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August 13, 2024 70 mins

John dives into the latest dispute between the Jets and Haason Reddick after Reddick requested a trade. Reddick who got traded from the Eagles a few months ago hasn't participated in any on or off the field activities with the Jets because he hasn't gotten a new contract and John discusses if he thinks he could be one of the first players to be traded twice without ever doing anything for their new team. Next, John reacts to Trey Lance's rough pre-season game for the Cowboys and how he's going to be one of the highest ever paid 3rd string QB, and finally he gives his thoughts on the AP Top 25 ranking.

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

7:56 - Reddick requests a trade

16:49 - Trey Lance is done

21:20 - Sean McVay and timeouts

29:18 - AP Top 25

37:30 - Quick take Tuesday

45:55 - Mailbag

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Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
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Speaker 2 (01:31):
Is going on? Everybody?

Speaker 1 (01:33):
It's me John three and out podcast Rocking and Rolling
here on a Tuesday. While I'm recording this. On Monday,
we did a podcast. Colin and I did a podcast
Sunday afternoon, I on just everything preseason rookie quarterbacks, I uke.
I did a separate podcast that I watched all the

(01:57):
throws from the rookie top quarterbacks and just kind of
dove into my thoughts. So we got probably Me and
Colin went on for an hour. That podcast forty five minutes.
So we got a lot of content from Monday and
in today, I had to hit on the Jets because
a story came out about a guy who's holding out
wants a trade that they've already traded for and then

(02:19):
Joe Douglas and I'm not trading him. His name is
Son Reddick. He wants a new contract and bizarre, crazy,
weird classic Jets situation Trey Lance and Jerry Jones. Sean
McVeigh hired a man to handle his timeouts, and I
think that was well needed. I think there's another coach

(02:39):
who could benefit from this as well. A couple quick
thoughts on the top twenty five as we head into
college football, which is right around the corner of course,
Middlecoff Mailbag at John Middlecoff at John Middlecoff is the Instagram,
So firing those dms. Get your questions answer here on
the podcast's take Tuesday. So quick thought on Steph Curry

(03:02):
in the Olympic men's team that squeaked by, partly because
he scored sixty points the last two games at seventeen threes.
But I saw a lot of people reacting.

Speaker 2 (03:13):
To Steph and.

Speaker 1 (03:15):
Look the same to me. I mean what Steph Curry does,
So firing the mailbag. Subscribe to the Three and Out
podcast if you listening on Collins Speed. All of this
is up on YouTube, so if you watch, go check
that out as well. All of our content is up
there and we'll keep rocking and rolling all week. But
before we dive into the Jets, I got to tell
you about my friends, my partners in the official ticketing

(03:38):
app of this podcast, and listen. Like I said, football
season is coming. I mean you can see the light
at the end of the tunnel. It felt a couple
months ago, a long long way away. It does not
feel long at all. Some of these teams have been
in camp for three and a half four weeks. We've
already got a preseason game. We've got more preseason games
this Thursday. It'll be here before you know it. And
if you want to go to one of these games,

(03:58):
I said on a recent POT podcast, I think I'm
gonna go to Texas, Oklahoma because of my friends. At
game time, someone hit me up in the DMS like,
that's not a real SEC game. Well, partly because I
gotta fly into a real airport because I gotta be
back Sunday morning to work in Dallas. Just makes a
lot of sense.

Speaker 2 (04:13):
And actually it is a.

Speaker 1 (04:13):
Real SEC game because Texas Oklahoma are now in it.
It's one of the great rivalries in college football. And
if you want to attend one of those events, obviously concerts,
like I said, I knew a bunch of people last
week at in Vegas to see Morgan, Wallen Brady and
Mike Tyson rolled out with them. If you want to
go to any concert this fall, I highly recommend it.
Nothing like a good concert to just kind of relax,

(04:35):
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(04:57):
to be successful in any walk life, in any industry
as just a human being when chaos is all around you.
I had no business to not somehow wind up successful.
I had two parents, they both had jobs. My dad
was on my ass twenty four to seven, three sixty
five with school, not just attending school. If I ever

(05:21):
got caught, you know, skipping class, I got in a
lot of trouble, but having good grades pushed me to
go to college. I never had a dinner unless I
got kicked out because I was in trouble that there
wasn't food on the table. I had no business not
to quote unquote make it in life. And we've all
known people, especially the older you get, that grew up

(05:41):
in chaotic situations, whether it was parent situations, whether it
was financial situations. When I went to work at Fresno State,
saw some of the guys on our team what they
had to overcome to put themselves in college, the first
guy in the history of their family to get a
college degree. I remember Coach Hill taking such great pride

(06:01):
in that because of what a big deal it was.
Most guys were not going to go on to the NFL.
But this isn't necessarily about sports. Like some people's path
in life is much more difficult, and when they make it,
they deserve more credit. It is much harder to make
it out of chaos than it is when everything's laid out. Now,

(06:23):
that doesn't mean you're guaranteed anything. We've known a lot
of people with easy access to stuff who have failed.
But I give you a lot more credit when you
overcome dysfunction to be successful. That's for business, that's for life,
that's for any personal situation. I have a lot of
admiration for that, and obviously working in football in college

(06:45):
in the NFL, you saw a lot of that guys
overcoming just crazy odds. Now, obviously they were had god
given athletic ability, but some of their circumstances when they
were young, it's crazy how they were able to make it.
And usually you need some stability in your life, whether
it be a coach, whether it be a parent, whether
it be a grandparent, whether it be some other mentor

(07:07):
to kind of help you out and lead you that way,
because most humans get distracted easily. I thought Belichick for
twenty years in the peak of the Patriots' powers, did
a really good job of the moment they had a
question mark, like we're going to Tom Brady, Drew Beries
trade him immediately. The moment a guy gets in trouble,
no matter how good he is, Chandler Jones, he's gone.

Speaker 2 (07:27):
He's on another team.

Speaker 1 (07:29):
The moment there's a contract situation, we're not going to
pay you, he's traded. Not because he didn't value those players,
not because he didn't think he needed those guys to win.
But you can't overcome distractions in a sport and an
industry that demands so much focus and attention on what's
going on, and the different media markets obviously bring in

(07:53):
more craziness, and there's no bigger media market in America
than New York, so everything's under the microscope. With the Giants,
with the Jets, with the Knicks, with the Yankees, with
the Mets. It's crazy, it really is, and it's just
different depending on where you are in the country. That
being said, when you have chaotic situations as a team,

(08:16):
even if things are normal in your position room, with
your coordinator, on the practice field, you get asked about
it constantly. And the Jets, who last year no fault
of their own, they trade for Aaron Rodgers. Spirits are high,
they're on hard knocks. People like me are like they're
gonna win the division. Tear's achilles and then it just

(08:39):
came off the rails and was a complete embarrassment the
rest of the season. The Zach Wilson experiment that they
tried to kind of have their cake and eat it too.
Instead of getting rid of them, they kept them on
the team. Then by the mid season he got benched.
He didn't want to come back, and he was complaining
that Rogers was supposed to be his friend and his
mentor disappeared, and it was a joke was typical Jets, crazy, dysfunctional, chaotic.

(09:05):
That is kind of what they're used to. And usually
I don't care how much talent you have on their
team or on your team and who's coaching you, you're
gonna lose in that situation. And they lost pretty consistently
and they weren't any good. And then this season it's like, Okay,
Rogers forty years old, healed. We had some pretty normal
veteran good guys, Tyron Smith, Mike Williams, we got some young,

(09:28):
ascending stars. Let's just let's take care of business. Let's
give ourselves a shot to not be that chaotic. Then
they trade for a son Reddick from the Eagles.

Speaker 2 (09:41):
And the reason the Eagles traded.

Speaker 1 (09:42):
Him, We've talked about this a million times because he
wanted more money and the Eagles said, we're not going
to give you more money. It was public knowledge. Then
the Jets trade for him, and as of August twelfth,
he didn't show up to OTAs he hasn't been there
in training camp, and he officially asks for another trade,

(10:04):
and if they were to trade him, I think it
would be the first time in NFL history a guy
got traded to a team, never conducted one moment with
that franchise on the field in a meeting room, did nothing,
and then got traded again, which obviously, when you see
he gets request to trade, everyone laughs and mocks the
Jets because you realize they're not gonna trade him. The
Antonio Brown situation. Let's let's, you know, go back five

(10:27):
six years with the Raiders. He practiced during OTAs and
I remember having known some guys on that staff. They're like,
he's our best player by a mile. He's incredible, and
they were really hopeful. Then obviously after the summer, things
get weird. He burns off his feet and then it
just turns into a mess, and he like demands to
get traded.

Speaker 2 (10:45):
They cut him.

Speaker 1 (10:45):
It was it was an embarrassment for the organization. But
in that situation, at least he had practiced and they
thought they had something. They're like, God, this guy's incredible,
this guy's gonna help us out. I do not understand
trading for a player who wants more money and then
assume everything will just be worked out without being willing

(11:06):
to give him more money. So Joe Douglas puts out
a statement immediately like we're not trading him, he has
to follow the rules. He's getting fined the CBA, blah
blah blah blah blah blah blah. None of that means anything.
And asan Redick is losing money by the day, I
think his fines are already over a million dollars. But like,
how is this thing going to be solved if you

(11:28):
are the Jets and you are Joe Douglas and you're
not willing to give him a pay raise, and I
think at this point in time we have to assume
that they don't plan on paying him. So eventually, Reddick,
if you take that tactic, will just show up because
he's not gonna miss game checks. You wouldn't think. So
you're gonna bring a disgruntled player that you do not know,

(11:49):
that you've never coached, that does not know your scheme.

Speaker 2 (11:52):
There is no.

Speaker 1 (11:53):
Cohesion there into your locker room. When the only thing
you tried to avoid after last year, in the previous
couple of years with the quarterback of disasters, the offensive
coordinator just being completely over his head and everyone making
fun of you, is to bring in a player with
pretty high name recognition who is pissed off, who clearly

(12:16):
isn't happy with you. I just do not understand how
they didn't see this coming. I can't even fathom imagining
a different outcome when you knew you were trading for
this player in this situation and with these circumstances. And
this is why, and I said this at the combine,

(12:37):
when you're there in Indy and you actually see the
teams and you start talking to people, and you just
realize the overwhelming majority of the league, they're thirty two teams.
You could argue ten, maybe twelve are well run and
have a shot every year, and for the most part,
it's the same freaking twelve ten teams all the time.

Speaker 2 (12:58):
That's why the.

Speaker 1 (12:59):
Majority of the playoffs over the last even just half
decade have been run by the same teams. It's why
for a long time, in the peak of the Brady Belichick,
it were the same three or four teams. It was
the Ravens, it was obviously the Patriots, it was Peyton
Manning squad, it was the Steelers. Like a couple other
teams rotated in and out, but there were consistent teams.

(13:20):
Now in the NFC, the Diners, the Rams, the Eagles,
and the Cowboys, right doesn't mean they don't have weird situations,
but they are so much more well run consistently. The
Lions now have thrown their hat in the ring with
their operation, at least based on a small sample size.
And then you have the Jets who have the record

(13:41):
currently for team sports playoff drout. And I just don't
think it's a coincidence. I had no issue last year
right around this time, I guess it was with a
couple of weeks from now, so a year and a
couple weeks when Jerry Jones traded a fourth round pick
for Trey Lance. Jerry Jones oil man deals, deal maker,

(14:07):
Maverick take some risks, and I listen. Personally, I admire
humans in business. They're willing to take risks. It is
easy in life to stay in the slow lane. Usually
the successful people are laughing.

Speaker 2 (14:20):
You in the fast lane.

Speaker 1 (14:21):
Doesn't mean they don't get an occasional crashes, but you
can't play it safe. And Jerry Jones traded a fourth
round pick for a guy who surely they had graded
as a top five player in the draft a couple
of years, and they said, we got two things. One
there might just be something here and two best case scenario,
this kind of elephant in the room of our starting

(14:42):
quarterback Dak Prescott in his contract situation. Maybe we just
find an air apparent and a fourth round pick for
a team that you know, for the three straight years
won twelve games. What are we talking about? Pick one twenty,
pick one twenty five.

Speaker 2 (14:58):
Who cares?

Speaker 1 (14:59):
I I do not put that much emphasis on taking
a risk at that position.

Speaker 2 (15:04):
For a guy.

Speaker 1 (15:05):
Now he makes some money over the couple of year period.
I think it was like this year he's making five
point three Last year he was making six or seven
million dollars, So you had to pay him twelve million dollars,
you know, to be a backup quarterback. But as we
see here today, here's what it turns out, he's a
third string quarterback. He couldn't win the backup job in
San Francisco last year. I watched all his snaps this morning.

(15:29):
He's not gonna win the backup quarterback job in Dallas.
So part of taking risks is you're not always gonna
win them. Sometimes you're gonna lose him. It was not
Trey Lance's fault that he was drafted third overall in
the forty nine Ers traded all those first round picks
for him. That's on the forty nine ers. It's on
John Lynch, Kyle Shanahan, Adam Peters and that crew. They

(15:51):
missed and they got very, very lucky. Usually when you
make a move like that, you are royally screwed. And
perty fell into their laps and just kind of saved
the franchise. I mean, period, point blank into story. So
Jerry Jones saw a guy that he could get for
really cheap, and best case scenario, he would strike oil.
It turns out there wasn't any oil.

Speaker 2 (16:12):
There's nothing.

Speaker 1 (16:13):
And you watch this guy play. To me, he's averages
the day as long, misses a lot of easy throws,
does flash a little bit, but he threw forty one
times and passed for one hundred and eighty eight yards.
He averaged four point six yards of completion. But to me,
it's the touch. He just doesn't have any touch. When

(16:33):
you watch him, you just see a guy who doesn't
have much feel. It's why I'm so much more bullish
on this class than his class, because of the resumes
of the players, because of how many snaps of high
level football.

Speaker 2 (16:47):
The whole crew is played in.

Speaker 1 (16:49):
All the biggest conferences and when you take guys from
these smaller schools, and his was kind of an outlier
situation because the season was canceled in twenty twenty, so
he only started one season. And obviously in the NFL
he has not played very much. But part of it
is because he can't play. He's just not very good,
and he's the gap between him and Dak Prescott is

(17:13):
it couldn't be any wider, and Cooper Rush is significantly better.
So I think I don't expect the Cowboys to cut
this player, but he's going to be the most expensive
third string quarterback in the history of the league. He
makes five point three million dollars. And I think when
you look around when all these rosters are set, most
of these third string quarterbacks one are going to be

(17:33):
on the practice squad because of the rule that you
can elevate the guy on game day from the practice squad.
But I'll promise you this, they won't be making that
much money. And that's not his fault. That's what the
third overall pick gets. He signed a thirty four or
thirty five million dollar contract, and this was a move
in Jerry was worth taking all the other quarterbacks mac Jones,
Justin Fields, and Zach Wilson either went for a six

(17:56):
or seventh round pick. The difference is Jerry got him
for two years. All those guys are on one year
contracts with all their teams. Jerry's had now all of
last season and then all this offseason up until now
and through this season for his contract runs out. So
it was he did he quote unquote overpay. I don't
know who else is offering a fourth round er, but
I have no issue with it. But let's just call

(18:18):
a spade a spade didn't work. Sean McVay calling timeouts.

Speaker 2 (18:24):
I have this.

Speaker 1 (18:25):
It's not even a theory. I think it's just a
reality when you're the offensive play caller. And I think
this would go for defensive play callers as well, but
let's just stick with offensive play callers.

Speaker 2 (18:34):
It is very, very.

Speaker 1 (18:35):
Difficult to also manage the game. It's why for a
long period of time when Andy Reid was in Philadelphia
he took a lot of crap as being just awful
game manager. And I think if you look at it,
it's not like if you just ask Andy Reid sitting
on his couch or in his office.

Speaker 2 (18:56):
Or when he's watching a game.

Speaker 1 (18:57):
He wouldn't know when to call a timeout and when
to call timeout, and I think that would go the
same for all these offensive play callers that are currently
in the NFL.

Speaker 2 (19:07):
It's obviously very easy.

Speaker 1 (19:09):
For us when we're watching our squad on our couch
on Sunday, gambling on a game, fantasy player screaming at
the TV.

Speaker 2 (19:16):
Like, call timeout, what are you doing? Everyone does it.

Speaker 1 (19:20):
It's a great part about being a fan is you
get really emotional sitting there because the game's not moving
that fast. You get to watch it in real time,
doing nothing else beside, you know, drinking whatever you're drinking.

Speaker 2 (19:32):
And eating some snacks. Well.

Speaker 1 (19:34):
As the play caller, you aren't just worried about the
current play, but what play you're gonna call next, and
obviously dealing with your other coaches for half the game.
And Sean McVeigh this guy named John Striker who was
Vabels like kind of right hand man, and over the
last four or five years in Tennessee a team that

(19:55):
took great advantage not just timeouts, but situational football with rules.
He utilized this guy, and when Vrabel got fired, Sean
McVeigh hired him and McVeigh told the pardon my take, guys,
which is one hundred percent true. I kind of sucked
last year with timeouts and an underrated, like sneaky problem

(20:16):
with McVeigh over the course of his career. No one
can argue his resume, and no one would argue he's
not a top two or three coach currently in the NFL.
Dude to star better rocket ship since he arrived in
LA he blows a lot of timeouts. And I found
this stat I was YouTube and some different stuff. In
two thousand twenty three, the Rams called more timeouts in

(20:43):
the third quarter than any other team by three. They
had nine timeouts. The next team with the most timeouts.

Speaker 2 (20:53):
Was the forty nine Ers with six.

Speaker 1 (20:57):
Those two teams blew more timeouts in the third quarter,
and obviously you get to the fourth quarter, you either
got one or two, and you're at a disadvantage when
you're calling procedural timeouts. You're gonna run out of the
playclock whatever. You'd be better off taking the five yard
penalty with seven minutes left to go in the third quarter.
And I don't think it's a coincidence that Kyle Shanahan

(21:19):
and Sean mcvayh.

Speaker 2 (21:21):
Are awful in these situations.

Speaker 1 (21:22):
Why because their head and their eyes are buried in
their play sheet, which is a huge advantage for their team,
but it's also a disadvantage when it comes to just
running the operation.

Speaker 2 (21:33):
How can you be laser focused.

Speaker 1 (21:35):
On something as serious and as complex and as difficult
is calling the offensive place and also try to manage situations.
Clearly you're at a disadvantage. And I think this goes
back to Andy Reid in Philadelphia for a long period
of time. It's hard, it is not easy to do,
and Sean McVay acknowledged it too many times.

Speaker 2 (21:56):
Last year.

Speaker 1 (21:56):
I was blowing timeouts and it screwed us, not just
the playoff game, but in the regular season game. It
hurt us, and he fixed it, or he attempted to
fix it in hiring this.

Speaker 2 (22:08):
Now.

Speaker 1 (22:08):
I can't speak to the forty nine ers, but if
Kyle Shanahan doesn't have someone similar on his staff, he's
at a disadvantage because Kyle Shanahan, like Sean McVay, is
bad at timeouts, which, like we figured out, is understandable.
But the best part about a coaching staff there is
no salary cap, and when your owner has money. Sean's
has a ton, so does Kyle's. You can hire whoever

(22:31):
the hell you want. So having one of these guys,
to me, when you're a play calling head coach, if
you're John Harbaugh, if you're Jim Harbaugh, if you're Dan Campbell,
if you're Sirianni, if you can't figure it out, we
really don't know what you're doing during the game. But
when your head is in that sheet and you're worried
about plays, schemes, players, injuries, position coaches, you got a

(22:55):
lot going on. This guy seems like a pretty vital individual.
Now it seems like Sean McVay might have plucked the
top guy in the NFL because obviously he was a
free agent when Vrabel got canned.

Speaker 2 (23:07):
But to me, this this.

Speaker 1 (23:08):
Individual, or grooming this individual, seems like a must have.
And if these offensive play callers are not going to
listen to this guy, they're at a disadvantage. Every single week. Okay,
the top twenty five in the AP came out today,

(23:31):
and you know, typical cast of characters. Georgia, Bama, Texas, Oregon,
no particular order, Ohio State and I had a couple
of big takeaways from it, not because I put that
much emphasis Until we see these teams play four or
five games. Georgia might be the best team. They might
be the third team. Ohio State could be the sixth team,
they could be the second team. You know, you get Oregon.

(23:54):
They're all within the top six or seven. We'll see
how they look after a month of games. I do
think they're some tangible pressure though on certain teams to
do certain things, and I think at the highest level
there's a lot of pressure on Ohio State. They have
the highest same with Oregon. Now, the difference is Ohio
State and Ryan Day. They've been in the playoffs recently.

(24:15):
He's had success. Hell, he's been in a national championship game.

Speaker 2 (24:19):
He's had a lot of success.

Speaker 1 (24:21):
But anytime you're at that school and you've been getting
your ass kicked by Jim Harbaugh, then you double down
on the nil. You land all these sweet dudes in
the transfer portal, you hire your boy Chip Kelly to
run the offense. I'm not saying they have to win
the national championship.

Speaker 2 (24:35):
That's clearly very very difficult to do.

Speaker 1 (24:38):
But you could argue the final four might not even
be good enough for the fan base. Obviously, if you
get to the National Championship and lose it, that's things
that hurts, that sucks, but you get contract extensions doing that.
And I think there is a ton of pressure on
Ohio State to kick ass.

Speaker 2 (24:57):
And take names.

Speaker 1 (24:58):
Now when Dan Lanning kind of similar roster stacked, spending
a ton on nil. To me, his margin frere's a
little smaller than Ohio State, or I guess larger that Like,
if he didn't make the National Championship game, I don't
think it's the end of the world. I kind of
think Oregon's got to make the final four. You know,
all the hype, They've been really close. We talk about

(25:20):
him like this championship level squad last time I checked,
haven't even won the conference the last couple of years
because they couldn't beat Washington. Now, obviously de Bor's gone,
who's kind of owned Landing Pennix has gone, So you
should own that game. You play Ohio State this year,
but most of the big ten teams you should be
able to handle. I think Ohio State, if they ain't

(25:43):
in the championship game, it's gonna feel like a disaster.
And to me, Oregon's got to be in the final four.
Now that's the best of the best. I think there
are two teams when it comes to making the playoffs.
I don't want to say it's make the playoffs. Are
fired because this guy's won national championship. He's one of
the most famous coaches. He has changed this program to

(26:05):
a higher level for forever. But Dablosweeney makes more money
than every coach in college football except Kirby Smart, and
he's earned it, like he's.

Speaker 2 (26:16):
Made that program.

Speaker 1 (26:17):
A ton of the NFL is littered with his players.
He's had a boatload of success, but these last couple
of years haven't gone that well. And one thing with
Dablosweeney is I don't mess with the transfer portal, which
kind of feels like coach k in the early two thousands.
I don't do one and dounce feels if you want
to be successful in this sport currently, you got to

(26:40):
change your tune because it's not sustainable. You don't need
to take ten guys in the transfer portal. But because
of your program, and because of how many guys you
put in the NFL, you should be debt IF Ohio State,
if Bama, IF LSU, IF Georgia, if they dabble a
player here, player there, Florida State, a team in your
own conference, who, if it wasn't for devastating quarterback injuries,

(27:01):
would have been in the playoffs last year when it
was only four teams. Why transfer Portal Jared Verse first
round pick, transfer Portal, Keon Coleman first round pick. Yeah,
first round pick, transfer Portal. Or maybe he was the
first pick of the second round. But like the second
round defensive tackle who is up, the Rams also took

(27:24):
transfer Portal like it kind of matters. It kind of matters,
So there's gonna be a lot of pressure on him.
One listen, you make the playoffs, even if you lose
in the first round, it'll have everyone take a deep breath.
You get started getting paid eleven twelve million dollars, the
expectations for your program, like last year just wasn't good enough.
And I don't know, it's hard for me to feel

(27:46):
great about him now. They've always recruited well. They clearly
just depend only on high school kids and developing well.
They have no problem on doing that. And I think
the quarterback who got a lot of hype and it
was easy a couple of years to go to see.

Speaker 2 (27:59):
Like bench DJ.

Speaker 1 (28:01):
Clint and then he watched them last year is very
hit or miss. So I think there's just a lot
of pressure on Clemson to just be a top twelve
team when the dust settles, And same thing for Penn State.
You could argue there's a very short list of coaches
who recruit better than James Franklin. The roster he currently
has probably has three or four guys that are gonna

(28:22):
get drafted in the first round. Last year, all we
heard is like they got Josh Allen two point zero,
and then you watched him play, You're like, yeah, this
is like Josh Allen at Wyoming, not Josh Allen on
the Bills. So they fire their offensive coordinator, they hire
the dude from Kansas. Defensively, they are always loaded, and
he's just a polarizing individual because he gets you nine wins,

(28:46):
can't beat Ohio State, can't beat Michigan. Doesn't feel like
they're really close in terms.

Speaker 2 (28:51):
Of the top dogs.

Speaker 1 (28:52):
They take care of basically everyone else they play, but
I think there's tangible pressure on them to make the
playoffs this year. And unlike Dabbo, it's not like he
has anything on his resume I've won Naddies. I've won Naddies.
This guy hasn't won Natties, hasn't even won the Big Ten.
I'm not saying he's got to win the Big Ten.

Speaker 2 (29:09):
He shouldn't.

Speaker 1 (29:10):
Ohio State's better, but if they can't get to ten
and two in being the top twelve, I think that's
a failure for a program who there can't be ten
teams with better rosters in the NFL.

Speaker 2 (29:22):
I saw Hugh.

Speaker 1 (29:22):
Freeze was interviewing with Marty Smith and McGee, Smith and McGee,
and he's like, listen, it sucked losing that game to
Alabama last year when Jalen Milroe on third I think
it was third and twenty nine or third and thirty
one hit that bomb in the back of the end zone.
He's like, it was awful.

Speaker 2 (29:41):
It doesn't get any worse.

Speaker 1 (29:42):
On the bright side, though, we had a team who
didn't even come close to having their talent and we
went toe to toe with them. And that's the thing
with Penn State, Like you're out talenting basically everyone probably
on your schedule this year except Ohio State. Like you
should be better than Michigan. They just lost eighteen dudes
in the NFL and Jim Harbaugh. So I'm fascinated to

(30:05):
watch Penn State. I enjoy watching their defense play.

Speaker 2 (30:08):
Who doesn't.

Speaker 1 (30:09):
But their offense has been futrid for a while now,
and it's on James Franklin, who.

Speaker 4 (30:15):
Is an offensive guy kind of at his core, at
his heart, he was a former coach, wide receiver coach,
and like, clearly he can't fix that because recruiting is
what he does and what he does best, and you
gotta question everything else.

Speaker 2 (30:28):
So I listen.

Speaker 1 (30:31):
My national championship pick right now as we sit here,
would probably be some combination of Georgia, Ohio State, Oregon.
But things could get chaotic in the playoffs, right you
get twelve teams, I'm sure. If not, we're gonna have
a crazy upset. I would say in the next two years.
Does it happen this year?

Speaker 2 (30:51):
Who knows?

Speaker 1 (30:52):
Like Ole Miss is a good example, everyone's picking them
to make the playoffs. Let's say they don't. Let's say
they go nine to three and don't. He's won double
diggy games the last two years for the first time
in program history. It is difficult to win there. He
should not be winning more than LSU, more than I
don't care that Saban's gone do.

Speaker 2 (31:12):
Boor in Alabama more than Georgia. He shouldn't.

Speaker 1 (31:15):
So if somehow he doesn't make it and some other
SEC team sneaks in, like I don't think it's the
end of the world. But when you're paying Dabbo eleven
and a half million dollars, when all we ever hear
is how great Penn State's roster is. You can't not
make the playoffs and not have it and play in
the uh you know, the three and out Sandal Bull

(31:37):
and think anyone's gonna care.

Speaker 2 (31:40):
Okay, last but not least quick take Tuesday.

Speaker 1 (31:42):
Here the reaction to Steph Curry, and it's like, oh,
I can't believe it. It's like, guys, he's been doing
this since Davidson. This has been going on now these
moments two thousand and eight, and two thousand and seven
and two thousand and nine, whatever, the year that he

(32:04):
took the Davidson on the run. That was his sophomore year. Remember,
he came back for his junior year and the team
wasn't as good. But we first really learned about him
in the NCAA tournament. I mean, you're talking sixteen seventeen.

Speaker 2 (32:18):
Plus years ago.

Speaker 1 (32:19):
We saw that, and then for a decade straight, this
guy's winning MVP's lead teams to titles. Kevin Durant literally
had to join him or he would have zero championships.
They've taken a lot of shit, but let's face it,
as Bob Meyers once told Kevin Durant, you need us, We.

Speaker 2 (32:39):
Don't need you.

Speaker 1 (32:41):
We will win more without you. Can't say you will
win without us. Turned out to be true. Like John
they needed Kevin Durant too. Obviously he helped. But we
saw two years ago, you know, when Steph Curry led
the Warriors to another title. He just had one of
the greatest athletic careers.

Speaker 2 (33:02):
Because let's face that.

Speaker 1 (33:03):
I don't know if the Warriors are going to be
good again in the rest of his career. I don't
know if it matters, because I think that was the
cherry on top of one of the greatest careers I've
ever seen. And I think with him, the best part
about kind of his generation before college played a part
in your career because what he did in college kind

(33:23):
of put him on the map. Goes back to like
Magic Johnson and Larry Bird playing in the National championship
in college Michael Jordan hitting the game winning shot in
college in Steph's college career. To me as part of
his resume, he took this little fucking team that, let's
face it, most people would know nothing about and let

(33:44):
him to the lead eight knock it off Kansas. So
Steph curry that moment. He hit seventeen to three pointers
in the semi final game. In the final game, he
scored sixty points in the last two games. If he's
a little off, they not only don't win gold, they

(34:06):
might not even make it to the championship game. They
needed all of his thirty six points to beat Serbia jokichestein,
which is one of the best games I've ever seen.
I assumed they were gonna kill France. So I was like,
you know what, I'm gonna go play golf with a
couple buddies and we put on you know, YouTube TV
on our phone. I'm like, whole four, it's like, oh,

(34:27):
they're up ten. I'm like, oh, they're gonna end up
blowing them out. And then the game kind of kept close,
kept close, and by the time we got to the turn,
it was really backed up. So we went to the
bar at the turn and watched like the last six minutes,
and I think that's like, that's what Steph Curry has
done for the Warriors. It's what he did for Davidson.
That is Steph Curry, who in this generation.

Speaker 2 (34:49):
There are really two guys in the sport.

Speaker 1 (34:51):
Obviously, the NBA just got a ton of money from
the television networks, but they don't really rate relative to
what they used to do. There are two guys. When
you put him on TV, get huge ratings, and when
they play each other, it does the highest rated game
in the NBA beside like the finals, which is down
by half from like six seven years ago when Lebron
and Curry used to play. And it's those two guys,

(35:13):
and Lebron obviously everyone's like, oh, he's great, he's great,
we get it. He's one of the greatest athletes we've
ever seen. He's still awesome. But like he's played like
that the whole tournament. Curry was down early and if
he did not play like he did, we don't win.
We needed all of his sixty points. And the way
he did it, the fashion which he did it, making

(35:33):
fun of the French crowd, it was just it was vintage,
and whether they ever make the playoffs again with the Warriors,
because who knows?

Speaker 2 (35:42):
To me?

Speaker 1 (35:42):
That's a Cherry on top of his career. And twenty
million people watch the game on Saturday. I can imagine
a ton of people watch the game on Thursday. It's
it was fantastic to watch all those guys play.

Speaker 2 (35:56):
And it's pretty crazy.

Speaker 1 (35:58):
That in a league and a sport full of young
star players.

Speaker 2 (36:02):
All over here, NBA's never been better. There's more talent.

Speaker 1 (36:06):
The two best players by a pretty wide margin. Really,
the three of them were all thirty five years and older.
And the two guys leading him down the stretch in
the gold medal game was a foty year old and
the thirty six thirty seven year old in Lebron and Steph.
So I just it didn't get any better. That was
And the best part about Steph. Tiger was always like

(36:27):
this when he was playing well, it is like this
is just so entertaining. I can't move off. I don't
want to watch anything. I can't imagine watching anything else,
and a lot like Tiger little different circumstances the Masters
in twenty nineteen, Cherry on the top of his career,
and that's what it felt like with Steph Curry when
he hit those shots. You know, he hit four to

(36:49):
three pointers in the last couple minutes and just executed
the French national team. Okay, Mail back time at John
Middlecoff Instagram at John Middlecoff Instagram firing those dms. Get

(37:10):
your question answered here on the show. Mail back question
love the pod as a lifelong.

Speaker 2 (37:16):
Birds fan, me and the Eagles.

Speaker 1 (37:19):
Two part question relating to the ESPN article on Jalen
and Nick's relationship and knowing to say it nicely, You
don't love Nick, No, nothing personal.

Speaker 2 (37:29):
This is just business.

Speaker 1 (37:31):
I'm just judging him as a football coach, and everyone
questions his football documen, so it's I have to question
this football documen that he doesn't call the offense, can't
call the offense. I think it's fair. We just ask questions,
That's all I'm doing. It seems like a nice guy.
I'd have some beers with him. Do you think Jalen
has earned the right to question Nick's x's nose. He

(37:52):
got benched at Bama and had a great season under Shane,
but it's not like he's Tom Brady. I love Jalen
but that line surprised me given his background. Two, I
hate the Cowboys so much. I like watching the Cowboys
lose more than I like watching the Eagles win. Can
you feel that cowboy hate working the building? When I

(38:12):
was with the Eagles, the Giants were better when I
got there in twenty ten. You know, the Giants had
won a Super Bowl a couple of years before than
they wanted a year later. So the Cowboys teams, I
think Wade Phillips was a coach when I first got there,
that maybe Garrett took over year two. They just weren't
as good. So it's probably different than it would feel

(38:33):
right now that the Cowboys and the Eagles have been
kind of fighting out for the division. I would say
the Giants felt more like the big bad wolf in
the division, and the hatred that rivalry was stronger than
the Cowboys. Obviously, it's a huge game because the team,
the brand, the rivalry, But I felt the Giants were

(38:54):
a bigger deal, and it has to do with how
the teams were playing. I do think when you look
at Jalen was benched for a guy that went fifth
in the draft. Now we can argue about Tua, but
Toole was a better college player and they benched him.
Jalen had a transfer. One guy goes in the second round,
the other guy went five. So that's just pretty basic football.

(39:14):
You just play guys who are better at the time.
Two Jalen played in Colin and I talked.

Speaker 2 (39:21):
About this.

Speaker 1 (39:23):
For Nick Saban. I'm pretty sure day Ball was there
one of the years. Maybe he missed him, but Lane Sark,
Lincoln Riley, so like he's been around pretty awesome offensive
coordinators in offensive mines and then Shane. So I think
there's one thing of questioning. If you want to push

(39:46):
back on Jalen, Like, Jalen, we don't want you to
be a pure pocket quarterback.

Speaker 2 (39:49):
You're not Tom Brady.

Speaker 1 (39:50):
You're paidon manning. That's completely fair. But like, I think
he kind of knows what it looks like in terms
of being coached from a schematic standpoint of guys who
were pretty brilliant. So I think questioning. I think whenever
you question someone, if you're right, like even if your
resume might not be as long as them. I mean,

(40:12):
there are people probably all over America who have been
working middle management jobs or management jobs who aren't very
good and people under them think that guy is a
complete slap, complete unknowing, unknowledgeable. Fraud like that happens.

Speaker 2 (40:33):
All over corporate America.

Speaker 1 (40:34):
It happens in football too, And obviously Nick has qualities
the leadership that people like. I guess players like them.
But I don't think it's crazy that Jalen questions his
football knowledge, even if on some of it he might
be right, assuming he's arguing like we need you to
scramble more than play in the pocket. Love the podcast.

(40:57):
I came across the two years ago, and since then
I've listened to every show. I even went back last
summer and listened to all your old shows.

Speaker 2 (41:04):
God, I like this guy.

Speaker 1 (41:06):
Even the one where you had Howie Roseman on The
Rosenberg Show was probably my favorite episode you've ever done.
I'm a huge Howie Roseman guy, an Eagles fan. My
question is, if you were an NFL owner and you
could start a franchise with any NFL GM.

Speaker 2 (41:22):
Who would you choose. It's a good question.

Speaker 1 (41:30):
What I would do is I have a specific individual,
probably for the Chiefs, who I would hire. Obviously it's
not Veach because I can't, but there's a guy in
that staff that I would hire. Now, what I would
do is I would hire a guy like I mean,
if I was an NFL GM and you had any
juice in the hiring, you would go, here is the

(41:52):
budget I need for these two positions, because these are
really really important. I guess if you could start an
NFL franchise. So okay, so let's just assume I'm the owner.
I know exactly who i'd hire to be my GM,
But I would pay a premium for a guy like
Jake to run my CAP in the business aspect, and

(42:14):
he would obviously work hand in hand with my GM
in the sense because the money aspect of the team.

Speaker 2 (42:20):
Is such a big deal.

Speaker 1 (42:22):
But I would lean like on a brilliant, brilliant scout
buddy that I know.

Speaker 2 (42:28):
I think there's a couple.

Speaker 1 (42:29):
I'd feel pretty comfortable hiring. And I understand what Jake's saying,
and I value that position a lot, so I would
I would try to bridge the two. I am obviously
biased because I know people that have been on Super
Bowl teams, and I would just everything they've ever steered

(42:49):
me when it comes to picking players is just right.

Speaker 2 (42:53):
Now, obviously he's.

Speaker 1 (42:54):
Right about you know you are not taught how to
manage a two hundred and fifty million dollar But I
mean some of these guys have been pretty high level
guys for a long time. Listen, I've heard great things
about Joe Douglas, and you look, it looks like he's
over his head. I mean, he went all in on
Zach Wilson this reddick situation. And I know a bunch
of guys that worked for him in Philly and love

(43:17):
the guy. But it's kind of embarrassing what's happened to
him in New York, no way around it. I mean,
he is a very well respected guy in the league,
bald guy, chubby guy. I root for him just because
us bald guys, you know, we kind of stick together
even when we don't know each other. But it's kind
of embarrassing what's going down. As a Chiefs fan, I

(43:42):
think our division will be tougher this year. Looking at
the other teams, I still think they are a year
or two out of being playoff contenders. Both Colin and
You have been on a record saying you see the
Chargers in Broncos making the playoffs or Broncos making the playoffs.
I don't see three AFC West teams making it. I
would agree three AFC West teams are not gonna make it.

(44:05):
I'm not gonna throw away my Chargers take, but their
margin freer with a couple players is really small. I mean,
they got three guys that they need to be elite,
the quarterback who's injured, Khalil Mack, and Joey Bosa. Joey
Bosa is currently injured and Khalil gets banged up, so
it could be tough sledding. Now, even if it's tough sledding,

(44:28):
it will not look like Brandon Staley, and they will
be as competitive as any eight win team you'll see
in the league, but it could be challenging. I wanted
the Broncos a little better than we think. What if
their quarterbacks just plug and play ready, Obviously he's a rookie.
You'd have some bad games. But is it inconceivable to think,

(44:49):
like they got some big ass wide receivers. You don't
need Walter Payton on your team at running back in
twenty twenty four. You can piecemeal that thing together with
three they got offensive lineman. I'm not the biggest McGlinchey guy.
For fifty million dollars guaranteed but he sure started on
a lot of winning teams in San Francisco. Defense is

(45:11):
a little bit of a question mark. But what if
offensively the Broncos actually are pretty good. I don't know
if I pick it to make the playoffs, like both
those teams could be pretty similar. Eight to nine wins,
but problems for the mailbag. Love the podcast, corats to
you and Maria. I've been thinking about a crazy hypothetical.

(45:34):
What if there was a pre playoff draft where ringless
veteran players on non playoff teams could declare and each
team could draft one player from the other conference. The
players could join for the playoff run before returning to
their original teams the next season, similar to loans in

(45:55):
international soccer. For playoff teams, it might help them out
if in an event of a late season injury players
could benefit too. We might get less guys like Calvin
Johnson or Joe Thomas retiring without a ring thoughts. I
like this idea, and if the owners would ever allow it,

(46:16):
my vote would be cool. But the reason they would never.

Speaker 2 (46:20):
Allow it is.

Speaker 1 (46:23):
Because if I own the Lions and I got Calvin
Johnson and you know he's been retired now for a
while and the money's changed. But let's just say the
equivalent of twenty twenty four. I'm on an awful team,
but I have this sweet player. I am paying him,
Calvin Johnson be a thirty million dollar wide receiver. I'm
paying him almost two million dollars a week for seventeen weeks,

(46:47):
and I've given him one hundred million dollars guaranteed. What
if he shatters his leg in the second round of
the playoffs for the Chiefs or for the Ravens or
for the Bengals, what happens to me? Then he just
comes back to me and it's not my problem. So
there would be no risk on the playoff side, right

(47:10):
if you're one of the good teams drafting these players
in all the financial risks for the other team, so
that guy plays more games gets injured. Does that still
go in my books? What if he shatters his leg,
can never play again, and I just signed him to
a huge contract, essentially saying that's why it would never happen, though,

(47:30):
like your idea, Like you're thinking outside the box, Jacks
fan here, and I'm wondering what the hell Doug's fascination
is with Press Taylor if you recall Doug wanting to
promote Press to OC and Philly is part of the
reason he was fired. I don't think it was wanting
to promote him. I think he kind of did, and
he didn't want to fire him, if I remember correctly,

(47:52):
it's been a while now. Once Doug got the job
in Jacksonville, he hired Press as the OC, but he
didn't call plays when they had success and one of
the best offenses football while having a fairly average personnow group.
The next season, roughly two hours before the Jags played
their Week one game against the Colts, Jags pr announced

(48:14):
that Press would now be calling plays for the offense.
The switch didn't really work, as the offense went from
top ten in most categories to middle the pack in
passing at the very bottom in rushing. Shodkhan, the owner,
has publicly stated multiple times that he wants Doug to
call the offense. Reports are that Trevor has said the

(48:34):
same thing. Why is Doug willing to gamble his head
coaching career on this guy?

Speaker 2 (48:41):
At any point in.

Speaker 1 (48:42):
Time in your life, you need someone who is above
you to believe in you, even like Jeff Bezos or
Sergey and his partner at Google needed someone with money
to buy into what they were doing.

Speaker 2 (48:58):
Right.

Speaker 1 (48:58):
As a player, you need to co coach early on
to believe in you. As an assistant coach, you need
a head coach to believe in you. And for whatever reason,
Doug loves this guy. I mean Doug views this guy
like Mike Holmgren in the mid nineties at the Packers
viewed Mary Ucci, Gruden and Andy. He thinks this guy

(49:20):
is a star. And let's face it, when you believe
in a human and I would say a lot of
us at different points in time in our life will
either be in a position or have been in a.

Speaker 2 (49:31):
Position where you just believe in a guy. You're like,
I believe in this guy.

Speaker 1 (49:34):
I think this guy is gonna be really good at
whatever he's doing and in public jobs, like he's gonna
be a quote unquote star coaching star. You know, some
great artists if you're in the music business, could just
be in sales like you got this young intern, like
we need this guy can make us a lot of money.
We need to double down on this guy. Sometimes you're
wrong for whatever. It doesn't mean like you just miss something.

(49:57):
Sometimes you just like the individual. That's the hard part
about business. Right, you can really like someone, your values
can align. Maybe you see politically the world the same,
maybe your morals are the same, maybe the way you
view family is the same. So you're like, I have
sole like I really we connect, but that person is

(50:18):
not good enough. And I think sometimes the personal connection
can cloud what you believe or know of that guy's
tangible talent at whatever he's doing. And I'm with you.
I also think it's an easy fix. If I'm Shodkhan,

(50:38):
I go listen, Doug. I'm not gonna meddle here in general,
like I let you and Trent do whatever you need
to do. Sign whoever you want to sign this guy.
I'll give you the money you want to trade this guy.
You want to hire this coach, But I hired you
because years ago I watched you out do a Belichick

(50:58):
in the fucking Super Bowl with Nick Foles. I want
you to call the plays. I don't think that's a
crazy ask.

Speaker 2 (51:08):
You became.

Speaker 1 (51:10):
The most famous coach in Eagles history because you let
them do a Super Bowl. You won a super Bowl
before even Andy Reid won a Super Bowl. I need
to call plays, and I don't think that's too crazy.
If you're shot cone to demand that, like, I don't

(51:30):
even think it's demanding.

Speaker 2 (51:32):
I think you just do it. I like Doug and
I don't know Press Taylor at all.

Speaker 1 (51:39):
I clearly I think he's People think he's a nice guy,
good guy. I think it's fair to question him as
a coach. How many games of Deshaun Watson. Watson's struggling
until Cleveland brook Park. I guess that's where their new
stadium is going to be. Consider sitting him down. This

(52:01):
roster is complete and ready to compete. Honestly, the only
question mark is on him. I believe he will struggle,
but the money he's being paid, can they actually bench him?
Have you heard any rumors about Washington name change? Obviously
not going back to the old name, but Commanders just
doesn't feel right. I personally liked Washington football team. Totally agree.

(52:24):
I never understood why they changed Washington football team.

Speaker 2 (52:26):
It just worked.

Speaker 1 (52:28):
I think the Watson things hard and this, like the
previous question with Doug, is this an owner decision? But hey, guys,
I did this. I want this and I want to
make it work. The thing if you're the coach and
ultimately want to go with a change if he's really terrible, Like,
you have a lot of body of work. Now you've

(52:50):
had a lot. I guess he's only started twelve games.

Speaker 2 (52:53):
He's been on your team for a while, and I.

Speaker 1 (52:56):
Read today he's fully cleared, He's completely healthy. There is
a lot of pressure on this guy to play well.
If I told you right now Josh Allen was the
Browns quarterback, is it safe to say they would be
the betting favorite to win.

Speaker 2 (53:11):
The Super Bowl?

Speaker 1 (53:14):
I mean, if they had a top five quarterback on
their team, I think they would be the betting favorite
to win the super Bowl. But they have a guy
who's been objectively awful.

Speaker 2 (53:23):
John there you've been to.

Speaker 1 (53:24):
No, he's had one good half I think it was
against the Ravens. Other than that, he was really bad.
And then this offseason, what did they decide to do?
They found someone with Flaco, worked with the scheme, worked
with their players, fantastic backup, cost less than five million dollars.

Speaker 2 (53:41):
They didn't resign them. Why, because they're not dumb.

Speaker 1 (53:47):
What's the first thing the fan base would do? If
he throws three picks against the Cowboys Week one, you
lose twenty four to seventeen. Put in Flacco. We want
to make the playoffs. Can't do that with Jameis Winston
because we've seen Jameis. I mean, he's not as good
as Joe Flacco. So I think the team, the front

(54:09):
office slashed, the owner made a conscious effort to basically
clear out the decks for Deshaun. But that means all
the pressures on him to play well, He's got a
longer leash. But how ugly can it get? Don't I
don't have the answer to that, but I don't expect
it to go great. I don't think he's any good.

(54:30):
I don't know if he just lost his confidence. He
doesn't even remotely look like the same guy. The guy
hasn't played that much football since sitting out the year.
All the massus is the injuries. It's been a disaster.
It's it's been legal robbery. That's what Mulgeta and Deshaun
did to die Haslim legal robbery because they've robbed the Browns,

(54:53):
which listen, if it's legal, do it. What do you
think is the floor see for the Rams this season?
I would say the ceiling would be win the division
and compete for the NFC they have a huge, huge
hole in Aaron Donald, who was the heartbeat of the
defense and really the heart beat of the team. He's

(55:14):
one of the best players in the history of the league.
So I give the Rams credit for doubling down on
the two Florida State guys. Derek Ray, who's been on
this podcast, who's the GM at Florida State. Obviously, Jared
Versus a really good player. McVeigh during the preseason game
was calling him a stud. Loves him and he's a
good player. He'd play for everybody in the league. The

(55:36):
de tackle they took that that viral video of Verse
calling him. I don't know if Derek said this on
the podcast, but he told me Offen he and he's
Derek's a big Raider fan. He's like his motor and
his energy for football is like Max Crosby. I mean,
he's one of the super tryhard guy and listen. I
started watching the Pete Rose documentary on HBO. I don't

(56:00):
think we talk enough about you know, Max Crosby, Pete Rose.
Those guys are not the most talented guys like Pete
Rose became one of the greatest baseball players ever, and
he'd be the first, tell you like, I wasn't even
remotely the most talented guy on my own team. There
were three or four guys who had more God given
ability than me effort, And I think this kind of

(56:22):
works for any walk of life, working hard, getting there early,
doing everything humanly possible. In athletics you can feel it
more because you're like running around, moving around, and basketball
it's like keep cutting, you know, in baseball it's like
run to first. In football, it's just like one hundred
percent effort till the whistle. In life, it's different for

(56:45):
us because if you have a desk job, you're not
like sweating while you're doing it, but you can go
above and beyond. And even if you're not the most talented,
even if you're not the smartest or the brightest individual
in the operation, it's pretty hard to fail if you
max out at And that's the way he described this
player to me. Now there's a difference of like max
effort guy and Aaron Donald who had elite talent and

(57:09):
was max effort.

Speaker 2 (57:10):
So I would say.

Speaker 1 (57:11):
Their floor would be I mean, if Stafford missed any
time they're done, Stafford misses any time they got no shot,
Stetson Bennett is terrible. I don't even think he's an
NFL player. Honestly, I would not have him mom if
I ran an NFL team, he would not be on
my NFL roster. And Jimmy Garoppolo, who I think has
suspended the first two games for some PDUs, the guy

(57:34):
we saw with the Raiders looked like a lost puppy
and he was like that, you know, he just feels
like he's lost. It feels like he's just lost, and
I think sometimes when it goes, it goes hard, and
I don't expect much different.

Speaker 2 (57:50):
Now he does know Lafloor, Mike Laflor.

Speaker 1 (57:55):
Who's now, you know, working for McVeigh, So maybe he
can kind of get him on the straight and the
air because Josh McDaniel's who we also knew. I've never
seen Jimmy play that bad in his life. I mean,
he looked like a USFL player. So if that's your
backup quarterback, that version.

Speaker 2 (58:11):
I don't think you can win games.

Speaker 1 (58:13):
And clearly they're just Stafford stays healthy, Puka and Cooper
are healthy, like they're gonna be good. Mcveigh's stud The
defense you would think would be pretty solid. They got
a lot of young talent. We know they can score points.
I would be pretty high on them, but Stafford goes
down like other like the forty nine ers. I think

(58:38):
they could win some games with their backup quarterback. I
don't even think it's possible with the Rams. Pete Rose
documentary is funny man Pete until they showed it on
the screen because he wears like this flat bill hat.
He wears like the Robert Kraft you know, white collar
blue shirt, but he untucks it and it's really big.

(58:58):
Those shirt. If you're gonna rock that shirt, the white collar,
which feels like a little out of style more like.

Speaker 2 (59:06):
Ten, fifteen, twenty years ago, you.

Speaker 1 (59:08):
Have to tuck it in because those shirts, especially if
you're buying it off the rack, are never you know,
I own some untucked shirts that you know are perfect right,
you can.

Speaker 2 (59:17):
Wear them untucked.

Speaker 1 (59:18):
Those are not made to wear untucked. So he walks
around he just looks like your classic. I thought Pete
was like, I don't know, seventy and then you realize, well,
he's broke into the big leagues in the sixties shows.
He's eighty one years old. He's dyeing his hair.

Speaker 2 (59:33):
He got caught gambling and.

Speaker 1 (59:35):
Just refused to tell the truth.

Speaker 2 (59:38):
Refuse to tell the truth just.

Speaker 1 (59:41):
I don't know in the history of sports, we've ever
seen higher highs and lower lows. I mean, the guy
became a legend, a champion, own some of the most
heralded stats in the history of a game based on stats,
and then get.

Speaker 2 (59:54):
Banned for life.

Speaker 1 (59:55):
I mean, banned for life is not allowed in the
Hall of Fame because he lied shows it. You know,
your parents tell you when you're young, just tell the truth,
and you're like, I don't want to tell the truth.
I'm gonna get in a lot of trouble. And then
the older you get, you realize you didn't kill anybody.
Just just tell the truth, take your medicine, and it'll
be over faster. When you lie, it always is worse.

(01:00:18):
And Pete, you know, as he said in that documentary,
he's like, my lawyers told me they're never gonna be
able to prove it.

Speaker 2 (01:00:24):
Ever.

Speaker 1 (01:00:26):
And then the Major League Baseball, the attorney they got
to look into the situation and basically do all the
due diligence for them to figure out what was going on.
I forget who it was, like Paul Giamatti's dad, who
was the commissioner at the time, was like, we hired
a lawyer who literally was taking down the mob. This

(01:00:47):
wasn't going to be that difficult for him. And they
figured out everything that Pete Rose actually did, and then
they told him and to sit down. Pete Rose like, realize,
I'm caught red handed. And they showed Pete's buddies who
got arrested, who were involved in the gamble. It's crazy
when you look back, it's like gambling and weed things
like that I grew up on that were so taboo.
It's like what were we talking about? But all the

(01:01:08):
gambling guys from like the eighties or seventies all look
the same, all look like lower level mob guys. They
all have on the jumpsuits, they all have on the
aviators just to they look straight out of Central casting
in a movie. And they were all Pete's boys. I honestly,
my takeaway, if you're betting on your team to win,

(01:01:31):
betting on a team.

Speaker 2 (01:01:32):
To lose, clearly ban for life.

Speaker 1 (01:01:34):
You should go to jail betting on a team to win.
I understand why you can't do it, but it's not
that crazy. You're literally betting on your team to win.
I don't know, what's your job. Your life is depending
on a team winning, if that's the business you're in,
so putting some cash on the side. I think Phil
Mickelson once did that on the Ryder Cup and he lost.

Speaker 2 (01:01:55):
Because they lost.

Speaker 1 (01:01:57):
It doesn't bother me as much.

Speaker 2 (01:02:00):
I get it.

Speaker 1 (01:02:00):
It's never gonna be, you know, normalized.

Speaker 2 (01:02:04):
Now. I think a lot of people.

Speaker 1 (01:02:06):
Go, are we sure he never been on a team
to lose when he knew some shitty ass pitcher was
rolling out and they had no shot playing. You know,
a team that's rolling with their ace and they're rolling there,
dude from double a out and you go, no, he's
too competitive. But anytime you know, you start gambling, I
don't know. I wouldn't put it past him, that's all.

(01:02:28):
So I kind of get both sides. Just sad story
though al Michael's and him used me buddies.

Speaker 2 (01:02:33):
He's in it. It's just an easy watch. It's an
easy watch.

Speaker 1 (01:02:37):
Different time too, And I was watching it with Maria
and she's like, God, it's just simpler times. I'm like,
I don't think you realize how famous all these guys were,
like baseball players, and Pete Rose's era were the equivalent
of like Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, the Watts, the Bosas,
Like how big of a deal these players were, Like

(01:02:59):
Johnny Bench Pete Rose when he first got to the
big leagues. Mickey Mann was making fun of him in
the preseason game, Like how famous these guys were in
the sixties and seventies. When I moved to the Bay
Via Blue used to work out in my gym rip
Like that guy was.

Speaker 2 (01:03:17):
A rock star in the seventies.

Speaker 1 (01:03:19):
He's the equivalent of like an NFL quarterback different times baseball,
just the brawls they used to get in just look like,
just looked fun. Sometimes I miss the only thing I
miss whenever you look back, like times before you were born.
It's like, God, if I would have known what I
would know now, would have been a real estate Mayven

(01:03:41):
Tycoon be like, no, you wouldn't have because you wouldn't
have actually known. But it would have been cool to
watch sports in the seventies, like the Steelers and Ragers
games in the mid seventies, or you know, the Reds
playing the A's in the World Series would have been fun,
or Wilton Bill Russell going at it. Hey, John, big fan,

(01:04:02):
I'm on the road a lot from my job.

Speaker 2 (01:04:04):
So I appreciate the work.

Speaker 1 (01:04:06):
My question is more of a hot take, and I
wanted to get your thoughts.

Speaker 2 (01:04:10):
Shanahan is the most overrated head coach in the NFL.
He is brilliant.

Speaker 1 (01:04:15):
He's a brilliant offensive mind, but absolutely terrible when it
comes to game management and crucial moments. I've heard you
mentioned in a lot of your pods that all he
wants to do is run the ball. Yet in the
biggest games of his career, he's elected to go pass
happy at the absolute wrong time. Both super Bowls, I
think he used the Atlanta Super Bowl, and then I
think this last Super Bowl he's using Roman numerals. I'm

(01:04:38):
not up to date on my Roman numerals, so I
have no clue, but I think he's choosing Atlanta because
he used l I and then Live, which I.

Speaker 2 (01:04:45):
Think was last year. Then in this year's Super Bowl,
so maybe he was using the first two and then
this year. Okay, I'm trying to keep up here.

Speaker 1 (01:04:52):
Then this year he made the big mistake of giving
the homes four downs in overtime. It's little things like
that that make me wonder if he'll ever the big one,
as Super Bowls are often decided by a crucial play
or a coaching decision down the stretch.

Speaker 2 (01:05:05):
Ps.

Speaker 1 (01:05:06):
This is coming from a Falcons fan. I talked about
this on the podcast when Sean McVay hired the dude.
I think it's hard to be a master at everything,
and when you're calling plays on that given week, you
are trying to master your own team on offense and

(01:05:26):
the opponent you are doing simply doing more than the
CEO head coach and Andy Reid was talked about in
a very similar vein as the way you just described
Kyle can't manage and maybe as through experience he's obviously
gotten a lot better at it, it is still difficult.

(01:05:47):
I do think you need someone to help you out
with that stuff.

Speaker 2 (01:05:50):
Now.

Speaker 1 (01:05:50):
Part of having that someone like Sean mcvay's got John Striker,
is he gonna listen to him, Because I think the
forty nine ers say we have a guy he chimes
in the Kyle's ear, and Kyle doesn't always listen. So
Sean McVay, the ego, the belief in yourself. Sometimes you
just gotta relinquish a little juice and you can't micro

(01:06:15):
manage everything. And I give McVeigh credit for making that hire. Like,
why didn't Kyle hire this guy? That'd be my question.
Why weren't the forty nine ers all over this guy?
What are the Rams offering him five hundred grand? Why
don't you offer him seven to fifty? That's just a
line item for your operation. Rams are offering am eight
hundred grand, offer him one point five because his value

(01:06:38):
If that's the difference of winning an extra playoff game
or winning the Super Bowl? What's that worth to you? Honestly,
what's that worth to you? So credit the Rams for
hiring that cat, especially if Seawn's gonna listen to him.

(01:06:58):
I'm a big Lions fan, but also still a Stafford fan,
even though he doesn't play for my squad. Although I
like golf and think he's done a great job, I
do believe Stafford is more talented. You are correct, Stafford
is more talented. Do you think that if Stafford was
never traded with this roster and coaching staff, the Lions
would have won the Super Bowl in twenty three or

(01:07:19):
even twenty two, or do you think that the trade
was needed to get the picks and players required to
be in the building blocks up for the team, and
if Stafford was still here, the team wouldn't be where
it is now. Well, when you traded Stafford for golf,

(01:07:39):
that first.

Speaker 2 (01:07:39):
Year, you went three and thirteen. If memory serves me correct, you.

Speaker 1 (01:07:44):
Probably win a couple more games with him, and that
led you to Aiden Hutchinson, who I think is going
to be one of the better pass rushes in the
league for the next seven eight years. Then the following year,
that trade because Stafford got hurt, gave you the sixth pick,
and that led to a running back that looks like
Alvin Kamara meets Christian McCaffrey and Sam Laporta, So that

(01:08:10):
trade in a weird way. It's hard to do this
because there are so many variables, but I think it's
safe to say that there's a decent chance that you
would not have Hutchinson.

Speaker 2 (01:08:22):
Or either the running back or Laporta.

Speaker 1 (01:08:25):
And I know there are other aspects of it, but
if you just look at it in a vacuum like that,
And part of the reason why everyone's so high on
you right now is because your offensive weaponry and Jared
Goff here's the difference Stafford's better than Goff if they're
both healthy, no one would argue that if the teams

(01:08:45):
are the same, you would take Matt Stafford over Jared Goff.
But if you can load your team up like the
Lions did and insert Jared Goff, who's like, what ninth
best quarterback?

Speaker 2 (01:08:58):
What Stafford? Fifth, sixth?

Speaker 1 (01:09:00):
The gap ain't that wide and you're in position now
if you just put Matt Stafford in that game in
the second half against the forty nine ers, do you
have a better chance to win? Yeah, I think that's
fair to say, But like you said, that's not really
how it works. So I think part of trading him
was what you had to do. You know, forever the

(01:09:21):
Oakland A's, because the owners so cheap and just they
don't make any money, would always trade sweet players like Hudson,
Mould or Zito or you assessment, whoever the group was,
they would trade them all and then a couple of
years later they would have the new version of those guys.

(01:09:42):
And I think that's ultimately what Stafford did for you. You
traded him, his value was still really high because the
Niners and Rams both really wanted him, and I think
you guys deserve a lot of credit because you essentially
chose the deals were the same. You want two first
round picks and Jimmy Garoppolo or two first round picks

(01:10:04):
and Jared Goff. And I think at the time of
the trade, a lot of people are like, you want
Jared Goff And it was one hundred percent of the
right move. Honestly, it's a pretty legendary trade now looking back,
it really is. Doesn't top Ryan Poles and everything you
got for the Bears, but saved your franchise. Appreciate you

(01:10:25):
all listening. Hopefully had a great day. If you're having
a good day, depending on where you're listening, We have
another podcast tomorrow so you the volume
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Colin Cowherd

Colin Cowherd

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