The Truth About Choices, Panthers Rebuild, and the NFC South w/Guest Robert Nuccio [PART 2] | Ep. 16
December 20, 2022 • 40 mins
From our football team to how we respond to that person who annoys the crap out of us, our choices matter. Join host Delkery and Special Guest (and Panthers fan) Robert Nuccio as they discuss Choices, the Carolina Panthers, and the abysmal state of the NFC South.
This is the 2nd of a 2-part Interview.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:07):
Welcome back to another episode of Cleats Off the Couch, part two of the interview I had with Robert.
As we discussed choice.
The Panthers, the NFC South.
You'll hear more about that today.
And to go back and give a little recap, we had the opportunity to be able to hear from Robert.
Robert a little bit about how he made the choice to become a Panthers fan, what led him into football as a member of the military and the connections back into the States, as well as how choices have affected other parts of his life, whether it's been choices of faith, whether it's been choices as a dad, choices as a husband.
(00:46):
Today we get to hear a little bit more.
I hope you enjoy part two of this interview with Robert talking about choices.
The Panthers will hear a little bit about what he thinks is going to happen in the NSC South.
Thank you, guys.
Again, be sure, if you haven't already, check out the patreon.
If you're looking for a way to be able to support Cleats Off the Couch and the efforts of this podcast, be sure to check that out, and you'll see that you get your hands on extra content as you become a part of that.
(01:13):
But without further ado, let's listen to part two.
If people are like, okay, Robert, show me the physical ways that your faith has done things or been there for.
(01:35):
I could name those things.
I could detail how I make less money than I did in the military, but have more money at the same time.
I can detail financial blessings that come out of nowhere, health situations that God has taken control of, and miraculous things have happened.
(02:02):
Okay, if I give you a shot, I can detail all that for you, because I think some people who aren't followers of Price are not so because of the physical things that they're struggling with right now.
And so it's hard to see price when you don't know where your next meal is going to be.
(02:28):
If there's going to be a next meal or they're living out of their car and winter is coming, or they have this big medical situation coming up, and they don't know what to do.
Or someone who they love and care for is really sick at a young age, and I don't know what to do with those situations.
(02:50):
That's because right now, you have no hope in anything.
And so it should be difficult to put your hope into something you can't see when all that you can see is hurt.
That's why part of being a Christ follower, I believe, is helping people in the ways that God has called you to, or your church or your community with the physical to break that physical barrier down so they can see the spiritual.
(03:22):
Yeah, and we see the example there from Jesus, because if we claim to follow Christ, then we should look at what Christ said and did, right? If you claim to be a follower of somebody, you should probably look at what they said and did so you can follow their example.
And so his example was he would meet the most needy and most sinful people where they were and help to provide for them so that what was directly in front of the blinders on a horse, right? What was directly in front of them would be provided for.
(03:57):
And it's not to say that that does not mean that God will always he will give you money, he will give you health, anything like that.
But it's not discounting the ability that he has to be able to do those things if that's what he wants to do or needs to do.
Now, our understanding of need versus his need is always sometimes different, but sometimes that is what is needed.
(04:19):
And I think of Thomas, and he showed the physical look in my hand.
See the holes? And he even says there that those who believe without seeing man, greater are those who believe without seeing.
And so that's the hope is for people to be able to come to understand and realize who Christ is without having to see.
(04:44):
But it doesn't mean that God will not allow them to see.
It doesn't mean that he'll make ways available through miracles or even through.
But that shouldn't be just what we seek through.
Because sometimes we have enough in front of us that some of the religious people in the Bible write about, just like, well, prove it to us.
Show us a sign that we'll believe.
And he's just like, Bro, I've given you enough.
(05:06):
If you've been paying attention and you've actually been listening and watching, then you would see and know.
But doing a miracle for you on demand is not going to help you to actually believe.
You just don't believe.
And it's funny because as sports fans, we're like, man, I just want a winning season.
Okay, but if your team one in 16 the year before and you change nothing, what do you think is going to happen the following year? Are you hoping in that all the other teams just got worse? Yeah.
(05:45):
And so you say, oh, man, I wanted this.
Maybe it's budgeting.
And you're like, oh, man, I don't know what you're talking about.
God isn't met my I'm always out of money.
Well, let's look at that.
It's not because you make plenty of money.
You just don't know how to use it effectively or you don't know where your next meal is from because you never took the time to learn to cook.
(06:09):
You've been eating McDonald's for six years straight.
I don't even know how you're alive right now.
We understand that growth almost always change.
And so if we want to grow in any area of our life, we have to make that choice that a change has to be made.
(06:33):
So we look at Carolina this year and a lot of changes since the beginning of the season.
Coaches, key player changes and changes this morning.
Two more coaches.
Let go this morning.
Why are they doing these changes? Well, they're two and six.
If they want to improve that at all, something's got to change.
(06:56):
They changed ahead, coach, and then we won the following week, and then we lost the next two.
Okay, so whatever that changed helped a little bit.
We changed the quarterback.
Oh, man, we won.
Great.
So we had a head coach change.
We changed the quarterback.
Things are looking up.
Well, then we lost the next two.
(07:17):
Okay, so that wasn't enough change.
Let's swap the quarterback out again.
Let's move this guy over here.
We had an injury here.
These two coaches aren't doing what we thought they would be doing.
Choices for growth often require change because you're never going to get or you've never been doing what you've always done.
(07:37):
That's insanity.
That's my paraphrase of the definition of insanity, which is another paraphrase of somebody else's.
That's not an original Robert Yellow quote, but I'll claim it for now.
Yeah.
And what comes to my mind is that statement about pray as if it depends on God, but work as if it depends on you.
(08:00):
And that's how we should have an approach to everything that we do, is trusting and having faith that you know what I know.
That everything my strength, the peace in my life, the success in my life, the survival through failures in my life.
All these things I'm only able to do and live through and survive on because of God, because of my dependence on God and the work of the Holy Spirit to carry me through those things.
(08:31):
But I'm going to work as if it all depends on me.
And when you partner those together, a full reliance on God while doing everything you can with what's in front of you, it puts you in a good place.
And I know it's always a touchy subject if you talk about money, right, when you're talking about faith, because people are like, oh, you're a prosperity preacher.
(08:52):
And for anybody who's like, what does that mean? There's a false teaching out there.
It is a lie that if you have faith in God, if you choose to accept the gift of Christ's death and resurrection in your life, that you will only experience health and wealth.
You will experience money, money, money coming in, and you will experience health, health.
(09:15):
And if you ever are lacking in health or lacking in wealth, then it's because your faith is not strong enough and you don't actually believe that is a lie.
It is not true.
The Bible does not teach that.
I want to be very clear about that.
If you ever hear about that, run the other direction.
It is not true.
God can affect your finances.
(09:36):
God can affect your health, but it is never a requirement to prove the faith that you have.
Never, never just being very clear with that.
But in this connection piece in this talking about like the budget piece you had said, right, is I'm going to pray over my finances and I am surrendering them to the Lord and I am going to make decisions.
Moving forward out of biblical wisdom, constant prayer over them, as if my money and the finances that affect my family are all dependent on God.
(10:09):
And then I'm going to work as if the money is all dependent on me.
And so what does that mean? I need to be smart with my money.
I need to get a budget in order.
I need to work together to make sure I'm not eating McDonald's for six years, right? I need to work those things together to then work them in place alongside of being prayed over, and not just like, Lord, watch over my finances.
(10:36):
All right, let's get to work on this.
But earnest heart, true from the heart of understanding.
Like, Lord, the money I get is yours.
Like, there's no reason I get this money other than because of you, and there's nothing I can do with this except for what you would have me do with this and surrendering that to Him and then doing what you can with that money.
(10:57):
I think it puts us in a great place then of, you know what? I may not be rich, but I know that because of my proper stewardship of my finances that I have been working as if they depend on me while also trusting and surrendering and taking faith in the fact that the only reason they are what they are is because of God.
And I want them to be done with as he would see fit.
(11:20):
We have a little bit of savings that is intended to be a backup.
If the car breaks down or something, like we're in a place of safety and that may not happen.
It may also happen that lord, I trust you.
I'm going to be smart with finances.
We're still living paycheck to paycheck, but I know that you're in control of this.
And look, the end of the this month, we were able to afford everything we needed to afford.
(11:42):
We don't have extra, we don't have savings.
We're still wondering how we're going to eat the next month, but we know that you're in control of that.
You just carried us through this month, lord, thank you so much.
And it puts you in a place there of, again, prayer as if it depends on God and work as if it depends on me.
And when you coincide those things together from an earnest and believing heart, then the Lord will do what is necessary.
(12:08):
And what is necessary for some people was not necessary for others.
Some may, the Lord may take care of and lead in a way of more finances because he has a different plan for them to use those finances and for something to be done with those, whereas for you it may not.
And you know, I think also there's other pieces and I don't want to get too far off on a tangent here, but there there's other pieces of, you know, I'm going to entrust you with a little prove what you can do with that, to be able to be entrusted with a lot.
(12:34):
And some people, they're intended to only be entrusted with this little, whereas other people can be entrusted with lee a lot.
But other examples, there are some who might actually be able to be entrusted with a lot more and the Lord may have a plan for that down the road.
That might not be in the plan.
It might be you don't need that.
(12:54):
It might be a teaching thing in the heart of rely on me completely.
You don't need that.
And others who are given a lot from the world and then fall out or misstep when it comes to faith because they take it as if it's their own work or they create a false narrative in the way of like, oh, I believed, therefore I gained.
(13:15):
And that's not how it works.
So anyway, that's a long side piece there.
But I do think that that's important in today's world, it's always important to be able to identify what's true and what's not.
And it is a lie from the devil.
It is a lie to believe that a requirement of the gift of God's saving grace through Jesus is whether or not I am healthy or whether or not I am wealthy.
(13:41):
That is a lie.
That is a lie.
That is a lie.
That is a lie.
I will say it forever and ever again.
But the choice of faith and the choice of reliance on God man, that really sets up the president then for what is truly necessary and what we find rest in what we find contentment in, right? And we find contentment in Christ.
(14:07):
And so if God provides us enough to just pay the pay the bills this month and we don't know what's going to happen next month, you know what, I'm content in that because God made this happen.
God's in control and that's good enough for me.
If I'm content in him and he gives us extra this month.
Thank you God.
That's a blessing.
(14:27):
That overflows for what we can do then with that.
What do we do with that? Then we go to the Lord.
Am I to be generous with this and give this gift, this to somebody in need? Am I to use this for blessing in my marriage? Are we to have an extra date this month? Are we to buy that one thing that we really desired to have and we wanted to bless our kid with stuff like that.
(14:54):
It all comes out of that choice of contentment as well within our faith, which, again, it goes back to the choice of belief, the choice of faith, and the choice of trust.
Choices, choices, choices.
I keep coming back to that word.
When people begin whatever sport they're following, their season begins, and they're hoping for a winning season.
(15:16):
I'd like to believe that very few of them are expecting something similar to angels in the outfield.
They're not expecting this miraculous move of God on the field where he's guiding the football to the receiver.
They're understanding that, hey, I want a winning season, and I'm willing to follow the team as long as they're progressing and making moves to do that, unless they're trying to tank the season to get the first round picked.
(15:46):
And that's a whole different thing in life.
Like, man, I really want to succeed in this area.
Yes, God can and still does move miraculously in areas of people's lives.
Like you said it may look like.
Okay, you want to win and having a reliable vehicle, that doesn't mean tomorrow somebody's going to drop off a brand new vehicle at your house with the keys.
(16:17):
Because even if they did that, you may not even be able to afford the insurance.
Because the insurance on a new vehicle is way more than insurance on a ten year old vehicle.
It may be that someone that you know, who's really good with cars comes up to you, says, hey, I noticed you have kind of an older car.
Would you like to know how to work on it, maybe save you some money? No, I'm going to trust God that I'm going to have a reliable vehicle.
(16:43):
And he's like, yeah, that's what I'm trying to help you with.
When I get a flat tire, angels are going to come down overnight, change the tire out, and tomorrow it's going to be good as new.
Nobody goes through life expecting that to happen.
I mean, God could totally do it.
I can't picture an angel changing the tire, but I think they're fully capable.
(17:08):
But it's there's other ways that God may move in your life to bless you in the ways that you're seeking and you're relying on Him in.
They're like, oh, man, it wasn't miraculous.
First off, if a guy approaches you and seeks to start a mental relationship, that is a miracle to begin with.
(17:30):
Guys, we don't do that well.
So take it, look at it, try to see it from God's perspective.
Oh, man, he did, because someone did come over and help me figure out how to change my own oil.
That's not a big deal.
But oil changes are expensive.
Now, they used to be $10, and now they're 40, 50, 60, $70, depending on where you go.
(17:53):
And so if you don't have to spend that every three months, six months, whatever maintenance plan you're on, that's a huge savings over a year because someone another person invested in you to show you that.
It's just a small thing, but we got to get out of the mindset of okay, god is going to move miraculously all the time in this area.
(18:16):
He can if he chooses to.
But for me, I know that when something is miraculously taken care of, I'm not learning anything like, oh, yeah, I got you care of it.
I learned through struggle, failure when I'm working on things, you coach football.
(18:39):
Failure is much more teachable moments in that than success.
Coach, what can you teach me? We won.
We obviously did everything right.
The quarterback threw forward receptions.
We still won, but we can go.
It's all in the choice, in how you look at things.
(19:01):
Yeah, in some ways, success is the greatest curse.
Victory is the greatest curse, even in life.
You know what I mean? Like those times that we find ourselves on the upside of things, whether it's money, whether it's it could be a million different things, but sometimes we find ourselves in the upside of things, and sometimes that can be the greatest curse because it prevents us from seeing that and which is needed.
(19:29):
If everything is going well for me in all the areas that I'm looking at, then it can be easier for me not to rely on Gods in those areas, which is what we have in places like the United States, right? We have affluent societies at the first world societies, and you see a lot less faith because a lot less Christian, true Christian belief in faith and living because people are able to earn more.
(20:00):
You're able to take care of more things in your own abilities.
So why do I need a god? That's not necessary.
And I think that's one of the big things that the enemy uses is to be able to put things like that in our life and help to make things like that happen to blind us.
(20:21):
So that's why the Bible says and when I say this, I'm citing the Bible.
I am not bashing rich people, okay? I would love to have a rich friend.
And you're looking for a friend, give me a call.
It says, it is easier for the camel to go through an eye of a needle than a rich man heaven.
(20:46):
And when we extrapolate that it's talking about, it's easier for that camel to go there than those who are successful because they rely on themselves.
They've gotten to the point in their life where they don't need anyone.
I don't it all myself.
I'm totally capable, and that's great.
(21:08):
And believe me when I say that God can and does move in their lives.
And there are some great and Godly people who are also very wealthy out there, who I learned from because finances were difficult for me and my wife early in our marriage.
So we went to Godly people who were wealth, who knew how to take care of them let's learn from them.
(21:29):
But the more success you see at the hands of yourself, the harder it is to understand your need to rely on other people.
And as someone who's in ministry, when I delegate down things and maybe it's not as done as well as I could have done it or done the time frame that I could have done it or any of that, I'm like, Man, I just did it myself.
(21:54):
No, I'm not called to do that.
I was called to delegate it down, let them do it in their own way.
So it can be hard for me at times, like for a lie or another, I was like, man, that's it, I'm just doing it myself next time.
I was like, no, it's not what you're supposed to do.
If you could do it yourself, then you would have died for your own sin and all that.
(22:15):
We need to learn that it's not on us.
Yes, we work hard.
We do our best.
The Bible tells us we need to do our best in all things, as if we're doing for the Lord, but understand that we need God in our life without God in Christ as the focal point for us to follow.
(22:39):
Look at an American culture, how things have been flowed over the last just ten years, and the worlds and things that used to be right now are wrong now that used to be wrong now are right.
We need someone who's, above all of that, a fixed point to follow after so that our destination doesn't change.
(23:01):
Man a lot of great conversation and great things to think about.
I hope if for somebody listening, anybody listening, I hope that this has been a blessing for you in some way, whether it's been encouragement, whether it's been something that maybe has created some questions to further think about and stuff.
And again, I love to hear from different people and love to have different conversations about different things like this.
(23:22):
It's part of what we do.
It's part of the whole idea of cleats off the couch and part of what I do.
Delkri with a lot of different stuff online.
And so feel free to reach out, ask questions, and let us know if you're watching this on YouTube, drop a comment with a thought or something like that.
Love to be interacting and hearing more about your guys'thoughts as well as how some of this maybe has affected you.
(23:48):
What thing maybe you're thankful that Robert has been willing to talk about or something today.
I do want to take an opportunity.
We've been talking about important things, right? I want to talk a little bit about less important things for a moment, the NFC South in a nutshell.
Less important.
Yeah.
And so I want to hear from you some thoughts for maybe another NFC South person or another Panthers fan who maybe has been listening.
(24:14):
Just some thoughts maybe you have to give about the current state of the Panthers.
Thoughts on what you've the little that you've seen? I know you said you're more casual right now in this season of life, but you did rattle off a couple of different things that you've seen have been happening.
And so thoughts about the interim head coach, if you have any.
(24:34):
The current record, current trades that we've been seeing over the past couple of weeks, obviously, trade deadline at this point is now done, and the rest of the NFC South.
What you're thinking the outcome of things may be across the board? I'm curious to hear from you because everybody hears from me about where I think and predict things to be.
Yeah, well, as I stated, no one has ever paid me for my football statistics, analysis or opinions.
(25:01):
However, I have seen a history in Carolina where the team will place the success on the back of one player, and we've seen not hard to follow it back.
Until a couple of weeks ago, it was Christian McCaffrey.
He was 90% of our offense.
Before that, it was Cam Newton.
(25:23):
Luke Cookie was in there for defense, and a lot of it rested on him.
The Smith was a big impact player.
Jake Dell, Holme, we can follow that back.
And so with the trades in the season, they got rid of Kathy.
That opened up some other players to do other things, and then we still were losing, so that rule was gone.
(25:44):
And then the interim coach came in, and there was just a disagreement between a player and the coach.
And you can argue whether it's a big deal or not.
And he's like, hey, I'm the coach now.
And so I think it let everyone know that, hey, you're replaceable.
If you're not going to follow the guidance and direction of me as the interim head coach doing the job that I have been asked to do in the middle of a season, nonetheless, then I have all this other stuff I have to put my time and energy in.
(26:18):
I'm not going to do it with you.
You're gone.
He was gone the next day, which agree or disagree, but as I look back at the stats the last couple of weeks, like, man, it's the same two people still on offense getting the ball.
I was going to ask you, are you feeling like the players that are being built around are what's his name, the Burns guy at defensive ends and DJ Moore on offense.
(26:50):
And so Foreman was out this week, so we did have a couple of other players get the ball.
I think as a team, our franchise needs to understand we cannot build an offense or defense around a particular player, because every time we do it, we may have a great season, but it can only last so long.
(27:15):
It's possible that the Carolina Panthers ruined the potential for Christian McCaffrey's career.
We put off and so much emphasis on utilizing him and everyone's like, man, he's always injured.
Well, when you give someone the ball that many times a game, like, it's going to happen.
(27:36):
And it's not like we're hiding it from the end of, hey, Christian McCaffrey's in.
He hasn't had the ball in two places.
He's run it, you get in the ball.
So it is nice to see them spreading it around.
I think the interim coach is trying to do his best, understanding that I don't know him that well.
(27:57):
I don't believe we're buying for a first high draft pick and so we're going to tank the season because you keep seeing things that they're looking to change to make improvements.
So if we were buying for high first round pick, we would not have let two coaches go this morning to try to improve those areas.
We would have just let it ride the season out.
(28:18):
I believe I don't believe we're going to win the NFC South.
I don't see any evidence of we can change and we can improve, but this is not going to be the year that we go all the way.
It's not going to happen.
Do you have a thought on who you think is going to come out the NFC South victor this year? Nothing has led me to believe it's contrary to Tampa Bay, atlanta is doing okay.
(28:52):
New Orleans is doing okay.
But with okay teams, when you look at greatness on the team and those who are able to do things, none of us have a leader like Tampa Bay does.
Tampa Bay winning the division.
(29:13):
I don't see the NFC towels making it to the division playoff right now.
We're going to be the first one out.
I don't see us going to the Super Bowl.
I mean, God can do miracles, and if Tom Brady prays hard enough, maybe he'll get it, I don't know.
So with the NSC State, you think that the Buccaneers look like still the team? Nothing has said otherwise.
(29:39):
Right now, the Panthers are, you said two and six.
Right.
And so moving forward, where do you think they end with their record this season? I would be impressed if we win three more was that come out to a five and twelve.
And I think that's just because on any given Sunday, another team could have a worse day than we have a good day.
(30:04):
But at the same time, when you look at the current state of Carolina and we do have some players now that we've traded, some that are showing the potential they had to begin with, I just think we're too far into the season to develop that into its full potential.
(30:26):
Foreman came out of the gate, had six carries for 130 yards.
And you look at the other running backs, there was one in one and two.
And so what did we do? We let Caffrey go, gave Foreman the ball, and so now.
He's hurt.
And so I just don't see us eight games into the season, and I'm thankful we have a late buy this year, too.
(30:53):
It's like around week twelve.
We usually have our buy already done, and so there's still potential to win a few more games, but it's not going to be a winning season, in my opinion, because we don't have the time it takes to build a winning season.
We've made a lot of changes, and I'd like to think it's for the better for the future and future seasons, but it's not going to be the season.
(31:17):
We've been rebuilding, and this is the third rebuild in the rebuild, and as a Carolina fan, I'm used to okay, we had a really great season, and so the next 3456 seasons are going to be mediocre at best.
And so we had a great season when we played Denver in the Super Bowl, and then we decided not to get on the plane and show up to the Super Bowl, and Denver just walked all over us.
(31:39):
But since then, it's been mediocre at best.
Yeah, I'm looking at their schedule here through the end of the season.
They play the Falcons next this coming week.
We just played them last week and we lost to them.
So it's a division game that's really close to the last to the loss, even though you can argue it was close, and you could argue that we lost because of a player.
(32:12):
Yeah, so you've got one.
You've got the Falcons, and then the Ravens, and then the Broncos, the Seahawks, the Steelers, the Lions, the Bucks, and the Saints.
And so I can see what you're saying there with potentially three more wins.
I do foresee it doesn't happen all the time.
And while I was looking at the stats, we will have an NFC team in the division, in the division with a losing record.
(32:39):
So you're looking like a seven and nine making it off.
I foresee that being the case.
Like, when they're talking about every Carolina game I watch, they could take first place at three.
And I was like, what? Because we went in two and five yesterday.
Well, they could take it at three and five.
Oh, goodie.
(33:02):
At this point, I'd rather see them work on all the things that will make us a better team next year.
We're not.
Since when did the NFC South become the NFC East? That's what I got to say.
Drew, he's retired.
Camden left Carolina.
(33:23):
I don't follow the Falcons, because if I hated the team, it would be them.
So I don't remember who they had at quarterback.
Matt Ryan, maybe see the quarterback.
Yeah, Matt Ryan was there and then he went up to Indianapolis and has been a bus to this season.
Look at the interview south.
You can maybe name a handful of flavors you would consider elite or high quality, but they're all going, all right.
(33:50):
I'm not going in here.
See you.
So you got maybe three more wins finishing five and twelve.
I think if they ended up five and twelve, they probably would have somewhere around a top five draft pick, right? Because they haven't.
And plus, they receive they've received picks with all these trades, right.
So they'll probably end up in a good well, should end up in a good place with draft capital for this next season.
(34:14):
Steelers are in a similar situation where they actually have three picks in the first two rounds because of the trade away of Chase Claypole.
I think right now it's looking like Steelers and Panthers could be in a very similar situation.
I mean, I am more hopeful for the Steelers with a healthy TJ watt coming back.
(34:34):
I put my hope in Jesus.
He hasn't let me down.
Carolina does all the time.
And that's it right there, ladies and gentlemen.
That is the finale statement.
Put your hope in Jesus because the Panthers will let you down.
But if you happen to look around, you're like, man, my team is not doing very good.
Our colors are nice, they decorate well.
(34:58):
I'm not going to deny it.
That powder blue.
That powder blue is a good color.
And outside of Carolina, you go to a store and it's real cheap.
Well, Robert, I appreciate you coming on today.
A lot of great conversation, talking about choice of football, talking about choice with other parts of life, especially choice when it comes to faith a little bit.
(35:18):
Now, everybody has the official Carolina fan prediction for the NFC South and for the Carolina Panthers.
Outside of my own projections, honestly, I forget what I had them at coming into the season, but I'm sure I could pull it up real quick.
I want to say that I didn't have them coming in very well, very high, because there wasn't much for them that had changed coming into this season from what I had witnessed, at least from my point of view as a Steelers fan.
(35:55):
Obviously, you've seen different things, paying attention to them more than I would.
I think I had the Buccaneers coming in and winning that division, but I didn't have it like we see now.
That is for sure.
But the NFC South, I had the Carolina Panthers getting six to eight wins.
(36:17):
That's what I had coming into the season.
And so it sounds like with your projection, they'll be at five.
Optimistic, yes.
Well, I had the Falcons at only four to six wins, but they look like they're already at four wins for their season.
And then I had the Saints with eight to ten, and I had the Buccaneers with nine to eleven.
(36:38):
So for anyone listening, if you call Vegas and say, hey, I want to put down this much money, that Carolina goes five and twelve and they don't.
I don't want any comments on this video.
Like, I lost my tone because of you? No.
Be wise.
We've talked about it a lot this episode.
Be wise with your finance.
(36:59):
It's anyone listening? If you have enjoyed the conversation today and you want to see maybe some more content from different interviews and conversations we have with different guests on these different episodes, be sure to check out the patreon.
There's a link in the description and check that out.
Look at the different pieces on there.
(37:19):
Would love, love, love for you guys to be able to see all of what's happening and the pieces of content that are coming out from these conversations.
There's a lot that happens beyond just the episode, which is right now, this interview.
There has been a lot of other conversation, a lot of great pieces that will be released over time as well as if you are a patron, you get early access and private access to certain patron only content.
(37:43):
And so be sure to check that out.
And with that being said, Robert, anything final you want to say? Man, I'm really excited for the rest of this season.
I just know that it's going to be everything that I hope for and they're going to turn it around.
I feel that me yelling at my TV is going to change the entire outcome of the Carolina Panthers decision making process.
(38:12):
I watch football because I enjoy it.
It's kind of like how I rest on Sunday.
I know currently that most of the time it's not going to come out the way I want.
Not quite ready to give up on them yet.
I'm financially invested in the Carolina Panthers and I cannot afford to change my allegiance at this time.
(38:36):
But at the same time, I'm okay shutting the game off like yesterday.
I'm like, all right, the rebuild.
I don't need to watch a 21 42.
I know Duckery will sit through the pain and the sorrow of a game like that if it happens to the Steelers and he'll be taking notes.
I'm not that can't sit and watch the team go down in flames.
(38:59):
Yeah, I watched it.
But I enjoy football.
I'll probably always enjoy football.
A casual fan at best, and that's okay with me.
Love it.
Well, I appreciate you coming on, being a part of the show, being a part of the conversation.
With that being said, if you guys have any thoughts, any comments, any questions, any other teams you want to talk about, any other points about the Panthers, specifically the NFC South? Man don't be afraid to throw some comments on.
(39:31):
Shoot me a DM, tag me on Twitter, do whatever.
And we'll continue these conversations across the online the digiverse.
And that sounds like Digimon from back in the day.
I hope to see you in the next episode of Cleats Off the Couch.
Appreciate all of your support.
Appreciate you spending some time giving this a listen.
(39:52):
I hope it's been a blessing to you in some way with that being said, peace.
Welcome back to another episode of Cleats Off the Couch, part two of the interview I had with Robert.
As we discussed choice.
The Panthers, the NFC South.
You'll hear more about that today.
And to go back and give a little recap, we had the opportunity to be able to hear from Robert.
Robert a little bit about how he made the choice to become a Panthers fan, what led him into football as a member of the military and the connections back into the States, as well as how choices have affected other parts of his life, whether it's been choices of faith, whether it's been choices as a dad, choices as a husband.
(00:46):
Today we get to hear a little bit more.
I hope you enjoy part two of this interview with Robert talking about choices.
The Panthers will hear a little bit about what he thinks is going to happen in the NSC South.
Thank you, guys.
Again, be sure, if you haven't already, check out the patreon.
If you're looking for a way to be able to support Cleats Off the Couch and the efforts of this podcast, be sure to check that out, and you'll see that you get your hands on extra content as you become a part of that.
(01:13):
But without further ado, let's listen to part two.
If people are like, okay, Robert, show me the physical ways that your faith has done things or been there for.
(01:35):
I could name those things.
I could detail how I make less money than I did in the military, but have more money at the same time.
I can detail financial blessings that come out of nowhere, health situations that God has taken control of, and miraculous things have happened.
(02:02):
Okay, if I give you a shot, I can detail all that for you, because I think some people who aren't followers of Price are not so because of the physical things that they're struggling with right now.
And so it's hard to see price when you don't know where your next meal is going to be.
(02:28):
If there's going to be a next meal or they're living out of their car and winter is coming, or they have this big medical situation coming up, and they don't know what to do.
Or someone who they love and care for is really sick at a young age, and I don't know what to do with those situations.
(02:50):
That's because right now, you have no hope in anything.
And so it should be difficult to put your hope into something you can't see when all that you can see is hurt.
That's why part of being a Christ follower, I believe, is helping people in the ways that God has called you to, or your church or your community with the physical to break that physical barrier down so they can see the spiritual.
(03:22):
Yeah, and we see the example there from Jesus, because if we claim to follow Christ, then we should look at what Christ said and did, right? If you claim to be a follower of somebody, you should probably look at what they said and did so you can follow their example.
And so his example was he would meet the most needy and most sinful people where they were and help to provide for them so that what was directly in front of the blinders on a horse, right? What was directly in front of them would be provided for.
(03:57):
And it's not to say that that does not mean that God will always he will give you money, he will give you health, anything like that.
But it's not discounting the ability that he has to be able to do those things if that's what he wants to do or needs to do.
Now, our understanding of need versus his need is always sometimes different, but sometimes that is what is needed.
(04:19):
And I think of Thomas, and he showed the physical look in my hand.
See the holes? And he even says there that those who believe without seeing man, greater are those who believe without seeing.
And so that's the hope is for people to be able to come to understand and realize who Christ is without having to see.
(04:44):
But it doesn't mean that God will not allow them to see.
It doesn't mean that he'll make ways available through miracles or even through.
But that shouldn't be just what we seek through.
Because sometimes we have enough in front of us that some of the religious people in the Bible write about, just like, well, prove it to us.
Show us a sign that we'll believe.
And he's just like, Bro, I've given you enough.
(05:06):
If you've been paying attention and you've actually been listening and watching, then you would see and know.
But doing a miracle for you on demand is not going to help you to actually believe.
You just don't believe.
And it's funny because as sports fans, we're like, man, I just want a winning season.
Okay, but if your team one in 16 the year before and you change nothing, what do you think is going to happen the following year? Are you hoping in that all the other teams just got worse? Yeah.
(05:45):
And so you say, oh, man, I wanted this.
Maybe it's budgeting.
And you're like, oh, man, I don't know what you're talking about.
God isn't met my I'm always out of money.
Well, let's look at that.
It's not because you make plenty of money.
You just don't know how to use it effectively or you don't know where your next meal is from because you never took the time to learn to cook.
(06:09):
You've been eating McDonald's for six years straight.
I don't even know how you're alive right now.
We understand that growth almost always change.
And so if we want to grow in any area of our life, we have to make that choice that a change has to be made.
(06:33):
So we look at Carolina this year and a lot of changes since the beginning of the season.
Coaches, key player changes and changes this morning.
Two more coaches.
Let go this morning.
Why are they doing these changes? Well, they're two and six.
If they want to improve that at all, something's got to change.
(06:56):
They changed ahead, coach, and then we won the following week, and then we lost the next two.
Okay, so whatever that changed helped a little bit.
We changed the quarterback.
Oh, man, we won.
Great.
So we had a head coach change.
We changed the quarterback.
Things are looking up.
Well, then we lost the next two.
(07:17):
Okay, so that wasn't enough change.
Let's swap the quarterback out again.
Let's move this guy over here.
We had an injury here.
These two coaches aren't doing what we thought they would be doing.
Choices for growth often require change because you're never going to get or you've never been doing what you've always done.
(07:37):
That's insanity.
That's my paraphrase of the definition of insanity, which is another paraphrase of somebody else's.
That's not an original Robert Yellow quote, but I'll claim it for now.
Yeah.
And what comes to my mind is that statement about pray as if it depends on God, but work as if it depends on you.
(08:00):
And that's how we should have an approach to everything that we do, is trusting and having faith that you know what I know.
That everything my strength, the peace in my life, the success in my life, the survival through failures in my life.
All these things I'm only able to do and live through and survive on because of God, because of my dependence on God and the work of the Holy Spirit to carry me through those things.
(08:31):
But I'm going to work as if it all depends on me.
And when you partner those together, a full reliance on God while doing everything you can with what's in front of you, it puts you in a good place.
And I know it's always a touchy subject if you talk about money, right, when you're talking about faith, because people are like, oh, you're a prosperity preacher.
(08:52):
And for anybody who's like, what does that mean? There's a false teaching out there.
It is a lie that if you have faith in God, if you choose to accept the gift of Christ's death and resurrection in your life, that you will only experience health and wealth.
You will experience money, money, money coming in, and you will experience health, health.
(09:15):
And if you ever are lacking in health or lacking in wealth, then it's because your faith is not strong enough and you don't actually believe that is a lie.
It is not true.
The Bible does not teach that.
I want to be very clear about that.
If you ever hear about that, run the other direction.
It is not true.
God can affect your finances.
(09:36):
God can affect your health, but it is never a requirement to prove the faith that you have.
Never, never just being very clear with that.
But in this connection piece in this talking about like the budget piece you had said, right, is I'm going to pray over my finances and I am surrendering them to the Lord and I am going to make decisions.
Moving forward out of biblical wisdom, constant prayer over them, as if my money and the finances that affect my family are all dependent on God.
(10:09):
And then I'm going to work as if the money is all dependent on me.
And so what does that mean? I need to be smart with my money.
I need to get a budget in order.
I need to work together to make sure I'm not eating McDonald's for six years, right? I need to work those things together to then work them in place alongside of being prayed over, and not just like, Lord, watch over my finances.
(10:36):
All right, let's get to work on this.
But earnest heart, true from the heart of understanding.
Like, Lord, the money I get is yours.
Like, there's no reason I get this money other than because of you, and there's nothing I can do with this except for what you would have me do with this and surrendering that to Him and then doing what you can with that money.
(10:57):
I think it puts us in a great place then of, you know what? I may not be rich, but I know that because of my proper stewardship of my finances that I have been working as if they depend on me while also trusting and surrendering and taking faith in the fact that the only reason they are what they are is because of God.
And I want them to be done with as he would see fit.
(11:20):
We have a little bit of savings that is intended to be a backup.
If the car breaks down or something, like we're in a place of safety and that may not happen.
It may also happen that lord, I trust you.
I'm going to be smart with finances.
We're still living paycheck to paycheck, but I know that you're in control of this.
And look, the end of the this month, we were able to afford everything we needed to afford.
(11:42):
We don't have extra, we don't have savings.
We're still wondering how we're going to eat the next month, but we know that you're in control of that.
You just carried us through this month, lord, thank you so much.
And it puts you in a place there of, again, prayer as if it depends on God and work as if it depends on me.
And when you coincide those things together from an earnest and believing heart, then the Lord will do what is necessary.
(12:08):
And what is necessary for some people was not necessary for others.
Some may, the Lord may take care of and lead in a way of more finances because he has a different plan for them to use those finances and for something to be done with those, whereas for you it may not.
And you know, I think also there's other pieces and I don't want to get too far off on a tangent here, but there there's other pieces of, you know, I'm going to entrust you with a little prove what you can do with that, to be able to be entrusted with a lot.
(12:34):
And some people, they're intended to only be entrusted with this little, whereas other people can be entrusted with lee a lot.
But other examples, there are some who might actually be able to be entrusted with a lot more and the Lord may have a plan for that down the road.
That might not be in the plan.
It might be you don't need that.
(12:54):
It might be a teaching thing in the heart of rely on me completely.
You don't need that.
And others who are given a lot from the world and then fall out or misstep when it comes to faith because they take it as if it's their own work or they create a false narrative in the way of like, oh, I believed, therefore I gained.
(13:15):
And that's not how it works.
So anyway, that's a long side piece there.
But I do think that that's important in today's world, it's always important to be able to identify what's true and what's not.
And it is a lie from the devil.
It is a lie to believe that a requirement of the gift of God's saving grace through Jesus is whether or not I am healthy or whether or not I am wealthy.
(13:41):
That is a lie.
That is a lie.
That is a lie.
That is a lie.
I will say it forever and ever again.
But the choice of faith and the choice of reliance on God man, that really sets up the president then for what is truly necessary and what we find rest in what we find contentment in, right? And we find contentment in Christ.
(14:07):
And so if God provides us enough to just pay the pay the bills this month and we don't know what's going to happen next month, you know what, I'm content in that because God made this happen.
God's in control and that's good enough for me.
If I'm content in him and he gives us extra this month.
Thank you God.
That's a blessing.
(14:27):
That overflows for what we can do then with that.
What do we do with that? Then we go to the Lord.
Am I to be generous with this and give this gift, this to somebody in need? Am I to use this for blessing in my marriage? Are we to have an extra date this month? Are we to buy that one thing that we really desired to have and we wanted to bless our kid with stuff like that.
(14:54):
It all comes out of that choice of contentment as well within our faith, which, again, it goes back to the choice of belief, the choice of faith, and the choice of trust.
Choices, choices, choices.
I keep coming back to that word.
When people begin whatever sport they're following, their season begins, and they're hoping for a winning season.
(15:16):
I'd like to believe that very few of them are expecting something similar to angels in the outfield.
They're not expecting this miraculous move of God on the field where he's guiding the football to the receiver.
They're understanding that, hey, I want a winning season, and I'm willing to follow the team as long as they're progressing and making moves to do that, unless they're trying to tank the season to get the first round picked.
(15:46):
And that's a whole different thing in life.
Like, man, I really want to succeed in this area.
Yes, God can and still does move miraculously in areas of people's lives.
Like you said it may look like.
Okay, you want to win and having a reliable vehicle, that doesn't mean tomorrow somebody's going to drop off a brand new vehicle at your house with the keys.
(16:17):
Because even if they did that, you may not even be able to afford the insurance.
Because the insurance on a new vehicle is way more than insurance on a ten year old vehicle.
It may be that someone that you know, who's really good with cars comes up to you, says, hey, I noticed you have kind of an older car.
Would you like to know how to work on it, maybe save you some money? No, I'm going to trust God that I'm going to have a reliable vehicle.
(16:43):
And he's like, yeah, that's what I'm trying to help you with.
When I get a flat tire, angels are going to come down overnight, change the tire out, and tomorrow it's going to be good as new.
Nobody goes through life expecting that to happen.
I mean, God could totally do it.
I can't picture an angel changing the tire, but I think they're fully capable.
(17:08):
But it's there's other ways that God may move in your life to bless you in the ways that you're seeking and you're relying on Him in.
They're like, oh, man, it wasn't miraculous.
First off, if a guy approaches you and seeks to start a mental relationship, that is a miracle to begin with.
(17:30):
Guys, we don't do that well.
So take it, look at it, try to see it from God's perspective.
Oh, man, he did, because someone did come over and help me figure out how to change my own oil.
That's not a big deal.
But oil changes are expensive.
Now, they used to be $10, and now they're 40, 50, 60, $70, depending on where you go.
(17:53):
And so if you don't have to spend that every three months, six months, whatever maintenance plan you're on, that's a huge savings over a year because someone another person invested in you to show you that.
It's just a small thing, but we got to get out of the mindset of okay, god is going to move miraculously all the time in this area.
(18:16):
He can if he chooses to.
But for me, I know that when something is miraculously taken care of, I'm not learning anything like, oh, yeah, I got you care of it.
I learned through struggle, failure when I'm working on things, you coach football.
(18:39):
Failure is much more teachable moments in that than success.
Coach, what can you teach me? We won.
We obviously did everything right.
The quarterback threw forward receptions.
We still won, but we can go.
It's all in the choice, in how you look at things.
(19:01):
Yeah, in some ways, success is the greatest curse.
Victory is the greatest curse, even in life.
You know what I mean? Like those times that we find ourselves on the upside of things, whether it's money, whether it's it could be a million different things, but sometimes we find ourselves in the upside of things, and sometimes that can be the greatest curse because it prevents us from seeing that and which is needed.
(19:29):
If everything is going well for me in all the areas that I'm looking at, then it can be easier for me not to rely on Gods in those areas, which is what we have in places like the United States, right? We have affluent societies at the first world societies, and you see a lot less faith because a lot less Christian, true Christian belief in faith and living because people are able to earn more.
(20:00):
You're able to take care of more things in your own abilities.
So why do I need a god? That's not necessary.
And I think that's one of the big things that the enemy uses is to be able to put things like that in our life and help to make things like that happen to blind us.
(20:21):
So that's why the Bible says and when I say this, I'm citing the Bible.
I am not bashing rich people, okay? I would love to have a rich friend.
And you're looking for a friend, give me a call.
It says, it is easier for the camel to go through an eye of a needle than a rich man heaven.
(20:46):
And when we extrapolate that it's talking about, it's easier for that camel to go there than those who are successful because they rely on themselves.
They've gotten to the point in their life where they don't need anyone.
I don't it all myself.
I'm totally capable, and that's great.
(21:08):
And believe me when I say that God can and does move in their lives.
And there are some great and Godly people who are also very wealthy out there, who I learned from because finances were difficult for me and my wife early in our marriage.
So we went to Godly people who were wealth, who knew how to take care of them let's learn from them.
(21:29):
But the more success you see at the hands of yourself, the harder it is to understand your need to rely on other people.
And as someone who's in ministry, when I delegate down things and maybe it's not as done as well as I could have done it or done the time frame that I could have done it or any of that, I'm like, Man, I just did it myself.
(21:54):
No, I'm not called to do that.
I was called to delegate it down, let them do it in their own way.
So it can be hard for me at times, like for a lie or another, I was like, man, that's it, I'm just doing it myself next time.
I was like, no, it's not what you're supposed to do.
If you could do it yourself, then you would have died for your own sin and all that.
(22:15):
We need to learn that it's not on us.
Yes, we work hard.
We do our best.
The Bible tells us we need to do our best in all things, as if we're doing for the Lord, but understand that we need God in our life without God in Christ as the focal point for us to follow.
(22:39):
Look at an American culture, how things have been flowed over the last just ten years, and the worlds and things that used to be right now are wrong now that used to be wrong now are right.
We need someone who's, above all of that, a fixed point to follow after so that our destination doesn't change.
(23:01):
Man a lot of great conversation and great things to think about.
I hope if for somebody listening, anybody listening, I hope that this has been a blessing for you in some way, whether it's been encouragement, whether it's been something that maybe has created some questions to further think about and stuff.
And again, I love to hear from different people and love to have different conversations about different things like this.
(23:22):
It's part of what we do.
It's part of the whole idea of cleats off the couch and part of what I do.
Delkri with a lot of different stuff online.
And so feel free to reach out, ask questions, and let us know if you're watching this on YouTube, drop a comment with a thought or something like that.
Love to be interacting and hearing more about your guys'thoughts as well as how some of this maybe has affected you.
(23:48):
What thing maybe you're thankful that Robert has been willing to talk about or something today.
I do want to take an opportunity.
We've been talking about important things, right? I want to talk a little bit about less important things for a moment, the NFC South in a nutshell.
Less important.
Yeah.
And so I want to hear from you some thoughts for maybe another NFC South person or another Panthers fan who maybe has been listening.
(24:14):
Just some thoughts maybe you have to give about the current state of the Panthers.
Thoughts on what you've the little that you've seen? I know you said you're more casual right now in this season of life, but you did rattle off a couple of different things that you've seen have been happening.
And so thoughts about the interim head coach, if you have any.
(24:34):
The current record, current trades that we've been seeing over the past couple of weeks, obviously, trade deadline at this point is now done, and the rest of the NFC South.
What you're thinking the outcome of things may be across the board? I'm curious to hear from you because everybody hears from me about where I think and predict things to be.
Yeah, well, as I stated, no one has ever paid me for my football statistics, analysis or opinions.
(25:01):
However, I have seen a history in Carolina where the team will place the success on the back of one player, and we've seen not hard to follow it back.
Until a couple of weeks ago, it was Christian McCaffrey.
He was 90% of our offense.
Before that, it was Cam Newton.
(25:23):
Luke Cookie was in there for defense, and a lot of it rested on him.
The Smith was a big impact player.
Jake Dell, Holme, we can follow that back.
And so with the trades in the season, they got rid of Kathy.
That opened up some other players to do other things, and then we still were losing, so that rule was gone.
(25:44):
And then the interim coach came in, and there was just a disagreement between a player and the coach.
And you can argue whether it's a big deal or not.
And he's like, hey, I'm the coach now.
And so I think it let everyone know that, hey, you're replaceable.
If you're not going to follow the guidance and direction of me as the interim head coach doing the job that I have been asked to do in the middle of a season, nonetheless, then I have all this other stuff I have to put my time and energy in.
(26:18):
I'm not going to do it with you.
You're gone.
He was gone the next day, which agree or disagree, but as I look back at the stats the last couple of weeks, like, man, it's the same two people still on offense getting the ball.
I was going to ask you, are you feeling like the players that are being built around are what's his name, the Burns guy at defensive ends and DJ Moore on offense.
(26:50):
And so Foreman was out this week, so we did have a couple of other players get the ball.
I think as a team, our franchise needs to understand we cannot build an offense or defense around a particular player, because every time we do it, we may have a great season, but it can only last so long.
(27:15):
It's possible that the Carolina Panthers ruined the potential for Christian McCaffrey's career.
We put off and so much emphasis on utilizing him and everyone's like, man, he's always injured.
Well, when you give someone the ball that many times a game, like, it's going to happen.
(27:36):
And it's not like we're hiding it from the end of, hey, Christian McCaffrey's in.
He hasn't had the ball in two places.
He's run it, you get in the ball.
So it is nice to see them spreading it around.
I think the interim coach is trying to do his best, understanding that I don't know him that well.
(27:57):
I don't believe we're buying for a first high draft pick and so we're going to tank the season because you keep seeing things that they're looking to change to make improvements.
So if we were buying for high first round pick, we would not have let two coaches go this morning to try to improve those areas.
We would have just let it ride the season out.
(28:18):
I believe I don't believe we're going to win the NFC South.
I don't see any evidence of we can change and we can improve, but this is not going to be the year that we go all the way.
It's not going to happen.
Do you have a thought on who you think is going to come out the NFC South victor this year? Nothing has led me to believe it's contrary to Tampa Bay, atlanta is doing okay.
(28:52):
New Orleans is doing okay.
But with okay teams, when you look at greatness on the team and those who are able to do things, none of us have a leader like Tampa Bay does.
Tampa Bay winning the division.
(29:13):
I don't see the NFC towels making it to the division playoff right now.
We're going to be the first one out.
I don't see us going to the Super Bowl.
I mean, God can do miracles, and if Tom Brady prays hard enough, maybe he'll get it, I don't know.
So with the NSC State, you think that the Buccaneers look like still the team? Nothing has said otherwise.
(29:39):
Right now, the Panthers are, you said two and six.
Right.
And so moving forward, where do you think they end with their record this season? I would be impressed if we win three more was that come out to a five and twelve.
And I think that's just because on any given Sunday, another team could have a worse day than we have a good day.
(30:04):
But at the same time, when you look at the current state of Carolina and we do have some players now that we've traded, some that are showing the potential they had to begin with, I just think we're too far into the season to develop that into its full potential.
(30:26):
Foreman came out of the gate, had six carries for 130 yards.
And you look at the other running backs, there was one in one and two.
And so what did we do? We let Caffrey go, gave Foreman the ball, and so now.
He's hurt.
And so I just don't see us eight games into the season, and I'm thankful we have a late buy this year, too.
(30:53):
It's like around week twelve.
We usually have our buy already done, and so there's still potential to win a few more games, but it's not going to be a winning season, in my opinion, because we don't have the time it takes to build a winning season.
We've made a lot of changes, and I'd like to think it's for the better for the future and future seasons, but it's not going to be the season.
(31:17):
We've been rebuilding, and this is the third rebuild in the rebuild, and as a Carolina fan, I'm used to okay, we had a really great season, and so the next 3456 seasons are going to be mediocre at best.
And so we had a great season when we played Denver in the Super Bowl, and then we decided not to get on the plane and show up to the Super Bowl, and Denver just walked all over us.
(31:39):
But since then, it's been mediocre at best.
Yeah, I'm looking at their schedule here through the end of the season.
They play the Falcons next this coming week.
We just played them last week and we lost to them.
So it's a division game that's really close to the last to the loss, even though you can argue it was close, and you could argue that we lost because of a player.
(32:12):
Yeah, so you've got one.
You've got the Falcons, and then the Ravens, and then the Broncos, the Seahawks, the Steelers, the Lions, the Bucks, and the Saints.
And so I can see what you're saying there with potentially three more wins.
I do foresee it doesn't happen all the time.
And while I was looking at the stats, we will have an NFC team in the division, in the division with a losing record.
(32:39):
So you're looking like a seven and nine making it off.
I foresee that being the case.
Like, when they're talking about every Carolina game I watch, they could take first place at three.
And I was like, what? Because we went in two and five yesterday.
Well, they could take it at three and five.
Oh, goodie.
(33:02):
At this point, I'd rather see them work on all the things that will make us a better team next year.
We're not.
Since when did the NFC South become the NFC East? That's what I got to say.
Drew, he's retired.
Camden left Carolina.
(33:23):
I don't follow the Falcons, because if I hated the team, it would be them.
So I don't remember who they had at quarterback.
Matt Ryan, maybe see the quarterback.
Yeah, Matt Ryan was there and then he went up to Indianapolis and has been a bus to this season.
Look at the interview south.
You can maybe name a handful of flavors you would consider elite or high quality, but they're all going, all right.
(33:50):
I'm not going in here.
See you.
So you got maybe three more wins finishing five and twelve.
I think if they ended up five and twelve, they probably would have somewhere around a top five draft pick, right? Because they haven't.
And plus, they receive they've received picks with all these trades, right.
So they'll probably end up in a good well, should end up in a good place with draft capital for this next season.
(34:14):
Steelers are in a similar situation where they actually have three picks in the first two rounds because of the trade away of Chase Claypole.
I think right now it's looking like Steelers and Panthers could be in a very similar situation.
I mean, I am more hopeful for the Steelers with a healthy TJ watt coming back.
(34:34):
I put my hope in Jesus.
He hasn't let me down.
Carolina does all the time.
And that's it right there, ladies and gentlemen.
That is the finale statement.
Put your hope in Jesus because the Panthers will let you down.
But if you happen to look around, you're like, man, my team is not doing very good.
Our colors are nice, they decorate well.
(34:58):
I'm not going to deny it.
That powder blue.
That powder blue is a good color.
And outside of Carolina, you go to a store and it's real cheap.
Well, Robert, I appreciate you coming on today.
A lot of great conversation, talking about choice of football, talking about choice with other parts of life, especially choice when it comes to faith a little bit.
(35:18):
Now, everybody has the official Carolina fan prediction for the NFC South and for the Carolina Panthers.
Outside of my own projections, honestly, I forget what I had them at coming into the season, but I'm sure I could pull it up real quick.
I want to say that I didn't have them coming in very well, very high, because there wasn't much for them that had changed coming into this season from what I had witnessed, at least from my point of view as a Steelers fan.
(35:55):
Obviously, you've seen different things, paying attention to them more than I would.
I think I had the Buccaneers coming in and winning that division, but I didn't have it like we see now.
That is for sure.
But the NFC South, I had the Carolina Panthers getting six to eight wins.
(36:17):
That's what I had coming into the season.
And so it sounds like with your projection, they'll be at five.
Optimistic, yes.
Well, I had the Falcons at only four to six wins, but they look like they're already at four wins for their season.
And then I had the Saints with eight to ten, and I had the Buccaneers with nine to eleven.
(36:38):
So for anyone listening, if you call Vegas and say, hey, I want to put down this much money, that Carolina goes five and twelve and they don't.
I don't want any comments on this video.
Like, I lost my tone because of you? No.
Be wise.
We've talked about it a lot this episode.
Be wise with your finance.
(36:59):
It's anyone listening? If you have enjoyed the conversation today and you want to see maybe some more content from different interviews and conversations we have with different guests on these different episodes, be sure to check out the patreon.
There's a link in the description and check that out.
Look at the different pieces on there.
(37:19):
Would love, love, love for you guys to be able to see all of what's happening and the pieces of content that are coming out from these conversations.
There's a lot that happens beyond just the episode, which is right now, this interview.
There has been a lot of other conversation, a lot of great pieces that will be released over time as well as if you are a patron, you get early access and private access to certain patron only content.
(37:43):
And so be sure to check that out.
And with that being said, Robert, anything final you want to say? Man, I'm really excited for the rest of this season.
I just know that it's going to be everything that I hope for and they're going to turn it around.
I feel that me yelling at my TV is going to change the entire outcome of the Carolina Panthers decision making process.
(38:12):
I watch football because I enjoy it.
It's kind of like how I rest on Sunday.
I know currently that most of the time it's not going to come out the way I want.
Not quite ready to give up on them yet.
I'm financially invested in the Carolina Panthers and I cannot afford to change my allegiance at this time.
(38:36):
But at the same time, I'm okay shutting the game off like yesterday.
I'm like, all right, the rebuild.
I don't need to watch a 21 42.
I know Duckery will sit through the pain and the sorrow of a game like that if it happens to the Steelers and he'll be taking notes.
I'm not that can't sit and watch the team go down in flames.
(38:59):
Yeah, I watched it.
But I enjoy football.
I'll probably always enjoy football.
A casual fan at best, and that's okay with me.
Love it.
Well, I appreciate you coming on, being a part of the show, being a part of the conversation.
With that being said, if you guys have any thoughts, any comments, any questions, any other teams you want to talk about, any other points about the Panthers, specifically the NFC South? Man don't be afraid to throw some comments on.
(39:31):
Shoot me a DM, tag me on Twitter, do whatever.
And we'll continue these conversations across the online the digiverse.
And that sounds like Digimon from back in the day.
I hope to see you in the next episode of Cleats Off the Couch.
Appreciate all of your support.
Appreciate you spending some time giving this a listen.
(39:52):
I hope it's been a blessing to you in some way with that being said, peace.
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