← The Herd with Colin Cowherd
The Herd with Colin Cowherd
3&Out - Caleb Williams REACTION, NFC West Preseason RECAP, Greg Olsen STOPS BY
01:18:52
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Ebony
This is an iHeart podcast.
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John Middelkoff
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Midas Touch Network Representative
So in the last month the Midas Touch Network beat Rogan, Tucker Carlson, Candace Owens, Charlie Kirk and Ben Shapiro all combined.
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Katie Couric
What happens when three brothers take on right wing media and start winning? I find out on the latest episode of Next Question with me, Katie Couric.
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Greg Olson
We just want people to live their.
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John Middelkoff
Lives and be happy and be able.
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Greg Olson
To enjoy it without some, you know.
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Midas Touch Network Representative
Lunatics screaming in their face every three seconds.
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Katie Couric
Listen to Next Question with me Katie Couric on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
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John Middelkoff
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Ebony
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- [02:31]
John Middelkoff
The Volume what is going on everybody? John Middelkoff three in out podcast live from Los Angeles. I will be on with Colin down in Southern California for the next four days. I think he's here for two and then he's in Chicago for two. But I'll be on the Herd, so you can, you can watch us on Fox Sports 1. And I got here earlier today and I recorded a podcast because I was going to do like an intro part of the podcast, talk about a bunch of preseason football that I watched. And I interviewed Craig Olson last week and he's going to be, we'll put him on the back end of the show so he'll be on with us today. And then I realized the Bears were playing tonight, Caleb was starting and Greg Olson was calling the game. So I was like, you know what? I'll do a little reaction to Caleb. So we'll do a reaction to Caleb. Some thoughts on Jackson Dart, Cam Ward, some NFC west thoughts. Howie Roseman makes a trade the Colts, anytime you can't decide on a quarterback in the middle of the late August, that means you probably got problems. So yeah, we'll talk a little football. And like I said, Greg Olson, former NFL player, high level NFL player, now Fox broadcaster, will join us and really high level guy and really good broadcaster as well. So that will be the show today and we'll have more podcasts coming for you the rest of the week as well. But make sure you subscribe if you listen on Collins show. That's key. Subscribe to Three and Out. We will have you covered. Also subscribe to our YouTube page. We everything that we do we put up there. We also cut some stuff up. A lot of different content up there. Make sure you subscribe. If you're not, go do that now and yeah, let's talk some football. But first, you know, I got to tell you about my friends. You know I got to tell you about my partners. The official ticketing app of this podcast, Game Time. Best ticketing app in America. A lot of you guys have been dming me. You guys have bought tickets to, I mean college football is here this week, then officially the following week, the NFL is here. You want to go to one of these games, you can search by the team, you can search by the stadium, concerts, comedy shows, you can search by the arena, the act, the game. It does not get any easier. I've used it for from concerts to football games to basketball games. I've been to a hockey game. I have been to so many events because of these guys. So here's the thing. Take the guesswork out of buying tickets with Game Time. Download the Game Time app, create an account, use a code JOHN for $20 off your first purchase Terms apply again, create an account, redeem the Code John. That's John for $20 off. Download the game time map today. Last minute tickets, lowest price guaranteed. I think for the majority of players and the majority of situations you judge the preseason on, was that positive or was that negative? Was that good or was that bad? Because there's so many different variables, it's hard to put this into context. Who's game planning? Who's not game planning? How many starters are out there? How many starters are not out there? And then there was Caleb Williams and Ben Johnson making their. Well, Ben Johnson made his debut last week but Caleb Williams didn't play. So the debut of this offensive mastermind and, and his quarterback who was drafted number one overall. And listen, there have been a lot of stories flying out the last three weeks, fair or not, him missing the net, him being overwhelmed by Ben Johnson. Ben Johnson calling practices sloppy. Unless you're there. And even if you were there, it's like, listen, you're just going to have a take and whether it's fair or not, it's just a reality. And then there was the game. They're playing the Bills, Caleb comes out, the dude like muffs the kickoff so he's got to go delete a scoring drive, basically the entire field. And then he was awesome. And the knock on Caleb last year was like the timing in the NFL is a lot different than college. You got to get rid of the ball. Playing hero ball is not something, honestly, if you look at the last 10, 20 years, Russell Wilson was able to make a four or five year stretch of a career out of it. But for the most part it's not a way to play. And Ben Johnson's offense is all about timing. So to me the number one question with Caleb Williams, can he play on time? Can he play in rhythm? And listen, it's, I mean he played two drives but it's really the first drive. Ball snapped, ball out of his hands. Ball, snap, ball out of his hands. You're like holy shit. That was the biggest question mark because we know Caleb has the big arm. So the first, the big explosive play to commit over the middle of the field. You see him throw the 90 mile an hour strike. But the key to playing at a high level and Bears fans know this, do you know what Mitch Trubisky could not do? He could not layer a throw. He does, he didn't have touch and it was the reason. A guy drafted really high. And listen, he's I'M just using him as example because he played for the Bears. There are a ton of players that have been drafted high, that struggle in the NFL that can't layer the throw over the linebacker under the safety. And that is a way, if you're going to play quarterback in this league, you got to be able to do it, especially in rapid speed, when you know your first options taken, he's your second option. Loveland coming across the middle of the field, and Caleb hit him in stride. I know the touchdown pass is like the sexiest play of the drive, but to me, that was the most important pass. And it was like getting rid of the ball. And even on the second drive, there was a pressure. Rome ended up dropping the ball, but he got rid of the ball quickly. And to me, that is the whole thing, if this thing is going to work. Because Ben Johnson's offense, and Ben Johnson as a play caller became a star with Jared Goff. Jared Goff can't move much faster than me or you. So his entire game is predicated on letting the coach scheme guys open and doing what he tells me quickly. Because I can't run away from anyone. Caleb can. But there's a balance of, like, every once in a while, we're going to need you to do it. And there was a play on the first drive we where he scrambled away. I bet Ben Johnson might even say throw the ball away, but he hit the wide receiver pretty low and he dropped the ball. Whatever I mean, that was. It wasn't his fault. The guy comes unblocked or guys break through the offensive line. You got to make a play with your feet. But there are going to be a ton of plays throughout, especially Week 1 against Minnesota, when you're playing a really good defense and an excellent defensive coordinator, where you got to do what Ben Johnson wants you to do. But the key to it is getting rid of the ball. And Caleb did that tonight. So to me, it's like, I've seen Caleb make explosive plays and it's exciting. But the number one thing, if I'm a Bears fan, I'm excited about is like under a couple seconds, under a second ball is out of his hands because they got DJ Moore, they got Rome, they got multiple tight ends. I mean, the guy they just drafted 10th. And Greg Olson said this. When you draft the tight end, 10, 10th overall, or really high in the draft, you're not just expecting him to be a good tight end. You're expecting him to be an extremely productive player in the passing game. A guy that can essentially operate as, like, your number two wide receiver. I mean, there's a decent chance that as this season goes, that it goes, D.J. moore is there one, Loveland is there two, and Rome is there three. And you saw Rome drop the ball. Listen, I'm a Rome guy. I think it'll be fine. It's one pass. But if Caleb can play on time and play in rhythm, we know this offense works because we've just seen it. And what did the Bears do this offseason? They fixed the interior of their offensive line because Caleb is not 6 foot 6, so he is going to need to step up into throws. And Sean Payton made a living off doing this in New Orleans with Drew Brees. They were good at center, and they were good at the guard spots because stepping up for a shorter quarterback, like, is really, really important. And protecting up the middle of the field is key. And now with so many of these teams having good interior pass rushers and their two guards and center, I mean, are not only highly paid, but they're good players. And we know their offensive skill guys have a lot of talent. We know Caleb has a lot of talent, but you have a drive like that. Like, I'm not going to poo poo the excitement that's going to come out of Chicago over the next 24, 48 hours, because it should be all the. All the preseason shit no one cares about, because I say this all the time. You know, coaches do this like, hey, he doesn't understand. He's not doing it right. At practice, he struggles in the meeting room. Then he goes on the field and does, well, like, that's all fans care about. How do you do? It's why that Shador Sanders, like, no one's going to care what Stefanski says. Well, this, that. It's like, we saw it on the field, fair or not. And listen, so for all the different stories coming out in the preseason, people, you know, the media that were there, even a fan that were there, obviously the coaches and players have a better feel for it. But for those of us that are not there, it's like, this is kind of weird. It's been kind of crazy. All that kind of goes out the window. Window after that performance. And listen, I was critical last week. It's like, hey, you're new with this guy. Like, how come you're not playing him in this preseason game? I kind of also understood it was a nationally televised game if it doesn't go well. But same deal here. Nationally televised game Sunday night. Kind of a muscle Flex by Fox, like just to remind everybody else, and I bet the NFL loves doing this during the preseason. They used to have a Monday. I don't know if they have a Monday night game anymore, but they would have a couple Monday night games. Have like a Sunday night game just to like flex our muscle. Like a game that after about 10 minutes is like no one even knows who's playing. And It'll do like 11 million people watching. I would imagine the ratings for those first two drives with Caleb Williams in the game against the Bills, who were just, you know, been in two AFC championships in the last like four years, in the playoffs every year, even if Josh isn't playing, had to be pretty freaking high. So that was cool, that was fun. And their excitement is going to be justified. This is. At the end of the day we're talking about football. And for as ugliest things have been in Chicago, like here's what I also say about Ben Johnson. In theory it was like, this job is a no brainer. This job was kind of complicated. I mean, let's face it, you're working for Kevin Warren, who is like this business guy, yet he kind of gets to run the organization because the McCaskey family is doing who knows what. You get a GM, which in theory everyone likes, but his track records pretty iffy that you have to work with. And you get a quarterback that was just drafted number one overall. That is not a project. But like is going to bring a lot of scrutiny because he's extremely famous. He's a Heisman Trophy winner. We've been talking about him since he was 18 years old. It's just there's a lot going on and like no one argued about Ben Johnson, his offensive acumen when he ran the show for Dan Campbell in Detroit. But you become the head coach, the microscope's a little brighter. It's, you know, it's crazy because Chicago, I would say for like the last 15 years, for the most part hasn't been that good yet. They're talked about all the time. They're this massive market. The city loves football. This little team up the road haven't been there last week in Chicago. And just seeing the, how the, the geographics of like, I never spend much time in Chicago. So you see the Green Bay is right up the road. This little ass town, they always beat their ass. Minnesota has been like a high level organization for a long time. It's like, are we ever going to get it right? And listen, the pace thing is still a little weird. The Kevin Warren thing definitely is weird, but if Ben Johnson can figure out Caleb Williams, none of that shit matters. A wise man told me a couple years ago with the jets when they were hitting on all these picks, he's like, John, if we hit on of these eight picks of a bunch of high level players, if we hit on seven of them and they become Pro Bowlers, all pros, sweet players, Garrett Wilson's, you know, Breece Halls, the left tackle, the Quinn and Williams, you name it, all the different players, the sauce Gardener. But the quarterback's a whiff. We're all going to get fired. Yet if we hit on the quarterback and we whiff on all the other players, we will get extensions. And listen, it's not just that black and white and just that simple, but it kind of is. Now clearly the Bears have good players, but if they hit on Caleb Williams and they don't need him to be Mahomes, they don't need him to be Josh Allen, but if he can just be a playmaker and just be a pretty consistent player and do what Ben Johnson wants him to do, like Jared Goff did, Bears are going to be fine. And the Bears are going to have a guy that they can function with and win with. Then it comes this football, it's a team game. How good your defense, how good your run game, things that are out of Caleb's control. But in terms of when this play is called on third and five and that guy's open on that quick slant, you got to get rid of the ball on time because he will be open. I will scheme open. But if he's not open, just in case, I will have this number two running over here that you got to get off him quickly and get over there and he will be open. And that's what makes it so complicated because at a scout tell me that a coach told him a couple years ago that like you could take let's say 64 quarterbacks, the starters and the backups, every single guy, and take them in a room with McVeigh, Shanahan, Andy Reid, Sean Payton, and they can all just talk football. And the overwhelming majority of that group of quarterbacks, just in terms of the speaking of the schematics of playing quarterback, they're all going to be on the same level. Then you go out to practice and some of them will fall off. It's a little quick for them, but still a large percentage of that group will still look pretty good. Then you get to the games, especially the regular season games that are game planned and you have to adjust on the fly. You're getting pass rush, you lose a offensive guard, your backup tackles in, and all of a sudden there's a very small group that can operate in that environment. And that's what makes this so difficult. And that's what makes Caleb such a fascinating case study because you want the arms pretty elite. His athleticism is pretty high end. You know, I mean, his arm's really explosive and he's an accurate quarterback. And now can he play within the construct of this offense that we know works and he did tonight? And like I said, you. This is. There's. There's good and they're bad and then there's that, like, that's. That was pretty exciting. That was enjoyable. As someone that, like, I think a lot of people like middle guy. If you just hate the Bears, I don't care at all. I'm not emotional about any of this stuff. If he's good, great. I Wish There are 32 teams at 32 Sweet Quarterbacks because I'd rather have all these teams matter. Like, we all know we get, you know, a couple months into the season. Like there are 10 teams are unwatchable. So I hope the Bears are good. That would make it fun. But that was a really, really good start. And I'm excited for every Chicago fan has just. Just seen a lot of shit and seen some rough times. It felt. I'm not trying to go overboard on the preseason version of like the Andy Dufresne moment. Like, oh, my God, this, this might be possible. We might be set free of this quarterback purgatory and have an offensive coach that knows what he's doing. The rivalries, the marching bands, the upsets. Saturdays just got way more fun. College football is back, baby. Think you know the game. Put your college football knowledge to the test with DraftKings sportsbook and turn your picks into big payoffs from live betting during the rivalry week. Odds boost and so much more. DraftKings sportsbook has everything you need to stay in the action from the kickoff to the final whistle. Here's the thing. We got a top 25 matchup happening this week in Ireland. Iowa State taking on K State. I've been listening to a lot of people. My guy Josh pay Iowa State little bit of a sleeper this year. You can get them right now. Odds are subject to change. 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No Such Thing Podcast Hosts
Imagine that you're on an airplane and all of a sudden you hear this.
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Greg Olson
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John Middelkoff
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John Middelkoff
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No Such Thing Podcast Hosts
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John Middelkoff
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No Such Thing Podcast Hosts
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Midas Touch Network Representative
So in the last month, the Midas Touch Network beat Rogan, Tucker Carlson, Candace Owens, Charlie Kirk and Ben Shapiro all combined.
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Midas Touch Network Representative
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Katie Couric
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John Middelkoff
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John Middelkoff
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Greg Olson
Col.
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John Middelkoff
Okay, let's dive into some other things from around the National Football League. I was watching so much football. I didn't do anything on Saturday beside go to the gym in the morning, eat and watch football literally all day. And I realized, you know what, I should probably take some notes. I'm not breaking down these games, but things that I see that I want to talk about because I had watched Cam Ward the night before and I was like, you know what? Let's talk about the two rookie quarterbacks that were drafted really high. Obviously we talk a ton about Shador. Dylan Gabriel went viral for a comment that he was talking about the media it was clear he was talking about the media. He's right. We're in the entertainment business. We're not in the win football games business. That's the job that Kevin Stefanski's in. The Dylan Gabriel's in. This is the entertainment business. And what he said was not wrong, but obviously they tried to make it about Shador. It had nothing to do with Shador Sanders. I was watching that game as he said it. And listen, I'm not the biggest Dylan Gabriel guy as a player, but from a character standpoint, that's not really his movie. Cam Ward, I want to say this. I always feel bad. Like last year, the Bengals, like, they didn't make the playoffs. Why? Their defense wasn't very good. Their owner had been cheap in recent, I would say over the last couple years when it came to investing on that side of the ball. Obviously, you know, their head coach is one of the lower paid guys in the league. That's kind of what you get sometimes like that. If I'm a fan, I'm like, well, we have this great quarterback, we have these great weapons, but we are the Bengals and Mike Brown owns our team. So we're going to have seasons like that. I don't feel any sympathy. The, the Alabama Crimson Tide went nine and four. Like, you don't get any sympathy points for me. Shit happens. Like, welcome to the real world. But when your quarterback is just unwatchable and you can't even function as a football team in college, like last year with Oklahoma or in the pros, like last year with the New York Giants or the Tennessee Titans, like, I do feel bad for you a little bit. I thought the Titans actually early in the season were kind of competitive, but Will Levis was the worst player in the NFL at his position. Honestly, it might not even have been close. And then everything that happened with the Giants, with the Daniel Jones saga and coming back for injury, how anemic their passing game was, I mean, they cut him by the end of the season. It was just, it was an embarrassment. It was really, really rough to watch. And when you draft a quarterback, the Titans, you drafted the guy number one overall. So the hope. And listen, I don't think there's anything more powerful than hope in life, right? The hope of a new relationship, the hope of a new job, the hope of a new quarterback, it is a powerful, powerful emotion that drives human beings forward. And when you have the hope of a quarterback, a young quarterback, middle cuff, it's only preseason. I totally understand that. We saw the same thing. With Shador a week ago. Like, that's a powerful thing when you see a young player making plays. Now, Cam Ward is very, very physically gifted. I think he's going to be pretty good. I actually think the Titans could be a little bit of a sleeper. Not maybe to make the playoffs, but just relative to what they were last year. The number one overall team, the drafting number one overall to what they could be this year. Wouldn't shock me if they won seven or eight games of Cam Ward's really good. But the Giants are like one of the marquee franchises in theory in all of professional sports. They're the biggest market in America. They're this franchise that over the last, I don't know, 20 years have won a couple Super Bowls. They've taken out Belichick and Brady. They've had just some historic moments over the course of their franchise with Parcells and LT and Eli Manning. But let's face it, the last, I don't know, decade has been pretty rough. And anytime you take a guy, I would say late first round, early second round, it's kind of that sweet spot where it's like, is this guy any good? Like, if you take a guy, I would say in the top 10, 15ish, any like that 12, 13 is right, that sweet spot. You're expected to be a star, you're expected to be a Pro bowl level guy, fair or not. And obviously it doesn't turn out that way. But when I draft you like 6 overall, my expectations for you are really, really high. And that's what happened with Daniel Jones. And I remember thinking at the time, like, most people, like, what are they doing? I had a couple buddies who were really successful in the NFL, like John I like, I think he can be the next Alex Smith. Well, part of Alex Smith's success is he got Jim Harbaugh and he got Andy Reid. I mean, his career was headed down a pretty ugly path till those guys showed up. Daniel Jones was kind of thrown in the fire. Clearly it just hasn't gone well. And we'll find out, I would imagine, over the next couple, couple days if he's the starter with the Colts and can resurrect his career. And he might have to do that, right? But Jackson Dart was in that spot. Like, did they overdraft him? Did they get him? Like, did they get a steal here? No one really knows. And I'm basing like, I'm not breaking down Ole Miss film. My, I would say exposure to him at the highest level was that Florida Game, which is hard for me to ever forget. And then you turn on these last couple weeks, he's 26, 35, he's thrown a couple touchdowns, he's run for a touchdown. But listen, it's not about the stats. It. To me, it's always about the eye test. I'll never forget watching Mitch Trubisky earlier in his career. It's like he's got no touch. And if you have no touch in the NFL, you have no fucking chance, excuse my language, little kids, none. If you can't layer the ball over a linebacker under a safety, you cannot function as a quarterback in the NFL. And you know me, I kind of a. I have a soft spot for the physical traits. I do think that matters over the course of time, right? Tom Brady had a big time arm. Why? Why does that matter? Because he could handle cold weather. And we see some guys with weaker arms struggle in cold weather a little bit. I think that's a big line of delineation from Mahomes, who obviously is a better player than Alex Smith, but like, his arm strength is so much more superior. They immediately had success in the playoffs where they couldn't with Alex. It has limitations. And people are like, how good is Jackson Dart's physical traits? We heard the same thing last year with Bo Nixon. Well, I'm watching Sean Payton talk right now. He's like, his physical traits are awesome. He has a plus arm, he moves well. And I think people crush you sometimes in your college offense because they're like, well, he's just throwing bubble screens. Yeah, I mean, that's kind of what a lot of these colleges call. You know, I think it was easier to judge that 20 years ago. Kind of the rinky dink. I mean, that's what it was considered by NFL people, you know, spread offenses, you know, definitely Mike Leach. But what it's really become, Well, a lot of NFL teams, you know, run, I would say, iterations of those plays. I'm watching Jackson Darton, I go, listen, I don't think he has Josh Allen's arm, but he does, definitely has a strong arm. But watching him layer throws, right? Cam Ward, same thing. That ability, like that's going to translate obviously, then the intangibles, your work ethic. We saw Cam Ward a couple weeks ago talk about why he shows up so early. He's like, my dad had a job he hated and he showed up early. So if I have a job I like or which also pays a premium and I can't show up early, I might as well. Just quit now. And he's right, you know. And so to me, if you get the work ethic, you've got the intangibles. They have the physical traits that translate. And the thing you never really know at the highest level until you start playing is the toughness element. When you start getting hit, like how do you react? Because you're going to get hit. I saw this Abdul Carter clip that went viral of him getting absolutely leveled on a chip block by a tight end. And then I think the offensive tackle took him out. It's like everyone's making fun of him. It's like, guys, this is the NFL. Like unless you are like Trent Williams. I mean I bet Aaron Donald got blocked and thrown to the ground at points. In times like on a given snap, it happened to probably J.J. watt or Lane Johnson, like Trent's probably got smoked. His foot is the highest level, the highest level of competition of the best athletes. Especially for a young guy if they don't every once in a while get absolutely worked. And if you are a defensive or offensive lineman, it's going to be physical. Like welcome to football, welcome to the National Football League. But if I'm a Giants fan, I don't just have hope right now. Like I'm pretty fired up. I'm pretty excited for what I've seen of the young quarterback. And here's the problem we saw last year with Russell Wilson. Now it was different because Russell was banged up and they went with Fields and then they transitioned. Clearly Brian Dable is like, we're going with Russell to start. Now their, their schedule is really, really difficult. But this is the thing with Flacco, this is, you know, Cam Ward starting right off the bat. But whenever you have a highly publicized young quarterback, whether it's a first round pick or third or like shit or a fifth round pick, no one wants to watch the old veteran guy. You know, you have like Russell Wilson has no equity with the fans. Honestly, I would imagine most fans view Russell Wilson like a washed up has been. And they're not totally wrong. I mean he's getting passed around. Now he's a $8 to $10 million bridge quarterback and we draft this guy really high. And if you're Brian Day ball, it's like, well you look at the schedule, I think everyone is somewhat realistic. Probably not winning 10 games. Like best case scenario, if we had a great season, we won eight or nine. I should be in the mix for coach of the year again. But how do I save my job? And what do I Do. Because part of saving your job if you're not going to make the playoffs is that hope thing has to like, oh, this guy is connected to the quarterback. The quarterback loves him and he's got to show promise. So when you look at the schedule, it's clear he's not going to start right away. I mean the, the beginning of their schedule is brutal. But I would have say by mid to late October, if they're not winning many games by Russell Wilson, no one's going to want to hear he's not quite ready yet because coaches love saying that. The coaches loves. You don't see what we see in practice. And I got news for you guys, no one gives a fuck. The owner doesn't really care and the fans definitely don't care. And a lot of times the front office doesn't care. It's like we get it. You know, all these plays on a whiteboard and your court, your quarterback only knows 80% of them now if they clearly don't know what they're doing. A lot like Anthony Richardson in that first preseason game when he doesn't even know, you know, the protections relative to the pressures and just gets himself cold clock. I totally get it. But like I think people can live with that as a rookie. They can't live with that as a third year guy. But like Jackson dart, there's going to be a learning process cool with it. But like that physical talent, that ability, that's why once upon a time Russell started. Remember it's like, well, he's not quite ready. It's like no one cares. And I'll give Pete credit. And this is why Pete, like obviously what he did at USC made him a hall of famer at the college level. But then him choosing Russell Wilson, you know, as a rookie like changed the course of his career, made him a first ballot football hall of Famer, college and pro right. And sometimes you got to have balls. And that's the thing with Brian Dabel. You know, this guy, this kind of like Belichickian, worked for Saban, kind of tough guy, really became a star with Josh Allen. Like sometimes you got to put your nuts on the table. So we'll see how long he's willing to just ride it out with Russell Wilson. Because I just know football fans and I lived in the Northeast, I was part of that division. They are not going to have a long, you know, a lot of patience when it comes to Russell Wilson. I watched a lot of NFC west football, the Niners, the Rams, the Cardinals, they're all in really Seattle. Four things stand out to me about all four teams. One, the 49ers, I don't know how this is possible. They. Yesterday when they were playing the Raiders, it felt like every other snap they lost a player they've already lost. I mean it felt like 40 guys in practice. This happened to them early on in the Kyle Shanahan tenure. A couple years ago they did not have this happen and they made the Super Bowl. Last year they were near the top with injuries. And right now it's not quite quantified because the rosters are so fluid with 90 guys. But they got to be near the top if not leading the league in injuries. I don't know how this happens. They got Stanford Medical right down the street. They're just losing player after player after player. Their starting guard, who's actually a really good player they drafted last year in the third round, got hurt on a fucking field goal. So I don't know what's in the water right now in Santa Clara, what's happening in the training room, but guys are dropping like flies. But that was not their biggest issue. The reality is most NFL teams are going to play in a ton of games or a ton of close games, right? Kansas City Chiefs, who are in the middle of a dynasty played in like 14 close games and they just happen to win them all. Playing in close games is part of the NFL, good or bad. The majority I think it's like well over 80% of games. This is not college football or one score games in the fourth quarter. Right. As a wise man once told me when I worked in the NFL, that team could be winless. They got a lot of guys that live in big ass homes that drive nice ass cars. So it's like they pay a lot of money for their team as well. And the 49ers field goal situation or kicking situation when it came to field goals was an abomination. And they use a third round pick on Jake Moody, who Jim Harbaugh, who I just saw get a 10 year show. Cause like how's the NCAA still operating? Like who's listening to them? How do they still exist? I don't. And I'm not trying to act like Jim and Connor Stallions are innocent on this one. I don't know. Honestly, I don't really care, you know, I really don't. But how we still go to the ncaa? Listen to Michigan. Sharon Moore gets two game suspension this year, gets one next year, but it's two games this year, game three and four because they're playing Oklahoma Week two. It's just what are we doing? At least in the NFL, whether you agree or disagree, it's like Roger, who works for the owners, they got the cba like it's kind of black and white. What happened. Now we can argue over certain suspensions. I saw that he was going to give Rasheed rice like a 10 game suspension and then who knows? Ultimately my point is, if you're going to take a kicker in the third round, I don't mind doing that. If your team's really good, he just better be a star. And when you look at kickers throughout history, but definitely in like the last 25 years, a lot of guys, you know, either are undrafted or late draft picks have success for their second team. Pretty sure that Justin Tucker was an undrafted free agent. So you typically don't have to draft. Obviously Sebastian Janikowski, guys very high. Because it's one of those positions where it's like you can just find guys who can go on to have a lot of success for you. And they drafted them and it's been kind of a debacle. Last year was pretty embarrassing. I mean, bad enough where they had a kicking competition. And then I'm watching him against the Raiders, he misses a long field goal. He almost misses what essentially was an extra point. It's like, I think this guy's going to get cut after this game. And then he bangs a long field goal and hits a game winning 59 yard field goal. And Kyle Shanahan said something, which I give him credit, at least he admits this. Like, I don't even talk to kickers. I just tell him, make kicks. Kyle Shanahan despises special teams, which I've said all along, most people do not care. Even special teams coaches, little quirky, little different. But like when you're the head coach, you do have to put some emphasis there. And the 49ers simply do not. And they might get lucky here that Jake Moody just maybe resurrected his career because they treated him. I mean, they might as well have just carried them off the field. Their reaction, because everyone knew it, that if this guy had missed a couple of long field goals, especially the game winner, it would have been like they're just, this is a, they're going to have to cut them. And now. And whether this is fair or not, like sometimes you can hit five balls out of bounds and then finally stripe one down the middle. And that might be the case here, but this might, if he goes on to have a successful career, for the 49ers might have been the turning point. We've been talking about this for a while. We've been hammering this home. Something is weird with the Rams, right? And in fairness to them, like, they might not even know. They're like, hey, he's got something with a disc. We're hoping this epidural. We're hoping that, but no one knows. This is not an injury where it's like, you know, he rolled his ankle, he'll be back in two weeks, right? He sprained his knee. He'll be out this long time. You don't really know with a back. And then sometimes, like, he's ready to go, and then you throw him out there, and all of a sudden he can't get out of bed the next day. But like a week ago, he was supposed to throw. On Saturday, the Rams play a game, and he wasn't going to play in the game, but he was going to throw his own regiment. Everyone's asking, you know, the. The Rams, McVeigh, which is cool, lets assistant coaches kind of operate during the preseason, like a lot of head coaches do. I know that, Brian Kevin o' Connell does this. You know, a lot of play callers will let other guys, you know, call plays during the preseason. Some guys even let them run it. Like, I think Aubrey Pleasant, it was the head coach yesterday. I think McVeigh did this last year as well. But he's like, I'm not talking about stafford. You gotta. McVeigh will talk about that on Monday. And then all the reporters are going to the Rams. Like, any comment on that? Stafford, did he throw? They're like, no comment. So it's like, listen, you made a story which a little out of your control. And I don't even believe it's, like, nefarious that Stafford, this off season, knew that this was coming. Maybe he didn't. If he did, that's pretty good business because this will be the last contract he ever gets. And they just have a problem on their hands. He can say whatever that he wants, and he can hype up Jimmy Garoppolo. If Jimmy Garoppolo is our quarterback, they have no chance to make the playoffs. I think we all acknowledge that. I mean, they were winning 10 games with Matt Stafford. So this is not like the Eagles, you know, where you could probably piecemeal quarterback situation to 10 wins because your talent's good enough. But I would imagine. And listen, I like Peter schrager, and he's McVeigh's guys. Like, they're not freaking out. Like, bullshit they are. They got to be losing some sleep over this. The Cardinals. You know what's funny is like, a couple days ago, I was just randomly thinking about Jacoby Brissette. I'm like, I wonder whatever happened to him. Just a couple years ago, he's getting opportunities to be a starter in multiple places, and now he's just out of the league. And then I flip on the game and it's Cardinals, Broncos. And all of a sudden Jacoby Brissette runs in. I'm like, oh, yeah, I don't want to screw up the GM's name. Martin Fort, Aussie Motten Fort. I totally just butchered his name. But he was a former New England guy. He brings Jacoby knows Jacoby. And then it kind of hit me. It's like, well, clearly Jacoby, who's super high character, mature, just salt of the earth, human being type guy that any team, especially if you have a young quarterback or an immature quarterback, would like in the quarterback room. And I was like, okay, I get the maturity. And then you watch a play and you realize his skill set and Kyler Murray skill set couldn't be any more opposite. Like, they are on the polar opposite end of the spectrum. And typically, I think ideally, you want a quarterback with somewhat of the similarities to, to your starting quarterback. So if they get injured, which guy like Kyler Murray has proven, like, he can get banged up, that there are some parallels with the play calling, with the offense. And so it's not some crazy, like, remember a couple of years ago, it was like Anthony Richardson to Gardner Minshew. And I remember Ballard said one off season, he's like, what Shane Siken did with that offense was pretty remarkable because they're completely opposite players. And I also understand sometimes, like, the best you can get. But like, let's face it, they brought in Jacoby Brissette. Even though I think Kyler Murray has matured from the guy that everyone was making fun of for the Call of Duty, clearly they see a benefit there of having him around Jacoby. I just know this. If he gets injured, there is a dramatic difference of the guy that comes in. I just think that there's got to be a balance, you know, And I don't love that if I'm the Cardinals, like, from a coaching standpoint or even a player standpoint, if we have to change dramatically the scheme, because what Kyler is going to do, I mean, Jacoby can't move. I mean, I mean, he's one of the worst athletes at his Position by far in the NFL. So I just, I thought that was kind of interesting. Now the 49ers play Seattle week one. I'm not trying to overreact to a preseason game. Andy Reid has as physical of a training camp as any coach in the NFL. I bet their guys, in the middle of August their legs are dead. So like my expectation for them in a preseason game, coming playing late at night in Seattle, whatever, I'm not judging them. But Seattle, if you just watch their intensity, their physicality, they clearly a lot of people think had a really good draft. I thought they had a good draft last year. Like they could be a problem. And I said this when we talked about some of the division winners. Like, you know, I like the packers, you know, I love the Texans. I think there's value in the Denver Broncos. I think at this point in time it's, it's either going to be Denver obviously, or just Kansas City is going to win it for an eighth rate year. But like, of all the teams that had like kind of flyer odds, I thought Seattle was like, we know their coach is really good, right? Mike McDonald is one of, if not the best defensive mind in the NFL. They have drafted really well on that side of the ball the last couple of years, have a lot of young pieces, they're going to fit his scheme. Sam Darnold knows Kubiak because they work together in San Francisco. Like that scheme works and they got some pieces on offense. They won 10 games last year. It's not like, well, it's like they won six. Like they won 10 games, four more than the 49ers. I think that is a really, really tough spot for the 49ers. Week one, like, I think if Seattle is going to be the real deal, I think they, especially with the 49ers banged up as they are, that's a really, really tough spot. So yeah, NFC west, kind of interested in that one. Ash and Genti. One of Frank Gore's, I mean he had a lot of great characteristics. I mean he was just a very, very good all around player. And he's going to be in the hall of Fame one day. But like, part of the reason he played for like 30 seasons in the NFL is Frank Gore never wasted hits, right? If he was in the open field and he could just get to your corner, your left or right shoulder and just kind of avoid a big hit, he'd do it. If he'd get out of bounds, he'd do it. He just wasn't like trying to run over everybody. And Ashton Genti's built like a little tank. And listen, he's really, really talented, but he had two plays yesterday, one where he took on a linebacker just in the open field. And it's like. And there's a backup linebacker, but still, you're not going to have a long NFL career. And I would imagine Pete Carroll. And listen, I'm all for, like, I want tough guys. I want. No one questions your toughness, Ashton, but I can't have you trying to run over linebackers in the preseason when we got 17 games. This is not the Mountain West. You're not taking on New Mexico or Fresno State. You're not taking on a bunch of guys. They're going to be farmers and insurance salesmen. As a lot of you guys forwarded me the Jake from picture of. He's literally selling insurance now. And there's nothing wrong with that. Like, he's going to. He's going to make a ton in Georgia. Former Georgia quarterback. But we've invested in you to be a star in this league. Watch some Barry Sanders highlights, right? He was avoiding hits. So to be a healthy player, to be a successful player, you got to play smart. And no one, I totally understand, like, trying to prove as a young player to your teammates, to your coaches, like, I'm a tough sob, just, we got to be careful because he gets this hit and he immediately goes to the tent. Now he comes back, but it's like, you are too important. If we're going to be a team that's on the rise, not even this year, but over the course of the next three or four years, you're going to be one of our most important players. I was thinking about this because it happens in college football a lot. You can get by in college football sometimes with multiple quarterbacks. I mean, the Florida Tebow's rookie year won the super bowl. Or not the super bowl, the national championship with. With multiple quarterbacks, Chris Leak and Tim Tebow, it happens sometimes. Now, typically, one guy separates from the other. But in the NFL, if you do not know who your starting quarterback is in the middle to late August, you're just not. I can't take you seriously. Like the Browns, most people don't take them that seriously. We don't think the Browns are going to be that good, and rightfully so. Flacco, Kenny Pickett, obviously, Dylan, Gabriel and Shador, like, they're all going to play in what order, at what time, no one knows. But I'll promise you this. Maybe they cut Kenny Pickett to go with Flacco. Or maybe they cut Flacco to go with Kenny Pickett. I would imagine Flacco ends up starting, but Dylan Gabriel and Shador Sanders are starting games. I would bet four figures on that immediately. How many starts compared to the two of them? I don't know. But Dylan Gabriel and Shador Sanders will both start games this year for the Cleveland Browns. Bad teams. That happens, right? Even I'll give Brian Dayball credit. Like, he just nips in the bud right away. Russell's our starter. Russell's a starter. And they said this, you know, way back for four months ago when they were doing Springbowl the Colts, like, this is why I'm out on them. It's like, we'll know who the quarterback is soon. That's what Shane Psychic keeps saying. Like, if you don't have your quarterback picked at this point in time, like, I just can't take you seriously as a playoff contender. Even if I do like your roster and think you got a good coach and think you got, you know, a well run schematic advantage. Like Lou Amaruno, good coach. If you got some defensive players, I bet Colts are way better on defense. I think Shane Steichen is a good coach. But if you don't know who your quarterback is on August 17th, like, I'm kind of out on your franchise. And one thing's clear. Howie Roseman just loves doing trades. I mean, the guy just loves making trades. And he said to Will and Taylor on bus with the boys last week, it's funny, Bob Lang, the PR guy I've known forever, 49ers, I was like, how he said he'll come on my podcast in the spring. He's like, oh yeah, we're really busy and I guess I could go, I could go to Philly. I've just known the guy for 15 years. These guys, you know, that went on, pardon my take, went on bus with the boys. They did go out to NovaCare. I just, I wanted to do a zoom. So advantage them. Maybe I should next year. I'll have to go to NovaCare to get that in person interview. But how he basically said one thing my biggest regret as a general manager was what everyone talks about passing on a guy that's going to be a first ballot hall of Famer one day. And Justin Jefferson, one of the more talented players that we've seen in the NFL in recent memory, right? And he took Jalen Rager and that's my mom can see that's a fuck up. It's not like he's acknowledging anything that we already don't know. But he also said that like, sometimes you just don't need to overthink this and just take good players from the best teams. Like, and that's really what the Eagles. And even he mentioned this, like, maybe we don't go to two Super Bowls in the last three years if we don't have that, you know, historic screw up. And I mean it was because of that draft. And you know, Rick Spielman and Mike Zimmer were on Zoom and we saw that clip of them high five and they couldn't believe it. But John Metchie, I saw today who they just traded for with the Houston Texans. They gave up a backup tight end and they like they gave a fit. The Texans gave a fifth and the Eagles gave a six. I mean the draft picks are just late picks. Met you was a guy that played at Alabama that hurt his knee was there with Jameson Williams. I mean it looked like they were going to win the national championship. Then both those guys got hurt when they replayed Georgia. They lost because they didn't have any wide receivers. But I would say his careers never really got on track. And this will now be the ninth player from Alabama that will be on the Eagles. And I do think they believe they have an advantage with these guys getting them around their crew. And what have they done? They've littered their roster with guys from Nick Saban and Kirby Smart, which essentially are the same guy because Kirby Smart is just a mentee to Nick Saban. And I listen, he likes value. He sees a guy that was drafted really high. Clearly Metchy was not going to work in with the Houston Texans for whatever reason. But I feel like how he's already made multiple trades this preseason and it wouldn't shock me at all if over the next couple weeks that he makes another trade. So yeah, I mean speaking of the Texans and this is one area I saw CJ Stroud, they joint practice with the the Panthers. And you know, he's known Bryce because they both are from Southern California. I'm actually sitting probably not too far away from where they grew up. And CJ is just pretty high level guy, super just impressive guy whenever he talks. And it really got me thinking is like one area that I might have screwed up when it came to Bryce. And I would say any, especially any quarterback that played like say what you want about Tua. He's got some limitations physically. Physically, but like he's pretty solid and mentally he's pretty tough right and clearly, Bryce Young, sometimes I try to quantify. It's like, well, he's way too small. And listen, he's not very big. I think he's one of the smallest quarterbacks we'll ever see in NFL history. Right? And definitely when he first got drafted and he played in a preseason game as a rookie, you're like, this guy looks tiny, but you can't underestimate at that quarterback the importance of all the stuff that. That doesn't get, all the intangible stuff, all the unquantifiable stuff, how tough you are, how mentally tough you are, how smart you are, how unfazed you'll be by adversity, or how well that you can handle the tough times. And if you've played for Nick Saban, like, you've been getting MF from the moment you step on campus. And I was talking to someone about the Panthers, they're like, actually, I think their line of scrimmage on both sides are pretty good. And if offensively, some of their weapons, you know, they draft a guy in the top 10 at wide receiver if they can be pretty good. But, like, Bryce has looked really, really good this preseason, and clearly the way everything happened last year, that he couldn't have been much worse to start the season is. This is why. And we talked about this last week with Jason Light, talking about, like, we don't draft douchebags and assholes. And I think on the other side, it's why you emphasize character and intangibles, because this stuff's really, really hard. And playing quarterback in the NFL is extremely difficult, even if you are talented. So mentally, how tough you are, how smart you are, how willing you are to grind, that helps separate guys. Because a lot of people, like, in any line of work or any walk of life, the easiest thing always is, is to tap out, is to quit, is to make an excuse. I'm just not good enough. I saw Tom Brady talk about this with Greg Olson. He's like, so many people I played with or played against would just. It was so easy to be like, didn't have it today. Yeah. Just not feeling it this week. It's like, what? Like, you can. It's so easy to get a negative mindset for all of us. I don't care what you're doing and to go down that rabbit hole and to make an excuse. And especially for CJ or, I mean, for Bryce, he could have been like, well, I'm just. With a shitty organization. They put me in a bad spot. It's not all my fault. Instead it just felt like kind of kept his mouth shut, went to work and then bounced back. And while I think there's, there's like a legit chance, if you told me Seattle wins the NFC West, I would not be shocked at all. I don't think that the Carolina Panthers can win the division. But if you told me like heading into December they're like in the wild card discussion, I think that's very, very possible. Now, I think if you had a redo and you gave the opportunity to every general Manager in the NFL, would you take C.J. stroud or Bryce Young? You would take C.J.
- [54:19]
Greg Olson
Stroud.
- [54:20]
John Middelkoff
But I do think there's a chance within the next year or two, we look back and go, you know what? Bryce Young's a solid player. Well, no shit. We saw him at Alabama, played a really high level. We knew the competition, where the competitor was in him. We knew he was tough. I remember watching him against that Georgia team that had 100 guys play in the NFL. Him just getting peppered mollywopped like every other play with Mechi and Jameson Williams injured and just kept getting up and kept swinging. I'm like, God, I like this guy. And I think it's why a lot of NFL people will drawn to him even though he doesn't check a lot of boxes. I mean, he's five nine, a buck 85. But the intangibles with them are going to be the reason, you know, the guy has success if they have a good year. And honestly, I could see the Panthers just being a little sneaky this year.
- [55:13]
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- [56:13]
No Such Thing Podcast Hosts
Imagine that you're on an airplane and all of a sudden you hear this.
- [56:17]
Greg Olson
Attention passengers. The pilot is having an emergency. And we need someone, anyone to land this plane.
- [56:25]
No Such Thing Podcast Hosts
Think you could do it? It turns out that nearly 50% of men think that they could land the plane with the help of air traffic control.
- [56:33]
John Middelkoff
And they're saying like, okay, pull this.
- [56:35]
No Such Thing Podcast Hosts
Until this, pull that, turn this. It's just, I can do my eyes closed. I'm Manny.
- [56:39]
John Middelkoff
I'm Noah. This is Devin.
- [56:40]
No Such Thing Podcast Hosts
And on our new show, no Such Thing, we get to the bottom of questions like these. Join us as we talk to the leading expert on overconfidence.
- [56:49]
John Middelkoff
Those who lack expertise, lack the expertise. They need to recognize that they lack expertise.
- [56:56]
No Such Thing Podcast Hosts
And then as we try the whole thing out for real. Wait, what? Oh, that's the Runway. I'm looking at this thing.
- [57:03]
John Middelkoff
See?
- [57:04]
No Such Thing Podcast Hosts
Listen to no such thing on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [57:11]
Midas Touch Network Representative
So in the last month, the Midas Touch network beat Rogan, Tucker Carlson, Candace Owens, Charlie Kirk, and Ben Shapiro all combined.
- [57:20]
Katie Couric
Conservative podcasts can have a major political impact, but the Meisellis brothers, three siblings with a serious media strategy, are building an alternative to that. On the latest episode of Next Question with Katie Couric, I sat down with the brothers behind the Midas Touch network to talk about how they built a progressive media powerhouse from the ground up, why audience interaction is the key to political influence, and what it takes to fight disinformation at scale one download at a time.
- [57:50]
Midas Touch Network Representative
We should be focusing on the issues that actually occupy a lot of the mental space in Americans minds, but are filled with conspiracies and we should fill it with the truth and solutions.
- [58:02]
Katie Couric
Listen to Next Question with me, Katie Couric on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [58:11]
John Lithgow
Hello, I'm John Lithgow.
- [58:13]
John Middelkoff
We choose to go to the moon.
- [58:14]
John Lithgow
I want to tell you about my new favorite podcast.
- [58:17]
John Middelkoff
That's One small step for Man.
- [58:20]
John Lithgow
It's about Buzz Aldrin, one of the true pioneers of space.
- [58:24]
John Middelkoff
You're a great pilot, Buzz. As far as I'm concerned, the best I've seen.
- [58:28]
John Lithgow
That's the story you think you know. This is the story you don't predisposition.
- [58:33]
John Middelkoff
To depression, alcohol abuse and suicide.
- [58:36]
John Lithgow
We'll see Buzz try to overcome demons.
- [58:39]
John Middelkoff
What do you say, Buzz?
- [58:41]
Greg Olson
Another beer.
- [58:41]
John Lithgow
And triumph over addiction.
- [58:43]
John Middelkoff
Here's to you, Buzz Aldrin.
- [58:46]
John Lithgow
Good luck to you and become a true hero.
- [58:48]
John Middelkoff
Buzz and I will proceed into the.
- [58:50]
John Lithgow
Lunar module not because he conquers space, but because he conquers himself.
- [58:57]
John Middelkoff
Buzz, we intercepted a Soviet radio transmission.
- [59:00]
John Lithgow
Starring Me, John Lithgow.
- [59:02]
John Middelkoff
Can you put it through?
- [59:03]
John Lithgow
Can you Translate on the iHeartRadio Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts?
- [59:09]
John Middelkoff
Columbia. Okay. Very, very excited to have 14 year NFL vet and critically acclaimed broadcaster, a man who I think a pretty unprecedented move, started broadcasting while he was still playing. Greg Olson live from Charlotte. What's going on, my man?
- [59:34]
Greg Olson
Doing great. Appreciate you having me on. How you guys doing?
- [59:36]
John Middelkoff
Doing good, Doing really good. I, you know, I thought, let's just jump into what you got going on with you think. I. My wife told me a couple months ago that she's pregnant and we are having our a son here in early January. And I was just watching you with Tom. That'd be Tom Brady talking a lot about, you know, raising children, what goes on with athletics. And you and I are the same age. We graduated high school the same year and we grew up in an era. I know your dad was your high school coach, but where My dad just dropped me off at practice and picked me up, you know. You played high school sports? The travel leagues might have gone within a 60 mile radius. I mean, I have families that, you know, I live in Scottsdale and I got a bunch of family that still lives in California and they're traveling baseball team. Like this is a short trip for them from California to Scott. I'm like, this is insane. And it's just, it's kind of a completely. It was very simple. I would say growing up in the 90s when it came to athletics, you either good enough like yourself or you weren't like me. But it wasn't the traveling sports that the camps for football. I mean, that's just. How do you navigate it as a dad?
- [60:47]
Greg Olson
Yeah. So I think the best way to put, you know, the best way to kind of summarize everything you just said is so spot on. The best way really to summarize is back. Back in the day, there was no decisions to be made. You played for your town rec league. If it was winter, you played basketball. If it was spring, you played baseball or lacrosse or soccer. And if it was the fall, you played football. And that was pretty much it. In our lives, those were the only offerings. And you played with the same kids every season and everyone did the exact same thing. Nowadays, every day is a decision, what level of competition do I want my kid to play? What team should they play for? What if he's not batting or playing the right position? Does he play enough? What school should he go to? What high school should he go to? Should he Go to multiple high schools. Should he go to a sports academy? I mean there are unlimited options right now. And when done right there is, there's no better time to develop as an athlete than there is right now. The access to information, resources, the training, the skill development, the way kids are using the weight room, the eating, the nutrition, just everything about youth sports now you used to not get until you were in college, that's now creeped down into the middle school, you know, sports teams at schools. But with that, everyone loses track of what is the ultimate goal and the open, the ultimate goal is to keep long term athletic development as the core driver of everything you do. And when you race development and when it's a race to 12 and a race to 13, you skip over a lot of really important steps. You skip over adversity, you skip out of sticking with it, or when you're not getting playing time, or when you're not the best kid on the team. And you don't just get to flip flop and go to 50 different teams till you find out when you're the quarterback. Like those are the realities of the world. And for a lot of kids we're skipping those steps. So it's. Everything you said is so spot on. There are so many different things being thrown at these kids, these families. And as someone who grew up in this world, as you know, from the time I was a little boy around my dad's high school teams and obviously made a career out of it, now as, as the other side of the, as things have come full circle and now I'm a dad, there's a lot of things about this world that I don't know what to do. And I really have a lot of understanding and patience for parents who really, who reach out to us and say we don't know what to do with our son or our daughter, we don't know if we're on the right track, help us get better information. And a lot of those conversations are the ones that we're having on you think.
- [63:10]
John Middelkoff
You know what's funny is I think about all the time, like it's so easy if you have a son, be like, well, he's not going to play in the NBA or the NFL, so why even waste time if he's not that good playing high school football and it's easy to push him away. And listen, I was never like you, I was never gonna play Division 1 football. But playing in high school made me fall in love with a sport, create relationships with guys. You know, 20 plus years later, I'm still close with I, because of my love of football, I got to work for Andy Reid. I do what I do now. It changed my life. But looking back, it's like, well, he's not any good, why would he play? But my dad and my parents were like, do whatever you want. Like, they were very supportive because it was an era where it's like, you want to be on the swim team, you want to play basketball, you want to play, you just kind of did everything, you know, it's like, let's go play golf, let's go try tennis, like, who cares? Just do whatever you want. And it's kind of sad because I would imagine playing basketball for you as you went on in your football career, some of those attributes that you learned on a basketball court in high school translated to try to get open against safeties and linebackers throughout your NFL career, right?
- [64:11]
Greg Olson
Yeah. So I think the multi sport argument, I would say is twofold. Number one, like you said, there is a physical development component to playing different sports that are unique to the said sport. Right. In basketball, it's footwork, it's change of direction, it's plyometrics, it's jumping, it's catching the ball above your head, it's landing on one foot, being in balance, defending. Like there's a lot of movements in basketball that are really good carryover to football and vice versa. I think baseball brings a mental component of struggling and failure and you're in an oh for 10 slump. You can't just pack it in and walk off the field. So I think it's a slower game, more of a mental game, more of a mental grind than it is a physical demand. I think a lot of those qualities will serve you well in other sports. So I think every sport's unique culture and demands, both physically and mentally are a really good way to broaden your, your, you know, your horizons a little bit on. But not only your just your physical capabilities and your physical development, but also your ability to be mentally tough and deal with adversity and all of those sort of things. I also think there's an element when I think back to my time in high school, when I walked onto the football field come sophomore year in high school, it was, it was a given I was going to go play college football. That was my path, that was my future. Everyone in the area knew it. Everyone that came to one of our games knew it. When I walked in as a high school junior into the basketball court, there was no pressure on me to be the best player on the field. It was amazing. Like, I loved high school track and field. I loved high school basketball. I was not going to be a college Olympic track and field athlete. I was not going to be a college anything basketball player. There was something freeing about just going out there and just playing with my buddies. It wasn't the end of the world like football was. Football was very serious that the expectations were that I was going to be the best player and I had to make every play and we had to win the state championship. That was. There was a lot of burden as a young high school kid that you felt because that was the expectations of your future. It wasn't that way in basketball. So I loved basketball season because I could just go out and play and we'd win, we'd lose. You're with your buddies. It wasn't the end of the world. So I also think even for these kids that clearly have their future laid out by sophomore and junior year and it's a given this sport is the sport you have, there's something very liberating about playing in the other sports where there are no expectations, there is no pressure. And just go out and be a high school kid and compete and knowing you don't have to be the best, just go out and compete. Like, I just believe so wholeheartedly that that's gonna serve you so well as you continue to move forward. And I look back, as much as I loved high school, football is, you know, it's the best moment of your life. It's the best times, your lives. I look back on my high school days as a basketball player in a track and throwing the shot put and running in the 4x4 relays. Like, we didn't win the state championship. We weren't the best team around, but it was a blast. And I think those high school memories kids are missing out on.
- [67:13]
John Middelkoff
You went, I think, viral a couple weeks ago when you were on with Will and Taylor, talking about the youth team that you coach. And, you know, I grew up in Davis in California, so we had a small college. And when the UC Davis guys would show up to either pee wee football, it was actually called midget back then, or to recess or whatever, it was a big deal. But I can only imagine what it's like when, when you guys initially committed, I would imagine, because your son's on the team for you. Luke, what's the turnout out there with. With the other dads whose sons are playing? Because I'd imagine a lot of guys your age, right?
- [67:49]
Greg Olson
Yeah.
- [67:49]
John Middelkoff
They grew up watching you grew up. I mean, we're in their 20s and 30s when you were playing, the experience, the intensity of it. But like those dads, how often are they asking you to come hang out?
- [68:00]
Greg Olson
Yeah, we, we welcome and all the sports that we coach, we welcome families to be around practice. I love when our families come watch what we do. I love when they listen in on our team meetings and our team huddle and the end of practice review. I want them to hear me.
- [68:14]
John Middelkoff
Are you the head coach?
- [68:15]
Greg Olson
Yeah. Of the middle school team? Just of the middle school team. So I love when the parents hear us tell their kid how good they did. But I also like when their parents hear us coach their kid and correct their kid and tell them that their efforts not good enough or we need to be better. Like, I think they need to hear the truth and they need to hear it firsthand. I don't like when kids have to go home and hey, why'd you do a practice? I did good. What did coach say? I don't know if they're, you know, kids, at least my own kids, like they can't relay what happened. They're teenage boys. They, for, you know, they don't even know what day it is. So we, first off, we welcome people to come to our practice. We don't get a ton of parent coming to our practice. We have a full time coaching staff of like six guys. So we have plenty of, plenty of helping hands devoted to just our middle school team. So. But, but they're welcome. As far as the environment that we're trying to create, like, we don't shy away from it. We, we are trying to emulate a watered down, but a very like high school football type of environment. And we do summer workouts three days a week all summer long. Kids are expected to be at them. We're doing strength and conditioning, we're in the weight room, we're doing speed and agility. We're training like, we are preparing these kids to what high school football commitment looks like for them. Some of them a year from now, some of them two years from now as they enter high school. So it's, it's a blast. We're hard on them. We coach them hard. We demand that they do things the right way. We preach physicality. We approach running to the ball and being violent. And you know, we just, we really try to teach them the game, the way the game is played as they continue to get older and I think to try to teach them the game in any other form or Fashion is doing them all a disservice. So they respond to it. They're young boys, they love it. They, you know, even the kids that haven't played before, maybe they're a little hesitant early. They don't quite know. But if you bring them along in the right stages, all of a sudden that light bulb goes off and they let it rip. So we got a lot of fun with it. We got about 50 kids on the team, seventh and eighth graders, which is a good turnout and we love it. It's a blast.
- [70:26]
John Middelkoff
Could you envision yourself. Obviously your broadcasting career has gone pretty damn well, but ever coaching at a higher level than you're doing now? I know your dad was a longtime high school coach. Your dad's on your staff now, correct?
- [70:37]
Greg Olson
My dad's on our. Yeah. So our staff is full time staff. We got six full time guys. We got me, my dad, Luke, Jonathan Stewart and Todd Blackledge. And. And we have a new staff member, a new kid. One of our members of the team, he played college ball at VTech. Just a dad that has the flexibility to come help us. So we have a full staff of guys on site. We can do a ton of individual work, a ton of small group, try to really limit the amount of standing around as much as we can. You know, we don't do the whole practice of just 11 on 11, and then the other 30 kids just stand on the sideline. I know what that's like. I know what that feels like for those kids. That is not a good way to develop everyone. So it's as much small group and individual as we can possibly do. And then of course, at some point you got to bring everybody together and put it on. It's a little harder to get the kids, the reps there. But we've been doing it now four years at the young level and we feel like we have a. We're still learning and still figuring out exactly the best way to kind of do it. Age appropriate. But for the most part, we have a pretty good feel of what it looks like.
- [71:39]
John Middelkoff
You know what's cool is these kids, I mean, they're young, but you know, when they're 25, 30, and they're working at Wells Fargo or Goldman Sachs or any tech, this will be a legendary story that they will tell about Jonathan Stewart. I was, I was a, I was a running back on my middle school team and Jonathan Stewart was telling me about the angles to hit in the C gap.
- [71:59]
Greg Olson
I hope so. I hope the kids look back on these and you brought up such a good point before. We are not coaching any of these kids or all of the time we're putting in. And the entire summer and the four and a half hour training camp days. We just had one this morning. Like, we're not doing any of this under any false pretense that these kids are going to become professional footballers. Maybe some of them will, I don't know. But if none of them do, it's still all worth it. And that's the point. Like, we have to continue to get across to these kids. If the idea of youth sports was to generate professional athletes, everybody should just stop doing it because the odds of that being your kid are so small.
- [72:37]
John Middelkoff
Totally.
- [72:38]
Greg Olson
It should be about everything else. You know, we tell them it's supposed to be hard, you're going to be tired, it's early mornings and you're not going to want to wake up. But guess what? Life's about showing up and working, even when you don't always want to. And that's going to serve you well at Wells Fargo and Goldman Sachs. It's going to serve you well in your marriage, it's going to serve you well in the classroom. And that's the point of all of this. In the process of teaching these kids football, we're teaching these kids what life looks like. And that life is not vacation and life is not everything. Always going to go your way. But you're gonna have to battle through some stuff and you're gonna have to be held accountable and you're gonna be pushed hard and you're gonna have to, you know, might be a coach you don't like, or a teacher you don't like, or a boss you don't like. Guess what? That's, that's the real world. And we, we gotta start showing these kids what that looks like. And there's no better way to do it than through youth sports.
- [73:28]
John Middelkoff
You know, it's funny, you and Tom were talking about the transfer portal, and obviously it's a polarizing topic. And I don't think you could meet any human being that you would respect that has any issue with anyone making any real money now in college athletics. But the transferring all over the place, I mean, most people and the knock is always like, well, if you were a student on campus, not a football player, you could earn whatever. Most of those people weren't bouncing around colleges, though. They stayed, they developed relationships and those people might hire three of the people for their company that they lived with in this little apartment. And especially as a football player. You playing at Miami or any college could be D1 double A. The struggle you went through, those guys would go on to be your good friends, godfathers of your kids. And I started thinking, I know a bunch of people that work in college. I mean they get kids that have been to three schools in like a calendar year. It's like the relationships. How could you even meet any human beings and forge any sort of relationships? They're extremely important. When you're 18, 19, 20 years old, looking back when you're our age and these people that you still text on a daily basis.
- [74:30]
Greg Olson
Yeah, everyone's just a mercenary, right? We've just created a sports culture of mercenaries. And again, everyone has to do what they feel is in their best interest. Everyone's now just playing by the rules as they're written. This is not unique to college. High school has really just become mercenary. Bounce around. If you don't like the school you're at, go to the school down the street. Either rent an apartment, go to a public school or obviously the private schools are just easy and they're getting anybody in and it's just accumulate as many good players as you can. There's everything about the youth sports, no, even not everything. So much of the youth sports scene right now from high school on down and even obviously at the college level, even though I don't consider that like youth sports anymore, is development is now secondary to player acquisition. Everything is just about player acquisition. If kid A is not good enough, you're just going to go out and get kid B. And it's a dangerous game. I think we're losing development in the long run. I think everybody's always looking for where the grass is greener and it's ultimately a challenge. But the situation you just laid out about relationships, it all comes down to there's. It just. It affects your culture and it's hard to establish. It's hard to establish culture and consistency. And we're all going through the hard times together. In our freshman year, none of us traveled. And then as red shirt freshmen we traveled but we didn't play. And then all of a sudden in year three, you carve yourself out a nice role and in year four you're a starter. Those days are over. Those days don't exist. And I just hate that kids don't learn the value and the lessons of long term grit and long term just pushing through and adversity. Because at the first sign of adversity you can just go somewhere else. And I think it's a dangerous game. But again, we're playing the hand that we're dealt. The simple solution to all of this is you can either take nil money or you can be able to transfer. You can't do both. I think that would clean everything up. You want the opportunity to bounce around to find the best fit, no problem. You can't make a dollar the second I give you a dollar. You cannot break your contract with me. We cannot have NFL free agency every single year. Everyone's fine for the kids making money, but if, if Nebraska pays you 4 million a year for the next four years and you never become the starting quarterback, tough business. You took 16 million and you went to the wrong school. That's on you. Like you can't have it. You can't shop your service. In my opinion, you should not be able to shop your services every single year and then sometimes biannually because of the way the transfer portal windows, you can really enter the portal multiple times in a calendar year and just in essence, just shop yourself to the highest bidder. It's just, it doesn't exist in any other framework of sports anywhere in the world. I know, except in college athletics.
- [77:28]
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- [78:28]
No Such Thing Podcast Hosts
Imagine that you're on an airplane and all of a sudden you hear this.
- [78:32]
Greg Olson
Attention passengers. The pilot is having an emergency and we need someone, anyone to land this plane.
- [78:40]
No Such Thing Podcast Hosts
Think you could do it? It turns out that nearly 50% of men think that they could land the plane with the help of air traffic control.
- [78:48]
John Middelkoff
And they're saying like, okay, pull this.
- [78:50]
No Such Thing Podcast Hosts
Until this. Pull that. Turn this. It's just I can do my eyes closed. I'm Manny.
- [78:54]
John Middelkoff
I'm Noah. This is.
- [78:56]
No Such Thing Podcast Hosts
And on our new show, no such thing. We get to the bottom of Questions like these join us as we talk to the leading expert on overconfidence.
- [79:04]
John Middelkoff
Those who lack expertise lack the expertise they need to recognize that they lack expertise.
- [79:11]
No Such Thing Podcast Hosts
And then as we try the whole thing out for real. Wait, what? Oh, that's the Runway. I'm looking at this thing.
- [79:18]
John Middelkoff
See?
- [79:19]
No Such Thing Podcast Hosts
Listen to no such thing on the iHeartra radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [79:26]
Midas Touch Network Representative
So in the last month, the Midas Touch Network beat Rogan, Tucker Carlson, Candace Owens, Charlie Kirk and Ben Shapiro all combined.
- [79:34]
Katie Couric
Conservative podcasts can have a major political impact, but the Meisellis brothers, three siblings with a serious media strategy, are building an alternative to that. On the latest episode of Next Question with Katie Couric, I sat down with the brothers behind the Midas Touch Network to talk about how they built a progressive media powerhouse from the ground up, why audience interaction is the key to political influence, and what it takes to fight disinformation at scale, one download at a time.
- [80:05]
Midas Touch Network Representative
We should be focusing on the issues that actually occupy a lot of the mental space in Americans minds, but are filled with conspiracies and we should fill it with the truth and solutions.
- [80:17]
Katie Couric
Listen to Next Question with me, Katie Couric on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [80:26]
John Lithgow
Hello, I'm John Lithgow.
- [80:28]
John Middelkoff
We choose to go to the moon.
- [80:29]
John Lithgow
I want to tell you about my new fiction podcast that's One small step for Man. It's about Buzz Aldrin, one of the true pioneers of space.
- [80:39]
John Middelkoff
You're a great pilot, Buzz, as far as I'm concerned, the best I've seen.
- [80:43]
John Lithgow
That's the story you think you know. This is the story you don't predisposition.
- [80:48]
John Middelkoff
To depression, alcohol abuse and suicide.
- [80:51]
John Lithgow
We'll see Buzz try to overcome demons.
- [80:54]
John Middelkoff
What do you say, Buzz?
- [80:55]
John Lithgow
Another beer and triumph over addiction.
- [80:58]
John Middelkoff
Here's to you, Buzz Aldrin.
- [81:01]
John Lithgow
Good luck to you and become a true hero.
- [81:03]
John Middelkoff
Buzz and I will proceed into the.
- [81:05]
John Lithgow
Lunar module not because he conquers space, but because he conquers himself.
- [81:12]
John Middelkoff
Buzz, we intercepted a Soviet radio transmission.
- [81:15]
John Lithgow
Starring me, John Lithgow.
- [81:17]
John Middelkoff
Can you put it through?
- [81:18]
John Lithgow
Can you Translate on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts?
- [81:24]
John Middelkoff
Columbia, I mean, how many guys that you played with when you went to Miami and in the peak of their powers? I mean, where I grew up in Northern California, DJ Williams was like a mythological figure. I mean, it was like Ray Lewis meets Walter Payton. I played against his two younger brothers that played at Grant High School. One ended up, I think they both ended up going Cal, but De La Salle, DJ Went to De La Salle, his brothers played in Sacramento. But I mean that guy, I mean these and those guys. Back in those days, the world wasn't as flat. So like Tom going to Michigan from Northern California or DJ going to Miami. Wasn't you going from Jersey to Miami. It wasn't all these guys. Like now it's very normal for California kids go on all over the country. It was more of a one off situation or a small percentage of guys. But you know your roster at Miami, like I'm not starting as a freshman, like I'm out, right? I just would have gone to Clemson or Alabama or whatever. I just think those days of these program and you see it right now in college football, Georgia, Alabama, even Ohio State on a year to year base, they might have good season, but over the course of five years they're just not going to be as deep.
- [82:34]
Greg Olson
Yeah, well that's really what it comes down to. The days of accumulating great depth up and down your roster are done. I had lunch with a, with a prominent college coach earlier this offseason. And the way they looked at it is in the old days you tried to get as many layers deep on your roster as humanly possible. And if you're Georgia, Alabama, Miami, usc, Ohio State, Penn State, those kind of, those programs you can really have. In the old days you could have four year running cycles of top tier, four or five star recruits from senior year to freshman year and capture it. Everyone nowadays is just trying to get to at least two deep. Anything past too deep on your roster is gone. You have to assume that anybody who's not an immediate backup at the minimum the next, the next rotation of the transfer portal, they're going to be on somebody else's team. That's just the way of the world nowadays. The freshman third string guy is not willing to wait to be a junior to start and get 200 touches. It's just he's either going to transfer down, he's going to transfer parallel, or he's going to move somewhere where someone promises him via nil money or just promises him through depth chart evaluation. You're the guy. Day one, when you step on campus, come here and I get it, no one wants to sit, no one wants to practice all day and not play. But again, did you earn it? I could make an argument that you didn't earn it. I can make an argument that you just went to the path of least resistance and even though you did play, and for a lot of guys, it works out like there's. There's a callousness that gets, that gets built up over working your way through the system. I think back to my freshman year at Miami. I red shirted and I was on the scout team. My red shirt freshman year, I was the second tight end in, double tight end. And I probably played 20 snaps a game, 25 snaps a game. And then my, my third year, my redshirt junior year, I was the starter that I started that year. I started one more and I went off into the NFL. But that, that red shirt year where I was the scout team trying to get open on a. On a Wednesday practice against Sean Taylor and Antrell Role and Kel and Jonathan Vilma and D.J. williams and Vince Wilfork, and that was the defense in 2004, 2003, my senior year, like, that was good for me. I mean, my freshman year, that was good for me. Like, that was a big part of my development. I could have probably gone to 30 other schools in America and started as a freshman, but I wasn't going to start at Miami, I wasn't going to start at Alabama. I wasn't ready. It was good for me for that stage in my life at 18 years old, to have to go be on the scout team and be a grunt for a year, because that was very different than my high school career. But that was good for me. And I think it's good for a lot of these kids to see the real world and not always have to be put on a pedestal and be told, since they were 12 years old, you're the greatest player we've ever seen. Our team can't exist without you. And then we wonder why there's a sense of entitlement across the culture.
- [85:36]
John Middelkoff
How much has your perspective on the sport change from transitioning to a player to now doing your role of probably forging pretty close relationships with not just head coaches, but coordinators and probably a lot of personnel men around the league to kind of just view football differently from maybe all your years as a player in college, in the bros, it's.
- [85:57]
Greg Olson
Been the coolest part of the process. As fun as sitting in the stadiums and calling the games and all that. The coolest part of the process is the insight into how a lot of these teams work just organizationally, both through structure, through communication, through processes, through what they have in place of how they evaluate talent and how they roster construct and how they do the draft. And, you know, when you sit down and you talk to general managers and front office personnel, and they really give you a clear vision of why we've done certain decisions over the last two or three years to get to this point. It's an unbelievable insight and process into how much time and thought is put into why certain teams are really good. And then you talk to other teams and you get off and you're like, these guys have no idea what they're doing, and it's no wonder they're not good. Like, there's countless times a year where I hang up off of some coaches conference meeting and I'm like, I get why Sean McVay wins a lot. I get why Kevin O' Connell wins a lot. And there's a million guys. And then you also get off some other calls and you're like, they have no clue. They're just making up. Like, they're just. They're just. And it's. It's amazing at the NFL level, but that's real. So that's the most interesting part. And then from a schematic standpoint, just keeping up to date with the. The trends and the ebbs and flows of professional football, it's very different than college football. It's very different than NFL football. When I first came into the league in 2007, so staying up on where the game is going, how are defenses constructing fronts? How are defenses constructing coverages? How do rule changes, as simple as the kickoff rule changing where the touchback is, what does that do to force down decision making on the goal line? Like, all of those aspects, I don't think when I was a player and I was worried about playing tight end against your defense, I didn't really have to waste my time being concerned with any of that stuff. It was outside. It was above my pay grade. Now, to be able to. To be able to. To wrap your head around the entire picture is really cool.
- [87:54]
John Middelkoff
Is there a specific coach that you kind of lean on if you ever have questions throughout the week? Maybe if you. Even if you're not calling his game?
- [88:01]
Greg Olson
Yeah. So I try not to. I try not to bother the guys if I'm not calling their name. But there's a handful of guys in the league that, that I can text them on a Monday or Tuesday and, like, they'll text you right back. Or you say, hey, Coach, when you get a free minute tonight, I wanted to run by something, and it's less to say, like, give me the game plan. Like, you never want to make the coaches feel like you're trying to like, pry for information, but you can just talk philosophically with them and say, hey, Coach, tell me if I'm just completely off base here. Like, as I'm watching them, I see your strengths being here there, blah, blah, blah. And more often than not, they're gonna be like, you're spot on. I think a lot of the things that you're talking about, I think you're gonna really like our plan this week of what we're doing, and you go, got it. You know what I mean? So, you know, I could take, you know, guys like Dan Quinn and Sirianni and, and McVeigh, like, these are guys that, like, you're texting them, like, they're genuinely interested in you, your prep. They want to know about your kids middle school football game. Like, they're just genuinely really good dudes. And there's a handful of guys that, when I jump on the calls with them, resumes like this. The first 10 minutes of the call, we're talking middle school football. And they're asking me what our new wrinkle of the week is, and they're asking us how the game went and how are we being able to teach double teams. And I'm asking, you know, on the sideline, I'm asking Dan Quinn, hey, we're having a hard time getting our defensive linemen to stunt correct correctly on their, on their stunt games. Like, what's a good drill? And here he is, he's the defensive coordinator of the Cowboys at the time, and he's demonstrating in pregame, hey, here's a really good drill for young kids to teach them, blah, blah, blah, like, it's really cool. They genuinely care. And more often than not, that's the experience with most of the guys in the league.
- [89:45]
John Middelkoff
Okay, I'll get you out of here on this. If I would have told you three or four years ago, the tight end, you wouldn't just be the biggest off season NFL event, but it would have been headlined by Taylor Swift. Would you have believed me?
- [89:57]
Greg Olson
No, I. There is no question when we started that event in 2021, just George and I texting initially, just, hey, congrats, you retired. If you're ever down in Nashville, a bunch of young tight ends live down here. We trained together, would love you to come by. From that conversation to getting Travis involved to where it's grown five years later is. Is pretty remarkable. I think it's a testament to the position. I think it's a testament to the type of guy who plays the position where there's enough pizzazz and fun and excitement that makes the position. There's enough to talk about. They're, they're, they're, they're athletic, they're tough, but it's really just their mindset. They're hungry, they want to learn. You got Kittle and kelsey in the 100 degrees in the and you know, between minicamp and training camp, they could be anywhere in the world. And they're in Nashville and 100 degrees, fully clean it up on the field. Running full speed routes with guys who've never played a snap in the league and are just taking it all in. Like that's the special nature of the event and the position and that's why it all works.
- [91:01]
John Middelkoff
I remember running into Kelsey maybe a year or two before he started dating Taylor out here in Scottsdale at the golf course. And I know Andy and Vee, so I go up to him and he couldn't wait to get back to OTAs that were starting to couple weeks. And I think that gets lost sometimes. Now in a stardom like that guy George, it's easy to see, but Travis is a football junkie.
- [91:23]
Greg Olson
Yeah. And they all are. There's no good player that I've ever been around or played with or played against that didn't wake up every single day fully consumed with the craft of improvement and the craft of their position, the game, the sport, you know, develop any, any of that. And we try to, we try to drill this into our young middle school kids. They're in seventh and eighth grade. I said, guys, the path of development and the art of learning, the day it ends is the day you stop playing. If it ends anytime before that, you will never maximize. I don't care how good you are now, the idea of perpetual improvement in time, in forever, that's the goal. And that's why guys like that have gotten better as their careers have gotten longer, they've gotten better, they've gotten older. Like that's not a mistake. You can't have your best season in year five. If your best year is in year five, you're probably going to play seven. If your best year is in Year 10, you'll probably play 14. Like that's kind of how it all works. And the guys who get that and the guys who never give up on that quest for improvement. No matter how many pro Bowls I've made, it's about the next one. No matter how much money I make or how many contracts I want the next one. Like it never stops until you literally just can't physically do it. Anymore. And those days come for everybody. But man, the guys that live it, eat it and breathe it, it's amazing how their days, their, their days take a little longer to get here.
- [92:49]
John Middelkoff
Well, Greg, I appreciate all the time and you're probably gonna have to get on the horn now with like Dr. Dre or the Rolling Stones to try to top this year. So congrats on everything and the you think thing, that's awesome, man. And hopefully you guys have a big season on the football. You said undefeated. So I'm, I'm gonna be checking those.
- [93:05]
Greg Olson
Target on our back. See.
- [93:07]
John Middelkoff
See you, Greg.
- [93:08]
Greg Olson
I appreciate it.
- [93:12]
Midas Touch Network Representative
The volume.
- [93:17]
Katie Couric
On the latest episode of Next Question with me, Katie Couric. I sat down with Jasmine Crockett, Democratic representative of Texas. She's holding down the fort for her party in one of the most conservative states in the union.
- [93:29]
Ebony
I think that ultimately who will become the Democratic nominee for president will be someone that has been out there and has shown that they won't allow, allow themselves to be punched and just say thank you like they will punch back.
- [93:43]
Katie Couric
Listen to Next Question with me, Katie Couric on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [93:52]
Ebony
Welcome to Pretty Private with ebony, the podcast where silence is broken and stories are set free. I'm Ebony and every Tuesday I'll be sharing all new anonymous stories that would challenge your perceptions and give you new insight on the people around you. Every Tuesday, make sure you listen to Pretty Private from the Black Effect podcast network. Tune in on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
- [94:20]
John Middelkoff
I'm Jake Hofer and this is back 40, a limited series show on Wire to Hunt, part of Meat Eaters Podcast Network. Each episode I'll be asking eight whitetail hunting pros a three focused, thought provoking question about hunting and land management. How do I hunt the best part of the farm with less than ideal access? Should you? That's what the real question is. Stand without good access is not a good stand. Listen to back 40 on iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you get your podcast.
- [94:50]
Ebony
I'm Jemele Hill, host of the sports and politics podcast Spoletics. And on the latest episode of Spolitics, House Minority leader Hakeem Jeffries joins me for a candid conversation about the state of the Democratic Party. What do Republicans say to you privately that they won't say publicly?
- [95:04]
John Middelkoff
Many of them are in fear of their political lives. We continue to say to them, you were elected to defend your constituents and.
- [95:12]
Greg Olson
There'S life after Congress.
- [95:14]
Ebony
Make sure to listen to this episode of Spolitics on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. This is an iHeart podcast.