3 & Out - Bill Belichick’s Disconnect, QB Redemption Stories, and Joe Flacco to the Bengals

Summary

The Herd with Colin Cowherd – 3 & Out Podcast (John Middlekauff)

Episode: Bill Belichick’s Disconnect, QB Redemption Stories, and Joe Flacco to the Bengals
Date: October 8, 2025

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Overview

This episode of the "3 & Out" podcast with John Middlekauff dives deep into contemporary NFL topics, focusing on:

• Why Bill Belichick's coaching style and personality are ill-suited for today’s college football landscape
• The importance of relationships—both in football and elsewhere
• The evolution and redemption of several NFL quarterbacks, including Baker Mayfield, Sam Darnold, Daniel Jones, and Mac Jones
• How changes to kickoff rules and field goal kicking have transformed the sport
• Reactions to Joe Flacco’s move to the Bengals
• Listener mailbag: Steelers’ defense, QB evaluations, coach/GM salaries, and more

Middlekauff maintains his conversational, unfiltered tone as he shares stories, strong takes, and industry insights.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Bill Belichick's College Experiment: Doomed by Personality and Approach

[02:08 – 19:41]

• Middlekauff admits he was wrong for previously insisting relationships no longer matter in recruiting due to NIL and money-driven decisions. Instead, he points out, relationships still play a crucial role.

  “Relationships matter. I had a front-row seat when I worked in college football … guys like Pat Hill cared about his players … you can’t just treat this like a transaction.” (04:35)

• Belichick’s personality and lack of genuine engagement are liabilities:

  “No one has ever confused Bill Belichick for caring about others… he gives no shits about anyone.” (10:11) “In college football … even in this transactional time, you have to know players’ families … you gotta play coach psychologist on the fly. You’re not coaching a 40-year-old Tom Brady.” (13:04)

• Successful college coaches (Kirby Smart, Ryan Day, Dan Lanning) develop deep relationships with recruits and their communities:

  “Do you think Dan Lanning knows Dante Moore's family? I would bet a million dollars he does. You think Belichick has any fucking clue? No.” (15:36)

• Belichick’s old-school approach is increasingly out of step:

  “If the only thing you’re hanging your hat on is, you know, in 2015 we were down 28-3… Coach, I was nine years old.” (17:20)

• Prediction: The experiment is likely to get even uglier as Belichick refuses or fails to adapt.

2. NFL vs. College: Why Personality Fits Matter

[19:41 – 24:30]

• The kind of personality that thrives in college (relationship-driven, outgoing, adaptable) is very different from what’s needed in the NFL (strategic, focused on scheme/QB development).
• Pete Carroll and other coaches are cited as natural fits for college, while pros can survive with less ‘glamorous’ social skills.

  “It’s easy to see Pete Carroll’s personality … sitting in a dude’s house and landing the recruit with a big smile … legendary stories.” (19:43)

3. Quarterback Redemption Stories: Mayfield, Darnold, Daniel Jones, and Mac Jones

[24:30 – 35:10]

• Middlekauff highlights the resurgence of QBs like Baker Mayfield and Sam Darnold—players who struggled on bad teams, then flourished with support:

  “Sean McVay claimed him and Kyle Shanahan signed Sam Darnold, and their careers ever since have been like rocket ships.” (32:41)

• The importance of fit, coaching, and support is paramount for most quarterbacks:

  “Most people are not Peyton Manning or LeBron James… Most need a catalyst.” (27:55) “More teams fail quarterbacks than quarterbacks fail teams… 100%.” (30:45)

• Examples: Daniel Jones and Mac Jones—both considered over-drafted, but thriving with good coaching and supporting talent.
• Quick takes on the psychology of backup QBs and the mismanagement by organizations that don’t support young quarterbacks.

4. Joe Flacco to the Bengals: Why It’s a Non-Solution

[35:10 – 37:13]

• Flacco’s signing with the Bengals is viewed skeptically due to his lack of mobility and the team’s struggling offensive line:

  “He is probably the least mobile of any guy that can be a starter in the NFL… He’s going to get killed.” (36:21)

• Middlekauff would have preferred the team pursue a younger, more mobile option, comparing the move to short-sighted decisions by other franchises.

5. Kicking and Comebacks: The New NFL Landscape

[38:11 – 44:21]

• Recent changes to kicking balls and kickoff rules have resulted in more high-scoring comebacks.
• Kickers are now able to “doctor” balls all week, leading to more long field goals.

  “If you’ve been watching football for 10, 20, 30 years, 60 is the new 50… 65 is the old 50.” (38:37)

• The new kickoff rule changes starting field position and risk/reward late in games:

  “With this new kickoff rule and with the kickers being able to doctor the balls… the comebacks, more points… It’s dramatically changed the math.” (39:55)

• Middlekauff is entertained by the new style, but notes that the sport is becoming less predictable and may frustrate "old school" fans.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Belichick’s potential in college:
  “Belichick’s personality is a negative. No one’s ever argued that his football knowledge isn’t elite … but no one has ever confused Bill Belichick for caring about others.” (10:07)
• On recruiting’s lasting importance:
  “This college football, well, kinda. It still is a relationship-based business, just like the real world is.” (16:46)
• On young quarterbacks:
  “Most people are not Steve Jobs… Most people need someone in their life to help them…” (27:55)
• On the new NFL landscape:
  “60 is the new 50… These guys are draining kicks from so deep, it’s stupid.” (38:37)
• On Flacco to the Bengals:
  “He's going to get killed … your offensive line is like me and you and three other guys blocking.” (36:30)

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Timestamps (Important Segments)

• Opening/Topic Roadmap & Belichick Setup: [02:08 – 04:05]
• Belichick’s College Football Disconnect: [04:05 – 19:41]
• NFL vs. College Coaching Personalities: [19:41 – 24:30]
• QB Redemption Stories (Mayfield/Darnold/Mac/Daniel Jones): [24:30 – 35:10]
• Joe Flacco to Bengals Analysis: [35:10 – 37:13]
• Kicking, Comebacks, & Kickoff Rule Impact: [38:11 – 44:21]
• Interactive Mailbag (Flacco, Steelers D, GM salaries, etc.): [47:19 – 78:50]

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Listener Mailbag Highlights

• Joe Flacco to Bengals:
  “I think you guys are completely screwed. I would rather have Jake Browning than Joe Flacco.” (47:22)
• On Steelers Defensive Coordinator:
  “If TJ is going to dominate … your defense is going to be solid … It comes down to pass rush and corners.” (48:51)
• On NFL front office and GM salaries:
  Detailed breakdown of how GMs and other staff are paid, with comparisons and insights into team management structures (75:35 – 78:50).

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Tone and Style

Middlekauff keeps it direct, accessible, often humorous, and isn’t afraid to punctuate his points with some colorful language. He leans heavily into personal stories and experiences within the football industry, providing a blend of insider perspective and relatable commentary.

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Takeaway

This episode is a must-listen for those curious about the “soft skills” that still matter in football, the thin line between bust and redemption for NFL quarterbacks, and how subtle rule changes can utterly transform America’s most popular sport. With plenty of memorable one-liners and experience-driven insight, Middlekauff makes a compelling case that, in football and in life, relationships and adaptability still matter—even as money and analytics play a bigger role than ever.

Transcript

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I love that you created this system that revolves around you, creating pockets of peace. World Mental Health Day is around the corner and on my podcast just heal with Dr. J, I dive into what it really means. Means to care for your mind, body and spirit. From breaking generational patterns to building emotional capacity.

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What's up everybody? It's snacks from the trapped nerds. All October long we're bringing you the horror Boogity boogity boogity. We kicking off this month with some of my best horror games to keep you terrified. Then we'll be talk favorite horror and Halloween movies and figuring out why black people always die first. And it's the return of Tony's horror.

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Show side Quest, written and narrated by yours truly.

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We'll also be doing a full episode reading with commentary and we'll cap it off with a horror movie Battle Royale. Open your free Ahar radio app and search Trap Nerds Podcast and listen. Now.

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The volume.

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What is going on everybody? John Middelkoff three and out podcast. How are we doing? Hopefully everyone's doing great. Got a big show today. I I do want to start. I I talked about this a little bit yesterday on the Monday Night Football Reaction podcast at the end. But I want to dive deeper into it and listen. I was wrong about something and I want to address it and it'll be in revolving around Bill Belichick and the failure and the disaster that is currently North Carolina football. We will definitely talk Some quarterbacks, Daniel Jones, Mac Jones, you know, kind of have a Baker Mayfield, Sam Darnold. We've just seen a lot of resurrections around the league these last several years and I don't necessarily think it's a coincidence. And then we will also discuss the the kickoffs and the field goal kickers have dramatically changed the sport. Like what we're witnessing now on a weekly basis is a much different game because of the new kickoff rule and these guys ability to kick long field goals than football was like three years ago. And then of course the mailbag at John Middlekopf at John Middlekop is the Instagram fire in those DMs. Get your questions answered here on the show. And we will have a long mailbag today as well. But that will be the game plan today. So make sure you subscribe. If you listen on Collins feed, make sure you subscribe to three and out. Appreciate everyone that subscribes and listens. And if you want to watch, we obviously got a YouTube channel, you can go subscribe and watch all of our content up there as well. We react, you know, this Eagle Giants game Thursday night, we will be live right after the game, reacting, very, very exciting. Let's dive into some football. I want to start with Belichick because I had mentioned something a while back and I had been pretty adamant about this and I was wrong. And I had simply said that college football recruiting, the relationships don't mean anything anymore. It's all about the money. Whoever will pay you the most, that's all that matters in getting to know people. Going to dinner at their house, knowing their parents, interacting with their, the circle of humans in their life doesn't matter. And I was wrong. And I was thinking about this a couple weeks ago when I flew out to New York. Remember in 2020 and 2021, it's like business travel is dead. No one will ever do face to face interactions to do deals anymore. Everything's going to be zoom, everything's going to be FaceTime, everything's going to be over our computer. And then over the last couple years, business travel is booming and people that do business deals of any substance, I don't know, kind of like to get to know people. I flew out to help facilitate a deal that was probably 98% done. But you know what, it's kind of important for both sides to see the people, to talk with people and just get to know someone. I was just with my, one of my good childhood friends who had his 40th birthday at probably the Bougiest place in all of Napa. And a bunch of people showed up, people I didn't know. And one of our college buddies showed up and he is currently in business with Jordan Palmer, that is Carson's younger brother who obviously plays a big role still, you know, coaches in the off season, guys like Sam Darnold and Josh Allen and their business right now is thriving. It's, he's doing really well. And their relationship stems from, from high school. They've known each other for over 25 years in relationships matter. And I had a front row seat when I worked in college football to coach Hill, Pat Hill who had worked for Belichick, who got hired at Fresno State, coming from the Cleveland Browns and working for Bill Belichick and being the assistant offensive line coach where Kirk Ferenc was the O line coach and running scout team against Nick Saban every day in practice for years. And I witnessed that man do in home visits, do school visits for years and know his entire team, their family, their high school coaches, their brothers and sisters. You know why that kind of matters. You can say that I hate Ohio State kind of true. I, I root against him. I do respect Ryan Day and I have always said this. He takes recruiting very seriously. His mentor, Chip Kelly did not. He will openly say like I hate recruiting. Well, then he can't really function in college football. It's not the way it works. Like you just hate recruiting. Well, do you hate the draft? I mean this is like a basic element of the sport, right? This is how you acquire your players. Do, do you want to go eat dinner at 17 year olds homes for months on end? Probably not. Hell, Deion Sanders doesn't even do that. You, you know Deion Sanders has never had a home visit. Right. But I would say this about Deion Sanders and how he would differ from Belichick is Dion's got a pretty big personality and I've seen him deal with a lot of different people. I mean granted, just on social media with his own team, like his relationship from Travis Hunter to his sons to like the little Mexican kicker, like he's pretty good dealing with people. You would say Deion's personality is a positive attribute. Belichick's personality is a negative. No one's ever argued that his football knowledge isn't elite. Ask all the young offensive coaches right now in the NFL. McVeigh, Kyle Shanahan, Kevin O' Connell who played for him. They speak about him like he's the football. Jesus. Hell, Andy Reid, who is somewhat his peer in Terms of an age group, if you got him unfiltered, talking about Bill Belichick, they have the utmost respect for his ability to understand the entire landscape of the game. Offense, defense, special teams schemes, team building, it all. But no one has ever confused Bill Belichick for caring about others. And listen, I have no problem with that, right? That is his. All of our personalities are different and he gives no shits about anyone. Well, in the pros, when you screw up, right? If the Arizona Cardinals, the dude that dropped the ball at the goal line, if they wanted to, they're not going to because they're running back situations kind of in shambles with James Conner going down, they could cut him Monday morning and say, listen, you're gone, right? Just because you drop the ball in the end zone. It happens all the time. You see guys, especially as the season goes and teams lose in the NFL, you will see so and so got cut, so and so got released. And sometimes just personality don't want to deal with anymore. It's a cutthroat business. Why? Because it's pro football. In college football is kind of morphed into that. The nil. All I hear about is the nil. Well, it's not the nil because I'm not paying for your name, image and likeness. I'm just paying you to play for my team, which I got no issue. It's why I'm on the fence of like, I don't see. I read an article today that arch Manning makes $6.8 million. I was like, geez, that's a lot. Hell, I heard a story. I was listening to Brian Windhorst say, The kid at BYU, the basketball player, makes $7 million. Now in basketball, it's a little different. These guys are one and done. But in college, Arch Manning's been making millions now for a couple years. Well, the moment you play and you don't get it done, you're not going to continue to be my starter. But during the season, you don't see guys in college football just get cut. And part of this big story with college football, or I mean with Belichick, has been he has no relationship with any of his players family with anything they got going outside of football. Same thing with his son Steve, who most guys on the team, even on his side of the ball, don't even have his number. Well, in football, right, when they, when these guys work for the Patriots, it was like whether Jason McCourty or Devin McCourty or Dante Hightower, and Belichick didn't need to know. His parents didn't need to know, his girlfriend didn't really care. You either get the job done or we will get rid of you. Remember when Jamie Collins started playing like shit and they're like traded him? It was cutthroat. And no one was more cutthroat than the Patriots. Well, that's not really how it works in college. Even in this transactional time. Do you think that Kirby Smart, his starting lineup and guys especially that he recruited out of high school or even the transfer portal, guys that he knows a decent amount about that player? I'm not talking about strengths and weaknesses, their ability on the field, but like their parents or whoever is like the guiding mentor in their life. You know why? Because when that 19 year old goes into the tank, you kind of got to play, you know, coach psychologist on the fly. You're not dealing with a 40 year old Tom Brady who has multiple kids for multiple different women, who's been married for 10 years, who is worth hundreds of millions of dollars, who is 40 freaking years old, or Rob Gronkowski who's 32 years old, or Jim Lynn Edelman who's 34 years old. You are dealing with a 19 or 20 year old whose insecurities go up and down, you know, as fast as the stock market. Right? We're human beings, we're young human beings. We haven't experienced that much in life. And if you're a college football player, most of your life, definitely in high school, is probably pretty good because you were the star athlete and the guy getting all the chicks when you were 15, 16, 17 years old. Then you get to college, you start losing, you start getting yelled at. It's, it's not great. Well, Belichick doesn't give a shit about any of that. And we knew that he didn't care. And I always thought like, well, does that even matter anymore? Yeah, it still kind of matters because remember last year when Ohio State won the championship or the year before when Jim Harbaugh's team won the championship? And I remember there was a viral video of JJ McCarthy's pro day and JJ's family were there and he just started talking to JJ's mom and maybe it was Blake Corum's like dad or something. Like he just, he knew all these people intimately because that's college football and it still is, even in this nil era. I bet you Ryan Day, because he recruited like, you know, the quarterback and the safety that transferred from Alabama from high school, knows their families. That doesn't mean you need to text them about playing time on a Tuesday, but it shows that like I know more about you because that's part of this deal. Because most guys on your team, even at Alabama, Ohio State and Oregon, are not going to be NFL stars and at programs like North Carolina, they definitely are not. So if I don't get invested in as a player, the thing I respect most about Pat Hill wasn't that he was one of the trailblazers for smaller schools. I think he was the first non power 5 million dollar coach. He pushed so many small school guys that did not have offers into the NFL. It was how much he cared about his players and the guys that weren't going to go to the NFL, but like their girlfriends, their wives, he gets invited to their wedding. That's usually how it works. Hell, look at Andy Reid. Do you know who's going to be there at the Travis Kelsey Taylor Swift wedding, assuming he can make it? It's not like during the draft, Andy freaking Reid. You think Belichick's getting invited to any of these weddings? Let alone like they're just using this as a transaction machine, which I think a couple years ago we thought, well, this college football, well, kinda. It still is a relationship based business, just like the real world is. It's like, well, just zoom this guy. Well, how much you asking for? You need an investment in your startup. Oh, you want that guy to give you $500,000? You think just a zoom's gonna get it done? Probably not. You might need to hop on a bird, fly, have dinner with them. Hell, maybe spend a couple days with them. That's the way the real world works in college football. I bet if we went to Kirby Smart, if we went to Ryan Day, if we went to Dan Lanning, like, do these guys still want to do home visits? Do these guys, they're going to be days? Hell no, they don't. But they know it's important and they know it matters. Like, do you think Dan Lanning knows Dante Moore's family? Knows his parents names? I would bet a million dollars right now he does. Do you think Belichick has any fucking clue about any of this stuff? No. And this is where I thought Belichick would probably work because he's such a good coach. And now looking at it like, I think the personality element kind of matters because recruiting, even if money is involved. Well, we know Belichick's not really into offering a lot of money. That's never really been his mouth, right? To think that he's just going to outbid everybody on these players all the time. That's probably not going to be his thing. Well, it's like, what about his relationships? What about his personality? That is definitely not his thing. So if the only thing you're hanging your hat on is like, you know, in 2015, we were down 28 to three. Well, cool. Coach, I was nine years old. I don't really remember that game. It's like, do you remember when we had the undefeated team and we lost to the Giants in the Super bowl in 2007 or 2000, January 2008? Coach, I was two years old then. Like, the age gap of some of his success, you know, part of the reason the Patriots beating the Bills the other night was such a big deal. It's like they had been really shitty for a long time now. Like, it's not just a year now relative to the last 25 years. Obviously they had a good run. But for a kid that's 18 years old, 10 years ago, the kid was 8. So in 2025, when Belichick and Brady were in their second iteration of the dynasty, kid doesn't remember anything. Like, I think back to my childhood, some of my first memories are more like 10ish. And maybe that's because I'm 40 years old now. 41, actually. Birthday yesterday. No big deal. Not a big birthday guy, though. But I just, I think this thing's only going to get uglier because I see it myself. I bet many of you listening can relate, especially if you're over 30 or 35 or 40. Our personalities don't change that much, right? The way we're wired, the way we like to live our life. I'm not saying we don't. Especially if you are an ambitious person, not willing to adapt and willing to professionally change. But the way you're wired, like how you enjoy the party I was just at over the weekend, one of my good buddies, his wife, she is, she likes to socialize and it gives her energy. You know, I do it for two days and I'm like, I am still tired. Four days later, I'm like, I'm exhausted. She'll be at an event tonight or tomorrow and then all weekend. Like, it just, it energizes her. And your personality is something that kind of defines you. And you have to figure out as you age, how to professionally dial it in so you can have the most success. But you don't just become some crazy, extroverted human if you're an introvert, just like if you're an extroverted person, it's really hard to lay low all the time. And Belichick does not want to deal with a lot of people. Hell, he was, you know, legendary for being a dick to the guy that was paying him 20 fucking million dollars a year. He wasn't. It was well known in NFL circles. He wasn't even nice to the crafts. One individual that cut the checks for everything. And I've always kind of defended him. I do understand if you're Bill, like, listen, should I be nice to Robert? Yes. But the kid, like, I'm sorry, I can't take Jonathan seriously if I'm Bill. But, like, word gets around. It's like, yeah, you don't want to deal with that guy. And now he goes to a university where there are way more hands in the cookie jar. You got boosters, you got board of Regents, you got presidents, you got athletic directors, you got kids, parents. That kind of matter, right? I mean, kids, parents, even at 18, 19, they still rely on these people. They talk to them all the time. And high school coaches, like, think how many high school coaches for the last 20 plus years, Kirby Smart isn't just on a first name basis with, but, like, legitimately knows a lot about their life, has hung out with them, has spent time with them, has brought them to his facility over the years for clinics, for beers, had played golf with them. Like intimate relationships, that shit matters. Yet you look at Belichick's relationships, it's like, who, who are his relationships? Hates everyone. With the Patriots now his. The Belichick boys follow him. You know, look at the guys with Andy Reid, you know, Matt Nagy gets fired by the Bears, goes right back, right? Steve Spagnola had worked for him in the Philly, comes right back. These guys swear by the guy. Even the guys that go on on their own. I'll never forget being at the combine one year and seeing John and Jim Harbaugh. And this was, I think John was probably a year away from winning the super bowl. And Jim was like in his first year at this 49ers, and they were walking together, they looked inside our suite and they said, Andy. And they lit up like Christmas tree. I remember thinking it was pretty cool. And they came in and they just kind of shot the shit for like 30 minutes while workouts were going on. And it's like, I, you know, I, I just think this thing's going to be even a bigger disaster. And you'd be like, well, John, everyone's kicking him while he's down. It has nothing to do with this team. This team is going to suck. We saw it against tcu. But I do think your personality, you can get by. Like, Kyle Shanahan would have no chance to recruit zero. Wouldn't want to do it, couldn't do it. Couldn't even fake it. And so he does. I'm just a pro coach. Right. He would not do well. But you watch Steve Sarkeesian, you watch Ryan Day, you watch Dan Lanning, their personalities are a little bit different. It's why we all agree, like, you know, I think Sean McVeigh could do both. I think Mike Tomlin could do both. Not saying they want to, not even saying that they have. They would. Could like, it wouldn't even interest them. But if they had to do it, they could.

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Like.

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It's easy to see Pete Carroll's personality. Yeah, I get it. I could see him walking right down the street, you know, by the Bloods and the Crips in Compton, and sitting in a dude's house and landing the recruit with a big smile. I mean, these stories were legendary. I heard the same stories about Pat Hill when they tried to recruit Malik Jackson and his brother who ended up going to USC and then Tennessee and then won a Super bowl with Denver. He just like, hey, Coachell, stand at the sidewalk. Do not walk down the street in South Central la. He got out of the car and he fucking just beelined it. Didn't give a shit. Liked it, enjoyed it, because that was his personality. That's always been a Pete Carroll thing. Clearly, I see it in Dan Lanning, you know, I think Ryan Day, Sark, I think Lanes become that your personality really matters where in college. It just doesn't where in the pros. What matters being the ability to influence the quarterback. And I was thinking about, you know, I love Baker Mayfield. I'm a big Oklahoma guy. And early on, my guy, Drew Hill, when he got hired, Bob Stoops, you know, I think Baker was like a year later. And I watched every game Baker played in college. And he's one of my favorite players that I've seen over like 20 plus years. You know, watching college football as an adult. Reggie Bush, Johnny Manziel, Baker Mayfield. Now, the difference is, like, I thought Baker Mayfield was like an athletic Drew Brees. When you watched him in college, he dominated. Now, looking back, his teams were stacked, but he was. I mean, he's got to be one of the great Oklahoma players of all time. And they have one of the more storied histories in all of college football. And obviously, you know, John Dorsey bought in to not just the player, but the personality. And it took a while for it to come to fruition. He had to fail. He had to, you know, grow up a little bit. But like watching Baker Mayfield now, like, he was the number one overall pick for a reason. The guy's a fucking player right now. You could argue Sam Darnold had more physical attributes. He was a number three overall pick. So watching these guys get in good situations, you know, I think Baker, I just looked last night, it was 12 to 1. Today he's 8 to 1 to win the MVP. Sam Darnold to me is like, he's not going to win the MVP this year, but he's a high end, Pro bowl level guy. It's like, yeah, he's six foot four. I met him this year at the, at the Super Bowl. He's way bigger than you think, his arms big and he can move like, yeah, it kind of works now. You got to be able to. In part of playing quarterback is more, you know, the attributes, all that stuff matter. But how do you read defenses? How do you process, process? How do you handle the pocket? Like, clearly those two guys have it, but looking back when they were drafted, a lot of people thought they had it. You know, people love Baker Mayfield coming out of college. People love Sam Darnold coming out of college. Couple guys that to me didn't have their physical attributes. Daniel Jones and Mac Jones. I think most people that I know would have thought like crazy overdrafts for both Daniel Jones at 6 and Mac Jones at 15. But like, Daniel Jones was a legitimate, you know, top 30, 40 quarterback prospect. To me, Mack was a little bit more quarterback inflation historically, but he was really good in college. I'd have no problem taking him in the third round, right? But you take a guy in the third round, he could become your starter. Russell Wilson, Kirk Cousins, Dak Prescott, like that level of guy. And I'm watching him now. We all need help. Most human beings are not Peyton Manning or LeBron James. Where if you coached them, if they went to the best organization, if they went to the worst organization, it would not matter. They are going to succeed. Most people are not that. Most people are not Steve Jobs, right? Most people need someone in their life to help them and be a catalyst moving forward. Especially young, right? And football is no different than any of us in life. I owe a ton of my professional success because Colin Coward a long time ago believed in me. And now I'm in a position with this company and these people behind the scenes. And so much goes into it that is out of my control in a positive way. But I can't do this on my own. Just like many of you listening. Whether you own your own company, whether you're successful in working for a company, like you're dependent on other people. Hell, we know personally, I got married a year ago, got a child on the way. Like my life is dramatically better with someone in it because we can accomplish more, the two of us, than I could as a single human being. Right. Football is no different. And most guys. Tom Brady benefited a lot from going to a place that turned out to have one of the great defenses over the Internet era and a coach that, listen, I just kind of shit on him because he has no personality, is an excellent pro coach. I mean, going to go down as one of the great coaches any sport ever. But like Mac Jones and Daniel Jones, they need people that believe in them and they need help around them. And they're very dependent on the play caller. Some guys like Lamar Jackson early in his career, very dependent on the offense right now. Lamar Jackson can play for anybody. You put Lamar Jackson on the Bengals and they start fucking rattling off wins. With his eyes closed. Assuming his hamstring was healthy, right? Mac Jones and Daniel Jones are not that now. Daniel Jones has more physical skills. He's bigger, he's faster and he's got a bigger arm. But Max Jones pretty good. Like once upon a time, Nick Saban said, I want you here. And when Tua went down, Mac Jones came in and had a lot of success and obviously the next year won his championship. And I was looking today they are combined 7 and 1. In 2025, the 49ers have won three games with Mac Jones. Daniel Jones is 4 and 1 right now, is the starter and he is going to be a lifeline and get extensions for the head coach and the general manager. They were going to get fired a couple months ago and now they are going to get extensions assuming he stays healthy. If he stays healthy, they're winning. I don't know, 11, 12, 13 games. Like they're good and he's good. And he needed Shane Steichen just like Mac Jones needed Kyle Shanahan. Because those guys make life easier. They can get you in position. I saw this video that went viral of Ben Jones, the former center for the Titans. And he was talking about in 2017 when Terry Rubisky, long time, you know, wide receiver coach, been a coordinator a couple times, said like Terry wouldn't even call place. He would just like give you the game plan and then you would just like sometimes like the second half or in a two minute situation, he would just be like, go cook. Like we got like a second year quarterback here. And Ben Jones and Mariota would just kind of on the fly be like calling plays in the huddle together. And back when Kevin o', Connell, whatever six months ago said more teams fail quarterbacks than quarterbacks fail team. And you see stuff like that, you're like, Jesus, 100%. Imagine getting these guys that are young and a coach not even helping them out. And I've always said this, you know, the NFL, especially now, it's Wall street on grass, there's position coaches make 900 grand. Whenever you get a lot of money involved, you get a lot of scam artists. The amount of people in scouting, in coaching that are doing it because it's a high profile, high paying job has never, you know, been more prevalent than it was like didn't pay anything in the 80s. It wasn't as glamorous of a job. So if you were coaching, like when Belichick and coach Reed and Pete Carroll, like when they got into the sport, it was for the love of football, which is honestly refreshing. I think about some of the younger guys, especially the offensive coaches, like, it feels like they're junkies. Obviously they're all highly paid, you know, Ben Johnson, Kevin O', Connell, LaFleur, McVeigh, Kyle. But it's like these guys, these cats would have coached in the 80s and 70s when it wasn't very, you know, making much money. And then there are some guys like, this guy's just doing it because it's football, make high six figures or seven figures, but they're scam artists. You know, I, I, this guy has no business. And I hear stories in the scouting community, you know, guys trying to work their way up you just because they want to be doing press conferences, they want to be famous, they want to make a lot of money, that they kind of skip steps and, you know, don't actually, they're not in it for the right reasons. And I think the one thing you see with Mac Jones and Daniel Jones is sometimes when you get thrown a lifeline and you get into a place where someone believes in you. And I've said this for a long time when you're a younger person and Daniel Jones I think is like, they're both, you know, late 20s, but that's still pretty young for dudes. You know, women are way more mature Than us. Hell, my wife is seven years younger than me. She is dramatically more emotionally buttoned up than myself. She is way more mature at the same age than I was in my early 30s. It's not even close. And having people in your life that are successful, too, like Shane Steichen is an excellent offensive coordinator. Kyle Shanahan, his resume speaks for itself. So when these guys go, I want you around. Look at Sam Darnolds. When his career clearly changed for the better, you could say Baker Mayfield, too. Who are the two guys that wanted Sam and wanted Baker? Sean McVeigh claimed him and Kyle Shanahan signed Sam Darnold, and their careers ever since have been like rocket ships right up to the mound. Well, you put those two in in Carolina with Matt Rule, who's completely over his head as a NFL coach with a GM that has no clue what he's doing. And they look like scrubs. And then you get them out and you go, God, Baker Mayfield might win the mvp. And Sam Darnold is one of the great stories like I ever remember, right? But, you know, maybe it's the Panthers and the jets who are a fucking joke. And I say this like, I'm a huge John Spytech guy. I hope he wins super bowl in his career as a gm. I have nothing but admiration for Pete Carroll. But you're seeing those two guys go to a franchise like that franchise loses a lot. You know, Google the last 25 years with the Raiders. It's not something that's easy for people to overcome, Right? You go to the Jets. What we witnessed Aaron Glenn help Dan Campbell do these last couple of years in Detroit was one of the great accomplishments we've ever seen in football. The Detroit Lions are now a powerhouse. Imagine telling someone that 10 years ago, like, listen, you're not going to believe me, but the Detroit Lions are a powerhouse. Hell, if I would have told people in the 90s or the 80s or the early 2000s. Do you know that the Golden State warriors are going to be probably the Lakers, equal in popularity and just dominance. You'd be like, no chance. That shows you the power of Steph Curry, right? He's a transcendent human being. And that's. Even if, like, Pete Carroll's proven to be transcendent, changed usc. They went through the greatest stretch in modern program history. The Seattle Seahawks became a juggernaut. No chance that happened. And he goes to Raiders is like, shit, is he going to quit? Is this going to drive him back to retirement? So I just think it's really, really cool, uh, when guys, you know, that probably have a little less talent than some, just get in the right spot and see them flourish. And I also think you see, you know when the story of Shador miming the other day, you know what we never saw is any dude on Cleveland kind of come out even like a, an anonymous player going, you know, Shador is getting fucked. He should 100% being start, be the starter. Never heard that. I'll never forget when I was around the 49ers a lot, you know what, you didn't hear much positive talk about Trey Lance. Why? Because all the players knew he wasn't that good. Nothing against him personally, but they knew he couldn't really play. And players know and coaches know and then eventually you just got to do it. And you know what Mac Jones has done so far this season? He saved the season. If they would have had a bad backup, if they would have had a guy that is not probably a starter in the NFL, the 49ers would be like 1 in 4. We'd be talking about Kyle Shannon having back to back shitty seasons and like is he legitimately on the hot seat? Is this franchise a current disaster? Now instead they get Mac Jones who's I think thrown six touchdowns so far this season. We talked about the Colts. Their owner has a headset on the sideline. It's like she wants to know like if I'm going to fire these guys, I better feel really confident about it. Now she's sitting there on the sideline just watching touchdowns and 40 point blowouts. Like this fucking incredible Joe Flacco. He was traded today to the Bengals. My overall take is he's got no chance. He is probably the least mobile of any guy that can be a starter in the NFL. Like right up there with Kirk Cousins can't move at all, right? But he's not a very good player anymore and he's going to a team with a horrendous offensive line. Horrendous offensive line. Now I would have been like, well why can't you trade for like a younger, more mobile player? And who knows, maybe you just get a little lightning in the bottle. Kind of like last year when the packers traded for Malik Willis. We're like idiots. What are they doing? Then you saw Malik Willis player like ah, not terrible. Like why? I would much rather do something like that than trade for Joe Flacco, a guy in your division who again, incredible career, seems like a fucking awesome dude and teammate. And your offensive line is like me and you and three other guys blocking. He's going to get killed. Jake Browning and Joe Burrow are dramatically better athletes and they're getting Molly Whopped on a weekly basis. 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Nicotine is an addictive chemical.

[A]

Hey sis, what if I could promise you you never had to listen to a condescending finance bro tell you how to manage your money again. Welcome to Brown Ambition. This is the hard part when you pay down those credit cards. If you haven't gotten to the bottom of why you were racking up credit or turning to credit cards, you may just recreate the same problem. A year from now when you do feel like you are bleeding from these high interest rates, I would start shopping for a debt consolidation loan, starting with your local credit union. Shopping around online looking for some online lenders because they tend to have fewer fees and be more affordable. Listen, I am not here to judge. It is so expensive in these streets. I 100% can see how in just a few months you can have this much credit card debt and it weighs on you. It's really easy to just like stick your head in the sand. It's not nice and dark in the sand. Even if it's scary, it's not going to go away just because you're avoiding it. And in fact, it may get even worse. For more judgment, free money advice, listen to Brown ambition on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[D]

I'm Dr. Scott Barry Kaufman, host of the Psychology Podcast. Here's a clip from an upcoming conversation about exploring human potential. I was going to schools to try to teach kids these skills and I get eye rolling from teachers or I get students who would be like, it's easier to punch someone in the face when think about emotion regulation. Like, you're not going to choose an adaptive strategy which is more effortful to use unless you think there's a good outcome as a result of it, if it's going to be beneficial to you. Because it's easy to say like, like you go blank yourself, right? It's easy. It's easy to just drink the extra beer. It's easy to ignore, to suppress seeing a colleague who's bothering you and just like walk the other way. Avoidance is easier. Ignoring is easier. Denial is easier. Drinking is easier. Yelling, screaming is easy. Complex problem solving, meditating, you know, takes effort.

[B]

Listen to the Psychology podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[C]

But the humility in knowing that life is this classroom that we should never graduate from is what is going to keep you growing. And that's all that matters. World Mental Health Day is around the corner and on my podcast just heal with Dr. J, I dive into what it really means to care for your mind, body and spirit. From breaking generational patterns to building emotional capacity. Healing is a journey and wholeness is the destination.

[A]

I'm going to walk away feeling very.

[B]

Healed and feeling like, yes, I'm going.

[A]

To continue my healing journey and I'm going to get some keys from you.

[C]

Listen to just heal with Dr. J from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[B]

And last but not least, there was a story that I saw that Florio put out that the NFL had six double digit comebacks in one week. This was last week for the first time since 2003. And we talked about this last week with the kicking balls that the kickers are now allowed to have all week long instead of just an hour before the game so they can doctor the balls. You know, like the, you know, the Brady Deflategate thing was you only got to deal with the balls whatever the allotted time was pregame, right? Well, same thing with the kickers. You had an hour. Well, now you have all week long. And you pick and choose what balls you want to bring to the game. And it's not really even arguable. If you've been watching football for 10, 20, 30, 40 years, 60 is the new 50. And honestly like 65 is the old 50. I mean these guys are draining kicks from so deep, it's stupid. I mean when you watch a 60 yard field goal go in, how many times you go, God, that, that would have been good for like four or five more yards. It's happening all the time. It wasn't that long ago. When I was a kid, a 50 yard field goal was a bomb. Teams would all the time punt instead of kicking a 50 yard field goal. So that, that has dramatically changed the math because we saw it in the NBA. The three point shot had been around for decades, but more and more people were shooting them at a high clip and more and more teams emphasized it and put guys that never shot three pointers, they usually played down by the basket outside the three point line. So now you see these crazy comebacks in basketball. I used to gamble on basketball all the time when I was in radio because I used to hammer the over for the kd. Russ Westbrook okc. They would score so many points, their individual team overs, the game overs. And I just remember like this is cake. And them covering the spread against random teams. They were really good for a couple of year period time right before he came to the Warriors. But the same thing with the warriors, they would destroy people. But now you can have a 20 point game and all of a sudden you're not really paying attention. Team hits like four threes, all of a sudden it's seven, eight points, right? One football. And we noticed this on Monday Night Football, you are much more one. You're not that far Away from field goal range just in general if you have 60 plus yard range. But this new kickoff rule has dramatically changed the sport. We saw Harrison Butker couldn't just kick it out of the end zone. Why? Because he didn't want them to start at 35. So he tried to have his cake and eat it too. He tried to directionally pin them and clearly they had probably worked on it so they could tackle the guy, the 25. But we see this happen all weekend long when you try to do the pins right. Almost like a punt. Well, at a punt, if it goes out of bounds at the two yard line, who cares? Well, in the NFL if it goes out of bounds on the kickoff, you're starting at the 40 yard line. So the Chiefs go up four points and then when they kick off, the Jags start at the 40 fucking yard line and then they sack them essentially twice. Well, imagine if they had just back in the day kicked the ball through the end zone. They would have started the 20 yard line. So even if he hits the 40 yard bomb on third and seven at the 23, they're still at the 38 or 40 yard. They still got a while to go. Instead he hits that starting at the 43 yard line. They're basically in the red zone. I do think that teams, and listen, I'm on board with the kicking changes. It is undeniably made the game more entertaining, but a little like the three point shot, like it's kind of fake, you know. You know these comebacks, the ability, if you got 30 seconds left and you're down a touchdown, well, they kick it out of bounds, you know, boom, I'm at the 40, I'm one play away from being at the other 40 and I'm well within Hail Mary distance. Before, if you had 30 seconds left, you're probably going to start lateraling it three plays in because you're going to have to go 80 yards, you're going to have no shot. And if you're down a touch or less than a field goal, you have a very good chance to either tie the game or win the game. So I do think Roger Goodell would say this is unequivocally working, like there's no denying it from an entertainment standpoint. Then I think there would be people like old school people, they probably don't like it because they feel like we're kind of manipulating all this. You know, before I would say the Chiefs win that game because Trevor Lawrence in two minutes isn't going 80 yards. But if he only has to go 60 if you had a 43 yard play. Well, shit, you've just made up 75, 80% of the yards you got to go. And I don't necessarily have a take. Like I, I'm entertained by it, but I do think it's just dramatically different sport with this new kickoff rule and with the kickers being able to doctor the balls than we have ever witnessed and the comebacks, the more points a little more difficult to gamble on. You know, before if you had a three point lead with under 45 seconds and they got no timeouts, like there's no chance they're getting into field goal range. Now it's like even if they start at 35, they're two plays away. They're kickers in range, kickers in range with ease. Hell, they're, they're thinking like touchdown, let alone field goal. Look, if you smoke or dip, I'm going to give you a few good reasons to try Zen nicotine pouches. First, Zyn is America's number one nicotine pouch brand and Zen offers an unbelievable rewards program. There's a lot of options for nicotine satisfaction, but there's only one Zen. Visit zen.com find to find Zen at a store near you. Again that zen.com find zen spelled z y N. This product contains nicotine. Nicotine is an addictive chemical.

[A]

Hey sis, what if I could promise you you never had to listen to a condescending finance bro tell you how to manage your money again? Welcome to Brown Ambition. This is the hard part. When you pay down those credit cards. If you haven't gotten to the bottom of why you were racking up credit or turning to credit cards, you may just recreate the same problem. A year from now when you do feel like you are bleeding from these high interest rates, I would start shopping for a debt consolidation loan. Starting with your local credit union. Shopping around online looking for some online lenders because they tend to have fewer fees and be more affordable. Listen, I am not here to judge. It is so expensive in these streets, I 100% can see how in just a few months you can have this much credit card debt. And it weighs on you. It's really easy to just like stick your head in the sand. It's nice and dark in the sand. Even if it's scary, it's not going to go away just because you're avoiding it. And in fact, it may get even worse. For more judgment free money advice, listen to Brown ambition on the iHeartRadio app. Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[D]

I'm Dr. Scott Barry Kaufman, host of the Psychology Podcast. Here's a clip from an upcoming conversation about exploring human pot. I was going to schools to try to teach kids these skills and I get eye rolling from teachers or I get students who would be like, it's easier to punch someone in the face. When you think about emotion regulation, like, you're not going to choose an adaptive strategy which is more effortful to use unless you think there's a good outcome as a result of it, if it's going to be beneficial to you. Because it's easy to just say, like, go blank yourself, right? It's easy. It's easy to just drink the extra beer. It's easy to ignore, to suppress seeing a colleague who's bothering you and just like, walk the other way. Avoidance is easier. Ignoring is easier. Denial is easier. Drinking is easier. Yelling, screaming is easy. Complex problem solving, meditating, you know, takes effort.

[B]

Listen to the psychology podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[C]

But the humility in knowing that life is his classroom that we should never graduate from is what is going to keep you growing. And that's all that matters. World Mental Health Day is around the corner. And on my podcast, just heal with Dr. J, I dive into what it really means to care for your mind, body and spirit. From breaking generational patterns to building emotional capacity, Healing is a journey and wholeness is the destination.

[A]

I'm gonna walk away feeling very healed.

[B]

And feeling like, yes, I'm gonna continue.

[A]

My healing journey and I'm gonna get some keys from you.

[C]

Listen to just heal with Dr. J from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[B]

Okay, it's that time of the day. It's actually just mailbag time. Middle cuff. Mailbag. At John Middlekopf. At John Middlekopf is the Instagram. Fire in those DMS and get your questions answered here on the show. Do you believe that Joe Flacco can keep us in the mix until Joey B. Comes back? I do not. I think you guys are completely screwed. I would rather have for your team, I would rather have Jake Browning than Joe Flacco. Joe Flacco cannot move and your offensive line can't block. So you have a guy who is a statue back there who is not going to have much time. You know, one thing, with Burrow and Browning, you know there has to be some mobility, right? I'm not looking. Kyler Murray, Lamar Jackson here. But you have to be able to keep plays alive with your legs and he cannot. I think the Flacco magic of a couple of years ago in Cleveland was pretty cool, but those that was a one time deal. This is over. Do the Steelers have a defensive coordinator problem? I don't think Austin is horrible, but he has no ability to make adjustments. The last four or five years we've had great talent and some horrible defensive results. James games like the jets scoring 32 this year or like in the past few seasons that made Zach Wilson and Will Levis look great. When can we play base defense and everything goes to plan. It looks good but I don't get why the run defense specifically isn't working. I never see real adjustments being made. Letting Brian Flores walk and not promoting him to D.C. when we had him was a huge, huge mistake. I wanted to bring up your guys schedule. I think sometimes in like the Flores situation it's easy to say that. I mean it wasn't that long ago Terrell Austin was viewed as like a hot coaching candidate. Listen, the division I think is over. If the Ravens lose this week and they're 1 in 5, they would be have 11 games left to get to. To get to 10 wins they would have to go 9 and 2. To get to 9 wins they'd have to go 8 and 3. Like they're not doing that. The Browns and the Bengals stink. Like you guys are kind of in the driver's seat. So you get the Browns this week should win. Then you get the Bengals should win. Then you get the Packers, Colts some tougher games. Then you go to the Chargers, Bengals again at the Bears, Bills, the Ravens, they're in shambles. The Dolphins, the Browns again. I mean I think the Steelers are winning this division at like 10 and 7. You'll be fine. Now to me, your defense comes down to two things. Pass rush, number one. If TJ is going to dominate and he's looked excellent these last couple of weeks and other guys around him play at a high level, your defense is going to be solid because if you give a good pass rush to a competent defensive coordinator, team's going to be good. And then these corners like Jalen Ramsey has a good season, you're going to be okay. But I do think it's easy to play the Brian Flores game. They weren't going to fire Terrell Austin for Brian Flores at the time. Not a take, no question. Just a thought. I said to my co worker today that James Franklin is the college Mike Tomlin great during the regular season, but anytime they play real team or get to the playoffs, the rails fall off. Mike Tomlin's won a lot of big games in the regular season and in the playoffs. He hasn't won a playoff game in a while, but historically he's won some playoff games. One Super Bowl. Like comparing James Franklin to Mike Tomlin is not fair to Mike Tomlin. That's kind of funny because I think this current version feels a little James Franklin. But Mike Tomlin's resume speaks for itself. James Franklin's never won a big game. Never. Worst franchise decision, Vikings letting Darnold go or the 49ers giving Purdy over $50 million a year? It's got to be Darnold because you could have just had Darnold with Addison, with Justin Jefferson, with Hawkinson for years to come and your backup could have been J.J. mcCarthy and maybe is a three year deal and you treat J.J. mcCarthy like Aaron Rodgers. He sits for three years. To me, Purdy like earned the contract. He was a really good player. Now he's injured and the 49ers somehow find backup quarterbacks that can play always. But they weren't going to not pay him. They just weren't. I mean they talk about paid Purdy years ago. Love the pod. Thank you for the entertainment. Where does Daniel Hunter, Danelle Hunter, I don't know why I call him Danielle. Daniel Hunter rank in the top defensive players in the league? Ever since he joined the Texans, they've had a top five defense. It seems no one on the networks really mentions his name. And they bring up the best of the best. The man is only 30 with 100 sacks. I remember when I was doing radio, I got to know a lot of guys on the Raider staff because I was going to all the Raider games and I got to know John DeFilippo pretty well. And he was the quarterback coach for the Raiders with Dennis Allen and then he went on to the Eagles and then he became the OC for the, for the Vikings for a couple years with Kirk Cousins. And I remember texting him in his first training camp. He's like, this is one of the biggest freaks I've ever seen. I said, who? He said, Hunter. He is a dominant, dominant player. That was the first time kind of came on my radar. That would have been probably 8, 20, 18 range, I would guess. Yeah, I mean he's just a freak show. I mean they gave him two years, $50 million guaranteed. Basically every penny for a reason. He's a monster. Really good Player. I think, I think part of it is, you know, we don't spend much time talking about the Houston Texans. We just don't unless they're really, really good. But yeah, he's a badass. I mean, you put him with Will Anderson and their DBs and D' Amico dialing up the defense. It's. I know you're not the biggest soccer fan in the world, but with tickets going on sale this past week, I wanted to ask if you're looking forward to the tournament, given that it's across North America and if there's any players, teams you'd want to get tickets to see in the Bay or. It's so fi. No, I think I'm going to be a watch the World cup on TV guy. You know, it's cool, it's coming here. It's going to be badass, can be a massive event, but I think your boy is just going to enjoy it on television. Here's what I know. I am not, and I repeat, I am not going to get excited for our team. I do not plan on us advancing. I plan on everyone complaining after we lose a game that we should have won and then be winning a game that we shouldn't win and end up tying it or losing it. Like my expectations for our team, we do this every four years. I'm just not buying into it. I'll never forget, I've told this story before the World cup that would have been 2010, I think. I think was in Brazil and the American team stopped off to play like a friendly at the Link and I was downstairs working out and they came to practice at our practice facility and I was actually outside like running some gassers or something back in my skinny days. And I just remember the team doing a warm up basically around our fields and they were like right next to me and the only guy I remember thinking like Tim Howard looked the part, the goalie, but the rest of the players, it's like we're so small. And that was, you know, Landon Donovan, Dempsey, some of those guys. But I just remember whenever we watch some of these other teams and I understand size doesn't matter and so I get it. Messy, small. But it does feel like some of these teams have more blue chippers, just athletic body types than us and clearly we're just not as good. But I'm done. I'm done even pretending to get excited. I'll root for that when we're playing. But my expectations for Team USA are zilch. They do not exist. Everyone always complains like this was no, this was not going to be the year. We don't care about soccer enough here. We care about football. We care about a lot of sports, soccer, on the importance of our country. If it was more important, we'd be better. Period, point blank, end of story. Not sure why these teams keep trying to pooch kick the kickoffs late in the fourth quarter. I think the risk reward really flops, flips late games. I've watched Seattle basically win a game because of a bad pooch kick which set them up for a field goal with not much time left. I watched the Niners last night. The Rams kicker Pooch kicked the ball in overtime and it didn't make it to the landing zone. Meaning you started the 40. Poor special teams coaching late in the fourth quarter. Why not just keep kicking it deep in those situations? Because if you kick it deep and you fly the landing zone into the end zone, they will start at the 35. So you're kind of getting greedy. You're hoping if you pooch kick it correctly that you will tackle them somewhere between the 20 and 25 and 10 yards late in a game, especially if they don't have timeouts, is a huge difference. But you could argue the risk first reward. If you fuck up like Butker did, like the Rams did, and I give you the ball at the 40, that is a massive, massive penalty for a screw up. It's like a poorly thrown ball getting you 50 yards of pass interference. It's. It's pretty devastating, but I think it's hard for a coach to go, yeah, just kick it through the end zone. Start at the 35. So I think they're. Everyone's still feeling this out. I don't think there's a right or wrong way to do it because if your pooch kits kick works, you feel pretty good about it. A few weeks ago I listened to your Sunday night podcast with Coward the whole time you spoke with a very strong lisp. I listen to your podcast almost daily. I've never heard you speak like this was the glitch in the Matrix. Did you lose a bet with Colin or what's to explain it? We have a video and audio team at the volume and the audio that I'm currently recording gets sent off to my guy Adam. He is an audio wizard and no different with Colin. So the raw audio that I send him that I'm recording on like GarageBand from my computer gets put through programs to make like the echo in my room and just any sort of Sounds kind of dissipate. So when you listen, ideally it's really high quality. Now I got high quality equipment and, you know, sound modifiers in front of me. But this is not a studio. Now I'm building a studio right now for my backyard. But even then, like, this is not going to be like Taylor Swift recording an album in a legitimate music studio or radio studio, right? So we have a bunch of programs that deal with everything from video to audio. And a button got pressed. I got so many DM saying, john, did you drink pretty heavily? John, did you have a tooth removed? What is wrong with you? And after like seven of those, I went and listened. I'm like, what are these people talking about? And something like, I think in the program, the way it was explained to me is one of the attributes of the audio program is so, like hard S's. And listen, I screw up words, all this all the time. I tried to say I think extravaganza the other night and that word did not come out of my mouth. So there are going to be things that you can't fix, but there are, you know, things that just make the audio quality better. But I think a button was pressed and it did something with anything that involved an S and made it sound insane, but it was funny. I mean, it will ultimately, but I was not drunk. I didn't develop a lisp overnight. But it's programs. The amount of stuff that goes on behind the scenes with all this stuff is pretty crazy. Honestly, I didn't even really, I think, grasp that until that moment happened. And then I had it explained to me. Oh, that's cool. If you're a smoker or dipper ready to make a change, you really only need one good reason. But with Zen, nicotine pouches discover many good reasons. Zyn is America's number one nicotine pouch brand. Plus, Zyn offers a robust rewards program. There are lots of options when it comes to nicotine satisfaction, but there's only one. Zen. Check out zen.com find to find Zen at a store near you. Warning. This product contains nicotine. Nicotine is an addictive chemical.

[A]

Hey, sis, what if I could promise you you never had to listen to a condescending finance bro tell you how to manage your money again? Welcome to Brown Ambition. This is the hard part. When you down those credit cards. If you haven't gotten to the bottom of why you were racking up credit or turning to credit cards, you may just recreate the same problem a year from now. When you do feel like you are bleeding from these high interest rates, I would start shopping for a debt consolidation loan, starting with your local credit union. Shopping around online looking for some online lenders because they tend to have fewer fees and be more affordable. Listen, I am not here to just it is so expensive in these streets. I 100% can see how in just a few months you can have this much credit card debt and it weighs on you. It's really easy to just like stick your head in the sand. It's nice and dark in the sand. Even if it's scary, it's not going to go away just because you're avoiding it. And in fact, it may get even worse. For more judgment, free money advice, listen to Brown ambition on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

[D]

I'm Dr. Scott Barry Kaufman, host of the Psychology Podcast. Here's a clip from an upcoming conversation about exploring human potential. I was going to schools to try to teach kids these skills and I get eye rolling from teachers or I get students who would be like, it's easier to punch someone in the face when you think about emotion regulation. Like, you're not going to choose an adaptive strategy which is more effortful to use unless you think there's a good outcome as a result of it, if it's going to be beneficial to you. Because it's easy to say, like, go blank yourself, right? It's easy. It's easy to just drink the extra beer. It's easy to ignore, to suppress seeing a colleague who's bothering you and just like walk the other way. Avoidance is easier. Ignoring is easier. Denial is easier. Drinking is easier. Yelling, screaming is easy. Complex problem solving, meditating, you know, takes effort.

[B]

Listen to the Psychology podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[C]

But the humility in knowing that life is this classroom that we should never graduate from is what is going to keep you growing. And that's all that matters. World Mental Health Day is around the corner, and on my podcast, just heal with Dr. J, I dive into what it really means to care for your mind, body and spirit. From breaking generational patterns to building emotional capacity, healing is a journey and wholeness is the destination.

[A]

I'm going to walk away feeling very.

[B]

Healed and feeling like, yes, I'm going.

[A]

To continue my healing journey and I'm going to get some keys from you.

[C]

Listen to just heal with Dr. J from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[B]

What is your opinion of Justin Fields? Does he have the potential like a Baker or a Daniel Jones to where he could manage a team and bring them to a championship with the right pieces around him? I'm a Michigan State fan, so I have no loyalty to him, but I feel like people aren't seeing the improvements he has made with bad franchises and defensive coaches. Also, f the Bengals for screwing over Burrow and Jake Browning by trading for Flacco. I would not. I would say, listen, if Daniel Jones can play this well, then, yeah, maybe Fields. But I would not compare Baker Mayfield to Justin Fields. He's a dramatically better natural passer of the ball, natural feel for the pocket. He's a dramatically better player. But when you see someone like Daniel Jones resurrect his career, you. You would say, you know, Fields, to me, has been really impressive off the field with the Bear situation, with, obviously, the Steeler situation. The jets are a joke. So, like, my expectations for his play aren't great, though. Like, I would say Justin Fields has not been a very good NFL quarterback most of his career. He's an excellent runner, but when it comes to passing the ball, he struggles. He has a big arm. And listen, I was wrong. I loved him coming out. I thought you could make the argument that he was a better prospect or more intriguing prospect than Trevor Lawrence. And I had buddies in the league that were like, you're on crack cocaine. I'm like, no, I just. I just like this guy. I think his attributes are better. And I'm not the biggest Trevor Lawrence guy, but he's. He's a more natural player. And I wouldn't even call Trevor Lawrence the most, like, instinctive, natural player relative to his talent. But Fields, there's just, like, a lack of rhythm and feel to this, to the game. And at quarterback, when you lack the feel and rhythm to passing, it's hard to play. I mean, the stat that went viral of Justin Fields is like. Like, I think he's like, oh, and 25 when someone scores. Let me just bring this up. Justin Fields is 0 and 26 as a starter. When the opponent scores 21 points, that's. That's an insane stat. It'd be one thing if it's like, he's owing 26 when they score 40 points. Like, yeah, he's playing on terrible teams, 21 points. So it's a nice way of saying, as a starting quarterback, I'm out. Now, Daniel Jones, like, they got him for $14 million. Would I pay Justin Fields, one year, $10 million shirt. They gave him two years, $40 million, 30 million guaranteed. I was like, that's. That felt like a little pricey relative to the way he played. I would have said the Colts would have been insane if they would have given Daniel Jones that contract. Or what's it going to take for the Eagles to pull the trigger and fire Petula to prevent another BJ situation? I said, BJ is Brian Johnson. You think Nick still believes in his buddy? My fear is the offensive town on the roster will delay an inevitable firing. I do think sometimes Thursday night games, whether you're an elite team or a bad team, can just be weird. Especially as the season goes on. You're tired, quick turnaround, coaches can't sleep. It's just the games could be really wacky. So, like, if the Eagles, in a perfect world, had the number one offense in the league right now, it wouldn't shock me at all if they played this Giants team and won like 15 to 10 Thursday night. You're tired, road game, very believable. But if I tell you right now, they win this game 15 to 10 on prime time with everyone watching, it's. It's only going to get louder. And I don't know the guy personally, but it's a tough place to be with the expectations, with the amount of talent on the offense. I mean, it's. It's immense with a quarterback who can be just a little fickle. I mean, he, he can. He's. He's one of the more bizarre players in league history. He really is. Because.

[C]

He.

[B]

I don't know. I don't ever remember a guy quite like Jalen Hurts where it's like, you just ask a random guy, you're like, is he a really good player? Was like, he's done some really good things. He has a lot of talent. But, like, you can watch him on games. You're like, this guy's terrible. But is it like the coordinator? I don't know. I've seen him with good coordinators have bad games, too. But then he's had great games in the Super Bowl. So I don't. I don't know. One thing I think he hesitates to do, he did a little more last year because, remember, two years ago, he didn't do it and he was kind of banged up. Is like. And he should run more. He's way more accomplished than Bo Nix. But Tony Romo was talking about this in the Bronco game. I guess they were playing the Eagles. So if you're an Eagle fan, you were watching the game too. It's like Bo, just take off every once in a while. It's like getting in the free throw line as a basketball player. It's like I'm over dying from deep. Well, yeah, get an easy basket, get to the hole, get fouled, see a couple hit the net. This isn't that fucking complicated. It's like, Jalen, just take off boat. Just take off. If you're, if you're struggling a little bit, just gain 10 yards. Mahomes and Josh Allen do it all the time and they're not even trying to get a rhythm, they're just trying to gain yours. But it's like, go utilize your feet more. Browns fan here, sadly. What do you think should be done about Stefanski? I like him and think we should keep him till we get a quarterback one because it's hard to be consistent when there's no consistency at the most important position in the league. Quarterback. I don't know, man. I think. I think the Browns have found themselves in this ugly, unenviable position. They made a move with Baker Mayfield and it's one of the all time failures, this guy. If Baker Mayfield wins the MVP and you are shuffling through Flacco, Shador Sanders and Dylan Gabriel as your team wins three or four games and you're just an embarrassment while you pay a guy 50, 60 million dollars to rehab who you are going to cut the moment you don't owe him as much money anymore. It's tough to shake, you know, And I think it's easy. You know, people like media, people that don't like what we do will always be like, oh, you're just so hyperbolic, just talking heads, just saying this. Like, I understand why they moved on from Baker Mayfield. That doesn't change the fact that four or five years later we're in a position where he might win the MVP of the league. And if you're the Browns, you drafted him number one overall and yeah. Was he a little immature? Sure. They traded for a guy that could not stay out of the massage therapists giving him handies. I mean, it's an all time story. We've never seen anything like it. It's like, quarterback, good looking guy, should get laid with ease. It's like, no, this guy was just addicted to going to massages. And then he's terrible. He's kind of a weird dude and clearly people aren't that into him. And then he sucks at football. I mean, it's an all time disaster. It really is. And I have a hard Time putting that on Stefanski. But the simple reality is you fire coaches before you fire players. And if they would have, they could have fired desean Jackson or desean Watson. They would have fired him a year ago. They'd fire him right now. They can't. So can these guys survive just losing week after week? I would say based on their owner's history. I still can't believe when you think about the Watson situation now, they thought he was a star, so they went, who cares about the massage situation? But then they get him and he's not a star and that thing just would not go away. Like pretty embarrassing. I mean, it's really kind of a low level thing. And I'm not moral high horse tack. Like, you know, a lot of people listening, been to their massage therapist over the years. Right. But relative to in his situation now I see some of these pictures now like with his new fiance. It's just, it's just, it's just weird. It's kind of just this guy's just toxic. I mean, the Browns can't wait to get rid of desean Watson and no team will ever sign him ever again. Think about that. Henry Ruggs, who got wasted topgolf and killed the chicken or dog, will get another chance. He will. When he gets out of prison, he will get a workout. Wouldn't shock me at all if he's at OTAs or training camp. Deshaun Watson will never play for another NFL team whenever he is cut within the next 24 months, ever. And I don't say that lightly. Like I don't just say teams do not care. But he is to me. He's untouchable, terrible and a whack job. Is there any worse combination? Like ideally, do you know what you want? Good player, great guy. Mahomes, you know, that's high character guy. Teammates love him, never gets in trouble. Good player. That's, that's what you're working. The least desirable is like, you know, he sucks, whack job, got about 17 lawsuits coming after him. You're like, yeah, I don't really want to get in business with that. But that's. That to me is on Jimmy Haslam, not on the GM and the owner. With how obviously important the NFL front office is to team success, can you expand on these roles? The GM is a critical piece. Is the GM exclusively responsible for the salary cap or is there a finance guy that helps run the cap? Also, can you expand on what the pay for front offices? What does the GM pay? How much would the Second, third, guys in line make. I think it depends, right? Like Howie Roseman is intimately involved in the salary cap. Now they pay people, you know, Jake Rosenberg, who was there forever and now, you know, whoever filled his spot, who work the day to day cap numbers and contract negotiations. But how he has intimate knowledge of how that works. And then you know, a guy like Jason Light who has said like I depend, like I understand the basics of it, but I'm not the nitty gritty of the contract, right? Like John lynch and Kyle Shanahan depend on Parag and his team to run point on the contracts. Right now they determine value and how much you want a guy and stuff. But most of these teams now with how much money's on the line, it is ran by a financial, an individual with a financial background. I think the GM would vary team to team. You know, I think the highest paid GMs in the league would be like Howie Roseman, John Schneider. I mean I would, this would be an educated guess. I'd say 8 to 10 million dollars. John lynch makes a ton. I think John lynch makes like $10 million. I would imagine less Sneed makes a lot. And then the low paid GMs, you know, probably make a couple million dollars. You know, a guy like Brett Veach, when he first got the job was probably making a million and you start winning Super Bowls, you start kicking ass and taking names, that thing, 5, 6, 7 X's. So I, I think the pay varies from anything from like 2 million, like Dan Morgan with Carolina, probably one of the lower paid guys, which again, relative to society making 2, 3 million dollars and you have guys making 10, 10 plus. I think the number two would probably very on experience would run you. I mean, I've had different people tell me anywhere from like 800 grand to a million dollars as like the true number two gm. But it also varies, like where do you live? Because paying you a million dollars to be the 49ers number two is A, is essentially the same of being probably paid 600 grand to be the Chiefs number two. So if you can get, and this is the argument that I've had buddies tell me that their owner will be like, well, we're in, you know, this city is way less expensive than you're comparing this to the guy in LA or the guy in New York. So I think you battle some of those. So that, that depends. I think the number two is typically under a million dollars, but high six figures, 7, 8, 900 grand. And then once you start going below that it's simply based on experience. How much? You know, some franchises are cheaper than others, but you could find college directors making 500 grand. You could probably find some that make $275,000. But I mean, these are obviously good jobs. The other thing about a college director is some of these guys don't live in their area. So like I could be the college Director for the 49ers, but potentially live in like Dallas, Texas. Right. Or for the Philadelphia Eagle and live somewhere else. Now that doesn't mean I'm going, I'm going to the facility, going to games a lot, but my home base can be somewhere different. And then, you know, scouts on the road probably, you know, I started like 50 grand and that was 15 years ago, a little less, probably 12. But you could find anyone making 60, 70 grand. You can find guys making 200 grand. So it probably varies that way. So obviously GMs make less than coaches. The high end guys, like, you know, the high end coaches are making 15 to 20 million. The GMs are making the good ones and accomplished super bowl ones are making 7 to 10. So I mean, there's a lot of money getting thrown around. That's why I always say Wall street on grass. But I think the college director would say our wide receiver coaches making $750,000, coaches make way more than scouts. The coordinators are all making millions. But you have these position coaches, you know, like a running back coach, if he's been in the league 20 years, might be making $775,000. Right. A linebacker coach who's got 15 year experience might be making $650,000. The position coaches in the NFL and college and the SEC, the Big Ten are making a ton. I mean, huge money. And obviously the coordinators, you know, the Fangios, the Chip Kelly's, the Robert Salas, these guys are making four to six million dollars a year. It's a good time to be in the NFL. Right? But it's also why there can be some bitterness. Some of these, like road scouts, get angry because they go like, I'm making 150k. I am on the road 80% of the year. I scout. You know, guys, we're going to draft in the first, second round and I'm making nothing relative to my profession. What other guys in my building are making. There can be some bitterness and resentment there for sure.

[D]

The volume.

[B]

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[C]

That you created this system that revolves around you creating pockets of peace. World Mental Health Day is around the corner and on my podcast just heal with Dr. J, I dive into what it really means to care for your mind, body and spirit. From breaking generational patterns to building emotional.

[A]

Capacity, I'm gonna walk away feeling like, yes, I'm gonna continue my healing journey.

[C]

Listen to just heal with Dr. J Jay from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[D]

I'm Dr. Scott Barry Kaufman, host of the Psychology Podcast. Here's a clip from an upcoming conversation about how to be a better you when you think about emotion regulation, you're not gonna choose an adaptive strategy which is more effortful to use unless you think there's a good outcome. Avoidance is easier. Ignoring is easier. Denial is easier. Complex problem solving takes effort. Listen to the Psychology podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[A]

This is an iHeart podcast.