The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Best of The Herd: 01/08/2019

Episode Date: January 8, 2019

Colin thinks Clemson QB Trevor Lawrence might be the best prospect since John Elway and argues about it with FOX CFB Analyst Joel Klatt.  He thinks teams like the Packers are trying to find another Sean McVay with their coaching hires and it’s not going to work.  Plus, he explains why he is selling his Chargers stock and buying all the Patriots stock he can get his hands on.  Presented by Perky Jerky. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Thanks for listening to the best of Heard Podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday. From 12 to 3 Eastern, 9 to noon Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and FS1, find your local station for the herd at Fox Sports Radio.com or stream us live every day on the iHeartRadio app by searching Hurd. This is the best of the herd with Colin Cowher on Fox Sports Radio. Ah, 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. We have an absolutely great show today. I was excited about yesterday, Joy Taylor. I think I'm more excited about today. I got a great night's sleep. I got eight hours. I never get eight hours of sleep.

I watched that great game last night. It was fantastic. Good morning. Good morning. I saw something last night I have not seen in years. Not Alabama losing. Not a route. But Alabama makes everybody uncomfortable.

Even when Alabama loses, they make you uncomfortable. You have turnovers. You have a lot of penalties. Clemson was never uncomfortable. with a true freshman quarterback. Clemson had one penalty. With a true freshman quarterback, they had no turnovers. Clemson was never uncomfortable.

That's amazing. The dynasty's not dead. Nick will continue to win games. But that kid's going to win another national title next year or the next year. I've always told you the two best. NFL quarterback prospects I've ever seen in college are John Elway and Andrew Luck. I am not being hyperbolic here. This kid's number three.

And I think he's better than Andrew Luck. He is certainly much better than Andrew Luck as a freshman. I texted three different NFL executives last night. And I posed the question to each of him. I said, if Trevor Lawrence, 6.6, 220, and mobile, was available in the NFL draft as a true freshman, all texted back. He would go number one. And they said, Colin, as good as the quarterbacks were last year, he's better than all of them too. Darnold, Baker, Lamar, Josh, Josh. Two years ago, I was asked to go to a football camp in San Diego. I did. Trevor Lawrence was a junior

about to be a senior. It was the 12 best high school quarterbacks in the country. Nobody was close. Stop trying to convince me, all you college football fans, that your tiny run-around college quarterback's going to change the league, bro. No, no, no, no, no, no. Trevor Lawrence, 6-6 can change the league. I like Tua. He'll play in the NFL. He's not changing anything.

I like Kyler Murray. He can play in the NFL. He's not changing the league. This kid is an all-time talent. And I don't say that much. I mostly tell you your quarterbacks aren't going to be great. You know how much I like Sam Donald? He's not close to this.

I watched this weekend, Mitch Trubisky, run around guy. Lamar Jackson, run around guy. Lose it home. But you know what the NFL is today in 2019 and will be in 2029 and will be in 2029 and will be in 2049? It will be about guys like Trevor Lawrence, who are 6-6, calm, rocket arms. see the field and pick apart defenses, Alabama's with eight NFL players on it. This weekend, by the way, you want to know who's meeting in the AFC playoffs? Philip Rivers and Tom Brady, they could not beat a lampshade in a 40-yard dash.

In the NFC, immobile Nick Foles, Drew Breeze, who doesn't run, Jared Goff, who's a statue, and Dak who runs a little. Yes, yes, Patrick Mahomes. really, really athletic, but he's a better thrower than a runner. You keep trying to convince me, the college football fan, that you're hyper athletic, cocky, run around the field guy, is going to change the league and wreck the league. Now, Trevor Lawrence is what every NFL general manager is looking for today,

is going to be looking for five years from now, is going to be looking for 10 years from now. that a true freshman quarterback could go up against an NFL defense. Go look at the NFL draft this year. It's all Alabama guys in the first round. All defensive guys. No turnovers? One penalty?

Alabama's going to win games. But you're trying to convince me there's going to be this massive change in college football. Massive change in pro football. That we're just going to move now to guys running around and guys running. That's nice. like a little mobility. I like that Andrew Luck can move. I wish Eli Manning had some movement and Philip Rivers was kind of athletic, but this league doesn't change folks. I watched Trubisky and Lamar this weekend until they become elite throwers. They're not hoisting any

trophies. Big Ben's hoisted trophies. Brady's hosted trophies. By the way, Russell Wilson wasn't hoisting any trophies until he became a pocket passer with also great mobility. Steve Young didn't hoist any trophies until he was initially a pocket guy, a runner, until Steve Young became a runner who was also a great pocket passer. This kid, Trevor Lawrence, this is not being hyperbolic. This is what the NFL is dying to get their hands on. And he would be the number one pick easily. Last year's draft, this year's draft, next year's, and the following years when he comes out. Dabo Sweeney, good dude. Everybody loves him.

Congrats to you. Greatest team ever, no idea. Here's a little yabba-dabba-dabbo. There was a lot of talk about best ever all year long. We were never in that conversation. But tonight, there's no doubt. First 15 and no team to beat Notre Dame and to beat Alabama to do it. This team won 13 games by 20 points or more.

And led by an unbelievable. group of seniors. Amazing group. And I'm just thankful to be a part of it. Congratulations. Not sure to the greatest team ever. Certainly in the discussion, have earned everything.

And I can't wait to watch Trevor Lawrence for the next two years in college and to be the next superstar quarterback in the NFL. Let's shift to this. So the Packers have hired a coach, Matt Lefleur. For a year, he was an offensive coordinator at Tennessee the Titans.

It's no big deal, but they made the playoffs when he wasn't there, and then he got there, and the offense got worse. No, it actually did. Total offense, points per game passing offense got worse. But he got a job. You know, the young coaches is what you got to hire these days. Got to have a young coach with cheekbones. Good looking.

I made two calls on Matt LaFleur last night to NFL sources. You know what they say about Matt LaFleur? People weren't sure he had the same. stature, the gravitas, and the alpha to lead a group of men as a coordinator, not a coach. The knock on Matt LaFleur is nobody's quite sure if he can stand in front of guys in an offensive meeting and own the room. That's not as a head coach. That's just as a coordinator.

Sean McVeigh head coach of the Rams is getting a lot of guys great jobs that I don't think are quite ready. By the way, the Rams, I was told, did not want to hire. Sean McVeigh, they wanted to wait a year because they didn't think he was quite ready, but they knew if they didn't hire him somebody else would. So they hired him and he's been a great success. But I saw this story yesterday. Cliff Kingsbury is interviewing for the Cardinals and the Jets job.

Really? He got fired at his alma mater in college. You do realize alma maters don't want to fire you. The last thing a school wants to do when you're a legend at the school is fire you. And they had to. He was so bad. Well, Colin, I mean, it's Texas Tech. What about it?

Mike Leach won there. Mike Leach won 85 games and lost 40. Mike Leach won bowl games at Texas Tech. Don't tell me you can't win at Texas Tech. Mike Leach won, but Mike Leach doesn't have cheekbones. He's not a model. He dresses like a pirate. He's also winning at Washington State.

Mike Leach can coach. Mike Leach could win with eight guys, and you have 11 offensively. Hey, Cliff Kingsbury is a nice guy, I'm sure. He had Patrick Mahomes, the NFL's MVP. He couldn't win in the Big 12. Come on. He was 1935 in the Big 12, losing record with Patrick Mahomes, who you keep lecturing me, I'm a jerk for not saying automatically he's the MVP of the league.

Folks, there's a huge gap, folks, between knowing football, calling plays and being a head coach. there's a big difference between being a great pit boss at a casino. You could be the best pit boss at Caesar's Palace. And I mean, everybody knows. Bob's the best pit boss. Shirley's the best pit boss. There's a difference between that and running a casino. Oh, God, I got to worry about food and beverage.

I got to worry about security. I get a call from the feds. We got the president coming to town. A big difference between being a great pit boss and running a casino. There is a big difference between direct. directing a movie and running a movie studio. Matt LeFleur called plays for one year. What did I miss?

Tennessee got worse offensively. Offense points, pass offense. They went down. And now he's the quarterback of the Green Bay Packers. Maybe you've heard of it. It's an iconic NFL brand. Maybe you've heard of Aaron Rogers can be a little prickly tough to coach. Listen, I don't know if it's going to work.

I will give you a stat that is rather a little. alarming. By the NFL draft this year, half the NFL coaches will have been hired in the last two years. Most new coaches don't work. Pete Carroll does. He's still around. So is Mike Tomlin. So is Sean Peyton. So's Andy Reed. So's Bill Belichick. Old guys can coach. Mike Leach dresses like a pirate. Doesn't have cheekbones, not lit. Congratulations. on hiring somebody who people question whether he has the stature and gravitas, the alpha, the it to lead a coordinator's meeting. Maybe you've heard Aaron Rogers is aging. He ran a Super Bowl winning coach out of town.

Good luck to Matt Lefleur. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays at noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. Last night, a blown call changed the game. This morning, the end. internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where SportsSlice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athletes themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make

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On Hurtle 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 WNBA 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.

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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 IHeart Women's Sports. Brady is going to play against the Chargers this weekend. And so Tom Brady was on W-E-E-I radio, which is a bunch of angry dudes yelling at people. And Brady goes on once a week and gets off as quickly as he can and goes back to his rational, sane life. So he was on the radio show this week, and he was talking about on Monday about preparing for the Chargers. Here we go. There's an intense pressure.

I already feel it last night after that game ended. I mean, I was up watching film all night. So I had a lot of film to watch, and I was up pretty late. This is the biggest week of the year for me. So I got everything's focused on what we need to do. And you can't watch enough film on weeks like this. You can't get enough rest. You can't get enough treatment, get enough training or get enough practice.

It's all about, you know, what we got to do to be at our best for, you know, the biggest three hours of the season. First of all, of the four games this weekend, there was one game I liked last weekend, Dallas. I like Dallas to win. That was the one I felt strongest about. This week, the strongest game I feel about is the Patriots. Now, I know what a lot of you are saying. I'll be your stockbroker. A stockbroker's job is not to fall in love with stocks.

A bad stockbroker falls in love with stocks. A bad sportscaster falls in love with teams. I don't. I fall in like with teams. I'm always willing to move in and out of teams. And I said this yesterday on the show. I, about week three of the NFL season, Joy, you were here. I came on the air and I said, the Chargers have the best roster in the league.

And all I got was crap. all I got was pushback. All I got was you're a homer. All I got was you're from L.A. I said, no, watch the games. So I bought a ton of stock on the chargers in week three. And I have bought a ton of stock on the chargers. And now you, the public, you saw him beat Baltimore.

And now you want to buy the stock. And I'm here to sell it. That's what good stockbrokers do. Because now they're overvalued. They're an overvalued team. They're not going to win the Super Bowl. They had to stave off a team that couldn't throw the football this weekend after dominating them for three and a half hours. They blew coverages, they dropped interceptions, they had a fumble goal line that wasn't called.

They gave that game away at the end and got lucky. You live in L.A. Colin, that's why you like Brady. You're always claiming, you know what I'm loyal to? Honesty. It's the only thing that travels with me. Doesn't matter where I live. If you've been listening to me for 10 years, you think I favor home teams? I took the Cowboys over my Seattle Seahawks last weekend.

I don't do that. Some stocks in the NFL I keep in my portfolio for 15 years. New England. Some stocks I sell quickly. Vikings Jags. Some stocks I sell mid-season. Rams. Some stocks, chargers, I load up on, but then I see the rest of the suckers coming in to buy the stock and I dump it.

And I'm dumping the charger stock. Buy, low, sell high. And I'm going to take the stock I. sell on the Chargers and I'm going to buy more New England stock and add it to my portfolio. I've been buying it for years. I think the Chargers this morning are slightly overvalued. And I think the Patriots at four and a half are slightly undervalued. I like the Patriots by a touchdown. And the reason I like them by a touchdown is because I think NFL football in the playoffs becomes incredibly situational. And I think Tom Brady has a history in these games,

especially at Foxborough, of winning the situational battle. I mean, this whole thing about watching film, remember Tom versus Time? He's addicted to this. He's not winning because he has the best arm. He's not winning because he's the best athlete. He's winning because of his film study. I watch tape all day Monday, all day Tuesday. Wednesday we practice, Thursday we practice.

Friday we practice. Friday we practice. Friday I come home and I watch film. And then Sunday morning, I watch film. I don't know why I can sit here and watch it. and process information quickly, but I can. Running and lifting has been much harder to develop than this. This has kind of been in me.

I mean, I could literally, like, just watch film all day. It's like little boys with Fortnite. They could just sit in their room and play Fortnite all day. That's Tom Brady's version of Fortnite. I think a lot of grown-ups play Fortnite, too, at this point. Want more Herd? The Herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week, within the IHeart Radio app. Search Herd to listen live.

or on demand whenever you'd like. He is the voice of college football. Generally, I bring him on 10 minutes every week where Joel Klatte was wrong. But this week, I think he could be right. I think Joel Klatte could be right today. What's up? Okay. How are you doing, man?

I am doing. How are you doing? I'm doing well. How are you, Joy? I thoroughly enjoyed that thrashing last night. Listen, that was one of the best performances we've seen from a team in a long time. From Trevor Lawrence. this kid clad

you played college quarterback you know the position he's really good and he's going to be one of the most elite prospects but but what the hype train's going a little the hype is in front of the train right now with listen he's got to grow there's some things and he got away with a few really poor throws in that game by unbelievable wide receiver play the catches that

Ross were making well they make those in the NFL too were incredible they were incredible you don't you don't buy into Trevor Long No, no, I buy in 100% but I'm just saying like easy. Okay, time out. A little bit. Chee, chew. I'm the hype train.

Boarding passengers. Joy, would you like to come on the hype train? I would like a... Joel Platt, would you like to... Chew, chew, chew. I'll get on. Okay, okay. You get on, but you're like dragging your foot on the outside of the train.

Well, you know, I mean, it's like... That's not drag any feet here. I'm sorry. I never... I always forget my phone. Okay, let's look. I leave it, and it's buzzing in my phone. Oh, it's Baker.

Baker Mainfield. What's you say? to sit next to you. Come on a real show. Oh, he texted. He was like, hey, tell Colin to pump the brakes on any quarterback evaluations for the draft. You jerk. I know. I know. I'm not saying he's, listen, he's tremendous. He got away with a few 50-50 throws because of a great wide receiver play. He's going to be the best prospects since Andrew Lup. Thank you. When he comes out, let's just let him be a great college player for a while. Let's not. Let's call him the greatest football player of all time.

Just go with it. Just full steam. Okay. How about that, listen, Alabama's going to win a bunch of games. Sure. But I will, can I, I'm going to give you up, I'm going to say this. Nick has a reputation. Great with players.

Brutle on coaches. Yeah. And the minute coaches can get out of there, they're out of there. Yeah, that's true. Okay. Dabo Sweeney's assistants, they don't leave. No. The difference in these dynasties to me is stark.

For you. It's very strong. for me, and I think that you can encapsulate them with just two words. One is a factory and one is a family. Thank you. And that's going to sound like I favor one over the other. I'm not.

You can succeed both ways. Factories make a lot of money. Sure they do. And Nick is and has created I think the best dynasty I've ever seen in college football. Certainly in my lifetime, maybe ever, going back to Wilkinson and what he did at OU. But it's a factory. But it's a

factory. There's no doubt. Just to To your point, the data behind that, since they met for the first time for a national championship. So it's been four years. They've met every single year, three of those for a national championship. But in these four games, Nick Sabin, over that course of time, has lost 13 assistant coaches. 13. 13. It's a staggering number. In fact, only Tosh Lepoy and the strength coach are the only two guys that have been with him during that entire time. And by the way, Lepoy is a recruiter, not an elite coach, and the other guy's a strength coach. That's right.

And on the other side, Clemson has lost, wait for it, two. Two assistants, neither of them coordinators. So every single game, think about this now. In every one of these four games, Alabama has had a different set of coordinators. It went, it was Smart Kiffin, then it was Sark and Pruitt, then it was Dayball Pruitt, and now it was LaPoy and Loxley. And they got out coach last night. And they got severely.

Alabama's special teams were a mess. You fake a kick and the kickers, the lead blocker on fourth and eleven? Against a defense that was waiting for a fake. They had levels of defense. It was a terrible call. So by the way, if Alabama's a factory, Clemson is a family. That's the difference. So think about it.

Their coaches stay. They've got the same set of coordinators all four years. They've also got kids that stay in school for their senior year. Imagine if Alabama this year had Duron Payne, Minka Fitzs, Patrick and Calvin Ridley on the field because that's the equivalent of what Clemson had their best NFL prospects from last year returned and were on the field

for them this year. Why? Because it's a family. Because it's a family. Again, neither is better than the other. Family can win. Family's better. Maybe. You want to work in a family? You want to work in a family or you want to work in a factory? But here's the deal. I think that when kids choose Alabama, they

know they're going to a factory. It's a means to an end. When assistants work for Nick Sabin, it's a means to an end. They're consciously deciding to enter that factory because they want to be better on the other side. So I don't think one is better than the other. And I don't think this means that Alabama is going to be worse next year or it's going downhill. They're going to be fine. And we're probably going to be talking about this matchup at the same time next year. I think Alabama and Clemson have totally separated themselves in college football. By the way, SEC, I don't know. Let me glance quickly at the statistics Georgia crushed. Bama crush, six and six in bowl games, one in three against the Big 12.

It does appear there was an overvaluation of a certain conference. And here's the thing. Here's the thing. And I know people are waiting. They're like, oh, you're going to dance on the grave of the SEC. No, I'm not. All I'm going to say is that if you're one of those honks that are just constantly touting that conference, by the edge of the sword that your best team is winning the national championship and your best teams are better than the other best.

teams around the country, then you're going to have to die by that sort this year because your two best teams got thoroughly thumped in their postseason games. Texas, Texas physically dominated Georgia in the south. There's no doubt. That was never, that was like, that was big brother, little brother. And the score was not indicative of what the game was. Texas dominated the game. By the way, that game last night, here's what amazing. Alabama, this is what they do. They make you uncomfortable. Sure. You turn it over. Many penalties. A true freshman quarterback last night. One penalty, no turnover. That's right.

Clemson's offense was never uncomfortable. And they were never uncomfortable on third down. There were 10 of 15 on third down. Meanwhile, Alabama in those three categories, they had two turnovers, six penalties, and they were only four of 13 on third down. So they were dominated in those instances. Clemson is, at least right now, now they're the Kings of College football.

The dynasty has been great for a decade, but now Bama's the challenger. That's the way that it goes. is returning all their best players offensively. It was so much fun. I do not dance on graves. I do not believe doing that. That is not how I...

You know what I'm saying, right? If you're going to hang your hat on that hook, that your best is better than everybody's best. By a long shot. Then when your best gets dumped, guess what? We're going to rip that hat off the wall. So that's the case right now. And, by the way, the people that are obnoxious are mostly the mid-tier SEC

fans that are just riding the coattails of Alabama. Alabama fans, to their credit on social media for the last 24 hours, very cordial nice. Hey, we got thumped, we got outcoached, all of it, we know it. Classy. That's true. I like that. That's why I bring you on this show. You're classy.

But let's go back to something. Joy Taylor, who I trust now more with football insight, understands the greatness of Trevor Lawrence. If you are hesitating on him, I'm not hesitating. I'm just saying relax a little bit. Here's the thing. One percent relaxed? Because reps matter.

in college football. Reps really matter. I've given you this statistic a bunch of different times. If you take the quarterbacks that have won Super Bowls that are in the NFL right now, on average, they threw a thousand passes in college. They started 30 plus games. This guy needs more time.

There were times that he made some more throws and got that throw right there. He was totally bailed out by his wide receiver on that throw. So what? His receivers are good. You get that in the NFL too. Like I said, I'm on the hype train. I just said, pump the brakes a little bit. You're in the Caboosh.

How are you such a fun killer today, Joel? Buzz killed clad. I'm sorry. And we're all coming off this amazing high, you know, Alabama, all Alabama haters and SEC he has to celebrate. Clatch the guy. Clash the guy. And Joe comes on like, tactically, there's three more years from experience.

You know what? Hey, facts don't care about your hype train. Hey, you know what? You know what you are at Christmas? Hey, who's going to clean up the math? Joy. Say, someone's got to do it. Someone's got to do it.

Well, okay, grandpa. You go back to the hardware store. Wow. Trevor Lawrence is the number one. quarterback since Andrew Locke. I said that. What do you mean? I'm throwing the party, too. I've got a party hat on. I'm just in the corner not having drinks. You didn't say it with any conviction. Can I be the sober one at the party, please?

Hey, nothing wrong with talking. Someone's got to drive home. There's nothing with being sober. I'm seven years sober. You can be fun and sober. Well, it's a little harder. Trust me. About that. But someone's got to drive home. Someone's got to drive this show home. You know the only bad thing I don't get you for a few more months. Are you going to come on for the draft? I'll come on for the draft. How about that? Do that a couple of times.

Let's do that. Would you do that? I mean, I had to last year because you were sitting out here talking about Baker, even now you're still like, I don't buy Cleveland long term. Okay, he's going to be the rookie of the deal. You're like the handsome brother I never had that I wish I did. You would be like the handsome, successful brother that I wish I had that could have guided me through life. Instead, I was out in the middle of the lumberjacks doing nothing and just scaling the mountains by myself.

That's because here at the herd, we're not a factory. We're a hashtag family. See, you bring it all together. Joy, you just wrap it all. back around. You completely redeemed yourself. There we go. You're awesome, Joel Clatt. What's up? John Middlecock from the three and out podcast. Brought to you by Colin Coward in this podcast network. You like Colin

show. You'll like mine. I'm talking football, football, and more football. Today, you know I'm talking national championship. Nabo Sweeney. He just became a legend. But isn't the next Alabama coach? Sean Watson, Nick Bowles, Dak Prescott, cover everything that happened over Wild Card weekend. out podcast with me, John Middlkoff. This is weird because yesterday I was driving home after the show and I was thinking about the Cowboys and just thinking about topics in my head. And I have no idea why, but I was thinking about Dak Prescott and I thought, you know, he's got about 90% of the

qualities of Troy Aikman. And I'll get to that in a second. But Troy Akeman was talking about him yesterday on the ticket in Dallas. It's a radio station. And he said, he texted Dak and he said first postseason win of many. I really believe that. He's going to be the cowboy quarterback for a long time. he's going to win a lot of games in January going forward. I think it's certainly possible, especially if Dak Prescott has what I think he has, which is self-awareness, which has always been the most underrated quality of professional athletes. Do you know who you are?

Do you know your true talent level? Carmelo Anthony's never had it. The great ones have it. You know, like I think Dak has it. Jay Cutler didn't have it. I think Dak has it. Jeff George didn't have it. I think Dak has it.

Cam doesn't have it. I think Dak has it. And so I think Dak's going to win a bunch of games because he has self-awareness, and he realizes he's way better off with stars around him than making a few more dollars in Texas without stars around him. But now, we all know that Troy Ackman's a legend in Dallas, right? We all know that. We all understand that.

Troy Aikman's an all-timer. We all acknowledge that. And we all mostly acknowledge, unless you're wearing a pom-pom here, you're waving pom-poms, that DAC has limited. I would argue to you that they have way more in common than you think. Now, the reason Troy won Super Bowls and is in the Hall of Fame because he's got a world-class arm. And the reason I think Dax's going to win games will never be in the Hall of Fame and probably doesn't win a Super Bowl is he has a pretty average arm.

But arm is not everything. There's been a lot of guys in this league, Drew Breeze has won, without a cannon, that have won a ton of games. Matt Ryan's won a ton of games. You don't have to have Aaron, by the way, you don't have. Drew Breeze, without a great arm, is one of as many Super Bowls and maybe more in about a month than Aaron Rogers with a great arm. But Troy and Dak share a ton of qualities, and these are the qualities that I think made

Troy Aikman. Troy Aikman was tough. He played with concussions. Dack is tough. Both guys are not concerned about being popular in a locker room. they will call out teammates. They will sign their business first guys. They don't care if they're popular in the locker room.

They don't want to be despised by everybody, but they will take unpopular stands. Dak Prescott on the anthem, that didn't play well in Dallas's locker room. He's like, no, I put my heart on my flag at O'Neill. That did not play well on social media. That did not play well on Twitter. That did not play well in a locker room.

And Dak didn't give a rip. And Troy Aikman, you go watch those old NFL films. He will call out teammates. And I mean he will ride them. He will get in their kitchen. He doesn't care. Winners aren't trying to be popular. Losers are obsessed by it.

They're also neither great statistically. Troy wasn't great statistically. Troy doesn't measure up to Montana, Marino, and L.A. But both Dak and Aikman, I would argue, were a calming influence late in games. Troy Aikman was in a locker room with a lot of big personalities. Troy was the grown-up. Dak Prescott's been in the locker room with a lot of personalities, including his owner, Dax the grown-up.

Both can take a hit. Both are, I think, situationally great, late in games. Troy was great in the fourth quarter. Troy had a lot of picks. Troy threw a lot of picks. Troy didn't throw a lot of picks in playoff games fourth quarter driving for the win. Dak makes mistakes. Dax skips a lot of balls.

Dack misses a lot of open receivers. He doesn't miss a lot of open receivers in the fourth quarter, four minutes to go, got to beat Seattle with a drive. So now, again, there's a reason Troy's a Hall of Famer and has three Super Bowls. Troy had the golden arm, and Dak does not. But they share a... And I was thinking about this yesterday, driving around.

It's remarkable how many qualities I like about both. They are grown-ups. They're never trying to be popular in the room. The first sign of a loser is somebody that walks into a party and wants everybody to like them. Troy never cared. Troy wanted to win games. Troy wanted to win games.

And Dak Prescott, when he did that anthem thing, that did not play well with teammates. That did not play well on social media. Grownups don't care about that crap. Grownups don't sit and worry about Twitter. They got bigger things to do. They go out and they want to win games. And so, Dak and Troy have a lot more in common. They're more similar than dissimilar.

The difference, obviously, is Aikman's got an all-time top 10 arm. Let me move to this. So the Chargers, a story came out yesterday. I want to credit the person who wrote it. Jenny Vrentas. She's very good. From the Monday morning

quarterback.com, Jenny's very good. She gives a couple times a year she pops a big story. Not that she's not always good, but she gets mentioned a lot. She's very talented. So she got a quote

from a charger that said they knew 60 to 70% of the plays the Ravens were going to run. That's not good. They could literally see what was coming. And by the way, Tony Romo had a great breakdown of the difference between Philip Rivers, a veteran quarterback,

and how he manipulates the game. Watch this. And a whistle. Rivers is convinced he got him to jump. This is where a veteran quarterback really makes it difficult. So throughout the game, he lifts his leg, all of a sudden he doesn't snap. He comes up, but he changes the protection.

And the next time you lift the leg, the ball comes. The problem is when you come out of a break with time, you come in there and you go, hey, it's on three now. Wait for that day. I'm not even going to tell you the play. I'm going to fake like we're going to. calling to play and he got him to jump. Now, Joy, we talked about this yesterday.

Fans can't see film study, preparation, and pre-stamp manipulation very often. There you can see it. This is manipulating the defense. And in this instance, you could see it as a fan. This is a big deal. This is why Brady and Rivers are still alive in the playoffs. That's why Breeze is still playing in the playoffs. This is a thing that this is what Andrew Luck does as well as any young quarterback in league history.

here's the thing we found out this weekend about the Chargers and the Ravens and the Eagles and the Bears show this. This is a fact. New works in the NFL briefly. The Wildcat worked briefly. Chip Kelly's uptempo offense. Never forget this. 10 and 6. 10 and 6.

Work briefly. The Houston Oilers in the 90s ran the run and shoot. Jack Party, the head coach. Got him to the playoffs. Tim Tebow got to the play. playoffs. Lamar Jackson, Mitch Trubesky, when you introduce new schemes in a contrarian way to do business, it works in the NFL. It always has. During the regular season. And then the off season comes and coordinators look at it and they study it. And then the next season it doesn't

work quite as well. And two years later, it's done and it's out of the league. In the end, you got to throw the ball at an elite level. Everybody is looking for the new thing. I get it. It's cool to say, hey, I found this new band. Hey, man, I found this new band. They are the hot new band. But Bon Jovi still makes $100 million a year. Elvis Presley does too and he's dead. The old thing generally still works. You two is still selling out the Rose Bowl. Bon Jovi is still selling out big arenas. I know you love the new garage band, but we're always looking for the new thing. And here's the four qualities that have always won in the NFL at quarterback. Size. It's better to be big than small. Now, there are Fran Tarkington, Russell Wilson. I'm not saying

there's not outliers. Size matters. Ideally, six three and a half is where you'd like to go. Arm matters. There have been guys like Philip Rivers, Drew Breeze, maybe not a great arm, a weird, but ideally you'd like to throw the ball like Dan Marino, Troy Hakeman, Terry Bradshaw, Peyton, You'd like to throw a strong football. Humility matters. You don't think Peyton Manning's humble. You don't think Tom Brady's humble. You don't think John...

Oh, yeah. No, no, no, no. They know how lucky they are, and they know they need help. John Elway didn't win anything without running back Terrell Davis. Got to have a little humility. I'm not into cocky guy. And the fourth thing is you've got to have a work ethic. Johnny Mansell never had a work ethic.

Jamarcus Russell didn't have a work ethic. size, arm, little humility, and work ethic will always work. And you can win games without them, but when the Chargers know, according to this article, 70% of the plays that are coming, and that's because Baltimore is running largely a college offense and largely a running offense. It can win games. It can win a division. Trent Dill first said it yesterday.

It historically, it doesn't win Super Bowls, and it doesn't last very long. You want your college, I mean, listen, running backs get hit. so much. They wear down quickly and they weigh 245 pounds. Quarterback running around guy, you can work, especially if they're not paying him much. You can load up the defense. But you know, there's a reason a bunch of statues

are in the playoffs this weekend. Gough's a statue. Foles is a statue. Rivers is a statue. Brady's a statue. Eli's got two Superbowls. He's a statue. Ben doesn't run anymore either. You know, most of the old stuff still working in this league. By the way, Belichick 67. And he reads 60. And Sean

Payton's 56 and slow down all the new stuff. Some of the old stuff's still pretty good. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1 and the IHeard Radio app. Last night, a blown call changed 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. 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. 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 really really. 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. 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 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 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.

my life. Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Life throws hurdles big and small. The question is, how do you conquer them? On Hurtle 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 WNBA 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 you don't belong. Don't let that be the reason you don't do it. An Olympic champs Gabby Thomas and Katie Ledecki.

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 IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. Joy and I got into this yesterday. Josh McDaniels is not going to get the Cleveland job, I'm told, is not going to get the Tampa job, I'm told, is not going to get the Jets job, I'm told. and traded up to get Tim Tebow and passed on Andrew Luck. Here's the amazing thing about Josh McDaniels because he was a real hot name. Like a month ago, he was the hot name out there, right?

He couldn't beat out Matt LaFleure for the job. He passed on Andrew Luck. He traded up to get Tim Tebow. Is anybody questioning his judgment? Let me just say this about the Patriots. The New England Patriots was not a great job before Belichick and Brady got there. don't confuse great job with people making an average job great. When Bill Belichick leaves and Tom Brady leaves in two, three years, whatever it is,

who says New England's a good job? What? Because the Jets have their franchise quarterback. The Bills have their franchise quarterback. The dolphins are going to try to draft their franchise quarterback. How do you know you're going to have a franchise quarterback? Boston's got miserable weather, often miserable angry media. miserable fans will have unrealistic expectations coming off Brady and Belichick.

Who says New England's a good job? It's a good job now because of Brady and Melichick. But Kraft's going to be 80 years old, 84 years old, and you're going to have no Brady and Belichick in the room. Like the worst job in the history of radio was replacing Howard Stern. That was not a great job. Howard was great at doing morning radio on FM radio bands. doing morning radio on FM radio bands as kind of hacky sometimes.

Howard made it great. He left. It was no longer a great job on terrestrial radio. You know what I mean? The guy's making the money now are the opinion people like Rush Limbaugh. Do an FM, you know, zoo morning show. Hey. There's never a prestigious job in radio.

Howard Stern made it prestigious. And then Howard left and it's no longer a prestigious job. You know, you want to get, make money, be Rush Limbaugh. Be a conservative guy on, on FM. FM radio, that's where you can make a bunch of money. Okay, so the idea that the Patriots were a great job from, there was a 10-year stretch that had five coaches before Belichette got there. They ran off good coaches.

They ran off Parcells. They ran off Pete Carroll. Josh McDaniels, I'm just going to stay here in New England. What? What? You passed on Andrew Luck. Now you're passing on Aaron Rogers. You're not getting.

And by the way, his agent Bob Lamont, who's a very respected NFL agent, bailed on Josh McDaniel. It was like that nonsense you pulled on the Colts, I'm out of here. I don't understand this. Last year, you could have coached Andrew Luck. No, thanks. This year, you're going to coach Darren Rogers. You think New England's going to be better than those jobs.

You get Tom Brady won't be around. This idea. Listen, coaching the Pittsburgh Steelers is always a good job. coaching Alabama football, Ohio State football, is always a good job. Chip Kelly made Oregon a good job for an hour. That's not a, you know, Oregon, that's a state with no players in it. I'm not saying you can't win there, but there are jobs that are always great jobs. Coaching the Dallas Cowboys, free agents love to play there.

That's always a good job. Yeah, I think coaching in Philadelphia with the Eagles, the passion in Philadelphia, you've got a great owner. That's always a good job. But just because a job's good for an hour, is the Arizona Cardinals always a good job? Or did Bruce Ariens for an hour make it a good job? By the way, here was Josh McDaniels earlier today saying he's staying in New England, meaning he's now passed on luck and didn't even get an interview with Don Aaron Rogers. The book is closed.

You know, it's always a humbling experience to have an opportunity to interview with anybody for that position. And I was thankful for the opportunity to meet with Green Bay. and always gives you greater insight into another organization and how they do things. It's been very educational for me every time I've gone through it, and I've appreciated every single one of them. But, no, I'm completely focused on the Chargers in our season and finishing it strong, and I'll be here moving forward. By the way, so either he couldn't beat out Matt LaFleurr,

and that's not good news, or he didn't want it. I'm just saying, I don't know the guy. I'm not not you know he obviously he knows football but I'm kind of starting to side with joy on this and his judgment worries me right am I not I mean we don't know what happened with Green Bay maybe I mean obviously he was rumored to be there

and reported to be up for the job there but maybe they maybe they didn't want him you don't really know the ins and outs of it but I I don't think your first tenure as a head coach if you get fired that's a reflection of who you are as a coach Belichick, I think, is a great example of that. But him walking away from Andrew Luck. By the way, I hope I did not offend the very popular FM morning DJs throughout America. I grew up listening to Sausage Fingers and Chapstick in the morning on 97.6, Clovis, New Mexico's best rock.

So they are very, very talented, very funny. I don't want to offend any FM DJs. They blow up stuff, fireworks in the studio. That's a very authentic apology. I very deeply apologize for that. Hey, you listen to a rock and roll station in the morning and they're blowing stuff up and swearing. It is high comedy.

It's as good as radio gets. 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 SportsSlice on the IHeartRadio 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 IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, what's good, y'all? You're listening to Learn the Hardway

with your favorite therapist and host, Kier Games. This space is about black men's experiences, having honest conversations that's really not safe to have anywhere. but you're having him with a licensed professional who knows what he's doing. How many men carry a suit or armor. It signals to the world that you 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 AHA radio app, Apple Podcast,

or wherever you get your podcast. 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. Like, I can do anything. I can do anything. 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.

This is an IHart podcast. Guaranteed Human.