The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Best of The Herd: 07/22/2020

Episode Date: July 22, 2020

The Cowboys are not wasting their luckiest QB runKawhi Leonard chose the right coach and GMGetting rid of the preseason is great for the NFLKawhi doesn't get the recognition he deserves because he's too quietGuest: HOF GM Bill Polian 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. 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. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque.

Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. On the Look Back at it podcast.

From 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84 was big to me. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a year, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. With our friends, fellow comedians, and favorite authors. Like Mark Lamont Hill on the 80s.

84 was a wild year. It was a wild year. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Listen to look back at it 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, 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're not to be played with. And just because you have the capability that doesn't. does not mean that you need to. Listen to learn the hard way on the IHard radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Thanks for listening to The Best of HARD 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 IHartRadio app by searching Herd. This is the Best of the Hurt with Colin Cowher on Fox Sports Radio. Ah, here we go on a Wednesday live in Los Angeles. It's the Heard. Wherever you may be, however you may be listening. IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, and FS1. Nick Wright in 30 minutes.

Hall of Fame, Executive Bill Pollian in an hour in 15 minutes. DeMarcos Ware are the Cowboys. Former Cowboy will be joining us on a Wednesday. Busier than we probably should be, considering the scarcity of sports. And Joy Taylor is joining me. Joy, how are you today? I'm great. Well, we're almost back.

Almost. Baseball is close. Basketball's a couple of weeks away. Less than that, actually. These are a couple days. Yeah, so we're ready to go. Let's do it. Let's do it. So I saw a story this morning.

I'm not going to call out the writer. It's woefully off, but it is interesting. I think you can really, and this happens in life, too. If you're brutally honest and you just wrote down either for yourself, your business, your favorite team three sentences to describe them over the last 10 to 15 years. Just three brutally honest sentences to describe yourself, describe your favorite football team, your favorite college team, or your favorite, the business you're currently in. It'll tell you all about it.

You don't have to go on and on and on and on. So this article comes out and it says, it says the Cowboys are wasting the luckiest quarterback run in NFL history. says the writer, finding two generationally talented quarterbacks, Romo Dack. Between the fourth round and undrafted free agency, within a span of 13 years, is the football equivalent of winning the lottery. Generational talented? He misspelled marginal.

Let me just say this. Is that the Cowboys are exactly where they should be in the NFL with my three-sentence rule. Now, let's first address this. Outside of Tom Brady in New England and Eli Manning in New York, every fan base thinks they've underachieved in terms of Super Bowls. In New Orleans, they're like, one? Peyton Manning Indy, one? Farvin Rogers are that good and two? Outside of New England where I think Patriot fans are like, we squeezed every last win out of that.

And I think New York Giant fans were like, we got the lesser of the Peyton, of the Manning brothers. And we got two out of that, we're good. So almost every franchise thinks they should win more. England the Giants, Eli Brady, that's the exception. Secondly, I'm done talking about DAC, but let's just talk about Tony Romo. Tony Romo burned really bright for about an hour. Tony Roma had three great years. That was it.

2011 to 2014. And in 2014, DeMarco Murray had 2,000 yards rushing. He was the MVP of the team. I like Tony Romo. He's been a great broadcaster, and I used to defend him constantly. But the guy had three great years. That's it. He was raw early with too many picks and he was injured late.

Does that sound like a Super Bowl winning franchise? Nah, it doesn't. Now, have the Cowboys gotten value? Don't get me wrong. Value out of the quarterback position. Romo undrafted, DAC fourth round. Well, yes, absolutely. But value isn't Peyton Manning.

There's a reason you pay what you pay for a Mercedes. You're not getting value on it. I mean, I think it's worth it. You're not getting a steal on it. It's not going to be an... Mercedes is not undrafted. Mercedes is not third, fourth, or fifth round. So let's go back to my three-sentence rule.

You are what you can be described in in three sentences. For the last 15 years, if I said this about the Dallas Cowboys. Now, this is going to be tough, but I said about the Dallas Cowboys, a vanity-driven owner who made himself GM bailed onto Hall of Fame coaches but have gotten great value at quarterback. That sounds like an interesting team, certainly viable,

that mostly gets in their own way. That is exactly what the Dallas Cowboys are. That's what they are. They're interesting. They're viable. Bet you they've won a playoff game or two. But boy, that they get in their own way. If I describe New England, best smartest coach in NFL history,

best quarterback in NFL history, and the weakest division for 20 years, that screams dynasty. If I described Houston, or let's say Cleveland, chaos everywhere, revolving door of coaches and executives, and have passed on more than one pro-bow level quarterback in the draft. that says to me, what a mess. Houston, to me, is always an interesting one. Because when you think of Houston, my three words or sentences would be good coach trying to be a GM,

several superstar players, including a quarterback, average division. And you know what Houston would be? Well, they're winning games. They're fun to watch, but it feels like there's a ceiling. That's exactly what Houston is. This is not about Romo and Dak and finding value. Value is great, right? Like, you'd love to be able to get your quarterback, you know, at a discount.

But if he's really great, you won't be able to. You're going to have to pay for Wentz and Brady and Mahomes and Breeze and Peyton Manning and Andrew Luck and Russell Wilson and Lamar Jackson eventually. So getting value at quarterback is. fine. What I really want is elite talent. And Romo had three brief great years and DAC is good, not special. So the idea that the Cowboys have blown it, have wasted opportunities, have squandered it. Well, they have, but it's not about the quarterback. It is again about a franchise that has bailed on two Hall of Fame coaches and a vanity-driven owner who made himself GM. So the NBA bubble,

the NBA bubble. We're getting very close to games. And I think this is going to be very interesting, and I want to talk Kawhi Leonard. We all acknowledge Kauai Leonard is interesting. He battled with Popovich. Everybody works in San Antonio.

He didn't. He goes to Canada, acknowledges early, it's really cold, I'm not staying here. But then wins the championship with a bunch of kind of B guys. And then instead of Choosing LeBron and dominance. He goes to the Clippers.

But Kauai Leonard has figured something out. He figured it out in San Antonio, whereas they got old. They still won. He figured it out in Toronto where they had issues, but man, they had good ownership, a good GM, and a nice coach. And that's why he chose the Clippers. In Los Angeles right now, the Clippers have the best. better owner, the better GM, the better head coach viewed by many and Doc Rivers, more titles,

and the better roster. But it's funny how often the media misses the mark on player moves. Like LeBron to Miami was roundly criticized. It was a great move. It's the best move LeBron ever made. He upgraded an owner, GM coach. Going back to Cleveland was actually a terrible move. Why would you bail on Mickey Arris and Pat Riley and Eric Spolstra?

That's a terrible move. But the media liked the story. I'm coming home. You play the music. We all cry. It's a great story. Prime example. The Raptors got heat for getting Kauai.

Well, that's one year acquisition. It didn't matter. It's Canada. They like hockey. You win one championship in Toronto. You're good for two decades. Jimmy Butler gets heat every time he leaves. But he left Minnesota.

They got word. Chicago they got worse, Philly they got worse. He chose Pat Riley, Eric Spolstra, A to A Plus with both. That's why Kauai is fascinating. If I said to you today, Kevin Durant and Kauai Leonard, I think most of you think Kevin Durant's a much better player and will be viewed historically as a better player. But what's funny about Kevin Durant and Kauai is, I think they're a lot closer than you think. Both have two titles.

Both have two MVP's in those finals. Both have had injury issues. And both are multiple-time all-stars. Now, Durant has many scoring titles, but Kauai Leonard may be the single best player in the NBA the last couple of years if you need a bucket. But here's the difference. Kevin Durant left a great owner, a great GM,

and a great coach, great number one teammate. He downgraded in all of those. Kauai Leonard is a lot sharper than we think. He upgraded in everything because the Clippers, not the Lakers, have the rock-solid owner, Steve Ballmer, with unlimited money. They have Doc Rivers who's won a title, like Frank Vogel, but Rivers is considered the better coach.

They've got a front office that includes Jerry West and Michael. Will Winger. In five years, and I think Kauai is going to win the championship this year, and Kauai is going to be the MVP of the finals. Three months from now, it's going to be Kauai with three titles, Kevin with two, Kauai with three finals MVP's, Kevin Durant with two, Kauai the healthiest he's ever been, Kevin Durant still recovering, and Kauai goalie. forward with the better number two teammate, Paul George, more stable, better front office, better owner, better roster. We always struggle when players move.

We're always like, well, who did they join? LeBron could not overcome a bad owner initially. Michael Jordan needed to get the coach right. is that in about three months, that Durant Kauai Leonard mismatch, I mean, KD's up here, Kauai is down there, three months, it's going to be a lot closer than you think. And my argument's going to be in five years,

Kauai will be seen as the superior player. Because he's figured out through his NBA journey, you've got to choose the owner, you've got to choose the GM, You got to choose the coach as much as the roster. 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. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year.

Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tap Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do with Little Kim?

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

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

Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hard Way with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of mental health awareness month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking. Trip Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing. And we're still chasing it. And we don't know when we've done enough.

Because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross. Because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth. Are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions. bro absolutely and that that's two different levels of trust i want you to just really be a good person join me keer gains is we have real conversations about healing growth fatherhood pressure and purpose

on my new podcast learn the hard way open your free iHeart radio app search learn the hard way and listen now what's up guys this is cliver taylor the fourth and on my podcast the clivert show i'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff like being an internet famous referee we're in the middle of the This linebacker walks up to me, he goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What? Time out. Quarterback on office blue 42. Hey, rec, my mama want you to wave at her.

What? Where's she at? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Clifford show on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. So years and years and years, this is a long time ago. This is about, let's see. I've been here five, five, it's about 10 years ago. I went to buy a condo.

And I went to, my realtor at the time was, her name was Liz. And she said, I said, how is it? She goes, oh, great location. And she goes, it's beautiful. And I'm like, so why is it still in the market? She says, been on the market for a year. I'm like, I don't understand it. She says, you're going to love it.

And I'm like, well, I don't understand it. You know, the country was doing fine. The economy was fine. it wasn't stagnant. So I go, and I go into it, and Liz opens the door, and I'm like, good hell. She had Greek art everywhere. It was a, it was amazed to walk from the door to the bedroom. I mean, you had to like take, you couldn't, and I'm like, with the water, she can't sell it. This is beautiful. It's at a great location, but she's hoarding. Like, you clean it up. I'm a minimalist. I don't have a lot. My wife met me. She's like, you have two pair of shoes. You have no clothes. And I'm like, I have the clothes I need to wear.

She goes, you know, everybody I've ever, you know, people have clothes and shoes. I'm like, I'm a minimalist. I've never had a second car. I don't like stuff. So when I walked into the condo, I said, oh, I'm going to make a low offer because nobody's going to, nobody's going to offer on this because it's all cluttered like memo. Clean it up. She had big Greek art everywhere.

I'm not nothing against the art, but you couldn't find your way from one side of the house to the other. It was a small, about 2,000 square foot condo. One of the things I love about what is happening in sports were getting rid of all the crap. I love it. NFL preseason. Out of here. It's been terrible. It's terrible for

players. They make per diem. That's it. It's terrible for fans. You get charged full boat for a ticket. You couldn't give that thing away. NFL preseason. Out. There's one piece of art out of the condo. Three awful out-of-conference road games.

Nick Saban complains. Our fans don't show up for all our home games. Stop playing Citadel three times. times out. 100 major league baseball games. Out. Last 20 NBA regular season games. Out. We know who the best teams are by game 65. Why injure players?

Like we know who the best teams are by game 65. Memphis ain't great. Lakers potentially could be. All these college athletic programs. Nobody watches, nobody in the stands, expensive road trips. Out, out, out, cut, cut, cut, cut. Like, this is all, like to me, I look at this. in my entire life, even during tragedy in America, there's always good from bad. To me, we're just cleaning the condo up.

We're just getting rid of stuff we don't need. NFL preseason's useless. 162 baseball games? With the phones we have in America now, I mean, believe me, it's easy. I mean, I find myself last night, I have to put it down. I have to put it away. I'm sitting there reading it, reading it, reading it. I'm like, God, I've watched everything on Hulu.

With phones, you've got to make games matter. You've got to have urgency. That's the strength of the NFL. That's why I don't love a 17th game. I don't love more playoff teams. It's good for my business, but what makes the NFL special is there's not a lot of wasted art in the condo.

And not a lot of extra crap. Like, what you see is what you get. The game matters. You have to watch. And right after Thanksgiving, the games even mean more. And so all this stuff, and everybody looks around,

If we can just start the NBA in Christmas, get rid of these awful college games that nobody watches, and dump junk, get rid of dump the NFL preseason, sports has never been better. We are making moves now that are long overdue. I am here for it. I'm a minimalist in my life and in my sports. And I think we'll look back years later if these leagues, conferences have the courage of their convictions, and the owners finally acknowledge, you know, my players don't get as banged up. When we don't play four preseason games, sports will never be better.

Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays at noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. When people rip the NBA, go to their Twitter account and find their last 30 NBA posts. If they're 30 negative posts, who gives a rip? They don't like the sport. And there's a lot of people that don't like the NBA. I do. I grew up with it. I love it. Sometimes it drives me nuts.

Sometimes the players, I roll my eyes at their decisions, but it's stylish, it's fun, it's player-driven, it's unique, it's flashy. It's all the things like football's not, but I think there's, I like those things too. You know, I watch mob shows. I don't want to be a mobster. I watch serial killer shows. I don't, I wouldn't want to have to chase a serial killer. I like stuff that I'm not. I'm not stylish.

I like style. I like watching people who are stylish. So it's funny about Kowai Leonard. For all the people that criticize the NBA, Kauai Leonard is absolutely the guy. you should love. Doesn't do politics. All he cares about is basketball. He's not stylish.

He just goes, works hard, grinds, goes home, hangs out with his family. He's one of the reasons he's not as loved. He doesn't fit into any of these boxes. He doesn't talk politics. Hell, he doesn't talk. He didn't have a flashy shoe deal.

He's not stylish. He's like the anti-harden. So to me, if you're, if you bang on the NBA and go, you know, I wish guys just played the game. That's all Kauai Leonard is. He is just a, Hooper. He doesn't care about anything else. That is it. And it's perfect because the Lakers have

always been glamorous and flashy and the Clippers have always had, you know, kind of discount tickets. And they're a working, you know, working class if you can afford the NBA. But the Clippers have always been a little bit more working class than the Lakers, which is, you know, Lakers are Hollywood and they're glamour and they're uptown. It's movie stars and agents. You know, and the Clippers are like for people that have like normal jobs that want to go to the NBA but can't afford a $900 seat or a $1,300 night for their family. Kauai embodies the clippers. He's just head down, grind it, basketball, no politics, no style.

Let's get it done. So if you don't like the NBA and you wish players were more like NFL players, meet Kauai Leonard. That is exactly what he is. And he doesn't fit into the box. It's not style. You know, most guys in the NBA, they've got a style, they got an agent, they got a Twitter, he's got none of it.

He's got like none of it. It's like there's nothing about him that screams NBA. He's like a football player. that plays NBA. Odell Beckham's an NBA player in the NFL. Kauai is an NFL player in the NBA. He's always kind of hurt. He grinds.

He's not really into politics. He shows up and he's a tough. He'll guard the toughest guy. He's coachable. Despite the Popovich stuff, he's coachable. He was very coachable in Toronto. He's very coachable in Los Angeles. I guess my point is in Kauai.

If he wins the championship this year, the only reason we are not considering him a top 10 player because he lacks stuff that nobody's ever asked for. We never said you had to be stylish to be an all-time great. He's not. We never said you had to be political or talk or be overly verbal. He's not. We never said you had to have a bunch of points.

If that was the case, then we'd all talk Carl Malone all day. Okay? So Kauai is just doing what you tell me you like. No politics, win games, hoist titles, play your butt off, and go home and care about your sport. Exactly that. Why don't you like him? Well, he really is the ultimate Hooper.

If you think about it, if he does win a championship or a finals MVP with the Clippers, being with three very, very different organizations as well. A Canadian one? Yes. The ultimate coach-controlled one. Yes. And then the number two kind of shaky, now relevant brand in the NBA. Now relevant, now stable, but traditionally a disaster.

Yes. It's just going to be unbelievable. And everywhere he goes, he wins at the highest level. everywhere and he's the best player on the floor he's the best guy to get a basket and the best guy to get a stop you know just because people don't this is what russle wilson faces he doesn't fit into the box you want rossil wilson's a little short he runs a little too much he's a little you know optimistic slash corny sometimes he he doesn't he doesn't fit into the box you want and we struggle when athletes they don't well i mean they all should look like joe montana well they did mostly

for a long time. But I mean, Big Ben, get a razor. Six-six runs around. We initially with Ben, with Cam, they don't fit now. Now, Ben's better than Cam. But Russell Wilson's always been, doesn't quite fit into the box. Steve Young faced this, by the way. Steve Young faced. Steve was left-handed. Steve played first in another football league, like the USFL. Like he didn't, he didn't go college to the pros. He went college. He went to another league. He was left-handed. He didn't play at a traditional power. He ran around more than he threw initially. We didn't know what to do with Steve Young.

Steve Young was unbelievable. He was Russell Wilson left-handed. Steve, and he replaced Joe Montana, so we never gave Steve Young credit. Steve Young, one of the 10 best quarterbacks in the history of the league. Russell Wilson and Steve Young, they don't fit into the box. Kauai doesn't fit into a box. What also kind of speaks to what do we actually evaluate

when it comes to athletes and the best athletes? is it really just their play on the court or on the field? Or is it a bunch of intangibles or outside factors that play a role in how we evaluate it? I want winning. All I want winning. That's what everyone says. But when you think about it, when you start looking at the actual facts and numbers and winning and all the championships and finals MVPs and consistency and availability and all those things,

is that really what you're evaluating? Or are you talking about the school he went to and his performance in college and his style? and flair and interviews and all those things do influence how we feel. LeBron, Brady, Russell Wilson, like winners. Urban Meyer, Saban Belichick, win games. I don't care about anything else. I don't care about your style. Well, winning certainly elevates it,

but you do become attached to personalities as well. It plays a role. Speaking of Steve Young, I like Jimmy Garoppolo. I think more than most of you. I don't think he's Mahomes, but I think he's really good. But when you argue against me, on that. The one thing you have that I can't argue out of is, Kyle

Shanahan basically took the ball out of his hands during the playoffs multiple times. Literally said we're not throwing with you. And I'm like, all right. If Kyle Shanahan is taking the ball to Jimmy Garoppolo's hands, then he's not as good as I think. And Steve Young,

speaking of him, was talking about Jimmy Garoppolo and the next phase he has to eclipse or standard he has to hit going forward. There's something about Kyle and him that you felt through the playoffs a lack of trust. And whether it was true or just perception, it doesn't matter at some level. And that that's the number one thing that if I were Jimmy that I would be focused on is making sure both truth

and perceptually that Kyle trusts me and is willing to put the ball in my hands at any time, at any place, you know, in any form and continually. That's the thing that this season's really about to me is Kyle and Jimmy and Jimmy earning Kyle's trust. And Kyle might say I trust him 100%. I don't doubt that. But the perception is another piece to puzzle. We want to see that out in the play calling in key moments. It's really interesting about this.

There are a lot, and I'm talking about winning teams and playoff teams where I don't feel the coach totally trust the player. I think Sean McDermott likes Josh Allen. I think he takes the ball out of his hands in key spots and thinks he's going to with defense. Matt Nagy does not touch Trubisky, trust Trubisky. Gruden, I do not believe, totally trust Eric Carr. Mike Zimmer

doesn't trust Mike Kirk Cousins at all times. Mike Vrable clearly didn't trust Ryan Tannahill with the ball in the playoffs. Shanahan and Garoppolo. And these are winning teams, some are playoff teams. I mean, I'll ask you this. When you watch Pete Carroll and

Russell Wilson, why don't they let Russell Wilson have a bigger say in the offense? Why are they so run-centric? Is it a Russell, the second best quarterback in the league, doesn't feel like trust to me. I watched the Green Bay Packers draft. This is not a shot at Aaron Rogers, but they drafted a blocking tight end, a running back, three interior offensive linemen and a quarterback. Feels like to me they're pulling the ball out of Aaron Rogers' hands, not putting the ball in Aaron Rogers' hands. So it looks like to me, to me there's five relationships in the NFL

that I honestly believe that the coach totally trust the player, that he's a lot. He will throw down the play sheet. I think Andy Reed and Mahomes, Doug Peterson Wentz, Harbaugh, Lamar, Bill O'Brien Deshawn, and Peyton & Breeze. They will call any play, anywhere, any time, throw deep from your end zone and the troas. Now, no defensive coach is there. None. Four offensive and a special team guy, John Harbaugh. But it's funny when you talk about, well, the coach doesn't really feel like he trusts.

quarterback, five of them in this league. And I think, I think last year, I think Harbaugh and Lamar, I didn't see that until about Thanksgiving on. I think Lamar was so great for the first seven or eight weeks that Harbaugh came to the conclusion. The kid just makes plays. I'm going to give it to him. But I don't feel that Seattle always trust Russell Wilson. I don't, I don't think Gruden always trust John Gruden. I don't think Mike Zimmer always trust cousins. I don't think Shanahan trust Jimmy Garoppolo. I don't. You know, and I didn't put Brady and Aryans because I've never seen them play together. I didn't put Dak and McCarthy. I've never seen them work together. But I think it's rare that a coach is like, all right, third and nine from our, you know,

deep in our own territory, go for it. I don't think you see a lot of it. I don't. And you don't see it ever from defensive coaches. You just don't. 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. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential.

Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tap Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking.

What the hell does George Bush got to do with Little Kim? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84 was big to me not just because of crack.

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

For me, it's one of the most important years. for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field

and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking, Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing and we're still chasing it and we don't know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch.

Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross, because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth? Are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust.

I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Gaines, is 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 Hardway and listen now. What's up, guys?

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

Time out. Quarterback on office blue with 42. Hey, Wreck, my mama want you to weigh better. What? Where's she at? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Clippers show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Bill Polly, in 32 years as an NFL executive.

He is a Hall of Famer. He got to three straight Super Bowls with the Bills. He won a championship with the Colts. He made the Panthers in the year. two, a conference championship game team, and he is joining us from beautiful Cape Cod. He's about the third guy that's joined me from Cape Cod via the Coward Global Satellite Network, and they're all happy because it's like 80 degrees and it's beautiful in Cape Cod. Let's start with this.

The preseason is going to get scrapped. Now, Bill, as a sportscaster, I've never thought it's fair to fans. You've got to pay big prices for preseason games. I don't love it for the players where you get per diem more than salary. I don't love it, but I get it. Does it bother you as a GM to potentially going forward, not have none this year and potentially reduce significantly? Well, the significant reduction going forward bothers me, Colin,

because in a normal year, and this is anything but normal for our country in every way. So let's scrap this year. In a normal year, you would want at least three, preseason games to get your team ready to get your guys ready to play football and most importantly to give the younger players and the undrafted free agents a chance to show what they can do. Absent a preseason game this year, those young players will get very little chance to show what they can do. So that hurts the future growth of your team. So we need, if they settle it to going forward, I'll grit my teeth and say, okay, you can make that work. But anything less than that,

no, not in the long run. You know, Kansas City's talking now, you know, they were so championship star forever. They got a little taste of it this year. Now everybody's talking dynasty. And, you know, you actually had a mini dynasty in Buffalo. You just kept facing teams like the Cowboys. But when you were building it, there's, there are, you know, there's liabilities. They're concerns. You have to deal with a different set of problems when you get great. What would worry you about Kansas City over the next four or five years going forward? Well, number one, the cap. But Patrick's contract helps that greatly, really helps it greatly. Number one issue is the cap because when you get good, everybody wants to get paid and you just simply can't pay everybody. It's that simple.

That's why the cap is there. That's what it's designed to do. is to rob good teams of good players and spread them out around the league. So that would be number one worry. Number two worry would be other key players besides Patrick and Jones, and Kelsey would be the guy that I would think about immediately. If Kelsey were to get hurt or isn't available, that really bothers me because he is such a weapon. all the rest of the passing game go.

Patrick's in a class by himself, but Kelsey makes all the rest of it go. The other thing is the defense has been patched together excellently by the general manager, Brett Feach and Andy and Spaggs, but a lot of them are veterans sort of spare parts. They don't have a long lifetime. So you're going to need to replace those guys

with players of similar talent going forward if the defense is to stay great. And you're not going to win with Patrick alone. You've got to have, in order to win the Super Bowl and to get to the Super Bowl, you have to have a very good defense. And they do right now. But you're going to have to keep feeding players into that. You know, the Brady thing to Tampa is fascinating because Tom is very intense.

He comes from a very detailed, efficient system with the best coach ever. And now Tom, who's a pretty obsessed, detailed guy, intense guy, goes down to chill out Bruce Ariens, Ebor City, Tampa. And I've always said this bill. It's very easy to take an intense guy and ask him to chill out a little bit. That's Tom Coughlin. Tom, chill out a little bit. It is different to ask a chill guy to deal with intensity for 20 weeks of the NFL season. And I keep going back to Tom as older.

He's got his ways. he's going to bark, he's very intense, and I don't know if all those young Tampa guys and coaches, if it works. Is he going to overwhelm them and tick some people off? Are you concerned at all about that? No, nobody is going to tick the top guy in the place off. They're just not.

And everybody will fall in line. He's the goat. So whatever he says goes, that's true of a normal NFL starting quarterback. the greatest of all time. So forget about it. They're going to follow his lead. Bruce is in his own way quite intense. I've been with him. I worked with him. So when you're around them every day, you recognize that he's all coach and he'll get it done. But he's such a great quarterback coach that he will work with Brady and do what Brady feels he can do well. That's what Bruce does

best. He's going to put him in his best light. So I don't, I don't anticipate any problems along those lines. The history of these things tells you that when a player, an elite player changes teams at the end of his career after he's had a long run with another team. He normally has a great bounce back year that year with the new team and then Father time enters the equation. So I expect Tom to be dynamite this year. By the way, it's interesting for you. So you dealt with Jim Kelly, unbelievable talent. Peyton Manning, unbelievable talent. Is, as a general

manager, is it different having a superstar quarterback in the building? Does it change the mood, the vibe? Are there eggshells? I mean, you had Peyton. Intense. Jim Kelly, tough guy. What's it like in the building? There are no eggshells.

There's nothing but rose petals. And here's the example. We're getting on the bus in 2011 when Peyton isn't with us. And a player and a coach separately said to me, you know, we'd get on this bus every Sunday morning, every game day morning, and when 18 was here,

we knew we had a 50-50 chance to win no matter who the opponent was. We don't have that anymore. That's what that guy gives you. He gives you hope every single week, no matter what goes wrong, no matter who else is hurt, it doesn't matter.

That guy gives you hope. There are no eggshells, Nothing but Rosecrattles. It's great to have them. So the DAC negotiation was very public. And I'm sitting there thinking, in most normal organizations, Bill Pollian doesn't want a year-long public, you know, negotiation. And it's just not what anybody wants.

You want this stuff to be like Mahomes or Carson Wentz. Boom, over, done. We can stop talking about money. Do you think, and the Dallas Cowboys are run so differently than everybody else, but do you think in the end of the day that DAC, I mean, let's be honest, no state tax, cowboys, good old lines, Zik, Amari, they offered him $106 million. Did he, in the end, should DAC have just said, you know what, I've gotten pretty much everything in this league, they're going to pay me $106 million.

I'll sign for $5, not four. Or do you defend the player and Dak's saying, I won you a lot of games and I haven't made any money, I'm going to get the years right on this. Where did you fall on that? Well, you should have gone to law school because you just made both cases exceptionally well. The fact of the matter is that this is really a tough call. But I think what the cowboys are doing is saying, hey, we're about 95% of the way there. Dak won't budge.

Let's let Mike McCarthy coach him for a year and have Mike come back and tell us at the end of the year, I can win a couple of Super Bowls with this guy, or maybe we need to go in another direction. I think this is Mike McCarthy's call in the long run after he's had a year to work with Dack, and Jerry's had a year to see him work with Dack and see what the team looks like at that point. I don't think it's, I think this is a win-win for everybody. Dax's making 31 million bucks, so that's 29 million more than he made a year ago. And Mike McCarthy gets to coach. and install an offense and see how deck does it.

You know, Bill, it's interesting. So you built Buffalo and then you build Indianapolis. And you got Carolina to the NFC championship in their second year. And there's a handful of teams in the NFL. They have the young coach and quarterback. Arizona's got the young coach and quarterback. And now Carolina's got a new coach and Teddy for a few years. And you see about four or five of these organizations where right now it's more

promise than results in productivity. If you could sit down with a team like in Arizona that thinks they have the coach and thinks they have the quarterback, what are the first couple of steps? I'm a fan watching and I'm like, I think we have the right guys, but everybody's really young and unproven. When you went into Buffalo, in Carolina, in Indianapolis, what were the first two or three steps to build the culture to ensure it lasts a long time? Number one, have the right coach.

Marve Levy, Tony Dungee, Dom Capers. Absolutely the right coaches under every circumstance. That's how you build the culture. Two, build the defense. If you have the quarterback and you have the coach, the next thing that you need is a defense that can take you all the way. Number three, build the offensive line. because you have to be able to run the football in order to win big

and you have to be able to run the football in short yardage and goal line if you're going to go all the way. So you have to have the offensive line and then you have to have a back or backs who can convert in short yardage and goal line. Get a kicker who can kick under pressure because when it's all said and done, when you go to the big game, kickers win championships. So those are the next things that you have to build.

The coach will bring the culture. The organization has got to commit itself to bringing the right players in to create a 53-man unit that goes with the coach and goes with the quarterback. And that's the hardest thing to do. It's hard on two fronts. Number one, you have to be right in selecting the personnel. And number two, the organization has to commit to it,

not be satisfied to have, oh, this is a great year and there's a lot of buzz about us and we're selling a lot of tickets. That doesn't mean anything in the long run. If you're going to win the Super Bowl, it's a long, hard slot. It took us five years from start to the Super Bowl in Buffalo. It took us, well, it took, Carolina went off the rails after we left, and it took them about eight more years to finally get there. And then with the Colts, it took us five years to get to the Super Bowl. So it isn't done overnight, and all those other things have to be in place. By the way, you're about a 40-minute drive away from Belichick.

You're up in Cape Codd Bill's right down the road. Have you seen Bill lately? I haven't seen them. We saw each other in January at the Hall of Fame committee meeting where we selected the additional members to the Hall of Fame, who unfortunately will not go in next weekend, but next year. And we had a nice talk, and we worked together. other in evaluating the old-time players who were considered for the Hall of Fame.

So that was a great meeting, but I haven't seen him since. He's on Nantucket, which is a long boat right away from where I am. Yep, I've been to both. It's heaven on earth up there. Bill, it's absolutely, you know how much I like you. Thank you so much for stopping by our show today. My pleasure, buddy. Appreciate it.

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

homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games.

Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

On the Look Back at it podcast. From 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84 was big to me. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a year, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. With our friends, fellow comedians, and favorite authors. Like Mark Lamont Hill on the 80s.

It was a wild year. It was a wild year. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Listen to look back at it 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 Hard Way with your favorite therapist and host, Kear Games. This space is about black men. 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're not to be played with. And just because you have the capability that does not mean that you need to, listen to learn the hard way on the IHard radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. This is an IHart podcast. Guaranteed Human.