3 and Out - Draft's 'Bachelor' Appeal; Red Flag Decision Dilemma; Top Draft Takeaways; Mailbag

In this episode, John explains why the reality TV aspect of the NFL Draft is making it more popular every year, what separates a draftable red flag player from an undraftable one, and gives his takes on the top headlines coming out of draft weekend. He also answers listener questions in the Middlekauff Mailbag. Follow John on Twitter and SUBSCRIBE now to get all the latest content!!

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Get right to the romance and find the way to
wow this Valentine's with one hundred flowers dot com. From
classic roses and bouquets to decadent chocolate covered berries, gourmet
treats and more. Surprise your Valentine with one eight hundred
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rose medley for thirty nine ninety nine, or upgrade to

(00:21):
twenty four red roses for ten dollars more. Go to
one hundred flowers dot com slash tune in. That's one
eight hundred flowers dot com. Slash tune in. What is
going on? Everybody? May third, twenty twenty one. The draft

(00:49):
is officially over, and now we move to OTAs. Uh
I watched a lot of press conferences this weekend, bits
and pieces of a lot of teams. Every coach, every
general manager mentioned OTAs like they were happening. Clearly, the
union does not agree that that's going to be a
story to definitely watch over this next I don't know

(01:11):
two or three weeks to see how that kind of unfolds,
But we're going to dive in to everything that's actually
happening right now that we know about some thoughts just
on the overall draft, some other things that I picked up,
just some nuggets from just different teams, things that were said,
and then just some overall draft thoughts, you know, after
taking inventory, just some specific stories and we'll dive in

(01:35):
that way. If you listen on Colin's feed, I'd appreciate
if you go to the three and Out podcast if
you like to show subscribe, if you leave a review,
also would be greatly appreciated. Three and Out leave a review,
and then of course the Middlecoff Mailbag at John Middlecoff
is the Instagram handle. Get your questions answered right here
on the podcast. Pretty easy. Okay, I wanted to dive

(01:56):
into the NFL draft and I can't steal this analogy.
Someone DMed it to me in the Middlecoff mail bagad
John middlecoffs the Instagram handle and said, do you know
why the draft is so fascinating? It's basically basically The
Bachelor for men. It has, you know, two hundred and
eighty eight roses, but really the first round is you know,

(02:19):
it did twelve and a half million people that watched.
It's thirty two roses for probably fifty sixty guys that
we know several guys right the top ten fifteen picks
are really really famous, and we don't know where they're
gonna end up. It is the ultimate listen. We've lived
my entire basically the last couple decades, when I was

(02:42):
in high school till where I'm sitting now. Reality TV
shows are not just in vogue, they are everything. I mean,
they run television, they run our entertainment. Hell, reality is
just part of life now, you know. It's something that
I kind of hang my hat on. Before. I always
felt like when I was growing up the media it

(03:03):
was hard to like see inside to feel like they
were part of you. They were separate. Now that the
people that are crushing in media, you know, are kind
of raw and real show back the curtain, right, I mean,
they're not hiding anything at least I try to hang
my hat on that. Like I'm a pretty open book.
And I think life has turned into one big reality
television show, right with social media obviously just everything. It's

(03:27):
just kind of the way society works. We know way
more now than we did twenty thirty forty years ago.
And with the NFL, I would include that as well.
But a big reason the draft is so fucking awesome.
Is because the NFL is by far, not even a
close second, the biggest, you know, sporting league in this country.

(03:50):
It is. You could combine all the other sporting leagues
and they might not even equal the NFL. It is
dramatically separated from the pack. Over definitely the last decade.
Basically when everyone started saying the NFL is gonna die,
Roder Goodell sucks is when they doubled down and they've
never looked back. But the draft is a huge reason
for their success. It's a huge springboard leading into the

(04:12):
off season, which ultimately goes to the season. And a
big reason we got to tip our hat is college football.
Unlike in basketball, where their sport has really had, it
seen a precipitous drop in interest, a large reason in
my opinion. Now, there are several factors. Their draft has
never been less interesting, right, It's pretty boring. Why we

(04:34):
don't know any of the fucking players. Guys are coming
from overseas. One and done. Guys, dudes, you're playing in
the G League. I mean, I'm kind of a nerd.
I know a decent amount of the players, but the
average fan does not. Where when it comes to the
NFL Draft, you have a decent idea the top, you know,
fifteen twenty thirty guys in the draft, which is really
all the NFL cares about having an enormous Thursday night

(04:57):
doing twelve and a half thirteen fourteen million people watching.
And the only reason we're able to do that is
because coming in we have a feel and we've seen
some of those players. Because the second biggest bart right
now in america's college football. So the masters watched the
NFL and they watch college football. And because to get
to the NFL you have to play college football. There
is no circumventing that. I guess you could play college basketball,

(05:20):
but those those guys are outliers for the most part,
ninety nine point of NFL players playing college football for
several years and then like the Rose ceremony, which is
the draft is fascinating because it is true reality television show.
Beside the first couple picks, we didn't have any clue
who was gonna go where. Like I'll be honest, when

(05:41):
when when the Cincinnati Bengals took Jamar Chase, I was like, damn,
I thought they were gonna take Piney Seul. When the
Miami Dolphins took Jaylen Waddle. I was like, damn, didn't
see that one coming. When the Carolina Panthers took jac Horns, Like, Wow,
didn't see that happening. No one saw Justin Fields going
to the Bears. That's a huge reason for the interest.
So okay, Lee and I don't try to pay these

(06:02):
people any attention. You see it. You know these media
members like abolish the draft. Some of these agents get
rid of the draft. A draft is a big reason
for the explosion and the sustained cash flow. The draft
is a necessary I don't call it an evil, but
if you're anti draft, like, it's a big part of

(06:24):
the process, which is the NFL's business model, which currently
produces cash at a high rate. Right we just the
news today was that the Thursday night games will be
exclusively on Amazon. And the NFL has some built in
advantages right on one thing that's way different basketball. Most
elite guys in basketball don't need to stay for more

(06:46):
than one year. I acknowledge that. Right The G League
team in the NBA was actually stationed in where I live,
in Walnut Creek, because Steph Curry's gym was here. They
had facilities they were here. You know that inferious supposed
to be for the NBA. It's bad. No one watches
the G League. No one knows who any of these
fucking players are where. If you played Alabama, you play

(07:06):
at SC you play at Texas, you played LSU, you
played Ohio State, I'm going to consume you as a fan, right,
Just it's easy for a guy like me, who is
you know, makes his living off talking about football, being
able to talk casually about a lot of these prospects
because you've watched Ohio State, You've seen Oregon play a
game or two, You've watched Clemson, even if it's just

(07:29):
for a game or two, you have some sort of
familiarity with that given player. And then going into the draft,
you're a fan of your NFL team, you want to
see which guy they're gonna take. Like the Pittsburgh Steelers
one of the biggest brands in the NFL, who do
they end up with star running back at Alabama? Dallas Cowboys,
biggest brand in the NFL, who do they end up
with star linebacker from Penn State? Right? And even the

(07:52):
forty nine Ers, who end up with a guy from
North Dakota State, that we built up that player so much.
Everyone know who Trey Lance was, and it truly has
become the best reality TV show in just in America
the National Football League. But I don't think we can
underrate how important the draft is to the entire television show. Right.

(08:13):
It gives us an introduction to the future guys of
the league. It's one thing I've always said and listen
that it was part of my job when I worked
in the NFL. But at least now I don't need
to fake it. I find fifth, six seventh rounders very,
very boring. Undrafted free agents as well, Like I could
peek at a guy give you an opinion, but you
have no clue until you watch them practice. I've been

(08:36):
going now pretty consistently to the the NFL practices, whether I
worked in the league or doing this for a living,
for over a decade, and you know immediately you're like, oh,
that's sixth rounder sucks, or damn, that undrafted free agent
is really good. And the great part about the meritocracy
of the league is like if a fourth rounder sucks,
an undrafted free agents good and they played the same position,
the fourth rounders gotten the undrafted free agent makes a team. Now,

(08:58):
obviously a lot of good players come from those rounds, right,
Historically Richard Sherman's, Brady's, Julian Edelman's. I mean, we can
list George Kittle's ton of guys from all different rounds,
but at the time when they were drafted, no one's like,
I bet George Kittle's gonna be a you know, a
Hall of Fame talent, not a soul, right, right, Julian Edelman,
He's gonna be h Wes Walker's replacement, a great champion

(09:20):
Tom Brady's best friend. Of course not now, I have
no problem doing that once these guys prove it. But
we do that much more with the first rounders, and
that's what's fun, right, And that's where we spend the
majority of our time talking about because those guys are
much a leader, you know, higher level prospects, A leader,
I don't think that's a word, but just higher level

(09:42):
guys people. We are much more comfortable projecting, where it's
much more difficult in the later rounds. Right. It's why
the television ratings for the later rounds. I mean, I'm
an NFL junkie. I kind of find it boring, you know, Now,
I had a little money on Kegan Bradley. He let
me down, but I was like watching the golf tournament Saturday,
It's like, you know, I don't even you know, we'll
see these guys are good, and I'm not saying that

(10:03):
a lot of them will be good. It's a great
part about the NFL. A lot of the guys in
the fifth, sixth, seventh, and undrafted free agents will end
up starting, especially now guys that opted out, guys with
limited film. Who knows this is gonna be an ultimate crapshoot,
But you don't really know until you start. Trust me,
I used to do it. Evaluate preseason film. You'd be like, oh,
I bet this third rounder is good, and then all
of a sudden you realize, damn, is the fifth round

(10:24):
er better. Well obviously that team didn't believe that on
draft night, neither do the fans. But it changes fast
because you know right away anyone listening to this, whoever
your team is, you can list countless examples of like, God,
I didn't know who this guy was, but two years later,
our best player in the draft class was our sixth
round pick. It's like, God, thank god we got those
two undrafted free agents that were our starting right guard

(10:46):
and our starting quarterback. It happens every team in the league,
so that the reality television show, I mean, it peaks
at the draft, but then going into training camp, we're
all locked into the first and second round players, right,
But then as you watch preseason play out, you're like, damn,
that guy's really good, or damn, this guy kind of sucks.
And the reality television show plays on, and part of

(11:08):
last week a huge edition Aaron Rodgers who wanted to
be in the mix of everyone talking, and he threw
his kind of hat in the ring. I don't even
know what to make of that situation right now. Is
it just as simple as he doesn't want to live
in Wisconsin anymore? He wants to move out to La
La Land with his girlfriend slash fiance slash wife. I
don't even know what they are, because his three opportunities

(11:29):
were with San Francisco, Vegas, and Denver. He just wants
to come out west. I get it. I'm from the
West Coast. I lived in the Northeast for a couple
of years. I couldn't get back to the West Coast
fast enough. So I understand now part of his job,
like he's been there fifteen years, makes a ton of money,
like kind of comes with the territory in that business.
Plus it's not like a year round job. It's really

(11:50):
five or six months, right, ideally six months if you
make playoff runs, which he typically does. But I'd say
the Green Bay Packers have been pretty good for Aaron
Rodgers brand. Now he's been good for them too, right,
But I think it's a muddy situation. I watched some
of the press conference with Gudakins. I thought he handled
it pretty well. But I think that's a great example
of the ultimate reality TV show. You're telling me the

(12:11):
MVP of the league and one of the best players
we've ever seen is like, fuck it, I want out.
You don't typically see that while another star young quarterback
think about this. He's like, you gotta trade me. And
then a month later, all these massage therapists come after him,
and now it's like, is Sean Watson ever gonna play
in the league again? Like, ideally, if you're the NFL,
you don't want situations like that. But when I talk

(12:32):
about reality television show, when I talk about the big business,
that's a good thing. One thing that I think's really
hurt the NBA. When I was growing up, they used
to have crazy players. You know what's pretty good for
sports having not everyone be the same, not having everyone
be the same boring personality. I like some crazy s
obs in my league. The NFL always gonna have that.

(12:53):
The NBA used to when I grew up, Anthony Basin,
Rashid Wallace. I mean, I remember, I was a huge
Sacramento Kings fan, and we got Jason Williams white Chocolate,
Randy Moss's high school teammate, Like you need some dudes
on edge. The NBA's full of just elite guys who
make a ton of money, who just are kind of boring.
The NFL still has some wild cards, right, and we'll

(13:14):
talk about it a little bit later, like red flag guys, Like, listen,
I'm not I'm not a red flag guy, hopefully in
my life, right, I try to do the right thing.
I try to stay out of trouble. I've never been arrested.
But if I ran a business and my business was
a pro sports league, like having red flag guys in
your league helped just draw eyeballs, It just does, you know,
I mean, the media hates it, Like how can you

(13:35):
give these guys to the league? Well, I don't know.
It's a bottom line business. We're just trying to make
money and win games. That's really our only We're not
setting the moral compass for society and ultimately having some
of these crazy dudes in the league, Like for the
big picture, I hate to say it is good for business.
I mean, it's it's just a fact, right, it just is. Now.
You don't want an abundance of them, But having a

(13:56):
couple of guys just on the ticker getting in trouble
isn't bad for It's been proven. We've seen it year
after year in the NFL. The NFL has had the
greatest run of the last decade we've ever seen. First
sports league now part of it. It's just it's the
perfect television product, and television and media money is skyrocketed
because that's where our eyeballs go. But like the reality

(14:17):
television show just carries on, Right, what's gonna happen with
Aaron Rodgers, What's gonna happen with is Sean Watson? Are
they gonna trade Jimmy Garoppolo? Like this is just reality
television at its finest. We don't even know if any
of these rookies can play, is Jordan love any good Like?
The questions are actually real. You just can't beat it.
Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in

(14:38):
the nation. Catch all of our shows at Foxsports Radio
dot com and within the iHeart Radio app. Search FSR
to listen live. Get right to the romance and find
the way to wow this Valentine's with one hundred of
Flowers dot com. From classic roses and bouquets to decadent
chocolate covered berries, gourmet treats and more. Surprise your vali

(15:00):
time with one hundred flowers dot com right now. Get
the eighteen stem enchanted rose metally for thirty nine ninety nine,
or upgrade to twenty four red roses for ten dollars more.
Go to one hundred flowers dot com slash tune in.
That's one eight hundred flowers dot com. Slash tune in.
What grows in the forest trees? Sure no one else

(15:22):
grows in the forest. Our imagination, our sense of wonder,
and our family bonds grow too, because when we disconnect
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The forest is closer than you think. Find a forest
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org brought to you by the United States Forest Service
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see the wrinkled face of a wizard with arms outstretched.
This guy. They see treasure in pebbles, They see a

(16:03):
windy path that could lead to adventure, and they see
you there, fearless guide. Is this fascinating world? Find a
forest near you and start exploring. A Discover the Forest
dot org brought to you by the United States Forest
Service and the AD Council. Okay, let's let's take a
look at a couple different teams and their philosophies when

(16:24):
it came to this last draft. Let's start with the Colts.
I'm open minded when it comes to risk, right. I mean,
the two head coaches I worked for, Pat Hill and
Andy Reid, I'd call pretty pretty liberal when it comes
to taking risks, taking flyers on guys. That's just that's
how they thought. And I'm open to it as well.

(16:45):
Like I look at the Colts and I go, you know,
they're a little bit more conservative when it comes to players.
And I think you heard Frank kind of get excited.
They're like, I'm not anti taking risks, but why are
we taking risks when there are good players with high character?
And I think sometimes we outthink the room in terms

(17:06):
of the scouting philosophy and the draft process because there
are some talented players who are turns off the field right,
and you like desperately want to include them in the
group instead of really focusing on just the really good
players who were good guys. Now, no, most people aren't
like Andrew Luck, but just high character, good guys. I've

(17:28):
always said this about the NFL. I think the majority
of players in the league are really really impressive individuals.
I think a large percentage eighty five percent of the
league could do basically anything and just have a lot
of success in society. They're disciplined, they're hard working, they're smart,

(17:49):
they're high character guys. I think that's the overwhelming majority
of the league. Then I think there's you know, fifteen
twenty percent that you know, Teeter go back and forth
of like, you know, I don't know if I hang
out that guy. Now, it's kind of a crazy sport,
so maybe ten percent of that twenty percent. It's just
the nature of getting crazy people in a sport that
you got to be crazy to play. But I often

(18:11):
think that, you know, a team gets dead set on
an individual player and they try to justify his character issues.
We've seen some different stories, or at least I have.
Cowboys took a dude, they got kicked out of Florida State.
I think the Titans just got turned. There's a story
about a dude from Pittsburgh that his girlfriend. The Florida
State guy his girlfriend too. The difference is the Titans

(18:34):
guy he came out and immediately said that he didn't
do it. The Florida State guy who then played at
Marshall Josh Ball, I mean he did it. So every
year you have countless and that's an extreme domestic assault.
I mean we could have as simple as like uh,
I don't know, got arrested, gotten fights, just just maybe
not the greatest guy. Like, here's here's a reality of society.

(18:54):
Everyone like and listen. Mental health is a huge issue
for a lot of people, like, yeah, it's life, right,
We're all dealing with different mental stresses, mental pressures, societal pressures,
relationship pressures, business pressures like that's welcome to the real world. Like,
I mean, fuck, that's never changed in the history of humanity.

(19:17):
It's just been at different levels as society and civilization
has changed over time. But sometimes, you know, like when
you get a guy doing something crazy and people try
to use like mental health, like he's just going through
a rough time. Now, you know, some people are just assholes.
Some people are just bad people. Now. I don't think

(19:37):
anyone's born a bad person, but over time, once you
get to like maybe early twenties, mid twenties, you can
just be a bad person like that. There are not
every person that you meet in life is just like,
oh that's a good guy, good salt of the earth.
I'd want to be around that guy, want him to
be my neighbor, I'd want him to be my business partner.
Just the simple reality to the situation. A draft is

(20:02):
no different than any office right, or any group of
kids coming out of school trying to enter the workforce.
They're good ones and they're bad ones. We just got
some bad apples, There's no way around it. I'm not
a psychologist, but for whatever reason, it just happens with
certain people. I think a lot has to do with
your upbringing if I had to play amateur psychologists. But
you know, maybe it's just psychologically. We're all wired a

(20:24):
little different, and I think sometimes you just get questionable individuals.
And if you think that guy's a questionable individual, buddy
can play football. And I've always said this, it's not
the NFL's job to be the moral compass of that city,
of that state in this country. That is not their job.
They basically have two objectives, and they're both intertwined. First

(20:45):
and foremost, to make money. Second, win games. You could
even reverse the order. Win games and make money. That
is their job. They can throw up PSA's about anything
that's going on in the world and try to add
that that is not their job, and deep down they
don't really care. We know that, and I don't blame
them for it. They're a for profit business. They're trying

(21:07):
to make as much money as humanly possible, and they've
become pretty good at it. But the one thing you
hear Ballard say is like, why are we like, like,
I got no problem basically taking a guy that can
help us play, But if we can get a good
guy who can also help us play, Let's just take
that guy. Why are we overthinking it? It is? I
think in a lot of times, it's like, how's it

(21:28):
going to be perceived in the community? What will I guess?
It doesn't Like where I live, I don't know a
soul who still reads the paper. But I think in
Philly and New York, Boston still read the paper. In
the Northeast, like papers are dead out here with the youth.
Maybe that's true back there too in Chicago, I don't know,
but like that was always a thing like what's gonna

(21:48):
be the headline in the paper? Now it's more like
the headline on the internet or what we're gonna say
on podcasts. Why why do you care? Because ultimately we've
seen if you win games, no one, it doesn't bother anybody.
Stadium is still full and if people a watch, that
becomes a lot of white noise. Like you can't do that.
I can't. No, you can draft whoever you want. There
are just do you want to bring that guy not

(22:08):
for the perception of your team, but in your locker
room around your team, which, like I said, every team
is conceived of a large majority of high level guys.
So if you have a team like the Colts and
you're led by DeForest Buckner, t Y Hilton, you just
draft last year, Michael Pittman, Jonathan Taylor, Darius Leonard. Good dudes,

(22:31):
your GM, your head coach, high character guys. Do you
want to bring a turn it into the room, Like,
what's the point just because babe, we get an extra touchdown?
Why don't we just take a good player? And for
the most part, that's how they built their team. What
do they do every year? Win double digit games like that?
That's the to me, Like I think oftentime and I'm guilty,

(22:52):
we gravitate toward the question guy for whatever reason. I
don't know why. Obviously it's his talent, but if all
things were equal, why are we messing with him? And
I think Frank brings up a great point. The other
thing I saw and this definitely went viral, and I
saw Albert Brewer wrote that the Steelers took a lot
of heat for this statement, and I would ask Albert

(23:16):
took a lot of heat wear like on social media
on Twitter, I mean, we know a small, small, tiny
percentage of people are on there, so like they really
take a lot of heat for it, because after watching
the draft, I actually realized what Kevin Colbert was saying.
He said it to Kevin Clark, you know, three or
four months ago, and he doubled down during the draft

(23:39):
process because they did not draft one opt out guy.
And when he told Kevin Clark months ago about they
will not draft an opt out guy, I just assumed
he's talking like Pinassul, Jamar Chase. Some of the best
players in the draft opted out, Rashawn Slater who went
to the Chargers, Like several picks in the top like
fifteen were opt out. I thought the majority of opt

(24:01):
outs were just high first round picks. Do you know what,
It turns out that's not the case. There were opt
outs all over the draft. And I think it's a
valid question to ask, like I get Pine Seul or
Jamar Chase opting out they had nothing to gain. What
about the guys that had a lot to gain and
opted out? And when when I look up going the

(24:24):
third fourth round, like should you have opted out? Was
that a good decision? Did you get terrible advice? Because
I didn't quite realize going into the draft the amount
of players that opted out. Now, the Steelers did not
draft one and they were adamant that they weren't gonna
mess with it because I do think it's fair to

(24:44):
say to go And whether this is right or wrong,
I don't know the answer. Every individual player is his
own case study. But you know a guy that's getting
drafted in the fourth round, that's an opt out, like
did he even want to play football? Because like Dalen Waddle,
Davante Smith, Trevor Lawrence, Justin Fields, all these guys played
in campaigned to come back. Now, one area I will

(25:06):
defend the guys is in the Big Ten in the
PAC twelve that it didn't look like their season was
going to happen. Their institutions, led by the academic elites
of America, wanted to cancel football, and the Big ten did,
and the Pac twelve followed them. And then they got
a ton of shit and we saw the sec ACC

(25:26):
in the Big twelve started playing like normal. It's like,
what are you guys doing? What? Why are you not playing?
And then they eventually capitulated and started playing. And to
a lot of the players in the Big Ten in
the Pac twelve, they were kind of getting torn toyed around,
but like a yo yo, right, anyone, any small business
owner in a city that was heavy on lockdowns can relate. You.

(25:49):
Guys were treated like yo yos during the coronavirus pandemic
in twenty twenty. With the lockdowns. There was no rhyme
or reason to anything. At any moment, it's off, oh
you're open again. That's not the way you treat people.
And the Big Ten in the PAC twelve did that
two players, So there is definitely an angle of a
guy that like the Niners drafted a third round corner

(26:10):
from Michigan, and I was like, well, why didn't this
guy play? But then I understand, like Michigan one of
the crazy lockdown states in America. Also with the Big Ten,
it was very very difficult, Like I do understand, but
I also get the Steelers going, you know, we're not
even gonna mess with it now. I don't think you
ever want to pigeonholes the wrong word, but back yourself

(26:32):
into the corner with the philosophy, just because there are
probably gonna be a lot of good players, non the
top guys who opted out last year in the Big
Ten and the Pac twelve who strictly did it because
they weren't able to train and they didn't know if
they were gonna play, and then you know, come mid
October like you guys are playing. It was a shit show,
an absolute circus that there is no way around it.

(26:56):
The Pac twelve and the Big ten we're embarrassing during
the fall and the ACC and SEC kind of clowned him.
And I think a lot of the players who I'm
sure friends with a lot of guys in those conferences
like I don't know what we're doing, and a lot
of those schools were closed down on hardcore. He couldn't
work out. They don't facilitate any place to work out,
and the guys tapped out. So I understand Tomlin and

(27:16):
Kevin Colbert taking that stance, but I also think you
got to be careful because certain individuals like have a
good case and they might push back. Well, he had
the opportunity to finally come back with his teammates and
he didn't. And they're not talking about Jamar Chas and
Piney Sewell, which I just assumed they were the whole time. Really,
to me, what they're talking about is the dude in
the fourth round, Like why wouldn't you want to play

(27:38):
and help your stock and go up? Because that is
the one thing with the opt out guys. Anyone that
did not play in twenty twenty, yeah two twenty twenty,
who wasn't an elite player, he could have helped his
stock and gone from a third or fourth round or
to a second or first. He also could have heard
his stock because part of having more information and a

(27:59):
larger sample side is we get a better view of
who you are now. I think a lot of the
kids would say I wasn't able to train. I didn't
feel I was gonna play very well. I didn't I
wasn't comfortable doing it because the elephant in the room
was these kids weren't scared of Corona, right, It was
just they weren't able to work out. They weren't. Hell,
all the schools in the Pac twelve out by me
weren't able to practice. The cow canceled the game when

(28:23):
one player got Corona because of these crazy laws in Berkeley.
They literally had to cancel because one guy in one
position group got Corona. They had to cancel the game.
So it's like, I go both ways. I like the
Steelers being strong in their conviction with it, and I
understand elements to where they're coming from. At the same time,

(28:44):
like outside of Pittsburgh, I lived in, you know, a
radical place. Who I kind of would have if I
was one of these players, I would have been like,
what's going on here? And they really never got an
answer till last minute. I mean, hell Cow played Ucla
one week, there was that one The following week after
the game was canceled, they had an opponent that had

(29:06):
to cancel a game on Friday. They're like, we're gonna
play Ucla. They played Sunday morning at nine am at
the Rose Bowl. So it's like, I don't even I
think you have to put yourself in some of the
shoes of some of these teams and go, this is
pretty nuts. Like it was the school's fault, it was
the institution, in their leadership's fault. It was a clown show.

(29:28):
And I think a lot of these players I give
them credit for like this is stupid. Now, some of
these players couldn't probably lost themselves a lot of money.
The guys that are gonna end up being good pros,
they would have been good if they would have came
and played. But you know, the situation was very, very complicated.
Another thing I saw John Elway, he took a back

(29:49):
seat this draft. I think we got to be very
careful about just because you're a GM like a title,
and anyone in any different job knows this. Just because
you have a title doesn't mean a damn thing. A
wise man once told me a long time ago, said,
one thing he learned early on in his career. And
he works in the financial institute, like he's, you know,

(30:11):
I guess a venture capitalist. Now he hedge funds, like
he's in that kind of world, finance world. And he said,
early on in his career, he's so big on being
called like a vice president and asking for all these titles.
And he's like, you know what, one thing I learned,
you could call me an intern if you're paying me
a premium. People get so caught up in hollow things,
and being a GM in the NFL is a really

(30:32):
big deal. But not all general managers are created equal,
you know. I mean, we see what's going on with
Gudikins and Aaron Rodgers. The one thing we've learned, the
general manager in Green Bay has a lot of juice.
So when Aaron Rodgers says he wants the GM fired,
it's because he knows it was the GM's call to
draft the quarterback. The GM is in charge of the Packers.
It's an elite general manager job. It just is. But

(30:55):
if you're the GM for the Seattle Seahawks and John Schneider,
ultimately Pete Carroll is the ball us. It is not
the same as being the general manager in Green Bay,
as being the general manager in Seattle, and for most
of these teams, depending on who you are. Like historically,
for Andy Reid, like being his GM is not that
great of a job because ultimately he's the boss. Well
one thing says he's gone in Kansas City. He lets

(31:17):
the GM be the GM, John Dorsey, Brett Veach. They
get to run free agency, they get to run the draft.
So every team is so different, right San Francisco, like
John Lynch has a very very difficult job handling Kyle
Shanahan running the scouting department. But Kyle Shanahan is the
ultimate decision maker. If he truly wants something, he's gonna

(31:37):
get it and John's gonna get vetoed. Now, John's paid
a ton of money. But his GM job the Denver Broncos,
that is an elite general manager job. As we saw
with Elway for the last you know, whatever decade and
now with George Peyton, like they get to be in
charge part of being a GM, like you aspire to
run the program. Now it's a hard balance because ultimately

(32:00):
an elite coach, and usually elite coach is gonna want
some juice. But in a perfect world, you kind of
want a coach who's going to be open minded your
ideas and you can work with. And that's what I
bet if John Schneider walked in the door right now,
he'd be like, you know, Pete's given me a lot
of juice over the years, right. Mickey Loomis would say
the same thing. With Sean Payton, Brett and Andy just
have a you know, kind of a unique relationship. And

(32:22):
that's what I'll be fascinated. Like George Patton Peyton when
he took the GM job in Denver, like he gets
to make all the calls. If vic Fan Joe doesn't
win this year, he's gonna get fired. And I'll be
fascinated to watch in it with the Lions, with Atlanta,
some of these new programs, like how's it truly gonna work?
Does the GM actually get to pick the players or
do you have to do what the coach lot wants. Now, ultimately,

(32:44):
you want to be on the same page as the coach.
You don't want to draft a player that he doesn't want.
That doesn't make any sense, right, That's a that's a
terrible business philosophy. You guys want to be on the
same page. But we're humans. We all are not gonna
think alike. We're going to have We're gonna butt heads,
and ultimately who's in charge, who's making the decisions, is

(33:07):
gonna win out, and that is usually what leads to
a lot of fights and anger historically in NFL buildings.
I wanted to dive into some draft nuggets and just
different things from this weekend that excited me that I
had opinions on that that I just wanted to mention

(33:27):
here on the pot and first and foremost one of
the more polarizing picks, I think Ultimately, I saw Breer
and Peter King, and most people in the NFL world
thought the Alex Leatherwood, the raiders seventeenth overall selection tackle
from Alabama, was the most head scratching pick in the draft.

(33:49):
And I say it all the time. The draft is
twofold one. It's a marketplace. What do you have to
pay for a given player? Right, you don't want to
use the tenth pick on a player if you can
get him at fifteen, can you move back? You don't
want to. If you're sitting there at eighteen and you

(34:12):
gotta get to fourteen to get the desired player you want,
what's gonna cost you something? It's a marketplace. Every player
has a value, and you have to understand the value
league wide. And one thing I saw today by several
you know, different people on the internet. I saw Jim Naggy,
director of the Senior Bowl, and I think Benjamin Albright

(34:34):
said that Alex Leather when everyone's making too big of
a deal of this, because most people I talked to
thought he was like somewhere between like forty and sixty.
And Jim Naggie wrote he would have gone in the
first round, and Benjamin Albright said he would not have
made it past Baltimore twenty seven. Now, listen, I'm all
four having a player you want, isolating that guy and

(34:57):
being dead set on getting them. But to the first
part of the equation, you have to know what you
have to pay. And here's the thing with the Raiders,
with John Gruden and Mike Mayock. They have had now
three years in a row they've taken a guy that
the entire league would not have taken at that spot. Now.
I understand that maybe the teams I talked to like

(35:18):
him worse than the Baltimore Ravens or whatever, But at
seventeen that from Cleveland Farrell last year to Damon Arnette
and this year to Alex Leatherwood. In the first round,
when they get into a big spot, they never have
the ability to move back. Just look at the Cowboys.
They would have taken Michael Parsons at number ten overall.

(35:38):
Now they got the Eagles to come up to ten
and they moved back two spots. They got an extra
third round pick, and they took the guy they just
would have taken. Yet, with Cleveland Farrell, with Damon Arnette,
and now with Leatherwood, I got no problem taking these
guys in the first round. I get it. But why
do you never know the value and are never able
to finagle three or four spots back out of fourth,

(35:59):
out of third? I will move five or six months
back out a two due business, do NFL high level shit.
They never are able to do it. Now, I think
Mayok would say it takes two to tango. True, it does,
but why are you never able to find a trading

(36:19):
partner ever in the first round on the big boy pick,
when a lot's on the line and that pick is
worth a lot of capital, you're never able to move ever,
not with Farrell, who I don't think Cleveland Farrell would
have got in the top fifteen. Damon Arnette, You'd be
hard pressed to convince me you couldn't have got him
at like thirty and Leatherwood. So even if he wasn't

(36:42):
gonna go to the Ravens at twenty seven twenty eight,
whenever you can't go from seventeen, find a way to
get back to like twenty three. They never are able
to throw a curve ball. Anyone can move up. Moving
up is not that complicated. If I'm at twenty and
I want to get to eleven the Bears when they
got justind you call the guy at eleven, You go listen,

(37:02):
We'll give you next year's one boom. We got a deal.
So that's simple. Anyone can move up. Moving up is easy.
Moving back is hard. You know why, because going into
the draft you have to understand who's where, what value
is where? Understanding what picks are worth. You have to
line these things up before the draft, and the Raiders

(37:24):
are never able to do that under this administration. I
think highly a Mike Mayock. Everything I ever watched him
do on television, he was always impressive. He was always
much more of a NFL guy than he ever felt
like a media guy. Deep down at my core, I'm
really more in the media, into the business. Like I
like that ship more than the NFL Stuffy more than

(37:45):
the scouting stuff. Max the opposite. He's just a junkie.
He belongs in the NFL, but he has a weakness
Gruden as well, and Gruden's the boss. Ultimately Mayock answers
to him, but like, this is what a GM has
to at least have set up, and he's never able
to do it, not once in these big spots. Maybe
he doesn't later in the draft. Who cares what happens

(38:06):
with Farrell, Arnett and now Leatherwood that you can't just
get the guy that you want it all along. I
got no problem with you taking Leatherwood, but take him
at twenty two, take him at twenty four, and add
an extra third round pick. That's what this draft's about. Value,
acquiring assets out thinking the room. It's a business exercise.

(38:28):
It's not just we gotta get this player. This guy
can play right tackle for us. Okay, I get it,
But can you also get that guy that you want
to play a right tackle for you and acquire a
third round pick? Because that's what the smart guys do
and the Raiders, it feels like they're operating on a
different wavelength than all the good teams. Brady, the Tampa

(38:50):
Bay Buccaneers took Kyle trast in the second round. I
saw Bruce Arian said, you know, you end up watching
Kyle Pitts. You end up watching the wide receiver Tony,
and you're like, God, all these balls are perfectly plays.
They ended up drafting him. Don't blame him at all.
If you have a star, high level quarterback. Belichick did
it once with Jimmy Garoppolo. Now ultimately Jimmy outlasted him.
To me, the Buccaneers were crazy to not take a

(39:12):
quarterback in this draft. Get him around Tom for a year,
for two years, however long he's there. But like, I
like the mindset, and you need a backup quarterback, Like
if Tom Brady does go down, you are not winning
anything with Blaine Gabbert. You will lose unless he has
to just play one game, But if he has to
start five, six, seven, eight games, you will lose. So
maybe Kyle Trash, you know, he can just be a

(39:35):
marginal starter, good backup. If Brady were to roll an
ankle and miss a couple of games, which you'd say
that never happens, but if it does, he's forty three,
forty four years old. Could you win some games with
this guy, and can he take some information and through
you know, just being around Tom every day, watching the
way the guy practices, watching the way the guy works.
You don't think that benefited Jimmy Garoppolo when he got

(39:56):
traded at San Francisco, he kind of knew the secret sauce.
Now you have to end up going out. You have
to play, you have to make the throws, you have
to call the you know, the plays from the headset
from the coach, right, you need to execute the offense.
But it can't be anything but a positive being around
Tom every day in practice, being around him every day
in the meeting room, taking notes by how he lives

(40:18):
his life. So I love that pick, and I'm not
even that big of a Kyle Trash guy. I think
there's tangible pressure now on the AFC. The two young
AFC North quarterbacks from the same draft. Obviously, Lamar is
much more accomplished than Baker Mayfield, right, I mean he's
won an MVP, basically been in the playoffs all three years. Now.

(40:40):
The Ravens organization historically is i mean on their worst
day besides last year that was the Brown's best day. Right,
so before this last year, Baker's first two years, Hugh Jackson,
Greg Williams, Freddie Kitchens. You know, Freddie, I'm making a
sandwich in the kitchen was embarrassing. But both those guys,

(41:00):
but start with Lamar. Like they added a wide receiver
in the first round. They added t Martin and Keith
Williams are their receiver coaches now, so Hollywood Brown should
get better. They signed Sammy Watkins, who's played for the
Chiefs for the last three years, who's beloved in that organization.
You know, it's time to kind of take a step
as a passing quarterback because as we've seen with all

(41:20):
these running quarterbacks historically, you can't just run around forever. Eventually,
you gotta make throws. Even the mobile quarterbacks like Russell
Wilson and Deshaun Watson are running around behind the line
of scribbage throwing the football. It's a big year for
Lamar and I'm a Lamar fan. Earlier, when I had
my ac up a little too high, I had nobody
cares work harder. He's got the right mindset. He he

(41:40):
doesn't play the victim bs that the media would eat up.
You know, it's not my fault, it's the coaching staff,
it's the offense. No, he always wears it, but now
it is time for him just to take another step
as a quarterback, as a passing quarterback. And I think
it's it can be a hard balance when you run,
you know, run heavy offense. It's hard to get into

(42:02):
a rhythm as a quarterback. It's easy for josh Allen Mahomes,
Aaron Rodgers, Brady to get into a rhythm as a pastor.
They throw the ball. They never there's not a balance.
They're not like, well we're gonna take off and run.
We're not gonna run quarterback power here. So I think
it's just Mark Andrews is stud like they got weapons.
They got weapons bit big year for Lamar Jackson, same

(42:26):
with Baker. Their team is loaded, absolutely, they have are
They're gonna play a third place schedule. They won eleven games.
They've gotten better this offseason. The Browns roster on paper
probably top five in the league. And if Baker plays
like he did last year down the stretch, they'll be
in good shape. He had moments early on Now new offense,

(42:47):
it's very quarterback friendly. They got two sweet running backs.
Odell Beckham comes back the Browns. Their defense is gonna
be awesome. They just drafted a sweet corner in the
first round. Award is good. They signed a safety and
for agency they already have. You see Miles Garrett at
the draft. What was that the second or third round
when he came out in his suit. I mean the

(43:07):
suit looked Remember when Chris Farley's fat guy in a
little coat that looked like Jack guy in a little coat.
Remember Arnold Schwarzenegger like in the eighties. That's how Miles
Garrett looks right now. The difference between Arnold Schwarzenegger. He's
not stiff in the hips. He can bend the edge.
Miles Garrett looks like a different species of human than
like myself, is this guy getting bigger by the year.

(43:28):
Guy looks like a fucking monster. I mean he might
for the next three or four years be the best
pass rusher, you know, beside Aardonald in the league. So
you got weapons everyone on offense, you got a sweet
defensive backfield, you got the best pass rusher in the league.
Potentially be a good young coach. This kind of big

(43:48):
year for Baker mayfield Man and Lamar Jackson. Now both
these teams probably be in the playoffs, but we know
the Ravens will. We'll see. You know, the Browns one
playoff berth in a long period of time. Can they
sustain it? They should be able to. You could argue
they should win the division. Wait till we see some
of the odds come out, Like can I get the
Browns like five six to one to win that division?

(44:09):
I mean what, they haven't won it probably since the nineties.
I kind of like that, and I don't, but I
you know, I was texting with Naggie on Friday, maybe
it was Saturday. He said it to Peter King and
Albert Breer like he loved Justin fields. They did a
lot of work on Justin fields. I didn't realize they

(44:29):
were kind of circling the Justin Field situation that if
he fell, they ten eleven, twelve, they were going to
be aggressive, like they had a plan of attack. And
I've talked a lot of mess about Ryan Pace. I
think he's an average to below general manager. I mean,
he whiffed on a quarterback in a draft with Mahomes
and Watson like that alone's a fireball offense. You took

(44:50):
Mitch Rubisky over Patrick Mahomes and Deshanne Watson. It's hard
to take anything you do after that seriously. But I'm
not gonna go Harry and Lloyd here totally redeem yourself,
but you know, redeeming himself a little bit. I mean
Justin Fields, who if if you'd have told me the
Niners took it three, I would have plauded. I wouldn't
have thought it was crazy if the Jets took it too.

(45:12):
I think Justin Fields is an elite prospect. Elite He's
a better prospect coming out of college than Deshaun Watson.
I'm not even gonna compare it to Mahomes because it's
not even apples to apples. Mahomes wasn't we weren't even
talking about it, but Deshaun who had won a national championship,
who was viewed as a legitimate NFL player, Like, I
think Justin Fields a better prospect physically. Now, obviously there's

(45:35):
more to quarterback than just your physical attributes. But I
give the Bears they got lucky in a sense that
he fell right. The Panthers and the Broncos passed on
him and they pounced. What would have been fascinating if
Justin Fields and Mac Jones were sitting there at fifteen,
who Belichick would have taken. I'd assume Mac Jones, but
who knows. I mean, they signed Cam Newton last year.

(45:55):
None of us saw that coming. Some of the Jets
coaches Albert Brewer wrote this in their meetings leading up
to the draft, Joe Douglas put a lot on the
coaching staff to evaluate all the quarterbacks right in like
February and March. They did a big evaluation before they
made any decision on Sam Darnold. Some of the coaching
staff for the Jets, like Zach Wilson more than Trevor Lawrence,

(46:18):
which I've heard some people that do too, Like I
don't think it's that crazy. But I said it last
week a Jets fan DM me's like, you're just a
Jets hater. I'm not. They're just they're the worst team
in the division. That's not being a hater. That's a
Joe Douglas will tell you that over Beers. That doesn't
mean in a couple of years they can't be really good.
I love Robert Sala. Lafleur has a chance to be
a really good offensive coordinator. Look what everyone running that

(46:39):
offense do. But they don't have much talent on the roster.
They have two good offensive linemen. Now they have a
safety some of these draft micks, but we don't know
you know, the guard they I mean the quarterback who
knows it's gonna be a big transition. But a lot
of pressure is on this guy. Their coaching staff that
he was better than Trevor Lawrence. Like that's pretty bold take.

(47:02):
Like this guy better be pretty solid. And like I
said last week, I think it's gonna be difficult. You know,
it just it just is. I mean the division they
play in is tough. I mean, it's got Belichick, greatest
coach of all time, Brian Flores, who learned twenty years
from Belichick who has a solid team, and Sean McDermot,

(47:24):
who has an elite team, I mean the second best
team in the AFC. You gotta play those six times.
You have a first time coordinator on offense and defense,
a first time head coach, and a rookie quarterback. There's
a lot of moving parts of newness, right. I mean,
put yourself in the situation. Anytime you're doing something new,
even if you're good at it, it's difficult. Like you

(47:45):
don't just whatever you do for a living. If you
just take a step up at whatever that is, it
can be a challenge the first week, the first month,
the first year you get a new job. You usually
don't just hit the ground running and just take off
like Usain Bolt, like, oh shit, this is easy. Like
they're gonna be growing pains anytime you gain new responsibility

(48:08):
in your position. Right. I guess Zach Wilson is doing
the same thing. It's just not a much higher level.
Robert Sale has never been a head coach the floor,
has never been a coordinator. Joe Douglas now actually has
like pressure on him for the first time, right making
this move with the quarterback. So I'm just Douglas I
guess he told him on the phone. All you have

(48:28):
to be to Zach Wilson is yourself, us, and the
organization will lift you with us. Like he's trying to
take the pressure off the quarterback, but we just know
like the pressure always turns the quarterback, just the way
the business works. Get right to the romance and find
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(49:32):
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Welcome mile in Machines, And we're live here outside the
Perez family home, just waiting for them. And there they go,
almost on time. This morning. Mom is coming out the

(49:52):
front door, strong with a double arm kid carry. Looks
like Dad has the bags. Daughter is bringing up the rear. Oh,
but the paper bag wasn't closed. Typers and toys are everywhere.
Oh but Mom has just nailed the perfect car seat
buckle for the toddler. And now the eldest daughter, who
looks to be about nine or ten, has secured herself

(50:14):
in the booster seat. Ted zips the bad clothes and
they're off. But looks like Mom doesn't realize her coffee
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there it goes. Ah, that's a shame that mug was
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more at NHTSA dot gov slash the right Seat visits
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by NITZA and the ad Council. Okay, let's dive into
the Middlecoff nail bag at John Middlecoff the Instagram. You guys, uh,
please slide right in to the direct messages. I have

(50:56):
a lot start with Wes. If declaring for the draft
is a requirement to enter the league, couldn't a Zach
Wilson or Trevor Lawrence go play in the CFL for
a year then enter the NFL as an unrestricted free agent.
Can't help but feel like Zach Wilson's career is going
to be over before it even starts when he goes
to the Jets. Well, so, let's what's stopping a top

(51:21):
prospect like Trevor Lawrence from not declaring for the draft
and entering the league as a collegiate free agent. I
know it would probably be worse for the league. Well,
here's the thing. Like Trevor Lawrence, the moment he gets drafted,
he's property of the Jacksonville Jacks, right, or Zack Wilson
with the Jets, So they could not show up and
go play in CFL. Right, they would still be under

(51:43):
the umbrella of their team, and where it wouldn't make sense.
Is the NFL pays more? Do you know how much?
Do you know how much the number one overall pick's
gonna make this year? I think like thirty eight thirty
nine million dollars guaranteed four years thirty eight million dollars,
and if you're good, you get the fifth year option,
and if you're really good, you get your contract extension.

(52:05):
Are our neighbors to the north they ain't paying that
type cash. Hell, you're not even allowed to leave your
house right now in Canada you get arrested. So I'd
say these guys, Yeah, Plus, here's here's the thing. Now,
if Trevor Lawrence came out of college and was a
true for free agent, how much money would he get?

(52:28):
Someone probably give him a hundred million dollars, But it'd
be pretty risky, right. I do think it's the way
the NFL works. The draft is good for players. You
get drafted high, you get a lot of cash. Right
they build up the league. They keep the cash flowing
for everybody, not just you. It's a team sport. You
need to pay a lot of people. The draft is
a healthy mechanism. The way it's set up right now

(52:52):
in the NFL to just keep just you know, the
league flowing. Let's to the podcast this weekend and you
talked about being immature with your mind in your twenties.
I thought that was really interesting and relatable to myself.
Right now, what did you do or how did you
change that? Well? I think as you get older, you

(53:17):
just become less emotional. Will probably be the wrong word,
I'd say less reactionary. Most of my immaturity in my
twenties would just be a freak out right and get
angry at stuff. A lot of stuff you can't control.
You just don't have control of your emotions. Right. You
see young players in sports right in high school freaking out,

(53:38):
and you can see guys in the pros like now,
guys freak out too, but guys be able to handle
their emotion. I think as you live, as you meet
new people, as you do new things, you gain new perspective.
It sounds kind of cheesy, but I just I think
it's with age, you know, I mean now some people
are more mature in their twenties. I think the best

(53:58):
thing that's happened to me is perspective in life. You know,
I've been fired, I've been in the gutter and have
been doing well. I've seen both sides of it. You know,
just you're either gonna wake up happier or not, whether
you've got a million dollars in the bank or whether
you've got zero dollars in the bank. You have a
good attitude and don't freak out over everything, it's easier
to accomplish stuff. The other thing that I try to

(54:19):
do a really I was gonna say, really good job
of I'd be lying if I said I did it
I am cognizant of. And I attempt to not do
is to assume things. And I think you get a
lot of get in trouble in your mind when you
assume thinks. I think the faster you learn, and you
to me you only learn through doing things. The less

(54:41):
you assume, the healthier mind is. And I think when
you're young, and it happens to people that aren't young too,
they spend so much time assuming. And I think when
we assume, we naturally think of the worst things, something negative,
and that's going to lead to, you know, becoming un
emotionally a little unhinged. I do to me, the main

(55:04):
part of maturity is just control of your emotions right,
and the more you can control your emotions. You know,
someone looks at you funny. When I was twenty years old,
I might stare back, someone looks at me funny. Now
it's like whatever, I don't care. Now I'm not claiming
to be like Chuck light. Hell, what am I gonna do?
Go kick his ass? But my point is like little
things and then on top of anything work related, like

(55:25):
you have a question that there's a disagreement or something
that you think that like that that money doesn't add up,
just ask I think the thing that I didn't do
younger that I definitely do now. And maybe it's just
because whether you own the revenue or you're in business
with people like I'm in control and it all of

(55:46):
the buck kind of ends with me, that you're just
quicker to ask, like, hey, what's going on here? What
are we doing here? You get ahead of things faster
before I would just let things happen and then react.
At some time times you don't have a choice, but
I'd say, don't be, don't hesitate if you're if you
think something instead of assuming the worst or even the best,

(56:09):
but usually typically assume the worst, just try to get
ahead of it. Ask I respect your work and connections
to the league and have heard from your story countless times.
I just want to say thank you the last great
way of being. I just don't want to read a compliment.
I'm forty and been a pothead for years. Responsible, I
have a family, a career, and just love to get
high in my downtime. Keep preaching helping people mentally change

(56:33):
because you can help many of these future players. I
appreciate that. It's a good uh and this. Sometimes you
don't have questions, you have a compliment and yeah, you
guys don't need to hear that. Oh you know, I
like them, you know, let make you feel good be
lying if I said they didn't. But like I said
on the maturity thing, you can't like in this position
I'm in, I get a lot of positive things that
are direct messages to me. And you also like, I'm

(56:55):
glad I make people feel good. But you gotta be
kind of careful of not just like you know, I mean,
it's we're human nature. You see a bunch of people
saying nice things about you, You're like, kind of damn,
I'm pretty good at this. That's you know. You just
try to act the same. I appreciate that, But what
I said about weed is true. And I got family
in the beer business and they've done very well, but
to act, and they'd be the first anyone in the

(57:18):
beer business would tell you. I mean, alcohol is harmful.
And I listen, I had I had drunks Friday night. Yeah,
Friday night. I mean, I'm not anti drinking by any means,
but the notion the way I grew up, and I
still see it because some of these states not federally legal.
I think a lot of people and I've invested pretty
heavily in weed, thought the Democrats would make it. But

(57:40):
it's like you know, Kamala Harris when she was the
district attorney in San Francisco, she was very anti weed.
It's one thing that like in some of my weed investments,
you know, I probably have close to six figures. It
makes me a little nervous. Like I thought the Biden
Harris you know, would just boom, it'd be legal. It
might be a little bit more challenging than I thought.
Just there's so many different elements with this and the

(58:02):
other thing with politics I see it with gambling in California,
like why why is gambling not legal in California. Well,
I'll tell you why, because we have Indian casinos which
are legal, they're untaxed, and they have an unlimited amount
of cash. Well, they want no part of these gambling
companies coming to California because they build big as casinos
and they would take market share and it'd be a battle.

(58:24):
So what do they do? They pay after politicians. No
different than coming up what was weed? Well, it was
negatively marketed by who? Alcohol companies. Well, i'll give alcohol
companies credit. They've pivoted. They're all in on weed companies.
They've invested in the weed sector. You know who never
wanted weed to become legal. Tobacco Now tobacco's fucked. I
mean they're done. But they were a huge part of

(58:46):
the negative marketing behind weed. Well, probably well before I
was born, but definitely while I was alive, and you know,
and funding making sure the you know, the penalties behind it,
keeping it federally illegal. It's all kind of messed up. Man,
money makes the world go round. Never forget that. I
do have a question, Joe Burrow is really worthy of

(59:08):
a first round draft pick. Question. I saw the college
film you're talking Joe Burrow the Bengals. I saw the
College film and understand that he's undeniable talent, But I
don't know about a first overall. Is there something I'm
not seeing or understanding. I've never bought into him. Well,
he was a one year wonder. Now his one year
was incredible, I mean, absolutely jaw dropping, one of the

(59:32):
greatest seasons we've ever seen. I would say the little
bit that we saw before he got hurt, he looks
pretty good. Now He's not gonna be Aaron Rodgers. He
does not have that type arm. He's not gonna be Mahomes,
He's not gonna be Josh Allen, He's not gonna even
be Russell. He's really I think, to me, if he
becomes what I think people hope he becomes, he's like

(59:54):
a better version of Tony Romo. And I think Tony
Romo was a stud. Not Tony Romo. Threw some picks,
but he's kind of a playmaker. Well, Joe Burrow's kind
of a playmaker too, And you know, Romo, like Burrow,
they didn't have the strongest arm in the world. And
it turns out, like you know, Romo is a big
time athlete. Now, obviously he was a much bigger, more

(01:00:15):
pedigree behind as a high school kid and in college
at Ohio State and LSU relative to UH. I always
get the Illinois schools messed up. Whatever school Sean paid
and Tony Romo went to. I think it's different Jimmy
Garoppolo school, but one of the Illinois. So it's just
I'd say the biggest negative Unburrow why I don't think
it will be an elite, elite player is his arms

(01:00:37):
just not you know, dominant. But Drew Brees wasn't either,
and he had a hell of a career. I'd say
his biggest detriment is his franchise. They're a joke. I mean,
Zach Taylor, listen. I just don't agree with taking Jamar
Chase over over an offensive lineman. I just don't, because
you could have got a sweet defense or a wide
receiver in the second round. I would rather have gone

(01:00:57):
offensive lineman wide receiver that would have been. But I
don't run the Bengals. My question is do you think
the Steelers made the right choice going Naji at twenty
four then going tight end in the second or do
you think they should have went running back then a
line instead of tight end. Will the run game improve
if it didn't win drafting Mendenhall to replace Willie Parker

(01:01:18):
without drafting offensive line early. I like Mendenhall, I remember,
I liked him a lot. I think Naji's a better player.
I mean, I think Naji can be pretty freaking awesome.
I will be shocked if Naji's not a pro bowl
level guy in the NFL. I really will. I think
he's a big time talent, big time. I would bet

(01:01:41):
on Naji Harris now tight end over offensive line. I'd
be lying if I I'd have to, like text Someboddy
in the league that studied them, or you as a
fan know your offensive line better than me. I would
always go offensive line. But what he's supposed to do
if you don't have an offensive line meant grade at high.
The problem with this Steelers is like big draft at
the end of rounds, So all the offensive lineman got

(01:02:04):
drafted the first and early in the second round, Like,
what are they supposed to do? Draft some tackle at
pick twenty four in the second round. If the guy
if the tight end, I think it's tight end for
Penn State, right. If the tight ends the best guy
on their board like, I don't know. I mean, a
tight end does play a role in blocking now I'd
be lying if I said I knew much about the
tight end they drafted. But I can't. I can't hate

(01:02:28):
on that. I think the Steelers and Kevin Colbert know
what they're doing. A big fan of the pod. Be
sure to announce when you come out to Phoenix next
lunch on me in Oldtown Scottsdale, just talking NFC Western
real Estate. I like this guy. Thanks for the DM Kevin.
I'm gonna look in this week about exploring to buy

(01:02:49):
a place. It's kind of a balance because I am
not planning on selling my place in Walnut Creek in
the Bay Area, so I want to keep that. What
I've thought about is maybe going buying a house in Scottsdale,
maybe going condo, and I can kind of split it
with Airbnb and not split it with Airbnb. I own
it and airbnb it when I'm not there. So if

(01:03:10):
I'm in Northern California, going back and forth, but when
I'm there, I could just live there. My place pay
my mortgage so cheap here. I don't know. I'm kind
of going back and forth with some different ideas. We'll see,
because when I bought this condo in the Bay, the
market was out of control. I paid. I paid fifty
five thousand dollars over asking. Luckily they fucked up on

(01:03:31):
some contingencies and I got it turned out to be
like forty five, but it was I paid. I paid
a lot. I mean, it's pretty crazy how much I
paid for where I live. I kind my next purchase.
I want to be a deal now. I want it
to be nice. You know, I don't know. I'm d
I kind of go back and forth. It's tough, you know,
being a thirty six year old with disposable income and options.

(01:03:52):
I'm a Cowboys fan. Didn't expect the Cowboys number one pick.
What's your honest opinion on it? Everyone I know in
the league love the guy. They didn't pick up vander
Esh's fifth year option today, which isn't shocking. He gets
hurt all the time. I just think they took the
best player on the board. They would have taken one
of the two corners. They went eight nine. What was
Jerry supposed to do? Unlike the Raiders, Jerry made a move.

(01:04:15):
Jerry's like, shit, well, I gotta play against Deavante Smith,
whether he goes to the Eagles or the cowb or
the Giants, I might as well to get an extra
third round pick out of it and get the same
guy I was gonna take anyway, especially once the Giants
traded up with the Bears, and he might have known
that the Giants were gonna take the Bears offer once
he traded the Eagles for Davante Smith, because the Giants,

(01:04:35):
or excuse me, the Bears were trying to trade with
Jerry Jones, but he didn't want to go back down
that far, so he knew the moment he traded with
the Eagles that the Bears would probably immediately trade up
for the Giants. So it's bang bang boom. I see
a Jerry. I don't sleep on the old oil man
with the plan. I'm on the board at the Barracuda

(01:04:56):
up in Reno, Tahoe. I'd like to get you invited
as VIP and get you in the pro amp. Glad.
This is this is You're making my world right here. Uh,
it's not as sweet as the event. I have a
family friend who's played in the barracouta several times. I'm
gonna call this guy. I like where this guy is

(01:05:17):
a Glenn is my type of guy. Invite me to
play in the PGA. You know it's it's a lower
end PGA event, but hey, you know, bakers can't be choosers.
I'm just trying to get my foot in the door.
Rogers going the forty nine Ers time date stamp. Yeah,
I don't think that's happening. I mean at this point
in time, you know, if I'm the Niners, it's crazy

(01:05:39):
as it sounds, because listen, Aaron Rodgers one of the
greatest players of all time. Like, I'm just going all
in with Trey Lance. He's twenty years old, you got
him under contract. I mean, let's face it, Rogers a
little bit of a drama queen. He's a lead player.
But like, I don't have it unless you take Trey
Lance for Aaron Rodgers straight up, which they're not gonna do. Like,
I'm not giving you Trey Lance, George Kid, Nick Bosa

(01:06:01):
because if I'm the Packers, like Trey Lance for Aaron
Rodgers ain't getting done. I need several players. I'm not.
I'm just not doing it. But I don't understand about Rogers.
Why did he wait so long just to mess with
the Packers? Why why didn't he do this like in
free agency? Is it just because his girlfriend, fiance, wife, whoever,

(01:06:24):
you know whatever they are Officially the title is wants
him out in LA Is it really just that simple?
Which I understand, But why why did he wait? Like?
I don't just don't I get if I'm a Packer fan,
It's like, are we serious? Like we screwed up draft?
And Jordan love Aaron. We pay you a lot, you
win here, Your life's pretty good. No one messes with

(01:06:47):
you here, you got a pretty good gig. I love
your take on mac Jones the Niners being a total smokescreen,
and find it shocking to hear cowards believe the rumor
so adamantly, although he agrees it's not a smart pick.
Were trading up for curious to see what happens? Okay,
these are before the draft. My take was simple, Like Colin,
I talked to Daniel Jeremiah on the phone last week.

(01:07:11):
Everyone that I knew like that they were adamant they
were taking mac Jones because there were a couple of
people pushing that narrative. The difference is I eat, breathe,
and sleep this team. I know this team like the
back of my hand. I followed Kyle and John really closely.
I know a couple of people up top in that building.

(01:07:32):
Now I didn't I'm not saying I knew who they
were gonna take. I just knew this simple fact since
John Lynch and Kyle Shannon have showed up. They don't
leak anything if there's any you know, secret nature to
what's going on. When they traded for Trent Trent Williams,
it was obvious they were gonna try to resign them
and like that there was nothing to hide there. But

(01:07:54):
in this situation, I was like, you know, I don't
know that they would just be going around like a
high school rumor and telling everyone. I got this situation
a little red flagged. This does not add up for me,
never added up for me. It just didn't. And I
was just I never believe they were gonna take Mac Jones.

(01:08:16):
Now I do believe they could have. I do believe
that Kyle like Mac Jones, but I give however it
played out. I give Kyle credit that, under no circumstances,
he selected Michael mccorkill Jones, and I like Michael mccorkill Jones.
I think Max's a good player. Like I said on
the Weekend Pod, I think fifteen is even high for him.

(01:08:39):
Like mac Jones did not fall in this draft. You
could argue he was overdrafted still by the Patriots. To me,
mac Jones probably should go somewhere like twenty five or after.
That's still a little high like that second round and
there's nothing I think that sounds like offensive. Great players
go in the second round all the time. When I
worked for the Eagles, are two best players to shine

(01:09:00):
Jackson Shady McCoy were second rounders. Like, there's nothing wrong
going in the second round. I can list a litany
of elite players in the history of the league that
have been second round players. There's not an unlimited amount
of first round picks, and not everyone is a first
round value. I heard the Panthers GM said it. John
Schneider has been saying it for years. Most teams have

(01:09:21):
fifteen to twenty first round grades on players. That means,
in a given draft of hundreds of hundreds of players,
fifteen to twenty probably under typical team have first round grades.
That is elite company. Mac Jones just was not an
elite prospect, really good player, good prospect. Nothing about him

(01:09:41):
was elite nothing, not one thing, especially that you can quantify.
It's like, well, you had it. Well, you know a
lot of guys have it. Guys get drafted, a lot
of fifth rounders get drafted that have it. So't that
ain't enough? You know, it's just not And I just
I just knew the Niners aren't. They're not the talkative

(01:10:04):
group like John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan. I just I
had a hard time believing that they were just texting
everyone their plants. It's clear it wasn't. That just wasn't true.
Wasn't the case. Torey Lance is now their quarterback until
Aaron Rodgers at quarterback, but I doubt that happens. Appreciate
everyone listening, Have a great week. See a Friday pos

(01:10:46):
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