3 & Out - Baker Mayfield's Hidden Injury, Schefter's Big Payday, Aaron Donald Watch & Stefon Diggs Speaks Out + NFL Offseason Mailbag

On this episode of 3 & Out, John Middlekauff dives into what separates good quarterbacks from great ones, using Baker Mayfield and Tony Romo as examples in a conversation about the mental toughness required to succeed in the NFL. From handling adversity to leading a locker room, John explains why the psychological side of the position is just as important as physical talent.

The conversation then turns to the latest rumors surrounding Aaron Donald's potential return to the NFL. Is the future Hall of Famer really considering another run, and which teams would make the most sense if he decides to come back?

Plus, Stefon Diggs stirred up debate with his recent comments about being a top-two wide receiver in the league. John weighs in on where Diggs stacks up among the NFL's elite pass catchers and whether his claim holds up.

John also reacts to Adam Schefter's contract extension with ESPN, discussing what it says about the value of NFL insiders and how sports media continues to evolve in today's landscape.

To wrap things up, it's the Middlekauff Mailbag, where John answers listener questions and dives into even more NFL storylines from around the league.

From quarterback psychology and league rumors to wide receiver rankings and media news, it's all covered on this episode of 3 & Out.

Follow John on Twitter, and Instagram for the latest. 

All lines provided by Hard Rock Bet

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
The volume. What is going on my people? How are
we doing? John Middlecock Three and Out Podcast. We're gonna
talk some quarterback, what it takes to play quarterback. And

(00:23):
Baker Mayfield made some news on the Netflix show about
an injury he dealt with last year. Much injuries, we'll
dive into that. Aaron Donald, the reason that he was
training at the what he was looking to get out
of it. Some thoughts on Adam Schefter He's going nowhere
signs a big extension Dad Diaries, as well, some mailbag
questions at John middlecoff At John Middlecock is the Instagram

(00:46):
firing those dms and get your questions answered here on
the show. You guys know the drill. If you listen
on Collins podcast, make sure you subscribe to Three and Out.
We're up on Netflix. If you never want to miss
the show, you just hit the alert button. Show up
every single episode, which we mainly do beside this stretch
of maybe a month in late June early July, every

(01:08):
single day, so at least Monday through Friday, and then
typically you know, during football season obviously stuff on the weekends.
So let's just dive into some ball. Let's start with
Baker Mayfield said on The Quarterback Show, I saw the
clip going viral of how he took out his wife
on the day before game I think was his last

(01:29):
game he played in college against Georgia, which I was
I thought Oklahoma was gonna win it all. Just devastating loss.
They had Sony Michelle, Nick Chubb, those two running backs.
Remember when nuts in that game and they lose, And
then like three days later he had just met her.
He moved in with her, and six months later they're married.
Now they got a couple of kids, and you know,
Baker's resurrected his career and become, you know, a guy

(01:51):
that people really enjoy. He was just in Lake Tahoe,
came up to my brother in law, I think I
mentioned this the other day taking pictures with their baby,
because they're big Oklahoma people, and he's just He's a
very likable guy. I've always been a big fan. I
know Colin was down on him early. I was way high.
I loved him coming out of the draft. I thought

(02:13):
he was going to be like Drew Breese. Turns out
that's not really the style of quarterback he is. He's
like a shittier version of farv you know, he's not
as big, he's not as strong, he's not really as quick,
but that's he's just kind of a gunslinger. And there's
something about when he's on, when you're watching him, that
makes you a mote, It makes you feel something. And

(02:35):
he's been like that since college. When Baker's right, he's
honestly one of my favorite players. I will say that
coming out that he had a sprain knee, that he
here's knee week two. Obviously they didn't have a good season.
Florio did a big ride up today that the knee
injury didn't even come on the injury report to like
week ten. Just know this when you were gambling on

(02:58):
this is not the NBA. Guys are going to play
in games with injuries that no one knows about, sometimes
including the team. So this is a sport where you
are hurt the entire time. The question is how hurt
are you? Because obviously there are injuries like last year
Purty or Joe Burrow. You get a severe enough injury

(03:22):
you cannot play, but guys will battle through a lot
of shit. Kyle Shanahan earlier this year with Tom Tolbert,
and he's told this story before Party's first year as
a starter. After the injuries, hurts his shoulder in a game,
cannot they're playing. The next game is on a Thursday
night against Seattle. Can't can barely move it Monday or Tuesday.

(03:45):
Didn't throw Wednesday. He made a game plan for Josh
Johnson because they didn't think Purdy was gonna be able
to go. Shot that bad boy up with Towrderol told
him right before the game, like I think I can go,
and he played. That's the NFL, that's the culture. It's
why we enjoy this. You know, McGregor has a lot

(04:06):
of red flags outside of the octagon. He's been involved
in some uncomfortable situations, to say the least. And guess
what happens when he was gonna fight and everyone thought
that he could, it was gonna be fun and good.
We all watched we take off the moral police. When
it comes to violence, we yearn for it when you

(04:27):
put it in front of us. Going back to when
we're junior high in high school and people are fighting,
everyone surrounds them and football is like the greatest team
sport with violence. We love it and what these guys
go through and have to battle through the gladiator nature
of the sport. We think about it when it comes
to linebackers or tight ends like Gronkowski or Kittle or lineman. Right,

(04:53):
will play through anything, throw some fucking dirt on it. Quarterback.
I remember hearing Drew Brees say this a long time ago.
He was like playing quarterback the ratio mental to physical,
and his might have been different because who he was
like physically, he wasn't that big, wasn't that fast, didn't
have a great arm, but he thought I remember him

(05:15):
saying like seventy or seventy five to thirty upstairs verse downstairs.
And I think when you talk about mentally, they're not
just talking about being able to read a defense, being
able to understand coverages. Obviously you have to do that
in the NFL, right, being able to understand the game plan,
being able to adjust on the fly, being able to

(05:36):
know when too audible. When I think, like, what a
quarterback needs to bring to the table mentally is mental
toughness and to be able to battle through physical injuries.
Starts upstairs, like what is your pain tolerance? Tony Romo
was just on pardon my take, and he said something

(05:58):
that really stood out. This was before I even saw
the Baker Mayfield news. He's like, you know, being a
raw rod guy in the locker room at quarterback, a
little overrated, not necessary to be a really good player.
Doesn't mean you can't be that. Peyton was a big barker.
Obviously Tom was a big barker. He said. The number

(06:21):
one key, though, is delayed on the line physically for
your teammates and they'll follow. Because if you think about it,
Baker Mayfield is not even the best player on his
own team. Right since he's been in Tampa, he's never
been the best player on his own team. He's been
a really good player. But when you play quarterback, even
with a quote unquote underpaid deal, most of the time,

(06:45):
you still make more than everybody. So you're more famous
and you make more money than everybody. Think about our
office situations. When you know someone makes more money than you,
there's a natural jealous see envy, even if you understand like, Okay,
this guy does a different role, this guy generates more money,

(07:07):
But like, I think I'm better at my job than
him if I got the opportunity, Like, we're all human beings.
But if you see that guy that's in whatever you're
doing making way more money than you. Be the hardest worker,
Be the first guy in the office, be the last
guy out, be the guy doing sales calls over the weekend,
or whatever industry you're in, going above and beyond, because

(07:29):
most of our jobs are not laying on the line physically.
But when it comes to everything possible, this guy is
just like an A plus. It's like, God, this guy
is a grinder. It's hard to be that envious or jealous.
And I think at quarterback, proving your toughness, like was
Tony Romel the perfect quarterback? Of course not no one
could ever dispute that that guy wouldn't die on the

(07:50):
field for his teammates. And I think when you do
that at quarterback, because think about this, and this is
why I think Baker Mayfield's career is really taking back off,
because everyone in that locker room respects the shit out
of him because they know he's banged up. Turns out
he also heard his biceps in the season too, So
it does bring a little more understanding to why the season. Now. Listen,

(08:14):
they had injuries, Todd Bowles did not do a good
job like they had other issues. It's not like they
would have won the Super Bowl. But when your quarterback
is injured, a huge bart of football is this kind
of got to keep your fingers crossed that when the
season starts your quarterback is relatively healthy all season long.
Someone texts me that knew is in the loop. Let's

(08:37):
say close to the situation, right after Denver lost that
devastating game, or excuse me, the Bills lost the devastating
game to Denver and they say, yeah, Josh has been
dealing with a broken toe. My god, I didn't know that,
but you realize when you watched him play, he couldn't
totally tell. And you know what, like his teammates told

(08:59):
me that, and what happen right off of the season,
he got surgery on his foot. But what would Josh
Allen do when it comes to the games. If he
can physically tough it out, he will. And obviously for
certain players, certain injuries impact you more, right, Josh Lamar
the mobile guys, if something happens their feet or their

(09:21):
lower extremities, it's a bigger deal than if it was
Jared Goff. Like if Jared Goff has a tight hammy,
who cares He's not really moving much? But if you
tell me that Kyler Murray is a tight handy, it's
a much bigger deal. And the thing I always like
growing up in an era where quarterbacks get killed, like

(09:43):
legitimately murdered on the field. Wats the John Elway Netflix
documentary and when they do the montage of some of
his games in the eighties, it looks like an MMA
fight in the backfield for the quarterback. It's crazy. More
of those quarterbacks didn't have more serious injuries, but guess

(10:03):
what they were probably always injured and guess what they did.
They played through it because that is what is required
to play the greatest sport in the world. Football. Toughness
is a huge part. This is not soccer where you
just flopping lay on the ground and pretend you're knees
ripped when you're completely fine at quarterback. Now you can
sell some late hits, but you're gonna get hit because

(10:26):
you don't get hit in practice. So you make the
most money, you're the most famous guy on the team,
and practice, which unlike these others, you don't practice in baseball.
Most NBA teams do not practice in football. The most
important thing for a football coach throughout the season is
how he structures practice each week Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, implement

(10:48):
the game plan, red zone, third down, different situations. It's
all coaches talk about is fucking practice. It's the opposite
of what Alan Iverson said. Practice that's a whole like
the sport is literally built around practice, and it's hard now.
It's easier now than it once was because it's not

(11:09):
like no double days and it's not as physical, but
the good teams are so physical. Go to a Denver practice,
go to Alliance practice, Go to a Kansas City Chiefs,
go to a Jim Harbor John Harbaugh practice. Promise you
this pads are popping, not with a quarterback though they
were a different color jersey. You're not allowed to touch them.
So it's harder for you to earn the respect of everyone.

(11:32):
The only way you can prove it is on Sundays.
And it's not just throwing touchdowns and making the right
place obviously that matters. You know, make plays, as Charles
Woodson used to say, work hard and make plays. But
you can really endure yourself to your teammates, endear, not
endure by proving on the field that you will stay

(11:52):
in there that extra second get lit up. When I
was doing Raider games, I for like four straight years
saw Philip Rivers come through. And by no means was
he the perfect player. Right, He had some flaws, he
would throw some interceptions. But the thing you can never
take away from Philip Rivers is he would do everything
humanly possible to sit in that pocket the last possible

(12:14):
second to give Antonio Gates, Keenan Allen, Vincent Jackson, you
name it, the best opportunity to make a play down
the field and get open, because he would hold on
while he was about to get lit up like a
Christmas tree to make that throw. And he was bigger
so he could handle some of the hits, but he
would get peppered. And that's what you have to do

(12:36):
to play quarterback. It's why, like one thing we got
going on, they put out a quarterback list's today the
best quarterbacks in the NFL. I think it's kind of
impossible to do that if you're going off who's got
the best resume, Well, clearly Mahomes, but they had Mahomes
the second best quarterback right now, he's coming off the
worst season of his career, and even Chiefs fans would agree,

(12:57):
like He was bad last year again relative to his standards,
but his standard was a top five guy of all time.
He did not play well. It's like Josh Allen, like
to me, has been the best quarterback for a couple
of years, but Matt Safford won the MVP. Joe Burrow
missed the majority of the season, and then when he
came back wasn't that good either. I think it's very

(13:19):
You just have to be specific, like who I think
is gonna be the best in twenty twenty six? Okay,
who was the best last year? Ma Homes wouldn't even
be a top five quarterback based on last year. Neither
would Joe Burrow. So and I get it, we're in
the internet age. You gotta put out some of that stuff.
But what are we doing? Like Dak was sixth, Dack's

(13:42):
team didn't play in any meaningful games, and listen, I'm
pro Dak, but I think it's really difficult. Right. But
back to my original point, all the guys that we
just listed, Lamar, Dak, Mahomes, Josh no one of them,
all the top ten, Jared Goff, you would say toughness

(14:05):
is a huge part of all their games, especially all
the mobile guys, Ma Homes, Josh Lamar Burrow. They're just
they're tough. Last year, Justin Herbert played with a broken hand.
So did Aaron Rodgers at forty one years old, with
a who's accumulated four or five hundred million dollars in
the last twenty years. It's like playing this position, which

(14:28):
is sexy, and you become like a movie star. Movie
stars for the most part, Like aren't Tom Cruise jumping
through buildings, breaking ankles, doing stunts Like I would say,
there's a softness that probably if we checked their hands,
you wouldn't wouldn't find him any callouses on it, you know,
I wouldn't say they're the toughest crew of humans. That
is not the case with quarterbacks. These are tough fucking dudes.

(14:52):
And I think Baker just kind of proved that. So
I hopefully battles back. But you have a year like that.
This also a big picture. It's like, well, what about
his contract situation. He's not the biggest guy. He's kind
of a gunsling slinger, mobile run around guy. The way
he plays, he's kind of got a unique style, right,

(15:13):
He's not like a run around guy like Josh Allen
or Lamar, but he definitely runs and he definitely keeps
plays alive with his legs. Like he's not Matt Stafford
now or Jared Goff. So if I'm Jason Lytt, I'm
gonna invest a large amount of money because even if
you get guys on cheap contract, I say this about
Sam Donald's, like Sam Donald makes nothing, spend three years,

(15:34):
one hundred million dollars. You know, google me, how many
guys in the league are making less than that beside
the highest paid guys at all the premium positions. Sam
Donald's making it more than everyone on his own team
except who Jackson Smith and Jigba who just signed a
historic contract. So it's like, yeah, Sam doesn't make that
much money relative to Josh Allen or Dak, but relative

(15:56):
to the rest of his team, he blows him out
of the water. How many guys in his own team
would sign up for Josh or Sam Darnold's contract or
Baker Mayfield's contract. Reality is a lot, So when a
lot is given, a lot is expected. And it's why
we hold these guys in such high standards, and it's
why these guys for the most part, like play hurt

(16:18):
because they're fucking tough. You can't play major college football
right at Oklahoma, Georgia, Oregon, wherever and not be tough.
It'd be impossible to be a multi year starter in
big time Division one football, even with the rules now,
and not be a tough guy. It'd be easier to
hide it in college if your team was absolutely stacked.

(16:39):
There are less of those now, but even last year
for Nanda Mendoza, what happened that first play of the
Ohio State game. He got hit by the guy that
was drafted, I mean who hit him clean in the
whatever sternham spleen, stomach rib area that it ended this
season right there, but it shattered his insides and what

(17:03):
happened two blays later? He came running back on the field.
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New Jersey, Ohio Tennis Steve Virginia. Speaking of why we

(19:10):
like football, Aaron Donald, who News came out that a
big part of him going back to the RAMS facility
was to get like a legit football workout and see
how his body responded. I've been listening to a lot
of Connor McGregor content, and one thing I don't fall
with that closely. I guess over the course of the
last five years, people would say, yeah, Connor trained for

(19:34):
this fight, but was he super locked in now part
of when's leg was shattered, he's got a metal rod
in there. But it's not like for the last five years,
this guy's been doing everything humanly possible, thinking, breathing, and
getting his body ready to fight. That is not the
case of Aaron Donald. Every clip we have seen about
the guy for the last several years has been he's
been working out with the RAMS players at his house

(19:56):
or at wherever his personal gym is, and typically it'd
be like Jared there, Aaron's trying around more weight like
Aaron still the six pack abs for a guy that
plays defensive tackle, which is kind of unheard of. Any
picture you saw of him over the last couple of
years since he retired, he never looked like he was
living a retirement life. He's clearly a very regimented guy,

(20:18):
a very focused guy when it comes to his physical health.
Now there's a big difference of pump and iron like
Arnold Schwarzenegger and playing football. Right as Belichick used to say,
we don't pay guys to bench press, We play guys
to set the edge. So Aaron Donald's proven that translated

(20:40):
to me, the question mark is not gonna be how
his body feels after the workout, because my guess would
be it probably feels pretty good. Maybe not when he
was twenty four years old, but it's not gonna be
a deterrent for him not to come back. The question
is gonna be after this time away, when he's pounding
guards and center, even if he's kicking their ass in

(21:01):
training camp, how his body feels after that. And the
one thing in football with the double days over, you
never really know until you play the games and explosion
a line of scrimmage. It goes from like eighty percent
to full go tackle football. So my guest sitting here
right now, I would imagine he's gonna feel confident based

(21:23):
on the workout the other day, and we will see
him whether it's he start a training camp early on
in training camp. He is gonna come back. The question
is gonna be his body, which is so far removed
from the constant physical grind of hitting. There's a big
difference lifting and playing football. As we all know how
that happens now. I think if he comes back, he's

(21:43):
sticking it out like I have a hard time unless
he had a major injury him coming back in a
couple of weeks in saying I don't feel it because
the other thing they're gonna put this guy in like
Kyle does it with Trent Williams. We don't need to
see every single day in practice, you know, getting X
number of reps. You know, we're trying to get you
to Australia week one and honestly the second half of

(22:06):
the season. So you talk about a pitch count like
In a perfect world, if I was McVeigh, I'd be like,
you want to come back like mid season, you know,
for reinforcements, But I would expect Aaron Donald will be
back on the team. Stefan Diggs said, I guess he
said it on his YouTube channel that there's no wide

(22:26):
receiver two better than him in the NFL, which I
think is very debatable and probably not true. I would say,
here's the problem, Stephan. You're always in the headlines for
doing something weird, and even if you're innocent on some
of it, eventually people started thinking, like, ah, something's off
on this. You're currently being sued for sexual assault by

(22:48):
a dude. Now, I don't give a shit what you
do in the doors of your own home. I don't
know if I ever heard of that one. So there's
just so much smoke around you that I just you're
just always in something. You were an excellent player when
you were younger, there was no disputing that. But it

(23:11):
does feel like it's gotten weird and there's you taking
a guy like him. You can't be shocked when all
of a sudden someone else comes after him about who
knows what getting sued for this someone coming after him
for that and eventually when you're not because early on

(23:32):
in his career, Stephan Diggs was a big time when
he was those couple of years from Minnesota, and then
when he went to Buffalo like there was no disputing, like, yeah,
it might be a little bit of a headache, whatever
comes with it, but worth it. And then you get
to the line of diminishing returns, not sure it's worth
it anymore, Like who's suing you now for what? What

(23:53):
did you do? Huh? So I just think that digs
problems have become bigger than the production that you believe
that he can bring to the table. And this is
a pretty simple formula in pro sports. If you produce,

(24:13):
people deal with a lot of shit. But once your
production and your talent start to diminish, the stuff that
people just kind of look past no longer look past,
and they use it as an excuse like, EH, could
be innocent on these seven lawsuits. Maybe they're all full
of shit, But I don't want to deal with that.

(24:35):
I don't want everyone saying fill in team wide receiver
Stefan Diggs is involved in whatever, so I Diggs can
believe whatever he wants his problem and the reason he's
not on a team is all these off the field
situations that feel like over the last however many months

(24:57):
year have just been relent. The other story I saw
today is Adam Schefter got a massive extension from ESPN,
And I was thinking about, you know, like my generation,
if your give or take my age maybe a little older,
we were lucky enough and like the nineties, sports talk
really took off. You know, if you lived in New York,

(25:19):
obviously Mike and the Mad Dog. If you lived on
the West Coast, I guess he went pretty national, like
Jim Rome. And then by the two thousands, you know,
Colin Coward became national, obviously, Dan Patrick and all these guys.
You could just hear sports talk and it really inspired
a lot of people. And you see now a lot
of people my age are younger that are involved in
the business were inspired by humans that they saw either

(25:41):
on television or listened to on the radio. And I
grew up in a time when you heard someone on
the radio, Jim Rome, Colin Coward, Adam Carolla, you name it,
any big radio name. Howard Stern a little different because
they made a movie about him, you had no clue
what they looked like you had absolutely no clue what
they looked like. All you knew was their voice. Obviously,
those days are long gone because everything's on video. I

(26:03):
mean how I'm currently recording this for Netflix, But I
did not grow up in that era, and I'll listen.
I'm glad where we're at. But that era had a huge,
huge influence on a lot of people. I do think
that no different than Bill Simmons on a lot of
young sports writers. Adam Schefter's influence on the way we

(26:26):
consume sports news has clearly been a game changer. And
the one thing like ESPN spent a lot of money
on WOJH and then you watch Wojes on television and
he was terrible. It was always uncomfortable. He's just not
good on television. And the problem is in this modern
day world, if you're not good on television and you
do that job, it's not gonna work. Now. You don't

(26:49):
need to be the biggest personality in the room like
Jay Glazer, but you gotta be comfortable with the cameras
in front of your face. And I've met Jay a
couple of times. He's really cool. I would say this
about Adam having DMD and I text with him, met him,
and knowing a lot of people that know him, I
have never ever heard one negative thing about the guy.

(27:12):
I would say he is the most universally liked person
by people I know in the NFL that you know
is in the role non coach or executive. People fucking
love the guy. You know, he's a good person and
clearly he was right place right time early on in
Denver with Mike Shanahan back well before an NFL network

(27:35):
and has ridden the boom of the NFL, I would say,
as well as any media person in the history of
the leak. So congrats to schefter, who is just you know,
this is all entertainment. Sometimes it's you know, the red card.
Everyone bringing up like should this guy have been allowed

(27:55):
back for the red card? Do you guys this is
all entertainment? Maybe yeah, I'm so jaded and numb do
it all and listen, I'm not talking about like throwing
games or what's happening in the NBA, like Malik Beasley
literally throwing plays or Chauncey billups, but like there should
be a little bit of a human element to this,

(28:15):
Like this business is not built on they don't need
so and so to win the championship. They just need
you to watch that team try to win the championship.
You know, And I've been to a lot of games.
I know a lot of people listening. Some of you
guys are season ticket holders, whether big time college football,
obviously the NFL. I hate to say this because I

(28:38):
respect the shit out of you if you go to
these games every week, and I understands it can be
you know, something you've done with your family, something you
do with your dad, something you do with family members,
something you do with close friends. It means a lot
to a lot of people. But in the business of
the NFL that is really secondhand at this point. Whether
you show up or not, it's extra money for the owners.

(29:02):
But like their bread is buttered on television by the people,
sitting on the couch watching is more important than you
going to the game and listen. Sitting on the couch
watching is the easiest thing to do. I've gone to
games Satin lines, Ingress, Egress. You know, have parking attendance
that show up once every two weeks that don't work

(29:22):
for the team that don't know what they're doing. It
can be a nightmare. It can. I mean, once you're in,
it's cool, but like getting there, getting in and then
getting out is not fun. So if you do that
consistently every year, and I'm not talking about just going
to one game of year, I'm talking about, like, if
I'm going to majority of the games, hat tip to you.
But just know, as this world has changed, like you're

(29:47):
just not as important to them anymore. You're not, but
like you play a role. You know, when I'm sitting
on my couch watching and millions of people are throughout
the country and it's a good environment like that that
makes the product more important. So it actually adds to
the television product, even though the people on the couch
are more important to the business model than the dude

(30:10):
sitting in the second level, which is typically the best area. Now,
that's the thing about football. You don't want to sit
too close to the grass, you know, in basketball, sitting
up high. I remember when I was in high school,
me and my buddy EG, we went to a King's
Mavericks playoff game. It was round one. We bought tickets
for twenty dollars. We got two tickets for forty bucks,

(30:31):
twenty bucks each. We were literally the last seat in
the upper level. It's like they look like ants. Right.
In basketball, you want to get lower and lower. In football,
you don't want to be too high, but you don't
want to be too low. You want to be somewhere
in the middle, ideally like the second club level, somewhere
between the thirties. You know that is the best viewing experience,

(30:54):
cause you could say behind one of the goalposts, But
the problem is when they're on the other side, they're pretty
far away. You want to be toward the middle of
the field, but in the middle. That's why typically if
you look at ticket prices, club level is pretty expensive
because it's a fucking great seat. So congrats to Chefty,
who just elite at his job. I remember when I

(31:15):
first got a job with the Eagles twenty ten, Howie's
phone would ring, not his cell phone, but his landline.
And his assistant, who I kind of sat very close to, Katie,
who I think is still as assistant or she definitely
still works for the Eagles, used to used to walk
into his office Adam Schefter's on the phone. Now I

(31:36):
would imagine that their relationship fifteen sixteen years later is
a little different. You know how he had. I don't
know if that was. I think it might have been
his first year as a gym. Maybe maybe that was
his first year as a gym. Yeah, I think it was.
And Chefter's a grinder, you know, it's all these people are.

(31:58):
You can make fun of Diane all you want. Uh.
I had been around her in enough situations at the
combine and stuff like, she's a hustler, you know she
I'm not just talking the sex stuff with the Raibel.
She was very aggressive when it came to meeting other people.
She wasn't leaving with them all. And so's Adam, so's Glazer.

(32:22):
They're just you kind of gotta have like a sales
type role. It's like, listen some people that some sports
writers are just not that relatable. No one wants to
talk to them. And some are good at that. Some
are good at interacting with others. That is a skill
you either have or you don't. If Adam Schefter or

(32:43):
Jay Glazer or Diana or whoever were not covering football,
they would have been good in sales. I'm watching, would
woes have been good in sales? Who wants to talk
to that guy? Seriously? It feels like Sham's would be
much better, much more likable, much better communicator. We watched

(33:04):
woes and here's the other thing. I don't remember Schefter
writing that many articles that would just destroy people. That
was a huge part of Woch's career. He would just
take people down and go after them. He did to
Mark Jackson, I remember living in the Bay Area, like,
I just don't know that many people. And I know
Woj and Schefter, you're close. I don't know anyone that

(33:26):
says anything good about Wosh and I've never heard anything
bad about Schefter. I guess before we dive into the
mailbag quick Dad diaries, we we did the plunge and
kicked him out of our room. So he now is
in his own room, which he has had basically for

(33:48):
six let's say nine months, so a couple months before
he was even born. And then these last six months
did he never use We would go in there obviously
it change diapers and you know, pretty big deal, like
kicking him out of them. And we had the little
thing I rented this snow which, for those of you
that don't have kids, is like a bassinet that moves,
you know, if you move them, they kind of fall asleep,

(34:10):
but he was getting so big, he was growing out
of the thing. And we were at the you know,
five and a half six month mark, it's like, okay,
he's got to get out. We would have done it sooner,
but we were traveling and it just didn't work out.
So we got home from Newport Beach and we're like,
we're booting them. So we boot him and the first
night we lay him in there, I'm like, and we
have this you know camera that's watching him, which I

(34:32):
started thinking my parents back in nineteen eighty four. I
guess by the time I was six months, it would
have been early eighty five booted me. There was no
camera and there was definitely none of this other technology
that we're currently using. Because the first night I was like, hey,
he's out. I was ready for him to be gone.
But then I couldn't sleep because I kept looking on

(34:54):
the app and you know forever. When he slept in
our room, he sleeps on his back. What was he
Immediately he flips over and he sleeps on his stomach. Now,
granted he's in a crib. There are no pillows or anything,
so it's just a it's just like a soft mattress
in a sheet, not even I mean the sheet covering
the mattress that's very tight. So he's got nothing except
a sleepsack over him. I'm like, is he breathing? So

(35:18):
from about seven point thirty till probably one in the morning,
I swear to god, I went in there like every
twenty thirty minutes. I felt like the first night we
came home with him, and then we had bought this
thing called the outlet, and the next night we put
on you can put it on his foot and it
it there's like a contraption in our room that if

(35:40):
he stops breathing, it'll just beep really loud. And I
was back to all my parents. My parents couldn't watch
me in the eighties. They didn't have an outlet to
put on my foot. They didn't even know the rules
that you're supposed to sleep on the back. There's no blankets,
there's no nothing. They just fucking threw me in a
crib probably like seven, you know, off bears in a blanket,

(36:01):
and somehow we all survived. So, you know, we might
have too much information now, and then you go down
rabbit holes about the bad stuff. You're like, you're just
always on tilt. But with technology, it's like, well, I
can sleep like a baby because I know if something
does get weird in there, the thing will just start
beeping a hell a beep sometimes when he's completely fine,

(36:23):
but uh, we've kicked him out of his room and
he's uh, or kicked him out of our room and
he's finally moved in, and now it turns out like
we don't have a smoke detector in there. It's like, God,
there's always something, you know. She's like, well, you know, okay,
we got to get that installed, but that's I don't
know how we repainted the whole house before we even
moved in. They have like seven smoke detectors in the

(36:46):
hallway of my home, and then in the guest bedroom
there's no smoke detectors, and then in his room there's
no smoke detectors. Like I got three in the hallway
and none in the rooms, and his room is like
really high scene. So it's a pain.

Speaker 2 (37:02):
But that's a problem for another day.

Speaker 1 (37:17):
Let's dive into the mailbag at John Middcoff. At John
Middlecoff is the Instagram fire in those dms. Get your
questions answered here on the show question for the pod,
I've been watching a lot of YouTube breakdowns on NASCAR's decline. First,
the playoff format changed so often that fans got confused
and stopped caring. Second, NASCAR chased national expansion so aggressively

(37:39):
that it abandoned its core fan base, the beer drink
and raise Hell, praise Dale crowd in the Deep South.
Do you think something similar could ever happen to college
football or in the NFL? College football is constantly tweaking
the playoff format, and the NFL keeps expanding with more
international games. What can football do to avoid becoming the
next Nascar? I remember, I don't know how long ago

(38:01):
this is, but weren't their headlines within the last ten
fifteen years that NASCAR was the fastest growing sport in America.
The difference, I would say is Nascar. I'm not comparing
this apples to apples, but like tennis or golf, it's
much more of a niche following when you have baseball,

(38:23):
basketball and football, and obviously football is king, but basketball
and baseball you have people playing in every state, all
over the place. Right, So a NASCAR fan, I would
guess if we broke down the demos, like you said,
is pretty uniquely connected to the South. So I don't

(38:44):
know exactly what they did to change to try to
go national and try to change the exposure. But like
you're always like tennis and golf can only get so big,
so taking care of your core fan base is really
really important. I think the NFL can get a little
more arrogant think and like their core fan base is
so massive, whether you go to New York City, whether

(39:04):
you go to Plano, Texas, whether you go to North Dakota,
whether you go to Seattle, Washington, you go everywhere in
the country, and people like football. So I think the
problem would be if they started catering to national or
international audiences. So if I'm a Seahawks fan or I'm
a Miami Dolphins fan and my team is playing at

(39:28):
the time zone for the people in Europe and I
have to watch you at some weird ass time, that
would be a problem. But like I don't love these
international games, but as long as they're on Sunday during
the day, even if they're on in the morning, it's
not that big an eel, you know where it would
be a problem if they played it for the international

(39:50):
audience like a noon kickoff and it was like three
o'clock in the morning our time. So I think you're
always worried about the changing landscape and leaving people in
the past. But we see this with the World Cup.
We've seen this with I don't know the Masters, or

(40:10):
Connor mcday or Connor McGregor people like big events and
the way our attentions have been just changed by the phone.
Morphed sad. I was listening to Bill Simmons and Chuck
and they were talking about people don't read, and I'm like,
it's kind of sad. I felt like my dad read
like a book every couple days. I'm not proud to

(40:35):
admit the last time I read a book, but hint,
it's been a while. Now. I consume a lot audiobooks
and a ton of educational finance podcasts and you know,
stuff that's not just football or golf or whatever. But reading. Hell,
even sometimes I like reading the blog. It's like once

(40:56):
I get past, like the first paragraph, like do I
ever need to read the rest of this? Our brains
have been retrained that There is no disputing that our
brains have been retrained. Now it could be the ends
of civilization. I wouldn't bet against it. It's sometimes I wonder, like,
am I way stupider than I used to be? Am
I way less intelligent? Does my brain function at a

(41:18):
lower level than it would have if I would have
been had all the same information but operated more like
I did fifteen years ago? Sometimes I'll just be scrolling.
I'm like, why am I doing this? Is this really
even entertaining? And the answer is sometimes no, But we
do it and there's no getting around it. So I mean,
sometimes I'll be brushing my teeth and I'm like, put

(41:40):
on a podcast, It's like, do I need that dopamine
high have that extra sound? It's like, yeah, maybe I do.
I don't know, So I think you always gotta be
careful with that question for the bag? Did you watch
the World Cup? And can we agree that soccer is
an atrocious sport to both watch and play. I get
the excitement, but the constant softness and performative flopping. Most

(42:03):
games decided by bang bang penalty gicks, teams playing shorthanded
for minor trip ups that become red cards, worse officiating
than even the blind Side NFL crew, Terrible halftime panels
with no juice offsides robbing every big play, Beta males
like Polisic who sub out every match. Can you imagine
the NFL of a player was kicked out for roughing

(42:24):
the passer penalty and the defense had to play with
ten guys the rest of the game. Insane rules? Yeah,
I mean I it's not a sport I can watch
without a lot being online. And the reason I'm drawn
to the World Cup is it feels big. I would
say I've used this example before, Like I watch Game

(42:46):
of Thrones, not because like I thought it was this
incredible television show, Like a lot of companies in my
world created podcasts around Game of Thrones and the breakdowns
of the symbol of what happened here and character development,
Like I didn't give a shit about any of that.
I just watched because I knew it was big, and

(43:07):
I knew a lot of people were watching, and there
was enough violence some dragons blowing fire on people killing
them and sex to yeah, keep me engaged. But I wanted,
I had fomo. I wanted to be involved, even if
that's not for me kind of what the World Cup
is for me. I don't think I would just watch
a random soccer game. Well, I know I won't. I don't.

(43:31):
So we like violence and aggressiveness in this country. You know,
I've seen a lot of different takes and a lot
of people have tried to opine on soccer and how
we get better, Like I don't know, we like killers
physically and mentally. Think about the guy who I would

(43:53):
say most people universally would agree is the best basketball
player of all time. Mike was fucking nuts. Tiger Woods,
trained with the Navy Seals, he was a golfer. To
look at tot what Tom Brady did to make sure
he could play till forty five years old. Like, guys,

(44:14):
we're not really gonna get behind guys just flopping. It's
you know, Sam Presty can bitch and moan all he
wants of Like you know, we're going up against the
referees and social media. It's like, bro, have your fucking
players stop flopping then just play basketball. Just play basketball.

(44:35):
Your best player, by far is tough to watch at times,
it's not enjoyable. It feels like soccer. So we like violence,
I mean we just do. I don't know what else.
And soccer can just notm be that violent of a sport.
If anything, it feels like the opposite kind of to
a lot of people, feels like a pansy sports. It

(44:57):
clearly takes a lot of cardiovascular training of the running,
and you know, the headers are the big guys you
can get clonked in the head. But the guy's constantly
laying on the ground over like I don't even think
he touched him. Is not gonna work in this country,
at least for the foreseeable future. And then on top

(45:19):
of that, we like stars, so until we get Ronaldo,
Harry Kane, a messy like Pulisic ain't gonna cut it.
You can't tell me this guy is the next, you know,
fucking Mickey Mantle. And then all of a sudden we
watch him and go I texted the group chat probably

(45:40):
a couple weeks ago when we were playing, It's like,
is Christian Pulisicy even good? Like it's this guy good
at soccer? It's like, well, it was like, I don't
get me. Well when I watch and the biggest matches,
is this guy good? Because if I turn on a
game and it's a big game and Jokic is playing,
or Josh Allen's playing, or whoever you picked a great

(46:00):
player in America. For the most part, it's gonna be
pretty clear, like, Eh, this guy's good, this guy's fucking
this guy can play. I'm watching, I'm going I've heard
Polistic's name, I feel like for forever, Coward talks about
him NonStop. It's like, this is our this is our
best player, this is captain America. And then you watch

(46:21):
all these other teams with their sweet players, like he
couldn't hold any of these guys jocks. I don't even
know if they wear with jock in soccer, whatever they wear,
he can't hold it. So I I think a lot
of us MESSI is a good example. Most human beings
in America aren't watching that much messy. But if you

(46:43):
like sports, you've heard the guy's name forever. Every time
he's on television, especially Argentine, it's like, God, that guy's incredible.
It's like, oh, he's also like thirty eight, thirty nine
years old. What was he look like when he was younger?
And then you go to YouTube you're like, this guy
the mutant. But that we know, we've been in this
country long enough, we have seen the best of the

(47:05):
best at all these sports. We know exactly what it
looks like. So even if you don't know that much soccer,
if you watch this tournament, you see the best players,
what they look like? Our best player supposedly, it's like
would he even play on these other teams? And again
you don't need to know that much about Soccer's like, well,
is he on one of the best teams in Europe?

(47:29):
I heard someone say like MLS kim fifty or sixty
million dollars something like that. Is it's an insane investment.
We are hitting the best quarterback era ever. No, are
we entering the best quarterback era ever? In the NFL.
It seems like eighty percent of NFL teams are about
to have an MVP caliber, above average or highly touted
young signal caller. You can count the teams with bad

(47:49):
quarterbacks on one hand. Am I a prisoner of the moment?
Or is it looking like the golden era quarterbacks? Well,
it's the golden era of being able to play quarterback
because they can't touch you, so it's hard to go
eras like to say, these guys are as good as
John Elway, Dan Mrino, Joe Montana, Jim Kelly. Those guys

(48:13):
can get murdered these guys can't get murdered. So if
I can't murder you, obviously, these guys are all Hall
of Fame talents, it's going to be easier to play now.
The top guys in this league I think could have
played in every era and dominated. But like some of
the other guys, I think we've been pretty lucky, at

(48:35):
least in my lifetime. I was born into the guys
in the eighties, grew up in the nineties with Young's
and Farres and Aikman's and all those guys right into
Manning and Brady through where we're at now. For the
most part, they have continually continuously come into the league
and carried the league. Let's dig into your prediction that

(48:56):
JJ will not be in Minnesota Week one A, right,
So my question is where does he go? And do
you think that Jim Harbaugh is a key person in
the saga or specifically, do you believe that JJ is
better than Trey Lance? Doesn't Harbaugh have more into info
on JJ than any other team? As an aside, I

(49:18):
tabulated the backup quarterbacks for twenty one and thirty nine
last year. This stat is some judgment, but I'm counting
on games where the starter was injured and the team
was trying to win. I see what you're saying. So
not counting benchings including Kyler in Arizona, and not counting
Week eighteen malad In games, so twenty one and thirty

(49:39):
nine four backups had winning records, Mac Jones, Davis Mills, Cousins,
and Tyler Huntley. I think Trey Lance is just not
good at football. So I think Jim really like he's
a great guy. He works hard. But I don't think
JJ McCarthy is good at football either. The difference is

(50:01):
JJ has played more college and NFL football than Trey Lance.
So I don't see why you couldn't just trade for JJ,
which wouldn't be much because one thing Kevin O'Connell said
to Dan Patrick a week ago in Tahoe was when
Dan was kind of messing with him, he also brought
up Carson Wentz, and would you be comfortable going into

(50:26):
a season with Kyler Murray and Carson Wentz your quarterback room.
They'd probably land some random like third stringer, but there
are going to be other teams that had good grades
on the guy that had Even if you had like
a top fifty grade on the guy. So it's like, yeah,
we might not take him the first round, but we
thought it was a second round quarterback. Well we can
get him for like a sixth rounder. You would have

(50:48):
to entertain it. And if he doesn't win the job,
are you gonna make JJ McCarthy the backup? I just
don't see that. I see Carson Wentz being the backup.
He's been a backup for a while now. Like JJ,
he's kind of a no man's land. Well, if he's
your third stringer, like what reps, you're just gonna have
him run the scout team. I think you just punt,
and I think it's easier to punt assuming And I

(51:10):
don't know this did what did Seattle and specifically this
new GM think of JJ McCarthy because if you told
me that he does not like JJ McCarthy, I think
it's pretty easy to punt on him. If and when
he doesn't win the job, I would say the Chargers
would be very much at play, yes, and then Trey
Lance might just stay there too, maybe just have them

(51:32):
battle it out. But there would be other teams at play.
There would be other gms and offensive staffs that like
JJ McCarthy in college would be as a Steeler fan
since the late fifties. I love my team. My question
is this, how do the local sports writers see the

(51:52):
team with such rose colored glasses? Aaron Rodgers, please, McCarthy
twice fired. We have some down years ahead of us.
McCarthy's been pretty good in his career. McCarthy's been pretty good,
and Rogers was a huge upgrade for you guys. I
think the question mark is is this year gonna look

(52:14):
exactly like the last couple of years where you're just
nine tennis wins and just one and done? Rogers posted
that picture on Instagram. Looked like in Montana or something,
hanging with all the boys wearing cowboy hats, riding some horses,
probably throwing the pigskin a little bit. I think I
do think you're gonna get Aaron's and Mike who's from

(52:35):
that area to honestly, the offense probably gonna be better.
I think the question mark is is your defense any good?
And this TJ. Watt situation like is he just is
he just over the hill? Can you guys cover anybody?
I got more questions defensively than I do. I think
offensively you're gonna be definitely more explosive than you were

(52:58):
last year because he had one wide receiver. You bring
in Pittman and your draft what's his name from Alabama
in the second round. You know if they get anything
out of the running back from Iowa that you drafted
the last year in the third round that fumbled the
ball last year on the goal line. All time bad play.
The red cart in soccer is the biggest fugazi in
any sport. Getting ejected and having to play a man

(53:19):
down the remainder of the current match while also being
suspended for the next match is such a turn off
for a viewer like myself who really enjoyed the World Cup.
As a non soccer guy, I can separate these two things.
As a non soccer guy, I do have to kind
of respect. It's the biggest sport in the world. It's
been played like this ever since I can remember watching
soccer on television. It's like, those are their rules, those

(53:42):
are their rules. There are some stupid rules that we
have in a lot of sports right that if you
were from New Zealand or Scotland or whatever, you'd be like, wait,
what just happen? The guy fumbled it went over the
pylon out of bounds. Now the other team gets on
the twenty yard line. Be hard to understand. You're watching

(54:03):
college football, You're like, wait, the guy just jumped up
to tackle the guy and he got kicked out of
the game and he has to miss the first half
of next game. Like there'd be a lot of rules
if you were fourignto the sport baseball, basketball, football, golf, tennis,
You're like, what's going on? Tennis and golf are bad
examples because they're international sports, but definitely football, and I

(54:27):
would say the new rules in basketball some of the
end of game situations, So like that's they're rules now
sitting where I'm sitting with you, Like it's insane. You
get kicked out of the game and then you got
to miss the entire next game. And how are not
all red cards created equal? It's like I accidentally stepped
on your foot or whatever whatever I do, is that

(54:50):
the same penalty as if I punch you in the face? Like,
how are once we crossed the red card threshold? Like
there are some crimes you get a year in jail.
There are other crimes that you get twelve years in jail.
There are other crimes you get life in jail, but
you're going to jail. Shouldn't a red card once you
get kicked out of the game? And I'm with you, like,

(55:11):
can't bring anyone else in the game. You know, in football,
when the guy get kicks out of the game for
punching a guy or spearing the guy or whatever, you
bring in the backup to take a spot. Can you
imagine in football they're like, you know, we're gonna try
out the red card idea that if you get ejected
you have to play a man down the rest of
the game. That would be insane, It's crazy, but that's

(55:33):
their rules. I'm with you. Who wasn't was Argentina in Sweden.
I was kind of watching more of the fights than
that that game. But wasn't Sweden a man down? They
get a guy get a red card in that game
and they were playing a man down the rest of
the game. I wanted to share something that drives me
nuts with the NBA that I'm sure you probably agree with.

(55:55):
I really hate when star players who get their way
in every way imaginable, then complain when things don't go
all in and claim the organization failed them. In particular,
I'm talking about Giannis. He basically had the Bucks organization
by the balls for the last decade. They gave in
to all his demands. They fired Budenholzer, They hired the

(56:17):
coach he wanted, then fired him when he refuses to
kiss Giannis's ass. They traded an arm and a leg
for wash Dame Lillard, and not to mention, they kept
his brother, who couldn't play in the G League, on
the roster. Like, okay, dude, request the trade. You know
you're not gonna win in Milwaukee, but don't play this
victim bullshit. Like the organization failed you. You played a
large role on it. Is it their fault for actually

(56:39):
making those moves. I'm in total agreement that the top
NBA players that want to wield their sword get everything
they want. And it's kind of been that way forever.
I mean stories about Magic Johnson getting guys fired. Did
Michael Jordan get Doug Collins fired? Players have been gotten
coaches fired forever. They also, more and more now dictate

(57:03):
the front office and through the contract. I have a
bigger issue I don't know enough about the details of
Like you know, obviously they did everything humanly possible for you,
honest I haven't really seen him play the victim. Maybe
I've missed the interview or whatever. I haven't really seen that.
I mean even last year. Remember they were trying to
tank and he wanted to come back and he kind

(57:24):
of was like Max Crosby pissed off. So I maybe
I'm wrong, but I haven't seen that as much. I
have a bigger issue with this. It's like Anthony Davis.
I was looking at this the other day because it
was like, do the Warriors need a trade for Anthony
Davis to convince Lebron because Anthony Davis wants a contract extension.

(57:45):
It's like he's gonna be a free agent. Then I
looked he's being paid fifty eight million dollars this year
and sixty two million dollars next year. He's got two
years left on his contract for one hundred and twenty
million dollars. It's like the Celtics had to punt on
Jalen Brown. Who's time for a contract extension, who's a
free agent? No, he has three more years on his
contract the NBA needs. It's one thing if you got

(58:05):
Jokic or career Lebron in their prime, But like Jalen
fucking Brown, who they struggled to trade, who's got three
years left on his contract. When his agent goes time
for an extension, you go no. Why can't more teams
say this? No, That's what I don't understand. Anthony Davis
wants to go Anthony, you're making fifty eight million dollars

(58:27):
this year and sixty two million dollars next year. We'll
see a training camp, Bud October first, be there, b Square,
can't wait looking forward to you, Aj Debonds and Trey Young.
That's why I don't understand last year of your contract
or whatever, or the super great players, but like once,
you're not like a top five or six players, which

(58:48):
you honest, most of his life has been now. I
it baffles me being an nbagm and just having like
their agent Benju. I just don't understand why you can't
say no. I don't get it. Okay, come more. Do
you think that the current structure of the Packers is
a bonus or detriment to winning titles? I mean, would

(59:09):
they be better off with an owner, someone who could
just go all in and get the pieces needed right
now to close the deal and win big. Feels like
they run things obviously very well, but more just straight
business and less straight up owner passion to win. I
feel like the board of directors is always just playing
it safe. I love that we always seem to have

(59:32):
a competitive team, and maybe that should be enough love
to hear your thoughts. Uh, I mean, I think you
guys have been pretty good for a long time. I
mean they just made a move trading the two first
round picks and Kenny Clark for Micah Parsons that I
would say type move that owners make, so I don't
think it would change much. I actually think it's probably

(59:54):
been the opposite of a detriment and been a positive
because you've had Ron Wolf, Ted Thompson now Udican's like
clearly pretty good their job, so I I I don't
think it's been a detriment at all. Bonus question, if
you look at every player that played in major, that
played in Major or had his best play for a

(01:00:14):
team and did an all time NFL season or team ranking,
who do you think would have the best roster in
the NFL? I would say the Chiefs easily, Mahomes best
being the best player I've ever seen. With the mix
of offensive defense we've had throughout the team history, Kelsey,
Derek Thomas, Tyre Kill, Tony Gonzalez, Jamal Charles. I think
most teams would have pretty loaded groups, you know. I mean,

(01:00:36):
the Patriots would be pretty incredible, The Broncos would be
pretty unreal. The forty nine Ers, I mean, would be
pretty fucking awesome. The Packers would be pretty stacked. It's like, oh,
who are your quarterbacks? Uh, you know, quarterback competition Prime
Rodgers probably far. I mean, it's like, I think they're

(01:01:00):
be a list of like six seven teams. I think
Denver would be elite. I think forty nine Ers. I
think the Patriots and the twenty plus years if you
just mix and match all the players they had, the
New York Giants, can you imagine the defense they could
throw together? Cool little offseason exercise for a different day.

(01:01:23):
Who would be like a sleeper? Cowboys obviously would be
pretty unreal. With Steelers be a lot of the historic
teams because you can mix a match. The Bears would
just be the eighty five Bears with Caleb Vikings fan here,
What do you think about the moves the new GM
has made, grabbing front office staff from Seattle and the
analystic guy from Cleveland. I'm not sure the real quarterback

(01:01:45):
battle is but does it matter if Kyler is serviceable
if JJ. If JJ improves, the quarterback play should be better.
Last year, the quarterback room was bottom five and they
went nine to eight. I saw that he hired Federer,
the old panther GM that he worked with for a
long time, who Schneider's right hand guy. Has to be

(01:02:06):
an upgrade. They got rid of Grigson, who I mean
for a couple of years stretch you would say Questy
and Grigson Grigson were the worst combo in the NFL.
That doesn't get any worse than that. And the drafting
speaks for itself historically poor drafting. So you fire Quessie,
he fires Grigson, brings the news to I don't know
anything about the analytic guy. I think they just need

(01:02:30):
They just needed some new blood in that front office
at the top. So by all accounts, this guy's really impressive.
I don't know him personally. I actually got put on
with someone else a group text with him. He never
text me back. So I'm rooting for you. But think
about this. For the last handful of years they have

(01:02:52):
had Kevin O'Connell and Brian Flores as your offensive and
defensive coordinator, and they've had excellent rosters, Like can you
imagine if Howie or John Schneider or Jason Light or
like the top GMS had Jason Light. Last year was
the deal on with the Todd Bowles and an offensive
coordinator that clearly was kind of struggling and Baker was

(01:03:12):
banged up. And listen, I like Todd, nice guy, but
I think we all agree it's like Todd's might be
a little trouble. I got Mike Tomlin, you know, keep
an eye on that one. But yeah, I think big
picture of Minnesota is gonna be fine. I'm not buying.
I'm out this year. I'm out this year. I know

(01:03:35):
they went nine and eight, but at one point in
time there were four and eight. This was a question
about drafting Brennan Soresby, So this whe he thought before
Brennan Soresby got in the supplemental draft, should the Cardinals
draft Soresby. I know he's projected to have been a
late first round pick or early second round pick. Arizona
picked up Carson Beck. Jacoby is in the NFL's Most

(01:03:57):
hilarious holdout. It's also embarrassing for us, although I understand
and support them getting paid. Just a bit awkward. I
saw he had a picture of all the guys working
out with him in Florida. I talked about this before
I went on vacation. But the Soresby thing, one, I
give him credit, Like, you can't be suing the league
on this, like wave the white flag, buddy, and they did.
They just they gave up. But I do think the league, like, yeah,

(01:04:22):
Cordinals should be very interested in Soresby, but like you
don't want to get rushed into using a second round
pick in the supplemental draft if he was gonna be allowed.
I don't think the teams felt comfortable one with. You know,
obviously the gambling thing. It's like, is this guy addicted
to the gambling or not? Like what the fuck's going on?
But also like we need to do some digging on

(01:04:43):
this guy because it's the most important position on our team.
So if we're gonna use a pick, like can we
have a normal season. So when you evaluate all these
quarterbacks most people I know in the NFL, one thing
they will just kind of occasionally do on vacation is
just watch the top players right in college. So over

(01:05:04):
the course of the summer when they kind of got
some downtime, they will just watch a lot of the
top college players. So going into the season, and if
you have an area, you've probably already peaked at him,
and you've done that throughout some of the offseason, you
have a pretty good idea of going into Week one
the strengths and weaknesses a lot of the first couple
round guys. Obviously things change, but like then you build

(01:05:27):
your report, your questions revolve around what you know, what
you've seen, what you want to get to know. That's
just on the field, let alone off the field. So
I think the league did the right thing because it
would have forced teams like someone could have gotten just
burn bad and listen, he might end up being a

(01:05:48):
bad NFL player. Who knows, but that that would have
been a shitty situation to rush into it if you're Arizona,
because you also you just drafted Carson Beck. What if
you just let Carson Beck play this year? What if
he's good? What if Carsonck ends up starting twelve games
this year? It's like, oh, we'll just roll back. He's like,
look like Tyler shuck. I don't expect it to happen,
but you just you never know when. On that one audiose,

(01:06:11):
appreciate everyone listening and we will talk. Minyatta. The volume