The Herd with Colin Cowherd - 02/19/2021 - HOUR 2 - Wentz, Greek Freak

Episode Date: February 19, 2021

Why Colin believes Carson Wentz will fit well for the ColtsGiannis Antetokounmpo is no where near being the face of the leagueGuests: Andrew Whitworth, Sam Amick 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. 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. Hey, what's good, y'all? You're listening to Learn the Hard Way with your favorite therapist and host, Kear Games.

This space is about black men's experiences, having honest conversations that it's really not safe to have anywhere, but you're having them with a licensed professional who knows what he's doing. How many men carry a suit or armor? It signals to the world that you're not to be played with. And just because you have the capability that does not mean that you need to. Listen and learn the hard way on the AHA radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. On the Look Back at it podcast. From 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84 is big to me.

I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. With our friends, fellow comedians, and favorite authors. Like Mark Lamont Hill on the 80s. 84 was a wild. It was a wild year. I don't think there's a more important year for black people.

Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. 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 herd at Fox Sports Radio.com or stream us live every day on the iHeartRadio app by searching Herd. You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. radio. Ah, here we go. It is our number two in a Friday live in Los Angeles.

It's the herd wherever you may be and however you may be listening. Fox Sports Radio, IHeart Radio FS1, Alex Curry, in for Joy Taylor today. I will say this. Everybody wants to be an expert on COVID. I have no idea. I've watched it for a year. Decimate businesses. I will say this.

Today is the first day. I feel incredibly hopeful. 77% COVID plummeting. It's down 77% in the last six weeks. There's an article today that herd immunity and vaccines, and this is right in the middle of the winter. This is when we thought it was going to be the worst. This is February.

You know, virus is all in warm weather. Don't spread as often. We know that, right? You're not getting it off surfaces. Warm weather outdoors is good to kill a virus. So it's down 77%. vaccines are now available at a much higher percent. The governor of California, and we've been incredibly restrictive.

Now you can play high school sports as of March. Oh, that's amazing. It's amazing. That's awesome. For all the kids to get out there, this has been so tough on kids and families. You know, my kids are out of that space. My kids now, they don't want to be anywhere near me. But when you get kids that are six, seven, eight, nine, ten, those early high school years

where sports and social situations are so big for kids. It's so important. It's been so punitive against families with young kids. So first day today, I feel like I see, I see the horizon. I see the end of it. It's plummeting. The vaccines are out there. Some are speculating Washington Post today. Heard immunities greater than we think. I have no idea. I'm just telling you what I'm hearing. But today I feel optimistic about, listen, man, this has been a crazy last 12, 13 months. Today I feel like positive. Today's a very good day potentially for America. And so it's not a political statement. It's just what I'm reading today makes me very, very happy.

By the way, a lot of you are saying, Colin, why are you so, you're so goofy on Carson Wednesday, Indianaapolis. You're way too optimistic. Here's my rule in life. I listen to successful people. If somebody that had been successful in radio management for 20 years called me and said, I think your show's bad. I'd listen. If somebody on the internet says it that's never worked in radio, what do I care? My financial advisor, my doctor, I rely on people who have been successful over and over and over and over and over.

That's how I live my life. That's why trolls don't bother me. If you've never been successful in my space, what would I care about your opinion? What do I care? All opinions are not valid and all opinions aren't equal. So why do I like Carson Wentz to Indy? It's not terribly difficult to figure out because friends, Frank Reich has been successful over and over and over and over.

So Andrew Luck's most efficient year as an NFL quarterback was with Frank Reich. He had his highest completion percentage, his best passer rating, he was sacked the least amount of times and the best TD interception ratio, second yards passing per game. So Andrew Luck, best year with Frank Wright. Carson Wentz had his best year with Frank Reich. he was 11 and 2. It was his best TD to interception ratio. He was sacked the least amount of times and had his second best passer rating.

Reich was the Eagles OC. Even old, creaky, can't move Phillip Rivers in the last year of his career. Now remember, this is the last year. He had his fourth best win loss record, his third best completion percentage, sacked the second fewest times in his career and his sixth best pass rate. Again, that's at the end. I mean, Philip didn't have much of a fastball left, and he did this. And oh, by the way, Philip Rivers, in fact, I put this down somewhere this morning,

had his best completion percentage ever when he was in San Diego and Reich was the quarterback coach. So I've always looked, are you successful over and over at something? Whether it's a tax attorney, it's a landscaper, it's an accountant. if you keep being successful at something, I'm going to presume you're going to keep being successful. And Carson Wentz and Andrew Luck are very similar players. They're a little reckless. They're big.

They take big chances. They're wickedly talented. They're going to add libs sometimes out of trouble and sometimes into trouble. Luck and Wentz are very similar players. I like Luck more than Wentz, but Wentz is super talented. They went to non-traditional football powers, right? They didn't go to Alabama, Ohio. state, Oklahoma. So it's real easy. Frank Reich equals good quarterback play. That's why I like it.

Again, it's why I don't listen to trolls. If you're not successful, why do I care about your opinion? I listen to successful coaches, successful tax people, successful doctors, successful broadcast executives. That's what I rely on for my advice and my opinions. All right, Andrew Whitworth, 15th NFL season, probably going to end up getting a lot of Hall of Fame votes. He is now joining us live. We haven't talked to him in a while. Last time I talked to Andrew Whitworth, he was protecting a different quarterback. So you got a different quarterback.

So let's just start with this. First of all, I hope your off-season's going well. I see a nice case of wine behind you. It looks like you're enjoying the finer things in life. Am I right there? There you go. You're taking a page out of your book, man. So let's start with this.

You were close with Jared Gough. We both like Jared Gough. Were you shocked the Rams moved off, Jared Goff. Yeah, I think it's one of those things as a player. You know, you're used to your locker room and the guys that are in it that you spent time with. And anytime there's a change, I think it's shocking to the guys and you almost can't believe it for the first couple of days that it's going to be different. But one of the things that's always held true in my 15 years in the league is that it's going to be a different locker room every single time you come back for a new season.

And it's just one of the things I think that's tough as a young player to get used to. and one of those that I think, you know, the Rams decided the best thing for them to do is to move in a different direction. And as a player, all you can do is, you know what, enjoy the time you had with Jared. And obviously, he's a great young man wishing nothing but the best, but also get to know Matt Stafford and look forward to the opportunity they have there with him. Okay. So Jared was well liked. He was a hard worker. People liked him.

Are you concerned at all? Matt Stafford comes in. No relationships in the room. what do you know about Matt Stafford? What do you know about his style, his personality? What do you know about him? Well, I think for Matt, it's somebody I actually know pretty well. One of his closest friends in life was my left guard in Cincinnati,

with the Cincinnati Bengals and Clint Bowling. And they played at Georgia together. So I've known Matt for a while and know what a competitor he is and really his personality. I think that he's somebody who's been a leader. You look in Detroit, I saw here recently some guys who come out and said he was the most favorite teammate they had while they played in the NFL. And I think it's one of those things you see him as somebody people gravitate towards. And I think you'll be pretty seamless for guys getting a nomad and understanding what he's

about. Now, Sean McVeigh's system, and we know this, Andrew, almost as a general rule. Brady's the exception. Generally, you go to a team with a new offense, and it's the second year that it pops. So what will be the, you know that playbook with Sean McVeigh, what will be the biggest challenges for Stafford and your offense? in the new playbook. What's going to be tough for him? What shouldn't be? Well, I think that really for Matt, I think it's going to be that he's played in a lot of systems. That's a benefit to us is that

he's had some different coaches. He's been through some change there in Detroit. So I think he's got a pretty deep understanding of a lot of the offenses in the NFL. And for us, it's going to be getting used to him and his style and maybe even everything from cadences to the style he likes to communicate with on the field and kind of understanding each other. I think that's one of the things is an offense that you get to. And then also with us, we do a lot at the line of scrimmage play. I mean, there's a lot of fast, uptempo things going on. It's going to be how do we communicate with one another, understand the way he wants to talk about plays, or maybe the way he sees them. And I think getting on that same page, that'll be something big for him

coming in is really playing in that uptempo on the ball offense and getting to understand the terminology that we've been used to. And if there's anything that maybe he likes to communicate in a different way. When Sean McVeigh came in, he is this boy, wonder, but then reality sets in. You got to win games and win your division, and you guys just happen to be in the toughest division in football. And at the end of this year, I just talked to Les Need for about 30 minutes the other day.

He's like, you know, the reality is the Rams now, the expectations are win the division. Sean McVeigh, win playoff games. Did you feel at the end of, because I thought you guys actually played well at the end of the year, you gave Green Bay a real fight. Did you sense at the end of the year, expectations have changed a little, Andrew? It's like, now you've got to win multiple playoff games with Rams. This is not just getting into the playoffs. Yeah, I mean, I played in Cincinnati, went to the playoffs five seasons in a row,

won a couple of division championships, and it was all about win the playoff game, you know. And here in L.A., it's like we won that playoff game against Seattle, and it was almost like people were just like, you know, good win, but not a real big deal. You know, it's one of those things that I think our expectation is to go to the NFC championship game and try to win it and get ourselves in the Super Bowl. every year. And anything short of that, you're obviously upset even if you get to the championship game and lose, but we expect to be playing in that game for an opportunity to go to Super Bowl. And anything short of that,'s not enough. And I think that's really where things have changed

is that those expectations continue to rise. And take nothing away from Jared Gough. I mean, the guy won 40-something games over the last four years. You know, he did a heck of a job. But I think that the expectations continue to rise. And I think that's what the Rams are looking for when they tried to say, hey, we're going to make a bold move and say that maybe this is what gets us over that edge to where every year we're competing in that title game. By the way, you had missed seven games last year with an injury. You could certainly retire. You've obviously done well for yourself.

Are you going to play? Because, you know, it's funny. You were a topic of conversation the other day with your general manager. I was on the phone. And I said, look, I'm looking at your roster. And I don't think if Andrew retires, I don't think you have a guy behind him. not, not, that, that's, left tackles third or fourth most important position on the field. Are you playing?

Is Matt Stafford going to have you protecting his butt? I guess is what I'm asking. Well, Colin, I'm one of those guys. I keep it real. So obviously it's an offseason. It's, you got to get, I believe that no matter whether you've played 15 years or two years, you are in your spot every week. And so I'm going to work with the preparation to play this season.

That's the mentality and the attitude. But obviously, everything has to go right and everything has to keep moving in a great direction. to be there and be able to play at the level that I expect. So, yeah, that's the plan. But nothing's guaranteed. So I look forward to each and every day getting that opportunity to fight for that spot and leading this football team next fall. You love football, though.

You were pained not playing. You love football. Yeah, I mean, you know, if I look back at it, I'm real with myself, it's probably a little bit of a stretch to try and play in the playoffs. And, you know, I mean, really, you know, after talking to Dr. P.L. Chos, we really felt like it was a 16 to 20-week injury, tearing both PCL and MCL and played in basically seven and a half weeks. And, you know, first couple weeks after those games, I was a little regretful in the sense of how good it felt. But, you know, now it's getting better and hopefully

we're headed in the right direction and getting ready and getting healthy. And yeah, I mean, I love the game. And it was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do to sit out and watch it. That's for sure. By the way, personal question, I have gray in my beard and you have gray in your beard. Are you the only Ram player with gray facial hair right now? Be honest, you're 39. Are you the only one? The odds are pretty good. I don't know anybody else that's got it. I mean, we got a couple maybe that might have some blonde in there. Maybe Sean does. But, you know, I definitely got to be the only one with gray. But I think that's been going on for quite some time. I'm in the stage of trying to figure out whether you try to hide it or keep it going or, you know, just trying to make those decisions

to look better. It's good seeing you. We want you back. Matt. Stafford wants you back for sure. Nice talking to you. Hey, appreciate it, Colin. Glad you're feeling better, man. All right, thanks, buddy. Rams' offensive line, Andrew Whitworth. 39 years old, he has played for 15 years at left tackle. That's incredible. It's an incredible accomplishment. You know, I just got into this conversation, Alex, the other day.

I said, outside of the Chiefs offensive line, you think of the NFL, it's, oh, the NFL's done a good job to keep their league safe. Tampa was totally healthy by the end of the year. Green Bay was just missing one player, David Boktiari. They were healthy. Seattle was healthy. New Orleans was healthy. Outside of the Chief's offensive line, their defense was healthy, their weapons were healthy, their backs were healthy. Cleveland was missing Olivier Vernon, but they were mostly healthy.

I mean, it's for a sport that's as physical as the NFL, the Rams got Andrew Whitworth back. they were healthy. Just the Chiefs' own line. That's it. By and large, your final six or seven teams, you know what I mean?

It's for as tough as this sport. I mean, I watched the NBA every night. Last night I watched the Lakers and Nets. There's like four starters not available. That's basketball. So maybe it's luck. Maybe it's safety measures. But the fact that Andrew Whitworth can play left tackle for 15 years,

the league's doing something right. That's an unbelievable. You're facing the best athletes, the most physically daunting athletes every week, pass rushers. He plays 15 years. He's had one stretch of seven games he missed. That's pretty amazing. He had a great attitude. Yeah, he's a great dude.

All right. Don't go anywhere. Oh, oh, oh, oh. Remember when you told me Janus was going to be the next LeBron? See what happened last night? All right. One more herd? The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week within the I-Hard radio app.

Search Herd to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like. 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 I-Hard Radio. Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Clifford Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions,

my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes,

creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast, it's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So, if you've ever supported me, or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to the Cliverts Show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or we're

you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Hey, I'm Deanna Maria Riva, actress, mother, lover, and a Gen X woman walking through life one hot flash and hormonal crying jag at a time. You ladies know what I mean. I'll bet you a perimenopausal chin here you do. So let's talk about it. Join me on my new podcast. How hard can it be with Deanna Maria Riva, where I call on my Gen X squads from Ohio to Hollywood as we navigate midlife's most fantastic BS. All of a sudden, I'd had, hey, hangingness happening on my own. I was like, what the hell is that?

I was married when I had her, so I didn't even consider how empty that nest was going to be. Mood swings, night sweats, fupas, sex drive. Wait, what sex? Dating at 45. How can it be getting naked at 50 with a new guy? That one's kind of hard, you know? Well, that's lighting. They say we can't polish a turd, but we're sure going to try. So let's get blunt with laughs, tears, or tears of laughter, and dive into it,

unfiltered and unbothered and ask, How Hard Can It Be? I cannot believe I'm about to say this out loud in public. Listen to How Hard Can It Be with Diana Maria Riva as part of My Cultura podcast network available 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 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 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 Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Fox Sports Presents Voices Season of Change.

A look back at the 2020 NASCAR season and the impact of positive social change hosted by Kurt Menofee, Jeff Gordon, Larry Reynolds. Fox Sports Voices tomorrow at noon Eastern, 9 Pacific, on Fox. Oh, it's my turn to talk. It's your turn. Sorry, I'm just looking at some Dak Prescott stuff. Sometimes driving great, sometimes there's winter and it's not. Like when it's pouring outside, sleet or cold, get Michelin Wiper Blades.

They hug your, they hug your windshield like Michigan, Michelin Tires, hug the road. Get yours today on Amazon Prime. Maybe I'll get my act together here. By the way, I've got Sam Amick before the end of the hour, Eric Mangini last hour. I'm going to hold off on this for a little bit, but man, if I have to hear Janice is going to run this league, five game losing streak in Milwaukee, and he's played all five games. You know who hasn't? Drew Holliday.

He's not even the MVP for his own team. Drew Holliday is the most valuable buck. It's not the most talented. We talked about this yesterday. Don't confuse talent with valuable. My wife is more valuable in the family. I, of course, am much more talented. But value is often misinterpreted.

Is that Janus is talented. They're in a five-game losing streak, and they've lost to bad teams. Why? Because he's a talented player with absolute limitations who needs lots of help from somebody else running the show. Drew holidays out with COVID or COVID protocols, they can't win. So this is what I always talk about. Kevin Durant's great.

Warriors won before him. Warriors now with Steph back and won and after him. The Nets have been on winning streaks when he doesn't play. Kevin Durant's talented, valuable. I'm not saying he doesn't have some value. It's not zero and a lot. but this Janus thing has always been we're always saying that he's going to be the next

LeBron, he's going to be the face of the league. No, he's just a talented guy. There is no next LeBron. There is no next LeBron. He's the greatest player, maybe ever, and certainly in the last 15 years. Everybody kept telling me every golfer was going to be Tiger Woods. There's one tiger on the history of the planet. There'll never be another tiger.

There'll never be another guy that takes over a sport like golf for 10 years. There's never going to be another serena. I'm not saying athletes don't get better, but when you get these once in a lifetime athletes, there is no other Usain Bolt. It's not like some guy is going to clip a second off his time. Like you just get these generational elite. You're not going to see it again.

There is never going to be a Jordan. Jordan was a score. LeBron's much more about distribution and kind of engineering the both sides of the ball. But there is no Jordan. Kobe was close, but he's no Jordan. There's never going to be another LeBron. So anytime a Zion's not as good as LeBron, Janus isn't close to it.

Yonis can't shoot. Yonis shoots 82% within three feet. The minute he gets within three to ten feet, he shoots 33%. That's his game. He's really good around the rim. Then it all dries up. He can't shoot free throws. He can't shoot threes.

And I'm ranting. Alex Curry with the news. No, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the. There's no next LeBron. Can we just stop saying that? I'm with you on that one.

We're going to get to LeBron in a second, but we're going to start with the big news that came yesterday. The Eagles traded away. Carson Wentz paving the way for Jalen Hurts to be the starting quarterback next season. But the job is not just going to be handed to. Philadelphia reportedly plans to bring in competition for Hertz this off season. Now, I'm all for a little healthy competition. I think it keeps people on their toes, keeps them from being lazy,

keeps them working hard. But you just got out of kind of a messy quarter. quarterback situation and the same day you come out and say this to your quarterback. What is it saying? Is it saying Philadelphia over drafted Jalen Hertz? You draft a quarterback in the second round. You're saying he's a franchise quarterback. Yeah.

Now, you draft a quarterback in the fourth round. You're saying he's a project. But if you go in the second round and draft quarterback and by the second year, you're not sure, you probably drafted the wrong guy because you're seeing him in every day. at practice. So to me it says, because I always thought he was a third round quarterback, I didn't think he was like a second round pick. So it tells me you over drafted him. So you made the mistake of drafting him when you had Carson Wentz and puncturing his confidence and now you overdrafted him and you don't really trust Jalen Hertz. So I mean, you go find the last

10 years, quarterback's drafted first, second round. I mean, they had to pry Garapolo away from Belichick. That was the highest he'd ever drafted a quarterback. Okay. So if you don't think Jalen Hurts, is your quarterback, either overdrafted him or you're screwing up the room, the quarterback room again? I said it yesterday. You want to feel wanted. Everyone wants to feel wanted, especially the most important position on your team, a quarterback. And if they don't feel wanted, it messes with their confidence.

He's a young guy. So it's going to be an interesting situation to see how that all plays out. But moving on to Anthony Davis, he will miss more time than the Lakers originally expected. Frank Vogel confirmed AD will be out four weeks after team doctors reevalue. He continued his injuries last night. The team had hoped he would be able to return right after the All-Star break, but that timeline is now extended as a team looks to take a conservative approach in bringing him back. And I think this is smart.

More often than not, we see athletes come back too soon and they re-injure themselves. Yes, it's hard not having your number two out there, but you still have LeBron playing. And it allows other guys on the team to step up and maybe step into new roles and get more minutes. I mean, I just think Anthony Davis is the best two in the history of the league. Yeah. I've never felt you can rely on him. I think he's super talented. I don't think he has the personality, the drive, the toughness to be a one.

But we confuse that because he's so gifted. So we think he's a one. James Hardin, by the way, is a two. He doesn't have the commitment. You can't rely on him. He's not going to play on the defensive end. Kyrie is a two or a three. So we confuse. Oh, he's talented. He's a one.

No, LeBron's a one. Chris Paul's a one. Chris Paul doesn't have to be the most talented guy. He's a one. Steph's a one. And so Anthony Davis, to me, is I can't rely on him physically. I thought he had a bad year to start this year. Offensively, he was down in every category. So as long as your expectation with Anthony is, he's a great two, then it's all good. Then it's all good. Well, let's talk about that number one, because LeBron James reached another career milestone last night, With a free throw at the end of the first half, he became just the third player in NBA history to score 35,000 points in his career. The only other players to hit that mark are Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Carl Malone, who are still ahead of him on the league's all-time scoring list.

Now, I think this just adds to the legend that is LeBron James. And I feel lucky that we get to kind of sit back and have a front row seat to this. As you mentioned, this is a once-in-a-generation player. Well, he's also really not known primarily as a score. Like if you, LeBron's going to end up either the first or second leading score in league history, and he's really known as more Magic Johnson. He's much more of a facilitator than he is a pure score. There's a stat years ago, my favorite LeBron stat ever is a high school stat.

So LeBron James, his junior year of high school, and I'm not exact on the numbers, but he averaged something like as a junior high school. school 25 a game. And he went from like, you know, 18 to 25. So you would think his senior year in high school, he averaged 40. Yeah. He averaged one point more. In high school, what does that tell you? LeBron's never been about just taking over a game and scoring all the points. He's always been a facilitator at his heart. That's the core of who he is. So, and all the way back to high school, he could have scored 40, wasn't what he was about. And so the fact that he's going to end up the first or second score, and it's not really his go-to.

That's one of his greatest arguments as the greatest player. That would be like Michael Jordan finishing all-time number one or two in assists. When Michael was a score and say, he also had the most assists in NBA history. You'd be like, that's not even really a thing. When you can dominate something that's not your thing, Jordan was a score and that's all his numbers love. LeBron is a facilitator and his offensive numbers from scoring blow everybody outside of Kareem away. It's incredible. I love it.

Alex for the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Heard Lye News. I've been saying this for the last year. I'm over the Dak Prescott contract situation. You know, pay him or not. About a year ago, I kept bringing people on from Dallas.

And they were like, oh, I was going to get the contract. And I said, listen. If you date somebody for eight years and you don't commit to a marriage, you're probably not going to get married. Like you're just making excuses now. Well, we can live together. We can hang out. At eight years, you make up. My wife told me, listen, you get about an hour.

Make up your mind. I didn't have. She just said, it was like, listen, you got about 45 minutes or I'm out of here. So not that I'm not completely happy and wouldn't have done it anyway. But the point being is commit to something or not. So my thing, always with DAC has been, if they wanted to pay them, they would have. They could have paid them four years ago. They could have paid them three years ago.

They could have paid them last year. They're not paying him. And the latest story is they're a long way off. But I will – Dallas has a little bit of a dilemma because I was thinking about this this morning with Carson Wentz going to the Colts. There are certain divisions where the quarterback play is so great, you have to really constantly evolve. Take the NFC West.

I mean, good God. You got Kyler Murray, Matt Stafford, Garapolo, and Russell Wilson. I mean, Kyler is numbers-wise, the least impressive. but he's going into year three and he's no question a franchise quarterback. That's probably your best quarterback division. Give me another division. How about AFC West? Mahomes and Herbert are elite talents.

Derek Carr's damn good. So three of the four, you're like, that's why Denver is already rumored to be looking to move up. They have to. You can't have the fourth best quarterback in a division. None against Drew Locke, but Denver's like, look at our division. You've got the AFC South now. So Deshawn's still Houston. Carson Wentz now with the Colts.

Trevor Lawrence is going to go to Jacksonville and Tannahill. You got to keep up. If Tannahill is the worst quarterback in a division, that's a pretty good division. AFC North. Lamar Jackson's won 80% of his games. Burroughs clearly got it. Say what you want. Baker got to a playoff.

Big Ben's the worst right now in that division, but he'll be okay early in his seasons. He old and deteriorates late. then you go to the AF's NFC East. It's a clown show. You got Daniel Jones, half of New York wants a new quarterback. Jalen Hertz, the Eagles don't even believe in. Washington doesn't really have a plan. You look at Dak Prescott, and it's like,

the dilemma for Dallas is if he stays upright next year, he is clearly the best quarterback in the division. Clearly. But when you pay him a lot, are you out of the Super Bowl race? So that's the thing with Dallas, is they don't have to compete against their division with quarterbacks. If DAC is healthy, easily the best quarterback.

And generally, that means guaranteed playoffs, guaranteed playoff wins. But I think the dilemma for Dallas is their division's so unstable at quarterback that they don't have to have the best quarterback to win their division. But if you pay them big money, you're out of the Super Bowl lottery. just not going to win it if you're paying DAC $35 million. But it is interesting. It's more leverage for DAC is that look around my division. At least you may not love my arm. At least I'm productive and stable. There are so much instability in the NFC East right now that if DAC's

upright, easily, most productive quarterback. Again, if you if Dallas was in the NFC West and they had Russell Wilson and Matt Stafford and Kyler Murray. Then you're sitting waking up saying, hey, we can't, we may have the fourth most talented quarterback. Then Dallas has some leverage against Todd France and Dak Prescott. Dak's got all the leverage. Look at my division. I'm the best quarter.

Who's going to give up the best quarterback on a division? You're nuts. And you probably are not to sign him. And again, if you sign him to a franchise tag at 37 million, you can't do anything. If you give him a long-term deal and then you can start manipulating the cap if you're the Cowboys, play around with the money, give them a lot of guaranteed, you know, don't pay them for two more years big, like Kansas City with Mahomes. Get two or three years out of it before you have to really pay them.

But, God, that division is just a tire fire at quarterback. Sam Amick, update us on some NBA thoughts. The bucks are a mess. How good is Brooklyn? What to do with AD who's hurt again? Cremot-Barber-grade products are designed. to soothe and relieve that beard itch, tame moistureizing style,

comes in cedar forest, that's what I use. I like to smell like a cedar forest. Mint and cooling, and more available at major retailers, Amazon and cremocompany.com. CREMO. I love their stuff. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHeard 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. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me. Cliver Taylor the fourth. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined.

And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life. mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast. It's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger.

So if you've ever supported me, or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to The Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. What's up, fam?

It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm CJ Tolodom. 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. 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 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 podcasts. Hey, I'm Deanna Maria Riva, actress, mother, lover, and a Gen X woman walking through life one hot flash and hormonal crying jag at a time. You ladies know what I mean. I'll bet you a

paramedipausal chin here you do. So let's talk about it. Join me on my new podcast. How hard can it be with Deanna Maria Riva, where I call on my Gen X squads from Ohio to Hollywood as we navigate midlife's most fantastic BS. All of a sudden, I'd had hanginess happening on my own. I was like, What the hell is that? I was married when I had her, so I didn't even consider how empty that Ness was going to be. Mood swings, night sweats, fupas, sex drive. Wait, what sex? Dating at 45.

How hard can it be getting naked at 50 with the new guy? That one's kind of hard. Well, that's lighting. They say we can't polish a turd, but we're sure going to try. So let's get blunt with laughs, tears, or tears of laughter, and dive into it, unfiltered and unbothered and ask, how hard can it be? I cannot believe I'm about to say this out loud in public. Listen to How Hard Can It Be with Diana Maria Riva as part of My Cultura Podcast Network

available on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Supplement I take every morning, MDrive, Powerful Ingredients, Back by Science, free shipping, 60-day money-back guarantee. Don't let age beat you, refine your prime with M-Drive. It was funny. We had Antoine Walker was on the other day. You're doing the show when Antoine Walker was on? or was that Wednesday? I think it was Wednesday.

So we were talking to Antoine Walker, who won a title with the Heat and played for the Celtics for years. And he was talking about Janus. And, you know, Janus has been seen kind of as the next LeBron, but he said, what Janus,

we have the sound of this. What Janus is great at, he's great at. But he's got gaping holes in his game, and he's not working on us. Here was Antoine Walker. If he's not in the open floor, it's very hard for Janus to score. and he has to figure that out.

His offensive skill level has to get up if he wants to compete with the Kevin Durant, with the LeBron James of the world, if he wants to be in the championship contention. If not, they will continue to get bounced in the playoffs because of his lack of offensive performance. Not a lot of finesse to his game. It's interesting. He shoots 82% within three feet of the rim. It plummets to 33% from 3 to 10 feet. Then 10 to 16, it's 30%.

that it's 27% on three. So there's gaping holes in his game. And whereas, you know, LeBron, he keeps adding little components to his game. With Janus, what he's great at, he's great at, but you do hit certain ceilings. And there is a way now to defend him. And with that Sam Amick, who's been covering the NBA for 16 years for the athletic now, it is interesting, is that I can think a guy is great, Sam. I can love him as a player, but I can also say he's got a ceiling.

and it does feel like with Janice when he gets to the playoffs, the game slows down. It's a little more situational. There is now a book on how to defend Janus to some degree, is there not? Oh, sure. Yeah, Eric Spolstra and the Heat Crew, you know, wrote that book in the playoffs last year. And night after night in that series,

we were confounded by the buck's inability to counter and Janice's inability to counter. And then you're seeing that trend continue this year. Now, the Drew Holiday Edition was, supposed to fix some of that. And I will qualify this struggle right now. I mean, not having Drew is a very big deal. But to your point, Colin, two-time MVP, a guy who, you know, I voted for both times in defensive player of the year, you expect him to be able to carry this group better than they are right now. Yeah. It's interesting with Brooklyn. I watched them last night. I watched

about half the game against the Lakers, and they got hot and the Lakers weren't, but they're missing starters. You know, it's one of those games I don't take a ton from. But I do think you can argue that Nets have three of the top five offensive players in terms of just, if we had a horse contest or a one-on-one contest of the NBA, Kyrie Hardin and KD would be three of the top five guys probably. But you look at them and I think to myself, okay, what made the warrior special wasn't just their offense. It's that Clay Thompson's a great defender and Draymond in his prime was a terrific defender. I don't think this is a championship team as it's currently constructed. Do you see it as that?

I don't, but I also then project in the playoffs and say who's going to beat them, because we have a lot of uncertainty right now among all the contenders. The Lakers are scuffling without Anthony Davis. But that formula, high-end offense, but top 10 defense is typically historically what you have to have to be a championship team. And the Nets are awful on that end. And I mean, Kevin Durant is a guy that I think is, is kind of going to have to be their savior defensively and play a lot of small ball and put him with the five.

And I can see that working, you know, in short sense, but that's a lot to ask of a guy who plays like an MVP on the offensive end. And so they're so interesting. I can't remember a team with this kind of dichotomy. It doesn't mean they can't improve defensively. I think they can. It's funny, never thought I would hear this, talking to scouts about James Harden being an X-factor defensively for them because as much as the narrative with James has been that he simply doesn't defend that in the post and at times when he puts the effort forth, he's a guy that that is big and strong and has some ability on that end.

You know, they're going to have to fix it, but man, offensively, they just overwhelm you. So I'm not ready to take them out of that discussion in terms of being a championship team by any means. I just don't know how they fix the defense. Listen, I still don't think Embedon Simmons are perfect together, but they're number one in the east. It's Tobias Harris has played well. you know, Darry

he'll always say the right stuff but in the end I still don't think it works but it's winning. So are they an interesting team at the trade deadline to you or do you think you're just going to run it through with Doc for one year? We'll see. I mean

any team that Darrell is in charge of the front office is going to be aggressive at a trade deadline. They've added some shooting that has helped on the offensive end with Seth Terry, Danny Green, you know, cork-moss has been good. the Tobias Harrison thing to me, and admittedly I'm going to write about him in the next couple days. I talked to him yesterday. I think he is an incredibly important part of their program because

he's not known as a star. His numbers this year are all-star worthy. You're talking 21.7 boards, 50, 40, 90. Honestly, I mean, who am I to tell Doc how to coach? I think Doc needs to let him shoot a few more threes. He's not shooting a lot, but his percentages are fantastic and they're down a little bit from last year in terms of volume. So Tobias' play is big. He's tried to get better defensively. They're a little bit deceiving analytically. If you look at the record, they look like an elite team, and I think they are.

But some of the, you know, the advanced numbers tell you that they're kind of teetering and kind of pushing towards mediocrity a little bit, and the shooting needs to get better, and the defense needs to get better. I don't know yet what I think. And with Joel, man, MVP caliber year so far, but you're always holding your breath on the health front, just hoping that he's going to be available. Listen, one of the few things I got right, I said, Zion's body, don't outthink your eyes, that if he can shoot free throws well, he's going to live at the line because he initiates so much

contact. I watched him at Duke, and I said, it's a skinny jeans league now. Nobody wants contact. It's a bunch of 6-11 guys that wait 240. I said, this kid is Carl Malone, whereas he's just going to live at the free throw. I'm going to shoot seven or eight a night. and if he can hit 75%, he's going to give you 25 a night.

I got that one right. Are you surprised at how dominant, I mean, his numbers, he leads the NBA in paint scoring, I think, by a lot. Are you surprised by Zion? What do you make of him so far? I'm not surprised. I was really surprised at the early season struggle.

It was like it was a different guy from the guy that we saw last year where in a small sample size he was transcendent. and the kind of, you know, player that we thought he was going to be. So that small little hiccup, I don't know if you blame kind of the post bubble fatigue or even the conditioning and the program stuff that got impacted because the league decided to start the season earlier than people thought they were going to start. Whatever it was, he had that blip, and then he got back to doing the type of stuff that he started doing last year.

He's fantastic. And New Orleans is obviously figuring it out. And I'm curious, you know, if you spend it forward to the trade deadline, March 25th, New Orleans is a team that had been pretty widely known to be out there with some of their players. But now that you're playing a little better, does that impact how Dave Griffin sees what he wants to do? Do you think deep down they would never admit it? But this was the year it felt like LeBron, as an aged player, was going to kind of subtly hand the baton to AD. It's like, listen, we know it's LeBron's team, but Big fella, I just got out of a bubble.

I'm not getting much time off. And AD came out, Sam, and he didn't have a very good offensive year. He struggled a little bit. Do you think deep down in the recesses, the Lakers are a little disappointed with AD's performance this year? Sure. I mean, it depends on who we're talking about. You know, Rob Polinkiller, GM is generally kind of an uplifter, so he's certainly not going to either admit to that or maybe even has thought that. But, I mean, it's hard to not have that be the takeaway.

He's not been as dominant as he was last. year. And with LeBron in terms of, you know, I don't know what the Lakers thought. I'd be pretty reticent to say that LeBron was handing the torch because he's coming off a year where he thought he should have been the MVP. He went out of his way to tell us that he thought he should have been the MVP and that it, you know, that has upset him that Yannis got it. And so I feel like, you know, LeBron had another chapter to write in terms of, you know, wanting to go get another MVP award, which he's working on right now. But the AD component is big because when he was there, he wasn't playing all that well.

And now you have a tough spot where LeBron is a little bit like Janice, where he's trying to carry the load, not doing very well. LeBron's doing a much better job. But this isn't what you want a couple months into the regular season is for LeBron having to pick up the slack with AD when he's there or not. It's just not been a good year for AD. By the way, a minute left. I've always loved Chris Paul, but he's not very likable.

But he goes to the Sons, and what do you know? The Sons are now excellent. I think he's the most underrated player in the last. 10 years. I think you get it, but I don't think players want to admit it because he's hard to get along with. How do you describe him? Everywhere he goes, they win. Everywhere. I mean, he flipped the script. You know, he comes out of Houston with the optics around him not being very positive because it didn't work with James Harden. I give him a ton of credit. In OKC, it worked wonderfully well. That success leads to the Phoenix move. And now you're seeing

the same story in a different city. Devin Booker, DeAndre Aidan, learning from him. I looked at the splits today, about a 12-point difference on our floor for Chris, and that's far and away the best on the team. You know, Devin is having a good year. They're actually a little better when Devin's not on the floor, which we've never said about Chris Paul. He just makes guys around him better. He's embracing the leadership component of this challenge. And a little bit like LeBron, his best friend, he's got that chip on his shoulder of, you know, everybody's trying to bury me and say that I'm too old to get it done. And we're seeing that's not the case.

Yeah. God, I love watching him play. old school. He's feisty. He yells at teammates. He's my kind of guy. Sam, it's good talking to you. Keep doing your great work for the athletic. All right. Good stuff. Thanks, brother. Be good. You bet. Yeah, Chris Paul is way. I remember when he came out of Wake Forest, and he was chippy. And he used to get in fights. Isn't it amazing that Wake Forest has given us Tim Duncan and Chris Paul, Hall of Famers, first ballot guys. There's nothing against Wake Forest, but it's, I mean, they're arguably a top, point guard in the history. After magic, Chris Paul's in a very short group and Tim Duncan's

going to forward. I mean, he's in the Larry Bird LeBron class. I mean, Little Wake Forest. How about that? Most life changing sleep is about what's underneath. That's why I sleep on a Casper mattress. 1,500 perforations create a cooling system so effective, you won't be awake to notice. Hour three and a Friday. Next. Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not Quite on Humor 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. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only least. 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. Hey, what's good, y'all? You're listening to learn the hard weight.

with your favorite therapist and host, Kear Games. This space is about black men's experiences, having honest conversations that it's really not safe to have anywhere, but you're having them with a licensed professional who knows what he's doing. How many men carry a suit or armor? It signals to the world that you're not to be played with. And just because you have the capability that does not mean that you need to, listen to learn the hard way on the AHA radio app, Apple Podcast,

or wherever you get your podcast. On the Look Back at a podcast. That was a big moment for me. 84 was big to me. I'm Sam Jay. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a year, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. With our friends, fellow comedians, and favorite authors.

Like Mark Lamont Hill on the 80s. 84 was a wild year. It was a wild year. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.