What is going on everybody? How are we doing? What is happening? Aaron Rogers acknowledges he's married because he's the new quarterback of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Gave a press conference, they had a practice today. You saw the backdrop of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Rogers is living pretty well. You know he had a little bump in the road with the jets for a couple years, but 18 plus years with the packers. Now the quarterback of the Pittsburgh Steelers. He's not messing with the little old brands. So we'll dive into Aaron Rodgers now with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Obviously I would say the big non Rogers story is TJ Watt, who is the Steelers best player. No shows. And I immediately google what's his contract status? Well, it's the last year of his contract and he's owed $20 million and he's a free agent after this year. So like most people that are not attending these mandatory minicamps or a guy like James Cook who says I'm basically just here so I don't get fined. It's all about the money, baby. And nothing can put a smile on any human's face faster than cash. And when you play in the NFL and you're looking for a payday, when that payday comes, it's usually for a lot of money when you're a good player. So we will dive into that situation. Some other stuff around the NFL from Kirk Cousins who showed up as well. He didn't want to get fined. Shamar Stewart, the first round pick for the Bengals, gave some quotes. At first I didn't even believe them, but they were actually his quotes. And yeah, a couple other things around the league. But before we dive in to any football related topics, you know, I got to tell you about my friends, my partners and the official ticketing app of this podcast, Game Time. Best ticketing app in America. It doesn't get any better. What do you want to do? You want to go to a game? Do you want to go to a concert? Do you want to go to a comedy show? Do you want to go to an NFL game this fall? Do you want to go to a college game? I went to one last year. Texas, Oklahoma. Now the game turned out not to be great, but the atmosphere, if you ever get the opportunity to go to a college football game, one of the big games, right? The Big Ten, the sec. I cannot recommend it enough. It's weird. Oklahoma and Texas is technically an SEC game, but obviously for the majority of the time it was the Big 12 game. But it was really fun. And listen, I'm trying to help you out, save a little money on tickets. Things are expensive nowadays. I want you to do something fun. And I want you to do something fun because of this podcast. So take the guesswork out of buying tickets with game time. Download the GameTime app, create an account and use the code JOHN for $20 off your first purchase terms. Apply again, create an account and redeem the code John for $20 off down on the Gametime app. Last minute tickets, lowest prices guaranteed. Aaron Rodgers and the Pittsburgh Steelers. Well, it was inevitable. The news broke last week. Now he's actually on the field and practicing along with his teammates. And it did kind of hit me when you see the decal of the Pittsburgh Steelers behind them. And listen, we can be critical of the Pittsburgh Steelers, but we all acknowledge high level organization and just they know what they're doing. I mean a huge part of their lack of success in the playoffs has been, I mean last year the defense was shitty down the stretch too. They had some injuries, but the quarterback position, and I don't necessarily think a 41 year old Aaron Rodgers is fixing that. Especially when you got to go through Josh Allen, Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson, Joe Burrow. Like you're going to be at a disadvantage, Herbert, with Harbaugh. But like I totally understand why the Pittsburgh Steelers did it, right? And if I was them, I would rather have Aaron Rodgers at 41 than Russell Wilson. And their infatuation with Justin Fields was always a little weird given that they benched him last year. So I take a little bit with a grain of salt. Like they really wanted him back as what? Like a hybrid backup slash runner? Did they want him to make him their starter? I don't necessarily believe that. But overall, seeing Rogers in the Pittsburgh Steelers colors, I will say this about his situation last year because two years ago didn't count Terror's Achilles, whatever. Five plays in most human beings, myself included, most of you listening, most people that play in the NFL, most people that work on Wall street, most people that work in Hollywood, most people that work in music, you name it, whatever industry you may be in, cannot overcome dysfunction, cannot overcome a poorly run operation, cannot overcome an owner being insane. Most of us cannot do that. And for most people, you would get eaten up and spitting out and have a poor experience. And look at the jets, they have been consistently losing now for a decade and a half. It's not by accident. They've had different players, they've had different coaches, they've had different GMs, the same fucking result over and over and over. There's a small percentage of people that you can put them somewhere and they can overcome everything and just succeed. I know in my own experience, definitely in my younger days, I had no shot. If it was not a well run operating at a high level, I could fit in and ideally shape in and be a successful contributing member to whether it be an NFL team, a radio station, a podcast network, you name it. But when there is a guy at leading the helm that does not know what he's doing, I'm going to have a problem. And I think most people listening can relate to that. It goes for our personal lives as well. You put someone in a dysfunctional home, you put someone in a dysfunctional relationship, it usually does not go well. And I think Aaron Rodgers a good example. For 18 years he played for the Green Bay packers, which is easily one of the most well run operations. Not just in American pro sports, you could argue in American business they have been good for 30 plus years now in a highly competitive industry where parity is the norm and they constantly figure it out because they've had a hierarchy of people from coaches and GMs that know what they're doing and obviously they've gotten the quarterback position right. But he is a good example of someone that was drafted in the mid-20s that got to go to a place that, that knew what they were doing. And obviously he's a very talented player, one of the most talented players in the history of the NFL and excelled there at the highest level. Then he went to the New York Jets. Now granted, he's not in the prime of his career and last year he's coming off a major injury, but it was a disaster. Let's face it, it was an embarrassment. People were getting fired left and right. They were losing game after game after game after game. Stories are flying all over the place. The owner's all over the place and it was a joke. Guess who was not used to that? Aaron Rodgers. Why? Because he's never experienced that. It's why when I was talking with Colin yesterday, I'm pro Aaron Rodgers. I've seen him play live throughout the course of his career. He's one of the best athletes in any sport I've ever seen. And I've been lucky enough over the last 15 years to go to a lot of different sporting events from, you know, the NBA to Major League Baseball to professional golf to obviously the NFL. I've seen some of the greatest players over the last 15, 20 years in sports and the best throw I've ever seen live was a candlestick. Aaron Rodgers to Jordan Nelson. I've seen him make Some incredible plays live. I was working for the Philadelphia Eagles the year that he won the super bowl and I'm pretty sure he threw three touchdowns that game to a guy named James Jones who wasn't very fast but somehow torched the birds. And James Starks, if I remember correctly, had a big game as well. But I think when you look at this situation of Aaron Rodgers and the Pittsburgh Steelers, like he's in a place that just kind of knows what they're doing and he's in a stable environment where he's proven that if you've put him before, he can have success. So do I think that this team is much different than they were last year? I don't. But do I think that we're going to get a better version of the guy that we saw if we just assume Aaron Rodgers, he's no longer a 10 out of 10 athletically, his ability to ad lib is nowhere near what it once was. But are we going to get the best version of the 41 year old Aaron Rodgers? Yes. Because with the Jets, I don't believe you would get that. Now listen, I got married a couple months ago. Pretty big moment in my life. Just like for most people in my life, whether it be my brother, other family members, my friends, my now wife's friends, anyone's I've ever dated, their friends, a wedding's a pretty big deal. And I listen, I don't know that many quote unquote famous people, but whether you're famous or not, it's usually not something that you hide from. I mean, we just saw Josh Allen, who I would say is, if not the best one. I mean, he's the reigning mvp, one of the best players in the NFL and obviously a future hall of Famer and a guy that if they can figure it out as a team and play some better defense in some of these playoff games, I think can be a Super bowl champion. But he just got married. It wasn't like some, some grand secret. So it's a little weird, but that's part of it. Like part of what you get with Aaron Rodgers. Little weird, but like with the Pittsburgh Steelers, like Russell Wilson is way more bizarre. And it felt at least, you know, his play let them down, but he wasn't able to act like he had acted before, you know, So I do think that the stable organization, Mike Tomlin, the Pittsburgh Steelers brand, I think it'll be good for Rodgers now, do I picking this team to win 14, 15 games. I'm not. Do I think more than likely they will be a one and done playoff team. Assuming that Rogers can play, I don't know, 15, 16 games. Like, I mean, if he's only playing nine games, he has an injury. They would be effed, right? If you tell me he plays 90, 95% of the games. Yeah, I think they will be a very competitive team. Their defense, you know, Harmon, the guy they just drafted, I think their defensive coordinator said today he's a starter. You can put that in Sharpie. I love the running back they took in the third round from Iowa, Caleb Johnson. So, yeah, I mean, I would say the Steelers biggest issue is not Aaron Rodgers, it's T.J. watt. And I think they have no choice. And this situation reminds me a little last year with the 49ers, when all your chips are in the middle of the table and your best player or one of your best players is going to be a free agent or wants a raise, what are you going to do? You're not going to act like the Bengals and play hardball even if you do want to do that. And like, I don't think it's just a easy decision to be like, yeah, here's $100 million to a guy that's going to be 31. Now. I texted some of my buddies in the league that are pro scouts that are dialed in on how good everyone is and I got from multiple guys, said, listen, I still think he's damn good and I understand he's a little bit older, but when you factor in the leadership, I mean, he's the heartbeat of the franchise. Is he going to be a 20 sack guy over the course of the next couple years? Probably not. But if he's durable and he's on the field and he's giving you 12 to 15 sacks, pressure rate and what he means to your franchise, you know, it's hard to sometimes it's not as easy to quantify that. And like if I were the Steelers, I'd be trying to like, hey, I'll give you a two year extension, $60 million on top of the 20 this year. So that's like $80 million guarantee. 50, $60 million. And he'd probably laugh at that, but I always am a little uncomfortable. Older guys gets giving them huge contracts, but I don't think they have a choice. And I think TJ knows it and let's face it, he's got him by the balls a little bit because of the situation they're in. That not that this year is a go for broke, because it's not super bowl or bust. But I do think anything less than a playoff victory, at least internally in that organization, will be viewed as a letdown. So listen, the Steelers, now they got Rogers, are going to be. They were last year with Russell Wilson. One of the more fascinating stories in the league. Couple other quick things. Kirk Cousins, listen, it's a, it's a bizarre situation. Obviously, if they would have the ability to take back the contract that they gave him last year, they would. They made a mistake. But when you make mistakes on high character guys, these situations are just more seamless. Like Cousins is there today simply because he doesn't want to give away $100,000. Don't blame them. James Cook literally said as much. I'm here because I like my money. I would never give away whether I was a guy making $15 million a year, whether I was a guy making $30 million a year. Definitely. Obviously the lower paid guys, $100,000, that is moronic. Especially because these rules, you can't get that money back. But I think Cousins, if you're going to be in this weird situation because he doesn't really have a trade market, no one is trading for Kirk Cousins until there is a major injury. And anytime that you're in that situation as the team with the player, it's out of your control. What if there are no major injuries? You know, once upon a time, the Eagles benefited because Teddy Bridgewater's leg snapped in that practice. If that hadn't happened, they Sam Bradford, they wouldn't have been able to trade him, right? Not that they were even in the looking to trade him. But my point is they would love to trade Kirk Cousins and they, I'm sure would eat some of the money, but there's just no market for him currently. Now that could change in August, but it also could not. And if they are stuck in the situation, which is not ideal because you don't want people answering the questions, this is where character and Cousin's gonna say all the right things. And sometimes this, I would say, gets thrown out a little too liberally. Like be a pro. Like, what does that even mean? Like, this is a guy who truly understands that. And it's also a guy who's seen a lot of shit. I mean, just think about the way that he came into the league and I think that will benefit him greatly because he saw the RG3 situation with different coaches and a little like Rogers was with Love. Obviously he was mad they drafted Jordan Love and I don't even blame him for that. Even if he was technically misguided. It's like, bro, you didn't play that well. That's the reason they did it. If you would have balled out, they wouldn't have done it. You know, it's like, yeah, you wanted them to take a wide receiver. Well, your play made them a little nervous. And, you know, Cousins and Rodgers clearly and Jordan Love have a really good relationship and by all accounts handled it like a true professional because of the way that him and Favre went through it, you know, a decade plus earlier. And I think Cousins having had a front row seat and just a weird situation to start a career, I think he's going to be really good with Penix if he is stuck there. And to me, him being stuck there is really more of a reflection of like, if they don't win, I just don't see how these guys survive. And I feel bad because I'm a big Michael Panix guy that, yeah, man, I just, I don't know. I don't, I don't see it going well. CJ Stroud is throwing, which, listen, I get nervous when I saw Trevor Lawrence is having arm fatigue. I don't know if that's because guys throw less now. If guys throw more now, you know, when I say you're like, what do you mean, throw less? Well, I just mean, like, they take a bunch of time off and then they start throwing really heavy and it's just really intense on their elbow or their shoulder. And you know, Anthony Richardson obviously has had the shoulder injury before, but at any time, you know, an elbow or shoulder is not feeling right and you have to sit out practices in OTAs. Like, I call me like overreactor, but I'm going to like red flag it a little bit. So seeing that he came back, like, that's, that's a pretty big sign of relief because on the other side, like, I saw a headline today that, you know, ideally Anthony Richton is ready to go for training camp, but there's no guarantee. I mean, he's already seen second specialists and we'll just have to see how that plays out. Like, you guys know where I stand. I feel pretty confident that Daniel Jones, like, if I'm a betting man, Daniel Jones is going to be starting week one. And I think at the end of the day, we'll have to see how this plays out with the, you know, obviously Irsay passes away. His daughters are now in full control. What their relationship is with Chris Ballard, I mean, he's been there a long time. They don't make the playoffs ever. Now if Anthony Richardson fails and Daniel Jones doesn't work out and they're 78 win team and they have a high price roster and it's just not working out, does he get fired? And if you fire him, do you have to fire Shane Steichen? Because if you fire the GM and you bring in another gm, do you force him to work with the coach? Even if people think pretty highly of Shane Steichen, we've just seen this kind of song and dance before that. When not everyone's on the same timeline, things can get really, really weird. So that's, that's definitely a big story to watch once we get to training camp. And last but not least, Shemar Stewart fired back today. I'm 100% right. It should be a no brainer. In Trey's case, it should be a no brainer too. I'm not asking for nothing y' all have never done before, but y' all meaning the Bengals just want to win arguments more than winning games, in my opinion. I thought that was AI When I saw that, that quote, I'm like, wait, this rookie is already talking shit about his contract situation. I just think the Bengals, man, for whatever reason, and we've talked a lot about this, just we could find a lot of really, really rich people that are really, really cheap and frugal. It's a disease. And the Bengals aren't the richest team in the NFL, but they have a franchise that is worth billions of dollars, yet they are still obsessed. This is not the number one overall pick in the draft either. This guy, I think they had the 17th overall pick. So what type number are you talking guaranteed dollars? 15, 16, $17 million. That in the grand scheme of things, in a $250 million cap is a tiny, tiny number. I mean, we're talking a nominal amount of money relative to your football operations. And this is what you're arguing over especially. It's like it'd be one thing if this guy was asking for something that had never been done based on precedent of the slot last year. Same player, exact same thing. So I think the Bengals, man, this is, it's really. We talked about this with the Rogers. It's amazing what Joe Burrow's done. It really is that Joe Burrow pulled that franchise to a Super Bowl. Zach Taylor seems like a nice guy. Probably pretty average coach at best, right? They let go of multiple guys. Their defense wasn't nearly the same because a couple years ago we're talking about Lou Amaruno interviewing for Head coaching jobs. Then he just forgets how to coach overnight. No fucking chance. Their team's not as good. I mean they had a guy that with 20 sacks and their defense was atrocious. So I think Lou Ray Maruno is pretty good coach. And Carson Palmer, once upon a time, I don't pretend to know the guy very well, did meet him and spend a night talking a lot of football with him and obviously like most people that like football that are my age followed his career for a long time. Carson Palmer is a really, really high level guy. Impressive guy. Like he didn't just quit on the Bengals because he was like, yeah, this is just. I don't really want to be here. It's like organization was a joke. I mean it really was. They're one of the their teams. They use their coaching staff as scouts. Why? Because they don't want a big scouting staff. They want to control the cost. Their mindset because the team has been in the family for so long, still operates much more like it's the 70s or 80s. Like guys, it's not that time anymore. The television deal gives you $425 million. Why are you getting into an argument with this player over this? I've defended them on the Hendricks Trey thing. It's a little more complicated. But this is. What the fuck are we doing to have a rookie say that? I was like, damn. I don't even blame him. I mean, feels pretty confident in his stance though. So yeah, it's wild times in the NFL off season. The NBA finals are here and this is your last chance to Bet on the NBA until next season. And the DraftKings sportsbook and official sports betting partner of the NBA is pulling out all the stops to make it a finals to remember. One team will be crowd the champ and the other will be lost to history. Who you got winning it all? 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John Middlecoff (30:36)
Okay, let's do the mailbag at John Middlecoff at John Middlecoff is the Instagram fire in those DMs get your questions answered here on the show. With the NBA and the NHL in full swing, which of the major four North American sports leagues is the hardest to win? In my opinion, it's the Stanley Cup. Maybe I'm biased, former pro hockey player, but you got 82 games in a fast and physical sport, an additional 28 playoff games. Guys don't limit their playing time like they do in the NBA. Up to three games a week. With no buys like the NFL and smaller rosters, obviously it's hard to win any of them when you just look at the nature of the sport. If you're the one seed, if you're the one seed now in the NFL you're the only team that gets a buy. You get two home games and then you get a week off for the Super Bowl. So if you just based on like, obviously it's hard to win the super bowl, but the path just in terms of the activity, the regular season in football, like you said in hockey is hard because it's 17 games. If you're a good team, you're playing a lot of like short weeks Thursday nights. But once you get to the playoffs you get that bye week. I think the playoff run is easier. Obviously in basketball and hockey you have seven game series starting right away. So to have seven game series, seven game series, seven game series just to make it to the Finals There was a fight. I'm recording this on Tuesday, the fight in the Stanley cup finals. I mean Florida was beating the crap out of Edmonton. What would that been? Game three? I mean there was like 75 fights. But you know, in baseball, that first game now or that first series, it's 5, 7, 7, I think the NBA you could argue because the, the regular season is way easier. So if you factor in the regular season in hockey. I don't, I mean I can't speak from like knowledge. It's not like I'm watching it. If, if I take you at your word that the regular season is difficult because you'd say the hardest regular season. I mean baseball is a grind. But if you're a good team like the Yankees or the Dodgers, you're just so much better than most teams you're playing. It's a lot of action, but it's not like the strenuous nature of football. The regular season the hardest in football, you could argue the playoffs in the NBA or the NHL are the hardest in baseball you just need, you need to have a good bullpen. And there's a randomness to baseball, I would say in the playoffs sometimes with timely hitting. Listen, I'm a Giants fan. Cody Ross took Doc Halliday deep in game one in the nlcs. Travis Ishakao, you get random guys with some big home runs in a baseball series. Typically. Obviously you need your good players. So I'd go basketball or hockey, the playoff runs the hardest. The regular season in football's the most difficult. Hockey is just hard. As a blue blood football fan or big program guy, you seem to mention Minnesota randomly a lot as a second tier program. Are you starting to row the boat? Also, what is the outside perspective of PJ Fleck? Majority loves him in Minnesota, but he always gets so much hate outside the program. I don't even have I ever mentioned Minnesota. College football shows you some. Maybe I'm just talking, I don't even know what I'm saying. Second tier program. I think we'd have to hash it out. How many first tier programs do we have? 10, right? Ohio State, Michigan, Bama, LSU, Georgia, Texas, Oregon, Penn State, Notre Dame. I'm talking financially pay coaches now pay players are just going to be good always regardless who the coach is. Like if Ryan Day left tomorrow, Ohio State get another sweet. Coach Saban retires, they hired DeBoer. That just takes Washington to the, you know, national championship. So our numbers at what, seven, eight? I don't think I'd put him in the second Tier, I'd probably have third tier. And I'm not even trying to talk shit. I would say seems a little cheesy to me, but clearly solid roofer, bald guys. So I don't really have. I'm probably close to indifferent on PJ Fleck than I am like having some take. I don't, I mean, I don't really think that much about him. When I think about college football. It's hard. I would say those type jobs when you're in the Big Ten or the SEC and you are tasked with like, we don't have the resources and we're just not like, listen, we can talk about money all we want and obviously it matters a lot. But like the best teams are still the teams getting the best players because they got the most money. Like Ohio State was good when you had to pay guys under the table. They're now good when nil and they're now good with paying the team if there's a salary cap. Right. Georgia will be the same. Texas is going to be the same. SC in theory, if they get the right coach. If Lincoln maybe is that guy, we'll find out. Oregon, like these, these teams, the good teams are going to stay the good teams, right? Obviously Ole Miss is spending a lot of money. I think as a whole, the SEC has more money because of the last, whatever, couple decades of saving. But yeah, I would say you also got to have realistic expectations, right? Like what Lane Kiffin's done the last couple years is remarkable. You win 10 games at Ole Miss, you're a fucking legend in that program. But after a couple of years, like, okay, time to make the Final Four, like, no, we're probably not making the Final Four here. There's nothing wrong with that, right? If you have back to back eight win seasons at Minnesota, that's great. Like the expectations at Ohio State and Michigan and Penn State are just going to be different than you guys. But once you win a couple eight game seasons, I'll pull up PJ Flex Record. People start going, okay, time to win 10. And obviously based on your schedule we saw with Indiana last year, you can manipulate it. He's got PJ Flex, pretty young PJ Flex 44. He became a head coach and God, he became a head coach really, really young at Western Michigan. He was a wide receiver coach. 2012 at Tampa Bay. How many wins the last couple of years? I mean, they were 8 and 5 last year. I think that's a pretty good year. A lot of nine. Nine and four. Nine and four. I think it's pretty good. I mean two things on the what if trend. As a Seattle Seahawk fan, we got a John Snyder recorded an incredible interview with him yesterday. He'll be on the pod next week. Big what if would be Percy Harvin. He was one of the most dynamic athletes I've ever seen. He could run, catch and return. However, the injury after injury and battling migraines his whole career he was often left on the sideline. Also playing with I feel what were journeyman quarterbacks. He still ended up with 4,000 receiving yards, 1,000 rushing yards and 4,000 return yards and 22 touchdowns. I'm in agreement with the Packer fans who mentioned the quarterback method of drafting which is why I will give a different view of the Falcons signing Kirk Cousins for all that money and still drafting Penix. I don't see everyone, I don't see why everyone is bashing the move. It's genius. This is a quarterback league. Everyone always says do whatever it takes. Not to mention to sit behind Geno Smith. I personally wanted Penix to sit behind Geno, learn how to play. Here's the thing, I'm all for drafting or signing a guy like Cousins if I'm going to draft J.J. mcCarthy. You know when the 49ers had Jimmy Garoppolo and they drafted Trey Lance, who was a project, obviously the guy couldn't play. But you get my my thought on the method of like we have a veteran who's a high character guy, sit behind. Michael Penix was a 25 year old plug and play player. There was no sitting, he wasn't Jordan. Love this. This wasn't a project. I'm a Michael Pennix fan. I think he's going to be good and obviously you improve as you play in the NFL. But Michael Penix was not a project. Michael Penix was a plug and play player. So to me if you're going to draft Michael Penix you would not sign Kirk Cousins. Now I'm not opposed to signing a veteran but like a $10 million Andy Dalton or something and maybe have them compete just it's football, competition's healthy. But to me a Kirk Cousins with Michael Penix makes no sense. And this gets back to. And I get it, they had a new coaching staff but part of the situation, it was chaotic. If they would have known they loved Michael Penix, I promise you this, they would not have signed Kirk Cousins but their draft process was all out of whack and they fell in love with Michael Penix in April. Typically you knew I bet the Minnesota Vikings were pretty high on J.J. mcCarthy in January and February. And listen, some of it is just, you have new coaching staff come in, but just a poor operation because they would like to have a do over on that one. They just would. Question for the pod. When talking about players in the draft, you always see comparisons they give and fans go crazy. My question is, when they give a comparison, are they saying this is the ceiling of the player or are they comparing play styles? I always thought it was just the play style. Yeah, it's typically the play style. So if you're like in a draft room and your GM goes, you know, who does this guy remind you of? And you go, you know, he, he runs a lot like Alvin Camara. You're not saying he's going to be necessarily Alvin Kamara. You're just saying the way he runs, the way he cuts, his ability to catch the ball. Obviously ideally you want him to be like that player. I remember, like when I was scouting, I remember comparing Robert woods to Reggie Wayne. Obviously Robert woods is not as good as Reggie Wayne, but just in terms of possession, receiver will go over the middle. You know, Robert was really good in college. But I think it's, you got to be careful because the ones, the ones on TV are usually like, the guy reminds me of Jerry Rice, you know. Now here's the other thing. Like he has similar career numbers as Christian McCaffrey. Like you're just saying he has the same numbers in college as this player, right? Ashton Genty, he was 20 yards away from Barry Sanders. You're not saying he's Barry Sanders, you're just saying they had comparable junior years in college, right? So I think if you write this is a ceiling, this is his floor, then obviously you're saying that. But I think most times this edge rusher reminds me of Leonard Floyd or T.J. watt or whoever, right? And that's. That typically is what it, what it is. The problem though is when I go, you know, he's got, he's got ball skills, he's got elite ball skills, right? He's, let's say he's a safety. You're like Earl Thomas, Ed Reed, you know, whatever. You start saying that, that's what people start comparing that player to. Fair or not, most people should be like, here, let's use Cam Ward as an example. You watch Cam Ward ad lib, make different throws, different platforms, throws on the run. That got it kind of reminds me the way Patrick Mahomes played at Texas Tech. But when you say that Everyone goes, you're comparing to Patrick Mahomes. And you go, no, I'm comparing him to his playstyle, to Patrick Mahomes at Texas Tech. Not the guy that's won a couple MVPs and Super Bowls, right? Like. Like Baker Mayfield, I thought, at Oklahoma, my comparison was like, I think he could be a version of Drew Brees. And then early on you're like, this guy's already benched. It's hard. I mean, there's. It's not easy. Especially because most guys are never going to live up to the. Most guys are going to be like rotational starters, not impact players. And if you do put your nuts on the line, right, you love a guy and you go, hey, this is the next Vaughn Miller. And you're right, you look like a genius. As a fellow follically challenged gentleman, it's great to see another aerodynamic dude. With advancements in AstroTurf, have you ever been tempted to glue one of those hair systems on your dome? I often found myself looking at them on Instagram in the wee hours of the morning. If my wife would faint if I came home looking like a jet black Elvis, I would say this. I've known a couple people in my life that have got hair transplants and not gone to Turkey, but in America. And if you could like my hair when I did have it, I would say was average. Before it started falling out, it was thick, but I didn't have like, you know, I don't know, just Brad Pitt flow. If you could give me elite flow, the look I always wanted was the Pat Riley slick back. If you could give me that, I would contemplate it. Am I going to pay 100,000? I've been bald for 15 years. I guess. 2011. Yeah. I mean, 13, 14, 15 years. So it's like I'm not. If it was a cheap fix, I would contemplate it, she says. I don't have to, though. But hey, I'm always open to new looks. Do you think we'll see a big change in the way that Jim Ursay's daughters run the Colts, or do you see them picking up where they. Where he left off? It's kind of the great unknown Paul Allen died several years ago. And is it Jody Allen has been running the team and obviously John Schneider's still there. So I think the biggest question mark with the Colts moving forward is if they miss the playoffs for however many straight years and this quarterback situation goes like most of us are going to predict, it's going to go not great. What happened? Do they fire Chris Ballard? Because it does feel, and maybe Chris Ballard would dispute this, that him and Jim Ursay were really close and Jim Merce believed in him and rightfully so. I mean, he owned the team. He likes them. I don't blame him. He wants to keep him around. I don't think Chris Ballard's bad at his job, but the quarterback situation has just simply not worked out. And I think when you look at kind of this scenario of what's going to happen, you go, if it's pretty ugly at quarterback, you have to think that Chris Ballard's going to be in trouble. Now I would have Daniel Jones turns into Alex Smith, year one, Jim Harbaugh Colts win 10, 11 games, they're in the playoffs, maybe gets an extension, maybe Daniel Jones or quarterback. Because that was back to the comparisons. The Daniel Jones comp when he was coming out, whenever, seven, eight, nine years ago, maybe not that long ago, but 2016, 17 was like Alex Smith with the Chiefs, like, that was his comp. Which if your team's good, a solid player, but it shows you, like, even when your comps aren't Josh Allen or Lamar Jackson or, you know, Justin Herbert, if it's just like, hey, I could be the next Kirk Cousins or Dak Prescott, do you know good that guy is? How good it is, how hard it is to be Dak Prescott or Kirk Cousins in their prime, 90% of quarterbacks aren't going to do that. Because if those guys are quarterback, 8, 9, 10, 11, kind of that range, do you know how hard it is to become that one of the top 12 quarterbacks in the NFL? I'm guilty of this too, but it shows you like, no one has. There is no such thing in the draft as a high floor. And it gets used a lot. I'm guilty of it because everyone can suck, especially some of these positions are a lot of it is out of your control. Like, you can't tell me that Zach Bond just all of a sudden got good at football. He's playing, he's out of position, he's with a team that's going through some weird shit and he just gets Fangio and he becomes an All Pro. There are probably a lot of those guys in the NFL and there are a lot of guys that maybe are good, that if you put them in crappy situations, might not be good. So there are so many variables at play that Daniel Jones a good example because I remember doing a podcast when Daniel Jones got drafted. Like most people, I'm like, that's insane. They just took the guy six overall. And I have a good friend who I think is widely considered a really high end NFL scout. Slash. He's an executive technically now. I was like, bro, I like this player. I think he's good. I think you're wrong on this. I'll never forget one of my best buddies in the league. I used to shit on Josh Allen in college. I'm like, you're telling me this guy, 50% completion percentage at Wyoming and one of my good buddies who's got a lot of rings on his finger was like, bro, this guy can play. This guy's gonna be good, I promise you. Like, I would change my tune on him three, four years later. I mean, he's one of the best players in the league. So it's just, that's what makes this kind of thing hard is you're dealing with human beings. And most of these guys, whether you play linebacker, whether you play quarterback, whether you play wide receiver, the scheme, who's coaching you, the organization. We just talked about it earlier on the pod with Aaron Rodgers. Aaron Rodgers, like, Listen, is he 2014 Aaron Rodgers? Of course not. But I bet he looks a lot better if you place that version last year with Kyle Shanahan or Sean McVay than you do on the New York Jets. I mean, it just, I promise you, it probably looks better. Probably feels a little bit more normal. You put most people on the jets, they look crappy. Blending Vice's signature dynamic storytelling with the high octane world of sports, Vice Sports brings an exciting and diverse range of programing that goes beyond the game, catch action packed live events and exclusive sports documentaries and profiles only on Vice tv. Interested in investing in Bitcoin but not sure how to get started? With the Gemini credit card, you can dip your toes into Bitcoin without even trying. Just spend like you normally do, groceries, gas or even a night out and instantly earn up to 4% back in Bitcoin or one of over 50 other cryptos straight to your account with no annual fee. The Gemini credit card is a no brainer and right now you can grab a $200 bitcoin intro bonus. Go to gemini.com card to learn more and start earning today. Terms apply. Again, go to gemini.com/card and start building your Bitcoin stash today. Terms apply. The Gemini credit card is issued by Web bank. 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John Middlecoff (53:51)
Have you ever played Half Moon Bay at the Ritz? Playing tomorrow, Just seeing how the course is. Yeah, I played with my dad a long, long time ago when I was young. It's awesome. I mean, it's right there on the water. Cool course. I would imagine the Hotel Ritz, Half Moon Bay on the water. Pretty sick. Pretty sure I haven't been down there in a long, long time. But like for those of you this, we're talking California, Northern California, this thing called Mavericks, which is like the big break. They have like big wave surfing, you know. And given the right time of year with these big, I could be getting my surfing terms off swells because there's like a reef, the way it like breaks, it just creates these waves like 40, 50, 60ft. Dangerous. People die. It's also like some of the. Besides like South Africa, some areas in Australia, I think some of the most populated area for great white sharks. So you have a reef that a 50 foot wave can slam you in and you also have great white sharks that live there. It's like, yeah, that's where I want to surf. Sounds fun. Glad I never like surfing because not a big ocean guy. Too many risks. Do you think the Texans can be a Super bowl threat? If we figure out the offensive line, I feel like we have the weapons, running game and top defense. We just need to protect cj. I think if he has time in the pocket like Hertz or Goff, he could be scary and we could be a legit AFC contender. I picked you guys to be the number one seed last year, 8 to 1. I remember feeling pretty damn good about that. Shows you gambling Is risky. You know, you feel confident and all of a sudden you're like, what is going on? I heard, I don't know who said this, but I heard someone say this. I'm like, I wonder if I was a year early and now like last year I wasn't alone. Most people were all over the Texans. And then this year everyone's kind of going to be off them. I can see that. People picking other teams in that division. I would guess the Jags will be like a hipster pick. I think the Titans could be like a really, really hipster pick. Is this year the Texans a lot better now? You traded your best offensive lineman you signed. I think it's official. By the time I recorded, Chubb is now your, you know, one of your running backs. You lose what's his name, who's a really, really good player to just a devastating injury in Tankdale. But defense should be elite. I mean Will Anderson's just, I think going to be one of the better players in the league for a long time. Might not be like Vaughn Miller, Miles Garrett, high end. But just every single year I was about to check that will Anderson make the Pro bowl and then you know, I shit on people from like you don't necessarily know if they make the Pro bowl or not. He made the Pro bowl as a rookie, didn't make it last year. What would you do in my situation? I'm 32 year old, 32 years old, single, going on 33 in Fort Lauderdale. I want to work for myself and have freedom long term. Already decided that. Question is, what do I do now? Current full time job, plush door, dashing on the side, still doesn't cover my monthly expenses. Credit card debt, minimum payments. Yes, learn my lesson, need to act fast. Job is soul crushing. And I only have energy for one of these short term options. One either go all in, find a better paying job, destabilized myself financially and then work on my side hustle. My escape plan. Even though the thought of that pains me with another job or say effort, quit my current job without another and figure out myself 30 to 40 pro PTO, cash out buffer. Then I'm effed, I'm in debt and no savings, burnt out but disciplined and ready to do what it takes. Not getting any younger. I mean bro, you're 32, you're still pretty young. I would say this. I don't know what your side hustle or the thing that you actually you want to work for yourself, you know what that is, right? So if you already have that and you know, this could be something, then you can just attack that and go all in. Because if you're already in debt, you might as well just go all in on that thing. But I, the way that you laid it out, you do not know what that thing is because if you don't, you just quit everything. You don't necessarily know what you're going toward. I would say, listen, you got to be careful these days because credit card debt, these interest rates can get pretty out of control fast. I think you're best assuming you don't know what you want to do. I would try to find a better paying job and just stabilize your life a little bit and it help you think clearer because you also have to be able to put some sort of value on. If you have a job that isn't paying you enough and you hate it, think about the returns that giving you negatively and setting you back. Your life's miserable. It's not like you're making enough money to be like, oh, I can just suck it up. That's taking a lot out of you as a human being. So I would just try. If you don't have your side hustle or what you envision doing working for yourself figured out, or maybe that's, let's just say a fluid situation. Try to find a better, more stabilized, higher paying job and then from there you kind of take a deep breath and maybe be a little happier. But this is why I always give advice to people. When you're young, you know, in your 20s, when you first leave college or leave high school, if you're not going to go to college, try to find something you do for a living that you enjoy. My brother's in the farming business. He loves that shit. I know people in all sorts. I have a bunch of friends in sales. They love, and I mean love socializing. It's just a. And then they crush because it comes natural to them. Even if you don't love like maybe the company or even the product you're selling, if you like what you're doing, anything you do eventually becomes a job. What I'm doing, podcasting, there are days like, I don't feel like doing this. We're all human beings. Not every day. Nick Saban was like fired up to go to work. We're all humans, right? So when you enjoy doing it, those days when you don't have it become a little easier because, I mean, I've been lucky. I mean, I created my own luck, but I didn't do anything. I didn't want to do. Once I left college, I just went to football and said, I'm going to figure this out. Because I knew my personality. If I didn't like doing what I was doing for a living, maybe I could have faked it in my 20s, but I knew as I got older, it would be a disaster and I would suck at what I did because I would not care and I'm not talented or smart enough to fake it. So my number one advice to any human being is figure out what you like and try to map a profession towards some sort of passion. And I think I see some people, especially online, push back against that. It's such a utopian view of the world. It doesn't have to be like, just because I fucking like coloring with crayons, I'm gonna find something in that. But you're like, no, I just mean, like, find something you enjoy. And by the time that you're in your late teens, in your 20s, definitely mid-20s, you have some idea of what you like and dislike. Obviously, things change as you get older, but unless sometimes you don't really have a choice and life happens. But ideally, you're making enough coin to suck it up. Do you think teams would entertain trading for a veteran player like Jalen Ramsey? Or would teams back off seeing him coming late to Dolphins team meetings? If you do think that, what teams do you think would fit Jalen Ramsey the most? I think a lot of teams would do a lot of research and they'd start with Sean. They'd go, why'd you guys punt on him? Sean? Unless he was playing well and you guys just was just simply, you were just reshaping your cap, maybe? Or was it like, he's starting to bother you because clearly he didn't respect Mike McDaniel. And I don't know Jalen Ramsey personally. I've actually never really. I don't know anyone with the Dolphins, so it's not like I've heard these negative stories. It was just pretty easy to put two and two together. When McDaniel was like, yeah, people show up late to the meetings. Fines don't work. Well, you're not the guy making the league minimum. Hell, the guy making $5 million isn't giving away 20, 50 grand. When you're making 20 plus million dollars, 10, 15 grand, fines, fuck you, I don't care. But if I don't respect you, and I've been in this situation before, professionally, once in radio, and I'm sure many people listening have been in a situation where you work for someone and you just have zero respect. Now you still do things because, like, hey, the people I work with, the people maybe on my team or partners or whatever, I'm still going to keep my head up and grind. But, like, it's really hard for me to be a professional because I have no respect for that person. And maybe there's a case he just thinks this guy's a complete fraud. I think Mike McDaniel really knows offense. I think he's an innovative guy in the run game. Do I think he's a good head coach? I do not. And I just wonder if Jalen Ramsey has zero respect for him. And maybe it's just uncalled for and Jalen Ramsey's completely wrong. Maybe Mike McDaniel's been wrong. I don't know. I also think, though, there is a level of like, and we've talked about this before, can you imagine even if, like Mike Tomlin or Jim or John Harbaugh or Pete Carroll or Sean Payton, these guys are driving you nuts and you're pissed off at them. You think you show up late to a meeting, no chance. And listen, I don't care who you are, the most punctual human beings have days when they miss their alarm or run into traffic. That's not the case here. I do think it's a pretty big red flag around the league, especially when you factor in he makes a lot of money. A couple more questions. Got married last April and the country club we got married at threw in a free round for me and my buddies. I had never swung a club in my life, but I was always curious about getting into golf and I wasn't going to pass up a free round. I ended up having a blast. The next day was our wedding. I decided to treat myself and bought a set of clubs. That summer I started playing more and more and now I'm addicted. I'm constantly watching videos and trying out new things to improve my game. We've all been there. My question is next year I turn 30 and I would like to get fitted for clubs. But I am also considering getting some lessons to try to work on some bad habits in my form. What are some tips that you would give a new golfer to improve their game? And if you could choose one, would you go fitted clubs or golf lessons first? I would go golf lessons before you need a splurge on clubs. I would get a couple lessons with. I would ask around or use Google wherever you live and try to find. I mean, some of these lessons aren't Cheap. But maybe buy like two, you know, one lesson. Sometimes a one off situation doesn't work. So maybe get two for 200 or whatever the rate is. So you go back a couple times and you kind of get a feel. This is what I'm good at, this what I'm not good at before I buy clubs. Especially if you're going to a club, even if it's a public course where the guy's a PGA professional and has been around the block. Maybe a college golfer has a feel for like yeah, man, your clubs are fine. I would hesitate just got into golf on paying for a brand new set of fitted clubs. Especially if you just bought clubs last year. I would use those clubs in a lesson for a couple times and that guy can give you, I guess, drills. Unless you're like Tiger woods or Scottish Effler. I mean for the most part it's about setting your feet, aiming in the right direction, getting a, getting your swing dialed in your grip dialed. You know, like drills like are you really just gonna bang the drill out three times a week? It's one of those things that sounds good in theory, not necessarily in reality. Now like tips on certain things with chipping or the ways to hit a cut or a draw for sure. But like overall drills. Unless you're just an all time grinder, I think sometimes that stuff gets overstated with the US Casuals, which basically everyone is beside like scratches and pros. Just finished watching the Alcaraz Center Roland Garros final. It went five and a half hours, instant classic and will go down as one of the best matches ever. Two absolute gladiators going at it. It got me thinking, what would be your top five most exciting edge of your seat sporting events you have ever witnessed? If you're talking live, because I mean just I've been alive since 84 started watching sports in 94 and I would say the majority of big events, basketball, baseball, football, golf, little tennis, the occasional race, Kentucky Derby. Like I'm a sports fan. I've watched them like most of you my age or older over that time live. I went to game seven of the 2016, or maybe it was 15, whatever the year that the, the Cavs came back three to one and LeBron James won the championship in Cleveland. It was riveting and it's actually a pretty big regret of mine that if I ever have the opportunity to go, you know, to a Super bowl, to like a national championship game, to just something that has a chance like listen, it's sports, anything can happen. I Got a little too drunk. Not that I don't remember, but it was like I didn't need to get that intoxicated because I went to the Super Bowl I think the next year and that was the year. Was that the next year? No, it might have been, might have been around the same time. But I had a lot, I had a huge amount of money all relative at the time on the Broncos to beat the Panthers and I had like two beers. I just wanted to soak it in. It was a way better experience. I've been to some playoff baseball games with the Giants when they were really good, win a world Series, they were pretty fucking incredible. Playoff baseball games are pretty awesome. When you're talking like the NLCS or alcs, they're just, it's just riveting. I've been to some playoff football games, they're not bad. I haven't been like a great playoff football game. That's a good question. Here's the reality is some events, you know, basketball, if you have a good seats, it's a great television sport. It's a good in person sport. Baseball, pretty good in person sport if you have a good seat. Football, I'd just much rather be at home. I mean some of the best football games we've ever seen from a couple of the Eli Patriots, Super Bowls to that Arizona, Pittsburgh, James Harrison play like football is the best television show ever. I mean sport is tailor made for 40, 50, 60 inch television. I mean I got two people to live in my house, I got about six Samsungs all over the place and when football's on it's hard to beat. I remember where I was when the kick six happened. Alabama, Auburn. I remember my jaw hit the floor. That's one of the craziest things I've ever witnessed. I mean that's an all time college play. I remember being in college when Vince Young, I mean I went to Cal Poly but we had a large contingent of people at that school from Southern California and that was in the heyday of SC and I just knew a lot of USC fans and that was, that was pretty devastating. I had a lot of cocky buddies in my fraternity that were big SC guys. That was a big L for them. That was a big L. But yeah, I would say best I knew going into Game 7, Cleveland, LeBron, Steph, it was a really, really big deal. I mean the warriors had just won 73 games. That's probably the biggest event I've ever been to where you just knew there was a lot on the line it was Game seven. It was Draymond had been suspended. The warriors had just taken down Michael Jordan's team's record. LeBron James trying to win a championship in Cleveland. I mean, you see these television ratings for the NBA Finals are not high, which makes sense. I mean, okc, Indiana, it's just. It is what it is. But you knew. I mean, I would imagine 20 plus million people watch that game. You knew. You were walking. I remember walking into Oracle. I mean it was just a shitty old arena. The warriors now play in San Francisco at Chase Center. I remember walking by Jared Goff, who at the time I think was just drafted by the Rams. Maybe it was a maybe was in the draft process. Maybe it was just there. I remember walking by Nadalmic and Sue. I remember thinking, God, fucking guy's huge. I just had a few too many. I had a few too many. It's one of my great regrets. Have a great day. Talk soon. The Volume.
