The Herd with Colin Cowherd - 11/25/2020 - Best of The Herd

Episode Date: November 25, 2020

-Bruce Arians and Tom Brady are not a good fit-The media needs to stop complaining about College Football's playoff rankings -Colin is starting to wish Tom Brady had retired and gone out on top-Two NFL teams are doing a masterful job of tankingGuest: Les Snead, Rams GM Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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

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

Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win.

A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Clifford Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media. Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifers Show. This is a place for raw, unfilled conversations with athletes,

creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. So let's get to it. Listen to the Clifford show on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok's podcast network on TikTok. On the Look Back at it podcast.

For 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84's big to me. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a year, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. With our friends, fellow comedians,

and favorite authors. Like Mark Lamont Hill on the 80s. 84 was a wild year. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks for listening to the Best of 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 Sports Radio.com or stream us live every day on the iHeartRadio app by searching Heard. This is the best of the herd with Colin Cowher on Fox Sports Radio. Here we go on a Thanksgiving Eve.

To Wednesday, live in Los Angeles, this is the herd. Wherever you may be and however you may be listening. Fox Sports Radio and IHeart Radio, no television today, blazing five in one hour. I only do about one of these shows a year now, maybe two, where I go back to my roots and do radio only shows. This is where Joy and I started. Not together, but I was on the West Coast. She was on the East Coast, where I did radio only. She's wearing a hoodie. And I'm wearing a shirt I wouldn't even wear on in public. But that's okay. We'll put all our stuff on digital today and have fun. And these are really rare opportunities for me. Like this is what I did in Portland or did in Tampa. And I don't get to do this much anymore. So I love doing these shows.

even though I know my audience won't be quite as big because I don't have FS1, but Joy is joining me, and Joy, how are you? I'm great. I love radio days. And actually, weirdly, these are easier for us to do than it was yesterday. Oh, hell yes. Oh, yeah. Yeah, yesterday is all sorts of technology and crap.

It's so weird. Stuff's going in and out. This is way easier. No, it is way easier. And it's also a little looser show. I'm not going to get into the reasons why we do a show the way we do, but it's a loose fun show. and just thanks so much on this Wednesday.

It's the last day in Los Angeles. A restaurant can be open, which breaks my heart. I still can't figure out how I can sit next to somebody for five hours on a plane, coughing on me. But I can't be 10 feet away outside eating next to them. Drives me nuts. But that's the rules in the state I live. So there it is. So cross my fingers.

Order out for the next three weeks when restaurants are closed. I made a pledge I'm going to order out every night and support local restaurants. Please, if you're listening in America, do all you can to support. restaurant owners and employees who are being punitively punished during this like no other industry. You know, the airlines got to bail out financially. The airlines are still running. Restaurant owners and employees. And I'm not picking on governments here. I'm just saying we need these people in America. Many are going to be losing their jobs right before the holidays and it makes me sick to my stomach. And so instead of attacking politicians,

I'm going to do something about it, which is order takeout every night for three weeks. Blah, blah, blah. I'm off my soapbox. Thanks for joining the show. All right. So let me start with this. You know, they always say,

opposites attract. They never say opposites make for great marriages. No, they're attracting to each other. I like mob movies because it's a dark side of humanity that I could never do. But I'm attracted to it. But the saying is opposites attract. It's not opposites make great marriages. Bruce Ariens and Tom Brady, to be honest with you, are opposites.

Bruce likes a good cocktail. Tom doesn't drink during the season. And that's just the beginning of it. Now, they're both talented enough that they'll win nine or ten games. But yesterday, Ariens talking about Brady's interceptions, it's always about the deep ball. Tom was never about the deep ball except the Randy Moss years. Ariens is always about the deep ball, and he was talking about that yesterday. If we've had the guys open, we just missed them.

There are times when coverage dictates you go to that guy. So I think we can do a better job of utilizing the deep ball in our game plan more of or less of. So each and every week is so different. But when they're there, we need to hit them. We can't have them going off our fingertips and we can't overthrow them. Okay, Tom Brady was never known as an elite deep ball thrower, except for a couple of Randy Moss years. Arian's offense is all about the deep ball. So guess what?

They're not really a perfect match. If you ask me, who would be perfect with Bruce Ariens? I'd be like, oh, Big Ben, Patrick Mahomes, Aaron Rogers, Josh Allen, okay? He's not perfect for Tom Brady. He's not. And if you ask me who would be perfect for Tom Brady, I would say, oh, Belichick, efficiency details, Sean McVeigh, Sean Payton. The reality is marriages can last when you're not perfectly suited for each other.

But I could argue these guys are opposites. Let's do word association. I like to play this game all the time. I'll do this with my wife. If we have an argument, let's just do word association to clarify the argument. Brady, intense, workaholic, driven, details, precision, clean living, arians, loose, gambler, casual, outspoken. not clean living.

I mean, they're literally the opposites. And again, opposites attract. I get that. Opposites don't always work in a long-term marriage. And so, you know, it's like there's a difference between bakers and grillers. Brady's more baker. You've got to be precise with baking. I mean, I've made cookies before and just put a little too much butter in and it's a mess.

like they're flat on the pan. You have to follow precision with baking. That is Brady. He is into precision. Grillers, it's different. How's it look? You poke the meat. As it look.

How's it feel? Marinades, dry rubs. It doesn't have to be exact. And so Bruce Ariens, though talented, he only has one division title in his career. I think precision coaches win more. Belichick, Sean McVeigh's got two division titles. He's 34 years old.

I have always said I prefer precision Aaron Rogers over loose and talented Brett Fav. So my point being, these guys are talented enough to win nine or ten games. But if you really do word association, everything Ariens talks about is always about the deep ball. That's never been Brady. outside of what he was in his prime with the first or second best receiver of all time Randy Moss who nobody could guard, nobody could cover.

And so, you know, I just look at this thing and I think it's imperfect. They're opposites. Opposites can work, but it's not, the term isn't opposites create long-term successful marriages. That's not what people say. All right.

Secondly, the college football playoff rankings, the first rankings came out last night. Alabama 1, Notre Dame 2, Clemson 3, Ohio State 4. Shocker. Bamma Clemson and Ohio state are in the top four. Listen, I'm in the media. But I'm not always of the media. A prime example. Austin, Texas is in Texas. But if you've ever been to Austin, it's not of Texas. It's very liberal. It's party. It's fun. It's music. I have a place in Park City, Utah. It's in Utah. It's not of Utah.

It's loose, it's fun. It's a lot of Dallas money, L.A. money, a lot of partying. You know, when I look at college football, I am in the media, but sometimes not of the media. The media needs to stop arguing that BYU got ripped off. They're not in the top four or five. Shut up. BYU's got two NFL players and they're two deeps. Clemson's got 41.

Ohio State's got 38. Alabama's got 44. Stop it. It's a dumb argument. Folks, this playoff has been around for six years. Bama Clemson or Ohio State have been in it, one of them, in every year. Watch recruiting. Yesterday, Ohio State in the last week, got the number one quarterback and the number one wide receiver in the country. Nothing against BYU, nothing against the, you know, years ago, Hawaii.

Can we stop with this, when I look at the media making this argument, I'm like, I'm not even part of the media. I know I'm media. I'm not of the media. Stop it. I follow recruiting. Ohio State would blow out USC by 30 points right now. And USC has significantly better players than BYU.

And I'm not saying BYU wouldn't beat USC because I think they have a good coach and they have a great quarterback, blah, blah, blah. But we got to stop this argument. Oh, I can't believe this team and that team and this team and that team, folks, college football in 2020 has become women's basketball 10 years ago. There's Yukon, there's Tennessee, and maybe Stanford or Baylor. Like it was nothing against women's basketball, but like you knew who the final four was. And maybe there'd be one, you know, outlier. That's kind of what college, I love college football. I talk less college football than I ever have. It's become very repetitive. It's become, and that's not a shot at women's basketball,

but it's become women's basketball 10 years ago. There were like two programs that were overwhelmingly favored, maybe three, and then there'd be a new team every year in the final four with virtually no chance to win. I think Notre Dame's really well coached, but I do think if they played Clemson again, neutral field, Trevor Lawrence is there, they'd lose by two touchdowns. In six playoffs that we've had two of the three, Clemson, Ohio State Bama, have been in every playoff and they will again this year. There's not a lot of diversification in college football. I mean, I've told friends this out west. The PAC 12 needs to add Oklahoma and Texas, or they're going to disappear in five years. They're just, they just have no television exposure.

They've got to go and do the best job of recruiting ever. Texas, Oklahoma, in the PAC 12, have a, and by the way, the Big 12 is a two-team conference anyway. The PAC 12 is better academically. West Coast, the economy's better. Come out West, Texas, Oklahoma, make it a super conference. But everybody's going to argue today. And I love college football, but everybody in the media is just making too much

out of these annual arguments about does this team deserve to be in with Alabama, Clemson, and Ohio State. Stop it. Stop it. The reason Notre Dame is good now and they weren't 10 years ago isn't just Brian Kelly drawn

up plays. He's a great recruiter. They've got NFL bodies all over their offensive lines. They have four NFL offensive linemen every year at an NFL tight end. They're winning the recruiting war. I follow it. Why is USC not as good? Because they can't keep the best kids in Southern California like they used to with Pete Carroll. You know who's going to compete for the national championships every year in college football. You know and you know it? February 3rd. That's national letter. I mean, it's the same thing in college basketball. Basketball. Do watch the recruiting.

Now, there's occasionally an outlier in college basketball like Gonzaga, which has like one NBA player and a bunch of borderline guys and they're juniors and seniors. But college basketball is unique. In college football, everybody's got juniors and seniors, right? Like, like, it's not as, you know, in college basketball, Gonzaga has an advantage. They play a bunch of 19-year-olds sometimes. Now, they're more talented 19-year-olds, but they're kids. Alabama's got plenty of juniors and seniors with great kids. So, but, you know, these arguments about BYU.

And again, nothing against BYU. I've watched BYU for 40 years. They've always had a great program. Zach Wilson is terrific. But what are you smoking? None of these teams, Cincinnati, BYU. Listen, I have Pat Fitzgerald and Northwestern on today. He's a great coach.

I think the Bears should give him a call if things don't work with Nagy. But, I mean, Northwestern, every third year, they have a little pullback year because their academic standards are higher. It's private. It's, you know, it's hard. It's harder to win at Northwestern. So when they win nine or ten games, it's like Pat Fitzgerald should be coach of the year.

I can make an argument in college football. Pat Fitzgerald is second to Nick Sabin as the coach of the decade. They win nine and ten games all the time. At Northwestern, a tiny private school with bad weather. So sometimes media, I'm just over these poor blank school not near the top four, eight, eight. Enough. Enough. College football now is Ohio State Clemson, Bama.

And occasionally, then there's a couple of like Notre Dame, Georgia, they're darn close. Florida this year is darn close. But they're not as good as those three. They're not. One 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 love. 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 what you're saying. Yep, that's me, Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way,

this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music.

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

I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do with Little Kim? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill, waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84 is big to me, not just because of crack.

I'm down to talk about crack all day, but just so y'all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack. So I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now. Thank you finishing that sentence. Yes. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Really?

Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast. or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Keer Games. And in recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests.

I'm talking, Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing. And we're still chasing it. and we don't know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross,

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

as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, learn the hard way. Open your free. iHeartRadio app search learn the hard way and listen now so i'm one of those people my wife has a family with a culinary background so but i like doing dishes and the reason i like doing dishes is because i don't i like clean endings i don't want to wake up in the morning with a sinkful of dishes um it stinks and it's harder to get off you know your pizzas and you know all your

sauces and stuff the next morning. They sit there overnight. And I think a lot of this is just the way, and we're all different this way, it's not because I'm Mr. Clean, but I like clean endings. I like the meal to be wrapped up. We clean it and we go to bed

and the house is clean. Whatever. Are you the same or different? I'm not as particular about it, but if it's a big meal, yeah, I can do it with all the dishes everywhere. I do it while I'm cooking. Okay.

So that it's done. All right. So when I read a story this morning, about Tom Brady is he the sorst loser of all time because he didn't shake Jared Gough's hand. And what I get from the story is this is about the 12th bad Tom Brady brand story. Now he's a bad sport. Now he can't win games. Now he's a system quarterback. And I think that myself, one of the reasons in one of my idols in this business has been Oprah and the other has been Johnny Carson. And I love the way Johnny Carson ended his career. Last show, Bet Middle

I think it was. He still got ratings. It was a great last show. He was still funny in his last year. And then he ends and he disappears. You don't see him on infomercials. Like Johnny's done. He's playing tennis and with his wife, now may have been his fifth, but that's how he ended. In Malibu, playing tennis, had a production company fiddling around. And I'm like, that's how Jeter ended. That's how Elway ended. And I wish Brady would have just called it quits. His brand is clean. Clean living, clean playing, no mistakes. That's his brand. Good dad.

Like it's a clean brand. Like Brett Farf wasn't. Brett's the gunslinger. Brett's hard living. Southern hard living. A lot of fun. Came into the league, partied too much, played and made too many mistakes. Brett Farb's great, but his brand wasn't clean.

Brady, I think I like, I would love to have had a clean ending. Just lose to Tennessee. and just say, have a press conference, emotional, and just say, I had the best football coach of my life. I can't get better. I had the best owner of my life. I can't upgrade over this. I can't do any.

That's what I've always, that's what I want to do. I want to literally, my last show, we're still relevant, we're still funny. It's still sold out. We still get a number. And I'm like, Joy, I'm going to go golf. And we both have enough money put away that we don't have to, you know, we can do DoorDash twice a week. That's how I want it to end.

Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHeard Radio app. There's different ways to break up. There's, it's not you, it's me. There's pick a fight, create drama so you can exit it. Look at it, we just don't get along. Or you can just like ghost people. There's different ways to tank. And people say, well, nobody in the NFL tanks.

Well, the players don't. But the Jets and the Jags are tanking. I'll give you an example. Sam Darnold's not going to play this week. Oh, he could play. It's a pain tolerance issue. Joe Flacco is a shot fighter. They're not going to play Sam Darnold.

Why? They want the number one pick. And they don't want Sam Darnold to get hurt and be less valuable on the market. They're moving off Darnold. And by the way, why didn't they fire Adam Gase? because he's a flailing head coach and you don't want to bring an interim in and give the locker room energy.

Greg Williams went five and three at Cleveland. Rahim Morris winning in Atlanta. Romeo Cornell winning in Houston. Interim coaches, Miami had one a few years ago. Dan Campbell, interim coaches for like a month, they bring an energy into a locker room. Greg Williams' career is a series of interim coaching, and he's won games.

So keep gase, the energy is, low. He's flailing. A lot of players don't buy in and don't play Darnold. That's what they're doing. If you want to win games, you do the Greg Williams interim thing. He'd bring in energy and you'd probably win a couple. By the way, the Jacksonville Jaguar, same thing. Gardner Minchu could play. Nah! They could fire their coach interim. Nah! They want the picks. There's two A-plus quarterback prospects. And then a bunch of good quarterback prospects, but not A-plus. The Jets and the Jaggs won them. So I'm not saying players don't tank in the NFL, but there are different ways to break up and there are different ways to tank.

And if you're not playing a quarterback, Sam Darnold right now is not asking them not to play him. He's a big, strong, tough kid. He's like the Sean Watson. If he can breathe, he can play. Okay? He wants to play. But they're not firing Adam Gase. It's not a great locker room.

They're not playing Sam Donald. They want a number one pick. and Gardner Minchew. I just saw the Jags change quarterbacks. They're under a third or fourth. Minchew's better than all of them. That's that hand injury that never heals. Are you sure?

All right. It looks like to me, to me, I feel like the top three of the NFL draft is set. You're going to have Jets, Jags, and Cincinnati. Cincinnati's not going to win a game without Burrow. So, you know, that's where you're going to be. And I think they're going to go, I think it's going to

be great. I think Jets are going to take Trevor Lawrence. Jags are going to take Justin Field. And then I think if I was Cincinnati, I'd take Penae Sewell, the offensive, the left tackle for Oregon. And the Bengals have a really good left tackle. And Jonah Williams, he's young. I'd move him to the

right side, or maybe Seoul goes to the right side. So the first three picks are getting starters they won and players they need. I like when that... And then, by the way, if you start looking at like the fourth through the ninth pick, they'll have the same record. That'll change. Then like the

9th through the 13th or 14th, 15th. New England's in that group. That'll change. It does look like Kyle Trask at Florida and Zach Wilson at BYU you were going to go, they're going to go really early. Now, I've seen Kyle Wilson for two years. I've seen at BYU. I've seen Kyle Trask for three years. I saw him his first year with Molly. He didn't play very much. And then I saw him last year, a little inconsistent, but really talented.

He was a highly, highly coveted recruit. And this year he looks great. And again, Mullen's a really good coach. He was Dak Prescott's coach. Mullin's going to get the best out of everybody. He's really good. So outside of Sabin, to me, he's the second best coach in the SEC. Jimbo Fisher's more recruiter.

Same with Kirby Smart at George. I feel like he's a recruiter. Same with Orgeron. I feel like Dan Mullen's a really good game coach and he can recruit. But my initial impressions on Kyle Trask were like, eh, a little inconsistent. And now he's completing like 71% of his throws. And again, it's not saying,

it's not saying that Kyle Trask isn't good and he needs Mullen because everybody needs somebody. Jared Goff in the NFL with Gough is way better with McVey than he is without McVey. And Garoppolo is going to be way better with Belichick or Kyle Shanahan than without. I'm just saying that I think when you look at Trask last two years with Mullins, that's a first round quarterback. Big guy makes throws and now his completion percentage is now he's added efficiency. So talent, he was a top recruit into efficiency. Big body, he'll go. And then Kyle Wilson, it's hard to watch BYU play.

You know he's not playing with a bunch of NFL guys, and he's very clever and very creative. I saw him for the first time last year. I think he lost. I think either they beat USC or lost to Washington. I think I'll watch both those games. And it felt like something, but those two are going to go. And now they're throwing Mack Jones out for Alabama.

Again, I was not impressed last year at all. I just, I didn't get it. But, you know, it's funny. for years and years, I was always like, when in doubt, say, quarterbacks in the NFL are not going to be that great. Now when I'm in doubt, I'm like, it's going to work. Because until like three years ago, it was like a 50-50 proposition. Half were busts.

So if you just wanted to win a bar argument, you just say, nah, it's not going to be that great. And you were almost always right, right? I mean, very few guys were hitting at a high rate. Now it's the opposite. It's like 75% hit rate. Paxton Lynch didn't hit. Josh Rosen didn't hit.

But everybody else is kind of, I mean, I watched Josh Allen in, in college at Wyoming. I thought he had a chance to be a huge bust. I mean, I saw him against Oregon. I watched the Oregon-Wyoming game in the Iowa-Wyoming game just to watch him play. I thought he was terrible. I thought he had a huge arm. He was a mess.

He was like 55% completion percentage. He rushed things. I mean, he had a huge arm. And he was athletic. But I'm like, this is awful. And look at him now. And he's a real player. He's a real player.

Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds.

I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Clifford Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, 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 conversation. 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 Clivert Show isn't just a podcast. It's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told,

and for people who are chasing something bigger. So, if you've ever supported me or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to The Clifford Show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tap Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking.

What the hell does George Bush got to do with Little Kim? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a here. unpack what went down and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill, waxing all about crack in the 80s.

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

black people. Really? Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hard Way with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Keer Games. And in recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking, Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing. We get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing and we're still chasing it and we don't know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard

watch. Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross, because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth or are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kea, games is we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, Learn the Hardway. Open your free Our Heart Radio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. Less need is the GM of the Rams and he has drafted five Rams who have become pro bowlers and they've not made a first round pick since 2016. That was Jared Gough was their last

first pick. But again this year, he hit it out of the park. Camakers Van Jefferson. with guys not in the first round. And I was talking earlier with Mark Dominic, the former exec for the Tampa Bay Bucks, and I said, whatever it is, less need, wide receiver, secondary guys backs, quarterbacks, if you look at his career, he just knows him.

Like certain guys know certain positions and New England can't draft the wide receiver to save their life and less need. I mean, they have such a surplus of wide receiver tight end talent. It's not fair. bear and Les is now joining us. So, you know, I was talking to Mark Dominic about this, Les.

And I said, you used to be a, you were a scout for the Jags, scout for the Falcons. So you've, and you've done a really good job. You know the SEC very well. Not that you've leaned on it, but you clearly know Southern football. And is, is there a sweet spot for you with skill players and receivers and corners? and because you seem to have in your history a real eye for those positions that other organizations can struggle with. That's interesting. It's almost I'm disappointed in myself a little bit, right, being an SEC being back in the day,

tied in, so should be into that OL Front seven. And they're important. Make, you know, no doubt about it. very important positions and they affect the game. And we want to be good there too, but I do think a couple of things. History being in Atlanta when we were, when was a part of Thomas Drapton, Matt Ryan, and in him coming from New England, like you said that,

and you mentioned, you know, their wide receiver history or non-history. But he was adamant about providing Matt Ryan with weapons in that to a Julio Jones trade. And right now they have a Julio Calvin Rupert. And then if you see how the league is gone, and I've always thought 7 on 7 is somewhat, I've joked that 7 on 7 is ruined in real football.

But we're seeing from college to the NFL, spreading things out, skill players that can get open, that can move the chains, that can make plays in big situations, score touchdowns, all of those things, the way that the game and the sport is going,

and also on the other side, covering those players, having a lot of those players because you're going to have attrition during the year, I do think that has led to us prioritizing, making sure we're strong with our five eligibles on offense and those players covering the eligibles on the other. Yeah, I think you're secondary right now. I said this, I think I said it two weeks ago. I think you have the best secondary in the league. I think you're corners.

And the Jalen Ramsey's an interesting situation, Les, because if you look around the NFL right now, Now, the players on the outside people struggle to cover. D.K. Matcalf, large. D. Hop, large. Claypool, by the way, Pittsburgh, the rookie. He's a big kid. That a lot of the receivers right now, they're getting bigger and they're really hard to cover. So you go get a very physical corner, Jalen Ramsey, who you can put on those guys. And I wonder, when you went out and got him, was it just he's talented or did you see this emergence of some big physical receivers.

By the way, Debo Samuel in your division. It's another physical wide receiver. Is Jalen Ramsey, was that part of the bigger plan, which is these big receivers, your historical corner at 511-188 can't guard him? Great point. The answer is yes, to elaborate on that, right? Those bigger receivers, you can have,

let's go back to the old, like, I think of Duane Starks for some reason, in Baltimore, Miami corner. Very, right, smaller slider, quick as a cat, could basically, we call it mirror, right, could basically match any wide receivers move. But when their receivers got bigger, right, that's going east and west. That's going horizontally on the field, whether the receiver breaks left or right, what have you.

But, hey, when you're big and you can now go up vertically, again, it's like basketball player, right, the taller, bigger, larger person with position can go get the rebound, the shorter point guard. Can't. Interestingly, on Javan, right, when we did trade for him, we had Wade here more manned system. Jalen did in his resume, you could go back and watch him, right, really, really give someone like Antonio Brown a problem when he was at Pittsburgh, especially during that run when Jacksonville went to the AAC championship.

You could turn around in the division and see him give him. someone like D'Andre Hopkins problems as well who gets into your bigger genre. So the key there is Jalen being a large corner, not many of those on the planet, he had that skill set to not only be able to cover and give the smaller receivers a hard time or a tough day's work, but also the larger ones. I remember when Lane Kiffin was recruiting Jalen Ramsey, so he lost to Florida State. They flipped him on the last day. he was at USC.

And I remember Lane telling me, he's like, he'll be the best cornerback in the NFL when he arrives. You're not going to believe how good he is. And he was like a top-rated high school player great in the draft. But I thought it was a little roll of the dice because he was expensive and you had, you know, you were up against the cap a little, but it's paid off. Now, when you do pay golf and Donald and Jalen Ramsey and you don't have a first-round pick, do you feel some institutional pressure to hit? on the rest of them because the downside to paying four or five stars is obvious.

You can sometimes struggle with depth. Did you feel the last two drafts, hey, guys, staff, this isn't an option. We have to hit on these second, third, and fourth round picks. Good point. And I like that whether it's institutional pressure, I do think there has to be, it's definitely got to be institutional intention. And with that being said, is we've got to really. as our front office scouting staff collaborates with the coaching staff,

really understanding, okay, in those schemes, in those roles that are, like you mentioned, that are not household roles and players aren't going to be household names, but all of those nuances contexts that make up the sport and are very important on Sundays that may not make headlines, right? And those players can come from all over there. We have to be on the same page, right? And it's one thing trying to identify those players, another thing maneuvering within the draft to acquire those players. If we scout a lot and your board ends up with 150 players on there, there's really only, there's not many of those 150 that you really, really want.

Okay, how do we get those players that we really want? And two other things that are very important, and it comes with the coaching, right? coaching staffs have to be willing. All of them are probably able to develop players, willing to develop, and then at that point in time, courage to actually put those players in an important role on game day. With us at Corner, we go get Jalen, we trade Akeed and Marcus Peters. We now have to, after developing a Troy Hill and there is Williams, right?

The coaching staff has got to be willing to and have the courage. pencil those players into the lineup and let them go do their thing. Les Need ninth year Rams general manager. I do think they're one of the four best teams in the NFL. I think they have the deepest receiving core and the best secondary currently. And Les has drafted five pro bowlers. I'll throw some match you that this wouldn't matter in most markets. But L.A. is different because you have another NFL team in your stadium.

You have two NBA teams, you know, in Orange and L.A. County, two baseball teams. And there is limitations even in Los Angeles on consumer money. money and sponsors who can buy sweets is that I've had this discussion with friends. I said, when LeBron came to this market, it forces the Dodgers who were already really good to go get a Mookie Betts. It forces the clippers to get a Kauai. And that when I was watching you build your team, I said it on the air. I said, you know, L.A. is different.

Like you just can't just win. You got to have a little sizzle. There's got to be. And Sean McVeigh, by the way, he's a sizzle hire. good looking, offensive-minded. And I think to myself, maybe you never thought of that. But I thought to myself, when you're putting together an L.A. team, this isn't nothing against Detroit or Baltimore.

Like the Ravens are the city, right? Do you ever have to make a decision and literally have to meet with an operations person? Or staying cronkey, you have a discussion that, I mean, is that stuff matter at all? Or is it all just get the best players, don't care, win games, enough said, check, check, check, check, check. Great question, and we probably don't have enough time to go into it. But I do think, obviously, in L.A., right, if you just go after sizzle, but the sizzle doesn't work out, right, then that was a bad plan, bad bet, and it's no longer term sizzle.

And it's interesting when you compare the NFL to NBA major league baseball, right? I don't know if there's an NBA player. There's probably a few, and we could discuss who there are that would be, or even close to a LeBron figure, right? Because in the NFL, it's team sport. There's a lot of players on the field. We're wearing helmets and things like that. So those things do come to mind when you're in this L.A. thing.

But I think at the foundational level, too, I think NFL football, like the NBA, like the MLB, right? Ultimately, NFL football probably tilts more towards the fan base is going to really appreciate a winner in the end versus, okay, let's call it the Rams are 500 team, but they have this household name and we're going to bring the kids out just to watch that household name do his thing on Sunday, where maybe that could. occur or it does happen with like a LeBron. Hey, let's take the family out to see LeBron whether the team was wearing away.

So that's an interesting. And I'd love to get your insight on that. I think at the foundational level, what we do know is fan bases, especially NFL fan bases, even Los Angeles, are going to really, really appreciate a team that's contending. When a Colin Calhurt mentions on his radio show that we're one of the four best teams, that probably means something in L.A. If you mentioned, hey, we're one of the, the 12 best teams, maybe means a little less. But all of that, you have to, you have to, you definitely have to be cognizant where you're at,

what your fans like. But it is, it is, it is a nice coincidence, right, that maybe when we hired Sean McVeigh, he wasn't sizzled. But if he reached his potential on why we made the bet on Sean, guess what he was going to score points for that's going to bring a little bit of sizzle to L.A. and be an exciting brand of football and not necessarily, you know, not necessarily the Army brand of football. So I got to ask you this. We have a minute left. I got to ask you this because I'm into the draft. I sit home at night and a lot of people watch Netflix. I go online and look at mock drafts. I have

no life. So just a, I won't, you all have to be specific, vaguely. Is it a good draft? where is it really good? The answer is yes. I do think, now, the way we scout, I know you got a minute, so I got a Hustleway we scout. We're doing underclassmen, too, just in case they come out. So always go, the draft gets, you know, deeper, wider, depending on the under, the underclassmen.

But I'll give you some tips like the OL in this draft, right? Offensive line. A wide receiver. Seems like it's going to be another, a second year in a row of wide receivers and skill and things like that. So that's two that come to mind as you study it. But right now, we're doing a lot of underclassmen along with the seniors. Depends on who comes out, who does, and things like that, that's going to be. And unlike you, as I really focus on the draft this time of year, and this is when I do a lot.

studying for the draft. I try not to look at any mocks because I don't want to see a name and go, okay, that guy's mocking at number 12 or what have you. I like to try to look at everyone, as unbiased as I possibly can this time of year and see where the chips fall after that. Well, let's go to dinner because I like sit and talk. I'll just bore the hell out of you. We'll go to dinner and I'll ask you about a left tackle in Purdue, and you'll just think this guy's got no life. So let's connect. Talk soon. I loved having you on. You've done a great job, Les. And I can sit and talk to you all day. Thank you. I could do the same with you, especially when you're doing radio, right, when it's really interesting and could listen to you all

day. Very insightful. Good for sports. 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, S&L's Mikey Day and headwriter, 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 I-Heart 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.

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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, unfilled of conversations with athletes,

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