The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Best of The Herd for Jan 15, 2020

Episode Date: January 15, 2020

Colin says you always have to be prepared because opportunity can happen when you're young and he thinks the Browns weren't ready for the best chance they may have for years to come. He has found the perfect comparison at QB for Joe Burrow. He thinks Aaron Rodgers low interception numbers shows a problem with his style. Plus, former NFL WR T. J. Houshmandzadeh talks about training with some of the top QBs in this year's draft, if Joe Burrow should refuse to go to Cincinnati and the NFC Championship game. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smigel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter.

Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, guys? This is Clivert Taylor the Fourth. And on my podcast, The Cliverts Show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff. Like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker, this linebacker walks up to me. He goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her.

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

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

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

This was just basketball. So listen to Point Game on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks for listening to the best of Heard Podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday. From 12 to 3 Eastern, 9 to noon Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and FS1. Find your local station for the herd at Fox SportsRadio.com

or stream us live every day on the iHeartredio app by searching herd. This is the best of the herd with Colin Cowherd on Fox Sports Radio. Ah, live in Los Angeles. It's a Wednesday. This is The Herd, wherever you may be and however you may be listening. We're live on IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, and FS1. Hack today, Nick Wright joins me in 20 minutes.

He's one of my faves. You know that. Joy Taylor this morning. Joey, how are you? I got a haircut this morning. I'm getting ready for the Super Bowl. I got my shoes all lined up and a haircut this morning. The haircut looks great.

So do you have a new lineup of shoes? Because you're starting, we're slowly turning Colin into a sneaker head. Anna's been on this. I have. You guys are getting me. He's got him a couple pair of golden goose. My wife's into it. Get better shoes.

I wear the same shoes all year. They look like nonsense. So I'm getting into it. Sneakers aren't an expensive habit, Colin. I know. It beats math. But it does. There's such a good habit, in fact, that Rob Parker is not cheap about them.

Yeah, Rob Parker's the cheapest guy at our network except sneakers. Yep. So I want to start with this. I tell my kids this. I tell my daughter this. Be ready. The minute you get out of college, be ready to go. Because you don't know that the first company you interview with is the next Amazon or Microsoft.

Don't get a backpack. Don't go to Europe and find yourself. I ain't paying for it. it. Find yourself in college. You got Fridays off, three-day weekends. Find yourself every weekend, hopefully not at senior frogies. Find yourself in college. Be ready to go. A lot of people backpacked Europe, going to swim around for a few years, bartend. Opportunities. Companies love to hire young people. You're cheap. We're looking to mold people all the time. You're wasting, you're wasting days off the clock, baby. Be ready at 21 to go.

intern in college, travel in college, go to Europe in college, but be ready to go. And Kevin Stavansky is the new Brown's head coach. I think it was a good hire. Cleveland doesn't, but Cleveland's instincts right now are not great on football. I don't know if he works, but I kind of like the hire. I thought it was the best of all the non-well-known guys like Mike McCarthy. This was the best. But I'll give you an example of why Baker Mayfield is trouble.

He's immature. Sure. This was the perfect year for Cleveland to take advantage of a situation. I was going to give you this. Just in the AFC, think about this, Joy. Andrew Luck retires. Big Ben gets hurt. Misses the season. The L.A. Chargers implode.

New England misfires. Sam Darnold gets mono. Patrick Mahomes gets hurt. six different breaks, but you're too busy doing commercials, too busy calling out the medical staff, it was a wasted opportunity by Cleveland and Baker. He was not mature enough and they were not organizationally strong enough. And I think the window closes for Cleveland. This is not a shot.

They're just not as interesting. I was fascinated by Cleveland this year. and they got several huge breaks. Andrew Luck retires. There's a playoff team, gone. Chargers imploded, playoff team, gone. Big Ben hurt. Are you kidding me?

Lamar's still young. But now, look at next year in the AFC. Oh, the kicker in the center come back for the Patriots. So is Josh McDaniels. Buffalo's staff is outstanding. Josh Allen now. He'll be better. The Jets, Sam Darnold's not getting mono.

Baltimore and Pittsburgh are better organized. organizations than Cleveland, and Cincinnati now has Joe Burrow. Tennessee appears Mike Vrable can really coach. Houston has Deshawn Watson. In Indianapolis, they'll go after a Brady, maybe a Bridgewater, but one of the best GM coaching combos in the AFC. Then there's the Raiders who, let's be honest about this, Gruden and Mayock can draft.

They've got all sorts of good offensive pieces and the energy of moving to Vegas. Patrick Mahomes is back and healthy. and the Chargers. Denver, by the way, let me throw this out there. I'll already make a bet. Denver's the most improved team in the league next year. Sneaky good hire by Pat Shermer, offensive coordinator.

This is a prime example. Don't waste my time backpacking across Europe out of college. Find yourself in college. I'm paying for four years. And my daughter's good about it. She's interning. She's moving. She's traveling.

I'm like, it's four years. Dad's paying all the bills. Find yourself. Friday's off. Stay home. Think. Where do I want to go? What do I want to do? Don't need to backpack and go to Europe. Go now while you're in college. Because you can walk out these little opportunities in life. The windows are brief. They don't last very long. And last year for Cleveland, all these misfirings and injuries and retirements and Big Ben, well, guess what? Big Ben's coming back. Lamar, Josh Allen, Donald have another year. Vrable and Tennessee, Buffalo and Sean McDermott, those are well-coached teams. Chances are Patrick Mahomes doesn't get hurt. And now Joe Burrow is in your division. Be ready. Backpack to Europe when you're retired.

Don't do it right out of college. Take your time in college to be a grown-up. It's why I rip quarterbacks at 21 if they're not ready. James Winston, Johnny Mansell, Baker Mayfield. teams don't have time for you to screw around. You're going to get people fired if you're not ready to go. I mean, Baker's gotten two coaches fired already. Lamar Jackson got John Harbaugh an extension.

He was ready to put in the work and not do commercials. All right, I want to talk about Joe Burrell because it's kind of fascinating. We got into this big discussion yesterday about Joe Burrell. And the way it works in the NFL, and I was told this years ago by a guy that's now big dog at the Atlanta Falcons, Rich McKay. Rich McKay built the Tampa Bay Buccaneers into a Super Bowl team. And Rich, I would interview or talk to Rich all the time. And he said, what I asked my scouts to do when he ran the Buccaneers is give me

comps on players. If you see a linebacker, who would he be at best? Who would he be the lower end? And so yesterday, Joel Clatt comes out and he gives you his comp. A little high end here, a little luxury version. His comp, I disagree, of Joe Burr. the LSU quarterback. I've been trying to come up with a comparison for Joe Burrow,

and there's not a current quarterback that you can compare him to. You know who Joe Burrow is? Who? Joe Montana, coming out of Notre Dame. It's eerily similar. Throws an ridiculously catchable ball. Have you ever noticed that it just like floats right into the hands? Okay, that's a little much for me.

Now, I do this every year. So when Jared Goff came out, I said, you know, high end was Matt Ryan, low end, Joey Harrington. And I think he is closer to Matt Ryan. When Carson Wentz came out, I said high end Andrew Luck, low end, Blake Bortles. People were outraged Baker Mayfield. I said low end, Johnny Mansell. He's a mass high end. He's a better version of Case Keenham.

By the way, Case Keenham 13 and 3 got to an NFC championship. I don't think Baker's going to do that anytime soon. But good enough to win if you give him the elements. So I was thinking about Joe Burrell, and we're watching him, and I'm thinking the way he ducks in the pocket. He's elusive. Not a burner. He throws a beautiful deep ball, often throwing it up for grabs, not afraid of interceptions. But then he can be very accurate, 60, 65 percent when he's really humming.

Watch the way he runs. Look at his elusiveness. He's not Lamar, but he's a very good athlete. He was also a good high school football player. and you didn't know who Joe Burrell was until he transferred to a big school. Do you know who his comp is? Low-end Nick Foles, but high-end Tony Romo. Even where the same number.

He's Tony Romo. And had Tony Romo transferred to LSU or Georgia, Alabama, or Oklahoma, you would have known who Tony Romo is, and he would have been drafted very high, and Tony Romo would have won 10 or 11 games. Nick Foles, by the way, was. offered basketball scholarships to Baylor and Georgetown. But he's not quite as elusive as Joe Burrow. Joe Burrow is Tony Romo.

He's got a good arm, but it's not special. He's athletic, but he's not a freak. Basketball, excellent at. Came from a family with some coaching. Likeable, smart, excellent leadership skills, willing to throw the ball up for grabs. He's a risk taker. Burrough's a risk taker, my kind of risk taker.

He doesn't play cautious football. Both are talented, but Romo was never gifted enough to overcome mostly bad offensive lines in his career. And Burrow is talented, but he was not even winning big at LSU until he got the right coach. He's not Deshawn Watson. He's not Russell Wilson that can just win despite average coaching, despite a conservative offense. Joe Burrow is Tony Romo. Same number, basketball skills, athletic, good arm not great, athletic but not a freak, willing to take risks, but can also be in the pocket a very accurate thrower. But I never felt Romo, like maybe an Aaron Rogers, was gifted enough or a Russell Wilson to overcome mediocrity on the O line, the coaching staff, the coordinator, or wide receiver.

Russell is, Aaron is. Romo wasn't. By the way, this is not a shot at Joe Burrow. Tony Romo has the fourth highest passer rating in league history. Tony Romo, had he transferred to a better school, would have gone very high in the draft. They're both six-three. Burroughs a little thinner than Romo, 8 to 10 pounds,

but Joe will probably put on weight a little pudding after getting smacked in the forehead a few times in Cincinnati. There's your comp. And I'm totally, every time you give a comp, people always take offense to it. What do you mean? What do you mean that Jared Goff is only Matt Ryan? Matt Ryan got to a Super Bowl. Jared Goff got to a Super Bowl.

But Jared Goff's not good enough to overcome Todd Gurley's injuries, and Matt Ryan's not special enough to overcome average offensive questions. coordinators. Gough is Matt Ryan. He can get you to his Super Bowl when the coaching's perfect and he's got elements, but he's not going to carry average stuff. Both throw a beautiful deep ball, but neither has a hose and neither is hyper athletic. I think Romo and Burrell look alike, same number, same basketball, same clever, same ducking, same willingness to take risks. I always love Romo. He had a short memory. Tony did not give a rip. He had to be coached out of risks. I'm for that. That's why I like

Darnold. I think it's right on. And you guys are all going to say the same thing. Oh, he's way better than Romo. Fourth highest passer rating in league history. By the way, you wonder who's ahead of him? Brady Russell Wilson and Aaron Rogers. Don't tell me if Tony Romo couldn't play. I actually don't

have a problem with that meter. Nick Foles won a Super Bowl and was a Super Bowl MVP. I mean, you could say whatever you want about it now. He's in Jacksonville. What quarterback has overcome Jackson, though? This is the lower end if things didn't go right. If Folls, but. If Joe Burrell doesn't turn out to be Joe Montana?

Yes. I think Romo is the high end and then Foles is the lower end. And for the record, my low end on this just got. Just won a Super Bowl and won a Super Bowl MVP. And got $22 million. Yeah. So there it is. Joe Montana is, by the way, you guys were all saying Baker is Drew Brees.

I was like, come on, come on. Well, I don't think it's fair to, again, I said this yesterday. I don't think it's fair to compare these guys to legendary, all-time, NFL 100, unique, one in a literal existence on planet Earth, men. Comparing's bad. Yesterday, I compared our dogs and my wife got mad at me. I said, I like Yosey more because she's sweeter. She goes, why do you have to compare everything?

I said, because Yosemite, Yosey comes up and looks my face, and sometimes a buddy is not as nice. And she goes, they both love you. You can't both love them? You're always comparing everything. It's a fair argument. And I was like, you're right. I like both our dogs, but I kind of like Yosey more because he looks to face more. One more herd.

The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week within the IHeart radio app. Search herd to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise.

breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context, and ask the questions everybody wants answered. Sports slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to Sports Slice on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of mental health awareness month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking, Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped. up in the chase, that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing. And we're still

chasing it. And we don't know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross, because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth. Are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Gaines, is we have real conversations about on healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, Learn the Hardway. Open your free iHeartRadio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now.

What's up, guys? This is Clever Taylor the 4th. And on my podcast, The Cliverts Show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff. Like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker walks up to me, he goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What? Time out.

Quarterback on office blue with 42. Hey, Wreck, my mama want you to weigh better. What? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Clippers show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. American soccer is about to explode. The World Cup is coming. Ramos sending on to Ernie Stewart the Chip.

I'm Tad Ramos. I'm Tom Bo. On our podcast, Inside America. soccer, you'll get the real storylines. I'm not worried about Policic. I'm not worried about Balagan. I'm not worried about McKinney. My only concern is what happens

in the back. The biggest decisions. If you're going to look at stats and numbers, he has no shot at making this World Cup team. And the truth about the U.S. national team. It wouldn't be a huge surprise if our team ends up in the quarterfinals or potentially a great

run into the semifinals. The World Cup is almost here. Experience at all? with us. Listen, inside American soccer with Tom Bogart and Tab Ramos on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, wherever you get your podcast. I just saw a stat this morning. Patrick Mahomes is 27 times more likely to come from behind and win a game he trails than Aaron Rogers. Now, that's pretty remarkable, right? And I believe one of the reasons is I always loved Andrew Luck. He throws picks. I love Carson Wentz. He throws picks. I love Sam Darnold. He throws picks. I love John Elway. He threw picks. I love Bradshaw. I love

Troy Aikman. Peyton Manning. They threw a bunch of picks. I'm not really into I never throw picks. It's what Bill Parcells used to tell Phil Sims. I'm not looking for, you know, 11 of 11. You've got to throw the ball down the field and make stuff happen. And especially, I think the Mahomes number with Aaron Rogers is important because Mahomes will throw some picks, not a ton, but he is a risk taker. And I think Aaron Rogers used to be more of a risk taker, but I think he's very sensitive with criticism, and I want to throw this out there. So yesterday, Favre has a radio show on some network, and he's talking about how impressed he is that Aaron Rogers doesn't throw interceptions and never turns it over, so here is

the audio tape here. It's tough to be good week in and week out year in and year. out and new faces, new receivers, new running backs, new offense. So this is more of a statement. I think what you've done obviously has been incredible. And I'm thoroughly impressed of how well you have played, how productive you have played, and how little you turn the ball over. To me, it's just baffling. Okay. It is a little baffling, but it's not necessarily a good thing. So I'm just going to throw this out. I'm going to speak for men here because men do this. I'm not going to speak for women. tend to protect their space in life.

They like to protect their little spaces, right? Like we don't enjoy the journey as much as we do the destination. We've got to win and compete and get that. So Brett Farve has a bunch of records in the record book. And Tom Brady's got a zillion records and six rings. And Peyton Manning's all over the record book. And Drew Breeze is all over the record book. Aaron Rogers is not.

He has one record that really means something to him. Passer rating. Number one all time barely. Interceptions are not good for his efficiency rating. And I think over the last four or five years, he's gotten too safe. Troy Aikman twice in the Seattle game pointed out, why isn't Aaron throwing the ball there? Aikman threw pecks. Aikman didn't care. Aikman was into winning. is that we tend to protect things. Aaron tends to be a little, a little sensitive to criticism. I think it's fair to say that. And all of his contemporaries are littered all over the record book for yards and winds and time.

And here's Aaron now with a couple of injuries. He's not going to last as long as Brady. He's not going to last as long as like a farve. And I think he's gotten protective of that passer rating thing, which goes down if you throw picks. It's also why Mahomes is 27 times more likely to be able to win a game he trails. Patrick's more of a risk taker. I loved Andrew Luck. I love Carson Wentz.

Deshawn Watson throws picks. I like playmakers. I think we make way too much of never throws picks. I'm not asking for him. Stretch the field. I've said this this year. If you take DeVante Adams out, Aaron won't throw to anybody else. He just won't throw the ball up.

And this week against San Francisco, you are not beating the 49ers with a safe. You know, Aaron led the NFL in throwaways last year. Just get it away. Throw some of those puppies up. And you cannot. Look, Minnesota lost this weekend of San Francisco. And there's a lot of reasons, but one of them was Mike Zimmer's game plan was way too conservative. When you fight Mike Tyson, you've got to come out swinging.

You've got to land punches or Mike Tyson can sense your, your, fighting scared. Minnesota played scared this weekend. Run the ball. Don't put Kirk in situations. No, no, no, no, you've got to go right after him. Lamar Jackson beat him. He went right after him. Russell Wilson doesn't play scared against San Francisco. Kyler Murray didn't play scared. They go right after him. Aaron Rogers, I think too often now in the last four or five years, is a play it safe guy. Leads the NFL in throwaways, doesn't throw any interceptions. and it's not that he's not great. I'm not saying that.

But do you know the last year that Aaron Rogers, the last year Aaron Rogers had double-digit picks, he won the Super Bowl. Sometimes, babe, got to let it go. You just got to throw it up the sidelines to somebody beyond Devante Adams. And if you play safe against the Niners, it's over, fast, because they'll sense it.

You're playing safe. Be sure to catch live editions of the Hurricanes. heard weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHard Radio app. I have always had kind of a theory in this business. I would rather get it right than be first. I used to work in local TV. This used to drive, I'm not going to mention names of the people that would do it, but it drove me crazy. You would be in a newsroom, and you would have all the stations on. You'd have all the stations on, and a story would come up, and everybody would be like, oh, they got it first. And I had an argument once with the news director, and I'm like, yeah,

but they got it wrong. I worked in Portland and one of the stations said, they're getting an NHL team. And so I made two calls, one to a facilities manager. And I said, are you getting an NHL team? He's like, no, why? I said, because it's on the news and my news director's yelling that I don't have the story. And he goes, well, the story's false.

And I'm like, that's what I told him. So I've never been into breaking the story. If I once or twice a year, I'll have information. I'll give you to break a story. But it's not my job. There's real reporters out there doing real, you know, foot soldier work. So yesterday, this Tom Brady story just went sideways, where Brady's moving to Connecticut.

He's cleaning out as sweet. Well, Tom Curran's, the guy I trust, said he doesn't have a house in Connecticut. He's got a house in New York and he's had it forever. And the sweet thing is overblown. Listen, there's only three teams Brady's going to go to. He's going to stay in New England. And the other two that even make any sense are the Colts and the Chargers. Okay, he's not, and I'll tell you why the Chargers doesn't work.

Everybody thinks it's L.A. They have a dubious offensive line. I would say the Spanoses have never been big spenders. Is Anthony Lynn a good coach? Who knows? Tom's not going to give his career up to a coach. Could be good, but Tom beat him by 30 the last time they faced him. And by the way, do you want to face Patrick Mahomes twice a year?

I don't. I mean, Tom's had the luxury of facing a lot of average quarterbacks. At 43, he wants to face Mahomes twice a year. I don't think it works. The Spanos has historically been a little frugal. We don't know if Anthony Lynn's good. Offensive line is an issue. It's the only part of the team I don't love, especially guard center guard.

and I don't think it works. And it's a new stadium that don't have a fan base much in Los Angeles. The second thing is the Colts. I think it's a great fit. I actually think if he was going to move, this would be it. Great young offensive line, terrific GM, smart head coach, a ton of tight ends, a decent running game, one over-the-top receiver. I think it works.

But Giselle Bunchen, his wife, is a supermodel, and they don't have any runway shows in Carmel, Indiana. and I think Tom has acknowledged many times how much his wife has sacrificed for him once you get to be older and you have choices like that it's one thing in your 20s where you make a lot of money and you tell your wife, hey, let's sacrifice for the family, blah, blah, blah. Once you get later in life, she now makes more than him,

I don't think he would pull her to Indiana. I just don't think. It's nothing against it, but it's not where supermodels hang. And I think he's coming back to New England. I think they get their center back, they get their kicker back, they got more drag. staff picks. I think they need to go out and spend, get a veteran,

Amari Cooper wide receiver, but I think it's much easier for Tom to stay in New England for one more year than, you know, getting his Gulfstream and go to another town and learn other places and learn a new staff and GM and all that stuff. I think it's just, it's too labor intensive. Tom Brady talked to Jim Gray yesterday about the contract stuff and everything that's out there. The contract things, I think, a week after the season, I would say these things haven't even started to pick up.

So that's really not my concern at this point. Like I said, I love playing football, and I love playing for this organization. So I really don't know what it looks like moving forward, and I'm just taking it day to day. So we're a week removed from the end of our season. There's a lot of time to figure these things out. I don't think any player or team is ready to make any commitments at this point. And I'm sure as the off-season progresses, you know, those things will take care of themselves. Let me shift to this.

The media loves stories, and I understand it because the media writes stories. and we report on stories. But the best story isn't the best coach, and the best story is not the best player. When Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook broke up, the better story was Russell Westbrook. The loyal soldier that stayed in Oklahoma City and got a triple double,

and the writers gave him the MVP, and he wasn't the most valuable player. Kevin Durant's a way better player and actually was more valuable because the team he went to was then unbeatable for several years. But the story Westbrook was a neat story. You know, LeBron, he's not a good story.

He's not as cool as story anymore. Let's be honest, we've been telling it for 15 years. People are looking for new stories. Ed O is a great story. It's a great story. As they joke on the internet, he sounds like an alligator if an alligator talked. People doubted him at USC, was fired at Ole Miss. He's an incredibly likable man with simple tastes.

He told Scott Van Pelt the other night, Coach, what are you doing after the game? He goes, going home to get a ham sandwich. I love ham sandwiches. That is Ed O. And I couldn't be happier for him. But you do realize Nick Saban loses stars, assistance, and coordinators for a decade, and they'll be way better than LSU next year.

Because yesterday, Joe Brady, his offensive guru, left, and so did Joe Burrow. And people forget this about Ed O. His first year he went six and two and got beat by Bama. His second year he got beat by Bama and lost a Troy at home. His third year, he had to win certain games or he was gone. three and again lost to Bama and was shut out two of the three years against Bama. And then Joe Brady happened and it turned it all around. Ed O is a great story, but Florida next year is going to be better.

George is going to be better. Clemson's going to be better. Bama's going to be better. And there's no Joe Burrow and there's no Joe Brady. And my guess is they take a step back. And that's okay. He got his title. He's a great story.

But I do think it's funny sometimes how the media falls and loves and picks and chooses, people forget this about Ed O. He'd been fired at Ole Miss. USC passed on him, and he lost to Troy at home in his second year, and he was given one more year. That was it. It was understood. And that next year he lost three games, went 10 and 3.

And they brought him back, but there were people, boosters, saying, you know, I don't. Urban Meyer was on our show yesterday, and he said, Ed O admitted. he almost got whacked. He almost got fired at LSU. Last year at the NFL draft, I'm sent with Coach Ogeron,

and he said, you realize your boy saved our jobs. And he was talking about Joe Burrow. And he wasn't talking about necessarily how great of a quarterback because he was still learning. He had a very workman-like career last year. But his leadership,

his ability to motivate others, inspire others, lift everybody else around them, their level of play, he looked me right in the eye and said, your boy saved our jobs. And that's one of the reasons I picked them to be in the playoffs right out of the jump because

the Osir on and because of Joe. By the way, the SEC West, which LSU is in, is easily the best conference in college football. Bama's going to be better. Auburn's got Bo Nicks back. Lane Kiffin's now in the conference. Jimbo Fisher's got his own team. Mike Leach. It will never be tougher than next year.

And Joe Brady's gone. And Joe Burroughs gone. And I think Ed will be successful. But if you told me six, seven years from now, is he still there? I say, no, he's a legend. It's the 85 Bears team. You don't think the Bears were, bears weren't just great in 85. They were good in 86, good the year before, but they were great in 85.

I think the LSU team is going to be one of those teams. We'll talk about the 2019 LSU team. But I think this is the peak. I don't think there's a repeat. I don't think you're going to see it again. And I do think it's interesting. I like Ed O and I'm rooting for him. but it's revisionist history.

He lost to Troy. And if not for Joe Burrow, a transfer, he has now fired twice. I mean, that's college football in the SEC West. Winning nine games, but losing the Bama three straight years shut out twice, it gets you fired. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd. Weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific.

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So T.J. Hushmanzada is joining us. Okay, so here's the thing about T.J.'s, very humble guy, blah, la, la, la. So he works out with a lot of these players. I don't want to, can I give some information away? Yeah, go ahead. Okay, so T.J. works out with all these guys. He's going to work out with Burrow here. yesterday he worked out with Justin Herbert's the Oregon quarterback so I lean on this guy a lot

for some of the information he sees this stuff so the first thing he said when he came in Justin Herbert for Oregon animal man oh man unbelievable cannon big like he's so big great arm good touch like it was probably ran routes for about 45 minutes to an hour you did I didn't I was out there watching, working with the guys that I work when they're running around. This is Oregon's quarterback. Oregon's quarterback and guys getting ready for the draft. And the way he's throwing the ball is, wow, it's unreal.

And by the way, calves, size. He's just a big dude. Like his lower body is huge. He's tall. It's just real thick. No, this kid, I mean, everybody, you know, Southern football fans don't acknowledge Denver West. I know there's one GM. I know one.

He's their number one. quarterback in the board. I mean, even out there. Stephen Montez from Colorado, great arm. We got some young quarterbacks right now are incredibly talented. Yes. Now, Burrow or Tua, I'm more Tua than Burrow. What about you?

I'm more Burrow. And I go back to, number one, Tua's injury history. He gets hurt a lot. I get it. I love his accuracy. So do I. I love his confidence. But it's like, Joe Burrow had a year that we've never seen before.

and Tua has played with great players his entire career at Alabama. Trevor Lawrence has all these quarterback. They've never had a season like Joe Burrow just had. That has to be, and we can't give, oh, man, Joe Brady comes in. What, is Joe Brady just putting guys on the moon all of a sudden? Like, he didn't invent football. Like, Joe Burrow had to be able to execute that off. And so you have to give him that credit.

Oh, he didn't start at Ohio State. Could it just be that? He just wasn't physically as talented as those guys right out of high school, so he never really got the chance he should have got. By the way, this happens all the time in life. People are late blooms intellectually, emotionally, physically. Some guys, you know, Zion Williamson, probably at eight years old was the biggest kid in class. There's all sorts of athletes who are late bloomers.

I grew seven inches as a senior. Like some guys grow later. My son's grown much earlier. Anthony Davis, a prime example. He was a guard in high school and then grew eight inches. So Joe Burrell could have been one of those kids just developed later emotionally, physically, and he got to the right spot. And it's also when you come into college, and this is just the truth,

the guys that are the four and a five-star recruits, they're going to get more opportunities than a two-and-three-star. So they get more opportunity to fail. And so being behind Dwayne Haskins, high recruit, J.T. Barrett, high recruit, it was too much for him to climb up that depth chart because they would have to be terrible and you have to be perfect. This is just like baseball. If you're a high draft pick in baseball,

a first or a second pick, the organization's going to give you a million opportunities. If you're a 37th round guy and you hit 350 in the spring, they're still going to give the prospect who they spent money on, who hit $2.80 in the spring and go, well, he's got a much higher ceiling. When I used to be in minor league baseball,

there were all these guys, the question was, oh, it's, well, where did they get drafted? If you were invested in the player, then he got called up in September because everybody wanted to validate their draft pick. They were like, listen, I'm not going to. Now, I want to ask you about this about Joe Burrell. I read this on the internet yesterday. And I have defended players who have done this.

I can be pro-owner for some things, but I think organizations have a responsibility and that if you work as a college player and you're the number one pick and the Cleveland Browns are there, I don't have a problem if you're like, time out. You've fired nine coaches in 10 years. I'm not playing for you. John Elway did it, and I defended him. Eli Manning did it. He said, I'm not going to go to the Chargers.

I'm going to go to the Giants. By the way, in both instances, it paid off. Joe Burrow looks at the Bengals and says, that is very from Ohio. His dad is a coach. They should have some type of idea of what they want to do. Now, you just got to meet with people, hopefully make the right decision.

And I've said this to Joy, I believe it was last week. Carson Palmer is one of the best quarterbacks to ever playing the NFL. And I'm probably one of the few people that believe that. Because you played with them. I played with them. But I've also trained with other guys in the NFL that you guys consider the best. Who you trained with? I mean, when I was, I've trained with Brady.

I've trained with Aaron Rogers when he would come out and throw. Train with Drew Breeze, AJ Feely when he was playing. So many different guys. Was Carson as good as any of them? He was better. The way he threw the ball, his arm strength, and the ball when he threw you a ball, it was so catchable.

It was like it was so easy to catch. And that's what it's very accurate, very big. Carson was fast. Never got credit for being athletic because he was taught to stand in the pocket and throw the ball. But just straight line speed, Carson could really run. And so he'll never get that credit.

I don't know if Joe can go to Cincinnati and all of a sudden things change. I don't know. This is one of the reason I'm not as high on him. They've always been cheap with scouting. They're not a deal-making organization. They've never had the kind of ownership that I trust, like in Philadelphia or New England,

that I think can win championships or Baltimore. I mean, you played in Cincinnati in Baltimore. You told me the first week you were in Baltimore. you're like, oh, this is how an NFL operation should be run. I never thought of it. This is the thing that will help him in Cincinnati is weapons. If they can resign AJ Green, he can play. They have Joe Mixing, Tyler Boy, John Ross, Tyler Eifers. So offensively, he'll have weapons.

That right there, but when we played in Cincinnati, we had weapons. And so it's like I refer back to that and you just don't know. T.J. Hushman's Auto. Okay, let's talk about this. Keekley's retirement. I thought it was a great day for football. I've said, no hitting until high school, lighten up in the practices, more guaranteed money for pros, and you guys can say bye-bye at 30 and have $28 million in the bank. I thought yesterday was a great day. I thought it was a great day when Patrick Willis, Calvin Johnson, said, Gronk, said, I got my stacks of cash, I got my health. I'm going to go

on TV and talk about football. What was your initial reaction to Luke Keekley retiring? I was shocked, to be honest with you. And then when you delve into it, a ton of concussions. If you ever met him in prison, he's not very big. He's not a big deuce. You're like, he played a little linebacker? He's just not big. And the last concussion he had, he cried.

Like, he literally cried on the field. And this is something that he's thought about self-awareness of saying, man, if I feel like this at 28, 29, dude, in 10 years, how is my quality of life going to be? tough decision, but the decision is much easier when you have $30, $40 million cash in the bank. That makes the decision a lot easier to say, God, I love football, but financially I'm okay.

And for me, it's a good thing and it's also a bet. You don't want parents seeing this. Like, when I have a son, he's going to play football if he wants to actually plays flag now. By the time he gets, he's not going to play tackle football until he's in high school. but the game is safer than it's ever been, that awareness. Guys, by the time he starts playing, they're not lowering their head anymore to hit.

They're just going to tackle you. TJ, you know this. High school college and even pro practices, they don't hit. They're not in pads like they used to be. You get a high school coach that really is aware. Yes. It's just because of the awareness that's being brought about these big hits, head problems. Coaches are so much more aware in your physical well-being.

is taking into account more than ever at a lower level. Yeah. So let me, we got two games this weekend, Titans, Chiefs, Niners, Packers. I'm just going to concentrate on one. I watch the Niners Packers and I think Green Bay's in trouble. The last five Aaron Rogers playoff losses, he's lost to all those teams in the regular season, too. There are times when I watch games and I think, I don't care about the schemes, they got way more dudes than that team's got dudes.

How does Green Bay win? They can't. They can win if San Francisco turns the ball over four times. And that's still going to be a close game. As great as Aaron Rogers is, as good as Devonte Adams is, they're not blocking Nick Bosa, DeForest Bunkner, D Ford, Eric, they're not blocking those. Now they have pawn Alexander back. The 49ers up front are so good.

Richard Sherman is playing very well in the secondary. How about Richard Sherman? How about that year? Boy out there, like. I thought he was done. that's what when you're smart, that self-confidence, that self-belief in yourself that he has, you think they're going to let Devante Adams beat him? They're not going to do that.

They're not going to let Devon. Seattle single-handedly let Devonte Adams beat him. The 49ers aren't. And they have a defensive line that can say, okay, we're going to put pressure on you. Whether we put Richard Sherman on Devante Adams or not, he's not going to be. I don't see any way Green Bay can win unless Jimmy, and those guys implode and turn a ball over. T.J. Hushmanzada. Can I read one more spot?

Let's go. Listen, sometimes you get, you know, you're good with finance. You're very, you're very, you're very, you're very, you're very, you're very, you're very, very, you're very frugal. I try to be. Do you ever have to say to the significant people in your life, hey, no more shopping. What? I don't know if my wife is watching this, there's been plenty of times. I'm like, man, if you buy another purse for that price, man, do not do it. Oh, plenty of times. You know what I say to my wife? Yes. You know what I say to my wife? I'm going to go broke with you saving money. I told my wife, if she spent money like I did, we'd have a lot more.

Yeah, I don't know what it is about you women. I really don't like this person. Unbelievable. We like to shop. Have you ever tried it? It's really fun. I don't get it. Now like Amazon, it's like Christmas, like every week.

She just said that I really like shopping on Amazon. It's wonderful. It's wonderful. Like, you know, stop buying stuff. I'm sitting on you tube looking at. Last night. a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind,

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

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

We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Rob. Robert Smigel and Friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, guys? This is Clivert Taylor the Fourth. And on my podcast, The Clivert Show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff. Like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker, this linebacker walks up to me. He goes, A, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What?

Time out. Quarterback on office blue 42. A rep. My mama want you to wave at her. What? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Cliverts show on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. American Soccer is about to explode.

The World Cup is coming. Ramos sending on to Ernie Stewart the Chip. I'm Tab Ramos. I'm Tom Boeh. On our podcast, Inside American Soccer, you'll get the real storylines, the biggest decisions, and the truth about the U.S. national team. It wouldn't be a huge surprise if our team ends up in the quarterfinals

or potentially a great run into the semifinals. Listen, Inside American Soccer with Tom Bogart and Tabramos on the iHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, wherever you get your podcast. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.