Deebo & Joe - Part 1: Steelers NFLPA Report Card Grade + Ty Simpson to Pittsburgh?
46 min
•Feb 27, 2026about 2 months agoSummary
James Harrison and Joe Hayden discuss the NFL Players Association's governance issues, including lack of transparency in executive director elections and player representation. They also analyze the Pittsburgh Steelers' NFLPA report card grades and debate the team's quarterback situation regarding Will Howard versus Ty Simpson.
Insights
- NFLPA governance has become increasingly opaque since 2011, with voting power consolidated among 32 player reps rather than the full player body, reducing accountability and player input
- Strength coaching effectiveness depends on individualized player assessment and customized programs rather than one-size-fits-all approaches to prevent muscle imbalances and injuries
- The Steelers' facility infrastructure lags significantly behind league standards, with inadequate bathroom facilities and poor field conditions affecting player experience and performance
- Current NFLPA leadership prioritizes maintaining power structures over player transparency, evidenced by deflective communication and lack of timeline clarity on executive director selection
- Will Howard deserves a genuine opportunity to develop as the Steelers' quarterback before pursuing alternatives like Ty Simpson, given his college performance metrics
Trends
Organizational governance in player unions moving toward centralized decision-making that reduces rank-and-file member participation and oversightIncreased player scrutiny of union leadership transparency and accountability mechanisms following perceived failures in CBA negotiationsGrowing awareness among retired players of complex healthcare reimbursement processes that create barriers to accessing earned benefitsFranchise quarterback evaluation shifting toward body frame and durability considerations alongside statistical performanceFacility investment disparities across NFL teams creating competitive and player welfare concerns
Topics
NFLPA Executive Director Selection ProcessPlayer Union Governance and TransparencyNFL Collective Bargaining Agreement NegotiationsSteelers Facility Infrastructure and ConditionsQuarterback Development and EvaluationStrength and Conditioning Program CustomizationRetired Player Healthcare Benefits AccessMuscle Imbalance Injury PreventionNFL Draft Strategy and Quarterback SelectionPlayer Representative AccountabilityExecutive Committee Decision-MakingLockout Preparation and Player Financial PlanningField Condition ManagementTraining Staff Performance EvaluationFranchise Quarterback Durability
Companies
National Football League
Discussed as the governing body whose operational structure the NFLPA is mirroring in ways that reduce player transpa...
Pittsburgh Steelers
Primary focus of facility infrastructure critique and quarterback evaluation discussion regarding Will Howard and Ty ...
iHeartRadio
Podcast distribution platform identified in episode branding and sponsor messaging
People
James Harrison
Co-host discussing NFLPA governance issues and announcing candidacy for NFLPA Executive Director position
Joe Hayden
Co-host providing analysis on Steelers facilities, quarterback evaluation, and NFLPA transparency concerns
Jalen Maven
Current NFLPA President criticized for lack of transparency and deflective communication regarding executive director...
Gene Upshaw
Former NFLPA Executive Director who warned players in 2007 to save 30% of earnings for anticipated 2011 lockout
DeMarcus Smith
Former NFLPA Executive Director blamed for implementing governance changes that consolidated voting power among 32 pl...
Omar Khan
Pittsburgh Steelers GM whose draft decision-making regarding Will Howard is being evaluated
Will Howard
Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback being defended by hosts as deserving opportunity despite skepticism from league obser...
Ty Simpson
Alabama quarterback the Steelers reportedly met with as potential alternative to Will Howard
Mike Flores
League analyst quoted regarding skepticism about Steelers' commitment to Will Howard as franchise quarterback
Cam
NFLPA Executive Committee member Harrison is requesting include his name on candidate list for executive director
Delayus Campbell
NFLPA Executive Committee member and president Harrison is requesting support from for executive director candidacy
Austin Eckler
NFLPA Executive Committee vice president Harrison is requesting support from for executive director candidacy
Craig Jones
NFLPA employee fired after 17-18 years for sending emails deemed antagonistic by questioning executive director selec...
Lloyd
Previous NFLPA executive director candidate whose selection process lacked transparency and player awareness
Quotes
"I had to have a plan B just in case, you know, before here, this is what happened. So before things, you know, transpired, you know, everybody, you know, you got to have a plan B."
James Harrison
"I'm running for the NFLPA Executive Director. You need somebody in there that's actually in there for the players, okay?"
James Harrison
"They're keeping it like the ownership. They're keeping it like the way that the NFL runs their stuff. If it's for the players and you really for the players and you like, no."
Joe Hayden
"It's 100% your job to prove that to the players you represent."
James Harrison
"I'm staying with Will. I'm not going to abandon ship. I'm going to keep it right there. I actually do. I want to give him a shot."
Joe Hayden
Full Transcript
This is an iHeart Podcast. Guaranteed human. I'm Clayton Eckerd. In 2022, I was the lead of ABC's The Bachelor. But here's the thing. Bachelor fans hated him. If I could press a button and rewind it all, I would. That's when his life took a disturbing turn. A one-night stand would end in a courtroom. The media is here. This case has gone viral. The dating contract. Agree to date me, but I'm also suing you. This is unlike anything I've ever seen before. I'm Stephanie Young. Listen to Love Trapped on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. 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. You can scroll the headlines all day and still feel empty. I'm Ben Higgins, and If You can hear me is where culture meets the soul honest conversations about identity loss purpose peace faith and everything in between celebrities thinkers everyday people some have answers most are still figuring it out and if you've ever felt like there has to be more to the story this show is for you listen to if you can hear me on my heart radio app apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts i'm amanda knox and in the new podcast doubt the case of lucy let me 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 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. welcome back to this episode of Debo and Joe I'm your host James Debo Harrison I'm here with my co-host Joe Hayden please make sure you like subscribe and download where you get your podcast How you doing today, Joe? I am doing so good, Debo. I missed you. I missed you, brother. I missed everybody. I missed the chat. I missed American soil. I miss my kids. I missed McDonald's. I missed the finest. I missed the simple things in life. You know, friends, family. McDonald's. Look, I don't even eat McDonald's and I miss McDonald's. Okay? But look, Debo, I'm glad that I'm back, brother. Honestly, home, kicking it here. I'm doing amazing. I'm doing amazing. Yeah, listen, Joe, I ain't going to lie, man. It had me a little shook. I called the man El Honcho. Yes. You know what I'm saying? El Mencho, I called him El Honcho. You know what I'm saying? And then his homeboy was El Tulio. Yes. took off. He went and ordered all the chaos that happened after that. The army went and got him. This dude put what was it? 20,000 pesos, bro. On officers, soldiers heads out there, dude. That's only like $1,200. Hey, I ain't killing nobody for $1,200. No, man. No, sir. They say you could go back now. You say it's only a level two awareness that's needed if you go back. Anybody that take yourself over there to Mexico right now, anytime in the future, you are out of your mind. Joe, you want to go back, Joe? So this is my thing. So I went out there for the golf trip with my homies. And they looking at me, hitting me up now like, Joe, you got us looking like the trip was the craziest. Like it never everything. This is what happened, guys. The trip was amazing. The spot that we stayed at, D-Bo, we was at Chileno Bay. When I looked and saw how far- Well, you should have just stayed there. It was great. No, no, no. A thousand percent. We should have stayed. We stayed until things started popping off on Sunday. Sunday, when things got to popping off, that was when everybody was supposed to leave anyway. So, everybody's like, okay, boom, Cabo, we're at this spot, Chileno Bay. Now I can speak of my location because I'm safe. I'm in my home now. I know nobody knows where my private location is. So we was at Chileno Bay. This place is amazing. Shout out to Gino DeSilvio that set it up. The trip was unbelievable. But, bro, we on the space. We're on the campus. We're chilling. We got the golf cart taking us to the house, taking us to the course. A light up nine holes. Boom. Everything's fun. We're having a blast. I'm, like, sipping the margaritas. That thing I showed you, I was like, D-Boy, I got the margaritas. Sam, give me a mark. That was real time. Drinking marks. Literally, that was joy in my eyes. Yeah, now get to the good stuff. Let me get to the good stuff. So Sunday, everybody's saying, okay, bet. Okay, yeah, oh, it's looking like, okay, it's popping off. Everybody's like, okay, bet. Our flights are out. Okay, woo-woo. So the airport that everything was popping off at was not the airport that we were headed to. So we went to the Cabo Airport. It's a lot of people in the airport. You know what I'm saying? I'm used to packed airports. And my boys and everybody, you know what I'm saying? My flight, I have a connecting flight. I'm going to D.C. They said everything back to D.C. It's a snowstorm. So everything back to D.C. is canceled. So now my boys are going to L.A. So I'm like, okay, that's fine. Just get me on the flight with my boys. You know what I'm saying? I go to L.A. I just need to get out of Mexico. I just need to get out of Mexico. Bring me to L.A. What they say, though? They say, oh, everybody's, oh, that flight's completely booked. There's no flights that you can get on to get out of here right now. Okay, but we can set you up on a flight tomorrow. Joe, I'm going to tell you what you could have did, though. You could have been like a seat, like a lap child, because you're under 200. But anyway, go ahead. No, I'm trying to find any jump. I'm like this. No, no, you don't have to get me the same flight. Like, you don't got to be for, just get me on the plane. I don't care what seat. I'll, you know, I sit up with the lady. You know what I'm saying? I could be a flight attendant. I will help in any way to get out of here. I'm sorry, sir. No, we're going to have to go downstairs and go get your bags. You know what I'm saying? Because there's no flights for you today. We're going to have you out tomorrow. So my boys leave. And that's when I'm like, okay, bet. That's Sunday. And that's when we had a show on Monday. So I'm like, bet, let me get this. Let me get my little. Okay, boom. Let me get my flight right. So then I have to get my own hotel room. I go to this nice jump montage. Been there before. Beautiful. We go back to the resort. Everybody's chilling. Nobody acting like nothing's going on. So then next day, wake up for the show, and it's getting more and more tricky. They're just – it's not like where I'm at, but who knows what cartel? When they say they're just throwing up roadblocks, I say, where are the roadblocks? Like, how are you going to tell me that a roadblock can't be out here? Like, y'all don't know them. Y'all don't know where to stop it. So now I'm just on my own self like this. Yeah, I hear what you're saying, but you don't know the cartel. You didn't talk to El Chow. You didn't talk to them. You didn't talk to El Mitchell. You ain't talk to El Mitchell. You ain't talk to El Mitchell. You ain't talk to El Tulio. He mad. He hot. He hot. He's random. He could just stop. He could just stop my street. Bink. Jody, y'all ain't getting passed. What am I going to say? So that's where I'm like, all right, bet. Let me get out of here. They hit me and said, Joe, there's a little earlier flight. While we, right before we about to get, I'm like, because I'm not even one. I'm like, D-boy, I need to jump in, jump out. You like, brother, all right, get home. So then I ended up getting to the airport. Make it to the airport for the earlier flight. They're still pressing me. Now, going through my bags again, I have nothing. I have nothing for you. I had too much. My cologne was too big, and I had too much. They took your cologne, Joe. Took my cologne, took my spray deodorant. I almost said, take it all. I don't want anything. I just want my passport. Can I have my passport, my chain, and my watch, and just send me home? Golf clubs stay. Everything stay. But then we got on the flight. I was able to get home, D-Bo. But that joint was what happened. Got my connect. Then I got home late, late Tuesday. Hey, Joe. I ain't going to lie to you, Joe. Look, man. Now that you home safe. Yes. All right. Yes. I have to let you in on a little secret now. What's up, man? I had to have a plan B just in case, you know, before here, this is what happened. So before things, you know, transpired, you know, everybody, you know, you got to have a plan B. Yeah, you got to. So I'm done with the show and I started texting you, Joe. Yeah. And I'm getting no response. And I'm seeing bubbles, right? I'm seeing the bubbles, Joe, but you ain't responding, right? Yeah. So now I'm nervous. All right, I'm super nervous. So then that's when I text you. I say, nigga, say something. So now I'm nervous, right? I'm scared. So you still ain't text nothing, but I'm seeing bubbles. Oh my gosh. Now, before you answer back, you know what I did? I started making calls. I got Extraction Team 3 ready on standby. You know what I'm talking about. D-Boy, I do know who you're talking about. You know them boys. You know them boys. I got them. You know who I'm talking about. I got them on standby. I done called. I done called. Hey, Joe stuck. I don't know what's going on. I just need to know what's going on. Yes. But now, you know, now I'm thinking, though, and I'm like, I'm like, damn, we done lost Joe. So I said, you know what? I got to go through my Joe ad decks. Okay? And my Joe ad decks is contacts of people I know named Joe. Okay? to see who can do the show with me. Oh, you looking for my replacement? I'm sorry. Listen, Joe. Joe, I'm just listening. So I'm thinking, listen, Joe. Okay, I'm still listening. So I'm thinking like Joe Burrow. I'm like, yes. I'm like that. So I go into damage mode. I go into, you know, and I'm just, Joe, I'm a business man too. You know what I'm saying? But hey, you safe. But listen, so I go into business mode and I'm like, you know what? that would really bring the brotherhood together. You got a guy from Cincinnati, a guy from Pittsburgh. We get together and we agree to do this. You know what I'm saying? Keep it in the AFC North. Keep it, you know, keep it a brotherhood. And, you know, came up with a rendering, Joe, where you would still be in the show. So where your face would be, would be Joe's face. And where my face would be, would still be my face. And then over to Debo and Joe, that's right there. in the shadows. It'd be like a shadow white light type of you with an angel halo open in remembrance of you. So you would be there every show. That's crazy, Debo. You see? No, I thought we were here. But hey, it don't matter. Yeah, you don't matter. It don't matter because I'm here. Yeah, you good. But you know, I just had to let you know. You funny. Me. Hell for that, Debo. You funny. The team and I, we had that rendering together. You know, I mean, And we was hooked. But like I said, I still had Extraction Team 3 ready. You did. You hit me just in case they took over my phone. Hey, hey, hey, Joe. Debo said, bro, if you ain't hitting me back, I was sending the drone. I said, you got 45 seconds to hit me back. Or I'm sending the drone strike where your location is. I said, tell all of them, tuck your head between your legs and kiss your ass goodbye. Debo. You, see, that's what I'm saying, man. I knew you weren't looking for Joe Burrow. You were lying to him. You were looking for me. You were still trying to distract me, bro. I would appreciate that. I felt it. I'm like, and I'm sitting there. I'm like, I can't send it because if I send it and then it don't happen in 45 seconds, they got him, got him. Damn, I was in bubbles, D-Bo, because I was trying to figure out what I was going to say. And then I was talking to the airline people. So I'm like, I don't know what to tell them. I should have said, I'm safe. That's what I should have said, because I didn't know what to say. I'm like, Nickery, say something. But Debo, look, honestly, real stuff, bro. Keeping it a bean. I do like traveling, but I'm going to tell you this. After that situation, the feeling of helplessness sometimes, when you like this, when you say somebody could just block the road, and me no speak no Spanish. I love Spanish. Me no esplenon. Me no esplenon. Yo, I got uno, dos, tres, cuatro. I can count down. I can get bete uno, bete dos. You know, I can get up there. I can do some numbers for you. But when I'm getting to talking, like when you sitting there and you don't know the language, like they like, no. They like, no. Me no, me no. I'm like, I just feel compromised. And then if the cartel mess around to pull up, They don't have the same laws as the law. So I'm like, yeah, that joint really made me feel. But like another shot back again, Chileno Bay, resort, fire, amazing. I never felt, you know what I'm saying? Like that joint was so nice. But it's just like you never know outside that dough. And I don't speak no Espanol. Yes, sir. I told you, Joe, I wait. What's the worst thing that can happen wherever I go? And if I can't deal with the worst thing that can happen, Joe, I can't go. Yeah. I can't go. I'm Mr. Plan B, Joe. You got to understand that. Like, I'm already. Like when I went to Mexico City I told my people I said hey if they say they got me and they won ransom they lying I fought and they had to kill me where I was at They just took my body See, that's not saying no paper. See, this is what I'm saying. I will pay for my release. That's what I'm saying. I'm just trying to get me out of here safely. Please. I mean, no harm, people. I'm just trying to come here, chill, enjoy this water, enjoy this view, enjoy this vibe, enjoy these tacos and these vibes. I'm no one. No drama. You know what I'm saying? Me no one. No drama, Joe. Me, Senor, no one. No drama. Man. Mm-mm. Joe, the NFL, PA, I don't know if they released it or who released it, but the report cards just came out, and the Dolphins ranked first, and dude, the Steelers are worse this year on the survey. they got the locker room as a F minus. Oh! Yeah. It says players reported having only five bathroom stalls for the entire team. That is true. D-boy, that's one of the... You know you got to run upstairs. Come on, man. You get heavy, you got to go catch one before... You know what I'm saying? That's crazy. It said another one was the owner's rank last in the willingness to invest in the facilities. Yes. The lowest ranked home field in the league by a wide margin, they said, due to high school and college youth leading to poor field conditions. That was another F minus. You got the strength coaches ranked last in the NFL. That was another F. And then the training staff was actually first, though. I don't know if that grade is. 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. NLP, aka Neuro Linguistic Programming, is a blend of hypnosis, linguistics, and psychology. Fans say it's like finally getting a user manual for your brain. It's about engineering consciousness. Mind Games is the story of NLP. It's crazy cast of disciples and the fake doctor who invented it at a New Age commune and sold it to guys in suits. He stood trial for murder and got acquitted. The biggest mind game of all? NLP might actually work. This is wild. Listen to Mind Games on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What do you do when the headlines don't explain what's happening inside of you? I'm Ben Higgins, and if you can hear me, it's where culture meets the soul, a place for real conversation. Each episode, I sit down with people from all walks of life, celebrities, thinkers, and everyday folks, and we go deeper than the polished story. We talk about what drives us, what shapes us, and what gives us hope. We get honest about the big stuff. Identity when you don't recognize yourself anymore. Loss that changes you. Purpose when success isn't enough. Peace when your mind won't slow down. Faith when it's complicated. Some guests have answers. Most are still figuring it out. If you've ever felt like there has to be more to the story, this show is for you. Listen to If You Can Hear Me 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 if 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. 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. I'm Clayton Eckerd, and in 2022, I was the lead of ABC's The Bachelor. Unfortunately, it didn't go according to plan. he became the first bachelor to ever have his final rose rejected. The internet turned on him. If I could press a button and rewind it, all I would. But what happened to Clayton after the show made even bigger headlines. It began as a one-night stand and ended in a courtroom, with Clayton at the center of a very strange paternity scandal. The media is here. This case has gone viral. The dating contract. Agree to date me, but I'm also suing you. Please search warrant. This is unlike anything I've ever seen before. I'm Stephanie Young. This is Love Trapped. This season, an epic battle of he said, she said, and the search for accountability in a sea of lies. I have done nothing except get pregnant by the f***ing bachelor! Listen to Love Trapped on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Just go hold after. You know, we transpired this year. But what do you think of these grades? Which ones do you think are appropriate and which ones you think aren't of the? I would say the one thing that I see here that's just glowing is that the locker room, that's minus for sure. And when they state facts like five bathrooms, when we think about it like that's just the way it was. Right. It's not okay. It could be 100 people in that zone at one time. You know what I'm saying? and people got to go and you got to go to get practice. And then with the showers, you know what I'm saying? Like, it's not a lot of them joints in there too. And then the locker room, when you walk in there, it's old. It's wood. It got your little name on the jump. But like when we look at it back in the day coming from, I was looking at like culture. This is what it is. You know what I'm saying? But at the end, when you do look at it, it's like, no, this is messed up. We need to have bathrooms available and like nice lockers. You know what I'm saying? Like there's no reason why it shouldn't be up to grade. and that old mentality of like, no, no, no, do you get what you, this is what, this is, we have what, we have the requirements. It may not be as extravagant as you like it, but they have everything that you need. So, but the levels of the locker room, that's crazy. Five bathrooms, when I'm thinking about it, that's kind of crazy. So I did do it. I never really counted it, to be honest, or paid attention to it, to be honest to you, because I'm like, all right, I know I'm going to go in there, scan real quick, see if all the feet on there, then I'm going to shoot straight upstairs. to hope I get one of the two that's up there. That's crazy. You know what I'm saying? The field is what it is. You know, when you get late into that season, it gets poor. I don't think they switch it in and out. They don't, you know, switch over the field long enough to replace it. And then sometimes they can't because of the time it takes for it to be able to cure and, you know, seal down onto it. The strength coach ranked last, that's something right there, dude, that I think is more of a... Out of any of the ones, I don't really agree with that one. Yeah. I think the strength coaches aren't. I think that I like them pretty good. They're more flexible. They're just not going to give you exactly... Everybody has to do the same thing. They're more flexible to what you need. You know what I'm saying? So I would definitely say that the strength staff was better. I would go to field was probably like it is, I think, because a lot of people use it. The college teams, high school teams, events are on it all the time. Quick turnover and you got to get back out there. And that field is natural grass. So that's just going to get beat up if somebody goes and use it a day or like a little couple of days before you use it. Yeah, I think with the strength coaches, the ranking, that's kind of on an individual basis, to be honest with you, Because if you want a real good strength coach, they need time, dude. And the biggest issue of them needing time is a great strength coach is going to make his program to fit each person. It's going to be catered to that person. That's what I was trying to say. Not to what they want to do. And a lot of these guys, I think, didn't want to do the kind of lifting that they were doing over there. you know from what out from what from what i was hearing it was hard manual lifting but the biggest thing that they have to understand is a strength coach is there to build strength and i think i know if you're a good strength coach you build and you cater to the person's needs that their body tells you they need because you can't have an imbalance and the biggest thing is when you get um a 10 percent imbalance in between muscles. So say my hamstring and my quad, if my quad is stronger by more than 10 percent, now it ups the risk of injury. Now, if you get into that 15 and higher percent, it's not about when. I mean, it's not about if. It's about when you're going to pull something. Yes. So people who pull their hamstrings a lot are quad dominant. They have a greater deficiency there that's causing the other muscle to to strain in the effect of trying to you know do what it needs to do now if they're able to go and do a body you know maintenance or or a body evaluation of each player and then make the program accordingly then that's better but when you have coaches that a lot of them they build a program that's for each group now that program for that group that week may be posterior base for your hamstrings and everything else. Well, this person is already hamstring dominant. They shouldn't be doing a straight three-week hamstring something. They need to be doing something for the quads. You don't know that unless you get those measurements. So what you do is you get those measurements. You're like, all right, I'm going to get something. And this is what I'm going to have you focus more on so that I can close down that gap, that deficiency. Then we reevaluate the body later on, three weeks later, to see if we're closer within that 10% range. Debo, that is exactly right. That makes it a really good strength coach. Because I'm saying the strength coach that you think is coming in there, everybody got to do the same thing. This is what we do. This is why we're doing it. No, no, no, no. Each individual players, we're professional athletes here. We're here for the right reason. Some people's hamstrings need a little bit of work. Some people need a little bit more upper body stuff. So when you're able to cater to the individual athlete, That's what I think makes a really good strength coach. And when I was there, G, he did a good job with me of evaluating what I needed, what he thought I needed to get worked on. G-Mah was good at that. And that's what we worked on. So I'm like, I don't know who was working on them, but I'm like, the evaluation is if they're doing that, I think that's a good strength coach. Yeah, for sure. NFL said they will review the 2026 NFL PA cards leak. they're going to review the leak because they don't want their dirty laundry out there yeah and the nflpa may have what do you call it um accidentally leaked it i don't know how however you want to call it if they get caught they're going to be caught and that's and it's stupid to do it and and and make like it's a leak or whatever but that's the nflpa because they're trash, dude. They're trash and they have been trash since we lost Gene Upshaw 2008. In 2007, Gene Upshaw told us, were you playing in 2007? Nope, 2010. You weren't playing until 2010. So in 2007, Gene Upshaw came in, dude, and he told us, he said from that point forward, everybody save 30% of your money every year leading up to the lockout in 2011. he said it's not about if they lock us out he said they're going to lock us out this is four years prior dude okay you have to be able to last at least 18 months so that would give you 120 of what the money is that you made you have sitting there ready to go for a lockout right yes he gets diagnosed with cancer dude and three days later he passes Yes. Then comes the worst NFLP executive director we have ever had in the history. DeMarcus Fitzgerald. I mean, yeah, DeMarcus Fitzgerald Smith. Yes. Trash. The only thing he did on his tenure was make rules that kept himself in power. That's it. He actually changed the rules after the 2011 collective bargaining agreement because he almost lost it. so back then you had what you still do you got 32 player reps okay one player per team and those players are the guys that go to all the meetings are supposed to go to all the meetings get you all the information so back then those player reps would approve or disapprove to bring it to the players they approved to bring it to the players they bring it to the players the players would then vote on it okay yeah and the numbers would be sent in hey this is what they voted this was the numbers majority wins boom boom boom boom they changed that so now only the 32 player representatives get to actually make the vote they don have to bring it to the players They don have to bring it to the players So it's the 32 that approve or don't approve the CBA. And on top of that, the election or reelection of the executive director. So the players don't even have a vote no more because why it's easier to control 32 oh then it is what almost 3200 every time it comes to vote because you vote in the offseason 1600 players are there that won't even be there at the start of the season they go to 50 that they're looking for anyway all they need is 51 okay and then of that 1600 how many vested maybe six five six hundred of them are actually invested into the program you know like they're there's no accountability or oversight of what the reps actually vote because there's no record of it and the only way the guys will know is to ask the representative what did you vote and he could lie yeah damn now like where we're at with the executive uh committee is like crucial because Now the executive committee is like 12 or 14 guys. OK, and these guys actually pick who you get to vote for. So. They send it out to a third party. OK, the third party is supposed to the third party is supposed to see who's qualified. And they send that back to the committee. OK. And then the committee can pick who they want to actually put out to the player representatives to vote for the new NFL executive NFLPA executive director or the CBA, if that's the timing of what it is. so if the nflpa executive committee member don't put your name in a hat you don't even get a chance to make it to get put to the third party and then even if you do make it past the third party and they bring it back and say all right these are the six guys that made it they then can pull you from that and put out who they want to present to the player reps they just fired a dude um Craig Jones dude they just fired this dude he worked there I guess almost 17 18 years something like that in January he was placed on administrative leave for sending emails that they said uh they deemed antagonists because he was asking Jalen Maven the current uh what is he the president of the NFLPA he was you know what he was basically asking him play that for him he was basically asking me this question. Listen, let me see. I don't think anybody is saying that this process needs to be transparent to the media, but when you have people in your player body saying they did not know information about who was selected or who the candidates were, or that the executive committee did not make a recommendation, because after the fact, you guys are saying, oh, we didn't recommend Lloyd, but why would you not want to make sure that they were more informed and they have all the information they need so they can vote for the best candidate possible? I think we have ensured that they're informed. We've given a lot of feedback. We've had meetings with our board members and like I said, I don't think that everyone's not going to be touched. There's always going to be someone who may not have been as engaged or may have missed something, but like I said, I'm proud of where our process is going. We've had outside counsel give us recommendations on changes that should be made. And we've implemented those changes. We've sat and asked our board members, what do you want to see? Is there anything that you all feel like needs to be done to this process? And we've sat there and we've heard them out. And we've continued forward with our process. And maybe there are, maybe I could be missing something. Maybe there are a lot of people who did not feel like they were in the know. But I know for a fact that we put in the work and ensured everyone has the access and the ability to know what's going on. And everyone, we've kind of made the rules to the game up front. And our player leadership knows that. And that's why we have a stand on it. I can't answer for everyone, but the work that I put in and the work that the executive committee has done has been with integrity and to best service our members and to be open and to hear from them and make sure we're moving in accordance with the players of basketball. I know that we do that every day and every week. I don't really think it's our job to just prove that to everyone. They know it. We know it. That's where we'll stand. All right. Joe, Joe, the first thing he said is, I think, I think, I think. Jalen, you don't think. He just told you. No, you haven't. He said so. They said so. You're in a meeting with the board members. You need to be in a meeting with the players because you don't care about the players. You need the board members so that you can get the vote so you don't lose your job. You're proud of the process. how are you proud of the process it's the same process that you're going to use that got the last nfl pa uh executive director that you had he's gone under that process because y'all obviously messed up so come on and on top of that you want to say he he said he made the rules to the game he gave you the rules to the game up front. No, you didn't. You just said there's no transparency. He just said there's no, you can't find out. There's no transparency. Nobody knows who voted for what. And the worst was, it's not your job to prove that. It's 100% your job to prove that to the players you represent. 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. NLP, aka Neuro Linguistic Programming, is a blend of hypnosis, linguistics, and psychology. Fans say it's like finally getting a user manual for your brain. It's about engineering consciousness. Mind Games is the story of NLP, its crazy cast of disciples, and the fake doctor who invented it at a New Age commune and sold it to guys in suits. He stood trial for murder and got acquitted. The biggest mind game of all? NLP might actually work. This is wild. Listen to Mind Games on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What do you do when the headlines don't explain what's happening inside of you? I'm Ben Higgins, and if you can hear me, it's where culture meets the soul. A place for real conversation. Each episode, I sit down with people from all walks of life. Celebrities, thinkers, and everyday folks. And we go deeper than the polished story. We talk about what drives us, what shapes us, and what gives us hope. We get honest about the big stuff. Identity when you don't recognize yourself anymore. Loss that changes you. Purpose when success isn't enough. Peace when your mind won't slow down. Faith when it's complicated. Some guests have answers. Most are still figuring it out. If you've ever felt like there has to be more to the story, this show is for you. Listen to If You Can Hear Me 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 if 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. 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. 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. Dumbass! If you can't do it, get out of there, dude! That's why I'm running for the NFLPA Executive Director. You need somebody in there that's actually in there for the players, okay? A thousand percent. Hey, listen, the NFLPA Executive Committee. I feel you. Hey, the people who actually make those decisions. Cam, you're one. My guy, you said you was going to make sure I was on the list. All right. I'm on the list. Another one, Delayus Campbell. He's the president. He said, hey, I'm here, my guy. He said, listen, calm down, man. It ain't, you know, it ain't there yet. We go get you in there. No, I'm not going to calm down. Okay. Austin Eckler. Also, talk to him. He's another vice president. Holler at your boy. Please and thank you. Because this, Debo, I ain't going to lie. You are honestly speaking facts because this is my thing. They're keeping it like the ownership. They're keeping it like the way that the NFL runs their stuff. If it's for the players and you really for the players and you like, no. No, no, no, no. The NFL is doing it how they should do it, which is protecting the NFL. That's what I'm saying. We're not protecting our players, period. We're acting like there's a little boys club at the top, though, of the NFLPA that's not really going to be because you're not. All the guys that want to keep their jobs. That's what I'm saying. Those dudes are not trying to keep it as open because if you're not doing what you're supposed to do, sir, then get somebody in there that does. The players don't feel as informed. Well, I think that we're doing it in our process. Your process isn't good enough because the players don't know what the hell is going on. And you don't feel like they should because you know if they did, you wouldn't be in your position. So you're going to keep it just how it is so you can let it go how it goes. I want it to be open. I want Debo's name said she'll be in there because end of the day, if there's bull stuff going on, you're trying to get it all out for the players. I'm just feeling like these dudes are getting so comfortable in their position and they're answering it. So matter of fact, it's so like, what do you mean you're talking? I brought it to the board. The board, we need to make sure that this is the NFL. They're saying the board members didn't even know. The board members didn't even know, didn't even vote. dude at the at the meeting this this this year at the super bowl it was executive committee members that weren't even there how you gonna miss your own meeting for something you're running what they don't yeah i i'm i need how does that work do you even know who jaylen is but he's running he's he's actually damn near running this thing right now nobody knows who he is the players don't know who it is. Nobody knows who he is. You know who voted him in? The executive committee. Why? I don't know. Shit, neither do I. Because active players don't get to vote anymore. This affects all players. This also affects retired players. This affects you right now. You're in the retirement phase where you still are getting your health benefits, but you only get that for five years. then that's taken away. Wait till you find out what that insurance costs. Oh my God. To keep the one that they have, they'll say, Hey, listen, we'll make it easy for you. You can just keep the insurance you got and we'll automatically just deduct it. Because when you go to try and get paid for this stuff, dude, when I say you have to go through a process, if it wasn't for the fact that I didn't have a regular nine to five, if you have a regular a nine to five job after you're done playing, you're not going to be able to get to your, um, your NFL uh pension to your uh HRA your health reimbursement account You not gonna be able to get to it They only open during business hours in the process of going through it and trying to figure it out you can do it I got lucky and I ended up getting hooked up with a guy after my fourth fifth time calling He was like yo I'm going to take you to the steps. He would sit there on it with me. To this day, he would sit there on the phone with me, going through the process of calling my insurance company, calling the doctor, getting all this other information that I would have no idea how to get, bro. I was on the phone for an hour and 45 minutes one time to get reimbursed $200. Oh, no. And that's the game, bro. That's their business, bro. Make it as hard as possible for you to get it. So a lot of guys don't even go for it, dude, because the process is so hard. And when you say, OK, I don't go for this 200. I don't go for this 100. I don't do that. And you get that over 30, 40 times over the course of a year. you done missed out on a few grand now. Yeah. And that's one player they're doing that with. And think of how many players still got that money sitting there. It's ridiculous. They made the process so hard to get back that guys don't even know how to do it. And like I said, if I didn't get lucky and get in contact with the right person, because everybody else, well, you got to call your HOA. You got to call this and that. you got to pull it from here. I can shout out to him. Where the hell do I go for that? No, for sure. I get one thing, I ain't going to lie to my agent. I had, do you know Dwayne Starks? My agent, Drew, he called me yesterday and was just checking up on me, making sure all of the stuff was good. So that's why I can shout out to Drew because he works with Drew Rosehouse, my old agent, and they still hitting, checking up by once a year to the retired guy. So I got the call yesterday. So that was actually pretty dope. Yeah, do they know how to do the process though. Yeah. Okay. You got a team that'll be there and help you with that process. That was really, a lot of cats don't know it. No, a thousand percent. Like me. I didn't know it. Especially guys that's older than us. That's, that's reliant. Dude. No, for sure. Out of control. That is, listen. You don't know what you don't know. Daly Maven, I do not know why he is even in there. Nobody knows of him. And here's the crazy thing. I went to one the year before when they got Lloyd. Same thing, press conference, dude. It was like somebody just doing word salad, man. He just saying, same thing here, but it was worse even then. Nobody even knows who he is. You know when you don't have, you know when you're not standing on nothing that you're really just trying to deflect. He's not saying that. Right, he's trying to stand on holding his job. That's it. That's what I'm saying. That is it. he's not doing nothing else, bro. Look here. James Harrison for NFLPA, executive director. And your hat got to be in there, and they got to at least get you to the... Do we know if you're getting sent to the third party? Nothing. They were supposed to have a meeting in March at the meeting this year at the Super Bowl. They don't even have a timeline anymore of that date. They don't even have the date no more. It's supposed to be March. They don't even know exact date. Because when they ask about people trying to come, they're asking about you. That's what I'm saying. When they're like, you got to be informed. It's trash, super trash. You talking about being informed and trying to make sure people are going to the meeting. You had this out at the Super Bowl. They didn't even show up to the own meeting. So how you go? That doesn't make any sense. The guys that, the 32 guys that have the vote, plus the 14 or 11 committee members. dude i i guarantee you it might have been seven or eight guys in there from that whole 40 something i know a lot of people got stuff on their plates but when we're talking about this stuff if you do you got to kind of gracefully bow out and we got to get somebody that thank you one one that can be who is the guy that end up getting that job every year most of the time when they first start off it's just one of the best players nope oh best players don't want it it's too much work so you get a guy that's like you know what i'll do it and if they really care about it and they're the best player then yeah they'll they'll do it or they're just going as because i'm the big name on the team and i should be there representing that's not who should be there it doesn't it should be it should be the person that's actually there for the players dude that can't wait that's trying to get his jump that can't wait to be like i'm i'm invested i want to see exactly what's going on in here and like that's really interested in the process dude this dude was in there before he was even vested i believe but do you know what i'm how are you on a nflpa and you're not even vested into the program you are now one of the members that are supposed to be going out here leading it and trying what bylaws messed up on that too it gotta be like it gotta be they're not telling anybody to start saving up or nothing dude because it's going to be a lockout players listen save 30 all the way up into the lockout because it's going to be another lockout the nfl wants to go and get this done as fast as possible you're trying to get it done as fast as possible because you want a deal that's for them. They're not going to give us a good deal. They're not going to give the players a great deal. They're not going to do that. We had the opportunity and we let D Smith foul it up. Period. Like we need a report cause on the NFL PA, bro. Oh man. They would definitely not let them things get out. We need a report cause on the NFL PA. We got some Stiller news. Let's get over here and see what the Stiller's talking about, brother. So we got Mike Flores. Ooh, he said people around the league are skeptical of Stiller's love for Will Howard. They said the Stillers met with Alabama's Ty Simpson. What do you think of that statement? You think that's a correct statement? How do you view that, Joe? They got the right to be skeptical. I think Will Howard needs a chance. We didn't draft him for no reason. Thank you. Body, like, I don't care what everybody else says. We got him on our roster right now. We picked him. He's a stealer. I love the coach. I love the way that he was able to develop quarterbacks. So, man, I'm not in love with Ty Simpson and everybody else say that, too. Like quarterbacks, people fall in love and all of a sudden he's one of the best quarterbacks ever. Get out of here. I don't want to hear it. We got Will Howard. We seen what he could do in college in the collegiate level. He's on our squad. Let's use everything that we got to make everything around him better. Let's make this. Let's make it like Sam Darnold ish, where he doesn't have to go out there and be Patrick Mahomes. Not mess it up. Do good. Hit the players when they need to. And we run the ball well. Have a solid defense. And Will's going to look better than I think advertised. People always want to jump around and do all the quarterback stuff and say that shit. But for me, I'm staying with Will. I'm not going to abandon ship. I'm going to keep it right there. I actually do. I want to give him a shot. If it falls, it falls. We're going to be able to see what happens next year and be able to now. We really got to go get a quarterback. We know that's a position of need. We knew Aaron Rodgers isn't going to be the fix. We know if we're going to have to find out if Will Howard is going to be the fix. Then if he's not, we're in the same boat. but we don't know until we don't know. So I'm like, we got Mason backing up. Rudolph, I mean, Mason Rudolph backing him up. We still got Will Howard. You like Mason Rudolph as a backup? I mean, we can do something else. I mean, you know what you're going to get. You know what I'm saying? I'm not mad at you. Okay, that don't mean that I want that. I mean, for sure, for sure. I'm just saying for right now, I'm just throwing out Will. I just said Mason because Mason's a good friend of mine. I played with him and I know what I was going to get solid. You just, that's, I think that's why they probably put him in before they even gave Will a chance. Cause you just, cause sister, you knew what you were going to get. But now new coaching staff, that was with Coach T. So now Will Howard, new coach, new vibe, give him a shot. Give him some ops. Let him see what's up. Yeah, I'm, I'm, I'm all with you. I know a lot of people are, are, are saying, you know, the GM Omar Khan, he, you know, he has to do, he hasn't done nothing. Well, I can say with 100% certainty that he has had little control of what has came out of the top draft pick. So this year for me will definitely be a point where I believe the Steelers are going to go back to doing what they did before and not make the mistake of allowing a single individual to ultimately have the say of being able to, you know, pick a dude higher than the majority has ruled him. So I'm looking forward to seeing how he drafts this year. Okay. And from this year on is where I'm going to, I'm going to judge, you know, Omar Khan. That's, that's just where I sit. Now the will, I want, I want, I want Will to get a chance. The reason I want Will to get a chance is even looking at Ty, Ty Simpson's numbers. And it's not, I mean, Will's, Will's numbers were, were actually better. I don't I don't I don't think we need to Grab him If he's there They don't think he'll be there At what is it 21, 22 Something like that 20 whatever it may be If Ty Simpson is there You think we should get him? If the Steelers think That he's a franchise quarterback I ask you Me? No I don't That's where I'm at No I think we can get somebody That's nice For sure That's going to start On our squad and like we got we got tj wide at 32 like there's there's good players there that we could get receivers it's a stack receiver squad you want to go get actually i don't think that we want to go here but it's a cornerback fire at that position where you could lock it up with joey porter jr the best tackle the best you know i'm saying something something of the best of the best that you like i don't think that we got to go trying to go reach and like oh no the quarterback no He's not the one. If you think he's the guy, I don't. But if the team does, if they believe in him, whatever. But I'm like, no. Right now, we got too many holes, too many gaps. Quarterback is one of the main positions. But before the season started, I wasn't looking at Ty Simpson like, oh, if the Steelers got him, that'd be the one. No. I wasn't thinking basically any of these quarterbacks for real were really making me feel like we need to go up and get them. Yeah. I ain't going to even lie, dude. I had to go back and look at Will Howard's stuff, dude. His senior year, he was 73% completion. Man had over 4,000 yards. He was almost 10 yard a catch, bro. Like averaged almost 10 to catch. He had 35 touchdowns, 10 interceptions. And we ain't get at a shot or a chance to even show what it could do. I don't know. That don't make sense to me. I don't care where you drafted him. You drafted him for a reason. At least put him out there and see what he could do. I know he was at Ohio State with them weapons, but get him some. Even before that, when he was at, what was that? Was it Kansas? I don't know where he went before that. I think it was. But he improved there each year. Well, for the last two years of his career, he improved there. Without the weapons. I mean, the numbers weren't as great. Okay. But I'm rocking with Will. Once he got those weapons, it did a whole lot better. And another thing, he a big body, bro. Yes. He's not no little dude. Yeah, 6'2", 208 on the books. That don't, you know, with Simpson, that don't feel good to me, especially, you know, with some of the contact he may have to come into depending on how the line is doing that day. You know what I'm saying? Mm-hmm. And we want to play. And these quarterbacks, when we get them, we want them to play for a long time. And the frailer, the smaller, I don't know how long. Well, Russell Wilson, we was in there for a minute, so let me not speak out of turn. but I like a big frame quarterback. I'm Clayton Eckerd. In 2022, I was the lead of ABC's The Bachelor. But here's the thing. Bachelor fans hated him. If I could press a button and rewind it, all I would. That's when his life took a disturbing turn. A one-night stand would end in a courtroom. The media is here. This case has gone viral. The dating contract. Agree to date me, but I'm also suing you. This is unlike anything I've ever seen before. I'm Stephanie Young. Listen to Love Trapped on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. 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. You can scroll the headlines all day and still feel empty. I'm Ben Higgins, and If You can hear me is where culture meets the soul honest conversations about identity loss purpose peace faith and everything in between celebrities thinkers everyday people some have answers most are still figuring it out and if you've ever felt like there has to be more to the story this show is for you listen to if you can hear me on my heart radio app apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. 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 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.