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Host of Guaranteed Human
This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.
Lavar Arrington
This is Lavar Arrington from Up on Game. This message is brought to you by Apple Card It's a great time to apply for an Apple Card. You'll love earning unlimited daily cash on every purchase. That includes 3% daily cash when you buy the latest iPhone, AirPods and Apple Watch at Apple through this special referral offer. When you get a new Apple Card, you can earn bonus daily cash. To qualify you must apply at Apple Co. Get daily cash Apple Card issued by Goldman Sachs Bank USA Salt Lake City Branch offer may not be available elsewhere. Terms and limitations apply.
Stugots
Stigots Here I have a podcast empire that I have brought here to iheart and I'm also hosting a daily live radio show from 3 to 5pm Eastern Cult to Gods and Company live which is available in podcast form right when the show finishes. Every single day you can expect a lot of laughter, great guests, a ton of calls and a a lot of fun. Listen to Stugots Co. Live and our original podcast Stug Co. And God bless Football. And you can check all of those out on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast or wherever you get your podcast.
Narrator of Valley of Shadows
On June 11, 1998, a deputy from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department went missing.
John Middlecoff
Hey, if they'll kill a cop and bury him, what are they gonna do to me?
Valley of Shadows Promo Voice
What really happened to the missing deputy? Valley of Shadows, a new series from Pushkin Industries about crime and corruption in California's high desert.
Narrator of Valley of Shadows
Listen to Valley of shadows on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
Jacob Goldstein
The Volkswagen Beetle started out as Hitler's dream car. It wound up as a beloved hippie icon and the best selling car of all time.
John Middlecoff
How did that happen? I'm Jacob Goldstein.
Robert Smith
And I'm Robert Smith. On business history, we tell the surprising stories behind the inventions and entrepreneurs that shaped our economy.
Jacob Goldstein
And the story of the Beetle is truly surprising. It has so much in it, he says.
Robert Smith
You should be able to mount machine guns on it. Sure. Not for the family vacation, but you know, for other things, other plans.
Jacob Goldstein
Listen to business history on America's number one podcast network, iHeart. Follow business history and start listening on the free iHeartradio app today.
John Middlecoff
The volume. What is going on everybody? John Middlecoff three and Out Podcast Super Bowl Sunday well, it's great if you're a Sam Darnold Seattle Seahawk fan. It is not good if you're a New England Patriot fan because that at one point it was nine Nothing. And it felt like a blowout. So the Patriots got overwhelmed. I actually just had a buddy send me a tweet about Will Campbell saying that Will Campbell allowed more pressures in this game than any player did all season in an individual game. So it did not go well for the left tackle. We'll talk super bowl. We'll talk Sam Darnold, we'll talk Mike McDonald, we'll talk the Seattle Seahawks. We'll talk to Patriots gonna have to dust themselves off, improve their team and come back swinging. I also recorded before the super bowl some stuff on Stafford winning the mvp, the hall of Fame guys, Pierce the Atlanta Falcons pass rusher who got in some trouble and what was the other thing? Oh the, the quarterback Schefter about Tua and Kyler Murray. We're going to those guys are going to teams are going to try to trade them Derek Carr. It's going to return potentially. We'll see. So we'll just be a lot, a lot of football going on. I before recorded this went on with Colin who was just, you know, beaming ear to ear about Sam Darnold winning the, winning the Super Bowl. So I mean it was a cool moment. Very, very genuine cool moment which we will dive into. But listen, I need you to subscribe if you listen on Collins feed, subscribe to three and out and all of our content on Netflix as well. So go check that out on Netflix. Appreciate everyone who came along the ride for the season and it's been a long season so probably do a couple more podcasts this week and then maybe take like a week off before the combine. Also need to help my wife. We have four year old that kind of beats to his own drum. So we'll dive into that later on the dad Diaries. But going to talk football tonight so let's just dive right in. Let's just I I want to read a tweet that was forwarded me from Logan Swain, one of our big wigs here at the Volume. He he put me on a on a group text with with Colin and and here was the tweet after Sam Darnold won his first game as the jets quarterback Todd Bowles had this to say trying to calm the fans down. We won one game. I can tell you after about 100 more of them whether we have the guy or not right now it's a little early. The super bowl was Sam Darnold's 101st game and I think part of any good organization is the ability to sustain winning regardless of players, coaches and general Managers, can you sustain and elevate players from other teams that did not have success? Obviously you have to hit on like a Cooper Cup. Get a guy who was a really excellent player. Getting a little older, you can get for cheap. That's part of the NFL business, right? The packers, the Ravens, the Steelers, all the good teams do that. But can you take players who are viewed as distressed assets, as viewed as not good enough to play the role in which you're going to ask them to do and then have them excel? Because we all. You got to hit on draft picks, right? You got to hit on the right coach. But to be really good at the NFL, can you find distressed assets and make them contributing players? What they did with Sam Darnold and really the last couple years with Sam Darnold, I said this coming into the game. It's one of the more genuine stories I can remember. It's like kind of a human interest story I just recorded with Coward and I completely agreed with him. There is a lot of life lessons to be learned when it comes to the way Sam Darnold handled his career. I've been fired a couple times. It sucked. And it's hard for people in my life to relate. My dad was a farmer. If you got fired, it was because you like show up late or not working hard. Certain industries, coaching, the NFL, radio, crazy happens. You almost get hired to get fired. And there is a level in anyone listening to this that are in competitive, whatever field you work in that is highly competitive. You're not always going to win. You are going to take some. Ls anyone listening to this in sales? You are going to hear no way more than you ever hear. Yes, anyone tried to find their future wife. You know, you, you're going to have some bad dates. You're going to have some people stand you up. You're going to have some people ghost you. Guess what part of life, dusting yourself off, getting yourself up off the mat, having a good positive outlook on the future. Because optimism and hope and a positive mindset does matter. And one thing was evidently clear about Sam Darnold. The way every player that played with him, going back to the jets, but definitely In Carolina, the 49ers and Minnesota, the way they talked about the guy. I'm guilty of this. I'm sure many of you listening are guilty of this. It's easy to be negative, honestly. It's easy to not take accountability. And listen, I've gone through about four weeks now of not sleeping much. It's easy to get in some contentious fights in your own home, no one had any sleep. And to point the finger and to put the blame on someone else, instead of taking accountability and pointing the finger at yourself and saying, what can I do better? What did I do wrong? How do I get better? And when you do that, I do think it opens up the ability to improve and to get better. Now, Sam was a third pick in the draft. Part of the field he's in, he has physical attributes. He, he's six five, he can move, he's got a big arm. But when you've watched him conduct these interviews, when he was asked during the super bowl about the jet situation, he never mf them. He never did what most of us would have done. I, I'm sure I probably would have done that, taken some shots at the organization. It was low hanging fruit. No one would have blamed him. His comments would have gone viral and everyone would have agreed. Instead, he did the opposite. He said, I thank them for the opportunities. I aspired to be an NFL quarterback and they made me an NFL quarterback and they gave me an opportunity to start. And do you know what good organizations do? They see that in the guy. Because football, like tonight, you know, talking to Sherm at the super bowl party, who obviously played for Pete Carroll and the great teams in Seattle and then for the super bowl team with the 49ers, it's not just evaluating. Like obviously certain guys are bad guys, but they're great players. As pro sports, you're going to need them most though of the really, really good teams, they're great players, are also their hardest workers and best teammates, even some of their crazy guys. I've told this story before. Bobby April was our special teams coach when I was with the Eagles. His son, Bobby April iii just became the linebacker coach for the Buffalo Bills. And he was the special teams coach in the early 90s for, for the Atlanta Falcons. And I used to pick his brain. Like, what was it like coaching Deion Sanders? Like the prime of his career? He said, you know, the funny part is everyone talked about Deion. He's making like rap videos wearing, you know, crazy clothes and he had all the dances. He always sat in the front of the meeting. He always took the best notes. He always knew exactly what we were doing. Like football character, obviously personal character, treating people well and being a good guy matter. But football character shows when you watch a team play. It shows when you watch Sam Darnold play. And obviously John Schneider's ability to pick these type players going back 15 years to the Earl Thomas Cam, Chancellor, Richard Sherman, that whole Bobby Wagner, K.J. wright, that whole crew to the way these guys play, it looks the same. They fly around the field and they just destroy people. Their football character on that football team, from Sam Darnold to all the guys on defense is elite. It's just evident when you watch them play, their physicality on defense and part of being a good organization, you know, Seattle wins Super Bowl. John Schneider came from Green Bay, where they have been winning my entire life. Well, when I came into my own in the mid-90s, watching the NFL, it was Mike Holmgren, Ron Wolf, Brett Favre. Last time I checked this year, when they had made the playoffs again, none of those guys were around. It was Matt lafleur, Brian Gudekens and Jordan Love. Previously it was ted Thompson, Mike McCarthy and Aaron Rodgers. It's like, can you sustain as an organization as you change in and out different personnel? Because the standard within the organization has kind of been set now, in a weird way, the GM has stayed consistent. And I think John Schneider has brought like this Green Bay sustainability to Seattle, which is now kind of like a Coastal packers or Pittsburgh Steelers. When I was in college, Bill Cower quit. They hired Mike Tomlin. They didn't skip a freaking beat. More than likely, the Pittsburgh Steelers are going to be competitive with Mike McCarthy, the Baltimore Ravens, John Harbaugh gets fired. I would imagine they'll be good next year. You know why? Because it's an organizational mentality. And even as Seattle went to a little bit of a lull during the end of the Pete Carroll, kind of Russell Wilson, Geno Smith years, they were still going like 10 and 7, 9 and 8. It's not like they were two and three wins. It's not like they were the Titans. It's not like they were the Raiders. It's not like they turned into the New York Giants. They were extremely competitive. They just were missing some pieces. And their ceiling wasn't that high. But they were building. They were adding good players, and they made incredible personnel moves. They really did. Starting with the coach, which is the most important person to go for. Pete Carroll, whose resume is, I mean, pretty unique. He's coached like, five different NFL teams. He's won national championships in college. He's won super bowl in the pros. Like, there ain't many people with that resume. So even if it was time to end, it's not easy to replace him. Ask New York Giants fans how hard it was to replace Tom Coughlin. Hiring coaches is like drafting players. It is really, really difficult. And they hired Mike McDonald, who by his second year, I mean, at one point in time tonight, I think we would all agree you could have just given him the mvp. It's like, you know, Kenneth Walker's numbers were good, but they weren't like all time great. You're not going to give it to the field goal kicker. Darnold was just doing a solid job. I was like, I'd give the MVP to Mike McDonald. I really would. He is destroying Drake May, who finished second in the MVP award, and Josh McDaniels, who's been an offensive coordinator in like 10 Super Bowls and like 50 playoff games. And he's just taking them behind the woodshed, bending them over. Josh is saying uncle, and he's not stopping. It was like, this is an ask. They got no clue what's going on. You got Drake, Macy and Ghost. You got Will Campbell, who can't do anything on the outside. The rest of their offensive line are swimming. You got pressures coming from all over. They are just working them. And every single play kind of looked the same. Pressure. Dbs flying around. It had some parallels to that team. What was that? 2013, 14. I mean, we're talking over a decade ago. Wasn't quite the same, but had some similarities of just absolutely overwhelming the opponent. And that's what they did. And to me, it was an organizational dominant performance, starting From Schneider to McDonald to Sam Darnold to the entire defense, to all the personnel moves. I mean, they traded Russell Wilson, which at the time, I'm not going to lie, I got to take a huge L. I thought it was insane. Now I wasn't on a Tech. I didn't have John Schneider's number at the time, so I didn't get all the reasoning. But I disagreed because I was like, you don't have a quarterback. I mean, they had Geno, but at the time, no one thought Gino was going to be as good as Gino turned out to be. But you're going to trade Russell Wilson to Denver. You got no quarterback. This is going to be a problem. He goes to Denver. Rest is history. They suck. They get the fifth pick. They take Witherspoon, who look like Ronnie Lott tonight over the next couple years. They're taking jsn, they're taking a stud guard. They're taking Eamon Worry. They're signing Sam Darnold. Teams is awesome. I mean, if it wasn't for Stafford, who was kind of like the Rogers, Peyton Brady right now in the league in terms of he's got like 15, 18 years of experience. He's seen it all. He still has the big arm. He's kind of mastered the position mentally. So even though he's playing the best defense and the best defensive coordinator in the league, he can have success. Also helps. He's got Puka Nakua who's like Adrian Peterson mixed with Jerry Rice. Like I, I've never a wide receiver coach in the league said, no wide receiver plays harder. He's like, that's one of his superpowers how hard Puka plays. Clear. He just kind of owns Seattle and Devonte, you know, future to me, hall of Fame player. So you got two wide receivers, McVeigh. That's just a matchup that they're able to handle Seattle no one else can. I mean he's played Even Kyle Shanahan today said in the pregame, like you're asking me for tips. I mean I haven't scored a touchdown on him the last couple weeks. He's dominated that. He's owned them. I mean this guy was, Listen, we can debate like should Drake may have been in the MVP mix. He did have a good season. He was playing, you know, nobody, but he was still kicking their ass. Made him look like a JV player tonight. Absolutely punked him. So congrats to Seattle. Just a complete ass kicking validation of just an unreal season. I mean I, I thought they were undervalued coming into the season to win the division. Not in a million years would I have guessed that they would win the Super Bowl. And you know, you know a lot's going to be say, where does Darnold rank? He's a really good player. I mean I saw Jimmy Garoppolo lead the 49ers to a Super bowl, to an NFC championship game and just be an incredible game manager. I saw Alex Smith with John Hart or Jim Harbaugh and then, and then Andy Reid have like a six, seven year run where he was just a really, really good player. Right. And both those guys had a big time. Like their ceiling wasn't that high. That's the thing with Sam. He can play games where his floor is solid and just be a game manager, but he has a high ceiling because he can move and he's got a huge arm and he, he will throw some bombs. So. And he's under a very, very team friendly contract. And let's face it, once you win, the ring takes a little pressure off you. You're not trying to prove it to everybody week in, week out and back to the Darnold mindset of that's not really the way he's wired anyway. He's not really a chip on his shoulder guy like Tom Brady's a chip on his shoulder guy. Aaron Rodgers is a chip on his shoulder guy. And I think that goes back for both those guys. You know, Rogers plummeted in the first round. Brady didn't go till pick 199. Sam Darnold 1. Pick 3. Sam Darnold's like, I was drafted in my own class above Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson. Like that was the thing that happened. Sam Darnold was drafted before Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson. Think about that. I mean, those guys have made a combined $500 million. They've won three MVPs. Sam Darnold's a draft ahead of him. And now, unlike those guys, he's super bowl champion. And this is weird, like he's not a Super bowl champion, where this guy's a first ballot hall of Famer like Brady or Mahomes or, you know, Peyton Manning, but he's not a Super bowl champion like Brad Johnson or Trent Doer. He's kind of in this weird middle ground, like he's 28, 29 years old. He's just finding his stride these last couple years. I, I think if he was a stock, I, I would invest more money into him. I, I don't know why this can't just maintain. How do things typically maintain when you're in good places? Back to the Ravens, back to the Steelers, back to the packers, what the Chiefs are now, these good organizations just sustain it. They are well run. We saw it this year with the hiring cycle. I mean, there were some, some of these teams are terrible. We'll, we'll talk about it a little bit later. But the Atlanta Falcons, now these guys all got fired. Traded A, a first round pick to trade up to pick 26 for a major red flag guy. You might want to Google some of the details coming out about James Pierce. Pretty ugly. Like bad organizations just do dumb over and over and over again. The good ones kind of know what they're doing. And when you got a hall of fame GM and John Schneider and Mike McDonald. This is a league in a sport, I guess in college, you know, some Sabin, Kirby smart, Dan Lanning. We talk about defensive guys. You could be a star in college as a defensive guy. In the NFL, we kind of hold offensive guys to a different level of esteem. We just do. I mean, look at the league this year. Andy was kind of the king coming into the season, right? Five out of the last six Super Bowls. Sean Payton, even though his offense sucks. Like, what a Super bowl champion. Drew Brees was a quarterback from McVeigh to Kyle to LaFlore to Kevin O' Connell to kind of to Liam Cohen. Like, this whole crew of, like, young offensive guys we just. We talk a lot about, because we quarterbacks are like the movie stars of this whole reality television show. And all of a sudden, this guy, Mike McDonald, it's like, well, was he, like a college football. No, he didn't play at Georgia. He was a coach in high school, and he became a GA for Mark Richt. And then he just shot up like a rocket ship, got an internship with Baltimore Ravens and never looked back. And John Harbaugh took that guy on a ride to the moon and put him in a position, and he kicked everyone's ass. And now, two years later, as a head coach, he's putting together these game plans again. Besides Stafford, no one can touch this guy. He is dominating Kyle Shanahan. He is. Owned him. Going back to Baltimore, he took Josh McDaniels and Drake May, made it look like, you know, like when you. When you. Anyone that follows or watches high school football, I guess it happens in college sometimes, too, when it's like Ohio State's playing Rutgers and you look up at, like, the ticker and it's like 30 to nothing at halftime, you're like, that game's probably not even that close. It doesn't happen that often in the NFL. And that's what it felt like tonight. From a schematic, a physical standpoint, from a game plan standpoint, like, it's not even fair. And we could nitpick. Like, you know, were they trying to drop Drake, Maybach and throw. That's kind of their offense. They're. They morph from what they were with Tom, which I. This is going to sound like. I'm like, this isn't supposed to be a crit, like more of a dink and dunk. Tom could dink a dunk you to death. Throw to the. Throw to the tight ends, obviously. Throw to the backs constantly. You just get rid of the ball, get it out of his hand. This is like, let Drake kind of drop back, make scramble around, throw some bumps. I mean, throws a great deep ball. That's not going to work when you couldn't block these guys. And I got a news flash. You can't really block these guys because it feels like all their defensive linemen are sweet. And if their DBs see any daylight on a blitz. It's a wrap because they're going like 90 miles an hour. I mean, Witherspoon tonight looked like he was Ed Reed in his prime. Ronnie Lott, Troy Palomalu, I mean, the way he's avoiding guards and tackles, just chasing his ass down was incredible to watch. And it gets back to Mike and how good he is with these DBs. It's like that a couple years ago when he was in with the Ravens with Kyle Hamilton and kind of that whole unit, they were the number one defense in the league. They were an unstoppable unit. It's like they had the MVP at quarterback. They had the number one defense. That's why guys like me put $5,000 on them to beat the Chiefs, and then they didn't. But it wasn't his fault. If you look back, final score, that game was 17 to 10. He allowed 17 points. In an AFC championship game, you allow 17 points, teams have a pretty good chance to win. And tonight they scored 13. Yeah, it was kind of a fake 13. Like, I mean, I, I was, I mean, they scored 13 in the fourth quarter. So it's. I, I, I. That game felt like, I mean, at one point in time tonight, what was the score? I mean, it was 19. Nothing. It was 19 nothing in the fourth quarter, and it didn't even feel that close. Part of it is Myers, the field goal kicker for Seattle, doesn't miss. But now Seattle's a champion, like I mentioned. I mean, there's only two other guys in the NFL. I told Colin this. Howie Roseman, Nazi Newsom, have won multiple rings with two different coaches and two different quarterbacks. That's really hard to do. That's really, really difficult to do because you have to rehaul the organization. You got a. The personnel standpoint. From a coaching standpoint like that, that's a major challenge. And that's. That speaks to an organization mindset, philosophical, from the top down. And I just think Seattle, I have so much respect for the way they've operated going back to the Richard Sherman teams. I remember seeing those teams in person when I, when I used to live in the Bay Area. And there was a period post Jim Harbaugh where they went to Tom Sula and Chip Kelly. Those games were really, really ugly in the sense that Seattle used to murder the 49ers. Russell Wilson owned them. And the physical, they used to just. It wasn't a safe environment. 49er players, they would get killed. And that's how it kind of feels with this Seattle team. If you're not fully healthy and you don't have like a Hall of Fame level quarterback playing at a high level and some sweet wide receivers, these guys will murder you. And that's what it felt like happened tonight. Because I was thinking this, it's cool to go to Super Bowl. Anyone that's a big fan of a team, pick the team. The Vikings, the Lions, the Giants, whoever you are, that winning the championship game and spending the next two weeks thinking about the super bowl, depending on where you live and what you got on, maybe going, it's, it's an awesome. There's nothing like it. The build up. This isn't like baseball or basketball where it's like, oh, we lost game one, we get him game two, there's one game, there's 60 minutes to go to the super bowl and get throttled. I, I don't think there's anything worse. I just want to go the World Series, get swept. Just like whatever. You go to the NBA Finals, get swept. Like it's, it's kind of a slow bleed game after game, football kind of, it's like, okay, this is serious. And then you just kind of keep hoping, keep hoping. It just gets worse and worse and worse. Today's show is brought to you by our presenting sponsor, Hard Rush Band Florida Sportsbook. I know it's tough with no football. 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Lavar Arrington
Is celebrating the stars of the 2026 Winter Games from Afton, Minnesota, Jesse Diggins is the heartbeat of Team USA as the most decorated American cross country skier in history, she brings her relentless endurance and famous glitter adorned cheeks to the trails of Italy. Whether in sprint or distance events, Diggins is known for leaving absolutely everything on the snow. She arrives in the Alps determined to add another chapter to a legacy built on grit. For more Winter Games gold Search olympics on the iHeartRadio app.
Stugots
Stigatz here I have a podcast empire. It continues to grow and I have brought it here to Ivar. I'm also doing a live radio show from 3 to 5pm Eastern because my wife wanted to kick me out of the house. It's called Stugatsi company Live, which is available in podcast form right when the show finishes every single day. Some of the biggest names in sports, a lot of phone calls.
John Middlecoff
I love you guys show. It's one of my favorites.
Stugots
A lot of interaction, guys not taking themselves too serious seriously. Those are just some of the things that you can expect from Stugouts Co. And Stugouts Co. Live. So listen to Stugatson Co. Live and our original podcast. Please subscribe, rate and review Stugatson Co. And God bless football. Taylor's livelihood depends on it. Do it today and you can check all of those out on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast or wherever you get your podcast.
Narrator of Valley of Shadows
On June 11, 1998, a deputy from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department went missing.
John Middlecoff
It's an all out manhunt for John Ajay. Every search and rescue team in LA county has been called in to help.
Valley of Shadows Promo Voice
Within days, tips started flooding into the sheriff's department.
John Middlecoff
The rumor around the drug scene was that a deputy was taken care of.
Narrator of Valley of Shadows
Is this the story of a man who just got lost in the desert? Or of a cover up inside the nation's largest sheriff's department?
Robert Smith
A homicide captain saying, detective, do not.
Stugots
Find out if this guy's guilty or innocent.
John Middlecoff
Who does that?
Valley of Shadows Promo Voice
Valley of Shadows a new series from Pushkin Industries about crime and corruption in California's high desert.
Narrator of Valley of Shadows
Do you have any advice for us while looking into this disappearance?
John Middlecoff
I wouldn't do it alone Listen to.
Valley of Shadows Promo Voice
Valley of shadows on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
Jacob Goldstein
The Volkswagen Beetle started out as Hitler's dream car. It wound up as a beloved hippie icon and the best selling car of all time.
John Middlecoff
How did that happen? I'm Jacob Goldstein.
Robert Smith
And I'm Robert Smith. On business history, we tell the surprising stories behind the inventions and, and entrepreneurs that shaped our economy.
Jacob Goldstein
And the story of the Beatle is truly surprising. It has so much in it. It has Nazis, it has the German economic miracle.
Robert Smith
And it features one of the most famous ads of all time. An ad that really redefined what advertising was in the United States.
Jacob Goldstein
The calculation was that there was some number of Americans who were ready for something different, who were ready for something that was counter to the culture, if you will. Perfect timing in this decade of the 1960s.
Robert Smith
Listen to Business History on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts and watch episodes on YouTube.
John Middlecoff
Segregation in the day, integration at night.
Host of Guaranteed Human
When segregation was the law, one mysterious black club owner had his own rules.
John Middlecoff
We didn't worry about what went on outside. It was like sipping at another word.
Host of Guaranteed Human
Inside Charlie's place, black and white people danced together. But not everyone was happy about it.
John Middlecoff
You saw the kkk. Yeah, they was dressed up in their uniform. The KKK set out to raid Charlie, take him away from here. Charlie was an example of power. They had to crush him.
Host of Guaranteed Human
From Atlas Obscura, Rococo Punch and visit Myrtle beach comes Charlie's place. A story that was nearly lost to time until now. Listen to Charlie's place on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
John Middlecoff
I got nothing but respect for Vrabel and Josh. I think Drake's. I think we've kind of jumped the shark a little bit. Like he's just the next Josh Allen or what? Like, okay, let's just as he plays better team. He's a really good player. He's got a ton of talent. Long way to go. Young guy, high ceiling. But like it's, it's hard to become a superstar when you talk about Mahomes or Josh or Lamar, let alone the Brady's, the Mannings, the Drew Brees, the Rogers. Those guys do it like a decade straight. 15 years straight. In Brady's case, 20 years straight. It's hard. A lot of people in the NBA, not a lot, but there have been some one or two time all stars. There aren't that many guys that like for a decade Straight. I was the second best center in the league. You know, it's really, really difficult to be an elite player year in, year out. Everyone's got him for you. And this was a humbling moment for him because he got punked tonight by Mike in that defense. I mean, punked. I was going to guess he threw for 130 yards. He threw for 295 yards. 295 yards. I kind of stopped paying attention to the last five minutes. They gotta be some hollow yards in those last couple drives. 295 yards. His stat line does not reflect what we. 27 of 43 for 295 yards, sack six times. Not all his fault. I mean, his left tackle is not a left tackle. It's just not a left tackle right there. There are certain things you could get away with in sports, right? Like, like Draymond's a good example. Not, not this version, but like in his heyday, he's like 6, 5, 6, 6. Draymond's not very tall, but he's got elite instincts. He's got long ass arms and, and he's very physical. So historically he's been able to play defense against guys that just from a height standpoint doesn't make that much sense. But when he gets the right guy who is big and is also tough and really skilled, there's not much Draymond can do right and pitcher right. If you do not throw a great fastball, but you throw off speed, you got to be locate at an elite level. If your location and you can't, you know, throw the ball right where you want to throw it, you're going to give out some bumps. Well, as an offensive lineman, as a left tackle, when I have short arms, which the combine is right around the corner and you know, our operation might be there, people always freak out. Like, why do we care so much about hand size? I don't know. It kind of matters. Have you ever been in a driving rainstorm trying to hold a football while Will Anderson or Miles Garrett is chasing you? Like being able to grip the ball. Remember Michael Jordan when he used to palm the ball and put a guy like, it kind of helps, you know, And I, I just think you watch Will Campbell seems like a great guy. I was. My cousin played with Logan Mankins at Fresno State. By the time I got to Fresno, Logan was already in the Patriots. But Logan was a great all Mountain west or whack, whatever the conference was at the time, left tackle in the NFL. When the Patriots drafted him, they moved him to guard. Now, in fairness, it's not like the Patriots have other options to put it left tackle. But I think we all have to agree, when you watch just good tackles in the NFL, he is not going to be one of them. It's not going to work. Your functional strength, not, I'm not talking about like how much you bench press. Like, let's say he benches 350 and in five years he'll be able to bench 425 or whatever he squats. That number will go up 25% over the course of his career. I was taught your functional strength, meaning when you run into me as an offensive lineman, the strength that I can show you really in college, but definitely early on in my career, never changes. Your strength, the weight room can change, but your functional strength on the field stays the same when it comes to kind of holding the point against a defensive lineman, anchoring down and just stoning them. And physically, he is completely outmanned in the NFL, you'd be like, well, he played in the sec. I get it. He's smart, he tries hard. But there is certain positions. If you're a man to man corner and you're slow, you got no shot. All these wide receivers can run. If you are a left tackle or a right tackle and you are not strong from a functional standpoint, these guys are going to run through you. Because the one thing you would say in the NFL over the course of the last however many years, 6, 7, the amount of defensive linemen who can play that have come in the league is pretty crazy. And a lot of these guys are very versatile. You can line them up really over, over the center. You can put the guy over the tackle. Aaron Donald used to line up when he played the 49ers. Their right tackle sucked. They'd put them over the right tackle or if their left tackle is injured and it wouldn't matter. You, you can. I could put Jalen Carter at, at a nine technique mean he's facing like over the tight end. Or I could put him over the center. A lot of the versatility in all these players is, you know, pretty. It's just very versatile players in the NFL on the defensive line. And you watch Will Campbell, he felt completely overwhelmed, which again, it's not his fault. He's playing out of position. What? So I think you're gonna have to move him into guard and try to figure that out. And let's face it, like, I'm not trying to be a Debbie Downer because I always, I honestly feel like I defend Belichick. I mean cowards like saying that he doesn't even belong in the hall of Fame or it's not that big a deal. Like I think that's insane. But the one thing you say for Bill and Tom and the Bill Belichick operation, when they got to the super bowl, they never got their ass kicked. They lost, they lost Eli Manning a couple times in some batshit crazy games. They lost to the Eagles when they ran Philly special and Tom threw for 500 yards and for whatever reason Bill didn't play Malcolm Butler. But they didn't get that because that was a beat down. That was an ass kicking. And the Patriots got a long way to go because the AFC like Mahomes, Lamar, Josh, like they're going to factor into this and you'd have to play any of those guys. You got to play Stidham, you got to play whatever the hell was going on with C.J. stroud. And I am a Herbert defender. But as his playoff resume right now sucks, so, and I'm not trying to diminish, they made the Super Bowl. I'm not trying. But you get, that's what you show. I just, it's hard for me to take you seriously. You get your brakes blown off by Sam Darnold in Seattle. I mean they killed you. It was nine nothing and the gap felt like wider than the Grand Canyon. So props to Seattle. Congratulations, super bowl champions. Kind of a crazy season. It really was, you know, it I, I, I think we'll get some more stability next year where, because Seattle now will just be taken very seriously. So I, I think they in a weird way kind of came out of nowhere. New England kind of came out of nowhere. I think both them are clearly here to stay. The Chiefs will be back and you know, the bad teams are going to stay bad and the good teams are going to say the Dolphins are going to be bad next year. You know, the Cardinals are going to be bad next year. The Titans are going to be bad next year. The jets are going to stink. The Atlanta Falcons aren't going to be good next year. The, a lot of these teams are going to stay bad. So maybe you get Harbaugh turns them around a little bit, but we still got some question marks with the young quarterback there. I think we're going to see the similar, same cast of characters next year and Seattle is going to come in as clearly one of the heavy favorites to, you know, to Repeat in this 2026 season. Can I tell you about my new friends ZBiotics let's face it, after a late night with drinks, I want to bounce back and I want to bounce back fast. Zbiotics is a pre alcohol probiotic drink that is world's first genetically engineered probiotic. It's been invented by PhD to tackle rough mornings after drinking. You have one before you start. You have a few cocktails you hydrate during and the pre alcohol produces an enzyme to break this byproduct down. Just remember to make pre alcohol your first drink of the night. Drink responsibly and you'll feel your best tomorrow. That's why every time I drink I have a Zbiotics ready. To try it, go to zbiotics.com three and out now you can you'll get 15% off your first order when you use three and out at checkout. 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Stugots
Stugatz here I have a podcast empire. It continues to grow and I have brought it here to iHeart. I'm also doing a live radio show from 3 to 5pm Eastern because my wife wanted to kick me out of the house. It's called Stagots and company Live which is available in podcast form right when the show finishes every single day. Some of the biggest names in sports, a lot of phone calls.
John Middlecoff
I love you guys show. It's one of my favorites.
Stugots
A lot of interaction, guys not taking themselves too seriously. Those are just some of the things that you can expect from Stugots and Cars company and Stegots and company Live. So listen to Stetson company Live and our original podcast. Please subscribe, rate and review Stug Co. And God bless football. Taylor's livelihood depends on it. Do it today and you can check all of those out on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast or wherever you get your podcast.
Narrator of Valley of Shadows
On June 11, 1998, a deputy from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department went missing.
John Middlecoff
It's an all out manhunt for John Auge. Every search and rescue team in LA county has been called in to help.
Valley of Shadows Promo Voice
Within days tips started flooding into the Sheriff's department.
John Middlecoff
They ruler around the drug scene. Was that a deputy was taken care of.
Narrator of Valley of Shadows
Is this the story of a man who just got lost in the desert or of a cover up inside the nation's largest sheriff's department?
Robert Smith
A homicide captain saying Detective do not.
Stugots
Find out if this guy's guilty or innocent.
John Middlecoff
Who does that?
Valley of Shadows Promo Voice
Valley of Shadows, a new series from Pushkin Industries about crime and corruption in California's high desert.
Narrator of Valley of Shadows
Do you have any advice for us while looking into this disappearance?
John Middlecoff
I wouldn't. And do it alone.
Valley of Shadows Promo Voice
Listen to Valley of shadows on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Jacob Goldstein
The Volkswagen Beetle started out as Hitler's dream car. It wound up as a beloved hippie icon and the best selling car of all time.
John Middlecoff
How did that happen? I'm Jacob Goldstein.
Robert Smith
And I'm Robert Smith. On business history, we tell the surprising stories behind the inventions and entrepreneurs that shaped our economy.
Jacob Goldstein
And the story of the Beetle is truly surprising. It has so much in it. It has Nazis. It has the GE economic miracle.
Robert Smith
And it features one of the most famous ads of all time, an ad that really redefined what advertising was in the United States.
Jacob Goldstein
The calculation was that there was some number of Americans who were ready for something different, who were ready for something that was counter to the culture, if you will. Perfect timing in this decade of the 1960s.
Robert Smith
Listen to Business History on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And watch episodes on YouTube.
John Middlecoff
Segregation in the day, Integration at night.
Host of Guaranteed Human
When segregation was the law, one mysterious black club owner had his own rules.
John Middlecoff
We didn't worry about what went on outside. It was like stepping in another world.
Host of Guaranteed Human
Inside Charlie's Place, black and white people danced together. But not everyone was happy about it.
John Middlecoff
You saw the kkk. Yeah, they was dressed up in their uniform. The KKK set out to raid Charlie, take him away from here. Charlie was an example of power. They had to crush him.
Host of Guaranteed Human
From Atlas Obscura, Rococo Punch and visit Myrtle beach comes Charlie's place, a story that was nearly lost to time. Until now. Listen to Charlie's place on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.
John Middlecoff
And the winner of the iHeart Podcast Award is. You can decide who takes home the 2026 iHeart Podcast Awards Podcast of the Year by voting at iHeartPodcastAwards.com now through February 22nd. See all the nominees and place your vote at iHeartPodcastAwards dot com Audible is a proud sponsor of the Audible Audio Pioneer Award experience. Explore the best selection of audiobooks, podcasts and originals all in one easy app. Audible. There's more to imagine when you listen. Sign up for a free trial@audible.com. Okay, let's. Let's hit on some stuff that happened before the super bowl in the, in the football world and the NFL honors, I think was on Thursday night and we found out that Matt Stafford won the mvp, was most valuable player of the NFL. And I think anytime we talk a lot about this with young quarterbacks, guys that go to places that are just bad and you know, Kevin o' Connell ironically said this a couple of years ago that organizations let down quarterbacks more than quarterbacks let down organizations. Now we'll see with the J.J. mcCarthy situation, that might not even, I mean, some guys just aren't good enough, right? But Matt Stafford was the number one overall pick who everyone in the league said, this guy can really play. Was part of one of the worst run organizations in the league. I mean, they were really, really bad for really most of my life. And definitely the Internet age, right post Barry Sanders. And even when Barry was there, I mean, they're two best players of all time retired at 30 years old, right? Barry just quit. Now granted, Calvin Johnson had injuries, but he's like, this ain't worth it and just left. And sometimes you get a guy like Peyton Manning who's been injured, right? Or, or Brady who's really, really old. Aaron Rodgers kind of same thing. They were just kind of ready to move on. They go to a new place. And Rogers, you know, post Packer career obviously did not go well. Post Achilles, I, I guess he was pretty impressive year in Pittsburgh, right? From a just respect standpoint, like playing through a broken bone in his left hand. But most people thought like, could Peyton Manning still play with, with the messed up neck? Then he wins the mvp, leads his team, you know, was major key to one of their Super Bowls. They didn't win it, but he got there. His last year they won the super bowl, though he wasn't as good of a player, but it kind of validated, like, hey guys, I can still play. Same thing with Tom. When, when Bill moved on, like kind of won the argument, like, you should have kept me. The thing with Stafford, it was like this thing has just run its course, give him a new place. And it was between two places. Sean McVeigh and Kyle Shanahan and Sean McVeigh, they had Jared Goff. They were offering the same trade. One just included Jared Goff and the other include Jimmy Garoppolo. News flash. The Detroit Lions made the right decision to go with Jared Goff. But I, I thought Matt Stafford was an under 500 quarterback who most people would have said really talented. But is he that good? And listen, you look at the numbers, you look at the wins and losses and you can tell me winning and losing isn't a quarterback stat. Like, if you're a really good player, you're going to win a lot of games unless you're at a place like Detroit. And by no means he was perfect. But in his five years with the LA Rams, he's a Super bowl champion. He's won an MVP. His record as a starter is 46 and 28. I mean, this year he threw 46 touchdowns and eight interceptions. He was just dominant. And like Brady said, and I think Manning has said this too, by the end, the game is kind of easy because your mind is as good as it's ever been. And when you play the quarterback position, you know, your advantage upstairs is a huge, huge advantage. The longer you play, the more experiences you've had. You've seen everything. So Stafford, now physically, his arm's still good, but he used to be a pretty good athlete. He can't move around at all, but his ability to manipulate and dominate from an intellectual standpoint when it comes to football is a plus at this point. And he announces that he's coming back, which is huge for the Rams because they don't really have any sort of replacement on hand. They're kind of desperate in a weird way for him to come back. Cause I don't really see their options unless they kind of strike oil in the, in the mid rounds with some random quarterback. But I, I think the Stafford resurrection and, and kind of validation is just really, really cool. And whether he gets the hall of Fame or not, like, I, I personally think he's a Hall of Fame level player now. Once Belichick doesn't go in, who fucking knows? You know, Tony Dungy's on the pregame show refusing to say if he voted or not. Like, Tony, we get it, you didn't vote for him. Like, just, just admit it. You don't need to lie here. We all the elephant in the room, we all know the truth. You don't need to, you know, hide from this. We get it, bro. You hate him. He. Your career as a coach would have been a lot better. If you think Bill who was cheating, you think, you know, most people in football go, everyone was stealing signs. But regardless, once Bill doesn't get in, I, on a yearly basis, I have no clue. Unless your name's like Tom Brady, it's just coin flip. But to me, the Stafford mvp, I thought he earned it, I thought he deserved it and really kind of stamped his career as like, it was the Lions. It wasn't me. Guys, look at me with Sean. I'm a winner. I'm a champion. I'm an mvp. And I'm a stone cold ass kicker because I definitely didn't lose that game up in Seattle. Defense, coverage, that's on you guys. Chris Shula, come on, guys, we need you to be a little better. I, I did my job. So congrats to Matt Stafford. The hall of Fame class I thought was really, really good. You know, sometimes there are some guys that go in, you're like, I don't know. I mean, there have been some guys. I've always said, like, to me, the hall of Fame should be. You shouldn't even have to think, right? Just say a name. Deion Sanders, hall of Famer. Joe Montana, hall of Famer, right? Lawrence Taylor, Jerry Rice. Like, it's Tom Brady, Peyton Manning. It, it should be very black and white. If we got to go to a room and debate you, you're probably in the hall of really good, and there's nothing wrong with that. And now if you're in the hall, like, what if Matt Stafford doesn't go in? You know what he'll say? I'm a champion. I'm an MVP, and I made $450 million playing football. I won, right? So I, I, I, I'm not getting caught up on the subjective nature now of the hall of Fame, but this class, to me, felt like these are no brainers. I mean, obviously Drew Brees, who set records for years in the Superdome with Sean Payton, who helped resurrect, like, the Lions, a joke franchise. I mean, their nickname was the Ain't, and they were one of the key franchises over the course of his running, obviously the year that they won the super bowl, but just countless big playoff games, they just really, really mattered. And like, listen, is it easier to play in a dome? Of course. Is Drew Brees the most talented player to ever lace him up in the NFL? No. But is he everything you want in a franchise quarterback in terms of production, durability, leadership, give a shit factor? Like, to me, that one you even need to get up and start listing out his stats. Keakley is a guy that, to me, there's like a Terrell Davis component to him. It's like he was clearly one of the best players in the league. And when he was young, it was pretty obvious he was going to go down as one of the greatest defensive players to ever play. Like, it was evident immediately. And in the peak of his powers, he's as good of a linebacker in my lifetime, not named like Ray Lewis as you will ever find. But he started getting concussions and he started getting injured and he just couldn't stay on the field. But like, I don't think anyone with a brain would argue that Luke Keakley isn't one of the most talented and dominant football players when he was on the field that has ever lived and definitely of his generation. So to me, no issues with that one. And then I think Larry Fitzgerald kind of, kind of almost symbolizes everything that it is to be a Hall of Famer. He's, he's honestly everything you would want in a top pick. Like when you draft a guy, especially a non quarterback, second, third, fourth, like really, really high, you're looking to get a cornerstone hall of Fame level player. I mean that's best case. But you're just looking to get a guy that's going to be in Pro Bowls and be a guy that's giving multiple contracts for your franchise and basically check every box. And he did, right? Obviously an elite talent, a dominant, dominant player, a durable player. Go to his Wikipedia page, look how many games he missed. He didn't miss that many. Here's the other thing. He was an all in guy. His character is pristine. He did not play for the Green Bay packers or the Pittsburgh Steelers. Kind of played for a joke organization that for a lot of it had a quarterback disastrous situation. He wasn't exactly playing with Montana and Brady never said anything, kept his mouth shut and just grinded. But here's the other thing that I respect most about Larry Fitzgerald and I would say this about any athlete. When the lights are the brightest and the games are the biggest, do you play your best? And you could make the argument that Larry Fitzgerald is one of the greatest playoff big game performances or performers the NFL has ever seen. He was elite in big games and he also showed like through the course of his career as his speed diminished a little bit once Aryans got there with Carson Palmer, he's like, yeah, I'll move to slot receiver. What do you need me to do to win? When I think Larry Fitzgerald, I, I just think winner. I think a guy that everyone who's ever coached or ran a franchise would go, I want to be in the trenches with that guy. He is to me personifies what it means to be a Hall of Famer. And you know, I, there's a loyalty element that he had that maybe in this world that we live in now in the2020s, would a guy like that play his whole career for a franchise like the Cardinals? Probably not. I mean, we're kind of seeing it with Max Crosby. I'm not saying they're apples to apples comparisons, but, you know, imagine if Larry would have got like three or four good years with a top six or seven quarterback in the NFL. He had moments with Carson when he was older in the one year with Kurt Warner, but for the most part, he played just in situations that aren't exactly conducive to dominating at that position. Because wide receiver more than any other position is, Is by far the most dependent. Right? You need the guy to throw you the ball. You need the person on the sideline to call the plays. You need the five guys blocking for the quarterback to hold up. I mean, you need all this stuff that's out of your control. And the one thing you always felt like when you threw it to Larry, he was going to catch the ball. You could make the argument, you know, I think most people consider the top three wide receivers of all time in terms of just talent, production, everything to be Jerry Rice, Randy Moss and Terrell Owens. You know, I, I think Larry Fitzgerald is much closer to that than like the second and third group of guys that we consider like hall of Famers. To me, he is just a certified badass. And when you draft high and some teams are this year that aren't going to be drafting quarterbacks, you're. You're praying to get a Larry Fitzgerald type because, you know, you, you build franchises around guys like this. And then the Cardinal Cardinals litter literally did, right? He was the, the poster child of their franchise for, you know, almost, I think well over 15 years. So. And famously, I think didn't Lane Kiffin want him and they ended up taking. I guess he wanted Calvin John. I got it was Calvin Johnson. Jamarcus Russell. So Larry was a draft or two before a couple other news and notes from this weekend. Shefter put out this morning that a couple quarterback situations that their teams are ready to trade these guys. And that would be Tua Tonga Vailoa and Kyler Murray. Here's the problem. And anyone that follows like the NBA trade deadline. I think there are some parallels. There were some players in the NBA, like Anthony Davis going to be a Hall of Famer one day. Trey Young, who's, you know, relatively famous player in the NBA were traded for nothing. They had John Morant. Memphis couldn't give him away. I think there's an element with these two guys. I think the Miami Dolphins are completely screwed. Schefter put in his report that they're willing to buy down some of the salary. Here's the problem for the Dolphins. If they cut them, it's kind of like a Russell Wilson. They would eat $99 million in dead cap space. So ideally you don't want to do that. I, I, I don't think you could give them away. I, I really don't. I mean, I, I do not think you could give two away if you ate the money so much that the other team only had to pay four or five million dollars. I think the only way someone would sign Tua would basically be for a veteran minimum deal. And let's face it, it's not like I, I, I respect him. After that big hit that he took in Buffalo, he's never been the same. And this year the player was simply atrocious. He really was. And then there's the factor. Even before the concussions, he could never play in inclement weather. So you look at some of these teams, you know, the Browns, the Jets, some of these teams, they're going to be sniffing around for quarterbacks like he doesn't fit them. So my guess is it would not shock me at all if the Dolphins kind of take a big picture view and just nuke this bad boy and kind of pull Sean Payton and just cut him and eat the money. Because I don't think he's tradable. Now Kyler Murray is to me a little more tradable because he's more physically gifted. Right now he's owed $36.8 million this year and unlike Tua, it's not quite as high. But if they were to cut him, same type thing, it's like $55 million in dead money. I do think that they could eat a large, substantial portion of his salary and get him to somewhere like around $10 million. And someone might give you like a, like the Cleveland Browns. I'll give you a six round pick for this guy. Todd Monkin just played with Lamar Jackson, right? So there are some, Obviously Kyler is nowhere near as good as Lamar Jackson, but some similarities in terms of his mobility. He's got a big arm. Again, I gotta get on the cheap. I gotta buy as like a distressed asset here. And to me Kyler would have more value just because he's more physically gifted. But I think both guys would be viewed as pretty major liabilities based on their money. I think they're going to have to get very creative. I think there is a chance that maybe you could find a team I attached like a third round pick which I think legally you're not supposed to do because that's like the equivalent of teams buying a player. Remember the, I think the. Was it. The Browns did it to the Texans with Osweiler. They took his salary and the Texans included a second round pick. That's allowed in the NBA. It's, it's technically not allowed in the NFL though they don't really hold you to those standards. It's. It's not like there are. You're punished if it happens. At least there hasn't been in the past. But I, I think both those two guys are pretty toxic when you factor in their contract. Rap Sheet reported that Derek Carr, who took this year off, he had a bum shoulder. He also didn't want to force like the, the Saints to cut them or put them on injured reserve and basically pay him 30 million to do nothing. Honestly kind of took the high road. Leaked out like I'm ready to come back, I will play. And the first thing I thought of is because Schefter or Rap Sheet or one of these guys put out that the Niners aren't going to trade Mac Jones. I do think they would trade him but it'd be like pick 40. I don't think any team in the league is like giving you pick 40 for Mac Jones. But to the 49ers, Mac Jones has way more value than, than like you just giving them a fourth round pick. Like they are just better off having Mac Jones on their team. Especially with Purdy who just missed a bunch of games this year. He's a great insurance policy. So when I view Derek Carr, I go Minnesota Vikings because I can't see Kevin o' Connell going with tua. I can't see Kevin o' Connell going with Kyler Murray. Well, Derek Carr who has played in different offenses over the course of his career, there are some similarities. You know, he played for Kubiak a couple years ago into the offense that Kevin o' Connell once he's a little more pass heavy. But to me, if I can get Derek Carr, could I get him for like one year, five or six million dollars and just have him, you know, play the role of what Sam Darnold did a couple years ago. But if you did that like I would be J.J. mcCarthy couldn't be beat him out and then I think we would just have to acknowledge that J.J. mcCarthy would go down as one of the bigger whiffs in recent memory. But to me, when I see the Derek's going to Come back and Derek, actually I was with him at Fresno State when I was with Colin, I think it was in August during training camp. He was at his house working out. He said he was watching the Herd. So he's always, you know, he's an optimistic, positive guy. He's got a good arm, he's accurate. I think he's definitely an upgrade over J.J. mcCarthy. So to me, Minnesota, Kevin O', Connell, I, I, I would keep an eye. If Derek actually does play, that one would make a lot of sense to me. Because if I'm Derek, I wouldn't just come back to be like the bridge quarterback for the Cardinals or the Browns or anything. Minnesota in a dome. I, I, I, I think that I, I can see that one coming from a mile away. And then I'm, I'll, I'll end on this one. Character guys. This happens in the NFL, right? Every single year. There are guys drafted pretty high that other teams go, are you kidding me? Because that player was off the draft board. And it happens, it happens a lot with defensive linemen, running backs. I mean, it happens with all positions, but it happens a lot with defensive linemen. And in fairness, like, play defensive line, you got to be a little nuts. Like, you're not exactly looking for choir boys there. You got to be a little crazy. Look at the hall of Fame. A lot of nut jobs. Not everyone's Reggie White going to church on Sunday morning before the game. So last year, when the Arizona or the Atlanta Falcons traded a first round pick to move up from the second round to pick 26 to take James Pierce one, I thought it was insane because you never trade a first round pick to get into the 20s. But there was no disputing Pierce's talent from the University of Tennessee. Most would agree just on talent alone that he would have been a top 10 pick in that draft. But there were red flags around him. He was off draft boards. And here's the thing, when you take guys off draft boards, whether it's for character or whether it's for medical, you might look like an idiot. Sometimes. Guys, character, guys completely turn around their life. You're dealing with human beings. This is why it's so difficult to draft. You're not dealing with widgets, you're not dealing with iPhones, you're not dealing with Stanley's, you're not dealing with, you know, studio sheds. These are humans. They're all wired differently. I'm wired differently than you. You're wired differently to the next guy. We, we all beat Toro and Drum and we all mature at different rates. Some of us grow up fast, some of us don't grow up till it's too late. And when the Atlanta Falcons did that, people went, that is insane. One, for the value in which they did. The rams have the 13th pick in the draft because of that trade. And two, because you're drafting a major wild card. And then he plays this season. And anyone who watched the Falcons, the fucker can play 10 and a half sacks, easily could have won the rookie of the year. He is a powerful fast. I mean he's, he's a big time talent. If he had his head on straight, he, he could be a pro bowler for a long time in the NFL. Here's the problem. On Saturday night he was arrested for five different felonies. I'm not going to go through them. You could google them. But involves, I don't know if it's his girlfriend or his ex girlfriend who plays in the wnba. It does not look good. And there's probably a lot of general managers and a lot of personnel people that their owner looked at him like, we really pass on this guy. And might have taken some shit throughout the course of the season. Might have taken some shit when this, their teams played this guy and he caused havoc off the edge. I'll promise you last night when that news broke, there were a lot of people in the league forwarding that information to either their owners, their presidents, to whoever that matters. And here's the thing I will always say about guys like Matt Ryan and I saw it firsthand with John Lynch. Anytime you have made a ton of money playing the sport of football, basketball, you name it. And then you go into TV and you're making seven figures and life is good for you to have the desire and the burning itch deep in your soul. Like I need the wins and losses. I want to get back into the fight. I want to be in the trenches. I respect the shit out of that because you don't need to do that. And that job isn't just like drafting players on April 28th. That job is this. Matt Ryan's probably home last night, maybe watching a movie with his boys and gets a text that we got a problem at. Well, what's the problem? Well, our star young pass rusher just got arrested on five different felony counts and it does not look good. Now, in fairness to Matt, he didn't draft this guy, Terry Fontenot Morris, that all these guys that were fired, what's his name? The Ryan Pace, the former Bears GM who was Also just fired. They, they, they did this. But when you take the job, these are now your players. This is now your problem. It's like, what do you do? There's no right or wrong answer. It's like, if it is true, do you just cut them? Well, the NFL, you're not really teaching life lessons. And here's the thing. As a quarterback, Matt's seen some crazy. As a quarterback, if you play that long, you've been part of teammates who've gotten in trouble. It's not your problem. You might have to answer for it in a press conference in the sense that, you know, a reporter asks you a question, but it's not on you to make the decision of like, yeah, we're going to cut them or yeah, we're going to suspend them indefinitely. That all falls on your lap now. And this is why Arthur Blank. I'm sure Matt's making five, six, seven million dollars to do whatever technically his job is, but he's the grand POA now. He's the boss. And in the middle of the night or late on a Saturday night, when he's probably just chilling in his big ass house, you know, just getting ready to go to work in a couple days, not even thinking anything, he gets this. And then he, he's got to get with the PR guy. They got to put out some kind of BS statement and they got to deal with this problem. And this job is really, really hard because that is the job. I say this all the time about these head coaches. Being a head coach is so much more about like, I got this great play on third and seven. It's like, well, yeah, what happens when you're a 24 year old star defensive tackle gets a DUI and he blows a 2.0 and wraps his car around a telephone pole and has a broken leg? How do you handle that situation? How do you handle when your, your linebacker coach gets cancer and has to leave the team for the year and go to radiation treatment? Do you handle that like that's being that. That's why this job is so hard. Because your entire business is based on human capital. Your coaching staff, your personnel staff, your players and these character guys. You just never know. It's why some teams go, I'm not even going to risk it. I, I don't have the appetite to deal with the wild card. This can go either way because some guys flip it around and become a Hall of Famer and some guys have this happen. Now I see some people on the Internet go, he'll never play in the NFL. Have you guys watched the NFL? Never play in the NFL again. He's got 10 and a half sacks as a rookie. He will play in the NFL again. So I, I, I'm not making any statements. I say all the time I watch football. I got taught life lessons by my parents. I, I don't look to celebrities, to football coaches to teach, to teach me life lessons. If you're looking at the NFL to set the tone for society, I might need to do some reevaluation, right? So I, I don't care one way or the other. But there's a nightmare if you're Matt Ryan. This is a major problem and it's now on you to deal with it. Fix it, map a path forward, which is not going to be easy because it's easy when it happens to a guy that's not any good. You cut him the next day, you don't give a treat him like a widget. See ya. Pack your, what do you do when the guy's got ten and a half sacks as a rookie? And you also, like, you could say it's, you know, it's water under the bridge. It's, you know, we already, we already paid for it. You did give up first round pick for this guy for a reason. I mean, he is, he is talented, but there was also a reason he was at pick 26, because a lot of the teams didn't even have the guy on the draft board. And I love this too. Like we found value, found this guy way later than he should have. Yeah. Why is he there? Just because you get him at pick 26 or pick 47 when he could have gone pick 7, that doesn't change the human being. Now maybe sometimes a light goes off, but in this day and age, I don't know, these guys are already rich. So it's not like he needed to get this money. He's probably making seven figures at the University of Tennessee the year before. So, yeah, I mean, it's just crazy situation. And Godspeed to Matt Ryan. The other thing, I'll get out of here on this. Lindsey Vaughn, who tore ACL in the Olympic trials was that a couple weeks ago, attempted to race this morning in the Olympics. You know, part of the reason a guy like, unlike a rolled ankle or a bad shoulder can like play through it. If you don't have an acl, you do not have stability. And I, I retired from skiing in my 20s. Like I, I'm not tearing an ACL or breaking a leg. If I go to the mountain, I'm just drinking the bar, I'm hanging out. I, I don't play pickup basketball and I do not ski anymore. I, I want no part of a lower extremity injury where I'm in a wheelchair on crutches. No, thank you. And I grew up loving to. I, I skied a lot when I was probably in junior high, high school. Haven't really skied much since, but had the opportunity a couple times over the last decade. It's like, it's no interest to me but like what she does. She's clearly an all time great talent. I, I just have no clue how you could have even. Which I respect the out of her for trying. This is going to be her last Olympics. But it's kind of felt inevitable what happened. Because you have no acl, you have no stability in your knee. It's part of the reason when basketball, football, whatever, once they heard it like, it's over. You can't. There's no change of direction. How could you ski at the speed in which he was skiing? So when you see the video of her tumbling and getting like, not life flighted, but helicoptered out you went, geez, I mean that sucks. But wasn't this probably the most likely thing to happen? I mean, there had to be some people in her camp, like, Lindsey, we respect the hell out of you for wanting to do this for, you know, there's the Olympics. It only happens every four years. You train your whole life for these, you know, specific runs, but your ACL doesn't work. There is zero. And the speed, you're going 60, 70, 80 miles an hour. These crazy turns, these runs are like ice. I don't think this is a good idea. You just took a crazy fall when you had an acl. The risk reward here seems like the ratio is like a 0 to 100. And clearly the worst thing possible happened. I don't think she lasted 15 seconds before in the midair, she kind of took a tumble. So props to her for trying, but holy the volume.
Julian Edelman
This is Julian Edelman from Games with Names. I want to take a second to talk about something that's personal to me. I've had the privilege of working closely with Robert Kraft for a long time. And one thing I've always respected is how seriously he takes up standing up to hate. As a Jewish athlete, my identity is something I am proud of. But I also know what it feels like to be singled out for it. That's why this new commercial for the Blue Square Alliance Against Hate that aired during the big game really hit home. It's about showing up for someone when they're targeted, even if you don't have the perfect words. And sometimes standing next to someone is enough and you can show support by sharing the Blue Square.
Stugots
Stigatz here. I have a podcast empire that I have brought here to iheart and I'm also hosting a daily live radio show from 3 to 5pm Eastern, Cults and Company live, which is available in podcast form right when the show finishes. Every single day. You can expect a lot of laughter, great guests, a ton of calls, and a lot of fun. Listen to Stugats Co. Live and our original podcast Stug and God Bless Football. And you can check all of those out on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast or wherever you get your podcast.
Narrator of Valley of Shadows
On June 11, 1998, a deputy from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department went missing.
John Middlecoff
Hey, if they'll kill a cop and bury him, what are they gonna do to me?
Valley of Shadows Promo Voice
What really happened to the missing deputy? Valley of Shadows, a new series from Pushkin Industries about crime and corruption in California's high desert.
Narrator of Valley of Shadows
Listen to Valley of shadows on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
Jacob Goldstein
The Volkswagen Beetle started out as Hitler's dream car. It wound up as a beloved hippie icon and the best selling car of all time.
John Middlecoff
How did that happen? I'm Jacob Goldstein.
Robert Smith
And I'm Robert Smith. On business history, we tell the surprising stories behind the inventions and entrepreneurs that shaped our economy.
Jacob Goldstein
And the story of the Beatle is truly surprising. It has so much in it, he says.
Robert Smith
You should be able to mount machine guns on it. Sure. Not for the family vacation, but you know, for other things, other plans.
Jacob Goldstein
Listen to business history on America's number one podcast network, iHeart. Follow business history and start listening on the free iHeartradio app today.
Host of Guaranteed Human
This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.
Date: February 9, 2026
Host: John Middlekauff (on Colin Cowherd's feed)
Summary Compiled by an Expert Podcast Summarizer
This episode of "3 & Out," hosted by John Middlekauff, delivers a deep dive into Super Bowl Sunday, recapping the Seattle Seahawks’ dominant victory, the New England Patriots’ struggles, and broad reflections on NFL organizational excellence. Middlekauff also explores NFL awards, notable quarterback storylines, and Hall of Fame selections with his signature blend of analysis, wit, and real-talk honesty.
“He said, ‘I thank them for the opportunities. I aspired to be an NFL quarterback and they made me an NFL quarterback and they gave me an opportunity to start.’” (07:18)
Notable Quote:
“To be really good in the NFL, can you find distressed assets and make them contributing players? What they did with Sam Darnold...it’s one of the more genuine stories I can remember.” (04:25)
Notable Quote:
“They fly around the field and just destroy people. Their football character…from Sam Darnold to all the guys on defense is elite.” (12:13)
“He’s optimistic, positive, got a good arm, he’s accurate. He’s definitely an upgrade over J.J. McCarthy.” (63:38)
“Anytime you have made a ton of money playing the sport of football…and then you go into TV and life is good, for you to have the burning itch to get back into the fight, I respect that.” (69:52)
“It’s easy to not take accountability. But when you do that, I think it opens up the ability to improve. Darnold’s never complained—he took all of it and kept moving.” (07:31)
“If you’re not fully healthy and you don’t have like a Hall of Fame level quarterback… these guys will murder you. And that’s what it felt like happened tonight.” (26:06)
“If you’re looking at the NFL to set the tone for society, I might need to do some reevaluation.” (72:22)
Middlekauff’s analysis is candid—often self-deprecating, occasionally brash, and filled with authentic NFL locker-room color. The tone is passionate and direct, with a focus on practical, on-the-ground football enlightenment rather than sugarcoating or hyperbole.
This episode is a thorough post-Super Bowl breakdown, celebrating Seattle’s return to the NFL pinnacle with a focus on culture, strategy, and the importance of championship “football character.” It’s a sweep of both recent events (Seattle’s win, New England’s collapse, the MVP/Hall of Fame reveal) and the broader patterns that separate good organizations from perennial losers. Rife with trenchant one-liners, inside stories, and real-time reaction, this is essential listening—packed with lessons that transcend football.
Perfect for anyone wanting to understand why some NFL teams stay winning, why character matters, and what happens when riskier bets go bad.