Massive Mailbag

This is an iHeart Podcast. Guaranteed human. This is Special Agent Regal, Special Agent Bradley Hall. In 2018, the FBI took down a ring of spies working for China's Ministry of State Security, one of the most mysterious intelligence agencies in the world. The Sixth Bureau Podcast is a story of the inner workings of the MSS and how one man's ambition and mistakes opened its vault of secrets. Listen to The Sixth Bureau on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Nancy Glass, host of the Burden of Guilt Season 2 podcast. This is a story about a horrendous lie that destroyed two families. Late one night, Bobby Gumpright became the victim of a random crime. The perpetrator was sentenced to 99 years until a confession changed everything. I was a monster. Listen to Burden of Guilt Season 2 on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. NLP was used on me to access my subconscious. Mind Games, a new podcast exploring NLP, a.k.a. neurolinguistic programming. Is it a self-help miracle, a shady hypnosis scam, or both? Listen to Mind Games on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Amanda Knox, and in the new podcast, Doubt, the case of Lucy Letby, we unpack the story of an unimaginable tragedy that gripped the UK in 2023. But what if we didn't get the whole story? I've just been made to fit. The moment you look at the whole picture, the case collapsed. What if the truth was disguised by a story we chose to believe? Oh my God, I think she might be innocent. Listen to Doubt, The Case of Lucy Letby on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The Volume. What is going on, everybody? John Middlecoff, 3 and Out podcast. How are we doing? I'm actually recording this on Sunday afternoon. There's a little mailbag. At John Middlecoff, at John Middlecoff is the Instagram. I'm traveling on Monday. So since we took a little time off, I wanted to get some podcasts up, and I didn't want to lose any in Lost in Translation traveling across the country. I'm not leaving late until Monday night, actually, but I got her mom's in town, her brother and his wife and their baby, my son's cousin. So we're trying to do a little family time still. So I said, you know what? I got a little time before dinner. Let's fire out a big mailbag at John Middlecoff's Instagram. We're going to have a lot more mailbags. I got a lot of people like, are you done doing mailbags? I'm not done doing mailbags. So keep firing in those mailbags. We will keep answering questions. We've got the combine. We've got free agency. Then we've got the draft. We've got a lot happening. So buckle you-know-what up because there is no stop in this train, kind of like Team USA. We're just coming down the tracks, baby. We're just gaining momentum. It's only the beginning. So that will be the game plan today. So you guys know the drill if you listen on Colin's feed. Subscribe to 3 and Out on Spotify, Apple, wherever you may listen. all of our podcasts. We're up on this little place we like to call Netflix. That's where the video of these podcasts live. And yeah, other than that, let's rock and roll. So fire in my DMs and let's take some questions. What do you think, this from McCollum, I don't even actually know if that's his real name, but what do you think that happened this past year that teams can learn from? It was a weird year in that no team with a huge contract with a quarterback made it far. Will we see a shift to where quarterbacks won't get max money and sign contracts like Darnold did? It feels like unless you have a quarterback on a rookie deal or on a Darnold-like contract, your roster isn't good enough to compete. I just don't think there are that many guys worth giving that much money to. So like CJ Stroud's a good example. One, if Mulgettick comes to the Texans about a contract extension. The answer to this offseason, of course, is no. But even if next year he's solid, you win a playoff game again, I'm not giving you $250 million. There has to be levels. The NFL turned into the NBA where it's like, not everyone's a max guy. Curry and LeBron are on a max, and so is Zach Levine. They're not the same. So quarterback contracts like, well, he gets a max, He gets a max. He gets a max. And you're like, this is stupid. At the end of the day, the Bills or the Chiefs or the Ravens don't regret giving all that money to their quarterback. Right? It does make it more challenging, but when that guy's on, he can beat anybody. And, you know, look at Josh this year. Their team's not that great, and he's a bad throw away from being in the AFC Championship game. Right? Obviously, Mahomes that year got a little weird. But I think part of it is when you start giving the next tier of guy a lot of money, that's – like, Purdy's got to be elite. Jordan Love's got to be elite. We saw, you know, Tua and Kyler derail your franchise, right? Stafford's making $40 million and won the MVP. You could argue bang for your buck. It doesn't get much better than that. I'm trying to think of other guys that, you know, Jalen Hurst has got to be better. So when you pay a guy a lot of money, he's just got to be at a Pro Bowl caliber, dominant fashion as a player, right? If I give Nikola Jokic $60 million a year, he wins the MVP every year, I can't really ask for more. But when I'm giving a guy in the NBA $50 million and he doesn't sniff the All-Star game, we've got a major problem. It's no different quarterback. So this isn't baseball where you can just be the Dodgers. It's a cap league, you've got to be smart with your money, you've got to allocate the right resources. I think the league has shifted back to running the ball a little bit more, physicality between the trenches. Financially, I don't think we're going to see a shift. I think more people are going to be less likely to break the bank for quarterbacks who are not like John Elway, Dan Marino, Brett Favre, Aaron Rodgers. If I have a second-tier guy, I'm sorry. I have a hard time. You're not going to bend me over for a quarterback, the agent. Remember a couple years ago when Joe Shane was like, Daniel Jones' agents, we're elite. How are they elite? Just keep saying no. The answer is no. No. No. Most powerful word in the English language. No. I think sometimes, okay, we'll do it. Also on the owner, you know, like why is Deshaun Watson on the Browns? Jimmy has them. So, I mean, part of it's the owner. Having overachieved this season, how would you approach the Patriots offseason? Would you make a trade for Crosby or AJ or take a more traditional rebuild approach? I think any, they have the 32nd pick or 31st pick. Would I trade pick 31 and my next year's one for Max Crosby, I would. Right? Now, would I trade my second round pick for A.J. Brown? That's where I kind of struggle with. I think the A.J. Brown thing's a lot more complicated. Makes a ton of money. Older player. Would I take A.J. Brown for like a fourth? Yeah. But are the Eagles given due for like to me, he's like a complicated negotiation. Crosby's a no brainer if you're a team like the Patriots. But if he's not available, I need to build in the trenches. I need better offensive and defensive alignment. I'm doubling down on the offensive and defensive line. That's all I'm doing. So offense, defensive line. That's where you win. How did Vrabel... Think about when they turned it around in Tennessee. A.J. Brown's second-round pick. Derrick Henry's second-round pick. Their best two offensive players in Tennessee were two second-round picks. You already got Drake May. So it's like, if you hit on some second and third round picks, like you can find Puka Nakua. You can't, maybe not to that level, but you can find impact guys on the second day of the draft. Ken Rideout was a elite stud. Great interview and would love to see more of these left discovered bad-ass mothers. We're going to try to mix it up this off season. We're going to have more. That interview was, it's not like I initiated it. Someone gave it to me and then I watch this story, I'm like, this guy is, this is incredible. This is like Whitey Bulger meets Lance Armstrong. I mean, you, you, you couldn't, when you listen to that, you just can't make that up. You know, you can't make that up. But if I, if I had 10 Ken write-outs, I would interview him over the course of the next month, but it's hard to find, but we're going to do different interviews of just not necessarily like someone associated with football. That's definitely on the table for the next, you know, the offseason. It gets slow. He was good. But again, you can't create that. Like, that is, that's a pretty special situation. It was awesome. He was great. What are your thoughts on the Bears potentially moving their stadium to Indiana? I talked about this on the podcast on Monday that I think once you get to a point where things have gotten weird between the league slash the team, because the team is also represented by the league's lawyers, and the politicians, I just think everything's on the table. And again, I can't speak to the geographic, like, you know, when you live somewhere or, you know, for those of you that live in the Midwest and spend a lot of time in Chicago, you have a great understanding of where everything is. I don't really. So my opinion on this, because you hear some people say it's not that far away. So maybe is it that different from, you know, when the 49ers moved Candlestick to Levi's? or is it the heart and soul of being in Chicago but if they're going to move to the suburbs anyway maybe it's not as crazy but to just be in the state of Indiana where Indiana's opened up their doors like what do you want? You want some tax money? Here we got you and Chicago's not with the Bears ownership that doesn't have cronky Dave Tepper level cash it's a complicated situation so I would say as I sit here recording this I would say it is definitely a possibility It's a possibility. Is it going to happen? I don't know. But things are getting weird. There's no way around it. Unsolicited parenting advice. We need the dad diaries. Keep reading to your son. The ROI on that will be higher than any investment you make besides buying an NFL franchise. I was thinking about this. One dad diaries. Maria's grandma sent him a card for like Valentine's Day and had five dollars and Maria got this piggy bank with the letter J it's like Jack you know and we're gonna put you know we put the five dollars in there and I was like Maria let's do this every week I'll just invest a hundred dollars for him in just some you know safe ETF if someone had done that for me when he 18 that be way better off than ever giving him an allowance or you know giving him some money in a piggy bank She thought I was crazy But I was like we got to think a little differently now But I agree. The ROI on just, I mean, reading to him right now, he can just read those black and white books, which hold his attention for about five minutes max. But I hear you on one problem is like lullabies. You realize I don't know any lullabies. So I just sing him like songs that I know that I would have heard on the radio throughout my life. And then I kind of baby it ties it. That's kind of where I'm at right now. Singing him songs that are actual songs that are just some of the great songs in the history of the world. And then kind of baby angling the songs. But I'm not like an Eminem ad libber. So it's probably pretty terrible. But I hear you on the reading. I have a college football question. Does it make sense to have any football-only conferences and different conferences for all the other sports? So we don't have things like UCLA flying to Rutgers on a weekday to play a volleyball game, or Michigan going to Washington for a swim meet. The problem is, and football eventually is going to kind of go out on their own, football pays for all that shit. Which you could argue that's where the business is kind of weird. but the only way that these teams, right, UCLA, and listen, my son, if he plays a college sport, more than likely it ain't going to be football. So it'd be an Olympic sport, right? But the way the golf team or the softball team pays for their flight to wherever is because of the football team. They generate all the revenue and fund and subsidize everything, right? So that's where if you lost football, those sports could not financially function. They couldn't even function if they were geographically tied to each other. UCLA wouldn't be afforded to just fly to Washington. They don't make any money. They make no money. They are in the red. I'll never forget working at Fresno State. I was in this town hall meeting. All the coaches were there in the AD, and Pat Hill, our football coach, came in like 20 minutes late, and the volleyball coach looked around and said, like, must be nice to not have to show up in time. And he basically essentially said, like, yeah, must be nice to have me just fundraising your salary. So he was basically saying, I was somewhere at an event making money that pays for all you guys. And he wasn't wrong. And that's Fresno State. Well, who do you think pays for everything at USC or Texas or Ohio State? The football program. I saw Ohio State terrible at basketball. It's like, well, why do you think? They've invested all their resources into football. They treat football like an NFL team. And clearly they don't care about anything else, which I don't really have a problem with. I know a college coach that offered Miles Russell $500K for two years and did not get him. We think FSU may be paying him more than that. Maybe. They have some Tiger money, but as you know, he doesn't like to part with it. Miles Russell is like a... I'm trying to think of his equivalent. It'd be more like a basketball player. It'd be more like a Zion. Someone like that, you know, who's just this high school phenom who's going to Florida State. He's in Tiger Woods' son, Charlie's class. They're going to go to Florida State together. But Miles Russell is the No. 1 junior player. He's played in PGA events. Left-handed kid, little skinny guy, who's an elite talent, right? I know someone that works in the apparel business that signs golfers. And I remember a year ago or so, I asked him, I'm like, why wouldn't Miles Russell just go right to the pros? And he said, bro, have you heard of NIL? Do you know how much Miles Russell is going to get? He's like, you see how much these basketball players are going to get? What do you think he's going to get? What do you think the apparel? Florida State is not paying him. It's the apparel companies. He is getting millions of dollars to go to Florida State. Millions of dollars. so I don't know exactly where all the money's coming from but he is getting paid seven he's making way more money than all the guys that are battling it out on the corn fairy tour so 500k yeah would get you laughed at by a guy like him a lot of you guys sent me the picture of the titans their coaching staff which their head coach is bald, their coordinator is bald, day ball, O-line coach is bald, running back coach is bald, the assistant O-line coach is bald, Gus Bradley, the defensive coordinator is bald, defensive line coach is bald, cornerbacks coach is bald, and the safeties coach is bald, and obviously Salah is bald as well. It's incredible. I mean, what a moment for the bald community. Now, we're going to need the Titans to be good. We're going to need the Titans to be solid and they have been pretty bad for a couple years but it's going to be easy to root for solid day ball I appreciate day ball because a couple years ago he was on uh he was on the jab I mean he got he got skinny he clearly is like this ain't for me I'm an eater and I appreciate people that are like you know Barkley right now is really skinny you can tell Charles is lost looks like 100 pounds like you don't just lose 100 pounds by now he goes the elliptical no you You lose 100 pounds by, you know, getting the GOP once, which I got no, if you want to get the GOP once, you get the GOP once. I got no issue with it. Not necessarily for me. I love to eat and I love sweets and it's, it's a battle and I know people that are on it. You stop wanting food. You clearly lose a lot of weight, but I do appreciate a guy that's like, I did it. I tried it. I just fucking like to eat. I want to eat some pasta. I want to eat some cookies. I want to enjoy myself. I'm an eater. I think about food. Okay. And listen, as someone that could easily, I could swing 20 pounds either way. If I stopped working out, I would gain 20 pounds. I mean, I basically have always worked out to eat. The problem as you get older, you can't outrun a bad diet. So you got to kind of like, you got to order salads. When you used to order a burger and fries, like you got to order the chicken salad and it sucks. And as someone thinks about food a lot, who dreams about food, who loves having conversations with people about food, about restaurants and what they ordered. It's a battle, but I do appreciate people that are like, I am who I am and I like to eat. Now, as Barkley once famously said, you ain't going to meet many fat old people. So as you get older, you, you clearly, you know, it's hard on your body, right? Having the extra weight, but props to Chuck, but let's listen. And I got no issue with it. We got to call a spade a spade. Like when you see someone now who's been fat and gets really skinny, it's like, Oh, he's on the jab. He's, he's gotten the GLP once. I actually might transition to get some peptides. I've heard good things about those. Start getting weekly peptides. Just start firing myself up. Question for the pod. I heard Coward saying on a show the other day that he likes Mendoza, just not to the Raiders because they have so many, quote, holes. You know what team's biggest hole is? Quarterback. Do you think these pundits really think this team won't use their $100 million cap space and draft to the O-line deficiency? I didn't hear the same thing pundits said about the Titans. They shouldn't have drafted Ward or the Bear shouldn't have drafted Caleb. Don't you think those teams have had holes? They fill as well. Make the madness stop. I think one of the issues is just, is you guys. I mean, it's, I think it's going to work. They're going to have to address it, but I think it's fair to say that when you're, you know, the Raiders are situation historically over the last internet era has not been good on a lot of people, right? So it's going to be a challenge. He's coming from a team that had the best running game in the country, had one of the best offensive lines in the country, had one of the best defense in the country. He played on one of the best teams in the country, one of the best coach teams in the country. That's not the case here. He went from a guy that was 65 years old in Signetti, who had been a head coach for almost 20 years at that point, who had kind of mastered his craft, to getting a guy that two years ago was fired and I'm pro Kubiak but like it is who knows you just you don't you don't know how it's gonna go so yeah I I don't think it's crazy to go the only red flag on Mendoza is gonna go to a team that more than likely is not gonna be any good next year totally understandable they're in the best division in football they got you know in theory three playoff teams right the Chiefs who are gonna be back and the Broncos and the Chargers with Andy Harbaugh and Sean Payton, it's just going to be tough. I mean, all three of them have high-level defenses. I think it's a fair thing to say. Today's show is brought to you by our presenting sponsor, Hard Rock Band, Florida's sportsbook. I know it's tough when no football makes me sad. But like the song says, I bet I will survive. With Hard Rock Bet, there's always something every single night. Hoops, hockey, so much more. Plus, all the great same-game parlay, live betting, and player prop options you're used to. And did you know that Hard Rock Bet is the official sports betting partner of the Miami Heat and the Orlando Magic? So they know their basketball. Hard Rock Bet app is the only legal sports book whenever you're in Florida. So if you live in Arizona, Ohio, New Jersey, Indiana, Tennessee, Virginia, Illinois, Colorado, and Michigan, coming to states near you as well. If you haven't signed up for Hard Rock Bet yet, there's never been a better time. New signups can double their winnings on their first 10 bets. Max 50 bucks. That's right. If you would have won 100 bucks on your bet, you make $200. Plus, Hard Rock Bet offers new promos daily. Download the Hard Rock Bet app and make your first deposit today. Payable and bonus bets, not a cash offer. Offered by Seminole Tribe of Florida in Florida. offered by Seminole Hard Rock Digital, LLC, and all other states. You must be 21-plus and physically present in Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Jersey, Ohio, Tennessee, and Virginia to play. Terms and conditions apply. Concerned about gambling? In Florida, call 1-833-PLAYWISE. In Indiana, if you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, Call 1-800-9-WITH-IT. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER. Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, New Jersey, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia. China's Ministry of State Security is one of the most mysterious and powerful spy agencies in the world. But in 2017, the FBI got inside. This is Special Agent Regal, Special Agent Bradley Hall. This MSS officer has no idea the U.S. government is on to him. But the FBI has his chats, texts, emails, even his personal diary. Hear how they got it on the Sixth Bureau podcast. I now have several terabytes of an MSS officer, no doubt, no question, of his life. And that's a unicorn. No one had ever seen anything like that. It was unbelievable. This is a story of the inner workings of the MSS and how one man's ambition and mistakes opened its vault of secrets. Listen to The Sixth Bureau on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. In 2023 a story gripped the UK evoking horror and disbelief The nurse who should have been in charge of caring for tiny babies is now the most prolific child killer in modern British history Everyone thought they knew how it ended. A verdict, a villain, a nurse named Lucy Letby. Lucy Letby has been found guilty. But what if we didn't get the whole story? The moment you look at the whole picture, the case collapses. I'm Amanda Knox and in the new podcast Doubt the case of Lucy Letby we follow the evidence and hear from the people that lived it to ask what really happened when the world decided who Lucy Letby was no voicing of any skepticism or doubt it'll cause so much harm at every single level of the British establishment of this is wrong listen to Doubt the case of Lucy Letby on the iHeartRadio app Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Nancy Glass, host of the Burden of Guilt Season 2 podcast. This is a story about a horrendous lie that destroyed two families. Late one night, Bobby Gumpright became the victim of a random crime. He pulls the gun, tells me to lie down on the ground. He identified Jermaine Hudson as the perpetrator. Jermaine was sentenced to 99 years. I'm like, Lord, this can't be real. I thought it was a mistaken identity. The best lie is partial truth. For 22 years, only two people knew the truth until a confession changed everything. I was a monster. Listen to Burden of Guilt Season 2 on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Do you think the Texans will eventually move on from CJ due to his lackluster performances the past two seasons? I do believe that they have a good squad to push deep to the playoffs, but they need at least a competent quarterback to do that. I think this is a massive year for him. this is going to make or break his career in terms of with the Texans. He has a big year, shows promise, is better in the playoffs, whether they win or lose, he'll get a contract, and he'll be the Texans' long-term starter. If he has an up-and-down season and then shits the bed in the playoffs, like, I just can't, there's just no extension coming. So I think he is, he's one of the biggest wild cards in 2026. Because I see no scenario in which Casario extends him now, and he's kind of playing for the extension to prove like am i a 40 50 million dollar quarterback because right now he's he's not is he a good player he's solid but like if i was the texans like i'd offer him the sam darnold contract what's a good track in the scottsdale area that won't break the bank everything is crazy that i've been looking at welcome to scottsdale homie there's not really nothing cheap here golf is inflation over the course of the uh 2020s i would say nothing at least in my life has been hit harder than something that I do constantly than golf, whether it's public courses, whether it's trying to join a private course. I mean, the prices, especially in this area are fucking bananas. So if you're going to want a cheaper price to play around a golf in Arizona, you know, the general Scotts, you're going to have to go to like Phoenix or some of the general outside areas. Whirlwind and Raven are two courses that I recommend, but they are not in Scottsdale. There is not Greyhawks, TPC Scottsdale, Troon. I mean, these, if you're coming soon, I mean, you're talking five, $600 for golf, which I'd say no way these courses are worth it. Yet you go to these courses and their T-sheet is packed. So it's just supply and demand. And people are more than willing to pay these prices. It'd be one thing. It's like you're charging $500 for golf and you went out to the course and it's empty. It's the complete opposite. You're like, you're charging what for golf? And then you go, it's like, there is not an empty tee time. This is insanity. But it is what it is. My buddies and I always do an Eagles away game. This year, Zona probably going to stay in Scottsdale. We are a bit of the crazy crowd and like to do adventurous things. What are some good trails or maybe national parks near there? Well, not to tell on myself, but I don't know if I strike you, but I am not a national park guy. So I can't necessarily help you there. I'm not even necessarily a I have hiked before you know my brother's a big hunter fisher outdoorsman my dad definitely was I didn't really get that gene I have hiked camelback here a long time ago depending on the time of year I guess if you're coming in the fall it shouldn't be that bad I mean the game if the game's in September it could be really hot people have died trying to hike camelback because it gets so hot but I would say uh I can't help you on the national parks. Camelback's really the only thing I know. I'm just the wrong guy to ask that question. I mean, if you're looking for a golf course, a steakhouse, you know, a good, you know, bar with some TVs, got you covered. But if you're looking for a national park, definitely not your guy. Not, you know, just not my thing. Though I appreciate them. Freshly joined a men's rec hockey league in Portland, Oregon. I grew up in the Midwest, and I find myself trying to coach the less experienced teammates, and the team generally use basic defensive strategy because it's the surest path to a victory that I can see. Thought the experience shed light on the Seahawks' dominance this season as he compared him coaching his rec league hockey defense to the Seahawks. I like it. defense wins championships. Totally agree. Let's face it. Most people, if you're playing pickup hockey, if you're playing pickup basketball, most people aren't looking to be the defensive standout. I've never played a pickup game where it's like, I'm going to take defense really seriously this game. Everyone just wants to score, make some plays, kind of jog back on D. I would imagine hockey's somewhat similar. What do you want to do? Score the puck. Are there a lot of people in rec league hockey of people standing in front of the goal? Like, I'm going to block this puck. It's probably not the go-to thing for people to do. If you do do it, big point of difference. The difference is in pro sports, you're not going to win a World Series if you don't play defense. You're not going to win a Super Bowl or a college national championship if you don't play defense. You got no shot in the NBA if you play no defense. So at the highest level, you have to play defense. At the lowest level, you could argue a big point of difference to be good. If you wanted to win in high school football, Everyone thinks, score the football, score the... What if you're just like, we're going to be the best defensive team in the area? You might have a ceiling because your offense might suck, but you're going to win a lot of games. So maybe you just found a hack. Promote defense at the lowest levels. Listen to Coward Show with you doing the news. The problem with load management, I think it should be based on a time work payment. I have to work 40 to 60 hours a week, and I make decent money, but I punch a clock. I only get paid when I work. So maybe these guys get their contract, but then put in a clause and they get a percentage if they don't work their potential. I get hurt. I only get 60% of my pay while I'm hurt. So I think it's something to discuss. I hear what you're saying. Here's the problem. There are certain industries. One, they have a very powerful union, baseball, basketball, whatever. So they fight for guaranteed money, they don't work on like the clocking in and out structure, right? No one, whether you're on time or late, no one really pays attention. You're basically just paid based on the crazy part is about basketball beside the elite elite guys. A lot of times these young players get max contracts based on potential, right? They have leverage. I mean, they just do. So I hear what you're saying. the owners don't have the juice to roll it back once you've negotiated these guaranteed contracts the way they're they rare it rarely comes back the other way it's why football's always fought against it because they know if it ever goes through like every contract let's just say in a theory has to be fully guaranteed there's never a time when it wouldn't be so once it crosses a line in a negotiation, there's no going back. Right. So I think part of it is I hear what you're saying in your business. You know, my business, I, we only make money when I record a podcast. I technically could have like, I guess someone fill in, but like, if I want my business, if I want to make money, I have to work. This isn't one of those jobs where it's like, I got 10 people working for me and I don't have to do shit and I can just go to the beach. Like my business is me and me talking. So, I mean, we all are in different industries with different quirks. And one thing the basketball players have going for them is like, if I sign a hundred million dollar contract, whether I play 10 games or whether I play 82 games, I'm making the same amount of money, which you can say incentivizes a problem because guys clearly don't play as much as they once did. So I hear what you're saying. I just think that's not a realistic outcome. Long time no talk. The Raiders have a coach, a running back, stable quarterback, left tackle, and currently Crosby. I think the next step is the biggest, baddest O-line, D-line, so they can hold up for Mendoza and Gentry. Would you pick up, say, Hendrickson from the Bengals to help Crosby? What, say you? The Crosby thing is their fork in the road. If they keep Crosby, they're just all in on this operation. They're going to try to be competitive next year. If they trade Crosby, Micah Parsons style, it's almost like we'll take a step back year one of Mendoza and build this thing for years two, three, and four. So until I personally would trade Crosby, his value is still elite. You're not going to make the playoffs next year. Like I would say a high percentage chance. I think you're better off doing that than just trying to add Hendrickson. Now, would it shock me if they try to be competitive next year? It would not, because that's how NFL teams operate. But me personally, I think I would punt on Crosby, because you could, if you go Monday or Tuesday, Max Crosby is available, you will have a bidding war. I mean, a bidding war, because this is not Micah Parsons. He does not need to sign a contract with the new team. He's under contract. So part of when they traded Micah Parsons, 15 teams weren't involved. Why? Because he wasn't going to sign with a lot of teams. It was going to be a short list of teams. The Eagles, the Packers, maybe not the Eagles, but whoever, right? You could trade Max to the Bengals if you wanted. You could trade Max wherever. So I think it's a unique situation. I would do that. And I'm a pro Max Crosby. I think he's a stud. I think he was underpaid early on in his career. I just think that now would be the time Mendoza just kind of start afloat and give Max an opportunity to win Trade him to the Bears Trade him to the Patriots Trade him to the Lions Trade him to the Eagles Trade him wherever The Bills As a Chiefs fan I consumed I confused why every mock has us taking love or a wide receiver. I'm thinking defense. Noah and Veach and Andy, what do you think? Also, there's rumors we are now looking to deal McDuffie. I feel like we got to trade him. We can't cover number one wide receivers and we can't pay him like he wants what's his trade value that's a good question i i i well asked this week i don't know i don't know i'll find out in the next couple days um like are we talking i he's not getting a first round pick but i mean are you getting like a second and a third for him uh i i don't i don't know the answer on that question to be honest with I would say, knowing Veach and Andy, the love thing, I would say this. I would be stunned if they stayed at nine, Jeremiah Love was the pick. They will take, look at historically what he did. When I was there, we drafted Fletcher Cox. We drafted Brandon Graham. These were their first-round picks. Brandon Graham, Fletcher Cox, Danny Watkins, who was obviously a miss. So my three years with Andy Reid, the three picks we had were two defensive linemen and an offensive lineman. Last year, who'd they take? Simmons. When they took a running back, and again, it's not apples to apples. It was the end of the first round. Clyde. It was a great regret. The other thing is, Jeremiah Love is much more... I would not put him like Christian McCaffrey or B. John Robinson. He's much more to me like a Saquon Barkley, who is just a true running back. right Saquon's not a great pass catching running back I would not put him in the CMC you know Marshall Falk LT Bijan category he's much closer like Adrian Peterson he's like fucking running between the tackles and when he's on he can dominate right and that's to me Jeremiah Love is more in that world and maybe I'm wrong maybe I'll do some some recon this week and people will disagree with me and if they do I'll change my opinion because I got people with Super Bowl rings that evaluate these players for a living. But I'd be stunned if Andy Reid did not take a defensive or offensive lineman, if he stays at nine. If he trades back, then you never know. But I don't even think there's a wide receiver that he would take there at nine that would be worthy of him taking. So my guess is he takes a pass rusher or like the right tackle from Utah and puts Simmons at left and that guy at right and just goes, we got our left and right tackle. That to me feels more like something the Chiefs would do than take Jeremiah Love. Why wouldn't you take a running back like rounds later? Congrats on the kid. I know you listen and read these. Just wanted to thank you for the last pod with Ken. Really different to just football, which I love that you do. You're my favorite podcaster and just happy still listening to your stuff and watching you grow. I'm an engineer, but I'm already planning to do a podcast with my friends to reach Mexican crowds and your words are awesome that's from uh JP well I appreciate that good luck with the uh you know the podcast question for the back how long till we give baby Jack a couple cocktails you know what's crazy is you have a baby and I'm not I'm not a big drinker just naturally like I'm not one of those guys that has a cocktail every night I'm much more definitely historically probably more of a binge social drinker. The older I've gotten, the binge drinking has to come down because I can't handle the hangovers. But I only drink socially, really, on the golf course or out at night with people. When you have a child, especially when they're young, all you can think about is I would rather jump off a bridge than be hungover feeding this baby with my wife at three in the morning or changing them. I would, that sounds like, uh, being, you know, a prisoner of war, you know, I, I, I can't fathom. I don't think I've had more than two cocktails in two months, which, you know, much more mental clarity, much more energy. Um, had one yesterday on the golf course. I'm like, yeah, I'm good. I'm good. Just because in last night, one o'clock, four o'clock, I'm up feeding them like clockwork. no big deal. Good dad. Um, not sure my dad did that, but, um, your boy did. My point is I, I would say, uh, drinking, he's a long, we, we got a, we got a long way to go. We got a long, I think I had my first drink. I tried some brandy maybe when I was like 12 or 13. I remember having my first tall boy in ninth grade, a couple of tall boys. I remember at a couple of Coors Light tall boys and first time I'd ever been drunk. I'm like, well, this is, this is kind of cool. Even though I hated the, you know, when you first start drinking beer, it's just my, my dad was not a drinker. So it's like, I wasn't really, it's not like I was, saw a beer all the time. And then you have a first beer, like, I don't even like the taste. Then it kind of grows on you. And then now you kind of like it. Uh, okay. We'll end with this. A lot, a lot of good, positive feedback on the Rideout, Ken Rideout interview. He was, if you haven't listened to it, I can't recommend it enough. Even my producers and people behind the scenes when we did it, when we ended, they're like, that was, did not see that coming. I'm like, neither did I. I mean, that was awesome. As someone who relates to him very hard, a JP Morgan worker who struggled in the past with addiction from weed. As Ken said, I used to be a piece of shit abusing marijuana for 20, basically to 25 and a half years. I was also a high functioning drug addict, current age 26. I've been sober for a while now. So you started abusing, oh, from 20 to 25. Okay. I gotcha. I gotcha. It gives me motivation to keep going and make my life better a day at a time. Well, I'm glad that we could help anyone out. I mean, I, listen, I, addiction doesn't run in my family. I mean, I do not have addictive characteristics inside me, which, you know, I've seen friends, I've had friends that aren't even around that addiction runs deep in their family and it takes them out in their 30s. and I mean I've seen it firsthand and the impact it has on people's family especially as you get older you create a family and you leave children behind the impact it has just potentially on other people you know making decisions it's why you have someone like Ken on it's you can't fake that you know, I, I, I can't, I can't speak to any of that. Like you just let Ken talk and cook. And it's real because when you hear him speak, like he ain't, he ain't bullshitting you. And I think people, human beings, whether you have been someone like you, which is awesome to overcome it, whether someone who just have been impacted by it, when you hear it, you know it. And you're listening to the story like, geez, this is, this is intense. This is intense. And let's face it for every guy like him who figures it out or you that figure it out and there's a lot of people that don't and uh it's a struggle man I mean I I feel you and I'm glad you're doing well and hopefully anyone that you know the Rondale Moore story of him committing suicide is something that I remember watching him when he first got to the Cardinals as a rookie thinking like this kid's a fucking problem he was just he looked like gonna have a special career and then obviously injuries derailed it. And again, I'm not saying Rondale had addiction issues, but you kill yourself at 25. The thing is, as you get older, and the thing with USA Hockey, with the Goudreau family, you just realize, sometimes I think about this, it's like, you just never know. You never know. And life is so precious. life is so short as you get older, you know, whether, you know, some of you, like all my grandparents were dead. I mean, three out of the four of them were dead by the time I was not even out of high school. Right. And I saw my mom's parents die when I was in junior high. So, and I saw the impact, uh, you know, you start kind of understanding life. Then you lose parents, you lose friends, as you gain life, if you don't see it early on in your life, it's inevitable, we're going to see it all, especially, you know, if you have, you know, multiple friends, it's just, you know, there's going to be a web and a connection of things that are just unavoidable, and listen, we all struggle with different shit, and I think anytime that you can listen to things that work as motivation or know that people share in your struggle, you're not alone because none of us, we all deal with it. We all do. I mean, so I'm glad that it sounds like you got your life together and things are going well, and good luck to you, man. Talk soon. Adios. The Volume. This is Special Agent Regal. Special Agent Bradley Hall. In 2018, the FBI took down a ring of spies working for China's Ministry of State Security, one of the most mysterious intelligence agencies in the world. The Sixth Bureau podcast is a story of the inner workings of the MSS and how one man's ambition and mistakes opened its vault of secrets. Listen to The Sixth Bureau on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Nancy Glass, host of the Burden of Guilt Season 2 podcast. This is a story about a horrendous lie that destroyed two families. Late one night, Bobby Gumpright became the victim of a random crime. The perpetrator was sentenced to 99 years until a confession changed everything. I was a monster. Listen to Burden of Guilt Season 2 on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. What if mind control is real? If you could control the behavior of anybody around you, what kind of life would you have? Can you hypnotically persuade someone to buy a car? When you look at your car, you're going to become overwhelmed with such good feelings. Can you hypnotize someone into sleeping with you? I gave her some suggestions to be sexually aroused. Can you get someone to join your cult? NLP was used on me to access my subconscious. Mind Games, a new podcast exploring NLP, aka neurolinguistic programming. Is it a self-help miracle, a shady hypnosis scam, or both? Listen to Mind Games on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Amanda Knox, and in the new podcast, Doubt, the case of Lucy Letby, we unpack the story of an unimaginable tragedy that gripped the UK in 2023. But what if we didn't get the whole story? I've just been made to fit. The moment you look at the whole picture, the case collapsed. What if the truth was disguised by a story we chose to believe? Oh my God, I think she might be innocent. Listen to Doubt, The Case of Lucy Letby on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an iHeart Podcast. Guaranteed human.