April 18, 2024 • 53 mins
John talks about how the NFL is such a monster in the sports world that even the draft dominates viewership over most other sporting events, and how a large reason why is because the top players getting drafted have been playing on national TV at top schools for years. John also dives into how Bill Belichick has a very bright future on TV, where Joe Alt ranks as an NFL prospect, and how the NBA has done the right thing by banning Porter for betting on the NBA.
Lastly, John answers your questions for this episode's mailbag segment.
6:25 - The NFL Draft is huge
18:12 - Belichick is great for TV
25:42 - Joe Alt's eval
30:28 - The NBA bans Porter
35:57 - Mailbag
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (01:29):
What is going on? Everybody? John Middlecop three and Out podcast.
We are officially a week away from the draft. God,
that is awesome. Time flies. I wanted to dive in
just why this thing is so popular because I, I'm sure,
like many of you, have loved this event for a
(01:50):
long long time, and I think I have a sneaky
suspicion given the quarterbacks high in this draft, given the markets,
this is going to be one of the highest rated
drafts of all time. And this event's only going to
grow and grow, and it's already massive. Belichick join McAfee
today and he displayed something that I've been saying he
(02:11):
should do for a long long time, his personality, and
wanted to dive into some thoughts there. Joe Alt the
top potential left tackle, who is a left tackle from
Notre Dame, not gonna lie. I have a little buyer
beware on the individual, and the NBA banned a guy
(02:32):
for life for gambling, and I wanted to discuss why
I think the overreaction to this is by all the
Big Jays is kind of funny. Also, the Middlecoff mailbag
at John Middlecoff is the Instagram fire in those dms,
you guys know the Drill have a lot of them.
So I'm gonna try to sort through some little backlog today.
And all of our content is up on YouTube. Three
(02:54):
and Out Go Low. We put it all up on
the YouTube channel, so go subscribe to that. If you
listen on Colin feed, you guys know the Drill, subscribe
to the three and Out podcast separately. I appreciate everyone
that has. Other than that, it's just a fun time
of year. I talked to a buddy today who's gonna
come on the podcast, probably play it on Monday or Tuesday.
(03:16):
He is going to be a big part of the
NFL Draft weekend on television, so a lot of fun
stuff coming next week. Me and Colin will obviously have
some stuff during the draft as well, So buckle up.
It's fun time, fun time a year, even though summer's
not too far away, but this kind of kicks off summer,
the draft, then the sun's out and it's hot and OTAs.
(03:41):
I don't know what I'm talking about, but first I
want to tell you about my close personal friends. Game Time.
Go to your smartphone, go to wherever you download your apps,
and download the game Time app, the official ticketing app
of this podcast. You know what the summer is fun
for doing things, getting out and about having some fun,
going to something a baseball game. Go enjoy the sun,
(04:04):
Go enjoy a beer. Do it with your friends, do
it with your wife, do it with your son. Concert
comedy shows. I got you covered. Just go to game Time.
Buy a pair of tickets wherever you live, search venues,
search where you want to go. Maybe you're on a trip,
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and so is coming to this town, to this area,
(04:25):
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Gives you site lines, price points. I cannot recommend it enough.
(04:49):
Been using it for a long time. Download the game
Time app. Promo code John. I just saw that the
WNBA was up over three hundred their draft. Obviously, Caitlin
Clark went number one. It's like she's like Bitcoin, just
keeps going up and up. Obviously, she is a very
(05:09):
unique character. Nobody relative to what just witnessed the draft. Hell,
I even watched the first couple of picks. I never
would watch the WNBA draft and I'll probably never watch
it again, but she got me there. She's an outlier.
She's a Tiger Woods. She's a Michael Jordan. Now I'm
not saying she's gonna be that as a pro, but
the hype what she has meant to her sport. Very
(05:31):
very unique character. The NFL Draft has always been a
big deal. I've loved the NFL Draft since i was
a kid. I would imagine many people listening to this
also loved it. I've never really related to like, I'm
not a college football guy. I'm only an NFL guy.
Those days are kind of dying with the I would
say explosion in popularity in college football. But I love
(05:53):
college football. I love the NFL. It's an easy transition
to watch the draft, watch the players that you have
watch four years and one thing college football has that now,
for example, basketball doesn't have is consistency. Now guys transfer,
but players have to stay in college minimum three years.
And the majority of guys that get drafted high are
(06:16):
prominent programs that are prominent on television. So we have
seen them play Michigan, Ohio State, USC, Alabama, LSU, Georgia,
you know, all Oregon, Washington, all the cast, Texas, Oklahoma,
the cast of characters. Like the top teams typically have
the most guys in the given Draft's why this year
Michigan is going to have you know, potentially seventeen eighteen
(06:38):
guys drafted. Washington could have nine to ten guys drafted.
That's thirty players from two teams that played in the
National Championship. Twenty plus million people watch the National Championship.
But I read this, my guy Ethan Strauss, who covered
the NBA for a long time and now is like
this hybrid rites about television rating, social issue. It's just fascinating. Reeves.
(07:01):
He's a very very smart guy, graduated from CALP. I've
never read anyone like him. He's got a substack. It's
the only sub stack I currently pay for, and it's
just fantastic. Every time I read it. And he wrote
recently about the kind of death of baseball, and I
think you could put on a bigger level basketball in
this that if people stop watching your regular season, you
(07:22):
can't just expect them to come when the postseason starts.
And that's you know, kind of born out these last
several years, that the diminishing product of people not watching
for five six months in the regular season, they don't
just show up in the playoffs. I love golf, absolutely
love it. I love it as much as football, the majors.
(07:43):
I like every bit as much as playoff games. I've
never been naive would be the wrong way to put it,
But I don't know arrogant enough to act like it's
any bigger than it is. It's a niche sport, always
has been. Tiger wasn't, but everyone else in my life
time definitely has been. But I enjoy it. But the
(08:03):
other day it was you know, reported that the Masters
were down twenty percent. Well, their regular tournaments have been down.
So is it that shocking that if people aren't watching
the regular events, the build up to the big events
isn't as much. I'm sure many people saw across somewhere
on social media that there was a report out there
(08:24):
that Rory turned down eight hundred and fifty million dollars. Now,
who knows if that's true. My personal take is I
think people are kind of exhausted with that conversation. Most
people are not millionaires. Most people with inflation, I mean,
are struggling to go to the grocery store and get
two meals for their family under one hundred dollars, right,
So I just think people are tired of it, and
(08:45):
it's come to fruition that less people watch the Masters.
It's not an opinion, that's a fact. Not shocked by
it at all. I watched basically every shot, but people didn't.
And I understand why what football has that these other
sports don't is we love the regular season, same thing
college football, because it builds up to the playoffs. And
(09:07):
obviously the regular season games have historic amounts of people watching,
and then the playoffs double triple that. Obviously, the Super
Bowl has always been a massive, massive event in this country.
But if you think about it, like if you're watching
a television show or watching a movie that you've never seen,
you would never just skip to the end to see
(09:28):
how the thing finishes. You want to watch it through
the build up to the ending. Same thing with a book.
You don't skip to the last twenty pages of a
book you've never read or listen to For us audio
book guys, you listen to it throughout, so the build
up of the characters, the build up of whatever you're
listening to. For the finale, however, it's going to end.
(09:48):
And that's what football has become. You have to watch
the regular season, the ebbs and the flows and people
do for the finish, right, which is the playoffs, which
is awesome because of the one and done mentality. Listen,
I'm not the biggest NBA guy anymore, but the play
in games were kind of captivating. The Laker game, in
the Warrior game, like I was interested. Why because they
(10:11):
were real stakes. But I think with the draft what
makes it fascinating is that when I was a kid,
college basketball was really big and superstar player, Shack Allen Iverson,
you name it. The overwhelming majority of guys in my
youth in the nineties didn't just play college basketball. They
played it for several years, so you knew about the
(10:34):
character and most of them played in prominent programs, so
you had a base when they were drafted. And if
you think about this upcoming draft, think about like the
top ten players were talking about. Think about Caleb Williams
has played at USC and Oklahoma. JJ McCarthy was the
starting quarterback for Jim Harbaugh and the national champion Michigan Wolverines.
(10:58):
Drake May you say, was a little un under the
radar because he played at North Carolina, but because of
the sport he plays, and we've been hearing about his
name for a couple of years. And Jane Daniels won
the Heisman Trophy at LSU. I would say a top
three or four program in the country. I'm not saying
on a given year. I'm just saying, in the totality
of college football, especially in my lifetime, three different coaches
(11:21):
have won national championships there in the last twenty years.
That's a remarkable accomplishment. Saban Eddio and Les Miles like
that is a powerhouse program. And then you just factor
in other players. Marvin Harrison junior, he's fucking Marvin Harrison's
kid and started Ohio State. Even Joe Alt, who will
(11:41):
get into was a star tackle at Notre Dame. So
you have this build up. You already know about the
characters that get inserted into the television show, which is
the NFL, so they're not just random. Now, obviously random
guys come. We see it every year in the draft,
a random fifth round or an undrafted free agents, a
(12:01):
seventh rounder that you didn't really watch in college that
played at some random school Kansas State or whatever. And
if you're not a Big twelve fan, you've never really
seen them play, and he becomes a really good player.
But for a lot of the guys, we've seen them
play in college several times. And I think that's something
the NFL has that just these other leagues. And this
is why the separation is only going to continue. So
(12:24):
there's nothing like Draft Night because it is pretty pure guys,
just your team gets to add players. It's one I
remember how we used to say this all the time.
We only have several times a year when we get
to add players. Free agency starts, the draft, and during
training camp when guys are cut, and obviously at the
end of training camp when you trim down your roster.
(12:44):
So it doesn't happen year round. Now, obviously, on the margins,
you can claim a guy or make a trade, but
for the most part, the big time to make talent
acquisition are the three moments, free agency, the draft, and
the major cutdown. So the difference here relative to the
major cutdown like a guy's getting cut here. When you
(13:04):
draft a guy in the first or second round, there's
not only hope, but it's like, damn, we just drafted
Roma doonsay the star wide receiver from Washington that I've
watched play five times? Or damn we just watched Brock Bowers,
who I know a lot about and you just can't
fake that. Getting back to Caitlin Clark, one thing she
has is we know a lot about her. We've been
(13:27):
watching her play now for a couple of years. She
has a lot of built in equity with us. Listen,
Steph Curry and the Warriors dynasty probably ended last night.
Now you could argue it was already over, but Klay Thompson,
I would say, is not going to be back on
the Warriors. But one thing that Steph had that a
lot of guys don't have anymore is when he got
(13:49):
to the Warriors. Now, no one, even the Warriors, never
thought that he would turn out to be I don't
know a top ten player of all time and one
of the most transcendent, unique talents we've ever seen any
But we all knew a lot about him because of
the NCAA tournament we had followed his career. He was
a built in character, so there was momentum building as
(14:12):
his career ascended. Going back to Michael Jordan, same thing.
The dude hit the game winning shot in the National
Championship when he was a freshman. Even Tiger Woods, you
don't have to watch amateur golf to know everyone's saying,
this guy's a can't miss gonna be one of the
all time greats. He had just won the US Amateur
three times, he had been on television show since he
(14:35):
was like three years old. People have been talking about him.
Even if you don't you can't stand golf. There wasn't
a soul of age in the late to mid nineties
that didn't know or heard of Tiger Woods. And that's
what the NFL brings us next Thursday. Is a bunch
of guys we know a lot about going to a
bunch of teams that we all watch seventeen times a year.
(14:56):
And I love this event, can never get enough of
and I just can't wait till Thursday. Another reason I
can't wait till Thursday is Belichick will be on with McAfee.
(15:17):
And I said this when Belichick didn't get the Atlanta
Falcons job, that I think Belichick won the perception of him,
let's face it, being a dictator, tough to work with,
and let's face it a lot. I don't necessarily agree
with this because I think we all can be this
way asshole, miserable, curmudgeon and listen, some of it's definitely
(15:41):
probably true, but that he just sucks and he's not
a head coach in the NFL. Now, maybe it's that
he's seventy three years old, maybe that he had to
be the GM. I don't know, but it is nuts
when you just look at the coaching picture that Bill
Belichick isn't there. He's been in the league since nineteen
seventy five, like I'm sorry, kind of knows what he's doing.
It's why I'm shorting the Patriots. I think they are
(16:03):
going to be a debacle the next couple of years.
Could be wrong. But if I had to place one
strong bet, I feel the strongest on that, and I'd
probably bet on Harbaugh and the Chargers being successful, right,
even everyone betting on the Bears, I wouldn't feel great
about it. Their history would show it's still pretty risky.
But I think you saw if you go, and I
(16:24):
would recommend this because the bellcheck we got forever in
the press conferences when he was wearing a hoodie New
England Patriot or his classic like kind of blue button
up and he said nothing. And he was mostly pretty
awful in those press conferences, besides when he'd randomly get
asked about a special team player, or he'd go on
some long, you know, diatribe about how the winless whatever
(16:49):
team he was playing in December, actually has a lot
of talent, and everyone would make fun of him. He
has a big personality. And I've been you know, no
people that have not only worked there, that have played there,
and they're like the guy that you see off camera
dealing with us is a lot different than the guy
that you just see in the fifteen minute snippets of
the press conferences. It's why I was a big believer
(17:12):
in the easiest way to change his perception. Now, maybe
he's a lock to get a job next year, maybe
he's not. I mean, he just had his birthdays he's
gonna be seventy four next year. I mean, that's I'm sorry.
Even though coaches are definitely younger than the majority of
like seventy four year olds, just because they spend most
of their time around younger people, there's a vibe like
Pete Carroll's the same age. They don't feel that old
(17:34):
when you hear them talk. But I probably not a
shoein is to find a way on the Amazon broadcast.
He is too good to be on pregame shows. That's
a waste. Reality is I'm not watching that, and neither
are most owners. Why their team is at a game,
but there are two games that every owner watches, every
owner beside the two playing in the game. That's Thursday
(17:57):
night and Monday night, even night. A lot of the
league is traveling back and not able to watch the game,
but every owner and every decision maker is at home
on Thursday night and Monday night. Well, Monday night's set.
They gave one hundred and fifty million dollars to buckan Akman.
That was the right move, but Thursday night, let's face
(18:17):
it is not. I've said forever. Kirk kurb Street's the
stud love him. On college football, I don't think he's
that great. Him and now don't have great chemistry. If
I was a Amazon, I would be all over Belichick
and try to get him involved in that broadcast. And
I also think Bill, like if you watch him on
mcafeel like, he's kind of a different guy. Now. I'm
not saying he's mister Lucy Goosey. He's not mister politician there,
(18:41):
but he's very easy to watch and his depth of
knowledge is insane. Matt Ruhle, who listen. We can say
what we want about Matt rules the NFL coach. It
was a debacle. He's a good college coach. He is.
I would imagine Nebraska in the next couple of years
is going to be much more competitive. Are they ever
going to be a playoff team? I don't know, but
they are much more likely to win eight to nine
(19:03):
games in the near future than they are to be
some shit team in which they've been. Matt Ruhle said
that he had Bill come to their operation and spend
a day with the coaches. He said, I don't know
if he was in the front of the room, back
of the room when he was talking. I don't know
if he was talking to the entire group, or just
the defense that Matt Rule said he was embarrassed. I
(19:23):
was embarrassed that I'm a head coach and I don't
know a tenth of what this guy is talking about.
That's how crazy, how much this guy knows the only
way for Bill to give that to the ownership is
to put it on display. And I just hope it
doesn't seem like it's going to happen, but I think
(19:45):
that would have been the move. There was another story
that came out today. I think there was a long
like one of those classic big Jay Wickersham does a
really good job like the ESPN guys. Basically one of
the lines about Belichick and the hiring process and how
he didn't get the Atlanta job and how it kind
of ended in New England is that Bob and definitely
Jonathan Craft bad moutholm to Arthur Smith. Now listen, anytimes
(20:10):
things end in football, in any business with rich, big
ego guys, it's gonna be ugly. I've defended Bill like
I understand Robert Craft. You can have any opinion you want.
You figured out a way to start from nothing, make money,
buy the team, and you hired Belichick Jonathan Craft inherited
(20:34):
this entire life, which I'm not one of those people
that like looks down on people just because they're born
into a situation. Right. I've known a lot of people
born in situations that are very capable. Right, I've known
a lot of people not born in the situations that
aren't capable to fucking walk a dog across the street.
So where you're born, like I, successful people can come
(20:54):
from all walks of life. Peyton Manning was born rich,
Steph Curry was born rich. Listen, there are gonna be
a lot of owners that you know, take over in
the NFL that are impressive, guys that their fathers made
the money, and then they are gonna be guys that
are kind of clowns. I don't blame Belichick for not
respecting that guy. I'm not a big Jonathan Craft guy.
(21:17):
Just from reading things about him, watching the documentary that felt,
you know, his dad's eighty plus years old, it does
feel a little bit like Jonathan Craft has a bandet
against Belichick. And one of the things that said in
there is he basically bad mouth Belichick to Arthur Smith
to essentially not hire the guy. I would say this
the Patriot dynasty and their wealth. A large percentage of
(21:42):
their name power has come from the success of the
football team, which we know they had absolutely nothing to
do with. They've even admitted we never told Bill what
to do, even with Brady. The one time they kind
of like, you got to you gotta trade Jimmy Garoppolo.
But they ended up a couple years later letting Brady walk. Anyway,
they gave this guy carte blanche to be in full control,
(22:05):
and he made that family name not only very famous,
not only very successful, but an NFL champ with Tom
over and over and over again. So if I'm Bill
like and it's obviously just based on his coaching history,
he can be very spiteful. He can be very petty.
I would hate those guys, specifically the kid I already
(22:28):
didn't respect him. I would have a vandetta and revenge
of doing everything possible to get back in the league
so I could play that guy again. Because the Patriots,
i think the other day, tweeted out Happy Birthday, Bill.
It's like, guys, you guys are trying a little too hard.
I wanted to dive in really quick that I'm not
going to break down the offensive lineman, like the defensive linemen,
(22:50):
the quarterbacks and the wide receivers. But I do think
joelt is really interesting. Now full disclosure, I don't love
six eight and above tackles. That's a little tall for
my taste. I like my tackle to be in the
six ' five, six four and a half, maybe six six,
like that's kind of the prime range. The Trent Williams,
(23:11):
the Lane Johnson's, Jason Peters, Tyrone Smith. I'm not looking
for a power forward in the NBA here in twenty
twenty four. That's really a center. But you know what
I mean. And everyone widely kind of universally feels to consider.
And I've even texted somebodies that have h is the
number one tackle in the NFL or in the draft,
and they think he's like borderline can't miss prospect. I
(23:33):
don't know. I think you are at a huge advantage
when you are six eight plus going up against these
pass rushers because all the edge guys can, all the
good ones can bend, get low and use leverage against tackles.
So when you're six eight six ' nine, the ability
(23:54):
to bend down to their level is difficult. That extra
couple inches is a disadvantage. And listen, I know this
guy's a good athlete. But in twenty eighteen, there were
two tackles drafted really high. The San Fransco forty nine
Ers took Mike McGlinchey, an All American team captain from
Notre Dame, and the Oakland Raiders, who wanted mcglinche. Remember
(24:17):
there was a coin flip at the combine between John
Lynch and John Gruden. I attended that coin flip. The
Niners won, and the Raiders were sitting there at ten.
Ultimately traded back with the Arizona Cardinals and they ended
up getting Josh Rosen and they drafted Colton Miller at fifteen.
It is inarguable that the Raiders got very lucky, and
(24:39):
Colton Miller is a dramatically better player than McGlinchey. Mcglinch's
a starter. Somehow he found a way to get Sean
Payton to give him eighty million dollars, which I thought
was easily the worst free agent contract last season. But
here's mcglinchey's problem. Not a great athlete and like these
other guys, really tall, he really really struggles in past protection.
(25:03):
Now McGlinchey is a good run blocker. But I don't
pay tackles to run block. I pay them to protect
the most important asset in my building, the quarterback in
passing situations, and McGlinchey is a massive red flag in
that situation. Colton Miller, who is a much better athlete
(25:25):
foot athlete, straight line, speed athlete movement wise, has become
I don't want to say a high end left tackle,
but a very very good starter someone. It could be
your starting left tackle for a decade plus and he's
scheduled to be that for the Raiders, and he's a
way better athlete now. I texted a buddy who his team.
Some people think this is going to be very interested
(25:47):
in Joel and he's like, we worked we worked him out,
and he's like, I hear what you're saying. I think
his bend and movement ability is actually pretty good. I
just think this that you get McGlinchey, it's not the
end of the world. You get a starter. I saw
a scout told Zerline, who my guy who's great at
Comps Compton and McGlinchey. He's like, I don't like that
(26:09):
comp as much. I like Eric Fisher, who was also
told not quite six ' eight six seven and a
half and ended up playing for the Chiefs from twenty
thirteen to twenty twenty. Had a long career in the
NFL before his body gave out. But if you're taking
Eric Fisher or mcglinchy in the top ten, I don't
know if you love that. Now, if best case scenario
(26:29):
you get Colton Miller, great, and you know where I stand.
You swing for the fences, you hope for best case scenario.
I just think that this guy has a lot of
potential downside in a league that has never had the
abundance of elite pass rushers, most teams have multiple Most
(26:49):
teams have defensive tackles that are now six four to
sixty five. They could rush the passer that you can
kick out to the edges and you don't have a
shot in hell. I remember the Rams against the Niners
used to kick out sometimes Aaron Donald to end over McGlinchey.
I was like, good luck, and he couldn't block them.
Now you can say Aaron Donald's one of the great
pass rushers of all time. Fine, then how many teams
(27:11):
in the league have elite defensive tackles Those smaller guys
you can't touch them. So I'm not saying this guy's
gonna be bad. I'm not saying this guy is not
a good prospect. I'm just saying, for me, six ' eight,
six ' nine tackles are massive, massive buyer bewares send
on this. The NBA banned this dude for life for
(27:33):
gambling Michael Porter's brother, who's a nobody two way contract
irrelevant player. But I have read more articles every time
I see a big jay writing about gambling. I just
read it. I kind of hate read it. It's kind
of sick. Probably shouldn't do it. But my overall take
is when media people talk about gambling, I would imagine
(27:57):
ninety five percent of media people not only I've never
made a bet, would never make a bet no matter
how much money they make. It's not really the way
they're wired. Most of those guys, let's face it. I
mean I saw a lot of their tweets over the
last especially when COVID happened. Their level of risk is
(28:20):
much smaller than every human I've ever met, Like, it's
really really low. So and I've always thought this about
media people who can be very anti business, and a
lot of them again because of Twitter, you can just
see their beliefs. Don't really understand it. When you cover
billion dollar industries, it's almost like, shouldn't you guys take
(28:41):
some like business courses or be forced to listen to
podcasts to kind of understand the way money works. But
that's a whole separate conversation. My point is with gambling,
this one isn't that complicated. The guy bet on his
own team to lose. There are some things that I understand,
like an NFL team and NBA team, a Major League
(29:01):
Baseball team, Like, hey, listen, guys, we're on business with gambling.
We're all profiting from this. But there are some rules
a little convoluted, but you're just not allowed to bet
from the facility. Obviously, you can't bet on this sport
or college sports. You can bet on the other leagues.
You just can't bet from the confines. Like you'd have
to hammer those homes. You would have to make sure
(29:22):
you consistently win over those. But I think gambling on
your own team to lose, I don't think anyone would
ever have to say that out loud. Like drugs are
legal in California, crack is basically legal. We all know
don't do crack. I don't need to tell my team, hey,
can't bet on us to lose, Like, no shit, this
(29:46):
guy is a fucking moron. And also like this guy
you could argue is just a bad guy. And you
could say, well, playing for the Raptors, they lose a lot,
of course, like it's actually probably not a bad bet,
but betting on your team to lose, there's nothing worse.
And I have been lucky enough to be around a
lot of athletes, definitely in these situations from a team,
(30:07):
I don't think anyone thinks like that. I don't think
I think such an outlier of someone willing to do that.
You know, back the famous story of the Black Socks
when they threw the World Series. Those case doesn't have
any money. I mean, the average player in the NFL
now makes millions of dollars. That's why the check said
on this podcast the other day, like the bookie, one
(30:29):
of the major gamblers in America, like twenty years ago,
told me, yeah, I can't afford to buy players. You
guys all make too much cash. But I can buy
the referees. You can't buy someone. I also think it's
just common sense, like, don't do crack. Don't bet against
your own team, Like, no shit, If I have to
tell you that you should not be on my team,
(30:52):
you're complete more on and you will lose me games.
Obviously you might be trying because you're throwing the game.
But I maybe I'm naive. I truly don't believe there
is anyone in the NFL who wouldn't say, like, yeah,
that's wrong. Even if that guy knows, like, hey, we're
playing we're the worst team in the league and we're
playing the best team the league, we're probably gonna lose.
(31:13):
They would not bet on their own team to lose.
I feel very confident about that. Okay, let's dive it
in Middlecoff mailbag. Very very very easy to get involved.
Fire into my dms at John Middlecoff at John Middlecoff
(31:36):
DM's wide open. Hit me up with a question. Mike
Reggie did high from Australia. Ozios. Good work on the
NFL on changing the kickoff rules every play should matter.
Do you think the league will ever do away with
my pet peeve taking a knee running the clock down
to end the game. A league that's so proactive to
(31:58):
change to better the game. But let's games finish like this,
I can't fathom. I know the league purists will sprout
bullshit why it's part of the game, but I'll disagree
every day twice on Sundays again, every play should matter.
Have they ever tried that in the past? Maybe bit harsh,
but watching quarterback take a knead and celebrate a win
(32:20):
while the clock still hasn't run out feels like the
equivalent of a soccer player rolling around faking an injury.
Cheers and go Niners. I'm gonna disagree with you. It
usually happens under the two minute warning with a team
up and the other team can't stop. You know, I
think there's fifty eight minutes action, maybe a minute you know,
left in the game, So fifty nine minutes action, like
(32:41):
you've had your opportunity. I'm not bothered by it. I
was always more bothered. Remember when Greg Chiano rushed? Was
it the giants on the victory formation? That that was
pretty low level. That's why Shehianu. I love it when
media is like, remember when Shiano shuld have got the
he had a see job. No, he shouldn't have. Shiono
(33:02):
would have been eaten alive in the South guy is
such a clown. He belongs to Ruckers and it's a
good spot for him. But I'm going to disagree. I
don't have any issue with it. You know, many call
it the greatest formation in football, the victory formation. I
think what it represents like we've won the game. We
won the game, right. It's like trying to think what
(33:26):
older people play, like if you play golf like you're
up three with two to go, you're playing match play
against somebody, like you don't need to play anymore. It's
over in basketball, like you skunk a guy in a
pickup game. I have no problem with it. With the
Rashid Rice incident going around and takes of him possibly
(33:48):
missing games, I want to get your thoughts on the
NFL shifting the games that players miss from just being
the next games up on the schedule to instead having
the players miss the games at the end of the season.
I feel like a player missing weeks one to three
is kind of a weak punishment. The games at the
end of the season tend to be much more impactful.
(34:10):
What if we did this, I got one for you.
I don't know how many games are gonna get spended.
My let's just guess four. Let's say the guy's gonna
get suspended four games for going seven hundred million miles
an hour and easily endangering people's lives on the freeway
in Dallas, could have killed people. There's no crazy part
about this situation is Henry Ruggs. We don't know if
(34:34):
this guy was drunk because he fucking left the scene.
But like, let's use some common sense. Why the hell
would you leave a scene when everyone's gonna know what's
your car? Or you rented the car? Like I wasn't
born yesterday. I've had my fair share of cocktails over
the years. Like let's or maybe you're high as hell.
But if he killed someone, his career is over. But
(34:54):
because no one gets hurt, he's just gonna get in trouble.
That's the way the world works. I mean, it's it's sad,
but it's just reality. What if we had a lottery,
then basically you get a four game suspension and it's
like a lottery. You could basically spin a wheel like
the price is right, or maybe you go lottery like
the NBA Draft and it's just on there. Weeks one
(35:15):
to four, weeks five to eight. Is that way? And
they broadcast it or they tweet it out, I'd watch.
I hear you though, I like that thinking inside the
box A little bit question for the pod. Kansas City
recently declined to pay for a new stadium. To me,
(35:35):
it was not surprising in these inflationary times. I think
the owners a little cheap too. But I feel like
this has a little to do with the NFLPA grades
that came out and gave the Chiefs a very underwhelming score. Overall,
I understand the owners asking to have the stadium paid
for by people in taxes from the owner's perspective, but overall,
asking for a stadium while giving little in return for
(35:57):
the players who earned the Lombardes insulting to the NFL fans.
Viewers will always side with the players, and I'm glad
the people of Kansas City decline for the new stadium.
What are your thoughts? I think I've talked about this before. Overall,
I just don't care about this story that much. Like
I understand why owners ask they want a new stadium,
They're gonna have to pay for it the nfl PA grades.
(36:21):
You know, it's kind of an older stadium. I don't know.
I've never been to the Chiefs player locker room, so
it's like, it's hard for me to have an opinion.
Like God, it's because here's the thing. If we all
spend a week, let's say, with the three teams grade
of the lowest, like the Cardinals, if you just spend
a time in their cafeteria, saw their operation, you would
leave and go, God, what a low level operation. Anyone
(36:43):
that's worked multiple jobs, you go one place, you're like, God,
this pretty high high level people is impressive. And then
you go to another company or change industries, you're like, God,
these there's a lot of morons here, these people. I'm
working for a guy that is an idiot. So until
you're in a spot, I would say, it's hard to judge.
(37:04):
I also think my overall take, and I think I've
said this before, most of these players are coming from
college where they're not only recruiting you out of high school,
they're not recruiting you on your once you're on the team.
Because of the portal. Is these lavish situations all over
the country. It's not just the high end schools. It's
like every Power five school has I don't want to
(37:28):
say elite facilities, but pretty high end facilities, and then
you go to the pros like they're not recruiting yet
they recruit you with money. So I I just it's
hard for me to go, well, you're bitching a moment
about the chairs. Now, I'd also understand, like I only
worked for one NFL team, and Jeffrey Luriy did everything
humanly possible to make sure the players were taken care of.
(37:48):
Because if the players were in good spirits, if they
feel comfortable, if they like coming to work, ideally they're
gonna play better. We wouldn't it be pretty easy for
Clark Hunt to go They've been playing for good to
what I've provided. So I, unless you saw it, I
guess it's just it's hard to have, like some hardcore opinion. Hello,
(38:10):
believe it or not, this is not a husband or
girlfriend using an account, but actually a lady yourself. I
listened a three and out, so hello from your what
would be one percent demo might be a little higher
in one, but it's pretty low, might even be under one. Anyways.
I love sports, and as a lady, I also love
(38:31):
women's sports and try and hype it up whenever possible,
So I very much appreciate you calling out the massive
uptick in viewership and the interest in the NCAA tournament.
I agree with you that the reason why there is
an uptick in popularity is because of the star power
of some of these women have earned throughout their talent.
It is the voices like yours that make someone from
(38:52):
being on the edge of watching women's sports to actually
sitting down and watching a game, especially on our US
women's national team. Well, I think the US women's national
team is a little different. I think they have been
a powerhouse for so long and we followed you know,
college basketball women's like Gino and pat Summit in Tennessee
(39:14):
and Yukon Like I watched them when I was young.
I paid attention, not like watched all their games, but
you paid attention to them because they'd have years where
they were like undefeated. But obviously there's a lot of
talent in college basketball for women's you know, all the
girls that were drafted high, a lot of them played
at the best programs. But this is a Kaitlyn Clark story.
(39:35):
She's the one. If Kaitlyn Clark didn't exist, I think
the ratings would have been higher. But she is like
I don't know, like Steph Curry or something. She's an outlier.
But I appreciate you because I don't think just because
I said, hey, I watched the women's game, would other
people watch it? I don't know, But like I've said,
(39:56):
I only watched it because of her. She's the only reason.
If she hadn't exist, I would not have watched it.
How I almost put one thousand dollars on them to
win the national championship because they were like a two
and a half one underdog. Glad I didn't they got worked.
Listening to people talk about Harbaugh talk up JJ as
much as he is, something jumped into my mind. What
(40:18):
are your thoughts on that Harbaugh knows JJ's the real
deal and is trying to push up his stock so
that he's gone before he gets to Denver and or
Oakland and has the ability to get him in the draft.
If he's gone by three or four, then he doesn't
have to worry about facing him twice a year. I
think you're already like two steps forward. I think he
(40:39):
just legitimately, on the surface, believes in the guy. How
would he not the guy? I mean had two of
the most powerful years of the guy's twenty plus year
coaching career. They won a national championship at Michigan, which
obviously Harbaugh is as Michigan man as you can get,
and finally won him a championship as a coach. So
(41:01):
I think when he's hyping them up, if you've watched
the Chargers are producing, it's crazy to go from Brandon Staley,
who was a fucking laughingstock that nobody respected as a fan,
and obviously he unraveled under the pressure, to go to
Jim Harball. Their social media team and their content has
(41:22):
always been good with the Chargers, and now Jim because
of where he's at in life, I don't think pushes
back against any of that. They did three five minutes
he went to the Michigan Pro Day and the video
is fantastic, and then they did like five minutes of
him and Greg Roman that live in an RV park
right now. It is incredible, Jim. To go from Brandon
(41:44):
Staley to Jim Harball would be like go from making
like fifty grand, struggling just keeping your head above water,
just going through the grind, to all of a sudden
making like ten million dollars. That's what it has to feel.
Like if you're just around the Chargers, if you're a Charger,
if you're a Charger player, to have that change and
just in terms of what it will do for their brand.
(42:07):
But back to Harby, I think he just truly believes that.
I don't think he's making it up. I think he
believes that to his score, the JJ McCarthy's the real
deal because he just experienced him being the real deal.
When Jim harbaughs his career wasn't on the line, but
like his career legacy was kind of on the line,
(42:29):
Like he's gonna lose to this Nick Saban team in
the Rose Bowl as a big favorite, and then JJ
leads him on a game winning drive, one of the
biggest drives of his career. Currently deployed in the Middle East.
Appreciate your service and your podcast is the best thing
keeping me and my crew updated on football. I wanted
to know what's the best draft pick that you helped
(42:50):
scout when you were with the Eagles. None. They didn't
listen to me. When I started doing college Chip came in.
He definitely didn't listen to me. Told him not to
draft Matt Barkley took hi Matt Barkley. When you're at
the bottom of the totem poll and you get a
coach that doesn't like you, might as well just burn
my reports. Did all that work for nothing, but it
(43:10):
led me in a weird way to Colin Coward. Now
I'm here, So thank you Chip Kelly, who I saw
that he ran the triple wing the other day at
Ohio State. And listen, I respect Ohio State the program.
I really do like you're one of the best programs
in all of college sports consistently. Not the biggest. Ryan
Day guy. I think Chip Kelly's going to be a disaster,
(43:32):
and you should be very, very thankful that Jim left,
because if Jim had stayed, all those guys wo be
getting fired. Get your ass kicked again. I don't care
how much money you're paying for players. Jim Harbaugh was
never losing to Ryan Day ever. Again, it's like when
Jim showed up and erber Meyer kicked his ass, That's
what was about to become, especially with Chip Kelly rolling
in then Harbaugh's defense. Give me a break. Love the show,
(43:55):
long stuffering Jets fan. The team is all in with
a forty year old quarterback accumulating talent but injury prone
older guys to go along with younger studs Garrett Wilson,
Breese Hall and a young talented defense. You mentioned it's
an approach to team building that doesn't happen much anymore
and probably won't work due to the injury risks. I
see your point. But recently the Buccaneers acquired an aging
(44:17):
quarterback surrounded him with vets Antonio Brown, Gronk Fournette, studs
Evans and Godwin with young talented defense. So what difference
about the Bucks approach? Well, Tom was healthy one. The
core of the Bucks dramatically better. I mean, Mike Evans,
borderline Hall of Famer already on the team, Vida Veya.
(44:40):
They draft Evan White immediately. Their offensive line was good.
They draft worfs in whatever twenty twenty star Ali Marpett,
who recently retired was really good. The center whose name
is escaping me was really good. They had Donovan Smith there,
who was the worst offensive line I mean, who just
(45:00):
started for the Chiefs. So their team was just better.
Another curveball, they had Bruce Arians. I got news for you.
Bruce Arians is running circles around Robert Sola as the
head coach, and I like Robert Solo. I actually had
this thought when I was watching the Warriors because Klay
Thompson's kind of done. He's just not the same player.
(45:23):
And I'm not comparing Klay Thompson to Aaron Rodgers because
Aaron at his sport is better than Clay. Right, Clay's
not the number one. Aaron's, you know, the equivalent of
a number one, But like when it starts going physically,
it's never quite the same. And I just think the
likelihood that he's gonna have a successful year at forty
(45:47):
years old coming off in Achilles, separate from all these
other players that have their own issues, you know, injury wise.
I just have a hard time believe in that. I
also think he showed us two years ago he was
bad with the Packers. I got Packers teams good. We
saw Jordan Love second half the season was excellent. So
what if Aaron Rodgers just half as good as he
(46:08):
once was or seventy five percent, and he's like the
twelfth best quarterback. Your coaching staff isn't good enough. The
Jets had Bruce Arians and Todd Bowles as the defensive coordinator.
I just don't think you're as good coaching wise on
my girlfriend's instagram from Ellie. But this isn't Ellie. I
(46:32):
don't know. Why does nobody question Malcolm Butler about being
benched in the Eagles pat Super Bowl. I mean, come on, John,
this guy pretending to not know is more frustrating the
bill not saying anything about it. Malcolm knows why. I agree.
I would die on this hill. I have a hard time.
(46:53):
I don't believe. I do not believe, under no circumstances,
that the guy just played all season long. I remember
it was like whatever percentage of the snaps. I don't
think it was one hundred, but it was damn high.
He's a full time starter. Super Bowl comes and he's
just benched. He's like, I got no clue what happened? Right,
I would say most times in life, the majority of
(47:16):
times in life, the majority of times in life. You know,
when before you break up, like yeah, you know she's
not that into you, or maybe you're not that into her.
I've been fired from a job. I can see it coming.
I knew it was gonna happen, like this ain't good.
Something's off. I've been in trouble when I was a
(47:37):
kid a lot with my parents. This guy didn't do it, Like, yeah,
I knew I did it. There is I see under
no circumstances. Think about Belichick. Belichick will trade you without
telling you. Belichick will make harsh personnel moves, but he's
never made a move like that, and historically he's always
bench guys Like yeah, Chayla Jones got traded. Shouldn't have
(48:01):
gone in Stone to that up jail or precinct and
spoke with the cops. Right, could have saw that one coming.
Remember that running back they had. I forget his name,
but he was like an undrafted free agent, played for
Belichick and had a huge Monday night football game, and
(48:21):
then like the next week, like on Wednesday, he was
five minutes late for a meeting and I think a
couple weeks later was cut. I might be misremembering this.
Maybe he was benched cut I waved a couple weeks later.
For the most part, Belichick hasn't done things of like
why would he do that? In terms of guys playing
in a game, I see under no circumstance that Malcolm
(48:46):
Butler can't hasn't told his friends, his wife, like what
really happened? I don't believe it. Maybe the other players
on the team don't know. I can't see you just
coming out of note. I'm just betching him why. I
just got feel, just a gut feel. I don't know. Bullshit,
I'm with you. That play though, when he made the pick.
(49:09):
What an incredible interception really is? Certain plays in sports
like I just never get tired of watching that play.
I think that's the best Super Bowl play of all
time that if I just watch, it's like I never
get tired of watching it. The other one is James
Harrison when he picked off Kurt Warner and took it
(49:30):
back and Larry Fitzgerald went out of bounds and was
like we even in and out of people and ended
up tackling him into the end zone. That would be
I'd put that even above David Tyree, cause the David
Tyree we've seen weird catches. Julio had won a Super Bowl,
Edelman had won a Super Bowl. I would say the
Malcolm Butler thing is one of those plays that every
(49:51):
time you're like, holy shit, love the pod, watch all
your videos. I'm twenty four year old serving active duty
in the military. We appreciate your service. I've always had
a passion for sports and team, especially football. I'm a
junkie through and through. I want to work in the
front office one day. I plan on going to college
(50:11):
after a military to pursue my passion in scouting. US
government better pay for that, bitch. I'm learning how to
break down all twenty two film on my off time
and essentially making it my lifestyle. I'm obsessed. I have
a connection with a Division I school in Big Ten
that I may be able to get my foot in
the door. Any recommendations on majors for what career path
(50:35):
and advice on the journey, I would say your major
is pretty relevant. I would recommend if you're gung gung
ho dead set on working in football, take the easiest
major possible, just because you can dedicate more time to football.
There's no point in trying to be like a architectural
(50:56):
engineer and spending all your time in the library and
not able to do football stuff. Now, if you can
be a business major, that always makes the most sense.
But I worked with people with all sorts of majors
it doesn't matter, so I would say just I would
recommend getting the easiest major possible. If under no circumstances.
(51:17):
You're not going to do everything humanly possible to do
football as a full time career path. Business, you know,
just a basic finance degree. But if you don't like business,
then it may be hard. I would communications one of
those degrees that everyone on TikTok, you know, liberal arts
that everyone on TikTok complains about I can't get a job. Well, yeah,
(51:38):
no shit. I'd also argue, like, who would a degree
even matter? I got like three degrees. They don't mean
they do nothing too Actually state schools, you know, not
exactly Harvard grad, but I mean, i'd say that's been
diminished a little lately. As an avid sports card collector,
which young quarterback has the highest upside in the NFL
(51:58):
at the moment could be a starng or non starter.
It's a good question. You would have to take someone
off the beaten path. Like what if this Tennessee crew
like Brian Callahan make Will Levis into a player and
then all of a sudden he's good. I'm looking at
(52:19):
value here, like Will Levis, you get his card for
nothing right now? What if you just look up in
a couple of years and he's like a legit starter.
Trying to think this draft would probably be Jaden Daniels,
Like what if he goes to Washington becomes a star.
What if he's like this dynamic player, He's like Lamar
lte JJ McCarthy trying to think, let's go Daniel Jones.
(52:43):
Hell no, we have a lot of established veterans. Probably
buy low on Bryce Young though I think that'd probably
be a waste of money. I would say Levis would
just be a good like, you know, throw a little
cash in see if it pops, hoping for like a
ten bagger, and if it doesn't, whatever, didn't cost you much.
(53:04):
Because don't think how many quarterbacks are like Baker, Derek Carr, Cousins,
Dak like they kind of are who they are party.
But I don't know the card market. I'm not a
big card guy. It's pretty cheap. Like what if Perdy
becomes a superstar? I guess that would be one. I mean,
he's already damn good player, but like, what if he
(53:25):
does this for the next ten years, Because if he does,
then he'll be you know, if you as one of
the best quarterbacks in the league for a long period
of time, that's probably where I'd go I would say
just low, low budget flyer Will Levis. Party would be
just kind of betting on this guy just becoming a
consistent star in the NFL. The volume
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Speaker 1 (01:29):
What is going on? Everybody? John Middlecop three and Out podcast.
We are officially a week away from the draft. God,
that is awesome. Time flies. I wanted to dive in
just why this thing is so popular because I, I'm sure,
like many of you, have loved this event for a
(01:50):
long long time, and I think I have a sneaky
suspicion given the quarterbacks high in this draft, given the markets,
this is going to be one of the highest rated
drafts of all time. And this event's only going to
grow and grow, and it's already massive. Belichick join McAfee
today and he displayed something that I've been saying he
(02:11):
should do for a long long time, his personality, and
wanted to dive into some thoughts there. Joe Alt the
top potential left tackle, who is a left tackle from
Notre Dame, not gonna lie. I have a little buyer
beware on the individual, and the NBA banned a guy
(02:32):
for life for gambling, and I wanted to discuss why
I think the overreaction to this is by all the
Big Jays is kind of funny. Also, the Middlecoff mailbag
at John Middlecoff is the Instagram fire in those dms,
you guys know the Drill have a lot of them.
So I'm gonna try to sort through some little backlog today.
And all of our content is up on YouTube. Three
(02:54):
and Out Go Low. We put it all up on
the YouTube channel, so go subscribe to that. If you
listen on Colin feed, you guys know the Drill, subscribe
to the three and Out podcast separately. I appreciate everyone
that has. Other than that, it's just a fun time
of year. I talked to a buddy today who's gonna
come on the podcast, probably play it on Monday or Tuesday.
(03:16):
He is going to be a big part of the
NFL Draft weekend on television, so a lot of fun
stuff coming next week. Me and Colin will obviously have
some stuff during the draft as well, So buckle up.
It's fun time, fun time a year, even though summer's
not too far away, but this kind of kicks off summer,
the draft, then the sun's out and it's hot and OTAs.
(03:41):
I don't know what I'm talking about, but first I
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going to something a baseball game. Go enjoy the sun,
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Very very easy to use. You can search by venue,
you can search by artists, you can search by team.
Gives you site lines, price points. I cannot recommend it enough.
(04:49):
Been using it for a long time. Download the game
Time app. Promo code John. I just saw that the
WNBA was up over three hundred their draft. Obviously, Caitlin
Clark went number one. It's like she's like Bitcoin, just
keeps going up and up. Obviously, she is a very
(05:09):
unique character. Nobody relative to what just witnessed the draft. Hell,
I even watched the first couple of picks. I never
would watch the WNBA draft and I'll probably never watch
it again, but she got me there. She's an outlier.
She's a Tiger Woods. She's a Michael Jordan. Now I'm
not saying she's gonna be that as a pro, but
the hype what she has meant to her sport. Very
(05:31):
very unique character. The NFL Draft has always been a
big deal. I've loved the NFL Draft since i was
a kid. I would imagine many people listening to this
also loved it. I've never really related to like, I'm
not a college football guy. I'm only an NFL guy.
Those days are kind of dying with the I would
say explosion in popularity in college football. But I love
(05:53):
college football. I love the NFL. It's an easy transition
to watch the draft, watch the players that you have
watch four years and one thing college football has that now,
for example, basketball doesn't have is consistency. Now guys transfer,
but players have to stay in college minimum three years.
And the majority of guys that get drafted high are
(06:16):
prominent programs that are prominent on television. So we have
seen them play Michigan, Ohio State, USC, Alabama, LSU, Georgia,
you know, all Oregon, Washington, all the cast, Texas, Oklahoma,
the cast of characters. Like the top teams typically have
the most guys in the given Draft's why this year
Michigan is going to have you know, potentially seventeen eighteen
(06:38):
guys drafted. Washington could have nine to ten guys drafted.
That's thirty players from two teams that played in the
National Championship. Twenty plus million people watch the National Championship.
But I read this, my guy Ethan Strauss, who covered
the NBA for a long time and now is like
this hybrid rites about television rating, social issue. It's just fascinating. Reeves.
(07:01):
He's a very very smart guy, graduated from CALP. I've
never read anyone like him. He's got a substack. It's
the only sub stack I currently pay for, and it's
just fantastic. Every time I read it. And he wrote
recently about the kind of death of baseball, and I
think you could put on a bigger level basketball in
this that if people stop watching your regular season, you
(07:22):
can't just expect them to come when the postseason starts.
And that's you know, kind of born out these last
several years, that the diminishing product of people not watching
for five six months in the regular season, they don't
just show up in the playoffs. I love golf, absolutely
love it. I love it as much as football, the majors.
(07:43):
I like every bit as much as playoff games. I've
never been naive would be the wrong way to put it,
But I don't know arrogant enough to act like it's
any bigger than it is. It's a niche sport, always
has been. Tiger wasn't, but everyone else in my life
time definitely has been. But I enjoy it. But the
(08:03):
other day it was you know, reported that the Masters
were down twenty percent. Well, their regular tournaments have been down.
So is it that shocking that if people aren't watching
the regular events, the build up to the big events
isn't as much. I'm sure many people saw across somewhere
on social media that there was a report out there
(08:24):
that Rory turned down eight hundred and fifty million dollars. Now,
who knows if that's true. My personal take is I
think people are kind of exhausted with that conversation. Most
people are not millionaires. Most people with inflation, I mean,
are struggling to go to the grocery store and get
two meals for their family under one hundred dollars, right,
So I just think people are tired of it, and
(08:45):
it's come to fruition that less people watch the Masters.
It's not an opinion, that's a fact. Not shocked by
it at all. I watched basically every shot, but people didn't.
And I understand why what football has that these other
sports don't is we love the regular season, same thing
college football, because it builds up to the playoffs. And
(09:07):
obviously the regular season games have historic amounts of people watching,
and then the playoffs double triple that. Obviously, the Super
Bowl has always been a massive, massive event in this country.
But if you think about it, like if you're watching
a television show or watching a movie that you've never seen,
you would never just skip to the end to see
(09:28):
how the thing finishes. You want to watch it through
the build up to the ending. Same thing with a book.
You don't skip to the last twenty pages of a
book you've never read or listen to For us audio
book guys, you listen to it throughout, so the build
up of the characters, the build up of whatever you're
listening to. For the finale, however, it's going to end.
(09:48):
And that's what football has become. You have to watch
the regular season, the ebbs and the flows and people
do for the finish, right, which is the playoffs, which
is awesome because of the one and done mentality. Listen,
I'm not the biggest NBA guy anymore, but the play
in games were kind of captivating. The Laker game, in
the Warrior game, like I was interested. Why because they
(10:11):
were real stakes. But I think with the draft what
makes it fascinating is that when I was a kid,
college basketball was really big and superstar player, Shack Allen Iverson,
you name it. The overwhelming majority of guys in my
youth in the nineties didn't just play college basketball. They
played it for several years, so you knew about the
(10:34):
character and most of them played in prominent programs, so
you had a base when they were drafted. And if
you think about this upcoming draft, think about like the
top ten players were talking about. Think about Caleb Williams
has played at USC and Oklahoma. JJ McCarthy was the
starting quarterback for Jim Harbaugh and the national champion Michigan Wolverines.
(10:58):
Drake May you say, was a little un under the
radar because he played at North Carolina, but because of
the sport he plays, and we've been hearing about his
name for a couple of years. And Jane Daniels won
the Heisman Trophy at LSU. I would say a top
three or four program in the country. I'm not saying
on a given year. I'm just saying, in the totality
of college football, especially in my lifetime, three different coaches
(11:21):
have won national championships there in the last twenty years.
That's a remarkable accomplishment. Saban Eddio and Les Miles like
that is a powerhouse program. And then you just factor
in other players. Marvin Harrison junior, he's fucking Marvin Harrison's
kid and started Ohio State. Even Joe Alt, who will
(11:41):
get into was a star tackle at Notre Dame. So
you have this build up. You already know about the
characters that get inserted into the television show, which is
the NFL, so they're not just random. Now, obviously random
guys come. We see it every year in the draft,
a random fifth round or an undrafted free agents, a
(12:01):
seventh rounder that you didn't really watch in college that
played at some random school Kansas State or whatever. And
if you're not a Big twelve fan, you've never really
seen them play, and he becomes a really good player.
But for a lot of the guys, we've seen them
play in college several times. And I think that's something
the NFL has that just these other leagues. And this
is why the separation is only going to continue. So
(12:24):
there's nothing like Draft Night because it is pretty pure guys,
just your team gets to add players. It's one I
remember how we used to say this all the time.
We only have several times a year when we get
to add players. Free agency starts, the draft, and during
training camp when guys are cut, and obviously at the
end of training camp when you trim down your roster.
(12:44):
So it doesn't happen year round. Now, obviously, on the margins,
you can claim a guy or make a trade, but
for the most part, the big time to make talent
acquisition are the three moments, free agency, the draft, and
the major cutdown. So the difference here relative to the
major cutdown like a guy's getting cut here. When you
(13:04):
draft a guy in the first or second round, there's
not only hope, but it's like, damn, we just drafted
Roma doonsay the star wide receiver from Washington that I've
watched play five times? Or damn we just watched Brock Bowers,
who I know a lot about and you just can't
fake that. Getting back to Caitlin Clark, one thing she
has is we know a lot about her. We've been
(13:27):
watching her play now for a couple of years. She
has a lot of built in equity with us. Listen,
Steph Curry and the Warriors dynasty probably ended last night.
Now you could argue it was already over, but Klay Thompson,
I would say, is not going to be back on
the Warriors. But one thing that Steph had that a
lot of guys don't have anymore is when he got
(13:49):
to the Warriors. Now, no one, even the Warriors, never
thought that he would turn out to be I don't
know a top ten player of all time and one
of the most transcendent, unique talents we've ever seen any
But we all knew a lot about him because of
the NCAA tournament we had followed his career. He was
a built in character, so there was momentum building as
(14:12):
his career ascended. Going back to Michael Jordan, same thing.
The dude hit the game winning shot in the National
Championship when he was a freshman. Even Tiger Woods, you
don't have to watch amateur golf to know everyone's saying,
this guy's a can't miss gonna be one of the
all time greats. He had just won the US Amateur
three times, he had been on television show since he
(14:35):
was like three years old. People have been talking about him.
Even if you don't you can't stand golf. There wasn't
a soul of age in the late to mid nineties
that didn't know or heard of Tiger Woods. And that's
what the NFL brings us next Thursday. Is a bunch
of guys we know a lot about going to a
bunch of teams that we all watch seventeen times a year.
(14:56):
And I love this event, can never get enough of
and I just can't wait till Thursday. Another reason I
can't wait till Thursday is Belichick will be on with McAfee.
(15:17):
And I said this when Belichick didn't get the Atlanta
Falcons job, that I think Belichick won the perception of him,
let's face it, being a dictator, tough to work with,
and let's face it a lot. I don't necessarily agree
with this because I think we all can be this
way asshole, miserable, curmudgeon and listen, some of it's definitely
(15:41):
probably true, but that he just sucks and he's not
a head coach in the NFL. Now, maybe it's that
he's seventy three years old, maybe that he had to
be the GM. I don't know, but it is nuts
when you just look at the coaching picture that Bill
Belichick isn't there. He's been in the league since nineteen
seventy five, like I'm sorry, kind of knows what he's doing.
It's why I'm shorting the Patriots. I think they are
(16:03):
going to be a debacle the next couple of years.
Could be wrong. But if I had to place one
strong bet, I feel the strongest on that, and I'd
probably bet on Harbaugh and the Chargers being successful, right,
even everyone betting on the Bears, I wouldn't feel great
about it. Their history would show it's still pretty risky.
But I think you saw if you go, and I
(16:24):
would recommend this because the bellcheck we got forever in
the press conferences when he was wearing a hoodie New
England Patriot or his classic like kind of blue button
up and he said nothing. And he was mostly pretty
awful in those press conferences, besides when he'd randomly get
asked about a special team player, or he'd go on
some long, you know, diatribe about how the winless whatever
(16:49):
team he was playing in December, actually has a lot
of talent, and everyone would make fun of him. He
has a big personality. And I've been you know, no
people that have not only worked there, that have played there,
and they're like the guy that you see off camera
dealing with us is a lot different than the guy
that you just see in the fifteen minute snippets of
the press conferences. It's why I was a big believer
(17:12):
in the easiest way to change his perception. Now, maybe
he's a lock to get a job next year, maybe
he's not. I mean, he just had his birthdays he's
gonna be seventy four next year. I mean, that's I'm sorry.
Even though coaches are definitely younger than the majority of
like seventy four year olds, just because they spend most
of their time around younger people, there's a vibe like
Pete Carroll's the same age. They don't feel that old
(17:34):
when you hear them talk. But I probably not a
shoein is to find a way on the Amazon broadcast.
He is too good to be on pregame shows. That's
a waste. Reality is I'm not watching that, and neither
are most owners. Why their team is at a game,
but there are two games that every owner watches, every
owner beside the two playing in the game. That's Thursday
(17:57):
night and Monday night, even night. A lot of the
league is traveling back and not able to watch the game,
but every owner and every decision maker is at home
on Thursday night and Monday night. Well, Monday night's set.
They gave one hundred and fifty million dollars to buckan Akman.
That was the right move, but Thursday night, let's face
(18:17):
it is not. I've said forever. Kirk kurb Street's the
stud love him. On college football, I don't think he's
that great. Him and now don't have great chemistry. If
I was a Amazon, I would be all over Belichick
and try to get him involved in that broadcast. And
I also think Bill, like if you watch him on
mcafeel like, he's kind of a different guy. Now. I'm
not saying he's mister Lucy Goosey. He's not mister politician there,
(18:41):
but he's very easy to watch and his depth of
knowledge is insane. Matt Ruhle, who listen. We can say
what we want about Matt rules the NFL coach. It
was a debacle. He's a good college coach. He is.
I would imagine Nebraska in the next couple of years
is going to be much more competitive. Are they ever
going to be a playoff team? I don't know, but
they are much more likely to win eight to nine
(19:03):
games in the near future than they are to be
some shit team in which they've been. Matt Ruhle said
that he had Bill come to their operation and spend
a day with the coaches. He said, I don't know
if he was in the front of the room, back
of the room when he was talking. I don't know
if he was talking to the entire group, or just
the defense that Matt Rule said he was embarrassed. I
(19:23):
was embarrassed that I'm a head coach and I don't
know a tenth of what this guy is talking about.
That's how crazy, how much this guy knows the only
way for Bill to give that to the ownership is
to put it on display. And I just hope it
doesn't seem like it's going to happen, but I think
(19:45):
that would have been the move. There was another story
that came out today. I think there was a long
like one of those classic big Jay Wickersham does a
really good job like the ESPN guys. Basically one of
the lines about Belichick and the hiring process and how
he didn't get the Atlanta job and how it kind
of ended in New England is that Bob and definitely
Jonathan Craft bad moutholm to Arthur Smith. Now listen, anytimes
(20:10):
things end in football, in any business with rich, big
ego guys, it's gonna be ugly. I've defended Bill like
I understand Robert Craft. You can have any opinion you want.
You figured out a way to start from nothing, make money,
buy the team, and you hired Belichick Jonathan Craft inherited
(20:34):
this entire life, which I'm not one of those people
that like looks down on people just because they're born
into a situation. Right. I've known a lot of people
born in situations that are very capable. Right, I've known
a lot of people not born in the situations that
aren't capable to fucking walk a dog across the street.
So where you're born, like I, successful people can come
(20:54):
from all walks of life. Peyton Manning was born rich,
Steph Curry was born rich. Listen, there are gonna be
a lot of owners that you know, take over in
the NFL that are impressive, guys that their fathers made
the money, and then they are gonna be guys that
are kind of clowns. I don't blame Belichick for not
respecting that guy. I'm not a big Jonathan Craft guy.
(21:17):
Just from reading things about him, watching the documentary that felt,
you know, his dad's eighty plus years old, it does
feel a little bit like Jonathan Craft has a bandet
against Belichick. And one of the things that said in
there is he basically bad mouth Belichick to Arthur Smith
to essentially not hire the guy. I would say this
the Patriot dynasty and their wealth. A large percentage of
(21:42):
their name power has come from the success of the
football team, which we know they had absolutely nothing to
do with. They've even admitted we never told Bill what
to do, even with Brady. The one time they kind
of like, you got to you gotta trade Jimmy Garoppolo.
But they ended up a couple years later letting Brady walk. Anyway,
they gave this guy carte blanche to be in full control,
(22:05):
and he made that family name not only very famous,
not only very successful, but an NFL champ with Tom
over and over and over again. So if I'm Bill
like and it's obviously just based on his coaching history,
he can be very spiteful. He can be very petty.
I would hate those guys, specifically the kid I already
(22:28):
didn't respect him. I would have a vandetta and revenge
of doing everything possible to get back in the league
so I could play that guy again. Because the Patriots,
i think the other day, tweeted out Happy Birthday, Bill.
It's like, guys, you guys are trying a little too hard.
I wanted to dive in really quick that I'm not
going to break down the offensive lineman, like the defensive linemen,
(22:50):
the quarterbacks and the wide receivers. But I do think
joelt is really interesting. Now full disclosure, I don't love
six eight and above tackles. That's a little tall for
my taste. I like my tackle to be in the
six ' five, six four and a half, maybe six six,
like that's kind of the prime range. The Trent Williams,
(23:11):
the Lane Johnson's, Jason Peters, Tyrone Smith. I'm not looking
for a power forward in the NBA here in twenty
twenty four. That's really a center. But you know what
I mean. And everyone widely kind of universally feels to consider.
And I've even texted somebodies that have h is the
number one tackle in the NFL or in the draft,
and they think he's like borderline can't miss prospect. I
(23:33):
don't know. I think you are at a huge advantage
when you are six eight plus going up against these
pass rushers because all the edge guys can, all the
good ones can bend, get low and use leverage against tackles.
So when you're six eight six ' nine, the ability
(23:54):
to bend down to their level is difficult. That extra
couple inches is a disadvantage. And listen, I know this
guy's a good athlete. But in twenty eighteen, there were
two tackles drafted really high. The San Fransco forty nine
Ers took Mike McGlinchey, an All American team captain from
Notre Dame, and the Oakland Raiders, who wanted mcglinche. Remember
(24:17):
there was a coin flip at the combine between John
Lynch and John Gruden. I attended that coin flip. The
Niners won, and the Raiders were sitting there at ten.
Ultimately traded back with the Arizona Cardinals and they ended
up getting Josh Rosen and they drafted Colton Miller at fifteen.
It is inarguable that the Raiders got very lucky, and
(24:39):
Colton Miller is a dramatically better player than McGlinchey. Mcglinch's
a starter. Somehow he found a way to get Sean
Payton to give him eighty million dollars, which I thought
was easily the worst free agent contract last season. But
here's mcglinchey's problem. Not a great athlete and like these
other guys, really tall, he really really struggles in past protection.
(25:03):
Now McGlinchey is a good run blocker. But I don't
pay tackles to run block. I pay them to protect
the most important asset in my building, the quarterback in
passing situations, and McGlinchey is a massive red flag in
that situation. Colton Miller, who is a much better athlete
(25:25):
foot athlete, straight line, speed athlete movement wise, has become
I don't want to say a high end left tackle,
but a very very good starter someone. It could be
your starting left tackle for a decade plus and he's
scheduled to be that for the Raiders, and he's a
way better athlete now. I texted a buddy who his team.
Some people think this is going to be very interested
(25:47):
in Joel and he's like, we worked we worked him out,
and he's like, I hear what you're saying. I think
his bend and movement ability is actually pretty good. I
just think this that you get McGlinchey, it's not the
end of the world. You get a starter. I saw
a scout told Zerline, who my guy who's great at
Comps Compton and McGlinchey. He's like, I don't like that
(26:09):
comp as much. I like Eric Fisher, who was also
told not quite six ' eight six seven and a
half and ended up playing for the Chiefs from twenty
thirteen to twenty twenty. Had a long career in the
NFL before his body gave out. But if you're taking
Eric Fisher or mcglinchy in the top ten, I don't
know if you love that. Now, if best case scenario
(26:29):
you get Colton Miller, great, and you know where I stand.
You swing for the fences, you hope for best case scenario.
I just think that this guy has a lot of
potential downside in a league that has never had the
abundance of elite pass rushers, most teams have multiple Most
(26:49):
teams have defensive tackles that are now six four to
sixty five. They could rush the passer that you can
kick out to the edges and you don't have a
shot in hell. I remember the Rams against the Niners
used to kick out sometimes Aaron Donald to end over McGlinchey.
I was like, good luck, and he couldn't block them.
Now you can say Aaron Donald's one of the great
pass rushers of all time. Fine, then how many teams
(27:11):
in the league have elite defensive tackles Those smaller guys
you can't touch them. So I'm not saying this guy's
gonna be bad. I'm not saying this guy is not
a good prospect. I'm just saying, for me, six ' eight,
six ' nine tackles are massive, massive buyer bewares send
on this. The NBA banned this dude for life for
(27:33):
gambling Michael Porter's brother, who's a nobody two way contract
irrelevant player. But I have read more articles every time
I see a big jay writing about gambling. I just
read it. I kind of hate read it. It's kind
of sick. Probably shouldn't do it. But my overall take
is when media people talk about gambling, I would imagine
(27:57):
ninety five percent of media people not only I've never
made a bet, would never make a bet no matter
how much money they make. It's not really the way
they're wired. Most of those guys, let's face it. I
mean I saw a lot of their tweets over the
last especially when COVID happened. Their level of risk is
(28:20):
much smaller than every human I've ever met, Like, it's
really really low. So and I've always thought this about
media people who can be very anti business, and a
lot of them again because of Twitter, you can just
see their beliefs. Don't really understand it. When you cover
billion dollar industries, it's almost like, shouldn't you guys take
(28:41):
some like business courses or be forced to listen to
podcasts to kind of understand the way money works. But
that's a whole separate conversation. My point is with gambling,
this one isn't that complicated. The guy bet on his
own team to lose. There are some things that I understand,
like an NFL team and NBA team, a Major League
(29:01):
Baseball team, Like, hey, listen, guys, we're on business with gambling.
We're all profiting from this. But there are some rules
a little convoluted, but you're just not allowed to bet
from the facility. Obviously, you can't bet on this sport
or college sports. You can bet on the other leagues.
You just can't bet from the confines. Like you'd have
to hammer those homes. You would have to make sure
(29:22):
you consistently win over those. But I think gambling on
your own team to lose, I don't think anyone would
ever have to say that out loud. Like drugs are
legal in California, crack is basically legal. We all know
don't do crack. I don't need to tell my team, hey,
can't bet on us to lose, Like, no shit, this
(29:46):
guy is a fucking moron. And also like this guy
you could argue is just a bad guy. And you
could say, well, playing for the Raptors, they lose a lot,
of course, like it's actually probably not a bad bet,
but betting on your team to lose, there's nothing worse.
And I have been lucky enough to be around a
lot of athletes, definitely in these situations from a team,
(30:07):
I don't think anyone thinks like that. I don't think
I think such an outlier of someone willing to do that.
You know, back the famous story of the Black Socks
when they threw the World Series. Those case doesn't have
any money. I mean, the average player in the NFL
now makes millions of dollars. That's why the check said
on this podcast the other day, like the bookie, one
(30:29):
of the major gamblers in America, like twenty years ago,
told me, yeah, I can't afford to buy players. You
guys all make too much cash. But I can buy
the referees. You can't buy someone. I also think it's
just common sense, like, don't do crack. Don't bet against
your own team, Like, no shit, If I have to
tell you that you should not be on my team,
(30:52):
you're complete more on and you will lose me games.
Obviously you might be trying because you're throwing the game.
But I maybe I'm naive. I truly don't believe there
is anyone in the NFL who wouldn't say, like, yeah,
that's wrong. Even if that guy knows, like, hey, we're
playing we're the worst team in the league and we're
playing the best team the league, we're probably gonna lose.
(31:13):
They would not bet on their own team to lose.
I feel very confident about that. Okay, let's dive it
in Middlecoff mailbag. Very very very easy to get involved.
Fire into my dms at John Middlecoff at John Middlecoff
(31:36):
DM's wide open. Hit me up with a question. Mike
Reggie did high from Australia. Ozios. Good work on the
NFL on changing the kickoff rules every play should matter.
Do you think the league will ever do away with
my pet peeve taking a knee running the clock down
to end the game. A league that's so proactive to
(31:58):
change to better the game. But let's games finish like this,
I can't fathom. I know the league purists will sprout
bullshit why it's part of the game, but I'll disagree
every day twice on Sundays again, every play should matter.
Have they ever tried that in the past? Maybe bit harsh,
but watching quarterback take a knead and celebrate a win
(32:20):
while the clock still hasn't run out feels like the
equivalent of a soccer player rolling around faking an injury.
Cheers and go Niners. I'm gonna disagree with you. It
usually happens under the two minute warning with a team
up and the other team can't stop. You know, I
think there's fifty eight minutes action, maybe a minute you know,
left in the game, So fifty nine minutes action, like
(32:41):
you've had your opportunity. I'm not bothered by it. I
was always more bothered. Remember when Greg Chiano rushed? Was
it the giants on the victory formation? That that was
pretty low level. That's why Shehianu. I love it when
media is like, remember when Shiano shuld have got the
he had a see job. No, he shouldn't have. Shiono
(33:02):
would have been eaten alive in the South guy is
such a clown. He belongs to Ruckers and it's a
good spot for him. But I'm going to disagree. I
don't have any issue with it. You know, many call
it the greatest formation in football, the victory formation. I
think what it represents like we've won the game. We
won the game, right. It's like trying to think what
(33:26):
older people play, like if you play golf like you're
up three with two to go, you're playing match play
against somebody, like you don't need to play anymore. It's
over in basketball, like you skunk a guy in a
pickup game. I have no problem with it. With the
Rashid Rice incident going around and takes of him possibly
(33:48):
missing games, I want to get your thoughts on the
NFL shifting the games that players miss from just being
the next games up on the schedule to instead having
the players miss the games at the end of the season.
I feel like a player missing weeks one to three
is kind of a weak punishment. The games at the
end of the season tend to be much more impactful.
(34:10):
What if we did this, I got one for you.
I don't know how many games are gonna get spended.
My let's just guess four. Let's say the guy's gonna
get suspended four games for going seven hundred million miles
an hour and easily endangering people's lives on the freeway
in Dallas, could have killed people. There's no crazy part
about this situation is Henry Ruggs. We don't know if
(34:34):
this guy was drunk because he fucking left the scene.
But like, let's use some common sense. Why the hell
would you leave a scene when everyone's gonna know what's
your car? Or you rented the car? Like I wasn't
born yesterday. I've had my fair share of cocktails over
the years. Like let's or maybe you're high as hell.
But if he killed someone, his career is over. But
(34:54):
because no one gets hurt, he's just gonna get in trouble.
That's the way the world works. I mean, it's it's sad,
but it's just reality. What if we had a lottery,
then basically you get a four game suspension and it's
like a lottery. You could basically spin a wheel like
the price is right, or maybe you go lottery like
the NBA Draft and it's just on there. Weeks one
(35:15):
to four, weeks five to eight. Is that way? And
they broadcast it or they tweet it out, I'd watch.
I hear you though, I like that thinking inside the
box A little bit question for the pod. Kansas City
recently declined to pay for a new stadium. To me,
(35:35):
it was not surprising in these inflationary times. I think
the owners a little cheap too. But I feel like
this has a little to do with the NFLPA grades
that came out and gave the Chiefs a very underwhelming score. Overall,
I understand the owners asking to have the stadium paid
for by people in taxes from the owner's perspective, but overall,
asking for a stadium while giving little in return for
(35:57):
the players who earned the Lombardes insulting to the NFL fans.
Viewers will always side with the players, and I'm glad
the people of Kansas City decline for the new stadium.
What are your thoughts? I think I've talked about this before. Overall,
I just don't care about this story that much. Like
I understand why owners ask they want a new stadium,
They're gonna have to pay for it the nfl PA grades.
(36:21):
You know, it's kind of an older stadium. I don't know.
I've never been to the Chiefs player locker room, so
it's like, it's hard for me to have an opinion.
Like God, it's because here's the thing. If we all
spend a week, let's say, with the three teams grade
of the lowest, like the Cardinals, if you just spend
a time in their cafeteria, saw their operation, you would
leave and go, God, what a low level operation. Anyone
(36:43):
that's worked multiple jobs, you go one place, you're like, God,
this pretty high high level people is impressive. And then
you go to another company or change industries, you're like, God,
these there's a lot of morons here, these people. I'm
working for a guy that is an idiot. So until
you're in a spot, I would say, it's hard to judge.
(37:04):
I also think my overall take, and I think I've
said this before, most of these players are coming from
college where they're not only recruiting you out of high school,
they're not recruiting you on your once you're on the team.
Because of the portal. Is these lavish situations all over
the country. It's not just the high end schools. It's
like every Power five school has I don't want to
(37:28):
say elite facilities, but pretty high end facilities, and then
you go to the pros like they're not recruiting yet
they recruit you with money. So I I just it's
hard for me to go, well, you're bitching a moment
about the chairs. Now, I'd also understand, like I only
worked for one NFL team, and Jeffrey Luriy did everything
humanly possible to make sure the players were taken care of.
(37:48):
Because if the players were in good spirits, if they
feel comfortable, if they like coming to work, ideally they're
gonna play better. We wouldn't it be pretty easy for
Clark Hunt to go They've been playing for good to
what I've provided. So I, unless you saw it, I
guess it's just it's hard to have, like some hardcore opinion. Hello,
(38:10):
believe it or not, this is not a husband or
girlfriend using an account, but actually a lady yourself. I
listened a three and out, so hello from your what
would be one percent demo might be a little higher
in one, but it's pretty low, might even be under one. Anyways.
I love sports, and as a lady, I also love
(38:31):
women's sports and try and hype it up whenever possible,
So I very much appreciate you calling out the massive
uptick in viewership and the interest in the NCAA tournament.
I agree with you that the reason why there is
an uptick in popularity is because of the star power
of some of these women have earned throughout their talent.
It is the voices like yours that make someone from
(38:52):
being on the edge of watching women's sports to actually
sitting down and watching a game, especially on our US
women's national team. Well, I think the US women's national
team is a little different. I think they have been
a powerhouse for so long and we followed you know,
college basketball women's like Gino and pat Summit in Tennessee
(39:14):
and Yukon Like I watched them when I was young.
I paid attention, not like watched all their games, but
you paid attention to them because they'd have years where
they were like undefeated. But obviously there's a lot of
talent in college basketball for women's you know, all the
girls that were drafted high, a lot of them played
at the best programs. But this is a Kaitlyn Clark story.
(39:35):
She's the one. If Kaitlyn Clark didn't exist, I think
the ratings would have been higher. But she is like
I don't know, like Steph Curry or something. She's an outlier.
But I appreciate you because I don't think just because
I said, hey, I watched the women's game, would other
people watch it? I don't know, But like I've said,
(39:56):
I only watched it because of her. She's the only reason.
If she hadn't exist, I would not have watched it.
How I almost put one thousand dollars on them to
win the national championship because they were like a two
and a half one underdog. Glad I didn't they got worked.
Listening to people talk about Harbaugh talk up JJ as
much as he is, something jumped into my mind. What
(40:18):
are your thoughts on that Harbaugh knows JJ's the real
deal and is trying to push up his stock so
that he's gone before he gets to Denver and or
Oakland and has the ability to get him in the draft.
If he's gone by three or four, then he doesn't
have to worry about facing him twice a year. I
think you're already like two steps forward. I think he
(40:39):
just legitimately, on the surface, believes in the guy. How
would he not the guy? I mean had two of
the most powerful years of the guy's twenty plus year
coaching career. They won a national championship at Michigan, which
obviously Harbaugh is as Michigan man as you can get,
and finally won him a championship as a coach. So
(41:01):
I think when he's hyping them up, if you've watched
the Chargers are producing, it's crazy to go from Brandon Staley,
who was a fucking laughingstock that nobody respected as a fan,
and obviously he unraveled under the pressure, to go to
Jim Harball. Their social media team and their content has
(41:22):
always been good with the Chargers, and now Jim because
of where he's at in life, I don't think pushes
back against any of that. They did three five minutes
he went to the Michigan Pro Day and the video
is fantastic, and then they did like five minutes of
him and Greg Roman that live in an RV park
right now. It is incredible, Jim. To go from Brandon
(41:44):
Staley to Jim Harball would be like go from making
like fifty grand, struggling just keeping your head above water,
just going through the grind, to all of a sudden
making like ten million dollars. That's what it has to feel.
Like if you're just around the Chargers, if you're a Charger,
if you're a Charger player, to have that change and
just in terms of what it will do for their brand.
(42:07):
But back to Harby, I think he just truly believes that.
I don't think he's making it up. I think he
believes that to his score, the JJ McCarthy's the real
deal because he just experienced him being the real deal.
When Jim harbaughs his career wasn't on the line, but
like his career legacy was kind of on the line,
(42:29):
Like he's gonna lose to this Nick Saban team in
the Rose Bowl as a big favorite, and then JJ
leads him on a game winning drive, one of the
biggest drives of his career. Currently deployed in the Middle East.
Appreciate your service and your podcast is the best thing
keeping me and my crew updated on football. I wanted
to know what's the best draft pick that you helped
(42:50):
scout when you were with the Eagles. None. They didn't
listen to me. When I started doing college Chip came in.
He definitely didn't listen to me. Told him not to
draft Matt Barkley took hi Matt Barkley. When you're at
the bottom of the totem poll and you get a
coach that doesn't like you, might as well just burn
my reports. Did all that work for nothing, but it
(43:10):
led me in a weird way to Colin Coward. Now
I'm here, So thank you Chip Kelly, who I saw
that he ran the triple wing the other day at
Ohio State. And listen, I respect Ohio State the program.
I really do like you're one of the best programs
in all of college sports consistently. Not the biggest. Ryan
Day guy. I think Chip Kelly's going to be a disaster,
(43:32):
and you should be very, very thankful that Jim left,
because if Jim had stayed, all those guys wo be
getting fired. Get your ass kicked again. I don't care
how much money you're paying for players. Jim Harbaugh was
never losing to Ryan Day ever. Again, it's like when
Jim showed up and erber Meyer kicked his ass, That's
what was about to become, especially with Chip Kelly rolling
in then Harbaugh's defense. Give me a break. Love the show,
(43:55):
long stuffering Jets fan. The team is all in with
a forty year old quarterback accumulating talent but injury prone
older guys to go along with younger studs Garrett Wilson,
Breese Hall and a young talented defense. You mentioned it's
an approach to team building that doesn't happen much anymore
and probably won't work due to the injury risks. I
see your point. But recently the Buccaneers acquired an aging
(44:17):
quarterback surrounded him with vets Antonio Brown, Gronk Fournette, studs
Evans and Godwin with young talented defense. So what difference
about the Bucks approach? Well, Tom was healthy one. The
core of the Bucks dramatically better. I mean, Mike Evans,
borderline Hall of Famer already on the team, Vida Veya.
(44:40):
They draft Evan White immediately. Their offensive line was good.
They draft worfs in whatever twenty twenty star Ali Marpett,
who recently retired was really good. The center whose name
is escaping me was really good. They had Donovan Smith there,
who was the worst offensive line I mean, who just
(45:00):
started for the Chiefs. So their team was just better.
Another curveball, they had Bruce Arians. I got news for you.
Bruce Arians is running circles around Robert Sola as the
head coach, and I like Robert Solo. I actually had
this thought when I was watching the Warriors because Klay
Thompson's kind of done. He's just not the same player.
(45:23):
And I'm not comparing Klay Thompson to Aaron Rodgers because
Aaron at his sport is better than Clay. Right, Clay's
not the number one. Aaron's, you know, the equivalent of
a number one, But like when it starts going physically,
it's never quite the same. And I just think the
likelihood that he's gonna have a successful year at forty
(45:47):
years old coming off in Achilles, separate from all these
other players that have their own issues, you know, injury wise.
I just have a hard time believe in that. I
also think he showed us two years ago he was
bad with the Packers. I got Packers teams good. We
saw Jordan Love second half the season was excellent. So
what if Aaron Rodgers just half as good as he
(46:08):
once was or seventy five percent, and he's like the
twelfth best quarterback. Your coaching staff isn't good enough. The
Jets had Bruce Arians and Todd Bowles as the defensive coordinator.
I just don't think you're as good coaching wise on
my girlfriend's instagram from Ellie. But this isn't Ellie. I
(46:32):
don't know. Why does nobody question Malcolm Butler about being
benched in the Eagles pat Super Bowl. I mean, come on, John,
this guy pretending to not know is more frustrating the
bill not saying anything about it. Malcolm knows why. I agree.
I would die on this hill. I have a hard time.
(46:53):
I don't believe. I do not believe, under no circumstances,
that the guy just played all season long. I remember
it was like whatever percentage of the snaps. I don't
think it was one hundred, but it was damn high.
He's a full time starter. Super Bowl comes and he's
just benched. He's like, I got no clue what happened? Right,
I would say most times in life, the majority of
(47:16):
times in life, the majority of times in life. You know,
when before you break up, like yeah, you know she's
not that into you, or maybe you're not that into her.
I've been fired from a job. I can see it coming.
I knew it was gonna happen, like this ain't good.
Something's off. I've been in trouble when I was a
(47:37):
kid a lot with my parents. This guy didn't do it, Like, yeah,
I knew I did it. There is I see under
no circumstances. Think about Belichick. Belichick will trade you without
telling you. Belichick will make harsh personnel moves, but he's
never made a move like that, and historically he's always
bench guys Like yeah, Chayla Jones got traded. Shouldn't have
(48:01):
gone in Stone to that up jail or precinct and
spoke with the cops. Right, could have saw that one coming.
Remember that running back they had. I forget his name,
but he was like an undrafted free agent, played for
Belichick and had a huge Monday night football game, and
(48:21):
then like the next week, like on Wednesday, he was
five minutes late for a meeting and I think a
couple weeks later was cut. I might be misremembering this.
Maybe he was benched cut I waved a couple weeks later.
For the most part, Belichick hasn't done things of like
why would he do that? In terms of guys playing
in a game, I see under no circumstance that Malcolm
(48:46):
Butler can't hasn't told his friends, his wife, like what
really happened? I don't believe it. Maybe the other players
on the team don't know. I can't see you just
coming out of note. I'm just betching him why. I
just got feel, just a gut feel. I don't know. Bullshit,
I'm with you. That play though, when he made the pick.
(49:09):
What an incredible interception really is? Certain plays in sports
like I just never get tired of watching that play.
I think that's the best Super Bowl play of all
time that if I just watch, it's like I never
get tired of watching it. The other one is James
Harrison when he picked off Kurt Warner and took it
(49:30):
back and Larry Fitzgerald went out of bounds and was
like we even in and out of people and ended
up tackling him into the end zone. That would be
I'd put that even above David Tyree, cause the David
Tyree we've seen weird catches. Julio had won a Super Bowl,
Edelman had won a Super Bowl. I would say the
Malcolm Butler thing is one of those plays that every
(49:51):
time you're like, holy shit, love the pod, watch all
your videos. I'm twenty four year old serving active duty
in the military. We appreciate your service. I've always had
a passion for sports and team, especially football. I'm a
junkie through and through. I want to work in the
front office one day. I plan on going to college
(50:11):
after a military to pursue my passion in scouting. US
government better pay for that, bitch. I'm learning how to
break down all twenty two film on my off time
and essentially making it my lifestyle. I'm obsessed. I have
a connection with a Division I school in Big Ten
that I may be able to get my foot in
the door. Any recommendations on majors for what career path
(50:35):
and advice on the journey, I would say your major
is pretty relevant. I would recommend if you're gung gung
ho dead set on working in football, take the easiest
major possible, just because you can dedicate more time to football.
There's no point in trying to be like a architectural
(50:56):
engineer and spending all your time in the library and
not able to do football stuff. Now, if you can
be a business major, that always makes the most sense.
But I worked with people with all sorts of majors
it doesn't matter, so I would say just I would
recommend getting the easiest major possible. If under no circumstances.
(51:17):
You're not going to do everything humanly possible to do
football as a full time career path. Business, you know,
just a basic finance degree. But if you don't like business,
then it may be hard. I would communications one of
those degrees that everyone on TikTok, you know, liberal arts
that everyone on TikTok complains about I can't get a job. Well, yeah,
(51:38):
no shit. I'd also argue, like, who would a degree
even matter? I got like three degrees. They don't mean
they do nothing too Actually state schools, you know, not
exactly Harvard grad, but I mean, i'd say that's been
diminished a little lately. As an avid sports card collector,
which young quarterback has the highest upside in the NFL
(51:58):
at the moment could be a starng or non starter.
It's a good question. You would have to take someone
off the beaten path. Like what if this Tennessee crew
like Brian Callahan make Will Levis into a player and
then all of a sudden he's good. I'm looking at
(52:19):
value here, like Will Levis, you get his card for
nothing right now? What if you just look up in
a couple of years and he's like a legit starter.
Trying to think this draft would probably be Jaden Daniels,
Like what if he goes to Washington becomes a star.
What if he's like this dynamic player, He's like Lamar
lte JJ McCarthy trying to think, let's go Daniel Jones.
(52:43):
Hell no, we have a lot of established veterans. Probably
buy low on Bryce Young though I think that'd probably
be a waste of money. I would say Levis would
just be a good like, you know, throw a little
cash in see if it pops, hoping for like a
ten bagger, and if it doesn't, whatever, didn't cost you much.
(53:04):
Because don't think how many quarterbacks are like Baker, Derek Carr, Cousins,
Dak like they kind of are who they are party.
But I don't know the card market. I'm not a
big card guy. It's pretty cheap. Like what if Perdy
becomes a superstar? I guess that would be one. I mean,
he's already damn good player, but like, what if he
(53:25):
does this for the next ten years, Because if he does,
then he'll be you know, if you as one of
the best quarterbacks in the league for a long period
of time, that's probably where I'd go I would say
just low, low budget flyer Will Levis. Party would be
just kind of betting on this guy just becoming a
consistent star in the NFL. The volume
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