The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Colin Cowherd Podcast - Ian O'Connor on Brady Over Belichick, Colin Defends Baker, Gives Week 4 Thoughts

Episode Date: October 4, 2021

Colin gives his reaction to Brady's win over Belichick (3:00), compares Kyle Shanahan to Matt Nagy (8:00), discusses the key to the Cowboys strong start (13:00), explains how Russell Wilson saved Pete Carroll's butt (18:00), and defends Baker Mayfield's awful performance in the Browns road win over the Vikings (24:00). Then, Ian O'Connor -- NY Post columnist and author of Belichick -- and Colin discuss what Belichick might've said to Brady in their postgame locker room meeting (26:00), how far the Patriots have fallen from the Brady era (28:00), how much losing Belichick can tolerate before walking away from the game (33:00), if the Brady/Belichick relationship was always destined to implode (40:00), and if the Yankees can win a playoff series (43:00).Make sure you 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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The Colin Cowherd podcast brought to you by Fandul. It's never been easier to play fantasy on Fandul, 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 the Monday morning podcast. podcast. Ian O'Connor, three straight New York Times bestsellers, wrote the book on Bill Belichick, one of many books. His was a New York Times bestseller. Now currently a columnist, again in New York,

now for the New York Post. He'll be joining us to talk about last night's, well, thrilling fourth quarter, it was a little bit of a yonner in the first half. My takeaway on what we watched last night, it was a tremendous win, I thought, for Mack Jones. Believe it or not, you can win while losing early in your career. I thought Mac Jones in a monsoon with that pressure was fairly remarkable. In fact, I think if you went back and watched Tom Brady in his first year, I don't think he was as good as Mac Jones was last night. He was under control, audiblying in and out. Can you imagine the pressure of facing Tom Brady? in the stadium in which he won all his AFC championships.

He was cool. He was calm. He was smart. I thought it was a complete Bravo performance by Mac Jones. I've seen Brady do this a hundred times. We all have. But here's an interesting thing to consider is that can you win with Mac Jones, i.e.

Tom Brady and that lack of weapons. I don't think you can. I don't think Tom Brady in today's game, if he was Mack Jones with the dearth, the lack of weapons New England has, you have to play perfect football. And the Patriots played a really good football, but a fumble here, a doink on a last second field goal there, and you lose at home to a Tampa Bay team that didn't play particularly well. Is that what has happened in football is that there are so many dynamic young quarterbacks. The coaching is more dynamic. The wide receiver talent is so dynamic.

Just look at the AFC, what Mack Jones and Belichick will have to get through. Justin Herbert, Derek Carr, Josh Allen, Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson. That's just in the AFC. We all know, we all acknowledge the hole that has surfaced in Belichick's later years is the inability to draft and develop skill people. Jacoby Myers is their go-to receiver. He's undrafted out of NC State. and he is often their primary target.

And you can be an imperfect football team. But in 2021 and going forward, you cannot be slow. I don't believe the Patriots with this current system and style, with Mack Jones, who himself has a highly efficient game and a lower ceiling, I don't think it's championship football. I mean, as Chris and Al said at the end of last night's game, Tom Brady now has more wins at Foxboro than Mac Jones. And we're in October.

So it is interesting as the sport has really changed. And we see this in basketball. It's a three-point shooting game. We see it in baseball where the ground ball is death. Strikeouts, eh, everything's exit strategy. In the NFL right now between the rules, the manipulation of the rules, the altering of the rules, the offensive playmakers at quarterback and wide receiver, Belichick style, though brilliant, feels a tad outdated. Am I alone on that? I thought Mac Jones played as well as you can play.

I think we all would admit he has one of the lower ceilings. I think he'll reach his potential much more quickly than a Josh Allen. I think 12 to 15 games in, you're kind of kind of see what Mac Jones is. And he played very well last night, considering the immense magnitude of the game. But I sat there and I watched it and I thought, can you win a championship on 12 play drives? Excellent defense. Solid special teams. I think you could 20 years ago.

I think you could 10 years ago. But I think it's harder and harder to do that. And I think Brady, you know, at one point when they were talking about how good Jacoby Myers had been, I thought he's the reason Brady left and the reason Mack Jones has a ceiling. Jacobi Myers. Where would Jacobi Myers fit on the Rams? He wouldn't make the team. I'm not sure he would make Tampa or Kansas City or Dallas.

or Buffalo would not make the team. Chargers, Raiders. You just start looking around the league right now. The game has changed. It's played at an exhilarating pace. I mean, I'm watching some football this weekend. And watching last night, did it not feel at times like a 1996 football game? Let me pivot before we get to Ian O'Connor to a few more games. and I want to start with the perception of coaches in the National Football League, two who I think are very shrewd, but are getting clobbered.

Coaching in the NFL is hard. Winning is hard, even for the good teams. I mean, the Kansas City Chiefs are in a shootout with the Philadelphia Eagles, and we don't even know if they have the right coach or the right quarterback. But take Kyle Shanahan and Matt Nagy. So Kyle Shanahan gets to a Super Bowl. not only that, but with Jimmy Garoppolo. Matt Nagy gets to the playoffs twice with Mitch Trubesky, who we would all acknowledge is a backup. Today, they look overwhelmed.

They're being criticized. Are they the right guy for the job? Why? Because both Matt Nagy with the Bears and Kyle Shanahan with the Niners came into the season with a veteran quarterback who they didn't truly believe in and a young quarterback who's talented, a Trey Lancer of Justin Fields, but not really ready to win week after week and be consistent at the NFL level. Look at the coaches we're questioning today. They got rookie quarterbacks,

or they have old quarterbacks about to be replaced. And look who's winning in the NFL today and who we think more of as a coach. Cliff Kingsbury, take that for example. Cliff Kingsbury got fired in the wobbly Big 12. He couldn't win at his alma mater. They fired him. Alma monitors do not want to fire their star quarterbacks as coach. He had Patrick Mahomes as a quarterback.

He could not win in the Big 12. I repeat the Big 12. And now he is crushing it in first place in the toughest division in the NFL, the NFC West. Why? Third straight year, talented quarterback, same system augmenting him with pieces. Josh Allen, third straight year, fourth year, same system augmenting him with pieces. Lamar Jackson looks good, right? Same system augmenting him with pieces.

You see a trend here? The coaches that we really are fond of have really high-end quarterbacks, and they are Tom Brady now, coming back same system second year. All of a sudden, I'm supposed to believe Brian Flores. and Joe Judge, the Dolphins and the Giants can't coach, I think they're both excellent coaches. But Miami has a quarterback issue and the solution's not in the building. And Daniel Jones yesterday played one of his better games. So Joe Judge wins as a touchdown underdog on the road.

Before you want to fire your coach, A, it's really hard to win in this league. Really, really hard. And B, the coaches that we think fondly of this morning, star quarterbacks, Usually in their second year in a system. Dak Prescott now. Second year in Mike McCarthy's system. Boy, he looks really good. I mean, eight teams in this league have quarterbacks who are either really not very good or not the future.

That's Kyle Shanahan, right, with Jimmy Garoppolo. Another six or seven, they have kids that just aren't ready. And then you have kids who are on their second or third system. So just look around who you like today. And I think Cliff Kingsbury is a great example of. same coach, same quarterback, same system, augmenting him pieces, Lamar Jackson, same coach, same system, augmenting him with pieces. They both hit it out of the park yesterday. You know, speaking of Kyle Shanahan before I move on, at some point, Kyle, and I'm defending him, right, I start winning games.

You can tell me how great your stockbroker is. Three years, you're missing on stocks and picks. I'm going to have my doubts. I don't think he's had a great season. It shows the difficulty of coming into a season. with shared snaps at quarterback, but right now, they really look out of tune. That's with Debo Samuel. That's with George Kittle.

They look really out of tune. So I do feel there's a little pressure right now on Kyle Shanahan. He's got to start posting Ws. Let me shift to this. I watch some of the Cowboys Panthers. I tried to really dial into the Giants and Daniel Jones in the early hour. But one of the things that I think is, is really true in this sport, is that everybody knows listening, as I talk about the Cowboys here,

that, you know, coach and quarterback really drive the sport. And we have our questions about Mike McCarthy. But there are certain defensive positions that really, once you solve them or get a star at that position, it can change everything. I was not a fan of Pete Carroll giving up two first round picks for a safety in Jamal Adams. That is not to me a position group. that is crucial to be elite at. Look at the Cowboys' defense, though, now today with Trayvon Diggs, the second-year cornerback, who is a spectacular talent. And I mean spectacular as in maybe one of the top two or three corners in the NFL.

There are games he looks like the best. Look at the advantage of having a Trayvon Diggs for Dan Quinn, the Cowboy defensive coordinator. They're not even healthy on defense yet. You can take away the other team's number one ride receiver. You can put him on Carolina's DJ Moore. You can put him on Terry McLaurin of the Washington football team and just case close for the day. I think Diggs is such a sensational, remarkable, game-changing talent for the defense of Dallas. Put him on an island.

Don't have to worry about him. Take away their best perimeter weapon and then drop my other 10. guys to figure out the quarterback situation. But right now, Dallas is a better football team. I had them in the playoffs. They're a better football team than I thought. They push that Carolina Panthers defense around the field for a lot of that game. And once that cowboy offensive line is healthy, Zeke and Tony Pollard both have a burst now.

Zeke, I think the last couple of weeks has played well. This is a good Dallas football team. It's a fast, rangey athletic Dallas football team. And right now they do, although I still think Washington, the better days are ahead for that football team. They're not playing very good defense now, but I really, I do trust Ron Rivera, and I do think their defense will get better. But cornerback, it's what Belichick spent so much of his time trying to master. It's what Nick Saban has spent so much of his time in Alabama trying to master. And by the way, it's what Pete Carroll is struggling with in Seattle right now. He's got a good

football team. They're really, really bad at corner. Something else. I, I want to touch on. Buffalo looks like the best team in the league to me for two reasons. Josh Allen's a remarkable talent, and they have shored up over the last two drafts and free agency periods, their primary weakness, which was defensive line and pass rush. But to show you the parody in this league right now, who is the second best team in the NFL? You don't trust Kansas City's defense. Green Bay offensively is getting better, but not quite clicking. They needed one of the best passes of the year by Aaron Rogers.

They were in jeopardy of losing against the 49ers. Tampa's defense isn't buttoned up right now. You know, the Rams played yesterday like Brady and the Buccaneers at SoFi was their Super Bowl, completely flat. I got to tell you, Buffalo is the best team in the league right now. In terms of the ability to make plays on offense and defense, I think it's Arizona. What is really exciting about this league right now? I know we pay a lot of attention to Aaron Rogers and Brady. I know we do.

Look at the quality of the young quarterback play. Not only that, it is so diverse. Lamar Jackson doesn't play anything like Josh Allen, doesn't play anything like Kyler Murray. Daniel Jones, I thought, played really well yesterday. The quality of quarterback play in this sport right now, you know, years ago, a couple years ago, I had lunch with an NBA general manager and he said, you know,

football's dying. And I said, two reasons it's not. Number one is we gamble on it. It'll never go away. And I said, number two, the quality of quarterback play is getting substantially better. And the league is going to become safer. This was sort of in the throes of all those CTE stories two, three years ago. And I said to the general manager, I said, we don't bet basketball like we do football.

And the rule changes are now helping offense so much. And the quality of the quarterback play, it is sensational. This league is being taken over. I mean, Aaron Rogers at times looks outdated, right? Like, he doesn't move like he used to. Kyler, Lamar, Josh Allen, Mahomes, Justin Herbert. And then you have this second group of really good veterans, Derek Carr, Russell Wilson, Aaron Rogers. Ben's pretty much shot and Brady's got a couple years left.

But the NFL is going to continue to be in great, great hands because of the quality of the commissionership. Yes, Roger Goodell makes this league safer every year and the insane level of quarterback play at the high school and the college level. And now that the NFL is borrowing and implementing college schemes, the game's more fun to watch than it's ever been. I just, I sit back and I look at the talent and it's jaw dropping. And because of the salary cap, even the very best teams like the L.A. Rams or the. the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. I mean, Tampa's defense, JPP got hurt, not the same pass rush. If a Jalen Ramsey or an Aaron Donald was hurt for the Rams, it's not the same defense.

It is so razor thin right now. You know, in retrospect, the game I should have put in the Blazing Five was Seattle over San Francisco. Russell Wilson's never lost three straight games. And you just had a feeling you could sense it early in the third quarter. Russell Wilson was simply going to will his team to a win. that one I probably missed on. You know, Seattle is very top heavy.

Highest paid linebacker, highest paid safety. Biggest cap hit is a quarterback. Really bad in the secondary. Very iffy on the offensive line. But when you've got the human eraser in Russell Wilson, this is like LeBron in his peak. He just erases bad personnel decisions, bad coaching decisions. I mean, Russell Wilson had two or three plays in that game that saved people.

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to change that. I'm April Dinnwity host of the new podcast, Navigating Adoption, presented by Adopt U.S. Kids. Each episode brings you compelling real-life adoption stories told by the families that live them with commentary from experts. Visit Adoptuskids.org slash podcast or subscribe to navigating adoption presented by Adopt U.S. kids. Brought to you by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families and the Ad Council. I also want to touch on the Cleveland Brown's win over the Minnesota Vikings and a lot of people on social media, Colin, you got to Barry Baker-Mayfield.

He was terrible. Yes, he was. But the two things to remember, for the Cleveland Brown organization to go on the road, beat a pretty talented team, Minnesota, in a tough place to play, when your quarterback is God awful, that is a stepping stone for the Cleveland Browns. I mean, my takeaway was, yeah, that's what good teams do. Their quarterback stinks. They play poorly, and they beat a pretty talented team on the road. That's a great stepping stone. Listen, I'm not going to beat up on Baker Mayfield for having a bad game.

Everybody has a bad game. Aaron Rogers, Week 1, Josh Allen, week one, Tom Brady, four of them last year. I've never put Baker Mayfield in the top 10 class. So I'm not holding him to this great 16 week, one bad week performance. He was awful. He was skittish. He's starting to sail things now. He was high on a lot of his throws.

And I've said this before. He and OBJ, it just, you know, he and Jarvis Landry work. He and OBJ don't. I can't figure it out. It just doesn't work. Maybe OBJ adlibs too much on the routes. Baker then, you know, loses sort of a feel for it. Jarvis Landry's perhaps a better route runner. He's got a better relationship, a closer relationship.

They work through it at practice because Jarvis and Baker are fantastic. OBJ and Baker aren't. But I thought that Cleveland Brown's going on the road. Baker had one of his worst games in the last two years, probably his worst game in the last two years. And winning? Vikings got players. And let's be honest, what we really worried about this year from Cleveland was their defense. They had seven new starters.

Back-to-back weeks, pass rush was excellent. And so, you know, you can't get too precious in this sport. A wins, a win, a win. You don't worry about what they look like. I mean, Belichick and Brady won a lot of wet, soggy, cold Foxboro football games on Sunday night, 26 to 23. And they just had two penalties, no turnovers. that in the end you said, yeah, yeah, I guess they're great. Doesn't matter.

Just win. Cleveland won. On the road. Baker was pretty awful. Huge, huge step for the Browns. Well, somebody I truly respect. He's written three New York time bestsellers. Belichick, the making of the greatest football coach of all time, is his recent piece of art.

I read that, cover to cover. And he knows Bill Belichick better than anybody. I first have to start with this, Ian, Ian O'Connor. who is doing this, by the way, in the wee hours of the morning, having covered the Jets, the Yankees. He's the hardest working man in New York. So Belichick and Brady met for 23 minutes after the game, according to reports. Just a hunch. Your thought about, if not the topic, just the tone of that meeting.

You're surprised when you heard that. A little bit that Bill would go into a winning locker room after a loss and really talk to anybody. it's not really in character. But I think it's actually a good thing. And maybe when Tom Brady is done playing and Bill Belichick has done coaching, that they'll come together and have a better relationship than really they had at the end of their time together. And Foxwell, there's no question no matter what they're saying.

I mean, based on the hundreds of people I talk to for my book, I think Seth Wickersham could say the same thing for his book, that there were issues at the end of their time. time in New England that certainly led to that divorce. And so I think there's been so much focus on what went wrong and maybe not enough focus on what amazing things they accomplished together, that maybe that was part of their conversation tonight. And hey, we need to get back to what we did together and maybe talk a little bit more about that. And I have a feeling in retirement, they'll be closer than they were in the final years in New England.

And I hope that's the case. You know, it's really interesting. Brady has a great sense of timing. He exits the AFC as it has Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes and Justin Herbert. And even Derek Carnow under Gruden is playing at a Pro Bowl level. And he goes to the NFC where, you know, Aaron may be moving over to different conferences. Russell Wilson could be on the move in the next couple of years. He's not happy.

He's a major cap hit for Seattle. It's interesting. I watched Mack Jones, and I thought he played so well considering the magnitude of the moment, the anxiety, the monsoon, the dearth of skill players. They spent $300 million. I still don't see it on offense much, Ian. But it is interesting as I watch that. And I think about his contemporaries in the AFC, I think, and I don't want to be hyperact. I just don't see this as a championship team in the near future.

There's a hole in this Belichick regime, and I think it surfaced four years ago, Ian, and I think Tom was frustrated. When Jacobi Myers, an undrafted wide receiver, is your primary weapon, you don't correct that in a draft. I just looked at Mack and I thought, bravo, a virtuoso performance by a kid, but this is a, this is not. close to a championship teamed to me. I agree with that, Colin. I would say this. I agree with everything you said. However,

their one fluky loss against Miami in that final game, that final regular season game of Brady's final season from maybe hosting the AFC title game, the Ravens got upset that year. And so they weren't that far away from going back to the Super Bowl.

I understand that they lost that playoff game to the Titans at home and didn't play well. But losing that Miami game really sort of set them up for failure in the postseason. And Brady's numbers had come down. And obviously, he didn't have any playmakers. But they weren't far away from winning another championship, really, the way I looked at it. So I think his departure was really more about the stylistic differences between Belichick and Bruce Ariens.

He wanted to go play for somebody who would be fun to play for. And Belichick, somebody close to Brady said that. Tom was basically just Belichick out after 20 years. And when when your head coach treats every single day like it's game seven of the World Series after 20 years, that's tough to deal with. So he went to go play for a guy who wanted to play nine holes of golf after practice and grab a beer or two or three. And so he's having a lot of fun doing that. But it probably was a very smart decision to get out of that conference when he did. And Mac Jones did everything he could tonight to win this football game.

And as a rookie, hey, Tom Brady didn't even play as a rookie through three past. That's right. I was there the day that Mo Lewis put that hit on Bledsoe and Brady trotted in. And early on, it wasn't like Tom Brady was a superstar. You could say that Mack Jones is ahead of where Brady was. Oh, no question. No question. So, but you're right.

James White being gone now, that isn't going to help Mac Jones at all. he's a guy who still makes him plays and do different things. He's gone. And you look at the playmakers and say, where are they? And it could be a long haul. Now, having lost three home games already, Tom Brady did not lose three home games. He lost two in that first year, but he didn't lose three. And so it's going to be tough sledding in that division with Buffalo and in that conference.

No question about it. Listen, I think Bill's aware of his legacy. And I just don't know how long, because I don't think Tom's going to line up Super Bowls. I think he's going to be challenged in the NFC going forward. I don't know if he'll win another one. But I do wonder how long Bill wants to face Josh Allen and beat his head up against the wall because that Buffalo franchise now, top to bottom, appears to be the class of that division for some time. I mean, Sean McDermott, Josh Allen, the first.

run office is excellent. They're equipped for a long run. Do you think, you know, starting to go eight and nine, nine and eight a couple more years and Bill might just say, I'm going to go to Jupiter, Florida and play golf? It's a possibility. I think he at least wants to leave this franchise in a state where it's competitive and can make a playoff run or two. I don't know if that's possible.

I think that the last thing he wants to do is walk away after a series of seven and nines. To right now, what is he? He's eight and twelve without Tom. He was five and thirteen in New England with Bledsoe before Brady took over. So I think at the very least he wants to get back to a point where they can win a wild card, be 10 and 7. And I wouldn't rule that out for this year just yet. It looks like it's going to be difficult to get there. but I think he's going to coach another three, four, five years to just get to that point.

You know, initially, Colin, he said he would not coach into his 70s like Marv Levy did, but then he changed his mind about that. He's a young 69. And not a guy with a lot of hobbies, likes to play a little golf. Obviously, he's got the boat and spend some time on Nantucket. But outside of that, he was, as Robert Kraft told me years ago, he was put on this earth to win football games. it's now become a lot more difficult to win those games without Tom Brady's quarterback.

And I still think that Brady always planned on being a one uniform lifer in Boston, in New England, like Ted Williams, Larry Bird, Bill Russell. I think that was his plan. It just changed because the relationship went south in the final years with Belichick. And tonight may be a step toward a better relationship in the future. And again, I think that would be a very good. good thing. Ian, the one thing from Seth Wickersham's book, I have not read it, I got the excerpts,

and they were pretty damning toward Belichamp. 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.

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And I could see Belichick reading that and thinking, you know, I've probably doubled your net worth. Was that the kind of thing that would expedite an exit? Or do you think Bill is strong enough that just flies past him? It doesn't stick. It doesn't land for him. I don't think that one landed for him. I think that Robert Kraft may have offered an explanation. Hey, I was kidding around.

I didn't really say it that way. And I don't think that is going to have really much to do with Belichick in terms of how long he's going to coach the Patriots or coach at all. I think Belichick understands that there are a lot of people around the league who don't really like him. And he's never been all that close to Robert Kraft. In that organization, the relationship that was a close one was between Kraft and Brady. That was sort of a transformational relationship. The transactional relationship was Belichick and Kraft and Belichick and Brady.

That was always transactional. And so I don't think that comment really changes anything. Belichick doesn't really care. He just wants to win. And if you think he's a blank, blank, then so be it. As long as you're paying me to win football games and leave me alone for the most part, which I think Robert Kraft has pretty much done. I think the one time that Kraft interceded was in keeping Tom Brady in the organization

and not letting Pellellonic turn it over to Garoppolo like he wanted to do. That turned out to be a good move. Kraft was right because Brady won another Super Bowl. So I think that I would be surprised if Bill Belmont. I'll check allowed a comment like that to dictate what he would do with his future. 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. Surprise your Valentine with 1-800flowers.com.

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He doesn't work with anger as well as he does joy. In fact, Wicker Shamm in his book talked about a study that had been commissioned by Belichick on Tiger Woods, Michael Kobe, and that Tom was different. And it's interesting when I read that I thought that's interesting that Bill was almost trying to figure out the maze of Brady's aspirational sort of motives. do you see, and as I was touching on last week, this was bound like the Beatles. These were three different cats. This was bound to be a little surly at the end. I mean, even after your incredibly in-depth book on Belichick, are you really surprised by any of this going forward? And surprised how it ended?

I thought that Tom Brady would never leave. So I guess in that context, I am surprised. I thought that he would put up with Belichick and because he just, he couldn't see himself playing for another franchise. I covered as a columnist in New York, Derek Jeter's career. And at the end,

he got ugly with the front office with Brian Cashman. And he wanted to leave. He just wanted to get away from Cashman and some others in that organization, but he could not go play for another team and in a different uniform. And I thought Tom Brady would basically feel the same way, but he broke away from that.

I guess in the long run, And I think that Belichick probably doesn't get enough credit for keeping Tom Brady there for 20 years. It's not easy to keep an elite athlete driven as Brady is in place for 20 years. So that relationship, we focus a lot on the ending and it was a bad ending, no question about it. Bill could have done a lot more to try to keep him. He could have offered him a long-term contract. I had a conversation with Tom Brady four and a half years ago where, and so he was 30, about to turn 40. And I had about a 45 minute phone conversation with him. We talked about

how long he wanted to play. We were talking past 45, 46, 47, 48. And I said, what about 50? I know it sounds crazy. And he said, it's a great question. We'll see. So Bill is known for a long time that Tom was going to play and play and play and play some more. So there's a lot of time to figure, okay, this guy is someone we want to keep here in the long term. We should offer him a long term contract. They never did. So he goes and wins a Super Bowl for somebody else. So that, that to me is the only surprise that I thought that Brady, despite his feelings for Belichick, despite the fact the relationship had gone off the rails, that he just couldn't go play for somebody else. And he did very successfully. All right. We don't want to take any more of your time.

It's one of the great days in New York, the Jets, the Giants, the Yankees. Isn't it amazing? The Dodgers and the Giants, Yankees, socks, these one-game playoff scenarios make absolutely no sense to me at all. I just, it's incredible that it got past some baseball commission that everybody raised their hand and approved the idea of eliminating the Dodgers and the Yankees after these, you know, the turbulence in the Yankee season, they were losing streaks, winning streaks, dead, alive. I don't know how baseball came to this conclusion. One final question, because a lot of people were watching baseball today, I don't buy this Yankee team. The Dodgers played well all year. They overcame lots of injuries.

This Yankee team feels so hot and cold to me. Are they capable of, let's say they win Wednesday. Are they capable of winning a playoff series? I think so. The problem is they're going to be matched up with Tampa Bay. I don't know if I see them beating Tampa Bay in a five-game series. But I do think they'll win in Fenway. Park. It's funny. The last time there was a one and done Red Sox Yankees game in Fenway Park.

I was a high school freshman. Bucky Dent hit that home run. It wasn't a play in game, not a playoff game. And so I do think I like the Yankees to beat the Red Sox, but to beat the raise in a five game series without home field advantage, I don't see that happening. The Yankees have the talent to do it. And when you have Stanton and Judge playing at a high level, you have two monsters like that in the of your lineup with the green monster. I think that could be a real problem for the Red Sox. But to me, it's the Yankees getting out of the wildcard game, advancing to the division series and then losing to the race.

I think that's the most likely scenario. Ian, go to bed. You're a good dude. You had a million things to do today. I haven't reached out enough. I'd love to get you on when you have more time, and it's earlier. Thank you so much. Any time for you, Colin.

Thanks so much. I appreciate it. Hope you and, Enjoyed it, YouTube channel, Twitter, Instagram, at the volume, fun stuff. You know, Connor, buy that book on Belichick. It is, it's a three-day read. Give yourself about two hours, three, four straight days. It's fantastic.

We'll talk soon. The volume. Get right to the romance and find the way to wow this Valentine's with 1-800flowers.com. From classic roses and bouquets to decadent chocolate-covered berries, gourmet treats, and more. Surprise your Valentine with 1800flowers.com. Right now, get the 18-stem enchanted rose medley for $39.99. Or upgrade to 24 red roses for $10 more. Go to 1,800flowers.com slash tune in.

That's 1,800flowers.com 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, S&L's Mikey Day and headwriter, 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. I'm Joey Dardano, and on my new podcast, Hope from a Hypocrite, I'll be changing lives, helping people in need with thoughtful solutions. Sike, I'm a comedian. I'm not qualified to give good. advice. Join me and my comedian friends as we riff, rant, recommend some of the most

legally dubious advice known to me. This is Help from a Hypocrite, the worst advice from the dumbest people you know. Listen to Help from a Hypocrite Wednesdays on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano. It's our favorite time of the year on our podcast point game, the playoffs. We're digging into the biggest surprises of the season. And I'm looking back on some of my greatest playoffs. moments. If we didn't talk ever again, I was funny. You just understood. That's how personal it got. Wow. Then after that game seven, Mark keep coming to you. He's like, you know I love you, dog. You know, it's all love. This was just playoffs. This was just basketball.

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