The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Best of The Herd: 03/21/2019

Episode Date: March 21, 2019

Colin describes everything that's wrong with the Pittsburgh Steelers and Ben Roethlisberger with just one word, polarizing. He cautions Cleveland fans about expecting to see the Browns in the Super Bowl. Doc Rivers going to the Lakers wouldn't come to fruition because of the power, money, and leverage he has built with the Clippers. And Colin actually takes a stand defending Aaron Rodgers in a recent Instagram post! 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 IHeart 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. Like, I 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 it'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 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 and 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 SportsRoddio.com Or stream us live every day on the IHeartRadio app by searching Heard. This is the best of the herd with Colin Cowher on Fox Sports Radio.

Ah, here we go on a Thursday. We are packed today. A lot of football. This in L.A. is The Herd, wherever you may be and however you may be listening, live, Los Angeles, IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, and FoxxBarrie. It is absolutely great to have you here today. I was in Seattle yesterday for some stuff, some sales stuff for Fox Sports, and Joy Taylor is joining me. Joy, how are you? Great.

Good morning. Happy March Madness. Happy March Madness. Happy March Madness. Talk about that later. Pittsburgh's often a topic on this show. Joy is from there, but it's the home of the Steelers, of course. And over the last two to three to four to five weeks, months, forever, I don't know.

We've heard a lot of noise out of the Pittsburgh Steelers. And what happens in situations like this is everybody takes aside. I'm a Labian Bell guy. I'm an Antonio Brown guy. I'm a big Ben guy. I'm a Mike Tomlin guy. Last two, three years, there's been a lot of noise. out of the Pittsburgh Steelers, an organization I have a ton of respect for.

This is proving my point. I don't want people taking sides in a locker room. This is on Ben. For all of you who are defending Ben Rothersberger, what the Steelers are, one word this morning, polarizing. Seattle won a Super Bowl. Then their locker room got divided. Then the GM and the coach said,

let's get the people that aren't on board with Russell Wilson out. They did. They rebooted Seattle back to the playoffs. The opposite of leadership is divisive. Polarization is great for talk show hosts. It can be good for some politicians. You galvanize your base and you pick on the other side. Social media, Kardashians.

Polarization is great in many businesses. not in locker rooms. And Ben divides a locker room. He won't reach down to the young guys in comment. He doesn't get along with all his stars. He's sort of a rigid personality, doesn't want to evolve, wants to do it his way. But more than anything, it's simply dividing the locker room. Levian Bell used to be a stealer, not a stealer.

Said Ben wants to win, but Ben wants to win his way. It's tough to play that way. Ben won a Super Bowl, but that's when he was younger. Now he's at the stage where he tries to control everything, and the team let him get there. Yes, that's a problem. I never hear that about Drew Brees. I never hear that about Tom Brady.

By the way, there's three quarterbacks in this league who are unbelievably talented, but I would call them polarizing. Ben, Aaron Rogers, and recently, Carson Wentz. Carson Wentz, you've got to do better, bro. You can't be polarizing. I don't care how talented you are and you're talented.

Aaron Rogers, well documented. But Big Ben's the leader in the clubhouse. Whether you're for or against Big Ben, you can't have teammates for, Brady, against Brady. Everybody's all in on Drew Breeze. The coaches love him, the owner loves him, the GM loves him, the rookies love him, the veterans love him. Guys retire, they're crying about him.

That's because Drew Breeze goes out of his way to get off the stage, get out of his mansion and reach down and do a selfie and a high five with the kids. Learn their music, learn their lingo, learn their likes. You can't be polarizing. Carson Wentz, Aaron Rogers and Ben and Ben, more than all of them, everybody's taking sides. And it doesn't matter if you're taking Ben's side. I think he's great. But this is not what quarterbacks do.

Leadership matters. I don't care if my running backs a goofball. I don't care of my wide receivers, a diva. I really care if my quarterback is. That's why I care about all those combine stories that come out about quarterbacks. I did worry about hearing about Big Ben early in his career with women. I did worry early in Cam Newton's career when I heard about the goofy stuff he did in college. I did worry about Baker and Johnny Mansell and James Winston.

Because in the end, most of that stuff is a habit and it's a DNA and it's a personality and it's who you are and it reemerges. But everybody here is siding with somebody, which is, proving my point. Picking sides equals divided. I want you to pick sides on me. Love him, hate him. I don't want you to be indifferent. Kardashians feel the same. Trump may too. There are industries where division is

a rallying point. It galvanizes your fans against your haters, but it's not a quarterback. That's not what it is. It's, by the way, we have Levian Bell talking here about Ben as a teammate, and it's just

I just, this sounds like polarization to me. And then like GM, you know what I'm saying? It's like, it's like they all like, it's like they're all on the same level than everybody else is like lower. Okay, so it's Ben, the GM, and then all the rest of the players. In a sense. Well.

That's the vibe I got. I just feel like if we're teammates, we're teammates. We're all on the same thing. We're all on the same thing. Mm-hmm. And you felt like you weren't even with Ben. Ben is, you know, Ben is Ben, he's the quarterback. At the time, I'm thinking that's how it's supposed to be.

He's supposed to be like that. Like, don't even go to the quarterbacks are leaders, and yeah, everybody goes to the quarterback. It is what it is. But it's like, it's still, you're still a teammate at the end of day. You're not, you know what I'm saying? You're not Kevin Colbert. Right. You know what I'm saying?

You know what I'm saying? Yeah, I understand. Was that a factor why you didn't want to stay in Pittsburgh? That was part of it. Your relationship with him. Yeah, with that. And you wanted it to be different in a way. Like we're friends.

Like we're teammates. And you did not feel that way. Yeah, very good interview, by the way, by Jenny Vrentis at Sports Illustrate. She did a really good job with this interview. And Levian's right. Like, leadership's hard. Like when you manage a company, manage a law firm, manage a hospital, manage a landscaping company. New employee, wears you out.

You know, crazy kids. but leadership is coming off the stage and relating to people. And it doesn't matter how much money you have and how many rings you have. Drew Breeze and Brady, you just don't hear this. Ben, come off the stage. Evolve a little. Like, you're a teammate. You're not a general manager.

What have I knocked LeBron for this year? I've been defending LeBron for 15 years. LeBron this year, I'm rich, I'm up here, I'm doing what I want to do. LeBron had a lousy year of leadership. 28, 8, and 8, still great player. This is on Ben. It is. And I love him, but it's on Ben.

I don't hear this with Breeze, and I don't hear this with Brady. And I don't hear this with Philip Rivers. You are still a player wearing a helmet. GMs don't wear helmets. Quarterbacks, even rich ones with rings do. Let me shift to this. eventually I was sitting with a therapist one time

and he said change is hard he goes Colin you want to change and most of your habits the real you comes out you can modify them temperum but people are what they are you know a kid that grows up talkative is going to be talkative if you've had a temper your entire life hard to shut it off at 42 maybe cannabis helps I don't know

But in the end, the real you comes out. That's why you have to call for references for jobs like what she like, what's he like. Because people can fool you for six months. You know, you get into a relationship and flowers and movies, but the real you, you the real them comes out. And you can suppress who you are for only so long. So two weeks ago, Oklahoma City was in the third spot catbird seat in the West. Paul George was an MVP candidate. I said my MVP.

And Westbrook was being an excellent teammate. He was passing and shooting less. Today they've lost four straight. Now they're an eighth seed. Paul George is no longer an MVP candidate. And Westbrook shooting a lot. Oklahoma City was about ready to play a seven seed, a six seed home court advantage. as if this morning they will open with the Golden State Warriors and get swept.

It should be noted in the West. Houston is on fire. They've won 12 of 14. Denver's won four straight. Clippers of won eight of nine. San Antonio 9 of 10 in Utah's finally got their act together. It is a bad time to get cold. By the way, five of the next 10 games for Oklahoma City are tough.

At Toronto, Denver, Houston at home at Milwaukee. and Memphis is sneaky good lately at home. They could lose all five of those games. And here we go again. Westbrook, end of the year, is unraveling. Because he always unravels. Because you can only suppress what you are for so long. Has an off-season, chills out in, you know, Los Angeles,

takes a deep breath in a good mood. But the season and an injury and a losing streak, Westbrook, my friends, is a sprinter and the NBA season is a marathon. And over time, he wears out teammates, he wears out his coach, he wears out the staff, he wears out the media, he wears out himself. Four straight losses, eighth in the West, open with the warriors, Paul George, not his factor. Westbrook shooting more, not quite the teammate he was even three, four weeks ago.

at some point all you Westbrook fans, you'll have to acknowledge, you know, facts and stuff, it's happening like it has the last two years. He's unraveling at the end of the season. For the record, I totally supported him in Utah. That fan was a jerk, got thrown out, should have. Then a couple of days later, he's doing a near headbutt with Clay Thompson, gets him suspended for a game, a game at home against a bad team Miami. They lost and dropped to eighth. For their next 10, they'll be underdogs, and the Memphis game on the road, Memphis is sneaky

good lately at home. Sorry, but you can only suppress what you are for so long. OKC and Westbrook, unraveling again as the playoffs are right around the corner. One more herd? The herd streams 24 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, you know, here's what's funny. I tend to think I'm kind of a wet blanket on big news. I think everybody overreacts. I'm not a millennial.

I'm not 20 years old. I've seen everything a thousand times. There's no new stories. I love my job. But I'm not some millennial on the internet that freaks out because one player goes to one team and one player goes to, I mean, hell, last week, OBJ goes to Cleveland. You got the Browns in the Super Bowl. Oh, stop it.

this is an owner GM coach league. You think that Browns are elite at those positions? I'm kind of the opposite of the hot take guy, which is there's, you know, I have strong opinions, but here's become the recent NFL hot take. The Steelers are going to be terrible. Okay. Time out. Kansas City, nobody is bailing on Kansas City this morning.

NFL.com came out with their power rankings yesterday. Kansas City's sixth. They're behind great teams, right? They're behind the Patriots and the Rams. Kansas City is sixth. Kansas City has lost a star receiver, Tyreek Hill. Fastest player in the league. You can't duplicate him.

Two very good pass rushers, Justin Houston D. Ford. Houston had nine sacks and 12 games. Star running back Kareem Hunt and about to be a Hall of Fame eventual safety, Eric Berry. Five guys, playmakers. Kansas City's in a division with the stacked. playoff chargers lost five top players in a historically tough division where the raiders are way better and the broncos i think upgraded at quarterback and everybody's still picking kansas city the steelers on nfl dot com this morning are 18th officially a bad football team because they lost

antonio brown they're in a division with hit and miss baltimore awful since Cincinnati and historically chaotic Cleveland. And you think Pittsburgh's just, it's over. Let me ask you, who has the best offensive line in the NFL currently? It's one of two teams, Saints or Steelers. NFL offensive lines matter? Is the quarterback good Big Ben? Yep.

Do they still have a number one wide receiver? Oh, yeah, Kansas City no longer does. How are they getting to the quarterback? Well, they were top two in the NFL in Sacks last year, beat New England. How is their ownership? Excellent. manager A. Folks, Kansas City lost five players in a tougher division.

Denver's not historically chaotic. The chargers are well run. Everybody still likes Kansas City. Pittsburgh lost one wide receiver. They didn't have Libyan Bill there last year. The overreaction to Antonio Brown is remarkable. This league is about ownership. Steelers A.

GM, Steelers A, quarterback, Steelers A minus. They led the NFL over second in sacks, best offensive lines, still have a number one receiver. Talk about overreaction. You think Pittsburgh's going to become Tampa? This morning, Pittsburgh's Jacksonville? Is that what you're Pittsburgh's Oakland? I mean, you've got to be kidding me. Are people paying attention?

What wins in this league? They got a veteran Super Bowl winning. coach, Pittsburgh. Best offensive line in football along with the Saints. Excellent quarterback. He's not A-plus. I think he's more A-minus. A little bit of drama, but he's still an A-quarterback. In a division with historic

Wackadoos, Cincinnati and Cleveland. Kansas City lost five dudes. Tougher division. Nobody's backed off. I mean, I like Patrick Mahomes, too. He's not Superman. I mean, who's better right now? Mahomes or Ben? Even if you like Mahomes. It's not like Mahomes here. way down here. You can't replace

Tyree Kill. How is Kansas City going to replace D. Ford and Justin Houston? You think Kareem Hunt was easy to replace? Mahomes wasn't the same quarterback last six weeks without him. Eric Barry no longer a top player, but there was some leadership skills

in the locker room with him, don't you think? Eric's a pretty good leader, read his story, pretty remarkable. Pretty remarkable player in his prime. No longer is, but he brought something to the table, didn't he? For the record, I like Kansas City to still win their division, but I also like Pittsburgh to still win theirs. 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. One of the big divisions in America, people willing to evolve and rigid, stubborn people. And as men primarily age, they can pick one of those two lanes. Coach K, I'm going to evolve. I don't like one in duns, but I'm going to evolve. Duke's to win the title. Bobby Knight at the end of his career? Stubborn. I'm not changing. You've seen how it's gone. You can talk about Republicans and Democrats,

but when I look around in the world in which I live, I got Republican friends and Democratic friends, and most of my friends almost lean moderate to independent. But the big gap, are you willing to evolve? Or are you stubborn? And

Lavian Bell came out, interview with Jenny Vrennis, Monday morning quarterback, and said, Ben wants to win, but Ben wants to win his way, and that's tough to play with. He tries to control everything. Ben and Brett Farrve. Small town guys, little rigid, my way or the highway,

I'm not evolving. Tom Brady, Drew Breeze, Coach Kay, have chosen the other lane. This is a real knock on Big Ben. Big Ben, I've been told by people around the Steelers organization that have been in and out of that organization, their audible system is antiquated and simplistic. Ben threatened to retire years ago if things didn't go his way.

He was public about it. Who else threatened to retire several times if he had to change offenses? Brett Farv. You can choose either exit on the interstate, evolve and grow or stubborn rigid guy. And Farv, to me at the end, I'm not changing offenses or I'll retire. He threatened it publicly. Look it up. Google.

That's what it's used for. Big Ben, a couple years ago. They were forcing changes with Todd Haley. I'm going to retire. You know, Warren Sharp is a football analytics guy. And a couple days ago, weeks ago, I had him on a podcast. And I said, what NFL team, and Ben has to take some of the hit on this? Because quarterbacks who aren't willing to evolve, especially when they're great, like Fav and Big Ben, teams aren't going to get rid of him.

not as long as Farve was still really, really good, and Ben still really good. He's an A-to-A-A-minus quarterback. And so Warren Sharp, I asked him, what's the team that underachieves, analytically? Our team that has a very good quarterback, and that's the most important thing in the NFL, and they're always kind of consistently good, above-average team, but they always struggle with adjusting and adapting their game plan to beat certain opponents, and that's why, for example, they hardly ever have success against the New England Patriots, especially their defense always seems to struggle dealing with them.

I know they won a game a while ago against them, but on a consistent basis, this is a team that I feel like isn't squeezing the juice out of the orange to the extent that they need to. Their roster has been so much better than what they've actually delivered on the field. And I think football particularly is very cruel to rigid guys. I mean, Joy, we've watched the last two years, rules change hourly in football. Football changes. Football game today doesn't look like a football.

game did 12 years ago on television. Football's the sport of change. Goodell will step in, rules committee. Middle of a season. Super Bowl two years ago, they changed the catch roll. Baseball, you can be rigid. Baseball's kinder to rigid guy because baseball doesn't change much. Baseball, Little League Baseball figured out the review system before Major League Baseball. Until a year ago, Major League Baseball didn't use computers to schedule their games.

They were on cards. I'm not joking. And finally, somebody said, you may want to computerize this. thing. By the way, never have the Cubs Cardinals during the week. Never have the Giants, Dodgers Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. Always have the Yankees Red Sox on the weekend like the NFL's been doing forever.

Scheduling matters. Baseball's fine for rigid guy because baseball is like glacial when it comes to change. Rigid football guy? I'm not going to change guy. It's a bad place for him. You got to adapt, baby. Belichick 70 and still great because he adapts.

Well, the world changes. People's viewing habit changes. How people consume the game changes. Your audience gets younger. Of course. So change. Yes. So when you're an inevitable part of life. And I've heard this for years on Big Ben. They use a simplistic audible system.

It's my way or the highway. He's not willing to evolve. It's got a far-like quality. And they're both first ballot hall of famers. I don't think they're bad guys. But I see the divide in America, not as Republican Democrat, and that's certainly a divide. I see it between willing to grow or sticking your heels in the dirt and never moving. Big Ben here

take some blame for this. Evolve, Pittsburgh, analytically, change some stuff up both sides of the football. One more herd? The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week within the IHeart radio app. Search herd to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like. There was a story a couple of days ago. I didn't really buy it. Not that I doubted the reporters, but I didn't think it would come to fruition.

Doc Rivers, clipper coach, going to the Lakers. Now, I'm not saying the reporters like Peter Vessie aren't great and didn't have legitimate sources. but what I said at the time was it kind of feels like Doc's trying to get a raise or something. Trying to get a contract extension. So I didn't buy the Doc Lakers

story happening. I bought the story and the leak, but I didn't buy it. It was happening. The Clippers have a better owner. I think the Clippers have a better roster. I think right now they've got a better culture. I think with Jerry West,

they have a better front office. I think Jerry is better than Magic and player personality. No, just my opinion. I got 40 years of Jerry to prove it. So I would not make the move of I'm Doc Rivers. I think the Lakers have a bigger brand. I don't think that's disputable. But the Giants have a bigger brand than the Jets.

And for the next 10 years, because of Sam Darlene, Lavin, Bell, and the Jets, I think they're going to have more success than the New York Giants. But now, this I'll say about Doc Rivers. I like Doc. I see Doc about two, three times a year. I like Doc a lot. Does Doc like money? Does Doc like leverage?

Does Doc like power? Yeah, he does. When he came to the Clippers, he flushed some stuff out. Doc's got a strong worldview. And I like Doc a lot. But he likes his money. He likes his power. He likes his control. And I'm okay with that. He's earned a right. And he's good. He's having, I'd argue, the best year he's ever coached. The fact they're going to make the playoffs in the West when they traded Tobias Harris in the last three years, Chris Ball, DeAndre Jordan, Blake Griffin, and they're going to make the playoffs.

I felt my feeling on this, it was a little bit of a plant to get Doc an extension, which he wanted now. And by the way, in the last 48 hours, looks like they're going to take that option out of the contract and give Doc an extension, which is sort of what we predicted what happened on the story. I also don't think Doc and LeBron work, and I like both. But I like tuna fish and I like ice cream. I don't like them together. I like Doc, and I like LeBron. But these are two strong-headed, smart, my way, or highway guys. Doc's going to run a franchise the way he wants to run it.

And he has a view of basketball, and he's got titles. So he's earned that right. He's also a good player. And LeBron's earned the right to have a say in the room. Smart guy, a bunch of titles, iconic brand. Still great player, 28, 8, and 8. But right now the Lakers have a lot of chefs in the kitchen. You got Kobe's got stuff he's doing, Polinka and Magic and Jeannie and LeBron, and I don't think you could handle another chef.

I don't think it would be a good fit for Doc. I think the Clippers is a perfect fit for Doc where you have a great owner, a veteran eyes in West, a really nice roster who needs a star. They need a star. They've got space for two, and I think they're going to land one star. I don't think they're going to get Durant and Kauai. I think they could get Kauai, or maybe a Jimmy Butler or somebody. but I never totally bought into this story. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific.

So Aaron Rogers yesterday posted a farewell to Randall Cobb. Randall Cobb was played at Kentucky football, did a bunch of stuff, really talented kid in the SEC. Green Bay found him and he was just a really good player. He did a slot. He made some huge plays. I want to get the Bears when Aaron rolls out, finds him. Randall was a great player. Had some injuries, but he's on the free agent market.

And I was saying a couple days ago to people in the. staff, I'm like, he's a pretty good player. I'd love to have him as my third receiver. So Dallas picked him up yesterday. Aaron Rogers went to his Instagram and had a movie quote describing him. I thought it was a very touching tribute. Very cool. Good taste, Shawshank Redemption.

It says here, here's the quotation on the Instagram from Aaron Rogers. I have to remind myself that some birds aren't meant to be caged. When they fly away, the part of you that knows that it was a sin to lock them up does rejoice. Still, the place you live in is as much more draft. and empty, then you're gone. And I guess I just missed my friend. Friendship teammates, brothers, Packers. I thought it was great.

My staff this morning, my cynical staff said there are some key words in here that look like a shot at Green Bay. I'm like, what are you talking about? So put this up. My staff said, what about caged and lock them up and a place you live, drab and empty? I said, guys, kind of a reach. no. So I said, why don't we just spend maybe two minutes on this today? It's not really a topic. The staff wanted me to put this in the first hour and I'm like, this is not a first hour topic.

So we'll just put it on my herd site. Do you think he's honoring a teammate or comparing Green Bay to a drab and empty prison? By the way, what is the current vote? What's the current score? Oh, good hell, people. Oh, you lord people. How many people have voted? Well, I mean, in all fairness, it is a quote from a movie about being in prison. I'm not denying that. But you have to believe that Aaron Rogers went out to take a subtle shot. I thought it was a, I cannot believe the vote. I think Aaron Rogers is a complex character, and I think he shows that quote because it is a,

when Red and Morgan Freeman's voice is very poetic send off to someone. in the movie that he had a relationship with. And then also it happens to be... Draben empty. Draben empty. You really? So you got to take it like one level deeper. I'm sure.

You know what? But no, my vote would be that he's saying a nice thing to his team. It feels like a nice thing. It's a great movie. So how many votes are in, Greg? Or 6,000? Six thousand. I do have to say, though.

It is kind of a weird quote, though. You think so? I mean, yes, because it's, it does talk about, like, being caged and, like, it does have to He could have used a different analogy here. He didn't have to go Shawshank with prison. Am I the only person 100% defending Aaron Rogers? I was, at first I was on your side. Now I'm kind of like, wow.

You really got to pick quotes very specifically. It's an important thing. It sometimes takes longer to pick the quote than it does to pick the picture. Wow. I just want the word. world to know. I never qualify any of my opinions. Don't like me. I don't care. But I would like to qualify this. I am defending Aaron Rogers here. Every once in a while you have to defend Westbrook and every once in a while you have to defend Aaron Rogers. That is. So what 6,000 votes means,

by 6,000 votes, whatever the percentage is, it won't change much. It's hard to explain in our world. But once you get, believe it or not, once you get to about 18 to 20 votes, that percentage won't change much, even after 18 votes. So it's 6,000 votes, and less like a Packer website came in and, you know, and flooded the vote. It'll probably stay, you know, 55, 45, 45.

I don't know. Wow. Well, you use the word, good word. Aaron's complex. And most interesting people are, and Aaron's a very interesting person. So smart, interesting people are usually complex. I don't think he's that complex here. I think he's pretty simple. here, but I am being outvoted by my staff. I'm really softening a week ago.

I defended Westbrook. I am, and I was, you know, I've been rough on Big Ben this week. Yeah, you're all over the place. I'm all over the place. One more herd. The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week, within the IHeart radio app. Search Herd to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like. Let's bring in Mark Slareth three-time Super Bowl champ, a multiple-time pro bowler

with the Redskins and the Broncos a radio show in Denver. By the way, Denver's had crazy weather. I was in Colorado two weeks ago, and I got stuck in the Vail airport for nine hours. Oh, hey, thanks for the call. It's just crazy. What a jerk? He comes to Colorado? You don't even call.

Well, I was there skiing for a charity event. All right. All right. So I'm going to play you two pieces of tape, and I want you to react to both pieces of tape. Now, this is Labian Bell, former Steeler, talking about Ben's leadership, or lack of Thereof, so let's play this tape for Mark Slareth. It's like Ben and then like GM. You know what I'm saying?

It's like, it's like they all like, it's like they're all in the same level than everybody else. Like lower out. Okay, so it's Ben, the GM and then all the rest of the players. In a sense. Well. That's the vibe I got. I just feel like if we're teammates, we're teammates. We're all the same thing.

We're all the same thing. Mm-hmm. And you felt like you weren't even with that. weren't even with Ben. Ben is, you know, Ben is Ben, he's the quarterback. At the time, I'm thinking that's how I'm supposed to be. He's supposed to be like that. Like, we're on quarterbacks are leaders and yeah, everybody going to the quarterback. It is what it is. But it's like it's still, you're still a teammate. At the day and the day, you're not, you know what I'm saying, you're not Kevin Colbert. Right. You know what I'm saying? You know what I'm saying?

Yeah, I understand. Was that a factor why you didn't want to stay in Pittsburgh? That was part of it. Your relationship with him. Yeah. And you wanted it to be different in a way. Like we're friends. Like we're teammates. And you did not feel that way.

All right, Mark, what do you make of that? Well, I mean, I understand that from an organizational standpoint, if you allow a player to have that kind of authority, most players are going to accept that kind of authority. Like, you can sit there and criticize Ben, and you know what? Levion Bell's 100% right. If you put yourself above your teammates...

You're still wearing a helmet. Right. But if you put yourself above your teammates, it's not the right thing to do. As a quarterback, you have to deflect 100% of the praise when it comes your way, and you've got to think the big uglies up front, your running backs and your receivers and all those things. And then when you lose, you've got to accept 100% of the responsibility. Ben has never been a 100 guy. Okay?

So that part is that part. But from an organizational standpoint, like most guys, like, you know, you can criticize Kevin Colbert for saying, you know, it's the babysitting or there's a bunch of children that we're watching and all this kind of stuff. You can criticize that. You can criticize guys for saying that. But from an organizational structure standpoint, if you don't squash that uprising, like, because if you give Ben or you give LeBron oversight of what you're doing, doing. You don't see the picture from 20,000 feet. You see it from court level or field level. Right. And there's a different look. You're not looking beyond your career. You're just looking at your career. That's a selfishness. And the Steelers have allowed that selfishness to happen with a bunch of

their players. So I put that, like, he may lack some leadership skills. I'll give you that. And he does. Yes. But I put it more on the organization for allowing, you're either coaching it or you're allowing it to happen and they're allowing it to happen. By the way, it should be noted. Belichick has even publicly taking shots at Brady like when his birthday, he's like, he's just one birthday. New England goes out of its way, perhaps to a fault because Brady on his Tom versus Time, remember that moment Joy when he said, his, Giselle said, he'd just like to feel occasionally respected. I would argue New England's almost gone a little too far and constantly chipping away at the stump of Brady. But to your point is there is an elevation.

that bends above the team. I always go back to this in football. Are you wearing a helmet? Then you're a player. Right. You may be a rich player, but in the end, Big Ben benefits from Antonio, Labian, and his left tackle. John Elway in Denver, did you take you guys out for stakes? Right. Here.

And he was an icon. Right. Here's the thing. I come from Washington after six years in Washington, and I was on Super Bowl championship team there in Washington, a member of the hogs and all that, right? So kind of an iconic group. When I went to Denver, I just kind of sat back and just observed.

Like, who is John Elway? Because in the eyes of the world, he had the right to be a prima donna. Oh, he was the biggest star in the league. He and Joe Martin. Absolutely. He and Marino. But let me tell you what we had to do, work-wise, if we're running hundreds, John's out there running, if we're lifting, I'll never forget one time we're doing

this leg press thing. And our coach was Rich Toot and he was leaning on this. And we hated it. It was the hammer leg press. and he'd lean on it. And it was like you'd get off and your legs would be shaking. You know, it'd be like that scene from Zoolander. Oh, involuntary spasm.

Enjoyed the show. You know, it was ridiculous. And John sits down to do it and I'm in this group. You know, we're waiting. You know, taking turns. And he's like, you realize that if I refuse to do this, I'm still going to make the team, right? You do realize.

And then he did it anyhow, right? That's who he was. So I always respect the guys that have earned the right to be prima donnas and aren't prima don't prima don't. Drew Brees. That to me is a leadership. That's a leadership asset. Drew Bree is one of the hardest working guys I've ever been around.

I've only had the opportunity, the pleasure of being around him a few times in that environment. But let me tell you. Everybody's in on him. First guy on the field, last guy to leave, doing the exercise, doing the work, doing the extra stuff that it takes to be great. I'm going to play a second bite from Lavian Bell. He's talking about the Steelers, didn't let him be a little more human and stuff. Let's play this tape. Like, they don't shoot like a human.

What I mean by that is like, I'm, yeah, I'm an NFL athlete, but it's still, I'm a human being. You know what I'm saying? It's like, I still play video games. I still make music. It's like, they don't want to, like, allow you to be yourself for real. It's like, they want you to be, if you're a stealer, like, you're literally supposed to be playing football 24-7. You're not supposed to be playing video games and, like, making music, playing basketball.

You're not supposed to be doing that. You're supposed to be working out. What do you make of that? Well, I mean, one, welcome to the NFL. I mean, we're paying you a handsome fee for you to be a football player. And that's what we expect. And to as much as given, much as expected. And I would say this, that there are certain guys you have to monitor a little closely.

Has he not been suspended several times for drug use? Yeah, not total committed. So, I mean, those guys. I thought that comment, by the way, and I like Levian, I thought it was. a bunch of hooey. Pittsburgh is very pro player. Absolutely. By the way, New England's considered like the rigid

stepdad of the NFL, Gronk, Wes Welker, and Tom Brady. They seem to have a good time. Like, there is a point where we can't defend players at every turn. If you make 14 million bucks a year. Right. We're going to ask for a 50-hour

work week. By the way, NFL players, almost all of them, unless you get to the Super Bowl, from January 10th to May 10th, you don't work. Then you have a three-day OTA. Then you don't work for two more months. It's not like baseball where you have 20 games spring training, 162. You go to the playoffs.

And by the way, then you go to Winter League to get your swing down. Here's what I always say. Just because you play a pro sport doesn't make you a professional. And the rules, the rules in the NFL that are established by the team are really established for the five guys that you know aren't mature enough to handle themselves. Those rules were made because you have stepped outside the realm of those rules and gotten suspended several times. I've told this to people before, is that if you think about laws, there's never been a law made for me. Right. Because I'm not a rule breaker. Like I make sure I don't

jaywalk. Like I don't, I don't. So laws are not made for me. Laws are made for like 5% of the public that just can't follow rules. They're rules. breakers. They speed, they jaywalk, they rob stuff, or they do inappropriate stuff. 90% of the world, 95% of people you'll meet in your life, you don't need laws. I'm not going to rush through a line. I'm not going to, and I, to your point, mostly you have rules in the locker room for four guys. Right. That's what you do. For those jaywalking guys. Yeah. And everyone, you know. Jwalking is a big crime. Right. I mean, robbing someone's house, jaywalking. Right. It's all, hey, listen, it's all. It's all relative. You're 100% right. We say in every locker room there's five touch guys,

you know? We all know who they are, right? We all know who the five touch guys are. Those are who the rules are made for. And they still have a tough time. They still jump over the line. I mean, that's who those guys are. And for the rest of us, you know, we've got to fall into line and basically, you know, kind of scoot them along. So that's like if you're not mature enough to handle yourself, we're going to have to watch you. There is a babysitting element to it. This sounded a lot like whining. It's like, you know, they won't let me be human.

No, they don't want you to have a Facebook account. Your Facebook live during a football game or locker room. That's not taking away your humanity. So yesterday, the Cowboys go out and sign Randall Cobb. It's the second wave of free agency. And I'm sitting there thinking, that's pretty good, right? Right. I thought it was a good signing, right?

Really good. Now, the second wave of free agency is like for frugal people. The first wave, that's the Rodeo drive. People that overspend, you know, they spend $800 for a purse when you could buy it for $100. The second wave of free agency, I'll make this argument, Mark, it's underrated. You're getting guys that usually have a little baggage, old, a little bit of injury. They paid nothing for Randall Cobb. Right.

I like what they did. I think it's tremendous. I mean, the value is there. One, the thing. about Randall Cobb is versatility. He's been a good slot receiver. He can get outside. He can be an outside guy.

He was in college too. Right. And so and he's really good out of the backfield. He gives you multiple positions that he can play. I've seen him run the ball out of the backfield. He could be a jet sweep guy. He gives you all kinds of versatility. It's

a tremendous signing. I mean it really to me it really is a great sign. Like Cole Beasley was a that we're going to put coal. He's going to motion across. He's going to be a slot guy. That's what he is. Cobb can go all over the place. For $5 million, I'm 100% with you. I think the first wave of free agency is ridiculous because you end up spending top dollar on guys that are free agents for a reason. Like you have, I always say that free agency is like drugstore like buying your diamond engagement ring at the drugstore, right? It's going to have some flaws in it.

You're not going to get the top quality diamond at the drugstore. So, when you get to free agency, you're either really, you know, kind of a marginal player or you have an attitude issue or you're older or you're injured, whatever the case may be. It's true for every, it's true for me.

Hell, I felt three physicals in my year, my first year as a free agent before, you know, I ended up getting signed by the Broncos. I failed a physical in Chicago. I filled a physical in Indianapolis. I filled the physical in Atlanta where the doctor sat down with me.

after he evaluated me, said, you have the knees of an 80-year-old woman, and I do not, this is an identical quote, of an 80-year-old woman, and I do not believe that you play in the NFL. And you said, in your face, I'm going to go play with John Elway and collect hardware. Right, exactly. So I'm like, hey, man, I just line up and play. That's all I know. Here's the way I'll get free agency.

If your belief system in free agency is just this, regardless of who we get, we want to get value. You'll never get value with Antonio Bryant. Now, you'll get talent, but there's no chance to ever get value with the first wave. The second wave, you may not get production, but you almost always get value. The other guy, Jared Cook, the Saints are going to pick up Jared Cook. I asked my staff a day ago, or two days ago, I'm like, is Jared Cook not available? He's going to go to Drew Breeze.

He's like getting Jimmy Graham four years ago. I can't believe nobody picked up Jared Cook. And I can't believe nobody bid on Randall Cobb. The Cowboys and the Saints with those offenses are going to walk in and be productive players. Now, Cobb does get hurt occasionally. He's not going to be Dallas as one or their two. I think they think Gallops are two and Amari's their one. I did a Raiders game last year and I was on the field, you know, watching Friday practice.

And the only guy, like, the only guy that could get open was Jared Cook. Look, I looked at the rest of the receivers and go, I might could line up one-on-one, shut this guy down. Right. I mean, you looked at that they had a bunch of, you know, a bunch of number three. in Oakland playing wide restarted. Oh, Cook was their target at the end of the year. He was it. He was the only guy that was, who was the only

guy? Like when you, when you stepped off the bus to play the Oakland Raiders, you said yourself as a defensive coordinator, there's one dude we got to stop. And if we stop this one dude, they're not moving the ball. They're not going to beat us. That was it. I mean, that was literally

it. You know what's funny about this business and I guess it happens all the time is, people fall for the same stuff over and over. If you go look at last year's big free agent signings, Kirk Cousins. In fact, hold on, I want to look at this real quick. All right, I'm going to look at this. I wrote this down.

You know what you need? You need efforting music. Something like I use it on my show all the time, the Geico Caveman music. Here are the big free agent signings last year. Okay, go. Nate Solder. Mm-hmm. Trumane John.

As you mentioned to me, Nate Solder, the fourth best left tackle in the NFC East. Tramaine Johnson Jets, mess. Right. Malcolm Butler Titans, San Bradford, Arizona, and Kirk Cousins, Minnesota. Those were our versions of OBJ and AB last year. By the way, you want to know who was under the radar last year? Honey Badger to Houston, who had a great one-year deal, pouncing to the Chargers, and Eric Ebron to the Colts for the second wave, those guys had great years.

Sure. Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd, Weekdays and noon Eastern 9 a.m. 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 Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slica Life 12 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok.

Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel,

help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to Humor Me with Robert Smigel and friends on the IHeart 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. Like, I can do anything. I can do anything. 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 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 signals to the world that you're not to be played with. just because you have the capability that does not mean that you need to. Listen and learn the hard way on the IHard radio app, Apple Podcast or wherever you get your podcast.

This is an IHart podcast. Guaranteed human.