The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Best of The Herd: 08/06/2018

Episode Date: August 6, 2018

Colin talks about the similarities between Russell Westbrook and Cam Newton after a former Panthers WR takes a shot at Cam. He talks about where he was right and wrong over the weekend. Plus, former NFL Cornerback DeAngelo Hall comes in studio to talk about the Hall of Fame class and why it matters so much which team drafts you. Presented by Perky Jerky. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Listen, Inside American Soccer with Tom Bogart and Tab Ramos on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, wherever you get your podcast. Thanks for listening to The Best of Heard Podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday. from 12 to 3 Eastern, 9 to noon Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and FS1. Find your local station for the herd at Fox Sports Radio.com or stream us live every day on the IHeart Radio app by searching herd. This is the best of the herd with Colin Cowher on Fox Sports Radio. Ah, this is the herd. Wherever you may be and however, you may be listening live in Los Angeles,

Iheart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, FS1, welcome to the herd, brought to you, by Firestone, complete auto care, keep your car running newer and longer. I did watch Mission Impossible. Top 20 movie of all time. There you go. Joy Taylor's joining me on a Monday. I loved it.

Tom Cruise was amazing. He did his own stunts. It was a very entertaining movie. Top 20. Okay, top 25. My son looked at me. He goes, you liked it, dad. I'm like, liked it.

I loved it. It was very good. Very good. I got to start with this. If you're a boss, if you're a coach, if you're a parent, you have one thing in common. Let me say that again, keep it simple here. You're a boss at work.

You're a coach somewhere in sports. Or you're a parent. There is one thing that always works and one thing that never works. You can be tough, tough early. You can get away with this. You can be tough early as a boss as a parent, as a coach, and lighten up later. But if you are soft early, you can't toughen up later. your kids won't buy it.

Come on, mom and dad are a couple of cream puffs, ice cream for breakfast parents. You are way better off. You can go read business books and parenting books. You're better to be tough early and lighten up. People will appreciate that. They hate the boss. You know, he's not that bad of a guy. I don't hate mom and dad.

They were doing the right thing. They still love us. Or the coach. Yeah, he was kind of a hard, you know what. But in the end, he's got our back. but if you're a cream puff early, you have no chance to act like a tough guy late. So this weekend, Kelvin Benjamin used to play with Cam Newton came out and crushed Cam Newton, basically saying, I would have loved to have played with any other quarterback,

you know, somebody who was accurate and put the ball where you could catch it. You know, anybody with knowledge of the game. And, of course, Cam defenders came out in droves. They always do. But you know what, Carolina? It's too late with Cam. You can bring in the new coach. You've coddled and babied him for the last seven years.

Now you bring in Norv Turner and you want him to change. It's too late. This is why I really believe Cam Newton is Russell Westbrook. Oklahoma City has babyed Westbrook so much. Now they realize getting the year 9 and 10, you know, we should be a little tougher, make him more accountable on his shot. Russell Westbrook says, yeah, I'm going to get a shooting coach. A little late.

He's already got his style, his money, his money, his. personality. Cam and Westbrook are the same guy. They're world-class athletes, all-time stuff. They're deeply both flawed with accuracy. Both have an MVP. Both have had teammates they can't get along with and take shots at them. Both win to the finals, but couldn't win. Both are really fashioned style icons in their respective sport. And both this year have a new coach to upgrade their current flaw. And it's not going to work in either one. They're very very very important. They're similar guys. Westbrook does the one thing you don't need guards to do. Rebound. And Cam does the one thing you don't need quarterbacks to really do. Run. Got a lot of quarterbacks

with Super Bowls that don't run. Brady, Breeze, Montana, Eli, you know, name them. Not a lot of quarterbacks that run win Super Bowls. But Westbrook won an MVP because he got a triple double, which wasn't about the points of the assists. We were raving about his rebounds. When Chris Carter talks about Cam Newton. It almost sounds like he's talking about Russell Westbrook. What Kelvin Benjamin said is true. Cam is not the smartest quarterback as far as reading coverages. He is not the best as far as placing the ball.

He does have problems as far as accuracy throwing the football. So if you can just get beyond the messenger, people have been saying this about Cam Newton for a long, long time. He should be better with the football. He should be a more accurate quarterback. At this point in his career, he should do a lot of the smaller things a lot better than what he's doing. That's a lot about Westbrook. He should be more accurate and do the smaller things better.

In the reality, though, is both Charlotte and Oklahoma City are non-traditional powers. And they both know they'll never get an athlete this dynamic, this sellable, this marketable, this talked about in their small markets. and so they have put their arms around Cam and they've put their arms around Westbrook and they have enabled them for years. And just now, two years ago, Carolina came out and called Cam out. And now they're getting him a quarterback coach. And it's too late. When you baby employees, when you baby teams, when you baby kids, you can't go tougher later. It doesn't work.

You can be a hard ass early as a parent, as a coach, as a boss. and lighten up, in fact, that will be appreciated. But what did Kevin Durant say when he left Westbrook? What was the story that was out there? They enabled Westbrook. They've coddled him. They've babyed him. You're not going to get him to listen now.

You're not going to get him to listen now. And with Cam Newton, all Kelvin Benjamin said is what everybody in the league's been talking about for years. And the minute you push back on Westbrook, the minute you push back on Cam, the small markets, almost collegiate in size, rush to the defense of Cam and Westbrook and because that's what small markets do. It ain't New York. It's not Philadelphia.

It's not Dallas, Chicago, Atlanta, multiple teams. The Panthers are a big deal in Charlotte, like a really big deal. We talk about them all the time because it cam. He's their guy. And the community is going to enable him and the team enabled them and the GM enabled him and the coaches enable him. And now you want to bring on a coach. All Kelvin Benjamin said is what every source I've ever.

ever had in the NFL has said about Cammy, and you're freaking out. And all my sources have ever said about Westbrook is what every source in the NBA I've ever had says about Westbrook. He's hard to play with. Talented is hell, but hard to play with. But if you baby early, good luck getting tough late. If you coddle and enable for seven or eight years, good luck coming in in year eight and nine and saying, we got this new coach.

We want you to change your style, your game, your fashion. It's not going to work. Kelvin Benjamin didn't say anything, anything that everybody didn't know outside of Charlotte. All right, one of the reasons I have always, always trusted Vegas. Everybody's talking about fake news. All right, don't trust me. God trust Vegas. You can call me fake news.

I think it's a stupid term, but whatever. I don't take it personally. I don't care. But we all trust Vegas, right? Because Vegas doesn't have any agenda. Vegas has no bias. They want to win lettuce. Vegas doesn't.

give a rip about your feelings. They don't have an agenda. Their agenda is being right. Well, well, well, well, well. Isn't that interesting? NBA win totals came out today, and they've got the Lakers at 48 and a half wins. And if you put the Western Conference up,

Las Vegas has LeBron and the Lakers as the number four seed right next to Utah. They have Golden State the one, Houston, the two, Oklahoma City, the three, and right behind them, Lakers and Jazz. which is incredibly realistic. So let me ask you, in April, when the Lakers with LeBron James are facing the jazz, who are you going to take? Let me guess.

LeBron or Joe Ingalls? Go ahead, bro. LeBron or Derek Favors? Your call, bro. LeBron or Ricky Rubio? It's up to you, bro. LeBron or Donovan Mitchell. LeBron or Grayson Allen.

Oh, my bad, my bad. Utah has a LeBron stopper, Jay Crowder. How could I have overlooked that? Las Vegas has the Lakers facing the jazz, as do I, in the first round. Both around 47, 48, 49 wins. Who are you going to take in that series? Who are you going to take? LeBron James or a second year guard, Grayson Allen, Derek Favors can't shoot or unathletic Joe Ingalls who can't defend a barstool.

I'm going to go with LeBron winning in the first round and so will Vegas. And oh, by the way, that means in the second round, they would end up facing the Golden State Warriors and they would end up losing with LeBron to the Golden State Warriors. And I'm going to predict that too. And so what we will have with the first year is LeBron winning about 48, 49 games, winning a first round playoff series, and then losing to the war. years and having three years left on his contract that's still the best player in the world, seeking a number two star as Kuzma, Ingram, Lonzo, Josh Hart all got better, and Rondo was

absolutely better than anybody predicted. Okay, 48, 49 wins in the West is a good basketball team. That means you'd be the second best team behind Boston in the East. This narrative that it's not going to work is absurd. It's going to work because LeBron with a bunch of dudes, always works. Doesn't always win a title. There's a big difference between winning a title and working. Los Angeles has 10,000 real estate agents, maybe 20,000. You don't have to be the number one real estate agent to be working well. It'd be making money and driving a Mercedes and have a nice house.

You can be very, very successful in a lot of leagues and a lot of businesses without being number one, and nobody thinks LeBron and the Lakers are going to be number one. But this idea is not going to work. trust the people. If you don't believe the media and you want to call us names, go forward. I don't care. I'm not offended. But here's what I call Vegas. Here's the name I call Vegas. Accurate. Without bias. No agenda. That's what I call Vegas. And they have the Lakers as a four-seed hosting a first-round playoff series against the team like Utah and Joe Ingalls and Derek Favors and Ricky Rubio and Grayson Allen. Rudy Gobert, who can't stay healthy, and LeBron, who's always healthy. I'll take LeBron second round, then losing to the Warriors.

That's a realistic take, if you don't trust the fake news. I love perky jerky. What makes it so great are all the unique flavors. They have a new variety pack, home run. A lot of options. Listen, life gets boring, fast. Try a different flavor. Every game's special offer, 40% off all multi-packs.

the best tasting jerky on earth, guarantee. I say this often. What did you have to overcome in life? I'm always impressed with people who overcame stuff. And again, the trust fund kid can end up running a company, but I'm more impressed with a kid that grew up in utter chaos, overcomes it and has a redeemable life. And a lot of people think I don't like Baker Mayfield.

Let me just say this. If Baker Mayfield succeeds in Cleveland, I will put my arms around him because there's a lot to overcome here. three of the top five rookie quarterbacks that got picked in the first round have gone to dumpster fire organizations. Organizations with regular chaos, the jets, the bills, and the Browns. Just to show you the Cleveland situation here, they made a trade this weekend with the Buffalo Bills.

They traded away Corey Coleman, a wide receiver they picked in the first round, and they gave them to Buffalo for an end table. This is what the Brown's first round picks have looked like the last four to five years. Brandon Whedon, Trent Richardson, Johnny Mansell, Cameron Irvin, Danny Shelton, Corey Coleman. It's just a bunch of nothing. That's what Baker Mayfield has to overcome. And that's not a small thing.

That is a big thing. Let me give you an example. Matt Ryan came into the NFL as a B prospect. He did not have a huge arm. Matt Ryan is one of the only NFL quarterbacks to succeed that completed less than 60% of his throws in college. He was a prep school kid. He didn't play at a great high school.

He didn't have great receivers, NFL receivers. and a lot of flashy highlights. Matt Ryan came into this league as a B prospect. B2B plus, but Matt Ryan has a great O line, has had one owner, two good coaches, even the coach that got fired to a legitimate coach. He's always had good weapons. Always.

In the last several years, he's had tremendous offensive lines. Matt Ryan is now viewed as an elite A quarterback. Matt Stafford came into the NFL, the Lions quarterback, as an A-plus prospect. He was the number one high school quarterback, the number one college quarterback. He played in a tougher college division and had better numbers. Matt Stafford was drafted by Detroit, weaker ownership than Atlanta. The previous GM was atrocious and gave him no players.

He's had no running game and below average offensive lines. And Matt Stafford now is seen as kind of a B-plus quarterback who's underachieved. Matt Ryan's seen as an A-minus quarterback that's overachieved. And the reality is, what did they inherit? it. Atlanta's a well-run franchise with an elite owner, an elite GM, and a very good head coach, and they've surrounded Matt Ryan with nothing but support. Sometimes I'm critical of Matt Ryan, but I would never deny he's a top 10 quarterback in the NFL. Matt Stafford is a better talent with a better arm, a thicker body. He really is. Matt Stafford was the better prospect in high

school college coming into the pros, and he's got a better arm. And he still has a better NFL body. Got a little pudding, a little more trunky. You know, I like that, a little thicker. And Matt Stafford can't win a playoff game and Matt Ryan's getting to Super Bowls and by the way, Matt Ryan this year favored again to get to the NFC championship. What do you have to overcome? When I read this story and I look back at what the Browns have drafted, this is not a little thing. Baker Mayfield is going to have to overcome this organization's impatience, low self-esteem, and butcher draft picks.

And if he does succeed, it is not only admirable, it is incredibly redeemable. But this is what he's facing. This is why I've said on Sam Darnold, slow it down. Sam Darnold's not going with Kyle Shanahan. He's not going to Atlanta. He's not going to Sean Payton. He's not going to Pittsburgh. He's not going to New England.

Sam Darnold's going to the Jets. And they got low self-esteem. They've got a below-average offensive line. They have no running backs and are below-average everything except safety and defensive line. That's it. So that's why, listen, if Sam Darnold had gone into Kyle Shanahan, I'd be saying right now,

Superstar 12. What I'm saying is Sam Danes will be really good. Really, really special for 12 years. But I'm not giving him any Hall of Fame credentials because he has to overcome the Jets. And he will, over the next 10 years, have to win games that they shouldn't win.

And Baker's going to have to do the same. Bills just gave away a first round pick for an end table. This is their history. This is his reality. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHard Radio app. Just when you think it couldn't get sadder for T.O., it gets sadder.

He decided not to go to Canton this weekend for the Hall of Fame induction. Brian Erlacker went, Sean Dawkins went, Brian Dawkins went, excuse me, Randy Moss went, Jerry Kramer went, it was amazing. Bill Belichick showed up for Randy Moss. And there was T.O. in Chattanooga, looking small and petty and pouting, and that's sort of his brand. just when you thought it couldn't get worse after that step to the podium in Chattanooga, oh, it did get worse.

Here was T.O. running routes against RICO McWilliams at a high school football field in Chattanooga, Tennessee, trying to impress the CFL. It did get worse. Yes, and he's struggling to separate from Rico McWilliams. Folks, you can't go from a gold jacket to Rico McWilliams unless you work with Century 21. It's a really bad look. And Randy Moss and T.O. had remarkably similar stats and careers. Five different teams, sometimes a headache, always fascinating,

remarkably gifted. But as I said last Friday, a great ending can take an average to good movie and make it feel great. And Randy Moss's bumpy career when he's crying at the podium, when he's in Canton, when he's surrounded by Ray Lewis and Brian Dawkins and Brian Erlacker and Bob Kraft and Bill Belichick, Randy Moss, a great ending to his career. And T.O. He's at a high school football field trying to separate from Rico McWilliams in Chattanooga, Tennessee on a high school field trying to impress the CFL.

Listen, you know, remember what Dennis Green said, coach of the Arizona Cardinals? You are what we thought you were. They were what we thought they were. Okay. So this is it. This is it. Randy Moss and you were similar. Very same number of teams, same number of headaches, push back from the media.

But your TDs, your receptions, your yards, your teams were virtually identical. But in the end, Randy was a humbled grown-up, an adult, thanking people who elevated him to a great spot. Didn't apologize for who he was. Randy didn't apologize. Randy said, I do it all the same way. But Randy in the end could reel it in and acknowledge I needed help. T.O. in the end, I'm just a victim. A bad ending to a movie ruins a really good movie. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays at noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. Well, he played for 14 years in the NFL, multiple time pro bowler. And it's interesting as DeAngelo Hall joins us. I just talked T.O. and Randy Moss. You had the pleasure of defending both.

Who was better and why? You know, to me, it's Randy Moss. You know, I think a lot of people only remember the deep balls and, you know, the big time plays. But, I mean, Randy was a guy who ran every single route on that route tree. You know, he's one of the rare receivers that kept me up at night. And, I mean, I've gone against a lot of great receivers. And I mean, I've gone against a lot of great receivers, a lot of Hall of Fame guys. And so, you know, not taking anything away from T.O. and Marvin Harrison and all these other guys. But it was something about Randy Mossman.

They kept me up at night constantly whenever I knew I was going to play him. By the way, T.O. is the bigger athlete, the stronger wide receiver, but you could neutralize him to some degree? Yeah, bigger guys I didn't mind going against as a little DB because I was always tough enough in my press coverage to kind of hold my own. When, you know, with Randy, it wasn't necessarily the size. It was the speed that gave me problems. It wasn't too many guys that I felt like I couldn't run down or run step for step with.

But Randy was one of those guys who he always seemed to run just a step faster than you. And, you know, if I had to race a lot of these wide receivers I played against, I probably would have beaten all of them except for probably Randy Moss. Wow. And he could catch. And he could jump. He caught everything, yeah. Everything.

Let's not forget that. He had great hands. By the way, so Kelvin Benjamin comes out and criticizes Cam Newton, and he's not saying anything that's shocking. I mean, I've been told by people for years that Cam kind of goes to the line with a play. He's not going to audible three or four times out of it. Cam has accuracy issues. He throws a great deep ball, and he's got a cannon for an arm.

Kelvin Benjamin came out and said, you know, I wish he was a little more knowledgeable. I wish he was a little more accurate, and people freak out. When you look at the criticism, what did you make of it? I mean, it's kind of that Michael Vick effect. You know, when we first had Michael Vick, you know, I can remember other players on the team kind of, you know, who would you rather go against? Would you rather go against Mike or would you rather go against, say, Drew Brees?

He was just getting to the NFC South. And I was like, man, I'd rather go against Mike because Mike's going to kind of give you an opportunity to make a play where Drew kind of just, you know, he's such a student of the game, he's going to kind of pick you apart. Surgical. Now, yeah, exactly. You saw later in Mike's career when he gets to Philly and kind of gets under Andy Reed

and that kind of, that tutelage of really how to be a quarterback and really learn, you know, where to pick guys apart from and use his legs as a weapon instead of or as an extra weapon as opposed to the main weapon, you know, Mike turned into a different quarterback. And that's the same way I feel with Cam. Cam still hasn't really, you know, and it's weird to say that. this guy has won an NFL MVP. Right. But he still has not reached his maximum potential of what kind of quarterback he can be if he did some of the little things.

How many times you face him? Can probably three or four times, I think. And you felt generally comfortable. You didn't feel he was fooling you. You kind of felt comfortable in that space. I mean, you feel comfortable at the end of the day. Just because you're comfortable, even being comfortable doesn't prepare you for a six, five, two, 260-pound guy who breaks through the line and all right, we got to try to get them down.

Those after, you know, kind of scramble drills and things like that extending to play. You know, running quarterbacks are easy to prepare for in a sense of what what they're doing with the ball in their hands, but they're hard to stop. It's almost like we always say learning how to be a DB is easy. You either got man or you got some former zone. Actually going out there and doing it, it's hard. I'm checking this receiver. I'm going backwards. He knows where he's going and he's running forward.

It's hard to do, but to actually learn my assignment and what a DB is supposed to do, you know, it's one of the easiest positions to learn how to play. Or to learn your assignment, I should say. But it's hard to actually do it and learn how to actually, you know, run up and down the field and get out of breaks with guys. DeAngelo Hall, 14 years, three Pro Bowls. You know, when you look at

what's happening in the NFL. It's a very good year for stories. We even have a coaching story. John Gruden now, I want to watch the Raiders because of John Gruden. Me too. And my takeaway is, listen, I think he'll figure out the football stuff. He hasn't been that far away from the game.

I mean, Joe Gibbs went into NASCAR and came back. I mean, John's been watching film for years. But I do worry about the Kaleel Mack story. John, and I said this a couple weeks ago, 10 years ago in the league, DeAngelo, I could come in as a coach. 55-year-old coach and say, no talking politics. And it would be understood, no talking politics. If I as an older coach come in the NFL today and say in my locker room, no talking politics,

a third of that locker room thinks I'm either insensitive, racist, or I'm inappropriate. It's harder today for the older coach. And John's been out of that space for a decade. How do you think he does? Yeah. I mean, like you said, I'm going to be following the Oakland Raiders just because I'm such a John Gruton fan. I want to see how he does. because that was my thing. You know, the X's and O's, I know John will, he'll figure that out. That's the easy part. But it's, it's having these dialogues with these players.

It's, you know, it's a different kid now than it was 10 years ago that you're coaching. And that's the thing. John's been doing a lot of fluff pieces and things like that and kind of been, you know, joking with the guys and all that stuff when he interacts with them. And so to actually be that passionate coach that he was in Tampa the last time we saw him, you know, I can't wait to see because it's not too many of those ra-rah-wrang screaming coaches out there anymore. And, you know, I can't wait to see what this new look John kind of brings to the table. You kind of saw a little bit of that when talking about the Khalil Mack situation.

And, you know, I don't know if John did it on purpose or not, but someone asked him like, you know, what about Khalil Mack? And he's like, well, you know, we weren't very good with Khalil Mack. So that's the last thing I'm worried about is making this guy one of the highest paid defensive players in the league because we weren't good with them. And so, you know, I'm sure Khalil Mack heard that and probably thought something, you know, completely different. And John's probably just kind of casually saying it like, you know, kind of jokingly. But I'm sure Calil Mac didn't take that as a joke. Hey, a few years ago, Bobby Valentine was the manager of the

Red Sox. He made an offhand comment about Dustin Padroia before the season and it blew the locker room up. So by the way, when you were in the NFL, did you notice the difference of players and social media when you were in beginning to your last year in the league. Oh, absolutely. It's night and day difference. You know, that's part of the reason I feel as though I wouldn't coach because it's, you're dealing with a different kid. You used to tell a guy to do something and they did it.

No questions asked. Now you ask a guy to do something and it's, it's a thousand questions. It's a why. It's a, you know, you always have to give them an answer. You know, no one just does what you say anymore. And that's, it's today's. kids, today's athletes. That's how they are. No one, no one just does what, you know, what they're supposed to do. They have to know the reason why. And, you know, a lot of coaches can't explain

that why. That's why they don't have the respect of some players. So, you know, it'll be interesting to see. I think John's, you know, a great coach. And I think the X's and O's will work itself out. But I'm definitely, you know, going to be watching every Oakland Raider game just to see what John Gruton we're going to get. And if he has kind of, you know, mowed. Yeah, yeah, molded himself. in a different light coming back the second time around. DeAngelo Hall, 14 years, three Pro Bowls, officially retired August last week. Good to have you here. Finally, Baker Mayfield, I saw a story over the weekend.

Corey Coleman was a very talented receiver. Browns took him in the first round and just gave him away for a baked potato, nothing. And I looked at that and I thought to myself, Baker's got a lot to overcome. Matt Ryan came into this league as a B prospect, has become an A quarterback. Matt Stafford came in as a A plus product, and many think he's at B plus product because the lions haven't been good around him. I mean, you've been on how many teams you played on three teams? You played on the Falcons, the Raiders, and the Redskins. Did you notice a difference for a player with issues being able to overcome them because of the quality of the organization?

Oh, absolutely, absolutely. You know, those established organizations, they have that support. behind you and you almost feel as though, you know, success there is a lot easier. And especially at the quarterback position, you know, we're talking about the Cleveland Browns. As much as we think they've gotten a lot better and they're not who we thought they were, we have to see it. And they haven't shown us that they're different. You see, Cory Coleman, we were expecting him to be a factor on this offense. Oh, no, I thought he was a first round kid from Baylor. I thought he was going to be a star. They just gave him away.

Yeah, just gave them away. And so that in itself is a little weird, but Cleveland's always done things a little weird. When you came into the league in Atlanta, you had a lot of hubris and a lot of ego and you were talented. At the time, the Falcons weren't as well run as they are now. No, no, no, they weren't. They weren't by a long shot. And, you know, you talk about Matt Ryan and Matt Stafford. When Matt Ryan got drafted to Atlanta, excuse me, it could have won a couple different ways.

Thank you. Because that organization was just getting through the Michael Vick fiasco. Yep. You got Demetrov coming over from New England. You got a new coach in Mike Smith. And so they got it right, though. They got it right. But it definitely matters where you go as a player, especially a quarterback.

Because you have to have guys around him. You look at a guy like Derek Carr or David Carr, I'm sorry. He goes to an expansion franchise. Oh, God Lord. And he never had a chance. Never had a shot. Never had a chance. And so, you know, a lot of these.

guys, it does matter where you go. Ben Rothsburger was in my draft. Eli was in my draft. These are guys if they wind up in Cleveland somehow, some way. Now, by the way, Steelers Giants, they end up being Hall of Fame guys. Great organizations, great defenses, great weapons around them. And these guys are Hall of Famers, like you say. And, you know, you look at a guy who ends up in Cleveland and who knows what's going to happen to that guy. By the way, do you ever see, I got 30 seconds left. Do you ever see a player get ruined in Oakland when you were there? Because they were a mess when you were there. Who was the quarterback? Jamarcus, Russ. Okay, well, that

didn't work out. Although I do think that wasn't all-raders. Some of that was Jamarcus. Yeah, a lot of that was Jamarcus himself. He wasn't ready for the room, yeah. Yeah, not at all. One more herd? The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week within the IHeart radio app. Search Hurd to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like. All right, where Colin was right, where Colin was right, where Colin was wrong on a Monday. Let's roll it, baby.

Where Colin was right? Kelvin Benjamin came out. called Cam Newton out. There's a reason Carolina brought in Norv Turner. Stop enabling coddling and baby. All Kelvin Benjamin said is, you know, any other accurate quarterback like Rogers or Big Ben, any quarterback with knowledge, I'd have a better chance to make more catches. That's the book on Cam Newton. By the way, wide receivers running backs do get frustrated with Cam. And by the way, Carolina's got good enough players. Stop it. They've got one of the top 10 offensive lines in football right now.

They've got two good running backs, the best front seven defensively, in my opinion, in the NFL. Rock solid general manager. Rock solid coaching. Kelvin Benjamin said what people like me say were called haters. He's just a teammate. Where Colin was right? NBA season win totals came out of Vegas, and the Houston Rockets are predicted by Vegas to win. 11 games fewer.

That's because they've inherited win, poison, Carmelo Anthony. Name another Hall of Fame player, a Hall of Fame player, that would replace two marginal players, and Vegas would say they're going to win 11 fewer games. This is what I say about Carmelo. I'm not doubting Carmelo's talent. He's not good for wins. He's not a good teammate. Think about this.

Carmelo's replacing Trevor Arisa, and Vegas is like, we like them. significantly less. And we all acknowledge Trevor Erez is mostly a defensive player. He's a good B-B-minus NBA player. And we all know that Carmel is a Hall of Famer. This validates my long-held opinion. Some people are just talented. They don't make teams better.

They don't make rosters better. They don't win more games. They're just talented. I've worked with people like that. You've worked with people like that. Vegas saying Carmelo added to a really good well-coach, well-run team with two stars. and they'll win 11 fewer games.

By the way, I think the West is going to be weaker next year than better, and they'll still win 11 fewer games. Where Colin was wrong. Philadelphia Eagles gave head coach Doug Peterson a contract extension. I'll be the first to admit when he got the job, I said, he didn't call plays in Kansas City under Andy Reed. How do we know he's just not a glorified quarterback coach? He didn't even call plays.

But you know what, when you lose your superstar quarterback and you win three playoff games with Nick Fult, and it's not like they just won playoff games, they beat a really good Atlanta team. They beat a really good Minnesota team, and they beat the Patriots. So, listen, he is 20 and 12 as a head coach, 3 in the playoffs, and 20 and 12 in the NFC, when you've had to deal with a catastrophic. catastrophic injury to a superstar quarterback. Doug Peterson has proved me wrong. Howie Roseman's a smart dude running that franchise.

Peterson has become a very respected head coach. Where Colin was right. Lamar Jackson's opening game performance was what we predicted. He is not close or ready to start in the NFL, and it will not matter. He is going to be Tim Tebow. He is a project more than a prospect, but he's fun. He's a first rounder. The franchise is good but frustrated.

They're tired of the starting quarterback Joe Flacco, just like Denver was tired of Kyle Orton, who was pretty good too. And in the end, even though he was 4 for 10 with a pick, 33 yards and sacked multiple times, and look way better as a runner than a thrower. Look at the Raven schedule. This is what Tebow looked like coming into the league. Now, I think Lamar's better than Tebow,

but Tebow wasn't ready, and Lamar's not close to ready. It will not matter. The reaction after that performance. in which he wasn't even as good as RG3. Forget Flacco was, that's the future of the Ravens. Now add social media. Can you imagine if Tebow would add Twitter and Instagram?

He would have been starting by week four. Where Colin was right? Tiger once again looks great for a couple of days and then falls apart. The Bridgestone is a tournament he has rocked for years. Yesterday, five pars, five bogeys, and two double. bogeys. 66 on Thursday. 68 on Friday. 73 on Saturday. 73 on Sunday. Again, this is a course he has been exceptional at.

I love Tiger. I absolutely love Tiger Woods. But man, he is now facing himself. It used to be fat guys. Guys that didn't work out. Guys that couldn't hit the ball off the tee. But you've got a generation of young guys who are just exceptional that are 300. plus off the T. The equipment now has evened things out. So guys that aren't long off the T are now long off the T. And frankly, I just don't think Tigers got what it takes physically or mentally to string together four great days. And that's what it takes to win a top tournament.

Where Colin was wrong. I kept saying to Tbo and Johnny Mansell, go to the CFL. Show off. Impress people. Show you love football. You're willing to play in Canada. I'm not so sure I was right on that. Johnny Mansell threw four interceptions in the first half, and he's never looked less competent and smaller. And, listen, I was never a Mansell guy, but I've been preaching for Johnny Mansell to give the CFL a chance, so I'm really behind this move.

But I'm not sure at this point his career is resurrectable. I'm not sure at this point it is a salvageable career. you got the baggage in the NFL. This was atrocious. And I worry about Johnny. They were asked him after the game, were you ready? And he said, oh, I thought I was ready.

Johnny, you had two football practices. You weren't ready. That's a bad team and a bad offensive line. At the end of the day, I'm not sure he's better off with that performance. I think it makes him look smaller than he's ever looked.

Where Colin was right? Been saying for years. Russell Westbrook is rigid. Tunnel vision. And then a story came out last week, like Monday or Tuesday. Hey, Russell Westbrook's got a shooting coach. Yeah, congratulations. You're going into year 10.

You do get that Kobe Bryant worked on stuff every year. Westbrook's three-point percentage since he arrived in this league is 27%, 22%, 33, 33, 31, 32, 31, 29, 29, 39, 34, 29. And you're just now getting a shooting coach? Listen, I see this all the time. When organizations coddle players and then realize Cam and Westbrook in year 8 or 9, they are deeply flawed, let's get them some help. It's too late.

You've gone from the soft parent to the tough parent, and it's too late. That story on Westbrook confirms what I've always believed. They're now talking about, you know, he should be the better sponsor. up shooter. It took last year's meltdown to figure that out. I mean, I don't even watch every Oklahoma City game, and I figured that out six, seven years ago. Where Colin was right? As predicted, Randy Moss looked awesome, and T.O. looks sad and small this weekend. We said it Friday, Randy Moss was going to step to the podium and be emotional. And then Belichick and Bob Kraft showed up. And Randy Moss has never looked bigger and cooler.

and we forget about all the baggage. And oh, he had some. Oh, he had some. And nobody cares anymore. Because Randy Moss put his arms around football. That's all T.O. had to do. And T.O. conversely, as we predicted Friday, is wearing a gold jacket in Chattanooga and taking shots at people

and taking shots at his critics. Guys like me, it's not about me. I'm irrelevant. You should have been there with Ray Lewis and Brian Erlacker and Brian Lerlacker and Brian Dawkins and Bill Belichick, who by the way, Bill Belichick, he would have congratulated you too because you faced Belichick in a Super Bowl with a broken leg and you ate him alive. Belichick would have given you a big hug too like he gave Randy Moss.

As predicted, Moss looks big, awesome, and amazing, and T.O. looks small. Where Colin was wrong. The New York Jets, Adam Schaefter reports Sam Darnold has a very fair shot to start week one. Joy Taylor's right Listen, I think they're mesmerized by Darnold They have two veteran quarterbacks Teddy Bridgewater and Josh McCount Are both more than capable to start

These are smart veterans Who know the league and understand the offense Also, Sam Darnold's the youngest of these five quarterbacks He's 21 with the fewest college starts If they're already saying to Adam Schaefter he's got a very fair shot to start before preseason, then he's starting. I didn't expect this. I don't like it.

I think he needs to watch Bridgewater in McCown. This is not a good offensive line. It is a losing proposition, and I'm frankly, unfortunately, surprised by it. Where Colin was right? Marshawn Lynch became the latest former Seahawk to take a shot at Pete Carroll. part of a growing list. Remember Cliff Avril came on our show a couple of weeks ago and said players tuned out Pete Carroll and his stories.

Listen, I'm not anti-Pete Carol, but I am one of the few that will go on the air, especially in Los Angeles and say, this rah-rah talk, politics, get loud. It doesn't work long-term. It doesn't. What works long-term is football, driven by a quarterback who does, if,

Kenny the talking. Seattle and USC now, about year seven, you get into these things with the raw, raw, kumbaya, get loud, talk a lot, high volume, pro player. They start to unravel. It is no way to run a family and it is no way to run a business. By the way, Sabin's going on year 10 and Alabama's favorite again. Pete by year seven unraveling at USC, NCAA baggage, getting crushed at home by Stanford and getting run out of the room by Chip Kelly and losing to Arizona at home. In the end, I like Pete Carroll, but some of this stuff is two pro player and another player attacks him.

Where Colin was right? I've never been into these baseball tenure contracts. None of them work. None of them. Find me a 10-year contract halfway through it that you're like, wow, what a great deal. The Mariners now, Robinson-Kanow 10-year contract, not currently a playoff team.

The Angels, Albert Pooleholz, 10-year contract, Mike Sosha reportedly on his way out. He refused, he says that's not true, but in the end, Poulthes' contracts, a complete albatross. By the way, you know who's scheduled to make the playoffs now? The Oakland A's.

They don't even have a 10-year contract with their stadium. Ten-year contracts in baseball are an absolute liability. I love Bryce Harper. I rent him. I love Manny Machado, Like the Dodgers, I'd rent him, find me a single 10-year contract.

And they're always celebrated that halfway in. You're like, wow, this is a great contract. Mariners now, where is Canoe? Oh, he's suspended. Where is pool holes? Not doing much. Where are the A's ahead of both. Where Colin was wrong.

Finally, I put this tweet out in spring training. I believe in sporting my sponsors, so please go to seatgeek.com and order your New York Yankee World Series tickets today. They just got sweat by the Red Sox. They're nine and a half back of the Red Sox. They're not close to the Red Sox. They couldn't compete with the Red Sox this weekend. That's after elevating themselves at the trading deadline.

I've got to be honest. The Yankees are good for my business. So I've always kind of like to see the Yankees be great. But right now, they're not close to the Red Sox who are bizarrely good right now. Like the Red Sox, this could be the best Red Sox. team ever. Everybody can hit. You know who I sat next to with the fight Saturday, UFC? Who did you sit next to? Matt Damon. Oh. Red Sock hat. He was like two seats away.

Chris Pratt and Matt Damon. There's a lot of action heroes there. That's who I was sitting next to. Let me say that again. I was sitting next to Matt Damon. Did you talk to him? I did, actually. Was he interesting? What did you talk about? Sox bullpen. Oh. And then Chris Pratt came over. He's like, hey, dude. And I'm like, I'm, you're my son's favorite actor.

My son loves Chris Pratt and Robert Downey. My wife loves Matt Damon. My wife's not starstruck, except Matt Damon. She was ridiculous. She's literally on the phone with her daughter saying, Jason Bourne is sitting next to me. I'm like, he's an actor. And literally Matt Damon turned around and looked at my wife and started laughing. I mean, he kind of is Jason born.

He is Jason born. In a way. It's fair. But my wife was, I love. literally looked at her. I'm like, seriously? She literally was on the phone to our daughter going Jason Bourne is next to me. And Matt Damon heard it and being a good sport, turned around and just laughed at it. Have you ever been starstruck before? Not really. It's not my thing. 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 behind the headline. And we're going straight to the source, the athletes themselves. Their locker room stories, their reactions in the moment, and the stuff nobody gets to hear. Listen to SportsSlice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slicalife-Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite.

Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you fun. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and headwriter, 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. What's up, guys? This is Clivert Taylor the 4th. And on my podcast, The Cliverts Show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff, like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker walks up to me, he goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What?

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