In this episode, Middlekauff explains why the NFL's L.A. problem is becoming a full blown disaster for the league with the prospect of California being closed for the NFL season, gives his top 5 young players to watch in 2020, and looks at headlines from around the league. He also answers questions in the Middlekauff Mailbag. Follow John on twitter @JohnMiddlekauff and go to theherdnow.com to find the latest content. Subscribe now!
Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
What is going on? Everybody's John Little Coop three and
out podcast. I hope everyone, uh is doing well and
and getting through this. You know, it's it's not easy.
And depending on where you are, maybe you already through it.
Maybe you're already in the sense of your your home
states opened. I know mine in California. Uh, it feels
(00:31):
like it's kind of going the other way, which is bizarre,
but you know, you know, it is what it is.
And the one thing I've said over and over, I
try desperately to not consume just an unlimited amount of
stuff because it's easy to get really angry the longer
this goes. Uh. Yeah, And I just you know, I'm
like a football coach kind of coach speak, you know,
(00:54):
I try to control what I can control. And that's
how I've approached this. Why I just kept doing podcasts
and just kept producing. You know, there's really not much
going on, but luckily, you know, you know, I can
produce some some topics here, and we actually had a
couple of stories. I'm gonna dive into a problem the
league has that it's just a sneaky disaster right now,
(01:17):
and I think it could really come to fruition in
front of everyone's eyes. If we're not having fans in
the stands this fall. I picked my top five young
players rookies, second year or third year players, just younger
players that I'm excited to watch this fall, uh than
just a couple of stories. And then, like always at
(01:38):
John middlecoff is my Instagram handle d MS wide open,
slide up in there and you can ask anything you
want and I got a bunch of questions. Also appreciate
everyone that's gone to Apple or iTunes and left a
five star review. If you haven't, like I always say, greatly,
appreciate it. It helps the show. If you like the show,
go to three and Out on iTunes, the separate one
(02:00):
from Collins and leave a review. I think we're almost
at a thousand, so I appreciate everyone doing that. I guess.
In two thousands sixteen, the league announced that they were
sending two teams to Los Angeles and ever since then,
and even at the time, I I didn't quite get it.
(02:20):
And if you listen to the show, you know I'm
a West Coast guy. I lived in California, but I've
lived in Northern California. By the majority of my life.
I guess cal Poly is in central the Central coast,
but it's still three hours away from l A. Never
lived in l A, never lived in San Diego, though
I'd love to live in San Diego. It's it's awesome,
uh Ben, l A has grown on me a lot.
(02:41):
It's pretty cool, like where Colin lives in Manhattan Beach
is awesome, Newport Beach, Santa Monica. I mean, there's Malibu.
There's some places that are badass. It's like, I used
to talk a lot of shit about New York when
I lived in Philly, and it's like, it's not like
I had any connection to Philly or New York or anything.
I just I always just kind of felt I was
more Philly or Boston. And then I moved to phil
like I hate New York. And then I remember going
(03:02):
for the Draft. I was like, God, this place is
pretty sweet. And then I went back a couple of times.
It's badass. So sometimes when you go somewhere, you're like, oh, yeah,
this place is cool. But the NFL, their power brokers
aren't West Coast. People think about it. Jerry Jones really
is the only guy who's even close to the West Coast,
the Crafts, the Maras, Jeffrey Lury, uh Woody Johnson, they
(03:24):
all live in the Northeast. The league's offices are in
New York. Now, I completely understood when they wanted to
move a team to Los Angeles. It's the second biggest
market in America. Now. L A County announced that they
might shut down to like two thousand the other day,
which is outrageous, but you know, typical California. But the
reality is l A County and just the southern California
(03:46):
is massive. It's double the side. Like, there's a lot
of people that live in Northern California and the Greater
Bay Area. I think there's like eight million people that
live in the Greater By Area. It's like double that
in l A. There are a lot of people there.
So I I completely understand why the l A market
was appealing to the league power brokers, because it's all
about money. But when they sent San Cronkey there and
(04:09):
forced him to take Dean Spanos, it never made sense
to me. And I also think forcing the rams was
still going to be difficult. I I don't know if
there was a proper solution. It's not like they were
going to expand and just put some random new team.
They were never gonna send the Raiders down there. They
didn't have the capitol, they couldn't afford. You couldn't let
(04:30):
the Chargers go on their own because, like the Raiders
don't quite have the money. Though Dean Spanos sneaky has
more money than you think, but they definitely know the
fan base. So you're hoping that the Rams kind of
has the fan base, they definitely have the capital. Well,
then this pandemic hits. But even before the pandemic, and
it was written about in an article on The Athletic
(04:51):
about Stan Crocky has asked for five hundred million dollars
more from the league. And the biggest reason he's doing
this is threefold. One. It's really expensive to build in California.
And you can say a project is two billion dollars,
it's gonna cost way more our costs, or more our
labor costs, or more. Everything costs more money here. You
(05:14):
have to jump through a million hoops just to get
anything done. Dealing with our politicians cost a lot of
money out here, and it's really expensive. That's why you
see a lot of businesses moving out of here. It
doesn't given what you have to pay unless you're a
big boy like an Apple or a Facebook, where money
means nothing to you. It's hard to get going out here.
(05:35):
But Crokey Big Picture wanted it, though he's in real estate.
I'm not even quite sure he realized how much this
thing would cost. And I think we've all seen the numbers,
like five or six billion dollars. Well, there's gonna come
a point where he's gonna stop putting his own money
into this, so the cost overruns big issue. Here's another
problem their PSL situation. The thing all these new stadium
(05:58):
sell have come close to meeting the eight hundred and
fifty million dollars that they hope to hit. But here's
the main reason they haven't got to the eight hundred
fifty million dollar total that they were hoping to hit.
It's not as the Rams were actually able to sell
a large percentage of their PSLs. The Chargers didn't get
anywhere close. But the Chargers are not a partner in this.
(06:21):
The Chargers are the RAMS tenant, so they're not giving
any money beside the PSL money, so they are just
a dead weight in the situation. And then potentially no
gate this fault with no fans, so in the league.
I don't think they rushed this situation, but they definitely
kind of were flying by the seat of their pants
when they allowed the Chargers to go with the Rams.
(06:43):
And now the Chargers are in a situation where no
one wants them in the Los Angeles. They can't afford
to actually help stand cronky out stand crokeys. At the
point where you can get mad at these billionaires all
you want, there comes a point where they stopped putting
their own personal wealth into businesses that they just do,
especially in a situation wation like this when it's partner driven.
Their success in l A benefits the league and makes
(07:06):
the league money. They're putting the NFL network in there.
And it feels like he's just trying to draw the
line of the stand. And here's the other thing. He
knows that this fall could be a disaster from a
league revenue standpoint. If you're not allowed to have fans,
there's gonna be a huge Uh. Just come back to
the mean in terms of local signage in your own stadium,
(07:27):
right you're paying bud Lights paying ten million to be there.
All your local sponsors that pay yearly prices at huge
amounts of money. Well, they're not actually getting their money's
worth because there's no people in the freaking you know,
the stadium. Now, I've talked to people in the league
that told me everything is negotiable, and some of these
big companies, it's not like they cut you off because
big picture, they don't want to get booted out of there.
(07:48):
But you can't just charge someone full price when you're
not getting full price. I saw my gym. Uh there
was like a local report of the gym I go do.
We're showing what they're gonna do when we pretend actually
come back in the next month and every single person
is going to have like their own little space. They
push back bikes and put things all over, like the
(08:08):
stationary bikes are out by the pool, and they're only
gonna allow fifty capacity, So if you get there and
it's already full, you're not allowed in. Well here's what
I know. And I pay way too much for my gym,
though I do, it's an expense that I don't mind
because it's one of the only things I consistently use
in my daily life that is definitely worse than the
(08:29):
price you can't charge me full price if when I
show up, I'm not always allowed in, if the normal
equipment that I'm used to using is not available. Like
we got problems, but in this I think works for
everyone is realizing that this is gonna cost a lot
of people a lot of money. I saw a headline
today that the Green Bay Packers, who are probably the
(08:50):
most unique team in professional sports because they don't have
an owner, They don't have a guy that if you
just get into a pinch, can just cut a check.
But they do have a three hundred almost four hundred
million dollars slush fund of just extra money that they've saved,
and they might have to use it this fall because
if they're not allowed fans in lambeau Field, they're the franchise.
(09:11):
They would get really nailed. And I think Crocys number
two because he's literally carrying the weight of a second franchise.
It's one thing just to run one franchise and have
to pay for costs in just this awful pandemic that's
shut down freaking America and doesn't enable you to do
business as normal. And we're I mean, I mean, it's
(09:33):
even kind of crazy. It's may whatever, fourteenth time recording
this and we're talking about something in September. I don't
ever remember something that no one knows less about that
we talk about more absolutes. But it sure feels like
we're headed towards something where there's not going to be
potentially fans in the in the stadiums. I think the
l A situation is just a problem for the league.
(09:55):
I mean, no one wants the charges down there. Like
I said, they don't bring anything to the table. Four
stand Crokey. I think they charge him a dollar a year.
There's just so much resentment. There have been countless stories
about the situation between the two owners. But but here's
the simple little truth. Does the league really care about
(10:16):
the Chargers and rams bitching and moaning? Now, I don't
think they typically do. They're like, well, that stand, that's
your problem, California or whatever. But now he's going to
the league and going I need five dred million dollars
and the league, the NFL networks depended on him, the league.
I mean, I think I've talked about this on the
show countless times. Everything's gonna move to l A very soon,
(10:37):
you know, once the pandemics over the next couple of years,
and I'm talking NFL Combine, I'm talking Senior Bowl. It's
all headed there, like like any smart person will tell you,
follow the money. Now, I wouldn't move the combine from
Indianapolis the Senior Bowl. I like Jim Naggi who runs it.
But does it make that much sense to be in mobile?
(10:58):
Wouldn't make more sense in a major city. We could
argue that all day long. But you don't spend five
six billion, and the league doesn't put in nine hundred
million dollars to not run your entire league through that
kind of as the hub, as the West Coast hub,
and that's ideally what I think they were thinking. Now,
how long does it take us to get there? Who knows? Uh?
(11:20):
But this isn't going well. And anyone that lived out
on the West Coast when they were trying to figure out,
like can we put multiple teams in l A. How
could you go from zero to two when it's not
like the city had been without football for five years
and everyone was just lined up yearning for it. The
city had been without football for almost twenty five years.
(11:42):
And as you saw with USC, you know, college football,
they were fine. They didn't even think about the Lakers,
the Dodger, USC Football, U C l A A lot
going on. They at the beach, got other ship going on.
And then you try to, you know, force two teams,
you get problems. And I think sometimes in leagues and
baseball basketball that they're all based in the Northeast. So
(12:05):
they Roger Goodell his thinking like if they would never
have done something like this in Jersey, right, just go
from no teams in New York or New Jersey or
Philly to all of a sudden two they would never
do that. Why because they're comfortable with the area. They
live in the area, they consistently do business in the area.
Now you say, well, all the owners they come through
(12:25):
l A when they vacation. It's one thing to vacation
and come out to Los Angeles to hang out. Is
another thing to be billions of dollars invested and put
the you know, part of the league's future involved in
the area. It never made much sense and the problems
are only adding up as this pandemic just kicks in. Okay,
(12:47):
let's look at five players. I really didn't put much
criteria on it. I just quote unquote younger players. The
oldest players would be be in the league three years.
I have a rookie and a couple of second year players,
so it's kind of all over the map. But five
guys that I am really excited and slash interested to
(13:10):
see how they play this fall. They either had a
great last season, they either struggled. There really wasn't much criteria.
I just wrote down five young guys that I'll be
really really locked into this fall. Let's start at five.
John Elways had a rough career beside Peyton Manning of
picking quarterbacks Osweiler disaster. Uh, he just hasn't found a quarterback, right,
(13:34):
I mean, they just weren't shambles. After Peyton Manning. Well,
they drafted a guy named Drew lock who full disclosure,
I didn't know that much about beside watching at Missouri,
didn't you know, I was kind of indifferent, had a
big arm. Uh, seemed like a likable guy, but I
don't know. And when l White took him, it felt
like it's kind of a bold move. Well, in a
(13:57):
couple of games that I watched him play last year,
he looked pretty good. He was sixty in five starts
to kind of end the season. Completion percentage seven touchdowns,
three picks. We'll think about this offseason for Drew Lock.
They add Jerry Judy, they add Melvin Gordon. They add
in the second round kJ Hamler, Legit deep thread to
(14:19):
go along with Philip Lindsay and No a fan who
they drafted last year, and Corland Sutton who's already on
the team and pretty good player. Like, they have a
pretty good young nucleus for this guy to kind of
grow with. They add Pat Shermer to be their offensive
coordinator a running game and a tight end is usually
operates as a quarterback's best friend. And now you have
(14:40):
some weapons for this guy. I actually think the Denver
Broncos are a sleeper team this fall if this guy
is good. Number four Baker Mayfield. I loved Baker coming out.
Then after his rookie year, I thought the overreaction how
good he was as a player was ridiculous. People were
putting him in this tier with like a Rogers and
(15:00):
Russell Wilson and Mahomes. It was outrageous. Well, now it's
kind of come back to earth. Everyone thinks he sucks.
I'm not quite sure. I'm not willing to just say
write the guy off and I'm by no means feel
confident to say this guy is gonna go to Pro Bowls. Right.
He threw twenty two touchdowns and twenty one interceptions. He
(15:21):
hung his hat in college as an accurate passer. Well
stopped being accurate last year. Now. Sometimes not, Sometimes a
lot of times, when you have a terrible head coach,
you're going to be a bad player. When you're a
young quarterback, it's hard to overcome in confidence at the
coaching position. Freddie Kitchens is a laughing stock as a
(15:45):
head coach. Not in a million years would anyone named
Freddie Kitchens as their head coach unless your name is
John Dorsey and the owners Jimmy hasl like that's that
can't happen. But it did. Now they got Stefanski, which
I don't know if he's a head coach, but I
didn't know this. He coordinated an offense last year and
they were dynamic. Kirk aus is the best statistical year
of his career. They should have a good running game
(16:07):
because Tefanski in the zone scheme should thrive. Nick Chubb,
Kareem Hunt. There are no excuses for Baker Mayfield. They
draft an offensive lineman, they add Conklin. They have multiple
tight ends, they got multiple wide receivers. Both of his
running backs can catch. Like if Baker Mayfield struggles this year,
(16:27):
maybe he's just not good enough. Maybe he's just he's
not meant to be the Cleveland Browns quarterback. But maybe
he bounces back. So it's great about young players in sports.
You know, they're kind of an ever evolving thing. No
one gets no one stays the same. You're either getting better,
you're getting worse. So he he either is gonna look
like he showed the glimpses as a rookie, or he's
gonna keep progressing. And with no offseason, a lot is
(16:50):
gonna be on him, uh to try to master this
offense mentally and then get on the same page with
his guys whenever they get to training camp number three.
I think it might have the best rookie season I
have seen since I've been doing this for like a decade.
In nick Bosa, he was dominant, and then when the
playoffs started, he was even better. Talk to the people
(17:12):
in Kansas City when they watched the game tape, how
good the guy was? Man amongst boys? Nine sacks like
the the the box scores don't even do it justice
his effort. He's better than Joey And I was someone
that would have taken quinnin Williams. I was riding here
locally for the athletic I take Quinn and Williams. I
take Quinn and Williams. Well, that would have been the
(17:33):
wrong decision. So the reason I'm talking into a microphone
because passac on Nick Bosa would have been a disaster.
And he's not the main reason, but he was a
major part and a major piece to a team that went,
you know, fifteen plus wins before they got the Super Bowl,
and they had a ten point lead going into the
(17:54):
fourth quarter. So is this guy gonna just become one
of the all time greats? Like? Is that? Is that
what this guy is? Like? We knew right away with
von Miller, We knew right away with Alden Smith. Now
he started hitting sauce and kind of derailed his career.
We knew right away with j. J. Watt, We knew
right away with Joey Bosa. Well, we know right away
with Nick. If this guy stays healthy, I mean, there's
(18:17):
a chance that he could dominate this league for years
to come because he's way more refined. I remember Khalil
Max rookie year. Khalil was much more of a work
in progress, much more of a raw product, and by
the time he got to like midway through a second year,
by his third year, he was a dominant, dominant player.
His first year like four sacks. Now his team sucked,
but still like he he had he had to work
(18:39):
on some things and once he figured it out, it
was game over. This guy I heard he had it
figured out. This guy has all the moves, and then
he has the physical attributes in terms of the explosive burst,
the bend and any plays hard. It's just it was
awesome to watch number two. I think it's fair to
say that the best offensive line in football, at least
the last couple of years has been an Indian Atlas,
(19:01):
and their offensive skill guys beside Luck and t Y
over the years hasn't been very good. Well this year,
what do they do. They draft Michael Pittman in the
you know, with their first pick in the second round,
and then their second pick they take Jonathan Taylor, who
I know a couple of people to do that area.
They love Jonathan Taylor. They had like a late first
early second round great on him. I've watched a lot
(19:21):
of Jonathan Taylor over the years. He is a special
running back in terms of a running back. Now, he
has some questions. You can fumble the ball sometimes and
we don't know how he really catches the football. But
one thing I watched with Chris Ballard or maybe he
said this to Colin. Colin asked Hi about he said,
there's some questions with his hands. One thing Frank Wrych
told him was, like, the majority of times we're gonna
be we're not gonna be asking this guy to run
(19:42):
go routes. We're gonna throw him wheel routes, and we're
gonna throw him screen passes. But the main thing we're
gonna do is we're gonna hand him the football behind
an offensive line that malls people behind arguably the best
offensive lineman in the league in Quentin Nelson. We're gonna
run right behind that guy, and we're gonna run power
and gonna run power, and we're gonna run a little
more power. I think there's a very decent chance that
(20:04):
Jonathan Taylor leads all offensive rookies and rushing and I
would expect him to have a massive year and when
Philip Rivers has been good. Over the years, they've always
had a balanced running attack, whether it was back in
the day with LT for a glimmer moment with Ryan Matthews,
and then obviously with Melvin Gordon. When Rivers has a
good running attack, he's been good. And I think Jonathan
(20:28):
Taylor is a stud behind that offensive line. I can't
wait to watch him. Number One, I love this guy
as a player. Last year he got mono nucleo since
and he disappeared for three games and when you look
at the box score for a season he had through
nineteen touchdowns and thirteen picks. His coach was kind of
a disaster last year. They weren't really on the same page.
(20:49):
His offensive line was a turnstyle at every position. Well,
they've doubled down. They signed a bunch of offensive lineman.
They draft an offensive lineman in the first round. They
draft another guy in the third round, so they've invested
a lot of resources there. Uh, he does have Levian Bell.
They draft a wide receiver in the second round. They
lost Robbie Anderson, but you know, Sam Donald is a
(21:11):
guy like he excelled in college with really his only
NFL wide receiver when he was a student college three
years ago. Was Pittman Jr. Who's an NFL guy. He
was a freshman at the time. I guess he would
have been a sophomore at the time. So Sam Donald
is used to elevating players. I think he's more talented
than Baker Mayfield. I think he's a better thrower of
(21:33):
the football in terms of accurately than Josh Allen. Obviously
Lamar has had a better first two years. I mean
that's not even arguable. But when the dust settles in
five or six years, it won't shock me if Sam
Donald's the best now he has to do it. And
like I said with Baker Mayfield and same thing with
Drew Lock, your success as a quarterback is often very
(21:55):
very uh you know, it's tied to the guy calling
the place, whether that you're head coach or whether it's
an offensive coordinator. When you got a good guy calling
the plays, and you got a good coach, whether Sean Payton,
Andy Reid, Sean McVeigh, Kyle Shanahan, we all know who
they are. Josh McDaniels, you do well. When you get
guys that don't know what they're doing, usually struggle. It
wasn't like God, remember when Peyton Manning threw forty seven
(22:17):
touchdowns with Freddie Kitchens or geez, remember when Aaron Rodgers
threw all those touchdowns? You know with Jim tom Sula,
it's not usually the way it works, right, There's a
reason Mike McCarthy Jerry Jones gave him all that money.
I know it ended poorly in Green Bay. He's viewed
as a high level coach. And you know, Greg Roman
got crushed around these parts back in the day when
(22:38):
Kaepernick fell apart. He was also the guy that made
Kaepernick sweet well who's now making Lamar suite Greg Roman shocker.
So if Adam Gaze, who once upon a time was
viewed as like a Kyle Shanahan and Sean McVeigh, it
might all be made up by Peyton Manning. But he
had moments in Miami. They made it to the playoffs
this first year, and Ryan tanne Hill was good before
(22:59):
he got hurt and then he rattle offs and wins
with Matt More. Now, I think most of us think
of Adam Gates is kind of this weird dude. But
and listen, sometimes we're biased when we know someone. So
I'm not saying I if Peyton Manning says the guy
is legit, I'm gonna take what he says at face value.
But sometimes you can be too close to someone to
(23:19):
not see some of his uh, some of the issues
that he may have as a coach, as a person,
whatever he does. But I do know enough people that
have been around at him to say he's really bright
when it comes to offense. Now, there's more to just
being the offensive coordinator when you're the head coach. But
if he can figure just somehow to be a head coach,
(23:41):
he can He should be able to call plays and
help Sam Donald out. So Sam Donald, Jonathan Taylor, Nick Bosa,
Baker Mayfield, Andrew Luck are the five guys that I'm
looking forward to watching this pall. Okay, let's hit a
couple of quick stories before we dive into the middlecof
mail bag. One thing making the rounds this week is
that the NFL, I don't know if this was proposed
(24:02):
or Florio just threw that out there, might make players
sign a waiver because of Corona. Here's what I know,
and I talked about it on Monday Show, is that
the players, because of the financial incentive, are gonna be
have much more reason to come back. Their careers are
much shorter than baseball and definitely basketball, they're gonna play
(24:24):
this fall if given the option in two. I don't
know one person one. I don't know anyone with Corona.
I don't know anyone that's got Corona. Now. I know
a lot of people that think they have gotten Corona,
because I know, at least in California, the only times
I've written about this, we've had it here since the fall. Uh.
Young people that I know aren't not only not scared
of the Corona, are getting to the point now where
(24:47):
they think it's kind of ridiculous and are terrified financially,
so to think that NFL players would not be comfortable
signing a waiver that if they got Corona, it's not
the NFL's fault. They play football every Sunday. Where Alex
Smith had an injury that was so bad they put
him with wounded Warriors who had had limbs blown off.
(25:11):
We see bone shattered, we see ribs broken, we see
knees ripped, We she see shoulders torn apart. The NFL player,
this is not baseball, where you know you get Tommy John,
you go to Dr James Andrews and your hunter million
dollar contract is unfaced. This is not basketball where you
live in fairytale land and everyone the average salary seven
(25:33):
million dollars. This is sport that on any given year
your career could end. That in any given year you
can just be cut. Larry Warford, Wafford, Larry whatever. The
Saints offensive lineman who has made three straight Pro Bowls,
was just released after the draft because they drafted a
guy in the first round. I repeat, he made three
straight Pro Bowls. The NFL does not parallel the other
(25:56):
two major sports. It really parallels America at the time.
At any moment, things can end and it won't be
an issue if you've got to sign a waiver. Dave
Portnoy is gonna watch a game in Roger Goodell's basement
this fall, at least we think he is. He won
the bidding to watch the game with Roger Goodell this
(26:20):
fall for COVID, you know, for charity. He paid two
hundred and fifty million dollars and they have a longstanding beef. Uh.
He got arrested when the flight gate happened because he
locked himself to the front of the NFL offices. He's
made the towels uh that that it would be smart
for Roger Goodell. Bar Stool has been very, very good
(26:42):
for the league. It really has. Uh. It's why ESPN
for years and we talked about it with Monday Night Football,
ESPN was not good for the NFL. They were constantly
talking crap about it and constantly acting like the league
was the devil, and Barstool has been the opposite. They've
promoted football. They've really kind of hung their hat on
talking about football. They have an NFL players podcast on
(27:06):
under the Barstool umbrella. They get a lot of the
young star football players on their platforms. They're synonymous with
kind of the Patriots. Over the years, they have been
good for the NFL. I don't know like how deep
Roger Goodell's resentment is for Portnoy. He once dragged him
(27:27):
out of the Super Bowl two years ago. When to
David snuck in there. I do think it would be
smart and humanize Rods a little bit if he could
hang out with Dave for a game on periscope or whatever.
Now will he actually do it, I don't know, But
the NFL is running circles right now around the other
(27:47):
two leaks, the baseball has a player talking about how
he's scared for his life and he's never gonna play
under these circumstances. How the owners are trying to screw
up basketball. Who knows they're They're terrified of Twitter and
CNN getting mad at them football. All all I know
is that you put on a football game, you get people.
You put on anything NFL related, you get ten plus
(28:09):
million people. I think it would be smart for the
league to have Roger and Dave Portnoy sit down. I
think it would be funny. I think they would get
a lot of credit. It might get a little uncomfortable
for moments, but I think big picture would be the
smart move. Goodell extended the stay at home order for
NFL teams, unlike college football, which you're gonna see like
(28:30):
some SEC teams come back and Big ten comes back,
and they're all gonna come back at different times. Because
as long as you can't start training camp until the
same day, it doesn't really matter. In the NFL. Just
because Florida opens, you can't allow the Dolphins or the
Tampa Bay Buccaneers to start running practices while the forty
Niners and the Seattle Seahawks and the I almost called
(28:53):
them the San Diego Chargers. Chargers aren't allowed to do anything,
so Goodell said this and he stuck to it. Everything's
gonna be universal, So you have to keep working from home,
you keep have to do the virtual meetings. But it
will be interesting when the fall actually comes. Do they
allow like if if Florida's allowing fans but California is not,
do they allow fans in the teams? And then they
(29:15):
just kind of split the revenue nationally. I don't know,
it's gonna be a fascinated thing to just keep an
eye on. We'll just dive in the middleoff mail bag
right now. Okay, let's let's attack at John middlecoff d
MS wide open. I think I have like twenty left.
Come in fire in ask your question, what are your
(29:36):
thoughts on the Gopher coach? P J. Fleck cheesy full
of ship a football Tony Robbins. Obviously, the University of
Michigan is in the national University of Minnesota is in
the national powerhouse. But could a couple more years of
success like last year's turn that around? Yeah, I mean,
I from what I've been told people that have been
through his schools. Say he's not for everyone, but he's legit.
(30:00):
He's not a fraud because I think some people naturally
think when you get a high energy, kind of raw,
raw young guy, they think it's just kind of a stick.
He's good, he's a really good coach. I think highly
of him. Now, would he be meant for every program?
Probably not. He works at programs that aren't nationally successful
(30:22):
because quote unquote, I don't even like calling it a stick.
What he brings the table kind of works. Would that
work at like Texas? No? But would that work at
like U c l A. Maybe? Would that work at
Michigan Maybe? I don't know. I mean I would it
work at in the SEC? Probably not. I actually think
(30:45):
he'd work on the in the West Coast pretty well, Washington,
s c Uh, you know, obviously Minnesota. I think he
would work probably in the Big ten, in the Pack twelve,
very very He's kind of like he's made for the academics.
It looks like the California especially the Barrier, are going
to be the last in the country to lift the lockdown,
(31:07):
and it may go through August. I have a hard
time seeing that. I know, speaking for northern California. We
just don't have the body count. I mean, we're actually
much more like Iowa, like per Capital, where nothing we
we have talked about like we're in New York. I mean,
I I've been predicting this. I don't I don't like
tweeting about this because I don't like to be angry
about it. But the civil unrest is starting out here.
(31:28):
We got forty million people, we have deaths, and again
I have lived in I know a lot of people
can I don't know one person who's got Corona. So
it's just starting to just not add up for people
out here. I think we're coming down the home stretch
now for football. Should the Niners just plan to go
out of state for training camp? I'm also worried that
this will go to the start of the season. I see,
(31:49):
I don't. I think they're playing football in the Bay Area.
Uh come the fall? Now? Are there fans? I would
lean no, But I can't pretend to know. I I
just know the numbers. Given the where we're at in
society in California aren't as dire as the way they're
(32:09):
locking us down, and people are starting to get edgy.
Businesses are starting to be desperate. Uh. At the end
of the day, in California, the private sector runs the state.
The state cannot operate without our tax revenue. And the
tax revenue the municipalities usually get a lot of I
mean a lot of tax revenue from local businesses. Restaurants
are pay a huge tax, but well they're not making
(32:31):
any money right now, so it's a it's a complete disaster.
So I I would expect things get a little more
normal in California, at least in northern California closer and
you already see Elon Musk like, what are we doing?
Any want? And they opened up, So I I know
more and more businesses that are opening up now. When
it comes to football, you know, I say one thing
(32:51):
for Jed he invites Gavin Newsom to think so that
will probably help. Uh Will there be fans? I don't know,
but I I think they will have training camp in
Santa Clara. That's just an educated guess. You put any
stock into the reports of the Seahawks offered the Browns
russ for the two thou eighteen first overall pick sounds
like bullshit to me. I I say this all the time.
(33:13):
What do you think when I worked in the front
office and spent fifteen hours a day, you know, year round,
you know, around coaches and scouts, what do you think
we talk about all day long and hypothetical stuff all
day long. It's when you trade this guy for that guy?
All day long, it's what do we have to do
to acquire that guy? These are the conversations you have.
(33:34):
So was there a conversation of, you know, should we
pay Russell Wilson thirty million dollars and thirty five million
dollars a year? Maybe the Browns called and initiated the
conversation and they just thought about it. You know, you
just you're allowed to think about things because at the
end of the day, they paid Russell Wilson. Now for
me to get trade Russell Wilson to the Browns, Let's say, hypothetically,
(33:57):
I love Sam Donald, IFI was John Schnyder and Peak Hero.
I'd go, okay, I want the number one overall pick
I want Myles Garrett, I want another one, and I
want to two. So you'd have to blow me out
of the water and then it's on you to pay them.
But I I don't think it's crazy to think that
they had the conversation. I actually think it's more more
than fair to think that they had the conversation with
(34:18):
California closing down for three more months. Yeah, that's just
not true. I mean, I'm getting this question a lot.
I was in the valley like closer to Fresno a
couple of days ago, and restaurants were open. Now you
couldn't sit in them. I didn't have to wear a
mask in the restaurant. No one was wearing masks. I
think it just depends. L A is the most over
the top the Bay Area and just northern California, Sacramento, uh, Fremont,
(34:42):
some of the East Bay has been opening up. So
the question is more months, but Arizona opening up. How
would you feel about teams relocating from a lockdown state
to an open state. I just think they're trying to
avoid that at all costs. I also think this and
this question is probably I'm probably gonna get war mail back.
It's May four. I mean we're talking about three months away.
(35:05):
You know, Gavin Newsom said two months ago that of
California is gonna have a coronavirus. He's been a tad off,
so you know the quote unquote experts have been pretty
hit or miss. You know, I have been much closer
to uh to Baker Mayfield in two thousand nineteen than
they were in two eighteen in terms of accuracy. So
I'm just I think a lot of people are saying
(35:27):
a lot of things, and uh, I'm just looking at
the data and the numbers and it's not quite equaling up.
So I I think we just everything would probably be
on the table. They have continuency plans now l A
county that's its own issue, But we're already I'm already
feeling civil unrest up here. You know, I've seen it
down there too, and they locked up the beaches. It
(35:48):
gets difficult, Like I know, just speaking for the state
of California, you can't charge people of premium to live
in a large percentage of people move into this town
to work, so you take their ability to work, and
then you you force them to stay in their hand
at their house, which they're paying way more than they
would in any other state, partly just because it's California,
and then they're not allowed to do anything. And then
(36:10):
you go, well, I can't get sick if I'm the
forty year old guy you're not allowing me to work.
I have to stay inside. Maybe I've lost my job.
Like you start creating a lot of problems, and I
know social media, it's just like it's one side versus
the other side. There's a lot of gray area with
these things. If you stop allowing people to work. Most
people are not rich. Most people live paycheck to paycheck.
(36:31):
Most people need a job to pay the bills, to
feed their children, to feed themselves, to pay the rent.
This is starting to get the basic necessities of life,
and it's becoming a complicated issue. It's becoming so political
and it's not political, like when like if you're pro
the economy, it's like mega, no, I just I'm rooting
(36:52):
for the guy that runs a local pizza shop to
be able to pay his rent. I don't know when
that became political. People wonder why social media and Twitter
to me, Twitter and I listen. I've always loved Twitter.
It's starting to have a Facebook of four or five
years ago feel it's a toxic, fake place. It is
not a real world. Why do my text messages look
(37:15):
so much different than my Twitter timeline? My text messages
are just real, real people texting me their actual thoughts.
My Twitter timeline is just fake. A lot of media
members who are just so extreme. Most humans, whether it's politically,
whether it's whatever, are not that extreme. Most people just
(37:37):
want to go to work. I want to raise our children,
want people to be safe, want to have a little
fun on the weekends, want to go to their job
and not get fired. Like I think we're kind of
overthinking this. Well, most people aren't. Because if you're listening
to me and don't spend all your time on Twitter,
you realize how fake of a world that is. See's
I try not to talk about the Corona because I
(37:59):
get worked up and it starts to piss me off. There,
Like people are rooting for just to stay locked up forever.
I don't understand why you would root for, Like, no
one wants anyone to die. People don't want people to
go unemployed, Like we can it can all be under
kind of one umbrella, Like can we kind of develop
a solution. It went from flattening the curve to like
(38:20):
just lock it down forever, Like it's not really the
way it works here in this uh, in this whole
country we call America. We you know, we kind of
depended on the businesses to pay the taxes to keep
the government going. You know it's like this, These aren't
hot takes, These are just actual realities of life. Can
you shut some light into the Dak Prescott situation? In
(38:41):
my opinion, he's not a top quarterback. I think the
Cowboys would be foolish to hand him and make a
contract for me. He is comparable to a Nick Foles,
who has more playoff wins at twenty million per I
get the concept of leverage, but who exactly are the
Cowboys bigging against? His greatest strength was his cost control
draft position, which able the Cowboys to build their roster otherways. Thoughts,
(39:04):
I like him a little more than you uh think of.
I mean, you can't name fifteen quarterbacks better than Dak Prescott.
Could you start naming guys like Kirk Cousins? And it's
just not the fact Dak somewhere between ten to fifteen.
Now is he a top seven eight quarterback? And no
do I like paying a top non top seven eight
quarterback thirty five million dollars A or no? I do not.
Look what happened to the Rams. I put Jared Goff
(39:25):
right there with Dak Prescott in that little range. They
overpaid him and they get hurt and they can't maintain
their dominance if you overpay Russell Wilson. I mean, you
can't overpay Russell Wilson. He makes thirty five million dollars.
No big deal, you pay up in the prime Aaron
Rodgers million dot No big deal. You pay Dak Prescott
thirty five million dollars. You've got problems, just call the RAMS.
(39:48):
So I don't know exactly what the solution is. I
think it's a very complicated situation. Uh, but yeah, I
couldn't pay him that much money. But I don't know.
Like that, I don't know who they're bidding against, because
I don't see them betting against like that's my if
they if they rescinded the franchise tag, who would I like?
(40:12):
Who would offer him huge money? I don't know. So
I'm a big U c l A fan. And although
we are slowly improving as a team, the big push
to eventually get into the playoffs is not closed. If
you were the U c l A A D, what
changes would you make? Also, will COVID nineteen and the
possible to lay of the season give coaches on the
hot seat a little more time to seal their fate. Listen,
(40:32):
it's gonna sound like I'm biased because this guy indirectly
fired me once upon a time. It's not. I'm non emotional.
My life has never been better ever since I left
the NFL. Uh. And at one point in time, this
guy was a really good coach. He was taking the
world by storm. He was taking the football world by storm.
He was really good. He's lost his fastball and his
(40:52):
couple of years at U c l A have been
a train wreck. The first move I would make would
be fire Chip Kelly. You can't win with Chip Kelly.
The guy has mailed it in. He doesn't try in recruiting.
His scheme is outdated now, he doesn't really like what
does he do. As a point of difference, his coaching
staff is atrocious. I mean, his defensive coordinator is a joke.
It's one of his good buddies is a defensive line coach.
(41:15):
They got calling the coverages. Uh. I would fire Chip Kelly.
I don't think he's made for the l A mark.
It's just a bad fit, and I would try to
hire someone else. Now, at the end of the day,
U c l A is not some powerhouse. They're an
eight nine win team on good years. So I think
you just kind of have to come to grips with Yeah,
we're probably we're not gonna go to college football playoffs
because we're not a college football playoff type program. But
(41:37):
if we can win nine games compete together in the
rose ball, it would be very That would be good.
I have a question based off something you said on
last Thursday's pot. You mentioned that teams might go fourteen
and two man up going twelve and four because the
lack of the off season. Does that mean crappy teams
like the Redskins and the Jazz will be more competitive
or worse? My guesses the Redskins are probably a four
(41:57):
or five win team, but with the quarantine I expect
to in fourteen. That's a good question. I would factor
in new coaches or might struggle. And this, I mean
this is where the Cowboys. It's weird. You're like, yeah,
they got a good roster, they got, but they got
a new coach. You have no offseason, You're implementing new schemes.
You don't even know your head coach. I mean Ron Rivera,
(42:19):
Jack del Really they have entire new coaching staff, everything
has changed. Dwayne Haskins has played not very much in
the NFL. So yeah, I would say from the from
the Redskins standpoint, Ron Rivera is clearly a really good coach,
and I think they have a solid staff. Actually, the
Redskins don't have a bad roster, but there's just gonna
be so many moving parts. They had no offseason. I
(42:42):
would just have no expectations. I would just look for
as the season goes on, we play harder, we're competitive.
I don't think it's really fair for in the Jaguars.
Who knows, you know. I just the Jaguars just always lose.
I heard you mentioned a couple of weeks ago actor
you felt Isaiah Simmons could end up being a bust
dude advanced Joseph's limitations as a coordinator. But as a
(43:05):
Cards fan, I have a hard I had to watch
us get absolutely shredded by tight ends all last season.
I believe we surrendered a league wide leading fifteen touchdowns
to the position. My God does that. There is the
fact that Simmons is six four and runs a four
three forty make you feel good about his ability to
defend against tight ends. If he only improves our defense
in that capacity. You feel like that will end up
(43:26):
a bust As a Niners homer, you have to admit
the fact that is the same heights as George Kittle
is a little scary. Yeah, I mean I would imagine
he will just follow George Kittle around and follow Holli story,
Greg Olsen around and follow Higbee and whoever the tight
ends are for the rams around. So yeah, his, as
someone in the league told me, his best immediate plug
(43:49):
and play attribute would just be to cover a tight end. Man, demand,
now do you put him right over the tight end
line of scrimmage, because if George Kittle's run blocking, He's
gonna toss him around ound right, Uh, and convanced Joseph
scheme him to be able to kind of follow him around.
I don't know, but you're right, like that should be
(44:09):
an immediate skill that he can transition to do. Just
run with George Kittle down, you know, the seam on
out routes and then just kind of mirror him. So yeah,
if he can do that, that is a huge, huge bonus.
But this is where I get back to there's a
lot going on. Are they moving them all over the place.
What are they ask him to do? It's just simple.
(44:29):
He's just gonna line up over the tight end and
cover the tight end. Because he easy to say that
out loud, but we all know that's not exactly how
things happen, especially with a guy like that. Think about
the honey Badger, you know, who would kind of be
his cop in the sense of this hybrid. They move
the honey Badger all over the place when he was younger.
Now he kind of just place in space, but back
(44:49):
in the day he was everywhere. He still kind of is.
But remember young honey Badger on the Cardinals. Is that
what they're gonna ask Isaiah him as it do? That's
asking him to do a lot. Do you think Dak
gets beat out for the starting job? No, I don't.
Dak Prescott's better than Andy Dalton, And you know, in fairness,
I always kind of liked Andy Dalton. I wanted to
(45:12):
ask your honest opinion on the outlook of the Bengals
in the upcoming season. I see all the analysts out
there belittling them. Do their pass and I get it
it's not a successful one. But this offseason they've really
stepped things up. Being the third highest spending team in
free agency, changed the guard was Zach Taylor instead of
being stubborn and keeping Marvin Lewis. They're trying to change
the narrative, and I was wondering if that all gives
them more optimistic outlook for the season and then two
(45:34):
or three wins, like analysts are saying, or is just
be much of the same thing and it doesn't mean much.
Well again that you have a brand new quarterback who
was a rookie with no offseason, so it's gonna be
asking him to do a lot in a short period
of time. You have a j Green returning off injury,
who's when he's health. He has been a really good player.
Joe Mixon is a good player. Uh, their offensive line
(45:56):
was pretty bad last year. I know, like you said,
they did sign find some people in free agency. He
would be my main questions. I don't know if Zach
Taylor can coach or not, Like, is Zach Taylor any good?
There's a chance he is, and there's just chance he's.
What if they do win two or three wins, you
change the coach again for for Joe Burrow or do
you just write it out. I don't necessarily have an
(46:18):
answer there, But these are questions, you know, I just
throw it out. They're clearly the fourth best, least talented
team in their division, right, The Ravens, the Steelers, the
Browns just have dramatically more impact players. Now, anytime you
take a guy number one overall quarterback, if there are
glimpses that he can be really good in two or
(46:40):
three years, or franchise could be changed. You know that
you've drafted Carson Palmer, you can trade your franchise. Now.
It might not happen immediately. Remember Peyton Manning wasn't good
as a rookie. You know, Andrew luck was kind of
an outlier, came in immediately they won, So you could
win three or four games and actually have a lot
of hope. I remember in two thousand fourteen, Khalil Mack
(47:00):
and Derek Car's rookie year, the Raiders were oh and ten,
finished the season three and thirteen, and it felt like
they accomplished a lot. So you actually can accomplish a
lot by losing, as long as your young players developed,
and your coach has to show something, which willie I
don't know if he will, it won't, but I honestly
don't know enough about him to have like some hard
(47:23):
core take on Zach Taylor. But I like Joe Burrow
a lot. I mean, who doesn't. Uh, it's basically the franchise,
just on the guy's shoulders. If he becomes a perennial
pro bowler, you know, I think it's kind of Tony Romo.
If he becomes Tony Romo, you're being pretty good shape.
If he's If you whiffed, you're screwed. Appreciate everyone listening.
(47:44):
Go to the Apple Apple iTunes, leave a review. Uh,
slide up in these d M so I'm gonna need
some of your questions. Appreciate everyone listening. Have a good weekend.
If you're in a state that's opened, I'm jealous. If
you're quarantined, let's enjoy staring at the all and uh again,
tell your friends about the podcast peacem
What is going on? Everybody's John Little Coop three and
out podcast. I hope everyone, uh is doing well and
and getting through this. You know, it's it's not easy.
And depending on where you are, maybe you already through it.
Maybe you're already in the sense of your your home
states opened. I know mine in California. Uh, it feels
(00:31):
like it's kind of going the other way, which is bizarre,
but you know, you know, it is what it is.
And the one thing I've said over and over, I
try desperately to not consume just an unlimited amount of
stuff because it's easy to get really angry the longer
this goes. Uh. Yeah, And I just you know, I'm
like a football coach kind of coach speak, you know,
(00:54):
I try to control what I can control. And that's
how I've approached this. Why I just kept doing podcasts
and just kept producing. You know, there's really not much
going on, but luckily, you know, you know, I can
produce some some topics here, and we actually had a
couple of stories. I'm gonna dive into a problem the
league has that it's just a sneaky disaster right now,
(01:17):
and I think it could really come to fruition in
front of everyone's eyes. If we're not having fans in
the stands this fall. I picked my top five young
players rookies, second year or third year players, just younger
players that I'm excited to watch this fall, uh than
just a couple of stories. And then, like always at
(01:38):
John middlecoff is my Instagram handle d MS wide open,
slide up in there and you can ask anything you
want and I got a bunch of questions. Also appreciate
everyone that's gone to Apple or iTunes and left a
five star review. If you haven't, like I always say, greatly,
appreciate it. It helps the show. If you like the show,
go to three and Out on iTunes, the separate one
(02:00):
from Collins and leave a review. I think we're almost
at a thousand, so I appreciate everyone doing that. I guess.
In two thousands sixteen, the league announced that they were
sending two teams to Los Angeles and ever since then,
and even at the time, I I didn't quite get it.
(02:20):
And if you listen to the show, you know I'm
a West Coast guy. I lived in California, but I've
lived in Northern California. By the majority of my life.
I guess cal Poly is in central the Central coast,
but it's still three hours away from l A. Never
lived in l A, never lived in San Diego, though
I'd love to live in San Diego. It's it's awesome,
uh Ben, l A has grown on me a lot.
(02:41):
It's pretty cool, like where Colin lives in Manhattan Beach
is awesome, Newport Beach, Santa Monica. I mean, there's Malibu.
There's some places that are badass. It's like, I used
to talk a lot of shit about New York when
I lived in Philly, and it's like, it's not like
I had any connection to Philly or New York or anything.
I just I always just kind of felt I was
more Philly or Boston. And then I moved to phil
like I hate New York. And then I remember going
(03:02):
for the Draft. I was like, God, this place is
pretty sweet. And then I went back a couple of times.
It's badass. So sometimes when you go somewhere, you're like, oh, yeah,
this place is cool. But the NFL, their power brokers
aren't West Coast. People think about it. Jerry Jones really
is the only guy who's even close to the West Coast,
the Crafts, the Maras, Jeffrey Lury, uh Woody Johnson, they
(03:24):
all live in the Northeast. The league's offices are in
New York. Now, I completely understood when they wanted to
move a team to Los Angeles. It's the second biggest
market in America. Now. L A County announced that they
might shut down to like two thousand the other day,
which is outrageous, but you know, typical California. But the
reality is l A County and just the southern California
(03:46):
is massive. It's double the side. Like, there's a lot
of people that live in Northern California and the Greater
Bay Area. I think there's like eight million people that
live in the Greater By Area. It's like double that
in l A. There are a lot of people there.
So I I completely understand why the l A market
was appealing to the league power brokers, because it's all
about money. But when they sent San Cronkey there and
(04:09):
forced him to take Dean Spanos, it never made sense
to me. And I also think forcing the rams was
still going to be difficult. I I don't know if
there was a proper solution. It's not like they were
going to expand and just put some random new team.
They were never gonna send the Raiders down there. They
didn't have the capitol, they couldn't afford. You couldn't let
(04:30):
the Chargers go on their own because, like the Raiders
don't quite have the money. Though Dean Spanos sneaky has
more money than you think, but they definitely know the
fan base. So you're hoping that the Rams kind of
has the fan base, they definitely have the capital. Well,
then this pandemic hits. But even before the pandemic, and
it was written about in an article on The Athletic
(04:51):
about Stan Crocky has asked for five hundred million dollars
more from the league. And the biggest reason he's doing
this is threefold. One. It's really expensive to build in California.
And you can say a project is two billion dollars,
it's gonna cost way more our costs, or more our
labor costs, or more. Everything costs more money here. You
(05:14):
have to jump through a million hoops just to get
anything done. Dealing with our politicians cost a lot of
money out here, and it's really expensive. That's why you
see a lot of businesses moving out of here. It
doesn't given what you have to pay unless you're a
big boy like an Apple or a Facebook, where money
means nothing to you. It's hard to get going out here.
(05:35):
But Crokey Big Picture wanted it, though he's in real estate.
I'm not even quite sure he realized how much this
thing would cost. And I think we've all seen the numbers,
like five or six billion dollars. Well, there's gonna come
a point where he's gonna stop putting his own money
into this, so the cost overruns big issue. Here's another
problem their PSL situation. The thing all these new stadium
(05:58):
sell have come close to meeting the eight hundred and
fifty million dollars that they hope to hit. But here's
the main reason they haven't got to the eight hundred
fifty million dollar total that they were hoping to hit.
It's not as the Rams were actually able to sell
a large percentage of their PSLs. The Chargers didn't get
anywhere close. But the Chargers are not a partner in this.
(06:21):
The Chargers are the RAMS tenant, so they're not giving
any money beside the PSL money, so they are just
a dead weight in the situation. And then potentially no
gate this fault with no fans, so in the league.
I don't think they rushed this situation, but they definitely
kind of were flying by the seat of their pants
when they allowed the Chargers to go with the Rams.
(06:43):
And now the Chargers are in a situation where no
one wants them in the Los Angeles. They can't afford
to actually help stand cronky out stand crokeys. At the
point where you can get mad at these billionaires all
you want, there comes a point where they stopped putting
their own personal wealth into businesses that they just do,
especially in a situation wation like this when it's partner driven.
Their success in l A benefits the league and makes
(07:06):
the league money. They're putting the NFL network in there.
And it feels like he's just trying to draw the
line of the stand. And here's the other thing. He
knows that this fall could be a disaster from a
league revenue standpoint. If you're not allowed to have fans,
there's gonna be a huge Uh. Just come back to
the mean in terms of local signage in your own stadium,
(07:27):
right you're paying bud Lights paying ten million to be there.
All your local sponsors that pay yearly prices at huge
amounts of money. Well, they're not actually getting their money's
worth because there's no people in the freaking you know,
the stadium. Now, I've talked to people in the league
that told me everything is negotiable, and some of these
big companies, it's not like they cut you off because
big picture, they don't want to get booted out of there.
(07:48):
But you can't just charge someone full price when you're
not getting full price. I saw my gym. Uh there
was like a local report of the gym I go do.
We're showing what they're gonna do when we pretend actually
come back in the next month and every single person
is going to have like their own little space. They
push back bikes and put things all over, like the
(08:08):
stationary bikes are out by the pool, and they're only
gonna allow fifty capacity, So if you get there and
it's already full, you're not allowed in. Well here's what
I know. And I pay way too much for my gym,
though I do, it's an expense that I don't mind
because it's one of the only things I consistently use
in my daily life that is definitely worse than the
(08:29):
price you can't charge me full price if when I
show up, I'm not always allowed in, if the normal
equipment that I'm used to using is not available. Like
we got problems, but in this I think works for
everyone is realizing that this is gonna cost a lot
of people a lot of money. I saw a headline
today that the Green Bay Packers, who are probably the
(08:50):
most unique team in professional sports because they don't have
an owner, They don't have a guy that if you
just get into a pinch, can just cut a check.
But they do have a three hundred almost four hundred
million dollars slush fund of just extra money that they've saved,
and they might have to use it this fall because
if they're not allowed fans in lambeau Field, they're the franchise.
(09:11):
They would get really nailed. And I think Crocys number
two because he's literally carrying the weight of a second franchise.
It's one thing just to run one franchise and have
to pay for costs in just this awful pandemic that's
shut down freaking America and doesn't enable you to do
business as normal. And we're I mean, I mean, it's
(09:33):
even kind of crazy. It's may whatever, fourteenth time recording
this and we're talking about something in September. I don't
ever remember something that no one knows less about that
we talk about more absolutes. But it sure feels like
we're headed towards something where there's not going to be
potentially fans in the in the stadiums. I think the
l A situation is just a problem for the league.
(09:55):
I mean, no one wants the charges down there. Like
I said, they don't bring anything to the table. Four
stand Crokey. I think they charge him a dollar a year.
There's just so much resentment. There have been countless stories
about the situation between the two owners. But but here's
the simple little truth. Does the league really care about
(10:16):
the Chargers and rams bitching and moaning? Now, I don't
think they typically do. They're like, well, that stand, that's
your problem, California or whatever. But now he's going to
the league and going I need five dred million dollars
and the league, the NFL networks depended on him, the league.
I mean, I think I've talked about this on the
show countless times. Everything's gonna move to l A very soon,
(10:37):
you know, once the pandemics over the next couple of years,
and I'm talking NFL Combine, I'm talking Senior Bowl. It's
all headed there, like like any smart person will tell you,
follow the money. Now, I wouldn't move the combine from
Indianapolis the Senior Bowl. I like Jim Naggi who runs it.
But does it make that much sense to be in mobile?
(10:58):
Wouldn't make more sense in a major city. We could
argue that all day long. But you don't spend five
six billion, and the league doesn't put in nine hundred
million dollars to not run your entire league through that
kind of as the hub, as the West Coast hub,
and that's ideally what I think they were thinking. Now,
how long does it take us to get there? Who knows? Uh?
(11:20):
But this isn't going well. And anyone that lived out
on the West Coast when they were trying to figure out,
like can we put multiple teams in l A. How
could you go from zero to two when it's not
like the city had been without football for five years
and everyone was just lined up yearning for it. The
city had been without football for almost twenty five years.
(11:42):
And as you saw with USC, you know, college football,
they were fine. They didn't even think about the Lakers,
the Dodger, USC Football, U C l A A lot
going on. They at the beach, got other ship going on.
And then you try to, you know, force two teams,
you get problems. And I think sometimes in leagues and
baseball basketball that they're all based in the Northeast. So
(12:05):
they Roger Goodell his thinking like if they would never
have done something like this in Jersey, right, just go
from no teams in New York or New Jersey or
Philly to all of a sudden two they would never
do that. Why because they're comfortable with the area. They
live in the area, they consistently do business in the area.
Now you say, well, all the owners they come through
(12:25):
l A when they vacation. It's one thing to vacation
and come out to Los Angeles to hang out. Is
another thing to be billions of dollars invested and put
the you know, part of the league's future involved in
the area. It never made much sense and the problems
are only adding up as this pandemic just kicks in. Okay,
(12:47):
let's look at five players. I really didn't put much
criteria on it. I just quote unquote younger players. The
oldest players would be be in the league three years.
I have a rookie and a couple of second year players,
so it's kind of all over the map. But five
guys that I am really excited and slash interested to
(13:10):
see how they play this fall. They either had a
great last season, they either struggled. There really wasn't much criteria.
I just wrote down five young guys that I'll be
really really locked into this fall. Let's start at five.
John Elways had a rough career beside Peyton Manning of
picking quarterbacks Osweiler disaster. Uh, he just hasn't found a quarterback, right,
(13:34):
I mean, they just weren't shambles. After Peyton Manning. Well,
they drafted a guy named Drew lock who full disclosure,
I didn't know that much about beside watching at Missouri,
didn't you know, I was kind of indifferent, had a
big arm. Uh, seemed like a likable guy, but I
don't know. And when l White took him, it felt
like it's kind of a bold move. Well, in a
(13:57):
couple of games that I watched him play last year,
he looked pretty good. He was sixty in five starts
to kind of end the season. Completion percentage seven touchdowns,
three picks. We'll think about this offseason for Drew Lock.
They add Jerry Judy, they add Melvin Gordon. They add
in the second round kJ Hamler, Legit deep thread to
(14:19):
go along with Philip Lindsay and No a fan who
they drafted last year, and Corland Sutton who's already on
the team and pretty good player. Like, they have a
pretty good young nucleus for this guy to kind of
grow with. They add Pat Shermer to be their offensive
coordinator a running game and a tight end is usually
operates as a quarterback's best friend. And now you have
(14:40):
some weapons for this guy. I actually think the Denver
Broncos are a sleeper team this fall if this guy
is good. Number four Baker Mayfield. I loved Baker coming out.
Then after his rookie year, I thought the overreaction how
good he was as a player was ridiculous. People were
putting him in this tier with like a Rogers and
(15:00):
Russell Wilson and Mahomes. It was outrageous. Well, now it's
kind of come back to earth. Everyone thinks he sucks.
I'm not quite sure. I'm not willing to just say
write the guy off and I'm by no means feel
confident to say this guy is gonna go to Pro Bowls. Right.
He threw twenty two touchdowns and twenty one interceptions. He
(15:21):
hung his hat in college as an accurate passer. Well
stopped being accurate last year. Now. Sometimes not, Sometimes a
lot of times, when you have a terrible head coach,
you're going to be a bad player. When you're a
young quarterback, it's hard to overcome in confidence at the
coaching position. Freddie Kitchens is a laughing stock as a
(15:45):
head coach. Not in a million years would anyone named
Freddie Kitchens as their head coach unless your name is
John Dorsey and the owners Jimmy hasl like that's that
can't happen. But it did. Now they got Stefanski, which
I don't know if he's a head coach, but I
didn't know this. He coordinated an offense last year and
they were dynamic. Kirk aus is the best statistical year
of his career. They should have a good running game
(16:07):
because Tefanski in the zone scheme should thrive. Nick Chubb,
Kareem Hunt. There are no excuses for Baker Mayfield. They
draft an offensive lineman, they add Conklin. They have multiple
tight ends, they got multiple wide receivers. Both of his
running backs can catch. Like if Baker Mayfield struggles this year,
(16:27):
maybe he's just not good enough. Maybe he's just he's
not meant to be the Cleveland Browns quarterback. But maybe
he bounces back. So it's great about young players in sports.
You know, they're kind of an ever evolving thing. No
one gets no one stays the same. You're either getting better,
you're getting worse. So he he either is gonna look
like he showed the glimpses as a rookie, or he's
gonna keep progressing. And with no offseason, a lot is
(16:50):
gonna be on him, uh to try to master this
offense mentally and then get on the same page with
his guys whenever they get to training camp number three.
I think it might have the best rookie season I
have seen since I've been doing this for like a decade.
In nick Bosa, he was dominant, and then when the
playoffs started, he was even better. Talk to the people
(17:12):
in Kansas City when they watched the game tape, how
good the guy was? Man amongst boys? Nine sacks like
the the the box scores don't even do it justice
his effort. He's better than Joey And I was someone
that would have taken quinnin Williams. I was riding here
locally for the athletic I take Quinn and Williams. I
take Quinn and Williams. Well, that would have been the
(17:33):
wrong decision. So the reason I'm talking into a microphone
because passac on Nick Bosa would have been a disaster.
And he's not the main reason, but he was a
major part and a major piece to a team that went,
you know, fifteen plus wins before they got the Super Bowl,
and they had a ten point lead going into the
(17:54):
fourth quarter. So is this guy gonna just become one
of the all time greats? Like? Is that? Is that
what this guy is? Like? We knew right away with
von Miller, We knew right away with Alden Smith. Now
he started hitting sauce and kind of derailed his career.
We knew right away with j. J. Watt, We knew
right away with Joey Bosa. Well, we know right away
with Nick. If this guy stays healthy, I mean, there's
(18:17):
a chance that he could dominate this league for years
to come because he's way more refined. I remember Khalil
Max rookie year. Khalil was much more of a work
in progress, much more of a raw product, and by
the time he got to like midway through a second year,
by his third year, he was a dominant, dominant player.
His first year like four sacks. Now his team sucked,
but still like he he had he had to work
(18:39):
on some things and once he figured it out, it
was game over. This guy I heard he had it
figured out. This guy has all the moves, and then
he has the physical attributes in terms of the explosive burst,
the bend and any plays hard. It's just it was
awesome to watch number two. I think it's fair to
say that the best offensive line in football, at least
the last couple of years has been an Indian Atlas,
(19:01):
and their offensive skill guys beside Luck and t Y
over the years hasn't been very good. Well this year,
what do they do. They draft Michael Pittman in the
you know, with their first pick in the second round,
and then their second pick they take Jonathan Taylor, who
I know a couple of people to do that area.
They love Jonathan Taylor. They had like a late first
early second round great on him. I've watched a lot
(19:21):
of Jonathan Taylor over the years. He is a special
running back in terms of a running back. Now, he
has some questions. You can fumble the ball sometimes and
we don't know how he really catches the football. But
one thing I watched with Chris Ballard or maybe he
said this to Colin. Colin asked Hi about he said,
there's some questions with his hands. One thing Frank Wrych
told him was, like, the majority of times we're gonna
be we're not gonna be asking this guy to run
(19:42):
go routes. We're gonna throw him wheel routes, and we're
gonna throw him screen passes. But the main thing we're
gonna do is we're gonna hand him the football behind
an offensive line that malls people behind arguably the best
offensive lineman in the league in Quentin Nelson. We're gonna
run right behind that guy, and we're gonna run power
and gonna run power, and we're gonna run a little
more power. I think there's a very decent chance that
(20:04):
Jonathan Taylor leads all offensive rookies and rushing and I
would expect him to have a massive year and when
Philip Rivers has been good. Over the years, they've always
had a balanced running attack, whether it was back in
the day with LT for a glimmer moment with Ryan Matthews,
and then obviously with Melvin Gordon. When Rivers has a
good running attack, he's been good. And I think Jonathan
(20:28):
Taylor is a stud behind that offensive line. I can't
wait to watch him. Number One, I love this guy
as a player. Last year he got mono nucleo since
and he disappeared for three games and when you look
at the box score for a season he had through
nineteen touchdowns and thirteen picks. His coach was kind of
a disaster last year. They weren't really on the same page.
(20:49):
His offensive line was a turnstyle at every position. Well,
they've doubled down. They signed a bunch of offensive lineman.
They draft an offensive lineman in the first round. They
draft another guy in the third round, so they've invested
a lot of resources there. Uh, he does have Levian Bell.
They draft a wide receiver in the second round. They
lost Robbie Anderson, but you know, Sam Donald is a
(21:11):
guy like he excelled in college with really his only
NFL wide receiver when he was a student college three
years ago. Was Pittman Jr. Who's an NFL guy. He
was a freshman at the time. I guess he would
have been a sophomore at the time. So Sam Donald
is used to elevating players. I think he's more talented
than Baker Mayfield. I think he's a better thrower of
(21:33):
the football in terms of accurately than Josh Allen. Obviously
Lamar has had a better first two years. I mean
that's not even arguable. But when the dust settles in
five or six years, it won't shock me if Sam
Donald's the best now he has to do it. And
like I said with Baker Mayfield and same thing with
Drew Lock, your success as a quarterback is often very
(21:55):
very uh you know, it's tied to the guy calling
the place, whether that you're head coach or whether it's
an offensive coordinator. When you got a good guy calling
the plays, and you got a good coach, whether Sean Payton,
Andy Reid, Sean McVeigh, Kyle Shanahan, we all know who
they are. Josh McDaniels, you do well. When you get
guys that don't know what they're doing, usually struggle. It
wasn't like God, remember when Peyton Manning threw forty seven
(22:17):
touchdowns with Freddie Kitchens or geez, remember when Aaron Rodgers
threw all those touchdowns? You know with Jim tom Sula,
it's not usually the way it works, right, There's a
reason Mike McCarthy Jerry Jones gave him all that money.
I know it ended poorly in Green Bay. He's viewed
as a high level coach. And you know, Greg Roman
got crushed around these parts back in the day when
(22:38):
Kaepernick fell apart. He was also the guy that made
Kaepernick sweet well who's now making Lamar suite Greg Roman shocker.
So if Adam Gaze, who once upon a time was
viewed as like a Kyle Shanahan and Sean McVeigh, it
might all be made up by Peyton Manning. But he
had moments in Miami. They made it to the playoffs
this first year, and Ryan tanne Hill was good before
(22:59):
he got hurt and then he rattle offs and wins
with Matt More. Now, I think most of us think
of Adam Gates is kind of this weird dude. But
and listen, sometimes we're biased when we know someone. So
I'm not saying I if Peyton Manning says the guy
is legit, I'm gonna take what he says at face value.
But sometimes you can be too close to someone to
(23:19):
not see some of his uh, some of the issues
that he may have as a coach, as a person,
whatever he does. But I do know enough people that
have been around at him to say he's really bright
when it comes to offense. Now, there's more to just
being the offensive coordinator when you're the head coach. But
if he can figure just somehow to be a head coach,
(23:41):
he can He should be able to call plays and
help Sam Donald out. So Sam Donald, Jonathan Taylor, Nick Bosa,
Baker Mayfield, Andrew Luck are the five guys that I'm
looking forward to watching this pall. Okay, let's hit a
couple of quick stories before we dive into the middlecof
mail bag. One thing making the rounds this week is
that the NFL, I don't know if this was proposed
(24:02):
or Florio just threw that out there, might make players
sign a waiver because of Corona. Here's what I know,
and I talked about it on Monday Show, is that
the players, because of the financial incentive, are gonna be
have much more reason to come back. Their careers are
much shorter than baseball and definitely basketball, they're gonna play
(24:24):
this fall if given the option in two. I don't
know one person one. I don't know anyone with Corona.
I don't know anyone that's got Corona. Now. I know
a lot of people that think they have gotten Corona,
because I know, at least in California, the only times
I've written about this, we've had it here since the fall. Uh.
Young people that I know aren't not only not scared
of the Corona, are getting to the point now where
(24:47):
they think it's kind of ridiculous and are terrified financially,
so to think that NFL players would not be comfortable
signing a waiver that if they got Corona, it's not
the NFL's fault. They play football every Sunday. Where Alex
Smith had an injury that was so bad they put
him with wounded Warriors who had had limbs blown off.
(25:11):
We see bone shattered, we see ribs broken, we see
knees ripped, We she see shoulders torn apart. The NFL player,
this is not baseball, where you know you get Tommy John,
you go to Dr James Andrews and your hunter million
dollar contract is unfaced. This is not basketball where you
live in fairytale land and everyone the average salary seven
(25:33):
million dollars. This is sport that on any given year
your career could end. That in any given year you
can just be cut. Larry Warford, Wafford, Larry whatever. The
Saints offensive lineman who has made three straight Pro Bowls,
was just released after the draft because they drafted a
guy in the first round. I repeat, he made three
straight Pro Bowls. The NFL does not parallel the other
(25:56):
two major sports. It really parallels America at the time.
At any moment, things can end and it won't be
an issue if you've got to sign a waiver. Dave
Portnoy is gonna watch a game in Roger Goodell's basement
this fall, at least we think he is. He won
the bidding to watch the game with Roger Goodell this
(26:20):
fall for COVID, you know, for charity. He paid two
hundred and fifty million dollars and they have a longstanding beef. Uh.
He got arrested when the flight gate happened because he
locked himself to the front of the NFL offices. He's
made the towels uh that that it would be smart
for Roger Goodell. Bar Stool has been very, very good
(26:42):
for the league. It really has. Uh. It's why ESPN
for years and we talked about it with Monday Night Football,
ESPN was not good for the NFL. They were constantly
talking crap about it and constantly acting like the league
was the devil, and Barstool has been the opposite. They've
promoted football. They've really kind of hung their hat on
talking about football. They have an NFL players podcast on
(27:06):
under the Barstool umbrella. They get a lot of the
young star football players on their platforms. They're synonymous with
kind of the Patriots. Over the years, they have been
good for the NFL. I don't know like how deep
Roger Goodell's resentment is for Portnoy. He once dragged him
(27:27):
out of the Super Bowl two years ago. When to
David snuck in there. I do think it would be
smart and humanize Rods a little bit if he could
hang out with Dave for a game on periscope or whatever.
Now will he actually do it, I don't know, But
the NFL is running circles right now around the other
(27:47):
two leaks, the baseball has a player talking about how
he's scared for his life and he's never gonna play
under these circumstances. How the owners are trying to screw
up basketball. Who knows they're They're terrified of Twitter and
CNN getting mad at them football. All all I know
is that you put on a football game, you get people.
You put on anything NFL related, you get ten plus
(28:09):
million people. I think it would be smart for the
league to have Roger and Dave Portnoy sit down. I
think it would be funny. I think they would get
a lot of credit. It might get a little uncomfortable
for moments, but I think big picture would be the
smart move. Goodell extended the stay at home order for
NFL teams, unlike college football, which you're gonna see like
(28:30):
some SEC teams come back and Big ten comes back,
and they're all gonna come back at different times. Because
as long as you can't start training camp until the
same day, it doesn't really matter. In the NFL. Just
because Florida opens, you can't allow the Dolphins or the
Tampa Bay Buccaneers to start running practices while the forty
Niners and the Seattle Seahawks and the I almost called
(28:53):
them the San Diego Chargers. Chargers aren't allowed to do anything,
so Goodell said this and he stuck to it. Everything's
gonna be universal, So you have to keep working from home,
you keep have to do the virtual meetings. But it
will be interesting when the fall actually comes. Do they
allow like if if Florida's allowing fans but California is not,
do they allow fans in the teams? And then they
(29:15):
just kind of split the revenue nationally. I don't know,
it's gonna be a fascinated thing to just keep an
eye on. We'll just dive in the middleoff mail bag
right now. Okay, let's let's attack at John middlecoff d
MS wide open. I think I have like twenty left.
Come in fire in ask your question, what are your
(29:36):
thoughts on the Gopher coach? P J. Fleck cheesy full
of ship a football Tony Robbins. Obviously, the University of
Michigan is in the national University of Minnesota is in
the national powerhouse. But could a couple more years of
success like last year's turn that around? Yeah, I mean,
I from what I've been told people that have been
through his schools. Say he's not for everyone, but he's legit.
(30:00):
He's not a fraud because I think some people naturally
think when you get a high energy, kind of raw,
raw young guy, they think it's just kind of a stick.
He's good, he's a really good coach. I think highly
of him. Now, would he be meant for every program?
Probably not. He works at programs that aren't nationally successful
(30:22):
because quote unquote, I don't even like calling it a stick.
What he brings the table kind of works. Would that
work at like Texas? No? But would that work at
like U c l A. Maybe? Would that work at
Michigan Maybe? I don't know. I mean I would it
work at in the SEC? Probably not. I actually think
(30:45):
he'd work on the in the West Coast pretty well, Washington,
s c Uh, you know, obviously Minnesota. I think he
would work probably in the Big ten, in the Pack twelve,
very very He's kind of like he's made for the academics.
It looks like the California especially the Barrier, are going
to be the last in the country to lift the lockdown,
(31:07):
and it may go through August. I have a hard
time seeing that. I know, speaking for northern California. We
just don't have the body count. I mean, we're actually
much more like Iowa, like per Capital, where nothing we
we have talked about like we're in New York. I mean,
I I've been predicting this. I don't I don't like
tweeting about this because I don't like to be angry
about it. But the civil unrest is starting out here.
(31:28):
We got forty million people, we have deaths, and again
I have lived in I know a lot of people
can I don't know one person who's got Corona. So
it's just starting to just not add up for people
out here. I think we're coming down the home stretch
now for football. Should the Niners just plan to go
out of state for training camp? I'm also worried that
this will go to the start of the season. I see,
(31:49):
I don't. I think they're playing football in the Bay Area.
Uh come the fall? Now? Are there fans? I would
lean no, But I can't pretend to know. I I
just know the numbers. Given the where we're at in
society in California aren't as dire as the way they're
(32:09):
locking us down, and people are starting to get edgy.
Businesses are starting to be desperate. Uh. At the end
of the day, in California, the private sector runs the state.
The state cannot operate without our tax revenue. And the
tax revenue the municipalities usually get a lot of I
mean a lot of tax revenue from local businesses. Restaurants
are pay a huge tax, but well they're not making
(32:31):
any money right now, so it's a it's a complete disaster.
So I I would expect things get a little more
normal in California, at least in northern California closer and
you already see Elon Musk like, what are we doing?
Any want? And they opened up, So I I know
more and more businesses that are opening up now. When
it comes to football, you know, I say one thing
(32:51):
for Jed he invites Gavin Newsom to think so that
will probably help. Uh Will there be fans? I don't know,
but I I think they will have training camp in
Santa Clara. That's just an educated guess. You put any
stock into the reports of the Seahawks offered the Browns
russ for the two thou eighteen first overall pick sounds
like bullshit to me. I I say this all the time.
(33:13):
What do you think when I worked in the front
office and spent fifteen hours a day, you know, year round,
you know, around coaches and scouts, what do you think
we talk about all day long and hypothetical stuff all
day long. It's when you trade this guy for that guy?
All day long, it's what do we have to do
to acquire that guy? These are the conversations you have.
(33:34):
So was there a conversation of, you know, should we
pay Russell Wilson thirty million dollars and thirty five million
dollars a year? Maybe the Browns called and initiated the
conversation and they just thought about it. You know, you
just you're allowed to think about things because at the
end of the day, they paid Russell Wilson. Now for
me to get trade Russell Wilson to the Browns, Let's say, hypothetically,
(33:57):
I love Sam Donald, IFI was John Schnyder and Peak Hero.
I'd go, okay, I want the number one overall pick
I want Myles Garrett, I want another one, and I
want to two. So you'd have to blow me out
of the water and then it's on you to pay them.
But I I don't think it's crazy to think that
they had the conversation. I actually think it's more more
than fair to think that they had the conversation with
(34:18):
California closing down for three more months. Yeah, that's just
not true. I mean, I'm getting this question a lot.
I was in the valley like closer to Fresno a
couple of days ago, and restaurants were open. Now you
couldn't sit in them. I didn't have to wear a
mask in the restaurant. No one was wearing masks. I
think it just depends. L A is the most over
the top the Bay Area and just northern California, Sacramento, uh, Fremont,
(34:42):
some of the East Bay has been opening up. So
the question is more months, but Arizona opening up. How
would you feel about teams relocating from a lockdown state
to an open state. I just think they're trying to
avoid that at all costs. I also think this and
this question is probably I'm probably gonna get war mail back.
It's May four. I mean we're talking about three months away.
(35:05):
You know, Gavin Newsom said two months ago that of
California is gonna have a coronavirus. He's been a tad off,
so you know the quote unquote experts have been pretty
hit or miss. You know, I have been much closer
to uh to Baker Mayfield in two thousand nineteen than
they were in two eighteen in terms of accuracy. So
I'm just I think a lot of people are saying
(35:27):
a lot of things, and uh, I'm just looking at
the data and the numbers and it's not quite equaling up.
So I I think we just everything would probably be
on the table. They have continuency plans now l A
county that's its own issue, But we're already I'm already
feeling civil unrest up here. You know, I've seen it
down there too, and they locked up the beaches. It
(35:48):
gets difficult, Like I know, just speaking for the state
of California, you can't charge people of premium to live
in a large percentage of people move into this town
to work, so you take their ability to work, and
then you you force them to stay in their hand
at their house, which they're paying way more than they
would in any other state, partly just because it's California,
and then they're not allowed to do anything. And then
(36:10):
you go, well, I can't get sick if I'm the
forty year old guy you're not allowing me to work.
I have to stay inside. Maybe I've lost my job.
Like you start creating a lot of problems, and I
know social media, it's just like it's one side versus
the other side. There's a lot of gray area with
these things. If you stop allowing people to work. Most
people are not rich. Most people live paycheck to paycheck.
(36:31):
Most people need a job to pay the bills, to
feed their children, to feed themselves, to pay the rent.
This is starting to get the basic necessities of life,
and it's becoming a complicated issue. It's becoming so political
and it's not political, like when like if you're pro
the economy, it's like mega, no, I just I'm rooting
(36:52):
for the guy that runs a local pizza shop to
be able to pay his rent. I don't know when
that became political. People wonder why social media and Twitter
to me, Twitter and I listen. I've always loved Twitter.
It's starting to have a Facebook of four or five
years ago feel it's a toxic, fake place. It is
not a real world. Why do my text messages look
(37:15):
so much different than my Twitter timeline? My text messages
are just real, real people texting me their actual thoughts.
My Twitter timeline is just fake. A lot of media
members who are just so extreme. Most humans, whether it's politically,
whether it's whatever, are not that extreme. Most people just
(37:37):
want to go to work. I want to raise our children,
want people to be safe, want to have a little
fun on the weekends, want to go to their job
and not get fired. Like I think we're kind of
overthinking this. Well, most people aren't. Because if you're listening
to me and don't spend all your time on Twitter,
you realize how fake of a world that is. See's
I try not to talk about the Corona because I
(37:59):
get worked up and it starts to piss me off. There,
Like people are rooting for just to stay locked up forever.
I don't understand why you would root for, Like, no
one wants anyone to die. People don't want people to
go unemployed, Like we can it can all be under
kind of one umbrella, Like can we kind of develop
a solution. It went from flattening the curve to like
(38:20):
just lock it down forever, Like it's not really the
way it works here in this uh, in this whole
country we call America. We you know, we kind of
depended on the businesses to pay the taxes to keep
the government going. You know it's like this, These aren't
hot takes, These are just actual realities of life. Can
you shut some light into the Dak Prescott situation? In
(38:41):
my opinion, he's not a top quarterback. I think the
Cowboys would be foolish to hand him and make a
contract for me. He is comparable to a Nick Foles,
who has more playoff wins at twenty million per I
get the concept of leverage, but who exactly are the
Cowboys bigging against? His greatest strength was his cost control
draft position, which able the Cowboys to build their roster otherways. Thoughts,
(39:04):
I like him a little more than you uh think of.
I mean, you can't name fifteen quarterbacks better than Dak Prescott.
Could you start naming guys like Kirk Cousins? And it's
just not the fact Dak somewhere between ten to fifteen.
Now is he a top seven eight quarterback? And no
do I like paying a top non top seven eight
quarterback thirty five million dollars A or no? I do not.
Look what happened to the Rams. I put Jared Goff
(39:25):
right there with Dak Prescott in that little range. They
overpaid him and they get hurt and they can't maintain
their dominance if you overpay Russell Wilson. I mean, you
can't overpay Russell Wilson. He makes thirty five million dollars.
No big deal, you pay up in the prime Aaron
Rodgers million dot No big deal. You pay Dak Prescott
thirty five million dollars. You've got problems, just call the RAMS.
(39:48):
So I don't know exactly what the solution is. I
think it's a very complicated situation. Uh, but yeah, I
couldn't pay him that much money. But I don't know.
Like that, I don't know who they're bidding against, because
I don't see them betting against like that's my if
they if they rescinded the franchise tag, who would I like?
(40:12):
Who would offer him huge money? I don't know. So
I'm a big U c l A fan. And although
we are slowly improving as a team, the big push
to eventually get into the playoffs is not closed. If
you were the U c l A A D, what
changes would you make? Also, will COVID nineteen and the
possible to lay of the season give coaches on the
hot seat a little more time to seal their fate. Listen,
(40:32):
it's gonna sound like I'm biased because this guy indirectly
fired me once upon a time. It's not. I'm non emotional.
My life has never been better ever since I left
the NFL. Uh. And at one point in time, this
guy was a really good coach. He was taking the
world by storm. He was taking the football world by storm.
He was really good. He's lost his fastball and his
(40:52):
couple of years at U c l A have been
a train wreck. The first move I would make would
be fire Chip Kelly. You can't win with Chip Kelly.
The guy has mailed it in. He doesn't try in recruiting.
His scheme is outdated now, he doesn't really like what
does he do. As a point of difference, his coaching
staff is atrocious. I mean, his defensive coordinator is a joke.
It's one of his good buddies is a defensive line coach.
(41:15):
They got calling the coverages. Uh. I would fire Chip Kelly.
I don't think he's made for the l A mark.
It's just a bad fit, and I would try to
hire someone else. Now, at the end of the day,
U c l A is not some powerhouse. They're an
eight nine win team on good years. So I think
you just kind of have to come to grips with Yeah,
we're probably we're not gonna go to college football playoffs
because we're not a college football playoff type program. But
(41:37):
if we can win nine games compete together in the
rose ball, it would be very That would be good.
I have a question based off something you said on
last Thursday's pot. You mentioned that teams might go fourteen
and two man up going twelve and four because the
lack of the off season. Does that mean crappy teams
like the Redskins and the Jazz will be more competitive
or worse? My guesses the Redskins are probably a four
(41:57):
or five win team, but with the quarantine I expect
to in fourteen. That's a good question. I would factor
in new coaches or might struggle. And this, I mean
this is where the Cowboys. It's weird. You're like, yeah,
they got a good roster, they got, but they got
a new coach. You have no offseason, You're implementing new schemes.
You don't even know your head coach. I mean Ron Rivera,
(42:19):
Jack del Really they have entire new coaching staff, everything
has changed. Dwayne Haskins has played not very much in
the NFL. So yeah, I would say from the from
the Redskins standpoint, Ron Rivera is clearly a really good coach,
and I think they have a solid staff. Actually, the
Redskins don't have a bad roster, but there's just gonna
be so many moving parts. They had no offseason. I
(42:42):
would just have no expectations. I would just look for
as the season goes on, we play harder, we're competitive.
I don't think it's really fair for in the Jaguars.
Who knows, you know. I just the Jaguars just always lose.
I heard you mentioned a couple of weeks ago actor
you felt Isaiah Simmons could end up being a bust
dude advanced Joseph's limitations as a coordinator. But as a
(43:05):
Cards fan, I have a hard I had to watch
us get absolutely shredded by tight ends all last season.
I believe we surrendered a league wide leading fifteen touchdowns
to the position. My God does that. There is the
fact that Simmons is six four and runs a four
three forty make you feel good about his ability to
defend against tight ends. If he only improves our defense
in that capacity. You feel like that will end up
(43:26):
a bust As a Niners homer, you have to admit
the fact that is the same heights as George Kittle
is a little scary. Yeah, I mean I would imagine
he will just follow George Kittle around and follow Holli story,
Greg Olsen around and follow Higbee and whoever the tight
ends are for the rams around. So yeah, his, as
someone in the league told me, his best immediate plug
(43:49):
and play attribute would just be to cover a tight end. Man, demand,
now do you put him right over the tight end
line of scrimmage, because if George Kittle's run blocking, He's
gonna toss him around ound right, Uh, and convanced Joseph
scheme him to be able to kind of follow him around.
I don't know, but you're right, like that should be
(44:09):
an immediate skill that he can transition to do. Just
run with George Kittle down, you know, the seam on
out routes and then just kind of mirror him. So yeah,
if he can do that, that is a huge, huge bonus.
But this is where I get back to there's a
lot going on. Are they moving them all over the place.
What are they ask him to do? It's just simple.
(44:29):
He's just gonna line up over the tight end and
cover the tight end. Because he easy to say that
out loud, but we all know that's not exactly how
things happen, especially with a guy like that. Think about
the honey Badger, you know, who would kind of be
his cop in the sense of this hybrid. They move
the honey Badger all over the place when he was younger.
Now he kind of just place in space, but back
(44:49):
in the day he was everywhere. He still kind of is.
But remember young honey Badger on the Cardinals. Is that
what they're gonna ask Isaiah him as it do? That's
asking him to do a lot. Do you think Dak
gets beat out for the starting job? No, I don't.
Dak Prescott's better than Andy Dalton, And you know, in fairness,
I always kind of liked Andy Dalton. I wanted to
(45:12):
ask your honest opinion on the outlook of the Bengals
in the upcoming season. I see all the analysts out
there belittling them. Do their pass and I get it
it's not a successful one. But this offseason they've really
stepped things up. Being the third highest spending team in
free agency, changed the guard was Zach Taylor instead of
being stubborn and keeping Marvin Lewis. They're trying to change
the narrative, and I was wondering if that all gives
them more optimistic outlook for the season and then two
(45:34):
or three wins, like analysts are saying, or is just
be much of the same thing and it doesn't mean much.
Well again that you have a brand new quarterback who
was a rookie with no offseason, so it's gonna be
asking him to do a lot in a short period
of time. You have a j Green returning off injury,
who's when he's health. He has been a really good player.
Joe Mixon is a good player. Uh, their offensive line
(45:56):
was pretty bad last year. I know, like you said,
they did sign find some people in free agency. He
would be my main questions. I don't know if Zach
Taylor can coach or not, Like, is Zach Taylor any good?
There's a chance he is, and there's just chance he's.
What if they do win two or three wins, you
change the coach again for for Joe Burrow or do
you just write it out. I don't necessarily have an
(46:18):
answer there, But these are questions, you know, I just
throw it out. They're clearly the fourth best, least talented
team in their division, right, The Ravens, the Steelers, the
Browns just have dramatically more impact players. Now, anytime you
take a guy number one overall quarterback, if there are
glimpses that he can be really good in two or
(46:40):
three years, or franchise could be changed. You know that
you've drafted Carson Palmer, you can trade your franchise. Now.
It might not happen immediately. Remember Peyton Manning wasn't good
as a rookie. You know, Andrew luck was kind of
an outlier, came in immediately they won, So you could
win three or four games and actually have a lot
of hope. I remember in two thousand fourteen, Khalil Mack
(47:00):
and Derek Car's rookie year, the Raiders were oh and ten,
finished the season three and thirteen, and it felt like
they accomplished a lot. So you actually can accomplish a
lot by losing, as long as your young players developed,
and your coach has to show something, which willie I
don't know if he will, it won't, but I honestly
don't know enough about him to have like some hard
(47:23):
core take on Zach Taylor. But I like Joe Burrow
a lot. I mean, who doesn't. Uh, it's basically the franchise,
just on the guy's shoulders. If he becomes a perennial
pro bowler, you know, I think it's kind of Tony Romo.
If he becomes Tony Romo, you're being pretty good shape.
If he's If you whiffed, you're screwed. Appreciate everyone listening.
(47:44):
Go to the Apple Apple iTunes, leave a review. Uh,
slide up in these d M so I'm gonna need
some of your questions. Appreciate everyone listening. Have a good weekend.
If you're in a state that's opened, I'm jealous. If
you're quarantined, let's enjoy staring at the all and uh again,
tell your friends about the podcast peacem
Host
John Middlekauff
Popular Podcasts
United States of Kennedy
United States of Kennedy is a podcast about our cultural fascination with the Kennedy dynasty. Every week, hosts Lyra Smith and George Civeris go into one aspect of the Kennedy story.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com