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Seth Payne
Best thing that's ever happened to you financially.
Chris Partee
Go easy. Sold my car on Carvana. Amazing offer, really. I hit 200 on a scratcher. Did the scratcher come to your house and hand you a check?
Seth Payne
No.
Chris Partee
How many scratchers did you hit to get that? I hit a button on Carvana.com once.
Seth Payne
Okay, that's fair.
Chris Partee
It's like the lottery, except you always win.
Seth Payne
Not like the lottery at all, actually.
Chris Partee
Exactly. Inexplicably good offers worth bragging about. Sell your car today on Carvana. Pick up Fees. May apply.
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Messi fans, Lowe's messy halftime event hits July 19th. That's coming up fast. So now's a really good time to become a Mylos Rewards or my lo's Pro Rewards member. Join for free and get access to exclusive messy moments and epic surprises. Let's just say halftime's looking different this year. Make sure to follow Lowes on TikTok and tune in to the Lowes messy halftime event on July 19th. Members get more at Lowe's loyalty programs subject to terms and conditions. Visit lowe's.com terms for details. Subject to change.
Seth Payne
Hi, diva. It's Rachel and Jordan. Yeah, hi.
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Quick question.
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Why are you not spending your Venmo balance?
Seth Payne
Yeah, we're concerned you can, like, buy stuff with it.
Commercial Announcer 2
Ugh.
Seth Payne
You love buying stuff.
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And earn cash back on eligible purchases.
Seth Payne
Mm. You love purchasing eligible things.
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So the money your friend sent you yesterday, that's today's ramen or rideshare or eye patches.
Seth Payne
The skincare kind, not the pyro kind. Spend with Venmo, and you can earn cash back with Venmo stash.
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Venmo stash bundle terms and Exclusions apply.
Seth Payne
Makes $100 cash back per month. See terms@venmo.me Terms, Idaho. Verification required to use a Venmo balance. Sports Radio 600 presents Seth Payne and Sean Pendergast.
Chris Partee
We come to 8th time they get
Seth Payne
to work in, man.
Chris Partee
Let's go.
Seth Payne
Great day. Great day.
Chris Partee
Oh, give me some juice, baby.
Seth Payne
Oh, yeah. Let's do it.
Chris Partee
Good morning, H Town. Seth Payne and Chris Partsy here filling in this morning for Sean Pendergast. Seth, what's going on, brother?
Seth Payne
Good? No, nothing, man. We gave a little. We just gave a little hint or a tease of Sean Pendergast yesterday.
Commercial Announcer
And then.
Seth Payne
And then he decided to take another vacation.
Chris Partee
Another vacation? It must be nice.
Seth Payne
He's got. I don't know how much he wants me to divulge about his medical situation, but it's not really a medical situation. He had. He's got something. Something going on with his throat. So they were in an abundance of caution. We're gonna let him rest his voice for a day or two. So I'm glad. I'm excited, though. This is the first time I've worked with Chris Partee.
Commercial Announcer
Yes.
Seth Payne
And. And I was just, I was just looking at your high school online. Pinole Valley High School out California. Yeah. I think I'm kind of sold on Pinole Valley. This is.
Chris Partee
You're sold on it?
Seth Payne
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I was like, you got a national park right next to it. You're next to San Pablo Bay, which is one of my favorite Pablo bays. And. Yeah. So. No, but I'm excited to work for you, Chris. I've only, I've only been on the radio with you for tosses at times.
Commercial Announcer
Exactly.
Chris Partee
For. For crosstalk.
Seth Payne
Yeah.
Chris Partee
That's been the only time so far. Yeah.
Seth Payne
Yeah.
Chris Partee
And speaking of my old high school, it looks a lot nicer now in the area than. Than it did 20 years ago when I was there. I'll just tell you that. That's a lot.
Seth Payne
High school's like, too. Do you end up, you ever go back to your old high school and you kind of like, start sneering? Kids are driving nice cars and stuff? Yeah, I've been back.
Chris Partee
They got gates up around everything. Now, back then, we didn't want gates because we were just walking off on and off campus as we please. So now we didn't.
Seth Payne
Yeah. That's my big complaint about a lot of these high schools. That was the first time when I moved to Houston. It was the first time like I used to, even when I was playing in the NFL, like this time of year when it might be driving around, like traveling a little bit. But I want to get my workouts in. You know, usually you just go. And I would like to go and work out at a high school. And out in the country, you can just walk on into a lot of fields and, you know, like, it's no big deal. My old high school still like that. But. Yeah. That all of a sudden you're. You're in a city and they got everything under lock and key.
Chris Partee
Exactly.
Seth Payne
And you got to jump. I've scaled fences. I got booted off of a high school in. When I was in Jacksonville, I went out, I was using their blocking sleds and everything, and this guy came out and chased me off.
Chris Partee
Now, is that when you were in college, you were already in the NFL or what?
Seth Payne
I was in the NFL and I never wanted to pull It. Do you know who I am? I'm trying to remember. I know it happened once in Houston. I'm gonna have to ask my wife if she can remember, but I did. I scaled a fence, so it's probably over at Episcopal or somewhere like that.
Chris Partee
Yeah, but.
Seth Payne
And I'm like, they'll probably recognize me if they catch me now. Didn't work and I didn't have the. I was like, what am I going to. Like, I was never going to pull the. You know, that's the most pathetic thing about the. Pulling the do you know who I am? Like, obviously, they don't. So whatever in your mind you think your level of notoriety or celebrity is, it's not. It's not what you think it is.
Chris Partee
It's not as great as you thought it was in your head.
Seth Payne
Right, right, right, right. The only time I'd ever pull that is if I was some kind of, like, you know, city council member or something. With a cop. Yeah, I totally do that. Caught on camera, you know, the body cam footage comes out like, what a jerk this guy is.
Chris Partee
So you've never. You've never pulled the do you know who I am?
Seth Payne
Oh, God, never. No, no, no. The do you know who I am? Is just. I got to guess it's got about a 5% success rate. I think that now if you can casually kind of drop some kind of a hint or something, okay, then it might work out. But, yeah, the do you know who I am? I feel like. I feel like most cops and. Or custodians at a high school are gonna. Are just. They're gonna. They're gonna get even. They're gonna get more angry or dismissive of you if you try to pull the who do you know who I am?
Chris Partee
Like, who are you now? All right, Seth, we got a lot to get into today. Had the All Star game. Actually, All Star Game tonight. Home Run Derby was last night. But first, I want to get into this with you. NFL's top 100. Now, there's been a lot of talk where I believe we're 31 players in. Now, yesterday, 70 and 69 were announced, and still no Houston Texans quarterback C.J. stroud.
Seth Payne
Yeah. And. But Lamar Jackson is 69.
Chris Partee
Lamar Jackson, my fault. Lamar Jackson comes in at number 69,
Seth Payne
which love is already on there. Baker Mayfield, Brock Purdy, and Bryce Young, weirdly, but he's at number 98. Yeah, this is the one that's weird, because last year CJ Stroud was. He was ahead of. He was ahead of Baker Mayfield last year.
Chris Partee
Was he in the 50s?
Seth Payne
Yeah, he's in the 50s.
Chris Partee
Yeah.
Seth Payne
And I think Baker was, you know, a little bit higher up the list as well. But Baker Mayfield comes in at 77. Would C.J. stroud, who, like, by and large, they had pretty similar seasons. Baker. Baker's numbers are better in a lot of regards, just because he's. If I remember correctly, he just played more games. But it. The. The. So that one, I was still thinking, all right, Baker Mayfield. It's debatable. Jordan Love. Okay. He was. We'll see. Lamar Jackson at 69 with no CJ shroud yet. Yeah, I don't think. I don't think CJ has shown that he's a better quarterback than Lamar Jackson by a long stretch. And yet I kind of. I'm kind of hungry for the controversy. The angry. The. The anger and the disgruntled Ravens fans, because nobody gets more disgruntled than Ravens fans. I'm kind of hoping that really happens now.
Chris Partee
Now, I told you this before we came on the show this morning. I think if CJ doesn't get announced this week, I don't think he's on the list. I'll be honest.
Seth Payne
This is crunch time for him. This is. If you think about the way that the balloting works. Players, for one, it's before the postseason, so players submit them by the end of the regular season, and what they do is they list out their top 20 players. So it's one of those things where I always feel it's kind of dicey accepting the rankings of anything where people aren't ranked. Like, you're taking a bunch of people that people either believe they're in the top 20 or they're not. And. And then, you know, there's a lot of guys that I might not put in the top 20, but that might be consensus. Top 40 guys.
Chris Partee
Yeah.
Seth Payne
But I definitely wouldn't put them in the top 20. Do you know what I mean?
Chris Partee
Yeah.
Seth Payne
So it's just like, I always feel like it's unfair to rank everybody based on that. So, like, I don't think, like, realistically, nobody should have put Bryce Young in their top 20 of NFL players, but because he gets a vote or two, he ends up in the top 100. But for CJ so the question is, is anybody going to actually say, yes, CJ is one of the 20 best players in football? And I think at this point, you got to. Based on last year's performance, and remember, it was before the playoffs. I think it's still. If I Put myself in the shoes of an NFL player. I'm probably going to be like, okay, you got to have a few quarterbacks on here, obviously, but you run through the top few guys, and CJ is not going to be in the top 20. So it comes down to guys who either went to Ohio State or our friends with CJ Now, I think that's probably what happened with Bryce Young. There's probably a couple Alabama guys that gave him a top 20 vote. I don't know if you're allowed to vote for your own teammates or not. I think you are, but I don't know for sure. Or maybe just somebody on his own team.
Chris Partee
Yeah.
Seth Payne
And there's a dynamic, too, where I feel like people that care about C.J. stroud or Bryce Young or any of these guys, they might. They might decide in their own mind, like, you know what? I gotta. I gotta do him a solid.
Chris Partee
I gotta help my boy out.
Seth Payne
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I don't want him to have to deal with an offseason where they're. The people are discussing how he fell precipitously out of the top 100.
Chris Partee
Now, do you know why they do it before the. The offseason? I mean, I'm sorry, the postseason. Like, why. Why is it done specifically at that?
Seth Payne
I think it's partly just because that's the best way to. They can go in. And as they're doing these interviews that you see, that's also when guys are doing the ballot, so they know they can get the most number. The most guys on. On camera and everything.
Chris Partee
Got it.
Seth Payne
And then also, yeah, like, they don't want to be trying to track people down in the off season when teams are out of the playoffs. Guys don't, you know, tracking some guy down in Fiji for him to submit his ballot.
Chris Partee
That definitely makes sense there. Seth, I want your opinion real, real quick on this. Like these. Now, this is the time of year. There's not a lot in terms of sports going on other than, you know, we got baseball every day, but there's no NFL. There's no even NFL practices going on right now. We got training camp coming up in, you know, a couple weeks here, but this is kind of that dead time of the. Of the sports calendar. No bat. They got some relief, but we'll get into that later.
Seth Payne
World cup stuff.
Chris Partee
We got World cup stuff. But that's not every year. This is, you know, this is a. That's every four years. This is a. Not an anomaly, but this is not the ordinary year. But these rankings, like what do. Player. You're a former player. What do you guys think about these rankings? And do they even matter to you?
Seth Payne
I think the. I. So they didn't have any of this stuff when I was playing the top 100. Yeah. Like any other. So much of the stuff that fuels all of the media right now. I came in right on the very beginning of, like, there was Facebook. When was Facebook invented? Like 2005 or so. And I was in my last year in the NFL is 2006. Like, the only social media, for the most part, was MySpace at the time. That's how old I am. So that it's been weird for me to watch as it became so much more of the. The sub. Like the substantial thing that guys grew up with. So now we're into a generation of young football players who've only grown up in this environment, you know, like, with. With social media, with all that stuff. So I think it. It probably matters more now than it did back then. I think it used to be more of a. It used to be easier to kind of blow off things that were said in the media because there just wasn't that much media.
Chris Partee
Yeah.
Seth Payne
And like, you didn't have to pay attention to it if you didn't want to. You could read the actual paper or something, but you just didn't see it a whole lot. You could ignore it. Now it's just. It's just everywhere. And people are going to talk about it, and even if you try to ignore it, people are going to ask you questions about it. So I just. I do think that. I think it's in that category of things where people. You don't want to care about it, but whenever you find out you're part of a competition or a ranking or something, you're going to.
Chris Partee
You want to be in there.
Seth Payne
You probably care about it a little bit. A little bit.
Chris Partee
Um, now, let's just say CJ is not announced this week. Let's say he's not on the list at all. Who is it a bigger indictment of CJ or the coaching staff?
Seth Payne
I think it's for right now. I think that if you look at, say, the. The top 10 quarterbacks on ESPN or CJ just barely made the article yesterday, basically ends up ranked based on voting somewhere between 18th and 21st. But I think if you look at the guys that are ahead of him, I. You look at a lot of guys who I think have also had better circumstances around them. And the. For the most part, you know, like, okay, Dak Prescott's got some great tools to work with. Justin Herbert is as much a product of, I think, Jim Harbaugh at this point and them managing his the strengths and weaknesses around him. But he also had a horrible, horrible offensive line last year.
Chris Partee
Yeah.
Seth Payne
So Justin, you know what? Justin Herbert might be the one that I have to look at and say, all right, he's seventh on the list on ESPN that's voted on by executives, coaches and everything. Had a horrendous offensive line last year. I think he's ranked too high. For whatever reason, Justin Herbert hasn't gotten dinged because he's been horrible and like he's been in horrible in the pro season every single time he's had an opportunity. But he's also with a veteran NFL coach and Jim Harbaugh who's managed to just get the most of whatever meager circumstances they have compared to saying having Bobby Slowik and then Nick Kaley. So I would, I would put, I think right now I'm still, I'm still in that mode of I'm making either excuses or explanations for J. For C.J. stroud. But you can only do that for so long. And I feel like this, this is the year where I think the circumstances around him, as long as guys, as long as his running backs don't all get injured or something like that are enough that yeah, you should see him take a step forward this year. If he doesn't take a step forward statistically or whatever, then I'm going to put a way more of it on cj But I'm still either because of bias or whatever else, I'm still giving him the benefit of the doubt. To a certain extent, there's never been a better time to get outside and experience the benefits of nature, discover nearby
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Messy Fans Lowe's Messy halftime event hits July 19th that's coming up fast, so now's a really good time to become a My Lo's Rewards or My Lo's Pro Rewards member. Join for free and get access to exclusive messy moments and epic surprises. Let's just say halftime's looking different this year. Make sure to follow Lowes on TikTok and tune in to the Lowe's Messy halftime event on July 19. Members get more at Lowe's Lowe's Loyalty programs subject to terms and conditions. Visit Lowes.com terms for details.
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Chris Partee
Let me ask you this real quick. Have you ever seen a quarterback have such a hot start his rookie year and then fall off? The way we've seen CJ when it's not due to injury now, right. RG3, similar great first year, got hurt, kept getting hurt. But CJ hasn't really been hurt like that. It's been more so production his decline. Like have you ever seen. And then have you seen them bounce back? Is really the.
Seth Payne
The.
Chris Partee
The pointer there.
Seth Payne
Yeah, the biggest. I mean, Kyler Murray gets thrown out there a good amount, but it wasn't like Kyler Murray's rookie year was as impressive as CJ's. No. And with Kyler too, there was also that dynamic of like, all right, let's see how Cliff. Like, let's see how the scheme ages. And this is a guy that, you know, got the benefit of his just being so ridiculously athletic that you were just. You needed to see him grow into being more of an NFL quarterback. Where was cj? What people were impressed by was, wow, he looks like he's got a lot more polish in terms of adapting to the NFL than a lot of young quarterbacks do. You know, RG3 would be another guy that you know, and that's probably who you're thinking of when you thought about injuries and everything. Yeah, like RG3 would be the biggest one that just jumps out in my mind. But also he hadn't like, he had. He had like a crazy deep ball like arm talent. He did, but he also had his running ability and everything else. And then injuries kind of tore him asunder. I don't know if this is a good one for the text line. I don't know there's anybody that. That quite had an impressive rookie year, the way C.J. did it, the way he operated and why people were excited about him, and then is fallen off quite like this, like. So if you go to the. The top 10 quarterbacks back in 2024 after his rookie year, he was ranked seventh on that ESPN poll. Wow.
Chris Partee
After one year. After one year.
Seth Payne
After one Year after his rookie year and the Things that a lot of people were, you know, pointing out about, about him was like, let's see, here's an NFC executive. This is after his rookie season where he ended up finishing seventh on this list going into 2024. He set the standard for a rookie QB, has so much poise, he stands in the pocket and delivers the football, stands tall, doesn't see colors coming at him. Several voters pointed out that Houston did a masterful job supporting him. Nico Collins, Tank Dell, Dalton Schultz and offensive coordinator Bobby Sloik consistently put Stroud in advantageous spots. His 4,108 passing yards were third most in the NFL in NFL history behind Andrew Luck and Justin Herbert. You know, I mean, Justin Herbert in a weird way might be the best example in that Justin Herbert, he, he's, he fell off and did some, he looked more lackluster in a lot of ways, but I don't think he ever, he never had the complete crash in terms of no estimation. And I, and I think I'm like, might have been, he might have actually benefited from hardly ever making the playoffs, like never being exposed to that the way C.J. did because I mean, the crash came in the playoffs like this and. But meanwhile, Justin Herbert threw four interceptions against the Texans in the playoffs a couple of years ago. And people haven't clamored for, you know, just gone on a wholesale assault on how much he sucks as a quarterback.
Chris Partee
Yeah, yeah, it does. And don't get me wrong, I'm a big, I guess I'm a fan of Justin Herbert. I got to cover him a little bit when I was out in Portland, Oregon. Got to cover him while he was at University of Oregon. So I like Justin Herbert, but I agree that it kind of feels like he gets the, the benefit of the doubt a little more than a guy like cj. Right.
Seth Payne
The thing about Herbert though, the other, I mean the other thing though too is like it was his first three years where, I mean, it was 5,000 yards in his second season.
Chris Partee
Yeah.
Seth Payne
You know, and it was, it wasn't really, it was like his first few years were really impressive and then he went into a lull. So like CJ's going into a lull in his second year. That's what makes it a little bit unique. Like the disparity between his first year, his rookie year where he looked like high level impressive, not just some impressive physical traits, but that's the part that's such a conundrum with cj.
Commercial Announcer
Yeah.
Chris Partee
Yeah. So I mean, hey, we got number, I think was it 68 and 67 coming up later today. That'll come out.
Seth Payne
Yeah, I think it's gonna be mayhem, man. It's gotta be. It's gonna be. Absolutely. It's either that or it's gonna be Sean. Sean and I disagree a lot on how much value to put in this NFL top 100. I don't put nearly as much value into it as Sean does, but people do care about it. And the. Just the optics of having CJ Stroud above Lamar Jackson will be fascinating to watch. Just the. It'll be. You know what? It's going to be awesome because it'll be on first take. It'll be. It'll be all over everywhere about just what a. What a travesty this is.
Chris Partee
If nothing else, it's all entertaining. All right, we're going to hit the break right now, but on the other side, we're going to talk a little bit of Home Run Derby and the All Star Game coming up.
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Messi fans Lowe's Messy halftime event hits July 19th. That's coming up fast. So now's a really good time to become a Milos Rewards or Milos Pro Rewards member. Join for free and get access to exclusive Messi moments and epic surprises. Let's just say halftime's looking different this year. Make sure to follow Lowes on TikTok and tune in to the Lowe's Messy halftime event on July 19. Members get more at Lowe's loyalty programs subject to terms and conditions. Visit lowe's.com terms for 10 details subject to change.
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Oregon Parks make an Oregon summer. But what makes an Oregon park? Well, Oregon Lottery gameplay helps no matter the game Megabucks, video lottery or keno funds from lottery games help support parks projects across the state, ensuring they stay safe, accessible and open for all. In fact, Discover State park scratches are in stores now. It's the perfect way to put a little bit of Oregon's parks in your pocket. The Oregon Lottery. Together we do good things. Must be 18 or older to play. Lottery games are based on chance and should be played for entertainment only.
Seth Payne
Would you look at that. It's time for some of our favorite Snapple reel facts. Real fact 1433 Toe wrestling is a competitive sport.
Chris Partee
Reel fact 732 the chicken is the
Seth Payne
closest living relative of the Tyrannosaurus Rex. And reel back 1599aman once ate an entire airplane.
Chris Partee
Yowch.
Seth Payne
Did he have any hot sauce?
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Yeah.
Seth Payne
So anyways, this has been a refreshing break. Brought to you by Snapple.
Chris Partee
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Seth Payne
It'll be refreshing. Presented by T Mobile, the official wireless
Chris Partee
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Seth Payne
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Date: July 14, 2026
Hosts: Seth Payne (former NFL player), Chris Partee (filling in for Sean Pendergast)
Podcast: Payne & Pendergast (Audacy)
In this episode, Seth Payne and guest co-host Chris Partee tackle the mounting speculation around Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud's conspicuous absence from the NFL’s “Top 100 Players” list so far—after having been a breakout rookie and widely regarded future star. The duo discuss Stroud’s meteoric rookie rise, his statistical and narrative "decline," and whether he or the Texans’ staff shoulders more of the blame. They reflect on how rankings have changed meaning for players in the social-media era, debate the validity of these lists, and compare Stroud’s arc to other young QBs. They also briefly preview the upcoming baseball All-Star events, but the bulk of the episode remains locked on C.J. Stroud’s legacy (and the local/fan anxiety over where it stands).
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This episode is a must-catch for Texans fans, NFL draft enthusiasts, and anyone following the unfolding narrative of C.J. Stroud’s career. The hosts cut through knee-jerk outrage about NFL rankings, exposing both the flaws in the system and the real impact of these lists on young athletes’ psyches in today’s social-media-saturated league. Stroud’s rookie brilliance versus second-year struggles are contextualized with references to other heralded QBs whose arcs diverged in subtle but important ways. The tension between local hope and national skepticism is palpable, setting up a season where Stroud’s every snap will be scrutinized as either redemption—or confirmation of doubts.