The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Best of The Herd for Jul 08, 2020

Episode Date: July 8, 2020

An ESPN poll shows that a lot of people in the NFL know nothing about QuarterbacksThere is no "right way" to leave a team in the NBARussell Wilson should look at Mahomes and get madPatrick Mahomes knows what matters to successful peopleWho is worth a 12 year contract in sports?Guest: Dana White, UFC President live from Fight Island 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. On the Look Back at it podcast. From 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84 is 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. I mean, 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. Hey, what's good, y'all?

You're listening to Learn the Hard Way with your favorite therapist and host Kear Games. This space is about black men's experiences, having honest conversations that it's really not safe to have anywhere, but you're having them with a licensed professional who knows what he's doing. How many men carry a suit or armor? It signals to the world that you not to be played with. And just because you have the capability that does not mean that you need to, listen to learn the hard way on the IHard radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. 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. is the best of the herd with Colin Cowher on Fox Sports Radio. It is a Wednesday. We are live in Los Angeles. This is The Herd. Wherever you may be and however you may be listening, iHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, and right here on FS1, HAC show today. Dana White next hour joining us from Fight Island. Tony Gonzalez, Hall of Fame, Tide Ends, joining us to Joy Taylor. Co-pilot today, Joy, how are you?

I'm great. I can't wait for Fight Island. This has been like a dream of mine since I was a kid. I love Bruce Lee. Oh. And the Dragon, Hans Island. Hopefully it's a little bit more pleasant than Hans Island was. It actually is with all the cases spiking in America.

It's actually a brilliant move by UFC. They've just got, went into their... own island and they're they're they're the first to do the bubble yeah and it's worked it'll work okay so i want to start with this um i tell young people all the time put your head down work hard you'll get your chances you don't even have to be great if you're good if you're focused if you're competent you may not be successful in your 20s it may take mid 30s early 40s but if you work hard you'll be successful and you don't have to be gifted. Just be competent because there's so much incompetence out there.

I've been in this business 30 years. There's a reason you only know one baseball agent, Scott Boros, because there's a lot of bad ones. There's bad pilots. I mean, even jobs where you need qualifications like a surgeon, there's bad surgeons. Years ago, I was having breathing problems. I went to a surgeon about my nose.

he basically wanted to reconstruct my face, break bones, everything. I thought, that seems severe. I called a friend of mine very respected in medicine. He goes, well, let me give you two people in the state of Connecticut. Drove down an hour. Both of them are like, that's the opposite of what you should do. They were like, that's an incompetent surgeon. You could have sued him.

He was a surgeon. I know the medical school he went to. He was incompetent. The two other surgeons were like, he doesn't know what he's talking about. It's a cartilage issue. It's no big deal. Take an hour, barely invasive. The point being, you see these airplane crashes.

A lot of times it's just pilot air. Very rarely mechanical. And so I saw this came out today. 50 league executives, coaches, scouts, were asked to stack the top 10 players at 11 different football positions. I'm just going to go quarterback. We don't want to talk about guards and centers. So these are executives, general managers, scouts, creme de la crem coaches.

Patrick Mahomes and Russell Wilson are one and two. That's the good news. They got that right. But they show the highest and the lowest ranking each of them got. Somebody thought Patrick Mahomes was the fourth best quarterback in the league. Somebody thought Russell was the ninth best quarterback. Somebody thought Lamar Jackson was the 12th. Somebody thought Carson Wentz was the 14th.

Somebody thought Dak Prescott and Matt Stafford were the fourth best quarterbacks. What? Did your TV not work at the end of last year in Philadelphia? Carson Wentz carried a scout team to the playoffs. Lamar Jackson was MVP. Are you watching the games? Is the television set not working? Now, Lamar Jackson's young.

I get it. I get it. There are critics. I'm not one, but they're critics. But we've seen Matt Stafford for nine years, ten years. Fourth? I've seen Dak Prescott for several with a great O-line, with great receivers, with a great back. Fourth, folks, there is incompetency everywhere.

I'm a sportscaster. I love football. I watch it. I went on the air when Johnny Mansell and Tim Tebow were taken in the first round. And I said the day of, they're not NFL quarterbacks. These are not franchise quarterbacks. You cannot build a first round quarterback is 12. years, they don't have to be Patrick Mahomes.

You don't have to be that good. You don't have to be, you know, Terry Bradshaw. You don't have to be Peyton Manning. I'm not saying that. But if you draft the quarterback in the first round, you are saying this is 12 years, this will work in the NFL. Tim Tebow? Years ago, I worked in Tampa.

Rich McKay ran the franchise. A really smart guy now. He's in Atlanta. He does operations. Really, really smart guy. He's been in a lot of boards in the NFL. And in Tampa, the Florida Gators are very popular football team. So Danny Werfel, and, you know, he was just tearing up college football.

And Rich didn't want to criticize him publicly because he's a nice kid. And there's no reason to offend your local fans. But he told me off the air, I can say it now. He's like, no, he can't play in the NFL. It's not an NFL quarterback. He's a very good college quarterback. He can't make the NFL throws. He got drafted in the fourth round.

I mean, Danny Werfel. So the one GM at the time, I've got more sources now. But the one GM at the time I had direct access to was like, no, no, no, no, no. that's not an NFL quarterback. Dan, he's a great kid, and you could have him carry a clipboard, but he can't make all the throws. Mike Ditka drafted him.

He's a winner in college. Florida always has quarterbacks that win. Work hard, stay focused, head down. You'll be successful in life. Don't be a victim. Don't blame point fingers. You will be successful. Just work hard.

Somebody in the NFL currently with a job thinks Lamar Jackson's the 12th best quarterback. Carson Wentz is 14 and Russell Wilson's 9. And Matt Stafford's 4. I like Matt Stafford. I get paying him. But somebody thought Patrick Mahomes and Matt Stafford and Dak Prescott were the same quarterback. I don't know what to do.

I can't help you on that. Work hard, head down. Stay focused. Eat your vegetables. Go to bed early. Some point in your life, you will get opportunities. competency will get you employed. Not even great.

Competency will get you employed. All right, 10 years ago today, it was egregious. It was outrageous. It was polarizing. I was deeply offended. 10 years ago today, it was a moment. It's like man landing on the moon. It's so memorable.

LeBron James, as a free agent, had the audacity 10 years ago to the day to outrageously say this. The answer to the question everybody wants to know. LeBron, what's your decision? And this fall, man, this is very tough. And this fall, I'm going to take my town to South Beach and join the Miami Heat. Miami Heat. That was the conclusion you woke up with this morning. That was the conclusion I woke up with this morning.

Yeah, that was audacious, wasn't it? 27-year-old nervous kid, sweating, said I'm going to take my towels to South Beach. Woo! I still to this day, I get angry. The reason I supported LeBron 10 years ago is the reason I'm going to support him today. There is no right way for players to break up. You're the issue, not the player. We should have some breakup music for this, John.

I'm going to give you five different examples of how players have tried to leave cities, five different ways completely for the breakup, and you have crushed all of them. Let's start with Carmelo Anthony. Do you remember how he did it? Carmelo Anthony. The breakup with Carmelo Anthony was, we can put it out here, it's not you, it's me. Remember? He said, Denver's great.

The coaches are great. He just said, listen, I'm from the East Coast. New York City is more me. He did the, it's not you, it's me breakup. He gave him a long tail on this. He just kept saying, man, it's been great. I love Denver. I love Denver.

But, you know, I grew up in, I think, Baltimore. I'm more of an East Coast guy. I played at Syracuse. I want to go back. You crushed him. All right. Let's go to the next one. So the next breakup was, go ahead, guys in back.

You throw it up. It was Letter on the Nightstand from Kevin Durant. Remember the Players Tribune? The next chapter at my life. He broke up delicately. He said, I want growth. It's the next chapter in my life. It was kind of finesse.

It wasn't angry. It wasn't harsh. It was, I'm growing. It was very kind, actually. I just feel like it's the next chapter in my life. You absolutely crushed him. All right. Now, let's go to the next breakup.

Paul George, the private breakup. It's classy. Listen, I love you, but let's just do this. No hurt feelings. I'm not going to humiliate you. I'm not happy. I'd like to go play out Los Angeles. He did the private.

breakup. And you crushed him. Remember, the organization, he even said, trade me. Make a trade now a year in advance, a private breakup. And you crushed him. All right, let's go to another breakup. How about we go to the, um, Anthony Davis, ghosted the girlfriend. So Anthony Davis came out. He just disappeared. He just stopped playing. Where do you go? He won't return my text, my calls. Where do you go? He ghosted the the Pelicans. And he got booed at home. So he tried the ghosting. And you crushed him. And finally, the one that started it all, LeBron was hyper-aggressive. I'm going to embarrass you. I'm going to humiliate you. I'm going to announce my new girlfriend right on television.

And you crushed him. Translation, they tried every different way. You rip them every time. It's not my responsibility to protect your feelings. It's your responsibility to give me great players I can play with if I'm an all-time talent. And you've got a brace for the breakup. Cleveland, he held a press conference. You don't hold press conferences to stay. He was leaving. You couldn't get him a second all-star.

He was putting up all-time numbers and still losing. You thought he was going to call the press conference to stay? this is why I'm always going to support the NBA superstar. There's only two sports in the world, not even football, as good as Patrick Malmes is. If he didn't have a great coach, if he didn't have those weapons, if their defense didn't play well at the end of the year, Kansas City does not win the Super Bowl. They trailed midway through the fourth.

He needs Andy Reid. He needs the O-line. He needs Tyreek Hill. He needs Travis Kelsey. He needed Chris Jones. He needed the defense. It's a community. In the NBA and an international soccer,

the star player does control the sport. And especially if the star player can bring one other great star player guarantees success, often guarantees titles. It is not that star's responsibility to brace you for the breakup. Get him better players. If you couldn't figure out in Oklahoma City that Russell Westbrook was not a winning player with Kevin Durant, that is a you problem. If Dan Gilbert and Cleveland fans couldn't figure out,

LeBron didn't have one other high-level player. That is a you problem. I support the play. Even Mello, who I'm critical of, Mello gave you a year and you crushed him. I mean, he did it as classy as you could. It's not you, it's me. I'm an East Coast guy.

I love it here in Denver. It's great. The Mile High City, very nice. It's very nice weather. It's high desert. Everything. It was like, but I'm kind of an East Coast guy. You crushed him.

And I always, when I always laugh at LeBron James, he wasn't even cocky. Run the tape again. He's not even cocky. He looks nervous. He's honestly, LeBron's a pretty confident guy. LeBron looks like a kid who put on a really nice dress shirt, wanted to be really classy, and he's sitting down in a chair, and he looks a little scared. Watch.

The answer to the question everybody wants to know. LeBron, what's your decision? And this fall, man, this is very tough. And this fall, I'm going to take my town to South of Beach and join the Miami Heat. Miami Heat. That was the conclusion you woke up with this morning. That was the conclusion I woke up with this morning. Really?

You're outraged by that. Okay. Boy, I tell you, we have an outrage culture. It started with that. I don't remember as a kid, everybody being outraged. That was the day the outrage culture in America started. You were outraged by that. He's so nervous.

He almost stutters a little bit. He starts to talk and he's like, oh, like this is a lot. I've been on TV a lot in my life. I can tell when somebody's uncomfortable. He is uncomfortable doing it. Because he knows how he knows how his city is going to react. So this is why I support players leaving. They try it.

They break out with you nine different ways. You hate them every time. Well, we were the new girlfriend, so. That's right. I'm with me. That's right. Miami was the new girlfriend with the aqua water in the backyard. Can you blame her?

We were thriving. 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 reality. actions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to

controversial calls, we break it down, give you context, and ask the questions everybody wants answered. Sports Slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to Sports Slice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slic Life 12 and the 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 Jek. 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 this is the second episode where we've discussed crack so I'm starting to see there's a through line We also have AIDS on the table right now so

I'm 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 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, Tript 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, 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. What's up, guys? This is Clever Taylor the 4th. And on my podcast, The Cliverts Show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff, like being an internet famous referee.

We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker, this 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, ref, my mama want you to wave at her. What?

Where's she at? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Cliverts show on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. I'm not really kind of a jealous guy, but I would say early in my career 10, 15 years ago, there were times I watched other people and thought, man, they get great support. Because you can only do, if you don't get support in any business, it doesn't matter how great you are. You could be a great surgeon. You need a good chief of staff.

You need good equipment. You need good nurses. You need good support, financial support. So like there were times in my life early in my career. I feel I have it now and I have for years. But there were a lot of times early I'd be like, I'm not jealous of the money. I just want the support, the marketing, the promotion, the support. And one of the great things about Patrick Mahomes, and this is why he signed the contract.

He said it yesterday basically is this is one of the few places in the NFL. You know you're going to get the support. Owner, GM, head coach for the next 10, 12 years. There's not many of them. And this is where Russell Wilson comes in. I could see Russell Wilson, not the envious type, right? looking at Patrick Mahomes and thinking, day one, GM support, scheme support, weapon support, coach support, they even kept Alex Smith around to mentor him for a year.

Now, I'm not saying Patrick's not great, but we all know that Brady's success is tied to the support system. And Carson Palmer's less successful years were tied to less than successful support. Think about Russell Wilson. This morning, pro football focused ranked the Seattle. offensive line, 28th in the NFL. The defense, I'll give you the chart last several years. Seattle's defense was number one back in 2013. It's now to second to fifth to 11th to 16th.

Last year, it was 26th. They don't draft particularly well several iffy first and second round picks in the last four to five years. The difference between Mahomes and Russell Wilson, and they are the the two best quarterbacks. One guy is being supported philosophically with weapons, with coaching and schemes every day. The other guy is saving a deteriorating franchise. Owner, Paul Allen died. Seattle's looking for another one. General manager, Rashad Penny first round, what are you doing? Coach, the defense doesn't work anymore.

I mean, Pete Carroll's defense is getting gash last two years. That doesn't mean they're not competent, but the philosophy of Seattle, defense, coach, run game, the philosophy, and the philosophy of Mahomes is, let's support this all-time talent. The difference is Kansas City gets they have an all-time talent. Seattle doesn't. Their offensive lines are bad. They've never, they've never had an elite wide receiving core. Their philosophy is anti-quarterback win the game.

They have a Jurassic. I mean, it's such an outdated offense. And Russell Wilson's been begging for the last two years. Can I have more input on the offense? Patrick Mahomes doesn't have to beg. In fact, Patrick Mahomes has had impact on who the chief's draft. They've asked him, which receiver do you think works? Do you think they do that in Seattle to Russell Wilson?

You ought to be kidding me. He just begs for support. I can see Russell looking at that and saying, listen, I love where I'm at, and I got my Super Bowl. But man, the philosophy in Canada. We have the two best quarterbacks in the league. The philosophy in Kansas City is total support built around him. The philosophy in Seattle sometimes feel like it's antagonistic.

They both have one Super Bowl. I think they'll both win another. But man, I can see Russell Wilson looking at that and saying, I am a little jealous of the philosophical weapon coaching schematic support Mahomes gets in Kansas City. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays at noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHeart Radio app. I'm always impressed. You know, let's say your parents went to Harvard,

and then you go to Harvard, and you could say, oh, you're book smart. Well, that's fine. But, you know, you don't really control your intellect. I mean, if you have smart parents, they give you genetically their intellect. I mean, a lot of smart kids had smart parents, right? But what I'm always impressed with is not the IQ. It's the EQ, emotional intelligence. That blows me away.

I'm always blown away when you find a 24-year-old kid and he really gets it. A lot of 24-year-old kids are tech whizzes. You know, they're on computers all day. But that's fine. That's impressive. But when somebody really gets it, a young person that they understand macro and big picture and how they affect others, I'm always like, that's good parenting. That's rare.

Patrick Mahomes is classic. So Drew Brees and Tom Brady figured it out much later in their career. If I take less money, I get better people around me. So a lot of media people who have low EQs didn't get Patrick Mahomes signing a long-term deal, which is actually, if you look at the numbers, kind of team-friendly. Patrick Mahomes got it. One of the things, just think about this, if Patrick Mahomes takes every last penny, worst defense, has to win by shootout,

Has to pass now 40 times. Probably can't pay for a great left and right tackle, gets hit more, gets sacked more. But if he passes 34 times a game with a better left tackle and a better right tackle and a better defense, there'll be days. Patrick Mahomes can turn, hand it off, seal that puppy up late third, win the game.

Big picture thinking. If you're trying to get every penny out, you're going to have to win by shootout. Translation, you'll have to throw more. Translation, you'll get hit more. And Mahomes was talking about that. that yesterday, how he talked to his dad, it was a former athlete, about being part of getting the money thing off the table, the stress, and saving a little long term. So the entire franchise isn't

reliant on you throwing 43 times every Sunday. Obviously, being able to talk to my dad about it, be able to talk to LaTroi about it, and them going to the process of they didn't sign that long-term contract, but they saw players who did and they saw players who went about it and how they kind of got that long-term security and were able to go out there and play free, knowing that they had the security that they had always wanted. I think the biggest thing that they kind of preached to me is kind of the same thing that I had already thought, and it was good just to hear them is that you want to have great players around you. You don't want to be a guy that takes up all the money, and then all of a sudden you're having to find different guys that will take

cheaper deals. We're going to be able to reward players and keep a lot of these guys around that I've built the culture even before I was here. Totally gets it. It's like 24 years old. Brady figured it out later. Breeze figured it out later. But for the young guys to get it, like, I don't want to be 44 throws a game. Like you got to understand in this league, it's a salary cap sport.

It also shows that he's secure in himself, that he's not driven by money, that in the end, when you're really, really great, you don't have to project. You have confidence in yourself. and confidence in yourself is I'm chasing goat status, not biggest bank account status. He knows,

man, I got to Andy Reid. I can start stacking these things. I may get four Super Bowls. So that shows me an incredible amount of confidence that it's not about my bank account. I'm going to make a lot of money. If I do this right, I'm going to have a Pro Bowl left tackle,

a Pro Bowl tight end, a Pro Bowl defensive end, a Pro Bowl corner, a Pro Bowl Mike linebacker. you know, just a very impressive guy, not just a quarterback. You know, he also, and Terry Bradshaw, by the way, brought up something on yesterday's show that the titles, they become part of you. They stick to you. Like, the money doesn't stick to you.

You'll spend that. The government will take half. Your agent will take some. But Bradshaw talked about what people talk about 30 years later. I've never had a soul ever, ever asked me. Hey, Bradshaw, how much money did you make? Hey, Bradshaw, how many yards did you throw for? Hey, Bradshaw, how many touchdown passes did you throw for?

They always wonder what? Show me the ring. That is what this is about. Patrick understands. This is a lot of money. It is. There was another moment where Mahomes talked about how he wanted a long-term deal because Kansas City is one of the few teams.

And I'm going to let Patrick say this. Kansas City is one of the few teams that he'd feel comfortable signing this deal with. You can't do this with every single organization. We have an organization with the stability and the culture that we have in the chief organization. I felt very comfortable and had a lot of trust that I could do a contract like this, knowing that we're going to have that same stability by the time I'm at the end of that contract. It's remarkable how rare it is. Kansas City's got an A-owner Hunt family,

A-GM, Brett Veach, a-coach, A-coach, Andy Reid. And you start saying, oh, that must be like eight, nine teams like that. I count three. Kansas City, Philadelphia, Baltimore. You say, what about New England? Well, they don't have a real general manager. And I don't like the way they draft. I don't.

I don't think they draft particularly well. Well, Seattle. Well, their owner passed away. The daughter doesn't want to own it. And John Schneider doesn't really have power as a GM. all Pete Carroll's franchise. Well, what about San Francisco? We were crushing Jed York when he hired Jim Tom Sulla and Chip Kelly.

That was five years ago. We were crushing him. Pittsburgh, they've got a lot of high grades. I'm not sure it's all an A. Indianapolis. Owners too impulsive. I count three in the league. KC. Philly, Baltimore.

I get a supportive owner that doesn't meddle. I get a great GM who has a very good relationship with a coach. but the GM makes the calls. The GM makes the picks. And a head coach who creates a system based on the players. It's not my system, Seattle, and you just try to work your way around it. It is rarefied air. This is why it works in Kansas City.

He's got the owner, the GM, the coach. And man, you start looking around this league. I got Philly, Kansas City, Baltimore. That's it. Aaron Rogers, they don't have an owner. And they frankly haven't taken advantage of some of Aaron's talent. Seattle, I just talked about that last hour. Don't take advantage of Russell Wilson's talent.

Even the teams that we think, oh, they have a good fan base, they have good money, they have some good players, they have a good coach. To really get the AAA, owner-GM coach, so rare, so rare in this league. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. This is one of the reasons UFC has worked during COVID. They don't care what Twitter thinks. The bottom line is they want to get fights on. This is hard for American business. I mean, I'm coming into my building now getting tested multiple times.

You've got to at some point realize that young athletes may get it. It can't stop your sport. And I give UFC a lot of credit for this. I've said before, SEC football, NASCAR, and UFC. They're hyper-aggressive sports. Timid is not getting through COVID-19. If you look at the data, athletes, young athletes are the safest. And Dana White can ruffle feathers, but I think what they've done is really smart and really aggressive.

And I can't wait to watch it. watched every card they've had during COVID, and Dana's the president of UFC. He is joining us now via the Coward Global Satellite Network. So, you know, Dana, you got some pushback initially, and we kept saying on the air, folks, you better have guts on this. You better not sit on Twitter because you got to push back on this thing. We can't be paralyzed in the economy. You go three months ago, Dana, you were getting a lot of heat for this.

Did it bother you at any point? Were you cautious at any point thinking I'm going too far and just going to be a against COVID. Very well said. I agree with you 100%. And it's not that I ever felt like, you know, there was too much heat. It was just incredible the amount of people that tried to stop it from happening. Literally, you know, mixed martial arts reporters, people who cover this sport, who get paid to cover this sport, were doing everything in their power to try to stop our events. And obviously they were not successful. And we have been very very, very good. successful throughout this thing. Now, I don't know much about Yaz Island. I saw the pictures and I said,

get me there fast. Was it your first option? Did you know about it before this? Well, what happened was when Kabib got stuck in Russia and, you know, it was looking like I wasn't going to be able to get him out for the Tony Ferguson fight, I started looking at Abu Dhabi and, you know, they said we have an island available that you guys can do the fight on. You could do it over at Yaz Island. I've had a lot of experience out here in Abu Dhabi. These people are brilliant forward thinkers who, you know, everything we've done with them has been first class. I knew that these were the right guys to do it with.

And again, I was right. These guys are amazing. So this weekend, the Welterweight Championship fight, and I've told you this before, I'm not sucking up. I think you put on wildly entertaining cards. The Tony Ferguson card, and I said this, it was one of those two best cards I've ever seen. I thought it was unbelievable.

I think Gaichi was on that. It was Justin Gaichi and Tony Ferguson. I didn't know much about Gaichi. Now I've had them on the show. So this weekend you've got Kamaro Uzman, Jorge Mosvidal. That's your headline fight for somebody that is a casual UFC fan. What are we going to see? Well, thank you, first of all, and I agree.

These kids have fought in these fights like we were in sold-out-packed arenas. It's been incredible. They're the reason that this sport has taken off the way that it has. And if you are a casual, I am sure that this has already spilled over. You've already heard about the Usman-Mazbadov fight. This is one of the major fights. If this wasn't going on right now, we'd be in some big sold-out arena in New York. or Vegas or somewhere else.

This is a great fight between the champion, Kabarra Usman, versus Jorge Maspedal, who has been on a tear lately. This kid has become a superstar in the last year and a half with his knockout over Till and his incredible, like, five or seven-second flying knee knockout over Ben Ascran. This is a real fight.

And this is the fight that the people wanted to see. This is the fight that the fans wanted and now they're going to get it. You know, go back, go back to the beginning and to today. It feels like to me the quality of UFC fighters is better. There's more disciplines. There's better fighters. There's a new wave of young people.

I've always wondered, where do you find them? Because, you know, you could have gone, you've had the opportunity to go sticky. And you could have gotten NFL guys that retired a lot of them. And you've said, no, no, no, no, I'm going to find the next great crop of of guys and grow with them. Can I just ask, where do you find them? Where do your scouts hang out? Where do you see these guys?

So what's happened in the last 20 years is the sport has evolved and the athletes have evolved from the training, nutrition, the list goes on and on. And now we're getting kids because there's so much more money involved in the sport. We're getting kids that would have played other sports that would have been good football players, good basketball players, whatever it might be, that are turning into professional fighters instead. And these fights go on every weekend all over the world. And our guys keep an eye on every one of these fights,

know who the up-and-coming talent is. And when we have our matchmaking meetings, they bring them to me and make me aware of who they think is the next big thing. You know, it is interesting. Connor McGregor's always, you know, Connor McGregor's a salesman. I get it. I find him entertaining.

I've said before he fights all watch. But what's interesting about Connor now, Dana, I just don't think, I think you have better fighters. And that's not a shot at him. I just think the sports evolved. I don't think he's one of the top two or three fighters. If I said to you, Connor McGregor, is not a top five UFC talent right now. Is that a shot at him?

Am I unrealistic? Am I accurate? And that's not, again, I'm not an expert here. But I just think you have better fighters than him. I understand. Yeah, no, there's no doubt that Connor McGregor is one of the best in the world. What's going on with Connor McGregor is what goes on. with all professional fighters when they become extremely wealthy.

And Connor McGregor is rich. And he, you know, he gets to pick and choose what he wants to do now. And he's at that point in his career where he's got a few fights left. And I think he wants to, you know, as of right now, he's retired. I wouldn't be surprised if he came out and wanted to fight somebody next year after all these different fights play out. You know, when you look at your, this weekend's card, and we're dealing with, you know, COVID, period, it's difficult. Is it, when you have your relationships with your fighters, some can be married, people are having kids, blah, blah, blah, you're dealing with everything that Americans are dealing with. What are the relationships like with your top fighters and their worries about this?

Is it been, take me inside. How difficult has it been? you're battling what Adam Silver is battling in the NBA and Roger Goodale, except the difference is you're now, you're playing. How difficult is it? I actually think that throughout this thing, it's made me and my staff stronger and me and my fighter stronger. I think that, you know, in good times,

and the UFC has seen nothing but good times, it's been like this since, you know, 2005. And, you know, in good times, everybody's good, everything's great. It's in the hard times that you find out who's real. Who do you really want to be in a foxhole with when things go bad? I know my team. I believe in my team. Always, I think I have the best team in all of sports, if not all of business.

And then with my fighters, my fighters know that when I do something, I'm going to do it right. They know that they're going to be safe. They're going to be protected. No matter how scary this thing is and how much we don't know about it, I feel like the fighters believe that I'm going to do the right thing and spend any amount of money that it costs to make this thing safe. You know, Dana, you have a very unique personality. You and I have disagreed on stuff, but I've told you before off the air, that you're a

maverick and the sport would not have existed or survived or flourished without your personality. And you get a lot of crap from the media, a lot of established media, and you fire right back on it. Is there ever been a moment you're discouraged by it? ever been a moment you're just like, I can't this, I'm tired of this stuff. Never. Never. And I've been very, very, um, loud about this. I look at the media as the week. They are the weak. I, I'm never going to have a, a time of my life where the media are going to determine what I do with my business. When, when they come out and they write these

stories and they say these things at me, I look at these guys and I say, that is a exactly what I would expect that guy to say. He is weak. He's afraid. And this doesn't surprise me. So no. It doesn't bother me. And it definitely, it doesn't face me in any way, shape or form. All right. I just like that we're back on good terms.

That makes, you're a Vegas. We've always been on good terms. I know, I know. We've never been on bad terms. I know. We've disagreed, like you said, but you and I have never been on bad terms. Dana, I'll be watching. UFC 251 Fight Island.

Can't wait. Love having you on the show. I don't know how we pulled this thing off. You're in Abu Dhabi. I'm in L.A. I don't even understand technology, but it looks great. I don't even get how this is working. But thank you for doing it.

Thanks for having me. I appreciate it. One more herd? The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week within the IHeard radio app. Search Herd to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like. Last night, a blown call changed the 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 SportsSlice 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 close.

to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to SportsSlice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slic Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. 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 can find out on the Look Back at it podcast.

I'm Sam Jek. And I'm Alex English. 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 all 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. Now you're 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 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 conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking, Tripp Fontaine, Ryan, Ryan, and 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, Keir Gaines, as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, Learn the Hardway. Open your free iHeartRadio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. What's up, guys? This is Clivert Taylor the 4th. 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, this linebacker, bops up to me, he goes, Hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What? Time out. Quarterback on office blue of 42. Hey, ref, my mama want you to wave at her. What?

Hey, Ms. Parker. Listen to the Cliverts show on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. So Patrick Mahomes signed a 12-year contract, 12-year contract. And there's very few people, coaches or players, I'd give to a 12-year contract. Very few.

So, Joy, let's play the game. The hurdy doesn't. Give me a dozen players or coaches. Would I sign them all things considered to a 12-year contract? Would you give a 12-year contract to Russell Wilson? Never missed a game. Never had a losing season. Takes incredible care of his body.

Yes, this is an easy one. Russell Wilson's just a guy. I get the Mahomes maturity. Doesn't really take hits. bizarrely so, this is an easy one. How about Lamar Jackson? Not yet. Owen two in the preseason. I got to see postseason success.

His game, though he is a thrower, would he be as fast at the end of the deal at 35? Give me another year on Lamar Jackson. All right. Would you give a 12-year contract to Deshawn Watson? No. Two ACL injuries, and I think their offensive line keeps getting worse. I'm not sure in six years he's going to be the same. same player. How about Kyle Shanahan? Yes. I think he's the most intellectual young offensive coach in football. I think he's got a passion. He's only 40 years old, so he'd be 52. That's kind of

what they think is the prime of coaching, his early 50s. That's probably the easiest yes on the board. How about Sean McVeigh? Yes, because I think he's really bright and I think he's really driven. You know, here's the thing with McVeigh. People got too high on him early and they're too low on him now. He's 33 and 15. Last year, they were 9 and 7, and it was a mess with the Todd Gurley situation. The general managers at times signed too early and paid too much for some players. It's put him in weird positions.

It's been a little bit of an all-star team to coach. I'm not fond of that. I think you draft your players and you create a community. I think when you start bringing in all these stars, There's different entitlements and different issues. So I don't think they've been the easiest team to coach for the last three years. So McVeigh now is hearing a lot of criticism. I still think he's going to be a legendary coach.

How about Trevor Lawrence? Yes. He is the John Elway, Andrew Luck, and Trevor Lawrence. Doesn't mean they're the best quarterbacks. They're the three most guaranteed good quarterbacks out of college. And by the way, we were right with Andrew Luck. He won 11 games with a terrible team. This kid's 25 and 1.

I'm not saying he's great. I'm saying as a prospect, he's the... So in the NFL, you've never seen him play. You would give him a 12-year contract. Yep, right now. Well, I said Elway and Locke were the best college quarterbacks, not in terms of production. Right.

In terms of, oh, that's a guaranteed star in the NFL. He's a 6-6-Mobile and very good in big games outside of one against LSU when he played against just better players. How about Lincoln Riley? Yes. I think he understands the game. I think he's really smart. I think he's progressive.

I think he gets the social changes. And the offense in Oklahoma has been first, first, and third in the country. I think he totally gets the quarterback position, which I think is the future of the sport. He's a home run. All right. This is a tricky one. What about Davos-Winny? Nah.

Well, too much ego for me. I think he stumbled with social changes. He's, you know, listen, let's be honest. take out Trevor Lawrence's 25 and one record, and he's a really, really good coach. I mean, you have Deshaun Watson and Trevor Lawrence back to back. Now he gets credit for recruiting him. Trevor Lawrence, take out the 25 and one with Trevor Lawrence.

It took him a long time to get going. I think he's a good coach, but I see a lot of hubris, and I see a lot of ego, and I think I'll keep him as long as he wins. All right, well, you can't give 12-year contracts in the NBA, as we know. But if you could, Yonisansu Kumpo. Absolutely. Absolutely. First of all, points per game and rebounds have gone up every year.

So what does that tell me? It tells me he's a worker. He's never had a big injury. Good head in his shoulders. When your numbers keep going up, and it's not like they're going up from nothing, like the floor. It tells me he's not satisfied with stats. He's a winner. And again,

He's a good athlete. He's a winner. I'd say yes. Luca Donchich. Yes. I mean, Luca Dontich is a, and some guys come into the NBA, and you're like, oh, he's going to score 27 points a game for 15 years. And again, Luca's big, mobile shoots, that's the league. Jason Tatum. Absolutely. Again, 40-point shooter. Do you realize before we got COVID, the last 10 games for Jason Tatum before COVID? Listen to these numbers. 31 points, eight rebounds, 47 percent three-point shot.

I think he's the fifth best player in the NBA. Zion Williamson? No. Okay, I got a knee sprain at Duke, a bruised knee in summer league, torn meniscus in preseason. I'm not giving him 12 years. And I love him. 12 years?

This is scary. That's a lot of injuries for 19 years old. A lot of injuries. Probably people think I hate Dad-O Swinney. I don't, but there are certain coaches I think are great. I see too much ego. I'm not giving you 12 years. I want you to work for it.

Lincoln Riley, I see no ego. So it's like this show. 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 Podcasts 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 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 acapella 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. On the Look Back at it podcast.

From 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. Hey, what's good, y'all? You're listening to Learn the Hardway with your favorite therapist and host, Kear Games. This space is about black men's experiences, having honest conversations that it's really not safe to have anywhere, but you're having them with a licensed professional who knows what he's doing. How many men carry a suit or armor?

It signals to the world that you're not to be played with. And just because you have the capability that does not mean that you need to. Listen and learn the hard way on the IHard radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. This is an IHart podcast. Guaranteed human.