Expectations For NFL Success (Hour 3)

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Visit Photoshop.com and get started for free. Our number three of our radio program, that's right, Zach Gelb's show right here, but where else? CBS Sports Radio. Coming up 20 minutes from now, we'll update you on some of the biggest stories in the world of sports with some audio.

We call that segment a news brief. But the voters screwed him in his first year of eligibility and perfect timing to get him on because he is a Colts legend. And you have all this fighting going on with Jonathan Taylor and Jonathan Taylor's agent and then the owner of the Colts and Jim Irsay.

And there's already been a trade request. Jim Irsay is talking a bunch of crap and he's also not having any contract negotiations. So we'll catch up and try to get a lay of the land in Colts world with one Dwight Freeney.

He'll be joining us at 9.40 p.m. Eastern, 6.40 p.m. Pacific. But first up, give me a little NFL music. I was thinking about this when I was on the beach this weekend where I was trying not to think too much about sports.

Have a few drinks, enjoy the sand in your toes, go into the ocean a little bit, have some good dinners as well. But I was starting to think about NFL teams that are in the news and that are some pretty big teams this upcoming year. And bare minimum, what these teams must do in 2023 for me to view their season as a success. So Hickey, give me some of those teams.

Let's go. The New York Jets. I think the Jets need to be playing in the AFC title game. If you're a Jet fan, you should be saying Super Bowl or bust because you don't know how long the window is with Aaron Rodgers. Sure, he took less and I see the contract doesn't technically go up until seven years or something like that.

Florio was explaining. But he did $35 million less to play for the JTS Jets, Jets, Jets. And Rodgers isn't getting any younger. He wants to win that second Super Bowl.

He's doing everything that he can right now to try to get that to happen. But year one coming in, not everyone's going to go win a Super Bowl like Tom Brady and Matthew Stafford did in back to back years with new teams. And this AFC is absolutely loaded. Those two had the benefit of playing in the NFC, which was easier, which Rodgers still couldn't find a way to get the job done. But I think for the Jets this year, just making the playoffs isn't enough. Just winning one playoff game isn't enough. I think they have to be bare minimum in an AFC title game.

So even if they don't reach their goal, you could say we are so bleeping close. And then Rodgers gave you some freedom salary wise, where even though you're going all in this year, you could really find a way to find out what other T's you need to cross and what other I's you need to dot. Let me ask you this really fast here. With Rodgers taking the pick out especially, is there anything that would change your mind to up it to Super Bowl? If they signed Dalvin Cook, let's say, would you up it then from AFC title game to Super Bowl?

So you know me, I'm pretty strict when it comes to Super Bowl contenders. And when I look at the AFC, right now I could envision the Chiefs getting there clearly, the Bengals getting there. Even though I'm not going to pick them to win the division, I would still probably put the Bills as that third team in the AFC, just because they've been knocking on the door the last few years. And then the NFC, I got the Eagles, I got the 49ers, and it's tough to give you a third team.

So maybe I dip into the AFC to get that team to six, or to get that number to six, because I usually like to keep it at six teams total. For a Super Bowl contender, the Jets have been knocking on that door. If they get Dalvin Cook, it would be big. But I don't think it's enough where I say, oh they're definitely going to go win the Super Bowl this year, I expect them to win the Super Bowl this year. If they go make a big move at the deadline, where maybe Aaron Donald requests a trade, and you have him and Quentin Williams feel bad to be an offensive lineman.

Or whatever that other piece may be. Just because of the state of the running back position, it'd be a good move for the Jets, but I think you need to bring in a bigger name at a different position for it to really make those waves just go crazy and fly all over the place. The Buffalo Bills. Super Bowl or Bus. It's that they have to win the Super Bowl. And you know what?

I read something over the weekend, Hickey. Remember last year, Brandon Bean, he said this on our show and other shows as well, that he will never call it a Super Bowl or Bus season. And I love Brandon, he's been on this show a bunch, but I thought that was weak, and I told him that he's got to say it's Super Bowl or Bus season. Did you see what Sean McDermott put up in the facility? Now the Bills, they don't practice at their regular practice facility.

They go about, I think it's like an hour away from their stadium for a training camp. Did you see what Sean McDermott has supposedly put a picture of up in the facility? Is it the Lombardi Trophy? That would be correct. Wow. Isn't that Sean saying, eye on the prize, it's Super Bowl or Bus this year?

I like it. Now I have not heard Brandon Bean talk to, I know he's talked to reporters, I don't know if this question has been asked though. If that's true that that photo has been put up there, Brandon, you wouldn't say it last year, you're saying it this year that the team has done a 180 and now it's Super Bowl or Bus. And I know there's technicalities there in terms of why a GM wouldn't say it, but everyone knows the Bills have been close. Even though you have Josh Allen and he's phenomenal, you never know how long the window is open in the NFL and it's not just Josh, it's the rest of the roster. You have a team that should be good enough and they have not got to the Super Bowl and they've only regressed ever since making that AFC Championship game. I know they had a great year in the divisional round and the defense and the kickoff and the coaching was horrible when they were up with 13 seconds to go. So they didn't get crushed for that in terms of, oh the Bills are crumbling. But now this offseason, this is where people after last year, everyone was all in and they got embarrassed at home in the divisional round and also barely beat the Dolphins with Skylar Thompson in the wildcard round.

You now have people starting to question the Bills, so I don't want to hear it anymore. It is definitely winning the Super Bowl or your season is a failure. The Denver Broncos. I'm not optimistic on this team. They will be improved because you can't get worse than last season.

With that being said though, bare minimum, even in a rough AFC, they got to make the playoffs. You have Sean Payton now as your head coach and you have Russell Wilson on that new contract and all that you gave up to go get him. Those two names, this is a quarterback and coach driven league where every Monday we're talking about what coach did this? Was it good or bad? What quarterback did this?

Did he do good or bad? That should be enough to make a playoffs in the AFC. If you tell me, tell me the rest of the roster. If you just said Zach, you haven't watched football in years, but you know Russell Wilson is a really good quarterback and Sean Payton is going to be a Hall of Fame coach. If they're together, would you expect to make the playoffs?

I probably would say absolutely. Now, seeing Russ regress last year, Sean was only on the sidelines for a year and I don't love the rest of that roster. I love the defense, don't love the offense. I'm going to predict them to miss the playoffs, but if they want this season to be a success, bare minimum, they have to make the postseason. The Philadelphia Eagles win the Super Bowl. They almost did so last year. That NFC, you never know when enough names are going to pop up where it starts to get crowded.

That could change very easily. Right now, this is your conference to lose. You were up 10 in the Super Bowl to Kansas City and you couldn't get the job done. The AFC is going to beat up on one another. The only team that's really in your way that could be a threat that I think people believe in are the 49ers, but we don't know what's going to happen with their quarterback situation. Dallas Vikings, both those teams, good regular season teams, horrible in the postseason. You're really going to let the Lions or the Seahawks get in your way of going back to a Super Bowl?

It's simple, folks. The Eagles got there last year. It was unexpected. They should get there this year again and they are more than good enough on both sides of the ball to hoist that Lombardi trophy. It's winning the Super Bowl or bust for the AGLES Eagles.

The Dallas Cowboys. Hickey, I think this is maybe one of the more fascinating ones because the last two years, Mike McCarthy has exceeded expectations where a lot of people thought he would be fired within the first two years of the job. Now he's here in your number three, and in the regular seasons, back-to-back 12-win seasons. You still have Dan Quinn as the defensive coordinator.

A lot of people thought he'd either be coaching the Cowboys or be a head coach somewhere else. You brought in Brandon Cooks this offseason. You brought in Stefan Gilmore as well. I don't think that was a sign that was talked about enough.

Like, you got pieces there. The defense is championship caliber with Micah Parsons, Stefan Gilmore, Trayvon Diggs. This is a really damn good defense, and they've been really damn good in the postseason the last two years. They did enough to beat the 49ers twice, but their offense let them down.

We don't know what the status is of Tony Pollard, no more Ezekiel Elliott. I look at the Cowboys as a team that this is a year where Dak's got a ball out. And I'm not talking about the regular season. I'm talking about the postseason.

Because the last two years, he's let them down in the playoffs. So I look at the Cowboys. They haven't made a Super Bowl since the 1995 season. I can't sit there and tell you that I believe they're going to go to a Super Bowl and it's Super Bowl or bus for them. But they've got to do something that they also haven't done since the 1995 season. Let's make the NFC title game. Bare minimum, the Cowboys have to be in the NFC title game. The San Francisco 49ers win the Super Bowl.

I get it. Kyle Shannon and John Lynch have done a phenomenal job. But they have failed to hit on the quarterback position. And I know that roster is awesome. That roster is phenomenal. The 49ers are like really kind of one of one in terms of I don't remember an organization changing their quarterback this much and having this much success. And also giving up significant draft capital in the move that they did to move up to go get Trey Lance. And it has not affected them in terms of you look at that team and you go, oh they stink.

Whether it was Jimmy G, Trey Lance, Brock Purdy, whoever. They have found a way, it feels like, bare minimum to get to an NFC title game each and every year. They got to figure out who's the guy at quarterback. But for Kyle Shanahan, this is on you. You're an offensive genius. I think some of it's arrogance where he believes he can win with whoever's at quarterback.

You've gotten really close. You outplayed Jimmy G, you outplayed Mahomes in a Super Bowl for three quarters, you blew that game. You've been to the NFC title game a bunch of other times as well. This year, with really the Eagles are the only team in your way in the NFC, you have to go win a Super Bowl. If they don't win a Super Bowl, this season for me is a failure. The Detroit Lions.

Make the playoffs. Now Hickey, I wavered on this one because I wanted to say win the NFC North because everyone's picking them to win the NFC North. But if the Lions, let's say, go 10-7 or 9-8 and the Vikings also go 9-8 or 10-7 and they just had the tiebreaker.

Are we going to be sitting here for a fan base that has really just been destroyed for so many years? And a fan base that always wants to love their Lions but the Lions don't give them enough reasons why they should still love them the way that they do? I'm not going to say that this year is a disaster for the Lions or they make the playoffs. I thought originally, when I first wrote this down, I would stick with the Lions, go win the NFC North. But then I said, if they don't win the NFC North, do they still make the playoffs? I can't view that season as a failure.

First seed, seventh seed, if they're playing in January, I'm with you. A success for Detroit. The New Orleans Saints. Win the NFC South. That division. Put it this way, if the Saints lose the NFC South and make the playoffs, what we just said about the Lions, that's not good enough for the Saints.

It is not. Where if they find a way to make the playoffs and it's not because they won the NFC South, what are we going to throw, a parade? Because they were 8-9 and the seventh seed in the NFC South stunk?

Or in the NFC stunk? They have to go make a division championship this year because you have Baker Mayfield with the Bucks, PU. You have the Panthers, I like Bryce Young a lot. I don't think they have enough around Bryce Young on the offensive side of the ball in year one. The Falcons are a team where if Desmond Ritter could figure it out, they could challenge and they could win that division because they have a lot of weapons on both sides of the ball.

But let's be real, folks. On paper, the Saints should win this division. I'm not confident the Saints are going to win this division. If they don't, though, I don't want to hear Derek Carr ever play the victim card again because it's never been easier for him to win a division than this year in his career in the NFL. The Baltimore Ravens.

They've got to be playing on divisional round weekend in the NFL. I look at that team, their offense, I know you bring in a Munkin as the offensive coordinator. They're going to throw the football more.

The question is how much. I know that they have a lot of injury problems. The quarterback being one the last two years. You have J.K. Dobbins also being an injury concern. Odell Beckham being an injury concern.

Rashad Bateman. We can go on and on and on about the injury concerns on this team. You paid your quarterback what you paid him. He deserved that money.

I advocated for him to get a big long-term deal. Just making the playoffs ain't good enough. I know they've been in divisional round weekend before, but you've got to go win a playoff game if you're in the wild card this year. And if you happen to be the onesie, which I don't think the Ravens are, then I'll make one change to this. Then you better be in the AFC Championship game. You've got to win a playoff game this year if you're the Baltimore Ravens. Los Angeles Rams. I don't believe in this team this year, Hickey.

But eventually we have to ask, what direction are you heading to? Matthew Stafford is still their quarterback. Aaron Donald is still a beast and is on that defensive line.

Cooper Cupp is still a great wide receiver when healthy. The rest of the roster, though, I don't like. I don't think the rest of the roster is anyone that really says, wow, that's a piece that you've got to have.

That's a piece that's an untouchable. And you have a coach, too, who keeps on having one foot in, one foot out. I want to be here.

Maybe I'm going to go retire, go to TV. I don't know what I want. If you have Sean McVay, Matthew Stafford, Aaron Donald, and Cooper Cupp, even though I don't believe in this team this year, and I think that roster is not that good, but you have an NFC that, for what, the six or seven seed? It's not as if you have to be super duper successful, like just the seven seed. If you tell me the Seahawks and the Cowboys are your fifth and sixth seed, those are good football teams. But the seven seed, it's not as if you have a loaded conference as you do in the AFC.

The seven seed should be attainable. But they're the third best team in that division. Seahawks are better than them, and the 49ers are better than them. The Cardinals, they stink. I don't care if you hear about this new culture with Jonathan Gannon. Please, give me a break.

Stop. But you look at the Rams. They've got to make the playoffs this year, because if they don't, then you've really got to tear this thing down, and you've got to get what you can get while guys like Stafford and Donald and Cooper Cupp are still attractive.

I'm with you. A ton of big names, right? They have a lot of star power still. You cannot just fizzle out and go 7 and 10, expect all to be okay. In a weak NFC, you've got to run it back, and you've got to make the playoffs.

Now, Hickey, you know what I'm impressed by here? We only really had a convert, because I said to Hickey before we got on the air here, I said, you're in charge of firing off the next team. Before we get to that next team, if you disagree with what I'm saying, then chime in. You really only questioned me about the Jets in terms of what would make me view them as a Super Bowl contender. And we're usually never aligned, not intentionally. We're not one of those radio shows or TV shows that just fake arguments. I don't operate that way. But you really only disagree with my expectations with one team, I think. I don't even think it was a big disagreement. It was just more so a question on how I could up the ante for that team.

I have the Jets as Super Bowl or bust. Otherwise, I mean, I think everything you said, I couldn't agree with more. I think it's very accurate. Now, I'm trying to find, because I did get a chuckle out of this over the weekend. Oh, here it is. So Hickey has his own podcast page now. Because even though this is Hickey's Monday through Friday job on CBS Sports Radio, he hosts the hot take Hickey. Oh, wait, it's not the hot take Hickey hour, even though it should be. He hosts the Ryan Hickey show, which is getting changed to Hick at Night, which is a play, I guess, off Nick at Night.

So I was reading the description here of Hick at Night because you just got your own podcast page, which it's crazy to me and inconceivable to me. How long have you been hosting that Saturday show for, 2 to 6 a.m.? Just over a year. Celebrated the anniversary like a week or two ago. And it's amazing. Were you even there for your own anniversary show?

I don't think so, actually. Happy anniversary to me. Yeah, geez. But you finally got your own podcast page, which I don't get how it's taken that long. And in the bio it says, Ryan delivers a passionate and different perspective on sports talk. He is a contrarian who usually finds himself in the minority opinions more times than not, but welcomes disagreement.

Check out the Ryan Hickey show every Saturday morning on CBS Sports Radio from 2 a.m. to 6 a.m. Eastern. You're calling yourself a contrarian who usually finds himself in the minority opinion more times than not. And we pretty much agreed on almost everything there. That means... Not every time.

I was right on the description. Not every time. Most times. Yeah, you know what though? This was a rare exception. I may not feel great about what I just said about all these teams. Because usually if you're on an island, I try to jump and go to a different island.

Welcome. No, the water's too rough. Plenty of sharks in there. Don't swim.

The island is plenty of room for both of us. So I'm confused here. Are you calling the show Hic at Night or is it the Ryan Hickey show?

It is going forward, going to be changed to Hic at Night. It was a big hit with a lot of people I know. I could not podcast the Ryan Hickey podcast, or in Korean I should say the Ryan Hickey podcast. Why? Because a former company I used to work with and do videos for, like during the pandemic, on a whim one day said, hey, you just want to like, instead of having these videos, just live on like a website, you also put it in a podcast.

I said, sure, let's go for it. Call it the Ryan Hickey podcast. Off the top of the head, didn't think much of it. Three things are podcasting on there.

It's like five minutes worth of content. And when they were creating, I emailed Odyssey to get the podcast page created so you can call it the Ryan Hickey show podcast. And because they, I guess, had to look it up and make sure like legally no one else has that name or stuff like that, they said it's too close to the Ryan Hickey podcast. So to prevent confusion, I said, OK, I'll reach out to them to even get the name back.

They said, no. Wait, wait, wait. This other company that you wait, is this the one that used to host a show for in the morning?

No, no, no, no, no. I did a few months worth of like social media videos, three, four minute videos on takes throughout the day that lived. It's like one of those pop up videos that you always click off of when they when you click on an article, you know, when they pop up, you had the idea to hit the X right away. OK, that was one of those videos. So this wasn't the company that you pretty much worked for free for when you were just trying to get the reps? Because if that was the case, I would have slammed them.

I would have walked to their offices on my own power and started to yell at them. Well, I also did not get paid for these other short videos. So the podcast page, I had no leverage back in 20. I have no leverage now anyway. But you do.

Back then, I really had no leverage. So I was doing the videos and they podcast like three of them. And I asked, hey, can I have the name? I have my own show, CBS Sports Radio to make the podcast. I said, you know, sorry, we don't really you know, we have freelancers.

We don't, you know, really change our website for based on where the freelancers are working. So I said, wow, they're really going to do this. And you know what?

It helps spawn a new name, which I think is better. And so screw them. They play themselves. I don't even want to mention that company on the air. But you know what? Screw it. Who are they? Who are these losers that won't give you the podcast?

If you're not comfortable, you know, I don't care. It is called sports not like a garlic nut and a UT sports. More like a robot ish sort of theme. Well, I'm not going to listen to them ever. What a bunch of losers.

And yeah, they won't give you the name, the rights to the Ryan Hickey podcast. I never even heard. No, I didn't even know you did this.

And we have a pretty good relationship. Again, it was what a bunch of losers. Right when the pandemic hit, trying to get some reps. They said yes. When I asked for pay later on, they said no. And I said, OK, see you later.

You want my uncle Freddie to show up and kind of intimidate them? Trying to get the name? It is OK. It helps spawn a new name that people like a lot.

Kaplan has made a beautiful Andrew Kaplan, our digital wizard here at CBS Sports Radio, made a beautiful graphic that looks very good. So we're going to go with that and we're going to roll with it here and say we're going to take a bad situation and make it into a good one. Could we send this other company some like dog poo and like, I'd love to put it on their porch. Even worse, actually.

This is really fast. The guy who I quote unquote hired me. Yeah.

Never paid the company. Oh, really? He was not all four. He had no problem reaching out to the person who replaced him and said, hey, here's the situation. He kind of put me in contact.

He was fine with it. Of course. Guy never met, never talked to, was not even there when I was there. Do they have offices? I have no idea. I don't think so. Man, if they have offices.

I do not think so. Let's go protest outside the office. Give Hickey his name back. F you. F you. Like, just go nuts. Should we do what Dave Portnoy did to Roger Dell at the NFL headquarters? Let's get arrested. Chain ourselves to the lobby of the company and then force the police to take us out in handcuffs. OK, but let me place my first phone call to my agent or my lawyer. You could call Spike and just tell me you won't come to work. I'll take care of getting you out of jail.

All right. Let me just say that'd be good pub for the show. It would be Zach Gelb, host of the Zach Gelb show.

Take it out on handcuffs after protesting producers podcasting. That would be wonderful. That would be great.

They painted like, you know, they put the one and the two there for 12. You can put R and H on your face. Now, I'm just going to say in the shower, no cap videos that you do, you've got to practice not dropping the soap because I think you'd be a hot commodity if we if we end up going to the slammer.

Bubba would love to see you. I guess. Thanks.

I think that's a compliment. Don't drop the soap. Well, I don't plan on ever going to jail.

But if I somehow end up in jail, I am not taking a shower. All right. We are way late for the break. Zach Gelb show CBS Sports Radio. You're listening to the Zach Gelb show.

855-212-4CBS 855-212-4227 You can think of O'Reilly Auto Parts while your car care needs get guaranteed low prices and excellent customer service from the professional parts people at O'Reilly Auto Parts. Oh, one of my favorites is on the line. Mike in Abilene, Texas, who is a mega, mega, mega Ohio State fan, and he has a prediction for his Buckeyes. And Mike is not, I don't want to say mean to his Buckeyes, but he's not always the most optimistic person in the world for a guy that hasn't had a lot to bitch about for the last 10 years with his program. But Michael, what do you got for me? First of all, good evening, sir. It's been a while since we spoke last.

The gloves are off. I'm not I'm back to myself. I like to know it. Well, crazy things happen in sports like you're 17 and one versus a team and they went two in a row and people lose their minds and forget that they're still 17 and three. So the thing is, Zach, first and foremost, it's in Ann Arbor this year, which is just perfect. I don't even look at I haven't even looked at our preseason rankings because it doesn't matter. The only thing that matters to me, the only thing that I care about all season long is at the end of November. And we will correct the universe where the earth is tilted on the wrong side of the taxes. I figured it out the other day. So that's what's causing all this weird stuff.

We will ride the ship, put the stars back in the place that they need to be, put the the planets back in order. And we're going to beat the living crap out of Michigan in their own stadium and in this stupid it's not even a streak. A streak is three. OK, two in a row is luck, especially when you got caught cheating.

Oh, and lo and behold, you can't. It was a few burgers. Come on. Yeah. No, you know me. I like to be dramatic sometimes. No, putting it into the schnide.

I like for real. This is because here's the thing. Well, you know, it wasn't luck. They beat the crap out of you guys on both sides of the ball, both sides of the ball. And last year they were not the better team.

Oh, yeah. The year before, I feel like I don't think talent wise, they weren't. We got NFL starters everywhere. It's just we.

We don't get up to play games because we want to sit out all season and hurt our whole team and not give our team a chance to win a national championship because we know we got money on the other side. Shout out Nick Bosa. Shout out frickin Jackson Smith and Jigba, whatever, dude. Go get your money, whatever. You know how I feel about C.J. Stroud.

Good luck, bro. I hope he gets exposed so bad. I hope he's. I don't honestly don't hope he's the real deal, because if he is the real deal, then why weren't you real?

The real deal for us. And why are you the only OSU quarterback in the last twenty three years to lose to Michigan? Not only once, but back to back. And you did it in our stadium.

So well, Mike, here's what I'll say about about this to you. You keep on talking about the Michigan game. Notre Dame is going to be a tough team this year.

And then you know what? I don't usually like to give this team many compliments. Penn State, up until the fourth quarter last year, they played you guys well. And they have a really good team on paper. No, and I think I think they're a little bit better this year.

They are. The quarterback, Drew Aller. They are the dark horse for the conference for me. I don't I go back and forth with the head coach. I just he you know, he's the other side. He's the enemy. So it's hard for me to give that guy props that he is a good freakin coach.

He's a good recruiter, James. Frankly, he's horrible up against top ten and top five teams. Yeah, he's the players love him, though. And that's pretty obvious. And when you when your players love you, anything is possible. So I've got my eye on that game. But again, like I said, man, I think they could beat us.

And yeah, that'll devastate me. But nothing matters but this game. And so is that the game you care about this year? Like like you don't care about maybe going to the college football playoff win a national championship, but just you want to get paid back against Michigan? I would love to put Harbaugh back in his place where he belongs, which is no greater than at least second place with his khakis and his footy pajamas and his sleepovers and all this stupid crap that he does to convince people to come play for him. He can't even do it right.

He got caught cheating doing it. Come on, bro. You canceled the covid game because you're scared you couldn't handle another drum to the face that you got some illegal recruits to beat us two times in a row. Congrats.

It ends now. Or here's here's here's what I'm going to do. First off, if I need to bring my horse up there and when we find this company that's doing Ryan so dirty, we'll show them the other end of the stick when it comes to Southern hospitality. You guys know me. I don't have a southern Texas drawl, but that's because I've worked on it.

Don't make me go full Texan. I will straight up for him. I'll go grab my horse right now and do it. If I have if we happen to lose and we lose for a third time in a row to this joke of coach, you guys will get a call from me.

The Monday following that game. So make sure you're at work, please, because I will not do it if you're not there. I want everybody there. I'll be there. Don't you worry. You will have it marked on your calendar. I hope I will call in and I will not only admit how they are.

Clearly a better program. I will gladly fly down, fly up, I guess is technically the term, your studio and Don a Michigan jersey and admit it on your show. Wow, possibility. That would be something.

That'd be something. Well, Mike, we appreciate it. I know you'll be calling all throughout college football season. You better give us a call early in that week on like a Monday or Tuesday or Wednesday because we'll be off on that Thursday or Friday for Thanksgiving. You guys will receive five phone calls that week from me. Mike, I appreciate it.

Thanks so much. There's Mike at Abilene, Texas. I always feel like there's a line, Hickey, that Mike is about to cross.

And I get very nervous and my hand is always on the dump button. But right when you think he's going to cross it, even when he's talking about the southern hospitality to try to get your podcast name back and kick some asses and make some heads roll, he finds a way to just tone it down a drop. I thought he was going to say he was going to give up his Ohio State fandom. I thought he was going to go there and say, I will never root for this team again and really go to the extreme. And that's where I have no clue what Mike and Abilene, Texas looks like. How fun would that be if he comes here and we get to see what Mike and Abilene, Texas looks like after hearing his voice for so many years and he has to wear a Michigan jersey. I picture him looking like Casey from Yellowstone, long hair, scraggly beard, can ride a horse, kind of a wild card kind of guy that may be in a nice little either blue, maybe alternate maze. Number what, nine jersey for J.G.

McCarthy? What would that be like, November 28th? Could be a sight.

Could be a sight to see. You're listening to The Zach Gelb Show. Extra, extra real about it!

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Stuck in a timeshare and want out, contact Wesley Financial Group now and get a free timeshare exit information kit at wesleyfinancialgroup.com. Oh boy, how about the Colts? It was a tweet by Jim Erce attacking the running backs and saying the CBA was negotiating good faith and Jonathan Taylor's agent fires back and says, oh, what's not in good faith is not paying your best player. And then we find out there was a whole lot more to that where the Colts haven't even had contract discussions with Jonathan Taylor and Jonathan Taylor has requested trade. Here is Jim Erce, the Colts owner, detailing the conversation he had on his RV with Jonathan Taylor. It was just a good conversation and, you know, again, you know, we're just, you know, hopeful and going forward, you know, looking forward to a great season, hoping, you know, hoping Jonathan's a big part of that.

So when you say it's a good conversation, Hickey, help me out here. And what else is he supposed to say? And he's already said too much in Jim Erce.

If the guy wants to trade and you're not willing to at least talk contract yet with him on the final year of his deal, how is that a good conversation? He may have thought it was a good conversation, but there's no way Jonathan Taylor, he could have been respectful, but there's no way he was happy to talk to Jim Erce. That's the thing. I think Jim sometimes gets caught up in his own world and thinks, well, if this was good for me, it's good for everybody. Oh, he's only in his own world. That guy's lost. It's crazy how successful he is, where when you listen to him, he always sounds like he's lost. Well, plenty of people have written about maybe, you know, not, he shouldn't get a lot of credit for his success.

Fair. And born in maybe, you know, you win the Gene Lottery more than anything else. So that's, that's what he's won.

Gene Fool Lottery. Hey, geez. Not good. Not good at all. I'm like, you be Jonathan Taylor.

Jonathan, we've already discussed this, but we're not negotiating with you now. We want you to prove your own worth this year. Coming off the injury and we hope to see you week one. Who are you playing? The Jaguars? I think it is. Jaguars at home.

That would be a Jim Rousset thing not to know who they're playing week one. But what do you think about that? Mr. Hersey, I think I've proven my worth on the field.

I've had three great years, two great years and one solid year, decent year, okay year. I think I deserve a contract extension right now before I get on the field because I've proven enough already. Well, it ain't happening. Mr. Hersey, please. I'm begging you. Well, it's not happening.

Oh, yeah? I'm demanding a trade. It was wonderful, though.

It was a great conversation. Jim Hersey says he could die tonight and Jonathan Taylor could get hurt and the NFL would keep on moving forward. I mean, if I die tonight and Jonathan Taylor's out of the league, no one's going to miss us. The league goes on. You know, we know that the national football rolls on.

It doesn't matter, you know, who comes and who goes. So you know what's wild? The two things that he said, Hickey, basically saying the running backs have no like to stand on and also pointing out that the NFL will survive without Jim Hersey and without Jonathan Taylor. He's not wrong on any of those things. But why are you saying them? You don't need to speak.

Don't get me wrong. You're the gift that keeps on giving. I appreciate that.

I thank you. But even someone that wants you to say all this crazy stuff, you shouldn't be saying it right now. It just makes it a messier situation. Trying to knock the leverage off Jonathan Taylor. You think you're so special? He has no leverage! I would die tomorrow. I'm the owner of this team and the NFL will keep on going on. So what leverage do you have?

Get out of my RV. Shane Steichen discusses Jonathan Taylor's status on the team. Shane, as you guys planned, are you expecting JT to play this year for you? Yeah, right now he's on this football team. He's on this football team and when the medical staff clears him, he should be out here. I know he got paid, but do you think Shane Steichen is already sitting there saying, man, I should have taken another job? I've got to deal with Jim Hersey starting all these fires and when he can put them out, he refuses to do so. And I don't even look at our team this year and think it's all that good.

Sure, you're intrigued by Anthony Richardson, but I can't really expect Anthony Richardson to be put in a position to succeed this year if he doesn't have a fully committed Jonathan Taylor. He got one practice. Shane Steichen got one normal day of practice before Jim Hersey, Jim Hersey'd. What a bleep show.

Congrats, Shane. Yeah. Isn't that the biggest joke in the NFL? Like the commanders, now they no longer have Daniel Snyder, so they get out of the running for that. The Lions actually have expectations this year. The Cardinals are definitely in the mix. The Raiders are definitely in the mix and the Colts are in the mix. And I know some people could say the Texans, but this is the first time in a while where the Texans actually had a positive offseason. I look at those three teams, Colts, Raiders, Cardinals, could be the biggest joke right now in the biggest circus in the NFL. Raiders are still one. I would agree the Colts are in that conversation. Raiders to me are far and away number one. Who won last year between the Colts and the Raiders? Colts.

That's right. Jeff Saturday. Jeff Saturday.

First time they had a halftime lead all year. Josh McDaniel's. Yeah. Take that, Josh.

Fool. We know the Cardinals are going to suck and you look at their roster, they're supposed to be bad. You look at the Colts, they're going to be a bad football team.

They're supposed to be bad. The Raiders have some pieces, but I have no confidence in the Raiders. Nor should you.

Nor should you. Let's go to Sean Payton from Friday on why he decided to torch Nathaniel Hackett in the Jets saying that last year Nathaniel Hackett's job with the Broncos, the team that Sean Payton now coaches, was one of the worst coaching jobs he's ever seen in the history of the league. I had one of those moments where I still had my Fox hat on.

Oh, lame. And not my coaching hat on. And, you know, I said this to the team in the meeting yesterday.

We've had a great offseason relative to that, you know, and I've been preaching that message. And here I am, the veteran, you know, stepping in it. And, you know, it was it was a learning experience for me. It was a mistake.

Obviously, I needed a little bit more filter. You said what you said. You meant what you said. I think you said that to take some of the pressure off Russell Wilson. Is that actually going to work if Russell Wilson's playing poorly? No, we're going to crush Ross and we're going to crush you. But stop backtracking it. Now you look weak. Aaron Rodgers tortures Sean Payton for his comments about Nathaniel Hackett in the Jets.

NFL Plus. It made me feel bad that someone who's accomplished a lot in the league is that insecure that they have to take another man down to set themselves up for some sort of easy fall if it doesn't go well for that team this year. Thought it was way out of line, inappropriate. And I think he needs to keep my coach's names out of his mouth. It's amazing, Hickey, where it was so obnoxious the last few years. Rogers against the Packers. Now Rogers goes to the Jets and he hasn't said one wrong thing. And if I'm a jet fan, which I'm not, I'm going nuts. I love that response.

I think that's wonderful. And if you're a Packers fan, you got to be P.O. We have you upset that now he's Mr. Team guy taking discounts all about building chemistry.

This wide receivers when you came close last few years and arguably because of Aaron Rodgers, you fell short. We get to Dan Lanning, the coach of Oregon, second year reacting to the news that Colorado is leaving the Pac 12 to join the Big 12. Not a big reaction. I mean, I'm trying to remember what they won to affect this conference. I don't remember.

I don't remember them winning anything. Has Deion Sanders responded to that yet? Not that I've seen.

This is a few hours old. Oh, my. He's got something I'm sure. Cook in the next time he finds a podium. That's wonderful.

That is absolutely wonderful. Now, Dan Lanning is not wrong. And I know Oregon has accomplished a lot as a program, but Oregon, why aren't you leaving? That's my question. I would start looking after yourself and try to leave that conference because the Pac 12 is just in a state of disarray right now. Colorado and Oregon. Oh, they play soon.

September twenty third. It's a little juicy matchup now. We know Oregon's going to win that game, but man, that will be a fun one leading up to that week. And imagine if Colorado somehow wins. Oh, boy.

Deion Sanders would be must watch after that one. Hey, do me a favor. I know we've been asking like every week and they don't keep on getting back to us. Reach out to Oregon. I want Dan Lanning on this week or we'll take both Nick someone, anyone quack, quack, quack. We want to talk about the ducks.