Hello, BlackBalt listeners.

If you're enjoying our show, you might also like some of our other narrative podcasts

here at The Ringer, like 22 Goals, a history of the men's world cup, told through the

lens of 22 of the most iconic goals ever scored in the tournament.

You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll rage against colonialism.

Or maybe you'd like, what if, the limb by a story, a series about the death of a young

basketball star and how his legacy reached far beyond the court?

You might also like one of our culture podcasts, like Gene and Roger, a deep dive into the

careers and legacies of legendary movie critics, Cisco and Ebert.

Thanks for listening.

It was March 2017.

I'd been working for the NFL for about six years.

And we were about to start a time-honored annual tradition, free agency.

Watching players, especially quarterbacks, change teams is fun.

But in the NFL, it's also kind of funny.

Because the best players tend to get locked up by their teams early.

So the ones that are left aren't that great.

Let me read off a few names of the free agent Cubies from that summer.

There's Brian Hoyer, who's signed with the Niners in early March.

Soon after, Matt Barkley signed with the Niners as well.

Matt Shobb with the Falcons and Mike Glenin signed with the Bears.

Not a lot of problers on this list.

...