The Herd with Colin Cowherd - 02/03/2021 - HOUR 2 - Are The 49ers Trapped With Jimmy G., Nick Wright, Steve Smith Sr.

Episode Date: February 3, 2021

In this hour of The Herd with Colin Cowherd, Colin breaks down why the San Francisco 49ers might be shackled to Jimmy G. Also, Nick Wright discusses how the Tampa Bay Buccaneers can slow down the Kansas City Chiefs. Plus, Steve Smith Sr. tells us why Deshaun Watson needs to decide if leaving Houston is the best move for him. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Another podcast from some SNL, late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter.

Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano. It's our favorite time of the year on our podcast point game, the playoffs. We're digging into the biggest surprises of the season. And I'm looking back on some of my greatest playoff moments. If we didn't talk ever again,

I was harmed. You just understood. That's how personal it got. Wow. Then after that game seven, Mark keep coming to him. He's like, you know I love you, dog. You know, it's all love. This was just playoffs. This was just basketball. Listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, it's Edwin Castro, also known as Castro 1021. And I'm Kunky, his best friend, and business manager. And we've got a new show called The 1021 Podcast. I'm taking you behind the scenes on how I became one of Twitch's most popular streamers.

We also love sports. And with the World Cup right around the corner, we'll be breaking down the biggest storylines ahead of the big tournament here in the U.S. Listen to the 1021 podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you're watching the latest season of the Real Housewives of Atlanta, you already know there's a lot to break down. Gorsha accusing Kelly of sleeping with a merry man. They holding Kay Michelle back from fighting Drew. Pinky has financial issues.

On the podcast, Reality with the King, I, Carlos King, recap the biggest moments from your favorite reality shows, including the Real House Wise franchise, the drama, the alliances, and the T, everybody's talking about. To hear this and more, listen to Reality with the King on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Thanks for listening to The Heard podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday from 12 to 3 Eastern, 9 to noon Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and FS1. Find your local station for The Heard at Fox Sports Radio.com or stream us live every day on the iHeartRadio app by searching Heard. The Fox Sports Radio. Oh, here we go. Hour 2. We are live at Super Bowl Week. It's Los Angeles. It's the herd, wherever you may be, and however you may be listening. Fox Sports Radio, High Heart Radio, and FS1. Jersey Mike's Day. Hurd brought you by Jersey Mike's subs, be a sub above. Last night I watched about 20 minutes at the end of the Brooklyn Nets game.

Wildly entertaining, terribly defensively. And then I watched the Russell Crowe movie. It was called 3-something, 3-wide or 3. Crazy. Couldn't turn it off. Good movie. Crazy movie. I had a fun night, and then I had chicken parm, pasta went to bed at 820. Pasta is like your new melatonin. It is. Just put you to sleep.

You know, I am considering giving up working out forever. I haven't done it for a few days, and I've got to be honest with you. I'm very happy and content. Yesterday I had the choice of a 40-minute run or delicious chicken nachos, and the nachos won again. They're on like a nine-choice winning streak. totally okay with it. I mean, listen, I've been there.

I've been there. It happens, especially these days. It's much easier to pick the happier option. Yeah, and we're working hard. Also, it's just like a lot of stress in the world right now. My life is nothing but stress. I need subs. By the way, so I suggested a couple days ago, Derek Carr, to Sean Watson, a bunch of picks,

and everybody yelled and screamed at me, and now the stories are out that the Raiders, if they can get two first round picks for Derek Carr would then package them with their own first rounders in 2021-22 and they give up four first-rounders to get to Sean Watson because they believe with Mahomes and Justin Herbert for the next 10 years, Gruden's like, I need a superstar. So I suggested this two days ago got ripped.

Now it's out. And some people have said you can't get two first rounders for Derek Carr. So I'm going to throw this at you. The two years in Derek Carr's career, when he had the best protection, the best offensive lines, was 2016 in this year. Here's the numbers. He's really good.

He averages in those years, 28 touchdowns, 7 picks, a passer rating of 98, and he's 20 and 11, and he completes about 65% of his throws. You're going to tell me that's not worth two mid-round first picks? You're going to ask yourself, Indianapolis Colts,

on the market right now. Could you do better than Derek Carr? Stafford's off the market, if you're the Colts. Jimmy G. gets hurt too much. You're not getting to Sean Watson. He's in division. Well, what about Carson Wentz? $33 million cap hit.

Four years left on it hurt a lot. Derek Carr is a $21 million cap hit. Almost never gets hurt. And oh, by the way, it's a two-year deal. So even if you don't love Derek Carr and you like him, it's two years. And then you can negotiate. So I think the Raiders, I think it works. here. If I'm Houston, I get a bunch of first round picks in Derek Carr, who's happy.

And I don't know how good Derek Carr is. I've always said he's top 12 in the league. He may be 12, but he's somewhere in that group. When you give him protection, he's really good. And now you're getting all these first round picks, attack your offensive line. Jersey Mike, are they here yet? Because I have my stomach's growling. Okay. He usually joins us last hour on Wednesdays. He joins us now this hour. Nick Wright, co-host of First Things First, who used to work in Houston, did radio, joining us now live via the coward

Global Satellite Network. So I went full force supporting Deshawn Watson, Nick Wright, today. I went full for it. Is he looking at us? What is he doing? Is he there? Is that? Can Nick hear us? I don't think he can hear us yet. Can you hear us yet? No, he can't hear us yet. All right, let's go. We'll wait until he can hear us. Okay. He can't hear her. She's very serious. I know he was too serious. He can't.

can't hear us yet. Get the audio figured out. It looked very serious. It happens. It's television. This is, we're doing this from all over the world. It's, uh, it's the global satellite network. Sometimes stuff gets messed up. You know, I was thinking about this. We've talked about this. When we first started the show, we don't take phone calls and we don't do like cell phone guests. Yeah. We just want higher quality because it's a television show and a radio show. So we don't do phone calls from callers. And once we made it a TV show, as much as a radio show, you will eliminate that stuff. So for a long time, for the first couple years you're here, we only did in studio guests. We thought, oh, you can't do people like Skype or now we've been forced for a year

to do only those type of interviews. And I think about this all the time. It gives us such an advantage. Yeah. When we get over this thing, now that may be five years. I mean, who knows what's going on with vaccinations and this new strain. It'll be a while. But it's like, it's amazing how how we have been. No, it's opened us up to so many new guests, people from all over the place. And we've had people in their car, actually. A lot of players that we've had on the show go out to their car to do the interviews and the connection is perfect. All right.

Nick Wright's now ready. Let's go to Nick Wright again. Not yet or yet. It says, all right, not yet. I mean, we'll go on to something else. I want to throw this at you. So the Jimmy Garoppolo stuff massively. confused me two days ago at the end of the show.

So there was a, there was kind of a rumor out there. I would have been texted something and then it was on the internet that the Niners were interested in Kirk Cousins instead of Jimmy Garoppolo. My takeaway was, God, give me a break. You guys are making Jimmy Garoppolo to be some third stringer. Give me a break on this.

So yesterday, and there's a story out today from somebody who covers the 49ers, that the 49ers went after Matt Stafford and the Rams got him and they weren't real happy. So I called yesterday somebody and I said, explain the Cousins-Garapolo thing. Like, I don't get it. It doesn't make any sense to me. And so here's the Garoppolo story. In four years, Kirk Cousins has missed one start.

In four years, Garoppolo has missed 23. And the person told me, he said, listen, the bottom line is the reason the Rams got him because they had something of value. You can say what you want about Jared Gough, but he's been to a Super Bowl. He's never hurt. He has good off-field judgment. He's a nice kid.

People like him. He throws a beautiful ball. He said, Garapolo now, he goes, you know, people thought the Rams were trapped. Maybe it's the Niners that are trapped. Because Garopolo's hurt too much. So when you're average and hurt a lot, maybe the Niners are trapped on this.

You know, we never think about that, but you start looking at San Francisco. Don't kid yourself. The Niners in the Rams. both wanted Matt Stafford. The Lions weren't interested in Garoppolo. The lions were interested. By the way, they gave up first round picks.

The Niners could have given up picks. The Niners could have given up picks. Both wanted Matt Stafford. The Rams who we thought were trapped got him because Garoppolo's value on the market is less than Kirk Cousins. That's what it comes down to. So that's what I'm being told right now

is that a couple of phone calls and everybody said, you know, everybody, you know, the Rams went into their analytic package and they thought, in the end, we got to get better at quarterback. We're just not good enough. And we all thought they were trapped. But the 49ers, a year ago, and that's how this league changes so quickly,

one year ago, we were convinced the Niners were going to be great for 10 years. Now, off a losing season, and you wonder if they're trapped with Garapolo. I'm also told this. There are people. around the league that are worried that his last injury is more serious than the Niners are letting on.

Because we thought he may come back and play at the end of last January. No, he's not going to play. There are people that are concerned that Garoppolo's health is worse than people are letting on. So it's funny in this league, who gets trapped, who's trapped, who's not trapped? Maybe the Niners are, because I think a year ago, if you would have asked us, the two teams in the NFL that look like the nineers, they had the brightest future.

You and I would have said, Niners Chiefs, Chiefs, obviously. But the Niners now have a situation where if Garoppolo's health isn't good, now the good news for Garoppolo, he's not that expensive. They paid him some guaranteed upfront money. They're not paying him a ton of stuff now.

So that's the good news. But that's what I was told because it kind of confused me. Are we okay with Nick yet? You want to take a break and come back and get Nick? Yeah, we'll come back, take a break. Nick Wright, Steve Smith, of stuff coming up.

Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays at noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1 and the IHeart Radio app. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts,

or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano, and our podcast, Point Game is about defying the odds. Like LeBron heading into the playoffs without Luca and Austin Reed. And finding ways to win no matter what. He's the smartest player to ever play the game. His IQ is at a level that we've never seen before. And he knows

Without Luca and Austin Reeves, I got to manipulate the game. We get a player's perspective on the challenges of the playoffs. I think Joker's going to be exhausted this series because when they don't have Rudy in the lineup, he has to really guard guys like Nas Reid. He has to guard Julius Randall. And then he has to give us everything he gives us on the night-to-night basis on offense.

And when IT's friends stop by, like Quentin Richardson, we dive into some playoff history too. Steve Nass would get that thing. That man, hell get to fly. man, he running up the court, licking his fingers why he got the ball, like, after you go through a training camp with that, Isaiah, you figure it out real quick.

Oh, yeah. Get your ass up and down the court, and you're going to get the ball. So listen to Point Game on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The story I've told myself about love or relationships can then shape my behavior, and that can lead me to sabotage the possibility of connection.

This Mental Health Awareness Month, tune into the podcast deeply well with Debbie Brown and explore the journey of healing, self-discovery, and returning to yourself. We explore higher consciousness, emotional well-being, and the practices that help you find clarity, peace, and self-mastery in a world that can feel overwhelming. The world is becoming lonelier. We're not becoming more social and connected. We're becoming more individualized. but we actually meet people in connection.

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You might know me as that loud guy who yells out, help on the internet. Help! Somebody, please! But there's so much more to me than that. I'm an actor. I'm a comedian, and recently I've become quite the helper myself. And on my new podcast, Hope from a Hypocrite, I'll be changing lives, helping people in need with my sage advice and thoughtful solutions. Sike, I'm a comedian. I'm not qualified to give good advice. Join me and my comedian friends as we riff, rant, recommend some of the most legally dubious advice known to man.

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or wherever you get your podcasts. When you think of the NFL and NBA, you think of the NBA as kind of the younger league, the young kids, it's a lot of stars. I think that's a fair. I've been watching it for 40 years. NFL was, you know, it's old, it's the shield, it's corporate America, it's a little stodgy. The NBA was about player acquisition and free agency and shoes and stars and big personalities and unique games.

And it's very interesting. The top 10 jersey sales for last year are in. NFL's top 10 jersey sales. Seven of the 10 are young kids. Mahomes, Lamar, Tua, Jujo Smith-Schuster, Josh Jacobs, George Kittle, Josh, Yon. They're like young. Brady's the old guy, and Russell and Aaron are middle-aged guys. But it's a bunch of stars. Most of them are very good on TikTok. I mean, George Kittle can be a pro wrestler. They're great on Instagram. And then he go to the NBA's top 10.

Luca Dantzic is the only one who's new and fresh. I'm not saying Janus is old, but he's in the Aaron Rogers, Russell Wilson. It's LeBron. It's Durant. It's Anthony Davis. It's Dame. It's Kyrie. It's Westbrook. Great. I'm not starting to great players. But it is funny if you said, who's got all the new, young, verbal, stars, flashy? It's actually the NFL. The NBA now is more the old bets. You know, the old guys, the old heads, as they call them, the old heads. And it's just interesting. The NFL's done a nice job to make that March.

Free agency. They'll never have the shoe deal of the NBA guys. But it is pretty interesting. NFL has done a good job to let the players celebrate a little more, embrace their social media a little more. I think Roger Goodell gets beat up a lot. I get it, but I've been on this for years. I think he's a lot better than people think.

He toes the line, but you don't hear him talking about Deshawn Watson. You see him supporting the players. NFL has done a good job. They have elevated a lot of these jersey sales now are kids. NFL's got all the kids. And with that, Nick Wright co-hosts First Things First is joining us live in New York City. All right, Deshawn Watson, generally, I think if you have a contract, you should play. But I said this morning, he's not going to get hurt if he sits out.

He's not going to lose market value. He's not going to forget how to play. And the Texans, conversely, will be unwatchable. They could be 0.16. It'll hurt the equity. The owner will lose. Their merch sales will crash. I'm with him.

Sit out. Get out of that cult. Your thoughts on it. I'm a thousand percent with him. And I do typically lean a little more pro player historically than you do. But I think everyone sees Deshaun has been nothing, but a great teammate, a great pro, a great Texan. And he's been rewarded by the worst run franchise in the NFL that just finds new creative ways to implode.

And listen, I feel badly for Texans fans. You know I used to live in Houston. A lot of them are really, really good people. They didn't ask for this. But Jack Easterby seems to have gotten the ear of the relatively new owner, Cal McNair, the late Bob McNair's son, to a degree that it looks like they're going to pick Easterby over Watson, which is just a wild statement to make. But they decided that Deshawn DeAndre Hopkins was worth a second round pick and an overpaid running back.

So this has been a poorly run franchise since its inception, Colin. It is amazing to think that 385 days ago, they were up 24-0 on the Kansas City Chiefs and how far they have in the playoffs and how far the franchise has fallen in just over a year. So Tom Brady, this was pretty remarkable, has seven, eight bedrooms and 22,000 square feet. That wasn't enough. He needed complete isolation. His family's giving him 12 days off. He has not seen them for six, and they won't be back until another six. Has there ever been anybody this dedicated in your life?

Well, I mean, one could argue I'm talking to him because I feel like Tom is taken out of your playbook. If I'm not mistaken about half of the football weekends a year, You tell your wife, go to one of our many other properties. I need this whole thing to myself. I talk to you almost every Sunday. I'm like, where's hand? You're like, oh, no, she left. I had to drill down on these takes.

But it is, it is, here's what I'll give Brady massive credit for. The guys who have done it incredibly long periods of time in other sports near the end of their run, they, while I don't think their dedication wanes, they show some outside interest. Like even LeBron, he's still the best player in the world, but just being great at basketball isn't enough to satiate his appetite, right? So he's making movies, he's making television shows, he's getting involved in social justice. The guys we have seen play the longest, we have seen them start to dabble in other things. Brady doesn't. Brady's got the TB12 stuff, which,

is part of him playing so long and does not seem to have any outside interests, which I think is what allows him to stay this dedicated and this sharp. And it's one of the most remarkable things about him, I think. Listen, the Niners wanted Matt Stafford and the Rams wanted him. And we thought the Rams were trapped. But they had a healthy former number one pick who, by the way, has had some nice games in his career. And so we thought the Rams were. trapped. But the Niners wanted him and they couldn't get him because my question today is

what's Garoppolo's trade value? He's been slightly better than average and he's always hurt. And so my takeaway is I always like Garoppolo. But I am wondering now in the last four years he's missed 23 starts. You tell me are the Niners trapped with him?

Yeah, they have the worst quarterback in the division now. And that's the word that's, whenever you do like a preseason progress, Anastication. Always asks of this, does this team have the worst quarterback in the division in which, if they do, they're drawing dead? If you looked at it this year now retroactively, seven of the eight teams that had the worst quarterback in their division, either finished last or second to last in that division. The only one that made the playoffs was the bears, and they barely made the playoffs in the playoffs they were embarrassed, right? So Russell Wilson is obviously better than him. I would argue Kyler is better than him. And I think Stafford is at least. potentially better than him. I like Stafford more, even though Stafford doesn't have the big game experience.

Niner fans get hung up on. If you say you can't win a Super Bowl with him, they say we were in the Super Bowl with the lead. You could have, you could have won a Super Bowl with him. But that was the perfect storm. You still had Buckner. You had the greatest defense in the world. Sala was still there.

You had more weapons. The only way you can win a Super Bowl with Jimmy Garoppel was a time machine to replay that fourth quarter. And I think the Niners are smart enough. They don't want to make the same mistake. And he's not Blake Bortals. I'm not arguing he's Blake Bortals. But the Jags made a mistake.

Can you make a Super Bowl with Blake Bortles? Well, we had a fourth quarter lead in the AFC championship game with Blake Bortle. So why can't we? Because you can't. You had that was your one chance and you didn't hit on it. You can't. So I understand why they would want to move off him. Finally, player rent, you do these pyramid things.

They're fascinating. I'm into them. you go all in. I know the time you put into these things. And so pro football focus and the herd football focus, a new company. We believe... Oh, second new company. Yeah.

We believe the chiefs have top five or six players outside of Brady, but it's all chiefs. But both of us believe you get to about seven on, and it's mostly Buccaneer players. Agree or disagree. Yeah. No, I think that's right. but I think that once you're at the Super Bowl,

I think depth is a touch overrated. And by that I mean, you can argue that the way the chiefs have built their team, being top heavy salary cap wise, having a lot of stars, and then a bunch of role players with not a big middle class, is incredibly risky because of the attrition of the season. But now you're in the Super Bowl.

And the what, obviously the big injury is no Eric Fisher. So Mike Rimmers moves to the left side. The last time Mike Rimmers played tackle in a Super Bowl, Bon Miller had two strip sacks that, that flipped the game. So maybe that would be the deciding factor. But I don't think it's a problem that the Bucks have, you know, more depth of roster and more B and B plus players because the Super Bowl should be determined by the A plus players.

And there are three A plus players. and there are three A-plus players in this game, A-triple-plus, and they all play for the Chiefs. Mahomes, Hill, Kelsey. I think that'll determine it. And since you said that was the last one, I know we have to go. Congrats on everything this week, Colin, with the volume. I know how hard you've been working at it for a very long time. I'm so happy for you.

Congratulations, man. All right, thanks, buddy. I do agree with it in there. I do think the three best player, A-plus. I think Brady's great, but in terms of athletically match-up problems, Tyree kills the world's fastest football player. Travis Kelsey is virtually uncoverable, and Mahomes is ridiculous. And I do think that.

I go back to this on the Chiefs. I'm trying to talk myself into Brady winning, right, right? There's part of me thinking, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay. I can't get past this. The Buffalo Bills were on fire. On fire. And the Chiefs outscored him in that game at 1.38 to 6. Okay, I can't.

I can't get past the fact that Cleveland was a good football team. and the Kansas City beat him and Mahalms left with seven and a half minutes to go in the third quarter I can't get past that there's no way the bucks are here if Brady left seven and a half minutes to go against Washington or Green Bay or New Orleans they wouldn't be here

so it's like as much as I all these ramifications and matchups I just can't get past that Kansas City bludgeoned the hottest team in the NFL 38 to 6 is like that's Alabama against You know, that's a, that's two-quarters Alabama against, you know, bottom tier in the SEC. That just doesn't happen in the NFL against good teams.

Joy Taylor with the news. No, no, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the Herdline News, sponsored by Mercedes-Benz, the best or nothing. You know, I thought of Andrew Luck the other day. You did? I did. I was like, wonder what Andrew Luck is doing right now.

You know what? It's too painful for me. So I have wiped it out because it's too painful. I mean, I assume he is somewhere reading a book, but he's been off the grid since he suddenly retired in 2019. Could he be making a comeback? Joy, stop. Let's not go there. Well, it's a very strange story. Mike Austin, who claims his wife has a mutual friend with Luck's wife.

Okay, who's Mike Austin? A guy. A guy. Release some texts on Twitter that seemed to say that Luck is meeting with Jim Ursa. The messages appear to come from Luck's wife, Nicole, who tells her friend, Andrew is meeting with Jim around noon. The friend says, Jim who? Then Nicole clarifies that it is Jimmy with the Colts. The message also says that luck misses football more than anything.

And if he does play again, this is the first step. Oh, my God. Jim Ursa has commented on it saying Andrew's retired. He knows we would love to have him back, but only he could ever answer that question deep in his heart and soul. do I really want to come back and be a quarterback for the cults again in the NFL? Oh, don't tease me. It's easy for us. He knows how much we'd love to have him be our quarterback.

I don't really know if we'll see that. I think he's happy. He's raising his daughter. He has a wonderful family. He has a great cult. He knows that he can come back anytime he wants, but at the same time, we respect that he's made his decision. Okay, I'm not going to get involved in these discussions.

It broke my heart once. Well, it's a very strange story. If it does end up that these messages are, real. I suggest that his wife cut that friend off because she is screenshoting your text and sending them around so she cannot be trusted. But this is kind of interesting. Kind of. If it's true, if it's true, this is wild speculation. By the way, Brady got out of the AFC at the right time. I got Mahomes. I got Herbert. Now I got Luck back. Get me out of here. The offensive line is better now. They're in a position to win.

Andrew Luck and a Colts. He doesn't have to go out there and play with a lacerated kidney. Hey, Nick Wright, Super Bowls are over. You start parking yourself at the AFC Championship and get ready to take off back home. And luck goes on the Colts with that front office and that old line. Oh. I mean, it does. It could feel a little bit. It's obviously very different their careers.

But, you know, Gronk was just tired. Like his body was exhausted. He was beat up. He went through a ton of surgeries and injuries. And he's like, yeah, I just need. And I really thought that he was. done. But he's laying in the Super Bowl on Sunday. Listen, every time we retire to spend more time with our families, after about 40 minutes,

we're over that. We want to go back and have fun. Well, we also are spending a lot of time with our families more so than we would normally be spending time with our families. We're like sprinkling in spending more time with our families with also some golf and some book clubs and Andrew Lux's situation. So look, I can't, I can't verify this, but again, sis, that friend's got to go. Not to be trusted. So the Bucks will be the first. You'll be the team to ever play the Super Bowl in their own stadium Sunday. But they are being limited with their home field perks. Oh, boy.

Since the Super Bowl is technically a neutral field game, the NFL will not allow the bucks to fire their cannons after touchdowns and big plays like they usually do. Why not? Because it's, that's a home field perk. Not every stadium has a giant's pirate ship in the outfield. We're not firing them at the players. You're just firing them into the sky. They'll be allowed to go off their.

team introductions and if the bucks win. But other than that, you know, normally during the game, they fire the cannons off whenever there's a big player, or never there's a touchdown, so the Buccaneers would not be allowed to do that. I mean, this is already going to be a pretty unprecedented I mean, it is going to be an unprecedented Super Bowl and there's limited capacity. There's going to be a lot of

cardboard fan cutouts. It's kind of going to have that it's going to have that Buccaneers' home field advantage feel and that they are in their stadium. So they're trying to do what they can to limit it. I used to work in Tampa. What a 12-month stretch for that city. Yeah.

NHL, World Series, Super Bowl. It's incredible. And by the way, it all kind of hit it. The lightning had been good for a couple years, so that didn't shock anybody. That does kind of happen sometimes, though. No, it does. You saw that in Boston.

Los Angeles right now. It just explodes. Tampa. Yeah. I was thinking about this, Joy. Remember we did the board on how many great athletes there are in Los Angeles right now. In the history of American sports,

there have never been more stars in one city. We just added Matt Stafford. Yeah. Because we didn't have golf in the top 12. Now you got to put Stafford on the top 10. Just think about the city of Los Angeles. Did we have Herbert in there? Yeah.

No, Herbert was like 12. Okay. So I think, you know. Because he's moved up. I would say, I would argue Herbert is a bigger star right now than Stafford. We should do that again tomorrow. There's more intrigue right now because it's like a newer story.

So we had Aaron Donald, Jalen Ramsey, were in it. Now you'd have Matt Stafford. You have Justin Herbert and Joey both. So you had five football players. Mookiee Betts. LeBron James. LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Kauai and Leonard. Paul George. Paul George was the last person. I think we had Mike Trout. We had Mike Trout. We had Cody Bellinger. Clayton Kershaw. Kershaw was like 13, which is insane. The city of Los Angeles, right? I've never seen a city that has like 15 marquee stars.

in it. We're the City of Stars. What can we say? When was the last time you actually walked on the Hollywood Stars? I think I've done it once in my life. Really? I think I was like four Heineken's in. I barely remember it.

So I may have stumbled on the Hollywood Stars. It's kind of a different experience when you actually get down there than you might think it is. Yeah, it's a little, it's not as slick. Yeah. So the next trio of Kyrie, Katie, Ann Hardin got a chance to test themselves against the Clippers and one of the league's best last night. Kyrie had a season high, 39 points.

Durant added 28, and Hardin had a 23-point triple double on their way to the 124-120 win. Great game. Really felt like playoff basketball. All the net games looked the same. They're all like 126, 123. Yeah, I mean, they're going to score a bazillion points. The defense is the question. They were down by five in the fourth before Kyrie, Katie, and Hardin went on a 13-0 scoring spree to snap the Clippers three-game winning streak.

The Clippers entered with the NBA's best record and had lost for just a second time in Twitter. games. So they're actually, the Clippers are quietly playing great. I'm still off the bandwagon, but they are putting things together. They certainly look great. I thought this was a really good win for the Nets. I know you're still skeptical of the Kyrie situation. And look, they've had some defensive woes over the past couple games for sure. But if they can get the defensive side of the ball tweaked enough, it's still some liability there. I still think they need to make another move. There's nothing wrong with being wildly entertaining and not winning titles.

I mean, the owner may not like it, but I mean, they're a good product. Oh, I think that if you have Kyrie, KD, and Hardin on one team, there's absolutely something wrong with not winning a title. You have to win a title. That's three of the top four scores. It's three of the top four offensive players in the league. I don't know where you want to rank Kyrie and top players in the league. It's definitely top three of the top 15.

Well, if I said the best offensive players in the league, not the whole game. Hardin and KD. Hardin and KD are probably top two. LeBron 3. Steph, Leuco and Kyrie. I mean, two of them are in the top five, though. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah.

Damien Lillard's up there. They need to win a title. Joy with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Herd Line News. Are sandwiches here yet? I'm very hungry.

Steve Smith coming up. Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast Superhuman documented it all,

embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano and our podcast cast point game is about defying the odds. Like LeBron heading into the playoffs without Luca and Austin Reed. And finding ways to win no matter what. He's the smartest player to ever play the game. His IQ is at a level that we've never seen before. And he knows without Luca and Austin Reeves,

I got to manipulate the game. We get a player's perspective on the challenges of the playoffs. I think Joker's going to be exhausted this series because when they don't have Rudy in the lineup, he has to really guard guys like Nas Reed. He has to guard you. Julius Randall. And then he has to give us everything he gives us on the night-to-night basis on offense.

And when IT's friends stop by, like Quentin Richardson, we dive into some playoff history too. Steve Nass would get that thing. That man, hell get the flying. He running up the court, licking his fingers why he got the ball. Like, after you go through a training camp with that, Isaiah, you figure it out real quick. Get your ass up and down the court, and you're going to get the ball. So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. The story I've told myself about love or relationships can then shape my behavior, and that can lead me to sabotage the possibility of connection.

This Mental Health Awareness Month, tune into the podcast deeply well with Debbie Brown and explore the journey of healing, self-discovery, and returning to yourself. We explore higher consciousness, emotional well-being, and the practices that help you find clarity, peace, and self-mastery. a world that can feel overwhelming. The world is becoming lonelier. We're not becoming more social and connected. We're becoming more individualized, but we actually meet people in connection. If you've been searching for a soft place to land while doing the work to become whole, this podcast is for you to hear more.

Listen to deeply well with Debbie Brown from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Hey, I'm George Adano. You might know me as that loud guy who yells out, help on the internet. Help! Somebody! Please!

But there's so much more to me than me. I'm an actor. I'm a comedian. And recently, I've become quite the helper myself. And on my new podcast, Hope from a Hypocrite, I'll be changing lives, helping people in need with my sage advice and thoughtful solutions. Syke!

I'm a comedian. I'm not qualified to give good advice. Join me and my comedian friends as we riff ran. and recommend some of the most legally dubious advice known to man. If I'm calling you, even if you're on your phone, let it ring twice. One ring is too scary. Oh, cream a chicken suit. Hey, cream a chicken suit.

This is Help from a Hypocrite, the worst advice from the dumbest people you know. Listen to Help from a Hypocrite as part of the Mike Cultura podcast network available on the IHart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. All right, Steve Smith will be joining us. NFL Network, former pro bowler, Terry Bradshaw, will be joining us as well. It is good to have you in today. Here's the Super Bowl Week. We're not there.

People ask me, how come you're not out there? It's obviously COVID. I guess CBS has the game. From what I've seen on social media, CBS people are there, some of the stuff. There's some other networks traveling, but everyone has to, like, stay in their hotel room. I have to eat all their meals in the hotel room. Really? Get tested every morning.

Everyone else to wear contact tracers. So it's like, it's a whole thing. It's not, when you think of the concept of Super Bowl, and we really wouldn't be there at all. Like our show would not travel there. We might individually travel there over the weekend for appearances or whatever, but like our show wouldn't travel there unless we had it. But the rest of the networks always send a lot of people.

We send people, we spend correspondence there. But yeah, it's very different this year. I just looked to see what was trending on the inner web, and it's Andrew Luck. Folks, let me tell you something. If Andrew Luck comes back to the Colts, it is a, this is the best offensive line in football, one of the best general managers in football. It starts to look like the Chiefs. It was a very strong statement from Jim Mersey.

It's a top five or six. Remember, Philip Rivers with that offensive line had like a 97 passer rating. Philip Rivers did. So old, he no longer plays football. He had like 24 touchdowns, 11 picks. Andrew Luck comes back. You're talking 35 touchdowns, 7, 8 picks. You've got to wonder if Andrew Luck is watching this year with Philip Rivers thinking,

I mean, this guy's been playing forever, and he is not getting injured. He's got time to throw. Listen, Andrew Luck can move. Think about this. The Colts go into Buffalo, and I don't have it in front of me, but I think they had like nine offensive possessions. I think they got into Bill's territory in all nine. They just in the red zone,

you know, Philip, you got to have, it helps in the red zone to either have really tall targets like Mike Evans and Gronk or to be able to move, like a Mahomes or a Lamar. You know, it just helps to move. So Philip didn't really have either. And so the Colts settled for field goals. And that's why Buffalo wins because Josh Allen can move a little. Remember they had that big play, ran around, he threw the knocks in the end zone.

This is a huge source. story. And ask yourself this is nothing against Andrew Luck, but he physically had a lacerated kidney. I don't even know what that means. Sounds horrific. Okay. So Deshawn Watson had something so bad one time

because the Texans' weak offensive line. He had to take a bust to a game. They said he couldn't fly to a gang. Lung issue. And that's what we're dealing with. So the Texans and the Colts similarly bad offensive lines. It's an unbelievable story here. if Andrew Luck comes back.

Steve Smith, senior NFL network analyst, 16 years in the NFL gets Hall of Fame votes. Five time Pro Bowler is joining us now live. Five playoff appearances in his career. So I just read a story, Steve, where Tom Brady hasn't seen his family in six days. He won't see him for another six days. And that's what a 22,000 square foot house. He needed more space. I mean, you were a very committed player.

I mean, how are you ever shocked by Brady's commitment and focus? No, I don't think it's Brady's commitment of focus, but it's protocol and, you know, it's a lot of unforeseen, unexpected issues. And so they just got to kind of do things the best way they can. You know, you see two Chiefs players have possibly tested positive or false positive or contact tracing because they were getting a haircut. So you just kind of understand that just to get through this game,

you want to get through this game and play and not be able to experience that because of a small error which can cost you something huge right now because I don't know who is the backup quarterback for the Tampa Bay Buccaneage. And we don't want to find out who the back. up quarterback for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers is in the Super Bowl. Yeah. So pro football focus says of the top five players, Kansas City's got four of them. By about the 6 to the 15th best player, it's all Buccaneers.

Would you rather go into a game with more high-end players a handful or with more really good B-plus players? That's a great question, but I also think that's a loaded question because how are we saying that some of the players on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are B players. Vita Vaya is a stud. And what he has done and he's only played in the playoffs once. And look how big of the impact he's made. Devin White was playing like a possessed linebacker. And when you have Vita Vaya able to just gobble up all of those defenders and be

able to occupy space and let that sideline the sideline linebacker play, I don't necessarily consider him a B player. I think we just have to do different levels and we have to justify our existence by saying this player's B, this player's second team. The fact of the matter is, these are the two best teams in the NFL for the 2020 season. And there may be better players, more well-rounded teams, but they couldn't put it together at the right moment. Right, right. So these are the best two teams right now.

So Tyreek Hill ate the Buccaneers alive last time they played. You tell me as a star receiver, what was the one way to slow you down? Is it bracketing? Is it physical play line of scrimmage? Like when you were at your best and you were dealing with what was the hardest thing for you to, overcome. A outstanding D-line because you can have a average or pro bowl shut down corner.

But if your quarterback does not have time to go through his progressions, to look off to safety, to be comfortable and set his feet in that seven-step, five-step drop, then it doesn't matter how many great routes are run because all I'm doing is killing grass. Only thing I've done is employ the landscaping guy, the maintenance man, because all I've done is kill grass. I did not get a completion because when you have an outstanding D-line that can apply pressure to a quarterback, average, below-average, good, great. No quarterback has ever completed a pass on there behind.

It just doesn't happen. When you could get that quarterback off the spot and get it. get him uncomfortable and make him check the ball down and not go through his progressions, that's when a Y receiver, an offense, becomes ineffective. And the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have that ability that are jelling. They have an offense. They have a counterpunch of an explosive offense. And now they have a defense who's jelling, who has it together.

Todd Bowles understands each guy he has what his attributes are and what he does not do well. And so they're utilizing that. And that's why they're in the position they're in right now. Yeah. I mean, basically you're saying if the bucks get to Mahomes, that's your best defense against Hill. Finally, Deshaun Watson's holding out. I defended in this morning. Did you ever hold out?

Are you comfortable with him holding out? Well, I, you know, I'm comfortable whatever he's comfortable with. But there's also somewhere lies what Deshaun feels. Somewhere lies where the Houston Texan feels. Somewhere in the middle lies the truth. And Deshaun Watson feels the way he feels. I haven't spoken to him and I will not reach out to him because I think this is his situation. And I think too many people are talking about what they think or who they have talked to.

But ultimately, Deshaun Watson was given an opportunity by the Houston Texans to be part of a process in which he believes, and I haven't spoken to him, so I'm just going off what the hearsay. he believes he has not been fully involved with the process in which it was presented to him. So he believes that in his formative years, in his most prime years, he doesn't believe that they're going to be truthful. If you're not truthful in the beginning, what makes you think throughout the process as you get older, as things start to droop and sag and may not get back the way it was, that they're going to treat you. with the same honesty in which they treated this head coaching and general manager process in which he's not been part of every process that they told him he would be part of. Yeah, no. Listen, what's the old saying, Maya Angelou? People tell you who they are. Believe them.

And the Texans lied to him. So Deshaun's like, all right, you won't play that game. I don't trust you. I agree with Steve. All right, Steve Smith, Senior, NFL Network. Good seeing you, buddy. You look good, man. You've been working out.

That's right. I've been working out a lot, Steve. Thanks for noticing. I've been working out a lot. Things are shoulders, pecks and stuff and everything. Thank you, Steve for noticing. I appreciate that. No problem.

Steve's player. Player sees player. Baller sees baller right there. Oh, yeah. Black rifle. Didn't you say you weren't going to work out anymore? Sometimes, you know, you just... Says about chicken nachos?

You know, I'd be better at taking compliments, and I went with that one. You know what? That's right. You deserve that compliment. Black Rifle Coffee Company is veteran. and own serving premium coffee to people who love America, black rifle coffee.com slash herd, 20% off your first coffee club order. I saw Steve Smith one time I was having dinner in Manhattan Beach and he just walked in

from the airport. I'm like, where are you been? He goes, Korea. I've been in South Korea for like 10. I'm like, what? This was non-COVID time for all you guys. Yeah, yeah, it's like three years. He travels.

Steve gets out there and travels. We just sat there and had a beer and sat and talked about life. And he played at Utah. I remember him at Utah. He's a tough dude. He'll get after you a little bit. Then he went on to have an amazing career. He did.

Yeah, I'd vote for him. I think he's a Hall of Famer. Comeback player of the year. Five playoff appearances. Right, hour three next. One more herd? The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week within the IHeart radio app.

Search Hurd to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like. Another podcast from some SNL late in comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and Friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, S&L's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas.

I'm C.J. Toledano. It's our favorite time of the year on our podcast, Point Game, the playoffs. We're digging into the biggest surprises of the season. And I'm looking back on some of my greatest playoff moments. If we didn't talk ever again, I was primed. You just understood. That's how personal it got. Wow. Then after that game seven, Mark keep coming to, he's like, you know I love you, dog. You know, it's all love. This was just playoffs. This was just basketball. So listen to Point Game on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Joey And on my new podcast, Hope from a Hypocrite, I'll be changing lives, helping people in need with thoughtful solutions.

Sike, I'm a comedian. I'm not qualified to give good advice. Join me and my comedian friends as we riff, rant, recommend some of the most legally dubious advice known to me. This is Help from a Hypocrite, the worst advice from the dumbest people you know. Listen to Help from a Hypocrite Wednesdays on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you're watching the latest season of the Real Housewives of Atlanta, you already know there's a lot to break down.

Gorsha accusing Kelly of sleeping with a merry man. They holding Kay Michelle back from fighting Drew. Pinky has financial issues. On the podcast, Reality with the King, I, Carlos King, recap the biggest moments from your favorite reality shows, including the Real House Wise franchise. The drama, the alliances, and the T, everybody's talking about. to hear this and more, listen to Reality with the King on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. This is an IHart podcast. Guaranteed Human.