Ephraim Salaam
American former American football player
74
APPEARANCES
4
PODCASTS
Nov 4, 2026
Rob ParkerHOST
Can you just tell me where you are with Caleb and how he's continued to get better and better? He is a talent, top-tier quarterback in this league.
Ephraim SalaamGUEST
And to all those people who still are on the fence and trying to figure out, like the biggest thing for me is for young quarterbacks, is year three.
Ephraim SalaamGUEST
Whether you hit the ground running like Jaden Daniels out the gate, you know, year two is the league adjusting to that success.
Ephraim SalaamGUEST
The flip side of that, if you get into a situation where you're not playing well in year one.
5 MINS LATER
KevinAUDIENCE
Right.
Ephraim SalaamGUEST
If you get into a situation where you're not playing well in year one, year two is for you to adjust to that and learn how to play in year three is for you to now take the next step.
Ephraim SalaamGUEST
Everything we've asked young quarterbacks to be and do in year three is Caleb Williams is doing it.
Ephraim SalaamGUEST
If you have a problem with him, then you have a problem with Josh Allen because it was the same trajectory.
Ephraim SalaamGUEST
And when you look at Josh Allen, when he came into the league, he was, you know, completing 55% completion rate.
6 MINS LATER
Keith McPhersonHOST
Can I ask you what you think they're going to do immediately and long-term, the Ravens and Lamar Jackson?
Ephraim SalaamGUEST
And so when you look at the Dallas Cowboys on paper, they have, I mean, they got the best quarterbacks.
Ephraim SalaamGUEST
And the division and the best offensive weapons, their defense, I can't – can you – for the life of me, I can't figure out why they're so bad on defense.
Ephraim SalaamGUEST
The Philadelphia Eagles was driving up and down the field like – I mean, I couldn't even – all of the work they did with bringing the guys in and free agency and using their top two draft picks on defense and all of these things, and they are awful.
Ephraim SalaamGUEST
And so – They'll be able to outscore bad teams, and they have a division full of bad teams.
Ephraim SalaamGUEST
So what you guys failed to have in that clip is right at the beginning of that press conference when he was answering that question, he said, and this is the problem I have, he said, I lost all respect for Luka, right? Like, I used to watch him.
Ephraim SalaamGUEST
Because if you're an aspiring athlete and you want to go to the league and you don't even watch NBA basketball, you ain't watch games? To me, the level of disrespect to come in and say he's sorry, he's not good, he sucks.
Ephraim SalaamGUEST
If LeBron James, you got to remember he missed extensive time, especially at the start of the season last year.
5 MINS LATER
Rob GPANELIST
Even though they look like the best team, arguably, in football, can you trust them physically to make it through the season and reach their height?
Keith McPhersonHOST
Are the 49ers for real? I think if I look at all the teams that are undefeated right now, I'm looking at the 49ers as the real deal.
Ephraim SalaamGUEST
He's obviously the runaway coach of the year this year for the simple fact that They have more guys, and it's a trend for them.
Ephraim SalaamGUEST
I don't know what's going on out there in Santa Clara, but they have more guys, 13 guys on IR, and somehow, some way, they find a way to get it done.
speaker_18AUDIENCE
It's completely eroded
Ephraim SalaamGUEST
Y- yeah, the, the funny thing is I, I'm just coming from a different perspective.
Ephraim SalaamGUEST
So it was a thing that we planned, and we were ready for because of situations like this.
8 MINS LATER
30:53
Where are you as far as how they utilize him? And is he selfish by wanting to pitch and try to win Cy Young's or is it just he's one of a kind?
Ephraim SalaamGUEST
Well, I think every athlete has to be a little selfish, especially when you get to the level of being great.
Ephraim SalaamGUEST
I think it comes with knowing who you are as an athlete and what you believe you can do.
Ephraim SalaamGUEST
In every aspect, if you look at every great athlete, there is a little bit of selfishness in there.
Ephraim SalaamGUEST
And what, what, what, what these kids are, these five-star recruits and, and all, and all of these kids are not gonna do is go back to being starving students.
Ephraim SalaamGUEST
Because essentially you being on scholarship e- equated to you being a starving student because it just wasn't enough money unless you were getting it somewhere else, uh, uh, for, from, you know, to, to, to sustain what you would wanna do.
Ephraim SalaamGUEST
[laughs] Literally being starving on the weekends, especially when you're out of your season.
Ephraim SalaamGUEST
Think about the dysfunction Matthew Stafford was in for Well, you know you were there.
Ephraim SalaamGUEST
Look, I don't want to fight you, but what I will say is I know the dysfunction.
45:21
But who do you think is real right now so far, even though it's only been a couple of weeks? The 49ers.
Ephraim SalaamGUEST
We live in the world of hope, and when we see a player not giving us that sense of hope, and that's for fans, and that's for media, then we're going to speak about it.
Ephraim SalaamGUEST
We hoped that you can lead us i- into a, a, a, a Jacksonville team and be competitive.
Ephraim SalaamGUEST
We hoped that semblance of Deshaun Watson who was All-Pro and led the league in receiving, we hoped that guy would show up on Sunday, and he didn't.
Ephraim SalaamGUEST
N- Only one guy this past offs- uh, this past weekend threw for 400 yards, and that's Tyler R. Shucks for the Saints.
32 MINS LATER
6 MINS LATER
Ephraim SalaamGUEST
Now, I think the overall criticism about nothing off the field, just your on-field play.
Ephraim SalaamGUEST
I'm talking about since the time you led the league in passing yardage, we haven't even seen a glimpse of that player yet, or since.
Ephraim SalaamGUEST
Maybe him and one other person? Maybe? Aaron Rodgers in his prime? Maybe? Yeah.
Ephraim SalaamGUEST
You got to start thinking when you're watching him play, the level of challenge.
Ephraim SalaamGUEST
But, man, I remember watching that and thinking, wow, the Bears really got their quarterback for the next 15 years.
39:24
Did AFC miss it? Did Bo Nix miss his chance? Did Drake made? Did CJ Stroud miss? Are we back to those four back now, one of those four being the representative in the AFC?
Ephraim SalaamGUEST
Think about what you have to do, how mentally tough and focused you have to be, not only to become a professional athlete, but a starting quarterback in the National Football League where everybody on the planet wants to do that job and you have fought through everything to get there.
Ephraim SalaamGUEST
You mean to tell me because you have a famous hot wife and she's on the field or in the stands, that is going – completely distract you from the one thing you want to do on the planet Earth, and that's play football.
speaker_22UNKNOWN
Yeah.
speaker_15UNKNOWN
Yep.
Ephraim SalaamGUEST
Think about what you have to do, how mentally tough and focused you have to be, not only to become a professional athlete, but a starting quarterback in the National Football League where everybody on the planet wants to do that job and you have fought through everything to get there.
Ephraim SalaamGUEST
You mean to tell me because you have a famous hot wife and she's on the field or in the stands, that is going – completely distract you from the one thing you want to do on the planet Earth, and that's play football.
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Steve CovinoHOST
Yeah, but you don't think these young guys check out what's going on on social media and what people are saying? I think they
KevinAUDIENCE
I have to commend him for
Ephraim SalaamGUEST
And even if they took a half a step back, they're still going to be able to keep them in games and give them an opportunity to win.
Ephraim SalaamGUEST
You lose Kenneth Walker, the Super Bowl MVP, but you replace him with Price from Notre Dame.
Ephraim SalaamGUEST
It's toward the coaching staff, right? So you got the brunt of it because essentially you're the face of the franchise when you're the quarterback making more guaranteed money than any player in NFL history.
Ephraim SalaamGUEST
You know, for me, the, the healthcare for life is, is, is something that I think players should have.
Sammy PetersonHOST
W- was there a coach, um, or who was the coach, teammate, or family member that shaped how you think about performance and leadership? And did they teach you, and what did they teach you that you still carry today?
Ephraim SalaamGUEST
My best friend, uh, I call him my brother, we grew up together, my best friend had a, a large, um- A large and dynamic effect on how I see competing and approaching anything.
Ephraim SalaamGUEST
Like I said, I wasn't really into sports, but, uh, my best friend, his name is Dion Taylor, he, um, he really was a tremendous basketball player since we were little kids, and his whole thing was like, "I gotta make it to the league.
Ephraim SalaamGUEST
And so living with him when I was growing up and being around him and his energy and his ability to, to manifest things, I, I kind of...
Ephraim SalaamGUEST
Because I was younger and I looked up to him, it kind of instilled those things in me.
Sammy PetersonHOST
So, you know, how did the way you were trained as an athlete actually become your method for breaking into Hollywood? Like, did you use the same habits? Obviously you weren't training on a, you know, on a field, but was it the same type of discipline? Like, talk about that.
Ephraim SalaamGUEST
And you can say, "Well, Ephraim, what does that mean?" It means, uh, it's been 30-plus years since a Dallas Cowboys team has done anything of note.
8 MINS LATER
Ephraim SalaamGUEST
And we see where that ended, that, where that landed, okay? So the problem is, uh, uh, you know, and, and Ward may turn out to be a phenomenal talent, but you can't get back the time where he could have actually learned how to become a quarterback.
Ephraim SalaamGUEST
The time in the classroom for quarterbacks is so important, and most young quarterbacks don't know how to study at the NFL level yet.
Ephraim SalaamGUEST
So if you can bring in a guy who's had success, who's led a team, who's been to the playoffs, who's done all those things, for your young future of the franchise to learn from, not just on the field, but in the classroom, how to be a pro.
Ephraim SalaamGUEST
Now, they're a little bit older now, right? They're a little bit older, got a little bit more money in their pocket when they come in.
Ephraim SalaamGUEST
But the fact of the matter is, the NFL game is about 100 times faster than college, because you have to make decisions in less than half a second.
34 MINS LATER
Ephraim SalaamGUEST
If you don't think those players, then yeah, uh, you're not being hard on him, and that's the reality of it.
36:41
We're gonna talk a little bit about it later on in the show, but just your thoughts on himself being... gonna play this season out and then be an unrestricted free agent.
Ephraim SalaamGUEST
Look, man, um, if you're not getting the money you want and you bet on yourself, there's been, uh, multiple cases of it wor- it working, right? And then there's cases where it, it backfires.
Ephraim SalaamGUEST
I think Baker Mayfield, um, coming from where he came from, going to Cleveland and, and, and having a little bit of success there, but then reinventing himself and being in Tampa Bay, and now after Brady, uh, they, they've become relevant, they've become a, a team that can compete.
Ephraim SalaamGUEST
And I believe it was either last year, the first half of the season, he was in the MVP co- uh, conversation, and then a lot of injuries-
Ephraim SalaamGUEST
Look, the best way to do it is to bet on yourself, okay? Now, it would be nice to have that security, but if that security doesn't come with the number that you think you deserve, then 1,000% bet on yourself.
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