The Herd with Colin Cowherd - 07/26/2021 - HOUR 2 - Rodgers, Olympics, Deshaun

Episode Date: July 26, 2021

In this hour of The Herd with Colin Cowherd, Doug Gottlieb--in for Colin--pleads with the Green Bay Packers' brass not to trade their reigning NFL MVP. Also, Doug ponders if there is a summer Olympic sport a regular person could train for and actually compete in four years later. Plus, Aaron Wilson of Sports Talk 790 in Houston brings Doug up to speed on what Texans' quarterback Deshaun Watson is doing with himself during his time in legal limbo. 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. 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, 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, unfilled conversations 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 I Heart Radio app,

Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok's podcast network on TikTok. On the Look Back at it podcast. From 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84's big to me. I'm Sam J. 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. 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. What up? Welcome in. This is The Herd, wherever you may be, and however you may be making this part of your day. Thanks so much. I'm Doug Gottlie.

Okay, so the news just in is that all sources are reporting Aaron Rogers is going to play for the Packers this year. I did not have that news when I started the show telling you that you wouldn't have posted a last dance image on Instagram unless you intend this

on being your last dance and the point is this when I use the word terrorists there'll be somebody that's not smart enough to figure out the analogy

but the analogy is very very simple you don't negotiate with terrorists right we've learned this for a long time as a country like we don't negotiate with terrorists why because if you let somebody get away with if you let if you negotiate with somebody because you know when they're holding over your head a terrorist act then that's all they need to do

is blackmail you in that way in the future and i thought we saw it in by business going back a week a week and a half ago where you there are people that move from company to company because they do things and they're like you know when i just it's not that you're not good but we're not going to re-engage because the acts you've done are not ones in which we can support because anybody could do that. That's really what's at stake here. For the Packers to trade Aaron Rogers, they would be the laughing stock of the entire NFL. Remember, this is not nothing that they have done.

Nothing. You went GM to GM to GM. I haven't asked everyone. I don't have everyone on speed dial. I have a couple, but they all say the same thing. Like, you don't trade a Hall of Fame quarterback coming off an MVP season. Well, what about drafting Jordan Love? Okay, well, he was a prospect.

They moved up to get him because somebody else was going to get him. And when they expect to be able to play him is next season, and that's the first season, you kind of got an out in Aaron Rogers contract. Just because he doesn't like that they got a backup plan, doesn't mean you don't have a backup plan. you know well I don't like that you have a backup plan like okay you don't just keep playing well

and all that takes care of itself if you don't think the heir apparent thing is important ask the Miami Dolphins how it worked out for them since they lost damn rino or the the Broncos up until they got Peyton Manning what that felt like after John L.A

I mean the Buffalo Bills wandered in the proverbial desert when Jim Kelly retired up until they finally got Josh Allen. So you got to have a plan B. And look, you're not going to talk to a bigger Aaron Rogers fan. The idea that Jordan Love will be anywhere near the quarterback of Aaron Rogers. It's hard to believe, hard to fathom.

But you're not going to draft you're in the top 10. If you have Aaron Rogers and your team, it's not like you're going to ever have a shot at one of the – so if you're going to take a guy, you've got to get a guy that there's a reason that he's fallen in the draft. this guy had one good year, one disappointing year. Crazy personal story where his dad is a police officer took his own life and the kind of community brought him up. He's not a freak athlete, but he's athletic enough. He's got the arm. Like, who knows if he'll ever be a player?

It took a shot. And oh yeah, by the way, in bookending the season before and the season after they drafted Jordan Love, NFC championship games. So, like, what are we doing here? I don't even know what the discussion was over. Aaron Rogers wasn't, isn't, can't be going anywhere if you're the Green Bay Packers. That ain't the plan, bro. And even the Texans not trained Deshaun Watson go like, hey, we'll take five first round

traffics. You ask so much for a guy that you're going to get turned down. Because it's, I wouldn't negotiate with terrorists. Deshaun Watson just signed a contract. a year ago. But that thing was just, it's basically money paid up front for the, for yet three years paid up front without playing it down on that contract. He's like, yeah, I went out. What? Yeah, I went out. What is the value of a contract if the second you signed it, you can say you want to be traded, you know, what's the value of the contract? And so you look, and we have three star quarterbacks,

Russell Wilson, Aaron Rogers, Deshawn Watson. And to this point, Deshawn Watson is the most likely to be traded, but none have been traded. And this is, in fact, the difference in the NBA and the NFL. The NBA guys have either said, I want to be traded, trade me, or even done the James Hardin and quit on their team, which is reprehensible. The great thing about the NFL, or at least the Aaron Rogers situation is he doesn't have the time, right? His, he's like Marissa Tomei.

His biological clock is ticking over here. Like we can all think that he's going to be Tom Brady in five years. But you don't want to lose one of these last couple years, especially when you have a championship team. So all of this talk and nonsense about you, you got to trade him. No one I know in the NFL thought he was going to be or should be traded. Like it'd be one thing if the Packers were a team that made colossal F up moves after colossal F up moves. and they just couldn't get out of their own way. You're like, listen, none of that makes sense,

but they're the Packers, so it makes sense. That's the opposite of this. It's the opposite. It doesn't mean the Packers make the best moves, but they try and make the smart moves. And it's just not smart to trade away because he's mad, sitting MVP,

arguably greatest quarterback in the history of franchise that has two other all-time greats as quarterbacks. So forget what you've heard. The devil is in the details of the contract. He can't go anywhere. He can't retire because he can't lose the year. He doesn't want to pay back the money. And once he comes back, they still own his rights.

And they can just sit on him if they want. Or they can trade him somewhere he doesn't want to go. And oh yeah, by the way, all of this when he has a championship team sitting waiting. If I may bet or I go to Bet Rivers and I'm like, that's the one I want right now. Because remember all the odds, you heard this nonsense over the weekend. This is so, it's so obvious. Please tell me you all see through this. Aaron Rogers wanted to be traded.

They're like, we're not trading you. And then the trade rumors come out the day of the NFL draft. Why? Because truth be told, that was the last day in which you could trade him. After the draft is made, those draft picks don't have nearly the value. And future draft picks, they have untold value because you give somebody Aaron Rogers. That's why the story came out then. Then Aaron Rogers goes on Scott Van Pelt.

He goes on a couple podcasts. And basically he's like, hey, either me or Brian Gunnkundkundst. And they're like, yeah, we're not doing that. They talked him about money. He's like, yeah, we're not doing that. Then this comes out. You know, the discussion about the extension comes out the end of last week. Why?

Because they knew by this week Aaron Rogers had to be in camp. He ain't right. writing a check for 90 grand every day. And it's not at the discretion of the Green Bay Packers. This is a league and NFLPA agreed to. Like, that dude's losing 90 grand a day. There ain't a rich dude of lives. Like, sign me up for 90 grand a day to make a point.

What's the point that I'm stupid with money? No. These stories come out for a reason. Aaron Rogers is kicking and screaming and his agent. They're trying to figure out a way to motivate the Packers to trade him. And finally, they're like, we're just, we're not. we're not. And so today, right when Brian Gunnick-Kinz is speaking to the shareholders in Green Bay,

the story's like, yay, he's going to be back for one more year. Everybody expects that. Of course. Of course. All right, we have a lot to get to here coming up in the herd. Big issues in Tokyo. Big issues. Is it a pop issue?

Why can't a team with Damien Lillard? and Draymond Green and Kevin Durant and Bradley B.O. They have Bradley B.O? And why can't a team, why can't they win? We'll discuss next in The Hurt. Be sure to catch live editions of the HARD weekdays at noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1 and the IHeart Radio app.

Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. way, the podcast Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth.

Listen to Superhuman on the 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 which I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Cliver 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 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 a little kill?

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 it 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 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 for finishing that sentence. Yes. 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 Hardway 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.

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Search, learn the hard way, and listen now. What up, Doug Alib. In for Colin. This is The Her. So I asked this question over the weekend And I think it's a damn good one Right Is there a sport you think and you watch

And you go, hey, I can do that I can do that I can do that Now I think a lot of it comes down to the build Of the athletes, right? Like you look at bowlers, you're like, I can do that. There's nothing athletic to it

You know, you look at golfers But then you just do play golf You're like, yeah, it's really, really hard I'm guessing curling is a lot harder than it looks Although it's a winter sport not a summer sport. Is there a sport you think you're watching? You're like, you know, I could do that one.

Like none of us would have any chance. Olympic volleyball? Did you see, we lost to what used to be, what's Russia, but they're not allowed to call themselves Russia? Right. The Russian Olympic Committee is what they, we lost to Russia. Did you see how big and how amazing those dudes are? You're like, yeah, I got, I got, yeah, nothing there.

Looking for possible sports that you believe you, you could play that you could play if you got four years to prep and the the rhythmic gymnastics thing is pretty amazing right they're actually remarkable it's just so not the gymnastics were taught to actually care about or what are we taught to care about basketball how's that going you're not great not great really not great at all um here's what happened team USA has already played no and I'm not talking about the three on three. Can we just say like, and I like a good three on three game, three on three basketball in the Olympics is so ridiculous,

but it does open the door to why can't we have one? We have three on three. Why can't we have one on one? Why can't we have two on two? Right. We just load up on the gold medals. In 28, when it comes back to America, we get a chance to put in a couple of our own events, right?

I mean, they put it in skateboarding, which, by the way, Japanese kid won, pretty amazing, but how do we not win in skateboarding? We need Tony Hawksman involved. We need to get it. We need a, what are those called when we have academy? A skateboarding academy where we take kids out of like middle school that we, they're not, you don't have to take a skateboarder out of middle school anyway. Like, let's just be honest.

They're not in school. They're skating to begin with. Are there holdbacks and stuff? skateboarding? There's holdbacks in other sports. But if we're going to have three on three, why can't we have one-on-one? Why can't we have two on two? Why can't we have four-on-four? Why can't

we have six-on-six? If you guys ever seen six-on-six basketball, they used to play in the Midwest, girls' basketball? It's three-on-three at each end, and if you're on defense, you're all-time defense. You're on offense, you're on-time offense. Which, I mean, can you imagine James Hardin and three-on-three and six-on-six basketball? He'd be amazing. No, no, James.

You don't even have to play defense. You're actually not allowed to play defense. I know, I know, I know, awesome concept. It's called the Mike Dan Tony game. I get it. I mean, how do we have all these different disciplines of different sports? And yet we're only going to do three on three. One on one to come, two on two, four on four, six on six.

Three on three on three is a pretty awesome game, at least for practice. And why not shooting? If we can have archery and rifle shooting, why not like, let go, Staffko win another gold medal? Let Staffko win another gold medal. But I think we can all agree on some level that Team USA basketball, I mean, we're not in the best shape in the world. Lost to France. And I mean, the big thing is it'll be reported, you know, and rightfully reported that it was an end of the game 13 to 2 run.

But the truth is the game was lost in the third quarter. You come at a half time and you get outscored by 14 points in the third quarter. You put so much pressure on yourself. They could make a shot down the stretch. Drew Holliday tried to bail him out. He had 12 in the fourth quarter. And they could not stop Evan Fournier. But it just, it's a different way of playing the same game.

It just is. It's a different way of looking at the world. Remember, the easiest parallel I can tell you is, it is very much like American soccer versus European soccer. European soccer is way more physical than you think it is. It's really physical. But it's also a game in which you go backwards and sideways, far more so than it feels like you ever go forward.

And it's the old Steve Kerr, you know, the ball finds energy or energy finds the ball. I don't really know which one it is. But the constant ball movement and cutting like, that's not how we do it in the NBA. That's how they do it in Europe. and it makes you much easier to guard, and the rules allow you to be much more physical. And whereas Rudy Gobert, for example,

Rudy Gobert in many ways, and the Utah Jazz is Quinn Snyder's inability to adjust, to adjust the fact that they were going small. Rudy Gobert was a big reason the jazz lost to the calves, like lost to the clippers, even though the clippers were undermanned. but in Fiba-style basketball, he's not a weakness. He's very much a strength.

A lot of it comes down to like in America, believe it or not, we don't have very good big guys because any big guy we do have grows up dreaming of being Kevin Garnett or Kevin Durant. But even then, like go and look. Tell me where the big guys are in the NBA. And then you factor in. It's got to be guys that want to be vaccinated, want to be quarantined, want to play, want to play a more limited.

role. It really is amazing that, you know, we used to just overwhelm people with our size and athleticism. Now we, our athleticism is not so great and the way the game's officiated eliminate some of it. And we just, we don't actually have the interior size. All right. Let's, we are, we're in catch up with John Middlough in a second. First, let's get to Ryan Burshinger with the news. No, no, no, no, no, turn on the news. This is the herd line news. So starting off here, Doug, obviously the story of the day now Aaron Rogers saying he intends to report and play for the Green Bay Packers this season. Now, that's not entirely unprompted this morning because as it's still going on right now is currently the Packers official shareholders meeting is going on in Green Bay.

So a couple of quotes coming out of there today. Mark Murphy started off by praising Brian Gutakunst and saying that he's the right person to lead the football program going to. forward. Goodakun then took the podium. He says, he looks forward to building off a dominant 2020 season with a returning nucleus led by Aaron Rogers, saying they've been working tirelessly to resolve the issues and remain hopeful for a positive outcome. Mark Murphy also said, we want Aaron back. We're committed to Rogers for 2021 and beyond. He's our leader, and we look forward to winning another Super Bowl with him. Says it's been challenging offseason, but can't forget all Rogers has done for them, and he's a phenomenal talent.

Yeah, look, I mean, they're saying all the right things. There's been some missteps and some of the things they've said. And as much as I would love to be critical of like Mark Murphy and when he says he's a complicated guy and, I mean, look, if the way in which you've been doing business, right, I want you to fix you to them, you're running a business. And by all accounts, the business is going well. and then somebody who works for he's like, you're an idiot,

you're a jerk, I don't like you personally for the way in which you've handled me within your business, you're just sitting there going like, yeah, I'm going to push back against that a little bit too. It's really easy for us to tell leaders to not take things personally, but Aaron Rogers has made this very personal. He's like, not about the team, not about the players,

not about the coaches. Like, who do you think it's about? Duh. But I do think that coming out and saying positive words about Brian Gunnickens is a bit of a to Aaron Rogers. We're not going anywhere. You're not going anywhere. We'll see you tomorrow.

Now, Doug, you might have saw this story pop up over the weekend. So the Cleveland Indians are now changing their name to the Cleveland Guardians. Unfortunately, though, a couple people noted this over the weekend. The Cleveland Guardians is a team that already exists. They've existed for about 10 years now. It is a men's roller derby team. in Cleveland. And they use a logo that is somewhat similar to the new Cleveland Guardians logo. And in fact, what the most, I think, complicated aspect of this is that that team currently owns the website,

www.com, and the social media handles of at Cleveland Guardiansions. So a little bit of a hiccup. But I have a feeling that the baseball team is still going to get their way and then suddenly the men's roller derby team of the Cleveland Guardians will now become the most lucrative roller derby team there is. Well, it all depends. Is the guardians, is it trademarked? That's, uh, it, it's hard to say.

I don't think so. If it's not trademark, then they're screwed. Then they, you know. Right. They may get a check or they may get something nice, but if you're not trademark, like, sorry. I watch Shark Tank and I know you got to get that trademarked on. This reminds me of one of my favorite stories from a few years back.

I don't know if you remember this, but there was a Mother's Day promotion that the San Diego Padres did, in which they, for a day, changed their Twitter handle to at Madres instead of At Padres, because that's Spanish for Mother. But, of course, when they did that, they then vacated the Twitter handle at Padres, thereby allowing anyone to use it. So a random dude from Arizona then changed his Twitter handle to at Padres. And the Padres had to do whatever they needed to to get it back.

Lastly, and we'll bring it back to the Olympics. Now, you mentioned skateboarding. Yes, last night was the women's street skateboarding final, in which the gold and silver medalists were both 13 years old. Momiji Nishia of Japan won gold. And Rasa Liao from Brazil took the silver, 13 years old each. I believe if Liao won, she would have been the youngest gold medal winner ever. I think Nishia is a couple months older, so it was not the youngest ever.

But still an incredible feat. It was really awesome to watch. What is going on with Team USA? How are we not winning a skateboarding? Kind of thought that would be a layup for it. Yeah, it's interesting. Well, Nijia Houston was our best skater. in the men's competition. I watched, and he

did well in his runs, but when he got to best trick, he kind of went, go big or go home, in essence, which, yeah, you kind of have to do a special. I think the, having five best trick runs and two full runs. That's too much, too much, too much. We did, that this is way too much information there. We lost, we sucked,

heads have to roll. That's why I'm bursting with the news. You got it. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. I just, I can't. Colin's going to come back and go, wait, you started describing the number of runs and skateboarding. Like, no, I was confused by it as well. I was, there was a little bit of MMA to it where I was, I was hoping for a broken bone or two,

not an American broken bone and not anything which couldn't be mended. John Middukov joins us here in the herd. Have you watched? Oh, I'm sorry. I thought it was Middokhov. Middokov's next hour. That's, that's my mistake. Actually, Aaron Wilson covers the Texans for Sports Talk 790.

Aaron, have you watched the Olympics? I talked to Simone at a dodgeball thing that she was at with her boyfriend. I talked to Simone at a dodgeball thing that she was at with her boyfriend, Texan safety, Jonathan Owens. So I had a little interview with Simone months before she heads off the Olympics and it was good to catch up with her. But no, I generally don't watch a lot of the Olympics. Okay, so actually it is a true story that Owens,

he didn't know that she was an athlete when they started dating. Is that right? Yeah, that's a true story, yeah, that he wasn't aware of her status, and then he started looking into it a little more and realizing how accomplished she was. And now they support each other. And I mean, this is here in Houston, and she was there cheering them on at a bar here in Houston, and she was there cheering him on and not looking for any kind of attention. She's really low-key.

I've known her for a couple of years. Very, very nice person. And so is Jonathan. and he's a special teams guy, not very high profile from a small school, Missouri Western, and went on draft. He's put for the Cardinals, and, yeah, she's there for him 100%. And then he tries to do her workout, and he says he's not flexible enough to do hardly anything that she does. So he's just always, like, impressed by her, and he's a really good athlete.

I think he runs, like, 4, 3, 6, and he's about 200 pounds. He's a heck of an athlete and good on kickoff and punt coverage. That's crazy. That's crazy. Aaron Wilson joined us. He covers the Texan Sports Talk 790. Okay. So, um, I'm just, without any sort of knowledge, when I see Deshawn Watson show up and I hear speculation about, okay, now the Texans are, are open to considering trading him where they weren't before.

It feels like whatever the NFL investigation uncovered has to not be nearly as damning as it was initially perceived. Is that an unfair perception to have only because, like, look, if this stuff was bad, you can't trade him. You can't even talk about it. He's not going to be able to play for months. Right. Yeah. One thing they don't want to do is rush to judgment because the HPD, the Houston Police Department,

have not completed their investigation. That's a really key indication that they're going to recommend. Though there's been no, you know, indication that they're going to recommend to the district attorney Kim Hogg that they will, you know, think there should be a grand jury. there should be charges or anything like that, it's still unresolved. So if the NFL jumps to a conclusion like they did, you know, Ray Rice, the video came out later, the full video, and that's when they indefinitely suspended. Initially, they underpunished him. That's what kind of led to Lisa Browell, you know, becoming a full-time employee from the NFL. She's a former sex crimes prosecutor from Manhattan from the district attorney's office.

So she's been looking into this the whole time. Publicly, factors here is that Tony Busby complained publicly with our, local Fox affiliate that he didn't think the women were being respected. They are the plaintiffs that have alleged sexual misconduct against Deshaun Watson. So they're saying that they didn't like their experience talking to the NFL. Anything that they say to Frile is all can be reviewed by Rusty Harden and Deshaun Watson's camp when you head into the civil litigation. And he's not scheduled to be depot until 2022.

But it is not a bad deal that he, he hasn't obviously been on commissioner exempt because that would show that Roger Goodell and Lisa Braille believe there's clear evidence that a sex crime or some kind of crime or violence has occurred. And they don't indicate that at this time. One of the big factors for them on that commissioner's exempt is normally the player wants to play for the team and the team wants him back. In this case, you have this weird holding pattern in limbo because Deshaun Watson wants to be traded. He's very intentional about that.

He reported to avoid the fines. And I think, obviously, to, you know, kind of up the ante a little bit, motivate the team a little by making this somewhat awkward situation, hope for the trade and to ignite trade discussions. And they're open to those trade discussions, but they're not going to not get full value. They don't want to get low-balled because Deshaun has these encumbrance of a criminal investigation, civil lawsuit litigation, and an undetermined, if any, NFL punishment that could still be hanging over his head. Worst case scenario for Deshaun would be commissioners exempt this year, which they don't view as punishment, paid leave, and then what if they do something to him, the NFL in 2022 after everything is adjudicated?

And I think that by trying to get a trade done now and get a team to commit, that's a great outcome for him because at least he gets the fresh start that he wants. But that's where we're at right now. And he's at camp right now. He reported yesterday for testing and the first meetings with quarterbacks and rookies. And what I don't anticipate is reconciliation or him practicing for the Texans. Obviously, if he goes out there and he gets hurt, then you hurt his trade value. But I think he might be just in the training room and lifting some weights and going to the meetings.

Why? I don't understand. Why sign the – I've never understood why sign the contract extension? and then negotiate your way out. Right. I think what really happened is when you think about, you know, he had some doubts before the contract was signed. He was upset about the Andre Hopkins trade

and not learning about it on social media and not being given a heads up. He wanted to be treated like a partner. He during the season got an expectation based on his conversations with owner Tom McNair that he would be involved. He would have input, not that he would pick the coach or pick

the GM, but that he would be involved. And then when he didn't have that level of communication input, he became disgruntled in all of his concerns about the organization, really bubbled over, hit a boiling point. And his last interview that he did with us at the end of the season, it was clear that he had a lot of concerns, and he was not all in. And then that continued to escalate, and that's where we're at. You know, and there's many that say, yeah, well, you got the contract. You just have to honor your contract.

But he also has the no trade clause, and that was very intentionally negotiated in. And now he's got some leverage because you can't just trade him anywhere. He has to sign off on it. So it's got to be a team that he wants to go to and a team that's going to give the Texans favorable terms. Nick Kistera is a really smart guy, and he is not going to just, you know, accept a low-ball offer. No, it's got to be fair. It's got to be what he thinks Deshaun's worth, which is three first-round draft picks and substantial players. It wants to make this a really franchise, you know, if you're losing your franchise quarterback, well, you want to get something great back in return.

And I understand that perspective. Everybody really honestly is sort of just they're looking out for their own interests and, you know, there's agendas here. And that's not really anything negative other than it's just what would you expect? Texans have to look out for themselves. DeShawn's got to look out for himself. some of these other teams because they're doing their due diligence. They're doing a lot of work on this, including the Philadelphia Eagles. They're doing a lot of research into the Deshaun situation. And the Miami Dolphins remained interested as well.

And I could expect the list of suitors to grow depending on how these quarterbacks look with these other teams. Who will be their starting quarterback if it's not Deshaun this year? Tyrod Taylor is QB1. Right. You have a relationship with the head coach going back to the days in Baltimore. You've been to the playoffs before. That does, that makes sense.

But they're going to be terrible, correct? You know, it's interesting. I asked that question to an NFL head coach. And I asked us a question a couple of general managers. What do you think of their roster? Because Nick Casares is completely overhaul of it. It's gone to score sure if he's had a lot of different guys. And they said, I think they're going to be competitive.

I don't know how many wins are going to be. I don't think they're a terrible team. And the coach started citing a lot of the good. players on the roster guys that he was really familiar with. And he said, I think with Tyrae, because he doesn't turn the ball over, if their defense is better, they're going to be in a lot of games. They have good special teams with Kimee Ferber and the kicker, and they have a good return under Roberts and thinks that their field position will be good.

I just don't know if they're winning all these close games, but I could see Tyrod Taylor certainly because he doesn't turn the ball over keeping you in a lot of games. Does that mean four wins, six wins, or only a couple of wins? we don't know, but I don't think there's some team that's going to go winless. I think they're a lot better than that. I look at them, I think they're better than Jacksonville. And their team's a lot older than people think. They've added a lot of guys that played a long time like Mark Ingram,

and he didn't have a great season last year for Baltimore, mind you, but he was good the year before. So we'll see. They're hinging a lot of it on guys that they hope will bounce back, like Justin Britt, like Mark Ingram, like David Johnson, who didn't play well last year. and, you know, his all pro days of the Cardinals or, you know, a few years ago.

And I look at it and I think it's very complex and it's a whole new regime. You've got a rookie head coach. Does it lend itself to a ton of confidence that there are in a playoff center? No. But when I think awful, I think like you're thinking, zero to three wins.

But if they're more like in the six-win category, okay, well, you're rebuilding, you're trying to get to the 500 mark and then trying to see where you can get in 2020. They won, and I know they had injuries, but they won four games with Deshawn Watson last year, with the Sean Watson. And an awful defense and an awful running game and, you know, a receiving core that's underwhelming.

You know, we'll see they just added Anthony Miller to go with Brandon Cooks. The Bears didn't want Miller. They'd swap late around picks to get him and got Randall Cobb. Yeah, it's nothing that I would say is that says they're a sexy team. They're exciting. They're some way that when I think about playoffs. but it just, you know, and I'm around a lot of the players. And I know they take it very personally, people saying they're awful.

I was with David Johnson last week after he's lifting some weights. I was around Lee Collins. She's been to some d-lind drills. And a lot of these guys, they're annoyed and myth, how they're being characterized. And they say, hey, we're going to show you on the field. We're going to see. I know these guys have a lot of pride and, you know, respect for themselves and respect for their jersey. and we'll see how good they are.

But yeah, I look at them and I just don't, I'm not thinking like a winless team. I just don't see that. Maybe I'll be wrong. We'll see. It shall be interesting. Aaron Wilson covers the Texans for Sports Talk 790. Aaron, great stop.

Thanks so much for joining us. Thanks for having me. Can the Big 12 survive losing Texas and Oklahoma? We'll get to that next time. I'm Doug Gottlie. This is The Hurt. Be sure to catch live editions of the HARD. Weekdays at noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific.

Hey, it's me. Rob Parker. Check out my weekly MLB podcast Inside the Parker for 22 minutes of pipe and hot baseball talk, featuring the biggest names and newsmakers in the sport. Whether you believe in analytics or the I-Test, we've got all the bases covered. New episodes drop every Thursday, so do yourself a favor and listen to Inside the Parker with Rob Parker on the IHeart Radio app 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 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 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 a 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 Jett. 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 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. Then you're finishing that sentence.

Yes. 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 Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Keer 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 or 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, is we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, purpose on my new podcast, learn the hard way. Open your free

iHeartRadio app, search Learn the Hardway, and listen now. Did you guys watch Luca last night? He was pretty amazing. 48 points. It's a 40 minute game. He's crazy. He's so good.

It's stupid. He's really, really that good. It's really stupid how good he actually is. Man, that's, that's fun stuff here's the part that is hard to tell people

it's really hard to tell people so the big 12 is at least as it was currently constructed with 10 teams it is no more no more now if we want to really lay blame like there'll be people at Missouri and Nebraska like I can't

see told you the league wasn't stable like, well, it wasn't stable because Nebraska and Missouri openly opined to get in the big 10. It's like your wife saying, you know, take out the garbage and the husband saying, you cook, you take it out, right? Like you got to take some sort of blame and accountability in Nebraska and Missouri have offered none. The real value in the league, right? You have to understand where and what your value is. And it doesn't, look, I went to one of these schools. I love my smile and mater.

They built an amazing sports program and built up the budget to where it's, you know, it's in the $100 million variety. It's pretty remarkable they're able to compete with Texas who's spending $100 million more in the exact same space. It's kind of amazing to compete. And as much as like Oklahoma, let's just take Oklahoma State as the example. Oklahoma State has more alumni that are superstars

that you don't you know we claim obviously Garth Brooks and Randy Couture and like go through the MMA guys so many of them were great wrestlers many of them in Oklahoma State Victor Hovelin of course is going to play for Norway here in the Olympics

and the golf school is incredible right it's got a great equestrian program the baseball program has the maybe the nicest stadium in the country. Like they just kind of go through it. And the football team has gone from a dormant to a school that can beat everybody

except really Oklahoma. They beat Stanford in the Fiesta Bowl. They've had first round pick quarterbacks, first run pick wide receivers. They've had a lot of talented players. But it doesn't, your level of success on the field and even the names that you've been able to create and produce and have had Excel as professional,

professionals that doesn't change whether or not middle America will watch TV every time you're on. And the only schools in that league, that bring eyeballs consistently to TV sets in football or Oklahoma and Texas. Iowa State's been a better football program than Texas over the past five years. Hell, over the past 20 years, okay, maybe 15 years since Colt McCoy got hurt. against Alabama in the BCS National Championship game, you could make the case that Kansas State

has been a better program than Texas has. That doesn't matter. It doesn't mean anything in how this all works. You know, it all works. And really, if you want to get down to it, Missouri and Nebraska are the reason for the downfall of the Big 12, right? Because they could have Missouri wanted, they feel like, and they probably are more of a Big Ten school than anything else.

and they fit and it would have given them their natural rivalry with Illinois in conference play would have been great. But at the end of the day, it was a, it was a lust for more money. The problem with like Missouri spending more money to get into the SEC for is getting more money is you have to spend more. You got to spend more on your coaches. You got to spend more on your travel.

You got to upgrade all your facilities. And so yeah, you make more money, but you spend a whole hell of a lot of money. For Texas, the calculation is different. It does make, it does make sense for Texas. And frankly, make sense for Oklahoma from not just a financial standpoint, but Oklahoma and Texas, they pretty much have, I know Texas, they have their facilities. They don't have to upgrade how much they pay their coaches don't have to upgrade. They've gone big in basketball. They've gone big in football.

They've gone big in baseball. They're big in everything. They're building a new arena. They don't have to do anything. For them, it's simply like, hey, look, we can either have Iowa State, Kansas State, T, C, C, and Texas Tech come into our building, or we can have LSU and Florida and Georgia and Alabama and Auburn and Arkansas and now still Oklahoma come through our building.

We still, like, it's a, the bigger, the one that hurts more is Oklahoma, because they've been in the league with their brethren for like 70 years, 60, 70 years. And you're just leaving that behind for bigger check and, and I guess sustainability. but at Oklahoma State, it would have been a sustainable league. Is it a sustainable league as is? Not really. But I think where it works is with the PAC 12. Maybe not all of them.

Maybe Kansas can go to the Big Ten where their football will get murdered and their basketball will still be very, very competitive. Maybe Iowa State goes as well. They're a member of the, I think it's called the AAC. It's about the school, not about the athletic department. they'll get murdered in football and murdered in basketball, but they'll have the rivalries with the Wisconsin's and the Iowa's of the world and the Kansas of the world still.

But for the PAC 12, now the PAC 12, they have similar success and big markets only. The time zones kill them. And this would give them a chance at games in better time zones. Instead of having 9 a.m. local starts, you could have 11 a.m. local starts. Does the Big 12 survive as it's currently constituted?

No. No. And this is me as an alum telling you the hard truth about my own alma mater. No matter how good and how passionate, it probably brings, and I haven't, this is a very, I haven't done any study. I would guess that Oklahoma State probably brings the most eyeballs of anybody remaining in the Big 12. But that's not really a strong argument for making 30 million. million a year anymore. They have to find a way, you know, do you expand to Texas so that you keep all the Texas

high school football players because kids at the end of the day want to play close to home, you're still going to lose the top kids to the SEC schools? Do you expand out west where you might get that big paycheck, although the travel for Olympic sports is going to be treacherous? Do you just break into pieces, which is a possibility? I just, these are not good things. And you can say what you want if you're Texas and Oklahoma and it's not about them. It's about they're supposed to be a conference feeling where you're tied and bound together

and to just diminish that because of a check. It's not what it's supposed to be about. Apparently it is. I'm going to dedicate the next 15 seconds to Jersey Mike's grilled to Portobella mushroom and Swiss sub. It's delicious. You got to try it. because Fresh Ingredients makes a sub above. Jersey Mike's a sub above.

Aaron Rogers apparently now intends to play for the Packers this season. But what's it mean for the future of the franchise? I'll tell you next in The Herd. 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. Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite.

Unhumor me with Robert Smigel 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 legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced. games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

On the Look Back at a podcast. From 1979, that was a big moment for me. Eighty-four was big to me. Sam J. 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. 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. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me. Cliver 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 Cliford Show. This is a place for raw, unfilled of conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve

to be heard, but celebrated. So let's get to it. Listen to The Cliford show on the IHeard 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. an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed human.