Chasing the Storm: Behind the Polkway Brand and its Rise
Aug 05, 2024Episode 4
Big Homie & 50
Is Sean Taylor’s aggressive play style a relic of the past, or can it thrive in today's football landscape? Join us on Category Six Sports Podcast as Big Homie and 50 ignite a heated debate on this topic, featuring Polkway, the driving force behind the Polkway brand. Get ready to hear Polkway tackle the rumors about Cormani McClain and other controversies head-on while sharing the fascinating origin story of his brand, which pivoted from promoting local talent in Polk County to becoming a stalwart in sports coverage during the pandemic. Learn about the resilience and innovation that kept Polkway thriving when the world came to a standstill.
But that’s not all—this episode is packed with personal anecdotes and reflections that will keep you on the edge of your seat. We discuss the changing roles of football players, the shrinking size of linebackers, and recount unforgettable high school matchups against formidable opponents like Derwin James. The conversation is spiced with memories from the early 2010s, where social media intertwined with our sports journeys, adding an extra layer of excitement to our experiences on and off the field.
As we shift gears to the Florida-Miami football scene, expect an in-depth analysis of high school rivalries, standout players, and dynamic game strategies. We break down Florida’s strong home game record, Miami’s superior talent and coaching, and even make some bold predictions for this season. Finally, we spotlight a promising talent from Bartow, Anthony Campbell, making waves at Miami. Tune in for an episode brimming with passion, predictions, and heartfelt stories celebrating the essence of football and the vibrant community of Polk County athletes.
Is Sean Taylor’s aggressive play style a relic of the past, or can it thrive in today's football landscape? Join us on Category Six Sports Podcast as Big Homie and 50 ignite a heated debate on this topic, featuring Polkway, the driving force behind the Polkway brand. Get ready to hear Polkway tackle the rumors about Cormani McClain and other controversies head-on while sharing the fascinating origin story of his brand, which pivoted from promoting local talent in Polk County to becoming a stalwart in sports coverage during the pandemic. Learn about the resilience and innovation that kept Polkway thriving when the world came to a standstill.
But that’s not all—this episode is packed with personal anecdotes and reflections that will keep you on the edge of your seat. We discuss the changing roles of football players, the shrinking size of linebackers, and recount unforgettable high school matchups against formidable opponents like Derwin James. The conversation is spiced with memories from the early 2010s, where social media intertwined with our sports journeys, adding an extra layer of excitement to our experiences on and off the field.
As we shift gears to the Florida-Miami football scene, expect an in-depth analysis of high school rivalries, standout players, and dynamic game strategies. We break down Florida’s strong home game record, Miami’s superior talent and coaching, and even make some bold predictions for this season. Finally, we spotlight a promising talent from Bartow, Anthony Campbell, making waves at Miami. Tune in for an episode brimming with passion, predictions, and heartfelt stories celebrating the essence of football and the vibrant community of Polk County athletes.
🟢 X formerly known as Twitter: X.com/category6sports
🟢 Instagram: Instagram.com/category6sports
✅ Weekly episodes! Like, Comment, and Subscribe. Go Canes!
Speaker 1:
Would you look at what we got going on in Hard Rock? Folks Praise to you, man. You is tradition, you is family, you is brotherhood, you is hard work. I'm hurt, dawg. Don't ask me if I'm alright. Hell, nah. What can you say to that man? And we not doing it? I'm putting my heart in your f***ing mouth.
Speaker 1:
Let's go, man, xavier Restrepo, with the Miami touchdown and it is touchdown. Andre Johnson was all by himself, throws intercepted and that's going to be returned by Sean Taylor for a Miami touchdown. We're talking about practice, not a game, not a game, not a game. We. We talking about practice, not a game, not a game, not a game. We talking about practice. We want to execute better. We want to play winning football. To play winning football, we've got to practice winning football. Big time players, step up a big game. How you doing?
Speaker 1:
Ladies and gentlemen, this is C six sports podcast. Your host, big homie, on here with 50. And this man don't need no introduction, man, the man right there himself. Wait, man, what's up? What's happening, baby? What's good, what's good, fam? Hey, man, there's been a lot of smoke out there on your head, man, breaking news with everything. Man, you got to tell me what's happening with it? Hey, wait, hold on. Hey, homie, we got reporters on their burn accounts getting at this man. What's going on? It's really scary out there. Rebranded, it's spooky season. Oh yeah, shout out to Suave for the background. Oh yeah, appreciate you, suave for the background. Oh yeah, appreciate the suave for the background. Yeah, yeah, yeah, but let's talk about it. Poe. Hey, man, it's scary out here, but we invite all the smoke. Poe, we love the smoke. Hey, y'all, I'm with all the smoke.
Speaker 1:
This is not Rivalscom, this is not 247. This ain't even Barstool. We're going to come back at you. As simple as that. You can't. I understand a lot of people are bots hiding behind. You know fake profiles and got this and that to say, but you're gonna come back from from the polo headcount and it's. It is two other people that helped me run it. So shout out to those guys.
Speaker 1:
Um, you know dylan and kj. Shout out to y'all boys, young, young boys. Uh, dylan is, kj is a year younger than me, so he's 24, 25. How long you been running the? Uh, the pokeway brand, the? Uh, the business? Since 2019, 2019, okay, okay, you've been putting in work. That for, so, for, so, that, for, so, that, for. So that Damn boy, you're from Fab boy.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, bro, it really started out with, like that's what's so funny when I see people on the internet like, oh, you making money, you trying to profit off the kids, da-da-da-da. Like Polk Way really started as exposing the talent in Polk County and that wasn't about football, that wasn't about basketball, hell, that wasn't even about sports. I wanted to tell you about the best wing joint. I wanted to tell you about the next best event that's coming up downtown food truck event. I wanted to tell you about the next best rapper. Like I was doing all things media, basically current events, right, and, bro, I have vlogs with every rapper you could think of, from polo g to rollo rodriguez to rod wade to gunna to little key money bag, yo, I got all this content in my phone that's been posted on pokeway, um, but since I went and archived some of it, because that's not what the motion ended up being like.
Speaker 1:
Once covet did hit, everything else kind of slowed down. Right, it wasn't as many events, it wasn't as many as much stuff going on. The only thing that really continued was sports, and so I continued doing sports and that's how we got our foot in the door and that was basically the birth of the brand, the sports and all that. Yeah, that's, I would say, not the birth. I would say we kind of evolved. We had to respond to COVID Like I couldn't, just I couldn't get shut down with the government shutdown because people were on their phones more than ever, right? So I had to find what's still you know, what are people still actively watching, and it was whatever I could get my hands on and that was sports. Right, that's what a hook would do Exactly Every day. It was you know what I'm saying kids working out at the park, or I'm hitting up everybody on Facebook, instagram hey, let's go do a 7-on-7. I couldn't say, hey, let's get Rod Wave to come. And Rod Wave did come to Polk County during COVID July 4, 2020.
Speaker 1:
If you go look at any of the videos the song of Through the Wire, the video, the whole video, is in Polk County. I'm on stage with Rod Wave, the only person from Polk County on stage, because I had an actual media platform that was covering these events and that's documented truth. That's what's up, boy. I ain't know none of that. See, the people don't know real Poe Way. We don't know Twitter. Poe Way boy. Yeah, exactly. Okay, that's what's happening. I ain't going to say your other name that you got out there, boy, they trying to rebrand your boy in the worst way.
Speaker 1:
But man, let's get straight into it. Man, I seen. But man, let's get straight into it. Man, I've seen you broke the news on Kermani but it came back wishy-washy, not true? How did that process go?
Speaker 1:
I've seen, when you put it out, how people reacted and then when the next part of it come out, it's another thing. Just explain to me how you even got the information from the junk. So, uh, it wasn't even one source that you know I was able to, you know, speak with and recover what I recovered, and so I did speak with a few different sources who, throughout time, have been extremely consistent and reliable, and so I did. I felt these sources had no reason to, you know, be lying or, you know, make a joke out of anything, and I, you know, put together what I had and that was the. That was. The result is, you know what I put out that he had been removed from the team and obviously gator coaches can't even, you know, will.
Speaker 1:
Harris came out saying not true, not true, whatever. The staff, you know, addressed it and it obviously isn't true. We see him practicing in fall camp, which, if I don't understand why people are pushing it as oh, I hate Florida so much that I would hate a kid from Polk that's at Florida, like, yeah, that's a Polk kid before he's a Gator. I don't understand why they are trying to run with that or even make that any type of realistic narrative out there. But I want to go ahead and kill that. Like I don't hate that guy, I don't.
Speaker 1:
His success gives me a talking point. Right, he's successful. I get to brag and boast. I need him to be successful. Right, his successful is instrumental to me being able to contact Andrew Ivins, Adam adam gorney or chad simmons and say, hey, this guy's the next core money. I need to be able to say that, right, I need him to be successful.
Speaker 1:
And how I feel what you did if they were gonna kick them off, they couldn't. They had to save face. So I feel like you kind of saved them on the team. You ain't got to co-sign it. Just know I'm saying you did that. They got to be like holler at 50. You know what I'm saying. They got to probably 50.
Speaker 1:
Said that how long you been knowing Kermone, so like personally, since ninth grade, since ninth grade, but yeah, yeah, since ninth grade. But you watching them in the park in Little League and stuff. So it used to be this league called Duff and Lakin and they had not only did they have like fall ball, but they had like a winter-spring ball. So all the kids, you know all the kids from the inner city, all the kids, you know, if you're from the culture, culture and you playing with city league during the fall, which is your hurricanes, lumberjacks, lakeland lumberjacks, lakeland hurricanes, lakeland patriots, lakeland predators, destroyers, teams like that winter spring you playing at duff, because it's the only football available. So duff winter spring league was better than they fall league because that's where all the guys you know would come play.
Speaker 1:
And so you know, just seeing him out there, he was playing with my cousins, little cousins, stuff like that. So he'd been a dude since the sandlot, like since, literally he was. He was already, uh, you know, in the city people. Did you know if he was on the north side especially? You know, uh, him from Little League, but, yeah, personally, since he was a freshman. When he was a freshman in high school, he was at Lake Gibson, right, right. And so he played JV that freshman year. People don't even know that. And so that spring he goes up to varsity and is cooking, and so I do the annual ranking of Portway Top 50. First kid to never play varsity, to ever make the list. I put him at 49, though just because he had no varsity film so I threw him at 49.
Speaker 1:
Man, the backlash that I got in Polk County was crazy. Oh man, what the Gator fans are doing now that's what the community was doing there. Wow, discrediting me. I don't know nothing. Blah, blah, blah. How I'm going to rank a kid over.
Speaker 1:
It was personal because it's like it's only 50 kids that can make this list, so it's some good kids that get left out, like I'm. They get, I'm sorry, they get left out. It's only 50 names that could be on this list and everybody's not playing. It's not 50 graduating seniors. So it could be a senior that has a super breakout year that nobody expected, that I left off because nobody was expecting it, and he signs with you know, a super good, a very good NIA program or something like that. But in the city they feel in some type of way, cause it's like, oh yeah, put where you was wrong. He bought out, but it's really a list about projection. And in that same sophomore year he ended up breaking a school record at interceptions.
Speaker 1:
So, yeah, I definitely had this. Oh, yeah, bro, I was. I was born in this role. No, no, that's why I feel like I handle it so well, but that's why I can get up every day and continue doing it, because that's I've. I've been doing that my entire life, like I've always been the guy who I would say that said things that people might have been thinking but were uncomfortable saying. And a lot of times it's truth and people don't say you, y'all know how truth is. People don't look like the truth, no more, the truth is not what the product is anymore.
Speaker 1:
I remember when you jumped out that window with that darn over Sean Taylor, I was like, yeah, you were tripping about that. Yeah, you were tripping. Why did you do that? You were tripping bad. Hey, so I was I think that was more of me saying like today, I got to take their one.
Speaker 1:
I don't think Sean Taylor could play today, bro, because of the way he hit. Yeah, his play style is too aggressive for today's football. Yeah, they're going to put him right at linebacker. They wasn't throwing him Right. I think he would have fit. I think he would have had to play linebacker. He would have been out there. He would have been out there, he could play safety. Y'all tripping. The linebacker's getting smaller too. He's a little linebacker. He would have fit in, he would have played. And we're talking college. Derwin definitely ain't seeing my boy in college, is he? Okay? I said publicly I might have been tripping. I might have saw a Derwin highlight. That's Derwin Pope way. No, okay, I said publicly. I said publicly I might have been tripping. I might have saw a Derwin highlight and been like damn, y'all don't, that's Derwin Boy.
Speaker 1:
Derwin was a living legend boy, like I'm telling you, my junior year it was a senior year we played against him, bro. He lined up at every position. I'm talking about tight end quarterback, running back, d-end linebacker, safety, corner, kicker, punter, like bro, he was playing everything and it seemed amazing. I seen him block a kick and escort the person who picked it up to the end zone. Nobody wanted to come try to tackle him. Then I saw him run a slant and strike for 60 yards against us, like in real life.
Speaker 1:
So who's your team. Uh, lakeland, oh, you was on lately. Yeah, oh, okay, okay, okay, what position you had played dn and d taco. Yeah, yes, sir, yes, sir, I ain't never played. Better take the film. Tell me about your football day, man. You better take the film. So really, bro, I really honestly didn't even care for football.
Speaker 1:
Starting out, I played Little League, I played flag I guess that's kindergarten and then I played fourth and fifth grade and I didn't play any of middle school. I thought I was going to hoop. I was hooping in middle school and then I got to high school my entire family had went to lakeland, like my uncle was on. The first was the score, the only touchdown, in the first state championship game that lakeland ever won um. My cousin played in the 08 and the 07 and 08 state championships that they went to um, so it was in my blood to play. So I just I was like, okay, I missed football a little bit, I could play, but I still would like if we had summer league basketball practice, I was going to that instead of football, like I didn't. Football I didn't care about.
Speaker 1:
So ninth grade I played JV, didn't really play, and then I moved up to varsity that spring. And so spring comes. It is what it is. I'm still not seeing the field at all. I'm like man forget football. But I stuck it out. I stuck it out. I went the whole summer on varsity.
Speaker 1:
We went to fall camp, which we used to do at Stetson University, and like the threes, the third group, you only get like two reps, like every series it'll be. You get 12 plays. So it'd be like first stream, second stream, third stream, and so they getting all the reps up to like 10 reps. It'd be like six for first, four for second and two for third. I wasn't really getting any reps. Then the first game came. I wasn't really getting any reps. Then the first game came I'm just sitting there not playing. So I was like you know what, man forget it going back down to JV, went back down to JV. They had me playing O-line and D-line. It was JV wasn't still taking it serious.
Speaker 1:
So I go back up to varsity again the next spring and it's like, okay, I'm getting a little bit stronger. I found in that spring game I actually got to see the field a little bit. So then that season comes and I'm getting a little bit stronger. In that spring game I actually got to see the field a little bit. So then that season comes and I'm still not a contributor. I wouldn't even call myself a contributor. I played enough to get my lettering, but I wasn't an active contributor. I probably had 10 tackles on the season, barely scraping the surface. And at this time I'm not even knowing about Juco, I'm not knowing about D2. I'm not knowing about d2, I'm not knowing about d1, double a. I'm thinking the only schools in the world is alabama's, ohio states, miami's, like florida. I'm thinking those are the only schools in the country.
Speaker 1:
And so, um, that that season ends, and then that spring comes around, and I don't know what it was, bro, I don't know what happened, but something just clicked and I started liking football. Like I started watching it more. I started watching highlights, started actually studying my film, learning how to play defensive line, bro, because, like, for the longest I didn't even know how to stop a veer, like I didn't know the difference between the quarterback pulling it or giving it to the dive. I'm running upfield every time, like I don't. I'm like, okay, I don't know how to squeeze, I don't know how to do nothing. I'm just out there, literally just having fun, because what a lot of people don't know I was really into social media.
Speaker 1:
That's what I was doing. I had a twitter. Yeah, I had a twitter account back when black twitter was actually a thing. Yeah, I remember that you felt 2012, 2013, 2014, right. So I had a viral account back then. That was, oh yeah, so that's trendy. Back then that's what I was into. Going a little bit too hard unfortunately ended up getting suspended. They took the account away, going to look, that's how the people, bro, the fans, don't even know the stuff I could come up with and say back to them but I don't want to do it from puttwick, right, right, that's not. I don't. I've done that. So I don't want to go back to that like, I want to channel it into something positive. So, um, you know that that junior season ends, I start liking football. It just clicks.
Speaker 1:
I don't know if my girl she was D1 in softball. So I think her talking trash a little bit, just kind of like you know, made me want to be D1 too, like dang, like she wanted to win these high school Heisman. She was legit, you know what I'm saying. So you know, seeing her what she was legit. You know what I'm saying. So, um, you know, seeing her, what she was getting was like dang, I'm supposed to be getting this in football. What's going on, right? So I started working out, I got a trainer and actually learned how to play d-line defense.
Speaker 1:
Um, and then that offseason, bro, I did amazing went changed from number 99 to number nine. Had coach baylor shout out to coach baylor at usf director of scouting he was our oc and receiver. Coach baylor shout out to coach baylor at usf director scouting he was our oc and receiver coach. He still hate me to this date. He don't actually hate me, that's my boy, you know. He, uh, he still hate me to this day because I got number nine. So only the only the, the best receivers at lincoln was supposed to get number nine. So I ruined the tradition of that and he's still bro. He just said something. Just said something to me on the timeline, like last week oh, you still begging for number nine, didn't even beg. It was given to me because of my hard work and how I transformed my game.
Speaker 1:
But then the first game of the season come around, we play Lake Gibson. Lake Gibson. It didn't start with Cormon. They always had dudes. This is this is 2015 season. I'm class of 2016. They had the number one center in the country. Uh, baby, on johnson they had like the number three defensive tackle, kishan camp um hunter, orm, their quarterback was going to fiu aj the shazer. They had guys. They had, uh, tyrese Knight just got drafted by the Seahawks in this past draft, like they were loaded. So I ended up going into that game and, bro, I, just I had the game of my life, like playing against the number one center in the country. It's still on huddle to this day. So any of you haters that watch this and want to call me out, I can pull it up. So any of you haters that watch this and want to call me out, I can pull it up three and a half sacks against the number one center in the country.
Speaker 1:
And so after that, that next and it was on I know big homie knows, but I don't know if you know, bro about Bright House. Bright House, yep, bright house, football. That right, it was it. So it was a tv network. It's spectrum now, oh, okay, but, and before bright house, it was catch 47, but that's who used to show the high school games throughout the state. So it was on bright house. So it was a huge game. On tv the entire state is watching and man, I just coaches started calling me the next day that Saturday Like yo, we saw you da-da-da-da, pulled in a few D2 schools and then Idaho came in Coach, actually, the coach that offered me at Idaho went to University of Miami.
Speaker 1:
Kenny Holmes yeah, you got him at. Kenny Holmes. Yeah, yeah, that's who offered me from Idaho back in the day. So you telling me, ohio State dude now offered you a Miami dude offered you and you're an Ohio State fan. Yeah, how you became an Ohio State fan, bro, from being a kid it actually might be Miami's fault, because my brother was a Florida State fan. And, bro, the first memory of a college football game that I have is the Rose Bowl. I'll never forget it. My cousin's birthday. We were at CC's pizza watching it and my cousin hated Miami so bad because he was a Florida State fan. He was going for Ohio State and I just thought with Ohio State from that moment Through Terrell Pryor, yeah, all them guys.
Speaker 1:
Troy Smith, like Bow your head. Poe Wade, why you do us like that man, why you do us like that? What's going on, poe Wade? What the hell, come on, poe Wade. Hey, come on, man. I didn't know y'all was bowing heads on the show, bro, y'all got a song man, yeah, you are. I can't believe you just said that. Yeah, bro, I can't believe you just said that. Yeah, bro, I was locked in from then. I just, yeah, I rolled away, but I've been locked in. I've been locked in ever since. Okay, okay, okay, wait, hold on. Hold on Poe, wait, poe, let's take second.
Speaker 1:
We got to get into a little commercial, brad, what's good, chasers, and I need y'all to do me a big favor. Go support our very own Lance Leggett at tasteoneboiledpeanutscom. Yeah, go get you some tasteoneboiledpeanuts. Yeah, the smoked barbecue flavor. Yeah, make sure you get that. And you know my saying. You know what I'm saying. We're going to tell the haters to get off our nuts and go get some boiled peanuts. You feel what I'm saying? So, yeah, tasteoneboiledpeanutscom, make sure you get you some. That's tasteoneboiledpeanutscom. They deliver at your front door for real. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I can't wait, isn't it? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, wait a minute. Every time, though, shout out to taste one bowl peanuts. Man, last leg man. Shout out the last lady. Yeah, man, but uh, poe, wait, you're finished.
Speaker 1:
What you were saying about you had the great game go ahead. I had. Oh, yeah, how you stay? Yeah, so I have a great game. And uh, yeah, man, I had a great game and ended up having a great season. The season continues.
Speaker 1:
We ended up losing to Miami Carol city that year. That was a team with Randy Russell, a Nikon right, but Calvert they, they were a loaded team. That was the year they won state. Did they win state that year? No, this was this was. We ended up losing to them that next year too. But they beat Lake Gibson State that year. Wait, what you thought it was on that team.
Speaker 1:
What was the running back that came to Miami? Dan Davis, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, was he on that team? I can't remember Naquan Wright, I think one year older than him. Oh, is Naquan Wright older? He wasn't there. This was my senior year, was not Quan Wright's freshman year? Oh, okay, yeah. So he ran, all of us too. He had to have every bit of 180. He went crazy. He did.
Speaker 1:
And what they did? They came out in an offense that they hadn't put out on film. So we were studying for one offense. They came out in something completely different. We was like whoa, so we just had to stay base all night and try to stop it. But we did stop the bleeding at halftime, like they. We adjusted to it and fixed it and so halftime it was, I think, 35-7 I want to say 35-7. And the final score yeah, bro, it was bad, it was bad 35-7. And the final score yeah, bro, it was bad, it was bad 35-7. And the final score was 35-34-44.
Speaker 1:
What? Y'all in Dade County, y'all in Polk? Okay, okay, we was in Polk, we was at Lake, at home, at home, at home. Wait, what's up with y'all losing to the Dade County teams at home? I seen at home. What's up with y'all losing the day counting teams at home? That don't happen that often.
Speaker 1:
Y'all can cut it out. Kara City and Norland are the two that can say that. And Norland beat everybody. Nah, they ain't winning. You know what Lakeland would do to Berkeley Prep? That was crazy. That's why I was. It's about matchups, bro. It's like boxingups, bro. Yeah, yeah, it's like boxing. You know styles make fights Right. Yeah, truly, because Lakeland and Berkeley Prep wouldn't even be a game. Yeah, but yeah, I mean yeah, they're the state champions right now. That's all I can say Facts. So Lakeland is too, though Lakeland won it this year too.
Speaker 1:
I don't know if y'all going to win it this year, though I think so If they play St Thomas. You know St Thomas can't mess with Lakeland. Uh-oh, uh-oh, uh-oh. You better check the record books. It's 5-1. And four of those are in the or five of those games are state championship games. Lakeland 4-1 against St Thomas.
Speaker 1:
You're going to be down when they play Central, right? Of course I see you, though. I wouldn't miss it. Yeah, you better be there. You better be there. I do think I'm going to pay, okay, oh, you want that rematch? Yeah, I need that. He know it, dude, I need that. I need that. I'm going to be down. Need that? I don't be down there. Need that? I don't be down there. I don't be down there. Oh man, that's funny.
Speaker 1:
So, man, like Pogway, like okay, this year coming up, like, since you're on the Miami podcast, how you feeling about the Florida-Miami game from your point of view? So truthfully, bro, florida is a hard team to be at home week one. Like, all trolling, all bs, all jokes aside, they don't lose at home week one. That's just not something that happens at florida. It never happens. I can't tell you the last time they lost a home opening. So I know what going into that environment is gonna be like. I've seen it, I've been there and I will be there.
Speaker 1:
But miami is clearly the more talented and better coach team. So if you factor in you know the fact that I think that cam ward might be the best football player in that game, definitely the best quarterback, definitely the best offensive weapon, right, right, I've seen him in practice. I've seen the throws he made. I was wild. So I think he's a very capable player.
Speaker 1:
And then Miami's defense is speaking for itself. I don't know if Florida's offensive line, especially, would be able to keep up with Miami's defensive line. And then the linebacker room looks amazing. So it's just if Miami can, you know, put on the headphones and block out the noise and get over the environment, they win that game. Yeah, I think it's going to be like close first half when we pull away in the second. Yeah, I think third quarter we just pull away. I don't think they got enough to go all four with us.
Speaker 1:
But you're right, it's going to definitely be a hostile environment. It's going to be loud and, just like you said we'll be snapping their home winning streak when it's all sitting down because they got like a 20, 30 game home Open the winning streak. It's a crazy number. They don't lose at home, especially when we win. We're going to have to, they ain't. They're thinking Go ahead. I was about to say. They're acting like the stadium is about to suit up. That's what it feels like, bro. That's why they don't lose at home. It gets crazy in there.
Speaker 1:
I've had some of my best nights in Gainesville. I hate the narrative. They're trying to paint, but I hang out in Gainesville. I hate the narrative they're trying to paint where I hang out in Gainesville. Crazy, crazy, crazy. You know that ain't going to happen. Come on, poe, you know nothing's going to happen to you. Oh, no, I'm not worried about that. Oh, you know, yeah.
Speaker 1:
So how you think they'll finish this year though? Who? Florida? Yeah, boy, we all seen November. Finish is a crazy word to use when November look like that. How do they finish? Do they finish with Billy Napier on staff? That's a great question. That's a great question. That's a great question and I got an answer. No, that's a great question and I got an answer. No, I don't think so. I think it's 4-8 this year. Five and seven. Best is over. It was a good run. Yeah, it's going to be tough. I do think those teams in November though one or two of them is not going to be as good as we're thinking. So I think they sneak. I think they get away with a win or two in November. Everybody talking about 0-5 in November no, they're going to get, they're going to win a game or two in November for sure.
Speaker 1:
Poe, can I ask you a question? Yeah, you think Ohio State can beat Miami this year? Hell, yeah, what do you mean? Why are you asking that? Can you elaborate on that? Will Howard, did you see him last year? Oh, he was not that guy. He was not that guy, poe. So you telling us you like your quarterback on Category 6 Sports Podcast? I'm okay with my quarterback, I'm living with him. Kyle Hondo, of course I wasn't never rocking with. It's about the same thing, poe. No, it's not. It's about the same thing. He just run though. Exactly that's the Ohio State offense.
Speaker 1:
Listen, I'm going to tell you this I hope it don't sound racist in any way. Ohio State does not do good with non-black quarterbacks, right, if you look back, their best quarterback play has come from black quarterbacks since Troy Smith, from Troy Smith to McCourt, the only white quarterback. I can't remember his name, but he started Braxton Miller's freshman year and Braxton Miller ended up finishing that season as the starter. That was the only white guy from Troy Smith to 2023. So what is Will Howard? He, a white boy that can run. Okay, so you know what? Poe Way, I'm going to help you out right now.
Speaker 1:
Let's transition to a real quarterback. Let's talk about Darion Cole. Let's talk about Darion Cole. Let's talk about a real quarterback. Your thoughts on him.
Speaker 1:
I saw a quarterback talking about his height and all that trying to clown on him. I'm like huh, look, if height was everything, that would be the telltale, but it's not. Unfortunately, that kid is a freaking gamer, bro like, and he don't like to lose. So you add that to his gaming ability. Oh my gosh, bro, it's. I saw him in eighth grade when he was five, six, 125, 130 pounds, starting on varsity at quarterback. You can't discount how big he is, bro.
Speaker 1:
I saw a video of Bryce Young the other day. He looked like he was a JV quarterback. If you could play, you could play. You didn't see the video of Bryce Young walking in the camp. He looked like a JV quarterback, you got to see it, bro. He looked like a JV Porter, you got to see it. He's small. Yeah, I see that, bro, I'm a murder. The same way, bro, he look like a JV.
Speaker 1:
And Darion every time I see him he's getting a little bit taller, like he's stretching out a little bit and Pops isn't short, pops like 5'11", his big brother like 6'1". So that potential is there. And Like, anytime we've been on a trip, got to feed Darion five, six times he always hungry A biggie bag. You can't get away with feeding Darion. A biggie bag, can't do it. So he eating like that. That tells me he's still growing Every day. He's still growing.
Speaker 1:
But, yeah, bro, on the field, if you watch his film you can see the throws he make. But like person, seeing him in person, it's like dang, like okay, he'd rather sit in a pocket and try to make an amazing throw in which he makes it instead of scrambling. But he has the ability to tuck it and go like. Yeah, he really reminds me a lot of cj stroud, because stroud wouldn't run at all. Right can move, he can move if he wants to. Right, he rather he, he much rather pick you apart, right, right. And when I see that he, like, really love football, he love football. He's a gamer, bro, yeah, a true gamer, and I think to me he's he's my favorite quarterback in 2026. I really like brady hart out at coco. Yeah, yeah, that's a dog. Yeah, brady Hart and Noah Grubb are the only two quarterbacks in 26 that I can say that I would be happy with. Not if I don't get Darion Right. I know his other quarterbacks rank higher. It's bogus, yeah.
Speaker 1:
And when I've seen him play, I wonder how you feel about Orlando potentially claiming him. You know what I'm saying? No, go check Poe Wade's latest post and look what he got tattooed. I don't got to worry about Orlando claiming him. He just went and got 863 tatted. Okay, okay, okay, okay, okay. You know them boys ready to claim him. Yeah, he got, bro, literally my latest post. It's showing off his tattoo. Okay, okay, okay.
Speaker 1:
You think next year, his senior year, he come back to Latelyn, a Polk County period, or he just stay in Orlando, category 6 podcast exclusive. I think he'll be at Miami his senior year Early in the road. Reclass, yo, reclass, early in the world. I think that. I think I could see that happening. I'm going to put that in the atmosphere. If it came true.
Speaker 1:
Y'all heard it first on Category 6. Uh-oh, exclusive, exclusive, okay, okay, okay, I can go with that. Now, that would be crazy, that would be crazy. I would like that too. Yeah, I ain't gonna lie, I was gonna be like Luke Nicholson, gonna have the ups on him, but if he reclassified, it's like, ooh, that make a lot of sense. Yeah, just don't be surprised if I haven't.
Speaker 1:
I haven't talked to him about it, haven't talked to dad about it. Um, I'm not saying this is what they're thinking. Yeah, I'm saying don't be surprised if we see that, oh boy, that's great shot waves, that'll definitely be a shot wave, that'll definitely be a shot wave. Yeah, man, uh-uh. I didn't mean to talk that way. You got me now, boy, I didn't even think about that. Yeah, I don't think he'll be back in Lakeland. I think he'll be a hurricane.
Speaker 1:
Wow, wow, boy, man, he's got to be stuck right now a little bit. 50. Huh, I got to be stuck right now a little bit because that makes a lot of sense. Yeah, then we can have two QBs, this class, yeah. And then it's like just straight competition. Yeah, best man win. You feel me Like damn. If he came and started, damn boy, the whole Polk County would be at our games.
Speaker 1:
What, oh, speaking about Polk County, your boy Campbell from Polk County been putting on? Oh, anthony Campbell, yeah, I don't know, maybe it was like you, your senior year, it just clicked for him. It just clicked. He's snapping. He's snapping, bro. He's 6'7". That's hard to block. Yeah, that man's snapping right now.
Speaker 1:
He looking good for us, he looking really good out there. That made me happy Shout out. He went to Bartow, bartow, yeah, he went to Bartow. But I think he ended up going Juco after high school. So that's why, like, a lot of people don't really know him like that, because he, you know, he wasn't a primetime recruit coming out, so everybody didn't really, you know people weren't paying attention to him. But you know, now he at Miami they're going to be paying attention.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, once, him and Coleman, when Coleman touched down and he do his thing with how he looking this year so far in the fall camp, I think we'll start getting more Polk County players. Man, you need to send some of them boys our way. Man, I think y'all got one coming in 2026. Who that? That ain't Darion Coleman. Huh, polk County. Yeah, I'm going to let y'all do y'all research on that. You know what it look like we might be out of time, so you know what we're going to get back to the hill man. Thanks for stopping by. Poe Wake yes, sir, you know what I'm saying. Most definitely the host, big Homie, for sure For sure, appreciate you, poe Wake. Yes, sir, y'all be great.