The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Best of The Herd: 01/04/2019

Episode Date: January 4, 2019

 Colin thinks the idea that James Harden is the best offensive player of all time is laughable.  He says if you still doubt Andy Reid just look at his coaching tree and how much impact it will have on these NFL playoffs.  Plus, Kevin Clark of The Ringer makes his wild card weekend picks and disagrees with Colin on every single one of them. Presented by Perky Jerky. 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 Smigel 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. Life is full of hurdles. So how do you keep going? On Hurtle with Emily Abadi, we're talking with the most inspiring women in sports and wellness from professional athletes, coaches, and Olympic champions, about the challenges that shape them and the mindset that keeps them moving forward. At our level, at this scale, being able to fail in front of the entire world. can do anything. I can do anything. Listen to Hurtle with Emily Abadi on the IHart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHart Women's Sports. Hey, what's good, y'all? You're listening to learn the hard way with your favorite therapist and host, Kear Games. This space is about black men's experiences, having honest conversations that's really not safe to have anywhere, but you're having them with a licensed professional who knows what he's doing. How many men carry a suit or armor? It's a

signals to the world that you not to be played with. And just because you have the capability that does not mean that you need to. Listen to learn the hard way on the IHard radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Thanks for listening to the best of Heard podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday from 12 to 3 Eastern, 9 to noon Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and FS1. Find your local station for the herd at Fox Sports Radio.com or stream us live every day on the iHeart Radio app by searching Heard. This is the best of the herd with Colin Cowher on Fox Sports Radio.

Ah, here we go. It's a Friday. This is The Herd, wherever you may be. And however you may be listening live in Los Angeles, Iheart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, and FS1, Joy Taylor. Forget the ski sweaters. Oh, you know what? Usually it's freezing in this studio,

and everyone has told me not to say anything, because it's actually a nice temperature today. Look at you. It's live in ball. I got the arms out today. Well, you know what? It's actually nice in Los Angeles today. It was a little warmer this morning. Yesterday was...

I mean, frigid 59. It's back in the 60s, so we're good. It's great to see you. Good morning. Good morning. Had a fun show yesterday. We have great stuff today. It's such a fun time of the year.

So it makes me happy when people join us. We have four NFL games this weekend. We're going to get into that. Kevin, excuse me, Kevin Clark at the Ringer. next hour, a great young NFL writer, Greg Jennings, a Mark Schler at this hour. I want to start with this, though. I tell my kids all the time, set yourself up for success. Like if we're going to go on a vacation, even an overnight vacation, I'm like, you know,

pack accordingly, take some power bars, take some snacks, set yourself up for success here. Okay, set you're going to be out of your little routine here. Set yourself up for success. Well, James Harden last night had a huge night. He's on fire. He's scoring 40 a game. He's the NBA's leading score. And last night, he just went crazy against Golden State.

He was amazing. Oh, my God, I can't believe it. And his general manager, Daryl, who I had lunch with about a month ago, who's one of the smart guys in sports, who I really, really like, and his words matter came out and said, you know, you could argue for him as the best offensive player of all time. A whole bunch of ways to measure it. But for me, he's in the conversation as the greatest offensive player ever. Okay.

Let's go back to set yourself up. for success. Quarterbacks in 2019, 2018, and shooters in the NBA are currently set up for success. Let me give you a football example. Now, we all like Philip Rivers, right? We don't love him, but we like him. We're not sure he's a Hall of Famer. This year, for the first time in his career, he set an NFL record completing 25 straight passes. The next night, Marcus Mariotta, who the Titans were about ready to ship out of town completed 19 straight passes. A month later, career backup, Nick Foles completed 25 straight passes. You think it's a coincidence it's this year.

Kirk Cousins this year, more passing yards and more touchdowns by a mile over Troy Aikman. And that's an interesting one to think about because we know, we know Kirk Cousins is a stat monster, but he's not great in big games. Troy Aikman didn't have the stats but was great in big games. And I want you to remember the Kirk Cousins, Troy Aikman thing. Now let's talk about James Harden. Daryl, he's the best ever. I'm not going to compare him to the best ever because that would be Michael, right?

You all love Michael or Wilt. Okay. I'm just going to compare him to one guy, Kobe Bryant, as a score. So when you're a score, does athleticism matter? Yes. most of the great scores of all time. I mean, Wilk Chamberlain ran track, could play beach volleyball,

Wilk Chamberlain, LeBron James, Michael Jordan could do. Athleticism matters. James Harden athletically has two moves. One of them is traveling. Kobe Bryant was the NBA's Picasso. Like Phil Mickelson in golf, he's the greatest shot maker of all time.

I'm not saying the best player, but Michael Jordan had stock moves. So does LeBron. James Harden has two. Kobe came down with a blank canvas and just made it up. Athletically, it is not close. By the way, does defense also exhibit and illustrate athleticism? Kobe made all NBA first team defense nine times, second team three times,

hardens a defensive liability. So athletically, and that matters as the greatest offensive player ever, it ain't close. Let's talk commitment. Does commitment matter? if you're a great offensive player. I think Kareem was committed to the sport. I think Jerry West, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson. I think Michael Jordan's as committed as any player in league history.

Hardin had his jersey retired at a Houston strip club. Kobe's got two jerseys retired at the Staples. Kobe is known as the greatest practice player in the history of the Lakers. And from what I'm told, Magic Johnson would tell you, it ain't close. Kobe Bryant in commitment is the most relentless practice player,

most intense off-the-camera performer. Only one close is MJ. Hardin, by the way, was traded out of Oklahoma City because of concerns that he wasn't totally committed. Then he went to Houston and proved it by showing up at a strip club an hour after he'd been eliminated in a playoff series.

So does athleticism matter? Yep, not close. Does commitment matter? Yeah, not close. Now let's talk about, you know, like actual games. What's the greatest playoff moment in James Hardin's career? I'll wait. Hmm.

Because Kobe, I got 6, 7, 8, 9 on my mental rolodex right now. Let's go to ERAs. You think James Hardin's had it a little easier, never played with a hand check? has played in an era with European centers who are 7 feet 2 and 109 pounds. They weigh slightly more than a trisket. Kobe Bryant played half his career in the hand check era.

And oh, by the way, played when we had centers who were domestic weighed 280 and it was their job to physically punish you if you went to the rim. I don't even need to compare James Hardin to the all-time greatest. He doesn't come close to stacking up to one player, Kobe Bryant.

Let's get back to the Troy Aikman, Kirk Cousins comparison I made. The knock on Aikman was always that, well, I mean, he had a great coach and so many great players around him. Of course, the knock on Kobe is, well, he played with Shaq and he had Phil Jackson. Today, James Hardin is closer to Kirk Cousins than Troy Aikman. A lot of money. moved to a couple of teams. First one doubted him.

He has great stats and has never showed up big in the playoffs. Yeah, I said it. Right now, James Hardin is a stat monster. Right now, Kirk Cousins is a stat monster. Both are highly compensated. Both have let their fan bases down in big spots.

And Kobe and Aikman, though they did have Hall of Fame level coaches and they did have great supporting casts, have never been given the true credit they deserve, much of it with Aikman because he played with a great running game and a great coach and a great offensive line and a great defense and a Hall of Fame wide receiver. But leadership, toughness, playing in crisis. Aikman's one of the eight best quarterbacks I've ever seen. I've put that on the screen many times. And Kobe Bryant did have Phil Jackson and did have Shaq and did have the Laker brand. he's also one of the eight best players I've ever seen play basketball. James Hardin is not only, not one of the great offensive players of all time.

He doesn't come close to comparing to Kobe Bryant. Let me shift to football. I just saw this story, reading it this morning in the sporting news. That's a fine publication. NFL ratings saw a boost on every channel. Fox, NBC, CBS, Monday Night Football, every single channel. And in fact, the story says the key to it is we've got Mahomes versus Baker Mayfield. These two new stars are...

So before I get cynical, I'm in the story business. I'm not in the radio business. I'm not in the television business. I'm in the story business. I relate stories, tell stories, try to call stories, try to call. create stories. That's all I've ever done. People that work at newspapers are not in the newspaper business. They're in the story business. The reason the NFL ratings went up, because the previous two years, do you know what the big story was in the NFL? It wasn't a

football story. It was a political story, kneeling. This year we had six riveting stories. Let's go over them. People will tell you the reason the NFL the ratings are up this year is blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. The reason the ratings are up is because the previous two years, we didn't have a really compelling gripping story. The one we had was about politics more than football. Let's talk about the six stories that we had this year, that you couldn't keep your eyes off.

Number one, Patrick Mahomes. Oh, my God, who's Patrick Mahomes? Left-handed passes, no-look passes. We didn't watch him play much in college, 90-yard throws in practice. Oh, my God, who is this kid? Let's be honest about it. He's an amazing talent.

At this point, a little overvalued. Andy Reid deserves a lot of credit. He's got great weapons around him. Pro bowlers at left tackle, wide receiver, tight end, and formerly at running back. But the first story this year that helped ratings, oh my God, Patrick Mahomes. The second big story this year, and again, I'm in the story business, was, hey, Baker Mayfield, this cocky kid can play. Mayfield is what TV, radio, and newspapers live off.

He's polarizing. Owen 16? It's a pretty competitive. Brash grabs his junk. Cocky comes on shows like this, talks back. Baker Mayfield is fun. He's one of the first quarterbacks I turn the TV on every Sunday. The third story you couldn't keep your eyes off, and this was more of the car wreck you slow down on the freeway to watch,

was John Gruden's massive personnel moves. He single-handedly made the... bears the best defense in the league by giving them Khalil Mack, and he made the Dallas Cowboys a viable playoff contender by giving them Amari Cooper. Week to week, you could not keep your eyes

off the car wreck known as John Gruden and the Raiders. The fourth great story this year, the Dallas Cowboys roller coaster. Three in five to ten and six. You can't pay DAC to you're going to have to pay DAC. the Amari Cooper edition, beating the New Orleans Saints, an almost inexplicable performance. The fifth big story this year, and I don't think anybody would deny this, the diva drama in Pittsburgh.

The first month of the year, it was all about Labian Bell. That one ended. For the next five weeks, it was all about Big Ben and Tomlin. That one ended, and at the last two weeks, it was all about Antonio Brown. Stars are interesting. They're even more interesting when they're fighting with each other. people can compare them to whoever you want. It was a reality show.

And the six biggest story, I know they're not based, you know, on the Pacific or Atlantic Ocean, but it was the Green Bay Packers, man overboard. First game of the year, Aaron Rogers gets hurt again. He limps around for the next month and a half. He comes back, doesn't get along with Mike McCarthy, eye-rolling, contempt, passive-aggressive quotes, then Mike McCarthy gets fired. six captivating, gripping football on the field stories week after week after week. That is why the ratings are up.

That is why football is back. That the number one story in this league is not a political story. It's a story that is the reason we've always watched on Sundays and Mondays and now Thursdays and Saturdays. On the field can't turn away stories. and we had six great ones this year. 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 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 iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast.

And for more, follow Timbo SlicLife and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Keer Games. And in recognition of mental health awareness month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking, Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark.

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

while you hear on earth, 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 hard way. Open your free, iHeartRadio app search learn the hard way and listen now. Life throws hurdles big and small. The question is, how do you conquer them? On hurdle with Emily Abadi, we sit down with the most inspiring women in sports and wellness, professional athletes, coaches, and Olympic champions to talk about the challenges that shaped them and the mindset that keeps them going. From the WMBA standout, Kate Martin and rising hockey star Layla Edwards.

If a boy can do it, I don't see why a girl can't. Like, I've never understood that. Like, it didn't make sense in my brain. It's hard to be in spaces that no one looks like you, but don't ever feel like long. Don't let that be the reason you don't do it. An Olympic champs Gabby Thomas and Katie Ladeki. The ability to show gold medal to someone and have their face light up and smile, that means the world to me. And that's what motivates me to win more gold medals. At our level, at this scale, like being able to fail in front of the entire world. Like, I can do anything. I can do anything. because resilience isn't just about winning. It's about showing up, even when it's hard.

Listen to Hurtle with Emily Abadi on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHart Women's Sports. Jacob Kingston grew up in an isolated polygamous sect. We were God's chosen kingdom on earth. He felt destined for greatness. So when a swaggering Armenian businessman catapults Jacob into an extraordinary, extraordinary world, he doesn't look back. Ferraris and Lamborghinis, private jets, meeting the president of Turkey.

I'm Michelle McPhee, and this is one of the most shocking criminal conspiracies I've ever come across. When Jacob met Levin this went to a billion dollar fraud. But with two kings from entirely different worlds, just how long can their empire survive? The largest tax investigation in American history. You need to tell me what you know. Is somebody coming after me? Jacob told Levan, you're ruining my life. Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

I've not been big on the Bears this year, and this is the way it works, is I'm a sportscaster, my job, I'm loyal to honesty. Because my honesty, I had it locally, I had it regionally, I had it at my former company, I have it at this company. Advertisers have laughed, bosses have left. formats have changed. I am loyal to honesty. It travels with me. And when I don't buy into somebody, I didn't buy into Aaron Rogers as a rookie because he was like 6 and 10 and I said, show me something.

I know he's got a great arm, FAR one, show me something. Green Bay fans have hated me since. In Cleveland, I don't necessarily buy into Baker Mayfield for finishing in third place. The other fan base this year that can't stand me is Chicago. And I have said I was never a huge fan of Mitch Tribune. I didn't like his release. He couldn't win the starting job the year before he made the NFL. Couldn't beat out a non-NFL quarterback at Carolina.

I watched him play in college a couple of times. I didn't see it. My executives and scouts who I talked to didn't love him as a thrower. He's a very good athlete. He reminds me of a poor man's Jimmy Garoppolo. I mean, seriously, I think they almost look alike. They play alike. But I think Garoppolo is a better arm talent.

And now I do think Chicago's general manager, Ryan Pace, is brilliant. I think the coach Matt Nagy is my coach of the year. Historically, it's a kind of dysfunctional organization. Their defense is amazing. Kaleo Mack is the next Lawrence Taylor, but I've never been a Tribisky guy until today. Because I read this quote from Mitchell Tribesky of the Chicago Bears. He said, you know, I got off social media to improve my mental health.

He said, why would I let these voices and these distractions get into my head? I've got to take care of this football team. so I'm not going to get into social media. So I would like to remind you that the Chicago Bears quarterback who led his team to the playoffs said, I don't want to be a distraction. Baker Mayfield, who finished third, said, I am the distraction. I love this stuff. Now, Baker Mayfield took a shot at me, called me Grinch. Very hurtful.

I cried for several nights. But the point is, I do not believe it's a coincidence that of the current quarterback playoffs, Brady, Breeze, Wilson, Luck, Rivers, Lamar Jackson, Trebisky, Foles, and Deshawn Watson, most have very small social media footprints. Now, obviously, Russell Wilson's married to a superstar, Tom Brady's married to a superstar, and Drew Breeze is a superstar, so they have large followings. But if you follow Drew Breeze, he talks about family. You follow Russell Wilson, he talks about kids.

You talk to Tom Brady, he talks about his parents and his kids. Those are small, non-elevated, non-eastern, non-controversial social media platforms. Social media to me is sort of a loaded gun. Be very careful. Don't use it after a couple of cocktails. You're going to get in trouble. Mitch Trubisky, like the great ones, is like, I'm out on this stuff.

I got to worry about this. The quarterback everybody loves Baker Mayfield is, I love this stuff. That's why when I hear people saying Cleveland is the number one job available in the NFL. I keep saying, time out. General manager John Dorsey got run out of Kansas City. Not because he wasn't competent. He did a great job in Kansas City. Ego couldn't get along with people. Owner, Jimmy Haslam, legendary, higher fire, higher fire, relentless, higher fire, impatient.

Baker Mayfield, social media potster. This morning I read a story. Josh McDaniels of the Patriots enthusiastically interested in the Brown's job. As Joy said yesterday, I'm officially questioning his judgment. He traded up to get Tebow and passed on Andrew Luck. This stuff matters. It matters, folks. Jay Cutler had a great arm.

Personality was wrong. Aaron Rogers has great talent. Personality is passive aggressive. Jeff George, best arm in league history. Couldn't get along with people. Mitch Trubisky, though I think he's an incredibly limited armed talent, is out on social media, meaning I'm in on Mitch Trubisky. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific.

So I saw a story this morning, a guy on the internet, all 12 of the head coaches in the playoffs right now, all 12, come from the coaching trees of two men, Bill Walsh and Bill Parcells. All 12 coaches this weekend. Belichick, Garrett, Anthony Lynn, Bill O'Brien, Sean Payton come from Parcells, Pete Carroll, John Harbaugh, Sean McVe, Matt Nagy, Doug Peterson, Frank Reich, Andy Reid, come from the Bill Wallstree. Now, of course, the difference is Bill Walsh is considered greater than Bill Parcells because he had Joe Montana. That's the difference.

He had Joe Montana. One of the reasons I've always liked Andy Reid is he has elevated, extended, or saved the careers of five quarterbacks. he literally got five different quarterbacks to the playoffs. Donovan McNabb, Jeff Garcia, save Michael Vicks career, Alex Smith, and Patrick Mahomes. That's unbelievable. Now, Belichick gets all the credit because, you know, he wins Super Bowls, but that's because Belichick has Tom Brady. He was fired in Cleveland.

But here's what's remarkable, and this is why I've said Andy Reid's the most undervalued coach, not to say that Belichick's overvalued, but look at the coaching tree of Andy Reid. Look at the resonance. Look at the impact. Look at the influence in the NFL right now. John Harbaugh won a Super Bowl. Frank Reich, probably the AFC coach of the year.

Matt Nagy's the NFC coach of the year. Doug Peterson won a Super Bowl. Ron Rivera, Todd Bulls, Pat Shermer, Sean McDermott, who got to a Super Bowl? Ron Rivera got to a Super Bowl. So the difference between, Parcells and Bill Walsh, one of them had Joe Montana. And the other had, you know, Phil Sims, Jeff Hostetler, Tony Romo.

Good players, but not Joe Montana. The difference between Andy Reed and Bill Belichick, one has Tom Brady and one has had Jeff Garcia. So when you talk about coaching trees, and I think this stuff matters a lot, it's resonance beyond yourself, impact beyond yourself, influence beyond yourself. Look at Andy Reid's coaching tree. It branches. It's beautiful. is flourishing.

It's a very healthy tree. Look at Bill Parcell's coaching tree. That thing needs watering. That's not very good. His guys have all been mostly busts, except Bill O'Brien, who's been a marginal success. So Parcells have always been a huge fan of.

Because I think he took less and won a ton. That's not to say Bill Walsh wasn't great, but if you have Joe Montana, that's an advantage. I love Belichick, but a big part of his legacy is Tom Brady. Andy Reed, like Parcells, has resurrected, saved, elevated, all sorts of careers. Tony Romo, ain't Tony Romo, you know, Parcells found him, Parcells groomed him, and then Parcells hands him off to Jason Garrett.

So this goes back to why the people that don't get Andy Reid, I kind of roll my eyes. It's like the people that don't get Parcells. You have to put everything in context. is taking five different quarterbacks, five different quarterbacks to the playoffs. He was not given the opportunity to coach a legend. Here's crossing your fingers and hoping Patrick Mahomes is his legend. What is going on? John Middellcoff from the Three and Out podcast.

Brought to you by Colin Coward's Podcast Network. Playoffs. As Jim Morris said, playoffs. They're here, baby. We're talking NFC playoffs, both the big games. We're talking both the AFC playoff games. We are getting ready for all things, NFL playoffs. I can't wait.

Subscribe to my podcast, three and out with me, John Middlough, wherever you listen to your podcast. 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, 12 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok.

Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Keer Games. And in recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking, Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing. And we're still chasing it.

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

Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Gaines, as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, learn the hard way. Open your free.

iHeartRadio app search learn the hard way and listen now life throws hurdles big and small the question is how do you conquer them on hurdle with emily abody we sit down with the most inspiring women in sports and wellness professional athletes coaches and olympic champions to talk about the challenges that shaped them and the mindset that keeps them going from the wmba standout kate martin and rising hockey star leila edwards if a boy can do it i don't see why a girl can't like i've never understood that like it didn't make sense in my brain. It's hard to be in spaces that no one looks like you, but don't ever feel like you don't belong. Don't let that be the reason you don't do it. An Olympic champs Gabby Thomas and Katie Ladeke. The ability to show a gold medal to someone and have their face light up and smile, that means the world to me. And that's what motivates me to win more gold medals. At our level, at this scale, like being able to fail in front of the entire world, like, I can do anything. I can do anything. Because resilience isn't just about winning. It's about showing up, even when it's hard. Listen to Hurtle with Emily Abadi on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One,

founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. Jacob Kingston grew up in an isolated polygamous sect. We were God's chosen kingdom on earth. He felt destined for greatness. So when a swaggering Armenian businessman catapults Jacob into an extraordinary world, he does. He doesn't look back. Ferraris and Lamborghinis, private jets, meeting the president of Turkey. I'm Michelle McPhee, and this is one of the most shocking criminal conspiracies I've ever come across. When Jacob met Levant this plant to a billion dollar fraud. But with two kings from entirely different worlds, just how long can their empire survive? The largest tax investigation in American history. You need to tell me what you know. Is somebody coming after?

me. Jacob told Levan, you're ruining my life. Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Covered the NFL for the Wall Street Journal, and now he covers the NFL for the ringer. He's very good on social media. I really like this guy. His name is Kevin Clark. We've had him on before.

Let's bring him on again. I love him. He does something. I do my blazing five picks, and I take myself too seriously. You have your, what do you call you? your picks? Worst picks. Of the week. Yes. And they're surprisingly the same as my Blazing 5. We both get about

58%. That's gambling. That's exactly. It's gambling. So before I get to the games, a couple of things I want to talk about. Now, we go into this weekend, and if I said to you, who's the mobile quarterback? Everybody would say, Lamar Jackson. You have an interesting story on the ringer about

Deshawn Watson. And I said this when he came out. I said Nick Saban faced Johnny Mansell a couple of times, but it was in a regular season. Nick had six weeks twice to prepare for Deshawn Watson and could never stop him. You have an interesting story on Deshaun Watson and how hard he is to beat and if you do, you barely do. He has not lost a game by more than one touchdown since high school. 2013, September of 2013, he lost to Beaufort High School. After that, he has not lost by more

than one touchdown since. The Patriots couldn't do it. Alabama couldn't do it. I think at this level, you have to have some sort of intangibles. I mean, we look at Russell Wilson. He has been in terrible situations. Deshaun Watson literally had to drive a bus or ride in a bus across the country to play Jacksonville because his ribs are too injured because he has the worst offensive line in the league. And I think that Deshaun Watson's ability to keep his team in this throughout,

I mean, some of those Texans problems, there's coaching problems. The fact that they were able to recover from 0 and 3 to be in a probably a favorite in a wildcard game. Worst offensive line in the playoffs easily. I mean, they were actively harming him. I mean, it was offensive how bad that off the line was. And it was threatening his career. The fact that he was able to turn it around and is probably going to win a playoff game this weekend is unbelievable. And it speaks to everything he's done not only at Houston, but at Clemson and at Gainesville High School in Georgia.

You know, it's interesting. I said coming into the season, I thought Darnold Rosen and Baker could win now. I think Donald's the greatest pure talent, but I knew that. The Jets had nothing. I said Josh Allen and Lamar, they're not ready to play. So when people say, Colin, you're shocked by Baker, I say, no, no, no, no, no. He's accurate. I never set a bust.

I wouldn't draft him. I don't want to be tied to that stuff for 10 years. Lamar's shocking to me. Lamar Jackson is shocking. Harbaugh deserves respect. So I went and watched Lamar Jackson live. I got to see this thing. What blew me away was his total control of the game.

He's playing with a Hall of Famer, probably Philip Rivers against a good defense. I am shocked by what I'm seeing. Now I said, very draftable. I would have taken him second, third round. I can't believe he's this good. What do you make of Lamar Jackson? I make that the Chargers have a problem on our hands, and here's why.

They're built to stop modern NFL offenses. They're built to stop the Chiefs. They're built to stop the Saints. They've got Darwin James who can do anything back there. They've got two pass rushers and Joey Bosa and Melvin Ingram, can get up the field. They have Casey Hayward, a very good cornerback. Well, Lamar Jackson is not the modern NFL. You know, no one has run at the quarterback position like him since 1972. Who's that? Bobby Douglas, I think. Wow. Yeah. And so you start to look at it and you say, this is a guy who's solving

the modern NFL and Lamar Jackson by being completely antithetical to the modern NFL. He's just running the ball. Defenses are getting smaller. Linebackers are becoming more irrelevant to the game. And if you can actually line up and run the ball all the time, you have the definition of a matchup problem. Yeah. One more thing before we get to the games. You know, there's a lot of openings and there's a lot of coaches. I said this yesterday. The city of New York between the Giants and Jets has had five coaches in five years. And there's this current narrative that Mike McCarthy's too simplistic. He hasn't evolved. And my argument is, is he organized, prepared? Does he have a good work ethic? Yes, yes, yes. that peanut butter and jelly sandwiches

50 years before me, 50 years after will taste delicious. The things that he's good at matter. I'm not saying he's got the best cheekbones. He's not hip. He's not lit. He's not cool. But his teams were organized, prepared, massive discipline. I, and by the way,

Aaron Rogers came out of college, Kevin. He had a weird throwing motion. He was junior college kid. He was raw and ad libber. Isn't that Sam Darnold? Like to me, Mike McCarthy and the Jets feels like of all the coaching searches

an absolute perfect fit. Am I nuts on that? So I want to address something. You asked when we looked at the map of hate about who hates which teams, you said, who could possibly hate the Jets? The answer is Jets fans. They hate the Jets. And the reason is because they've

made mistake after mistake. The last time there were eight openings was 2013. Do not look at that list. It is not safe for work. It is bad. And, you know, Andy Reid is the only coach who's still there. And when you look at that list, he was the safest coach. We knew what we were getting. The one thing you don't want to do is develop a coach alongside a quarterback. We have no idea of Zach Taylor, the quarterback's coach from the LA Rams can call plays.

We have no idea. All we know is he knows Sean McVeigh. He can text Sean McVeigh every once in a while. Congratulations, Zach Taylor. But I just don't know why you would want to take a risk when you know Mike McCarthy can win games. And that's what I understand that you want the higher ceiling. but Lincoln Riley's not coming. Pat Fitzgerald's not coming. David Shaw is not coming. When you're dealing with the NFL pool right now, Mike McCarthy is very high on my list.

All right, let's go to the four games. Let's start with the Colts Texans. I have no strong feeling. Generally, if teams meet again after a team beat them, the better team does win. You feel like there's revenge, but generally teams win for a reason they have better personnel or they're better teams.

I don't like the idea that the Texans, have the worst offensive line remaining in the NFL. With very little conviction, I would take the Colts and have no confidence. Where would you lean? I'm leaning towards the Texans and here's why. We talk all the time about the problems, a great quarterback can solve. You know who else solves great problems? Aside from having Deshaun Watson, DeAndre Hopkins is a problem solver. If you throw the ball to a covered DeAndre Hopkins, he becomes uncovered. He's almost like shack a little bit. where you can just throw the ball in his direction and something good is going to happen. He didn't have a drop this year.

No. That's unheard of. And nearly 200 targets. It is unbelievable. And it's just, it's one of those things where I think that that's going to be, I think that home field is. It's real. It's very real. It's real.

Nobody who's played in the Super Bowl has won a road game since 2012. Well, slow, slow down. Timeout. Hold on. Say it again. Nobody who's played in the Super Bowl has played in a road game since 20. in the playoffs. Joe Flacco and Colin Kaepernick did it on the same day in 2012 in the 2012.

Isn't that amazing? That's an amazing stat, right? How have we just now noticed that? You're just throwing haymakers. Good Lord. So you like Houston. I like Houston because of the little edges. I think that both these teams, I think they tied and points 58 each in their matchups.

I love Andrew Luck. I love Frank Reich. I think that, you know, the defense on Indianapolis, they are, they have the, Albert Brewer said it on the show. they have the capability to go forward and be a dynasty because they have a lot of really good young players. But they're a better story than a team right now. I mean, let's be honest. I agree. I agree. And I just think Houston is ready to win right now. J.J. Watt, I mean, he is somehow, J.J. Watt, one of the most famous players in the NFL is not getting the credit he deserves after a 15 sack season. So I think they've, I think the offensive line, you know, if they had an offensive line, there was any good, they wouldn't be playing this weekend.

Right. But everything else favors Houston, Texas. All right. Almost talked me out of my pick. Here's the only game I feel strongly about. Again, I feel the story of Seattle's rebuilding success year is better than the team. I would take Dallas by a touchdown over Seattle. I think they have better personnel.

I think Amari's a real difference maker. Russell Wilson's probably my favorite quarterback next to Brady and luck of all time. But again, I think Seattle's. story is awesome. I don't think the personnel. I think it's Bobby Wagner and a bunch of kids. I take Dallas here. So these teams are basically mirror

images except the quarterback and the coach. Both of those things favor Seattle. Strongly. And so when I start to look at it, there's a couple of matchup things. What I'm fascinated with, Bobby Wagner has missed less than 1% of his tackles at the NFL level in his career. That is unheard of. So now you have

Ezekiel Elliott, who is number one in the NFL in yards after contact. That's going to be a matchup, man. That is going to be a, we talk so much about the modern NFL, about Patrick Mahomes, Drew Brees, and all these things that are just bringing the game forward. Bobby Wagner against Zique Elliott's going to bring it back about 30 years. That is going to be an old school matchup that I'm really looking forward to. And so I'm going to take the Seahawks in this one. I saw a stat the other day. You know, next-gen stats can can sort of quantify what, what passes shouldn't be completed. Yeah. Russell Wilson has the best complete percentage above expectation

in the entire NFL, which means he's, he's, he's, he's, he's, he's, he's, he's, he's, he's, creating hard throws and he's completing them. Tyler Lockett's become a star. He was a slot returner, punt returner. Nobody projected him to be anything like this. But is it that Tyler Lockett is otherworldly good? No. Russell Wilson can create Tyler Lockett into a star.

Chris Collinsworth made a great point. I was watching a football game recently, and Collinsworth said Russell throws the best deep ball in the league. He tear drops it. And Tyler Lockett's one of those guys that runs nice fades and nice deeps, and he is a perfect receiver for Russell Wilson. And so you like C. I love Patrick Mahomes,

but when you can play Patrick Mahomes and out deep ball him, you're doing a pretty good job. All right, let's go to, so we disagree on that. Chargers Ravens. I go to, I think the Chargers

have the best personnel in the league. I think playing Lamar twice in a month is the way to beat him, and I don't think it's easy. I would lean L.A. Chargers. I go back to the matchup problem. First of all, I don't know why why Wink Martindale,

the defensive coordinator for Baltimore, is not getting more head coach love. Because obviously, The number one thing you want right now is an offensive guru, but I'd rather have a defensive guru than a bad offensive guru. That's a good point. So I don't know why that hasn't happened. What they've been able to do on defense has been incredible.

Marlon Humphrey is a legitimate star. Yeah. There are pieces everywhere that I'm hugely impressed with. So I think that the talent level and the personnel is not as, the disparity is not as big as we think. That's fair. And then I just, I truly think you made the comparison to Tebow with Lamar Jackson.

Well, he's better than Tebow. He's much better than Tebow. But I'm saying it's sort of an unorthodox matchup, especially in the playoffs, especially early in his career. They beat Steelers. Yep. Tebow beat the Steelers.

Yep. On a weird play. You know, broken coverage. Yep. I mean, it's, you know, it is a really hard, I'm sure there's a nightmare going on right now in the practice facility game planning for Lamar Jackson. So you, we disagree on everything. Okay. So this.

So far, yeah. Okay. So I like the Eagles over the Bears. I say it with no conviction. Listen, Wence is better long term. Okay, there's a lot of 401K is better long term than Bitcoin. But the timing was right for Bitcoin, and some people made a lot of money on Bitcoin. You used to work at the Wall Street Journal.

You know all about stocks, I'm sure of it. I'm going to take Philadelphia here. I like their defensive line. I like their personnel. I like their big game experience. They're not dynamic at wide receiver, but they have playmakers at wide receiver. And Nick Foles is strangely accurate, incredibly coachable. The staff clearly connects with him.

I'm going to go Philly. I'm an analytical person. and I like to, I believe in data and all that stuff. But there's some sort of intangible stuff that I believe in. And one of the things that I've always believed in, I remember a Seahawks player telling them this a couple of years ago, when you start to play in really low-scoring games, you get comfortable doing it because you're always one play away from disaster.

The Bears just played a game when it was 14 to 9 against the San Francisco 49ers, but they were comfortable the entire game because they knew they were never going to give up a play. I think this will be a 17-14 low-scoring game. So do I. It's going to come down to one play. I think the Bears' defense is really comfortable. in that environment. And I do think I do, I will favor the bears in that situation.

I love Nick Foles. And I think the lesson of Nick Foles should teach a lot of teams how to build an offense because this is two years in a row now where Doug Peterson has had to build an offense on the fly in December and January and he's done it really well by stripping everything down except what Nick Foles likes. It's a really good coaching lesson. But I, I'm going to favor the Bears just because of the talent disparity. If this were a fully healthy Eagles team, if the secondary was still intact,

I think it's a very different situation, but I also think, by the way, they wouldn't be the sixth seed. But I'm going to go with the Bears. Again, like you, no confidence. So we disagree on everything. It's a beautiful thing. The story of my life.

Kevin Clark writes for the ringer, formerly the Wall Street Journal. He's just fantastic. You can follow him on social media where he's equally brilliant. I love having you on the show. You're a busy guy. Say hi to Bill, and thanks for coming on.

Thanks for having me. One more herd. The herd streams 24. Four hours a day, seven days a week within the IHeart radio app. Search heard to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like. So I'm watching a little bit. I watched a little Kauai last night and I watched the Warriors take on Houston, little bits of both last night. Kauai got roundly booed, did not have a great night and the Raptors got smoked.

And James Hardin had a remarkable night. If you did not watch, here's some of James Hardin against the Warriors. It was one of his best nights. He's on like a three-week streak of just scoring like crazy. Here it is. Hardin trying to get free, down to three, down to two, it's a three. Good, good, he got it. James Harden, with two warriors draped on him,

finds a way to get this to go down. In the grill of Draymond Green, a former defensive player of the year, James Harden knocks down his 44th point. very nice i mean the game doesn't mean a ton now it's obviously early january but it was fun and and james a very good player and i'm noticing something um the new nba is very offensive minded the three ball revolution more possessions more scoring all the really good players in this league are having just great years lebron anthony davis yonis cawai harden mbid damian lillard paul george kemble walker damar derosen uh the league is really set up for offensive players and all the good

offensive players in the league are just knocking it out of the park. There's more possessions, more scoring, less rigidity with coaching. It's very pro player. It's very pro offense. And there's one exception. And I'm not going to be a hater. I'm going to be a professional here. Russell Westbrook's numbers, he's the exception. He's the only great offensive talent in the league, and he's having an awful season. Three point percentage last among qualifiers. Field goal percentage, 118th. I mean, it's literally his effective field goal percentage is 133rd in the NBA. I'm not here to be a hater. All I'm saying is something is going on with Russell Westbrook and it is unbelievable. It's incredible. He's fallen off a cliff. He's no longer their go-to score. He's no longer

taking big shots in the fourth. Everything. His free throws are falling off a cliff. He's an awful three-point shooter. He's a terrible fourth quarter shooter. Again, I'm not a hater. I'm not this, I'm being totally professional. You're not. You're not hating? I'm not, do you think I'm hating? It says West Brick. I did not create the graphics.

I did not create the graphics. We're going to blame that on the graphics, people. Well, he's shooting a brick. I did not do that. I don't have the talent to do these beautiful graphics. I have no hand in this. It's a little bit of hating. I will agree with you, though. He isn't a terrible shooting slum. I don't even, I've never heard of this.

Ray Allen never had a shooting slump. Kobe Bryant didn't have shooting slumps were like Kobe Bryant had a bad half. It's been bad all season. Do you know his numbers? He has the identical numbers of Markle Fultz and he's out of the league. They got rid of Markle Fultz.

They have the same numbers. What is, and I told you this, Kevin Durant left. Something happened. He has become a significantly less reliable shooter in the last three years. This year, he's completely fallen off the cliff. And I don't know what the answer is. It's very bizarre.

He's free throw shooting has gone from 84 to 75 to 64. To meet, Joy, that's mental. That's all that is. That's not one of those things. Again, if his free throw percentage was fine, he was down on three-point shooting. I would say he had surgery. He's not getting the push off. He can't hit free throws.

I mean, it is, I've never seen anything like that. This game, this would be like every other quarterback, you know, because the quarterbacks are obviously now completing like 65, 68. This would be like somebody regressing and a quarterback in the league that we all thought was great going down to 47%. You'd be like, what, is it the offensive line? Is it what? Well, it's so consistent with his shooting that it's got, there has to be some sort of explanation for it. It's mental.

It has to be. Think about the two Mark L. Foltz was a bust. He's a shooter. It was mental. He had what they call the yips. This has to be mental with Westbrook. It has to be. It's not physical. You don't go from 85 at the line, 75, 64. I don't even know what it is. He was an MVP two years ago. He cannot shoot. God, it's just incredible. And again, I'm a total professional. There's no hating. I did not control the West Brick graphic. I did not control him shooting a brick. That had nothing to do with me.

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 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 Sports Slice on the iHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your

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