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Bob Pittman
This is an iHeart podcast, Guaranteed Human.
John Middlekoff
Today's podcast is brought to you by Ferguson Home. Whether you're a homeowner working on a remodel or a pro managing multiple projects, Ferguson Home is where great ideas become stunning spaces. Ferguson Home is designed for the way you want to shop. Experience today's top products by top brands like KitchenAid firsthand by visiting a Ferguson Home showroom where you'll explore stunning displays featuring today's latest products and innovations, or browser their extended selection of products online@FergusonHome.com
Cino
on the CNO show podcast, each episode invites you into a raw, unfiltered conversations about recovery, resilience and redemption. On a recent episode, I sit down with actor cultural icon Danny Trejo talk about addiction transformation and the power of second chances. The entire season two is now available to binge, featuring powerful conversations with the guests like Tiffany Adish, Johnny Knoxville, and more.
John Middlekoff
I'm an alcoholic and without this trope, I'm going to die.
Cino
Listen to Cino's show on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast.
Bob Pittman
Hi, I'm Bob Pittman, chairman and CEO of iHeartMedia, and I'm kicking off a brand new season of my podcast, Math and Stories from the Frontiers of Marketing. Math and Magic takes you behind the scenes of the biggest businesses and industries while sharing insights from the smartest minds in marketing. Coming up this season on Math and Magic, CEO of Liquid Death, Mike Cesario.
John Middlekoff
People think that creative ideas are like these bold moments that happen when you're in the shower where it's really like a stone sculpture. You're constantly just chipping away and refining.
Bob Pittman
Take to interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick and our own Chief Business Officer, Lisa Coffey. Listen to Math and magic on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.
John Middlekoff
On paper, the three hosts of the Nick Dickenpole show are geniuses. We can explain how AI works, data centers, but there are certain things that we don't necessarily understand. Better version of Play stupid games, stupid prizes. Yes, which. Which, by the way, wasn't Taylor Swift who said that for the first time. I actually, I thought it was. I got that wrong. But hey, no one's perfect. We're pretty close though. Listen to the Nick, Dick and Paul show on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Podcast Host
The Volume.
John Middlekoff
What is going on, everybody? John Middelkoff three and Out Podcast. How are we doing? Hopefully everyone's doing well. If you're listening On Collins feed, make sure you subscribe to three and out. You want to watch any of our stuff, it's on this little application called Netflix. Go check that out. You can see this beautiful bald head. I actually wearing a hat today. But we're there live every single day so appreciate everyone that's checked that out or continues to do. There's a lot of football stuff going on. The owner's meetings are here. There were some stories floating around. John lynch gave a bunch of comments to my guy, Cam Inman, fellow Cal Poly Mustang. We'll dive into that. The Browns are adamant they're not going to trade Miles Garrett. Some quarterback news is probably going to start. Obviously the big news the last couple days was Eldrick Tiger woods getting a dui. And you all know I'm a big golf guy and you know, Tiger was most of my life my favorite athlete by a mile. Now that he can't really play anymore, it doesn't really matter, but he can't avoid trouble, that that's for sure. So we got a lot going on. We're gonna have a really busy week. The coaches, the NFC coaches, the AFC coaches do that kind of roundtable discussion over the next couple days there. It's mandatory that they talk. That's the famous picture of, of Bill Belichick with the, with the orange juice looking, looking surly. He was always, I mean, a peach of these events. But this is when we get the picture, the, the, you know, the coaches picture when they all stand there usually with, with Andy in a Hawaiian shirt. We get, you know, so much turnover every year, right? We got 10 new. I guess we technically don't have 10 new coaches because John Harbaugh just accepted another job. But most of these guys, you know, Sala wasn't a head coach. La Flores, the Munkins, the mentors. So we're gonna have a lot of new faces in the, in the coaches photo this year. So it's exciting. But before we dive into any football, we, I mean that, that is to me the best part about March Madness. And he kind of felt like there were a lot of blowouts. You're watching Michigan, you're watching Arizona just kick the living, you know what out of teams. Obviously the nil world has changed this tournament a little bit in terms of Cinderella's dead because the Cinderella, the moment they get an NBA player, high end players, those players get stolen. I mean Cinderella's glass slipper has been shattered. I mean absolutely destroyed. Which listen, this is the new environment. We got Indiana winning national championships. It's, it's about money and the ability to take lower teams. Players has completely changed the game. But that moment, Duke and, and UConn Dan Hurley, that, that was incredible. And the tournament, always, always. And listen, I, I don't pretend to be some huge college basketball consumer like most people probably my age watched a ton growing up in the 90s and the 2000s, Big Monday, back when the conferences weren't necessarily football oriented, you just had a lot of good basketball rivalries. I mean, the majority of them were on the east coast. And I was just a west coast kid, but even back then, you know, I grew up Jason Kidd at Cal, the great CUCLA teams, the O' Bannon twins, the Titus Edney shot. We just, it just felt like this tournament was lacking a little juice. And let's face it, today I'm at the gym, I'm watching Michigan win by about 50. And then Duke, you know, Yukon can't hit water if they were in a boat in the middle of the ocean. But then as I'm, I'm like, should I just start the podcast? And you know, it's getting a single digits. They're just kind of making the game weird. But they were missing some free throws at the end. They're still down 4, and then they're down 2. But that moment, what makes a tournament so cool? Because in the NBA, like, for the most part, maybe it's changed a little bit, but you know, it's one. People don't really press. And when they do, these guys are so good, so skilled. I mean, most guys now, like, you don't have your traditional. The guy's only there to rebound, you know, and box out. Like, most of these guys are really skilled. The center position is kind of dead. Everyone can dribble, everyone can move the ball. I mean, you kind of learn that stuff, how to move the ball up the court, like eighth grade basketball. But then you're like, oh, this is getting a little weird. You got a bunch of 19 and 18 year olds out there, and then all of a sudden they turn it over and the freshman from Indiana lets that thing fly. And you're like, no, what? And you're kind of looking to score. You're like, this would win it. And it hits nothing but the bottom of the net. And you see Dan Hurley jump up and, and to me, what makes the tournament so special, right? In basketball and baseball, in the big leagues and in the NBA, you play a series. And I think if Duke played Yukon, I, I don't know, 10 times in the NBA style version of playoffs. Whether it's a five game or a seven game, I think they win 90 plus percentage of them. Honestly they might win every single series. Right. And that obviously Dan Hurley's an all time great coach. But I, it's fair to say this team isn't quite as good. I mean they played St. John's in the Big east tournament. I watched that game start to finish and got the living, you know what kicked out of them. So you're just watching this and John Shire, I was thinking this. When you replace, look at Kaylin DeBoer when you replace the goat. Like I mean Coach K to me is the most famous coach of my life. I, I wasn't, I don't remember John Wooden coaching. Obviously he would, he would be considered the most famous college basketball coach in the history of the sport. In my time living and watching college basketball, it was Coach K. Now I get it's kind of unique. You had played for him. You're a Duke guy. Still not easy. And I get it's a little easier maybe with Nil, but he's doing a great job. He's recruiting and using that money to get the right guys. The boozer things. You know, obviously Carlos played there, but I, I've been really impressed. Seems like a high level guy, easy guy to root for. We're Coach K. You know I, I don't know if everyone was a fan. I've always been pro Duke. I know that Duke had a lot of haters but like guy's clearly crushing it. But he has two kicking the. You know what I mean, absolute nut kicks the last two years and this one, I mean it's just an all time L. It really is. You're up. Huge second half. You have the ball. You can basically just run out the clock if you get fouled. If you just hit one of the two free throws, they're not going to be able to beat you. And more than likely especially the guard, if he just runs around, he hits both of them, you win the game. And not only did you lose the game, they, they like win it in historic fashion. So part of what made that game so cool. And this goes back to some of the historic moments in the tournament. Back with a latener shot against Kentucky. It's like Michael Jordan's game winner for North Carolina. These moments mean a little bit more when it's Duke, when it's Kansas, when it's Kentucky. You know the Jay Wright shot, You know, you know Jay Wright when he, when they won the championship I forget the guys. Was it Chris Dunn? Was that the guy's name? Who. It's the game winner against North Carolina. It's against unc. So that was Yukon and North and Duke are clearly two of them. I mean Duke's probably the most prominent program of the Internet era and Yukon's what, I don't know, top three or four. Especially now, in, in the last five years they'd be number one. But that, that was awesome. And that's what makes the NCAA tournament so cool. This isn't a seven game series. This isn't a five game series. This ain't best of three. You have a bad half, you have a bad 10 minute stretch, you're gonzo. And we all got to witness it. And that was, that was thrilling. That, that was exhilarating. That's, that's why we watch now. I, if I'd watched enough of the tournament to go, Duke was in trouble. I, I think it's fair to say a little bit like the NFC Championship game this year. Whoever wins the Michigan, Arizona game is going to win the national championship. And this is what I said about North Carolina. It's like our history. Yeah. Michael Jordan played there in 1983 is 2026. You think Dusty May is leaving Michigan or Tommy Lloyd is leaving Arizona to coach your program. It's like, do you pay more? No, not really. Do you have a bigger nil budget? No, not really. So why is he leaving? Because Michael Jordan and Rasheed Wallace and Vince Carter played there. No one cares. So I both those two guys, I mean one of them is to me would be stunning if it's not a national champion and both of them are in the final Four. And like I said, I think it's actually easier if you can build a powerhouse at a football school. Way less on you. You don't have to deal with all the crap. Nate Oates has an incredible job at Alabama. He could be a top two or three seed every year. And Kaylin Dubois or whoever's the head football coach moving forward is going to take all the heat. He gets to just be like, God, he's doing a great job. You're at North Carolina 1. You got to deal with Duke, who you're clearly not as good at as. And do like, you know, the world's changed and can you keep up? Can you? You know, in theory they should be able to. They got this Jordan brand. But I don't know if any of you have done any research on Michael historically a little cheap, you know. You know, if it, if it does involve Michael, I don't know if he cares as much. So I, I just think these North Carolina conversation about who are they going to get. They got the pick of the winner. No, they don't. They don't. This isn't 1998. This isn't 2010. This is the only thing that matters is nil and good for Michigan and Arizona for kicking everyone's ass. Obviously the story of the last 48 maybe a little bit longer. I think it happened on Fri. I guess it did happen on Friday afternoon was Tiger woods, who flipped a car on a residential road at lunchtime on a Friday afternoon. Like most people, the first thing you think of Tiger was drinking in the middle of the day on Friday. Which, listen, I'd be a hypocrite if I said, like, I've never done that. Like I've had some drinks on a Friday afternoon, especially at the golf course or Friday at lunch. You know, I mean, it's like. So I was like, ah, that's kind of crazy. Probably not a good idea. Clearly, like, he's going to get a bad dui. This is going to be bad. Then all of a sudden it breaks. Well, he's blown to 0.0, but he got a DUI and he's going to jail for eight hours. And Bill Simmons used to have this thing called the Tyson zone when nothing could happen to Mike Tyson in his heyday of craziness that you wouldn't believe. And clearly Tiger woods now has entered that kind of world where it's like he's dating Donald Jr's ex wife, he is flipping cars, he's got DUIs, he's shattered bones, he tears an Achilles, he's just. You just never know what's coming. There is not a Tiger woods story that hits my phone anymore that I'm shocked. Now, that doesn't mean I'm not enthralled and I want to know more about. But I would say this story is not shocking, which is kind of sad in itself, but this is kind of him. And he was by far my favorite athlete most of my life. He really is retired the moment that Genesis flipped in Los Angeles. He has never been the same, never will be the same in his competitive career. Unofficially ended the moment his ankle, who. You know, I, I've had some accounts by people that were there in the, the ambulance fire department world, and clearly it wasn't good. And obviously since he wears that sleeve with. We've never seen pictures, it wasn't good. And since then he's had other injuries. And this guy before that moment was someone that had enough surgeries to resemble someone that played in the NFL in the 70s. But these are the type moments where you're like, this thing's kind of sad. And it like, obviously, you know, he's got a young son who's going to Florida State to play golf. He has a young daughter. And this guy's life clearly, like, listen, I don't have an addictive personality. I've also never had 75 surgeries. I don't have a back that's fused together. I. So it's like, it's hard for me to speak of, like, I can relate to someone addicted to pills. Now there is not going to be. Because you've seen that picture of him in the bush talking on the phone. Who do you think he was talking to? His lawyer. And what did his lawyer clearly tell him to do? Deny everything. No piss test. They have no evidence that he was on anything. So I, I don't pretend to be like Judge Judy here to go like ever. He's going to get off on everything or he's going to get in trouble for this. He's not going to be able to avoid flipping a car and reckless driving down a residential road in the middle of the day on Friday. Clearly he's lucky. You're in residential areas where I live, where you live, where most of us live, that don't live in city operations. I mean you get kids and people riding bikes like it, it obviously could have been really, really bad. Clearly no one got hurt. But like there are. You play this out 10 times, this probably the best case scenario, you know, but my thought was I was kind of expecting the next day or maybe by tomorrow. Tiger woods has checked himself into rehab because we know for a fact that he's had pill issues before. He's got a DUI for them. Anyone that has had that many surgeries, he literally just had one is having these things prescribed to him. And clearly, and I said this to someone yesterday, Tiger woods doesn't really look like a drinker. You know, I, I look at Tiger woods like, I don't think he's some booze hound. And you see him, it's like, oh, he's blown zero, which is clearly coming from the golf course. My question was, how can you play golf all drugged out on these pills, right? How can you function on a golf course and swing? I'm sure he's playing with pretty high level players and operate because he clearly can't drive A car. There were story that broke online today that like the Secret Service has banned him from driving any of Trump's grandchildren around. I mean, he's clearly not a safe driver, sober or not. But this is sad. And the Tiger woods situation had really, the last 15 years had like a Michael Jackson, Mike Tyson element to it. Uh, he's led a crazy ass life, you know, for a guy nicknamed Big Cat. You know, I don't know how many of those nine lives he's already used, but he's definitely used a handful of them. And this is a guy that, I don't know, man, I just. The highs were high and the lows were pretty low. And this is one of those, you know, in a couple weeks he wasn't going to play at Augusta. But if you're a former champion, for those of you that aren't diehard golf people, you go to this dinner and the dinner is on Tuesday night where you put on your green jackets and the defending champion this year, it's Rory McElroy, puts on the dinner and guy like Tiger woods is standing there front and center. I'd be a little stunned after this moment if he went. But then I saw online that he was back at the golf course the next day practicing. So when I thought that he was going to go to rehab, you see something like that, my daddy goes to rehab. But this is not San Francisco where you can break any law and not get in any trouble. This is Florida where they take this shit pretty seriously. Now, I've always said, you know, your bank account typically determines what happens to you in a court of law, but there are some things that are pretty unavoidable and like, he might be able to avoid the DUI because they won't be able to prove what was and what wasn't in his system. But there is no disproving that his car was flipped in a road that I would imagine the speed limit was no higher than 35. Where people that live there have young children. And this is not only not a normal occurrence, it's probably never happened. When do you ever see, especially in the middle of the day, a car flipped in a residential area? To me, it's unheard of. I've been alive for 40 years. The majority of that have been living in residential areas. And I don't think I've ever seen a car on the side of, on the side, you know, which his was. He had to climb out the passenger side of the car just to get out. So completely embarrassing moment for him. You could See that picture of him getting picked up? I mean, he spent eight hours in the jail where someone asked him as that bald sheriff, like, will he get special treatment? It's like, guys, this is not, this is not Leavenworth. This is not Alcatraz. In his heyday, this Jupiter, Florida. I would imagine if we peaked in to that jail cell. Not exactly the craziest criminals running around in that clink. You know, there's a decent chance that Tiger was the only person that they put in a cell that day. It's like, is he going to be with general population? Like Jeffrey Dahmer is not in there. You know, the Unabomber ain't hanging out in Jupiter. So I thought that was like, what are we talking about? But pretty sad, just embarrassing moment for him for a life that, let's face it, for the most part in the latter half of his years, every time you see him, it's like he feels like he's got it buttoned up, which he clearly doesn't. So it's, it's a good example that you never truly know because he looks like he's in fantastic shape. You're like, this guy's, it's like, I mean who, who knows what this guy's dealing with? Guy has some serious demons. Today's show is brought to you by our presenting sponsor, Hard Rock bet, Florida's sportsbook. Obviously we talk a lot of NFL and college football here, but we got four teams left in college basketball. Clearly the big favorite is going to come out of the Arizona Michigan game. But do not sleep on Yukon and Dan Hurley. And if you want to bet on Hard Rock Bet, you'll get a live profit boost and a parlay boost for the games. And those heart stopping zero on the clock moments we've seen all tournament, they still pay on Hard Rock Bet. 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Podcast Host
Hey sweetie, your mother showed me this Carvana thing for selling the car. I'm gonna give it a try. Wish me luck. Me again. I put in the license plate. It gave me an offer. Unbelievable. Okay, I accepted the offer. They're picking it up Tuesday from the driveway. I Haven't even left my chair. It's done. The car is gone. I'm holding a check anyway. Carvana, give it a whirl. Love ya.
John Middlekoff
So good you'll want to leave a voicemail about it. Sell your car today on Carvana. Pickup fees may apply. Football John lynch had an Alzheimer the. Asked about the substation by Cam Inman, who has covered the Niners forever, he said, we got an independent scientist and we want to let everyone know it's a big nothing burger. It's a big nothing burger. Like that's what you guys. It's a big nothing burger. Now, the reality is what he tells me or you or any fan on the outside, it's kind of irrelevant. It doesn't matter. And I had a wise man tell me that when Jed York at the super bowl came out against this. And I'm not. And listen, I'm not saying that he's lying. I'm not saying that he's wrong. Maybe they had an independent scientist do a study in a couple weeks and find out nothing is going on. But someone told me not that long ago that has put on that jersey, played for that team really likes, like the operation Jed York, that Jed would 100% unequivocally have to push back against this because if it ever came out that there was any sort of truth to the people that were pushing the potential theories that this was, you know, injuring or leading to injuries, the amount of people and, you know, people being players that would sue the 49ers, there's no way they could afford to keep the team. They would lose billions of dollars. It would be all she wrote. So the 49ers, led by the owner, have no choice but to deny this because they could never ever, if there was any sort of truth, like, yeah, it's not ideal, but they, they have to go 100% push against it. So listen, I don't. This is not John Lynch's. I mean, it's John Lynch's problem. He did not create this. This practice facility has been there well before he showed up. And this is something that came up that, who knows, maybe he'd never even noticed. But I don't think this is going away because all the players, From Kittle to McCaffrey, all of them have been asked about it. And if you're going to come out and say this, if I was them, I'd be like, well, I want the detailed report or can I get the scientist number? Because this is our livelihood and none of the. It's not like any of these guys want to leave the team. But I do think it's fair of like this is something and Kittle has talked about this, that any player is looking for an advantage to be half 1% better. Right? Just the smallest margins are the difference between winning and losing millions of dollars. These are professions as players that are just not long. If you have a long career, you play like 12 years as a non quarterback, you had an incredible career. If you played in the NFL for seven or eight years, the majority of guys that come into the league I. E Or drafted or come in as an undrafted free agent don't even make it to four years. So the notion that this is just a big nothing burger going to go away and I listen, I'm not talking about what John said. My point is it means nothing that he said that absolutely nothing. And I think the players are not only going to ask through their agents for like, well can we see the study? And I think Kyle is going to have to address this during OTAs with his team. And I think some players are going to ask either to have their guy talk to the scientist or, or to contact them themselves because this is something that it's like we got to figure out is this. And I, I don't think he would come out and say this if he wasn't told this because then you get caught in a lie. But I, I just think that this notion of like nothing burger, nothing to see here, we're all good, it's just over. I don't think that's the way it works and this is a complicated situation. No one else is quite dealing with this. I don't pretend to be knowledgeable when it comes to the impact of substations but I know there's enough smoke behind this that people are going to want more answers and to just think that you get to throw out a statement of like, oh, nothing to see here, you're all good. Not really the way it works which he knows that like lynch is smarter than me, Stanford guy. But this is a situation that is not going to go away. And I'm sure Kyle Shanahan is going to be asked about this 100%. He will be at the, the coaches press conference this week. The other thing John said, they're very close to figuring out this Trent Williams situation which they had no choice. Like you're starting left tackle, your offensive line sucks. He's by far the best player even at like he'd be the best offensive lineman on this team at 55 years old, let alone at 38, 39. So they got to find out a way to get financially take care of him and figured out the books. And that was all. It was inevitable when the story came out of like the Niners could release or trade them. It's like, who is leaking these stories? This is so fucking stupid. The other thing he said is that he expects Bosa Kittle and Mikel Williams, the guy they drafted from Georgia Levin to all be ready for opening day, which would be pretty big because part or opening days baseball week one is a huge part of the 49er success next year has talked a lot about is having their best players on the field. And this gets back to the substation thing of like, you can't have your best players getting injured, having any shot to make a run. You can get by when your coach is really good and your schedules kind of sucks. But most years if you're going to lose all your best players, it's a wrap. It's why after they beat the Eagles, it's one of the most remarkable wins in franchise history. They beat the Eagles with like a practice squad and they were playing, you know, $300 million roster on the field, right? I mean, the Eagles were loaded with talent. They just weren't playing well. But the Niners had no business winning that game and they did, and they did double passes. They, you know, they had practice squad guys making plays on the ball and defense. And it was an incredible achievement. But that is, you can't do that year in, year out. And the reason Seattle dominated was because their best players played. You know, this isn't the reason the Rams were right there with them is their best players are on the field. If your best players are not on the field, you know, you got no shot. The other thing he said is that they can't afford Joey Bosa. It's pretty crazy. And this speaks to the NFL injuries. You know, you're, when you, when you're hurt, you don't get to play, meaning you don't get to improve. You know, Joey Bos is a good example of a guy that top 5 pick early on in his career when he was healthy, I mean he's just, he was a dominant, powerful, excellent player, got a huge contract extension. But you start getting banged up enough, like you're either getting better or you're getting worse. And when you don't play in games over the course of like a three or four year stretch, it's kind of inevitable you're just going to get a lot worse. So I, I think part of Joey Bosa is a good example of a guy whose market is just not great because I, I know he said we can't afford him. Like, I, I don't think people are knocking down the doors to sign Joey Bosa. The other thing is the NFL, and it's probably like this in, in most industries, for most people, what really separates the successful people and non successful people are just having like a clear vision of what you're doing. And you know what, what makes the NFL unique is a GM or a coach could want to do something, but they don't own the business. These are W2 employees that just happen to be really famous and make a lot of money. But like, if the owner doesn't want to do it, they don't have to do it. And I never understood last year when Miles Garrett gave the Browns an out, he told them, I want to leave. It's like, guys, ideally you don't trade this guy, but your team's going nowhere. You're going to suck. You have no quarterback and the best player on your team is saying, trade me. And unlike most older players, he could have got them multiple ones, multiple twos, could have got him a hall. Then he goes on to have the best season of his career, has like 23 sacks. They win five fucking games and they just redo his contract. Andrew Berry is quoted I I today somewhere in Arizona at the, at the hotel. Then Miles Garrett's going to be a career Brown, Brown for life. It's like, what are we doing, guys? How does this make any sense? This franchise is just, you know, for Andrew Barry's this Ivy League guy, supposed to be really impressive and smart. You just watch how they operate. Like if you want to defend them, you just say the owner tells him whatever to do and he has little to no juice because extending and not trading him last year made no sense. Drafting the two quarterbacks made no sense. Now messing with his contract and then coming out, that makes it more tradable. But then come out and say, that's not why we did it. He plans on not only keeping this player, but we want him to end his career here. You're going nowhere and you're actually going nowhere fast. Your division has some issues, right? Steelers currently don't have a quarterback. You know, the Bengals still have a lot of question marks. Personnel wise though, when healthy, could be pretty good. The, the Ravens, a lot of weird stuff this offseason. Lost some players, New coach, new play caller. Yet you feel like you're in the minor leagues compared to those operations. And it just gets back to, there's no vision. There's no consistent theme of, like, this is what we're going to do. Say what you want about the Steelers and Ravens. Like, they've had a pretty consistent theme for a long period of time. It's why since basically I was in high school in the early 2000s, they've kind of been the same for 25 years now. They've been better or worse on a given year. But you know, exactly, Phil, philosophically what the Ravens and the Steelers want to do, right? And now, like, when you watch the Broncos or you watch Jim Harbaugh on the Chargers or Andy Re, like, they have a clear vision. The. The Browns have never had any sort of vision ever. And it's why it bothers me so much when people. And I see it was Stefanski, like, signing Tua and then coming out with the quote of, like, you know, when you get fired, your backs against the wall, and it's like, I. I understand. Because he's like, I can relate to Tua. We both. Because, you know, two got cut, which is firing in. In football terms. It's like, yeah, that is true. I've been fired, too. It's a. It's a motivator. You start looking in the mirror, you. It's. It's fight or flight. That's true. The difference is, for a lot of us, when we find ourselves in the dirt, when we find ourselves in the mud, what do they tell you to do when they find, you know, you're in a hole? Drop the shovel. In pro sports, when you find yourself in these situations, you still gotta, like, you can be more motivated, you can be more focused. You still got to play the games, and you either have the talent or you don't have the talent. It's like, Kevin, you signing Tua, which he's surely going to start because Penix is coming off this injury and more than likely, like, I. I could see Tua beating him out. Even if you're not winning anything with this guy, you're not winning the division, you're not making the playoffs with Tua, Tonga by loa. Something that's not happening. But Stefanski, like, doesn't quite understand because for whatever reason in his mind, like, what he values at quarterback, it's like, God, this is not going to work, man. Like, you need some help from the personnel people. And then you look at Andrew Barry in this situation, it's like, God, this team's going to be terrible. It's just going to be a train wreck where which is sad because Ohio's such a great football state. If the Browns were ever good, it'd be really, really cool. But they aren't even close to being good now. Listen, I understand like they don't need an extra first round pick this year. They have multiple to me you could trade him for this crazy haul in the future, right? You, you could trade him two first round picks and not even take one this year because you'd want him for next year when you can start moving up for better quarterbacks and there just clearly doesn't feel like inclined to do that. But I don't see how anyone could argue including him if you were in a closed room be like Andrew, do you think you'd be better off over the course of the next four or five years with Miles Garrett on your team or trading him right now for a ton of assets while he still has a lot of value even though he's over 30, which is pretty rare. Like most guys on the line of scrimmage aren't going to have a ton of value at 30, 31, 32, 33 years old. It's just not going to be the case then. There are certain outliers. Trent Williams was like this five years ago when the Niners traded for him. Miles Garrett would be like this now. Guys in their early 30s that are such elite talents, hall of Fame, no doubt about it, every time he steps on the field, he's the most talented guy on the field. This like this guy still has a lot of value. And if your team blows, which the Browns blow, he does nothing for you. It's like some, it's like in baseball when you have a great pitcher on a team that wins 65, 70 games, you get to a point where it's like you might as well utilize your one positive asset that it's not his fault but you're not a good team to try to improve the aggregate of the organization. And for the Browns being this like forward thinking Ivy League operation, smart guys in the front office, they do some dumb and the, the only way you could convince me it's like okay, I was wrong on everything. If, if Andrew Barry said my owner makes me do all this stuff which I, I wouldn't put it past him. He seems like a nut job but I don't see how this is good for business. The other thing that was funny today I saw quarterback news that Aaron Glenn, he's already named Geno Smith the starting quarterback. I was listening to Todd McShay talk about this. He must know the GM there, like they're, they're clearly focused on 20, 27, that they got multiple picks next year. They're going to be bad this year. I, I, I just think sometimes, and we've seen this in basketball, when you start, start thinking big picture and you, you have never had any equity. The team's already bad, everyone's negative. It's like, you just never know, man. Like you're not. This ownership has shown to be very emotionally unstable all of a sudden. Can come out of left field at any moment. It's like if this team wins three or four games next year, which clearly would be the best case, assuming there's a top quarterback, that these guys are just safe, that Aaron Glenn can go another year not winning many games, looking terrible every week and just keep his gig. And then the elephant in the room is, would one of these quarterbacks come out and say, I'm not playing there. I refuse to go to the Jets. We haven't had that happen in a while. But I think you don't need to be a rocket scientist to see that one coming, you know, down the train tracks. So I just think the jets, man, are just in a really bad rut and sometimes you find yourself in this and you keep trying to kind of band aiding it, hoping to get to the point where it's like, oh, then we get to the draft where we kind of fix the franchise. People have been hearing that in New York, jets fans for 15 plus years. There is no guarantee the draft is the ultimate crapshoot. And I mean, last year, it's why everyone says, and I'm guilty of this too, it's going to be some great quarterback draft. I haven't been as aggressive on that one. We said that about this year's class. And then all of a sudden a couple guys didn't live up to the hype. Some guys got injured. Fernando Mendoza came out of nowhere. We'd never seen Ty Simpson play. So you just, you just never know, you know? And I just think this Jet situation with Geno Smith is going to be ugly, man. It's going to be really, really ugly. And like they were the last go round. They hit on a bunch of picks. Quinn and Williams, Sauce, Gardner, Garrett, Wilson, Breeze Hall. I mean, they had really good players in a lot of different positions and now none of those players are on the team. And the reason is because they couldn't figure out the quarterback and it blew up in their face. Now the one pass rusher is on the Titans. You got Sauce Gardner on the Colts. You know, Breece hall is on a franchise tag. Who knows? I could see him getting traded this season. Garrett Wilson, like, what's the point of him on a bad team? These things snowball and once they snowball the negativity, it's hard to slow it down. The other two news and notes around the league were Josh Allen is going to be cleared for OTAs. He obviously had the, the broken bone in his foot after the Bronco game that he got cleaned up. And when they named Joe Brady the coach, he came out in crutches. They're going to really need him this off season like he is now with this young coach who again I, I was really impressed when you watch this press conference, talking to people at the combine, I'm buying stock in Joe Brady. But you need your best player who already is the team leader to even do more now because you don't necessarily know what you're doing. And there's going to be a huge learning curve for you. Like all these young coaches, the mentors, Joe Brady's, they've never sat in that seat, right? That, that's why so many people are buying into John Harbaugh with the Giants or thinking that Robert Sala with the Titans can turn it around because they've sat in that seat before. Obviously John's had a lot of success as a head coach. Sala hasn't, but he's comfortable in that decision making seat. He's been in a position where he's had a guy get a dui, he's had a guy get arrested, he's had a star player break his foot, he's had a star player tear his Achilles. He understands what it's like to go to a news conference, you know, wearing those shoes. And the reality is like Minter and Joe Brady, these guys, the pressure on the Ravens and on the Bills is enormous. And it's real, it's tangible, right? Both teams have been really close. They've been on the precipice of breaking through in the afc and two years ago was the Bravens turn. Couldn't get it done against Mahomes. Last year, I guess that was three years ago. Now last year it all broke for the, for the Bills and they couldn't get it done. And now on Lamar, on Josh, like the pressure is just immense. It really is to just, I mean basically be like an assistant coach because you got to hold the team accountable. You got to set the tone every day in practice, which obviously all These guys already do. But like, he had John Harbaugh who, like, had already won a Super bowl, who had a resume that was really long and by the last couple of years, like Sean McDermott had been a head coach for a while. Look, had accomplished a lot. Like, he was very comfortable. Like, whether you thought he was good or not or a little overrated, like, he was used to being a head coach. And I'm just fascinated to watch this play out. I like it when teams like this have a bunch of pressure. It makes the league more interesting. But we've talked about the Chiefs because I saw Andy just told, I think NFL Network, we saw the video last week of Patrick Mahomes, that Patrick looks great. He's not going to make any proclamations. I'm not going to say he's for sure going to start a training camp or be ready week one. But we are very, very bullish on where he's at. And if they have a good draft, right, they got picked, they got pick nine, they got picked 29, they got a high pick in the second round. If they can get impact, if they get three starters and two of them are impact players out of that group, they could flip this thing around really quick because you're going to get a motivated Patrick Mahomes because let's be, let's be real, he did not play well last year. He just did not. Honestly, he hasn't played that great the last couple years. The difference was two years ago when he made the playoffs, started playing well in the playoffs. Right. And last year he just wasn't good relative to his standard. But you're going to get a guy very motivated off an injury, off a down year with some new reinforcements. I, I, I just think the Chiefs, I got a chance to bounce back really, really quick. So the, the pressure, the added pressure that puts on Josh and Lamar make to me the AFC fascinating because you also got the Chargers, you got Vrabel and the Patriots. The clips of Rabel, ASU's pro day was, what day was that? Friday. We, we had looked in, I, I had reached out to ASU about doing like a live show there because, you know, they got Jordan Tyson, who's going to be a top 20 pick. They have an offensive lineman who's potential first rounder. He was the guy the clips of Rabel going at it with. But they, they just said like it was going to be such a zoo because their guys hadn't, you know, Tyson hadn't done anything at the combine. They're not really Equipped. And they're just like, maybe next year, but we're just not quite equipped to do it. Hey, no problem. We. I still want to talk to Dillingham, but the clips of Vrabel. Can you imagine, like, when these offensive or defensive linemen get in a position and they look at pro day and there's Mike Vrabel who's like, I'll run the drill. You mean, like, you'll run the drill? No, I'm going to be in the drill. I'm gonna be in the drill. I've won a bunch of Super Bowls as a player. I'm huge. Like, I saw Variable at the combine. You know, he's big. Like, you see Jim Harbaugh or Coach Reed, like, they're big guys. Rabel looks like the classic of that guy. Played at a high level. I'm not even sure what, but he just did something at a high level. Athletically, he is just big. And you can tell, like, he kind of misses it. You know, there's a reason Jim Harbaugh wears cleats and throws at practice with the quarterbacks, because he misses it. Kyle Shanahan, when they run scout team defense at different portions of training camp, and I think during the regular season, he plays quarterback. You know, I kind of, kind of always wish he was a player did play, you know, at Texas. But, like, just, he kind of likes the juice. And when you get Mike Vrabel at a pro day situation, it's where he kind of gets his rocks off, and we don't get enough of that anymore. So that's, that's a pretty cool story that kid gets to tell all of his buddies that are like, yeah, how's the pro day go? Yeah, he just went one on one with Mike Vrabel for 45 minutes. And even I saw Gronk and Edelman talking about this, a clip over the last, like, six months. Oh, because they had Will Campbell on, and Will Campbell was telling him about his workout going up against Vrabel. And like, the thing with Variable is you go for 25, 30 minutes. One, you're going pretty hard against younger people who are just at this point in time stronger than you. But too, like, you could get injured. You see the flag football injury list. Gronk got injured hamstring, you know, because the older you get and you start going through some of these drills like, he ain't scared. You know, he, he ain't scared at all. So I, I, I. We just need more Mike Vrabel doing drills, and that'd be the thing. If you were an offensive or defensive lineman and the Patriots want you to do an individual workout, I think the first thing I would ask my agent like is Coach Variable going to be there or just position coach? Because position coach like okay, I just get to work with some cones, some bags. If like Coach Rabel is going to be there, I you'd have to like kind of change your mindset, maybe carb load, you know, get a good night's sleep. I mean kind of approach like a game like what am I getting myself into here? So props of Variable for getting on a sweat and going viral on a on a Friday afternoon before the owner's meetings. Talk to you. We're going to have a great week reacting to everything coming out of the owner's meetings and we will talk soon. Adios
Podcast Host
the volume.
Bob Pittman
This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.
Podcast: The Herd with Colin Cowherd (The Volume, iHeartPodcasts)
Host: John Middlekoff
Episode Date: March 30, 2026
Total Runtime: ~49 mins
Summary by: Podcast Summarizer AI
This episode features host John Middlekoff delivering his punchy, unfiltered takes on the week’s biggest sports headlines. He dives into the shock Duke-UConn finish in March Madness, dissects Tiger Woods’ latest arrest, and breaks down the San Francisco 49ers’ ongoing injury and “substation” saga, with broader observations about NFL and college football dynamics, team-building, and the impact of NIL in collegiate sports. The tone is candid, opinionated, and (as always with Middlekoff) direct and storytelling-driven.
(02:31–19:58)
Middlekoff's Take on NCAA Tournament
“Cinderella’s glass slipper has been shattered. I mean absolutely destroyed. … The ability to take lower teams' players has completely changed the game.” (03:30)
Breakdown of the Duke-UConn Finish
“You’re kind of looking to score. This would win it. And it hits nothing but the bottom of the net. … That’s what makes the tournament so special.” (06:33)
Duke Coach John Scheyer’s Dilemma Post-Coach K
“An all-time L. It really is. … They like win it in historic fashion.” (10:24)
State of College Hoops' Power & NIL
(19:59–32:40)
Recap of the DUI Incident
Tragedy of Woods’s Decline
“He really is retired the moment that Genesis flipped in Los Angeles.” (23:10)
Nuances of Addiction and Public Persona
(32:41–34:40)
(34:41–39:41)
John Lynch Responds to Substation Inquiry
“It means nothing that he said that. Absolutely nothing.”
“The 49ers, led by the owner, have no choice but to deny this … they could never ever admit any truth or they’d lose billions of dollars.” (35:23)
Player Concerns
49ers’ Roster & Injury News
“If your best players are not on the field, you got no shot.”
(39:42–44:40)
Browns’ Decision-Making Critiqued
Quarterback Carousel
(44:41–46:59)
Jets Name Geno Smith Starter
Draft Cautions
(47:00–end)
“When you get Mike Vrabel at a pro day … it’s where he kind of gets his rocks off, and we don’t get enough of that anymore.” (48:00)
On NIL’s impact on March Madness:
“Cinderella’s glass slipper has been shattered. I mean absolutely destroyed.” (03:30, John Middlekoff)
On Duke’s loss to UConn:
“You’re up huge second half. You can basically just run out the clock … Not only did you lose the game, they win it in historic fashion. So part of what made that game so cool … These moments mean a little bit more when it’s Duke.” (10:24, John Middlekoff)
On Tiger Woods:
“There is not a Tiger Woods story that hits my phone anymore that I’m shocked at. That’s kind of sad in itself, but this is kind of him.” (21:48, John Middlekoff)
“The highs were high and the lows were pretty low. And this is one of those.” (24:44)
On the 49ers’ substation controversy:
“It means nothing that he said that. Absolutely nothing. … I think the players are not only going to ask through their agents for like, well, can we see the study?” (34:46–36:20)
On Browns’ lack of vision:
“The Browns have never had any sort of vision. Ever.” (41:10, John Middlekoff)
On Jets’ quarterback woes:
“You just never know, man. … People have been hearing that in New York, jets fans for 15 plus years. There is no guarantee the draft is the ultimate crapshoot.” (45:20, John Middlekoff)
On Mike Vrabel’s hands-on style:
“When you get Mike Vrabel at a pro day situation, it’s where he kind of gets his rocks off, and we don’t get enough of that anymore.” (48:00, John Middlekoff)
Summary Author’s Note:
This episode is classic Middlekoff—combining big-picture takes, inside info, and locker room candor, especially valuable for listeners wanting NFL context far beyond box scores or PR statements.