The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Best of The Herd: 11/08/2019

Episode Date: November 8, 2019

Colin talks about the Raiders and Jon Gruden creating an identity which so many teams struggle to do. He warns the Browns about firing Freddie Kitchens because nobody who has options will want the Browns job. He thinks the Raiders officially have won the Khalil Mack trade and the media should apologize. Plus, former Notre Dame and NFL QB Brady Quinn talks about Bama vs LSU and what the Chase Young suspension could mean for Ohio State. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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

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

Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert 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 IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, guys? This is Clivert Taylor the Fourth. And on my podcast, The Cliverts Show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff. Like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker, this linebacker walks up to me. He goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her.

What? Time out. Quarterback on office blue with 42. Hey, Wreck, my mama want you to weigh better. What? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano. It's our favorite time of the year on our podcast point game, the playoffs. We're digging into the biggest surprises of the season. And I'm looking back on some of my greatest playoff moments. If we didn't talk ever again, I was harmed. you just understood.

That's how personal it got. Wow. Then after that game seven, Mark keep coming to her. He's like, you know, I love you, dog. You know, it's all love. This was just playoffs. This was just basketball.

So listen to Point Game on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks for listening to the Best of Heard Podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday. From 12 to 3 Eastern, 9 to noon Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and FS1. Find your local station for the herd at Fox SportsRadio.com Or stream us live every day on the iHeartRadio app by search heard.

This is the best of the herd with Colin Cowher on Fox Sports Radio. Oh, here we go. Packed, absolutely jammed on a Friday. This live in Los Angeles is the herd. Wherever you may be and however you may be listening, IHeart Radio,

Fox Sports Radio and FS-1, one week, one hour from now. The Blazing Five, which I believe is my strongest blazing five of of the year. I'm not joking. Been cold, red hot starts today. One hour from today. I had so much fun. Joy Taylor's joining me. I get to watch the game last night with my friend Eric Mangini, former NFL head coach. If you ever get the chance in life to watch an NFL game with a head coach and we're breaking down plays and he's showing me film and he's not, it's just the best. It is just the best.

It's an NFL steak dinner. NFL steak dinner. So have an NFL meat sandwich. Yeah, had a little, a little beer, a little steak with horseradish. some broccoli. Way to go. It was so much fun. And saluting veterans today, they'll be in our studio all day. So let me start with this. You know, it didn't look like John Gruden head coach and Mike Mayock, general manager, were going to work. You've all seen that couple before. They're bricking at each other, and you're like, oh, that's not, that is not going to last very long. You remember in the off season and the preseason, John Gruden liked Antonio Brown because Gruden likes weapons, and Mayok was holding impromptu press conference.

saying he did not like Antonio Brown. It was cats and dogs and coaches and GMs and wide receivers living together, and it didn't feel very good. And HBO's hard knocks was there, and it was just a loud, noisy mess. But it's all working. They're working. First of all, the offense is Gruden. It's rugged.

Those three running backs, they all look the same. They look like they should be in weightlifting competitions. They're small, they're tough, they run, they pound, they're rugged. That is a John Gruden offense. Derek Carr is efficient over 70%. They've got a big play wide receiver. They stole a tight end. And Mike Mayok's done an amazing job.

Their second pick in the first round got that from the Bears. Josh Jacobs, rookie of the year. Hunter Refro, Renfro, fifth round has been a steel. Foster Moreau, the tight end. Fourth round looks fantastic. Everybody, the free agents, Richie Incognito. Lord, who knew he had this? this much left in the tank.

Trent Brown worked Bosa last night. It's working, man. This thing is working. And it didn't look like it was working, but between John Gruden's knowledge of the offense and Mike Mayock's personnel eye. And here's the thing. They're both legendarily footballaholics,

football obsessed guys. And yes, the knock on Gruden was, well, he'd be out of the sport for a decade. I said that. And the knock on Mayock was, as a broad, He's too technical. And as a GM, he's never done this before. But both watched the game closely with their obsessive nature of loving football from 30,000 feet.

Then they landed on the tarmac, walked into the Raiders facility, and it works. It works. They've had a brutal schedule. First or second toughest in the NFL. They were on the road for six weeks. And they're back home. And they're beating good teams. They're beating Detroit.

beating Matt Stafford, beating Philip Rivers, beating the talented roster of the Chargers, it's working. And the other thing is, you know, Vegas is very lucky. Vegas got that hockey team in the first year they got to the Stanley Cup finals. Vegas is getting a fun, lively, loud, explosive football team. And here's the thing I know about John Gruden. So I work with him at the other place. And I thought John, more than any non-broadcaster that I'd ever

work with understood building brands. He had, you know, Chuckie in the look and the book and the snarl. Then he created that thing called quarterback camp and he had a little facility and he played to the camera. He really knew how, as a football coach, to build a brand as a broadcaster, well, look what he has done to the Raiders so far. He has taken a brand. He has brought the swagger back. The Raiders have always been a little bit of a rebel and Gruden's always been the outspers. spoken rebel. He's built a brand. You saw him after the game last night with the fans. He knew what that looked like on TV. John Gruden knew what that looked like to you. He knew what it looked like to Vegas. He knew what it looked like to the NFL. This is a guy that builds brands and

builds offenses. And he's just done a terrific job. And I was wrong. I thought it was too noisy. I thought he'd been out too long. I can't wait to watch the Raiders play. There's so much fun. The last two weeks I haven't missed a snap. There's so much fun and Gruden talked about the win, a come from behind win after the game. That just says a lot about our team. We've got a lot of resilient guys. They're going to keep competing.

You may beat us, but we're going to be a hard out to get. We're going to battle. And that's all I can say about this team. We are very happy with our foundation, our process. For the record, there now, battling for a playoff spot, a wild card spot, and once again, Gruden's plan, multiple first round picks. It's worked. I didn't think it would. It's worked.

It's like nothing I've ever seen. The noisiest NFL team is, by the way, Cleveland's noisy. Raiders noisy. One of them's working. And let me shift to the Cleveland Browns, and perhaps the reason they're not working is their coach, Freddie Kitchens. Some suggest he's learning on the job. For the record, I've taken jobs before, where I'm learning on the job. I've said before, when you take a job, you shouldn't be comfortable day one.

You should have to bail water for a couple of months. You should challenge yourself. Don't be content. Freddie Kitchens was given the job, and perhaps he's. over his head a little. But I would say this. He knows football and Baker Mayfield liked him. But the stories are now coming out. Quote, there's an increasing belief the Browns will fire Freddie Kitchens before the end of the season. They're not playing in the Super Bowl anyway. So Baker Mayfield will before the end of the season be on his fourth head coach. But the bigger

issue, Cleveland, do you get it? Could you lack self-revelling? Could you lack self-reveld? awareness anymore. Okay, there's going to be about eight NFL head coaching openings. Maybe six. The average is seven. I'll give them to you. Washington, Atlanta, Cleveland, and then we think maybe jets, maybe giants, maybe Dallas, maybe Jacksonville.

You do know if the Dallas job is open, it's number one. That's not arguable. Easily number two is Atlanta. Matt Ryan, Thomas Dimitroff, good solid owner. Number three, it's either Jacksonville who's got Nick Foles and a good roster or the Giants who've got the Mara family, good owners, a history, and a young quarterback. The only job that's remotely as unsightly as poisonous as toxic as yours is Washington. And it would probably be a coin flip, and my guess is Dan Snyder would pay more.

That's my guess. You don't get it, do you? what is the value of running Freddie Kitchens off? You have nothing to play for now. What you want to do now is send a message to the top scouts, the top executives, the top coordinators, the top position coaches that were not going to humiliate you. The reason you ended up with Freddie Kitchens

is because you humiliated Hugh Jackson. Remember, talented people have options. Leonardo DiCaprio gets the first script. He turns it down or accepts it. The talented people in any industry have options. They're going to choose the Atlanta job, the giant job, the Jacksonville job. I doubt it's open, but the cowboy job. All you're doing now is going to humiliate Freddie Kitchens, like you humiliated Hugh Jackson.

And you're going to end up with a second or third tier coach. It should be noted. Greg Williams is not my cup of tea, but you had him in house, and he was winning at the end of the year, but he wasn't the right fit because he's got an ego and he would push back on John Dorsey, the GM, and John Dorsey wanted a coach he could control, and as I predicted, he's lost control. But Antonio Cromarty came on this show not long ago and said,

you had the right guy. Baker's regressed since the defensive guy, Greg Williams left. Honestly, I just think it's the discipline on the team. I think when you look at things and the way that he's playing the first six games of this year, or first five six games this year, until when he had Greg Williams as the interim head coach. I think Greg was, hey, this is how we're going to play. This is what we're going to do.

And this is what you need to do. It's different when you have Freddie Kitchen. And also he's the offensive coordinator. I don't think there's a lot of discipline there. I just think there was more discipline. and Greg and Coach Williams expected more out of his players. So that's probably too late. But if you can't win the Super Bowl, this is what's happened to Washington.

It's about humiliating left tackle Trent Williams, being petty with Jay Gruden, humiliating Hugh Jackson and Freddie Kitchens. What are you doing? This will be in the seventh year of ownership, the sixth head coach or interim head coach for Jimmy Haslam. Talk about a franchise that lacks complete and utter self-awareness. I said this on Twitter last weekend. I'm starting to feel sympathy for Baker Mayfield, believe it or not.

I said when Baker came into this league, he's not only got to be good, he's got to be good enough to overcome Cleveland's dysfunction. In the history of my radio TV career, in the Colin Wright, Colin Wrong, that is my rightiest right. I should be the mayor of Wrighty-Riteville. We're a year and a half through Baker Mayfield. They're going to be on their fourth coach, potentially. Absurd.

Utterly absurd. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. 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 or 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, Keer Game. is we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, Learn the Hardway.

Open your free iHeartRadio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. 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. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real.

From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context, and ask the questions everybody wants answered. Sports Slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to Sports Slice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slic Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. What's up, guys? This is Clever Taylor the 4th. And on my podcast, The Cliverts Show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff. Like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game.

This linebacker, this guy, this linebacker walks up to me. He goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What? Time out. Quarterback on office blue 42. A rep, my mama want you to wave at her. What? Hey, Ms. Parker.

Listen to the Clippers show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano, and our podcast Point Game is about defining the odds. Like LeBron heading into the playoffs without Luca and Austin Reed. And finding ways to win no matter what. He's the smartest player to ever play the game. His IQ is at a level that we've never seen before.

And he knows without Luca and Austin. Austin Reeves, I got to manipulate the game. We get a player's perspective on the challenges of the playoffs. I think Joker's going to be exhausted this series because when they don't have Rudy in the lineup, he has to really guard guys like Nas Reid. He has to guard Julius Randall. And then he has to give us everything he gives us

on the night-to-night basis on offense. And when IT's friends stop by, like Quentin Richardson, we dive into some playoff history too. Steve Nash would get that thing. That man, hell get the flying. He run up the court, licking his fingers, got the ball like after you go through a training camp with that Isaiah you figure it out real quick get your ass up and down the court and you're going to get the ball so listen to point game on the

iHeart radio app apple podcast or wherever you get your podcasts i like philip rivers a lot i had him on the show i think he's been a real pro 14 years in the NFL as a starter i think he's been in the NFL 16 years but that two minute drill last night it was like a tipping point it's an epiphany We've been saying this for years. He's kind of unathletic. The NFL is changing. It's time to pivot. Great weapons.

Raiders defense is young and below average. Experience quarterback. Eight plays, no yards. Too many bad picks last night. Too many errant throws. The NFL's least athletic quarterback. The Chargers are moving to Los Angeles. Philip Rivers, we're told, does not want to live and move his family to Los Angeles.

I think it's time to get another quarterback. I know, I know, I've said this about Cam, I've said it about Matt Stafford. I like all of them. I'm not denying the talent. But there are times to break up and move on in relationships and the world is changing. I don't know if Lamar Jackson will end up being Colin Kaepernick, good for a while but doesn't build. I don't know if that's the future of quarterback. I don't.

But I know what doesn't work now. As offensive lines have deteriorated because of the collective bargaining, having an unathletic old quarterback who's had an ACL doesn't work unless you have a superstar offensive line and they got too many players to be spending a fortune up front. And again, I can like somebody. I like Matt Stafford. Cam Newton drives me nuts, but I would never deny his talent. Philip Rivers is good.

But that game last night, that was a mess at the end. And they got weapons. They got two running backs. This is a guy that's been in this league forever. They looked helter, skelter, and disorganized against a below-average rebuilding young defense. Even Phillip Rivers after admitted that was bad. You give a team 10 points at their place, and then you have had the ball there with a chance to win, and you have eight snaps and go nowhere.

It's going to be tough to win. Raiders missed the PAT. Weather was fine, bad defense, three timeouts, not a yard, eight snaps. I mean, what are the standards? After a while, Matt Stafford, Cam, and Philip Rivers, I think I've seen enough. Cam's too big beat up and it's a precision league. Matt doesn't make enough big plays in big games and a really good division. And I'm watching last night and some throw, he's lucky those were the only picks he threw.

I don't know. Listen, the Chargers can't sell tickets in L.A. They need juice. They need juice. And by the way, they're four and six. They're going to get a top 12, top 15 draft pick. They've got two good corners, two good backs. They got real players here.

They got two good pass rushers. Can you move somebody? But I think you have to seriously consider, and there are tipping points. There are moments as a staff, as a GM, you look up and go, the league's changing. We got the oldest, slowest guy. By the way, this has a little Eli Manning to it, where you've got the oldest, slowest, unathletic guy. Offensive lines not great. O lines are regressing in the NFL.

This is just not good enough in a division with Patrick Mahomes, Derek Carr, and an NFC with all sorts of young good quarterbacks, the smartest defensive coach maybe ever in Bill Belichick. It just felt like to me this isn't good enough. 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.

You know, the media of which I am marginally a part of, just crushed Bill Polion. How could you miss on Lamar Jackson? Listen, we all miss on these quarterbacks. Who knows? I mean, Dak Prescott, everybody in the league passed on him three rounds. Tom Brady, everybody passed on him for five rounds. Quarterbacks hard to get.

Russell Wilson, everybody passed on him, including Seattle, for two rounds. How about this sports media, though, gets crushed, myself included, for how we treated John Gruden on Khalil Mack? I got to tell you something. They got two first round picks. They've already used one, Josh Jacobs. He's going to be a rookie of the year. And the second one, they have the Bears pick.

Well, Chicago's not very good. That's going to end up being a top 10 pick. This morning I looked up who, on the mock drafts, who would be available at about the 9th or 10th pick? Oklahoma receiver, C.D. Lamb. Have you seen him play? Oh, my Lord. Gruden's good with wide receivers.

This thing's going to work out okay. he's going to end up getting two great players. You can't doubt what Gruden and Mike Mayak have done with their offensive pieces. They've been great with their offensive. Richie Incognito, Josh Jacobs, Hunter Renfro, the tight end from LSU. They have done a tremendous job. Now quarterback, by the way, Chicago now isn't good, doesn't have a quarterback, and doesn't have a first round pick to get a quarterback.

So we all came in with the Anvil, myself included. But never forget this. Remember the sports analytics conference, MIT? Remember when they gave Gruden the award for best analytic trade for getting four picks in the deal, including two first picks. Those people at Sloan are pretty smart because it looks like a good deal today. So Chicago doesn't have a quarterback, doesn't have a first round pick. Kaleo Mack, for the record, has got five and a half sacks. He's terrific.

No dispute. But he's not like JJ Watt, not really translating to wins because past rushers don't. Bureau was behind. John Gruden and Derek Carr are working. They check a lot of boxes right now, and they didn't check these boxes, all of them two years ago, but offensive line, check, running back, check, check, check, wide receiver check, tight end check, and Derek Carr's playing, as John has said, the best football of his life.

I didn't love the Kalee Mack move, and part of it was I didn't trust John Gruden as a drafter. He wasn't that great in Tampa. He really wasn't. He was not a great personnel guy in Tampa. But when I watched the first Mike Mayock, John Gruden, the first big draft, I got to be honest with you. Free agent draft, they nailed it.

They were good. They know what they're doing. So shame on us. We like to dish it out. We should be able to take it too. 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. All right.

So last night in the NBA, it's a lot of controversy. say, I should love controversy, load management, which, by the way, as Joy and I talked about earlier, Kauai Leonard sits out, then last night he comes in plays, rest, plays great, dominates the fourth. It wasn't a big deal until they gave it the name load management. Anytime you give something a name, stretching, yoga, now it's a phenomenon. At one point, we had the pet rock. For about two years, we were into rocks, because we called it the pet rock.

Pilates, it's pliability. We all want to be pliable. Pilates. Okay, now it's a culture. So we got a name for it now and everybody's freaking out. And Charles Barkley does not like this sitting out stuff at all. There's minor injuries and there's major injuries. Cyan injuries take 24 to 48 hours. You know that.

It ain't the flu, fool? Chuck, you know that. No, stop it, check. Minor injuries take 24 to 48 hours. Listen, listen, just say you don't want the kid playing back to back. Let's just be honest with the fans and with ESP. I don't know what's wrong with them. Listen, let's be fair.

So you don't think there's an injury? I do not. All right. I would prefer guys don't sit out. Okay, I don't think it's good optics. I think a lot of NBA fans, it's expensive. I don't like you. I mean, I was a kid.

I drove the son. I didn't drive. I was driven to Sonics games. I wanted downtown Freddie Brown, Dennis Johnson, and Jack Sigma, and Gus Williams to play. If I'd have shown up and down, I mean, I love downtown. I mean, Stephen A. Smith once said that was his favorite player growing up. Downtown Freddie Brown. mine. So if I drove to the game and didn't see him, I'd be bummed out. I like my stars playing.

If I drove to a Seahog game and Russell Wilson, they'll play. That's why I'm going to the game. We all, you know, young people now like stars more than teams. Research shows that young sports fans, they don't care about the Thunder. They liked Westbrook. They don't care about the Warriors. They like Steph. You go to games for players in the NBA. You really do. You don't go for the shield. That's the NFL. You don't go in the summer to a baseball game because your grandfather did. You go to the NBA because you want to see stars. And I don't think the optics are good. Consumer is being rewarded.

But let me just say this. Charles Barkley, in his prime, I'll just, the number of games he played, 67, 75, 76, 65, 68, and 71. And then he got a little old and it went down to 53. I like Chuck. But you know what it was called? Tired, sore, hammy, knee hurt. The minute we called it load management, people freaked out.

I mean, that's part of it. Barclay was a guy. He took a lot of games off, but nobody called it anything. It was just called a partied hard last night in New York. I want Philadelphia game off. Here's the other thing, is that once you become, the NBA is a star-driven league, once you become arguably the best player in this league, boy, the microscope heats up. People for years were like, you know, NBA, stars are too political. No, LeBron was into politics. Damien Liller didn't want to talk politics. Yonis didn't want to talk politics.

Chris Paul wouldn't talk politics. Blake Griffin wanted to talk politics. Westbrook wasn't talking politics. James Hardin wasn't talking politics. No, LeBron talked politics. And because he was the best player in the microscopes on him, everybody's like, oh, everybody's talked politics. No, no, no, just LeBron.

By the way, loan management. Okay, so now Kauai's arguably the best player. The microscopes on him because he's threatening LeBron, just like LeBron threatened MJ. and everybody's like, way, load management. Russell Westbrook took a game off this week. Load management. Nobody cared. Why? Because we don't consider them the best player.

So this is a star-driven leak. And when you are the best player, for a brief time, it was Dr. Jay, and then it was Kareem, and then it was magic, and then it was magic and bird and Kobe. And we knew about their private lives. And now you add Twitter and social media and load management. And this is just what happens. Guys have been taking time off forever.

But they weren't the best. player in the game. And once in this star-driven league, you become the best player. I mean, guys have been going to strip clubs forever. Why do I know James Hardin does? There's probably a guy that's a backup on Houston that goes more than James Hardin. But in a star-driven league, we are obsessed about the guy who threatens the guy. And Kauai now is threatening LeBron James. I do think Kauai right now for this second, I don't know how long it will last, is the best player in the game. If I need a bucket, I'd take Kauai over LeBron. If I need a stop, I'd take Kauai over LeBron. But I think we have done this that we look at an individual and if he leads an industry

and this individual has a habit or a theme or a strong belief, we think the industry does. LeBron talk politics. 99% of these players don't want to talk politics. They don't want the blowback. By the way, Kauai's doing load management. 90% of these players aren't doing load management. Everybody in this league has missed seven games. That's kind of in the NBA a season starts and Kobe's like, you know, when Kobe gets to a point, Kobe's like, okay, can I take the road game off before the All-Star break so I get an extra day? Can I take the last road game of the year in Phoenix off?

Can I take, this is what players do. They circle it. They give it to a team president. I mean, this is such a star-driven league. I'm told James Hardin tells Mike Dan Tony. Dan Tony goes to Hardin. Can we practice tomorrow here? Yeah.

When's a team playing taken off? They'd clear it with James. That doesn't mean James is a bad guy, but that's the league. How's your star feeling? And this was all negotiated by Kauai Leonard. It was all negotiated. Okay, the Clippers, the Clippers aren't complaining about this.

They sat down in Malibu. Doc Rivers, Jerry West. I'm not sure if Balmer was there. I think it was the basketball guys with Kauai. And Kauai said, I'll come if you get Paul George, keep Lou Williams on the bench, and I can, you know, take 20 games off. And they were like, check, check, check.

We're all good. We're all good. I mean, do I think it's, you know, great optically? I think it's terrible. But we're all good. Nobody's not going to hurt the NBA long-term at all. Trust me, if that sport became available on the open market, networks would be lining up.

This one included to buy it. We would. Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. 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. Trip 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, is we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, Learn the Hardway. Open your free iHeartRadio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. 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. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real.

From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context and ask the questions everybody wants answered. Sports slice brings you closer to the action. with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to Sports Slice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. What's up, guys? This is Clivert Taylor the 4th. And on my podcast, The Cliverts show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff.

Like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker walks up to me, he goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What? Time out. Quarterback on office blue with 42. Hey, Brett. My mama want you to weigh better.

What? Where's she at? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Cliverts show on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Hey, I'm Diana Maria Riva, actress, mother, lover, and a Gen X woman walking through life one hot flash and hormonal crying jag at a time. You ladies know what I mean.

I'll bet you a perimenapausal chin here. So let's talk about it. Join me on my new podcast. How Hard Can It Be with the Adamani Areva, where I call on my Gen X squads from Ohio to Hollywood as we navigate Midlife's most fantastic BS. All of a sudden, I'd had hanginess happening on my own. I was like, what the hell is that? I was married when I had her, so I didn't even consider how empty that nest was going to be. Mood swings, night sweats, fupas, sex drive.

Wait, what sex? Dating at 45. How high can it? getting naked at 50 with the new guy. That one's kind of hard, you know? Well, that's lighting. They say we can't polish a turd, but we're sure going to try. So let's get blunt with laughs, tears, or tears of laughter,

and dive into it, unfiltered and unbothered and ask, How Hard Can It Be? I cannot believe I'm about to say this out loud in public. Listen to How Hard Can It Be with Diana Maria Riva as part of my Cultura Podcast Network available on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Let's bring on Brady, I love having Brady on. get him very often because he's busy, he's on the road, he's doing stuff, he's doing prep.

Eight years in the NFL, Browns, Broncos, Chiefs, Jets, Rams, college football guy for our network. Big Noon kickoff. That's been a home run show. Congratulations. By the way, Patrick Mahomes is going to start Sunday against the Titans, folks. We'll get to that in a second. Let's start with Alabama LSU. This is interesting.

In the NFL, there's kind of a sense. You're hurt play. Right. In college, you're hurt going to be a number one pick. I don't know. there is a little thing here. Do you think Nick's a little uncomfortable with it? Bama's a little uncomfortable knowing he's not right.

I think they're probably a little uncomfortable with thinking to themselves, can they beat this team, right? And if they can't or if he wasn't to play, could they still absorb a loss and get in the playoffs? I think that would be the concern here. Could they? I don't know with their schedule. I mean, look, Auburn's a good team.

They're going to play them in the Iron Bowl at the end of the year. But I think if they lost to LSU, they could potentially put themselves in a position to be on the outside looking in, especially considering you still have a Georgia team that's in the mix, right? And even if they were, obviously, if they were to lose different story, but I don't know. I'm not sure if they could based on the strength of schedule and some of the other teams out there that are in the mix, especially in Ohio State, Penn State. I think we've seen now they look at the Big Ten as one of the best conferences, if not the best,

with six teams being in the top 25 and obviously Ohio State is number one. Yeah, I mean, Oklahoma may not lose again. But that might not help Oklahoma. I mean, you've got the PAC 12 position ahead of them right now. Yeah, Oregon beat Washington and Seattle. They beat USC. Who do they play? Do they have...

Well, that's the thing with both Oregon and Utah, even though they're ahead of Oklahoma. If you look at the rest of their games, they're not going to play another ranked opponent until they would play each other. Assuming that the Pac-12 doesn't mess things up with... I mean, really, the state of Arizona. They both got to play, I believe, Arizona. And then one of them's got to play Arizona State. Do you like...

If two of plays, do you like... I like Bama because to me, Nick Saban's coached in, I think it's 18 games in the series. He's 114. He's off a buy, which so is Ed, but off of buy I think Nick's hard to beat. I like BAMF2 a plays. Well, look at their schedule before the buy. You know, they've kind of been able to focus on this one maybe a little bit more too than LSU has because of that schedule that they've got to play through.

That's part of it. I think the other thing is everyone's had such a hard time matching up with Alabama. They've actually faced the second fewest snaps of man-to-man. Any form of man to man. Really? Yeah, because no one can play them in man-to-man coverage. Well, the receiving core is absurd. You're going to see probably three first-round picks out of that group.

All right, I would imagine Judy is going to be one of the first, if not. He's probably going to be the best wide receiver prospect in this class will probably be a top 10 pick. Waddle's going to be somewhere behind. So we'll rugs. Rugs will actually probably go ahead of Waddle, Smith eventually as well. So this is as loaded of a group as you've ever seen. And it's one of the reasons why you're looking at an Alabama offense. that's really led by the past, not so much they're running anymore.

I mean, this is a different offense. This is a different challenge for a lot of defenses now. So as Alabama faces zone defenses, because that's almost the way you have to play them. Does that, as a quarterback, does that help the running game? If I know I'm going in facing zones. I don't know that it necessarily helps the running game. I would say if you run a lot of RPO's, which Alabama does, it does then, right? Yeah, but Tua can't run a ton of those now with his leg, right?

Well, but here's the misconception with an RPO. an RPO, you know, the broader term, right, run pass option. So everyone up front's blocking the run, and you've got to run called. But then it doesn't necessarily mean the quarterback has to be a part of that rushing attack if he decides to keep it. It just means you have to have other passing routes involved too to give you the pass option as part of that. So when you're watching a lot of the tape, if they're playing against a lot of zone coverage, if those backers, those safeties in the front seven, if those guys get nosy and come up, you're going to have big time voids, whereas versus man-to-man coverage a little bit more tricky, right?

that route might get impacted because of the press man-to-man, or there's going to be a guy trailing him where you're not going to have as big of a window to throw, and that's the difference between man-in-zone. But again, if you want to play man-to-man coverage, they can just run a gold old-fashioned go route, beat you downfield all day long because they're that talented on the outside. Who's the best team, though, you've seen this year?

Ohio State. I mean, I wouldn't even second-guess that. I mean, people were second-guessing what their strength of schedule has been compared to LSU. And it's fair to a certain degree, but I also think Ohio State's been the more complete team all year long. I mean, when looking at all three phases the way they've played, I would say that team, and I saw them in training camp. And I remember walking away from that

training camp call and saying that team looks different. And it's not just the fact that they've got big-time caliber guys, like a Chase Young, for example, and I'm sure we're going to talk about him in a minute. Justin Fields is a remark. But they've got depth. You know, they can rotate in this front seven, and the front in particular, because they have so much depth and they've done such a good job recruiting. Obviously, Coach Meyer for many years. And I'm sure Ryan Day will continue that on. Chase Young did not borrow money from an agent. It was a family member. He paid it back, full disclosure, total honesty. It feels like it maxed a one-game suspension. I think the kid had some financial hardships, didn't go through an agent,

paid it all back. This could have probably never been uncovered. He brought it up. What is your takeaway on it? Yeah, they self-reported it, right? And so obviously they realized there could have been something wrong, so they self-reported it. And I think they're trying to handle it in hopes that the NCAA won't take a much harsher approach. However, I mean, look, being a Notre Dame alum and watching what they did a few years ago because of what a former student athletic trainer helping out some players and then basically vacating 21 victories, which was extremely harsh, considering there was no institutional instability.

There wasn't any sort of issue like that. And they had self-reported it, yet they still got punished that manner. If Chase Young didn't play in two weeks against Penn State, does it change the outlook to you? Oh, I think it does. I mean, there's no doubt. because it's going to change how Penn State looks at playing Ohio State. If Chase Young's on the field, every single time you line up, you're, okay, where's he at?

Because if it's a pass play, we either have to slide the line, we have to put a tight end to make it a longer path for him to get through, or maybe he chips some on the way out. We're using a running back to chip on the way out. Even if it's the run game, I mean, he's a complete player, and that's why he's such a bulletproof prospect. And to be honest with you, there's probably a lot of people at the NFL level they're like, it's not the worst thing in the world if he doesn't play the rest of the year, right?

Also, same thing. There's probably some people who feel that way, especially people who are picking at the top or project to be picking the top of next year's draft. One more college question. I don't think Clemson's overrated. I think they remind me the Florida Gator team that won a national championship in basketball years ago

with four NBA guys. And the following year, they were bored out of their mind. Then the tournament happened. And you're like, oh, they shifted gears. And they were losing regular season games. I think Clemson will pop once the games matter. I don't know that it really matters unless they slip up, right? I mean, that's what this is about.

We know how good Clemson can be, but each year's different. Every year is a new year, and I think this group just got off to a much slower start. I don't think their offensive line was playing as well as people had noticed. And their defensive line had a ton of people to replace. Sure, but they've actually done a pretty good job replacing them, and their defense has played well

this year. That hasn't been the issue with this team. In my opinion, it has been more of the offensive line play. It was the lack of a consistent rushing attack. It was obviously some poor throws decisions by Trevor Lawrence, which, again, he's young. I mean, we're going to see it from time to time. Sophomore. True sophomore. I was in that position. It's a tough position to be in, and you're still going to have your inconsistencies. But they'll be just fine. But I think if they lose, now they're in jeopardy. And again, with where the college football playoff committee put them at five instead of four, it goes to show you, they're giving teams credit for the non-conference schedule that they've played and what they've done so far. By the way, the all-time Notre Dame passing yard and passing touchdown leader, Brady Quinney's great on our show. Big noon kickoff on Fox two weeks from now. It's Ohio State, Penn State, which visually is one. of the last few. I remember,

was it last year, Gus and Joel, or the year before, it was the best football game, I think college or probably watched on TV. Stadium was absurd. Right. It always is. That was one of the things. It was fun taking, you know, Matt and Reggie out there. And Matt had been before, but it was Reggie's first time. Because when we went there for Ohio State

Wisconsin, you know, it was raining outside and we got there early and, you know, we'd been to some other places. I'm not going to say where specifically, but people were already out tailgating at 7 a.m. I was like, look, man, it's Ohio. Football's a little different here. It's a little more part of the culture here. So when you get up there, you're going to see there's going to be 100,000 deep sit in the stands, even with ponchos on, rain or shine, they show up.

Let's talk about Ohio. You were drafted by the Browns. You know, the Freddie Kitchen situation. I'm not a huge fan of humiliating coaches or players. Midseason firings is almost an impeachment for a coach. Could you make an argument it maybe is okay? Well, I'd say if behind closed doors, there's some things going on that just aren't acceptable in a work environment or within any team. it doesn't appear that way from the outside, but again, I'm not in that locker room. So I don't know what sort of discussions are happening or what's going on at practice or in some of those meetings.

So if they did firing him during the season, that's usually why you end up seeing that. It's just chaos behind the scenes. It's chaos behind the scenes. They're having a hard time controlling the personalities. And I don't think that's the case with this team. I mean, we haven't heard that much from O'Dell. That was the biggest concern.

Actually, Odell, despite the watch and visor, verbally, he's just played. Yeah, he's just gone out and played. And look, he's struggled, but so has everyone else. this offense has really struggled. Baker struggled. And it all comes down to the same thing we talk about, the battle in the trenches. And that's what it comes down to. Their offensive line has not played well. They haven't helped him out.

He hasn't been as good either. I'm not going to let him off the hook for that. But that's the challenge, too, is he's a young player in this league trying to grow. And people have got a lot of tape and a lot of things they saw from him last year where now they're trying to exploit some of those weaknesses. But I think the only other reason why you would want to make a change is if you're Jimmy Haslam and Dee Haslam, and even though they've got a terrible track record of, you know, getting rid of coaches and just kind of turning over very fast, if you feel like you've made a mistake, I think in this league now, one of the things that separates Bill Belichick from everyone else is, is when he makes it, when he decides he's made a mistake, he moves on. Like he doesn't hang on to a player, he doesn't keep them that much longer, he just moves on, he moves on, he moves in a different direction.

And there's something to be said for that. So if Jimmy and Dee has him feel like he's not the right guy for the job, they made a mistake, I'm not. I think it would make some sense. The problem is because of their track record, now you look at the next candidate and you say, who wants that job then? Exactly. Right? Like who goes in there?

I think there's any sort of stability. Otherwise, paying them a ton of money. And so they've got some financial security. That's really all you could offer them at that point. And maybe a talented roster to work with. Patrick Mahomes just announced we'll start against Tennessee. He's not 100%. Go back to your career.

How often were you 100%. Well, I had a foot injury. had a Liz Frank injury, which is something that kind of Cam Newton's dealing with. Yeah, it's awful. And I finally, I didn't have surgery on it. I wish I would have. And I've been saying this in talking in regards to Cam Newton, whereas if he's in doubt dealing with a Liz Frank, get the surgery.

Like there's no reason to put it off. What is the Liz Frank? The Liz Frank is a ligament across your midfoot. And basically it helps keeping your toes or what's called your metatarsals from separating. So imagine your first toe and your second so, and that ligament that helps them, you know, hold together being torn and then it's starting to, yeah, it's painful. creates instability.

You know, for me, I struggle with my motion, right? Because as you transfer and you step to that left foot, you'd kind of fall away a little bit because you wanted, you didn't want to put too much pressure on it because it's going to hurt. Subconsciously, you deal with that kind of stuff. But for Patrick Mahomes, you know, I love the fact that he's going out there and playing. I think they obviously need him if they want to win a Super Bowl. But it's a big decision to make.

And look, if he's not going to be at any greater risk and everything that I've read and seen, it doesn't sound like he's at any greater risk now coming back to play as far as re-injuring it and having the same injury, then move forward and go do it, right? And that's one of the reasons why I think everyone on that team loves him, the organization loves them. And it's one of the reasons why he's going to have paid a lot of money when it's all said and done. Yeah. Finally, Mitch Trubisky this week, I'm turning the TVs off in the facility. It's very negative.

And I defended him. I said, listen, man, I don't read my mentions on Twitter most of the time because I have opinions. However they land, they land. I don't want to get into squabbles and screw myself esteem up and be second-guessing my opinions. I mean, when you were struggling in the NFL and you're a young quarterback and you really need, not yes, man, you need support. Can you validate him just saying, I don't want to hear this debate show noise all day? Yeah, you can validate that, but he's in a different era now. I mean, you really can't escape it with social media and everything else that's going on.

I mean, social media was just coming about, and it was kind of so new and foreign that I really didn't know, how to use it. I really didn't pay much attention to it. I remember being in college and having the Facebook and thinking to myself, why would anyone want to advertise what they're doing socially, right? It was called the Facebook, right? When we first got in Notre Dame was the Facebook. And I was like, this is just an awful idea. So I was there, I'm still to this day. I'm not a part of it. But, you know, the only thing I'd say about turning the TVs off now is if you're turning them off now, you probably should have turned them off last year too. Yeah. Right? Because you got to block them out good and bad because you can also listen to your praises too much and maybe that happened a little bit

this offseason with this team and now they haven't been really able to figure out how to win this year or I should say at times too how to not lose games because there's two different ways of playing that and I think there's a lot of teams in the NFL who figure out how to win but then they also don't figure out how to lose games at times too and that's why again the new england patriots always are the standard because they know how to win and they know not how to lose too it's great having you your terrific broadcaster brady quinn big noon kickoff tomorrow fox 11 a.m. Reggie, Matt, Brady, and Rob Stone. And you're just a terrific broadcaster.

I just love listening to you and watching you. We didn't even get the chance to talk to about the story when I was ineligible for like four hours one year. You were, what you do? Well, I'll make the long story short. It's really not that long. I went to visit a professor. He said I could park behind him because there's no spaces so I could block him in.

And I remember going in, we probably met for about 30 minutes. When I came back outside, my car was up on a tow truck. Someone had called to tow the car. And so, you know, I'm a college kid. I was working at that time. I think I had a job one day a week at, it was the Office of News and Information, and I didn't have enough cash on me.

Because, you know, once those wheels were off the ground, it's gone. And don't get me wrong. Like, my car was a POS. So he could have taken it, and he wanted to be able to get much for it anyway. But, you know, I was trying to get him to get it down. And the press said, look, I'll grab some cash, I'll pay for it.

You'll be good. That way you can get your car and you can kind of move on to class. Well, it got reported into compliance at Notre Dame, and they self-reported. And then I get a call in class. It was back when you had the razor phone. right, little flip phones. And so I keep getting a call from Charlie Weiss.

I'm going, man, what does he call me for? He knows him in class right now. So I walk out, flip the phone up. He's like, hey, you're ineligible. You know, what happened this morning? He's asking for the explanation. And I didn't realize I did anything wrong, especially because the professor told me to park there.

So I ended up having to go to the Notre Dame Federal Credit Union. I got a check. I had to make the check out for, I think, double whatever the amount was. It was like 80 bucks or something to get it down. So I had to get, I had to pay like 160 bucks. I had to donate it to a 501c3 to a charity.

It just so happened to me that the donation went to Hannah and Friends, which Charlie Weiss is charity. So I ended up being able to practice later on that day and be eligible, but it was the only time my life where I was ever kind of show. Four hours of ineligibility. Yeah, sitting in class trying to pay attention, but thinking to myself, like, am I going to be ineligible for the game? How's this going to work?

And again, it wasn't anything that I would, you know, consciously did. It was trying to get around anything. I just, I didn't have cash on me at the time. I was parking where a professor told me to park. But that's how the NCAA works, right? That's how all these things operate. Isn't it good to know, though, that he drove a POS in college just like the rest of us? No, I had to get in through the passengers.

It was a two-door Ford Explorer Sport. I had to get in through the passenger side. And for whatever reason, I had to put the car always so I could put it in drive because it wouldn't go in reverse sometimes. So if I was with my girlfriend at the time and we got in and I had to back out, it went back out. I was like, all right, well, I guess we're walking. They were showing a video of a player, I think, two weeks.

weeks ago at Notre Dame, his car didn't go into version. Isn't it great to know that Notre Dame's quarterback? He drove what everybody else drove. Jason's car in college did not have a back seat. My car at times when I drive, because at the time I was dating, girl, she was in Miami, Ohio. So I drive was like a four-hour drive to go see her. It would sound like when I was in the highway, like it was a plane taking off. And I'm looking at everything.

I'm like, the RPMs aren't going up. I have no idea what the sound is. Is the car going to explode at some point? But it was, it actually made it. I never had any issues. GMC Pacer, it had so much mold in it that a friend of mine got in it and he was majoring in something with medicine and he was like, dude, that's mold. You could die. It's toxic. He goes, that's toxic mold in your car. And I'm like, I was just going to grow pot back there or something.

My car, my back, my roof in the back was all green. It was like there's a, this is college folks. Sounds like a better environment for mushrooms, by the way, as opposed to the pot. I'm from Washington State. I've heard about that. Last night, a blown call changed. a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where SportsSlice comes in. I'm Timbo and every episode, we're cutting through the

noise, breaking down the biggest moments in sports and giving you the real story behind the headline. And we're going straight to the source, the athletes themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions in the moment, and the stuff nobody gets to hear. Listen to SportsSlic on the IHeart Radio app, Apple

podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo's Slice of Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and Friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel. Help an a cappella band with their between songs banter.

Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the IHeart Radio app. Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, guys? This is Clever Taylor the 4th. And on my podcast, The Cliverts Show,

I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff. Like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker walks up to me. He goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What? Time out. Quarterback on office blue 42.

A rep, my mama wants you to wave at her. What? Where's he at? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Clifford Show on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano.

It's our favorite time of the year on our podcast point game, the playoffs. We're digging into the biggest surprises of the season. And I'm looking back on some of my greatest playoff moments. If we didn't talk ever again, I was hungry. You just understood. That's how personal it got. Wow. Then after that game seven, Mark keep coming to, he's like, you know, I love you, dog.

You know, it's all love. This was just playoffs. This was just basketball. So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.