The Herd with Colin Cowherd - 07/22/2021 - HOUR 3 - New NFL rule

Episode Date: July 22, 2021

Ranking the best players in the NBANew Covid-19 rules for the NFLGuest: Brian Billick 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. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me, Clifford Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media. Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversation.

with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. So let's get to it. Listen to The Clifford Show on the IHeard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. 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 SportsRadio.com or stream us live every day on the IHeart radio app by searching heard.

You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Driven to be the best. MDrive boost and burn gives you that energy and edge of need. Go to MDrive from N.com. Free shipping, 60-day moneyback guarantee. Refind your prime with M.D. Drive. Well, when he was an offensive coordinator for the Minnesota Vikings for six years,

they made the playoffs in five. And then he became the coach of the Baltimore Ravens. He helped guide them to their first Super Bowl as a friend. And in the nine years he was there, he reached the postseason four times and had a winning record. So as a coordinator and a coach, he certainly knew what he was doing. He now does some broadcasting and has what they call a life, which you often don't have when you're coaching in that league. And Brian Billick is now joining us live. You know, it is interesting.

Bob Stoops, I asked Bob multiple times, how come you're not coaching? And he's like, I want to have a life. And I always feel like I should ask you that. You're young. You look great. You got your health. I don't know if I've ever asked you this. Why don't you coach again?

Well, you reach a point where like Bob says, you want a life. There's some other things. I'm always, it's interesting one around draft time. And I do radio shows and connections. People say, well, why aren't you in coaching? I go, let me see. I'm sitting on the back of a boat here on the Chesapeake Bay. We're up at the lakehouse of Minnesota.

It's beautiful. I'm going to play golf or go fishing. You want me to go back and sit in a room with no windows, look at a tackle, who's the same guy I looked at last year. and it's going to be the same guy going to look at next year. I think I'll stick with what I'm doing. Yeah, and they have to listen to idiots like me criticize coaches. I think you made the right decision.

You know, the Green Bay thing is fascinating. So, you know, I tell my kids this all the time. Grateful is a really underrated quality. And listen, I thought the Packers should have tipped him off to Jordan Love. It's not a responsibility, but I think it's what you do with a star quarterback. I don't care if it's Philip Rivers. I don't care if it's Aaron Rogers or Brady. Hey, we may draft the guy in the first or second round at quarterback.

It's a delicate position. There's egos, blah, blah, blah. But boy, when I look at Aaron, I see a lot more of what he has than what he doesn't. And it's a little off-putting to me, Brian. It's a little needy. And, you know, it's easy for me up on my radio TV thrown to talk about it. But, you know, I watch Janice win in Milwaukee, and they were the Packers for the last two years. Great in the regular season, right in the doorstep, and he put his head down and burrowed through it.

the Roger stuff is becoming a little off-putting to me. Is it to you at all? Yeah, and I think most fans. And the difference is that at this time of year, we're always talking about somebody that's holding out, because it's always going to be about the money. But we're not typically doing it with a quarterback, a reigning MVP,

and a sure-fire Hall of Famer. So I think that adds to it with a storied franchise like the Green Bay Packers. So, yeah, anytime you insert that personal financial, component to it. At some point, and the players are even, hey, they understand it, they embrace it. Hey, that could be me later on. But at some point, it's, hey, yeah, we are close. We have unfinished business here. We appreciate you. You're trying to make something happen there, but now it's time to go to work. My mentor, Denny Green, always used to say, there's a time for pay and there's a time for play. Well, it's now time for play. And Aaron needs to, I think, at least from the PR front, I think he's losing a little bit here from the overall image of what he had in the Green Bay Packers. Yeah, no, no, I agree with you. So Jimmy, Jerry Jones said yesterday, he acknowledged, good for him.

He said, you know, I kind of screwed up. I screwed up the dynasty. And you were lucky because I don't remember if the Wilf's own the Vikings when you were there. I don't know who won't it, but I know Steve Boshadis is a very good owner and considered a non-meddler. Jimmy's, Jimmy Johnson has said, you know, we started winning and Jerry wanted a opinion on football. How would you have dealt with that if you had been the Cowboys coach and Jerry's trying to do football stuff? Well, I mean, he owns the club, so that's his right to do it.

I will say this, when you look at the winning franchises, consistently winning franchises, that doesn't exist. The owner does not have that kind of profile. Certainly he's going to have the input. You know, I've always said, Jerry, coach the team. I mean, that's what you really want to do. be the coach. Now, the coaches that work for him understand this is how it works. It's different than any other NFL club and they work within it. And the guy is passionate about it. He's going to give you all the resources. So you got to love that. But from the standpoint of him being front and center, it is difficult for a head coach to hold on to his team. Yeah. When the owner is that high profile and the players are going, okay, well, who do I answer here to?

But on the practice field in the game, who should I be listening to? Now, ultimately, the owner has the final say in all these organizations, but they don't insert them in that day-to-day operation of it. And I think Jerry might want to look at what has won in the league over the last 15, 20 years, and maybe look at maybe doing it that way. So you faced Big Ben more than once. He is on his way now. This is probably it looks like Kevin Colbert, the way they structured at his last year

in Pittsburgh. He's obviously a Hall of Famer. They say he's been slimmed down. When you, and I don't know if you ever experienced this in all your years of coaching, it feels like it's his last year. We just saw Drew Breeze last year. How do you handle it as a coach and as a coordinator? If you've got a Hall of Famer, it's his last year.

Is it different? Does it feel different when you've got, when you know you may have a different quarterback eight months from now? Yeah, you know what? No, because you're living in the moment right now, and the players will rally around that a little bit. They're not going to be the one to be the guy that lets Ben down, so to speak, in this final run. Ben does look like he's in great chip. It's hard to evaluate Ben Rotherzberger at this stage in his career because he's so unorthodox in what he does. Typically, you see the physical skills and say, okay, he can't do this, he can't do that. But he is just such a rough and rugged and just makes throws that you kind of can't figure out how he does it. And if they can keep him upright, the biggest concern I have is those five guys in front of them, the change in the offensive line. That's going to be the test to me because I think Ben will be able to do what Ben typically does. They added Najee Harris are going to be a better running team maybe.

He'll make the receivers pretty good. But they've got to keep them upright. And I'm going to be interested in seeing how that offensive line comes together. When you faced Ben, what was his strength? What was a liability? If you go back and say, okay, guys, this is going to be a problem. And then this is what we can take advantage of. The biggest thing was you had to make sure your team to get frustrated.

Guys, it's going to be hard to sack him. It's hard to bring this guy down. You want to disrupt him. It's going to take more than one of you. You know, we've got to meet, have a defensive line meeting at the quarterback because he's going to shrug you off. He can't let him extend those plays the way he does. On the flip side of that, the back end, you've got to get him ready to go, guys, he's going

to throw us the ball. Yeah. Okay. You just got to be ready because we're going to need that. turnover. Yeah, Ben's got a little gunslinger in him. He's a little bit old school that way. He does. So as we go into his season and we go into camps and camps are starting around the NFL. You know, McVeigh has a much lighter preseason. You know, Sean's like, there'll be no pad days and he's not going to play starters. So we've got some younger progressive coaches that are like getting

rid of some old school stuff. But Bill Polian always told me, you got a hit for three weeks to hit by week one. Like you have to have calluses. Like, you have. You have. have to, what was always your kind of theory? Did you coach differently, Brian, if it was an older team, if it was a younger team, how do you view camp? Did you every year in Baltimore or Minnesota, did you have a different mindset based on your personnel, or did you have a set way you viewed camp? Well, yes, to all the above, and yet you have a young and an old team all at the same time. That's the difficulty. Bill Walsh, I remember when I was Bill Walsh, you would always tell the coach is going into the training camp. Job one, your number one priority is to get our good

players to the season opener, healthy and fresh. Now, there's a lot of the things we want to do, but we got to get our best players, they'll, healthy and fresh. And the hard part is, yeah, players are going to, there's three types of conditioning. Cardiovascular, they're going to come in good shape. Secondly, is the big muscle group. You've got to get the groins, the hamstrings, the quads, into the cutting shape. That usually takes about a week. But then you also have to get them in hitting shape. And as a head coach in training camp, any padded practice, my number one job was to watch practice and determine how much hitting can we get away with or not have to do on a given day to make sure that my players were getting that Bill Pollyan hitting shape, but not to overdo it

to where I put them in harm's way and lose one of my good players. And it is a very fine line. Yeah, I can imagine having to tell Ray Lewis not to hit today. Probably went over well. You better take the pads off altogether, yeah. By the way, you've got ex-tech shoulder pads. promo code is Coach 21 for 10% off the order. You've been in this business for several years, right? Yeah, very proud.

Nine years, what we've done. We've become the number one pad company in the NFL. And players like Sequin Bali, Barclay, Josh Allen, Joy Bosa, DeAndre Hopkins, the top pros know this is the pads, and we've evolved. You know, we got GPS tracking and all the types of computer programming that we're doing. pads were lagging behind, but ex-tep pads have brought us to that were the number one pad in major college football and becoming the number one pad in major high school football. Mother Day, St. John Bosco, De LaSalle, Bishop Gorman, St. Thomas Aquinas.

And it's interesting. It's fun to watch the parents now best themselves in. How are my kids being coached and what equipment are they wearing? They're reaching out and they want to put their kids in the, I coached my nine-year-old grandson's football team. So, yeah, it's, you want to make sure that they're coached right and pad it up. upright. All right. X tech shoulder pads promo code coach 21 10% off your order. Brian's always a pleasure to talk to you. You too. Sounds great. All right. Brian Billet. Yeah, it's really different. We've had a real cultural sea change in hitting. I had a college coach tell me about three years ago. He goes,

mid-September, we won't hit anymore in practice. He goes, it's just not, what's the point? Kids know how to tackle. Once you create the calluses, you may have a kind of a rough Wednesday, a competition Wednesday, but you're not going to hit as much. And by the way, players are fine. Because let's be honest, the next six weeks, we're all doing this. We're all crossing our fingers. Cam Acres goes down. I mean, I'm literally, I... Now you have an extra week. You know, like, I saw Cam Acres intro. I was sick to my stomach for the Rams. I'm like, oh, the worst coaches that lose, you know, position players of notes, like just the worst.

Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays and 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.

A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what you're 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, filtered 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 Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tap Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do with Little Kim?

Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam Jek. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick you here. unpack what went down and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84 was big to me not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack on day, but just so y'all know.

I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack. So I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now. Thank you finishing that sentence. Yes. I don't think there's a more important year for Black. Black people. Really? Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hard Way with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking, Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, We get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing and we're still chasing it and we don't know when we've done enough because people scoreboard watch.

Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross, because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth? Are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust.

I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Keer Gang. is we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, learn the hard way. Open your free iHeartRadio app, search Learn the Hardway, and listen now.

All right, Joy with the news. No, no, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. So the college football playoff is likely to expand to 12 teams in the near future. Dabo Sweeney said this week that he's not a fan of adding more teams to the mix,

but Mississippi State coach, Mike Leach thinks they should have even more. It's never enough, but I'll tell you what, you know, Dr. Keenham, our president is on that committee, so I know they're in good hands. And so I think that part's outstanding. I think 12 teams is a huge step in the right direction. I personally would like to see 64.

That's half. And you can format it out pretty easily. Yeah, I don't think there needs to be anybody that's three and nine. I would say this, though, as long as you eliminate all the out-of-conference games, and the first game of the year, you just go into conference play. Then I'd go to 24, because you've got 130 teams. So there's always, I mean, even in the AP top 25.

Right. I wouldn't have a problem with that. If you gave the top four buys, so the fifth-place team faces 24th. And that would make it more even competition throughout the playoffs, so we wouldn't have a lot of blowout. Yeah. The only issue with expanding to all these, you know,

layers of playoffs as you're adding more games and these are students and some of these students are trying to go to the league so you're going to have more and more guys sitting out especially if they're on teams where you know they don't feel like they're going to make it deep into the playoffs so i've i've said this to athletic directors i know i would take away all out of conference games just do conference and then playoff but the problem being this is why it doesn't work because you need seven home games to make the revenue to pay for your men's basketball women's basketball, men's baseball, women's swimming. So all these programs, they need, you know, Panera-bred state

so they can fill their stadium and pay the bills for all the non-revenue sports. Yeah. I mean, the way that the sport is set up, it's going to be difficult to do that. That's why they can't expand that much. But I do think a 12-team playoff is, it feels better. Because to Davo's point, even though I don't agree, you don't want to have a ton of blowouts. You don't want to have teams there don't really feel like they belong there. but it's always felt a little unfair, a little, like, you know, a club that you can't get into.

And there's always teams that are like, well, they're undefeated. And, like, oh, they're not in the big enough conference. They didn't play enough good teams. And it's like, well, what are we playing for? Like, can we hit something of value? Like, what is, you have to reward teams that have big accomplishments. And I think if you expand the playoffs to that number of 12, there's going to be less of that arguing. Now, I still think those teams aren't going to beat the better teams and maybe have one loss.

But now we'll get to test that theory, which we didn't get to do before. College football has a quality issue. There's too many crap games. But now it's a runaway freight train. To pay for all the non-revenue sports, you have to have seven home football games, meaning Washington has to play, you know, Utah's roast beef tech. That's the reality of it. But there's really no way revenue-wise to fix that.

Like where else do you get the revenue from? That's right. So I would be for expanding the playoff. off and going right in the conference play and you got to play 12 conference games or 10 and then you get five guaranteed home. But then, you know, for a lot of these programs, the Oregon State football, like what I covered, they need that extra home game. Yeah. Because they're not, their stadium's not that big. So it's fine for Ohio State, which sells it out. But this is why I've always said with college sports, you should have football, men's and women's basketball,

men's and women's soccer, men's and women's soft pitch and baseball, and then a bunch of Olympic sports, because I think the Olympics are good for the country, it's great promotion if, you know, Cincinnati Bearcats have the number one shot putter in the world or USC swimmer. But the fact that some of these schools have 40 sports and 36 hemorrhage money, it's a runaway. That's why teams need that seventh home game. You wouldn't because men's and women's basketball, The men's always make money. The women's get close or in some instance make it.

And men's and women's baseball, the budgets aren't big enough, so it's not a big loser. And then, again, I also think you should be able to have a delicacy. If you're in the northeast, you get lacrosse. If you're in the west, you get water polo. Something that's regional. If you're in the south, you get golf. But these athletic departments now are a big house of cards. And it got exposed during COVID.

But they're probably not. going to change that though. So LeBron has become the first active NBA player to reach $1 billion in career earnings. According to Sportico.com, he passed the $1 billion mark thanks to a split between $700 million in earnings off the court and $330 million in NBA salary. His closest comps among active players are Kevin Durantz with $580 million and Steph Curry with $430 million. Michael Jordan also hit the $1 billion mark, but he did not hit that. until he retired from the league. So,

LeBron is now a $1 billion man. Yeah, it's not going to end there. No, and he won't, he, I do think that now, with the added revenue streams that players have, the ability to, you know, work and move in different business ventures and productions, and I mean, Steph Curry is a production company, Duran has a production company,

and what they're going to get into after the league as well, there'll be more of this, but I do think that it is, it is a great story that LeBron, who has been the face of the league for how long now, is now a billion-dollar man, and he's not done playing. Yeah, I mean, Magic Johnson's probably in that ballpark. I mean, the reality, if you're the best, messy will make close to a billion dollars in earnings. If messy, why can't LeBron? I mean, the reality is, that's the new benchmark.

If you are the best player in the NBA, especially in the NBA, or especially NBA because of shoe deals. You should be in the $700 million and up. That's a reasonable compensation. NFL probably closer to $250 just because your careers don't last as long. You don't have shoe deals. I think this will be interesting, though, what will happen with the NFL. Because even though Patrick Mahomes' contract isn't as clear as that $500 million mark,

like that's what it is, but there's a bunch of things that have to happen in order to make that $500 million. with endorsements and longevity now. I mean, imagine if Mahomes plays until Brady. Oh, he'll be over $600, $700 million. With endorsements on the side. And, yeah, I think it will continue to trend in this direction across all the major sports. So Yonnas just won his first NBA championship.

They're having the Bucks parade right now. By the way, whoever's driving the Bucks parade bus slow down. Like, fly it through the crowd. Like, enjoy the moment, dude. Anyway, they're celebrating, but he kicked things off yesterday with a stop at Chick-fil-A to get a 50 piece of chicken in honor of his 50-point performance in game six, and he went on Instagram Live to bring us with him. Can I have a 50-piece? Sorry, I will put you a camera. Do you mind or no?

Sure. There's 150,000 people watching you right now. Really? Yes. So can I have, please, a 50-piece Mac Mini? 50, exactly. Not 51, not 49. Chicken minis, yes.

50. And let me have a large drink. No ice. Half spright, half lemonade. I got to know what sauces he got. My son loves chicken McNuggets. Chicken McNuggets or Chick-fil-A? Because he was calling them McNuggets, but he said Chick-fil-A.

Oh, so he's at Chick-fil-A. He said Chick-fil-A. Theirs are better. Chick-fil-A does chicken. I'm sorry. Well, that is what they do. They do do chicken. I've had their like 10 piece.

Yeah. Oh, it's fantastic. But the sauce combination is the trick, though. Do you get chick filet sauce or do you get a... What kind of sauce do you get there? I'm a barbecue guy. Yeah. Well, you ranch or something?

No, I usually get the poly sauce and the chick filet sauce. Yeah. Yeah, it's good, though. And he's celebrating right. I don't know the half-sprite half-lemonade thing. You're definitely an ice person, though, right? an ice person? Yes.

I love ice. He said no ice. Oh, I love ice. Everything. Half bread, half lemonade. Anyway, they're celebrating now. We're showing some video of them. Great day in Milwaukee.

Oh, that's great. Good for them. Yeah. Awesome. Joy with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The herd line news.

One more herd? The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week within the IHeart radio app. Search Herd to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like. Hey, I'm Doug Gottlieb. The podcast is called All Ball. We usually talk all basketball all the time, but it's more about the stories about what made these people love their sport

and all the interesting interactions along the way. We talk to coaches. We talk to players. We tell you stories. You download it. You listen to it. I think you like it. Listen to All Ball with Doug Gottlieb

on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. 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 app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me, Clivert 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 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. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tap Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs?

Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do with Little Kim? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at It podcast. 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. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill, waxing all about crack in the 80s.

To be clear, 84 is big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack on day, but just so you all know. I mean, at this point, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack. So I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now. Thank you finishing that sentence. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Really?

Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hard Way with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games.

And in recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking, Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing.

and we're still chasing it and we don't know when we've done enough because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross, because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth? Are you a good person because you're afraid?

Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Gaines, as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast.

Learn the hard way. Open your free iHeartRadio app. Search Learn the hard way and listen now. Escape QuickBooks, QuickSand with NetSuite by Oracle, the number one financial system. One-of-a-kind financing offer these days. Go from QuickBooks to NetSuite. NetSuite.com slash her. By the way, Joy just told me during the break, the NFL has come out with it, a very, very punitive change in their COVID rules.

Joy? From Tom Pelliserro, the NFL just informed clubs that if a game cannot be. rescheduled during the 18-week season in 2021 due to a COVID outbreak among unvaccinated players. The team with the outbreak will forfeit and be credited with a loss for playoff seating. And the team responsible for the canceled game because of the outbreak among unvaccinated players or staff will be responsible for financial losses and potential discipline from the contract. I totally agree. Force people. You've got to force some meatheads to get vaccinated.

So the bottom line is you get an outbreak from an unvaccinated player. It's an L. Boom. I mean, Michael Irvin said last week he didn't. Totally agreed with him. If you care about winning. Fox has a right to not let me in this building. If I'm not vaccinated, so does your airline.

So does your school. Get vaccinated. Sometimes you've got to force people. Listen, years ago people fought, believe it or not, I'm old enough to remember, they fought seatbelts. you can't tell me what to do in my car. Yeah, they can. That's why now when you turn a new car on, it beeps until you put it on.

It does do that. But now you wear a Zipot. Some of us have to pull the other people in society to the common sense side of the road. Well, I mean, they're trying to run a billion dollar business. They can't be canceling and rescheduling games because of unvaccinated players. I read on Reddit board, a Reddit board guy says it's a hoax.

can't have that guy running the league. Nope. All right, here we go, Joy. So as of next year, all this talk about who's the best players in the league. So I thought I'd make a list. The 10 best players entering next year. Here we go. Number 10.

Jason Tatum, 23, 24 years old. He had career highs, rebounds and points. Average 34 a game in the playoffs. He led the NBA in four. fourth quarter scoring for anybody that bristles. That's a huge stat. Jason Tatum number 10. Number nine.

Damian Lillard led the NBA playoffs in three-pointers, six a game, was the best clutch time shooter in the playoffs. So most regards Steph Curry is a better shooter. Not in clutch numbers. In clutch time shooting, Dame is the best shooter in the NBA. Number eight. James Harden, I thought his ability to distribute the ball this year

separated him a little bit from Damien Liller. Now, he did miss a lot of games, and he has not been the playoff guy that Dame has. He's a big body, he gets to the foul line, and his ability to distribute, which he did very well for Brooklyn this year. He was a double-digit assist guy. A lot of nights puts him at eight. Number seven. A Nicole Yokic of the Denver Nuggets.

26 points, 11 rebounds, 8 assists, first MVP to play in every game since Kobe. I may have him low, but he is a playmaker at center. He is a point center, and the value there is he makes everybody around him better. He's not as good on the defensive end, not necessarily as offensively forceful as MB, but I have him at 7.

Number 6. And I'd have Joel Ambite higher. Now, Joel Embed bothers me in terms of injury issues, but he is a incredibly dynamic offensive force. He also led the NBA in free throw attempts with 11 a game. So Embed gets to the free throw line and pretty good free throw shooter, pretty good, for a big guy, M.B. Number five. Luca Donzage.

Now, 33 and a half points a game, I think he's the best young player in the game. Virtually unstoppable. The issue with him is more of a franchise issue. He was a shot fighter in the fourth quarters and the football. class. They have got to allow him to play off the ball a little. They have got to get somebody else that can handle the ball and give him moments to play off it and not run through the whole offense because either he has to get in like great shape or he's got to play about six last minutes a night because he just, it's very much James Harden. He's got the ball in his hands too much.

Number four. Steph Curry. Not a great defender and I do worry about injuries, But he won the scoring title, led the NBA in three-pointers. I think he's maybe the smartest guy in the NBA, easy to play with, and I thought he had a fantastic year. It's not a great defender. I do worry about injuries. Number three. LeBron James, 37 years old, career low, 45 games.

Now I expect him to have a very, very good season. He is not athletically the defensive player he once was. You can't play him as many minutes, and he is a tad bit more brittle. but I do expect LeBron to be in the MVP conversation next year again. Number two. Kevin Durant's the most gifted offensive player. My knock on Kevin is, he gets hurt. He is a better offensive player than anybody else on this board.

He is a seven-footer that is virtually unstoppable in the mid-range three-pointer. He's one of the greatest offensive players I've ever seen in my life. I would make the argument. He can do more than Michael. He can do more than Kobe. He could do more than anybody I've ever seen. got it all. He's got every offensive tool. He's not a bad defensive player. He's not a bad passer either. But I've got to ding him because his style of game, and there's a lot of slashing,

and a lot of this, a lot of hitting the floor hard. That's where I have him number two. Number one. And I think the most influential player on both ends combined is Janus. He's not the free throw shooter or the shooter of Durant. You can certainly argue Durant's a better player. I don't have a problem with it. But if I'm considering health, style of play and the defensive end, I mean, I think even Kevin would acknowledge that Yonis can do stuff defensively.

Nobody in the world can. There you go. There's your top 10 players entering next year. All right, NFL, put the hammer down. We'll see you tomorrow. 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

helped 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 I-Heart 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

Podcasts 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's really not safe to have anywhere, but you're having them with a licensed professional who knows what he's doing.

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