← The Herd with Colin Cowherd
The Herd with Colin Cowherd
3 & Out - Eagles-49ers TRADE, Joe Flacco is NOT a mentor, Cowboys ALWAYS wait to pay guys
01:09:09
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- [00:00]
John Middlekauff
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- [01:17]
Dan Flores
Hey, you made it.
- [01:18]
John Middlekauff
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John Middelkoff 3Now podcast how are we doing? Hopefully everyone is doing well out there in the streets and Sunday afternoon I'm like, you know what? Let's fire up a little football podcast. The game plan this week we're gonna have a bunch of Podcasts. Probably do a golf podcast tomorrow. Scotty Scheffler just won today again, because, like, he wins every week. But I didn't want to hit on this trade between the Eagles and the Niners. I wanted to hit on some comments that Flacco made that made some headlines. A couple of, you know, the digs. Controversy just didn't die. We got the NBA Finals. Massive, massive favorite. You want to gamble on the Pacers, you get them five to one, and we'll do a mailbag @johnmittlecoff. @johnmittlecoff. Is the Instagram fire in those DMs. Get your questions answered here on the show. Very, very easy to get involved. So we're gonna have a lot of podcasts. It's already June. It's June 1st. I'm looking at my computer screen. That's pretty crazy. God, time flies. But you guys know the drill. If you listen on Collins feed, we have a lot of podcasts coming out even during the summer that not everyone's gonna be on there. You gotta subscribe to three and out if you like what we're doing. We're obviously on YouTube as well, so go check that out. All of our content, we put up on video as well as audio. You're listening right here. This is the audio version. And we got. We got a lot of content coming. Just because this summer does not mean that we are stopping. We got bills to pay, people, and we don't really have much else to do. So we're going to keep on podcasting. But before we dive into some football, you know, I got to tell you about my friends, my partners in the official ticketing app of this podcast, game time. Best in the business. I usually. I'm not a big FOMO guy. Like, it takes a lot for me to feel like I'm missing out on something, and obviously this fear. This concert venue in Vegas has kind of taken music goers by storm. And we have James, who works. I don't even know if he's still around, but because he's with Jadakiss and Fat Joe. But he's been there, he said, it's incredible. I got a buddy here, Bill Pakota, who played the big leagues for, like, a decade and has seen the Eagles at the Sphere multiple times. And he's like, bro, I cannot recommend the experience enough. Kenny Chesney now has a residence in Vegas, and I love Kenny Chesney. I've seen him probably four or five times in my life. It's just a chill, awesome concert. And he's rocking and rolling there. And I've seen so many people post on Instagram, I'm like, I feel a little left out. I was searching today. I'm like, God, it's actually not that crazy expensive in 2025. Seems like a pretty good deal. Seems like it'd be a lot of fun. Hell, I could drive there from where I'm sitting right now. So if you ever want to go to Vegas to go to the Sphere, I'm not just saying this. They are not paying me to hype up the Sphere, but every single person I've talked to about this, probably around 10 that has been to this event, they, like, can't explain it hard enough how incredible the experience and how moving it all is, how they've never seen anything like it. And I'm seeing the same thing on social media when it comes to the Kenny Chesney Experience. Like, this is awesome. Hell, even my girl Cindy Crawford, she was there with her family, taking a picture with them. So if you ever want to get a chance to go to the Sphere and see whoever. Whoever's playing there, just use Game Time. Easy to scroll. Obviously, you want to be a little higher to kind of take it all in. I don't think you want to be too low because you're looking up. I saw Portnoy say that. Even Kenny told him. It's a. It's a weird experience as a performer because you're used to everyone staring at you, but instead they're staring way above you. But I gotta go. I gotta go sometime, and I want to go see someone. Like, I'm not a big deadhead, but, I mean, everyone hyped it up, so I think Kenny's probably more my speed. And I was like, I need to go. So take the guesswork out of buying tickets with Game Time. Download the Game Time app, create an account and use the code JOHN for $20 off. Your first purchase terms. Apply again. Create an account, redeem the code Johan for $20 off. Download the Gametime app today. Last minute, take his lowest price guaranteed. The Eagles made a trade with the 49ers, I think, a year ago. This does not happen. I think over the course of the last couple years, this probably doesn't happen. You know, the Eagles trading with a team that they viewed as not just an equal, but as a team that they would have to go through in the playoffs. I think it's a little bit easier to acknowledge a expensive mistake. I mean, they paid Bryce Hoff a lot of money. They kicked Reddick to the curb, who ironically got traded to the jets to fill Huff's spot and never showed, at least for a long time. And clearly Huff was not a scheme fit for Vic Fangio and it didn't work out. But guess what? There is not probably many industries, I guess it's like this in most businesses. If you screw something up but you're making so much money, who even cares about the screw up? It's like an investor. It's like when you read about these VC guys that just throw a bunch of money into startups if they just hit on the one Google, the one Uber, the one Facebook, all the millions of dollars they've wasted investing into other companies, none of it matters because that return on that. And in sports, when you win a championship, no, honestly, if you just win, you don't even need to win the championship. If your team is just consistently good people overlook your mistakes. I've seen it with the 49ers. I mean they made one of the worst trades, if not the worst trade in draft history and no one really cared because they landed Brock Purdy and they just kept winning. And I think the Eagles like how he made a mistake and guess what wins the Super Bowl. No one gives a shit. And a couple months after, in the off season, he trades them to a team that they've played in the NFC championship before, that was in the NFC championship and the super bowl the following year. And it's like whatever. And I think it's much easier for Howie to make this trade because one the 49ers are interested because Robert Sala coached Huff, his most successful year, double digit sack guy. And you know, some of the rumors that I had heard when he had gone to the Eagles was, you know, the front office didn't quite view him as good as the coaching staff and sometimes that happens and they weren't willing to pay him huge money even though I think he's a pretty good fit scheme wise for Salah. Now we can argue and I think, listen, sometimes when you're an undrafted free agent like you do get there is some sort of how good are you even once you produce, right? And when you're a first round pick, if you had double digit sacks, I'm not only extending you, I have no problem, I don't even hesitate doing it. Like I can't overpay, the guy's a big time player. But when you're an undrafted free agent and like by your third or fourth year you kind of come out of nowhere and start making plays, it's like, how good is this guy? Should we sell at the top of the market? And I think that's what the jets ultimately did. And the Eagles, once they brought in Fangio, it just didn't work. And if you're the 49ers, like you're somewhat desperate for talent, I mean you're doing this totally rehabilitation of like churning your roster from scratch. And you also have some money to spend, you have some wiggle room. Plus you don't even have to eat it all, basically. I mean, give or take. Splitting his $17 million salary with the Eagles, I think the Eagles are eating like nine of it and the Niners are like seven and a half. However the exact numbers play out. But go we get a guy that our defensive coordinator knows and along with Bosa, along with our top 12 pick in Mikel Williams, can be an impact player for us. And if you're the Eagles, like, this isn't going to work. He's not going to be on this team. We don't want to cut him and just totally eat all this money. So can we find a suitor? He does make a lot of money and he's I would say somewhat of a one trick pony. And that's the thing. Why, when you hear this a lot like why is this guy not a scheme fit? And there are a lot of different positions that you know depending on the team, why it's going to work or not going to work. But it's pretty hard to play for Vic Fangio as an edge player if you're not going to be a run stuffer. And teams, I don't even, I hate this term the wide nine because I think it's such a hybrid defense. But just in General, what the 49ers and a team that has a true like four down linemen want to do, especially with the 49ers over Salah and then D' Ameco is get up the field and rush the passer. Fangio is not against rushing the passer, but he's big on gap integrity and like you can't just run all over the place to make plays. And I think the 49ers over the course of the last five or six years just promote much more. Just like impact the quarterback. If we got to give up some running lanes, hopefully Fred Warner will clean it up. That's just not what Vic Fangio is into. So it's really hard to play for him if you're going to be a one trick pony. Even if that one trick Is like pretty good, damn good edge rusher. It's just not really going to work. And it didn't work and no one cares. And it's the best part about winning in sports. You can make these. I don't want to call it a major mistake. It's not that even that big a deal, but you can make mistakes. Obviously, if the Eagles could have a do over, they would do it over. There were much bigger mistakes in his free agent class, Kirk Cousins. Wilkins got injured. It wasn't the Raiders fault. But obviously once a guy's injured and who knows if he's ever going to be the same, you would like a do over. But Cousins is the best example. Gave him $90 million essentially, and by the end of year one, he can't even be the starter. And now he's. It's hard to trade him because he's got a no trade clause and just becomes, you know, very fishy. Like most contracts in the NFL, and we saw this this year as well, when the Rams traded an offensive lineman to the Bears. It's like you just, you're kind of year to year. I mean, most of these contracts are not Miles Garrett, Nick Bosa, Justin Jefferson, let alone the quarterback contracts where you're kind of on scholarship, worst case scenario for like three years. It's pretty unprecedented what the Broncos did with Russell Wilson. It's like, we can't stand this guy so much. We think he's so bad. Not just on the field, but just for the aura of our organization. We got to get this guy out of here. I don't care how much money we're going to eat. I, I don't even care if we don't have a solution. Get this guy out of my building. That's pretty rare. I mean, it takes kind of a crazy SOB like Sean Payton to really have that level of, I don't know, belief that he can fix the problem. And what's crazy is he fixed the problem kind of immediately. But like most of these contracts, these $50 million quote unquote contracts, it's usually like 15, 20, $25 million guaranteed. And if the guy doesn't have a catastrophic injury, you usually can move them especially. The one thing with the NFL too, more than the other sports is the coaching movement around the league is so fast. I mean, it happens at such a rapid speed that a guy's one place one year, then all of a sudden he's a coordinator at the place another year, right? It's like, look at the head coaches. Two years ago, guys like Dennis Allen, Arthur Smith, Robert Salo, they're just guys that come up top of my head. And now they're all coordinators at different places. So you usually can pawn some guys off if they've had experience or at least pressure that organization if that coach likes the guy. And that's exactly what happened here. Joe Flacco made some comments. I probably could play them. But the gist of it essentially was like, I'm not here to mentor guys. Because he was asked, like, do you view yourself as a mentor? And he gave a really, really good answer. I thought, right. Like, he's like, I could go either way, right? I could. I could come out and say, I'm going to be a great mentor. And then you guys can crush me. I'm not focused enough on. I could say I'm not going to be a great mentor. And you guys could look at me like I'm an asshole. And the reality is I'm here to try to win games. And in fairness to Joe Flacco, Joe Flacco knows this. Kevin Stefanski knows this because he surely told him when Joe Flacco came there and signed. The entire team knows this because a couple years ago, Joe Flacco led them to the playoffs. And I don't know how long this is going to go on. I don't know if their team's going to be that good. But when it comes to Week one, if he's healthy, Joe Flacco is going to be the starter. Like, I saw Colin go on this thing that Shador should be the starter right now. Like, yeah, listen, I. For an entertainment standpoint and content standpoint, I'm all for it. This is not going to happen. Joe Flacco is the starting quarterback for the Cleveland Browns. Week one. You can put that thing in fucking Sharpie. And if I'm signed to be the starter, my job is not to mentor the guy. My job, especially in the off season and in August training camp and going into Week one, is to try to help my team win. Now, if Joe Flacco had said this as the backup quarterback for Josh Allen, or that's a bad example because he's been in the league for a while. Let's say the Bears had signed him to back up Caleb Williams, or the Patriots assigned him to backup Drake May, and he had said this and it was clear, like, joe, you're not the starter, I would have been like, that's the wrong signing for that team. Because when the Kansas City Chiefs signed Chad Henney, the Year they got rid of Alex Smith for Patrick Mahomes. The reason they signed Chad Henney, obviously he had a bunch of experience. He was married and mature, but was just to help Patrick Mahomes to be like an older voice in the room on how to prepare and be a pro, AKA be a mentor. That was his role. That is not Joe Flacco's role. On June 1, 2025, his job is to be the starting quarterback for the Cleveland Browns. So I've seen a million different thoughts and people with different takes on this. Like, guys, it's not that complicated. He's the starting quarterback. Like, we all know that's going to play out. Now if by week seven and they are two and five and he gets benched and Dylan Gabriel or Shador is thrown in the mix, then yeah, his job then pivots to help that guy out, which he has surely done before. But like, you can only do so much. You really can't. Like, look at last year, I would imagine he tried to help Anthony Richardson out. But there's a chance that some of these young guys, because this is the nature of, you know, a young, I don't want to say know it all, but I think young successful people probably think they know more than they actually do. They're probably not asking him unlimited questions. And the other thing he alluded to, like, ideally, I hope our relationship's good. Like, that's just the organic nature of being a good teammate and being around each other and being like minded people. But there's no guarantee. It's like, yeah, welcome to life. You can work with people if you don't have the same values and morals and kind of standards. If one guy's lazy and you, and you don't buy into it, or that guy, if you're lazy and the guy that's a grinder, you're not going to get along. It's not going to happen. It's not going to go well. We have all been in different scenarios in our professional life. Once you get to a certain age, if you've worked in the workforce, I would say for over a decade, you have worked with someone you do not like. I think that's borderline impossible. Now, depending on your personality, that number could be higher or lower. But we have all worked with people. Again, not a boss that kind of rubs you the wrong way or pisses you off. I'm saying someone you legitimately can't stand, someone you view as like a piece of shit low character loser. And that's. That happens I'm sure in every locker room there are a couple people that can't stand each other. And you hope that's not the case and you definitely hope it's not in the quarterback room. But it is not Joe Flacco's job to hold. You know, everyone's going to say Shador. And here's the thing with Shador. The coaching staff and the GM draft the Dylan Gabriel first so we can all want Shador to play. From an entertainment standpoint, who do you think Kevin Stefanski and Andrew Barry are going to put out first? Because they do control a lot of this. I've said forever, the moment you get drafted. A GM and a front office can like the player, but they don't control the practice script. They don't control who goes in when at practice. Now, obviously some GMs have more juice than others, but the coach has a the majority of the poll. Especially once a practice starts, he can do whatever he wants to do. So it's, it's going to be on those two guys who are going to be taking reps with backups. And who knows, maybe because Flacco is old and has so much experience that they just don't even give him that many reps. I have a hard time seeing that in training camp at least, because you do need to have everyone on your team at least think that you have the belief that winning is possible, right? You can, you can flip the script pretty easily once you've lost a couple games. But in training camp, what's the point of grinding if we're just going to mail in the season? That's why tanking doesn't exist in the NFL, because no one has that mentality. No one just fucking mails it in. Now maybe they do some sort of, you know, like they did last year with Drake May and Jacoby Brissette. Jacoby was going to start week one, but in training camp they were splitting the reps unlike most teams would normally do. And maybe they do that with the young players in Gabriel and Chador when it comes to training camp reps with Joe Flacco because you go, he doesn't need as many reps. But I don't blame him for thinking that at all. The NBA Finals are here and this is your last chance to bet on the NBA until next season. And the draft king sportsbook and official sports betting partner of the NBA is pulling out all the stops to make it a finals to remember. One team will be crowd the champ and the other will be lost to history. Who you got winning it all? Obviously everyone's picking the Thunder. Not gonna lie. Don't hate dabbling a little on the Pacers 5 to 1 to win the series. The NBA Finals, they just destroy the one seed. The Cavs work the Knicks. I think people are sleeping on the Pacers a little bit. I get the Thunder are good, but I think people are underrating the Pacers. All season long DraftKings has been the go to spot for NBA player props and that doesn't stop now. 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- [23:45]
Dan Flores
The American west with Dan Flores is the latest show from the Meat Eater Podcast Network. Hosted by me, writer and historian Dan Flores and brought to you by Velvet Buck, this podcast looks at a West available nowhere else. Each episode I'll be diving into some of the lesser known history. I'll then be joined in conversation by guests such as Western historian Dr. Randall Williams and best selling author and Meat Eater founder Stephen Rinella.
- [24:16]
John Middlekauff
I'll correct my kids now and then.
- [24:17]
Clayton English
Where they'll say when cave people were here.
- [24:19]
John Middlekauff
And I'll say it seems like the Ice Age people that were here didn't have a real affinity for caves.
- [24:26]
Dan Flores
So join me starting Tuesday, May 6th where we'll delve into stories of the west and come to understand how it helps inform the ways in which we experience the region today.
- [24:37]
John Middlekauff
Listen to the American west with Dan Flores on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [24:46]
Greg Lodd
I know a lot of cops and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no.
- [25:01]
John Middlekauff
Across the country, cops called this Taser the Revolution.
- [25:05]
Greg Lodd
But not everyone was convinced it was that simple.
- [25:07]
Dan Flores
Cops believed everything that Taser told them.
- [25:11]
Greg Lodd
From Lava for good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multi billion dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season one Taser Incorporated.
- [25:26]
John Middlekauff
I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really really bad.
- [25:33]
Greg Lodd
Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1 Taser incorporated on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes 1, 2 and 3 on May 21 and episodes 4, 5 and 6 on June 4 ad free at Lava for Good plus on Apple Podcasts.
- [25:51]
John Middlekauff
Foreign.
- [25:54]
Clayton English
I'm Clayton English.
- [25:56]
John Middlekauff
I'm Greg Lodd.
- [25:56]
Clayton English
And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast. Sir, we are back in a big way.
- [26:01]
John Middlekauff
In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives.
- [26:04]
Clayton English
This is kind of star studded a little bit, man. We got Ricky Williams, NFL player, Heisman Trophy winner.
- [26:10]
John Middlekauff
It's just the compassionate choice to allow players all reasonable means to care for themselves. Music stars Marcus King, John Osborne for brothers Osborne. We have this misunderstanding of what this quote unquote drug fans. Benny the Butcher, Brent Smith from Shinedown.
- [26:28]
Clayton English
Got be real from Cypress Hill, NHL enforcer Riley Cote, Marine Corvette, MMA fighter Liz Caramouche.
- [26:35]
John Middlekauff
What we're doing now isn't working and we need to change things. Stories matter and it brings a face to em.
- [26:40]
Clayton English
It makes it real.
- [26:41]
John Middlekauff
It really does. It makes it real.
- [26:44]
Clayton English
Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs Podcast Season 2 on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good plus on Apple Podcasts.
- [27:12]
John Middlekauff
You know, I, I've theorized that the Jerry Jones. You know, a lot of teams argue with players over contracts. What's funny about the NFL is, and I've used, I've said this a bunch of times, is you're in this partnership, this 5050 revenue partnership, yet the only one guaranteed to not have to fight over any of the revenue are the owner and the team side. Like, they're guaranteed their split, yet the players are guaranteed their money. They just all have to fight for it. It's like they're fishing the sea, all fighting for the food. And a lot of teams make it very, very difficult. I mean, I've had a lot of experience being around the Niners. It's, it's, it's hard to negotiate with them if you're going for premium bucks. At least it has been historically. They, you know, the numbers have gotten so big, they've had to kind of take it on the chin a little bit. But most teams like you're, it's not easy to deal with Howie or some of these guys, like, it's, it's a challenge, right? That's why you pay your agent to negotiate for you. But deals get done for whatever reason. With the Cowboys, it's like everyone knew they were going to sign Dak last year. Everyone knew they were going to sign CD Lamb last year. Like everyone knows at this point in time they're going to sign Micah Parsons. But we all know they're probably going to sign them toward the end of training camp. And I theorized last year it's like, maybe Jerry just likes keeping this cash because you have to give huge signing bonuses in these type contracts. Maybe he just wants to wait to the last possible second to take his money out of wherever he has invested, I'm sure the markets. Because it has to be some sort of tangible asset that he could get access to quickly before he pays these guys because otherwise it makes no sense. Like what's the point in going back and forth with Micah Parsons right now? Like obviously his number is somewhat established based on, you know, Miles Garrett and Nick Bosa a couple years ago, like based on the inflation year by year. And you're like, you have a pretty good idea. Wouldn't you want especially a first time head coach who most people think is a little over his head to just have the easiest Runway possible. And if I was a betting man, as we sit here on June 1, I would be pretty stunned if Micah Parsons contract is signed. I mean at earliest, like August 20th, 25th range. I think if he is signed over the off season, when I say offseason means summer break before you report for training camp, or even those first couple weeks or first couple days of training camp before you get on the field with pads, I think would be really shocking based on the way they do business. And at this point in time, if you're a Cowboy fan, if you just follow the league like you've kind of seen a pattern with Jerry Jones, like this is the way he does business. He waits to the last possible second and then he doesn't go cheap like he gives you the most money possible, but he just waits till basically the last week right before the season. And last but not least, the dig story. I think a huge part of the reason this story is so big one, I mean that everyone like had felt like they had to talk about. There's not much going on, right? It's late May, they're practicing in shorts and T shirts. It's a pretty boring time in the NFL and obviously the combination of this players pretty polarizing cardi b the drugs, perfect storm. But I also think part of what made last week so weird is and anyone knows this, listen, like I work with a lot of people and we're all in different spots and sometimes it's hard to communicate, right? Because you can't just be like, hey, let's meet in the conference room and talk it out, right? Hey. Or just walk into the guy's office, knock, knock, and have a conversation with them. It makes communication really hard. It makes you communicate. Be over the top on communication if you want to have, you know, a good working relationship and make everyone being on the same page. And it really forces you to over communicate. And any of you that work from home right now is like, does this, does my boss even like me? It's like, does the guy I'm working with even know what they're doing? You have those questions because you're not able to have a normal in person relationship with them. And I think sometimes when a situation like this happens, he's just nowhere to be found. OTAS is going on and he's just not there. Which if this was during the season, even if it had been on like a Monday or Tuesday of the week and he had been out, you know where they get the clans for the clam chowder up in Boston, he would have answered to it on Wednesday or Thursday. He would have talked and the story probably would have died. He would have been cut because they would have been anti him doing the twosies or whatever the fuck it's called. Or they would have been like, listen, let's make better decisions. Watch out when cameras are around and we're onward and upward. And stories like this grow during this time of year because, like, he's nowhere to be found and he doesn't get to answer for himself. It's not. He didn't. Not that I saw post anything about like, hey, it wasn't even mine, or hey, it wasn't actually what you thought. Even if it's a lie, like, you just have some sort of rebuttal. And I think it's a good example of like, when you start moving around, bouncing around teams, the equity, that team. Because Scott Zolak, who's associated with the Patriots and you know, been their color guy on radio forever and has a massive radio show in Boston, I think gave a comment, I think it was on the, on his radio show that like cutting him is on the table. And whenever you leave a team, like whoever the team and the GM and the coach that drafted you, that or signed you as an undrafted free agent, that you made the team that you played along with, like, you get to build up equity. You get to know that person, right? Why do you usually your most supportive person in life as you're growing up. Are your parents right? They spend the most time around you. So it's like, why do coaches and front office people like the people they drafted and been playing with for years? Because they have a long relationship, the good and the bad, with that human being. And the moment you start bouncing around. And that's what Diggs is in this portion of his career where he's just kind of this mercenary. It's like your margin for error and your leash is really, really small. And listen, I think it's kind of funny, but who knows? If you told me they cut him because it was like, we don't want to talk about this shit anymore. If you tell me that he next week at OTAs, he's there and he gives a statement or talks about it with the press could believe that as well. But things get weird when you start bouncing around. They just don't know you that well. Especially when something like this happens. You're not even anywhere to be found. A couple other sports things I want to hit out before we get out of here. The the NBA Finals is set. Shows you what a moron I am. I bet a decent amount of money on the Minnesota Timberwolves to beat the Thunder. And not only did they not win that series, obviously they got their ass kicked. Well, that team they played is currently a -750 favorite in the NBA Finals. Now I googled, I couldn't quite find it. I would imagine some of the KD warriors teams were huge favorites. Obviously gambling has changed dramatically over the Last couple years. 5, 6 years with DraftKings and FanDuel and the how easy it is to see all these lines. But you basically, for those of you like gambling novices would have to bet $750 to win a dollar. To put this into perspective, the NHL the Stanley cup finals is a rematch between the Oilers who kicking myself as well. I had $1,000 in my account after some wins a couple months ago. And I was like, you know what? I'm not the biggest NHL guy, but let's, let's put a couple $500 bets on a couple teams to win the win the Stanley cup finals. And the two teams that were really jumping out to me were the Washington. I wanted a team in each conference. I was like the Washington Capitals and the Edmonton Oilers. And then for whatever reason I put it on the Capitals who obviously got their ass kicked by Carolina. But my point is in that series, it's a coin flip. I checked it yesterday and it was Both teams were minus 110. Usually in the. In the NBA Finals, the. You know, the World Series, whatever. Even if one team's favorite, like the super bowl, you get, like, eagles favored by 2. 2 points. Right? This is pretty crazy. I mean, it really is, especially for a team that's never really accomplished anything. Right? It's not like they've. They've. They're the defending champs. It's not like they got a bunch of guys that have won, you know, a shitload in their career. I mean, obviously they got the MVP on their team, but that's pretty nuts. You get the Indiana Pacers, who just beat the crap out of the cavs in the second round, who were the 1 seed, and then, for the most part, I thought, handled the Knicks. If the series 100%, I'd say they took it to the knicks at least 75% of the time. I mean, they're good, and they are, I mean, a borderline, like, historic underdog. And it's not like there's some major injury be one thing. It's like, oh, their best player broke his foot. It's just pretty crazy. And the gambler in me, it's like, should I dabble on the Pacers? But I'm just. I'm out. After that Minnesota shellacking, I'm out. The other thing is, we have been going on this tour, and I love Inside the NBA. I've been watching it my whole life. No one makes me laugh. Like when Charles makes Shaq laugh, when that combination of Charles saying something about fat women in San Antonio, eating the churros, about how some dude in a sauna gave him a bracelet that he was wearing, and they were both naked, and Shaq just starts pissing his pants, laughing across the desk. That, to me, when it comes to sports, is, like, as funny as it gets. It's just so natural how much he makes Shaq laugh. But there have been, like, this. Who was the last guy? Was it Jeter? Remember when Jeter was retiring, and everywhere he'd go, they'd give him, like. They'd give him something cool. Like, you go, here he gets like, a. A personalized barbecue. He goes, here he gets, like, a personalized, you know, Chevy truck. Every. Every team just had something special for him. It's kind of what it's felt this year with tnt, but it's like TNT is going away, but the actual show, I guess, is not going away. Will just be on espn, which I don't really think is going to work. You know, one part of what makes the show so special is how little these guys. I mean, seriously, how little they give a fuck about anything now. They're not. They haven't been able to swear because, you know, cable rules. But I. I would say, you know, McAfee kind of gets a lot of credit for how little he buys in to, like, the ESPN world, and he just does his own thing. These guys were the original that way. Like, they're in a corporate world, yet they operate like they're the NBA's version of, like, barstool. And I just don't quite know how it's going to work. It's one thing to, like, all these people on ESPN that feel like. Especially some of these anchors that feel like they get offended by everything. And Barkley starts talking about fat women. I mean, it's going to be fascinating because Charles, obviously, Shaq, they're too rich, too well established to ever change. There is absolutely no changing between those guys. And I also think this. Sometimes things are meant to end, right? Most great television shows come to an end. It sucks, but it ends. And I think sometimes, you know, and if we use the television show as an example, when a show goes a season or two too long, it's like, yeah, didn't quite work. I remember the show with Kevin Spacey, I would say one of the. What was it called? The first big Netflix show. House of Cards is the reason that I originally signed up for Netflix. And it's. I remember watching it thinking, this is like, one of the most remarkable, just entertaining shows I've ever seen in my entire life. And like most people, if that was the show that got you to sign up for Netflix, I've been hooked ever since. But by the end, he had, you know, was going through everything, got in trouble and was, like, kicked out of Hollywood or whatever. I think he's kind of back now. I don't know. I haven't really followed that story. But he was just off the show. It's like, yeah, guys, this show doesn't really work without him. Like, this is like, we just got to end this thing. And, like, if Ernie's not going to leave, however, this. I just think they probably should have ended it. Now I totally understand Barkley, and these guys only want to work if this is the show and they're getting paid so much money. But I just don't think it's going to work. I think culturally it was pretty special because of the rules that they didn't have to follow. And we see how often, you know, people at Disney get offended and statements have to be made and apologies. Like it's just, I just, I don't think it's gonna work. That's my first reaction. I think you can't create something that special slash organic and then try to replicate it somewhere else. Even if it's in the same studio, even as with the same people, it's just not going to be the same. And I think the right move and listen, I these guys have no problem with anyone wanting to make more money. But I think for the health of what it represented and how awesome it was like universally like no one watched that show over the years and didn't multiple times like piss your pants laughing. I just, I would probably bet against this working other than that I saw the Colorado Rockies. Jeff Passon tweeted that they're 9 and 59 and 50 thing with baseball and this is, you know, luckily with basketball most teams could pay for players. They just choose to tank. Even though I hate tanking and what it represents, I do understand like the only way for the Utah Jazz to get good is to get to be drafting high and land sweet players. But in baseball, some of these owners like we're just not going to spend. We'll just refuse to spend and then they just suck. It's like this product is just terrible. I don't necessarily know how to fix it. But 9 and 50, that's, that's to put that in perspective now the division's good. I looked the Diamondbacks have are in third place in that division or excuse me, in fourth place in that division. So just the next team above them has 27 wins. They have nine. Blending Vice's signature dynamic storytelling with the high octane world of sports, Vice Sports brings an exciting and diverse range of.
- [41:54]
Dan Flores
Programming that goes beyond the game. From action packed live events to gripping.
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John Middlekauff
Behind the scenes documentaries to hard hitting investigative pieces and in depth profiles of athletes, coaches, teams. Vice Sports captures the raw energy, drama and passion that makes sports truly unfortunately forgettable. Catch live events and other exclusive sports.
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Dan Flores
Programs only on Vice TV.
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John Middlekauff
Go to vice tv.com to find your cable channel. Interested in investing in Bitcoin but not sure how to get started? With the Gemini credit card? You can dip your toes into Bitcoin without even trying. Just spend like you normally do, groceries, gas or even a night out and instantly earn up to 4% back in Bitcoin or one of over 50 other cryptos straight to your account with no annual fee. The Gemini credit card is a no brainer and right now you can grab a $200 bitcoin intro bonus go to gemini.com/card to learn more and start earning today. Terms apply. Again, go to gemini.com/card and start building your Bitcoin stash today. Terms apply the Gemini credit card is issued by Web Bank. In order to Qualify for the Intro 200 crypto bonus, your application must be approved by June 30, 2025 and spend 3,000 in your first 90 days. Terms apply Some exclusions apply to instant rewards, in which rewards are deposited when the transaction posts. This content is not investment advice and trading Crypto involves risk. For more details on rates, fees and other Gemini credit card terms, see Rates and Fees.
- [43:37]
Dan Flores
The American west with Dan Flores is the latest show from the Meat Eater Podcast Network. Hosted by me, writer and historian Dan Flores and brought to you by Velvet Buck, this podcast looks at a West available nowhere else. Each episode I'll be diving into some of the lesser known histories of the West. I'll then be joined in conversation by guests such as Western historian Dr. Randall Williams and best selling author and meat Eater founder Stephen Rinella.
- [44:07]
John Middlekauff
I'll correct my kids now and then.
- [44:09]
Clayton English
Where they'll say when cave people were here.
- [44:11]
John Middlekauff
And I'll say, it seems like the Ice Age people that were here didn't have a real affinity for caves.
- [44:17]
Dan Flores
So join me starting Tuesday, May 6th where we'll delve into stories of the west and come to understand how it helps inform the ways in which we experience the region today.
- [44:29]
John Middlekauff
Listen to the American west with Dan Flores on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [44:38]
Greg Lodd
I know a lot of cops and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no.
- [44:53]
John Middlekauff
Across the country, cops called this Taser the Revolution.
- [44:56]
Greg Lodd
But not everyone was convinced it was that simple.
- [44:59]
Dan Flores
Cops believed everything that Taser told them.
- [45:02]
Greg Lodd
From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multi billion dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season one, Taser Incorporated.
- [45:18]
John Middlekauff
I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad.
- [45:25]
Greg Lodd
Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes 1, 2 and 3 on May 21 and episodes 4, 5 and 6 on June 4 ad free at Lava for Good plus on Apple Podcasts.
- [45:46]
Clayton English
I'm Clayton English I'm Greg Lod, and this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast. We are back in a big way.
- [45:52]
John Middlekauff
In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives.
- [45:56]
Clayton English
This kind of star studded a little bit, man. We got Ricky Williams, NFL player, Heisman Trophy winner.
- [46:02]
John Middlekauff
It's just the compassionate choice to allow players all reasonable means to care for themselves. Music stars Marcus King, John Osborne from Brothers Osborne. We have this misunderstanding of what this quote unquote drug thing is. Benny the Butcher, Brent Smith from Shinedown.
- [46:19]
Clayton English
Got be real from Cypress Hill, NHL enforcer Riley Cote, Marine Corvette, MMA fighter Liz Caramouche.
- [46:27]
John Middlekauff
What we're doing now isn't working and we need to change things. Stories matter and it brings a face to them.
- [46:32]
Clayton English
It makes it real.
- [46:33]
John Middlekauff
It really does. It makes it real.
- [46:35]
Clayton English
Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs Podcast Season 2 on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good plus on Apple Podcast.
- [46:57]
John Middlekauff
Mailbag Time at John Middlekop at John Middlekopf. Fire in those DMs. Get your questions answered here on the podcast. We will start with tj Question for the Mailbag. Since it's a fugazi, is the biggest fugazi in all sports. College football, preseason rankings. I actually think this is no longer really a fugazi. I think it used to be like Texas used to always be up there, even when they sucked for a long time. The kind of the same cast of characters, obviously Alabama and Ohio State, but there would be like four or five of these teams. It's like, guys, Texas hasn't won like a decade. Florida, how are you putting them? Like 11th? They're going to go seven and five. I think in this nil era, we have a pretty good idea. I mean, let's look at last year, you know, Ole Miss, a good example. A lot of people thought Ole Miss could be a sleeper for the national championship. Now they ended up not making the playoffs. They still went 10 and three because their team is just too good. They're spending too much money. So when you see some of these teams last year, a lot of people like smu, smu, smu. It's like they're spending a lot of money, guys. I think, you know, I, I guess Texas Tech is spending. Someone sent me something that said they spent $50 million. Now I saw the, the ad of Texas who pushed back against Ohio State, who wanted to. I mean, Texas, Ohio State is week one. That's that's a pretty good game. And Ohio State wanted to move the game to Sunday night and Texas like we're not moving that game for Sunday night. Like put us on a short week and everyone's like, well you're playing San Jose State the next week. It's like guys, that's not really their problem. Like you could put this game on Saturday night if you want. Even though I think they're not allowed to do it. But the point is I think we got a pretty good idea. I, I think there are only a couple wild cards but like with nil, we know for a fact Oregon's going to be sweet, Ohio State's going to be sweet, Texas is going to be sweet. I mean Georgia's just proven it over and over. We know Notre Dame's good, we know Penn State's good. I, I kind of view it now. There's going to be a team, you know like Arizona State last year that's going to come out of nowhere on a given year. You know, Boise State was kind of a pick last year. Like most people thought they were going to be that one individual team that stole the at large bid for the non power conferences. I don't think people ask me all the time like the US Opens coming up in two weeks for golf like who's your sleeper? There are no sleepers anymore. I would never bet a sleeper anymore. Bet Scotty Scheffler and if you want a sleeper bet Bryson DeChambeau to top 5 or top 10. John Rom maybe to top 5 or top 10. I wouldn't mess with unless you want to take like Tommy Fleetwood to top 20. No sleepers are winning these tournaments anymore. There's no sleeper going to the national championship anymore. It's not going to happen. Look at the way the final four played out last year. In college basketball it's just the elites. I mean it really is. Love the show. I love that what if question someone sent in the other day and you talked about Terrell Davis. There are so many angles you can go with the question. Whether it's injuries, what coach lands where, who drafts who. I think you could do something like that weekly. Just kind of get us by until the season starts. Just thought if you consider it would love to hear your what if Willis McGahey doesn't have the horrible injury in the Natty still had a hell of a 10 year career with over 8,000 yards. I think that that's a pretty good one. I think what's his name? Jalen Smith who was Viewed like, I don't know, better than like, Roquan Smith coming out of college. And Roquan went where like seventh or eighth in the draft, or Luke Keakley, I think Roquan or, I mean, Jalen Smith out of Notre Dame, was going to be a pretty special player and had the devastating knee injury. So I think any guy that has a devastating knee injury, Marcus Lattimore, if you remember at South Carolina, had a horrific knee injury. The 49ers drafted him. I remember being a training camp and just seeing like, this guy can't move, which is sad. Willis McGahey is the best case. You come back and you have a long career. You know, I think one guy. And again, some of these, like, I was so young, I was in like high school when Willis McGee was in college. But I remember by the time Ricky Williams kind of got his shit together and just was trying, and with Dave Wanstead in Miami, I was like, this guy's a monster. Can you imagine how good Ricky Williams would have been if he just would have gone to probably a less chaotic place than where he went with the Saints? And they traded the draft and then the weed stuff and he left One, if they just would allowed him to smoke weed, and two, if he just would have gone to a better organization than the Saints when Ditka traded the whole draft for him, I definitely think that's one of them because Ricky Williams was a fucking monster for the bag. I'm in my mid-20s, firefighter from up north. Seems like all my friends and family are finding their special someone. And I'm patiently waiting. As someone who just got married, how did you manage during your years of dating and waiting for your wife? Also love the side stories of Saquon and Scorpion. I would say you just do that. You just date. You know, I. I think the Mr. And Mrs. Right, you never know. I mean, there's a lot of stuff in your life that you do not control. When you meet people is definitely one of those. When you're talking about a significant other. Unless you're marrying your high school sweetheart or someone you met in college. But once you get to the workforce, you know, the one thing with high school in college is, like, you're around a lot of women, right? Once you become a firefighter, like, you're just kind of around the other firefighters. So unless you're gonna marry another firefighter, you're probably gonna have to date. Either going out or Internet dating, which is not easy, or have friends introduce you. But for me, I just focused I just dated, had a good time and worked and I just threw everything I had into work. And I just again, I'm lucky one. And I have a lot of deficiencies, probably insecurities and different things in my life. But I did never compared myself. Like I never had fomo. Was I late to the party? I just was pretty kind of tunnel vision and just doing my own, living my own life and knew people that were having kids. Hell, My brother has two kids, so. And then got married in 2018. It's like you just. You don't want to get married just to get married. Like that ain't gonna work. There's a reason 50% of these things fail. So I would say a lot of. I'm sure people you know that are married aren't happy. So you can't always be jealous or worried. You just. You got to really work on. It's way easier said than done, especially in the world we live in is just not comparing yourself to others. The faster you can not do that as much like this isn't football. We're not in a draft. Well, is this guy stack up to this guy? Like this is your life and there are always going to be people doing things that you're not that you want to do. And you just got to focus on how do you accomplish those things. Now obviously when it comes to a wife, you definitely can change your mindset. Like I wasn't ready to get married in my 20s and even through most of my 30s. Like it wasn't something that I was. It might have been the people I was meeting, but it didn't bother me that I didn't. The girl I was dating, I kind of knew. I'm not marrying this girl. He's got to let life sometimes it's out of your control. Pray. My question is this diehard Lions fan. I feel like there are not many weaknesses roster wise and theoretically should be ready to compete for super bowl regardless of losing both coordinators. I do have true belief in Campbell. I want to have equal faith in golf, that he is an elite quarterback to win it all. But when the biggest games occur in the playoffs, I feel like he crumbles. Now I feel like the Lions are the right quarterback away from winning a Super bowl after losing Stafford. But at the same time we couldn't have gained the assets from the quarterback trade. Do you think Goff is good enough to get it done? I do. I think if you're healthy in the dome, you have a shot. I think if you got to go on the road outdoors to Philly, to Washington, that's going to be pretty hard. I do think he could win in la. I think he could win in San Francisco. I think it would just be difficult for. To see golf now. Your team can win. That's the other thing. Like you can if you're. If you're playing at Green Bay in the second round. Let's say they win the division and you're the five seed and you play them in the second round and it's zero degrees and it's hard to pass. It's like, well, play defense and run the ball. I mean, the 49ers beat the packers one year against Aaron Rodgers. I think the final score is 13 to 10. So, like, you going to have to win with a quarterback like him sometimes when he doesn't do that much, which is fine. But I think the scary part with him just like a lot. I mean, no different with Purdy outside. And this is where Stafford has an advantage is like Stafford. We saw him last year in that snow game against the Eagles. He was unfazed. I mean, he was throwing dots. And it's like there are certain players that you just do not trust in outdoor cold conditions. I've seen it with the 49ers, from Jimmy Garoppolo to Purdy. Just not going to be. But. So I had no problem going on a dome. Go play Minnesota or the Lions in a dome in December or January. It's like, okay. Playing outdoors is hard. You know, Jalen, if it's not really working, he can run around. That's what makes the top guys so special. Like, do you like Patrick Mahomes? Could play in Alaska or he could play in Miami. It wouldn't matter. Most quarterbacks are. Not that. I. I do think Jared Goff is good enough to win Super Bowl. I feel as if Green Bay has found the blueprint to always have an elite quarterback. First find your first elite guy. Easier said than done, admittedly. Then have him lead the franchise until his mid-30s, then draft his replacement. The young kid sits for two years and then he takes over. My question is, why isn't the rest of the NFL doing the same? The Saints let Breeze go until the wheels fell off. Same with the Chargers and Rivers, the Giants and Eli. Not saying Love is going to be the hall of Famer, but he puts Green Bay in a better position than a lot of quarterbacks. Well, if you look at the Saints, they were really interested in Patrick Mahomes. I think their plan was to draft Patrick Mahomes and Veech and the Chiefs found out and they made sure they didn't. So if Patrick Mahomes is drafted to the Saints, does that look a lot different today? And do the Chiefs look a lot different today? So part of, you know, your example, like you said, getting far, getting whoever, Josh Allen, Mahomes, Brady, you name it. Then you need the guy a year or two in, right when he's 33 to 35 range to be at the right spot to draft. Look at Aaron Rodgers and Jordan Love. They were both picked in the middle of the late twenties. So like Aaron Rodgers could have gone one. I mean there's a huge element of luck there. Jordan Love, they deserve credit because he was, I don't even want to say falling, but he was. They targeted him and they traded up to get him. Now they've also admitted, like, if Brandon Ayuk hadn't gone to the Niners, they probably would have drafted Brandon Ayuk. So I think the draft's a little bit of a crapshoot that way. And I think it's like, okay, we didn't have a guy in the first round we wanted because typically in that situation you're going to be drafting in the 20s. Well then I'm not drafting again until the late second round. And you know, nowadays who's even there? What you're saying is right, that is the right strategy to do. I mean, the Patriots tried it. The problem is Brady just like wouldn't age. And Bill's like, I just got to trade Jimmy because I can't get rid of Brady. I mean, the crazy part is Bill takes a bunch of shit for like letting Brady go. He was 42. It'd been one thing, it's like, you know, he just, he let Tom Brady go at 36. I would say that was pretty nut. He let him go at 42. In the history of sports, if you let a guy go at 42, you're basically right every single time. Except Tom Brady. Any sport, anytime, except Tom Brady. He tried and that was a late second round pick for the bag. Huge fan of your football takes, but I have a different question for you. I work for a large corporation and they recently announced they're eliminating an entire department, hundreds of jobs in favor of of using third party automated vendors. We all know it's AI, they just won't admit it. With that in mind, my question is how do you see the use of AI affecting the workforce over the next decade and what, if anything, should be done? I'm pro making money as you are, you don't have to pay AI a yearly salary match its 401k, and you certainly don't have to pay its health insurance. So I get the business decisions behind this. However, if we have millions or tens of millions of jobs replaced over the next decade or so, what do you think those people will lose their job should do? I don't think it's realistic to expect people to have the skills and experience in an office setting to all become electricians, plumbers or mechanics. How do they survive? Well, they definitely do not. I think anytime we're in these scenarios, I do think it's very easy because doom and gloom and craziness sells. Now, I don't pretend you're in a situation in my job, I don't feel it on a daily basis in terms of my use of it. Now, from an investing standpoint, I've invested a pretty heavy allocation into Serve Robotics S E R V. No financial advice here, but it's a pretty large holding I have right now. And they're basically just Uber's an investor that's like this robotic company that's going to build robotics to do things right? From delivering food to building different things. It's clearly coming. I mean, the power of AI just using it to look up questions is pretty incredible. And depending on what you do. I see Maria for real estate using ChatGPT all the time. I'm not smart enough to know what everything's going to look like in five years. I saw Gary V. Who, you know, is not afraid to make some proclamations. He's like, he's like the tech version of like, Coward or Stephen A. Like, he'll come with a strong opinion. He thought that, like, kids in 20, 30 years will marry robots. Like, they're gonna be banging robots. I could see a robot that can like cook you dinner and can clean up and can do a lot of things, but, like, you're legitimately they're gonna be your significant other. But I'm also not naive enough to think, like, that's impossible one day. So I don't pretend to have the answer. I listen to enough podcasts and watch enough TV with enough smart people that I don't think they're just following the trend line of like, yeah, this is really going to be something. I think it's clear people in different worlds, especially yours, see the power of it. I mean, hell, you just walk into like a McDonald's, there aren't even humans. I mean, how far away are we from a McDonald's or Taco Bell having a building and they're not being a human being inside and it being 100%, you know, from making the food to ordering. Honestly, some of these probably exist. I'm always shocked when you walk into like a CVS or some of these and there's a person standing there at the front and they don't check you out, they're just self checkouts and she's just kind of there staring at you. It's like what are they paying you to do? I guess if it goes down but like sometimes it's like an old lady, they're not fixing it. So I. Is it going to be like millions of people just on the sideline? If that's the case, we'd have a problem. And that's where some people have been saying forever like we're going to headed toward universal basic income because they're going to be jobs, there's going to be jobs for these people. But I mean one thing, I heard something the other day that a lot of these college graduates, like where are they going right now? It's not, not a lot of openings because like why would I hire a guy? You know, when I was coming out of college it was like starting salary. You had a college degree in like a business type job. Let's just say like $60,000. That was, you know, 2008, seven, I mean almost 20 years ago. So maybe that number's now depending on the city, New New York, San Francisco, anywhere from like 75 to 100 grand. I mean depending. Obviously these numbers change but like do they even need that person anymore? That's the scary part. Where do these people go now? We could have a whole other conversation. I was thinking this the other day, I was like, I got two college degrees and they're completely useless now. I wouldn't have been able to get my job at Fresno State without my degree at Cal Poly. But that degree at cal poly was 100% useless the last 20 years of my life. So absolutely had zero impact on me in terms of utilizing anything I learned in a class. Not one thing. It's kind of crazy yet like your percentage of earning power as a college graduate is so much higher than a non college graduate. Even though I think that paper is completely worthless in terms of the actual substance behind it now the actual result I guess is clearly speaks for itself. So it's a long winded way of like, I don't really know, interested to see as much as you. Hopefully they don't come out with fire. Football Podcasts or I'd be fucked. Ben Johnson definitely gives off some weird vibes. And yes, Bears fans are almost as bad as Dallas fans. Since Jaden Daniels ripped their heart out, they've been insufferable. Anyway, we're about the same age. Who's your all time running back? I never saw Jim Brown and just missed the Juice. Barry Sanders to me is by far and away the best I've seen in a tear all by himself. What say you? I would say Barry Sanders number one. I would say that I the best running back I've ever seen live. I've seen Adrian Peterson have a couple. I've seen him play probably five or six times live. I've seen him have some monster games. Last time in the peak of his powers in the prime of his career, that fucking guy was like Secretariat. Now he, he was a flawed player for being this massive. You know, obviously I can't speak to Jim Brown. I think the Juice was clearly pretty talented. I would say Walter Payton. I think if Belichick was sitting here, he would say Jim Brown. Walter Payton would be up there. Adrian Peterson, just as a pure runner, was a pretty dominant individual now. Not a great pass catcher and awful pass blocker. I would say the two most versatile guys I've ever saw were Marshall Falk and Ladanian Thomason. They were just, I mean they would have been so good in 2025 playing in the, in the spread era. I mean, oh my God. So I would go, I'd go Barry Sanders or Walter Payton? Love listening to three and out every day. I had a question. How easy the Cardinals schedule is this year? With how easy it is, do you think they underperform again? They will look to move off Kyler with the upcoming quarterback class. I would say if they have an underwhelming season, that Kyler's job would be in jeopardy.
- [66:34]
Dan Flores
Yes.
- [66:35]
John Middlekauff
Because how long are Jonathan Gannon and the GM going to tie themselves to Kyler Murray, a guy they didn't draft or sign? Now the problem is, I think it's hard to move off guys like Kyler because they're just good enough to tease you, but not bad enough for you to suck. Like if Kyler is healthy and plays 17 games, I would say their floor is probably seven and 10 and you know their ceilings. Probably 10. So what do you do if you're eight nine or nine and eight and you miss the playoffs? Which would be kind of my guess of what happens to them though they spent some money this offseason. I mean, they do got good players. They drafted Marvin Harrison high. I saw a video of him. It's hard to I never know if this stuff's AI anymore. Marvin Harrison right now looks like Terrell Owens. He is yacked. You know McBride's a stud. They signed sweat on defense. They had a good draft. Who they draft Pass rusher, the inside pass rusher. They drafted Will Johnson. I think Cardinals are going to be tough. I think they're going to be like one of the best teams that probably doesn't make the playoffs and just toughest to play on a weekly basis. I'm a football coach and avid golfer. I love the football content but in the off season you need to hit more golf content. I'd love to hear your thoughts on the non conforming drivers big name skipping the Memorial and of course the bloodbath to come at Oakmont. I will have a go low tomorrow. That is the game plan as of right now. Did you know your credit card Points and miles lose value while they collect dust Imagine a credit card with rewards that can grow in value. Introducing the Gemini Credit Card with the Gemini Credit card you can earn Bitcoin or one of over 50 other cryptos instantly with no annual fee. Every swipe at the store or gas pump earned you instant rewards deposited straight into your account. Plus sign up now for $200 bitcoin bonus to kickstart your rewards. Go to gemini.com card to learn more and start earning today. Terms apply again. Visit gemini.com card now. Terms apply. The Gemini Credit Card is issued by Web bank in order to qualify for the Intro 200 crypto bonus. Your application must be approved by June 30, 2025 and spend 3,000 in your first 90 days. Terms apply. Some exclusions apply to instant rewards in which rewards are deposited when the transaction posts. This content is not investment advice and trading Crypto involves risk. For more details on rates, fees and and other Gemini Credit Card terms, see Rates and Fees.
- [69:18]
Dan Flores
The American west with Dan Flores is the latest show from the Meat Eater Podcast Network. Hosted by me, writer and historian Dan Flores and brought to you by Velvet Buck, this podcast looks at a West available nowhere else. Each episode I'll be diving into some of the lesser known histories of the West. I'll then be joining joined in conversation by guests such as Western historian Dr. Randall Williams and best selling author and meat eater founder Stephen Rinella.
- [69:48]
John Middlekauff
I'll correct my kids now and then.
- [69:50]
Clayton English
Where they'll say when cave people were here.
- [69:52]
John Middlekauff
And I'll say it seems like the Ice Age people that were here didn't have a real affinity for caves.
- [69:58]
Dan Flores
So join me starting Tuesday, May 6, where we'll delve into stories of the west and come to understand how it helps inform the ways in which we experience the region today.
- [70:10]
John Middlekauff
Listen to the American west with Dan Flores on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [70:18]
Greg Lodd
I know a lot of cops and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no.
- [70:33]
John Middlekauff
Across the country, cops called this Taser the revolution.
- [70:37]
Greg Lodd
But not everyone was convinced it was that simple.
- [70:40]
Dan Flores
Cops believed everything that Taser told them.
- [70:43]
Greg Lodd
From Lava For Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multi billion dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season one Taser in court.
- [70:59]
John Middlekauff
I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad.
- [71:05]
Greg Lodd
Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1 Taser Incorporated on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes 1, 2 and 3 on May 21 and episodes 4, 5 and 6 on June 4 ad free at Lava for Good plus or on Apple Podcasts.
- [71:27]
Clayton English
I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Lodd and this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast. We are back in a big way.
- [71:33]
John Middlekauff
In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives.
- [71:36]
Clayton English
This kind of star studded a little bit, man. We got Ricky Williams, NFL player, Heisman Trophy winner.
- [71:42]
John Middlekauff
It's just the compassionate choice to allow players all reasonable means to care for themselves. Music stars Marcus King, John Osborne from Brothers Osborne. We have this misunderstanding of what this.
- [71:55]
Clayton English
Quote unquote drug fan Benny the Butcher.
- [71:59]
John Middlekauff
Brent Smith from Shinedown got be real from Cypress Hill, NHL enforcer Riley Cote.
- [72:04]
Clayton English
Marine Corvette, MMA fighter Liz Caramouche.
- [72:08]
John Middlekauff
What we're doing now isn't working and we need to change things. Stories matter and it brings a face to them.
- [72:13]
Clayton English
It makes it real.
- [72:13]
John Middlekauff
It really does. It makes it real.
- [72:16]
Clayton English
Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two from the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad free with exclusive content. Subscribe to Lava For Good plus on Apple Podcasts.
- [72:44]
John Middlekauff
Okay, we got a couple more. Hope you're enjoying Arizona. My question is around Purdy and the contract discussion. I agree. You watch the guy and he doesn't have the nuke arm. Crazy Mobility or any measurable worth mentioning. But the guy wins. The talk of he only wins because of CMC Debo and Trent grinds my gears. How many quarterbacks have won without multiple hall of Famers on their team or coaching staff? As a business owner myself, I think about it in an off the field manner. How many business owners succeed without great employees? How many employees succeed without great management? The media is asking the guy to do something few if any have ever done win a Super bowl with minimum coaching talent or player talent. I just don't get it. Can you actually think of anyone who's done that? What's unfair to Purdy is because the Niners were so good, his team gets discussed right next to like the Chiefs, the Ravens and the Bills. So guys, no one, and I mean no one is comparing him to those quarterbacks and if they are, they're fucking idiots. He's not as good as those guys. And everyone's like what about Burrow? Burrow too bro, too. But like relative to his conference, which is like Jalen hurts Jared Goff and DAK the last three years, not counting last year, but the three good years with with McCarthy, look at Goff and, and Jalen hurts. They're on absolutely loaded offenses. Both of them have the best offensive lines in the league. You know, look at the The Eagles have A.J. brown, Devontae Smith and Saquon fucking Barkley. The Lions have Jameer Gibbs, who's one of the more versatile players in the league. Amin Ross St. Brown, who's a badass. Sam Laporta. If you're doing a tight end draft from scratch, I probably not making it past three or four so it's like they're unloaded offenses. Do you think either one of those guys with shitty a shitty cast is going to look good? Of course not. Now I would say the difference now that Ben Johnson's gone, you know Kyle, but I'm with you. Like Belichick had Brady, you know, Favre had Holmgren, Montana had Walsh. Most good players have good coaches. I mean welcome to football. It's just the reason he's so polarizing and we mentioned this earlier with the Bryce Huff stuff, we discriminate where you're drafted. We just do. If Brock Purdy had been the 33rd pick, the 21st pick, he would be discussed much differently. But he's the last pick in the draft so his discussion is like ah, this can't be real. The guy can't be that good. Just the way it works, fair or not, but it's Never going to change. It would happen too, if any of these guys will. Howard, riley, Leonard, Kyle McCord. You name any of these guys who were just drafted in the sixth or seventh round, went on to be starters and good. They would not be treated the same as last year. Bo Nix or Michael Pennix or any of those guys. We give a high pick a benefit of the doubt. They should be doing this. They were drafted high. You shouldn't be doing this. You were drafted late. My question isn't sports related. We've been running our YouTube page for three years and haven't gotten quite the traction we'd like. We film musicians mostly through Montana, but get people nationally that come through. We post consistently and have an okay following, but thought it'd be more by now, specifically on YouTube. What could we do better to gain growth? Do you think this market is too saturated to gain a real following? Thanks. Keep up. The best sports podcast alive. I can only speak to the way that I post, slash consume. I consume like a search engine. So I mentioned last week, driving around that Tesla, I'm like, I'm gonna drive a Tesla. So I've watched a lot of people do Tesla reviews, and some of these guys have pretty big followings. But then someone sent me an email like, tesla's the number one selling car in the world. So it's like, it's a pretty big deal, right? So imagine a lot of people are searching on YouTube for that specific thing. Well, you know, for June and July, unless I, you know how he said he would come on. I think SpyTech is going to come on. Adam Peters, you know, he's kind of trying to give me the run around. Veach ghosted me. Some of these guys, like, if I get some of these guys to come on, who knows, maybe it'll do decent. But for the most part, June and July is going to be dead for my business. Right. Where do I do the most traction during the season? A lot of stuff's happening. Big stories, games, guys getting injured, just massive things happening. So it's like you're searching specific stuff. Let's say tomorrow I'm just going to use this as a hypothetical. The Cowboys trade Micah Parsons to the Detroit Lions. Well, if I did a reaction podcast to that, it would do six figures, I would imagine, because Shador Sanders was huge for us. But these are specific stories that people are searching. So if you're just doing generic stuff, how am I going to search you? Right. How am I going to find you? Why would myself, as a consumer that searches different Things ever fall on your page. And I listen to a lot of music on YouTube, so I'm not, I'm not trying to like discourage you by any means, but I think you have to figure out like, how can we. Just because you post something doesn't mean people are going to come to it, even if it's good. So like what I do typically, I mean, two of the 10 months a year, kind of three maybe are dead. I mean two are just slower and then couple in the off season are a little better than that, but still relatively slow. But you know, seven, eight, nine months, there's a lot of stuff happening. So it's all reacting to stories. So that's, that's kind of the business I'm in. I don't just for the most part just post something to post something. So I don't know, I don't, I don't have a great answer for you. I think most people that have success, you got to find some sort of niche that people are gonna want to like, not even want. It's not even about wanting. It's about just. I don't even know how to describe it. Probably the wrong person to ask on this because I would imagine some people like, you know, a musician just posts a song, right? Like if Kendrick Lamar or Morgan Wallen or Taylor Swift just post a new song on their YouTube page, their following is enormous. It's going to go viral. Ton of people are going to watch it. But like, how does a musician with a thousand followers grow? Maybe you got to put out some good stuff and you know, you're just recording someone that's playing at your venue, I take it, maybe, you know, maybe try to pay someone big to come in maybe to gain some traction. Like if I just had. I'm trying to think if I had Stefon Diggs tomorrow on my podcast and, and he talked about the bag of pink cocaine, it would be big. It'd probably be one of my biggest videos of all time. It'd be a highly listened new podcast, you know, but if I had some, some random dude that played in the 90s for the Arizona Cardinals on my podcast, that was like a rotational special teams guy, no one's going to care. So I don't have a great answer for you. Sorry. Love the pod and have been a listener since 2023. As a Cowboy fan that lives in the DFW, I often hear the phrase the one consistent factor in the Cowboys for nearly 30 year playoff drought. I think you mean NFC championship drought, but I know what you mean is Jerry Jones. I countered that there are two consistent factors. Jerry Jones and the lack of an elite in game changing quarterback who can win big games. The media as a whole seems to justify Dak Prescott's ability by pointing to his regular season stats. And this is so frustrating to myself and many of my Cowboy fan friends. Why do you think the media by and large justifies teams keep keeping quarterbacks who have success in the regular season and can't win in the playoffs? In my opinion, fans could care less about the regular season stats and the only important thing is winning championships. Dax Stats to me are a recipe for mediocrity and make it so. Make it so challenging to care about the team. I think it'd be hard to move off Dak. I really do. And I do understand why they have reinvested in them over the years. I do think this last contract's a little crazy. I can't believe $230 million, especially after some of the playoff performances. I also think on Dak's side it's like, can't you work with the Cowboys a little bit? Like you are making so much money because you're the Cowboys quarterback. Do you want to become a legend and put yourself in the biggest or best opportunity to win? You're making hundreds of millions of dollars no matter what. But he had to take every penny. And I think some of it falls on Jerry and their emotion toward the guy because he's such a likable human being. But I think the Cowboys have been taking advantage in this situation because when they've needed Dak to step up, he simply is not. And when the Cowboys have had to step up for him financially, they have. I do think there is value in the regular season because for your team to be consistently good and they were for three straight years to win 12 games, having a quarterback that you can rely on is important. So I understand giving to us some money. He has value because when he's out, the Dolphins suck. But I also see him against good players in the playoffs. You got no shot. So he does have value. But like how they gave him the amount of money they did. It's like you guys are nuts. So there has to be some middle ground. And that's the thing, it doesn't really feel like there is middle ground. I mean, Sam Darnold was the closest thing we've seen the middle ground. And he just had, you know, an MVP ish type season. But then he shit the bed in the playoffs and got $55 million now, it was only one year, and he had to go to a different team. I think there's some loyalty with Jerry, with Dak. I'm not anti Dak, though I do believe it's fair to say he was never quite the same with the ankle injury in terms of mobility. That was gone. Now he has this crazy hamstring injury. Is he just going to be truly a pocket quarterback? The problem is he doesn't have some big arm, and he's not like. I wouldn't exactly call him like, Drew Brees from the pocket. Precision picking you apart. I mean, he's a good player, but the Cowboys would be royally. You know, what if this makes them a worse player, this injury? And I also think it's easy to say dumper. It's like, well, who. Who am I going to date? I don't have any other options. It's easy for me to say, hey, you hate your job. Quit the job. Well, hey, I need some money. I got two young kids. What am I going to do? It's much easier to quit that job when you got another one lined up. It's much easier to dump your girlfriend when you've kind of been flirting with this girl at work and you're like, she's single. Gives you the confidence. It was. It was easy for the Eagles to be like, you know what, Carson Wentz, you're out of here. We're just going to go with Jalen. It's harder just to get rid of the guy when you don't have any options. Like, it takes balls to do what Sean Payton did with Russell Wilson. We don't really have any other options. Like, we'll figure it out. Cowboys are in that scenario. Like, we don't really have any other options. So we're just gonna pay him $230 million. I don't agree with that, but I do understand the logic of, like, well, fuck else are we gonna do? The answer is, you see, these other teams, it usually is worse. The volume, your gut microbiome, and those healthy bacteria can actually have positive effects. Your mental health, your immunity, your risk of cancer, almost any disease under the sun. This week on Dope Labs, TT and I dive into the world of probiotics. The hype, the science, and what your gut bacteria are really doing behind the scenes. From drinks and gummies to probiotic pillows. Yes, really. Probiotic pillows. We're breaking down what's legit and what's just brilliant marketing. With expert Insight from gastroenterologist Dr. Roshi Raj. Listen to Dope Labs on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast, Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [85:48]
Greg Lodd
I know a lot of cops. They get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. This is Absolute Season one, Taser Incorporated.
- [86:05]
John Middlekauff
I get right back there and it's bad.
- [86:08]
Greg Lodd
Listen to Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [86:18]
Dan Flores
Why is a soap opera western like Yellowstone so wildly successful? The American west with Dan Flores is the latest show from the Meat Eater Podcast Network. So join me starting Tuesday, May 6, where we'll delve into stories of the west and come to understand how. How it helps inform the ways in which we experience the region today.
- [86:41]
John Middlekauff
Listen to the American west with Dan Flores on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [86:48]
Clayton English
I'm Clayton English.
- [86:49]
John Middlekauff
I'm Greg Lodd.
- [86:50]
Clayton English
And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast, sir.
- [86:53]
John Middlekauff
Last year, a lot of the problems of the drug war. This year, a lot of the biggest names in music and sports.
- [86:59]
Clayton English
This is kind of star studded a little bit, man.
- [87:01]
John Middlekauff
We met them at their homes, we met them at their recording studios. Stories matter and it brings a face to it.
- [87:07]
Clayton English
It makes it real.
- [87:08]
John Middlekauff
It really does. It makes it real.
- [87:10]
Clayton English
Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs Podcast, Season 2 on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [87:18]
John Middlekauff
This is an iHeart podcast.