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This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human. When you own your own business, you own every decision. Catch the red eye or take the 6am Make a new hire or promote internally. Celebrate a win with the toast at the gate or unwind at the lounge. Big props to this team.
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Some decisions are a win win like
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earning eight times points on Chase Travel. Chase Sapphire reserved for business. The business card that gives back all you put in. Visit chase.com ReserveBusiness to learn more. Cards issued by JP Morgan, Chase Bank. Any member FDIC subject to credit approval terms apply. Yes you can. A five minute quick and easy calorie burning workout. Give it a try. Come join our sweat sesh on TikTok. Hey guys, it's us, the Jonas brothers. I'm Joe. I'm Kevin. And I'm Nick. And guess what? We created our own podcast called hey Jonas. We invented a podcast. Well we didn't invent it, we we just contributed to it. First people to do podcasts. We get to ask other people questions cuz we're sick and tired of being an ass. Well, sick and tired is a strong way to put it but you know, tired and sick. Tired and sick. Listen to hey Jonas on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it.
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Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy. Not quite on Humor Me with Robert Smigel and Friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier this week. My guests SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel help an acapella band with their between songs banter.
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Where does your we do some retirement homes.
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Those people are starving for banter. Listen to Humor Me with Robert Smigel and friends on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
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The volume. What is going on? My people. How are we doing? I'm Joan. This 3Now podcast happy Fugazi Friday. Happy Memorial Day weekend. I said, you know what? Let's just do a big big mailbag at John Middlekopf. At John Middlekopf is the Instagram fire in those dms. We will. We're gonna be off for a couple days, spend some time with the family. I owe it to her after taking off last week for three days, play golf and just lounge around with my family. So we're gonna have nothing on Monday or Tuesday and we'll be back at it on on Wednesday. So enjoy your long weekend. Have A few cocktails, have fun with your family, maybe some barbecue. Do, do whatever you do. But I'm gonna take a couple days and I will be back in the middle of next week. At least that's a game plan. Something could always change if something gets crazy because kind of the business we're in. But that, that is not the that. The, the plan is to take a couple days and refresh and mainly help around the house with the baby. But other than that, you guys know the drill. Subscribe to the podcast wherever you may listen. And if you listen on Collins feed, make sure you subscribe to three and out podcast, separate feed, Netflix. You can just hit the alerts, you'll never miss an episode. And let's just dive right in and we'll start with Dustin. I gotta be in the minority. The 6:30am PST kickoff game was one of my favorite Sundays of the year. Now in Dallas, 8:30 kickoff is money. I don't think anyone is against the occasional international game. I don't think anyone has a beef with throwing a game every once in a while, maybe once a month, bright and early. Personally, I'd be cool with it never happening. I like that little window to kind of gather myself, get a workout, be showered and be ready to roll by the 10am kickoffs. But that's, that's a me problem, not a you problem. I think most people's issue, and this is where I am kind of leading the charge, is that if it is every weekend at 8:30am Dallas time, it's not quite the same. And if for those of you that have family, that have responsibilities, it's probably going to be difficult to just sit on the couch from 8:30 all the way through the Sunday night game and consume what you want to consume. It's a little easy to just easier to justify just the normal window. Especially if your team's, you know, playing either in the morning or the afternoon, then you can watch the night game too. It's just a lot of football and I think there is somewhat a line of diminishing returns in terms of people enjoying their day. Now listen, I've hate watched a lot of games in my life in all sports, so I'm not against it and I will continue to do it. But it does feel like there's a little bit of a tipping point if just every day football is on from the crack of dawn till midnight. You know, for those of you In Dallas, what 8:30am and the, the night game ends at what time? 11. Right. Because it ends for like 9:00 clock for me. So if you're a couple hours ahead of me, 9, 9:30. So 11, 11:30. That's. That's a long freaking day, man. Especially because college football is basically that. So it's just a lot of football Saturday and Sunday and we love football, but I love pizza and ice cream. I don't eat it every day. And I think that's always been kind of a. A point of separation for football is the way it's set up. You just, you really value when the games are on because you don't get to see games every night. And that's where it feels like the NFL is creeping a little closer and closer to Wednesday night games, double headers on Monday, which luckily we got canceled through through grassroots pushback of like, who wants this? But yeah, I mean, it just. It is what it is. So I'm. We'll just see what happens. But I think it's pretty clear where we're headed. Question for the pod. Why is everyone saying the Bills will win the East? Same coaching staff and harder path? Well, I think the Patriots and I don't even, you know, it's. It's hard to judge in the off season a schedule because one teams change year to year. So you can think a schedule is going to be really hard and then that schedule is actually kind of difficult or some of your harder games, maybe the quarterback is injured and you get the backup. So things can dramatically change during the season, but it's hard to look at their schedule and go, damn, that's going to be really, really difficult. Where I think when you look at the Bills, like they have a proven track record of tough schedules, easy schedules, whatever, they're coming through 12, 13, 14 wins a season. Now the coaching staff is a major change. But here's what I have to say. For the Patriots, this Vrabel Rossini thing is kind of the elephant in the room. So is Mike Vrabel gonna just be completely normal or is this gonna linger? Is this story just done now? It's kind of gone. Safe to say dormant for. Feels like 10 days, I don't know, two weeks? Is that just gonna be the case? Because if it is, then, okay, we can get back to some normality. Do they just add A.J. brown? I. I'm with you. I don't think it's a slam dunk, but I, I'm a big believer in Joe Brady and I think Jim Leonard, the defensive coordinator they hired. I have a buddy. Buddy would be strong, but I mean, a guy that I've known for a long time on that staff and he couldn't be more fired up. And I just think that you know we know Josh Allen is a great player. It's like you know, part of Drake may becoming a great player is like doing it year in and year out. I think they still got some question marks with the offensive line. I by no means I'm like off the Patriots. I think it will be difficult but I like most people probably going to pick the Bills Bears fan captive to this stadium situation. It's a really complicated deal and I agree that the McCaskeys lack of independent wealth is the crux of it. I have always thought Indiana was purely a leverage play. In reality I think other businesses considerations are preventing a move to Indiana. And even though they seem willing to give the Bears whatever they want, even if the Bears build quote a world class stadium, this the place will still be on reportedly an actual pile of human shit. Premium suites and venue tickets generally wouldn't be as valuable as they would be in downtown Chicago or even Arlington Heights. I have no sense about where this is going but gun to my head I think they stay in Illinois. Any take on whether the actual value of tickets in Indiana versus elsewhere is impacting this? My guess is the ticket sale. Like if the Bears are just a consistent playoff level team whether they are in Indiana on the reported pile of shit or downtown, you know, I would say downtown would always be the most valuable. But Arlington Heights, which you know by no means do I pretend to be comfortable talking about the different areas in Chicago. I've been there for a total of two and a half days and it was fucking awesome place, beautiful. But like I don't know if it necessarily matters. I think it has less to do with the impact of like a suite or the impact of the cost of an individual seat or group of seats and more about thought I was gonna sneeze. I think they desperately want to stay in Illinois. But these situations get complicated when you can't siphon the money that you want because you not only want the money, you want the ability then to profit. So that's where it gets complicated in situations in places like Illinois. I've seen in California, you know, with, with the 49ers and what they had to give in with Santa Clara. Cronky didn't have to deal with it because he paid it for, paid for it for himself. And I gun to my head, I have no clue. I'm with you. I think like most people, okay, this Indiana thing is a leverage play. But the farther you get along and they're just willing to give you free money and let you have, you know, different splits that the state of Illinois and the city of Chicago will not give you, I think it becomes more and more realistic because at the end of the day, money talks and shit walks. So when you can get free stuff and then keep the revenue flow, whatever, you know, the split would be with the city, whatever the split would be in Indiana, if it's dramatically better for the Bears, I think they will consider that. Now the trump card here is the league is going to be pretty sensitive because where I came from, people were very angry. When the 49ers moved to Santa Clara, it didn't bother me as much. I mean, I didn't love it because for where I lived, it was a much longer travel than it was to Candlestick. But their facility to practice had been down there since the mid-80s. And in defense of them, it's in like the heart of Silicon Valley, which financially changed their kind of trajectory as an ownership group and as a franchise. It's why they can spend so much cash on a yearly basis. If Indiana is the polar opposite of that, then it makes less sense. And I think Raj, the other owners will get aggressive because my question is this, and you as a big Bears fan and people in Chicago know this better, are the. Is the McCaskey family going to own it forever or will this be a Davis situation? Will this be, you know, like Paul Allen with. With Jody and his daughters, how they're forced to sell? I. Because if they ever were, I think the Bears, I mean, look at this billionaire guy that came into Vegas because Vegas is a very, very valuable market. You know, the stadium, what you can make off the team, it's kind of a sleeping giant. I think people would view the Bears as like the brand recognition in one of the America's major city cities, which is a finance hub, ton of companies. Are there high end rich people to buy the tickets? Whatever Seattle goes for, the Bears would go for more. With the way you talk about Scottsdale, I assume you and your family are in it for the long run as your son continues to grow and starts getting into sports. Are you going to try to lead them into fandom of the 49ers, like when you were young or maybe show them your ties to the Eagles or maybe build his character by telling them, sorry, bro, you're from Arizona. Your teams are the Cardinals, Suns and the Diamondbacks. The Diamondbacks just beat the shit out of the San Francisco Giants for a couple days. They're actually not a terrible franchise right now. The Suns, sneaky on the mend with Ishbia. The Cardinals are another story. If you told me the Cardinals got the fucking loser owner they have ever sold to some badass, I think it would be much more interesting. My, I be honest, I don't spend much time thinking about this. I will let him do whatever he wants. You know, Like, I. My dad didn't force me to be a Niner fan. They were just on. They were sweet. And I liked him. Right? I mean, I grew up like, I like Chicago Bulls. I liked. I remember liking the New York Rangers with Messier in 94, watching them, you know, win the Stanley Cup. I think when you're young, you bounce around a little bit, you know, Especially for those of us on the west coast, when you live, you know, in Philly or New York, you know, or Chicago, it's kind of just bred into you. We're a little more nomadic on the west coast. So, like, the Dodgers are cool now and there probably aren't many kids in Southern California don't like the Dodgers. Fifteen years ago, when Frank McCourt couldn't pay the hot dog vendor, I don't know if it was quite the same. So I. He can like whoever he likes. I mean, to be completely honest with you, and honestly, if he doesn't like who I like or like some team, I look forward to arguing with him. Maybe it'll kind of hone my skills for the podcast. But I will not be like, you gotta be a Yankee fan, fucking like whoever you like. Who knows, Maybe you won't even like sports. There's no guarantee. Can't even get him a nap. Who's. Who's to say that he's gonna, you know, love watching, you know, the 49ers, week seven, you know, against the Jags. Fuck. What if he's got no interest? What if he's into anime or, you know, my wife's not gonna allow him to be a gamer. So that, that's a, that's a no go. I don't know what he'll be into, but you got to let it. You got to let them follow their own passions. Now he's going to see what I like, and hopefully I'm a good enough dad that he likes being around me. And it's kind of the way I got into sports. My dad loved watching games. So it's kind of your way to get in with your dad, right? You kind of like what he Likes so you can talk to him about it. What else are you going to talk to him about? It's difficult especially you know, I'm going to. I'm way older than him, so when he's 10, I'm going to be 50. So hopefully he likes what I like. But who knows, maybe football's falling apart by then. Maybe hockey's in. My wife really wants him to play hockey, which I wouldn't be opposed to. What if he's the next, you know, Jack Hughes? They got a big. Actually it's kind of weird because this place is hotter than balls. Pretty big hockey scene here. Question for the pod. With the increase in international travel for the NFL, does any organization take into consideration travel anxieties that players may have? Speaking from experience, my wife is a terrible traveler. She physically is not herself leading into it the day following along flight either. Do the trainers have to work around any player's anxiety when it comes to travel, especially long international flights? It would be very, very difficult to function in college football if you can't get on a plane. So in college you're getting on a plane depending on the program you play for six to ten times a year. I mean if you're doing playoff game, imagine if you're Indiana. Think how many times Indiana just got on a plane flight. Or the University of Miami or Ohio State or Michigan. So if you think about the majority of these guys are coming from the Power 4 conferences. But even if you're playing at San Diego State, they're not driving to New Mexico, they're not driving to Boise. So you, even if you've never been on a plane flight, which I'm sure some of these kids, well, I guess in recruiting they would fly you out. It would be really difficult to not. Obviously some people would just naturally get an anxiety. But by the time you get to the pros because you have to play in college football for three plus years, you've been on a lot of flights and they're not sitting in an airport. So I think part of. I hate traveling. I like traveling once I'm there, but I fucking hate airports. I hate a packed airport. I hate stuffing into a plane like a sardine. I despise it. The older I get, the more that I just. It's awful. And I tried to avoid it as much as possible, but my wife likes to travel so there's got to be a little give and take. And I just think that it comes with the territory. You know, we were going to Tahoe in a couple weeks. You Just know you're getting on a flight, right? I mean, it just kind of is what it is. He's got to deal with it. Some people get anxiety, some people just get angry. It's just part of life. So I. There's not really much you can do. Plus these guys travel pretty well. Like when you and I travel. So if we're in whatever airline, right, we pay $20 for a water, $50 for a sandwich. These guys show up. I was talking to Haberman, who called the 49er games this year and flew on the team playing. It's like, it's incredible. I mean the amount of snacks and meals and they got something for everybody. So it's. These guys aren't exactly traveling on Southwest, which has turned into what, a dog shit airline? It's like Southwest, part of what you hung your hat on was like 59.99 flights, $99 flights. Well now. And a free bag. Now you're charging me for bags. I have to pick my seat. And your rates are not that much different than the other better airlines. Like, I'm sorry, you suck. I, I always hated Southwest Airlines, but especially when I had no money. It was just so cheap. Even when I had some money, it was like you could just get a flight if you needed to go somewhere on the west coast. Now their rates are high and their amenities which were always terrible, are like forced on. It just sucks. I actually just canceled my Southwest credit card the other day. They probably won't be as advertiser anytime soon. Today's show is brought to you by our presenting sponsor, Hard Rock Bet, Florida's sportsbook. We obviously talk a lot of pig skin on this show. But the second round of the NBA playoffs is here now. And you better believe we're gambling because any single night wimy can go for a triple double. How about a little same game parlay? You like ant to score over 30 points. You want to hammer the Knicks to win it all? Just need to win eight more games. And if you're ever late to tip off, don't worry. Hard Rock Bet lets you live bet all game long. PGA championships also this weekend. Love Cam Young to win it. So here's the thing. 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Call 1-800- gambler Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, New Jersey, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia who says renting can't feel like home? Make your rental feel like yours. It all starts with one scroll. Download TikTok to discover easy home decor ideas. Hey, it's us, the Jonas Brothers. And guess what? We have some big news. What's the news? Huge news. We created our own podcast called hey Jonas. We invented a podcast. Well, we didn't invent it, we just contributed to it. First people to do podcasts. Pretty. Yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts, but this one's extra special. So how did we. How do we actually come up with the name hey Jonas? Guys, I honestly don't remember. I think it was on a call about what we should call it and, well, we were thinking, I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band before Jonas Brothers. This is how you guys remember it going down? Yes, I have a very different memory of this. We were talking about a thing a bit for the podcast where people could call in and say, hey Jonas. And then I wrote down on my little notepad hey Jonas. And offered it up as a potential title for the podcast. But thanks for remembering that. Guys, listen to hey Jonas on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it.
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Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy not quite on Humor Me with Robert Smigel and Friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier this week. My guests SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel help an a cappella band with their between songs banter.
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Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes.
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Those people are starving for banter. Listen to Humor Me with Robert Smigel and friends on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast.
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You were talking about wemby and lebron and Elway and wouldn't an NFL owner tank? My question is less about if but more about how for example, Steven Ross fired Flores in part because he cost the Dolphins burrow after Flores refused the payout to tank the last three weeks or whatever it was. Well, he famously won an overtime game after sucking all season long against the Bengals. And then I, I think he beat the Patriots last week of the season. I mean it was probably getting 100 grand a game to lose and get Joe Burrow. Instead they got Tua, which I saw a clip the other day and it was, it was Pennix must be pretty healthy because he was out at OTAs and they were doing like routes on air and it looked like a out route or like a, you know, like a 10 yard comeback or whatever, but it was a decent, it wasn't like a bomb or anything but probably in the air. 25, 30 yard throw and panic throws, just a nice spiral, good velocity. Then Tua makes the same throw. I mean they're running the same route. It's like Penix goes, then Tua goes and the ball went half as fast. It's like, God, Tua's just, I'm just not into weak arm quarterbacks. I'm not. I mean you better have incredible instincts and timing and rhythm and be a playmaker. I mean Purdy's about the, the bare minimum I'd go. And he gets by because he's a really good athlete and he's, he's smart. I mean you watch Tua, you're like what are, what's his skill set? Can't move. I just think two is the last type player that I would like. Good guy. Good guy seems like a stand up human. With the new head coaching and front office and Halfley being a first time coach and wants to establish himself in his culture in an abysmal organization, how would they go about tanking without losing the room? Or is it as simple as they're going to keep many of the current players? That's how you tank, you get rid of guys, which is what Flores and the Dolphins did. You just, you can try. What, what I don't understand. If you tank the roster and you're 1 in 10 if you're in, if you're a coach, how could you possibly work a 15 hour day on a Monday and Tuesday game planning? Well, pride. Gotta be a pro. It's like just throw some plays together, who cares? Go home, be with your family, we'll dial this in next year. It's about setting the culture. Like, if I knew no one watched or listened to my podcast, there is no way after a while I could put as much effort. Zero chance. I couldn't do it. So I don't know how. I would just. I would throw the games Monday and Tuesday. Who cares? I. I think it's kind of easy through game planning and roster construction more than just like kneeling at every play because you're not going to do that. But you could just run a pretty vanilla game plan now. That's where you could get some weird stuff with players. I mean, it's. It's complicated. It's much easier in basketball and baseball because in baseball you can just roll out a guy who's a terrible pitcher. In basketball, the Sam Hanky, you just roll out a bunch of G leaguers and just suck. In football, it is a little more difficult. Definitely. I mean, I joke about the floors thing. I. I don't totally blame him. He's just coaching. Who do you think did a better job as a DC in their respective season? 24 Glenn or 25 Sala? I. That's. I would say they're very similar. I think it would be hard to quantify one over the other. I think both of them, they're like. They're Mona Lisa. You know, for Aaron Glenn, it was that. That Sunday night against the Minnesota Vikings when he was playing me, you and seven other randos. And I think Solo's game on the road against. I get the Eagles offense was bad. But still, I mean, look at their roster compared to his. I think those are two of the more impressive. Just like we're going into battle and we got swords and they got AK40 sevens. And you know what? We're going to fucking slice some throats. We're going to lose some dudes. They're going to shoot some of us. But I'll promise you this, a lot of them are going down and you just charge them. And that's kind of what it felt like they did, that they went into a game with knives against people with guns and they still won. So I would say both games, the Lions, Vikings game for the division and for the one seed and the Niners road game against the Eagles when it's easy to say now that no one would have put their own money on the 49ers. What are teams allowed to do in their home stadium to gain an advantage? I've heard stadiums being designated or designed to amplify crowd noise. Could a northern team like Buffalo make their stadium with their tractable Roof, then open or close the roof depending on if they wanted a dome game or a blizzard game. I think you have to announce in a situation like that. I don't think you can just do it the day of the game. Not quite sure the rules on that. Which as these cold weather teams get domes, I'm sure we'll hear more about, I don't know the rule on that. I think a lot of the advantage, it's really twofold. You don't have to get into a plane and with a plane, the dehydration, the just the time you lose to rehab, it just, it's just time lost and you got to sleep in a hotel with the other guy, gets sleep in his bed and there's a routine at home that is much easier. And then to me, the noise in the stadium, you know, forever. People thought the Colts were manipulating the noise. I think the Falcons have or the Saints. I mean, I don't blame any team if you got a dome. I'd manipulate the noise too. So I think it's more about the noise. When you're on offense, on the road and you can't hear and it's hard to communicate. So, you know, you know, the Colts or the St. Louis Rams, you know, have the fast turf. I think it's a huge advantage for cold weather teams when they play teams that aren't coming from the cold. Like if you're Chicago and you're playing December 20th and it's 10 degrees and you're playing the Rams or the Niners outside, like that is just a natural advantage because there is no way for those players Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday getting ready for that game. And it's 70 degrees outside. I mean it's just, it's just a built in advantage for you. So I think it's less about like crowd noise or turf and dome and more about travel implications of just being a little bit of a disadvantage. And definitely a crowd noise. Because crowd noise, a huge part of football is communication. You're part of my daily routine. I appreciate you. My question is, shouldn't coaches like LaFleur, Shanahan and McVeigh consider their backup rehabilitation, rehabilitation project as more than just developing a backup? Using Malik Willis as an example. That was using Malik, that was not just a way to develop a good backup, but a way to build tradable assets. If we had Malik Willis under contract, I believe we could have gotten a one or two forum with that. I would go after guys with big upsides rather than bridge type guys. Anthony Richardson comes to mind. What are your thoughts? Well if you just look at the asset that the packers got out of Malik Willis, his value they traded, if memory serves me correct, a seventh round pick form he won was it four games throughout a couple years he won games as a starting quarterback. When Jordan Love went down definitely this year he won a couple.
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Right.
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Was it this year or last year? I can't even keep track. I'm kind of got baby brain. It's late. Maybe he won games for them as a starting quarterback and even when he came in and they lost, he played really really well. So like his value on a cheap contract was worth its weight in gold to the franchise over the couple years he was fucking awesome for them. And then when he gets signed to the big contract depending I have to look at their books like who they signed. They're going to get a third round pick in 2027 from Malik Willis. So from a comp standpoint they traded a seventh. They developed them. They're going to get a third round pick for him and they won games with him on the roster which obviously that last year was the difference what they go nine, seven and one. They tie last year was that two years ago. They tie the Cowboys last year I think they did that. They had multiple teams in their division with nine wins so they wouldn't even have made the playoffs. So I hear what you're saying about a first or second round pick but what would you assign them for? Would you have given him like two years, $10 million? Would Malik Willis sign that contract because his agents going well you're going to hit free agency. Who are the other quarterbacks in free agency now it turned out to be best case scenario he you got whatever $70 million over three or four years because those guys got a job which he wouldn't have known a year ago that those guys were going to get the job. But his agent had to be telling him like we can get one year $20 million. So would the packers have paid enough last off season where him and his agent were looking toward the future? Probably not. So I hear what you're saying in a perfect world you would have given them like the TYSON Bage it two years $10 million and traded him this off season. 100% my daddy would have signed that contract. I do think though they got major value that that's for a non full time starter. That has to be the best move in the league last couple years. It was incredible for, for the packers seventh round pick for that. I I, I, I laughed I'm like, that's a, you trade a seventh round pick for this guy. The problem with the Malik Willis was a third round pick, so he wasn't very expensive. Anthony Richardson was the fourth overall pick. So he, his contract I think is like six, $7 million a year. And this year's going into year four, meaning he's a free agent next year. So it's, it's not apples to apples, but I hear what you're saying. The other thing with the rehabilitation projects is Malik Willis had to play and turns out he was good and they did a great job with him. Sometimes those guys are not good. And then your backup, so it's like, oh, you go with a lower ceiling, higher floor backup. Well, you can win the game with that guy. Because I, you would have been like, you want Mac Jones as your backup quarterback? Well, it turns out like that was a safe route and it kind of worked out. What's up, John? I don't know if you've seen or kept up with this. Apparently Will Wade at LSU has been getting G League or NBA two way guys to get eligibility and return to college. This is apparently driving some of the older coaches nuts. How exactly is this possible? Is there any way you could see college football coaches trying to milk this loophole? I, I can't see it in college football. I do think my fugazi right now is just college sports in general. Like I, I am so exhausted with like, should we go to 24 teams? The Iowa State AD was like, fuck them. Have them make their own playoff if they don't include us. And the Big ten saying this about the SEC and Lane Kiffin going. Lane Kiffin said yesterday like he was bragging the, pardon my take guys that they played nobody in the non conference. And in his time at Ole miss the last four years they went or five years they went 20 and oh, in non conference games it's like, bro, that's embarrassing. You're playing the sisters of the poor, the school of the blind and team with one leg. People like, that's something to brag about. That, that's an embarrassment to the sport. It's why no one pays attention to your games until you get into SEC play. It's not like you made the playoffs one time. You didn't even coach the team. And his point was like, well look at lsu. They were playing hard games. Yeah. And they were on Sunday and Monday night to open the season and got fucking 25 million people watch. Shouldn't the whole point of the sport to be Able to play other. Like in the NFL. Last year, the Patriots and the 49ers, for example, just come into the season, had schedules that were easier. What rotates every year so that there's a randomness to it. Some years you draw divisions that are down, and then the following year, it rotates to new divisions. So last year, the NFC West, Seattle and the rams and the 49ers benefited from playing the AFC and NFC South. Well, this year, they get the AFC east, which the Eagles are clearly going to be solid. The Giants could be way better, and the Cowboys should be pretty good, and they get the AFC West. So it's like, it just rotates. We're in college football. It's like, every year, it's like, let's just play nobody. So four of your 12 games are going to. Or three of your 12 games now, I guess, of the SEC, and they're, like, bragging, now we're going to nine conference games. Well, thank God no one wants you to watch you play some Division 7 team from Alaska. Can you guys just figure it out? Like, it shouldn't be this complicated. But here's the problem, and this is the NFL's greatest attribute, is they all pull in the same direction. The owners in the league, they're all. Even when they disagree, like, they're all in it together. And in college, you have the SEC against the Big Ten, the coach. It's just like, everyone's pretty selfish. They really are in the NFL. Like, Jerry Jones and Harry Roseman will do a fucking deal. And you know what? They're all printing checks. Where in college, it's just like, everyone's out for. I'm just tired of it. We got a Notre Dame question next. It's like, I just. Can't everyone just pull in the same direction. You guys are profiting at historic rates. Your. Your games are fantastic. But it's like, it just gets exhausting, the conversation about, like, 16 teams, 24 teams. We will not entertain 16 teams. Like, Jesus Christ, can't you guys just figure it out? And the answer is no. Not only will they not figure out, it's only going to get crazier and more chaotic. The Will Wade thing. I'd be lying if I said I knew much. I did see Jeff Goodman going on some rant about it, basically just calling him, like, one of the shadiest scumbags in all of college sports. These are kind of the rules. Like, I. I do. Trust me, if you play in the G League, you should not be able to come back if you, you know, in college basketball you can go to the combine and if you realize you're not going to get drafted, as I was reading, like, Arkansas has a couple players that entered the draft, but they're still eligible to come back. I got no problem with that. But if you get drafted and then play G league games or play international games and then a couple years later come back and play at Auburn or Bama or lsu, that's fucking bullshit. So that's insane. But if you're him, if there aren't rules and I may be able to pass it, then yeah, I'm going to try. These sports and leagues and jobs are so competitive. Some of these guys, especially if, you know, is Tom Izzo or Coach K going to do that? No. Even Coach Cal, Is he going to do that? No. Is Will Wade going to do that? Yeah, Will Wade's going to do that. So I, I, I also think you kind of need some villains, you know, you kind of need Lane Kiffin, everyone to think he's a scumbag. Kind of need some Will Wade's. And look, look where these guys are coaching. Would those guys be coaching at Ohio State? Would those guys be coaching at Michigan? Would those guys be coaching at, like, would Alabama, like. Alabama never wanted Lane. They were never going to hire Lane Kiffin. Think about that. They weren't going to do it. Auburn would have. LSU did, Ole Miss. Did some of those programs do shady shit? Love the show, but I feel compelled to get on here and defend my and producer Jackson's Fighting Irish. Is the 2026 schedule a gauntlet? No. But to act like they deliberately scheduled the sisters of the poor. I've always wanted to know where is that school? Because since I worked in football, everyone uses that. I don't know where someone DM me the other day, like you were talking shit about James Gandolfini. I think James Gandolfini as Tony Soprano is the greatest character I've ever seen in my 40 years of life. I do not blame Notre Dame for scheduling some of these teams, like Michigan State, who 10 years ago was a dominant program. I mean, they were one of the better programs in the country. They were producing NFL guys. They were always in the top 10, top 15. They were like the Midwest version of Oregon. They were legit. They went to Rose Bowls under Dan Tony. They had NFL quarterbacks every year. Did they? And now they suck. Right? I mean, they scheduled North Carolina, who some years North Carolina wins like eight or nine games. My issue with Notre Dame is less about the schedule because there's going to be some randomness to it and more about like being the independent. I will not argue that Notre Dame is one of the best programs in the country right now. Even last year they didn't make the playoffs. They were clearly, you would say if you had to go, who are the best four teams last year, say Indiana 1. You'd say Miami 2. I'd say Ohio State 3. I'd probably say Notre Dame 4. Like just join the Big Ten, just, just do that so we don't have to argue about this. Because even in the sec, in the Big Ten, some years your schedule is going to be easier than others. But when you do it like Notre Dame so far out, you can have these years where you're just, it doesn't look great. I'm not, I, I got no problem with note they are scheduling real teams. They just happen to suck. I mean, Dan Orlofsky called Ty Simpson's drive of the season, called it the best drive of the season. It was against Wisconsin, who did not have a player drafted and whose program is of the last couple decades at the lowest point in, in modern program history in the Internet age, like, it's an embarrassment right now. So like you played Wisconsin 10, 15, 20 years ago, that was a big time game. They could either be like the 15th best team in the country, the 10th, the 19th. That was a top 20 win. Some years they might be like fifth or sixth. Now you schedule them, it's like that game's a joke. Can I tell you my friends at SeatGeek, you want to go to a concert this summer? You want to go see Morgan Wallen? You want to go see Justin Bieber? Do you want to go see? You insert the band seats. Got you covered. Get out of the house. Save a little money. Do it all by scrolling your phone. Because SeatGeek has 35 million downloads, it is rated the number one ticketing app. Baseball's in full swing. We got the NBA playoffs. If you live in New York, maybe go see a finals game. I love using se used them for a long time. Plus every ticket is backed by their buyer guarantee. Doesn't get any easier than that. And of course I got a code for you guys. You can use the code JOHAN10 for 10% off your next tickets at sea. That's 10% off any tickets with the promo code John Johan and the number 10. Make sure you click the link in the description to download the app and have the code automatically added to your account so you can use it Later. If you're into tech, you'll love this. TikTok is a live lab where users post instant reviews of the latest trends. Download TikTok and check it out. Foreign. Hey, it's us, the Jonas Brothers. And guess what? We have some big news. What's the news? Huge news. We created our own podcast called hey Jonas. We invented a podcast. Well, we didn't invent it.
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We.
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We just contributed to First People to do podcasts. Pretty. Yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts, but this one's extra special. So how did we. How do we actually come up with the name hey Jonas? Guys, I honestly don't remember. I think it was on a call about what we should call it and well, we were thinking. I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band before Jonas Brothers. This is how you guys remember it going down? Yes, I have a very different memory of this. We were talking about a thing a bit for the podcast where people could call in and say, hey Jonas. And then I wrote down on my little notepad, hey Jonas. And offered it up as a potential title for the podcast. But thanks for remembering that. Guys, listen to hey Jonas on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it.
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Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy not quite on Humor Me with Robert Smigel and Friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier this week. My guests, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter side Up help an acapella band with their between songs banter.
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Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes.
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Those people are starving for banter. Listen to Humor Me with Robert Smigel and friends on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
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What do you think about the Bears draft? It feels like every year they draft a position player elite. I least expect. Last year was leveling and burden and I didn't think we needed them at the time. This year we drafted a tight end on day two, which shocked me. Well, I think part of the argument in round one was like there wasn't a defensive lineman we could have taken. I think clearly the Oregon safety was a freak athlete. I had some people think he's overrated. I have some people, some people thought he was the best safety in the draft or right there with Caleb Downs. If he's the best player on your board, that's just what you're supposed to do. I do think the tight end and I think going back to Loveland, Loveland's a stud. So I don't think you can argue with that part of a draft. You know, in free agency, if I sign a guy, I want that guy to start for me and it's about the immediate impact. Sometimes in the draft it's about a year from now because you'd be like, why are you drafting his height end when you already got a stud receiving tight end and this kind of like all around solid guy and Comet, because Cole Command is not going to be in the team in 2027. No different than like, well, we already got DJ Moore, Roma, Dunes. Why do we need luther Burton? Well, D.J. moore's traded. That's part of what a draft is. It's thinking a year or two in the future. So I think people sometimes get mad when it's not about the immediate and it's like we don't need that. It's not about need. We love this player. Whether we agree or disagree how good the guy is. They liked him. And it's about the future move of like he'll be there with Loveland and he's a blocking tight end. So I, I wouldn't say Loveland's exactly. Gorankowski on the line of scrimmage. Congrats on the kid and all the success. As a fellow Jack, I can confirm it's a great name. Question for the mailbag. What is day to day like for NFL coaches and GMs this time of year? Post draft and before training camp? Is it close to a 9 to 5 with weekends off? Is it a break from the intense grind of the regular season? Yeah, it's. I mean some teams are like three day work weeks now. Some of the, some of the new staffs like Kubiak, Halfley, I guess there's a ton. There's like 10 new staffs. It's probably pretty intense, but like Sean Payton, Howie Roseman, the 49ers, McVeigh. It's probably not nine. You're probably getting there a little earlier, but I would imagine some days you're out by 2. Especially if you practice it like 9 or 10 in the morning. I don't know when everyone practices a little bit different time, but probably doing a little meeting, a little lift, breakfast, lunch, practice, maybe a little more film and you're out and you're not practicing five days a week. So sometimes Mondays are off, sometimes Fridays are off. Everyone's home by dinner. Some days are really chill. It's it's a lot of just going to practice, getting a feel for your team. It's, it's, it's a great time of year. It's, it's a great time of year. You know, you're still kind of evaluating stuff, you're still working. But it is of the calendar, the times you're in the office. It is easily the most chill time, right? Because the draft for front office, you're just meeting and watching tape 24 7. The season for coaches and front office is just non stop. This is pretty relaxed. There's a lot of. I saw Kyle Shanahan. Oh, he might have said this to Rich. He's like yeah, if I golfed I'd be playing every afternoon. I just don't. So I just go home with my family. When I was in Philly we had a membership like course in Jersey. We'd play all the time in the spring. I think especially if you have like an established GM coach. It's, it's pretty relaxed. But you never know. Like it's reality television. All of a sudden you're the Eagles, right? It's probably chill time. And then you get a Dom gets a call. Nolan Smith was just doing 190 miles an hour in a 25. You're like what do you know how fast 135 miles an hour is When I saw that and people ironic because we got asked about the Kirby smart question the other day. These Georgia guys, maybe it's the, the program, the urgency, always trying to be on time. They cannot like you go like 90 or 100 miles an hour on the freeway. You are fucking passing everybody going 135 miles an hour. You racing the Indy 500. I mean in all seriousness, if you crash into someone, you people are dying. It's like I was Henry Ruggs like 150. Like it's what are we doing here? I, I, I, I don't get it. It's, it's pretty crazy honestly. So yeah, I mean it's just, it's great. A great time of year. It is like this weekend's a good example. I would imagine the majority of the NFL is off tomorrow. They'll be off Monday. So these guys will family little mini vacations. Any, you know, Seattle Eagles, Niners, Rams. Char Bob might not want to Cowboys. Like you're just. This is a good time to kind of get with some people that you don't get to see very often. Get out of town potentially. Have you seen the reports from Jeremy Fowler that Jaylen and Manion are getting along. I know that has never been considered a strength for him. That'd be playing under center. But how differently will we view Jalen if he proves really successful in this system? Again, hypothetical. But also, if man and Jalen lead a resurgent, successful Eagles offense, can the Birds afford to let him be poached to become head coach? He's got a little kid in the house who gets sick and you get sick. I don't even, he doesn't even go anywhere. I think we got to be very careful. The vibes it's going to be. Unless it's the Browns. Todd Monkin the other day was like pissed off that they threw interceptions on 7 and 7. It's like, Todd, this is the middle of May. Chill, bro, relax. The best. They asked him if he, if Miles Garrett was there. He said he hadn't even met him. I, I just think that Joe Shane just got an extension, so he went from fire to extension. Him and Harbaugh getting along. I, I, if it goes well, then that's a conversation. We're six months away from that right now. Vibes are high, moods are good. There are no games on the horizon. It should be a very, It's a quarterback friendly offense. It's a lot of layup throws. It's a lot of stuff on the move. Well, what is he? He's a great athlete. So it's, it's, it's a quarterback's dream offense also. What is it? It's run centric, takes a lot of the pressure off you. There's a reason the Shanahan, Kubiak, McVeigh, Kevin O', Connor, people with a lot of the core beliefs in this offense. Their quarterbacks look pretty good because it's pretty quarterback friendly. You play for Andy Reid, he's putting a lot. You better be, you better be Donovan McNabb or Patrick Mahomes because he asked you to sling that around these guys is like under center, handed off. The Giants have repeatedly drafted an offensive lineman and the defense is still finished in the bottom 10. And the O line has not looked better. It seems like the DBs are never able to cover anybody. My question, why are they not drafting DBs in high rounds? Is it a philosophical thing in the front office? Are they generally better linemen than DBs out of college? It's an organizational philosophy. It goes back to, I mean, 20, 30 years. I know when I was with the Eagles, they had a core philosophy of the line of scrimmage and specifically defensive linemen. They were draft defensive linemen every year. So once you start doing that, like with Coughlin and Jerry Reese, and then you win Super Bowls, it's kind of embedded in you. And then I think Harbaugh kind of comes from that school too. Now they've taken DBs in with the Ravens high, but you're basically saying, would they have been better off taking let's say Arvell Reese turns out to be a really good player and Delane, the corner from LSU who's on the Chiefs, becomes a really good player. The Giants already have Abdul, Carter, Brian Burns, Kavon. Would they have been better off just having a sweet corner? You could make the argument I think they would say is we just if both their ceilings are sky high, which I think they are, the defensive lineman is more valuable and I tend to agree. And I just think that's. I I could never argue with you taking defensive alignment high. What do you think about assigning every NFL team to a dedicated international sister city? Each team could host a home game. They're annually creating two international games per week. I'm already over 16 the international games. Now you want 32. Some pairings already seem natural. Jags in London, the Saints in Paris, the Lions in Germany. Because I'm in Ross St. Brown, Tampa and Manchester. A permanent local connection could keep deep global engagement. Honestly, you're kind of on to something. It doesn't quite feel like that's what they want to do. Also, because these teams don't want to go over there every year. I actually think you're. I wanted to hate your idea. You're probably on to something. But if you tried to tell, like the Saints or the Cowboys or the Rams or the Niners or Seattle, you had to go international every year, they would be pissed. They don't want to do it. This idea is not terrible, though. The Cardinals are prime to get the number one pick. They have the hardest schedule in the NFL. We're heading into a year with an embarrassing quarterback room on top of our NFC west games. We also play the AFC west and NFC east along with the Lions. We will win three games or less. I'd probably bet the under. Well, no wonder Jacoby's not showing up. People are comparing us with the Raiders acting like Genti is a bust after one season. Let's see how the next three years go before we start that label. Oh, talking about love. The same should apply to love. We have a pretty good offensive roster, some sweet defensive linemen. I I saw Josh Sweat is holding out too. I'd probably just trade him, Buddha Baker and a new offensive coach who's coming with the right coaching tree. I think the future is bright if we can land the number one pick, a young quarterback who has some sick offensive pieces. If they get the pick, are they a stock you would buy? If you told me the college season goes really well with quarterbacks and you have a guy that's viewed very, very highly, they would be a team that you would buy stock in. Yes, because Trey McBride is one of the best tight ends in the league. Let's assume Jeremiah Love goes on to have a very good career. Marvin Harrison is pretty big wild card. I think they should be in the business of trading Sweat and trading Buddha Baker and just really tearing this thing down a little Dolphin style throw almost a Jordan Beck who was a former linebacker Cal Poly was he was he I think third round draft pick Atlanta Falcons did not work out well. He wasn't good. But I, I, I would think about trading veteran players. I, I think Sweat and Buddha Baker would have a lot of value on the open market. Like if you told me Fernando Mendoza was on their team, I think they would be, they wouldn't be that good this year because like you said, the schedule is brutal. And this gets back to schedules. This is what makes the NFL cool. One year your schedule can be a little easier, the next year it's going to rotate. So you just all of a sudden you're like shit, we got Lamar Jackson, Joe Burrow back to back games because we drew the AFC North. Some years you draw you know, a bad Jags, a Colts team with no quarterback and you know the NFC south when they, the team that wins the division goes 8, 9. It just, it's all kind of, you know, changes year to year. I think the NFC east last year, good division to draw. Giants were terrible. Commanders were in free fall. The Cowboys defense was awful. The Eagles at the end of the season couldn't produce a first down drawn in this year probably going to be a little more difficult. We're in college. It's like Jesus. Hey man. Big fan of the pod father of nearly two year old. So been awesome here in the dad Diaries. Are you happy with the Netflix switch over so far? Thrilled. It's been awesome. We just great partners. We're looking for a big fall. Hopefully we can figure some things out about how to go live. But it's been an incredible opportunity. I thoroughly enjoyed it and I'm very, very lucky to be asked. I mean there's of, I think someone told me 6,000 plus pods associated with iHeart, and that's how I think the deal originated. And I'm one of 15. So it's, I mean, it was fucking cool. Look at the other brands associated with it, especially in this world. The barstool guys, Bill Simmons, it's kind of the, you know, kind of the important people in the space. So, yeah, I mean, I just want to go live in the fall after some of these games. And other than that, it's been freaking awesome. I also don't play, you know, part of, on the, on YouTube, you play more of an algorithmic game where here it's like I just talk about what I want to talk about, which I do no matter what. But I. You kind of have to build it around what would kind of go viral on the algorithm. It's like you're playing a game, you know, on social media. This is not necessarily that. When you were in the NFL, did you or the team have beef with other front offices? Not talking about rivalries like the Eagles or the Cowboys, but did you actively root against certain people? Another note, did you laugh or make fun of certain teams when they would make stupid decisions in free agency or the drafts? I think we're all human, so of course you would. Especially, you know, whether you're Howie Roseman or whether you're me as a personnel assistant. You know, that guy's an idiot. You know, I mean, you do that in your industry. I do that in the podcast world. We all do that. And that's just. These are dudes. I mean, what do you dudes talk about? Other dudes, especially when they're competing against them. And then I think there are legitimate, like, you just don't like other people. I, I, sometimes you come across someone, you're like, I don't like this person for whatever reason. Hopefully that number is smaller as you get older because you realize, like, you don't have the energy to hate this guy. But there are going to be certain people that come into your life that you are going to despise. Well, some of those people, as we all get older, are going to be in a working environment, may work for other companies, may work for our own company. We may have worked with them, they may have left. I think that happens a lot. So in the NFL, think about. It's a very nomadic profession. So if you look at a lot of coaches or you look at a lot of front office people, they've bounced around a little bit. Well, they're going to work with other people that you don't really? Like, I never talk to somebody about, like, what do you think's going on with X, Y, and Z? They're like, oh, that guy's kind of a douche. So I, I, I think it's pretty natural, but I, I don't think that is, you know, specific to the NFL more than it would be working in the booze business. Working in the, you know, I, I remember what the guy did my landscaping. He came over, he's like, installing the turf, and we were talking about. He's like, yeah, those other three companies. Because I told him about the other bids I got. He's like, yeah, I don't know what they're doing, but I've heard some horror stories. I mean, it's just a natural reaction with, with guys. I, I think you mentioned you have been. You have a team behind you that helps you negotiate sponsorship and Netflix deals. What does that team look like? How is it connected to the Volume? And where does Colin fall into all this? Well, the Volume is a big company, right? So if we're doing a pyramid, Colin and Jamie Horowitz are at the top of the pyramid. So when these deals come through for me specifically, I will get a text. When it comes to advertising, hey, are you interested in this? Sometimes it will be through my producers, like Shane, who will just hit me up, hey, would you do this? And the overwhelming majority of time, I did this with James Forever, who's now with Fat Joe and Jadakiss. I just say yes. Like, my number one reaction when it comes to advertising deals is just going to be yes. So I just say yes. Naturally, we have a sales team, so we have guys that sell shows, right? And a lot of those guys came from Barstool. They were part of, they worked for Portnoy for years, so they know how to sell advertising. When I went out to the Ryder Cup, I was there with Terrence, who sold the. Sold the deal. Guy's a fucking badass killer about to get married, and his job is a sales guy, you know, so he. We have sales guys. We have, from producers to social people to people that focus on YouTube. The Netflix deal. Again, I could be speaking a little out of turn here, but I'm pretty sure they went through iheart, who we are in business with. I don't know if you saw the clip of Colin talking to Jeff Teague. Like, we're partners with iHeart, so we have sales guys that for a long period of time before we built our sales staff, iHeart would sell the shows. So my main job here is just to produce content. Now when I do am needed on the sales side, they will bring me in to talk to clients. Maybe I have an idea. I had someone hit me up. I funneled the company to Terence and we've been working with them. And then when it's something as big as Netflix, they're like, hey, is this something you'd be interested in? In? I'd say, well, what are they looking for? What type of money are we talking about? And it's pretty. I have had an incredible. I mean, I've signed some contracts over the years, but it's. The majority of this has essentially been handshake deals the whole time for. Since I've been working for this. And I'm a pretty easy partner because I'm pretty low maintenance, you know, I produce shit every single day. I'm fucking great with our partners and advertisers, and I take great pride in that. And as we've expanded, I mean, we just have a lot of people doing different roles, like a lot of companies do, and they kind of have to come to me, I guess, for a final say. If or if there's ever an issue, I'd run it back, you know, through people. Like, I don't see this, but I don't think that ever happens. But, like, the Netflix deal doesn't just happen. And then I'm just all of a sudden on Netflix. I didn't know about it. I was tipped off to gave a guide about like a month before I said yes. Someone said something like, yeah, I'd be interested. And then it got more serious. And then. And that's how like any quote unquote, bigger deal happens. Or, hey, I think we should try this. And sometimes I'll be like, hey, I'll shoot a group text, hey, I think we should do this. But as it becomes a bigger company, it's still like the corporate structure for me in my crew, like, it's. There's just direct lines of communication. If there are questions, anything changes. But we got a lot of people doing a lot of things. So it's like I record this, I loaded into something. My guy Shane in the Northeast will throw this up on Netflix. My guy Adam in Washington, D.C. somehow goes to Wizards games. Mean now it might be cooler, but I mean, the last year, Jesus will, you know, put the audio up and just. That's just this operation. And then Jackson will probably cut some social clips if he's not fucking around somewhere. So that's just. That was a joke, you know, it's like, it's not just me by any means. And I've been a part of a podcast where just like me and the other guy was guy and it was any from distribution to sales to, you name it, advertise, you did it all. It's impossible. It's impossible you actually make one thing I've learned, and I would say this per, through a personal standpoint too, like being married and having a family, you can only accomplish so much by yourself. Like you have a ceiling as an individual. And whether you're an entrepreneur and you start your own company, whether you work for someone else, you need other people and help to maximize whatever your ceiling is professionally and personally. And this as you know, getting in on the early on this and watching it grow, like whatever quote unquote, my success or financial success is, is owed to a lot of different people who overlook, you know, are all having success individually as well, which I think we are. So. And we just keep growing and become more financially successful and. And critically acclaimed. Like, I don't give a fuck about any of that. But okay, well. And we got two more. Why isn't Liam Cohen talked about in the same breath as Ben Johnson? He took the Jags from worst to first, had a quarterback playing like an MVP and basically the same team from a year before. And Baker looks worse without him. Simple man market. Like, if you flip flop the two of them, we would talk about Liam Cohen. Like Ben Johnson, there are certain powerful markets in this league that if you do big things for, you get a lot of credit. And the other thing is, Ben Johnson had more momentum coming into his job than Liam did. He had a great year with Baker, but we had been talking about Ben Johns for like three years. So, you know, look at Mike McDonald. He wins the super bowl, but he had a ton of momentum coming in from Baltimore where he had the number one defense. So I think it's market size, it's momentum. I also think Liam Cohen's very highly thought of. Like, who's saying, like, Liam Cohen's not that good? I think we all agree he's good dad. Question and suggestion. I was curious if you and your wife were planning on having more children. You should tell her we plan on doing that right now as. As Jack cries all day because he's sleepy, because he won't take a nap. See how that goes over. But yeah, can't have one. Gotta, gotta have, gotta have two. I probably would have three, but again, I, I don't have to do as much heavy lifting, so I think we're shooting for two. And if shooting, I mean, tried within, you know, three days, she's pregnant. Powerful swimmers, man. If so, my suggestion would be able to convince yourself or your wife to wait until the baby is born to find out the gender. My wife and I did, and we waited with our youngest. And it was one of the best surprises and moments of my life. It's been two years and I still think about this moment all the time. Thanks for pumping out the content. Okay, we'll end on that. I think we're all wired a little bit differently. Some of us have. Are more risk adverse. Some of us are more willing to take chances. Some of us are thrill seekers. Some of us like a mundane life. Like, I think every human. Obviously you have other humans that are wired like you, but most of us are different from our neighbors. Right? I hate surprises. Let me rephrase that. I despise surprises. They are not anything. There's nothing about them that I enjoy, good or bad. So it's like, hey, I got a couple things to ask you. When someone texts me that, for example, this happened the other day. Goldie, one of our guys here at the Volume, who is Collins, right hand guy, and he oversees a bunch of podcasts. He's like, hey, I want to run a couple things by you. I just call him a minute later. I'm not like, yeah, we'll touch base a little bit later today. Now, it was, it was nothing negative or anything. It was actually. He's like, hey, I got a couple. You know, a couple. But I can't wait. I'm not a. I can't anticipate something, especially in this scenario, that I couldn't do it. She, She's, I, I would say even more inclined to want to know. I mean, we were driving all around town to like take ultrasounds to see if we could see his face. It's like, God, we're getting scammed talking about a fugazi. But I hear you and it probably was incredible and it would be pretty thrilling to when the baby came out, boy or girl. I'm not wired to do that. And I, I also think, like, the, the stress of not know. I, I just, I, I can't now. The powerful moment. I'd argue the powerful moment of them just yanking him out. For me, already knowing it was a boy was good enough. I, I just, I don't fall under the category of look forward to surprises. I would never want a surprise birthday. I just, I don't like surprises. I just don't. For whatever reason if I ever sat down with a therapist, maybe they could tell me maybe that's something to do with my. The inner wiring that was developed in my youth from my traumas. I fucking hate that word. I don't hate it for people that actually, you know, had severe trauma in life, you know, like a dude in war or someone that grew up in an area and saw things they shouldn't have at a young age. But most humans trauma is probably a little overblown social media wise on 2026 that would be a traumatizing. I would say six months for me waiting to know. Wouldn't like it because then I think I would start assuming that it was going to be something and then if I was wrong, I wouldn't want to be mad or something. I don't know, I just. More power to you. I actually don't even think I know anyone that's ever done that. I think most people in my life that have had children all found out immediately. My wife found out even before I remember. She did like the early test. So that wouldn't even be an option in my home even if I was interested. Have a great Memorial Day. Good talking to everybody. And yeah, enjoy some brewskis. Talk to you later. The volume this is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.
Date: May 22, 2026
Host: John Middlekauff
Podcast Network: iHeartPodcasts & The Volume
This episode of "3 & Out," hosted by John Middlekauff, features a freewheeling, candid mailbag ahead of Memorial Day weekend. Middlekauff fields listener questions about recent NFL scheduling trends, the Chicago Bears stadium saga, tanking in the NFL, the value of developing backup quarterbacks, and a wide range of both on- and off-field NFL and college football issues. The tone, as always, is informal, occasionally irreverent, and packed with insight from Middlekauff’s background in NFL front offices.
Timestamps: 03:00 – 09:00
“It’s a little easier to justify just the normal window ... It’s just a lot of football ... There is somewhat a line of diminishing returns.” (05:30)
“I love pizza and ice cream. I don’t eat it every day.” (06:50)
Timestamps: 09:10 – 11:50
Timestamps: 12:00 – 15:40
“At the end of the day, money talks and shit walks.” (14:55)
Timestamps: 15:45 – 18:20
“You gotta let them follow their own passions ... Honestly, if he doesn’t like who I like, I look forward to arguing with him.” (17:15)
Timestamps: 18:20 – 21:40
“By the time you get to the pros ... you’ve been on a lot of flights.” (20:30)
Timestamps: 23:00 – 26:20
“If you tank the roster and you’re 1-10 ... how could you possibly work a 15 hour day?” (24:50)
Timestamps: 26:30 – 28:00
“If you got a dome, I’d manipulate the noise too.” (27:15)
Timestamps: 28:10 – 32:00
“His value on a cheap contract was worth its weight in gold.” (31:05)
Timestamps: 32:00 – 38:30
“Just join the Big Ten, Notre Dame, just do that so we don’t have to argue…” (37:00)
“The NFL’s greatest attribute ... is they are all in it together.”
Timestamps: 45:22 – 47:10
“Sometimes in the draft, it’s about a year from now ... That’s part of what a draft is.” (46:04)
Timestamps: 47:10 – 49:40
“Some days are really chill ... It’s a great time of year.” (48:20)
Timestamps: 49:40 – 51:30
Timestamps: 51:30 – 53:20
“If both their ceilings are sky high ... the defensive lineman is more valuable.” (53:00)
Timestamps: 53:20 – 54:30
Timestamps: 54:30 – 56:20
Timestamps: 58:00 – 1:01:00
“You can only accomplish so much by yourself ... professionally and personally.” (1:00:03)
Pizza & Ice Cream Analogy for Too Much Football:
“I love pizza and ice cream. I don’t eat it every day.” (06:50)
On Business Realities of Sports Franchises:
“At the end of the day, money talks and shit walks.” (14:55)
On NFL Tanking Reality:
“I would throw the games Monday and Tuesday. Who cares?” (24:55)
Parenting/Fandom Philosophy:
“Honestly, if he doesn’t like who I like ... Maybe it’ll hone my skills for the podcast.” (17:15)
NFL’s Cooperative Advantage Over College Football:
“The NFL’s greatest attribute ... is they are all in it together. In college, you have the SEC against the Big Ten ... everyone’s pretty selfish.” (36:30)
If you’re seeking level-headed, insider commentary on NFL scheduling, franchise-building, and coaching philosophies—plus informed rants on the state of college football—this mailbag episode brings it in John Middlekauff’s signature, everyman voice. The episode isn't just quick-hit answers: Middlekauff digs into the why behind trending controversies (from Bears stadium leverage to the challenges of tanking), mixes in personal stories, and peppers the analysis with memorable, sometimes hilarious, analogies and asides.
For listeners who missed it:
This episode is perfect for NFL diehards who care not just about what’s happening, but why. It delivers a relatable look at the intersection of business, fandom, and human nature in pro football.