I Will Put My Mailbag Against Your Mailbag!

Summary

Armstrong & Getty On Demand

Episode: I Will Put My Mailbag Against Your Mailbag!

Date: September 4, 2025
Hosts: Jack Armstrong & Joe Getty
Producer/Contributor: Michael
Podcast: iHeartPodcasts

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Episode Overview

In this episode, Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty dive into a packed slate of current events, sports, politics, and social commentary. The main themes include the ethics and legality of the escalating US military actions against drug cartels, creative NFL accounting tactics, emotional health trends among young adults, and a hot-button debate about vaccine mandates in Florida. The hosts also riff on email feedback, notable quotes from hearings, and banter about the changing TV landscape and NFL season kickoff.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Taylor Swift Super Bowl Speculation & NFL Season Kickoff

[00:13–01:36]

• The episode opens on whether or not Taylor Swift will perform at the upcoming Super Bowl.
• Jack reveals his personal commitment to attend the Super Bowl since it's close by at Levi's Stadium.
• Michael and Jack transition to a discussion about why the Philadelphia Eagles have been so consistently successful, hinting at an "accounting trick" behind their sustained prowess.
• Brief mention: They'll cover Vegas odds on Super Bowl contenders.

2. US Military Actions Against Drug Cartels: Ethics & Legal Debates

[01:36–13:39]

• Michael introduces a Wall Street Journal editorial on President Trump's order to blow up a narco-boat, killing 11 crew members.
• Jack & Michael review Marco Rubio's defense that such attacks deter cartel activity more effectively than arrests.
• Quote (Michael, 03:25):

  "What will stop them is if you blow them up."

• They explore whether this presents ethical or legal overreach, with Michael questioning the immediate threat justification, and Jack worrying this could justify much broader lethal action ("couldn’t you expand that to a bunch of different stuff?").
• Discussion of whether the US is "at war" with drug cartels, the meaning of 'the war on drugs' as rhetoric vs. actual legal state of war.
• Analysis of listener feedback—some critical, some didactic—and the absurdities of over-literal interpretations:
  • Quote (Michael, 11:40):

    "You, my friend, have figured all of that out. And anybody who doesn't is a stupid idiot who should be lectured. I congratulate you on your Solomonic wisdom, you mouthy prick. I should—I retract that. I apologize."

3. NFL Salary Cap “Accounting Tricks” and Team Strategies

[19:31–24:47]

• Michael explains the "void years" tactic, used most notably by the Eagles, to stretch out salary cap hits via dummy contract years—paying big signing bonuses that are accounted for over a longer timeline.

• Jack contrasts this with cheating in the NBA (Kawhi Leonard case), where a player is essentially paid through endorser arrangements to evade cap limits.

• Discussion: Why don't more billionaire owners simply pay the penalties to win? The Yankees and Dodgers show big payroll doesn't guarantee victory.

  Quote (Michael, 21:37):

  "He has a ginormous signing bonus." (on Jalen Hurts and NFL contract structuring)

  • Vegas odds report: Eagles and Ravens are tied as favorites, but injuries always play a decisive role.

4. Cultural Trends: The Rise of Beta Blockers Among Young Women

[15:13–18:31]

• Michael introduces reports on the popularity of beta blockers like propranolol among women to manage situational anxiety (e.g., weddings), despite not being FDA-approved for that use.
• Discussion: The normalization of medicating away ordinary, even growth-inducing, anxieties.
  • Quote (Jack, 16:37):

    "You're going to drug yourself at your wedding...because you don't want to feel the feelings that accompany getting married?"

• Reference to Robert Downey Jr. and Rachel Sennott popularizing beta blocker use at high-profile events.
• Jack reflects on anxiety as a normal pre-performance (athletic, artistic) state.

5. Florida's Move to End Vaccination Mandates

[31:09–39:40]

• Florida’s legislature and Surgeon General push to make Florida the first state to completely abolish school vaccine mandates.
• The hosts express surprise, noting Gov. DeSantis’s involvement and the state's public health stance.
• Quote (Michael, 36:35):

  "Every last one of them is wrong and drips with disdain and slavery. Who am I as a government or anyone else as a man standing here now to tell you what you should put in your body?"
  (on Dr. Joseph Ladapo, Florida Surgeon General)

• Jack points out that even the most libertarian people he knows support some vaccine mandates for public health. The erosion of public trust in health authorities, especially post-COVID, is highlighted.

6. The RFK Jr. Hearing & Political Theater

[32:53–39:16]

• Audio snippets and commentary on heated Congressional hearings featuring Senator Ron Wyden and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (“I will put my mailbag against your mailbag any day of the week.” – RFK Jr., 34:01)
• Both hosts mock the mailbag contest and express discomfort with RFK Jr.'s distinctive voice.
• Subplot on Senator Bill Cassidy's political tightrope as both a physician and Trump critic/supporter, particularly regarding vaccine issues.

7. Other Notable Moments & Side Topics

• Light banter as C-SPAN joins YouTube TV and Hulu, highlighting generational gaps in media consumption.
  [14:52–15:13]
• Quick update on the cancellation of ESPN & Spike Lee's Colin Kaepernick documentary ("nobody could agree on anything, and so they just said to hell with it and buried it." — Michael, 25:31)
• Frustration over the increasing fragmentation of sports broadcasting rights: finding NFL games gets harder and more expensive for fans.
• Discussion about scalping Super Bowl tickets, the sky-high expense of attending major sports events, and whether it's really worth it.
• The changing nature of TV: NFL games as some of the last collective viewing experiences in America.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Michael (03:25):

  "What will stop them is if you blow them up."

• Jack (16:37):

  "You're going to drug yourself at your wedding...because you don't want to feel the feelings that accompany getting married?"

• Michael (11:40):

  "You, my friend, have figured all of that out. And anybody who doesn't is a stupid idiot who should be lectured. I congratulate you on your Solomonic wisdom, you mouthy prick. I should—I retract that. I apologize."

• RFK Jr. (34:01):

  "I will put my mailbag against your mailbag any day of the week."

• Michael (36:35):

  "Every last one of them is wrong and drips with disdain and slavery. Who am I as a government or anyone else as a man standing here now to tell you what you should put in your body?"

• Jack (26:49):

  "So our smaller ass teams will have a shot."

• On big-event ticket prices:

  "They said it cost many tens of thousands of dollars each time they went." – Jack, 28:21

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• [00:13] Taylor Swift Super Bowl rumors & Jack's pledge to attend
• [01:36] Wall Street Journal piece on US blowing up narco-boat
• [03:25] "What will stop them is if you blow them up." (Michael quoting Rubio)
• [11:40] Mocking didactic listener feedback
• [15:13] Rise of beta blockers among women
• [19:31] NFL salary “void years" explained
• [21:37] Jalen Hurts as an example
• [24:47] NBA salary cap circumvention
• [31:09] Florida's vaccine mandate repeal push
• [32:53] RFK Jr. v. Ron Wyden: mailbag standoff
• [34:01] "I will put my mailbag against your mailbag any day of the week." – RFK Jr.
• [36:35] Dr. Ladapo's speech on vaccine requirements as "dripping with disdain and slavery"
• [39:16] Bill Cassidy’s political dilemma on RFK Jr. and vaccines

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Tone & Style

The episode features Armstrong & Getty’s trademark irreverence, skepticism of official narratives, humor, and rapid-fire banter. They alternate earnest engagement with serious questions—especially about US military force, personal liberty, and public health—with comic asides, self-deprecation, and quick pivots to breaking headlines or absurdities spotted in listener mail.

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For First-Time Listeners

• The show offers a blend of current event dissection and unscripted, energetic humor.
• Listeners get a sense of the confusion, polarization, and changing landscape in politics, sports, and health.
• Expect honest uncertainties, pushback against ideological rigidity (from all sides), and a constant flow of side comments and personal anecdotes.

Transcript

[Jack Armstrong]

This is an iHeart podcast broadcasting live from the Abraham Lincoln radio studio at.

[Joe Getty]

The George Washington Broadcast Center. Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty.

[Jack Armstrong]

Armstrong and Getty. And now here's Armstrong and Getty. Tonight, speculation mounting over whether Taylor Swift will perform at the Super Bowl. NFL Commission commissioner Roger Goodell saying maybe when asked about it, referring questions to Jay Z, the show's producer. Stay tuned.

[Michael]

I love it when David Muir uses his serious voice, stuff like that.

[Jack Armstrong]

I know he's using the same voices he uses for Hamas, Israel. Talk about Taylor Swift, whether or not she'll be the Super Bowl. I like the way Goodell handled it. Yeah, she could be.

[Michael]

I don't know. Jay Z's producing it. Ask him.

[Jack Armstrong]

The super bowl is this year, 70 miles from my house at Levi's Stadium. I'm gonna go. I'm gonna commit to going, no matter who's in it. Cause I've never been to a Super bowl, and I've always wanted to have the experience just to talk about, like, on the show and everything like that. So I'm gonna commit to going this year.

[Michael]

I love that idea. Great idea.

[Jack Armstrong]

One way or another, I'm gonna figure it out.

[Michael]

Speaking of the NFL, why are the Eagles so good and have stayed good and are gonna be great again this year? It's because of a counting trick we can tell you about.

[Jack Armstrong]

And with the season starting tonight, who does Vegas think are the best locks for being in the Super Bowl? We'll hit you with those odds.

[Michael]

Excellent. So I came across the Wall Street Journal's editorial board writing about, as the headline puts it, Trump's gunboat war on drugs, the blowing up of that narco boat, and it's 11 crew members the other day, and. And we were talking about it yesterday, in case you missed it, and how it's interesting as his maneuvers go, because, you know, there's not the death penalty for transporting drugs, but we blew that boat out of the water. And before we get to the Wall Street Journal, let's see a couple of notes. First of all, let me throw in.

[Jack Armstrong]

A couple of the facts from Marco Rubio that might be helpful before the people start replying to what happened. Secretary Start. Marco Roop. Secretary of State Marco Rubio. We're not in a hurry. We have four hours. I don't have to fit all the words into one sentence in one second. Marco Rubio said yesterday that Trump chose to destroy it. We could have arrested him, but Trump decided to. Instead of interdicting it on the President's orders, we blew it up. And it'll happen again, Rubio said yesterday.

[Michael]

Ah, interesting.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. And he said that the vessel, like others carrying drugs, posed an immediate threat to the United States, which gave the United States the right to destroy it. The president has a right to eliminate immediate threats to our country. The president's not a talker, he's a doer, and he's going to do it. Rubio argued the strike was justified because anytime we just stop. Stop drug smuggling boats, it yields insufficient results. It hasn't worked. Cartels factor in a 2% loss from interdictions, he said, arguing that drug seizures won't stop them. What will stop them is if you blow them up. The president is going to. The president is going to wage war on narco terrorist organizations.

[Michael]

I need to get that on a T shirt. What will stop them is if you blow them up.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yes.

[Michael]

Yeah. I'm not sure I buy all of his argument. There are flaws there and assumptions, but I like the maneuver. And I thought. I didn't know what the Wall Street Journal board, which side of this they would weigh in on. And I was very, very curious in reading it. And long story short, is there, like. Yeah, it's kind of interesting for the reasons we. We mentioned you could go aboard for search and seizure, making arrests for a trial at a later date. That's the way civilized countries do things, according to Mr. Trump's critics. But Venezuelan capos don't follow the Marcus of Queensbury rules, and the US does not have to refrain from sending them a more convincing kinetic message.

[Jack Armstrong]

Wow.

[Michael]

And speaking of facts that ought to be known, they point out that in Venezuela, the transnational criminal cartels in their range of grisly businesses, which include kidnapping, extortion, human trafficking, and murder, lots and lots of murder, are also the tools of the Maduro dictatorship. Maduro uses the cartels and that stuff to repress the population, gives them impunity for their organized crime, profits from them. And. And in fact, the Maduro regime owns a cartel, the Cartel de los Solas, or Cartel of the Suns, named for, get this, the insignia Venezuelan generals earn as they move up in rank.

[Jack Armstrong]

Wow.

[Michael]

It's like if a branch of the mafia referred to themselves as the Four Star Mafia because all the generals in our army were in on it.

[Jack Armstrong]

That's all interesting, but it's not supposed to be, according to a lot of us, our role to determine that that country's leadership sucks, so we should play a role in overthrowing it or hurting them.

[Michael]

I'm sorry, we're not supposed to do that. Well, according to whom, you innocent boy?

[Jack Armstrong]

Come on.

[Michael]

Anyway, so the US Is designating it a foreign terrorist group, and it's known to run cocaine operations from coca leaf to distribution on the American streets. They're in league with trend. Aragua. I'm not drugs. They specialize in extortion. Human trafficking is their evil. Evil, violent scumbags.

[Jack Armstrong]

I don't doubt it, but, man, there's lots of evil scumbags around the world, and we don't. And we got to kill them all.

[Michael]

Are you against that, Larry? Huh?

[Jack Armstrong]

We don't drone all of them. I'm not gonna.

[Michael]

I'm not gonna lose a minute.

[Jack Armstrong]

I am not gonna lose any sleep over these 11 people that got obliterated on their drug boat at all. Of all the things they got to worry about. This is way, way down the list. But it seems like if you're going to go with bringing drugs into the United States counts as a death penalty threat, where we can just drone you out of nowhere. Couldn't you expand that to a bunch of different stuff?

[Michael]

Yeah, possibly. And that was the part of the Rubio argument that I wasn't buying. Do you have that in front of you still? It was the very first part.

[Jack Armstrong]

Okay. And this was in Mexico yesterday when he said this. He did again.

[Michael]

I just. I don't like bad arguments, even if I agree with the policy.

[Jack Armstrong]

U.S. forces could have stopped the boat that officials say was carrying illegal drugs from Venezuela, according to Marco Rubio. But President Donald Trump chosen said to destroy it, killing 11 people instead of interdicting it on the President's orders. We blew it up and it'll happen again. When asked if they warned the crew, Rubio said the vessel, like other carrying drugs, posed an immediate threat to the United States, giving the country the right to destroy it.

[Michael]

Yeah, that's. That's the rub right there. In immediate indirect. Weeks later, probably when the drugs got distributed on the streets.

[Jack Armstrong]

Threat that might kill. That might kill people.

[Michael]

Right. Or it might just make them really high so they hang over at the waist on the streets of Seattle, drooling from the mouth and ruining their lives. These people are evil and horrible. And as we were discussing yesterday, if somebody does precisely the same things as, say, an Islamist extremist organization, they kill, they maim, they bomb. But they're doing it in the name of profit, like the cartels or control, like Maduro, in league with the cartels. Terrorist isn't the right name for them. But in terms of moral legal justification for snuffing them, I'm pretty comfortable with it.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, I don't want to sound like I'm on the. That I'm really concerned about this because I'm not. But the Islamo fascists, their goal is to kill people. I would assume the drug dealers goal is not to kill people. They would love it if you all stayed alive and kept buying their drugs. So their intent isn't to kill people like the Islamic fascist is.

[Michael]

Yeah, but what if it is reckless endangerment the size of Mount Everest, fully knowing that what they do will kill? It's not their intent per se, but it's the inevitable result and they know it.

[Jack Armstrong]

Sure. Well, clearly this administration decided. Yeah, that counts for us. Also as I mentioned yesterday, and again, we don't want China to set the standard. But you think China allows other countries to mess with, with China if they can stop it? If anybody was sending anything into China that she didn't like, they would freaking destroy them, obviously.

[Michael]

Right, right. Have we gotten a little too sweet and gentle and principled to survive as a republic? That's actually a question worth asking. It's kind of uncomfortable for an American to ask that question because that sort of right to kill people because, well, they're a danger. Well, the world that's always abused the.

[Jack Armstrong]

World is heading toward uglier, not more peaceful.

[Michael]

Couple more notes. We got some emails. This from some connection of letters. Once again, you have not done the research. I will enlighten you.

[Jack Armstrong]

I like the tone. I like the tone right off the.

[Michael]

Bat, oh, it gets better. Please read the DoD Department of Defense Law of Law of war manual chapters 10 and 11 provides the authority.

[Jack Armstrong]

Before you go further, I'd like anybody who didn't hear. So this person's responding to what we said yesterday. And if you weren't listening yesterday, we had a discussion just like we did now where we're going back and forth and neither one of us are sure. So this person's responding to us having a discussion where, I don't know, you know, maybe this, maybe that. It's not like we came off hardcore one way or the other and testing.

[Michael]

Each other's arguments because that's what you do. You if for instance, and I've said this many times, if you send us an email and say guys, I think you missed this because it's really important we remember, blah, blah, blah, that's not insulting or hurtful, you've done me a favor, you've, you've helped me form a better argument. And so we were going back and forth just as we Were trying to think. All right, where do we come down on this anyway? So, once again, you've not done the research. I will enlighten you. Please read the DoD Department of Defense Law War Manual, chapters 10, 11. It provides the authorities and duties of our president, Donald J. Trump, in times of war. We are at war, guys, I don't. I know you two may not believe it, but martial law was declared in his first term. Okay, so at war with question, the question of when we are actually at war, given the Constitution, Congress's right to declare war, military, special military, opera, police actions, blah, blah, blah, is a decades, practically centuries long, fascinating conversations that Americans have had. But you, my friend, have figured all of that out. And anybody who doesn't is a stupid idiot who should be lectured. I congratulate you on your Solomonic wisdom, you mouthy prick. I should. I retract that. I apologize.

[Jack Armstrong]

So which war is he referring to? The war on terror.

[Michael]

The war on drugs. But that's not a war on Maduro.

[Jack Armstrong]

The war on drugs is a rhetorical war. The war on terror is an actual war.

[Michael]

Is it?

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, there is the.

[Michael]

That.

[Jack Armstrong]

That armed forces agreement thing that got passed after 9, 11 that they use for every attack on any country in the world for the last quarter century, but at least that's legislation. There's no military legislation about a war on drugs that I'm aware of. That was just verbiage, like the war on cancer.

[Michael]

I don't really even want to talk about it anymore because it's impossible to come to an answer of whether we are in fact, quote, unquote, at war with these people. Unless you're this guy who knows it with certainty.

[Jack Armstrong]

And then his logic, the war on drugs, you could, you could drone strike Nestle because chocolate has sugar in it and leads to more cancer, or obliterate.

[Michael]

Immigrants as they line up at the border. Right. I mean, if we have a war on immigration or whatever. Let's see. I found this interesting from Byron. Watch for Maduro. His next move, he'll begin placing innocence on his drug boats, whether for real or a simple statement suggesting they've been place. Simple way to draw soft heads into a rebellious position against Trump's attempt to, well, do what he's obviously doing.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, Maduro's opening move yesterday was to say it's fake. It was AI. It didn't actually happen.

[Michael]

Byron sums up with, to hell with the soft heads. Grow a pair and realize what the face of war looks like.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, again, the war. Who are we on war with at Work.

[Michael]

So harden up your head, grow some testicles, do the research, and read the DOD Law War Manual, chapters 10 and 11. Man, I got a busy afternoon.

[Jack Armstrong]

So I'll have a really hard head and two sets of testicles. I don't know if that's gonna help my life any.

[Michael]

Oh, like you already have a set. Nobody that believes that your child.

[Jack Armstrong]

Okay, well, I'm talking a little bit about the NFL season and a couple other things.

[Michael]

Stay tuned, Armstrong and Getty.

[Joe Getty]

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[Michael]

Hey, did you see this?

[Jack Armstrong]

C Span announced that they will start streaming on YouTube TV and Hulu. People who watch YouTube TV and Hulu.

[Michael]

Are like, what the hell is C Span? While people who watch C Span are.

[Jack Armstrong]

Like, what the hell is YouTube TV? It's a good point.

[Michael]

That's funny. Yeah. We're gonna talk.

[Jack Armstrong]

We're gonna break down the NFL season coming up.

[Michael]

We are actually.

[Jack Armstrong]

What the Vegas odds are for. Who. Who do they think are going to be the best teams?

[Michael]

Excellent.

[Jack Armstrong]

And. And I'm not gonna go. I'm. I'm gonna go to the super bowl this year. So I'm looking into that.

[Michael]

Young man of America. Does it seem like all the chicks you know are on drugs? It's because they probably are. But not like the drugs drugs we used to enjoy back in the day. They're all on beta blockers. Specifically this drug propranolol. Ask word by name. It looks like propranolol. That's how you probably pronounce it.

[Jack Armstrong]

Is that what Michael Jackson took to get to sleep?

[Michael]

No, that was the milk, silly. Which one was that? That was profanol.

[Jack Armstrong]

What is this drug women are taking? What do they take it for?

[Michael]

It's a beta blocker originally developed for dealing with cardiovascular dis. Lowers your heart rate and your blood pressure, and it can reduce the physical symptoms of anxiety, although it is not approved by the FDA for that.

[Jack Armstrong]

I wish Katie was here. I'll bet she knows all about that.

[Michael]

Yeah. So. And it's interesting. This article opens up with. As Erica's. Fisher's. Erica Fisher's nuptials approach, she's trying to decide should she take a beta blocker before she walks down the aisle. You're going to drug yourself at your wedding. You're going to drug yourself at your.

[Jack Armstrong]

Wedding because you don't want to feel the feelings that accompany getting married. Some of them completely natural that everybody's.

[Michael]

Had throughout history, which is my objection to a lot of this, honestly, is. Well, well, they talk about how loads and loads of people are taking this. Most people take it situationally. Musicians and actors, for instance, have long relied on beta blockers like propranolol. Really?

[Jack Armstrong]

That's funny. Was just about to say there are things you're supposed. You're supposed to be anxious before the game starts, before you walk on stage. That's the normal reaction. That's what gets you all geared up to perform. So. So. Or your wedding day or whatever. So people are taking drugs to not have the normal human reaction. Well, that's interesting.

[Michael]

And they, they talk about. Robert Downey Jr. During the 2024 Golden Globe said, I took a beta blocker, so this is going to be a breeze. And at this year's Academy Awards, actress Rachel Sinott's red carpet advice was, take that beta blocker, girl, swallow it down and lock it in. And their sound bite became sort of a rallying cry for women who report experiencing anxiety disorders at higher rates than men.

[Jack Armstrong]

Now, I can see that it would be helpful if, for whatever reason, you have paralyzing anxiety at the idea of just walking into work or something like that. But for things that are, you know, legit anxious, you know, and events that are going to make you anxious, why would you want to block that?

[Michael]

I could name a couple of, like, truly gifted musicians who stopped performing because they were so miserable they couldn't walk out on stage.

[Jack Armstrong]

Miles Davis used to throw up before he'd play. He'd get so nervous.

[Michael]

I do that before every show. Should have taken a special bucket. Should have taken a beta walk, I guess. Armstrong and Gettysburg.

[Joe Getty]

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[Michael]

Well listen, we've got to do this. Let me hear you all say E L G S E S Eagles.

[Jack Armstrong]

Let's go Birds. That was we enjoyed that last year. Timeless when it was the Eagles were going to be in the super bowl, which a lot of people predict they will be again. And they play tonight against the Dallas Cowboys to kick off the NFL football season. They're supposed to be really good again, would you say is how are they.

[Michael]

So good and how do they last? How are they continue to be so good? You want me to talk about that?

[Jack Armstrong]

Sure, why not? All right, I'm kind of interested in that.

[Michael]

It's an accounting trick essentially that everybody can do, but the Eagles do it way more than others for reasons I will trot out in a moment or two. It's the basic formula has to do with the salary cap. Every dollar paid to a player has to be accounted for on the team's books. But you can get creative on when that cost hits. And so what they're doing now is they add dummy or void years at the end of a player's contract. They might be on the team or not, they might be retired or not, but they have these dummy years at the end and they spread the the the bonus money out along the entire structure of the contract the entire entire time of the contract. Here's how it works. When you sign a contract, two primary components, your salary and your bonuses. The salary counts against the cap for the year it's paid, obviously, but the hit from a signing bonus is spread over the length of a contract, which is then super stretched by these dummy years. In the case of how did you have that handy?

[Jack Armstrong]

Wow.

[Michael]

And at in the case of Jalen Hurts I want to make sure I get this right. He's one of the highest paid quarterbacks, highest paid athletes in the history of the world, but his salary is the NFL minimum.

[Jack Armstrong]

Wow. Okay.

[Michael]

For a player of his years. But he has a ginormous signing bonus.

[Jack Armstrong]

Okay, that's pretty interesting. And the NBA's got its own scandal going on. If you haven't seen that in the last 24 hours. One of the best players in all of the NBA, Kwai Leonard. He's got like a reasonable salary even though he's one of the best players. It turns out he. They crafted some sort of deal where the. He's getting $25 million from a local endorsement that the NBA. The team kind of figured out a way to do the accounting where the money goes to that endorser who's paying him so it doesn't show up as a salary cap. So they learned from the Philadelphia Eagles that you come up with accounting tricks because you. If you had. If you. If you didn't have various salary caps, the richest team would usually win. Usually, not always, but usually win.

[Michael]

Yeah. Enough to want to make them want to go ahead and do it. I will quibble. The Kawhi Leonard thing is just flat cheating. This is something everybody can do and does openly, but you have to have an owner who's willing to part with enormous amounts of cash up front. And also, much like the United States government say, well, what the hell's gonna happen when we've got all of this stuff, all these obligations pile up in seven or eight years? You gotta have an owner who says, I don't care. Let's just win a Super Bowl.

[Jack Armstrong]

I'm surprised that doesn't happen more often. Where you got the billionaire owners like Paul Allen and the Portland Trailbuilders.

[Michael]

The.

[Jack Armstrong]

Portland team, where they just have so much money that you know you're over the salary caps, you have to pay the penalty. I don't care.

[Michael]

What I care.

[Jack Armstrong]

Like, fifth richest guy in the world. Yeah, I want to win. I'm surprised that doesn't happen more often. But it has been proven over and over at the Yankees and the Dodgers and different teams that having the most expensive payroll doesn't guarantee you win it all. It gives you a much better shot, obviously. By the way, Philadelphia is tied to in Vegas for the best odds of winning the super bowl. Again with the Baltimore Ravens. So the Baltimore Ravens and the Eagles both have the two best odds according to Vegas, who is often very right, followed by your. Your packers, your Lions. Then you get down to your Chiefs and Bills. Those are the teams with the best options. Although, as we pointed out yesterday, there's no way to factor in injuries. And that always plays a huge role because in this sport, some star players are going to get really hurt.

[Michael]

What sucks is it it's a different team six weeks into the season.

[Jack Armstrong]

What sucks is if you root for a team that the ownership doesn't actually care about trying to win. I mean, they're running it as a business rather than as, like, a fan who wants to have the best team. And the Dallas Cowboys, who play tonight, America's team. There are more Dallas Cowboys fans than anybody. Troy Aikman called out Jerry Jones, the owner, for clearly not being set on winning, at least in the immediate future as they traded away their very best player over the summer and then another player just like last week, one of their top players. So they're just there. And that's tough when you're a fan and you know that because there are other teams that are hell bent on winning all the time.

[Michael]

Speaking of tough, I think we were all really excited looking forward to the release of ESPN and Spike Lee's Colin Kaepernick documentary series. I know I was. I was going to watch every minute of it, but it has been quashed. It has been dropped because according to a statement, espn, Colin Kaepernick, Spike leave, collectively decided to no longer proceed with this project as a result of certain creative differences. In essence, Kaepernick hated what Spike Lee was doing. Spike Lee hated what ESPN was doing. ESPN couldn't stand Colin Kaepernick and nobody could agree on anything. And so they just said to hell with it and buried it.

[Jack Armstrong]

And where is the game tonight? Philadelphia? Dallas? Not where they're playing, but where do you find it to watch it? Can you look that up, Michael, while I'm talking? Maybe it's on espn, I don't know. But I know this year it's going to be harder to find your. Your games. And in some case, you might not have the channel that is carrying the game of your favorite team and you're gonna have to pay more for it. And that's just what the future of everything is becoming. Obviously, I had another football thing I was going to throw out there.

[Michael]

Oh.

[Jack Armstrong]

So you told us not that long ago that they outlawed the Tush push, right? The fact that the Eagles have the most big giant asses, they can't do that anymore.

[Michael]

Yeah, yeah, I think that was the ruling. Right.

[Jack Armstrong]

So being the team with the biggest asses is no Longer.

[Michael]

It's not the size of their asses. Fundamental to the success. You're a non fan. You sound like a chick. Oh, that was sexist and I apologize. I deeply. There are many women who are hardcore sports fans and they have my respect.

[Jack Armstrong]

They're showing it on ABC right now. The tush push. The, the big giant ass is pushing everybody over.

[Michael]

And it's not the ass, it's the push that's the problem. Anyway, it's not the relative size of their glutes.

[Jack Armstrong]

So they, they, they, they outram us. They outlawed that though, right?

[Michael]

Yes. Okay, so now it's dangerous and it's impossible to stop. And we talked about that when they did.

[Jack Armstrong]

So our smaller ass teams will have a shot.

[Michael]

Okay. Yes. Michael, you have the switch for his microphone. Michael, you know what?

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. Where do I find you?

[Michael]

NBC tonight.

[Jack Armstrong]

NBC.

[Michael]

Okay.

[Jack Armstrong]

It's on a regular network that I get not have to pay extra. I don't have to go find it on like Amazon 3 HD and pay $40 a month to have it or something.

[Michael]

This one's on Brit Box. You have to be subscribed to Paramount and then the BBC to watch the game. All right. Come on.

[Jack Armstrong]

It is by far the number one TV show in America, though. I remember at the end of last year, I think 19 of the top 20 shows were all NFL games. Maybe a presidential debate in there or something. So in terms of everybody, in terms of a community thing that people watch, this is about the last of it.

[Michael]

Yes. Yes.

[Jack Armstrong]

I would like anybody who has any tips about going to the super bowl to email or text because I am going to commit to going this year since it's at Levi's Stadium in San Francisco, Santa Clara, not that far from where I live, because the trap. One of the things stopped me from going is the travel, because you got to travel there and you got to get a hotel, and that adds many, many more thousands of dollars. If I can avoid that, since it's not that far from my house, I'll just freaking get a ticket and figure out a way to get there. But I still think it. I was talking to somebody the other day who, who's gone to many Super Bowls and they would. They said it cost many tens of thousands of dollars each time they went.

[Michael]

Wow, that's a lot. Wow.

[Jack Armstrong]

To see your favorite team play a football game.

[Michael]

Yeah, I'd be tempted to just stand around the stadium, wait for the game to start and see if anybody wants.

[Jack Armstrong]

To give them away. You know, I have scalped tickets for a lot of supposedly you can't get a ticket event in my life. I don't know if that works for the super bowl or not though.

[Michael]

Right. Yeah, I've. I've just failed completely once at that.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah.

[Michael]

No tickets, but I think me too.

[Jack Armstrong]

And I went to a bar across the street and watched it on TV and I was perfectly fine. It wasn't. Didn't like ruin my life.

[Michael]

Yeah. Yeah. I've always been ambivalent about going to the super bowl because the actual experience watching the game is so much better at home.

[Jack Armstrong]

Did you go to a Super Bowl?

[Michael]

No. I was going to but had the tickets yanked away from me in a controversial move.

[Jack Armstrong]

I remember that story. And it was your team that was playing. I almost would like it better to go on a year where I don't care who wins then if I got a super rooting interest. But I don't know. I don't know if you know anything about that. Text or email, please. I would like that. Of course, if it's going to cost many tens of thousands of dollars, I better get my financial life together. And one way to do that would be to have a trust and will courtesy of trust and will. You can put that together with a plan starting at $199. You do it online.

[Michael]

What's the difference between a trust and a will? Do I need one? Do I need both? They will help guide you through all of that. And again, you can create and manage your custom estate plan very reasonably. And you know you need this. You don't want to doom the people you love into long, ugly legal fights with the government taking a chunk and the rest of it. No, avoid those lengthy, expensive legal battles or the deciding what happens to your assets and you'll have all your important documents in one place with bank level encryption. And I love really nice.

[Jack Armstrong]

I love the fact that you can get all that peace of mind starting at $199. And live customer support. If you have any problems, chat, phone or email, they're going to help you out.

[Michael]

And yes, of course it's state specific. Wherever you live, secure your assets, protect your loved ones with trust and will get 20 off on your state plan documents by visiting trustandwill.comarmstrong. that's trust and will.comarmstrong.

[Jack Armstrong]

The amount of betting that goes on around the NF in terms of legal and illegal wagering is just insane. I was listening to the numbers this morning and it's a growing thing. It still is growing more and more people every year that are that get into that and enjoy it. So that's its own kind of side sport. I've never done that, but for some people, that's what the NFL season brings is all the fun of the betting.

[Michael]

Yeah, I'll spice it up. Depending on your preferences. So we ought to talk about Florida moving toward ending vaccine mandates for schoolchildren at some point. I'm not sure I want to, but we certainly can.

[Jack Armstrong]

And that looks like that's actually going to happen.

[Michael]

Yeah, yeah. Absolutely. Yeah. Desantis is on board with it, as is his surgeon general.

[Jack Armstrong]

I'm kind of surprised by that.

[Michael]

I am too. I am too. So it's probably worth talking about. Plus an update on modern warfare. Number one military analyst and expert analyzing what was on display in China's big parade the other day. Plus AI is now is now on the battlefield.

[Jack Armstrong]

Fantastic. I love that sort of stuff. We got all that on the way.

[Michael]

Stay here Armstrong and Getty.

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[Michael]

We bring you the scintillating and revealing discussion between incredibly annoying Oregon Senator ron Wyden and RFK Jr. Senator. I didn't politicize Haysip. I depoliticize it. Congress has been investigating HAYSIP all over the country. Mr. Secretary, scientists and doctors are saying otherwise. They're all wrong too. They're all lying. According to you. The scientists, doctors are supporting me. All over the country there is division on opinion. I don't get letters from thousands of people who are not political saying that this set of changes is going to damage American health care and particularly these health care agencies for decades to come. I Don't get any letters from people saying it's going to make a big difference forever. And maybe you're listening to a selective group of people. You get me? Yeah, and I will. Fine. I. I will tell you what, Senator. I will put my mailbag against your mailbag any day of the week. 30 seconds. You know, we ought to use that clip before mailbag every morning. Hanson, an hour one of the show.

[Jack Armstrong]

I don't want you. I don't want to watch you two guys put your mail bags against each other. But it's not his fault, I realize. Whatever happened with his voice, RFK Jr. I find impossible to listen to just.

[Michael]

Because of his voice.

[Jack Armstrong]

I just. I can't. It's so distracting. And I just.

[Michael]

Ah.

[Jack Armstrong]

Anyway, a doctor friend of mine texted. So we're. We're gonna get into the whole. Looks like Florida's gonna do away with the mandates for vaccines for school.

[Michael]

Wow.

[Jack Armstrong]

Entirely. I thought they would just narrow it down to, like, the big ten or something like that of the stuff that everybody agrees on, but they're just gonna do away with mandates. But anyway, a doctor friend of mine texted. There are now 72 vaccines required from birth to age 18. 72 vaccines you get between birth and 18.

[Michael]

That seems like a lot. Yeah. Are all of those strictly necessary?

[Jack Armstrong]

Can't be. It's impossible that they are.

[Michael]

I don't know. And as some of those boosters or. It's a lot of shots.

[Jack Armstrong]

It's a lot of shots.

[Michael]

I know.

[Jack Armstrong]

As always said during COVID it's. It just. It just strains credulity to think that when there are billions and billions of dollars on the line for somebody to check the box. Yes, let's make this mandated as opposed to. No, that. Right, that. That doesn't play a role.

[Michael]

Right. There are some childhood diseases that are mostly just annoying, but, you know, as long as you're getting 70 shots, how about let's have another one in a booster, 72. Billions of dollars will change hands. Yeah, I agree. And as we were discussing earlier, having utterly shredded their credibility during and after Covid, the CDC and the other, you know, vaunted institutes of health, a lot of people are either neutral or negative about hearing what they have to say about anything.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. Did we make it clear that RFK Jr is being questioned by a committee right now as we speak? And we'll have more highlights from that if there are any. But part of RFK jr's opening statement was the CDC lied about all kinds of things during COVID Why do you Believe them now.

[Michael]

Yeah. Well, fair enough. That's why you don't want to chuck your credibility if you can avoid it. So Florida is proposing to eliminate all vaccine mandates, including for school children. It would make it the first state in the US to end immunization requirements.

[Jack Armstrong]

That doesn't sound very Ron DeSantis.

[Michael]

It does not. His surgeon general and I should have asked for this audio because the, the, the Surgeon general, Joseph Latipo, who I'm sure is a fine fellow and a fine physician, goes a bit Al Sharpton on us with every. He's talking about the vaccine directives issued by the Florida Department of Health. Every last one of them is wrong and drips with disdain and slavery. Who am I as a government or anyone else as a man standing here now to tell you what you should put in your body?

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. The drop of.

[Michael]

Well, if it's safely and effectively eliminates deadly childhood diseases and protects other children from getting it. Okay, well.

[Jack Armstrong]

And then just don't be using the slavery thing as a.

[Michael]

Don't drift with disdain in slavery.

[Jack Armstrong]

No, it doesn't.

[Michael]

Yeah. No, it doesn't.

[Jack Armstrong]

Worth throwing out. That probably the most libertarian. The government has no right doing anything. Person I know in my life is Tim Sandifer and he's fully on board with mandates for various vaccines because of the way it affects the overall population.

[Michael]

Right. On the other hand, having shredded their credibility and perhaps over required an unreasonable number of vaccinations. Here we are.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah.

[Michael]

Anyway, on a slightly different topic, watch the hearings today. If you're into politics, an interesting subplot is what's Bill Cassidy going to say? The Louisiana Republican senator who's a highly respected physician. He's a liver expert of all things, but he was one of two. I can't remember how many senators, Republican senators voted to convict Trump over the January 6 attacks, but since then he's been quite a loyal supporter of Trump's programs and policies and that sort of thing. And so they have a detente and he's running for re election, I think, is it next year. And there's been a ceasefire between Trump and Senator Cassidy. And if he goes too hard after RFK Jr. What will that mean politically? And also because Cassidy's a smart guy and a respected and caring doctor. I'd like to know what tack he.

[Jack Armstrong]

Takes even more than that. He was a holdout vote and they needed all the Republican votes to get RFK Jr approved. He was a holdout vote and got RFK Jr to swear that he would not go anti vaccine if he got the job. And RFK Jr's gone pretty anti vaccine.

[Michael]

Yeah. And both he and Susan Collins in particular have said, hey, he has not done what he promised me he would do. So this could be interesting.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. And we'll bring it to if it happens.

[Michael]

Armstrong and Getty. This is an iHeart podcast.