The Herd with Colin Cowherd - 09/08/2021 - Best of The Herd

Episode Date: September 8, 2021

Colin explains why Aaron Rodgers is asking for too much when he wants to be included in roster decisions in Green Bay when compared to other top players in the NFL. He tries to define what makes Tom Brady so great after the 7-time Super Bowl champion was named the greatest football player ever. He also gives his final set of predictions for all 32 teams in the NFL before the regular season begins. Plus, Fox Sports College Football Analyst Joel Klatt joins the show to tell Colin what his biggest takeaway was from the opening weekend of games.   Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Another podcast from some SNL, late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter.

Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque.

Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, what's good, y'all? You're listening to Learn the Hard Way with your favorite therapist and host Kear Games.

This space is about black men's experiences, having honest conversations that it's really not safe to have anywhere, but you're having them with a licensed professional who knows what he's doing. How many men carry a suit or armor? It signals to the world that you're not to be played with. And just because you have the capability that does not mean that you need to. Listen and learn the hard way on the IHard radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. A win is a win. A win is a win.

I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me, Clifford Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media. Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversation. with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. So let's get to it.

Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Thanks for listening to the best of Heard podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday from 12 to 3 Eastern, 9 to noon Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and FS1. Find your local station for the herd at Fox SportsRodio.com or stream us live every day on the iHeart Radio app by searching Herd. This is the best of the herd with Colin Cowher on Fox Sports Radio. Ah, here we go on a Wednesday, a glorious Wednesday live in Los Angeles.

It's the herd. Wherever you may be and however you may be listening. We're on IHeart Radio. We're on Fox Sports Radio. We are on FS1. We are leaping into the NFL season starting tomorrow. One hour from now. Top of the next hour, one hour from now.

I will make my final amendment on my NFL picks. This is it. Archive it. I changed, I think, six teams. So I went all in on this. This is my final predictions. We went seven for seven last year on the AFC playoff teams. Only got three or four of the seven right in the NFC,

which I think is a tougher conference to predict. But here we go. Joy Taylor is joining me. So I feel like almost today is the start of the NFL season. Like today – it's football Eve. Mary Football Eve, everyone. It is. Now, I am America's honesty broker. That's understood.

And I don't like to play favorites, but there are certain athletes that put themselves out there a lot. And so I talk about them a lot. LeBron James goes on social media, talks about everything from politics to TV. He puts himself out there. And so I talk about him because he puts himself out there. If athletes are quiet or withdrawn and don't put themselves out there,

I'm generally more reluctant to put them out there. Aaron Rogers puts himself out there. He talks a lot. Multiple media has strong opinions, calls out his franchise. So he said this yesterday. He was talking to Pat McAfee. By the way, great guy. I love Pat.

he's on Pat McAvey's show and he says this about him wanting and deserving more say in personnel, the draft, the roster. Aaron wants that and he talks about why he deserves that. It should be and it is natural. You know, it should be natural for a person of my status and age and experience. And it is. I think it really helps happen, you know, the other voices in the room. Maddie's like 41, Hackett's 40, Getsys younger than I am by a few months.

And the four of us, you know, put our heads together and talk through the plans and the ideas and the creativity. And it's a, you know, a really good thing, I think, for our offense and for our room to be able to have those conversations. A person of my status, slap me if I ever say that. seriously slapped me for the record tom brady the greatest quarterback ever with belichick phil sims with parcels didn't get really any say how do i know that because i watched i watched the tom brady documentary which he had final say i imagined in editing and he talked about his wife did not being respected and i read multiple stories about how Tom left New England because he just wanted more say in the game plan.

Forget the draft, just in the game plan. That's the power he had. But I don't want to be snarky here. Aaron does enough of that for both of us. What is the mythical line on accreditation a quarterback needs to hit to be able to go to his GM and say, I want some strong opinions on personnel. What is that line?

Is it you get to a Super Bowl as a quarterback? Oh, all right. So Jared Goff and Jimmy Garoppolo, they get a say in personnel. Call him that is ridiculous. You have to win a Super Bowl, and then you get to go up to the GM and tell them what to do. Oh, really?

So Nick Foles and Joe Flacco, they have as many super bowl. Super Bowls is Aaron. Well, that is ridiculous. New rule, you have to be a Super Bowl quarterback. You have to get there. You have to be an MVP and be in multiple Pro Bowls. Oh, so Matt Ryan and Cam Newton can just walk into a general manager and tell them what to do. All right. I'm just trying to find the mythical line. You know, for a man of Aaron's status. By the way, his current status is four NFC championships. He's won one-one. Hasn't been to a Super Bowl in 10 years.

And, oh, by the way, this offseason, he said he's 50-50 in retirement. Tom Brady didn't, despite his status, get much of a say on anything in New England, including the game plan, according to Tom. That one actually surprised me. You'd think Tom would kind of detail what he wants. So new rule on this show, any person in sports that talks. talks about their status or stature, you can roll your eyes and I'll defend you. And number two is, Tom Brady's won seven of these puppies.

He would never say anything like that. And also ask yourself this. And I'm trying to be fair here. I'm not trying to be snarky. Aaron said three weeks ago was quoted saying I was 50-50 on whether I was going to play football or retire. Okay, so I'm going to give that guy a say in our personnel going forward. If Joy told me, I was 50, 50, whether I was going to show up, never do the show again, I'd probably start picking the herd line news stories for her.

I'd probably want her to have less say and us going forward as a show. I mean, when you're building a company and the star is a 50, 50 I may hang it up, I'll give you a say maybe today on some things like the game plan, but the future? I mean, if I went to my bosses, I don't know what my status or status. would have to be to go to the Murdox and tell them, I'd like a say in personnel moves, or even go to my superiors here. I'd like a say on who we hire. I mean, if I ever say I'm going to leave, I'm 50, 50 on whether I want to come back to Fox,

you think I'm going to get any power here on who we hire going forward? Who we interview? What the staff looks like? I mean, I'm trying to be fair on this. But a quarterback of my status for NFC championship. You've won one, no Super Bowl in a decade. You're 50-50, good retire, want to host Jeopardy. I'm trying to be fair here.

What's the line? If it's a Super Bowl, golf should get a say. If it's winning one, it should be flacco and foals. If it's MVP's in Super Bowls and Pro Bowls, it's Matt Ryan. How about quarterback's quarterback, GM's GM, owner's own, coaches coach? Doesn't mean you can't occasionally say, Aaron. Aaron, come in here. Why do you make it that wide receiver from Clemson?

Ooh, I like him. All right, thanks, buddy. Go out and golf and do your thing. But it sounds like a lot of ego to me. That's what it sounds like. I cannot imagine other quarterbacks. I can't imagine Patrick Mahomes ever saying a quarterback of my status. I just can't.

I can't see Lamar Jackson saying that. Josh Allen, Mahomes, Russell Wilson, Brady. I just can't. But I want to be fair. So I'll move on. This is interesting. The NFL 100 best players ever, the athletic, a subscription service for writers, named the top 100 NFL players of all time.

And I'm not going to bore you with a bunch of lists, but I'm going to talk about the top five. The top five was Tom Brady, Jim Brown, Jerry Rice, L.T, and Reggie White. And I completely agree right down the list, even in order. I agree with that. One through five, I've got no issues. and you know what's interesting, what they have in common? They're all hard to explain. It doesn't make sense.

If you're physically hard to explain, that is an incredibly rare space, even for great players. I mean, Tom Brady is 44. He's showing no signs of age. Jim Brown was the size of defensive linemen in his era, and yet was the most skilled player. Jerry Rice was not recruited by any elite powers, was never the fastest receiver in most games he played in. And you couldn't cover him. Dionne Sanders couldn't cover him. Lawrence Taylor started his career in college as a tight end and is probably the most unblockable player and relentless pass rusher in the history of football.

And Reggie White, how is he that strong? He weighed 290 pounds. Has anybody ever figured out how Reggie White? In fact, he was 6'5 for a defensive lineman, which is too tall. It's hard to get good pad leverage. He wasn't even 300 pounds. He was 290. And he's the physically most dominating player I've ever seen.

And that's the thing about Brady on the eve of yet another year for Tom. Arms, legs, mind. 44. Still A. Some would say A plus. Ben at 39. Let's be honest. He kind of feels old.

Drew Breeze at 38, 39, 40 felt old. Philip Rivers last year at 39 looked really old. Peyton Manning near the end. You're like, that's old Peyton. We've got young Peyton, we got old Peyton. Aaron Rogers is 37. Now, he doesn't play old, but he is talking about retirement. So that kind of sounds old, right?

Like he sees himself as a guy that's going to move away sooner than later. Tom Brady is now moved into a category that sort of defies explanation. It's kind of extraordinary. Like how do you explain his drive close with his family? Very normal childhood in Northern California. He's a good baseball player, good football player. Gets along with his sister and his mom and his dad. He's not in it for money.

I mean, he's had two real strong relationships we know about. That feels normal as an adult 44. He's got nice kids. You know, really into his family and his football. That's, I mean, I mean, he wasn't a number one pick. His college life, you know, he wasn't a superstar in college, overlooked by a couple of coaches, played, sometimes played well, sometimes didn't play. That's very common in college sports.

He really defies explanation. never gets in trouble, never says the wrong thing, incredibly coachable, not driven by money, not the strongest arm, not the greatest athlete, and he's easily the greatest quarterback of all time. So when you list the top 100, Brady, Jim Brown, Jerry Rice, LT, and Reggie White, I completely agree one through five and all have one thing in common. And it's very rare for even great players. If it doesn't make sense, if he can't really explain it physically, that's an Alzheimer. 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 I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care which I'm saying.

Yep, that's me, Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that

not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment. And the next, we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast. It's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told,

and for people who are chasing something bigger. So if you've ever supported me or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. The story I've told myself about love or relationships can then shape my behavior and that can lead me to sabotage the possibility of connection. This Mental Health Awareness Month, tune into the podcast deeply well with Debbie Brown and explore the journey of healing, self-discovery, and returning to yourself. We explore higher consciousness, emotional well-being, and the practices that help you find

clarity, peace, and self-mastery in a world that can feel overwhelming. The world is becoming lonelier. We're not becoming more social and connected. We're becoming more individualized. But we actually meet people. connection. If you've been searching for a soft place to land while doing the work to become whole, this podcast is for you to hear more. Listen to deeply well with Debbie Brown from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

Will Ferrell's Big Money Players and IHeart Podcast presents soccer moms. So I'm Leanne. Yeah. This is my best friend Janet. Hey. And we have been joined at the Hipsons High School. Absolutely. Now a redacted amount of years later. We're still joined at the hip. Just a little bit bigger hips, wider. This is a podcast. We're recording it as we tailgate our youth soccer games in the back of my Honda Odyssey. With all the snacks and drink.

Sidebar. Why did you get hard seltzer instead of beer? Oh, they had a bogo. Well, then you got it. Do you want a white collar something here? Just take it. What are y'all doing? Microphones? Are you making a rap album? I would. Come on. Could you believe? I would buy it.

Cut through the defense like a hot knife through sponge cake. That sounds delicious. Oh, you're lucky. I'm not a drug addict. You're lucky I'm not an alcoholic. You're lucky I'm not a killer. I love this team and I'm really trying to be a figure in their lives that they can rely on. Oh.

Listen to soccer moms on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. New England's a team that I think is really for the first time in 20 years. they're going to be better than what people think. And we usually know they're good. But I hear a lot of people saying, well, Brady's gone. It was a mess last year. Yes, last year was eight opt-outs, no preseason, COVID, a tsunami of weird. And I think Belichick, not that he checked out, but he just saw it as, listen, we were great for 20 years.

Let's go spend some money in free agency. Let's get some picks right. Let's teach our kids. This happens. Like Japan's had a lost economy, right? it was a lost season for Belichick, and they just kind of revamped. And I think they're going to be really, really good this year. So Mack Jones was talking that he's not surprised he's starting.

He got a lot of reps, and here he is. Like I always say, I prepare to be a starter. And like every day you come in, and I got a chance to get a lot of reps. So nothing really changes, just trying to be a good teammate, trying to learn the plays every day, fix what I messed up on, and listen to Josh and all the guys in the quarterback room just take the advice. It's interesting how often you lose a legendary quarterback and you're actually okay.

I'll give you an example. There's always been this belief that, oh, Dan Marino left Miami. They could never get it right. Actually, Dan Marino left Miami. They made the playoffs the next two years. Well, John Elway left Denver. That's interesting. They had a one-year rebuild.

and they were then 11 and 5. And those are the examples we use. You cannot replace Elway. They've never replaced Marino. No, they were a playoff team. It's Roger Stauback. Probably the most underrated quarterback of my life. Great, great player.

The face of the Dallas Cowboys, the number one brand left the Dallas Cowboys. The next year they were 12 and 4 with Danny White. Seriously. Montana, the goat before Tom Brady left. Next year, they were 10 and 6 with Steve Young. Well, Peyton Manning, yes, the year after he left, they had Andrew Luck. They weren't even a well-run franchise, and they went 11 and 5. Brett Farve. What about Brett Farve? Okay, that was a one-year rebuild. I'm not saying you get it right the minute, but they found the right guy, Aaron Rogers,

and within one year, they were a playoff team. Joe Thysman. Remember Joe Thysman? He was really good. Probably the best quarterback ever not in the Hall of Fame. That's the feeling. MVP, Super Bowl winner, not in the Hall of Fame. Probably the best, most accomplished quarterback ever, not in the Hall of Fame. He left the next year, 12 and 4. Year after that, they won the Super Bowl.

Okay. So it ain't that hard. It happens all the time. You don't even have to be well run. Here's what we know about New England. They're running game production, their offensive line, their special teams and their defense will all be top five. And they have the best coach in the game and arguably the best offensive coordinator.

They're going to win a bunch of games. They're going to win a bunch of games. I mean, their division's better, but the Jets are still the Jets. Miami doesn't love their quarterback. I can tell that because they got into the Jashon Watson sweepstakes. And it should be noted, Buffalo is really, really good, but has yet to develop a pass rush in three years. So, you know, that's kind of important if you want to make Mac Jones look bad. put pressure on him, and they're not able to, and this is New England's best offensive line.

So nobody is disputing or discounting the value of a quarterback. But it is pretty remarkable from Elway to Stoback, to Brett Favre, to Joe Montana, to the great Peyton Manning, John Elway, Joe Thaisman. Oh, by the way, Jim Kelly. There's a feeling like Jim Kelly left and the bills never recovered until Josh Allen. No, it was a one-year rebuild in Buffalo when Jim Kelly, the great Jim Kelly left. was great in two football leagues. The U.S.FL, the NFL. He leaves one-year rebuild. They made the playoffs the next two years with Doug Flutie. It's possible. And in New England's case, probable.

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 spin-off. on the Ben Mather show, a cult hit overnights on FSR. Why should you listen? Picture, if you will, a world

when we chat with captains of industry in media, sports, and more every week explore some 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. Podcasts Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth.

Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care which I'll say. Yep, that's me, Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way,

this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes

of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast. It's a space. For honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So if you've ever supported me or you're just chasing down a dream,

this is right where you need to be. Listen to The Clifford Show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. The story I've told myself about love or relationships can then shake my behavior, and that can lead me to sabotage the possibility of connection.

This Mental Health Awareness Month, tune into the podcast deeply well with Debbie Brown and explore the journey of healing, self-discovery, and returning to yourself. We explore higher consciousness, emotional well-being, and the practices that help you find clarity, peace, and self-mastery in a world that can feel overwhelming. The world is becoming lonelier.

We're not becoming more social. connected. We're becoming more individualized, but we actually need people in connection. If you've been searching for a soft place to land while doing the work to become whole, this podcast is for you to hear more. Listen to deeply well with Debbie Brown from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. What's up, fam, it's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm CJ Toledano, and our podcast point game is about defying the odds. Like LeBrona. Ron heading into the playoffs without Luca and Austin Reed.

And finding ways to win no matter what. He's the smartest player to ever play the game. His IQ is at a level that we've never seen before. And he knows without Luca and Austin Reeves, I got to manipulate the game. We get a player's perspective on the challenges of the playoffs. I think Joker's going to be exhausted this series because when they don't have Rudy in the lineup,

he has to really guard guys like Nas Reid. He has to guard Julius Randall. And then he has to give us everything he gives us on the night-to-night basis on offense. And when IT's friends stop by, like Quentin Richardson, we dive into some playoff history too. Steve Nass would get that thing. That man, hell get to fly.

He running up the court, licking his fingers, why he got the ball. Like, you go through a training camp with that, Isaiah. You figure it out real quick. Get your ass up and down the court, and you're going to get the ball. So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

So, Hard Knocks, the big finale, last night. And, you know, there was a moment with Jerry Jones, got a little emotional talking about DAC. And Dallas deserves credit. Tony Romo was undrafted and they got Dak in the fourth round. So that's hard to do to find really good quarterbacks. Romo and Dak are good quarterbacks. And they, you know, didn't pay anything for them combined for the first eight, nine years. They were in the league. But Jerry, it was funny watching it because Jerry is increasingly, he's always got a pitch. And he was talking about DAC. He said, nature, the aura, it's just there, the heart, what's inside. That's a toughie. And he talked about

all this stuff. And the last 20 years, I always feel like Jerry, it's a sales pitch. And with Aikman and Jimmy Johnson, it was just football. They weren't pitching me anything. I feel Jerry is, you know, there's a reason that a used car salesman, there's a stigma, right? The used car salesman comes in, hey, this beauty just got on the lot. Look at those. fresh tires. It's the nicest 94 Nissan Centro you've ever seen. A little bit of a sales pitch. You know, when you walk in and something's really good, you don't have to pitch it. You go into a Mercedes dealer. You know what a Mercedes salesman does? They take you to the floor and they say,

look around. That's what they say. Tell me when you're ready. Let me know if you have any questions. That's what they do at elite car dealerships. Tell me if you have any questions. Let me just look around. don't pitch you. Oh, fresh tires. This 97 Camry is money. Don't pitch me. I feel like Jerry's pitching me.

And I like Dak. But since the start of 2019, the start, he's got one win over a playoff team, 9 and 7 Philadelphia. And later that year he played him again. And he was awful. So he's good. He's fine.

But I do feel like I'm getting, Jerry, who's always been a salesman, Jerry's got one of my favorite lines ever about being a salesman because Jerry is a salesman. And he's obviously very good at being a salesman. But he said, my favorite Jerry Jones line on being a salesman, I'll read it here. There are five keys to being a good salesman. Number one, asked for money.

And I've forgotten the other four. So I think Jerry is really good at that. But I do feel sometimes that a little bit of a sales pitch on deck. Just let him play. He's not beating enough good teams. We'll see how he goes, revamp the offensive line. Want more herd? The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week within the IHeart radio app. Search herd to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like.

You know the game every summer. July, I give you my NFL predictions. And then I allow myself two amendments. Injuries, I watch teams in preseason. You can tell stuff from preseason. I always use the example, Dak Prescott, first preseason game for the Cowboys against the Rams here in L.A., and he tore it up and we're all like, who's Dak Prescott? And it was something. And so there are things I saw that worry me and noise for certain teams. So these are my amendments.

This is official. Let's start with the AFC. I am making five different amendments. So I said last week I was taking the Patriots from 10 to 12. The problem is for every win I give a team, I have to find a loss. And that was hard because I also wanted to give Denver another. win. So I'm going to put New England as a playoff team at 11 and 6, not 12, and 5. I do think there'll be some growing pains in their division against Sean McDermott and Brian Flores. I think they'll lose a

couple games in division. Buffalo wins it. Patriots a game better second. Miami stays the same at 10 and 7. Jets have a good fight in them. They win some games they should, but a 5 and 12 team. AFC North. I've made them, this is kind of a dramatic move. I'm taking a win from the Ravens. So they're star-drafted wide receiver not available to start the year. That's a problem. Baltimore's September schedule, a lot of road games is tough. I'm going to have Cleveland remain at 11 to 6, but because of what I'm doing with Baltimore, Cleveland wins the division.

That's a home game. That's a big deal for them. Pittsburgh stays at 8 and 9. I thought about going 9 and 8, but now T.J. Watts situation, is he going to play? Cincinnati is a gamey 6 and 11. They're fun. they are explosive, but it's a tough division and their schedule is brutal. In the AFC South, I'm taking a win from the Colts.

I'll tell you why. I do not think Carson Wentz plays 17 games. I think he plays 13, 14, enough to win a bad division. But I worry about him. I worry about Eric Fisher at left tackle. And I thought they had a weird camp with weird vaccination stories. So that the best team in this division, but I have my doubts about Carson Wentz staying healthy. but they still, they'll get a home playoff game.

I'm not changing Tennessee. I don't love them. I'm going to take a win away from Jacksonville, 4 and 13. Again, their schedule, they could beat Houston twice, and I'm wrong. But I think the two worst teams in the league could be Jacksonville and Houston. And I don't think there's a huge separation between the two. So I got the Jags, I'm going to take a win away, and the Texans stay at 3 and 14. We go to the AFC West.

No major change, but I really thought. Denver was focused in during the preseason. I like what I saw. I'm going to give them a win from 7 and 10 to 8 and 9. They just feel to me like a 500 team. And naming Teddy Bridgewater, it's not a transformative mood, but Teddy doesn't make a lot of mistakes. And I think between their defensive upgrades at Corner,

Kyle Fuller and Patrick Certain, they solved their corner issue. And I like their offensive pieces. And I just don't think they're going to be a bad football team. I think they're going to hover around 500 in a better division, 8 and 9. So my AFC playoffs will look like this. The Chiefs, the Bills, the Browns, and the Colts will be the top four seeds. Their division winners.

The Patriots, Ravens, and Chargers all make the playoffs. The big move is the Browns now win the division. Chiefs, Bills, Browns, Colts win it. Patriots, Ravens, Chargers. Okay, let's go to the NFC. Okay, I'm taking a win away from the Giants. I cannot get past their offensive line. It's bad.

It was bad in every game I watched. And in this division, Washington, I think, sweeps them in division. And if Dallas, DeMarcus, Lawrence, Micah Parsons, they can create a pass rush. I think the Giants' offensive line unravels and otherwise pretty darn good roster. So I go from 8 and 9 to 7 and 10. You know I don't like the Eagles. I don't change anything in the NFC North, Packers, Vikings, bears, lions. I got to tell you, I like what.

what I saw with Atlanta. They've got a spark. I'm moving them up. I've moved them up twice. And I know I'm an idiot because I haven't won a Falcons game in 37 years. I don't know what's going on with me. I am, but I like what I see and I like what I hear.

I have Atlanta now in second place in that division because I think they're the only team in that division that can go, that can make Tampa have to. really work. They'll get a couple of shootouts. In the NFC West, I'm going to give the Rams. Remember, I took one away. I'm giving it back when they got Sony Michelle. That's a good enough replacement for Cam Acres. This is an 11-win team. So it'll be Seattle, the Rams, San Francisco, and Arizona. So the only really, so my playoff teams, the Bucks, the Seahawks, the Packers, the Washington football team, all win their division, division winners. Nothing changes there. I move around, jockey the bottom

a little, Rams, Niners, Cowboys make the playoffs. So there you go. That is the final amendment. The Constitution has 26 of them. I get two. And that's where we stand. Very excited for this. A lot of pressure. Just certain things

I couldn't get over. I couldn't get over the efficiency of New England. I thought they were really efficient. Now they played a lot of starters. Maybe it's a mirage. And I could not get over the Giants O line. It is a mess. And remember, a lot of teams didn't play starters.

They could not block other teams second and third stringers. In a division with Washington's front, I can't do it. 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. The voice of college football at Fox. And my friend, Joel Clatt, who's got a good one this week, Oregon and Ohio State. The Claster. You know, last week, our relationship, I thought, took a very cordial, very optimistic, very hopeful. It was very, very hopeful. Whoa, whoa. Got it. Got it. And I hope that it remains this week. So a lot of broadcasters are into hyperbole. I am not one of them.

Okay. But I will say Bryce Young is the greatest freshman quarterback I've ever seen in. Just dives right in. That kid is good. Well, he's also playing at Alabama. Well, a lot of guys played at Alabama. They don't look like that in their first game. It's great. I was excited about the way that he played. And more so even when you take away all the pieces that they had, you know, I mean, we had never seen an offense have the Outland Trophy winner, the Bolitnikov Award winner, the Doak Walker Award winner,

the, you know, all the quarterback awards for Mack Jones. And here they are, and they're just the same. The level of excellence at Alabama is totally unmatched. And I think I think that's the one thing out of week one. If you were to ask me, like, what was your biggest takeaway at the top of college football? It was that no one's really ready to unseat Alabama. Now, whether they win the national championship or not, remains to be seen. Injuries play a factor.

You know, they lost a linebacker for the season. Yeah. But no one's ready to prepare like they do, to execute like they do. It was interesting. We were talking with Mario Cristobal in preparation for this week's game. And, of course, Mario spent time with Nick, and he was an assistant there at Alabama. And he said something very interesting. never heard it quite like this. He said, at Alabama, for those players and the staff, every day is a

reckoning. And I was like, oh, that's so good. It just like hit home and you immediately hear that. All of you hear that at home. And it immediately makes sense, right? They play like every day is a reckoning. You know that if you're starting at Alabama, if you're Bryce Young, if you're the starting running back, left tackle, right guard, doesn't matter. Every day is a reckoning. And most likely, your toughest days weren't game days. That's right. It was just getting to that point to be a starter. And they play like that.

Yeah, Pete Carroll at SC had competition Wednesday. And I remember talking to a couple of players. He was like, let me tell you something. Our Wednesday practice is tougher in the pack. That's exactly right. I'm just going to hold this. It's going to fly out. I'm just going to hold it right here.

You know what? It's the way I hold a drink. Don't worry about it. Firm total control. There you go. So I got to say this. It's going to sound hyperbolic. But there are certain things that.

He told us he wasn't going to be hyperbole. No, please, go ahead. Certain things travel well. And certain things don't. In football. That's amazing. Colin, really good. Boom. Certain things also wear well over a season.

Okay. They don't disintegrate. And I would say the number one thing with both is physicality. You can take physicality on the road. You can't always take efficiency on the road. You can't hear the audibles. But you can always win the line of scrimmage. Power wins.

When I watch UCLA and LSU, and I look at how soft the Pac-12 is, I don't think it's crazy to say, oh, UCLA, this may not be overly competitive. They may march through the West. So the three best teams in the Pac-12 are going to be Oregon, UCLA and Utah this year. I told you last week, the best team in L.A. at the end of the season was going to be UCLA. You did.

And in large part, because of this conversation that we're having, those three teams are actual teams at the line of scrimmage. on both sides, offensively and defensively. We all know that Utah has been really good at the line of scrimmage. I know it's not sexy to talk about Utah and Kyle Whittingham, but he's built a program that is at the top. A power-based program.

And it's at the top of the Pac-12 right now. And UCLA, I just talked with Chip this morning. I tell you what, man, the development they had, you know that his first year, they played games with 57 scholarship players. Oh, no, I know. He broke the whole program down. He had Springball with 65 players at practice.

So they're finally back to a, full complement of scholarship players. They're finally back to the point where they're practicing with 116 guys out there. So they can do things like give good looks from the scout team. They can go good on good and feel confident about their depth. And then they played like it. They had explosive plays in the passing game and the running game. Zach Charbonnet from the transfer portal is transforming their run game.

I think that's a guy that, by the way, a couple more performances like that. He's going to be right in the conversation about the Heisman trophy at UCLA. He's averaging over 10 yards per carry. He's got four touchdowns, 100 yards in each. of his games. So, you know, UCLA is absolutely a real contender. I got a text from someone within the LSU program on Saturday. You know what it said? Oh my gosh, they look real. That was the text. LSU came out there and they were expecting to see soft West Coast Pac-12 football. And they walked out for warm-ups and they thought to themselves, this is different. This is not what we

expected and then UCLA went out there and hammered them. Do you know they out rushed them by 161 yards? That doesn't happen because you out-scheme somebody. That happens because you physically dominate them at the line of scrimmage. Impressive game. Yeah, and I think it'll travel well. So let's be honest about Clemson. You know, Alabama loses a quarterback next guy up. Trevor Lawrence leaves and they couldn't get first downs. Oh, this is where you're wrong. You need in the mid-minute. Go ahead. No, please continue. Not even done. Well, I know, but we all. We all know that you're wrong. Let's just continue. Lay it out and then I'm going to

respond. Is it George's defense or the fact that Trevor Lawrence is so good, we just don't quite get how good he is? So DJ made one mistake. DJ Owey-ungalele. He made one mistake. J.T. Daniels did not make the mistake.

The question I'm going to pose coming out of the Clemson, Georgia game, I think everyone's going to want to jump off Clemson and that bandwagon immediately. Oh, the Offensive line is a concern, and yes, it's somewhat of a concern. But as I watched it again, okay, I'm watching it on Sunday night, on my iPad, on the coach's copy. And it just hits me like 8,000 bricks.

Who else can do that to Clemson? Bama. Maybe, okay, Bama and Georgia. Who else? Okay, so we're talking about a problem that is 15, 16 weeks away. You know, I don't know what Clemson is going to be 15 or 16 weeks from now. I do know that DJ Owing Galele misread a defense and he led a wide receiver across the field against a zone defense when he should have just thrown a spot route. That's it.

That is it. Okay. I know he didn't look great, but neither did J.T. Daniels. Neither did Brock Purdy at Iowa State. Neither did Sam Howell at North Carolina. Neither did Graham Mertz. Well, it's hard. They don't have preseason.

I just think that Clemson's going to be just fine because you look at their schedule the rest of the way in the ACC. See, nobody's going to be playing that level against them. And they're going to be just fine. So I think giving them that benefit of the doubt is important. Maybe he made a second mistake that quarterback, signing with Clemson and replacing Trevor Lawrence. That could be the second mistake. Well, that's a lot.

I think you can make an argument as great as Trevor was, and I thought he was the best quarterback in the sport. He was the easy number one overall pick. But the more impactful guy for that offense and the way that they used them was Travis E. They're missing him more than Trevor Lawrence here now. So is it because Brian... He just goes on. He's just like, well, I'm not going to argue. I'm trying to be the bigger man here.

So with Brian Kelly, he gets all, he turns into a plum. He bright red. And it gets cold in Notre Dame and South Bend. He's just all yelling and screaming. And he had the incident early in his career there, the tragedy. Like, I get it. I get it. It's all bad.

But boy, I'm going to tell you something. Between the academic difficulty, the low, the low, they ask of their students, the religious umbrella, it's in the middle of nowhere. It's cold weather. A lot of these northern powers have disappeared when kids now say, my team down here, the warm weather's on TV. I don't need to go up to the cold.

I don't need to go to Washington or Nebraska. I don't have to go to Notre Dame. I think he's as good a coach as we have outside of Sabin. I think Sabin's master of the sport. But Brian Kelly, to win on the road is hard in college. You see good teams just unravel on the road. LSU last weekend. I think to myself, take Saban out of it.

Can I make the argument Brian Kelly is the second best coach in this sport? I think that he would have to win a game on a huge stage. And I get it, they beat Clemson a year ago. That's pretty big. But Clemson came back and throttled him in the ACC championship game. And so in those moments, I think that they have to play better. I don't think you're wrong. I think he's easy in that top four or five discussion.

with what Dabo has done and built at Clemson, it's really hard to put anyone other than Dabo Sweeney right there at number two. And then Brian Kelly is right there. I love what Brian Kelly has built. I really do. And I think that this game against Florida State has been a wild overreaction. Everyone's like, wow, they struggled with Florida State. They were controlling the game.

They did. And Florida State is way better than they were even last year. So Mike Norville has done a nice job with that team. McKenzie Milton has provided them. I think Notre Dame is going to be really good. year. If I'm Notre Dame fan, I'm actually very excited after that game because of what Jack Cohn did throwing the football. Yeah, he looked good. He looked very good. And I think that they'll run it better. Kyron Williams is going to run it for more than three yards of carry,

right? Like I just know that they will figure that out. They're real on the offensive line. I'm a fan of Notre Dame. I think that that's a really good program. And I posed this to you this weekend. We had a conversation. Stanford has plummeted, right? Is there room for more than one really tough academic institution to be great at any given time. It's a very good question. You and I discussed this on my podcast. It's a very good question. As Stanford was great, Notre Dame was down,

and then Stanford dips for three years and Notre Dame goes up, that there's a limited number of elite kids. I mean, I know Stanford football players. I know Notre Dame guys. What they ask of you, it's hard. That's right. It is a hard-ass for young people. Go practice football.

Go do this. Go have a social life. go do this. I think it's, I don't know the answer to it, but it's certainly worth a discussion is that you've seen them seesaw back and forth. And when Stanford's good, they get that left tackle on that defensive tackle. It's about the lineman. That's what it is. And there's just a limited number of four-point high school superstars that are great, great students. I think it's a good. It's a good. It's a theory. I got to vet it out. But it's a theory that I'm sensing.

I do three hours of theories a day. I don't even vet them out. Okay. So I'll tell you somebody I'm rooting for. Because I'm a man of the people, and that's understood in the industry, is I root for people who have stumbled. Okay. Lane Kiffin stumbled. I want to see him do well. Sark had a personal demon. Stumbled. I got to be honest. I thought they'd struggle this weekend. I watched Texas. And that was the most clever, multiple formations, multiple sets. And I'm like, he is one more recruiting class. That Texas team, that was not a walkover game. No. No, no. They were clever. Louisiana is a good football team.

That's number one. You're starting a freshman at quarterback. Freshman. He looked very good. Excellent. And he allowed the best player on the team to be the best player on the field. See, that's something we all know the best players on the teams are, but sometimes the coaching staff and the game plan don't allow those players to be the best guy on the field.

And key spots too. Bejohn Robinson was the best player on the team and the best player on the team. and the best player on the field. He touched the ball 24 times for over 170 yards of total offense. They used him in different ways. I thought that the defense and their ability to put pressure on the quarterback and tackle on the open field was a huge upgrade. And now they have a chance.

As good as that win is against Louisiana. I think this week is even bigger. They get Arkansas. And I know Arkansas is not great, but that's, okay, so this is an opportunity to go beat an SEC opponent. I believe it's at Arkansas. And it's only a six-point spread. I think it's in Arkansas.

And Arkansas is not a great team. But again, it's SEC territory on the road. That would be a good win for them. It'd be a terrific win. And I'm with you on Texas. I think Texas has the potential under Sark to come back to a level where they're competing for a conference championship every single year. And if you're doing that, then I think that you can be a playoff team, you know,

every other year or so on, depending on where we expand with the playoff. I like what Sark's doing. Okay. You're doing the Oregon. at Ohio State game Saturday at noon. I don't want you to give away too much of your sauce here. I don't like to do that. It's a great game. I'll be watching. It's a great game. Let's go to your top 10 real quick here, Clat. I don't disagree with any of it. And I just don't want to overreact after week one, right? So that's why I didn't overreact.

Oklahoma fell a little bit because their win against Tulane was not all that impressive. You got A&M. A&M a little low. Maybe A&M a little low, but again, to my point, does A&M do to Clemson what Georgia did to Clemson? Probably not. Here's another one. Iowa. Folks, Iowa. Watch out for Iowa. Hey, I know how you feel about Iowa.

You know what? Hold on for a second. You just sit over there. Iowa, don't let him disparage you. Iowa is for real. Seven straight wins dating back to last year, all against Big Ten opponents, by an average of 22 and a half.

They are dogs this week on the road against Iowa State. Iowa wins outright. Yeah. I agree with you. Watch out for Iowa. Yeah, but let's not, you know, It's week one. Bring it down a little.

It's still the fake idea of college football. No, it's not. They are 21. They are in the club legitimately. They are, listen, Iowa, you go order your schlitz, okay? You understand? You are totally legal in college football. I will say this.

The fake ID is in the left pocket. They have now due, they are of age, and they have a driver's license. You've come back. They're of age. The difference is they still have the fake ID in the other pocket. Let's wait in a couple weeks before. Nobody keeps the fake ID. fake ID in the opposite pocket once you turn 21. It's just a recipe to get caught. Everyone knows that.

You cut it up and throw it away. Not that I would know. Oregon at Ohio State. He's Joel Klatte. Excellent work this week. I think we've bridged something here. We've got something going on. It's a semi-olive branch. And by the way, Chip Kelly, you talked to him this morning. Won't return my calls. Disappointing. Well, one of us is the voice of college football at this network. Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day

and head writer Streeter Seidel help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,

or wherever you get your podcasts. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year.

Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, what's good, y'all? You're listening to Learn the Hardweight with your favorite therapist and host care 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.

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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. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Thank you.