The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Colin Cowherd Podcast - Colin on Mahomes Criticism, Plus Deshaun Watson Trade Rumors and Raiders Post-Gruden Bounce with Mike Silver

Episode Date: October 25, 2021

Colin talks about the NFL coaching hires that are backfiring, why the Browns and Steelers are getting lapped by the Bengals (3:00), the reason Belichick poured on the points against the Jets (7:00), why it's clear that the Dolphins have moved on from Tua for Deshaun Watson (9:00), and why the media is afraid to criticize Mahomes (12:00), and then what Joe Burrow has overcome that other QBs haven't (15:00). Then NFL writer Mike Silver and Colin discuss whether Derrick Henry's impact has become overrated (22:00), which teams should seriously consider acquiring Deshaun Watson (26:00), the complicated history between Sean McVay and his ex-QB Jared Goff (30:00), if there's a case to made for Kyler Murray as the NFL's best player (34:00), the story behind the Cardinals' massive turnaround this season, why the Raiders are succeeding without Jon Gruden (38:00).Make sure you subscribe NOW! Also, follow Colin and The Volume on Twitter for the latest content and updates and check out FanDuel for the best wagering and daily fantasy action! Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media. Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifers Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but, celebrated. So let's get to it. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok's podcast network on TikTok. On the Look Back at it podcast. For 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 survived it with our friends,

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Go to 1,800flowers.com slash tune in. That's 1,800flowers.com slash tune in. The Colin Cowherd podcast brought to you by Fandul. It's never been easier to play fantasy on Fanduel, whether you love basketball, golf, soccer, or any fantasy sport. There is a contest for every fan. Fan duel, more ways to win. Hi, everybody, and welcome in to our Monday,

morning podcast, the Colin Coward podcast, really going to be a good one tonight. Let me jump on a couple of things. Mike Silver, NFL Network Sports Illustrated, he's great. He's a regular now on my podcast. And before I get to him, I want to talk about coaching for a second. So the three coaches I had huge issues with in terms of being hired were David Cully at Houston, Nick Seriani with the Eagles, and Dan Campbell with the Lions. Well, let's be honest, they're sort of disasters.

This is something that is not terribly difficult. If somebody is not good in their interview for a job, it should be held against them. When you watched all three in the first couple of weeks at the podium, it was a disaster. Folks, if you can't ace the interview, I've had 15 interviews in my life. I've never had a disaster. It doesn't mean I've gotten every job. But these guys were a wreck at the podium. And you have to, remember, elevate, motivate, grab respect from 53 men and scout teams and assistant coaches.

Also, what are they like building a staff if they can't do a 10-minute presser in front of local media, not even national media? So all three coaches, I do think Dan Campbell's teams play their butt off. I'll give them a lot of credit for that. I thought he had a good Sunday, a couple of fake punts, onside kick. But in the end, the coaches I thought would be a disaster or a disaster. Here's something else in terms of coaching. I talked about this on the herd last week. Denver, Miami, and the Washington football team all have defensive coaches.

All of those teams had opportunities to move up in the draft and get a quarterback or simply stay where they were and get a quarterback. And the defensive coaches did not. If you look at who is flourishing in this league right now, it is offensive coaches. coaches who lobbied hard to their owners and GM for quarterback upgrades. Sean McVeigh went to stand cronkey and less need. He already had a quarterback in Jared Gop that got him to a Super Bowl. He lobbied hard for an upgrade.

It's paying off. You look around the league. Frank Reich lobbied hard for an upgraded quarterback. Carson went so far as had a very good year. The defensive coaches, Vic Fangio at Denver, Brian Flores with the dolphins, Ron Rivera with Washington. They did not have a belief that quarterback would be essential to winning games. I mean, Denver's a wreck now. Raiders are better than we thought. Chargers are good. Kansas City is a little bit of a wreck, but they got Patrick Mahomes. So I think it does point

to something that's happening in football. If you got to hire a coach, you really, really have to strongly consider the offensive side of the ball. Now, that is not a revelation, but you're really seeing it. It's really obvious. Is that the Stefanskis, that's why Baker Mayfield may be in some trouble. He is not going to settle. He is going to lobby hard for an upgrade. Zach Taylor

has Joe Burrow. How's that working? You start looking around this league right now. Defensive coaches. I said this about Mike Tomlin. I love Mike Tomlin. He is not upgraded at quarterback and he should have really been far more aggressive.

Forget this draft, the previous draft. If you're an owner, you have to lean offense. Denver's going to get a new coach. Go offense. Not just for the game, not just for the play calling. The understanding of how valuable the quarterback position now is. There's a lot of different things to talk about. I thought it was interesting that Bill Belichick not only beat the Jets, but rubbed it in.

They were throwing the ball. Play action passes with three minutes left in a 30-point lead. Why? We all know he doesn't like the Jets, but he also has a deep respect for football history. And win or lose, Belichick has always done it by respecting the game. Well, he was pouring it on the Jets. And my theory is this. He wants to make sure that everybody knows that the Mac Jones, the quarterback he liked the rookie, is a lot better than Zach Wilson.

He wants to make sure you know that. Secondly, they are no longer the kings, not only of the AFC, but the AFC East. He is now competing potentially with the dolphins and the Jets for free agents, for coaches. This is no longer Bill is at a certain level. Everybody's at a different level. He's in a dog fight with the Jets and the Dolphins to get that wild card birth. And he wants to make an imprint around the league is, we're good, we're getting better.

If you're a free agent, if you're a top coach, keep your eyes on us. I think you'll see this the rest of the year from Belichick. If he has a chance, if he smells blood, he's absolutely going to pour it on. That's not the Belichick we knew with Brady. They had a lot of games with a lead in seven minutes to go, and they were running the ball, eating the clock and going to bed and getting out of town. But I thought it was really interesting to see how he not only won but poured it on the jets to make it known. there is a gap still between the Patriots and the Jets.

We may not win this division, but there's still a monster gap between these two franchises. Something else that jumped out to me. The Miami Dolphins, the rumors are now strong, Jay Glazer threw it out there as well. The dolphins are going after Deshawn Watson. If I was Philadelphia and Washington, I would totally understand those teams aggressively going for Deshawn Watson as well. But, you know, it's interesting the last two weeks, two has completed seven. 25% of his throws. This is the best Tua has ever looked. He also had two awful interceptions in this game. But it doesn't really matter. They've made this decision. And I talk about this all

the time. My wife was in PR and she used to always say, companies decide a year or six months before they fire you. They're firing you. You can be on good graces, but they have those meetings. They start looking privately. It's too late for Tua. Okay. It's the injury. he got benched. His teammates did not vote him captain. Don't listen to any other media person that says that's not a big deal. Every quarterback that's going to start is voted captain. They touch the ball 65 times a game.

No other player generally touches it more than six to eight times. Even the top receivers are targeted maybe 12 times. So they've already made a decision. And something that we often forget is that you and I don't see practice footage. when teammates don't vote him captain, that tells you he's not dynamic at practice. Okay, when Russell Wilson got drafted by the Seahawks in the third round, they'd signed Matt Flynn.

It was about four practices in that none of us saw that Seahawk players were like, yep, that's the guy. Okay, we don't see that stuff. Players do. You can't fool players. I think you can win games with Tua. But it's never been about that. You go with games with Tebow.

Are you willing to build the franchise around a smallish, average arm, marginal athlete at quarterback? You have to be so perfect everywhere else to win games with Tua. So they're bailing, totally supported. I said, out of college, I liked him. But before his first start, I'd seen a ton of practice footage on all these sports networks. And I said right before he started, I said, I don't like it. There's no special there. Arm, nope, size, nope, athletic ability, nope. You can't tell me he's accurate. Folks, that's the foundation to the house. If you can't do the accuracy thing, you're not even a NFL

quarterback. You're a college quarterback. One more take. In my business, I notice this a lot. And I don't want to call out anybody individually, but I call it safetyism. You never get pushback if you're a sportscaster, if you play it safe, you never have a contrarian take. You always go to Twitter and, oh, my homes is great. Of course, you're going to get no pushback. I take great pride in the fact that I can do a simulcast. In fact, we're the only one in the country still doing it. I get a number on TV and radio and podcast and digital and Facebook.

And the reason is that we're willing to say things and get shit for it. And I said this a couple of weeks ago. It's very easy to criticize those who criticize Baker Mayfield. But you and I all know this, all the safe takers out there. You and I know this. They today would not give him an extension. You know it and I know it. And I've been saying it for three years and getting shit for it.

But a prime example is Mahomes. Everybody is petrified of criticizing Mahomes on social media because you get pushback. But he's loose. he's getting looser. He is not the easiest quarterback to coach. Andy Reid's lovable. It's good ownership. I think a smart GM.

But right now, Kansas City is trying to throw haymakers. And they don't do a lot of things well. And it's a very thin roster where they pay five or six players top dollar. And some of this, not all of it, not a majority of it. But right now, Derek Carr is playing as well or better. than virtually every quarterback in the league. It's okay to say it. And Mahomes isn't perfect.

People forget this. He's been in the Super Bowl twice. In seven of the eight quarters, seven of the eight, he's been outplayed by Jimmy Garapolo and a 44-year-old Tom Brady. I like Mahomes. I do not think Kansas City is a special team this year. I think they're bad defensively. The offensive line is a little hit and miss.

They've also had injuries. but sometimes I roll my eyes. It's okay to criticize Patrick Mahomes. He's not played as well. He's made some really bad throws. In the last 15 games, the Chiefs are 3 and 12 against the spread. What does that tell you? The media has become the fans.

They're overvaluing Kansas City. They have not played particularly well in, I don't know, you saw the Super Bowl. You've watched all these preseason games. You've watched these regular season games. When a team is 3 and 12 against the spread, they're being wildly overvalued. A lot of that is the fans. A lot of that is the media. Just because you like Andy Reed, and because Patrick Mahomes can throw it with his left hand,

doesn't mean they're not fallible. It's okay. You'll get a little pushback on social media. Eye roll. That's part of the business. If you're not getting pushback, you're not really doing your job. So this week, my daughter says, dad, I'm going to Baltimore with friends.

I've never been to an NFL game. Can you get me Ravens tickets? And I said, okay, I'll try. So I have a rule. I'm not a ticket broker. So I tell my friends this. I don't do tickets. I do opinions.

I don't do tickets. I don't get anybody free tickets. So I told my daughter, I'm going to pay for them. I'm not going to ask anybody for free tickets. I don't want to feel like I owe anybody anything. So I call the Ravens, such a well-run organization, got back to me immediately. They were wonderful, got four C. bizarrely, my daughter sits next to Joe Burrell's mother.

I kid you not, said she was wonderful. But I like the bingles. I said it was one of my better bets of the week. And I thought it would be much closer. I didn't know if they could win on the road because Baltimore's had their numbers. But I think what you're watching with Joe Burrow, this, remember, is still not a very good offensive line. And what you're seeing with Joe Burrow and what you're seeing with Trevor Lawrence. is telling you, and Justin Herbert, Justin Herbert last year broke all those quarterback records

behind an atrocious offensive line. Joe Burrow has been magnificent, but behind a bad offensive line, two years. It's better this year. It's not great. Trevor Lawrence, Greg Kossil told me this week. He's getting better every week. He's ready special. We can use an offensive line as a excuse for Daniel Jones and for Sam Darnold. But Joe Burrow, Justin Herbert, and Trevor Lawrence are playing with suboptimal in some cases battle lines

and they are putting up excellent numbers. Sam Darnold had a couple of mistakes this weekend, one of them from his end zone that was simply cognitively a dumb play. You can't be in the league this long and make the throw Sam made from his end zone. It was

really discouraging. You cannot just blame the pressure. Sam. Sam knows. I'm in the end zone. We don't have a good offensive line. You have to go to the line knowing I may have to sail this thing. Do I have a receiver who I can throw at his feet? I think cognitively, sometimes the game's too fast for Sam. I really believe that. We can talk about Tua's offensive line. Well, he also has virtually no escapeability. But there's sort of this built-in excuse. Well, you know, the offensive line. Yes. Quarterbacks to win. and be a playoff team generally need at least a somewhere a top 15 to 18 offensive line. It can't be a bottom 10 to 12 offensive line. But Trevor Lawrence, Joe Burrow, and Justin Herbert last year are proving the truly special young quarterbacks can not only make the most of it, but in many instances can simply overcome a bad front. Let's bring on my buddy Mike Silver.

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You win $150 and a $5 bet. Remember to use the promo code Colin, C-O-L-A-N, so they know I sent you exclusively on the Fand-Dual Sportsbook app. 21 plus and program. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get

your podcasts. A win is a win. A win. A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying. Yep. That's As me, Clifford Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated.

One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast, it's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So if you've ever supported me or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to The Clifford Show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok.

Do you remember when Diana Ross double-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,

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All right, Mike. Love having you on. Let's start. I kind of left it open. I talked about the erosion of Patrick Mahomes and the defense. It's certainly not primarily on Mahomes. But I did point to something that drives me crazy. You're willing to fight with people on the Internet.

You're willing to fight. And there's a thing called safetyism, which is so repulsively. to me where media people just have safe takes because they don't want to spar with fans. And I said, it's okay to criticize Mahomes. He's been inconsistent. He's been loose. He's made bad throws. But we can talk about that because I still think he's unbelievably a gifted talent.

Like I always said about Aaron Rogers. I know he's great. But there's times he's condescending. Can be difficult. Can be aloof. I said this seven years ago and got huge pushback. I said, nobody's saying he's not an A. Nobody's saying he's not great.

But he's not perfect. okay let's slow down but what i want to talk about is derrick henry because i think you have strong feelings on this as well um i don't want the nfl to become the cfl i like power football a lot i really find myself i know everybody thinks they're boring i like watching the titans i really do yeah no i i hear you and you know we saw durness johnson have that big game on national tv and it's a great story and once again, and I've been hearing this for 20 years plus, not just from fans, by the way, but from GMs and coaches. You know, hey, you can get a running back anywhere.

It really started in the Shanahan heyday in Denver. I mean, Mike Shanahan with Terrell Davis, and you had Alandis Gary and Mike Anderson and other guys, you know, with that outside zone scheme. And, yeah, you can find backs later. That's absolutely true. And sometimes they do feel disposable. and sometimes really good ones, you know, or great ones even last till later rounds for whatever reason.

But then I look at Derek Henry and I'm like, dude, if we did a redraft, where would Derek Henry defensively go in that year? I have to look at the draft. But two, three, I mean, he is that valuable. He not only in terms of productivity is that valuable. And I know I've been saying for three years, this guy's far away. the best back in football, but it just changes the entire mentality when you play them. And as you said, the power attack and the ability to pound it in. And he doesn't just, you know, run dives.

I mean, this guy gets the ball in space and goes 80 sometimes or 60s. Also, you know, also, Mike, because linebackers are smaller and so are safeties because the game has spread out. Right. So you're getting 227 pound linebackers and 204 pound safety. I mean, the box safety now is a liability. Like you can be, you play Kansas City. It's hard to have one on the field. So I think the big strongback, I mean, let's be honest, a lot of the teams that are blowing

us away offensively, the Cowboys, why? They're running the football more. Right. The Titans. Say this for Jonathan Taylor. He is saving them with all their injuries. Well, look what the 49ers did when they got to the Super Bowl. I mean, they basically didn't pass for, you know, most of the playoffs until the Super Bowl, right?

Because that running attack was so good. And yes, it was no name backs. But you're right. Yeah, that's a great point about the smaller DBs. And listen, the equation, you know, the equation changes as the game goes on. Early in the game, these guys are fired up and they're gang tackling and they're running to the ball. They might get Derek Henry down a few times. but the psychology of this guy coming at you when they've got a little bit of a lead, third quarter, fourth quarter, it just, it wears you down.

And I would say this too, like, how many non-quarterbacks do you remember taking over a playoff game? You know, we saw Von Miller do it the Super Bowl season. We've seen guys do it. But Derek Henry did that against the Titans or against the Ravens, sorry, the first year when they upset them in Baltimore when, you know, Lamar was the MVP. Derek Henry took over a playoff game and they never even, the Ravens never even got in that game. So I just, yeah, it is smart to think you can find backs later sometimes. But some backs who are special like Adrian Peterson was, I mean, do anything you can. Marshawn Lynch, do anything you can to get that guy on your team.

It is a mentality changer. And all those guys, all three of those guys I named, that speaks to what you talked about, power running in an era where defenses aren't equipped to stop it. So the Miami situation now, Jay Glazer joined the reporting that Deshaun Watson, they're working on making a move. Tua has completed 75% of his throws in the last two weeks. He had two god-awful picks, though, against Atlanta.

And, you know, they've made their decision. Teammates didn't name him captain. He was bench three times. He was hurt. I mean, they've made their decisions. they see practice stuff we don't he's not the guy there's not a lot of it there um is there anybody else with your labyrinth of sources i got to believe philadelphia has to consider it Washington has to consider it regardless of my personal opinion on doshan watson in the story let's just talk from

football operations is miami the only team involved here you know i think Carolina comes back in a play and i know matt wool has tried to go out of his way to say hey i'm all in on that or on Sam Darnold, but he benched Sam Darnold, you know, today. So, yeah, I, you know, it's a complicated equation. I don't think the Eagles will ultimately do it because I think at the highest levels of that organization, they will ultimately say, you know, there's just too much we don't know. There are the overtones of what he's accused of doing. There is the possibility of league discipline and also legal discipline potentially that could

factor in and you're really, really giving up a lot. And yeah, that doesn't mean they won't, but really this is an ownership decision, right, ultimately. Right, right. And so what I don't know that Jeffrey Lurie ultimately, when he sees that equation, he got a Super Bowl, his Holy Grail a few years ago, he knows they're trying to build it back up. Does he think if they give up all that for Deshawn Watson, they're back right now? I don't know. And then you don't know if you have them. David Tepper, the Panthers owner, clearly just wants to take home run swings, right? And he'll handle the blowback. He's like, look, man, you had an owner who was accused of stuff and we got rid of him.

So, you know, don't worry about the Deshaun Watson thing. I'll handle that. So I think that's a possibility. And Miami, you have an older owner, Stephen Ross, and you have now a coach, Brian Flores, who all of a sudden feels pressure. And I don't think it's as much Chris Greer, the GM. He's did a great job of getting them the ammunition to build it. But I think it's more of a Brian Flores call as to who gets actually picked.

And, you know, my friend and former colleague Jeff Darlington, VSP, and brought up a really good point a week ago, which is Brian Flores seems to be in that same pattern. We've seen many dolphin coaches in the Ross era have, which is early off. Whoa, like Tony Spirado. Wow. Hey, they won the division. Look at that. Adam Gase. Hey, got up to the playoffs.

Like, look at what's going on here. And last year, Brian Flores, you know, some big wins and nearly going to the playoffs. So now you look at Brian Flores and you're like, what is the plan? What's going on? And then the last thing, and you and I have talked about this a lot. It's one thing if you try to, you pick two of that high and it's not going great early. but you can't help but look to your left and to your right. And that's Joe Burrow went one.

Okay, he went one, but that's a home run right there. And then Justin Herbert went right after Tua, and that's maybe a grand slam. And so you have to view the Tua pick through that prison. Yeah, the aesthetics are really bad because fans keep score. The draft now, it's not like a hockey draft. It's not like a baseball draft. It gets bigger rating. than NBA playoff games.

So we, everybody watches it. You know, these are guys from Oregon and LSU and Alabama. We all know these guys and we know, you know, the standings on the dolphins and where they chose. So one of the things that I think is funny, a lot of stories came out about Goff and McVeigh this week. And it's funny because you wrote an article, I remember reading it, back in January. And you, you actually broke all this stuff. And that's not a shot at anybody. But let's go back to the stuff that in your story that you talked about when McVe

called Goff and said, we're moving you. Yeah. You know, it was not a very delicately handled goodbye. You know, they lost in the playoff game. Immediately, Sean McVeigh was asked about Jared Goff. Is he your quarterback? And he said, yeah, sure, he is right now, which is literally what Cardinals General. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged.

It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts,

or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me, Clifford Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media.

Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated.

One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment. And the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast. It's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So if you've ever supported me or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tapped Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs?

Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do with Little Kim? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam 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 Lamont Hill, waxing all about crack in the 80s.

To be clear, 84 is big to me, not just because. of crack. I'm down to talk about crack on day, but just so y'all know. I mean, at this point, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack. So I'm starting to see 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 Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of mental health awareness month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience

in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking, Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing. And we're still chasing it. And we don't know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses.

Steve Burns, Dustin Ross, because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth? Are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Gaines,

as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, learn the hard way. Open your free, our heart radio app, Search learn the hard way and listen now. Andrew Steve Khyme, our friend, both of us, said at the combine when asked about Josh Rosen before he drafted Kyler Murray. And Sean had another comment that was probably even stronger, less need said some stuff.

I actually talked to Sean McVeigh when he was in Cabo. I did not hang up on him a day or two before the train. He called me and was curious about the optics in my eyes and how, you know, how he was handling this situation. And he knows that I've known Jared for a long time and are very close to him. I'm very close to Sean. And regardless of outcome,

I just told him, I thought that they weren't handling it great. And he said, well, I just don't want to lie. I don't want to be accused of lying after the fact. And I said, I hear you, man.

But a lot of coaches say, hey, that's my quarterback. But, you know, you never know we always look to improve the team. So pretty quickly thereafter, he got traded on a Saturday night, I believe, pretty abruptly. You know, the next morning I talked to Jared and wrote a pretty long column on it. And the lead of that column is Sean calls Jared.

He's been hearing some stuff. Sean calls him it says, hey, man, we traded you for Matthew Stafford. And it's, it has, they haven't been on the phone very long. And now the news has broken, probably because if, My memory serves me, right? Jake Glazer, who does these things off and broke it. So now the whole world is found out. And Jared's dad called because he saw it, and that's his son.

Jared saw the call waiting and just said, hey, man, I got to go, boom. And it was not. So I don't know if hanging up on him is, that might be a little severe, but he basically very quickly had Sean lose a phone face off in a judgment call. Yeah, Jared was super. not thrilled with Sean at the time. And, you know, they did have a conversation afterwards. Jared did come into the facility a week or two later and sit with Sean for a pretty long time. And they got some things off their chest.

I don't know that, you know, it's all milk and roses or milk and honey. Bread and roses. Bread and roses milk honey, some combination of those things. But, you know, they cleared some things up. you know, trying to move on. So, yeah, so yeah, I was, you know, Jay breaks enough stuff on his own. The fact that he was able to confirm that months later on your network was also cool. Get right to the romance and find the way to wow this valentines with 1,800flowers.com. From classic roses and bouquets to decadent chocolate-covered berries, gourmet treats, and more.

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Discovertheforest.org. Brought to you by the United States Forest Service and the Ad Council. And we're live here outside the Perez family home just waiting for the... And there they go. Almost on time this morning.

Mom is coming out the front door strong with a double-armed kid carry. Looks like Dad has the bags. Daughter is bringing up the rear. Oh, but the diaper bag wasn't close. Typhers and toys are everywhere. Ooh, but Mom has just nailed the perfect car seat buckle for the toddler. And now the eldest daughter, who looks to be about nine or ten,

has secured herself in the booster seat. Dad zips the bag closed, and they're off. Ah, but looks like Mom doesn't realize her coffee cup is still on the roof of the car, and there it goes! Oh, that's a shame. That mug was a fam favorite. Don't sweat the small stuff. Just nail the big stuff. Like making sure your kids are buckled correctly in the right seat for their age and size.

Learn more at NHTSA.gov slash the right seat. Visit NHTSA.gov slash the right seat. Brought to you by Nita and the Ad Council. So you, Mike Silver, you are still a little bit of a cynic on Arizona. And let me say this. I've been on this kick for about three years. Aggressive wins in sports. Dana White came out and said in the pandemic, I'm renting an island.

And it worked. If you start looking at baseball teams, football teams, Stafford over golf, we're going to go for it. It works overwhelmingly. And nobody's been more aggressive than Steve Kime, Zach Gertz, JJ Watt, and it's working. So just my default mechanism with teams that are aggressive is this shit works. Also, there are moments watching Kyler Murray, Mike. and I believe this to be true, that I think he's the best player in the National Football League. Whoa.

He could not. I know it sounds crazy. There are things he does. Aaron can't do. Patrick can't do. Russell Wilson can't do. I watch two or three different. Can Lamar?

Well, I don't think Lamar's ever thrown as pretty a ball as Kyler. Kyler's baseball background. He slides better. He throws a prettier ball. But I'm watching this league and I said this a couple weeks ago, last weekend, not this weekend. 13 of the 14 best quarterbacks won the game. Would have been 14 for 14, but Josh Allen slipped. Every division right now is led except one by the best quarterback in the division. The only exception is Derek Carr and Justin Herbert and they're darn good. That the league is

now so quarterback driven and it's really made a leap, Mike, in the last four to five years. Kyler Murray is just going to pull them to wins. And he made place today that were ridiculous. It looked like it was like Pac-Man. It looked like a video game. So you're a little bit of a cynic on these guys and why? First of all, I love aggressive. I'm not saying I don't.

I'm just saying like the dream team, you know, Philadelphia. Like there have been plenty of times where aggressive didn't work and people got fired. and, you know, we all still harkened back to it. So I like aggressive, but you've got to be willing to take the swing. I think Steve Kime didn't have a choice because my understanding of what went down in Arizona after last season was, you know, the rest of us looked at him and said, oh, look, Cardinals kind of made a jump, almost made the playoffs, kind of like the dolphins, right? Like, wow, promising season just didn't end well at, you know, the last couple weeks. but ownership was like this was a colossal failure. It's unacceptable.

And if it doesn't change now, heads will roll. And, you know, if I'm Steve Kime, I don't know if that's Cliff Kingsbury's figurative head or Steve Kimes also. But I'm being aggressive under that backdrop. And so, yeah, he went and got J.J. Watt, which is, let's face it, it's a risk. You know, it's still a risk. He has been very injured, you know, off. Yes. Got rid of Patrick Peterson, you know, the Chandler Jones thing, it'd been kind of weird.

The Zach Gerts trade, great decision to do that in the wake of the, you know, the Max Williams injury. But the thing that just concerns me a little bit about Arizona is the combination of what I just voiced that there's a lot of pressure there. Now, luckily, for them, they've started very, very well. But Kyler, you know, last year, it didn't end well with Kyler either. it a little weird. Like he wasn't on the field and didn't play and they really weren't sure about how the injury thing was playing out. And it just kind of fell flat. And then Kyler didn't have an offseason that was anything like, well, Aaron Rogers doesn't count, right? Because he was going through his weirdness. And Russell doesn't count. But any other franchise quarterback,

that you named, you know, Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen, all these other guys, they're grinding through the offseason with the team and throwing with guys away from it and just they're all in and Kyler it didn't feel all into them he missed some you know OTA time there were yep there's talk that he might play baseball and um if you combine that with his personality which is very uh not typical franchise quarterbacky it's more reserved it's less you know hey we're all you know i'm the guy yelling and we're all, you know, in the mix together. So they don't feel like he's, you know, that guy. They're not sure if he really wants to play baseball ever.

They weren't sure how last year ended and he wasn't really there over the off season. So, yeah, he better keep making plays because if it starts getting weird, you know, I know if it starts getting weird in Baltimore, Lamar Jackson can, you know, galvanize that team. I know Josh Allen could do it. I know Justin Herbert already can do it. And I know Aaron Rogers and Russell Wilson and Patrick Mahomes, Tom Brady can do it. I still don't know if Kyler can do that. But he's doing it so far.

Raiders, post-Gruden, they're playing with an incredible energy. I'm not, you know, we know that interim coaches, that's often the case. New conspiracy theory. The Raiders leaked the emails because they wanted Rich Besant. Yeah, no, I'm kidding. Obviously, I'm speaking in Jess. But you know, you're right. They're playing really, really well at a time when they could have easily, you know, started moping and been discombobulated.

Yeah. It also points to the fact that, and this goes back to sort of a cultural reality. This is a quarterback league more than ever. Derek Carr's good. He's got, you know, seven to eight legitimate weapons with Darren Waller, healthy or not. And the truth is, it overcomes a lot of shortcomings. I said this last week. Tua can win games.

But what you're looking for, Tua is not the problem, but he's not the solution. The solution in the NFL is a great quarterback. He minimizes all your problems. Injuries, bad free agent signings, draft picks. Right. And we all struggle with Derek Carr because he came from Fresno State. He wasn't a first rounder. The team was bad initially.

Do we have to come to the point where we're, we just go, shit. Derek's a top 10 quarterback. By the way, I've come to terms with that with Dak Prescott. He throws a better ball today than two years ago. I think Derek's one of those. He's good. Well, here, I'll give you both sides on Derek.

You know, what you said is what they think. He might not be the difference, you know, put us over the top, but we can definitely win with him. Now, so some things have changed, right? The defense is better with Gus Bradley, with the guys they brought in. That's a big deal. Greg Olson has called two really good games with John Gruden gun. Let's give offensive coordinator Greg Olson some credit.

He is stepping up to this challenge. So we look at Rich Missasha, but we also look at, you know, John Gruden's been replaced as a play caller too, and that's gone well. They don't believe Derek always is the, you know, toughest, you know, guy, you know, and I know he's been physically tough. I just think they think there are times where he isn't your classic. Yeah. But I the pro Derek Carr, and I've been saying this for years,

look at this guy's comeback record. Look at start looking at the numbers of how many times Derek Carr, because I've been in a lot of these games where he brought them back in clutch situations and won. If I was a player on that team, I would believe in Derek Carr just off that. He is really, really clutch. So it's exciting what's going on with the Raiders. John Gruden, you know, when he first struck me the first time around, he did something transformative.

They had an organization that was paranoid, the world's against us, kind of moopy when things got down. And he came in and just said, shut up, we're going to play hard. And remember they beat the Chiefs, his first or second year at the end of the year when they were out of it and the Chiefs needed a win on the road. And I was like, what has gone on with the Raiders? while he built them into what ultimately would be a Super Bowl team, although in his absence and then he beat them. But maybe that's his legacy this time around for all the horrific overtones of his exit.

Maybe with Rich Besatia and Greg Olson and Gus Bradley and those players, they're not open in the wake of John Gruden's departure, the way Mark Davis seemed to be, by the way. Ask the NFL, they have all the answers, you know, at a time when... I know. It called for bold statements and leadership and, you know, Al Davis's sense of equality and inclusion and social justice. And hearing me defend Al Davis is going to make a lot of people laugh if you know our history. But Al Davis was, you know, phenomenal at that stuff.

So Mark Davis kind of came off terrible. Like, the whole world's against us. Late was better the second time. But give credit to those players and those coaches. they put their heads down and play hard. Yeah. All right, buddy, you're done. That's it.

All done. Easy, breezy. Go to the Warriors tonight. I'm going to the Warriors. I'm very excited. And thank you so much. I'll see you tomorrow. All right, buddy.

All right, everybody. Mike Silver, some thoughts. Monday. Hope you enjoyed it. YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, rate review, subscribe. Talk soon.

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slash tune in. Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games.

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

On The Look Back at it podcast. In 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84 was big to me. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a year, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. With our friends, fellow comedians, and favorite authors.

Like Mark Lamont Hill on the 80s. 84 was a wild year. It was a wild year. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Listen to Look Back at it on the I Heart Reds. radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me, Clifford Taylor the 4th.

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

This is an IHeart podcast, guaranteed human.