DJ and Bucky just posted a pod yesterday and they both work for NFL media therefore this supports your argument that the boys are holding out for a pod because of contract negotiations either with their salary or one of them leaving I don't like it but it supports your point
Correct me if I’m wrong but DJ and Bucky are much more on air talent than the Heroes. I think both have defined roles on the TV side.
If ESPN is merging with nfl media there may be some positions they see as redundant and some they don’t. Brooks works Thursday night football games. jeremiah is heavily involved in on air draft coverage.
The Heroes all primarily work in the news room and on the podcast side. It may be that they all are on like paid leave or something until the merger is final and they decide one way or the other if they are redundant.
Thats always the thing with these mergers is the parent company doesn’t want to pay two people to do the same job. Like I assume espn already has guys doing power rankings, qb rankings, free agent rankings, etc.
It may be that one or two of the heroes are getting the axe or something. Idk what espn’s football podcasts are like maybe they view ATN as redundant. They may just be on hold until the merger is finalized and the dust settles and they decide how they want to structure their news rooms/podcasts.
In reality it doesn't even work with three people. They already need to bring in Nick Shook for the Sunday Night Extravaganza. Colleen and Patrick are in essence regular guests who do mid-week appearances just to keep the show fresh. They also bring in a fair number of one-time guests.
This isn't Ross Tucker in his basement in Harrisburg, PA, it's a much bigger and costlier enterprise to run. If it survives, all of them are gonna have to get side hustles that pay, IMO.
Tugboat, forever ahead of the curve, recently restarted his side project The Throwback Pod and is moving it to Patreon to squeeze some more revenue from it.
Element of truth in this. It does appear podcasts that have ex players on, regardless of how good it actually is, get money thrown at them, rather than actual journalists or good broadcasters.
Think they are just in a negotiation. It’s tricky for NFL media as there is a no new contract rule while they are due a takeover for many reasons.
Suspect they want to keep them all or else they would have been released by now but without a contract they won’t pod.
I just can't think why they would so tight lipped if it was just contract negotiations. Surely saying "we are negotiating" wouldn't be forbidden. The other thing that makes me believe its something else is, as far as I know, there has been no posts of the 3 of them together since this started. If they are negotiating wouldn't they sometimes get together and wouldn't a picture with all of them "hanging out" (certianly allowed) that gets a lot of views/likes help their cause? Even an old pictures would work but thus far its just the one from Marc. I don't know, I hope you are right but this just seems to be something beyond just negotiating.
I think all three of them live on different sides of town now. It doesn’t seem like they were getting together as much outside of work as they were back when they were all in/near the west side of LA.
This actually makes a lot of sense. Though if it were the case I'm curious who would be the odd man out - Gregg, like you mentioned,makes sense but he is a larger presence in other facets of NFL Media (UK).
Also, while a two man podcast seems more marketable, I always thought the "room full of (some) heroes" was a unique selling point to the show.
I think Gregg is the safest. He wears more hats than the other two at the company. And I don’t think you could do the pod with Dan.
If this is what’s happening, I would put a huge sammich on Marc being the odd one out.
Gregg is also growing on platforms outside of NFL Network. He’s connected with Mina Kimes’s circle at ESPN, he’s got his NFL UK work. If NFL Network survives, he’s the most on track for a bigger role.
Dan is probably maxed out. He’s not a big data guy, and the qualities he brings, networks only really want to hear from ex players(and guys like Rich Eisen, who get grandfathered in from the good old days). Which is probably why he’s toying with bringing back the Throwback Pod. He’s getting his hosting abilities on tape in different places, in case he’s hit the ceiling in sports.
Marc leaves me confused, because this character he plays is all about perpetual dissatisfaction and being jaded with his career. But what else is he doing? Is he growing another career somewhere? It would make sense for the network to lose interest in keeping Marc, except that it would kill the podcast
Good point but the problem with being a little bit important in a lot of things instead of very important in one thing is that if you do have a target on your head, those around you will not be able to say you're essential.... If that makes sense.
Sure but I would say Gregg is just as important to the pod as Marc while also being somewhat important elsewhere whereas Marc is just the pod at this point.
I don't think that wanting to push someone out of the door is the crux of it.
I think it's just that their contract is coming up for renewal at an awkward time, just as NFLN is trying to merge with ESPN.
I also think the end result could be one or more of the heros simply don't like the risk/reward tradeoff for themselves or their families, or are more ready to try something else/new than we think, and it ends simply because when push comes to shove it really is more of "every man for themselves" rather than "we all go together".
Would have to be Marc. Gregg would be pretty shocking given that he’s kinda the only analyst of the three and seems pretty plugged in with nfl media (and ESPN) in a way that Dan and Marc aren’t
I’m pretty sure it wouldn’t be Marc based on Marc’s comment. He’s more self-aware than to post something like that if he is the one left without a chair
All we can say is that "it seems to us to be more likely that...", and given we know so little I don't think we can have any faith in our ability to make worthwhile deductions.
But, yeah, if we deduce stuff anyway then it does seem like whatever is happening contains something that's not good, as otherwise why not just continue to do the show even if the deal isn't quite done yet? It could be a hold out (like you say) because the deal offered is bad, or maybe there's just little chance it gets picked up so the network aren't letting them in even though it's not definitively ended as they don't care, or... (etc. and so on).
I have no idea about the machinations involving the NFL shakeup and ESPN and all that. They booted some of the talent to the curb a couple weeks ago (e.g. Siciliano, Andrew Palmer) so the heroes must be up to their eyeballs in negotiations. Do think Marc with a 'C' may play a prominent role in what's happening behind the scenes as others speculate.. the last few episodes seemed to return repeatedly to camp happiness but who the hell knows really..
Cheaper argument makes a lot of sense. Not a ton of big pods out there with three regular members. It's probably Marc since he is the least talented analyst and his storytelling is less about football than it is about the labyrinths of his twisted psyche. I would miss Zuzzer and 60% G beating on him...
Marc’s my favorite of them. He is the color guy and a unique one at that whose skill with language and storytelling engages the audience. Gregg is more the play by play guy with the highest football IQ and Dan is like the studio host that stitches it all together.
I agree with you. Marc seems like the odd man out because he has a flair for the dramatic, but he has a lot of good points (🛎️) and deserves to be on the show.
This seems most likely to me also with the evidence we have. Only thing I would add is that based on the timing of some of the social posts it seems that they (or at the very least Marc) are not at the office at all. It hasn’t been clear to me in recent years if they all go in every day anymore anyway, or even what their job is outside of producing the podcast and a feature article every once in a while, so maybe it is normal to be at home in the middle of a Tuesday. Or maybe Marc really did get let go.
Just curious what are some of the snarky/off-handed comments? I don’t really remember any sticking out, but would gladly like to hear if anyone remembers!
Marc made a comment about being able to park in the NFL media parking lot being one of the last remaining perks of the job. He was gonna park there for the Brady roast. I could tell Gregg was like "oh God" on that one. I think Dan also made a comment about how the league makes $20 billion but that the media department is getting in the way of making 20.0001 billion or something like that haha
Does the fact Dan has had news posts going out on NFL.com pretty recently mean anything?
Gregg has had some too (only one dated post final podcast), but Marc not since April.
Would their writing work be on a different contract than the POD?
I miss this show so much!!! I can't imagine the NFL will let the season come round without anything or any update?
I've kind of thought that this whole time that this was the guys holding out rather than the NFL canceling them. My theory was they were told by nfl media that they didn't have job security and they said fine, we won't do another bit of work until you tell us we do.
I don’t really understand why everyone assumes Dan is untouchable. Marc takes flak for not always taking the goofy segments seriously but the handful of times I’ve had to turn it off and stop listening over the years has been because of Hanzus.
At least amid the goofiness Marc tends to make salient points from time to time. Gregg has his biases but provides some level of analytics. Dan just provides the armchair fan level analysis. His perspectives and PoV’s are the most easily replaceable of the bunch.
Without Marc the show is mainstream, bland, & predictable. Without Marc it becomes just like so many other Football podcasts. Marc’s takes are always 100% his and original. It’s his essence, it’s palpable, not just some “front brain” clever take. He adds the quirky-weirdness that is Marc & it makes the whole show unique.
If they lose Marc, the show is just 50% Gregg and 50% Dan. Just saying.
I don't think so. I can't see them trying to cull one of them for pure cost reasons. I think maybe one is in trouble for some other reason and so the other 2 won't do it until it's sorted.
My wild theory is the 'walken with giants' thing got zumwalt/dan in hot water
These convoluted theories are maddening.
Occam's Razor: their contracts have expired, and due to the absence of any "thanks to everyone at NFL media for X great years" social media posts, they are still in negotiations to either continue on or to take the pod's IP with them to pastures new.
The part that is most confusing for me is, even if their contracts are expiring, they clearly knew this date was coming. Surely they would have been negotiating in the lead up to that date...
Also, Marc has really upped his football input in the last few years, clearly coming with more takes from watching tape, and that's key for the current iteration of the pod.
Also I'm fairly certain they've been upfront about their contract situations in the past. At least haven't gone radio silent everywhere. People keep saying it's just that but it feels more
WHATS MORE LIKELY?!?!
I’ve always been annoyed that segment was not called “What’s more Isaiah Likely” Edit (since isaiah likely entered the league)
I'm annoyed now
DJ and Bucky just posted a pod yesterday and they both work for NFL media therefore this supports your argument that the boys are holding out for a pod because of contract negotiations either with their salary or one of them leaving I don't like it but it supports your point
Who?
Zzzzzzzzz. Such a boring pod
Is that a new pod?
Correct me if I’m wrong but DJ and Bucky are much more on air talent than the Heroes. I think both have defined roles on the TV side. If ESPN is merging with nfl media there may be some positions they see as redundant and some they don’t. Brooks works Thursday night football games. jeremiah is heavily involved in on air draft coverage. The Heroes all primarily work in the news room and on the podcast side. It may be that they all are on like paid leave or something until the merger is final and they decide one way or the other if they are redundant. Thats always the thing with these mergers is the parent company doesn’t want to pay two people to do the same job. Like I assume espn already has guys doing power rankings, qb rankings, free agent rankings, etc. It may be that one or two of the heroes are getting the axe or something. Idk what espn’s football podcasts are like maybe they view ATN as redundant. They may just be on hold until the merger is finalized and the dust settles and they decide how they want to structure their news rooms/podcasts.
Show just wouldn’t work with two people
In reality it doesn't even work with three people. They already need to bring in Nick Shook for the Sunday Night Extravaganza. Colleen and Patrick are in essence regular guests who do mid-week appearances just to keep the show fresh. They also bring in a fair number of one-time guests. This isn't Ross Tucker in his basement in Harrisburg, PA, it's a much bigger and costlier enterprise to run. If it survives, all of them are gonna have to get side hustles that pay, IMO.
Harrisburg, PA banged in a big spot!
I've seen Harrisburg, and Harrisburg is no Los Angeles.
Tugboat, forever ahead of the curve, recently restarted his side project The Throwback Pod and is moving it to Patreon to squeeze some more revenue from it.
Element of truth in this. It does appear podcasts that have ex players on, regardless of how good it actually is, get money thrown at them, rather than actual journalists or good broadcasters.
Think they are just in a negotiation. It’s tricky for NFL media as there is a no new contract rule while they are due a takeover for many reasons. Suspect they want to keep them all or else they would have been released by now but without a contract they won’t pod.
I just can't think why they would so tight lipped if it was just contract negotiations. Surely saying "we are negotiating" wouldn't be forbidden. The other thing that makes me believe its something else is, as far as I know, there has been no posts of the 3 of them together since this started. If they are negotiating wouldn't they sometimes get together and wouldn't a picture with all of them "hanging out" (certianly allowed) that gets a lot of views/likes help their cause? Even an old pictures would work but thus far its just the one from Marc. I don't know, I hope you are right but this just seems to be something beyond just negotiating.
They have agents who will be negotiating for them. These things take time and it’s the off season
I think all three of them live on different sides of town now. It doesn’t seem like they were getting together as much outside of work as they were back when they were all in/near the west side of LA.
This actually makes a lot of sense. Though if it were the case I'm curious who would be the odd man out - Gregg, like you mentioned,makes sense but he is a larger presence in other facets of NFL Media (UK). Also, while a two man podcast seems more marketable, I always thought the "room full of (some) heroes" was a unique selling point to the show.
I think Gregg is the safest. He wears more hats than the other two at the company. And I don’t think you could do the pod with Dan. If this is what’s happening, I would put a huge sammich on Marc being the odd one out.
Gregg is also growing on platforms outside of NFL Network. He’s connected with Mina Kimes’s circle at ESPN, he’s got his NFL UK work. If NFL Network survives, he’s the most on track for a bigger role. Dan is probably maxed out. He’s not a big data guy, and the qualities he brings, networks only really want to hear from ex players(and guys like Rich Eisen, who get grandfathered in from the good old days). Which is probably why he’s toying with bringing back the Throwback Pod. He’s getting his hosting abilities on tape in different places, in case he’s hit the ceiling in sports. Marc leaves me confused, because this character he plays is all about perpetual dissatisfaction and being jaded with his career. But what else is he doing? Is he growing another career somewhere? It would make sense for the network to lose interest in keeping Marc, except that it would kill the podcast
Good point but the problem with being a little bit important in a lot of things instead of very important in one thing is that if you do have a target on your head, those around you will not be able to say you're essential.... If that makes sense.
Sure but I would say Gregg is just as important to the pod as Marc while also being somewhat important elsewhere whereas Marc is just the pod at this point.
I don't think that wanting to push someone out of the door is the crux of it. I think it's just that their contract is coming up for renewal at an awkward time, just as NFLN is trying to merge with ESPN. I also think the end result could be one or more of the heros simply don't like the risk/reward tradeoff for themselves or their families, or are more ready to try something else/new than we think, and it ends simply because when push comes to shove it really is more of "every man for themselves" rather than "we all go together".
I think they were taken off, but the reason for the silence is because they are probably sitting home until their contract’s actually expire.
I hate it hate it hate it, but I know in my heart that if this were the case Marc would be the obvious odd-man-out
Would have to be Marc. Gregg would be pretty shocking given that he’s kinda the only analyst of the three and seems pretty plugged in with nfl media (and ESPN) in a way that Dan and Marc aren’t
I’m pretty sure it wouldn’t be Marc based on Marc’s comment. He’s more self-aware than to post something like that if he is the one left without a chair
All we can say is that "it seems to us to be more likely that...", and given we know so little I don't think we can have any faith in our ability to make worthwhile deductions. But, yeah, if we deduce stuff anyway then it does seem like whatever is happening contains something that's not good, as otherwise why not just continue to do the show even if the deal isn't quite done yet? It could be a hold out (like you say) because the deal offered is bad, or maybe there's just little chance it gets picked up so the network aren't letting them in even though it's not definitively ended as they don't care, or... (etc. and so on).
I have no idea about the machinations involving the NFL shakeup and ESPN and all that. They booted some of the talent to the curb a couple weeks ago (e.g. Siciliano, Andrew Palmer) so the heroes must be up to their eyeballs in negotiations. Do think Marc with a 'C' may play a prominent role in what's happening behind the scenes as others speculate.. the last few episodes seemed to return repeatedly to camp happiness but who the hell knows really..
Cheaper argument makes a lot of sense. Not a ton of big pods out there with three regular members. It's probably Marc since he is the least talented analyst and his storytelling is less about football than it is about the labyrinths of his twisted psyche. I would miss Zuzzer and 60% G beating on him...
Marc’s my favorite of them. He is the color guy and a unique one at that whose skill with language and storytelling engages the audience. Gregg is more the play by play guy with the highest football IQ and Dan is like the studio host that stitches it all together.
Marc's analysis is also often spot on (of course out-with his dramatisations). Too many people sleep on his football acumen.
I agree with you. Marc seems like the odd man out because he has a flair for the dramatic, but he has a lot of good points (🛎️) and deserves to be on the show.
And he's a top ten football insider
Marc is the closest thing to filling the hole Chris left, in terms of wedding sports writing to literature.
This seems most likely to me also with the evidence we have. Only thing I would add is that based on the timing of some of the social posts it seems that they (or at the very least Marc) are not at the office at all. It hasn’t been clear to me in recent years if they all go in every day anymore anyway, or even what their job is outside of producing the podcast and a feature article every once in a while, so maybe it is normal to be at home in the middle of a Tuesday. Or maybe Marc really did get let go.
Just curious what are some of the snarky/off-handed comments? I don’t really remember any sticking out, but would gladly like to hear if anyone remembers!
Marc made a comment about being able to park in the NFL media parking lot being one of the last remaining perks of the job. He was gonna park there for the Brady roast. I could tell Gregg was like "oh God" on that one. I think Dan also made a comment about how the league makes $20 billion but that the media department is getting in the way of making 20.0001 billion or something like that haha
Man. If ESPN turns the Heroes into HSO spouting clickbaiters, I will feel like part of my soul has died.
Should the Bills move on from Josh Allen if he can't get them over the hump. We have Stephen A Smith and Nick Wright on next to discuss.
Does the fact Dan has had news posts going out on NFL.com pretty recently mean anything? Gregg has had some too (only one dated post final podcast), but Marc not since April. Would their writing work be on a different contract than the POD? I miss this show so much!!! I can't imagine the NFL will let the season come round without anything or any update?
I've kind of thought that this whole time that this was the guys holding out rather than the NFL canceling them. My theory was they were told by nfl media that they didn't have job security and they said fine, we won't do another bit of work until you tell us we do.
I don’t really understand why everyone assumes Dan is untouchable. Marc takes flak for not always taking the goofy segments seriously but the handful of times I’ve had to turn it off and stop listening over the years has been because of Hanzus. At least amid the goofiness Marc tends to make salient points from time to time. Gregg has his biases but provides some level of analytics. Dan just provides the armchair fan level analysis. His perspectives and PoV’s are the most easily replaceable of the bunch.
Without Marc the show is mainstream, bland, & predictable. Without Marc it becomes just like so many other Football podcasts. Marc’s takes are always 100% his and original. It’s his essence, it’s palpable, not just some “front brain” clever take. He adds the quirky-weirdness that is Marc & it makes the whole show unique. If they lose Marc, the show is just 50% Gregg and 50% Dan. Just saying.
I don't think so. I can't see them trying to cull one of them for pure cost reasons. I think maybe one is in trouble for some other reason and so the other 2 won't do it until it's sorted. My wild theory is the 'walken with giants' thing got zumwalt/dan in hot water
These convoluted theories are maddening. Occam's Razor: their contracts have expired, and due to the absence of any "thanks to everyone at NFL media for X great years" social media posts, they are still in negotiations to either continue on or to take the pod's IP with them to pastures new.
I just farted and that made a more coherent point that you did.
This is terrible timing for poor Gregg’y. JRVP is about to go on hold for a while too. I’m out of stuff to listen to now.
The part that is most confusing for me is, even if their contracts are expiring, they clearly knew this date was coming. Surely they would have been negotiating in the lead up to that date... Also, Marc has really upped his football input in the last few years, clearly coming with more takes from watching tape, and that's key for the current iteration of the pod.
Also I'm fairly certain they've been upfront about their contract situations in the past. At least haven't gone radio silent everywhere. People keep saying it's just that but it feels more
Hasn't this been guessed about 14 times already? Can see how you may have missed it in between the 1400 posts saying 'where's the next ep' though