The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Aaron Rodgers, NFL ratings, Dalvin Cook, Carson Wentz

Episode Date: June 9, 2020

Colin explains why he feels people don't like Aaron Rodgers, why NFL ratings will be down this season, why he likes Dalvin Cook but understands why he can't get paid, and why he is defending Carson Wentz. Guests include Jarrett Bell, Gerald McCoy, Bucky Brooks, and Howard Beck. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. On the Look Back at it podcast. From 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84 is big to me. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a year, unpack what went down,

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Strangely packed show today. Joy Taylor is joining me. What a night sleep I had. Wives out of town, slept nine hours. I mean, I am bouncing off the walls today. What does that say about your, like, lifestyle when you're excited about a good night's sleep? Because I'm with you. When I sleep through the night, like, no crazy dreams.

Just like wake up, rested. It's a wonderful feeling. Early dinner, one cocktail, little TV, Crest out. It's funny when you were like a teenager, like early 20s. I want to stay up all night. This thought like never even occurred to you, how much a good night's sleep meant to you. So I want to start our show today with something that's interesting. I'm not into like what is my brand.

I don't know. People ask, you know, everybody wants to have a brand these days. Everybody's like a pro wrestler. I think I'm an opinionated guy. I think I'm pretty moderate guy. I can go either way political. Doesn't really matter to me. I'm fairly independent.

I think I am an independent voter. And I think I'm reasonably bright. I think sometimes I get off on finding stuff before other people do. I think it's cool that three and four years ago I was like Russell Wilson is a right-handed Steve Young. No, no, no, no, no, I don't want to hear it. I don't want to hear his defense. I don't want to hear about Richard Sherman. I don't want to hear about March on Lange.

I don't want to hear about Pete Carroll. This is it. I get off on finding Andrew Luck as a freshman at Stanford and saying that is the greatest quarterback prospect since John Elway. That's my thing. I'm probably like somebody, if you were like a talent, out for music and you found a garage band before everybody else, that excites you. That's what I like to do. So about six years ago, six to seven, John Goulet is a witness. I wasn't working with joy yet. About six, seven years ago, I started saying, Aaron Rogers pisses people off. Like, watch the body language.

He does not get along with people. Nobody calls out anybody publicly anymore. Everything's anonymous sources. With Aaron, guys will go out and take shots at him. Like publicly. And I've always said this. if a couple argues at a party, what is the drive home like? It's always way worse behind closed doors than publicly. You were here at Dad and you were here in teammates and, you know, cheesehead guy gets worked up. So pro football focus came out. They did a top 50 players in the NFL.

They didn't have Aaron Rogers in it. I do. I think Aaron Rogers is one of my top 20 players in the NFL. They didn't have them in the top 50. Be that as it may, there was a lot of outrage about it and people criticized the list. So PFF came out with the 10 guys who didn't make the top 50. and why. Here's what they said about Aaron Rogers. He's become even more evidently part of the problem in Green Bay. And his own team spent the offseason laying plans to minimize his role this

year and replace him beyond that. He finished last year's regular season as the number nine ranked quarterback in the league and was 17th from week eight. And here's my thing. Watch him play. It's not a physical problem. His release is the second best I've seen in NFL history to Dan Marino. It's still unbelievable. His release does. even look like anybody else. It's like a seed that pops out of his hand. He's got the second best release in the history of the league. He's got great feet. Aaron Smart moves around. Well, that's not a problem. His arm strength, absurd. His accuracy, damn good. It's a personality problem. Two examples. Even when he does something charitable and thoughtful and mindful,

people call him out publicly. Martellus Bennett this weekend. So Aaron Rogers goes out with the Instagram picture. I thought it was very thoughtful. And he's saying, listen, man, And Aaron, even on the Kaepernick stuff, was always ahead of the curve. He was like, listen, man, these guys are fighting for racial equality. Martellus Bennett, a tight end, a retired tight end that played with him. And Martellus has played with a lot of different quarterbacks. Took a shot at him. He said, doesn't sound like an ally to me.

He sounds like a spectator. So you miss me with that BS. Show me one. I don't want to see all these white saviors. It's not true. I was in Green Bay. So he took a shot at Aaron Rogers being mindful of. and thoughtful. They went out publicly.

Well, called it's just Martellus Bennett. Two years ago, Aaron did a nice thing. He gave a million dollars to the people fighting wildfires in Northern California. An incredibly gracious act. His brother came out and took a shot at him publicly. He said, yeah, but you won't

call mom and see how she's doing. It just feels like an act. When he does nice stuff, people take shots in him. Tom Brady, 20 years, not a shot. So there's It's not a physical problem with Aaron. It's a mental thing.

It is a, is he condescending? Is he snarky? Is he difficult? Whatever it is. We don't even have a comparison in my lifetime to a quarterback that's great. People have banged on Russell Wilson. They don't do it publicly. People sometimes may not get along with Peyton Manning because he's pretty bold, right?

I don't do it publicly. Not much, if I recall. I mean, am I nuts here? Two things to think about. Number one, they're doing it publicly. Nobody wants to be quoted criticizing anybody. They don't want the blowback. And secondly, is that this is what gets out.

This is just what's getting out. What is it like behind closed doors? So the whole Aaron Rogers thing, this is one of these things. And I'm not trying to be right. It's a get it right thing. Six, seven years ago, I said there's something about his personality that just doesn't click with people. And so a story came out this morning that Green Bay's general manager says,

we expect Aaron to be here for quite a while. Don't pee on my leg and tell me a training. Stop. You did not give up a first and a fourth round pick to get Jordan Love to sit for four years. It's not an Aaron physical thing. Watch him play. Release, arm, accuracy, speed, movement, A plus, A plus, A plus, A plus, A plus. There is something in the personality DNA here that doesn't work.

and even when he does gracious, thoughtful, smart, mindful, charitable things, he gets slammed like nobody in the league. I'm not making this up. I'm not making it up. Once again, somebody comes out publicly. Find, I mean, quarterbacks who can be goofy. I mean, for all the Baker Mayfield stuff, none of his teammates whack him. I mean, he had like a running back and him had a little skirmish.

I think it's one of these things. I spotted it seven years ago, and it continues to be a huge issue. All right, let me segue to this quickly. So the NFL, Roger Goodell, came out this weekend and said, I'm with the players. Okay, I'm splitting revenue. These are my guys. I'm with the players. And the story is now coming out.

There will be protests allowed, whatever those look like. You're kneeling, whatever, I don't know, whatever they look like. But, and I think those tend to bother conservatives more. conservatives tend to be more traditionalist, more into the status quo. But one of the things I have struggled with, and I'm talking now as a consumer, as somebody who watches TV and sports and radio like you do, I do what you do when I go home. I listen to podcasts. I read, you know, social media.

The thing I have struggled with, and I've tried to avoid over the last five years, because I think it's gotten far worse, is that who do I trust? who isn't trying to angle me or agenda me. Like who's giving me the straight skinny? A lot of people I even like, I feel like they're tweaking their numbers, tweaking the graph, tweaking the data, you know, to just to win the argument. And that's for people I follow and like. Very few people. And what happens now is people go home and they turn to the people they agree with.

Affirmation over information. So the conservatives go to this channel. The liberals go to this channel. And so once people get embedded into their camps, They have no interest changing and they basically hear what they want to hear. And I'm not blaming either side. They're both equally guilty. But I'm going to make a prediction.

I'm going to make a prediction right now that the NFL ratings this year will be slightly down, not much. And watch the anti-Capernaut crowd go, like, told you up. Protests are. That's not going to be it. I'm going to be totally honest with you, and that's become a commodity. We have a presidential election in November with the most polarizing president of my life, like him or not.

You don't think that's going to steal away some viewers? Of course it is. Historically, the NFL comes down in election years. Secondly, because of a pandemic, we're going to have hockey playoffs, baseball playoffs, NBA playoffs, the Masters, the U.S. Open, going up again. against the NFL in October, November, December. So when the ratings, and I think it leaked gradual, because I think the NFL's never been better, never been more exciting,

never been more bet on, never been better on TV, never been better run, never been more nimble, never been more pro player as of this weekend. I think the league is on fire. It's the best league in the country. It's the best it's ever been. But this year, because of a polarizing presidential election, and for the only time ever,

all the big four playoffs went right in October and November, the ratings will be slightly, and I mean slightly down, 1, 2%. No other league could handle this. And watch media members rush to

this is all about the protest. No, it's not. It's about our election, and it's going to be about something due to a pandemic. I'll be honest with you. Lakers, Game 6 of the NBA finals, or a regular season NFL game, I'm probably going NBA. If LeBron can win another championship with a third team, and that's on television, and it's

Titans Colts, I'm going to go NBA. Yankees Dodgers. This is supposed to be one of the great Yankee teams in a long time. Yankees Dodgers, game six, deciding game. Chargers, Raiders. Probably going baseball. Tiger Woods, in contention. U.S. Open Sunday at 4 o'clock.

Tiger Woods is the Sopranos. He's like a magnet for my eyes when he's in a major. So just watch the media reaction to a slight NFL ratings erosion. I think it'll be slight because I think the league is on fire.

But there's never been a presidential election this intense. And there's never been a time in our lives where in October and November, I could literally watch the NBA finals, the World Series, the U.S. Open, I've got the Masters, I've got the NFL.

It's a crowded calendar like we've never seen before. All right, so I think this is a really interesting story, and I'm going to ask you coming up next. I'm going to ask you, you're the general manager of a football team. What do you do with Dalvin Cook of the Vikings? Because he's probably the most underpaid player in the league not counting Mahomes or Lamar Jackson.

He's probably the most underpaid non-quarterback in the league. And I'm not sure you can do anything about it. And that is coming up. 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. Last night, a blown call changed the game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying,

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radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slice Life 12 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of mental health awareness month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking, Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing. And we're still chasing it. And we don't know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross,

because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth? Are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Keir Gaines, as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, Learn the Hardway. Open your free iHeartRadio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tapped Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do a little Kim?

Well, you can find out on the Look Back at a podcast. I'm Sam Jett. And I'm Alex In. Each episode, we pick it here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill, waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84 is big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack on day, but just so y'all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack, so I'm starting to see that there's a through line.

We also have AIDS on the table right now, so. They're finishing that sentence. And, yes, I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Really? Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, guys?

This is Clivert Taylor the Fourth. And on my podcast, The Cliverts Show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff. Like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker, this linebacker walks up to me. Oh, my mom wants you to wave at her. What? Quarterback on office blue of 42.

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Buy raycon.com slash heard. So I can think you're underpaid, dramatically underpaid, and there's nothing I can do about it. That can happen in a lot of industries. The NFL's got a salary cap. Delvin Cook is underpaid at running back for the Minnesota Vikings.

He's a sensational player. Sensational player. He had 1,600 yards last year in 13 games, 14 touchdowns. He's terrific. He had a shoulder surgery in high school that's a little bit of an enigma. I think he still battles it.

was never seriously hurt in college, had an ACL in the NFL, but injuries don't concern me with him. I think he's great. And Kirk Cousins is making $150 million over the next five years, and he's making a million a year. And that's it. This, though, is the problem.

His backup, Alexander Madison, averages 4.6 yards of carry. Delvin Cook averages 4.5. And this is exactly what the Chargers got into with Melvin Gordon. Is that the system they ran with their offensive line, there was not a gap between Gordon and the backups. and you just can't pay in a salary cap league big money when there's not a gap in talent or performance or production.

And so they let Melvin Gordon a guy they liked, a guy they drafted, a guy they were a fan of, they let him go. And I talked to the general manager. They love Melvin Gordon. But there is a movement in the NFL called Don't Give a Running Back a Second Contract. And I'll let you be the GM. I want you to think about all the rules.

If you were a general manager and there are 10 guys on your franchise that you have to put in the top like seven to eight of salaries. This is my list. Quarterback is one. Nobody would dispute it. I think in the NFL, nobody would dispute number two, an elite pass rusher. I believe the reason Lamar Jackson is going to last for 10 years is left tackle Ronnie Stanley. That would be my number three pick. Number four, an Aaron Donald Fletcher Jokes, Interior Defensive lineman, who changes the way you have. have to block your running game. Number five, what are the Patriots pay for always? Cornerback. A great shutdown corner. Number six, a position that frankly matters more today.

Wide receiver. You can't touch them. You can't grab them. They can go over the middle. You can't hit them upstairs. Wide receiver changes games. Number seven, I'd go Mike Linebacker, middle linebacker. Last 20 years, name the 20 best defenses. Virtually 17 of 20 have a great interior captain defensively that calls the shots. I would go number eight tight end. That's crazy. Five of the last six Super Bowl teams have had the best tied end in the game. It is the one athlete you can't cover. He's too big for secondary. He's too fast for linebackers. Number nine, I'd go center. I know it sounds crazy, but he's the brains of your offensive line. He calls all the audibles. Do you care about your

quarterback? And then he gets to number 10, and we can make a bunch of arguments, and I tend to be an offensive line guy, I'd go right tackle. You can make an argument for running back, whip linebacker. You can make an argument for a slot receiver or a safety like Jamal Adams. I get all of those. I'm an offensive line guy. I think this league's real simple. Find a superstar quarterback, protect him, and then find a guy that gets theirs. That's the league to me. So I can like Dalvin Cook. I can think he's wildly underappreciated. I can like everything about him. And I can't pay him. what am I going to do? Alexander Madison averages more yards per carry.

What do you do? So I think Delvin Cook's in one of those positions, and it doesn't matter if it's media, if it's law, if it's medicine, if it's landscaping, if it's car dealerships, there are positions in industries that are hard to pay the big bucks to. You just can't make it work, and the NFL's got a salary cap league. I love Dalvin Cook. I think he's great.

I'm not sure I can pay him. Joy with the news. No, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. Well, Julian Edelman has had the comfort of catching passes from Tom Brady for his entire 11-year career, and he's reportedly using Brady's departure as fuel to go into next season. An anonymous Patriots player told Mike Giardy that Edelman hates excuses and hates to lose,

and he's fired up because people thinking New England will be good this year, and that he's just a product of Brady. So there are some pieces left in New England, like Edelman, who will, you know, carry on the Patriots culture other than Belichick, obviously. Like there are players who've been in that system, like Edelman for the last 11 years. We're going to try to keep that idea and that energy of the Patriots way going. I understand that he, you know, he has some animosity towards people thinking that they're over just because Brady's gone. But, you know, we're just basing that off the fact that, you know, there's no quarterback. Well, I think Edelman's been very fortunate to play with the greatest quarterback of all time.

I'm sure he's aware of that. I mean, I think quarterbacks make wide receivers. I mean, as good as Larry Fitzgerald is, the better the quarterback, the better his numbers. I mean, it's Randy Moss set records with Brady. Marvin Harrison's good. He's not that good without Peyton Manning. So to me, Edelman just becomes a solid slot receiver, an above-a-abrefer. an above average slot receiver

instead of being what he was for the previous five years, which was virtually uncoverable. Well, right, but Edelman and Brady had a very unique chemistry. Oh, the timing was insane. You couldn't stop them. Right. So this is my question that I keep returning to with New England. It's not just that they don't have Tom Brady the player.

They don't have Tom Brady the Tom Brady. Like, there's such a huge gap between Tom Brady as, as a leader and as, I mean, he's the goat. Like, the next, the next guy coming up, even if he was good, was going to be up against it. You don't want to replace Howard Stern on radio. You don't want to replace Tom Brady a quarterback. There's just certain people. It are really tough to replace.

And listen, Jared Stidham is welcome to prove all of us wrong. Yes. I am waiting for that. Come up here and admit that we were all wrong and we didn't, not that we didn't see it because we've never seen him play, but that, you know, we just predicted something that didn't happen. but I just don't see it happening. So Philip Rivers has made the move with his family to Indianapolis. And according to Colts coach Frank Reich, Rivers is getting settled in the new city

and is looking forward to working out with his new teammates. He said Rivers is already calling the guys to throw in an effort to get ready for his first season with a new club. So we're going to see two older quarterbacks with new franchises this year, obviously Tom Brady with Tampa Bay and Philip Rivers in Indy. I would say best offensive line in football this morning. So that the good news is, fits for him how well he I don't I think he feels a little bit

like Eli Manning three years ago he's a little bit of a shot fighter I don't feel Tom's a shot fighter I feel and I like Philip but I the good news is this is the best place in the league for him I just don't know how effective it'll be but it's the perfect spot for him I couldn't agree more with everything you just said I don't see the

huge fall off with Tom Brady I think that Tampa Bay needs efficiency and that's what Tom and you know strong leadership and efficiency which is what I think Tom Brady provides Philip Rivers, to me, just felt like he was done last year. Yeah. Yeah. The Chargers have a ton of talent. You don't have to be Lamar Jackson or Carson Wentz.

You can't be the least athletic quarterback in the league. Like the pocket needs to move. And so it's, again, Eli at the end was so unathletic, he became a liability for a coaching staff. You can't move the pocket. But I just also feel like Philip, on top of being not very, very mobile, he takes ridiculous. chances. Yes, that's his sort of style. Well, you can't have both of those things. I know.

He's a gunslinger, so he's unathletic and makes a bunch of mistakes. I don't know. So Tyson Fury and Deontze Wilder are still in line for their third fight. Top-ranked CEO, Bob Aram, said that the plan is to have them complete the trilogy this year. And he's hoping that it can happen in November or December. They're still

looking for a venue and are trying to find places that will allow fans to attend. Do you know you and I had great seats for that fight? We did, yes. No other tandem in broadcasting history has had as good a seats. I believe you and I are both in the pictures here. I'm on the other side.

You know, that was a weird fight. You know, I don't know if you agreed with this. Deonté Wilder had a 15-minute intro or somebody did. I thought Wilder came in and was off. I thought he was just glad. I thought the first time he took a shot, I thought the fight was over.

It was just a matter of what it was going to end. Remember, he had that really heavy body suit on. And the intros were long for both of them. Because remember Tyson Fury came out on the throne thing. And like both of the intros were really long. Very exciting, I will add. Like lots of pageantry, which I appreciated. But yeah, Tyson Fury had this really heavy outfit on.

And he said that he was like he had to wait for Wilder. I'm sorry, Fury's intro with it on. So he was standing there like sweating with this heavy outfit on. I mean, it's kind of a ridiculous reason. I think it's valid. completely avoidable, but I do think it's valid. I think I'm not so sure I wouldn't take Wilder to win the next fight. I didn't think it was an excuse.

I thought it was a reason. If you wore in a boxing arena, a heavy 15-pound outfit for nine to 12 minutes, you'd be sopping wet. There was one moment in the fight that I felt like Wilder was in it. Other than that, I felt like Fury just dominated the whole fight, which was very surprising. But also Fury, his body looked completely. completely different. Like, he was in much better shape than the first fight.

By the way, I'd like to say again, Joy and I had great C's. Joy with the News. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Heard Lye News. Well, he's been a columnist, covered the NFL since 1981. He spent a few times in Jerry Jones' draft room on draft day. The respected Jared Bell, joining us now,

Vee the Coward Global Satellite Network, brought to you by Mercedes-Benz, the best or nothing. First day back in the job, he was a little bit of a furlough, so it's great to have Jared Bell back, having you. How are you, sir? How are things? Oh, pretty good, Colin. How are you? I am great. So I want your first takeaway. We had a lot of subjects today. Let's talk Drew Brees. You know, I said yesterday, Jared. I never thought he was the best human being in the world when he won the Walter Payton Award. And I didn't think he was the worst when he said

what he said about, you know, the flag. Contextually, I think he's a good guy who was tone deaf and paid a price for it. The question becomes now, Jared, You've been covering this league since 1981. They go on a two-game losing streak early. Is it finger-pointing? He's older. Do people start bailing on him? How do you think this works in the season with Drew Brees and his teammates?

Yeah, I think that's the big question. And that was the first reaction, really, when Drew Brees made his comments. And how's it going to play in a locker room? And you've got some strong individuals there. Obviously, Malcolm Jenkins coming back to New Orleans and to Mario Davis. and Michael Thomas. And I think Drew Breeze probably has enough collateral within that locker room. I'm sure he does, really, to get through that to a degree.

But again, as you pointed out, a lot of times it comes down to performance. And, you know, Drew Breeze showed last year that he is still at the top of his game or close to the top of his game. So that remains to be seen. But I think the bigger thing in my mind, Colin, is really when you talk about Breese's reputation outside the locker room. And maybe that doesn't really matter as much inside the locker room. But I think Drew Breeze may be the guy who shows America and shows others who are in his type of position as a high-profile individual, that you can make a mistake and you can rebound from that mistake or attempt to. rebound from that mistake with your actions. And so he may be the guy that we look at and say, yeah, Drew Brees changed his mind. He had his thinking changed after everything that went down

in terms of the reaction to his initial comments, so much so that the president challenged him pretty much to pick aside. And he came back even stronger in answering President Trump. So I think that will probably give him some tracks in terms of being able to mend fences in the locker room. You know, the NFL said they're going to allow protests. I have no idea what they're going to look like. And there's immediately people said, what about Kaepernick? Let me, let me offer this. Are we sure Kaepernick, who now has iconic stature, is just going to go for a tryout?

Like, is, if he's not a starter, and you can debate whether he's a starter or a backup, I think at this point, four years of not playing. Michael Jordan missed a year and a half and was not the same basketball player. And Michael Jordan's the goat. Kaepernick was a OK quarterback, four years of inactivity for pro sports. It is a, it is forever. Are we sure? Kaepernick's like, what timeout?

I know my stature. I'm not groveling for a job here. I want a chance to start. And frankly, there's not Jacksonville, maybe. there's not a ton of starting jobs open. Are we sure Kaepernick wants to play? Oh, I think he wants to play. I really do.

And I talked to him earlier this year and asked him that very question. And that has been mentioned several times throughout this whole saga as to whether or not he really wants to play. I think he does. But, you know, I also think that if he's going to play this year, he needs to be in a camp from the start when camps open. Now, obviously, this has been a different type of offseason in the NFL, and there's not been a lot of players able to break in as they traditionally have. But for a quarterback, obviously, you need the time to learn the playbook and to get familiar with the system. And as opposed to coming in after a quarterback gets hurt or, you know, when somebody has an emergency situation. So if anybody is serious about Colin Kaepernick and they want to put him in a position where he can at least have a time,

chance to compete, to succeed, whatever that role is, compete for a starting job, be the backup quarterback to get your feet wet back into it. That pretty much has to happen in these next few weeks before things really ramp up. So pro football focus uses their data and they use their analytics and they came out with a list last week of their top 50 players. Kaepernick wasn't on the list. Aaron Rogers wasn't on the list. Now, I think Aaron's a top 50 player. But if you look at their data and their reasoning was week eight on last year, he was the 17th ranked quarterback. And he is now part of the problem, not the solution.

He has led the NFL in throwaways the last two years with two different coaching staffs. So I saw something this weekend that there is something about Aaron Rogers that ticks people off. So he was very gracious on Instagram. and he talked about racial harmony. And some thought it was a shot at Drew Brees. And he showed this picture arm in arm with black players and teammates. Martellus Bennett came out and took a shot at it. And I thought, first of all, people don't like to take shots at people publicly.

It's mostly anonymous. But to take a shot at a superstar in America publicly is a thing. Your thoughts about, and my argument with Aaron Rogers, It's not physical. He still has the best release in the game. Great feet, great arm accurate. There is something about his personality. Is it snarky?

Is it condescending? Is it prickly? His brother took a shot at him two years ago when he donated a million dollars to Northern California firefighters, which was an incredibly gracious thing to do. There's something going on with Aaron, his GM, his coaches, the personality.

Defend him, Jared. Tell me what I'm missing because even when he's charitable, people take shots at them publicly, which they're just not prone to do with superstars in any industry in America. Yeah, I get your point. I mean, people do take shots from time to time to, you know, to whoever. I mean, LeBron James took a shot at Drew Brees last week. So it does happen.

And when you talk about Martell of Bennett, much like his brother Michael Bennett, you know, they won't pull punches. And so that's not surprising. But I guess it is surprising if you try to connect the dots and say, say, hey, here's one thing and another thing or another case with Aaron Rogers. But, you know, A, that has nothing to do with him being left off the top 50 list, I presume. But, you know, when you're in that position and you've got so much visibility, everything that you say is going to be dissected or is subject to debate. I think Aaron Rogers is a grown man who can take it.

So I don't think that there's any problem with him feeling like he's got to prove himself in another way or not. But when I think about Aaron Rogers and what's happened with the Packers and obviously he's that, you know, signature player, maybe he's a little snarky because he hasn't been supported as well as he should.

I think Aaron Rogers, Colin, has been for several years the most underserved star player in the NFL when you talk about having this supreme talent and trying to put a team around him to win. I mean, to win big, to win Super Bowls. I think that's the thing with Aaron Rogers that, you know, comes to my mind in terms of, you know, his worth, his value, what he means to the Packers and the NFL is that there's this sense that, boy, for a guy as talented as he is,

and, you know, you mentioned some of the things, the quick release and, you know, his ability to make things happen, they've kind of squandered it to a degree. So maybe that's why I, you know, he's snarky. And if I'm Aaron Rogers right now, Colin, I'm really looking at the Tom Brady situation in Tampa and saying, you know, that could be me in a couple years. But for him to not be on the top 50 list, I am stunned to see that. Yeah, I'd have him in my top 25.

Finally, I don't think the franchise tag is demeaning, but I think quarterbacks are different. There's one basically quarterback per team that gets all the snaps in practice. They get very prickly if you take away snaps in practice. And they don't like the franchise tag. Guys get franchise tag quarterbacks. They call their agent. They went out of town.

Receivers, running backs, they're always battling for catches and touches. That's the way the league is. So, Dak Prescott, to me, feels like the franchise tag was built for him. He regressed last year. Is it Garrett? Is it, Dak? Give me one year with McCarthy. If it works, boom.

Long contract. Do you think the franchise tag for DAC is offensive, is a slap in the face? No, no, it shouldn't be a slap in the face. And, yeah, I get it. You want to be secure with your future over the long haul and you see the big deals that the quarterbacks get. But, you know, Dak Prescott can just call Kurt Cousins and say, hey, how did this work out for you? So, you know, if Kirk, if Dak Prescott ends up being franchise tag for, say, two years,

years, that's north of $60 million. And that's not chunk change. So, no, he shouldn't be offended by that. By the same token, if I'm the Cowboys, I don't want to look at Russell Wilson's contract, knowing Russell Wilson's performance at Super Bowl resume and say, we've got to pay this guy more than that guy. And we all know how this thing works in terms of when you're up for your contract and how the market changes year after year as a salary cap goes up and as different guys hit the market.

But still, if you're going to look at that barometer as, you know, Russell Wilson being the standard, I'd want a guy who has won in the playoffs to be able to guarantee that type of money. So that's what the franchise tag is for teams and for players, basically, to kind of buy some time. and you're making more than $30 million or maybe more than 60 over two years to buy that time, it's not the worst thing in the world. But as Michael Irvin pointed out, Colin, the Cowboys probably owe him a little bit of back pay because they got a steal with Dak Prescott in 2016, getting him in the fourth round. And let me tell you a story, Colin.

I remember that summer, and my first impression of Dak Prescott while covering the Cowboys at training camp in Oxnard. And it's like, who is this guy, this rookie running the two-minute offense like he's a veteran? And he was getting some extra time because Tony Romo was having a day off. And this was early in camp, right? Later in camp, Romo had the injury. And that's what set up the real opportunity for Dak to play. But at that time, early in camp, Romo was taking like a couple days off every week just, you know, as a preventative measure, right? And I was just so impressed with the presence and the poise and the composure that Dak Prescott had. So you could see it right off that here was a guy who was mature enough to at least run that in training camp. And while I was

in Cowboys camp, I also went to the Rams camp and the Chargers camp. So I was doing the Southern California thing. And I saw Jared Gough at the Rams camp just really struggle. And it's only practice. It's training camp. But if you, you know, you look at your eyeballs, almost like, Like if you're having a pickup game and you say, who would I rather have this guy or that guy? You know, Dak Prescott from two different practice fields from my naked eye was just so much better than this other rookie who was number one overall. So I saw Jerry Jones and I told him, I said, you know, I was just at Rams camp and I saw Jerry golf and I'm here watching this guy. Let me just tell you, you got the better deal. And he just started laughing.

And it was just kind of crazy. But that was that first impression. And I don't say that as too much of a knock on Jared Gough because he's been to a Super Bowl. But he does have that big contract extension as well. And the Rams may regret that in terms of at least doing it when they did it as early as they did it. But point being, yeah, Jared Gough hasn't been a bust.

But if you talk about a quarterback who has made things happen, who has really given the Cowboys so much value when, you know, who knows what happens. with Tony Romo if he's not there, which the Cowboys found out. And they had their guy for as many times as they've, you know, gone through the ringer and trying to find quarterback, even going back to, you know, find Tony Romo. It's just not an automatic thing. And so the Cowboys lucked out and getting that cross out when they could.

Now, obviously, they drafted him and they scouted him and they projected that he had some potential. but for him to cash in the way, for them to cash in, now it's time for him to cash in, I guess, is the point. But a franchise tag is not the worst thing, Kyle. Jared, it's great seeing you. Love having you on the show. You're back to work. We're darn glad to have you, man.

Thanks. Well, you know what, Colin, it's like when you go away for two weeks, and these two weeks in particular, it's like being on the other side of the moon. So I've come back and the whole world has changed. I mean, some of these issues, obviously, you know, we've talked about them since Kaepernick took the knee in 2016, right? But for all of the movement that we've seen and all of the conversation, it's been pretty striking, man, for lack of a better way of putting it. But it's good to see you, man.

And by the way, there are changes being made legislatively already based on 10 to 12 days of press. protests. So they are having an enormous impact in America. That should be stated that the pro Ted, this is just not talk now. We're seeing changes being made throughout America. Jared, it's great seeing you. Yeah, it's just the shame that this is how it happened, that, you know, George Floyd had to lose his life for us to get to this point. But yeah, that's the silver line, and I guess you can say. But yeah, it's good to see you, Colin. Good to see you. All right. We'll take a break, all sorts of good stuff today. The DAC's situation is fascinating. You can really

argue it from both camps. If I'm Dax agent, I'm like, I just gave you four free years of merchandise. And if I'm Jerry, I'm like, I can't pay 36 large, because that's what they pay Russell Wilson, and he's a first ballot Hall of Famer. It's the herd. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m.

Pacific. Last night, a blown call changed the game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise.

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

For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, guys? This is Clivert Taylor the Fourth. And on my podcast, The Cliverts Show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff. Like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker walks up to me, he goes,

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You know, I was just thinking about this, is Joy and I, and this is, Joy and I, and this the way it works. We have to have what they call agents. So they represent us when we negotiate contracts because you don't want to go to your bosses and they tell you how terrible you are and you say I'm great and then you argue. So you just hire, I've hired attorneys in my life. I now have an agent and they negotiate for you. This is the same thing with pro athletes. 99.9% have an agent. And there's four or five great agents in the country. It's just like every other industry. The cream rises to the top and there's four or five great agents and Dax got a great agent. And the DAC situation, you can really make a compelling argument on both sides.

I mean, generally, like Patrick Mahomes, pay the man. Like, you just can't. Lamar Jackson in about two years, pay the man. The DAC thing is fascinating. You can make an argument if Russell Wilson's the standard. Dak doesn't meet the standard. He doesn't meet Jared Goff, who's gotten to a Super Bowl and beat Dak head-to-head in a playoff.

That's an argument. And you can say, listen, DAC, no state. tax, cowboys, he's gotten a lot of opportunities. We've surrounded him with a great O-line, great weapons, and a great running back, and offensive-minded staff, and we've actually elevated him. We've given him perfect, you know, it's the perfect driveway to pull your car into. No snow, no sleet, garage doors open, great O line, receivers, running back, and that's a good argument. And that can say, you're the biggest brand in American sports. You may be the biggest brand in the world sports. We gave you four years of doubles. We put you

on TV every week. You didn't have a solution post-Toney Romo. You were done. And I made a billion dollars for your organization. That's a pretty compelling argument. So is Jerry Jones sitting there thinking, listen, and Jerry's a businessman. We all know that, right? He's not the best owner.

He's the best businessman, not the best owner. Is Jerry sitting there thinking, listen, so I overpay him by $5 million a year. Over the course of a contract, I overpay him by $20 million, four years. What the hell do I care? Cap goes up. I don't care. I can see Jerry saying that. Or I can see Jerry saying, listen, we just don't want to get into this thing for four years.

We think, maybe has the league figured you out? At the end of last year, you regressed? Or was it Mike McCarthy? Let's give you a year with Mike McCarthy. It's one of those rare situations. I don't think there's a right side on DAC. Joy is like Pay the Man. I'm like Pay him for your franchise.

You can certainly make an argument. He's worth slightly overpaying by four. million a year. I mean, you want to pay him 31, he gets the 35 and a half. You know, one of these offensive linemen will retire. You make it back to totally legitimate argument.

Hour two next. One more herd? The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week within the IHard radio app. Search herd to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are

trending, opinions are flying, and nobody telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaders to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context and ask the questions everybody wants answered.

Sports Slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to Sports Slice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host,

and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of mental health awareness month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking. Trip Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing.

And we're still chasing it. And we don't know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross. Because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth. Are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro.

Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Keer Gaines, is we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, Learn the Hard Way. Open your free Our Heart Radio app.

Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tap Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do with Little Kim? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast.

I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick it here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill, waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84 is big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack on day, but just so you all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack. So I'm starting to see that there's a through line.

We also have AIDS on the table right now. Thank you for finishing that sentence. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Really? Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, guys?

This is Clivert Taylor the Fourth. And on my podcast, The Cliverts Show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff. Like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker walks up to me, he goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What? Quarterback on office blue of 42. Hey, rec, my mama want you to wave at her.

What? Hey, Ms. Parker. Listen to the Clifford show on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Oh, here we go. It is hour two. In Los Angeles, it is a beautiful Tuesday, at least here in Los Angeles. This is The Hurt. Wherever you may be, and however, you may be listening.

We're on IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, and FS1. Joy Taylor is joining me for hour two. Jared Bell was great to have on. A lot of different perspective. Yeah, the Dak Prescott contract is one of those. You know, like I've been in 12 contract negotiations in my life. I make my argument. They make their argument.

You try to meet in the middle. I can make a very, very good argument for DAC or not. I think both are reasonable. I just think it's hard in the NFC to get tied to somebody for four years if you do not think they're transcendent. Well, what about Jared Goff? Fair, but he's been very good in Sean McVeigh's system when he has protection. Joy Taylor is joining me. I don't get, there are contracts that seem fairly obvious to me.

I don't think, I don't think Dax is obvious. Nick Wright is like, you can't pay the man. I've heard other people. Michael Lurvin says you earn it. You owe him back pay. Generally, you don't want to pay people for what they've done. You want to pay them for what they're going to do. But I can see Jerry Jones, who is a businessman.

I mean, I've always thought of Jerry Jones as businessman first. That's what he is. He challenged the NFL years ago on the beverage deal. I think the NFL had a Coke deal and he wanted Pepsi. That's always been Jerry. As a businessman, I could make the argument. That young man made me 400. million dollars and I paid him nothing.

I'm going to overpay him $4 million for the next four years. No problem with that. Then I can say, you know what? One year I'm going to pay a fortune for a year and I promise, handshake deal. I'll never franchise you second time. Let me do it. And in fact, by the way, if seven, eight games in McCarthy's elevated you, let's start working on the new deal.

But I don't, that's why I'm not adamant either way. I think you have to be careful in the NFC. I think the quarterback plays so good. frankly, I think what's happening in America, joy, we're seeing this. The quarterback play is just good. Guys that were first rounders a couple years ago, Chameas Winston is now third on the Saints' depth chart. Nick Foles won a Super Bowl. Backup.

Marcus Mario, a franchise guy year ago. Backup. I think the quarterback play is so good. Andy Dalton is a backup. It's a backup. So you get to a situation where, you know, teams are not as desperate. You can go find capable backups around the country. We got a bunch of kids, Joe Burrow, Attua, Justin Herbert.

I think all three are going to be successful. That's three more teams off the quarterback list. I think next year we have Trevor Lawrence and Justin Fields, minimum. Two more teams off the quarterback list. What if Gardner, Minshew, and Duane Haskins, what if they work? What if they work? What if you watch Duane Haskins this year? They go eight and eight with Ron Rivera and you're like, he's big, he's strong, he's accurate.

It works. And they, by the way, the Redskins go. 8 and 8, so there'll be too good to get to the top pick. So what happens? What if Jared Stidham? Now, I'd actually think New England and Indianapolis, everybody's looking at Washington and Jacksonville. I look at New England and Indianapolis and think they got a bunch of draft picks and smart GMs. They'll move up and get a quarterback.

I think Indy's absolutely one of those teams that will. So, you know, that's kind of the world we live in right now. Are you desperate for DAC, maybe for a year? You franchise tag him, but you can make an argument both ways. I'm good with it. Now, here's what I can't make an argument about. So I saw this. It's amazing.

So pro football focus, sometimes love them, sometimes drive me nuts. They had a top 50 player list last week. Didn't have Aaron Rogers in it, didn't have Carson Wentz in it. But yesterday they came out and said, okay, here's the 10 guys that almost made it, and here's why they didn't.

They didn't even have Carson Wentz in that. So he's not one of their top 60 players. Sometimes I think with Carson Wentz, I'm misspelling his name when I Google him. Like, are people, I always with quarterbacks take out the rookie year. Don't count the rookie year. Start with the second year. In the last three years, 81 touchdowns, 21 picks.

That's a 4 to 1 ratio. 64.5% completion percentage. Passer raining at 98. And in one of those years, he was throwing to deck chairs and lawn furniture. What is? And I said this. I take pride and spotting quarterback talent early. I did it with Russell Wilson three and four years ago.

I said, folks, stop it. It's not the Seahawks defense. It's not Pete Carroll. It's not Marshawn Lynch. Russell Wilson is the secret sauce to this near dynasty. I don't get the Carson Wentz pushback. Well, he's been hurt. He's missed eight regular season games in four seasons.

Not that hurt. Is it because he played in a college we didn't watch on TV? Is it because Nick Foles won? And we think, well, if Nick Foles could win, anybody could win with your talent. he is the player in the league now because I think people have come around I think they eventually came around on Andrew Locke I think they've come around on Russell Wilson

Russell Wilson now has not just me but dozens of backers Wence is the new Russell Wilson he's good stop it he's the only guy in this league that you watch Patrick Mahomes and you can see Wence arm angles talent

mobility size moves gets banged up a little bit because they move around a lot he's it nobody else in this league looks like the Holmes. Wence kind of looks like him. So I think that's where we're at. And I've said this before. I saw ESPN had a thing yesterday where they took this year's draft order, and they went four rounds. If you could draft any current player in the league. And they had Carson Wentz 11th behind Nick Bosa. So you'd start a franchise with Nick Bosa, Ronnie Stanley, Drew Brees, and Dak before Carson Wentz. I don't. I don't even understand.

understand it. You really, you'd start it with a defensive end, a 40-year-old quarterback, an offensive tackle, a defensive tackle. I don't understand it. If you're asking me, I'm not going to do a quarterback list. If you're asking me today, every quarterback on the planet, the three I would pick to start my franchise in this order, Mahomes, Russell Wilson, Wentz, you can argue four through 20. That's who I'm starting. Those are my guys. Mahomes won, Russell, 2, Wentz 3.

Those are my guys. Luck would probably be 3, Andrew, if he didn't, you know, get beat up. By the way, I did see this. So the ESPN thing got a lot of heat. Like people said, oh, it's ridiculous. Oh, it's terrible. It is what it is. It's a list.

Everybody's got opinions. But the one thing I did think was interesting that ESPN got heat for, and I don't think they're wrong. I think the reality is nobody likes blowback. So people say things that are convenient or obvious, so nobody gets pushback. They put Drew Locke as the 15th player drafted, the Denver quarterback. Now, people were like, he's getting drafted over Matt Ryan, Christian McCaffrey, Michael Thomas, Sam Darnold, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

I just want to remind you of something. And Joy and I have talked about this. let's just let's pretend we're all scouts here and we're trying to predict the future of athletes so the last two years a quarterback has won MVP in his second year it should be three years but carson wents got hurt late in his rookie year so let's go to mahomes wence and lamar jackson's rookie year stats mahomes played in one game no touchdowns a pick 76 quarterback rating that was Mahomes' rookie year. He then won the MVP. So he did nothing in his rookie year. Carson Wentz is rookie year. 16 touchdowns, 14 picks, a 79 passer rating, barely completed 62% of his throws.

The following year, leading candidate MVP until he got hurt. Lamar Jackson's first year in the league, six touchdowns, three picks, 58% completion percent, struggled completing passes, passer rating 84. They all made massive. jumps to year two, to not just be good players, to be MVP's, like the most valuable player in the league. So go to Drew Locke's rookie year, like Lamar Jackson doesn't get a chance until late. His numbers, over a two to one touchdown to interception ratio, seven TDs, three picks, 64% completion rate, better than Mahomes, better than Wence, better than Jackson. And his quarterback rating rounded up to 90. He's got better status. He's got better

stats than all of them. And Denver, because of smart drafting, has two good running backs, three excellent young receivers, and I believe a pro bowl potential tight end and a defensive coach that keeps him in every game. So I don't think Drew Locke at 15 is outrageous. Most of the list was just, you know, it's a list. I think he's the pop guy in the league this year. I think whence popped, Lamar popped, Mahomes popped. I think it's him. I think he's a cagey, big arm. He's got a little baker.

He wants to add lib a little bit, but he's not quite, he didn't go into the weeds as much with some social stuff and some of his commentary. I think he's a huge talent. And that's why I've said this year, you know in the NFL, somebody's going to win a division and we're going to be shocked. Don't be shocked if Denver beats Kansas City. I'm not saying Kansas City's plummeting. Little Super Bowl winning hangover.

They go back to 11 wins, Denver wins 12. It's not crazy. I think Drew Locke's the next pop guy in this league. Gerald McCoy, the Dallas Cowboys, new defensive tackle. They're going to rely on him. It's a spot on that team. They need help.

And Gerald McCoy, a great pro in the NFL, will join us next. 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. Last night, a blown call changed the game. This morning, lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what

happened. That's where SportsSlice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context and ask the questions everybody wants answered. Sports Slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to Sports Slice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

And for more, follow Timbo Slic Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kier 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 Fantine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing,

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

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

as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, learn the hard way. Open your free iHeartRadio app. Search, learn the hard way, and listen now. 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? George Bush got to do a little kill. Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English.

Each episode, we pick it here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84 is big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack on day, but just so you know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack. So I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now. Thank you for finishing that sentence.

Yes. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Really? Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, guys? This is Clever Taylor the Fourth.

And on my podcast, The Cliverts Show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff. Like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker, this linebacker walks up to me. He goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What? Time out. Quarterback on office blue with 42.

Hey, rep, my mama want you to wave at her. What? Where's she at? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Cliverts show on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Tomorrow night on FS1, NASCAR Cup Series racing is live in prime time for Martinsville for the Blue Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500. Then Sunday, NASCAR hits Miami for the Dixie Vodka at 330 Eastern on Fox. Both races are

also available on the Fox Sports app. So Gerald McCoy was, I always love this. So he played at Oklahoma. He was a two-time All-American in Oklahoma. So he had to be a cowboy fan, right? And so he goes to Tampa Bay. He's a pro bowler multiple times. He's been a six-time pro bowler. He's going to get Hall of Fame votes. And then the Cowboys, as his career, now he's in his 30s. The Cowboys come and say, we've got a defensive tackle issue. They pay him a bunch of money, and he's going to the Dallas Cowboys. And I always think to myself, you know, I grew up in Seattle.

What would it be like if you got to play, literally for the team you were a fan of? I always think that's remarkable because it happens, you know, LeBron's rare. I grow up in Akron. I get drafted by Cleveland. You know, Dwayne Wade ended up in Miami. He grew up in Chicago. He was probably a Bulls fan. So Gerald McCoy is now joining us via the Coward Global Satellite Network.

So, I mean, my first question is, this is rare. You grow up. It is rare. Yeah, so you are a cowboy fan, right? I am. So here's what happened. So I start in Oklahoma. It's very rare that you either don't know somebody who's a die-hard cowboy fan or they are a die-hard

Cowboys fan. And we didn't have a professional team. Our professional team was the University of Oklahoma. And so you love the Cowboys growing up. My favorite player before Warren Sab actually was Leon Litt. And I wore number 78 in Little League. And then once I developed a love for Warren Sap, I started loving the Bucs. So I actually was blessed enough.

I grew up initially a Cowboys fan, grew up to a love for the Bucs. I got drafted by the Bucs, and I'm going to end my career with the Cowboys. That doesn't happen often, and it is extremely rare, and I couldn't even imagine that something like this would happen. Well, it's also an organization, Gerald. You will be on television every week, and your game will be the highest rated every week. So from my takeaway, the advantage to playing in Dallas is that you probably, because you have a personality, you're going to make marketing deals. And I'm sure the Cowboys weren't the only team that wanted you. Did you consider that going in that I'm on television every week?

This is good business. Absolutely. So here's my, I got it. Can I answer there with a few questions? Sure. Go ahead. Okay. Who is one of the top, if not the top,

analysts on Fox? Troy Aikman. Okay, okay. Who took over for John Gruden after he left Monday Night Football? Jason Whitten, Cowboy. Okay. Who is going to be the highest pay analyst next year? Tony Roma. All right. I'll leave it there.

So if you don't think that being a cowboy has its advantages and its benefits, yeah, it does. And I've, you know, so here's a problem that I have with people that don't listen. So I said I've played in four primetime games my entire career, excluding Thursday night football. which everybody gets, okay? Pretty much everybody gets a Thursday night or you just don't get one. But everybody gets Thursday night games. I don't count those because everybody gets them.

Everybody doesn't get a Sunday night. Everybody doesn't get a Monday night. I played in for the Bucks, since I've been on the Bucks, have been a part of, I'd say, eight or nine. I was injured when we played the Cowboys on Saturday night in 2011. I was injured in 2016, week five, we played the Carolina Panthers. And I was injured in 2017, like week 15. We played Atlanta. So I didn't play in those games. So people who know my

career better than me, I need you to stop this. I played in four prime time games, excluding Thursday night. So playing for the Dallas Cowboys and getting an opportunity to play in five this year alone is exciting for me. You know, like I said, growing up a Cowboys fan, you watch the Cowboys on Thanksgiving. Right. One of the first things my dad and I discussed is, he said, son, do you realize you can be playing on Thanksgiving?

I said, God willing, I'm healthy. Yes, I will be. Well, you know, it's interesting because Jerry Jones has always been pro player. He'll pay players. Absolutely. Dak will eventually get his money, either franchise tag or contract.

He'll get his money. But did you negotiate with Jerry? Did you talk to Jerry? Jerry, and I'd like to know what that discussion was like because he's a different cat. No, no, I actually didn't. You know, I let my agent do all the talk. And I actually spoke with Jerry the first time. It was the night of the draft or the night before the draft.

I believe it's the night of the draft. And, you know, I've spoken with him before at the Pro Bowl, and I've got to meet him and talk to him before. And he is very interesting. And he's cool. He's cool, though. You know, every time I've been around him, he's been cool. We've always been cordial, had great conversation.

and I'm excited, man. I'm excited. You know, I got a couple of questions I want to ask you. I want to go to a more serious question. You know, I was saying this the other day, Gerald, that if we're going to ask for people to grow and we should, then it's hard to ask for perfection with growth. People are going to make mistakes.

Drew Breeze was tone deaf. Absolutely. His resume showed he's a good cat. Then he was tone deaf. And so I think to myself, well, if we're going to ask people, you didn't become great out of the womb. You made mistakes. You missed assignments. And then you became a great player.

Right. I would think players would go, like I'll forgive him. But I don't know because I'm not in the locker room. Will there be players potentially, Gerald? They're like, listen, man, you're not living my life. You showed insensitivity. I can't be behind you on this. I'll play with you.

But we're out. Do you think there'll be a group like that in the Saints locker room? Yeah, absolutely. So here's the thing. It doesn't matter how much we scream, yell, protest, black lives matter. Some people are just going to miss it. Some people are just going to miss it. I'm not saying that's Drew, but my reason for saying that is some people in the locker room are going to be stone cold.

Like, hey, listen, I don't care if you did apologize. I don't care what you do from now. You said it initially. That's what you believe. That's who you are. I'm not that guy. Okay. I actually grew up under Drew Breed.

Drew has mentored me since I was a rookie in the NFL. I know what type of person he is. Okay. Drew is a great guy. He's extremely great. His family's great. Some of the nicest people I've ever been around. One of the most selfless people I've ever been around.

I was in the same division with this. guy and he's mentoring me every offseason. Gee, you need to work on this. You need to try this. You help with this. This is going to work. This is how you become great. This is how you do this.

It's how you do that. In the same division, I have to chase this guy around twice, two times a year, and he's helping me nonstop. He's been through all the struggles in New Orleans. He's been out in the streets. He's put his money where his mouth is. I think in this particular situation, he just made a mistake. I believe he got set up with a question.

And he answered that question. And in doing so, I believe he missed exactly what was going on. But sometimes you have to have things brought to your attention. I do that all the time. My wife would say, hey, baby, you didn't think about this when you answered that. And I'm like, oh, shoot, I didn't. Sometimes if you don't live in the shoes of a black man, you don't know. If you've never had to have that conversation of, okay, if you see those police lights come on,

this is what needs to happen. You don't know. And I truly believe that the question he was asked, he just answered the question. He focused on this is what needs to be said. This is how I feel. Okay, everybody's entitled to their opinion. But once he realized, hey, Drew,

that's not where we're at right now. Where we're at right now is we're focused on what's not happening for the black man. What is happening wrong for the black man? And once he realized that, Drew is not insensitive. Drew is not selfish and he's not so stuck on it's about the flag that he's not going to say, you know what, I made a mistake. Drew has issued multiple apologies and I accept his apology.

I'm so happy that he's open to hearing and wanting to learn. And it's not just drew. A lot of people open to hearing and want to learn. And once we can get to that point, then we can start creating change. but I truly believe that there will be some people who are just, this is what he said, this is how it's going to be. This is how I see it. Now, I can play with them, but for the most part,

I believe they'll be able to move past it, and we all have to grow. You know, we got to forgive and be able to maybe not forget, but just forgive and move forward and grow together. So well put. I think I can interview you every day of the year, honestly. Yeah. You're really good.

I love it. I love it. I got two more questions. Okay. One of them is about Batman, but I'll get to this one first. Yes. Okay, so you played in Tampa for nine years. You know the city.

You know the culture. You know the locker room. You know everything. Absolutely. Tom Brady. He comes from this rigid New England culture. Tampa's a little loose. It's a little fun.

It's very young. Gerald isn't going to work. What do you think? I don't know. I don't know. You know, I hope it does. I really do. I'll say this.

Tom is not coming off his greatest year. They had a phenomenal defense. Tom did not play his best year. He did not have the best supporting cast either. I'm not going to let that. People forget that. his supporting cast was not what it has been in the past. And I know, you know, you hear Shannon Sharp always say this guy, if you looked at a dictionary,

if it says do more with less, you should see Tom Brady. Yes, but that's younger Tom Brady where he wasn't older, you know, his arm was still strong and, you know, his body was still up to par. He's gotten older. And I think people forget, Father Tom is undefeated. even for Tom Brady Muhammad Ali, Father Tom kicked in. I know LeBron, I don't know

where he came from. I don't know where he came from, but Father Tom is not kicked in with him yet. But Father Tom kicks in for everybody. Do I believe Tom Brady is still winning quarterback? Absolutely. Do I believe Tom Brady can win 10 plus games? Absolutely.

Is it yet to be seen? I don't know. For me, I'm a lifelong Bucks fan. Okay? And until we have to play them, I'm always going to root for the bucks. I'm just telling you that. I hope they go undefeated and then they lose to us in the playoffs. I'm just be honest.

I'm always, I'm a lifelong bucks fan. One of my best friends is Levante David. I believe he deserves all the TV time he's going to get. I believe he's very, very underrated. I'm excited for all my former teammates. I just want all of them to get all the publicity they deserve. I believe that Tom Brady can be what they need. And I hope they win, man.

I really do. I hope they, everything that happens except the Super Bowl, because that's for us. Finally, I grew up as a kid as a Batman fan over Superman. And I don't know why it was. There was a TV show Batman in the 70s I watched. Robin, I thought, was useless. but I was more of a Batman guy.

I think it was the cave. I think it was his toys. There was something about him that was relatable. So give me, I obviously, you are a Batman fan. Am I to take that from what I see behind you in the shirt you're wearing? Nah. No, I don't like Batman at all. Nope.

So what is it about Batman? The thing I love about Batman is, one is backstory. You know, everybody has his backstory. Somebody died and created. This is why I had to do this, this, and this. Okay. But Batman is, what he does is

he's an ordinary guy who went and got some training, trained his butt off, to be who he is. And all he is is the most prepared in every situation. He's the smartest in every situation. And he outworks,

everybody he goes against every situation. And I can relate to that. You know, I was asked on Hard Knocks if you had to pick a superhero, who would you be? And I said Batman, because that's me. If you go look at my combine numbers, if you didn't put a name next to it and you just put the numbers down,

you would never say, oh, yeah, that's Gerald McCoy's numbers. Because it's just, just average numbers. Okay, I've never been the fastest, never been the strongest, never been the most athletic. but I've always been blessed enough to get the job done.

And it's because I'm a technician. I work dangerously in my technique. I study like a son of a gun. And you'd be hard pressed to find somebody who outworked me. And if I'm the most prepared, I work the hardest. And I work to be the smartest in every situation. It's going to help me in the long run. And I believe that's who Batman has always been.

And then on top of that, Batman just dope. His suit, his cave, his gadgets, everything. Batman have a suit for everything. I was watching a Batman movie. It was a Justice League movie, animated film. And I believe it was Justice League War or War or Two Worlds, one of those, two Earths. And they were going to Outer Space. And they tried to leave Batman.

And he looked at like, why y'all think y'all going to leave me? And out comes Batman. in this space suit with the bat emblem on the front. And I'm like, this dude, he has a suit for everything. I just, I mean, and Superman, he's cool. But Superman's like, he got all these powers. You know, it's just, it's either I'm stronger to you or I'm not. Okay, if this guy's super strong, okay, let's get Superman.

And we got a power we can't maintain. Let's get Superman. It's never like a really a challenge for Superman. Right. Batman always has a challenge. He's always got people we ask to out think. The Joker's highly into it. And listen, I will argue with anybody that Batman has the best list of villains, period.

The only person I think you may can argue is Spider-Man, but just the Joker alone separates him from everybody. He's the greatest villain in history. So I'm just saying. No argument from me, Gerald McCoy. Can you imagine? I'm just saying. Sitting down with your family for dinner, the conversations must be unbelievable. No, it's not.

I don't let anybody out talk me about Batman or Superman or any of that. Now, we're talking about other stuff? Yeah, absolutely, because my wife is 10 times smart as I am. So sometimes I'd be thinking my conversation is good and she's saying one thing. And I'm like, just be quiet for me. Rested dinner. Joy. Joy is nodding.

She's like, yeah, that's the way it should work. Joy is like, yeah, it is. It is. My wife, man, I'll be thinking I know something and then she'd say something like, yeah, but did you think it is? I'm like, dang, I didn't think of it. Yeah. But then I always have to come up with an excuse of why I didn't think of it, but whatever. You are welcome on this show anytime you want to come on, man. You're the sure. Absolutely. Hey, thank, man. You know what? Thank you so much. Listen, here's my last message to everybody in this time where we are seeking justice for George Floyd. And there's a lot of of protests and a lot of different things going on, man.

One message I would like to put out the people is let's keep spreading the love. Okay, I was preaching this message during, well, still, when COVID first hit, you know, it was, well, what would you say to the people? Hey, spread love because something like this can happen out of nowhere. Look at what happened. Nobody would have thought when Anthony Davis signed the Lakers and we was thinking about, okay NBA off-season, NBA free agency, and all these great signers, we were talking about, wow, this is going to be arguably the greatest season ever.

That was the discussion. Fast forward a couple months. We don't even have a season. So anything can happen in life. My point of saying that is what we need to do, man, is work on spreading more love to each other, man. Yes, Drew Brees said what he said. And it did hit hard. It hit me hard.

because I grew up under Drew Breeze and it hurt, but now he understands. Now he's seeing it. Now he's made a point of his to create change. He went right at the president. That's not easy to do. He did it, though. And now we need to start spreading love, man. That's not enough love in the world.

You know, he made a mistake. Okay, we forgive him. Now let's start spreading love. That's the problem. That's why there's so much injustice. It's too much hate. There's no reason that it's so much hate in the world. We got to spread more love, man.

Listen, are we all equal? We should be. The fact is we're not. And that's a problem. And the reason for that is is because of all the hate in the world, man. We have to spread more love. I appreciate every opportunity I get.

I appreciate you having me on the show. Whether y'all called me or didn't call me, I appreciate you for doing what you're doing, giving everything you got in your career and what you've been doing. I just appreciate everybody who does whatever they do at a high level and give everything they have, man. We just got to appreciate one another. Everybody is out here with a dream and we want to see our dreams come true, man.

We got to stop hating on each other so much. It's not about color. Just appreciate one another, man. Let's spread more love. That's my message. We need to spread more love, man, because we were looking like. like, dang, no NBA season, what are we going to do? No NFL season.

Dang, what are we going to do? People getting divorced, people struggling because there's not enough love in the world. You don't even realize you don't even love your significant of as much as you thought until you had to sit in the house with them. Now, don't see them serious. Me and my wife, we're looking at all these different people like, hey, what's everybody struggling for?

Like, why are you having such a hard time being around your own family? My family, we've been loving this time together. we've been all working out everybody losing weight i'm losing weight my wife losing weight all my kids losing weight we just find the way to be a come closer as a family now everybody needs to do it as a people man we just need to come together spread more love man and just enjoy life because covid took a lot of people out man a lot of unexpected deaths happen because of this you know it's just a lot of hate and you never know what can happen in the world so we just need to spread more love the most of every moment. And if you have any quarrels, any issues, any arguments, any beast

with anybody, man, squash them because anything can happen. Just let's spread love. Well said. What, what unbelievable last 30 minutes, 25 minutes with Gerald McCoy. Thank you, ma'am. Yeah, absolutely, man. God bless you guys. I really appreciate you having me on. Thank you so much. All right. Great stuff. Gerald McCoy. Wasn't that fun? That was great. Absolutely right about Batman's villains. Okay, I got to take a break. Let's do that.

You know what? This new show we do with no sports? Sometimes we just go long and I'm here for it. It's the herd. 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. Last night, a blown call changed the game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you,

exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athletes themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context and ask the questions everybody wants answered. Sports Slice brings you closer to the action

with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to Sports Slice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games.

And in recognition of mental health awareness month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking. Trip Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing. And we're still chasing it.

And we don't know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross, because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth. Are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust.

I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Keer Gaines, as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, Learn the Hardway. Open your free iHeartRadio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. Do you remember when Diana Ross

double-tapped Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do with Little Kim? Well, you can find out on The Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam Jett. And I'm Alex English.

Each episode, we pick it here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill, waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84 is big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack on day, but yeah, yeah, yeah. 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.

I'm going to finishing that sentence. Yes. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Really? Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app,

Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, guys? This is Clivert Taylor the Fourth. And on my podcast, The Cliverts Show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff. Like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker, this guy

Wapker wops up to me, he goes, Hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What? Time out. Quarterback on office blue 42. Hey, rec, my mama want you to wave at her. What? Where's she at?

Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Clifford show on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Good to have you in. That was about as good an interview. I had nothing to do with it. That Gerald McCoy has just got a lot of life experience, and he felt like talking and sharing it with us.

And that's about when you're a sports talk show host, Gerald McCoy is what you're praying to get. Somebody that's got opinion, somebody that's smart, somebody that's funny. That's exactly what we're trying to get every day. He was just terrific. He was great. And now he gets to play for the team he grew up rooting for,

which is like a dream. Like when you're a little kid and you get a cowboy uniform, and then you eventually play for him. you know, America's not ideal, right? We know that. We're trying to get better. But there are things about this country that are amazing. You're a little boy.

You've got a dream and it gets realized at 30, 31 years old. Like you're playing for the team you grew up with. That's awesome. We're especially in sports because there's so many different things that can happen that would keep you from achieving that. That's completely out of your control. You can't tell me his attitude isn't part of why he's great. Like just the way he thinks.

Like I'm not saying that, you know, There's not genetic gifts. Like, right? Like being born, but the potential will be 6'5 and 290s is a gift. But, I mean, his attitude has to help. Like, that guy is just, he wants to be Batman. The fact that he gets the greatness of Batman says everything. Joy with the news.

No, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. Well, I had my doubts, and I was wrong. Fight Island is happening. Fight Island. Dana White has announced the details for the first fight card to take place on Fight Islands. UFC 251

will be on July 11th at Yaz Island in Abu Dhabi, followed by three other events on July 15th, 18th, and 25th. Okay, so where is that? UAE, United Arab Emirates. Oh my gosh. Yes. So it's 10 square miles of the island that have been

blocked off just for the UFC. Is that the picture of it? Yes. What did you get that? Aras Marcosi tweeted this out. So that is a man-made. These are man-made island. Islands? That, I do not know, but... Look at that. Is that real? Is that what it looks like now? They, well, I think this is like an artist rendering of the islands, but yeah, it's already

built. So the place itself actually already exists. They are just blocking off the part of the island as separating the hotels. Oh, my God. So they'll have the arena, hotels, dining, private training facilities for the fighters and an octagon on the beach. God, this is going to be spectacular. I hope that UFC does a lot of behind the scenes content. God, I hope so. Or basically like a show while this is going on. I mean, this is crazy.

I can't actually believe it's happening. So the card for UFC 251 is Kamaro Uzman against Gilbert Burns, Alex Volkanowski versus Max Holloway, Peter Jan, versus Jose Aldo, Jessica Andridge versus Rose Namayunis. and Amanda Rebus versus Page Van Zant. So it's a really good card. And it's on Fight Island. Okay, I'm sorry for our radio listeners.

That's the single greatest artist rendering I've ever seen in my life. I want to go there now. Yeah, Arash Mercosley tweeted out, so you can go check out his Twitter. He has it on there. So you're telling me that currently exists somewhere in the world? Yes. That, what I'm looking at. UAE is an incredible, incredible place.

They have unbelievable hotels and shopping malls. And the world's best airline. Yes. Yes. Have you heard about that airline? Yes. You can shower on it. Yes. I had a friend who flew it to Dubai. What was it like? Last year. I mean, and she wasn't even in the first class.

She was in like business class and it's. Emirates. I mean, you just want to live your life on that plane. It's unbelievable. It's supposed to be the world's best airline. Yeah. It makes that very long flight go much quicker. How long is that flight? You think 15 hours? Yeah, about that.

Yeah. So David and Clowney has gotten plenty of interest in free agency, but his high asking. pricing is making difficult for him to find a deal that he likes. The most recent offer comes from Seahawks, who are reportedly ready to give Clowny a one-year deal in the $15 million range, but he has not accepted it. I remember when he first entered free agency he was asking around $20 million. You know where he fits? He fits with a team with a young quarterback not getting paid anywhere, like Buffalo or like

the Jets. Well, the Jets were interested, but they dropped out. Yeah, for me, I like him. I don't love him. He makes splash plays, but he's really a guy I'd sign for a two-year deal and a lot of money if I'm not paying my quarterback anything. I would say Baltimore, but I think they've run out of money. They've literally, their roster is so good.

Could you imagine if they got him in Baltimore? I mean, just give up. The season's over. It's ridiculous. Well, Mike Floreo reported the Seahawks offer. He only had three sacks last year, but... That's not really his thing, though. Yeah, no, he's...

Great against the run. Great against the run. And he does, he is a disruptor. He does have those splash plays in big moments. And that's what you're paying him for. So it's been over 11 months since Clay Thompson had surgery for a torn ACL. But Warriors, GM Bob Myers, isn't sure if he's 100% healthy yet. I think we got to take a look at him when we see him.

And, you know, there's different versions of 100%. Until we kind of test him and see him. And you start in one-on-one and then two-on-two. And obviously the pandemic has not allowed him that. opportunity to do those type of things. So we'll take, there's no rush, clearly. As far as I've heard, he's recovering fine. There hasn't been a setback. But one thing that's been a little bit difficult in the last couple months is our ability to oversee those things as much as you might normally would. I can understand his caution about saying that he's 100% ready, because he's right. You really can't

tell how you feel and how you fully recovered, and so you get. get out there and start doing the physical activity that you need to do on that leg. Of all the bad teams this year in the NBA, the Warriors got an unbelievable break. So they have a new arena and they know they're going to be bad after the injuries. And it's like, okay, season's over. You don't have to be bad anymore. They got a huge break. And I'll say this.

Can we stop, like put the shovels away? They're going to be really, really good next year. They are going to be really good. I think that the Western Conference is a lot different than it was. when they were dominating before Kevin Durant got there, and they are a few years older since that time as well. So while they are going to be great and I'm not ready to bury them yet, I don't know if they're a lock championship team right now.

They're in my half dozen. They're in the Toronto, Milwaukee, Boston, Lake and Clipper Warriors next year. Those teams, I don't buy that Houston's going to work postseason. Utah, Denver, real close. Well, last week, Steve Kerr said he believes that the NFL will allow the Warriors to hold a mini-camp or two at some point this summer. Most of the teams that were left out of the 22 team NBA season restart want to have some sort of mini-camp or camps over the summer and be able to do some training to make up for the time that they're not going to be able to do basketball activity, of course, because of the pandemic and then not being a part of the playoffs. All right. Joy Taylor with the news.

Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Hurd-Lie News. Imagine picking up your smartphone and turning your grill on from your smartphone. Rec tech grills with an S.com. Rec tech grills. The founder gives you a cell phone. Buy one.

You'll never buy another grill. Built by grillers for grillers. So there you go. A lot of different things today. You know, I saw this thing about Carlos Hyde says give Colin Kaepernick a job. You know, it's funny about everybody's going to push back. We're not everybody. It'll be very, you know, like polarizing.

I'm not sure Colin Kaepernick. he's got an iconic brand. Colin Kaepernick's not going to grovel for a job. I mean, seriously. Like he's, I mean, try out. Is he interested in that? And we'll see about that. I will say this.

The place he fits is actually Baltimore because Greg Roman's the coordinator and that style, that offense is built for Kaepernick. The problem, of course, is he's not getting any snaps over Lamar Jackson. So that's the place to me that he really works, from the coach to the identity to the offense, but it's Lamar Jackson. So, you know, I just don't know if Colin Kaepernick,

I think he wants to be a franchise quarterback. Are we sure he's just going to be a tryout guy? I'm not sure that's the case. Howard Beck, NBA reporter for a long time, last hour, two down. Boy, our show has flown by today in Los Angeles, hour three next. It's the herd. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd. Weekdays and noon east.

9 a.m. Pacific. Oh, here we go. It is hour three. I got a good night's sleep. The show is flying by live in Los Angeles. It's the Hurt. Wherever you may be and however you may be listening. Iheart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, FS1.

Joy Taylor's joining me. Can I tell you a story, Joy? Yes, you may. So never let the media tell you how to think. I think Twitter is mostly people that want to get attention. I don't think. my friends post on Twitter. They have accounts because they like to follow people, but they don't post on Twitter.

Only 22% of America is even on Twitter. Only 6% of people that are on it, like post and are active. I'm one of those people because of my job, and we do it because of what we do. But it's a prime example of, so when Colin Kaepernick, Nike put their arms around Colin Kaepernick and said, we're going to do a campaign with Kaepernick. God, you go to this thing. It's, oh, my guys, unbelievable. Nike stock's going to plunge.

Oh, I got. Nonsense. Nike stock's gone up. Okay. That's just what people. People want to get attention and draw attention themselves. I'll give you an example. So this weekend, Joy, I took a couple days off last week. Right.

And I go to Utah a lot. I like to ski and water skiing, whatever, with the family, right? And so by my house, about five miles away, there's these outlet stores. They were created like 30 years ago, 20 years ago. They're like discount stores, but they're all the big name stores. Like, you know, Sunglass Hut. Boy, you get deals there. you know, Eddie Bauer, Gap, you know, all the like traditional brands, but they're discount stores.

And so there's like 70 of them in this little area called Kimball Junction. One store. There were people around the block. One of the 70. And they were mostly all open. One, the Nike store. Nobody cares. Nike Kaepernick.

None of these people are going. I'm going here because of him. And nobody's going. I'm not going. Don't get caught up in your phone dictating how you should think. That, that, that, that, that, I don't know a single person that rushed to buy something at Nike because of Kaepernick or refused to go because of Kaepernick. But if you go to the phone, everybody's in that camp. Look at me.

I'm outraged. This, don't let people tell you how to think. Like, if Kaepernick gets a chance in the NFL, I'll watch. you know, he took four years off. Let me tell you something. Michael Jordan took a year and a half off. Wasn't the same basketball player. If Michael Jordan would have taken four years off,

I don't know if he's ever Michael Jordan again. And he's the best basketball player in the history of the world. Can you take four years off a sport, come back, and be good? I don't know. A quarterback playing this league right now is spectacular. I don't know if you can take four years off. But sometimes you got media creating outrage that just doesn't exist in any social circle I've ever been.

part of. So there's my rant. And you don't even have to believe what I, I don't even want to change the way you think, but I just sometimes the Nike stores packed. No one was ever going to stop buying Nike because they did a Kaepernick ad. What store did I go to? I went to the Nike store. I shouldn't say no one. There's probably like three people that don't buy Nike because of Kaepernick and their stocks up and, you know, the boycott crowd. I'm boycott in this league. I'm boycott in that league. Folks, if you play a sport I'm watching, I'd watch ping pong. at this point. I'm not boycotting anything. I'm dying for anything. All right, Bucky Brooks is my friend. NFL player became a scout. Now he works at NFL Network,

doing well for himself. Bucky Brooks joining me via the Coward Global Satellite Network. Okay, there was my rant on Kaepernick. By the way, let me just say this. Quarterback playing this league spectacular. The young quarterbacks are better than ever, and they're better faster. Four years off, Bucky, is a lifetime. Is it possible that Kaepernick gets a tryout and it's just too long to be off? I mean, it is a long time to be away from the National Football League. It would be, I think, unprecedented to see a quarterback come back after a four-year layoff. And when you consider the way that Colin Kaepernick played, whereas athleticism was such a huge part of his game,

he would face major challenges. I think the one thing that could benefit him is if he does have an opportunity, the fact that he has been a creative player, he's been a long-time starter, He would be going in as a backup quarterback. That would buy him some time to get ready. I would liken this situation to when Michael Vick came back to the National Football League for the Philadelphia Eagles. That first year he talked about he didn't have his legs. He had lost some of the athleticism.

And I don't know what kind of workout of workouts Colin Kaepernick has been involved in. But it certainly would be a challenge to come back to the National Football League. But I wouldn't dismiss his chances of being able to play, though. So pro football focus had this thing last week, and I like pro football focus. I think they like Baker Mayfield way too much. They don't like Aaron Rogers enough, but be that as it may. They finally come around on Russell Wilson. But it's interesting because they didn't have Aaron Rogers in their top 50.

And that got a lot of ire. I do have them in my top 50, but it's a list, whatever, its opinion, and some data. But it's interesting, and I said this earlier about Aaron Rogers. Martellus Bennett. This weekend Aaron came out, solidarity with players and Instagram. Graham, it was a cool picture. Martellus Bennett took a shot at him. A couple years ago, he gives a million dollars to firefighters. His brother comes out and takes a shot at him. Generally, people do not like to go public with their beefs with superstars.

I can go eight, nine, ten people deep that have ripped him publicly. I don't think he's eroding physically, but there is something with Aaron, Bucky, in the personality, the DNA here, that makes people willing to be able to. to publicly criticize him. I don't know what it is. But is it possible the Jordan Love draft pick? Was that front office saying, you're wearing us out too? I mean, I think you can be a couple of different things.

Sometimes when you're a franchise quarterback and all of the pressure is on you to kind of lead your team to the winner circle, you certainly take on a different personality when it comes to how you lead your leadership style, the way that you manage your teammates and even the coaches. I think we have seen that, look, Aaron Rogers is a higher achiever. And sometimes higher achievers can grind on others to make them to try and help them play at his level. And so we've seen a lack of patience,

maybe with some of the younger players. We've seen them call out the wide receivers and those things. But look, man, I come from an era where when you play with Jim Kelly, they called you out. You play with Dan Marino, they called you out. That's just kind of how quarterback, lead in some locker rooms. I will say this about the Packers.

I think the move that they made to get Jordan Love was part of continuing to have stability at the most important position in football. The Green Bay Packers have largely been a contender over the last 20 years, because 30 years, really, because they went from Brett Farb to Aaron Rogers. If Jordan Love can give them the kind of play that Aaron Rogers and Brett Farb gave them respectively,

he ensures that the Packers franchise will always be one of the heavyweight contenders in the National Football League. I think he's good for business to get a young quarterback before you have to go get the quarterback. So I had this discussion with Gerald McCoy, and I've had it with various people, players, and reporters. Drew Breeze, when you win, a lot of things are forgiven. You go in a three-game losing streak, the truth comes out. My hunch is the Saints are really good and Drew Breeze and the Saints. Any agendas or grudges we don't hear about during the season.

That's my guess. Your thoughts on Breeze, his apology, the situation, and what transpires going forward for that franchise? You know, Colin, like this wouldn't be a big controversy with the Saints if we weren't involved in kind of like this virtual reality that we're living in. Because the thing about the locker room, the locker room has a natural checks and balances system where guys can call each other out when they feel like a teammate has stepped out of the team fabric. Now, let me be clear. Players are okay with players having different opinions. It's not Drew Breeze's opinion and affinity for the flag that kind of rubbed his teammates the wrong way. It was his dismissal of their feelings and the fact that others may feel

differently about the flag. The beautiful thing about the locker room, you have a bunch of different people from different perspectives that come together with one common goal. And you don't have to disagree. Politically, your religious beliefs don't have to align.

Other things don't have to be in alignment. But what you have to be able to do is have the respect for your teammates to the right and to the left. And in Breeze's comments, it didn't appear that he had to respect for his teammates. that's why they were quick to challenge him.

That's why they kind of rebuked him in a public arena. But it's also why they can continue to love him because it's a checks and balances system that operates in the locker room. You know, I've always trusted your opinion because you were a scout for the Panthers and the Seahawks and helped build those franchises. And you played the game. So ESPN had some list yesterday. They took all the draft order from last year and said,

if you were drafting every player in the NFL, who would you take? And Drew Locke was 15th. Now, there was a lot of pushback on it. But I have said, if you go back to Wence, Mahomes, and Lamar Jackson's rookie years, they weren't spectacular. They made a massive jump to be MVP-level players in year two. My prediction is Drew Locke is capable of that. In fact, his stats are a little better than Lamar's were in that short period of time playing.

go back to your scouting summary of Drew Locke. I think he's going to pop this year and be a spectacular, a really high-end player. Did you like him? What do you like? What do you not like? How does he work with Denver going forward? He's one of my favorite young quarterbacks. He's one of my favorite young quarterback since I watched him progress in high school.

You have to remember that Drew Locke didn't play quarterback year round. Drew Locke, Drew Locke is an accomplished basketball player who had legitimate D1 offers to play hoops. So in the offseason, when everyone is on the 707 circuit, he is playing basketball at a high level. He didn't really become a four-time quarterback until he got to Missouri. So you're talking about two, maybe three off-seasones are really mastering the position. What I really like about Drew Locke, big-time arm talent, great athlete, very good athlete to basketball skills translate onto the grass. He is an even better connector. His ability to relate with his teammates will bring him into the basketball.

to the fold. His guys will want to play for him because he is really a guy that connects. He has a chemistry and a coolness about him that player's life. We saw in brief action for the Broncos. He has game. He can move. He can make throws on the run. He has a big time arm. And Daniel Jeremiah and I on the Moose Sixth podcast always talk about this with young quarterbacks that pop. There are three peas. Play caller, protection, and playmaker. Play caller, Pat Shermer comes over for the Giants. He has an upgrade in play caller. Playmaker, KJ Hamler, Jerry Judy.

They give him more weapons on the outside. The protection would be better because the scheme is better. Drew Locke is going to ball out this year. Colin, you're on to something. He's a fantastic young quarterback. You know, you may notice I'm on to something a lot. It could be easy. Easy.

Easy. Buckie Brooks. back in our studio soon enough. It's great seeing you. Hey, thanks for having. All right. I like it. That's my bet. Last year, remember, I didn't, Nick Wright said Buffalo Bills. I doubted him, you know. I have one of these pop teams every year. Who is Nick on this year? Chicago. That's right. That's right. So, you know, Matt and Aggie likes me a lot. So maybe I'll have to, you know, you find over time, almost everybody does.

Everyone comes around. Howard Beck's around the corner. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1 and the IHard Radio app. The world's best morning shake. Check it out, MDrive Start. MDrive Start. Got to have this product. Good stuff. Joy with the News. No, no, no, no, no.

Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. So NFL has announced their proposed safety protocols for when players return to team facilities. They include reconfiguring locker rooms, so players, remain six feet apart as much as possible, wearing masks unless it interferes with athletic activity and limiting strength and conditioning workouts

to know more than 15 players at a time. Team meetings have to be conducted virtually when possible, but if in person meetings are required, the club should attempt to hold them outdoors with proper social distancing. And helmets, pads and all equipment will be disinfected after each practice, and all players have to clean their personal items

before entering the facility. All right. So they can expect, You know, things to be a little different. I mean, we have safe protocols before we come into the building here. Yeah. Not everyone is back yet, obviously. So you have to register to make sure that you're supposed to be back in the building.

You can't be a vast to be on quarantine. You have to get your temperature taken. So everyone's going to slowly come back with things being a little bit different. And, you know, it's going to be uncomfortable at first. But it's necessary. I do agree with you. I think you've been saying this for a while. I think being outdoors is the best case scenario for most.

of these situations. Of course, if you can have meetings outside and, you know, get a speaker thing set up so you're not all stuck in a room together. Like, it makes more sense. Again, you know, there's going to have to be major testing protocols in place for whenever everyone comes back. But they are taking major steps to getting guys back in the building now because coaches were allowed back in the building to a certain capacity in the past couple weeks. So they are, you know, phasing everyone back in. NFL just really caught a huge break with the schedule timing of all this. I saw something on the internet yesterday about you can wear this thing on your mask. It's a shield. So spit. Droplets don't get through. Plus, you could wear gloves. You know,

in the NFL, you can wear gloves. So because you do have some contact. But if you're, if you have a face shield, nothing gets through. There are some ways to limit, you know, the contact as you do have. So there's been a lot of talk about whether this year's NBA championship will have an asterisk because of the pandemic. But Richard Jefferson is very against that idea. I think that's insanity. We let's just go back in history. Are there any, asterix next to all of the home run hitters. Are there any asterisks next to the Astros? Are there any asteris next to the San Antonio Sparks? There are no asterisks. They don't exist. That's the idea of a championship. Everything is a level playing field.

Everything is a level playing field and then you go out there and yes, it's not going to be perfect. It's never been done before. All of these different things. If you go out there and you are the team that comes on top, that means you are the champion. I couldn't agree more. I don't know what value having an asterisk on the championship gives it. I'm sure, you know, maybe some former players or old school players don't like the idea that it's a valid championship. But if they were playing in this situation, they would want to be considered the championship as well.

If I'm on the team that wins a championship this year, I'm a champion. So you're going to tell me if LeBron wins a title with no home games, that doesn't add to his legacy? It subtracts from it? I mean, I don't know about adding or subtracting from the legacy. but it is a championship. So whatever value, him winning a championship is to you, it should be in that category.

Like they're overcoming a tremendous amount of adversity in this situation, going from running full steam ahead in the middle of the season to an abrupt stop, to not knowing when it's healthy or safe to come back, to then have to go to an isolated place away from your family, away from your facilities, away from all the comforts that you would normally have, and your routine. And routines are cruelties. for professional athletes.

It's so important to be able to maintain that. Everything's going to be different. If anything, it should add to whoever wins the championship this year. It's going to be a completely different environment to have to overcome. I mean, we don't talk about any of the short seasons. I'm going to put an asterisk on any of those seasons, the 99th season with the Spurs or the 2011-20012. No one ever mentions that it was a shortened season for LeBron's first championship.

So it's just silly. The Pelicans got an imitation to Orlando, though, to restart. and they will be battling for that final playoff spot in the West. They'll probably need to win at least five of their eight remaining games to stay within four of Memphis and invoke a play-in series for the final seed. So the details of who New Orleans will play will still need to be ironed out,

but the clippers are the only top seed remaining on their schedule. The Pelicans would be playing mostly lower-seeded teams, including San Antonio, who just lost Lamarcus Aldridge for the season. So the West Seeds, 8 through 13 are the Grizzlies at 8 for 3 and a half games over Portland, Blazers at 9, then the Pelicans at 10, Kings, Spurs, and Sons. They're all within a half game of each other for the 9th seed. Look at Zion's power. I apologize to our radio audience. He doesn't even, he doesn't look like other, not this one.

Watch, not this block. That's gold ending. But let's watch the next one. Just watch this. Just the power. how strong he is. Is he 19 years old? Look at this.

He's just, he has a natural electricity. Explosion to his game. Yes. Yeah. Well, I hope we get to see him in the playoffs. But it's looking like it's lining up. But if they win the games are supposed to win, they'll have a good opportunity to make it in.

Enjoy with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Heard Lye News. Get your free credit scorecard today, even if you're not a discoburn. customer learn more at discover.com slash credit scorecard limitations apply.

He's been covering in the NBA since the 90s. LA, New York Times, LA Daily News. Got a podcast, the full 48 with Howard Beck, and he joins us via the Coward Global Satellite Network. So, Howard, I would have, if I ran the league, I would have gone 18, 16, let's go, right into the playoffs, create urgency. I don't want to risk any more games of COVID

or guys getting hurt. but they're going to go 22 games. How does it land for you? Like it or not? Now, Colin, I'm with you on this one. I thought that the most streamlined, the most straightforward, and the safest approach was 16 teams, the top eight in each conference as it stood on March 11th when the season was suspended. And I would say even go to back to the old Best of Five first round, which was a lot more fun and more dramatic anyway. And get through this as quickly as you can while still keeping the integrity of the postseason.

intact. But more teams, more bodies means more risk. That's just the basic math and science of this. It's undeniable. And the NBA, of course, will do everything possible to keep it safe. I understand that. And I understand that 22 teams means more games, means more revenue. And that's really, really important. And it is the driving reason to have 22 instead of 16. But yeah, if we were going to be doing this purely in deference to the situation as it exists now, the coronavirus and the pandemic. and the reason you were shut down in the first place, then you would go with fewer teams and less risk. But I understand why they need to go to 22.

You know, and I'm trying to kind of figure out, this is obviously so different, who gets an advantage. And I keep going back to the Lakers are an old team, and they didn't have to grind another 20 games out. And it also was shortened practices. Who are the smarter guys in this league? the veterans, guys that have been around, and you got Rondos and Danny Greens and LeBron James, I can make the argument, Howard.

This has been a huge break for the Lakers. Is that the team or is there another team you think that this time off was actually a little convenient, a break for them? Well, this is like the grand reset. This is like taking your old video game system and clicking the reset button. Everybody's healthy now. Simmons and Embedededed up. They're healthy. Janice Ante Duccoe had a bad knee.

had kept them out for a couple of games and we didn't know how much longer it would be. Janus is presumably healthy now. Now, the Spurs lost Lamarcus Aldrich to surgery during the shutdown, Bogdanovich of the jazz, but everybody else, Colin, has just gotten healthy. So it benefits everyone equally in that regard. I think you touch on one aspect of this, which is the teams that are smart and veteran teams that have a ton of postseason experience as the Lakers do, maybe that benefits you because you've just been in more situations and you'll adapt better to this weird bubble

environment in Orlando. But we're all just guessing here. Let's face it. Is it easier for a younger team, a spryer team to jump back into full speed basketball after months off? Is it harder on the older players because they got older, creakier bones and ligaments? I mean, I don't think we really know. I don't think that there are good answers to any of this. We won't know until they actually get to the bubble and we see them play. Yeah, like Toronto, by the way, veteran team. I mean, if the veteran thing matters, it could be a Raptors Lakers final because you've got a bunch of smart dude who have been around the league a long time. Howard Beck joining us. Now that we're, you know, there's been people that, and I'm one of them, that I thought, let's get this going as fast as we

can. The virus perhaps is weakened by heat. You know, let's get him going July 10th. It's going to be July 31st. They'll be in the crosshairs of the World Series of the NFL season. I guess this is the best they can do. Do you think the NBA wasted a little bit too much time in rebooting, in your opinion? No, absolutely not. First, you had to wait for the situation on the ground to change, right? It's that whole phrase about it. It's not about the date. It's about the data. So first you had to get things to a certain point with regard to the pandemic to be able to feel like this was safe. But there's also a lot of planning and run up that's required. The NBA's never done this. Yeah, 30 teams were pretty close to it. Go to Summer League, but those aren't NBA teams.

Those are some rookies and then a bunch of free agents, and they've had it in Vegas for years. They've never done this, Colin. This is brand new. They've never brought 22 full NBA caliber teams with their staffs and all that it entails and played actual games, real regular season and playoff games in a neutral site for three months potentially. that's you know that that requires a lot of planning and so on top of that these players need time to get back up to speed they've never been off this long this is not like an off season where you're still playing pickup and you still have access to gyms and your team practice facility no they've got nothing a lot of these guys didn't even have a basket to shoot at much less all the other training equipment that they need so

if you're going to make sure that you are doing as much as you can to minimize injury and and take care of these players. You've got to give them plenty of time and you need the two weeks of quarantine once they arrive. So this is the best I think they could have done under the circumstances. So Kevin Durant's like I'm shutting it down. I'm not playing. Somebody argued the other day. He's had like 400 days off. I think it was Chris Broussard. Do you come back. I don't have a problem. I kind of feel like for the Warriors and Kevin Durant, the whole thing, it's just kind of a let's just take the year off, take a deep breath, do it right. Your thoughts on Durant saying I'm just not going to come back. What's the point? I don't think this was even much of a decision. I think this was absolutely obvious. He was, you know, the Achilles was torn basically a year ago. And this is the toughest injury in the NBA to come back from. We know this.

He's very deep into his career and he's got a lot of miles on him. We know that. And, you know, by the time these teams were playing end of July into August, he'll have barely played in the last 15 months because he was out for a whole period before he came back that fateful night when he toured the Achilles. So why are you rushing back for this weird restarted season for a playoff, for a Nets team that doesn't have much chance of going anywhere in the playoffs anyway, except at the moment you step on the court, now everybody will expect that you are going to go somewhere. He's better off waiting until the following season when he can have a real training camp, get acclimated to his teammates who he's never even played with, and they can put him on a minutes limit in the preseason and early season games. You're going to have a really hard time saying, oh, yeah, Durant's back, but he's on a minute's limit in this weird playoff series.

he's in the middle of August. So no, he should not be playing. He should absolutely take as much time as is possible to make sure he's right. You don't want to see Kevin Durant, rush it back. He's got three more years in that contract. So whether it's for his own sake or for the net's sake and that investment, on every count, it's the right decision to wait. You know, it's interesting, Howard. Many people are speculating. This is a very important year for LeBron. And our eyeballs are on LeBron. I would argue that Janus is now in like year seven. Okay, you got two playoff wins. Like I'm overhearing about, and that's in the Eastern Conference, which is weaker, doesn't have the depth of the Western Conference. I actually think there's strangely some

pressure on Janus to come in and get to a finals. Or is he just really productive, but doesn't have that leadership thing to get you to the next level. I think there's a little pressure on him, not LeBron, not Kauai. Your thoughts about Milwaukee, the number one seed, I don't have a long history of postseason success. How do you view them coming out of the pandemic into this playoff set? Well, we do put that pressure right on every young rising star, especially one who's won an MVP and could be winning back-to-back MVP's that,

well, this is all great and it's nice, but at some point the honeymoon with us in the media and fans ends because, well, you have to be a big. haven't won it. I mean, just ask James Hardin or ask Russell Westbrook or some others who are big stars, Dame Lillard, guys who haven't gotten there, then people start to bring up the yeah, but. I don't think we're there for Janus, despite everything that you and I have just said. The fact is that Milwaukee Bucks team is not some star-studded team. They've got very, very good talent. They have the best record in the NBA. But I still think that most people believe that the Clippers and Lakers would say that the Clippers and Lakers are the more talented teams top to

bottom. So I don't think there's a high expectation that he's going to win. Where the pressure really comes in in that situation is if they don't make the finals, Colin, if they make the finals and don't win the championship, whatever the scenario is that's short of a title, people are going to ask the question understandably and justifiably, have the bucks shown enough to keep yonest? Because when we finally get to the offseason, whenever that may be late October, they're going to be eligible to offer him a supermax extension. And if he declines it, it may be an indication. that he wants out in another year when he can be a free agent in 2021. And that is what the whole NBA is waiting for to pounce.

So any cracks there in the facade of the bucks, any opening that teams have to say, that team can't get you there, Janus, but we can. That's the concern. Yeah. You know, it's actually funny, Howard. We talked about this, Joy, and I did. Chris Middleton faces some pressure because we know Janus is great.

If Chris Middleton disappears against Toronto last year, he struggled, does Janus wake up one morning and go, I can't, this is like LeBron in Cleveland the first time. I can give you 38. I need a second guy. And so it's strange in the NBA, the pressure is on what we consider to be a really good player, not a star.

If Middleton doesn't deliver, you can't blame Janice for waking up and saying, I love it here. But I got to conjoined with stars. I have to play with, I mean, that's a possibility, right? It's always a possibility because that's the era that we're in. Now, I think that Janice is the one who may, sorry, buck the trend,

because he is built a little differently. He's not one who's been seeking out of their stars to train within the offseason. In fact, he specifically disdains that outwardly. So I think that if someone's going to stay put and say, look, I'm going to gut it out here. I'll wait. They'll find me the stars. I have faith in this franchise. I'm a loyal guy. I want to be here. Maybe that's Janus. And him leaving wouldn't necessarily be disloyal, by the way. He'll have put in plenty of time there. But I do. think that the way he has wired, maybe he stays. But everything we've seen in the last 10 years in this league is that when stars get to a certain point and they've achieved a certain level of

individual success and stardom and fame, but they don't have the hardware behind it, they start to get antsy and they look around and they look to see where they can get that. So it's, there's a lot of pressure on the bucks. I mean, we're going to start talking about all the various parties that are pressure. The pressure is on John Horst and the Buck's front office and ownership to make sure that Janice wants to stay and sees a path to championships there. And if he doesn't, then, yeah, I'm not saying, I'm not predicting he will leave. I think it's reasonable to expect that that's what he would strongly consider because that's what we've been seeing.

And all the other teams that we talk about with MVP caliber players, it's all two-star teams. It's Kauai and Paul George and LeBron and Anthony Davis. And prior to that, all the super teams that we saw over the last 10 years. Good stuff, Howard Beck. Great seeing you. One of these days we'll bring you on the set. That'll happen someday. we're not sure when. Enjoy Orlando.

We'll talk soon. Appreciate it. Thanks, Colin. You bet. Yeah, I mean, I don't blame these players. I think Howard's last point is really spot on. You can love Milwaukee, but we know from the Packers,

it's not a free agent spot. The NBA has always been a place where there are certain cities that are free agent destinations. It's a winter league. A lot of guys like playing in warm weather. I mean, Miami's been the one team in the Eastern Conference. Stars go to.

I think 74 degrees. in December, January, February, March is a big reason for that. L.A. has been a free agent spot. San Antonio's grabbed some players. Houston. You know, Charles Barkley went to Houston, Scotty Pippin. In a winter league, 82 games, it's nice to get off to plane at 3 in the morning, and it's like 58, not 8.

And so you're in Milwaukee. It's not a big free agent area, and you go to the playoffs, and you get, and all of a sudden, you had a great series, and all of a sudden, in the last couple games, you're scoring 41, and you've got nobody else hitting. you can't, it's not that you don't like Milwaukee, but you have to remember pro athletes have these tiny little windows. Okay, it's not like me.

I can be a talk show host for 40 years. You can do, you got like nine years in your prime. You may play for 13, 14, you got maybe eight to nine to crush it. Times are wasting. If Chris Middleton, I say Chris Middleton doesn't step up, I'm honest, I'm like, I love him, but I want to win games. You know, if you want to be an all-time guy, great, Barclay's about the only one that doesn't have a ring.

I mean, you start listing it all the time greats. They've all got hardware. Russell and MJ and just, you know, Jerry West and Kobe Bryant and Shaq. And you start, the title, title, title, Kevin Durant, Steph, Craig, oh, Barclay didn't have one. It's like Dan Marino. Like Marino is rare. Barclay's rare. They were so great, we annoyed them great without the titles.

It doesn't work that way. If the honest plays 15 years in Milwaukee. and has two finals appearances, it matters. It's just the way we judge them. You know, Michael Jordan ruined it. Six for six, all we care about now is titles. You can be great like LeBron. We don't have six for six.

I mean, Bill Russell 1-11, we never talked about it. Jordan was so glamorous, so popular, so transformative, that now it's all about your titles. Otherwise, you're just, you know, he's good. He's fine, I mean, but he, like James Harden. It's going to ding his legacy. Can't get to the finals. Can't even get there.

New Dallas Cowboy, Gerald. McCoy, absolutely fantastic earlier. We'll share some of that if you missed 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 I-Hard Radio app. Father's Day can be stressful right now. Tommy John offering 25% off sitewide.

Go to Tommyjohn.com code H-E-R-D. fun, fun show today. Gerald McCoy was a great player to Oklahoma, then a pro bowler in Tampa. Now he's a Dallas Cowboy, and he was just a lot of fun today. He had a huge personality. One of the things I asked him, I said, you know, you're a free agent, you're out there and you grew up a cowboy fan, but of all the teams that talked to you, is there an advantage of being on America's team? who is one of the top if not the top uh analysts on fox

Troy Aikman okay okay who took over for John Gruden after he left Monday night football Jason Whitten Cowboy okay who is going to be the highest pay analyst next year Tony Roma all right I'll leave it there Cowboy has its advantages and its benefits. Yeah, it does. I played in four primetime games my entire career, excluding Thursday night football, which everybody gets. So playing for the Dallas Cowboys and getting an opportunity to play in five this year alone is exciting to me. You know, and like I said, growing up a Cowboys fan, you watch the Cowboys on Thanksgiving. One of the first things my dad and I discussed is he said, son, do you?

you realize you can be playing on Thanksgiving? I said, God willing, I'm healthy. Yes, I will be. Yeah, I don't think there's any doubt that the Cowboys, for a guy that's been a great player, but on a franchise that doesn't get watched, it's also been, Gerald was in a division that had the Saints, which are a national team, and then Atlanta was good for several years, so they got to Super Bowls, and Carolina had Cam.

So Tampa just wasn't discussed much. They didn't, you know, we work at Fox. there's not a lot of big Tampa games. I mean, I can think of the last time, I remember James Winston took on Matt Ryan. It was a Thursday night game a couple years ago, and I sat and watched that. James actually outduled Matt Ryan.

That's what he said. Thursday night doesn't count. So it's like he'll finally be on TV. You know, we also got serious. We talked about Drew Brees, and, you know, I just asked him, you know, how many players in that locker room may not accept the apology?

Does it last into the season? reason if things don't go well for the Saints, does Drew Breez struggle with teammates? It doesn't matter how much we scream, yell, protest, black lives matter. Some people are just going to miss it. Some people in the locker room are going to be stone cold. Like, hey, listen, I don't care if you did apologize. I don't care what you do from now on. You said it initially, that's what you believe. That's who you are. I'm not that guy. Okay. I actually grew up under Drew Brees. Drew has mentored. me since I was a rookie in the NFL. I know what type of person he is. Okay, Drew is a great guy.

He's, he's extremely great. His family's great. Some of the nicest people I've ever been around. One of the most selfless people I've ever been around. Sometimes, if you don't live in the shoes of a black man, you don't know. Once he realized, hey, Drew, that's not where we're at right now. Where we're at right now is we're focused on what's not happening for the black man. What is happening wrong for the black man. And once he realized that, Drew is not insensitive. Drew is not selfish and he's not so stuck on it's about the flag that he's not going to say, you know what, I made a mistake. Drew has issued multiple apologies and I accept his apology. I'm so happy that he's open to hearing and wanting to learn.

Good stuff. Gerald McCoy. We'll put it on our podcast today. It was 25, 30 minutes of great. He just had a lot of things to say. So I got to show you this. I've been on this thing today. For years, I fought for Andrew Luck,

and you said he was overrated, and then you finally figured it out. For years, four years ago, I was on this Russell Wilson thing. He's the right-handed Steve Young. Stop pretending it's the Legion of Doom and it's Marshaun Lynch. It's Russell Wilson's turning Pete Carroll into a legend. I'm on a Carson Wentz thing.

So it's just every one of these is just unbelievable to me. Like every single list that lists quarterbacks, like Wents is like 8th, 12, 13th. It's like people, are you watching these games? Last three years he's got four and a half to one touchdown to pick ratio. And they've had O line issues and they've never had a star running back. And they've never really had a healthy star receiver for back to back years. So this is Fox Bet. here's more disrespect.

These are the spread values of all the NFL starting quarterbacks. Baseball's got the wins above replacement. They call it the war. This would be the war for the NFL. So this means how many wins are you worth above an average guy? Points, points per game, above your, you know, a backup guy. Carson Wentz, five and a half. That's the same as Matt Stafford.

and it's only a half point better than Philip Rivers, Ryan Tannahill, and Kurt Cousins. Now, you've got to be kidding me. Okay, Philip Rivers moves like a batting cage. Ryan Tannahill, in the two playoff wins last year for Tennessee. The playoff wins. He threw for 160 yards combined. Carson Wentz is a cent.

You're telling me Carson Rents right now is Ryan Tannahill and Philip Rivers and Kirk Cousins. What? You don't think maybe some of the. disrespect is because he's been injured a lot. Eight regular season games in four years. Is that injured a lot? Is that a lot? Well, I mean, the one time he spent significant time out,

they won Super Bowl without him. I don't understand what I mean. What am I? I mean, I think he's very talented. I don't like... You know what? This is the downside to being a genius, is that you see things years before America.

It's very frustrating, Joy. I do think he has a little bit of an injury situation going. Tiny. Barely noticeable. He earned my respect last year with the way that he played having no receivers being down to practice squad guys. Scout guys, practice squad guys. Former quarterbacks who are now receivers. And Greg Ward's always welcome on the show, but that was his guy.

I don't get it. For the love of God, I just don't get it. They have Basically They have DAC ahead of him Big Benz 38 all banged up They have

Benz were six and a half points above replacement I don't have a problem with Wilson and Mahomes and Breeze and Rogers Matt Ryan Lamar I don't have a problem with that stuff You're telling me that

Carson's not on that class Start your day with MDrive World's Best Morning Shake Check it out MDrivestart.com MDrive start.com You know what? I slept great last night. I may be sleepless tonight. This is getting to me. This wince thing.

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