Jon Stewart (27:02)

Catch Jon Stewart back in action on the Daily show and in your ears with the Daily Show Ears Edition podcast. From his hilarious satirical takes on today's politics and entertainment to the unique voices of correspondents and contributors, it's your perfect companion to stay on top of what's happening now. Plus, you'll get special content just for podcast listeners, like in depth interviews and a roundup of the week's top headline listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Bobby Bones (27:37)

Hey, it's Bobby Bones. Join me and former NFL quarterback Matt Castle every Wednesday for our new podcast, Lots to say with Bobby Bones and Matt Castle. Between us, we have over 17,500 passing yards, multiple New York Times best sellers, and and one mirrorball trophy from Dancing with the Star. So where else you can find a show with that much athleticism and football insight? Based in Nashville, we're more than just your basic NFL show. We talk sports, but we talk pop culture and music and a little bit of everything because we got lots to say. I I texted you and you texted me back. Now I don't know if you have the update, but like all the little thumbs up and heart and stuff, like it's all colored, they changed it and the the heart's a little pink. It felt like I told you I loved you. I'm gonna be honest. It was a little pink.

John Middlekauff (28:20)

There was something sentimental when you like when you send it, it's like, do I send the heart now?

Bobby Bones (28:27)

I don't like the color edition.

John Middlekauff (28:28)

It's extremely pink.

Bobby Bones (28:29)

Listen to lots to say with Bobby Bones and Matt Castle on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts.

John Middlekauff (28:36)

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At the end of the day, the most important thing your small business is the quality candidates. And with LinkedIn, you can feel confident that you're getting the best. So find out why more than 2 1/2 million small businesses use LinkedIn for hiring every day. Find your next great hire on LinkedIn. Post your job for free@LinkedIn.com John that's LinkedIn.com Johan to post your job for free. Terms and conditions apply. Okay, a couple little things. The Chargers, the NFL loves this Brazil game. Never been to Brazil. I mean, looks like a beautiful place. And clearly the NFL enjoys Brazil. Maybe they got a growing fan base down there. But the Chargers, the Eagles did it last year. Or did the packers do it last year? I forget whose home game that was. I think it was Green Base. Could be wrong. But this will be the Chargers. So clearly they're going to go afc, NFC every year, try to keep it, you know, equitable. And the Chargers will host that Brazil game. Which one thing the NFL is going to do, you know, the opening game, Thursday nights, BP fastball. Like, it doesn't get any easier. You take the super bowl champion and then you just pick some sweet team on their schedule. Like this year, it's like Chiefs, Chiefs, Ravens. I was like, yeah, that'll work. This year will be like Eagles, you go Eagles. Commanders, you go Eagles. I think they play the Rams. You pick million teams, it's an easy one. You pick any sweet team on their schedule. A couple years ago was Chiefs, Lions. It's not shit you could do. Eagles could play like the local high school and 20 million people watch. We're so football starved. But that second game, I think they kind of gave the blueprint Eagles, packers, what was that matchup of two playoff teams. And I would expect the Chargers like I would expect another playoff team. I wouldn't expect like Chargers Jags, you know, or Chargers, Bears or something. I don't even know who's on their schedule. But I would be stunned if it's not a another team that was in the playoffs last year. I honestly, I think you could go, maybe they're anti doing division matchups in these games, but because of the Chargers home game. Why couldn't you do Chargers? Denver? I don't know. I would say most things would be on the table. Chargers, Chiefs, probably would not happen. But it wouldn't totally shock me if that were to happen. The chief content officer from Netflix gave a. Did an interview, I think, I don't know if it was with the Ringers podcast that covers kind of the, you know, kind of content industry or variety of Variety was a different Something else I read. But yeah, it was with I think the Puck. And he mentioned that their interest in NFL games is moving forward is basically I'm giving the Cliff Notes version of like they would be very interested in the Sunday package and talking about like Sunday night or Sunday afternoon games and essentially that, you know, the NFL has an opt out of their contract in 2029. Well, a couple years ago that sounded like it was a long, long way away. But 2025, by 2029 I might have like a three year old. So Netflix, this was always going to be an issue is that these older owners, like the Jerry Jones, the Robert Krafts, I would put Mark Davis, I would put anyone over 60, 65 through their 70s and 80s. Their loyalty to Fox, CBS and NBC runs fucking deep. Because when they go home to their third mansion in Aspen or some Italian village or get on their hundreds of millions of dollars worth of yachts, it's because of those networks. Well, those networks, I'm sorry, are probably not all going to survive as we move forward. And definitely the power in which they have had most of my life is diminishing by the day. And operations Like Netflix aren't just coming on, they're establishing their dominance. Was listening to a podcast, I guess there was an article in Variety that the number One place that YouTube is consumed in 2025 is not your phone, is not your computer, is not like your device, like an iPad. It's on television. And if you think about it, think of the percentage of younger people that, like, I don't view YouTube as an app in the sense of Amazon prime or Netflix or even YouTube TV on my television. I don't watch YouTube on my television. I'm clearly, I don't know if I'm necessarily the minority, but there is a large percentage of people that do. And I would imagine they all lean young. So when you look at moving forward, like this was always going to end for Fox, CBS and NBC, if they got into a bidding war with the Amazon Primes, with the Netflix, with that world, if the younger generation took over. And I don't mean consumer, I mean Steven Jones, I mean Jonathan Kraft. Because their loyalty to this, like, this is ultimately a business and ultimately they can convince their fathers as well, is like they're offering us double what this operation is offering us. And I always thought that was going to be the downfall of Fox and NBC because they can't get into a bidding war with Netflix or Apple. Those people have more money than them. And those people can write a check that they simply cannot. So when this opt out happens, and after seeing the NBA package, their ratings diminished by half within the decade, and they more than doubled their package. And obviously it's the power of live rights. The NBA is a little different. The NFL, there's just a lot more inventory on a nightly basis. But the power of the NFL speaks for itself. It's the number one television show in America. And I just think Netflix, the NFL, didn't do that Christmas Day deal randomly. Like, it's not only a trial run, it's like, let's start kind of feeling each other out. How many of you guys listening that are in sales or in some business, you go to some random dinner sometimes with maybe competing brands or maybe people that you're not even in business with to kind of kick off the relationship. And then it just kind of organically grows over time. And then now you look back five, 10 years later, you're like, God, we're doing a lot of business together. We're making a shitload of money. That was the best, you know, golf trip I've ever taken in my life. That was the right move, that it was good Thing that we offered them super bowl ticket, whatever business you're in, to take care of someone else. And that's essentially what the NFL did with the Christmas Day games. Now they had to pay for it, but it's like, hey, wet your beak. And what did Netflix do? They're like, God Damn, we got 25, 25, 30 million people to watch these games. And this is why my theory of the NFL going international is not about placing a team anymore in the UK or Germany or Brazil or wherever. It's really about building the audience. So when these games are on Netflix, people over there watch, because I see it with my own product, right? When I was on local radio, no one in Brazil, no one in England, no one in Japan on an air force base listened to me. People that listened to me lived in the greater Bay Area. And honestly, our signal didn't go that far. So you had to be within, I don't know, whatever the mile radius was, but it wasn't that big relative to the other station. Well, in the world I'm in now, I got fucking people listening to me all over the place. And you talk about the NFL, it's like, why can't the dude, you know, living in Germany that likes football watch my game? Well, he can if it's on Netflix. Do you know where he can't if it's on Fox? And I just think it's going to be a major, major problem for these traditional legacy brands. This is why I've defended the Peacock situation. It's not ideal that you had to pay for Peacock to watch. What was it? The playoff game the Dolphins against was the Chiefs a couple years ago. I think there was one. Was there one this year, too? Like, I get people being mad. I do. But NBC cannot survive with NBC. So they couldn't just put it on NBC and be like, oh, we're going to be good for the next 10, 20, 30 years. They will die. So the only chance for their survival. And I'm not like, NBC doesn't pay me any money. I just. I just understood where they were coming from is like, Peacock working out. Like, if it doesn't work out, NBC will go night night, as in, like, never waking up. And these streaming platforms for these people has to operate and has to work because if it doesn't, they cannot. And listen, they're never going to complete compete against Netflix. Netflix is all these people wrapped up into one. One of my great investing regrets was, like, five years ago when I, like, loved the company and realized, God, everyone is watching this not doing it and everything they've done kind of has turned to gold. And the, the irony too is I don't even think their content is that great. It's like I go on there sometimes, like there's a million shows, like, we end up not even watching anything yet. I do believe that most people, their first move now is to go to Netflix. The power of the brand, it's massive and they've had a long time building it up, but now they have a ton. Their war chest of cash is so big and they want this. Like, this is something they're very serious about. Because the live events thing, whether it's the Tyson, Jake Paul thing, whether it's the Brady Roast, obviously the Christmas games, they like the returns on those things because a lot of people like they're a worldwide brand. And I think the one thing the NFL showed them on Christmas, which is it doesn't get much better. Everyone's home, but there are no dummies. They know a ton of people would watch if they had one of the Sunday afternoon packages. And I would fully expect, I would bet a lot of money right now that Netflix is by whatever the date is, you know, whether it's 28, 29, who knows? And the NFL looks to re up their packages that we go to Netflix on a Sunday afternoon or Sunday night, but Sunday, and we already know the international game, and Roger has talked about this, that there is going to be a full slate of international games. So basically instead of six or seven, there's going to be like 15. Well, that's going to be sold as an individual package as well. So. Which I don't love because unless there's a first world problem, I could be fucking digging ditches. But like, that's a long football day. You know, if you got a football game starting for us on the West coast at 6:30am till basically 9:30 at night, just a lot of day. This is a lot of time. Watch ball. Now, luckily, the Sunday morning games have been kind of crappy over the years, so you can kind of pick and choose, but no one cares about where I stand on that. But that's coming and that's. Guess what that's going to be. It's going to be a standalone package. Well, they sold Amazon for whatever, a billion dollars a year for Thursday night games. What do you think they'll sell the standalone morning game international for a lot of money? What do you think they'll sell the individual game to Netflix once a day? Maybe Netflix just gets their own game On Sunday and maybe Fox and CBS can continue with Jim Nance and, you know, Buck and I guess Buck and Aikman are gone, I guess Brady. So it's just get ready. Like change is inevitable in business because the consumer. Back to the YouTube thing. Think about five years ago, the way we talked about YouTube. It was important, but it's nowhere near the power of it is now. Like, things people want to ask me, like, what do you want to do with your career? Like, I don't know. I work in a business that changes every 10 minutes. I just want to keep having the access or having people have ability to access me, wherever that is. If YouTube were to die tomorrow, it's not going to and something else started and it was clearly going to work, I'd get on that. I don't really care. I'm not emotional about any of these platforms, but certain platforms are really powerful and the way that we consume everything has changed dramatically in five years. If you would have told me five years ago I was paying three, four hundred dollars for cable. I don't even have a cable box in my television and I make my living off watching television and talking about it. Think about that. I don't even have a cable box in my house and I make a living off television. So, like, that tells you everything you need to know. And if you have the opportunity. And I spent a lot of money on getting this house wired. Like, I would highly recommend YouTube TV. If you guys want to advertise on the show, holler at us. Google. But because I'm a user of the product, it fucking work. It's sweet. It is awesome. And obviously YouTube TV now has, you know, the NFL package. It was just seamless transition for me. But yeah, man, I just. It's crazy. And last but not least, I guess they caught the. The guys that robbed Kelsey and Mahomes and it was the Chilean gang. Well, the Chilean gang. My. Where my brother lives in Davis, California, which is right next to Sacramento. There were a bunch of homes robbed and he lives on a golf course and his house wasn't robbed, but the dude right across the kind of the course was. And there were like two or three other homes in the area robbed. One guy actually, because they all played golf together. One guy had a decent amount of cash, you know, one of those old school, like sock drawers. Like, wait, you had $85,000 in cash in your fucking sock drawers? Like, what is this, 1968? Like, hey, Ray Liotta called, like, put it in a bank, buddy. But obviously rolexes but it came out that it was the Chilean gangs. And then where I live, kind of right up the street from me, there were some robberies at a super nice kind of country club area and guys like didn't necessarily come up the golf course but these things in the desert called the wash. So you basically your home backs up to deserty areas and a bunch of high end super rich people got jacked and they eventually caught him and they were both in Davis and in Scottsdale, both Chilean gangs. And the Chilean gangs are running this operation of sending people here and they rob your homes and they typically do it. I don't know the specifics on the Kelsey Joe Burrow, that kind of crew but like in Davis and in Scottsdale and I think they hit super nice area in was it Minnesota or Michigan as well is they do it during like the time when you leave your house to walk your dog from like 4 to 6 and they're in and out and they come, they basically case the joint through a wash or through like some area where they can just run away. But they're not like locked and loaded with weapons Basically the Chileans understood that if we get arrested, especially the last like four years, you wouldn't get any trouble. Especially if you're not packing heat, you're not going to take anyone down. You just, you get released on bond, you're out of the country. But they've been getting away with it for a long time and they clearly attacked some of these high end NFL players and the Chilean gang like are operating a pretty high level operation. Hopefully it comes to an end. But they have been hitting people high end neighborhoods all over the country. So if you're going to walk your dog man, you got to keep an eye, make sure there's not anyone looking over the fence because these people rob you and they'll be in and out of your house. I mean I saw some of the video because my brother knows all these guys that hit his neighbors. I mean they were in and out in like three or four minutes. Like they are not casing your entire house. They're going right to the master bedroom and typically you know, hoping to get bags, watches, you know, if you're dumb enough and listen, I'm not, we're all a little different but I think in this modern day society and who knows, maybe I get, you know, this huge banking hack and I lose all my money. But if you have, I'm all for keeping a little cash on you. But the people that have like $100,000 in cash in their sock drawer. It's one thing if you have like a legit gun safe and you got cash in there. It's like, okay, you know, I get it. I know a lot of people that do that. No one could get in and it's bolted to the ground. You can't even get it out. But if you're one of those people with like, Yeah, I got 75k in my, in my dress socks, it's like, yeah, it's. I don't know if that's the best idea, but who knows? Maybe to each his own. Time and time again, detection based cybersecurity solutions have failed to stop ransomware. It's time to rethink your posture. 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Jon Stewart (46:56)

Jon Stewart is back at the Daily show, and he's bringing his signature wit and insight straight to your ears with the Daily Show Ears Edition podcast. Dive into John's unique take on the biggest topics in politics, entertainment, sports, and more. Joined by the sharp voices of the show's correspondents and contributors, and with extended interviews and exclusive weekly headline roundups, this podcast podcast gives you content you won't find anywhere else. Ready to laugh and stay informed? Listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Bobby Bones (47:35)

Hey, it's Bobby Bones. Join me and former NFL quarterback Matt Castle every Wednesday for our new podcast, Lots to say with Bobby Bones and Matt Castle. Between us, we have over 17,500 passing yards, multiple New York Times bestsellers, and one mirrorball trophy from Dancing with the Star. So where else are you gonna find a show with that much athleticism and football insight? Based in Nashville, we're more than just your basic NFL show. We talk sports, but we talk pop culture and music and a little bit of everything because we got lots to say. I texted you and you texted me back. Now I don't know if you have the update, but like all the little thumbs up and heart and stuff, like it's all colored. They changed it and the heart's a little pink. It felt like I told you I loved you. I'm going to be honest, it was a little Pink.

John Middlekauff (48:18)

There was something sentimental when you, when you send it, it's like, do I send the heart now?

Bobby Bones (48:24)

I don't like the color edition.

John Middlekauff (48:25)

It's extremely pink.

Bobby Bones (48:27)

Listen to Lots to say with Bobby Bones and Matt Castle on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts.

John Middlekauff (48:34)

Something about Mary Poppins.

AJ Jacobs (48:36)

Something about Mary Poppins. Exactly.

Jon Stewart (48:38)

Oh, man, this is fun.

AJ Jacobs (48:40)

I'm AJ Jacobs and I am an author and a journalist and I tend to get obsessed with stuff, and my current obsession is puzzles. And that has given birth to my podcast, the Puzzler. Dressing. Dressing.

John Middlekauff (48:57)

French dressing.

AJ Jacobs (48:58)

Exactly.

John Middlekauff (49:01)

That's good.

AJ Jacobs (49:03)

Now you can get your daily puzzle nuggets delivered straight to your ears.

John Middlekauff (49:08)

I thought to myself, I bet I know what this is. And now I definitely know what this is. This is so weird. This is fun. Let's try this one.

AJ Jacobs (49:16)

Our brand new season features special guests like Chuck Bryant, Mayim Bialik, Julie Bowen, Sam Sanders, Joseph Gordon Levitt, and lots more. Listen to the Puzzler every day on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Bobby Bones (49:34)

That's awful and I should have seen it coming.

John Middlekauff (49:46)

Okay, let's do a little thing we like to call the mailbag @john middlecoffonmiddlekopf is the Instagram fire in those direct messages to get your questions answered here on the show. Sometimes, you know, it gets winter months, even though it's kind of sunny, it's kind of been dreary around here. You look in when you record your podcast because we also do a video version and I'm looking at myself, I'm like, I need to get some sun. I need to just go. I'm getting married in a couple weeks. I cannot be pasty and pale. I look terrible. I just need to get some. I need to get some rays. Tried to go on a walk yesterday with no hat and just get my head, but I got a long way to go. So we'll start with Dan. Given the T Higgins is likely to be tagged by the Bengals, how would you attack the Patriots off season? They have by far the most cap space in the league in a high draft position. But it seems like a weak draft in free agency class at wide receiver and O line. What are your thoughts? I would be careful. I mean, maybe it turns out that way. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe by the time you're listening to see he's been tagged. But let's just let everything play out. I think we'll have a lot of information over the next Week when it comes to tags, when it comes maybe extensions, because you can extend your own player. I would just, I wouldn't get. I wouldn't have my hopes up and then have them shattered because I see a report not saying that he won't. But I think these things are very fluid. I just think you got to be very careful. And listen, this Vrabel and Elliott Wolf, who's a Packer guy, you know, their history is not going crazy in free agency. I mean, think about Mike Vrabel's career. For some of you, you guys are a little young. Hell, I mean, I was, I was probably a sophomore in high school when the Patriots signed him, but he got drafted in the mid to late 90s and I don't think he ever was a full time starter with the Steelers. And Belichick just loved his versatility. I don't think he cost very much money when they signed him in. Was it 2000 or 2001? So I just think sometimes in free agency, everyone gets so excited about like T. Higgins. Like the best free agent signings last year were like Zach Bond. You know, it's not always some guy that costs a lot of money and sometimes the sexiest guys. I remember when the Niners, they, they signed Javon Hargrave four years, 80 million, 20 a year. It was a disaster. So I think you got to be very careful about the excitement level offensive linemen. Like, you can sign random guys that can be a good guard for you. I would just. This is not baseball where it's like, can we get Juan Soto? Can we get. I saw Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Turn down whatever the Blue Jays were offering him. So, like, you know, you get guys like that, it's like they're going to be sweet, plug and play. Like you get Kevin Durant and free agency in his prime, or Shaq. That's, that's not really football. It's very rare that, like the best players don't hit free agency. Like Miles Garrett doesn't hit free agency. Trent Williams doesn't hit free agency. You know those Jamar Chase, Justin Jefferson. So now doesn't mean you can't get good player in free agency, but it's, it's not fool's gold. But I think the hype behind it doesn't always equal the results. I got a buddy going to Scottsdale for spring break and I was talking to him about your pod and stuff to do there. You brought up a restaurant one time that you said was kind of a hole in the wall, but it had this Hangover sandwich or something along those lines. And it sounded awesome. Now he wants to try it. It was actually a hangover burrito and it's called Tom's Thumb. It is a gas station that, that also doubles as a barbecue joint. And now the barbecue joint was on television for like Guy Fury's Triple D. And I mean, it's good barbecue joint, but the hangover burrito is just. If you're hungover, it'd be bomb. I wasn't even hungover and I ate the thing. What do you think teams have to do to compete for a championship? On paper, he's talking about Seattle. We have a talented roster, but it feels like we're stuck in quarterback purgatory and continue to be below average in the trenches. How does the front office try to solve problems when consistently drafting in the middle of the first round? You know what? John Schneider has kind of turned in Seattle to, and this is a compliment in the Pittsburgh Steelers of like, they're never going to suck. They just are not going to suck. It's not going to happen. But they're not close to competing for a Super Bowl. So it's like they're just drafting from 18 to 22 every year, maybe as low as like 14, 15, 16, but never sniffing the top 10. And I mean, look at the last couple years of Pete, they were winning nine games. Look at this year, they went 10, seven. What would happen if they rolled back the majority of their team, they win nine to 10 games again? I don't know what the answer is. I think you know with Schneider, he's selected so many high end players at different positions, he's going to find talent. I do think at quarterback you can have to get a little lucky. You got lucky with Russell Wilson, got him in the third round and he was a star for you. Like, can you find your Jalen Hurts? Like, to me, that's the question. Can you find your version of Purdy, just a young player that you can pivot off Geno and he can be a starter that you can build up the team with this cheap contract and win around. Like, you're probably not going to draft a quarterback in the first round, but can you do that with, you know, someone a little later in the draft? I don't know the answer to that, honestly. Would you agree that the only reason Jalen Hurts won, Speaking of, Jalen won the super bowl was because of his stacked team? Don't get me wrong, he's a great quarterback, but he is no Mahomes, Lamar or Allen. Watching Jalen win the super bowl is like watching the Ravens win the 2012 Super Bowl. Joe Flacco is a great quarterback, but he was on a very stacked team. Am I crazy for thinking this? I think Jalen is much more impactful than Joe Flacco. You know, we talked about it. Listen, if you're comparing Jalen to Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen, he's not as good as those players. No one would argue that beside Jalen, but like Howie Roseman wouldn't argue that. Where Jalen is valuable is he's a dual threat quarterback. So yeah, he threw 18 touchdowns, but he also ran 414 and his tush push play like it's him. A lot of people try quarterback sneaks. They don't work. The tush push is because his power how low we saw Josh Allen, who is bigger, stronger than Jalen, couldn't gain a yard against the Chiefs. So I pulled up Flacco. In 2012, Joe Flacco threw 22 touchdowns and he ran for three, which I imagine were all quarterback sneaks. So he had 25 total touchdowns. Jalen Hurts through 18 this year, 14, I think had 34 touchdowns. So I had nine more touchdowns that season. Now where Flacco was pretty special is in their super bowl run. They played four games. Obviously they went four. No, they won the Super Bowl. He threw 11 touchdowns and no interceptions. So it was like it's like a dude who had a random golf career but like won a major. It's like, remember that time he got really hot at the US Open? That was kind of Joe Flacco. I think Jalen's a better player than Joe Flacco. Right. If you could have 25 year old Jalen Hurts or 25 year old Joe Flacco, you would take Jalen hurts. You know, part of Jalen hurts is he's a dual threat player. Now. Were there times this season when he was not playing well and they still won games because of the team? 100% but Jalen played well the Super Bowl. That's the other thing. Like Jalen was not shitty in the Super Bowl. Here's my question. Now this super bowl is over. I have been racking my brain on the top five quarterbacks. Top three are no brainers. Brady Most rings beat Mahomes. Montana 40 in the super bowl and then Mahomes. I got in a tie. I got a tie at five with Peyton and Elway. Both are elite, but both were not as successful as the top three. Peyton kept getting beat by the Pats. And Brady, when he finally got the super bowl, he faced a vastly inferior Bears team and won the game. Elway was getting routed in Super Bowls. It was only when he got a stack team with Mike Shanahan as his coach. And I can't think of anyone else I would put it for. I got an open slot. Guys like Aikman, sacked team Young, great player, stack team. Only one Super Bowl. Marino probably best, pure passer, but only one appearance. Kelly is nice long question. So thanks for reading. Yeah, I wouldn't disagree with you. I would. I would mix Rogers and Farm in there as well. Like, I think the top five, you know, I think Brady is pretty, pretty entrenched at one. I think, you know, Mahomes, Manning, Montana are kind of all in that, that group. I think once you get like five to nine, I think you can have a lot of arguments. You know, Elway, Marino, Favre, Rogers, Steve Young. I think Steve Young's a better player than Troy Aikman. I wouldn't have. I don't think many people would have Troy Aikman as a top 10 quarterback, though. He's obviously really good player. Super bowl champ several times over. Stud. I mean, legend. But I think when you think top, when I, when I say, like Aaron Rodgers and Brett Favre, I don't think Troy Aikman. Hi, John. Love the pod. I never comment or write anything over the years, but I felt like this one, I felt like this one was a disservice if I did not. For the love of God, do not fly to Dubai for your honeymoon. That was. It was a joke, by the way. I was not one. It's not my call flying over the Mediterranean. All the options of the old romantic cities and cobblestone streets that live in women's minds. To go do some fishing village in a desert converted to a city more or less the last century due to the oil boom in conservative Muslim country on a longer flight for not even half the vibe is not viable. Yeah, the Dubai trip will be John's. She, she, she, she ain't going to honeymoon in Dubai. Question for the pod. I, like so many people, have been a Nick Sirianni hater. But winning the super bowl made me think of him completely different. To win like this. He has consistently for several years. He has consistently won for several years. Must be elite leader of men because I don't know what else he does. But then I see a video on the Eagles YouTube channel of the offensive and defensive captains giving speeches the day before the game. Almost everyone, even the players like C.J. gardner, Johnson made me want to strap up and run through a fucking wall. Does it say more about Sirianni that he's a leader, or do the Eagles have a better core of leaders than all of the NFL? Follow up. Do you remember a locker room speech that stood out to you? Part of building a team, whether you're Bill Walsh, Andy Reid, Belichick, or you're Nick Sirianni is the better players. If you're, if your best players are super high character, tough football guys, you're going to have a much higher chance to win. So it's like when you see those speeches and they were really good, you know, Lane Johnson, I saw Lane Johnson's, I saw Jalen's. But I think most times when you get to the super bowl, like, pretty high level dudes on these teams, like, this isn't a bunch of slappies. Those are on the teams drafted in the top 10. When you look at the Eagles, like, they got, you know, you watch Landon Dickerson and Lane Johnson and Jordan Mylotta and Zach Bond and Saquon and Jalen, like, these are high level cats. You know, this is not, this is not jolly fuck around, strap it up, let's play a little ball. Like, this is a serious way of life. And I mean, one that stood out to me is when the Patriots beat The Ravens in 2011 and Ray Lewis kind of gave this one of like, Joe Flacco. You do not get to hang your head after this loss because he was a pretty polarizing player at the time and he actually played well even in the loss. And it's like part of the reason the Ravens were good for so long is like, look who their best players were. It's like, hello, Dinada, Ray Lewis, Ed Reed. You know, the Eagles are full of like, Brandon Graham look. Same thing with the Chiefs. It's like, this isn't. You got no chance to be good if you don't watch speeches from players in the playoffs and go, jesus, this is. This is pretty. I mean, I go back to when I was a kid, like, think of the best players on the best teams. It's like Troy Aikman, Steve Young, Jerry Rice, Reggie White, you know, it's like Brett Favre. You watch these guys any NFL films clip, you're like, I want to run through a wall for these guys. And I just think it's the best teams have the best players who are also the best guys. And when I say best guys, I mean, like, from a football character standpoint, all in on football means everything to them. It's. This isn't like, I love it when people say, like, this is my profession, not my life. Well, it kind of is. You work way more than around your family and stuff. Obviously your work doesn't define you as like a dad or like a family guy. But most people I know that are really successful, their work is a huge part of their life and I don't want to say defines their life, but is a huge defining part of just the way they live their life. You spend a lot of time doing always bothers me. And we're not that far away when the media, most of the media, no one successful would sign up for their life. One, most don't make that much money. Two, most, if you follow them on Twitter over the years, can be a little miserable. And they, they can give, they can't take it. And when the draft comes around, they love doing this because players get asked like, how big of a priority is football to you? And teams get uncomfortable when you have like a balanced life. Well, yeah, if I'm going to pay a 23 year old, I don't know, $20 million, I would like for football to be a pretty big priority for them. Like, sorry, call me crazy. Sorry, I'm asking too much. This is not a $100,000 a year job. Like, you don't just get to clock in and clock out like this, especially quarterbacks. And I would even say defensive and offensive lineman, like, you better be all in because I'm going to need so much physical and mental toughness out of you to be a good player. If it's not a big part of your life, you just won't last. It's impossible. The game is just way too hard. And the media loves, like, why is everyone so obsessed with their other interests? Because it's hard to have other interests during the football season. Not saying that you can't do other stuff, but football takes a large percentage of your time as a player during, from August till ideally the NFL playoffs. Like Patrick Mahomes isn't dicking around that much for the last six months neither. Josh Allen maybe around a golf here or there, maybe, you know, a date night once a week, but it's not, you're not watching Netflix three times, four times a week. It's just he doesn't have time. He's exhausted. Takes a lot of energy, takes a lot of effort. And I just think that criticism always drives me fucking nuts. Yeah, sorry. I, like, I don't want the guy I'm Investing in a shitload of money to, you know, have 17 other interests, because it just diminishes and takes away your time. It just does. Let's face it. I would say people tend to be really good at things. Pretty singular, focused. As a baseball fan, I feel in recent years there has been a resurgence in viewership and attendance at baseball games. Even if stadium hot dogs and beers are overpriced, there's nothing better than taking the family out to a baseball game on a summer afternoon. NFL will always be king. But it feels like America's pastime is a comeback, is making a comeback. What say you? Well, I think the biggest brands in the sport are good, so that helps, right? The two biggest brands, the Yankees and the Dodgers, we're just in the World Series. So it's like, it's. If you could pick an ideal matchup in baseball, you would go Yankees, Dodgers, every single year. Every single year. Like in basketball, what would the ideal matchup be? It would actually be the Warriors, Lakers. That's what Adam Silver would choose to be his NBA Finals. Obviously, it's impossible, but that's what he would choose. Why? Because the two biggest brands are Curry and LeBron. So I think it has to be a. I just think that I. I don't know. It's hard to tell. You know, it's. Baseball is much more of a local sport than a national sport. You know, having moved from the Bay Area, where, I mean, the Giants have been so bad, but when they're just solid or even good, they're a really big deal. Come to Arizona. Like, I like baseball and I like having it on my background, but, like, I don't watch any Diamondbacks games where, you know, football, for example. Like, I'll watch Cardinal games. I'll watch. I'll watch whatever. I won't watch random teams play baseball. And that's, you know, I don't know if that's ever going to change, but I think the Dodger story is a good one. It really is. People like, it's bad for baseball. Well, what's good for baseball? Because what's been happening is not working. So you might as well have a team that's, like, couldn't be any more stacked and have teams try to beat them. Especially, you know, the Mets. They have this really famous owner who's spending a shitload of money. The Yankees are good. Phillies, try. Yeah, I don't think it can be definitely not a bad thing. Question. Have I played Sun City and Union Hills in Scottsdale? Curious if you had Played either course. Been an absolute grind. I know. I've never. Honestly, I've never even heard of those. Enjoy. I think he's coming for a bachelor party. It seems like you're not a big baseball. Getting a lot of baseball questions here. Not a big baseball guy, but. But that's my favorite sport. My question is, do you have any colleagues or guys you listen to in the baseball sphere that have a similar vibe to you? Do you think there's a lot of people putting out content like you do? Lol. Any insight? I don't know. I don't even know how to answer that question. I think. Let me try to say this in a nice way. I think it's hard to have a business built around baseball podcasts, right? The reason you see a lot more football podcasts or NBA podcasts or cultural podcasts or political podcasts, you can build businesses around those, you know, baseball. The listenership. I think I heard Portnoy talk about this, like a couple years back about, like, when they were building their kind of their podcast, like the baseball podcast. No one listens. So I think it's more that it's hard for guys to make money on doing that, to have a. To have an audience. But no, I don't. I don't listen to any baseball content in terms of podcasts or YouTube channels or anything. So I'm so. I don't know if there's anyone with, quote, unquote, my vibe out there. Hope there is. Hope he's killing it, though. Mailbag. This is the last question. Cam Ward was recently quoted saying he'll remember all the teams that pass on him in the draft and they'll pay the price for not drafting him. I'm a firm believer that humility is what wins in sports, but guys continue to puff their chests out all the time without achieving anything. Whenever I see athletes, especially quarterbacks, make comments like this, I immediately fade them as players who will be successful. I feel like I'm usually right. Josh Rosen saying he was going to win more Super Bowls than Brady. As a former scout and someone who's tied to the NFL, what are your thoughts on comments like this? It's weird. Like, you. You do this long enough, I'm kind of numb to them. They don't mean anything to me. They don't. Like, is it false bravado? Yeah. Like, bro, you're fucking just playing in the acc. Couple years ago, you were at Incarnate Word. Like, let's not act like, you know, you're at Ohio State here Kicking everyone's ass now, you had a good season. I guess I don't really care. Like, it doesn't bother me, but I think if. And I don't know really anything about the guy, but I think if you did a deep dive and people like, yeah, he kind of acts. Maybe he's just a little insecure about it. To me, those comments, it's one of those, well, if he becomes a stud player, it looks really good, right? But I don't know what you have to be to gain from it. It's one of those, if it does not go well, everyone's ripping you for it. Not that he's thinking about it like that. I mean, let's face it. Like, when Brady went up to Robert Kraft, like, during rookie minicamp in the hallway and said, this is the best decision you'll ever make, well, once he becomes Tom Brady, it ages pretty well. I bet there have been comments like that from guys that get cut in training camp. You're like, no one ever talks about that. So anytime you do this, I mean, part of it is he's a big, big star. Honestly, every comment I've seen from Shador, just in regards to where he gets drafted, you know, how he doesn't view it as a competition between him and Cam Ward, I actually think has been pretty high level. I haven't really seen anything from Cam Ward beside the, you know, I'm going to make them pay. It's like, bro, let's just. Let's just fucking get drafted first. I'm with you. That's where I'm inclined to be. But ultimately it doesn't impact anything. Like, what's going to impact him? Is he good? Can he run an offense? How hard does he work? Does, like, because physically, he's pretty gifted. I mean, there's like, he's much more gifted than Chador. Like, physically, he is a legit top 10 prospect. And just in terms of, like, physical qualities now, is he a good player? You know, I don't know. I probably have to watch a little more. I didn't watch that much Miami. Their games were just complete shootouts. I did watch a little of the cow game when he came storming back. He makes some sweet plays. I mean, he's. Overall, though, I think you got to be very careful about one thing I've learned when I worked in IT and even doing this is making with talented players, you know, like, I'm out on this guy, right? Because, like, you can't. You can't pigeonhole yourself to a position that's like, well, like what if he matures? What if he gets better? If he just has an awful attitude and thinks he's way better than he is, like he's gonna have problems. But what if it's just a young guy? I mean, how old's cam work? 22 years old. Some people say dumb stuff. He's 22 years old. So I guess it's a long winded way of saying like, yeah, I would recommend like, hey, just, just try to say the right stupid cliche bullshit before you're drafted and then just, you can say whatever you want. But I would just, just chill. But that's clearly not the tact he's taken. Again, if he's good, it'll be a legendary comment. And whatever teams, if he ends up going like fifth or seventh or eighth and a bunch of teams pass on him, we'll talk about it forever. If he sucks, we actually won't talk about that that much cuz we just won't talk about them that much. It just. You just kind of be irrelevant.

Mary Kay McBrayer (74:33)

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AJ Jacobs (74:37)

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John Middlekauff (75:04)

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Mary Kay McBrayer (75:37)

I'm Mary Kay McBrayer, host of the podcast the Greatest True Crime Stories Ever Told. This season explores women from the 19th century to now. Women who were murderers and scammers, but also women who were photojournalists, lawyers, writers, and more. This podcast tells more than just the brutal, gory details of horrific acts. I delve into the good, the bad, the difficult, and all the nuance I can find because these are the stories that we need to know to understand the intersection of society, justice and the fascinating working of the human psyche. Join me every week as I tell some of the most enthralling true crime stories about women who are not just victims, but heroes or villains, or often somewhere in between. Listen to the greatest true crime stories ever told on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

John Middlekauff (76:37)

Welcome to My Legacy. I'm Martin Luther King III and together with my wife, Andrea Waters King, and our dear friends Mark and Craig Kilburger, we explore the personal journeys that shape extraordinary lives. Join us for heartfelt conversations with remarkable guests like David Oyelowo, Mel Robbins, Martin Sheen, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, and Billy Porter. Listen to My legacy on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is My Legacy.