The Herd with Colin Cowherd - BEST OF THE HERD – 49ers Have BIG Problems, Colin Was Wrong About Dodgers, Seahawks Are Underrated

Episode Date: August 24, 2026

Colin Cowherd discusses breaking NFL news: The Browns announce Deshaun Watson as their week 1 starting QB. Colin believes Cleveland is making a huge mistake and explains why this has been one of the worst moves in league history. Colin has serious concerns about the 49ers entering the season and why it appears their championship contention window is coming to an end. Plus, 3-time Pro Bowl QB Matt Hasselbeck joins the show telling Colin why he believes the Seahawks might be the most underrated team in the NFL right now.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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These are the Survivor Files. Every week, I'm with survivors who live through the unthinkable, abducted, stalked, controlled, and nearly silenced. These are stories about what it takes to make it out alive. Listen to The Survivor Files with Elizabeth Smart on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If your bookshelf and your For You page are equally important to your personality, welcome home. Pro Society is a weekly podcast that's part book club, part group chat for anyone who thinks Pride and Prejudice and Love Island to serve the same level of discourse. Each week, we're connecting the dots between books, the internet, and pop culture with your favorite writers, book talk creators, and plenty of overthought opinions. Yeah, I'm obsessed.

I'm obsessed. I'm obsessed. I listen to Pro Society on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Hoda Kotby, host of the podcast, Joy 101 with Hoda Kotby. You know, I'm always searching for inspiration and useful tools to maximize joy. Like when my friend Henry Winkler offered advice to aspiring actors and really anybody hoping to stand out. You're not hired just to fill time and space. You're hired to fill the space with you. Listen to Joy 101 with Hoda Kotby on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks for listening to The Best of the Heard Podcast.

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One hour from now where Colin was right, where Colin was wrong. Well, you know, March 17 of 2022, Deshaun Watson and his agent told the Browns, you're out of the running. A day later, they signed up into a $230 million contract guarantee. It has been a disaster since. So he was awful Saturday, a 14-passer rating, absolutely outplayed by Shadour Sanders, and yet the Browns are naming Deshaun as the starting quarterback for week one. The owner has to have some say here.

And I don't know why you're naming it three weeks before opening day. All I know is for Cleveland Sports Talk Radio. Christmas came in August. Cleveland Radio is going to be. lit today because this is going to infuriate fans. I never thought he had much of a fastball. He is throwing now in the low 80s. So the media is wrong all the time, myself included.

But when 100% of the media predict something is going to be an unmitigated disaster very quickly, the media is usually right. And that's what the media said, myself included. This made no sense. Absolutely. No great decisions are made. out of panic. And they signed them to a $230 million deal,

unprecedented, all of it guaranteed with 27 civil lawsuits pending because of awful behavior. So this is why I always say, I have no sympathy for losing NFL franchises. None. If I told you,

let me give you four of the worst moves in the history of pro sports ever. The Raiders hiring a GM and a coach off television. Dan Snyder, who's one of the worst owners in pro sports history, hiring Steve Spurrier, who acknowledges he really just, he's a college ball coach who loves to golf. It was a disaster three weeks in. The Angels, shocker, let Otani Walk got nothing for it, nothing for Babe Ruth plus of our generation,

and this move. What are they all having common? The Angels, the Browns, the Raiders, Dan Snyders, Washington football team. So Shadur Sanders should be starting. He had a five, six minute interview on the sideline this weekend. That was fascinating. The kid is interesting.

Much more interesting than his dad's college football program is these days. And Shadur played pretty well. And, you know, I've said this before about Shadur. He went to Colorado. They had the worst run game in the college and the worst pass blocking O line. they have since Deion took over. And he was really, really productive. He didn't have a great coaching staff, had no run game, bad old line, and he was productive.

He was really productive. I would give the kid the start. And again, don't confuse. All GMs make mistakes. All GMs, even the Hall of Fame guys, hire the wrong coach. All GMs miss on first round draft picks. I'm not ripping guys for that. But $230 million on March 17th, you're out of the running.

On March 18th, you guarantee fully. of it. Cleveland deserves all of this. To me, it's the worst decision. I think it tops the worst acquisition and trade. They also gave up three first round picks for it. I mean, just absolutely a disaster. I mean, people can say, oh, Denver and Russell Wilson. I thought Denver, Russell Wilson was good the previous year. He fell off a cliff and didn't work with Sean Peyton, but I can live with that dead cap money. I can live with that. Denver rebounded quickly. 86 million still going forward on the cap, dead cap, money. 86 million still the next couple of years.

You can spread it out a little bit. So he was bad Saturday and he got booed. And instead of owning it and having any self-awareness, here was Deshaun Watson after the game. It has nothing to do about the performance. It's a little bit personal than that. So I think that's a disrespectful thing.

Last time I played on this field, I took my Achilles. And that same fan base, they cheered when I got hurt. So does that have to do it? What does that have to do with anything about performance? They booed you Saturday because you were awful.

You had a 14 pass-a-rating. That's why they were booing you because Shadour was better and you were bad and whatever fastball you had is done. It's interesting. there's a lot going on today, a breaking story with the owner of the Niners we'll get to after the break. You know, sometimes when like a sports fan base and the media is so beaten down, they don't even know what good is when it's staring them in the face.

And I was reading, you know, the Bears lost to the Bengals in the preseason. It's the preseason. And they got down in the red zone. And then they had a penalty and they had to settle for a field goal. And Caleb wasn't very effective. And the writer is saying, oh, boy, here we go again, just like last year. And then I went and looked up the offense last year for the Bears. It was ninth in the league.

Better than Kyle Shanahan, Brock Purdy, Christian McCaffrey, and the Niners. Better than Harbaugh and Herbert in Los Angeles. better than Bo Nix and Sean Payton and Denver, and better than a stacked roster in Philadelphia. It was a higher rated offense than all of those. It was also great on third down. And the quarterback doesn't throw interceptions and is always durable. So this idea that this offense for the Bears is that it's maddening and chaotic,

it was second in the league in big plays. They had seven come from behind wins in the fourth quarter. folks that's a good offense the entire league now you could say to yourself well we fell behind let me tell you what the bears offense the issues with the bears offense left tackle but they got great news in this camp because their left tackle is healthier they thought he was going to be out until thanksgiving and he's back they have weaknesses they don't have a ton of depth in the secondary safety or corner they better stay healthy they do not necessarily have a great edge rush but i do think, I think they stole a six-round pick out of Georgia Tech.

A little bit of a shocker. He's way better than everybody thought. He's looked very good. But the last time the Bears had an offense this highly rated, Ronald Reagan was president. And the moonwalk was attempted by Michael Jackson for the first time. Again, edge rush, real questions. I thought they should have drafted one. They didn't.

Cornerback safety depth. cross your fingers that the rookie out of Oregon at safety and Jalen Johnson stay healthy because they don't have a ton of depth. But this idea that the offense, yes, it's not as efficient as 20-year veteran Drew Brees and not as accurate, but Brees didn't have this mobility and this arm. I went and looked at the analytics this morning for the Bears offense from week five on last year. It was a top five NFL offense with the second most explosive plays in the league. 90% of the league would take this offense. And that was year one with Ben Johnson and his crew.

Now, did Caleb miss an open receiver this weekend? Is Ben Johnson hard on Caleb Williams appropriately? Yes. Here was Ben after the loss. Ben gets testy very quickly talking about a Caleb pass that sailed. What did you see how the shot Caleb took to call? Boston down. It looked like it was just a little high.

Mm-hmm. I probably would go somewhere else with the ball on that one. That's who Ben Johnson is. By the way, Sean Payton can be like that. Shanahan gets grumpy when the offense isn't clicking. I would like to remind you, though, Bears fans, before you say the offense is maddening, it was a top three rushing team in the NFL,

excellent on third down, seven come from behind fourth quarter wins, and the offense got better as the season progressed, which means the players take to coaching. It means your coaching's good and the players take to it. So take a deep breath. It was also better than Green Bay's offense. When's the last time you could say that in Chicago?

Our offense is better than the Packers. It was. So it's fine. This is, I'm not saying it's the model of the NFL. It's not the Rams yet. But it was better than the Niners and Shanahan. and Sean Payton and Harbon Herbert, and it was better than the stacked Philadelphia Eagles.

Philadelphia has got issues. That should be a top two, three offense every year with all the components they have. All right. A mess in San Francisco. We'll talk about that. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific

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Plus, from $94 a month, price guaranteed for two years on internet with a two-year term and auto pay credit. Visit bell.ca for details and to check availability. Bell, connection is everything. When I was 14 years old, I was kidnapped and held captive for nine months. I survived, and I've spent my life exploring how other people survive what should have destroyed them. I'm Elizabeth Smart, and these are the Survivor Files. I just remember this low, taunting, voice next to my ear saying shut up, don't say anything.

Every week, I'm with survivors who live through the unthinkable. I knew if he woke up, without a doubt, he was going to hurt me. I started feeling that there was someone at the end of my bed, and I just started screaming. They are abducted, stalked, controlled, and nearly silenced. But these aren't stories about what's taken from them. There's stories about what it takes to make it out alive. Listen to the Survivor Files with Elizabeth Smart on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If your bookshelf and your For You page are equally important to your personality, welcome home.

This is Prose Society, the weekly podcast that's part book club, part group chat for thought daughters, pop culture obsessives, and anyone who thinks Pride and Prejudice and Love Island deserve the same level of distance. course. I'm Eli Rallo and every week we're connecting the dots between books, the internet, and the conversations everyone can't stop having. I'm going to have to look up this story. I'm obsessed. I'm obsessed. From bestselling authors and your favorite book talk creators to the latest pop culture moments, nothing is off the table. It's like if you can hide some real messages inside compelling characters, then that is a Trojan horse. Whether you're looking for literary deep dives, smart pop culture conversations, or a community of readers who love to think a little too much, you're in the right place.

Listen to Pro Society on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. See you between the pages. Hey, this is Hayes Davenport. And Sean Clements. We host the podcast Hollywood Handbook on the Big Money Players Network. Our show is extremely accessible to first-time listeners. Each week, we talk to someone in show business, aka the biz, and try to help them with

their careers and see what they have to offer us. Everyone has a good time and no one gets mad at their publicists for letting them do our show. We've had a lot of great guests like Sarah Sherman, not that great. Actually, can you help me shape this? How about we flip it on his head, right? How about we flip this script? What is the surprise woman? Actually, you think is the straight man is actually the one who's acting weird.

Adam Scott. This entire time, you've been expecting Adam Sandler to come to the, visit the show. I would never expect. I would never set expectations for something like that to happen. If the universe allows for something like that to happen, I'm open to it.

I'm always going to accept. You know, Danny McBride, fine. Yeah, it's all this fragile masculinity exuding. I could smell it walking down the hallway, to be honest with you. I was like, is that weed? Nope. It's fragile masculinity. Ben Stiller, no.

Because a lot of times out of context, people don't get it or even know what a circle is. You know what I mean? They're like, oh, what's a state? Everyone's so dumb except for you. And fake. Right, fake and also not interested or just like, oh, I've got my life. I don't care about your life. And a lot of other big shots that wouldn't be where they are without us.

Oh, and by the way, Will Ferrell told us personally he loves the show and he wants to be a guest on every episode, but he's just so busy. Listen to Hollywood Handbook on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hour 2, it's a Monday. We are live. It's the heard. A lot of stories. A lot of news. A lot of opinions.

Wrong a few times this week. Matt Hassel back in a couple of minutes. We do it every day, every Monday at this time, top of hour number two, where Colin was right, where Colin was wrong. Let's fire away. Where Colin was right? Well, he worked with a. mechanics coach all offseason, but J.J. McCarthy still really struggling, inconsistent, 13 to 3 loss to Baltimore, despite having Kevin O'Connell, one of the top offensive coaches

in football. They've worked with it. They've been patient. We're a couple of years in. It just doesn't work. I didn't think it worked out of Michigan. And that's a bad miss right there. Where Colin was wrong. I thought Shadour Sanders, especially after a not of 11 weekend performance with a touchdown pass would get the starting job for the Cleveland Browns, but no, Deshawn Watson, who was awful, beats him out. I think the kid deserves a shot. I don't think he's polished. I don't think he's great. But at least the fans like him, and when you're a bad team, being relatable and likable isn't the worst thing. Deshawn, I watched him play live a couple of weeks ago, to me, looks like a completely and absolutely expensive but shot fighter.

Where Colin was right? Well, SEC, zero first place votes in the new Associated Press Bowl. None. And that's with a really good Texas team. The reality is, I've been saying this. The Big Ten is getting deeper on an annual basis, and the SEC is getting thinner. It's a money game and, everybody now can pay and the Big Ten simply has more money. First time in 11 years in a preseason poll, nobody from the SEC got a first place vote. Where Colin was wrong. I'm apparently the only person in America outside of the Pacific Northwest that believes the Seahawks are talented.

In the top 100 voted on by players, Seattle only had three players in the top 100. And I know I'm from the Northwest. You think I'm biased. But the athletic had a poll last week of the best players 25 and under. Yeah, JSN was on the list at 15. You could argue he's top three. And Devin Witherspoon, an incredibly talented corner, was at 60? Behind, by the way, Trent McDuffey and Witherspoon is seen as the more kind of viable,

young, athletic, more physical corner. So I don't get it. I think they have a chance to repeat. I think the schedule kind of works in their favor, but I'm apparently wrong on that view. Where Colin was right? I've said Washington last place is my pick. Jaden Daniels, three snaps,

incompletion, sack, run, play punt, all we saw. The offensive line is bad. I don't like the vibe of this franchise ownership down. Cliff Kingsbury bailed. Ben Johnson, after interviewing, said it's a lot of basketball guys who think they know football. They just do not have enough good young players because they've given up draft picks to get where they're at. And they had a bad weekend. Where Colin was wrong.

I kind of bailed on the Dodgers, but Otani's coming back. Tyler Glasnos back this week. And they have won six straight. So it appears they hit their floor. Now, now, they swept the pirates, but their team ERA is 3-38 over the six-game winning streak. The hitting average is up. Glasno's coming back. Atoni's going to start pitching.

So it does look like they hit the floor and they're moving in the right direction. Where Colin was right? I'm going to die on this hill. Joe Milton was unbelievable for the Cowboys. 9 of 13, huge arm, big presence. 151 passer rating. I said this out of Tennessee. I said it in New England, and I'm going to say it in Dallas.

Somebody play this guy. Had a huge, huge cowboy performer. Where Colin was wrong. Brett Venable, six-year contract extension in Oklahoma after a second 10-win season. Here's what he's done that Lincoln Riley hasn't yet, and he deserves a lot of credit. He has built an incredibly intense physical culture. Okay? The reality is last year they led college football in sacks, top 10 in defense, and say what you want.

I worried that he'd never been a head coach and Oklahoma's a big boy job. I worried that he was a defensive coach in an increasingly offensive league. But they have a culture. They are tough. They are physical. Sixth in total defense. they get after the quarterback. So Brent Venables has been in pretty short order more successful.

Now he's in a tougher conference now. Keep your eye on Oklahoma and Michigan. That's going to be an unbelievable game early in the season. I'm not sure who I like in that one. Colin Wright, Colin Wrong, and Matt Hasselbeck, 18 years in the NFL is now joining us. All right. So it's funny, I watch Saturday.

Deshawn Watson struggled. badly. Shadour was pretty darn good. And then this morning, they come out and they go, all right, we're starting to Sean. And I'm like, okay, all right. Based on that performance, you think it's possible? The owner's looking at all that money. And, you know, you were in this league a long time. Now, some of it, Packers with no owner.

But it does kind of feel like after that performance wouldn't be the time to name Deshawn the starter. You think players in Cleveland think upstairs is making the call? That's a great question, Colin. And, you know, you've seen somebody, you know, some people question that even with drafting Shadur Sanders while drafting a quarterback in his draft class in the third round. I mean, it's a little bit of a head scratcher. But I think this decision was sort of made before the game.

You know, I think the thing that really threw this off, a bad performance in a preseason game doesn't change everything. When the head coach says, Todd Munkin says, it's the full body of work. I absolutely believe him. That's why these joint practices are so important. They're not going to put everything into the five completions that he had, the seven incompletions that he had. That's not what it is.

Where this thing took off was the press conference. This was an example of what not to do as a franchise quarterback. The press conference, he got his feelings hurt to Sean Watson. Still hasn't healed from that clearly when they booed him last year when he got hurt with the Achilles. his emotions got the best of him. If I'm Shadur Sanders, these are the types of things,

intangible things that I'm learning from right now from the veteran quarterback. Sometimes it's what not to do. Sometimes it's what to do, and sometimes it's what not to do. If I'm Deshawn Watson today, I apologize for how he handled the press conference. I take a step back and humble myself.

And if I'm Shadur Sanders, I look at that opportunity and say, okay, how did he handle this opportunity? Did he handle it the right way or the wrong way? way. And Todd Munkin said something really interesting. He said, you know, the first two games are on the road. And I believe that's a huge thing that went into this decision to start Deshaun Watson. So, you know, if you're going to set Shador up for success, you don't want him on the road at Jacksonville, at Tampa Bay. We want to see how it goes with Deshawn. And then week three, Carolina at home might be

the time that we see Shador. Yeah, no, that's, yeah, that we kind of, you know, I kind of submitted that to suggest to that to J-MAC, that those are tough road games. By the way, in both instances, you're a northern team. It's going to be 92 in humid or something. You've done that. You go down there as a northern team. Play a Miami or a Jacksonville. Those are tough spots.

Okay. I don't even think, in Colin, I don't even think it's that. I think it's the booing. Like, literally, I think it's the booing. If it's a home game, we've got to deal with the fans, Cleveland fans are serious fans. If we got to deal with the booing at home, it's like, hey, maybe we don't do this.

If we're on the road, we don't have to worry about the booing. It has nothing to do with the heat. To me, I think booing is a real thing when it comes to quarterback decisions. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. Get Bell Pure Fiber Internet with Crave, Netflix, and Disney Plus from $94 a month. Price guaranteed for two years on internet with a two-year term and auto pay credit. Visit bell.ca for details and to check availability. Bell, connection is everything.

When I was 14 years old, I was kidnapped and held captive for nine months. I survived and I've spent my life exploring how other people survive what should have destroyed them. I'm Elizabeth Smart and these are the Survivor Files. I just remember this low, taunting voice next to my ear saying shut up, don't say anything. Every week I'm with survivors who live through the unthinkable. I knew if he woke up, without a doubt, he was going to hurt me. I started feeling that that. There was someone at the end of my bed, and I just started screaming.

They are abducted, stalked, controlled, and nearly silenced. But these aren't stories about what's taken from them. There's stories about what it takes to make it out alive. Listen to the Survivor Files with Elizabeth Smart on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If your bookshelf and your For You page are equally important to your personality, welcome home. This is Prose Society, the weekly podcast that's part book club, part group chat for thought daughters, pop culture obsesives, and anyone who thinks Pride and Prejudice and Love Island deserve the same level of discourse.

I'm Eli Rallo and every week we're connecting the dots between books, the internet, and the conversations everyone can't stop having. I'm going to have to look up this story. I'm obsessed. From bestselling authors and your favorite book talk creators to the latest pop culture moments, nothing is off the table. It's like if you can hide some real messages inside compelling characters, then that is a Trojan horse. Whether you're looking for literary deep dives, smart pop culture conversations, or a community of readers who love to think a little too much, you're in the right place.

Listen to Pro Society on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. See you between the pages. Hey, this is Hayes, Davenport. And Sean Clements. We host the podcast, Hollywood Handbook on The Big Month. Money Players Network. Our show is extremely accessible to first-time listeners. Each week, we talk to someone in show business, aka the biz, and try to help them with

their careers and see what they have to offer us. Everyone has a good time, and no one gets mad at their publicists for letting them do our show. We've had a lot of great guests like Sarah Sherman, not that great. Actually, can you help me shape this? How about we flip it on his head, right? How about we flip this script? What is the surprise woman?

who actually you think is the straight man is actually the one who's acting weird. Adam Scott, this entire time you've been expecting Adam Sandler to come to visit the show. I would never expect. I would never set expectations for something like that to happen. If the universe allows for something like that to happen, I'm open to it. I'm always going to accept. You know, Danny McBride, fine. Yeah, it's all this fragile masculinity exuding.

I could smell it walking down the hallway, to be honest with you. I was like, I was like, is that weed? Nope, it's fragile masculinity. Ben Stiller, no. Because a lot of times out of context, people don't get it, or even know what a circle is. You know what I mean? They're like, oh, what's a state. Everyone's so dumb except for you.

And fake. Right, fake and also not interested or just like, oh, I've got my life, I don't care about your life. care about your life. And a lot of other big shots that wouldn't be where they are without us. Oh, and by the way, Will Ferrell told us personally he loves the show and he wants to be a guest on every episode, but he's just so busy. Listen to Hollywood

Handbook on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. So Ben Johnson is feisty. And, you know, it's funny, I was reading a story on the Bears and everybody's like, and Caleb didn't have a good series. He missed

Colston Loveland. Everybody's like, oh, here we go again. And I said, guys, you had, in week five on, analytically, one of the top five offenses in the NFL. You were a good third down team. You were a great fourth quarter team. You had the number two rushing game in the NFL. It's like, the offense isn't broken. Now, it's not Drew Brees, Sean Payton, efficient. It's not broken. I think there's a sense that, oh, this offense, no, Denver's offense last year was broken. In fact, the Bears' offense ranked ninth at the end of the year, ahead of the Niners, Eagles, Herbert, Sean Payton, Philadelphia. If I said to you, okay, last year they solved the sacks.

Matt, what do they need to solve this year in Chicago offensively? It's clear as day. It's clear as day. It's completion percentage. And Ben Johnson has come out and said, hey, I'm going to be aggressive. We're going to try to set the world on fire offensively. So if he's going to get aggressive, the quarterback has to be thinking more completions. I remember this happened with me and Mike Holmgrenon, like early in my career.

He was like, hey, I'm going to call this game very aggressively. I just want you to get completions. We're going to a week 17 game against a good San Diego Chargers team, Rodney Harrison, Junior Seowow. And he said this to me. And I'm like, in my head, I'm like, well, that's not going to work. You're handcuffing me. He got aggressive.

I got conservative thinking completions. I throw for 449 yards that game. We win the game in OT. it was like something switched with me, a flip switch with me, where it was like, all right, if he gets aggressive,

I don't have to be, because he is. And I think that's what you're seeing out of Ben Johnson. I think he's unbelievable as a head coach. I think Caleb could have a really bright future if he sort of kind of like figures out how to play off of Ben's aggressiveness.

So a team that is really reliant on older players to succeed will be the Niners. So Fred Warner's off an injury, Bose is off another injury, Kittles off an injury. McCaffrey led the NFL and touches. Trent Williams is old. Take me to the oldest team you played for.

The oldest team. And by the way, there are great advantages to that. But when you, like the Rams and Seahawks in division are young, they've drafted well, young guys get hurt less. And when they get hurt, they heal quicker. Take me to the oldest team you played with, the upside and the downside. Well, I just say the guy that managed it the best was Mike Longgren. And I saw it do it with, we had Jerry Rice.

I think he was 42 years old when I was in Seattle. But where I first got introduced to it was in Green Bay. They're coming off a two consecutive Super Bowls. And he's got guys like Reggie White and Brett Farv and Frank Winners and Dorsey Levens and Leroy Butler and all these guys who'd played long seasons. And then the season starts again. It feels quickly because, hey, these guys were just in the Super Bowl and the Pro Bowl. And so the load management is such a thing. Like load management.

I don't think Reggie White wore cleats. to practice more than once a week going into a game. And that was load management, you know, way before analytics. And then I just looked to the teams in their division. I looked to the Seattle Seahawks as an example. You know, everyone throughout the year and fantasy football, they were like Ken Walker Jr.'s not getting any touchdowns. You know, Charbonnet is getting all this workload.

And Ken Walker Jr. is amazing. It was load management. They wanted him to peak at the right time. And when you have these teams that, like, oh, he's got a strain. He's dinged up. He's got a bone bruise. He's got this and that. To me, it's a little bit of like, we got a question, are we, are we doing too much too soon and not peaking at the right time?

And Ken Walker Jr. was the MVP of the Super Bowl. And all the people that were angry about how his season went, the Seahawks took the long view on it. And you're dealing in San Francisco, they get great players. They got guys that are like Ferraris, Christian McCaffrey, Mike Evans. They're not pickup trucks. You got to handle them a little differently. And I think they're learning that. And we'll see.

It'll be a very interesting thing. but the 49ers have this reputation of having a little bit of an injury bug. Yeah. So I said it. Only three Seahawks made it in the top 100. And then the athletic poll came out last week with GM scouts and evaluators. And I had given up my dreams of being an NFL GM. And now they've been rekindled because the list was so awful.

I'm like, I can be a GM if you think JSN is the 15th best player in the league. And Devin Witherspoon's the 16th best player. player under 25. I said this the other day, Matt, is that generally, whenever a team wins the Super Bowl, we in the media are like, oh, they could repeat. The Eagles could repeat. The Chiefs could repeat.

And there's a sense, oh, you're right. They could. When you suggest that Seattle could repeat, there's, whoa, whoa, that's ridiculous. Is it a darn old thing? And I look at it and I think they lost three players. They have the best GM. And the first three picks were the guys and the positions.

They have cap control. They have a new OC. I don't know. It's just wild to me that players don't respect them. GMs don't respect them. Do you think that the team is letting their players know that's how they're viewed? This is nothing new in Seattle, Colin. You know that.

I mean, I think you know that. You're kind of in the witness protection program up there in Seattle, in the Pacific Northwest. This is a group of guys that are severely underrated at every level, I think. Sam Darnold underrated. Mike McDonald underrated. This offensive line stayed intact underrated. And they didn't lose anybody they didn't expect to lose. I mean, honestly, I feel like, you know, I played in Seattle for 10 years.

I feel like I played with some of the best football players at their position the whole time I was there. Max Strong, one of the best fullbacks the game has ever seen, ever. Look it up. Look at up his tailbacks. Find me when they ever didn't rush for a thousand yards. didn't happen, but he's not a household name. Why not? Because he's tucked up there in the Witness Protection Program. Steve Hutchinson, Chris Gray, Robbie Tobac. Like, you don't even know the names. We've got punters up in Seattle who are amazing. You don't know their names. They

go to the New York Giants for a year and it's like, whoa, this guy might be a Hall of Famer. It's like, what happened? He just got in a different market. So I think Seattle feeds off of that. I think that's why the 12s are so loud. You don't even hear about their coordinators, really. Brian Florey, you know, he's a little bit of like, oh, no one else was going to hire this guy. I think he's going to have a great year. Aiden Dirty, the special teams coordinator, Jay Harbaugh, was amazing last year. Really, that's the difference between the Rams and the Seahawks going to the Super Bowl last year. It was special teams. Clear as day. Maybe a two-point conversion, you might say, but special teams were the difference maker. Jay Harbaugh was that guy.

So, no, this is nothing new for Seattle, not getting the respect. I think it feeds into how much they support their team. They sort of feel like they're, I don't know, chip on their shoulder. It's, it works for them. And like Mike McDonald said at the end of the at the end of the Super Bowl at the podium, we don't care. You know, we didn't care. And I don't think they do care. I don't, I do watch a lot of preseason. I like it. I'm into it. I watch the first two series. And then after that, you know, I want to see a six-round pick Bears, defensive linemen Georgia Tech. I'm like, that guy's got a crazy engine. Like, he just chased down a running back. And you'll see, I'm always taken away by how much talent there is in the NFL that's undraftful.

you'll see a receiver make a great catch up the sideline. I'll Google him and I'm like, untrafted. How does he in the, do you take Fernando Mendoza, second start, not as sharp? What do you take from that? What is a former NFL quarterback, what do you look for in these preseason games? Two things. You know, you mentioned from Fernando Mendoza just real quick. Pick six, you know, it was bad feeling.

I'll just tell you, Sam Darnold. I remember he threw a pick six on the first play of the game of his NFL career, regular season. and guy just won the Super Bowl. So, like, you know, these are learning lessons, and this is why you like the preseason. This is why I've been very consistent on this. I have no doubt in my mind. Kirk Cousin's going to be the week one starter.

I've been very consistent with that. I think that's because Clint Kubiak's got a plan. But what I look for, Colin, one of the things that I look for, I look for those veteran star players that are on the sidelines, you know, with no shoulder pads on, and they're chewing on sunflower seeds. Are they all the way into their teammates game? these guys that might make the team, might not make the team, that's culture. That's DNA.

Like, that's what I love to see. Like, these are the teams that have an it factor that when times get tough, they're going to pull together and not pull apart. And, you know, you don't see that everywhere. Sometimes you see guys, they're like checked out. They're just hanging out on the sideline. They're looking at their, you know, like, what time is eight? When can I get out of here? And I think that's the difference. That's something that I look for. And, you know, head coaches that everyone's pretty good at X's and O's. It's the culture setting. It's the vision of who we're going to be how we're going to talk how we're going to treat each other whether you make a lot of money or a little money if you're the MVP or you know practice squad that's the stuff that i think

matters and uh so anyway to answer your question that's something i look for i know it's i know i know it matters when when times get tough during an NFL season do you remember your best preseason game at hasselbeck ever be honest do i do uh i do we're playing at madison we're playing the defending super bowl champs the Denver broncos rematch of the super bowl from a couple years before. And Brett Fav gets hurt on like, I don't know, the fifth or seventh play of the game. I run in there, no mouthpiece. Just four touchdowns, I think, in the first half.

I'm like freaking out. What just happened? And I wasn't even supposed to play in the first half. And then they told me at halftime, they were like, hey, we're going to arrest you. We can't get you hurt. I was like, can't get me hurt. I was playing scout team tight end for you guys last year. I can't get me hurt.

What? So I'll never forget that one. That was incredible. I like the old Matt Hasselbeck stories. Madison, Wisconsin. That's good living. Good to see you. Great place.

Great place to play a football game, no doubt. Good place to have a good cold craft beer as well, as you may or may not know. Matt Hasselbeck. I survived nine months in captivity, and I've spent my life exploring how other people survive what should have destroyed them. I'm Elizabeth Smart, and these are the Survivor Files. Every week, I'm with survivors who live through the unthinkable. abducted, stalked, controlled, and nearly silenced.

These are stories about what it takes to make it out alive. Listen to The Survivor Files with Elizabeth Smart on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If your bookshelf and your for-you page are equally important to your personality, welcome home. Pro Society is a weekly podcast that's part book club, part group chat for anyone who thinks Pride and Prejudice and Love Island to serve the same level of discourse. Each week, we're connecting the dots between books, the internet, and pop culture with your favorite writers, book talk creators, and plenty of overthought opinions.

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