The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Best of The Herd: 09/05/2019

Episode Date: September 5, 2019

 Colin says in the history of the NFL the QBs who stick to the script tend to win more than the QBs like Aaron Rodgers who prefer to make it up as they go.  There is breaking news during the show that the Raiders will be potentially suspending Antonio Brown after an altercation with their GM and Colin talks about it with former WR TJ Houshmandzadeh.  Plus, Greg Cosell of NFL Films talks Bears/Packers ahead of the NFL's opening game  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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This is the best of the herd with Colin Cowherd on Fox Sports Radio. Ah, here we go. NFL season tonight. Packers in Chicago, this is the herd. Wherever you may be, and however you may be listening, live in L.A. IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio,

FS1, one hour from now, Greg CoSell stops by. NFL meat sandwich. Hope you're hungry. Cannot wait for tonight. Joy Taylor is joining me. Here we go. Football's back.

You know, I looked at the schedule this morning. There's no dog games. I mean, even like San Francisco, Tampa at the end of last year, it was a dog. I can't wait to watch Jimmy Garoppel. It's a great game. It's a great game. You've got to see James Winston under Bruce Ariens. There's a lot going on.

Jets, Bills. Can't wait to watch that one. So tonight we have the opener. I have a theory on Life, Joy. and I'm going to throw this out there for everybody. Being prepared in life is way better than just making crap up. I like to be prepared. When I go out to dinner with my wife, if I do a show, if I have a meeting,

I like to be kind of game plan, be prepared. That's how I roll. Brett Farve is talking about Aaron Rogers and Aaron Rogers' new coach, Matt LaFleur. Now, I think Matt and Aaron are going to work because I think they're both smart and they both have something to lose. They're both all in on it. So I think it'll work. I pick the Packers to win tonight and win their division. So I'm not some hater here.

I think it's going to work because I think Aaron's smart. Matt Lefleur is smart. They both have something to lose here. So it's going to work. But Brett Farv was talking yesterday about that relationship. the Aaron-Matt one, and it's fascinating the word he uses here. Let's listen to it. I'm very curious to see how LaFleur and Aaron get along as the season progresses.

I would hope that LaFleur wouldn't handcuff Aaron too much. I know he said he's changing the offense, but you know, you got to let him play and let him do his thing. And a lot of those things that he does are not in the playbook. And you do not want to take that away from him. Brett Farrve sees coaching as handcuffed. Tom Brady does not. Peyton Manning does not. Joe Montana did not.

They have a lot more Super Bowls than Brett Farr. Brett Farr was harder to coach, often didn't listen. That's an interesting word. Brett Favre sees coaching as handcuffed. I do not. The great ones do not. I'll give you an example. I'm going to give you people on the left quarterbacks,

who or I would say ad lib more, off the playbook more. This is not an indictment of them as people, but they tend to be ad livers, strong-willed, do it my way. And then on the right side for our television viewers, and I'll mention this for our radio viewers, I'll give you people that were with how to strong coach. We're in a system. We're mostly occasional audibles, but more restrained.

So on the left is Dan Marino, Farr, Big Ben, Aaron, Steve Young, and John Elway. Ad libers. Not to say they were all uncoachable, but less, less restraint. On the right is the more coachable, stronger personalities as coach, more willing to play within the system. Montana, Peyton, Aikman, Bradshaw, Brady, and Drew Brees. They have three times the Super Bowls. Yeah.

Being prepared is better than making crap up. You can win both ways. You will win more on the coachable. Listen to Bill Walsh. Chuck Nall. I mean, Terry Bradshaw was a wild child out of the South. And he tells great stories. Like Chuck Null was just not tolerant of Terry Bradshaw.

This is what we're going to do. We're going to power run and play defense. And Terry says, I wanted to win. I wanted to win Super Bowls. So I listened to my coach. And Terry's a big personality. I listen to my coach. Troy Aikman.

I listen to my coach. That's not to say Troy and Terry don't add lib. Don't audible. But this idea that coaching is handcuffing. And this is where Aaron Rogers falls into the I'm going to make it up. Can I argue that Aaron Rogers has the most talent of any quarterback in 15 years? Then why has he only been to the Super Bowl one time? It's not like he's had bad offensive lines.

It's not like he's had like horrible general managers. Mike McCarthy was not a bad coach. So Bucky Brooks talked about this yesterday on the show that sometimes there's the gift and the burden of talent. And the burden of talent is that when you are gifted, you are harder to coach. Those guys can skip steps that other guys can't. And so it's hard for this.

to rein it back in because they've always been able to just play on their high school college talents yes and so what you hope is that you play long enough where your athleticism carries you the first couple years then your knowledge and your fundamentals allows you to build a long career so you are right coachability comes easier for those who aren't a level talents maybe when you're a lesser talent you have a more willing ear to listen to what coaches are telling you and never forget this football's got a playbook it's very disruptive to be part of an offense where you don't know what your quarterback's doing.

Montana was easier to play with than Steve Young. Brady and Manning are easier to play with than the early Big Ben. By the way, Big Ben's first Super Bowl, he was a system quarterback. It was defense special teams, run game. Big Ben won a Super Bowl early as coachable Big Ben. Since then, when he's been more ad lib, Big Ben, 15 years, won. Like, coaching's not handcuffing. Now, in the NBA, it's more player-driven.

In baseball, it's more GM and pitcher-driven. But in football, listen to the coach. You have a playbook. It's hard to play with somebody making crap out. By the way, people tend to think a lot of stuff is made up. Robin Williams, the comedian, makes you think. He's just making up that thing, the late Robin Williams. Williams, he knew what he was doing. Curb Your enthusiasm is not ad-lived. There's a show in Hollywood called

Whose Line Is It Anyway? You ever seen that show? They have writers. You think they're just all they've got teams of writers. Jimmy Fallon's got writers. Stephen Colbert's got writers. Letterman had writers. Lennel had writers. Nobody's just making it up. They're making you think they're making it up. All right. So, yesterday, Zeke, Ezekiel Elliott signed a massive contract. And Zeke talked yesterday. He wants to be the highest paid. I've always felt with athletes, and I think they deserve this respect.

If you are the best at something, then Michael Jordan for a long time was not the highest paid player in the NBA. And even though he was the richest NBA player and had the shoe deal, out of respect, Michael Jordan wanted to be the highest paid player. I get it. I totally get it. Zeke wants to be the highest paid running back. I get it.

deserves it. Here's what he said yesterday. I was definitely really anxious, you know, because I had definitely wanted to be here for the start of the season. But, you know, I'm happy it got done when it did, and I'm glad I was able to rejoin my teammates and, you know, start the season with him. Was it important to you to be the highest paid runnerback in football? It was.

Why? Because I believe I'm the best. I don't have a problem with Zeke wanting to be the highest paid. I don't. I get it. LeBron should want to be the highest paid player. Mike Trout should want to be the highest paid baseball player. I don't have a problem with it.

My problem here isn't the running back. It's the organization. We have in the NFL a guidebook on how to win the most games. And it's New England. And Dallas is actually now doing a lot of the things that New England is the opposite. By the way, Philadelphia shares a lot of New England's philosophies. Trade picks, get better, O-line, D-line. Dallas is now the opposite of how Philadelphia is doing stuff.

The opposite of how New England's doing stuff. In Dallas, it's pale of our stars. In Dallas, Jerry gets emotionally loyal to players. In Dallas, the owner runs the football operation. In Dallas, we're going to go public with our big contracts all the time because it helps brand. And I think this is the downside to an owner Jerry Jones I like. I love Jerry the businessman. I really do.

But too often with Dallas, they let their branding stuff and their football stuff converge and mush together. New England and Philadelphia don't. The Rams don't. Kansas City does not. The Colts are well run. The chargers. They don't.

They don't. They do in Dallas. They've become a little bit like the Lakers where they're making decisions for basketball, but I think in those same rooms, they're really worried about how. it lands for the brand. Every contract negotiation is discussed publicly. It's not the way you really do it. Let's pay all our stars.

That's not the way you do it. Let's get emotionally loyal. That's not the way you do it. Let's pay one star running back. That's not the way the good teams are doing it. So I don't blame Zeke for wanting to get paid. But Dallas, there are examples of how to win more in this league. This would be like being a stockbroker and having Warren Buffett and saying,

I'm just going to know the opposite way. I don't believe in that. I've taken a lot of my business beliefs from Oprah and Howard Stern. I've looked at Oprah and Howard Stern. I've made calls to people who work with Oprah. And I'm like, oh, yeah, she's pretty smart about that. And then she went into that. And then Howard did this.

And Howard went into that. Why wouldn't I use them? Like they're the two richest people in the history of my business. Why wouldn't you follow Warren Buffett? Why wouldn't you watch what New England does? Like, is it arrogance? Is it vanity? To me, there's a guidebook on how to do this. And I think Dallas sometimes now is just doing the opposite.

Don't blame the player. In this instance, the owner, I think he needs to recalibrate. I think Jerry needs to stop living in the 90s. You know, the Cowboys had the Aikman, the Emmett, the Irvin, and they keep trying to duplicate it. Okay, we're going to go Romo to Marco. Murray and Dez. And now we're going to go

Dak and Zeke and Amari. And no, no, no. Aikman, Emmett, and Irvin. That's a once in a franchise way to do it. You're never going to get another Troy Aikman with Emmett and with

Michael Irvin. Marry Cooper's good. He's not Michael Irvin. Dak is good. Not Troy Aikman. And Zeke, he may be as good at Emmett. But, like, you can't look in the 90s and go, well, we did it in the 90s. Those are three Hall of Famers.

Here, I think you have one if he can Zeke stay out of trouble. Otherwise, you're going to have no Hall of Famers. Got an example of how to do it. It's New England. I'd start copying more often than not. 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.

night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where SportsSlice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context, and ask the questions everybody wants answered. SportsSlice brings you closer to the action with stories told

by the people who live them. Listen to SportsSlice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slicelife 12 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of mental health awareness month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the middle 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

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I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff. Like being an internet. that 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.

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Like LeBron heading into the playoffs without Luca and Austin Reed. And finding ways to win no matter what. He's the smartest player to ever play the game. His IQ is at a level that we've never seen before. And he knows without Luca and Austin Reeves, I got to manipulate the game. We get a player's perspective on the challenges of the playoffs. I think Joker's going to be exhausted this series because when they don't have Rudy in the lineup,

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Let's give you the breaking news. It is not good for Antonio Brown. Vic Tafer of the athletic covers the Raiders. Joy Taylor is joining me as well. Antonio Brown was unhappy about being fine. Had an exchange with Mike Miok yesterday. That's the GM of the Raiders. He was held back by a couple of teammates, now facing a team suspension.

Cuckoo! Albert Brear, who's always out in front of everything, says, If the Raiders suspend Antonio Brown for contract detrimental, which is pretty easy to prove now, they can default on all his guarantees. Doesn't get any of it. I said this during her line, 30 minutes. You don't flaunt. You don't taunt management.

Even if you do win. Even if I signed a great contract, I don't flaunt it and taunt my management. I'm an employee. I'm a highly compensated one. Antonio Brown. You don't flaunt it. This is Antonio Brown's issue. He thought he was a big shot.

in Pittsburgh. They moved him to the most dysfunctional franchise, not named Cleveland in the NFL for 15 years. The bosses control the employees in every business, especially this one. And Antonio Brown, once these receivers go into the weeds, Ocho, T.O., it's hard to get them back. They've been empowered. They've been enriched. It's hard to get people who have gone in the weeds to have an intervention, bring them back to the course, bring them back to society. I would cut him. I'd get out of the Antonio Brown business. Now, I've said this for years.

My personality is not built for interventions. It's not built for needy people. It's not built for high-maintenance people. I'm not telling you how I think. I'm just telling you how I think I'm not built for that. I could not be a producer in Hollywood and have 19 needy actors on the set. I'd be much happier being a general partner for a accounting firm. Where I know what I get, there's some ceilings,

on stuff, but I know what I get personality-wise from people every day. That's how I don't want chaos in my life. I got a good life. I don't want to wake up in the morning, have to worry about another man who can't control himself. Like, you're a grown-up. Stop it. I'm not into that stuff.

I'm not a babysitter. And so I would get rid of Antonio Brown. Is he a very good player? Yes. He's a very good player. Nobody's disputing. He's very good player. But the Raiders also went out and got Terrell Williams in the off-season.

They've addressed a lot of their offensive line issues. They've drafted defense. You know, Derek Carr is now healthy. John Gruden, you say what you want about Gruden. They played pretty well last year. You know, everybody was predicting they would bail on Gruden and quit, and they didn't quit. They played good. So, wow.

Raiders could now get out of this thing and not have to pay Andonio Brown the guarantees. It's up to me. I'm not interested in this. Not my cup of tea. I think he's worth half a point to a point a game. I'd rather have a better culture, better community. I also think it's disrespectful. if I ran a football team and I had 55 guys on my football team,

if I am constantly having to babysit one of them, I think it's incredibly disrespectful to the other 54 men in that locker room. I think it's disrespectful. My job is as a general manager is to create an environment where everybody feels loved, everybody feels valuable. And once you start babysitting one guy, you're not paying attention to the other 54. I would get Antonio Brown out.

with that Greg Kossel, 40 years at NFL films, quite a development. You know, it's interesting. I want to start with Antonio Brown. Now, we know he's a big play receiver, and we know going to the Raiders. He and Derek Carr would have had some success. How would you describe Antonio Brown as a game changer? Big Ben also, Greg, had 10 of his 16 interceptions throwing to Antonio Brown. How would you describe him as a player?

I think he's a top two or three receiver in the league, and then you have to decide the value of that to your given team and to the NFL game in general, because he's definitely that guy on Sundays. And I'm sure that's the way he thinks. He probably thinks he can do whatever he wants because he shows up on Sundays and plays ball. So it's your classic talent versus temperament issue, Colin,

and every team deals with that differently. Yeah, some won't, some will. Yeah. Right, exactly. I mean, he's a great, great receiver. and, you know, what is the value? You know, we've had this conversation about running backs in the NFL for the last number of years. Now what's the value of a wide receiver, of a top three wide receiver in the NFL?

Is that someone that is absolutely essential to you winning games, or do you believe that you can line up? And I'm not saying it's the difference between Antonio Brown and the 80th best receiver in the league, but, you know, what's the difference between Antonio Brown and the 15th best receiver in the league when it comes to winning games on Sunday? Yeah. So Antonio Brown going to be suspended by the Raiders. Well, speaking to that, Jadavian Clowny goes to Seattle. Yep.

And Jadavian Clowny can be a disruptive player, can be a dynamic play guy. I don't get the consistency I love. There's been some injuries. So, you know, the assumption by fans is Jadavian Clowney goes to Seattle. Man, that's going to be great. Let me ask you, does DeJavian Clowney fit Seattle's system? I think he will fit because they do some of the same kinds of things. moving that player around that the Texans did. So Clowny not only will be a defensive end,

he'll be what we call a joker and move around. He's not as good a pass rusher as Frank Clark. He's not as laterally explosive as Frank Clark. Clowny is powerful. He's powerful straight line, but he's not laterally explosive. You know, it's interesting the way they chose to use him in Houston, and they chose to use him that way because they understood his skill set, and they understood that he's not a pure 4-3-edge rusher. You can't just line him up at D-N and say, go get the quarterback. He hasn't shown that up to this point. That's what the tape shows, Colin.

He's not that guy right now. So he's a good player, but he may not have the Frank Clark impact, is what you're saying. He may not. No, Clark was a more, you know, laterally explosive player, a better pass rusher than Clowney. Let's go to Deshawn Watson and the Texans. They get rid of Clowney. They bring in Laramie Tunzel. Now, he's a good tackle.

He's not a top five tackle, I don't think, when I watch him. Will he make a big difference this year for Houston? Will it help Deshaun? Well, he's not a top five tackle yet in terms of his play, but he's a top five tackle in terms of his physical trait. So they're hoping that with different coaching, maybe he responds, that he matures because he certainly has traits. And what they're hoping is that he can match up to edge rushers on his side one-on-one,

and then they can do other things to help with their O-Line. but it's definitely an upgrade for them because he's very, very talented. You know, they're a better team. This is just the argument of short-term versus long-term, and it just depends on where you fall on that argument. The Texans are a far better team now than they were when the season ended. Now, for those GM-types, they'll say, you know, that doesn't matter because now they've mortgaged their future.

So it's simply a short-term, long-term argument. Yeah, I like having the best quarterback defensive lineman, left tackle, and wide receiver, arguably, in a division to start the season. That's why I like the move. I think those are big positions to me. I would agree. I mean, although it's interesting, I think the game's changed a little bit. You know, you talk about pass rushers.

I think the games changed a little where interior pass rushers, I think, have far more value now in the game than they did years and years ago. Everybody just said that that edge rusher was an absolute premium position. Not that you don't want a good edge pass rusher, but I think with quicker passing games, quarterback's not taking as deep drops as they used to. I think that interior pass rushers have become increasingly important in today's game. I was shocked yesterday. I like Jared Goff. I watched them a lot at Cal because I stay up late on Saturday nights and watch Pack 12 football

and he got the you know what beat out of him. And he took a bad program and made it pretty darn interesting by the end. I like his traits, his personality traits. I've said before I think he's a more talented Matt Ryan in terms of armed talent. But yesterday when that contract came out, I was shocked. 75% of people are like system guy. overrated. I mean, I watched them against Patrick Mahomes. I watched them against Minnesota's defense. I think he's really talented. I think he's still growing and getting better.

What say you on Jared Goff, his deal and his style? Well, first of all, I will say this. And I know what people mean by system guy, but every quarterback's a system guy because every team runs a system. What that I think means in people's minds is that he can only run the system when everything works. Now, he runs a very good system with Sean McVeigh. He's an easy thrower of the football. He was the next man up at some point they were going to have to pay Jared Gough. They weren't going to let him walk, so the numbers to me don't mean anything. You know, he's the next guy, and now Dak Prescott, I'll probably get more, and we'll have the same conversation about what Dak Prescott is or isn't. So the numbers

don't really matter. It's just the next man up, and they're not going to let him walk, and he's a very programmed player. He's a very mechanical player, and I don't mean either one of those two words in a negative fashion because that's what he's asked to do within a really well-designed and well-schemed system. Speaking to L.A., the Chargers host the Colts this weekend. I think their infrastructure is really good. It would not shock me if the Colts upset the Chargers. Derwin James is out.

Russell O'Coon offensive line issues. No Melvin Gordon. I think the Chargers are still a good team, although I think the special is gone. What do you expect from them? I think the issue is their all line. It had issues last year. Okung is out. I think they're starting a free agent at left tackle.

So the O-line is a concern. Philip Rivers, obviously, is a master at understanding what's going on before the snap, but still he's a relative statue. I don't think the loss of Gordon is that extreme. I think the O-line is the far bigger issue. And I think Derwin James is a big issue, and will have an impact on how Gus Bradley structures his defense from a personnel standpoint. Yeah.

I actually, I'll say this now. I like the Colts this weekend. I like their own line. I like their infrastructure. Well, and they've gotten a lot better on defense, too. You know, obviously people know they got Justin Houston, but DeNico Autry had a very good year last year playing both defensive tackle and defensive end. Good stuff. All right.

Let's shift to the Cowboys, obviously, Zeeks in, signed a big contract. I think they're going to be a bubble playoff team just because I think the NFC is loaded. And I think the Eagles are a better franchise right now. I like the Eagles top to bottom. In terms of overall talent, if you just look at film, what you do NFL films 40 years, and you look at all these players, it does feel like to me Dallas is a top 7-8 team talent-wise. Is that a reach? No, I think you're probably correct about that. They've got a good old line.

Obviously, they've got Zieg. I think, you know, they've got a fairly good receiving corps now that they have Cooper. I have no idea what Jason Whitten will be at this point in his career. you know, defensively, they're pretty solid. They're a good defensive team. So I think they're a solid football team. You know, the question is, the question ultimately will be Dak Prescott because there will be games where he's going to have to be the driving force

in order for them to win because teams, there will be games where teams do take away Zeek, maybe not 100%, but where Zeek can't dominate and control the pace and tempo of the game. All right. Now, your big play. Greg Cocell joins us every Thursday now for the next four and a half months. Your big play involves the Packers, who open the season on the road tonight at Chicago. I think LeFleur, Aaron, I think it's going to work. I think they're both verbal.

I think they have something to lose. I think they'll be committed, even if they have an imperfect relationship. Not only discuss that, but then take me into the play of the week. Well, you make a really interesting point because even though Aaron Rogers is a great player and is considered great by most. You know, I think he's got a vested interest in this working because, you know, I think, you know, he lost a little luster with the whole thing with McCarthy right or wrong,

and he's got a vested interest in LaFleur being really successful and therefore him being really successful. You know, they opened last year against the Bears. They're going to open this year against the Bears. And the play I want to show is from that first game last year when he came back after the injury. And you'll get this because every team plays, man-to-man coverage. So let's start with the play first and foremost. And this was a touchdown

throw he made to Geronimo Allison, who's still one of the receivers that's there, and it's a ridiculous throw. But what happened here was pretty basic stuff. The Packers were in a three-by-one set, three receivers to the field to the bottom of the screen. And what the Bears played here is what we call cover one. It's man-to-man with a single high safety. Why that safety is cheated to the single-receiver side? I don't know. Maybe it's Devante Adams, who's the single receiver. But this is the matchup you're looking at. Geronimo Allison, Kyle Fuller. Now, what Rogers does here is really, really good,

because what he does when he drops back is he's going to look to his left. And he's looking at Devont Adams, his number one guy. But the reason this is so critical is it gets that safety moving in that direction. Now, he's on that hash anyway, but he moves in that direction. So what that does is it just gives you a one-on-one on the outside with Allison versus Fuller, and this game is about matchups, and this is just a ridiculous throw. These are the kinds of Aaron Rogers throws that just get people excited every single week, and you can just see it again here where the safety is and how he'll move,

and you get the one-on-one matchup. You could even argue Rogers is a tad late with this throw, but he's such a great, great throw over the football that it's just a big play touchdown. And by the way, it's classic manipulation of eyes and hips. Yep. That's what safeties read. All I need you is a safety is just to make a. move, as you noted, a step or two, then I know you can't move your hips and catch up to the

right side of the field. Greg CoSell, NFL films, 40 years doing it. Can't wait for tonight. Great talking to you, Greg. Thanks, Colin. Appreciate it. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHeard Radio app. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athletes themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to

hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context and ask the questions everybody wants answered. Sports Slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to Sports Slice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slic Life 12

and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of mental health awareness month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible, guests. I'm talking. Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing,

we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't 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, 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 Hardway. Open your free iHeartRadio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. What's up, guys? This is Clever 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- You know these kids. 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 of 42. Hey, rep, my mama want you to wave at her. What? Hey, Ms. Parker. Listen to the Clippers show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. American soccer is about to explode. The World Cup is coming.

Ramers sending on to Ernie. I'm Tab Ramos. I'm Tom Boe. On our podcast, Inside American Soccer, you'll get the real storylines. I'm not worried about Policic. I'm not worried about Balagan. I'm not worried about McKinney. My only concern is what happens in the back.

The biggest decisions. If you're going to look at stats and numbers, he has no shot at making this World Cup team. And the truth about the U.S. national team. It wouldn't be a huge surprise if our team ends up in the quarterfinals or potentially a great run into the semifinals. The World Cup is almost here. Experience it all with us. Listen, Inside American Soccer with Tom Bogart and Tab Ramos

on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, wherever you get your podcast. We've got breaking news today, Joy. Right 15 minutes into our show, maybe about 30 minutes. The Raiders are considering suspending Antonio Brown after flaunting and taunting the organization on Instagram last couple of days. Mike Mayock and Antonio Brown. Brown. Mayock the GM, Brown the star receiver, had a shouting match at practice. Vontes Burfect had to intercede, intercept it, hold back the player. John Gruden may very well want to

play him. My takeaway has been this is not a Super Bowl team. You have to now protect the team, protect the culture, protect the other more grown-up players. You know, listen, it's some people, you know, I'm not built for any of this stuff. I'm not interested in this nonsense. I think Pittsburgh is laughing. I predicted Pittsburgh would laugh. They are. predicted Oakland would be a mess. It is. I'm not into being right. I'm into getting it right.

This is when wide receivers are high maintenance and very dramatic, once they go into the weeds, you can almost never get them back into the fairway. They're artists. They're expressive. It's their personality. It's who O'Dell Beckham was. Once O'Dell went into the weeds, giants couldn't get him back. Once T.O. went into the weeds in Philly.

You couldn't get him back. Randy Moss got on the fairway in New England, then went to the weeds. They couldn't get him back. You know, I just, I look at this and I say to myself, it's time to cut him. My belief is, now you've got to save the culture. Because I do think John Gruden at the end of the year, I thought the Raiders played very hard for John Gruden. I also don't think this is an employee, Antonio Brown,

that takes you from outhouse to the penthouse. He's not taking you from six wins to 14. If the Raiders were the chiefs, you know, then you're in a situation where, oh, my Lord, now that's not the situation here. You know, one of the reasons I think the Steelers let him go is they are so good at developing receivers, number one. And number two, they had juju-sman Schuster. So the Steelers looked at and thought, you know, we have this emerging kid who's good. They drafted James Washington, who was good, and they're good at developing him.

They're like, otherwise, Pittsburgh, I think, it may have been in a situation. They would have kept him again. But Pittsburgh's like, we got good receivers, we developed good receivers. But even Pittsburgh let him go, and that's a team that can win the Super Bowl. Raiders aren't even in that class yet. They have the strangest fan base in the country. Brown fans can acknowledge we're a mess. Raider fans get angry with the media when we say the truth,

which is for 15 years outside of the Browns, you've been the NFL's biggest laughing stock. So let's bring in T.J. Husband Zata, played in the NFL for a long time, and also had the opportunity to play with Ocho, Cinco, Chad Johnson, and who had some Antonio Brown abilities, and Antonio Brown personality issues. First of all, let's address A-B. You run the Raiders today.

You're Mike Mayock this morning. What do you do? He got to go. He got to go. We dealt with the helmet thing. Once we thought that was done, it comes back again. Okay, we're going to support you publicly,

but privately we were pissed off. And now this, we find you. And that's what it was about. He got fine, so he probably approached Mayok. And Mayock doesn't seem like he's a punk. And so he probably approached him. And Mike responded, I responded, and AB didn't like it. And he said what he said.

But he has to go because there's guys on the team that have that AB quality in them that they have it in them. And if you don't punish him and make an example out of him, if they ever become a player, that's going to come out. because I saw him do it and y'all did nothing about it. So y'all damn sure not going to do anything about it when I do it. It's amazing. Kaleel Mack and Amari Cooper don't really have that in them. They let that go. And this has been one of my primary issues, Joy and I have talked about this with the Raiders,

that when you make moves as a company, you send messages to your employees. So they let Khalil Mack and Amari go, stars and good guys. All right. And then you drafted what you called. called high quality character guys. Okay. Then you get Ritchie Incognito, Vontes Burrfect, and A, B.

So the messaging to me as a raider is, wait a minute, I thought we were A and now we're B. The Patriots always send the same message. None of you will be treated like stars, ever. It's because Brady buys into, he's the ultimate team guy. He's an ultimate. Tom Brady is the best player with no ego,

the NFL is seen. And he has an ego, but he checks it at the door. Everybody does. I wouldn't even put Vontes Burrhic in it. He's had mishaps during the game. You don't hear Vontes Burrhic getting into it with his teammates, getting into it with coaches. His stuff is just suspicions from hitting guys,

not abiding by the rules on the field. He hasn't had problems with teammates like AB had with Ben and Juju. So it's completely, Vontes Burfick is the one that calmed me down that grabbed him and said, okay, stop, bro. So you would let him go. Oh, let him go. Like, I don't, planning on suspending them.

They should have just put the word out. He suspended, period. I'm getting out the contract. They bought low. It didn't work. See, that was my argument. Just admit you made a mistake. Like, coaches have to admit sometimes.

Oh, I whiffed on that. Just not. And could they possibly get out the guaranteed money day long? Yeah. I mean, it's a no-brainer. Now, when you played with Ocho, take me into the locker room. You were a very talented team. Ocho was like A, B, a dynamic vertical player.

and could be very dramatic. I don't know if he was disruptive. Go back to your career with Ocho. I know Chad so well, so I don't look at it as being disrupted. That's just who he was. You played with him in college. Yeah, he just,

Chad is very nice to everybody. Super competitive, works extremely hard. But when things didn't go his way, or he didn't like certain things, he acted out, but it wasn't, it wasn't, I didn't look at it as like, Oh my God, they got to get rid of him. It was just like, oh, Chad, he'll calm down in a minute.

And a lot of it was me and Chad room together in college and in the pros, every home game, every role game. And so it was like my responsibility. Come on, Chad, we got a meeting. Okay, so you were kind of not a chaperone. Pretty much. Yeah, yeah, I was. By the way, the Cowboys did this. Tim Tebow did that with the late Aaron Hernandez in Florida.

Urban Meyer. Remember, that was that story that he. kind of, by the way, Des Bryant in Dallas, they gave them with teammates they thought would be adult and could, you know, you were the adult in the room with Ocho. Yeah. And I mean, everybody, it's not just, like I had, everybody gets upset with coaches. We're all men here. But how, how do you handle it? You might lash out here and there, but you can't lash out all the time. Every little thing can't be a problem. Like, okay, you made a helmet a big deal. You got fine like every, you sure. I've heard. he was showing up the meetings late. And so when you get fined, it is what it is.

See, that's like when Chad would get fined, it would just be like whatever. Chad wouldn't lash out at this. It would be like, he might be mad, but he, oh, they fine me, all right. And it is what it is. Wow. All right.

So, well, again, as this story continues. Planning, I don't get, we're planning on either you're going to suspend them or you're not. Well, the feeling is, Mayock, you know, let's face it, the Raiders now, Antonio Brown's agent's probably talking to reporters for him. A, B, talking, everybody's protecting their arse on this.

So Mike Mayock may have told somebody, we're going to plan on suspending him. Gruden may be like, I don't want to win these games. I want to win games. So, you know, either way, it's not a place you want to be five, three days before the opening season. It's a mess.

And he hasn't practiced much. No. So tonight, the Packers at Chicago, I think it's going to work. I think Green Bay is going to win. I think Aaron and Matt Lafleur are going to be good. I think it's the best defense Aaron's had in years. What are your expect?

And one of the reasons I think it works, T.J. Hushmanzada joining us. Because Aaron's got stuff to lose and Matt Lafleur's got stuff to lose. And when people are both invested, there's an old saying, T.J. About money. Never invest in a company unless everybody's got their own money in it. So don't go into a company with a, with a kid who's got a rich dad,

because that's not his money. You want to invest in companies where everybody's skin is in the game. We're all invested. We're all, like the rich kid comes out. Well, my dad gave me. No, no, no, no, no. You got nothing to lose.

That's dad's money. So I think Aaron's got a lot to lose here. His reputation took a hit. And I think Matt Lafleur bombs. They're going to be like, you can't, you can't win with Aaron Rogers. So I think it works to you. I believe it works as well.

It's Aaron Rogers. He's one of the best quarterbacks ever play. And you got to take it. Big Fangio's gone. He's a head coach of Denver Broncos. Chuck McGano comes in. He's going to add his wrinkles to it. And are his wrinkles going to be better or worse than what Fangio was running last year?

Chicago was, they literally were winning games defensively last year. Will that remain the same? Aaron Rogers is Aaron Rogers. Devonte Adams is one of the best receivers in the league. He's not going to have great quarterbacks don't have two bad years in a row. He's going to turn it on this year. and I think the Packers is going to roll this year. And they'll win tonight.

Okay, a story came out this morning that I don't like. So I am a believer that quarterbacks have to have one thing. They don't have to be big. They don't have to be strong. They don't have to be athletic. They don't all have to have great arms. They all have to be verbal. It's a communication position.

That Marcus Marietta came out in the NFL. I did a 14-minute interview with him at the other place. we could use four minutes. He was so shy. And I remember telling my producer at the time, this is not going to work. You have to talk. Constantly communicate with your receivers.

Kyler Murray's story comes out. He doesn't communicate. He doesn't talk. He doesn't go with everything. And I'm like, okay, that doesn't work in the history of my life. Peyton Manning was talked. Now, by the way, Baker Mayfield talks too much. Aaron talks and condescending.

Big Ben talks too much. But they talk. You'd rather talk too much than don't talk at all. Kyler Murray, by the way, this was the knock on Jay Cutler, T.J. From people inside the Bears, he didn't communicate with players. He was moody. He would just turn guys out for days on end. Jay was a huge talent.

He didn't communicate. Well, if you watch his reality show, he's an odd bird. I hear this about Kyner Murray. You teach high school football. Any nonverbal quarterbacks crushing it? Well, you're going to laugh at this. Being up here at this show listening to you and then being around Jordan Palmer, I tell quarterbacks all the time, lead.

You see anybody that's at school that looks like he's just looking for a friend, you be his friend because once you're his friend, everybody's going to be his friend. Be a shoulder, be a friend of people that want friends, and that's what you do. Now, I read what Kingsbury said, and I didn't take it as Kyler Murray wasn't talking. Kingsbury said I asked him what plays he doesn't like him. he says, I like all of them. And so is it just his way of saying everything you got in, you have in the game plan?

I'm going to make it work. I didn't take it as he's not talking because I know players up there that said they go over the offense and he kind of helps them through it because he's been in it somewhat. Kingsbury was like, it's like pulling TIG to get him to say he doesn't like a play. Did you watch the Dan Patrick interview with him though?

I remember, was that prior to the combine? I'll just watch this interview. And Dan's a good interviewer. It's painful. Okay. Are you going to the combine? I don't know. Dad, is he going to the combine?

Dad had no comment there. Pro day? I mean, that's after the combine. Yeah, are you going to do a pro day? Yeah. I'm sorry, TJ. That's not franchise NFL stuff. We'll see.

Yeah. Yeah. Now, was this? Now, I'm trying to defend him, but I'm having a hard time here. Now, was this prior to him saying I'm leaving baseball behind? Because that looked like to me, we have an idea we're leaving baseball behind, but we haven't told the Oakland Athletics that we're leaving baseball behind. And so we're trying to play coy because we haven't disclosed this to him.

That's how I took that now. that didn't look good. It's an interview. If you're not going to talk, just say, I'm not going to do an interview. Sorry, I can't do it. But if you're going to get on there and act like that, just don't do it. I hope it was because he hadn't told the Oakland Athletics, I'm leaving baseball behind. That is hard to watch, though.

Yeah, it was like Dan Patrick, like, what do you do? You can't do anything. He just wouldn't talk. Yeah, I don't know. I saw that story this morning. When the dad said no comment that led me to believe, it was we hadn't told baseball, we were done with baseball. All right, maybe that's it.

Who knows? Hopefully he's going to get relayed this from you, and he'll open up and change. You have to. You have to communicate. You're a leader. Greg Jennings told me earlier, like there would be games where he didn't get a lot of looks from Aaron Rogers because of the coverage, and Aaron would come up to him after the game and say, hey, I'm aware I didn't get you. So Greg would be engaged during the next week of practice because if you don't talk, you know, Peyton Manning's great at this.

Like Peyton would go to the sidelines and Brady does this. He's constantly communicating. You know, you're rallying the troops. It's a different position. I don't need Mike Trout to talk or Kauai Leonard to talk. I need my quarterback to talk. You have to be verbal. You have to.

You just have to. That's the position. You have to know what everybody's doing. So if you see somebody's messing up, you have to be able to communicate with him. You have to have nonverbal communication. I don't see him being a lifelong quarterback playing at Oklahoma, being in the same meeting room as Baker Mayfield.

Lincoln Riley looked like he's a quarterback whisper. I just don't see that being the case, but time will tell. All right, T.J. Hushmanzada, NFL season opens tonight. I'll take the Packers. What say you? I got the Packers as well. I think the Packers are going to win a division this year. So do I. Great quarterbacks don't have two bad years in a row.

Good seeing you, bud. Thank you. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the Internet lost its mind, and nobody's telling you exactly what has. happen. That's where SportsSlyce comes in. I'm Timbo. In 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 Slical 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, S&L'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. What's up, guys? this is Clever 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, 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, rep, my mama want you to wave at her. What? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to The Clifford Show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. I'm Joey Dardano, and on my new podcast, Hope from a Hypocrite, I'll be changing lives, helping people in need with thoughtful solutions. Sike, I'm a comedian. I'm not qualified to give good advice.

Join me and my comedian friends as we riff, rant, recommend some of the most legally dubious advice known to me. This is Help from a Hypocrite, the worst advice from the dumbest people you know. Listen to help from Hippocrite Wednesdays on the IHart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHart podcast. Guaranteed human.