The Herd with Colin Cowherd - 08/19/2021 - HOUR 1 - Warriors, Rodgers, Dalton

Episode Date: August 19, 2021

Colin talks about Kevin Durant's final season with the Warriors and the end of that dynastyAaron Rodgers says he was thinking about retiringThere's nothing wrong with Andy Dalton being confidentGuest: Eric Mangini 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.

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Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. On the Look Back at it podcast. For 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84 was 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. 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. Hey, what's good, y'all? You're listening to Learn the Hardway with your favorite therapist and host Kear Games.

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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 Hurt at Fox Sports Radio.com or stream us live every day on the IHart Radio app by searching Hurd. You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Ah, live in Los Angeles. us on a Thursday, it's the herd. Wherever you may be and however,

you may be listening, IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, and FS1. Nice to have you in. Thursday. We have a game tonight, don't we, or two, or three NFL games tonight? We do. Oh, Patriots Eagles. Schedule. Patriots Eagles.

All right. And then tomorrow we have Bengals, Washington, Chiefs Cardinals. All right. And then a slate of Saturday. games. Joy Taylor, joining me as well. Fourth day on the show, fourth new hairstyle. Four days. I actually got my hair cut yesterday. Oh, you did? Yes. So, you always joke that I don't cut my hair ever. You went like 13 years. You didn't cut your hair.

I was like, I don't even... Women don't cut their hair like because it's growing. They cut, like, we either, like, cut our hair completely off or we get it like styled. I get one cut every Monday. Yeah, that's a blessing. I think most men would feel that that's a good thing that you have to get your haircut that often. So one of the things that's hard to do is live in the moment. You know, you're putting your money away for 401K, you're planning your kids' college, you're planning vacations. It is hard to live in the moment.

Just enjoy the day. I think it's been hard for me, my entire life. Just enjoy the day. Don't worry about tomorrow. Let's just go out and have a fun lunch. Talk about life today. And it's hard. And because of that, I think we don't.

necessarily always appreciate how good things are. You know, I've told the story. My mom, my late mom was from England. One year she got a orange for Christmas. That's how poor she was. And she was overjoyed with it. Small house, no money. You know, in England, they just didn't have the economy and still don't that we do. And so when I remember when Tiger Woods was just crushing a young Tiger Woods and people were always belly aching and comparing Tiger Woods. And I'm like, This is insane. Like it's literally changing my viewing habits. What are we talking about here?

Just enjoy it. LeBron in his prime. He was never hurt. He played 80 games a year. Like both ends of the floor. Just enjoy it. The Golden State Warriors were great. And it's the greatest offensive team I've ever seen play basketball.

When KD joined Clay, Steph, Iggy, Steve Kerr, the coach, Draymond Green, as a best offensive team. Best team I've ever seen is Michael Jordan's Bulls. Second best team may be the Showtime Lakers. But offensively, it's the best team I've ever seen. It's insane. You could make an argument. They had the three best shooters in the world.

We're on the same team. What? Now, I think there's people that look at it and they're like, oh, well, you know, they didn't do this and they didn't do that. I am kind of disappointed to hear Draymond Green and Kevin Durant talk about the ending in Golden State. And if you haven't heard this, I'm going to play it for it. It's about 50 seconds.

You know, they got in an argument. They tried to work it out. And here's how they view it. It wasn't the argument. It was the way that everybody, Steve Kerr, act like it didn't happen. Bob Myers and tried to just discipline you and think that that would put the mask over everything. I really felt like that was such a big situation for us as a group. the first time we went through something like that,

we had to get that shit all out. We met the next morning, and they said, all right, you slept on it, you're ready to apologize. And I told them right then and there, I said, y'all about to fuck this up. I said, the only person that can make this right is me and K. And there's nothing that y'all can do,

and y'all are going to fuck this up. And in my opinion, they f***ed it up. I think so, too. And they told me right then and they're like, we're going to suspend you for this game. I laughed in their face. Literally laughed in their face. Nobody effed it up. It was over. And you know who you should blame? Kevin Durant's Achilles' heel.

Folks, they won back-to-back titles. They were so good. We had to make up a team that could beat him. We went back 20 years to Jordan's Bulls because nobody could compete with them. They went back-to-back titles. They set a record for the greatest regular season team in five-year stretch, even before Katie got there. Five-year stretch. They won three titles.

If not for Kevin Durant's Achilles' heel, they win four. If not for that Achilles in LeBron's block, they win five. We had to make up teams that we thought could beat them. And the only one we came around on is Michael Jordan's Bulls. They won back to back with KD, Clay and Steph. They were heavily favored over Toronto. And literally, we all were there, the Warriors fell apart. Clay was hurt, staff was hurt, Iggy got hurt, and Kevin Durant got hurt.

And they were still kind of competitive. Nobody thinks the Miami Heat, four years, two titles is a failure. Kobe Shaq, three titles, breaks up. It's not a failure? Michael Jordan both times. Three Pete, both times. The pressure was so much, he retired twice. Like in the moderate NBA with the shoe deals and how big stars get.

You got to remember, the NBA back in the 70s, the finals were on tape delay after the 11 o'clock news. The league was dead. David Stern came in and marketed it, put the name on the back of the jersey became as big as the name on the front of the jersey. And since then, players have gotten rich and become global icons and become stars. And I am here for all of it. I think it's fantastic. It's empowered young people. But after three titles, this is not like the Russell Celtics where you could win 11 and just go, you can't.

It's too much pressure. There's salary caps. There's too many egos. There's shoe deals. Competing agents. The Warriors were done. Folks, the last year, KD was there. Quinn Cook was giving you minutes off the bench.

They rolled the dice on Boogie Cousins. They had no bench. Iggy couldn't stay healthy. Just think about since KD left. KD's been hurt multiple times since then. So is Steph and so was Clay. Veteran teams, if you look at the history of dynasties, they're in their prime and then they get old.

That's the way it works. Nobody young, there are no young dynasties. Jordan came into the league young couldn't win for six, seven years. Detroit couldn't win initially. Bird couldn't win. Magic is the only guy because he inherited Kareem. And even he would go to the finals and lose. Tragic Johnson, come back and win.

Then he would lose. This stuff is hard and it explodes. A lot of self-blaming on this stuff. It was a wild success. For five years, they won three titles. And if not, for the Achilles heel of Kevin Durant, certainly nobody's fault. They win four.

It's magnificent. And they dominated the West. I mean, it's just, you see how hard it is for Milwaukee. You see how hard it is for Miami. This is hard for great players. I look at this stuff. They literally set offensive records. They changed the game.

People started copying the Warriors, and they didn't even have the personnel to copy them. You'd see teams without elite shooters shooting 30-3s a game and you're like, you don't have any guys that can shoot a three. This is nobody's fault. We got to get past that. It was going to end. Salary cap, the bench was thin, Iggy was old, Quinn Cook was playing, rolled the die. These guys have all physically fallen apart since that. This dynasty wasn't going anywhere. This was the last year of it, and they would have won, and they were favored to win, and the Achilles heels goes. Appreciate it. Michael Jordan twice after the third straight had to shut it down for a variety of reasons. You can pick your reasons. Just shut it down. The fact that

for five years, we got the greatest offensive team in the history of basketball win for everybody. One Achilles heel, it would have been in the argument for the greatest three-year team in the history of the league. It was bound to end. All right, little football topic. My wife used to work in HR. It's called Human Resources. So she interviewed people for a living. And she hired a lot of people in the restaurant culinary chain business. And as I have aged in broadcasting, one of the pieces of advice she has given me is never mentioned retirement. makes you sound old and tired. If you want to work less, say, you know, I'll spend more time with my family.

You know, I've got other things I want to do. I got a hobby. Don't mention the R word. Because nobody wants to hire somebody who's, eh, I can work. Russell Wilson, you have to pull him off the field. Tom Brady, I'll play till I'm 45. Hubey Brown does NBA games at 80. You couldn't pull him off the air.

Vince Scully until he was 78. Aaron Rogers admitted on a podcast this week, Dan Libetard podcast, said this. I felt going into the weekend before camp that I was 50-50. I don't care if people don't believe that. I mean, that's true. There were some things that got me to 50-50 for sure. And, you know, I spent a couple days in silence and meditation and contemplation and really felt like I should come back.

No, the problem is, Aaron, I do believe you. I do believe you could bail on your teammates. He tells the host, I don't care of people, don't believe me, no, we all do. Tell me in a year, because you know Green Bay is going to control where he goes. Like, he has no control on where he goes. And if Jordan Love keeps getting better, next year, Aaron, Roger's salary cap hit is $46 million. Jordan loves is $3 million.

Now, if they get rid of Aaron, they'll still have to pay about like $20 million or so. Tell me in the NFL what coach wants to invest in a star player who's 50-50. No, that's not what anybody wants to invest in. Tom Brady is the opposite of Aaron Rogers. He takes pay cuts. You have to drag him off the field. He always suppresses his opinion. To almost a fault, he's team guy over me guy.

He's the best quarterback in league history. He had four suitors. Cam Newton was an MVP. He had one at a minimum salary. Aaron's talking retirement. He's had multiple injuries. He's expensive. He calls out his team.

If he's trying to grow the market, this is not the way to do it. Folks, I can just tell you, I started a little company. I'm hiring a lot of young people. Why? Because they have energy. Because they can't wait to get to work. They don't sit around and worry all day about what they make. I wouldn't even consider hiring a human being who is like,

I can come to work today, not. I don't do some meditation to see if I could. What a turnoff. Peyton Manning had four neck surgeries. You could not keep him off the field. He was furious when he was benched. The fact that people, John Elway asked him to take a pay cut. Near the end of his career, he said, well, pay cut.

Do you understand how hard football is? If I was a general manager, if I was a coach, and I'm in a division with Mahomes and Andy Reed, who's never going to retire, and Justin Herbert, And Denver's out there thinking, let's go get this guy who's 50, 50. People that talk about retirement are thinking about retirement. And people that think about retirement are not all in, ever, in any industry. My wife interviewed hundreds, dozens and dozens of people. She said, anytime somebody comes in for an interview and they're older and experienced,

And they, you know, I'm starting to really like golf. Bail on the resume. Done. Put it in the garbage. Oh, great to meet you. I've got another employee coming into interview a second potentially. I think it's a huge mistake. I think it's a huge mistake.

You know, I always said one of my knocks on air and he's a bailer, not a baller. He has a bizarre, small number of come from behind wins. It doesn't make any sense. Like Andy Dalton's got more. Matt Ryan's got more in the fourth quarter. because if the going gets tough, my theory on Aaron is always been, Aaron gets going. Like he's a Baylor.

He's not a foxhole guy. When life's comfortable, Aaron's good. When Aaron has a lead, Aaron's good. But he has a weird, a scarcity. It is bizarre of come from behind winds. Like it's a tiny number for how many years he's played. And that to me is the psychology, the difference between Russell Wilson. Russell Wilson, it's almost corny.

He is so optimistic. We've always got a chance. keep fighting hard. Like that's just who he is. I love that part of him. I know it's not cool. I'm going to play forever's not cool. It's way cooler to like host a game show or play golf or go to Hollywood and hang out.

I get it. But Aaron's a smart guy. That is not smart. That market is just going to shrink and shrink. If I got to go up against my homes and Justin Herbert and Derek Carr, I want 50-50. I'm going to do some meditation. No, pass, not interested, not remotely interested in 50-50 guy or 50-50 woman or 50-50 old broadcaster. You start talking retirement, you've already, you've already made a decision.

Bosses have already made a decision. You're thinking about it. You're planning for it. Don't use the R word. Retirement or Rogers, if you're looking for a quarterback. This story yesterday that kind of blew up, and I really have sympathy. For somebody I've been critical of, I really have sympathy for him. And I just got to say it.

And I'll say it next, who that person is. 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 which I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Cliver Taylor the 4th.

You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment. And the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast.

It's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So if you've ever supported me or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tapped Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs?

Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do with Little Kim? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam Jett. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill, waxing all about crack in the 80s.

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

I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Really? Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your 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, Tript Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing. And we're still chasing it. And we don't know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses.

Steve Burns, Dustin Ross, because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth? Are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Gaines,

as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, learn the hard way. Open your free, our heart radio app. Search learn the hard way and listen now. Discover matches all the cash back you earn on your credit card into your first year automatically with no limit. Get used to hearing yes. Discover.com slash yes. Joy Taylor is joining me. So there's a certain thing about confidence you have to have obviously in professional sports.

Anybody that's a pro anything is an amazing athlete. And I mean, we've seen great players. Like Ben Simmons was afraid to have the ball in basketball in the playoffs. He literally was moving away from the ball. He's a great athlete. We've seen A-Rod have these hitting slums. You see it a lot of baseball. We've seen great golfers, David Duvall, just like number one in the world and gets what they call the yips and can't hit.

Like there's a lot of psychology. We see Simone Biles in the Olympics. Like we have to understand. There is a lot. Derek Jeter, I remember hearing years and years ago, Derek Jeter said, I don't surround myself with negative people. And, you know, I could say, oh, so you got a bunch of yes men around you. Yeah.

Derek, during the season, it's hard enough to hit a baseball. I remember being in a steakhouse in Tampa, and Derek and his boys walked in one night, and Derek rolled with just fun guys, good guys, his boys. He didn't want negativity around. Because baseball is hard enough. It gets into your head. Tennis gets into your head. Golf gets into your head.

Football gets into your head. We've seen quarterbacks early in their career that get hit and hit and hit. And we talk about this. It's the danger of playing a young quarterback in his first year. He's raw. He struggles. All of a sudden, he loses confidence in himself. So Andy Dalton, Tyrod Taylor, Teddy Bridgewater, Ryan Fitzpatrick, they have to absolutely believe they're the guy.

Can't go into it thinking, I'm a bridge quarterback. So yesterday Andy Dalton comes out and is like, this is my team. And he got crushed for it. Here's Andy Dalton yesterday. I know who I am. I know who I was created to be. I know where my identity lies. And so do I want the fans behind me and this team and all that kind of stuff?

Yes. Do I want them behind Justin? Absolutely, I do. Justin's going to have his time and Justin's going to have a great career. But right now it's my time. And so my focus is on being the best player I can be. for this team and do everything I can to help this team win. I support Andy Dalton here and Tyrod Taylor and Teddy Bridgewater and Ryan Fitzpatrick.

Remember when Ryan Fitzpatrick got replaced by Tua? And I remember on the air, I'm like, well, yeah, of course. But remember how it landed for Ryan Fitzpatrick? I was shocked by it. It definitely caught me off guard and my heart just hurt all day. It was heartbreaking for me. That's the decision and the direction that the organization is going in. And obviously, you know, we've talked in the past, me and you guys about, you know, how I'm the placeholder.

And this eventually was going to happen no matter, it was just a matter of kind of win, not if. Let me support Ryan and Tyrod Taylor and Teddy Bridgewater. To be a pro athlete, a quarterback, an alpha position, you've absolutely. got to believe. You can play. You can lead these men. You can lead these players. You can lead the franchise. These are all earnest, genuine, good guys. Tyrod Taylor once again finds himself in a spot. Looks like he's going to be the starter. He was going to be the starter for the Chargers two years ago. And there was a medical mishap. And then Justin Herbert got it and replaced him. And I know, like, I look at this and I think, you know, it's kind of delusional. Like how do they? And I

think, wait a minute. They've got to think that way. You have to think that way. The sport's too hard to have no confidence or to question yourself or to think the guy you're competing against is better. I mean, there's three stages for a quarterback in the NFL. When you're young and cheap, they love you. When you're in your prime and expensive, they tolerate you. The minute you show weakness, see you. Love you, tolerate you, see you.

Andy Dalton, Tyrod Taylor, Teddy Bridgewater. Ryan Fitzpatrick, they have to absolutely believe. This is my moment and my team. I don't think you can be a quarterback in the NFL thinking and doing it any other way. And I would still start Dalton, week one, against the Rams. Joy with the news. No, no, no, no, no. Turn on the news.

This is the herd line news. Well, the Seahawks locked in Jamal Adams with a contract extension this week. the next player hoping to get their deal done is left tackle Dwayne Brown. There hasn't been any positive progress between him and the team, but Russell Wilson is confident that it will get done. You always want your star left tackle out there, you know. You know, so, you know, just trusting the process, hoping that it works out, you know, because we definitely need them.

That would be huge for us. He's been one of the best in the game, obviously. He's our leader up front. He's one of those guys that can really, you know, demonstrate the game, how the game's supposed to be played. So, yeah, I think it's going to work out. That's what I'm hoping for, and that's what I'm looking forward to. Yeah, I would get it done.

This is, I got a few texts yesterday on this subject. Oh, some sources? Well, people are talking in the league. People noticed that they got the Jamal thing done fast, a box safety, and the left tackle, not quite. So it's not lost on many in the league that Pete wrapped up the trade guy that he wanted. Nothing against Jamal, by the way. They need playmakers. No, and they had to pay him for what they get.

gave up for. Yeah, exactly. When you give up that much, which, by the way, John Snyder was not, Pete made that deal happen. Two first and a third and a player for a safe, for a, for a, a great safety, but a safety. That's a, that's a, that's rich for a safety. So now they're kind of cornered like you have to get it done. Otherwise, it looks like you just, you know, you just was a one year deal.

Didn't work. But it's, I would say in the league, people are monitoring this and are aware that, the left tackle, number one ally outside of maybe a star receiver for a quarterback is got a little issue. Well, also, if you look at your division, how are you winning without a solid left tackle? In that division? Yeah. You're not.

Right. You're not. So contracts and who gets paid first and all that stuff is different for every team and every player in every situation, right? So it's not that Jamal Adams doesn't have extreme value and that he shouldn't get paid or wasn't going to get paid. But when you talk about Russell Wilson being sacked

394 times more than any other quarterback through their first nine seasons, and he's mobile. It's going to be pretty important to him that his left tackle is out on the field with him. And Dwayne Brown, he's 36 going into his 14th NFL season,

but, you know, like Russell said, it doesn't matter. He's still playing at a high level. He's not saying you need to give him a 10-year contract, but he's in the third year of three years. deal and he's going to be an unrestricted free agent next season. He's currently the 16th highest paid left tackle this season. So you need to get the deal done.

And to your point, people around the league are paying attention to it. Your own team is paying attention to it. People in the locker room pay attention to these things. Okay. Yes, obviously, happy for Jamal did he got paid. He should have got paid. He was going to get paid. But when you do, the order of these contracts matters.

If you look at the situation with the Dallas Cowboys, don't you think the Dallas Cowboys, if they could run it back would have paid DAC before they paid Zeke? Of course. By the way, KJ. Wright wants a lot of money from the Seahawks. He's not going to get it, nor should he. And I like KJ. Wright, but they've got good young linebackers, and linebacker doesn't matter as much as left tackle. So the Seahawks are having to make decisions, and I like KJ Wright, but the Raiders want him. The Seahawks want him. And my takeaway is sometimes he's not as good and his position's not as valuable. So we're all going to make decisions in these leagues. I just think the Dwayne Brown thing,

it's not lost on the league. It's being talked to me. I'm sure not lost on Russell Wilson. And we saw what happened the beginning of the offseason with Russell Wilson and the Seahawks. If they don't get this deal done, if he does hold out, if it does end up being an issue throughout the season, isn't it entirely possible that they're back in the same situation at the beginning of next off season if it doesn't go well? So you have to look at the big picture of things. Again, Jamal Adams was going to get paid regardless. But when you pay him absolutely matters and you're going to.

going into the season where you're in a position to be Super Bowl contenders, you've got to make decisions accordingly. So the Broncos have a true quarterback competition between Drew Locke and Teddy Bridgewater and camp this season. We were just talking about Teddy. Head coach, Fic Fangio is almost ready to choose a starter. Oh, he is. He said he's pretty damn close to making a decision.

But they still have more information to get in this week's preseason game. They played the Seahawks on Saturday. Drew Locke, week one was five of seven, 151. and two touchdown. Steady Bridgewater, 7 of 8, 74 yards, one touchdown. You know, it's funny. So I have, in a lot of instances, Joy, like I am Darnold initially over Justin Fields. I would prefer Trevor Lawrence and Zach could sit for a while, but they won't. But in these situations where it's young guy, like Trey Lance, I am Garoppola over Trey, Dalton, not as good as Jimmy, but good over Justin. This is an example.

where I would go with Drew Locke, and here's why. It's not a rookie. He's been around the league. You have got to now figure out really quickly, like in September, can he play? Yeah. Like, this is not a rookie anymore. He's got multiple starts. And I love Teddy.

I do. But the bottom line here is you know Teddy's not the future. You don't know if Drew is. The babysitting's over. I am taking the binkie out. Drew Locke, it is your team. and I'm going to give you five starts. So like this situation, and I, by the way,

I think this talent on this team is good enough that they could be a playoff team and maybe Teddy in the moment is a little more capable of avoiding things. But you draft the Drew Locke. He is, you've got to figure stuff. Sometimes in life, you just got to figure crap out and it may be bumpy.

But you know, okay, that's not going to work for us. it is time for Denver to just say, Drew, here's September. I also don't know that Drew is psychologically capable of not being named the starter and coming back from it, whereas we know that Teddy is. So I'm with you. I think you've got to find out. We know what Teddy Bridgewater is at this point. Yes.

But the problem that these coaches run into is they want to win the games today because Vic Fangio is somebody that needs to win games. Total hot seat. And if you want to keep your locker room, you've got to put the guy that. best gives you an opportunity to win games right now. That's what I think the situation was with Miami last year, which is why I didn't agree with it. It should be Tua's team. Tua is the future.

You know what Ryan Fitzpatrick is? Are you guys going to win multiple playoff games with Ryan Fitzpatrick as a starter? No. Even with his roster? No. So unless Tua is physically not capable of going out there right now, which it may seem like was the case, he should be the guy.

Like you have to see, you have to see what they are as soon as possible. Also, the formula for building these teams around rookie quarterbacks is you get them out there and get them playing as soon as possible so that you can pay other guys while you don't have to pay them. Denver's got one problem with the organization. It is not their roster. It may not be their coach. It's not their GM. They're all being held hostage by quarterback.

They don't know what it is. So let's just go discover what it is in the next eight weeks. I mean, seriously, Teddy is fine. but if you're a company and there's something hanging over the company and you have the ability to discover very quickly if it works or not, just go with it and see if it works. I think it only really works though if the coach feels comfortable and I don't know how comfortable Vic Fangio feels.

I think he feels like he's got to win games. Oh, he does. When you've got a coach that's in that position, they're going to make different types of decisions. So the Lakers have been criticized for the collective age of their roster going into next season. Jeannie Buss explained why they took the approach of signing multiple veterans. this offseason, and it all started with the Russell Westbrook trade. She said, we're over the cap. We made that trade. We knew we'd have to fill the roster with seven or eight players at

the veterans minimum. You get a lot of guys that are willing to take less money for the opportunity to possibly go for a championship or play in a city that has other opportunities. And we kind of had capitalize on that because we've got three players taking up 90% of our payroll. Well, this is very much the Brooklyn Nets. The difference is the Nets player. Well, it's not that different, to be honest with you. It's three players. I mean, A.D., LeBron and Ross, I mean, two of those three are absolutely past their prime. And I would say it's fair to say that Kyrie and Hardin because of their injuries, they're in the second half of their career.

Hardin's probably in his prime. But this is what you get when you have three stars. You have no bench. You have no bench. You have no, and you're old. Well, their average age is 31 years old. They are, I believe, the oldest next to the Miami Heat, who's the second oldest team in the league. and I mean, yes, some of them might be coming here to play because they want to try and win a championship.

But mostly these players are on these contracts because that's where their careers are right now. They can take the veteran minimum. And that's how they're going to have to put their roster together. So is this a team that's built to win a championship? I don't know. I don't know if you can say that. Listen, I'm not counting anybody's money. Get all the money that you want.

Yeah. But, you know, one thing, the Miami Heat got criticized a lot for putting together the super team. They all took less money to play together. Yeah. So are you building a championship team or are you filling out your roster? Yeah. I mean, it's funny, I went out to dinner last night and somebody came up to me, goes, come on, give me some good news for the Lakers. And I said, you have a good team.

I just don't think you have a championship team. But your team's good. Lakers will be a good team. No, you have LeBron, Westbrook, and 18. You're going to be good. I would be shocked if. No idea if Anthony Davis is going to be healthy throughout. the season. History would tell you, no.

I would be surprised if they're not a top three seed in the West. But that, again, there are teams, can you get through after that, 24 playoff games. We saw how physical the playoff games were, Milwaukee, Philadelphia, these are hard. Playoff games are hard. They're taxing.

Very long season. And these are old, don't confuse veterans with an antique store. There's a big difference. Milwaukee had some nice veterans. This team is old. Big difference. And they have to be because of the way that the salary cap is set up. Yeah. Joy with the news.

Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Herd Lie News. I honestly think that Mangini and I are going to disagree on a bunch of stuff. I really do. Eric Mangini and I. Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. Hey, what's up everybody?

It's me, three-time Pro Bowl of LaVarrington, and I couldn't be more excited to announce a new podcast called Up on Game. What is Up on? game, you ask, along with my fellow pro-bowler, T.J. Hushmanzada and Super Bowl champion. Yep, that's right. Plexico Burris. You can only name a show with that type of talent on it. Up on Game. We're going to be sharing our real-life experiences loaded with teachable moments. Listen to Up on Game with me, LaVar Arrington, T.J. Hushmanzada, and Plexico Burris on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast.

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

Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. 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 wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, 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 was big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack on day, but just so you all know. I mean, at this point, 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 I-Heart Reiki. app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist,

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

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

And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Gaines, as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast. Learn the hard way. Open your free iHeartRadio app.

Search Learn the hard way and listen now. Got a new nickname for Aaron Rogers. I just decided. I'm going to call them from this point forward 50-50. Aaron Rogers says, yeah, two weeks before camp, I was 50-50 whether I wanted to play or not. What? Keep it to yourself.

Didn't Aaron say like a week ago, some things you keep to yourself? Like, don't tell people you're going to retire. So Eric Manjini, who by the way got an old Brett Farb, who kept talking about retirement, and I don't think it was ever good for the Jets locker room. that killed, punctured their momentum. Eric's joining us live, Fox Sports.

So explain to me why in the world. Aaron Rogers would say, yeah, I could have gone either way. This is 50-50. You have to drag Tom Brady off a field. You have to drag Russell Wilson off a practice field. You have drag Peyton Manning. Aaron's 50-50 guy. Why is he saying that?

Well, I don't totally believe that he was 50-50 in terms of retiring. that the situation for him was trying to create some leverage and trying to say that the leverage he was creating what was real. And that's really the only thing that he can do to push the Packers in any direction because they have complete control over his contract. They have complete control of his contract, not just this year, but next year as well. But you're always worried when a guy does start bringing up retirement. And you're right with Brett Favre, that was one of the things I was concerned about bringing a guy in. And look, I loved Brett Fav as a person and loved having him. But in bringing him in, you're thinking you've built this young roster, you've built a philosophy

and approach, and now you're going to totally change it to make sure that Brett is as successful as possible. What if early in training camp he decides he's done? What if he decides three games into it, he's done and now you've changed everything so dramatically to adjust to him. It's it's a major concern when guys start talking that way. Yeah, Bill Belichick, what you told me during the break, Belichick talked about this. Well, it's actually Bill Parcell's. His saying was if a guy is starting to talk about retirement, he already has mentally. And I think that's a really valid point. There's guys who'll say next year I'm going to retire or this. is my final season and you sit there as a coach or a GM or owner and you wonder, okay,

are we really going to get the best out of this guy or in his mind is he just going to try to cruise through until he's golfing every day? Yeah. And look, it's true in business too. You're always worried about that. Oh, absolutely. So Mack Jones debut. So I said this last week.

I could envision the Patriots thinking two things. Number one, hey, we don't have a ton of playmakers. Cam gives us some playmaking ability, especially in the red zone. He does. We're going to be a running team this year. We don't have a lot of great perimeter weapons. We're going to screen it, run it, trap it. He's really good at that.

Or I can see them saying, we don't have enough offensive firepower to overcome mistakes. Mack is a system guy. He'll manage it. Get us out of trouble at the line of scrimmage. Accurate thrower. I can see him making an argument for both. You're feeling this morning which way they'd lean on who starts for the Patriots. Well, I do think the feeling that they have for Cam in the locker room is real.

I think the feeling that Bill has in a locker room for Cam is real. Now, that being said, you should see a significant jump from Cam. He has a year in the system. Now he's got a training camp. You should see major progress from where he was. And if they're not seeing that, at some point you think you've got to invest now in the young kid. And as much as there's no pressure on Bill or we say there's no pressure on Bill because of all the things that he's done,

when you've got a first round draft pick and you spent $120 million or whatever they spent, which was a ton, ownership will put pressure. The fans will put pressure, and you'll feel that regardless of who you are. It's going to be really interesting to see tonight how he does, Mack Jones does,

because now he's had two or three days working against the Eagles, so he has familiarity with the players. He has familiarity with the scheme. You should see some progress there as well, because that first game, nobody's game planning. And you really don't know any of those guys. All right.

I'll give you the team, the quarterback battle. Tell me where you lean. Bears, Dalton, or Justin Fields? Which way do you lean? I lean 100% towards Justin Fields. And look, Andy Dalton had a tremendous opportunity last year to show that he could be a starter again and you didn't get much out of it. And when you look at his track record, the last five years, he hasn't had a winning season.

And as much as they paid him, they gave him $10 million. Yeah, that's fine. But now you've got a potentially electric young player. You're going to want to get to him as soon as you can. And this is a different type of pressure than what Bill Belichick's feeling because this administration is on the cusp of being moved on from. So they're going to have to make decisions a lot quicker than Bill would. Okay. San Francisco, Treylands, Garapolo.

where do you lean it's it's Garoppolo to start. Trey Lance is going to play he's going to play every single game and and I think that's smart. I think it's smart because you have two totally different styles of quarterback. It eats a practice time for your opponent and you can go and do dramatically different things offensively and give the young player real experience, game experience. And this again is going to be a short leash situation where, If Trey Lance goes in, he plays well and is pressing, the second Garoppolo stumbles even a little bit. They're going to make that move as well.

All right. So New England, Philadelphia. By the way, there was a story earlier, Joy and I talked about this, that they would not announce Jalen Hertz was the starter. I mean, I think there's a handful of teams in the league. Jet Zach Wilson, Jags, Trevor Lawrence, Dolphins, Tua, Eagles, Jailen Hertz. It's their team. I don't want anybody else getting snaps in practice. Are you surprised the Eagles haven't said?

Okay, kid, we're giving you 16 games. It's your team. No, I'm not surprised that they're taking that approach. You're trying to get to know your team as a new head coach. You're trying to get to know the players. You're trying to make sure that you understand what you have, both good and bad from everybody and the team, before you just come in and make these grand pronouncements.

And the locker room is looking at you too. The locker room wants to see how you're going to handle these decisions. The locker room wants to see if when you say everybody has a chance to play, everybody has a chance to start, whether you mean it or whether it's just coach speak. So I get why they're waiting and I understand the slow approach. All right. Eric, Man, Jeannie, great senior coaches always. Appreciate it.

So good to see it, Colin. Take care. So he had that Jets team, which was young, they drafted well, they had their players. and Eric had said, you know, the FARV thing doesn't work for me, but the owners wanted FARV, right? The owner, hey, Brett Farv, New York, and Eric's concern was he's not aligned with our locker room. He's talented and he loved him. Everybody love Farv. But it's like you bring in retirement guy, it changes the mood of the room.

So maybe Aaron's just doing this for leverage. So Mangini's point is he's just doing it because he has no leverage. He doesn't really have it. I mean, think about it. Next year, Aaron's a $46 million cap hit, George. Jordan loves three. If Jordan Love is 75 to 80% of Aaron, that's, I mean, no GM in the league given the choice is going to choose 46 million over 3 million if the 3 million dude can play. And by the way, because he didn't play last year and won't this year, you do want to get him

on the field with that tiny salary so you can surround him like Baker Mayfield with elite players around him. Hour two coming up live in L.A. It's 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 I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. On the Look Back at it podcast.

From 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84 was big to me. I'm Sam Jay. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a year, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. With our friends, fellow comedians, and favorite authors. Like Mark Lamont Hill on the 80s. 84 was a wild year.

It was a wild year. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Listen to Look Back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, what's good, y'all? You're listening to Learn the Hardway with your favorite therapist and host, Keir 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 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. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.