CPP #234: Can You Hear That I'm Smiling?
By Simon Carroll
The Collapsing Pocket Podcast has been a staple part of many a UK NFL fan’s life since late 2016. Chewing the fat on all things football and many more subjects besides, it takes a distinctly lighthearted approach to the sport we love.
In episode 234, Rob, Si & Sam discuss a range of issues, including national anthem rankings, upsetting Germans, and a raft of NFL stars giving their best renditons of Grand Theft Auto. Oh, and they talk a little bit of ‘ball too:
CPP #233: Can You Hear That I'm Smiling?
Please note, despite the three of them being raised well and growing up with very attentive mothers, the Collapsing Pocket Podcast is hosted by three working class northerners and is very much ‘not safe for work’. This podcast contains as much explicit language as it does ludicrous opinon.
Carl Nassib: A True Hero
It’s not often that the CPP gets serious, but Monday brought us a groundbreaking moment in sports history as Carl Nassib anounced he is gay, becoming the first active NFL player in history to do so.
As we discuss on the pod, it might be difficult for many of us who are liberal minded but don’t identify as LGBTQ+ to truly appreciate the enormity of what Nassib did for sports lovers that do, but don’t worry; your old mate Wardy wrote an emotional and honest piece on the impact for you here. There are things in this world that many of us take for granted, and only through education and brave acts like this will we begin to understand and make change.
Thank you Carl. You are a hero.
Expansion Of The International Series
People outside the US like football, and the NFL have cottoned on to it. First it was Canada, then the UK, and of course Mexico get a game every now and then, when the turf doesn’t resemble a carpet laid by Sam after a few beers. So in an expansion of the already successful international series, tentative steps have been taken to find a home in Germany for a regular season game.
This is well earned, with many European fans heading to the UK each year to watch the NFL – just ask Simon. And whilst it might reduce the number of games seen in London, it is further evidence of the league trying to widen it’s fanbase.
Expect to see a CPP party bus heading for the Eurostar some time in 2022.
A Cal McNightmare
In the final installment of their ‘What Went Wrong’ series, the lads pick the bones of the 2020 season for four more teams, whether they deserve scrutiny or not.
Very much in the firing line are the Houston Texans, whose self destruction took a team who regularly won the AFC South to one that scraped four wins and might possibly be the worst in the NFL. Could it be the naivety of relatively new owner Cal McNair that is to blame? How about the genial Bill O’Brien, who saw off two GM’s before assuming front office power himself and could have an argument in an empty room? Or what about Jack Easterby, the Littlefinger of the NFL who has schemed his way to relevance at NRG Stadium? Nothing is off the table…
Hard questions are also asked of the Falcons who failed to heed the warning signs of 2019, and the Vikings, whose usually staunch defense fell apart amid injury and inexperience. And what of the Saints, who have perhaps failed to make the most of their latest Super Bowl window? All this and more on the latest episode of the Collapsing Pocket.
Enjoy!Â
