I had the pleasure of interviewing Mike Florio — to discuss his new book ‘Playmaker’, the state of the NFL and also the Seahawks.
Have a listen below and the usual requests apply — please subscribe to the YouTube channel, leave a 5-star review on Apple podcasts etc. It all helps.
Was trying to guess who you might have interviewed that would get mixed reviews, love it! Excited to listen!
If I were a Seahawks fan, “I’d be very confused, concerned and bewildered”.
Already there Mike.
Good stuff Rob. Very good.
Honestly , all of the above, but I’m also somewhat entertained for the first time in years by Seahawks football
Rob might have to change the name to “The Struggle” if they bitch the draft
Great interview. Well done Rob!
I still prefer JJ, but KT at #9? Hell yes
https://twitter.com/mtorressports/status/1509989397927587845?s=20&t=cTHRUi1-rnQMUZzcsZD3lQ
I’m struggling to see what’s impressive about this clip…
I think JJ probably has the higher floor, given his age and that he’s closed to fully formed coming out.
But if given a choice I think I’d roll the dice on Thib’s upside.
In a 4-3 defense I’d prefer JJ. In a 3-4 defense I’d prefer KT.
He threw the bag down. Poor figure-8 from KT there
Nagy said Seattle and Detroit brought 7 coaches. Giants brought 5. People doing their homework
Loved it, Rob. What a great get for you.
I have always appreciated Floria’s take on all things NFL. As a former litigator, he had already made his money, and was able to transition into journalism, eventually putting all his time and effort into that pursuit. It shows.
He isn’t beholden to anyone. He owns his own media company and is on the minds and whispered on the lips of everyone in the NFL. He takes viewers and readers down avenues that many in the media will not go.
Pretty damned refreshing.
For quite some time now he has been thumping the “What, exactly, is Pete Carroll doing?” line of thought. No BS. No hot takes. No chasing red herrings. Just straight forward, very lawyer-like, questioning of the state of the franchise. The perfect guest to interview, in particular, for this blog.
Thanks again, Rob. Very enjoyable. I’m looking forward to more interviews like this in the future.
Good interview.
I like Florio’s take on the sports media. Not so much on his opinion of the NFL draft. Without a draft then there would probably be 10 Super Teams and the rest would be fighting for leftovers.
Take the 2020 NFL draft for example. Very good chance the Bengals would not have been able to recruit Joe Burrow to their team. 49ers would have probably won the Joe Burrow recruiting war.
There are ways to do it without the extremes of draft or unlimited free agency though. There are lots of alternatives floating around out there on how you can do it while still ensuring parity. Some of the most straightfoward are just allocating rookie salaries amongst teams and giving higher caps to the worst teams. There is no doubt in my mind that some teams are better at developing talent than others and given how short NFL careers are, some draftees undoubtedly are “unlucky” and get taken by a poor team fit.
Selfishly I hope it doesn’t change because North American sports drafts are amongst my favorite parts of a few sports. But I do recognize there are probably more equitable ways to distribute young talent throughout the league.
Even if the NFL gave higher rookie caps to the worst teams, then Florio’s issue would still exist as far as tanking. I’ve looked at the NBA and MLB (international signings of teen prospects) and I still prefer the current NFL draft model.
If you could provide me a link to alternative’s models for the NFL I’d appreciate it.
Rob’s take on how soccer works in Europe is an excellent counter point. I am less interested in soccer than I otherwise would be because the same three teams in each national league (or maybe the top one or two) are almost always going to win. The NFL is probably the best league anywhere at giving each franchise a chance to build a champion. Not all do but it keeps things interesting, from my perspective.
Right?!!! Parity is awesome. Let’s handicap well run franchises so they can’t win too much.
Great stuff Rob!
Unusually interesting and entertaining conversation. Both of you were in top-notch form, and Rob, your questions were well chosen. Congrats.
Thank you Tomas
Caught this on the herd yesterday but I think it was the first real slip from one of Russ’ mouthpieces.
https://youtu.be/QccEL8k0Gko?t=321
“Russell Wilson, get me out of here! Got his way”
We all knew this but it was nice to hear it.
Look at our Rob, humbly going bigtime! McCloughan, Florio. . .and plenty more big fish to come, no doubt. Well done. Interesting that, on Florio’s point about today’s partisan journalist (aka “stenographer”), it took a declared Seahawk fan starting a blog before the public could gain ready access to rational, objective analysis on the Seattle franchise. No softballs necessary — this is football.
Thank you, I appreciate those nice words.
Rob, what a great interview. So enjoyable. A voice out of left field talking about the reality of the NFL as a business & talking about players as human beings instead of disposable assets. Loved it. Well done sir!
Thank you DBP
Great interview. As always I wish there was more time but pretty cool that Florio was game for as long as he was.
Still hoping for a good one with Huard soon🤞
Brock would be a dream get, as I’ve said before. But I have no means of contact and I’m not sure he’d have the time/interest.
Call in a favor from Jake Heaps.
If anything I owe Jake a favour for having a British guy talk Seahawks on his show
Have him on at the crack of dawn to talk USMNT soccer and their odds of getting bounced out of the first round again….
You should ask Jake to come on. I would be interested to hear his take on team building on the offensive side of the ball (keeping in mind of Pete’s offensive philosophy). I wonder how he would go about getting Pete’s point guard QB. Is that a 1st round prospect or maybe more of a cerebral QB that can be had later in the draft?
Rob you should reach out to Brock for an interview. I have no idea how all that works, but you obviously do. I’ve run into a Brock a few times in the past and we have a mutual friend. He is a down to earth guy and won’t look down on your request, especially with you being being an established sports media person.
You two could have a weekly podcast called “Brock & Rob talk’en prospects.”
Just my 2 cents.
I get where you’re coming from with owing Jake a favor. But the truth is they are lucky to have you on. The work you have put in the last decade plus is on par with the best. Your takes are always well thought out using multiple perspectives to come to conclusions. Then there’s your breakdown of prospects that puts almost all of the big networks experts to shame. Your work is top notch!
Wonderful interview Rob! Brock would be a good get. Was listening to Salk this morning and a topic of best dynamic duos was brought up for one of the segments. One proposed duos was the Brock & Salk show. It was ribbed that Salk was definitely the robin of the duo. Salk was not pleased! Hahah
😂
The Brock and Salk show was good back when they had a show every day. Salk was always out in left field with his opinions and Brock was even keeled. They balanced each other well in debates.
So very true! Always tuned into their podcast and they were my everything Seahawks destination until stumbling upon this site in 2013.
Very interesting to here his thoughts on the NFL and the Seahawks. Thanks Rob for a great interview!
Thanks Al
Absolutely fascinating, Rob. I could have listened to that conversation for another couple of hours.
Thank you!
Thanks Roland
Great interview, were you able to ask him anything special off air?
Rob great interview would love more seahawks discussion. Question why just audio for you? In next few years I’m sure someone will mention your name on draft day at big stage. You’re getting close.
For some reason my zoom has taken to only recording the guest. I was prepared to be seen but alas, it wasn’t to be.
One of your better interviews. Very interesting indeed!
Nice one mate! 👍
Florio is a fascinating media figure. He’s got to be the best muckraker in sports right? There’s been times I’ve been completely over whatever topic PFT is pressing on, but to give it to him for perseverance.
Loved how you brought a scratch ticket, Florio played off it wonderfully. You had some great questions for him!