The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Best of The Herd: 10/05/2018

Episode Date: October 5, 2018

Colin compares the Patriots to Henry Ford because they simply ask a rotating group of players to do one job and do it well. He thinks people need to slow down on Baker Mayfield and remember that he has far more college experience than every other rookie QB. Plus, The MMQB's Albert Breer talks with Colin about the Patriots using September as an extended preseason and it seems to be working.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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on the IHeart Radio app by searching Heard. This is the best of the best of the internet. The Hurt with Colin Cowher on Fox Sports Radio. Ah, it's a Friday. This is The Hurt, wherever you may be and however you may be listening live in Los Angeles. Iheart Radio, Fox Sports Radio on FS1, one hour from now. Blazing five picks as good as I've ever had. I love them this week.

I'll tell you, things are setting up very nicely. A lot of underdogs this weekend are going to do very, very well. It's going to be an underdog weekend, although it was. not an underdog week to start last night. Joy Taylor is joining me here on a Friday. Good morning. Good morning. I am fired up.

It's a great weekend. Texas, Oklahoma tomorrow, NFL last night, great NFL Sunday. UFC fight coming up Saturday night with Connor McGregor, who's going to win decisively. Let me start with this. It used to be before Henry Ford created the assembly line. It took 12 and a half hours to build a car. One car, 12 and a half hours. And then in the early 1900s, there was this guy named Henry Ford, you know, Ford, Chevy, Dodge Ford, Henry Ford.

He created an assembly line. And the assembly line could make a car in two hours. Now, it was repetition. It was efficiency. Those aren't fun words. And you know what that assembly line was about? It was about taking a man on an assembly line and telling him, you just now, you just put the steering wheel in that spot. Just do your job.

You don't have to be an expert at everything. Just do your job. Well, it's repetitious. Well, it's efficient. 12 hours to two to build a car. Henry Ford changed American industry with the assembly line. And New England and Bill Belichick have changed American football forever with their own version of it. Just do your job.

Josh Gordon was the 71st person to catch. a touchdown pass from Tom Brady. Yeah. This is what Belichick does. Interchangeable parts. OBJ. Levian Bell. Zekeel Elliott.

Nah. Antonio Brown. We're not going to build around an individual part. Is it fun? Well, it's winning fun? If you don't run business like the Patriots, you're out of business. Three of the four guys who had touchdown passes last night

were not Patriots. last year. By the way, their red zone numbers, their offensive numbers don't change when Gronk gets hurt. Although Grunk is valuable, but they're not going to build around you. And Henry Ford took out the individualism. It's an assembly line. Just do your job. Just put the steering wheel in. Even Rob Gronkowski, who embodies fun, said this off-season, I'm only playing with Brady. And by the way, we see Belichick. Belichick's the mean old. He's head. Henry Ford, but don't kid yourself. Tom's run in the factory.

Tom won't throw to you if you don't memorize the playbook. Tom would not throw to Ocho. Tom will not throw to wide receivers if you're not buttoned up and you don't get into efficiency and repetition. Folks, egos blow up teams, politics blow up teams, individuality blows up teams, noise blows up teams, Saxonville, there's no nicknames here, guarantees Rex Ryan, Philadelphia Eagles.

There's no guarantees here. Only five television shows in prime time have lasted as long as the Patriots dynasty of 18 years. And two of those are law and order. You just don't last 18 years with big individuality in the NFL, with big egos, locker room full of politics, paying a ton for perimeter players. You know, it's funny last night. Listen to Buck and Ainkman. you know, Joe Buck and Troy Aikman only do Patriot games in the Super Bowl, so they occasionally do them.

But they're NFC guys. They don't do AFC games. So last night was a rare treat for Joe Buck and Troy Aigman. They were in Foxborough doing a regular season New England game. And it was interesting. It wasn't Jim Nance, who's seen a million of them. It wasn't Jim Nance. It was Buck and Aikman.

And they were just sort of marveling at the machine of the Patriots. I've played in seven straight AFC championship games. The sustained excellence, the culture here with the Patriots is just unheard of and almost impossible to even wrap your head around.

You can't even put it into words. As someone who played and I was able to win three and four years, the Patriots certainly did that and went on and have won two more, but what they've done, everything else tells in comparison. I don't care any other team you want to compare.

it with, maybe in all of sports, but certainly in the NFL. There's nothing that comes close. Greatest dynasty that I've ever seen. And Troy Aikman was in a dynasty, and Joe Buck, Yankees was broadcasting a dynasty. There's nothing like it. By the way, I hear this about the Patriots' assembly line, their machine. It's no fun. Remember Cassius Marsh, who played for the Patriots?

He hated it last year. There's no fun here. He's now a 49er. They're going to lose again this weekend. I mean, let's be honest about it. We all have that loser cousin in our family. Man, I don't want to be tied to a job. I want my freedom.

That's called summer. You're 17 years old. Then you have to get a job and be a grown-up. Assembly lines may not always be the most fun, but winning is fun. Repetition efficiency over ego, individuality. You want that? I love the NBA too. I love the NBA.

But that's what they do. That's not what football does. All right, I'm going to mention something. I am almost, how can I put this? I'm almost embarrassed. I considered not talking about this on the show today. I don't even, but I am a journalist, and I've got to report this story. Tom Brady last night became the third quarterback to reach 500 career touchdown passes.

Of course, that's just in the regular season. Of course, he's thrown for almost 575, but the NFL doesn't acknowledge that. You know, why would you acknowledge playoffs? Oh, I don't know, because it's the one thing that separates him from Peyton Manning. That's why he's the goat and Peyton's not. That's why he's the goat and Brett Farve's not. It's embarrassing that I even talk about this. He's won five Super Bowls.

For a musician, that's five Grammys. For an actor, that's five Oscars. Do you think if this was an entertainment show, I'd spend a lot of time on Meryl Streep winning a People's Choice Award? I mean, can you imagine the NFL does not count Tom's playoff touchdowns? If you and I got into an argument about Michael Jordan, and I liked LeBron, and you like Michael Jordan, and you said, hey, man, in your face, six for six,

and I went, oh, no, you can't count that. The next word out of your mouth would be, because the braw wins everything else. Your argument for the greatest basketball player is solely about six for six. In the NFL, though, Tom Brady, 500 career touchdown passes. He's got 571. By the way, he's got 71 playoff, touchdown passes. Peyton Manning's got 40.

Farve's got 44. I mean, I'm not a record guy. But isn't that the difference between Brady and Manning, the 71, not the 500? Isn't that I can remember almost all of his 71. I don't remember a lot of his 500. It is amazing, though. I mean, on his Wikipedia page, ask yourself this for Tom Brady. On his Wikipedia page, how far would you have to scroll down on top?

Tom Brady's Wikipedia page when it's all said and done in three or four years to get to the, oh yeah, he has the most career regular season touchdown passes. That would be right under he likes smoothies and he's got a dog named Puffy. Come on, man. I mean, it's still a great record to have. I am honestly ashamed of myself, but I felt as a journalist, I had to come. I had to come out and acknowledge that he set another amazing record. But the fact that, like, we're talking about 500, what makes him the goat isn't the 500.

It's the 71 that nobody counts, which is what makes Jordan isn't a Tuesday night in Denver beating the nuggets. It's the six for six. Humiliating moment for me as a broadcaster. Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd, weekdays and noon Eastern 9 a.m. on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHeart Radio app. This is going to be one of the great sports weekends of the year. I got, I got McGregor and a beep over the weekend tomorrow night. Great fight.

Totally on the McGregor thing. You got great Texas, Oklahoma this weekend. There's not that many great rivalries in sports. Texas, Oklahoma is one of the five to ten best rivalries in sports. I'll take the Sooners. You got great NFL last night coming up this weekend. Now, there's a lot of good games this weekend. There's a lot of good NFL games.

Obviously, the Baker-Mafield. stuff is highly wildly entertaining. He was a great college player. I didn't like his off-the-field nonsense. I came out. I put him on the couch. We went back and forth. And I'm going to be forever linked to him, and him not necessarily to me, but I'll be linked to him forever. So he plays this weekend against Baltimore. Baltimore is my dark horse Super Bowl pick. I love the Ravens this year. And they give rookie quarterbacks a lot of trouble. And you can't score on them in the second half. But I think this is going to be a very good weekend for all the rookie quarterbacks. And I'll get into that later, but I think it's a very good weekend for all the rookie quarterbacks.

But do you want some context of stuff? Or you just want to sit next to drunk guys at a bar? I mean, that's why you're listening to the show, right? For a little context on stuff. That's what I do for a living. If you go to a dentist, he fixes teeth. I dig deep on data and stuff for sports. So just think about this with Baker Mayfield.

Here's the big thing to remember. And it's not a small thing. In college, if you stay two extra years, you get a master's degree. otherwise you just get an associate's degree or a bachelor degree. Baker Mayfield of all these rookie quarterbacks is the only one with a master's. He used all five years of his eligibility. He's got 48 starts in college. Josh Rosen, Arizona Cardinals, 30.

Sam Darnold Jets, 27. Josh Allen, Wyoming, now with the Buffalo Bills, 27. Baker Mayfield is significantly more experienced than all these guys. He should be better at this moment, his second start in the NFL. He should be more refined in this moment. I don't think he has the ceiling of Donald. I don't know if he has the ceiling of Rosen. But he should be better today.

Sam Donald had two years left. He redshirted and then left early. Josh Rosen didn't redshirt. Josh Rosen could have redshirted for a year, learn the system, and then stayed another year. Donald and Rosen combined left four years on the table of college. Baker used all five years. He's two years older than Narnold.

When you're in your early 20s, two years is a lot. Go to your life, Joy. The difference between you at 19 and 21. Were you a different person? Very much so. Yeah. I mean, if you're 48 to 50, you're the same old cranky dude. Okay, but it's a big deal.

Baker is much more experienced. And by the way, Baker's also had an advantage on all these quarterbacks. Baker Mayfield and college had Cliff Kingsbury, Texas Tech. really good offensive guy. Then he went to Lincoln Riley, great offensive guy at Oklahoma. Now he's got Todd Haley and Hugh Jackson, respected offensive guys.

Josh Rosen had a defensive coach at UCLA, got fired, and now he has a defensive rookie coach at Arizona. Sam Darnold, defensive head coach. Josh Allen at Wyoming had a defensive-minded head coach in college, and now Buffalo's head coach, McDermott, is a defensive guy. So Baker-Mayfield is older. Check. Almost double the starts in college.

He's had a much better series of offensive coaches to this point. Check, check, check. He should be better. You spend two more years in college and get your master's. Donald and Rosen have bachelors. I mean, God, one guy played at Oklahoma. That's an associate degree. That doesn't even count as a bachelor's.

So, yes, he should be better now. And he is right now this second. I said it before. He looks really buttoned up right now. He does. He looks more experienced. Hell, Sam Donald only had seven college. starts out of the state of California.

It's going to take him a while. Plus, he's two years younger. I do think all these rookie quarterbacks, I mean, God, Ravens defensive coordinator, Don Martindale. I'm hearing him talk this weekend. I'm like, Don, bring it down a little, babe. I think Baker Mayfield's, this generation's of Brett Farr, John Elway, if you will.

I mean, this guy knows where he wants to go with the ball, and he's very accurate. He has a quick release, and he's really playing well. So, you know, obviously he's playing well. They scored 42 points, you know, last week against Oakland. He's done a nice job filling in. And it seems like they have more rhythm with him as a rookie every play that he's in there. Don't you think if you came out of law school and you had you were two years older than the other lawyers,

and you would work with better lawyers than the other lawyers your age, but you were older than them, and you had two previous years experience that you used up in a law firm as an intern that they didn't have. Don't you think you'd be at 23 or 24 out of law school? You would be at that point a little more refined, a little sharper, a little more on point, a little more knowledgeable. Well, of course you would. But the question's not today.

The question is in 13 years. That's why you draft all these guys in the first round. 13 years later, what do you get? I just think Baker's closer to his ceiling now than everybody else. Just do basic homework. Of course he is. Be sure to catch last. Additions of the Herd, weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific.

Now one of my favorite guys in the world covers the Patriots, covers everybody from Money Morning Quarterback. We have a big weekend planned. Albert Brewer via the Coward Global Satellite Network. Okay, so basically if the Miami Dolphins lose against the Bengals, which is possible, New England leads the division because they beat Miami head-to-head. What was your takeaway on the performance, the good, the bad, the ugly last night for the Patriots? I mean, the first takeaway calling is just how the Patriots approach the season. And if you've talked to enough people there, you can go back to the advent of the new CBA in 2011.

They've really gradually started to treat the first month of the season as an extended preseason because they run complex systems on both sides of the ball. They want to be difficult to deal with later in the year. And because they've got Brady and Belichick, they've got the luxury to do it this way. And so we've seen it the last couple of years. They got blown out by the chiefs at the. in the opener in 2017, a few weeks later, they get run over by the Carolina Panthers at home. And lo and behold, they work all of it out and they wind up in the Super Bowl at the end of the year.

So this has sort of become par for the course in New England under the 2011 CBA, where they've really used the first month of the regular season as a chance to work things out. Most teams can't do it because most teams don't know that, you know, A, they're going to be in the playoffs. and B, they're probably going to be playing at home when they get there. The Patriots usually have a pretty good feeling that they're going to win the AFCs, that they're going to be in contention for home field no matter what. And so they've been able the last few years to use September kind of as a time to work things out. By the way, Nate Solder, the Giants are one and three.

Malcolm Butler's off to a terrible start. Dionne Lewis didn't have any rushing yards against Philadelphia. And Sony Michelle looked good for the Patriots. you know, Bill Belichick once again, let very popular guys go. None are flourishing. And I watched Sony Michelle that running back last night, and I thought to myself, oh, he's a cheaper Dionne Lewis. You know, once again, we crushed Belichick for Malcolm Butler,

but none of the guys that left are flourishing. They all look overpaid, don't they? Well, let's tap the brakes, Bill. Dionne Lewis did have a key fourth down picked up in that Tennessee game in overtime, But you're right. I mean, this is one of the things that they've done really well traditionally. And this is such an underrated thing. We always look at who's bringing in the best free agents, who's doing the best in the draft. One of the most important parts of building an NFL team is being able to assess your own talent and being able to look objectively at the guys in your locker room. And Bill's always been really, really good at that. Nate Solder wasn't perfect the last few years.

If you want to rewind it back to the Atlanta Super Bowl, you'll see a very old Dwight Freeney having his way with Nate Soder. And so Nate was a great piece here for a long, long time, but they looked at him and said, we can't justify paying him $15 million per year, and they were able to find a suitable replacement in Trent Brown. They got ahead of losing Malcolm Butler by signing Stefan Gilmore a year early. And if you look at it early on last year, that looked like a bad decision that winds up working out in the end.

And then they get Sony Michelle, of course, as you mentioned, or replaced Dionne Lewis. that's one of the things they do really well. You can certainly criticize some of their free agent signings over the years. You can certainly criticize the way that they've drafted. But they've always been very, very good at looking inside their building and being able to assess those guys objectively. And remember, it's harder to do that when you've won championships with guys.

The emotions can tug on you. You can look at certain guys and say, this guy helped us win a championship. We want to reward him. One of the things that Bill does best, he can take a cold look at each individual guy and make an assessment of them. All right. I got one guy comparing Baker Mayfield to Far of an Elway, and I'm like, can we pump the brakes? He's 0-1 as a starter.

I do think he's two years older than the other rookie quarterbacks, double the starts, and he's had very good offensive coaching through college and now in the NFL. He is a more refined pocket thrower this second than the other guys. But, you know, what are your sources saying about Baker? Should we pump the brakes? What are your guys saying around the league on Baker? Well, one of the most interesting things, just talking to the Cleveland coaches this week is how a lot of the hiccups that we saw in that game against the Raiders, they really weren't on Baker. I know Hugh Jackson publicly pointed out the nine drops. A couple guys have mentioned that to me privately as well. The botched snap, that wasn't really on him.

And one of the things that they like best about him is the way that he's been able to fight through these things. When things go sideways, that's when some rookie quarterbacks can kind of fall off a little bit or struggle. certainly didn't see that with Baker. He kept fighting as that game went on. And so that shows, you know, quarterback's got great makeup for the game. And you mentioned the offensive coaching he's had. I'll tell you this, Colin, people in the NFL right now believe that Lincoln Riley is one of the top five offensive coaches on the planet anywhere. And the fact that he comes from that system, the fact that he was able to play for Lincoln Riley, just from the quarterback coaching standpoint, really put him in a position to develop over the last three years. And what you're seeing, and not all of it's translatable to the NFL, of course,

what he learned at Oklahoma, but what you're seeing, two very important qualities. One, he's very accurate with the ball. And two, his decision-making, for the most part, was off the charts at Oklahoma. If you have those two things coming into the league, that's a pretty good starting point. And Baker certainly has those things in space. Senior NFL reporter Monday morning quarterback, former Patriot Beat Rider for the Boston Globe. Albert Breer joining us live. Let's just say, let's look ahead.

Atlanta can score a lot of points, and they're at Pittsburgh, and Pittsburgh can't stop anybody. Let's say Atlanta goes in. The weather is still not a factor for the Dome Atlanta Falcons. They go on the road, they win. And, you know, listen, Mike Tomlin's won Super Bowls, but at Pittsburgh, with all these stars and all this offensive firepower and all this money, does Pittsburgh get to a point? And I think they have always been incredibly patient. you know, three coaches since 1969. But if they lose to Atlanta and Baltimore looks great again,

could there be a little panic that we've got to get Lavian Bell in now? What do you think that's the Pittsburgh situation, your gut feeling, because they are giving up a lot of points, and Atlanta can score them. Yeah, and certainly losing Ryan Shazier was something that they weren't prepared for, obviously. And I think it's something that's really hit them in a certain way the defensive side of the ball where they felt like they had a lot of young players that were developing

and coming together. And that sort of threw things haywire on that side. I don't think there's any panic in Pittsburgh. I don't think they're going to bend to Levy on Bell. It hasn't been their history to do that sort of thing. And I don't think that they're going to go any sort of extra mile to get him in there. I think they're going to try to continue to evolve offensively. Losing Todd Haley was a hit. But they've got the young kid, Washington from Oklahoma State, who they believe in, who they believe can develop. Ju-Ju-Jew-Smith Schuster, I think they believe he can be a number one receiver down the line. James Connor, look, he's been up and down the first few weeks of the season, but they believe in him as well.

There's a group of young players there. It's not going to be one person that's going to do it, but there's a group of young players there that they believe can make up for the loss of Levy on Bell, at least in the short term. And look, they've been through this before. There was a period right after they went to that Super Bowl and lost to the Packers where they leveled off a little bit. and they had a couple eight and eight years there. They were able to bounce back from that. It's interesting because they're right at the end of what feels, right like what feels like the end of the window there

with the Bell, Levion, Ben, group. It'll be interesting to see what they do going forward, but they've drafted well enough with the offensive skill positions that they believe that after adjusting to Randy Fickner as the offensive coordinator, after Ben adjusts the weapons around him, that they can get through this. I think the bigger issues for the Steelers,

as you said are on the defensive side, of the ball, and particularly that inside linebacker position that traditionally has been so important in that defense. Albert Brewer, great talking to you. Have a great weekend. Thanks, bud. All right, thanks, Colin. Enjoy the games.

What's up, everybody? This John Middlecock from the three-and-out podcast on Colin Cowers Podcast Network. If you like Colin's show, you like mine. I talk a ton of football. Coming up on the show Friday, I talk about Brady, I talk about luck, talk about Thursday night football, also run through every game on the schedule Sunday. and do a little mail bag to top it all off. Again, you can find me wherever you listen to podcast,

three and out with John Middlkoff. I know the Patriots. Lane Johnson said it's no fun. And there was that special teams guy that came from Seattle now with the Niners. Cassius Marsh, was that is it? Yeah, yeah, it's no fun. I feel bad. We feel bad about the Patriots.

We wish, we're going to do a PSA here. We just wish their players could have more fun. We've all seen the news. Several brave NFL players coming forward to share the story of cruel treatment suffered by members of the New England Patriots. We want to help spread awareness to prevent other players from suffering the same cruelty. You should know that while other teams allow their players to go home in December, Patriots players are forced to keep playing through January, usually into February. And then, once the season ends, they have metal rings.

strapped on their fingers. Shackles, they're told to wear for the rest of their lives. And some players are treated like animals. In fact, they call one of them the goat. Frankly, it's disgusting. If you or someone you know plays for the Patriots, let them know there's a better life out there. This message paid for by the Cleveland Browns.

One more herd? The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week within the IHeart Radio app. Search Herd to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like. It's NBA preseason. I don't watch NBA preseason. But I said before the NFL season started, I said, LeBron and the Lakers, this is going to be worth watching.

He is going to a team with a bunch of young guys and a couple of castoffs, and LeBron makes teams instantly better. So, you know, how much would he play? Well, first of all, he's playing real minutes. And last night, if you're Lonzo Ball, LeBron's quote after the game. Oh, here's his quote about Brandon Ingram had 31 points. Brandon now is from Duke.

He's the forward, banged up a little last year. He was the number two NBA pick. He was a number one high school player in the country. So he's got all sorts of talent. This was LeBron last night talking about him. I think he was a great all game, not just in the second half. You know, his pace, his ability to, you know, play the point and play the wing. You know, he's a very special talent.

and we're definitely happy to have him on our side. I know what I see in him, and, you know, he's looking for this opportunity to make the next jump in his third year. So a lot of upside in that kid, and I'm happy to try to give him as much as I can. Okay. One thing that's becoming very clear, I know it's preseason, but LeBron's looking for Brandon Ingram,

because every time down the floor, LeBron wants to do two things. have the ball and score himself or have the ball pass and be rewarded with somebody else scoring. LeBron like shooters. He liked Kevin Love. He liked Chris Bosch.

He and Dee Wade had to figure their chemistry out. He and Bosch figured stuff out pretty quick because Bosch can shoot. LeBron like shooters. The best pure shooter on this team could very well be Brandon Ingram. Lonzo needs the ball to flourish. And LeBron's not going to get him the ball.

LeBron's going to dominate the ball. Lonzo's not going to reward LeBron if LeBron passes. So why would LeBron pass to him? It's not that LeBron's going to freeze Lonzo out. But this is why I said LeBron and Ben Simmons was a weird fit. Because Ben Simmons needs the ball because he can't shoot. Lonzo needs the ball. He's not a shooter.

Well, LeBron is ball dominant. And LeBron goes into every possession thinking, either I'm going to the basket and scoring, or I want to get rewarded for it. You're not going to waste possessions. He'll never pass to Lonzo. I'm not sure how much they can be on the floor together. And if they are, you watch LeBron, he is looking for Brandon Ingram.

And, I mean, I really think LeBron's been in this league 15 years. He's not changing his game for Lonzo. He is not changing his game for him. I think Lonzo is going to get a lot of minutes in the second unit and is going to elevate the second unit. but man, when you watch LeBron and Brandon Ingram, you can tell right now, that's going to be his guy. That is going to be his guy. By the way, Rondo's not a big shooter.

Lance isn't a pure shooter. Javelle McGee's not a pure shooter. Okay, so who's LeBron going to look for? The pure shooter, Brandon Ingram. It's not good for Lonzo. This is going to be a fascinating watch. Luke Walton's got his hands full because the two guards on this team, Rondo and Lonzo, are not shooters. and LeBron's not the easiest guy to coach.

Yeah, but he loves Rondo. He's spoken very highly in Rondo. I think, and I think LeBron likes high IQ veteran players who play defense. That is Rondo. He did advocate for J.R. Smith when he was in Cleveland. But J.R. could shoot. LeBron likes shooters. He'll even take weirdos.

J.R. Smith is goofy, but he can shoot. It broke his heart when Kyrie Irving left. He can shoot. He defended Kevin. I mean, Rondo and Monso were both out last night. I mean, I'm not disagreeing with you that he likes Ingram. I'm just saying I think once the season starts rolling, this is just going to happen until really Christmas.

Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHeart radio app. It's just so funny about the Philadelphia Eagles. Remember Lane Johnson? Remember Lane Johnson who'd been suspended twice? He's like, New England? No fun. Let me lecture. you about winning. I'd rather win one Super Bowl than a bunch of them because we're going to have fun.

Well, be careful what you wish for, Lainey, because I watched you last week lose to Tennessee. One Super Bowl is all you're going to get. You know, you hear all these guys complaining all the time. I don't understand what's not fun about winning. Well, we have a lot of fun in Philadelphia. Was it fun losing to Tennessee last weekend? I was just wondering, because I watched you. You weren't very good. Remember his quote, I'd much rather have fun and win a Super Bowl than be miserable to win five. I wouldn't. Ever. Success is fun. Winning is fun. Why do you have to be miserable? Who says New England's miser? Does Tom Brady look miserable?

Who looks miserable? Well, everybody isn't Tom Brady. But just because you have a structure and you're not, like, I don't even understand what the difference is. I'm sure Philadelphia has structure, too. It's just this idea about New England that's very, like, rigid. I was sitting there. Cassius Marsh is another one. Played for the Patriots for an hour and they let him go. with the lousy nineers. They don't have fun.

There's nothing fun about it. There's nothing happy. I didn't enjoy my time there. I didn't like football. I just didn't like it. It's not fun. You like the one and three-niners there? How do you like produce?

How are those apples? Sometimes standards are a lot for people. By the way, I had this discussion. And expectations. Everybody can't operate under expectations. I had this. I was sitting having a glass last night as a little, having a cocktail with my wife and her sister.

And we were sitting around a little, we had a little fire in the back after the Colts Patriots game. And I told her, I said, discipline is freedom. I said, it's like kids. It said, think about your life in terms of you work and then you retire. How do you get freedom when you retire, that you can do what you want when you want? Be disciplined with your money. Be disciplined with your body.

So you can move at 65 and not be old and a mess and you're going to the doctor. And that you have money, you can golf when you want, and you can surf when you want, and you can travel when you want. Discipline is freedom. Be disciplined with what you eat, with what you work out, with what you put away financially. And then the last half of your life, it's all freedom. You can golf when you want, when you can travel when you want,

you can buy a motorcycle if you want. Can't do that if you're not on discipline. Whenever I hear people like, I just want to have fun in my life. Okay, then that's not discipline because discipline's hard, getting up, working hard, being committed is hard. But do you really want to have all the fun in your 20s? you're a mess from 58 years old on. There's also just, there's also a balance.

So you feel like Gronk doesn't have fun? Of course. Everybody thinks Gronk is just like this unhinged maniac. Meanwhile, he doesn't even spend any of his money from his contracts. None of it. He doesn't even touch it. If the Patriots would have not, if Brady doesn't get hit in the Super Bowl, none of this would have come out.

Literally one second Brady is driving for the winning touchdown, which he did against, you know, we've seen him do it against Seattle. We've seen him do it against Atlanta. We've seen him do it five times. Every Super Bowl in New England's been in has been close. And we've seen Brady and like three of them drive for the winning score. He was driving for the winning score. Philadelphia couldn't stop him, just like Seattle couldn't stop him, like Atlanta couldn't stop him.

He was driving for the winning score and somebody hit the ball out of his hands. If that makes one other role in a Patriot lands on it, none of this, none of this stuff's being talked about because Philadelphia loses and New England wins and we don't care about Malcolm Butler. Like, where is winning not fun? in life. It's like called, you're an athlete. It's called competition. I'd rather win one Super Bowl than five. Can you imagine Michael Jordan saying that?

Can you imagine Kobe Bryant saying that? Can you imagine Jack Nicholas saying that? Expectations and standards are not for everyone. That's pressure. Yeah, I just, oh, by the way, Bill Belichick should go to prison. What? Well, let me explain. So there is a story in the NFL. It's the craziest story in the NFL this year. It's really sad, actually. There's a kid named Michael Kendrick's. He played for the Eagles last year.

And he got busted for insider trading. And he made about a million dollars off. And he got some information from a stockbroker guy or an insider guy. And he made a million bucks. He could face 25 years in prison. I don't think he'll get that. But it's really scary. He's a young man. By all accounts, good kid, made a mistake. I mean, I hope he doesn't get along. I mean, he made a mistake. He admitted it. He admitted to wrongdoing.

He owned up to it. And I'm crossing my fingers. The kid doesn't spend 10 years and, you know, the whole, because I think he's a good kid that made a big mistake. We all make mistakes. But I was thinking, you know who should be arrested for insider trading? Is Bill Belichick? Because he always has the information before the media, other players, and guys like me do.

By the way, he let go of Malcolm. Butler wouldn't play him. Let him go. Outrage. That guy can play. Malcolm Butler yesterday quoted saying, I'm unhappy with the start for my season. He was against the Eagles last week. Carson Wentz for seven for seven when targeting Malcolm Butler, including a touchdown. He said, quote, this quarter of the season has not been what I'm looking for. He was targeted last week seven times. Carson Wentz went seven for seven with the touchdown. Bill Belichick, like a good stockbroker, sold the stock before the crash. How's Danny Amandola doing?

Oh, there was a lot. Everybody loved Danny Amandola. Loved him. Stockbroker Bill had inside information. So far, Danny Amandola's four catches, 20 yards, four catches, three, two catches, no touchdowns. 121 yards in a month. And for a team, by the way, that let go at Jarvis Landers,

Landers, that needs Danny Amandola. They don't have Gronk. They don't have Tom Brady. They need Amandola to be big. There's your big. By the way, Nate Solder, Giants, one and three. Mess offensively. Dionne Lewis, now, he's a good receiver.

He had catches last week, but he didn't do anything. And, by the way, Sony Michelle, did you watch him last night? That young running back from Georgia for New England? Look pretty good to me. When I looked at New England last night, I'm like, I don't know. I got two running backs here I like. I got a rookie. I got James White.

I got a tight end I like. I got Gronk. I got now I got my slot receiver and a backup to a slot. Chris Hogan. And now I got Josh Gordon. And I'm not saying, by the way, the Josh Gordon thing, I'm not sure it's going to work. But, you know, insider information, Belichick knows. It's like Albert Breer told us an hour ago.

The thing Belichick is greatest at is taking a cold, hard look at his players, even after winning Super Bowls and saying, we've got to get rid of him. And it's hard, especially when you win, because everybody's human, heavy emotion, you fall in love with players. I've had NBA executives tell me that. They're like, don't let coaches decide contracts. NBA coaches fall in love with players who reward them and win games. They fall in love with them. Belichick is the coach.

He has to make hard to say, I mean, listen, they got to a Super Bowl. They won the AFC, and he got rid of a sold or left tackle. Dionne Lewis, Danny Amandola, Malcolm Ball. He's a good players, right? They were all, and he knew. Inside information, dude always knows. Listen, I know I don't talk. Sam, my producer gets mad at me sometimes, Sam.

I know I don't talk a lot of UFC, but I've always felt with sports that I got to go with my gut. Like when I'm driving to work in the morning, I got to go with my gut. I have never in my life been this excited for a UFC fight. In my life, I've never been this excited. And by the way, out of college, I got a job in Vegas. I was the luckiest kid in the world. I get a job at a Vegas.

It just so happened. Sugar Ray Leonard's in his prime. Thomas Hitman Hurons is in his prime. And Mike Tyson's in his prime. I mean, how lucky was I? I was the luckiest kid in the world. So I didn't know boxing at all. And then for six years in Vegas, I went to all the biggest fights in the country.

There was no UFC. And I've always said, boxing, all I want is two fights a year. Give me one in the spring. Give me one in the fall. I don't want a big summer fight. Give me one in the spring. Give me one in March. Give me one in October.

And I'm good. And when boxing was in its prime, it gave you two great fights a year. That's all it gave you. This is the best fight in the history of UFC. This is it. This is the best fight in the history of the UFC. I am so excited. And you're picking Connor decisively.

I'm picking Conner. decisively. I think he's the better athlete. He's the twitchier athlete. He's longer. I think the Mayweather fight gave him robust, even though he lost, gave him incredible confidence. He's been in this spot before. Now, if Habib can win, if he pulls him down, if he pulls him down to the floor, to the mat, he's in trouble because that's Habib's strength. He's a, he wants you on the ground, and Connor doesn't want any part of that. But as a stand-up guy, two guys standing up, Conner's significantly better. Habib's a very average stand-up fighter.

But this is, I'm just going with my gut here. I'm just going with my gut. Like this feels I cannot. I'm selling their pay-per-view right. I'm making Connor McGregor some money. I can't wait to watch this. Maybe he'll bring you some of his whiskey. Whiskey. Too bad I don't drink it.

You don't drink whiskey? I don't drink whiskey. Last night I had one just little small vodka. It's social lubricant. Put me in a good mood and then I crashed early. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. And nobody's telling you exactly what happened.

That's where sports slice comes in. I'm Timbo. And every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the biggest moments in sports and giving you the real story behind the headline. And we're going straight to the source, the athletes themselves. Their locker room stories, their reactions in the moment, and the stuff nobody gets to hear.

Listen to Sports Slice on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman

help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter.

Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, what's good, y'all? You're listening to Learn the Hard Way with your favorite therapist and host Kear Games. This space is about black men's experiences, having honest conversations that it's really not safe to have anywhere,

but you're having them with a licensed professional who knows what he's doing. How many men can't? carry a suit of armor. It signals to the world that you're not to be played with. And just because you have the capability that does not mean that you need to, listen to learn the hard way on the AHA radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. I'm Michelle McPhee, and I've been unraveling the strangest criminal alliance I've ever reported on, a Mormon polygamist and an Armenian businessman. Multimillion dollar house, Ferraris and Lamborghinis, private jets, a billion dollars.

fraud. But how long can this alliance last? Tell me what you know. Is somebody coming after me? Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed human.