The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Best of The Herd: 09/25/2019

Episode Date: September 25, 2019

Aaron Rodgers hasn't been a must watch QB for a while now but Thursday night could be different and Colin explains why. He thinks the Cowboys didn't know Dak Prescott was capable of playing at this level and that's why they didn't work harder to get a deal done this off season. Plus, the legendary Al Michaels talks with Colin about his meetings with Bill Belichick over the last 30 years. Why he liked Baker Mayfield so much. He also shared his favorite sporting events he's ever called besides the "Miracle on Ice"  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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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.

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Hey, it's Edwin Castro, also known as Castro 1021. And I'm Conky, his best friend and business manager. And we've got a new show called The 1021 Podcast. I'm taking you behind the scenes on how I became one of, Twitch's most popular streamers. We also love sports. And with the World Cup right around the corner, we'll be breaking down the biggest storylines

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herd. This is the best of the herd with Colin Cowher on Fox Sports Radio. Oh, it should be our best show of the week. This is The Herd, wherever you may be in, however you may be listening in beautiful Los Angeles. We're on IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, and FS1, The Legend, the Studmuffin' Al Michaels. The ageless Al Michaels in one hour from now, if you're listening on radio, the voice, itself. One of the great voices in American sports of my lifetime. Joy Taylor, joining me as well.

Got a Green Bay Packer kind of green thing going on. It's a little eagle. It's actually, actually, you know what? It's Eagles. It's closer to the Eagles. I like it a lot. And you've got your 1958 glamorous Hollywood. You like this hairstyle. I think you can do. I've never, I've never ever met a person who has every day a different look. You know what? It's the sheen. She's an amazing hairstyle. She does both our hair every day, and she's a great job. Yeah, mine's gray and floppy. There's not much to do here. It's great to have you part of the show. So tomorrow night, it will be really the best game this weekend is actually on Fox tomorrow night. Yes.

It's Carson Wentz and Aaron Rogers. They're kind of similar guys. A little bit of baggage. We don't know they always get along with teammates. We think they're great, but should win a little more. But I think it's very fascinating with Aaron Rogers. I don't think this is a huge game for Aaron Rogers. You know, they're undefeated. Aaron could lose. It's okay. Carson Wentz, it's a very big game. But, you know what, for about eight to ten years, Aaron Rogers, and I judged this a lot, got me to a television set.

When I wake up on Sunday morning, who gets me to a TV set? And Aaron Rogers and Tom Brady. And I'd said this before. Tom's better. Aaron was more fun to watch than Tom Brady. But I turn on my TV now. Patrick Mahomes is more dynamic than Aaron Rogers. Baker Mayfield is more controversial.

Lamar Jackson's more fascinating. Tom Brady wins more, and Dak Prescott is more debated. Aaron Rogers is transitioning. The Packers now don't need him to play great to win. They don't rely on him offensively as much. They run the football. The management has pushed back a little bit on his condescending occasional arrogance. Even Aaron Rogers said something a day ago.

he knows he's transitioning. It's time for us to do our part on offense moving forward. We're going to play some, you know, a stretch of really good football teams. And at some point, you know, we can't expect our defense to shut everybody down. They have been. But at some point, the offense is going to have to wake up and start making some place. When is the last time, Aaron Rogers said, you know, the defense is great. We're not getting it done.

It's a new Green Bay Packer organization. organization. You saw this at the end with Brett Farm. And I'm not saying Aaron's retiring in a couple years, but I'm not the only person to see this. He was the voice and face of State Farm for eight years. Patrick Mahomes now joins him on the commercial. The Cleveland Browns, controversial Baker Mayfield, not Freddie Kitchens, have been on two national TV games. We're in the transition period. Lamar's more fascinating. Patrick's more dynamic. Baker's more controversial. Dax's more debated. And Tom wins more. And statistically, Drew Breeze is better.

That's not a knock, but this past weekend, when I got up on Sunday morning, I wanted to watch Lamar Jackson and Patrick Mahomes. I did. And then I turned on Kyler Murray and Kyle Allen, and I couldn't turn the game off for 90 minutes.

And then Sunday night, Baker Mayfield got me to a television. It's not that Aaron Rogers isn't great, but what I'm loyal to, you know, us say this. You know, people, I'm going to lose weight. How come by February, my gym is still empty? Everybody goes in January for a New Year's resolution. By February, my gym's empty. It's the same seven of us working out. Is that I am loyal to what I consume. And what I'm consuming now,

tomorrow night is the first time in over a year, maybe two years, that the game I can't wait to watch and the quarterback I can't wait to watch is Aaron Rogers. And I think everybody now realizes some of these previous problems are certainly on Mike McCarthy. But as Sam Monson said yesterday at pro football.com, PFF.com, and they just look at data, folks. Some of it's on Aaron. I think their defense is dramatically improved. But the offense, not that much has changed.

Rogers has still remained the same kind of guy. He's still tending towards the conservative end of the spectrum. He's not putting the ball in harm's way that much. And, you know, that offense has not transformed him the way a lot of people thought it might. I think Aaron Rogers is a bigger root cause of the issues there than people have thought over the past few seasons. Still love Aaron, but tomorrow night will be the first time in a couple years

when that's, I want to watch Aaron Rogers more than any quarterback this weekend. By the way, second Russell Wilson Sunday against the next Russell Wilson, Kyler Murray to me is fascinating. We've got a big change coming in the NFL, these quarterbacks. They're a little smaller, they run a little more, it's very fascinating. So I want to talk about Dak Prescott. And I've always said this about Dak. I didn't buy him initially.

I did not officially buy into him until they gave him Amari Cooper last year. And he went 7 and 1 down the stretch and played very well in big spots in the fourth where I was like, and I think I'm pretty good at this quarterback thing. You know, generally I've missed on a couple. But most of the time, you know, the guys I didn't like, even when they were winning Vince Young, Tim Tebow.

I was like, I don't buy it. I think I've mostly been right on this stuff. stuff. But I didn't buy DAC until at the end of last year. He went seven and one with Amari Cooper, who's a real grown-up, is a real man. He's not a child. It's not some of the Des Bryant nonsense you're dealing with. And he won with him. And I'm like, okay, it's not about Zieg. This is Dak's team. And you give Dak legitimate outside perimeter players who work as hard as Dak and you can win games. But I'm looking at some stats with Dak and it's interesting. So, Dax average, his first three years in the league, his average season, he threw for 36,

yards, 22 TDs, eight picks. That's very Marcus Marioada. That's not what you want. This season, he's on pace to throw for 4,900 yards, 48 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions. And what does it tell you that he doesn't have a contract? It tells you that Jerry and Stephen Jones, they didn't know this was possible. And let me defend them. I can certainly make a legitimate argument that Jerry and Stephen Jones have done a better job drafting talent over the last five years than any organization in football. Their O-line's great.

Their D-lines good. They've got a corner. They got Zique. They found DAC in the fourth round. I mean, they got stars everywhere. They have the best young linebackers in the NFL. Two of them. So it's not like Jerry and Stephen don't know talent.

They've been exceptional at moving off players, drafting players, acquiring free agents, and giving up the right picks. but if they'd have known DAC was this, they'd have paid him a year ago. Because they paid Jalen Smith early, and they paid Zeke two years early, and they paid Demarcus Lawrence early, and they're going to pay Vanderesh early.

They didn't pay their quarterback early because they didn't think this was possible. And that's the real thing. Listen, Philadelphia, here's the thing with teams. Teams see all the practice footage. They see the interactions. they see the 22 film. Philadelphia, even with Carson Wentz hurt and losing,

signed him early because they're watching all the film. Jerry and Stephen have watched every DAC practice, every piece of 22 film, and they wake up this morning, and those were $35 million a year stats, and they didn't want to pay them more than 28. And it tells you, DAC is a surprise. Now, by the way, what is this tell you about DAC?

I think it, and I think I'm pretty good at this, quarterback thing. I think it tells you about Dak. Baltimore did not pay Joe Flacco, and they got burned. Why? Because Baltimore watched Joe Flacco. And Joe Flacco had a winning playoff record. Joe Flacco wasn't a bum. Joe Flacco was winning divisions. Joe Flacco had a winning playoff record. He had a winning road playoff record. And Baltimore, one of the smartest organizations, also like Dallas, drafts the hell out of this league. They didn't give Joe Flacco money. Why? Because they watched all the practices and they watched all the film. And they're like, We think it's the roster, 65, 70% and 30% flacco, and they got burned,

and eventually they were paying him too much and moved off him. And so what Jerry is telling you, without telling you, is they think he's a little more flacco than he is Carson Wentz. And it's very hard to doubt the Dallas Cowboys when it comes to young talent. They're great at it. I mean, Jesus, they've had the best offensive line in the league for six years. They have the best young linebackers. They have New England doesn't have this money star players.

Kansas City doesn't have this money star players. So that doesn't mean that Dax not really talented, but it's telling you they rolled the dice on this. And in the same reason Baltimore stalled and got burned is the same reason Dallas did, is that when you watch the film and you watch the practice, you know, it doesn't blow you away. It doesn't. And quarterback is hard. And I've always told you, my favorite part of DAC is the podium. That's really my favorite part of DAC is that he's great at the podium.

he sounds like a leader. He had to deal with the nonsense with Des and replacing Tony Romo and the anthem controversy and the Zieg judicial issues. I mean, he had a lot of noise and he handled it like a good CEO would, a good grown-up would. And I mean, this is why I love Russell Wilson. He had to deal with Richard Sherman and these defensive players dropping a story at the other network I used to work at and they got banged in the press. and then he had to deal with that Super Bowl interception and all the fallout.

And Russell Wilson was like, you know, man upstairs is the one that controls this. I'm good. And so just interesting with Dak is as smart as Jerry and Stephen have been, they didn't think this was possible or they would have paid him because they're going to get burned financially. They're probably going to pay a quarterback who I like love money. Really, I mean, you want to pay the quarterback. you love Mahomes, love money. Russell Wilson, love money.

Most guys in this league you won't pay like money. I like you a lot and I'm going to pay you like money, but they're going to pay him love money. Kirk Cousins got love money. They liked him. Matt Ryan got love money and they liked him. Russell Wilson, I can pay love money to. Brady, I could pay love money too.

Mahomes, Andrew Luck, I can pay love money. I've said with that, I'd rather pay, I like to like money. But what's totally telling you is they just didn't see it. They saw Van derrash, eight-man high school football in Boise State. They saw a star. Dak, they didn't draft him to the fourth round, and they still didn't buy him when he was winning. Much like Baltimore and Flacco. 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 athlete themselves. Their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear.

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I wake up on a Sunday morning. Patrick Mahomes is the most dynamic. Lamar's the most fascinating. Dax the most debated. Tom Brady's the legend. Baker's the most controversial. Kyleer is this weekend facing Russell Wilson, so Russell's facing the next Russell. I haven't woken up in two years on a Sunday and thought, I got to watch Aaron Rogers. Now, tomorrow feels like the first time where it's like, okay, that's the best game on the docket.

Via the Coward Global Satellite Network, Nick Wright, my buddy's joining us. Nick, I feel like Aaron's in a transition period. Injuries, losses, arrogance, that on Sunday, he's not who I wake up to see. Patrick, and I'm not banging on Aaron, but I do feel like they run more. It's more defense. He's no longer the Golden Boy.

Is that fair? Well, that part's fair, but no quarterback at any point in NFL history would be the golden boy if they were up against this version of Patrick Mahomes, who just happens to be playing the position at the highest level it's ever been played by any person. It's not hyperbole. It's not recency bias. It's obvious to the stats. to your eyes. But I think this is more about Rogers and less about Mahomes. So set aside

maybe the most talented quarterback ever Mahomes to talk about maybe the second most talented quarterback ever Aaron Rogers. The numbers are on your side here, Colin. This year, while the Packers are 3 and 0, they're averaging 270 yards of offense, 19 points, and their 30th in the league and third down conversions. Maybe I am holding on to a lost time, but I am still holding on to hope and belief that Aaron Rogers is not out of his prime, that Aaron Rogers missed a preseason game he was supposed to playing because his back tightened up, and was supposed to play in the next one, but the field in Canada was shoddy, that he's a little rusty, there's a new offense, there's still getting these young

wide receivers into the flow of things. The reason I picked the Packers to go to the Super Bowl was because I loved their defense, and I believe Rogers at some point this year will get back to being Aaron Rogers. But much like I heard you say of Jay Gruden, I can't prove it. I just believe it. I can't prove in the last three years that Aaron Rogers is still one of the three best quarterbacks in football. I just truly believe it. And I think we'll see it starting Thursday night. New England seemed unbeatable, but might as well gloat. You pick Buffalo to make the playoffs. I have them number seven in my, yes, I think in the history of the NFL, if you have a great staff, they do. If you have a really good defense, they do. And if you've upgraded your weakness

O-line, you're fighting for a playoff spot. I think they can beat New England this weekend. So go ahead and gloat. What did you see that most of us did not? Well, I saw a easy path to 3 and 0, which with a young team, with a very raw quarterback, getting the season started off right is critically important. I saw what the whole world sees right now, which is nine wins going to get. And in the playoffs in this AFC. I saw Chargers and Steelers teams that I didn't think would win their division and I didn't think would be wildguard teams. So who are you going to put there? And now you do have a really intriguing matchup with the Patriots. The Bills can't win the division obviously. But can they beat the Patriots at home? Maybe. The paths have been great

this year, no doubt. They've also played literally the worst schedule imaginable outside of the Dallas cowboys in the league thus far. So I, there's a reason that Bill Belichick didn't want to cut Antonio Brown even after those witness intimidation texts came out. There's a reason they let him practice that Friday and then for some reason or another waited to cut him until Friday afternoon. It's because he knows offensive line, IR center, IR left tackle, fullback on IR, first round pick wide receiver on IR.

Edelman now's got a chest injury. Josh Gordon's banged up. They thought they needed Antonio Brown. The defense is spectacular in New England. The offense, not what it was last year. And so yeah, I wouldn't be shocked if this is the bills

up 20 to 17 going into the fourth quarter and we see if Brady can pull it out. Now, whether or not, you know, I've always said Cam is Westbrook. I can't deny his iconic stature, his talent, I'd pay to watch him play. He's had one great season where he got his team to the finals,

but I don't think he elevates players around him. So instead of arguing, I don't like Cam as much as you do, I'm going to pose this, that it is getting easier for the new owner of Carolina to move off Cam Newton. Kyle Allen's good. Cam's not winning. Injuries are not. You could bail on him after the season,

and it wouldn't cost you a ton. It wouldn't be a ridiculous cap hit. They've got a bunch of young receivers and backs. Allen's young and the new owner doesn't give a rip about an MVP season when he was a co-owner of the Steelers. Could I at least argue that if Kyle Allen over the next six games and look at it, he faces a lot of average secondaries, goes five and one. You can at least in Carolina, bring back Cam, end of the year, tougher schedule struggles. It's getting easier, Nick, to move off Cam in the next year. Oh, of course it's

getting easier and we have to see if Cam gets healthy. But you threw in there at the end, a yada yada that I'm not ready to just concede. Kyle Allen, Kyle Allen's going five and one. Kyle Allen, who the Carolina Panthers had so much faith in after having him in the building last year, after he starts week 17, they go out and draft Will Greer in, I think the fourth round of this year's draft. I've never seen a quarterback, especially not a blue chip prospect, Kyle Allen had been a blue-trip prospect since high school gets so much run over one really good game against one really bad defense in Arizona. Let me see Kyle Allen go five and one first. Now, Carolina might want to move off of Cam, and if he doesn't get healthy, then I will understand that to a degree.

But we do not live in a world with enough quality quarterbacks where Cam Newton is not clearly, when healthy, an upper half at the very least starting quarterback in this league. And Kyle Allen might be the third best quarterback on the Panthers roster. Maybe they discovered something in the sixth round a couple years ago, and he's just now blossoming into the player that once was the number one high school football player in the country. But I think nationally, and certainly regionally in the Carolinas, a lot of the Kyle Allen love is actually Cam Newton hate being disguised as Kyle Allen loved. Yeah. Because I don't know if people really love this guy.

or they're just ready and wanting someone different than camp. Does it bother you before you go? I'm looking at the PFF rankings this morning. They ranked all the quarterbacks. It must hurt you to realize. It's almost. Tom Brady is number one and Patrick Mahomes is six. Does that make you angry?

Yeah. I like the folks at PFF. I know some of those guys. I think it's a great story. Some blokes from Ireland start a company. It's now a multi-conglomerate. I think it's great. But I don't have a lot of rules in life, but here's one of them.

If I have a fancy algorithm, a nice, cool formula, and I input all my data, and it spits out to me that there have been five quarterbacks better than Patrick Mahomes, you throw out the algorithm. This is along the same lines of your former employer once upon a time created a new way to grade quarterbacks, and it was going to revolutionize things. And the algorithm they had said, the third greatest quarterback game of all time was a Charlie Batch game where he had 160 yards passing. That's when you know there's a fly in the soup, people. And Patrick Mahomes, having played the Jags and the Ravens and being first in rating, first in yards, first in touchdowns, first in everything, is the sixth best quarterback. Your rating system stinks. And I say that respectful. Nick Ryan first things first.

You have yourself a good Wednesday there, chap. It's good to seeing you, buddy. You too. Talk to you later. 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. So PFF did come out with it. It's all over the debate shows in America today and all over the talk shows.

PFF, pro football.com, pro footballfocus.com. They rate every quarterback. And again, they do this on big time throw percentage and turnover. worthy plays and adjusted completion rate. This is film stuff. This is film. They grade every offensive lineman, every quarterback, and it's not every interceptions. The quarterback's fault.

They play calling matters, where you throw it, how hard the throw is, how good the defense. I mean, they really grade everything. So the first thing is, pat myself in the back, they have all the guys I like near the top and the guys that I defend. Deshaun Watson, Russell Wilson, Carson Wend, Stack Prescott, and Derek Carr are all the top seven. So the guys I like and the guys I don't like are all at the very, very bottom. Andy Dalton, James, Winston, Trebisky, Kirk Cousins. So, yeah, there I feel pretty good about it, right? Like the guys I'm not into, and some of those guys are winning games, they have at the

bottom. And the guys I like and defend Derek Carr. I don't understand why the Raiders are talking about bailing on Derek Carr. He's good. I don't get why you don't get Deshaun Watson people. He's good. But what really jumped out to me is that right in the middle of the pack, Baker Mayfield is still ahead of Lamar Jackson. And that goes counterintuitive to what you would think, right? One's winning. One's losing. One doesn't throw any interceptions.

One's a turnover machine. And there's been this whole thing. You know, how can anybody doubt Lamar Jackson? And how can anybody... And one of the reasons I like PFF, because it's not about agendas. It's not about nonsense. It's just about data. And I'm a data guy.

I'm not into, you know, media falling in love and media has agendas and media wants this guy. And good God, the media just couldn't get over Russell Westbrook. The data was right in front of you. And then one day he loses a playoff series. And the entire country is like, all right, Colin's a jerk, but he's right on that one. Just watch the data, get out of the emotion, business, stop rooting for people, players, and cities. And so what they're telling you is, also Josh Allen is 21st. So what they're telling you that Josh Allen and Lamar are five and one and the numbers are great,

but PFF's like, this is not Baker's fault. And that's what I said yesterday. Listen, of course, Lamar and Josh deserve some credit for what they're doing. And Baker deserves some criticism for what he's not doing. But this is a Freddie Kitchen issue. This is a John Dorsey issue. I have banged on Baker Mayfield more than any sports talk show host in America. People get mad at me for this.

But when I watch Cleveland, there are limitations to Baker Mayfield. He's a 5 and 11.5.4.4.40 guy. It's not that great of an athlete. I think he's a pocket thrower, but he's small. so he runs outside a lot and he's not very fast. I ran a 47-940 in high school. I'm not joking. He runs a 484 with better nutrition and better strength training than I had 35 years ago.

He's not that great of an athlete. I don't think he's as good an athlete as Johnny Mansell. I don't think he's as good an athlete as Tim Tebow. And I never thought Tebow was a great athlete. I thought he was a great kid, a great leader. So he's not Dak. I don't think he's not nearly as good as Trebisky as an athlete. He's not Andrew Locke.

We know he's not Cammer Big Ben. I just don't think he's that good of an athlete. I think he's a small, average 4-840 guy. So I've been banging on Baker for years. But what PFF is telling you, Lamar and Josh are getting a ton of help here, and Baker's getting none. And that's what they're telling you.

And Peter King addressed this yesterday in Freddie Kitchens. If I could give Freddie Kitchens one piece of advice, if he wants to call the plays, then he needs to give the authority of things like, management and some other things. He needs to think about giving that away. And I'm fine with him holding on to offensive play calling. He's good at it. He was terrible on Sunday because I think he's thinking about too many things. A year ago, he was the running backs coach. And now he's got the biggest job of them all and he's got the weight of great expectations on his shoulders.

So it's kind of PFF is telling you our system and the guys that look like they're good. And PFF and I don't agree. They don't like Darnold nearly as much as they like Baker. And I like Darnal over Baker because I think he's bigger, stronger, more athletic. And I think he's, frankly, I think he's more of a grown-up. It's why I like, I said this two weeks ago. And everybody, I got so much crap on this. I said Dach's better than Baker.

Everybody's like, how can you say that? Well, Dax bigger. He's more athletic. He's stronger. Way incredibly coachable. Not that Baker isn't, but I can tell you this. Dack is coachable. And I don't think Dack is going to have to overcome constant.

ownership front office mayhem to succeed. So I said a week ago, I said, Dax better than Baker Mainfield. It is remarkable to me on Baker. And I'm not blaming him for all this stuff. And you know I've been tough on him. Like Tim Tebow is not an NFL quarterback. I said it. You hated me.

I was right. Vince Young was not really a guy I'd build around. I think Baker's better than Vince Young and better than Tebow and better than Mansell. But the problem with Baker is you have to be so good to over overcome the nonsense with Cleveland, that I'm not sure DAC could win in Cleveland. I'm not sure. Seriously, I think Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson, it could be man overboard. I think Baker's got all sorts of accuracy talent. But this is why I didn't put them in the top 10 and why I've said about Baker.

If Baker and Sam Darnold are equally talented, Sam will be better because you think the jets are dysfunctional. By Cleveland standards, the Jets are highly functional. They really are. They've made the playoffs. They've made the AFC championship with Mark Sanchez. I mean, the Jets had Herm Edwards won playoff games. Rex Ryan won playoff games. So this PFF is telling you, it's not all Baker here.

It's not. And I believe they're right on that. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. Last night, a blown call changed the 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 in 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 two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person.

Join me, Kear Gaines, as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, learn the hard way. Open your free iHeartRadio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. Hey, everyone. It's Ryder Strong and Wilfredel from PodMeets World. And now the PodMeets Twirled podcast. We're two men who were completely clueless to reality TV. who now have covered Dancing with the Stars,

traitors, and we're gearing up for the season finale of Survivor. So yeah, now we're experts. I know we annoyed a lot of our listeners by our severe lack of survivor knowledge. That is the point of the show. I'm just going to remind you. I have watched some Survivor. I obviously haven't watched enough. Did people not like it?

Yeah. Just because we? Yeah. We'll be recapping the big conclusion in the 50th season from the final attempts at gameplay to the desperate pleading. to the desperate plea as a finalist to a bunch of ha, who, ha, ha, who.

Again, we are experts. So make sure to tune into PodMeets Twirled for all our Survivor 50 takes. Listen to PodMeets Twirled on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, guys? This is Clivert Taylor the 4th. And on my podcast, The Cliverts show,

I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff. Like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker, this guy. This line. 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, ref, my mama wants you to wave at her. What? Where's she at? Hey, Ms. Parker. Listen to the Clifford show on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. All right, let's bring him on. He's a multi-time national sportscaster of the year winner, the VINNORN.

voice of NBC sports. Al Michaels, who thank God lives two decades doing Monday night football. Now, Sunday night football, as my wife always says, if you're as good as Al, the last five, 10 years of your career, I won't leave you. That's what she says. Al, how are you? Fantastic. How are you? I'm doing great. By the way, in 1974, you were the next great young announcer. You were doing Cincinnati Reds baseball. You were probably 12. Somehow you got that job. Then you left it to double your money go to San Francisco. Marty Brennaman took over for you, and he's retiring. I tripled

the money to go to San Francisco. So I did the Reds in 71. Pull that mic closer, Al. I will. Yeah. I tripled the salary to go to San Francisco. So I left one of the great baseball teams in history. Rose. Rose, bench, Morgan, Perez,

Sparky Anderson, Ken Griffey Senior coming up as a kid. I lived in Grayland, Washington. That was my favorite team. They were fantastic. They had like Hall of Famers everywhere. I'm there three years. Went to the World Series in 72, the playoffs in 73,

upset by the Mets and the Pete Rose Bud Harrelson. Yeah. Fracas. And then so I leave, and I leave Marty with this great team, and I go to this Moribund franchise. They were horrible. But they were terrible. And then Marty's doing the World Series in 75 and 76. So I was there three.

Marty's there 15 times as long as I was. And, you know, God bless. Listen, the guy did a tremendous job through the years. You know as well as anybody. There's a connection between the audience and the announcer. You take Vince Scully. In Los Angeles. The top of the top.

67 years. So you go through every generation. The father, the son, the grandfather, the grandson. Marty pretty much the same thing in Cincinnati. Yeah. He's been, they had some great teams. They had some bad teams over a 46-year period. Jack Buck and Marty Brennamet and Ernie Harwell have been the summer voices for

50 years. They were 50 years. Jack Buck, Joe's dad, Ernie in Detroit was a legend, and there you go. Now, I've got to ask you, Al, I've been, Sunday night was just terrific, and I've been marginally critical of Baker Mayfield. But I can't, I can't blame him for all the issues. But when you went to Cleveland, and Al Michaels and Chris Collinsworth don't do Cleveland much, give me the environment, give me the moment, your takeaway now the game's over. Tell the audience what that, because Cleveland doesn't host Sunday night football. games. Only every 11 years. I mean, we were, the last time we were there was 2008.

It was a Pittsburgh Cleveland game. Hadn't been back since. I mean, over that period of time, how many Patriot games would be done, like 30? So the town was crazy because, first of all, the expectations, as you know in Cleveland were so high, so gigantically high. And then you started out, and of course, they laid an egg on opening day in the fourth quarter against Tennessee, came. back, beat the underman jets. So everybody's pretty stoked. But I will say this. I mean, their defense

did a fantastic job the other night. Chris and I, Collinsworth and I were talking about the fact we had never, ever done a game where the entire secondary was inactive. They were all hurt. Every one of them. You look at the flip card, the top four guys inactive that night. And they're calling up guys from the

practice squad and getting guys from the Raiders and who got an interception the other night. So they did, I think Steve Wilkes did a really good job, the defensive coordinator, keeping the Rams as close as he did. I liked Mayfield a lot. We had not met him. We didn't know what to expect.

What did you get? I liked them a lot. Really sharp, clear-eyed, focused. I think he's a guy, he's got a great future. But he just, he sees a lot of things. He's really, really bright and fun too. And he has a good sense of humor. You know, we laugh with these guys, and it was great. And we're able to get him going.

And same thing with Freddie Kitchens. You know, the great thing about doing the game like that is we know the Patriots, we know the Cowboys, we know the Packers, Inside Out, all the guys. We hadn't, we didn't know any of these people. So we knew Beckham because we'd had. Brian. Beckham for a number of years in New York. But it was fun to be with him.

And I'll tell you what, we had Miles Garrett in the meeting. Boy, he's a player. I know, but what's amazing to me, Colin, is this is a guy leading the league in penalties. These people are thinking, oh, you know, come on, putting his body on top of Simeon in New York. And, you know, Simeon's gone for the season. Comes in very reflective, very quiet, very intelligent. Yeah. Not at all we expected.

So it's great fun to do teams that we haven't done in a long time. Now, you do now, this week is fantastic. The Saints defense is real. Teddy Bridgewater is a very, he's 13 and 6 in his last 19 starts and his cowboys. So when you sit down, you know, I tend to think you sit down with quarterbacks and you're probably sitting down with Dak and Jerry's. sneaks into the room and just wants to talk to you. What is your relationship with Jerry?

Because you've done so many cowboy games. And, you know, I mean, Jerry's a businessman, and you've always had, you know, the cronkeys and the Jerry's that you know those guys and you've been around. You've both been doing this league forever. It's fun. This is the older Jerry. These are the Twilight Year Jerry. Has he changed from 15 years ago?

Not a lot. And he's one of my favorite people. And I have just the utmost admiration because here's a guy. who had a vision. And I met him 30 years ago. I met him in an owner's meeting in 1989. He just bought the team. He's taking all this heat in Dallas because he's fired Tom Langer.

Yes, I remember that. And he brought in Jimmy Johnson. And I went up and introduced myself at the Palm Desert or Palm Springs Marriott. And I said, hey, by the way, I said, you know, I've been going to Dallas for a few years now on Monday night. And all they do is write about it's time for Langer to go. It's time, you know, hey, send him off into the sunset. You did it, and now you're getting all this scene. So he, so, and then with Jerry, all the years we've known him,

he had to dinner at his house a couple of times. He had the model of the stadium that he wanted to build. And, oh, yeah, back in the 90s, and he wanted to build it in downtown Dallas, couldn't get that done. Obviously gets it done in Arlington. And to me, I mean, that stadium is now ten, years old. It was opened in 2009.

Colin, it's as beautiful as it was on opening day. I think it's the model. The stadium that's going to come up here in Los Angeles will probably be the all-timer that Stan Crocky is building. But the thing with Jerry only does things first class. There's no practice facility first class. The star is off the charts. Everything he does. The maintenance in AT&T Stadium is phenomenal. You know, you go to a stadium that's 10 or 15 years old and boy, all of a sudden, you know,

you get a dumpster smell in the bowels of the stadium. This thing is like pristine. It's beautiful. And I have tremendous respect for him. The one thing about Jerry, and you know, Jerry takes a lot of heat, obviously, because he's out there. He's bigger than life. But, boy, he's resolute. He, what he stands for.

He means it. He doesn't put on any airs. I mean, that's all Jerry Jones. And, you know, I'm a fan of a team. I want an owner like that. He lives and dies with wins. And, of course, he had tremendous success early on. He wins the three Super Bowls in four years.

Now it's been a long drought in regard to that. But, boy, I've never seen an owner live or die more than Jerry does with his team. You and Chris do a tremendous job. You've done a lot of Patriot games. Last year, there was, I wouldn't call it conflict, but Tom for the first time was with his documentary voicing some concerns. I wish it could be a little more fun. Belichick, I've heard behind the scenes, he's a riot.

But when you sit down with Belichick and Brady, are you surprised with Belichick's curtness and Tom's sort of optimism that it has worked 19 years? Well, not really only because, I mean, they're both really smart. They're both driven. They're different people, obviously. I would go back with Bill to the, when I say, started Monday night football. He's the defensive coordinator for the New York Giants.

So probably been in 100 meetings with him. Wow. Oh, yeah. Really? Well, you go back all the years. We did the Giants and we did. And then we even had some Browns games when he was there. And now we do.

How much will he give you? He gives you, it depends on the, on the day. But he gives us what we need. You know, the one thing about Bill is he'll be straightforward with you. You ask him the right questions. He'll give you the right answer. He also loves history. Yes.

We got him going. We did the opening game against Pittsburgh a couple of Sundays ago. We got him going on the replacement players in 1987. He was on Parcell's staff and how much Parcells hated that. And Bill said, Belichick said he's out there. He's going out to Long Island to try to find guys playing on the street or in parks and everything. And he's bringing him in. And we even told the story on the air.

So Bill's the defensive coordinator, and it's a situation where the opposing team, it's a Monday night game, actually, against San Francisco in the Meadowlands. And he's yelling out to the defensive hand. There's all tensed up and everything. And there's a third and 29, whatever it is. And he goes, hey, hey, loosen up. Loosen up. And the guy looks over at Bill.

Like, what do you mean? And Belichick goes, loosen up. And the guy starts doing jumping jacks before the snap. So you get Belichick going on stuff like that. It's a lot of fun. It's great. You know, here's the thing. People say, does he give you the game plan?

We don't need the game plan. Chris Collinsworth could coach the game. Yeah, his homework is a... He could coach the game. He knows. Right. We don't need a coach to tell us. You can figure it out.

And they're adjusting as well. And Chris adjusts as well. He sees everything. It's fantastic. I mean, once in a while a coach will tell us, you know, I'm going to throw the bomb on. on the first play of the game. Mike Shanahan was great.

Shanahan said, you know, the opening play is going to be... He would tell you. 60, you know, he's got Elway. So the opening play is going to be 60 yards down the field to, you know, Mark Jackson or Ricky and Teal or somebody. He would say, the opening play. Right. And after that, you can figure it out.

You've done, and as I told the audience before you came on, I heard you first as a young kid. You were a young broadcaster doing Niners games. I was in Westport, Grayland, Washington on the roof of my house with an AM radio. the Mariners weren't really much of a team yet. And they were on a Seattle station, and my town didn't get it. So I heard you on a San Francisco stick. I think it was probably KNBR at the time.

Was it who was it? During those years, it was KSFO. Okay. 570 on the dial San Francisco. So I heard a young Al Michaels. You're very similar. Your voice is more, it's deeper now, obviously. And there's obviously the miracle and ice, which we've discussed.

We have, that's probably the greatest call in American sports history. It is, let me play it one time. I like to play it out of respect for Al because I know where I was. by the way, I was in a bowling alley. The game was not live. No. I was in a bowling alley. My mom worked at a bowling alley. She ran the kitchen in the bowling alley. And somebody came out of the bar, said, we beat the Russians.

And I remember they had green carpet. It was AstroTurf. It was not a high-end bar. This was not, you know, the Weston. And so I remember going home and my mom let me stay up. So it's the greatest, they've made movies on about it, documentaries. By the way, the Russian documentary is unbelievable. Fabulous. Here's the call. I get goosebumps every time I watch it.

Here you go. It is to me the greatest call. And even to this day, the greatest moment. So take that out. Is there another big event that doesn't get the publicity that you felt that it had, it really will go down for you as the second moment that you really remember? You know, I've got like two A, B and C, Colin. I mean, the last four Super Bowls we've done on NBC have all gone.

down to the last 30 seconds. That's because the Patriot Turnoff. They've been in three of them. But the one before that was Arizona, Pittsburgh. Best. Love that game. Incredible Super Bowl. I love that game.

I mean, Arizona, what are they doing here? They fall behind, they come from behind. Larry Fitzgerald catches a pass. Arizona has the lead two and a half minutes to go. And then Rafflesberger leads them down the field. And San Antonio Holmes makes the phenomenal catch to win the game. And that game also featured James Harrison going, hundred yards at the end of the half. So you had two of the most iconic plays in history.

And there, of course, is the Holmes catch. And by the way, you had the Steeler brand. In fact, I think, Joe, you were on the show, I said this. This is the best Super Bowl that's never been talked about is a great Super Bowl. It was at the time, but now it's almost been eclipsed. We had the Malcolm Butler game, Seattle against New England. We had Philadelphia against New England. So we've done... You used to do boxing, by the way. In other words, two A, B or C would be, I did in 1985, Hagler-Herns. Oh, God, Lord. Which, Ring Magazine ranked the first round as the greatest boxing round of the 20th century.

You did it for ABC? No, for ABC, but live on a closed circuit with Al Bernstein. Oh, I know, Al. Only time I ever work with Al Bernstein. He's great. How's that for doing it for our one-off? So I did that fight, and that was breathtaking. I was sitting there at ringside, and these two guys, and it was a very hyped fight,

and normally they don't live up to expectations, and guys come out and they parry and all that stuff. And then the two guys just met in the center of the ring and just wailed away at each other. Yes. The two, maybe the two at that point, best pound-for-pound fighters in the country. I have no idea how either guy survived the first round. The second round was pretty good, too. And then in the third round, you know, Hagler was cut. So he's got to end this pretty because the doctor's looking at it between the second and third round.

It could have been a technical draw. I mean, he's bleeding. So he knew he had to knock hernes out. It was eight minutes of exhilaration. Sports Illustrated on the cover, I think the headline was eight minutes of fury. So it's amazing. The great thing about sport. Go by you, folks, you can YouTube this.

You can YouTube to fight. It's an incredible YouTube. It's, you know, Colin, the great thing about sports is the world. Series is like a 10 to 14 day feast. The Super Bowl is three and a half hours. The NBA finals are two weeks. Hagler-Herns was eight minutes. Eight minutes.

I mean, think about that. Think about that. I mean, I love doing, you know, though I've had a chance to do the World Series, the NBA Finals, and it's like a book. It's like a seven-chapter book. It could be as short as four. But Hagler-Herns, I remember walking away going, I had to catch my breath.

Just watching this or announcing the thing. Yeah, my first job out of college was Vegas. And I've told people this for years. For anybody in their 20s, the two things in sports you missed, and I've told you this is Al Michaels doing baseball and when boxing was as big as the NFL. I'm not saying it was this broadly popular.

But I can remember George Foreman Muhammad Ali fought. I am watching a kid show in Seattle, J.P. Patches. And they break in to tell you that, Ali's beat Foreman in Zaire. It was a children's show. So that's how big boxing was, Muhammad Ali. Al-Micha's 10th season together, Sunday night football. You know it's a pleasure.

Hey, fantastic. I love coming in. And by the way, it took me 12 minutes to get here. You're always welcome. The great Al Michaels. This Sunday, you've got Cowboys Saints. Cowboy Saints. New Orleans has good oysters.

That's fun. We'll sample those. Cajun or Creole? What do you prefer? Creole. Okay. I don't think either great for you.

We're back and forth. Yeah. Tell me. Michael's great seeing you. Colin, great to see you. All right. 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 SportsSlice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite.

Unhumor me with Robert Smigel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter.

Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, guys? This is Cliver 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? My quarterback on office blue of 42. Hey, Brett. My mama want you to wave at her. What?

Hey, Ms. Parker. Listen to the Cliverts show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Hey, it's Edwin Castro, also known as Castro 1021. And I'm Kunky, his best friend and business manager. And we've got a new show called The 1021 Podcast. I'm taking you behind the scenes on how I became one of Twitch's most popular streamers. We also love sports. And with the World Cup right around the corner, we'll be breaking down the biggest storylines

ahead of the big tournament here in the USA. Listen to the 1021 podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Thank you.