The Herd with Colin Cowherd - 07/30/2021 - Best of The Herd

Episode Date: July 30, 2021

In this Best of The Herd, Doug Gottlieb--in for Colin--is skeptical that former Washington Wizard Russell Westbrook joining LeBron James and Anthony Davis on the Lakers is something that will work. There are just as many questions as there are answers. Also, Aaron Rodgers wanted to be part of the managerial process in Green Bay but Doug tells you why that's not realistic for the face of the team. Plus, the "3 and Out" podcast's John Middlekauff has a bad feeling about Carson Wentz--who was ruled out indefinitely with a foot injury. 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 Clifers 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 best of herd 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. This is the best of the herd with Colin Cowherd on Fox Sports Radio.

What up? Welcome in. This is The Herd, wherever you may be, and however you may be listening to the show. Thanks so much. I'm Doug Gottlie. In for Colin Cowherd. And man, do we have an outstanding show for it? We were, um, it felt like, it felt like one tweet away from the Padres

winning the World Series until Max Scherz is like, yeah, I don't know, I'm gonna. And of course we had the NBA draft last night. We had the U.S. women's national soccer team win in a shootout in PKs earlier today. We got it. We got a litany of things.

Simone Biles posted on her TikTok and then it became on Twitter that she has the Twisties, which is a gymnastics form of the Yips. So we got a lot to get to. two here. Okay, let's, let's start with the most obvious because Colin tweeted about it. And yes, these jokes do write themselves that he's going in for, he's going in for a colonoscopy. You know, Colin, this whole idea of sharing everything with your audience. Like, but okay.

So he doesn't get a chance on his show to, I would guess, eviscerate this plan between LeBron, Anthony Davis and Russell Westbrook. So article in the LA Times out today that apparently the three AD, LeBron, Westbrook, got together a couple weeks ago and hashed out this plan, hey man, how about we make one last run for a championship? And I've always wanted to do it in LA. Of course, Russell Westbrook, much like Kauai Leonard, much like Paul George. Should be pointed out that PG and Kauai Leonard are not.

technically from even Los Angeles County, whereas Russell Westbrook is, but still, you grew up in Southern California, you always want to play for the Lakers, or you always want to play in Staples. Like, it's, it's in arguable. Everybody wants to play close to home, especially when close to home gives you a chance to win a championship and 75 and sunny every single freaking day, right? Okay. But here's the problem with it. Here's the problem with it. I understand that this gives you a point guard and it can move LeBron James back to the power forward. And the worst kept secret in the NBA is the fact that through searching and searching and searching for a replacement to Dwight Howard and Javelle McGee,

they came up with a worst plan and a Marcus Saul that the Lakers want to start and finish with Anthony Davis at the five, right? That's what they want. That gives them the greatest chance to win. that gives them the greatest mismatch, and it opens up the lane potentially for LeBron James when he's playing downhill. What they want to do, their goal, their dream is to LeBron James is like the fourth quarter point guard, and they need somebody else to run in quarters one through three. And Dennis Schrooter is not the guy.

The next story you hear out of the Lakers is going to be Dennis Schroeder is signed and traded to whomever. They don't dislike Dennis Schrooter. They despise Dennis Schroeder for a litany of reasons. But the move yesterday makes sense, right? LeBron's ankle, he's unable to carry a team the way he wants to carried a team. And Russell Westbrook, with all of his flaws, still average a damn triple double, still super competitive. And has honestly played his best basketball when he's off the ball in the fourth quarter going back to his days in

Oklahoma City. The problem with that is that LeBron, the Lakers, and everybody else in the league seems to know that Russell Westbrook can't shoot other than Russell Westbrook, so they didn't even guard him in the playoffs two years ago. Russell Westbrook's this curious case. Most guys, just most ask yourself as an afternoon weekend warrior, right? The older you get, the worse you move, the better you shoot. Like, I can even shoot now. I can even shoot now. But the bigger part is, yes, LeBron's not the Iron Man. AD was never, ever an Iron Man, ever. Ever. And I don't think that

I don't think that in the postseason, Russell Westbrook is the Iron Man, but look at the games played in the regular season and he clearly will give you everything he's got every day he's called upon and playing in L.A. and playing for LeBron, they'll both be mutually motivated to give everything they possibly have, everything they possibly have in the regular season. But this comes down to a couple of basketball things and a business thing, right? From a basketball perspective, what have the Lakers sorely missed both the past two years outside shooting? So you bring in the highest volume, lowest percentage three-point shooter at point guard in the NBA?

Is that what you do? Does that make any sense to anybody? Like when they were thinking about Buddy Healed, everybody was like, wow, that's a, that's a good move. That's a good move. Now, Buddy Hill was not moved last night. It doesn't mean he still can't be moved. I don't know why the Sacramento Kings would want another point guard

unless they can find a suitor for Dennis Schrooter. On the other hand, they drafted a point guard last night. No one knows what Sacramento Kings are doing. There's a reason they had the longest playoff drought in the NBA. But the bigger issue is this. It sounds great to go into business with your friends, doesn't it? I got an idea. He's gotten the idea.

Like minds, we grew up together. This is the best, right? Until you actually get to working together. One, you have Chris Paulson out there going, hey, you know, I'm a point guard, I'm available, and I went to the finals and Russell can't get out of the first round, but besides that, there's the reality to working together with friends and with family

sounds like an awesome idea. Have you ever talked to anybody who's worked with a longtime dear friend or with a family member? They hate each other. They do. Because your expectations of each other are far higher than your likely output. Additionally, these guys,

LeBron and Russell Westbrook are at the end of illustrious careers. Not at the start. There's expectations of, hey, you've been here before. You can do this. Like, yeah, your body's not really willing to do it. And Russell's kind of always dominate the ball. LeBron dominates the ball. And Anthony Davis doesn't seem to want to dominate at times, but needs to dominate the ball.

This is one of those in practice. It feels awesome. Hey, man, they're all friends. They're all together. They're all about L.A. They all want to win a championship. They're all aggressive defensively. They'll win on defense.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's awesome. But last I checked, he only played with one basketball. Last I checked, LeBron James needs space in the lane. He needs shooting. And no one respects Russell Westbrook as a shooter. And then late in the season, what happened this year is what happens normally. Older players break down.

Have you ever owned a car that's really? well made. I had an SUV incredibly well made. Family loved it. We took it everywhere. We had the extended life warranty. It was, I'm not going to give away the name because I know there's certain sponsorship deals. I can only tell you that if you looked at

quality of build, you know, check any sort of box, any sort of box for for, you know, consumer reports of what you, it was great. But once you hit like

75, 80,000 miles on any car, no matter how much people, I drove that thing and I overturned the odometer. We had no troubles at all. Our extended warranty ran out on the drive train at 75,000 miles. At 80,000 miles, one of the lights went on. I'm like, yeah, your transmission is. And then there was something else. And then there was something else. And then there was something. This is the way, I know LeBron James, it's just a sprained ankle. And it was a groin two years ago. But you don't get less. you get more injured as time goes on. So maybe Anthony Davis decides, okay, now I'm going to work on my body in the offseason.

He did just buy a palatial estate that does, unlike Ben Simmons, have a basketball court. Maybe Russell Westbrook is super motivated and works on his jumper and figures it out a little bit in this offseason. And LeBron James, who finds a way to motivate everybody around him, he himself comes back,

his longest offseason to date, takes a breath, gets ready, and just starts killing. And as flawed as Rob Polinka's team and LeBron James' team was last year, they still felt really good about the matchup with the Sons. And I don't think Denver was beating them anyway. And I obviously couldn't plan for Kauai Leonard to tear his ACL. I think that's where it would have come to an end, but I don't know it. and neither do you. The point is that they were flawed last year. They,

they, Montrez Harold didn't fit. Nobody liked Dennis Schrooter. They got nothing out of West Matthews. Contavius Caldwell Pope came back to reality. Kyle Kuzman was frustrated by his lack of minutes. They, Marcus Salls washed up. Like all of those things did in fact happen and yet the Lakers still had a shot to win the title.

So I'm willing to say, hey, let's, let's wait a second. catch our breath. Let's let's let Rob Polinka finish this and see what else he puts around these guys. But LeBron James chose to work with family. For his one last run, he's going to get all of his guys, less Chris Paul, who actually just went to the NBA finals together and try and make one more run out. What makes us believe that working with friends actually works? What does it work in the NBA? I guess you can say with the Miami Heat, four finals, four years, two NBA championships, but it didn't in the first year. I mean, the Boston Celtics, when they got their big three together, they didn't even

like Rondo. They don't like Ray Allen now. And yet, somehow, they found a way to make it work. Shaq and Kobe were teammates. They were never really boys. They won three titles. Kobe Bryant wasn't best friends with anybody on the team. He lives an hour and a half away from the facility and an hour and 15 from the arena.

It sounds like a good idea to work with friends, to work with family, to do. do the whole family. But tell me when it actually works. And then you bring up the actual basketball flaws and the lack of shooting and the age. I don't know. Look, we're only halfway through this process of remaking last year's NBA champion. But there's just as many questions as there are answers with the move yesterday. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio,

FS1 and the IHard Radio app. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds.

I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me, Clifford Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions,

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

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 all day, but just so you 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 IHeartRadio 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, and purpose on my new podcast Learn the Hardway. Open your free I Heart Radio app Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. What up? Welcome in.

This is The Herd, wherever you may be. And however you may be making it as part of your day, thanks so much. I'm Doug Gottlie. In for Colin Cowherd, who is, I mean, like, look, he's been posting about it. He's getting a colonoscopy. Best wishes to our fearless

leader. So two days ago, Aaron Rogers met with the media. We've been reacting ever since. Today, he got a golf cart from David Bactiari, which I would expect lots of frankincers and myrrh to be left at his locker as Aaron Rogers now at least has won. Like, what do they have on who wants to be a millionaire, right? there's lifeline. You could phone a friend.

You can, yeah, Aaron Rogers has lifelines where he threw a lifeline to Randall Cobb to bring him back to Green Bay. Look, Rogers was as forthcoming as any player has ever been when he had the media, listened to him for like a four minute stretch and then answered questions. This is all from his perspective. but it felt like coming from a place of honesty. Now, there are some concessions in his contract that took place after Brian Gunnickens met with the media yesterday. He's supposed to be under contract for three years. 2022 is now the final year, so they voided that third year of the deal.

Forfeiture of provisions were removed from the contract preventing the Packers from pursuing a prorated portion of Aaron Rogers' signing bonus. In other words, if he were to be. to retire, they couldn't get the, because he showed up this year, hey, you show up, if you retire at the end of next year, we're not going to go after your signing bonus, even though you're under contract for one more year. That would ensure the Packers either have to move on from him at the end of this season, or sign him to an extension, or you can keep him on his current deal at a massive cap cost and then potentially he walks away as a free agent in two years.

If the Packers cut or traded him before June 1st next year, they would have 26.8 million in dead money on their cap, but gain a net savings of $19.2 million from over-the-cap.com. So look, they've set this up in the contract previously. At the end of this year, it's a pooper get-off-the-pot scenario, none of that has changed. None of it. Rogers did contradict himself, right?

Like on one hand, he said, hey, when they came to meet with me, I didn't want to be, you know, I didn't want to be a lame duck quarterback. So they just threw money at me, but they didn't want to extend me. And then after the draft, they wanted to extend me,

but it was too late. Anybody who's been in a contract negotiation understands that sometimes that first contract offer can be so embarrassing that you, you, you won't take or you'll carry that negative angst with you at future. Look, this happened. I can tell you without any question that happened to me when I was at the other place,

that Colin was at as well. That's what they would do. It's what all businesses do. Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, we're going to give you a new deal. We're going to give you a new deal. Check out this new deal. You're like, wait, I actually already make that if you take into account all the bonuses that I get.

No, but this is a new guaranteed deal. Like, yeah, I already have that. I deserve more than that. Then you go out, you get an offer for more than that. Then they come back and like, oh, no, no, we don't go. We're going to offer you this. Many people carry with them kind of that, that baggage of the first offer. But here's where I, so on one hand, he was like, look, I want to be extended.

On the other hand, he was, he said it wasn't about money. Well, would you have been extended for $5 million, $10 million, $15 million? Of course not. I understand it's about security and about feeling. like, look, it's the battle of wills. I want you to get rid of Jordan Love or at least sign me to a contract where it makes it impossible for you to keep Jordan Love.

That's what this season is. Jordan Love's got to prove himself in practice in training camp and in preseason games and if he gets in a game. And Aaron Rogers got to prove himself in games. And if Aaron Rogers is so good, then they'll ship out Jordan Love. It's unlikely, but it's possible.

Just like Garapolo. Garopolo wasn't moved until the last possible moment. So the one season where you're like, you got to pay them or, right? Because we know what happens in this part at the end of this year in a rookie contract. You got to decide. Am I picking up the fifth year option at the end of year three? And this is year two. That fifth year option is no joke.

But this is the part where I thought that Aaron Rogers made the biggest mistake. Here's Rogers. Okay, here's Rogers. wanting to help the team learn from their mistakes. I wanted to help the organization maybe learn from some of the mistakes in the past, in my opinion, about the way that some of the outgoing veterans were treated and just the fact that we didn't retain a number of players that I felt like were core players to our foundation, our locker room, high character guys.

I'm talking about Charles Woodson, Jordy Nelson, Julius Peppers, Clay Matthews, Randall Cobb, James Jones, John, John. Kuhn, Brett Good, T.J. Lang, Brian Belaga, Casey Hayward, Micahide, guys who were, you know, exceptional players for us, but great locker room guys, high character guys. Many of them who weren't offered a contract at all, or were extremely low-balled, or were, you know, maybe in my opinion not given the respect on the way out

that guys of their status and stature and high character deserved. All right. Obviously, Rogers is still pissed about Jordy Nelson, and crum row last year in in in preseason and you know then he watches a lot of this is jealousy of Tom Brady right you watch Tom Brady he's got he brings he brings uh his his guys um in rob gruncowski and Antonio Brown and he's like look look what look what he had look here's a couple of things Aaron Rogers started by saying, I want to help them with their mistakes. Were any of those players named, were they mistakes?

Charles Woodson's an excellent player. He did have a Pro Bowl season afterwards, right? But this is the business. The business is sometimes you're going to have to let a guy walk away because he wants to make too much money. Sometimes you're going to have to let a guy walk away because he doesn't have to have. it anymore.

And this idea of you didn't offer guys a contract, like, I want you to think about something. Guys making $10 million. And I talked to an NFL GM about this early on the week. Guys making $10 million. I said there was a GM I talked to about it, a different player, used to play for his organization, wanted big money, left, and now signed a deal for, you know, one eighth of what he was making his last year with the team. And I was like, why wouldn't you bring him back?

He knows your team. He knows your sister. be like, that never works. The cutting people's salary and have them in the locker room. They're pissed about their contract being cut every day. And they blame you for that every day. And then, oh, yeah, by the way, when they have a good game, then they're mad at you because you undersold their value.

It's a no win. Plus, they don't like how they're looked at in the locker room as a guy who stayed to take less like that. There's no. Aaron Rogers contradicted himself. when he said, I wanted to come back because he got a chance to win a championship. Okay, so the same guy who made a lot of these hard decisions or group that made these hard decisions that have proven to be on many levels the right decision for the football team

isn't the right decision for you personally because you liked those guys and they were great players in their prime. Like everybody loves Clay Matthews. He was washed. Jordan Nelson was washed. They just were. And here's the big part. Here's the part that people are missing the most. Like, why not just run it by and why not let him be part of the process?

Aaron Rogers is, if he's part of the process, and they convince him, you know, we got to let Jordy go. No, listen, I can, me and Jordy, Jordy, Jordy may not have it for everybody else, but me and Jordy, we're locked in here. Is it just a different level there? His speed may not be what it used to be. It's coming off the ACL. Me and Jordy, it's a different, different connection. And they're like, look, it's just not going to work.

If Jordy gets cut, okay? There's only two things that can happen and both are bad. Either Aaron Rogers is still ticked at the front office for not listening to him. You listen to me, but you didn't validate what I said. He didn't hold on to him. Or Jordy Nelson says like, dude, Aaron Rogers, you couldn't have my back. you. No, no, no, no, no. I tried to save you. Like, no, no, no. The second one of your friends gets cut and you're seen as one of the bosses, guess what they're not anymore? They're not your

friends. You walk into the Saints. You walk into the Patriots. What does it say? Do your job. What do you say make perfect sense? Like, look, I know this place. I know who works hard. I know who brings energy. I know, like, all of that stuff. Great. I have a podcast that's going to job tomorrow. It's with a guy named Charles Jenkins. Charles is a spectacular player overseas. He was a second round pick out of Hofstra with the Golden State Warriors. During his first year with the Warriors, they had Monta Ellis and they had Steph Curry.

And Steph had battle anchor injuries at that time in his career. And towards the end of the season, they traded away Monta Ellis. But if you go back and look for Andrew Bogot, and that changed their franchise. forever. If you go back and look and ask anybody, and Chris Mullen told me this, like, look, we offered the bucks. The bucks were offered, either Monta Ellis or Steph Curry

for Andrew Bogot. You pick. Which proves two teams had it wrong. The Warriors didn't know what they had, and the bucks didn't know what they could have had. So I asked Charles, like, did you know?

And he's like, look, Steph was battling ankles, and it wasn't the perfect system for him, and Monta was Monta, we weren't that good. He's like, but it was just, if you ask any of the guys, practice games, it just everything flowed better when it was Steph instead of Monta. And that doesn't mean that Monta Ellis can't play. He was a bucket. They're just different.

So there is a value in the players, no, you can't really fool them. And being a quarterback and being their 17 years and being a leader of a franchise, but also kind of being a fly on a wall for all the other stuff and understanding defenses. He's a valuable guy. The problem with it is, you become privy to conversations. You don't need to be privy to. You get emotionally attached to players,

as he clearly is. But the biggest thing is, eventually one of those guys that you want, that you and now, this is a guy we need to keep. You're going to be told no. How do you handle that? And how does the player who thought you had his back handle it? I can give you the answer.

poorly. That's the nature of the business. You know? Just the nature of the business. When things end, they almost always end poorly. That doesn't matter how great your run was at a business. Ask yourself in terms of the businesses you used to work for. Oh man, I used to be at sales at this company. Now I moved over to Stryker and I'm, I'm killing it here. Right? You may have, left on the best of possible terms.

But you leave, people get jealous of you leaving. It never really ends well, right? It just doesn't. Hey, we have people in my business got $10 million to walk away from a job, and they're still bitter about it. Like, that's what it is.

I mean, um, uh, God, what's, why am I forgetting? Seahawks, safety. then was with the Ravens, and they cut him last year. But he was the one who Earl Thomas gave the finger. You know, he gave the finger to the Seahawks when he was carted off during his last game with the Seahawks. Right?

You remember that? Go back and look. Earl Thomas got every penny that he was in his contract. Every penny. How did it end? Poorly. Oh, he's in the poorly. Brett Farve with the Packers.

How'd that end? Poorly. He retired and came back three times. It ends poorly. Things don't end well. You don't want to be a part of that. 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 piping 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 baseball. is 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 Superhuman documented it all,

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

I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me, 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 Jay. 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. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Really? Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history.

Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hard Way with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking. Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase

that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing. And we're still chasing it. And we don't know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross, because you find it important to be a good person

while you hear on earth? Are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Keer Gaines, as we have real conversations about healing,

growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, learn the hard way. Open your free, our heart radio app, search, learn the hard way, and listen now. All right, he's got an award-winning podcast you should download and listen to.

He's John Middilcoff, a former NFL scout, and of course, former coach in college as well. He joins us in the herd. Okay, do you see this news? Carson Wentz, foot injury, out indefinitely. Now look, I don't know what the injury is.

It hasn't been released. When I hear out indefinitely, that means broken foot. If it was planter fasciitis or, you know, a sprain that would have been, he sprained his ankle day to day or we'll get back to you. They say out indefinitely feels like a broken foot. Yeah, not good. Not good at all. I would say broken foot, something serious.

Because like you said, I mean, I take every injury in training camp serious. Obviously the ones where, you know, guys are carded off a field or, you know, a preseason game, we all can tell like it's probably over. But any time that any guy, Dak Prescott, you know, two weeks, it's like, to me, that's not nothing, J.J. Watt pulled a hamstring. But when you immediately say day of the day that he got hurt out indefinitely, I'm with you. That is a huge red flag.

And let's face it, Doug. I mean, it's only July 30th. We have a long way to go. You know, it makes the Eagles look a little smarter, you know? I mean, this is a guy, not just the play, right? I mean, he has a long injury history. So even if he had been really good and not been a problem in the locker room or whatever, just his injury history alone is something,

and I think it gets back to ultimately why his market, when you factor in all the different variables, because let's say he never plays a snap for the Colts, worst case scenario. It'll just turn into a second round pick. They'll have to pay some money, but it was, they took a risk, but they didn't give up that much. I think his market kind of showed that this is, this was the risk. Yeah, now look, I will, I will, the one out is if he got stepped on, right?

Like if somebody landed on his foot, right? Like if he just, if he, if he, if he, who was it, what's, quarterback of the Broncos? one of my Louisville, Vikings, Jets, Saints, now Broncos. Teddy Bridgewater, right? Teddy Bridgewater dropped back, planted. It was the last press play of preseason knee blew up, right? Like, if it was one of those, I'm going with the injury prone thing. I will allow him the out of somebody steps on his foot, breaks his foot. Like, that's not really the injury point.

I agree, especially offensive linemen. They're known to weigh a lot, so that would hurt. Right. Okay, but here's the question, right? And this is, the Texans are trying to move to Sean Watson. And they obviously seem like they screwed up waiting too long. And I understood why they were going to hang on to him. Like he's got a big contract game played in.

But now it's really hard to move them because you still have these allegations and these lawsuits against him. But the thought was like you need a team that's desperate in order to overpay. At what point in time are the Colts desperate enough? And it's in division. So it's really hard. Is there any way that marriage would happen? Yeah, to me, they feel like they would be off the list.

But I go back to it. I always pound the table. Like, the NFL does not set the moral compass for society. But I don't think you can trade for him until this stuff goes away. And I'd be shocked if he gets traded for before the slate is kind of clean. And definitely, you know, like, suspension. I mean, there's a lot of unknown. But to the division thing, let's face it, let's say he has a shattered foot or something that, you know, could potentially

jeopardizes his entire season. Doesn't Nick Foles make the most sense, right? They just drafted Justin Fields. He's just kind of there. I know it's suck for Carson to have him back next to him, but Frank has a history with him. They're not going to play with Jacob Eason, who listen, I'm not a big fan of as a player, and Ellinger is not going to start on a team that has, you know, is a playoff team. I would say that Nick, given his, you know, history with Frank, if they needed to patchwork something, is more realistic. Also, more, you know, it costs way less. You know, you probably could get him for a late-round pick,

just take his contract. So that, that to me would be a name that I would definitely keep an eye on. Smart. Smart. They have a Nick Foles. We finally found a Nick Foles home. Maybe it's in Indianapolis. All right.

Let's get to, we heard from, we heard from Aaron Rogers two days ago. Yesterday we heard from Brian Gunnkindst. And there were two things that came out of it, right? for me. One, he was like, Randall Cobb is only here because he's really important to Aaron Rogers. Yeah.

Right? That was, that was, hey man, this is Aaron Rogers guy. But then the other part was a little bit of a flex, which is like, you're not a lame duck guy. It's a year-to-year business.

I still make the calls around here. It feel like that to you? He said over and over that for this marriage to work, we have to meet in the middle, almost. You know, he kept saying that,

You know, kind of it's on both of us. And I thought, and listen, I've had a front row seat for Bob Myers, who is, I would say, as good as there is in all of sports is just dealing with personalities. And they don't teach you in scout school, right? When you're coming up the ranks, they teach you out of rank players, how do we evaluate players? But you either have people skills or you don't. And listen, is Aaron probably more difficult than his awesome press conference came away? For sure.

but he is the best player in the history of the franchise. He's arguably the best player in the league. And clearly he wants his butt kiss a little bit. And rightfully so, he's earned it. And felt like Gutikins was not just going to kind of get on his knees and just open his arms and be like, yeah, I was wrong. And I thought that was just, even if he doesn't believe it, I thought it was a poor tactic. Because the only move to me over these next six months is kind of giving in. Now, Aaron kept bringing up these older players.

And I think anyone who's seen Moneyball and just followed sports, right? The Walshs, the Belichick, the Pat Riot, there is a, there's a balance, right? You can't get too emotional with players. And in football, specifically, older players. So I agree with, like, Aaron last year, that guy that they cut, right? Who was... Funro? Yeah, like, Aaron would have been, like, listen, I think this guy could help.

That would be something for sure, especially it's not like their receiver group's great. Like, you listen. but to me once he started listing the Jordy's I watched Jordy with the Raiders it was over and Charles changed but I love Charles Woodson but like I would say the Packers did well on most of those decisions so that was that was the part where it was the the extra FU from Aaron Rogers was I want to help them with some of the mistakes of the past right and and your Brian Kinnock is going like Jordy Nelson was washed up dude it wasn't a mistake right But you agree that Goudicans, even obviously he's going to think that and just like, oh, my God, probably thinks there is the drama queen.

But I thought his tactic publicly was just, I would have just kept my mouth shut and pretended to just love Aaron. But that's what they've done, though. This is what they've, this is what they've done. I mean, I think they, I think they understand that everyone sees what and who Aaron is. But you don't have to say it, right? Like, it just, you know, like, you don't have to say he's, he's, uh, complicated, right? Remember who is it? Was it Mark Murphy who said he's complicated?

Yeah. Complicated is, but when you're, but when you're, complicated is not a compliment. It is not a compliment. Is not a compliment. By the way, smart, not a compliment either. Somebody's like, man, that guy's, he's really smart. That means he's a no at all. That's what it means.

And Aaron is the smartest guy in the room. I mean, right. He's a bright guy. Um, I, I said this earlier and you tell me, from everyone says like, well, why won't you give him a decision? One of the things about the decision making power is it can work out two ways that are negative. One is they just disagree and we're going to do our own thing and then he's even more upset. Like you didn't listen to me.

I said we need him. Like, no, we heard you. We're just going to go a different way. And the other part to it is at some point in time, somebody's going to get cut, released or whatever, or offered a what's seen as a bad deal, right? Low bald and hey, you want to stay. And if Aaron Rogers, if he thinks that as a friend. before that, by the time that news gets to the player and he knows that Aaron was involved on some level in the decision-making process, they're not friends anymore.

You get cut and your friend is involved. I'm not friends with you anymore. You didn't have my back. Am I wrong? Yeah, I agree. I mean, I would say the most powerful part of the locker room. I mean, I think it works in most offices. You know, when someone gets let go, I think most people agree, like, you know, this is out

of our control, like the boss's decision. It was the GM's decision. It was the coach's decision. And in the history of pro sports, for the most part, maybe besides like some LeBron and Michael Jordans, that's always the case. That was the case with Tom Brady. I mean, from Logan Mankin, some of the West Welkers, Tom could always say, I wanted to keep these guys. And now Aaron, it's easy with a young player maybe, but some of these veterans, you know,

it could get complicated fast because I've been on the side of you evaluate all the practice squad guys. You evaluate all the street free agents. So Aaron goes, of course, I want Randall Cobb back. you can't convince me that they couldn't have gotten someone for a tenth of the price who probably can give 90% of the production that's on some other roster right now. But he wouldn't know that. I mean, he's not evaluating the league. And you can tell this is where I will defend Goudicans kind of body language. Like, yeah, he wanted them.

I mean, that's not what I would have done. And in fairness, the Goudicans, what they've done has worked pretty well. Yes. I mean, they've been the N.C. championship in the past two years. You get credit as a general manager for more than just, quote, unquote, drafts, right? free agency, hiring the coach who's implemented the Shanahan offense. Who to keep, who not to keep, who not to keep, right?

I mean, like, you know, it's, I think Murphy is, it's gotten more complicated now because now, here's my question, if I'm Gooden. One, I'm just kissing his butt a little bit because you have to, but we know in football more than any of the other sports, right, there is a date at the end of training camp that a lot of people get, you know, become unemployed, get cut. Do I have to bring Aaron into our meetings, like that leading up to those couple days and like tell him everything we're doing? Like, how do I balance that? And that's, that's going to be a tough challenge for, you know, an organization historically that does, it is a little Belichick. They do not ask any questions.

They just, they just do. So, and that's a big day. And I've, I've been a part of it three or four times. It's just, it's a lot of work goes into it. Usually a player isn't giving his input on, you know, what practice squad guys to snag from other teams and, you know, what practice squad guys to keep. And that's kind of what it feels like Aaron's going to want here. And, you know, it's basically a month away. Question for you. And have you been to Green Bay for a game? I have not.

Okay. So I've just, you know, like I had a chance. When I was at ESPN, John Anderson was in my neighbor. And he's from Green Bay. His mom lives there. And the first year that Farv was with the Vikings, I was like, hey, I want to go to that game when Farve comes back. He's like, you know, my mom is so mad. She's not going.

You can use your tickets. You can sleep in our basement. I was like, really? Like, yeah. So I'm a constant procrastinator, right? So I got closer and closer to date. He's like, hey, just heads up. Like, my mom wants to use the ticket.

She's mad, but she's still going to go. She can't not watch Farr of when he plays. And I was like, that's no problem. I could probably get tickets. And I just bail on it. I just watched it on TV. And it was an incredible game in Farves team won. Okay.

Likelihood, this is Rogers last season. On the Packers, I would say, I'd say, 75% he's on the team in 2022. 25% is not. Because I do think they have a pretty good chance. The coach is going to have a lot of influence. He can help kind of bridge the gap and really force it home.

They can sign Devante, back to Ari. You just gave him the golf cart today. They're going to be good. Unless Gutikins just refuses and Murphy to like play the game a little bit. I mean, they have a pretty good opportunity here. The idea is this could be the last year. right? And they have an unbelievable.

All right. So, so, so, so, here's the options. October 3rd, Pittsburgh at home.

October, weather's not crazy bad, but could be pretty nice. Fall, Green Bay. Sounds beautiful. And it's definitely the last time

that Ben Rothsburger walks on that turf, right? Yeah. Washington football team, great defensive front. I don't know. I'm not really that into it.

Seattle, November 14th, sounds cold, but two great quarterbacks and it's like a playoff game played all over again. Yeah. You got the RAM.

again, playoff game. Now we're, the Sunday after Thanksgiving, sounds really, really cold. Maybe you get the real kind of vibe of what it's like in the Frozen Tundra. Chicago, December 12th sounds really, really cold. But again, it's the Bears who he always kicks their ass. Cleveland is OBJ, and that's a really good team.

Or Minnesota, what could be, that's a fun game. Fun game. And then Minnesota could be his last game. It's Sunday night football. Could be his last game in a Packer uniform on that. Maybe, or the regular season game, maybe. You can pick one.

Which one would you pick? To me, just, I guess, historically, the division game, the Bears thing's pretty cool, and you just know he's going to play pretty well. It would be something probably in the division. But if you tell me that Cleveland is, like, I'm not, obviously Cleveland's roster on paper is awesome, but any time a team has made, you just had one year of success. Yes. And they add Odell Beckham Jr. this year, which does not always,

it's not always addition by addition. In theory, they're a 12 or 13 win team. that game could be awesome. But that's risky. More than Seattle, you would do more than the Rams or more than Seattle, you would do the Bears. Yeah. If Justin Fields was playing, you know, there's something, Green Bay, freezing cold, I'd go all in on the experience. And I hate the cold, but I'd want to be like, you know, I was at a game, those seven degrees,

Green Bay, Wisconsin, playing dub bears. That to me feels very Midwest. It feels like the experience. We all operate under this. Tom Brady can run it back, but the only team that really ever ran it back were the Patriots, right? The Patriots found a way

to do what no one else could do, which is consistently win. How convinced are you? Because the division does not look strong. How convinced are you that the Buccaneers can run it back? Seattle, I mean, wasn't a Russell Wilson pick away from basically doing it, right? I mean, when they were the year when they were

in the Super Bowl and lost two, to the Patriots. They had just won the previous year. I do think that they're a little like Seattle in the sense of when you have a dominant defense, you're just going to be in the mix. And their defense is going to be excellent. So even before we even bring up Brady, if they just had an average offense, they would be a fringe playoff team because they potentially have the best

with, you know, Brandon Staley gone and the Rams losing a couple guys. Like they might be statistically the best defense in the league. And then the weapons they have on offense and just Brady's, even if Brady slips a little bit, and listen, I mean, he's 44 years old. He's so smart. They're going to run the ball. You would think, you know, a little more of this year, cohesion in the backfield. Their wide receivers just translate to any, whether it's cold, hot, like they have it all.

They have speed guys. They have big guys. They've got tight ends. I just think they're kind of built to, you know, like a better version of that kind of Seattle team earlier in the decade. Now that Seattle team, I don't know how many true Hall of Famers the Bucks have on defense. They might have been a little more high-end, but I see some similarities. That stuff translates. Then, I mean, as we all know, right, there's a little element of luck in a playoff game.

A ball bounces your way, a fumble, pick, that type stuff. So it's hard to get, you know, it's kind of crazy looking back how the Patriots consistently did it. But I think that they are the clear favorite in the NFC. But honestly, I put Green Bay right there as well. You know, if Aaron's in good spirits, I mean, that team's basically running it back, too. And they were, I mean, they were right there, right? I mean, and they think they fix their offensive line. But we shall see.

Last thing. Westbrook and the Lakers, does it work? No. I mean, honestly, it has some feelings, maybe a little better version of, remember the Sports Illustrated cover with Nash and Dwight. Again, I would take Anthony Davis over Dwight and LeBron over that version of Kobe. But just Russ, they're old. I was driving home from the gym and heard you say.

I mean, these guys are older, two of them, and then AD gets hurt all the time. It's got a little combustion written all over, doesn't it, Doug? Yeah, but it'll be fun. It will. I can't wait for Warriors later. I cannot wait. Good stuff, man. Have a great weekend.

Three and outs a podcast, download it. You won't be sorry. Thanks for joining us. See you. Later. All right. Best for last. Olympic edition is next in the herd.

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. On the Look Back at a Podcast. For 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84 is big to me I'm Sam Jay

And I'm Alex English Each episode We pick a year unpack what went down And try to make sense of how we survived it With our friends Fellow comedians

And favorite authors Like Mark Lamont Hill On the 80s 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 A win is a win I don't care what you'll say 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, unfills 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 Tickford.

Podcast Network on TikTok. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.