SCHOOLED with "The Professor" John Clayton
191 episodes - English - Latest episode: over 2 years ago - ★★★★★ - 70 ratingsNo one knew more about football than Seattle Sports' human database for everything NFL: “The Professor” John Clayton. His lifelong obsession with the game elevated Clayton from high school sports reporter to the writers’ wing of the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. John sadly passed away on March 18, 2022, yet his legacy lives on through his intimate knowledge about the game of football.
Schooled with "The Professor" John Clayton was a great example of his impact on the National Football League. Take a look back at Clayton's stories from his Hall of Fame career.
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Episodes
New Territory and Past Memories with Randy Mueller
August 01, 2018 22:53 - 20 minutes - 9.27 MBToday's guest on Schooled with the Professor is Randy Mueller. Randy was the vice president of operations for the Seahawks, and a GM for the Dolphins and Saints. Now, he is venturing into new territory as a GM for the Salt Lake City franchise of the Alliance of American Football. He also gives some thoughts on the current Seahawks and remembers one of his favorite past Seahawks, Cortez Kennedy.
Seahawks Stats & Projections with Mike Clay
July 25, 2018 22:57 - 20 minutes - 9.45 MBIf you are into fantasy football, ESPN.com is loaded with rankings and studies. So on Schooled with the Professor, we sought out Mike Clay of ESPN to do some studies on the Seahawks. Clay goes into great detail in projecting what to expect from the Seahawks running game this year. He was a big fan of Chris Carson when he was coming out of college. You’ll be surprised how strong he is on Rashaad Penny, and he goes into great detail on how many yards both backs will gain. Clay breaks down the...
Great Stories from a Unique Career with Peter King
July 18, 2018 23:23 - 19 minutes - 8.9 MBPeter King has left Sports Illustrated and MMQB to work for NBC sports, and he joins John Clayton on Schooled with the Professor to go over some of the best memories of his esteemed football coverage career. Peter and John have known each other for more then 30 years - King covered the Cincinnati Bengals when Clayton covered the Pittsburgh Steelers, and they talked all the time. This episode, they cover his memories during his 29 years at SI and MMQB. SI gave him the freedom to use his conta...
Fred Jackson on playing in the American Flag Football League and how running backs are evolving in the NFL
July 11, 2018 23:00 - 20 minutes - 9.44 MBRunning backs are the main topic this week on Schooled with the Professor. Recently retired RB Fred Jackson talks about the halfback position and how it has changed through the years. Jackson had a long career with the Buffalo Bills and ended up with the Seattle Seahawks. He talked about his ex-teammate Marshawn Lynch, why he was so good, and his impact in the league. A big topic was the current running back position. When Jackson entered the NFL in 2006, backs had a heavier workload. Thou...
Gridiron Genius with Michael Lombardi
June 27, 2018 23:00 - 21 minutes - 9.67 MBOn Schooled with the Professor this week, you will really get a chance to get a great education. Former NFL general manager Michael Lombardi has a book coming out Sept. 11 that details the behind-the-scenes brilliance of three NFL greats: Bill Walsh, Al Davis and Bill Belichick. The book is called "Gridiron Genius, A Master Class in Winning Championships and Building Dynasties in the NFL." Lombardi worked with all three geniuses. Mike has always been known as a great student of the NFL, so h...
College Football Preview with Phil Steele
June 20, 2018 22:00 - 21 minutes - 10.1 MBWhat a thrill it is to have Phil Steele on this week’s Schooled with the Professor! Phil has perhaps the best preview magazine in all of sports: "Phil Steele’s College Football Preview." There is more information packed into more pages than just about anything you can find in any pre-season magazine. This week, we get into the many analytical and statistical tools he uses to project how well schools will do in a season. Two years ago, he picked the University of Washington to be the surprise...
Earl Thomas & The Cowboys with Tim Cowlishaw
June 13, 2018 23:00 - 20 minutes - 9.31 MBThe Earl Thomas holdout has become one of the biggest stories in Seattle this summer. Thomas announced Sunday he’s not going to show up for any Seahawks activities until he gets a new contract. With no talks going on, this looks to be a long holdout. So what about a trade to the Dallas Cowboys? Tim Cowlishaw from ESPN’s Around the Horn and The Dallas Morning News joins us on Schooled with the Professor to discuss a possible trade. (Spoiler alert: He wasn’t optimistic.) The Cowboys have put t...
Concussions with Jermichael Finley
June 06, 2018 23:00 - 19 minutes - 8.76 MBYou'll have to go back to last year's Brandon Marshall episode to hear a story as emotional as former Green Bay Packers TE Jermichael Finley. Due to an in-game injury, Finley had to quit football at the young age of 27 while he was one of the best tight ends in the game. On SCHOOLED, he takes us through his dangerous ride. He starts with being in an ambulance - in uniform - heading to the hospital after being knocked out in a game. Not only were concussions an issue, but his neck and back we...
The Patriot Way with Ted Johnson
May 30, 2018 23:00 - 21 minutes - 19.9 MBFormer Patriot linebacker Ted Johnson, who is doing radio on 610 in Houston, joins us to talk about the Patriot Way. Johnson speaks about what it is like to play for both Bill Belichick and Pete Carroll and contrasts their coaching styles. He also shares how Belichick communicates and how hard he coaches them. The timing of talking to Johnson is perfect. Cassius Marsh talked about how playing for the Patriots and Belichick almost made him want to get out of the game. Tom Brady has skipped th...
New Rule Changes with Al Riveron
May 23, 2018 23:00 - 15 minutes - 14.1 MBAl Riveron, the Senior Vice President of Officiating for the NFL joins the Professor LIVE from the spring meeting in Atlanta. There have been a lot of changes this off season, and Al Riveron is just the man to ask about how they will all be implemented and what effects we might see from those changes. Al explains how the controversial new helmet targeting rule will be enforced, what the new standard for a catch is, and how kickoffs have changed.
Team Trends and Schedule Analysis with Warren Sharp
May 16, 2018 23:00 - 20 minutes - 18.8 MBWe get into some football analytics this week on SCHOOLED with the Professor. Warren Sharp does an amazing job of analyzing team trends and strength of team’s schedules. With the Supreme Court giving the states the rights to legalize gambling, Sharp’s forecast on teams will be very valuable. He also does a great job of breaking down team tendencies. Sharp breaks down one of the Seahawks problems of last year: getting pass completions to running backs. He discusses how low those numbers were ...
Joel Corry: QB Contracts in the Salary Cap Era
May 09, 2018 23:00 - 20 minutes - 19 MBMatt Ryan became the first $30 million player in the NFL. Aaron Rodgers should be next. But what about Russell Wilson? On SCHOOLED with The Professor, John Clayton talks with Joel Corry, a former agent who studies contracts and the salary cap like no other as a writer for CBSsports.com. And his thoughts might surprise you! He talks about the possibility of Wilson playing out two years on the franchise tag similar to what Kirk Cousins did with the Washington Redskins. He makes a bold forecas...
Al Smith: From the Field to the Front Office
May 02, 2018 23:00 - 20 minutes - 19.2 MBAl Smith was a top middle linebacker when he played for the Houston Oilers. His style of play resembled Seahawks middle linebacker Bobby Wagner - interesting considering they both played at Utah State! Al Smith joins us on Schooled with the Professor to talk about several things. Smith made a successful transition from player to front office executive. He talks about how difficult it is for former players to get the opportunity to work with teams, but he also talks about the successes of Ozz...
Devin Hester on Eliminating Kickoff Returns
April 25, 2018 23:00 - 14 minutes - 13.2 MBDevin Hester announced his retirement on Monday by signing a one day contract with the Chicago Bears. He was clearly the best returner in his generation and may have been the best in NFL history. Many feel if there is a place for a returner in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, there should be a gold jacket waiting for him. But the timing of his retirement is interesting. The NFL is holding a two-day summit in New York City to discuss the possibility of eliminating the kickoff return. Hester joi...
NFL Draft Preview with Gil Brandt
April 18, 2018 23:00 - 20 minutes - 18.6 MBGil Brandt was the Vice President of Player Personnel for the Cowboys for almost 30 years, and is now a senior analyst for NFL.com overseeing which players the NFL invites to draft night. Gil says this is one of the most unique drafts ever because there is no real consensus as to who the top six picks should be. He also explains how the approach to the NFL draft has changed, why Shaquem Griffin is his favorite invite ever, and some new things the NFL is doing to reward some of the draftees ...
Top Draft QBs with Jordan Palmer
April 11, 2018 23:00 - 17 minutes - 15.9 MBJordan Palmer was a long-time NFL backup, spending five years studying under his brother NFL QB Carson Palmer. He is now training quarterbacks for the upcoming NFL draft including the top two QB prospects Sam Darnold and Josh Allen. On this week's SCHOOLED with The Professor, Jordan describes how he picks the quarterbacks and what he does with them in the long prep before the draft. Palmer gets into what makes Sam Darnold tick, the unique arm of Josh Allen (perhaps the best he's ever seen!),...
Alliance of American Football with Bill Polian
March 28, 2018 23:00 - 17 minutes - 16 MBNFL Hall of Fame GM Bill Polian on the Alliance of American Football: an alternative football league scheduled to begin next February after the Super Bowl.One of the biggest voids in pro football is the lack of a developmental league. Well, there might be good news on that front. Bill Polian joins us on SCHOOLED with the Professor to talk about a candidate to be the complementary league of the future.Polian remains an analyst at ESPN, but over the past year, he has been working with Alliance ...
Hometown Love with Charlie Batch
March 21, 2018 23:00 - 18 minutes - 17.1 MBGoing back to Pittsburgh over the weekend and being surprised to find out my hometown, Braddock, PA, named Sunday, March 18th after me put me in nostalgic mood for Schooled with The Professor. That’s why we reached out to former NFL quarterback Charlie Batch. Batch played for the Detroit Lions and Pittsburgh Steelers, but he grew up in Homestead, PA, a steel mill town just across the river from Braddock. With the downturn in the steel industry, both towns had major drop-offs in business. Bot...
Quarterback Value with Bruce Gradkowski
March 14, 2018 23:00 - 19 minutes - 17.7 MBQuarterbacks are in the news both in free agency and the draft. On SCHOOLED with the Professor, we caught up with former NFL quarterback Bruce Gradkowski. Gradkowski is getting into broadcasting and scouting after his NFL career. He offers great perspective and opinions on the current state of quarterbacks in the NFL and also what’s ahead in the draft. He studied the current group of first-round picks and offers insight on whom he thinks could have promising NFL career. We also talk about h...
Salary Cap Analysis with Andrew Brandt
March 08, 2018 00:00 - 20 minutes - 19.2 MBThe salary cap number was announced this week: $177.2 million. And teams have to be under the cap by March 14. On SCHOOLED with the Professor, we talked to cap expert Andrew Brandt. When the salary cap started, Brandt was an agent. He then spent almost a decade as the Green Bay Packers capologist and now writes about the salary cap for MMQB and The Athletic. We go through the history of the salary cap and talk about how it has evolved. Brandt talks about how the league changed for negotiati...
The NFL Combine with Dan Shonka
March 01, 2018 00:00 - 21 minutes - 19.9 MBOn this week's SCHOOLED, National scout and General Manager of Ourlads' NFL Scouting Services Dan Shonka breaks down the combine and NFL draft prospects with our one and only Professor John Clayton. Dan shares his analysis of the top quarterback prospects, his favorite running backs in what he says is a loaded class, and the weakest position group in this year's draft.
Next-Gen Analytics with John Pollard of Zebra Technologies
February 22, 2018 00:00 - 22 minutes - 20.3 MBLast week the NFL made a major announcement that didn't get as much attention as it should. The league announced that all 32 teams will be receiving full analytics reports from Zebra, the Illinois based company that puts tracking devices on players and the football. John Pollard, who lives in Seattle, joins us on SCHOOLED with The Professor to talk about the advanced science of scouting. With the chips on the players' uniforms and in the football, Zebra can do analytical reports on every p...
QB News with Joe Theismann
February 15, 2018 00:00 - 19 minutes - 18 MBQuarterbacks are in the news in the NFL: Alex Smith was traded to the Washington Redskins. Kirk Cousins is a free agent. Patrick Mahomes takes over the Kansas City Chiefs. Jimmy Garoppolo signs a $137.5 million contract with the San Francisco 49ers. With so many quarterback topics making headlines, we went to Joe Theismann, former Redskins quarterback, to get his opinions on the quarterback position in the NFL. Theismann likes the Smith trade and believes he fits in well in Jay Gruden's of...
Lesley Visser, Pioneering Female NFL Analyst
February 01, 2018 00:00 - 18 minutes - 17.3 MBToday on SCHOOLED with the Professor, Lesley Visser joins John Clayton live in Minneapolis to discuss her new book "Sometimes You Have To Cross When It Says Walk." Lesley is the only woman enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame and shares her experiences being one of the pioneers of women in sports broadcasting, shares some great work stories about John Madden and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and she and The Professor make their Super Bowl picks!
Offensive Lines with Howard Mudd
January 25, 2018 00:00 - 18 minutes - 17 MBOffensive line is a big topic these days. The Seahawks changed offensive line coaches, going from Tom Cable to Mike Solari. Next week, Kevin Mawae and Steve Hutchinson are in the final 15 for voting in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Howard Mudd, a legend among offensive line coaches, joins us on SCHOOLED with the Professor, to take about the current state of the offensive line in the NFL. He didn’t waste time getting into the Seahawks offensive line, and raves about the hiring of Mike Sola...
Cornerbacks with Everson Walls
January 11, 2018 00:00 - 22 minutes - 21 MBEverson Walls played 13 seasons at cornerback in the NFL for the Cowboys, Giants, and Browns. Walls led the NFL with 11 interceptions as a rookie in 1981, which still stands as the most by a first-year player in NFL history. Walls is also the only cornerback in NFL history to lead the league in interceptions 3 different times. He is one of 15 finalists for the 2018 NFL Hall of Fame in his 20th and final year of eligibility. Walls discusses how much the game has changed, how much he hates "di...
Wide Receivers with Herman Moore
January 04, 2018 00:00 - 18 minutes - 17.2 MBOne of the things the NFL has been watching is the development of wide receivers. Wide receivers have been getting bigger and better through the years. Herman Moore, one of the big receivers who started that trend, joins us on Schooled with the Professor to discuss the development of the receivers. He talks about the changes in offenses over the years. The NFL is a quarterback driven league but the receivers are gaining more stature. Moore talks about how offenses have grown and developed. H...
The Los Angeles Rams with Eric Dickerson
December 21, 2017 00:00 - 22 minutes - 20.5 MBEric Dickerson stood along the Los Angeles Rams sidelines during the 42-7 victory over the Seattle Seahawks. Even though he played in Indianapolis during his career, Dickerson was cold. He was shivering. But he looked like a proud father looking at a Rams team he was so happy to get back to Los Angeles. On SCHOOLED with the Professor, Dickerson talks about how the Rams have bounced back from a horrible first year in Los Angeles. Dickerson opens up about his struggles with the Rams front of...
Seahawks vs Rams with Nolan Cromwell
December 14, 2017 00:00 - 19 minutes - 17.7 MBThe Los Angeles Rams come to Seattle on Sunday to determine which team is going to win the NFC West. Get ready for the game with a history lesson from a player and coach who has been on both sides as SCHOOLED with The Professor catches up with Nolan Cromwell. Nolan is a former Rams defensive back who made the league’s all decade team. He’s been an assistant coach twice with the Rams, and also coached in Seattle on Mike Holmgren's staff. Cromwell starts by discussing the buildup of the Ra...
Pass Coverage with Ronde Barber
December 07, 2017 00:00 - 22 minutes - 20.7 MBThis week on SCHOOLED with the Professor former NFL cornerback Ronde Barber (now a semi-finalist for the Pro Football Hall of Fame and an analyst for Fox) educates us on pass coverage in the NFL. Ronde talks about how the Tampa Bay Buccaneers two-deep zone defense worked under Tony Dungy. He details how the Cover Two has morphed into the Cover One, Cover Three defense used by the Seahawks and several teams in NFL. And he goes into the evolution of the cornerback position back when he playe...
Eagles Analysis with Donovan McNabb
November 30, 2017 00:00 - 21 minutes - 19.6 MBThe Seahawks/Eagles game is scheduled for prime time Sunday, so we're going prime time with former Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb. You can hear Donovan on ESPN Radio every Sunday starting at 9 PST. On this week's SCHOOLED, Donovan goes in depth describing how Andy Reid coached him into being one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL. He breaks down the rapid rise of Carson Wentz, talks about the differences in the current offenses from when he played, details how more trickery is involved...
The Apple Cup with Ryan Leaf
November 23, 2017 00:00 - 22 minutes - 20.3 MBWith Apple Cup Week here, it was a great time to catch up with former Washington State quarterback Ryan Leaf on Schooled with the Professor. Leaf was the perfect Cougar to discuss the Cougar-Huskies rivalry. He remembered his first start being against the Huskies in 1995. In great detail he takes us through the three-year process of getting the Cougars to the point in which they could beat the Huskies. In 1997, the Cougars, with Leaf at quarterback, beat the Huskies and won the PAC-10 titl...
The Evolution of Quarterbacks with Lew Freedman
November 16, 2017 00:00 - 22 minutes - 20.4 MBThis SCHOOLED with the Professor, we're going old school: the evolution of quarterbacks with veteran sportswriter and winner of more than 250 journalism awards Lew Freedman. Lew is publishing a book that comes out December 15 that does a great job of discussing the history of passing offenses in the NFL. "Baugh to Brady: The Evolution of the Forward Pass" is going to be a must read. What I respect is Lew’s great feel for the history of passing offenses and each stage of quarterback’s dev...
Mid-Season Trends with Pat Kirwan
November 09, 2017 00:00 - 21 minutes - 20.1 MBI have the fortune to be the main fill-in on Movin’ The Chains on Sirius XM NFL radio with is hosted by Jim Miller and Pat Kirwan. With the NFL at mid-season, it was a perfect time to catch up with Pat and discuss the trends of the league. Kirwan remains high on the Seahawks chances of winning the NFC West even though he has plenty of great things to say about the Los Angeles Rams. On SCHOOLED, we discussed the problems with offensive lines in the NFL this season. He went into great detail...
Injuries with Dr. David Chao
November 01, 2017 23:00 - 19 minutes - 18.3 MBDr. David Chao is one of the best injury experts around the National Football League. Former team doctor for the Chargers, Chao breaks down NFL injuries as they happen. He joins me on Schooled with the Professor to discuss the current state of injuries in the NFL. Chao explains how he watches games and then replays times when a player gets injuries. Not only can he pinpoint the injury but he can determine the length of time the player might be out. That’s huge for fantasy players, but the ...
Mid-Season Trends and Analysis with NFL Network's Daniel Jeremiah
October 30, 2017 17:56 - 19 minutes - 18 MBOn Schooled with the Professor, mid-season is a great time to catch up on trends and what is happening on the field. That’s why it is a great time to catch up with Daniel Jeremiah of the NFL Network. Jeremiah is one of the best in studying drafts. We took that information from the past couple draft and how they have played into this season. We talked about the difficulty of developing offensive linemen, and both agreed that more than two thirds of the league have offensive line problems. ...
The Season So Far with Mark Schlereth
October 18, 2017 23:00 - 21 minutes - 19.9 MBSeven weeks into the 2017 season marked a great time to catch up Mark Schlereth and talk football. Schlereth is now at Fox doing game analysis and studio work. For Schooled with the Professor, we got into a lengthy discussion about the bad state of offensive lines in the NFL. He recently did a Philadelphia Eagles game and came away thinking the Eagles _ at least for now _ might be the best team in the league. He is a big supporter of Carson Wentz, the Eagles quarterback. Last week, he di...
Rebuilding with Drew Bledsoe
October 11, 2017 23:00 - 23 minutes - 21.6 MBSince his retirement from the NFL, Drew Bledsoe is aging well like the fine wines he produces. Bledsoe joins John Clayton to go through plenty of topics: As you probably know, Bledsoe earned Rookie of the Year status with his Doubleback Winery. Doubleback earned instant acclaim and national awards for its Cabernet Sauvignon. On SCHOOLED, he revealed that he, Damon Huard, Dan Marino and Rick Mirer all wanted to get in the wine business together. On the football side, Bledsoe goes into det...
Celebrating Peyton with Brandon Stokley
October 04, 2017 23:00 - 21 minutes - 19.9 MBBrandon Stokley was a great slot receiver in the NFL. He’s also a great story teller and historian. Stokley joins me on Schooled with the Professor at an appropriate time. Peyton Manning is having his statue unveiled at Sunday’s game between the San Francisco 49ers and Indianapolis Colts. Stokley was Manning’s slot receiver but he’s also became one of his best friends. He goes into great detail giving anecdotes on how hard Peyton made his offensive players work. That work led to a lot of win...
Catching Up with Steve Hutchinson
September 27, 2017 23:00 - 22 minutes - 20.5 MBIt was a great time to catch up with Steve Hutchinson on SCHOOLED with The Professor. It's hard to believe Hutchinson has been out of football for five years, but he's still heavily involved in the league, working in the personnel office of the Tennessee Titans. He's also in his first year of eligibility for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. A seven-time Pro Bowler, Hutchinson and former Seahawk Kevin Mawae have chances of making the Hall this year. Hutchinson gives a Hall of Fame performance...
John Nordstrom on 20 Years of Paul Allen's Seahawks
September 20, 2017 23:00 - 20 minutes - 18.5 MBFormer Seahawks owner John Nordstrom joins us this week on SCHOOLED with the Professor and he gives us great insight on the NFL franchise he started, and how he and others reached out and got billionaire investor Paul Allen involved in buying the Seahawks to save football in Seattle. The timing of this podcast is perfect. On Sunday, the Seahawks celebrated the 20 years Allen has owned the franchise. Nordstrom goes into great detail on what was needed to bail the Seahawks out of a bad owner...