The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Best of The Herd: Jul 19, 2019

Episode Date: July 19, 2019

Doug Gottlieb filling in for Colin today reacts to the breaking news in the NFL that Tyreek Hill will not be suspended a single game and will remain on the Kansas City Chiefs. Jim Harbaugh throws shade towards Urban Meyer stating that although he's been successful, controversy has always followed him. Doug also gives you his "7 Over Reactions" in the upcoming NFL weeks! Guest: Eric Wood - Former NFL Center.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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

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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 iHeartRadio app by searching herd. This is the best of the herd with Colin Cowher on Fox Sports Radio. What up? Welcome in. This is The Herd on a Friday. Wherever you may be and however you may be listening to the show. Thanks so much for making us part of your day.

You're listening on Fox Sports Radio or the IHeart Radio app. I'm Doug Gottlie, filling in for Colin Coward. And we got massive breaking news in the National Football League, which will not make Twitter happy. Entourage turns 15 today, 15 years since the old HBO show Entourage began. I'll tell you how that makes me feel. Tiger Woods continues to scuttle at the Open Championship. And apparently the Knicks and the Spurs are at war.

Or I tell you, welcome in. I'm Doug Gottlieb. And I'm actually joining you from Greensboro, North Carolina, where I'm coaching tonight in TBT. That's the basketball tournament. It's the tournament for $2 million with grown-up, grown men, professional players, many of them overseas guys, some guys that played domestically. We'll get into that a little bit later. But I want to start with the breaking news in the National Football League, which is Tyreek Hill is still a member of the Kansas City Chiefs. and will not be suspended a game, not a game, not a practice, nothing.

Nothing. So I, look, the NFL obviously is going to get crushed on social media. It's going to be portrayed as a head in the sand. This is only about football decision. They're going to be portrayed as an organization that has a disconnect between their fan base. And you know what? I have no idea what Tyreek Hill and the mother of his child

actually did. But I kind of understand this one. I kind of get this one. Look, I'm an Oklahoma State alum. Tyreek Hill had arguably the greatest individual play in the history of the Bedlam, we'll call it a rivalry. It's more hammer and nail.

Between the history of the Bedlam rivalry. his last game as a member of the Oklahoma State Cowboys. They're playing Oklahoma in Norman. Bob Stoops, there's a penalty on the defense, on the punt. He chooses to punt again, which is,

I mean, it wasn't even hindsight, even at the time, one of the most bizarre decisions he or any football coach has ever made. He's the best return man in the country. He's proven to be, by most people's,

count, if not the fastest, in the conversation of the fastest players to ever play collegiate or professional football. And Bob Sudes punted to him again, Tyreek Hill took it to the house and Oklahoma State won the football game. By the way, that's the last time Oklahoma State won. And less than a week later, he was arrested in charge with domestic violence. Same woman. And that's part of this discussion.

He had to leave the university. He ended up transferring. obviously he was drafted far later than he would have been otherwise, and he has re-emerged in the National Football League as not only a dynamic kick returner, but one of the most dynamic receivers in the league today. You combined his speed, his route running, his pass catching, his versatility, running it out of the backfield, jet sweeps, reverses, just little screen passes to him with his just ability to take the top off of defense.

Combine that with the superpowers. of Pat Mahomes, who might well have the strongest and most accurate arm. Like there are strong arms, there are accurate arms. He seems to be both. And then you have an offensive savant like Andy Reid, and it's a match made in heaven. On the other hand, on the other hand, you have some of the past the Kansas City Chiefs where they had a player commit suicide a couple years ago. They had to get rid of the NFL's leading rusher because of a domestic violence.

domestic violence incident. And then Tyree Kills' own baggage, and you have a match made in hell, right? I mean, even going and acquiring Frank Clark this offseason as a free agent who came over from Seattle, who had his own DV issues going back to college before he became a member of the Seattle Seahawks. But this is a very important thing that we have to point out as members of the media. I wanted to do this for maybe five years ago. Doug Gottliebun, this is the herd on Fox Sports Radio. I wanted to have fun on a Wednesday.

Tuesdays NFL teams have their press conferences. And on a Wednesday, what I wanted to do is have my staff added up some of the things that were said in NFL press conferences. And when taken out of, call it out of context, when taken out of context, guys can say things that come across obtuse, offensive, bizarre. You can cut up audio without changing words but just cut certain sentences out. And all of a sudden, it becomes almost defaming. And I feel like what we've, what we have today is the NFL saying, hey, we have the full audio.

They've actually had it since April. They've gone over it. And while when I heard what was released from the Can City TV station, when I heard it, I was like, wow, that does not sound good. There wasn't a smoking gun, but when I carried in the bias of what he had pled guilty to at Oklahoma State, what the police had stated, which was, we believe a crime occurred. We just don't know who did it. When I brought in that bias, when I brought in that baggage, I was like, man, they're going to lose Tyree Kill for four, six, maybe forever. His fiancé, or she was his fiance at the time, refused to have an interview with him.

They had the full audio. They interviewed him for eight and a half hours in June. and to this point, they can prove no wrongdoing. And what this, what to me this says is what I've said on radio, people said to me as kids, as a kid, I've said to my own children, which is, I don't care how bad something looks, at least be honest with me, answers the questions with me, because sunlight is in fact the greatest disinfectant.

I mean, if you go back to why did, why was Mike Vic, why'd Mike Vic go to jail? Like, Mike Vic didn't just go to jail because he was operating a dog fighting ring. Mike Vic went to jail because he was supposed to meet with Roger Goodell. He did. He lied to Roger Goodell's face. And you continue to lie about it. And once the truth comes out and there are, and there are facts, there are evidence, there's nothing we can do to protect you from the police.

Why did Tom Brady get suspended? Look, I didn't agree with the Tom Brady suspension. I have no idea who altered the footballs. But once you destroy a cell phone, once you destroy evidence, you're showing the world that even if your argument is, hey, there's lots of stuff on that cell phone that I don't want getting out. And everything from NFL investigations seems to get out. But once you do that, you feel like you're not being honest. You're not being up front. And in this particular case, whatever is in the full context of the audio.

Like, I've always wanted to cut up audio and make fun of NFL players, NBA players, and I've had friends, like, dude, you just can't do that. And the recorded conversation, while it may not completely expunge him of any sort of wrongdoing, it appears it's not as damaging as we were led to believe. that there's a lot more context to it. There's a lot more in that conversation. And Twitter does not rule the world. Twitter's not going to be happy.

Social media is not going to be happy. But if you think that Roger Goodell in the National Football League, who have been knee-jerk in their protection, smartly so, of their shield, especially in the nationwide and hopefully kind of worldwide fight to protect women against the violence from men,

If you think that because Tyreek Hill's speed and prodigious athletic ability, that's why he's on the field. Like, I got to tell you, I don't see it that way. My guess would be there is nothing there. Like, look, there's literally nothing there. Otherwise, there's no chance the NFL would do this. It's just too risky. They did a thorough investigation, and to this point, they're like, look, we got nothing.

She looks bad. looks bad. Does it sound bad to say he should be terrified of me? But by the way, she put that word in his mouth. There should be a little bit of healthy fear from a child as well as

respect for their parent. I can just be like my wife tells me that all the time that hey, the kids are a little bit scared to you. That's okay. That's okay. I've never laid a hand on one of my daughters. The other one's gotten smacked on the

backside back when she was little. I was a spanking parent, though my wife had, when we first had kids, we're like, we're not going to, actually was her decision, we're not going to be the parents that spank. And for the most part, I don't think we have, maybe two or three times ever. I've lost my cool.

I've never done anything to the level of that could be construed or misconstrued as being dangerous or you know, or over the top with my kid. And I grabbed them to get their attention. mention, yes, I have

parented them. It's a hard, hard line to walk. But instead of taking the cut-up audio when we never had the full audio and using the context in which it was supposed to make us feel,

and I will be completely can. When I heard it, I thought, man, he's done with the chiefs, especially considering his own background, the guys they've had, the issues they've worked through. You almost want to credit the NFL for going like, all right, let's find out what's real and let's find out what's assumed. And since they can't find anything that's real, they have no choice other

than to let him play football and put in the line or two about, look, the investigation is still open. If more information comes out, we reserve the right to act then. I don't think it's a great moment for the National Football League, but I think it's a good moment for all of us to take a breath and realize that charges and accusations are just that. And that the NFL, an organization, a league that has trying to be extra careful because they know they've botched this thing six times sideways, that the NFL can't find anything. With the information that's been provided, they can't find anything that says he absolutely did it. And with that, they're left with no choice,

but to let him play football. Doug Gowleyman for Colin, this is the herd crazy stuff. And just from a football perspective, from a non-like human being, and look, I feel bad for any child who has to go through if he didn't do anything wrong or he didn't do anything that the level that we thought he should be charged with or he should be suspended for

or whatever, I still feel for the kid. Because he's in a home situation that's so toxic that his mom would try and set up his dad to admit to abusing him. There's no win for the kid. Either the dad is violent towards the kid, the dad and the mom are violent towards the kid, or the mom thinks so little of the dad that she wants to set up the dad to make it look. Like he did something wrong and he should be charged with a crime. Like either way, the kid loses. What's going on, everybody?

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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. 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.

becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross, because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth, or are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust.

I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Gaines, as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, Learn the Hard Way. Open your free iHeartRadio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. What's up, guys?

This is Clifford 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 kid. 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, Rep. My mama want you to wave at her. What? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to The Cliffer Show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

Hey, I'm Jared Adano. You might know me as that loud guy who yells out, help on the internet. Help! Somebody! Please! But there's so much more to me than that. I'm an actor. I'm a comedian.

And recently, I've become quite the helper myself. And on my new podcast, Hope from a Hypocrite, I'll be changing lives, helping people in need with my sage advice and thoughtful solutions. Sike, I'm a comedian. I'm not qualified to give good advice. Join me and my comedian friends as we riff, rant, recommend some of the most legally dubious advice known to man. If I'm calling you, even if you're on your phone, let it ring twice.

One ring is too scary. Oh, cream of chicken suit. Hey, cream. Cream a chicken suit. This is Help from a Hypocrite, the worst advice from the dumbest people you know. Listen to Help from a Hypocrite as part of the Mike Cultura Podcast Network available on the IHartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

So my old producer is a SEC alum, the Georgia alum to be exact, so he's long-suffering Georgia fan. So he coined this phrase, the Spurrier zone, because generally this time of year, back when Steve Spurrier was the head ball coach, by the way, if you hear a radio host say old ball coach, they actually don't know what they're talking about. He had HBC on all his gear. He had headball coach. The head ball coach would say things that were from the heart, were honest, and he just got past the point of actually caring.

And because he had won a Heisman trophy, won a national championship, heck, even taking San Carolina to Atlanta, the SEC championship game, that's just like winning national title. The headball coach was in the spur of your zone. could say like, man, we should love playing Georgia first game in the season. They always had a couple of guys suspended. And you know what? He was right.

Maybe, maybe, maybe it's because he won a national championship. He won a highspin trophy. He'd won at Duke. And he had a kind of a way about him, which was enjoyable. And he was at a certain age where he didn't actually care. But it does feel like, Jim Harbaugh is kind of the latest, and Sabin has a little bit of this,

but it's not as enjoyable. There's not the humor with it. There's not the smile of the smirk or walking around at, at the first day at two days with his shirt off. So Jim Harbaugh, leading up to Big Ten media days, offered this up in regards to Urban Meyer. And he said, you know, I'm kind of quoting verbatim here,

that Irv Myers been incredibly successful, that a remarkable record, but controversy has followed him everywhere he's been. This is Jim Harbaugh. Rubber Myers had a winning record. Really phenomenal record everywhere he's been, but also controversy follows everywhere he's been. Now, in fairness,

I don't believe controversy followed him at Bowling Green. I don't believe controversy followed him at Utah, but we knew what he was talking about. about. I mean, it's a Florida squad that had all kinds of off-the-field issues, but also had Tim Tebow, right? Like you had the I mean, like

when you put a, when you put asparagus spears next to a steak, right? I mean, Tebow's the asparagus spears and the steak, although delicious, because of how it's cooked in butter and with fat, like it's ultimately going to kill you, which was

the Carlos Dunn-Labsta, Aaron Hernandez's, the the rainy kid as well. I mean, he had, he ran the gamut. And then, of course, at Ohio State, there was the domestic violence accusations against his former assistant and what he knew and why he hired him back at Florida

and what he did about it. Now, the first thing is, we should point out that he didn't say he was a dirty recruiter, although you could, if you wanted to take that leap, you could. And he didn't say that he had done, Urban Meyer had done anything in particular wrong.

He simply said, everywhere he's been, he's won, and controversy followed him. I kind of feel like that's inarguable. I can defend Urban Meyer for his actions last year, if you'd like, and I'll point out that Irbyer now works for Fox, of course, and Fox is a new pregame show, and he's going to cover Jim Harbaugh, and he's going to have plenty of opportunities if he would like to have a retort, or if he'd like not to. That's part of taking that job is he'll have a hot mic, he'll be able to say whatever he'd like.

But this is seen as controversial and it really isn't. It's actually inarguable. He has had a great record. And his two spots where he won a national championship, they have been controversial. That's it. There's nothing more to it. Now, Harbaugh goes on to say, like, look, we have goals and our goals to win multiple championships,

but also to run a world-class program where we don't have these issues. And to Harbaugh's credit, there haven't been the controversial, you know, off-the-field things. Like the only things you can criticize Jim Harbaugh about is, hell, he can't be in Ohio State. And he does some goofy things in recruiting. But the goofy things in recruiting seem to be working because it's a much better program than the one he inherited. And the only thing missing, remember last year was the redemption tour where they marched in and, you know, beat Michigan State, marched in and beat Penn State. And they were beating the hell out of people. But they did lose Ohio State and they did lose the Notre Dame.

Somehow because Harbaugh hasn't beaten Ohio State, this is seen as sour grapes. And maybe it is. But if you actually look at it, he's not saying anything, which anyone can argue otherwise, unless you want to. want to go with the, well, you know, Bowling Green or at Utah, that guy's fine. He did a great job at Utah. He did a great job at Bowling Green. No one will ever argue with Urban Meyer has been next to Nick Sabin and frankly alongside Nick Sabin.

Those are the two most successful coaches so far of this generation of college football. Dabo is quickly catching up. And Harbaugh would like to be mentioned that conversation. But winning a couple national titles of Florida. winning one at Ohio State, being consistently successful and dominating the Michigan rivalry. Like, it's beyond reproach on the football field. But it's not without controversy. And I fail to see how that's arguable.

And in many ways, Jim Harbaugh, if he can win a title, now a sudden, we would recognize the things he says, the quirkiness, the honesty, the I don't give a, you know what? what? Harbaugh has always been tiptoeing around. He would fully enter in that spurious zone. Or you can say what you want, however you want, about who you want, and just be a complete honest salesman because, well, Harbaugh played college, pro, brought San Diego to prominence, took over a team that didn't win a game at Stanford and left them as competitive to win a national championship. Same thing with the San Francisco 49ers and would do the same thing with Michigan. Because of his success, because of what he did as a player and as a coach. And like Spurrier

at his alma mater, he would enter the Spurrier zone. Spurrier got away with it because, well, hell, you know, hey, maybe it's because he's Southern. It was charming. Spurier wasn't even successful in the pros, whereas Harbaal was. But it's also because he's won a national championship in college. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd, weekdays and noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. 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 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. SportsSlice brings you closer 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 Sliced Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok.

Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kier 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, 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 Hardway. Open your free, our Heart Radio app.

Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. What's up, guys? This is Clever Taylor the Fourth. And on my podcast, The Cliver 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? Quarterback on office blue 42. Hey, ref, my mama want you to wave at her. What? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Clippers show on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast.

Hey, I'm Jared Adano. You might know me as that loud guy who yells out, help on the internet. Help! Somebody! Please! But there's so much more to me than me. I'm an actor. I'm a comedian. And recently, I've become quite the helper myself. And on my new podcast, Hope from a Hypocrite, I'll be changing lives, helping people in need with my sage advice and thoughtful solutions.

Sike! I'm a comedian. I'm not qualified to give good advice. Join me and my comedian friends as we riff rant recommend some of the most legally dubious advice known to man. If I'm calling you, even if you're on your phone, let it ring twice. One ring is too scary. Cream a chicken suit.

Hey, cream. Cream a chicken suit. This is Help from a Hypocrite, the worst advice from the dumbest people you know. Listen to Help from Hypocrite as part of the Mike Coutura podcast network available on the I-Hart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, wherever you get your podcasts. So I'm sitting here thinking,

guys are reporting now to training camp. I'm taking my show to the Rams camp on the 29th of July. That's a week from Monday. Like, it's basically here. Summer for football players is kind of over. And it happened really fast. We're almost to August. August is training camp,

is hard knocks, is preseason games. is the hype machine, and once we get to September, it gets real. And that realness in September, who is not really what it would seem. But that doesn't stop us from covering it this way, right? So what we did was we put together what we think there'll be seven overreactions upcoming in seven weeks. We're seven weeks away from the NFL.

Week one of the season starts, September 5th, is a lot of the season. a Thursday, so that's seven weeks from last night. And September 8th is, of course, the first Sunday of NFL games. Packers, Bears, 100th year of the NFL, longest rivalry in the NFL will open the season. Kind of makes sense.

You got some amazing matchups, right, from Colts taking on the Chargers, which I love, Rams taking on the Panthers, what will Cam Newton's arm look like, assuming that he's back? Atlanta and Minnesota,

two teams, they're consistently hyped. And the culmination, of course, on Sunday night is New England without Laveon Bell, without Antonio Brown, taking on, excuse me, Pittsburgh without Laveon Bell, without Antonio Brown, taking on the defending champion New England Patriots. Like, that's a good Sunday. Any Sunday that begins with, that begins with the Rams and Panthers, Titans and Browns, Chiefs and Jaguars and ends with Patriots and Steelers, that's a good day.

That's a really good day. But this is what we do in the NFL. We massively overreact to one game. Like one of the things the college football season allows us to do, there'll be some early season games that are really the first week of games. But we do, we're like, well, you know, they're college kids. there's no preseason games. They're still figuring out.

And then they have a couple of games against Sisters of the Poor. And then we get to real football when it builds up. And generally, the teams that you thought were good, Alabama and Clemson, were going to be good and they'll be good at the end. The only question is, can they beat the Georges of the world? You know, can they win the semifinals? Who comes out of the Big 12 between Oklahoma and Texas and, et cetera, and Michigan and Ohio State?

But in the NFL, because there's so much turnover year to year, Week to week, we don't overreact. Seven weeks from now, there are seven things that we're going to overreact to. Remember, last year, it was Aaron Rogers and an improbable comeback on Sunday night football against the same bears. Kalee Mack, after being traded, was ridiculous in the first half, but then he seemed to run out a guess. This year's game is in Chicago, but this year's game, they won't have, no one will have seen Matt LaFleur's offense combined with Aaron Rogers and the Green Bay Packers before that Thursday night game. Like they're not going to show anything in the preseason.

And so a fully healthy Aaron Rogers with a wide receiving core which has yet another year to evolve, a defense in the second year in the Mike Patton system, on the road against the Bears, a team who he has consistently, no matter how good or bad, the Bears are dominated. Seven weeks from now, Matt LeFleur is going to be a genius. What an incredible hire. I like, look,

the time where Aaron Rogers' leadership and evolution will be challenged will be when they face adversity, when he plays poorly, when the offense six weeks in gets figured out, when people have tape on what they're doing with Aaron Rogers within that system. But week one is not that week. with no book on Rogers inside that offense,

Roger against the Bears and a Bears defense, which, by the way, lost their defensive coordinator to the Denver Broncos. It feels like seven weeks from now, we're going to be sitting here going, see, Matt LaFleur was a great hire, he knows Sean McVeigh, and that makes him a great coach. Seven weeks from now,

it feels like we're going to call the Patriots Dynasty over for the fifth, six, seventh, eighth time. right now look a realist will point out that it wasn't just brady but brady breeze and other older quarterbacks like a philip rivers faded down the stretch it is the same tom brady who threw two and what should have been three interceptions against can city chiefs like he did not perform well late in the season up to his own standards and whether it's father time or the fact they don't have a great receiving core. They've lost Rob Grencowski.

They've lost guys in the defensive side of the football, going up against the Steelers team that this is their Super Bowl. This is their, this will be their chance to prove that they're a better team, in spite of the fact they don't have as much talent without Levy on an Antonio Brown. And the Patriots always seem to come out of the gate slowly because they use the first four weeks as extended training camp. Whether was Detroit last year or Kansas City a couple years ago, How many times have we seen the Patriots get dismantled early in season where you go,

all right, now is the time I'm selling my Patriot stock. Knowing full well, they get the bills twice, the Jets twice, the Dolphins twice, and ultimately they'll be in the playoffs and they'll be fine. But the power running offense is designed for late in the year. They are built to win in the playoffs, much like Shaq was never in shape in the regular season. Tom Brady, Bill Belichick, though they will pretend to kill. and we'll learn a lot from it.

Seven weeks from now, we're going to be saying the Patriots dynasty's over. Seven weeks from now, I kind of feel like Ryan Fitzpatrick will have once again proved the skeptics wrong. Maybe Josh Rosen is the starting quarterback as they take on the Baltimore Ravens, where you have two of last year's rookies going up against each other.

But Fitzpatrick has been a guy who consistently has shown that in short doses, he can light up the league. But in longer doses, he's Ryan Fitzpatrick. Fitzmaig eventually wears out and the backup comes in or the starter comes back

and he's the better quarterback. It happened in Tampa last year. The last time he had a long-term contract was with Buffalo. We know how that ended. Ryan Fitzpatrick, week one of the season,

feels like a locked-up cinch if he can win the start. That'll throw for 400 yards. will somehow say that we were all wrong about Fitzpatrick. When, if you've watched him, when the case studying Ryan Fitzpatrick is always the same. A couple of really good games. He starts to force things.

His lack of arm strength tends to come back and get him. Now he's playing outdoors, unlike week one of the season last year, where he played indoors. Granted, the warm weather helps him because of his age, but ultimately he gets exposed. And against the Ravens' defense, which lost all of their dynamic pass rushers. seven weeks from now we're going to say,

man, just too much scoring in this league. We have gotten away from what football is about. Too much scoring, too much throwing, not enough running in the football, defense doesn't matter. Because the rules are all set up for the offense. The offenses will be ready to go. Younger quarterbacks will be throwing the ball

and getting rid of it more quickly, only having half the field. But we'll have, we'll have ridiculous numbers because early in the season, they call everything on the defense. Everything. Every pass interference or even ones that aren't called can now be reviewed. Every amount of contact close to the head or using the head will be penalized.

Every defensive hold will be called. Why? Because in order to get attention in order to grasp the fans, the fantasy football fans, the first month, two months of the season is about offense. offense wins games, defense wins championships. Oh, seven weeks from now we're going to say Leveon Bell's out of shape, right?

It doesn't just feel that way. They take it on the Buffalo Bills, playing at home, first week of the season, and Leveon won't look like his old Leveon self. Or maybe he will, but it's really hard for Levyon Bell, who likes to get to the line of scrimmage and yawn and take a nap and then make a cut

to play that way when you're not used to playing with Levyon Bell, and he might not have the burst having had a year and a half off of football. The idea that a guy who hasn't taken a snap in a year and a half, who chose not to go to OTAs, who will likely not get many carries in the preseason, will somehow be sharp as attack week one of the season, seems hard to believe. He may have fresh legs, but he won't be fresh cutting the football. Leveon Bell will say he's a complete bust, even though at the end of the day,

he'll find a way if he stays healthy to put up yards, to figure it out. They'll find ways to get him the football. Adam Gase will make it work. Maybe he's overpaid. But without a great offensive line, without a ton of knowledge of how to play with him, and without playing football for a year and a half, Leveon's not going to be sharp.

No one is when they have that much of a layoff. And lastly, don't we think that Cliff Kingsbury is going to look look like a genius. Don't we just assume that a new offensive system with a new young quarterback, whether they're going to fire it up and fire the football, whether or not they win, whether or not it's sustainable, won't seem to matter to those of us in the media.

We will overreact and say the Patriots are done and Levion's out of shape, that Matt LaFleur is a genius, but Cliff Kingsbury Air Raid style week one, it'll work because people won't have seen it. but much like young quarterbacks or even starting pitchers, it's the second time around where people figure you out. Seven weeks from now will overreact to the NFL. We always do.

I do it. Colin does it. You do it as fans? We do it on every network. And those are my seven guesses on what will happen. 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. I thought this the perfect guy to have on today as we get ready for NFL training camps. He was part of it for, he's part of the league for decade. And last year because of a neck injury, right? He had to retire. And, well, I mean, just watching his kind of evolution transformation now, he was just named an analyst for the ACC network, obviously with his background having played in college at Louisville

and now getting a chance to cover what I think most of the league. would hope would be the Reformation of Louisville football. Eric Wood, joins us here in the herd. Woody, your first camp as a pro, you're 20, what, 23 years old at a college? What do you remember is your first camp? My first camp, we had the Hall of Fame game, so we had an extra week of camp that little bonus week. And I was a first rounder back when all first rounders pretty much had to hold out. The contracts weren't slotted like they are now.

shoot the bill sitting and starting negotiating with me until I believe until camp started. So I missed the first week. I was sitting in Orchard Park, bored out of my mind

at my apartment, tell my agent to give me a deal. And so I showed up after about a week and did pretty well. I felt like early in camp and then we go to play the Hall of Fame game

and we go to play the Titans. And I had a couple welcome to the NFL moments in that first preseason game. They played their backup. So I had a, a DM lined over me at a three technique who worked me a couple good times in pass for a week through an interception I got blasted my helmet came off my shoe fell off on the play it was a

fun one from a humble beginnings go you uh now fits your first camp fits Fitzpatrick was a backup right wasn't Trent Edwards maybe the start well who is the starter your first year to start the season yep it was Trent Edwards and we had switched to the No huddle offense. A lot of turmoil. We fired our offensive coordinator, actually, after our last preseason game, so that we went into the regular season with a new offense, and it was pretty tumultuous.

And then we go to play New England in the opener at New England on Monday night, and really should have beat him. And Leotis McElvin fumbles that kickoff if you remember that game. And, you know, we start the season 0 and 1. We had some high hopes, but ended up missing the playoffs and keeping that streak alive. Okay, so why couldn't Ryan Fitzpatrick sustain the success? Because he took over that year and he's pretty good. And the next year you guys struggled and eventually you guys drafted E.J. Manuel and he was out.

But that was the longest tenure that he had. Why couldn't Fitzpatrick sustain his success? You know, it's around him. You could name it out of a number of things. But Fitz is super smart. He's aggressive. You got the time, we just didn't have very good teams. You know, if we had a better defense in 2011, we had a great offense that year.

And Fitz put up great numbers. You know, we have a better defense to make the playoffs. You know, I think he remains the starter there. But, you know, I'm a huge Ryan Fitzpatrick fan. I think everybody is that's played with him. And I would imagine that's part of the reason he keeps bouncing around and getting starting gigs. And I think it'll be an NFL record if he starts and throws a pass for the dolphins at any point this season. And so really rooting for my boy Fitz down in Miami this year.

Okay, so here's a hard question because I think you're working with EJ. Manuel is going to work with the ACC network. But EJ. comes in and he never really lived up to the billing. How long does it take the line, the offense, to know if you got a dude? You know, that's such a tough call. You know, E.J. comes in and we're supposed to have Kevin Cobb on the roster who was going to be. The starter, let E.J. grow under him. Well, he got a concussion in his third preseason. E.J. up his knee, it's likely going to be the day one that year, torn meniscus. You know, just a number of that doesn't have a veteran backup or even a veteran starter.

But when you're a first-round guy, you're expected to start right away. And unfortunately for E.J., it didn't work out in Buffalo. And then once you kind of start bouncing around, he went to Oakland, was a backup there. And then just to kind of transition to the meeting. Eric Wood, joining us, a longtime Buffalo bill, now an analyst for the ACC Network. I do want to call on your ACC Network skills in a moment. Obviously, you were around the Bills last year. You had expectations of play for the Bills last year.

What's your assessment after watching Josh Allen for a year? And actually, I'm going to be the Bills radio analyst this year as well. Let's football on Saturdays and then head wherever Buffalo is playing for Sunday in the pocket more. They added some weapons. They added a ton up front. for him. And I really like his game. And now in this year too, with the same offensive

coordinator back, Brian Davoff, hopefully get some continuity with these new receivers, new O-Ly. Back in the top 10, you're kind of all in on him. Markley backing him up. It's been around the league, has some experience and really pour into him. And hopefully he'll take a big step this year.

How is he accurate enough? Like, that was the big question. He can throw it a mile. He's got a great body, great athlete. Is he accurate enough? And that'll be that'll be a question mark heading into this year because at times last year, and I believe last year he progressed in his accuracy. And I think a lot of accuracy in the NFL comes from anticipation, timing, continuity with receivers.

You know, you put Josh Allen out on a football field and tell him to throw through a hoop. You know, most quarterbacks in the NFL are probably pretty similar in a drill similar to that. Now you take a top guy like Tom Brady and he knows exactly where his receiver is going to sit. Now he demands those guys as well, so that's part of it. But Tom knows exactly where he wants the receiver to sit. The guy sits right there and he puts it right on his chest. You know, there's been times, you know, through my time with the bills where we go into a season with another new offense, with another new set of receivers, and you see quarterback accuracy issues.

And sometimes it's an air and throw. And other times it's just a lack of communication and lack of continuity. You mentioned lack of continuity. You told me this once, Eric Wood, joining us. How many head coaches did you have? you play for? The nine years. Now that includes two interims.

Rex got fired mid-season and so did Dick Dron. Seven head coaches in nine years. Probably more offensive coordinators, right? I mean, you had one get fired in the preseason, so there's two in that year. I mean, probably more. But it's a catch-22, right? Sometimes you hire a guy and he doesn't have it and you got to get rid of him. On the other hand, there's no way to know maybe fully if he has it or if he can fix it

because you don't give them, unless you give them more time. But if you give them more time, it only snowballs and gets worse. Absolutely, and that's where at times I'm glad I wasn't the one making those decisions. But, you know, I talked to Tom Brady after a game one time probably two or three years ago and he was talking about how, you know, Josh McDaniels was back. But even when Josh was gone, they were running a similar offense. So every year they're installing the same offense and they bring a lot of guys back year to year. And then, you know, his running back to coach was there for 20.

years. Dante Scarnacchio, their offensive line coach, he took, he was away for a year or two. He comes back. He was with his 18th year, I think, with Tom Brady at the time. You know, when you have a staff like that, now granted, those are all excellent coaches, but when you have a staff like that, you continue

to build, now you know exactly where guys are supposed to be. Everybody knows exactly what they're doing. It just makes it easier to go out and perform on Sunday. Last thing in regards the NFL, how do the Patriots do it defensively? because a lot of their personnel is not big-name personnel,

and for years they haven't had a ton of playmakers on the defensive side of the football. But for nine years, you went against the Patriots to very, very limited success. But you knew what you were looking at defensively. What is the secret to that sauce? You know, they try to take away each week what you do best. They're going to try and take away your best playmaker, whether that's coverage for a receiver, whether it's loading the box for everything.

multiple. So you might prepare for a scheme all week and now they roll out this different scheme, but then you have guys with concrete responsibilities that do the same thing every time. So it may be a four down front and now they give you a three down front. Well, they're not asking guys to do crazy stuff. They say, okay, Alan Branch, for instance, who is there, or Vince Wilford, he's still going to two gap a guy. He's going to put his hands and read. Well, they can kind of put him wherever they want and just ask him to do the exact same things. And so how multiple they are can kind of confuse an offense, especially early in a game. They're generally going to give you a blitz or two that you haven't seen,

and then they're going to take away what you do best and make you beat them in a different way that you're comfortable doing. And then they're not going to turn the ball over a whole lot on offense. You're not going to get many short fields. So you just have to continue to sustain success throughout a game, which a lot of teams just aren't able to do against them. Eric Wood, joining us, new analysts for the ACC Network as well as the radio analyst for the Buffalo Bills. Longtime Buffalo Bill. Joining us, I'm Doug Gottlie.

Filling in for Colin, this is the herd. From the college side, can anybody, I mean, like, I get A&M, they got A&M coming in early in the year. But Clemson has their most difficult games at home. And the league is just, you know, it feels like you're a year or two away from Florida State being back. You know, Mack Brown just got to North Carolina. Carolina. Can anybody legitimately give Clemson a game in that league? I don't like

anybody's chances this year. You know, Clemson returns a whole lot of talent off that excellent team that had last year that won the national championship and gave it to Alabama in the championship game. You know, they played Syracuse early in the year. Syracuse has given them some fits over the last couple years, but, you know, Clemson just has

an absolute, tremendous amount of talent on their team. They're well coached. And I don't like anybody's chances. I was looking at their win percentages, projected win percentages against each team. And I think the top two teams that have, you know, a slight chance against them would be A&M. And I think their next closest game was South Carolina. So not a whole lot of credit being given to the rest of the ACC.

And they truly are the class of the conference right now. You know, with Florida State down, Virginia Tech's not at the top of their game. Miami's not what would they once were, you know, Clemson should run away with it. When you see Trevor Lawrence, what do you see? NFL-ready quarterback, a guy that can make all the throws, had some athleticism, extremely poised last year for an 18, 19-year-old kid, even how he interviews. You know, he looks the part, he acts the part.

Those are the types of guys that I think the NFL wish there wasn't that three-year rule because not saying teams would be tanking for him, but I think he'd be the number one pick coming out after this year. Yeah, I know he's a special kid. The problem if you change that rule is now you have so many who aren't ready who would come in, right? He's the exception, and normally the rules you need a couple years. Woody, can't wait to hear you covering both the college game and the pro game. Appreciate you, join us as we get ready for training camps to open.

Thanks for be our guest on Fox Sports Radio. Hey, anything for you, Doug. I'll never forget us sitting in Tallahassee together waiting for a flight. And you asked me what I wanted to do. And I said, man, I just wanted to end. And you made about five calls on my behalf. And I don't know if any of those are the reason that I got two gigs this year, but I'll tell you what, that meant a lot to me.

So anything I can ever do for you, you know that, brother. What are you the best? Thanks for joining us, Ben. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. And nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo.

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