← The Herd with Colin Cowherd
Loading summary
Transcript16 lines
- [00:00]
T-Mobile Advertiser
You can count on T Mobile to help keep you connected from big cities to small towns on America's largest 5G network. Switch the T Mobile, keep your phone and they'll pay it off up to 800 bucks per line via prepaid card. Learn more@t mobile.com heap and switch up to four lines via virtual prepaid card. Allow 15 days qualifying unlock device credit service port in 90 plus days with device and eligible carrier and timely redemption. Acquired card has no cash access and expires in six months.
- [00:36]
John Middlekauff
Time and time again, detection based cyber security solutions have failed to stop ransomware. It's time to rethink your posture. Threat Locker offers a zero trust approach to endpoint protection that stops ransomware before it strikes. Threat Locker delivers a denied by default strategy where you choose what what to run, then block everything else. The result? No stress about the latest malware because with Threat Locker you block it by default, take charge of your cybersecurity and gain control of your environment. Visit threatlocker.com today and stay one step ahead of cyber threats.
- [01:17]
Homes.com Advertiser
Some might say homes.com is the best home shopping site. But why? Could it be their sleek, beautiful design, ad free interface, a distraction free search is certainly a breath of fresh air. Or maybe it's their in depth school info. Perfect for parents wanting the best for their kids. With district details and reviews from multiple sources, they've got you covered. Or Perhaps it's the homes.com is the only site that always connect you directly with the listing agent who knows the home best? Is home shopping the way it should be? Homes.com we've done your homework.
- [01:50]
John Middlekauff
This podcast is brought to you by.
- [01:52]
Travis Matthew Advertiser
Travis Matthew Apparel Designed for confidence and comfort no matter where the day takes you. Whether you're hitting the gym, pounding the pavement or dominating the court, your shoe should work as hard as you do. That's where the New Age from Travis Matthew comes in. An all new pure performance active shoe built for ultimate comfort and performance with game changing cushioned foam and a lightweight upper mesh. Keep your feet in perfect comfort no matter the adventure. Upgrade your performance with New Age from Travis Matthew. Visit travismathu.com for 20% off your first order the volume.
- [02:42]
John Middlekauff
What is going on everybody? How are we doing? Hopefully everyone is having a great day enjoying whatever you may be doing. I'm trying to get a little better here. I just sat in the steam room in the sauna for about, I don't know, 45, 50 minutes. Hopefully that starts to clear me out. I just, I'm just, I can't Believe I'm sick again. It's miserable. But I think the game plan is here is this will be the last podcast of the week. We've been grinding pretty hard. Uh, just, just, I just need a couple days to just clear my head. Um, I've given, I've laid it all on the table. Give my, my people behind the scenes a couple days. Just, just chill. So this will be the last podcast of the week. We'll talk a little football and we'll do a little mailbag as well. At John Middlekopf is the Instagram fire in those dms. Get your questions answered here on the show. I'm going to need a bunch of mail back. So it's the off season, obviously, football questions, free agency, the draft wide open. I mean I'm not going to be breaking down seventh round picks, but anything goes, you know, life questions, fire. Fire in those DMS at John Middlekopf is the Instagram. Make sure you subscribe to the YouTube channel. If you listen on Collins feed, make sure you subscribe to that as well. And yeah, we're gonna take a couple days, take the weekend and come back swinging. We have the combine right around the corner, free agencies right around the corner. So we're gonna hit the ground running here. But I think this, I'm out of juice so I need a little refresher and we'll empty the tank here and then we'll see, we'll see you early next week. I do want to start with, with Jalen Hurts and I think big picture when it comes to sports. Most players, I've been following sports like as a passion, as a lifestyle, the majority of my intellectual capacity going toward it for 30 plus years. And the overwhelming majority of players in any sport are polarizing. There is a small few that hit a point where it's like, what do you even say about them, right? Like a Tiger Woods, a Roger Federer or a Michael Jordan. It's like clearly the best. No flaws dominate. Like what are you even going to argue? There's nothing to argue. They're by far the best player that if you could pick them on your fantasy team, on your actual team, if you could bet on them, like they're just a no brainer. Best player favorite. That is a tiny, tiny percentage of these guys. The majority of guys, the best players when I was a kid, Shaq and Kobe, like they were pretty polarizing. Peyton Manning early on his career could not win big playoff games. Tom Brady, people thought after he won championships, was he even any good? Honestly, that was A conversation when I was in high school and in college. Tom Brady, what is he really doing? Obviously, that changed in 2007, but his first three Super Bowls, he was not viewed anywhere close to, like, the Tom Brady heebie game. It's part of the business. It's what makes this fun. And the thing I like the most about sports, which probably has a lot of parallels to a lot of industries you guys work in, it's very black and white, right? In this business. How many people are listening? How much revenue are we generating? Are we increasing listenership? Are we increasing revenue? You're either doing it or you're not, right? In your jobs, like, you got quotas. You got to hit quarterly numbers. You're either doing it or not. In sports, like, at the end of the day, you either win or lose games. But a huge part during those games is us judging you within the context of the game. And I think Jalen Hurts has been a polarizing player since he was in college. Like, Jalen Hurts didn't just come on the scene when Howie drafted him in the second round. He was benched in the national championship game in the peak of the Nick Saban dynasty. And let's face it, that is the last college football dynasty we are ever going to see. NIL will never. And transfer portal will never allow that to happen. So in the peak of the Alabama dynasty, he was benched for another guy who was extremely polarizing in Tuatanga Wailoa. And I think the one thing anyone that watched Jalen talk it is, it's very admirable, his resiliency, his focus, how serious of a guy he is. You know, I joke with my buddies on the Eagles, like, the two biggest curmudgeons on the team are Fangio and Jalen. They're not smiley, happy, go lucky individuals. Like, they're old school now, understandably, with Vicky, 66 years old, but, like, that's kind of Jalen's. The way he conducts himself. It's why he's talking. Talked about it over the years, why he got along with Saban, because they were very similar. And like, part of what makes Jalen fascinating is he's never going to throw for 35, 40, 45 touchdowns. That's not going to happen. Like, in a short career. Like, he's. He's not getting to 25 touchdown passes this year. There were 20 guys in the NFL who threw more touchdown passes. But I dove into some numbers today, and I was like, maybe I'm missing the boat on this guy a little bit. Because if you're going to throw 18 touchdown passes in a season, you can play on a team that's super loaded like the Eagles and you know you can get by, but that's not ideal. I would say at a minimum you would like your quarterback to throw mid to high 20s. But the one thing Jalen brings to the table, well, two things. One is a passer. Only three full time starters average more yards per attempt than Jalen hurts. So while he's not, you know, Josh Allen or Brett Favre or Aaron Rodgers slinging that pill around, when he does let it rip, he is pushing the ball down the field. And we've given him a lot of credit on that. He is a guy that is a great deep ball thrower and it shows when they play. And Lamar Jackson, Jared Goff and Brock Purdy actually are the only three guys in the NFL that average more yards per attempt. And the 49ers, while, you know, they had an awful season, offensively they were really, really good. They were just bad in the red zone. Obviously Jared Goff and Lamar dominated, but those offenses pushed the ball down the field or attempt to. The 49ers are kind of a hybrid. They break a lot of tackles. But like when Jalen makes plays with his arm, he is not dinking and dunking. He will let it rip and he's accurate when he lets it rip. But the other thing he does that we talk a lot about, they have a play that's unstoppable. It's literally an unstoppable play. It'd be like every time a batter swung, he's going to hit a home run. Or it'd be like anytime Bryson DeChambeau hit a drive, it's going to be right in the middle of the fairway. Any it'd be like Steph Curry, he, if he never missed, it's like every time he shoots he gets a three. Like, well, how do you stop it? You're like, well, you don't. You just lose. And that's what happens with the Tush push. So he accounted for 14 rushing touchdowns. 14. So really you have to look at him like, you know Lamar, Lamar is a better thrower of the ball and he is a guy that's proven now that he can get 35, 40 touchdown passes in the year. But like Jalen's going to get you 14 to 16 rushing touchdowns on the ground. Last year was 15 and the year before was 13. If you just pulled the average guy, you just walked down the street. Even if you went to Philly and said who had more rushing touchdowns. And I'm not talking about super nerdy guy. That's always on, you know, ESPN.com stat sheet. Just the average fan. Hell, you could go to a game and just pull the average fan. Who had more rushing touchdowns this year, Saquon Barkley or Jalen Hurts? I do believe that majority of people would say Saquon Barkley had more rushing touchdowns. Honestly, before I looked, I would have said that Jalen had more and it was only like Derek Henry, Josh Jacobs, Jameer Gibbs that had more rushing touchdowns than Jalen Hurts. Jaden Daniels was like, oh, this dynamic. He had six rushing touchdowns. So part of what Jalen brings to the table is like his rushing ability and his scoring ability as a goal line running back. He's just, he's an outlier player. We just haven't seen anything like this, you know, because part of like Lamar, it's speed. It's like the elegance in the open field with Jalen is power. We're going to get down and listen. I don't love the play. Like, I'll be honest, not because I, I think they're like fucking anybody by breaking rules. They're not, they're just following the letter of the law and taking advantage of it. And they got a lot of power up there starting with, with him. A lot of teams, we saw Josh Allen try to run it. He can't get low enough. So it's an advantage they have. My issue with the play is when they go into the position, it just never fails. And part of sports is like when Steph Curry shoots. I don't know if it's going in or not. I think more often than not it's going to go in. But he misses. Bryson doesn't always hit the fairway. That's part of it. Like when he gets under center and they go to tush push, it's, you know, especially on the goal line, he's scoring a touchdown. But like I think we need to come to grips with, we're evaluating Jalen. Like is he a top 58 quarterback? Well, in the traditional sense, if you're comparing like Peyton Manning and Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers and Mahomes and Josh Allen, no, he's not going to play like those guys. But when you look at production, the fucking guy is productive and he's a huge part of their running game. So he gets 14 touchdowns on the ground. You had 13 more with Saquon. If you have 20 plus touchdowns from your running backs, you are in Great shape. I mean, great shape if you get 27 from your top two backs. And I'm including Jalen in this. So between Jalen and Saquon, you have a dominant running attack. So to me, the Eagles, like, I just, I just think he's a unique player. And you try to put him in a box, you can't because he's not a player that can be put in a box. And he's just. His career has been different. I will say this, you play big in big time moments in sports. It's worth a lot more. It just is. You see it in the NBA all the time. Like, a lot of guys can score 40 in a random game. In January in Sacramento, no one gives a fuck. A lot of guys hit four home runs. I don't want to say a lot, but people have hit four home runs in a game or three home runs, or, you know, thrown eight scoreless innings. It's cool. It's July. What happens in September or October when everyone's watching, it's harder. And he now has played really, really well in two Super Bowls, completely under control. And that's where I think his kind of mantra of like, he's not a super celebratory guy. He's not Mr. Jumping for Joy all the time. Neither was Belichick, neither was Saban. And like, their teams usually played well in the biggest moments because that personality sometimes doesn't always serve you. In early October, it's like, why aren't you showing more fire? This is a marathon, not a sprint. And I just, I have a lot of respect for what Jalen accomplished in the playoffs, specifically in that super bowl, because that was really, really impressive. Speaking of a guy that obviously didn't have an impressive showing, I saw a clip from his podcast where he was just. You could tell Travis, pretty shell shocked. It's one thing to lose super bowl, it's another thing to just get curb stomped like they did. Now. I think as a fan I said this. I do believe it's easier to just get your teeth kicked in to just the game basically being over in the first quarter, you're like, we're just going to get killed. Than it is to lose in like historic fashion, like a Malcolm Butler pick or 28 to 3 in overtime. Like, I, I think those, the level. I mean, it's like getting kicked in the balls over and over and it just feels like that pain never goes away. Like there's not that much pain because it's over so fast. It's like getting hit by Mike TYSON the first 10 seconds of the boxing match. It's another thing to lose in 15 round, just bloodbath. You're like, God, I couldn't have given it anymore. And I think here's the thing with Kelsey. These situations are complicated. And I saw it last year with the, the warriors and Klay Thompson. Now it was different. Like the warriors were never going to cut Klay Thompson. They were never going to. He was more than likely he was going to play for someone else eventually. That's not the case with Travis. Travis Kelce is going to retire a Kansas City chief. If he wants to retire right now or if he wants to retire after next year, it's going to be his choice. The Kansas City Chiefs will not cut Kelsey this offseason, though they could for 2 million. And I think if he was any other player not named Mahomes or Chris Jones, he would get cut. But he's an absolute legend. He's one of the most impactful and important players of his generation, not just in the NFL, but for Veech and Andy. He's in a league that is really not full of anyone on scholarship. He kind of is. I also think he's owed close to $18 million next year. And I understand he's made $95 million and he's dating, potentially engaged, maybe ends up getting married to a woman that has an unlimited amount of money. But $18 million, still $18 million and living a high priced lifestyle. I've heard a lot of people talk to like cover sports media about Tom Brady, like he's not giving up 10 years. $370 million. Do you know how much money that is to work one day a week? It's like he has an expensive lifestyle. Rich people like to keep up the rich lifestyle. You need the money to keep coming in. For the first time in my life, I flew first class to New Orleans because we had some like extra credit from Maria. So I combined it just because I was just going by myself. I was like, damn, this is pretty good living. I've always wondered what it felt like to sit, be the first guy on the plane. Sometimes on Southwest I am, but I had to pay 50 bucks to get like a 2 and see everyone walk back knowing I got a way bigger seat, knowing I'm about to get free cocktails, free food, just taken care of. It's like, this is good living. I told Maria when I got back, I'm like, I don't know if I could ever sit back in the, in the normal seats again. I don't know if I could do it. I mean, I'm sitting next to Debo Samuel. I'm sitting next to Paige Sporanic. I'm like, I see the way these people are living. This is good living. But it's expensive. You need money to sit up there. It ain't cheap relative to the other seats. And I, I just wonder if you're Travis Kelce, like, it's over. He's not nearly the same player he, he is. You know, for a guy that is scheduled to make $18 million if he was just. If the Chiefs had to resign him to a one year deal, that number would probably be closer to like 2 or 3 or 5. Right. I just think, and I know he's going to contemplate it, it's got to be a tough decision because this is not a quarterback where you've made hundreds of millions of dollars. You know, he's trying to like he's keeping up with the Joneses now. Look who he's hanging out with. And I think if you're the Chiefs, in a weird way, you, they will never say this publicly. And these are the type conversations that Veech and Andy only have with themselves. They're hoping he retires. They want this to be over because it's very difficult to get rid of aging superstars and aging superstars who have led you and the organization to the highest of highs. I mean, the last there is a chance. And that's the great unknown about the reality television show that is football. Chiefs might never make it to another super bowl again. So the greatest era of Kansas City football might have just happened, right? It could have, we could have just witnessed it. Five Super Bowls in six years. Honestly, it's hard to get any better than that in any era. Five Super Bowls in six years and win three of them, that's fucking as good as it gets. I mean, that's, that's a legendary run and it's hard to pivot off those guys. So when you're their situation, I think they're praying that whenever he makes his decision, it's. And they're going to need to know before free agency, before the draft, hopefully, you know, in the next couple weeks, but I'm out, you know, And I think the thing is his downfall as a player right now is he can't move nearly as quickly as he used to. He used to be just such a great athlete. And part of getting older in the sport at running back, at wide receiver, at tight end, at DB is when your speed goes, if you were once a 45 guy and you become a 48 guy, it is glaring. And I'll never forget that big play that he had against the Texans where he made a guy miss in space and he took it like 50, 60 yards. I was like, he's way slower than he used to be. He's still a great player because his instincts and ability to catch the ball and get open. But he used to be a unstoppable playmaker because he was so much faster than every tight end. We have seen a small percentage of tight ends over the course of the last couple decades that could really run. Listen, I mean, this guy's a murderer. But Aaron Hernandez was faster than everybody else. He played tight end, but he ran like a wide receiver. One of the things that makes George Kittle such a dominant player is he is a physical player, like a Rob Gronkowski. Like, he likes hitting and he likes blocking, but he can run like a wide receiver. So you get him in the open field, he can fly. And that was Travis for the majority of his career. And part of getting 34, 35, 36 is it just goes away. And it was always going to be difficult for them to transition off of this. I mean, part of the reason their offense has not been the same is his limited explosive playability. I mean, look at his yards per catch over the last couple years. It has been a precipitous drop. And I admire the guy because I have, like most people watch so much Kansas City Chief football over the last six, seven years. And in the peak of his powers, he was a. He was as dominant of a past receiver slash tight end as you'll ever see. And he has legitimately won them games. I mean, some of the biggest games in the history of the franchise. He's played a huge role in just random regular season games over the years where he just took over. Those days are done. And when you pay a premium for a guy who's not even close to it anymore in the economics of the NFL, that's where you can get in some, Some. Some problems. I saw the super bowl, you know, ratings now, it's just. It's so inflated, they add the bar. It's just like, obviously, whether you tell me 120 million people, whether you tell me 105 million people, whether you tell me 150 million people, every single human I know watches the Super Bowl. I would imagine most people, you know, watch the Super Bowl. It clearly is a universal event. And I was thinking about one big advantage. Football has had. And I do think the super bowl has always been a big deal, but it is increased in its relevancy, I feel, pretty dramatically over the last couple decades. It almost feels like an American holiday. And I know that's a huge point. Like, people argue against, like, we need the off day the next day, right? Treat it like it's July 4th or Thanksgiving or New Year's. It's not treated like that on the calendar. Like, you don't get the day off from work the next day. But humans treat it that way in terms of gathering the parties and how they build their. Their weekend. And they talk about it for weeks leading up to it. So the other sports have no chance to compete when it all leads to the end, which is the Super Bowl. And you got to watch everything in between. Now, you don't need to follow the draft that closely. You don't need to fall free agency that closely. But once the games start, like making the playoffs, most people know that if you just get in, you have a chance. Because we all know we're going to be watching the Super Bowl. Texting with my mom in her mid-70s, who's devastated. She's a big KMC Chiefs girl, to just hearing stories from Maria at work of, like, all the different parties that people she works with went to. And I think it's. It's just pretty cool. In a day and age where we agree and disagree and everyone's got different opinions on everything. The one thing that we all come together for is football. It is by far the most popular sport, and its big event is by far the most watched event. It was my issue with the halftime show. I. A lot of people think that I. I believe that Kendrick Lamar is not popular. I don't believe that. I believe that Kendrick Lamar is popular. He's not like some Instagram influencer. I don't believe he was popular enough to put on the super bowl. Was my take. I think typically when you put people on a Super bowl halftime show, let's just like I said a couple years ago, Dr. Dre, Eminem, Snoop Dogg, these people had been so famous for so long, their songs are just kind of universally known. I was thinking the other day about Usher. I remember singing Usher songs when I was in Junior High. I'm 40 years old. Usher Raymond has been in my life for a long, long time. The super bowl halftime show is not some, like, niche deal. And I'm not saying Kendrick is, but like, a huge part of his show was this Drake beef where Drake is infinitely more famous. Than Kendrick. Drake is much more mainstream, and that's what the super bowl halftime show is. It's mainstream. Throw out U2. I saw. I just went to the list of some of the people that have played it in the past. It's like Tom Petty. It's just people that most people have known for decades. And I do think, looking back, it was just a bizarre choice. And I've had a couple people like, listen, I'm younger than you. Like, we don't like the music of the 90s. I get that's the way things work, is younger people. But this is not about young people. This show is about the masses. Why? Because it's by far the most amount of people watching. Now, if you're Kendrick Lamar and you get asked to do it, of course you say yes. Because you will never, ever be able to perform with that many people watching, ever. I don't care if you're Beyonce. I don't care if you're Taylor Swift. It doesn't get any bigger. This is by far the biggest event. It's why the NFL does not have to pay you to participate. You show up and 110 to 130 million people are going to be watching you perform for 15, 20, 30 minutes, however long it is. But like, to me, it wasn't a lot of I've heard, like, oh, these aren't his best songs. I'm not. It's not like I'm. When I say I'm not a huge fan, I'm not, like, I'm indifferent. I don't really listen to them, but I'm more. I'm not really a modern day, like, I would say the last. Like I said, 10, 15 year hip hop rap guy, you know, I listen. I think mumble rap's awful, but I also don't want to sound like the old guy with the young guys. Like, this stuff's good. Some of it's not bad. I do like Drake. I just think if you think that, like, put him on because this beef is so big. I think the beef is something you see a lot on the Internet. I don't think the casual person is like, talking about the Drake, Kendrick beef walking around society could be wrong. Maybe I'm out of touch. I'm not acting like I'm super in touch with everything going on in the world here. And clearly that was a big story because Drake is way bigger than him. Like, that's just a fact. Someone's like, well, Kendrick has all these streams on Spotify and he was like, per month, he's like 21st. Or in 2024, he was 21st on Spotify. Drake was third. Even the Weeknd, who played, who played the Super Bowl a couple years ago was like fourth or fifth. I mean, these people. And he's a relatively newer, I would say artist, but, like, that's pretty big. I just think popularity, which we can argue over all day long, is pretty important in the super bowl halftime show. Okay, let's. Let's end on this because we got to tell you who's hot. Presented by our friends at Louisiana Hot Sauce. Because you bring the food to your big game party to a whole new level with the original Louisiana brand hot sauce. The bold, authentic flavor that embodies the rich culinary tradition of Louisiana. The original Louisiana brand hot sauce is perfect for those who demand great flavor with just the right amount of heat. Let me just say this about New Orleans. The food is just fantastic. It's elite. I probably gained like 5 pounds in 48 hours because the gumbo, the jambalaya, the beignets, you know, everyone's got that Louisiana hot sauce. We met them all at the Volume party. It is just fantastic. I mean, they, they are eating well in Louisiana. But I mentioned this yesterday on the podcast. There is. It's just hard to be hotter right now than the city of Philadelphia because they love the Philadelphia Eagles. The Philadelphia Eagles are treated like, you know, Alabama or LSU or Georgia or Ohio State or the Yankees or the Lakers. It just doesn't get any bigger. They are the apple of everyone's eye when it comes to that city. They are the heartbeat and the soul of the people. And to not. It's one thing to win the Super Bowl. I mean, they won it with Nick Foles. They were an underdog against Tom Brady. It's another thing to be up whatever they were at halftime. 24, nothing to be up. 17, nothing in the blink of an eye to be picking off Patrick Mahomes left and right to kick the living. You know what, out of the two time defending champions, a team that beat you a couple years ago. So I just. The happiness I have for all those fans, people that have been following this team for decades, people that used to be season ticket holders at the link, people that go back to like the Randall Cunningham, the Reggie White, the Ricky Waters. Just so many teams over the years, they've had a bunch of talent, even back to the early Andy Reid days, and they just couldn't win a Super Bowl. And then to finally win a Super Bowl, I'm like, okay, we got a championship for the city. But then to win one like this, like we're the best team, it doesn't get any better than us. It's just, just an awesome feeling for everybody. And you talk about a city. I know it's supposed to be snowing there this week and cold. No one cares. It's like Big Dom, you know, you don't even need long sleeves no matter how cold it is outside. Just because you're on cloud nine, just because you went to New Orleans. The Eagles fans bought those tickets and congratulations. So very, very, very excited for all the Eagles fans because they're just, they're in it through the good times and the bad. They love their football team and Louisiana hot sauce is like you guys going to stay hot and it's perfect pick to match your game day eats who's scoring big in the NBA this season? You are with the all new ways to get in on the action at DraftKings Sportsbook, an official sports betting partner of the NBA. From dunks to assists to rebounds, get behind your favorite player and the prop bets you can make on DraftKings, the home of NBA player props. Ready to place your first bet? Try betting on something simple like picking how many points your favorite player will have. Go to DraftKingsportsbook and make your first pick first time. Here's something special just for you. New DraftKing customers bet 5 bucks to get 150 in bonus bets instantly. Take it to the rack with DraftKings Sportsbook. Every point counts. Download the DraftKings Sportsbook app and use the code JOHN. That's code JOHAN for new customers to get 150 bucks in bonus bets. When you bet just five bucks only on DraftKings, the crown is yours.
- [32:38]
DraftKings Advertiser
Gambling problem. Call 1-800-GAMBLER in New York. Call 877-8-HOPENY or text hopeny467-369 In Connecticut, help is available for problem gambling. Call 888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org Please play responsibly on behalf of Boot Hill Casino and Resort in Kansas, 21 and over. Age and eligibility varies by jurisdiction. Void. In Ontario, bonus bets expire 1168 hours after issuance. For additional terms and responsible gaming resources, see DKNG Co audio.
- [33:08]
Homes.com Advertiser
Some might say homes.com is the best home shopping site, but why is it their sleek ad free user interface. Enjoy search experience without distraction. Maybe it's their unmatched school insight featuring district detail and reviews from expert sources like Niche. Every parent's dream or is it their super comprehensive agent directory? Or how they always connect you directly to the listing agent on every listing? Homes.com even offers a comprehensive search experience with 22 data visualization layers, 7 environmental layers, and an option to search by commute and architectural style. Homes.com is bringing you all the in depth info you need. Homes.com We've done your homework when it.
- [33:49]
John Middlekauff
Comes to cybersecurity Threat Locker delivers a radically different approach to securing your endpoint. Instead of trying to detect the undetectable, you start by identifying what applications you trust in your environment with ThreatLocker allow listing, then control how these trusted applications interact using ThreatLocker ring fencing solution to further the security of your network. To keep bad actors out, deny them by default. Visit threatlocker.com to see how you can keep your organization safe from cyber threats. Foreign okay, let's let's do a little mailbag at John Middlecoff at John Middlecoff Is the Instagram Fire in those dms? I I need a lot of your questions so make sure you fire in those DMS to get your questions answered here on the show. We're going to need a lot of them over the next couple weeks, so make sure that you flood my Instagram with any questions Football life, you name. We can talk about whatever you want. Everything's on the table. It's the off season so fire in there and anything but like breaking down some potential 6rounders feet or something. I'm not doing that. But any other question you want fire in there? We will start with Joey. Hey John, love the pot. Here's a question for you. I know you aren't a big NBA guy. At least I don't think I would say I'm a modern day NBA consumer. Don't watch many games. Follow the league. I listen to podcasts, I listen to Simmons Wind Horse podcast I like a lot and I listen to like local warriors coverage. But so I know what's going on in the NBA, I just don't watch the games. But I'm sure you have some thoughts on the LUCA deal. Now we can go back and forth over whether whether the Mavs should have traded them, but it's universally agreed that the Mavs definitely didn't get enough in return. Interestingly, the Mav sent the league's biggest international star to the league's most popular franchise. And I like this question already. And they did it multiple days before the deadline. So even though the GM may have been forced to do it by the owner, it's not like they didn't have time to weigh out other packages. With the NFL being consistently ridiculed for allegedly rigging the sport, who's to say that isn't a result of Adam Silver and other execs forcing something in their desperate quest for ratings? And yet the idea has gotten less buzz than the OPI on AJ Brown in the Super Bowl. Why has the possible example of rigging the sport not gotten the same level of attention? I don't know about you, but Adam Silver being exposed for forcing Luka to the Lakers would be a much bigger deal to me than Roger Goodell telling a ref to give a catch to Xavier Worthy in the AFC Championship game. What do you think? Also, for the record, I don't think either is rigged. Yeah, I mean, I. Some people get more calls than others. That's just a fact. Some players, some teams, NBA, NFL baseball, referees are human, you know, I mean, Draymond's going to get treated differently than other guys. It's just part of the sport. You know, the Lakers, Kobe and Shaq got treated different than the Kings. Now, we could argue whether the David Stern back in the day wanted the Lakers in the Finals for ratings. I don't blame him if he did. I get it. But it still felt rigged when Tim Don G was on the take from the mob and calling those games. I would say this clearly. If the NFL was rigged, they would want the Chiefs to have a three peat and everyone would have been up in arms and they just got curb stomped. So I think that conversation came to a screeching halt. It felt like the moment A.J. brown got called that the fire wasn't just lit. They threw like sticks of dynamite on it. You're like, oh my God, here we go. Then it just played out. How's it played out? You cannot convince me that something shady did not go on. You cannot convince me that, like, well, you think he's fat. We just think he's fat. He just led your team to the NBA Finals. He literally just carried you through the west and destroyed everybody. He's fat. He's 25. And this isn't one of those, like, Zion's fat yet and doesn't play. This guy like, plays injured. We saw him in the playoffs, limping around, still going for 30, 40 points. If you could save one franchise, if you're Adam Silver, it would be the Lakers. LeBron James is 40 years old. Anthony Davis, who actually has really resurrected his career, awesome player, but kind of irrelevant. You put him on any team, like, he's not People aren't tuning in for Anthony Davis. This is guys on the short list of changes, the lakers. And he's 25 years old. So do I believe something shady happened? I definitely think it's a possibility. And if you told me one, I think the whole maverick situation doesn't ever add up. Mark Cuban, if you think about the last 25 years, just. Or just think in my lifetime, 40 years old, when I think of owners that loved their team slash the sport more than anyone else, I think of Al Davis with the Raiders and football. I think of George Steinbrenner with the Yankees and just like, loving the sport. I'm saying, like, addicted to just being involved. Jerry, with football, can you ever imagine those guys ever selling their team? Not like a piece to get some cash, but like, selling their team and going away? Not in a million years. I would put Mark Cuban under that umbrella of like, this guy loves owning the mavericks, loves basketball, loves the players, loves it all, loves the show of it. He just randomly sells his team. And I thought it's like, well, he thought that, like, the television deal is going to be bad and the business was going to go the other way. They got like 2x2 and a halfx the television deal, and he has a superstar player sells a team. Like, that never added up. For people that were in the gambling industry that clearly don't care that much about basketball, it's not like the Adelson family are like, you know, basketball junkies, right? It's not like they're banging out. I bet if you go over to their house, they're watching, like, Kentucky play Tennessee on a Tuesday night. They're not watching Wizards Hawks on some random Monday. So they buy the team. Clearly they. They have a lot of money. They're in the gambling space in Texas is like, no guarantee to pass these gambling laws. I. It's. It never added up to me, this whole thing. And then his quotes about, like, work ethic, and he's including, like, Shaquille O'Neill. It's like, this guy, was he like a plant? I don't get it. Like, it. It doesn't make sense. And there's some similarities here with, with the Broncos, where the dude that runs the Broncos is, like, married to one of the Waltons. But, like, clearly they're not. They had some superstar player. They wouldn't randomly trade them. They clearly want to run that business. And it's not. I don't know if it's just love of football more because they like the business. It's a Cash cow. But what do they do? They immediately go out and give Sean Payton $20 million a year and say, you do whatever you want. Make us a winner. I don't get it. It's extremely shady. Now you'd be like, middle cop. You just hate the Lakers. I do hate the Lakers, but it does not make sense that they just get handed one of the most talented young players we've ever seen overnight. It's like, well, they, they. They gave him, you know, the biggest haul in the history of the sport. No, they didn't actually. Didn't even give him that much. I mean, that's part of it. It's like, wait, this trade happened the middle of the night? They didn't even trade him for that much. It'd be like, if you're a Browns fan and you just woke up, it's like, oh, Miles Garrett's. You know, on the 49ers, they gave you a Debo. In a couple seconds. You'd be like, what the. Or, you know, hey, Cowboys, you just. You traded Micah to the Bills. It's like, what'd you get back? It's like, oh, they traded you a guard and a second and a third. You'd be shell shocked. You wouldn't even be able to speak. That's this times 100. Except he goes, like you said, the Lakers. This whole thing, shady. I'm 100% conspiracy theory. Sometimes conspiracy theory, I feel like that word's been overused. There are just things that are red flags, and this is a gigantic red flag. We've had a lot of red flags over the last four or five years, and this is a fucking gigantic red flag. Now the Silver have the balls to do this. If he did, I'll say one thing. I. I do respect it. If he did. Like, it is the right move. But so if. If he did orchestrate this in a weird way, I'd say, congrats, it's the. Your finest moment as a. As a commissioner. But if you're a Mavericks fan, you'd have to just quit watching sports. Okay, this. This guy's from Northern California. Asked me about the Niners. Love your takes. Truly do. I'm from Chico. Home. Aaron Rodgers. Well, he doesn't live there now. That's where he grew up. Can't wait for the draft to see what we do at 11. Or if we trade for Garrett Crosby or Hendrickson. We have hit on our number one trade. 11 down for more picks. Try inside DJ Jones and get some more O. Line D. Line sign a veteran wide receiver until BA gets back. Let's go. Massive off season for the 49ers. There's just no way around it. They're about to pay their quarterback a huge amount of money and he's in the world. Like, you can win Super Bowls with Jalen Hurts. Jalen Hurts is never going to be, you know, on a year in, year out basis considered a top two or three player at his position. But if you do a good job building around him, you can win big. I've seen a lot of random, like I saw Alex Smith with the 49ers when Harbaugh got there. Win games like you can win a ton of games and win playoff games when you don't have Joe Montana or Tom Brady or Peyton Manning or Aaron Rodgers playing quarterback. And just because you have those guys doesn't guarantee you anything. It's about building the team and the way you build the teams, like hit on draft picks. That's why the Buccaneers have been productive. You good? You sounded exhausted on the podcast. Yeah, I mean, I got this flu or something. I don't know. You tell me. Do you view the Rams as a Super bowl contender going into next year? I feel like they're being disrespected by sportsbook and news outlets projecting next year. They are ranked 8 to 12 by most. They were the only team to play Philly close. Assuming Stafford's contract gets reworked. That's a big question. Alongside this much improved young defense and Sneed and McVeigh's demonstrated ability to bring in young talent, why would the Rams be a top three NFL contender? Why wouldn't they be, along with the Lions and Eagles? I do think the Stafford thing's kind of lingering. If Stafford is not their quarterback, like, it's a pretty big deal. They just, those. Those two have a weird relationship. It's like they've had so much success together, but it never feels like they're both happy with each other. I don't know. So I get that situation. Red flag. If they get good quarterback play, they're a contender. Now, their defense was not as good throughout the season as it was in the playoff game against the Eagles. So defense, especially from a pass rush standpoint, now you get verse takes another step. Like, what if versus one of the best players in the league next year and Braden Fisk is right there. Like, their defense could be really good. But offensively, Cooper's going to be gone, which not that big a deal. They probably need to add a tight end, add another wide receiver. I just think The Stafford thing is, is a pretty big question mark right now. But as long as you got McVeigh and if Stafford's there. Yeah, I mean they're, they're a double digit win team. And thinking football, you just make it to the playoffs, like anything can happen. Think about this. The Eagles were, I don't know what yard line they were on when Stafford got sacked, but what Was that? The 20 yard line? I mean they weren't that far away from losing that game. That's the thing with football, you know, it's so cliche. Game inches, details matter. It's kind of true, you know, make a play or not make a play. Some coaches just say that, like, who in this room is going to make a play, especially at halftime? We just need someone to make a play. Right. This is the moment most people in most of our jobs, like you don't have to perform in like 20 minutes. Like you can do it over the course of a week, of a month or whatever. And like in football it's like this is our moment. We get 30 more minutes and if you're a defensive player, you're only going to get what, seven, eight more series. So you're going to get say 20 to 25 more snaps. In one of those 22 snaps, can you make a play and can you make a difference? And Jalen Carter did in that game and it was the difference in the game. And then the rest two games were a joke. They beat the out of them. What do the Colts need to do to actually contend for a playoff spot and possibly win the division? The division is winnable and I feel like our roster is pretty solid. We've got a top five running back win healthy. The defense will be better with Annarumo and the wide receiver core has improved. Obviously Richardson needs to prove that he's a franchise starter. I do think that at the end of the year when McAfee put out the tweet and then Shane Steichen said that it was true, essentially like, yeah, guys show up late. That tells you everything you need to know. I think it is way easier. And any human with a brain has said this in life, let alone in football, to go from asshole to lighten up. Like, it's much easier to start like Parcells, like Belichick, like Mike Shanahan and then as you get older or as guys, you know, age under you to loosen up on them, it is very difficult to go from loosey goosey, everyone's friend, player, coach to then be hard ass. So you're telling me this guy, these players who had not been accomplishing dick were just kind of showing up whenever they wanted. I can't imagine someone consistently showing up late to meetings with high level coaches. You think that's happening for Andy Reid or Sean McVey? Like you think that flies with Mike Vrabel? Like you think that flies with the Packers? And listen, this is the pros. Like you just get fined and listen, every human being, I don't care who you are, you might be the most punctual human alive. You're going to have a day where something happens and maybe you're 10, 15, five minutes late. Like I, I'm not acting like you should never ever be late. Life happens. But it was pretty clear that it was happening a lot. And so we can talk a lot about the football team, you know, Anthony Richardson, how do they fix that? And this is what McAfee put out. Like, there's a culture problem in this building. Do you think people with Peyton Manning in their heyday were just showing up late? No fucking chance. None. So I, I don't know how you fix that. And this is Mike McDaniel and Shane Steichen thing. Both those guys both said at the end of the year tardiness was a problem. So how do those guys go from like loosey goosey, everyone's friend, you know, Mike McDaniel wearing sweet watches and Gucci sunglasses to now be a hard ass? You can't. I, I don't think it changes because that's who you are, you know, in part of being a tough guy is like you're just tough. And some guys, you know, people make fun of Sean Mc, Shawn McDermott for being kind of stiff and kind of old school. Like yeah, he ain't allowing people to show up late. Like that's not tolerated in Buffalo. Not shocking that they kick everyone's ass in the division.
- [50:54]
Homes.com Advertiser
Some might say homes.com is the best home shopping site. But why is it their sleek ad free user interface enjoy search experience without distraction. Maybe it's their unmatched school insight featuring district detail and reviews from expert sources like niche, Every parent's dream. Or is it their super comprehensive agent directory? Or how they always connect you directly to the listing agent on every listing. Homes.com even offers a comprehensive search experience with 22 data visualization layers, 7 environmental layers and an option to search by commute and architectural style. Homes.com is bringing you all the in depth info you need. Homes.com We've done your homework when it.
- [51:35]
John Middlekauff
Comes to cybersecurity Threat Locker delivers a radically different approach to securing your endpoints. Instead of trying to detect the undetectable, you start by identifying what applications you trust in your environment. With ThreatLocker allow listing, then control how these trusted applications interact using ThreatLocker ring fencing solution to further the security of your network. To keep bad actors out, deny them by default. Visit threatlocker.com to see how you can keep your organization safe from cyber threats. What are your thoughts on the Seahawks quarterback situation? It looks like Geno will be extended this offseason, but I love the idea of drafting quarterback sooner rather than later. Do you see the Seahawks making a move at quarterback in the next year or two? I think it'd be pretty crazy to extend Geno Smith. I I haven't looked. I mean, how much money is he making? Does he have to be extended because he makes so much money? They gave him three years, $75 million. It's a pretty good contract. So this is his last year of his contract. His cap hit is $44 million, man. So he's not going to plan $44 million. You wouldn't think I'd have a hard time extending him. I. I really would. And I know he's. People like him. He's a good guy. He's 35 years old. That's pretty crazy. He's thinking, probably been on the Seahawks a little longer than you think, huh? Career earnings, what year to get to Seattle? Got there in 20. So this is going to be his. This be a sixth season there. Gino's making some money. I would not extend them. I would just play it out. Now, I know it's hard to build your team when a guy's cap hit is that big, but I would struggle with that now that football season is wrapped. I was wondering if you could help explain the scouting process that happens after the college season has ended. We hear every year that X player can improve their draft stock by having a good Pro Day Senior bowl combine. Doesn't their season speak for itself? I remember DJ talking about Jalen Milroe saying he could improve his draft stock by having a good Senior Bowl. He just played an entire season at one of the best programs in the country. This is just one of many examples. Do scouts really take Pro Day Senior bowl combine into account? Okay, let's factor in some things. Jaylen Milroe is a bad example because he's played for Nick Saban and Kalyn Dubois. So it's like, well, those guys, like, if you're not accurate for Those guys, it's a red flag. I think what he's meaning is like, if he goes to the Senior bowl and he looks accurate, people might get excited about him, but it's not going to make or break anything because like you said, he's been playing at such a good program. So I would tend to disagree. He's just a polarizing player because his good so good and his bad can look so bad and then some. You see some of the highlights of the Senior Bowl. He just, he's just not an accurate enough passer. I think when you hear guys at Senior bowl, it's like if you play guard, it's like, I think this guy could be like a second round guard, but he plays at a program where they're not playing like you play in the Big 12. So you. I'll just pick a team. Let's say you play it like Texas Tech, but throughout the last couple years you've been a starter there. You don't go up against NFL defensive linemen. So it's like, I really like this guy, but how can I take him on the second round when I haven't seen him play anybody? When he goes to the Senior bowl every day in practice, he's going up against first, second and third rounders. So if he looks good, you're like, damn, this guy's a player. Or vice versa. You're like, ah, this guy's a little overmatched. Scares me. So I think it's a lot of stuff like that. It's like a guy goes and you see him against good competition. But like Dylan Gabriel, right, He's been a starter for like six years. Ucf, Oklahoma. What's he going to do at the Senior bowl that's going to help or hurt a stock? Throwing the ball to guys he's never thrown to it just, it can't. I think it's more for the line of scrimmage. Depending at the programs you play at wide receivers and DBs, you get to, you know, show your speed in front of guys. It's just, it's a small percentage, I think at the combine, you know, the 40 time we can act like it doesn't matter. I'm sorry, it just does. Right? There are certain things, you know, the draft is a market, it's a marketplace. It's like an economic exercise. Right. There's reasons certain homes sell for more than others on the same block. More square footage, an extra room, bigger kitchen, extra bathroom, two to three car garage. Well, if you go to the combine and you Run fast. If you're a corner and you run a 4, 4, 0, that helps you. I'm sorry, it just does. Just like if you go to the combine in your corner and you run a 4, 5, 8, that hurts you. Doesn't mean you're not going to be a good player, but it does determine your draft stock. Draft stock is different than how you're going to be as a player. It's just, what price do I have to pay to get you? So if I go to the Senior Bowl, I didn't watch that much Ole Miss this year, and the one game I watched was the Florida game. And Jackson Dart just, I mean, fell apart. I mean, he couldn't have played any worse. He looked like Sam Darnold against the Lions. It was like, this is. He's throwing awful picks. So my exposure to him was like, I don't know if this guy's good enough. And then all I hear is like, well, if you really watch his body of work this year, he's way better. It's like, yeah, I didn't do that. Then he goes to the Senior bowl and he looks good and people go, he's really helped himself. Because I think people go in. It's like, oh, he is pretty accurate. God, he's much bigger than I thought. The other thing is, you know, what you do in college might not be what that team wants you to do. So if I'm the. If I'm the Raiders and if I'm Chip Kelly, maybe I go, what Jackson Dart does or what, you know, player X does is something that I think works for us. So people like, ah, why do you draft this guy that high? And they said that with Jalen Hurts. So to me, draft stock is all relative to what you're willing to pay for individual teams. And everyone's price is different. It's why draft boards all look different. We go to 10 different teams. You know, beside a couple players, the draft boards are going to be all over the map. But your interviews, your medical testing, your physical testing does build what your price is. Do I got to draft you 15th or can I get you 75th? Right. So, like, when you're big, when you're fast, I mean, that doesn't hurt stocks. Now, that doesn't mean that you're going to be a good player because just because you run fast, if you play slow, that's going to be a problem. But we have seen guys, countless guys, run really fast and really help their stock. Look at what's his name from the Packers Watson when he was in North Dakota State. The other thing is, when you're not out of Alabama or Ohio State or Georgia, there are just a lot more variables, like who. Who are you actually playing? What's the competition like on a weekly basis? It's just not the same. So when you're playing at Texas, when you're playing at Michigan, when you're playing at Ohio State, it actually has a lot of similarities to the NFL. But you might be a guy that's a potential first round pick from Oregon State or North Dakota State. So judging you at those benchmarks, okay, he has similar size to seven guys that are pro bowlers at his position in the NFL. Like that matters. And it's why it's very complicated. It's a scientific exercise in terms of, like, there's no way we can do the measurables. We can do the speed, we can do the production, we can do the psychological testing. You're still dealing with a human being. So finding out. The other thing at the combine and the Senior bowl and like, once we get in the free agency and you start bringing prospects into the building is you kind of want to get a feel for the people. So it's like, do we, like, this guy is the type guy we want in our building? Will he vibe? What does our position coach think? He just spent half the day with him. What does our coordinator say? They just went to lunch together. So you got to get a feel for the people. Jim Washburn, you say this to me all the time. It's so easy for you guys to say, like, hey, man, I know this guy's a. But he can sure rush the passer. And then we draft him the second round, and then you don't have to deal with him anymore. I deal with him every day. I sit in that meeting room for six months with the guy at practice every day. And it's. The head coach is on my ass to stay on him. And it's right. So it's like, you got to take care of your position coaches. There's a balance. Like, you got to take some flyers. But the personality stuff is so huge. And I do believe beside, like, I'm with you on Jalen Milro. Like, we've kind of seen it. Like, I would not draft Jalen Milroe. I'm sorry, I would not. He's not accurate enough passer. But there are a lot of players who are NFL caliber and could be NFL starters that just don't play at Alabama, Georgia and Ohio State. And their schedule is Just very hit or miss. It's why sometimes smaller school guys, like, if you play at a max school and like that one game you played against Ohio State or Notre Dame, like, it's almost like you got to put 80% of your evaluation in that one game. Well, what if the guy tweaked his ankle in practice? So it's like. Well, actually, I still kind of like him. He didn't play that well, but he was injured. Like, there's so many different variables that it's hard to figure out. I. I'll never forget my last year in the NFL. Ziggy Ansa, from byu. He ended up getting drafted number five overall to Detroit. He had walked on to the BYU football team in his, I think, his first year. He only played like special teams. And his, his last year in the program, he played defense a little bit and was productive. Went to the Senior bowl, the game, he was by far their best player. I remember Brett Veach going, if you watch tape on Ziggy Onsa, he was the best player on the field. And he was. And he shot up like a rocket ship and he went and he was legitimately a top, you know, 10 talent. But, like, it was hard to figure out, like, why wasn't he playing? What's his background? What's his deal? Then he ended up, I think, having injuries in the pros, but it's just a difficult situation factoring in all these variables. Right. It's pretty easy to go trying to think of a good player like Travis Hunter, like, yeah, new skill set's going to translate. Abdul Carter, you know, some of these offensive linemen, like, yeah, there's now, are they going to be good enough? Are you going to have the work ethic? Are they tough enough? Like, only time will tell. But most players, like, there's a lot of. There's holes. You got to figure out a way, you got to get them with your coaches. You got to really evaluate the tape. I mean, the Chiefs spent spend months watching tape as a group together. It's a huge thing they do watch tape as a group together. Anyone that follows, you know, the Colts over the years, they put out videos, they watch a ton of tape together, and you got to let that talk to you. But you also, there's more to it than just, you know, you got to factor it all in and then make the best educated guess. You know, you can appreciate everyone listening, battling through with me, and I will talk to you guys next week. Adios. The volume.
- [63:51]
Homes.com Advertiser
Some might say homes.com is the best home shopping site. But why? Could it be their sleek, beautiful design ad free interface? A distraction free search is certainly a breath of fresh air. Or maybe it's their in depth school info. Perfect for parents wanting the best for their kids. With district details and reviews from multiple sources, they've got you covered. Or Perhaps it's the homes.com is the only site that always connect you directly with the listing agent. Who knows the home best? Is home shopping the way it should be? Homes.com we've done your homework.
- [64:24]
John Middlekauff
When it comes to cybersecurity, Threat Locker delivers a radically different approach to securing your endpoints. Instead of trying to detect the undetectable, you start by identifying what applications you trust in your environment. With Threat Locker allow listing, then control how these trusted applications interact using ThreatLocker ring fencing solution to further the security of your network. To keep bad actors out, deny them by default. Visit threatlocker.com to see how you can keep your organization safe from cyber threats.
- [64:58]
Allstate Advertiser
Some people just know they could save hundreds on car insurance by checking Allstate First. Like you know to check you have the tickets in your wallet first before you drive two hours to the big game. Seriously, you had one job, now the closest you'll get to the 50 yard line is parking lot D. Yeah, checking first is smart, so check Allstate first for a quote that could save you hundreds. You're in good hands with Allstate Savings. Vary terms apply. Allstate Fire and Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates, Northbrook, IL this podcast is brought.
- [65:31]
Travis Matthew Advertiser
To you by Travis Matthew. Apparel designed for confidence comfort no matter where the day takes you. Whether you're hitting the gym, pounding the pavement or dominating the court, your shoe should work as hard as you do. That's where the new Age from Travis Matthew comes in. An all new pure performance active shoe built for ultimate comfort and performance with game changing cushioned foam and a lightweight upper mesh. Keep your feet in perfect comfort no matter the adventure. Upgrade your performance with New Age From Travis Matthew, you visit travismathieu.com for 20%.
- [66:06]
John Middlekauff
Off your first order.