← The Herd with Colin Cowherd
The Herd with Colin Cowherd
3 & Out - Rodgers out in NY, Latest with the draft, All-Star Games are dead
01:15:55
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John Middlekauff
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Kyra K. Dixon
The Volume.
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John Middlekauff
What is going on everybody? John Middelkoff three and out Podcast. Hopefully everyone is having a good day recording this little old show on President's Day. Gloomy day here in Arizona. Not too gloomy I guess. 65 degrees and hopefully we still know how to podcast. Took a couple days off. Time to hop back on the saddle and start slinging some football takes. Now what what we will do today. So some thoughts from Aaron Rodgers to Matt Stafford to Travis Hunter to some takes on the All Star Game because everyone's like the NBA All Star Game. The NFL All Star Game. I watched the Hockey All Star Nation thing. That was sweet. And we also do a mailbag at John Middlekopf. We've Got a lot of new listeners over the course of the season and people ask like what happens during the off season. We podcast. We got combine right around the corner. Then you got free agency, then you got the draft, then you got OTAs. There is no slowing down. We go pedal the metal here. So we'll be podcasting just like we did during the season. We will also though I do a golf podcast. A little bit of a passion project also just trying to expand the business here and we've been doing it for a couple years. We're going to expand in doing videos on the course for YouTube as well. We did a couple in the fall. Plan is to do a lot more this year. Trying to figure out exactly how we're going to attack that this week. So we will do Go Low podcast just on everything golf from gambling to the PGA Tour to just anything that's going on we will BS about. And I also have a golf Instagram so we do a mailbag as well. So you can fire in at golopod. It kind of goes dormant during football season, but I will resuscitate that thing and bring it back to life and we will utilize that moving forward. So at Golopod is the Instagram account that I run as well. Probably not much has gone on there lately, but I will get back involved with that right now. So if you got any questions, want to get involved in any of the golf mailbag, that is where you find me. And other than that, subscribe to the podcast. If you listen on Collins feed, subscribe to the YouTube channel. Appreciate everyone that has and let's, let's talk some football. Let's start with Aaron Rodgers, who was officially cut I guess unofficially because the waiver wires dead for I think another week or so. But the jets put out a statement and basically I love it. You know, in sports I guess I follow so closely, maybe it happens in other industries, but it's just a, it's a go to football thing when a player or a coach is fired. Like we wish him the best in his future endeavors and whatever he pursues in the future. Like I love that being the final statement. It's like, no, you can't get this guy out of your building quick enough. And this isn't just on Aaron Rodgers. This is on anytime a coach is fired. Jerry said it with Mike McCarthy, it happens with every person. It's like, I wish you the best. No, you want this guy gone and you hope whoever you bring in to replace him is way better than this guy. So you're actually not wishing him the best. But the Aaron Rodgers situation was. It's funny, you know, they went all in. I don't blame them for doing it. And it didn't just backfire in their face. It was a disaster. It was like an epic all time disaster. It was one of those situations that's going to be talked about the rest of my life. I mean, there were some historic ones when I was young that I didn't witness. Like, hey, remember Willie Mays on the Mets? It's like, no, I don't. But clearly that didn't go well. And that feels like it's going to be one of those situations, especially if Rogers doesn't play anymore. And I never blame a player for trying to play till his like essentially athletic dying days because the real world sucks compared to getting to play football, basketball, baseball, hockey, you name it, for a living. It doesn't get any better than that. And mainly it doesn't pay any better than that. And when you play quarterback, even at like a mediocre level, I mean, Gardner Minshew got $15 million last year from the Raiders. There aren't many W2 jobs on the open market that pay $15 million. So Aaron Rodgers, who his days of getting 40, $50 million are over. But when you look at GARDNER MINSHEW Getting $15 million, it's very conceivable that someone could pay him one year, 20, $25 million. So I would not blame him for trying to continue his career. The problem is his options, and we've talked about this before, are not going to be very good. It's going to be the jets, it's going to be the Raiders. It's going, it's going to be teams like the Giants. It's going to be teams that are all drafting really, really high for a reason. They suck. So when I, if I was giving advice to Aaron Rodgers and if I was giving advice to Amazon, doesn't this make a lot of sense? Like, listen, Herb street and Al got that thing off the, off the mat, got it going, got it going in the right direction, made it a valuable property, right? A lot of us watch Thursday Night Football, 10 to 15 million people. But Al feels like he's, I'm pro Al Michaels, but a couple steps away from retirement and the Herb street thing was kind of filler because they got denied on guys like John lynch and Sean McVeigh. Well, Aaron Rodgers sitting right there for you. And doesn't it kind of scratch Aaron's itch? Like part of staying as an NFL quarterback, if he were to sign with a bad team, wouldn't just be because of money. It would be because of what the NFL brings. Keeps you relevant, keeps you in the public eye, helps you, you know, be in the mix to your off the field businesses. Well, isn't that what this modern day television show does? Because look at Tom Brady. They gave him 350, $375 million. He'd never called a game. I would say Aaron Rodgers has proven to be much more of an outgoing personality of willing to say whatever, and that's the space he's in. Like, ultimately, the space of calling a football game is entertainment. Right? It's not like you got to just color within the lines. No, like, be yourself, do whatever you want to do. And I do think Aaron Rodgers to Amazon, like, listen, makes a lot of sense. And if I was Amazon, I would be all over him. And the money that they were willing to pay a couple years ago to guys like McVeigh and John lynch were eye opening. Why wouldn't they be willing to do that with Aaron Rodgers? Why wouldn't they be willing to, like, okay, it's like, Fox made a big splash, obviously. A couple years ago, ESPN made a big splash hiring Joe Buck and Troy Aikman away from Fox. Maybe this is Amazon's time. And listen, I'm not saying he would take it. Maybe he wants no part of this. Aaron Rodgers doesn't seem like he's destined to be like a coach or a gm, but this feels like kind of a cushy gig. You could make 15, 20 million dollars a year, do it for a couple years, ease into retirement, still get paid a premium, get to be around football and let's face it, kind of keep yourself relevant. I actually think, like, this is the perfect gig for him. If he asked me for advice, not saying he would, and he won't. It's like, should I go to the Titans or should I go to the Raiders or should I be interested in Amazon and Amazon? Like, I'm sorry, Like, it's time to get a new booth. It's time to blow that thing up. And I think Rodgers is the perfect individual for that spot. I think when you look at the jets and I think the Falcons fall under this too, sometimes in life you have to be desperate. Like, part of the reason I'm a podcaster is because probably about a decade ago there were some desperate times and it kind of led me into this profession. And it's worked out pretty well, right? There are times in your Life professionally and probably personally where you have to do desperate things. Because the old adage is never make a business decision out of desperation. I think that's a little bullshit. I would. The way I would phrase it would be never make a big business decision out of desperation. And I think anytime that you trade or pay a quarterback a lot of money, when you're in a situation like the Falcons were, when you're in a situation like the jets were, it's not an ideal operation because you go, well, why are the packers trading me this guy? Why doesn't Kevin O'Connell and the Minnesota Vikings want this player back? And currently the name that's floating around is Matt Stafford and it's, you know, the Rams. I don't know him having Matt Stafford and we've heard it now for a couple years, like something's just a little off. And I think usually this stuff comes back to money. And I don't blame the Rams. Like, yeah, we're not really into giving you like $100 million guaranteed right now at 37, 38 years old. We're not into getting into a position where if this does go off the rails, we feel like we're the Atlanta Falcons or the New York Jets. We're going to take a huge, huge cap hit for a guy that, you know, we feel is on the wrong side, probably on hole 1718, who we're proven we can still win with and we like playing with. But this is a business and we're a little uncomfortable with where we're at in this cycle now. We don't have many better options. We actually don't have any other options, but we don't plan on giving you a big contract extension. So if you want that contract extension, you're going to have to get it from someone else. And when I see that teams like, ah, the Giants could be really interested in Matt Stafford, like that's got disaster written all over, really does. Like okay, the New York Giants, who have been one of the worst operations for a decade plus, would be interested in trading for Matt Stafford. And obviously if you're going to trade for him, you're going to give him a lot more money on his contract because Sean McVay and the LA Rams, who's have established themselves as clearly one of the best operations in the league, are over it. I would not be doing that. I would not be getting into business with situations that well run franchises want out of. Especially even with, you know, we saw last year with Kirk Cousins who is going to be released in the next couple weeks, he was available for a reason. He was old, he was, he was injured and he was going to be really, really expensive. And the Falcons are like, yeah, we'll give you a $90 million guaranteed. And it was clear by halfway through the season, like, this is an epic disaster. And part of the reason it was a disaster is like your coaching staff, do they know what they're doing? Like, Matt Stafford used to be way better. Why? He was younger, he was in the prime of his career and he was around people that were over their head and they did not win. Like, part of being a good player in the NFL is you also need good coaches and a good operation in the NFL. Like, it's pretty clear looking back when Tom Brady chose the Bucks, like, yeah, they had Bruce Arians, Jason Light, who's one of the best GMs, and a lot of good players around him. They were actually pretty well built to handle that situation. If you would have put Tom Brady on a team that was not, it would have blown up in his face. So when I see desperation when it comes to older quarterbacks, I see a massive, massive red flag. And I see something as an owner, like, I understand why a general manager, why a coach, people on the hot seat and people that are desperate to keep their jobs would want to do make a decision like that. But. And I'm not pro meddling and you hear this a lot like, you know, the owner can't just stay out of the way. Well, sometimes you have to get involved because you're like, this is a moronic idea. I don't need to know our entire playbook and the entire draft board to know. I don't like the way this looks, the way this smells, or where this has a potential to go. There's way more negative outcomes than it comes to positive outcomes when it comes to this transaction. So I would just the Stafford business. And if LA wants out, I'm sorry, I don't want in. Okay, let's go to a little draft conversation because there was a big story at the end of last week that Travis Hunter, it gave the list of guys going to the combine and Travis Hunter was listed as a corner. And I say this all the time during the draft and I will continue to beat this drum. Where you are drafted and how you are discussed as a draft prospect has nothing to do with how you're going to be as an NFL player. So your draft value, this is an economic exercise, right? So if I view you as a second round pick that has nothing to do with what you're going to be once you get to the NFL. But based on whether it be size and measurables, speed, production, just overall talent, I don't view you as I need to take you in the top 20 picks to acquire your services. Right. There are a lot of homes that go for $700,000. That would be a great place to lay your head down every night. But there's a reason that house costs $700,000. If you put it into a different market, that house might be $2.2 million. And sometimes guys and players coming out of college based on a bunch of different circumstances, some of them out of their own control, their draft value is different from what it would be if I took this guy from Texas Tech and I put him at Ohio State. That's part of the business. We're no different with positions. We say this all the time, right? It's, it's obvious. Quarterback is the number one position in the NFL. And if you need a quarterback and you're drafting a quarterback and the guy is viewed as an NFL starter, you draft him number one. You don't even hesitate. And then offensive and defensive linemen, when it comes to tackles and pass rushers, are both you right behind him. You could make the argument that the third most valuable position. So if you go quarterback, offensive and defensive lineman, tackles and ends, I would say corner would have to be pretty high up there. And if you could tell me, hey, you think both these guys are going to be an all pro, would you take a wide receiver or would you take a Cornerback? I would 1000% take a corner because it is typically easier to find good wide receivers later in the draft than it is corners, especially if I view the guy as a lockdown player. And I think Travis Hunter, whether he made the decision, whether Deon helped to make the decision, whether whoever in his life helped to make this decision, it was the correct decision. Because when you look at the wide receiver class, it's easy to get lost in the shuffle. It's all size. You know, different size requirements. Some teams need this, some teams need that, and they're just not viewed as highly in the sense of I can find guys later in the draft. That is just not true for corners. And at the end of the day, Travis Hunter as a wide receiver prospect, he's really good. Like he is a first round wide receiver prospect. But I don't view him like Jamar Chase or, you know, last year I had, I thought Malik Neighbors was a better prospect than Marvin Harrison. Like just Some can't miss. No doubt about it, guy you would take in the top five. But at corner looking back last year, how many teams regret passing on guys like Jared Verse and Quinion Mitchell for the Eagles? Obviously looking back, the defensive lineman should have gone higher. But if you could do it over, there's no way on God's green earth that Mitchell ends up to the Eagles in the early 20s. He probably ends up going in the top 10 because getting a lockdown corner makes your defense that much easier to run. When a guy takes away half the field, especially a player who can chase around number one wide receivers and then the discussion of can he play both ways, like that's a bigger picture discussion that will have to play out over time. I don't think it's physically possible to play corner and wide receiver as full time starters in the NFL. There are 17 games playing corner. Just think about the wide receivers you have to go against in the NFL on a weekly basis. Especially if you are immediately the number one, you know, like the number one guy as a corner. Like if you're the top guy, you're chasing around their best guy. It's just extremely taxing. But like this is the easiest way to not even make a team hesitate to take you in the top two or three picks. Because if it's like I want to play wide receiver, I also plan on doubling up as a corner, but I'm a wide receiver first, I don't think he goes aside. But when he says I'm going to play corner, that's what I want to play. We will. I want to play offense as well, but I'm a corner. That's how you go in the top two or three. So smart move by him. Ashton Genti. I saw a headline today. A dude that writes for the Athletic wrote that the Cowboys should take him at number 12 overall. Taking Ashton Genti at 12 overall would be insane. And this gets back to that conversation. I love Ashton Genti as a running back. I think he is going to be a high end starter in the NFL. But you can find running backs, especially in this draft that are going to start between pick 40 and 80. There are going to be a ton of future NFL starters that are drafted on the second day. And if I'm the Dallas Cowboys and I have a lot of needs on my team, I am not taking a running back at number 12. That is insane. And listen, like Ashton Genti's 5, 8 if he was 6ft, you might be able to convince me, hey, it could be Adrian Peterson. He's 5 foot 8, but I couldn't take him at number 12 overall, especially when I go, well, why can't I just get my starter in the second or third round? Who do you take high overall? Take a offensive or defensive lineman. How did the Cowboys get good there for a while? They drafted a bunch of offensive linemen. What happened the last couple years? Like where's their defensive? Like where's their depth up front? You got Micah Parsons, who, you know you've kind of contemplated trading, but this is a deep draft at defensive lineman. Well, you're going to have the opportunity to pick one of the better ones at 12. So how many teams last year go, God, I could have used Jared Verse. Don't overthink this. Take a defense. Look at the Eagles. 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John Middlekauff
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Kyra K. Dixon
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John Middlekauff
A lot of discussion about the NBA All Star game falling off a cliff. And this is not a new thing. I mean, this happened, feels like it happened the last, I don't know, five, six years. It's, it's like embarrassingly bad. It looks like the NFL did the last couple years of pads, but in football it's somewhat understandable because if you're gonna pad up, you either gotta play 100% all out, where obviously guys get injured all the time just playing the sport or you can't play it at all. It's why once they kind of like took their foot off the gas pedal, it did not work. It was like, this thing's over, it's done. Which I understand. It's like, listen, I make $20 million a year. I am not willing to break my shoulder or break an arm or tear an ACL in an All Star game. Totally get it. Where in basketball you can go 75%, no problem, and pick your spots and have it be a competitive game while also an All Star game. It was like that for a long period of time. Most of my life they have completely just quit. They have raised the white flag and said we do not care. And the moment the talent says we do not care, the consumer's out. Because like, think about, would you ever watch a television show or a movie where the actors and the director or just the entertainment just didn't give a shit? They didn't even try. It would be awful. I was watching the White Lotus last night. The one thing that's so great about that show is like, it's just one. It's, it parallels each other each season, how they Use the different characters, but the effort and how good the acting is. Like this thing is just fantastic. These people sell me on the craziness of that show. And isn't that what most great television shows do? Those people like, this is really believable, this hilarious or this is serious, or this is, this is much watched tv. And that's the best part about sports is every Sunday when we turn into tune into the NFL, you're getting everyone's best effort, right? It's like even the shitty teams, they're playing their ass off down the stretch. It's like, why are the Patriots winning this game? Because it's football. And because you try in basketball, they're out. So the consumer's out. These games are over. Football game has been over, that it does not exist anymore. Like it's. They went to flag football. Now the problem in the NBA, you can't really do that. But I saw online that I don't follow the NHL, but this hockey thing was going on and I had seen the story that they had booed our anthem. So it's like, hey, we're playing Canada and they boot our anthem. It's like, I should probably tune this on. And within, I don't know, 15 seconds, there were just like three all out brawls and I was glued for three periods. I did not budge. And I watched America beat Canada and it was fucking awesome. Why? Because they cared. Every guy on that ice was giving me everything they had. That's all I can ask for as a consumer. So the moment you quit and I Understand, listen, the NBA, I think the average salary in the NBA is $12 million. I would imagine the average salary in the NBA All Star game, It's probably over $40 million. So once you get people that are that rich, they start dictating the terms. And in the NBA, the players have been dictating the terms for a long time. They don't even give a shit about the regular season. So you wonder, it's like, why are the ratings suck? Well, it's because I tune it on, you know, in a random January or December or February and like some guys aren't playing, no one gives a shit. So the moment you don't care, I don't care. And the moment I don't think it matters, like that's a problem. And I've said it forever about the NFL. They kind of just have it built in. Just because every game matters, there are only so many. It's just the nature of the sport. If the NFL, if you could Play and trust me, they would if they could. Three games a week. And instead of a 17 game schedule, it was like a 50 game schedule. It probably wouldn't be as powerful. It definitely would not. So I think these all star games are dead and whatever the NHL did, because in an NHL game, a lot like a football game, you're either all, you're either all in or it's going to fail immediately. And clearly with whatever they got going on with this national kind of round robin thing, these guys care. And maybe it's something to do with putting on, you know, your country's colors, but it worked. And I'm not even a hockey guy. I fly in for the NHL playoffs. I enjoy hockey because there's a violence and there's an edge to the sport that really only football can really bring. But they're playing on ice. I mean, it's just those guys are savages. And it was really, really impressive. It was cool and fun to watch. And I also think it just brought into light like the NBA. Like I like your dunk contest hasn't mattered in a decade. Your three point contest is doa. You're just done. And that's okay. Like, some things run its course. And in the NFL, the Pro bowl ran its course. Got you can't even convince guys to show up. It's like, hey, we're not a flag football game. You just get to go there, you get a bonus in your contract, you get to drink, you know, take your wife or whatever to Miami or Vegas or used to be in Hawaii. And for a long time that was a big deal. Because if you played in the 90s, even if you were making a couple million dollars free trip, everyone always went. That's why when you go back, see some of the highlights of the 90s or the early 2000s, like all the famous guys were there. And I was like, yeah, just, I'll take my own family to Cancun. I'll go play golf. I don't want to come. And that's the NBA All Star game. Still like forces these guys to come, but they can't force them to play hard. And you didn't have to do that with the NHL guys. They just, they just played. And that was a fucking brawl. I mean, those two brothers that started the fight and they showed the video of their dad fighting Claude Lemieux, who, whose daughter is married to a buddy of mine, Hunter Bishop. Claude Lemieux. So her name's actually Claudia Hunter plays for the Giants and the Bay Area guy. But man, that, that hockey game that made my weekend. Okay, let's end with this. Let's welcome everybody to chasing challenges brought to you by Microsoft. And in the NFL, just like in the business world, overcoming obstacles is the key to success. Microsoft empowers business decisions makers with AI solutions, simplified cloud and data management, and trustworthy, responsible technology to turn challenges into opportunities. In this segment, we explore some of the biggest challenges being faced in the NFL and how they can be overcome. Whatever challenge you're facing, Microsoft empowers you with the experts to say, bring it on. This week we're discussing the challenges faced by teams like the Eagles. When you win big and the Eagles just won the super bowl, you. You feel a debt of gratitude toward the guys that carried you there. And, and when you watch the Eagles down the stretch, their defensive line dominated and Josh Sweat has been a key player for them for years. And Milton Williams was a draft pick for them who not only came on this season, was dominant down the stretch of the year. And when you play defensive line, especially defensive tackle, and you hit free agency, you get a lot of money. A couple years ago, the Eagles had led the league in sacks the year that they lost the Chiefs in the Super Bowl. And when they hit free agency, John Javon Hargrave got $80 million from the 49ers. And I think with you're the Eagles, and just like a lot of good teams in the NFL, the key to not only next week, but the next couple weeks leading into free agency is figuring out who can we live without. Because when you have high level players who are proven to be winning players and guys who can excel at the highest level, it's hard to let them go. And sometimes you think, well, we got to keep them. We have to match that money. We got to pay them early. And I think in this situation for good teams, you got to figure out, can we replace this guy? And at what cost will it take? It take us to find a spot to get a player to equal 80% of his value? Can we get a guy that equals 80% of his value at a tenth of the cost? Because we saw the 49ers last year, they made the super bowl and Iuk was their best wide receiver and they felt obligated to give him a bunch of money. Then he messed with them and it was like, guys, you don't really run a passing offense. You're going to pay this guy $30 million a year. You're going to let him hold you over, over the barrel. And I think if they could do it over again. They would have traded him before the draft. And these are the tough decisions teams like the Eagles have to make, not only with their free agents, with players on their roster, like who do we have to keep so we can continue to win, but also keep financial flexibility. And that's why general managers make millions of dollars. To make these decisions, you have to balance not only your emotional tie toward the individual. These are guys you drafted. These are guys that you have been a huge part of developing over the years and believed in from the jump. And then they've turned into everything you want them to turn into. But are they worth the price which you have to pay to keep them? And that's really what these next couple weeks are in the NFL. So that's it for this week's Chasing Challenges. Remember, Microsoft's AI solutions empower you to take bold steps and and make informed decisions, sparking new ideas to help drive your business forward. With Microsoft as your trusted partner, you can navigate your journey with confidence, finding innovative solutions and reaching new possibilities. Visit Microsoft.com challenges to learn more.
- [37:01]
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- [37:17]
John Middlekauff
Time and time again, detection based cybersecurity solutions have failed to stop ransomware. It's time to rethink your posture. ThreatLocker offers a zero trust approach to endpoint protection that stops ransomware before it strikes. Threat Locker delivers end a deny by default strategy where you choose what to run, then block everything else. The result? No stress about the latest malware because with Threat Locker you block it by default, take charge of your cybersecurity and gain control of your environment. Visit threatlocker.com today and stay one step ahead of cyber threats. Welcome to MyLegacy. I'm Martin Luther King III and together with my wife Andrea Waters King, and our dear friends Mark and Craig Kilb, we explore the personal journeys that shape extraordinary lives.
- [38:10]
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Each week we'll sit down with inspiring figures like David Oyelo, Mel Robbins, Martin Sheen, Dr. Sanjay Gupta and Billy Porter and their plus one their ride or die as they share stories never heard before about their remarkable journey.
- [38:26]
John Middlekauff
Listen to my legacy on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. This is my legacy.
- [38:36]
Mel Reid
Hey, this is Mel Reid, LPGA Tour winner and six time ladies European Tour.
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Kyra K. Dixon
Winner and Kyra K. Dixon, NBC Sports reporter and host.
- [38:43]
Mel Reid
You forgot to say warm and Miss America, by the way. And we've got a new podcast, Quiet Please with Mel and Kira.
- [38:50]
Kyra K. Dixon
We are bringing you spicy takes on sports and pop culture, some golf haps and interviews with incredible people who have figured out how to make golf their.
- [38:58]
Mel Reid
Superpower or just people we like, plus tales from the road and everything in between. By the way, golf isn't just for the dads, Brads and Chads.
- [39:05]
Kyra K. Dixon
Yeah, it's actually life's cheat code and we're not going to be quiet about it on or off the course. We're bringing on some of our friends like Michelle We, Heather McMahon, Amanda Baliotis.
- [39:16]
Mel Reid
So if you want to keep up with us and here is yap, tune into our new podcast.
- [39:20]
Kyra K. Dixon
Listen to Quiet Please with Mel and Kira, an iHeart women's sports production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment. You can find us on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts presented by Capital One, founding partner of iHeart Women's Sports.
- [39:42]
John Middlekauff
Okay, let's do a little thing we like to call the Middle Coff Mailbag at John Middlecoff at John Middelkoff Instagram. Fire in those DMS get your questions answered here on the show. Very easy to get involved. Just fire in to those direct messages. Start with Andrew Question for the bag. A lot of talk about the Chargers going out and bringing in a top receiver such as Tyreek Devonte or T. Higgins or even drafting in one in the first round. While this is important to address, the offensive and defensive line need to continue to be fortified in. In Mike Lombardi's book Gridiron Genius, he talks about how Bill Walsh always believed that a wide receiver is the last position you address. This was in relation to the Niners drafting Jerry rice in the mid-80s, feeling as though he was the last piece and they had already won. I think they had already won two. So you just have to look at the guy running the show. Jim Harbaugh is not some guy that is going to break the bank for a wide receiver or trade a lot in terms of draft capital for one of these guys. It's just not going to happen to me. They will continue to build the line of scrimmage and make their defense dominant. That doesn't mean he won't acquire offensive players. They drafted Lad McConkey, who's a stud in the second round. Like to me, they will be all over a starting running back on the second Day of the draft. That'll be something that interests them greatly. Do I picture them getting super aggressive and trading for Tyree Kill? I just do not. I saw something on the Internet of like, could they trade for Mark Andrews? Like, I think they're going to be smart about the skill position. Guys, that is not how Jim Harbaugh has played. When he dominated with the Niners and when he won a national championship with Michigan, it was kicking your ass in the line of scrimmage. So I hear what you're saying. Fortify the line of scrimmage. That is what Jim Harbaugh does believes in. So they don't need a tackle now, but they need more defensive linemen. Like, you know, Bosa's probably not going to be on the team and Khalil Mack is a free agent. So I wouldn't be worried about them doing something stupid. When it comes to skill guys. Not saying that they won't take swings, but they're not going to operate like your typical team. Been listening since the Bengals Super Bowl. It's a while now. How do you feel about the Bengals hiring Al Golden? I think he's going to be pretty good, but it's hard to imagine that he'll be a huge upgrade from Lou Andarumo. I had forgotten because I saw a clip of his press conference when he was hired or maybe it was like an, an interview that he did with, you know, some Bengals employees, like in the media department was how he had coached. He was a linebacker coach there before he went to Notre Dame. So he's comfortable with Zach Taylor, the operation. He clearly is a good defensive coach. Right? I mean, he was a huge, huge part of the Notre Dame operation the last couple years. I mean, this year they were a defensive team. The big reason they were in the national championship was Al Golden. So I, I remember him when I lived in Philly. He was the head coach at Temple. I know he's really well thought of, but I'm with you. Like, it felt like, I don't know, injuries letting guys walk out the door. Obviously the defense early part of the season was atrocious. In Cincinnati, I mean, it couldn't have been much worse. I mean, that one game where you blew. I mean, honestly, the difference of you being in the playoffs and you not being in the playoffs is the one loss to Baltimore where you blew two 10 point leads in the second in the fourth quarter quarter. That game alone, like you win that game, you win 10 games and the defense was bad. But like a couple years ago, everyone Thought Lou was a really good defensive coach and everyone gives. Where do you end up going? Indy. Everyone thinks, oh, it's a great coach. That's a good hire by Shane Siken and Chris Ballard. And I agree. I don't know man. I, I think there aren't many good. There are good offensive coaches that have guys overachieve, right? Like Kevin O'Connell can make Sam Darnold look like a Pro Bowler. And maybe he is, maybe he's not. But like you get a lot of credit as an offensive coach. We've seen Kyle Shanahan do it with Garoppolo and Purdy on defense. Like Belichick became a legend coaching Lawrence Taylor. Dick LeBeau coached all those dudes with the Steelers, right? You usually become a high level defense. Think about some of the defensive guys that have been hired over the last decade. I saw The Niners get two guys hired, D'Ameco and Salah. Well, why'd they get hired? Their roster was loaded on defense. Loaded. When Vrabel got hired from Houston to, to the Texans, it was viewed like this guy just knows what he's doing. Even though I think the Texans actually that year had a bad statistically defensive year. So that might be a bad example. But my point is you can't really be a good defensive coach unless you got dudes. It's usually not like, well, they had middle cough and this other dude named Billy was kind of shitty at corner and they, they just, they had the best pass defense in the league. Like it's not usually the way it works. Usually the best defensive coordinators have sweet defensive players. I mean look at Belichick. Even in New England with Flores and Patricia and Romeo Cornell. Think how many awesome defensive players they had over the years. From Seymour to Will Fork to Teddy Brusky to Mike Vrabel to Rodney Harrison to Junior Seow when he was older to all the guys they had the last decade. Like you got to have good defensive personnel. You can overcome it on offense. With scheme, it's you. You can only go so far with scheme on defense. Like it is a lot about how good the guys are. Big fan of the show. Started a movie podcast a few years back. Any suggestions to grow listeners or just overall do's and don'ts on the industry? Also, what's an underrated performance from an actor or actress in a movie? Thanks John. Keep up the phenomenal work. Somehow I watched on YouTube recently I watch a lot of mob content. So there was like this behind the scenes of the making of Goodfellas. And you're just realizing, like, now this isn't an underrated performance, but just how good De Niro, Liotta and Pesci were in that movie. It's like, I just don't think it gets any better. And it turns out they all were good friends. Like, the. The rapport they had on screen wasn't just because they were elite actors and they were. But just that they really, really got along. I'd have to think about. I really don't. You know the sad part? As you get older and I don't have kids yet, I feel like I don't even watch that many movies anymore. And when I do, I find myself kind of disappointed. It's very rare that I watch a new movie that I go, that was good. Sometimes you just watch an old movie, you're like, that was sweet. I just want to. I just want to relive this movie again. And it. You know, it used to happen more probably 20 years ago with DVDs. You just pop in a DVD. And I've said this. The. The downfall of cable. The one good part about cable is you would just scroll and end up on random channels that I don't end up on anymore in YouTube TV. But I'm trying to think if. I haven't really watched that many movies lately. I watched no country for Old Men recently. I mean, that was. That was phenomenal, I think. I think Josh Brolin is just an incredible actor. Sicario, that movie. He went on a heater there for a while, I would say. And the one. This. The dude Goggins who's in the new White Lotus, he was also in the Shield, which I think most people would argue is the greatest show ever produced by fx. And I've never watched it, though I've been thinking about, like, if I'm bored, just start watching it. Because I've heard this is a good show. Justified, he's also in that. He's just. He's just good. Like, he's in something I'm just gonna watch. But I would say, like, I. I'm not doing this by myself, right? I have the power of Collins Distribution Channel, which. It's been a huge part of the growth of the podcast over the last four or five years. Obviously, YouTube is one area where you can get organic growth, right? It can just get you in front of people in terms of a search engine that other places cannot. I'm not on TikTok, not because I don't believe in its power. It's clearly huge it was just. I only have so much bandwidth. I'm not even that active on social media as much anymore. I try to stay away just for. I just feel I'm better at my job and more present in my life when I just not stuck on the phone. But I think, like, posting stuff on Twitter can only get you so far. And it's been like that for a long time now. Like, you're not gonna grow organically on Twitter, Instagram. I think by far the best thing to do is everything you do as a podcast, do it as well on YouTube, because that's an area where you get organic growth. I don't think anything else matches that. Maybe like LinkedIn. Honestly, Twitter does not. Instagram does not. I can't. I can't even sign into Facebook if I wanted to. I've been locked out of that forever. And I can't speak to TikTok. But I would say YouTube would be an area where you got to get involved. The other thing is, and listen, I've done an independent podcast and had success and made some money. It is really, really. You can only go so far. And this is one thing I've learned as I've gotten older. Like, you need help. So, like, you can only do so much on your own. So I mean, try and put as much effort and consistency. Doing podcasts every day, pumping out as much content as you can and getting new things out consistently is. Is huge. But like, that you can be good at it and you can be consistent at it and you can hit Roblox and it can like, it might not even be your own fault. It's just because you can't get in front of other people's eyes or their ears. And there's nothing you can really do about that on your own. You need help from someone else. So, you know, can you get even just a little known actor or people involved, a director or anyone involved in the movie industry to come on? That would be a recommendation. I don't know if you don't know anyone in the movie industry, but just start hitting them up on LinkedIn or DMs on Instagram and see if you can get them on as a guest and maybe that leads to something. Mailbag question, do coaches sign NDAs? I don't know why we don't see more coaches. Talk about what's going on behind the scenes. For example, I don't think Robert Sala is a bad coach. I think he went to a team with no quarterback and insane cuckoo owner. Why would Salah not come into the press and essentially in a professional manner. The jets are insane and have terrible ownership and then maybe open himself up to better job opportunities. The only thing I can think of is that he signed an NDA and can't say certain things in public. Well, all these people in the NFL are partners, right? So some owners are crazy. Other owners are probably less crazy. But you can't be a billionaire in run an NFL team without just, you know, being some things that most humans are not going to relate to. I mean, the only people that can relate to each other in the little fraternity there are in are the other owners. So if you come out and just completely shit on Woody Johnson, let's say Robert Sala had come out and did a tell all, you know, like with the athletic like Mike Silver or Diana Rossini or whatever, Albert Brewer, quote after quote after quote after quote. Where does that help him? Because if I was another owner, I'd go, listen, like, yeah, Woody's a little nuts, but what if I hired him and he doesn't like what he's doing here and he starts doing that to me and he starts outing all the dirty laundry in our building. So it gets back to Robert Sala and just people in general. And listen, I'd never signed an NDA when I worked in the NFL. I've never heard of that. And I got buddies that are GMs. And not saying it doesn't happen. I don't see what you get out of it. Right. Like, what's the. Like we all get it. Like, everyone acknowledges. And listen, I. Is Robert Sala a good head coach or not? I think the jury would be out. Is the Jets a tough place to function? 100%. Does Robert Salah get the majority of the blame for the Jets? No. Rogers gets a lot. Woody Johnson gets a lot. So I would say that. I just don't even think you need to, like, what's to be gained because you want to continue to do business with the other people that are sitting in that guy's seat. And if they think that you might do to them what you did to him, I'm not paying you millions of dollars. So I think that's. It's like a calculated decision. It's just not worth it. You know, I think you, a lot of people make those decisions when it comes to business and you've had a scorned relationship with. And this is not even just football. I think a lot of people listening to this can relate. Is it worth it to make a stink over this or just like, I know what happened, people in my orbit know what happens, and we'll just move on. And I think there's a balancing act with that. And there's so much money on the line. When you're someone like Robert Sala, you're talking millions of dollars. I think the 49ers just made him, like, the highest paid coordinator in the league or one of them. He's making like, four or five million dollars. So it's like. And he was interviewing with a bunch of other teams to be their head coach, which I don't know if happens, if he comes out and goes scorched earth on the jets, because it would scare other owners. So I really think it's more about. All these guys have some similarities that way. And if you scare them off, like, they're ultimately the ones with the money. Like, this is not like, Robert Sala can't just become some entrepreneur, right? If he wants to be a football coach, he has to work for owners. That is the shitty part about the business they're in, which there are a lot of good things, right? The money, the fame, a lot comes with it. But if you want to coach football, especially in the pro level, you have to work for one of the 32 guys. That's your only options. Like, if you want to do industry X, you pick it. You can go work for the biggest people in those industries, or you could try to do it on your own. Robert Sala cannot. So I think that's a big reason. And listen, he's not alone. I mean, a lot of people go through crazy situations, but it's also why a lot of these stories that leaked about the jets, like, pretty clear where they're coming from. Do you think Jason Kelsey regrets retiring as early as he did and missing out on a Super bowl ring? Does it diminish what impact he had for the Eagles if they were able to win without him? Well, they replaced him with, you know, Landon Dickerson, got a big contract. Now he's a guard, but he can also play center. And Cam Juergens was drafted. He drafted in the second round or was he drafted in the third? Cam Juergens was drafted in the second round. So, I mean, and was a Pro Bowler this year. I mean, the Eagles do a good job of drafting. They're probably one of the rare teams that could just have Fletcher Cox and Kelsey retire and just have plug and play guys. And obviously Jalen Carter at this point in time is better than Fletcher. You know, Kelsey's still pretty damn good Kelsey said last year it was his body. It just didn't work. So do I think he would have retired if he thought his body could still function? I do not. Because while he makes a lot of money from podcasting, if you could make 15, 20 million dollars playing for a really good team, you would continue to do that. But he said it's just, he was just in a lot of pain. So I think the reason that he retired had nothing to do with, like, on the fence about, are we going to be good or are we going to be bad? And just more had to do with my body and I'm in a lot of pain and can I play with my little kids then? I think he talked about that last year. If you're Andrew Barry, the Browns gm, what's your order of importance? The number two back draft pick honoring Miles trade request. What do you do with desean Watson? Second mailbag question. In your opinion, can you rank the top three to five positions on a football team in order? What's all about the draft selection? Number two in the middle of February is not as pressing of an issue as, do we have to trade Myles Garrett, Right. Can we make him an offer over the next week in front of his agent at the combine that he would accept? Hey, we'll give you $150 million guaranteed. We don't want to trade you. Will you accept that offer if he says no, I'm not going to take any of your money. This is not about the money. This is, I don't want to play there anymore. That has to become your number one option. I did see some people saying, could they package Deshaun Watson from Miles Garrett? I don't think that's an option. I think you're just kind of stuck with Deshaun Watson. I don't really think that's an issue. Like, I just think you're stuck with him. So I think your only issues right now is what do we do with Miles Garrett? Do we trade him? And then if we do, then we start focusing on the draft. Like, Sean Watson's on our team. His Achilles doesn't work, and we just. Nothing we can do. I think that's. I don't think he is a. He's a movable player. I would say quarterback. I would say tackle an edge, but it depends, like, am I just getting a good edge player or am I getting TJ Watt or Miles Garrett? Am I getting a good tackle or am I getting Lane Johnson or Trent Williams? So, like, same thing with quarterback. If I get Trent Williams or Lane Johnson or I get like the 18th best quarterback. It's all about where you need to pull the trigger. If you're talking about the draft. Right. But I think it goes quarterback clear, number one. 2A and 2B are pass rusher and tackle. And I would have corner number three. Question for the mailbag. What developed your ability in understanding football? Were you a player in high school or college? I'm interested in your journey. Sorry, if you've already answered this, have you thought about adding an option to join your YouTube channel for a monthly fee? I think there would be a lot of people that would support you and your fiance. Yeah, I mean, this. This is our monthly fee is the people we have associated with the podcast that pay a premium to advertise on this show. If I was going to do some monthly fee, it wouldn't be through the YouTube channel. But I hear what you're saying. I would say my understanding of football was developed of working in football. I mean, when I worked at Fresno State for two years, I worked in recruiting and I worked with Pat Hill and Drew Hill. Well, Pat Hill had been a coach forever and had worked for Bill Belichick. So for a couple years, I think three or four years, he worked in Cleveland with Bill Belichick. He was the assistant offensive line coach. The offensive line coach was Kirk Ferencing. He drew the cards every day against Nick Saban, running their defense. And then obviously when I got there in 08, he had ran a football program which had produced a ton of NFL guys for a decade. And Drew Hill has now been the player personnel director at Oklahoma under Bob Stoops, Lincoln Riley, and now Brett Venables. So I got to learn football from them, and then I took that knowledge to the NFL and I got to learn from all the guys I worked with. Right. I mean, every day I worked with Howie and Lewis Riddick and Brett Veach, Mike Bradway, who's on Veech's staff, to our coaching staff, which included guys like Doug Peterson, Matt Nagy, Todd Bowles, Howard Mudd, Sean McDermott. So I just got to be around all these guys and just. Do you think you do in a football office? You talk football so you just. And then go into practice being around players, you kind of learn. You just. You just kind of learn. And you've watched football your whole life. And I still watch football. So all that stuff is kind of my base. How I learned football in my 20s. And then over the last decade, I've my own thoughts on it. And then I Just talk about it. So I guess that's long winded way of saying I was taught you you can't learn this stuff, you know, just by keeping your fingers crossed. I had to learn from being around other people and I was lucky to be around people that knew what they were doing. Big NFL fan here from Morocco, living in Dubai. I've always wanted to go to Dubai. Wonder if I convince Maria if we can go there for honeymoon. I have a question regarding Kyle Shanahan. Is he on the hot seat now that Sirianni and McVay won? Especially Sirianni's team that beat the Chiefs 49ers lost two Super Bowls to them. He gets tight every fourth quarter in the super bowl and he lost if you include the Atlanta one as well. I have struggled with that one. He was the. I've never heard of a coordinator who gets blamed for a Super bowl loss. Like he gets blamed. Like Pete Carroll gets lost, gets blamed for Russell Wilson when he was not the offensive coordinator in that super bowl for them throwing on the goal line. They don't blame. I don't, I don't know who they're. Who's their coordinator? Bevel or Schottenheimer. You never hear. It's just Pete Carroll, Pete Carroll, Pete Carroll. It's somehow Dan Quinn does not get blamed. Kyle Shanahan does. But I hear what you're saying. I do think there is going to be tangible pressure on. I don't, I don't blame anyone if they don't have it in front of them and I don't even have in front of me. But I do know that their schedule this year, I remember when it came is a joke. We don't know like exact dates, but the teams are playing. They have a last play schedule. They play, I think the division plays the AFC south, which is obviously not good. So to me, anything less than like 11 or 12 wins for the 49ers is a complete disaster. And anytime you're paying a guy 15, 16, $17 million to be your head coach, there's a lot of pressure on him. So I don't think he's on the hot seat because who are you going to fire him for? But is there pressure on Kyle Shanahan? Fuck yeah, there is. There should be. It's like time to win. How is Bo Nix any different from Mac Jones? I guess he is more mobile, but doesn't he have the same qualities but way more support? I think Bo Nix is way more talented than Mac Jones mobility. I mean, he's Dramatically more mobile. And I think he's got a better arm. You know, part of the Mac Jones, I would say package that I thought people were getting when they drafted him because his comp was like a little bit more athletic. Kirk Cousins was like really serious guy and it kind of came out like, yeah, I don't know if he's like his character, not bad. But no one's comparing him to like Tom Brady or Peyton Manning. I thought that's really what he was going to hang his hat on. Was like this super focused non fuck around guy, totally coachable and like Belichick had issues with him. They couldn't stand him toward the end. So it's like wait, you're not as talented and your intangibles aren't elite. Like that's one thing with Bo Nix. His intangibles are pretty high. They're actually through the roof. And I think he's just physically more gifted than Mac Jones. Excellent show. I listen on Spotify, can you put it out there that the commanders need to focus on the O line for their team building this offseason? Most people will overlook this and say the defense needs to improve because the offense did so well. But there will absolutely be a regression next season when other defenses adjust to the Kingsbury game plan and discover Jalen's weaknesses. And another aggression when Kingsbury ultimately leaves if they do not shore up their O line. The O line needs to be the priority. For God's sakes, do not let anyone say anything about team building with offensive skill positions. I think I read that you guys betting favorite to land Miles Garrett if he's traded. Yeah. Listen, think about the team they're going up against, the team they're chasing in their division. Well, even if Sweat and Milton Williams leave, they're still going to have Nolan Smith who's going to be a double digit set guy. Jalen Carter, who's one of the best defensive linemen in the NFL, who how he probably draft this year. Probably another defensive lineman who was one of the guys they drafted last year. I forget his name, but he was the guy that when Howie called him to say the Eagles were picking him, called him Big Pimpin. I think that guy made some plays in the playoffs. He's a defensive tackle. So I hear you. Like if I have the quarterback, what did, what did Harbaugh do for Justin Herbert, offensive lineman and what did he say? They're the tip of the spear. So I'm totally with you. I would draft O lineman, O lineman and D lineman. I if you told me they only draft O lineman and D lineman in this draft, I would say it was the right move. Question for the mailbag how overstated is it when draft analysts say deep position groups mean some guys will fall later than their talent suggests? It feels like corner and interior D linemen were talked about that way last year and there was a run on both to start the second round. Feels to me like it will happen this year with running back. I think what they mean is, is like if there wasn't depth at defensive tackle, right? If there were only three good defensive tackles, all the defensive tackles would be gone in the top 15 picks. Well, instead people go, well, there's going to be 10 defensive tackles. I'm going to take the offensive tackle or the offensive, you know, player or defensive end or whoever. Just another position with the 11th pick, knowing I can get that same position. Maybe a little bit less of a player, but a guy that can start for me at pick 42, whatever the numbers come out to be. I think that's more what when they are describing the scenario in which you are describing what they mean. But I hear you. No one actually knows beside the top couple picks who and where people are going to get drafted. No one has any clue, right? Because it doesn't. A GM or a coach doesn't help them at all to leak out to anybody, specifically the media, where and when they're going to take a player. If they're drafting like 6th or 8th or 12th or 15th who they like and when we find out who you like, good teams take advantage of it because they jump you in the draft and they take that player if they want. Just an observation. But over the last few years it seems like defensive or CEO type coaches who focus more on culture and leadership are succeeding at a higher level than scheme guys and play caller types. Sirianni Campbell, Quinn D'Amico, Todd Bowles have all won playoff games, while coaches like day ball, Mike McDaniel, Kevin O'Connell, Arthur Smith, Shane Steichen have zero playoff wins and are already being fired. The NFL is full of smart coaches and leadership seems like the important quality in a coach. Why are these young, hot offensive coordinator candidates always placed at the top of the list for coaching vacancies? Are teams looking for wrong qualities? Well, think about it. How as a coordinator do I judge your your leadership ability? How it's, it's unquantifiable. Now you can argue you know it when I meet you or when I'm around you, but I don't have the ability to rank like go to a stats page and get a ranking where I can go to a stats page and go, Shane psych and led the best offense. Ben Johnson led the best offense. So and so led the best defense. So and so has the best passing offense. It's easy to quantify. Well, think who's interviewing them. An owner. What's an owner's background typically? Business. Well, what do you do in business? Spreadsheets? Numbers. It's very black and white when you're dealing with coaches, especially CEO types like, yeah, Mike Tomlin's got something no one else has. But how do I quantify that? And some people see it, some people don't. So I just think it's really complicated. I don't think there's, I don't know, I just don't think there's a great answer to the reason why these guys are not hired all the time. And those guys fail as well. You know, just because you're supposed to be the CEO head, you know, head coach doesn't mean you're going to succeed. So I think it's, it's like a draft pick. It is very, very difficult to figure out who's a good coach and who's not a good coach when they're an assistant. Right. Because just because you're a great play caller does not mean that's going to translate to be a head coach. You use the example with Arthur Smith. Didn't translate. Shane Psychic. You know, this year he was overwhelmed being a head coach. So I, I don't have a great answer for you. Besides, it's really, really difficult. It is not easy. Sirianni benefits a lot. His owner has no owner spends more money and he has the best GM in the league.
- [71:22]
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With Amex, there's always a new experience to explore. From curating the perfect vacation and chilling in the Centurion lounge before you get there trying out that new trendy restaurant thanks to priority notify with global dining access by resy and getting straight to the action at the big game. With card member entrances at select venues with Amex Platinum you can experience it all. That's the powerful backing of American Express. Terms apply. Access to the card member entrance not limited to the American Express Platinum card. Learn more@american express.com with AmEx, Time and.
- [71:53]
John Middlekauff
Time again, detection based cybersecurity solutions have failed to stop ransomware. It's time to rethink your posture. ThreatLocker offers a zero trust approach to endpoint protection that stops ransomware before it strikes threatlocker delivers a deny by default strategy where you choose what to run, then block everything else. The result? No stress about the latest malware because with ThreatLocker you block it by default, take charge of your cybersecurity and gain control of your environment. Visit threatlocker.com today and stay one step ahead of cyber threats. 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.
- [72:46]
American Express Ad
Each week we'll sit down with inspiring figures like David Oyelo, Mel Robbins, Martin Sheen, Dr. Sanjay Gupta and Billy Porter and their plus one, their ride or die as they share stories never heard before about their remarkable journey.
- [73:03]
John Middlekauff
Listen to My legacy on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. This is my Legacy.
- [73:12]
Mel Reid
Hey, this is Mel Reid, LPGA Tour winner and six time Ladies European Tour.
- [73:16]
Kyra K. Dixon
Winner and Kyra K. Dixon, NBC Sports reporter and host.
- [73:20]
Mel Reid
You forgot to say warmer, Miss America, by the way. And we've got new pod cast. Quiet Please With Mel and Kira, we.
- [73:27]
Kyra K. Dixon
Are bringing you spicy takes on sports and pop culture, some golf haps and interviews with incredible people who have figured out how to make golf their superpower.
- [73:35]
Mel Reid
Or just people we like. Plus tales from the road and everything in between. By the way, golf isn't just for the dads, Brads and Chads.
- [73:42]
Kyra K. Dixon
Yeah, it's actually life's cheat code and we're not going to be quiet about it on or off the course. We're bringing on some of our friends like Michelle, we, Heather McMahon, Amanda Baliotis.
- [73:52]
Mel Reid
So if you want to keep up with us and here is yap, tune into our new podcast, Listen to Quiet.
- [73:57]
Kyra K. Dixon
Please with Mel and Kira, an iHeart women's sports production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment. You can find us on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of iHeart Women's SP.
- [74:18]
John Middlekauff
Tyler from West Virginia. Big fan, avid golfer. Just broke 80 a couple times last year. Congrats. Big accomplishment. I think the average Golfer can't break 100. It's pretty obvious, big Packer fans. Pretty obvious that they're a good team but a few players away just wondering what you would do if you were goody when it comes to free agency in the draft, we clearly need a wide receiver, pass rusher, maybe a corner depending on the Alexander situation. Do we bring Devonte back? Draft Another young wide Receiver. Do we take a big swing on Crosby or Garrett? What you thinking? I would say historically, you guys have been, I wouldn't say against the big move, but it hasn't really been your M.O. as a franchise. So trading for Crosby, trading for Garrett feels like things. Sean McVeigh, Andy Reid, Howie Roseman, the Niners. Like, I have a hard time picturing the Green Bay packers actually doing that. The devonte situation. Do you want to bring him back? I don't know. Sometimes, you know, it's like you guys broke up for a reason. And I just think sometimes it's like it's over. There's no reason to try to take her back out on a date. Like, it's. It ended for the correct reasons. You guys pivoted off Aaron, off Devonte, and, like, now is the business. Can you get him back for cheap? Does Devonte think he's like a $20 million wide receiver? Can he? Will he play for, like, $5 million? If I were them, would I be all over Max Crosby or Miles Garrett? 100%. Could I see them doing that? I don't know, man. I. I'd be stunned. If the Packers, I think they're going to sniff around, but do I. Do I envision those players if they do get traded on that team? It doesn't seem likely. So you guys do a lot of things at the margins. You know, it's rare beside, like, Reggie White, you know, even when you got Charles Woodson, I'm pretty sure he got him for really cheap. You know, he was coming off a weird year with the Raiders. And, like, how many big free agents have you guys signed over the last, I don't know, 20 years? Doesn't seem like that many. Maybe it changes with Gudikens and lafleur. Younger, a little bit more aggressive, but that's not really the way the franchise has operated historically. Could the Tush push become a special teams package for some teams? It's not like the Eagles surprised people with it. Why not dedicate a big wildcat group for the guaranteed short yardage play? Well, the Bills tried it, and they have one of the strongest, biggest quarterbacks in the NFL, and it didn't work. What makes the Eagles unique is their quarterback can squat like £8 million and he can get really low. No one else can do that like, they can. I don't love the play. I saw Jim Nant say he would be for them getting rid of the play. I agree. I would get rid of the play like, or I wouldn't have a problem if they outlawed the play. But I also don't have a problem. Like they play within the letter of the law and they have a unique player to run the play. No one else has that. No one does. You think you're going to run that with like Bryce Young, Even when the Ravens were running it with Mark Andrews, he gets high. It's just a unique thing they can do. Because of Jalen. When evaluating college players post nil, how important is it to take into account how they spend their money? Would you be more inclined to draft a guy who's less flashy with the spending? I don't. I had a buddy tell me this year that when you go into college parking lots, they look like his NFL teams with just, I mean six figure cars everywhere, brand new, even the average cars like a new Escalade or Tahoe or truck. These guys, just because they spend. Who spends their Money well at 20, 21 years old, like how many guys are you meeting? Like, yeah, just invested everything in a sep IRA, bought three multi units. You know, it's like a ton of NFL guys are buying multiple Lamborghinis. It's like in like 17 watches, it's like, yeah, I don't know if those are the greatest purchases. I, I think it matters more his football character, how much he loves the sport, how hard he works. You give any human being a lot of money at 19, 20, 21, 22 years old, college or pro, they're going to buy some things they regret. Ten years later, 99% of men wouldn't be like, you know, I nailed everything. Just great investor. It's like, yeah, I regret some of those. So I don't think it matters. I really don't. Unless you're like buying nefarious things, things that get you in trouble. But if you're just making purchases that and who deems Stu, who deems that? Like who gets to pick and choose what's a smart buy and what's not a smart buy? I think you kind of get into a slippery slope that way. As a diehards Titans fan, I'm stuck on deciding who I want to get. If you were the Titans brand new front office, what the hell are you going to do with the first pick? Trade down? I'd take Abdul Carter, period, point blank, end of story. Abdul Carter. Here's the, here's the. Here you go, Rog. Here's the card. Say it out loud. Abdul Carter. I believe that the gap between Trevor Lawrence's talent and how good he actually is is wider than Any quarterback in the league, he clearly has the potential to be better than he is. And I know you've mentioned this before, but do you really think it comes down to work ethic and lack of love of the game? For me, as a football fan or even if I was his coach, that would drive me nuts. I would rather root for someone or coach someone who sucks but loves the game. That is not true. Well, one, you can't suck and get to the NFL. But on the talent, you know, I would say scale. If a guy has no talent, but he's like Rudy Rudiger, you have no chance to win in college or in the NFL. So there has to be some balance. I don't know enough about him if he truly doesn't love football. You know, Doug Peterson, who's a lifetime backup position coach, head coach, I remember talking to him at the combine last year, loves him. I just don't think he's that good. So that's where I kind of disagree. Like, I. I don't think he's that accurate. I don't think he's that instinctive. I think he turns the ball over at a rapid rate. I don't know. I just think that I disagree on the talent gap. Right. I don't see this guy that's just oozing with talent. It's like, God, this guy's, you know, could be Patrick Mahomes or Josh Allen. Like, I don't see that when I watch the guy now. Could it be better than he's playing? Of course. But when you watch him play over the last couple years, do you go, yeah, this is a guy that could be a top five quarterback? I don't see that. No, I can't speak to. I don't think he's, like, showing up late. But does he eat? Like, does it mean everything to him, deep down to his soul? Because that's what it means to Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson to Patrick Mahomes, to Peyton Manning, to Tom Brady, to Drew Brees. God, I got a lot of questions here. I'm bummed the Eagles lost Kellen Moore, but as you've said, this is the problem with Nick Sirianni. I've seen chatter that the Eagles should hire Frank Reich. He's not being pursued by other teams as a head coach, but could bring stability to the OC position for Philly. Yeah, I don't see that happening. I think they're going to end up elevating that dude. Kevin on the staff seems like what the Buzz is, and maybe they bring In Frank because that's Sirianni's guy. But I don't think Sirion is going to be the offensive coordinator or. Excuse me, Frank's going to be the offensive coordinator. I haven't seen that anywhere. Anywhere. But I might not be as deep on the Eagles message boards as you are. I would not do that. I would not hire Frank to be my offensive coordinator. No chance. What would the Falcons need to give up for Miles Garrett? Cousins would be an obvious piece to me, but what else would need to go with him? Well, to me, Cousins, he's not tradable player because of his contract. So the Browns are not going to trade you Myles Garrett and take back his contract. They would just let you cut Kirk Cousins and then sign him for a couple million bucks? 10. 5 million bucks. 10 million bucks. I do not see the Browns trading for Cousins. I think that would be insane. I think to get Myles Garrett. If you're the Browns, you cannot accept anything less than the starting point is two ones and a two. It's a starting point and I would like more as well. But I do not think you can trade him for anything less than multiple ones. He's one of the best players in decades. Like just talent wise, production wise. He's just an elite player and an elite position. So I just. I just think it costs a shitload. And he's so good that even when you're getting offered a lot, you keep saying no and hanging up. Okay, last question. I know you're not a big fan of the Falcons front office, but I have a Falcons question for you. What do you think of Ulbricht as the defensive coordinator? The Falcons D has been a bottom feeder since we fired Quinn. Even when we take swings on players that are successful with other teams, Judon, Simmons, etc. Their play drops off when they get to Atlanta. The only explanation for that is coaching. Pennock seems like he's going to be a top player and already have. We already have a good offensive line. They need to take a page out of the Chiefs playbook and build a strong defense. Yeah, I mean, I remember last year when Kyle Shanahan was looking for a defensive coordinator. He tried to hire him and Salah kept him. I think he's always been highly thought of. Obviously the jets defense was really good when he was the defensive coordinator before Salah got fired and he was elevated the interim coach. I followed his careers until he was a player with the Niners and then he became an assistant coach for Jim Mora on the UCLA staff. I've always been impressed with the guy, but I hear you. I mean the one downfall of the Falcons is like have you guys drafted that? Well, you guys just did some weird things recently, right? The Kyle Pitts thing blew up in your face. He's never come close to living up to a top five pick. The Cousins contract last year was a disaster. Obviously if they could do it over again, they just would have given all that money to defensive players like Christian Wilkins and just drafted Penix in the first round and signed like a Gardner Minshew. I think they just, they've just been an erratic organization. No way around it. Just, just a very, very erratic organization when it comes to player personnel. And they've been desperate for the quarterback situation post the end of Matt Ryan. They just feel like an organization that's kind of lost from, from my perspective, just an organization that doesn't really know what they're doing. A lot of different opinions, not necessarily a shared vision, just kind of living in the moment and get a lot of average to below average results because of it. I mean, let's face it, this year was pretty embarrassing the way everyone anointed them, the way they anointed themselves. Then the Buccaneers won the division. They didn't even make the playoffs. So got a lot of soul searching to do. But I hear you, they need, they need to be good on defense. You have no chance to be a good team in the NFL if your defense isn't solid and you can't rush the passer. When's the last time they could rush the passer like John Abraham? It's been a long, long time. Appreciate everyone listening. Adios.
- [86:54]
Kyra K. Dixon
The volume.
- [86:59]
John Middlekauff
Some people just know they could save hundreds on car insurance by checking Allstate first. Like you know to check you have the tickets in your wallet first before you drive two hours to the big game. Seriously, you had one job. Now the closest you'll get to the 50 yard line is parking lot D. Yeah, checking first is smart. So check Allstate first for a quote that could save you hundreds. You're in good hands with Allstate Savings. Vary terms apply. Allstate Fire and Casualty Insurance Company and Affiliates Northbrook, Illinois. Time and time again, detection based cybersecurity solutions have failed to stop ransomware. It's time to rethink your posture. ThreatLocker offers a zero trust approach to endpoint protection that stops ransomware before it strikes. Threatlocker delivers a denied by default strategy where you choose what to run, then block everything else. The result? No stress about the latest malware because with ThreatLocker you block it by default, take charge of your cybersecurity and gain control of your environment. Visit threatlocker.com today and stay one step ahead of cyber threats. Bring the food at your big game party to a whole new level with the original Louisiana brand hot sauce with bold, authentic flavor that embodies the rich culinary tradition of Louisiana. The original Louisiana brand hot sauce is perfect for those who demand the great flavor with just the right amount of heat. Crafted with a time tested recipe, it's the perfect companion for grilling, dipping and cheering on your favorite team. With a burst of that Louisiana heat for burgers to wings, every dish becomes a touchdown of flavor, turning your tailgate into the ultimate culinary celebration. Available at a store near you. 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.
- [89:04]
American Express Ad
Join us for heartfelt conversations with remarkable guests like David Oyelowo, Mel Robbins, Martin Sheen, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, and Billy Porter.
- [89:14]
John Middlekauff
Listen to My legacy on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is my Legacy.