The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Cam Newton, LeBron James, Knicks, NCAAFB, top coaches

Episode Date: July 1, 2020

Colin explains why having fun isn't important in New England, why the Lakers can't win the title with just LeBron James, why the Knicks are a poorly run franchise, his thoughts on Boomer Esiason's recent comments on college athletes, and which top coaches he would go after if he owned a NFL team. Guests include Doug Gottlieb, Eric Mangini, Tom Curran, and Chris Harris. 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,

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 Sliced 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 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 Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Thanks for listening to The HARD 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 Hurt at Fox SportsRoddio.com or stream us live every day on the IHart Radio app by searching Hurd. Fox Sports Radio. Ah, it is a Wednesday. It is an absolute pleasure to have you here live in Los Angeles. This is The Heard. Wherever you may be, however you may be listening. We're on IHeart Radio.

We're on Fox Sports Radio. We're on FS1. I am not cutting my hair until next year, and I don't care what anybody says. I boycotted coffee. only lasted two days. I am boycotting haircuts. We live in a boycott time now, right? People boycott NASCAR. By the way, NASCAR ratings were up.

Last two races. Sorry boycott crowd. Good to have you. Enjoy's on vacation for a while. John Guley will be doing the news today. It is great to have you here. So I have this sort of rule. So I used to work at another company. You know that one. And then I came to this company and I used to work with a guy over there.

He's still a friend, very talented. And he used to always tell me, all he cared about was having fun. He cared about was having fun. And I said, I'm about work, and if I work hard enough, I'll have fun. But it starts with the work. And about six months ago, he called me. He was miserable.

What about all the fun? You're a fun guy. But in the process of having fun, the ratings aren't very good for a show, and management's on his butt. And he's not having any fun. I said, fun cannot be your fastball. Fun can be your curve. Work has to be your fastball.

And if your fastball is good, the curve works better. If your fastball is work hard, Russell Wilson, then you do have fun. If your fastball is work, Tom Brady, then you do have fun. Randy Moss says, Cam Newton, who by the way, has always owned the world on fun, is going to make New England just party time in New England. Now, it's all fun. Here's Randy Moss. I think we are getting ready to really see how fun that offense can really be.

You know, not discrediting anything that Tom accomplished because he accomplished some great things. But I think being able to have a guy like Cam Newton that can run the ball, there is going to be a change in New England. But I think we're going to see them having a lot more fun out there. And Cam Newton is going to give them that opportunity for the fans, not just the New England Patriot fans, but really see, you know, how fun this offense can really be. That's ridiculous. Are they going to win 13, 14 games in the Super Bowl?

No. So they're not going to have as much fun. You think fans care about fun? Ooh, cool run by the quarterback. Fans want touchdowns. Fans want wins. I guarantee you there's never ever been a Patriot fan in the history of Foxborough that has left the stadium on a loss and said, you know, that was a fun, that was a fun way to spend

three hours getting our teeth kicked in. Sports is fun if you win. This is why players don't make good coaches. Almost never. Because too many players put a premium on fun. Rex Ryan's teams were fun. Jerry Glanville's teams were fun.

The late Sam Wyshe's teams were fun. You know who's not fun? The Grumpy Mount Rushmore of Belichick, Chuck Knoll, Tom, Cofflin, Bill Parcells, and Bill Kauer, the Grumpy Hall of Fame. They got 15 Super Bowls. I mean, Bruce, I like Bruce Ariens a lot. He's a good guy, and I think he can coach. He's Mr. Luce and Fun.

Seven years as a head coach, one playoff win. That's not fun. If fun is your fastball, it's not going to work. Your fastball's got to be what Russell Wilson's fastball is and what Tom Brady's fastball is. It's the work. And then it becomes fun. I used to know a guy.

I still know him. It's the other place. He's a fun guy. Last time I talked to him, he's miserable. Because he didn't put a premium on the work and the prep. He puts a premium on the fun, I've never been happier. I love coming to work. You know, some wins, winning, sales, ads, revenue, winning.

This whole thing about fun, it cracks me up. Cam has always been fun. He owns that space, the fashion, the image, he owns it. It's the winning thing everybody struggles with. I mean, if I play the two-word game with Russell Wilson, it would be athletic and focused. If I play the two-word game with Tom Brady, it would be obsessive in championships. You play the two-word game with Cam, it's fun and image. That's not the issue with the Camster.

And I've said it's very easy to take an obsessed guy, like a Russell Wilson and a Tom Brady, and lighten him up a little bit. It's much different to take a really fun guy, a chill guy, not his focus guy, and make him determine for the next four and a half months. I think he could do it, but I don't think it's easy. I think it's going to be much easier for Brady to lighten up a little than Cam to get so serious, so into it, so focused. I mean, I don't care about the celebrations. I don't care about that stuff.

We're showing celebrations. Gronk celebrates. I mean, it's not like New England can't have guys that have fun. Gronk had a lot of fun. Brady has a lot of fun. But, you know, we've always said this. It's the coaches that fail in this league come in and they're soft and they try to get tough, Wade Phillips. But Tom Coughlin was brutally tough and lightened up and won two Super Bowls.

It's just like dads. Dads can be rough on kids and tough and loud and lighten up. But if the dad's a cream puff and then tries to act tough and ground you and the kids roll their eyes. So the fun component, nobody in New England is going to have fun winning nine games and finishing second to the Buffalo Bills or third behind the bills and the Dolphins. I don't care how flashy, dynamic, the touchdowns. Nobody's going to think that's a good time. A good time in Foxborough.

And remember, football is a sport about attention to detail. It's timed. It's officiated. It's choreographed. It's not baseball. You got a clock. You got very little time. If one guy moves their finger, boom, illegal motion.

It's an attention to detail thing. So that's why the people that succeed in football have fun with the process of working. Brady loves looking at film all day. So it starts with the work. And if the work is good, the fun follows. But you can't start with it. with fun, otherwise you're going to get increasingly miserable because nobody around you wants losing in this league.

And Cam hasn't had back-to-back winning seasons. It may work, but I don't want to hear about it's going to be more fun now. No, no, no, no. It is not going to be more fun now because they're not going to win as much now without Tom Brady. So I saw this quote from Draymond Green. I tell you, I bumped into him at the fight when Tyson Fury fought Wilder. He liked me. I liked him.

Anywho. So he says, he's picking the Lakers to win the championship because of one guy, you know how the one guy ears. here's Draymond Green. The Lakers got to be the favorite because they got LeBron and that he can kind of adjust to anything. And I think he's probably the most disciplined pair we've ever seen in the NBA. And that's going to matter going into this bubble. And so I think, you know, having LeBron on your team going into this bubble gives you a slight advantage.

LeBron's not going to win the championship. The only question for LeBron is when he doesn't win it, how much does he blow up this organization? and get a real star player alongside he and Anthony Davis. Folks, LeBron's, we have a history with LeBron. He's three and six in the finals. When he has help, he gets the three. When he doesn't have enough help, he gets the six. They're not winning because they just lost Avery Bradley.

And I know what you're saying. What's Avery Bradley? He's a piece. Nobody's winning it by themselves. If they did, LeBron would be 9 and 0 in the finals. The reason Michael Jordan, we just watched the documentary, went six for six in finals, He had Scotty Pippin and all of them, and then Dennis Rodman and some, and then Phil Jackson, the greatest coach in the modern era.

Michael didn't do anything out of college into the NBA without Scotty Pippin, without Phil Jackson. Didn't do anything. Couldn't get past the Pistons. That's the best basketball player ever, and I think LeBron's first or second best basketball player ever. Magic doesn't win the titles if he doesn't inherit Kareem and he doesn't get Pat Riley, probably one of the smartest two or three people that's ever been in the NBA. LeBron's not winning the championship. It's not a knock on LeBron. It's not enough pieces. Is everybody forgetting that Avery Bradley is their third best defensive player?

That he would have been on the floor in the final few minutes of these playoff games. Like when they go to the bubble now, if there's three and a half minutes left and they're tied with the clippers, Avery Bradley would have been on the floor. He plays 24 to 25 minutes a night, gives you 8.5 points, 44% from the field, 36% on threes, and he is their third best defender after Anthony Davis and LeBron, according to defensive winchairs. he would have been on the floor, not Jared Cook or Jared Dudley or Quinn Cook. So now what it comes down to is more on LeBron's shoulders. And we've seen that happen six times in the NBA finals, and he's lost each one.

That's not in any way a shot at LeBron James. The only question for the Lakers is when they lose to the Clippers or Milwaukee or Boston. And I think Boston really has too many good players, and I think the Clippers have too many good players. Then what does LeBron do next? But right now, without Avery Bradley, who would be on the floor, laid in games, a two-way player, a defendable veteran, high IQ. This is LeBron's kind of guy. And that's why he's playing for the Lakers. It's LeBron's kind of guy.

They had all the young guys they move out. He gets Avery Bradley. It's not a coincidence. They started moving older veteran players in. Danny Green. LeBron wanted him. He was on the market. Avery Bradley.

LeBron wanted him. He was on the market. Why? Veteran players. High IQ. Get the game. Play both ways. and Avery's gone.

So now the rotation, I mean, the Lakers' playoff hopes are down to LeBron, AD, Danny Green, and cross your fingers. That's not a championship winning formula. Not when you have a stacked clippers, a stacked Celtics, and a very good Milwaukee team. And by the way, don't count out Toronto. A lot of veterans, I just don't know if they have enough shot makers at the end of the clock. But the question's going to become, this is not about, I mean, anytime you say they'll win it because of LeBron, folks, you can't. You can't depend solely on LeBron. And this is one of these stories in sports nobody's paying attention to.

Avery Bradley is a real player. He is a real player in a championship team. 24 minutes, nine points a game, 44% from the field, third best defensive player. Now you got a Kyle Kuzma's been a Laker for three years. We looked it up this morning. Does he have a game-winning shot with the Lakers? I'm not sure he does. I don't think he has a shot under 12 seconds in any Laker game for the win.

He may. I looked it up this morning, couldn't find it. That's what the playoffs are. Close games, big shots late. I don't think Kuzma has one. By the way, Nick Wright and I talked about this last week about the value of Avery Bradley. You know, you just think he's just a guy, but Toronto last year won the championship with a bunch of people we thought outside of Kauai were just guys.

The playoffs is about veterans, two-way players, depth, situational excellence, 45% shooting, hit a three, make a stop. I mean, that's what playoff basketball is about. Avery Bradley was good for that. I mean, Avery Bradley was a key component to this team. He's just not, he's just a guy. Toronto was full of just a guys last year, and they won the championship. Here's Nick Wright talking about now that Avery's out, what do they do?

It does put the Lakers in a tougher spot. It does put more on LeBron, and they have one of three options. And two of them are fine here, Colin. They'll probably sign my buddy J.R., which makes me happy, but he probably won't be a big part of the rotation. option. Option one is Contavius Caldwell Pope replaces Avery in the starting lineup. That's what they did when Avery missed games. Option two is Alex Caruso replace Avery in the starting lineup. That's the one I would go with. Option three is the only one where if they go this way, I'm going to be like,

man, Colin and his damn beloved clippers might have an edge finally. And that's if they end up starting Rondo. Rondo has been a negative player for this team. If he ends up getting the starting lineup spot. That's going to be really bad for the Lakers. Yeah, I don't know who's going to get the starting spot. But, you know, once you heat more on LeBron, we have a history. It doesn't work. You know, coming up next, story yesterday we had on the show, Doug Gottlieb this hour, Eric Mangini, Tom Kern in New England last hour, second hour, Chris Harris, the former

Denver Bronco now with the Chargers will be joining us live as well. coming up next, the Knicks had LeBron James and whiffed it with a disastrous meeting. More thoughts on that are the Knicks now the unsolvable problem in American sports. The biggest brand that for the foreseeable future has no shot to win. Some thoughts on that laid out. That's coming up. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, F.S1 and the IHeart Radio app.

Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise. Breaking down the plays, the controversies,

and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves. Their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight reel. 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 Sports Slice 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. 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 a little Kim? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast.

I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick it here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill, waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84 is big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack on day, but just so you're just so you.

y'all know. I mean, at this point, 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. So, oh. Thank you for finishing that sentence. And 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. What's up, guys? This is Clifford 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 walks up to me, he goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What? Quarterback on office blue 42. Hey, rec, my mama want you to wave at her. What? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Clivert show on the I-Hart Reefs.

Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Agency. The ability to know that we're the experts in our own body. On the podcast, cultivating her space, Dr. Dom and Terry Lomax create a space where black women can show up fully and be heard. I wholeheartedly think, you know, you hit 30. You shouldn't have to share one with anybody. Mm-hmm.

From navigating friendships and healing to setting boundaries and prioritizing your mental health. These are real honest conversations. We don't always get to have out loud. Totally unreasonable with different parts of life, right? Like, oh, have all three meals and make sure you're mindful during all of them? Absolutely not. During one meal, I'm standing. I'm standing and handing my children food.

Because healing, empowerment, and resilience aren't just ideas. They're practices. And this Mental Health Awareness Month, there's no better time to pour back into yourself. Listen to cultivating her space on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. So it's in sports, I think most of us think sports is pretty good right now. I mean, obviously with COVID, we're crossing our fingers. But, I mean, the Yankees and Dodgers are good in baseball. A lot of our traditional powers.

Oklahoma, Ohio State, Bama are good in college football. In the NFL, we've got like Mahalms, Lamar Jackson. And we've still got Breeze and Brady. We got young stars. We got old stars. I mean, the NBA, LeBron's one of the best players ever, and he's rolling. The Lakers are good. The Celtics are good.

It's a lot of traditional powers. The New York Knicks have a brand. I don't think it's nearly as good as people think. But this is one of these what could have been in sports. LeBron James, when he was in Cleveland, according to Bill Simmons, wanted to be a Nick. I mean, let's be honest. The late Kobe Bryant used to say there was nothing like playing in New York. Phil Jackson took a job in New York.

LeBron talked about New York. New York is special. Michael Jordan loved playing in New York. There's something about it. The fans, whatever. But this is the classic, what could have been in sports. LeBron goes Cleveland to Miami. He met with New York, and here's what apparently transpired.

From everyone I've talked to in the no since then, it's clear that the Knicks were the first choice. And I'm sorry, Knicks fans, earmuffs, but it was basically the Knicks to lose. and they just couldn't stay out of their own way. And the stories are legendary. Well, they had the legendary meeting. Donnie Walsh was in the wheelchair. And Dolan was Dolan.

And it was just a complete, they didn't have anything prepared. And it just couldn't have gone worse by all accounts. It was a disaster. Which is frustrating for fans. Now, some historical context. Every big brand in American sports, everyone has had droughts.

Alabama football went 18 years of Dennis Fran. Ancioni and Mike DeBos and Mike Shula. They were zero titles in 18 years, and Alabama was a big nothing burger. Green Bay Packers won Super Bowl 2 and Super Bowl 31. In between, not much to talk about. They had some bad years when I was a kid for about 15 straight years. The Yankees went 12 years without even making the playoffs in the mid to late 80s and early 90s. I mean, the Cowboys haven't won a Super Bowl in 25 years.

Everybody has a drought. The problem, those are solvable droughts we mostly think. Alabama can hire the right football coach, right? Like you can get the right coach or the right quarterback. You know, I mean, people in L.A. complain about USC football. And I'm like, they won the Rose Bowl four years ago. They beat a college football power Penn State. It's been four years.

And even last year, they weren't unwatchable. I mean, they lose the Notre Dame now. They shouldn't lose the Notre Dame as often as they do. But it's, you know, you can watch the games. They've got NFL level players sometimes. But what's scary for the Knicks is that it's James Dolan, and he doesn't have any interest selling the team. So that becomes unsolvable. It's not the right GM, the right coach, the right star player.

They've got the wrong owner. And from Donald Sterling to the Detroit Lions, to the Cubs for years, to an aged Al Davis, if the owner's bad, you're bad. And it's unsolvable. The second issue, do the Knicks really have a brand? Because think about this. They have the losingest playoff win percentage in the NBA this century. They've got eight division titles in their history and 23 last place finishes. What is their brand?

So the last time, Dolan bought them in 99. They've been irrelevant for 20 years. And since most of us don't start watching TV in sports until about we're six or seven, eight years old, that means for anybody that's 28 and younger, they're irrelevant. Because they've been irrelevant for 20 years. So the question now, it's a bad draft. There's no free agents. And they've got to stink on the franchise that no free agents want to play there.

So I don't think it's unreasonable to say they're going to be irrelevant for at least the next four years, maybe five. So that would be 25 years of irrelevance. And if kids don't watch TV sports and really, you know, start building their loyalty to about seven, eight years old, 25 plus 7 or 8 is 32, meaning nobody under 32 years old sees them as a brand. Translation, free agents. Kevin Durant talks about that. What is their brand? I think a lot of fans look at the Knicks as a brand and expect these younger players who,

in their lifetime, don't remember the Knicks being good. I didn't grow up with the Knicks. Well, I've seen the Knicks in the finals, but kids coming up after me and see that. So that whole brand of the Knicks to them is not as cool as, let's say, a Golden State Warriors or even the Lakers or the Nets now. You know what I'm saying? It's like the cool thing right now is not the Knicks. My question is if they're bad for four more years and they don't have a star player now,

it's not a good free agent year or a draft year, and they've got a stink that's going to hurt them for at least the next four to five years. That makes 25 years of irrelevance. Kids don't really start getting into a brand or a team until they're six, seven or eight years old. Nobody under 32 even sees him as a brand. I mean, between Dolan and that, you've got yourself something that may not recover.

Veteran newsman, John Goulet. No, no, no, no, turn on the news. This is the herd line news. With the NBA playing its playoffs in an Orlando bubble, many people, including Shaq, have said that this year's title should come with an asterisk. Rockets Guard Austin Rivers agreed that there should be an asterisk for this year's champion, but not in the way you think. He told Bleacher Report,

I think whoever wins should have an asterisk next to it, but only for it being one of the toughest championships ever won. You're asking guys to take three to four months off, then come back and find chemistry, then play during a pandemic while players are fighting for Black Lives Matter. Do you agree with Austin Rivers that this title is actually harder to win? Oh, God, yes. No fans playing in a bubble. If you're one of the top seeds, you've lost, you don't have home court advantage. Lakers now don't have Avery Bradley, no home court advantage. I mean, the only team I look at, and I say to myself, it may have been an advantage is the Philadelphia 76ers due to health. And they have bad chemistry. So if they separated the guys for a while,

but I don't think it's going to be great basketball. And we all know every team is going to have a player get COVID. Like at least one. I mean, that's what's interesting about the Lakers. So they lost Avery Bradley. What if the one player who got it was Danny Green. So now it's LeBron, Anthony Davis, and nobody that's hit a big shot ever in a playoff game in the last seven, eight years. So I think it's going to be,

this may be the year where luck plays a part. Like it's just a matter of what team doesn't get COVID and what team is able to gel really quickly with chemistry, really hit it initially. Yeah. Also injuries, you have less days off. So a pulled hamstring. could be the difference in winning a series or not because you don't have the time to rest.

That's another thing, John, is that so LeBron didn't have Avery Bradley, who I, you know, I still got leave on this, but I think he's a really nice two-way player. That puts more of a burden on LeBron, and LeBron's not going to have days off. I mean, they're playing more back-to-back, you know, they're playing with... It's going to be more every other day as opposed to two and three days between games.

So now LeBron lost another player defensively that he likes. So it's... I think the Avery Bradley loss is bigger than anybody thinks. arguably the Super Bowl Champion Chief's best defensive player is lineman Chris Jones earlier this offseason the Chiefs placed the franchise tag on him which means they still have just

two weeks left July 15th is the deadline to work out a long-term deal otherwise he'll play the season on the tag NFL Networks Mike Garofolo said yesterday that he views himself as a $20 million a year player the Chiefs like him a lot but they don't quite value

him that much so a deal doesn't seem to be coming Chris Jones replied to the video on Twitter saying, or I won't play, Levyon Bell told me about this. Basically, kind of in a way, threatening a holdout, I guess. Well, yeah, I mean, there's a franchise tag that players agreed to. If you're not willing to play with it, then the chiefs have to trade him. I mean, I'm sure there's somebody in the NFL that will sign them to a long-term deal, but the players agreed to franchise tax.

20 million a year is too much. And I love Chris Jones. I'm not paying a defensive line in 20. I'm not paying Aaron Donald, that feels like too much. That's just a lot of money for a guy that doesn't touch the ball. And especially since you're working on, currently, you're trying to negotiate the biggest contract in NFL history with Patrick Mahomes. I don't have 20 million for you. I can find another defensive tackle.

There's no doubt in my mind. There is an NFL team right now in America that would sign Chris Jones to a long-term deal. I have no doubt in my mind. Kansas City's probably not the place because of their. And they also, Kansas City just won a Super Bowl. So if you had to move off Chris Jones and, you know, you're a playoff team, but you don't win a championship, you've built up a lot of equity in Kansas City. These sports are about titles. That's why New England can be bad this year and the stadium's going to be full.

It's why the Bulls were bad several years after Michael Jordan and the season tickets were still full. So if I'm Kansas City and this is the deal, I can get for Chris Jones and I can trade Chris Jones, I can get a lot for Chris Jones. He's a top five defensive linemen in the NFL. And finally, as a devoted Arizona Cardinals follower, you probably know this, but the rest of us who didn't spend all of last year watching a 5 and 11 football team might not know that Kyler Murray was sacked a league high 48 times last season. And he talked about that issue moving forward. Last year, a lot of those sacks, I feel like we're on me. So I don't think I'll be putting those guys in that situation too many times anymore. So, you know, if it happens, it happens.

but I think we'll be a lot better just from experience. I think he's right. I watched all but two of their games, and he did run himself into some sacks. And he doesn't have a body type, which I want to see a lot of sacks, but he'll be fine. Listen, Kyler's style, there's a little playground to it.

I think he's sometimes better moving and throwing the ball. He throws the ball moving really well, but it also should be noted. Arizona, I think, has slightly upgraded their offensive line. Well, also, when you added receiver like DeAndre Hopkins, you're not waiting for him to get open. He's going to be open. So you can just let it rip and throw it up to him.

How good is that division, though? They're the worst team, and they're pretty good, right? They're probably like a seven-win team, and they're the worst team in the division, potentially. It's really good. Yeah. Veteran newsman, John Goulet. Well, that's the news.

And thanks for stopping by. The herd lie news. I want to ask Doug Gottlieb. Doug was a great college basketball player, and he's still a good old basketball player via the Coward Global Satellite Network brought to you by Mercedes-Benz the best or nothing. You know, it's one of those stories.

I understand, Doug, the NBA is a star-driven league. It should be, blah, blah, blah. But I do look at Avery Bradley, and I think to myself, no, he would be on the floor with three minutes left in a game for the Lakers in the playoff spot. He feels like he'd be a starter, right? Like, it's a loss, right? No question.

I mean, what's amazing about the Avery Bradley story is kind of twofold. One, the Lakers and Colin, I think you'd agree with me, before COVID and the quarantine, the Lakers were the best or trending to be the best team in the NBA, right? It'd be the Clippers and the Buck. Okay. What coincided with that last month

where they became the best team in the NBA? Avery Bradley was playing his best basketball was finally making jump shot. Yep. So now you take Aver Bradley off that team, and that changes the dynamic of the Lakers dramatically. I like the J.R. Smith signing. He's a professional assassin, shotmaker, who can defend.

But there's a reason he was out on the market. There's a reason he hasn't played a basketball game in the NBA in over 600 days. And while he's a nice addition, he's not Avery Bradley. So there's two different parts to it. One, changes the Lakers dramatically. And two, and for the worst, by the way. And two, I, like, the Lakers will never say it publicly. But you, if you're LeBron James, you've got to be ticked.

tick. You got what? One, two, maybe three shots max of winning a championship. And Avery Bradley doesn't want to be a part of that team. Avery Bradley has a player option next year. It's his option. But I'm just going to tell you, LeBron never say it publicly. Other players never say it publicly. But I'm just educated guessing here that those guys are hot over Avery Bradley

bailing on them when all they got to do is dedicate three months of their time. And I understand he has a son. six years old, has some health issues. A lot of these players are concerned about their kids just because when their families come down, the families have to be in quarantine for four days, right? Like you got a little kid, you want them in one room, one condo essentially for four days?

No, everyone's going to go, it's hard on every family. But you've been at home for three months and you've got a chance to win an NBA championship. And Avery Bradley's out. That changes the Lakers for the worst. And I cannot think that most those guys, not what they say on Twitter or on Instagram or in front of the cameras where they want to support their teammate. The truth is their tick that Avery Bradley is not making the trip.

Yeah, a lot of people say stuff privately. They won't talk about, I mean, nobody wants to admit that, but I do think there are Lakers that are not in a great mood this morning. Let me shift to this. So, you know, we were talking about the Knicks brand. And I started watching sports around seven years old. That's when I remember watching my first games. And that's when I became fans of certain teams. So the Knicks have been bad for 20 years, and that means if you were born 20 years ago, they haven't been relevant.

And if you didn't, so 27, if you count the 20 years they've been bad in the seven years until you started watching TV. Basically, anybody 26 and under, the Knicks have never been a brand, ever. Okay. If they're going to be irrelevant for another four to five years, that means nobody under 30, 32 years old. They're not a brand. I mean, you're old enough that you do remember. They're probably a little bit of a brand to you. But when I read the Bill Simmons and hear his podcast and he's like, no, LeBron wanted to go there.

My question is, is LeBron the last superstar that wants to go to the Knicks? Well, maybe. I don't know if Kevin Durant wanted to go there. Obviously, they apparently didn't have interest in Kevin Durant because he's coming off the Achilles' Tenant tear. Look, I would caution you, Colin, in that. We've been friends long enough. And when Sabin went to Alabama, you're like, how many guys are going to Dennis Franchone tried it, couldn't make it work. The fact is that one reason I know is not just because I'm old enough to remember when they were in the finals,

but I'm the son of a New Yorker, a guy who grew up during kind of the time when it was the Mecca. And Redd Holtsman led them to their last NBA championship. And I do believe that anyone who's been through New York understands that to the, to the guy or group of guys that fix this thing, that win a championship, you have no idea the amount of fandom, god deity like status you will achieve. But it's a, it's harder to climb than Everest, right? I mean, think of the names they have brought in. Reputable people. Yeah. Larry Brown was there for less than a year. I've never thought much of Isaiah Thomas, but Isaiah Thomas is a legend in basketball. He couldn't fix it. Bill Jackson,

is a former Nick who has 11 NBA titles. Granted, none of them in leading a franchise, but that thing was a disaster. They brought in big-name players, Penny Hardaway, Amari Stoddemeier, like you go Chauncey Phillips, and you go back through with Carmelo Anthem. They've tried everything. They've thrown the kitchen sink at it, and it hasn't worked.

Now, the problem with New York is that Nick's fans, basketball fans, view it as a Broadway show. It might not be the best show, but it's the only show in town, and they'll go see it. The Knicks, while they may not be a brand to you or to some of the younger sports fans, NBA players who go through that building know there's something special about playing in the garden and it's always going to be a draw. Look, they tried changing up the front office and it was well respected last time around, but they missed on Zion and couldn't even get interviews with the top free agents. Now they're going to try Leon Rose and World Wide West. They're going to try everything.

The fact is, though, that in New York City, it is still a brand. They're much more popular and much more watch, even if they're hated, than the Brooklyn Nets, who are a far better run franchise. And somebody is going to pick up that mantle and try and run with it. And somebody, at some point in the next 50 years, will achieve climbing that Mount Everest like Mountain, and to that person, they will be revered, like Reddett Holtsman is even today. So with Cam Newton, it's interesting. There's a big gap between the betting market.

Basically, you know, the betting market's like the Patriots are half a game better with Cam than Jared Stidham. And the media, which thinks it's a revolution. Randy Moss is going to be more fun. To that, I say, in Foxboro they like winning. Losing and being stylish is not fun. What are, what's realistic with Cam? Because the betting markets tell me one thing, not that much production. And the fans and the media are telling me.

me, this is going to change the league. What is it? Well, I mean, there's so much unknown here. Look, I've heard people really, really smart people say really, really silly stuff. You know, like, oh, well, Bill Belichick remembers 2013 when Cam Newton was so, like, it's 2020. He's had nine injuries since then, you know? And oh, yeah, by the way, it's not like they're injuries to parts of his body that he doesn't use. He had a foot problem. He's had two shoulder surgeries. Now, I don't know about you, Colin, but the two things that make Cam Newton, one of the most dynamic athletes we've ever seen in football, are his legs as an athlete and his shoulder as a thrower. And when both of those are called into question, there's a reason only one

team offered him a contract, and it's at the NFL's veteran minimum level. No one knows if Cam Newton is healthy, can throw. This is a big thing. He had to be. He had to be a lot. He had to be in. He had to, to change his throwing motion because of shoulder surgery. He's going gutter balls. And it didn't look good last year. And I talked to NFL teams are like, look, forget about all the flamboyance and the scars. Like, we don't actually care. Like,

the big thing is, can he throw a football? And how does he fit with what they want to do? And how do they want to use it? There's so much unknown here. But here's the last thing. The free agent hit rate is about 33%. That one third of free agents hit. Then when you consider how long he was on the market, market, the money. This is just Bill Belichick doing a dumpster dive and seeing if they can get something

from a penny stock. Really, that's what it is. Can he get something out of a penny stock? If it hits, great for Belichick. He sits sitem. If he doesn't, he's got Stidham who's just going to operate the offense. What do I think it really does? I follow Vegas. They have a tendency to know a whole hell of a lot more. And to people to think that suddenly now they're the best team in the AFC East, like, I don't know. The Jets finished, what, seven and two down the stretch with, once Sam Darnold was back. Buffalo is now a playoff team. I don't love Jared Allen, but I do love what Sean McDermott has done. And Miami has to be better. Do I think they could have a little bit more fun? Sure. But we're depending on Cam Newton, who had one great year in the NFL, supported by the best defense and an unbelievable running game.

And oh, yeah, by the way, they played a super, the year he won the NFL's MVP. they played one team in the regular season with their above 500 record. That's it. They played the soft schedule. Now, he was great in the playoffs. And he was good in the playoffs. They went to a Super Bowl. He was bad in the Super Bowl.

But that was five years ago, several surgeries ago. The answer is, I have no idea what Cam Newton has left in the tank. I have no idea how they would use him. And if he can stay healthy, if he can throw a football. And neither does anybody in Vegas, forget what the media is talking about because they're dealing with dated. Data. That dated data goes back five years. Good stuff. Doug Gutli, the Dugger Fox Sports Radio right after our show. Good talking to you, buddy.

Anytime, dude. You bet. A boomer Osiason said yesterday, something that's uncomfortable and nobody wants to talk about, but is he wrong? And is it some taboo topic? Or should we talk about it? Regarding COVID in college football. That's coming up. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays at 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 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.

SportsSlice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to SportsClyce 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. 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 a little Kim? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam Jay. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick it here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it.

Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84 is big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack on day, but just so you all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we discussed crack. So I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now. So. Thank you for finishing that sentence. And 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 IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, guys? This is Clever 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 walks up to me, he goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What? Quarterback on office blue with 42. Hey, rep, my mama want you to wave at her. What?

Where's she at? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Clifford show on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. agency, the ability to know that we're the experts in our own body. On the podcast cultivating her space, Dr. Dom and Terry Lomax create a space where black women can show up fully and be heard. I wholeheartedly think, you know, you hit 30, you shouldn't have to share room with anybody. Mm-hmm.

From navigating friendships and healing to setting boundaries and prioritizing your mental health. These are real, honest conversations. We don't always get to have out loud. totally unreasonable with different parts of life, right? Like, oh, have all three meals and make sure you're mindful during all of them? Absolutely not. During one meal, I'm standing. I'm standing and handing my children food. Because healing, empowerment, and resilience aren't just ideas, their practices.

And this Mental Health Awareness Month, there's no better time to pour back into yourself. Listen to cultivating her space on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. So yeah, Boomer Assizes and a former football player, Boomer Asiason, works for a CBS NFL show, and then he does a radio show in New York. And he was talking the other day on CBS Sports on their radio network. They wouldn't let us use the audio. They're probably in damage control. But what he talked about is a real thing that's getting talked about. And as Doug Gottlieb and I were just talking about, there's a lot of discussions people have. Avery Bradley, not every Lakers happy. He's not going to be there. They're just not going to say it

publicly and get the Twitter mob after him. But I don't think LeBron's happy with it. She's just not going to say that. And what Boomer-Rissan brought up is what athletic directors I've talked to are concerned about and are talking about. Do you give your college football team herd immunity?

They're 20 years old. 50% of the players are more asymptomatic. You've got the best medical staff. You have the players medical records. And Boomer Ossiason came out and he said, I think what's going on honestly, do you think it's a coincidence that these Southern college football powers like Alabama, LSU, and Clemson. You think it's a coincidence.

They all have these major breakouts in their program. I think they're honestly doing it. And Boomer said, I know it's an uncomfortable topic. Those are the kind of discussions we need to have on Sports Talk Radio. I listened to ESPN Radio last night, and it was embarrassing. It was so PC. This is, nobody is talking about that. I've talked to people who are talking about that.

In fact, one of the. concerns from the PAC 12 is that SEC teams are doing it and they're concerned they're not doing it, creating herd immunity, and they'll send their teams out to play an SEC team. Their team will get COVID outbreaks. The other team in the SEC won't, and they'll be totally outmaned. Whether it's true or not, it's being discussed. Yahoo Sports presented the concept of herd immunity on college football campuses to a dozen health experts. some of whom advised Power 5 conferences or the NCAA.

These are big shots. A few acknowledged the logic, said Bill Schaffner, a renowned infectious disease specialist at Vanderbilt University. He said, you know, I can see why people are thinking about it. Ron Waldman, an epidemiologist at George Washington said of the competitive advantage concept, it's a strange way of putting it, but the statement itself is probably correct. So the reality is people are discussing it. You got the kids' medical records.

They're 19 to 21 years old. Data point show in America, almost no chance to have a serious illness. Almost in California, zero deaths, zero to 17. We have 39 million people. I wouldn't do it if I was a coach, but I think it's probably been discussed. Is it happening in the SEC? I don't know if it's happening, but I did notice like boomer aside. and Clemson, LSU and Bama, especially Clemson, LSU at outbreaks,

it crossed my mind. But I'm listening to host last night from the Northeast say, this is, this just outrageous. And I'm like, no, you don't follow college football and how they pay players through the church and you're not following the sport. You know, I made one prediction with COVID months ago. I made one prediction in sports. I made one.

You remember what it was. I said, they'll be SEC football. I don't know if there'll be NFL football, baseball, basketball, I don't know. I said there'll be SEC football. And I said that three and a half months ago, maybe four, because it does matter more there. And that, in fact, is their marketing slogan? It matters more here. That's their slogan.

And I've lived in the South. It does matter more than it does here in Los Angeles with Pac-12 football, USC, and UCLA. And, I mean, they love their football and stuff, but there's other stuff. beaches, mountains, pro sports, LeBron, Dodgers, blah, blah, blah. So I'll make another prediction in sports. Here's my next big prediction in sports. So I've made one, the SEC will play. Because of this concern that some schools would consider herd immunity,

and I don't believe any Pact 12 schools think like that at all. And I'm not saying schools are doing it, but Boomer Ossison brought up something that has been discussed by people. My next prediction in sports is will have a college football season, but there'll be no games out of conference. It'll be Pac-12 against Pac-12, Big 10 against Big 10, Big 12 against Big 12,

SEC against SEC and ACC against ACC. No out-of-conference games. That's my second big prediction in sports. The SEC will have a season, and college football will be conference-verse conference-onference only because of this concern that not all conferences are playing by the same rules. Casper's got a Fourth of July sale, 10% off your entire order through July 13th. Casper.com, the code for this is keep cool. Casper.com, keep cool. Go to casper.com.

Want more herd? The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week within the IHeart radio app. Search herd to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like. 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. 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. Sportslice 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 Slicleif 12 and the TikTok Podcast Network. work 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 J. 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 Mark Lamont Hill waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84 is big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack on day, but just so y'all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack. So I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now.

Thank you finishing that sentence. 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. 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 walks up to me,

he goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What? Time out. Quarterback on office blue 42. Hey, ref, my mama want you to wave at her. What? Hey, Miss Pump. Listen to the Clippers show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

Agency, the ability to know that we're the experts in our own body. On the podcast, cultivating her space, Dr. Dom and Terry Lomax create a space where black women can show up fully and be heard. I wholeheartedly think, you know, you hit 30, you shouldn't have to share one with anybody. Mm-hmm. From navigating friendships and healing to setting boundaries and priorities and Prioritizing your mental health. These are real honest conversations. We don't always get to have out loud.

Totally unreasonable with different parts of life, right? Like, oh, have all three meals and make sure you're mindful during all of them? Absolutely not. During one meal, I'm standing. I'm standing and handing my children food. Because healing, empowerment, and resilience aren't just ideas. Their practices. And this Mental Health Awareness Month, there's no better time to pour back into yourself.

Listen to cultivating her space on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Ah, it's Wednesday. It's hour two. It's Los Angeles. We're live. This is the hurt. Wherever you may be and however you may be listening. Iheart Radio, Fox Sports Radio and FS1, looking pretty good.

I'm not going to lie right now. Joy Taylor is on vacation. Hanging out with the family. It's 4th of July weekend. Use your rec tech grill. Have fun. I'm heading out after the show today. I'm going to go hang out with my kids.

And I'll be on a wakeboard tomorrow, surfing at this time tomorrow, surfing. We're on an intertube somewhere, then on a jet ski over the weekend and play some golf. And it's been a while without sports. We're glad you've stuck with us. It's kind of shocking, actually, that we've been able to keep a big chunk of our audience. We've got about a week from now, we're going to have MLS soccer. Three weeks from now, we're going to have Major League Baseball, four weeks. for now we're going to have the NBA. So this morning, it was, I have no problem borrowing

great ideas. So I was fishing around the internet the other night. And Mark Madden's a very popular host in Pittsburgh. And he is through the years been critical of Mike Tomlin. And one of his tweets or something yesterday, he said, and Mark does a really good job. And he said, you know, if you were hiring a football coach to take over the Steelers today and there was every coach available, would Tomlin be one of your guys? And I thought that's interesting. Not only about Tomlin, but about if I, so I thought, what if I owned a football team? I mean, it wouldn't that be a dream for all of us?

So I'll never be able to own a football team. But let's just play a game that I come up with an amazing invention that nobody ever thought of. And I thought a lot about this last night. And this has never happened. I googled it. Nobody's ever come up with this. I think it's going to be huge. So I came up with nachos in a can, and I got really rich fast.

So you remember cheese whiz? You just maybe it's, yeah, so it's nachos in a can. And everybody loves it. I mean, the whole world loves nachos in a can. Like there's chips in it? Yeah, there's everything. You just eat it whole? So you start serving nachos in a big can, and America just goes crazy,

and it becomes mine, and I get a patent for it. And I'm Chef Cowherds, Nachos in a can. I got Hartford looking at that picture. So it just gets gigantic. Chicken nachos are even bigger. So I'm worth several billion. So I thought, okay, now I want to hire a coach. And I want to own this team for a long time, right?

And the number one thing I want to stability, because all of us would admit, right? Like stability matters. I mean, that's almost everything in this league. Unstable, you know, Raiders during Al Davis at the end, Cleveland, Detroit, stability is everything. So I don't want to hire coaches in their 60s. even if they're great, you know, Pete Carroll, 67, Belichick, Saban, I love Andy Reid, but I don't want to hire a second coach. I want to hire the future of football. And I thought, here's the five criteria.

So age matters. Number two, are they easy to work with? I don't care how successful you are. I own a team. I created nachos in a can. I want to sit in some team meetings. I don't want difficult power control freak guy. That ends Belichick.

Number three, I don't want NFL. controversy. I just bought a team. I don't want to answer questions about your legacy. Sean Payton's got some baggage. Belichick's got some baggage. Pete's got some. I'm not interested in that stuff. I want an innovative thinker. And then I want somebody that relates to players. It's a players league more than ever. If you're struggling with some of the current things that are happening in America, you're just not my cat. Like, let's get it right. And so I thought, okay, here's the 10 guys. We'll go 10 through 1. I would hire as a football. football coach, and I thought it was an interesting idea. So here we go. Here's number 10.

Number 10. I would do Mike Tomlin. He's great with players. He's still only 48 years old. He's got the second most wins since he was hired in the NFL to Bill Belichick. Now, you don't love what he's always done in the postseason, but he's got a couple of Super Bowls. Ten plus wins in eight of his 13 seasons. He dominates his rivals, owns Cleveland and Cincinnati. And I think Mike Tomlin is built for the future of the NFL. Players like him. And he's also shown he can deal with drama in a locker room. A lot of, it blows up a lot of teams. It never blows up Mike Tomlin.

Also, he is the best coach at a podium and there is no second place in league history. So Tomlin makes my list. Number nine. I think Urban Meyer, who's been fishing around the NFL for a year, asking a lot of questions and going to games, is fascinating. and folks, after Sabin, or maybe including Saban, he's the greatest college football coach of all time. He's only one of three coaches to lead multiple teams to championships. Florida, Ohio State, the other two are Pop Warner and Nick Saban,

and Sabin's in his 60s. Urban Myers in his mid-50s. I think he's real tasty, and I think he cares now. I think he's got 10 more years to coach. I don't think he's going to end his career as an administrator and a broadcaster. Number eight. Lincoln Riley, I think, is the best smart, young, offensive coach in college football, and I'd roll the dice with him. Now, whereas I can like Mike Tomlin and he's got Super Bowls, there are also things about Tomlin, lack of details that drive me nuts.

This kid's a detail freak. I think Lincoln Riley's unbelievable. They hired him at 33 years old. And of all the history of Oklahoma, best record ever first three years. That includes Barry Switzer, Bob Stoops, Bud Wilkinson. And by the way, what is the thing he's best at? Baker Mayfield, Kyler Murray, Jalen Hertz.

He is the quarterback whisperer. I think I, this is who I would have hired if I was the Dallas Cowboys. This is who I would have hired, and I don't care how much it would have cost. Number seven. I'm a big fan of Brian Flores. I think you're looking at the one Belichick assistant that's going to work. He's not afraid to take a lot of what Belichick does and just copy it, which is I've never understood why everybody struggles with that.

He likes corners and he'll pay for him. I mean, his big thing now he's rebuilding the. no line. He gets the quarterback and he pays money for defense and specifically corners. They were five and four down the stretch last year, including beating New England. He is a no-nonsense guy. Now, I don't know how he's going to deal with some players because this guy is, there's no BS with him. But I said this last year in September when they were getting drilled.

They had the makings of a fascinating football culture. Don't just think losing record means losing culture in bad code. I think Flores is the Belichick disciple who becomes a star. Number six. Matt Nagy. Folks, he's 20. The bears are 20 and 12 since hiring Matt Nagy with Mitch Trubisky. Mitch Trubisky is a winning record with Matt Nagy.

Do I need to say anything? And I got nothing against Trubisky. Folks, he won a division with Mitch Trubisky, a division with Aaron Rogers. He's worked with Andy Reid. Andy, who I know well, speaks incredibly high of him. And if you watch the Bears games, they're a little bit like the 49ers, incredibly multiple, incredibly deceptive. He won a division on coaching, on smoke and mirrors. Matt Nagy 6.

Number five. I think John Harbaugh, again, a guy 57 years old gets it. He's the more agreeable Harbaugh. He's got a Super Bowl. I think his pivot to Lamar Jackson has been really smart, and I think the players are into it. One of the things I think Baltimore does very well, he's really good with personnel. He's got a tremendous eye for talent. Some coaches, you know, we've said this about Belichick.

I don't like Belichick's drafts. Harbaugh's eye for talent is significant and redeemable. I'd have him in the list. Number four. But it is an offensive game. It really is going forward. Rules, legislation. Sean McGay would be my number four.

On that picture, he almost looks like Harbaugh. Sean McVeigh got to a Super Bowl. I mean, they hired Sean McVey. He was 30 years old. He has won nine games in every season as the Rams head coach. Now, I did not like the Gurley acquisition or the contract or the Brandon Cook acquisition. That's not on him. I think if he can get the interior of the offensive line right, the Jared Goff contract within a year is going to look just fine.

Super sharp. He's got a system. He's got to tweak it. But some of the issues he had last year, I do not blame on Sean McVeigh. Vey. Number three. Doug Peterson. I watched him out coach Belichick and the Patriots in the Super Bowl.

I had my doubts. I did not think he was going to be this. Another Andy Reid disciple. I mean, he's the fourth person to everyone a championship as a player and a coach. Mike Ditka, Tom Flores and Tony Dungey. He has to me, he's a really good big game coach. If you go watch what they did down the stretch last year and the crises, they had to maneuver around. They had no receivers.

offensive line and defensive line issues. He has had a lot thrown at him. A lot of pressure, a lot of injuries, a lot of instability on perimeter positions. He's handled all of it. Well, Carson Wentz injuries, Nick Foals emerging. He's been dealing with a lot of noise for several years, and he's hit it out of the park. Number two. Most underrated coach in the league is Sean McDermott of Buffalo.

I know it's an offensive league. Folks winning in Buffalo is harder. Free agents don't want to play there. The weather's lousy in November and December. Nine wins in two or three seasons in Buffalo. His eye for personnel is unbelievable. His defense last year was filthy good. It wasn't as dynamic as San Francisco's defense.

But if you watch them play, man, they remind me a Belichick. His players are never in the wrong spot. Now, can he develop Josh Allen? Well, he did enough last year. Josh Allen can be a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a lot of, the wild pony here. Like, you're not sure what direction he's going to go in. But when I watch this team, I see personnel excellence.

I see consistency. I see players in the right spot. I see a team that never beats themselves. They just need a deep threat. They don't get any cheap touchdowns. Stefan Diggs gives you that. Number one. Kyle Shanahan.

I think, I know he's had a couple Super Bowl moments you don't love. But I think San Francisco was. right. I think he's intense. I think he's got the lineage from his dad. I think he has a system, but he is nimble enough to manipulate the system and listen to John Lynch and others. I think he's obsessively driven, which is probably most of these guys. But if I start my franchise today, I get the dad, I get him, I get playoff experience. And I also think he's got a chip on his shoulder because he thinks he should have won that Super Bowl last year and he thinks he should have won that Atlanta Super Bowl against New England when he was the OC. So that that. That's a chip on. I think he's

That would be my 10. How's that? What do you make of that, Goulet? I think people on the Internet are going to not like you again. You know what? They're jealous of my hair. At this point, it's just sad. It's hate.

That's my 10. Now, I know what you're saying to yourself, you know, Tomlin won a Super Bowl. What about Urban Meyer? Listen, Tom Coughlin was in Boston College. Ended up beating Belichick twice in a Super Bowl. Pete Carroll has done great. You know, Jim Harbaugh, actually, you could argue,

you did better NFL than college. So I think Lincoln, Riley, and Urban Meyer would absolutely be guys I would consider to be a head coach. I don't disagree with that. I think the problem I might have is the guy you have ahead of both of them and Brian Flores. Listen, you can't just buy Amazon as a stock. You can't just buy Apple or Google. Occasionally, you have to buy a $24 stock and watch it grow. You got to buy Shopify when it was 140 and now it's 900.

It's not just all about going to your stockbroker. I'll just take all the big stocks. You've got to find value. To me, there's two guys in this, I believe, are value guys. Matt, Nagy, and Flores are value guys. They won't make a lot of top tens, but both have had issues. First of all, Flores is trying to turn around a mess for the last decade, and Nagy's got a quarterback, who I think is incredibly limited.

So to me, those are my value stocks. I didn't put them one or two. It's kind of like getting in early on nachos in a can. Yeah, so let's do that again. I created nachos in the can and everybody loved it and it just took off. It was bigger than Google. I'm an idiot. Okay, Eric Manjini, who's not, will be joining us next.

Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1 and the IHard Radio app. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody. 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 athletes themselves, their locker room

stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context and ask the questions everybody wants answered. Sports Slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to SportsSlice 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-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. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick it here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill, waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84 is big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack on day, but just so y'all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack.

So I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now. Thank you for finishing that sentence. And, 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.

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 of 42. Hey, Wreck, my mama want you to wave at her. What? Where's she at? Hey, Ms. Parker. Listen to the Cliverts show on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast.

Agency. The ability to know that we're the experts in our own body. On the podcast, cultivating her space. Dr. Dom and Terry Lomax create a space where black women can show up fully and be heard. I wholeheartedly think, you know, you hit 30. You shouldn't have to share one with anybody. Mm-hmm. From navigating friendships and healing to setting boundaries and prioritizing your mental health.

These are real honest conversations. We don't always get to have out loud. Totally unreasonable with different parts of life, right? Like, oh, have all three meals and make sure you're mindful during all of them? Absolutely not. During one meal, I'm standing. I'm standing and handing my children food. Because healing, empowerment, and resilience aren't just ideas. They're practices. And this mental health awareness month, there's no better time to pour back into yourself. Listen to cultivating her space on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. The 2020 baseball season will begin on Friday, July 24th, with MLB on

Fox returning on July 25th with Fox Saturday baseball and we could not be more excited. Baseball is back and of course America's home for baseball this summer, as always, will be Fox and FS1. Did you know right now, Geico offering an extra 15% off, 15% credit and car motorcycle and RV policies? Got to switch though by October 7th. The Cam Newton story is interesting. I think he makes them better, but as I like Vegas, I think they're a nine-win team instead of a seven-win. win team if he sticks. But Eric Mangini knows a lot more about this than I do or anybody watching my show. The fans and the media think it's a revolution in New England. I do not. I think it's a

one-year deal at most. I think they want to get a look at that kind of offensive talent at quarterback because I think next year they'll be drafting either Trevor or Lawrence, Justin Fields, or a college guy that can move. So that's my theory on it, is let's just kind of look at how the game is changing and we built up a lot of equity and you know, I don't think it's going to be a revolution but Eric Mangini is now joining us via the Coward Global Satellite Network from Kate Cod.

Okay, so let's just start. You know the culture. You know its strengths, its liabilities. Does Cam in New England work in your opinion? Yeah, I was shocked when this happened and I've said all along I didn't think it would happen because in New England they want a starter.

they don't want a star. And when it did happen, I was trying to think of some, some analogy or metaphor that, that worked. And it was like a, like a yoga studio to studio 54 when you go from Tom Brady to Cam Newton. It's just radically different. And really, the only person that has risk is Cam Newton. They're getting a guy for zero guaranteed money. At least that's what it sounds. I can't find anything that talks about any guaranteed money that he gets. So you get him for the veteran minimum with incentives. If it doesn't work out, it doesn't work out. New England moves on.

It's a lottery ticket. For Cam, though, if it doesn't look out, work out, it looks really bad. Yeah. And the other thing I'm going to say with Cam is that he's going to have to adjust to the Patriot way. And that's the reality of it. There's no officers club in New England. You don't get treated differently in. in New England. And if you're not going to adjust to the Patriot way, they're going to move on

from you. And they have very little reason or pushback or fallback because of how little they've invested in you. Well, you know, it's interesting. I said this yesterday, is that in Carolina, because he was a number one pick, he had to work. So you had to find at least for four or five years, you invested so much time and money and marketing in Cam that it had to work and you had to make it work. In New England, they've invested nothing in him. So, you know, if three weeks into practice, the culture don't connect, it's like, what do we care? But I, not that he was coddled in Carolina, but it had to work there. And so they were willing to, what, make sacrifices on coaches. I mean, is that make sense? Yeah, when you draft someone, when you draft someone as high as they

drafted cam, you have got to do everything possible to make it work. Now, this is his second team, he's coming off an injury, they have no guaranteed money invested in him. It's $7.5 million with incentives, but no guaranteed money, they can move on at any point. If he decides he doesn't want to adapt to the Patriot way, if it's not working out from a system fit, if his injury is greater than they expected, it's no problem for doing them. They move on, they have Sidham and Hoyer, the plan that they've had all along. if it works, it's like a lottery ticket. They win, they win big.

And next year, you know, if they want to, they can franchise them. They can, there's, it seems like there's options. I don't know if there's anything in the contract that gives Cam some sort of rights if he has success or if there's anything built in like that. This is all 100% in New England's favor. By the way, does it tell me that Jared Stidham, they're not into him? Is that what it tells me? I don't think it's they're not into them.

It's if you have an opportunity to sign the league MVP with no risk or former league MVP with no risk and you've got a young unproven quarterback that you like a lot and a veteran journeyman that you don't know how he'll do, why not bring this guy in and take a look at it? Now that being said, it's going to be disruptive. It's going to change the dynamic of the building because if Stidham wasn't playing, well, the veterans aren't going to be hollering for Hoyer. It may be like a quiet sort of hollering. But if Stidim, for some reason, starts and doesn't play well,

and Cam's there, the whole world's going to be hollering for Cam. And if Stim starts, the world and Cam's there, the world's going to wonder how that's possible. Yeah. By the way, they announced the Cam signing 17 minutes after they were handed a fine of $1.1 million and had third round pick taken away. it felt it felt very New England the way they did that I don't think the timing was a coincidence right well well that's why I keep trying to figure out whether cam had any guaranteed money let's say he had a couple million dollars guaranteed

it's worth it from a PR perspective I don't know how much you'd have to pay a PR firm to trend to to to transform an announcement like that in a quiet off season into something that becomes so positive for your team for your fan base for your perception around the league, for your odds. It's amazing. The value of the cam signing from a publicity standpoint to offset what would have been an avalanche of negative publicity, that alone is worth anything they may have had to give Cam, you know, up front. So when you coached in the NFL, you never had to deal with anything quite like COVID. So it is a fluid situation.

epidemiologists can disagree on, you know, how equipped you should be or the risk you should take. So what do you make about right now coming back in, player safety, what do you make about the standards being set right now by the NFL? Well, here's where I've been frustrated. There's been a lot of talk about Tom Brady working out with players or, you know, any number of quarterbacks who have been working out and groups that have been working out together. to me, if you don't want that to happen, you should have opened up the facilities. And just like with a restaurant, you have a soft opening.

It gives you an opportunity to bring the guys in, to get them tested, to establish best practices in the building, to make it as safe an environment for them to work together as possible. But to just complain about these guys working together on their own, that's going to happen. And it's going to continue to happen. You saw Kam and Mohamed Sanu working out just yesterday, or it being talked about. They should have brought guys in, figured this out. Now everybody's going to come in on the 28th.

You've got this massive influx of players. Nobody really knows how it's going to work. And it's a toss-up in terms of what happens in these early phases. You know, we were, Doug Gottlie was on earlier, and we looked up a stat 33% of free agents in the NFL actually hit. They fit. They work six out of ten do not. So the CAM thing is interesting because New England and Carolina, it's just a different culture.

It's a different playbook. You know, it's really funny about that. Take me to your experience about going and getting free agents and why the percentages are so low on the success hit rate. Well, I remember in New England, I wasn't there at the time. Remember they signed Adelius Thomas? Yes. And it was a big money contract. And there's another example of two organizations that operate differently from a culture perspective.

And that's where a lot of the friction came is it just was a hard adjustment for Dalyas to make to what was expected in New England. And here's the other thing I'll say is when guys came into New England, whether it's Corey Dillon or take your pick, whichever free agent came in, you always had Tom Brady in. the locker room to help support the message. You had the greatest player of all time. You had this incredible amount of success. And this player was willing to be coached in a very hard way. He was willing to abide by the rules that were in place. Now you take that player out of the mix and you're trying to fit cam into the culture. It's really difficult to do. And New England is unique from that perspective because it's not for everybody. It's not for every coach. It's not for every player, you have to adjust to the way they do things or you've got to move on.

And it's difficult for a lot of players to understand and appreciate that. Yeah. The celebrating, you know, it doesn't bother me because Gronk could be goofy, but Gronk eventually acquiesced and became a complete utter grinder. And you could see Gronk over time there became more of a patriot than they became the grongster. So it's, all this stuff is fascinating. Eric, you got a thought on that? Well, I just think, Colin, when you're so used to being the star and you're so used to having your name on the marquee and people accommodating the things that that help you and support you and make you happy and then you go to an environment where you're just another guy, it's a really difficult thing for any human being to go through. And you also go for making $20 million a year to have an unguaranteed minimum deal with incentives.

I mean, it's a hard pill to swallow. And I'll be really impressed if Cam is able to go there and make it work. Good stuff, Eric Manjini. Coach, great talking to you. Enjoy your summer. All right. We'll see you, Colin. All right.

Veteran newsman John Goulet. No, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. sponsored by Mercedes-Benz, the best or nothing. So speaking of Cam, some people are higher on him to the Patriots than you are or I am or apparently Eric Mangini is. Former Patriots executive Mike Lombardi is very high on the move and he talked about it on WEEI. To me, I thought they would win over nine games that I said this on my show on Visa.

But I think to me, now it gives them a conversation to be, can they beat Kansas City? and the way they have to play, can they beat Kansas City? I think that's the ultimate. I think they can. I do. I think a lot of it's going to come down to their kicker how good he is, right, because he's a rookie. It's also going to come down to how good those young players are on defense.

And if they can add another defensive lineman or somebody in there to give them a little bit more earth, I think they can. Yeah, I don't. Yeah, they didn't. So last year when they played Kansas City, they didn't win at home. And they've lost Tom Brady and Kyle Van Nuoy and all these. they're good players. If they were willing to yeah, I mean, if they had to move pieces, I won't

even speculate on Chris Jones. I don't think they're a championship team. Again, this is one of the reasons sports is fun is we don't have all the answers before the games. I want to see what Cam looks like. I think by October early, we'll have a sense of if it works or not. Sure. I don't, maybe he's good, but I don't think he's not an upgrade over Brady. I think we'd all agree that he's not better than Brady. So I don't see how they're going to, now

now they can beat Mahomes. With Brady, they were screwed, but now they can beat him. I don't understand that one. And remember, New England was not good down the stretch. They were four and five. They were good early, but they... They pounded on some bad teams early. They don't have... They don't have... They don't have great skill people, and they don't have any depth of skill. So it's not like if they lost an Edelman, they don't have anything behind them. If they lost

on Nikiel, Harry or Mohamed Sun. They don't have any... They don't have a workable NFL tied end that we know of on the roster. a rookie guys they drafted. So the NBA had somewhat of a soft deadline of June 24th for players to decide if they'd go to the bubble in Orlando or not. Obviously, we know the Lakers will be without Avery Bradley who decided not to go. Dwight Howard, on the other hand, hasn't really decided one way or the other. Earlier this month, or last month, excuse me, he released a statement saying he felt it was

inappropriate for basketball to return during a time of civil unrest. But he never actually told the Lakers, I'm not coming. PM Rob Polinka said they're supportive of Howard, who also his son's mother passed away recently and they'll continue to work with him. But at some point, obviously, I think they need to know, are you coming or not? If he doesn't go with them, and that's another player. Well, then it's no Avery Bradley and Dwight Howard. Again, you've got a six-man, seven-man rotation. Listen, I don't think the Lakers are a championship team with Avery Bradley.

I don't think it was as good as the Clippers. But without Avery Bradley, they're definitely not as good as the Clippers. Not that Howard's a huge contributor. He's seven and seven. That's what he averages. And he's still good on defense and rebound. He can play 16 minutes to 20 minutes a night in a playoff game. He's been around the league.

I'll take Dwight Howard off my bench. I don't, I thought he had a, let's be honest. I thought he had a pretty good year for Dwight Howard, what we expected. I thought he was pretty good. Other than the Nets who have an All-Star team skipping Orlando, but they were a 70, they weren't going anywhere anyway. I don't think anyone's been kind of hurt more by this whole thing. No one's had more players drop out, at least for.

relevant players than the Lakers. Yeah, I agree. I mean, it's been rough. And finally, we have the latest example of Zion becoming the new face of the NBA. The video game NBA 2K is releasing three covers for 2K21, and on one of them will be Zion Williamson. So 19 games into his career, he's already on the cover of a prominent video game. And he, by the way, he is built for stuff like that. Look at that picture. Absolutely. So the NBA kind of modified the bubble in order to make sure the Pelicans got in, gave them a really easy schedule so they can maybe get into the playoffs. Is there any doubt that, listen, LeBron is still the face of the league for sure?

But when he steps away, I don't think there's any doubt that this is the guy the NBA is putting forward as, hey, here's the next one. Yeah, and I just think some players embrace it. Zion would embrace to be the face of the league. I don't think James Hardin wants to. I don't think Kauai wants to. Definitely. Some guys just, that's not their personality.

Magic Johnson loved. it. Larry Bird was more reluctant. You know, just everybody's different. Veteran newsman, John Goulet. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Hurd-Ly News. I want to go to New England. Tom Kern will join us. That's around the corner. Tom Curran, he is always the storybreaker in New England,

and he'll be joining us. Plus, Chris Harris, the pro-bowler Broncos, now to the Chargers. Can't wait. I don't think we've ever had Chris Harris on. He'll be joining us, too, here on a Wednesday. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. On Fox Sports Radio, FS1 and the IHeart Radio app. 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. They're locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context and ask the questions everybody wants answered. Sports Slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to Sports Slice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slices Life 12 and the TikTok podcast now. work 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. just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack on day, but just so y'all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack.

So I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now. Thank you for 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. What's up, guys? This is Clever 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 42. Hey, rec, my mama want you to wave at her.

What? Where's she at? Hey, Ms. Parker. Listen to the Cliverts show on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Agency, the ability to know that we're the experts in our own body. On the podcast, cultivating her space, Dr. Dom and Terry Lomax create a space where black women can show up fully and be heard.

I wholeheartedly think, you know, you hit 30. You shouldn't have to share one with anybody. Mm-hmm. From navigating friendships. healing to setting boundaries and prioritizing your mental health. These are real honest conversations. We don't always get to have out loud. Totally unreasonable with different parts of life, right?

Like, oh, have all three meals and make sure you're mindful during all of them? Absolutely not. During one meal, I'm standing. I'm standing and handing my children food. Because healing, empowerment, and resilience aren't just ideas. Their practices. And this Mental Health Awareness Month, there's no. better time to pour back into yourself.

Listen to cultivating her space on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Casper's got a Fourth of July sale, 10% off your entire order now through July 13th. Go to casper.com. The code is keep cool, keep cool. Good stuff I sleep on it. Tom Curran, NBC Sports in Boston. When stories break, he's always in the lead according to the Patriots.

And according to us, he is well vetted. All sorts of great information. I started following him years ago when I lived out in Connecticut, and he now joins us via the Coward Global Satellite Network. Let's start with this. There's always, whenever you get a big story like Cam to the Patriots, there's always a story that nobody talks about, but it's a possibility. I'll throw it out at you.

What if Cam ends up backing up Jared Stidham, and he doesn't connect with the staff, and he's a backup? Is it possible? Oh, sure, it's possible, because what's interesting, Colin, is they are going to have a true competition. Bill Belichick is not going to have someone come in and just give him card plunge to the starting position. So there will be a competition here.

I think we all agree that 70% of Cam will probably win that position out. He's still a very talented player. But say missing the OTAs and missing mini-camp and missing everything and have a different verbiage, they don't want to put them in a position to not succeed. So ends up being Hoyer or a stidim.

Well, Cam then say, you know what? This isn't for me. I'm going to go try and find some other spot. From the folks that I've made contact with over the last couple days, they don't expect that to happen. They think the Cam is in this for the long haul in 2020. And they expect that he is going to do whatever it takes here in New England and not just pull the rip court if things aren't going his way. They're very high on what he's going to bring as a competitor. Okay, so let's talk about this because I don't see it happening, but it should be discussed.

What about Cam long term in New England? That to me is what's fascinating, because let's play it out. Cam plays great. He's a top 10 quarterback again. He's going into his 32nd year on the planet, second year with the Patriots. He's still a young guy. And if he plays great, that will mean that he's in a position to at least start at $25 million a year. So you spend one year for a million to get five years of $101 million.

If you get a four-year, $25 million a year contract, he has to start there. Now, Colin, if you're... the Patriots, you're looking at 32-year-old Cam when you just pushed away from 42-year-old Tom Brady, I think that they could get their brains around having an extension in hand for him. They could franchise him. They weren't going to do that with a 42-year-old going on 43. But if Cam proves to be Cam, again, well, I could see them entertaining it. Additionally, the Patriots are going to have way more cap room, even though the cap is going to go down, as you've probably seen with COVID because of local revenue losses, the Patriots

have about $90 million projected in cap space if the cap's over 200. Okay, I'm going to throw my theory at you. That they look at Cam, they see how the game is changing, they look at Lamar Jackson, they look at Russell Wilson, and they see Deshaun Watson. They see how the world's changing. And they say to themselves, next year the drafts got three top quarterbacks, and they're all athletic and all mobile, and they can move the pocket. And the Patriots are like, why don't we get a taste of this for a year with Cam?

and kind of figure out like what our personnel does with a moving pocket. And then they say, Cam, we loved you. Thank you. Cam gets the seal of approval, pat in the back from Bill. And they go draft somebody with Cam qualities more than Brady qualities. That's my theory. Your thoughts? It's a great theory.

I think it's accurate. But I think it was going to happen regardless of whether or not Cam's price came down to a million dollars a year. This offense was going to morph and has been. and morphing behind the scenes throughout this offseason. They love Tom Brady and everything he did. But there were times when they would look askance at some of the things that he was unable to do and look around with a little bit of envy and what some other players around the NFL were able to do.

Look, the Patriots don't have athletes who separated the skill positions. They are relative to the rest of the league, incredibly glacially slow. So you need a guy who can buy time to restart plays or buy time in the pocket to allow guys to get open. Stidham can do that. Cam obviously can do that. If Stidham ends up beating out Cam, they're not going to get Trevor Lawrence or Justin Fields or whoever else. They're going to stick with him. Cam is in a position where he beats out. I don't know whether they want to be able to find out whether or not they can get up to get Trevor Lawrence. But the upshot of it is, you're exactly right, Colin. They are morphing the offense already. Yeah. By the way,

what does this tell me about Stidham? Which I, You know, I've been kind of a cynic on this. Yep. You know, I thought, you know, they've seen every snap for a year and they still wanted 43-year-old Tom Brady to stay. So I have my reservations on if he's great. What does this tell me about Stidham? It should not be seen as an indictment, I have been told. The reason is that every single year, whether it's kicker, punter, left guard, or in this instance, quarterback,

the Patriots are trying to create competition. And later in the spring, into the early summer, they're always saying, okay, who's out there that we could try and create competition with? Sometimes you see Torrey Holt come in. He was here. Or Reggie Wayne come in. He was here. They might not necessarily have a shot to make the team

or even be interested in staying as they really weren't. But it creates competition. Cam Newton, as great as he is, was brought in under the same auspices. The difference between him and Tori Holt and Joey Galloway or any of the other guys is, he might have the potential to get back to where he was. So it's not an indictment of Stidham. is what I've been told and they've been happy with this off-season.

But again, that one to first-to-second year jump that everybody makes, it's hard to make when you don't have mini-camp, training camp, or a conventional off-season. All right, I know you're a reporter, but give me your opinion on this. Six months from now,

what's Cam do with the Patriots? That's February. Yeah. They're wondering why they got eliminated in the divisional playoffs after going 10 and 6 and winning a wild card game and Cam's sitting there saying

you know what I threw for 24 touchdowns and I had 11 picks and I ran for 500 yards do I want to try and see what's out there otherwise or do I want to stick with these guys because they're trending in the right direction that's where Cam is where are the Patriots

they're doing what they always do just straight poker of looking directly into Cam's face and saying does this guy want to stay or does he not because we got an ace in the hole because just like Jimmy Garapolo, Jared Stidham just spent a second year rehearsing and apprenticing under an MVP or former MVP. He's ready to go if Cam goes someplace else. Good stuff. Tom Curran, Boston Sports.

Great talking to you, man. Thank you. All right, buddy. Have a great summer. All right. Speaking of summer, we're spending more time with our family during this summer. Invest in something great for them. It's called grilling. RecTech Grills withan S.com. R-C-T-E-C-C-Grills withanS.com. You know, it's the thing, here's the downside for Cam is that if Cam goes to New England, because let's be honest, only New England offered him a contract.

And it was, there was no money in this thing. He's free. I mean, it's league minimum. He's a free player. There's no guaranteed money, right? Not much. So here's the downside to Cam. Because the idea that it's not a risk for Cam, it is a risk for Cam.

You got to give credit to Cam on this. Cam didn't need the paycheck. It's not like Cam's struggling to pay his cable bill. Cam didn't need the money. This is Cam and or his agent, and I imagine Cam had a big say. Cam's saying, I can acquiesce to their system. I'm going to get the best coach in football. Their defenses are always good.

And they've got some decent, you know, they've got capable running backs and O line players. And because there is a risk for Cam here. And the risk is that Cam Newton turned off a lot of teams. Nick Foles. James Winston got jobs. Marcus Marietta got jobs. Cam didn't. A job.

What does that tell you? Well, you know, it tells you that he turns off teams. It's not an injury thing that's so overplayed. If Patrick Mahomes was injured and on the market. If Aaron Rogers was injured on the market, if Russell Wilson was injured on the market, Carson Wentz was injured and he got $140 million contract. It ain't the injuries. If you're great, people want you.

Cam turned off a lot of people. Lack of focus. You know, he's doing a lot of stuff, non-football. Football coaches, you know, they're old school, man. They want you to be, even the young football coaches, they want you to be into football. And so if he comes in there and can't, it doesn't work. He just doesn't fit. Two rock star, it's a bad look for Cam.

You thought the market was small before he signed with New England? it's even smaller, as in nobody's interested. So he took a risk. Got to give him credit for that. Took a risk. By the way, here are my final hour coming up, Chris Harris. Can I give you my top ten coaches thing? So we did this earlier.

If I owned an NFL team, I come up with an invention and I get rich. I came up with something that nobody had ever thought of in the history of America, nachos in a can. And it ended up making me, richer than the guys who created Amazon and Google.

And we talked about the top 10 coaches in the NFL I would hire. And so I put the 10 coaches up. A lot of you are asking me about Mike Vrable. And my takeaway on Mike Vrable is that's a little bit like Ryan Tannehill. It's a little bit of recency bias. Tennessee was winning nine games a year before Mike Vrable got there. Last year in the regular season, they won nine games. Here's the 10 coaches I would start my franchise with.

Now, there's no Belichick, Andy Reed, Pete Carroll, Nick Saban. Why? They're in their 60s. Remember, I'm a billionaire. I just invented nachos in a can. I don't want controversy. I want one coach. I want to do like the Steelers.

I want to hire two coaches in my entire stay as the owner. I have no interest in hire a 60-year-old coach. In five years from now, he retires. It would go. Kyle Shanahan 1, Sean McDermick 2, Doug Peterson, Philly 3, Sean McVeigh 4, John Harbaugh 5, Matt Nagy, yes, he won a division with Mitch Tribesky 6. Brian Flores is my value stock.

I think he's Belichick's first disciple that hits a home run. Lincoln Riley 8, Urban Meyer 9, and Mike Tomlin 10. The bigger story, though, is I invented nachos in a can. It took over America and I am now rich enough to own an NFL team. But if you're wondering why I don't have the old guys, I want to be the Steelers, two coaches. 50 years of ownership. Hour 3 next. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific.

He agreed to a two-year deal with the Chargers, even though there was a three-year deal out there. He's entering his 10th NFL season. He's going to get a lot of Hall of Fame votes. He's a four-time pro bowler with a lot of years left. 31 passes defended versus the AFC West since he entered the league. That's the most in the NFL. and the Chargers now, along with the Ravens,

have the best secondary in the NFL. And Chris Harris, Jr. is joining us from his Dallas home via the Coward Global Satellite Network. Went to Kansas with Akim Talib, one of my favorite guys. So let's start with this. I got a bunch of questions to ask you.

Why did you go for fewer years to the Chargers instead of more years with the Raiders? They're both in the same division. Why did you make that choice? I think the Chargers had a better plan for how they're going to use me. The Raiders had Lamarcus Joyner, a guy who they wanted to play inside and out. And the Chargers wanted me to play inside and out. What I've played my first eight years in the season, my first eight years in my career.

So I just felt comfortable joining back with my first coach that I had coming into the league. And I just felt very comfortable with the plan they have for me. Okay, so I have been saying that if you go to the NFL the last three years, there's a quarterback, it was Wence, Mahomes, and Lamar Jackson, that a quarterback who was so, so in his rookie year pops in his second year. It's been three years in a row. So I said, Drew Locke fascinates me. He's got an arm. He's athletic. He didn't play a ton.

But you more than anybody have practiced against him and seen him. him. What are Drew Locke's strengths and if he has some weaknesses now, what are they? Give me the book on him. Take your time on this. Man, I can't do that, man. That's the end of me now. But Drew, man, he has a lot of

confidence. I think that's something that guys like. We got to play the last five games with them. I don't think the schedule was up to par really to really get a real test. But he played solid in those games. games. He definitely has a lot of, he can make all the throws. I think, I think his confidence

is what really, really nice, nice those players on offense. So for playing against him, that's, that's going to be something that we'll try to take away. Yeah. He definitely has an arm and he's definitely willing to let it rip and take chances down the field, which is what I like with my corners. So now you go to a Chargers team that's got Tyrod Taylor, who's a veteran. I'm sure you probably faced him in your career once. And Justin Herbert, the young quarterback. If I said, I mean, who do you think wins the job? How do you think it plays out?

I think it's going to be a fair competition. I think Coach Lynn, he's going to give the job to the best person and who goes out there and execute and leaves his team. And I think Tyrod, man, with his experience, he's never had the weapons that we have to play with. and I'm excited to see what he can do with them. And I'm definitely excited to see Herbert, man. He was a guy that I know all y'all were talking about him being the number one pick last year.

So if he would have came out. So I'm excited to see what type of player he can be. And you see he's athletic. He can run and make the throws. So it's going to be a great competition. You know, it's interesting. You've been in this league now for a decade at a high level. And this league is tough for young players.

This year we didn't have OTAs. We may not have all the practices. For a veteran like you, do you think it's an advantage this year where you've worked out in a gym, but we may not have 30 practices before the season? Oh, yeah, I think it's a big advantage, especially for a guy, vets,

that know what it takes to have success in this league. Me, just being on my same regiment, I've had the same trainer for nine, years now, so I'm excited to see what the results happen. I feel great. Nothing's changed in my training, so even with the virus, so I was able to still get everything I needed to be done. But the rookies coming in, they're going to have a real small margin for air when it comes time to training camp. So Tom Brady goes to a new team, a veteran goes to a new team, and it's different because in Denver, you wake up in the morning, you had your drive to work memorized, the playbook memorized.

I mean, it's just easy. It's second nature. It's your NFL job. Now, new city, new team, new coordinator, new playbook. How long do you think, Chris, it's going to take you to feel like you did with Denver where you don't even have to think about it. It's just second nature to play? Honestly, the defense has been great.

We've had great meetings. I've been able to learn the system. pretty well. I asked all the questions that I needed to be able to get on the same page with guys. And really, honestly, I feel comfortable. I feel great going in. It's really a lot less on my load than what I've had in the past. So I feel great. I feel very comfortable going into the season and the system, me being all over the field, being able to blitz, play to run, also play man, getting back to doing what I've done in the past. And that's be all over the field. So that's something I'm excited for. So your first game this year is against Joe Burrow, the rookie quarterback.

Now, let's be honest. You guys have a pass rush with the Chargers and go back to the times you have faced rookie quarterbacks in your long Pro Bowl laden career. Are there little tricks? Are there little advantages you can have, say, against the Burrow that you wouldn't have against the Rogers or a Brady or a Breeze or a Russell Wilson that have been around a long time? Oh, yeah, disguise and courage coverage. You know, rookie quarterbacks, they take a little bit extra time to process the coverages, process what the receivers and stuff are doing. So I'm just trying to make them think a little bit longer. And when you can do that, you can get more sacks.

You can force more turnovers. And we've seen what he can do, man. He's a great player. He had a great college career. I think they drafted T. Higgins. And I know AJ Green is going to be back to prove something. So that's going to be a great match. right there. I'm looking forward to that game.

Me and AJ Green has to have great battles in the past. So this just be another one on our list. A quarterback that I like that gets a lot of heat is Derek Carr. You've faced him a ton. So now you've had some success against him. I'm looking here. You faced him 10 times. You picked him.

You have a pick six. Six passes defended. So give me, if I'd never seen Derek Carr play ever. And I go to you, Chris. and I'm facing him this week. And we're friends, and I'm a DB. I wouldn't be as good as you, but I'm a DB. And I say, listen, I've never faced him.

Give me the book on Derek Carr. Derek, he's a guy. He's going to get the ball out fast. I mean, he doesn't take too long on his decisions. He makes the safe throw or takes the throw that the defense gets him, gives you all the time. And sometimes he might take shots, but he doesn't throw the ball down the field as much.

And that's really my time. take on car really is that he's just going to get the ball out fast he might take some chances down down the field but he'll he'll pick his spots with that well you know to be honest with you that is what according to reports has frustrated at gruden he wants him to take more shots down the field and he is a guy that gets rid of the ball very very quickly um i got to ask you about some of the NBA guys are saying we're not comfortable going back um you told me before the break you're working out you're in great shape uh but now you know people the numbers are spiking you're in Dallas Texas numbers are spiking with COVID.

Are you comfortable right now going back in a week or two to practice? How do you feel about that? Honestly, I don't know. I just, you don't know what's real or fake out there, man. You just don't. And you see your fellow peers in the league get it. Bond Miller, that's one of my good friends, just seeing him get it. So it's just a situation where I'm kind of, I'm not all the way confident.

and going and going and flying and playing and you know playing with a clear mind and really with me is just being me getting sick and being able to give that to my kids and that's one thing I am worried about is just not being able to keep them from having any harm and so that's one thing that kind of gives me a little cautious it's great talking to you congrats in your success can't wait to see in the baby blues at sofi stadium it's the newest stadium in the NFL. I fly over it all the time. It looks gray. Chris Harris, thanks for coming on the show. Oh, yeah, no problem. All right. Good luck to you. That's a great secondary now. Desmond King, Hayward, Chris Harris, Jr., along with Baltimore, those are the two top secondaries in the NFL.

Imagine picking up your smartphone and turning on your grill from your phone and getting the temperature for your fish, your chicken, your pork, on your phone. It's called rec tech, grills with an S.com, M-R-E-C-T-E-C-R-T-Grills with S.com. It's summer. Nothing says summer, like outdoors and grilling food, is veteran newsman John Goulet. No, no, no, no, no. Turn on the news.

This is the herd line news. Ben Simmons has been dealing with a pinched nerve in his back since mid or late February, and the extra time off during the shutdown may have actually benefited the 76ers since it gave Simmons a chance to get healthy for the restart in Orlando, So what head coach Brett Brown said about Simmons. He put a tremendous amount of work. I think when you look at the silver linings of this pandemic and the way things have shaped up, it would be hard pressed for me to find something more obvious than this.

It's enabled Ben to reclaim his health. He's good to go. And we look forward to watching him at what I'm told is 100%. Yeah, Philadelphia is the one team. I think the break did him good. I don't buy a lot of people think it did the Clippers good because Kauai. But the Clippers are a bunch of new players and they only play 12 games with full starting five.

They were 11 and one in those games, but I think Philadelphia's got talent. They're rested. They had chemistry issues. Maybe this hiatus helps out. It helped the Clippers for health. It helped the Sixers for health and chemistry. Yes. You know, they had chemistry. I think we do overlook that last year, they went to a game

seven and that four bouncing shot from Kauai. I mean, they could have very easily, literally a bounce the other way. They could have eliminated the Raptors in the second round. Yes. And we think of them totally differently than we do right now. they're that one team and you go, you know, it's kind of a weak east. They could make a run.

I don't know they could beat the bucks, but they could potentially be kind of a Cinderella team in the East. They have the talent to do it. Listen, if you look at their starting five and the first guy off the bench, you can argue it's as good as anything in the East. I think Boston's got the best overall starting five. Philadelphia is stacked. It's not a talent issue. And maybe this whole like, hey, it's a bubble. It's kind of an aberration year.

Just go out and play ball. Maybe that's exactly what they need. So we talked yesterday about the Patriots odds for the Super Bowl climbing a little bit since they signed Cam. And they're over under going from nine wins to nine and a half. So clearly we're expecting Cam to be the starter. But according to an unnamed AFC head coach, that might not be the case. Okay, this was a tweet from ESPN's Diana Rossini. I spoke over text with an AFC East head coach on Camp Newton and the Patriots.

Okay, so it's either Adam Gay, Sean McDermin, or Brian Flores. There's only three. Quote, I think they are going to keep three QBs, use Cam Newton perhaps as the wild card. I actually don't see him starting week one in the offense. I know one thing for a fact. The Patriots love Jarrett Stiddle. All right. Well, that's a coach in the NFL in the division.

So I'm sure he's got somebody on his staff with New England ties. Well, okay, here are the three choices. There's Ryan Flores, a former Patriot assistant. So let's just pretend it's him, though. Okay. He would know if they love Stidham. He would know. Okay, and he's saying they love Stidham.

He wasn't there with Stidham, but yes, he's got friends. Sure. Sean McDermott, I don't think, would say that. I don't see why he would. Gase would say it. I was going to say, I would put all of my money on that was Adam Gase. Just to get things worked up. Maybe it was kind of tongue-in-cheek the way that you joke about the Patriots love Jared Stidham,

and he's the future, even though they signed Cam. But Tom Curran talked about it last hour with you. doesn't think it's crazy that Cam might not win the job. I don't see that happening personally. Do you? Well, Stidham's had a lot more practices with this offense. And it feels like to me it's a fairly complex offense to sign in June, have no OTAs in a handful of practices. I can see the first two weeks of the season. They go with Stidham because they feel like he's got the playbook completely down. And the players, remember, quarterback is. and wide receiver is a timing thing.

If by any chance, the NFL has to skip some practices because of COVID, like they do every other day practice or something, Cam's going to have 15 practices. It's hard to learn this offense in that time. Man, though, if Stidham is capable, you can't start Stidham and then bench him because Cam finally learned the playbook. I think you can absolutely start him for two weeks and just say, listen, Cam is progressing. He's had a good camp. We're most comfortable with Jared Stidham today.

I don't think that's outrageous. Man, that would be weird. I actually think that makes sense. So you believe the one of the three AFC East Head coaches? I think Cam's better and will start eventually, but I could get September being a slow, kind of a collective understanding. He's not quite there yet.

I totally get that. And finally, sticking with New England, no player is probably going to miss Brady more than Julian Edelman. Two of them are good friends, had great chemistry on the field. Edelman, though, has to move on to a different league MVP throwing him the ball. He went to Instagram to welcome Cam saying Newton, Massachusetts with the little

location thing. He used some of that weird font that Cam loves. He said, hashtag let's work. Right on cue, his buddy Tom Brady chimed in saying, I will always be your number one with the winky face emoji. Yeah, it's amazing how often superstars

are on their phones. Like, you think Tom Brady's got a bunch of kids, a supermodel wife, a bunch of illegal practices, he wouldn't have time. I mean, you've got hire a social guy. I know. Well, I guess you're right. Brady's pretty, he's pretty on point. He doesn't have a lot of bad ones, right? He's, he's, he's, there's not a lot of swing and miss posts from Brady, right? He puts it up. That's funny. He's always, he's always kind of, at least hitting a double with every post. Yeah, he's pretty solid on it. It is, how much, do you get one of

those things every week that it says your screen time is up or down? I do not. I don't want to know during the pandemic. So I was down to like an hour 40 a day, which is, because when I come home after work, I take a nap. I get up. First thing I do for 30 minutes is just kind of read. I retweet our podcast and I just kind of read, you know, Bloomberg or whatever. I got like 10 sites I go to and read stuff, sports, news, finance, whatever. And I was down about, you know, an hour, 45 a day.

Now I'm up to like four and a half hours because it's like there's just so, A, our president every day, there's massive news. And frankly, you can't go anywhere. They're going to close restaurants in Los Angeles. Again, I just read this morning. Yeah, I would think for you, it's one thing to be. scrolling through your mentions and liking stuff. I don't think you do that. I think you read. You're always watching stuff on your phone

more than you're just like. I watch a lot of videos yesterday. You know what I did yesterday? Do you have any Britney Spears? I went, I got down a rabbit hole. I started watching Britney Spears videos. I'll just say this right now. I'm not saying toxic is a top 10 song.

But, you know, Britney Spears is underrated. Can I say that? Is that legal to say on a sports? You're going to go see your show in Vegas? I would go watch her show. I think Britney Spears was in her prime watchable. She had something the other day where she was in her house dancing, and I was like, got my attention.

Nobody likes Britney Spears is what you're telling me. No one, not in our system, apparently. Okay. I can get something for you if you'd like. No, I'm not saying she's the Beatles. I'm not saying she's Mariah Carey or Beyonce. I'm just saying, or Shakira. I'm just saying there's, she got a lot of heat.

There's something there. Veteran newsman John Gulley. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Hurd-Lie News. My favorite holiday. Thanksgiving, too many people in the house. You have to wear a sweater and it's hot.

Christmas, it's just about giving presents to people who, you know, already have all they want. The best holiday, and I don't do New Year's Eve, I don't want to be out with a bunch of drunks on the road. The best holiday to me is Fourth of July weekend. It's here. I love it. It's outdoors.

hot, there's beers, there's jet skis, there's crappy golf, I love the 4th of July, and to honor it, I'll give you my list of America's teams. They're true teams coming up. Casper's 4th of July sale, by the way, 10%

off your entire order now through July 13th. The code is Keep Cool. That's casper.com, Keep Cool. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays and noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. Look at that great flag, 4th of July. Independence Day in America.

My favorite holiday. I'm not going to lie to you. I get home in 30 minutes after the show. I may just pop open a beer. I'm not even going to lie. That says America to me, a beer. And I did invent a can of nachos. So it is my last show before 4th of July, my favorite holiday.

And I thought I would give you what teams really symbolize America, not necessarily winning the most championships. What teams in America, in all these sports and all these leagues, all this history in America, what teams symbolize what America's about? So I would say the Dallas Cowboys, they are known as America's team. Okay. Most popular team in America on social media. So it's not just their tradition, but generation after generation.

they remain relevant. Of the nine most watched, regular season games in the NFL last year, of the nine, six were cowboy games. And they're situated right in the middle of the country, three-hour flight to L.A., three-hour flight to Miami, 3-45 flight to New York, the Dallas Cowboys. How about the Green Bay Packers? Small-town kid makes it big.

They're the 146th biggest market in the country and the only publicly owned American sports franchise. What makes their story great is that usually we think of small towns as high school football, middle-sized towns as college football, and big cities as professional football. But they're the 146th biggest town in America. the smallest market of any big four team, being baseball, basketball, football, hockey. The Pittsburgh Steelers. You know, there's a lot of Steelers

fans around the country. They still, more than the Cowboys, the Steelers have more fans go to road games than any other franchise. Now, the reason being is that the steel industry in the 70s and 80s shrank, and it displaced all those people living in Pittsburgh that lost the steel jobs, and they moved all over the country.

They moved to Miami. They moved to the Midwest. They're tied for the most Super Bowl wins. They've always had a very sort of working-class lunch-pail ethos. The terrible towels, Myron Cope, the announcer, started those, waving all across America. How about we go glamour now? I think the L.A. Lakers.

I think they're the most glamorous franchise in America. Not saying the best or most popular. They're the most glamorous. They're the most connected to Hollywood. Hollywood creates Netflix. All of our television is created in Hollywood. It may not be. You know, we're a country that loves our middle class, that loves our Steelers, that loves our lunch pail.

But we also like our glamour. It's a celebrity hangout spot. Hollywood's biggest brand, the Lakers. How about the New York Yankees? That's an easy one. The biggest villain in sports. Listen, America likes its villains. America's okay with villains.

Somebody to root for, somebody to root against. The Yankees have 27 championships, the most of any of the major sports teams. Iconic uniforms, iconic history, Babe Ruth, iconic players. Many would argue after the Cowboys, they're number two in the list. I would say the Chicago Cubs because they don't have as rich a history.

They're the lovable losers, 108 years without winning a World Series. But when they did get there, 40 million Americans. Now, this is baseball, not the NFL. That number is unbelievable. 40 million Americans watch them win the World Series. That is the most watched baseball game in 30. years. And that's without winning. And that's playing games in the middle of the day at home when most

people didn't watch them. They were losers in the middle of the day, bad teams, bad players, shaky ownership. But there's something that spoke to America that when they finally got there, 40 million people watched. How about Duke University? To me, it's aspirational. It is basketball and academic excellence. Coach K has the most wins in the country, the most successful college basketball program over the last 30 years,

one of the hardest academic institutions in America. And they really have not had for three decades. They're one of, if not the only national brand in America. Think about this. They have not had a drought. Yankees did in the 80s. Lakers did five last years with Kobe, the Smush Parker years. Lakers have had droughts.

Yankees, Packers were bad for 20 years, early 70s, late 80s, early 90s. Alabama football, 18 years in between titles. USC football down now. Duke's the only brand in America, never down. 30 years. And finally, the most popular college athletic program from people who didn't go there, Notre Dame. It's got the biggest sidewalk alumni in college sports, meaning it's got more fans that didn't actually attend the university.

Yes, Notre Dame. They finally have another top coach in Brian Kelly. They're now a 10-win program. Most popular college football team had their own network for years. They still do it on NBC. Have their own network. They join the ACC, but still their games are on NBC. So I think those are America's teams.

Cowboys, Packers, Steelers, Lakers, Yankees, Cubs, Duke, Notre Dame. I don't think I missed anybody. We argued a little about the Celtics, whereas the Lakers have more of a Starbucks appeal, like everywhere you go, it's L.A. or beat L.I. You go to Atlanta. There's Laker fans everywhere.

It's Starbucks. Starbucks is big in Beijing, in Boise, Schenectady, Syracuse, Seattle, it doesn't matter. It's big everywhere in the world. The Celtics are a little bit more like Dunkin' Donuts. It's huge in Boston. it's pretty big in the surrounding five to six states in the region

but by the time you get to Oregon it's not really Dunkin' Donuts territory. What about the Patriots? It's a patriotic list. I don't think that has, I don't think so. Like I think, again, they're the Chicago Bulls that before Jordan and Brady,

they were 500 brands. They had losing records as franchises. Just because you call yourself a patriot doesn't mean you're a patriot. So, you know, I mean, the Patriots I think about are Steve Grogan. That's what I think about the guy that used to own him was the Gillette Razor guy. You know, he was the guy that owned a, was Victor Kayam or something? Wouldn't he the owner before Bob Kraft?

I'm really going way out there. He was like a raised. That's why they call it Gillette Stadium. I don't know. I don't think it's, I think that they sponsor the stadium. I don't think it's a nod to the past. Am I wrong on that? Let me look that up real quick.

Am I wrong on that? Look that. Who owned the Patriots before Robert Kraft? See if I'm wrong on that. See if I'm wrong on that. I could be wrong on that. Yes, he owned the New England Patriots in the 80s and 90s. I'm right.

He was an American entrepreneur and TV spokesman for Remington products. See Goulet? You're talking to Rain Man here. Do you remember Victor Kayam? Yeah. Congrats on knowing the owner of the Patriots when no one cared about them. Yeah, that's really something to brag about, isn't it? Yeah, there you go.

They weren't great back then. We're all spending more family time. What says family? And we've been spending a lot of it because of COVID. What says family? Grilling says family this summer. Rect Tech Grills with an S.com. Built by grillers, four grillers.

That's R-E-C-T-E-C-Grills with an S.com. All right, we're done. Doug Gottlie, Barrick, Mangini, Tom Curran, Chris Harris, I thought Mangini's thoughts on camera interesting. I think he's going to have, I was going to say, people think I hate Cam. I think they're going to have some success. I think they'll be, I predicted yesterday. I think Cam will eventually start pretty early September.

I think they'll win nine and seven. I think he looks like he's in better shape. I think they're going to be a run first team. I do think their offensive line and their running backs are better than average. And I think they're a pretty good defensive team. I don't think they're going to be a flashy team and score a lot of points. I think that division is going to be about defense. Sean McDermott, Brian Flores, and Belichick,

young quarterbacks and very good defenses, and I think Cam gets them within shouting distance of the playoffs. All right, I'll see you next week. It's the herd. 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,

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 Slical Life 12 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends.

Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman helped 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 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's big to me. I'm Sam J.

And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we see. survived it with our friends, fellow comedians, and favorite authors. Like Mark Lamont Hill on the 80s. 84 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's really not safe to have

anywhere, but you're having him 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 to learn the hard way on the iHeart radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. This is an iHeart podcast.