fence of you know,
you kind of got to get close to these people,
you know, especially generations change. You know, people like when
they feel liked. You know, back in the day it
was cutthroat. You just kind of dealt with that. Those
(25:34):
days are probably over. You know it, wouldn't it behoove
you if you're going to pay some d linemen or
your quarterback or whoever, one hundred plus million dollars guaranteed,
like be all in with the guy, to really like
the guy and to work on having a strong relationship
with the human separate from the player. And I think
(25:54):
that's just a fact, like the day the days of
Bill Parcells, Bill Walsh, even Bill Belichick, even though I
think a lot of players over the years has defended Belichick.
He's much easier to deal with in person than he
is the way the media seems. But in terms of
the way he deals with you on his team, like
he never went to dinner with Tom Brady, like that
(26:16):
just wasn't their relationship. Those days are kind of over,
and I think we're only going to see that you know,
come to fruition around the league moving much more forward.
And if I was an owner, like, that's kind of
what I want on my gym. I want a guy
that these agents are the gatekeeper to the most important
people in the league, the players. So getting in with
the agents is very, very important. When I was a kid,
(26:39):
like GMS hated agents. Now they're not even They're more
than a necessary evil, Like they're part of the business.
And if you can't deal with them, if you can't
be friends with them, if you can't have very very
good relationships with them, it's probably not going to work.
One story that won't die. It's going to be interesting
how this plays out. Albert Breer reported that DeAndre Hopkins
(27:00):
his market is tepid at best, and I think a
huge reason. If DeAndre Hopkins was cool with playing for
five million dollars, there'd be fifteen teams lined up to
pay him or you know, attempt to sign them, make
him a starter, get them on their offense with their
offensive coordinator and their quarterback immediately. But he wants a
lot of money, and I think sometimes you know, with
(27:22):
a guy like this, and we talked about it earlier
in the week, he saw Odell Beckham get fifteen. He
knows he's better than Odell Beckham, and he's not wrong.
But just because someone else signs a terrible deal Deshaun
Watson doesn't mean that quarterbacks that are more deserving, better players,
better people are going to get that contract. And that's
(27:42):
kind of you know, played out right. Jalen Hurts Lamar Jackson.
I would rather have both those guys than Deshaun Watson,
yet neither of them sniffed the two hundred and thirty
million dollars guaranteed. And DeAndre Hopkins still have a And
I saw that Deshaun Watson talked about you know, he
(28:03):
still talks to DeAndre all the time. I think he's
pounding the table trying to get him in. It did
made me think that there are a lot of pressure teams.
I mean, it's the NFL, so the overwhelming majority of
the league coaches, star quarterbacks, highly paid players are under
a lot of pressure to perform. But last year Deshaun
Watson really got a pass. Right. They were only paying
(28:24):
him a million dollars. He was suspended the majority of
the season. No one thought they were going to be
that good with him missing the whole time they turned
out not to be, and when he got back he
was really shitty, and people like, well, he hadn't played
in forever. I think there's a ton of pressure on
everyone involved now if they suck, you can't fire Deshaun Watson, right,
his contract basically puts him on scholarship. But Stefanski's clearly
(28:46):
in a make or break season, and if he's really bad,
here's the thing, if he's really bad, how could they
get a coach like the one thing Denver had going
for him when their owner was willing to pay a
coach eighteen million? And maybe Jimmy has Them would two.
But ultimately, Russell had nine plus years of being like
a Hall of Fame elite player, and especially the last
(29:08):
five or six years. So you go listen, even if
he is washed, if I can get a couple of
years close to what he once was, we're big time. Right.
DeShawn have like a season and a half, you know,
and the one season that was clearly his breakout season,
the team was god awful what they won four games?
So I think there are a lot more question marks
(29:28):
than answers with Deshaun Watson. In general, I think the Browns.
You know, historically, bad teams and poor organization organizations don't
overcome adversity and question marks easily, right, Like ultimately the Steelers,
like there's some question marks by the end of the season, Like, yeah,
they're pretty good. You wouldn't want to play them in
the playoffs, right, Even Belichick, it's like, yeah, Mac Jones,
(29:50):
Bill O'Brien, how it's going to work out? Like, yeah,
they're probably not gonna be great, but don't win nine games,
right the Browns. You convince me they win six. You
could convince me if Deshaun Watson's Pro Bowl level player,
they win eleven. But I got no clue. I wouldn't
put my cold, you know, my cash on it. I
have no faith, especially in them being good. I would
bet on them being bad, just because that's what history says.
(30:13):
And I just think anytime you put a microscope on
a team that doesn't really know how to win, a
lot of players that don't necessarily know how to win,
things go bad quick. It's why I say about the Lions,
like I'm bullish on the Lions. I think the Lions
are gonna be pretty good, But even Lion fans would
have to admit like it's gonna be a little different.
Everyone looking at us like, oh, yeah, they're gonna win
(30:33):
ten games this year, right, They're a lock to make
the playoffs. That's usually not how that franchise carries itself.
A coach who's never proven to be a playoff coach,
a lot of players that have obviously never played in
the playoffs. So it's just it's gonna be fascinating to
me to watch just this Cleveland Brown Deshaun Watson contract
situation kind of play it out and last but not
(30:55):
least the college football year. You know, we're just a
year away from a lot of the movement of USC UCLA.
You know, Oklahoma, Texas I think goes to the SEC
in twenty twenty four. I think a lot of people
on the West coast, I know, a lot of Oregon
fans kind of wonder like, is the PAC twelve gonna
survive or Oregon Washington eventually going to get an invite
(31:18):
to the dance. The ACC recently came out with they're
gonna give tiered revenue, which is the right move right
Clemson North Clemson football, North Carolina basketball, Florida State football.
They're carrying carrying the conference? Why do they have to
split with Boston College? Right, We're not all equals in
(31:42):
the conference. And this college football season I think is
gonna be awesome. I can't wait to watch these quarterbacks.
I think sometimes we get quarterbacks that are over hyped.
Hayleb Williams is not overhyped, and from what I've been told,
Drake May is not overhyped either. Now, part of being
a great player is doing it over and over and
over again. So the moment you dip, people start questioning you,
(32:06):
even if you still play well the way that we
questioned top players. Part of the deal. I mean, look
at what we did to the guys in the draft
this year. You rip them all apart. Hell, we were
ripping Trevor Lawrence a couple of years apart. Part of
the deal, man. But I am very, very excited to
watch LSU with Brian Kelly. Lincoln Riley has got a
bunch of sec guys in the transfer portal. My favorite guy,
(32:29):
Steve Sarkisian. You know Arch Manning, who's technically not even
the starting quarterback. But hunt of pressure on that program Oklahoma,
I mean, is is their coach going to be basically
a venables, a two and done guy. I mean, that's
a program that anything less than nine wins is a disaster.
And honestly, nine to three doesn't feel that great. At Oklahoma,
(32:50):
It's it's usually double digit wins every season. To just
you know Harbaugh, Ohio State. I'm really really excited for
college football and this is this is truly one of
the last years college football has been changing in college
athletics in general, but it's one of the last years
that we get some purity is the wrong way to
say it, but just some old school matchups like USC
(33:14):
is not gonna play Oregon if unless Oregon goes to
the Big Ten like consistently anymore. Like they're gonna play
Iowa and they're gonna play Wisconsin, like Oklahoma playing k
State or Iowa State, like those days are about to end,
which I'm gonna miss. I'm not I wouldn't say I'm
like super old school where I'm like this could never change,
(33:35):
but I'm also not exactly coward where I'm pounding the
table glad this is happening. You know, born and raised
in California, like I like watching USC and UCLA and
basketball and football play the West coastchools. But I'm also
not ignorant, naive, or don't have the business understanding of
why this is happening. So I'm just really gonna try
(33:55):
to soak in this fall and enjoy some of these
matchups that I grew up on that are just going
to die, and they're going to die very very soon.
(34:26):
The volume
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Colin Cowherd
Jason McIntyre
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