The Herd with Colin Cowherd - 07/27/2021 - HOUR 1 - Aaron Rodgers, USA, Simone Biles

Episode Date: July 27, 2021

Aaron Rodgers is coming back to the PackersGregg Popovich is making a strawman argument for USA's loss to FranceSimone Biles pulling out of the Tokyo OlympicsGuest: Greg Jennings 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 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, 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 Herd. Now let's get this party started. You're listening to Fox Sports Radio.

Ah, it is a Tuesday. Good to be back live in Los Angeles. This show is called The Herd. Wherever you may be and however you may be listening, IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, and right here on a Tuesday on FS1. A lot of things breaking, not just in the NFL. and Joy Taylor is joining me in a Tuesday. She's fresh off an exhausting day yesterday of travel cross-country and hosting multiple shows.

Joy, how are her things? I'm doing great. It is training camp week. Everybody starts today. Everybody's in. Everybody's ready to go. Can't wait. Football's back.

Already got players complaining. Players happy. So Aaron Rogers, his private jet arrived last night. He walked in and flip-flops this morning. We've got some video. he is officially a Packer as we thought he would be. He and the Packers negotiated this week to give him a little bit of a new contract. He's in for one more year guaranteed to Green Bay,

but the New Deal gives him the flexibility to leave after this year. He got flexibility. He got a little more leverage. He got a little more power. Did it differently than Russell Wilson, but he got what he wanted. Green Bay probably feels like they win with the New Deal. they get another year to look at Jordan Love. Another year to see if Love is not the guy.

They can get their chest pieces in order to make a trade or a move for another quarterback out on the market. The NFL wins because Aaron Rogers will play and not retire. Fox wins. We have the Packers. We like Aaron Rogers when he plays for an NFC team. So everybody feels like they can win. Aaron's got a little more leverage. The Packers feel like, okay, all right, no chaos.

We're still in the Super Bowl window. They will have an easier transition than it would have been if Aaron retired this morning. And Aaron Rogers has one great benefit. Carson went to a new team. Sam Darnold to a new team. Matt Stafford do a new team. Off of Tom Brady's success to a new team. those three can add juice to the Panthers or the Colts or the Rams.

And then Aaron Rogers says, I'm available. He will have far more suitors than Tom Brady did at his age. He's going to be 38 after this season. If Aaron can remain injury free, light it up, be his typical great self, doesn't have to be an MVP, can be very strong. And if Wentz and Darnold and Brady now, and Stafford have all added juice to their football teams. Aaron's going to have multiple teams.

It will largely be his choice because he won't play for, you know, a tire fire. And the team knows that. So that is the good scenario this morning. That is positive Uncle Colin. It's all good. It's fantastic. Everybody wins. Fox, the NFL.

Aaron Rogers has flexibility and the Packers. Now, if I may, Can I offer the doomsday scenario? This is where I have to be pessimistic, and I do think there's about a 25% chance of this happening. I want you to consider four things. Number one, Aaron Rogers is snippy and condescending when he's winning and in a good mood. Number two, the season ended bizarrely last year with his head coach Matt LaFleur, who's still a kid. he pulled him off the field for a field goal attempt against Tom Brady.

Bizarre. Number three, David Boktiari, the best left tackle in football, according to grading systems, is coming off of injury and will not play until 100% healthy. He'll miss September games. And number four, they did not retain their pro bowl center. Corey Lindley, the Chargers, picked him up. Two offensive linemen, one gone, one. One, perhaps, perhaps not ready to go.

Look at the Packers' schedule. Six of the eight best sack teams are on it. Mostly early by the middle of the season. By week three, at the Niners, followed by Steelers. Two weeks later at the Bears. Then Washington's incredible front. At Arizona, followed by at the chiefs, Seahawks, Vikings, Rams. There's a lot of Aaron Donald and Khalil Mack and the Washington football.

team. That is a handful. And what if Aaron gets nicked up a little? Offensive line, by the way, I looked this morning, it's the lowest graded Packer offensive line that I can recall with Aaron. It's middle of the pack, 15, 16, usually top five or six. Lost to Pro Bowl Center. David Bakhtiari off surgery. They've drafted several last couple years. They're kind of developing the O-Ly. They'll be young. They face a bunch of great pass rushing teams. Aaron gets knocked down, hit, hurt, they lose. And he's not in a great mood when they win.

And he misses a game and decides to miss a second. And people ask, how committed is he? Aaron, how do you feel? Why are you not playing? I mean, you're walking around and practicing. And then it gets ugly. Look at the Packer's schedule. What if Devante Adams?

A wide receiver who's missed six games in the last couple of years gets nicked up. The offense looks flat. Aaron, who again can struggle when things are not right, when things are not ideal. He's never been great in discomfort. He can get, you know, Aaron-ish. Devante Adams hurt. Aaron nicked up. Misses a game.

Questions about his commitment. Look at this schedule. Folks, the over-under in Vegas before all this nonsense was 10 and a half wins. I had them at 10 and 7. That's a lot of losses. And late September and early October to early November is a brutal stretch of excellent pass rushing teams, very good elite pass rushers, Niners, Steelers, Bears, Washington, Arizona, Kansas City, Seattle, at Minnesota, then Aaron Donald at home.

It's not like it's easy in the end where they're at Baltimore, Cleveland and Miles Garrett, Minnesota again. There is a worst case scenario. There is. So I think this morning it depends on if you're a Packer fan and wear a cheese hat, you think it's great. If you're a Bears fan and hate the Packers, you can relish in my second argument. I'm neither, but my takeaway is I always have a Super Bowl bubble and they feel like they're just on the outside of it.

I put Cleveland there too. Cleveland has no history of great success. How will they handle winning? I don't know. Green Bay, tough schedule, banged up offensive line, sort of developing young offensive linemen, and they just face pass rush after great pass rusher. I think it could go either way. guess is they're a good team not special but Aaron is officially back the video is out he looks California cool in his flip flops and his t-shirt and I can't wait for it there's the video right there can't wait for it by the way Aaron did what Aaron does he was predictable in that Aaron let his surrogates and media friends do the talking for the last several months so Aaron can come back at his first big press conference and say, you know, you guys blew this out of

proportion. You can't quote me being Mr. Negative. There was a lot of speculation here, a lot of rampant rumors. We had a very easy sit down over Zoom for an hour, got some things worked out. That's as we predicted the way Aaron was going to deliver it. Have his friends, his surrogates, his media pals deliver it. He doesn't have to get quoted. He can be sort of nonchalant during that Gulf the match.

He can be nonchalant with his friends. And so he can come back and say, I don't know what you guys are talking about. These media people just, you know, they make up rumors. And of course, you know, a lot of fans buy into that. We used to have a president that did that all the time where, oh, it's just rumors and hearsay. And the media is the bad guys. And it was all great. But we know it's not.

we know it was ugly, we know it was intense, we know there were agents barking at general managers, and this is going to create all sorts of walking on eggshell moments, just like Durant and the Warriors. We all knew he was gone. There was a lot of walking on eggshells, and the entire time the Warriors told us, it's all good. You media people. And then we find out later that Draymond and Durant hated each other and that Steve Kerr and Bob Myers were walking on. eggshells and Steph and Clay and everybody didn't know what to say. It's the way it always works.

Blame the bad media. It's all good here. But I think we all know if you're honest with yourself that it's not all good here. All right. Simone Biles, the greatest gymnast in USA history. Step back because of the stress and pressure of the Olympic spotlight. Team USA basketball, a clunker. Wow. A lot to address today.

Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in 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 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 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 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. So, I'm 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 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. Trip 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, 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. By the way, Team USA lost to France. I watched a big portion of that, and Greg Popovich now is doing this. It's called a straw man argument or you make an argument that doesn't really exist. Nobody's really arguing about it. After Team USA lost to France and France is good, let's make no mistake. They've got four or five NBA players, not stars, but players. And Greg Popovich said, you guys keep dissing teams like France.

You think we're going to beat them by 30? Nobody thought that. We were favored by 11 and a half. Nobody thought we were going to win by 30, Greg. Stop just making stuff up to. protect yourself. Psychologists call that projecting. The United States best player is KD or Dame or Devin Booker. France's best is Nicholas Batum. Enough with the excuses. The NBA draft is coming up, what, Thursday? I looked it up this morning. The top 15 players 13 are American kids. We still have

a preponderance of the world's best basketball players. Don't be guilted into admitting America's number one at a lot of things. Basketball remains one of those things. I know you can't go to the internet and say that or the Twitter police will come raining down with their anti-American nonsense. But we're number one in basketball. Now individually, there are some great international players. They won a lot of awards this year in the NBA, MVP, and first team all NBA and

Lucas sensational. Individually, especially big men, but there is no team close to us. To give you an example, if you took a lot of the first. all the other Olympic teams. All of them, their entire roster, they have two all-stars. Rudy Gobert and Luca. Our team has 10. Just our team has 10.

We should have won this game. We should have won it rather comfortably. We're poorly coached and poorly designed and constructed. I've been saying this forever on Greg Popovich. He's a bully. He's what he despises. He makes stuff up. He doesn't listen to facts.

He constantly projects at the podium. sounds like a politician he didn't like much and often criticized publicly. He's become him making crap up to suit his argument. Nobody thought we were going to beat France by 30. No reasonable person did. In fact, Joy was on the show. I predicted America would win the silver medal last week. That's what I said.

They'll win the silver medal. Perhaps I was a bit optimistic, but I still think they'll get to the championship game. we have the most basketball talent and it's not really that close. Individually, especially with big men, the world is doing a remarkable job to get better. There are several reasons why we lost. You know, again, I don't think this is a terribly well-constructed team, but our season just ended. Some of the guys on this roster literally were in a championship parade, got in a plane, flew to Tokyo, took a nap, got up and played. Secondly, is our players now make so much money with basketball and shoe deals

and social media. How invested are they? Number three, a lot of top players opt out. A lot of our best NBA players are veterans who have been on Olympic teams before and just don't want to do it again. We had a pandemic and then we had a condensed season and they want rest. This don't want to play right now and I don't blame them. But let's stop with the excuses. Greg Popovich, nobody that's reasonable thought we should beat France by 30. Most people, myself included, thought it would be competitive. The line was 11 and a half. That seemed 9, 10, 11 reasonable.

This feels like a coach who got out coached and doesn't want to admit it. Joy Taylor with the news. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. While sticking with the Olympics, Simone Bowles withdrew from the women's team gymnastic final today after struggling during her first rotation

on the vault. She huddled with her trainer before exiting the floor and USA gymnastics announced she would not continue due to a medical issue. She later returned to cheer on her teammates throughout the rest of the competition.

Team USA won the silver medal in the events with the Russian Olympic Committee taking the gold. Biel said afterwards that she wasn't physically injured, but she wasn't in the right headspace to compete and withdrew to protect herself and her mental health. So everyone obviously is talking about this this morning.

This is a huge deal. She's the most decorated gymnast in American history. Yeah, she's the greatest. I don't know, by far, but she's the greatest. Yes, she's the goats. You don't have to know gymnastics. You can watch her, and she does stuff nobody else can do. Yes, yeah, they've tried changing the rules to make it fair to everyone else,

how skilled she is. This is, I actually don't, it's a, It's obviously very shocking news because she is the competitor that she is. Yeah. But I think this is the right decision if you're not in the right headspace. You should not be running full speed and launching your body off of a vault if you're not completely locked into the situation that's literally dangerous. Well, I think, you know, Twitter will, as is custom, will have no nuance with this.

But this is not basketball, football. This is not baseball, where you have a game every day. people train for eight years for a 90-second routine to perform globally in a sport like ice skating that demands 100% perfection. The fact that we have young men and women, men and women, ice skating, gymnastics, that don't,

whether you want to call it melting down or anxiety-filled, it's one of those things I get nervous watching gymnast on television. I am a ball of nerves watching gymnasts. I'm not being woke here. This is not football or basketball. There's not a game. It's like I'm on the air three hours a day. I could have a terrible segment. I get another one. If I trained eight years for one segment, I'm not built for it. So when I look at this, I think to myself, I'm surprised this doesn't happen. Now, we've seen ice skaters have terrible routines. But these are not my Olympics. These are Simone Biles Olympics.

These are not mine. These are hers. And I'm not going to tell somebody what's going on upstairs. Now we have a layer of social media where nobody says anything nice. Everybody gets attacked. We're less successful people, troll more successful people. So, you know, as a guy who grew up in a sports culture, part of me looks at it and thinks, you just can't quit.

I thought about that driving to work this morning. And then as a dad with a daughter, I think, I don't know how these people do it. I don't know how any of these athletes that train for 10 years for a 90-second routine, how do we not see this regularly? Yes, and I would add more years to that, because generally if you're a gymnast, you're starting extremely young. Four. Extremely young.

Ice skaters, extremely young. So you've literally trained for this your entire life. For a moment. For a moment. Now, Simone has had many incredible all-time perfect moments. Yes. But yes, there's a lot of pressure on her. gymnastics in general is a sport where perfection is demanded.

And if you don't launch yourself at the exact centimeter that you're supposed to launch, like we've seen horrible injuries in the Olympics and in competition the gymnasts have had to play through or, you know, performed through. So she's, she is not out of the rest of the competitions. She may compete still in the individual competitions. That's what they said. But, you know, we are, we are sending her all of our support and love. It's a very, it's a very big conversation. Naomi Osaka started this again with, you know,

talking to media just a few weeks ago and was widely criticized for it. And I think, you know, I was talking about it this morning. I tried, not tried to, I do look at sports on a personal level, on a human level. Right. And part of that may be how I grew up or playing sports myself or my brother, but I don't consider athletes to be just like these pawns and chips that are moved around. Like there's a whole other human element to sports. And I think that moments like this could be good teaching moments for everyone where really you have to understand. understands to get to a certain level of anything in life, it's more mental than it is physical. Oh, God. I mean, listen, does everybody remember LeBron melting down against the Mavericks?

Literally, the game got into his head. He admitted, I can't be a villain. And LeBron had four other opportunities to overcome that moment. If LeBron got 90 seconds to perform, what would the pressure be like? And again, part of me drove to work this morning thinking you can't quit on your team. But then I look at gymnastics. and let's be honest about it. We don't celebrate team success. We celebrate Mary Lou Retton. You know, we celebrate the great individual.

We can go to these Olympics. We're talking Carl Lewis, not the USA track team. This is about the individual, except for like hockey. And Team USA. Yes, right. But by and large, I'm not sitting there going, we got to beat Russia. I'm rooting for the individual, right? Like if she wins, she, not the Team USA, she gets the box of weedy.

She gets the shoe commercial, all that stuff. So part of me was like, oh, how do you let your teammates down? And then part of me thinks, this is an individual sport. Let's be realistic about this. This is brutal. Well, I'm sure she came back to root for her teammates. So I'm sure the team competition matters as much to her as the individual does because it takes great individual performances to get that team win.

But at the end of the day, I always feel like moments like this are bigger macro moments and the expectations that we put on human beings to perform in moments that most of us would completely melt down in. I mean, we have, you know, complete panic attacks about, you know, our cheese going bad in the refrigerator. Like, the entire world is watching. It is a moment for your country and your career and something goes wrong. You should have the space and grace to do what's best for you in that moment. Yeah.

And I'm sure our team is supporting her. So we're talking a lot about the men's basketball team. Sure. The U.S. women's basketball team is one and no after their Olympic opener against Nigeria. Things did start slow for Team USA. It was a clunky first half down three. after the first quarter with eight turnovers, but they did get back on track

and built a double-digit lead by halftime. And then won 81-72. Nigeria came out with a lot of energy. Sue Bird played. Yes. She's now played for 47 straight years of, I swear to God, Sue Brut has played. She's had a very, very long career.

I think this is her fifth Olympics. Yes, she's her fifth Olympics. And she's still elite. Yes. Well, she had no points last night, but she did have 13 assists, so still contributed. Asia Wilson had 19 points, 13 rebounds, two steals, and two blocks.

Brittany Griner also had a big game, and Diana Tarasi, WMBA's all-time leading score. So this was the team's 50th straight Olympic win, dating back to a loss at the 1992 games in Barcelona. And just an update on the medals overall. Team USA currently has 25 medals in Tokyo, nine gold, eight silver, and eight bronze. There were some medals won in swimming last night as well, which is another very popular. Oh my God, there was a great swimming performance, a young lady from Alaska. I loved it. I absolutely loved it.

I loved seeing her, did you see the video of her classmates watching in Alaska? I put it on my Twitter account. I love it. You will watch it 20 times. I know. I couldn't find the video of it. And it was amazing. Lydia Jacob is her name.

I wanted to get her name. Lydia Jacob from a small town in Alaska. So she is performing. Your parents can't be there. By the way, Simone Biles' support group can't be there. None of these athletes have the support groups for years and years, right? The parents, stepdad, the grandma, the grandpa, they're not there for any of this stuff, which just adds.

And by the way, the arenas are empty, so it's a haunting weird, echoy experience. They're essentially in a big Olympic bubble. It's just brutal. And so this young girl from Alaska, there's a swimming hotbed, Alaska. They don't even have an Olympic-sized pool there. And she starts, and by the way, trailed, trail, trailed in the last 40 meters. I mean, it was like a spirit was in her. She just like a fish surges ahead of everybody and touches it first. It is the best thing. It's the best minute I've seen at

the Olympics. That's what makes the Olympics so great is the stories and the moments and you get these small towns. I loved watching her classmates freak out. And honestly, a lot of people are talking about the men's team USA and how they don't care and all of that. Like, I would argue they care more this year than any other year because you're signing up to go to a completely stressful situation. You're not getting the normal Olympic experience. I mean, normally the Olympics are a spectacle. It's a fully immersive experience in the city you're in.

You're getting none of that because of COVID. So you're sitting in your room. So they basically signed up to go back into the bubble. So I don't like people saying that they don't care. Like, they definitely care. This is a weird year. No support group. You have to go right back to your room.

And if you failed, watch it on television. Right. And look at it on Twitter all day. So, Dak Prescott continues to make strides in his return from his broken ankle. Cowboys Camp kicked off last week, and he went through his first full practice. He said he didn't think about his ankle one time, and he's also hoping to get some reps in the preseason this year. I definitely want to play as far as giving you a number or quantity of how much I need to. I just want to obviously get back out there, get some reps before it's real, just to have a lot of defense coming at you, coming at me.

Hopefully not take too many legs because I've got great protection, but that's part of the game. And I think that would be great to obviously get up from that, wipe it off and just be another process, as I said, of bearing the injury, obviously. And I think it would be huge. They play the Steelers in the Hall of Fame game on August 5th, then the Cardinals, Texans, and Jags in preseason. And the first regular season game is September 9th against the Bucks. I'm not against this actually. I'm not a huge preseason fan and neither are you. A little bit, though.

But I think he should play whatever you would normally play your starting quarterback in preseason. If he wants to get out there and test his ankle and get a little callous. There's a psychological effect to this. What have we just been talking about? When you get hurt, I told a story years ago, I've hard crash on a motorcycle in my hometown. I know it's hard to believe I would be on one. Ripped up, I still have a scar, ripped up a little part. I couldn't get back on the bike the rest of the summer.

My dad finally said, you've got to get on the bike. Or you'll never get on that thing again. And I did. And the point being, this happened to Tom Brady after his injury. He was gun-shy. Tom, anybody got close to his ankles, his knees. Tom got skittish. DAC needs to get 40, 60 snaps in the preseason,

just to mentally get in the right space. It's huge. I tore my ACL. Trusting your body again is, massive part of coming off injury. Even if you're 100% and you're cleared, you have the anxiety. And especially if you're Dak Prescott or Tom Brady, you have the anxiety of knowing what happens if you get injured. That's why I mean, Clay Thompson, I can't even imagine what he's been going through having a major injury and then immediately having another major injury right after that.

The rehab is grueling and you're missing your sport and you can't trust your body again. It's a huge mental side of it. So I'm not against him playing. I wouldn't be surprised if Dak doesn't have a sport psychologist. dealt with for the last six months. I mean, seriously. Yeah, it's very, it is very taxing on you mentally to come back from an injury like that, especially when it's your job. Good stuff, Joy with the news.

Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Hurd-Ly News. Greg Jennings, 10 years in the NFL, a multiple-time pro bowler. He was Brett Farve and Aaron's number one guy, and he joins us now live, Fox Sports Analyst.

All right, I get brought to you by Mercedes-Benz, the best or nothing. Here we are saying all these nice things about athletes and acknowledging the pressure you guys all face. So I laid it out with Aaron this morning. If you're a Packer fan, you could say Aaron got some flexibility. Packers have another year. It all works out. And then I said, but there's a little bit of a doomsday scenario.

They face a gauntlet in late September, October of great pass rushes. Washington and Chicago and the Steelers and the Niners. David Boktiari's coming off an injury. Corey Lindley is gone. And, you know, I look at it and I think to myself, it's going to be one of these things where we all look at this new contract and think Aaron's here for a year and he's gone. It's weird. To me, that is a, if I was a reporter covering the team, I'd have, I've had loaded questions every week after a loss. Your gut feeling in the locker room for the next month.

Is it discussed? Does Aaron talk about it? Does he not talk about it? Would you, Greg, talk about it? Would you ask him questions? how does it stand emotionally in that locker room? That's what's going to be very interesting. I think the focus is going to be really just to really lock in on what's in front of them.

And right now it's going to be training camp day to day and then taking it one day at a time. I think this is what we would classically identify as the next game. Focus on what's next, not the future, because the future is going to be, presented to everybody and everyone in that building an organization every single day because of what we now know with Aaron Rogers in his contract situation. So I think it's something they're definitely going to have to address out the gate as a team and then decide how they move forward when discussing it with the media because it's going to come up all throughout the course of the year. Well, it's interesting because Far of Aaron Rogers, although both. would probably argue they're different. They're actually very similar. They're very proud. They're great. They dealt with the media. Far was a little more awshuck, southern, easy to put your

arm around. Aaron can be a little more California, cool, a little more, you know, a little different. You dealt with both people. You know, Aaron, when they're winning, can be a whatever it's called, you know, a little aloof. What happens if they go on a two-game losing streak? Could you foresee this being a little tense if somebody says, you know, Aaron misses a game, Aaron, how committed are you? Could you see some of that stuff bubbling up? No question. You got, we got to remember, like, this is a team that for the last two years, they've lost a total of six regular season games. We have not seen this team really struggle in terms of winning football games.

We may see that they haven't performed great, but they tend to have finally. a way to win games. With the schedule that they face, there could be a situation or a situation where they don't win as many games. And then what does it look like within that locker room? What is it going to look like from Aaron Rogers' perspective when it comes to talking to the media, when it comes to how he currently would feel with what they have presented in that locker room?

And I think this idea of, okay, we got Aaron Rogers back for this season. Let's go for the championship. It's not just a given. There are a lot of teams that are coming back that feel really good about their chances, that feel like they will give Green Bay a run for their money and be in that NFC championship game. So it's not a layup. And yes, Colin, I think this is huge that they can face some adverse situations

that will cause everything to kind of, sit in front of them and be a challenge that they have not had to face over the last few seasons. So let me ask you, Devante Adams, there's talks that things broke down with the Packers. And I said this a couple days ago, as great as a receiver is, go look at Larry Fitzgerald, the better quarterback, the better is numbers. Now, you were very, well, you know that too, far Rogers to Miami. And I look at myself, if you were Devante Adams, and you know what you know now, that Aaron has negotiated a new deal, which he could stay for two, but it's probably one.

Would you sign a long-term deal with Green Bay? So here's the thing. You got to find out what's most important to you. Is it continuing to produce numbers and have the opportunity to be inducted and put on that yellow jacket? If that is the case, yeah. Go with your quarterback or make sure you have a quarterback in place. you can continue to have that type of success.

With Devonte Adams, what also is in play is he has a very unique opportunity in front of him right now. He is the number one unanimous pretty much Y receiver in all of football. That may not be the case at the end of this season. And so you take advantage of that, in my opinion, financially. He's already set. He could solidify that, obviously. his quarterback might be different.

It might not be that guy, that bad man 12, that's throwing you to football. And I have my own personal experience where, yes, I was a great receiver, but it looked different when you don't have that number four throwing you that ball. When you don't have that 12 throwing you that ball and you're frustrated getting into that huddle every single play before the play and the ball is even snapped. So it will look different if Devante Adams decides. to sign with the Green Bay Packers and Aaron Rogers walks off into the sunset and go somewhere else. But it's one of those situations where he has to look at what's most important to him.

Is it potentially Hall of Fame, which he is on that trajectory, or is it financial complete security? And that is something that I think you can't play with. Yeah, no, I listen, I never tell players to take less. That's not my space. I certainly have tried not to. Finally, what we forget is Devante Adams has seen Jordan Love in practice. And, you know, I mean, so when you were with Favre take me back, you saw Aaron in practice and you knew that boy can play. Okay, right?

You knew that. But what if Devante's watching Jordan Love and he's thinking, bro, this doesn't work? Like, do you think that stuff, it's not talked about, do you think that's going through his head if he has some questions about Jordan Love? without doubt, without question that's going through his head. He has a first-class seat right in front of him of experiencing what Jordan Love is not only on the field but off the field, how he manages the game, how he understands it, how he, his rapport with the guys. Can it work eventually? And then you have to think about, okay, if the Green Bay Packers allow Aaron Rogers to walk and they trade him, what are you going to, choir. Who are you going to bring in?

Will you discuss with me things that you wouldn't even discuss with Aaron Rogers? Right. And so this is a conversation that I think Devante Adams truly needs to be having with his team and the Green Bay Packers organization to make sure he is being put in the best situation

both financially and as a football player. Yeah. Great stuff, Greg. Good talking to you. Appreciate you stopping by, my man. Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah, and we forget about that. Like if Devonte Adams did not sign like a four or five-year deal. Wouldn't Devante be telling you, I'm watching practice. I'm not comfortable signing a five-year deal because you can be the world's greatest

wide receiver. Go back and look at Larry Fitzgerald's numbers in Arizona. First bout Hallfamer. When Carson Palmer there, Kurt Warner's there, numbers are huge. Go look at Randy Moss's career. Randy with Tom Brady. If you didn't know who the quarterback was and you looked at Randy Moss's career, you'd go, good God, who was his quarterback in that two-year stretch? It was the goat. Like Marvin Harrison with Peyton Manning's one of the best ever. Marvin Harrison with 90% of the quarterbacks that have ever been drafted is a receiver that can run pretty well that can only play one side of the field.

Like, this is a real thing. Like, for me, I'll never tell a guy to take less money. But I do think Devonte Adams, who I think is the second best receiver in the league, probably. I think most people think it's DeAndre Hopkins. I think there's three guys that are better than the rest of the league. Devante Adams, Devon Diggs, and DeAndre Hopkins. Everybody else, the Michael Thomas's, D.K. Metcalf, you know, the OBJs. They're all great.

But those three to me are completely different. In fact, I don't know why Stefan Diggs gets dinged in all these. Every time I see a list of best receivers, he's those like seven or six. And I'm like, I can make an argument. Half the Sundays last year was the best receiver in the NFL. All right. that stuff coming up, more on the Olympics as well. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in 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 eye 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 IHartRadio 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 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, 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 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 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, so. They're 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. Trip 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 here 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 Hardway. Open your free, I Heart Radio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. The Simone Biles story is getting a lot of play, and it'll double down on what I said earlier.

Simone Biles has 27 gold medals in the Olympics and World Championships. she's 24 she's the greatest gymnast in the history of the world they have to change rules it's like tiger was so good at golf they had to change damn courses 27 goals she's 24 years old she has five events left she had a brief moment where she wasn't in the right space well michael phelps talked about suicide and retired twice. When Michael Phelps left swimming the first time, retired, he said, I can't take it. I don't want it.

I've got to get away from the sport. It was eating him alive. He admits it. He's talked publicly. They've done specials. In fact, I just watched him narrate a special on HBO. It's fascinating. I'd love to have Michael Phelps on.

He's amazing. I just watched a special a month ago that he narrates. I'll watch it again. I'll give you the, you have to watch it. It's fantastic. The pressure for these athletes, these are not basketball players where they got a game tomorrow. Baseball players, I struck out in the first, you're up in the fourth, the seventh, the ninth. Football play.

Tom Brady's won games in which he's thrown three interceptions. You get 90 seconds on a global stage wearing an American uniform. You have trained nine years. Now these Olympics, no parents, no grandparents, no support group in empty venues, it just echoes a lot. The greatest gymnast in world history. And I'm saying that. There's probably a Romanian that's up there. I know they dominated the sport.

But I'm thinking if America's athletes are getting 27 goals, if somebody won 28, my bad. But that's pretty amazing. And she had a brief moment where she said, hey, I know me. I'm a step back on this thing. And you want a criticize her? I drove to work this morning thinking it's weird. Like I'm a team sport guy. How could you do this?

And then I thought to myself, wait a minute, it's gymnastics. It's not baseball. It's not football. It's not soccer. It's gymnastics and swimming and ice skating. And the two greatest Americans ever are Michael Phelps and this young woman, ever. And both have had to at times. I had a panic attack in an airplane.

about five years ago on an airplane. By the way, I had a cocktail. I could breathe. Nobody was watching me. And something happened to my heart. I'd been going through a stressful situation in my life. I'm on an airplane and I am just, I had to get up, I'm freaking out, I'm having a panic attack. Thank God we were 20 minutes from landing.

I got off that plane. I literally had to sit down in a bathroom. Can you imagine wearing an American uniform? the pressure Russia, the anthems, you're the greatest, go perform 90 seconds. I don't know how they do it. I'm serious. I don't know how any of these athletes do it. I really don't.

So I look at Simone and Michael Phelps. They have pressure that Brady never faces, Michael never faced, Shaq never faced, Derek Jeter never faced. Got another at bat tomorrow. Baseball plays 162 games a year. She has 162 seconds. And by the way, she's competing for the country. Every other baseball team is rooting against Jeter. I don't know how she does it.

I don't know how Michael did it. Tip of the cap, do all of them. Take a deep breath. Go have a smoothie. Do what you got to do to get back into the right place. I'm off my soapbox. All right, hour two is coming up next, live in L.A. It's The Heard. 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, Kier Games. This space is about black men's experiences, having honest conversations that it's really not safe to have anywhere, but you're having them with a licensed professional who knows what he's doing. How many men carry a suit or armor? It signals to the world that you're not to be played with. And just because you have the capability that does not mean that you need to. Listen to learn the hard way on the AHA radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. On the Look Back at it podcast. For 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 here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. With our friends, fellow comedians, and favorite authors. Like Mark Lamont Hill on the 80s. Before it was a wild year. It was a wild year.

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