Not for the first time, but the NFL really shit the bed this off season. Of course I’m referring to the cancellation of the Around the NFL podcast featuring the talent of Dan Hanzus, Marc Sessler, Gregg Rosenthal, and the late great Chris Wessling. Last year I watched a grand total of zero hours of football but I still managed to catch every episode of Around the NFL.

Brandon Perna discusses the importance and appeal of Around the NFL so I won’t go into that. Instead I wish to piss and moan over the decline and fall of my favorite podcasts/shows featuring three or more male friends discussing shit. In this regard, Around the NFL is on the Mount Rushmore along with Cumtown and Red Letter Media.

Cumtown ended a couple of years ago, leaving Red Letter Media as the lone survivor. So everyone say a prayer for Mike Stoklasa and Rich Evans to not succumb to alcohol poisoning and diabetes.

I don’t think people appreciate how difficult it is to achieve what Marc Sessler, Dan Hanzus, Gregg Rosenthal, Chris Wesseling, Nick Mullen, Stavros Halkias, Adam Friedland, Mike Stoklasa, Rich Evans, and Jay Bauman have all achieved. Any group of random assholes can get together and create a podcast. But it takes a special chemistry to achieve greatness. No doubt there are countless podcasts featuring lifelong friends discussing their passions and almost all of them suck. So what made these guys different?

As you will find in any male friendship groups, there’s always the alpha. Not that anyone thinks of him as the alpha, he just so happens to be the biggest asshole of the group. The other friends just go along with his psychotic behavior to avoid incurring his wrath. In our case, that’s Dan Hanzus for Around the NFL, Nick Mullen for Cumtown, and Mike Stoklasa for Red Letter Media. This is where other podcasts/youtube channels get in trouble; the “alpha” lacks any semblance of self-awareness and treat their platform as a means to enact their inferiority complex (like Adam Carolla)

Equally important to our viewing experience is the “omega” or the guy that everyone shits on. In other words, this is Marc Sessler for NFL, Adam Friedland for Cumtown, and Rich Evans for Red Letter Media. Far be it from this individual being a laughingstock, they usually develop the fervent following among the listenership.

This balance is nearly impossible to achieve. Only the most talented, good looking, sexiest, thick dicked men can get it done, and that’s every guy on the list above (except Adam Friedland). And with Around the NFL gone, this leaves on Red Letter Media to carry on the mantle.