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- [00:00]
John Middlekauff
This is an I heart podcast. If you smoke or dip, I'm going to give you a few good reasons to try Zynn Zyn nicotine Pouches. First, it's America's number one nicotine pouch brand, and Zynn offers a robust rewards program. There's a lot of options for nicotine satisfaction, but there's only one Zyn. So if you go to zyn.com find that's z y n.com find to to find Zyn at a store near you. This product does contain nicotine. Nicotine is an addictive chemical.
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Katie Couric
On the latest episode of Next Question with me, Katie Couric. I sat down with Bernie Sanders. We've talked many times over the years, and today he even throws a few questions my way.
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John Middlekauff
All right, are you ready for another question? Go ahead, hit me, Bernie.
- [00:48]
Katie Couric
We talk about the billionaire class, the cost of living, and of course, the government shutdown. Listen to Next Question with me, Katie couric on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
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John Middlekauff
December 29, 1975, LaGuardia Airport.
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Narrator
The holiday rush. Parents hauling luggage, kids gripping their new Christmas toys. Then everything changed.
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John Middlekauff
There's been a bombing at the TWA terminal. Just a chaotic, chemical, chaotic scene.
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Narrator
In its wake, a new kind of enemy emerged. Terrorism. Listen to the new season of law and criminal justice System on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [01:38]
Sad Oligarch Host
The rich Russians falling out of windows podcast is back. Sad Oligarch Season 2 Since we left you in 2023 after season one, many politically motivated Russian millionaires continue to die in suspicious circumstances. Season two gets very weird. Listen to Sad Oligarch on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [02:10]
John Middlekauff
The volume. What is going on, everybody? John Middlecoft three and out podcast. Hopefully everyone's doing well. Hopefully as well as Brian Kelly, who I. I just saw a stat. He's going to get $740,000 every month for the next six years. So pretty incredible gig if you can get it. But tonight we're going to talk about the. We're gonna talk about the Chiefs who just destroyed the commanders who are now 5 and 3 Mahomes throwing his hat in the ring for MVP. Commanders are just in a free fall right now. They're 3 and 5. They were in the NFC championship game last year. They beat the Lions on the road and now they play Seattle coming up, which is not going to go well. That's Sunday Night Football. Like Seattle in that spot. Then they play the Lions. It could get ugly and it could get ugly fast that they're going to need Jaden Daniels back real quick. And the Eagles, I mean it's the division already over. They got six wins. No one else has more than three. I don't think either Dallas or Washington, best case going to win eight. Eagles are going to cruise this division. So we'll talk about something I forgot to mention last night. It kind of hit me today when I was driving around run some errands about Guta Kins and lafleur. Some couple thoughts on Brian Kelly and RIP Nick Mangold who I forgot to mention last night who passed away this this weekend. Legendary former jets team captain, Ohio State, just stud all time great center and lost way too soon obviously. But I didn't want to hit on him as well as a mailbag at John Middlekopf At John Middlekopf is the Instagram fire in those DMs. Get your questions answered here on the podcast and you guys know the drill. Subscribe to the YouTube page. Never miss a thing. We go live Thursdays, Sundays, Monday nights and we'll have content all week as well. So go check that out. Obviously the podcast. If you listen on Collins feed, make sure you subscribe to three and out before we dive in to some football and a man named Patrick Mahomes. You know I got to tell you about my friends. You know I got to tell you about my partners. The official ticketing app of this podcast, Game Time. Do you want to go to one of these football games? Do you want to go to an NFL game? Do you want to go to a college game? Well, here's the thing. Game Time has exclusive discounts like zone deals. You just pop up. Type in the team you want to see, type in the stadium you want to go to. You get flash deals. You get the ability when you click on the ticket. There are no hidden fees. It tells you the actual price. How often on one of these other ticketing sites do you find where you want to sit? Do you click on it? And then you go to check out and it adds 30%. You're like, what is going on? That's not here. No fooling around here. Great seat views. The lowest price is guaranteed. So take the guesswork out of buying tickets with Professional Football Ticket. Excuse me, let me reread that. That was not great by your boy. Take the guesswork out of buying Professional Football Tickets with Game Time. Download the Game Time app, create an account and use the code John for $20 off your first purchase terms apply again, create an account and redeem the code. John for $20 off. Swipe, tap Ticket. Go download the GameTime app today. You know, you guys never get to see the sausage being made. Sometimes when I'm reading ads here to send off to my people and there have been iPads thrown, Stanley's throne pens, notebooks. I get very angry sometimes. Some of these ad reads the game time one I do at the back of my hand. But it's, it's, it can be a challenge here. They're not as easy as they look. Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs. That was as easy as it looked. Very weird start to the game. I mean extremely weird. The first quarter is one of the more bizarre experiences I've had this year in a primetime game. We had a pick off Debo's face. We had Patrick Mahomes throwing a pick to Lattimore who I think would be considered like universally shot washed. Most people, even Troy Aikman was like, God, he really needed that one. And then Travis Kelsey had one like bounce off his hands be get intercepted. So we had like three interceptions within what felt like the first 20 minutes of, of game time. It's like, what is going on here? And then the game played out and the Kansas City Chiefs put the pedal to the metal. Mahomes threw three touchdowns. Rasheed Rice delay a game penalty, throwing the ball at someone's face. Coach Reed goes, what did you do? And he does the, he does the, you know, tries to show him what he did. And coach Reed didn't even say anything back. He's like, are you serious? He's like, you're actually telling me what you did. But he did and he got a delay game, but it didn't matter. He's, he's an elite player. Travis has the fountain of youth. Clearly all the wide receiver help. Marquis Brown playing all season long. Juju Smith, Adam, Rasheed Rice back Worthy's now healthy. The running games awesome. I mean they're missing their best two offensive linemen tonight. Trey Smith is one of the better interior offensive linemen in the NFL. I think they said on the broadcast he missed his second game of his five year career tonight. And Josh Simmons who's been gone for the last several games with a unknown personal matter. But I think people have reported that signs point to him coming back in the relatively near future. So they will get their starting left tackle back and their starting star guard back to go along with their high end center. It's like their offensive line is pretty solid now this team's coming. And it kind of hits you when you're watching them play like this team's going to be in the AFC championship game again. It had a feeling to that one Patriot team. I forget the year might have been 14, could have been 15. They started like 2 and 2. And I think Albert Brear asked a question in a press conference. It might have been on a Monday night game where they had lost to the Kansas City Chiefs. If Tom Brady was in, like, was there a threat for him to get benched and Jimmy Garoppolo to play? And Belichick's reaction was classic. But then the dust settled and they were in the Super Bowl. I think that was the year either they came back to Atlanta or beat. Beat the Rams. I don't remember the exact year, but kind of how it felt. You know, the Chiefs start owing to everyone's like they're done. You know, that looked a little weird. And even when they lost the Jags game, that is the game they always won. And obviously Mahomes throws the 99 yard pick six. Just it started to feel like it's not really their year. And then as we get to Halloween, it's like they're going to be especially if they win this weekend against the Bills. If they win this weekend against the Bills going on the road, take down the Bills who have played really well against them and beat them countless times in the regular season and you go six and three into the buy. I think depending on what happens over these next several weeks with the Colts and who knows, can the Colts maintain a 15 win pace, but maybe they can. I think the Chiefs immediately become a threat to be the number one seed. But most importantly, like this isn't just a playoff team. This is a contender and this is a Super bowl contender. And you know, they have the most important combination in the NFL, which I would say most people would say they have the number one version of this. The coach, the quarterback and the defensive coordinator, because their head coach is the offensive coordinator. So whoever your two coordinators are typically now in the NFL, one of them, for a lot of, you know, these teams, it's their offensive coordinator. McVeigh, Shanahan, Sean Payton, LaFleur, right. Kevin O'. Connell and then their defensive coordinator is extremely important. Flores, Shula, Sala, Spags and the quarterback, well, they got arguably one of the best quarterbacks of all time that I would have told you you were probably need to put down the drugs maybe a month ago. But you watch him tonight and you've watched in the last several games now that he's got his arsenal of weapons back, and you go, that's the best player in the league. And the MVP odds have shown, like, how is Patrick so high in the MVP odds? How is Patrick so high in the MVP odds? Kind of hit me tonight like, well, he wins next week in Buffalo, and he ends up throwing several touchdowns a game. Moving forward, this guy's going to win the MVP of the league. And here's what he has going for him, because sometimes narratives matter. It really helped Josh last year, right? Because in fairness, he had never won it. And he was clearly one of the best players in the league. He was in that trio or quattro of Burrow, Lamar Mahomes and him, they were the leaders of the pack, and he was playing great. He probably could have won it previous years, but, like, there was a lot of momentum for him. Just like early in his career, there was a lot of momentum for Patrick. Then we completely shifted. We had gone all in with Josh and Lamar, rightfully so. You could argue there were times those guys were playing better than Patrick Mahomes. It wasn't really debatable. Now he flipped a switch in the playoffs, so did his team, and they would beat them in the playoffs. But it's a regular season award, and those other guys earned it. Well, this year, especially after the 02 start, everyone kind of wrote them off. I was probably. I don't know if I want to say I'm guilty, but I definitely thought, like, yeah, this could just be a 9 and 8 season. Understandable. You got some injuries, little transition, you're missing some players. Xavier Worthy gets hurt the first game. You know, your defense has some holes. You know, Chris Jones is going to pick his spots. No, that. That's not what's going to happen. And this is why when you have Josh Allen, when you have Lamar Jackson, when you have Patrick Mahomes, when you have Joe Burrow, your chips all going to be in the middle of the table every single year, because as long as they're on the field, they give you a chance. And this guy, the reason we talk about him in such a high regard, like, I love football. I love watching good quarterback play. I loved watching Marcel Reed on Saturday night in Louisiana with that performance. It was just spectacular. I admire it. I appreciate how difficult it is on the road in these environments, understand the pressure of playing in these primetime games and to watch Mahomes. And this is what, you know, being critical of Some young quarterbacks and stuff, you have to do the easy stuff. Well, right? Like when you're running back hits a wheel route and it's third and five and that is schemed up and he will walk to a first down, you not only need to hit him, you need to hit him in stride. Patrick Mahomes does that shit with his eyes closed. Quick out slants, timing routes on second and eight, third nine, stuff that is going to get you the first down or not a first down. The difference in punting and keeping the chains and the drive going, that's what he, he majors in that. But his ability and what he's really shown over the last couple weeks is like kind of feels like we're getting that throwback. What made the guy kind of legendary. We called him Farveen. We called him like the Steph Curry of football. And he's doing that again. And it's harder to do that when you don't have players to throw it to. And Stucky was on my podcast a couple weeks ago and he brought up a good point. He's like, I, I think Travis was just a product of the receivers were injured and everyone kind of condensed in the middle of the field and took that away from well, when you got Hollywood Brown playing well, when you got juju Smith playing well, when you bring back Rice, you got the speed of worthy. When your running backs can catch the ball, it just opens the field a little bit. So all of a sudden you're watching Travis Kelsey. He just looks a little bit younger than he did previous years. Maybe he's not. Maybe it's just simply he has more room to operate. And listen, is he as quick and explosive as he was four or five years ago? Of course not. But he's so smart, even on the one big play today. What's he doing? He's in on pass protection. What does Mahomes do? He's looking around, he's looking around, nothing's there. All of a sudden Travis realizes there's no one there. Slip out. Mahomes elite instincts looks dump some the ball off. Huge game. Maybe in his younger years he scores a touchdown on that play. But I'm watching Patrick Mahomes and I go, that's mvp. I mean, that's so the Chiefs, can they win the afc? I think we all acknowledge, yes, they can. This version of them. When you have Andy Reid, when you got spag scheming it up and you got quarterback play at this level, even if you're going to be, let's let's say Denver wins the division and they're a 12 win team and Denver's a 13 win team and you're the 5 seed. You think you're worried if you're Kansas City about going on the road and take care of business? You think you're scared to go on the road to play the Pittsburgh Steelers? Of course not. So I think the Chiefs have really figured it out and I think it starts and really ends with this quarterback. I feel like he flipped a switch, I really do. And it's easier to make plays when you have more talent around you. But he feels a little just more dialed in than and he's just playing at a higher level. He does this in the playoffs, but over the last couple years in the regular season, it could just be a little hit or miss in the version we're seeing right now. Like this is the first couple years when he started like doing the miraculous stuff and the talent around him is really good and they're just playing at a high level now. I obviously Washington's not very good. Like I look at Washington like a six or seven win team. But what does a good team do to a bad team? They destroy them. And that's exactly what happened tonight, 28 to 7. Let's just pick up some stats here. Chiefs 26 first downs, Washington 14. You know the Chiefs could be a little bit better on third down. They were 410 but good on, good on fourth down. That's another thing with Washington and we talked about this over the course of the season with Stuckey on the gambling aspect. They were so good on fourth down last year they were like 22 of 24 or 22 of 25, whatever the number was, it was, it was insane because of the quantity of the times they went for it, but of obviously the times that they executed it. And you watch them now and obviously with Mariota, there's a big difference with Jaden Daniels, but the magic's just kind of gone. And this is what's so difficult. I was thinking this on Saturday watching Alabama play. Think how many years that program has been the game that every team on their schedule circles. I mean we're going on easily over 15 like once Nick Saban really established the program in like 2010. So for all the 2000 and tens and this entire decade, including right now, every single team that plays them, every non conference team and every SEC team circles them for the Chiefs now since Patrick Mahomes, like they were a good team before Patrick got there. When Patrick got there they accelerated to just an elite operation. So for the last six or seven years, every team on the schedule, obviously divisional teams, but every non divisional team you play, it's arguably the biggest regular season game of their season. You are getting everyone's best fight. You are walking into the ring and they are going to give you however many Mike Tyson rights they have. And some might have more than others, right? Obviously, Washington doesn't have much tonight, but tonight, if you're Washington, even with your backup quarterback, you're three and four. This was a kitchen sink game, and this would have been even if they were a fully loaded team. It's a really big deal to play the Kansas City Chiefs when you are forever LeBron James or Steph Curry or Tiger woods. You're getting everyone's best shot every single time you play them because you are their biggest deal. And I'm watching the Chiefs tonight just thinking, like, that's really hard. That's why I always say, like, it's, it's really hard to maintain a high level of play as a team, as an individual player, as a coach. Like anyone at the highest level can have a good game. Hell, most guys can have a good season. But being a great player is doing it year in, year out. What they say tonight, Travis Kelsey, that was his hundredth career touchdown, including the playoffs. I think it was like his 83rd during the regular season. You know how long that guy has been a good player? I mean, we're going on well over a decade of basically every year you're getting. I, I would say on average, 85 catches. And I bet he had a stretch where he was scoring seven, eight touchdowns a year. I, I mean, basically since he didn't really play as a rookie his second year, 67 catches, 72 catches, 85 catches, 83 catches, 100 catches, 97 catches, 105 catches, 92 catches, 100110 catches, 93 catches, 97 catches last year. Every single year, he's clocking in to kick ass. Even when people like me, he's lost a step. I lost a step. 97 catches, 97 catches. Now I get it. There's an extra game, we throw the ball more. Especially with a coach like Andy Reid. It's going to be different than playing for some of his coaches. But still, do you know how difficult that is? And I, I watched. This is what makes the league so, so hard. Washington. I, I'm guilty of this. It's like they got Jane Daniels, incredible player. It's like I, I like C.J. stroud. A lot as rookie year. Who didn't? I felt like Jaden was on a different level. When you factored in the dual threat. It was just like they got Dan Quinn, this established coach. They got Adam Peters, who's been groomed to be this great gm. You got Bob Myers, who's in there giving tips. You got Magic Johnson hanging out with Josh Harrison. Like this thing's a rocket ship. Year two, they'll probably go like 6 and 11 or 7 and 10. I get it. They had some injuries, but still, it's like that's how fast it can. The Chiefs now since Andy Reid has got there, I think they've had one down year where they missed the playoffs. They went 9 and 7 1. It is really difficult because last year Washington didn't have this. They got to fly under the radar. They had been one of the shittiest franchises in the league for two decades. So no one takes them that seriously. Even if they have this special quarterback now, by the end of the year, you're kind of okay. This team's got a winning record. Then all of a sudden you look, you're in the NFC championship game. It's one of the great seasons in like franchises had in 30 years. It's like all the hype coming back this year and now you're just getting throttled. And in fairness, like, it's not. I, I'm not blaming these guys for like feeling themselves or, or getting the disease of me. Some of it's just, you know, Jaden's been banged up. Obviously, McLaren's missed some games. I have nothing but respect for Bobby Wagner. Absolute badass. He's a liability now. I mean, you see his speed trying to cover guys. I mean, he used to be one of the best line. He's a Hall of Famer. He's one of the great players of his generation. But this thing in football, you know, and once you're. You lose a step at linebacker in the way the league is played now, Space League, they, they use running backs in the passing game. You got to cover people and you just feel like Dan Quinn talked about it, like, we don't feel as fast. Well, your middle linebacker is not as fast and your pass rush isn't as good. Like you're depending on Javon Kinlaw, who's solid player, but like that's one of your main guys on defense. Lattimore, who's had a really bad season. They, they've depended on some guys who fallen off. Now McLaren, you saw tonight, made like two of the better catches of the year. I mean the catch on the sideline where Mariota throws the lollipop to keep his foot one, it's just incredible touch on the pass, but to slow his feet down like he's Chris Carter and catch that thing, that was awesome. It was so good. The referee was literally standing there and was like out of bounds, out of bounds. They showed the replays like that's pretty easily inbounds. But honestly when it happened in real time, like ah, that he didn't catch that. No chance. Then he did same thing on the one down the sideline. You're like, that's, that's out of bounds. Then you see, no, he caught it. I, I, I, this is where I defended Terry McLaurin. It's like, listen, there is no way that I'm going to make the same money as Debo Samuel on this team because I, I'm a dynamic outside wide receiver and there's no shade of Debo. I have a lot of respect for him, but like, if you are building a team based on who's better, gets paid more, you got to pay Terry McLaurin more. And I thought Debo would have a big impact for him. Doesn't quite feel like he hasn't been terrible, but you know, they're just missing a little juice at the end of the day. Like Mahomes doesn't miss games. And that's the other thing with Jaden and this is, we talked about this last week. You know, they get back to the Herm Edwards thing. Like the best ability is availability. And that's obviously not true. The best ability is like your actual ability. Right? Like some guys have way less ability than Chris Jones. So it's like, yeah, you can put them at defensive tackle, they're going to get stoned by centers and guards. So like you got to have ability. But at that level, like most guys have a lot of ability, but then if you're not available, like Brock Purdy might end up playing like three games this season. They just paid him $200 million. Like, that's a disaster. It's no one's fault. Like, obviously no one's trying to get injured, but it's just that's a problem, you know, and especially it's one thing when you have catastrophic injuries. Nothing you can do when it's just these injuries. Like, what, what's the reason for this? Is it something you're doing, putting yourself in harm's way? Because you're. All of our jobs now, coaching staff, front office, a Lot of players on the team are tied to you. Like we go as you go. Ask everyone in Kansas City what it's like to have Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid in the front seat driving that bus. It's been glorious financially, wins and loss wise the moments they've had to just everything about it. But like you got to be able to depend on the guy and that's going to be something. Like if Jaden wants to have this great career, which he has the physical capabilities, he's got to be on the field. And you watch Mariota, who I looked up, fascinating career right when he came out of college. And I always give like the college guys a little grace on this. You know, I remember having Joel Klatt on the radio show and Rick Neuheisel too. They both thought he was like the next Steve Young. It's like, I don't know. I like Mariota, who doesn't. He's like all time great character guy could be a little inaccurate, you know, when you really watch them. At Oregon, guys weren't wide open, but he was the easy guy to root for. But he's a good example. I looked it up today. He's made $83 million and he hasn't been a starter in years. If you are a good guy, right, and you're on that tier that like, you know, I'm not going to be a top 12, 15 quarterback but people are going to love me. You can make a lot of money in the NFL and like at the end of the day, if Mario to start a lot of games, you're going to lose a lot of them. But he's got another year after this, maybe a couple. When it's all said and done, he might get a couple more five million dollar contracts. He might make a hundred million dollars by the time he's 36, 37 years old as a backup quarterback. And I think that's a good lesson for life. Like be a good person, treat people well, be someone. Like part of being valuable in certain industries is like be a guy that other people want to be around. Ask Joe Flacco or people that have employed Joe Flacco what that means. They like being around Joe Flacco. Well, I said this about Mark Sanchez. I always heard that Mark Sanchez, remember he had a long career as a backup. People loved him. And there's a chase. Daniel was a guy that played for like 15 years in the NFL. I think he had like four career starts made like $40 million. So the value of Mariota is Not that he's a good player, because most guys, if you have to, if you have to become a starter when you're the backup and Mariota has to start eight games this year, they're going to lose the majority of them, right? And they basically pay him to not play. You know, there are some guys like Mac Jones you can win some games with, and Mac Jones is a good example of that. Mac Jones can become a guy that can just have a long career making 8 to 10 million dollars as the best backup in the league. And maybe one team, one year will give him like one year, $20 million to be a bridge quarterback so he can inflate his overall earnings over the course of his career. And you can't turn that down. But like, if you're one of those guys. I love this guy in the quarterback room. I want this guy around my young quarterback because most bad teams are always looking to draft young quarterbacks. Well, who do you want around a young quarterback? A high level guy. What did the Chiefs do when they basically inserted Patrick Mahomes? When they traded Alex Smith, Brett Veach and Andy Reid had a goal to find a backup quarterback. The guy had to be married. They wanted a mature guy around their young quarterback. Who'd they, who'd they sign and hire? Chad Henny. What Chad Henny do make millions of dollars for years being the backup for Patrick Mahomes. And it's beloved in that building. And I remember hearing a story that when Chad Henny was like, I'm retiring. They're like, hey, Chad, can you help us find a backup quarterback? So I think he did some interviewing for them. Like that's, that's the type guy like when you watch Flacco. Now Flacco's, you know, probably shouldn't be starting, but he's another one of those guys, you just want him around Jamis. Look at the career Jamis has kind of cut out for. Look at Gardner Minchu. People just like Gardner Menu. Now if Gardner Menu's got to start for you, you got problems. But I bet if you ask Andy and Patrick and Nagy like, oh, we love Gardner. He's awesome. Great vibes in the, in the meeting room. Helps everyone study. Good film breakdown guy. We like him around. We are extremely excited to announce our new presenting sponsor, Hard Rock bet. Everyone knows and loves their hotels and casinos. But now you can use the top rated Hard Rock BET sportsbook to place all your NFL bets this season. Hard Rock BET is the only legal sports book in the state of Florida and is also available in Arizona, Ohio, New Jersey, Indiana, Tennessee, Virginia, Illinois and Colorado, with more states to come. You can also play on Hard Rock Bets Online Casino if you are in New Jersey as we gear up for the NFL season, sign up for Hard Rock Bet and make a $5 bet and you'll get 150 in bonus bets. If you win, head over to Hard Rock Bet, sign up and make your first deposit today. Payable in bonus bets. Not a cash offer. Offered by the Seminole Tribe in Florida. 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- [30:14]
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- [31:13]
John Middlekauff
AI agents are everywhere, automating tasks and making decisions at machine speed. But agents make mistakes. Just one rogue agent can do big damage before you even notice. Rubrik Agent Cloud is the only platform that helps you monitor agents, set guardrails and rewind mistakes so you can unleash agents, not risk. Accelerate your AI transformation@rubrik.com that's R U B R I K.com on the latest.
- [31:44]
Katie Couric
Episode of Next Question with me, Katie Couric I sat down with Bernie Sanders, who is 84 years old, has spent 34 years in Congress and he can still pack a rally with people a quarter of his age.
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John Middlekauff
Denver 34,000 people come out. Salt Lake City 20,000 people you know, huge turnouts. People are really dissatisfied about the status quo.
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Katie Couric
His Fighting Oligarchy tour with AOC and other young progressives has become a movement. But is his message too far to the left? Well, he certainly doesn't think so.
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John Middlekauff
Does that sound like a radical idea? Is that too far left for you?
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Katie Couric
Okay, okay, I get your point, Bernie. We talk about the billionaire class, the cost of living, and of course the government shutdown. Not to mention the current state of the Democratic Party.
- [32:35]
John Middlekauff
To me, the failure of the Democratic Party has been an unwillingness to recognize the real issues.
- [32:42]
Katie Couric
Open your free iHeartRadio app search next question with Katie Couric. And listen now.
- [32:50]
John Middlekauff
December 29, 1975. LaGuardia Airport.
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Narrator
The holiday rush. Parents hauling luggage, kids gripping their new Christmas toys. Then at 6:33pm everything changed.
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John Middlekauff
There's been a bombing at the TWA terminal. Apparently the explosion actually impelled metal glass. The injured were being loaded into ambulances. Just a chaotic, chaotic scene.
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Narrator
In its wake, a new kind of enemy emerged. And it was here to stay. Terrorism, law and order. Criminal justice system is back in season two. We're turning our focus to a threat that hides in plain sight that's harder to predict and even harder to stop. Listen to the new season of law and criminal justice System on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [34:00]
John Middlekauff
A couple other things. I don't think I did a good job last night. Sometimes, you know, when we just do these instant reactions, I'm thinking the next day I'm like, ah, I wish I would have said that. I don't know if Guda Kin and laflor get enough credit. You know, we talked a lot about this. You know, the big news today. I have big news today. But it was news today that Carson Wentz, I think the whole right side of his body is just doesn't work. His, his pack, his shoulder. I mean, he just. Who knows if it'll ever work again, but he's out for the year. And when you make a decision with a quarterback, we always assume, like the Chiefs traded Alex Smith to go with Patrick Mahomes. They thought he was going to be really good, but they didn't know until he played like, you know, they didn't. They never knew it was going to be this. I mean, they hoped he'd be an explosive player, good player, could be a French pro bowl guy and maybe have a higher ceiling. Turns out he's one of the great players of all time. But that move took balls. Anytime you make a quarterback move. Let Sam Darnold Go for J.J. mcCarthy. Like that that takes stones. And I admire like it's so much easier to make suggestions than decisions. You make a decision and you're going to be right or wrong based on the results. But the process of the decision, like I understand most of these choices beside the Atlanta Falcons and the way they set that up, but I understood what Minnesota did, you know, and I think Guta Kins and lafleur, it's easier to let a Sam Darnold go to Seattle or trade an Alex Smith to Washington than it is to trade Aaron Rodgers after He's won multiple MVPs on your watch and made you a lot of money and made you as a coach and GM look really good and the conviction they had. And listen, like it could have gone wrong. Even if Rogers gets traded to the jets and nothing changes, he still tells Achilles his career is going like it's going. If Jordan Love sucks, which clearly is possible, right? Whenever you insert a young quarterback, whether he's a former first rounder or a fifth rounder, he might not be good at NFL football. It is clearly not a exact science and we don't really have any more of a clue now than we did 30, 20, 15 years ago. We've been missing on these guys forever. And Jordan Love clearly was a wild card. Utah didn't play that much. You just didn't know. It's not like he came from a Power 4 conference. He was playing at Utah State against San Diego states and New Mexico's. Now he had a lot of physical ability, but you're kind of keeping your fingers crossed now. They had years working with him behind the scenes, but still like it hasn't I, I don't think it could have gone much better to go from Rogers to a guy that could just be one of the best quarterbacks in your conference and be a starting quarterback on a team several years later. I mean they've gone to the playoffs back to back years. Two years ago they won a game on the road against the Cowboys and this year they stay healthy. They are going to be a major threat to be the number one overall seed. So back like when Ted Thompson traded Farve to go with Rogers, the nuts that takes because the easy thing to do is and most people in life, whether you work at Google, whether you work at Wells Fargo or whether you work for an NFL team, are going to take the safe route for job preservation. I don't think anyone would have blamed them and I don't think Most people, even if they believed in Jordan Love, like it the easy thing would have been like, let's just try to keep Aaron Rodgers. Like, you know what, let's break up. Let's do this. We will pull the trigger and trade you away and go with Jordan Love. And it's worked out. Obviously he's his career, I'm not saying has been perfect, but you watch him the other night against Pittsburgh on the road on Sunday Night Football, just slinging it all over the place. And a couple things he did. Like we talk a lot about quarterbacks being reckless and when I talk about that, it's more when they're running around. You got to be careful and you got to just hit the ground. You can't take these just unneeded shots. You are going to take shots when you're sitting in the pocket holding on to that ball for that extra split second to get the guy open. And he did that multiple times last night like his toughness was on full display. And I think there is not a gm obviously just this year you would rather have Jordan Love than Aaron Rodgers. And over the last several years, it's not even a question given that he's hurt and now old and I'm not acting like Aaron Rodgers. Some scrub now he's still solid player but what a move by those two guys. Brian Kelly, I want to hit on this really quick because I've been thinking a lot about this having just been around coaches and you know, having been doing this for a living for a long time and watching all these guys careers closely and you know, knowing a lot of guys that work for a lot of these coaches and you know, these scouts that go into these different programs and I always ask them about and listen, I get like unsolicited texts from guys that, you know, Luke Fickle a couple weeks ago refuted a report that I guess it had come out like Dane Brugler had said, like it's really important to watch some of these guys during games for Wisconsin because he doesn't let you into practice. And then someone had asked Luke Fickle about that report and Luke Fickle had called it a lie. He said, we're not North Carolina. And then my scouting buddy had sent me a text like, no, he 100% is. No one's allowed to watch his practices. He's like, not only is Fickle disliked by most NFL teams because he's not a likable guy, but he's a liar. And I was like, I didn't know. I just assumed. Fickle's like kind of like a Mike Vrabel. Like, no, people can't stand the guy. And clearly Brian Kelly and I think Belichick can be used as an example to are people that when their teams were winning, like Notre Dame or the New England Patriots, didn't like the guy. He's. They're not likable humans. But you're winning and you respect their ability to put you in a position to win more. Right? We all, I'm sure many of you listening, depending on what business you're in, do deals, do partnerships, work with people that you do not like and honestly probably can't stand. But if it's financially beneficial and you are literally making money because of it and the guy's not like a criminal or whatever, you just kind of suck it up and deal with it. Called life. But when you don't win or in. In my example, when you aren't making money, you're like, I ain't doing this shit, no way. Well, why do you think everyone's turned on Belichick over the last four or five years? Because that act, when you're absolutely miserable, you have no personal relationship with any of these guys, specifically your players. It's not going to work. And this is not the 60s, the 70s, the 80s, the 90s, where you could just be like that and no one ever pushes back. Now, I'm a big believer that I think it's overrated, a little bit like different generations. I think anyone worth their salt wants to be pushed to their highest level of potential. And I think athletes are no different than whatever we do that when you're around the right guy, that establishes a relationship with you that you know can take you to another level. You can deal with some quote, unquote, hard coaching, right? Like Dan Campbell can, Kyle Shanahan, Sean McVeigh, LaFleur. Those guys are, quote, unquote, lighting people up when they need to be, but they also have a personal relationship with them. I bet if you went to a Kirby smart practice, you're going to hear some F bombs. But I bet if you went to the cafeteria when he's hanging out with the linebackers or the DBs, like he knows them all pretty well. Even Nick Saban's a good example where he screamed at people constantly. And I've known a lot of people that work for. For him. It was difficult, but you knew that it was going to work. Nick Saban could not have done what he did. If he was winning six games a year, everyone would have quit and players would have. There would have been a mutiny. But they were winning so big, everyone just bought in. That's the problem with Brian Kelly in lsu. I thought that everyone made a little bit too big a deal about the accent and the family and just everything about that. But looking back, he was a fish out of water. And he tried to pretend he was something he was not. And I saw a bunch of people. I feel like I follow a lot of people from Louisiana. They're like, this notion that you got to be from Louisiana to coach this team is bullshit. You could be from wherever. You just need to have the. Have the passion, the energy, and the want to be here, and people will embrace you. And obviously, you got to win games. It almost felt like Brian Kelly never dove headfirst into the deep end. Like, I consider, you know, people like Nick Saban's not, quote unquote, from the South. I mean, he's from West Virginia. He had coached at lsu, but several years in, he felt part of Alabama and, like, Alabama felt part of him. They were intertwined. And you felt Brian Kelly. It felt like he was just a hired mercenary. Almost a lot like some of these players. Look at Florida State, they have been kings of just buying players on the transfer portal. And when it works, it's awesome. When it doesn't, guys just tap out because there's not like that sweat equity and loyalty. You look last year at Ohio State making the run. What did they have going for them? They had a lot of guys who had been there for years. Everyone was rowing in the same direction. They were all part of the same deal where it felt like Brian Kelly. It's weird. I know he had LSU on his shirt, but he always felt like, I don't know, the red face guy from Boston, that was the Notre Dame coach that was just doing this because they gave him $90 million. And it felt like he could never really be himself. And part of being himself is just he's truly an asshole. Like, there's just. And I think sometimes, like some people, that's just their personality. Like, not everyone's just super friendly. And that's fine. Just be true to yourself. Be authentic to who you are. One of Lane Kiffin's things, that he's doing really well right now, he just feels pretty authentic. He's kind of a goofy, making jokes, not that serious all the time. That's, I think, kind of his personality. I remember when I was scouting and he was the USC head coach. He was actually back then, he tried to act like Belichick didn't talk to anybody, was kind of a dick. Tried to put on this like, front and it didn't really work and it was a disaster for him. And in life, when people think you're an asshole, if you are not the best of the best either, the, the top moneymaker, the top coach, the top player, they will turn on you first. So Brian Kelly, like Billy Napier, is a good example. People like Billy Napier down in Florida. Why? Nice guy. People got along with him, so he got a longer rope even though it clearly was not working. Life's not that complicated. People want good people to have good things happen to them. When people think you're a bad guy, which Brian Kelly, the display he had on the sideline was like, just a bad guy. You just a bad guy. We all know him. It's like, yes, that's, that's James, man. Just stay away from him. Do not do a deal with that guy. A lot of shady stories about him. We all know these people. Even if you can have a one on one interaction, maybe overbearings, cool. You just saw, like, I just do not trust this guy. Brian Kelly looks like a guy you don't trust. And obviously Jimmy Sexton being his agent got him a lot of money. He did a good job at Notre Dame, but it just felt like, I don't know, I mean, just a fish out of water and he could just result, resort to what he knows best. And that's just being a royal dick to everybody. And you can pull that off when you're winning 11 games and going to the College Football Playoff. You can pull that off when you're kicking ass and taking names, when you're winning seven games and your team's unwatchable and you're not only not from that area, but you're from a long way away where people talk differently, they vote differently, and overall they just think about life differently. They're going to turn on you. And they turned on them immediately. And most people had already turned on them, but that switch gets flipped so much faster when people don't like you. And last but not least, I, I meant to talk about this last night, but, you know, about three or four days ago, my wife shows me her phone. She's like, do you see this about the guy on the Jets? I'm like, what? He needs a kidney transplant. I'm like, who? What? And then I read it and Nick Mangold basically gave out this plea. Maybe it was last week that he had this kidney disease, since I think it was going on close to 20 years they had known about it, but it had gotten really bad and he needed a transplant. And obviously then the news broke over the weekend that he had died. And I think as you get older, you know, I've lost a parent, I've lost people that I went to high school with or grew up with. You know, as you age you just, you experience life, but it never gets easier. And I've never met Nick Mangold, but I think one enduring fact of the sport of football is that offensive lineman, there is a relatability to that position, especially to certain individuals in that group that is just undeniable. And there was like this, he almost felt like a television character with the big beard in just the big smile. But Wikipedia, I mean he went to the Pro bowl every year. He was a multiple time all pro. Like he was an ass kicking team captain for a team that for a couple years was one of the best teams in the league. And he was obviously the anchor of that team because it sure wasn't the quarterback. And you see guys, as you get older, you know, you start, especially for me, I'm about to have a child, you see 1984, dash 2025 and you go, God, I was born in 1984 too. And it really humanizes just the situation of like this guy that had the world by the balls, this all American former first round pick, I don't know, potential hall of Famer who was universally loved from Ohio State to the NFL to. Every single person that I have seen that played with Nick Van Gold was in tears. And you just see this guy, he had four children who, I haven't googled their ages, but I would imagine they're relatively young. And it just, it just rips at your heart that I said this when I got involved in the NFL. And I remember when I was in college in like the mid-2000s, a lot of guys were getting in trouble, right? Or at least it felt like that. And that was when Roger Goodell kind of took over. Like the judge, jury and executioner, you know, he started suspending guys and he became like the, the hammer. And I remember working in the NFL, I'm like, I, I don't think that. And I remember going to the combines. Like I think most of these guys are pretty good guys. I think most of these individuals, if they weren't playing football would be high level contributing members of society. And the amount of guys in this upper percentage, there's a small percentage of, of America that is able to do this. And a tiny tiny percentage of them are knuckleheads and idiots. Most of them are like pretty trustworthy high level guys. And then the super high level guys of that group were like this guy could probably run a bank, this guy. Thank God this guy is not a podcaster because I probably wouldn't have a job. And that's kind of what it felt like for Nick Mangold. And there was obviously, you know, Rex had a pretty good couple minutes on TV the other day. I think any offensive lineman, the number one thing they want to be known for is toughness and that feels like a defining attribute for a guy that you don't become a seven time Pro Bowler. And this is before the Pro bowl became fake like when guys went and multiple time all pro at center and not be one of the toughest guys in the league. But it also shows you and this humanizes that I think we all can relate to. If Nick Mangolden's prime was in a bar fight like there wouldn't be that many people that he would have trouble with. Yet in life when something goes wrong inside of you, it doesn't matter how tough or how big or how strong or how many pro bowls you made, you're in trouble. And it just sucks. And I I don't really know what else to say beside I just think you saw the NFL community was pretty rocked by losing Nick Mangold at 41 years old. Just a pretty legendary figure of his E.
- [52:02]
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- [53:02]
Katie Couric
On the latest episode of Next Question with me, Katie Couric. I sat down with Bernie Sanders who is 84 years old, has spent 34 years in Congress and he can still pack a rally with people a quarter of his age.
- [53:15]
John Middlekauff
Denver, 34,000 people come out. Salt Lake City, 20,000 people. You know, huge turnouts. People are really dissatisfied about the status quo.
- [53:25]
Katie Couric
His Fighting Oligarchy tour with AOC and other young progressives has become a movement. But is his message too far to the left? Well, he certainly doesn't think so.
- [53:36]
John Middlekauff
Does that sound like a radical idea? Is that too far left for you?
- [53:39]
Katie Couric
Okay, okay, I get your point, Bernie. We talk about the billionaire class, the cost of living, and of course the government shutdown, not to mention the current state of the Democratic Party.
- [53:54]
John Middlekauff
To me, the failure of the Democratic Party has been an unwillingness to recognize the real issues.
- [54:00]
Katie Couric
Open your free iHeartRadio app. Search Next question with Katie Couric and listen now.
- [54:09]
John Middlekauff
December 29, 1975, LaGuardia Airport.
- [54:14]
Narrator
The holiday rush. Parents hauling luggage, Kids gripping their new Christmas toys. Then at 6:33pm everything changed.
- [54:26]
John Middlekauff
There's been a bombing at the TWA terminal. Apparently the explosion actually impelled metal glass. The injured were being loaded into ambulances just to a chaotic, chaotic scene.
- [54:39]
Narrator
In its wake, a new kind of enemy emerged. And it was here to stay. Terrorism, Law and Criminal justice system is back in season two. We're turning our focus to a threat that hides in plain sight that's harder to predict and even harder to stop. Listen to the new season of Law and Criminal justice System on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [55:11]
Sad Oligarch Host
The rich Russians falling out of Windows podcast is back. Sad oligarch season two. Since we left you in 2023 after season one, many politically motivated Russian millionaires have continued to die in suspicious circumstances. Chances we dig deeper into these odd deaths which include everything from mushroom poisoning and mysterious heart attacks, the window clumsiness and suicide by decapitation. One thing we have found since we started back in 2022 is the information on the suspicious deaths has become much harder to find. Not just that, it seems as if state controlled media in Russia is being utilized to purposely confuse and contradict the reporting that gets put out. As you can probably imagine, season two gets very weird. Listen to Sad Oligarch on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [56:19]
John Middlekauff
Let's do a little thing we like to call the middle Coff Mailbag. Now you guys are obviously watching this the day after the game, so I don't know the results. If you There are questions come up regarding that. But at John Middlekopf. At John Middlekopf I check my DMs that probably look like a hot babe on IG loaded with dudes. Except they're just asking me football questions occasionally life questions sometimes about where to play golf in Scottsdale. And one of you guys actually hit me up with some gluten free recommendations. So it's. We're tempted to make the lifestyle change. We'll see if I'm able to pull it off. But here's the thing. At John Middle cough is the middle cough Mailbag Monday Middlekop mailbag. Fire in those dms get your questions answered on the show. Obviously it comes out on Tuesday. What are your thoughts on the Eagles hopes specifically kp think he's alluding to Kevin Batola after the win yesterday. I think the Eagles last couple of weeks, 28 points against the Vikings. Obviously Jalen had a big breakout yesterday, 38 points. Someone had forwarded me the stats on Jalen hurts. I don't think most people right now would be like, what's Jalen done this year? You'd be like, ah, not that great looking. It's 15 touchdowns and one interception. Then if you factor in his rushing touchdowns, he, he has five. So he has 20, 20 touchdowns this year only halfway through the season. I mean, if you go 16, 70 games and you produce 40 touchdowns and only one or two picks, he's got to throw some more picks. But if he only throws five and he goes a 40 to touchdown, 40 touchdowns, to five interceptions passing and running, that's that's pretty remarkable. Now part of it's a tush push, but even if the tush push didn't exist, he'd be a good, you know, short yardage quarterback and he's a threat to run. So it's weird. I think it felt like he was having a weird season. Not that bad. I do think for the Eagles, the moment of truth is these next couple of weeks, right? Technically they are not the number one seed because the packers tied that game against the Cowboys. Right? So if the Cowboys, you know, I don't think the Eagles. Eagles would have liked the Cowboys to pull that thing off. But regardless, they play the packers in a week, I think it looks like on Monday Night Football. So the Eagles are on a buy and then they get Monday Night Football and then they get Sunday Night Football against the Lions. So they got to go to Lambeau and then they play the Lions at home. So I think we're going to learn a lot about them. In this, in terms of is this the number one seed or is this like the three seed? If they get the number one seed, they're going to be very difficult to beat. Right. If you got to play that extra game, it's like the college football playoffs. You have a massive advantage. I know Ohio State won the championship last year, but you don't have to play the first game and then you get a second game. You get to rest your guys. It's a, it's a big deal. So I guess ironically is the teams in the playoffs last year, maybe that's a bad thing to use as an example because neither of them got a home field by. But I think we'd all choose a buy. Every single coach, every single player at any level would go, do you want to buy in the playoffs? They would say yes. So I do think that this, these next two games are going to define the Eagles. I, I also think that internally, like I know the way how he works. He's got a brain that never stops and they're always throwing ideas. And after you had now the Giants run defense is pretty terrible and they're playing backup corners. There's no doubt they're having the conversation, could we win the Super Bowl? Could we win the nfc? They're winning the NFC east, right. I don't care what the outcome was Monday night, which I'd be stunned if Washington won. But the Cowboys best are going eight, eight and one. The Giants are winning four or five games. Commanders probably, I don't know, eight, nine. That's health related. It could be worse. So the Eagles are cruising to this division. I think the question mark is what do we need to beat the Lions to beat the packers, to beat the Rams to beat Seattle to be Tampa Bay? Do we need A.J. brown? Because can we trade them now? They're not going to give him away. And Jeffrey Lurie talked about this at the owner's meetings, which I respect because a lot of owners like kind of beat around this bush like, yeah, we'll only do something that's best for the Philadelphia Eagles. Like they're not just getting, they don't need to just get rid of AJ but the elephant in the room is AJ And Jalen don't like each other. Brandon Graham told us last year they can walk that back. We know the truth and there's nothing wrong with that. We all have worked with people or currently work with people. People listening right now that you do not necessarily like for whatever reason, sometimes it's stupid. But I do believe that they will entertain it. Now it's got to be a lot like I. To me, the minimum would be like a two and a three because it's like we'll just keep them and do New England, you know, depending on where they stand. Like, hey, I. AJ Is under contract too. So if you trade for them, you don't like, it's not like a rental. This isn't like your trade deadline. He's leaving. I'm trying to pull up his contract here. Yeah, I mean, he's not a free agent for years. So you basically, you got control of them for a while. Could you get two twos for him? Would New England do that? Is that too short sighted when they still got a long way to go? Or they're like, hell, we're, we're equipped to win now. Question for the bag. Both the NFC west and the NFC north could potentially have three teams in the playoffs. Which do you think is more likely? Or do you think they might have to cancel each other out as they play each other in the division? Well, I don't think the NFC north is getting three teams in. I think the packers and the Lions are playoff teams. I think Minnesota's in shambles. Carson Wentz, I just saw on the ticker is out for the season. I mean, it felt like he almost died on Thursday night. Like, seriously, I have a lot of respect for him. He was getting the crap kicked out of him and clearly has a shoulder worked on now and he's out for the year. You know, it's like, okay, J.J. you're up, buddy. There's no backstop here. There's no. You can just disappear and your team's banged up like, Godspeed. I don't think it's going to go well. And at the end of the day, the Bears, like, their quarterback play just isn't good enough. It's just that simple. And like, they're going to be competitive. Like, if I had to bet right now, I think Minnesota finishes last in that division. I think Minnesota is going to lose a lot of. Because it's hard to win with bad quarterback play. Like, Caleb is up and down, but he's still better than J.J. mcCarthy. So I think it would. If it's anything, it's the NFC West. But like, I think the Niners are taking on so many injuries. Like, their best case is probably nine and eight. Now they are five and three, which means they have nine games left. If they go four and five, they're nine and eight. And I think they would probably be the Seventh seed after seeing Miles Garrett annihilate the Giants O line and still losing by 19 points. You mean the. I think you mean the Patriots. I was thinking how bad and how dysfunctional and how disorganized the NFL franchise can be for this long. In the last 35 years, they had four winning seasons. Will this franchise ever be fixed? What I don't understand is, and I'm not in the business of trading talents like Miles Garrett, but when you've had him for years, for years, and you haven't won anything, and then he's over 30 years old and he goes, guys, I want to trade. He says that this is our out, and he's still so good that you could have traded him. I think pre draft, you could have gotten two ones and two twos for a guy that is. I mean, whoever would have given him a contract would basically be playing for 31 to 35. So Miles Garrett is 20. He turns 30 in December. So you could have traded a guy that 29 to 34. Right. You've gotten the best years out of him. He's still an elite player. But like, you, you bought. You didn't buy low because you have to em high, but you've gotten the best version of them, and you can still trade them for a lot. Like, there's nothing better in the world of assets. You get a premium. You get to use that premium for a long time, and then when you choose to sell that premium, it is, you know, the. The value of it has increased. Right? You want an increasing asset. That's what Miles Garrett was. And he told you to trade me. And they said no, and they extended them. Like, what's the point of having him make all these plays and look Sweet and have 25 sacks on a team that's going to win four games? It makes no sense. Now, I do believe, because if you watch their GM who treats everyone like widgets, there's no way they didn't want to trade him and the owner wouldn't let him. So it all gets back to ownership because it makes no sense. They could have traded them with their eyes closed. They would add a bidding war between 10 teams. All the good ones would have been really interested, from the Eagles to the Ravens, the Bills, the Lions, the Packers. They all would have been the Niners, Seattle. The teams would have been lined up, but they paid them, and now they still suck. The whole thing's pointless. This is why I am so critical of the Browns, is they get, like, so much credit because, like, God, they're GM their head coach. Dynamic individuals like I watch your team. They're awful. Always. If normal football people, if the Jason Lights of the world or Spytex team just sucks forever, he will get just shit on at the highest level by everyone in the media. It's like, ah, the Browns are just chugging along. I don't know man. Every time I look over and they're in a little four box, they're getting curb stomped. Make this a real simple question. How the hell does Zach Taylor still have a job? You know, it's a unique organization and I would guess if when the dust settles that they go 7 and 10, 6 and 11, something like that with the Flacco situation. And they're liable to lose any game because their defense stinks. You know what's crazy? I wasn't really paying attention to that game because they were just in complete control the whole time. And then by the time I did look over and they're like going for two in the win, I'm like, what is going on? Which was a cool moment for Justin Fields. I just think that you fire him, you're going to get another Zach Taylor. Like they are not hiring Steve Sarkeesian, right? They're not hiring the Mike Vrabel or Ben Johnson. They are hiring a guy who they can get for cheap and that sometimes it works, you know, I mean they had Marvin Lewis for a long time and he was pretty successful. Hell, Zach Taylor got you to Super Bowl. But I would say that it does seem pretty rare. I could be wrong. Did Marvin Lewis get fired in season? I don't remember. Marvin Lewis also did a really good job over the years of hiring coordinators, right? For a long time they had Mike Zimmer as their defensive coordinator. Jay Gruden was their offensive coordinator. Hugh Jackson was a really good offensive coordinator for him. That's part of it. Like they had dynamic group a couple years ago. Lou Amaruno, I'm watching him with the Colts. Looks like pretty good. It's amazing how good a coordinator can look when his players a little bit better. I bet you look like a lot better coach coaching at Alabama or Georgia than you do Mississippi State. I'm sick of my Falcons. I have zero emotional attachment to this abortion of a franchise. But I still watch every week, Sunday at 1 and I find myself still rooting for them. We've all been there, brother. How does ownership keep screwing up every hire? Our GM is a joke and gets laughed at and our coach would be better off. This is pretty descriptive shit talking. So Just fire everybody, including the equipment guy. So dysfunctional. It seems so obvious. My real question is this. How is it even possible to be as Jekyll and Hyde as we are? I think anytime that you're really up and down, let's face it, like, they do have some talent. It's a reflection of the operation. And you know, Arthur Blank, just like any owner, when they hire the right people, they look pretty good. When you hire the wrong people, you look pretty bad. And they try like, listen, I thought Arthur Smith was a good hire. His problem was, and I'm not even saying like Arthur's problem, but like that, that 10 years problem is they couldn't find a quarterback once they got rid of Matt Ryan. And now it feels like they're kind of in that mold again. The difference is this time you're messing with the owner's money. You convinced me to give $90 million to Kirk Cousins, which feels like a scam job. Don't blame Mike McCartney as agent or Kurt for getting that money. But looking back like that was like his golden parachute because based off how he's looked this last year and then yesterday, he should have got like a one year, $7 million deal. So props to them for, you know, kind of rolling that into a stupid amount of cash. So it's like you completely botched our investment into a quarterback that can't play while drafting a guy really high that I think the jury is out. And you hire the biggest coaching staff in the league. So it's like coaches don't make 40 grand. So you know, your coordinators are all making millions. Your line coach is probably making a million. Your wide receiver coach and linebacker coach, these guys are all making 5 to 800k. It's a very. Your coaching staffs are very expensive. It's like Jerry Jones said on an interview earlier this year, like, I didn't want to get into coaching because I wanted some money. If I would have known what I'm paying coaches nowadays, I probably would have got into coaching. And I think these coaches, it's an underrated scam in America. The amount of money, obviously the good ones, worth their weight in gold, right? But there are a lot of assistants in this league that because they're buddies with the head man, he gets them a three year, $700,000 a year job. He couldn't coach his way out of a wet paper blanket. I mean, the amount of coaching frauds in college pays a premium too. No different. At least in college, if you're not a great coach, if you can recruit, you bring value. Like in the NFL, we don't need you to recruit. Hell, I don't even care what your opinions are on the draft. I just need you to coach the players and ask players, especially players that have bounced around the league. There is a gigantic difference of the good ones and the bad ones. I mean a Grand Canyon wide gap. So I don't know. I you guys sucks. I mean that's all I there's not a fix. You could fire everybody but if they hire the wrong people, you're just going to be back at this point A again. I do think if they miss the playoffs again, which all signs point to them missing, let's say they go 7 and 10 or 8, 9. I I don't see how the owner doesn't just heads roll, I mean kind of blow the whole thing up. I have historically defended the difficulty of being an NFL referee, but how bad does it have to get for the NFL to acknowledge it? And what do you think is a realistic response to from the league? Would they address a specific penalty like making pass interference reviewable or again or do they make all the penalties challengeable? In the past I would never have expected them to make penalties reviewable, but it might help curb any allegations of fixing games. That seems like something Goodell would want to get ahead of. This is a sad part and I've been gambling on football for 20 plus years now and I stopped gambling on basketball a long time ago. Just I listen I'm not acting like I foresaw this coming, but it's just like this is. I don't even. This sucks. I do think this the NFL doesn't really care as long as people are watching and interested and gambling on it and playing fantasy. They are not going to go above and beyond and do anything different than they have done now. If something dramatically changes, then they will pivot. They are not going to be proactive on this one would be my guess. I'd be stunned if we see some dramatic shift with the officials for whether it's transparency, whether it's beside basic tweaks of reviewing which they, you know, discuss every single year. But if you think Roger cares that you and me are mad when we watch six hours of football at the officiating blunders. I mean last night Aaron Rodgers gets them to jump. No. 1. My wife's looking at me. She's like I don't understand what's going on. I'm like, well Maria, one of Aaron Rodgers great superpowers is when you jump off sides as a defensive lineman or linebacker or whatever, someone on the line of scrimmage, he immediately snaps it and then he historically has hit a bunch of big plays. It's like, it's like one of it's going to be written about in his football bio one day when he's in the hall of Fame. It's like no one has ever been better at getting free plays than Aaron Rodgers. So he knows it and he was right. And they just didn't call it. And listen, I don't think Pittsburgh wins the game whether they call that or not. But it's like that can't be missed. And I think Roger would tell you, well, yeah, I can. It was missed in 20 million people watched. And at the end of the day, who cares? And I think that would be his response. I don't care. You might care if you had money on the Steelers. Steelers fans care. Packer fans don't. And the average guy hasn't thought about it since the moment happened in the game last night for 10 minutes. And then he moved on with his life. It's probably true. This is from Austin. Your podcast is awesome. From Detroit here. So my Lions had a bye week today. So I'm watching games around the league and that's a good feeling. You know, it sucks. You realize if you're a big football fan, right, and you had a squad, which most people do, you look forward to Sunday to watch your team and then you watch what else is going on around the league. There is a missing component when your team is on a buy. You're like, am I on football vacation here? Do I, do I need to do some advanced scouting of our future opponents? Do I need to kind of get some takes ready for as I'm watching these games? It's, it's a unique feeling, but also a good one, especially if you're a Lions fan because you need that. You need the help. I'm watching games around the league and my question for you this week is about the Falcons. They're a roller coaster. Do you think after this year they will let Raheem go or is it more of a GM problem? They pay Kirk Cousins 26 million to be the backup. They lost to Miami by 24 points and Carolina by 30. Yeah, I mean, I think they're all in trouble. I mean, I think the gm, that situation was not good. I mean, the Cousins thing has lasting impacts because that's an enormous contract. How many guys in the league, I'm talking non quarterbacks have signed for more than $90 million guaranteed. It's a pretty short list, right? It's like Bosa Parsons, T.J. watt, I mean it's, it's a short list of the elites. Justin Jefferson, right. It's the best players in the league are a little bit more around what Cousins got. So you paid this much for a quarterback who just can't play? It's because he's old. I mean I'm not acting like Cousins wasn't a good player. Flawed, good player. I mean had some physical limitations, but the guy we're seeing now is an old wash guy. Which sports. It happens, right? Your physical limitations and major injury. Like, like what Rogers. The difference between Rogers and Cousins is Rogers has a much better arm and he can throw the ball at a bunch of different angles to generate power. Cousins is a much more prototypical pocket guy. Feet have to be set and his arms definitely stronger than it was 10 years ago. But he by no means has a pose and he has no athleticism. Like Rogers doesn't have much, but he can still move around a little bit. And I'm watching Cousins, it just feels like if he was in his peak, you know, seven and a half, eight out of 10, like really good player guy you could win double digit games with. The version of him now is like a three. I mean he's just, he's a major liability. Like I, I think at the end of this season, like I, I think his career is over. So yeah, I mean I, I think that's, that's the type contract to get you fired. Question for the mailbag. This might be a little niche, but can you weigh in on the Pablo Torre takedown of Michael Lombardi? I've always enjoyed Mike as a media personality, but level to which Pablo went to embarrass him, plus the enduring dancing on his grave from others was pretty interesting. What's the opinion on the guy in NFL circles? I always really enjoyed Lombardi on the podcast. He's my style of entertainer. He just lets it fly. Whether some of those are personal vendettas or not, I don't really care. Like I listened to him for entertainment value and he was good. I, I always thought this. I, I would imagine because I, I know like I'm doing really well. So I would think his media situation, like he was financially making a lot of money for him to go back. Like I texted a buddy in the NFL that actually sent me, he's like, you got to listen to this. And this, this guy's worked with him before. Let me just say that. And so I listened to it all. I didn't even know it existed until he sent me that. And it was. I mean, it's. It's aggressively taking him down. Now. If you work in the NFL long enough, I don't care who you are, unless you're like Andy Reid, you're going to create some enemies. Clearly, he has created a lot. He hasn't even worked in the league for a decade. I also think Belichick, like, those guys, and I think they take pride in this, are just known as assholes, and they do not care. They do not care. They actually kind of embrace it. So they piss a lot of people off over the years. I can't speak to, like, you know, part of the Pablo Tory thing was he's taking credit for Super Bowls when he wasn't even on the team. What happened with Bill Walsh in 1985? I mean, I was born in 84, but I do think Pablo. I don't know if Belichick or Lombardi did something to him, but he is spending a lot of energy to go after them. And if I were those two, I'd be like, I just don't think this guy's going to stop. And when you piss a lot of people off and just have a lot of people that don't like you, they are going to be free to share the opinions of stuff that they thought. Now, he shares, like, part of the reason Lombardi was fired in New England, right? He went to work for the Patriots while the Browns were still paying him. And this is what Pablo reported, that they fired Michael Lombardi. Bob Kraft told Bill Belichick he had to get him out of the building because there was a mutiny between Matt Patricia, Josh McDaniels, Nick Casario and a bunch of players and Ernie Adams. I don't know if that's true or not. So, like, you're telling me that players wanted Michael Lombardi out of the building. That seems a little crazy to me. Again, though, I. I wasn't there. I don't know. I hope one day someone doesn't do that to me. Middle cough. Claimed he worked for the Eagles. Said he had a radio job. Dude was working at McDonald's. He's a fucking liar. Like, Jesus, Pablo, I'm sorry. I find it all kind of entertaining. I. I just wish Lombardi was not in North Carolina just podcasting. But dude wants to be a team builder again. I know a lot of people in the NFL that know him and like them.
- [80:30]
Katie Couric
Now.
- [80:30]
John Middlekauff
These are younger guys, like, guys under 40. But I just think, you know, certain people ruffle feathers, some people don't. You know, I do think you could do versions of that, though, on a lot of guys. Like, I. I think you could do. You could easily do something like that on Howie Roseman or Pete Carroll. Like, if you've been in the league a long time and you fired a bunch of people over the years, like, you're gonna have people that are. Don't like you, Kyle Shanahan, I think that'd be a pretty easy one to do it on. You're going to piss people off. I think it makes more sense as a coach than an executive. But yeah, it is what it is. Clearly pretty ugly. I mean, if you're a North Carolina administrative or administrator booster, you're like, God, is this ever going to stop? Is this ever going to stop? And the answer doesn't feel like it. No. I'm a Bears fan and I'm still not sold on Caleb. I'm with you. I don't know if he's going to work in Ben's offense. I hope he does, but right now he hasn't had a fluid transition. My question is this. If Caleb doesn't start to figure things out by the end of the year, how long will the leash be? Could you see them trading for an older quarterback for some competition in 26 if they do not get better? I would say if they missed the playoffs this year and his quarterback play continues the way it has been the last couple of weeks, his spot is in major jeopardy. Now, I. Who would be the players that they would, quote, unquote, trade for? Right. So, I mean, it has to fit. I don't even know. I don't even know the exercise. Would Ben want to draft a guy? Would they trade Caleb Williams? Would he have value on the open market? You know, Minnesota, would they trade for him? Clearly Kevin o' Connell, like Caleb Williams a lot. I think a lot of things would be on the table. But I would be stunned if they miss the playoffs and he plays poorly, that they just say, yeah, Caleb Williams, our starter in 2026. That's not the way it works. Fair or not, you can agree or disagree with the speed in which we change, but that's the. That's the pace of things now. Like, that's the pace of business. Want to hear your take? This is a non football question on the LA Angels signing their new manager. This is funny because I was at the gym the other day and I look up at the TV and I see the, the ticker or the headline they kind of break. I think it was like SportsCenter this story and I had to do a double take. They hired their manager to a one year contract. What an unserious franchise. That's a Porta Potty Panthers type move right there. Also want to hear your thoughts on the Portland Trailblazers head coach John C. Billups and the gambling scandal. You can't be a serious organization and sign a manager to a one year contract. Now I could be wrong on this but when I was looking at the tv the GM also is one year remaining. So they wanted to put Kurt Suzuki is the manager who actually was the A's catcher for a long time. Clearly pretty high level dude. I just, I don't think the average fan I guess like a, the die hard fan understands this but I just say a casual sports fan realizes how irrelevant front offices, ownership and organizations look at the quote unquote manager now like they are just if you told me they were paying Kurt Suzuki one year 800 grand like what the running back coach at Alabama makes, I'd believe you. And one of the stories I saw is Albert Pools was going to be the next manager of the Angels. Albert Poole is going to sign up to be the manager. Didn't Albert Pools make, I would guess Albert Pujols career earnings. My guess is going to be let's go $390 million. I'm a little high. $340 million guy made $340 million is going to work for the Angels for not much money in a one year contract. Not shocked now that we learned Suzuki does it. One year contract. Pujols pulls his name out. You'd have to really really like baseball to have made $340 million and want to manage an awful team where you have to play like random games against the A's in the middle of July that 20,000 people were watching total at the game and on TV. One year contract. I talked about the Chauncey Billups thing I think on Thursday. I mentioned this to Colin the other day too. I truly believe that tanking, which Adam Silver has been a shepherd over has allowed it to happen and has not taken aggressive measures to make sure it doesn't happen. Is the direct reason that more of this stuff has happened. Because if you're not tanking it is much harder to manipulate games because people would notice. You can't manipulate games that matter in the NBA. Too much of their product just doesn't matter. And I'm not talking like you're going to have random games, especially like in November, that don't necessarily matter. I'm talking like legitimately. Teams are trying to lose the game as the season goes on. And I think that leads to stuff like this. Now it's like Chauncey Billups, the has been in touch with the mob. Like, I'm not quite sure how, fascinated like everyone else. Like, I need more details. Did he owe them money? Well, how can a guy worth a hundred million dollars. And listen, it's easy to throw that out there, you know, half of it got taxed. So then you buy a home, you buy some stuff. It's not like you have $100 million in the bank because you spend a lot of it. Even if you, you know, not everyone's just like investing in the S&P 500. But I've always assumed Chauncey was a smart guy. But you could go, well, did he get back into coaching because he needed some more money or is he's a basketball junkie? I think that comes into question. And did he need the money to pay these guys back? Once you get in with these shady characters, they don't exactly, you know, once you were good, you're good. That's at least based on the movies and documentaries I've seen on the mob. They don't just like, oh, go on your merry way. So I'm fascinated to know the connection, how it started. And yes, Chauncey's degenerate because again, I, I've said this forever. One reason why I have to pick my spots with sports gambling, because I don't get a high from $100 bet. Now that's why I do a lot, you know, play like weekend parlays, throw a couple like $50 ones because they'll pay out five grand. But like, for me to get a high on an individual game, the bet has to be, I mean, even a thousand dollars on a game, I'm really into it. But if I lose the money, it's like, whatever. But once I get to like. And I've done this before, like the true highs I've had have been like 3, 4, $5,000 games. Problem is, you can lose a lot of money that way, you know, I mean, you get. And I'm cold right now. I am cold. All the favorites are just dominating. So it's money's all relative. If I was a guy like Chauncey billups, is that 100 grand a game? Said 75 grand a game, is that go playing blackjack, 5 grand a hand, 10 grand a hand. So you just get two different units that if you play and you don't back out all of a sudden. I mean, I could lose. Well, the equivalent of what if like this guy had lost $500,000 in a weekend? Well, I could do the equivalent, whatever that that is worth to me with ease. But it's fun. Like I enjoy to gamble. So it's like I and I don't have an addictive personality so I kind of pick my spots. But I do understand, like I don't get a high from a $50 bet unless that $50 bet is on a guy to win the Masters at 50 to 1 and it's going to pay out $2,500. Then yeah, I'll pay a little more attention. A mailbag question do the Steelers have a defensive coordinator problem? I don't think Terrell Austin is horrible, but he has no ability to make adjustments. The last four or five years we've had a great talent. We've had great talent but have had horrible defensive results. Games like the jets scoring 32 or Flacco being with the Bengals for 10 days and having the best game in a decade or in the past few seasons when they made Zach Wilson look great. When can we play base defense and everything goes to plan. It looks good, but I don't get why we run the defense specifically when it isn't working. And I never real never see the adjustments being made. There has to be a coaching issue, right? Letting Brian Flores walk and not promoting him to D.C. when we had him was a huge mistake in my opinion. I do think your secondary talent is pretty overrated. You know, I mean I've watched him now, healthy or not healthy, kind of have similar results. I forgot about that game to Zach Wilson, it was like his claim to fame in the NFL. He just, he looked like a franchise quarterback. I do think when you, when your pass rush goes away, your defense sucks, when TJ's dominating, you look sweet. And you could argue that last night he JLO hit a couple balls. I'm only calling him JLo because I was in the car and I had on Fox Sports Radio and they play. They play. First things first. After Coward show ends and they were calling him JLo and I was like, I kind of like that. But love threw up a couple. I don't want to say prayers but the one at Tucker Craft, that was. How long was that play? 70 yard play. You know, it was a little 50, 50 ball and he threw one across his body to Christian Watson, which again they were beautiful. Outcomes and results. The Watson one was a dime, but it was. I mean, the DB was right there and probably a couple inches away from tipping it. But yeah, I mean, I don't think. I think your talent, like back in the day, your talent was pretty high end. You had multiple sweet corners, you had sweet linebackers, you had an unreal defensive line. And in pass rush, you ran a 3, 4 defense then. But you know, James Harrison, Lamar Woodley, he just was kind of a different animal with Brett Kiesel. Yeah, it's not really this group, so I'm not trying to act like Terrell Austin is, you know, Belichick in his prime as a scheme guy. I do think just your roster and your talents a little bit over. Look at their offense. It's like you go all in on DK Metcalf, who's. Listen, I'd want DK Metcalf on my team if I had sweet other players. They have no other wide receivers. Their starting running back or their most talented running back is like a small scat back. Who again, who doesn't like Jalen Warren. But it's like, how did this happen? It's like, well, we drafted a guy in the third round. It's like, yeah, he can't get on the field. So did you whiff on that one? Did you misidentify the talent? Because that's kind of a disaster in a sport that should be pretty easy to find running backs. You can't do it. You have all these tight ends. Your offense isn't really explosive despite having DK Metcalfe. And your defense clearly is just not very good. And you know, injuries are going to happen. So, like, what happens when TJ missed a couple of games? You would be screwed. So I think it's easy to blame the coaches. I think we do that a lot and I'm guilty of that too. But I'm watching the Steelers going like, I don't really see that much talent. This isn't exactly the 2011 Steelers. Like, I just think their personnel on defense is like, meh. Like, if TJ's on, they look good. What about when he's not? What about when they have no sacks in the game? If they have no sacks in the game, they're going to get shredded. And that's exactly what happened. Now, they did pressure him a couple times and he made good plays. But like, that's the NFL because all these guys now can move and it's a little more dynamic quarterback play. But I think it's easy to blame Terrell Austin. You see, here's the thing. Isn't Mike a defensive guy? I was watching was a hard knocks a couple years ago when they did the AFC north in season. Mike ain't sitting with the offensive guys. He's not sitting with Rogers and Arthur Smith. He sits with the defensive guys. You know, I remember the clip. I was watching like Mika Fitzpatrick walked out of the room and he gave him like a fist pound or maybe walked in the room to say something. He said the defense is his baby. And I bet he hangs out with Terrell Austin and that that group the majority of the time. Shouldn't he be there to help out? I'm all for a CEO head coach, but it feels like they're so quick to blame when the coordinators suck. Well, like what's your area expertise? And for Mike, it's defense and DB play should be his baby. And their DB play, it's terrible. And they blame coordinators a lot. But who's the offensive coordinator they fired in season? I think it was like the first guy they had fired in season in like 50 years. I wanted to say Freddy Kitchens, but it's. I'm complete. Oh, Matt Canada. Matt Canada. Arthur Smith. I mean their, their offensive coordinator is good. I just think their, their personnel as a team is not great. Guess what? I think their personnel staff is not as good as it once was. It was really good. And then Colbert retired. I just don't think it's as good. I think people around the league would tell you that the volume. This is an I Heart podcast.