3 & Out - Will Fields start, Pressure on the Jets, Jaden Rashada is suing Napier

John dives into the latest with the storylines surrounding the Steelers, Justin Fields, and Russell Wilson on who will be the starter week one. Later, John discussed the pressure on the Jets and what should be expected from New York if Aaron Rodgers is healthy all season, and lastly, does Jaden Rashada have a case to sue Billy Napier over not getting 13-million dollars on NIL deals.

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

5:58 - Fields and the Steelers

16:22 - Pressure on the Jets

25:35 - Jaden Rashada sues over NIL deal

39:29 - 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

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Speaker 1 (01:53):
What is going on? How are my people doing? Beautiful Tuesday?

Speaker 3 (01:59):
Here?

Speaker 1 (01:59):
Son? Hopefully everyone's having a great week. Just recording a
little podcast, because that's what this is. Three and out
with me. John Middlecough. I got in trouble as a kid.
That used to say John David, that's my middle name.
Something that used to happen to my generation when we
got in trouble, which we did a lot. You got
yelled at by your parents with the middle name added.

Speaker 3 (02:21):
On there.

Speaker 1 (02:22):
So I want to talk a little football because Justin
Fields says he's competing for the job.

Speaker 3 (02:27):
I like his mindset.

Speaker 1 (02:29):
Aaron Rodgers, Robert Solid talk today. And Jaden Reshada, quarterback
at Georgia who was just at Arizona State, who originally
committed to Florida hard to keep up with everything in
college football, sometimes is suing Florida because he was once
offered a lot of money thirteen plus million dollars.

Speaker 3 (02:49):
Obviously none of.

Speaker 1 (02:50):
It came, and I wanted to dive in to just
the wild wild West did his college football nil and
just the overall situation, none of us are shocked. Other
than that, we will do a Middlecoff mailbag like always
at John Middlecoff at John Middlecoff as the Instagram fire
in those dms you listen on Collins Feed, subscribe to

(03:14):
the podcast Everything's up on YouTube. But before we dive
into football, obviously got to tell you about my friends,
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(04:22):
dollars off. Download the game Time app today, Last minute tickets,
lowest prices, guarantee. Last time I talked to Coward was
when the schedule release came out and he looked at
the Steelers schedule and he basically welcomed Mike Tomlin to
the broadcasting booth because he thinks it's going to be
a difficult season for the Steelers when you look at

(04:45):
their schedule. Now, I wouldn't go that far, not because
I don't think Mike Tomlin, if he left Pittsburgh got
fired would be not a good broadcaster. Obviously, everyone would
be lined up for his services because I think other
teams would be lined up to hire him. And I
think if he chose to stay in football, if this
season went poorly and the Steelers, which never move on

(05:07):
from coaches, chose to do that, he'd get another job.
In a New York minute, some people have commented, don't worry,
Tomlin is a lock to win nine games, not any less,
and not anymore. Here's what I think, though, because their
quarterback situation in the last couple of years was a joke,
and it's tough to transition from a legendary player like Roethlisberger.

(05:28):
Look at the Falcons. They went through it. The Colts
went through it when Andrew Luck kind of suddenly retired.
It's not easy to replace that player that situation. You
can get stuck in no man's land very quickly. And
they made a draft pick, which obviously they regretted, taking
Kenny Pickett with a twentieth pick. Who that year we

(05:51):
just had six quarterbacks going the top twelve. Kenny Pikett
was the first quarterback off the board. So when you
factor in quarterback inflation, if you're going to go twenty
you know, five ten, twenty years ago, that guy's going
potentially like third round, which I thought that was his
level of play. And he is currently the backup on
the Philadelphia Eagles. But I gave them credit because they

(06:14):
had to kind of swing for the fences and they
were able to do it in a very cheap manner.
They're paying Russell Wilson a million dollars a year. They
traded a six round pick for Justin Fields. Now, part
of getting Russell Wilson's services was essentially Mike Tomlin telling
him he was a starting quarterback. It's not a binding agreement,
and we'll get into one of those when it comes

(06:36):
to the nil situation, which many are not either. It's
just works. And anyone that has functioned in any industry
that gets a promise from a boss, from a partner,
from someone you are trying to lock up, if you're
a sales guy, knows it's meaningless. It does not matter.

(06:56):
And I've said this over and over that Russell Wilson
has zero equity with the franchise if they start poor,
if he's dinking and dunking, if he doesn't play well
in training camp, the conversations will immediately start. And Justin
Fields today was interviewed in the locker room and he
essentially said, I don't plan on sitting on the bench

(07:18):
all season. I don't plan on holding a clipboard. Those
weren't his exact words, but he views this as a competition,
as he should because the opportunity is there. And I've
said all along, the NFL, probably more than any other league,
is the power of the fan base because when you're

(07:40):
not playing well, they get very loud in the stadium. Obviously,
they are constantly calling into the local radio station, the
newspaper reporters. Is not the NBA where everyone holds your hand,
they will destroy you. And that's where the owners listen.
That's what the owners watch. So they don't want to
watch poor play, especially with someone they haven't invested much in.

(08:04):
Because when you're an owner and you pay a guy
a lot of money, like Arthur Blank's gonna want to
watch Kirk Cousins play. Why he just gave him one
hundred million dollars. He gave him like a fifty million
dollar bonus, Like that money already went into his account,
So I want to see what I just paid for.
But the Steelers are paying Russell Wilson nothing, and these

(08:25):
last three years have not gone well. I don't give
a shit what his stats say, what he used to be,
He's nowhere near that guy anymore. And now he comes
to a place where making the playoffs is something they've
been doing for forty years, but not winning any playoff
games is a problem. They play and arguably went healthy
the best division in football, and I think Russell Wilson

(08:49):
is in trouble from the jump. Not because I think
Justin Fields is that great a player. He has not
been yet, but there's an unknown there, Like we know
what Russell wil is now. Gives you twenty five touchdowns,
Dinxon dunks and he lose a lot of games. He's not.
He hasn't been a winning player now for a while.

(09:10):
Doesn't mean he can't get back to that guy. But
history would say usually when you fall off a cliff,
you don't come storming back. And if I'm Justin Fields,
I go with this in with this mindset in OTAs
in training camp, I plan on starting week one. Now,
obviously you're gonna have to show it in practice. You're
gonna have to show it in these preseason games. But
there are things he can do that the other guy

(09:32):
just cannot do. And because of the unknown, like what
if Arthur Smith, what if our offense, what if our
culture can change this guy? I'd rather see this than that.
So Russell Wilson was going to start obviously in Seattle,
but when they traded him Denver because of the contract,
he was basically on scholarship. That's what these massive quarterback

(09:56):
contracts essentially are. So I'm very hesitant with Lawrence or Toua, like,
be careful before you sign one of these deals because
you're all in and most coaches and teams front offices
don't have the juice Sean Payton does to be like
just get rid of him. Now, Sean was lucky he
didn't sign that contract, like it wasn't his idea, so

(10:18):
it was easy for him to be like, we got
to get out of this business. But honors don't like
doing that. It happens never, right, Matt Ryan, They ate
a bunch of money. That was a disaster. If this
Russell Wilson situation financially, it is a disaster for Denver,
But there is no disaster here with Russell Wilson because
they're not on the hook for anything. So Justin Fields
to me, we're gonna see him this year. I just

(10:40):
think the question is when. And I think all eyes
are on Russell Wilson right his ability in training camp,
when the bullets start flying in the practices, in the
preseason games and early on in the season, like they
start zero and two, like yeah, put Justin Fields in Like,
I think it will be that quick. And that has
never been the case for this player because he's never

(11:02):
been in this situation and the moment you start moving
around teams, the equity you have is less and less.
So I think the situation is something worth monitoring. It's
gonna be a story that we talk about because this
guy's scholarship is over and now the competition. Mike Tomlin

(11:22):
said a lot of things and then he's pivoted, so
I think his words mean little to nothing in terms
of Russell Wilson feeling safe or and Justin Fields knows
it like he knows coming in and the other thing,
he's gonna have the opportunity, like he gets to practice
against this guy every day in drills. They rotate in

(11:44):
and out and you can make an impression because both
of you come in with the same slate. Russell's resume
is much longer, But in the NFL, no one gives
a shit about that. What have you done for me lately?
Aaron Rodgers said it today. He said, essentially, if we
don't play well, if I don't play well, we're all

(12:07):
out of here. I think it's one of the most
relatable things about the NFL. If in our jobs we
don't produce, you're fired. It's pretty period, point blank, end.

Speaker 3 (12:21):
Of story for most of our roles.

Speaker 1 (12:24):
If you're a sales guy, if you're a podcaster, if
you're a real estate like, you will go up. You
will not make any money. And most people are at
will employees and they can be thrown to the curb
at any moment. It's part of the setup of our
society and these other sports no longer have that. In baseball,

(12:46):
when you sign a long term contract. In the NBA,
when you sign a long term contract, that money is
coming no matter what. That's why guys don't get cut
in those sports. In the NFL, if you suck, no
matter what your name is, you're discarded, you're benched, and
people lose their job. Coaches have to win players have
to play well. I mean, it's just a simple fact.

(13:09):
And I think you feel it with the Steelers right
There is tangible pressure on this organization this year. And
I said last year, listen, I don't think Mike Tomlin's
a bad coach. I think sometimes it's okay for a change.
Ask Andy Reid what being fired and changing organizations meant
for his career. Change the way everyone looked at him.

(13:31):
Now he's viewed as like the chubby Bill Walsh. He
became a living legend and he was a damn good
coach for Philly. But this Chiefs run hell. What he
was doing with Alex Smith let alone. When he got
Patrick Mahomes changed the conversation around him. Mike Tomlin like
getting fired is not the worst thing, but he knows it.

(13:55):
And I think they could have made a change last year.

Speaker 3 (13:59):
They didn't.

Speaker 1 (13:59):
They very loyal organization. But I'd be stunned if they
win eight or nine games. And the reason is not
that they can't win eight or nine games, but if
they just do the same thing over and over, It's like,
what's the point of all this? And I think when
you look at him, he is not going to have
a long leash with this quarterback. Look at Arthur Smith

(14:21):
when he first got became was working with the Titans
and became the coordinator. Like, they went through a pretty
quick transition. They were loyal to Mariota and then Boom
Benched and Ryan Tannehill, and it changed the trajectory of
all those guys in Tennessee, including Arthur Smith's career. So
sometimes you gotta kind of swing for the fences. And
that's ultimately what Justin Fields is because I think, simply put,

(14:45):
what Russell Wilson has been in recent you know years,
is just not going to be good enough. It's just
that simple. And I think when you look at the Jets,
you know, I watched some of Rogers, I watched some
of Robert Salah, who's just a good looking bald is.
They obviously have a lot of talented players on their team.

(15:06):
The problem is they are all a lot of their
high end guys that aren't the young draft.

Speaker 3 (15:11):
Picks are all injury question marks.

Speaker 1 (15:15):
And the pressure on this organization because of their quarterback,
who I think is right up there now if Tom
is not an NFL player anymore. The two most famous
guys in the league are Aaron Rodgers and Patrick Mahomes.
And you could say Travis Kelsey has thrown his hat
into the ring because of the relationship he has.

Speaker 3 (15:34):
With Taylor Swift.

Speaker 1 (15:35):
But he was an all time great before he ever
started dating her. And by no means would you have
said he's the most famous guy in the league. Now
he's in that conversation. But it's really more for Taylor
when you just talk about football and just super stardom.
It's Aaron and Patrick and I bought into the Jets

(15:56):
last year, picked him to win the division. I even
kind of sold myself. I'm like, wells healthy, could they
get to nine or ten wins? I actually I've said
I like the way their schedule starts. Not the Niner game.
That's tough, but then you get the Titans, then you get.

Speaker 3 (16:08):
A short week with the Patriots.

Speaker 1 (16:10):
You're two and one off the many by you're feeling
pretty good about yourself. But the pressure on this organization.
How weird things get with this team, Like sometimes things
just get weird certain places. I saw it firsthand for
the Raiders.

Speaker 3 (16:23):
Forever, just a place where things get weird.

Speaker 1 (16:26):
I don't know why, I don't know. I mean some
of it understandable. You're always talking about moving, you finally move,
you run through coaches, the Gruden situation. But it's just
stuff happens to the Raiders that just doesn't happen to
the other teams. And whether that's the organizational kind of motto,
whether that's the owner, I don't know, But the same

(16:47):
thing with the Jets, and I think it usually comes
back to ownership, right, Like we could argue all day
long about the Steelers, are they good enough? Are they not?
But their organization isn't that weird. It's pretty normal and consistent.
Weird shit happens with the Jets, and Robert Sala's refusing
to talk about Nathaniel Hackett, saying he addressed it at

(17:08):
the owners meetings, and it's just always something and I
think one issue they have. Most people don't think Nathaniel
Hackett's any good and when you don't have a good
coordinator on offense in twenty twenty four, it can be
a problem. I don't give a shit if Aaron Rodgers
is fully healthy, because we know how dependent they are.

(17:30):
Morgan Moses is not even practicing, He's not healthy. Tyron
Smith great player, he's just been injured a lot. One
of their big offseason signings. Mike Williams, obviously towards ACL
last year, is not able to practice right now. Aaron
benefited a lot from tearing that achilles, you know, five
minutes into the season, gave him a long runway. Now
we're whatever, seven eight months removed from that injury. Even

(17:54):
though he said he was going to be ready by
the end of the season. I never believe that for
a second, but he clearly he is able to full
out because of the timing of the injury. It is
difficult to overcome just dysfunction and chaos. It's why a
lot of people, when you look at having trouble as
they get older, can come from chaotic backgrounds. Like it's

(18:16):
pretty it's hard. That stuff follows you for a long time.
And I think the Jets have battled this now for
fifteen plus years, and you could argue for well longer. Right.
They did have a moment with Rex Ryan, but it
wasn't sustainable. And one thing that's pretty clear in the NFL,
to sustain success, it's usually based on ownership, and I

(18:38):
just think this has a chance to get weird. You're
always getting asked questions about things outside of football, you know,
Robert Sala. One also problem for the Jets is we
have no clue if their coach is any good, and
based on recent history, you would say he's not a
very good coach.

Speaker 3 (18:54):
I'm talking about a head coach.

Speaker 1 (18:56):
It's why I always say, like everyone gets really excited
about out when you hire some hotshot coordinator. Mike McDonald,
I listened to the busting with the Boys had on
Brian Callahan, who's an impressive guy, but he brought something up.
He said, I gotta be careful about the tone of
my voice now. He's like I went into one of

(19:18):
my assistant's rooms and was just busting his balls, and
the guy kind of gave me.

Speaker 3 (19:23):
To look like got him I in trouble or something.

Speaker 1 (19:26):
And he kind of clicked in his mind, like I'm
the boss now. My words impact my assistant coaches, my
players much differently than when I was the coordinator, where
my relationship and my connection to them was just much different.
And I remember hearing Mike McDaniel talk about this maybe

(19:46):
like Rich eisen Or, he was on a podcast probably
a year ago saying he realized early on being a
head coach just his mood around the office impacted.

Speaker 3 (19:57):
Everyone else because everyone's looking at you.

Speaker 1 (20:00):
And Robert Saal is a happy guy. Nathaniel Hackett's definitely
a happy, go lucky guy, and I think they try
to be very positive. But I read an article today
that the Patriots one of their players who loves Bill,
who's like, I miss Bill. I like getting yelled at,
But that doesn't really happen around here anymore. It's much

(20:21):
more positive on the practice field. And I think that
shit's really really overrated. You know, all these guys come
from colleges where they're getting coached hard guys. Players want
to be pushed because getting pushed usually get the best
out of you. And I think one thing the league
has done hardcore a lot of these owners have tried

(20:42):
to get like, we want positive pets, no swearing it guys. Well,
if you're swearing it guys and you're a bad coach,
none of it matters. Just like if you're friendly to
guys and you're a bad coach, none of it matters.
Do you know what you're doing? Because this business obviously
is really really hard to have success, And to me,
my biggest question mark besides just the players being older,

(21:05):
and in injuries. When it comes to a lot of
the Jets' core veteran players, does their coaching staff have
any clue what they're doing and if they don't, the
owner gets involved and then it immediately gets weird. But
as Aaron Rodgers says, if we do not win this year,
we're all done. And if Rogers doesn't look good, if

(21:27):
they lose games, like everyone's getting fired. We all know that,
and Rogers' career probably ends. That's why they're probably one
of the more fascinating stories in the NFL because of
the combustion factor, Like the Bears are a fascinating story,
how good Caleb's gonna be. But like ultimately, if they
underachieve and win eight games and miss the playoffs, eber

(21:48):
Fluce will get fired and those get new coaches. We
know the players aren't going away, right Jalen Johnson under contract,
Sweats under contract, Caleb just drafted Rome just drafted, DJ
Moore under contract, like those guys. Ryan Poles is not
going anywhere with the Jets. It's like every fucking thing's
on the line. The GM, the coach, the players, be

(22:08):
I like Sauce.

Speaker 3 (22:09):
Gardner and Garrett Wilson.

Speaker 1 (22:12):
It's just it feels pressure packed, and it's gonna start
Week one against the forty nine ers. They're an underdog
and they should lose that game. But then immediately can
you write the ship and get two and one. It's
just it's what's cool about the NFL. We all know
what's on the line. One of my favorite business quotes

(22:36):
of all time was Shoe Dog Phil Knight, just a
fantastic book. I listened because I'm an audiobook guy, but
if you want to read it, listen to it. It's
just a fantastic listen on kind of the origin the
history of Nike. And he said something in that book
that I'll never forget because it's so true that business
is a war without bullets. And anyone that's I would say,

(23:01):
been in the workforce, not like the government, and you
could argue that as too, but like in private sector jobs,
I think we all agree it can be pretty ruthless.
And you see shit all the time that isn't quote
unquote fair. Back to promises, promises get made all the
time and they never come through. When I first got

(23:23):
into the podcasting game back in like twenty sixteen, for
a couple of years. I was working with a startup
company and some shady shit happened. I forget the exact number,
but was owed tens of thousands of dollars that never
came my way and it was an incredible learning experience
now looking back, but at the time obviously sucked. I

(23:45):
was pretty dependent on that money that, like I said,
did not exist. Whether it never existed, whether it got
funneled other places, I don't know. But one thing my
dad taught me a long time. It's the company basically
went under. It's pointless to anyone without that doesn't have
any money. It costs you. And Peter Gouber, who longtime

(24:07):
Hollywood guy who's one of the part owners of the Warriors,
has a quote that essentially says, there are no rules,
but you break them at your own peril. And I
think war without bullets in that quote sum up the
business world. Buckle the fuck up, because everything is on
the line in terms of be ready for anything. You

(24:29):
are going to get screwed. It is inevitable. And the
Jaden Rashad Rashada story with Florida has so many elements
to that promises. I would imagine in the nil world
get thrown around all the time. The amount of kids
that are promised money that they never see is probably happening.

(24:54):
Well over fifty percent of the time promises are not kept.
And he was once upon a time promised over thirteen
million dollars, which separate from the player. If you are
willing to pay a prospect thirteen million dollars, I'm gonna
bet against your program because that is that is insanity,

(25:15):
that is moronic. If you want to give thirteen million
dollars to Caleb Williams after his freshman year or an
established player in college. While a lot understandable, but to me,
giving recruits millions of dollars is gonna work out? I
would say a small percentage of the time. And I

(25:37):
think we've seen that, and a lot of teams have
funneled much more of their resources and assets into the
transfer portal because it's like buying a free agent. You
have tape of them playing Power five. So Jade Reshada,
who is now he was gonna go to Florida, then
he was gonna go to Miami, ended up at Arizona
State because that's where his dad played. He's now at

(25:59):
Georgia after last year did not go that well is
suing Florida four millions of dollars and he's represented by
Rusty Harden, who you know, pretty famous attorney once upon
a time. I remember first time I heard his name
was when I was a kid and he was representing
Roger Clemens. But here's the thing. These nil promises are

(26:25):
just that promises. Now, you could argue that it's taking
advantage of young people that have no clue what's going on,
and you throw out numbers thirteen. My first reaction years
ago when the thirteen million number got thrown out was laughter, like,
this is the most over the top fake number in

(26:46):
the history of fake numbers. And part of it was
Florida was trying to swim because Miami had offered a
nine million, so they wanted to offer more. The coach then,
I think, essentially made a.

Speaker 3 (26:57):
Promise to him.

Speaker 1 (26:59):
But that's the business we're in right now. That's the
promises that are getting made all over the country that
are then never lived up to. And you could say, well,
it sucks for him that money was never there in
the first place. It literally didn't exist. The Florida turns out,
didn't even have the money. The nil conglomerate or whatever
they're considered, did not have the cash. And I think

(27:23):
when you look at this situation, like you can sue
the school, but the schools have nothing to do, like
the program has nothing to do with the NIL collective.
In theory, obviously they all do because you're paying to play.
But this is what happens when you have a startup situation,
which essentially NIL is it becomes the wild wild West.

(27:43):
And anytime you have the wild wild West, you're gonna
get a lot of people lying because why would you
not There aren't any rules. I think it's safe to
say that this lawsuit probably won't come to fruition. He
won't end up getting any money out of this situation.
He I don't blame him for being pissed off, because

(28:03):
if promises are made at large numbers you think are
coming and then they don't come. I've been there, You've
been there, We've all been there, you get mad, you
get angry, and if you have the resources to sue
someone that you think has money, like Jayden dethn't you
know has now you can try to take action. But
he said, she said situations it can become very difficult.

(28:27):
Now separating the situation to Florida, They're clearly look.

Speaker 3 (28:31):
Like an embarrassment.

Speaker 1 (28:32):
They look bad. Their coach, Billy Napier, is probably on
one of the hottest seats in the country when it
comes to major programs. If I was a betting man
right now, I would say it doesn't go great for
Florida this year. He's fired and Lane Kiffin is their
next head coach. But separate from that, these universities and
the other problem is like you don't want to have

(28:54):
to deal with this if you're the athletic director of
the president. So this is not a great look for
Billy Napier, but for me, any coach making promises to
do whatever they have to do to get a kid
to sign, like welcome to college sports kind of part
of the deal. Think how long it happened in football,
making a promise to a guy you're gonna be a
starter right away. Then the moment they sign, it's you

(29:16):
got to earn your spot, or we told you you
were gonna play wide receiver, we're gonna start you at corner.
Obviously there's much more emotional now when these numbers get
thrown out. But one thing talking to all these people
in college football. The numbers that consistently get thrown out
are such bullshit. They're so fake. Why wouldn't you throw.

Speaker 3 (29:36):
Out fake numbers?

Speaker 1 (29:37):
You just want to get the guy to commit and
come and then deal with the ramifications after. So I'm
not condoning this behavior, but you would be naive to
think this isn't happening daily in college football. So this
is a good life lesson for these guys. Like a
promise doesn't mean shit, put it on paper?

Speaker 2 (30:00):
Is that?

Speaker 1 (30:00):
Why are coming through? Because until it comes through, we've
all been there. Hey, let's do this deal. Okay, easy
to say, easy to talk about. Are we actually gonna
do it? Can I get your bank account information? Can
I get you to sign the piece of paper right here?
But that's what the NIL situation currently is, just the
wild wild West of real money fake money lies. And

(30:25):
the problem is, and this is why the coaches keep
complaining about it, is they want regulation. Well, there's no
one to regulate it. No one respects the NCAA. How
could you. It's a fucking clown organization. All these conferences
are in different worlds. Everyone's competing against each other. One

(30:45):
thing the NFL has everyone's under the same umbrella. Everyone
is profiting together. The better we do, the better I do.
That's not the way in college football, and it's that's
why most people, I would say, assume that one day
we'll get an NFL style operation forty to fifty teams

(31:09):
at the Power five level. We'll all be under the
same umbrella. Pretty easy to kind of figure out what
teams will be, the haves and the have nots. But
I don't feel we're that close to getting there. And
until we get there, we're going to have these situations
where kids are quote unquote getting lied to constantly. And
it's one thing to get lied to. Like I said, Hey,

(31:31):
it happened when I was a kid all the time.
And even when I worked in recruiting, a guy would
desperately want to play quarterback. We're like, you can't really throw,
but god, he's a good athlete. Tell him he's going
to play quarterback, get him here, and we plan on
moving him to safety.

Speaker 3 (31:45):
Or running back.

Speaker 1 (31:46):
Happened constantly. A lot of those guys end up playing
in the NFL. But that's a lie. It's like, and
once you were there, you couldn't transfer, so you're kind
of stuck and then you're like, oh, I'm actually a
pretty good running back. All of a sudden, I become
a star or an all conference guy. Life's not bad.
It's another thing when people tell you and your parents
or your agents, we got two million dollars coming to you,
and then you're looking at your bank account and the

(32:08):
money is not there. But I just think this situation,
we're only at the beginning of the craziness. We're only
at the beginning of the un I hate even the
word regulated because I don't necessarily know how you quote
unquote regulate all of this. But we're not even close

(32:28):
to that. We're in a situation where everyone's just flying
by the seat of their pants. And when you fly
by the seat of your pants and there aren't any
rules or regulations, you do whatever the fuck you want.
Because Peter Gruber's right, break the rules, because most people
that are successful break rules. You just better be careful
not to get caught. Now, the thing here is like,

(32:50):
you're allowed to offer money, right, So he's not technically
breaking any rules. He just broke a promise of the
money that was gonna come. And I I just think
these situations, it's kind of an ugly like I think
we all agree like pay them, I don't care get money.
I've never been one of those people who resent anyone
with money. I think you see a lot of that,

(33:12):
especially on the internet. Such a terrible loser mindset to have.
But I do these type situations just become kind of like,
like can we figure this out? Because this is type
of stuff that just eventually turns people off.

Speaker 3 (33:30):
I've seen it in golf.

Speaker 1 (33:31):
It's like you're just talking about money, money, money, money,
one of the games. What are the players, like, who's
coaching the team. And that's where I think college football
is kind of in this weird spot where all these
coaches complain about it cause these guys, some guys don't
want to technically break the rules, but you don't have
a choice cause if you're not, you're gonna get fucking lapped.

(33:52):
You have no shot. Scout told me like a year
ago that in college football there's something called dark money
because if I give you an nil, let's just pick
an even number, one hundred thousand dollars. Well that's on
paper that the irs knows about, So you're gonna get
tax on that money, right, Like ten ninet knives and
you ten ninety nine hundred grand. You're gonna depending on

(34:14):
where you.

Speaker 3 (34:14):
Live, thirty forty grand.

Speaker 1 (34:16):
Well, the dark money which a lot of these schools,
the big boys are dealing with, is like, hey, we'll
give you one hundred grand nil, but will also give
you one hundred grand untraceable. So technically I'm giving you
two hundred grand, but you're gonna bank one hundred and
fifty of it instead of giving you two hundred grand

(34:38):
where you'd bank one hundred and twenty or one hundred
and ten. So the whole thing is shady, but of
course it is. It's the nature of the beast when
there aren't rules. Okay at John Middlecoff is the Instagram

(35:03):
fire in those dms? Get your question answered on the show.
Start with John good name. I believe if Howie Roseman
had the number one and number two pick in the
draft and couldn't trade out, he would have chosen the
same two players he had at twenty two and forty.

(35:24):
Can't believe I have to wait four months to see
the Eagles in action. I'm going to disagree there. I
think he would have taken an offensive tackle if he
was stuck at number one. I think he just would
have taken Joe Ault because they value offensive linemen greatly

(35:45):
and Lane's getting up there in age. I think they
one hundred percent would have taken assuming Joe Alt was
their number one tackle on the board, But they would
have gone offensive tackle because there wasn't a defensive lineman
in this draft good enough to take there. But I
think they would have gone defensive tackle. Now, would they
have taken the corner there? They might have because who else?

(36:09):
They don't need receivers. They wouldn't have taken a receiver obviously,
don't need a quarterback. Yeah, I think they might have
taken the Toledo corner there, but I believe.

Speaker 3 (36:21):
That they would have taken an offensive lineman.

Speaker 1 (36:23):
But I hear you. I'd be excited too if I
were you. In terms of the team mail back question.
Love the Pod every Day listener like you. I'm an
eighties and nineties kid, grew up love and rap and
grunge rock, and now in country as well as Zach
Bryan is the greatest thing I've ever heard. I saw

(36:46):
Zach Bryan live Super Bowl Weekend when I was in Vegas.

Speaker 3 (36:51):
He put on an incredible show.

Speaker 1 (36:54):
He is as one of my buddies that works for
like forty nine ers enterprises.

Speaker 3 (36:58):
I guess I want to give him away, but.

Speaker 1 (37:01):
He works under the forty nine ers umbrella had texted
me how I got tickets.

Speaker 3 (37:06):
I'm like, one, I paid way, I paid way too much.

Speaker 1 (37:09):
It's the most money I've ever spent on tickets by
a mile, because game Time didn't have them. It was
only through this one thing. And I got him and
I was like, well, we're in Vegas. I've already lost
probably five seven grand at the tables. Let's go do
something fun. And he is way better live than he
is if you just listen to his you know, album music.

(37:32):
It was a great show. The commentary on bands existing anymore,
I thought profound and not to go racial, but there's
barely white American males in music anymore that aren't rappers.
I haven't thought about that Machine Gun Kelly. Yeah. I

(37:53):
just don't think bands really exist at the same level
they did when I was a kid. Like, if you
wanted to go in music, if that was a goal
of yours, when you would like start a band. People
at my high school started a band. I just don't
think people would start a band I miss that we
just don't have bands. That's why all there's like Nickelback

(38:16):
and Creed on Instagram. While it's somewhat sarcasm, it's also
just like people my age just.

Speaker 3 (38:25):
Bands used to exist.

Speaker 1 (38:26):
They just don't feel like they do. I know they
technically still do, but I saw I think it was
at Coachilla Sublime, who has one of the great all
time albums of my life, at least my personal favorite,
this self titled album. Bradley the lead singer, like a
lot of those guys, died on drug overdose. His son

(38:47):
is now the lead singer and did a pretty good
job singing the songs. Pretty talented, get not an easy
guy to replace. I love Jared Goff and believe he
can get us our first ring. How Ever, fifty three
feels of very rich. Forty five more about right, But
I digress my question. Do you think the Lions are

(39:10):
making the same mistake the Cowboys are by paying a
few players record breaking deals. They've now paid Pinnay, amen
Ra and Goff one hundred and eleven eleven million dollars
for the next four years. Three players are now nearly
forty five percent of their cap.

Speaker 3 (39:28):
Well, the cap doesn't work that way.

Speaker 1 (39:30):
I mean, part of the way these contracts operate is
if I give you one hundred million dollars, the first
couple of years of your cap hits usually low. Like
Deshaun Watson's cap last year.

Speaker 3 (39:40):
Was twenty million dollars. This year it goes up.

Speaker 1 (39:43):
Think about Dak Prescott last year of his deal, his
cap hits have been smaller. So you you fudge the
books in the way that you write these contracts. I think,
like the Cowboys, this is the I think the one.
I don't know the solution, and you're never gonna get

(40:04):
a player not counting on your cap. I know people
have talked about, like if you draft the quarterback, he
should only count fifty percent. We've heard all the ideas
one draftable player doesn't count against your cap. That doesn't
seem like it's ever had traction in the league. Fun
for us to talk about it, fans to talk about it,
but it's never felt even close. But if you draft

(40:24):
well and draft star players, like high end Pro Bowl
impact guys, what are you gonna do not sign them? Now?
The Zeke contract clearly backfired, but the Cowboys had a
lot of high priced guys like Dak Prescott, he's your quarterback.
Zach Martin was, I mean, an elite player, Tyron Smith

(40:47):
for all those years an elite player. I just I
think when you draft, well, you're kind of getting this position.

Speaker 3 (40:54):
Now.

Speaker 1 (40:55):
You can't pay the wrong guys, right, They paid Jalen
Smith that backfired, paid z that backfired. But I have
a hard time being critical of paying penay Seol high
end player, really good at a premium position, Saint Brown.
When I was a kid, the Lions offense, Herman Moore,

(41:15):
they just would catch so many balls. I'd love playing
them on video games. Scott Mitchell, the left handed quarterback.
When you're catching one hundred and ten to one hundred
and twenty balls a year, like you're gonna get paid
a lot of money. And when you're a really good
player in a team's offense that drafted you, I just
don't see what you're gonna do. And we can nitpick
over like ultimately forty five and fifty. There's no difference there.

(41:37):
There really isn't much of a difference there. I think
the way these teams look at it, if you really
like the player is in like three years, the CAP's
gonna go up another sixty seventy million dollars and it's
not as big of a hit cap wise. Obviously, all
the contracts, you'd have to look at all the individual
ones hit differently different years. But I don't think you

(41:58):
ever go wrong paying guys to continue to play at
a high level. Ever, you could argue in all sports
you get into a bad position when you pay a
guy and his play diminishes, because ultimately there's a business
and I need an ROI, so I pay you a lot.
Patrick Mahomes returns the investment you give Russell Wilson a

(42:21):
ton of money didn't return on investment. So I think
that's the way you got to look at it. If
Sewell keeps being a high end tackle, Saint Brown keeps producing,
and GoF keeps playing at a pro bowl.

Speaker 3 (42:31):
Level, you won't have any issues.

Speaker 1 (42:34):
Where you get issues is when one of those guys.

Speaker 3 (42:38):
Takes a step back.

Speaker 1 (42:39):
And because they're all young, they're all ascending players.

Speaker 3 (42:43):
Golf isn't.

Speaker 1 (42:44):
But the other two I think you have to feel
pretty good about your team investing in high end guys
you're winning with. That's another thing. If you're not winning
and you extend guys to a lot of money just
because they're your guys.

Speaker 3 (43:00):
That's where you could have problems.

Speaker 1 (43:01):
The Lions are winning at a pretty high clip, and
you feel like they're going to be pretty good again.
Do you think do you think there are coaches and
gms who say no chance when trying to trade for
a player, example, Pat Mahomes to Washington for five first rounders?
Are all gms looking for a deal or are there

(43:23):
times when they just say let's kick rocks because there's
no way to replace that caliber of player. Well, I
don't even think that phone call would ever exist. Like
part of it is if you're a GM, GMS deal
with those conversations more you're not. It's probably I mean

(43:47):
jokes made on the phone, like what would it cost
for so and so and you know they're never going
to trade them to you, but like serious conversations. I
just don't even think you'd waste your breath with conversations.
You know, like there's no amount of draft picks that
you could trade for Patrick Mahomes or Josh Allen, so
he doesn't even come because you know the team. It's

(44:09):
just a hard no. It's just no chance. Right now,
I think let's use a guy that new coach, new administration.
I guess the GM's still there, but like the moment
Pete gets fired, once the dust settles, are their chances. Hey,
would you guys trade Dk Metcalf Like those to me

(44:32):
are more realistic than like, hey, could we get Miles Garrett?
Would you trade Nick Bosa?

Speaker 3 (44:38):
Like?

Speaker 1 (44:38):
Those are hang ups, But I don't think those conversations
really happen or get poo pooed so fast that you
don't even get real So I think there's an element
of just common sense with some of this stuff.

Speaker 3 (44:51):
And then they're like, damn.

Speaker 1 (44:52):
They asked for that guy, Well, you have to look
at the individual situation. I just use DK as an example,
and I'm not saying anyone did, but i'd be if
teams didn't sniff around at the combine with a new coach, right,
And I think you kind of do that and then
you get some bigger name guys.

Speaker 3 (45:08):
That are just yeah, he'd be available.

Speaker 1 (45:11):
But there are a lot of guys in the NFL,
high end players, non quarterback, that clearly are not available
that just you couldn't get the guy. Now, if you're
the Houston Texans and someone goes, hey, Laramie Tunzel, three
first round picks, You're like, well, it makes you think,

(45:33):
but is anyone offering you that? But because you're like,
who's going to play left tackle for us? But how
do we turn three first round picks down? I just
don't think those conversations happen, probably as much as we
I've never been a part of those conversations, but just
knowing the way these gms operate, it just be a
waste of your time, and time is so valuable to

(45:53):
all these guys. Now, clearly people have shot for the fences.
I remember when I was with the Ego, I wasn't
privy to these conversations. But there are rumors going around
the office that there was a large, large offer made
to the Washington football team Commander's redskins for RG III

(46:14):
when they traded up to draft them I think, or
maybe right before, like several first rounders to shun Jackson.
But a lot of those things feel pretty untrue. It's
just hard to know. Some crazy trades get offered during
the draft, or at least like, hey, would there be

(46:36):
any interest. I'm sure Washington got a lot of those
this year, and Adam Peter said, I made it pretty
clear early on, like we're not moving. So if you
know he's not moving, it's not like if I just
walked up to your house right now, if you live
in a five hundred thousand dollars house, I knocked on
the door and I said, hey, I offer you eight

(46:56):
hundred grand, and he bought the thing for three hundred,
So you'd make a lot of money. You'd be like, well,
interest rates are high, I gotta move my shit. It'd
be you could eat. I like living here, school's close,
my job's closed. It's not life changing money. But if
I knocked on that door and offered you four million dollars,

(47:16):
you'd be like, you want me to move your stuff in?
So there's always numbers and prices trades in business that
you just can't say no to. But I think it's
pretty rare. Those situations even get I would say brought up,

(47:37):
because if you do bring it up, are you ready
to pull the trigger on that offer? Okay, I'll do it.
Teams would trade an ungodly amount for mahomes, but they
would never trade mahomes. They'd all quit before they ever
did that. Big fan of the pod, what is the

(47:57):
likelihood the day Ball gets fired after this year. As
a Giants fan, I think he should get a chance
to pick his quarterback because last year he had one
of the best coaching seasons I've ever seen with limited talent.
Totally agree. He was my coach of the Year two
years ago. I thought winning nine games with that shit
roster with Daniel Jones throwing fifteen touchdowns was, I mean,

(48:19):
an incredible coaching job. But last year wasn't just bad.
It was all the other stuff going on internally that
I think this year if it gets weird again, like
look at the Giants' history, They've kind of become the
opposite of the Steelers, even though when you think about
like historic NFL franchises, you know, the Bears, the Packers,

(48:42):
the Giants, like these are like, you know, they have long,
long runways of being like consistent franchises. Well, they went.
They fired Sherman after two years, they fired mcadow after
two years, they fired Joe Judge after two years. I
don't know, man, I mean, you gotta win. This is
a team that hasn't been in the playoffs in a while,

(49:03):
that has just has one of the worst records in
the league. Over the last handful of years. The Daniel
Jones situation. I don't know this for sure, but I
think it's fair to guess that was pretty owner driven,
though I don't think Dave Ball wasn't on board with
him as the quarterback. Let's just use hypothetical here. They

(49:26):
win five games and the offense is terrible. Will you
get to the you know, to a situation where you're like, well, okay,
our defense is okay, and we're competitive team in games,
but we lose it all the time, and our offensive, well,
this is an offensive coach, So if the offense isn't working,
can this guy fix it? Can this guy get us

(49:48):
going in the right direction. I do think the situation
with the assistant, and I understand Wink has a big
ego too, but I don't think the Giants like that crap.
So I think there's gonna be tangible pressure on them
to be not just competitive this year, but to just

(50:09):
feel a little less crazy. I mean, they kind of
felt had a Jets vibe during the season and after
the season, and they're not the Jets like that in theory,
they have much more stable ownership. But I don't know
if I was a betting man right now, I don't
think the Giants are gonna be any good been wrong before.

(50:30):
This is from Brown's fan in Sincy. Do you think
it's a possibility that the Browns will turn it over
to Winston if Deshaun is struggling after a few weeks.
I've bet some Browns fans in my mentions being like
you told Colin you think they're gonna suck, Like what, listen?

Speaker 3 (50:49):
I think Stefanski's a good coach.

Speaker 1 (50:50):
I think obviously they have talented, high end guys on
their roster.

Speaker 3 (50:55):
But if your.

Speaker 1 (50:55):
Quarterback is not good, you have a major situation on
your hands. I think we all agree that the way
Watson played subtract the one half of football, which is
easily the best half of football he played in like
a three year period. It was objectively awful. So my

(51:16):
take on the guy. And someone's like, you're just biased
about the massage. I don't give a shit about the
massage stuff though. I mean, I judge you your decision
making and wouldn't ideally want you as my quarterback, but
if you were sweet, like whatever, look past it. He's bad,
so he's been bad. Then he gets injured and I'm
just supposed to assume he's gonna be good this year.

(51:37):
I think we've learned in recent memory, like when a
guy starts showing you for a while he's not that good,
you just kind of gotta believe him. So I'm betting
on Deshaun Watson not.

Speaker 3 (51:45):
Being a good player.

Speaker 1 (51:46):
And if he's not a good player, I don't care
if Miles Garrett has seven hundred sacks. I think we
all agree it's got hard to win games when your
quarterback play is poor. And Nick Chubb, who at least
you could lean on the run game like, had a
devastating injury. Devastating if you told me Chubb was there,
Even if Deshawn's just average, you could probably get to ten.

(52:10):
I don't look at it like that. So I think
they're in a weird situation because of how much money
they're paying them. I have a hard time seeing them
bench them. It would all come down to how much
juice Stefanski has and if he's playing shitty, is the
owner cool with it and just kind of eating the
money and whatever. But I am assuming that Watson is

(52:32):
going to be like the guy we have seen. I mean,
last year there were moments where he was playing like
a bottom two or three quarterback in the NFL. You
could watch a couple series.

Speaker 3 (52:43):
Of them and just be like, what is going on?

Speaker 1 (52:48):
I don't see it. The player that they paid for
and traded for. We are so far.

Speaker 3 (52:54):
Removed from that guy.

Speaker 1 (52:58):
That's the thing. We are so far removed from that
player years ago, the guy that we saw in Houston
in the late twenty teens, eighteen nineteen, like this version.
Remember he didn't play a year. Then he was suspended
like then last year he gets injured. Like we have

(53:21):
a large body of time between high end Pro Bowl
difference maker guy and the guy we've seen in recent
and a lot less experience on the field. He hasn't
been played, he's been injured. His obviously his cappit is massive.
So jamis I don't know if jamis is the answer,

(53:44):
but I would be nervous if I was a Browns fan,
not about most of my team.

Speaker 3 (53:49):
Good Nick Chubb injury sucks. That guy's a stud.

Speaker 1 (53:53):
Question if you were the Vikings, how would you go
about handling JJ McCarthy. When would you look to start him?
If the Vikings are winning under Donald do you risk
pulling him, or is jj redshirt this year and debuts
next season. In a perfect world, if you're the Vikings
and this is a quote unquote transitional year, you're in

(54:15):
the wild card mix, you're hovering around five hundred, you're
five and five or four and three or seven and seven,
and you're just in the wild card hunt and you
never have to plan him and he gets the Patrick
Mahomes treatment, he gets the red shirt. I would say
that's a fifty to fifty proposition because Donald most people

(54:37):
think suck, Kyle Shanahan doesn't think he sucks, and Kevin O'Connell.

Speaker 3 (54:41):
Doesn't think he sucks.

Speaker 1 (54:43):
But there's pressure on him, like if you're any good
with these weapons, assuming they get justin Jefferson's situation, his contract,
you know, they get a deal. You got him, you
got Jordan Addison, you got an offensive coach, get some
good offensive lineman. You're off and running, and Darnold could
have a solid year. But if it doesn't go well,

(55:06):
like most people think he stinks, he's clearly not as
good as I thought one time, once upon a time.
But I am pretty intrigued to watch him under Kevin O'Connell.

Speaker 3 (55:17):
But if you're losing. The kid's gonna play. Just the
way the NFL.

Speaker 1 (55:20):
Works, No one's gonna want to watch a bridge quarterback
for a team that's three and six if you're three
and six or four and six, like Jaj's gonna play
whether he's ready or not. That's just the way football
works in the modern day landscape. We've seen it constantly
with these guys that you want to go with the
bridge guy and then it's like your team's not as good,

(55:42):
and then boom that guy comes in and ideally you
hope it doesn't ruin his confidence, But I'm always a
believer the only way you get better is to experience,
and most of the time with that experience early on
is rocky that that's actually the best learning tool you
can have. I think Jared Goff that Jared Goff got
that with the Rings because his rookie year, it couldn't

(56:02):
have gone any worse. It couldn't have gotten any worse.
Next year, McVeigh comes and he looks good, like for
a shitty as last year was for Bryce Young the reps.
He got, the experience he got seeing different defenses, the
understanding of the NFL speed that can only help you. Obviously,

(56:23):
then you have to turn that into a positive. But
that's only a negative if you hold on to that
negative forever. Bad experiences, to me are the best learning
experiences by a country mile. And I say it all
the time, like the only way I know that I learn,
and I think for most people is like through experience.

(56:44):
You can write in a notebook, you can have theories,
you can have all these ideas, but until you try
them out and fail with those and figure out what works,
it's the way you improve. So Patrick Mahomes situation just
doesn't happen very often anymore. A guy drafted high Red Shirts.
But it was easy because they were winning, an Alex

(57:04):
Smith was having a career year and they won the division.
I think we all agree Minnesota's probably not gonna win
the division. Honestly, They're probably I mean there's a season chance.
I would imagine most people I haven't thought this far
are gonna pick them to finish last. Lions, Packers and
the Bears. I mean, those three teams that could all

(57:24):
win ten to twelve games. Someone's gotta lose. Not everyone
can win. Ravens and Bills have got to be sick.
This year was supposed to be the rebuilding year.

Speaker 3 (57:37):
For the Chiefs and they still won the Super Bowl.

Speaker 1 (57:40):
How can any AFC teams finally beat Mahomes? I said
this when the schedule came out, because I like wrote
down the chief schedule, and then as I'm talking, I
just realized, like, what in what world am I breaking
down the Chief schedule? Lock them in AFC West chainampions

(58:01):
and eleven to thirteen wins. We don't even need a debate.
They're gonna lose some games, They're gonna have a weird
moment or two. But like the evidence now, it's pointless
to break that down. You could argue every other team
in the league. Fair game, that team no point Now.
If you want to buy tickets or you know, season

(58:21):
ticket holder, I totally get it, But I just mean
analyze wins, losses or hard or not like who No,
we are not doing that anymore to me. The Ravens
the Bills, they had so many injuries, their defenders were
gone that they weren't gonna.

Speaker 3 (58:38):
Win that game.

Speaker 1 (58:39):
To me, the Ravens got to have a tough taste
in their mouth this offseason. Their team was arguably better
man demand top to bottom. The guys they were rolling
out on the field versus the Chiefs, and Lamar, who
had played the best football of his life just a
couple of weeks removed from kicking the Niners ass he
was rolling. He was them have home field defense is elite.

(59:04):
The Chiefs did not score a point in the second half,
and he played hitty, him and the offensive coordinator. I
don't know who to blame the most. If you want
to blame Monken, don't blame you. I had five large
on that game and that sucked. They didn't run Lamar.
He got tight. I equated to like in Tiger Woods Prime.

(59:26):
You can be beating him and then you just kind
of get tight as it goes because you're like, I
can't make a mistake, and then you get tighter. Part
of beating a great player when you're a great player
is playing loose like that guy is playing loose, matching
his level. And it just kind of unraveled. The offense
was off the scheme. Josh Allen had just run for

(59:50):
like eighty yards the previous week. Early on in that game,
on like a fourth and short, Lamar busted a twenty
five yard run. It's like, let him move around and
they kind of keep him in the pocket. He was
skipping balls.

Speaker 3 (01:00:02):
I don't think the Bills are kicking themselves. I think
the Ravens are.

Speaker 1 (01:00:08):
Lose their defensive coordinator. Like that was the Ravens moment.
Then you get the Niners. You would just beat the
shit out of them. Even the Niners like it sucks
losing that game, but like it. Jeeves kind of on.
You love the pod, buddy of mine, got me onto
it a couple of years ago. What makes your blood

(01:00:31):
boil more? Someone arguing Kip Kelly isn't a fraud or
the tip option at a grab and go beer stand
at the stadium, Well, the tip thing, I mean, we
all know you just tippings everywhere you know you could.
It's just it's we're inundated with it now, so it's pointless.

(01:00:54):
You know, everywhere you're gonna turn, tip's gonna be asked
for you to give forty seven percent on a three
dollars purchase. Here's the thing with Chip Kelly. I don't
know the guy personally, and there were moments where obviously
he was one of the most innovative and good offensive
coaches in all of football, but his treatment of people

(01:01:16):
and his actions speak for themselves. I mean that podcast
those guys put on. When does that ever happen with
any coach? And we know players hate certain coaches. That's
never happened ever, and it'd be one thing. It's like,
oh to Shaun and Lashawn. You know, Shady got traded,
DeShawn got cut. Of course those two guys hate him.

(01:01:39):
Jason Peters didn't. He can't stand him. Brandon Graham's like
one of the nominees every year for Man of the Year,
high level guy, team captain for the Eagles for like
a decade. Can't stand him. Jeremy Macklin never had any issues.
I think I feel pretty good about my stants. And

(01:02:00):
like I said, I don't even think it was just
players that was their perspective. It was the treatment of
people in the front office, it was the scouts. He
just you just saw his actions at UCLA, and the
media defends him because some of them know him, you know,
Clatt and Coward. I just think he's the ultimate scumback.
And I don't know what else say. Some people are

(01:02:20):
just scumbacks, right, And in his mind maybe he's not.
Maybe he's just super selfish, doesn't care. But when you're
the headman. The way you treat people, he's awful at it.
And uh, I think Ucla, I don't know if Deshaun
Foster is going to be any good. Love Deshaun Foster
as a player back at UCLA, he was a star.

(01:02:41):
It's not an easy place to win. I mean, it's
not at some powerhouse football program. But it's just what
a bizarre career, That's what I would say, what a
bizarre career. He revolutionizes his offense at Oregon, gets the
Eagle job and has a pretty good first year, easily

(01:03:02):
could have won the playoff game, and then it unravels.
Run out of town. I mean, they couldn't get rid
of them fast enough. Somehow the forty nine ers hired him.
He had the worst season in forty nine or history,
worst defense they've ever had. They won two games, which
ultimately led to Nick Bosa, and then he takes a

(01:03:23):
year off to go to the media, which he the
disdain that man has for those guys I always love,
and Jim Moore Junior did this. Guys that hate the media,
and then when they get fired, their egos and their
narcissm is so big they have to get in front
of a camera. Listen, you want to get in the media,
I got no problem, but like treat them like you don't.

(01:03:43):
You just get fired and you're desperate to kind of
keep your name. You don't like that job, and Florida
almost hired him, UCLA hired him, and then he left
for an offensive coordinator job because Ryan Day is his guy.
Now they might be okay because Harbaugh's gone now. But man,
I just don't think it's that hard to treat people well.

(01:04:05):
And when you're a head coach, when you're you know,
the CEO, like a lot of people are looking at
you and your true colors come out, you can treat
people who are you, don't. I mean, it really gets
back to basic like when you're a kid and your
parents teach you to be nice to people. Obviously it
changes when you're asking them to do stuff. I'm not
saying everyone when you're a boss needs to like you

(01:04:29):
and you have to be nice and hold their hand
all the fucking time. I'm just saying, on a consistent basis,
are you a scumbagger?

Speaker 3 (01:04:35):
Are you not?

Speaker 1 (01:04:37):
I think history is pretty strong on my side. No
more talking about that guy, go Blue as a Seahawks fan,
I struggle to understand why Gino Smith gets so much hate.
He had the NFL record for go ahead touchdowns last
season and his tenth in the league in QBR over

(01:04:58):
the last two years behind one of the worst lines
in the league. Ah you guys have been blaming the
old line for a long time. I think you're too young.
I know you had some injuries last year, but two
young tackles are pretty good in a scheme that refused
to allow him to throw into the middle of the field,
As evidence by the public frustration of.

Speaker 3 (01:05:17):
JSN, I think that's Jackson Smith and Jigba.

Speaker 1 (01:05:21):
He's been at the Pro Bowl both seasons and was
in the top five and twenty two in completion rate, touchdowns,
and passer ratings, and also doesn't have the mileage of
your usual thirty three year old quarterback. I'm not saying
Gino's necessarily elite or he'll be here for five or
ten years, but I think that if the defense has
been even middling in the last two years, the tune

(01:05:41):
of Gino would be so much different. I think there
is a world that if Gino is given time to
throw like he should be able in the new offense.
He could surprise some people. You guys, Seattle fans have
blamed the offensive coordinator for a decade. A decade blaming

(01:06:02):
the offensive coordinator. It's always the offensive coordinator's fault. Listen,
I don't think Gino gets that much hate. Everyone gives
him his appreciation. Incredible career turnaround. But two years ago
against the forty nine ers in the playoff game, this year,
I just if you watch Geno Smith and feel like

(01:06:23):
you can compete at a high level in the playoffs,
I don't know what to tell you. You've seen Russell Wilson
in his prime was a completely different universes Gino, and
it was hard to win in the playoffs with that. Obviously,
your defense has been a problem. One of the reasons
Pete was run out of town because you invested all

(01:06:43):
that and defensive players in the draft and trades in
your defense was putree. I'm not blaming Gino for that,
but I have a hard time and listen, Gino, he's
not like the twenty fifth best quarterback in the league,
but he's probably you give me out a statu you want.
They're probably fifteen guys, maybe at twelve with ease you're

(01:07:06):
taking over them. I would say thirteen fourteen, let's just
go the NFC this year on the good teams. Who
is Gino Smith getting picked ahead of Jared Goff? No
Jalen Hurts, No, Dak Prescott, no Jordan Love, no, Brock Purty,
no teams Matt Stafford, no chance, Caleb Williams No. Uh Baker.

(01:07:40):
That's what we're.

Speaker 3 (01:07:40):
Talking about now.

Speaker 1 (01:07:42):
You do Baker? You know, won a playoff game, Cauld Gino.
I think Baker's team's a lot better. I mean, I
would take Tampa's roster over Seattle's. I just have a
hard time. You guys just always blame the offensive coordinator.
It's always been the offensive Russell Wilson was the only
high level quarterback. If you have a good Pro Bowl quarterback,

(01:08:05):
your assistants always get head coaching jobs. Russell's always got fired.
Think about all the good successful coaches did. Our offensive
guys always come from productive quarterbacks. Everyone trying to hire
Ben Johnson.

Speaker 3 (01:08:21):
Why Jared Goff?

Speaker 1 (01:08:24):
Everyone wanted Shange Steichen, what he did with.

Speaker 3 (01:08:28):
Jalen Hurts.

Speaker 1 (01:08:31):
Mcvay's guys with Goff and Stafford, Kyle's guys with Jimmy
and purty. All Seattle's offensive coordinators got shit, can't They
can't all suck. I'm not saying there Kyle Shanahan or
Sean McVay, but I think we always point the finger
when it comes to Seahawks, like, oh, their offensive coordinator idiot.

(01:08:52):
Remember it was like, you can't run them, let Russell cook.
They let them cook. They burned the cheese burgers and
the barbecue was on fire and the oven blew up.
So I would say the offensive coordinator was pretty positive
when it came to Gino, because when Gino Smith started
playing for Seattle, most people thought he sucked. Then two

(01:09:14):
years later you rat off some stats. He's a pretty
productive player. Is he good enough to win in the playoffs?
Is it good enough to get to the playoffs? Maybe
I'll be wrong and it sounds like, hey, I love
his story. I'm pro Gino, but I'm not pro Gino
doing vic things. I don't see it. The volume