#602: Minnesota Vikings DON'T TRUST JJ McCarthy, Gophers CAN'T BEAT Wisconsin Badgers

Speaker 1 (00:06):
Welcome into the show today. Thank you for making this
podcast a part of your day. This podcast prides itself
on being one one hundred percent honest, one hundred percent
of the time with a touch of sarcasm. And while
you're here, hit that subscribe on YouTube, Apple or Spotify
or wherever you're making this podcast are part of your day,

(00:28):
I do appreciate it. A lot of Minnesota Vikings stories
to dive into today, as the Sam Donald reporting continues
to be off the charts and a little crazy. And
just a few minutes ago there was a breaking Minnesota
Vikings story that is going to shake up the Vikings.

Speaker 2 (00:53):
Roster a lot, so we'll dive into that too. Sam Darnald.

Speaker 1 (01:01):
And the Vikings reports surrounding Sam Donald, Ian Rappaport, Adam Schefter,
Peter Schrager, Mike Gerfalo, Jordan Schultz, all of the big
boys are practically reporting the same thing. If the Vikings
and Sam Donald can agree to a number, the Vikings

(01:24):
want Donald back for another season, and that makes sense.
Thirty five touchdowns twelve interceptions was in the MVP conversation
until the final two weeks of the season. Was never
going to win MVP but he was at least in
the top five conversation of.

Speaker 2 (01:44):
Being MVP, And on this show.

Speaker 1 (01:50):
The topic will revolve around Sam Donald. But the specific
topic that revolves around Sam Donald really deals with the
Vikings and their top ten selected draft pick McCarthy, because

(02:15):
right now the topic is Donald, this Donald debt, Donald,
this Donald debt, and O'Connell's being asked JJ McCarthy questions too,
like what do you think of the guy? Hows his
recovery going, Whill he be ready by OTAs, all that
kind of nonsense. But with this speculation and reporting from

(02:40):
the big boys, Okay, this is coming from the top
dogs of NFL reporters, it means something. It's not just
some random guy trying to make some noise as a
reporter trying to sell himself. And you know, look what

(03:01):
I can do, look at throwing out crap and hopefully
it sticks and then it can call himself a legit reporter.
This stuff is coming from the rap reports, the shifters,
and they can't just throw stuff out there and hope
it sticks because this would severely damage their reputation. So

(03:23):
you listen to these guys talk and what they say
is that they really only report about three to four
percent of what they actually know, And the reason why
is because if they reported everything and it was wrong,
it was severely damaged to the reputation. So the fact
that they're reporting so consistently that Sam Darnald and the
Vikings are trying to come to a contract agreement on

(03:47):
a one or two year deal means that there are
legit conversations happening behind the scenes with Donald and the Vikings.
But I think a bigger question needs to be asked
because of the Donald and Vikings negotiations, And the question

(04:12):
is do the Minnesota Vikings fully trust JJ McCarthy to
step in and be a quarterback like Sam Donald was
in his first season with the Vikings, Because I think it's.

Speaker 2 (04:30):
A fair.

Speaker 1 (04:33):
Question to ask if McCarthy could produce thirty five touchdowns
and twelve interceptions at the peak of his career, those
are legitimate NFL numbers, And you know, if you bring
Donald back, maybe it's a quarterback competition between McCarthy and Donald,

(04:57):
and maybe McCarthy wins the job. But if you were
so sure about McCarthy, then why are the Vikings in
contract negotiations with Donald? Now They're never gonna come out
and say that we have doubts about McCarthy. They're never
gonna come out and say we have hesitancies about McCarthy's

(05:21):
neat surgery and the long term ramifications of that. They're
never gonna come out and say, you know, we screwed
up the.

Speaker 2 (05:28):
Top ten pick.

Speaker 1 (05:30):
But what they could do, and what they are saying
right now while they are negotiating with Donald, is that
they are not one one hundred percent confident McCarthy is
ready to be the guy next season for the Vikings.

(05:50):
What they are telling us subliminally without actually telling us,
is that the Vikings do not fully trust McCarthy to
step in as QB one next season.

Speaker 2 (06:08):
That's what they're telling is.

Speaker 1 (06:10):
You can poo poo it all you want, you can
try to pretend that they're not. But if you're being
one hundred percent objective and you're looking at the Vikings
and their negotiations and their discussions with Donald and his agency,
and they have all this cap space and now they're

(06:31):
trying to bring Donald back when they have a rookie
quarterback on a rookie contract with which they've been working
through for years. What the Vikings are telling us is
that they are unsure if McCarthy's performance against the Raiders

(06:52):
in preseason game number one was something that he can
build off of for.

Speaker 2 (07:00):
An NFL regular season at least next season.

Speaker 1 (07:03):
You know, maybe they believe he'll be ready in two years,
three years, or whatever the case may be. But the
fact that they think McCarthy and Donald should have a
quarterback competition this offseason, if they can indeed bring Donald
back at the number, then the Vikings are telling us

(07:25):
they do not fully trust J. J. McCarthy at this point.
End time to be QB one. I already can hear
the reactions to this podcast via social media reels and comments,
Oh this guy's in any of this guy's dumb? Oh
this guy.

Speaker 2 (07:47):
Recording in your mom's basement.

Speaker 1 (07:49):
Only the hot pockets are incredible, free rent hot pockets
for my mom and dad upstairs. They're putting into the
microwave right now, so I can go upstairs and be
ready to go hem and cheese.

Speaker 2 (08:01):
I mean, who's going to pass up that opportunity.

Speaker 1 (08:03):
I can already see the comments, get out of your
mother's basement, get a real.

Speaker 2 (08:06):
Job, blah blah blah.

Speaker 1 (08:09):
But I think it's a fair question to ask that
the Vikings would never answer. But our job as podcasters
or fans or objective people in general is to take
a look at what the Vikings are saying, what they're doing,
and figure out what they mean by what they're saying

(08:32):
and what they're doing, and what they mean.

Speaker 2 (08:34):
Right now, what they are telling us about J. J.

Speaker 1 (08:40):
McCarthy is that they do not fully trust him yet
or his.

Speaker 2 (08:47):
Knee injury or something about it.

Speaker 1 (08:51):
If they are in talks with Sam Darnold to try
to bring him back, what else would it mean If
you fail so good about McCarthy, then why are you
in a discussion with.

Speaker 2 (09:06):
Darnold to bring them back on a one or two
year deal.

Speaker 1 (09:10):
What's the point of sacrificing twenty to thirty million dollars
if McCarthy is going to be the guy and then
he's just gonna be the backup. But he could use
that money on an offensive lineman or a secondary or
a running back. There is something behind the scenes that

(09:32):
the Vikings are not telling you, but based on their
decision making and their contract negotiations, they are telling us
and is quite clear they are unsure about J. J.
McCarthy being QB one next season. All right, next topic,

(09:56):
real quick. The Vikings just a few minutes ago came
to an agreement with THEO Jackson a contract extension. Is
entering this offseason as a restricted free agent, and they

(10:17):
came to terms on a two year, twelve and a
half million dollar extension through twenty twenty seven, with the
first two years fully guaranteed.

Speaker 2 (10:26):
That signing.

Speaker 1 (10:27):
THEO Jackson twenty six years old, but and played a
few snaps last year. I think he had an interception.
But what this signing signifies is that Cambine Them or
Harrison Smith or both will not be back on the

(10:52):
Minnesota Vikings roster next season. Cambine Them is testing free
agents and figuring out what that market is, and he's
probably a guy that will get pretty big bucks this
summer because of the performance that he put on the
field last year. And Harrison Smith, who knows if he's

(11:16):
going to retire. Reports kind of go back and forth.

Speaker 2 (11:19):
But what this.

Speaker 1 (11:23):
Indicates is that the Vikings think cambine Him is probably
not back next season. So that is going to be
a major shift defensively and in the Vikings defensive celebrations. Okay,
I just wanted to touch on that one real quick. The

(11:46):
next topic topic that I want to talk about, and
this is going to be the last one. My hot
pocket's almost ready. The Gophers basketball program lost to the
Wisconsin Badger last night at the Barn Williams Arena by

(12:07):
like seven points, and it was a competitive game in.

Speaker 2 (12:10):
The second half.

Speaker 1 (12:11):
The Gophers had the lead at one point, They're down
by three with about three minutes left, and they couldn't
knock down a free throw down the stretch, and the
Badgers were almost perfect from the line. And when near
the Gophers versus the Badgers in that situation, it could happen.
But what needs to happen is you need to have

(12:34):
a margin of error that is almost zero. Because the
Badgers are known for not beating themselves. They're a good
roster with a good coach, and they're always a good program.
So the Gophers were going to have to take it
away from the Badgers if they wanted to win that game.

(12:56):
The Badgers were not going to hand the Gophers that game.
The bigger story in this matchup between the Gophers and
the Badgers the border battle, is that it has been
nine years, not nine years, but it has been nine matchups.

(13:17):
Now that the Gophers have lost in a row against
the Badgers. It's been one eight and fifty five days
since the Gophers beat the Badgers since twenty twenty pre COVID.

Speaker 2 (13:34):
It's a long time.

Speaker 1 (13:35):
It's been five years, nine matchups. The Gophers cannot be
the Badgers. And every year you look at the Wisconsin
Badgers roster and and here's a guy from Prior Lake,
here's a guy from Litchfield, here's the guy from Minneapolis

(13:58):
starting for the Badger. These guys did not grow up
Wisconsin Badgers fans. These guys did not grow up going
to Madison and supporting the red and white Wisconsin Badgers.

Speaker 2 (14:14):
These guys aren't bleeding red.

Speaker 1 (14:17):
What is happening is that the Wisconsin Badgers in Madison, Wisconsin.

Speaker 2 (14:26):
Is a much more intriguing.

Speaker 1 (14:27):
Place to play than Minnesota, regardless of head coach. You
cannot blame Ben Johnson for Minnesota high school athletes going
to Wisconsin and playing for the Badgers, because it seems

(14:50):
like it's been happening for the last fifteen years. The
Minnesota High School Basketball Association has become a farm system
for the Wisconsin Badgers. They just pluck and pluck and
pluck and pluck. The movie Moneyball with Brad Pitt, the

(15:12):
manager of the Oakland A's and the New York Yankees
prior away Jason Giambi, the best Boston Red Sox prior
away Johnny Damon, and Brad Pitt's character goes on the

(15:35):
movie and practically says, we are a farm system for
the rich. And that's what the Minnesota High School Basketball
Association is for the Wisconsin Badgers. They come into our state,
they recruit them, they have better facilities, they're a more

(15:59):
attractive place to play.

Speaker 2 (16:02):
Why in the world.

Speaker 1 (16:04):
The thing just think about, there is no reason whatsoever
why the Minnesota Gophers program should not be as enticing
or as promising as the Wisconsin Badgers program.

Speaker 2 (16:21):
What's the difference both Midwest schools.

Speaker 1 (16:24):
It's not like Wisconsin Badger's program is in the midst
of a big city and they live this glamorous life.
They have better facilities, they have better situations there. And
the thing holding back the Minnesota Gophers program and it

(16:44):
will be like this and tell something dramatically changes is
the barn Williams Arena fifteen sixteen seventeen year old kids
don't grow up wishing to play at the Barn. Especially now,
it's just getting worse because nobody goes to the games.

Speaker 2 (17:06):
It's empty arenas for the most part.

Speaker 1 (17:09):
And nobody dreams to play on a risen floor at
William's Arena.

Speaker 2 (17:20):
It's not a dream anymore.

Speaker 1 (17:22):
And as much as the boosters and this athletic director
of Minnesota Gophers Sports wants it to be about the Barn,
the barn is holding back the program more than anything else.

Speaker 2 (17:40):
More than the head coach.

Speaker 1 (17:42):
Head coaches are going to cycle through every three to
four years and get fired because they can't get the
right recruits. Because nobody wants to play in Minnesota. It's
a thing of the past.

Speaker 2 (17:55):
It's like.

Speaker 1 (17:57):
Baseball never bringing in a shot clock, and then they
finally did, and it's a great change. It's like golf
never tooting a shot clock because it's got to be
like the nineteen twenties. The Gophers are behind the times,
they're not updated, They're boring Williams Arena.

Speaker 2 (18:17):
Big deal. That was cool for our mothers and daughters.
Mothers and daughters.

Speaker 1 (18:22):
I really don't know what he said at the end
of this, and I don't think he knows what he said,
either that was really cool for our mothers and fathers
and our grandparents and our great grandparents.

Speaker 2 (18:30):
It's not cool anymore. Nobody dreams to play there.

Speaker 1 (18:35):
And the reason why so many athletes leave for Wisconsin
is because their pitch is better. You walk into a
high school kid's house, what do you say if.

Speaker 2 (18:50):
You're a Minnesota Gopher program? What is your pitch?

Speaker 1 (18:53):
Oh, you can live close to mom and dad and
they can come and visit you every weekend.

Speaker 2 (18:57):
What they don't want that?

Speaker 1 (19:00):
Oh? Oh yeah, play on this floor that Bobby Jackson
played on, Play on this floor that Kevin McHale played on.

Speaker 2 (19:09):
Who's Kevin McHale?

Speaker 1 (19:12):
Oh, my gosh, it's it's it's a it's a problem
that is so obvious and it is the elephant in
the room. Yet at the same time, they don't want
to address it. They're just gonna sit there until it
becomes like the Metrodome and it just collapses and then
you've gotta do something about it.

Speaker 2 (19:33):
This is unbelievable.

Speaker 1 (19:36):
Gophers have not beaten the Badgers and one eight and
fifty five days and the Badgers are beating Minnesota. And
they have always beaten Minnesota with Minnesota recruits.

Speaker 2 (19:50):
It's ridiculous, all right.

Speaker 1 (19:53):
Thank you for watching the show, and thank you for
making this podcast a part of your day.

Speaker 2 (19:57):
Hit that subscribe button

Speaker 1 (19:58):
Appreciate you, Thank you for listening, and tell your friends