The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Andrew Luck and NFL Predictions

Episode Date: August 27, 2019

Colin discusses people bashing Andrew Luck’s early retirement, Aaron Rodgers comments on Luck, and more NFL predictions. Guests include Rob Parker, Bucky Brooks, T. J. Houshmandzadeh, and Vinny Bonsignore.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo, and every episode, we're cutting through the noise,

breaking down the biggest moments in sports and giving you the real story behind the headline. And we're going straight to the source, the athletes themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions in the moment, and the stuff nobody gets to hear. 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 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok.

Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel. Help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter.

Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, guys? This is Clever Taylor the 4th. 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, Wreck, my mama want you to weigh better. What? Hey, Ms. Parker. Listen to the Clifford Show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

The story I told myself can then shape my behavior, and that can lead me to sabotage the possibility of connection. This Mental Health Awareness Month, tune into the podcast deeply well with Debbie Brown, If you've been searching for a soft place to land while doing the work to become whole, this podcast is for you to hear more. Listen to deeply well with Debbie Brown from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

Thanks for listening to The Heard podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday from 12 to 3 Eastern, 9 to noon Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and FS1. Find your local station for the herd at Fox SportsRadio.com or stream us live every day on the IHeart Radio app by searching Herd. You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Here we go.

On a Tuesday, this is The Herd. Wherever you may be and however you may be listening, we are live in Los Angeles. IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, and FS1. Yes, my shirt has dots today. I don't wear shirts with dots much, but I thought I'd roll it out a little bit today. Joy Taylor?

That's a little disco flavor. This is as crazy as I get, Joe. I'm working a little disco flavor myself. You know. It's my nightclub look. Like once a year I wear dots. When was the last time you've been to a nightclub? Early 80s.

No. Listen, you know, I'm not really, it depends on what you mean by nightclub. A club. Do they have salmon and? No, there's no food in clubs. Oh, then it's been a long time. I had a club sandwich about a month ago.

That's not. No. Anyway, here we go on a Tuesday. So Andrew Luck retires, and let's do the chronological order of what happened. He retires, people boo, he holds a press conference, people like me defend him, and then now comes the second wave of reactions. Steve Burline, 18 years in the NFL, excuse me, 18 surgeries in the NFL, football at Notre Dame from California, played in the NFL, now a broadcaster and a very good one.

He came out yesterday. He didn't like, and by the way, this takes guts because everybody's petrified of the Twitter mob. Everybody is so PC now in sports that if you have an opinion that's contrary into the Twitter movement, you get crushed. And Berlin came out yesterday, a guy with 18 surgeries in the NFL, and he goes, I'm a huge Andrew Luck fan. Always have been. But I can't defend or justify. No scenario where retirement's indefensible. To do this to teammates, organizations, fans, NFL two weeks before the season's not right.

I love the guy. This is going to haunt him. Okay, he needs his team, needs him to make a run. I know rehab's tough. I had 19 surgeries, eight over two years. It sucks, but he owes it to his team. It's just a lower leg injury. It will heal.

Just give it a chance if it doesn't walk away from it this year. The millions he walked away from affects only him. The decision affects the team, the organization, the fan base, the entire NFL. All had invested him him for this year, at least, walk away after the season. Okay? He needs, his team needs him. Okay, so, so by the way, I appreciate anybody on social media who's willing to have an opinion right or wrong that doesn't fall right in line with the masses because it's so PC and everybody's petrified to get run over by the avalanche known as Twitter. First of all, I'm good with Lux's retirement because of the circumstances arounding it.

therefore I can justify it even with really bad timing. Obviously, it'd be way better at April to do this right before the draft. Of course, the timing wasn't perfect. So to me, circumstances make this retirement okay for me. But I will say this, and I read this the last 24 hours. I heard all sorts of people saying, who were we to say this and who are we to do that? We're sports media, and there's political media, and there's tech media, and we have opinions. and you don't have to like them,

don't tell me that all retirements are equal and that we should celebrate all players equally. I will celebrate luck because I thought he inherited a tire fire, took him to far greater heights than they deserved, and now is living with some chronic current pain. I'm all in on him. But let me throw this out to you. Kansas City, Patrick Mahomes, gets to the Super Bowl.

They're playing the Philadelphia Eagles, and Patrick Mahomes Saturday night retires saying, I can't take the stress. I am mentally exhausted. We all good with that? Leaders do not bail on the infantry

heading into battle. This is why you ask when you draft a quarterback about mom and about dad and about family and about cousins. How will you handle the money? How will you handle the stress? This is why we blame Big Ben for some of Antonio Brown's

pushback. We hold quarterbacks to different standards. We pay them more. We ask more brutal questions in the draft process. This is why. Not all retire. If Russell Wilson, you know, Joe Buck calls the World Series for us and Joe Buck calls the Super Bowl for us. One of the reasons, and there's thousands of great play-by-play guys in America. One of the reasons we pay Joe that is we know four minutes before the first pitch, he's not going to go, I'm freaking out. I can't do this. You pay for a lot of things for quarterbacks.

Not just, he's got a big arm. And wow, he can really run. You pay for maturity and leadership and toughness and guile and mental and durability. And sometimes you don't get an A plus with all of those. Andrew Lux's retirement is justified based on what he inherited, what he overcame, and what he is now dealing with. But if you look at the history of Hall of Fame quarterbacks, they have one thing in common.

It is not size. It is not arm strength. It is not mobility. It is not dominant in college. Hell, half of them we didn't even see play. in college. It is not you went in the first round. With all of them, with no exception, they were all great leaders. And leaders don't bail on their men Schwartzgopf to Patton, to Kobe, to Michael, to LeBron, to Brady, before battle. Unless, unless, like Andrew Luck, it is justifiable physically,

which in my opinion, it is. But if Andrew would have retired a couple of days ago, because the stress of playing is too much, he would have deserved criticism instead of deserving what he received overwhelmingly, which was condolences for the injuries, we feel terrible for your decision. This is actually courageous. Go get them, man. Not all retirement should be treated equally. Quarterbacks are defined by leadership quality.

and leaders should never, if at all, physically possible, bail on a team right before the big mission. Let me switch to this. So Aaron Rogers talked about, and he's obviously going to be a first ballot hall of famer, super, super talented guy. He did not like how Andrew Luck was treated by the fans in Indianapolis. when the announcement came in late in the game. I thought it was pretty disgusting. You know, he's making a really tough decision. And even before that, you know, he makes a decision.

I don't know why that doesn't stay in-house to kind of protect him a little bit. Although when I think about it, I thought it would have been, you know, more of a standing ovation type thing and a thank you than booze. Aaron, you're a smart guy. You're smarter than this. Sudden, jarring, bad news always equals confusion and usually equals initial anger. Throw in four bud lights and you expect fans to contextualize it perfectly in the minute. Okay, go to social media for five minutes.

Reaction without context. That is Twitter. The fans who were at that game were hanging around in the fourth quarter of a preseason game. Those are diehards, okay? Those aren't fans. Those are the diehards. They've named all their pets after Andrew Luck. Okay.

So I find the reaction to the fans' reaction equally ridiculous. A, organizations and the NFL and stadiums, and teams encourage fans to drink. When you're in a stadium, Budweiser, Bud Light, Coors, Coors Light, Miller, Miller, Light, drinks, this, that's everywhere in stadiums. It's everywhere outside of stadiums.

There's this beer truck and that beer truck and this tailgate and that tailgate, then those commercials. So, fans drink. That's why marketing works. That's why we can charge so much for commercials. Secondly, there is something called the mob mentality. Psychology, look it up.

I'm not making it up. People tend to be more aggressive when you put them in groups. If you put groups of men together, they get a little more courageous and a little more aggressive and a few more cat calls. These are real things.

So, fan-equal-fantic, alcohol added, a mob mentality in the fourth quarter of an NFL game, and you expected people to give a standing ovation of sudden, jarring,

really terrible news for people who pay. a lot of money to go to NFL games? Media, get off your high horse. Aaron Rogers, you're smarter than that. I mean, by the way, Aaron says I wish it didn't go public. I bet the Packers wish sometimes Aaron Rogers issues didn't always go public. But Aaron's initial reaction sometimes is to talk to the media.

And deep down, he probably wishes, why did I say that? folks, media, give the fans a break. After they listen to the press conference, after they read the local columnist, after they could add some information and context to it, everybody supported Andrew Locke. He's going to be fine. But this people's reaction to the fans' reaction to me is equally ridiculous. We don't hold the fans to the same Stanford, the standard that Joy and I are

too. We come in, we do three hours of prep, we read a bunch of stuff. We can take a break, have breakfast, think how should I address this? How should this land? If you gave me horrible news about one of my kids and it was bad news and it was sudden and I didn't know it was coming, guess what? My

reaction is going to be and by the way, add four bud lights. What do you think my reaction would be? High horse, media, stop already. The fans reaction was precisely how most fan bases would react. And for the record, 80% of the people, 90% of the people weren't booing. A little less than half reacted that way. Wasn't the whole stadium? It was 40 or 50% of the people who had stuck around for the fourth quarter of a

preseason game, four Bud Lights in. Chill out. All right. Coming up next, there is a new way to get really good players in the NFL. It is not free agency. It is not the draft. And I believe it is going to be a really cool trend in the national football league. And it might not be as big as the draft.

And it might not be as big as free agency. But I think we're going to see a new trend. And that is coming up next. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays at noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHeart Radio app. Last night, a blown call changed a 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 athlete themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions,

the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the truth. 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. SportsSlice 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, Kear Games. And in recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking, Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase

that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing. And we're still chasing it, and we don't know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross, because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on Earth? Are you a good person because you're afraid?

Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Gaines, as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, learn the hard way. Open your free I Heart Radio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. What's up, guys?

This is Clever Taylor the Fourth. And on my podcast, The Clifford 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? Quarterback on office blue with 42.

Hey, rec, my mama want you to wave at her. What? Where's she at? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Clippers show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano, and our podcast, Point Game is about defying the odds.

Like LeBron heading into the playoffs without Luca and Austin Reed. And finding ways to win no matter what. He's the smartest player to ever play the game. His IQ is at a level that we've never seen before. And he knows. Without Luca and Austin Reeves, I got to manipulate the game. We get a player's perspective on the game. We get a player's perspective on the challenges of the playoffs.

I think Joker's going to be exhausted this series because when they don't have Rudy in the lineup, he has to really guard guys like Nas Reid. He has to guard Julius Randall. And then he has to give us everything he gives us on the night-to-night basis on offense. And when IT's friends stop by, like Quentin Richardson, we dive into some playoff history too.

Steve Nash will get that thing. That man, hell get the flying. He running up the court, licking his fingers, why he got the ball, like, After you go through a training camp with that, Isaiah, you figure it out real quick. Get your ass up and down the court, and you're going to get the ball. So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. NFL teams exhaust every avenue to find players.

They get them out of college and they draft them. And then when the draft is over immediately, they sign what they call undrafted free agents, kids who didn't get drafted. Half the league is that. Then there are free agents. You get players off the waiver wire. Sometimes you'll get a player occasionally from Europe. The Canadian Football League will have the XFL debuting on this network, Joy, in February, players from that league.

So an NFL general manager's job is to just find players. In a couple of weeks now, there's going to be thousands of players on the market because of the waiver wire. Everybody makes their final cuts. another way you find players. I think we have another avenue coming, and that avenue is going to be players who retired come back more often. Jason Witten, Marshawn Lynch, Ryan Khalil just did it for the Jets.

Gronk was talking about his body and his mind mentally. He is not there yet. Football was bringing me down, and I didn't like it. And I was losing that joy in life, like the joy. I'm sorry right now, but when that time comes down in the future, if I have the desire to play football again, if I feel passionate about football again, if I'm feeling like I need to be out there on the field, I will go back to football. But as of right now, that is not the case.

But it's interesting to note here. There's something happening in the NFL. We've talked about this on the show. People don't practice two a days. They don't practice as hard. The L.A. Rams have become a very attractive spot for older players and free agents. They don't wear pads much during the season. So we've got three things working here that didn't used to be.

Players are, A, retiring early. B, when they retire, they are not as broken down. These are not old wheel barrels missing a wheel. Not all players now play through a fourth contract. And see head coaches, the smart ones, are now loosening up and lightening up practice significantly. It didn't make a lot of news, but the Jets got a pro bowler after eight months of retirement to come back. Ryan Khalil. They said, here, we're not good at center.

You're good. Won't make you play in the preseason. $8.5 million. We have a really good backup center. We'll make him do all the practice, make him do all the games in the preseason. You can step in. Ryan Khalil is a massive upgrade. They probably overpaid him a little.

But I think this is the new avenue. This is what we're going to see. Jason Witten's like, Jerry Jones said, hey, not going to make you wear pads in the season. We're not going to grind yet. We've got a bunch of young tight ends. we're going to make them do all the preseason work. You just show up and play.

Maybe have pads eight times this year. This is what the Rams are doing. So I think you're going to see more and more of this. More players retiring early, no question, because of the money and because of the transparency of health issues. But you're going to get more guys coming back who can play. And they're going to come back to their favorite team. Or their college coach who's now in the pros.

Or Ryan Khalil says, I went to USC. So did Sam Darnold. I love this kid. and by the way, I wanted to buy a vacation house in South Carolina and you paid me $8.5 million bucks. And my wife's like, can we buy a beach house? And I'm like, you know what, I'm going to play one more year. I'm not going to have to hit much in practice.

I'm going to buy that vacation house. I think, I don't think Gronk will play. But he didn't say no there. He looked great and he did not say no there. Don't be shocked in November if he considers it strongly. Joy with the news. No, no, no, no. Turn on the news.

This is the herd line news. So as we discussed earlier, Andrew Luck was treated with plenty of booze from Colts fans Saturday night after his retirement news broke. And Barry Sanders, who also surprised the NFL with his retirement in 1999. It's sympathizing with what luck is going through. He said it was tough, but I understood because I've been an avid fan before myself, so I could appreciate certainly where they were coming from. The fact that it was a surprise and just that I was, I wouldn't say in my prime, but I definitely had years left. I can appreciate both sides.

There you go. Well, context. Yes, and Barry Sanders is the exact person that you would want to talk to in this spot because he probably has the most famous retirement other than Andrew Luck in NFL history. And obviously, we know the Lions have not handled their retired stars quite as well as the Colts have traditionally. But, I mean, he's putting in perspective there, right? Like, as you said, fans react how they react. And just to be clear, in the defense of Colts fans,

even the ones in the building. It wasn't every single one. Everyone in the building didn't cheer when Kevin Durant went down. Every Miami Heat fan in the building didn't leave that game before it was over. Like it's very blown out of proportion. It's a stadium. Things echo. Yes, there were a lot of people booing.

But they're reacting. Like, that's what we want fans to do. And while it's not cool, and I'm sure it's hurtful anytime that you're booed by your home fans. That's what they felt. They felt angry. I talk to my daughter about this all the time. She'll be like, oh, Twitter, this is negative and that is negative. And I'm like, overwhelmingly, people are kind and thoughtful.

But the people who aren't get a lot of attention. Don't believe what you see on social media is reality. Don't believe the fourth quarter of a preseason game is speaking for the majority of people in Indianapolis. Definitely not. Definitely not. And look, I don't love it. I don't think it was right. But I also don't think that, I think now that Andrew Luck has probably had a day to decompress,

he has some understanding of it. And we're all kind of putting the bigger picture in perspective and more people are having more opinions. And, you know, some people are thinking that he bailed at a bad time, which is their prerogative to think. I just think the clip we just played of Gronk just shows exactly what Andrew Luck was going through. Once you reach a mental limit with what you can sustain, because your mental health and physical health are tied together. You know, it's interesting, Joy, when Barry Sanders retired, now remember, he plays running back. Right. That's the toughest position in the league for hit.

Barry got a lot of criticism for retiring. The media was not as kind to him. It was very much like, what are you doing? Well, and it was a completely different time. That's what I'm saying. So the reality is, is the media's reaction to Barry was confusion, perhaps not anger, but there were a lot of people that for years after were like, what did you do? The reality note is now, I think we're all over time.

We all kind of grow and we understand the health concerns of the NFL. But we're all like today, all mad at the fans. It wasn't that long ago that the media's reaction to Barry Sanders' retirement was closer to the fan's reaction in Indianapolis. And those are writers that have time to go home and write their column. Right. They have time to decompress and think about it. So O'Dowell has been dealing with a hip injury since early August. and Monday he finally returned to Brown's practice.

Freddie Kitchens spoke about how nice it is to finally have his star wide receiver back. Yeah, he looked good. He, you know, it's good to have him back out. We've been working on the side with him with other things. You know, it's just, you know, just natural progression. So it was good to have him back out. Well, it is good that he's back practicing before week one. He participated in team drills for the first time in three weeks.

He had been doing individual drills through his injury. but when it comes to O'Dell, it does give you a bit of pause. He's only played one full season since he entered the NFL, and that was 2016. He missed four games in 2014 with a hamstring injury, ankle fracture. He missed 12 games in 2017, and a quad bruise in 2018, missed four games. So he is at this point, I think you can safely say injury prone. Yeah, a little bit. Yeah, that's fair.

He's not a huge guy, and he's also acrobatic and puts himself, you know, he'll go over the middle. He'll put himself in harm's way. So it's not that I would classify him as fragile or anything, but he does get injured because he does take those risks. But this is good news for the Browns. He won him out there in team drills and getting football ready before week one. I don't play fantasy football. I do.

I had a draft last night. It took me an hour and a half. Okay. If I did, I would draft both Baker and Odell Beckham. Now, I have questions about the team's offensive line. There's a lot of noise. But I don't think any reasonable person thinks Bayfield and O'Dell will not have great production. No, if he's out there, they're going to have great production.

Maybe the best slant runner in the league. And one of the most accurate, Baker's a very accurate thrower of those intermediate throws. It's going to be very productive. And arguably the best hands in the league. Yes. I took Jarvis Landry and David and Joku. And later rounds. Later rounds.

Those are both great players, too. There's a lot of mouse defeat on that team. Yeah, that is a concern. And Nick Chub. Yeah. It's going to have to spread it around. So finally, Grunkowski spent nine years as a superstar for the Patriots. But on an upcoming episode of The Shop, he says he was never treated like a superstar

and neither is their quarterback. He said, you're not treated like a superstar in that organization. Charlemagne the God said, not even Brady. And he said, not even Brady. Even Charlemagne is called the God. And Brady's not called the God in New England. No, he's not. He's not. I mean, we

kind of got a glimpse into this in Tom versus Time where Giselle was talking about, you know, he just wants to feel appreciated and, you know, we kind of, we got little jabs here and there of what the actual culture is there. But I think at this point, this probably shouldn't surprise anyone. I think it

still bothers them. Like, I think it... And I would say Gronk, while he may not have been treated like a superstar in the organization, he certainly had some free reign to be himself, which was a really case for the Patriots. Like, Granc has always been able to be his own style and show his personality.

Right. And the Patriots never had a problem with that. I always felt, I feel New England's dynasty is the Spurs dynasty. It can be kind of fatiguing and boring, but they kind of want you to get over yourself. There's a bunch of different ways to do a dynasty. There's the New England way and the San Antonio way. And then there's a lot of Golden State's way, which was a lot of personality and a lot stuff and a lot of interviews. There's no one way to do a dynasty. I'm okay with New England being

boring, San Antonio being boring. And by the way, the Miami Heat were never boring. Never boring. The Lakers have had quite a history. The Celtics. The coach was writing books. You know, I have no problem with my personal preference is less noise, but we've had noisy dynasties too. Right. Right. And again, like this is what the Patriots are. This is the Patriots ran. Do your job. Fall in line. Like that's. It's a mantra that they have. And it's very much us. And Tom Brady fits into that.

He gives them discounts. He's a company guy. So did Duncan? Right. So it should not be a surprise to anyone that he's not treated like a superstar. Joy with the News. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by.

The Hurd-Ly News. Co-host of the odd couple Fox Sports Radio with Chris Brousardi's Rob Parker. He's the FS-1 instigator. And I kind of want today. You know, when I bring Rob Parker on... What's happened to Joy? Even my friends are like, you know, you bring Parker on, and he's just a rabble rouser. And I say, Rob is willing to say things that are not always in line with the rest.

I don't agree with you very often. Right. But I was interested in your opinion. So let's start with this. Andrew Luck retiring. Were you okay with it? I'm absolutely okay with it. When a guy, I think people, I get it.

Your fantasy team, you're a Colts fan. board season tickets. I get all that. But when a guy wants to step aside and doesn't want to play anymore, and banged up. And banged up and has a long list of injuries, I can respect it. And you know what? He has integrity to Colin. You know how many guys would have stayed on the sidelines? I'm going to rehab. Take a paycheck. Take the money, right? And not really be into it. I don't want to be out there with anybody who doesn't want to give their role or who doesn't want to be there. You know, I said this yesterday, and I'm not, I'm just saying, if Cam Newton has another injury,

does Cam want to go through rehab again? Right. If Aaron Rogers breaks his collarbone, we cross his fingers, he doesn't. Does Aaron want to go through it? Like, Cam's got a lot of interest. Aaron's smart. He's got a lot of interest. Andrew Luck's a global thinker.

For some of these guys, they're not totally defined by football. Not at all. And I think, I still think that Andrew Luck. Now, do you think he'll come back? No, I don't. Okay. I really don't. And I think it's symbolic for the NFL that guys aren't willing to just give up their bodies no matter what.

I mean, I do think that even though he has a lot of money, he's a smart guy. I get all those factors. But we're seeing guys now just say, I don't want to do this anymore. Right. You know, like, I'm out. I made some money. I enjoy playing football. But this is not going to be my life and I'm not going to be broken down.

and I can't play with my kids or wake up feeling bad for the rest of my life. Yeah, listen, sports all change. In baseball, you love baseball. Rob, by the way, is a Hall of Fame baseball voter. He's part of my herd podcast network. Inside the parker drops on Wednesday. Yes. But baseball's changed.

The general manager now hands the manager of the lineup car. That would have never happened five years ago. You used to be baseball managers were stars. When I was a kid growing up, like Tommy LaSorda, like Joe Torrey was a sparky and The stars now. Now, okay. In basketball, Joy and I have watched this. You can't be a back-to-the-back center.

Like you can be Joker in Denver. You can handle the ball. If you're 6-11, you better shoot a job. Anthony Davis is a great big. Where's your ball handling? Okay. And in football, players are like, I don't need a third contract. I can get out with $27 million in the bank.

I like to hunt. I like to fish. I like to hang out with my kids and coach their teams. I don't need $50 million. I got $27. 100%. And I think it's going to be more of a trend as we go forward. and the CTE, the longer you stay in,

the longer things can be bad for you. Okay. Now, the booing, you have always been very much the voice of the fan. You've had a barber shop in Detroit since I've known you. 17 years. Sporty cuts on 7-mile road. My wife's from Michigan, so we've talked about that before. I sometimes can be viewed as a little bit of an elitist,

but I back to fans on this. I'm with you. I back the fans and I think people have overreacted. If you're sitting in the crowd and rumors are floating around, you don't have all the information like everybody has. Your first reaction is, what? My quarterback quit? My season tickets are worthless.

The season's over? What is your first reaction? Especially you're in a Super Bowl window. It's not like you're the lions. You're not going to win. Your hopes are way up here and the news is way down here and you're angry. Now, I was on the way, I was working in Detroit on the radio the morning that Barry Sanders quit. Oh, this is good.

So I remember the outrage of the calls of people were just out. Barry was driving to training camp and turned his car around and said, I'm not coming. And then had his letter was sent to the Wichita Eagle. He didn't even talk to the Detroit media. That was his hometown paper or something, the Wichita Eagle. Okay, so the fans were mad. What was the, because I remember even the media was tough on Barry back then. Absolutely.

And Barry, people came down on him because he wasn't hurt. There was nothing wrong with him. It was just out of, it was out of the blue. And he plays. Unlike luck, he keeps a running back. Right. They all get hit. And the lions granted weren't good, but still people just said, well, where's this coming from?

Like this just didn't make any sense. And here's the other part. You want to talk about booing. When Barry wound up disappearing for a while, he finally comes back to Detroit. He goes to a Pistons game with his young son. They put him up on the jumbo board screen. And what do you think happened?

The house booed the hell out of Barry Sanders. They were still, this was years later, like maybe two or three years later, that they still held a grudge against Barry just walking out on the team. Yet we're crushing indie fans because in the moment, 40% of them booed. If Andrew Luck announced tomorrow, he wants to make an announcement to the city inside the stadium, less than 2% would boo. You know, 72 hours later.

Right. No doubt about it. So we're holding these indie fans. Detroit booed Barry. And if I recall, the media was tough years later on Barry in Michigan. Or Barry Sanders about it. And the other thing, too, I think people. People lose sight.

The word fan is derived from the word fanatic. So you have to care. That's why you cheer. That's why you boo. That's why you buy the paraphernalia. That's why you buy season tickets. You know this. People can't sleep off their bad laws.

You know, like this is not a part of your life. Doesn't really matter, does it? College football coaches will tell you, most would rather play home games at night. Why? They like their fans to be drunk because they're louder. The PAC 12 is offering 9 a.m. games. Where's the home field?

If you ask most coaches, most coaches would rather play 430, 5, 30, 630 on a Saturday night. Not that they want their fans like falling over the rails, but a little social lubrication in the parking lot. People get rowdier, the louder the day is. If you listen to sports radio in the morning, people are festive and you listen to it in the afternoon. Callers are calling yelling at people. Oh, right. So this idea, stadiums, teams, everybody's encouraging fans, get loud. and rowdy. Here's more but lights.

Yeah, no, that totally makes sense, and I can see why people will want it. How about Gronk? You know, I just said, Rob, players are retiring earlier and healthier. We've seen now Ryan Khalil come back, Josh McCown come back. Is it possible players will retire earlier, but because they retire healthier and younger, some will come back like Gronk and say, you know, I didn't leave like an old rickety wheelbarrel. I can still play. I'm only 32. Yeah, I don't think he's coming back.

I think because he has a future with some other stuff. And if he goes and does the wrestling thing or, you know, some of these other projects that he's in, Colin, you'll look at yourself, do you really want to go back through all that? And if you're Josh McCown or you're a quarterback and you're just holding the clipboard, that's a pretty good gig, right, to hold a clipboard. board and make some money. And you're not going to play. You probably aren't going to play. So you just have to show up to practice early, leave late, right? Don't cause any problems and you're good. But you want to be a tight end with all these guys draped on you and pulling you down and all the

drills you have to go through? I don't think so. Steve Berline did come out. Said he loved Andrew Luck, but he didn't think the timing was great. Burline had the courage to go on social media, a place where the mob runs you over. It's an avalanche if you go against the grain. Ask Doug Gottlieb. Yeah, yeah. I don't want to get in the middle of anybody's fights. But what did you make of Berline's comments?

Does he make a point that the timing kind of stinks a little bit for everybody, including Andrew, but the team, the players, the blah, blah, blah. I totally disagree with Steve Berline. When a guy is done, he's done, and he should bow out gracefully. and not play any games. You don't want anybody going half speed, not committed to the situation. You don't want anybody on your show who's not going to give you its all

if they don't really want to be here. That's why you keep coming on. That's right. I'm going to give you my all. You know it. If you mailed it in four minutes in, I would just... You'd be like, you know what? We don't need Parker.

Come on, we could do something better than that. No, I think there is a little bit of courage. I think we have to remember this with Andrew Luck. This was a hard announcement. Yes. I mean, seriously. You literally, I mean, honestly, that's a hard announcement. And it wasn't even planned for then.

Like it was planned for Sunday. So it's impromptu. And the Colts did a bad job because that should not leak out. And they put him in a bad spot with him being on the sidelines with his teammates and the fans. That should have never, whoever they should do a search and find out who leaked that. Because I think that they really did a disservice to Andrew Luck. He deserved better than that. Yeah, I know that's a really good point.

The leak was really bad. some things you just don't leak. It's not that hard not to leak. You're sitting down there, you sit down there with the owner and Chris Ballard and you say, guys, I'm going to make a decision. Let's get all the contract stuff figured out. And let's do it right. Let's let people be able to give you, you know what I mean?

So somebody, it wasn't Andrew Locke, somebody on the other side yapped. It was bad. And I think that's why fans reacted the way that they did. And I think you're right. Don't always judge like just a sample size and think that's everybody. I think everybody in Indianapolis knows what a great quarterback he's been. Yes, did they not win? They were four and four in the playoffs.

But you know what? He still gave them a chance and they were relevant because of him. Oh, God, yes. Oh, look how long it's taken the dolphins to replace Marino. It took them an hour to replace Peyton Manning. You just mentioned the Lions. How about the, you're a Lions fan. Matthew Stafford's been there 10 years.

They got no playoff wins. He was the number one overall pick. And he's got Hall of Fame stats. Go look at his numbers, but the big numbers is zero. Where would you want to be? I'd rather be an Indianapolis Colts fan who at least my quarterback gave us a chance. Good point, Rob Parker. Come on, nothing but good point.

I didn't know if school started, so I'm back into that mode at USC. Very good work by you. Thank you. Rob Parker. Coming up next, top of the hour, I'm going to give you my NFL predictions. We're all in. Preseason's almost done. Holdouts aren't.

Injuries in. Cam Newton hurt. That'll be coming up soon. 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 a 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 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 SlicLife 12 in 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, Kear Gaines, as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, learn the hard way. Open your free, our heart radio app, Search learn the hard way and listen now. What's up, guys?

This is Clever Taylor the 4th. 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?

Time out. Quarterback on office blue with 42. A rep, my mama want you to wave at her. What? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Clippers show on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Hey, I'm Deanna Maria Riva, actress, mother, lover,

and a Gen X woman walking through life one hot flash and hormonal crying jag at a time. You ladies know what I mean. I'll bet you a paramed apostle chin here you do. So let's talk about it. Join me on my new podcast, How Hard Can It Be with Deanna Maria Riva, where I call on my GenX squads from Ohio to Hollywood as we navigate Midlife's most fantastic BS. All of a sudden, I'd had hanginess happening on my own.

I was like, what the hell is that? I was married when I had her, so I didn't even consider how empty that nest was going to be. Mood swings, night sweats, fupas, sex drive. Wait, what sex? Dating at 45. How can it be getting naked at 50 with the new guy? That one's kind of hard. Well, that's lighting.

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You know, football is the most popular show in America. It's not really close. It's the number one television show is the NFL on NBC, on the NFL network, on CBS, on Fox. on ESPN. It's the number one show on five different networks. You think Game of Thrones is popular? Not close to the NFL. Breaking Bad? Not close. American Idol at its prime, not close. There's nothing like the NFL. It's a TV show. So whenever I see these stories on Tom Brady retiring, I'm like, am I the only person pulling for Tom Brady not to retire?

he's the best actor in a great TV show. Listen, Steve Correll left the office. They replaced him with a really good actor, James Spader. It wasn't the same TV show. Charlie Sheen was replaced on 2.5 Ben by Ashton Coucher, really talented. It wasn't the same show. And those are really talented people. There's just a limited number of great actors that really elevate the project they're on.

And I mean, it's a handful. and there's just a handful of great quarterbacks. Aaron Rogers makes my Sunday better. Andrew Luck, Russell Wilson, Patrick Mahomes, Tom Brady. I mean, the list gets thin after about seven. I think Carson Wentz could get there. I hope Sam Darnold gets there. Cross my fingers on Deshawn Watson staying healthy.

Like Andrew Luck leaving is not good for football. It's Steve Carell leaving. Even if you're replaced by James Spader, it's not the same. Luck is an all-timer. So whenever I see these stories about Tom Brady, listen, I watch the Steelers play the Titans on Sunday night on NBC. And I'm watching three quarterbacks. Big Ben, Marcus Marieto, and Ryan Tannahill, all competent.

One of them is really fascinating to watch. I'll let you figure out which that is. If you want to root for Tannahill and Marietta, Marietta to call it quits, all right, don't, you should want Big Ben in this league until it's like, all right, 42. He's smoking cigars on the sidelines. It's a little past his prime. I just don't get the idea of I have enough of Brady.

I just want good football. I don't care where it comes from. Just give me good football. Speaking of the Patriots, their center is a very good player, David Andrews, and his season is now in jeopardy because of a blood clotting issue. It's very interesting because nobody in the... the NFL has a surplus of offensive linemen, running backs, tight ends, linebackers, you know, there are some replaceable positions in this NFL.

Tom Brady is at this point a 42-year-old statue. This is not good news for New England. And I've said this before, is that if you told me I was an NFL GM and I was rebuilding a franchise and I was going to draft and sign a bunch of players. at a bunch of positions. But I was guaranteed that seven positions,

one player at each, would be great. And I may whiff on some free agent signings. And I may whiff on the draft. And I may whiff getting players. But seven of them would end up being, for my new team, really good acquisitions. This is the order I would put him in.

Quarterback, great defense. lineman, left tackle, edge rusher, center, corner, wide receiver. Receiver used to be running back. It's a new league. The center is in the middle of the field, the middle of communication. He sets protection. It is one of the most cerebrally demanding positions in football. And I said this for years.

People just don't get how valuable Jeff Saturday was to Peyton Manning. Jeff would put up with his crap. You could yell at Jeff. Jeff would yell back at him. Jeff was smart. Jeff had a chip on his shoulder like Peyton. Like Peyton was not an easy guy. They got in a lot of combative arguments.

And it was very, in the end, healthy. Tom Brady, not a lot of centers. By the way, when the players get released here, and it's like the waiver draft, they have the 30-second pick. So if a center is available, they're not getting the good one. This may be a situation that they could be dire enough. They may move a draft pick. They may make a trade to get one.

All right, coming up next. So here we go. Now, during the summer, I release my, you know, my NFL predictions, but that's a bunch of hooey. You know, we don't know who gets hurt. We don't know who's healthy. We don't know who pops in camp. We don't know who misses time. I got Cam Newton now injured.

I got holdouts and injuries with the chargers. My NFL predictions, NFC, AFC, laying them all out. Archive it, baby. Next. One more herd? The herd streams 24 hours a day. a week within the IHeart radio app. Search Herd to listen live or on

demand whenever you'd like. Ah, here we go. It is Tuesday. It is 10 o'clock Pacific, 1 o'clock Eastern. This is The Herd. Wherever you may be and however you may be listening, we are live on IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, and FS1.

Yes, I'm wearing Pocodocs today. I'm going uptown, cool town, Motown, all town. Joy Taylor is joining me. They're not dramatic, Pocodots. Joy, I am always dramatic. That is fair. I said directed.

So, Joey, we have done this during, we both love NBA-free agency. And then NBA free agency ends. And we had about six weeks of, you know, kind of treading water, right? Now we're into, it's football season. Like Andrew Luck just retired. These are big boy stories. Cam Newton got hurt. You know, I do kind of a summer NFL prediction segment.

but today I got everything I need. All the starters are done playing in the preseason. I've got a retirement in Andrew Luck and an injury to Lamar Miller and Cam Newton. I have all the free agents in. I've seen enough of the good rookies like Devin Bush is going to be a real player. I've got hold out still holding out. I do think Zeke and Melvin Gordon will return. So to me today, hold me to these predictions.

These are my NFL predictions. Now, I always give myself a day or a one change going into the season, you know, and somebody else retired. But by and large, what I'm going to do for the next seven, eight minutes, maybe longer, these are my predictions for the NFL seasons. I got all the information I need now. None of the starters are playing anymore. I don't think we're going to get any key injuries. I mean, the Jets offensive line, the starters haven't played any games. So, like, people are just resting their people.

So, John, here we go. Let's start with the NFC first. All right, NFC East. Philadelphia wins it at 11 and 5. Dallas battles to the end of the season for the playoffs at 9 and 7. Giants, I still think if Eli starts, you've got the third best quarterback in the division now at 6 and 10, and Washington's in a tweener year at quarterback. I have them at 5 and 11.

I do think Washington has some real players, and I like Jay Gruden. I just think this is a bad spot for him. Philadelphia, when Carson Wentz returns, in my opinion, should be the favorite in the NFC to get to the Super Bowl. They have a very good owner. Howie Rosemans, perhaps the smartest GM in the league. Carson Wentz is a special talent. By year two, he was in the MVP race like Patrick Mahomes. Doug Peterson has surprised me his ability to step into this organization and win big games.

O-line, D-line, full of talent. I do think by next year, they're going to have to start drafting on the O line again. They're getting a little long in the tooth. They do not have superstars in the running back, but like New England, just a lot of dudes everywhere. Let's go now to the NFC West. I'll take the Rams to win it at 10 and 6, San Francisco to be a very competitive 9 and 7, Seattle 500, 8, and 8, and Arizona, a wildly entertaining 5 and 11. Let's start with the Rams. Listen, they've got Todd Gurley is going to play less.

And I do think they're getting old on the offensive line. This could be Whitworth's last year. There's a lot I like about them culturally. They've got spectacular players in the positions I like. Left tackle, quarterback, very good wide receiving court, tremendous defensive line. They've gotten better at linebacker through the draft. This is a very good operation. The NFC is just so crowded now.

Ten wins to me in the NFC is a really, really good football team. I'd probably say they're the second best team in the NFC. San Francisco, don't take a ton from the preseason. They have very young wide receivers and did not play tight end George Kittle, who's a monster. This is an offense that is going to pop. San Francisco is going to double their wins. It's the safest double your wins bet in the league. I think Seattle's good.

They're going to need a couple of their draft picks to pop. Cross your fingers with that Arizona fun, but not great 5 and 11. NFC North, boy, is this division packed. I'll take Green Bay to rebound and win it at 10 and 6. That's my third best team in the NFC. Chicago battles like Dallas to the end, week 17 playoffs, 9 and 7. Minnesota, again, Kirk Cousins, big spots, better but not good enough, 8 and 8. and Detroit's 5 and 11.

Listen, the Bears, I'm pulling back here. Their schedule's brutal. Even games you'd think they'd win at Denver in week two, go ask professional sports betters. Never been against the Broncos in September at home. High altitude, teams aren't ready. The middle of their schedules brutal. Then at the end of the year,

the Bears last four. Dallas at Green Bay, Kansas City at Minnesota. It is a brutal schedule, and I think Tribusky has a ceiling. Minnesota, again, love their roster. A lot of big games on that schedule. I don't think Kirk pulls him through. I do like Delvin Cookback, though.

Boy, is he fantastic. There again, a wildly entertaining team. Okay, let's go to the NFC South, which has always been a difficult division to predict. Third to first, a lot of different winners here. I'm going to go back to Atlanta. This is not a popular pick. I had them in the Super Bowl last year.

Okay, they upgraded their offensive line twice in the first round. That was a real issue. They get Devante Freeman back. I think they've Uphonse. upgraded coordinators. They had traumatic cluster injuries last year in the secondary and at linebacker, healthy guys back. Key people, key coaching spots.

I think they have upgraded sometimes slightly, sometimes significantly. I'll take Atlanta as the fourth best division winner in the NFC in a tough division nine and seven. I think the Saints pull back. I think Drew Brees looked tired at the end of the year. I think their offensive line is exceptional. but again, I think there's that emotional edge of the cliff.

They're at the very edge of it. I think their schedule's tough. Carolina, Cam Newton is now hurt coming into the season. I don't think Cam's that long from one more injury and getting out of this sport. I love elements to Carolina, but I do not trust them week to week in this league. They are too hot and cold for me.

Some of that's Cam. And I think Tampa Bay, they are what they are, 5 and 11. that's the NFC. Philly, Rams, Green Bay, Atlanta win their divisions. San Francisco, Chicago, and Dallas battle for two playoffs. Spots, wildcard. Let's go to the AFC. All right, the easy one.

New England's going to win their division. I think this is the most athletic Patriot team in several years. Bill Belichick has told people were better than last year. They're younger. They may make more mistakes, and I am worried about Andrews, the center, and the blood clot issue. But they're the best team in a dysfunctional division. The Jets at 9 and 7 will battle for a playoff spot. No team in the NFL gave their young quarterback a bigger boost.

We go from no running back to Labian Bell. We go from sporadic offensive line to massive upgrades at guard and center, defensive coach to offensive coach, and a good slot receiver, Jameson Crowder. This offense is going to be a real offense now. Still needs a number one receiver. They even have a good two-back tie Montgomery. They also have stars all through the middle of their defense. Jamal Adams, C.J. Mosley, Leonard Williams.

They will not be as good on special teams, and I think that will be their undoing at the end of the year. I think Buffalo is fine, 7 and 9, still rebuilding. Dolphins are a mess, 4 and 12. AFC West. I'm going to go with Kansas City wins it at 11 and 5. I think New England, Kansas City are really good, super bold potential teams. There's nothing I don't like about them. There's been rumors about a Tyreek Hill trade to get a better corner like a

Jalen Ramsey. Regardless, I think the coach, the GM, the quarterback, the offensive line, I'm in. Chargers, pull them back to 10 and 6. I got a holdout and Derwin James injury. He's the best athlete on their defense. I don't know if he's their best player. He's their best athlete. I know inside the Chargers organization that Derwin James injury is rough on the organization. I also don't trust them, by the way, against Kansas City. Kansas City has been very good against the Chargers. I think Denver is a tough out at 7 and 9. I think Flacco's fine. I think they'll have some success early.

I don't know if they have the depth I'm looking for. And I don't quite know what to get Joe Flacco. You know, he's fine. But in this division with Mahomes and Philip Rivers, he's the third best quarterback or maybe the fourth best quarterback to Derek Carr. I have the Raiders at 6 and 10. I think they'll be a wildly entertaining mess. I think they'll be fun.

They'll have some upset wins. They'll go through a four-game losing streak. they'll make a bunch of noise and they'll be a bunch of fun, but I don't see them as a great football team. AFC North. The best team I have seen so far in the preseason is the Pittsburgh Steelers. I think they have made multiple upgrades to their defense through free agency, through the draft, through the AAF 11 and 5.

I think noise left the building. I think the positions they draft well running wide receiver and linebacker are positions that needed to be addressed, and they just happened to land a great receiver two years ago and a great linebacker, Devin, this year. Cleveland 9 and 7. Like the Jets and the Chargers, we'll be battling for a playoff spot late into the year. I have concerns

about their offensive line. It's not good at tackle. It is really good at center. They have one injury on the interior of their offensive line, and they're in trouble. I also think Odell Beckham and Olivier Vernon, Vernon's production, bigger

name than production. Odell Beckham, bigger name than health. I think if Denzel Ward stays healthy. Odell stays healthy. Olivia Verden's production goes up. They could be a playoff team. I think Baltimore's 8 and 8. They're going to be the Seattle of the AFC. They can be anybody on any week. Anybody on any week. But they're going to be depending on some young players in key spots. They're a 500 team. Cincinnati to me has to make some upgrades at quarterback. They're 5 and 11. A lot of that is they just not going to win many games in their

division. They're not going to beat Pittsburgh or Cleveland, in my opinion. They're going to go 0 and 4 with those guys. And finally, the AFC South. Big changes here because of Andrew Luck's departure. I gave Houston another win than I would have in the summer, 11 and 5. Lamar Miller's injury is something, but they have Duke Johnson. I also think in the waiver wire you can find running backs who are, you know, B minus C plus complementary. Their offensive line is better. How much we'll find out. I think Deshawn Watson's spectacular. Not sure why everybody doesn't embrace him. I think. the big winner in this division, too, is Tennessee.

They could not beat Andrew Luck. They were 0-12 against him. They could not beat Andrew Luck. They're going to go from 0-2 to 2-0 against the Colts. So I think Tennessee, like Cleveland, like the Chargers, like the Jets, vise for a playoff spot. I don't think it's man overboard for Indianapolis. I'll put them at 8-8. I think they're going to have, I think their ceilings lower,

but I think this is a really good roster. I think they're going to run the football more. Their tight ends are excellent. They upgraded wide receiver. They upgraded corner. It's a really good roster. And Jacoby Berset's a big strong kid. He's not special.

He's not transformative. He's fine. He's been there. He knows the system. So I don't think this is his man overboard. I think they're going to lose those close games that Andrew Luck pulls you out in the fourth, about three times. But they'll be fine. They'll be in that playoff picture week 13, week 14.

Jacksonville, I don't buy Nick Foles. I don't buy the organization. Do like Tom Coughlin, six and ten. There you go. There you go. Strong stuff. We'll see if it's strong. I'll be very high on the Steelers.

I like that. Very high. on Pittsburgh. Best team I've seen in the preseason. Doesn't mean they're the best team, but they've been their defensive side of the football, they have been noticeably more athletic. Chris Collins were set at Sunday night.

He's like, they don't look the same. They look younger, faster, more athletic at linebacker. Remember, they led the NFL in Sachs last year. So this is a team that gets after the quarterback and protects their quarterback. So Tennessee, I thought, looked overwhelmed against Pittsburgh, and Tennessee's a tough out. I mean, Tennessee

crushed New England and Dallas last year. That game wasn't close. That game was not competitive. And that was the game starters played for the first half. So I like Pittsburgh a lot. T.J. Hushmanzada is around the corner for us, Bucky Brooks. We are loaded today on a Tuesday. 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, 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 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. answer. 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 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 here on earth? Or are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear 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. 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 42. Hey, ref, my mama wants you to wave at her. What? Where's she at? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Cliverts show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast.

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

I was married when I had her, so I didn't even consider how empty that Ness was going to be. Mood swings, night sweats, fupas, sex drive. Wait, what sex? Dating at 45. How hard can it be? How hard can it be? Getting naked at 50 with the new guy. That one's kind of hard. Well, that's lighting. They say we can't polish a turd, but we're sure going to try.

So let's get blunt with laughs, tears, or tears of laughter, and dive into it, unfiltered and unbothered and ask, how hard can it be? I cannot believe I'm about to say this out loud in public. Listen to How Hard Can It Be with Diana Maria Riva as part of my Cultura podcast network available on the IHart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. T.J. Husbandadas joining us 11 years in the NFL, multiple pro bowler. So first of all, Andrew Luck retiring. How did it sit with you? I was shocked. When you retire, I don't even know if he was in his prime. He might have been approaching it. It's shocking. You don't see this happen. If you're injured, you rehab and you come back and play. but anybody that's played in the NFL and has had major injuries or just major pain.

If it's just relenting, it's day after day, year after year, he was worn out mentally. He was, I can't do it anymore. And I wouldn't do it, but I don't fault him for doing it because I don't know the pain he's going through. Do you blame the fans for bullying? No, I do not. That's a natural reaction. Fans are fans.

When their team loses, they're upset. A guy that they looked up to for what he did, not for who he is, when they get the news, that emotion comes out. I'm okay with that because that was their initial reaction. If they had to reflect on it and look back on it, now I'm sure it would be different. But no, I have no problem with it because that was their natural reaction. Steve Burline came out yesterday. I applaud him for having the courage to go on Twitter and have a different opinion.

He said, listen, I had a zillion surgeries. I think it's a calf injury. It's a lower leg injury. They do heal. I think you should have given it more. time, what do you make to his reaction? I read his comments. I thought it was irresponsible. No disrespect.

Steve Berline played 14 years in the league. He was a starter for three years. And so does he really know what it feels like to game in and game out, get beat up? Like Andrew Lowe. Ryan Grigsin is the main culprit in it. You give up a first round draft pick for Trent Richardson. You didn't surround him with games or won and lost. up front. And they didn't do

that with Andrew Luck. And for Steve Berline, Steve Berline's looking at him like, I was a career backup. There's no way I'm retiring. But Andrew Luck was just mentally worn out. His body physically took a toll on him and he just said I couldn't do it. But Berline's looking at it like, I would never do it. Of course, because you only started

three out of 14 years. And so you wish you could have started 14 out of 14 and maybe his perspective would be different. Well, yeah, I do think there's a pain element here. I think, listen, it's dangerous. Andrew Luck's a smart guy. If you're on painkillers repeatedly, watch out. We've had athletes.

We've had like politicians, governors, people get addicted to painkillers. That stuff's scary. Colin, every, I had one surgery, but I would get shot up almost every game with a needle that looked like it was like a foot long in my ribs and back area, five, six times a year.

And I had one surgery. And there's, I didn't get hit as much as quarterbacks got hit and getting hit now. And so I can, only imagine. The pain that I felt, if it's worse than that, I can see it. I want to talk to you about leadership. For years and years, people compared Brady and Aaron, and I always said, no, no, no. Brady and Breeze have the same temperament. You can't find a player. They're combined 38 years in the league. You can't find a guy that doesn't like either.

Their personality, their demeanor, very similar. Everybody loves Drew. I mean, Randy Moss had an ugly ending in New England. He still loves Brady. Ocho Sinko went there. You know, big personality didn't work. He still likes Brady. Big Ben's always been Aaron Rogers to me. They get into public spats with players. So I want you to talk about, there's different leadership style. Some guys are public, some are private, some are flashy, some are stoic like Sam Darnold, some are cocky like Baker. Big Ben, to me, has always been, he admits in an article nine years ago, 2010. He's like, I wasn't a very good leader in my first two years in the league. Well, he also admits, and he admits here recently, I wasn't very good with Antonio Brown.

Just take me to the different styles of quarterbacks you played with and the different personalities you dealt with. Go in chronological order. First and the league last day. First, when I get to Cincinnati, obviously Scott Mitchell was a starting quarterback. Achilles Smith had just been drafted. Okay.

Obviously, that didn't work with Achille. John Kittner comes in and then they draft Carson Palmer. John Kedna, great leader, great person. Carson, great leader, great person. I wasn't with Scott Mitchell and Achille enough kind of get a feel for them. And when I got into the league, that wasn't anything I thought about.

Go to Seattle, you play with Houselbeck, and then I play with a Flacco. For me, Kittna and Carson, leadership-wise, were the best. Flacco was very young when I got there. In my opinion, as a quarterback, you have to be able to go from the front to the back of the locker room,

be able to sit down and have a conversation with everyone. And a lot of quarterbacks don't and will not do that. And when I said, offensive guys, they can do it with the offensive guys. But can you go sit with the DBs and talk to him for 10 minutes? Can you sit at the lunch table with the linebackers and talk to them and have lunch for 15, 20 minutes? A lot of quarterbacks will not do it. And so when things get going tough and you hit a rough patch of the season and a quarterback gets up and talks,

the guys are like, man, if you don't get out of here and sit down and shut up, you're trying to talk to us now. You never talk to us. You have to be able to do that over the course of the all. offseason training camp, just have pockets of conversations with different groups because the locker room is always divided with offensive defense, black guys, white guys. The quarterback has to be able to relate to everyone. And the ones that don't are the ones that had these problems.

Yeah. Carson Palmer was, I've used the best. Let me tell you something. Carson Palmer is one of those guys. If you built a quarterback and said this is what his jaw would look like, his size, his arm, his personality. He got beat up a little early. Didn't know his have the greatest management. Didn't know his have...

Carson was so good. He was so. Carson Palmer's one of those. If you gave him Kraft, Belichick, and Dante Scarnacia, he'd still be playing. Carson was unbelievably accurate. Great person relates to everybody. Big arm. You could do it all.

Could do it all. All right. So I was saying to Joy, if you would build an NFL team, you draft players, and you have undrafted free agents, then you have free agents. Then there's the waiver wire. There's the XFL eventually. The AAF, the CFL. Every six year I get a European guy.

I think we're going to have a new avenue to get players. So players now make more money, retire early, and most retire a little healthier. They're not broken down wheelbarrows. In the last year, Jason Witten, Ryan Khalil, Josh McCown, do you think it's possible? because guys are retiring earlier and healthier. Jets call Ryan Khalil. Want another vacation house? Eight and a half million.

By the way, T.J. Won't make you wear pads. You do not have to play in the preseason. Ryan Khalil didn't take a snap in the preseason. Is it possible that we're going to see players retiring earlier, but a handful are going to come back for a year or two because the money is good and the new wave, TJ, is what the Rams are doing.

No hitting in practice. It really depends on a situation. I can see that 100%. McVeigh, my starters, we're not playing. I know what you can do. We got to get to week one healthy. That's number one. If you're a vet with the Rams,

you don't practice till Friday. Is that the word? Yeah. You don't practice till Friday. When I went to Baltimore, it shocked me. Why? Wednesday and Thursday was a walkthrough. And I was like, huh?

Wednesday, we were getting IVs in Cincinnati for practice. And they're walking through in Baltimore? Well, you had a veteran coach. You had veteran players. You had a stable ownership. I mean, it's, so in Baltimore. There's different environments. Yeah.

So there was like, we got to take care of our old guys. Isn't that interesting? It was, it was a shock. And I was like, wow. I mean, did it change the way you drove to the arena? Did it change the way you thought about football? For me, it was once you practice, you go all out. You're getting to the game, which is Sunday fresh.

I mean, we would be in Cincinnati. Sometimes guys would be sore going into the games because we practice so hard. And Marvin had to get a culture there established that this is what it's going to be. And it was the old school way of thinking on a lot of coaches. We're going to grind you, grind you, grind you. Oh, you got Saturday off. You should be okay by Sunday. I can see that if you can get to a team and a coach that I'm sure Jason Winton is not going to

practice on Wednesday. And it's going to take care of your body. 100% I can see that because guys see the reward of my body's going to be fresh. I'm going to Sunday's feeling good. If we have a plan, yeah, I can see that happening for sure. One last question. Gronk possible return. Boy, I saw him yesterday. He looks good. Looks happy. Do you think in November they give him a call? We'll make you a past catching tight end. That's exactly what if he can come back in a different role. I'm coming back as Travis Kelsey. I'll do some cutoffs on the back side. You run away from me, and I'll cut off the end or the backer.

I'll seal block, but as far as running behind me, I'll come back as Travis Kelsey. I'll be a pass-catching tight-in. 100% I can see that because he, grunk, you know, looking like Robocop with a big arm brace. And if he's dropped 15, 20 pounds, and he can just come up and basically be a glorified big receiver, 100% I can see that. Good to see you, buddy.

The same, man. Enjoy it. T.J. Hushman's audit. Joy Taylor with the news. No, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. Well, let's stick with Gronk. He did hold a press conference this morning to discuss his next career move.

And he's not coming back to football right now, but he did leave the door a little bit open. A little bit. This is a little crack towards an NFL return in the future. Football was bringing me down, and I didn't like it. And I was losing that joy in my life. Like the joy I'm sorry right now but When that time comes down in the future

If I have the desire to play football again If I feel passionate about football again If I'm feeling like I need to be out there on the field I will go back to football But as of right now that is not the case Well Gronk is 30 years old And he has quite a list of injuries High ankle sprain form fractured

back vertebral fracture, concussion torn MCL, torn ACL, knee strain, hamstring, disc in his neck, thigh bruise, back and ankle. We all know Gronks been pretty banged up in his career. And a lot of that has to do with the fact that he's a big guy, guys play him harder, he's a very physical player. But you could hear in his voice, and it was similar to what you heard from Andrew Luck. and it's just an exhaustion with not just like I'm physically hurting and I'm physically in pain, but mentally I have to gear myself up to, okay, it's another injury, I know it's coming, I have another surgery, I have another rehab process, I have to get back to my team, I have to answer questions about when I'm going to be healthy,

I have to see if I am healthy, I have to trust my body again. It's just I'm tired even talking about it. Like imagine having to go through all those injuries over and over and over again. I've been sick for the last two days. I have like a fever. And I just, I'm going through toilet paper. And two days. Yeah, and you're a huge baby.

And I'm like, God, I'm over this. I'm like, two days of being sick, I'm like, this is just a pain. Can you imagine three years of rehab? No, no. I'm telling you, I tore my ACL and I will never play soccer again. And anytime I do anything physical to this day, it's in the back of my mind. Because obviously not a professional athlete where it's my job. to come back. But imagine if it was. Like, it was a huge inconvenience. I have to leave work and then go to rehab and then rehab hurts and you're in pain. And are you ever going to be able to walk the same again? It's just, it's a mental exhaustion. Now, he's working with a CBD medic to advocate for CBD to be legalized in the NFL.

That's the Todd, that's the Kyle Turley was on our show last week. That's his company. He has a CBD company, yes. So, I mean, that's eventually going to be legal around the country. It's legal in a lot of places. And it's used for pain relief, mostly. Yeah. And, I mean, fully, obviously, the NFL's going to have the discussion about that.

I mean, I know players that have had to take literally handfuls of painkillers just to get out on the field. And the NFL is actively working to make it safe. and get away from things like that. But with the injuries, an injury list like that, you can imagine why someone like Gronk would retire the way that he did. I mean, he's 30 years old. He clearly has a physical ability to do it, but

sometimes the bigger guys, you know, Gronk's one of the bigger guys in the league and dealt with a ton of injuries. John Lynch played safety for 15 years. Headhunter never had a concussion. You know, it's just every body's different. Some guy, I have kids. Some of them catch every cold. Right. Some never catch a cold.

You just don't know. Some guys, Some guys never get hurt, Eli Manning. Some bigger, stronger guys get hurt a lot. No, and you have to value your mental health in the situation, too. So Andrew Locke may have angered Colts fans with his early retirement, but head coach Frank Reich is in full support of his former quarterback's decision. Someone asked me a question the other day. Is there any sense that you felt like Andrew is letting down the team?

And the answer was an emphatic no. He spoke of how the cycle of injury, and pain and rehab had taken his toll. It had essentially sucked the passion, the joy, the fun out of football. And so Andrew did the right thing. He did the right thing for himself, and he did the right thing for the team, knowing the requirement and the commitment that's needed for the journey ahead. He did the courageous thing, and he did the honorable thing.

You know, the cults are handling this really well. It also kind of occurred to me. perhaps Andrew Luck might not have done this had they not had Jacoby Bresset waiting in the wings. That absolutely helps. It's not man overboard. No, I'm sure that that played a role in his decision. Not that he was thinking solely about what position the team is going to be in, but the character of Andrew Luck from all accounts is one that is very unselfish. So I'm sure that he took into consideration, look, I'm going to leave this team,

but it's not like they don't have anyone there. By the way, I think Jacoby Brissette is certainly. as talented as Case Keenham. Case Keenom went at 13 and 3 in a tough division a couple years ago. By the way, Nick Foles won a Super Bowl. I think Jacoby Brissette is in Nick Foll's category as a talent. Right. It's a step down, obviously.

And Lush is an all-time talent, but it's not a disaster. This roster with Andrew Luck could have won the Super Bowl. This roster with Brissette could be a wild card playoff team. Right, and then you build for the future, which is really all that you can ask. I love the way that Indy is handling this. Obviously, the

leak was not ideal. That's not how you want to make an announcement like that. That part stopped. It provided the opportunity for the booing and all of that to happen. But there's a human element to sports that we often overlook and sometimes it just gets squashed in the trades and the

cuts and the business side of all of it. So to see a team actually put their arms around a guy that sacrificed his body for them and gave everything he had, even if it is a situation where it's a dramatic shocking retirement is a nice thing to see. So finally,

US soccer star Carly Lloyd impressed everyone by nailing a 55-yard field goal at Eagles practice last week. Now her trainer, James Gallinassas, is saying that she received offers to kick in an NFL preseason game later this week. He said she got a call from another NFL team,

the one that called Monday. I don't want to say who it is. It was willing to put her on the roster for their next game. She was told she could play on Thursday, but she's playing Thursday with the national team, so that was the conflict. She would need a couple weeks of training just to get comfortable but things have escalated and it's real. She is 37.

That's an old age to start playing football. She has been kicking a ball for a long time, though. But she's not dismissing offer. She's saying I'm having discussions with my husband and James about the reality of playing in the NFL. They both feel that I could do it and should consider it. So I'm seriously considering it as is a challenge and I would probably enjoy it. I mean, NFL teams are clearly taking it seriously.

They're giving her offers to come join the squad. They're not going to do that as a gimmick. I'm skeptical. I think there's a lot of people in practice who can kick field goals. Game situation is different, but I do think that if she were to do it, she would take it seriously. She would go through proper training, and it would be a situation where she's not just going to walk on the field and take seven steps back and try and kick a field goal.

She's going to take it. She's going to realize the magnitude of that opportunity, and I think whatever team would bring her on would as well. By the way, U.S. plays Portugal this Thursday at Lincoln Financial Field, and coverage begins at 7 p.m. Eastern on FS1. Most popular national team in America right now, right there. That's what it is. Joy with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by.

The Herd Line News. Buckie Brooks around the corner. We'll talk to him about what transpired this weekend, 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 a game. This morning, the Internet lost its mind. 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 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 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 guest. 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, That's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Gaines, as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose

on my new podcast, Learn the Hardway. Open your free iHeartRadio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. What's up, guys? This is Clever Taylor the 4th. 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... Yeah, you know these kids. This linebacker walks up to me, he goes, Hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What? Time out. Look.

Quarterback on office blue of 42. Hey, rep, my mama want you to wave at her. What? Hey, Ms. Parker. Listen to the Cliverts show on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Hey, I'm Deanna Maria Riva, actress, mother, lover, and a Gen X woman walking through life, one hot flash and horn.

hormonal crying jag at a time. You ladies know what I mean. I'll bet you a perimenopausal chin here you do. So let's talk about it. Join me on my new podcast. How hard can it be with the Anamanea Arriva, where I call on my Gen X squads from Ohio to Hollywood as we navigate midlife's most fantastic BS. All of a sudden, I'd had hanginess happening on my own.

I was like, what the hell is that? I was married when I had her, so I didn't even consider how empty that nest was going to be. Mood swings, night sweats, fupas, sex drive. Wait, what sex? Dating at 45. How hard can it be getting naked at 50 with the new guy? That one's kind of hard, you know? Well, that's lighting.

They say we can't polish a turd, but we're sure going to try. So let's get blunt with laughs, tears or tears of laughter, and dive into it, unfiltered and unbothered and ask, how hard can it be? I cannot believe I'm about to say this out loud in public. Listen to How Hard Can It Be with Diana Maria Riva as part of my Cultura Podcast Network, available on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. All right, welcome back. Bucky Brooks played for the Chiefs, the Packers, the Bills, Raiders, Jags. Second round pick, former NFL Scout from there now.

We bring him on the show regularly NFL Network analyst. It was not a great weekend for me. No, not a great weekend. I know you were troubled. You were troubled as Andrew Luck about his retirement. I know that's hard for you. No, it was rough because there's two quarterbacks in this league. I mean, obviously Brady's an all-timer, but Andrew Luck and Russell Wilson are

people that I met early and just developed kind of a love for their style of leadership, their style of play. You know, what do you make of it? What did you make of it? What was your first thought on Andrew's retirement? My first thought was, man, wow, surprise. When it goes across the ticker, you're surprised because you just don't think that that's what you're going to get two weeks before the season starts.

What's it tell you? It told me, well, one, we were tip. off when they held Jacobi Brissette out of that preseason game, we knew that probably starting the season that Jacob Brissette was going to be the starting quarterback for the Indianapolis Colts. So that was the first thing coming off last week. Then secondly, when you hear this news, you're like, man, this injury must have been a lot more severe than we were initially led to believe.

And we've heard different things. There were three different stories about what the injury was. A calf strain typically wouldn't take this long. maybe he was being extra cautious on the heels of like what we saw with Kevin Durant. But you knew there had to be something going on for it to take this long for him to return to action. And then when you hear about the retirement and you go back and you really hear him talk in the press and talk about being in the dark place and how tough it was to sit out for 18 months on the previous injury and how much punishment that he is taken, I can't begrudge him for wanting to walk away because only he.

He knows how much pain that he has been in. Only he knows the struggles of his rehab. Only he knows the dark place that his mind was in. And I would say this, you come to a realization where you're like, you know what? It's time. And that time when you realize it can happen at any time. For me, it happened in the middle of a preseason game, getting ready to run down on a kickoff. And I remember saying, man, I really don't want to hit the wedge.

I don't want to get hurt. I don't really want to endure anything. And so you just know. And in a gladiator sport where you have to have this air of invincibility, once you lose that, it's time to walk away. You're a guy. And so when Andrew Luck feels I can't do this anymore, he's doing everybody a disservice to continue to walk out and try to be the quarterback of the Colts.

When physically and mentally, he's not there. You know, it's interesting. One of the beneficiaries of this, there's a bunch of old quarterbacks, there's a bunch of young quarterbacks, Luck and Russell Wilson and Matt Ryan were kind of the middle guys. Good enough to win a Super Bowl. I guess you could put Cam in there.

It kind of feels like Russell Wilson now. It's not one of the old guys. He's not one of the babies. He's kind of in a six, seven year age gap. He's the guy now. Once the Rivers, Ben, Breeze, Brady move, I saw a thing today, one of the rankings, they have him,

Russell Wilson now, as the ninth best player in the league and the fourth best quarterback. Is that fair? Do you think that's where he's at? That's fair. I think that's where he should have been anyway. I think based on how Russell Wilson has played and what he's accomplished, I think he deserved to be in that category. I would have had him over Andrew Luck anyway. When you look at the way Russell Wilson came in the league and was viewed as a game manager,

he managed the team when they had Marshawn Lynch and they won because of their defense, their running game, and occasional playmaking. When they removed Marshawn Lynch and they didn't have anything around him, he still played at a high level. The team didn't, but he played at a high level. Last year, they paid him big money, but still went back to the run first premise, where they were running the ball more than anybody else in the National Football League. Yet, they would only break him out when they needed him, and he made plays.

In my mind, that's actually how you're supposed to use a franchise quarterback. You don't use him all the time. You use him when you need him. You have a franchise quarterback for those three or four games where everything else is struggling. That's where Green Bay has been too dependent on Aaron Rogers. Yes, you don't use it for all 16. Hey, Aaron, I need you to win every game by yourself is, hey, we're struggling a little bit.

I'm going to need to put more on your shoulders to help us get out of it. That's what the Seattle Seahawks have been able to do with Russell Wilson. That's why, to me, he's the epitome of what a franchise quarterback is in the new era. He's a guy that can put it on his back when he needs to, but he's okay when they run through other players because he doesn't have to be the guy that always gets to shine into credit. Hard enough to find a franchise quarterback. I want to keep him healthy as long as I possibly can.

So we're talking about leadership styles. And, you know, Brady and Breeze, you can't find a player between the two of them, a former player that doesn't love them. Aaron and Big Ben, there's been some public skirmishes with players. There's a lot of different leadership styles. Can you address that? Yeah, I can address it. Like the quarterback position is the most important position on the field because they are the extension of the coach.

And so the way the quarterback goes is the way the team goes. And so his leadership style is always under the microscope. For me, fortunately, I played with. two Hall of Fame quarterbacks, Jim Kelly and Brett Farf. I played with an MVP caliber quarterback and Rich Gannon, who was awesome. And then I also played with Mark Runeal, who at the time was one of those young emerging stars. The common denominator between all of them, all of those guys could earn the respect of their

teammates by the way they played, but also the way that they led. They were we guys, not me guys. It was about us, how we can do it together. They would elevate people through conversations. they would put their teammates first. In public, they never took shots at their teammates. Even though it may have been their fault, they always would take the bullets for them.

But now, privately, they would call those guys out. But publicly, they never put them out there. And there's something to be said for that. Like, the quarterback has to be willing to take on more responsibility because they also are given more of the credit and also more of the pie when it comes to the money. And so that's part of the deal. I think it's a legitimate criticism of Big Ben.

He has not at times been mature enough for the position. Yeah, and so there's a level of maturity. Look, we used to always talk about the position is presidential and regal in its nature. That's why quarterbacks are expected to look a certain way at the press conference, why we like to see him in suits, why we expect them to not have some of the issues that other guys have, the quarterback can't have that. The quarterback is basically seen as, I don't want to say, because Kevin Colbert got in trouble with this, when he talked about the father figure.

but he is the mature voice in the room. He is the older brother, the elder statesman. And so from a leadership standpoint, they always need to pause before they think because the words that they say to the press matters. How they present to the press matters. And it really matters to their locker room. That's my bang on Baker.

That's been my bang on it. And that's valid. And it's a valid criticism. Look, there are a lot of people that like Baker because of what he is and the rah-rah, he appears to be a man's man and all of that. that plays well. However, there's a time when you turn that on and there's a time when you turn that off. There's a time when you have to make a decision. Okay, before I step to the microphone and I'm

anticipating questions, what is the message that I want to send to my teammates in the locker room? How do I want to represent us in the locker room? How do I want to represent the organization? There's a lot of stuff that goes with being the quarterback in the face of the franchise. That is why we scrutinize it so much in the run up to the draft. You have to make sure that the guy that you're and trusting all of these responsibilities to is mature enough to handle the weight of it. By the way, Gronk's talking about all sorts of medication now and taking

stuff, and Ryan Khalil came back, and Jason Whitten came back. We have a minute left. Guys are leaving earlier and healthier. Is it possible a few circle back and come back in? Yeah, because you miss it. There's nothing else that can replace the love and joy that you feel in football.

We all are egomaniacs. We all love the roar of the crowd and the exhilaration of competing in a gladi of sport. You like being the center of attention. So for Grankowski, they can talk about movies and all that other stuff. He's going to miss it on Sundays. And he's going to miss it at a different point of the year. For me, the only thing that I miss now is the playoff run. There's something about playing in the playoffs and having an opportunity to be a guy that plays in the Super Bowl that you miss. Rob Grankowski, he is going to miss it down the stretch when he knows that his team needs him.

That is when he possibly could return to the Patriots. Very good. So football players are egomaniacs. I thought it was just American American radio icons. It's nice to know we're all in this together. Bucky Brooks, great seeing you. Thanks, everyone.

One more herd? The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week within the IHeart radio app. Search herd to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly.

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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, 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.

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This is Clivert Taylor the 4th. 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, ref, my mama want you to wave at her. What? Where's she at? Hey, Ms. Parker. Listen to the Cliverts show on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Hey, I'm Deanna Maria Riva, actress, mother, lover, and a Gen X woman walking through life, one hot flash and horn.

hormonal crying jag at a time. You ladies know what I mean. I'll bet you a perimenopausal chin here you do. So let's talk about it. Join me on my new podcast. How hard can it be with the Anamanea Arriva, where I call on my Gen X squads from Ohio to Hollywood as we navigate midlife's most fantastic BS. All of a sudden, I'd had hanginess happening on my own.

I was like, what the hell is that? I was married when I had her, so I didn't even consider how empty that nest was going to be. Mood swings, night sweats, fupas, sex drive. Wait, what sex? Dating at 45. How hard can it be getting naked at 50 with the new guy? That one's kind of hard, no. Well, that's lighting.

They say we can't polish a turd, but we're sure going to try. So let's get blunt with laughs, tears or tears of laughter, and dive into it, unfiltered and unbothered and ask, how hard can it be? I cannot believe I'm about to say this out loud in public. Listen to How Hard Can It Be with Diana Maria Riva as part of my Cultura Podcast Network available on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Vinnie Bonsignor is a longtime reporter in Los Angeles.

He has covered a lot of sports. He is now for The Athletic, which we strongly advise that you become a subscriber. I am. They do a terrific job. Mine's only $9.99 a month. I don't know if I have a deal or not, but I feel I get my money's worth at the athletic. I'm not going to tell you, but I think you're going to have gotten a better deal. Oh, wow.

Yes. Okay. Well, I'm satisfied. But I'm glad that you're locked in at that. So, Vin, you have covered a lot of different things in Los Angeles. Angeles. The Rams arrived and I contend that's why the Lakers went so strong after Anthony Davis. It's why the Dodgers, the NFL tends to shrink everybody else in the room. The Rams have been fascinating though. And Vinny, you cover them the daily. Joey and I have

talked about this. For being in Los Angeles, in the world's most popular sport, the individuals largely have low profiles. The coach is the rock star. But when you go to practice, does it feel like that? It feels like, yeah, in a way it does. And I think that the reason for that is there's so many guys. There's 53 guys on a team. And I think that, and especially with this particular team, there's great players, there's good personalities, there's thoughtfulness, there's, you know, guys like Andrew Whitworth, there's depth there, there's intelligence there. But there's no stardom there necessarily. There's no ego there. And it's not that Sean McVeigh doesn't want ego. In fact, he wants you to

participate. He wants what you want to say. He'll listen to it. And not just listen. He'll sometimes act on it. So it's not like he's suppressing any egos, but there just really isn't any major egos that are going to threaten how that locker room operates and how that power structure operates. It could

be different. Another team could be different the way it's set up. Yeah, cultures are different. Cultures are completely different. And I think that that was a huge part of what Sean McVeigh did when he got here was creating a culture of positivity. number one, accountability. But also, and I talk to players about this,

veteran players who have been elsewhere, played for other coaches. And the fact that he and his coaches aren't just, they're teachers, but they're also listeners. And I asked, Sean, why do you let players talk and give back and feedback? It's like, how am I supposed to know

what a player is retaining if he's not spitting it back out to me? Like, I can figure out he's getting it just by how the verbiage that's coming back to me. So for me, my purpose is it's allowing me to know we need to work on this more because obviously he's not getting it. I could tell just by the way he's talking it. But on the other hand, it's also,

I want to know what they see on the field. They're the ones that are executing the plays. I want their input because that helps me as well as a play caller as a coach. So it's twofold. It's I want to hear what they're saying because that lets me know where they are mentally on what we're trying to do. But also it allows, it gives them a voice

and more ownership into the process. And players accept that. And I said to some players, well, shouldn't that be the case everywhere? and they're like patting me on the back, Vinnie, you're so naive. No, it's not like that everywhere. There are coaches that I don't want to hear what you have to say. Just do it this way.

And it's kind of counterintuitive to me, but that's how some coaches operate. It's not how Sean McVeigh operates. Well, there's, I'll give you a minute here. I'm a big believer that most sports leagues, including the NCAA Vinny, do not want dynasties. Yet we've never had more concurrent dynasties. The NBA had one. Right. I mean, the Dodgers are going to win their division again.

Alabama, Clemson, Patriots. UConn Women's Basketball. Why? Because I believe early adapters get a lead on people. Warriors went to the three-point shot just a little early. The Rams are doing something here that's interesting. They're early adapters. As the league lightens practices, as the league is more about player safety,

when I think of that, I think of the Rams as the kind of red socks and analytics. Early adapters. When you go to practice, describe for our audience, how much hitting is there? What are the practices like? Zero hitting. In terms of tackling to the ground, there's some physicality between linemen.

A linebacker will come up on the running back in a scrimmage type situation and bump them, but there's no taking guys to the ground. But the word that you used that struck with me was adaptable or adapting. And being not being afraid to adapt or being ahead of that process. I lock in on that word

because what Sean is doing right now, what McVeigh is doing right now in terms of not playing his players during the preseason. In terms of how they're practicing during the preseason, he's the first person to tell you, I don't believe I'm reinventing a wheel here. I'm going to be adaptable down the road. In other words, this process, what we're doing now works for this team, this Rams team. I can't tell you that a year from now, two years from now, if I have a rookie quarterback, let's say, or a really inexperienced offensive line, I can't say that I'm not going to play

them during the preseason because I may need them to play in the preseason because they need those reps. Where they are right now, he has full confidence that the Rams are where they need to be defensively with a veteran defense and a veteran offense, that they're where they should be and need to be going into the regular season. That might not be the case two years from now with a different set of players, a different team. So he's leaving open the possibility that I can adapt to that situation. But for this team, this Rams Club, this is the way I believe we should go. Two players individually. Let's talk Todd Gurley. Concerns in your eyes. Do you think he's a 12-carry guy, a 14-touch guy. Where are we at today, Benny?

Well, now you sounded like my son who's setting his fantasy football league team and my mother-in-law and everyone else calling me for information, and I don't know. There's going to be a reduction in his usage during games. Obviously, we're talking about what happened to him last year. And there was a convergence of events that sort of sabotaged him in December. He took some big hits in that Eagles game in early December. But let's not forget up until that point, he was on target for another challenging for another offensive player of the year award. He was that good. And if you look at his stats, even now, they look pretty darn good. But he took some big hits in the Eagles game, coupled with probably some overusage earlier in the year, which is a trend

that's continued the last couple of years for him. And on top of that, the knee was reconstructed in college. So there's going to be some natural, probably deterioration. Every doctor will tell you for a normal life, let alone the most used running back in the NFL. So all of that conspired against him so that when he took those hits against Philadelphia, his injury was slow to heal. Okay, so the Rams are trying to avoid that kind of a situation by saying, hey, maybe we need to slow him down in the regular season in terms of his touches, his play counts.

We're going to monitor his practice. He's got scheduled days off during training camp. He didn't take any snaps during OTAs. The days off will continue during the regular season. So up until this point, looks great. He looks like Todd Gurley right now. Fast, athletic, explosive, dynamic. He looks like Todd Gurley. They did draft a running back too. They did. They did. And I think ideally it's to be a compliment to him. Worst case scenario, he might need to carry more. And we're going to see.

That's the great unknown is they have this plan in place. They believe they're ahead of it. But we don't know. And we also don't know what it's going to look like in terms of how many carries is he going to get in the game and how much discipline is it going to take for Sean McVeigh? if you're in a game and it's you know what crunch in time and you got to win this game is Sean McGee going to be there going you know maybe I can overuse them in this game but I'll make up for it in the next game I mean it's going to take discipline if you have a plan in place you got to stay with that plan yeah the division's better by the way yes it is right so so we're going to see and we don't know we don't know A how it's going to actually look in terms

of the game I think that's what everyone's curious about now right and we don't know if it's going to work in terms of where will Todd Gurley be in December and January because that's really where they need, they need him to be Todd Gurley at that point in the season. We saw what happened in the NFC championship game. They had to figure out a different way to win without the best, you know, the best running back in the league. And then in the Super Bowl, same exact situation. He wasn't Todd Gurley and that showed in how their offense functioned. They want to try to avoid that. There's been a couple of columns. I don't know specifically who wrote them. I have been surprised by the occasional insinuation that Jared Gough may not

be the guy. I think he is a more, he's a better armed talent similar to Matt Ryan. Yeah, I think he's Matt Ryan with a better arm talent. I think he's the guy. I think it takes time. You know, we bail on these 24-year-old kids. This is a sophisticated offense.

Do you think there's 10%, 12%, 15% in the building of doubt still on Jared? In the Rams building? In the Rams building. Absolutely not. Okay. Absolutely not. And it's funny because some of these rankings come out. And there was one recently where he was ranked 13th in the NFL.

I don't buy that. This is a guy who the last two years, there's two quarterbacks in the NFL the last two years who have played every game. Okay, he missed game 16 two years ago because they sat them. They didn't want him to get heard. So basically there's two quarterbacks in the NFL that have been healthy enough to play every single game that have led their teams to division championships that have had quarterback ratings over 100.

One is Drew Brees. The other is Jared Gough. And oh, by the way, Jared Gough's Rams have won more games. than anybody in the NFL in that time and scored more points than anybody in the NFL in that time. So you're talking about not giving up on a 24-year-old. First of all, that's crazy in itself. But why give up on a 24-year-old who has those type of, you know, working for him? But I've read a couple of those articles.

And it's funny because getting back to that ranking, I got a text from an NFL executive who said, Jared Goff probably has a good malpractice suit case against Jeff Fisher. because the lasting image or the perception that was created off the first one. Seven games of a rookie season when he had a defensive-minded coach who paid lip service to offense. You're going to invest all that the Rams invested

to go to the top of the draft to get Jared Gough. And then you're going to put a first time offensive coordinator calling his plays who was the former tight end coach had never, no history of calling plays. Chris Wanky, where's your quarterback coach? Nothing against Chris Wanky, but he had no history of developing a quarterback. So he paid lip service.

there was no offensive line. The best wide receiver was Kenny Britt. Nothing against Kenny Britt. But I mean, when he's your number one, your wide receiver, you're not in good shape. So all of those, everything conspired against him in seven games in a lost season. Hard knocks. Yeah.

Oh, gosh. And so everyone, that was the image that people had of Jared Gough. And I think that people have been stubborn to come off of that. We are in a stubborn business. We make our claims and we make our cases and we sick to them, even when data is showing us completely otherwise.

And in Jared's case, he's completely proven everybody wrong since that time continues to get better. I fully expect him to be better this year. I don't know by how much percent percent while percent tile or where it will come. I think he needs to be better under pressure. I think he needs to be better against his own defenses. They're working toward getting him, you know, more productive in those type of situations. But I do expect him to get better because he has continued to get better. And it makes no sense in the world to me.

And I've seen this where. people are saying, well, Sean McVey could just grab anybody and make him Jared Gough. He'll laugh for you to death on that, number one. Number two, he took the job after taking a deep dive into Jared Gough and it's not like the Rams were the only team that was chasing Sean McVe. His time was going to come, whether it was 2016 or 2017. So he was a hot commodity, even though fans may not have realized that. He took a deep dive into Jared Gough.

And when I say deep dive with a guy like Sean McBay, he went to the bottom of the ocean to figure out Jared Gough. when he came up, this is a guy that I want to hitch my future to. This is a guy that this is my first job. It's important to know that I've got the quarterback squared away, that I am comfortable in this guy that I think that he and I together can make this thing work. So the notion that Jared Goff isn't his guy, I completely reject. He's absolutely his guy.

He took the job because Jared Goff was there and the chance to work with him, he felt was too good to pass up. Listen, if you go back to the Rams Chiefs game, The Rams didn't have anybody as fast as Tyree killed. They didn't have Travis Kelsey at tight end. At the time, Gurley and maybe Karim Hunt were similar in talent. Both have good, solid offensive lines. Goff match Mahomes, throw for throw.

I went to YouTube not long ago, Vinnie, and I went back and watched that game. Oh, boy. Goff is sensational. He has moments like that. He has games like that, more often than not. Yeah, and I mean, sensational, deep corner throws under duress. Vinnie Bonseigneur writes for the athletic, covers the L.A. Rams, does radio here in Los Angeles as well. We've talked from time to time on Twitter and stuff, so it's great to finally meet you.

I'd love to have you on again. Absolutely. Great. Now, by the way, I'd ask the staff to be respectful how to pronounce Vinnie Bonzegior. Now, in your family dinners, you would pronounce it. Bon senore. But I'm not going to ask you. You didn't hold us to that.

I'm not going to. You know, growing up in California, where Vinnie's are, first of all, hard to find. You have to go miles and miles away. home to New York and it's who we going out with tonight. Chenzo, Big Chenzzo, Vinny, Little Vinny, Big Vinny. So I'm home, but here in California, so let alone my last name. So I heard every pronunciation possible with it. Bonga, you know, so I help you out.

I'm not going to hold you to, yeah. Try growing up with cowherd. Exactly. No day at the beach. Oh, yeah. I can imagine. Great meeting you. You too.

Joy with the news. No, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. Well, we're less than two weeks away from the start of regular C. season. Yes, we are. Elliot has still not reported to Cowboys camp. Marshall Falk recently traveled to Cabo to work out with Zeeke, and he was impressed

with Zieg's physical condition, but he acknowledges what he is missing at camp by holding out. Falk said his fitness is great, but playing in games is different. My job is to close that gap with putting him in active game situations. The only thing we can't simulate is the contact. Yeah, you can't. Now, Levy & Bell talked a little bit about this because he obviously is playing in no preseason games. Yeah.

And he is fresh off a year of not playing any football. It's kind of a real thing. And, yeah, I mean, it's one of those positions where you pretty much seek contact. And if you're not, if there's no way to emulate that, you're going to come into game one of the season. Obviously, hypothetically, they get the contract done, the deal done before that to have him in week one without any contacts. Now, Levyon is asking for his teammates to put some shoulders on him in practice so that he has those calluses. built up. So the first hit is not so dramatic once you get to regular seats in play. He is right about this. I mean, it's one of those positions where you want to

have a little, a little roughness, a little edge to you. Yeah. And again, also part of the reason why I really don't love the Cabo thing. I don't know how many other athletes are down there training with him. But say, for example, he was in Florida, in Miami. You know, he's at training facilities down there where there's other guys who are retired or who are trying, you know, trying to make it back into the league. who can train with you. It's kind of like being a boxer. You know, you have a sparring partner.

There are situations that you could simulate some kind of contact. Well, boxing is a great example, Joy. Like, you know, if you were facing Mike Tyson, your sparring partners would be hyper-aggressive sparring partners. You didn't want finesse jabbers. You're going to get, that first shot from Tyson, you want a few calluses. You don't want to have to work up to that.

Right. Right. That doesn't want to be the first time you've been punched in the face in six months, because it's going to happen a lot. So I do think. that's another layer to him being away from the states and being in Cabo that is going to end up being problematic, although I do think that they get the deal done before week one. So Andrew Luck was treated with plenty of booze from Colts fans Saturday nights when the retirement news broke,

or was leaked actually. Barry Sanders, who also surprised the NFL with his retirement in 1999, sympathizes with what is going on. He said it was tough, but I understand because I've been an avid fan before myself, so I could appreciate certainly where they were coming from. The fact is the fact that it was a surprise just that I was, I wouldn't say in my prime, but I definitely had years left. I can appreciate both sides. Nice context there.

Right. Now, Barry's like the number one person you'd want to talk to in a situation like this because he has the most notorious retirement other than Andrew Luck, and then probably after that is Megatron. So coincidentally, both with the Lions. Now, Barry, we had Rob Parker on earlier, and he was talking about how dramatic

it was when he retired. And obviously the first time anything happens, that person's going to be met with quite an extreme reaction. Now, Barry, for years later, was met with that. Right. And, I won't ever say it's fair, but fans are passionate, like we said, and they're going to react how they feel because their entire fandom is based off of feeling and emotion. It's not off of logic and reason. That's why they're not in the front office and they're in the stands. It's interesting. Think about this. So Barry was booed when it happened. He was booed several years later when he went to an event.

And the media, not only in the moment, but later crushed Barry. And we were okay with it. Andrew got booed for 40 seconds and were all worked up. He would not be booed again in Indianapolis. And he was overwhelmingly outside of a few tweets, treated with respect and compliments of courage. Society has already changed. Barry got drilled. Forget the fans.

Right. The Detroit media crushed him for years. a lot of it is layered in disappointment. You know, some of it is, you know, macho, you gotta get out there no matter what, blah, stuff. But a lot of it is disappointment. Like, that's your favorite player, or in your case, that's your favorite player.

Or, you know, you were planning on watching him all season. You had Super Bowl expectations. You had, you know, hope for the future of a Super Bowl not this year that you are building towards that. And now it's immediately gone. I can understand the reaction, but overall, once the dust settles, everyone's going to get. It's been overwhelming.

Anybody that came after Andrew Luck got major blowback. Right. And for the most part, has since backed off of it because they've sat and thought about it or listened to different players, have a discussion about what it really means. So finally, Odell's been dealing with a hip injury since early August. And Monday, he finally returned to Brown's practice. And Freddie Kitchens spoke about how nice it is to have his star wide receiver back. Yeah, he looked good.

He, you know, it's good to have him back out. We've been working on the side with him with other things. You know, it's just, you know, just natural progression. So it was good to have him back out. Very glad that Odell is back out there. He has been doing individual drills throughout the injury, but he hasn't been participating in team drills for three weeks. The one thing that nobody wants for the Browns this year is any kind of injury to a major player.

They have a lot of expectations. They're going to be a fun, great team. They got about five guys. Denzel Ward can't get hurt. Miles Garrett can't get hurt. Baker can't get hurt. Odell, Jarvis. Odell can't get hurt and their center.

Yeah, they have a center. Why am I? Start with a T. J.C. Tredder. If that guy gets hurt, because he's their best offensive linemen, they're not great at tackle. So they got about Cleveland, if Cleveland can stay healthy, they're going to be battling for a playoff spot. But they got about five dudes. Like that defense is good.

Miles Garrett makes it scary. Right. And it's just also looking at their team overall and the story that surrounds them this year and the expectations and the buzz. It just would be a disappointment to have them. not be fully staffs ready to go into the season and throughout the season because we really want to see what they're what they've built and what they're capable of and to have a major injury like that would be devastating. So it's good that O'Dell is out there because he can't be injury prone.

By the way. But it's looking like he'll be ready for week one. Andrew Lucks gone. We want to keep as many stars playing. Yes. I'm done. Like Cam Newton. It's not playing in the preseason.

It was it two years ago where all the quarterbacks were injured. Yeah. Let's get Cam Newton back out. Aaron Rogers, don't play in the preseason. Jimmy G. Protect him. Right. Joy with the news. Well, that's the news.

And thanks for stopping by. The Hurd Lye News. Coming up, Best for Last. We'll play a game. There's been a lot of storylines in the preseason. Which ones sort of matter, kind of matter, and really matter. That's next and Best for Last. 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. Best for Last today. there's a lot of storylines and stories during the preseason. And so we're going to play a game today, NFL preseason storyline meter. Which one sort of matter, kind of matter. Uh-oh, really matter. So Joy, let's play the game. Okay, let's start with Giants rookie quarterback Daniel Jones,

had three solid outings, giving the Eli Manning haters more fuel for their fire. Does that matter? Here's the thing. He's better than we thought. but I think the optics on this are interesting because the New York giant fans now and they have a voice and they have leverage and power on talk radio in New York

he looked better than Eli in preseason that does not mean he is better but if Eli struggles okay the fan base in New York has seen the backup be better than the aging inefficient starter so I think it kind of matters I think the optics in New York are, Eli is aging, and this kid's really close to being ready to play.

I agree. 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garapolo has some up and down performances and his return from injury. Does that matter? Here's the reality with the 49ers. The players that will be targets of Garapolo are young. They may have the youngest set. Two rookie wide receivers, Dante Pettis, George Kempis. Kittle and new running backs coming over.

And Garoppolo hasn't played with any of them. So I'm going to file this under doesn't matter. This is a young offense that's not going to click till post Thanksgiving anyway. Let it be a slow build. Don't worry about preseason optics here. Sticking with quarterbacks, the dolphins still have yet to say whether Ryan Fitzpatrick or Josh Rosen will start at quarterback, does that matter? what quarterbacks inherit is a big deal.

Yes. He got a raw deal in Arizona, and this is the one team some consider a tanking project. What concerns me is the fact that Josh Rosen, and I haven't seen the practices, has not grabbed this job. They want him to play. To me, that's an uh-oh. Like, this job is here. They're begging Josh Rosen to own this position.

That worries me. Very concerning. So Aaron Rogers said preseason snaps are unnecessary despite having a new head coach and a new offense. Does that matter? Well, I think we would both acknowledge that Aaron's one of the smartest players in the league. For sure. Okay. So you and I would never worry about learning new stuff. He's not rigid that way. He's not old school. He's a California progressive. He's old, new music, new offense. So to me when I hear this, does anybody in the world think he doesn't get the new offense yet? Like it's just too sophisticated. No, this doesn't matter at all to me. I don't want to see him take a snap in the preseason.

Yeah, not in the preseason. I don't think it matters as much for him as for the rest of the offense. But Vikings quarterback Kurt Cousins has, as his own quotes, a really disappointing performance against the Cardinals, going three for 13 with just 35 passing yards. Does that matter? Listen, the book is out on Kirk. He's really can be very good until a good team comes in and it's on TV. Like, we're at a point now.

It's your second year. This is the one preseason game that matters. To be that bad against Arizona, it kind of matters. By the way, it matters in the building. Like, this is the one game you're coaching. Your teammates are like, all right. Kirk, 13 for 15. Even in the building, you can't tell me in the building there's not some questions about

Kirk in big spots. This is the only big spot for an hour in the preseason, and he was awful. Kind of matters. It does. So Cam Newton was limited in his return to practice yesterday. He's recovering from a mild foot sprain. Does that matter? Well, this is a really good division.

I don't worry about Cam Newton being ready, intellectuals. with the offense to play. I don't worry about that. Christian McCaffrey's back. Most of the O-Lines back. They've had a lot of stability within this organization. But here's what I worry about. He came into the season hurt and he's hurt again. We just saw a quarterback retire. Like, where's Cam at mentally right now? Like, okay, I'm now hurt again. I think it kind of matters. I don't want him to play in the preseason. This guy's taking a beating. This guy got into a car wreck. this guy was hurt. This guy's hurt again. I wonder where Cam is mentally. Is he exhausted from what seems like constant rehab in a tough division for him? Yeah, I think your quarterback being heard a few weeks out from week one is never a good, I think. So Ravens have improved their preseason win streak to 16 games. They haven't lost the preseason game since 2015.

So bizarre. Does that matter? You know, they say winning is contagious. but I'm not going to waste a lot of time on this. This doesn't feel like it matters. By the way, isn't Detroit usually good in the preseason through the years? I mean, Detroit went, didn't Detroit's preseason record? If I recall, Don Shula was terrible in the preseason. I can't take anything from having the world's best preseason franchise. It doesn't mean anything to me.

No, I don't think so. Finally, Andrew Luck announces retirement in age 29, making Jacoby Berset the default starting quarterback for the Colts. Does that matter? Let's not waste a lot of time on this. This is an uh-oh. You cannot lose a top six quarterback in the league. Two weeks before the season and not have people in the building a little stressed.

Also, Tennessee is pretty good. Houston won the division last year. Nick Foles is better than Blake Bortles. This division was going to be a tougher sled regardless. But, yeah, this is an uh-oh. Listen, Vegas brought him down from nine and a half to six and a half wins. That's a-oh. If you're losing, you know, if you're going to drop a third of your win total,

let's not sugar-coded. This isn't great for the Colts. It's not the end of the story, but it's not good. No, no. And it's, you know, it's right before the season starts. You're switching who you thought was the guy for the future of the franchise to, a early new situation. By the way, the last two

0 and 16 teams in the NFL. The last two were both 4 and O in the preseason. Isn't that weird? That is weird. Check that out, John. Don Shula was terrible in the preseason. I think I'm right on that. Don Shula's the top 10 coach ever. One more herd? The herd

streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week within the IHeart radio app. Search Herd to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like. Last night, a blown call changed the game. This morning, the lost its mind, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where SportsSlice comes in.

I'm Timbo, and every episode we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the biggest moments in sports and giving you the real story behind the headline. And we're going straight to the source, the athletes themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions in the moment, and the stuff nobody gets to hear. Listen to SportsSlic. On the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slicalife-12 in the TikTok podcast network. on TikTok.

Another podcast from some SNL, late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and Friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter.

Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, guys? This is Clever Taylor the 4th. And on my podcast, The Clivert 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 42. Hey, ref, my mama want you to wave at her. What? Where's she at?

Hey, Ms. Parker. Listen to the Cliverts show on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. The story I've told myself can then shape my behavior, and that can lead me to sabotage the possibility of connection. This Mental Health Awareness Month, tune into the podcast deeply well with Debbie Brown. If you've been searching for a soft place to land while doing the work to become whole, this podcast is for you. to hear more. Listen to deeply well with Debbie Brown from the Black Effect Podcast Network

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