3 & Out - Justin Tucker suspended, NBA Draft vs. NFL Draft, NFL players are more relatable

John opens the show talking about the breaking news from the day that saw former Ravens Tucker get handed a 10 week suspension after the NFL found that he violated its personal conduct policy and John talks about if he thinks Tucker will ever kick another football in the NFL. Next, John talks about the difference between the top players in the NBA Draft and the NFL Draft and how it relates to Arch Manning. Later, John discusses Aaron Rodgers, how he feels his body will be able to handle the cold weather in Pittsburgh and if he thinks this will in fact be his final season in the NFL. Also, the return of Fugazi Friday!

Finally, John answers your questions in this episode's mailbag segment.

5:14 - Justin Tucker suspended

8:49 - NFL Draft vs. NBA Draft

24:57 - Robert Kraft talks owning an NFL team

30:00 - The end for Rodgers

34:50 - Fugazi Friday

46:09 - Mailbag

Follow John on Twitter, Instagram and YouTube for the latest. Check out Gametime - the fastest growing ticketing app in the US, and the official ticketing app of 3 & Out and GoLow -  for tickets to all of your favorite NFL, NBA, NHL, NCAA teams. Concert and comedy show tickets, too. Go to Gametime now to create an account, download the app and use code JOHN for $20 off your first purchase. #Volume #Herd

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
The volume What is going on Everybody? John middlecof thuring
Out podcast back in the studios in Scottsdale, Arizona where

(00:22):
it's really hot. And today we'll talk a little football
because Justin Tucker was suspended by the NFL, probably ending
his career, so we'll dive into that. Off the top,
a couple of things, arch manning some parallels with Cooper Flag.
I thought there was a symbolic moment in the Oklahoma

(00:45):
City Thunders celebration and how it relates to the popularity
between football and basketball. Robert Craft had some comments and
terms of his franchise. Aaron Rodgers obviously always a topic.
We'll do a little mail bag as well. A lot
of you guys asking about the the television experience and
want to hit on a couple of things there. In
terms of Colin, I mean, it was like I got

(01:09):
a front row seat to watch like Steph Curry to
shoot threes. I was like, God, this guy is so
good at his job. Was a inspiring week to see
Colin up close and personal just cook on a show.
So we'll touch on that as well as Fugazi Friday
play on Internet. Man, I do want to dive into
something for Gazi Friday, and we'll do a big mail

(01:31):
bag at John Middlecoff at John Middlecoff as the Instagram
firing those dms. Get your questions answered here on the show.
Fourth of July is next week. My favorite holiday by far, Sunpool,
Lake Beers, America, just a combination of everything I love.
So we'll get ready for Fourth of July next week.
I don't quite have my schedule dialed in for next week,

(01:52):
but we'll dial it in. I'll keep you updated. We'll
have a couple podcasts next week though for sure. Other
than that, make sure you subscribe to three Now podcasts.
Obviously everything up on YouTube as well, and then yeah,
keep you covered. So as long as you're subscribed to
the podcast, subscribe to the YouTube channel, you will not
miss a thing. But first, before we dive in, do

(02:13):
some football. Do you know I need to tell you
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(02:36):
Like you know what, there is something pretty special about
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lot in my career. Let's start with the breaking news today,

(03:20):
and I've said this forever. When it comes to these situations,
everyone has a million takes, especially with social media. No
one actually knows except the people involved. Even the NFL,
the teams, they never know. They take educated guesses. I
mean some of these teams and these leagues obviously have
I would say private investigator type people working for them

(03:43):
and trying to glean information. But they're not the police
that they can't serve a warrant. And today, when Justin
Tucker was suspended for ten games, I think it unofficially
ended his career. Now, you could argue his career ended
when the Ravens cut him, and I would say it
was very much jeopardy. I would say now it's it's
unofficially over. No one's ever touching him, and I think

(04:05):
the league suspended him. Maybe more information comes out by
the time that you hear this over the next twelve,
you know, eighteen hours. But it's not like he has
said that he's guilty. It's not like that he has
made a decision to strike some deal with these women.
So his stance hasn't changed. And I think they look
back on the Deshaun Watson situation. Remember before DeShawn got suspended,

(04:30):
it played out in the public eye for a long time,
and guess what that's bad for business? Now, I think
we all agree that if you are a multi million millionaire,
famous athlete and you are dabbling with massage therapists over
and over and over, you're a fucking clown. Like you're
a loser. You deserve anything that comes your way. In

(04:52):
terms of if shit hits go sideways, even if they
are down, it's like, that's probably not a great decision.
You don't need to be doing this now. I'm not
some moral high horse guy. I don't care you're married,
you're not married. Everyone can make their own decisions. But
justin Tucker put himself in this situation clearly, and just

(05:12):
like Deshaun Watson, and the league wants no part of it.
And unlike Deshaun Watson years ago, he was going to
be given other opportunities because at the time, people went, well,
he's a young quarterback. You're an old kicker who wasn't
making kicks last year. See ya, audios, Cyanara. No one's
going to feel bad for you, right, wrong or indifferent,
because again we have no information. I don't think the
NFL has information to know, you know, in concrete that

(05:35):
the guy's guilty. I don't think they care, you know,
what they want him to go away. And sometimes when
your talent exceeds you know, in terms of what you
bring off the field, in terms of problems and issues,
you can get away with stuff. We've seen it forever. Actresses, actors,
people in music, obviously athletes, but all those people, and

(05:58):
specifically in sports where they're is a cut and dry.
You either producer, you don't and the moment you stop producing,
see you later. And there is no position that gets
quicker thrown over the side of the boat than a
special team's position. So Justin Tucker, who for a long
period of time I think was considered, at least in
my life, the best kicker. You would say Vinitari was

(06:19):
the most clutch, but just in terms of talent, a
guy that was the ultimate weapon who could kick in
the elements from sixty plus yards. Remember he had a
sixty five whatever yard game winner against the Lions. I
think it's safe to say that thing is over, mainly
because we don't want to deal with your headlines anymore.
So it's going to say former NFL player, former Baltimore

(06:42):
Raven in the headlines when Justin Tucker is dealing with
this situation. Moving forward, the draft, I'm a sucker for
the draft that there was an incredible shot after the
Miami Heat made a draft pick and pat Riley, who
honestly looks incredible for Adie years old, as someone who
just looked at myself on TV, I'm like, God, I

(07:03):
am a fattus. I need to go on a massive
summer diet. No more sugars, no more desserts. It's over
Like it's just like I've been eating way too many sugars.
I see it. I see some of these guys. It's like,
what is pat Riley eating? I want his diet, and
obviously he's got good genetics. But their draft room is
literally just on a basketball court in the facility. Now,

(07:25):
in fairness, in the NBA, unlike the NFL, the draft's
a little different. It's not as important. I mean, good
teams sometimes go years without even having picks. It doesn't
necessarily matter. In the NFL, the draft room is kind
of a special holy place in the building slash facility,
Like it's a really big deal. I remember the first

(07:46):
time I ever walked in the draft room when I
got hired in Philly. It felt like I had made it,
like I had climbed Mount Everest I'm like, I'm actually
in a place where players are drafted. That's not the
case in the NBA. It's not an Apple Dapples comparison.
But I do think the power of any draft and
it's no different in the NFL or the NBA, though

(08:07):
the NFL is much deeper. Right, you know, we don't
expect you to find a starter, hel to find a
guy that might be on your roster in the twenties.
If you find a rotational guy in the NBA, that's
like your eighth or ninth band a picked twenty six,
that's a home run. We expect you to find pro
bowlers on the second day, several starters on the third day,
like undrafted free agents that will make your team. So

(08:29):
it's it's completely different. But drafts or star driven. And
we saw last night with Cooper flag who is just
a big, big time basketball star and a big, big
time basketball prospect. And it was interesting. And I was
watching though my takeaway and I was watching on my
iPad in the on the plane. It's Fugazi Friday. By

(08:50):
the way, I have a good Fugazi coming up. That
the draft coverts was terrible. I mean, I'm not trying
to be an asshole or anything. Live TV tough, I
get it, but whatever was going on, I was watching
on ESPN's the worst draft coverage I've ever seen. Honestly,
I was embarrassed if I was Adam Silver, like there

(09:11):
has to be some sort of discussion, we got to
do better, Like this can't. This can't be where we're at.
If it was the NFL, people would have freaked. I
couldn't get over how terrible I mean terrible the product was, truly,
and it's someone that I watched the Major League Baseball draft.
I'm a sucker for drafts. It couldn't have been much worse.

(09:33):
I mean, listen, having Kendrick perkint, what the fuck are
you guys doing? Embarrassment. But that's a conversation for another day.
I do think when you look at the NFL draft,
like pretty dependent. The biggest drafts typically have star quarterbacks.
And I think the one thing about this upcoming year
in college football and listen, there are some big name

(09:54):
guys that are returning right neuss Meyer's one of them.
Sellers at South Carolina, arch Manning's headliner, and he's really
not even played. I would say that arch Manning coming
into the season, He's the Heisman favorite. Most people think
Texas has the talent to compete slash win a national championship.
They opened the season against Ohio State Week one. I mean,

(10:15):
what a game. I don't remember a guy getting so
much hype coming into the year without ever playing, I
mean typically and viewed as the number one overall draft pick.
If you think in recent memory, Caleb Williams and Trevor Lawrence,
both those guys started playing from their freshman year. Trevor
won the job as a true freshman, Caleb Williams came

(10:36):
in in the middle of that year with Spencer Ratler
and they never look back. And then their hype by
their sophomore year became because of what they were doing
on the field. The Arch Manning hype is really all
he's a Manning and obviously Hugh nil big time recruit,
like he's got the physical characteristics we think, but what's
it actually going to look like? And I would expect

(11:00):
Ohio State Texas to I don't want to say set
records because I mean some of these games the last
couple of years have had a lot of people watching.
But if you told me fifteen million people watch that
at nine am Pacific Standard time on August thirtieth. I'd
believe you, because everyone's gonna want to watch this player.
And I will say this, if Archie Manning plays well,

(11:24):
let's say it's pretty clear, like he's pretty good, win
or lose that game. Because now at the college football playoff,
even if even if Texas were to lose, Hell, they
could probably lose two more games and still make the
the you know, to the playoffs. But definitely that winner.
Losing that game for either one of those teams does
not determine whether they are going to win the national
championship or be in the final four. We saw that

(11:44):
last year hell with Ohio State, who didn't even play
in their conference championship game. But I will say this,
if he plays well in that game, if you think
the hype's strong now, and the hype is huge, and
Steve Spear said last week, how could a guy be
this hyped and not beat out a seventh round pick
on his own team? And He's not alone. I've seen

(12:04):
other people say that, like, how how could arch Manning
not beat out Queen yours quin Yours was lucky to
be drafted. It's like, well, there were some variables, the
nil factors in arch Manning being I mean, let's face it,
coming from wealth and money and a family that has
perspective on the sport in the business is also different.
If his name was instead arch Manning, it was Arch

(12:27):
middlcough and he was like every other college football player. Yeah,
they probably would have had to make a decision last year.
You're the starting this guy who's gonna go in the
transfer portal and he's gonna be starting at Alabama, he's
gonna be starting at Georgia, he's gonna be starting at Florida,
he's gonna be starting wherever. But you better make him
the starter or he's gone. They got lucky that they
weren't forced. And the other thing was the year before.

(12:48):
Never forget. It's the biggest bet I've ever made. I
put almost eight thousand dollars on the University of Washington
Kaylin de Boor against that Texas team. I love their advantage.
I came within a couple of yards of los all
that money because quinn Ewers in Texas was driving to
win the game. At the end of it. That was
the final four. This wasn't a bowl game. This was

(13:09):
the final four to go to the National Championship, where
obviously Washington wins and then gets their ass kicked by
Jim harbughd Michigan. But it's not like Texas had been
an eight and five team the year previously. Quinn EWRS
was coming off a season where they were one of
the four best teams in the country and had Washington,
who was in the National Championship, had a chance to
win that game with a couple of minutes left to go.

(13:29):
I think it was like actually under a minute, so
a lot of variables. I understand why he sat, but
now that he's playing, the hype is going to be outrageous.
Marcus Thompson who writes for The Athletic. He's based in
the Bay Area. He has covered the Warriors ever since
I've left the Eagles and come back, and I would

(13:50):
say this about Marcus. No one has a better and
closer relationship in the media with Steph Curry than Marcus Thompson,
and I'd say he knows the Warriors as well as
any human being alive that covers sports. He was covering

(14:11):
the finals, I think for the Athletic and put something
out the other day that said after the celebration for
the Oklahoma City Thunder that he's never seen a more
tempered and less enthusiastic celebration, especially when it came to drinking.
He's like, the guys didn't even know how to order champagne,

(14:32):
let alone half of them, and never even drank a beer.
And I've been saying this for a while that one
thing the NFL has going for itself right now is relatability.
And I think basketball, Rick Patino said the other day,
he's like, twenty thirty years ago, He's like, when I
got involved in the NBA in the nineties, basketball, the

(14:53):
NBA and the NFL were like this. College football and
college basketball were like this. Everything was even. And I
agree in the nineties the NBA, with Michael Jordan and
its group of stars surrounding him, were fucking enormous that
they were more important culturally to the sports consumer than

(15:14):
clearly they are now the ratings speaker for themselves. I
also think their guys had a relatability. Like NFL, Michael
Jordan drank beers, Michael Jordan gambled, Dwayne Wade, and Lebron
James sip wine. Now these players do not drink Now
you could argue culturally gen Z drinks less than any

(15:35):
generation in the history of America. Yet when I watched
the NFL guys, hell, did you see tight End University?
Who are they sponsored by bud Light? What were all
the star players that were at that concert the other night?
Were Taylor Swift doing shotgunning and slamming beers? I remember,
for the last couple of years, when the Kansas City
Chiefs have won the AFC championship or a playoff game,

(15:57):
Creed Humphreys and Trey Smith, their two linemen, go in
to the concourse, go to a bar and order twelve,
like ten twelve backs of bud Light and carry it
all back in the locker room. And you're gonna think
I'm crazy, but I promise you this the drinking element
of football. Knowing that these players just slam beers is

(16:18):
an element that the NBA has lost. And when I
saw that celebration and these guys have never tried beer,
I went, it's kind of weird. I really believe that.
And you can say, middle God, you're fugging nuts. This
is so stupid, Okay, Like there's a reason that one
thing I think that's so stupid is the Lebron and
Jordan debate, because no one's ever changing their mind, but

(16:42):
one element of someone like me and I think most
people in my life agree with me on Michael is
we just like Michael Moore. Michael in a weird way
for a guy that's actually not that relatable, does more
relatable things. Charles Barkley is outspoken about how much he
like drinks and hangs out, plays golf, just kicks it.
And I think there's an element that to that to

(17:04):
the football guys. And I was talking at when I
was at the hotel with Rick Buker and we were
discussing like how the players have changed and how you
know it's hard for players now to listen to coaches.
We're talking about the basketball players and it's very rare.
You just saw Thibodeau getting fired. You know, in football,
most of us human beings, right, whether it's our wife,

(17:24):
whether it's who we work for, we're constantly getting either
yelled at, coached, criticized. We're kind of used to it. Well.
Basketball players like it's never my fault, it's always someone
else's fault. So it's like I'm always pointing the blame
on someone else and they get fired. And let's face it,
in fairness to the basketball players, an average player now
makes twenty five thirty million dollars, right, I mean it's

(17:47):
Max Crosby makes thirty million, Miles Garrett makes thirty million dollars.
You get mid level stars making thirty eight forty million dollars.
So from a financial standpoint, they're living in La la land.
And then the way their lives work in terms of
they don't have to listen to anyone that is definitely
not relatable. Because if you're a football player, literally every position,
especially lineman. So even if I'm Trent Williams or Miles Garrett,

(18:10):
my coach is on my ass when I screw up.
And there's a humility that comes with that. Why because
I'm used to, I would say, getting criticized, getting pushed,
getting pointed in a different direction than I believe. It's true.
It's a very humanizing thing. And I'm telling you the
symbolism of the basketball guys not drinking at all, which

(18:32):
is understandable that they're a league, I would say that
their weed use is probably one hundred percent. Most of
their guys are getting stoned out of their mind and
playing video games. Not that that doesn't happen in the NFL,
but I would say that they have an isolated feel
that football still has more of a crossover appeal, and

(18:52):
that's something no one ever talks about. But I promise
you I'm a big believer that there's like an unquant
a fiable part of that that resonates with human beings,
and the culture of football resonates with more Americans than
the culture of basketball. Pro golfers drive for show and

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Robert Kraft called the last two years the worst years
of his ownership, and it's like, well, yeah, Robert, one, listen.

(21:09):
The Belichick thing got weird at the end. They didn't
have a quarterback. It was an embarrassment. But for twenty
plus years, the Patriots were the equivalent of like striking oil.
It'd be like living in the nicest house in the neighborhood,
flying private jets, eating anywhere they wanted, going to any
country club they wanted. They were the elites, and everyone

(21:32):
idolized what they had. And these last couple of years
it's like it probably felt like they lost everything. And
for Robert Kraft, it's like what you went through for
twenty years with Bill and Brady one that's never gonna
happen again. It's just the equivalent what they just did
would be like the Chiefs maintaining this for another thirteen
The Chiefs has gone seven years living high on the

(21:54):
Hawk and asking an a Chiefs fan probably like this
has been fucking incredible. This has been un real. This
has been awesome. But if it went fifteen years, that
means more than double what it's already been. That would
be insane. It's not gonna happen. And listen the age
when Belichick took over for the Patriots. I think he

(22:16):
was forty nine or fifty years old. You know, Andy
is now in his mid sixties, So even for him
to go another ten years, he'd be in his mid seventies.
Is he gonna be coaching then? You know, I think
that's it's fair to say that might be unlikely. But
I think the NFL and these owners are so big.
I'm like everyone having a good time. And Mike Lombardi,

(22:36):
before he went with Belichick, used to talk about this
like they're so big on committees and everyone having good
football is not a good time. It just isn't football
in a weird way. The games are fun, but the
process of the grind of working out of training, of
practicing a film study, it's not all like rainbows, unicorns

(22:57):
and smiles. It's a lot of f bombs. It's a
lot of sleepless nights. It's a lot of people on edge.
And even I made a comment when Julian Edelman was
on the show, and I was like, you know this,
the Niner schedule is really easy. He took offense to that.
You know why because for fifteen years when he was
in the Patriots operation and in their building, if you

(23:19):
ever mentioned out loud an opponent wasn't good enough, opponent's easy,
this is gonna be an easy win, you would have
been lit the fuck up. He can't even comprehend that,
which I totally understand. And he's not living in the
world I am where I just look at a schedule,
I go, that's an easy win. That's an easy win.
That's not how Belichick operated, That's not how most coaches operate.

(23:40):
And well, Vrabel is different than Bill. One of the
reasons he was run out of Tennessee is like people
were on edge. It wasn't a fun environment for the owner.
So if you want to win in the NFL, most
guys are not Andy Reid where he's like pretty happy
in a good mood. Kyle Shanahan is miserable. Lafleura doesn't

(24:03):
seem mister happy all the time. You think the Harbob
Brothers are like smile ear to ear on a daily basis.
I think Tomlin's just thrilled every day walking through the
front door. Part of winning in the NFL, which brings
a ton of money. Ask the crafts what all those
wins meant for their bank account. A lot comes with
people being pissed off, comes with people being angry, comes

(24:26):
with an edge to your organization. So I get it
sucks to loose it does I mean, no one would
argue that, But to think, even if you just start
winning again, it's gonna be fun. I mean, part of
the reason you ran Belichick out because he wouldn't listen
to you, but you couldn't fire him when he was winning,
even though you didn't like him. So I think sometimes

(24:46):
people want their cake and to eat it too. It's like,
I love this beautiful girl who's tall, cooks cleans, who
makes a bunch of money, who leaves me alone on
the weekends, let me play golf, great in bed. It's like, yeah,
good luck, have fun. Probably not gonna that last, but
not least Rogers. We have seen the end of some
of these quarterbacks, his contemporaries, right, Tom Peyton, Breeze, Roethlisberger.

(25:10):
All these guys are gonna go Hall of Fame, and
they've all ended a little bit differently. And I would
say the one thing Tom differs from Peyton Breese and
ben Is. Those guys fell apart physically. Peyton Manning his
last year, could not throw the ball. Drew Brees. I
think I saw a headline the other day that said
when he plays catch with his children, he has to

(25:33):
use his left hand because his right. His right arm
doesn't work. He has such bad arthritis in his shoulder. Obviously, Roethlisberger,
once he had the Tommy John it kind of stopped working.
And Tom Brady was forty five, he no longer wanted
to get hit. Don't blame him. But physically he was
the same as he was at forty or thirty five

(25:54):
years old. His arms still worked as well as it
had been for years. The problem is team wasn't as good.
Remember they couldn't run the ball his last season with
Tampa and they he had to throw the ball NonStop,
and their offensive line had some injuries, and he was
getting peppered. So when I look at Aaron Rodgers, to me,
there are only just two outcomes. Like one. His body

(26:14):
in terms of his arm is fine. He can still
throw the ball. Maybe he doesn't throw the ball as
well as when he was thirty years old, but like
his arm strength relative to the rest of the NFL
is not only more than capable, he probably has still
top six to seven arm in the league. So to me,
I'm not worried about like Breeze, Peyton Manning and Drew
Brees his arm not working. But I do think it's

(26:37):
fair to say can't stay healthy. I mean last year,
clearly he got injured a couple times. He kind of
battled through it, and he was a shell of himself.
Obviously two years ago he tore his achilles. So to me,
it's like, can he stay healthy for seventeen games? Because
if you tell me right now that Aaron Rodgers starts
seventeen games, I go, yeah, I can see them being
pretty good. But you know, when you compare him to

(26:58):
the far of year with Minnesota or even that Peyton
Manning year with his last year when his arm didn't work,
those teams were loaded. Peyton Manning had the best defense
in the NFL that year. That defense is one of
the best defenses I've ever seen, and clearly he didn't
have to do that much. Right FARV had Adrian Peterson,
who was like twenty three years old, rushing for fifteen

(27:20):
to twenty touchdowns a year. So when you look. And
I texted a buddy in the league. I said, how
good do you think the Steelers are? He's like, I
think their roster this year compared to last year's pretty similar.
He's like, You're a little higher on the Iowa running
back than me, but he should be good for them.
The defensive tackle they drafted in the first round solid, obviously,
if TJ's healthy, their defense should be pretty good if

(27:42):
TJ and Mikott could stay on the field. But yeah,
I mean that's probably pretty similar to what they've been
so really, their only hope for them to be improved
would be Rogers being healthy and playing well. And one
thing that's difficult, and this is where the far comparison
with Minnesota is when you're old, playing in a dome

(28:05):
is a lot easier. Playing outside in the AFC North
in games that are twenty thirty degrees are hard on
your body, are hard on your joints, even if you're
used to doing it. I don't think it's random that
Tom Brady excelled for a couple of years, leaving New
England down to a warm weather client climate like obviously

(28:26):
Rogers and Tom flourished in cold weather for a long time, right,
but once you get older and listen, I can speak
to this like I hate the cold. I don't want
to be a part of it, especially as your body,
like parts of your body that hurt that used to
not hurt. Heat is easier on it, playing inside is
easier on it. It's why we can be critical of
certain quarterbacks over the years, like, yeah, Jared Goff has

(28:48):
some limitations outside. Guess what he played for LA and
now Detroit in a dome. Yeah, brock Perty's not a
great weather quarterback. He plays in fucking Santa Clara doesn't
impact him as much. So well, that to me is
something to keep an eye on the cold, how it's
on his body and can the guy stay healthy, because listen,
he's going to be a huge story all season long.

(29:09):
Everything he says, everyone has an opinion on it. He
also says some things, it's like you're never gonna see
me again. I saw someone's like eron you tried to
become the Jeopardy host while you were an NFL quarterback,
Like let's sun act like you don't love the limelight,
and listen, I got no problem with him loving the limelight,
but just embrace it. I always say this about Lebron.
Just just embrace that. You get people traded all the time.

(29:30):
You can't take the you know, the stance like I
got nothing to do with it. I'm just a player,
just along for the ride. Now, just embrace it. Bro.
We all know. It's okay, Aaron, you like being up
in the lights, It's fine. I don't blame you. Just
just put your arms around it. Uh quick. Fugazi Friday.

(29:50):
For those that are my age and older, we grew
up in a time when the Internet didn't exist, or
at least the internet didn't exist in all of our homes,
and then we went through a transition. We had this
thing called dial up internet. And back in the late
nineties early two thousands, the thought of streaming television shows
or streaming movies wasn't just foreign, it was you couldn't

(30:13):
even comprehend it. And within you know, middle end of
the decade, all that stuff was rock and roll and
it was a big deal when you could download songs.
But we have come accustomed to if you say you
have internet, right, especially even a hotel, right, if you say, hey,
we provide internet, I do have standards of like, Okay,
I understand that I might not be able to stream

(30:36):
a podcast or a draft show from a hotel room.
I get that, but if I can't stream Netflix from
my iPad from your hotel internet, you should basically just
say you don't have internet. One thing with planes is,
you know a couple. It was last year when I
went to the Ohio the Oklahoma Texas game. I flew

(30:58):
back on JSX, which you pay a little bit more.
It's like you kind of get treated like a private airport.
You just you don't have to wait in line, you
walk right in. It's like, instead of paying two hundred
dollars for a flight, maybe it's three hundred and fifty
four hundred dollars. It's an incredible experience. They don't fly everywhere,
but they had starlink Internet. And I remember me and
Maria were flying back and it was Sunday morning and

(31:21):
I watched I think it was who was playing. Was
it Chicago Minnesota? It was some international game. So we
flew at six thirty seven in the morning, watched internet,
Starlink Internet. It was like I was at my house,
but I'm flying on Delta and they charge you ten
dollars for Internet. So you're like Hey, listen, I don't
even fly Delta, so I'm like, I bet this Internet's
pretty good. And I actually rarely pay for Internet because

(31:44):
my expectations are pretty low, Like I'll pay ten ninet
nine for Internet and then you get the Internet nothing works.
I do have a hard time in twenty twenty five
any company charging for Internet if the Internet literally I
can't even like bring up fucking Instagram like that. That's
not Internet. That's that's the fugaza you're charging me for.

(32:04):
If you are going to charge someone for Internet, it
better at least have the basic capabilities. I better be
able to like type in Google and it just show up.
I'm not asking to download seventeen movies up in the air.
I get it, you're gonna have some limitations. But I
was like, I downloaded it and thought, this is fucking nuts.

(32:25):
This really is crazy. It does not work yet I
just paid nine ninety five or ten ninety five. It's like,
you shouldn't be able to charge for something that's with
the Internet, that does not stream anything or has no
capabilities to get to the Internet. So kind of drove
me nuts. But before we get out of here, I

(32:47):
wanted to welcome everyone to chasing challenges brought to you
by Microsoft. In the NFL, just like in the business world,
overcoming obstacles is the key to success. Microsoft empowers business
decision makers with AI solutions, simplified cloud and data management,
and trustworthy response technology to turn challenges and opportunities. In
this segment, we'll explore some of the biggest challenges being
faced in the NFL and how they can overcome. What

(33:09):
challenge you're facing, Microsoft empowers you with the expertise to say,
bring it on. This week, we're discussing the challenge face
to you by NFL teams with lame duck gms and
head coaches. I saw a story today that Jason Light
and Todd Bowles have been extended and the GM. You know, Todd,

(33:31):
I think has flirted with retirement the last couple of years.
I obviously just got paid. The GM in football now,
with the cap rising, with the complexity of these contracts,
has never been more important. If you look at the
best teams, they all got the best GMS. Obviously, coach
is extremely important as well, but the GM position in
the NFL, to me, has never been more important. You
could argue the NBA too, with all the different you know,

(33:53):
salary cap floors and different aprons, Like you have to
be really dynamic. You need to understand money, you need
to understand player, the ability to evaluate talent. You got
to be able to kind of put it all under
one umbrella and kind of balance it all. So it's
it's very, very important. And I think one thing these owners,

(34:14):
you know, let's face it, that they have proven at
times to be cheap over the grass on the field.
It's like, guys, your highest paid employees are on that
grass or that turf. Wouldn't you want the best possible
thing on the ground to limit the injuries to their
lower extremities. And they're like, now we'll just we'll take
the cheaper turf, Like what are you doing? Tampa is

(34:36):
a good example for a long time, you know, for
most of my adult life, from Gruden to a bunch
of different guys in the twenty tens, now Jason Light
going through some different coaches. They've kind of bounced around,
and I think the Glazers realize, like, we got to
star a GM. We are going to build our organization. Obviously,
whenever Todd retires, Jason will hire another coach around this guy.

(34:59):
And you have seen teams like the Cowboys that are like, yeah,
we're just gonna let Mike McCarthy's contract's take him into
a lame duck here. That is such bad business. Either
fire the guy or extend the guy. And sometimes I
think it's stupid. It's like, listen, it's sports. A lot
of players planned the last year of their contract. But
it's also like, is this how you want to operate

(35:21):
a business worth five billion? Eight billion? Six billion? Pretty
bad management? So Tampa under Jason Light extending them is
the right thing to do, and props to them. That
is this week for chasing challenges. Remember Microsoft's AI solutions
empower you to take bold steps and make informed decisions,

(35:42):
sparking new ideas to help drive your business forward. With
Microsoft as your trusted partner, you can navigate your journey
with confidence, finding innovative solutions, and reaching new possibilities. Visit
Microsoft dot com slash challengers to learn more. Okay, let's

(36:10):
do a little mail bag for the people here at
John Middlecoff at John Middlecoff as the Instagram firing those dms.
Get your questions answered here on this little old podcast.
Question for the pot Senior recently on the hurt. He
did a good job. Appreciate you, buddy. What is it?
Why is everyone under selling the Vikings? I understand winning
fourteen games isn't realistic, especially with a new quarterback, but

(36:34):
they improve both their offensive and defensive lines, still have
Brian Flores and a defense that is secretly one of
the best last year with a handful of Pro Bowlers
obviously plenty of fire on offense, and not to mention,
they re signed the reigning head coach of the year
to a new five year deal. So what is missing?
Does the quarterback change matter that much? Why does this

(36:56):
team's coaching staff organization get as much respect and benefit?
Why don't they get as much respecting benefit of the
doubt as others. You're making a major change, I mean
a major change for let's just say the last five
years or since O'Connell's been there, you guys, I think
two years ago or three years ago when he lost

(37:17):
the Giants nine and eight. You know, Kevin O'Connell unreal
regular season coach playoffs, you know he needs to win
a playoff game. But listen, I'm not trying to shill
in the guy. He's good coach flores, they're coaching staffs awesome.
Cousins was throwing a bunch of touchdowns, right, Cousins was
really good player for them. Pro Bowl level guy Sam
Darnold last year. I don't have the stats in front

(37:38):
of me. He throw thirty five, thirty six touchdowns like
he was excellent. He basically just replaced Cousins and if
anything was more mobile. Now you have a guy who's
never played an NFL game ever, who's coming from an
offense in college where he didn't play like they have played.
So I do think it's fair to go, how's this
gonna go? What happens in some of these tight games

(38:02):
in the fourth quarter packers, like, how does he play?
What happens when he gets blitzed? He's never seen that
blitz before. I just don't know. So I do think
it's fair to go. It's not an indictment on the organization.
Head coach is good, defensive coordinator is good, roster is good.
You could obviously they're better than good. They're all high end.

(38:22):
If we did a coach draft, Kevin O'Connell get drafted
in like the top five Flores, I don't know him
and Fangio sala. I mean, some of the best defensive
coordinator in the league, roster's top two or three. But
the fucking quarterback, I got no clue. And I'm not
anti JJ McCarthy, but I can't just chalk a quarterback
that I've never seen play up to twelve thirteen wins

(38:44):
or make the playoffs. You can't do that. I mean,
you just do not know. Usually, young quarterbacks get to
like a soft landing spot, right Like, typically if I
hire you, even out of college at of Harvard or
Stanford or whatever, I'm not giving you are like the
biggest meeting day one. So yeah, we needed to land
this Goldman Sachs deal. He just better. You better do it.

(39:08):
And this is not college. The coach can only do
so much. He can help you out and maybe he
can run the ball a little bit more. But philosophically,
I've seen Kevin he likes to pass because he had
chances to run the ball a little bit more last
year when Sam was employed and kept calling passes. So
he's gonna call passes rightfully. So he's got the best
wide receiver in the league, excellent tight end, awesome number
two wide receiver, can JJ do that. I don't know.

(39:32):
I don't know. So that's that's that's my only reservation,
and that's everyone's reservation. What's up with the quarterback? Can
he play? No one knows, including them, including them. I
saw that you said on the Herd that your prediction
about Kyler not being on the Cardinals. It got me
thinking where would he go next year? I think the
Steelers could be a great fit with Tomlin having a

(39:54):
no bullshit coaching style, but I could also see a
team like the Raiders picking him up. Do you think
this is the best fit for Kyler? Should the Cardinals
move on after this year? Me and Coward did a
couple of things where we did the AFC and NFC
and we each like picked three different stories like kind
of quote unquote bold predictions or whatever, and one of

(40:15):
mine was that this will be Kyler Murray's last year
on the Cardinals. And let me say this, I don't
think Kyler's bad like I think he's actually one of
the more polarizings the wrong way to head scratching quarterbacks,
because on an individual play basis, on a highlight package basis,
he's a good as any quarterback in the league. The
individual plays he can make are elite, but like over

(40:36):
the course of a game, sometimes he'll just be watching me,
like what is going on? He makes a ton of money.
This is a team that I think it's incredible coward.
They got all these like stats, guys feeding stats. They
finished like second or last in the division five to
the last six years, so they have not won a lot.
He's making a ton of money. Next year is like
the last year. Whereas contracts, I think like thirty eight

(40:58):
million dollars guaranteed or something. He's still even if they
win seven eight games. Again, his value because he's gonna
make so many plays is not terrible. You'd still be
able to trade him for like a second round pick.
But how often can a guy go and not make
the playoffs year after year at quarterback when he's making
a lot of money with a GM and head coach

(41:18):
didn't draft him. So now the Cardinals could make the
playoff like they actually could be decent. They got a
lot of good players, but it's like, I don't know,
am I taking Jonathan Gannon over like McVeigh and Kyle
Obviously McVeigh is going to be the favorite to win
the Division. I think the Niners are gonna be good.
So I just think something's got to give with the
Kyler Murray situation and the Steelers, I think his mark

(41:42):
would be pretty interesting. Trying to think who else would
be out there? Steelers definitely, the Jets I could see.
I mean, this Fields thing is gonna be a disaster.
The Giants, I guess they got Jackson Darr but who knows. Yeah,
I mean I had the Steelers Aaron Rodgers. He's playing

(42:04):
one more season. He basically just said the Steelers have
no backup plan at quarterback, so they're they're kind of
in the situation that the Colts have been in for
a long time, just year to year. We'll just and
I don't blame him, Like what are they supposed to do?
We'll just figure it out next year. That's their mindset.
We'll just we'll figure it out in February. Uh, which

(42:27):
division do you think is going to be the strongest
this year? AFC West or North, NFC West or North.
It's probably gonna be the AFC West because the vast
improvements of the Chargers in the Broncos. With Carol being
a Seahawks fan, I think the NFC West could be
a sleeper, depending on Donald and Kyler with the Niners,
if they're healthy, I think the West is gonna be
really good. You could convince me you could make a

(42:48):
case in the NFC West for any of the four
teams making the playoffs. I don't think the Raiders could
make the playoffs, but like you said, they got Pete Carroll,
they got Geno Smith, they have a good draft. You
got Brock Bowers coming back. Max Crosby's happy and healthy.
That they're going to be much improved. And that division
with Denver, I mean three legit playoff teams coming into

(43:09):
the season. Denver, even if you're not the biggest bo
Knicks guy, well, they got one of the best offensive
coaches in the league and they have an elite defense.
The Chiefs just go to the playoffs every single year
and with a division every single year. And the Chargers
google Jim Harbaugh. Second year usually usually gets better. So
I actually think the AFC North comes back a little bit.

(43:29):
You know, the Bengals got a lot of weird shit
going on. Their best pass rusher hates the team and
just refuses to show up. We could argue who's right
and who's wrong. There. They're rookie pass rusher that they
drafted to replace that guy that won. We don't even
know if he's that good because he didn't have that
many sacks in college. He's leaving practice all the time

(43:49):
because there's contract stipulation is out of left field. Compare
you know, claiming his agent whatever. I don't want to
get into my new ship of all this bullshit. But
like they got probab. Yeah, their offense is awesome. Their
offense was awesome last year. Gotta play defense. Uh, So
I would say the AFC North, the Ravens are gonna
be really good. The Browns are not their quarterback situations sucks,

(44:14):
and Pittsburgh they are a rolled Aaron Rodgers ankle away
from being fucked. So I would go I think the
West is gonna be good. Both West are gonna be good.
If the Cowboys are solid, which I wouldn't just assume
the Cowboys are gonna suck would shock me. If the

(44:35):
Cowboys were a nine win team, it would not. So
then you would have the Cowboys, who do have some
really good players. If Dak can stay healthy. Let's just
say the coach is solid, and we know Washington's good
and we know the Eagles are unreal, so maybe the
East could be pretty solid. And if the Giants defense
is good, their offense probably suck. But I'm twenty eight
and getting married in September. Now, that's been a couple

(44:57):
of months since your wedding. I'm curious if there are
any notice differences from life before and after the marriage.
That's a good question and the answer is no. Now, granted,
I'm older than you, and we have lived together for
a long time, so our day to day life, I

(45:18):
would say the biggest change is that my last name
is now on her business card, on her credit cards,
on her ID. But in terms of like day to
day life of like who's going to walk the dog,
who's going to take out the trash, how we operate,
of like hey we need you know, the vacuum, the kitchen, whatever,

(45:41):
it's the same business as usual, So I I could
see where it would be. It would be a big
change if now I would imagine in twenty twenty five,
more people than ever before they get married have lived
together for a decent substantial amount of time. Obviously some
of you guys old school religious people, maybe not, but

(46:03):
I don't know. None of my friends or no one
in my life has ever gotten married without living with
the other person before. And I would say most of
those people lived with their significant other for a long time.
So I would say the biggest change in someone's relationship
in my experience is living with someone else. That is,

(46:23):
there's some getting used and even me and Maria, like
there's things like she's much cleanlier than me. I mean,
I would say, I'm not the cleanest person, but I'd
be like, I'll hit the cleaner twice a week, bring
her over, like I don't really want to do it.
I don't want to waste my time doing it. She's
big on being clean and that's a little thing. But

(46:44):
for the most part, and listen, I cold get better.
I mean, I can improve. I mean, I'll be the
first to admit have room for growth. But it once
you live with someone for a year two years, whether
you're married or not, like you either find out like
are we compatible or not. So I would say that
was figured out years years ago, and changes that had

(47:07):
to be made to sustain were made. I speak, you
killed it on the herd speak out of curiosity. The
majority of us enjoyed the watching. My question is a
hypothetically speaking, is that if a spot were ever open
up full time, would you do it? I understand if
you can't answer this, and the peak of the Herd

(47:28):
content in the middle of the off season very engaging.
I saw so many comments and I do just want
to address this. I've been thinking about, like sending Jason
McIntyre a text. The only reason I did this because
out of the blue, Coward texts me and he goes, Hey,
McIntyre's on vacation. We don't have a second, we don't
have a fill in. Would you be interested? Colin could

(47:48):
ask me, Hey, I forgot something in New York. Could
you go to New York and pick up my Stanley
that I've forgot? Do you know what my answer would
have been, yes? Why? He not only personally has meant
a lot to me professionally, He's changed my life financially
over the course of the last half decade. It's game

(48:10):
changing for me and my family. So he could ask, Hey,
you want to we need you to fill in for McIntyre,
or I need you to go to my house in
Chicago and pick up my two pair of socks that
I need to wear here in Los Angeles. I said,
no problem. So I think a lot of people are
like Middle Coffee, Like I have zero and I mean

(48:32):
zero desire for another person's job, to take a job.
This is my job, this is my life, this podcast
is I'm lucky enough the way these businesses work. Ownership
like this is mine. It's been financially very viable. Like
this is all I think about twenty four to seven,
three sixty five now, when Colin asked me to do things,

(48:55):
I just say yes. And I think that's a good
piece of advice to anyone young listening. When you get
intovolved with someone professionally and it goes well, be a
yes man, make their life easier. But this was not
like I'd never even crossed my mind to attempt to
do this, not gonna it was cool. I mean, I

(49:16):
was glad that I was asked to do it, But
I don't want to take anyone's job. I fucking want no.
There is no amount. I mean, I'd never say no
amount because I could keep residence here. I would never
move back to California, lived there for thirty five years.
I actively chose to cross an imaginary line to sit
where I'm sitting now. I mean going to LA and
obviously I spent a lot more time in Northern California.

(49:38):
It is insane. Obviously I've been there over the years
for short period of time. How many fucking people are there?
It's crazy. Clearly if you have an ungodly amount of money,
cool place to live, uh, but absolutely zero desire. I'm
also I'm not a corporate guy, like I have thrived,

(49:59):
and I've worked in the corporate world in radio after
I getting out of that. That's what I do best.
Now again, Colin needs something, I say yes, but you know,
and I appreciate all the kind words. I've also worked
in radio somewhat similar to this, of like when someone
fills in for you, people are always like, is this

(50:19):
guy angling for something? There is no angling, there is
no desire. I got a fucking I just do. If
he needs anything, I'm there. He said, hey, John needs
you tomorrow, I'm there. That's the type of relationship that
we have from my perspective, right, It's this isn't two
way street. Don't. I don't ask anything of him, really,

(50:40):
anything he asks me, I'm in so But in terms
of like I do feel and I get it, It's
like typically I pay no attention to social media comments.
Obviously there's a lot of positive ones, but negative just
in general about most things that I do. This one,
I was a little uncomfortable because this is not it's
not my I don't want the seat. I'm not gunning

(51:02):
for the seat. They paid me to come out there.
In terms of flew me out there, I would have
if Colin like he just said, hey, you gotta pay
your way, I just need here for a couple of day,
I would have done it. This wasn't. I just feel
I feel a little uncomfortable. You know, I'm podcaster, this
is my baby. This is what I do, and if anything,
I'm quadrupling down here and that's been my mindset. This

(51:23):
came out of the blue and it was again cool,
thankful everyone, it's one of the great fugazis. And I
realized this sitting there is people that think they could
do specifically him. Some of you could probably do a
group setting on a TV studio and just talk back
and forth. Most human beings, if you just knew football,

(51:44):
could have a football conversation on camera. Obviously some would
be better than others, but I do think after a
couple of reps most people could just formulate conversations. Again,
I'm not saying you'd be entertaining or good, but because
the average person that goes I can do that. Here's
what I know, and I know this for a fact,

(52:04):
ninety nine point nine nine nine ninety percent of people
wouldn't have a snowballs chance in hell to attempt to
do what Colin does. Having a front row seat and
watching him truly cook by himself for just segment after
segment after segment, no one else in the business could
do what he's doing, No fucking chance, none, not live

(52:24):
on television. I was thinking, like, could I do this?
I'm pretty good, Like, I'm pretty confident in my skills,
but I also podcasting, like I'm recording this. I'm not live.
I have no time constraints. I don't have a twelve
minute segment where I got to hit three different things
while opening up with an AD and ending with an
AD and then transitioning. It's like the skill he has

(52:48):
his talent obviously to formulate his thoughts, to bring the
different analogies, to weave in and out of stuff to
be there. I mean, he's it's like watching Jordan and Pippen.
You know, run the fast breaks like this is. This
is fucking awesome A couple of times, just because the
way that desk is set, it's like, this is badass,

(53:10):
like this guy is. And listen, I've done a million
podcasts with him, known him forever, been on his show
before his guests. Sitting there watching him do that was
just like it was inspiring. It honestly made me think,
like I gotta step up my game. I gotta be
better because this in my this medium that that I do,
and shit he profits off as well. He it's a

(53:33):
different deal. But what he does on television slashes radio show.
It's it's a skill that like most other people in
the industry, if you put most other people in like ESPN,
just sat him in that seat and to say replicate this,
it would be a tire fire. It'd bed me an embarrassment.
It was. It fired me up a couple time watching him,

(53:57):
like this is this guy's just cooking right now, talent man.
Now he's been doing he'd be the first tell he's
been doing it for a long time. The reps and everything,
but his capabilities and abilities and just how excited he
still is. You know, I hope you know, as time
goes and I keep doing this, like I'm still as
fired up to do this as I am right now,

(54:17):
because I still obviously really enjoy talking for a living.
But man, he's I'm very lucky to be associated with that. Man.
That's my number one takeaway and trying to take it
nobody's job. I don't. I have a job. It's called
this my podcast. This is my life. It's not even
my job, it's my life. This is my family, my life,

(54:40):
Los Angeles. Fuck that. As a Bills fan in Buffalo Native,
one of the few things we can hang our hat
on is incredible food. I remember you in the past
talking about certain college game and how the atmosphere was unmapped.
Since the Bills are good this year and have a
loaded schedule, I'd highly recommend you come here for a game,
everything from drinks to randoms. It'd be badass. People ask

(55:03):
me all the time, you know, I think the shitty
part about my job is like I can't and I've
been I've been lucky enough to've been to a lot
of NFL games in my life. Like I just I
can't afford to go to the games because the way
Sundays work out the way ME and Colin record after
the afternoon games, and then the way I record after

(55:25):
the Sunday night game. It's just I wouldn't be able
to even if like the forty nine Ers played here
and came played the Cardinals, like I can't. I don't
have time to travel. It just doesn't work. So it's
I would love to go to a Bills game. Maybe
I could pull it off on like a Monday night,
but the travel it just listen, this is a first
world of podcasting problems. But like, I haven't been to

(55:47):
a really NFL game in a long long time, and
looking forward, I don't envision myself going to a game
for a long long time, which is fine. What do
you think the reputation is for Mike McDaniel. I'm asking
because I think think this will be his last season
with the Dolphins. Do you think he would be in
high demand if he was available. I do think he'd
be in high demand as an assistant coach. And the reputation,

(56:12):
like obviously the forty nine ers guys, I remember talking
to Yuschek and George Kittle like he was very very
well respected with the forty nine ers players because from
a run game mind. Mike mcganiel's kind of a genius.
I think he's a really good scheme assistant coach. As
a head coach. I mean, it doesn't look like the

(56:33):
teams takes him that seriously. He's run through defensive coordinators,
his players don't show up on time. So I would
say I've never heard anything bad about him. I do
think to look in the you know, wearing the expensive
glasses and the expensive watch, and I get it, Like,
you know, I know some people it's like, I'm rich.

(56:54):
Why do I care if, like people judge me that
drive a Range Rover, I'd still be rich if I
drove a fucking Honda Civic. Like, yeah, he's making millions
of dollars. So if he has one hundred thousand dollars
watch or pair of two thousand dollars sunglasses, and again,
I don't even know if that's what these things cost.
How much does watch costs? But I do think it's
a little a little off putting for some I you know,
I but it's his prerogative. At the end of the day.

(57:17):
If you can coach, you can coach. It doesn't matter.
I don't think he I think it's safe to say
he's not a head coach. And I'm with you. I
think the Dolphins are going to be a disaster this year.
If the forty nine ers finished under five hundred, who
gets blamed with a schedule like this? There can be
no excuse. Uh, it's a good question. I would say that.

(57:42):
I think Kyle and John would take a lot of heat.
You know, I think the drafts over the last couple
of years, the way they've built this team, you know,
they were gonna pay party no matter what, and they
got pretty relative to some of these other quarterbacks for
relatively cheap. If you have a coach who's a top
five six to seven coach, a GM that is one

(58:03):
of the highest paid gms in the league, like, it's
on them to win. And I'm with you. The schedule
it's just not that difficult. It's just not. And you
can tell me, like Julian Edelman can be like, you
can never say that its ps. I'm sorry. Playing the
Titans and playing the Saints is different in playing the
Bills and the Ravens. It just is. We all know that.
So Belichick can tell me how great the fucking special

(58:24):
teams unit is, Like the team's O and ten. They're
oh to ten. So the forty nine ers, even with
the schedule, I'm not expecting them to win fourteen games.
But like if you're a twenty million dollar coach, fifteen
million dollar coach, Kyle's one of the highest paid coach
in the league. Their general managers, I think, just him Howie,
He's on the short list of highest paid gms in
the league, if not the highest paid GM in the league.

(58:45):
You should win ten games, and then they know that.
They'd be the first to tell you that. And I
expect them. I expect them to be good. I do.
I think they're gonna be good after watching Nick write

(59:12):
go on The Herd, and since you both worked for
the Volume, wouldn't it be nice to collaborate maybe before
the NFL season starts. I actually just got his number
today from the Big boss Man, not Colin, but Logan
at the Volume, and I was gonna shoot him a
text maybe after fourth of July. I plan on having
him on for sure. I've planned on it even before recently,

(59:36):
or you sent me this DM, but he'll he'll come
on the show, well, I mean if he says yes.
But I plan on text him and ask him to
come on for sure. Great job on Colin's show. Even
Nick Wright gave you some props, only advice, and your
wife will agree. Wear a darker colored shirt like a
navy blue, and most important, iron the collar with a

(59:58):
little starch so it's stayed. You're making a first impression.
Be impressive. Your vocal skills and knowledge are shining. Trust
me on the shirt. I mean, I appreciate that I
won't have some I'm a podcaster man or T shirts pullovers.

(01:00:20):
Plus I'm a little fat right now. I didn't fit
in some of my stuff, so I had to improvise.
Listening to you and Colin had me thinking of topics
for this upcoming slow period. A ranking of quality of
fan life for every city with three major teams. Things
to consider, current ownership, fan bases, competent front offices, performance
in the last twenty five years. What are the best
cities to be a sports fan and what are the worst? Well,

(01:00:43):
I would say La be up there. The Dodgers are elite.
I mean the Lakers. They were the three seed this
year and they've been good the last five years with
Lebron and the Rams have won a Super Bowl and
go to the playoffs every year. Argers are now good
with hardball. USC football is the only problem. And I

(01:01:05):
would imagine I talked to someone in the in the
Fox building who's a big USC guy, and they are
spending so much money right now in NIL like USC,
they're not going to be down for long. They just
have too much money, so they're gonna be fine. I
was say, laud be pretty high up there. You know, Philly,

(01:01:26):
the Phillies are good, obviously, the Eagles are the champs.
Sixers are a joke, not a big hockey guy, so
can't speak on the seventy six ers. New York feels low.
The Barriers had a decent run, you know, they had
Steph Curry won four titles. The Niners went to a
couple of Super Bowls. The Giants had kind of sucked.

(01:01:49):
To me, the key is like, obviously, best case scenario,
you get like the Chiefs, you get the Dodgers, you
get this team that's unsoppable. I think what most fans
would sign up for, Like, if you live in Chicago,
or you live in Dallas, or you live wherever, can
just all my teams be good? Can just all my
teams going into the season, have a chance to be

(01:02:10):
a contender, even if I get bounced in the first
round or the second round, like if every year part
of the reason what sucks if you're a Cowboy fan
obviously let down in the playoffs a couple of times,
and then last year you didn't even you would drafted
twelve if you just one of those years would have
been like the NFC championship, and like, you know what,
we've been pretty good lately, been pretty good lately. I
think that's what most people want. We've been pretty good lately.

(01:02:31):
And then once you've been pretty good for a while,
it's like, can we win a title? Like if you're
a Detroit Lions fan, I'd say their spirits are pretty
high right now. Lions have been good. The Pistons are
now good. Pretty sure, Tiger's pretty good this year. I
think they are. I just think you want your teams
to all be good. They don't have to be the Patriots,

(01:02:52):
they don't have to be the Chiefs, they don't have
to be the Dodgers. They don't have to be okay,
see can they just be like all my teams in
the playoffs? Pretty fun? It makes watching all the games enjoyable.
Uh long time listener, first time ailback could be the
Devil's advocate and make a case for putting Bo Nicks
above Jason Jayden Daniels. I will fully agree that Jayden's

(01:03:15):
rookie season was impressive and to take a team to
the NFC title needs deep, big time price. That being said,
it's only one year in and he's magically a top
five quarterback in most analysts lists. If the Commanders face
the Bills in Buffalo for their first playoff game, would
they have a playoff win? The NFC, with the very

(01:03:36):
little debate, is an easier conference. It seems a little
unfair that Bo's rookie year is so overlooked by everybody,
but as a Bronco fan, because Jaden's was a little
bit better. I do know having Sean Payton as a
head coach doesn't hurt, but Bo is now the fourteenth
quarterback under center since the sheriff retired. I also think

(01:03:57):
back to Peyton Mannings rookie season not being the great
and Ryan Leif having a better one. I don't remember that.
I know Peyton had a bad rookie season, but let's
just let's just bring up the numbers really quick. I'm
with you. Obviously, if the Commanders had to play the
Bills or the Ravens in the first round, they would
not have won a playoff game. I don't I do

(01:04:18):
not disagree there. But when you look at bow Knicks
threw more touchdowns than you think he had. He threw
twenty nine touchdowns, twelve picks, ran for four touchdowns, ran
for almost four and thirty yards. Jaden threw twenty five
and nine ran for six touchdowns. I'm with you, they

(01:04:40):
were closer. I think bo Nix is good. I think
bow Knicks is good. I would say one thing, you know,
I think when you look at the teams that Denver beat,
I'd have to go back and look their schedule. You know,
Washington did win two playoff games on the road. Now
you can say, hey, Detroit was injured. Still, I mean
I saw Minnesota play him fucking lose last game of

(01:05:02):
the season. I think when you just watched, like with
the eye test, you just went Jayden and Daniels a
better player in bo Nicks. That can also be true
that Bonnick's a good player. And if I was a
Denver Bronco fan, I'd be really happy and like you said,
he's the best quarterback since the sheriff retired. In the
quarterback situation since Peyton Manning retired, couldn't have been much worse.

(01:05:24):
So I think sometimes we get so cut up and
like this guy versus that guy. It's like, who even
cares that they don't parallel. One team plays in the NFC,
one team plays in the AFC. Your path is harder,
your path is more difficult, your division is more difficult.
But like, things can still be good and things can
still be uh, you can be really optimistic. Who cares

(01:05:47):
like what Dan Orlowski or I don't even I'm sure
he likes Bonnicks, but whoever says, like, don't get caught
up in that your fucking team's good. Your coach loves
the squad. I watched a decent amount of Sean Payton's
press conferences, Like he's pretty positive on this. I think
he thinks they're gonna be pretty good. I think he
think he's gonna be really good. That to me, it's
all that matters. Okay, last question, nice to see you

(01:06:10):
on TV. Question for the pod, how could Dak Prescott
go from second MVP voting to somehow Baker may feel
better than him if it wasn't for an injury. This
wouldn't be a take seeing that Baker has never been
considered better than Dak up until this year. Dak is hurt. Secondly,
the pendulum has swung too far to think Dallas with
its schedule won't win at least ten games with more

(01:06:32):
wide receiver help and more running back help, a revamped
on line, top five edge rusher runs stopping edge from
last year who was good in games he played back
from injury, top five corner. Okay, I hear you. I
actually think Dallas gonna be okay. But based on last year,
even if Dak had been healthy, Baker was a better player.
Baker was one of the better quarterbacks in the NFL. Like,

(01:06:54):
that's not arguable. I think he was second in the
league in touchdowns and he was just a high end player.
Baker looked excellent. And again this is the bow Nick
Jaye Daniels thing when you just watch the two guys play,
Baker is a better arm at this point in time.
Baker's more mobile, which would have sounded crazy a couple
years ago, but Dak's not mobile anymore. So, Yeah, Dak
of three years ago. It put up the big time season,

(01:07:16):
like that's we're in twenty twenty five. This is in
twenty twenty two or twenty three. It's twenty five. And
the other thing is Dak's coming off a major injury,
shattered his ankle and then he ripped his handy. Now,
I was watching the Good Good Guys who are a
golf YouTube channel had on Dak and Will Greer and
just watching Dak play golf, which is school. Again, this

(01:07:37):
is what I talked about in the NBA. Football players
are pretty relatable. I mean they're just good at doing
relatable things. And Dak you watch him on this videos
fun having a good time, swearing and look good again
playing golf, but looks like he's healthy. Uh. But I
would say, if you told me right now, if you're like, hey, John,
you run an NFL team for the next three would

(01:08:01):
you rather have Dak Prescott or Baker Mayfield. I would
rather have Baker Mayfield. Could be wrong, maybe you're right.
Maybe I'm just going off one year, but for the
next three years, I'm taking Baker Mayfield. The other thing is,
what is the difference. Baker is thirty years old? How
old is Dak Dak Prescott is yeah, turns thirty two,

(01:08:25):
so there's only a couple of years similar age. I
do think the wear and tear, though, is no joke.
I mean Dak multiple lower body injuries and Baker's has
a better arm, always has. I mean Dak doesn't have
a great arm, and I would say, now his arm.
It's gonna pay you to hear this. And I've always
been pro Dak. Like I'm not as some Dak Prescott hater.
It's arms closer to Alex Smith than it is one

(01:08:47):
of the top guys. So he's gonna be Schottenheimer. I'm
with you. I don't think they're gonna be. People are
acting like they're just coward thinks. You know, Schottenheimer's gonna
be one and done. When's last time Jared he had
a won and done coach. If I had to bet
right now, I bet Dallas wins between They're more likely
to win nine or ten than they are four or five. Now,

(01:09:08):
if you told me they win seven, I think that's believable.
But if you told me they went nine and eight,
I definitely could believe that. Appreciate everyone watching, Thanks for
all the kind words and we'll talk soon. The volume