The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Best of The Herd for Aug 31, 2020

Episode Date: August 31, 2020

Kawhi is the so much better than the rest of the NBALeonard Fournette was cut because he's not good for the locker room Noting wrong with saying "I told you so" about the Lakers*Doug Gottlieb in for ColinGuest: Albert Breer, The MMQBBreaks: 13:05.7, 27:05.9 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. 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. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque.

Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. On the Look Back at it podcast.

For 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84 was big to me. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a year, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. With our friends, fellow comedians, and favorite authors. Like Mark Lamont Hill on the 80s.

84 was a wild year. It was a wild year. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Clifford Taylor the 4th.

You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media. Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfilled conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. So let's get to it. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeard radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes,

follow at Clifford and at TikTok podcast network on TikTok. 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 Sports Radio.com or stream us live every day on the iHeartRadio app by searching Heard. This is the best of the Heard. with Colin Cowher on Fox Sports Radio.

What up? Welcome in. This is The Herd, wherever you may be, and however you may be making this part of your day. Thanks so much. I'm Doug Gottlieg. Live in Los Angeles from the epicenter of IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio. We're listening on your radio station on Sirius XM and your IHeart Radio app. in for Colin Cowherd on a Monday. So know when Colin was right where Colin was wrong, although we could have done that. Why don't we do that? We had this long meeting.

It was like a two-hour meeting. And never once we go, hey, we should do when Colin was right and wrong. Because Colin was both right and wrong about the Lakers. Like, what do you mean? Well, pick the Blazers until he picked the Lakers to win the series. John Hollinger is going to join us. Former Executive with the Grizzlies. We'll get his take on last night's otherworldly

performance by Jamal Murray. I mean, are you, are you kidding me, Jamal Murray? Are you kid me? Remarkable. And like, it wasn't like Donovan Mitchell was bad, just Jamal Murray was a little bit better. The two of them, I mean, uh, Jamal Murray's nine of 12 from three point range. That's a good shooting, decks. More on Jamal Murray to come. Leonard Fournet was cut today. I'll tell you what I think of that in 15 minutes. In one hour, what everyone, is missing about the LA Lakers. When everyone is missing and has missed about the L.A. Lakers. So we got a lot to get to.

Albert Brewer, will join us. Rich Hornberger, of course, used to play for the Patriots. We'll get his take on a big injury over the weekend in the NFL. And we're a week and a half away from the kickoff of the NFL season. But let's get to this. So I was watching Kauai Leonard play yesterday. And he was magnificent, as he should be, right? Here's a guy who's a two-time finals MVP, the defending finals MVP.

And yeah, I mean, I guess we can make a story of the Marcus Morris flagrant foul, which caused him to get ejected. But I prefer to sit there and tell you that Kauai Leonard, 33 points, 14 rebounds, seven assists. Remember, he's the guy who was criticized because he wasn't, he's not nearly the passer of LeBron or of Hardin or of Luca. his assist numbers have always been down and now you give him the basketball and you say, hey, go make a play. Guess what? He has, in fact, improved as a passer.

What's not seen in these stats is he's a tremendous defensive player. He's versatile. He's good on the ball. He's good in the low post. He's got good, long hand, big hands, obviously, long arms, gets his hands on basketballs. Like, he's, he kind of has a game that doesn't have many flaws, if any flaws. And he's in the prime of his career. And I would say that

It stands to reason because of the time off due to quarantine. He might be in the best shape physically he's been in in a couple years. So if we start with the premise that, in truth, Kauai Leonard is the best player in the NBA. You're like, whoa, whoa, whoa, wait a second, Gowling. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. You were on this show and you said LeBron should be the MVP. You probably won't because Yonis will be the MVP. How can you now flip it and just get all caught up in hyperbole

and say Kauai Leonard is the best player? Well, the best player isn't necessarily the MVP. The MVP is the guy who has the best season, and his team reflects that season. That would probably be, has the greatest impact on his team during the regular season. That's the regular season MVP. And my, the reason I like LeBron is not just because of what he's accomplished, but the way in which he's led, what he's gotten out of his teammates, said the best defensive team in the Western Conference,

the best record of the Western Conference, and while he may not be at the peak of his career, turning around an entire franchise, much because of his play and his leadership, I would go LeBron. People would go Yonis because they had the best record and he's had an unbelievable year. But if you said in one game,

who would you want to have most on your team? My answer is Kauai Leonard at this point based upon how old LeBron is right now. And I find it hard for many people to argue with me because he plays both ends. He's becoming efficient three. point shooter. He's a better free throw shooter than LeBron. He's a better

post score than LeBron. And the flaw in his game in comparison, LeBron is he's not the passer of LeBron. That's true. That's fine. But it's not like he doesn't pass and he does everything else, by my estimation, better than LeBron. At this point, maybe not in totality at peak LeBron, but we're not a peak of LeBron.

Nobody would argue that. But I was thinking about this. History has a tendency to repeat itself. Those of us who study history, know that we study it so that we don't make the same mistakes, yet people do make the same mistakes more than once. Famously, Hitler made the same mistakes as Napoleon. Attack Russia in the winter, fought a war on two fronts, and lost. There should be a lesson there,

but apparently they didn't learn it. We continue to repeat ourselves in terms of government of things that we do, or in our country, in terms of our social issues. Yes, we gotten far better than we used to be, but there still are some fallbacks that we go back to. We're like, man, we've actually seen this before. And the NBA is just like that. I don't know how much longer LeBron James plays. If you compare this age to Jordan's age, Jordan was still the best player in the league, but he did a lot of it with his might, with his mind, with his guts, with his competitiveness. And then he retired only to come back later when he was an executive with the Wizards.

LeBron feels like he's going to try and continue to play, maybe until Brani is potentially ready to be in the NBA, although that, you know, it's hard for me to judge because I did see Brony play his last high school game of the season. He barely got in. This is his team won the championship against modern day. But, you know, he's 14 years old. He's only going to get better.

And he continues to improve and leave some bounds. But if we would admit that LeBron is at the tail of, end of a magnificent career. And he has been overall the most or second most popular player throughout his run. I would say Steph Curry is the only other one that comes into comparison in his stratosphere in terms of popularity. I'm wondering if the NBA is going to, in fact, repeat itself. I want you to stick with me for a second, right?

Like, I'm watching Kauai Leonard, and he dominates the game as they eliminate the Dallas Mavericks four games to two. Luca is amazing to watch. He's a tremendous player. He's just not as good at both ends as Kauai Leonard is, even if shot making, passing, he might actually be better in those two aspects in comparison to Kauai. But if Kauai becomes the best player in the league

and the clippers become the best team in the league, while they're not as milk toast as the spurs were with the best player being a guy who we got to drag a quote out of, there are some similarities. and then you factor in the rest of the league and how it's viewed by the mainstream public. If you look back on the 90s, the mid-90s and the late 90s, when Michael Jordan retired, his last game with Chicago Bulls was the biggest, there has not been a viewing audience as big since he retired.

That was peak of popularity for the last 20 years in the NBA. But when he left, oh, that's 30 years, I guess. When he left, there was a void. And what was it replaced by? What was it replaced by? Remember, Michael Jordan used to wear a suit and tie to every game, to every press conference. Now, after he left, guys were a lot more casual. Guys wore whatever they wanted.

And it kind of spiraled out of control. David Stern stepped in, put down a dress code. He was called a racist. Still is called a racist because of it, or that it had a racist. has racial undertones because of it, when the truth is that the league went from the most popular professional sports league in the country to the second or maybe even third best. Remember steroids, home run, chase, baseball went through a run of being very, very popular, especially 2000 through 2004 or five Yankees, Red Sox, unbelievable for the sport.

So basketball was at its peak with Jordan. He retires. Who was he replaced by? Well, arguably the best player in the league was Tim Duncan, who was great at both ends of the floor, who was efficient, who had no issues, who simply played and played to win and was not quotable even if he was incredibly likable. Doesn't that sound a little bit like Kauai Leonard? Right? And then the rest of the league and how it was viewed in terms of pushing the envelope. And if you didn't like the way in which they dressed or they acted or the things they said,

you were called a racist or be racially insensitive. It became a little bit divisive. Look, I don't think David Stern was a racist for trying to make guys more acceptable to the mainstream public to the... And I do think that some of our views on that have changed, right? Like, you go back to 2000 and now, very few people wear suit and tie to work. Very few people even wear, you know, you wear jeans with a sport coat. What is some of the most expensive shoes you can buy and that men wear are in fact sneakers.

Snickers have become very acceptable in the workplace. But instead of being viewed based upon how we dress now, sometimes now it's our political affiliation or it's just a way in which we purport ourselves in terms of what's important to us. Again, I'm not sitting here attacking NBA players for their views or their outspokenness on their views. What I'm simply telling you is if you think all the customers take it the same way, you're wrong, which is the exact same thing as when guys were dressing in whatever gear they wanted to. Look, I was in and then out of college at the time, and the clothes they wore were the clothes that many of them I wanted to wear.

But it was how it landed with Middle America. And that combined with essentially a mute superstar in Tim Duncan, combined with other factors, baseball and home runs and steroids, and football suddenly gaining a popularity because of fantasy football and gambling, etc. And, of course, the Red Zone, I think, changed football and how it's viewed forever. when I can watch all the games and never change the channel? Yes, please. And here we are again where basketball is not at the same level of popularity as it was back with Jordan,

but still very popular. We're a week away from it competing with the NFL during their playoffs and the NFL's kickoffs to their season at the exact same time. Look, I'm not sitting here predicting gloom and doom, but if there is gloom and doom, I think you can see the parallel as to why. And that's no disrespect to Kauai Leonard, who is magnificent. Much like Tim Duncan was magnificent. Kauai has to do a lot. He's their best player.

Paul George is up and down. Something's going on there with his mental health. Louis Williams has never truly understood how to win. And so there's some flaws there, even though he's a great score. They don't have great interior play. Maybe that matchup hurts them against the Lakers. I can't tell you. But what I can tell you is if you ask people,

who's the best player in the league? One, you have to play both ends and Luca and some of those others do not. He does. He's a tremendous score who's learning to be a pastor. He's a great rebounder. He's your best player. But I don't know how it lands with the American public, if that's the way we go.

Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHeart Radio app. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all,

embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what you're saying.

Yep, that's me, Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment. and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast, it's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't

always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So if you've ever supported me or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tapped Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking.

What the hell does George Bush got to do with Little Kim? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam Jett. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill, waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84 is big to me, not just because.

of crack. I'm down to talk about crack on day, but just so y'all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack. So I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now. Thank you finishing that sentence. Yes. I don't think there's a more important year for black people.

Really? Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your 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, Kear Gaines, as we have real conversations about healing,

growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, learn the hard way. Open your free, our heart radio app. Search learn the hard way and listen now. Here's a blast from the not so distant past. Leonard Fournett was released today. Leonard Fournett was released today. Which I guess we're supposed to be surprised by, but we really shouldn't.

Right? I mean, look, the Jaguars general manager is a guy named David Caldwell. He's in his eighth year. That's kind of remarkable, right? Considering the ups and downs of the Jacksonville Jaguars, we'll get to that later in the show. But David Caldwell said, hey, look, we tried to trade him. We tried to trade him for basically anything, anything anybody would give us. And we couldn't get anything for him this offseason. Nothing. Fifth round pick, sixth round pick, seven round pick. Now, part of it is he

makes $4 million before being waived. And if he's signed off waivers, he'll make that $4 million. if not clears waivers, then, you know, all bets are off. What's interesting about Fournet is if I told you, or maybe I asked you, how many catches did you think Leonard Fournett had? Leonard Fournet had. Last year, he had 76 receptions. Like, he has a reputation of a guy who, well, you know, he really can't catch. out of the backfield. Now, I don't know about it's blocking. I'm guessing it's not great because

if he catches 76 times out of the backfield, that would stand, it would stand a reason that you'd be pretty effective. In 15 games last year, he ran for over 1,000 yards. In 15 games last year, he had 76 catches. Granted only 522 yards. So why would Jacksonville, and by the way, they traded Ingokwe around to the Minnesota Vikings earlier yesterday and now they outright release

Leonard Fournett so they are cleaning house but why would you get rid of Engakway who was on a franchise tag and he took $6 million less to be a Viking and then why would you cut Leonard Fortin well Yanukin Gokwe

was seen as a pain in the butt right, it was. He wanted a huge contract. He complained openly on social media. He wasn't happy in Jacksonville. Then you got Fournette. They declined his fifth year option, which means he would have been a free agent at the end of this year.

He had complained openly about the team. And now he gets cut. What does it mean? He's a thousand yard back, entering his fourth year in the league. He had 76 catches last year. And I know that you. think of him and you're like, well, he's Adrian Peterson in that he doesn't really catch it out

the backfield. But last year, obviously, statistically, says otherwise. Now, he doesn't have the burst of Christian McCaffrey. He's not a matchup, mismatch out. If you line him up out wide, he's generally a typical downhill, one-cut, old-school running back who's added the ability at least catch the football out of the backfield to his game. Why is he gone? They don't like him. or he doesn't like being there. And if you're the Jacksonville Jaguars, and you know, this is a rebuilding year, you're the Jacksonville Jaguars and you said to yourself, hey, if we're going to be bad, at least we're going to enjoy going to work.

Whether it's the players voting you off the island as they did with Earl Thomas, or whether it's the team just saying it's going to be a tough year, we don't need a guy who doesn't or two guys who don't want to be here, let's just vote them off the island kind of quickly. That man how telling you are. You're not seen as a great teammate in the NFL these days. Culture wins. It absolutely wins.

You have to be so incredibly good or have such a ridiculously untradable, uncutable contract that they won't move on from you. Otherwise, culture wins. That's what the Leonard Ford net thing. He's not hurt. He can catch. He can run.

He's not making a ton of money. What is it? Got to be personality. Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd, weekdays at noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. So the Lakers on Saturday night dispatched of the Portland Trailblazers. In the, I don't hate to say I told you so,

I did in fact tell you so. The NBA's playoffs don't always come down to who wants it more, right? Like, oh, God. If I hear it, if you're a paid broadcast, it goes like, you know, it just comes down to who wants it more. Or it's a maker-miss league. It's a maker miss league.

That's profound. Profound. Colin, help me out, Goulet, did he pick the, I thought he picked the Blazers. There's like video of him picking the Blazers to win the series, but I believe there was also a segment in which he picked the Lakers to beat the Blazers. He picked the Blazers, and then after watching the Blazers against the Grizzlies in that playing game, said the Blazers. Now, it must have been a text from me.

Look, what happens in the NBA playoffs are basically decided by these factors, right? Injuries and how many different playoff series have been decided because a guy gets hurt in the middle of them before them? Injuries, matchups, and on some level conditioning. You know, Yokic at sea level obviously doesn't seem to be laboring as much as he doesn't. does when he's above sea level, but there have been times in the past when Yokits in the playoffs looks like he's just dead on his feet.

And the Portland Trailblazers was a team that had to win, I think six of their eight games in order to get in the playing game, then won the playing game. I told you the two reasons that I thought they would lose in four or five to the Lakers was

very simple. One, they're out of gas. And two, they didn't have they're not built to match up with LeBron they're not built to match up with Anthony Davis Anthony Davis had 43 on 18 shots by the way that's those are crazy numbers

43 on 18 shots and LeBron Hoam had 36 on 19 shots 10 assists 10 rebounds and they get just enough scoring from the rest of the team to score 131 points the reason they beat Portland is they were out of gas and it's a bad matchup

for Portland. Just a bad matchup. Portland didn't have anybody who could match up with Anthony Davis, nobody who could match up with LeBron. And guess what? The Houston Rockets, I mean, the Houston Rockets who are up three games to two, suddenly now have Russell Westbrook back?

Same thing. Same thing. No, the Houston Rockets to this point, now if they get Russell Westbrook back, they're not injured. And maybe they're in good shape, although the Lakers, they got an extra couple days off because of the protests. and now they're going to have an extra couple days off

because Houston has one more game. So in terms of conditioning, that's a win for. Matchups, that's a win for. Injuries, relatively even, especially now with Rondo essentially coming back, doesn't matter how much he'll play or whatever. It's just adding another body that they can throw out there. I don't hate to say I told you so.

I love to say I told you so. There are a lot of people, and I've made mistakes in evaluating games and series in the past, but this one was pretty obvious because they had played many times in the regular season. The Lakers averaged 127 a game. And so, yeah, you give Portland a shooter's chance. Hey, if they have a game where they make everything, the Lakers miss everything, that's what happened in game one.

Portland didn't play particularly well, hung around, hung around, hit a couple shots late. Lakers could make shots. They steal game one. But the rest of the series, that's why you have a seven-game series. So the better team ends up moving on, in this case, the better team is clearly the Lakers. not just because they're a one seed, but because the matchup really favorite them. The matchup, the conditioning,

the injuries are now a wash as you get ready for the Houston Rockets. The Rockets are not built to guard somebody like Anthony Davis and not really built to guard somebody like LeBron James. The only place that changes is once you get to the Clippers who are built with Kauai, with Paul George, those two guys to match up with LeBron James. So I find it to be, I find it to be fascinating how many people took that bait,

hook, line, sinker and didn't realize go through the teams that Portland played against in order to get into the bubble. I mean, get into the playoffs from the bubble. I'd go through them. I mean, the Grizzlies, they had to beat and they barely survived, but the Grizzlies are super young, right? They didn't have Jaron Jackson. The Nets are playing a bunch of dudes.

half of them were in the G league. They played the Mavericks, and I think Luca sat that game. You know, the 76ers didn't have Ben Simmons. I mean, kind of go through all the teams they played, and especially the last three that they needed to beat in order to get into the playoffs, 76ers, no Simmons. Mavericks, I believe the Mavericks were, didn't play all their dudes, right? Luca played like 25 minutes in that game.

And the Nets, of course, had, you know, without four starters. The same people that told you the Lakers were going to lose were the same people that told you, Mello is awesome. The whole league missed on him. Did you hear that? Have you heard that? I can't believe the whole league missed on. No, they didn't.

Basketball, last time I checked, there's 94 feet in the court. you don't get to not count. I've yet to find a rule that says like, hey, we're not going to count those other 47 feet. We're just going to play half court offense only. This is not women's six-on-six basketball. Do you guys know there used to be high schools in the country that would play six-on-six girls' basketball?

There's three on offense all times, three on defense all times. And you get the ball, you get a rebound. Can you imagine being an all-time defense, how bad that would suck. Oh, she's a great defender that she never gets to shoot the ball. Like, you literally could average zero points a game and play the entire game. Doesn't work that way. Same people that told you Mello is awesome of the same people that predicted the Lakers would lose and neither happened. Yeah, Mello can score. No one's ever said he couldn't. He's just not efficient at scoring. There's some similarities there to Lennon-Fournett, right? Guys from a foregone era, we're posting up in

mid-range no longer truly needed. And if you're going to be a below-average defender, you better be your team's best player and he is not. And between his defense and Lillard's defense and McCullum's defense and Nirkich's defense, they just got crushed. They're a terrible defensive team combined with a bad matchup, combined with the fact that they had no juice in the tank, and the Lakers dominated them. Fast forward to the Houston Rockets who are a game away from playing them. Houston, a good defensive team? I know they've played some good defense in the bubble.

Are they a good defensive team? No. Is this a good matchup for Houston? No. Are they going to be arrested? No. Outside of that, Mrs. Lincoln, how's the show? We do this thing.

We're like, man, I kind of like the Rockets, playing small ball, shooting a bunch of threes. Do you guys see game five? Is it game four against the Thunder when they missed all those threes? He shot 58 threes. And they couldn't get to the free throw line? Yeah, of course. Why? Because of the Houston Rockets.

This is who they are. They're fully committed to who they are. They know who they are. And we also know how this ends up. They'll get a game. There'll be a game in which they make 25 of 50. They will. you know, PJ Tucker will bury some from the corner.

They'll be super physical. LeBron won't kind of be into it. There are nights in which he looks like his body's kind of fighting him, right? Coosma will be Coosma just jacking up bad shots, driving with his head down to the rim, all of those things. Look at a game. But NBA series are decided based upon injuries in health. Lakers are healthy.

Conditioning. rockets should be gassed and most importantly matchups is a bad matchup for the rock. Want 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. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential.

Either way, the podcast's superhuman documented it all. Embed it in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care which I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way,

This platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment. And the next, we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast. It's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told,

and for people who are chasing something bigger. So if you've ever supported me or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right what you need to be. Listen to The Clifford Show on the IHeard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok.

Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tap Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do with Little Kim? Well, you're going to be. can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick it here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it.

Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84 is big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack on day, but just so you all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack. So I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now. Thank you for finishing that sentence. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Really? Yeah.

For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hard Way 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 comments. 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.

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app. Search, learn the hard way, and listen now. But Darwin James, who many people thought had a chance to be defensive player of the year. He's a first team all pro as a rookie. Is going to be out for an undetermined amount of time for the Chargers. Albert Breer joins us from the MMQB.

I know the Chargers aren't front and center of most football fans' minds a week and a half out from the season. But for somebody like you who knows this league, who talks to everybody in this league, how big an injury is that? Diffusion, Doug, it's a shame, too. And, you know, when he fell on the draft a couple years ago, you know, you continually got the question, you know, what's wrong with them? and why did so many teams pass them? This is why. He was excellent as a freshman at Florida State, had devastating injury.

His sophomore, he came back as junior year, wasn't quite the same. And there were teams who style of play and his durability and whether or not the injury issues would resurface. And so, I mean, you know, he's another worldly talent. But, you know, he was part of the reason why

teams were less comfortable taking him in the top 15 picks was because of this. and it's a huge blow for the charges. You know, they're just, if you look at their front line talent and the guys that they have, you know, from Joey Bosa to Melvin and Grum, to Denzel Perriman to, you know, on the back end, the defense, Casey Hayward, and Darwin James, then on offense, Hunter Henry,

Keenan Allen, Mike Williams, like Austin. They got dudes. They got a ton of dudes. They've got a ton of dudes. But this is been a problem for them. right? Like if you want to go back and look, look. Like, it's over the last three or four years, for one reason or another, they consistently get hit with the injury bug.

And so really unfortunate, you know, like I said, you feel awful for the kid because he has a chance to be a really special player. But there's also the acknowledgement there that's sort of what you, those are the dice you rolled when you drafted him where you drafted him. And, you know, for the team itself, of course. It's just, I mean, they've been snake-fitten by this sort of thing over the last few years. The Jacksonville Jaguars released Leonard Fournett. Yannickin Gokwe was traded to the Vikings, but let me start with Four-Net.

Yeah. Look, they declined his fifth-year option. They'd had some trouble with his, you know, with his personality. But he did run for 1100 yards, and he did catch 76 balls last year. Why release him? Yeah, I just think that this is, in part at least, a total rebuild. and they're going young. They got two first-on-picks in the building now,

and C.J. Henderson and K. Levan, Jason, this is going to be a multi-year process, pulling themselves up off the canvas. That team that they had a couple years ago that made the AFC title game, I mean, almost every major player from that team is gone. And I can tell you, going back to April, you know, I had other teams saying to me,

keep an eye on Jacksonville, they're the Trevor Lawrence. You know, and that they were going to sort of of, you know, spend 2020 retooling and be in the quarterback market in 2021. And so, you know, a lot of this lines up. And I think, you know, when you're also to a player like Leonard-Fornett, if you are going to have a younger team and you are going to have, and this is going to be sort of, you know, like a little-manal-type season for a lot of your younger players, you want to have the right environment there.

And for better or worse, there's a lot of water under the bridge with Leonard Fournett. And so, you know, I think for Doug Moran, what he's trying to establish there, not just for this year, but for the future. Culture. And then trying to convince the cons to keep him beyond this year, you know, culture is a big part of that, like he said. Yeah, yeah. I mean, like, look, In Gakwe took $6 million less. I'm sure he didn't want, but they also wanted him, wanted to get rid of him, would do anything to, that's why they didn't, you know, it's a second and a fifth. It could be a fourth.

It probably won't be a third. and I understand that Ingaquay had to take less money in order to get out, but it's kind of the same thing, right? They want guys who want to be there. Right. And like, look, like, I think it would be realistic with yourself, and I think the guys there are kind of being realistic themselves, they're not winning 11 games this year.

You know, like, they're not going to playoffers here. And so, you know, if you're honest with yourself about that, what's the priority? The priority is we need the right environment to have our young guys develop. So when we do, you know, get another quarterback in here in 2021, we've got something around him. And so for guys like DJ Chark, who, you know, really broke out last year, for, you know, younger guys on the defense like Chase on, like Josh Allen, like C.J. Henderson, you know, I think your goal really becomes after Jacksonville, how do we put those guys in the best environment to develop, you know? So if we do draft a quarterback next year, they're walking into a good. environment with ascending young talent.

And, you know, sometimes it's, you know, coming to reckon with the fact that if you've got a couple guys that are at their end of their end of their rookie deals and Yonika, Giacke, and Leonard Fortet are, and they're disgruntled, those guys can mess with the sort of environment you might want to build for those young players to develop it. Doug Gottlie, Doug Gottliebenten for calling, this is the herd here on Fox Sports Radio. Okay, I wanted to run this by you, and I thought it was kind of interesting. You know, you have a guy who I think history is going to look back and say he was one of the best safeties, I don't know, I don't think of all the time, but a legit, you know,

Hall of Fame caliber safety who gets cut by the Ravens, right? And, you know, but when you get cut by your own teammates, Earl Thomas is sitting out there and he may want to be with the Cowboys, is he toxic right now? Not because it ended poorly in Baltimore, but because of the people who pushed him out were actually his teammates, not the team. Yeah, and Earl Thomas is used to making a lot of money. I wouldn't underrate that piece of it either. You know, he made, you know, 14 million a year in Baltimore, in Seattle all those years.

He was making over 10 a year. This guy's a guy who's gotten really used to, you know, he's taken. years for the last half decades. And so sometimes with guys like that, you know, can come, it can be a little tough to come to grips with the fact that you're not going to see that money again, you know, especially when you were on the doorstep of making another $10 million as he was this year. And so, you know, I think he's sort of at the phase of his career now where because all this stuff happened and because, I mean, let's be honest about it, Doug, he blew his way out of

two really good places. Like, it's not like, it's not like this was the Jaguars. he was running himself out of. You know what I mean? He ran himself off the team in Seattle and in Baltimore, and those are two teams that have won Super Bowls over the last decade and are two of the most stable places in the league. So I think if you're another team,

you sort of shifts him from the bucket where a couple of years ago he was a guy you were willing to buy high on, teams now looking at him are going to want to buy low on him. And they're going to want to say, okay, we'll give you, we'll bring you in here, but we're going to do him for low money, and we're going to retain the ability to cut the cord if we have to. I think that's what

a team like Dallas would look at it was if, you know, as all of a sudden now he's available for a couple million and you retain that ability to get rid of him

if there's trouble because, as you know, that's a totally different dynamic. You know, like where he was in Baltimore was guaranteed money he had and how much he was making and how much he had made

over the last year, he had real leverage in that organization. You know, I think teams probably be scared to give him that sort of, leverage again, which means he's going to have to adjust his financial expectations if he wants back in a good situation in the league.

Albert Breer, the MMQB, joining us, Doug Gottlieb. In for Colin, this is the herd on Fox Sports Radio app, and of course on Sirius XM as well. Welcome in. This one to me is, I guess, maybe more personally interesting, but not as personally interesting, but I think it's interesting in the grand scheme of things. We're watching the NBA and how they took a couple days off. They postponed games because of the protest over what happened to Milwaukee. Russell Wilson came out last week and said, hey, if there was a game this weekend,

I don't think we'd be playing. I don't know if he speaks for the Seahawks. What are the expectations from the league in terms of protests as we are about a week and a half away from kickoff in Kansas City? Well, I think we're going to see demonstrations. I think that that's almost a given that we'll see demonstrations from players at least for week one now whether or not that extends

to any sort of boycott I think it's going to depend on a couple things and I don't think it's likely right now but I think a couple things could affect it number one is what happens in the country that's simple right like so what Russell Wilson's saying is well if we had to go on the field and play a game

in the immediate aftermath of what happens or Jacob Blake, then maybe we would do it. Well, you know, right now as it stands, we don't know if they're going to be asked to do that. Like, we don't know if something else is going to happen over the next week and a half, which is sort of the way 2020 is done in general. So, you know, I mean, I think if anything were to happen and God help us all, like, I hope nothing happens. Sure.

But if something were to happen next week, you know, obviously that can affect it. The second thing is owner involvement. You know, and I think that that's something that, you know, We've started to see owners get a little more vocal. I don't know if you saw it stuff Jeffrey Lurie said yesterday, but that was pretty strong. And, you know, I think, you know, what players are looking for now,

they've got the financial commitment. I think they want the owners to get the tensions with them. I think they want the owners to talk with them. You know, I think they want to have that audience. And I think that they want the players, the owners to be a little more hands-on with reference to these areas. And so, you know, I think that's the other part of it is that if you don't get owner-involvement,

then that could wind up. up pissing off a few of the wrong guys. And do you know how these things go? A few of the wrong guys get upset. Now all of a sudden, one thing leads to another, and we get a lot of guys upset. Yeah. So when you say you want the owners to talk to them, about what? I know.

I mean, like, just give an audience, you know what I mean? Like, I think it's, and I, you know what? One of the real positive things, Doug, about the last, about the last, what's happened last week was I didn't start to see actionable items, you know? You know, Frank Wright got in part of his team. This would have been on Thursday morning. And he was approached by the, you know, their social action committee on Wednesday night. Jacoby Burset was a big part of that.

On Thursday morning, they show back up. And Frank Wright basically says, like, listen, like I, you know, like, like, as white people, we, you know, we like to talk about these things when it's convenient and black people don't have that luxury. And, you know, just saying something like that, recognizing, you know, recognizing that. I think it went a long way with the players, and they were able to, that day, worked for five or six hours with the player development people and come up with different plans that are actionable. And so, you know, I think, like, seeing owner participation in those sorts of things would go a long way. I think as much as anything else, and I know it's sort of an abstract thing, but I think that the players want to know that the owners have their back. And, you know,

I certainly think that the Eagles players probably felt that way after what Jeffrey Lurie said yesterday. And it'll be interesting to see if we see a little more of that. If owners are a little bit more vocal than they've been in the past. It will be interesting to see, yeah, especially the Dallas Cowboys, you know, right? I mean, Jerry Jones and his relationship with the president. I mean, I was going to do, Doug. I mean, like, guys who've played there love them. I mean, and I know.

No, I think, I think, Albert, that's the thing. this is the part the hard part of the discussion that people are going to have to wrap their heads around. Like, you can be a good guy, you can be a good dude and not agree politically, right? You can be a bad guy and agree politically.

But you can't, I don't believe you can walk into a discussion if you're, forget about an NFL player, an NBA player, if you're any human being, and make it up in your mind that if somebody doesn't agree with my political views, well, right? Because I heard that, I heard that on, On ESPN last week, like, can we dictate who's owning the NBA based upon their political affiliation?

Like, no, that's not the spirit of what we're doing here as a democracy. Right. I don't have to agree with you, but as long as you're not impinging on my civil rights. So I think that's the, that's the slippery slope that players can't walk into. If they want a dialogue, great. But if they want to determine who you're going to politically back, that you're asking something that actually is not what we're actually about as a country. No, and I, look, I agree with that. I just think, and I guess we get in a larger discussion of where our country is,

but I think, like, the inability of people to talk with people that don't agree with them politically is a huge problem in our country in general. And that's one of the great things about a lot of these football teams is that it does bring that and bring together guys who are from vastly different backgrounds, different socioeconomic circumstances, different races, all of that, you know. And I think being able to have honest, frank, conversations, which I think did happen in a lot of these buildings between coaches and players at the very least over the course of the last week.

And people feeling open, and I think one of the biggest keys in all this, just having talked to some guys who were in these situations last week, I think just the guys feeling free to speak openly. You know, I think it's a huge part of it, too. that's how you really get somewhere. You don't get somewhere by standing in front of a room and telling somebody, you know, what to think. You get in front of, you get somewhere by having open dialogue and everybody's saying, you know, everybody's best in how they feel, and then, you know, finding a way to come to solutions on certain things.

And again, like, I look at the Colts and have a full point plan coming out of it. You know what the way to do with their statement. And there were, you know, some situations there were. Everybody sat down and got together and they were able to put together plans that made sense that actually were moving the ball forward, which I think is a criticism of a lot of players to this thing, is that, you know, okay, well, now what? Well, you know, now certain teams are giving you an answer to that question. Albert, great stuff, man. Last thing, I saw there's a CDC report out there that 94% of people who die.

from COVID had comorbidities, right? And I, and maybe it's because of the protests. I'm not sure. Maybe it's because we have college football on TV, but I feel like the COVID thing got really quiet now for a week or so. What are NFL teams saying about the challenges of getting ready for a season with COVID-19 out there? They're cautiously optimistic. I mean, like, look, the results that they've gotten to this point of an outstanding, you know, they have had the false positives a week ago. And I think that that gave them like a good real-life fire drill. Because that even happened on a Sunday.

You know what I mean? Like so they were, you know, they've been able to sort of see what it might look like if there were an outbreak. And that gave them a chance to kind of go through, you know, all the different things that they would need to go through if it did happen. You know, and I think if you look at the results, I mean, they've got four guys in the COVID list across the entire league. And that's actually up from a couple days ago.

Always at one at one point. and among 2,600 players, I don't know how you could argue that's not outstanding. Now, there are going to be different, like, there are going to be different things introduced into the environment. Like, all of a sudden, you know, we guys' workdays are going to get a little shorter because they're not going to be in training camp anymore. And that means they're going to be out and about a little bit more. So who are they around? And, you know, the kids are going to go back to school. You know, coaches, wives are going to go back to work.

There are all these different things that are going to get introduced into the environment. But, I mean, the one thing I've learned, I mean, daily tests, testing is so important. And being able to test every day has allowed them to contain it. And, you know, I think as a result, because this is working, now you're getting increased buy-in from everybody. So, you know, a lot is going to come down to whether or not, you know, people let their guard down. But I think the NFL is showing that it can work. And here's the other thing, Doug. I would say this. Those are the large national population that believe football would be a super spreader, right? Do we have any evidence of that? No.

I mean, a college, high school, now, you have cases, just like you do in the general public. But is there any evidence that football has been like a, you know, been like, you know, some sort of tinderbox for this thing? I don't think so. I mean, it seems to me at least, like, you know, I mean, the NFL teams that either had pads on for three weeks. I saw, in several times I did you, I saw more 11-on-11 play than I've ever seen in training camp going all the way back to when the rules changed in 2011. And, you know, yet there's not this, there's not any sort of massive outbreak of the virus. It would be anything we're selling right now, you know, with clients and the coaches and the players and everybody in those buildings that can be done. Albert, great stuff, man.

Can't wait for football. It's a week from Thursday. And I know you'll be all over until then. The MMQB's website. Check them out on social media as well. Albert, thanks so much for joining us. Oh, thanks, Doug. Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite, unhumored me with Robert.

Smigel and Friends, me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, S&L's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque.

Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. On the Look Back at a Podcast.

From 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84 is big to me I'm Sam Jay And I'm Alex English Each episode We pick a year unpack what went down And try to make sense

Of how we survived it With our friends Fellow comedians And favorite authors Like Mark Lamont Hill On the 80s It was a wild year I don't think

There's a more important year for black people Listen to look back at it On the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts Or wherever you get your podcasts A win A win is a win

A win I don't care what you're saying Yep, that's me, Clifford Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media. Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfilled conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated.

So let's get to it. Listen to The Clifford Show on the IHeard Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok. Podcast Network on TikTok. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.