June 13, 2024 • 53 mins
John dives into the Aaron Rodgers/NY Jets saga and what it means that he's missed mandatory mini camp, should it be a concern for the Jets or do they let it slide. Later, John talks about Mike Tomlin getting a contract extension with the Steelers and what that means for the organization. Finally, he reacts to the passing of Jerry West and what he meant not only to the NBA world, but the entire sports world.
Lastly, John answers your questions during this episode's mailbag segment.
6:49 - Aaron Rodgers misses mini camp
15:39 - The Steelers and Mike Tomlin
22:04 - RIP Jerry West
34:58 - Mailbag
Follow John on Twitter, Instagram and YouTube for the latest. Check out Gametime - the fastest growing ticketing app in the US, and the official ticketing app of 3 & Out and GoLow - for tickets to all of your favorite NFL, NBA, NHL, NCAA teams. Concert and comedy show tickets, too. Go to Gametime now to create an account, download the app and use code JOHN for $20 off your first purchase. #Volume #Herd
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
The volume. We're this close to crowning an NBA champ,
and with the action heating up on the court, it's
even hotter. At Draftking Sportsbook, an official sports betting partner
of the NBA and Draftking Sportsbook has you covered every
step of the way with same game parlays, live betting odds, boosts,
(00:23):
and so much more. Don't miss out as the NBA
postseason winds down. It's super easy to just get started
with DraftKings. If you're a first timer, try betting on
something like a team to win. Go to DraftKings Sportsbook app,
select your team and place your first bet. It's that simple,
and if you're new to DraftKings, you gotta check this out.
(00:45):
New customers bet five bucks to get one hundred and
fifty in bonus bets instantly download the Draftking Sportsbook app
now and use the code John. That's code John for
new customers. Get one hundred and fifty in bonus bets
with you bet just five bucks only on DraftKings. The
crown is.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
Yours gambling problem called one eight hundred Gambler or in
West Virginia visit one eight hundred gambler dot net. In
New York call eight seven seven eight hope and why,
or text hope and why four six seven three sixty nine.
In Connecticut, help is available for problem gambling Call eight
eight eight seven eight nine seven seven seven seven or
visit CCPG dot org. Please play responsibly on behalf of
Boothill Casino when resorting Kansas twenty one and over age
(01:26):
varies by jurisdiction VOYD and Ontario. Bonus bets expire one
hundred and sixty eight hours after issueins. See DKNNG, dot co,
slash bball for eligibility and depositor restrictions, terms and responsible
gaming resources.
Speaker 1 (01:48):
What is going on? Everybody happy Thursday, almost at Friday,
could have been Wednesday. I'm recording this on Wednesday. You
probably listen on Thursday. Everyone's having a good day, and
you know what, let's talk a little football. So Aaron
Rodgers makeings some headlines. People are not happy that he
(02:09):
said I'm not gonna practice for mandatory mini camp, even
though I've been here for the last two months. I'm
going to We don't even know what at the time
recording this, and I got news for you, Like it's
not even the biggest story of their holdouts honestly, it's
not even close. So we'll dive into that. The Rooneys
have acknowledged what they are expecting. Now Mike Tomlin gets
(02:32):
a three year extension, and I think we gotta just
come to reality of what this situation will continue to
be moving forward. And then Jerry West, the logo died today,
one of the great NBA players of all time, but
specifically was I mean an all time great any sport
GM and I wanted to dive in because in football
(02:55):
we've had, you know, guys like Ozzie Newsome and John
Elway and John Lynch, you know, after their playing career
dive into the trenches and it's something I've always respected
a lot the guys that, as I call addicts, and
luckily with football is it's not an addictive drug that
would kill you, though it is extremely stressful and you
(03:16):
lose a lot of sleep. But we will dive into
that because we lost an all time legend who he
worked when I was in the Bay Area. He was
with the Warriors and was a big reason Klay Thompson
wasn't traded, so absolute legend eighty six years old. His
son Johnny, who I think still works for the Warriors.
He's married to Michelle Wee, the golfer, so I think
(03:38):
actually she won the US Open, the Women's US Open
ten years ago at Pinehurst. I'm pretty sure might have
been our lone major win, but don't quote me on that.
And we'll do a little Middlecoff mailbag at John Middlecoff
as the Instagram at John Middlecoffe is the Instagram. Fire
into those direct messages and get your question answered here
on the show. Obviously subscribed to three and out subscribe
(04:00):
YouTube page where we got one of those as well.
Buy of content up there. Other than that, any other
house cleaning, I don't think we do. But before we
dive in, if you want to get outside, get some sun,
go to a baseball game, watch the Yankees, watch the Dodgers,
watch a concert. Do you want to go see some
live music. I've gone to more events in the last
(04:22):
two years working with game Time, the official ticketing app
of this podcast. Then I probably had in the previous
five like well, I was gonna let my hair down
even though I don't have any, and take my lovely lady,
or I got my brother tickets for Christmas. And it's
because this is by far the easiest ticketing app I've
ever used, the ability to search by artists, by team,
(04:45):
by venue, the price points, the site lines. They have
it all. So if you want to do something fun
this summer, you should enjoy yourself. Go have a few bruskis,
go outside, go go do a concert, have a fun time.
Do it on me, because take guess work out of
buying tickets with game Time. Download the game Time app,
Create an account and use the code John for twenty
(05:07):
dollars off. Terms apply again, Create an account and redeem
the code j o hn for twenty dollars off. Download
the game Time App today, last minute tickets, lowest prices guaranteed.
It's no disputing that Aaron Rodgers has entered kind of
this part of his career where anything he does, anything
(05:27):
he says, becomes an immediate headline and for people in
the word business that they love the clicks for us
talking about it. He's just an interesting figure and he's
done a lot of things that I have found head scratching, right,
like demanding a trade from the Green Bay Packers to
(05:48):
the New York Jets. Thought it was nuts. Now, I'm
not Antiahuasca never tried it, but a lot of people.
You know, it made him go, what's he doing? The
darkness retreat? All for self growth, trying to improve, But
let's face it, most of us couldn't go into a
darkness retreat for three or four days. So he has
(06:09):
just done things in the last couple of years. This
has already added to a guy that I would say
was pretty polarizing before that. And the story about Aaron
Rodgers leaving Mandatory Mini Camp immediately just becomes a massive story.
And personally, I don't think it's a big deal at all.
I have no clue at this point in time in
(06:31):
recording this where he went. I truly don't care, And
you'd go middlecough, You're a hypocrite, You crush Lamar Jackson
for not showing up. Well, yeah, Aaron Rodgers has been
with the team, just like Patrick Mahomes, just like Justin Herbert,
just like Josh Allen, all the star quarterbacks for the
last two months. And he took off for a couple
(06:54):
of days in June. Whatever, this is a business. He's
going to get fine. There are repercussions for his actions,
and he didn't care if he hadn't been there all
of OTA's and then also did this. I'd be like, yeah,
this is fucking nuts, what's he doing? But he has
been there the entire time, just like last season, the
(07:16):
entire offseason. It has not been an issue. Did he
go to another darkness retreat or to a RFK speaking engagement.
I got no clue. And like I said, I don't
care if you're gonna miss a couple of days in
the offseason. It's not that weird. Players do it all
the time. Where it gets weird is when you give
(07:36):
Lamar Jackson a couple hundred million dollars and he doesn't
show up until it's mandatory like that. That's not ideal.
It doesn't mean it's gonna impact the fall. It's just
not what the team wants. Now, the Ravens are well run,
big picture, they're gonna be fine. This is the Jets,
and they have constant issues today on the back of
the tabloids. I guess New York's one of the lone
(07:58):
big cities where newspaper still matter, and he's everywhere and
it's gone viral and everyone's making fun of him. And
he brought it upon himself because he made the statement
where football has to become the main thing. We can't
worry about all that, and then he just disappears, but
ultimately like he's been there the entire time. It's not
an excused absence because you can't have an excuse absence
(08:20):
unless something personally bad is happening to you during mandatory minicamp.
To me, the Jets way bigger issue, Like they know
Aaron Rodgers, where he stands, where he's gonna be during
training camp. It's not a big deal. I think the
overreaction's kind of laughable. But he's Aaron Rodgers. It's kind
of like Lebron James. When anything happens, it becomes a
(08:42):
really big deal. Hell, Kaitlyn Clark has thrown her hat
into this ring. Kaitlyn Clark, could you know, eat a
sandwich weird and be like what is going on with that?
And that's Aaron Rodgers world that we live in. For
as long as he plays in the NFL, literally everything
he does, we're going to have an opinion, which is
part of the reason the NFL so big. You need
(09:04):
athletes that moved the needle like this individual moves the needle.
But he is the least of the Jets Worries said
this the other day. They literally traded for a player
who wanted a new contract. That's why he was having
issues with the Eagles. He wants more money. So if
you trade for that player and you do nothing with
(09:25):
the contract, you are inheriting the problem. Right When the
Miami Dolphins traded for Tyreek Hill, the Chiefs had an
issue because Tyreek wanted a ton of money and they
weren't gonna pay him. So when they traded him, if
Miami had not reworked his contract and given him a
huge contract extension, they would have also had an issue
(09:45):
on their hands. But what did they do? They gave
him a massive extension. The Raiders Khalil Mack was not
showing up to training camp until he got eighty five
ninety million dollars guaranteed. Then the Bears trade a couple
ones of three whatever form. If they did not give
him the contract extension, they would have inherited the problem.
(10:05):
But they gave him a contract extension. The Jets trade
for a son Reddick who has not stepped foot in
their building. Their coaching staff, their front office do not
know the player. They do not know the guy, and
they have not given him new contract, and he's mia
(10:26):
That to me is the Jets issue because it's symbolic
of do you guys know what you're doing? Aaron Rodgers
can do things that you think are weird. You don't
agree with. One thing that is not disputable is when
he's on the field. He's a good player, and we
know he's gonna be on the field if his achilles
or body is together. Is a Son Reddick ever gonna
(10:47):
show up? Is he ever gonna come? Do they ever
plan on giving him a contract extension? Or did they
just trade for a player not realizing the severity of
the issue. Did Howie Rosaman just completely fleece them? If
Aaron Rodgers is bad this season? There is no debate
that the Packers fleeced the Jets on Aaron Rodgers. But
(11:10):
we all universally agree that if we were in Joe
Douglas's seat, if we were Woody Johnson or Woody's brother
who was running it at the time, maybe he wasn't,
maybe wood he was already back, that we all would
have made that trade, every single one of us. And
they help Aaron Rodgers took a contract discount, gave them
back like thirty million dollars. He's actually been pretty easy
(11:32):
for them to deal with. The only issue was his
achilles ripped five plays into a season in twenty twenty three.
This is sound. Reddick issue is a problem. It's one
thing when you have players that you've drafted on your
own team that have contract issues. Brandon Nyuk contract issue
(11:54):
right now. You know him like you know what he
stands for, he knows you. Everyone's on the same page.
It's about money. But you feel very comfortable with the guy.
Why because you've spent years around them. The Jets haven't
spent any time around this player. And let's face it,
they trade it for him because they kind of need
them because they just lost one of their better pass
(12:17):
rushers to the Eagles, so they replaced them with the
Eagles problem. And now it's become their problem because they
clearly refuse to give him a contract. So Aaron Rodgers
are gonna get the headlines, but I promise you he's
the least of their warriors, the Steelers. Let me just
(12:42):
say this. I do agree with consistency. Knowing what you're
gonna get and every day showing up is a huge
advantage in life. That every day that you show up
to work that you know so and so is gonna
be there isn't the old adage showing up as half
the battle, And I agree with that. If you are
(13:02):
just willing to persevere and show up to your job
or whatever you're doing on a daily basis during the
good times during the bad times, you will slowly lap
people in your field because most people eventually tap out
or can't be consistent, which is like I'm gonna take
this month off. I don't have it right now. And
(13:24):
the Steelers really really value consistency and continuity. There is
no arguing that they've had three coaches for the last
like fifty years. That means a lot to the Rooney family.
We knew that before they ever signed Mike Tomblin to
this three year contract extension. And I don't believe that
you just have to change to change. The NFL is
(13:45):
not the tech industry. You don't just need to adapt
NonStop just because that's just the landscape of the world
and the business you're in. Though clearly you have to
adapt schemes and change with players. But when you have
something good as a coach, I understand not willing to
make a change in that position, and no organization in
(14:07):
the history of sports is less willing to upset the
Apple Card in terms of their head coaching position than
the Rooney family. But I think we have to acknowledge
this in twenty twenty four. Mike Tomlin's a good coach.
I said it last year. I thought they should have
parted ways. It wasn't because I think Mike Tomlin sucks
(14:28):
or Mike Tomlin immediately wouldn't have gotten a job. The
Eagles once fired Andy Reid. They knew Andy Reid was good.
Andy knew he was good. It was time for a change. Now.
It was easier to do that because I think he
had just won a four or five games. The Steelers
don't bought him out. Mike Tomlin just refuses to lose
(14:49):
less than eight games every year for the last basically
six seven years, nine to ten wins. But you know
you're going to be one and done in the playoffs.
And I think the Roonies are acknowledging We're cool with that.
We want no part of ever being what the New
(15:11):
York Giants have become or what Carolina was last year.
We don't want to be in that business. We're fine
with making boatloads of money, which the Steelers clearly are
continuing to being a major brand in the NFL, playing
on primetime games, winning our nine games, our ten games,
(15:32):
and packing up after the first game in the playoffs,
because that's what this franchise is right now, and that's
what I expect this season to happen again. And I'm
not going to talk anymore, as you know, this season
plays out like I expected to, like it has previously
consistently over the last six plus years, any different lea
(15:52):
than I have, I'm not going to say this is
the time it's time for a change, because they're not
going to change as long as if he wins. Now,
if he wins five games, yeah then maybe it would
be on the table. But if he goes nine to eight,
or he goes ten and seven and he's a wild
card team and he loses the Bills, or he loses
the Chiefs, or he loses ever in the first round,
(16:13):
he will come back next year. And as long as
he continues to do that, he will keep a job.
And I think sometimes and I just can speak from experience,
I would imagine many people listening can as well. You
don't need to be a head coach to know that,
whether it's force change or whether you do it yourself
(16:34):
with a new job, opportunity can be very i would say,
self motivating, self correcting, invigorating. It creates a feeling inside
that you cannot get when you're just stuck in the
hamster wheel of your current role. And I'm not acting
(16:54):
like Mike Tomlin is just content that he's not trying
to win. Of course he is. Does he want to
win the Super Bowl? Sitting at his desk right now?
Does he have any chance to do that? No? Do
the Roonies know that, But they are just terrified to
fire Tomlin or trade him to another team or whatever
(17:18):
and then get into a position where they just stink
for a couple of years. They just refuse to do that.
But when you refuse to do that, you also refuse
to kind of take the next bigger step. Think about
this the Eagles when they fired Andy and went to
Chip and then went to Doug, they essentially took a
step back to then eventually win the Super Bowl in
(17:42):
twenty seventeen. No one would say that Doug Peterson is
a better coach than Andy Reid, but like they just
needed some new blood. They needed some new thoughts, and
they didn't change their philosophical belief on how to build
the team. They do it the same like Andy does.
Build in the trenches quarterback play. I mean, it's pretty
(18:07):
simple formula. So the Rooney way to build the team,
old school, badass, tough guys, defense, run the ball doesn't
necessarily have to change, and it won't change. But this
head coaching job feels like he's on scholarship a little bit,
and he's definitely earned success. He does not lose, and
(18:30):
there's something to be said in a league full of
parody where basically everyone has some down years. John Harball
has some down years. John Harbaugh has had worse individual
seasons than Mike Tomlin, but clearly his high end is
much higher. So if I'm a Steeler fan, I guess,
(18:50):
on the glass half full, we're gonna be competitive, and
the glass half empty, we're just gonna be doing what
we've been doing, which is not that much when it
matters the most, and that kind of sucks. Jerry West
when I was in radio, he passed away today. I
used to go to a lot of Warrior games, and
(19:11):
this is before Durant, So I went to the two teams,
one that won the championship and then the seventy three
win team that lost in Game seven. And back then
they weren't quite the rock stars in which they would
become when Kevin Durant went there. So you could go
to a game and pregame Clay was not Clay. You
could just like talk to him on the bench, you know,
as he's just warming up or lacing a sneakers. This is,
(19:34):
you know, a couple hours before the game. And Jerry
West would be kind of roaming around a lot because
he was, you know, a high ranking official with them.
He wasn't technically the GM Bob Myers was, but he
had a lot of juice and he was a major
presence there and I got to bullshit with him a
couple times, nothing too crazy. He wouldn't know my name
or anything. And one thing I always remember is he's huge.
(19:56):
He's massive. So I was offended when J. J. Reddick
made the comment about the you know, the players back
in his day, and Jerry West was clearly offended as well,
because Jerry West, if he played in twenty twenty four,
would fucking dominate. He would have been fine. But I
can't speak to his playing career. It was before I
was ever born. Something I admire a lot in just
(20:19):
human beings are deal makers, guys that essentially just get
things done, because, let's face it, in the world we
live in America, in our society, we got winners and
we got losers. And I actually think the thing that
differentiates the two is not a huge gap. Some people
are just unwilling to not figure it out. And whether
(20:41):
you're in a normal business or whether you're in sports,
that separates people. And when I look at Jerry West,
I just see a guy who had gut feelings on things,
who had an intuition because of his knowledge of basketball,
and just stuck to his guns and when he wanted something,
he just made sure it happened. And this goes back
to when I was a kid when he signed Shaquille
(21:02):
O'Neil from the Orlando Magic, which was an enormous coup
for the Lakers back then and was one of the
bigger stories in the nineties, and then when he pounded
the table for Kobe Bryant. But the thing I remember
most being around these the Warrior teams for a couple
of years was people forget this now but and if
you didn't live in the Barry, you might not know this.
(21:24):
One huge potential trade for the Warriors was they were
going to trade for Kevin Love, but the trade was
essentially going to be Klay Thompson and someone else for
Kevin Love. And Jerry West looked at Bob Myers and
most importantly looked at Joe Lacub the owner, and said,
if you trade Klay Thompson, I quit. I resign immediately.
(21:48):
And I just think people did trust their gut, and
obviously it's built through experience of having success and making
your decisions. Like Jerry West had balls, he had stones.
He's a dying breed of human being. I mean, the
guy was born in nineteen thirty eight, so he grew
up in a completely different time than several generations. But
(22:10):
I've always respected elite players that then go on to
become general managers because that job unlike coaching, and he
was a coach really briefly. I think in the late seventies,
you don't have that much impact when the game starts, right.
There are some famous stories of Billy Bean, the longtime
(22:34):
GM for the A's, of like he'd work out during
the games because he'd get his anxiety would be so high.
Jerry West was notorious for that too. He was like,
get in his car and drive around Los Angeles because
he couldn't watch. And again he was the GM of
the Showtime Lakers and the Kobe and Shaq Phil Jackson Lakers,
but his anxiety was so high it struggled to watch.
(22:55):
Because as a player, you're used to controlling, even as
a coach, to impact it. As a GM in basketball
or football, you're sitting there on a suit in the
stands eating popcorn. You have no impact when the game starts.
And I think we have a lot of guys in
the NFL. Obviously, Ozzie knew some transitioned in the nineties
and went on to become one of the greatest general
(23:17):
managers the NFL has ever seen, and still to this day.
He retired a couple of years ago. At the head
of the table, is not the owner and is not
the current GM, Eric Tacosta, It's still Ozzy. Why he's
addicted to football. John Elway, who played later than Ozzy,
(23:38):
obviously made more money than Ozzy and had successful business career,
owned a bunch of car dealerships, did not need the money,
and Pat Bowland called him up and he said, I'll
run the team. I'll fix this, And like Jerry West,
the first thing he did was close a deal, got
rid of Tim Tebow and landed Peyton Manning and it
changed the Broncos for four years and they became one
(24:01):
of if on a given year, the best team in football,
went to two Super Bowls, had a couple of bad
playoff losses, and obviously won the one in Peyton Manning's
last year against Carolina Panthers. And on a little bit
lesser of a level, I wouldn't put John Lynch on
the level of John Elway. But John Lynch does not
need to be doing this. He does not need to
(24:22):
be working eighty ninety hour weeks, having the anxiety overcome
you on a Sunday when you're in a box, eating
a hot dog, watching the football game and having no juice.
But this is who they are, deep in their core,
deep in their soul. They liked being in the trenches.
I was in the trenches for a couple of years.
(24:43):
It was a lot. It's very stressful, and some guys
thrive in that environment. Some guys enjoy Just like you're
not guaranteed to win every week. You're not guaranteed to win. Ever,
it can be a disaster on any given season if
the wrong guy gets injured. But they fucking love it.
(25:08):
And it's a small percentage of people like Peyton Manning
and Tom Brady like they're not doing that because there's
a big difference of like one day, I want to
own the team and no, I want to be the
GM of the team. I want to be every day
with the coaches and the players. And obviously Jerry is
probably one of the most legendary executives in the history
(25:30):
of sports. Ozzie Newsom is I would say for on
the NFL level, you know, probably not far behind him.
And what John Elway did forever in Denver, it ended poorly,
but I respect the shit out of him for doing that.
And same thing with John Lynch. Howie Roseman has to
be the GM. This was his desired occupation. John Schneider,
(25:53):
this is what these guys wanted to do in their
twenties and thirties. Those guys were playing at a Hall
of fame, and then as they got older, they missed
it so much deep down in their loins they had
to get back and be a part of it, and
be a part of the grind, because it's really the
(26:14):
highs and lows are dictated by the Sunday outcomes or
in the NBA, you know, the playoff games, but it's
really about the daily just ability to be I don't know,
in the mud with the voice. And as we move
on and the guys continue to make more and more
(26:35):
historic amounts of money, I think we're gonna see less
and less of these people doing it because like, who
needs that stress in their life? Who does not? Many people?
When you got money, why would you want stress in
your life? You can avoid it. But some guys that
stress and that uncertainty, and ultimately the competition gets them
(26:58):
off because the muddy. I mean, Jerry West has been
super rich for a long time. John Lynch was rich
before he ever came back to the forty nine ers.
John Elway was probably worth one hundred million dollars when
he accepted to be the GM of the Denver Broncos.
They did not need those jobs, did not need them
at all. Ryan Goudikins needs the job. Where else is
(27:22):
he gonna make three four million dollars? I mean, this
is this is occupation This was not these guys occupation,
but the sport was, and they loved it at the
deepest levels. And I've said it forever, having been around
Pat Hill and Andy Reid and knowing a bunch of
guys that worked for the Patriots forever with Belichick, I
(27:43):
don't think the common fan quite understands the addiction these
men have to the sport of football, how much it
truly means to them. Twenty four to seven, three sixty
five thinking about it non stop. It's their life, it's
it's equal with their family. Sounds crazy, but I just
promise you it is. And Rip Jerry West probably one
(28:06):
of the greatest sportsmen to ever live. And I'm a
sucker when former great players get involved because I just
think we're going to see less and less of that.
Like I said, given the financial amounts of money these
guys have made a couple other quick stories before we
get out of here. Darren Waller retired, He's going to
(28:27):
become a rapper. I watched some of his rap song
about getting a divorce with Kelsey the girl in the WNBA.
It was probably one of the worst songs I've ever seen.
Was a pretty incredible story. When Gruden and Mayock resurrected
him clearly a really, really talented player. Ever since he
started wanting money, he started getting injured a lot, and
(28:48):
he just kind of became irrelevant and the Giants traded
a third round pick for him last year he got
injured and now his career is over. So yeah, I mean,
it's just the NFL thinks happened fast. And then Amari Cooper, uh,
he's currently holding out, wants a new contract in the
last year of his deal, making twenty three million dollars,
(29:11):
probably wants thirty million dollars, and all these wide receivers. Man,
it's tough because you're having success like I don't even
make eighteen nineteen twenty million dollars, these guys making twenty
eight thirty thirty four. And you're gonna see this more
and more over the next couple of years. These guys
that are already on contract extensions going hey guys, uh,
(29:34):
I'm gonna need a little race. And Amari Cooper is
the latest. Be interesting to see how he's been good
for the Browns. He's had a It's weird, right, he
was drafted number four overall and the expectations up at
one point, I remember going to Raiders camp his rookie year.
I'm like, is this guy gonna be the next Jerry Rice?
In a weird way, it feels like he's underachieved but
(29:54):
also been a fantastic player. Kind of a bizarre career,
partly because the Raiders traded him, then the Cowboys traded him.
But when you look at a stats, dude has been
good for a long long time. And I think you
could argue the Browns are in somewhat of a tight spot.
You just give them one of those little three four
million dollar contract kickers to make it worth a little more.
(30:17):
We'll see how that plays out. Okay, let's do a
little middle Cooff mailbag. That's where I answer your questions
at John Middlecoff is the Instagram handle, So just fire
into those dms and get a question answered here on
(30:39):
this little podcast. This from Chris, longtime listener, first time writer,
Hypothetically speaking, if the NFL did a redraft, how many
quarterbacks would go off the board before another position. I
personally believe it'd be around twenty get picked before a
non quarterback. My friends think I'm crazy, So you don't
(31:02):
mean necessarily, you don't mean a redraft. You just mean
like an expansion draft, every player is available. I think
one hundred percent there are five guys in some order going. Mahomes,
Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, Joe Burrow, Justin Herbert are going
(31:24):
in the first five picks. I would bet fifty thousand
dollars on that. I don't know the exact order, but
those would be the first five players. Then I think
it would be start being debatable, right Trevor Lawrence, Jalen Hurts, Kyler, Murray,
Brock Purdy, Dak Prescott's of the world. Would you take
(31:48):
all those guys before you took another position? I think
that's where the debate would really kick up. Who am
I missing? You know, you have this new group of
guys that were just draft to Caleb Williams. If we're
doing it today, I would add Caleb Williams to that.
And I'm not saying he's obviously we have no clue
(32:09):
if he's as good as those top five guys. But
the potential Caleb Williams will get drafted ahead of Trevor Lawrence,
I'm pretty confident on that. Again, money not factoring in Aroun.
I'm just saying draft the player. I think you would
have a handful of guys that you would start debating,
right if you were in the draft room and like
(32:30):
eight quarterback Wint, You're like, do we want Micah Parsons,
Nick Bosa, you know, Justin Jefferson. To start going around
the great players at different positions, some of the great
interior defensive linemen, Miles Garrett, TJ. Watt. Would I take
that guy over Dak Prescott. It's almost like a fantasy draft. Well,
(32:52):
who could I get in the second round? Could I
get you know, Kirk Cousins in the second round, because
I would rather have Kirk Cousins and Micah Parsons then
Kyler Murray and you know whoever? Right Max Crosby. Uh,
obviously when you factor in age, Like if Trent Williams
(33:12):
was twenty five, I think if I didn't love the quarterback,
I'd have no problem taking a Trent Williams like player
as my first pick. I don't think it would be
twenty Stafford's a little older and banged up. Goff. I
guess Goff guys like Goff and Dak and Party, they
would just go. So maybe maybe the numbers like twelve
(33:35):
ish I would say twelve ish. I don't think we're
getting to twenty, like you're taking Derek Carr over Michaeh
Parsons or Nick Bosa. I don't think you could. You know,
I think Kyler's a wild card. I think Jalen Hurts
is somewhat of a wild card. Well, I mean he's
got a big year coming up. Who am I missing to?
(33:59):
I mean I wouldn't take to over any sweet defensive player,
like you're gonna take two over TJ Watt. I'd be
like five. I'd be like Jerry West to the Warriors.
Fire me, I quit, I'm out. It's a good question, though.
One thing I'm gonna do this summer going to Tahoe
for like a month. I got some good kind of
(34:21):
evergreen podcasts that I was thinking of today in the car,
and one of them, I'm going to uh do a
little coach draft, I think College and pro. Wanted to
see if you know who Mike Francessa is. Yeah, I
don't fucking live under rock. I talk for a living. Yes,
(34:44):
I know who he is, and if so, if you
have ever had any sort of interaction or story with him.
Being from New York, Francessa was our go to sports
guy for decades, and I imagine any listener of yours
from the Northeast would know who he is. So wanted
to see if you have any familiarity with him, give
up the great work. PS me and my buddy crack
(35:05):
up find you mentioned atrocious mcglinchy contract. Someone DM me
like a week ago. It was like, did mclinchy sleep
with your girlfriend or hurt your brother? Like, no, he's
a good guy. I just think he's a pretty overpaid
paid player. I've never been around or met Francessa, but
I have several times when I was on radio, interviewed
(35:27):
Chris Russo and talked to Chris Russo for a long
time at a Super Bowl and he is the coolest.
And I didn't really listen to much Francessa. But as
someone that has serious XM in his car, as we've
known about my bluetooth issues in the Tahoe, I'm a
serious XM loyalist and Mad Dog Radio obviously Russo's channel,
(35:53):
I would say ten years ago whenever I was in
the car and I would stream it. Sometimes it's probably
a little too too sporty for me now, that specific show,
but early on I loved it. I would consider myself
a diehard Chris Russo guy. He entertains the He is
exactly what you want in this business, an entertainer. I
(36:17):
never understand like, you know who gets really mad a
lot of times. You know who used to be very
envious of sports talk radio people ten fifteen years ago
and called them lazy were newspaper writers. Well there was
a jealousy. You made way more in SportsTalk radio and
you were actually, I guess twenty years ago the newspaper
was bigger, but obviously sports talk radio really took off
(36:39):
over the last twenty plus years, and there was such
jealousy because they're like, that's not journalism. No, it's not journalism.
This is a business. We're trying to make a lot
of money. Our number one goal is to entertain the consumer.
That's all anyone that's good at this job cares about.
And Russo to me is an all time elite entertainer.
I'm not. I don't watch first take, but I respect
(37:02):
because I've met him a couple of times, steven A
and he was coolest shit too. Listen. He's not for me,
but he's obviously Alita's job, and I think him and
Russo they are just special personalities. And I've always said this,
like I like to be entertained. If you bore me
in sports, I'll stop reading you. I won't listen to you.
Like I like to be entertained, I don't care if
(37:22):
you're a little off the wall. Sometimes I'm a fucking
nut job, right, so I like some off the wall takes,
and Russo has him in spades. I think Russo to
me if I did Mount Rushmore sports talk radio for me,
I mean, in my like my opinion. I'm not saying
these are actually the greatest, but the influence on me
(37:43):
and the people I listened to the most by a
country mile would be Colin dan Patrick, Chris Russo and
Jim Rome. And honestly, there's probably not even a close fifth.
There's not a close fifth. I mean, I started listening
to Jim Rome when I was really young. And I
think the coolest part about the way the Internet in
the world is now how you can just consume anyone
(38:04):
you want. You know, I can listen to a guy,
I can stream a guy in New York and I
started doing this ten years ago. You know before, like
you knew about Colin or Dan Patrick because they were
on ESPN, but these guys in local markets, you would
never hear about them. And I remember the first time
I started listening to Mad Dog, I'm like, Russo, this
guy is a gem. Now if he's top breaking down
(38:27):
the French Open, I'm changing the channel. Little too baseball
heavy for me. I follow baseball, I don't watch it,
but I know what's going on. I'm not breaking down
seventh innings and that's listen. I don't blame him for
doing that when he cut his teeth, talking baseball in
sports talk radio was huge, and I just think those guys,
(38:48):
I'd never listen to their show, but clearly they're one
of the all time great chemistry shows. And the thing
isn't with chemistry with a radio host, like you can't
really fake it at the highest levels. And like I
I loved Roussillo and Scott Van Pelt and that they
were so unique because they were so much younger sounding
than all these other shows. You know, Collins show was
(39:09):
always so different, which I like because he talked money
and business and obviously the analogies, but he didn't sound
like anyone else and to me, Jim Rohan was just
so early on it, but he was just very very
sports meeting potatoes. You know. Dan is just such a
great interviewer, and Russo is just out of left field.
(39:29):
And I'm I'm a huge Russo guy. I like a
little crazy in my sports stock analysts like I like,
I'm not looking. I hate it when people, especially when
former players get in. I'm here to educate, bro, this
ain't chemistry. I'm not looking to get a fucking education.
I'm trying to laugh, tried to have fun. I'm pissed off.
(39:51):
I just lost a thousand dollars on the game. I
want you, I want you to talk a little, you
know what, Like this ain't education, This isn't Spanish three.
No one's trying to get educated. This is all entertainment.
And I think no one figured that out faster, you know,
I think why audio started lapping the written word. Obviously
(40:11):
society changed, but a lot of big jay journalists, you know,
they're they're just very stuck in their ways. And I
think when you start working in radio, and this has
really benefited me being in podcasts, is when you're meeting
with your employee, you know your bosses and the people
that matter. It's always about money. It's like, are we
doing well enough? Are we generating enough sales? Are we
(40:33):
doing well enough with revenue? Your job is to generate revenue.
It's honestly, this is a sales job. That's what this is.
And the ads happen to be what we're selling. And
the bigger your audience is, the more money you make.
But the reason Colin and Dan and now Portnoy and
you know, the Pat McAfee like they can sell and
(40:55):
they're selling themselves. And that's why a lot of journalists
have gotten really bitter over last decade. It's like, hey, guys,
this is all a business. The newspapers. Do you know
what that was? That was ad distribution. That's what that
paper was filled with articles written by you guys. But
the reason they've been cutting for twenty years is less
and less of us are reading them. And it's why
(41:16):
I feel very fortunate to be in this medium where
audio is as strong as ever and it's only gonna
get stronger. So obviously changed radio and streaming and podcasts,
but it's it. You have a unique relationship when you
listen to someone very closely, and I found this out.
Just meeting some of you guys out and about, you
feel like you know the guy really well. And I
(41:37):
felt like that when I met Chris Russo. It's like, God,
I've been listening to this guy for like ten years,
or the first time I met Collin It's like, God,
I've been listening to this guy since I was like
eighteen years old. You know, I've never met Dan Patrick.
But you just get to feel like you know the guy.
It's why, you know, in the history of the business,
the Howard Stearns, the rush Limbaughs, I mean, Mike and Mike.
I mean you're talking about people twenty years ago making
(41:59):
twenty million dollar because of the power of the business.
And Russo, like I said, I think even if you
don't like have a different opinion, I think he's very
It would probably be the two of them, but would
be on the Mount Rushmore radio for sure. It's funny
when I hear people talk about like I still listen
to my radio from where I grew up, Like I don't.
(42:24):
I don't at all. Maybe it's just not that good.
I used to work in the area. But you know,
depending on where you live, you know, Philly's always had
great sports stock radio. Same with New York, same with Boston.
I think on the West Coast it's just podcast you know,
it's kind of a little more progressive area in the
sense of more I would say on per capita and
(42:44):
more people were working from home, change the game. I
think podcasts more than the East Coast has destroyed West
Coast radio. Just a question for the pod, love listening.
What are your expectations for the Rams this season and
how long do you think their window to win Super
Bowl is. I think expectation is to compete, to win
(43:05):
the division and to be a Super Bowl contender. I mean,
if Stafford's healthy all season, I don't see why they
can't win eleven twelve games and be in the hunt
in the NFC them San Francisco, Lions, Green Bay, Philly.
I mean, I think it's pretty clear who the big
dogs are, you know, I don't think there are many
wild cards in the NFC. Ben, listen to your pod
(43:28):
for about three years and I like it. Love hearing
your insights. Keep up the great work. Question for the pod.
Appreciate the nice words.
Speaker 2 (43:36):
Aaron.
Speaker 1 (43:37):
What are your opinions on the Seattle GM John Schneider
where do you rank him and what would it mean
for his career if this upcoming season with all the
coaching changes turns out to be a success, meaning being
a team that competes for a wildcard spot. I think
John Schneider is easily one of the better gms in
the league. I don't know him personally, I know a
(44:00):
lot of people that are very close to him. I
thought that when I worked in the league. I thought
that when I worked in radio in the Bay Area
and seen as you know, the Richard Sherman teams. I've
thought that over the last three or four years as
they've transitioned out of Russell Wilson. Now he's made bad moves,
but I do believe that Pete Carroll has like I
think I put Jamal Adams on Pete Carroll. I'm not
saying John Schneider didn't like him or wasn't on board,
(44:23):
but I don't know if that move happens if the
front office is in charge. Pete was and that's a debacle,
but what he did to the Denver Broncos is an
all time policing. Now, obviously Pete was involved in that too,
but he gets credit. You know, they always say by
low Sell High. He got Russell Wilson and he was
(44:45):
the reason pounded the table because Pete Carroll and he
told him, he said, Pete, when you meet this guy
in person, you're gonna be like, wait, this is the
quarterback because he was really short. And Pete, if you
ever looked at his USC teams, they were massive. Liner's huge.
The team was enormous. Hell the Seattle was huge, the
(45:06):
guys they had on that team, and he sold Pete
on it. So he bought It's like he bought in
Navidiot like a hundred bucks and then he sold Russell
Wilson for a premium and be like selling the video
right now. That alone is an all time move. And
then I've really thought these last couple of years, their
team's been really talented, a ton of really good guys
on offense. Draft d Can the second round, Jackson Smith
(45:28):
in the first round, the running back Walker from Michigan
State stud Drafting the offensive lineman when they pivoted from
Russ defense has been a little hit or miss, but
now they might have a better defensive coach in twenty
twenty four. Obviously, Pete's one of the greatest defensive coaches
in the History League. I don't know where exactly he ranks,
(45:49):
but I think he's definitely, I mean, no doubt about it,
top ten GM in the league and just one of
the more talented guys in the position over the last
couple decades. People love them. People love the guy in
the business. I've never heard a bad word about the guy,
and we all know the longer you do something in
(46:10):
an industry, especially a highly competitive industry, it's hard to
not like, Eh, the guy's kind of a shady character,
or God, he fucked me on that one. People like him.
Thanks so much for the content every week. You have
made me a better husband because I look forward to
doing all the chores around the house. Just put my
(46:30):
AirPods in and listen to some pods while doing the dishes.
You know what's funny because sometimes we do this too,
Like she'll be out watering, I'll be doing something the
else we both have air pods in. Is it pretty
normal for couples nowadays to be in their own home
both having air pods in. Listen to something. You've got
(46:50):
a little true crime, I got a little golf podcast.
And then when you need something, you're like, hey, hey, Maria,
and then she kind of hear yet hey, and you're
just kind of yelling at each other. When I grew up,
you just screamed at everyone was just sitting right there.
You had nothing to do, right, so it's like you're
(47:10):
doing the dishes. You're just looking at your parents. They're
staring at you, mad because you screwed something up, got
yelled at because school called and said that you were
late to three classes. Now everyone's just got their AirPods
in twenty four to seven, three sixty five definitely makes
h I even take sometimes my phone to the shower,
put it on the ledge where it's not gonna get wet,
(47:32):
and just play a podcast. I think I'm an audio addict.
I consume a lot of audio from book on tapes
to just have YouTube audio going in the back, or
podcasts just a lot. I just constantly need audio in
the back. Being that I'm a diehard Trojan fan. I
followed this guy a lot the past three years. It
(47:52):
seems very unlikely that he turns into a bust in
your opinion, what is his floor? Oh? My question is
about Caleb. I would say his floor. I'm trying to
think of like a talented, physical player. It's a little shorter.
I think his floor would be like some of the
(48:14):
versions we saw of Russell Wilson, you know, when the
LB changed and he kind of became this scramble around
make deep throws. But I think he's much more talented
than Russ. He's bigger, he's probably not as fast. I mean,
he's not slow. Maybe maybe they are actually similar athletes.
(48:34):
That sounds crazy, but I'd go Russell Wilson Seattle because
you could. You couldn't say, like, I mean, his floor's
not like Josh Allen, Right, that's a that's an incredibly
high floor, but his floor is not like some scrub
you wouldn't be like like Jimmy Garoppolo won a lot,
but Caleb's floor should be higher. And he's never gonna
(48:56):
play like that, like you look at like the Jimmy Garoppolo,
the Derek Carrs like that type play. Caleb's not gonna
look like that in the NFL because that's just not
his style. So I think his floor does sound pretty high,
(49:16):
but I can't really think of I think it's Flora's
incredibly high. I think it would be stunning if he's
not really good, and if he's not really good, it's
because ultimately, like you see Bryce Young in a game
like I, if he's not good, you understand it because
he's tiny. You know, Trevor Lawrence, you watch him and
(49:37):
you go, okay, have a lot of hype, but you're like,
what does he do? Great? But even he he's not
living up to the hype. But he's still better in
half the league. So it's just he's not living up
to the hype because people thought he was gonna be
a top five quarterback and said he's like fourteenth, right,
I think Caleb is better if he becomes Trevor Lawrence.
(50:00):
It's like underwhelmed for the hype. I still think he's
probably a better version of that. I guess that's a
long winded way of saying that. I mean, and I've
actually tried to pump the brakes on it a rookie
season because I think we go overboard. Every rookie's just
gonna be CJ. Stroud and we know that doesn't happen.
(50:21):
We know how hard it is you can go on
to be a legend. And just Peyton Manning, Eli Manning,
I mean, these guys just you watch the rookie season,
Andrew Lucke was an outlier as a rookie. He was
pretty damn good. Most rookies are up and down, and
a lot more down than up. So even if they
go eight to nine and he throws twenty four touchdowns
(50:41):
and fourteen picks, it's like, I bet he has moments
throughout the year where you're like, oh my, this guy
could be truly special. And part of being truly special
is dependent that this is not basketball where it's kind
of on you. It's really kind of on you, like
can you become a star or not. It's usually not
the coach that makes you star, it's the player. Like
Michael Jordan was Michael Jordan well before Phil Jackson never
(51:04):
showed up. Steph Curry was pretty freaking good before Steve
Kerr ever arrived. So in football, like Mahomes was gonna
be good no matter what. I think. We can all
acknowledge that. But is he this without Andy Reid? Tom
Brady said over and over like we needed each other.
(51:27):
Who your coaches really really matters? Zebra flues good enough?
And if he's not, if they missed the playoffs and
fired him after this season, like well, who do they
bring in would they hire like Mike Vrabel Is Mike
Vrabel good for a quarterback? Ben Johnson doesn't seem like
he ever wants to leave. Ever, who's the next like
(51:49):
Kyle Shanahan Sean McVay. Does that guy exist because to
be good? I would argue Peyton Manning is the only
guy who's after a while, didn't even mat Like Tony Dennis.
I'm running the offense, buddy me and the old line
coach Tom Moore and Howard Mudd, like Statut Sad we
run the offense. That's usually not the way it works.
(52:12):
And he read runs the offense right. Belichick ran the team.
Manning's an all time outlier where I remember hearing stories
when I was in the NFL. He'd be walking out
to practice and he'd ask for the practice script from
the offensive coordinator and he asked for a red pen
and he'd go through and make changes before practice started
(52:32):
on the field. That ain't normal. Usually you need help,
And I think Caleb's gonna need help. And maybe it's
Shane Waldron. Maybe it's after everyone gets fired. They nail it.
But if you don't like it, can you can be
in the Wilderness. Read the Steve Young book. It was
(52:53):
pretty ugly, I mean really ugly until Bill Walls traded
for him from Tampa Bay. Now Tampa in the mid
eighties was I mean worse than any team in the
league right now. I mean they were a joke. But
you go to Bill Walls here rise, you start winning
MVPs and become a legend. As Patrick Mahomes would just
(53:16):
like to get drafted by Andy Reid. It's gotta be
just I can't even imagine how often he thinks how
lucky he is, like he knows it. He knows it
because he's very, very lucky, and he's also deserving, like
he controls a lot of his own destiny. But if
your coach sucks, I don't know, you just never know.
(53:37):
I'm not trying to shit on Eberflus here, but a
lot of people just acting like the Bears are gonna
be sweet, Like, I don't know, man, are we sure
they're coaching staffs any good? The volume
The volume. We're this close to crowning an NBA champ,
and with the action heating up on the court, it's
even hotter. At Draftking Sportsbook, an official sports betting partner
of the NBA and Draftking Sportsbook has you covered every
step of the way with same game parlays, live betting odds, boosts,
(00:23):
and so much more. Don't miss out as the NBA
postseason winds down. It's super easy to just get started
with DraftKings. If you're a first timer, try betting on
something like a team to win. Go to DraftKings Sportsbook app,
select your team and place your first bet. It's that simple,
and if you're new to DraftKings, you gotta check this out.
(00:45):
New customers bet five bucks to get one hundred and
fifty in bonus bets instantly download the Draftking Sportsbook app
now and use the code John. That's code John for
new customers. Get one hundred and fifty in bonus bets
with you bet just five bucks only on DraftKings. The
crown is.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
Yours gambling problem called one eight hundred Gambler or in
West Virginia visit one eight hundred gambler dot net. In
New York call eight seven seven eight hope and why,
or text hope and why four six seven three sixty nine.
In Connecticut, help is available for problem gambling Call eight
eight eight seven eight nine seven seven seven seven or
visit CCPG dot org. Please play responsibly on behalf of
Boothill Casino when resorting Kansas twenty one and over age
(01:26):
varies by jurisdiction VOYD and Ontario. Bonus bets expire one
hundred and sixty eight hours after issueins. See DKNNG, dot co,
slash bball for eligibility and depositor restrictions, terms and responsible
gaming resources.
Speaker 1 (01:48):
What is going on? Everybody happy Thursday, almost at Friday,
could have been Wednesday. I'm recording this on Wednesday. You
probably listen on Thursday. Everyone's having a good day, and
you know what, let's talk a little football. So Aaron
Rodgers makeings some headlines. People are not happy that he
(02:09):
said I'm not gonna practice for mandatory mini camp, even
though I've been here for the last two months. I'm
going to We don't even know what at the time
recording this, and I got news for you, Like it's
not even the biggest story of their holdouts honestly, it's
not even close. So we'll dive into that. The Rooneys
have acknowledged what they are expecting. Now Mike Tomlin gets
(02:32):
a three year extension, and I think we gotta just
come to reality of what this situation will continue to
be moving forward. And then Jerry West, the logo died today,
one of the great NBA players of all time, but
specifically was I mean an all time great any sport
GM and I wanted to dive in because in football
(02:55):
we've had, you know, guys like Ozzie Newsome and John
Elway and John Lynch, you know, after their playing career
dive into the trenches and it's something I've always respected
a lot the guys that, as I call addicts, and
luckily with football is it's not an addictive drug that
would kill you, though it is extremely stressful and you
(03:16):
lose a lot of sleep. But we will dive into
that because we lost an all time legend who he
worked when I was in the Bay Area. He was
with the Warriors and was a big reason Klay Thompson
wasn't traded, so absolute legend eighty six years old. His
son Johnny, who I think still works for the Warriors.
He's married to Michelle Wee, the golfer, so I think
(03:38):
actually she won the US Open, the Women's US Open
ten years ago at Pinehurst. I'm pretty sure might have
been our lone major win, but don't quote me on that.
And we'll do a little Middlecoff mailbag at John Middlecoff
as the Instagram at John Middlecoffe is the Instagram. Fire
into those direct messages and get your question answered here
on the show. Obviously subscribed to three and out subscribe
(04:00):
YouTube page where we got one of those as well.
Buy of content up there. Other than that, any other
house cleaning, I don't think we do. But before we
dive in, if you want to get outside, get some sun,
go to a baseball game, watch the Yankees, watch the Dodgers,
watch a concert. Do you want to go see some
live music. I've gone to more events in the last
(04:22):
two years working with game Time, the official ticketing app
of this podcast. Then I probably had in the previous
five like well, I was gonna let my hair down
even though I don't have any, and take my lovely lady,
or I got my brother tickets for Christmas. And it's
because this is by far the easiest ticketing app I've
ever used, the ability to search by artists, by team,
(04:45):
by venue, the price points, the site lines. They have
it all. So if you want to do something fun
this summer, you should enjoy yourself. Go have a few bruskis,
go outside, go go do a concert, have a fun time.
Do it on me, because take guess work out of
buying tickets with game Time. Download the game Time app,
Create an account and use the code John for twenty
(05:07):
dollars off. Terms apply again, Create an account and redeem
the code j o hn for twenty dollars off. Download
the game Time App today, last minute tickets, lowest prices guaranteed.
It's no disputing that Aaron Rodgers has entered kind of
this part of his career where anything he does, anything
(05:27):
he says, becomes an immediate headline and for people in
the word business that they love the clicks for us
talking about it. He's just an interesting figure and he's
done a lot of things that I have found head scratching, right,
like demanding a trade from the Green Bay Packers to
(05:48):
the New York Jets. Thought it was nuts. Now, I'm
not Antiahuasca never tried it, but a lot of people.
You know, it made him go, what's he doing? The
darkness retreat? All for self growth, trying to improve, But
let's face it, most of us couldn't go into a
darkness retreat for three or four days. So he has
(06:09):
just done things in the last couple of years. This
has already added to a guy that I would say
was pretty polarizing before that. And the story about Aaron
Rodgers leaving Mandatory Mini Camp immediately just becomes a massive story.
And personally, I don't think it's a big deal at all.
I have no clue at this point in time in
(06:31):
recording this where he went. I truly don't care, And
you'd go middlecough, You're a hypocrite, You crush Lamar Jackson
for not showing up. Well, yeah, Aaron Rodgers has been
with the team, just like Patrick Mahomes, just like Justin Herbert,
just like Josh Allen, all the star quarterbacks for the
last two months. And he took off for a couple
(06:54):
of days in June. Whatever, this is a business. He's
going to get fine. There are repercussions for his actions,
and he didn't care if he hadn't been there all
of OTA's and then also did this. I'd be like, yeah,
this is fucking nuts, what's he doing? But he has
been there the entire time, just like last season, the
(07:16):
entire offseason. It has not been an issue. Did he
go to another darkness retreat or to a RFK speaking engagement.
I got no clue. And like I said, I don't
care if you're gonna miss a couple of days in
the offseason. It's not that weird. Players do it all
the time. Where it gets weird is when you give
(07:36):
Lamar Jackson a couple hundred million dollars and he doesn't
show up until it's mandatory like that. That's not ideal.
It doesn't mean it's gonna impact the fall. It's just
not what the team wants. Now, the Ravens are well run,
big picture, they're gonna be fine. This is the Jets,
and they have constant issues today on the back of
the tabloids. I guess New York's one of the lone
(07:58):
big cities where newspaper still matter, and he's everywhere and
it's gone viral and everyone's making fun of him. And
he brought it upon himself because he made the statement
where football has to become the main thing. We can't
worry about all that, and then he just disappears, but
ultimately like he's been there the entire time. It's not
an excused absence because you can't have an excuse absence
(08:20):
unless something personally bad is happening to you during mandatory minicamp.
To me, the Jets way bigger issue, Like they know
Aaron Rodgers, where he stands, where he's gonna be during
training camp. It's not a big deal. I think the
overreaction's kind of laughable. But he's Aaron Rodgers. It's kind
of like Lebron James. When anything happens, it becomes a
(08:42):
really big deal. Hell, Kaitlyn Clark has thrown her hat
into this ring. Kaitlyn Clark, could you know, eat a
sandwich weird and be like what is going on with that?
And that's Aaron Rodgers world that we live in. For
as long as he plays in the NFL, literally everything
he does, we're going to have an opinion, which is
part of the reason the NFL so big. You need
(09:04):
athletes that moved the needle like this individual moves the needle.
But he is the least of the Jets Worries said
this the other day. They literally traded for a player
who wanted a new contract. That's why he was having
issues with the Eagles. He wants more money. So if
you trade for that player and you do nothing with
(09:25):
the contract, you are inheriting the problem. Right When the
Miami Dolphins traded for Tyreek Hill, the Chiefs had an
issue because Tyreek wanted a ton of money and they
weren't gonna pay him. So when they traded him, if
Miami had not reworked his contract and given him a
huge contract extension, they would have also had an issue
(09:45):
on their hands. But what did they do? They gave
him a massive extension. The Raiders Khalil Mack was not
showing up to training camp until he got eighty five
ninety million dollars guaranteed. Then the Bears trade a couple
ones of three whatever form. If they did not give
him the contract extension, they would have inherited the problem.
(10:05):
But they gave him a contract extension. The Jets trade
for a son Reddick who has not stepped foot in
their building. Their coaching staff, their front office do not
know the player. They do not know the guy, and
they have not given him new contract, and he's mia
(10:26):
That to me is the Jets issue because it's symbolic
of do you guys know what you're doing? Aaron Rodgers
can do things that you think are weird. You don't
agree with. One thing that is not disputable is when
he's on the field. He's a good player, and we
know he's gonna be on the field if his achilles
or body is together. Is a Son Reddick ever gonna
(10:47):
show up? Is he ever gonna come? Do they ever
plan on giving him a contract extension? Or did they
just trade for a player not realizing the severity of
the issue. Did Howie Rosaman just completely fleece them? If
Aaron Rodgers is bad this season? There is no debate
that the Packers fleeced the Jets on Aaron Rodgers. But
(11:10):
we all universally agree that if we were in Joe
Douglas's seat, if we were Woody Johnson or Woody's brother
who was running it at the time, maybe he wasn't,
maybe wood he was already back, that we all would
have made that trade, every single one of us. And
they help Aaron Rodgers took a contract discount, gave them
back like thirty million dollars. He's actually been pretty easy
(11:32):
for them to deal with. The only issue was his
achilles ripped five plays into a season in twenty twenty three.
This is sound. Reddick issue is a problem. It's one
thing when you have players that you've drafted on your
own team that have contract issues. Brandon Nyuk contract issue
(11:54):
right now. You know him like you know what he
stands for, he knows you. Everyone's on the same page.
It's about money. But you feel very comfortable with the guy.
Why because you've spent years around them. The Jets haven't
spent any time around this player. And let's face it,
they trade it for him because they kind of need
them because they just lost one of their better pass
(12:17):
rushers to the Eagles, so they replaced them with the
Eagles problem. And now it's become their problem because they
clearly refuse to give him a contract. So Aaron Rodgers
are gonna get the headlines, but I promise you he's
the least of their warriors, the Steelers. Let me just
(12:42):
say this. I do agree with consistency. Knowing what you're
gonna get and every day showing up is a huge
advantage in life. That every day that you show up
to work that you know so and so is gonna
be there isn't the old adage showing up as half
the battle, And I agree with that. If you are
(13:02):
just willing to persevere and show up to your job
or whatever you're doing on a daily basis during the
good times during the bad times, you will slowly lap
people in your field because most people eventually tap out
or can't be consistent, which is like I'm gonna take
this month off. I don't have it right now. And
(13:24):
the Steelers really really value consistency and continuity. There is
no arguing that they've had three coaches for the last
like fifty years. That means a lot to the Rooney family.
We knew that before they ever signed Mike Tomblin to
this three year contract extension. And I don't believe that
you just have to change to change. The NFL is
(13:45):
not the tech industry. You don't just need to adapt
NonStop just because that's just the landscape of the world
and the business you're in. Though clearly you have to
adapt schemes and change with players. But when you have
something good as a coach, I understand not willing to
make a change in that position, and no organization in
(14:07):
the history of sports is less willing to upset the
Apple Card in terms of their head coaching position than
the Rooney family. But I think we have to acknowledge
this in twenty twenty four. Mike Tomlin's a good coach.
I said it last year. I thought they should have
parted ways. It wasn't because I think Mike Tomlin sucks
(14:28):
or Mike Tomlin immediately wouldn't have gotten a job. The
Eagles once fired Andy Reid. They knew Andy Reid was good.
Andy knew he was good. It was time for a change. Now.
It was easier to do that because I think he
had just won a four or five games. The Steelers
don't bought him out. Mike Tomlin just refuses to lose
(14:49):
less than eight games every year for the last basically
six seven years, nine to ten wins. But you know
you're going to be one and done in the playoffs.
And I think the Roonies are acknowledging We're cool with that.
We want no part of ever being what the New
(15:11):
York Giants have become or what Carolina was last year.
We don't want to be in that business. We're fine
with making boatloads of money, which the Steelers clearly are
continuing to being a major brand in the NFL, playing
on primetime games, winning our nine games, our ten games,
(15:32):
and packing up after the first game in the playoffs,
because that's what this franchise is right now, and that's
what I expect this season to happen again. And I'm
not going to talk anymore, as you know, this season
plays out like I expected to, like it has previously
consistently over the last six plus years, any different lea
(15:52):
than I have, I'm not going to say this is
the time it's time for a change, because they're not
going to change as long as if he wins. Now,
if he wins five games, yeah then maybe it would
be on the table. But if he goes nine to eight,
or he goes ten and seven and he's a wild
card team and he loses the Bills, or he loses
the Chiefs, or he loses ever in the first round,
(16:13):
he will come back next year. And as long as
he continues to do that, he will keep a job.
And I think sometimes and I just can speak from experience,
I would imagine many people listening can as well. You
don't need to be a head coach to know that,
whether it's force change or whether you do it yourself
(16:34):
with a new job, opportunity can be very i would say,
self motivating, self correcting, invigorating. It creates a feeling inside
that you cannot get when you're just stuck in the
hamster wheel of your current role. And I'm not acting
(16:54):
like Mike Tomlin is just content that he's not trying
to win. Of course he is. Does he want to
win the Super Bowl? Sitting at his desk right now?
Does he have any chance to do that? No? Do
the Roonies know that, But they are just terrified to
fire Tomlin or trade him to another team or whatever
(17:18):
and then get into a position where they just stink
for a couple of years. They just refuse to do that.
But when you refuse to do that, you also refuse
to kind of take the next bigger step. Think about
this the Eagles when they fired Andy and went to
Chip and then went to Doug, they essentially took a
step back to then eventually win the Super Bowl in
(17:42):
twenty seventeen. No one would say that Doug Peterson is
a better coach than Andy Reid, but like they just
needed some new blood. They needed some new thoughts, and
they didn't change their philosophical belief on how to build
the team. They do it the same like Andy does.
Build in the trenches quarterback play. I mean, it's pretty
(18:07):
simple formula. So the Rooney way to build the team,
old school, badass, tough guys, defense, run the ball doesn't
necessarily have to change, and it won't change. But this
head coaching job feels like he's on scholarship a little bit,
and he's definitely earned success. He does not lose, and
(18:30):
there's something to be said in a league full of
parody where basically everyone has some down years. John Harball
has some down years. John Harbaugh has had worse individual
seasons than Mike Tomlin, but clearly his high end is
much higher. So if I'm a Steeler fan, I guess,
(18:50):
on the glass half full, we're gonna be competitive, and
the glass half empty, we're just gonna be doing what
we've been doing, which is not that much when it
matters the most, and that kind of sucks. Jerry West
when I was in radio, he passed away today. I
used to go to a lot of Warrior games, and
(19:11):
this is before Durant, So I went to the two teams,
one that won the championship and then the seventy three
win team that lost in Game seven. And back then
they weren't quite the rock stars in which they would
become when Kevin Durant went there. So you could go
to a game and pregame Clay was not Clay. You
could just like talk to him on the bench, you know,
as he's just warming up or lacing a sneakers. This is,
(19:34):
you know, a couple hours before the game. And Jerry
West would be kind of roaming around a lot because
he was, you know, a high ranking official with them.
He wasn't technically the GM Bob Myers was, but he
had a lot of juice and he was a major
presence there and I got to bullshit with him a
couple times, nothing too crazy. He wouldn't know my name
or anything. And one thing I always remember is he's huge.
(19:56):
He's massive. So I was offended when J. J. Reddick
made the comment about the you know, the players back
in his day, and Jerry West was clearly offended as well,
because Jerry West, if he played in twenty twenty four,
would fucking dominate. He would have been fine. But I
can't speak to his playing career. It was before I
was ever born. Something I admire a lot in just
(20:19):
human beings are deal makers, guys that essentially just get
things done, because, let's face it, in the world we
live in America, in our society, we got winners and
we got losers. And I actually think the thing that
differentiates the two is not a huge gap. Some people
are just unwilling to not figure it out. And whether
(20:41):
you're in a normal business or whether you're in sports,
that separates people. And when I look at Jerry West,
I just see a guy who had gut feelings on things,
who had an intuition because of his knowledge of basketball,
and just stuck to his guns and when he wanted something,
he just made sure it happened. And this goes back
to when I was a kid when he signed Shaquille
(21:02):
O'Neil from the Orlando Magic, which was an enormous coup
for the Lakers back then and was one of the
bigger stories in the nineties, and then when he pounded
the table for Kobe Bryant. But the thing I remember
most being around these the Warrior teams for a couple
of years was people forget this now but and if
you didn't live in the Barry, you might not know this.
(21:24):
One huge potential trade for the Warriors was they were
going to trade for Kevin Love, but the trade was
essentially going to be Klay Thompson and someone else for
Kevin Love. And Jerry West looked at Bob Myers and
most importantly looked at Joe Lacub the owner, and said,
if you trade Klay Thompson, I quit. I resign immediately.
(21:48):
And I just think people did trust their gut, and
obviously it's built through experience of having success and making
your decisions. Like Jerry West had balls, he had stones.
He's a dying breed of human being. I mean, the
guy was born in nineteen thirty eight, so he grew
up in a completely different time than several generations. But
(22:10):
I've always respected elite players that then go on to
become general managers because that job unlike coaching, and he
was a coach really briefly. I think in the late seventies,
you don't have that much impact when the game starts, right.
There are some famous stories of Billy Bean, the longtime
(22:34):
GM for the A's, of like he'd work out during
the games because he'd get his anxiety would be so high.
Jerry West was notorious for that too. He was like,
get in his car and drive around Los Angeles because
he couldn't watch. And again he was the GM of
the Showtime Lakers and the Kobe and Shaq Phil Jackson Lakers,
but his anxiety was so high it struggled to watch.
(22:55):
Because as a player, you're used to controlling, even as
a coach, to impact it. As a GM in basketball
or football, you're sitting there on a suit in the
stands eating popcorn. You have no impact when the game starts.
And I think we have a lot of guys in
the NFL. Obviously, Ozzie knew some transitioned in the nineties
and went on to become one of the greatest general
(23:17):
managers the NFL has ever seen, and still to this day.
He retired a couple of years ago. At the head
of the table, is not the owner and is not
the current GM, Eric Tacosta, It's still Ozzy. Why he's
addicted to football. John Elway, who played later than Ozzy,
(23:38):
obviously made more money than Ozzy and had successful business career,
owned a bunch of car dealerships, did not need the money,
and Pat Bowland called him up and he said, I'll
run the team. I'll fix this, And like Jerry West,
the first thing he did was close a deal, got
rid of Tim Tebow and landed Peyton Manning and it
changed the Broncos for four years and they became one
(24:01):
of if on a given year, the best team in football,
went to two Super Bowls, had a couple of bad
playoff losses, and obviously won the one in Peyton Manning's
last year against Carolina Panthers. And on a little bit
lesser of a level, I wouldn't put John Lynch on
the level of John Elway. But John Lynch does not
need to be doing this. He does not need to
(24:22):
be working eighty ninety hour weeks, having the anxiety overcome
you on a Sunday when you're in a box, eating
a hot dog, watching the football game and having no juice.
But this is who they are, deep in their core,
deep in their soul. They liked being in the trenches.
I was in the trenches for a couple of years.
(24:43):
It was a lot. It's very stressful, and some guys
thrive in that environment. Some guys enjoy Just like you're
not guaranteed to win every week. You're not guaranteed to win. Ever,
it can be a disaster on any given season if
the wrong guy gets injured. But they fucking love it.
(25:08):
And it's a small percentage of people like Peyton Manning
and Tom Brady like they're not doing that because there's
a big difference of like one day, I want to
own the team and no, I want to be the
GM of the team. I want to be every day
with the coaches and the players. And obviously Jerry is
probably one of the most legendary executives in the history
(25:30):
of sports. Ozzie Newsom is I would say for on
the NFL level, you know, probably not far behind him.
And what John Elway did forever in Denver, it ended poorly,
but I respect the shit out of him for doing that.
And same thing with John Lynch. Howie Roseman has to
be the GM. This was his desired occupation. John Schneider,
(25:53):
this is what these guys wanted to do in their
twenties and thirties. Those guys were playing at a Hall
of fame, and then as they got older, they missed
it so much deep down in their loins they had
to get back and be a part of it, and
be a part of the grind, because it's really the
(26:14):
highs and lows are dictated by the Sunday outcomes or
in the NBA, you know, the playoff games, but it's
really about the daily just ability to be I don't know,
in the mud with the voice. And as we move
on and the guys continue to make more and more
(26:35):
historic amounts of money, I think we're gonna see less
and less of these people doing it because like, who
needs that stress in their life? Who does not? Many people?
When you got money, why would you want stress in
your life? You can avoid it. But some guys that
stress and that uncertainty, and ultimately the competition gets them
(26:58):
off because the muddy. I mean, Jerry West has been
super rich for a long time. John Lynch was rich
before he ever came back to the forty nine ers.
John Elway was probably worth one hundred million dollars when
he accepted to be the GM of the Denver Broncos.
They did not need those jobs, did not need them
at all. Ryan Goudikins needs the job. Where else is
(27:22):
he gonna make three four million dollars? I mean, this
is this is occupation This was not these guys occupation,
but the sport was, and they loved it at the
deepest levels. And I've said it forever, having been around
Pat Hill and Andy Reid and knowing a bunch of
guys that worked for the Patriots forever with Belichick, I
(27:43):
don't think the common fan quite understands the addiction these
men have to the sport of football, how much it
truly means to them. Twenty four to seven, three sixty
five thinking about it non stop. It's their life, it's
it's equal with their family. Sounds crazy, but I just
promise you it is. And Rip Jerry West probably one
(28:06):
of the greatest sportsmen to ever live. And I'm a
sucker when former great players get involved because I just
think we're going to see less and less of that.
Like I said, given the financial amounts of money these
guys have made a couple other quick stories before we
get out of here. Darren Waller retired, He's going to
(28:27):
become a rapper. I watched some of his rap song
about getting a divorce with Kelsey the girl in the WNBA.
It was probably one of the worst songs I've ever seen.
Was a pretty incredible story. When Gruden and Mayock resurrected
him clearly a really, really talented player. Ever since he
started wanting money, he started getting injured a lot, and
(28:48):
he just kind of became irrelevant and the Giants traded
a third round pick for him last year he got
injured and now his career is over. So yeah, I mean,
it's just the NFL thinks happened fast. And then Amari Cooper, uh,
he's currently holding out, wants a new contract in the
last year of his deal, making twenty three million dollars,
(29:11):
probably wants thirty million dollars, and all these wide receivers. Man,
it's tough because you're having success like I don't even
make eighteen nineteen twenty million dollars, these guys making twenty
eight thirty thirty four. And you're gonna see this more
and more over the next couple of years. These guys
that are already on contract extensions going hey guys, uh,
(29:34):
I'm gonna need a little race. And Amari Cooper is
the latest. Be interesting to see how he's been good
for the Browns. He's had a It's weird, right, he
was drafted number four overall and the expectations up at
one point, I remember going to Raiders camp his rookie year.
I'm like, is this guy gonna be the next Jerry Rice?
In a weird way, it feels like he's underachieved but
(29:54):
also been a fantastic player. Kind of a bizarre career,
partly because the Raiders traded him, then the Cowboys traded him.
But when you look at a stats, dude has been
good for a long long time. And I think you
could argue the Browns are in somewhat of a tight spot.
You just give them one of those little three four
million dollar contract kickers to make it worth a little more.
(30:17):
We'll see how that plays out. Okay, let's do a
little middle Cooff mailbag. That's where I answer your questions
at John Middlecoff is the Instagram handle, So just fire
into those dms and get a question answered here on
(30:39):
this little podcast. This from Chris, longtime listener, first time writer,
Hypothetically speaking, if the NFL did a redraft, how many
quarterbacks would go off the board before another position. I
personally believe it'd be around twenty get picked before a
non quarterback. My friends think I'm crazy, So you don't
(31:02):
mean necessarily, you don't mean a redraft. You just mean
like an expansion draft, every player is available. I think
one hundred percent there are five guys in some order going. Mahomes,
Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, Joe Burrow, Justin Herbert are going
(31:24):
in the first five picks. I would bet fifty thousand
dollars on that. I don't know the exact order, but
those would be the first five players. Then I think
it would be start being debatable, right Trevor Lawrence, Jalen Hurts, Kyler, Murray,
Brock Purdy, Dak Prescott's of the world. Would you take
(31:48):
all those guys before you took another position? I think
that's where the debate would really kick up. Who am
I missing? You know, you have this new group of
guys that were just draft to Caleb Williams. If we're
doing it today, I would add Caleb Williams to that.
And I'm not saying he's obviously we have no clue
(32:09):
if he's as good as those top five guys. But
the potential Caleb Williams will get drafted ahead of Trevor Lawrence,
I'm pretty confident on that. Again, money not factoring in Aroun.
I'm just saying draft the player. I think you would
have a handful of guys that you would start debating,
right if you were in the draft room and like
(32:30):
eight quarterback Wint, You're like, do we want Micah Parsons,
Nick Bosa, you know, Justin Jefferson. To start going around
the great players at different positions, some of the great
interior defensive linemen, Miles Garrett, TJ. Watt. Would I take
that guy over Dak Prescott. It's almost like a fantasy draft. Well,
(32:52):
who could I get in the second round? Could I
get you know, Kirk Cousins in the second round, because
I would rather have Kirk Cousins and Micah Parsons then
Kyler Murray and you know whoever? Right Max Crosby. Uh,
obviously when you factor in age, Like if Trent Williams
(33:12):
was twenty five, I think if I didn't love the quarterback,
I'd have no problem taking a Trent Williams like player
as my first pick. I don't think it would be
twenty Stafford's a little older and banged up. Goff. I
guess Goff guys like Goff and Dak and Party, they
would just go. So maybe maybe the numbers like twelve
(33:35):
ish I would say twelve ish. I don't think we're
getting to twenty, like you're taking Derek Carr over Michaeh
Parsons or Nick Bosa. I don't think you could. You know,
I think Kyler's a wild card. I think Jalen Hurts
is somewhat of a wild card. Well, I mean he's
got a big year coming up. Who am I missing to?
(33:59):
I mean I wouldn't take to over any sweet defensive player,
like you're gonna take two over TJ Watt. I'd be
like five. I'd be like Jerry West to the Warriors.
Fire me, I quit, I'm out. It's a good question, though.
One thing I'm gonna do this summer going to Tahoe
for like a month. I got some good kind of
(34:21):
evergreen podcasts that I was thinking of today in the car,
and one of them, I'm going to uh do a
little coach draft, I think College and pro. Wanted to
see if you know who Mike Francessa is. Yeah, I
don't fucking live under rock. I talk for a living. Yes,
(34:44):
I know who he is, and if so, if you
have ever had any sort of interaction or story with him.
Being from New York, Francessa was our go to sports
guy for decades, and I imagine any listener of yours
from the Northeast would know who he is. So wanted
to see if you have any familiarity with him, give
up the great work. PS me and my buddy crack
(35:05):
up find you mentioned atrocious mcglinchy contract. Someone DM me
like a week ago. It was like, did mclinchy sleep
with your girlfriend or hurt your brother? Like, no, he's
a good guy. I just think he's a pretty overpaid
paid player. I've never been around or met Francessa, but
I have several times when I was on radio, interviewed
(35:27):
Chris Russo and talked to Chris Russo for a long
time at a Super Bowl and he is the coolest.
And I didn't really listen to much Francessa. But as
someone that has serious XM in his car, as we've
known about my bluetooth issues in the Tahoe, I'm a
serious XM loyalist and Mad Dog Radio obviously Russo's channel,
(35:53):
I would say ten years ago whenever I was in
the car and I would stream it. Sometimes it's probably
a little too too sporty for me now, that specific show,
but early on I loved it. I would consider myself
a diehard Chris Russo guy. He entertains the He is
exactly what you want in this business, an entertainer. I
(36:17):
never understand like, you know who gets really mad a
lot of times. You know who used to be very
envious of sports talk radio people ten fifteen years ago
and called them lazy were newspaper writers. Well there was
a jealousy. You made way more in SportsTalk radio and
you were actually, I guess twenty years ago the newspaper
was bigger, but obviously sports talk radio really took off
(36:39):
over the last twenty plus years, and there was such
jealousy because they're like, that's not journalism. No, it's not journalism.
This is a business. We're trying to make a lot
of money. Our number one goal is to entertain the consumer.
That's all anyone that's good at this job cares about.
And Russo to me is an all time elite entertainer.
I'm not. I don't watch first take, but I respect
(37:02):
because I've met him a couple of times, steven A
and he was coolest shit too. Listen. He's not for me,
but he's obviously Alita's job, and I think him and
Russo they are just special personalities. And I've always said this,
like I like to be entertained. If you bore me
in sports, I'll stop reading you. I won't listen to you.
Like I like to be entertained, I don't care if
(37:22):
you're a little off the wall. Sometimes I'm a fucking
nut job, right, so I like some off the wall takes,
and Russo has him in spades. I think Russo to
me if I did Mount Rushmore sports talk radio for me,
I mean, in my like my opinion. I'm not saying
these are actually the greatest, but the influence on me
(37:43):
and the people I listened to the most by a
country mile would be Colin dan Patrick, Chris Russo and
Jim Rome. And honestly, there's probably not even a close fifth.
There's not a close fifth. I mean, I started listening
to Jim Rome when I was really young. And I
think the coolest part about the way the Internet in
the world is now how you can just consume anyone
(38:04):
you want. You know, I can listen to a guy,
I can stream a guy in New York and I
started doing this ten years ago. You know before, like
you knew about Colin or Dan Patrick because they were
on ESPN, but these guys in local markets, you would
never hear about them. And I remember the first time
I started listening to Mad Dog, I'm like, Russo, this
guy is a gem. Now if he's top breaking down
(38:27):
the French Open, I'm changing the channel. Little too baseball
heavy for me. I follow baseball, I don't watch it,
but I know what's going on. I'm not breaking down
seventh innings and that's listen. I don't blame him for
doing that when he cut his teeth, talking baseball in
sports talk radio was huge, and I just think those guys,
(38:48):
I'd never listen to their show, but clearly they're one
of the all time great chemistry shows. And the thing
isn't with chemistry with a radio host, like you can't
really fake it at the highest levels. And like I
I loved Roussillo and Scott Van Pelt and that they
were so unique because they were so much younger sounding
than all these other shows. You know, Collins show was
(39:09):
always so different, which I like because he talked money
and business and obviously the analogies, but he didn't sound
like anyone else and to me, Jim Rohan was just
so early on it, but he was just very very
sports meeting potatoes. You know. Dan is just such a
great interviewer, and Russo is just out of left field.
(39:29):
And I'm I'm a huge Russo guy. I like a
little crazy in my sports stock analysts like I like,
I'm not looking. I hate it when people, especially when
former players get in. I'm here to educate, bro, this
ain't chemistry. I'm not looking to get a fucking education.
I'm trying to laugh, tried to have fun. I'm pissed off.
(39:51):
I just lost a thousand dollars on the game. I
want you, I want you to talk a little, you
know what, Like this ain't education, This isn't Spanish three.
No one's trying to get educated. This is all entertainment.
And I think no one figured that out faster, you know,
I think why audio started lapping the written word. Obviously
(40:11):
society changed, but a lot of big jay journalists, you know,
they're they're just very stuck in their ways. And I
think when you start working in radio, and this has
really benefited me being in podcasts, is when you're meeting
with your employee, you know your bosses and the people
that matter. It's always about money. It's like, are we
doing well enough? Are we generating enough sales? Are we
(40:33):
doing well enough with revenue? Your job is to generate revenue.
It's honestly, this is a sales job. That's what this is.
And the ads happen to be what we're selling. And
the bigger your audience is, the more money you make.
But the reason Colin and Dan and now Portnoy and
you know, the Pat McAfee like they can sell and
(40:55):
they're selling themselves. And that's why a lot of journalists
have gotten really bitter over last decade. It's like, hey, guys,
this is all a business. The newspapers. Do you know
what that was? That was ad distribution. That's what that
paper was filled with articles written by you guys. But
the reason they've been cutting for twenty years is less
and less of us are reading them. And it's why
(41:16):
I feel very fortunate to be in this medium where
audio is as strong as ever and it's only gonna
get stronger. So obviously changed radio and streaming and podcasts,
but it's it. You have a unique relationship when you
listen to someone very closely, and I found this out.
Just meeting some of you guys out and about, you
feel like you know the guy really well. And I
(41:37):
felt like that when I met Chris Russo. It's like, God,
I've been listening to this guy for like ten years,
or the first time I met Collin It's like, God,
I've been listening to this guy since I was like
eighteen years old. You know, I've never met Dan Patrick.
But you just get to feel like you know the guy.
It's why, you know, in the history of the business,
the Howard Stearns, the rush Limbaughs, I mean, Mike and Mike.
I mean you're talking about people twenty years ago making
(41:59):
twenty million dollar because of the power of the business.
And Russo, like I said, I think even if you
don't like have a different opinion, I think he's very
It would probably be the two of them, but would
be on the Mount Rushmore radio for sure. It's funny
when I hear people talk about like I still listen
to my radio from where I grew up, Like I don't.
(42:24):
I don't at all. Maybe it's just not that good.
I used to work in the area. But you know,
depending on where you live, you know, Philly's always had
great sports stock radio. Same with New York, same with Boston.
I think on the West Coast it's just podcast you know,
it's kind of a little more progressive area in the
sense of more I would say on per capita and
(42:44):
more people were working from home, change the game. I
think podcasts more than the East Coast has destroyed West
Coast radio. Just a question for the pod, love listening.
What are your expectations for the Rams this season and
how long do you think their window to win Super
Bowl is. I think expectation is to compete, to win
(43:05):
the division and to be a Super Bowl contender. I mean,
if Stafford's healthy all season, I don't see why they
can't win eleven twelve games and be in the hunt
in the NFC them San Francisco, Lions, Green Bay, Philly.
I mean, I think it's pretty clear who the big
dogs are, you know, I don't think there are many
wild cards in the NFC. Ben, listen to your pod
(43:28):
for about three years and I like it. Love hearing
your insights. Keep up the great work. Question for the pod.
Appreciate the nice words.
Speaker 2 (43:36):
Aaron.
Speaker 1 (43:37):
What are your opinions on the Seattle GM John Schneider
where do you rank him and what would it mean
for his career if this upcoming season with all the
coaching changes turns out to be a success, meaning being
a team that competes for a wildcard spot. I think
John Schneider is easily one of the better gms in
the league. I don't know him personally, I know a
(44:00):
lot of people that are very close to him. I
thought that when I worked in the league. I thought
that when I worked in radio in the Bay Area
and seen as you know, the Richard Sherman teams. I've
thought that over the last three or four years as
they've transitioned out of Russell Wilson. Now he's made bad moves,
but I do believe that Pete Carroll has like I
think I put Jamal Adams on Pete Carroll. I'm not
saying John Schneider didn't like him or wasn't on board,
(44:23):
but I don't know if that move happens if the
front office is in charge. Pete was and that's a debacle,
but what he did to the Denver Broncos is an
all time policing. Now, obviously Pete was involved in that too,
but he gets credit. You know, they always say by
low Sell High. He got Russell Wilson and he was
(44:45):
the reason pounded the table because Pete Carroll and he
told him, he said, Pete, when you meet this guy
in person, you're gonna be like, wait, this is the
quarterback because he was really short. And Pete, if you
ever looked at his USC teams, they were massive. Liner's huge.
The team was enormous. Hell the Seattle was huge, the
(45:06):
guys they had on that team, and he sold Pete
on it. So he bought It's like he bought in
Navidiot like a hundred bucks and then he sold Russell
Wilson for a premium and be like selling the video
right now. That alone is an all time move. And
then I've really thought these last couple of years, their
team's been really talented, a ton of really good guys
on offense. Draft d Can the second round, Jackson Smith
(45:28):
in the first round, the running back Walker from Michigan
State stud Drafting the offensive lineman when they pivoted from
Russ defense has been a little hit or miss, but
now they might have a better defensive coach in twenty
twenty four. Obviously, Pete's one of the greatest defensive coaches
in the History League. I don't know where exactly he ranks,
(45:49):
but I think he's definitely, I mean, no doubt about it,
top ten GM in the league and just one of
the more talented guys in the position over the last
couple decades. People love them. People love the guy in
the business. I've never heard a bad word about the guy,
and we all know the longer you do something in
(46:10):
an industry, especially a highly competitive industry, it's hard to
not like, Eh, the guy's kind of a shady character,
or God, he fucked me on that one. People like him.
Thanks so much for the content every week. You have
made me a better husband because I look forward to
doing all the chores around the house. Just put my
(46:30):
AirPods in and listen to some pods while doing the dishes.
You know what's funny because sometimes we do this too,
Like she'll be out watering, I'll be doing something the
else we both have air pods in. Is it pretty
normal for couples nowadays to be in their own home
both having air pods in. Listen to something. You've got
(46:50):
a little true crime, I got a little golf podcast.
And then when you need something, you're like, hey, hey, Maria,
and then she kind of hear yet hey, and you're
just kind of yelling at each other. When I grew up,
you just screamed at everyone was just sitting right there.
You had nothing to do, right, so it's like you're
(47:10):
doing the dishes. You're just looking at your parents. They're
staring at you, mad because you screwed something up, got
yelled at because school called and said that you were
late to three classes. Now everyone's just got their AirPods
in twenty four to seven, three sixty five definitely makes
h I even take sometimes my phone to the shower,
put it on the ledge where it's not gonna get wet,
(47:32):
and just play a podcast. I think I'm an audio addict.
I consume a lot of audio from book on tapes
to just have YouTube audio going in the back, or
podcasts just a lot. I just constantly need audio in
the back. Being that I'm a diehard Trojan fan. I
followed this guy a lot the past three years. It
(47:52):
seems very unlikely that he turns into a bust in
your opinion, what is his floor? Oh? My question is
about Caleb. I would say his floor. I'm trying to
think of like a talented, physical player. It's a little shorter.
I think his floor would be like some of the
(48:14):
versions we saw of Russell Wilson, you know, when the
LB changed and he kind of became this scramble around
make deep throws. But I think he's much more talented
than Russ. He's bigger, he's probably not as fast. I mean,
he's not slow. Maybe maybe they are actually similar athletes.
(48:34):
That sounds crazy, but I'd go Russell Wilson Seattle because
you could. You couldn't say, like, I mean, his floor's
not like Josh Allen, Right, that's a that's an incredibly
high floor, but his floor is not like some scrub
you wouldn't be like like Jimmy Garoppolo won a lot,
but Caleb's floor should be higher. And he's never gonna
(48:56):
play like that, like you look at like the Jimmy Garoppolo,
the Derek Carrs like that type play. Caleb's not gonna
look like that in the NFL because that's just not
his style. So I think his floor does sound pretty high,
(49:16):
but I can't really think of I think it's Flora's
incredibly high. I think it would be stunning if he's
not really good, and if he's not really good, it's
because ultimately, like you see Bryce Young in a game
like I, if he's not good, you understand it because
he's tiny. You know, Trevor Lawrence, you watch him and
(49:37):
you go, okay, have a lot of hype, but you're like,
what does he do? Great? But even he he's not
living up to the hype. But he's still better in
half the league. So it's just he's not living up
to the hype because people thought he was gonna be
a top five quarterback and said he's like fourteenth, right,
I think Caleb is better if he becomes Trevor Lawrence.
(50:00):
It's like underwhelmed for the hype. I still think he's
probably a better version of that. I guess that's a
long winded way of saying that. I mean, and I've
actually tried to pump the brakes on it a rookie
season because I think we go overboard. Every rookie's just
gonna be CJ. Stroud and we know that doesn't happen.
(50:21):
We know how hard it is you can go on
to be a legend. And just Peyton Manning, Eli Manning,
I mean, these guys just you watch the rookie season,
Andrew Lucke was an outlier as a rookie. He was
pretty damn good. Most rookies are up and down, and
a lot more down than up. So even if they
go eight to nine and he throws twenty four touchdowns
(50:41):
and fourteen picks, it's like, I bet he has moments
throughout the year where you're like, oh my, this guy
could be truly special. And part of being truly special
is dependent that this is not basketball where it's kind
of on you. It's really kind of on you, like
can you become a star or not. It's usually not
the coach that makes you star, it's the player. Like
Michael Jordan was Michael Jordan well before Phil Jackson never
(51:04):
showed up. Steph Curry was pretty freaking good before Steve
Kerr ever arrived. So in football, like Mahomes was gonna
be good no matter what. I think. We can all
acknowledge that. But is he this without Andy Reid? Tom
Brady said over and over like we needed each other.
(51:27):
Who your coaches really really matters? Zebra flues good enough?
And if he's not, if they missed the playoffs and
fired him after this season, like well, who do they
bring in would they hire like Mike Vrabel Is Mike
Vrabel good for a quarterback? Ben Johnson doesn't seem like
he ever wants to leave. Ever, who's the next like
(51:49):
Kyle Shanahan Sean McVay. Does that guy exist because to
be good? I would argue Peyton Manning is the only
guy who's after a while, didn't even mat Like Tony Dennis.
I'm running the offense, buddy me and the old line
coach Tom Moore and Howard Mudd, like Statut Sad we
run the offense. That's usually not the way it works.
(52:12):
And he read runs the offense right. Belichick ran the team.
Manning's an all time outlier where I remember hearing stories
when I was in the NFL. He'd be walking out
to practice and he'd ask for the practice script from
the offensive coordinator and he asked for a red pen
and he'd go through and make changes before practice started
(52:32):
on the field. That ain't normal. Usually you need help,
And I think Caleb's gonna need help. And maybe it's
Shane Waldron. Maybe it's after everyone gets fired. They nail it.
But if you don't like it, can you can be
in the Wilderness. Read the Steve Young book. It was
(52:53):
pretty ugly, I mean really ugly until Bill Walls traded
for him from Tampa Bay. Now Tampa in the mid
eighties was I mean worse than any team in the
league right now. I mean they were a joke. But
you go to Bill Walls here rise, you start winning
MVPs and become a legend. As Patrick Mahomes would just
(53:16):
like to get drafted by Andy Reid. It's gotta be
just I can't even imagine how often he thinks how
lucky he is, like he knows it. He knows it
because he's very, very lucky, and he's also deserving, like
he controls a lot of his own destiny. But if
your coach sucks, I don't know, you just never know.
(53:37):
I'm not trying to shit on Eberflus here, but a
lot of people just acting like the Bears are gonna
be sweet, Like, I don't know, man, are we sure
they're coaching staffs any good? The volume
Hosts And Creators
Colin Cowherd
Jason McIntyre
Popular Podcasts
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.