Running It Back

About Running It Back

What can we learn from legendary sports players and performances? In each episode of Running It Back, Tarlin Ray and Mike Palmer bring us back to moments from the past to find the stories that resonate with the events of today. If you forget history, you may be destined to repeat it. So be sure to run it back with us before you play it forward in these tumultuous times.

Publisher

Palmer Media

Category

education · sports

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

8 Sept 2020

Latest episode

1 Nov 2026

Latest episodes

102 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   1 Nov 2026

   The NFL’s Injury Problem, Brian Flores’ Revenge & Redemption QBs | Running It Back

   It's November, and the NFL is already a war of attrition. Mike Palmer and Tarlin Ray take the league's midseason temperature: quarterbacks dropping by the week, a Giants fan with a playoff hot take, and a Vikings fan somehow miserable about an undefeated start. LESSONS FROM THE MIDWAY POINT 🩼 Football is violent. Who knew? Six starting quarterbacks went down in the first two weeks. Saquon and Breece Hall are out. And Jalen Hurts flew cross-country with a blood clot to play a game. Tarlin is calling it a Chris Bosh moment. 🔄 One team's castoff is another's cornerstone. The Giants are on quarterback number three, and it's the guy Minnesota let go. Mike thinks that funky mojo, plus a heroic tie, gets them to the playoffs. Tarlin has questions. 🛡️ Bet on the coach the league gave up on. The Vikings are winning with a quarterback Tarlin can't stand, because Brian Flores keeps building the best defense in football. Credit to Kevin O'Connell for building a culture that can make the most of a coach the league pushed aside. 🧩 Fit beats firepower. Jim Harbaugh paired up with Mike McDaniel, and Justin Herbert's howitzer has gone quiet. Meanwhile Brock Purdy keeps proving touch beats velocity, and Kyle Shanahan keeps winning with half his roster hurt. 📈 Redemption arcs are undefeated. C.J. Stroud went from getting his walk-in fit roasted to a comeback story. Drake Maye is rolling. The Browns are actually winning. And in Chicago, Ben Johnson and Caleb Williams might be building something real. 🎮 Plus: Josh Allen and Jaxon Smith-Njigba are cheat codes, fantasy football updates (one of us is 6-1, one of us faces a last-place penalty), Mike Tomlin's Minecraft universe, and the Rams trying to make a SoFi Super Bowl happen. COMING UP That's My Quarterback is coming back. Somebody's getting stuck with Deshaun Watson, and Tarlin can't wait for it to be Mike. Coaching carousel shows to follow. KEEP RUNNING IT BACK That's a wrap on the Season 7 kickoff. Catch the full set: the Brewers' World Series, the Valkyries' WNBA title, and our NBA tipoff. Running It Back, the Lessons Learned from Sports Podcast. Hit play, subscribe wherever you get your pods, and tell us who you're taking in the That's My Quarterback draft.

2. 

   1 Nov 2026

   Yaxel vs Luka, LeBron in Philly & the NBA’s Injury Problem | 2026-27 Tipoff | Running It Back

   The NBA is back, and so is Running It Back. Mike Palmer and Tarlin Ray tip off the 2026-27 season with the league flipped upside down: LeBron's in Philly, the champion Knicks started 0-3, and a 24-year-old rookie is already trash-talking Luka. LESSONS FROM OPENING WEEK 🗣️ Earn your smoke. Yaxel Lendeborg went from community college to a national title at Michigan to the Warriors, and in his first NBA game he got in Luka's face, then said he'd lost all respect for him. Moxie hits different when you can back it up. 🏆 Draft winners, not just potential. Everyone wants the 19-year-old with upside. But the teams jumping out early are leaning on players who've already won: Memphis with two Wooden Award winners, Houston with Fred VanVleet running the show. Sound familiar, Valkyries fans? 👑 Test the Ewing Theory. Can a team get better after its superstar leaves? The Lakers are Luka's team now, and Tarlin has three requests for his new leader. One of them is "get down the court." 🪜 Who are you after you get stepped over? Ty Lue lived through one of the most famous moments in Finals history from the wrong side, and showed up the next day. Mike wants him on the pod to talk about it. 🩼 The best ability is availability. Anthony Edwards, Jalen Williams, Haliburton: stars are dropping already. So should the league go contrarian on health? Tarlin floats a halftime smoke, a steakhouse instead of lift day, and a hard look at all those low-tops. It's gotta be the shoes. 🤖 Plus: Buttery got cut. Meet Rounded, our new real-time AI fact-checker. Also, Dame and Ja in Portland, LaMelo's joy factor in Minnesota, a Beverly Hills Cop deep cut, and a public plea to bring back Game of Zones. HELP US OUT Our fact-checker needs a real name. Rounded isn't cutting it. Send us your best pitch. And if you know the Game of Zones creators, we want them on the show. KEEP RUNNING IT BACK Season 7 is rolling. Catch our Brewers World Series and Valkyries WNBA Finals episodes now. NFL is up next. Running It Back, the Lessons Learned from Sports Podcast. Hit play, subscribe wherever you get your pods, and don't call it a comeback.

3. 

   1 Nov 2026

   Lessons From Ballhalla | Running It Back and the 2026 WNBA Finals

   Ballhalla delivered. The Golden State Valkyries are WNBA champions in just their second season, and Mike Palmer and Tarlin Ray saw it coming. We recorded this one before Game 7, so consider it receipts. LESSONS FROM THE FINALS Year two. Title. How did the Valkyries pull it off, and what does the Atlanta Dream's run tell us about where the league goes next? 🏆 Stack winners. Golden State loaded up on UConn alums who already knew how to close. Tarlin's betting rule: back the players who've won before. 🔄 Narratives flip fast. Angel Reese got shipped out of Chicago with a reputation. A year later she's anchoring Atlanta's defense in the Finals. Haters, update your takes. Ball don't lie. ⚔️ Rivalries build leagues. Tarlin says Reese vs. Caitlin Clark could be the WNBA's Bird and Magic, and the league needs the anger that comes with it. Mike thinks Ballhalla's ride-or-die energy is the real growth engine. Game 7 may have just cast the deciding vote. 📺 Schedule like you want people watching. Game 6 tipped at 12:30 on a weekday. Mike's lunch hour. Everyone else's work meeting. A league with the NBA in its corner can do better. 💜 Violet, purple or lilac? A Pantone dispute settled live on air, kind of. 🤖 Plus: the debut of our real-time AI fact-checker, who gets the Valkyries' name right, costs Tarlin 30 seconds and earns the nickname "Buttery." Also, Geno vs. Dawn Staley, and why Geno Auriemma is a gateway drug to Nick Saban. KEEP RUNNING IT BACK Season 7 is rolling. Catch our Brewers World Series episode now, and our NBA and NFL shows are up next. Running It Back, the Lessons Learned from Sports Podcast. Hit play, subscribe wherever you get your pods, and tell us: was this a Valkyries title or a Ballhalla title?

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

15 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

1 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 47 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

65

Social presence

0

YouTube

0

Engagement

71

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Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.