The Herd with Colin Cowherd - 09/06/2021 - HOUR 1 - Nick Saban, NFL Thursday Season Opener, LSU/UCLA

Episode Date: September 6, 2021

In this hour of The Herd with Colin Cowherd, there's one NFL team Colin views as being vastly more prepared than the other when Thursday's Dallas Cowboys-Tampa Bay Buccaneers game arrives. Plus, Alabama head football coach Nick Saban may be aging--but he hasn't lost his edge. Finally, former NFL quarterback and current FOX Sports college football analyst Brock Huard joins The Herd to discuss LSU-UCLA as well as Dallas-Tampa Bay.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Wherever you may be and however you may be watching, IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, FS1, one hour from now, where Colin was right, where Colin was wrong, plenty of both an hour from now. Joy Taylor joining me. Well, that was an avalanche of greatness this weekend. So much fun with college football. The fans were nuts.

Boy, did I miss fans. Oh, it was so nice seeing all the fans out there. It really was. Jenny, jumping around, Jenny tapped. It was great. It was great energy. And, I mean, last night's game, are you kidding me with that ending?

It was amazing. Good to have Florida State back. They look back, even though they didn't win. You know, it is funny. And the NFL season starts Thursday, and we just had the first real major weekend of college football. And one of the things I love about football, it's not subtle. You get exposed very quickly.

That team's poorly coached. That team's well coached. That quarterback stinks. This one's great. You get exposed very quickly. It's not like that in other sports. If you take hockey, you'll get to the playoffs in hockey, and eight seeds will beat one seeds.

In the NBA, a lot of great players in the NBA, you know, they miss regular season games. quite sure what you're going to get. Oh, the NBA playoffs. Here come all the stars. In baseball, hard to predict. It's just, are your pitchers healthy? Are your best pitchers ready to go?

Are they pitching well? It's so dominated by pitching in the playoffs. But football's different. It's a little like UFC. Any sport that has a regulated level of violence and power and aggressiveness as sort of the keystones to the product, big, strong, powerful, overwhelms weak, really fast. And Thursday night's going to be very interesting.

Zach Martin, the best Dallas Cowboy current player, is out. That now makes nine Cowboys in 16 days who have gone into COVID protocol. That's like embarrassing. And it's interesting because the Cowboys, there's a lot of stories that we're all kind of gravitating to. Zeke's in the best shape of his career. Here comes Dak, he's back. He gets a preseason with McCarthy. They have a new defensive coordinator. Oh, four or five promising young

defensive draft picks. But I look at Dallas this morning with all these COVID protocol stories and I think, man, it's just a lot of questions. Tampa Thursday's got nothing but answers. If you take out Zeke in the running back unit, Tampa is better at quarterback, wide

receiver, tight end, O line now that Zach Martin's out, D-line line backers, safety corner, and coaching. This has an Alabama-M Miami potential feel where you've got a couple big brands and one really great team. Mike Evans was quoted saying this week, the wide receiver that Tom Brady prefers to throw to, we are miles ahead of last year.

Don't confuse interesting story with good football team. It's not going to take you long to figure this out. I mean, you watch college football this weekend. It doesn't take long in football to spot a poorly coach team, to spot a Miami Hurricanes. Oh, they're not, this isn't, yeah, that's not going to work against Alabama. That's what football gives us. And I look at Dallas and Tampa, and I start looking at the units. I wrote down this morning the 10 best players.

It was nine Tampa Bay Buccaneers and one Dallas Cowboy. It was two, Zach Martin and Zeke, and now Zach Martin is. without COVID protocol. Don't be surprised if Thursday doesn't have a little look like Alabama and Miami had. You think you're getting a good game. Alabama had answers.

Miami had questions. I have a feeling Thursday night's going to turn out just the same. And I want to talk about something that is near and dear to my heart. One of the things I've talked about for years and years stop trying to be right and just get it right. Don't fall in love with your voice. Don't fall in love with your culture.

Don't fall in love with your system, your style. Just get it right. Don't worry about being right. Guys sometimes just get paralyzed. I got to be right. I got to be right with this argument. How about get it right? So Alabama looked unbelievable.

But what's really amazing about Alabama, Nick Saban is almost 70. Football coaches get to be 70 and they get crusty and they get stuck in their ways and this is the way we do business. And Nick Saban's the opposite. He now recruits his quarterbacks from out west, not the South, not loyal to it. He gets his coaches, his assistants now from the NFL, not college, not loyal to college football. Nick Saban is loyal to one thing.

Getting it right. He doesn't care about being right. And most college football dynasties last about six years. Mack Brown at Texas, Pete Carroll, USC, Urban Meyer at Florida. They last about six years. Nick Sabins now is lasting. This will be the 14th year. And why?

Because believe it or not, the state of Alabama has the great adapter and evolver in sports in America. This dynasty started as defensive line, linebackers, and corners. It just suffocated you. It was all defense. And then the game started changing. Chip Kelly in Oregon sped the game up. The game started getting really fast and all the rules were changing.

And Sabin goes out and hires Lane Kiffin. Right? Like he got fired. It's like, oh man, Lane Kiff. And Nick's like, no, I'm going to hire that guy. And they changed the offense. And now this program is not about defensive linemen, linebackers, and corners. Oh, they're still good.

It's about quarterbacks. and wide receivers. It's literally he's completely changed his identity. Nick Saban, defensive coach, now does the best job in the NFL. He's got three starting quarterbacks in the NFL.

Like now it's a quarterback program. Now it's a wide receiver program. I mean, the running backs were good then, they're good now. That's something Nick's always going to run the football when he can. But it's a great acknowledgement that Nick is never stuck in being right, thinking he's got it, out. He's a constant

evolver, a constant adapter. We're going to literally, there's a story in the New York Times, and he was asked about it. And he said, you know, the game got fast. The rules were all changing. And I looked around and I thought, it doesn't matter how good our defense is. You can't stop

everybody. People are going to drop 30 points on you. And Nick's like, all right, let's get it right. So he and Lane Kiffin, he brought him in and they worked on it and they figured it out together. And I have a soft spot, you know, as I age, I have a soft spot for Andy Reed and Belichick and Sabin and Sean Peyton. There's constantly willing to change.

Don't fall in love with their voice. Don't fall in love with their style. That's how you coach football. Don't have to think old just because you get old. And this dynasty, listen, is it great for college football? The same team feels like they're going to win. They're winning 50% of the national championships? Yeah, probably not big picture.

But the ratings this weekend were huge. The crowds were unbelievable. The attendance was up from a couple years ago. So, I mean, I'm not going to stop watching college football because the best team happens to be in Alabama. I didn't stop watching the NFL. And for the last 20 years, the best team eight, seven, eight times, nine times was in New England. So, but I, I, there's a reason Belichick and Andy Reed and Sabin are at the top. of this sport, college and pro.

There's a reason. They don't think they have all the answers. Curious guys always looking to upgrade. It was an absolutely wonderful weekend. It was just all sorts of fun. And it was a, you know what? It was predictable. The United States men's national soccer team

continues to frustrate me like no team in America. God, that team, I swear to God. I thought of you. I haven't thrown a shoe at a television. nobody wears me out like our United States men's national team my mom used to have a foam brick to throw at the TV when my brother was playing

it was like a cushion brick and she'd throw it at the TV I was at a college football game this weekend Arizona Arizona, BYU my nephew is a freshman there yeah it actually got close at the end now Arizona has a new staff so it's going to

never judge a coach on year one just stop judging a coach on year one Arizona's going to be really good It's just going to take years to get there. It was a packed house. 54,000 people at Allegiant. Was it really? Yeah.

Yeah, people are going to college games. It was really fun. Arizona is beautiful. Yeah, Arizona, BYU. Yeah, at the end zone of the Allegiant Stadium in Vegas, in the upper end zone, it's this cool, like, club, and it overlooks the strip.

Yeah, it's a really nice stadium. Very, like, the logistics are good. It's a walk-up stadium, though. Don't try and park there. Like, park up for the casinos and walk over. the walk's fine. Only football stadium in America. The field's outdoors and they move it in. When you walk into the stadium from certain areas, you can see the field and they move it out for wrestling events and concerts and they move the field in. Yeah. It's, I mean, it's really well designed.

I enjoyed it. It was great. Coming up next, the biggest coaching mismatch of the weekend. And I'll give ourselves credit. We called this one. It happened this weekend. 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 IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, I'm Jared Adano. You might know me as that loud guy who yells out, help on the internet. Help! Somebody! Please! But there's so much more to me than that. I'm an actor. I'm a comedian. And recently, I've become quite the helper myself.

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Hey, I'm Deanna Maria Riva, actress, mother, lover, and a Gen X woman walking through life one hot flash and hormonal crying jag at a time. You ladies know what I mean. I'll bet you a paramedipausal chin here you do. So let's talk about it. Join me on my new podcast. How hard can it be with Deanna Maria Riva, where I call on my Gen X squads from Ohio to Hollywood as we navigate Midlife's most fantastic BS. All of a sudden, I'd had hanginess happening on my own. I was like, what the hell is that?

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But Ed Orgeron's easy to like. He's tough and got a gravelly voice. He seems like a regular guy who drinks beer. He's got a big presence. He's rah-rah. He talks like football coaches talk. And Chip Kelly's prickly and quirky and an intellect and an innovator. And he's not rah-rah.

And he has no interest in the spotlight. And he has no interest suffering fools in the sport. Chip Kelly was dominant at Oregon. 46 wins and seven losses. He actually won in the NFL in Philadelphia, winning record. The Niners was a terrible mistake by him, and he knows it. He took the bag of money and decided to go back to college. He had to tear down UCLA's program.

And I mean down to the studs. At one point, he had 50 players, and they beat USC. Now, USC's not great, but he basically tore it down to the studs because his team and his offense and the way he does business is simply different than the staff and the ruffe. roster he inherited. But they're a really good football team and they're going to win the Pact 12 and I don't think it's going to be terribly close. And what they did was a coaching mismatch. But Coach O is much more likable. He's much more what we're used to from football

coaches, the look and the sound and the voice and the yelling and the intimidation. And Chip's always been different and he doesn't care about it. But some of that blocking by UCLA over the weekend was football art. The execution was classic Chip Kelly, where he was taken, just to give you a difference in the rosters, LSU had five players drafted in the first round in 2020. UCLA in five years has had three first rounders. So in terms of recruiting, LSU of the 22 starters probably has 17 guys that are superior in terms of the eyes of NFL scouts.

Didn't matter. A complete thrashing, domination, ran the football whenever they wanted to. And if you go back and you find that things on replay or the highlights, the blocking schemes were so smart and so effective. It reminded me of those old Vince Lombardi films years and years ago, though you could find them on YouTube, Vince Lombardi talking about how to block the sweep, and this guy's got that guy. And some of that stuff looked exactly how UCLA drew it up.

It was an utter coaching mismatch. No game this weekend had a more innovative coach and a more outdated coach on the same field. Joy with the news. No, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. Well, the Texans have officially announced

the Tyrod Taylor will be the starting quarterback for week one. They'll be hosting Jacksonville in their season opener on Sunday. So Deshawn Watson is still on the 53-man roster, but is not expected to play for the team this season and will likely be a healthy scratch on game days. So they have moved off of Deshawn Watson as a starting quarterback. Well, Houston's, I just heard this the other day. They're one of the oldest teams in the NFL. So what they're looking for is a guy that can come in, know the offense.

It feels very much to me, a Case Keenham, Teddy Bridgewater move. Houston feels they're not good enough and explosive enough to win wild shootouts without Deshaun. But Tyrod doesn't make any mistakes. It's a veteran roster. They're going to keep it simple. And in that division, can they win five or six games? But I guess, so basically Deshawn's on the roster, but he'll be a did not play every week. Yes.

So it'll be a healthy scratch. I mean, he's made it pretty clear he doesn't want to play for the Texans moving forward, which is also playing a role in him not playing. but the trade situation is what it is right now. He's facing 22 lawsuits and criminal complaints. So it's just, they're stuck. Like, this is what it is. They have Tyrod Taylor, who is a, as you said, a bridge quarterback,

but is a veteran, is not going to make mistakes. So it's a great situation for them as far as having Tyrod on the roster because he's somebody that you can trust and put into, you know, that position pretty seamlessly. He's obviously not Deshaun Watson talent-wise, if you're going to have to move away from Deshaun in a situation like this, at least you have Tyrod there. I mean, look, there's no expectations for the Houston Texans this year,

and they're kind of in an impossible situation with, you know, Deshaun Watson's circumstance. If you go to any mock draft this morning, almost all of them have Houston taking a quarterback in one of the top three spots. So they're starting over at quarterback and Tyrod's the bridge. By the way, if Tyrod performs pretty well, he'll be the bridge next year. So, but if you look at any mock draft, Houston's one of the top. two picks and they're taking a quarterback. So this

franchise is pivoting off to Sean Watson. They don't have a choice. So ninth ranked Notre Dame barely survived their season opener with Florida State last night. A great game. Crazy. It was the perfect ending to a really exciting

college football weekends. It was. But it's just full of storylines and just riveting football. So the Seminoles came back from being down 18 in the fourth quarter to tie things up at 38 at the end regulation. Then in overtime, Florida's take out the ball first, but they missed their field goal, which opened the door for the Irish. But it was, so people are saying like they kind of iced their

own kicker, but what happened was they called a timeout to review it because they were on, there was going to be a 50-yard kick. After they reviewed it, they moved it up to a 37-yard kick, but he obviously missed it wide left. So they didn't, they didn't actually ice their kicker. Like, that wasn't their goal. I don't know that I would. have called the timeout, but, you know, obviously if you're in a coach, like, you've got to put them in a better position than a 50-yard field goal to a 37-yard field goal. Hey, listen, go ask LSU about going on the road. Notre Dame won in Tallahassee, Penn State, one in Madison, Wisconsin. You take those wins. Penn State and Notre Dame, you see this a lot in college,

where young college guys go on the road with a better team and just completely unravel, in the pros not as much, right? But for Florida, for Notre Dame to go on the road and Penn State this going to go on the road and win games. I mean, SEC went west and got pushed around for three hours. So congrats to Notre Dame. I don't care what it looked like. By the way, their quarterback who was kind of a guy at Wisconsin, Jack Cohn was great.

Set personal record for everything. He had 366 passing yards, four touchdowns, and one interception. That's like a month. Notre Dame took advantage of the missed field goal and made their 41-yard attempt and won an overtime, 4138. And a nice extra special story. line. It was an emotional night for McKenzie Milton, who hasn't

played a game since suffering a brutal gruesome. They didn't think he was ever going to able to walk again, let alone practice at football again, let alone play. And he went five or seven for 48 yards in the game and was like everyone was losing their mind. You know, I root

for the Cains, so we had a rough weekend. So FSU is like, all the Cains fans I follow were like, it's so hard to root for FSU right now, but it's so awesome to see McKenzie Milton out there. It was like That's what college football gives you is these incredible moments. And that was awesome to see him and see his mom. It was great.

So number five, Georgia showed off their defense this weekend against third-ranked Clemson. They may have nine NFL players on defense. Georgia's defense is insane. They were very impressive. The linebackers are, it's all NFL guys. Well, they held the Tigers to two rushing yards and got seven sacks on their way to a 10-3 win. Clemson's offense looked out of sync, but they did still have a chance to tie it in the fourth, but they failed to convert A4 and 5,

and Georgia was able to run out the clock for the win. So this loss leaves Clemson with a very razor-thin margin for error for making the playoffs. Yeah, because the ACC's so weak that they can't lose another game. Like, because this was big for them, because Georgia plays in a much better conference,

so if Georgia stumbles but beat SEC teams, but for Clemson, like, this is your big showcase game and you look bad doing it. This was a, yes, and how you look matters also as we know. It's a beauty contest in college football. Right. So it was a bad weekend for the ACC overall, but no team has ever made the playoffs with two losses since the new four-team format started in 2015. If you look at Clemson's schedule, they'll win a bunch of games. Yeah, I mean, they have Florida State later in the season, Louisville. I mean, they cannot afford to

lose another game. I don't think that they will looking at their schedule, but they can't afford to if they want to make the playoffs. So really, really rough night for Clemson, really impressive. impressive night for that Georgia defense. Good stuff. Joy Taylor with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Hurd Lie News. All sorts of things happening. It was just so much fun. Colin Wright, Colin wrong in 30 minutes. Do we have the pyramid ready? Remember the pyramid we talked about this morning? Or it'll be ready next hour? I was going to unveil my pyramid. Brock Hewards around the corner. You know, we were talking about last week we unveiled sort of a pyramid as we get ready for the NFL.

So in college football, you kind of know there's like, there's usually like four teams that you kind of feel like, you know, to me it's like Alabama, Ohio State, Georgia, Clemson, Oklahoma. And you kind of national championship teams. And there'll be a couple that sneak in. The NFL is much broader. There's usually eight to ten, maybe not quite that, but seven to eight teams in the NFL where you kind of feel like these teams, as long as they're healthy, you can win a Super Bowl with them. And these are the teams, I kind of consider my Super Bowl teams. I usually have what I call my Super Bowl bubble, but like the power pyramid.

I think Tampa is at the top of it. They return every player, every coach of note. And then I think Kansas City, Buffalo are really close. And then I think Cleveland, Baltimore, Seattle are just inches below it, but really good. And then I think if they stay healthy, the Rams, the Packers, the Colts, and the Patriots are going to be really, really tough outs. And it was funny because I was thinking this morning, if I added a layer to it, like five more teams. So one, two, three, four, and five at the bottom, the team, I would put Chargers, Washington, Niners, Miami. Now, I don't necessarily consider these Super Bowl teams.

But you can see for our TV audience, it goes Chargers, Washington, Niners, Miami. Good team. These are double-digit-win teams I like. Just don't quite think they can win the Super Bowl. and I'm going left or right on all of these, right? So I think Kansas City is better than Buffalo. Cleveland, Baltimore, better than Seattle. Chargers, Packers, better than Colts Patriots.

Or Rams Packers better than Colts Patriots. Chargers, Washington, San Francisco, better than Miami and question mark. The team I really can't get my arms around, and I just don't know what to do with them. So last year when Pittsburgh got off to an 11-0 start, I was getting so much hate mail from Pittsburgh, I said they're barely being. eating bad teams. They have no running game. This is not going to last. You can't pass 45 times.

This is not a good football team. And this year, I've kind of bailed on Pittsburgh. And I think to myself, be very careful. A. Mike Tomlin's never had a losing season. Even with Duck Hodges. Big Ben's in the best shape of his life. The defense, which is lights out, remember last year? It fell apart. Everybody got hurt. It's finally healthy again. And then they have solved their running back dilemma. They just didn't have any good running. back. But I go to the, I go to the Steelers schedule, and this is how it works for me. Every time I count their wins, I always get to eight. So I look at it, yes, they're going to beat the Raiders in Cincinnati. They'll shut down those offenses. And yes, they're going to

beat Denver. And then later at home, they're going to beat Chicago and Detroit. And I do think they'll beat Cincinnati at Cincinnati, and then they'll beat the Vikings in Tennessee. But I, and that gives me eight. I honestly don't think they can be. Cleveland or Baltimore, which is so contrary into their history. I just watched the way Cleveland pushed them around last year and nothing has changed except Cleveland's better. And I don't think they can beat Baltimore. So if they could split with Cleveland and Baltimore, then I'm wrong and it's a 10-win team.

Pittsburgh's schedule is very, it's interesting. There are games you really think they're up against it and then games they should roll. There's not a lot of gray area with their schedule. Their gray area is Cleveland and Baltimore. If they split with those two, they're probably a playoff team. I just don't know if they can. With that, we go to Brock Cure, joining us live, brought to you by Mercedes-Benz, the best or nothing, six years in the NFL.

You call the LSU- UCLA game, and it's interesting. Chip Kelly's different. He's not like most college coaches. If you went into a Starbucks and saw him reading a book in the corner and it could be philosophy, you'd be like, yeah, that's Chip. But I kind of appreciate that. He's not into the spotlight. He's not high or low.

He's a real thinking man's football coach. And I don't know how long it lasts, but what I watched and what you broadcast, I thought it was so crisp. I thought the execution was so good. What am I to make of it? Does it have any lasting power? Well, if they say healthy, Colin, they should, win the pack 12. I mean, I don't know if I'm overreaching there just two weeks in. Maybe that's a little overreaction, but if they stay healthy, and that column was what jumped out to me the most, and frankly,

what I told them in our meeting, I said, Chip, I don't think I've seen a college team that had zero guys injured. Zero. I mean, we watched them practice. There were over 100 guys on that field. There was nobody in the weight room, nobody on the exercise bike. When I saw them a couple years ago against Oklahoma where Jalen Hertz just destroyed them. They had all sorts of guys banged up. Their numbers were low. And he said, well, yeah, I mean, we're over 80 scholarships for the first time. Got over 100 kids here.

We spent extra time during the COVID period extending our offseason. And they were the last to finish spring ball because he wanted to develop them. And Colin, again, this is the best O line in the PAC 12. This is maybe the two best running back combination in the PAC 12. Yeah. There's no question in my mind. This is the two best tight end package in maybe all of college football. Martinez and Dulcich are phenomenal.

DTR is going to make some mistakes, but he didn't make very many of them Saturday night. And if he limits those with 25 guys they play on defense, they're going to be a very, very hard out. You know, Brian Kelly, for whatever reasons, has never gotten an NFL bite. And I was told years ago he was a little interested because Notre Dame's a hard job and the boosters and the history.

And it's a tough job. I mean, they're all the good jobs or tough jobs, but Notre Dame comes with a lot of stuff. And for some reason, and I think some of it is he's not overly likable. He had a joke this weekend that fell flat. He screams at players. But I don't know. When I watch Notre Dame, I always just say,

it's not easy to win there. And I don't think it is. And I don't know. I just think he's a great coach, and he's the only great coach we never mentioned among great coaches. Why is that? Because it doesn't have the national title that Jim Bo or Dabo or Nick Kaz or some of those.

I think that's one. Two, when he's been on that stage against Alabama, it's been men versus boys, unfortunately for him. And number three, Colin, he's always been a college guy. You know, much like myself in this broadcasting gig. I loved doing the NFL last year. But I've done college my whole life. And he's been just a grinder at the collegiate level,

working his way up at Cincinnati before he was at Notre Dame and Grand Valley State and other spots. But what you see, Colin, And getting to know you over the years as I have, I think what you see and what I see is a guy that hires a tremendous staff. And that is the NFL world, right? That's where I think Urban, I'll be very curious how this is going to work. I knew he was going to take that job.

He couldn't say no to it, Urban Meyer. But as far as a staff situation, I think there's some question marks there. Brian Kelly has turned his staff over when it's been wrong. He's been willing to make that move quickly, which you have to, you have to fail fast, an old Amazon, you know, theology. is, you know, let's go for it. But if it's wrong, we've got to fail fast. And he knows how to hire a tremendous staff that was on display last night. Let's shift to the NFL. You played six years back up to Peyton Manning, who I talked, who we were talking about you the other day and has great

admiration for you and what you're about. And the Cowboys box is interesting. I said earlier to start the show, football's different than other sports. The truth is very clear, very quickly. when you have a sport with a regulated level of violence and aggressiveness and power, small shrinks fast, slow, can't catch up quickly. And I look at this Dallas team and this Tampa team and I think, am I going to be, is this going to be Miami and Alabama? You got nine guys in COVID protocols, Zach Martin out. Give me your thoughts about week one in the NFL.

The gap between the best in the NFL and average is not as great as. college. But when you watch Tampa, Dallas, what will you watch for? What would concern you if you're a Dallas Cowboy zealot or fan? I'm watching Dak Prescott and his movement. I want to see how explosive he is off of that injured leg, right? He's got a banged-up shoulder. He is going to take contact as you reference that defensive line. And that is the greatest strike for Tampa Bay is that group up front. I remember talking to Justin Herbert last year, Colin, is he transitioned to the NFL? And he said, Brockman, these ends are on you. It's not like college, man.

That pocket just gets squeezed. The air gets sucked out of it. And, you know, even if I rush back in my drop, there's JPP, right? There's the other side, Shaquille Griffin there or Shaquille Barrett. There's, you know, the first round pick trion from Washington that can just fly like a rocket. So that's what I'll be watching for. How comfortable is Dak moving? He's taking no contact.

That was a significant lower leg injury. It was a significant shoulder injury. Yeah. I don't give them great chance Thursday night, Colin. But if I'm a zealot, I want to see him. move and not just the hip movement and warm-ups, right? I don't need to see that. Shakira's stuff. I want to see him in the pocket

step, move, be explosive, be powerful, be dynamic, which he is, which is why he got paid $40 million a year. That's where my eyes will be Thursday night. That's a great way to put it. So, you know, you and I are both from the Pacific Northwest and I said, you know,

the Seahawks make so much noise is like four different guys this offseason unhappy with their contracts. And most of that stuff, you know, you just keep under, that's not stuff that goes public in New England or Baltimore. Seattle, it always goes public. And, you know, how does it play in the Pacific Northwest? And what do you make of it?

Well, in the Pacific Northwest, the people loved how loud Richard Sherman was. I think he changed some of that passive aggressive mindset that we talked about in that, in that run that they had for so many years, all of a sudden that Seattle fan that's, you know, I don't know if I should jump in. I'm a little more passive aggressive. It's like, oh, if Richard's doing it, Hi, man, let me go. Richards are mouthpiece.

So I think they're a little more comfortable, but Colin, I think many of us that follow this team sit there like you do and say, hold on a second. How many other sit-ins were there in the NFL this training camp? Sit in, not sit-out, not hold out. How many other sit-ins around the whole NFL? Jamal Adams, quandary digs, Duane Brown, three of your best players just said, yeah,

I know Pete Carroll will understand, right? He's a good cop. Those guys upstairs trying to get my deal done They're the bad cop. The good cop, he loves me. He kind of enables this. He empowers me so I can just sit in and skip practice for three, four weeks. There can be some adversity.

This can be a new system. It's a whole new language. We watched it with Aaron Rogers. We watched it with Tom Brady. What happened? Was it easy? Was it just clean sailing? No, it was difficult.

There's choppy waters with Lefleur and with Rogers. It was choppy with Tom and Bruce Ariens. Why won't it be choppy? Seattle with Russell and Jane Waldron a first-time play car. It's going to be. It's going to be some choppy waters. And they got to hope, kind of like Green Bay. And obviously with Tom last year that those waters calmed down in the second half of the year.

I know you spend a lot of time in Colorado now. So anybody I get from that area, I ask about the Denver Broncos and Drewlock and Teddy Bridgewater. Joy and I have talked about this. I understand sitting young quarterbacks. I get it. I really do. What I don't get is when you have Drewlock and Teddy Bridgewater, One is clearly a bridge.

And Drew, to me, you've got to see now if he can play. Like, okay, now we've got a real off season. I was shocked. They chose, and I like Teddy, that they chose Teddy over Drew Locke. You know, you hear all that's going on with the Broncos. Explain to me what they're doing at quarterback, because I've got to be honest, most of these decisions I get, that one I don't. Pretty simple, Colin.

Big Panjo and his staff have to win. So Peyton comes in, George Payton, from. Minnesota, he's year one as the GM. If this were year one of GM and year one of head coach, this would be Drew Locke, in my opinion, but it's not. It is a year that Vic Fangio has to win. And what do veteran coaches always

do? They always trust the experienced player. Yeah. Especially this player that in Minnesota, right, with a good supporting cast, got in the playoffs. Yeah. In New Orleans, went what, five, six, and one, and Drew Breaz's absent. So, they are going to trust the guy that's

done it before, that's won games before. They in contract years. I know that sounds business. I know that sounds cold-hearted. I know that sounds maybe overly simplistic. But to me, this decision was made once Teddy showed that, yeah, okay, yep, now I see what he did in Minnesota. Now I see what he did in New Orleans. This roster is good enough to win double-digit games and be a playoff push with him under center. By the way, what's your next game you're doing? Right here in Colorado. Right here. Texas A&M, the SEC coming to the PAC 12. It was huge, man. It was huge for UCLA. George Clevecoff, the new commissioner was in the Rose Bowl, Colin.

I've called a bunch of games there. It's never been as electric as it was Saturday night. And Chip's got a good team. This will be one of the most difficult games of the season. Book it. They have not had to handle prosperity, right? They be they being the Bruins. And Fresno State's good.

They're not elite, but they are very good and very physical. UCLA wins this one. They could be a double-digit win team this season. Good stuff. Brock Heward. Great to have you on the team at Foxman. Thanks. You bet, Colin. See you, you're right.

Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd, weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. Hey, it's Ben, host of The Fifth Hour with Ben Mallor, along with my trusty sidekick, David Gascon, would mean a lot to have you join us on our weekly auditory journey. You're asking what in God's name is the fifth hour? I'll tell you, it's a spinoff of the Ben Mallor show, a cult hit overnights on FSR. Why should you listen? Picture, if you will, a world where we chat with captains of industry,

in media, sports, and more every week, explore some amazing. amazing facts about human nature and more. Listen to the fifth hour with Ben Mather 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 podcasts. If you're watching the latest season of the Real Housewives of Atlanta, you already know there's a lot to break down.

Gorsha accusing Kelly of sleeping with a merry man. They holding Kay Michelle back from fighting Drew. Pinky has financial issues. I like the bougie style of Housewives of Housewives show. I think it looks like to be interesting. On the podcast, Reality with the King, I, Carlos King, recap the biggest moments from your favorite reality shows, including the Real Housewives franchise,

the drama, the alliances, and the team everybody's talking about. As an executive producer in reality television, I'm not just watching it. I understand the game. As somebody who creates shows, I'll even say this. At the end of the day, when people are at home, they want entertainment. To hear this and more, Listen to Reality with the King on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts,

or wherever you get your podcast. Hey, I'm Jared Adano. You might know me as that loud guy who yells out, help on the internet. Help! Somebody! Please! But there's so much more to me than that. I'm an actor. I'm a comedian.

And recently, I've become quite the helper myself. And on my new podcast, Hope from a Hippocrite, I'll be changing lives, helping people in need with my sage advice and thoughtful, Scyke, I'm a comedian! I'm not qualified to give good advice! Join me and my comedian friends as we riff, rant, recommend some of the most legally dubious advice known to man. If I'm calling you, even if you're on your phone, let it ring twice.

One ring is too scary. Oh, cream a chicken suit. Hey, cream, cream a chicken soup. This is Help from a Hypocrite, the worst advice from the dumbest people you know. Listen to Help from Hippocrat as part of the Mike Coutura Podcast Network available on the IHart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, I'm Diana Maria Riva, actress, mother, lover, and a Gen X woman walking through life one hot flash and hormonal crying jag at a time. You ladies know what I mean. I'll bet you a perimenopausal chin here you do. So let's talk about it.

Join me on my new podcast. How Hard Can It Be with Deanna Maria Riva, where I call on my GenX squads from Ohio to Hollywood as we navigate midlife's most fantastic. BS. All of a sudden I'd had hanginess happening on my I was like, what the hell is that? I was married when I had her, so I didn't even consider how empty that nest was going to be.

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I cannot believe I'm about to say this out loud in public. Listen to How Hard Can It Be with Diana Maria Riva as part of My Cultura Podcast Network available on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. NFL kickoff week is sponsored by Las Vegas. Your home for all live sports, every game, match, race, and competition. It is always on. By the way, I'm not going to mention the hotel, but I stay at one hotel in Las Vegas, and I told Joy for two years about the hotel.

Was that the first time you'd ever stay there? No, I stayed there actually. I went to Vegas for New Year's of 2020. And stayed there. It's the best place in town, and nobody knows about it. It's kind of a secret. Actually, let's not tell anybody. No, I don't tell anybody.

Yeah. I did this once with a dentist. I told everybody, oh, my dentist is great. I can't get back into the dentist. Yeah. No. You can't tell anybody. No.

The pool is great. Excellent service. I mean, I'd have to wait one second for anything. Yeah. Yeah, no smoke. Oh, it's wonderful. Best hotel in Vegas, and we're not telling you what it is. It's the best.

So you ever see a news story? This kind of drives me nuts. Where the headline is doom and gloom. And then you read this story and you're like, well, the headline doesn't match the story. One of the things about the media, they get criticized for that, and it's totally justifiable criticism. We do that a lot in our business. The headline doesn't match the story. This headline sounds frightening of your Packer fan.

Packers could prioritize cornerback Jair Alexander's extension over wide receiver Devante Adams' contract. Yeah. Yeah, he's younger. He's great. There's a million wide receivers in college that come out every year. And it's, let's be honest. It's harder to find cornerbacks. Now, first of all, once Aaron Rogers said, hey, I'm 50, 50 on retirement,

and he acknowledged in August, July he was there. I'm not building my, I'm not sucking up to Aaron anymore. Like, that comment to me was jaw dropping. I didn't get it. I thought it was crazy. I think it shrinks his market. I wouldn't want him of, seriously, unless I was desperate, like maybe Denver will be in a year. I wouldn't want Aaron Rogers, period.

50, 50, 50, retirement. All that takes a couple of shots to the head and 50, 50, becomes 70, 30. I'm out of here. But the second thing is, you can be two things simultaneously. You can be great and replaceable. Automobiles. I got great cars. There's a lot of car dealerships.

There's a lot of quality stuff out there, right? Like, you can be great and replaceable. There's like 13 teams in the NFL, maybe 12, 11, I would say 13 that have great wide receiver combo. Seattle, D.K. Metcalfe and Tyler Lockett. and they've always had no problem getting Russell Wilson wide receivers. They've yet to replace Richard Sherman. Giant Alexander's arguably the best corner in football.

You can't find another one. You lose a great corner. Good luck ever finding another one. Wide receiver. Think about this. Julio Jones leaves Atlanta. They draft Calvin Ridley. He looks like a top five receiver in the league.

Antonio Brown leaves Pittsburgh, like a game changer. An hour later, they got Chase Claypool. Nobody can stop as a rookie in the end zone constantly. Stefan Diggs, unbelievable talent for Minnesota. He leaves. They draft Justin Jefferson. He's like a Pro Bowl-level wide receiver. College football now, so many spread offenses.

Kids now don't want to be running backs. They want to be wide receivers and quarterbacks. That's why we're getting more great wide receivers and quarterbacks in the NFL. Not that I'd want to move off Devante Adams, but if you told me, Devante Adams or Jaya Alexander, I don't know if you'll replace Jaya Alexander. I don't think you could do it in the next three drafts. By the way, how many corners have Green Bay drafted over the years?

A lot. He's one star. He's not, you can't duplicate him on the market. Devante Adams is great. But if I could move him at some point and get multiple picks, I could roll the dice, draft wide receivers, and feel much greater getting something close to him than getting something close to Jaya Alexander.

Now, ideally, you'd want to keep both. They're both great, great players. And Devonnie Adams is a good locker room guy. But, you know, this morning I was writing down organizations that have great wide receiver units. Dallas, Tampa, Seattle, Rams, Chargers, Tennessee, Steedars, Buffalo, Cleveland, even bad teams, Jags, Bengals. Bad teams get the wide receiver right. Why? Because it's easier.

If I said to you, great cornerback tammons. You don't even think of one off the top of your head. You don't. You're like, well, Dental Awards hurt a lot. I like. They're just not out there. So that headline is much scarier than reality. We get set.

Thursday starts the NFL. College football was huge this weekend. Had so much fun. Joy was at the BYU, Arizona game. I had no idea. They had 55,000 people. I had no idea. Because I just, I saw a pregame shot.

I was all in on LSU, UCLA. I was listening to radio, the post game shows, all into it. I didn't get to check it out. And you said the place was packed. It was packed. And, you know, the exit was not obnoxious. Like, you know, when some stadiums let out and you're like, let me give it a couple minutes, because everyone stayed to the very ends.

There was no one leaving early. It was very well-designed stadium. I was impressed all around. Good stuff. Casper Sleep, limited time, 15% off select mattresses, 10% off pillows and sheets. It's Casper's Labor Day sale. They do it once a year.

There's only one Labor Day. Exclusions apply while supplies last. Go to casper.com. We're Colin Wright. Colin's wrong. Next. Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite.

Unhumor me with Robert Smigel and Friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, S&L's Mikey Day and head writer, street or Seidel, help an acapella 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. On the Look Back at it podcast. From 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84's big to me. I'm Sam Jay. And I'm Alex English.

Each episode, we pick a here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. With our friends, fellow comedians, and favorite authors. Like Mark Lamont Hill on the 80s. It was a wild year. It was a wild year. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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. Human documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth.

Listen to Superhuman on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, what's good, y'all? You're listening to Learn the Hard Way with your favorite therapist and host Kear Games. This space is about black men's experiences, having honest conversations that's really not safe to have anywhere. but you're having him 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,

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