The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Best of The Herd: 08/27/2018

Episode Date: August 27, 2018

Colin wonders why NBA players get to roll with entourages yet Tom Brady has one trainer accompany him and the media continually questions him about it. Hall of Fame Tight End and Undisputed Host Shannon Sharpe comes in studio to discuss Dak Prescott and Sam Darnold. Plus, Colin tells us where he was right and wrong over the weekend. Presented by Perky Jerky. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo, and every episode, we're cutting through the noise,

breaking down the biggest moments in sports and giving you the real story behind the headline. And we're going straight to the source, the athletes themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions in the moment, and the stuff nobody gets to hear. Listen to Sports Slice on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok.

Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert 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. I'm Michelle McPhee, and I've been unraveling the strangest criminal alliance I've ever reported on. A Mormon polygamist and an Armenian businessman. Multi-million dollar house, Ferraris and Lamborghinis, private jets, a billion dollar fraud. But how long can this alliance last? Tell me what you know. Is somebody coming after me? Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Life is full of hurdles. So how do you keep going? On Hurtle with Emily Abadi, we're talking with the most inspiring women in sports and wellness, from professional athletes, coaches, and Olympic champions about the challenges that shape them and the mindset that keeps them moving forward. At our level, at this scale, being able to fail in front of the entire, World. Like, I can do anything. I can do anything. Listen to Hurtle

with Emily Abadi on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart women's sports. 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 Hurt at Fox SportsRadio.com or stream us live every day on the iHeart Radio app by searching Heard. This is the best of the herd with Colin Cowher on Fox Sports Radio. Ah, this is the herd, wherever you may be and however you may be listening live on a Monday from Los Angeles. Iheart Radio, Fox Sports Radio on FS1.

Joy Taylor is back. I never ask where she goes. Faraway places, resorts all over the globe. I just found out she had a great time. I'm not saying. I was in Cabo. It's okay. I'm back now.

You're back. I'm back. Officially back. This coming up weekend, we've got college football. We're ready to go. It's football season officially. I want to start my show today on a Monday with this. Is that when you've had power forever, it's very hard to surrender it.

And football's always been a controlling sport. The general manager controls the players and the head coach controls the players and there's no guaranteed contracts. And if you do something wrong, you are out. out of here. The NBA has got guaranteed contracts. One or two star players can change a franchise and a city and commerce forever. So the NBA coach has never felt all powerful. The NBA general managers never felt all powerful. So it's much easier for a Steve Kerr to relinquish power, much harder for a football coach. But it's coming. And this is fascinating. So when I say team

with Tom Brady, you think Patriots. When I say Russell Wilson, team, you think Seahawks. When I say Aaron Rogers, team, you think Packers. But when I say LeBron James team, you know what I think of? Maverick Carter, Chris Paul, the guys he runs with, and, you know, whoever the team is currently. And that's okay. That's the way it should be for superstars. We have no problem giving LeBron James or any end of the same.

star latitude. He's got a trainer that travels with him. He's got an agent that travels with him. He's got a marketing shoe guy that travels with him. And he's got his best friend that travels with him. He's his confidant. Inner circles tight. It's his team.

Wow. Problem with that. It's been happening for 30 years. But in the NFL, Alex Guerrero, a career extending trainer wildly respected around the league. Tom's opening a clinic. Players want to be in the clinic.

The fact that he now travels with Tom Brady again. Brady goes on a local Boston radio station, W-E-E-E-I this morning. They don't want to talk about the Patriots. They don't want to talk about the wide receivers. They don't want to talk about football. What is it with Alex Carrero?

We saw the reports this weekend that Alex was on the team playing, which he wasn't for the second half of last year, I guess, and not on the sideline. Is that accurate? Yeah, he was with me this last week. So it was, yeah. What changed him not being on the team plane last year? in this year. You know, I don't want to, I'm not getting into all that.

Okay. When I ran in him at the Super Bowl last year, Minneapolis, and I talked to him there, he had said in his opinion that all this stuff had been overblown that he and Belichick actually had a pretty good relationship, but even then, would you say that was true? I said I don't want to get into it. Okay. Go ahead, Evan. Yeah. I mean, everyone knows it's well documented how, you know, the work that he and I do together. No, I know. I understand that. I'm just trying to figure out, because I saw the reports this weekend and he's traveling with the team. Was he on the sideline on Friday? Yeah. All right, guys. Have a great day. I'll talk to you later.

Oh, there he goes this morning, hung up on him. The question is, not that he hung up on him, why are we so hung up on Tom Brady having as 18 years, eight Super Bowls, world's greatest football player in the last two decades, he's hanging up because we're hung up on Alex Guerrero. by the way finally i've been pleading about this for several years quarterbacks take control of your career finally tom brady's like yeah this guy makes me last longer i'm gonna i'm gonna travel with him check aaron rogers this franchise tag is garbage i'm trapped for five years he says it check kirk cousins no i'm not going to sign with washington you didn't give me the respect i deserve to win a bunch of games i'm out of here

I'm going to be a free agent and I'm going to put myself on the market. Check. This is exactly what I've been preaching for years. Why is it okay when I say LeBron's team? I think of his guys, his friends, his confidence, those he respects and trusts his agent. Maybe a marketing guy. Maybe a high school buddy. That's his team.

He's the best player in the world. I'm good with his team. But if Tom Brady says that, whoa, whoa. Tom Brady's tired of answering to something as the greatest football player in America should be an absolute understanding. This is not a spa treatment. It's not me going to, you know, the Marriott and getting a spa. It is a career extending element to his career. He has every right to do this.

I mean, Tom Brady is not a guy we can question. Tom Brady's not like, you know, he's just pampered. He's an egomaniac. He's not a team guy. Opposite, opposite, opposite of what I just said. So this is really interesting to me is that in our football culture in America, we bristle at the idea of Kirk Cousins saying no to a team. And Aaron Rogers saying the franchise tag is garbage.

And Tom Brady saying, I'm traveling with a trainer. When the Lakers signed KCP a couple years ago, remember? Literally Rob Polanka, the Laker GM, came up. on the podium and remember what happened, who he mentioned twice. Remember who he mentioned twice? Here's the audio. I would venture to guess there's people in the room that are familiar with the stories in the book of Genesis where there was a time when the Israelites were wandering in the desert and all of a sudden bread came down from heaven. That's kind of what today feels like for us to have KCP join.

As Magic said too, I think Rich Paul and Farah from Clutch are here today, I think just their understanding of sort of the free agent market and cap space and all of the things that come into play when Rich texted me and said, hey, I see you and Magic have been really, really careful with your space. You're being very patient.

Yeah. Let's talk. It was like, you know, a lightning bolt hit us and we said, yes, this has to be our focus. We've got to find a way. Look who is sitting closest to the GM of the Lakers. It wasn't a player. It was part of LeBron's team because KCP is represented by Rich Paul. Part of LeBron's team.

When you say KCP, everybody in the league knows, oh, that's part of LeBron's team. Clutch sports. He represents them. So we have a player in the NBA who literally can move players around to other teams. Would you be upset if Tom Brady had an agent? group that move players into the Patriots? Why would you be upset with that? That's what LeBron does. Why can Aaron Rogers create Packer clutch sports and move players into the Packers that he represents? Why are we letting NBA guys do this, but we're outraged by NFL guys traveling with a trainer?

I don't get it, never have, and I am pro for 100% behind franchise quarterbacks having I don't know. An eighth of the power, Russell Wilson changed the city of Seattle. He deserves as much power as Otto Porter of the Washington Wizards. I'm sorry. Crazy me. Tom Brady hung up because we're hung up on Tom Brady.

Ridiculous. You know, I was thinking about this, is that my stepfather passed away yesterday. I was a handful in high school, but he was my little league coach and a very good man and became a really interesting influence in my life. Now, we weren't close. He and my mom eventually broke up,

but at her funeral, I made sure when I saw my stepdad to mention something to him. And I said, I really appreciated how you stabilize my family. I just one of those kids in America. There's a lot of them that come from divorce. And, you know, your life's going left and right and everywhere.

And my stepdad at the time, Irvin Herman, who passed away yesterday. And again, we weren't close at the end. I'm not trying to make it into something it wasn't. He did stabilize my family, and I've always had great appreciation for people who can stabilize things. People can have ceilings. I'm okay with it, but stabilization is a real thing. It's why I've always defended Doc Rivers of the Clippers.

They were a grease fire for 40 years. He has stabilized them. And why I've always defended Marvin Lewis of the Bengals, they were an embarrassment for four decades. He stabilized them. That's why I've defended Doc. And every time I hear Doc's going to get fired, Marvin's going to get fired. I'm like, no, no, no, no, no. What were they before they arrived?

So did you watch the Cowboys last night? Eight turnovers. Do you know the last time they looked like that? When Tony Romo got hurt before they drafted Dak Prescott. That's what they looked like. Colin, they were playing with backups last night. Yeah, so was Arizona. Arizona's backups didn't have eight turnovers.

This is what I've said about Dak Prescott. Zeke fire, Dezfire, Jerry's always making noise, biggest brand in the league. Since Dak Prescott has arrived with the loudest franchise in America, not football franchise, loudest sports franchise in North America is the Dallas Cowboys. Joy, he has started 32 games, legit starts. They have not only won 22 of 32, but of the remaining 10, they have been in the game. for five of ten, one possession. Now, they did have a really, really ugly three-game stretch.

Yeah, that was when they lost Sean Lee for two games. Zeke, because of his legal action and the best left tackle in football in 15 years, Tyron Smith was out. And oh, by the way, they lost at Atlanta. They're pretty good. Against the Eagles, Super Bowl champs, and the L.A. Chargers, who if they had a kicker, one-on-one, 13 games last year. Dak Prescott is the great stabilizer.

Okay, as a kid, my stepdad could drive me crazy. My dad was a doctor. That's what you have to be. And my stepdad was more blue collar. But you know what? There is real value in stabilizing families. My dad had his issues. My stepdad may have had a ceiling in my eyes as a kid.

But boy, he was my little league coach. He was there. No late night screaming. It was really quiet in the house. And I had a really awesome high school. Got to be quarterback. I remember my high school years very fondly. Going home, food in the table, no yelling screaming.

Really stable. Stabilization's a real thing. The cowboys, when Romo got hurt before DAC arrived, were a mess. Or in other words, they were last night. this is the biggest, loudest, at times most dysfunctional, hard-to-manage brand there is. You know, when people used to bang on Joe Tori of the Yankees, I used to always say, you do get the Yankees in the 80s and Steinbrenner. He walked into that room with A-Rod and Jeter and, I mean, Clemens.

And the Yankees, they kind of had a weird, strange blue-collar farmer, do your work, head down, low key. It was like all the circus stuff was Steinbrenner breathing down your neck. It kind of evaporated. Joe Torrey was a nine to five. Show up. Do your job. Everybody get along as well as we can.

Not a lot of noise in the clubhouse. Listen, I never thought DAC is Cam talented or Breeze accurate or Rogers rifle armed. But I got to tell you something. When I look at the Cowboys and I watch them last night, I'm like, yeah, that's what they look like pre-DAC. 32 starts, 22 wins, five-one possession losses, and five other losses.

He had a bad three-game stretch when the city, the team, the organization, the O-line, the running back, and the wide receiver caught fire. I'm good. And I continue to think, Dak, we don't understand his real value, a value that's often overlooked in a lot of people. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd

weekdays at noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHeard Radio app. You'd want your doctor if he had new information and you were going into surgery or your kids were, you'd want the doctor to use the new information. If you had a stockbroker and the stockbroker says insiders are trading the CEO of that company just traded off shares, you'd be like, ooh, new information, get me out of that stock. We always seek new information if it helps us. But with a sportscaster, if I have a new opinion due to new information, it's like,

whoa, you're flip-flopping. No, I'm not flip-loving. I have new information. I do my homework. The way I looked at all these rookie quarterbacks, Joy and I disagree with this, I am by and large a believer in let them start the year on the bench, watching, and depending on their talent,

start them after a month, start them by Thanksgiving, start them at the end. But let them kind of develop. You know, you have fewer OTAs, you know, the way the world works. There's no huddles now. Football is harder than ever for a quarterback. right? And college football doesn't even look like pro football at the quarterback position. But I'm watching Sam Darnold and I'm thinking to myself initially my opinion was Teddy Bridgewater's better, should start and then bring Sam in off a bye week, Thanksgiving.

And, you know, I'm watching now. And I still think Teddy Bridgewater this second is better, but it's so close. I think you're better to start Sam Darnold and move Teddy and get a second round pick and a starting right tackle. And it's just time. The gap is not big enough. On a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being Tom Brady and 1 being a college quarterback, if Teddy Bridgewater's a 6.8, Darnold to me looks like a 6.3 or a 6.4.

I still think Teddy's slightly more ready to win a game this year. But, boy, it's close. and if I can get a couple of pieces to help Sam, I think you just do it. When I watch Flacco and Lamar, I see a big gap. When I watch Bradford and Rosen, I see a smaller gap, but still a gap. When I see Tyrod and Baker, I see a gap.

But what Donald and Teddy, how he has closed that gap in like three weeks, I still like Teddy, but if he's done this in three weeks, what can he do in five weeks, six weeks, nine weeks? And Teddy can get you real play. players. Teddy Bridgewater is a starter in this league. You can get stuff for Teddy Bridgewater. You can get a starter somewhere on your team and a good draft pick. I don't, I think the gap,

I think Teddy's better now, but I think the gap is closing. Sam Donald again looked very, very good. I saw a story this morning where Jets players, quote, expect Sam to start. The players now see it in practice. They see it in games. By the way, this is what I do as a parent, Joy, all the time. I'm not seeking perfection. With Sam, I'm darnal, I'm not seeking with my rookie quarterback's perfection. But once my kids are mature enough that I can leave with my wife overnight and they don't burn the house down, then I go with my wife down to, you know, Laguna for a night or Malibu, right? I know my kids still can't handle a burglar breaking in, but they won't light the house on fire.

Therefore, I feel good enough for a night to leave, go golf, go hang out, go, go, go spend time, go do something and leave them in control of the house for 16 hours. But I know they can't handle a burglary. I know Sam Darnold can't single-handedly beat Philadelphia. I know Sam Darnold can't go up against Indomacan Sue and Aaron Donald in the Ram secondary and torch it. But I'm not looking for that. He is now mature enough that Teddy Bridgewater can leave and go away and Sam won't burn the house down. And I think you can really get some nice. nice pieces with Teddy Bridgewater. So crazy, crazy me. I've changed my opinion, but I got new information. And the gap with Teddy and Sam has closed. Hi, everybody, it's the herd. Here's why I'm a

big fan of Simply Safe home security. Simply Safe is ready for anything that gets thrown at it. If a storm takes out your power, an intruder cut your phone line, Simply Safe is ready. Say they destroy your keypad or siren. Simply Safe will still get you the help you need. Now, maybe it's overkill. But maybe you don't need to be ready for every worst case scenario. But that's what makes SimplySafe home security system so great. It is always ready. SimplySafe could cost an arm and a leg, but it doesn't. Instead, they only charge for what's fair 24-7 professional security monitoring is just $14.99 a month. No contracts, no hidden fees. We recommend SimplySafe to everybody we know. Check it out. Go to simplysafe.com slash herd today.

SimplySafe.com slash H-E-R-D. Family assets protect both. SimplySafe.com slash H-E-R-D. One of the most decorated guys to ever play the game, a Hall of Famer. He is a three-time Super Bowl champion, eight pro bowlers. Many believe as good a tight end as the sport ever gave us. Shannon Sharp, who only, only, I get him twice a year.

That's it, because he leaves undisputed and he goes and works out, and I get you twice a year. So let me start with this. Brady receivers. Are we freaking out or are we looking at a reality where Chris Hogan is the guy? Yeah. This is as bad as I've seen is also, Colin. I mean, three guys got cut.

Eric Decker was retired like two years ago. He just didn't tell anybody until yesterday. He's what they call a shot player. His body has failed him and he's lost confidence. You watch him play in the games. He's like, I shouldn't be here. You watch him practice. They show clips of practice.

I shouldn't be here. here. I think they allowed him to retire, to give him his dignity, because he wasn't going to make the squad. He was that bad. They released Jordan Matthews, released Malcolm Mitchell, Kenny Brett got released. They traded Brandon Cooks. They make all these moves because

they believe Tom, with a healthy Gronk, and Chris Hogan, that will be enough. But man, you're asking an awful lot. From marginal players. They're marginal. At best, those guys, I mean, Gronk, I believe Gronk is the most dominant non-quarterback in all of football, regardless of position,

defensive line, cornerback, wide receiver. But I only get him for 10 games. You know he's going to get nicked at some point. Even Chris Hogan, he normally misses time during the course of the year with an injury. But if anybody can do it, it's these two, Tom Brady and Coach Belichick. By the way, I said this. When I say team LeBron, I don't think Lakers or Cavs. I think of Maverick Carter, Ridge Paul.

I totally back NBA players traveling with their agent. a confidant, maybe a shoe marketing guy. But I say Brady and Russell Wilson team, I think Patriot Seahawks. Thomas said, hey, listen, I am the greatest player of all time. I'm going to have a career extending trainer with me. And people are freaking out. Right. Why is it that we, I have, I am for quarterback saying,

the franchise tag is terrible. I think the thing is, what's different is that when Maverick Carter or Rich Paul or Randy Mims to travel with LeBron, he's not trying to recruit other players. They look at Alex Guerrero and the Patriot team staff. If they say we didn't want you to ice for 20 minutes and Guerrero says, nah, you need only ice for 10. There's where the conflict comes in.

If he's only going to work with Tom or the guys he's working in, but guys, I believe, this is me, I haven't talked to anybody, I believe other guys were going, well, I see what he's doing for Tom, I see what he's doing for Grom. Well, let me go get a second opinion. And so now we're paying. and the training staff millions of dollars and they're going outside to a guy

that's not trained through the traditional methods of school orthopedics and they're getting their advice from him. I think that's where the problem came in at, but I don't have a problem either because normally what happens is that you find somebody that's really good, you recommend him,

a lot of guys start using him, and he does travel with the team. We had one endeavor that did the very same thing. But I think that's the biggest different, Colin, if Randy Mims and Richie Paul were traveling, and that's a LeBron's team, and they started trying to recruit, I think their lives would be a problem

that the team would have, and it's like, nah, I think we need to step back from this. So I said this is I grew up in a family of chaos, so my stepfather came in and stabilized it, and I've always believed that not everybody can be you. Okay, not everybody's going to be a Hall of Famer, but there are people that enter our lives. It can be an aunt, an uncle,

a coach that stabilize a room. Yes. And there's real value. Right. The Cowboys pre-DAC were a mess. And the Cowboys are the loudest, most distracted brand in a North American sports. Last night, DAC doesn't play. Now, I know it was backups.

Right. That's what they look like before DAC. Right. Okay. I'm not saying DAC is great. But in 32 starts, 22 wins, 5-1 possession losses. Are we undervaluing DAC? On what he is doing with, I got Zeke, I had Dez, I got Jerry.

Boy, he looks like a stabilizing force. When he doesn't play, they're a mess. Yeah, everybody can't play quarterback, and everybody can't play quarterback for a high-profile team. And the thing is, although they were out, they were without DAC, you look at what Dak's going to be throwing to. I don't know how much better it's going to get when he gets in there. I mean, Michael Gallup, we're going to be counting on Michael.

So you don't like Dallas this year? I'm not on, I think their defense can be really good, but their offense is going to be predicated on Zeke. How many can Zeke rush for 1,800 plus yards? That's what it's going to take for the Cowboys to be good. Those receivers? Who is the tight end? I think I might can make the squad that tight end.

I'm 50 with a bad knee. And I think I might make the Cowboys that tight end. So you're not as big on DAC as I am? No, because I think everything is really predicated on Zeke. He had an opportunity to show me that he can do. I'm fine without. You see these top quarterbacks, Tom Brady? I don't care if I got a running game.

Ben, I don't care if I got a running game. Breeze or Rogers, these guys that can take that next step and that's what you say, when they say they're going to make the offense more DAC friendly, they're saying we're going to ask you to turn around and hand the ball off to Zeke. We're going to ask you to get Zeke more involved

in the passing game because he doesn't throw the ball down the field. That's not his expertise. Well, they're going to shorten the field. They're like, well, you're not going to throw it over our head, so we're going to play close to the line of scrimmage. They're going to try to take Zeke away. They're going to make this young man beat them

throwing the football and see if he can beat them throwing the football over the top. Shannon Sharp, 14 years, eight pro bowls, three rings, gold jacket guy. Okay, I'm going to name I'm going to name a quarterback battle and you tell me who should start and why.

Okay. Terrod Taylor Baker Mayfield, who starts and why? I'm going to say Tyrod because I believe this team is ready to win right now. It's hard for a rookie to come in and start winning right away unless everything is in place. Now, Ben didn't start right away. Tommy Maddox got hurt the first game, and then Ben came in. And they babysat him for about six games.

But they were loaded at every position. Defense was ready to go. Sound running game. So they were straight across the board. I believe, and plus, they won 1 in 31 over the past two season. Hugh Jackson doesn't have the luxury of going 0 in 3, 0 and 4 with a rookie quarterback, because that means Greg Williams or Todd Haley is going to finish the rest of the season

Now, Hugh knows that, so I believe Tyrod will start. Sam Darnold, Teddy Bridgewater, who starts in why? Well, looking at it now, I think Sam Darnel will start. I think he got 10 million guaranteed in Josh McCown. I don't know if somebody's going to take that contract. Teddy Bridgewater is only $5 billion and he has value. You can get something for Teddy Bridgewater. No question.

The question is that I have for Teddy Bridgewater with his injury history and concussion history, how good can he be? The guy missed basically two years and he has a history. history of concussions. So how good can he be? I haven't seen him long term. I haven't seen him play consistently for a year or two. So that's the problem that teams are going to be

up against. Yeah, he throws the ball. I mean, he's been unbelievable in the free season. But you got to realize he was a starter and sometimes he's playing against guys they're going to be coaching in about a week. Finally, John Gruden, I suspect this could be a mess. Shannon Sharp thinks.

I agree. I don't think everybody, well, Gruden is, you know, this and the quarterback whisper. I just, 10 years is a long time to be away from something. In football? It's hard for me to believe that a surgeon can be away, does no surgery for 10 years

and just go right back in and pick back up. It's just hard for me to believe. I said this. Silicon Valley is like this. Tech changes every year. Yes. Football changes every two years. There are, you know,

the post office today looks like the post office 10 years ago. There are industries that don't change. That's why people don't use it too. newspapers. They look the same as 20 years ago. They do. But football. I mean, there's no huddles anymore. No. And there's really no fullback. Everybody plays bases out of three wide receivers set, one tied in on the running back. The fullback is

an eyesore. It's a relic. Things are so different now. The way you meet, the way you practice, the way you attack the quarterback. Now they got this helmet rule. Things have changed so much, I mean, in the last two years, let alone 10. Shannon, players are more empowered now. Oh, yeah. Ten years ago, if a coach in the NFL came in and said no politics

understood. If a coach came in and said no politics, half the room's like, well, I get an opinion on politics. Right. The world's changed. Right. Absolutely. Yeah, it's a different time now and everybody feels that they have a voice. Everybody feels emboldened. Sure. Well, you think it's changed. You let players get guaranteed

contracts like they get in basketball, like they get in baseball. That's why basketball players, then they say, well, why basketball players will take on issues that football players can't because Steph Curry is getting all $205 million of his dollars and the guy in football that signed for $100 million, he's only going to get that 40 fully guaranteed money and those guys don't want to risk that. I love having you on. I love being on.

Do you remember two years ago before on Disputed Start, you came on this couch. That was almost three years ago. Three years ago. And I said to management, get him a show fast. I love what you've done. I love having you on. Thanks for having me. I really appreciate you speaking up for me behind the scenes.

A lot of people don't know that, but I know what you did for me. I appreciate it. Hey, what's up? This John Middlecock from the Three and Out podcast brought to you live by the Colin Coward Podcast Network. If you like Colin's show, you'll like mine. I talk a ton of football. This week coming up, I talk about the rule changes, Josh Allen's budding stardom, and just how lucky 49ers got with Jimmy G.

You can listen to me wherever podcasts are found. Again, it's the Three and Out podcast. John Middlecop, that's me, brought you by the Herd Podcast Network. Well, we do it every week at this time, all year. You used to do it just do it in the football season, but people liked it so much. They said, do it more we do. In the last week, I've whiffed,

and sometimes I've been spot on where Colin was right, where Colin was wrong. Where Colin was right? Been on this for years. The preseason is too long, and you should never play stars. Well, what do you know? Have you watched the Rams?

They won't play any of their good players. Have you watched the Cowboys? they won't play any of their good players. The NFL pre-season should be two games, and for anybody in this league longer than three years, you should not have to play in it. Just increase joint practices. If college football with 17, 18, 19-year-olds cannot have a pre-season

and have an NCAA limited practice schedule with no joint practices, with no OTAs, where you've got midterms in classes, and yet Notre Dame Michigan will play a week from today and look really, really fine. Let's limit it. I have been saying for years, coaches take control of the preseason, don't risk your stars.

And certain teams like the Rams, they don't even have an interest in playing their best players. Where Colin was wrong. Andy Dalton for years has been in my crosshairs. They call him the red rifle, and for years I call him the beige water pistol. But you know what?

He looked great yesterday. He's looked great in the preseason. When you stack him up with a lot of these young quarterbacks, he looks so refined. Listen, he's been in the end. NFL seven years. He's 63, 44, and 2. Now, he can't beat Big Ben. Well, guess what? Not a lot of people are. Okay, outside of Tom Brady, who do you feel good against when they face Big Ben? Listen, there was a time that I thought he was overrated. But now I look at Andy Dalton, and I look at a lot of these teams looking at rookie quarterbacks and a lot of these bottom third teams in the NFL,

and you know who's better than all of them? Andy Dalton, with an 89 passer rating, five playoff appearances, seven years, won 63 and lost 42. I'm retiring forever beige water pistol. He is a poised, albeit limited franchise quarterback, but he has become a poised, refined, respectable franchise quarterback. Where Colin was right? I told you coming in. I didn't care where Sam Donald went.

He looked the part of a number one quarterback, and boy has he. He's bigger than Baker Mayfield. he looks more poised than Baker Mainfield. I don't want to hear excuses. The Jets have a weak old line, no tight ends, and no running backs. Cleveland at least has a great young running back and a star slot-wide receiver, and they

paid some money for their O-line. Okay, Darnold looks the part. Okay, against the first team of the Giants, seven first-downs touchdowns, against the first-team defense twice, and that's not a terrible Giants' defense, there's players, two touchdowns. He has

looked the part. He looks, looks big enough, mobile enough, refined enough, strong enough. He got the slide down, which he wasn't great at in college. That's what a number one pick should look like, regardless of who went number one. Where Colin was wrong. I've been a big supporter through the years of Urban Meyer, the Ohio State coach, but I got to be honest. After the last couple of weeks, he looks like an enabler that struggles with the truth.

He did it Florida, and he did at Ohio State. and the gap between Nick Sabin and Urban Meyer is the Grand Canyon. It seems a mile wide. Finally on Friday, Urban Meyer released a press statement, which I agreed with. Finally on Friday, he admitted, yeah, I sort of butcher this and that I wasn't as thoughtful as I should have been. Listen, I always thought Urban Meyer, I always kind of held him and Nick Saban as somewhere better than college football, capable of winning in the NFL. But I got to be honest, I think of Urban Meyer now, and it's different. And it bums me out.

Because for years and years, I always considered him actually every bit or better at times than Sabin. And it doesn't feel like that today. He feels like somebody who can struggle with the truth. Where Colin was right? Listen, the Patriots wide receiver group, I'm sorry. It is different this year. Kenny Britt, Eric Decker, 14 moves. 14 moves since April.

You're going to tell me last year they had Brandon Cooks. Last year I got a kid named Mitchell everybody like, I'm telling you right now, I'm not here to be hyperbolic. But Julian Edelman will not play in September. There's a reason Tom Brady is sniffing with everybody on WEI. He sees what's going on. This is different. This is not.

Listen, the San Antonio Spurs dynasty did not fall off a cliff. It's slightly eroded. This feels like Duncan retires Spurs make the playoffs but they're just not dynamic enough to beat the really good teams especially in the NFC

where Colin was right Josh Allen I told you coming in he was more project than prospect well this weekend he finally faced the number one defense and where Donald looked smooth he looked awful he was overwhelmed

by Cincinnati 801 yards of offense, sacked six or seven times. He held the ball too long. Now, again, I'm not saying their offensive line was great, but he misfired on open passes, six of 12, 34 yards. He does not look like a starter. And again, a lot of these guys against twos, Sam Darnold did it this weekend against ones and had back-to-back scoring drives.

You're like, oh, that's a starting quarterback. Sam Darnold's going to struggle. He's not going to be completely utterly springing a league. and drowning and Josh Allen looked like a college quarterback. He was, he was, he looked terrified by the end. Where Colin was wrong. When Andy Reed traded up to get Patrick Mahomes, I'm like, oh, good Lord, here comes another big arm guy.

Man, that kid. Preseason passer rating 1035. That's against ones. Completion percentage, 72%. That's against ones. And I love Andy Reed. he and I text regularly and I was like oh no I'll be honest he's facing ones he looks good and he's spreading the ball around to multiple players he's not like a lot of rookies young guys

they glom on to one or two guys he's not he is spreading it all over the yard now I see why they traded up to get him he has really looked apart where Colin was right the helmet rule only nine helmet rule calls last weekend. So what I said I predicted was the NFL was going to over call it. We were all going to overreact. And then by the end of preseason, they were going to start pulling it back, pulling it back. And also it shows that players now have adjusted to the rule. So as predicted, the NFL overcalled it.

I freaked out. You freaked out. The world freaked out. Players coaches adjusted. And this week, week two to week three, 64 percent decline. decline in helmet rule calls. Listen, this is going to take a while, but the pattern

has been what we predicted. Overcalled, adjust by players. This weekend, when I watched games, it didn't freak me out as much. Where Colin was right? You know, last year, about mid-season, Goulet can defend me on this because he's a cowboy lover.

Last year, I said, at the end of the year, I said, Cowboys defensive line is going to be their next great offensive line. Is anybody watching the Cowboys defensive line? Did you see them against Arizona? Now, the Cowboys were awful. David Irving, Taco Charlton, DeMarco Lawrence, Randy Gregory. Cowboys defensive line's a real thing. It is a real thing.

Their offensive line gets all the love. And they got issues, by the way. Their secondary's got issues. They got a bunch of young guys. Their linebackers look talented, but we don't know how good they are and if they can stay healthy. But I'm telling you right now, I said it last me mid-season.

This has the potential in Dallas to be an elite top-five defensive line. They are fast. They can move laterally. They can run up field. They are long. They are athletic. And again, last night, their offense was a mess. But that defensive line was dominating, overwhelming Arizona up front.

Where Colin was right, where Colin was wrong. Be sure to catch live edition. of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. After almost three hours, Colin apparently hasn't gotten to the point yet. Quit holding out on us, cowherd. It's the best for last.

I do this on the opening day of the NBA. I believe very few words can describe almost any situation. And I call it the NBA three word game. That I can literally describe an NBA team. If you didn't watch the NBA, I could give you three words and it would pretty much sum up the team.

It's not that difficult. You can see good, bad, and awful very quickly and can similarly describe good, bad, and awful very quickly. So let's do today. We'll do the AFC. Tomorrow, we'll do the NFC, the three-word game, AFC edition. Let's start with the AFC East, New England Patriots, Tom Brady's team.

It hasn't always been. For a long time, this was Belichick's reign. but Brady got rid of Garoppolo. Brady skipped OTAs. Gronk followed suit. Brady gets his trainer on the plane. This is now Tom Brady's team. The owner Bob Kraft had to choose between the coach and the star quarterback,

and he chose the latter. Jets. Sam I Am. Folks, whether he starts game one or not, He has looked the best and most refined and most polished and most durable of the first round quarterbacks. And the conversations they are having right now in New York are not, if they're going to trade Teddy Bridgewater. It's when they're going to trade Teddy Bridgewater. It's his franchise, Sam Darnold.

Buffalo Bills, no playoff return. Listen, my sources in the NFL say Buffalo's got a real good coaching staff. They really do. but Josh Allen with a rebuilt offensive line, you watch that Cincinnati game, Josh Allen is not Sam Darnold. He's not that kind of player yet. I don't think he's that durable for sure.

And him starting with a rebuilding offensive line and brand new wide receivers, as good as that coaching staff is in Buffalo, that's not a playoff team as of today. Finally, Miami, over the Tanna Hill. I'm sorry. Listen, he's coming off an injury. They're reboot in the locker room.

But I look at Tom Brady, and I look at Sam Darnold, and I look at Ryan Tannehill, and I'm like, I think we've kind of hit a ceiling on this thing a little bit. It'll be interesting to see because I think Adam Gase is a really smart offensive guy. But boy, if Ryan doesn't pop here, where do you go? You go and draft another quarterback. AFC West Chargers just need a kicker. Good God, folks. They're loaded.

I mean, Mike Williams has popped during training camp, the number one pick last year that was hurt the wide receiver. So now they have Keenan Allen and him. Maybe they have questions a little bit at tight end. But last year, if they had a kicker that could hit like PATs and short field goals, they're a 13-win team. They were red hot in the last two months. Kansas City Chiefs, Mahomes, sweet Mahomes. I think they found their quarterback. He's on the show tomorrow.

Patrick Mahomes. He has looked spectacular against first-team defenses. We knew he had a cannon. I'm always a little reluctant on guys with a cannon arm. He's looked really special. And his completion percentage is high. Let me tell you something. Sammy Watkins and him haven't connected yet,

but he and Tyreek Hill look really comfortable already. Mahomes, sweet Mahomes. Raiders, oh, excuse me, Broncos, Elway's latest case, Case Keenham. Listen, John Elway is trying to get this quarterback right, and Paxton Lynch, that didn't work, and he got Tebow out of town, and Peyton worked for a few years, and he's looking for the next Peyton, and I don't think it's Case Keenham, but in this league, you can't be awful at quarterback. Case Keenham's not awful at quarterback. I think they're going to realize very quickly that Case Keenum was great because of Pat Schumer in Minnesota, and I think they're going to find out very quickly Case Keenum's most. a workable C plus at best quarterback.

And finally, Raiders must win, baby. John Gruden got 10 years. He's going to be tough on players. He better win early because if he loses early, John Gruden loving and barking football is going to get real old, real fast because he can grind guys hard. So he needs to win early for them to buy in to his style of coaching because it is old school coaching.

AFC South, Texans, does Deshawn deliver? A couple of ACLs, my guess he does, but if he gets hurt in the first month, uh-oh. Colts, good luck charm. Andrew Luck's back, they'll win. Stop arguing, folks. It's the easiest bet in sports. If Andrew Luck starts, the Colts are good. Jaguars, Saxonville to Lastonville.

I don't buy it. Luckin' Dishon Watson return. and I think Jacksonville goes back to their rightful place in the AFC South. And Tennessee, like their talent, but for God's sakes, tighten it up. This organization, coaching changes, personnel changes, lose games they should win, tighten it up. And finally in the AFC North, Steelers, Super Bowl bound, my pick to get there and win it. Ravens, Joe Flacco's last stand. Lamar Jackson was drafted to put heat on him.

don't kid yourself. Bingles, Red Rifle Reloaded. I can't believe I said that, but he does offer stability as a lot of teams in the AFC are looking and hoping for young quarterbacks to flourish.

And Brown's, Mayfield of Dreams. Baker, Baker, Touchdown Maker, we'll see you tomorrow. No, I got a minute left. Mayfield of Dreams. I didn't come up with that one. That was my favorite one in the room,

and I didn't even come up with it. Where to go, staff. Good stuff. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where SportsSlice comes in.

I'm Timbo, and every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the biggest moments in sports and giving you the real story behind the headline. And we're going straight to the source, the athletes themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions in the moment,

and the stuff nobody gets to hear. Listen to Sports Slice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slic 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 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 Rob. Robert Smigel and Friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Michelle McPhee, and I've been unraveling the strangest criminal alliance I've ever reported on. A Mormon polygamist and an Armenian businessman.

Multi-million dollar house, Ferraris and Lamborghinis, private jets, a billion dollar fraud. But how long can this alliance last? Tell me what you know. Is somebody coming after me? Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the IHart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Life is full of hurdles. So how do you keep going? On Hurtle with Emily Abadi, we're talking with the most inspiring women in sports and wellness from professional athletes, coaches, and Olympic champions about the challenges that shape them and the mindset that keeps them moving forward. At our level, at this scale, being able to fail in front of the entire world. Like, I can do anything. I can do anything. Listen to Hurtle with Emily Abadi on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart women's sports. This is an IHart podcast. Guaranteed human.