December 18, 2025 • 46 mins
Former NFL scout John Middlekauff reacts to the news of the day that saw the Dolphins bench Tua and move to former Texas QB, Quinn Ewers. John then dives into what this benching means for Tua futures and how the Dolphins should handle his contract.
Later, John answers your questions in this episode's massive mailbag segment.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
The volume What is going on everybody? John Middlecop three
and out podcast. Hopefully everyone is doing well out there
(00:22):
in the real world. We are brought to you by
our friends at Zone Pouches. And I've been moving offices
because the baby's on the way. It was a room
my office was in. Now we're gonna turn it back
just into a room. So I'm in my new office now.
It is a shed in the in the backyard. Actually
it's pretty sweet. And I think I broke a camera today,
(00:45):
so we got a lot of moving parts here. We
have a big announcement actually, I think on Friday after
because we're gonna talk to it today. Who was benched.
We will talk mailback. I do a big mail bag
today as well. Tomorrow will stucky on and we will
also have a Sunday Night reaction or Sunday night Thursday
night to the Rams Seattle game, which is massive. I mean,
(01:07):
the winner's gonna have twelve wins and fired up to
talk and react to that. Game's a big time football game.
Better buckle your chin strap a lot on the line.
McVeigh just had a baby. I saw Sam Darnold trying
to win a big game. Didn't go well, last time
he played the rams, but that'll be the game plan today.
And other than that, you guys know the drill. Subscribe
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(01:30):
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John for twenty dollars off. Down the game time app today,
last minute tickets, lowest prices guaranteed. I would say, big picture,
(02:33):
whenever a guy who makes a ton of money is benched,
usually there are big picture ramifications. You don't want to
get a guy injured, much more difficult to then wave
him injured. Obviously, his trade value goes down dramatically. Usually
there's a kicker at the beginning of the new league year,
like there was for Tua this year, which guaranteed him
(02:55):
I think fifty four million dollars next season, so well financially.
But I think there are two schools of thought. Whether
Mike is coaching for his job and this is somewhat
of a desperate move slash two and wasn't playing very good,
but this is like, hey, maybe we catch lightning in
a bottle with Quinn yours impress the owner. Or there's
(03:16):
the other school of thought that he knows he's staying.
The owner gives him the power to make you know.
I don't. This isn't a polarizing move, but just I
mean a headliner, a decision to essentially when you bench
to Ataga bai Loa. His career for the Miami Dolphins
is over. He will never ever play another snap for
the Miami Dolphins. Will they cut him this offseason? I
(03:39):
think he has no trade value. My gut would say
that they pull a Russell Wilson tight move, but just
you never say never in the NFL when it comes
to maybe they could eat a bunch of money. Trading
to someone desperate still feels a little far fetched, but
I don't think he'll ever play again for the Miami Dolphins.
And one big picture that I have when it comes
to quarterbacks like Tua, there are the no brainer guys
(04:02):
that you go, Joe Burrow, Josh Allen, Patrick Mahomes. I
mean even Lamar Jackson had to play it out a
little longer than he probably thought he deserved or should have.
He deserved money before that, that part of that situation
kint a little out of hand. Herbert, I think, signed
a deal early in his career three years maybe four
(04:23):
years two, was not one of those people. And I
view paying quarterbacks because there really isn't a secondary market.
Kirk Cousin's coming off. In Achilles, who was thirty six
years old, signed a four year, hundred and eighty eight
million dollar deal. I think like one hundred million dollars
he made in two years, so that there is not
much middle ground. That there aren't many guys like I
(04:45):
signed him for a two year, forty million dollar deal.
That was justin Fields, who's also already benched. So when
you have a starting quarterback and listen to a let
him to the playoffs. If you're gonna pay him, it's very,
very expensive. We can argue about it till we're blue
in the face, but the contracts are the contracts. I
don't understand. I view quarterback contracts a lot like marriage.
(05:08):
When you know, you know and you feel good about it,
it's a massive decision. If you get it wrong, there
are massive financial ramifications that are not good emotionally. It
takes a huge toll on you if you're forced to
get a divorce after making you know, the wrong decision
with who you marry. But no one's telling you that
you have to get on a knee. You don't need
(05:29):
to rush it. And I think we have seen examples
now of Tua of Kyler Murray. You know, Trevor Lawrence
was looking like that until Liam Cohen showed up and
looks like he's resurrecting his career. But these teams that
rush to pay these quarterbacks, and I mean we're seeing
it with Kyler and Tula. They clearly regret their decisions.
(05:49):
But I would say to both organizations, you did not
have to sign those contracts. You could have kept playing
it out. Well, John, it would only get more expensive,
That's what they would probably tell you. Well, so be it.
At least I will know when I put pen to
paper of a contract, it's gonna make everyone in this
building uncomfortable. Right, if you have any reservations, do not
(06:09):
buy the ring and get down on your knee. And
that's what I think these organizations did, and it was
clear they regretted these decisions really really quick. Now when
it comes to Tua, I think the elephant in the
room is when he got hit on. I think it
was that Thursday night game against Buffalo and got you know,
the concussion where his arms, I forget the term. It
(06:33):
just made your stomach drop when you were watching it.
I mean, it was a tough visual and I can't
even imagine what it was like for him and his family.
He's never been the same. So after that hit, he
came back and a lot of people are like, why
don't you just retire? Because he had one hundred and
twenty million dollars if he kept playing, And young people
typically don't just retire in their mid twenties because fifty
(06:54):
year old people with more wisdom tell them to. That's
not really the way it works. So I never had
an issue with him like wanting to keep playing. The
doctors are clearing him. He can play, but he's not
the same now. I always I was never the biggest
to a guy, but there was no disputing that early
on in his career. Once Mike got there with Waddle,
(07:15):
you know, with Tyreek Hill at least until it got
freezing cold out, he could be a very very productive player.
And the guy we've seen this year is feels like
a fringe backup. I mean the performance his numbers, you know,
numbers lie because you could look at the stat sheet
and the box score on that game when it comes
to the game against the Steelers on Monday Night Football
(07:39):
and it doesn't look bad. I think it was like
twenty two to twenty eight. But we all know what
we watched the fourth quarter, like the Steelers were checked out,
they were ready to get home, getting out of the cold.
They're of twenty eight to three, and his quarterback play
was atrocious. And they had gone on this winning streak.
And every time I would look at the box card
pick they just won by fifteen points and two or
three of one hundred and twenty yards. The previous week
(08:00):
they beat the Jets by twenty four. I think he
threw for one hundred and thirty yards. It's like they
were just running the ball and playing defense. They were
avoiding having to or to do anything, and it was working.
And in that game against Pittsford, he didn't have a
choice because they got down fourteen to three in the
third quarter. It's freezing cold. We know his limitations. One,
he's not a great athlete, doesn't have a huge arm,
but like once his marvels, you know, got shook after
(08:23):
all the concussions. Like, I don't see how anyone could
debate the player we watch now is a shell of
the version that we watched a couple of years ago,
and no one was comparing that guy to you know,
the top guys, but he was a guy that you
compete with. He's twenty seven years old. It's not like
he's thirty five. It's not like he's Kirk Cousins. It's
(08:45):
not like he was in Matt Stafford's draft class. He's
twenty seven years old. But you take enough of those
big hits, especially the violence and the concussions he had
I think he had. That question has to be asked.
And last, but not least, it's just an all time
NFL moment that the Miami Dolphins drafted him fifth overall.
(09:07):
And listen, they weren't alone. A lot of people liked him.
He was playing at Alabama. Now, granted he was coming
off a major hip injury that I think he suffered
against Mississippi State, and then mac Jones went in. Obviously,
the next year Mac Jones, they won the national championship
and mac Jones becomes, you know, fifteenth overall pick. But
they passed on Justin Herbert, and that changed the Chargers
franchise forever, because Jim Harbaugh is not their coach if
(09:31):
they don't have Justin Herbert. He's even said it, and
it was pretty clear when he took the job he
was signing up for Justin Herbert. Now, their organization feels
a lot more buttoned up now than it had over
the Phillip Rivers in Drew brees Eras and Harbaugh's obviously
a big reason for that. Same with Joe Ortiz from
the Baltimore Ravens. But if they just have random quarterback
(09:52):
X Jim Harbaugh's not their head coach and this franchise
goes eleven and six last year. They're currently ten and five.
They have the fifth seed with three games remaining. Now
their schedule is actually kind of difficult, but they're not
technically like in the playoffs right now, but they're going
to go to the playoffs, and obviously Harbought and Herbert
(10:13):
are a major reason for that. So it's just an
all time sliding doors moment for the NFL. And even
Tom Telesco has told people that like they had Tua
rated higher and Justin Herbert, which I think sometimes is
easy to go after the fact, even though it's like
this guy's almost six foot six, he's two hundred and
thirty five pounds, he can run like a deer, he's
(10:34):
got a massive arm, he's high character, he's been a
four year starter at Oregon, like, what are we missing here?
And clearly people overthought it. Definitely the Miami Dolphins did,
and now they're in a situation where if they cut
him this offseason, the cap hit will be almost one
hundred million dollars and he too, was getting fifty four
million dollars next year no matter what. So obviously to
(10:56):
a financially it's unless you talk to Odell Beckham for life,
but just a devastating, devastating financial situation. Hopefully they catch
if you're a Dolphins fan or you know Mike McDaniel,
you catch lightning in a bottle with quinn Ewers who
you know could be a little hit or missing college.
But it'd be fascinating to watch the way this plays out.
(11:24):
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With it gambling problem call one hundred Gambler Arizona, Colorado, Illinois,
New Jersey, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia. Okay, let's dive into some
mailbag at John Middlecoff at John Midlecoff is the Instagram
fire and those dms get your questions answered here on
(13:11):
the show. Love the content. If JJ had be McCarthy
continues playing as well as he's been against the Commanders
and the Cowboys, do you see the Vikings rolling him
out as the starter next season? My answer would be,
and I said this the other night after what was
a Sunday night football that the Key and I remember
(13:31):
thinking this a couple of weeks ago. He needed to
just show progress. It wasn't about wins and losses. It
was about we can't bring a guy back and look
our star players in the eye that we're paying a
lot of money to if we're getting smoked and the
reason is him and we're going three and out every
single drive, and his numbers are comparable to JaMarcus Russell.
(13:54):
But obviously the last two weeks not great defenses, especially
the Commanders and the Cowboys didn't look great either. Then
you get the Giants, another not so great opponent. I
do think if you finished the last two weeks against
the Lions and the Packers and build off the play
of these easier opponents, where you play well, because I
would expect JJ to look like he has the last
couple weeks this week, but against the Lions and the Packers.
(14:15):
If he has one good game in one of those
two outings, I think you feel much better about this
offseason and he'll be the starting quarterback in two thousand
and twenty six. Spencer here, I live in San Diego.
I think the break from the Chiefs dominating the playoffs
will be good for the league. I had people that
(14:36):
hated the Chargers to their core rooting for the Chiefs
to lose. This will create some rivals. I definitely think
it's a good story for the league as a whole,
right because next year the Chiefs kind of can come
back as it's like big bad Wolf, especially Mahomes coming
off the ACL Maybe they I would say, there's gonna
(14:59):
be a lot of transition with their franchise. They're gonna
feel a lot different next year, especially if Travis Kelsey
and Chris Jones are not on the team. But I
hear you. I mean that there were a lot of
people rooting against the Chiefs and tired of the Chiefs.
My wife said it all the time once we were
watching the other day, and I was like, they just
got eliminated from the playoffs. She's like, thank god, I'm
tired of watching them. Meanwhile, my mother is I mean,
(15:21):
I would say likes the Chiefs as much as like
Clark Hunt. I mean, she hasn't missed a snap in years. Like, mom,
I thought you were a forty nine er fan. She's
like Andy Reid had you do his house with Thanksgiving.
I've been his biggest fan ever since. So she is
a diehard Chiefs fan. Calls me after every win and
definitely after every loss. And she was devastated here at
my house on Thanksgiving when the Cowboys beat him. She
(15:44):
just couldn't understand. She couldn't comprehend what was happening to
her team. So they're just not quite as good. They
got some injuries, guys are aging. But I hear you.
Why isn't Mike McDonald getting more national talk as the
coach of the year. Seattle was a seven and a
half wins preseason and picked by many to be last
(16:05):
in the NFC West. He's completely turned around the defense
in less than two full seasons. Keep up the great work.
It's a great question. I actually sprinkled on five to
one to win the division. They didn't win ten games
last year. I don't get as caught up in the
coach of the Year stuff. I think we got a
bunch of questions on coach of the year. Like a
huge part of coach of the year. I think Ben
(16:26):
Johnson's boarderline of lock him Vrabel if he has some
more wins, I mean, they could split it. It's like
your team was shitty and now it's good. I mean
that's just a huge part of it. And listen, Ben
Johnson deserves it if he wins it. If Mike Vrabel
were to win it deserves it as well. I would
give it to Bray. I would give it to Ben
Johnson over Brabel. But I thought the win loss over
(16:49):
Under was a little off. Again, they won ten games
last year, and they had a good draft. People thought
like Sam Darnold to Gino Smith was a downgrade. I
didn't quite an understand that. Yeah, Mike McDonald's a good coach.
Recording this twenty four hours for this Thursday night game.
It's a big night for him. It's a big night
that they win. They are in position to get the
(17:12):
number one seed if they win their last two games,
But that's pretty nuts heading into the postseason. I'm curious
where you land on this topic. Does elite quarterback play
still guarantee playoffs success or are we seeing a real
shift back toward defenses carrying teams in January? When you
look at a team like the Broncos built around a
(17:32):
dominant defense versus a team like the Bills with Josh
Allen playing like Superman, which formula actually holds up when
the games are tighter? Thanks, Josh Allen is going to
be a test case this year. Can he take this
team that is not as good as some of the
opponents that he's going to play and win the AFC?
(17:56):
Because we saw him play the Texans a month ago
they got war and he got sacked like twenty times
in that game. Right the Broncos, you remove the quarterback.
Every single human alive would take the Broncos over the
Bills in terms of the roster. But when you have
a guy that good, I would take my shot. You know,
in a one game playoff, I'm not gonna bet against
(18:17):
Josh Allen in the spot. Doesn't mean it's gonna win it,
But I think that when he's playing at that level
and the rules in twenty twenty five are on his side.
I would take Josh Allen now that next tier guy
like Justin Herbert. I don't think Justin Herbert is a
level of Josh Allen. And also his team is so
(18:41):
flawed because the injuries, Like it wouldn't stun me if
they're a one and done team, right, if they're the
five seed and they play the Steelers like they could lose, right,
especially the Steelers pass rush is playing well, They're just
they're playing with backups for offensive linemen. Where if you
told me Josh Allen was like playing the Steelers, I
see no way they lose. And part of it's Herbert's
(19:02):
got a broken hand. But and Herbert's probably even the
bad example. It's like Jordan Love. I mean, some of
the NFC guys, right Stafford, Sam Darnold, Jordan Love, Purty,
Jalen Hurts. I'm missing someone, Baker Mayfield. I think the
Broncos is a really good team, but the player that
we saw part of what makes them. I mean, they
(19:24):
can win at all if Bo's gonna play like he
just played the other day. He threw four touchdowns, he
was fantastic. I mean scrambling around Michael Parsons. Part of
the reason he towards ACL he's cutting trying to chase him,
So it was not part of the reason. That's the reason.
It was a cut trying to chase this guy who's
run around making plays. So you have to have good
(19:46):
quarterback play to win, you just do you know? I mean,
look at there's a reason Mahomes been there five to
the last six years and the other time Joe Burrow
was there and multiple AFC championships, Josh Allen's been there.
You just in last year what the Commanders didn't do
it because of their roster as their quarterback play was
playing out of his mind. Quarterback play is really really big.
(20:07):
Now it's a team game. You gotta run the ball,
gotta play defense, got to create a timely turnover, can't
fuck up on special teams. I mean, there's a lot
of variables that go into it. Question for the mailbag,
if we reached a point where Burrow said he would
retire if he's not traded, do you think the Rams
would be a legitimate landing spot or do you think
(20:28):
it's more likely we're headed toward a luck situation. I
saw some quotes today. I read an article yesterday on
The Athletic about the Bengals. I do wonder if we're
overblowing this a little bit. Even Jamar Chase last week
said like he thought people kind of took that story
a little too serious and ran with it, given the
(20:50):
guy that he's around. But then we watched him play
against the Ravens and went something looks off. I do
think he is going. If I'm a betting man right now,
Joe Burrow is the starting quarterback for the Cincinnati Bengals
next year, and if he wasn't going to be the
starting quarterback for the Cincinnati Bengals get assuming he's healthy,
(21:12):
I see zero situation that Mike Brown would trade him.
I think they would have the standoff that he did
with Carson Palmer years ago. So I would expect Joe
Burrow to be My expectations on a pie chart, Mike
percentage would be like ninety eight percent. He's going to
be the starting quarterback for the Cincinni Bengals next year.
(21:34):
I mean, in this article on the Athletic, it was
talking about guy must have been the beat reporter, and
it was really really good talking about Zach Taylor and
their GM. How both those guys probably aren't going anywhere.
But like Joe Burrow is a big reason they've expanded
their scouting staff. He plays a big role in personnel,
like he's pretty, like he's got a lot of juice there. Now.
(21:54):
Is he going to finish his career on the Bengals?
You probably bet against that, But I'd be floored if
he's not in the Bengals next year. If he was
quote unquote available, I think the Rams would probably end
up getting him. Yes, Browns fan, wondering what your approach
should be in this wondering what our approach should be
(22:16):
in this draft. The Bills and the Niners are two
teams that have had sustained success, but with two very
different roster configurations. The forty nine Ers have a much
more complete roster and the quarterback Perdy Garoppolo are just
asked to make the right reads, get the ball to
their star players and in their hands, and not do
too much heavy list lifting. They have built around the quarterback.
(22:41):
Over the Bills, they seem to be incredibly reliant on Alan.
He is the whole team. As a Browns fan, is
it better to keep taking swings? On quarterback until you
find your Josh Allen or to build the roster, there
just aren't ever gonna be many Josh Allen's. I've been
watching football for prety plus years. I've seen I mean,
(23:05):
I didn't even see the peak of John Elway. That's
a lot of comps. I think there's a physical dominant
nature to Cam Newton, which he Cam Newton's a one outlier.
Obviously Josh throws it better than Cam, more consistent thrower,
you know, Ben Roethlisberger. I mean, you're talking about a
short list of human beings. So if you can find
(23:25):
a guy six foot five that can run with a
huge arm, as accurate and high character, then yeah, I
think the number one goal always is to pick the
best players. And I think when you force quarterbacks, right,
if you can get Fernando Mendoz, if you're a Browns fan,
you do it. But if there's not any other guys
and you can't get him, like, just take another Mason Graham,
(23:49):
take another you know, Joe Thomas. Build the team and
then when you are situated ideally, like in a perfect world,
the forty nine ers wanted Josh all That's why they
drafted Trey Lane. It just blew up in their face,
and then the football gods threw them a bone with
brock Purty. But like the forty nine Ers were doing
exactly what the Bills did and what the Browns tried
(24:11):
to do with Deshaun Watson. They took a huge swing.
They tried to get a star. It's hard, you're dealing
with human beings. The positions really hard. Obviously the forty
nine Ers process on that whole thing was flawed. But
that's a conversation for a different day. A question for
the bag. I'm pretty much assuming Solig it's a head
coaching job after this offseason. I have some names to
(24:33):
replace him, Raheem Morris. Shanahan has mentioned many times about
how much respect he has for him and how he's
tried hiring in the past. Schwartz. Stefanski is most likely
going to get fired, so Schwartz could become available. He's
had success against Kyle And here's the wild card, Spags.
What if the Chiefs shake things up? Spin reported Niners
(24:55):
tried hiring Spags after they file fired Wilkes. I think
Raheem Morris is the most natural transition. He knows him well,
he's comfortable running a defense that Kyle is comfortable playing
and running. That would be the number one choice. I mean,
Kyle's proven now going back to Sala, he wants someone
(25:18):
he's comfortable with running his defense. The Spags thing a
couple of years ago was more at a desperation they
were losing guys. I think that was after Demiko. They
didn't really have any options, and I think at the
end of the day, Spags used them a little bit
to get more money, which he should. The Jim Schwartz thing,
Jim has a ton of success historically against Kyle as
(25:40):
an offensive coordinator and as the head coach. I think
he's beat him, like I think Kyle's like two and
eight or two and nine, maybe it was two and ten,
I mean, whatever the record is. And there was video
of him at the game when they played the Browns
a couple weeks ago, them talking. I mean clearly he
respects him a lot. That would definitely be a name
to keep an eye on. Now. Jim Swartz got a
(26:01):
big ego, you know, so I think part of it is,
you know, when he's got Salah and he's got Raheem
that they have a very very close personal relationship, you know,
hiring Schwartz, It's not like you can tell Schwartz what
to do, and you don't know him that well personally,
I would assume. Besides, just like competing against them, I'd
(26:22):
say Raheem Morris is way more likely than Jim Schwartz.
Coming into the season, most people thought the Raiders would
be much better and an improved football team with the
additions of Pete, Spytech and Gino and Jenti. However, they
look worse. My question is, do you think if they
just kept Pierce for another season they would be better? Also,
(26:46):
was ap the issue? Uh, Pete's been a disaster like that,
There's no arguing Pete's. Pete feels like a guy that
should just quit. Now. I understand you don't quit because
you want to get paid whatever they owe you, But
like this Pete thing's over. It's pretty clear Pete Carroll
(27:08):
could not come back. And I think what they tried
to do is spy Tech, who came on this podcast too.
I'm a big believer in and he reminds me a
lot of Adam Peters. He's gonna be fine. But like
John Spi, Tech wasn't the guy hiring Pete Carroll, but
that's Tom, and then Tom's forcing Chip Kelly on him.
I think there has to be some balance of when
(27:29):
you hired Pete Carroll, you know what the move was
last offseason? They should have traded Max Crosby. They should
have detonated and blown it up. But Pete Carroll's ninety
five years old. What did he want to do? Trade
for Gino? Keep Max? It's like it was just it
was a it was a situation where you should have
thought big picture. Pete's not guaranteed to be alive in
(27:51):
five years. I mean, Pete's living in the moment, and
rightfully so so I I think they just made a
disaster higher, and when you make a disaster, you're higher
in the NFL. It impacts the way you build a team,
and then obviously the product you see on the field
speaks for itself. There seems to be a broad acceptance
(28:13):
that Kittle will eventually be a Hall of Famer. Why
is there not similar discussion around ertz ertzs more career touchdowns,
more career receiving yards, and played a huge role in
the Super Bowl that he actually won. I think this
discussion is a little nuanced one. I say it pretty
(28:33):
liberally that he's going to be a Hall of Famer.
I don't think it's guaranteed. Now, I would say one
difference is ER's a three time Pro bowler. Kittle, after
this season will be a seven time Pro bowler. I
think one major difference is Kittle's been a first or
second team All Pro so far five times, and this
(28:55):
year could be six. And zach Ertz is on a receiver.
You know, he's a lot like he's kind of like
the poor man's version. And I mean this as a
compliment of Kelsey slot receiver. No one can cover, but
he can't block. Now, if you are as great as
Kelsey is, then no one even cares. But like, his
(29:18):
numbers compared to Kelsey's are not even the same ballpark. Meanwhile, George,
I think the run game element to his game. Now. Now,
Ertz had one twenty eighteen eight, one hundred and sixteen catches.
It was a career year. But you know, seventy four,
seventy eight he's had some fifty six. I don't view ers,
(29:43):
I don't really know how to say it. Beside it,
I don't view Ertz as a Hall of famer. I
view Kittle as one. If you told me I could
get either guy at twenty four years old for the
next ten years, I would take George Kittle over zach Ertz.
And that's not diminishing anything. Zach has accomplished touchdown in
Super Bowl, huge catches over the course of his career,
(30:05):
super high level guy. Zach Ertz is a winning player.
I just think Kittle is a much more complete player.
A big fan of the podcast Colin, I have to
stay up to see postgame reactions. As someone who went
to cal Pauly. What's the social scene like for postgrads
in San Luis Obispo. I'm twenty two in tech sales,
(30:26):
thinking of moving to SoCal and that's the top of
the list, or with something like Santa Barbara be better.
My question is if the Bucks move off of Todd Bowles,
who's at the top of the hiring list, do they
only go Kubiak and Lafleur, maybe Kingsbury or Marcus Freeman.
I don't think they hire another defensive coordinator. I've only
(30:48):
spent like twenty four or forty eight hours at a
time in Santa Barbara. Little too uppity for me. A
beautiful area. But I would say San Louis is much
more of your true college town, cool downtown, a lot
of food. It's got the beach not far away now,
depending you're in tech sales, if you know, It's not
(31:09):
a cheap place to live. Neither Santa Barbara, but it's
I would choose San Luis Obispo in your situation as
a younger person over Santa Barbara. But again that's just me.
I really haven't. I've only been to San Louis one
time in the last like decade, so you're probably asking
someone that might be a little out of touch with
the current setup of the area. When I was there,
(31:31):
it was awesome. But I would say I don't know
who you'd hire, honestly. You know, his last two hires
have been Bruce and then they just transitioned to Todd
because he was on the staff. I think if you
could have a due over, clearly you would have taken
Liam Cohen. My guess is they would try to do
something offensively and you know, have a coordinator who's gonna
be with Baker would be their kind of go to
(31:53):
move if they could. I agree with your assessment on
quarterback play, Why is nobody shouting this from the roof
or are gms just not listening? Look at the AFC
(32:15):
Allan Lamar, Herbert Burrow, Mahomes, Rogers, Nicks. These guys all
played a lot of college football. It's easy to say
that Richardson has a ton of physical gifts, but if
you had to win one game, are you taking him
or Tyler Shuck? Repetitions and time spent in a system
learning matter. There is no you can't circumvent experience. You
(32:40):
can't circumvent improving, and to improve as something that is
really competitive. I don't care what industry you're in. You
got to do it over and over. Reps matter. What
was Gladwell's think ten thousand hours Tiger Woods talking about?
Like when I'm in a rut, I just go and
dig it out from the mud. I just practice practice, practice,
do do like. I like doers. You know, people to
(33:03):
talk in theories and on the board. It's like, let's
get our hands earty here. Whatever we're doing, that's how
we will make progress. So I understand they took a
huge swing on anthy Richardson. It blew up in their face.
Tyler Shuck is a much better player. Than Anthony Richardson today.
The Saints wouldn't trade Tyler Shuck for Anthony Richardson in
a million years, and the Colts would drive him to
(33:25):
New Orleans. So yeah, I mean, I now, I mean,
Chuck's a unique story. He's twenty five years old, He's
played in a million places. But I hear what you're saying.
There aren't that many Anthony Richdons though, right, I mean
his situation only playing thirteen college games, the elite physical gifts,
(33:46):
I do get it. Like you're just like, hey, let's
take a swing on this now. I think people would
be less and less likely to ever do that again.
And like most of these guys coming out now because
of Nil, they stay have a lot of college experience.
You know, Tyler Mendoza started two years of col and
now one year in Indiana. He's played a lot of games,
(34:07):
played a lot of football that matters. Love the show
keeps me going during baseball offseason. We got ourselves, Nolan Ryan.
If the Dolphins end up cutting Tua, should the Chiefs
sign him to a one year deal, he would want
this to show he can play in cold weather. And
who better to learn from than Andy the Chiefs can
(34:30):
probably get Tua for cheap or given that he just
lost ninety nine million dollars from the bio, or he
just got ninety nine million. He doesn't get ninety nine million.
The ninety nine million is the dead cap that the
Dolphins incur. He gets I think fifty plus million, but
the guaranteed money in which they've paid him that factors
(34:52):
into the cap hit, so he doesn't actually get ninety
nine but he gets fifty five and whatever he made
this year. I would have a hard time seeing the
Chiefs doe that. I I don't envision that, Like, they're
not going to sign a guy that can't play in
the cold now if he was completely free. Would they
rather have Tua for one million or Gardner Minshew for
(35:12):
ten It's a good question. I think they will see
with Gardner over the next couple of weeks. But I
have a hard time seeing that mess with Tua. I
really do. Why on Earth A Shanahan not the favorite
for Coach of the Year. He's fifth and k Odds
plus seven to fifty. In twenty two he went thirteen
and four with three different quarterbacks and they gave it
to day Ball. And I think The reason was because
(35:34):
he did the most with the least amount of talent.
Now this year, Shanna has gotten the Niners of ten
and four with an insane amount of injuries, including the
starting quarterback, two best defensive players, the first round defensive picks,
Hall of Fame tight end, and his best wide receiver
has even played. Whoever gave Brandon Ayuk advice did a
terrible job. It's like, Bro, you don't give away twenty
five million dollars. This is too hard to make money
(35:56):
in this world large amounts of money too. It's like,
what are you doing? In twenty nineteen, took Garoppolo to
thirteen to three and a Super Bowl, and they gave
it to John Arbough who had a unanimous MVP, and
Lamar Jackson. I think it all gets back to people
thought the forty nine ers are gonna be good. They
were the betting favorites to win the division with the
Rams in Seattle. I mean, they were heavy betting favorites
(36:18):
over Seattle, so people assumed they were gonna be good.
And now he is good, so people thought that even
though the route he took to get good is way different,
Like you said, I mean, you lose Fred Warner and
Nick Bosa basically for the season. Kittle missed the first
month of the year. Perty missed how many games Mac
Jones had to win, like four or five? So yeah,
(36:39):
I just don't get that cut up on Coach of
the Year. Kyle's not gonna win it this year, should he?
If he gave it to him, you wouldn't hear me
bitching and moaning. But I just don't really care. I
do think the year day Ball won it, that was impressive.
Now you're right, they went nine to eight. Looking back
the hardball one, it's like, I don't know about that one.
(37:00):
Why do quarterbacks get interceptions when the balls hit off
a hands or chest of a wide receiver? Can we
start giving wide receivers i iNTS instead of quarterbacks? I
feel this adds more nuanced for quarterback evaluation overall, better
and more accurate statistics across the board. At a minimum,
have a stat for either half i in ts or
a separate category for wide receivers. It's been like that forever,
(37:24):
So I it is stupid because you see a lot
of interceptions throughout the course of the year that are
not the quarterback's fault. But it doesn't feel like there's
ever been any urgency to change that. Like, you never
hear anyone in the NFL go what are we doing?
No one ever says that, so I hear you. I
think they should. But I think part of the problem
(37:46):
would be it's like, how do you compare than some
guys that throw a bunch of interceptions in twenty ten?
To like, if I threw twelve interceptions in twenty ten,
my number would have been seven. What about the ones
that the DB's drop that I hit them in the hands.
It's not gonna get changed. This is a loaded question,
(38:07):
and I'm sorry. I started my own residential commercial cleaning company,
but I don't think this is a passion or dream
of mine. I'm super interested in making a podcast about
football specifically and going back into the sports media school.
I was at school for two years at High Point
University and really struggled. I was just being a dumb
college student and messing around all the time. Also, I
(38:28):
had some bad advice and people close to me said
I would do good. I wouldn't do good in sports,
but sports is my everything other than my son and
my wife, of course. But now that I'm twenty three
years old, and have a five month old baby. I
don't want to waste an opportunity to chase my dreams
before I have more kids and I don't have time
or get too old. I'm definitely gonna start my podcast,
(38:48):
But is it worth it to go to sports media school?
Even though radio and some other things are a dying industry.
My first recommendation would be, it seems like, you know
you got a growing family at any young age, congratch
to you do not do the sports media school. I
don't even know what technically that is, but go to
school for sports media. I would recommend not doing that.
(39:11):
You know, it feels like like part of your life
now you have someone that you have to depend on.
The good thing is like you can get the equipment
and just do it on the side and see if
it grows, see if you can get good at it.
But you're twenty three. Do you know how much life
ahead of you that you have. I'm almost twenty years
older than you, and I feel fucking young. You have
a lot of life, so I don't know what your
(39:34):
current You said, you have the company that you started,
you could screw around on the side pretty easily and
figure out if it's actually something you like and when
no one's watching or no one's paying attention, like is
it worth it to you? Cause at first I don't
care if you're me or who you are. When I
first started doing podcasts and not have a lot of
listeners took some time. I had more than most because
(39:57):
I had have built in radio base, but I would
not have been able the podcast if I hadn't done
screwed around and done radio and realized that I like
doing it. And when I did that, it was like
a part time just on the side. So my point
is sometimes we think we like to do something and
it's our everything and it means everything, and then we
start doing it and it's like, ah, it's not quite
(40:17):
as fun as we thought, or vice versa. We tell
ourselves this is all I want to do, so right now,
it's just a thought in your head and it's a
passion that you want to pursue. But you're able to
pursue that passion while you're still paying the bills and
taking care of your young family and then figure out
like is this really worth it or not? After that
that would be my recommendation. Then going to sports media school,
(40:41):
which again I'm not trying to throw shade at whatever
the school is, but I'm not even sure what that
is a question for the bag. I'm currently in my
final year of medical school. We've got some sharp listeners,
and I'll be pursuing a career in vascular surgery. I
was curious if you could talk about the medical slight
injury side of the NFL. For example, when mahomes towards ACL,
(41:05):
they did an MRI that night and he got surgery
just a day or two later. Do these high profile
athletes go to the local er when they get injured
or do team facilities have CT scanners and MRIs right
there in house. Furthermore, do pro teams have contracts with
specific surgeons who do or do team docs look across
(41:26):
the country to find the best surgeon available. I think
it depends team to team. Sometimes you have to go
to the hospital to get the MRI and sometimes the machine.
I'd have to ask, like Rick Brookholder, who's the trainer
for the chiefs. I would guess he went to the
hospital to get an MRI, but maybe they have one
(41:47):
either at Arrowhead their facilities right around the corner. I mean,
it's right in the same kind of area. But I
don't know. I would say most times guys usually go
to the hospital to get the MRI. It's why typically
after a game, let's say Patrick Mahomes got hurt on
the road, what would Andy have said. He would have said,
we're getting an MRI first thing in the morning, because
(42:09):
what do they do. They take him to the you know,
local Kansas City hospital and he gets the MRI and
they find out what happened. And then what happened with
Patrick is he got a second opinion, just a double
check with maybe his agent set him up or people
he knows have gone through the guy in Dallas and
they confirmed that he also tours, was his LCL, and
(42:29):
he's got surgery right there. I think the teams often
work with the players to get surgery if they want
to say locally, or they go to a guy, you
know it's nationally renowned. Was the Tommy John guy's name?
There was a famous ACL and Tommy John guy that
most people went to, and people just funneled their players
to those guys. And I think most teams maybe there's
(42:54):
one or two. I think most of the time you
have to go to the hospital to get the MRI,
so you have people on especially with game day. I
would imagine they have a deal where people are there
just in case, h for situations like THEMRI right for
your own team, but sometimes even players have to wait
till the next day. So I mean it is Sunday
(43:14):
afternoon or Sunday night. Now, if it's something catastrophic, they
will take guys of the yar. Right. We have seen
guys hambling trying to think of like devastating injuries. Tomor
is probably the best example, but that was like really extreme.
But we've seen guys like catastrophic knee injuries just go
right the ambulance, go to the hospital, right. So it's
(43:37):
I think a lot of times, like when I was
with the Eagles doctor de Luca, who's now their doctor again,
Like if you just I would just go to them
for checkups, right. Most teams have a local guy, right.
If you're the Chiefs, you have a guy from Kansas City.
If you're the Niners, you got a guy from Stanford.
And those guys handle a lot of your stuff, and
they're around on game day. They travel with the team,
(43:58):
and you know players like you can't force a guy
to get a surgery with a guy they don't want
to have surgery with. So that's what's that's what's unique. Right,
Like if I have like if my son's ten years old,
right and he's playing I was gonna say soccer, but
we ain't gonna play soccer. Let's say he's playing baseball
(44:19):
and breaks his leg sliding into second base. If we
need to get surgery on his leg, Like, I dictate
where he's getting surgery, right, get carry him to the car.
Hopefully it's too big. I can't even care because he's,
you know, burgeoning athlete. But wherever he's gonna get surgery
is gonna be. I'm gonna determine it, right. Whereas a player,
(44:39):
the team be like, hey, go talk to these guys.
But I can talk to my own people, and I
can do whatever I want. Now, I can't do something
that like, hey, I'm gonna take a different route in
a different type medicine than your idea, right. I the
equivalent of like people that have babies in a bathtub.
You know, team's gonna be like that's part the contract.
(45:00):
You can't do that. I don't mean obviously a players,
I gotta have a baby in a bathtub, but you
know what I mean, Like I'm gonna do this special
ACL surgery that's never been done before. I think the
team would push back on that, and you try to
work together like ultimately your business partners. But I do
think these situations historically, they've been complicated from time to time.
Not Mahomes necessarily, But I don't know why. I give
(45:23):
that baby example, I don't even know what the equivalent
would be, like ayahuasca. But again, teams don't even care.
I think with someone like Patrick Mahomes, they trust his agent,
they work with his agent really closely, that he has
trust in Andy and Veitch, and they just kind of
work together on it. I think sometimes you can not
(45:44):
be on the same page. And in fairness, this is
where players think that I'm getting screwed. Like you're telling
me I don't need surgery. You're like, I can't even
feel my calf right, myobo feels like it's gonna fall off.
You're like, you're good, just a couple of weeks of rehab,
and then you go to your own doctor or your
agent set you up with a doctor, or teammate set
you up with the doctor, and he's like, you need
to get this you need to get this taken care of,
(46:07):
so you can just get a lot of different opinions,
and in fairness to the players, I mean their bodies,
their livelihood, so it is pretty intense situations of like, well,
I'm gonna do what I think is best for my
body because this is the only way that like, this
is how I make money. Where if I start slipping,
you guys will cut me in a New York minute
and you won't even think twice. So it's it's pretty complicated,
(46:31):
but the MRI machine pretty sure most guys have to
go to the hospital. Audios the volume
The volume What is going on everybody? John Middlecop three
and out podcast. Hopefully everyone is doing well out there
(00:22):
in the real world. We are brought to you by
our friends at Zone Pouches. And I've been moving offices
because the baby's on the way. It was a room
my office was in. Now we're gonna turn it back
just into a room. So I'm in my new office now.
It is a shed in the in the backyard. Actually
it's pretty sweet. And I think I broke a camera today,
(00:45):
so we got a lot of moving parts here. We
have a big announcement actually, I think on Friday after
because we're gonna talk to it today. Who was benched.
We will talk mailback. I do a big mail bag
today as well. Tomorrow will stucky on and we will
also have a Sunday Night reaction or Sunday night Thursday
night to the Rams Seattle game, which is massive. I mean,
(01:07):
the winner's gonna have twelve wins and fired up to
talk and react to that. Game's a big time football game.
Better buckle your chin strap a lot on the line.
McVeigh just had a baby. I saw Sam Darnold trying
to win a big game. Didn't go well, last time
he played the rams, but that'll be the game plan today.
And other than that, you guys know the drill. Subscribe
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(01:30):
you listen on Collins feed, make sure you subscribe to
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live Thursday nights, Sunday nights, Monday nights. This week Saturday
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John for twenty dollars off. Down the game time app today,
last minute tickets, lowest prices guaranteed. I would say, big picture,
(02:33):
whenever a guy who makes a ton of money is benched,
usually there are big picture ramifications. You don't want to
get a guy injured, much more difficult to then wave
him injured. Obviously, his trade value goes down dramatically. Usually
there's a kicker at the beginning of the new league year,
like there was for Tua this year, which guaranteed him
(02:55):
I think fifty four million dollars next season, so well financially.
But I think there are two schools of thought. Whether
Mike is coaching for his job and this is somewhat
of a desperate move slash two and wasn't playing very good,
but this is like, hey, maybe we catch lightning in
a bottle with Quinn yours impress the owner. Or there's
(03:16):
the other school of thought that he knows he's staying.
The owner gives him the power to make you know.
I don't. This isn't a polarizing move, but just I
mean a headliner, a decision to essentially when you bench
to Ataga bai Loa. His career for the Miami Dolphins
is over. He will never ever play another snap for
the Miami Dolphins. Will they cut him this offseason? I
(03:39):
think he has no trade value. My gut would say
that they pull a Russell Wilson tight move, but just
you never say never in the NFL when it comes
to maybe they could eat a bunch of money. Trading
to someone desperate still feels a little far fetched, but
I don't think he'll ever play again for the Miami Dolphins.
And one big picture that I have when it comes
to quarterbacks like Tua, there are the no brainer guys
(04:02):
that you go, Joe Burrow, Josh Allen, Patrick Mahomes. I
mean even Lamar Jackson had to play it out a
little longer than he probably thought he deserved or should have.
He deserved money before that, that part of that situation
kint a little out of hand. Herbert, I think, signed
a deal early in his career three years maybe four
(04:23):
years two, was not one of those people. And I
view paying quarterbacks because there really isn't a secondary market.
Kirk Cousin's coming off. In Achilles, who was thirty six
years old, signed a four year, hundred and eighty eight
million dollar deal. I think like one hundred million dollars
he made in two years, so that there is not
much middle ground. That there aren't many guys like I
(04:45):
signed him for a two year, forty million dollar deal.
That was justin Fields, who's also already benched. So when
you have a starting quarterback and listen to a let
him to the playoffs. If you're gonna pay him, it's very,
very expensive. We can argue about it till we're blue
in the face, but the contracts are the contracts. I
don't understand. I view quarterback contracts a lot like marriage.
(05:08):
When you know, you know and you feel good about it,
it's a massive decision. If you get it wrong, there
are massive financial ramifications that are not good emotionally. It
takes a huge toll on you if you're forced to
get a divorce after making you know, the wrong decision
with who you marry. But no one's telling you that
you have to get on a knee. You don't need
(05:29):
to rush it. And I think we have seen examples
now of Tua of Kyler Murray. You know, Trevor Lawrence
was looking like that until Liam Cohen showed up and
looks like he's resurrecting his career. But these teams that
rush to pay these quarterbacks, and I mean we're seeing
it with Kyler and Tula. They clearly regret their decisions.
(05:49):
But I would say to both organizations, you did not
have to sign those contracts. You could have kept playing
it out. Well, John, it would only get more expensive,
That's what they would probably tell you. Well, so be it.
At least I will know when I put pen to
paper of a contract, it's gonna make everyone in this
building uncomfortable. Right, if you have any reservations, do not
(06:09):
buy the ring and get down on your knee. And
that's what I think these organizations did, and it was
clear they regretted these decisions really really quick. Now when
it comes to Tua, I think the elephant in the
room is when he got hit on. I think it
was that Thursday night game against Buffalo and got you know,
the concussion where his arms, I forget the term. It
(06:33):
just made your stomach drop when you were watching it.
I mean, it was a tough visual and I can't
even imagine what it was like for him and his family.
He's never been the same. So after that hit, he
came back and a lot of people are like, why
don't you just retire? Because he had one hundred and
twenty million dollars if he kept playing, And young people
typically don't just retire in their mid twenties because fifty
(06:54):
year old people with more wisdom tell them to. That's
not really the way it works. So I never had
an issue with him like wanting to keep playing. The
doctors are clearing him. He can play, but he's not
the same now. I always I was never the biggest
to a guy, but there was no disputing that early
on in his career. Once Mike got there with Waddle,
(07:15):
you know, with Tyreek Hill at least until it got
freezing cold out, he could be a very very productive player.
And the guy we've seen this year is feels like
a fringe backup. I mean the performance his numbers, you know,
numbers lie because you could look at the stat sheet
and the box score on that game when it comes
to the game against the Steelers on Monday Night Football
(07:39):
and it doesn't look bad. I think it was like
twenty two to twenty eight. But we all know what
we watched the fourth quarter, like the Steelers were checked out,
they were ready to get home, getting out of the cold.
They're of twenty eight to three, and his quarterback play
was atrocious. And they had gone on this winning streak.
And every time I would look at the box card
pick they just won by fifteen points and two or
three of one hundred and twenty yards. The previous week
(08:00):
they beat the Jets by twenty four. I think he
threw for one hundred and thirty yards. It's like they
were just running the ball and playing defense. They were
avoiding having to or to do anything, and it was working.
And in that game against Pittsford, he didn't have a
choice because they got down fourteen to three in the
third quarter. It's freezing cold. We know his limitations. One,
he's not a great athlete, doesn't have a huge arm,
but like once his marvels, you know, got shook after
(08:23):
all the concussions. Like, I don't see how anyone could
debate the player we watch now is a shell of
the version that we watched a couple of years ago,
and no one was comparing that guy to you know,
the top guys, but he was a guy that you
compete with. He's twenty seven years old. It's not like
he's thirty five. It's not like he's Kirk Cousins. It's
(08:45):
not like he was in Matt Stafford's draft class. He's
twenty seven years old. But you take enough of those
big hits, especially the violence and the concussions he had
I think he had. That question has to be asked.
And last, but not least, it's just an all time
NFL moment that the Miami Dolphins drafted him fifth overall.
(09:07):
And listen, they weren't alone. A lot of people liked him.
He was playing at Alabama. Now, granted he was coming
off a major hip injury that I think he suffered
against Mississippi State, and then mac Jones went in. Obviously,
the next year Mac Jones, they won the national championship
and mac Jones becomes, you know, fifteenth overall pick. But
they passed on Justin Herbert, and that changed the Chargers
franchise forever, because Jim Harbaugh is not their coach if
(09:31):
they don't have Justin Herbert. He's even said it, and
it was pretty clear when he took the job he
was signing up for Justin Herbert. Now, their organization feels
a lot more buttoned up now than it had over
the Phillip Rivers in Drew brees Eras and Harbaugh's obviously
a big reason for that. Same with Joe Ortiz from
the Baltimore Ravens. But if they just have random quarterback
(09:52):
X Jim Harbaugh's not their head coach and this franchise
goes eleven and six last year. They're currently ten and five.
They have the fifth seed with three games remaining. Now
their schedule is actually kind of difficult, but they're not
technically like in the playoffs right now, but they're going
to go to the playoffs, and obviously Harbought and Herbert
(10:13):
are a major reason for that. So it's just an
all time sliding doors moment for the NFL. And even
Tom Telesco has told people that like they had Tua
rated higher and Justin Herbert, which I think sometimes is
easy to go after the fact, even though it's like
this guy's almost six foot six, he's two hundred and
thirty five pounds, he can run like a deer, he's
(10:34):
got a massive arm, he's high character, he's been a
four year starter at Oregon, like, what are we missing here?
And clearly people overthought it. Definitely the Miami Dolphins did,
and now they're in a situation where if they cut
him this offseason, the cap hit will be almost one
hundred million dollars and he too, was getting fifty four
million dollars next year no matter what. So obviously to
(10:56):
a financially it's unless you talk to Odell Beckham for life,
but just a devastating, devastating financial situation. Hopefully they catch
if you're a Dolphins fan or you know Mike McDaniel,
you catch lightning in a bottle with quinn Ewers who
you know could be a little hit or missing college.
But it'd be fascinating to watch the way this plays out.
(11:24):
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With it gambling problem call one hundred Gambler Arizona, Colorado, Illinois,
New Jersey, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia. Okay, let's dive into some
mailbag at John Middlecoff at John Midlecoff is the Instagram
fire and those dms get your questions answered here on
(13:11):
the show. Love the content. If JJ had be McCarthy
continues playing as well as he's been against the Commanders
and the Cowboys, do you see the Vikings rolling him
out as the starter next season? My answer would be,
and I said this the other night after what was
a Sunday night football that the Key and I remember
(13:31):
thinking this a couple of weeks ago. He needed to
just show progress. It wasn't about wins and losses. It
was about we can't bring a guy back and look
our star players in the eye that we're paying a
lot of money to if we're getting smoked and the
reason is him and we're going three and out every
single drive, and his numbers are comparable to JaMarcus Russell.
(13:54):
But obviously the last two weeks not great defenses, especially
the Commanders and the Cowboys didn't look great either. Then
you get the Giants, another not so great opponent. I
do think if you finished the last two weeks against
the Lions and the Packers and build off the play
of these easier opponents, where you play well, because I
would expect JJ to look like he has the last
couple weeks this week, but against the Lions and the Packers.
(14:15):
If he has one good game in one of those
two outings, I think you feel much better about this
offseason and he'll be the starting quarterback in two thousand
and twenty six. Spencer here, I live in San Diego.
I think the break from the Chiefs dominating the playoffs
will be good for the league. I had people that
(14:36):
hated the Chargers to their core rooting for the Chiefs
to lose. This will create some rivals. I definitely think
it's a good story for the league as a whole,
right because next year the Chiefs kind of can come
back as it's like big bad Wolf, especially Mahomes coming
off the ACL Maybe they I would say, there's gonna
(14:59):
be a lot of transition with their franchise. They're gonna
feel a lot different next year, especially if Travis Kelsey
and Chris Jones are not on the team. But I
hear you. I mean that there were a lot of
people rooting against the Chiefs and tired of the Chiefs.
My wife said it all the time once we were
watching the other day, and I was like, they just
got eliminated from the playoffs. She's like, thank god, I'm
tired of watching them. Meanwhile, my mother is I mean,
(15:21):
I would say likes the Chiefs as much as like
Clark Hunt. I mean, she hasn't missed a snap in years. Like, mom,
I thought you were a forty nine er fan. She's
like Andy Reid had you do his house with Thanksgiving.
I've been his biggest fan ever since. So she is
a diehard Chiefs fan. Calls me after every win and
definitely after every loss. And she was devastated here at
my house on Thanksgiving when the Cowboys beat him. She
(15:44):
just couldn't understand. She couldn't comprehend what was happening to
her team. So they're just not quite as good. They
got some injuries, guys are aging. But I hear you.
Why isn't Mike McDonald getting more national talk as the
coach of the year. Seattle was a seven and a
half wins preseason and picked by many to be last
(16:05):
in the NFC West. He's completely turned around the defense
in less than two full seasons. Keep up the great work.
It's a great question. I actually sprinkled on five to
one to win the division. They didn't win ten games
last year. I don't get as caught up in the
coach of the Year stuff. I think we got a
bunch of questions on coach of the year. Like a
huge part of coach of the year. I think Ben
(16:26):
Johnson's boarderline of lock him Vrabel if he has some
more wins, I mean, they could split it. It's like
your team was shitty and now it's good. I mean
that's just a huge part of it. And listen, Ben
Johnson deserves it if he wins it. If Mike Vrabel
were to win it deserves it as well. I would
give it to Bray. I would give it to Ben
Johnson over Brabel. But I thought the win loss over
(16:49):
Under was a little off. Again, they won ten games
last year, and they had a good draft. People thought
like Sam Darnold to Gino Smith was a downgrade. I
didn't quite an understand that. Yeah, Mike McDonald's a good coach.
Recording this twenty four hours for this Thursday night game.
It's a big night for him. It's a big night
that they win. They are in position to get the
(17:12):
number one seed if they win their last two games,
But that's pretty nuts heading into the postseason. I'm curious
where you land on this topic. Does elite quarterback play
still guarantee playoffs success or are we seeing a real
shift back toward defenses carrying teams in January? When you
look at a team like the Broncos built around a
(17:32):
dominant defense versus a team like the Bills with Josh
Allen playing like Superman, which formula actually holds up when
the games are tighter? Thanks, Josh Allen is going to
be a test case this year. Can he take this
team that is not as good as some of the
opponents that he's going to play and win the AFC?
(17:56):
Because we saw him play the Texans a month ago
they got war and he got sacked like twenty times
in that game. Right the Broncos, you remove the quarterback.
Every single human alive would take the Broncos over the
Bills in terms of the roster. But when you have
a guy that good, I would take my shot. You know,
in a one game playoff, I'm not gonna bet against
(18:17):
Josh Allen in the spot. Doesn't mean it's gonna win it,
But I think that when he's playing at that level
and the rules in twenty twenty five are on his side.
I would take Josh Allen now that next tier guy
like Justin Herbert. I don't think Justin Herbert is a
level of Josh Allen. And also his team is so
(18:41):
flawed because the injuries, Like it wouldn't stun me if
they're a one and done team, right, if they're the
five seed and they play the Steelers like they could lose, right,
especially the Steelers pass rush is playing well, They're just
they're playing with backups for offensive linemen. Where if you
told me Josh Allen was like playing the Steelers, I
see no way they lose. And part of it's Herbert's
(19:02):
got a broken hand. But and Herbert's probably even the
bad example. It's like Jordan Love. I mean, some of
the NFC guys, right Stafford, Sam Darnold, Jordan Love, Purty,
Jalen Hurts. I'm missing someone, Baker Mayfield. I think the
Broncos is a really good team, but the player that
we saw part of what makes them. I mean, they
(19:24):
can win at all if Bo's gonna play like he
just played the other day. He threw four touchdowns, he
was fantastic. I mean scrambling around Michael Parsons. Part of
the reason he towards ACL he's cutting trying to chase him,
So it was not part of the reason. That's the reason.
It was a cut trying to chase this guy who's
run around making plays. So you have to have good
(19:46):
quarterback play to win, you just do you know? I mean,
look at there's a reason Mahomes been there five to
the last six years and the other time Joe Burrow
was there and multiple AFC championships, Josh Allen's been there.
You just in last year what the Commanders didn't do
it because of their roster as their quarterback play was
playing out of his mind. Quarterback play is really really big.
(20:07):
Now it's a team game. You gotta run the ball,
gotta play defense, got to create a timely turnover, can't
fuck up on special teams. I mean, there's a lot
of variables that go into it. Question for the mailbag,
if we reached a point where Burrow said he would
retire if he's not traded, do you think the Rams
would be a legitimate landing spot or do you think
(20:28):
it's more likely we're headed toward a luck situation. I
saw some quotes today. I read an article yesterday on
The Athletic about the Bengals. I do wonder if we're
overblowing this a little bit. Even Jamar Chase last week
said like he thought people kind of took that story
a little too serious and ran with it, given the
(20:50):
guy that he's around. But then we watched him play
against the Ravens and went something looks off. I do
think he is going. If I'm a betting man right now,
Joe Burrow is the starting quarterback for the Cincinnati Bengals
next year, and if he wasn't going to be the
starting quarterback for the Cincinnati Bengals get assuming he's healthy,
(21:12):
I see zero situation that Mike Brown would trade him.
I think they would have the standoff that he did
with Carson Palmer years ago. So I would expect Joe
Burrow to be My expectations on a pie chart, Mike
percentage would be like ninety eight percent. He's going to
be the starting quarterback for the Cincinni Bengals next year.
(21:34):
I mean, in this article on the Athletic, it was
talking about guy must have been the beat reporter, and
it was really really good talking about Zach Taylor and
their GM. How both those guys probably aren't going anywhere.
But like Joe Burrow is a big reason they've expanded
their scouting staff. He plays a big role in personnel,
like he's pretty, like he's got a lot of juice there. Now.
(21:54):
Is he going to finish his career on the Bengals?
You probably bet against that, But I'd be floored if
he's not in the Bengals next year. If he was
quote unquote available, I think the Rams would probably end
up getting him. Yes, Browns fan, wondering what your approach
should be in this wondering what our approach should be
(22:16):
in this draft. The Bills and the Niners are two
teams that have had sustained success, but with two very
different roster configurations. The forty nine Ers have a much
more complete roster and the quarterback Perdy Garoppolo are just
asked to make the right reads, get the ball to
their star players and in their hands, and not do
too much heavy list lifting. They have built around the quarterback.
(22:41):
Over the Bills, they seem to be incredibly reliant on Alan.
He is the whole team. As a Browns fan, is
it better to keep taking swings? On quarterback until you
find your Josh Allen or to build the roster, there
just aren't ever gonna be many Josh Allen's. I've been
watching football for prety plus years. I've seen I mean,
(23:05):
I didn't even see the peak of John Elway. That's
a lot of comps. I think there's a physical dominant
nature to Cam Newton, which he Cam Newton's a one outlier.
Obviously Josh throws it better than Cam, more consistent thrower,
you know, Ben Roethlisberger. I mean, you're talking about a
short list of human beings. So if you can find
(23:25):
a guy six foot five that can run with a
huge arm, as accurate and high character, then yeah, I
think the number one goal always is to pick the
best players. And I think when you force quarterbacks, right,
if you can get Fernando Mendoz, if you're a Browns fan,
you do it. But if there's not any other guys
and you can't get him, like, just take another Mason Graham,
(23:49):
take another you know, Joe Thomas. Build the team and
then when you are situated ideally, like in a perfect world,
the forty nine ers wanted Josh all That's why they
drafted Trey Lane. It just blew up in their face,
and then the football gods threw them a bone with
brock Purty. But like the forty nine Ers were doing
exactly what the Bills did and what the Browns tried
(24:11):
to do with Deshaun Watson. They took a huge swing.
They tried to get a star. It's hard, you're dealing
with human beings. The positions really hard. Obviously the forty
nine Ers process on that whole thing was flawed. But
that's a conversation for a different day. A question for
the bag. I'm pretty much assuming Solig it's a head
coaching job after this offseason. I have some names to
(24:33):
replace him, Raheem Morris. Shanahan has mentioned many times about
how much respect he has for him and how he's
tried hiring in the past. Schwartz. Stefanski is most likely
going to get fired, so Schwartz could become available. He's
had success against Kyle And here's the wild card, Spags.
What if the Chiefs shake things up? Spin reported Niners
(24:55):
tried hiring Spags after they file fired Wilkes. I think
Raheem Morris is the most natural transition. He knows him well,
he's comfortable running a defense that Kyle is comfortable playing
and running. That would be the number one choice. I mean,
Kyle's proven now going back to Sala, he wants someone
(25:18):
he's comfortable with running his defense. The Spags thing a
couple of years ago was more at a desperation they
were losing guys. I think that was after Demiko. They
didn't really have any options, and I think at the
end of the day, Spags used them a little bit
to get more money, which he should. The Jim Schwartz thing,
Jim has a ton of success historically against Kyle as
(25:40):
an offensive coordinator and as the head coach. I think
he's beat him, like I think Kyle's like two and
eight or two and nine, maybe it was two and ten,
I mean, whatever the record is. And there was video
of him at the game when they played the Browns
a couple weeks ago, them talking. I mean clearly he
respects him a lot. That would definitely be a name
to keep an eye on. Now. Jim Swartz got a
(26:01):
big ego, you know, so I think part of it is,
you know, when he's got Salah and he's got Raheem
that they have a very very close personal relationship, you know,
hiring Schwartz, It's not like you can tell Schwartz what
to do, and you don't know him that well personally,
I would assume. Besides, just like competing against them, I'd
(26:22):
say Raheem Morris is way more likely than Jim Schwartz.
Coming into the season, most people thought the Raiders would
be much better and an improved football team with the
additions of Pete, Spytech and Gino and Jenti. However, they
look worse. My question is, do you think if they
just kept Pierce for another season they would be better? Also,
(26:46):
was ap the issue? Uh, Pete's been a disaster like that,
There's no arguing Pete's. Pete feels like a guy that
should just quit. Now. I understand you don't quit because
you want to get paid whatever they owe you, But
like this Pete thing's over. It's pretty clear Pete Carroll
(27:08):
could not come back. And I think what they tried
to do is spy Tech, who came on this podcast too.
I'm a big believer in and he reminds me a
lot of Adam Peters. He's gonna be fine. But like
John Spi, Tech wasn't the guy hiring Pete Carroll, but
that's Tom, and then Tom's forcing Chip Kelly on him.
I think there has to be some balance of when
(27:29):
you hired Pete Carroll, you know what the move was
last offseason? They should have traded Max Crosby. They should
have detonated and blown it up. But Pete Carroll's ninety
five years old. What did he want to do? Trade
for Gino? Keep Max? It's like it was just it
was a it was a situation where you should have
thought big picture. Pete's not guaranteed to be alive in
(27:51):
five years. I mean, Pete's living in the moment, and
rightfully so so I I think they just made a
disaster higher, and when you make a disaster, you're higher
in the NFL. It impacts the way you build a team,
and then obviously the product you see on the field
speaks for itself. There seems to be a broad acceptance
(28:13):
that Kittle will eventually be a Hall of Famer. Why
is there not similar discussion around ertz ertzs more career touchdowns,
more career receiving yards, and played a huge role in
the Super Bowl that he actually won. I think this
discussion is a little nuanced one. I say it pretty
(28:33):
liberally that he's going to be a Hall of Famer.
I don't think it's guaranteed. Now, I would say one
difference is ER's a three time Pro bowler. Kittle, after
this season will be a seven time Pro bowler. I
think one major difference is Kittle's been a first or
second team All Pro so far five times, and this
(28:55):
year could be six. And zach Ertz is on a receiver.
You know, he's a lot like he's kind of like
the poor man's version. And I mean this as a
compliment of Kelsey slot receiver. No one can cover, but
he can't block. Now, if you are as great as
Kelsey is, then no one even cares. But like, his
(29:18):
numbers compared to Kelsey's are not even the same ballpark. Meanwhile, George,
I think the run game element to his game. Now. Now,
Ertz had one twenty eighteen eight, one hundred and sixteen catches.
It was a career year. But you know, seventy four,
seventy eight he's had some fifty six. I don't view ers,
(29:43):
I don't really know how to say it. Beside it,
I don't view Ertz as a Hall of famer. I
view Kittle as one. If you told me I could
get either guy at twenty four years old for the
next ten years, I would take George Kittle over zach Ertz.
And that's not diminishing anything. Zach has accomplished touchdown in
Super Bowl, huge catches over the course of his career,
(30:05):
super high level guy. Zach Ertz is a winning player.
I just think Kittle is a much more complete player.
A big fan of the podcast Colin, I have to
stay up to see postgame reactions. As someone who went
to cal Pauly. What's the social scene like for postgrads
in San Luis Obispo. I'm twenty two in tech sales,
(30:26):
thinking of moving to SoCal and that's the top of
the list, or with something like Santa Barbara be better.
My question is if the Bucks move off of Todd Bowles,
who's at the top of the hiring list, do they
only go Kubiak and Lafleur, maybe Kingsbury or Marcus Freeman.
I don't think they hire another defensive coordinator. I've only
(30:48):
spent like twenty four or forty eight hours at a
time in Santa Barbara. Little too uppity for me. A
beautiful area. But I would say San Louis is much
more of your true college town, cool downtown, a lot
of food. It's got the beach not far away now,
depending you're in tech sales, if you know, It's not
(31:09):
a cheap place to live. Neither Santa Barbara, but it's
I would choose San Luis Obispo in your situation as
a younger person over Santa Barbara. But again that's just me.
I really haven't. I've only been to San Louis one
time in the last like decade, so you're probably asking
someone that might be a little out of touch with
the current setup of the area. When I was there,
(31:31):
it was awesome. But I would say I don't know
who you'd hire, honestly. You know, his last two hires
have been Bruce and then they just transitioned to Todd
because he was on the staff. I think if you
could have a due over, clearly you would have taken
Liam Cohen. My guess is they would try to do
something offensively and you know, have a coordinator who's gonna
be with Baker would be their kind of go to
(31:53):
move if they could. I agree with your assessment on
quarterback play, Why is nobody shouting this from the roof
or are gms just not listening? Look at the AFC
(32:15):
Allan Lamar, Herbert Burrow, Mahomes, Rogers, Nicks. These guys all
played a lot of college football. It's easy to say
that Richardson has a ton of physical gifts, but if
you had to win one game, are you taking him
or Tyler Shuck? Repetitions and time spent in a system
learning matter. There is no you can't circumvent experience. You
(32:40):
can't circumvent improving, and to improve as something that is
really competitive. I don't care what industry you're in. You
got to do it over and over. Reps matter. What
was Gladwell's think ten thousand hours Tiger Woods talking about?
Like when I'm in a rut, I just go and
dig it out from the mud. I just practice practice, practice,
do do like. I like doers. You know, people to
(33:03):
talk in theories and on the board. It's like, let's
get our hands earty here. Whatever we're doing, that's how
we will make progress. So I understand they took a
huge swing on anthy Richardson. It blew up in their face.
Tyler Shuck is a much better player. Than Anthony Richardson today.
The Saints wouldn't trade Tyler Shuck for Anthony Richardson in
a million years, and the Colts would drive him to
(33:25):
New Orleans. So yeah, I mean, I now, I mean,
Chuck's a unique story. He's twenty five years old, He's
played in a million places. But I hear what you're saying.
There aren't that many Anthony Richdons though, right, I mean
his situation only playing thirteen college games, the elite physical gifts,
(33:46):
I do get it. Like you're just like, hey, let's
take a swing on this now. I think people would
be less and less likely to ever do that again.
And like most of these guys coming out now because
of Nil, they stay have a lot of college experience.
You know, Tyler Mendoza started two years of col and
now one year in Indiana. He's played a lot of games,
(34:07):
played a lot of football that matters. Love the show
keeps me going during baseball offseason. We got ourselves, Nolan Ryan.
If the Dolphins end up cutting Tua, should the Chiefs
sign him to a one year deal, he would want
this to show he can play in cold weather. And
who better to learn from than Andy the Chiefs can
(34:30):
probably get Tua for cheap or given that he just
lost ninety nine million dollars from the bio, or he
just got ninety nine million. He doesn't get ninety nine million.
The ninety nine million is the dead cap that the
Dolphins incur. He gets I think fifty plus million, but
the guaranteed money in which they've paid him that factors
(34:52):
into the cap hit, so he doesn't actually get ninety
nine but he gets fifty five and whatever he made
this year. I would have a hard time seeing the
Chiefs doe that. I I don't envision that, Like, they're
not going to sign a guy that can't play in
the cold now if he was completely free. Would they
rather have Tua for one million or Gardner Minshew for
(35:12):
ten It's a good question. I think they will see
with Gardner over the next couple of weeks. But I
have a hard time seeing that mess with Tua. I
really do. Why on Earth A Shanahan not the favorite
for Coach of the Year. He's fifth and k Odds
plus seven to fifty. In twenty two he went thirteen
and four with three different quarterbacks and they gave it
to day Ball. And I think The reason was because
(35:34):
he did the most with the least amount of talent.
Now this year, Shanna has gotten the Niners of ten
and four with an insane amount of injuries, including the
starting quarterback, two best defensive players, the first round defensive picks,
Hall of Fame tight end, and his best wide receiver
has even played. Whoever gave Brandon Ayuk advice did a
terrible job. It's like, Bro, you don't give away twenty
five million dollars. This is too hard to make money
(35:56):
in this world large amounts of money too. It's like,
what are you doing? In twenty nineteen, took Garoppolo to
thirteen to three and a Super Bowl, and they gave
it to John Arbough who had a unanimous MVP, and
Lamar Jackson. I think it all gets back to people
thought the forty nine ers are gonna be good. They
were the betting favorites to win the division with the
Rams in Seattle. I mean, they were heavy betting favorites
(36:18):
over Seattle, so people assumed they were gonna be good.
And now he is good, so people thought that even
though the route he took to get good is way different,
Like you said, I mean, you lose Fred Warner and
Nick Bosa basically for the season. Kittle missed the first
month of the year. Perty missed how many games Mac
Jones had to win, like four or five? So yeah,
(36:39):
I just don't get that cut up on Coach of
the Year. Kyle's not gonna win it this year, should he?
If he gave it to him, you wouldn't hear me
bitching and moaning. But I just don't really care. I
do think the year day Ball won it, that was impressive.
Now you're right, they went nine to eight. Looking back
the hardball one, it's like, I don't know about that one.
(37:00):
Why do quarterbacks get interceptions when the balls hit off
a hands or chest of a wide receiver? Can we
start giving wide receivers i iNTS instead of quarterbacks? I
feel this adds more nuanced for quarterback evaluation overall, better
and more accurate statistics across the board. At a minimum,
have a stat for either half i in ts or
a separate category for wide receivers. It's been like that forever,
(37:24):
So I it is stupid because you see a lot
of interceptions throughout the course of the year that are
not the quarterback's fault. But it doesn't feel like there's
ever been any urgency to change that. Like, you never
hear anyone in the NFL go what are we doing?
No one ever says that, so I hear you. I
think they should. But I think part of the problem
(37:46):
would be it's like, how do you compare than some
guys that throw a bunch of interceptions in twenty ten?
To like, if I threw twelve interceptions in twenty ten,
my number would have been seven. What about the ones
that the DB's drop that I hit them in the hands.
It's not gonna get changed. This is a loaded question,
(38:07):
and I'm sorry. I started my own residential commercial cleaning company,
but I don't think this is a passion or dream
of mine. I'm super interested in making a podcast about
football specifically and going back into the sports media school.
I was at school for two years at High Point
University and really struggled. I was just being a dumb
college student and messing around all the time. Also, I
(38:28):
had some bad advice and people close to me said
I would do good. I wouldn't do good in sports,
but sports is my everything other than my son and
my wife, of course. But now that I'm twenty three
years old, and have a five month old baby. I
don't want to waste an opportunity to chase my dreams
before I have more kids and I don't have time
or get too old. I'm definitely gonna start my podcast,
(38:48):
But is it worth it to go to sports media school?
Even though radio and some other things are a dying industry.
My first recommendation would be, it seems like, you know
you got a growing family at any young age, congratch
to you do not do the sports media school. I
don't even know what technically that is, but go to
school for sports media. I would recommend not doing that.
(39:11):
You know, it feels like like part of your life
now you have someone that you have to depend on.
The good thing is like you can get the equipment
and just do it on the side and see if
it grows, see if you can get good at it.
But you're twenty three. Do you know how much life
ahead of you that you have. I'm almost twenty years
older than you, and I feel fucking young. You have
a lot of life, so I don't know what your
(39:34):
current You said, you have the company that you started,
you could screw around on the side pretty easily and
figure out if it's actually something you like and when
no one's watching or no one's paying attention, like is
it worth it to you? Cause at first I don't
care if you're me or who you are. When I
first started doing podcasts and not have a lot of
listeners took some time. I had more than most because
(39:57):
I had have built in radio base, but I would
not have been able the podcast if I hadn't done
screwed around and done radio and realized that I like
doing it. And when I did that, it was like
a part time just on the side. So my point
is sometimes we think we like to do something and
it's our everything and it means everything, and then we
start doing it and it's like, ah, it's not quite
(40:17):
as fun as we thought, or vice versa. We tell
ourselves this is all I want to do, so right now,
it's just a thought in your head and it's a
passion that you want to pursue. But you're able to
pursue that passion while you're still paying the bills and
taking care of your young family and then figure out
like is this really worth it or not? After that
that would be my recommendation. Then going to sports media school,
(40:41):
which again I'm not trying to throw shade at whatever
the school is, but I'm not even sure what that
is a question for the bag. I'm currently in my
final year of medical school. We've got some sharp listeners,
and I'll be pursuing a career in vascular surgery. I
was curious if you could talk about the medical slight
injury side of the NFL. For example, when mahomes towards ACL,
(41:05):
they did an MRI that night and he got surgery
just a day or two later. Do these high profile
athletes go to the local er when they get injured
or do team facilities have CT scanners and MRIs right
there in house. Furthermore, do pro teams have contracts with
specific surgeons who do or do team docs look across
(41:26):
the country to find the best surgeon available. I think
it depends team to team. Sometimes you have to go
to the hospital to get the MRI and sometimes the machine.
I'd have to ask, like Rick Brookholder, who's the trainer
for the chiefs. I would guess he went to the
hospital to get an MRI, but maybe they have one
(41:47):
either at Arrowhead their facilities right around the corner. I mean,
it's right in the same kind of area. But I
don't know. I would say most times guys usually go
to the hospital to get the MRI. It's why typically
after a game, let's say Patrick Mahomes got hurt on
the road, what would Andy have said. He would have said,
we're getting an MRI first thing in the morning, because
(42:09):
what do they do. They take him to the you know,
local Kansas City hospital and he gets the MRI and
they find out what happened. And then what happened with
Patrick is he got a second opinion, just a double
check with maybe his agent set him up or people
he knows have gone through the guy in Dallas and
they confirmed that he also tours, was his LCL, and
(42:29):
he's got surgery right there. I think the teams often
work with the players to get surgery if they want
to say locally, or they go to a guy, you
know it's nationally renowned. Was the Tommy John guy's name?
There was a famous ACL and Tommy John guy that
most people went to, and people just funneled their players
to those guys. And I think most teams maybe there's
(42:54):
one or two. I think most of the time you
have to go to the hospital to get the MRI,
so you have people on especially with game day. I
would imagine they have a deal where people are there
just in case, h for situations like THEMRI right for
your own team, but sometimes even players have to wait
till the next day. So I mean it is Sunday
(43:14):
afternoon or Sunday night. Now, if it's something catastrophic, they
will take guys of the yar. Right. We have seen
guys hambling trying to think of like devastating injuries. Tomor
is probably the best example, but that was like really extreme.
But we've seen guys like catastrophic knee injuries just go
right the ambulance, go to the hospital, right. So it's
(43:37):
I think a lot of times, like when I was
with the Eagles doctor de Luca, who's now their doctor again,
Like if you just I would just go to them
for checkups, right. Most teams have a local guy, right.
If you're the Chiefs, you have a guy from Kansas City.
If you're the Niners, you got a guy from Stanford.
And those guys handle a lot of your stuff, and
they're around on game day. They travel with the team,
(43:58):
and you know players like you can't force a guy
to get a surgery with a guy they don't want
to have surgery with. So that's what's that's what's unique. Right,
Like if I have like if my son's ten years old,
right and he's playing I was gonna say soccer, but
we ain't gonna play soccer. Let's say he's playing baseball
(44:19):
and breaks his leg sliding into second base. If we
need to get surgery on his leg, Like, I dictate
where he's getting surgery, right, get carry him to the car.
Hopefully it's too big. I can't even care because he's,
you know, burgeoning athlete. But wherever he's gonna get surgery
is gonna be. I'm gonna determine it, right. Whereas a player,
(44:39):
the team be like, hey, go talk to these guys.
But I can talk to my own people, and I
can do whatever I want. Now, I can't do something
that like, hey, I'm gonna take a different route in
a different type medicine than your idea, right. I the
equivalent of like people that have babies in a bathtub.
You know, team's gonna be like that's part the contract.
(45:00):
You can't do that. I don't mean obviously a players,
I gotta have a baby in a bathtub, but you
know what I mean, Like I'm gonna do this special
ACL surgery that's never been done before. I think the
team would push back on that, and you try to
work together like ultimately your business partners. But I do
think these situations historically, they've been complicated from time to time.
Not Mahomes necessarily, But I don't know why. I give
(45:23):
that baby example, I don't even know what the equivalent
would be, like ayahuasca. But again, teams don't even care.
I think with someone like Patrick Mahomes, they trust his agent,
they work with his agent really closely, that he has
trust in Andy and Veitch, and they just kind of
work together on it. I think sometimes you can not
(45:44):
be on the same page. And in fairness, this is
where players think that I'm getting screwed. Like you're telling
me I don't need surgery. You're like, I can't even
feel my calf right, myobo feels like it's gonna fall off.
You're like, you're good, just a couple of weeks of rehab,
and then you go to your own doctor or your
agent set you up with a doctor, or teammate set
you up with the doctor, and he's like, you need
to get this you need to get this taken care of,
(46:07):
so you can just get a lot of different opinions,
and in fairness to the players, I mean their bodies,
their livelihood, so it is pretty intense situations of like, well,
I'm gonna do what I think is best for my
body because this is the only way that like, this
is how I make money. Where if I start slipping,
you guys will cut me in a New York minute
and you won't even think twice. So it's it's pretty complicated,
(46:31):
but the MRI machine pretty sure most guys have to
go to the hospital. Audios the volume
Host
John Middlekauff
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